Part 12
Back at the Daily Planet, Lois was putting the finishing touches on her story when her phone rang. She picked it up. “Lois Lane,” she spoke into the receiver and she nearly fell off her chair when the words of the police sergeant could be heard on the other end of the line. She swallowed and grabbed a notepad and pencil and began to scribble down some notations as she spoke. “Are you sure, Sergeant Hudson?”
She listened to the answer as she continued to scribble down the information and nodded a couple more times before she returned the phone to the cradle. “Hey Monica, get over here, there’s been a break in the drugged out teenager story. It looks as though a Leonard Smyth was shot out on the peer less than an hour ago, the cops found his body with a fatal gunshot to the chest, the guy is dead.”
“Who's that?” Monica asked trying to conceal the concern that now seemed to literally encase her. She knew that Andrew had gone out to the pier to possibly take Leonard Smyth Home, but she had no idea that this would happen. As she looked up and saw the Angel of Death stepping out of the elevator and coming into the newsroom, she could almost tell without even asking that Lois had heard the news accurately; Leonard had died in the darkness and Andrew could do nothing to help him.
“Monica, Lenny Smyth was probably one of the most notorious drug lords in the city. I can, off the top of my head, think of about a hundred people who wouldn’t have minded seeing this guy get strung up by his toes for all the stuff he has been pegged for, but he was someone who was so slimy that he could get by without being prosecuted.” Lois consulted her notes. “Anyway, according to Sergeant Hudson from the Metropolis Police Department, Lenny's body was found in broad daylight down at the pier next to the warehouse where the rave is to take place tomorrow night. The place is about as remote as a place can be, one side is surrounded by water, the other by the slums of the lower east side.”
Monica looked at Andrew, and once he had nodded, she took a deep breath. “So, now that this has been discovered, I guess the rave is out?” She asked hopefully.
Lois shook her head. “Don't hang up your spiked boots yet, Rookie, we still have a job to do, and I have every intention of finding out who it was that murdered Leonard Smyth. I would be willing to bet the farm that they are in cahoots with the rave organizers. We find them, then chances are we will also find out who was behind Smyth’s death as well as the person responsible for the drugged out kids.”
“Lois, this could get dangerous,” Monica objected.
“No, ‘could’ is an understatement, this is dangerous,” Andrew came over and he looked at the determined reporter nervously.
“Look kids,” Lois looked from one angel to the other. “I am going to that rave tomorrow night with or without your help. I have no intention of skirting my duties here. There is a story here, and I have every intention of finding it.” With that, she looked down at her notes. “Now, if you two goody-goodies will excuse me, I have an appointment with the head of the Metropolis Police.” With that, she made a beeline to the elevator.
Sighing deeply Monica started to follow her, but Andrew reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Monica if she goes to that rave tomorrow, she and Clark may die there,” he said softly.
“What can I do to convince her to not go?” Monica asked softly. “I can’t very well interfere with her free will, Andrew.”
The Angel of Death shook his head. “I don't know, but she seems to have this idea that I am only there to play watchdog with her, and it doesn’t even look as though she’s going to listen to one word I say.”
“What are you going to do?” Monica asked.
“I guess all I can do is try and find Clark and tell him the truth,” Andrew said softly. “He is probably the only person who can actually get Lois to listen to reason.”
Monica shook her head and walked towards the elevator. She still had an assignment to fulfill, and regardless of the fact that this case was getting complicating and very quickly, she still had to go after her assignment and hope that her powers of persuasion were convincing enough to get someone as hard-headed as Lois to actually listen to her.
As soon as she disappeared inside the elevator, Andrew went over to where Jimmy was still working at his desk. He had taken some photos and had scanned them into the computer and was trying to position them on a layout page.
“Hi Jimmy,” Andrew offered as the young photographer looked up.
“Hey Andrew,” came the enthusiastic response but Jimmy did not look up.
“What are you doing?” Andrew asked trying to get the young man to say anything that would get his mind off the situation with Lois.
“This is a little project of mine. I would play around with this layout program and try to organize these pictures so that they would look their best. I needed a break from trying to find out information for Lois about tomorrow night. Now that we know where it is, I can take a little bit of a break.”
“How do you feel about Lois going to this place?” Andrew asked.
Jimmy looked up, no one had really asked this question of him before, but one of the things that he didn't like to do was get too involved in what Lois was doing. He wouldn't say so, but he somehow had the feeling that Lois knew exactly what she was doing. “I don’t know,” he said nonchalantly and looked at Andrew. “Usually when she goes to them, I’m here and if I think there's going to be trouble, I usually call the police.”
Andrew sat down on the corner of the desk. “You’re not worried?”
“Let me tell you something about working here, if you start to even remotely hover around Lois, she’ll bite your head off,” Jimmy said shrugging his shoulders. “Aside from that rather obvious tidbit, she’s rather dependent on Superman. She is pretty much of the mindset that Superman will always be around to bail her out if she gets into some kind of trouble.”
Andrew took a deep breath. “I suppose I always felt that way, but not about Superman, but rather about God.”
“God?” Jimmy looked up from the computer terminal.
Andrew nodded, “do you believe in God?”
“Sure, I guess everyone does,” the younger man said as he shrugged his shoulders. “I figure that it is probably best not to talk about religion around here, though. People tend to have really private beliefs about that kind of stuff.”
The angel smiled weakly, but instead of pressing the issue, he looked around the newsroom, went over and sat down without saying anything further.
*****
Monica was still rushing to catch up with Lois by the time she had gotten downstairs and was following Lois through the lobby. “Lois,” She called out, thus causing the reporter to stop. Once she had reached her, she could see that Lois was not smiling.
“The nerve of him,” Lois fumed once Monica had joined her.
“Who?”
“Andrew,” Lois seethed as they walked outside.
“He’s just concerned for your safety, Lois,” Monica offered.
“I know, but I'm a big girl, Monica, I can take care of myself,” Lois said angrily.
“No one is denying this, but Andrew is concerned because he cares,” Monica said sighing as she remembered the first time she had worked with Andrew. He had been so condescending with her and initially she had really been aggravated by his presumptions. Sighing as she remembered this, she took a deep breath and looked at the reporter. “I still think he’s just trying to help. I mean; think about it, Lois, if Leonard Smyth is dead, then chances are, he was murdered, then it could be dangerous trying to go into a place where we both know is not safe. It just sounds like a risk that maybe you should consider not taking.”
Lois looked at her. “Ah, I get it, you and Andrew have become like buddies, right? You both have decided to take it upon yourselves to dictate to me what I do, well, listen here, Rookie, neither you nor he will tell me what to do, and if you cannot accept that I’m a big girl, I'll go to the rave alone and get the story on my own.”
“Perry would never approve,” Monica said evenly.
“Then Perry wouldn't have to know,” Lois said stubbornly. “I am going, and that’s final. Now, are you my partner or not?”
Monica took a deep breath and when she looked up, she could see that Tess was standing on one side of the street looking at her. She could tell that her supervisor was not happy, but eventually, she offered Lois a brief nod.
Lois accepted and interpreted that Monica was in concurrence with her and started walking down the street towards the police precinct where she was to meet the head of the Metropolis Police Department.
As they reached the door leading inside, Monica had somehow managed to get her consuming worries out of her mind for the time being. She looked around the precinct house, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but she could not help but notice that there was a lot of activity going on and before she could ask Lois about it, a teenager ran through the room and bumped into her.
“Watch it lady,” he snarled at her, and the police officer somehow managed to shove him through the lobby towards the back.
The cop offered Monica a brief look as he shook his head. “I haven't seen it this bad in years,” he muttered under his breath and Monica went to catch up with Lois, who had by then gotten the attention of the on duty policeman and was informing him of her scheduled appointment.
Within minutes, the sergeant came out of an office and when his eyes met Lois’, he offered a curt nod. “Ms. Lane,” he nodded at her and looked at Monica. “And you are?”
“Her name's Monica,” Lois offered before Monica could even speak. “She’s my partner while Clark is on leave of absence.”
The sergeant nodded and led them both back into an office and once the door was closed, he went over and sat down at a desk and waited for the two of them to take seats as well. “Now, then Ms. Lane,” he said immediately getting down to business. “I know that we should probably have had a press conference, but all we know is one thing and that is that Leonard Smyth is dead. He was found about an hour ago down at the docks with a gunshot sustained to his chest. There is not much to say, he was obviously killed in broad daylight, but the entire security team was doing crowd control downtown when all the riots broke out this morning.”
“Any idea what could have caused them, Sergeant Hudson?” Lois asked.
“No, and we don't even know yet if the murder of Mr. Smyth and the events going on downtown are even related,” he shook his head.
“Then you’re saying its just coincidence?” Lois asked.
“In this line of work, there are no coincidences, Ms. Lane, but right now, all I have to go on are assumptions, and even those are somewhat sketchy. I can’t even begin to tell you what has happened because this department is at as big of a loss as the mayor and the city council. I made the recommendation that the city take in a curfew starting tonight. That means, no one should be allowed out on the street after dark at least not until we get this stuff sorted out.”
“Do you think that this will actually help curb the criminal behavior taking place here?” Lois asked. “It may actually backfire and send the wrong signal out to the people.”
The sergeant shook his head. “I don’t see how it would, but as long as the law abiding citizens are warned of what is out there, it may serve as a means to round up the deviants quicker.”
“Sergeant Hudson, were you aware that there was a rave planned tomorrow evening somewhere here in Metropolis?” Monica asked and when Lois looked at her, the reporter’s eyes were flashing with anger.
“Nothing about that has been confirmed by this department,” he responded, “so I’m guessing that this is a rumor, but we’ve got a special squad set up that oversees these sorts of things. They go in and check the Internet daily for disturbing circumstances that could arise here in town, but just to be on the safe side, we’ll have someone go ahead and look into your tip and see if anything of this kind is going on.”
Monica nodded, but she knew that in asking about the rave, she had overstepped her boundaries and Lois was, if anything, absolutely beside herself with fury.
Some twenty minutes later, the two of them stepped outside into the bright Metropolis sunshine and Lois turned on Monica. “Do you have any idea what you have done?”
Monica looked at her. “Lois, the ones who should be intervening at this rave are the police, not a couple of reporters.”
“That’s your opinion,” Lois snapped. “Now, if you are done telling me how to do my job, we can get to our next appointment, or are you going to play ‘Benedict Arnold’ and sabotage everything I’m trying to do here?”
“I’m not trying to do anything, honestly, Lois,” Monica said as Superman landed in front of them and Lois looked up at him, but instead of speaking, she continued to walk in the direction of the Daily Planet, her eyes were still filled with bitterness, but after talking to Martha the night before, she realized that she was no longer angry with him, she was just frustrated by the fact that Monica had behaved so unprofessionally back at the police precinct.
“Lois?” Clark began, his voice caught in his throat and when he saw that Monica remained next to the reporter, he nodded in her direction before looking at the woman he loved.
“I have work to do, Superman,” Lois said softly. “I don't have time to conduct an interview right now, but if you would, maybe you can come by tonight and we can talk.”
“You want to talk to me?” Clark asked with disbelief in his voice.
Monica looked at her watch and smiled at them. “Please excuse me, I think I need a cappuccino and I see a coffee wagon not too far from here.”
Once she had distanced herself from them, Lois looked at him. “What are you doing here?” She asked.
“I’ve been here since this morning, but Lois I have to tell you something, it's about this Andrew character who’s been working at the Planet, and please hear me out because something strange is going on.”
“What?” Lois asked deciding to listen to him for the first time in weeks.
“I saw Leonard Smyth get killed this morning and it was nothing like I had ever seen before, Lois. It’s all so strange, and yet I cannot explain it. I’m almost certain that the one who murdered him was Andrew.”
“Why would Andrew kill Smyth?” Lois asked.
“I don’t know, but he was there, he watched it happen, and then when I asked him why it was that he had done nothing, he said something like, ‘this is not why I was sent’.” Clark whispered. “Lois, I know you probably think I’m jealous of him, or that I’m reacting in a way that is not for the best, but something is happening here, something that I have absolutely no control over. I cannot explain it to save my life, but it is happening and we cannot change it.”
“But Andrew wouldn’t…” she began, but her voice trailed off.
“OK, then tell me this, have you seen him at the Planet? Or is he gone more often then there? I mean; did you notice how scarce he was when the riots started this morning?” Clark asked rationally.
“I just cannot imagine Andrew as being a murderer,” Lois said. “He seems so overprotective…” Her voice trailed off and she looked at Clark. “Maybe you’re on to something, ever since the rave came up, he’s been trying to talk me out of it,“ she thought aloud. “Is it possible that Andrew could be trying to keep me out of harm’s way, because he knows what could happen?”
“I don’t know,” Clark shook his head. “What is this about a rave?”
“It’s supposed to happen tomorrow, and Monica and I are going,” Lois said adamantly.
Clark shook his head. “OK, I won’t try to convince you not to go, just be careful, and make sure you help Monica with this, she’s rather the greenhorn here.”
Lois nodded but looked at him. “Superman, I know that I thought you were…” she mouthed the word ‘jealous’ and he nodded as she continued. “Then all the stuff happened at the Planet, and I started to notice that Andrew would just disappear and be gone for hours on end. He would come back with some of the same excuses you used to make when you would…” She motioned with her arm as though like a plane about to take off. He’d be gone for a long time, and I asked Jimmy earlier where he was, and he didn’t know. It’s really strange, he’s been hovering over me and now he’s all but convinced Monica of the same thing. They have both taken it upon themselves to be completely aggravating.” She shook her head. “Do you really think that Andrew is working with Tempus? Maybe he’s doing the dirty work for him.”
Clark shook his head. “I don’t know, but something doesn't seem right with any of them.”
“Are you going to come back?” She asked.
“Yes,” he said, but within seconds he heard someone screaming and he looked at her with a pained look on his face.
“Go, Clark, we’ll talk tonight,” she whispered and watched as he flew away.
Sighing, she walked back towards the newspaper building; her confusion mounting and she wondered what would happen that night when she and Clark were to talk. Only two hours until six, no interviews left, but a number of phone calls that would need to be made before she would call it a day.
*****
That night, Lois let herself into an empty apartment and took a deep breath as she tossed her briefcase onto the chair in the living room. She still was pondering what was happening, and she had made note that Andrew was no longer at the Planet offices, but then remembering that he had been sent ‘home’ for the rest of the day, she grabbed a bottle of water and went and settled herself on the sofa to go over the notes she had collected for the day.
After what seemed like an eternity the doorbell chimed and she went to open it expecting to see Clark standing on the other side. As she opened it, she saw that instead of seeing the man she loved, she saw Andrew. The angel was dressed in his beige suit and he regarded her through empathic, but exhausted green eyes. “Lois, may I come in?”
“What do you want at this hour and why are you dressed so strangely?” She asked softly as she made note of his external appearance.
Andrew looked at her and sighed. “I have to explain something to you. I was hoping to explain this to Clark as well, but he’s nowhere to be found and I’ve been trying to find him all afternoon.”
“Why, what for?” She asked automatically going on the defensive as her thoughts immediately drifted back to the conversation that she had had with Clark that very afternoon. “What do you want with him?”
“I only want to talk to him, to explain why I’m here, and who sent me,” Andrew looked at her. “May I come in?”
Lois, despite her hesitation, nodded and the angel came into the apartment and she closed the door, went over to the sofa and sat down. Once Andrew had followed suit, she looked at him intently, her dark eyes demanding answers. “OK, shoot.”
Andrew looked at her. “Do you remember the night we had dinner and talked?”
“Yes, and I take it now you’re here to collect,” Lois said matter-of-factly.
Andrew shook his head. “No, and as surprising as it may sound to you, I’m not here for or about dinner, I just want to talk to you is all. Lois, please, I know what you must be thinking about me and it is probably the very same thing that Clark thinks.”
“Maybe, but what makes you so certain that I know anything?” She asked all the while trying to sidetrack him.
Andrew looked at her, his green eyes intent. “Because right now you’re no longer reacting to me as a friend, instead you responding to me as though I am your enemy, as though you believe something about me that is not the truth, something which you know in your heart to be untrue, but your logical nature will not release it. It is as though you have spoken to Clark and he has told you what he has seen.”
Lois stood up abruptly and backed away from the angel. “Then he was right, you do work for Tempus, don’t you?” Lois looked at him through angry eyes, her fists now clenched as she regarded him.
“No I don’t,” Andrew said adamantly. “Clark’s assumptions about me have been inaccurate from the beginning, and now he is dragging you into a crop of untruths.” He looked at Lois, his eyes filled with sincerity.
“OK, then tell me who your parents are, where you come from, whether you have brothers and sisters, or even a dog,” Lois turned around and faced him.
Andrew took a deep breath. “If you are afraid of me, then nothing I say or do will explain what you and Clark want to know. Nothing I say will pacify your questions, because it will not be believable or explainable in your current perspective.”
“You’re speaking in riddles,” Lois said softly but it appeared to the angel that she was ready to listen to him.
“Lois, I know that when we first met, you didn’t trust me because you had been hurt by someone else, but now your fears are borne out of something else other than a simple mistrust of a stranger. Now, it has become destructive because it has emerged through rumors that you may have heard. As a reporter, I learned how to rely heavily on my instincts, but there is something else that emerges through these acts of getting the best stories. It’s a feeling, a gut suspicion that says ‘this is going to be dangerous’ or ‘this is going to be easy’, and you seem to be the type of reporter who may ignore these suspicions either way. The truth is, you initially wouldn’t let me get close to you because you wanted to protect yourself, but now you’re trying to protect someone else, aren’t you?”
“Who?” Lois asked.
“Clark Kent, or perhaps his alter ego, Superman,” Andrew said softly and Lois jumped to her feet once again.
“You do work for Tempus, don’t deny it,” she snapped.
“No, I don’t,” he said calmly but adamantly. “Lois, if I tell you who I am, then chances are you won’t believe it anyway and you will do whatever you can to try and disprove my words.”
“Oh try me,” she looked at him, her arms now crossed over her chest.
Andrew sighed and nodded. “OK, I’m an angel,” he whispered.
“You sure think highly of yourself, don’t you?” She shot back as Andrew came over and sat down next to her and reached for her hand.
“It’s not about what I think of myself, it’s about the truth,” he said softly. “Do you remember at the restaurant when I asked you if you believed in God?”
Lois nodded as he continued to speak. “I remember as well, you made some comments about having an interview with Him, which I found to be quite nice. Yet when I first mentioned God, you took the stance that I was some angry religious person. I am not religious, Lois, but I have been sent by God.”
“If what you say is the truth, then why me?” She asked. “And why would Clark assume that you work for Tempus?”
“Before I respond to that, answer one question, and think logically about it before you do. Do you honestly believe that some man from the future who is set on destroying the peace and tranquility in both his and your times would talk about God as much as I do? Do you think that after hearing what I have said to you tonight, that I would help a man who tries to prevent a virtual Heaven on Earth from happening?”
“I honestly don’t know, I mean; my memories of Tempus are rather sketchy. Clark obviously remembers him, especially if he’s linked you to him” Lois said softly.
“Lois, another word for ‘Utopia’ is interpreted or defined by some to be ‘Heaven’, it is a concept of peace and understanding that emanates this future society to such a degree that they called themselves Utopians. In today’s language, you and Clark have paved the way through your love, to what some would call ‘world peace’. In this current reality, that has yet to be realized. God created Heaven and Earth, and depending on how one might interpret this thing called ‘Utopia’, will determine not only the linkage between this time and the future, but it will also act as a link between God and humanity. This isn’t just about a statue of you and Clark in the future, it is about the preservation of the past, all the while still doing God’s work.”
“God’s work?” Lois shook her head.
“Lois, just look at me, it’s obvious that you don’t believe anything I have said here, your eyes give you away,” he said softly.
“Andrew…if you’re not working with Tempus, then how did you know that Clark is Superman?” She eventually asked; her thoughts still stuck on that one specific point.
“When I started working at the Planet, I actually had to do some of my own investigative reporting to figure it out,” Andrew said softly.
“Oh God didn’t tell you?” Lois asked coyly, she still could not believe the story he was dishing out, but she was going to play this one for all it was worth. If she could milk this guy for information about Tempus, she might actually have some of the information she needed for her story. At the same time, she could not fathom that he would figure out the truth after only a short time frame, but that it took her two years to find out.
“Lois, God only tells me what I need to know when I need to know it,” Andrew tried to explain. “I spent a great deal of time digging through the archives at the Planet, and was able to piece together things that were confirmed when my friend Tess showed up. Let me explain something that you have an understanding of, at least on an unconscious level. When Clark left Metropolis two weeks ago, the overall sighting of Superman went down considerably. There were no more stories put out about Superman, and it was as though he had vanished completely. OK, perhaps Clark, being a highly intelligent person, knew this, so to cover his ground, every so often people would see Superman flying over the city. Yet, there weren’t as many things happening during his absence that brought on Superman’s presence until the stories came out about the teenagers and the drug overdoses,” Andrew tried to explain. “Lois, if nothing I say makes any sense to you, then let me ask you another question. When Superman first came to Metropolis, was it about the same time that Clark had started working at the Daily Planet?”
Lois sighed and nodded. “Yes, I suppose it was, that’s why I…”
“…You felt that as a reporter, this was the biggest story of your life and you were so drawn into it that you were a part of that story. You became a part of it, the day you met Clark Kent. It’s not about him wearing a pair of glasses, it was the idea that you couldn’t fathom having worked for two years with a person who lived with a secret identity and didn’t figure it out. Is that it?” He asked softly.
Lois nodded stubbornly.
“You believe somehow that you should have figured it out, you’re a reporter, you’re supposed to see these facts, or find them,” Andrew reached over and touched her shoulder. “Yet, there existed one truth that you have yet to understand and that is there exists nothing at all wrong with not having known. You are not expected to know all. God is the only One who does.” He paused for a moment and then taking a deep breath, he continued. “This was the secret that you were trying to conceal from me, wasn’t it?”
Lois looked at him, but eventually, she offered him another nod.
They sat in silence for a few moments until eventually she looked at him. “How about pizza?”
“Excuse me?” He asked.
“Well, it’s my turn to provide dinner, and I know this pizza parlor that delivers, and they have the best pizza in Metropolis?” She offered.
Andrew smiled. “I would, but unfortunately, I have an assignment to get to tonight, this is why I have been away from the Planet during the morning. People needed me, and I had to go to them. Clark does the same thing when he hears people call for help.”
Before she could say another word, Andrew had vanished before her eyes and she shook her head. “He really is an angel,” she mumbled.
The evening passed slowly, Lois worked on her story as she waited for Clark to show up, but when he didn’t, she eventually went and got ready for bed, her thoughts literally racing as she put on her nightgown and crawled into bed and turned off the light. “Oh Clark,” she whispered as she turned off the light. “If only you had come, then I would have told you the truth about Andrew…”
Once the apartment was dark, Lois drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
In the corner of the room, Tess and Monica stood as they watched over the reporter. “Tess, will this change anything?”
“No, Miss spiked boots and leather mini-dress, you’re still on for tomorrow night, but at least with Andrew’s revelation, Lois’ life will be saved, but as long as Clark believes that my Angel Boy works with Tempus, his life will hang in the balance.”
“I don’t understand,” Monica said softly.
“Well, without Lois knowing who Andrew was, she would have gone to the rave assuming that Andrew and her were fighting against each other, as opposed to working on the same side. Andrew will be there tomorrow night, and you will find out then specifically why it is that his presence will be needed.”
Monica watched the sleeping reporter. “I just wish I had convinced her to not go to the rave.”
“I know, Angel Girl,” Tess said softly. “But, trying to convince Lois Lane to stay away from danger is like trying to ask you to give up mocha lattes.”
Monica offered a small smile and then shrugged her shoulders as the two angels disappeared.
TBC
