Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found
Here Part 29 Part 30Dr. Sam Lane looked Clark up and down, and asked, “What exactly is your relationship with my daughter?”
Good question. “Lois and I work together at the Daily Planet. I’m assisting her with the Fight Night story,” Clark answered vaguely. He figured he’d better downplay the actual events of Lois being thrown off the story to show her in a better light.
“Are you taking over for that Olsen kid?” Dr. Lane asked, straightening up the table where he had just finished checking a young boxer’s shoulder. “How’s he doing?”
Jimmy’s exact phrase, when Clark had visited him the day before, had been “Awesome,” but the younger man had been gazing at Lucy at the time. Apparently he and his cousin’s ex had hit it off. Lucy was quite the Florence Nightingale.
“Better,” Clark responded.
“Lois would have made a damn fine surgeon. Her test scores were high enough, heaven knows she’s smart enough, and she doesn’t get squeamish at a little blood,” Dr. Lane said proudly and then shook his head. “It’s a shame.”
“A shame that Lois was smart enough to pick her own career in a field that interested her, instead of following in your footsteps?” Clark said a tad defensively. He knew he should probably be more cordial to the father of the woman he loved, but this man squandered a lifetime of getting to know his daughters to build cyborgs. He had lost Clark’s empathy. Clark knew he would give up his super powers in an instant to get his folks back. What would Martha and Jonathan of this dimension have been willing to give up in exchange for a child?
Dr. Lane gazed sharply at Clark. “My relationship with my daughter isn’t any of your business.”
“It is when it affects our story,” Clark retorted.
And her happiness.Of course, Clark was the one who had made it have an effect on the story. He knew what it was like to lose a parent. It had been his unwillingness to have her to go through the same experience that had made him suggest for her not to go through with the story. Therefore, it was Clark’s fault that Perry had passed the Fight Night story on to him, and he had to make it up to Lois. If he had to give up her father’s respect to get Lois’s, Clark would willingly do so.
“As I told Lois, there isn’t a story. What happened to Allie was a tragedy, but it wasn’t murder,” Dr. Lane said.
Clark pulled the photos out of his pocket and tossed them on the examining table. “No offense, Dr. Lane, but we know better. Lois was at your office last night.”
Lois’s father glanced down at the packet and hesitantly picked it up. He poured the pictures out onto his hand and just as quickly pushed them back into the packet. “Then why isn’t it on the front page of the Daily Planet? Kent, was it? Why isn’t the fight commission closing down Menken’s Gym and Saturday’s fight? Why are you here?”
“Lois doesn’t want you to end up like Allie,” Clark stated the obvious.
“You tell her to print the story. I can take care of myself. She shouldn’t give up her integrity over my decisions,” Dr. Lane said, tossing the photos back to Clark.
“Her integrity won’t do her much good if it gets you killed,” Clark explained.
Dr. Lane went back to packing his bag. “If she doesn’t have the guts to march with the big boys…”
“Can’t you see that this doesn’t have to do with her guts? It has to do with you meaning more to her than her career.” Clark shook his head. “I was hoping that you might see fit to change your mind and call her, give her the exclusive. She’s got contacts in the D.A.’s office who can protect you from Menken and whomever’s backing him. She’ll want to make sure you’re safe before she hands in the story. Can’t you prove to her once and for all that she means more to you than these guys? Or was I wrong, and she was right, that she loves you more than you love her?”
“She didn’t tell you that,” Dr. Lane countered and then his anger lost steam. “Did she?”
Not in so many words. Clark merely crossed his arms.
Dr. Lane, sports medicine, disappeared, and Sam Lane, Lois’s father, appeared in his place. “You aren’t one of her flunkies, are you? Who are you really? Why aren’t
you trying to get this exclusive for yourself?”
“Because it’s Lois’s story, and I wouldn’t do that to her,” Clark explained.
Understanding came to Sam’s eyes. “She’s not going to be happy to learn you came to see me behind her back.” It wasn’t a question. They both knew Lois better than that.
“No,” Clark said with a momentary chuckle. “Probably not.” He shrugged. “But I had to give it a shot.”
“Why is it so important to you? My relationship with my daughter?” Sam asked.
“Because my dad died doing something for me, and I don’t ever want Lois to know what it’s like to live with that kind of guilt,” Clark admitted.
Sam stared at him for a moment then held out his hand. “Let me think about it.”
Clark shook his hand. “Thank you, sir, that’s all that I ask.”
“Good luck, Kent. You’ll need it,” Sam said.
“Same to you, sir,” Clark said with a nod. He turned towards the exit of the locker room, but stopped at the door, glancing around. It was almost as if he could sense someone watching him, but his casual glance proved that he and Dr. Lane were still alone. He shrugged the feeling away and continued through the door.
*
Lois exhaled her held breath. Clark hadn’t seen her and didn’t know she was there. She couldn’t believe that he had come to face her father without her. At first, when she saw them talking she was furious with Clark about going behind her back, just as they knew she would be, but then he defended her to her father, over and over. By the end, she realized that Clark was doing what he had promised he would do. He was working the story Perry had assigned him, but in a way where she’d still get all the credit. Damn him! Clark was making it all but impossible to stay angry at him.
Her father passed where she was hiding behind a pillar.
“Dad?”
“Lois?” he said, startled. He glanced over his shoulder towards the door Clark had just exited. “Did you? Did he know that you…?”
She shook her head. “Nope. That’s just the kind of guy Clark is. Shoot himself in the foot, just so there’s one less bullet flying through the air. Can we talk?”
Her father nodded. “I’d like that, Lois.”
***
The next morning, Clark watched as Lois hugged her father. The man had just brought them a conversation he had taped with Max Menken about Allie’s death. Clark felt proud that he had a bit to do with getting Lois and her father talking again.
“Please be careful,” Lois murmured to her father. Sam Lane had refused her offer to take him and the tape to the D.A.’s office.
Lois’s father didn’t say anything, but his gaze caught Clark’s. With his eyes, he asked Clark to watch over his little girl. Clark nodded that he would. With a small smile Sam kissed Lois’s forehead to tell her that he loved her and walked away down the street.
For a minute, Lois watched her father go, then she returned to Clark on the corner, wrapping her arm around his. “I feel like celebrating,” she told him. “How does returning to the office, typing up our story, and handing it in to Perry sound?”
“It’s not
our story, Lois. It’s yours,” Clark corrected, unable to stop himself from relishing her touch. “You did all the hard work. Me, I just offered my advice.”
“But Perry officially assigned it to you,” Lois reminded him with more generosity than he had witnessed before. “What’s he going to do when you don’t have a story to turn in? Especially one you were assigned?” She gave him a nudge.
“I didn’t realize you cared,” he replied.
She beamed at him. “Someone once told me, I’m very caring.”
He winked. “Astute man, that. Don’t worry, I’ve stolen your Police Academy Graduation story. I hope you don’t mind.”
Lois glowered at him, but a teasing smile slipped out to show him she wasn’t serious. “You’re going to make me look bad in front of the Chief.”
“Nah, your page one story will make him hug you like you’re Elvis reincarnated.”
She laughed. “I might be able to slip this one past him, but don’t do it again in the future.”
He raised a brow. “You don’t want me to steal your doghouse story and give you the page one story next time?”
Lois pressed her lips together. “Mark my words, Chuck, there won’t be a next time. By the way, you didn’t
give me my page one story; I earned it.”
***
Clark watched as Perry walked through the newsroom and stopped in front of his desk. “Kent, I need your article on the Fights tonight. Whatcha got?”
He gulped. Bupkis. He hoped he didn’t get in too much trouble for switching stories with Lois. “Here you go, Chief,” Clark said, handing over the article he had just finished.
“Kent? I didn’t assign you the Police Academy Graduation piece. Did Lois put you up to this? Time to grow a backbone. I know that she’s a beautiful woman, son, but you’ve got your career to think of.
Lois!” Perry turned to find Lois standing directly behind him. “This is the Daily Planet, and I’m the Editor-in-Chief. When I assign a story, I expect it to be completed by the person to whom it was assigned.”
“Go easy on Clark, Chief. He did that on top of working with me on this story,” she said, holding out her cyborg boxing scandal article.
“No, Lois, I didn’t help you,” Clark said, not wishing to get credit where he hadn’t earned it. “She did that story all on her own.”
“Clark’s being modest. He helped a lot. That’s why you see his byline there next to mine,” Lois said, pointing to the copy.
“Lois!” Clark complained, coming to his feet.
Perry raised his hands. “What in Sam Hill is going on around here? Have I hit my head and entered the land of fairies? Because if I remember correctly, Lois, you…” His eyes finally glanced down at the article she had handed to him. “— you… you… don’t work well with... What is this?” He gazed up at her expectantly for a moment before returning to her article. “That will be the day when Lois Lane will back down off a story.” He pointed at her as his grin grew. “You’ve been funning with me, haven’t you?”
Lois returned his grin and gave a modest little shrug. She glanced around their boss and winked at Clark. He couldn’t help but feel the ground disappear from beneath his feet when she gazed at him like that.
Perry raised his voice to the newsroom. “You all should be ashamed of yourself for what you’ve been thinking.”
She nodded to Clark, and Perry turned back to him. “Kent, I want to thank you for a first rate job.”
“You’re welcome, sir, but really it was all Lois. I just gave her an encouraging nudge. Oh, and I also have a Superman story about a mugging he stopped...”
“Show off!” Lois teased, coming around to stand next to him and bump him with her hip to show her appreciation for his not wanting credit on her story. It was all he could do, not to wrap his arms around her and kiss her in front of Perry and the whole newsroom. The only thing stopping him was the fact that she considered them only friends. He didn’t want to ruin a good thing.
“Chief, the Fights are tonight. If we hurry we can get that in the afternoon edition,” Lois reminded their boss.
“
Copy!” Perry yelled. A young man rushed up, and Perry handed him the story. “Take that downstairs right away and tell them they can take as much room as they want.”
“Yes, sir!” replied the copyboy.
“Get sales on the phone, tell them I want TV spots, radio spots, skywriting, the whole nine yards…” Perry announced to the bullpen.
“You got it!” someone answered.
“Let Metropolis know that Lane and Kent are the greatest writing team since… ah.. ah… well, Woodward and Bernstein!” Perry continued to gush to their co-workers. “And they can read about it in the
Daily Planet!”
Everyone on the news floor burst into cheers and applause.
Clark beamed at Lois, but she only weakly returned his smile. He could tell that she didn’t really want them to be a team. She had just been thanking him for his encouragement by adding his byline to her story.
“It’s okay, Lois,” Clark murmured in her ear. “We’ll tell the Chief, once he calms down, that you don’t need a partner, that you did this all on your own, that Lois Lane is a name all by herself, and that he should promote just you to Metropolis. I didn’t earn it, you did.”
Lois stared at him, before nudging him with her elbow. “Bad elbow,” she grumbled as she rubbed it and took a step away from him. “You earned the praise, Clark, accept it for once, won’t you?” she told him and then with a quick smile, returned to her desk.
“Thank you, Lois,” he said, starting to follow, but she held up her hand.
Clark nodded and returned to his desk. She needed space; he understood that. She had just shared her byline on a huge story with someone else. He didn’t want to smother her until she regretted it. If she didn’t already.
***
Lois stared at Clark across the newsroom. He was busy on another story and didn’t notice her staring. His shirt sleeves were rolled up and a pencil was stuck studiously behind his right ear. On anyone else, she would have thought the look would be nerdish at best. On Clark it was particularly sexy. She closed her eyes and recalled his breath on her neck as he told her what a wonderful reporter she was and how he understood why she didn’t want him as a partner. The combined effect was like an aphrodisiac. Clark didn’t understand anything at all.
She wanted him as her partner, for more than her partner, more than just a friend or a co-worker. It had taken every ounce of her control, not to turn and kiss him for putting her and her career ahead of his. The way he had repeatedly told Perry that she had done the cyborg boxing story on her own, refused to take any of the credit that she had given him on her story, was as if he had kissed down her neck. It was making her hot just thinking of it.
Lois flashed open her eyes. She saw Clark’s eyes gazing at her and she immediately pretended to be studying some papers on her desk, despite them being upside-down. A feeling of warmth came over her.
She needed to stop this. Working with Clark was supposed to stop her fantasies about him, not increase them. She was with Superman. Well, not
with Superman, but in love with Superman. Superman only had to agree to that first step and they were as good as in a committed relationship. She would not,
could not cheat on him now… or ever – no matter how much Clark made her want to – that just wasn’t who she was.
I’m just horny, Lois told herself. Lust, that was it. All that hugging and sharing and cuddling she had done with Clark the other night was clouding her common sense. She could control these urges. She was human after all, and didn’t have super self-control like
some people, so she still had urges. All that unfulfilled love in her relationship with Superman was leaking over into her relationship with Clark. Only she didn’t
have a relationship with Clark. They were only friends.
She quickly glanced up and saw that Clark was looking at her once more. He had to stop doing that. She couldn’t concentrate. She couldn’t think. When he looked at her like that, it was all she could do to stop herself from jumping over his desk and knocking him to the floor, her mouth on his. She had no idea where these thoughts were coming from, but she certainly knew how to get rid of them.
Lois stood up and walked into the ladies’ room. She got a paper towel wet with the coldest water from the tap, which sadly in the summer wasn’t quite cold enough. She pressed the paper towel around her neck. She had to stop it, plain and simple. Stop these cravings. Stop. Cold.
Cat came into the restroom and tapped on every door, checking the empty stalls. Then she turned to Lois, and said, “I’m surprised you haven’t jumped his bones already.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Cat,” Lois said, but could feel a tell-tale flush creep across her cheeks.
“Go and eat dinner together, celebrate your big coup story-wise, possibly your new partnership, and have the best sex of your life. You might as well end your misery, and his, and
mine, and do it tonight,” Cat said, leaning up against the sinks. “No time like the present.”
The best sex of my life? Lois swallowed.
That’s some endorsement, Cat. “Clark and I are just friends, colleagues,” she said haughtily. The last thing she needed was Cat’s encouragement. “That’s it!”
“If Clark looked at me the way he looks at you, there’s no way we’d be ‘just friends’.”
Lois stared at her. Cat and Clark weren’t ‘just friends’; they were ‘former lovers’.
“Please, the last thing you two will ever be is ‘just friends’,” Cat continued with a roll of her eyes. “What are you waiting for?”
“Unlike you, Cat, I don’t jump into bed with every man I find attractive.”
“Come off it, Lane, you don’t ‘jump into bed’ with anyone,” Cat retorted.
“That’s right.
I don’t do it to ‘scratch an itch’, or ‘because it’s Wednesday’, or because a guy is giving me
that look,” Lois informed her, making fun of some of the reasons she had heard Cat use over the years for hooking up with someone. “Not that it’s any of your business, no matter how many times you like to tell people it is, but sex means something to me. So, can you just lay off!”
“Hmmm. That’s funny. Clark basically told me the same thing,” Cat said, pulling out her lipstick and replying the bright red color.
Lois couldn’t possibly have heard her right. “What?”
“Before Superman came on the scene, I offered to take Clark on the joy ride of his life and do you know what he told me? ‘I don’t do casual sex, Cat’,” she said, mocking Clark’s Midwestern lilting tone perfectly. “And though I’ve tried to convince him otherwise, on numerous occasions, he has stuck to his guns.”
All pretense of doing something else forgotten, Lois stared at her, stunned. “
What?”
“I’ve come to realize it’s not me who he wants. Clark is in love with you, and has been since the day he walked into the Planet, probably always will be,” Cat said, blotting her lipstick. She glanced at Lois via the mirror. “Don’t act shocked, Lois. Everyone knows this.
Everyone.” She rolled her eyes. “Including you. I mean the man wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s quite obvious. I know he’s a reporter and a co-worker and that’s against your ‘rules’. But I’m telling you, you might as well cave now, because you will eventually anyway, especially under those radiant brown eyes of his. The sexual tension in the newsroom is so thick we’re going to need a chainsaw soon to walk to our desks.”
“You… You didn’t sleep with Clark?” Lois sputtered in disbelief.
“Oh, we’re still back there, are we?” Cat said with a shake of her head. “Yes, Lois, Clark turned me down. We haven’t had sexual relations of any kind. He’s not a notch on my bed post and, though it’s doubtful, I’m still hoping he will be, especially after you dump his butt for some asinine reason like you did before.” She shrugged. “A girl has to have something to look forward to in life, doesn’t she?”
Lois was still standing in the restroom contemplating the information that Cat had just laid before her, when the other woman snapped her purse shut and sauntered out of the room.
Clark doesn’t have casual sex? She thought that all men did or at least all men who could would. Was that why Clark had turned her down when Lois was drunk and she had invited him into her apartment? Because he wanted more than a one-night-stand? He was in love with her? Okay, she already knew that fact. Cat was right; it was as clear as the glasses on his face. What would it be like to kiss a man who really wanted to kiss her? A man who dreamed of touching her? A man who wanted
her, Lois Lane, not just any woman? Instead of feeling cooler than she had before, she felt like every one of her nerve endings was standing up at attention and letting off fireworks. It was the kind of nervousness she felt every time Superman seemed ready to kiss her.
She closed her eyes and swooned, catching herself at the last moment.
Superman! What would happen if she ran into him feeling like this? Would she break her preposterous rule that the man always had to make the first move? Especially with him in that skin-tight suit of his? What would happen in her relationship with Superman if she kissed him? She rolled her eyes. He’d probably just use his super speed to avoid it. No, he knew where she stood in their relationship, and he wasn’t ready to make that next step. She wouldn’t rush him. They had the rest of their lives.
Oh, God, she hoped it didn’t take
that long.
Lois splashed more cold water on her face and took a deep breath, finally confident that she could face Clark again without telepathically telling him that she wanted him to take her back to his place and…
She splashed more water on her face. She could do this. She was in love with Superman. Her love for Superman was stronger than her desire for Clark. She could do this.
She walked back out to her desk to find Lex waiting beside it. What was he doing here? Lois glanced over at Clark and he looked like he was in a surly mood. Terrific. Well, wasn’t all of this the bucket of cold water she had been looking for?
“Lois!” Lex said, approaching her, his hands extended. “I was hoping to find you.”
“Oh?” Lois said, trying to seem happy to see him. “Good evening, Lex.”
“I was hoping that these rumors about your father were unfounded,” he said, taking hold of her hand.
That’s nice to hear, Lois thought, feeling guilty about her earlier negative thoughts regarding his presence. “I’m afraid not.”
“Lois, your father’s a visionary, and I have nothing but contempt for those who have led him down this path,” Lex said, taking her arm and guiding her towards her desk.
Was he moving her closer to Clark? What was Lex doing? Did he want Clark to overhear their conversation? What was he saying? She thought the work that her father had done with the prosthetics was amazing, but she doubted she would go as far as ‘visionary’.
“That’s why I’ve come here today to find you and to make this pledge,” Lex continued. “I will do everything in my power to see that your father redirects his energies to the injured and handicapped.”
Uh-huh. That was a very nice thing to say, and seeing that her father was in trouble with the medical ethics boards, sweet, but was Lex doing it for his business or for her? It was clear he wasn’t doing it for her father’s sake, because otherwise why come to her? Didn’t Lex hire Alan Morris, the Invisible Man, as well? Was Lex using her to access these scientific geniuses? It wasn’t like her father would be allowed to continue working on his cyborg project now, if he wanted to. What was Lex getting at?
She realized that Lex was staring at her, expecting some kind of answer, so she went with her gut feeling. “I don’t know what to say, Lex.”
“Say you’ll come to dinner with me and we can discuss this further,” Lex said persuasively.
Truthfully, the last thing in the world she wanted to do at that very moment was discuss her father’s future career choices. “Thank you, Lex. That’s very kind of you,” Lois said, reaching her hand out to indicate Clark who was standing up and putting on his jacket. “But Clark and I have dinner plans – a celebration of sorts. Perhaps another time.” She glanced over at Clark to see if he minded her using him in this way. She should have known better.
Clark looked so happy, he would be floating if he could.
Lex’s face fell in surprise. “Another time?”
“Yes. Clark and I were just leaving,” Lois said, picking up her purse, and turning to Clark. “Shall we take the stairs?”
“Sounds great, Lois,” Clark said with a beaming smile.
Lex stared at her. “The stairs? But…”
“Yes, Clark and I often take the stairs. After sitting at one’s desk for hours, it feels good to stretch one’s legs, doesn’t it, Clark?” Lois asked, seeking his approval, and knowing she would get it.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Clark agreed, taking her arm.
“Lois,” Lex said, moving to block their exit. “Surely, you can see that my ideas for your father are rather important and take precedent over dinner with a colleague.”
Lois raised an eyebrow at his dismissal of her plans for his, and instantly stiffened her spine. “No, Lex, I cannot. If it is that important to you, may I suggest that you contact the D.A.’s office. Perhaps they can put you in contact with my father; although with Max Menken still wanted for threatening my father and for questioning in the death of Allie Dinello, I’m guessing that my dad’s remaining hidden. I’m not the keeper of my father’s career, nor is he mine. Now, if you’ll excuse us,” she said as Clark set his hand as the base of her back and led her around Lex towards the stairs.
“I’ll walk down with you,” Lex said, following them.
She glanced over at Clark and caught him rolling his eyes in annoyance, which caused her to smile. She was feeling the same way, regarding Lex, at the moment.
“I would think a man of your stature in the community wouldn’t be able to waste the extra minutes in his busy schedule it took to take the stairs, Mr. Luthor,” Clark said.
“As it happens, Clark, I’ve suddenly had a window of time open up this evening,” Lex retorted.
Clark shivered almost in fear, and drew Lois closer to him.
“Is something wrong, Clark?” she asked.
“No,” he answered, glancing back at Lex with contempt. “No, everything is fine.”
When they reached the lobby, Lex tried once more to convince her to change her plans. “Why don’t the two of you join me for dinner?”
“Well, isn’t this comfy cozy?” Max Menken said, appearing from around the far side of the lobby newsstand.
“Menken?” Lois said, turning to face him.
“I think someone’s looking for you, Menken, maybe the D.A…” Clark said, before Max interrupted him by pulling out a gun.
Before Lois knew it, Clark had stepped in front of her, and Lex had moved towards the boxing promoter as well. What was this? Rescue a damsel in distress week?
“All right, let’s nobody get heroic here!” Max demanded, grabbing Lois out from between Lex and Clark and jerking her to his side. “Back off! She’s going to take a little ride with me.”
“Haven’t you caused enough trouble?” Lex accused.
Lois squealed in surprise and glanced back at Clark. As Menken pushed her towards the exit, she said, “I think our octopus dinner is going to have to wait, Clark.”
He nodded, and started running out another door. “I’ll go for help, Lois.”
“I’ll go for help, too, Lois!” Lois heard Lex call belatedly, but she couldn’t see him anymore as Menken grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the alley.
“What are you going to do when he comes for me?” Lois asked her captor.
“Who?” Menken said, clearly distracted. He was glancing around as if he was expecting S.W.A.T. to come out from every shadow or trash can.
“Who do you think? The Pied Piper?” Lois said wryly, trying to pull her arm away. If she could just get him to point that gun away from her, she could use one of her Taekwondo moves on him. “Superman, of course.”
“Close, are you?” Menken asked.
“Let’s just say that he’s always there for me when I need him,” she replied.
“I’d say you need him now. Where is he?” Menken said into her ear, pulling Lois next to him and pressing the gun next to her gut. She could sense more nervousness at the mention of her almost-boyfriend’s name. Good, maybe he would make a mistake.
“So, we finally meet, Mr. Menken,” Superman announced from behind them.
Lois smiled and turned with Max to face him. She knew he would come. Clark never let her down. She knew he would contact Superman to save her. It felt like it had been weeks, instead of days, since she had last seen her man. She wanted to rush into his arms, but Menken still had a firm hold on her and hadn’t moved the gun out of her ribcage.
A movement behind Superman distracted her, and she saw three of Menken’s boxers come up behind him.
“Superman! Behind you!” she called as one of the men punched Superman in the jaw causing him to stumble.
“Hey, my guys are doing all right,” Menken gushed. “Steel versus steel, that’s how I promoted it!”
Superman? These cyborg boxers couldn’t hurt him, could they? Superman picked up one of them men and dumped him into a pile of nearby trash. No, Superman would be okay, but he was too busy to rescue her. Lois glanced down and saw that Menken’s gun was pointed at the boxers and Superman. In fact, he had let go of her entirely. He really was new at this whole kidnapping and hostage thing, wasn’t he?
Lois took a step back as Menken watched Superman battle his cyborgs. Then another and another until she was running.
Max chased her down the alley, but easily caught up, grabbing her arm and jabbing her with his gun again. Damn her heels. One of these days she would just start to wear flats to work in case of kidnapping.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Menken said, pulling her deeper down the alley.
She glanced over her shoulder back at Superman. He now had the small boxer on his back while the other two held on to his arms. Yep, she’d still need to rescue herself, unless he got free soon or Clark appeared out of the woodwork. Nope, it was probably up to her.
Menken pushed her through a wood gate into a side alley.
“Unhand her!” demanded a voice from the shadows.
“Clark!” Lois yelled, but it wasn’t Clark. It was Lex Luthor. “Lex?”
“Drop the gun!” Lex told Menken, holding up his own gun. Was this what he had meant when he said he was going for help? He went to his limo to grab his gun?
Before Menken responded she knew what he was going to do. He was going to point his gun at Lex, leaving her free to defend herself.
Menken swung his gun off Lois and pointed it at Lex. “You lousy…”
Lois turned and karate chopped Menken’s gun hand, just as an explosion ripped through the alley, echoing off the brick walls. A sharp, burning sensation penetrated her body, causing her to gasp and bump against Menken, who was caught off guard and stumbled backwards towards a pile trash.
***End of Part 30*** Part 31 Comments?
