When Churches Come Crashing Down
Folc4evernaday
Part 33
***
One Month Later…
“What is all this?” Lucy asked when she entered Mayson’s office. Every book on unknown meteorites and radioactive substances covered her desk.
“I’m just doing a little research,” Mayson replied nonchAllantly as she looked up at Lucy, “What’s up?”
“Status update on the current fugitives,” Lucy said handing her a thick file.
“Thanks,” Mayson nodded, waving her off. Lucy figured it was her cue to leave.
***
“ACL Industries file.” Jimmy handed Lois and Clark a large file.
“Is this everything?” Lois asked surprised.
“Yes,” Jimmy shook his head, “ACL Industries was set up about seven years ago by the one and only Lex Luthor after his divorce as an alimony fund for an Arianna Carlin,” He read off the marriage certificate.
“Any idea where this Arianna Carlin is now?” Lois asked, taking the file from him.
“Not that I can tell, but they do keep coming up with our research into Intergang. So maybe she or someone she works with is trying to make a play for power?”
“What is it with Luthors and Metropolis?” Lois asked, shaking her head.
“I guess in a way Luthor will always be haunting Metropolis,” Jimmy said glumly.
“No kidding,” Clark said shaking his head.
Lois noticed Jimmy’s hesitancy to leave and placed the file on her desk, looking up at him patiently, “What is it, Jimmy?”
“I was just wondering, you guys are pretty close with Superman, right? I mean, you talk?” Jimmy asked.
Clark fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair. Lois smiled up at him, “Yeah, why?”
“I was just wondering if you knew what was going on with him? I mean he hasn’t shown up for any calls for help in the last few days.” Jimmy edged.
“Maybe he’s been busy?” Lois suggested.
“With what? There has been no sign of him on the radar in Metropolis or anywhere else. No one has seen the double either.” Jimmy explained. “It’s weird,”
Lois shot a wayward glance at Clark who was looking extremely uncomfortable at the moment. “I’ll say. We’ll look into it, Jimmy,”
“Tell him we miss him,” Jimmy said with a smile before he got up to head towards his desk.
Lois nodded, watching her young friend leave before she turned to confront Clark. “Something you want to tell me?”
***
Sarah opened her Rolodex, flipping from category to category only to find it empty. She opened up her file cabinet, hoping to find some reference to the contact she was looking for only to find it empty as well. “What is going on here?” She muttered under her breath.
Her computer beeped, announcing the arrival of a new message. She clicked on the box that popped up and read the e-mail, “Metropolis Library. Urgent.”
“What the hell?” She wondered aloud.
***
“Is this really necessary?” Toni Taylor asked irritably as she tapped her fingernails against the wood grain of the conference table.
“You want to keep your attacker in prison, don’t you?” Lucy asked, taking a seat across from her.
“Well, she isn’t in prison, is she?” Toni asked sarcastically.
“We need to know of everything she’s said to you, Ms. Taylor. When she is rearrested… And she WILL be rearrested we can charge her with aggravated stalking and add an additional sentence.”
“You need to keep her away from me,” Toni ordered. “I have too much going on; I can’t deal with this nutcase trying to come after me. If you people were doing your job…”
“I understand you’re upset,”
“Upset? Upset doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. I’m a slave to this city because you and your police department don’t know how to keep criminals where they belong,” Toni snapped testily, “Can we just get this stupid deposition over with?”
“Fine,” Lucy nodded, pulling out her notebook. She nodded at the recorder that sat on the other side of the room watching her and Toni Taylor with an amused expression. “Let’s begin. This is Lucy Lane, Assistant District Attorney’s Office Metropolis, New Troy…”
***
Lois sat calmly, tapping her fingers against the wood grain of the conference table. She’d listened to Clark’s reasoning for giving up his alter ego. He was convinced it would protect her, Jordan, and their daughter. She could feel anger coursing through her veins and she willed herself to calm down; knowing the orders she’d had from both her doctor and Perry. She was already limited on how many days she was allowed to work; she didn’t want to push herself over something so frivolous.
Clark had made boneheaded decisions before. He was obviously going to make them again and again until he learned. She felt a sharp kick in her side, reminding her of the main reason to keep herself calm. She was pregnant. She had to be responsible. She couldn’t just fly off the handle like she wanted to; and she really wanted to. What was he thinking?
“Are you going to say anything?” Clark asked.
“No,” She shook her head quietly.
“You’re mad,”
She shrugged, “What’s there to be mad about? You don’t want to have an alter ego anymore. That’s your decision,”
“Lois, I know you’re mad. Please, just go ahead,” he pleaded, “Yell at me all you want,”
“No,” She shook her head, “I may not agree with your decision, but I can’t make you do something you don’t want to do,”
“Really?” He looked at her skeptically. He obviously wasn’t buying the calm she was attempting to portray.
“Really,” She nodded, “Now, I do have something to say about you not telling me, though,”
“Oh, here it comes,”
“You made this decision and you didn’t even tell me? What happened to partnership; and us being a team?”
“I…” Clark began but she cut him off.
She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as she continued her rant, “I mean, when were you planning on telling me; when I was thrown out of an airplane again? ‘Oh, sorry, honey, I forgot to mention I don’t do that anymore?’”
“I wouldn’t let anything like that happen; you know that, Lois,”
Sarcasm dripped from her words as she spoke, “Really? You said yourself you weren’t going to BE Superman anymore; so how exactly would you stop that? Let’s forget about me for a minute. What if it was someone else? Jimmy? Lucy? Perry? I mean, seriously, Clark, what are you going to do if Superman isn’t there? You can’t rescue anyone without revealing yourself! You’re seriously going to turn your back on…on…”
“See? I knew you were gonna be mad about this,” He shook his head.
Lois stood up, slamming her hands against the table, “You’re damn right I’m mad. I can’t believe you would just roll over like this. You’re just giving up?”
“No, I’m not giving up,”
“Then what would you call it?” She asked tears in her eyes. “Because to me it looks like you’re running away and hiding so you don’t have to deal with the problem,”
“I’m not turning my back on anything; I’m making a choice. I’m not going to put you or Jordan or our daughter at risk because of a choice I made.”
“A choice YOU made? I made the same choice when I chose to marry you, Clark. You don’t think I know the risks? YOU are the one making decisions like this without even talking to ME.” She shook her head in disgust. “Nice to know where I stand, though,” She crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head.
***
Amanda heard footsteps coming towards the computer lounge in the Metropolis Library. She hadn’t planned on how her approach would be. When she’d seen Sarah Doughtery she’d recognized her in an instant. The specials on Top Copy Dianna Stride reported were always her favorites. It hadn’t been a huge leap to guess she’d gone into hiding after the incident at S.T.A.R Labs. She had been surprised by how close to home Dianna had gone into hiding. She was working at the same company she had before. How did no one recognize her?
“I don’t suppose you know anything about this?” Sarah asked, holding up a printed copy of the e-mail she received when she closed the door to the computer lounge.
Amanda smiled, standing to her feet. “Nice to see you, Dianna,”
“What did you just call me?”
“Might want to make yourself comfortable,” Amanda gestured to the seat next to her. “We have some business to discuss,”
***
Lucy flipped through the police report in front of her, “So, he turned himself in?”
“Yeah,” Henderson nodded. “He was very cooperative. He claims the clone was working on its own.”
“Clone?”
“The Superman double?” Henderson prodded.
“Oh, right,” She nodded, realizing what he was referring to. “So, what now?”
“It’s up to Mr. Knox and the judge. Do they want to charge him with escape or not? He still has to face the charges of kidnapping,”
“He didn’t do that,” Lucy argued. “He wouldn’t,”
“Like I said, he’s gonna have to go to court and face the music first.” Henderson shrugged.
***
“You can’t extort me into helping you,” Dianna sneered.
“Oh, I believe I can,” Amanda tapped her hand against the large stack of file folders in front of her. “Your files are very interesting. Every detail on every contact you have made with Intergang.”
“What makes you think I won’t just kill you?”
“Because you’re a smart woman. You know I wouldn’t have called you down here without covering my bases first. I’ve made copies.”
“I’m sure,” Dianna crossed her arms over her chest.
“You know it’s a nice touch; blackmailing Superman by threatening to reveal his identity. You don’t even know it; do you?”
“I…”
“If I had information like that I’d have already pulled the card out. You don’t have any proof. You think you know, but you don’t have anything. Any world famous journalist knows better than to be the first one to point the finger without any proof,”
“You don’t know anything about the game, Ms. Marshall, you’re a nurse.”
“Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d think you’d choose something a bit more creative than evasive stories about Superman’s supposed secret identity in order to boost your ratings. People are going to get tired of the games and start a riot. They’re gonna want someone to blame and that person is you. What good is that going to do when you’re supposed to be lying low?”
***
Jack picked up an unmarked package on his desk. He wasn’t sure where it had come from or who it was for. There was no address or return address. It was simply marked as ‘private’. Too bad he had a hard time respecting other people’s privacy.
***
Turner stared at his reflection in the mirror. Everything he’d worked so hard for had been taken from him. His power; good name; his face and even his name. He had lost so much over the last year, but he was determined to get it back; no matter what. Lucy Lane had played him for a fool, refusing him over that gofer, Jimmy Olsen. He would soon return the favor. Everyone that had wronged him would feel what he felt; loss.
He smashed his fist through the reflection staring back at him; a reflection he did not know; that no one knew. James Turner would create the same stronghold on Metropolis that Lex Luthor had and no one would be able to stop him from having what he wanted most; revenge.
***
Lucy stared expectantly at her sister, uncertain of how she would react and how to brace herself. They were sitting in her office and she had just told her about their father’s re-arrest. Would she be upset; angry; relieved? There was no telling with Lois anymore. Her emotions had been on a roller coaster ever since last year. Everything that had happened that day when the Daily Planet had been bombed had changed her sister in more ways than she cared to admit. The rift between them that had built when Jordan had been kidnapped had been hard to repair, but slowly they were beginning to repair the damage. She just hoped she wasn’t due for another fight with her sister.
“Can you say something; please?” Lucy pleaded, watching Lois expectantly.
“I don’t know what to say,” Lois shook her head, “I can’t believe it,”
“I know,” Lucy replied, “Daddy just turned himself in; now he’s waiting to go to trial,”
“Any idea what the judge is going to do?” Lois asked.
“No,”
Lois pulled out the folder Jimmy had given them, “I think you should have a look at this. I don’t think it’ll compromise you any since you’re not involved in dad’s case,”
“What is it?”
“There’s a lot he’s hiding,”
Lucy flipped open the folder, skimming through the files, “Where did you get this?”
“Jimmy,” Lois said hoarsely.
***
Nothing.
Mayson had done research on every type of stone and metal she could find, but nothing seemed to match the description of what she’d seen in that room. She could still feel her skin crawl and the cold sweats from when she was trapped in that cage. That horrible cage.
She had to figure out what she had been exposed to. The threats that had been made to her during her captivity continued to haunt her, but also made her more and more determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice.
***
“You are being ridiculous, Lucy, I’m fine,” Lois argued. She sat on the exam table as Dr. Lee checked her blood pressure once more.
“Dizzy spells don’t count as ‘fine’ to me,” Lucy snapped back.
Dr. Lee removed the armband and glanced at the blood pressure monitor once more shaking her head, “No, they don’t,” She interrupted the sister’s argument. “What part of ‘take it easy’ are you not understanding? Your blood pressure is ridiculous.”
“I am taking it easy,” Lois argued. Lucy let out a sarcastic scoff and Lois shot her a glare, “I am!”
Dr. Lee shook her head, not believing her, “Once a week,” She ordered firmly, “I want you in my office once a week so we can monitor you and the baby’s blood pressure. No stress. If you’re going to work; desk duty only,”
“But…”
“No,” Dr. Lee cut her off, “I’ll see you next week,” She then left the room, leaving Lois and Lucy to continue their argument in peace.
“Great,” Lois muttered. “Why did you have to drag me to the hospital?”
“You were the one complaining about being dizzy,” Lucy reminded her. “It’s not that bad. Last time you let your blood pressure get so bad you went unconscious; I wasn’t going to allow that to happen again,”
Lois closed her eyes, willing herself to calm down. “I know, I know. I just hate this place,”
“I know, sis,” Lucy sighed, putting an arm around her sister’s shoulders, “Come on, let’s get you out of here,”
***
“Oh, Pookie, you’re such a charmer,” Mindy blushed, leaning up to kiss him. This mysterious stranger that had shown up after Cost Mart’s reopening ceremony had been a yummy surprise when her driver had had trouble changing her car tires. How did all tires go flat all at once? It was a bit coincidental, but she didn’t want to think about that now.
She’d been a widow for a few months and it had been a long time since she’d seen any man worth pursuing.
He pulled back from her, lifting up a glass of red wine, “A toast,” He offered, “To fate,”
“To fate,” She agreed, clinking their glasses together.
***
Clark skimmed through his latest article, tapping his pencil against his desk. He hated fighting with Lois. It had been two hours since she’d left and she hadn’t given any hint as to where she was going. He knew better than to go out looking for her; she’d only get angrier at him, but given her knack for getting into trouble he couldn’t help but be concerned.
Perry had assigned him to cover the reopening of Cost Mart under ‘new’ management. He wasn’t sure how much he was buying the words of Bill Church’s widow and there was something off about James Turner. He wasn’t sure if he’d go as far as Lucy had in her accusation that he was like Luthor, but there was something that didn’t sit right with him. He couldn’t put his finger on it but something about him felt familiar and not in a good way.
The elevator dinged. He looked up, startled, expecting to see Lois. Jack exited the elevator carrying a large manila envelope in his arms. “Jack,” He called as the young man made his way down the steps that lead into the bullpen, “what are you doing here?”
Jack grimaced, but took a moment to force a smile in his direction, “Hey, Clark, is Jimmy around?” He scanned the newsroom nervously.
“Maybe,” Clark said hesitantly. Jack seemed distracted as he continued to look around for Jimmy, “What’s up?”
“I really don’t know,” Jack shifted nervously under Clark’s gaze.
Jimmy approached Jack from behind, carrying a file folder of his own, “Hey, Jack, what are you doing here?”
“I was just wondering the same thing,” Clark gave Jack a look, “Mind telling me what’s going on here?”
Jimmy looked from Clark to Jack’s nervous expression, “CK’s cool Jack. They already know.”
“Know what?” Clark asked.
“A lot more than what we thought,” Jack said, handing the folder to Clark. “It came this morning; unmarked.”
***
Mindy Church rested her head against the soft plush cushions of her loveseat. She nursed her drink as she felt the serenity of sleep overtake her. It was a strange fog that overtook her. She couldn’t quite place it, but the feeling was so familiar…
***
“You are so stubborn,” Lucy sighed, following Lois out of the elevator and into the newsroom.
“And you’re overbearing,” Lois shot back, taking a seat at her desk. “You didn’t have to follow me in.”
“Everything okay over here?” Jimmy asked, walking up to them.
“Fine,” Lois said haughtily.
“Absolutely,” Lucy nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Great,” Jimmy said, looking back and forth between them. “I think we got some more on the Intergang angle.”
“What kind of angle?” Lucy asked. Jimmy’s body language changed slightly, stiffening as she spoke to him. Lucy arched her eyebrow at him, “Something wrong?”
“I’m fine,” Jimmy said hurriedly.
Lois sensed quite a bit of tension in the air between Jimmy and Lucy. She had thought they had worked their differences out, but apparently not. She spotted Clark and Jack exiting out of the conference room, heading their way. She felt bad for the way she’d blown up at him earlier. It couldn’t be easy making a decision like this. She placed a protective hand over her abdomen. She’d had to make many decisions in regards to her family’s safety over the past year. She’d allowed her career to suffer and buried herself into the search for her son. Clark had pleaded with her to stop, but she had known what she was doing was right. Maybe she should give Clark the benefit of the doubt?
“Hey, you’re back,” Clark said walking up to them.
“Yeah,” Lois smiled half-heartedly at him. “I went to check on Lucy, and found out daddy turned himself in this morning,”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Clark asked skeptically.
“Depends on how you look at it,” Lucy said, “What’s this angle Jimmy’s being so evasive about?”
“Well, it does concern your father so you might as well know,” Jack spoke up, handing her the manila envelope.
“What is this?”
“Your copy,” Clark said, shaking his head. “Fun reading,”
“Translation?” Lucy prompted.
“Intergang’s file on your father,” Clark supplied with a tight-lipped expression.
“Oh,” Lucy sank down into the seat next to Lois’ desk. “Should I bring Mayson the file?”
“Read it and see what you want to do with it,” Clark answered. “Some things you may not want a part of public record.”
***
“Is it done?” Turner asked, closing the door to his office.
Dan smiled proudly, taking a seat in the large plush chair across from Lex’s desk. “She didn’t even see it coming.”
“Excellent,” Turner mused, “Be sure she didn’t suspect a thing,”
“No,” Dan shook his head. “I was in disguise so she didn’t recognize me.”
“Pretty soon we should be mourning the tragic loss of my partner. I will, of course, give a speech of my condolences as I inherit every penny in her name.”
“You’re in her will?” Dan asked, amused.
“Business arrangement,” He smiled.
***
“I can’t believe he turned himself in,” Lois sighed, rolled her neck lightly as she brushed her suit jacket off her shoulders. “I mean, I’m happy that he did, but still,”
“I know, I was surprised to hear…What is this?” Clark asked, pointing to the puncture mark on her shoulder with a mild bruise around it.
She grimaced slightly. She’d forgotten to mention her and Lucy’s side trip to Dr. Lee’s this afternoon, “It’s nothing,”
“That doesn’t look like nothing,” He said, leaning down to take a closer look.
“It’s just from when they took some blood from me; it's fine.”
“That was over a week ago. It’s still bruised,” Clark argued.
“It was from this afternoon,” Lois said quietly.
“This afternoon??” Clark asked, confused.
“I had gone over to Lucy’s earlier this afternoon. She overreacted when I started having a mild dizzy spell and ordered me to go the hospital,”
“You were at the hospital?” Clark asked, edgily. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Lucy was paranoid. I’m fine. The baby’s fine.” Lois reassured, placing his hand over her abdomen for emphasis.
“What did the doctor say?” Clark asked, ignoring her reassurances.
“I need to watch my stress levels,” She smiled up at him. He sighed, raking a hand through his hair as he began to pace, “Clark, I’m fine,”
“You keep saying that, but you forget you were ‘fine’ until you passed out from all the stress you had been under. I’m not going to let that happen again.”
“I’m not going to let that happen again either,” She reassured him. “Seriously, it was nothing.” She placed a hand on his chest, resting her head against it.
“That’s just it,” He said, shaking his head, “It’s not 'nothing' to me. You should have told me,”
Lois sighed, “I got sidetracked with everything going on when I got back. It slipped my mind until now,”
“You have to be more careful,” He said, shaking his head. “There are too many anomalies with this pregnancy. We still don’t know much about…” Lois placed a hand over his lips to keep him from talking further.
“I know,” She said shakily. The more he spoke the more she felt the small doubts and fears creeping up to the forefront of her mind. “I’m fine; the baby’s fine. Can’t that be enough for now?”
***
Lucy waited outside the Daily Planet, tapping her shoe against the pavement as she waited for the light to change so she could cross the street to the parking garage. Jimmy stepped out of the Daily Planet lobby, looking around nervously before quietly asking, “You need a lift?”
“Hah, he speaks,” She said sarcastically.
Jimmy rolled his eyes, “You don’t have to get sarcastic with me, Luce,”
“You’ve been ignoring me all day. I got more conversation out of your friend, Jack than you,” Lucy spat, “So pardon me if I’m not jumping for joy at our little conversation at the end of the night.”
“Yeah, well, pardon me if I’m not jumping for joy at your relationship with some other guy!” Jimmy spat back.
“What are you talking about?” Lucy fumed angrily.
“The guy at your apartment?”
“What; are you stalking me now?” Lucy asked angrily.
“Call it bad timing.” Jimmy corrected. “You can’t give us a chance but you’re jumping into bed with...”
She slapped him across the face as hard as she could, “How dare you!” She looked up to see the light had changed. She glared at him, “Stay the hell away from me,”
***
“Nah, Nah,” Jordan argued when Lois laid him down in his bed to go to sleep.
“Yes, yes,” Lois argued back. “Bedtime,”
“Nah, Nah,” Jordan finished, a cross expression on his face as he folded his arms over his chest.
Clark couldn’t help but laugh, “About as stubborn as you,”
“Bed,” Lois repeated when Jordan tried to sit up once more.
“Nah, Nah,”
“You are impossible,” Lois muttered shaking her head. She then glared at Clark who was having a hard time containing his laughter, “And you aren’t helping, daddy,”
Clark knelt down to look at Jordan, “Better do what mommy says, Jordan, she means business,” Jordan threw his hands up in the air as if he was giving up then laid back down in his bed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You are your mother’s son,”
Jordan yawned, rubbing his eyes as he shook his head in defiance, continuing to fight sleep. “Come on, let’s let him get some rest,” Clark ushered her out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
He followed Lois into the bedroom, wrapping his arms around her waist; which seemed to be growing every day. “So, about earlier,”
Lois sighed, stepping out of his arms, “I still don’t agree with it. I think it’s wrong.”
“You think it would be right for someone to put our family on the front page of every tabloid; exposing Jordan and our daughter to that?” Clark asked, following her into the bathroom. He leaned up against the doorframe, watching as she prepared for bed.
“I think it could be dealt with,” Lois said, looking back at him. “I’m not going to say it’s okay for you to just stop doing something that has been a part of you for so long. What kind of example does that teach?” She asked, turning to face him with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Lois,” He breathed.
“I’m never going to be ‘fine’ with you giving up. That’s not you. You’ve never given up on anything from the first time we’d met.”
He smiled broadly, “You were a challenge to keep up with,”
“Were?” She challenged.
“Still are,” He corrected, wrapping his arms around her, “I love you, you know that, right?”
“I never doubted that you did,” She said, linking her arms around his neck, “That you’re willing to sacrifice so much, means so much to me, but you can’t give up Superman. He’s too much a part of you; a part of us and our family,”
“But,” He began to argue but stopped when she placed a finger against his lips.
“No ‘buts’” She said, shaking her head as she stepped out of his arms. “You have a gift that no one else has and you can’t waste it by hiding; afraid of what might happen. You could have been exposed by Lex Luthor so many times when we began going after him, but we weren’t. When we started going after Church there were so many instances where so many things could have gone wrong,”
“Yeah, but Intergang’s still in operation,” Clark pointed out.
“And we’ll bring them down just like we did with Lex,” She said, “but we can’t do that if you’re too busy looking over your shoulder; paranoid about some evasive expose that some nobody keeps threatening. It’s been how many months? Still nothing,”
She pulled her knit top over her head, tossing it into the hamper. She recognized the heat of desire reflecting from her husband’s eyes but continued to change, reaching for the white silk negligee hanging on the back of her vanity chair. “You’re very distracting,” she scolded, turning away from him as she reached behind her to unclasp the fasten to her satin bra.
“Am I?” He asked with a smirk, leaning up against the door frame as he continued to watch her. “Well, I happen to be the one that thinks you, my dear wife are very distracting,” He remarked, reaching out to help remove the strapless bra, replacing it with his palms.
“Clark,” She breathed, leaning back against his solid frame. She gasped in surprise when she felt the effect of both hands gently caressing her breasts with his hands. She glanced hazy eyed into the mirror, watching as their child moved beneath her skin. She smiled back at him, turning her face to look at him. “I’m not that distracting,” She argued.
She removed his hands from her, reaching once more for the negligee that had fallen to the ground when he had surprised her. She unzipped the zipper to her skirt, allowing it to pool around her ankles as it fell to the ground. She stepped out of the dark fabric, kicking it to the side.
“Very very distracting,” He murmured, leaning in to capture her lips with his.
.***
“Any idea what happened?” Henderson asked as he watched the ambulance fly out of the parking lot with Mindy Church’s body inside.
“I don’t know,” Wolf shook his head. “We got a 911 call about Mindy Church being unconscious in her penthouse. The units responded and notified ambulatory services. We’re not sure what exactly happened but it doesn’t look like a break-in. She was alone if that helps,”
“Not really,” Henderson shook his head.
“You want to take a look around?” Wolf pointed to the penthouse above them.
“Let’s do this,” Henderson said, opening the door.
***
TBC...
