When Churches Come Crashing Down
Folc4evernaday
Part 30
***
Mayson beat on the door of the nearest store she could find. She’d escaped. She’d finally escaped the hell hole she’d been trapped in. She had no idea how long she’d been there. If that woman hadn’t come by and unlocked her cell there was no telling how long she would have been in there.
The door opened, “Can I help you?”
“Mr. Lane,” Mayson sighed in relief, “Please, the green….that man….I”
“Whoa there. Slow down,” He opened the door and gestured for her to enter. “Take a deep breath. Here, I’ll get you something to drink. You don’t look so good, Ms. Drake.”
She nodded, taking a seat at the closest chair available, “Thank you,” She said hoarsely when he handed her the glass of water.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Mike prompted.
“I….A man. I couldn’t …. Locked me inside.” Her voice was cracking as she spoke. It was harder and harder to talk. She had been screaming for help over and over with no answer. She had no idea how this mysterious woman had found her but she was grateful to her.
“Okay, okay,” he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sounds like you’ve been through quite an ordeal. Why don’t I call the police and…”
“No,” She shook her head adamantly, “No one can know about this.”
“But…”
“Please, let me take care of this my way, Mr. Lane.” Mayson pleaded. Mike saw the fear in her eyes. Something had happened that she hadn’t said and he wasn’t one to force anyone to do anything they weren’t comfortable in doing.
***
A cool breeze brushed against her face, awakening Lois Lane from her midnight slumber. She looked around the room, reaching out for the warmth of her husband’s arms only to find an empty space next to her. Startled by the coolness of the sheets she sat up and looked around the room. She spotted the digital clock next to the bed that read ‘4:45.’
It had been awhile since he’d been called away in the middle of the night. The sheets weren’t even warm; so he had to have been gone for awhile now. She reached for the baby monitor on the nightstand and turned up the volume a notch. She let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding when she heard Jordan’s soft breathing on the other side of the monitor.
She pulled the comforter tightly around herself and allowed herself to drift back off to sleep. Things were slowly beginning to go back to normal. Whatever normal was for her and Clark.
***
Smallville always had a calming effect on Clark whether he was just flying over it or visiting his hometown. Even in the dusk of dawn, he could feel the weight of his troubles slowly dissipate as he came in for a landing in the field behind his parents’ farmhouse.
He held the old suitcase he’d traveled to Metropolis firmly in his hands as he approached his old childhood tree house. He’d nicknamed it ‘fortress of solitude’ after spending so much time alone up there contemplating his place in the world and trying to understand why he was so different from those around him. It had taken him years to come to grips with his abilities and find comfort in them to the point of using them to help others.
Superman had been formed to help; now his existence was threatening everything he held dear. The safety of his family depended upon Superman remaining separate from him and Lois. This mysterious threat of exposing him hung over his head; leaving him powerless to stop it. There was one thing he could do to protect his family; he would just have to learn to live without Superman in his life.
***
He quietly closed the window behind him, locking it from the inside. He quickly changed into a t-shirt and sleeping shorts. He turned to look for Lois only to find an empty room. His super hearing picked up her heartbeat in the other room. From the sound of it; she was still asleep. He crossed the bedroom and cautiously entered his son’s bedroom. He smiled at his sleeping wife. She lay in the spare bed they’d put in the room when they’d been planning for all nighters with Jordan.
Jordan was fast asleep in his crib and Lois the same in the bed next to him. He knelt down next to her, softly brushing a strand of hair out of her face. He laid his hand over her right hand that rested on the small bump of her abdomen. He leaned over to plant a kiss on her cheek. The corners of her mouth twitched into a crooked smile. He had to suppress a laugh so as not to wake Jordan.
He laid in the bed next to her, holding her against him as he listened to the soft heartbeats of his wife, his son, and his unborn child. He’d dreamed of this for so long; having a family. It would be worth it to protect them. Anything was worth protecting them.
***
Jimmy stared up at the screen as the newscaster read off the early morning reports on all the criminals that had remained on the loose. The city was officially on lock down All citizens had been given a nine o’clock curfew for public safety. He couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of having a curfew. He hadn’t had a curfew since high school.
“Crazy…” He muttered to no one in particular.
“You can say that again.” Perry grumbled, “What kind of nonsense is this? Curfews? I want to know what in the Sam Hill the mayor is doing about recapturing these criminals.”
“I don’t know, Chief,” Jimmy said, shrugging.
Perry glared at him, “I wonder if there was a way we could find out. Maybe there is something ... Some sort or resource that could tell us what is going on in Metropolis; in the world…” Perry’s eyebrows narrowed even more as he spoke. The sarcasm in his voice was just a hint of how irritated he was with Jimmy at the moment.
“I guess I should probably…” Jimmy motioned to his computer.
“Good idea,” Perry nodded.
Jimmy looked across the newsroom at the sporadic empty desks around him. “Where is everyone?”
“Johnson and Ferrah are at City Hall. Steinhall is at the Police Station and …”
“What about Lois and CK? They’re usually in by now,” Jimmy noted.
“I told them to take the day off,” Perry said gruffly. “With that kidnapper on the loose, I don’t want them trying to stress about that while they’re at work.”
Jimmy laughed, “Somehow I doubt they’re going to go a whole day without working.”
“And that’s how I get my best stories out of them too,” Perry said, letting out a quiet yodel as he headed back to his office.
***
Lois hung up the phone, shaking her head. “That was Lucy,”
“How’s she doing?” Clark asked, dabbing at the cereal that had dribbled out of the side of Jordan’s mouth.
“She said she got a call from Mayson this morning,”
“Mayson?”
“Yeah, and get this. She’s claiming it was just a misunderstanding. She was just visiting friends,”
“Yeah, right,” Clark muttered. “Who’s she trying to cover for?”
“Why would she try to cover this up?” Lois asked.
“Scared probably,” Clark shrugged, pulling Jordan out of his high chair.
“Why? She’s a prosecutor. She puts kidnappers, drug dealers, and murderers away all the time. What could possibly intimidate her? She was trying to go after Superman not too long ago.”
“Don’t remind me,” Clark shook his head at the memory of his dealings with Mayson in the beginning. She’d been convinced Superman was trouble and had done everything in her power to prove it.
“Ama, ma, ma….” Jordan gurgled, reaching out for Lois.
Clark smiled as Lois picked him up, “We could always check with Mayson ourselves, but I don’t think bugging her the day she got home is the best approach.”
“Fine,” Lois shrugged, “We’ll go visit her tomorrow,” She leaned down to kiss Jordan on the cheek, “Isn’t that right? We’ll figure out what Mayson’s hiding? Won’t we?”
“Ah,”
***
The day at the Planet had been fairly uneventful. Jimmy had been holed up in the archives, researching background information for all of the reporters’ stories. He craved for the excitement of being a real reporter and chasing down leads, but his talents had yet to be noticed by Perry White. He’d been able to work on some stories as a reporter but nothing exciting like Lois and Clark. It was the occasional puff pieces and fluff that nobody considered real news. Lois and Clark occasionally let him tag along during their investigations. Lois said he was like a brother to her. He thought of her and Clark as family as well. That’s why it was so hard to sit on information that they needed to know. If his family wasn’t what they seemed he’d want to know, good, bad or ugly.
He sighed, raking a hand through his hair as he took another sip of his coffee. Jack tapped him on the forehead with a pencil, “You all right?”
Jimmy shook his head, “This doesn’t feel right. Lying to everyone like this.”
“We’re not lying,” Jack argued.
“Omission is lying,” Jimmy argued.
“If this gets out before I can figure out everything that’s going on a lot of people could get hurt.”
“They’ll get hurt if they know I knew about this beforehand and didn’t tell them.”
“They’ll understand,” Jack reassured. “They may be mad at first, but in the end, they’ll understand.”
“That’s still hard to believe,” Jimmy said, “I can’t believe Lois’ father is working for Intergang.”
“You think you know people, but appearances can be deceiving. That’s why I want to check this out and make sure this is the real deal before we start blowing the whistle on all of this.”
“How do you know Top Copy isn’t just fabricating stuff to make ratings?” Jimmy asked. “They run with tabloid articles all the time.”
“I don’t,” Jack shrugged, taking a sip of his own coffee. His gaze drifted to the television monitor on the wall. Images of the escaped criminals covered the screen as the newscaster pleaded the police’s case to help catch them.
“You know, it's kinda weird,” Jimmy noted.
“What is?” Jack asked.
“All these criminals have escaped and have been causing havoc throughout Metropolis and Superman hasn’t shown up once to help. Kinda out of character for him,” Jimmy pointed out.
“Maybe he’s been busy,” Jack shrugged.
***
The footage on the television was the same over and over all day. Lois shook her head as she watched the faces of the wanted criminals cross the screen once more. Amanda Marshall had been one of the many escaped criminals that had taken advantage of Clark’s altercation with the Superman double. Both she and Clark thought the Superman double was more likely another clone. They had spent most of the afternoon researching cloning techniques to try and find who may be behind it, but nothing had really come to them yet. The only new name that came up in their search for scientists studying cloning was her father.
“You okay?” Clark asked, whispering in her ear as he nudged her slightly.
She turned to look up at him, “Yeah, I’m fine. This is just…” She shook her head, “Kinda hard to watch,”
“I know.” Clark nodded, pulling her against him.
She rested her hand on his upper thigh, leaning her back against his solid chest. “I guess you haven’t been able to find any sign of these guys?” She asked.
He shook his head, “No, nothing.”
“There hasn’t been anything on that Superman double either,” She commented, leaning her head back against him.
“I know. I’ve got Jimmy running through all of S.T.A.R. Labs reports trying to find anything he can about cloning studies,”
“So, we’re agreed. You think it’s another clone too?” She asked, looking back at him as she turned in his arms to face him.
He nodded, reaching over to click the remote to the television; turning it off. “Enough of that,” He muttered, “I don’t think it’s possible to explain him having all of my powers any other way. He was just as powerful as me; so it looks like whoever was doing cloning experiments has perfected the technique from Dr. Leek’s time.”
“But how would they get your DNA?” Lois asked.
Clark shrugged, “I don’t know. I haven’t been donating any hair to any auctions lately,”
Lois shook her head, “What a mess,”
“You all right?” Clark asked, resting his hand over her rounded abdomen.
“Yeah, I am just frustrated.” Lois sighed. “Are you sure you want to turn that off? There might be an update…”
“Same people on the run for the last four hours. Nothing’s changed,” Clark shook his head in aggravation. He tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. “I can think of so many other things I could be doing rather than listen to that same news report over and over again.” He leaned over to place a kiss against her collarbone, holding her close to him.
She laughed, leaning her head back against him, “I think I felt the baby move.” She whispered in awe, resting her hands over his.
Clark gently moved his hand beneath her knit top, resting his palm against her rounded abdomen. A sharp poke brushed against his palm and he smiled. “Feels kinda like an elbow,” He placed another kiss on her collarbone, marveling at the feel of their unborn child moving beneath his wife’s skin. “That was definitely a foot,”
Lois laughed as he whispered a trail of feather light kisses along her neckline, “Dancing?”
Clark laughed, lifting his head up a moment as he tightened his arms around her, tightening the embrace. “Maybe,” He whispered, placing another kiss against her collarbone. “I think it has more to do with your heart rate picking up,” He felt another kick against his palm then moved his other hand to her chest so he could feel her heart beat. He then placed another kiss against her collarbone once more. Without fail, the baby kicked again, “See?”
***
Lucy shook her head as she read the morning edition of the Daily Planet. The news of Mayson’s reappearance had been everywhere that morning. Mayson had fed the line that she’d been with a friend and hadn’t wanted to be bothered, but Lucy knew better. Her mind was elsewhere and she jumped every time she heard a loud noise. Those weren’t characteristics of someone that had been relaxing for a few days with friends. Something had happened to her and she refused to talk about it; let alone admit it.
She noticed a bouquet of roses sitting on her desk, curious she picked up the card inside the bouquet and read it, “Looking forward to reconnecting.”
It wasn’t signed. “That’s odd,” She muttered.
***
James Turner glared at the reports in front of him angrily. Everything he’d ever owned. Everything he’d ever worked on had been systematically taken from under him by this ACL Industries. He wasn’t sure who was behind this underhanded deceit but they would pay. Lex Luthor had been a name feared throughout Metropolis, but now that he was starting over as James Turner it seemed he would have to teach the city to respect him again.
***
Jimmy stared at the file in front of him, shaking his head. He had been over it and over it. All the evidence pointed to Sam Lane as the doctor that had been working on the ‘subject A.’ The notes described ‘subject A’ as a super powered prototype. It was no coincidence that there was a Superman double flying around Metropolis.
After he’d been given Jack’s file on a possible connection between Sam and Intergang he’d taken the liberty to break into Sam Lane’s office at S.T.A.R. Labs and make copies of his files to see if there was any further proof to link Sam to Intergang. He was hoping he wouldn’t find anything, but this file wasn’t exactly raising his hopes. No one knew what the Superman clone wanted or why he was here.
“Jimmy!” Perry bellowed across the newsroom. Jimmy jumped up and headed for the Chief’s office.
***
Dr. Lee scanned through the chart in her hands before looking up at Lois and Clark who waited patiently for a response from her, “Let’s see,” She read the chart, “It looks like your blood pressure has improved tremendously. Whatever stressors in your life caused your blackouts seem to have left. Have you been feeling the baby move?”
Lois smiled up at Dr. Lee, “It just started to become noticeable this week,”
“Excellent,” She made a note in Lois’ chart, “Well, it looks like you’re about eighteen weeks along.” She commented as she poured. If we are able to see what the baby is, do you want to know the sex of the baby?”
“Yes,” Lois responded enthusiastically before Clark could even open his mouth to respond. He glanced down at Lois who smiled up at him.
“Mmmm hmm. Okay, why don’t you lie back and lift up your gown.” Dr. Lee instructed, “We’re going to do an ultrasound…” She squeezed a gel onto Lois’ abdomen eliciting a squeal of surprise from her. “Sorry. This stuff is a bit cold.”
“No kidding,” Lois muttered.
“Okay, let’s see here.” She pulled out a small round piece that was attached to the ultrasound machine and placed it on Lois’ abdomen. Immediately a quick thumping could be heard throughout the room.
“Sounds like a strong heartbeat.” Dr. Lee commented.
“It’s okay, right?” Lois asked nervously.
“Yes,” Dr. Lee reassured her.
“Everything looks good. Your heart rate and the baby’s heart rate seem to remain at an even level…”
“What about the baby’s sex?” Lois asked.
Dr. Lee laughed, “Yes, let’s see here.” She glanced at the computer next to the bed and began clicking at the screen. They looked at the screen in silence for a moment.
Lois looked up at Clark who had been quiet most of the visit. Could he see? Did he know what it was? The anticipation was killing her.
She turned to the printer and removed a roll of black and white pictures. “Here are your baby pictures.”
“Well? What is it?” Lois asked impatiently.
“Congratulations, from the looks of things you two are the proud parents of a baby girl.” Dr. Lee beamed. She handed Lois a moist towel, “You can use this to clean up,” She then left Lois and Clark alone to look at their sonogram pictures and allow the news to sink in.
***
TBC...
