Sleeping With the Boss
Folc4evernaday
Part 5
***
“I’m not saying the bridge collapse isn't news, it's just not column one, that's all...” Marie said, pointing at the blank copy on the mock-up for the afternoon edition.
Lois did her best to focus on the meeting, but there was something gnawing at the back of her mind that she couldn’t shake. Why hadn’t Clark answered her question about Dr. Klein’s line being directly hacked into? What would a hacker have to gain by hacking into one scientist’s records?
Lois got up, “Excuse me just a minute,” She poked her head out of her office. “Jimmy!”
Jimmy looked up from his desk and headed to her, “What’s up?”
“Can you look and see if you can find what Eric Press was trying to access when he hacked into this number’s modem?” She handed him the phone records.
Jimmy motioned for her to follow him, "Sure thing."
“Ms. Lane? This meeting isn’t done.” Marie called after her.
“You need to handle that?” Jimmy asked, pulling up his chair at his desk.
“No.” Lois shook her head. “Just pull it up.”
Jimmy nodded, and at lightning speed, he was able to tap into the firewall of Eric Press’ computer where an electronic SOS had been put in place. “Whoa! Check this out.”
It was a binary code spelling out the letters. Lois squinted at it, “What does it mean?”
“It’s programmer language,” Jimmy explained. He ran a converter program on his computer and the code quickly changed to letters with a disturbing message.
“Help me! I’m being held, hostage! My brother’s trying to kill Superman!” the same message was written over and over again.
“Oh, my God!” Lois breathed.
After typing a few more keys, Jimmy was able to access the history of Eric Press’ computer.
The screen pulled up images of Superman under the gamma rays of the sun, showing his absorption of the sun and how fast he recharged. “What is he doing with these?” Lois asked in shock.
Panic coursed through her veins as she looked toward the elevators. Where had Clark said he was going?
“Superman saved the day today at the EPRAD Test Rocket Launch Pad where scientists say the computerized engine was hacked into and made to overheat almost creating a nuclear disaster with the warhead being developed by EPRAD... Thankfully Superman showed up just in time to stop the engine from exploding…”
“Nuclear war head. The lab explosion.” Lois recounted aloud. “His medical files. They were tests to … I’ve got to go!”
“Wait, Lois!” Before she could hear his response, she was already out the door.
The phone on Jimmy’s desk rang, and he picked it up, “Inspector Henderson? You got the bank records? Great. Yeah, CK said to check EPRAD’s Test Center…I’m not sure what’s going on, but Lois just ran out of here in a panic. You might want to bring backup.”
***
Clark groaned as he stood up, taking in the suns’ rays. When he’d opened the door to the trailer, he’d been propelled several feet from some sort of weapon. He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed to be an improved version of the quantum disruptor Lex Luthor had gotten his hands on last year.
“You’re making a big mistake,” Clark warned, advancing toward him.
“Out of control rocket? This looks like a job for Superman!” Ethan fired the weapon at him once more, knocking him to the ground, “or not.” He turned behind him, “See, Eric, didn’t I tell you he’d save the day?”
“I swear, Superman, I never wanted anything to do with this.” Eric pleaded with him. “Get out of here before—”
Ethan fired the weapon at him again, “Superheroes are so predictable.”
He felt weak. Weaker than he had in his encounter with Luthor. Whatever that weapon was seemed to be weakening him with each blast. Without having time to recuperate from his encounter with the rocket…
“Stop groveling! You’re wasting your mea culpas on him. He won’t be around long enough to exonerate you.” Ethan pointed the weapon at him once more, and Clark aimed his heat vision at the trigger, hoping it was made of metal like the last one.
“Ow!!” Ethan growled at him, dropping the weapon to the ground. “You’re going to pay for that!”
“Superman!!” Eric threw the weapon out of Ethan’s grasp, and Clark took advantage of his distraction to grab him.
“Going somewhere??” Clark hoisted him up in the air. “Where do we start? Kidnapping? Reckless endangerment? Espionage? Attempted mass murder??”
The sound of sirens and police cars could be heard from the distance. “Superman!” Lois’ voice reached his ears as the police approached.
“We’ll take it from here, Superman…” one of the officers said, taking Ethan into custody.
They approached Eric, and he stopped them. “He wasn’t involved.” He corrected them.
Eric gave a relieved smile when the officers put the handcuffs away and guided him toward the squad car for questioning.
“Are you okay?” Lois asked him when the officers were out of earshot.
“Fine.” He reassured her. “How did you know?”
“I had Jimmy check Eric’s computer to see what they were looking at. Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked in a harsh whisper.
“I didn’t want you to worry.” He explained. “You’ve had enough to worry about…” He stopped when he saw Henderson approaching.
“Eric Press said there was some weapon Ethan Press got his hands on from a military officer?” Henderson asked, looking at him with a critical eye, “Superman, you okay?”
Clark pointed toward the weapon that Eric had thrown. “Right over there.” Henderson motioned for the officers to follow him to retrieve the weapon.
“Bill’s right, you don’t look good,” Lois observed.
“I’ll be fine.” He reassured her. “Nothing, a few hours in the sun, won’t cure.”
“You don’t look fine.” She hissed at him through gritted teeth. “What did he do to you? What weapon is he talking about?”
“New and improved…. Quantum Disruptor.” He whispered, barely saying the name loud enough for her to hear.
“Get changed.” She ordered. “We’re going to see Dr. Klein … now.” He would have argued, but the look on her face told him not to even bother.
***
Lois had rejected three calls on the ride to STAR Labs then two more when they had been in Dr. Klein’s lab. “You should answer that.” Clark said with a knowing look.
“Someone told me I need to do a better job at putting my foot down. This is me, putting my foot down.” Lois retorted. At his look, she sighed, “I already called Carly to make sure no one burned the place down. They’re fine.”
“Okay, Superman, it looks like you took quite a blow…” Dr. Klein said returning to the lab.
“Well, between the nuclear reactor and the disruptor I’m not exactly feeling a hundred percent.” Clark reasoned.
“I don’t doubt it. It seems Mr. Press was trying to drain your energy reserves.” Dr. Klein explained. “Luckily you were in the sunlight during this encounter, so you had the sun’s rays to help keep you charged.” He stopped and looked at him grimly, “You’re going to have to take it easy for a few days at least. Let yourself recover. No super feats until we’re sure you’re back at a hundred percent.”
“But—”
He was cut off by Lois interjecting. “Clark and I’ll make sure he takes it easy.”
“Good.” Dr. Klein nodded. “I’ve also removed your files from our database and placed them on a separate server with extra firewall protection. Someone would have to know where to be looking in order to find it and now the only people that know about it are in this room.”
“Thank you for your help, Dr. Klein.” Clark smiled weakly at the doctor.
***
Clark had gone straight home from STAR Labs. After she finished marking up the mock-up for the evening edition complete with the story on the capture of Ethan Press she’d come home and found Clark stripped down, soaking up the last of the sun’s rays before it set for the evening. She’d changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of gray stretch pants and cotton tank top. After making a last call to the Planet and making sure Carly had things handled she finished looking over the evening edition before marking it with her final approval.
“Okay, just call me if there are any issues. I already signed the contracts for the new delivery service. Mr. Rose already signed off on those. I’ll send the final copy of the evening edition, and they can get it to Press…Thanks, Carly you too. Have a good night.” Lois hung up the phone and turned to Clark who was still sleeping off the effects from his encounter with the Presses. She gave her and Clark’s article, one more look over she hit the send button and closed her laptop.
She took a seat next to him on the bed, running her hand over his cheek. When she’d called to follow-up with Henderson on Ethan Press’ arrest, they’d discovered he had admitted to killing the Colonel that had been reported missing. She’d sent Harry to sniff out the scandal with Colonel Raine selling a top-secret weapon to someone as deranged as Ethan Press. Hopefully, they’d have something for tomorrow’s afternoon edition to follow up on their lead of the Press scandal.
For now, she was going to just enjoy the quiet. Today had been the first time she’d felt like herself. It had a lot to do with helping Clark investigate the Press story. She knew he didn’t need her help on it. He’d had her helping him to give her a taste of investigating a story to help with her transition. The more she thought about it though, the more she felt like she was losing a part of who she was by taking on this role. She still hadn’t gotten the Pulitzer she’d sought after. The idea of giving up that dream… There were still so many stories to write. She wanted to be the one writing the stories not figuring out where they went on the layout. She wanted to be diving into investigations with Clark not stuck in her office trying to find the time to sneak a bite of food in her busy schedule.
Clark had been more than understanding and supportive through the changes that had been thrown at both of them. She knew he’d support her no matter what decision she made, but right now what her heart told her was she missed being a reporter. She missed working with her husband. She missed spending her days with him and helping stop the bad guys and speaking out for those that can’t speak for themselves. That was why she’d become a reporter in the first place. Her goal had never been to be Editor or to move into a cushy office. It just wasn’t her. There might come a day when she could see herself settling down, but that wasn’t today.
Clark began to stir, turning toward her, “Hey,”
“Hey,” She smiled weakly at him leaning into him, laying her head on his chest. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay,” He leaned up, brushing his hand against her cheek. “How are you?”
“Okay.” She looked back at him, wrapping her arms around his waist, relishing in the fact that he was indeed okay.
“That face tells a different story.” He whispered, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “What’s wrong?”
Lois sighed, tracing random patterns on his chest. “Just doing some thinking.”
“Uh-oh.” He teased, resting his chin against her head.
“Today’s the first day I actually felt like myself since I became Editor,” Lois explained hesitantly.
“Well, that’s good, right?” Clark asked, looking at her with a reassuring smile.
“Except I didn’t feel that way because I was being Editor. I felt that way because I was helping investigate the Press story.” Lois pointed out, leaning back against him.
“Oh.” He tightened his arms around her. “You miss it.”
“Desperately.” She admitted shyly. “I haven’t even gotten my first Pulitzer yet. If I take on being Editor, I can kiss that dream good-bye.”
“Sounds like you’ve really thought this through." he observed.
“Yeah,” She looked back at him sadly, “What happened today…it could have been avoided if we’d been working on this story together. Maybe we could have stopped Ethan Press sooner … before he got his hands on that weapon. Don’t even get me started on why the military is even developing something like that…”
Mid-sentence she found herself cut off by his lips caressing hers. His hands moved to cup her cheek, and she whimpered in protest when he pulled away, “You can’t do that.” He whispered, resting his head against her cheek.
“Do what?” She breathed.
“Try and take the blame for all this. There’s no telling when we would have figured out what was going on with the Presses. Now, Raine knew the danger when he agreed to sell a top-secret military weapon like that.” He reassured her, nuzzling her ear. “Bad guys are in jail. I’m assuming the paper’s been put to bed since you’re home…” He grinned at her, running his hands up her ribcage, tracing the outline of her cotton tank top.
“I’ve been home for a few hours.” She said, fingering the gold band on his hand as he moved it up the front of her chest. “You’re supposed to be resting.”
“I’ve been resting for the last five hours.” He murmured against her neck, pressing his palm against the front of her chest. “I’ve had enough rest.”
“Oh, Cl…” She opened her mouth, sighing as his hands moved up her body. His mouth moved over hers, slipping his tongue inside the confines of her mouth. She sighed happily against him as he leaned them back onto the bed, rolling them over, so she was beneath him.
“I love you.” He whispered against the nape of her neck, breaking away from her as he stroked her jawline, staring back at her with an intense passion. He could make her melt with just a simple touch or caress.
She leaned in to recapture his mouth with hers, murmuring against him, “Make love to me Clark,”
***
The next day Lois was looking over the copy for the next edition. The headlines read:
SUPERMAN STOPS NUCLEAR EXPLOSION
PRESS CHARGED WITH MURDER, ESPIONAGEBy: Lois Lane and Clark KentLois smiled looking at the mock-up, seeing her and Clark’s names together just as they should be, “Looks like our lead story to me.”
“I’ll get this down to press.” Jimmy nodded, taking the mock-up down to print where he bumped into Perry who was standing in the doorway. “Hey, chief! What're you doing down here?”
Lois exchanged a knowing look with Clark, “I just thought I'd stop by, see how things were going, you know.” He took a deep breath and said, “God, I love the smell of ink in the morning.”
Jimmy frowned, “But it’s not morning.”
Perry sniffed, “Aw, hell, Jimmy, I know that. Just doesn’t sound as good you know.”
Jimmy offered him a supportive smile, “We miss you Chief.” He patted him on the back before leaving.
“I heard you two had a busy day yesterday.” Perry began hesitantly.
“You could say that.” Lois smiled back at him.
“Just another day in the life of Lane and Kent,” Clark remarked with a smile.
“So, what can I help you with?”
Perry smiled back at her weakly, “I wanted to talk to you about something…and I want you to know it has nothing to do with… Aw, look, I won't beat around the bush here, Lois. The truth is, I miss the newsroom something awful. After thirty some odd years being down here, I guess it's just become a part of me...”
“I know.” Lois smiled back at him.
“You do?” Perry asked.
“Yeah, and actually…” She looked back at Clark with a smile, “…we think we have a solution.” Perry looked up at her in anticipation, and Lois continued. “I miss being a reporter as much as you miss being an editor. Not to say I wouldn’t want the job down the line but right now …I’m just not ready. We’re not ready.” She emphasized her point, taking Clark’s hand in hers. “Which is why we think you should take your old job back.”
“Really?” Perry asked, uncertain if he’d heard her right.
“Really,” Lois said, “But I do like the parking space and the raise in pay. So maybe a raise and better parking and we call it even?”
“Deal!” Perry reached out to hug them both.
“Lois, I gotta talk to you…” Ralph interrupted, “Hey guys,” He nodded toward Perry and Clark then turned back to her, “I got this killer scoop. Guaranteed headline. Better than the mayor story.”
“Don’t tell me. Tell Perry.” Lois said taking her nameplate off the desk. She walked back into the newsroom and set her nameplate back on her desk next to Clark’s.
“You sure about this?” Clark asked.
“Yeah, I know where I belong.” She leaned in to kiss him. He grinned against her lips, moving his hand to cup her cheek.
“And that is?”
“Right here, with you.” She whispered, leaning in to recapture his lips with hers again. “What do you say we celebrate this reunion at home?”
“Sounds good to me.” He leaned in to capture her mouth with hers, lingering outside the elevator for a moment before following her inside the elevator car.
The End
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