Next part on Monday!
Thank you again Nancy (anonpip), Rel and Michael!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both Sides of the CoinPart 24
TOC By the time Lois, Clark and Alan arrived at the repository, the police force was already there. Henderson met them as they approached. “Lane, Kent, whoever you are, you need to stay back!”
Lois just glared and folded her arms. “Guards inside?”
Henderson relented. “They've taken two of them as hostages. One of them is wounded, pretty bad off.” He pointed to the incoming SWAT team. “We sent some of our men in the front, but they were hit with a blast of gunfire from out of nowhere. We have to stand our ground.”
Clark took a breath. “Can we help?”
Henderson considered him, “If only we knew what was going on in there: How many, how much firepower? But... we're helpless out here, Kent. There's nothing we *can* do.”
Lois stared at him, then glanced at Alan. <Clark...>
<What?>
<You can sneak in... using one of Alan’s suits...>
Clark’s eyes went wide. Lois pulled both men away from
the police.
Lois looked at Alan. “Alan! Can Clark use your suit? He can sneak in and get the information the police need...”
“But Ms. Lane, it could be dangerous...”
“Danger is our business Alan...” <Besides... you’re ‘Superman’ and you can *fly* in his suit...>
***************************
<Clark?! What in the world are you doing?>
<It’s Lois’ idea...>
<That isn’t an answer...>
<I’m in Alan Morris’ invisible suit...>
<He’s getting information on the robbers for the police. So can it, CJ!>
<They’re suiting up and are on the way out... They stuck the hostages in the vault.>
Clark headed out of the building, shedding the suit and deactivating it. He joined Lois and Alan as they watched the action. A number of guns floated just outside the door. The invisible army was firing, keeping the police under cover.
Suddenly Lois choked back a laugh as CJ nimbly landed just over the doorway and began to empty what looked like runny white paint over the area. <What *is* that...>
<Phosphorescent dust suspended in a solvent... phosphorescent paint...>
The liquid began to short-circuit the suits even as the phosphorescence reconverted some of the UV light into visible light.
CJ landed in front of a now running Barnes. Barnes opened fire and a bullet ricocheted off Superman’s chest. CJ’s eyes widened slightly. He hadn’t considered what would happen when a bullet met his invulnerable body before. He immediately began to capture the rest of the bullets in his hands. When Barnes was out of bullets CJ claimed the gun and bent the barrel into a ‘u’. Barnes stared in shock as CJ herded him over to the police.
<Jay! The hostages!>
CJ took off for the inside of the building and made a slight show of scanning the building before he headed for the vault and freed the two unconscious guards. They were both injured, so he quickly took them over to the medics.
Turning away toward Lois and Clark he was faced by Murray Brown.
<Go ahead with our plan?>
<Yeah, Jay...>
<What plan?>
<Just listen, Lois...>
“Supe! You were terrific!” He held out a paper. “You want it in writing, right? Here's the emmis. *Worldwide* merchandising rights. I'm talkin' movies. I'm talkin' miniseries. I'm talkin' music videos. I'm talkin' comic books. I'm talkin' action figures. But, you call the shots. Quality control is Murray Brown's middle name. If you don't like it, we don't do it. How can you turn down a deal like that?”
CJ grinned. “I can’t.”
Lois stared at him. “You can’t?”
CJ shook his head. “But... all the proceeds go to charity.”
Murray smiled. “Great touch, I can see it now: the ‘Superman Foundation’!”
Lois grinned. <Great idea, you two...>
<I don’t claim it... It was Clark’s.>
***************************
The next day, Lois and Clark were visiting the Morris’ home. The couple seemed to have worked through a lot of their issues.
“Anyway, I destroyed all the suits and my notes,” Alan was explaining.
Clark smiled at him. “Are you going back to your job?”
Alan beamed. “I got a new one! Something very exciting... Vice President of Research and Development for Luthor Technologies!”
Clark forced himself not to react. “Congratulations...” He shared a slightly wide-eyed glance with Lois.
Lois turned to Helene. “I’m glad you two are back together.”
Helene beamed. “Alan’s his old self again... Thank you for bringing him home.”
The two kissed briefly and Alan shared a look with Clark. “I guess I don’t have to be invisible to be visible anymore.”
Clark smiled. “You never did, Alan...”
Alan shook his hand and the two reporters headed back to work.
<So, a man that inventive is now on Luthor’s payroll...>
<As Vice President of R&D no less...>
<We really need to start trying to get to him...>
<Yeah... but it’s a scary prospect, Clark...>
Clark drew her into a kiss. <We’ll be careful...>
***************************
A few days later, three couples were relaxing in an isolated park on the outskirts of Metropolis. It was midmorning on a weekday and the park was deserted.
Rachel was resting in the bleachers of a small baseball field with Lucy and Lois. They were whispering and giggling.
Jimmy eyed the girls. “Do I want to know what they are talking about?”
CJ chuckled. “I doubt it... It wouldn’t do your ego any favors...”
Clark smiled. “Hey Jay, feel like a game?”
CJ eyed him with interest. “Oh?”
Clark winked. “Jimmy can referee for us...”
Jimmy looked at the twins. “What are you two talking about?”
Clark clapped Jimmy on the shoulder. “Wanna see the ultimate game of baseball?”
The setup was simple: each twin played an entire team’s worth of players, using their abilities only when it was necessary to change from one spot to another.
Once the ‘game’ started Lois and Lucy watched them in amazement.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Super powers and all, boys will be boys...”
***************************
That evening the group settled at Rachel and CJ’s home for dinner. The twins were in the kitchen cooking. The result was a combination of CJ’s practicality and Clark’s exotic touches overlaying the basic skills hammered into them both by Martha Kent years ago.
Jimmy and Lucy pulled off to the side, leaving Lois with Rachel. Lois smiled at the other woman. “I want to thank you for saving Clark’s life the other night...”
Rachel’s confusion was evident. “Saving his life...?”
Lois grinned. “I would have killed him if some other woman had won a date with him at that auction...”
Rachel burst into giggles. “With my luck he would have talked CJ into taking his place if I hadn’t bailed him out, even though the original deal was for *CJ* to be the... prize anyway...”
Lois suddenly frowned. “But, what if someone finds out who you are?”
Rachel smiled. “The donation was made anonymously... and CJ put in some ‘creative’ safeguards so he can tell if anyone tries to trace where the cash came from. Finally, all the money from Charlie King is in special accounts that aren’t directly traceable to us. We don’t dip in to that money very often.”
Lois nodded. “I should have known...”
A moment later, Rachel sighed and closed her eyes.
Lois placed a hand on her shoulder. “Rachel? Are you ok?”
Rachel smiled at her. “I just get tired easily... I’ve been lucky... I haven’t had any morning sickness at all. But I’ll be glad when the fatigue eases up, which is supposed to be soon...”
Lois frowned. “You’re what, about three months now?”
Rachel smiled and nodded. “We found out right after Clark moved here... the day I got turned down by the MPD to be exact.”
Lois smiled. “How did you start to suspect?”
Rachel’s eyes lit up. “CJ heard the heartbeat... He sometimes likes to listen to mine when he’s upset... Anyway, he was comforting me after the MPD turned me down... and he suddenly jerked us straight off of the sofa and onto the floor...” Rachel began to giggle. “You really have to know these two to know how strange that is... They both can play the klutz, but men as strong and fast as they are and with the innate balance they have that they use to fly... Something catching them off guard and unbalancing them is a truly rare event. It then took him a while to finally cough out what exactly he was hearing...”
Lois grinned. “And considering how eloquent the lecturer is...”
Rachel nodded. “I was afraid something was wrong! But-” Her eyes began to glow. “-a baby... We never really talked about kids, but I think we both assumed that if we really wanted children we would need to consider adoption...”
Lois frowned. “And that was before they found the globe...”
Rachel nodded. “Yeah, we had no idea where the twins came from... But also, we’re only in our late twenties...” She winked at Lois. “We knew we had time.”
Lois frowned, suddenly struck by the difference between the woman in front of her and herself. Neither of them would be happy being housewives and had chosen demanding career paths... but, until Clark, Lois had never been interested in pursuing a relationship with a man... Men who pursued her might win a date or two but little more than that. Rachel had been married for several years now to her childhood sweetheart. It made Lois wonder what might have happened if she had met Clark when she was younger, but she quickly shied away from the thought.
<All that matters is that we have each other now, Honey...>
<Thanks, Clark...>
Rachel sighed. “I only wish my mother could have...” She trailed off.
Lois grasped the other woman’s hand. “My mother died when I was sixteen, Rachel... so I know how it feels to wish she was still here...”
Rachel’s eyes began to tear, and a moment later CJ was at her side. “Rach?”
Rachel waved him away. “I’m fine, CJ... We were talking about our moms and with these hormones...”
CJ relaxed. “That make you cry about anything and this isn’t just anything...” He placed a kiss on her forehead and headed back to the kitchen.
Lois frowned. “How did he know you’re upset but not know why?”
Rachel grinned, her tears drying. “Same way they hear calls for help: conditioning. CJ’s trained his ears to pick me out if I’m ‘in distress’ but he may or may not pick up the cause.”
The twins served dinner, shifting the conversation to other topics.
***************************
Later that night Lois cuddled with Clark on his sofa.
Lois sighed. “There was a message from my dad yesterday...”
Clark placed a kiss on her temple. “You ok?”
Lois frowned. “I haven’t actually talked to him much since Lucy and I moved out... and when we did talk before, it was mostly me reminding him to send money he had agreed to give us for school or rent.”
Clark squeezed her. “What did he say?”
“Nothing really, just to ‘please call him back’.”
“Are you going to?”
“I think... I’m going to decide later...”
“All right, that might also give him a chance to call you again if it really is important.”
“True...”
Clark glanced around at the clock. “It’s getting late, Lois...”
Lois looked at him for a moment. “Can I stay here, Clark? Like I did when Alan was camping out here?”
Clark smiled at her. “If that’s what you want... Do you need to call Lucy?”
Lois smiled. “No... she was planning on going straight to bed after Jimmy took her home.”
Clark pulled her off the couch. “All right, let’s go get some rest.”
***************************
Clark was looking through some notes at the end of another day at the Planet. A shadow fell across his desk and he looked up to see Perry standing over him.
“How ya doin’, Kent?”
“Uh... fine, Chief...”
“Y’know, it occurs to me; we don’t see enough of each other...” Perry’s tone was engaging.
Clark raised a brow. “We see each other ten hours a day, Sir...”
Perry smiled at him. “I mean socially... I mean a couple of newspaper cronies getting together... a few beers... laughs...”
<Welcome to poker night, Clark... Looks like someone canceled on Perry...>
<What are you talking about, Lois?>
<Just wait...>
“That’s nice of you, Chief, I think I have... Thursday free...”
Perry gripped his shoulder. “The game is nine sharp... here... tonight...” His other hand patted Clark’s shoulder. “See you then...”
Clark watched him walk off. <Told ya!> echoed in his head as he followed Perry. “Uh... game?”
Perry turned back to him. “Poker! I bet you were a real monster back in Smallville...”
Clark sighed. “Actually... I was never much good at poker...”
Perry’s smile widened. “Oh... well, that’s... even better!”
Clark gaped after his boss as the older man sauntered away.
<*You* weren’t good at poker?>
Clark turned and glared at Lois. <Jay and I played our own version...>
Lois smirked back at him and toasted him with her coffee before lifting the mug to her lips.
<Yeah, Lois, we had to not only bluff, but hide our cards from each other’s special vision...>
Clark grinned as Lois choked on a sip of coffee. <Good thing Perry cheats!>
***************************
That evening Clark, Lois, Jimmy, Perry and a few others were gathered in the conference room. Jimmy was watching the others while Lois and Clark sat next to each other. Clark was frowning slightly at his cards. Lois had a perpetual smirk fixed on her lips and a stick of licorice hanging out of her mouth. Perry was in a sweatshirt with “Elvis” emblazoned on it and was slowly sipping away on a beer.
Clark threw in his bet. “Twenty...”
Lois sighed. “Too rich for me...”
Perry considered Clark. “Now let’s see...” He looked at his cards again. “All right, Kent, just to keep this interesting... I’ll see your twenty and I’ll raise you - how much do you make in a week?” But he frowned, as Clark’s expression remained unchanged. “...just pullin’ your leg, another fifty...” He tossed in his bet and grinned at Clark.
Clark considered his hand again; his frown deepened as he thought.
Perry, sensing blood in the water, prodded him. “Take your time, Son, make the right decision...”
Jimmy grinned at Clark. “I bet Superman would be a great poker player...”
Perry rolled his eyes. “Great idea, we’ll just invite him next week...”
Lois joined in the subtle ribbing. “I don’t even know if Superman gambles...”
Jimmy continued. “In his case it wouldn’t be gambling...”
Perry cut in. “Jimmy, please! Let the man think!” He waved towards Clark.
Jimmy’s eyes twinkled as he said in a stage whisper. “I hear the guy’s got x-ray vision... he could read everyone’s cards...”
Clark rolled his eyes. “That would hardly be fair...”
Perry nodded. “Yeah, and fair play is what Superman’s all about...”
Jimmy looked Clark in the eye. “It would be awfully tempting though...”
Lois looked carefully at her boyfriend. “I bet it would...”
<I would against Jay, Lois, but not here...>
Jimmy wasn’t done. “Especially with this much money on the table. If it were me, I'd have to muster up a lot of *super*-willpower not to sneak a peek.”
Clark rolled his eyes. “I’ll see your bet, Perry.”
Perry eyed him. “Cards on the table, Kent.” He flipped his cards, straight flush: six to ten of clubs.
Clark grinned widely. “Royal Flush...” He showed his cards: ten to ace of hearts.
Perry’s eyes widened as Lois exploded into giggles. <I don’t believe it: you out-bluffed the master!>
Jimmy turned stunned eyes to Clark but quickly recovered. “Then again, there’s always a little luck...”
tbc...
