The World Falls AwayFolc4evernaday
Chapter 1: No Rest for the Wicked________________________________________
A booming echo filled the newsroom as Perry bellowed for Jimmy. Every desk was filled with frantic phone calls and tapping keys as the television played the footage over and over again of the carnage from earlier. Lex Luthor was on the run, and no one knew where he would show up next.
Lois tore her eyes from the computer screen in front of her, unable to string even two words together as the many different scenarios of mayhem that could bestow the city or herself pushed its way to the forefront of her mind. It was insane. Lex was supposed to be dead. She and everyone else that had been standing on the street that day had watched him plunge to his death.
How was any of this possible?
Her gaze shifted to the elevator doors as they pinged, wondering if she should start to worry over her partner’s absence. She hadn’t seen him since leaving Lex’s lair in the sewer beneath the streets of Metropolis. Nearly two hours and not a word. Not a phone call. Not a message. Nothing.
An exhausted sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back in her chair, reaching over to take a sip from her mug of coffee. Her headspace had been cluttered with conflicted emotions and thoughts as she worked through the impossible task of comprehending the impossible events over the last forty-eight hours. It seemed even death wasn’t permanent if you had enough control and grasp on people — case in point what had happened with Lex.
<<“I can’t.”>>
"You do feel something for me."
"No...I just feel maybe you've suffered enough.">>She grimaced, swallowing past the guilt rising up within her. Had she caused this? Had she just called the police when given a chance, would all of this be avoided? Or would he have even given her that chance? So many questions, and yet she had no answers to any of them.
The truth of the matter was she didn’t really know Lex. Not the way she thought she had anyway. He was just another failed relationship to add to the list of men that had betrayed her and taken her trust for granted. She thought she did. She had fought tooth and nail against Clark to argue that very point only to be proven vehemently wrong when everything came tumbling down around her.
Clark.
How had so much changed in just six months?
A slow smile crept across her face, recalling the previous evening and their ‘almost first date’ at Butch Kenebrew’s place across from the Metropolis marina. It had been easy to forget about the impending danger and the doubts and fears that had crept up over the last few days. Though she had her doubts and had second-guessed herself repeatedly over the last few days, knowing just what was at stake taking this leap of faith and venturing into this foreign territory with Clark, she had found herself more and more at ease with the possibilities that were to come. Over the last two years they had grown closer and though she had tried to deny it, in the beginning, the closer they became the stronger the magnetic pull that drew her to him became.
She wasn’t used to this.
Friendships themselves were difficult for her to maintain.
Relationships were even more disastrous.
Yet, something was different about the way things felt almost natural with Clark.
He didn’t push her and seemed to share the same fears and hesitancy she felt in this budding romance. A flash of heat crossed her cheeks as she recalled his silhouette undressing, rendering her incapable of tying two coherent words together in the aftermath. Hesitancy and doubts aside, she couldn’t deny the emotions that had been simmering deep in the pit of her gut for the better half of a year.
“Pretty intense, huh?”
Lois jumped, startled by the intruding voice, and jerked her head up to see Jimmy’s amused expression as he leaned against the glass pane separator above her desk. “Uh, wh…what?”
“The search for Luthor,” Jimmy pointed to the television showing footage from the scene where Rollie Vale and Nigel had been found earlier.
“Yeah, it’s…tragic.” Lois agreed, “Hopefully, the police and Superman can find him and stop him before anyone else gets hurt.”
“Yeah…” Jimmy commented, shaking his head in agreement, seeming to mull over his own internal thoughts and possible uncertainties over what Lex Luthor on the lam could mean. “You, uh, doing okay? I mean, with Luthor alive and taking out his old butler and him showing up like this? I know that’s got to be putting your head in a spin. Especially with you and CK trying to…”
“Shhh,” Lois hissed and held up a hand to motion for him to be quiet, “I’m fine.” Lois responded sharper than necessary in an effort to get her well-meaning friend to stop talking before too much of her evolving relationship with Clark became public knowledge among the newsroom busy-bodies.
“Sorry,” Jimmy gave her an apologetic smile, realizing his mistake.
Lois ran her fingertips through her dark locks, letting out a heavy sigh, “I’m trying not to think too hard about Lex Luthor if I can help it.”
Jimmy nodded his understanding as she turned her head toward the elevator doors, spotting Clark descending the stairs and headed toward her and Jimmy. “Yeah, I guess it can’t be easy with them playing everything on the twenty-four-hour circuit.”
Lois flashed Jimmy a weak smile, “Hence the whole trying not to think about it.”
“Hey, CK,” Jimmy nodded in Clark’s direction as Clark approached her desk notepad in hand with a weary expression across his face.
Clark pulled up a chair and took a seat, handing her the notepad for inspection.
“I’m guessing from the look on your face, there are no new leads on Lex?” Lois prompted, looking at him curiously.
“The police have a detail outside the sewer entrance we followed Remy into, but no one’s seen or heard anything from him since his handiwork was discovered earlier this afternoon,” Clark explained, shaking his head in dismay. “Not even Superman can find him.”
“Where do you go in a city this large with no money and no resources?” Jimmy wondered aloud.
________________________________________
A loud hum emitted from the retinal scanner as Lex leaned forward, allowing his retina to be examined, stepping back and looking to the left where Tempus held his hand out for the contact lenses he’d given him. Lex let out a low grumble as he leaned forward, peeling the retina clone contacts and handed them back to Tempus.
He didn’t trust this mysterious Tempus as he called himself, but he still found himself intrigued by the story he had unveiled of being from the future. There were many things he shouldn’t have known but did. Whether he was crazy or lucky were still yet to be determined, but the gem of Superman’s identity being his other nemesis, Clark Kent, had piqued his interest.
He wasn’t one to take something like this at face value and he certainly had no reason to trust Tempus, but the theory was far enough out there that it just might hold some truth to it.
Possibly.
Tempus tapped on the steel frame of the door that slid open with ease and chuckled, “After you…”
________________________________________
Lois stole a glance toward the television set, spotting the same anchor and familiar footage replaying the footage from the police chief’s statement to the press regarding Lex Luthor’s reign of terror on Metropolis. It had been hours and still no sign of where he might have disappeared to. Clark had disappeared a few hours ago to try and find Superman, but judging from the late hour, she guessed he had already given up and gone home. Her gaze shifted to the empty desks around her left abandoned by her fellow journalists. By now, she’d be joining them and headed home, but she couldn’t seem to muster up the strength to leave.
What if there was another lead?
What if she missed it?
<<"I've fallen from grace. I can see it in your eyes, but surely a creature of such abundant benevolence would allow me the chance to redeem myself."
"I... I don't have those feelings for you anymore."
"I don't believe you.">>She blanched slightly, feeling the guilt swimming around in the deep pit of her gut, reminding her of her part in the disaster that had been Lex Luthor’s downfall. Had she not been so blind to his true nature things might have worked in everyone’s favor and not resulted in bloodshed in order to take Lex Luthor down.
<<"Lex, how could you expect ... after everything you've done ?"
"Yes, I've done terrible things, but I did them for you. Provoked by the blinding light of your beauty. But If you can't forgive me... then here. Call the police..."
"You do feel something for me."
"No...I just feel maybe you've suffered enough.">>She had been so blind back then.
Waiting until she was standing at the altar to begin to think of the consequences and everything that was at stake before really analyzing her relationship with Lex. Was she truly that naïve? A long breath escaped her throat, recalling the events over the last few days with a shudder. It seemed the fall from grace was recalled with little details on that memory, though. Lex made it clear the last time she’d seen him, he had no remorse for his actions and still acted as if there was hope to resume their relationship – if it could even be called that – as if he hadn’t tried to destroy everyone and everything she held dear.
“Lois, honey, what are you still doing here?”
She turned to see Perry standing with his coat and hat in hand, peering across the newsroom at her in concern. “I, um…” she pointed to the television. “Just waiting to see if we get any new leads.”
Perry wagged his finger at her, “Lois, come on, the paper’s been put to bed a half-hour ago. Go on home. If anything breaks, you and Clark will be my first call.”
Lois nodded weakly, taking the hint as she gathered her things without argument, taking solace in the company of her editor as he escorted her down to the parking garage, making sure she made it to her Jeep safely. She waved goodbye and let out a shaky breath as she turned the ignition to start the car, and numbly drove out of the parking garage and onto the dark streets to head home.
<<“I can’t.”>>
Her mind kept replaying the events of the day, trying to process the complexity over her current state of mind, wondering if it was even safe to return to her apartment. The police had yet to find Lex. He had killed someone she’d once heard him describe as a second brother in cold blood and escaped the jaws of death and all basic laws of life and death as she knew it. Nothing was beyond impossible.
<<“I mean, after all, you _did_ ask me, and I did worry a lot about my answer, and I wouldn't want all that effort to be for nothing... I mean…I'm babbling, aren't I?">>
<<"Yes, I've done terrible things, but I did them for you. Provoked by the blinding light of your beauty. But If you can't forgive me... then here. Call the police..."
"You do feel something for me."
"No...I just feel maybe you've suffered enough.">>Tears trickled down her cheeks as she turned down a familiar street, realizing she had completely missed the turn for the block her apartment complex was located on. She let out a heavy sob, looking over to the familiar street sign that read Clinton Street.
<<“What I'm trying to say is, I'm afraid things will change if we start going out.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, Lois, I'm afraid too.”>>
<<“To our almost-first date.”>>A hard knock against the glass of her driver’s side window caught her attention, and she looked over to see a man motioning for her to roll the window down. She sighed, letting out a heavy breath as she rolled the window just far enough down to make out what he was trying to say.
“Hey, lady, you going to sit here all night or you gonna park?”
“I…” she bit her lower lip, glancing toward the 300 building around the corner and nodded. “Sorry. I’ll be out of your way in a minute.”
After mulling over whether to stay or go for a moment, she finally found herself a parking space on the familiar block and parked her car. Thunder rumbled above, and she let out a muttered curse as she turned the car off and raced up the steps to apartment 344, knocking on the door as the rain began to fall.
She heard a loud thud, and a moment later, the door opened with Clark standing on the other side looking at her in concern. “Lois?”
“Hi.” She breathed out, uncertain what else to say.
________________________________________
Lex stared at the polished green stones that glowed all around him. A machine stood on the side next to a thick notebook filled with results from tests that had been performed on the stone. Lex flipped through the notebook curiously, noting the name Bernard Klein on the header with several experiments on a ‘Project X’ which remained undisclosed.
“Ever hear of a Bernard Klein from your future?” Lex asked, not expecting much of an answer.
“He was the scientist that worked as Superman’s doctor and helped discover the vaccine which eventually rendered Kryptonite harmless against the man of steel and his descendants,” Tempus replied nonchalantly.
Lex felt the hair on his arms stand up at the mention of the implications he could possibly be looking at, then did a double-take at the mention of ‘descendants’ Tempus had referred to. “Did you just say, descendants?”
“Offspring, generational do-gooders from the boy scout….” Tempus yawned with a smirk. “I don’t have to explain the birds and the bees to you, do I, Lex?”
“No!” Lex growled back, adamantly.
“Anything else you’d like to know about the future?” Tempus asked with a shrug. “History of LexCorp, perhaps? Or maybe the family tree of the Kents? I must warn you it might take some time…”
“That’s quite all right,” Lex growled. “I don’t need to know anything about that giblet.”
“Yet, you want to destroy Superman,” Tempus smirked at him. “Killing Clark Kent is how you kill Superman.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Why shouldn’t you?” Tempus challenged him. “You have your doubts I see. Okay, you want proof. I’ll give you proof.”
“How?” Lex challenged, “Another tabloid that could easily have been doctored?” Lex gestured to the paper Tempus had presented him.
Tempus laughed, “I knew you were stubborn, Lex, but if it’s proof you require I shall deliver.”
Lex watched in fascination as Tempus pressed a microscopic button on a small device he had in his hand. A light green light emitted from the round ring of the device as he hooked it up to the telephone located in the lab they were in.
Tempus chuckled aloud as he explained to Lex, “With this device, I can implant subliminal messages into the feeble minds of the masses, thereby controlling the collective will.” A smirk crossed his face, “And with this Kryptonite, it even works on those of the Kryptonian nature.”
________________________________________
TBC....
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