Epiphany
Folc4evernaday
Part 15
***
Clark stepped outside to check on Jimmy, hoping to give the Lane women a chance to deal with the obvious tension that was in the air between them. “Hi, you’ve reached Jimmy. I can’t get to the phone right now. Just leave a message, and I’ll get back to you when I can.”
Frustrated, he clicked the end button and began to dial again, “You’ve reached Perry White. I’m unable to get to the phone right now. Please leave a detailed message to what this is regarding. If this is an emergency, you can call me on my direct office line at 315-914-339…”
He clicked the end button again. Where was everyone? He still hadn’t heard anything from Bill Henderson on the status of the case against Luthor or whether they were able to track down Miranda, Toni Taylor or Monique Kahn.
He tapped his foot against the paved walkway as he listened to phone ring for the third time in the last five minutes. “Metropolis P.D. an unfamiliar voice answered the phone.”
‘Finally,’ he thought to himself.
“Yes, I’m looking for Inspector Henderson?”
“You mean Detective Henderson,” The voice on the other end corrected.
“Pardon?” He asked.
“It’s Detective Henderson now. He’s in with the Chief.” The voice explained, “Can I take a message?”
“Just tell him to call Clark Kent when he gets a minute.”
“Clark Kent. Got it.” The voice said nonchalantly. Before he could give his number the call ended. Clark sighed, unsure of what to make of the phone call.
***
“You can’t keep me in here!” Perry hollered angrily, pacing around the empty interrogation room.
The door opened, and he prepared himself for the worst. He sighed in relief when he saw Henderson at the door. “They can if you keep causing a scene.” He said dryly.
“They won’t let me see Jimmy,” Perry argued, pointing toward the window. “He’s being railroaded for something he didn’t do, and they’re over there…”
“I know,” Henderson sighed, lowering his voice as he approached Perry, “Listen to me and listen good. Go, find a lawyer and bring him or her down here now. I can’t tell you why. I can’t tell you who. Just do it.” Perry noticed the disheveled appearance on Henderson and nodded, turning to say something as he walked out the door to the room Henderson had left open for him, “Just do it.”
***
“Okay, I think that’s the last of it,” Ellen said, setting the tweezers down.
Lois leaned her head forward, brushing her hands through her hair as she let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Mom,”
“Please try and be more careful,” Ellen urged. “You two are gonna send me into an early grave at this rate.”
“All we were doing was riding up the elevator,” Lois sighed exasperatedly. “How were we supposed to know the building was going to explode?”
Ellen wasn’t easily deterred, “And all you were doing at Prometheus was sneaking on board to nab an interview with the colonists when the bomb was found.”
“That was different,” Lois said uneasily, hoping to pull her mother away from her current train of thought. “It’s lucky I was there, though. If I wasn’t, they wouldn’t have found the bomb until it was too late.”
“Luck? Is that what they call it these days?” Ellen scoffed, “Luck is what got you and Clark thrown out of a plane?”
“Yes, but…” Lois began to argue, but Ellen cut her off, intent on listing every dangerous situation she’d been a part of in the last year.
“You were just covering a story when you nearly had your eye taken out by debris from an explosion, kidnapped, and held hostage…Are you sensing a pattern here? Because I am.”
Lois stared toward the front door where Clark had stepped out to make a few calls earlier. She wasn’t sure if that was an excuse to escape as Superman or if he really was making calls. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too long. She loved her mother, but being alone with her for an extended period of time seemed to bring out the worst in both of them; especially when she got like this.
***
Bruce stared at Perry incredulously, “Let me see if I’ve got this right. You want me to send an attorney down to the Metropolis P.D. to represent someone who hasn’t even been arrested yet, and you can’t give me any more information than that. Does that about sum this up?”
Perry nodded remorsefully. He could hear the sarcasm in Bruce Wayne’s tone. Bruce was currently set up in the airport lobby with his laptop and phone trying to make it on the list for the next flight, but as of right now he was still on standby due to him missing his earlier flight. “I know it looks bad but I’m telling you something is wrong here. Jimmy would never do anything to hurt the Planet. He’s wanted to work there since he was fifteen!”
Bruce sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I never said he did. I’m just trying to make some sense out of all of this.” He motioned to the laptop on his lap as he continued, “As it is, I’m having to rush through all those changes we talked about this morning to make sure the Planet doesn’t become a very distant memory.”
“What are you talking about?” Perry asked.
“Apparently Lex Luthor bought up all of the local papers around Metropolis and has headlines about the ‘Death of the Planet’ and editorials about ‘It was good while it lasted.’” Bruce explained showing Perry the online edition of one of the articles.
“What are we going to do?” Perry asked.
“Buckle up your seatbelts because we’re going online.” Bruce smiled, “He can fight dirty so can I. My guess is he’s wanting to control the media. For now, Metropolis will get the Daily Planet printed edition from the Gotham Gazette’s printer. I’m paying more than I should, but I can’t do anything about rebuilding until I get the report back from the building inspector and the fire chief.”
Perry sighed, “So we are going to rebuild?”
“Of course,” Bruce explained, “We may be down, but we’re not out.”
“Good.” Perry nodded. “What do you need from me to get this ….online thing going?”
“Get the stories from whatever reporters still have their laptops at home and let’s try and have an edition put together by this evening.” Bruce pulled out his phone and looked up a number, grabbing a pen and card from his briefcase as he jotted down a number. At Perry’s confused look, “My local lawyer. She’s not a trial lawyer, but she can sniff out corruption a mile away.”
“Thank you,” Perry nodded, taking the card from him.
***
Lucy watched the exchange between Lois and her mother and sighed. No matter how hard either of them tried, the ridicule seemed to come out one way or another. It was one of the many reasons both of them had such a strained relationship with their parents. Lois’ relationship was a bit more strained than hers; especially with their dad. She didn’t blame her there. Lucy had blamed Sam for Lois moving out her senior year of high school. She never understood why she’d moved or what had happened until years later when Lois told her.
Their parents were trying to work things out. They’d been talking again and seeing one another, and things were good. He’d even moved back in on a trial basis then he’d slipped back into his old habits. Working late, living in his office and neglecting their mother…and them. Sure, it doesn’t sound bad to someone that didn’t have to live it.
You’re an adult. Grow up.
They’re your parents.
They’re not perfect. Many of the things that she’d been told over the years ran through her mind as she recalled Lois telling her what had happened so many years ago.
<<“I still don’t get why you moved out. It was your senior year of high school. Why did you move in with Peggy? It couldn’t all have been from dad wanting you to go to medical school.” Lucy pressed her sister.
“It was a long time ago. Why does it matter?” Lois asked.
“Because you’re my sister. Because you didn’t have to live in that hell hole while they split up and tore each other apart again.”
“I offered you a chance to leave.” Lois reminded her.
“Mom needed me,” Lucy explained.
“I know. I’m sorry. I just…I couldn’t be there anymore. Not after….” She stopped, uncertain of how to continue.
“Not after what?” Lucy pressed. Lois didn’t say anything, and she let out a frustrated growl, “Are you serious right now? I am not a little kid anymore. You don’t have to keep protecting me from the boogie man. What is it?”
“It was a long time ago. Why does it matter?” Lois asked, trying to change the subject.
“It matters to me,” Lucy said, crossing her arms over her chest. “What happened?”
“Let’s just say; I didn’t live up to another expectation…I refused to go to medical school. Dad accused me of betraying the family…”
“Betraying the family?” Lucy echoed. “He’s got a lot of room to talk!”
“I know,” Lois sighed, shrugging her shoulders.
“I mean if anyone betrayed the family it was him. He’s the one that kept having affairs and…”
“You knew?” Lois asked surprised.
“Of course I knew.” Lucy scoffed. “You and mom are terrible liars…and I had the unfortunate luck of answering the phone for one of his mistresses.”
“I’m sorry, Luce,” Lois hung her head shamefully.
Lucy shrugged, “Not your fault. It’s his.” She nudged Lois on the side, “So why did you move out?”
“Dad and I got into it about my not wanting to go to medical school. He said if I wasn’t going then there was no point in my being there. I agreed and packed my stuff and left.”
“Famous Lane temper does it again, huh?” Lucy teased.
“Yeah, needless to say, there were things said that neither of us could take back,” Lois said bitterly.
“How long has it been?” Lucy asked.
“Since I talked to him or saw him?” Lois asked.
“Both.” Lucy nudged her hip at Lois playfully.
“Saw him at Aunt Lynn’s funeral. He saw me then turned around and left. I didn’t even have a chance to say anything.”
“Ouch,” Lucy said softly.
“Talked to him? The night I moved out.” Lois said bitterly. “How about you?”
“The night he moved out. For both. He wanted to explain.” Lucy scoffed. “Do you think he’ll ever change? I mean, I know he’ll always be a workaholic but do you think there will ever come a time when his family actually…means something?”
“I don’t know, Luce,” Lois said sadly. “I hope so. I know in my head it’s not realistic, but I do hope that one day it’ll happen. I just…I don’t know.”
“We grew up too fast. That’s what my therapist says.” Lucy sighed. “You should talk to someone.”
“I can’t,” Lois said, shaking her head. “That’s all I need after what happened this week with Claude. They’ll smell inadequacy and doubt on me, and I’ll never get a chance to prove myself as a reporter again.”
Lucy put an arm around her, “I’m here if you need to talk.”
“I know.”>>“Are you sensing a pattern here? Because I am.” Ellen folded her arms over her chest, daring Lois to say something.
Deciding enough was enough, Lucy interjected, “Mom, stop. I think we get it.”
“Obviously not!” Ellen looked between the two of them. “You can’t hold your tongue and get beat up at a bar…”
“It was a Bar and Grill,” Lucy clarified.
“And it was a set-up,” Lois added, squeezing Lucy’s hand as she took a seat next to her.
“Whatever,” Ellen sighed, “And you can’t stay out of trouble for two minutes without risking your life…”
“It was arson. How were we supposed to know someone was going to blow the building up?” Lois asked irritably.
“I don’t understand you. You had this great career lined up …both of you…and…”
“For the last time…” Lucy began irritably.
“….we don’t want to go into medicine.” Lois finished for her. “Mom, I’m sorry I scared you. Really I am, but trying to push Lucy and me into a career we don’t like, or love isn’t going to solve anything.”
***
Clark soared over Metropolis, scanning the city. It had been eerily quiet ever since the explosion at the Planet. It was never this quiet. There was still a frenzy of activity at the hospital treating the victims from the Planet explosion, but there was nothing he could do to help there. He didn’t have medical training, and the doctors and nurses seemed to have everything under control.
He finally found Perry outside the Metropolis P.D. pacing in front of the steps angrily on his phone. He landed outside the station. Perry hadn’t yet noticed him as he continued arguing on the phone, “No, I don’t want to leave a message. I want to talk to someone who can tell me what in tarnation is going on…Hello? Hello?” Perry pulled the phone back and muttered under his breath when he realized he’d been hung up on.
“Mr. White?” Clark tried to draw attention to himself as calmly as he could.
“Superman!” Perry gave him an anguished look, “I, uh, didn’t see you there.”
“Is everything all right?” He asked.
Perry looked down at the pavement he was pacing on, shaking his head, “I’m waiting on Bruce Wayne’s attorney to hopefully get some answers for me.”
“Answers?” Clark asked.
“Some detectives picked Jimmy up at the hospital. They took him in the back room, and I haven’t been able to get any answers about what’s going on. I tried talking to Inspector Henderson, but all he could tell me was to get a lawyer down here now.” Perry shook his fist in the air. “…and she’s late.”
“Has Jimmy been arrested?”
“No, not that I can tell. At least there’s nothing on the New Troy Detention Center’s system. No one can tell me anything….or they don’t want to.” Perry fumed angrily.
Clark’s jaw tightened for a moment, “Let me see what I can find out,” With that, he left Perry to continue waiting outside the police station as he searched for someone that could give him some answers.
***
Lois was growing more and more annoyed with the tirade her mother was on. Thankfully Lucy had interjected to help steer the conversation elsewhere but where it had landed was just as uncomfortable. It always came back to her career choices. Both she and her father wanted her to go into medicine.
She’d been given quizzes on medical terminology starting at the age of thirteen. Dr. Sam Lane would accept nothing less than perfection from her or Lucy when it came to their careers and education. Bad grade? Memorize the textbook from cover to cover. Miss a point repeat the question over and over until you got it right.
At the time it had been humiliating, but over time she grew better and better. She could even say she was grateful for being pushed so hard, but her parents’ dreams for her weren’t the same dreams she envisioned. She wanted to make a difference. She wanted to tell the stories no one else would tell and fight for the truth. Getting her parents to understand that was near impossible.
They spared no expense when they thought she and Lucy would be following in Sam Lane’s footsteps and becoming a doctor or surgeon. When the news had been broken that she didn’t want to pursue medicine the look of betrayal had been enough to cut her to the core. Another way she didn’t measure up.
No matter how successful she became or how many awards or accolades she collected she would never be enough in her parents' eyes. It was a hard truth to come to grip with, but over time she had accepted it. Keeping her distance made it easier to handle that truth. She was a disappointment to them.
“I think I’m going to go,” Lois said standing up from the table.
“Of course, run off when we’re having a conversation like you always do,” Ellen shook her head.
“I don’t want to fight with you, mom,” Lois sighed, looking pleadingly back at her mother.
“Hey, Lois, have you heard from Jimmy?” Lucy interrupted, looking intently at her phone.
“No,” Lois shook her head.
“Who is Jimmy?” Ellen asked, intrigued.
“A friend,” Lucy said nonchalantly. “I keep getting his voicemail. I’ve been trying to get a hold of him all morning since the explosion…”
“He may be at the hospital,” Lois suggested. “Maybe it’s just bad reception.”
“Metropolis General is notorious for bad reception,” Ellen added.
“I guess,” Lucy didn’t appear to be convinced.
“Lois, you still need to keep an eye on that cut. Make sure it doesn’t get infected,” Ellen said, cleaning up the rest of the used gauze from the table. “I don’t understand why you didn’t want to go to the hospital and get checked out.”
“I ….” Lois drew a blank, unsure of how to explain to her mother why she didn’t want to get checked out at the hospital. She couldn’t explain to anyone how she had injuries and Clark didn’t. She didn’t want to draw attention to him being injury free after the explosion and them being trapped in the elevator.
“Well?” Ellen prompted, looking at her expectantly.
“There were a lot of people injured. Clark and I didn’t want to take any attention away from the more seriously injured.” She said a bit too fast, hoping her mother bought it. Lucy was watching her suspiciously as she spoke. She should have come up with a better lie. Lucy always knew when she wasn’t being completely honest.
***
“I still don’t understand how Clark got out of there without a scratch on him and you ended up with glass all over you…” Ellen rambled as she finished cleaning up the remnants of the gauze and glass she’d cleaned up, walking with them into the living room and towards the door.
Lois looked panicked for a moment and began, “Well, you see, …” She looked nervously around the room then began rambling, “Well, when Superman went back for him the glass window was already broken, so Superman just flew him through the open hole,”
“Uh-huh,” Lucy said, not quite believing her. She was hiding something. She just couldn’t put her finger on what. She wasn’t sure what that look on her sister’s face was about, but she knew her sister, and she knew the story she’d just spun for their mother was a lie. How had Clark not been hurt? Before she could finish her train of thought, a hard knock at the door brought her back to the present.
Ellen glared at the door, “Who could that be?” She got up from the kitchen table and headed to the door. She stopped when she opened the door and saw who was standing on the other side of the door bloody and bruised. “Sam?”
***
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jimmy argued adamantly. He sat in an interrogation room with Detective Jenkins and Detective Harris staring him down icily.
“Do you know how many people were injured today…almost killed?” Jenkins asked coolly.
“Yeah, I was one of them!” Jimmy said, pointing to his arm in a brace.
“Then how do you explain the tip we got incriminating you as the arsonist?” Jenkins asked.
“What???”
Detective Harris seemed to be trying to play the ‘good cop’ in this interrogation soothed, “If you tell us the truth we can help you. All you got to do is tell us what happened?”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Jimmy argued. “Where’s my lawyer?”
“He’s on his way,” Jenkins shrugged nonchalantly. “We’ll catch him up to speed. Now about the arson…”
“Where’s the Chief?” Jimmy asked, peering toward the double paned glass. He couldn’t see out of it, but he knew someone had to be watching. “I want my lawyer. I have not been Mirandized.” He hoped whoever was watching could intervene. He wasn’t an expert, but he knew from what his dad had taught him years ago that he couldn’t be held for questioning without being read his rights.
“You’re not under arrest.” Harris laughed. “Why would you need to be Mirandized?”
“I’m not under arrest?” Jimmy clarified. “Then I’m free to go.” He began to stand up, but Jenkins forced him back in the chair hard.
“No, you’re not,” Jenkins interjected. “Not until you tell us what happened.”
“This is illegal!” Jimmy argued.
“So, sue me!” Jenkins laughed.
***
“Thanks,” Sam said cautiously as he took a glass of water from Ellen shakily. Ellen didn’t respond. She just glared at him coldly.
Lucy was staring coldly at their father from across the room. She glanced at her sister, meeting her gaze. After her short stint in California in an attempt to work things out with their dad Lucy had come to the realization she would never be a top priority to Sam Lane so she’d left. Lucy had always been protective of their mother so seeing him here, in God knows what kind of trouble…possibly putting their mother in danger wasn’t going over well with her.
“What happened?” Lois asked cautiously, realizing no one else was going to address the elephant in the room.
“I did business with the wrong person, and now the chickens have come home to roast.” Sam began cautiously.
“I’m calling the police…” Ellen said, heading for the phone.
“No! Don’t!” Sam grimaced, wincing as he moved his head too far to the left.
Lois stared at her father numbly, struggling to hold back tears as she found her voice, “What did you do?” Her voice was shaky, and her lips trembled as she spoke.
“Don’t?” Ellen challenged, “Why not?”
Sam looked down shamefully, “I guess this is the moment of truth.”
“Truth?” Lucy asked, looking at Sam uncertainly. Lois had a feeling whatever their father was about to tell them had something to do with Menken and Lex. When they’d been at lunch with him that day, she’d suspected he was holding something back. She couldn’t prove it but she had a gut instinct that something about what he was telling them was off. What exactly she wasn’t sure.
“I lied.” Sam grimaced. “I knew who the boss was. Apparently, he’s taking matters into his own hands now.”
“You….KNEW?” Lois asked, trying to get verbal clarification from him.
“What’s going on?” Ellen asked confused, “Who is the boss?”
“Lex Luthor,” Lucy said bitterly. “The scum of the universe.”
Their mother’s eyes widened as she began to process everything that they were saying. “How long?”
“Ellen, please, it doesn’t matter,” He shrugged.
“It matters to me!” Ellen fumed angrily. “This BOSS, your daughter has been looking into is a psychopathic killer. I want to know how LONG you KNEW!”
Sam looked at Lois for help, but she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for an answer, “Well?”
He looked at Lucy who shook her head in disgust, “Answer the question, daddy.”
“Right before Allie was murdered,” Sam admitted shamefully.
Lucy gasped as Lois struggled to find her voice. He knew. All this time he’d known Lex was behind all the crime in Metropolis and he’d said nothing. Did that mean he was in on Allie’s murder?
“How could you?” Lois asked shakily. “Allie…He was…GOOD.”
“I know. I didn’t want any part of it after what they did to him.” Sam pleaded, “You have to believe me.”
“How are we supposed to believe anything you say?” Lucy fumed angrily. “You are no better than Lex Luthor as far as I’m concerned.”
“Lucy, you don’t mean that,” Sam argued.
“Don’t I?” Lucy scoffed. “You knew what he was doing, and you said nothing. You KNEW he was over there dating Lois and you didn’t think to ….Oh, I don’t know WARN someone?”
“How could you, Sam?” Ellen fumed angrily, “How could you stoop so low as to …..You KNEW that psychopathic, sociopath was a cold-blooded killer, and you said NOTHING!?!”
***
“Superman!” Henderson looked up from his coffee in surprise as he walked back toward the station. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m trying to find out what’s going on. I just spoke with Mr. White and…”
Henderson shook his head, “I can’t get any more involved than I already am.”
“What’s going on?” Clark asked, folding his arms over his chest. “An innocent and injured kid gets picked up for questioning, and no one can give any answers as to why.”
A group of officers walked by; their conversation grew quiet when they saw Superman standing with Henderson. “Hey, DETECTIVE!” One of them whistled.
“Don’t know whose feathers you ruffled but it’s a long fall down,” Another one jeered.
Henderson looked down at his feet; his jaw tightened as he waited for the officers to leave. Clark glanced back at the officers with a stern glare, and they ushered themselves into the coffee shop. “What’s going on?” He repeated.
Henderson looked around nervously, “Not here. Find Lois and Clark. Have them meet me at O’Neal Towers at three.” With that, he rushed past him and headed back toward the police station.
***
Nothing. No explanation. No excuse. Lois stared at her father numbly, uncertain of what to make of his current disheveled appearance or how to process what had apparently happened. He’d been attacked. That much was certain. Why? Revenge. For what? They still didn’t know. Lex seemed to be coming after everyone she cared about. Panic began to run through her mind. Jimmy. Lucy said she couldn’t get a hold of him. What if…
‘Don’t go there.’ She glanced back at Lucy, trying to force herself to focus on the problem at hand. At least both her parents and her sister were here safe where she could see them. She couldn’t panic. She had to approach this like she would any of her other investigations so they could get to the bottom of this. If she panicked she’d lose perspective and she couldn’t afford to do that right now.
‘Focus.’ She told herself.
“What did they do?” Lois asked, cautiously. Her tone was cool and calm and didn’t betray the emotions that were threatening to take over her.
Her relationship with her father was complicated, to say the least. She loved him. He was her father. He was also the man whose expectations she could never live up to and the man who seemed never to be willing to give her the one thing she wanted, his acceptance and respect.
The fight to end all fights they’d had her senior year of high school had been a doozie. She’d told him she wasn’t going to medical school. He told her she was a disappointment and there was no use in her continuing to live there. She agreed, and she left. He accused her of betraying the Lane family name by refusing to follow in his footsteps.
That had been the tipping point in their relationship. She had thrown everything back in his face regarding the affairs and the way he treated their mother. How she’d turned to alcoholism when he’d left. She blamed him. He broke her mother and she just wanted to hurt him like he hurt her mother. Unfortunately, it didn’t do anything but make him angry. She moved out and decided to shut the door on her relationship with her father. She’d made attempts over the years to try to have a civil relationship for Lucy’s sake but he never responded. At Aunt Lynn’s funeral he ignored her and walked away. That was the final straw for her. She planned on closing the book on their relationship until the fiasco at Menken’s Gym happened. She’d yet to even speak to her father after moving out until she and Clark had run into him during their investigation into Menken’s Gym. It was then that she’d been given a gift. The gift of hope. She’d seen a glimmer of the man from her childhood. A man that cared about his family. She’d had hope. At least she’d had hope until Now here he was trampling all over that hope again and again.
“I had an Englishman show up at my practice last night asking about my relationship with Menken. Next thing I know he’s pulling out a gun and chasing me down.” He shook his head in disgust. “I don’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to go.”
“Well, you’re not staying here!” Lucy spat angrily.
“Lucy…” Ellen admonished.
“What? We’re all thinking it.” Lucy snapped. “You partnered up with a criminal, and now he’s coming after you. I’m sorry, but you have no right to disrupt mom’s life because of your choices…” Lucy lectured angrily.
“I can speak for myself thank you,” Ellen interjected.
Sam looked at her expectantly, “Ellen?”
“Lucy’s right. You can’t stay here.” Ellen harrumphed angrily. Lucy wore a smug grin until Ellen added, “You can stay in the pool house.”
***
“What’s this?” Lex asked looking at the photo surveillance pictures Mrs. Cox had laid on this desk.
“Seems everything is going according to plan, but Henderson still won’t turn. The Commissioner has put the demotion into works, but he’s still not budging.”
Lex took a puff at his cigar, examining the photo of Superman and Henderson, “You just have to know how hard to squeeze Mrs. Cox.”
“He was seen talking with Superman earlier today. We have a tracker on him, but he’s being careful. Hasn’t turned on his phone outside of work. Hasn’t spoken with either of those reporters or anyone else involved in the investigation into you.”
“He's being smart,” Lex said, taking another puff of his cigar.
“Very,” Mrs. Cox added.
“Keep tailing him,” Lex ordered.
***
Lois locked the door to her apartment and sighed in relief as she turned to the familiar setting of her home. She’d left as soon as she could. Lucy was staying at mom’s to make sure their dad didn’t ‘take advantage’ of mom’s good nature. It was a mess. She headed for the bathroom to change out of her clothes from earlier that were torn and stained. She hadn’t heard from Clark yet so she assumed he’d been called away. Right now all she wanted to do was change out of these clothes and wash the smell of iodine off of her. She turned the shower on, hoping to wash away the memory of today.
<<“I had an Englishman show up at my practice last night asking about my relationship with Menken. Next thing I know he’s pulling out a gun and chasing me down.” >> Nigel. Nigel St. John had to be the Englishman dad was talking about. When she’d questioned Lucy further the description she gave of her attacker matched that of Mrs. Cox. That was two family members Lex had come after in the last two days. She still didn’t understand why. She hated that she hadn’t been able to put two and two together the night before, but admittedly she had been distracted and Lucy only had a small scratch on her cheek. There was no bruising…at least not then. Was it a warning? Revenge?
<<“I was told we were repairing injured players…then slowly they wanted them stronger and stronger…a, uh, ‘Superman’ if you will,”>>He had been lying. How involved was he?
<<"All he ever mentioned was a, uh, ‘boss’ that wanted the changes when I asked about trying to make the fighters do too much too fast with the robotic arms,”>>The brilliant surgeon she’d grown up with so many years ago would never have agreed to do what these men were asking him to do. How had he gotten involved in something like this? She had so many questions. Why had her father, Dr. Sam Lane begun working with criminals?
<< “So, still think my dad is….colorful?” Lois asked with a fake laugh.
“Uh, I’m not sure,” He said with a smile. “He’s …. Different,”>>The only saving grace from this afternoon was Clark hadn’t been there to see how ugly the Lane family could truly be. She hated it. She hated the person she became when she became defensive with her parents. She didn’t like who she was and she didn’t like who they were. As the eldest she spent most of her childhood trying to shelter Lucy from the ugliness that came out between them, but there was only so much she could do.
Over the years she’d learned Lucy was just as aware of what was going on. She envied her strength. The ability to keep moving forward and love with all her heart and take chance after chance and not worry about the consequences. Lucy often told her she looked up to her, but for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why. In her eyes, Lucy was the strong one.
Sure, when it came to nabbing the bad guy she was fearless and took risks but when it came to her personal life she was a mess. Taking a risk and pursuing a relationship with Clark had been hard, scary. It had been worth it. She never regretted that decision. After Clark shared his secret with her she’d vowed to keep it and protect him at all costs. The closer they’d gotten these last few months the harder she’d fallen for him. Lucy had been right initially. She didn’t
know Superman, but she
knew Clark; the real Clark.
<<“I’m sorry…I don’t understand ….I guess I don’t want to understand…how anyone can walk away from their family like that,”
She gave him a soft smile, “You’d never do that…”>>He had an idealistic view of how a family should be and when he saw someone doing something to hurt their family he spoke out against it. It was part of what made him who he was. He’d grown up in a loving home with two parents that risked everything to make sure he grew up safe and loved. Knowing that and knowing he’d never shared his secret with anyone else had been humbling. Once they’d opened up to one another and admitted their feelings the rest had been easy.
She recalled the night before and every caress and touch. Never before had she ever felt so cherished and loved. Clark had a way about making her feel weak in the knees with just a look in his eyes or a touch of his hand. She’d never felt this way about anyone before. Even though she’d been quoting her drug-induced lines last night when she’d showed up at his apartment to seduce him she meant every word. She just wasn’t sure if he knew that or if she was ready to tell him that.
She stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself as she began to dry off and get dressed in non-torn or bloodied clothing. She finished buttoning her jeans when she heard a knock at the window. She headed to the living room, pulling the curtain back to unlock the window.
“Hi,” Clark said stepping into the apartment as he leaned in to kiss her. “I have news.”
“Hi,” She echoed, leaning in for another kiss. “So do I.”
He folded his arms over his chest, glancing at the clock on the wall, “Feel like taking a flight?”
***
Lex stared at the screen in front of him, “Hold on…” He hit a button, rewinding the footage and playing it back again. He watched as Lois unlocked her window and let Superman into her apartment then Superman leaned in to kiss her and she, in turn, leaned in to kiss him back.
//“Hi, I have news.”
“Hi. So, do I.”
“Feel like taking a flight?”//“Well, well…” Lex mused, rewinding the footage once more. It wasn’t anything as intense as the footage he’d seen from the night before with Lois and Kent, but there was definitely something going on between Lois Lane and Superman. “I believe we’ve found our sacrificial lamb.”
He watched as Superman flew Lois Lane out the window, leaving her empty apartment behind. Lex pulled out his phone, “Nigel, get me, Toni. We’ve got some planning to do.”
***
Clark was quiet most of the flight. Lois watched him cautiously, uncertain if she wanted to press him on what his ‘news’ was. She wanted to tell him about her dad but she really didn’t know how. He was Superman but more importantly he was Clark. Would he look at her differently if he found out her dad had been working with Lex? She really didn’t want to find out right now.
She wanted to just find the reset button and start this day over again and stay in bed where it was safe and warm, and no one had attacked the Planet or Lucy or her dad. They slowly came to a landing a block away from the police station.
“Why are we landing here,” Lois asked, confused when Clark landed them in an alley just outside the police station. He quickly spun out of his Superman suit and back into his street clothes.
“Jimmy got brought in for questioning in the arson and destruction of the Daily Planet,” Clark explained walking with her toward the entrance of the station.
“What??? That’s ridiculous. He would never…” Lois argued adamantly.
“Of course not,” Clark said walking up the steps with her, “but this Detective Jenkins seems adamant on keeping Jimmy for questioning and legally he can hold him for forty-eight hours without an attorney…”
“We can’t let them do that. Where’s Henderson?” Lois asked as she climbed the steps with him.
“That’s the thing. Apparently, he lost his shield this morning and got demoted.” Clark said opening the door to the station.
“What in the name of everything that is holy is going on?” Lois muttered, looking around the station. In the lobby, she spotted Perry sitting in the corner with a woman in her mid-thirties, glasses and long messy blondish brown hair. “Perry!” Lois called, heading toward them.
Perry looked up and waved them over, “I guess Superman told you?”
Lois nodded, throwing a glimpse back at Clark before nodding, “Yeah, somewhat. All he told us was that Jimmy was being held for questioning.” She explained, hoping to get some more information from Perry.
The woman nodded, “What they’re doing right now is legal because he hasn’t been placed under arrest and therefore is not required by law to have his attorney present. They’re walking a tight line on the letter of the law.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Lois asked.
At Lois’ confused expression she held out her hand to introduce herself, “Constance Hunter. I’m here to represent James, err…Jimmy.”
“Has anyone been able to see him?” Clark asked concerned.
“No,” Perry shook his head. “I’ve tried, and the closest I got was being put into an interrogation room for causing a scene.”
“It’s a setup,” Lois said bitterly.
“It’s Luthor.” Clark corrected. “He’s going after everyone that had anything to do with trying to bring him down.”
Perry’s face grew grim, “Have either of you talked to Jack?”
Lois shook her head, but Clark surprised her by saying, “Superman stopped in to check on him this afternoon. He’s fine.”
“Well, there’s some good news.” Perry reasoned. “Do either of you have your laptops?”
“At our apartments,” Clark said.
“Good.” Perry nodded, “Mr. Wayne’s wanting to put out an evening edition online and he’s wanting us to get everything we were planning to run to him by six.” He shook his head, “There’s not much you can do here.” He handed them a card, “Get your stories and send them to him. See if you can find out anything about what’s going on here. I’ll stay here until we can get in to see Jimmy.”
“We can’t just leave him in there like that,” Lois said angrily. “He’s just a kid. They’ll break him.”
“He’s made of stronger stuff than you think,” Perry said. “He’ll be fine. He knows the law. Hopefully he can stay strong until we can get in to see him.”
“Call us the minute you find out something,” Clark said, wrapping a protective arm around Lois.
Lois looked back at Clark, “Are we seriously leaving him here?”
Clark shook his head, steering her toward the exit as he whispered, “No, but we are seriously leaving the building and then we’re gonna meet Henderson because it’s almost three. He’s the one that tipped Perry off. Hopefully he can tell us what’s going on.”
TBC...
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