TOC This didn't want to leave me alone:
Previously:Henderson beckoned Clark aside and stepped over to a quieter corner. Clark’s hand had stopped aching quite as much and he pulled it out of his pocket. The bruise was already fading. Henderson dropped a flattened piece of lead into Clark’s hand. It was the bullet Carlin had shot at Lois.
“Good catch. So, when do you think we’ll be announcing that Superman isn’t dead after all?” Henderson asked softly.
Clark stared at him a moment. “Soon, I hope.”
He clapped Clark on the shoulder. “Give me a call when he shows up. I’ll get his statement and we can close the case.” With that, Henderson walked away from him, moving to join the other officers as they worked. It still felt odd to know there were people besides his parents who knew his secret and were keeping it and helping him.
“Clark?” Lois asked from just beside him. He hadn’t heard her approach. “What did Henderson want?” She spotted the piece of metal in his hand. “And what’s that…”
“It’s complicated,” Clark answered.
“Clark, I’m your partner,” Lois said. “Partners talk about things, right? Talking is good.”
Clark nodded. The scars on his hands from the kryptonite were fading to invisibility and he could hear Lois’s heartbeat.
Superman was coming back.“Lois, we need to talk… about Superman.”
With those simple words Lois Lane’s world turned upside down.
Now:“Let’s go into the conference room,” Clark suggested. Lois saw the seriousness, even fear, in his face as he turned to open the door for her. She followed him in and he closed the door behind her.
After a long moment Clark ran his hand through his hair. After nearly a year of working together Lois knew that was a sign he was worried or frustrated or simply stressed out.
“Clark, you said we needed to talk about Superman,” she began after waiting for him to speak.
He turned to look out of the inside window to watch the police officers search for the bullet Carlin had fired off. “They’re not going to find it,” he said softly.
“Find what?”
“The bullet Carlin fired at you.” He held out the piece of metal and dropped it into her hand.
“How…?”
“Henderson picked it off the floor and handed it to me.”
“But it looks like it hit something…” Her voice trailed off as she tried to figure out how the slug in her hand had been flattened. “You pushed me out of the way. Perry too.”
“Yeah. She was pulling the trigger.”
“Clark, you wrote that the police
believed that Superman was dead. Not that he
was dead.” She studied his face.
“You noticed that…” His voice was flat.
“Is Superman alive?”
He sighed. “If you’re asking if Superman is out there somewhere flying around and rescuing kittens from trees, the answer is ‘no’.”
“That wasn't exactly what I was asking.” She studied the slug in her hand. “Let me rephrase. Is Superman coming back?”
“Maybe… it depends on when, if, my powers come back.”
Lois went very still, not quite sure if she had heard him right.
‘It depends on when, if, my powers come back.’ Suddenly she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel. Fury that he had hidden this side of himself from her for so long, that she had been so thoroughly fooled by farm boy charm, loud ties, and a pair of glasses? Relief that Metropolis’s hero wasn’t dead, just… missing?
“Lois?”
She looked up at him. His eyes were wide with worry as he watched her.
“I probably should be furious that you didn’t trust me enough to let me know,” she finally said. “But I think I understand.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “First, you didn’t know me well enough, and then I went and chose Lex. How shallow can a person get? How could you possibly trust someone who did that? And then… why bother telling me if Superman is gone?”
“You’re not upset?”
“Give me some time and I’ll probably be furious,” she admitted. She stopped, suddenly realizing exactly what had happened in the newsroom. “You caught the bullet in your hand. You didn’t even think about it, did you?”
“There wasn’t time.”
“You could have been badly hurt.”
“I would have taken that bullet if it meant… if it meant you would be okay,” Clark told her softly.
Lois took a shuddery breath. Things were changing too fast. Clark was Superman, only Lex had hurt him so badly he didn’t have his powers… but he managed to catch that bullet. He had saved her life, again. How often had he done that for her? How many times had he stepped in without her knowing?
“Lois?”
“It’s a lot to process,” she told him.
“I just thought… I thought you should know.”
He looked so lost. But here was something else in his expression, a quiet determination that made her suspicious. “You’re not planning on doing something stupid and noble are you? Like taking off to parts unknown because my knowing about this is too dangerous for me? Or that we don’t need Superman, assuming he recovers from what Luthor did to him?”
The look of alarm that flickered across his face was enough to tell her she had hit home. She stepped up to him, deliberately invading his personal space. He backed away until his back was pressing against the door. She kept coming.
“Don’t even think about it, farm boy,” she warned. She was pressed up against him, holding him against the door. “The world needs Superman.”
“The world doesn’t need Superman, Lois…”
“And maybe I don’t either,” she said. She watched his face fall like it had before. “But I do need Clark Kent.”
Hopefulness lit up his eyes.
“I need Clark Kent as my partner, my friend, and maybe, just maybe, something more.”
“I can do that,” he said quietly. His eyes took on a faraway look that she now recognized.
“What is it?”
“Perry and Jimmy are wondering what’s taking us so long.”
Lois snorted. “Jimmy’s thinking we’re doing the horizontal lambada in here.”
Clark chuckled. Lois moved away from him so he could get the door open.
“So, did your mom really make that uniform?”
He smiled sheepishly and nodded. “She said nobody would be looking at my face.”
“She’s right.” Color started climbing up his cheeks, but he was smiling at her as he opened the door. Lois touched his arm and he stopped. “It’s good to see you smile again,” she said. “It’s been too long.”
-o-o-o-
The next few weeks went by quickly. The expected rise in crime from the announcement of Superman’s presumed death hadn’t occurred, no doubt do to the diligence of both the MPD and the NIA. Lois and Clark were assigned stories together and apart. Superman wasn't back yet, but at least Clark was more his old cheerful self again. Soon it was time for the Metropolis Press Club’s annual journalism awards announcements and the black tie awards dinner.
Lois and Clark had fallen back into their old habit of walking to work. Parking was scarce near Lois’s apartment so she usually left her Cherokee in the parking garage beside the Planet. Neither of them lived all that far from the paper.
As was their habit, Clark had bought coffee for the two of them at one of their favorite street vendors, a fellow named ‘Mike’ who seemed to have an uncanny knack for knowing exactly what they wanted, almost before they asked for it.
“So, you must be excited,” Clark said.
“I don't know, Clark, walking to work with you isn't really the thrill it used to be,” Lois glanced at him and he saw a touch of color climb into her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I keep promising I won’t bring up the whole…”
“It’s okay,” Clark said. “Actually, I was talking about the Kerth Awards. They announce the nominees tomorrow.”
“Oh, is that tomorrow?” Her tone was mischievous.
“C'mon, Lois, you get nominated every year.”
“Not every year,” she corrected him. “Just… every year since I've been eligible.”
“I bet you get it for the Bolivian drug cartel Series.”
She grinned. It was a good series. Nobody in the city had come close to breaking a story with as much positive feedback as that one had. “Well, the awards dinner's always fun and it'd be a nice way to break in that new black dress I picked up… You rent your tux yet?”
Clark shook his head. “The dinner’s just for nominees.”
“And dates. If you want to go...”
“Sure, yeah.” He was surprised. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might actually want to be seen with him outside of work. Without Superman to fall back on, Clark Kent was just a reporter from the Midwest and certainly not in the same league as the woman who left Lex Luthor at the altar.
“Why don't you go pick out your duds?” They had just passed a formalwear shop. Lois’s bank was next door. “I'll run into the bank and meet you back out here in five.”
“Sure…”
A few minutes later, Clark had his reservation slip for his tux tucked in his pocket. He stepped onto the sidewalk. Lois wasn’t waiting for him in front of the bank. Maybe they’re just really busy, but if she didn’t hurry, they were going to be late for work. Worried, he walked into the bank to find her only to stop two steps inside.
Not a single person inside the bank was moving. The customers and employees were sprawled on the floor or slumped over their desks or counters. Lois was lying flat on her back in the middle of the floor.
“Lois!”
He ran over to her, and cradled her in his arms. She was still breathing at least. After a few moments, her eyes fluttered open. She tried to sit up then closed her eyes to try to shake the wooziness. All around them the other people were beginning to stir. Clark looked around to find some clue as to what had happened. He didn’t smell anything and even without his powers Clark’s senses were better than the average human’s. The bank vault door was standing open, the inside drawers in disarray.
“Clark...? What happened...?” she asked.
“Somebody made a withdrawal,” Clark said, nodding toward the vault.
“Last thing I remember,” Lois said. “I was standing here, feeling kind of tired...”
They looked around again. Several people had not yet regained consciousness. In fact, one man in a suit was lying on the floor, snoring.
“Looks like you weren't the only one,” Clark commented.
“What could've knocked us all out so fast?” Lois asked.
-o-o-o-
The first day of the investigation hadn't gotten them anywhere. Today Lois had opted to make the calls to police department and her sources. Clark had hit the street. Although he had picked up some good information, he hoped Lois had come up with something as well. He waited impatiently for the elevator doors to open. He almost ran into the bullpen, clutching the security tape. “Got it!”
“What?” Lois asked as she and Jimmy followed him into the conference room. He put the videotape into the VCR and turned on the monitor above it.
“Video from the bank security cameras,” Clark said. “Now maybe we'll find out why the police have such a tight lid on this thing.”
“You didn’t get anything either?” Lois asked.
He shook his head. “Not from the police. I got this copy from Henderson. He’s hoping we spot something his people have missed. But it’s strictly of the record.”
A picture came on the screen. A high angle shot of the bank lobby. Everything seemed normal. Customers were standing quietly in line, Employees were at their stations. Lois was standing at a teller's window in the foreground. There was quiet chatter in the background, innocuous music.
“I thought security tapes didn’t normally have audio,” Jimmy commented.
“According to Inspector Henderson, it’s an experimental system,” Clark said. “There’s still some question about how legal it is.”
Then, an oddly eerie sound came out of the speakers. Seductive, a not quite melodic siren song. On the screen, both customers and employees began to drop. Clark turned up the volume. Beside him, both Lois and Jimmy both began to yawn. He turned down the volume and they both perked up.
“It's the sound...” Clark said.
“Sound?” Jimmy asked.
“What sound?” Lois looked confused.
“You didn’t hear it?” Clark asked. “That weird sound in the bank, the one just that made you guys… uh, that made us all drowsy just… Neither of you heard it?”
Lois shook her head. Jimmy was focusing on the monitor. “Look.”
On the screen, four men dressed in black walked into view of the security camera. They wore black motorcycle style helmets with dark visors pulled down to hide their faces and black leather jackets. The men moved with oiled precision, stepping over the sleeping bodies as they headed for the cash drawers and the closed vault.
The image froze.
“Whoa, check it out,” Jimmy murmured.
“What?” Clark didn’t see anything of significance on the screen.
“That jacket...” Jimmy pointed out. One of the jackets had ornate studding and embroidery across the back. The resolution of the tape made it impossible to make out details.
“I wonder where he got it,” Jimmy said.
“Will you pay attention?” Lois said, giving Jimmy a disapproving look as she started the tape again.
On the screen they saw a guard enter the room from one of the back offices. He spotted the intruders and drew his service revolver. One of the thieves pulled out a small gun-like device from beneath his jacket. He aimed it at the guard who promptly keeled over.
“Wow,” Jimmy breathed. “The first sound that can put a whole room to sleep.”
“I can see why the police don't want this in the papers until they can figure out what this is,” Clark said.
Outside the door, Perry strode into the bullpen. “All right, people, listen up!” he yelled.
Clark paused the tape and followed Lois and Jimmy into the bullpen. The rest of the staff had gathered around the editor.
“The nominations for the Kerth Investigative Journalism prize are in and I'm proud to announce that one of our own has received the nod,” Perry said with a grin. “So I want a big round of applause for…”
“He always does this, it's so embarrassing...” Lois whispered to Clark.
“…Clark Kent!” Perry said loudly.
Lois was beginning to step forward then stopped, looking back at Clark in open astonishment.
“C'mon, son, don't be shy. Get over here!” Perry urged. Lois stepped back to rejoin the crowd as Clark stepped forward to stand beside Perry. The older man clapped a proud hand on Clark’s shoulder.
“I think you've got a real shot at winning. That retirement home scandal you uncovered was…”
“Wait,” Lois started in open disbelief. “He got nominated for the retirement home series?”
Perry grinned at her. “Top grade journalism. Emotional wallop.”
Lois just stared at them both, open mouthed.
“Lois? Don't you have something to say to Clark?” Perry urged.
“Right, yes. Clark, this is... ah... I'm very...” She stopped.
“Surprised?” Clark suggested.
“Stunned. Shocked. In need of oxygen,” Lois corrected.
“Now Lois,” Perry chided gently. “You've been nominated every year, you've won three times, don't go getting petty. The Planet's a team. One success is everybody's success. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Good,” Perry said, beaming at her “Back to work everybody.”
Lois and Clark were left looking everywhere but at one another as the rest of the staff went back to their desks and assignments.
Finally, Clark began: “Look, Lois…”
She nodded at the monitor and the tape. “So. What's our next step?”
“Find somebody who can tell us about sound,” Clark suggested. “I know somebody over at U of M.”
“Really?”
“Might give us a little background…”
