Testing a Theory
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 1
***
“Well?” Samantha asked nervously, looking at her cousin in the visiting room.
“I’m looking into things,” Cat said in a hesitant tone.
“That’s great!” Samantha grinned happily. “You’ll prove my innocence then?”
“I don’t know that I can do that, Sam.” Cat cut her off. “Even if you weren’t the one pulling the strings you were still involved in a federal crime.”
“But that was, Mr. Goode, not me,” Samantha argued. “Are you sure there isn’t anything you can do? What about all the connections you used to have with the Senators over the years? You used to brag all the time about being able to make them do whatever you wanted.”
“That was different,” Cat argued. “This is a lot more complicated than giving me a quote on the local Gossip column. This is a conspiracy to murder international leaders. This is a conspiracy to start a war. This is a…”
“There was no conspiracy!” Sam shot back. “It was proving once and for all that Superman wasn’t as good and pure as he tried to portray. And Lois Lane…”
“Let me stop you right there.” Cat cut her off. “Even if what you’re saying is true that doesn’t help your case on the other charges. The fact of the matter is, you created that scandal from a fake photograph….no matter what it is you think you witnessed or not.”
“I know what I saw.” Samantha shot back. “Put a tail on Lois Lane. I guarantee you she’ll lead you right to Superman.”
“Or to her next story,” Cat said, rubbing her temples. “Look, I get you’re upset about your story, but you can’t use this as a defense when your lawyer gets here. You’ve got to accept your part in this. You’ve got to…”
“I didn’t do anything,” Samantha argued.
“Yes, you did.” Cat snapped back. “The sooner you realize that the better off you’ll be.”
***
“Unbelievable!” Lois fumed angrily, jabbing the button for the parking garage in the elevator. “Perry has to be out of his mind giving that….no good….”
“Honey, calm down,” Clark tried to soothe, placing his hand over hers to stop her from subjecting any further abuse on the elevator button.
“She can’t just waltz in here like nothing’s happened. I mean, who does she think she is?” Lois continued. “She jumped ship when everything went to hell and a hand basket. No good-bye. No, see you later. Just disappears in the middle of the night and leaves Perry to fill her position with no budget and…”
Clark leaned in, capturing her lips with his in order to bring an end to her tirade. He knew Cat’s return had upset her. He still wasn’t sure why her response to Cat had been so hostile. Normally, she wouldn’t have allowed herself to get pulled into such a petty argument. After all, Cat’s initial remarks hadn’t been laced with the usual derogatory remarks she’d thrown at Lois years ago. It hadn’t been until Lois had made a snide remark at Cat’s clothing choices that the sparring had ensued between the two. He didn’t dare mention that to Lois though.
He slowly broke off the kiss, resting his forehead against hers. A small smile spread across her face, “Is this your way of saying I’m over-reacting?”
“That and I really like how cute you get when you’re mad.” He teased, running a hand through her hair as he brushed a stray lock out of her face.
Lois gave him a half-smile. “Sorry. I might have over-reacted with Cat earlier.”
“It’s been a stressful few weeks.” He reasoned carefully.
“It’s just that…”
‘You sure this is the elevator?’ his super-hearing picked up on a conversation happening outside the elevator as they arrived on their floor.
“Honey, hold that thought.” He said hurriedly, bracing himself for what he was sure would be another barrage of questions on where Clark Kent was during Superman’s press-conference. He and Lois had been hounded by the less than stellar journalists over the last few weeks that still clung onto hope they could weasel a scandal out of his absence given that the Lois/Superman affair had been disproven.
“Hold that thought?” Lois echoed, just as the elevator doors opened. “Oh, no!”
“Mr. Kent, Ms. Lane, fancy bumping into you here…” the very loud and obnoxious Barry Dunning said as his cameraman shoved his camera in their faces.
“Not a word,” Clark whispered in Lois’ ear, pushing past them to make their way into the parking garage where they’d parked.
Unfortunately, Dunning was hot on their tale as they turned the corner to where they’d parked. “I’d love to give you two a chance to set the record straight. I myself have been a big fan for years….I mean, it’s amazing how one…I mean,
two reporters can land so many exclusives with the man of steel in such a short amount of time.”
“Give me a break,” Lois muttered under her breath, digging in her purse for her keys.
Clark stood between her and the cameraman who was getting too close for Clark’s comfort. The camera poked at his arm then moved to his face. “Get that camera out of my face,” Clark said firmly.
“We just want to ask you a few questions.” Barry continued, ignoring Clark’s request.
“Found them,” Lois said, holding her keys up in triumph.
“If we could just…” Barry continued, taking a step toward Lois, blocking her entry into the driver’s side of the door.
“Move,” Lois said in between gritted teeth.
“Ms. Lane,” Barry took another step and Clark held his arm out to block him. “If we could just get a few minutes I’m sure…”
Clark heard the sound of the Jeep unlocking from the chirp of the keyless entry remote. Barry Dunning still stood in front of the driver’s side door, blocking them entry as the cameraman continued to point the camera in their faces. “She said, move.” Clark took a step toward Barry to force him to move back and allow Lois inside the car. Clark crossed his arms over his chest, and took another step forward, “I suggest you move.”
Lois’ car door slammed shut, and he turned to see her buckling her seatbelt. He moved to the otherside of the car to get in on the passenger side of the door.
“Mr. Kent!” Barry called after him as Lois revved her engine. They still stood in front of the Jeep, blocking her from moving. He slammed the door shut and she locked the door.
“Hold on.” She warned, shifting into reverse with a hard bump before changing gears.
Normally he would have chastised her for being so hard on the gears after they’d just replaced the clutch, but given the current predicament with the wannabe celebrity talk show host staring them down he thought it best to keep quiet.
Lois revved her engine once more then slammed on the accelerator. Barry and his cameraman jumped out of the way as Lois swerved at the last second taking a sharp turn toward the exit.
“Lois!” Clark grabbed the handle on the door as the Jeep swerved through the tunnels of the parking garage.
“He’ll think twice before trying to block me into a parking spot again,” Lois said as she approached the gate, pulling out her parking pass from the Planet for the reader to scan.
“Can we maybe not kill the clutch in less than a month though?” Clark reminded her with a joking smile. It had to be done. He knew it. She knew it. For the most part, the reporters that had been hounding them during the Superman scandal had backed off.
Unfortunately, Barry Dunning was just a few of the ones that hadn’t. Where was Clark Kent? That was the story they were after. He and Lois had agreed not to say anything to them. Hopefully, given enough time, they would give up and move on to the next scandal. The next scandal couldn’t come soon enough as far as he was concerned.
“The man’s sub-human. He’d probably just regrow whatever limbs got injured if I did hit him.” Lois spat angrily, “Not that I
would hit him.”
“Are you okay?” Clark asked, placing a hand on her shoulder as she drove.
“Yeah, I didn’t lose my temper like last time.” She smiled at him. “I thought Perry had banned all non-Daily Planet personnel from using the parking garage. How’d he get in there?”
“I don’t know,” Clark sighed. “We can try to talk to Perry in the morning about upping the security. At least until this dies down.”
“If it does,” Lois said softly, staring sadly at the road ahead of them.
***
Randy Goode stared out the small 2x2 window of his cell door. He was being moved into J-Pod today. No more restrictions. Under Superman’s directions, the police had placed him under suicide watch to ensure he would get the ‘proper care’ and justice was served. He wasn’t sure if the man of steel had made the remark out of true concern or if he’d done it to spite him. The restrictions had included being stripped down to his birthday suit and given a thorough cavity search on a daily basis to ensure there was nothing in his cell he could use to harm himself. This also included him losing access to any pens, toothbrush, comb, or shoelaces that could be used to form a weapon to take his own life with.
It had been hell, but it was about to be over.
A hard knock on the cell door startled him. He jumped back and saw the guard he’d come to know as ‘the enforcer’ by other inmates at his door. “Get packed. Time to move.”
Within a few minutes, Randy had his things together, and he carried the wool blanket, change of prison uniform and paperwork with him down the narrow hallways. Every few minutes he had to stop, look up at the camera and smile as the guard held up his badge at each sliding glass door. The doors would slide open, and they would continue.
Finally, they arrived in Block J where he was passed off to another guard that looked to be about three times his size. There was no introduction. Just a passing of the paperwork and a gruff order to follow the new guard. He heard a loud rumble through the cell doors as he was guided up the hallway to his new cell. The guard banged on the door three times before opening it and pushing Randy in.
“Hey, Church, you got a roomie!”
“Church?”
Randy turned around to see none other than the infamous Bill Church Jr. sitting inside his cell as the guard slammed the door shut. Church. He was in the cell with Bill Church Jr. This would not end well. He scanned the luxuries throughout the cell, uncertain how the multi-billionaire had been able to swing the luxury mattress inside the prison.
“Randy, so good of you to stop by.” Bill Jr. smiled with an eerie calm. His fingers tapped on the metal frame of the bed he sat on. “Last I heard you were supposed to be running things.” His head jerked up as he met Randy’s eyes with a sinister stare, “How’d you end up here?”
“I can explain…” Randy began.
“Oh, I’m sure you can.” Bill nodded, standing up to knock on the door.
The door opened, and a very large prisoner with golden teeth and arms the size of a pickup truck stood in the doorway. “Randy, I’d like you to meet Morgan. He’s in prison for mass murder. No chance of parole. No time off for good behavior. He’s done a lot of bad things…”
Randy took a step back, “Nice to meet you, Morgan. Mr. Church, I …I can explain…It was Superman. He…”
“Always with the Superman excuse. Don’t you people ever get tired of using the same excuse for
everything? Superman stopped me from robbing the museum. Superman stopped me from hacking into the Pentagon. Superman stopped me from running Intergang.” Bill stared at him coldly at the last statement and Randy swallowed hard. “So, explain it to me, Randy.” He took a step toward him, and Morgan closed the door behind him. “Explain how you got every red cent of Intergang’s right under Superman’s nose and in his radar? Please explain. I’d love to hear it.”
“It’s not that simple,” Randy argued. “There were complications.”
“Complications?” Bill scoffed with a sneer. “A bad sale is a complication. A one night stand the night before you’re supposed to get hitched is a complication.” Church held up his fist, hitting the side of the bed angrily, “Getting the last of Intergang’s assets frozen by the FBI and the UN? That’s what we call a
catastrophe.” He motioned to Morgan, “Why don’t you show Randy around? Give him a
feel for the place?”
Randy felt a lump for in his throat as he watched Morgan approach him. “No, no, no, please…”
“I don’t handle disappointment well, Randy,” Bill said with a look of distaste. He pulled out a cigar and lit it, taking a long puff. Morgan cracked his knuckles as he advanced toward him.
***
Lois sat on her bed, listening to her sister on the phone, “I’m sorry Luce. I don’t know what else to say.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s just annoying that something like this happened in the first place.” Lucy said on the other end of the phone. “I couldn’t attend classes for a week because I couldn’t get to class.”
“They’re ruthless,” Lois commented with a bitter tone. “I’m sorry.”
“Quit apologizing.” Lucy laughed, “How are you?”
“Okay, I guess.” Lois began hesitantly, “Avoiding paparazzi, chasing down leads…”
“They’re still hounding you?” Lucy asked.
“This time they’re chasing Clark and me. Apparently, they think they need a better explanation for why Clark wasn’t at the press conference.” Lois explained offhandedly.
“Don’t give them anything, Lois. I’m serious. I saw the way you lost your temper on that Barry Dunning character. Every station picked it up and twisted it.” Lucy reminded her.
“Believe me; I won’t be making that mistake again.” Lois said, “I’m trying to avoid saying anything if I can.”
“Now
that I’d love to see.” Lucy giggled.
“Ha, ha,” Lois shot back sarcastically. “How are things with you? Are you still seeing Dr. Ryan?”
“Actually, Dr. Ryan said I didn’t need to see her anymore. I’m a fully functioning adult now.” Lucy exclaimed through the phone line.
“You’ve always been fully-functioning, Luce.” Lois corrected.
“More or less.” Lucy teased. “Hard to believe it’s been over two years now.”
“I’m proud of you,” Lois said gently, recalling the trouble Lucy‘d had after Johnny Corbin’s death. At first, she’d lashed out then she’d gone in denial and then depression. She’d left Metropolis and gone back to California where her roommate finally convinced her to get the help she needed. It had been a long road, but Lucy had finally started to re-emerge from the shell of a woman she’d been after Corbin’s death.
“Thanks.” Lucy said with a satisfied sigh, “I’m thinking about maybe making a trip out to Metropolis soon. Thought maybe we could catch up?”
“I’d like that.” Lois smiled happily.
The sound of voices around her echoed through the phone. Lucy’s voice raised a few octaves. “Listen, I’ve gotta go. My next class is about to start, but remember what I said. I’ve got two more weeks, and then I’ll have some time off from school. Let’s compare dates and plan some sister time.”
“You’re on. Good luck with class.” Lois hung up the phone, hearing the monotone lull on the other end of the line. She set the phone down and looked around the empty bedroom. Clark had gone out on patrol shortly after they’d arrived home. Neither of them wanted to talk about what had transpired in the parking garage earlier.
It was getting harder and harder to fend off the vultures that tried to pass themselves off as journalists. She hadn’t told Clark about the incident last week with one of the Top Copy reporters trying to climb their brownstone and getting stuck right outside their bedroom window. She had called the police to have him removed from the property and issued a warning to stay off the property.
It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been but it was still hard to deal with. She couldn’t be herself in her home. The place she was supposed to feel safe. That had been taken from them. It had been a relief to know the photograph had been a fake, but the aftermath of what had transpired still continued to haunt her.
Someone had been watching her and Clark. She’d seen the images that had been used to create the fake photograph in question. Someone had been there…spying on her and Clark in their most intimate moments. He had arrived at Chateau Roberge in his Superman suit. His arrival had been captured on film.
She and Clark had lived their worst nightmare and lived to fight another day. Superman had been ridiculed in the media. Going so far as to manipulate a young boy in order to boost ratings. The look on the little boy’s face when he’d told the field reporter he didn’t believe in Superman anymore had been heartbreaking. The look on Clark’s face had been even more devastating. She’d done what she could to comfort him, knowing there was nothing she could do to erase the pain that little boy’s words had caused. She wanted to find that Jean Sally for pulling an innocent child into the limelight for ratings. She wanted to give his parents a good talking to for exposing him to the scandal in the first place and allow his hero to be shattered in his eyes. It broke her heart how cruel the world could be.
Clark had had to deal with the aftermath on both ends of the spectrum. One-half of him was hated and despised while the other half was pitied. Not a feeling he was comfortable with on either side of the spectrum. It had been hard going into work every day and dealing with the hostile environment that greeted her. It was so surreal. The previous week she’d been missing her husband and wanting nothing more than a few moments alone with him uninterrupted. The next she was being accused of being unfaithful and had been branded with the scarlet letter by every media news outlet that had gotten a hold of the story.
From the time the ‘story’ had broke she had become the subject of every joke, lewd remark, and innuendo. It had been painful. She had worked hard to build up her reputation as a respectable journalist, and one story had destroyed her credibility among her peers. She had to listen to the snide remarks and innuendos in the office for three days. She had been hounded by reporters and paparazzi that threw lewd remarks at her about her and Clark’s sex life as if they were asking about the weather. She had been kidnapped and strapped to explosives as bait for Superman once again…but this time it had been different.
It had been different because there was no real reason. There was no plot to destroy the world or corruption to uncover. It was just human nature at its worst run rampant with a story that hit close to home. It had given them both a glimpse into what could happen if anyone ever did connect the dots between Clark and Superman. It had forced her to take a step back and make a hard decision about the image they were portraying to the world.
Beating every reporter out of an exclusive was fine when she’d been trying to prove herself as top-banana back in the day, but now that she and Clark were married she needed to create some distance between her and his alter-ego. She and Clark couldn’t continue to be the only reporters grabbing the Superman exclusives without someone putting two and two together.
All she’d heard about for the past few weeks was how many exclusives she’d had with Superman over the years so she’d decided last weekend to put a stop to all exclusives not related to stories she and Clark were currently working on. Everyday rescues could be covered by other reporters. It would be hard at first, but she knew it was the right decision.
Still, she missed being there in the crowd covering the Superman appearances and sharing a smile with him in the ‘suit’ when he was talking to the press. It felt good to know she could be there for him and help steer the line of questioning among her fellow peers. Those days would be changing. There would no longer be a way for her to protect Superman’s image without putting Clark’s secret at risk—their secret.
Lois set the brush down and turned toward the television. The images showed Superman shaking hands with Latislan and Podansk after the signing of the peace treaty. Yet another thing that had been put at risk from the scandal.
She recalled the lengths Clark had been willing to go to in order to ensure peace among the fighting countries. It still made her furious to think of how he’d put himself and their families at risk by plotting such a hair-brained scheme. In the middle of the scandal—when they’d had reporters camped outside their home—he’d flown to Smallville and brought his parents back with him. All so he could share his ‘idea’ to tell the world Clark Kent and Superman were one and the same. He’d hatched this plan without even discussing it with her first. By the time he’d announced it, there was no talking him out of it. It wasn’t until he’d been presented with proof that the photograph was a fake did he back down.
She knew it couldn’t have been an easy decision for him to come to. It had taken him three years to tell her, and even then, she’d had to figure it out on her own. The idea that he was willing to put everything on the line for peace was admirable. It was one of the many things that made her love him in the first place. It still made her mad that he thought he could go forward with a plan that affected them both without even trying to talk it through with her. She understood the ‘why, ’ but it still made her furious that he’d tried to make such an important decision without her. She’d gotten ‘over it’ this past week. She was trying to find the positive spin and focus on the next story, but it was hard. Metropolis seemed to have hit a lull and her removing herself from the Superman related stories had slowed down the influx of stories to turn into Perry. He hadn’t said anything yet, but she was sure he’d say something soon if she didn’t find a good lead. It was eerily quiet in Metropolis. Even Clark’s Superman patrols had gotten shorter.
A sharp scratching noise from the window caused her to jump. She moved toward the window, pushing the curtain back to make sure there wasn’t another paparazzi trying to scale her home to ‘catch Superman’s arrival.’ She sighed in relief when she saw the wind rustling in the oak tree by their window. The branches brushed against the window making the sharp scratching noise she’d heard before.
‘Just the wind.’ She thought to herself.
The sound of the door opening behind her startled her. “It’s just me.” Clark gave her a reassuring smile when she turned to the bedroom door.
“Sorry.” She smiled weakly at him. “I guess I’m still a little jumpy.”
“I had Henderson send a patrol car out to do a sweep before I came home. Front yard and back are clear.” He reassured her, wrapping his arms around her.
“Good.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, relaxing against him. “How was your patrol?”
“Quiet.” He said softly. “Everything seems to have hit a lull tonight. Not even a cat in a tree needed saving.”
She grinned back at him, “So, I have my husband all to myself for the evening. I think I like the sound of that.”
He leaned in to kiss her, smiling against her lips, “Me too.”
She sighed against him, “Are you sure there’s no one outside?”
She watched him lower his glasses and give the window a quick look before turning to nod, “No hiding paparazzi.” He gave the bedroom a quick scan and smiled at her, “No peering eyes anywhere. I promise.”
She relaxed against him, toying with the hem of his t-shirt as she walked him back toward the bed. “Then what do you say we take advantage of this quiet evening?” She pulled him with her back onto the bed. He let out a groan of approval as he leaned in to capture her mouth with his.
***
Cat Grant stared at the list in front of her. Samantha had really dug herself in it this time. She’d made call after call over the last few hours and received the same answer. A resounding ‘no’ had been her answer from all of her old contacts in Washington. No one wanted to come anywhere near this case for fear of making an enemy of a mysterious ‘benefactor’ and after the scandal had been proven a fake no one wanted Superman as an enemy.
Superman.
There was another problem.
She knew she was right.
It was the only way to explain what had occurred. She believed her cousin. She believed she saw what she saw, but she knew there had to be an explanation. Lois Lane was a lot of things but an adulterer she was not.
The question now was, how was she going to prove it?
Given her history with both Lois and Clark, she didn’t envision proving this theory by asking them. She knew they both would work hard to disprove any theory she presented them, so she needed to come up with irrefutable evidence to prove Clark was Superman. Something they couldn’t deny.
What she wasn’t’ sure yet, but she’d think of something. Having her old job back would help. She could run her business from Metropolis, reconnect with old contacts and hopefully work toward freeing Sam of the charges against her.
***
Samantha stared at the unfamiliar woman on the other side of the table, looking around the visitor’s room nervously. “Do I know you?”
The young blonde crossed her legs, tapping her nails against the table as she spoke, “I don’t believe we’ve met.” She said coolly, leaning back in her chair. “Quite a predicament you’ve gotten yourself into, Samantha,”
“You know my name.” Samantha looked toward the cameras that were unplugged then back at the unknown visitor, “Who are you?”
“That’s not important.” She responded in a syrupy sweet tone, “What is important is what you can do for me.”
“You? What makes you think I’d do anything to help you….if I could?” Samantha looked around the dark room uncertainly.
“Because you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in Federal prison for a crime you didn’t commit.” The woman smiled at her, “Am I getting warm?”
“I’m not going to prison. My cousin will get me out.” Samantha shrugged her off.
“Ah, yes, the infamous Cat Grant.” The woman snickered. “Don’t be surprised when she stops returning your calls. You’ve been set up to take the fall of a very bad man. You can either take my help and get out of here or don’t and take your chances with the federal judges. The choice is yours.” She placed a card on the table, standing up to leave. “Don’t wait too long. My offer has an expiration date.”
Samantha jumped when she heard the hard metal door close behind her. She stared at the white card in front of her with a single cross on it and a phone number. No clue as to who the mysterious woman was.
***
TBC...
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