Rules of Guilt
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 3
***
Clark stared up at the Bristol hotel in front of them grumbling, “You have got to be kidding me.”
“We’ve already tapped out our resources at the Planet, but Jimmy’s running out of time and we need to find out what we can about Borges.” Lois pointed out as she pushed through the glass doors and entered the lobby. “What better way to find out information than talking to a government agent?”
“A government agent we don’t know anything about.” Clark pointed out. “Besides the guy’s with the DEA. Not exactly the same line of business as Lucky Leon.”
Lois sighed, hooking her arm into his as they approached the dining area. “I remember someone pushing a very annoying ADA on me a few months ago on a hunch. What’s the big deal? It’s worth a shot. If he doesn’t know anything then we move on.”
“Fine,” Clark said evenly, looking around the semi-crowded dining room until he spotted Scardino in a booth at the end of the room. He knew it was petty but he really didn’t like the way Scardino looked at Lois. Though explaining that to her while he still felt like he was walking on eggshells around her wasn’t something he ventured to do either. She’d finally loosened up a little since this morning but he could tell his proposal was still weighing heavily on her mind. He kept catching her drift off in mid-conversation throughout the day. Having to deal with the very forward Agent Scardino on top of everything else wasn’t something he envisioned going well.
He pasted on his best fake smile as they approached, praying the DEA Agent wouldn’t have the information they were looking for. Roger was supposed to get back to him this evening. “Agent Scardino?” He cleared his throat
“Ah, Lane and Kent,” He gestured to the booth across from him. “You come here for the food or the company?” He winked at Lois.
Clark shot Scardino a warning glare and Lois ignored the comment, diving right into their reason for the visit. “Actually we came here for information.”
“Really?” He flashed her a smile, “Well, I may be persuaded to provide you with said information over dinner with a glass of wine and some gnocchi...”
‘You have got to be kidding me.’ Clark thought to himself. Just as he was about to set Scardino straight, Lois cut in.
“I don’t think so.” Lois crossed her arms over her chest.
“Suit yourself,” Scardino shrugged, “Though I’m not sure how willing I am to cooperate on an empty stomach.”
“Well, dinner is off the table, Scardino,” Clark interjected, placing both hands on the table and leaning forward so he was just close enough to make Scardino uncomfortable. “Now, you need information from us to do your investigation. We would like to get some information from you on our investigation.”
“Tit for tat, eh?” Scardino nodded, “I get it.” he pushed his glass to the side. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
***
Mayson sat across from Lucky Leon, sizing the man up as she waited for a response to her question. So far she’d seen him dodge question after question discussing his homeland and shoving fruit at her as if it was a high commodity. Though the idea of the loud and proud Lucky Leon being in cohorts with Intergang seemed out there she had to admit he did act like he was hiding something.
“Intergang?” Leon frowned, seeming to look puzzled. “Yes, I’ve heard of them. Dangerous criminals, no?”
“Yes, we received a tip that a call was made to a known Intergang contact.” Mayson flashed him a smile, “Of course, we know you’d never work with someone like that, but you know we do have to follow-up with every lead.”
“Yes, of course,” Leon smiled back at her. “No, I’m not aware of anything but I did discover one of my employees was being accused of murder. Perhaps it could have been him?”
Mayson gave her best look of surprise and nodded, “Really? Do you have a name?”
“Yes, it’s James Olsen.” He said, pulling out a file from his desk. “Such a tragedy.” He shook his head.
“Yes, it is,” Mayson said, taking notes from him on the information she already knew for appearances only. She grabbed her purse and smiled back at him, “Thank you, Mr. Leon. You’ve been incredibly helpful.”
“Of course!” He cheered following her to the door. “Just call if you need anything.”
Mayson waited until she was out in the parking lot and began to dial the already familiar number in her phone, “Hey Bill? Go ahead and call Judge Thompson. I’m gonna need a search warrant for all of Lucky Leon’s holdings by the end of the day. Yeah, I’m sure he’s hiding something and I doubt it’s a shipment of pencil sharpeners.”
***
Albie Swanson sat across the table from a tall man with brown hair and a dark blue prison uniform. He pushed the envelope across the table at him and whispered, “Not a word to anyone. You say anything and we disappear, got it?”
Ryan Wiley smiled back at him, “Of course. I’m always there to help out a friend.” He took a swig of water, opening the small envelope and pulling out a small blue pill.
***
“I’m gonna need a search warrant for all of Lucky Leon’s holdings by the end of the day. Yeah, I’m sure he’s hiding something and I doubt it’s a shipment of pencil sharpeners.” Mayson’s voice played through the tape recorder Nigel St. John had placed on Lucky Leon’s desk.
“So it seems your acting needs some improvement, Mr. Leon,” Nigel narrowed his eyes at him and reached over to reclaim the tape recorder. “I believe your luck has run out.” He pointed a pistol and aimed it at Leon, hitting the trigger with his index finger and smiling when he saw Leon jump.
Leon looked back behind him to see a small burn mark where the bullet had gone through the wall. “She’ll be taken care of. Just trust me. Intergang will have their warheads by this time tomorrow and Superman will be disgraced.” Leon’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t make mistakes.”
“Be sure that you don’t or the next bullet won’t miss,” Nigel warned,
***
Clark was finishing up his conversation with Roger as he and Lois entered his apartment. He held the Chinese takeout in one hand and had the phone nestled into the crook of his shoulder and neck as he walked to the dining table. “Yeah, thanks, Roger. I’ll let her know.” He flashed Lois a smile and set the bag of food down as she began setting the table for two. “You too. Take care, bye.” He hung up the phone.
“Any luck?” Lois asked, handing him his plate.
“Surprise, surprise, Lucky Leon has an alias.” He gave her a satisfied grin as he took the plate from her and began pulling out the different cartons from the bag. “Real name: Vasili Savchenko. Former Chief of the Technical Department, Executive Action Section, First Chief Directorate, KGB.”
Lois frowned, “What does that mean?”
“Think undercover assassin type stuff like in those James Bond movies you like so much.” He elaborated, handing her a spoon to serve the lo-mein with. “Everything from toy airplanes that were remote controlled bombs to poison-tipped umbrellas.”
“What kind of poison? Did he say?” Lois prodded.
He grinned, popping the cork to the bottle of wine she’d pulled out. “Yes, according to the NIA’s file on him his favorite poison was synthetic curare.”
Lois grinned happily, taking a sip of her wine, “Same poison they found in Borges’ bloodstream. I’d say that’s a connection.”
“Nothing concrete just yet, but with that and the information we got on Borges from Agent Scardino I think it’s safe to say Jimmy’s off the hook.” Clark handed her the carton of Sesame Chicken and grinned.
“Aren’t you glad we talked to him, now? Now we have everything we need to clear Jimmy’s name.” Lois pointed out, taking a bite of her food with a satisfied grin.
He smiled back at her, “Yeah, I guess. I’m still not so sure about Scardino though. He seems a bit…” He struggled to find the right word to describe the DEA Agent.
“Out there?” Lois guessed, setting her fork down. “Yeah, I noticed.” She rolled her eyes. “But Mayson seems to like him and he did come through with the information so I guess we an overlook his character flaws to get what we need. The important thing is Jimmy’s name is almost cleared.”
“Yeah,” Clark smiled back at her. “At least now we know why Raul Borges’ name wasn’t coming up on the searches you were doing. “Drug smuggler turned CIA spy.”
“Hopefully it’ll be enough to put the police on Lucky Leon’s tail and keep Jimmy out of jail,” Lois said with a weak smile.
***
Mayson walked with Dan Scardino toward her car, “You’re sure this is McCarthy?”
Scardino let out a bitter sigh, “Positive. I’d never forget his ugly mug. I know this guy. I know how he works…”
Mayson stopped, looking back at him and placing a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, we’ll get him. Gables and McCarthy will be behind bars before you can…”
Scardino looked over her shoulder, “You order a car service?”
Mayson frowned, turning to see a dark suburban across the street. The lights were still lit and the engine running. The tint on the windows was too dark to see inside the car. Mayson frowned, feeling a sense of dread as she stared at the suburban.
“I got a bad feeling,” Scardino said, reaching for his service weapon.
The doors opened on all sides of the suburban and five men dressed completely in black with masks jumped out with rifles in hand.
“Get down!”
Mayson felt herself being shoved to the ground as gunfire filled the air. She gasped, looking up to see an open car door in front of her. The sound of metal clanging against it surrounded her. “We’ve got to get out of here.” She managed to whisper, looking up at Dan who held his gun, shooting over the door.
“Yeah, how do you suggest that?” Scardino snapped.
The sound of a sonic boom filled the air and Mayson let out a sigh of relief. ‘Just in the nick of time.’ She moved to peek behind the door and felt a sharp pain in her side.
“Mayson?”
***
Lois curled up on the couch next to Clark, relaxing against him as the credits to Harrison Ford’s, ‘The Fugitive’ rolled across the screen. “Not as funny as the Lethal Weapons but still a pretty good movie.” She commented lazily.
“Yeah,” Clark leaned in to kiss her temple, “but it’s still one of his better movies.”
She let out a low sigh, looking up at him. They’d done this countless times before. Shared a meal and enjoyed a movie together yet tonight it felt different. Was this what it would be like when they….’If’ her mind corrected her train of thought. If they got married. Would this be what being married to Clark was like? Share a meal with a light conversation and laugh together. She felt a flutter in her stomach at the thought. Yes, she could imagine a life with him. She could imagine growing old with him and…
“I can’t cook.” She blurted out, surprised to hear her thoughts being voiced aloud.
“What?” He looked back at her in confusion.
She shook her head and began to ramble, “I can’t cook...well, not very well and I have no plans to learn how to unless it’s something that comes from a box because I don’t have time to learn. I can’t cook. I don’t want to cook. Actually, I probably shouldn’t cook for anyone. Can you imagine the looks I’d get from our um, kids...Well...I mean, not that we would have decided on if we wanted to have kids. I mean I know you’d be really great, but I’d be...”
She stopped when she noticed the laughter Clark was trying to hide on his face, “What? Why are you laughing at me? This is serious!”
“I wasn’t laughing I swear.” He managed to say in-between a light chuckle.
“Liar.” She retorted with a scowl. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation here and…”
“I know.” He leaned in to kiss her. “I’m sorry. If it makes you feel any better I don’t care if you cook or not. I do know my way around the kitchen.” He pointed out and then shrugged, “Or we can eat takeout.” He leaned in to kiss her again and added, “And yes I would like to have children, but it’s not a deal breaker or anything.”
She looked up at him and sighed, “Don’t you think these are things we should talk about though? I mean, four months isn’t that long and there’s still a lot we haven’t…” She stopped, uncertain how to continue. Did she really want to have this conversation right now?
“Haven’t what?” He prodded, tilting her chin to look at him.
Lois turned to face him, pulling her knee up under her arms as she continued, “Well, I just mean there are things we haven’t talked about or...uh,” She could feel the blush crossing her cheeks and sighed, “God, this is insane.”
“Lois, whatever it is, just say it.” Clark prompted gently.
She let out a breath and sighed, “Last week we came really, really close, and with everything else going on …What if we...I mean, what if it’s not...?”
“Lois,” he spoke her name and she looked up at him nervously, feeling her stomach tighten as her eyes met his.
She took a deep breath, “I mean, we’ve waited...and I'm glad…” she began carefully, uncertain how to get the scary words out.
“Me too.” Clark cupped her cheek.
“...but I just don’t want.” She let out a breath and continued, “I don’t know if it will live up to your expectations.” She finally said, noting the way his face fell in confusion as she continued to ramble. “I mean, I know we’ve come really, really close and we have had a lot of intense...and I mean...intense moments, but I’m not that experienced and I…”
She found herself unable to finish her train of thought as Clark captured her mouth with his. She felt a flutter in her abdomen as both his hands move to trace the outline of her face. She felt a shudder go down her spine as his lips parted against hers, tracing the outline of her lips with the tip of his tongue just briefly before he slowly pulled away. His head rested against her forehead and he murmured, “There is nothing that could make me regret anything with you, Lois.”
“You’re building quite a strong case there.” She grinned back at him, “But I just … I’m not as experienced with this whole relationship thing as I look. I mean, every serious relationship I’ve had has ended up a federal disaster especially my last one.”
Clark looked down, seeming to contemplate his words before responding, “I know. I also know there’s a lot we need to discuss before we make that kind of commitment. So, we’ll take it one thing at a time.” He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re everything to me, Lois. I don’t want to rush into anything.”
“You’re certainly more patient than most men would be.” She commented with a pained expression.
“Well, I’ve had a lot of practice.” He said cautiously, letting out a sigh of his own.
“Practice?” She prodded, uncertain if she was gathering what he was trying to tell her.
“Well, I’m different. I didn’t have the typical adolescence for obvious reasons.” He began to explain. “I mean, I’ve dated and had girlfriends, but that threshold? The threshold? I’ve never really crossed it.”
<<“I don’t want a one-night-stand, and I don’t think you want that either. I want forever…” >>
<<“Fine, several dates.”
“Are you laughing?”
“No, of course not I just find it funny that you insist on emphasizing these ‘several dates’ when we’ve yet to have one.”
“You shouldn’t laugh. You’re about to fall head over heels in love.”
“I thought I already was.”
“Not yet, but you will be.”>>
<<“Lois…We’ve got to slow down.”
“You want to stop?”
“No, But I don’t want to rush into anything. This…is still very new for both of us and I…”>>
<<“Lois, what are we doing?”
“Right now? I thought we were enjoying ourselves …”
“Lois, you have no idea how many times I’ve fantasized about this, I would love more than anything to keep kissing you senseless and holding you…like this.”
“But?”
“But right now if we don’t stop I’m not going to be able to.”
“I’m not stopping you.”>>
<<“As much as I would love to pick up where we left off…”>>
<<"I love you, Lois. I always have and I always will. I told you before I want forever, and I want it with you.">>
<<“I want forever…” >>“Oh.” She finally found her voice after a long pause. Suddenly everything made sense. The waiting. The pulling back when things got too intense between them. He didn’t push her for more because… “So, you were waiting for…?”
“Just the right person.” He stroked her cheek. “I knew I couldn’t make that kind of commitment without sharing everything. So…” He shrugged his shoulders before offering her a smile, “Lois, I told you before I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything. I don’t want either of us rushing into anything unless we’re both ready.”
His voice dropped an octave to a low murmur, staring back at her hesitantly. His lips were just a few millimeters away, barely touching hers. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as he stared back at her. His hand brushed against her cheek and he leaned into her, brushing his lips against hers for just a split-second then pulling away.
“What if I was...” She asked, feeling her heart pounding in her chest as she looked up at him hesitantly, “...ready?”
His eyebrows rose in surprise and he opened his mouth to respond,“Well, I…”
She bit her lower lip, looking up at him expectantly only to see a familiar faraway expression on his face. His face was tense with concern, standing to his feet and disappearing into a blur of red and blue. “Be careful.” She called after him. She tried not to focus on the pained expression that had been on his face when he left, leaning back against the couch with a long breath. “Whoa…”
***
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