When Churches Come Crashing Down
Folc4evernaday
Part 39
***
“Bank robbery in progress on Main. Requesting back up.”
The radio call reached Clark’s super hearing, drawing his attention to the suspects that were racing out of the North Metro Bank. He landed outside the bank, grabbing the first suspect by the collar and lifting him up in the air, “Going somewhere?”
A whiff of a strong perfume reached his nostrils, causing him to cough. He held onto the suspect’s collar tightly.
“Hey, why isn’t it working?” One of the suspects asked.
Clark reached out for the accomplice that had just sprayed him. The sound of police sirens approached them. “For your sake, I hope you don’t mind showering in groups,” He said, walking them towards the police officers that approached them. “They’re all yours, officer,”
The officers nodded, taking them into custody. One of the officers, a young brunette that couldn’t be more than 5’5” stared at the first suspect for a minute, “Do we have to lock them up, Superman? He’s kind of cute,”
Clark stared at her aghast, “Officer they were trying to rob the bank,”
“But it could’ve been a mistake, right?” She suggested.
“What?” Clark asked, shocked.
She looked at him with a smile, “Everybody makes mistakes.”
He felt like he was in a nightmare and couldn’t seem to wake up as he watched the young officer unlock the handcuffs she had just placed on the suspect and ask the robber for his phone number. What was going on?
***
“HELP, Superman!!!” Dr. Klein screamed as he ran through the woods, pushing branches out of his way as he continued on his path away from Dr. Mamba who was very much armed.
“No one can hear you, Klein,” Mamba shouted after him. “It’s just you and me. You will tell me how to work that Disruptor…” He called after him.
“Never!” Klein shouted over his shoulder, pushing another branch out of his way.
A sonic boom resonated around him. Dr. Klein turned around to look for the source.
***
“I don’t understand,” Lois said perplexed, looking up at Clark confused.
“Me neither,” Clark said. “It was like all of a sudden the officers weren’t there. Nothing they were saying was making any sense.”
“Did you get a statement from them?” Lois asked.
“Oh, yeah,” He nodded, pulling out his notebook from his suit pocket. “I got an ‘I think he’s cute. Do you think he’d go out with me?’ and let’s not forget, ‘He’s too good-looking to go to jail’ The sad part is that last one came from Officer Jenkins.”
“You’re kidding,” Lois took the notebook from him to read his notes. She shook her head when she read it for herself, “You’re not kidding,”
“Nope,” He shook his head.
“Any idea what it was they tried to spray you with?” Lois asked.
Clark shook his head, “No, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I went ahead and sealed the suit up in a plastic bag for Dr. Klein and went ahead and got whatever it was off of me. Speaking of which, any word?”
Lois pointed at the monitor silently. Images of Dr. Klein with what appeared to be Superman stood at the podium in front of the throng of reporters. “Jimmy and Jenkins are at the press conference. Should be interesting,”
“Does Dr. Klein know he got rescued by an imposter?” Clark asked.
“I don’t think he cares at this point,” Lois said wryly. “Dr. Mamba had him out in the middle of nowhere. Some island in the Pacific,”
“How?” Clark asked.
Lois shrugged, “Who knows?”
“Any word on the weapon that got taken?” He asked.
“Nope,” Lois shook her head.
“We should probably find out from Dr. Klein what that Quantum Disruptor was for,” Clark suggested.
“Ah, great minds think alike,” She teased, patting his arm. She reached for the edge of her desk to stand up. “I was hoping you’d suggest it first.”
“You set me up,” Clark accused.
“And you walked right into it,” Lois smiled back at him. “Come on; let’s head over there before he leaves,”
***
Jimmy sat at the bar, staring at the empty shot glass in front of him. It had been a long day. He had gotten a call earlier from Ellen Lane. She had ended up, checking Lucy back into the hospital after her meltdown in the middle of the department store. She’d finally done what he’d wanted; dealt with the pain from losing their son. Now, he wished she hadn’t. The doctors had said if she didn’t show signs of getting better they would refer her to Shady Brook. He knew that was the last place she needed to be.
“Hey, Jimmy, congratulations on your first headliner!” Allan took a seat next to him and patted Jimmy on the shoulder, “It’s not every day you get one of your photos on the front page.” He motioned to the bartender, “I’ll have a beer,”
“Hey, man, what’s up?” Jimmy smiled weakly at his friend.
“How you doing?” Allan asked.
“Fine,” He sighed, raking a hand through his hair, “I’m just fine,”
Allan placed a supportive hand on his shoulder, “You don’t look fine. You okay?”
Jimmy shook his head. “I’m fine, really,” He said, reaching for his coat. “I gotta go.”
“All right, g’night,” Allan called after him.
***
Lois laid on the couch with her ankles propped up against Clark’s thigh as he read over their notes for their story on Dr. Klein’s abduction. Jordan was fighting sleep as Lois held him close.
“I’m still a bit confused,” Clark said, tossing their notes on the table in front of him. “Dr. Klein said this Dr. Mamba was chasing after him. Why didn’t the clone grab him?”
“I don’t know,” Lois shrugged. “Dr. Klein said he was tired. Maybe there was more going on and he just forgot?”
“You think we should ask Perry for another day on this?” Clark asked.
Lois shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the end of the world. I mean, we already have the main story in tonight’s edition. This is just the follow-up. I’m sure Perry would understand.”
Clark nodded, glancing at Jordan as he lifted his head, rubbing his face against Lois’ sweater, “He’s still fighting it,”
“Stubborn,” Lois commented.
“Like mother like son,” He breathed.
“What was that?” She accused.
“Nothing,” He said, standing up, “I’m going to make some coffee. Do you want some?”
“No,” She narrowed her eyes at him, “and I heard what you said by the way,”
Clark laughed, “It’s true,” He called over his shoulder as he stepped into the kitchen.
Lois opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it when Jordan reached up to yank on a strand of her hair. “You need to go to sleep, sweetie.” He just shook his head, pulling on her hair once more. She took her hair out of his tight fist. “This is going to be a long night,” She mumbled.
Clark resumed his seat next to her, placing the cup of coffee on the table in front of him. “It’s been a long day,” He reasoned, gently massaging her ankles. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” She sighed, leaning her head back. “But someone doesn’t want to go to sleep.” She glanced down at Jordan who laughed back at her.
Clark lifted her legs up, sliding closer to her so that the back of her thigh was pressed up against his and her legs rested on his lap. “Here, let me see him,” He picked Jordan up from Lois, resting him against his shoulder, “You need to go to sleep little man.”
“No!” He laughed.
Clark sighed. He wasn’t having any more progress than she was. “It’s going to be a long night,” Lois finished for him.
***
‘Quantum Disruptor 2000XLT’ The machine was engraved on the side. It looked dangerous. The trigger seemed the same as any other weapon. There was a large cylinder where the barrel of the weapon was. Sixteen holes with plastic over them held sixteen lights. There was a latch for loading ammo on the side.
Turner opened the latch and placed a large glowing green cylinder inside. “It’s perfect.” He crooned.
“It wasn’t easy.” Dr. Mamba said, counting his money. “I was surprised I was able to get away as fast as I was; with Superman there.”
Turner laughed, “That wasn’t Superman,” He corrected.
“Then…”
He patted him on the shoulder. “You have a lot to learn, Isaac. How soon can you get this operational?”
“We’ll see,” He said, taking the weapon from her, opening it up to examine.
***
Mayson sat on the bed next to Lucy, uncertain of what to do. Lucy had been crying the entire time she’d been there. Ellen Lane refused to leave the room. Lucy couldn’t stop. She kept crying for someone to make it stop but nothing seemed to work.
“Please please make it stop,” Lucy begged.
“Luce, this is something you have to go through. There’s nothing I can do that can…”
“Just get me something! Some kind of pill or...or…” She fell into a fit of tears again.
Mayson jumped up when she heard a knock at the door. She raced to answer the door. She sighed in relief when she saw Lois on the other side of the door, “Lois, come in,”
“How is she?” She asked, entering the room as she spoke.
“Am I dealing with my grief enough for you now???” Lucy cried angrily.
Lois stared at her a moment, uncertain of what to do. She turned to look for Mayson, but she had already left. “I…”
Ellen Lane looked up from her magazine and shook her head, “Even her friends can’t stand to be around her right now. I’m not sure what makes you think you have a shot,”
Lucy sat on the hospital bed, curled up in a ball as she cried. “I can’t ….” She cried, “…stop.”
Lois stepped towards her and Ellen looked up from her magazine, warning him, “Lois, she doesn’t want to be touched,”
She ignored the warning and sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her. She fought her at first, flinching slightly, but eventually she allowed Lois to hold her as she cried. It was important that she let this out. She hadn’t grieved. She hadn’t cried when her wedding to Luthor had blown up in her face. There had been a handful of tears but nothing like this. She hadn’t cried when she and Jimmy had dealt with the paperwork concerning their child’s remains and burying him. She’d been calm. She needed this. She needed to grieve. “I’m here…I’m here….” She whispered to her sister, holding her close.
“I was going to name him …. Jamie….if he was a boy….and Elizabeth….if he was a girl….” Lucy cried uncontrollably.
“It’s okay….Luce….just let it out….” Lois crooned, stroking her sister’s hair as she cried in her arms. Lois turned to her mom who was watching the scene unfold with tears in her eyes, “Call Jimmy…” Ellen nodded, grabbing her phone as she stepped out of the room.
“No….” Lucy cried. “Please don’t leave me…..”
“I’m not going anywhere….” Lois promised, “but right now….you and Jimmy both need to grieve…together. He’s hurting … just like you…. If you don’t let him in…” she shook her head, recalling how she and Clark had drifted apart during the five months after the Planet explosion. She didn’t want that for her sister. “You need to tell him …..You won’t start healing until you both grieve together….trust me…” she said shakily, recalling how she and Clark had been in tears the night they’d first made love after his exposure to red kryptonite had made them end their five-month sexual drought. He had cried as he had kissed the scar where their son had been cut out. It was hard for her to see him so distraught but it was something they both had needed.
***
A large cylinder stood on one side of the room and another across from it. A large computer sat in the middle, connecting the two. Two metal plates stood at the bottom of each cylinder. Arianna pressed a button on the computer and an electrical bolt fired through the cylinder to the other.
She checked the computer to examine the feed she’d just received. “Looks like we’re getting somewhere,”
“What is it?” Mindy Church asked.
“It’s the future,” Arianna smiled. “Imagine having your own set of Superhuman powers. Once we have mastered how to transfer the powers from one being to another we will have an army of super-powered criminals at our disposal. This is the future and this,” She placed a hand on the computer, “is the key,”
***
Jimmy had shown up at the hospital and taken over for Lois, holding her as she cried and told him every dream and every wish she’d had for their child. He cried with her, telling her his dreams. Lois left about an hour afterward, making sure her sister was in good hands. Once she’d gotten home she had found Clark struggling with a very crabby one year old.
It had taken another hour to get Jordan to sleep, but they’d finally succeeded. It had been a long day. Lois had told Clark about how Lucy had finally broken and now the floodgates had been released. Holding her sister as she cried, unable to say or do anything else. Lois had been slightly withdrawn the last few weeks.
Clark couldn’t help but think back to everything they’d gone through after Jordan had been kidnapped. Nothing anyone had said or done had helped when they’d been mourning over their loss. Clark brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, “Hey, you all right?” He asked.
She nodded, smiling up at him, “Just thinking,”
“What about?” He pressed.
“Lucy,” She said, wrapping her arms around him as she rested her head on his chest.
“I know,” He nodded, “Jimmy’s been a mess too, but,”
“Mom said they ended up sedating her,” Lois said softly. Her hand rested on her growing abdomen. “I keep thinking how this was me last year,”
He placed a kiss on her forehead, “I know. It’s hard to watch them go through this,”
“There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing anyone can do.” Lois shook her head.
Clark smiled watching as Lois fell against the mattress, stretching her arms up, holding her pillow tightly against her neck. He moved down in the bed until he was eye level with her abdomen. He watched the ripple against her stomach, placing a kiss against her abdomen. He made himself comfortable next to her swollen abdomen and started telling his daughter about the crazy things he’d seen today on his rescues.
She ran her fingers through his silky hair as he softly whispered to her growing abdomen, “You keep that up and she’s going to know your voice better than mine.”
He looked up at her and smiled apologetically, “Sorry,” He sat up, crawling back up next to her and wrapped his arms around her.
“You’re forgiven,” She said, cupping his cheek as she looked up at him. “I can’t really blame you for wanting to be close to her now. We’re already almost a whole month ahead of where we were with Jordan,”
Clark’s head hung slightly at the reminder. He glanced down at the bump in between them then looked back up at her. “Are you okay?”
Lois shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know,” She offered him a half smile.
His arms tightened around her, pulling her against his chest. “She’s gonna be fine,” He reassured her.
Lois sighed, letting out a heavy breath against his chest, “Don’t let go,” She murmured against him. He held her tightly against him, listening to her breathing. He kissed her head softly, running his hand up and down her back as they lay there in silence.
The last few weeks had been hard. Lucy’s mood swings had taken their toll on Lois. She’d had her confrontation with her father after she’d confronted him about the shooting. He’d caught her drifting off lately, uncertain where her mind was.
He knew she had to watch her stress. Ever since the shooting she’d had visits with the OB every other day. It had felt like she was building up those walls again; keeping everyone out and not allowing anyone to see how much she had been affected by Lucy’s shooting. It was moments like this where she let down the walls and let him back in; allowing herself to be completely vulnerable to him.
He hated to watch her going through this, but there was nothing he could do but hold her and let the emotions run their course just like there was nothing they could do for Lucy. It was a series of unfortunate occurrences that no one could have predicted nor stopped. He knew there was nothing he could do. There was no way to stop those bullets, but he couldn’t help but feel sick inside wondering if only…
***
“You want me to WHAT??” Dan scoffed.
“Don’t forget who signs your checks,” Nigel warned. “She’s becoming a problem. We need to take care of her,”
“She’s an ADA. That’s a federal offense,” Dan snapped back. “No, I’m sorry. I can’t. Changing information, hiding accounts; that’s one thing, but KILLING someone? No, I can’t do it.”
“I’m sorry you feel like that,” Nigel said. He pointed at the door. “You can go,”
Dan stared at him in shock for a moment, “What?”
“Obviously we have different views and it's best not to work together,” He waved him off, “Go,”
“Okay, well, thank you for understanding,” Dan smiled at him. He then turned around to leave and fell to the floor.
Nigel smiled as he twisted the silencer off his 9mm. “Right,”
***
Green.
Everything was green.
It glowed all around her.
“No.” She called out, shaking her head. “No,”
The cell bars revealed themselves and a mysterious man stood in the shadows.
“No!” She cried out.
Mayson sat up in bed, dripping in a cold sweat as she tried to reassess where she was. The dream. That same dream kept coming to her more and more. The nightmare of her capture; what was that? Why couldn’t she shake herself from these flashbacks?
***
“Another body was fished out of Hobb’s Bay this morning; this time the victim was easily identified. A missing DEA Agent was found floating topside early this morning by officials. His cause of death is still unknown,” the LNN newscaster reported.
Lois clicked the television off in disgust then turned to Jordan who was edging his way towards her while holding onto the edge of the couch. She smiled. He’d been trying to walk for the last few weeks. He seemed to be grasping it then he’d lose his balance and get discouraged again; opting not to try again until he forgot about his last failed attempt again.
“Mama,” He pouted, reaching up for her to pick him up. The attitude behind his plea made her laugh. He was getting frustrated, but she knew he had to keep trying.
“Uh-uh,” She took a few steps more away from him.
Jordan sighed, letting go of the couch to cross his arms over his chest; so like his father as he walked towards her, muttering rambles of nothingness under his breath as he walked towards her. Before she could move away from him he grabbed her leg, “No,” He pouted.
She burst into laughter, unable to contain herself. Jordan looked up at her in disgust, turning away from her with his little arms crossed over his chest as he turned his head away from her as well.
She leaned over to pick him up, holding him against her chest as she leaned back against her chest. Jordan might have inherited his father’s looks, but he’d inherited her temperament. He was stubborn and pigheaded just as she had known herself to be. “I’m sorry, sweetie.” She apologized, trying to get him to look at her. His scowl still remained on his face, but he allowed her to hold him.
Clark had left early without even waking her. She’d assumed he must have heard a call for help, but now she realized it was more to do with what the police had found in Hobb’s Bay. It seemed like every time she turned around another body was found. There was no telling who or what they would find next. She couldn’t shake the nagging feeling she had in the back of her mind. A lot had been going on in Metropolis lately and she couldn’t put her finger on it yet, but she knew it was all connected.
***
TBC...
