Part 8
Other staffers started straggling in to the newsroom to do their write ups. Lois had managed to rouse herself enough to look over Clark’s shoulder to make suggestions and add observations.
Today the City of Metropolis is in mourning. Today she laid to rest a hero who gave his life to save the city, indeed to save the world, from destruction. We do not know his name. We knew him only as ‘Superman’…
“It’s harder than I thought it would be,” Clark admitted, sitting back in his chair.
“None of us ever expected we’d be doing this,” Lois commented. “We all thought… we all thought nothing could hurt him…”
“Miss Lane?”
Lois looked over to see an oddly familiar looking, middle-aged balding man in a somber suit standing beside her desk. After a moment she placed the face: Murray Brown, formerly of the ‘Galactic Talent Agency’ and currently in charge of merchandise licensing for the Superman Foundation. Over the past months he had managed to shed his sleazy agent persona in favor of that of a respectable businessman. Superman had demanded a certain level of professionalism in the organization, and it seemed that Brown had managed to oblige.
“Mister Brown…?”
“I’m sorry to intrude, Miss Lane,” he said. “But, um, you know I work for the Superman Foundation, and well, before he left, he left us some final instructions in case, well you know…”
“And those instructions were…?” Lois asked, curiosity piqued.
Brown handed her a sealed envelope. There was more than just paper in it – it felt like there was a mini-floppy disk as well.
“I had two letters to deliver personally,” he explained. “One was to you.”
“And the other?” she prompted.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” Brown told her. “But just so you know, the Superman Foundation has approved the city’s plan for his memorial. A playground and a daycare center across from the mausoleum. I think he would have liked that.”
“I think you’re right,” Lois agreed. “He would have like that.”
“Well, I need to get going,” Brown said. “You know where to reach me, if you need anything.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Brown turned to head for the elevators. He stopped and looked back at her. “You know, it’s going to be tough without the big guy. But he told me himself he wanted the Foundation to continue as long as it could.”
Lois watched the little man’s back as he headed for the elevators.
“He’s right, you know,” Jimmy said. “It’s going to be tough keeping the Foundation going without the big guy.”
“Murray’s a smart guy,” Clark commented. “He’ll figure something out.” He turned to Lois. “So, what’s in the envelope?”
“I don’t know…”
“Why don’t you open it?”
She tore it open and unfolded the single sheet of paper. It was handwritten on Superman Foundation letterhead and dated the previous Wednesday. She also pulled out the mini-floppy and set it aside while she read the letter.
Dearest Lois,
If you’re reading this, then I didn’t make it back from Nightfall, but I did manage to divert the asteroid and the Earth is safe.
I wanted you to know how much I appreciated knowing you and having you as a friend. Your beauty, both inside and outside, made being in Metropolis a pleasure. I couldn’t have become Superman without your support and guidance.
I don’t know if there’s an afterlife. But if there is, I’m sure we will meet again and you can tell me about all your adventures. In the meantime, don’t grieve that I am gone, but celebrate my life by living yours to the fullest. Do not waste your time with regrets of what might have been, but go boldly forward, cherishing each day as it comes for none of us knows what tomorrow will bring. But I hope that each tomorrow will bring you joy and accomplishment, and even that Pulitzer you want so badly. I know you can do it, just as I know you will continue to investigate and expose corruption and misdoings in Metropolis.
I know you’ve wondered why I don’t trust Lex Luthor. Enclosed is a floppy with copies of my notes. Unfortunately, I was never able to get hard evidence against him – even Superman has his limits. Perhaps you will have better luck.
Take care Lois, and know that I do love you. I did from the moment I met you.
The signature was smudged and scratched out as though he hadn’t been able to decide how to sign it. Below the scratch-out was a simple S. Superman.
“Lois?” she heard Clark ask. She looked up to see him watching her worriedly and she realized that tears were running down her face again. She handed him the letter.
He read it quickly and handed it back to her. “He did love you,” Clark said softly.
Lois found she didn’t have anything to say to that. Anything she did say would sound trite or self-centered so she simply nodded and found herself once again in Clark’s arms, crying on his shoulder.
“He promised me we’d go flying together…” she finally managed to choke out. As she spoke she realized the noise level in the bull pen had gone down.
‘Okay people…show’s over,” Perry bellowed. There was the sound of creaking chairs and scurrying footsteps. “Lois?” Perry said more gently from somewhere close. “Are you okay?”
She managed a nod, lifting her head from Clark’s shoulder. She handed Perry the letter and watched him scan it. The older man sighed and picked up the disk from her desk. “Is this the disk he sent you?”
She nodded.
“Let’s look at it in my office,” Perry suggested. He led the way into his office and shut the door behind them. He slipped the disk into his computer and they waited for the machine to open the disk. Finally, the first document appeared on the screen.
Lois read the document over Perry’s shoulder. The notes listed dates and times, people and places, bank account numbers from all over the world and notes on transactions. If true, the information screamed of Luthor’s direct involvement in criminal activities – Luthor was the mysterious ‘Boss’. Lois didn’t doubt the notes were accurate. She also understood Superman’s reticence in handing over the information. The document was, in effect, a journal but without photos or other corroborating evidence it was worthless except to suggest avenues of investigation, people and places to look into, connections that weren’t obvious but might yield results.
She wondered a little that Superman hadn’t asked for her or Clark’s help on it and then realized he probably had asked Clark. Which begged the question as to why she hadn’t been asked as well. Her previous association with Luthor? Her refusal to accept Clark’s previous warnings? Now it was too late. Superman’s gone…
“Great shades of Elvis,” Perry murmured. “It’ll take a whole task force just to being checking this out.”
“And we don’t dare do anything as obvious as that,” Clark commented. “If Luthor really is the Boss, then he’s got fingers in every pie on the East Coast. And eyes in even more places.”
“Are you saying we shouldn’t bother confirming this?” Lois asked.
Clark shook his head. “I’m just saying we should handle this very carefully, and as covertly as possible. No task force. And we’re going to have to put together a case airtight enough the D.A. could take it to court.”
“We work for a newspaper, not the D.A.’s office,” Perry reminded them.
“But more often than not, our investigations clue the D.A.’s office into things they should be looking into,” Clark said.
Lois knew that Clark was right. Their investigations had frequently come up with evidence that led the Metropolis District Attorney’s office into making inquiries. Quite a number of those inquiries had lead to criminal investigations and convictions. Lois had an impressive track record of her own. She and Clark together were promising to have an even more impressive one.
“If Luthor is the Boss, then he’s one of the most dangerous men in the world.” Perry pointed out. “We don’t dare let anyone else in on this until we’re ready to run with it.”
“So we’re looking at a task force of three?” Lois asked.
“Better make if four,” Perry said. “We’re going to need a computer person to track down these account numbers and that’ll be Jimmy.”
Lois leaned against her boss’s desk. The problem at hand was a good distraction, and maybe Superman’s finest legacy wouldn’t end up being a playground in Centennial Park, but the demolition of Luthor’s empire. And she had an in.
“Lois, what are you thinking?” Perry demanded. “I know that look.”
“I was thinking that Luthor claims he’s in love with me, even though he has a bizarre way of showing it,” Lois said. “But it might give me an in into his inner circle.”
“Lois, it’s too dangerous,” Clark protested. “He knows you’re a reporter.”
“It’s at least a shot. If I can convince him that with Superman gone, he might have a chance…”
“We both know the only reason Luthor was going after you was because of your relationship to Superman,” Clark told her. “Granted, the pheromone poison might have had something to do with it initially, but we both know that wore off within forty-eight hours.”
“You’re saying Luthor couldn’t have fallen for me just for me?” Lois asked. The rational part of her brain knew full well that Clark was right, but it hurt to have it pointed out so baldly.
Clark waved his hands in frustration. “Lois, you’re beautiful and brilliant and there’s nothing you can’t do once you put your mind to it. But beautiful and brilliant women are a dime a dozen in his world and we both know it. Look at Miranda Miller, look at Antoinette Barnes… He’s a user, Lois. And he’s not above murder. You know that.”
“I’ll be careful,” Lois promised.
“Now, just hold on you two,” Perry said. “Let’s not jump into this... Let’s see what we can dig up before we go to the extreme of sending you into the devil’s den.”
“I can do this, Perry,” she protested.
“Yeah, and the King could do a strip-tease. That didn’t make it a good idea,” Perry said. “Beside, you playing hard-to-get might make it easier for you to get in if it comes to that.”
“I’d rather she be hard for him to get,” Clark commented to Perry. The older man chuckled and shook his head. Lois was not amused.
“I was doing undercover work a long time before you showed up, farm boy,” Lois stated.
“I know that, Lois. I just wish…” Clark stuffed his hands in his pockets and pressed his lips into a thin line.
“Lois,” Perry said. “Promise me you won’t do anything like going after Luthor on your own, at least not without clearing it with me first?”
Lois sighed. She didn’t want to admit that Parry was right, that she shouldn’t take Luthor on by herself. He was dangerous.
“Okay,” Lois conceded. “I won’t make any moves on this without letting you know first. But still I think it’s our best bet on getting the proof we need to expose him.”
“You could well be right,” Perry said. “But I’d rather exhaust our other options first. Okay?”
-o-o-o-
Perry agreed to let Lois and Clark leave as soon as their story on the funeral was handed in. Lois was just grabbing her jacket when the elevator doors opened, disgorging the one person she really didn’t want to see at the moment: Lex Luthor.
“Lois, I was expecting you for lunch. Didn’t you get my invitation?” As Luthor spoke he gave Clark a hard look. Clark said nothing as he shrugged into his own jacket.
“I haven’t been home long enough to get my messages,” Lois responded. “And today wasn’t a good day, in any case.”
“Ah, yes, the funeral,” Luthor said. “A truly touching display by the city’s public servants. But then, the only input they wanted from me was my checkbook.”
“I didn’t see you there,” Lois told him.
Luthor shrugged. “It felt… inappropriate to intrude on everyone’s grief.” Luthor said. “I know how much you cared for him.”
There was a long pause as Luthor waited for a response from her. She noticed that Perry was standing in the door to his office and Clark was waiting beside his desk, watching, listening.
“I’m sorry I forgot about lunch,” she said. “It’s been a hard day, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t be very good company in any case. Maybe I can take a rain check on it? Maybe later next week?”
“If that’s what you want,” Luthor said. “But I thought you might like to see Pelléas et Mélisande at Teatro alla Scala tomorrow. I’m told it’s an excellent production…”
“I’m sorry, Lex, but I can’t,” Lois told him.
Luthor gave her a dark look. She knew he didn’t like having his will thwarted and she was one of the few who dared. She had flown with Superman. After that a mere billionaire had nothing to offer her, not really. Besides, Superman had reason to believe that Luthor was the mysterious crime lord, ‘the Boss’. But there was also something about the way Luthor was looking at her that made her wonder if he knew about Superman’s notes on him, made her wonder if he suspected she had suspicions about him. Then he smiled.
“I quite understand. I’ll have Mrs. Cox make the arrangements for lunch later next week,” he promised. Then he turned on his heel and walked out, but not before giving Clark another foul look.
“Lex invited me to lunch and I didn’t get the message?” she asked as soon as he was gone. She kept her tone even, making it sound like a rhetorical question even though it wasn’t.
“He didn’t mention anything about it when I answered your phone,” Clark responded. “I would have told you, you know that.”
“So, either he was lying or he called here and someone ‘mislaid’ the message,” she said. “Somehow I doubt he called here.”
“I doubt it too,” Clark agreed.
“What do you think he’s up to?”
“I’m afraid to even guess,” Clark told her. “Pelleas and Melisande at La Scala?”
“Lex has season tickets and a private box. I’m just not up to facing a six hour plane flight to see a tragedy sung in a language I can’t follow even when I’m trying.”
“I’m sure they have an English libretto.”
“Are you trying to tell me I should go with him to Italy tomorrow?”
“No,” he said in a small voice. “I’m just afraid that by turning him down, he’s going to be even more interested in you.”
“It’s too late now,” she responded. “The only way I’m going to turn him off now is by letting him get his way and going to bed with him. Like you said, he’s a user and the only way out is to become ‘used’… something he can boast about and throw away. Besides, I though you wanted me to play hard-to-get with him.”
“No, I want you to be hard for him to get.”
“Not much difference right now… So, you said you’d help me look for that thing I lost?” Lois asked him, deliberately changing the subject. It was actually touching, and more than a little flattering, how Clark seemed to be jealous of Luthor’s attention to her. But it wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on. They were just friends, right?
“How about after lunch?” he suggested. “I’m sure Mom’s expecting us. She’ll want to ask us about the funeral and everything.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed.
-o-o-o-
Just as Clark had predicted, Martha had lunch ready at his apartment and had fixed enough potato soup and turkey sandwiches to feed a small army. But Clark hadn’t predicted that both Jonathan and Martha would look as wrung out as Lois felt - almost as if they’d buried someone close to them. Lois was still coming to terms with the fact that Clark’s parents knew Superman almost as well as their son had. But it was still a little disconcerting to see such open evidence.
Martha had been watching her across the table. Abruptly, Lois realized that Martha was watching her shred her sandwich instead of eating it. She stopped and started eating. The soup was hearty and the sandwich wasn’t dry or tasteless like the ones from the vending machine.
“Jonathan and I watched the funeral on TV,” Martha finally said.
“Neither of us had realized how much good Superman had managed to do while he was here,” Jonathan added. “Or how many people cared. He must have had quite an impact for both the fire and police departments to bury him as one of their own.”
“He had a lot of friends there,” Lois told them. “Like Henderson said, a lot of officers and civilians survived things they shouldn’t have because of Superman.”
“It was a lovely ceremony,” Martha said quietly. “I was a little surprised to see a coffin, but I guess they needed something to focus on, make it more real, even if it was empty.”
“Apparently, the coffin wasn’t entirely empty,” Clark told them. “Some of the asteroid remnants that fell to earth had organic residue on them, and they think they found part of his cape. That’s what they put in the coffin.”
“Organic residue?” Jonathan asked.
“Like something burned up coming into the atmosphere. Like a body maybe,” Lois said.
“But that’s…” Martha began to say. Then she stopped and shared another one of those odd looks with her husband.
“But that’s what, Mom?” Clark asked.
“We all thought Superman was invulnerable to things like that, that’s all,” Martha said.
Lois had nothing to say to that and she noticed that neither did Clark. He was studying his bowl of soup as if he could read the future there, like tea leaves.
“But it was a very nice ceremony,” Jonathan said after a moment.
“Yeah, it was,” Clark agreed. “I just…”
“Clark, Doctor Friskin said not to worry about not remembering him,” Martha reminded him. “It’ll come back in its own time.”
“So, Lois, what are planning to do with the flag?” Jonathan asked.
“Perry suggested the Daily Planet build a case and set up a display in the lobby with the flag and the Planet’s front pages about him,” Lois answered.
“I think that’s something Superman would have liked,” Martha said quietly.
“By the way, the cable guy was here and replaced your cable box,” Jonathan said to Clark. “Funny fellow, though. He kept trying to get Martha and me out of the room while he was working…” Jonathan said after a long moment. “And then he wanted to check the rest of the place for other cable connections.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s only the one, and my TV is cable ready.” Clark said. “I don’t have a cable box.”
“That’s what your mom kept telling him,” Jonathan told them.
“Which is why I called the cable company as soon as he was gone,” Martha said. “I figured their records would show that.”
“And?” Lois prompted.
“And, according to their records, the cable company never sent anyone out,” Martha said.
“So, somebody was trying to get access to your apartment to search it?” Lois asked. It was rhetorical question.
“Or to plant bugs like they did in yours,” Clark suggested. “In fact, I bet if we ask your building super, he’ll tell us he let a cable guy into your apartment a while back, and maybe even again a day or so ago.”
“One of us was with him the entire time, so I doubt he was able to do too much,” Martha told them. “I did check the phone and it was clean. Plus, I disconnected the cable box he left and put it the fridge.”
“The fridge?” Lois asked.
Jonathan chuckled. “One nice thing about refrigerators is they’re air tight and pretty well sound-proof.” He gave Martha a mischievous look before turning to Clark. “That’s where the smoke detector goes when your mom is soldering in the craft room.”
“I was getting tired of taking the battery out all the time,” Martha told them in self-defense. “And the wires to the battery connector are way too fragile to be messing around with them all that often.”
Jonathan just shrugged and smiled indulgently at his wife.
-o-o-o-
Lois and Clark spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening searching through her apartment, looking for bugs and cameras. They didn’t find any, but they didn’t find her bug finder either.
“Either the place is clean, or they’ve found a way of hiding the devices so even Superman couldn’t find them,” Clark told her after they’d checked everything a second time.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Lois replied. Clark had talked with Bill the building supervisor and confirmed that someone claiming to be from the cable company, and carrying cable company ID, had been in Lois’s apartment twice in the past month. The last time was two days ago.
“Look, whether or not there are any surveillance devices here, or at my place, who ever planted them knows we know about them,” Clark said. “They know we’re going to be looking and we’re going to be careful.”
“It’s just so infuriating Clark. I mean, I can’t even relax in my own home. And there were cameras in my bathroom… my bathroom! And just because they came from…You know what I mean.”
“You can spend the night at my place again,” Clark offered.
“Thanks, but no,” Lois said. “As comfortable as your sofa is, I think I’ll stay home tonight and sleep in my own bed.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure, Clark. I need some time to myself, but thanks. And if I don’t see your parents before they head back home, tell them thanks for me,” she said.
Clark nodded and headed for the door. “Good night, Lois.”
“Good night, Clark.”
-o-o-o-
Lois’s VCR was set to record her favorite soap opera every day. She had become addicted to the show, Ivory Tower, during college. She hadn’t been home in the past week long enough to watch TV at all, not to mention her recorded programs. She wasn’t even sure the producers of Ivory Tower had even made and aired any new episodes considering the threat Nightfall held for the world.
She snuggled down into her bed with a cup of cocoa and the remote and turned on her TV and VCR, rewinding the tape.
The end of the world had just been announced. Lois grimaced. This was supposed to be escapist entertainment but the writers insisted on bring in real world problems. She shrugged and leaned back into her stack of pillows. Brad and Melanie, the current focus characters, had just heard the news and were deciding whether or not they should throw caution to the winds and finally consummate their relationship.
At least Melanie wasn’t going to face losing Brad because he was the one tapped to fly off and save the world. Superman did that… He flew off knowing he might not come back… He’s gone.
Apparently Ivory Tower skipped filming on the day the real world was scheduled to end – instead the VCR had recorded some of the news coverage of waiting for Superman’s return from space, waiting for EPRAD to determine if he had succeeded. She let the talking head drone on. She knew what had happened – Superman hadn’t come back.
Ivory Tower came back with the fictional news commentator announcing that some unknown government agency had saved the world from the looming threat. Brad and Melanie had apparently gone to bed together and were now beginning to realize what they’d done. They had families with expectations, duties, and responsibilities to face now.
Lois fell asleep sometime during Friday’s episode. Once again her dreams were filled with fire and pain, but this time there was a difference. She saw Superman fall and die, but this time Clark was there with her, holding her hand, grieving with her.
‘He did love you,’ Clark repeated in her dream.
‘I know,’ she replied. ‘I know.’
-o-o-o-
Lois spent the next day doing laundry and reading the books she’d bought that had tipped her to Luthor’s overly intimate knowledge of her apartment and property. It was the first time she’d spent any time at home since before the announcement of the asteroid.
Clark called once to let her know his parents were heading back home to Kansas.
Then, finally bored to tears, she started outlining the questions she wanted to ask Vincent Winninger and deciding what to wear when she went to see him in the morning. Winninger was known to be a ladies’ man and she was going to have to keep his attention, at least for a little while.
She might be in mourning for Metropolis’s fallen hero, her hero from another world, but she still had a job to do.
‘But I hope that each tomorrow will bring you joy and accomplishment, and even that Pulitzer you want so badly. I know you can do it, just as I know you will continue to investigate and expose corruption and misdoings in Metropolis,’ Superman had written.
He had such high expectations of her, she knew. But no higher than those she held for herself. She was the best. She intended to stay the best and staying the best meant doing what ever she needed to, to get the story.
