When Churches Come Crashing Down
Folc4evernaday
Part 24
***
Lucy Lane rubbed her temples, attempting to calm her nerves after her confrontation with Lana Lang. What had possessed her to confront Lana? She didn’t know. She had blamed herself for months over Jordan’s death; then come to find out he’d never been dead. She’d confided in Lana, and befriended her. Now, she found out Lana had known where Jordan was the whole time.
“Lucy Lane?”
Lucy looked up to see a tall man with glasses and a large clipboard in hand.
“Yes?” Lucy acknowledged.
He laid a package on her desk and smiled, “You’ve just been served.”
***
James Turner stared at the walls of his penthouse as he listened to the cries down the hall of young Jesse Stipanovic. “Doesn’t he ever sleep?” He grumbled angrily.
Over the past month, he had performed test after test to determine what made Jesse super-powered but had still yet to have found the link. Some of his scientists believed Jesse was completely human; others still believed he was fathered by Superman. Either way, his patience for determining how to transfer the boy’s superpowers to himself was wearing thin.
Jesse’s cries grew louder and louder.
“Somebody shut that kid up!!” James hollered.
A whimper down the hall could be heard; then Jesse picked back up on his blood-curdling cries once more.
***
“What do you mean it’s from the fire?” Lois asked, gently caressing the burn on his upper side.
Clark winced as he sat up. She was not going to be happy when she learned he knew he wasn’t one hundred percent when he’d gone into that fire. “I guess, I may not have been exactly a hundred percent when I went in.” He said evasively.
“May not?” Lois challenged, poking the burn once more. He winced in pain.
“Okay, I definitely wasn’t a hundred percent when I went in.” Clark stammered.
“You think?” Lois said sarcastically, pulling away from him. “What were you thinking?”
“I don’t know,” Clark said quietly.
“You don’t…?”
A sharp knock on the front door cut her off, followed by the insistent ringing of the doorbell. “Who in the…?” Lois grabbed her robe and headed downstairs, followed close behind by Clark as she cursed the name of the unknown visitor. She just knew Jordan was going to wake up from the disturbance.
“What?” She barked as she swung the door open.
On the other side of the door stood Lucy Lane with a large manila envelope in her arms, “We need to talk,”
Lucy pushed past her and stepped into the brownstone. Lois glanced at the clock, shaking her head as she noticed the time, “At this time of night? It better be …”
Lucy cut her sister off, “Important? Yeah, it is. Jimmy’s suing me!”
***
“You can’t keep me here!” Miranda fumed as she stared down Detective Wolf, “I just got out of the hospital and you’re accusing me of…”
“Burning down the Metro Club?” Detective Wolf prompted. “You bet. I’m sure that’s just one of the many things on your list of offenses.”
“I want my attorney. I’m not going to let you railroad me for crimes I didn’t commit.”
Detective Wolf smiled, “Sure.” He pointed to the phone on the wall, “Give him a call,”
***
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Clark reassured Lois as they walked up the steps to S.T.A.R. Labs Laboratories.
“I know your parents will take care of him. I mean, I know that in my head, but I still don’t like leaving him,” Lois said as they walked through the double doors, “It just feels too soon to be leaving him like this.”
“This was your idea,” Clark pointed out.
“Well, if anyone can figure out what’s going on with you Dr. Klein can, but that doesn’t mean I’m any more comfortable with leaving Jordan.”
***
“You sure Miranda won’t turn on us?” Mrs. Cox asked.
“She knows what’s at stake,” Nigel reassured her. “Having Miranda in custody right now along with that traitor, Lana Lang suits us right now. How else will we discover what she’s told about our operation and to whom?”
“Miranda’s played both sides, Nigel. How do you know she’s not working for Intergang to bring you down?”
“I don’t.” Nigel said, “All I can do is trust that she won’t betray me over an old flame,”
***
“Anything?” Clark asked, watching Dr. Klein pace around the office as he read the report in his hand.
“We know there is still some radiation in your system, but we don’t know whether that means there’s still Kryptonite in your blood stream or if that’s just the remnants from your last exposure….” Dr. Klein thought aloud as he continued to pace.
“So, what does that mean exactly?” Lois probed.
“It means, Superman is out of commission until we are sure he’s back at a hundred percent,” Dr. Klein said, shooting Clark a warning glare, “I mean it. I don’t want you doing anything ‘super’ until we figure out what’s going on,”
“But…” Clark began to argue.
“I don’t care if you’re rescuing a cat from a tree. The answer is ‘no.’” Dr. Klein warned.
Clark looked at Lois for help, but she just shrugged. He really didn’t like the smug look of satisfaction on her face.
***
“Every test has come back with flying colors. I think we should be ready to do a test run soon.” Dr. Lane said as he read the chart in front of him.
“In Metropolis?” Superman asked.
“Not quite,” Dr. Lane wagged his finger at Superman. “We don’t want to let the competition know what we’re up to too early in the game, do we?”
“I guess not,” Superman said uncertainly.
“Trust me, son, you’ll have your day.” Dr. Lane patted Superman on the back.
***
“You’re going to pay,” Amanda hissed in the chow line behind Lana. Lana could hear her. She knew she could; regardless of her attempt to ignore her. “Do you really think you can betray me the way you did without having to answer for it,”
“Me??” Lana turned to face her, raising her voice, “You are the one that…!”
“What? What?” Amanda continued to egg Lana on.
“Hey, break it up!” The guards intervened, pinning both Amanda and Lana to the ground. “You two know the rules!”
“I oughta kill you for what you did!” Amanda shouted.
“What are you waiting for?” Lana snapped back.
***
“Everything okay?” Clark asked when Lois hung up the phone.
“Mother wants to know why SHE hasn’t been given the privilege of babysitting Jordan yet,” Lois said dryly. “I really need to stop answering that phone,” She took a seat next to him and glanced at the files he had on his desk, “This everything on the Churches?”
“Bill Church and his son had a shared interest in criminal activity.” Clark said, handing her a file, “This is the file on Bill Church Jr’s murder.”
“Kind of weird how father and son die within the same year like that, huh?” Lois asked, scanning the file.
“Well, Bill Church did have heart problems,” Clark reasoned.
“And his son made enemies everywhere,” Lois added in disgust.
“You’re not buying it?” Clark asked.
“Not for a second,”
“So, where do you want to start?” Clark asked, noting that Lois had already pulled out her notebook, getting herself into investigation mode.
“Bill Church Jr was stabbed by Mike Rogers. Bill Church Sr had a heart attack.”
“What’s the connection?”
“They were both neck deep in Intergang. Maybe Bill Church Sr. wasn’t a victim of a bad heart. Maybe he was murdered too.”
Clark caught onto where she was headed and pulled up the Planet’s browser on his desktop, “Okay, let’s find the connection,”
“Lex was obviously an enemy of both of theirs. Competition over territory.”
“But he’s dead,” Clark pointed out the obvious.
“But his henchmen aren’t.”
“No, they’re not,” Henderson said, interrupting them. Lois and Clark turned towards the inspector in surprise.
“Henderson, what are you doing here?” Lois asked.
“I got an update on your kidnappers’ case.” He said, waving a manila envelope in front of him.
“Go on,” Clark prompted.
Henderson shook his head, looking around, “Not here.”
***
“You are such a big boy!” Martha crooned as she watched Jordan crawl in the sandbox. He turned back to look at her and shot her a megawatt smile before turning back to crawl towards his goal: a bright red bucket.
“Martha?” Ellen Lane’s voice reached her ears and Martha turned to see the other grandmother in Jordan’s life.
“Ellen!” Martha smiled up at her.
Ellen took a seat next to Martha, “He’s gotten so big,” She said wistfully.
“I know, we’ve missed so much.” Martha squeezed Ellen’s hand in support.
***
“Breaking and entering,” Dianna said in a sing-song tone as she stepped over the broken glass in the townhome.
“You sure about this?” Her henchman asked as he followed her.
“I’ve got to get some kind of leverage to get out of hiding. When I was investigating Superman Lane and Kent clammed up quicker than anything. They’re hiding something and I’m gonna find out what.”
***
“When did this happen?” Lois asked numbly.
“This morning. I just got the call. The infirmary declared her dead a little after the population’s free time. When the guards went by to check the cells Lana Lang was missing. They found her in the exercise yard choked out.”
“I…” Lois shook her head in shock, “Do-do they have any idea who – who did this?”
“Too soon to tell, but according to the warden, she and Amanda got into a big fight that morning. She’s looking pretty good for it, but things change.” Henderson shrugged.
“Yeah,” Lois nodded.
Clark placed a supportive arm around her shoulders, “Thanks for coming down, Inspector.”
“No problem,” Henderson nodded, “I figured you’d rather hear it from me than the paparazzi.”
***
“Well, well, what do we have here?” Dianna asked as she opened the bookcase that held all of Clark’s Superman suits. “Why on Earth would two well-respected journalists have all these Superman costumes hiding in their living room?”
“Role play?” Her henchman asked.
“Hmmm, don’t you wish,” She shot back, “I’m reaching for a more practical notion. I can already smell the Pulitzer.”
***
“Looks like our pet project has paid off,” Mrs. Cox said as she watched the news station replaying the rescues Superman had been making around the outskirts of the city. “Why didn’t you have him go out of the country if you didn’t want Superman to run into him?”
“Because I didn’t want our reporting duo to recall Lex’s ‘son’ and put two and two together,” Nigel answered snidely, “The idea is to learn from his mistakes.”
***
“I’m not sure I understand what you want me to do,” Dr. Lane stammered.
“Dr. Lane, I know you practice a lot of unorthodox methods. What’s the harm in this?”
“He’s a baby, Mr. Turner,” Sam Lane argued.
“Would you like S.T.A.R. labs to know about your pet project with Superman?” James Turner asked.
“How did you…?”
“I know everything. I see everything. Now. Unless you’d like a visit from the Medical Board of…”
“That’s fine!” Sam Lane interrupted, “That won’t be necessary.”
“Then we’re agreed,” James said smugly, “I want you to drain his superpowers out and give them to me,”
“I’ll get started as soon as I can,” Sam Lane smiled weakly.
“Excellent,” James smiled back, patting Sam on the shoulders, “You’ll see, this is the beginning of a wonderful partnership.”
***
“This can’t be good,” Lois said, surveying the broken glass in the foyer of their townhome.
“Stay here,” Clark ordered before he began to move as close to super speed as he could get and began to check the rest of the home for any damage.
She stepped into the townhome cautiously, surveying the damage. It appeared the only damage had been to the front door and window. Everything else looked exactly how they had left it that morning. Nothing seemed out of place. It was strange.
He reappeared in front of Lois five minutes later, “Nothing’s missing.” He said grimly, “But that still doesn’t explain…” He gestured to the broken glass at his feet.
“Yeah,” Lois said, scrunching her nose up as she surveyed the damage to the foyer, “I guess we should call the police.”
“This doesn’t make any sense. Who would go to the trouble to break and enter, yet not take anything?”
***
“This is a very interesting theory,” Barry laughed as he looked through the file in front of him. “Miss…”
“Doughtery,” She replied coolly, extending her hand to meet his. “Sarah Doughtery.”
“Yes, Ms. Doughtery…” Barry looked up from the file and smiled, “Where exactly did you get this?”
“You won’t know until I’m put on the air.” She replied with a smile.
“You claim to have this mysterious smoking gun that will blow Metropolis out of the water, but you just don’t seem to want to share anything about what this smoking gun is. Whose apartment is this that these pictures were taken in?”
“That would be cheating, Barry. I wouldn’t want to give too much away this early in the game.” She smiled back at him.
***
“Ah!” Jordan squealed in delight as Clark picked him up, tossing him into the air. Jordan smiled up at his dad, reaching up for his spectacle covered eyes, “Whoa, buddy, not so fast.”
Jordan stuck his lower lip out, causing Clark to burst out in laughter. “Sorry, Jay, but those are not to play with.”
He handed Jordan one of the millions of soft plush toys that had been bought over the last year. Even after they’d gotten Jordan back Lois still had a hard time walking into a store without buying him something.
The front door had already been replaced along with the glass pane that had been broken. After answering an hour’s worth of questions from the investigators, Metropolis’ finest finally had left the townhome, giving him and Lois some sort of peace for the night. Lois had opted to take a shower while he got dinner ready. His parents had returned home with Jordan a few minutes afterward. After recalling the events from earlier in the night they had offered their support before his mother had headed upstairs to check on Lois. Afterward, his mom and dad decided to grab a movie, leaving him and Lois with Jordan for a few hours.
Now, here he was watching Jordan attack his glasses while he waited for Lois. She’d been a bit closed off since they’d arrived home. The day had been filled with disappointment. He knew she wanted to see Lana pay for her part in Jordan’s kidnapping, but now that day would never come. It would be just another disappointment for them. The Churches had never paid for their crimes nor had Luthor in the end. They all seemed to have a way of evading justice.
Jordan made another move for his glasses. This time, he let him hold them, hoping this would satisfy his curiosity. “You are just like your mother. Curious about everything.”
Jordan shot him a megawatt smile. He seemed to enjoy the compliment, “You’re not bashful at all, are you?” He teased. Jordan let out a light laugh, fisting his little hand tightly around the right side of his glasses frames. “Yep, just like your mother.”
“What am I guilty of now?” Lois asked, wrapping her arms around him from behind as she placed a kiss on Jordan’s forehead, “Hi, baby. Do you got daddy’s glasses?”
Jordan laughed up at her, “You don’t need those.” She said taking them away.
“Ama, maba, mala,” Jordan blubbered his gibberish talk as Lois handed the glasses back to Clark.
“You don’t say?” Clark smiled down at his son who was very upset about losing his father’s glasses.
“Dinner ready?” Lois asked, looking towards the kitchen.
Clark nodded, “Yeah, it’s in the oven. I was waiting for you to finish.”
“Sorry,” She gave him a peck, “I didn’t mean to take so long.”
He pulled her in for a deeper kiss, “It's fine. Are you okay?”
The shadow that had been over her face when they’d arrived home to a break-in had returned once again. She pulled away from him as she spoke, “I’m fine.”
“Fine?” He asked. “You don’t look it.”
“I just have to come to terms with it. Just because I want someone to pay for something they’ve done doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. It's fine.”
“Honey,” He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him. “You can’t obsess about this. It was a bad thing that happened, but…”
“There’s nothing we can do about it now.” Lois finished for him. “I’m fine. I guess I should probably make sure they keep Amanda Marshall on lock down too. I don’t want her killing herself or dying from a fight. Then no one will have to pay for what they did to Jordan.”
***
“He’s a baby,” Sam Lane’s conscience continued to nag at him as he stared at the vials on the countertop in his office. “I can’t….”
Jesse continued to cry in the background, oblivious to the internal battle Sam was going through.
“Do I make the career move or do I make the good Samaritan move?” He asked himself. Jesse kicked at a stack of papers on Sams’ desk, knocking half his desk’s contents to the ground. He leant down to pick everything up. It was an assortment of reports, lab data, and an old broken picture frame that was covered in dust. He gently brushed the dust off the frame and smiled at the picture. It was an old photo of himself and Ellen with his two girls. They were all grown up now, but he still thought of them as his babies.
He sighed, glancing at Jesse who smiled back at him. He couldn’t with a clear conscience perform any type of experiment on an innocent child like that. He looked at Jesse and he could see his grandson, Jordan looking back at him. He just couldn’t do it. “Don’t worry, buddy, I’m going to get you back home real soon.”
***
“You sure you’re ready for this, kid?” Barry asked, handing Jack a stack of files. “These all have a lot of sensitive information. It might be a bit too much.”
“I watch cable, Mr. Dunning. I’m not gonna break.” Jack replied with a smile.
“Got it,” Barry nodded. “Well, get to work then,”
“You’re the boss,” Jack said with a nod. He watched as Barry left then shook his head, taking a seat at his desk to begin sorting through the files there.
The first file was a case of Elvis impersonators finding love in Elvis, claiming to be Elvis Presley and Lisa Marie reincarnated. Jack couldn’t help but laugh at that. The next file was a cover on the crime growing in Metropolis and Superman yet to have stopped it. Jack scoffed as he read the story. It was ridiculous how people could turn on Superman the way they did. The next was a file of photos with a post-it marked, ‘unknown’. He peeled the post it back and looked at the pictures. That townhome looked oddly familiar….
***
“I hate her,” Lois said, crossing her arms as she pulled the covers over her. She sighed contentedly as Clark’s arm wrapped securely around her. “I don’t know how anyone could do something so awful and try and defend what they did.”
“I don’t know,” Clark sighed, placing a kiss on her forehead as he cupped her cheek. “I don’t think there is any sense in what Amanda or Lana did to Jordan.”
“Do you think she killed Lana?” Lois asked, meeting his gaze. She saw the mixed emotions reflected back towards her. His constant belief that there was good in everyone and his pain over everything they’d suffered because of this woman.
“I can’t answer that,” He said shaking his head. She felt goose bumps begin to rise on her skin when his thumb brushed down her shoulders and back up to her jaw line. “I don’t know what she’s capable of.”
She smiled up at him, linking her arms around his neck, “Well, I guess it’s another case we can look into. Adding another charge to Amanda Marshall’s rap sheet wouldn’t exactly cause me to lose sleep,” She said softly.
“I wouldn’t want you losing sleep on any of this,” He whispered softly, capturing her lips with his. She moaned inaudibly against his lips. His hand traveled down her shoulder once more, caressing the silk of her nightgown as he caressed her soft curves, resting at her hip. He knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on her.
She smiled against his lips as he slowly broke off the kiss, “Oh, really? No losing sleep on crazy baby snatcher?”
He nodded, wrapping his arms more securely around her as he rolled himself on top of her, “It’s a rule,” He whispered mischievously as he blew against her earlobe.
Her eyes lit up, twinkling with mischief, “A rule, huh?”
He nodded, “You are the one that started making rules.” He slinked his body downward until he was eye level with her abdomen. He lifted up the hem of her silk negligee and placed a kiss against the slight bump beneath, “You are so lucky,” He whispered.
“Lucky?” Lois asked, surprised, looking down at him.
He nodded, “Not every child has the benefit of having you as their mother.” He whispered, placing another kiss on her abdomen. “Our children are so lucky to have you, Lois.”
Lois smiled at him. She could feel the sting behind her eyes of unshed tears forming. It still amazed her how easily Clark could make her melt with just a few words or an expression on his face.
She was speechless. She opened her mouth to attempt a response only to have it captured by his once more. She wrapped her arms around him, gliding her ankle up and down the back of his calf, eliciting a moan of pleasure from him. She groaned in approval as she felt the vibration of his moan against her lips. His hands slowly inched up and down her thighs, inching the hem of her negligee farther and farther upward.
***
The sharp click of her heels echoed through the corridor as she made herself towards the visitor’s room. The walls were dreary, painted with years of sorrow and rage from its inmates. She shivered involuntarily as a chill ran down her spine. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought she’d get a call like this.
The door buzzed open and the guard opened it for her, “Ms. Lane,” He nodded courteously towards her as she stepped into the room.
The door closed behind her and she looked around the small room. In the middle of the room, a table and two chairs stood opposite of one another. The familiar man sat in one chair, looking up at her shamefully, “Lucy, I can explain…”
Anger coursed through her as she listened to the familiar words escape from her father’s lips. She’s heard it all before. The affairs. The fights. The women. Why his practice came before his family? She’d had it.
“Explain? What’s there to explain? You kidnapped that little boy…”
“No, I didn’t….” He stammered, “I swear…”
“Please, don’t. Not on my account.” She shook her head, “If you didn’t kidnap him then that means you were working with someone that did. What did you do to him?” Her hands instinctually rested on her abdomen where her unborn child was growing. “That makes you an accessory. Do you understand what that means?”
***
A hard knock echoed through the townhome. Clark glanced at the clock as he finished tying his tie. Lois was in the bathroom giving Jordan a bath. He headed downstairs to answer the front door. He was met by a very irritated Lucy Lane, “Lucy, it's 6am…” he began.
Lucy stepped inside looking around. “I know. I’ve been up since 4am. Where’s Lois?”
“Giving Jordan a bath,” Clark said, pointing upstairs as he closed the door behind her.
“I’ll wait,” Lucy said, taking a seat in the living room.
“Okay,” Clark sighed, “You want some coffee or tea?”
“No, just my sister,” Lois said shaking her head. “I don’t think I could eat or drink anything right now.”
Clark nodded, “I’ll go get her,” He headed upstairs to let Lois know Lucy was here, unsure of what could be so important at six in the morning.
***
“Exactly why should I trust a word out of your mouth?” Mindy Church asked, puffing on her cigar slowly as she leaned back in her chair. This man had approached her at one of Cost Mart’s fundraisers. He’d promised her he’d be able to double her income. She’d been intrigued but suspicious at the same time.
“Why would I have a reason to lie to you?” He asked, placing a hand over hers. “I only have your interest in mind. I wouldn’t want James to do something ….distasteful to a creature so…”
She blushed, “Go on,” She encouraged, batting her eyelashes at him.
“Elegant,” He finished with a smile.
She arched her eyebrow at his use of adjective but covered her face with a broad smile, “Well, Mr. St. John, I’m not used to such compliments.”
“I’m full of them, Mrs. Church, but I do have your interest at heart. If anything were to happen to you James Turner would reap all the benefits. All your businesses. All your money…”
“You do have a point,” She said grudgingly, “but the point you make would also be true in the reverse.”
“Reverse?” Nigel asked curiously.
“If anything were to happen to Mr. Turner I’d inherit all his assets. We are, after all, 50-50 partners.” She smiled as she took another puff on her cigar, “So far, I’ve yet to see any reason to take Turner out. If that changes I’ll keep you in mind,”
***
“I don’t think I understand,” Clark shook his head as he listened to the story for what felt like the thousandth time as they stepped into the newsroom together, “Your FATHER had Jesse?”
“He turned him into Inspector Henderson and he was arrested. He’s unwilling to talk or tell anyone where he got Jesse so they’re charging him with kidnapping.” Lucy explained slowly.
“But, how? Why?” Clark stammered, “This doesn’t make any sense.”
“When does anything ever make any sense?” Lois countered.
Jimmy walked by them with the morning edition of the Planet in his hands. He stopped in front of them with a sorrowful expression on his face, “Hey, guys, I’m sorry to hear about your…” He saw Lucy and stopped, “Hey, Luce,”
Lucy ignored him, “Did you hear something?” Lois and Clark exchanged a look.
“Whatever, Lucy,” Jimmy muttered.
“Oh, there it is again,” Lucy said, continuing to ignore Jimmy.
Jimmy opened his mouth to say something but Lois cut him off. She held her hands up and cut him off, “I don’t want to hear it. What I do want is for you to find out everything you can about what he is or was working on in the last six months. I want in on my desk by the end of the day. Got it?”
Jimmy nodded, “Yeah, I’m on it.” He disappeared, heading towards the elevator to escape the explosion he knew was simmering slowly within Lois Lane.
“Thanks,” Lucy sighed, grabbing her things. “I got to get going. I’ll let you know if anything new happens with dad’s case.”
“Thanks, Luce,” Clark said. They both watched Lucy head to the elevators then turned back to one another.
“Was that really necessary?” Clark asked quietly.
“No, probably not,” Lois admitted, “I just don’t have the patience anymore… They’re both in the wrong here.”
“Think they’ll get past this?” Clark asked.
Lois glanced at Jimmy and sighed, “I hope so,”
***
TBC...
