Part 11
Mayson Drake was surprised when she saw Clark Kent walking into the bullpen of the Daily Planet his hand touching the small of Lois Lane’s back. It was too intimate a gesture, but Mayson was too tired to read any deeper meaning into it. She had woken up in the middle of the night, and had spent the following hours in the police station listening to Baby Rage’s confession, making sure that the interrogation would be help up in court.
"Morning, Mayson," Clark said when he and Lois entered the conference room where Mayson was sitting and drinking a cup of coffee.
"Feels more like afternoon, I’ve been up too long." She had been reluctant to come to the Daily Planet to fill Clark in on what she’d learned, but she felt that she owed him the information, and she had to admit to herself, that she wanted to see him again.
"What can we do to help you?" he asked.
"More what I can do to help you."
"Did Baby Rage say anything else after we left?" Lois asked.
"Not so much what he said than what Bill Henderson found out. Baby Rage did admit that he was at the Bayside Fire. Simkins took him along as extra muscle. He thought that they were just going to strong arm Al and Stan, to scare them. He didn’t really know what it was all about."
"Does he know where to find Simkins?"
"He gave us an address, but by the time Henderson got there, the place was empty, cleared out as if no one lived there. He looked around, but didn’t find anything."
"No leads?"
"Nothing at the moment."
"What about Bill Church Junior?" Lois asked.
"According to gossip on the street, the Churches have taken a vacation to Brazil."
"So you can extradite him."
"Not if he’s related to a Brazilian citizen."
"And is he?"
"I’m sure he can arrange it."
Perry White poked his head in the door. "Sorry to interrupt you folks but I need that follow up on the fire in your apartment, now, Lois."
"I’ll get it to you as soon as we’re finished here, Chief."
"Now, Lois, means now. Git."
"I’ll be back in a minute," she said shrugging sheepishly at Mayson.
"Mayson, are you all right?" Clark asked.
"Sure, other than being tired...Why shouldn’t I be?"
"Bill Church."
She could feel his eyes boring into her, understanding something that she didn’t want to say out loud.
"Senior," he said, as if she didn’t know who he was talking about.
"Yeah, I know." She let out a quiet breath. "I worked for him. I did his legal work and it all looked above board to me."
"He only let you see the legitimate part."
"I feel like a fool. How could I have allowed myself to be such a dupe?"
"We all want to see the best in people..."
Mayson got up. She didn’t want to leave this man whose calm words soothed her, whose caring glances warmed her.
"I’ve got to go back to the office now, but Clark," she said taking a deep breath to steady herself, "would you have dinner with me tonight?"
She couldn’t help but notice his quick glance out the conference room window toward his partner’s desk.
"Well...uh..."
And she knew. There was no hope.
"It’s Lois, isn’t it?"
"She’s staying at my place...because of the smoke damage....and..."
"The truth, Clark."
Once again he looked out the window, this time his gaze settled on Lois who had returned to her desk. There was a barely perceptible smile on his lips, but Mayson clearly saw the warmth in his gaze.
"Yes, it is."
"You love her, don’t you?"
"Yes."
She wondered if she was actually reading the relief on his face or if it was just her imagination.
"I better be going now." She replaced her papers in her briefcase, and as she walked to the conference room door, she leaned over to Clark and kissed him on the cheek.
Walking passed Lois, she murmured, "You’re a lucky woman."
*****************
"Mmm, Clark, that was the best beef stew I ever had," said Lois, sitting back in her chair. "You’ll make some woman a fine husband one day." She lifted her wine glass to toast him.
Clark stared at Lois’s glass. "Is making a good meal all I’m good for?"
"No. No. I didn’t mean that. I just meant...It was just...something to say." She glanced away from Clark’s intense stare, studying her glass instead.
Clark realized that making her uncomfortable was the last thing that he wanted to do. He had hoped that with Lois staying at his place, perhaps, if he was lucky, they could talk. He no longer felt that his relationship with Mayson was a burden. At least he didn’t have to tell her the old killer cliché that they could be friends. Now, he would work on his relationship with Lois.
Clark got up from the table, mumbling something about cleaning up. Lois’s eyes followed him as he collected the used plates from the table and walked into the kitchen. She admired his grace of movement. He had a good body. When had she started watching him and just enjoying what she saw? There were so many sides to Clark that she appreciated, and yet, every time she spoke to him on a more personal level, she seemed to have the knack of saying the wrong thing, to push him away. Yet, he never went far. After a cooling off period, their relationship came back to where it had left off.
"Let me clean up," Lois said, getting up and following him into the kitchen area. "You made dinner, at least I can clean up."
"I made dinner because I like to eat. I was afraid that if I left dinner up to you, I might not get to eat."
"Get over it, Kent. I can dial up the best take-out places in town. You won’t starve when I’m in charge of dinner. Now move over and let me clean."
"How about if we work together?"
"Sounds like a good idea to me, partner."
Lois leaned against the kitchen counter as Clark placed the glasses in the cupboard. "All done," he said and they both moved toward the living room sofa.
"We work well together, don’t we?" Lois asked.
"I’ve always thought so."
"Thanks for letting me stay here." Lois placed a kiss on Clark’s cheek.
"The pleasure is mine." Clark put his arm around Lois as she cuddled in beside him on the couch. He picked up the remote and began to change channels.
*****************
Lois rushed up the stairs to Clark’s front door. Ever since Amy Chester had phoned her that morning filling her in on the illegal workings of William Turner, Lois couldn’t contain herself. She had to tell Clark, but he had gone out earlier muttering something about needing to go somewhere. At the time, Lois ignored his quick exit, but now, having this information was too much to keep to herself and the only other person she wanted to share it with was Clark.
She placed the spare key he had given her into the lock and turned it. Stepping inside the apartment she called out his name, but there was no reply. Looking around, she noticed the red cape on the sofa. As she moved closer, she saw that Superman was in the cape, hunched over and studying the news on TV. She watched him as he ran his hand through his hair, sigh and then flip to another news broadcast.
"Superman?" she called.
Before he acknowledged her, he stood up. He looked down at himself, shaking his head. "Lois," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"I’m staying here while my apartment is being cleaned up."
He rolled his eyes in bewilderment. "Right. I knew that. I...I...must’ve forgotten. Sorry."
Lois heard something in his tone of voice that didn’t sound right to her. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she knew that something was bothering him.
"What are you doing here?"
Superman opened his eyes wide and shrugged his shoulders. When Lois continued to stare at him, he indicated the TV set.
"What?" she asked as she focussed on the broadcast of a ferryboat that was lying on its side. Coast guard vessels were hovering around the boat, but other than that there was very little action.
"I wasn’t there. I knew about it. I should have gone." He paused for a moment, absorbed by the screen. "Ten people died because of me. I could’ve saved them. But I wasn’t there." He ran his hand through his hair again.
"Where were you?"
As if he hadn’t heard her question, Superman sat down and flipped the channel again to LNN. The screen showed a mountainous landscape covered in snow. In front, stood a school bus, the children standing around Superman and cheering. As the picture took on more meaning, Lois heard the bus driver say, "It was like a white wall moving. Real fast like. I’d never seen anythin’ like it before. I knew we were in its path, but I didn’t know which way to turn. It happened so quick. I didn’t know which way to turn."
"What happened next?" asked an off-camera voice.
"I think I signalled to the teacher to keep the kids calm. I didn’t know what else to do. Before I knew it the wall was on us. The bus tipped over and we were movin’. There was a loud roar and the kids screamin’. Maybe I was screamin’ too. Then I didn’t hear nothin’. I thought we were dead."
"What was it like being in the middle of an avalanche?"
"Like I said, I thought we were dead. And then, after a few minutes, I guess, the roar stopped but the kids were screamin’. I looked out and all I could see was black all around the bus. I tried to open the door, but I couldn’t. We were trapped."
"How long were you inside the bus?"
"About half an hour, I think. But all of a sudden, I felt like I was on an elevator or somethin’...going up. We broke through the darkness to see the blue sky."
"You rescued the school bus?" Lois asked as an image of Superman standing with some of the children flashed on the screen.
"Yes."
Lois stared at the superhero. She couldn’t understand why he still sounded so dejected if he had saved all those children from suffocating under tonnes of snow. Lois followed his eyes back to the TV screen.
The avalanche story ended and the anchor continued to drone on. "Meanwhile the Long Island ferry heading to Orient Point capsized earlier today leaving ten people dead..."
Superman’s face darkened as he listened to the anchor.
"Where were you when the ferry capsized?"
"In Metropolis," he whispered.
"Why didn’t you try to save the people?"
"I made a mistake. Maybe if I would have gone to the ferry first, I could have saved those people."
"First? Superman, what exactly happened?"
"I heard about the avalanche and that a bus filled with children were in the area so I headed out toward Colorado, but as I took off I also heard about the ferry. I didn’t think. Or maybe I did, but I made the wrong choice. Maybe I could have saved the people on the ferry and then flown off to Colorado. The children could have survived another half an hour in the bus..."
"Or maybe not."
"I made a mistake, a big mistake, and it cost people their lives, people I could’ve saved."
"You can’t do that to yourself, Superman. You saved those children. Isn’t that enough?"
"If I would have gone to the ferry first..."
"And what if you did and it took longer than you expected...what if you didn’t get to the bus on time and some of the children died? Then what? You’d be mourning over the children instead of the ferry passengers. You can’t second guess yourself on this one. You did your best...which by the way, is more than good enough."
"But I have all these powers..."
"Yes, you do."
Sitting down beside Superman, Lois put her hand on his arm. The depth of his despair surprised her and touched her. In his grief over people he didn’t know, he wasn’t seeing what was so obvious to her.
"Superman, you may have all those powers, but you are one man. You can only be in one place at a time, no matter how fast you can move." She looked at Superman to see if her words were sinking in, but his eyes, once more were focussed on the image of the ferryboat. She continued speaking to him, the inflection in her voice more determined than before. "You made a decision. There was no right or wrong answer. You can’t second guess yourself. The important thing is that you’re here, and that you do help. You saved those children. That’s all that you can do."
Superman still remained quiet.
"Are you listening to me?" she demanded.
Slowly, Superman turned and looked at her. She didn’t know at what precise moment she saw or felt it, but she knew that the cloud that was hanging over him was beginning to lift, the heaviness left his eyes and some of the old twinkle was back. There was even a hint of a smile on his lips.
He placed his hand under her chin and let his thumb rub her cheek.
"Thanks, Lois. I guess I needed someone to tell me that." And then he looked around, seeing his surroundings for the first time. "I better go now." He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Thank you...and...uh...thank Clark for the use of his home." He got up and headed to the kitchen door.
Lois watched him lift off into the sky and then heard the boom as he moved faster. Once there was no sign that Superman was in the area, Lois made a pot of coffee and sat down at the table letting the last few minutes replay itself.
That’s the way Clark found her when he returned to his apartment. He placed a bag on the table.
"Does Superman always hang out at your place?" Lois asked as she looked into the bag. "These are hot. Omygoodness, they’re chocolate croissants." She pulled one out and took a bite. "Oh Clark, these are scrumptious. Mmmmm...delicious." She closed her eyes to savour the taste. "What did I do to deserve these?"
"Just being you is enough," he said.
Lois heard the warmth in his voice and let it fill her the way the buttery chocolate did.
"Clark, I’ve been thinking."
"Yes?"
"Maybe I’ve been too hard on Superman."
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe I was expecting too much of him, and that’s why I was mad at him. I had hoped that he was above other people, and so he would think in a godly way."
"I’m following you here."
"I knew he was invulnerable so I expected him to be infallible as well, but he’s not. He makes choices just like the rest of us. Sometimes they’re good choices, and sometimes there are just no right choices." Lois took another bite of her croissant using the time to appreciate the taste and to think about what she had just said. "Maybe he just made the wrong choice when he didn’t tell me what he knew about Lex.
"I was disappointed," she continued, "because I wanted him to be that god in a cape, but he’s not. He’s more than just those fancy powers. Underneath that suit, he’s got a human heart, and that makes him fallible."
Clark watched Lois carefully. She picked up her coffee cup and took it to the sink, washed and dried it. Placing it in the cupboard, she faced Clark.
"Do you forgive him?" he asked.
"I wondered if I would’ve forgiven you if you knew about Lex and didn’t tell me, but you knew that Superman did tell me. And yes, I would forgive you, because, after all, you’re only human. So, yes, I do forgive him. I’m still disappointed, but I forgive him."
"Are you still in love with him?"
"No. I got over that a while ago."
"Because he came down a few notches in your esteem?" Clark couldn’t decide if he was happy with Lois’s new insight.
"No. He was right when he said that I didn’t really know him."
Clark smiled as he watched Lois head toward the bedroom. At least she wasn’t angry at Superman anymore. Now that she no longer had a crush on the superhero, he wondered if she’d be able to see the potential in her best friend. Maybe it was his turn to take the relationship up a notch.
Lois returned to the living room. "I just remembered that when I came back here originally I was excited about a phone call I got from Amy Chester."
"Tell me."
"She was looking for a link between her department and William Turner to explain how he was able to get zoning changed so quickly. She tracked down one zoning department worker...let me get my notes..." Lois went over to her satchel that she left hanging on the banister. She opened her notebook skimming it quickly. "A worker named Irina Buklova who foolishly began spending way more than she was earning. Amy, through the city’s legal department and the police department, was able to get a warrant to look at Buklova’s bank records which showed..."
"Let me guess...hefty payments around the time zoning was changed on certain properties being developed by Campbell-Thompson..."
"Exactly but before you get more excited, there’s more."
"Okay."
"Turner had a more than tenuous connection to J. A. Macdonald and Associates, you know, the big law firm that handles CTD and Costmart."
"And you have some link between them?"
"Clark, don’t interrupt. I have to unravel this story at my own pace."
Clark motioned for Lois to continue, enjoying her excitement in telling the story.
"William Turner was the lawyer, but, according to Amy, the cheques went through J.A. Macdonald’s business office that was headed, up until a year ago, by their accountant named...are you ready for this?"
"Lo-is."
"Okay, okay. Della Drake."
"Della Drake. As in Mayson’s mother?"
"That’s right. Up until her death, Della Drake authorized the cheques that Turner paid out to Irina Buklova."
"This is going to kill Mayson."
tbc...
