Rules of Engagement
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 5
Jimmy could feel his eyes starting to close as Perry continued with his latest Elvis yarn about the Colonel and the King. Most days he could suffer through stories about the rock and roll legend from Perry, but after listening to them all evening and then coming to the Planet and hearing them he could feel his patience growing thin.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful for Perry and Alice putting him up—because he was. The Elvis stories were just beginning to grate on his nerves. Hopefully, with this latest assignment, he’d have enough of a distraction to keep his mind busy and off the many what ifs that continued to plague his mind.
Jimmy sat on the old plaid couch in Perry’s office, staring out into the bullpen. He could see Lois and Clark from his vantage point, sitting in the conference room with Dan Scardino. He could tell from Clark’s face the meeting of the minds wasn’t going as well as could be expected. He’d much rather be in there helping with the investigation rather than being
“Jimmy?” Perry snapped his fingers and whistled to get his attention.
“Oh, sorry, Chief,” Jimmy sat up, grinning sheepishly. He’d been caught zoning out. His gaze shifted up to Perry’s unamused face.
Perry pointed to the door, “Interview for the new Gossip columnist. Meet him in the Lobby. Give him the tour. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“You got it, Chief,” Jimmy said, standing to his feet, heading back into the bullpen. He jogged up the steps to the elevator and pressed the call button to meet the potential new columnist. It seemed ever since Cat left the position to fill the hole her column had left was a revolving door. No one ever could fill her shoes, and no one ever lasted more than a few months.
Maybe one day.
***
Lois glanced across the conference table to where Dan Scardino was sitting. She still wasn’t entirely sure teaming up with him was the best idea but given this was Jimmy’s safety at risk she was willing to go out on a limb to keep her friend safe. Clark sat next to her, tapping his pen against the notepad, staring back at Agent Scardino expectantly. There still seemed to be a little tension between Clark and Dan. More so from Agent Scardino than Clark.
“So, all cards on the table?” Scardino prompted, looking toward the file in front of Lois.
Lois exchanged a look with Clark, and he nodded, divulging the first part of their investigation. “Dr. Alan Goldman was murdered at Metropolis General. We’ve found three patients of his with a mysterious rash on their forearm.”
Recognition crossed Agent Scardino’s face, and Lois prompted, “That means something to you?”
“Maybe,” Scardino said, tapping his pen to his chin. “I’m still waiting to confirm it with STAR Labs but I suspect you may be dealing with is a part of the virus I found.”
“Virus?” Lois asked.
Scardino flipped open the file in front of him and pushed it toward them, revealing the image of Amir Muunour. “Four weeks ago the DEA had three shipments of Ticeon, a highly regulated drug go missing from Metropolis General and Fort Truman’s medical facilities.” He pointed at the image in front of them. “This man was linked to the illegal shipment of Ticeon and illegal arms to the Middle East.”
“Amir Muunour,” Clark said, connecting the name with the face with his photographic memory as he nodded for Agent Scardino to continue. Lois glanced to her left where Clark was sitting, noting the hardened features on his face. She’d heard the name before. Every reporter that had been covering world news over the last decade had heard of him. He was one of the most ruthless and deadliest leaders in the middle east.
“What’s he got to do with this virus?” Clark asked.
“I went undercover as his driver.” He laid out the image of a young woman with short blonde hair and a familiar face for them along with another image of an older woman that seemed to have the same features as the woman in the first photograph. “Muunour was given an offer by these two of a guaranteed way to control his people and create an army of blindly led citizens with said virus.”
“That explains the meeting with a terrorist leader.” Clark reasoned aloud, glancing back at Lois.
“That face.” Lois frowned, tapping the image. “Where have we seen her before?”
“Metropolis General.” Clark said with a frown, “When we were trying to escape the clutches of Nurse Berkley.”
“Dr. Katherine Wilder, daughter of retired Army Colonel, Dr. Henry Wilder. I’ve tried accessing his file, but that’s been sealed off even from the DEA.” Scardino explained with a frown. “The pitch to Muunour was that this virus given to infants would make it so they could be controlled by using a code word. I took a sample to STAR Labs to analyze.”
“If that’s true then that would make sense.” Lois reasoned aloud. “Jimmy, Sarah, GE Mallow. They all had that same rash. They were all under the care of Dr. Goldman…”
“You think Goldman was working performing tests on his patients?” Clark asked.
“Could explain the motive for killing him.” Lois ventured.
“Well, then these two just became our prime suspects,” Scardino said, pointing at the image of Katherine and Claudette Wilder.
***
The elevator doors opened, and Ellen Lane stepped out into the Daily Planet newsroom. It had been a few years since she’d last visited the newsroom. There had been quite a few modernizations. The sounds and the smells were all the same though.
Ellen made her way through the familiar crowd of reporters, glancing around the room until she found someone that didn’t have their nose in a file or a phone to their ear, “Excuse me?” She waved at the woman, hoping to catch her attention.
“Yes?” The blonde haired woman looked back at her with an annoyed expression.
“Yes, thank you. I’m looking for my daughter, and I was hoping to….” Ellen rambled as the woman threw her an irritated look. “There’s no need to be rude.” She scolded, calling the woman out as she continued.
“Look, I’m swamped right now. Can’t you just…”
“Mother?” Her daughter’s voice came from behind her and Ellen turned to see Lois standing behind her with her arms crossed over her chest and a very annoyed expression on her face.
“Lois!” Ellen cheered happily, moving toward her.
“Figures,” She heard the blonde mutter before walking off.
Any other time, Ellen would have had a response for her, but she had business to attend to. There was still so much to do to plan this wedding and Lois hadn’t returned any of her calls since yesterday.
“Mom,” Lois placed a hand on her forehead, letting out a sigh as she motioned for her to follow her to her desk.“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been trying to call.” Ellen gave her a disapproving expression. She hadn’t heard from Lois since she’d been hung up on. She knew Lois was probably still upset, but given how soon she wanted the wedding to take place she had to know a date needed to be set. She looked back at her daughter, noting the uncertain expression on her face. “I, uh, spoke with your father…” She began carefully, recalling all too well how that meeting had ended.
Lois twisted her mouth and nodded to the bouquet of flowers, “Yeah, he sent flowers.”
“Oh, that’s so typical of Sam,” Ellen muttered, looking at the bouquet.
“Hi, Ellen,” Clark said, walking up behind them.
Ellen turned and saw another man standing next to Clark. His gaze seemed to be focused on Lois as she took a seat at her desk. Ellen made a mental note then turned her attention to her future son-in-law, “Hi, Clark,” She motioned to her daughter, “I was just telling Lois about my lunch with her father. He’s promised he’ll be there. We just have to get everything planned and…”
Lois exchanged a look with Clark, and he nodded to her before Lois cleared her throat, “Mom, we need to take a step back on the wedding planning.”
“What do you mean?” Ellen looked at them in surprise. A glance at the man in the corner and she could swear she saw a grin cross his face as he walked with the copy boy back toward the editor’s office. She turned back to Lois, “You’re not calling off the engagement?”
“No, no, no, nothing like that.” Clark quickly reassured her, shaking his head profusely along with Lois.
“No, if anything we’re looking at getting married sooner,” Lois added, a grin crossed her face as she glanced back at Clark.
“Sooner?” Ellen frowned, trying to mentally prepare for how to make the changes she needed to for a possible date change. She’d have to talk to Beverly about that deposit she gave to the caterer. She did her best not to let the worry show on her face as she began to stammer, “Well, I..I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Your venue’s been booked. The caterer and florist…” Ellen placed a hand on her temple to rub the tension out as she continued, “ It’s not easy finding a place that nice without waiting months in advance.….”
“Yes, and we appreciate all the work you’ve done,” Clark said, placing a hand on Lois’ shoulder as he spoke.
“But you want to change the plans?” Ellen prodded, arching her eyebrow at the couple with a defeated expression, hoping the guilt trip would help deter them from wanting to change her plans.
“There’s a lot of things that we need to consider.” Lois began carefully, looking back at Clark before she continued, “The date you picked isn’t going to work for half of our friends and family for one. You’ve hired a wedding planner without even talking to us…”
“No, no, no, she’s a bridal consultant.” Ellen corrected before adding, “And she’s not cheap.”
“Well, whatever she is she’s trying to turn this wedding into a three-ring circus.” Lois shot back irritably, shaking her head. “We don’t need…”
“You have no idea how hard this would be without her,” Ellen argued, wagging her finger in the air as she spoke. “I mean the lists and lists….”
“Which is why we really feel like we need to rethink things,” Clark said firmly.
“We’re thinking of doing a destination wedding,” Lois added happily, sharing a smile with Clark as she added. “With Superman’s help that is.”
“A destination wedding?” Ellen looked back at the couple uncertainly. The plans. The numerous plans she’d made in the last forty-eight hours ran through her mind. She felt the tightness in her cheeks from the strain of keeping the forced smile on her face. All the planning and phone calls for what?
“I’m not sure that can be...I mean there’s already so much that’s been done.” Ellen began to ramble.
“Which is why we wanted to dial back on the planning so we can figure out exactly what it is that we want,” Clark said firmly, sharing a look with Lois.
Ellen caught the look and sighed, remembering a time when Sam used to look at her like that. The only difference was he looked at other women in that way too. With Clark, it seemed different. He only appeared to have eyes for her daughter. A fact that helped Ellen feel safe in welcoming him into the family, knowing Lois was putting her heart and trust into someone worthy of her affections.
“I got carried away, didn’t I?” Ellen asked sheepishly.
“Just a bit.” Lois generously held up her index finger and thumb to show a small gap, but Ellen knew all too well that the way she could get carried away when she wanted to.
The man from earlier approached, offering a broad grin toward Lois and a lingering gaze before he cleared his throat. Ellen watched him with a careful eye as he began to speak. “Looks like we’re all set.” He glanced around the newsroom and frowned, “Where’d your friend go?”
Clark frowned, “Jimmy? I don’t know.”
***
Mike stood at the counter, changing the filter out of the coffee machine. The sound of the tapping on his counter pulled his attention away, and he sighed, seeing the middle-aged man tapping his hand impatiently on the wood. “Yes, can I help you?”
The man threw him an annoyed expression,“Yeah, I’ve been waiting for like an hour now. I’m here to see Mr. White.”
“Of course,” Mike looked back behind the counter where he was standing at and picked up the phone to dial the familiar number. “Yes, Mr. White? I have a gentleman here to see you?” He turned back to the man and asked, “What’s your name, sir?”
“Simms. Ralph Simms.”
“Jimmy?” Mike frowned, looking around the Lobby. “No, I haven’t seen him, sir.”
***
Lois heard the sound of the sonic boom from outside as she pressed the call button for the elevator repeatedly. The light came on and disappeared just as quickly. Again and again, she pushed it. ‘Not good.’
“Chief?” She called out, looking behind her to see Perry heading her way.
“I’ve got maintenance looking into it,” Perry explained, striding purposefully toward her.
“I should hope so.” Her mother grimaced, looking at the heels she was wearing, “I wasn’t exactly planning on wearing the sole of my heels out today.”
Perry looked over at her quizzically, opening his mouth to respond before he recognized her and opted to close it, letting out a grunt. He frowned looking toward her and Clark’s desk. “Where’s Kent?”
Her mother frowned, thinning her lips into a tight line, “He was just here a moment ago.”
“He, uh,” She bit her lower lip, hoping to come up with a plausible explanation given that Clark had ducked out when they discovered Jimmy was missing. “He went to see if he can find Jimmy.” Perry looked at the elevator with a perplexed expression and back at her with a frown but didn’t say anything.
The loud clank from the door to the stairs opening and Perry turned to greet the maintenance manager, “Marcus, good you’re here!” He pointed to the elevator. “Haven’t been able to get in or out of it. I got the call from the lobby about twenty minutes ago…”
Dan Scardino chose that moment to pipe in and ask, “How did he go find Jimmy if the elevator isn’t working?”
“I guess he took the stairs.” She said with a little more bite than necessary as she struggled to suppress the urge to throw something at him for poking a hole in her story.
“But…”
“Are we just going to sit around and talk about the schematics of going up and down the stairs or are we going to actually investigate? That is what you wanted to work with us on, right? Catching the Wilders and stopping this terrorist?”
“Right,” Scardino nodded, pulling out his phone. “If your friend is missing then more than likely the Wilders are involved.”
“No one’s seen or heard from Jimmy in the last hour.” Perry frowned, shaking his head as he returned to where they were standing. Marcus stood at the elevator where the doors had been pried open to see inside. The elevator car was empty.
Lois let out a muttered curse. Part of her had been hoping Jimmy was inside that elevator car. “That’s more than enough time to do God knows what…” Lois fumed, shaking her head in dismay.
A thought occurred to Perry, “What about that girl you all were hiding?”
“Lucy….” Realization dawned on Lois’ face, and she headed back to her desk.
“What’s your sister got to do with this?” her mother asked.
“Lois, there’s a Dr. Klein on line two for you,” Dianne called out to her.
***
Katherine Wilder watched as the unconscious body of James Olsen was drug into the back of the waiting ambulance. She turned to the man her mother had hired, handing him an envelope with large bills inside. “Be sure he makes it to my private office.”
He took the envelope, flipping through it and smiled, pleased with the amount inside. “You’re the boss.”
***
Sarah sat at the dining table, munching on a bowl of cereal as she read through her notes for her Chem 2 class. It had been strange, waking up somewhere she wasn’t used to, but it had been even stranger finding herself relating to Jimmy Olsen on so many levels. It made her wonder if the connection was psychological due to them sharing the same rash and mysterious connection with Dr. Golden or if it was something more.
A smile spread across her face as she recalled the afternoon they’d spent together. He certainly was easy on the eyes. Dating wasn’t something she found herself drawn to due to the heavy course load she was carrying, but she could feel the attraction in both herself and him.
The phone rang, and she looked up, setting her bowl down on the table and reaching over to answer the call. “Hello?”
“Sarah, it’s time to choose the fallen warrior.” the voice on the other line said.
The word warrior seemed to have a mind-numbing effect on her. She felt a haze wash over her and everything went dark.
***
Nothing.
Jimmy was missing, and after scanning the city for his young friend, Clark was running out of ideas of where to look. He had checked the Planet, the parking garage, the local cafe Jimmy liked to get his daily dose of caffeine from and come up with nothing. He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he’d let his young friend down.
Whoever was after Sarah more than likely had Jimmy. He needed to catch back up with Lois and see if she had come across anything. Just as he was about to head back to the Planet a call for help reached his ears.
“Help, Superman! Someone! He’s got a …!”
Clark didn’t let the victim finish her statement as he flew through the air to answer the call for help.
***
“I shouldn’t be here,” Lois grumbled, climbing the steps that led inside STAR Labs.
“Since when does the ambitious reporter turn down a scoop?” Scardino asked, nudging her playfully. She shot him a glare, unamused with his antics and he quickly sobered. “Sorry.”
It was getting harder and harder to remain calm with Dan Scardino in tow. What she wanted to do was find out where Clark was so she could help him look for Jimmy. She couldn’t do that with the DEA agent hovering around her though. The annoyance Clark had with the agent was growing more and more evident by the second. She crossed her arms and muttered aloud, “Jimmy could be anywhere, and you’re…”
“You said your boyfriend was out looking for him, right?” Scardino reminded her.
She suppressed a growl as she bit back a muttered curse. She had told him Clark was looking for Jimmy. And he was. He was looking for him, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to be looking for him or checking in with Lucy to make sure Sarah was still there. “Yes, Clark is looking for him.” She emphasized her fiance’s name for good measure to send the message loud and clear she didn’t appreciate him being referred to as anything but.
Scardino checked his watch, “Been over an hour.”
“I know how long it’s been.” Lois snapped.
“You want to call him and make sure he didn’t get lost? I mean, this is really something that should be left to the professionals don’t you think?” He flashed her a smile.
“I’m sure he’s fine. He’s probably tracking down Superman to help.” She said, celebrating the fact that she’d been able to stretch the truth ever so slightly so as not to come out as a complete lie.
“How does he do that?” Scardino asked.
“Do what?” Lois frowned, fishing her badge out of her purse to show to the security officer at the STAR Labs security desk.
“Find Superman.” Scardino prodded. “I mean, is there a special signal or something?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Lois scoffed, pulling her phone out and dialing the familiar number as they walked down the hallway toward Dr. Klein’s lab.
“I see you both are working on the same side now,” Dr. Klein said cheerfully when they entered the lab. He tapped a few keys on his keyboard. “A good thing too because both of your cases are connected.”
“So we’ve noticed,” Lois said haughtily. “Were you able to find anything from the samples you took from Jimmy and Sarah?”
“Yes, indeed.” Dr. Klein pointed to the screen. “This is where the connection comes in.” He tapped a few keys and two separate patterns merged together, showing the lines an exact match on the screen. “As you can see the sample I took from Jimmy and Sarah are an exact match.” He tapped a few other keys, and another sample appeared on the screen. When he overlaid it on Jimmy and Sarah’s samples, it too became an exact match. “And so is the sample you brought to me, Agent Scardino.”
Lois exchanged a look with Scardino, “Which means whatever you got your hands on is what Jimmy and Sarah have been drugged with.”
“Yes, I’ve run it through the database and come up with one hit.” Dr. Klein explained as he spun in his chair, toward the monitor on his left and began typing in a few keys until the screen was replaced with a database for the New Troy Medical Patent and Trademark Registry. In it, he typed in the formula that generated from his experiment where one result came up.
“As you can see this name Valhalla keeps coming up.” Dr. Klein looked over his shoulder and nodded to the search results reading, ‘Valhalla’ and ‘Henry Wilder.’
“There’s that name again,” Dan said with a satisfied grin.
When he clicked on it an old worn out paper that had been scanned in appeared. Lois’ eyes widened as she read the details of the patent.
***
Amir Muumour stepped out of his town car, looking up at the crowded street as he spotted a familiar face in the crowd, standing by the steps of an apartment building with a young man in his early twenties. “What is the meaning of this?” He fumed irritably as he approached Dr. Wilder.
“You said you wanted proof. Here’s your proof.” She pointed to the young man in front of her. “James Olsen, age twenty-three. Photojournalist at the Daily Planet. Friends with one, Lois Lane—a reporter that’s begun snooping a little too close for our comfort.”
Muunour stared at the young man who indeed appeared to be in somewhat of a trance as he stared blankly in front of him. He still wasn’t impressed until he saw the supposed assassin in action.
“A problem Jimmy here will soon fix for us, isn’t that right?” Dr. Wilder prodded.
“Yes.” the young man said flatly, a dark expression crossed his face.
***
TBC...
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