Epiphany
Folc4evernaday
Part 11
***
The room was dark and poorly lit. Lois looked around nervously, “Makes Metropolis Penitentiary look like a country club,”
“Wonder what’s taking them so long,” Clark said, looking toward the door as he tapped his pen against his notepad. There was a loud hammering noise from the other side of the door and he looked up, “Maybe that’s him,”
The door opened and Johnny Taylor walked through with chains on his feet and hands. He gave Lois a leering stare as the officers locked his chains to the table, “Hey, Legs…” He winked at her. Lois tugged her jacket closed and pulled her chair closer to Clark.
Clark narrowed his eyes at Johnny as he leaned forward, folding his hands on the table in front of him, “Mr. Taylor how about you stick to professional names for this interview,”
Johnny shifted uncomfortably when he met Clark’s hardened gaze, “Yeah, uh, okay,” He cleared his throat, “MISS Lane,” He nodded to Lois, “Whatdya want to meet about?”
“You requested a transfer out of Metropolis Penitentiary a few months ago….a few days after an incident with another inmate,” Lois began, reading from the file in front of her. “Seems you had a misunderstanding with a ‘shiv?’”
Johnny rubbed his right arm and nodded, “Yeah, a few trips to the infirmary made me realize Metropolis wasn’t the right place to be, uh, finishing my, uh, retirement from the Metros….if you know what I mean,”
Clark nodded, “Someone wanted you out of the way?”
“I, uh, didn’t make too many friends on the inside….apparently my sister still thinks she’s running things from the inside,” Johnny shrugged, “but I’m not the one that got into bed with the devil,”
“You think it was Toni coming after you?” Lois asked, curiously.
“Or the John she made a deal with to take the Metros out from under me,” Johnny smiled, “Either way, I wasn’t sticking around for her to finish the job,”
“You said she made a ‘deal with the devil.’ Any idea who this ‘devil’ was?” Clark asked.
“No one other than ‘the boss,’” Johnny said with a wide grin.
“Any idea who this ‘boss’ is?” Lois asked.
“No, I never met him, but my guys said he had a meeting with Toni at the Metro club after she took over….” Johnny shrugged.
Lois’ eyebrows rose, “At the Metro club?”
“You know who it is, don’t you?” Johnny leaned forward, folding his hands on the table as he laughed.
Lois and Clark exchanged a look and Lois cleared her throat, “I think we should go,” She stood up with Clark gathering her things.
They headed for the door and Johnny called after them. “Till next time, Toots,”
***
Lois breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the door to the rental car. “That guy gives me the creeps!”
“Well, as smarmy as he is…” Clark said, “He may be the first real key to connecting Luthor to ‘the boss’ and all his crimes…I think it’s time to head back to Metropolis,”
“And keep digging…” Lois said softly, “See what else we can find to connect the dots.”
***
“All surveillance equipment has been reinstalled at Ms. Lane and Mr. Kent’s,” Nigel said as he read off the status report to Lex in his study. “They were out of town for a few days so our men were able to get in and out without any issues." He handed Lex a folder, "The background check we found on Mr. Kent,”
“Mr. Kent’s been quite busy,” Lex mused.
“Yes, travels all around the world after college. He’s shown up in remote locations around the world in time to cover ‘miraculous’ saves in local papers as a freelance. Always moving and never staying in one place for very long,”
“Is that so?” Lex asked, flipping through the file. “Then why Metropolis? Why the Daily Planet?”
“Maybe he found something to stick around for,” Nigel shrugged. “Either way it’s all in there,”
***
After the flight back to Metropolis Clark walked Lois back to her apartment. She unlocked the door and stepped inside with her luggage. Clark closed the door behind them and lowered his glasses to scan the apartment, “Oh, no,”
Lois sighed, shaking her head, “Let me guess…”
“Just a sec,” He turned around, pulling out his cell phone and began to dial.
“What are you doing?”
“Yes, Metropolis P.D? I’d like to speak to Bill Henderson please,” He said into the phone, “Yes, I’ll hold,” Lois looked at him questionably, “I’m going to have Bill sweep yours and my apartment. Maybe we can use it against Luthor,”
***
Lois stared at the pile of cameras and audio equipment that had been pulled from her apartment in disgust. Henderson looked at her in concern, “Lois? Are you okay?”
“Just a little on the disgusted side,” Lois said, staring at the pile of equipment that had been found throughout her apartment.
“I’ll say,” Officer Jensen said as he walked through the apartment, “Most of this stuff was in the bedroom…”
“Oh, God…” Lois winced, cradling her head in her hands.
“I guess, lucky we were out of town,” Clark said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Yeah, lucky,” Lois said, leaning against him.
Henderson shook his head as he tagged the last of the surveillance equipment, “Well if this stuff came from the same place as the other bugs you brought me I don’t know what good it’s going to do. The equipment had no serial numbers on them and the signal was bouncing all over the place. The tech team at S.T.A.R. Labs is still trying to decipher the code.”
“So, you’re saying we’re powerless against the creep that keeps trying to turn my apartment into his own sick personal peep show?” Lois spat bitterly. “Great,”
Henderson sighed, “Not powerless. They’ve got a great team looking into this. We’ll get this figured out. For now keep having Superman check your place as often as he can so we can keep tracking this. When we do find the person responsible…and we will find them….we’ll have a strong case,”
“Thanks, Inspector,” Clark said, gently squeezing Lois’ shoulder as he watched the officers finish bagging everything up.
“I’ll let you know as soon as I know something,” Henderson said, motioning for the officers to leave.
Lois and Clark followed them to the door and Lois locked the door behind them, “This is getting ridiculous,”
“I know,” Clark grumbled, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “Henderson said they found cameras and audio recording equipment in both our apartments. So, Luthor’s trying to keep tabs on us both,”
“I guess being a little paranoid and talking in the third person comes in handy,” Lois mused, leaning back against him.
He leaned down to kiss her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” He sighed, “Are you going to be okay? I should probably get unpacked and do a patrol,”
“I suppose,” Lois sighed, leaning against him as she turned around in his arms to look up at him. She brushed her hands against his chest, toying with the lapels to his jacket as she spoke. “It’s just going to be weird not having you here tonight…” He smiled down at her as she slid her arms up his chest, linking her hands around his neck as she fingered the hair on the back of his neck, “I kinda liked waking up with you floating above the bed next to me,”
Clark smiled, against her lips, “I know, but Superman’s gotta make an appearance tonight.” Lois sighed against him. “We’ve been in the air all day,” He murmured against her neck.
She smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair and whispered, “I know, but I don’t have to like it…” He leaned in to kiss her, cupping her cheek.
He slowly broke off the kiss and ran his hand through her hair for a moment, “I should go…”
“Do you have to?” She asked, leaning in to kiss him.
“Lois…” He murmured against her lips, slowly breaking off the kiss. “I would love nothing more than to continue this…” He breathed, “but you and I both know if I did…”
“We wouldn’t be able to stop,” Lois finished for him. “I know,” She gave him a slow smile.
“I should go,” He repeated, still not making any move toward the door or releasing her from his embrace.
“I know,” Lois said softly, meeting his gaze.
The door opened and Lucy stepped inside the apartment, “Hey, Lois, you’re back!” She hugged Lois. “Hey, Clark, spent forty-eight hours together and still can’t get enough of my sister, huh?”
Clark smiled, “Yeah, how’s the internship going?” He asked, trying to change the subject.
Lucy shrugged, “Pretty good. Staying busy. It’s only my first week, though,” She sighed, sinking into the couch with her things. “I was going to order some pizza for dinner. You staying?”
“Uh, no,” Clark shook his head, offering her a smile. “I’ve got to get going,”
“Okay, well see you later,” Lucy said with a grin as she grabbed the phone and began to dial.
He leaned down to kiss Lois goodbye once more, “Good night, Lois,” He whispered before disappearing out the door.
Lois nodded, closing the door behind him. She sighed, leaning back against the door for a moment and Lucy smiled at her. “Things are definitely steaming up in the love department,” Lois blushed and Lucy laughed, “You two are cute together….Still convinced to take things….slow?” Lucy teased.
“It’s losing its appeal,” Lois sighed, sinking into the couch next to her sister.
“I knew it!” Lucy grinned. “So, how was California? You two definitely seem ….closer…”
“It was good.” Lois said with a smile, “We got a lot of good information to bring us closer to exposing the boss,”
“Maybe when you crack this story open you’ll help get the Planet back on its feet,” Lucy mused. “Two days in California. I’m sure they’re gonna love that expense report…”
“Actually Perry paid for it,” Lois said, “The Planet isn’t covering the expenses. We had to go cheap…plane tickets and hotel room,”
“Hotel room?” Lucy pressed. She noticed the blush cross Lois’ cheeks, “Spill!”
Lois shook her head with a smile. “Nothing happened. He was a complete gentleman the whole time,”
Lucy laughed when she saw the twitch on the corners of Lois’ mouth. “And you didn’t want him to be,”
Lois let out a shaky breath, “I know it’s crazy…We’ve only been going out for a month and I already feel…”
Lucy nodded, “Well, think of it this way,” She began slowly, “You guys have been friends for a year now….so in a way, it’s like you’ve been dating for a year…just saving the physical side for the last month,”
“I guess,” Lois said softly. “So scary….feels like everything’s happening so fast…”
“Love’s funny like that,” Lucy smiled back at her. “You just got to be willing to step up and take the plunge,”
***
Perry laid a stack of files on the conference room table, “Alright Olsen here are all the board members that are susceptible to selling their shares. I want you and Jack to team up and see if you can get them over to our side before this mysterious buyer convinces them to sell their shares.”
“A little cloak and dagger,” Jimmy nodded. “I like it,”
“All of these guys are having financial issues so they’re susceptible to bribes,” Perry said, pointing to the files.
“And you want us to make sure they don’t accept a bribe from this mysterious buyer,” Jack said, flipping through one of the files, “Simon Truesdale, 65, married….Woah!” His eyes widened when he saw a picture in the file, “…but not if his wife sees this,”
Perry gave him a knowing smile, “Private investigators can find the darndest things,”
A knock on the door interrupted them and Perry looked up to see Bill Henderson standing in the doorway, “Bill? Can I help you?”
Henderson nodded, “I’m gonna need to sweep the office here. After the bugs we found at Lane and Kent’s last night we thought it best to check the Planet too,”
“Bugs?” Perry asked and Henderson held up a small micro camera.
“Cool!” Jimmy beamed.
“Not if you’re the one being spyed on,” Henderson said with a grim expression. “So far we’ve found a few by their desks and on the elevators. I need to check the conference rooms…”
“Uh, sure,” Perry nodded, standing up.
“This won’t take long,” Henderson reassured him.
***
Lois walked into the Daily Planet lobby with her coffee in hand, scanning the floor for any sign of Clark. She’d heard about the train derailment on her way to work but wasn’t sure how long it would keep him. Some rescues took longer than others. She took another sip of her coffee, heading for the elevator. She frowned at the empty cup and tossed it in the trashcan. After her talk with Lucy last night she’d spent most of the night trying to figure out things with Clark.
She definitely felt that pull to move faster with him. She knew him better than anyone, but she still had those unrealistic fears of repeating her experience with Claude. The pain and uncomfortable feeling she’d felt during sex had made her not want to repeat the experience; so she hadn’t. She hadn’t felt the pull or desire to until recently.
Part of her knew it was impractical to put Claude on the same level as Clark, but it was the only experience she had. Knowing Clark wasn’t experienced either made her nervous. He certainly had all the parts. She smiled, recalling the way he felt pressed against her in some of their more heated makeout sessions. The question was if she was ready to take that step again with Clark. Lately, she’d definitely felt ready.
Two hands covered her eyes and familiar lips pressed against her lips, “Guess who?”
She grinned, leaning back against him as he removed his hands from her eyes, “Hey, you,” She leaned in to kiss him, “I heard about the train derailment this morning. Everything go okay?”
Clark nodded, taking her hand in his as they stepped on the elevator with a large group of people. “Yeah, uh, Superman got there in time. No injuries or fatalities,” He smiled back at her as the doors to the elevator opened to let half the group of people that were in the elevator with them off.
“That’s good,” Lois said softly, brushing invisible pieces of lint off his jacket, “I mean, it’s good that…he, uh….got there in time…” She shared a knowing smile with him and she could feel her stomach flutter a bit as he smiled at her. What was it about him that made her just want to lose herself in his arms? The elevator dinged once more letting off the remainder of the crowd they were sharing an elevator car with. She watched as the elevator doors closed, letting out a sigh of relief.
He smiled at her, leaning in to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her as she fingered his hair as he murmured against her lips, “I missed you,”
She laughed against his lips, “You’re the one that wanted to leave last night,” He moved his attention to her collarbone, raining a trail of feather light kisses along her neckline as he cupped her face with his palm.
“Too tempting,” He murmured.
“I know,” She whispered in-between ragged breaths as his arms tightened around her waist. She fingered the knot on his tie, tugging him to her as she leaned up to capture his lips with her own. She slid her finger beneath the silk of the knot of his tie, loosening it as her other hand moved up his chest, exploring the hardened muscles beneath his cotton dress shirt.
“Lois…we need…to…stop…” He reminded her, slowly breaking off the kiss. He rested his forehead against hers and she stared at him through her euphoria-filled eyes. He was struggling to regain control of his breathing as much as she was. She cast him a sideways glance for a moment as he released her from his embrace, standing next to her as he straightened his tie.
She grinned back at him, giving him a longing look before stepping off the elevator as they arrived on the newsroom floor.
***
“We have a problem,” Mrs. Cox laid a stack of files on Lex’s desk. “The board members we thought were in our pocket seem to be evading our calls. The latest preliminary vote went against selling the Planet to LexCorp,”
“That’s impossible,” Lex snarled as he flipped through the files. “We found all their weaknesses….They agreed to sell…”
“Do you want me to set up another meeting?” Mrs. Cox asked. “Perhaps a subtle incentive will help?”
“Yes,” Lex nodded. “Set it up for this afternoon,”
“There’s more,” Mrs. Cox added. “All the cameras from the Planet and the apartments of Lois Lane and Clark Kent have been removed….by the police,”
“How did they…?” Lex shook his head in disgust.
“Our contact said this Inspector Henderson is searching every place that Lois Lane and Clark Kent visit to check for surveillance equipment…”
Lex nodded, “We’ll wait a bit. Lay low then replace it.”
“Very well,” Mrs. Cox said with a smile.
***
Toni Taylor gave Lois a sneering glare as she walked into the visitor’s room, “You’ve got to be kidding me…” She then turned toward Clark who was sitting next to Lois and smiled, “Nice to see you, Charlie,”
Clark shook his head, “It’s Clark. Clark Kent.”
“Yes, I know,” Toni said sinking down into her seat as she gave him a once over. “I’ve spent the last few months trying to figure out how you pulled the wool over my eyes like that…I’m usually a much better judge of character,”
“Really?” Lois interrupted, placing a possessive hand on Clark’s arm, “So is he,”
Toni gave Lois a glare, leaning back in her chair, “So what’s this about?”
“Johnny Taylor,” Clark began.
“Why am I not surprised?” Toni snorted. “What did my brother do this time?”
“He said someone was out to get him,” Lois began slowly, narrowing her eyes at Toni.
“And you think I had something to do with it?” Toni laughed, looking around the darkened visitor’s room, “Ms. Lane, look around? I’m in prison. I don’t exactly have the best resources in here,”
“You were head of the Metro Gang,” Clark countered.
“For like a minute!” Toni snapped, “You know how hard it is for a woman to be taken seriously in your field, Ms. Lane, try running a criminal organization. Nobody took me seriously.”
“How’d you get them to put you in charge then?” Lois asked, arching her eyebrow at her.
“I…had a, uh, partner,” She sniffed uneasily.
“What kind of partner?” Clark asked.
“A…powerful one. He made sure I was able to push Johnny out and take over without any fuss,” Toni said uneasily.
Lois shared a look with Clark then put on her best fake smile, “I suppose this…partner…you met him at the Metro Club?”
“Of course,” She shifted uneasily.
“See, Johnny told us all about this partner of yours. He seems to think he’s the…boss…” Lois smiled when she saw Toni’s eyes widen and look away from her, “You know who I’m talking about? The boss that runs all the crime in Metropolis? The boss that has the police and politicians in his pocket so he can continue running things the way he has for years in Metropolis?”
“Johnny doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Toni said uneasily.
“Did you know someone tried to kill him?” Clark asked coolly.
“What?” Toni breathed shakily.
“Seems he kept having ‘accidents’ with a shiv and he finally got the hint and transferred out of state,” Clark added. “Whoever you’re protecting…”
“I’m not protecting anyone…” She argued.
“…can’t be trusted,” Clark finished.
"You don't know what you're talking about..." Toni argued.
"And you don't know who you're in bed with," Clark added, flipping open his notepad, "Did you know 'the boss' approached Johnny and your father about a partnership and they both turned him down?"
Toni didn't say anything and Lois added, "Or how about the fact that your father ended up dying from 'heart problems' not even a week after turning 'the boss' down?"
Toni shook her head, "You're lying..."
Lois tossed the report in her hand to her, "Read it yourself,"
"What do you want?" Toni asked uneasily.
"The truth," Clark said softly. "Help us take him down and make him pay for what he's done to your family."
"You don't understand..." Toni shook her head. "You don't know what he's capable of..."
"Then enlighten us," Lois said, pulling out her tape recorder. "You met with him and are one of the few people out there that can point the finger. Help us bring him down,"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Toni breathed. "Nobody would,"
"Try me," Lois said with a smirk.
***
Lois and Clark stepped out of the elevator going over their notes on everything they’d learned from Toni Taylor. “Toni has a lot of contacts with the Metros but none of them are willing to come forward,”
“Well, Toni is at least thinking about it,” Clark said with a sigh, “That’s something,”
“I’m not holding my breath,” Lois retorted.
“She may surprise you,” Clark said, making his way to his desk, “She wasn’t all bad. Good intentions ….went about everything the wrong way,”
“Yeah,” Lois breathed, “I guess I can understand that, but she WAS running a criminal organization…whether she wanted to be or not. She was responsible for beatings, assaults, and attempted murders….and everyone that got injured during the Toasters’ raid,”
“I know,” Clark said, taking a seat at his desk. “I just wish there was a way…” He stopped.
Lois recognized the expression on his face, “Everything okay?” He shook his head, disappearing toward the storage closet. “Be careful,” She whispered, hearing the sonic boom from the distance.
***
Clark grabbed the cable of the elevator car at the last minute, stopping it from crashing down the fifty story building. The impact would have severely injured the passengers. “Easy, I’ve got you,” he reassured through the ceiling vent that had been opened. He looked in and saw a group huddled together in the center of the car shaking. He slowly eased them down to the lobby floor where firemen and paramedics were waiting. He glared at the cable in his hand. It had been cut. Someone had deliberately cut the cable.
The firemen pried the doors opened and he held the car steady so everyone could walk out of the elevator car. He spotted a familiar face as the firemen gave him the okay to let go. Seeing the panic and fear on the passengers he stepped into the lobby and approached a young auburn-haired woman, “Ms. Kahn?”
She turned around to face him, “Su-Superman, th-thank you….again,” She gave him a watery smile. “I guess I’ve been lucky twice in a year,”
He showed her his best smile and motioned for her to walk with him, “Ms. Kahn, you don’t seem like the type of person to go LOOKING for danger…”
“I’m not,” She sniffed. “I’m a receptionist,”
“You have any …enemies?” He asked cautiously.
“No…” She said slowly. “Why?”
“Twice in a year you’re plummeting down a very tall building. Once off the roof and now, here in an elevator…yet you’re afraid of heights,” He said softly.
“It was an….accident,” She said shakily.
He pulled out the cut cable he’d grabbed from the elevator, “An accident where someone deliberately cut the elevator cable?” Her eyes widened as she looked at the cable, “I want to help…” He began slowly, “Who would want to kill you?”
***
“So, the elevator cable was cut?” Lois asked in a shocked whisper.
“I know he’s behind this,” Clark breathed. “It was a warning….She’s at Met General getting a work up.”
Lois let out a low breath, “This is getting scary,” Lois pulled out her notebook, “By the way Henderson did a sweep at the Planet and they found bugs in the elevator, our desks, and both conference rooms…”
Clark shook his head in disgust, “Trying to keep tabs…”
“Yep,” Lois nodded, “On the positive side we are getting somewhere with the whole ‘buyer’ thing. Perry’s got Jack and Jimmy meeting with the board members he felt were …most susceptible to a bribe,”
“Is Jack…?” Clark began.
Lois seemed to sense where he was going with this, “He’s with Jimmy and they’re just meeting upstairs. Don’t worry. He’s safe,”
Clark sighed in relief, “I think I need to talk to him. Staying in Metropolis may not be the best idea…”
“What are you going to do?” Lois asked, “Ship him off to a remote island?”
“No of course not,” Clark shook his head, “but maybe I can have him moved over to where Denny and his foster family are at so they’ll at least be together while trying to lay low.”
“It would make sense,” Lois reasoned. “What about his job here, though?”
“I don’t know,” Clark sighed, “I’ll talk to Perry,”
***
TBC...
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