When Churches Come Crashing Down
Folc4evernaday
Part 21
The building had burst into flames before he could stop the flames from spreading. “Is everyone all right?” Clark asked as he stepped into the smoke-filled club. He had put out the fire that had begun to spread. His visual range was limited due to the smoke that had filled the room.
He got no response. He could hear four heartbeats in the room. One heartbeat, in particular, seemed to be beating awfully fast. He scanned the area once more, looking for a sign of anyone through the smoke. He took another step, brushing his foot against something solid and soft. He looked down and found Toni Taylor hunched on the floor unconscious.
He bent down to check on her, “Ms. Turner?” The sound of a gunshot from the next room caught his attention. Torn between investigating the gunshot and tending to Toni Taylor, he finally chose to investigate. In the next room, he was met with even more smoke, hindering his vision even more. He blew lightly against the smoke, inhaling it as he walked through the room.
It was an office of some sort with files strung all over the desk. The office looked like it had been ransacked. There was a splatter of a reddish brown substance on the wall. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like blood. His enhanced vision was of no use in situations like this. Every time he cleared the room just enough to see, more smoke filled the area; making it difficult to see the hand in front of his face. As was such now, smoke kept pouring in the room, keeping him from getting a handle on what he was walking into. “Is anyone in here?”
He got no response. He could still hear one heartbeat thumping extremely fast. The other three seemed to have slowed down immensely. That couldn’t be a good sign. He blew the smoke once more, trying to clear the room so he could find whoever else may be trapped inside. Joined with the office was a conference room. He scanned the room with what enhanced vision he was capable of at the moment as the room filled with smoke once more. What he saw made his heart jump into his throat, “No…”
***
Lois stared at the footage on the television screen entranced, unable to take her eyes off the scene. Clark had been inside the Metro Club for over an hour according to locals that had witnessed him entering the club that had been engulfed in flames. As the fire department continued to fight the flames she watched in concern. She’d seen him fight fires before. He never took more than ten to twenty minutes at a time. He always came out, bringing people out one by one. What was different now?
***
Lucy watched the footage of the Metro Club fire, “That can’t be good.” She said shaking her head. “Two fires in less than a year between one another in the same building.”
“Why was the Metro Club targeted before?” Mayson asked, “Refresh me.”
“Intergang was trying to move in. They wanted the Metros out.” Lucy explained with a grimace.
The camera focused on ambulatory workers carrying out three people on a stretcher. As the camera zoomed in on their faces Lucy felt her heart stop, “Oh, my God…”
“Hey, isn’t that your friend, Jimmy?” Mayson asked.
***
He still hadn’t come out.
What was going on?
Lois stared at the screen in disbelief. They’d reported Jimmy and Jack to be suffering from minor gunshot wounds, but nothing serious. Nothing had been reported about Superman. The camera panned out and focused on the crowd of people around the Metro Club. One face, in particular, caught her attention. She couldn’t quite place it. The expression on the woman’s face seemed to be satisfied rather than concerned. She looked so familiar…
The phone next to her rang and she jumped, startled. “Hello?” The sound of Dr. Klein’s voice on the other end calmed her nerves. “What? Okay. Yeah, I’ll… I’ll be right there.” She glanced at the sleeping baby next to her in concern as she hung up the phone.
She gently picked him up and carried him with her out to the Jeep. That morning, she and Clark had gone shopping for everything they needed for Jordan, car seat, diapers, clothes, formula, baby food, toys, etc… This would be her first time taking Jordan out with her in public. She wondered briefly how he would react. As of right now, he was asleep without a care in the world. Would he be upset with her for taking him out during his nap? She had no idea what to expect. She gathered her things along with Jordan’s diaper bag Clark had put together that morning and headed to S.T.A.R. Labs.
***
Turner took a long puff from his cigar, examining the view from his penthouse. “Not as good as it once was, but it’ll do.” He mused.
“I’m sure it will,” Nigel said, stepping out from the shadows.
Turner smiled at him warmly, “Do come in.” He said sarcastically.
“I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around something for the last month; ever since you came to town,” Nigel said, pacing in front of him. “How is it that a nobody such as yourself that no one has heard of is able to do so much on so little?”
“I guess it’s just luck.” James Turner smiled with a shrug, turning away from Nigel.
“No, it’s more than luck. You act as if you’ve been doing this for years... I’ve run a background check on you.”
“Have you?” Turner smiled, turning back to face him, “Anything interesting?”
“You don’t exist,” Nigel said stepping forward to face him. “Who are you…. Really?”
“My name is James Turner.” Turner smiled back at him.
Nigel met his eyes with a steely gaze. His gaze was met with an, even more, sinister one. Nigel took a step back then smiled, slightly amused. “So, do tell me. How did you survive, Lex?” Turner seemed slightly taken aback, but Nigel continued, “I worked with you for years. Do you really think I don’t know you?”
“Having a suspicion and being able to prove it are two entirely different things, Nigel,” Turned said airily.
“Yes, indeed, I see I taught you well, Lex.” Nigel smiled as Turner tensed up once more when he used the name ‘Lex.’
“You?” Turner stepped towards him, staring him down. “Nobody has taught me anything. I was running things smoothly before I ever had a thought about you!”
“I wasn’t the one dumb enough to lose everything for a woman! Obviously, you weren’t educated on that chapter in business school.”
“Enough of this.” Turner sniffed, stepping away from him.
“The Lex Luthor I knew never backed down from a challenge.”
“Oh, and what challenge would that be?” Turner asked.
***
“I don’t care who the hell you are!” Lois snapped angrily at the security guard standing outside of Dr. Klein’s office. “I have every right to…”
“You can’t bring a baby into S.T.A.R. Labs…” The office argued.
“Why you little….”
“Lois!” Dr. Klein approached them with a concerned look. He seemed to pick up on the tension then nodded to the officer, “Mark, she’s okay.”
“But the baby…”
“Is fine.” Dr. Klein nodded, waiting for him to leave. He seemed to get the hint and finally left.
“Okay. What’s going on? I have never been grilled so hard about coming to your office in my life.” Lois snapped
“We’re on a security lockdown.” Dr. Klein explained, motioning for her to follow him. After assuring himself that the proper locks were in place he continued, “I’m sure you saw the news earlier.”
“Yeah. I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of it.” Lois shook her head, trying to calm her nerves, “What is going on Dr. Klein? You call me all frantic, telling me to come down to S.T.A.R. Labs. What is so important?”
“We found Clark.” Dr. Klein said slowly. “Well, actually, he found us.” He motioned for her to follow him. “He’s in an air tight room. We’re monitoring him right now, but I’m not sure what to do…”
“Do about what? Why is he in an airtight room?” Lois asked.
“Kryptonite poisoning.” He answered.
“What?” Lois asked in concern.
“It was in his lungs, his skin, everything…” Dr. Klein shook his head.
“How?” Lois asked in between tears.
“I don’t know.” Dr. Klein said. “Somehow it got into his system. He said he’d inhaled the smoke several times, trying to clear the air so he could see….”
“He’s awake?” Lois asked. “Can I see him?”
Dr. Klein shook his head, “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Lois. The baby…”
“Clark told you?” Lois asked, uncertainly.
“That you found Jordan? Yes, he’s sitting right there,” Dr. Klein pointed at Jordan who was still asleep in his stroller, oblivious to everything around him.
“Uh, yes, but..” she shook her head, deciding to just bite the bullet. “I’m pregnant.” She whispered hesitantly.
“Oh!” Dr. Klein beamed, “Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” Lois said softly, placing a protective hand over her growing abdomen,“What do we do now? How do we get this poison out of Clark?”
“I’m trying some different treatments with what we were working on before. You remember; the tests to try and create immunity against Kryptonite for Clark…and eventually your children?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, recalling the conversation. “I remember.”
“Many of the tests I used were based on the red variation of Kryptonite. It seemed to have a canceling out effect on the green. Unfortunately, I no longer have it in my possession.”
“Isn’t there anything else you can try?” Lois asked tearfully. “The longer that poison sits inside him the more harm it’s doing. He said he felt energized when he was in the sun… maybe sunlight will help?”
Dr. Klein sighed, nodding, “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll try and get some ideas from one of the scientists working on an alternative to chemotherapy. If we could burn it out….”
Lois nodded, “That’s good. Just do what you have to please…”
Dr. Klein nodded solemnly. “I am.” He gave a long wayward look at the sleeping baby in the car seat next to Lois. “He looks healthy.”
Lois nodded mutely, too upset to respond. “I’ll be back in a few. Feel free to stay as long as you want.”
“Dr. Klein?” She called after him.
“Yes?”
“Thank you. I’m really glad you’re helping Clark.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
***
Sam Lane stared at the metal doors in front of him. He’d been told that Dr. Klein was treating Superman. It was just his luck. He’d been hired to study how to transfer the super being’s powers from one body to another and here the man of steel lied for him to get what he needed from him.
***
Perry White jerked Jimmy Olsen’s desk drawers open, looking for any clue as to why he would go into the Metro Club. He’d just received the call from Alice that he’d been admitted to the hospital. There was nothing he could do. He wasn’t a blood relative. He had no contact information for the boy’s mother or father. Note after note of anything but was beginning to get to him. He finally pulled the final drawer open and was surprised to find a red glowing rock inside. “What in the world?”
***
Lois stepped off the elevator with a heavy heart. There was nothing she could do right now, but wait and hope Dr. Klein could get the Kryptonite out of Clark’s system in time. In the meantime, she could go to work and try and find the person that took the Kryptonite, to begin with. “You ready to see the bullpen, little one?” She asked.
Jordan just smiled up at her with a grin. He was oblivious to everything going on around him. She envied him. Being oblivious to the fact that someone had poisoned not only Clark but Jimmy and Jack too with Kryptonite had been a lot to handle. Dr. Klein had sun lamps on Clark right now and was waiting to hear back from Dr. Leigh about his alternative chemo methods. Burning the poison out of Clark was hard to imagine. She knew it would be painful for him, but not nearly as painful as what he was going through right now.
“Lois! What in the Sam Hill are you doing here?” Perry hollered across the newsroom before she could even step off the ramp. “Never mind! In my office!”
“Someone’s in a mood,” Lois muttered, carrying Jordan with her into Perry’s office as she ignored the stares from her colleagues.
“Close the door,” Perry said when she entered his office.
She did, taking a seat across from him, “What’s up?”
“Jack and Jimmy were in a bad accident. They’re in the hospital…”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“I was trying to get Jimmy’s mother or his father’s number but I couldn’t find it. I went through his desk and I found this.” Perry pulled out the red rock from his desk drawer. Immediately, Jordan began crying at the top of his lungs. “Is he all right?”
“I think so.” Lois said, trying to cover, “Can you put that away? I think it's scaring him…” She glanced at the rock a moment. “Why is it glowing? Perry, that’s radioactive…”
“OH!” Perry nodded, understanding the concern. He quickly slammed the rock inside his desk drawer then turned back to Lois. “Are you sure he’s okay?”
“Ah, ma..ma….blah..pa…” Jordan was rambling on and on as Lois pulled him out of the stroller to hold him.
“Well, someone’s a chatterbox.” Perry smiled at Jordan who had fisted Lois’ hair tightly as she held him close. He smiled at the picture before him. “You look like you were born to be that little boy’s mama.”
Lois smiled weakly at him, “Really? Because I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“You’re just scared. The fear will subside eventually.” Perry smiled reassuringly at her. “He looks so much like Clark.”
“I know. It’s scary.” She smiled down at Jordan.
“You never gave up.”
“Couldn’t.” Lois shook her head. “I knew he was out there somewhere.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, darlin’.”
“Well, given the circumstances I don’t blame you, Perry.” Lois sighed, taking a seat with Jordan. “What was Jimmy doing with that rock?”
“That’s the billion-dollar question,” Perry said amused.
“I’ll call Dr. Klein and have him pick it up. He’ll know what to do with it.” Lois said, hoping she wasn’t sounding too eager. That red rock looked like how Dr. Klein had described the red variation of Kryptonite. If that was the case, then they’d found what they needed to help Clark.
***
Lucy stared at the footage on the screen, entranced with the scene being replayed over and over again. The waiting rooms at Metropolis General left a lot to be desired, but she wasn’t here for comfort. She was here because the father of her child was in surgery having a bullet removed. She couldn’t seem to be able to stop crying.
She really cared about Jimmy. She could probably say that she even loved him, but she couldn’t say she was in love with him. She wasn’t sure if she’d say she was in love with anyone ever again. After what had happened with Lex she was gun shy about ever getting involved with anyone. Now, she was faced with the possibility of losing her best friend. She felt a hole in her heart bigger than she could ever imagine. How had she not seen how important he was to her? She kept pushing him away and pushing him away….
“Ms. Lane?” A nurse came into the room in surgical scrubs.
“Yes?”
“The doctor said to let you know he’s out of surgery.”
“Is he…?”
“I can’t discuss his case with you, unfortunately. Family only.”
“But I am family.” She argued. “He’s the father of my baby. I…”
The nurse nodded, “I’ll talk to Dr. Lee and have him come talk to you.”
Lucy nodded her thanks.
<< Family.>>
That’s what they were. They’d created a child together and would have to deal with the consequences. Family had always scared her for so long. After everything that had happened during her parent’s divorce she’d been fearful of putting her own child through the same hell. When Lex had proposed she’d never really thought about children with him. That was probably the first clue that they weren’t meant to be together.
With Jimmy…
She had imagined her life with him several times but had never been able to get past her fear of rejection and betrayal. Lex had betrayed her. Her father had betrayed her. Every boyfriend she’d ever had had betrayed her one way or another. How was Jimmy different? They all seemed nice at first until they decided they’d taken everything they could from you.
Her ego had taken a serious nose dive after the fiasco last summer. She was still putting the pieces of her life back together. Jimmy had been there as her friend through it all, but she knew he’d wanted more. One night they had been more. She still didn’t understand how that had happened. Why would someone drug an entire city to make them crazy on hormones?
***
“Lois?” Martha knocked on the front door of the townhome but received no answer.
“Where do you think they are?” Jonathan asked.
“I don’t know,” Martha said, reaching under the mat to pull out a spare key. “We’ll figure it out, though. We have a grandson to see.”
***
Sam Lane stared at the pale man of steel that lay beneath the sunlamps. He was unmoving and looked anything but super at the moment. He swallowed the vile that slowly began to make its way known in his throat.
What was he doing?
Practicing experiments on Superman?
His daughter would never forgive him if she found out.
But how would she find out? No one knew. No one would ever know.
An inaudible groan of pain from Superman brought him back to the present. He was obviously in pain. What could be causing it? He looked at his skin and noticed the green illumination seeping from its pores.
“What in the world?” He muttered.
He looked up at Superman once more. He was unconscious.
<< “One million dollars. Your name will be plastered everywhere as a brilliant scientist making a breakthrough for all mankind. You will be known as the man that discovered how to steal Superman’s powers.>>
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gleaming silver object.
***
The building had burst into flames before he could stop the flames from spreading. “Is everyone all right?” Clark asked as he stepped into the smoke-filled club. He had put out the fire that had begun to spread. His visual range was limited due to the smoke that had filled the room.
He got no response. He could hear four heartbeats in the room. One heartbeat, in particular, seemed to be beating awfully fast. He scanned the area once more, looking for a sign of anyone through the smoke. He took another step, brushing his foot against something solid and soft. He looked down and found Toni Taylor hunched on the floor unconscious.
He bent down to check on her, “Ms. Turner?” The sound of a gunshot from the next room caught his attention. Torn between investigating the gunshot and tending to Toni Taylor, he finally chose to investigate. In the next room, he was met with even more smoke, hindering his vision even more. He blew lightly against the smoke, inhaling it as he walked through the room.
It was an office of some sort with files strung all over the desk. The office looked like it had been ransacked. There was a splatter of a reddish brown substance on the wall. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like blood. His enhanced vision was of no use in situations like this. Every time he cleared the room just enough to see, more smoke filled the area; making it difficult to see the hand in front of his face. As was such now, smoke kept pouring in the room, keeping him from getting a handle on what he was walking into. “Is anyone in here?”
He got no response. He could still hear one heartbeat thumping extremely fast. The other three seemed to have slowed down immensely. That couldn’t be a good sign. He blew the smoke once more, trying to clear the room so he could find whoever else may be trapped inside. Joined with the office was a conference room. He scanned the room with what enhanced vision he was capable of at the moment as the room filled with smoke once more. What he saw made his heart jump into his throat, “No…”
***
Lois stared at the footage on the television screen entranced, unable to take her eyes off the scene. Clark had been inside the Metro Club for over an hour according to locals that had witnessed him entering the club that had been engulfed in flames. As the fire department continued to fight the flames she watched in concern. She’d seen him fight fires before. He never took more than ten to twenty minutes at a time. He always came out, bringing people out one by one. What was different now?
***
Lucy watched the footage of the Metro Club fire, “That can’t be good.” She said shaking her head. “Two fires in less than a year between one another in the same building.”
“Why was the Metro Club targeted before?” Mayson asked, “Refresh me.”
“Intergang was trying to move in. They wanted the Metros out.” Lucy explained with a grimace.
The camera focused on ambulatory workers carrying out three people on a stretcher. As the camera zoomed in on their faces Lucy felt her heart stop, “Oh, my God…”
“Hey, isn’t that your friend, Jimmy?” Mayson asked.
***
He still hadn’t come out.
What was going on?
Lois stared at the screen in disbelief. They’d reported Jimmy and Jack to be suffering from minor gunshot wounds, but nothing serious. Nothing had been reported about Superman. The camera panned out and focused on the crowd of people around the Metro Club. One face, in particular, caught her attention. She couldn’t quite place it. The expression on the woman’s face seemed to be satisfied rather than concerned. She looked so familiar…
The phone next to her rang and she jumped, startled. “Hello?” The sound of Dr. Klein’s voice on the other end calmed her nerves. “What? Okay. Yeah, I’ll… I’ll be right there.” She glanced at the sleeping baby next to her in concern as she hung up the phone.
She gently picked him up and carried him with her out to the Jeep. That morning, she and Clark had gone shopping for everything they needed for Jordan, car seat, diapers, clothes, formula, baby food, toys, etc… This would be her first time taking Jordan out with her in public. She wondered briefly how he would react. As of right now, he was asleep without a care in the world. Would he be upset with her for taking him out during his nap? She had no idea what to expect. She gathered her things along with Jordan’s diaper bag Clark had put together that morning and headed to S.T.A.R. Labs.
***
Turner took a long puff from his cigar, examining the view from his penthouse. “Not as good as it once was, but it’ll do.” He mused.
“I’m sure it will,” Nigel said, stepping out from the shadows.
Turner smiled at him warmly, “Do come in.” He said sarcastically.
“I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around something for the last month; ever since you came to town,” Nigel said, pacing in front of him. “How is it that a nobody such as yourself that no one has heard of is able to do so much on so little?”
“I guess it’s just luck.” James Turner smiled with a shrug, turning away from Nigel.
“No, it’s more than luck. You act as if you’ve been doing this for years... I’ve run a background check on you.”
“Have you?” Turner smiled, turning back to face him, “Anything interesting?”
“You don’t exist,” Nigel said stepping forward to face him. “Who are you…. Really?”
“My name is James Turner.” Turner smiled back at him.
Nigel met his eyes with a steely gaze. His gaze was met with an, even more, sinister one. Nigel took a step back then smiled, slightly amused. “So, do tell me. How did you survive, Lex?” Turner seemed slightly taken aback, but Nigel continued, “I worked with you for years. Do you really think I don’t know you?”
“Having a suspicion and being able to prove it are two entirely different things, Nigel,” Turned said airily.
“Yes, indeed, I see I taught you well, Lex.” Nigel smiled as Turner tensed up once more when he used the name ‘Lex.’
“You?” Turner stepped towards him, staring him down. “Nobody has taught me anything. I was running things smoothly before I ever had a thought about you!”
“I wasn’t the one dumb enough to lose everything for a woman! Obviously, you weren’t educated on that chapter in business school.”
“Enough of this.” Turner sniffed, stepping away from him.
“The Lex Luthor I knew never backed down from a challenge.”
“Oh, and what challenge would that be?” Turner asked.
***
TBC...
