I'm at a difficult part of Twins at the moment, so while I'm wrestling with it, here's another part of WC to read.
Wedding Consequences: 5/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"I sure hope so," Lois said. "This isn't exactly how I planned on spending my vacation." She hesitated. "I guess there's no sign of your powers coming back yet, huh?"
He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I have to accept the possibility that they may never come back."
"Well, I don't," Lois said. "You said the first time you encountered this stuff it took your powers away for two days. You were exposed a lot longer this time, so it just makes sense that it will take longer for them to come back."
"I hope you're right," he said.
"Want to make a bet on it?" she inquired, popping another berry into her mouth.
He laughed softly. "I never bet with Lois Lane," he said.
"I knew you were a smart man," she observed. "Now, if you'll just give yourself time to get well, you can prove it. Let's head back to the plane. We'll go slowly, and if you need to rest, tell me. Got it?"
"Got it ma'am," he said and pretended to dodge the light punch she threw at him.
**********
And now, Part 5:
William Henderson hated to be the bearer of bad news, Perry White knew, which was ironic since he was so often faced with that exact duty. The Police Inspector paced back and forth, wearing a trench in the brand new carpet of the Editor's Office of the Daily Planet. His face was as usual deadpan, but his voice, although he probably was unaware of it, was colored with concern. He would never admit it to anyone, Perry thought, but Bill Henderson both liked and respected Lois Lane and Clark Kent. The situation for the Daily Planet's two star reporters didn't look good, and Perry knew that it would grieve Henderson tremendously if it turned out that the worst had happened. Perry wouldn't be very happy himself. Lois Lane and Clark Kent were not only his two best reporters; they were also his friends.
"They never arrived in Wichita," Henderson said. "We've located their last known position before they disappeared and are trying to track down any unexplained radar sightings from there on that might have been the plane. There's a possible from an Air Force installation near Colorado Springs that places them over the Colorado Rockies."
"How'd they manage to get there?" Perry demanded.
Henderson didn't bother to answer. "We've notified the authorities in the area, but that's a lot of rough terrain to search."
"Yeah," Perry said.
"You've talked to Lois's lawyer," Henderson said. "Who stands to benefit if ... do you know?"
Perry swallowed. "I've already been through it with him," he said, working to keep his voice steady. Even the thought that something could have happened to Lois or Clark nearly made his throat close up. "Since Luthor hadn't had the time to make a new will before he died, the law states that if for some reason Lois should die within thirty days of Luthor's death, the laws of the State of New Troy apply, and the inheritance will be treated as if she had predeceased him. The other heirs will receive her share in the proportions stated in Luthor's last valid will."
"Pretty standard," Henderson said. "Ten billion dollars is a pretty good motive for murder. I've seen people killed for a lot less. I suppose we can raise suspicions about the way they disappeared and tie the money up for a while with a police investigation, but we may not be able to prove anything to the satisfaction of a court -- and in the meantime LexCorp's lawyers and Board of Directors have control of the company. At least," he added, "we have some idea where to start investigating."
"Yeah." The thought wasn't a bit satisfactory. "Lane and Kent are usually pretty good at taking care of themselves. I'm still prayin' for a miracle."
Henderson cleared his throat once and then a second time. "Don't tell anybody," he said, "but so am I." He scowled. "There's one last thing. By any chance, have you had any sort of contact with Superman? He seems to have completely vanished."
Perry shook his head. "Not a word."
"That's what I was afraid of," Henderson said, after a short pause. His voice sounded grim.
"Why?"
The Police Inspector shoved his hands into his pockets as he continued to pace, seemingly unaware of the fact that he was doing so. "This is off the record, understand?" At Perry's nod, he continued. "As you know, the Metro PD has been conducting a thorough search of Lex Tower over the last week. Two days ago, we found something in the basement. A heavy, metal cage."
"A cage?"
Henderson nodded. "The bars were coated with a substance that no one could identify. It looked like some kind of green paint with an odd glow to it. According to the analysis, it's radioactive, but it isn't anything the science guys ever saw before."
"What has this got to do with Superman?"
"I remembered that article Lane and Kent wrote a while back -- about those government UFO nuts that claimed they'd found a meteorite made of some unknown substance that would kill Superman," Henderson said. "Lane and Kent called it Kryptonite. I had a kind of hunch, since nobody knew what this stuff was, and contacted the lab in Wichita that had analyzed the rock before it vanished. They sent one of their people to take a look."
"And?"
"They identified it."
"Kryptonite?"
Henderson nodded grimly. "They think this stuff was their missing meteorite. Something about the impurities being the right proportions or something. I didn't get all of that part, but somehow Luthor must have gotten his hands on it."
"You think Luthor ..." Perry broke off. "Not Superman?"
"Nobody's seen him since the day before the big wedding," Henderson said. "This isn't for publication -- yet, anyway -- but that woman, Mrs. Cox -- Luthor's assistant -- told us that Luthor was working on some kind of project that he claimed would rid him of Superman. I think she knows more about it than she's admitting, but it fits. We've got four units dragging the Hobs River as of this morning. So far they haven't found anything. It's possible that he somehow got away. I hope so, but if he did, I'd like to think that he would have contacted us. Luthor may have disposed of his body in some way that he'll never be found." Henderson sighed heavily as he prepared to take his leave. "This was the guy that all of Metropolis thought was a great philanthropist," he said. "At least you and Kent managed to bring him down. He won't be able to do any more harm."
"Yeah," Perry said. "I just wish we'd been able to do it a little sooner."
**********
"All right," Lois said. "I agree that the sooner we start, the sooner we'll get somewhere, but we're going to take it slow and *you* aren't carrying anything but your own weight -- at least until you're a lot steadier on your legs than you are right now." She glared belligerently at her partner. "I'm not going to argue about this, Clark. We're leaving everything behind that we don't absolutely have to have, and that's final!" She opened the small leather bag that had been her overnight case as she spoke and stuffed in a second pair of socks. "This will do to carry the stuff we need. It doesn't weigh much."
"But Lois," he protested, in a tone that told her that she'd already won, "what if we don't find any sign of civilization for three or four days?"
"Then we'll cope," she retorted. "None of that stuff is essential. The last thing we need is to be toting along a heavy suitcase. This thing will hold the thermos and the pan I used to heat the water. It will also do to carry the extra shirts, pants, socks and the other stuff that's too hot to wear during the day but that we're going to need at night, and I'm carrying it, at least for now; got it, Kent?" She crammed several items into the case as she spoke. "I'm also bringing my wallet and pocket knife and nothing else. I can carry those in my pocket. When your powers come back, you can fly back here and pick up the rest."
He opened his mouth, looked at her face and closed it again. "All right," he said after a moment. "I give up. I just thought I might point out that my powers may never come back."
"If they don't, I can buy more clothes," she told him, "and so can you. Trying to drag along a bunch of junk is a recipe for wearing you out in the first fifteen minutes. In any case, I haven't given up yet on your powers coming back and you shouldn't either."
His lips twitched and suddenly he grinned widely. "All right," he said. "Whatever you say. Who am I to argue with Lois Lane? Are you ready?"
"I'm ready. The question is, are *you*? We could wait until morning if you want. A solid night's sleep would give you a little more time to rest."
He shrugged. "We might as well go. With nothing but blackberries to eat -- and minnows, or whatever they are, swimming around in the stream -- I think there isn't much to be gained by waiting around here. Anyway, I feel a lot better than I did this morning."
He *did* look better, she acknowledged. His color was healthier and the tired look seemed to be fading. "Okay, but we're going to rest as often as I think you need it," she informed him. "I'm not going to let you wear yourself out, trying to be a hero."
"Yes, Mom," he said patiently.
Lois reached out to take his hand. "Clark, I mean it. I don't want you to try to be a hero for me right now. I want you to get well. Once you're in better shape, it will be easier for both of us. Stop trying to ... to be Superman for just a little while -- please? You'll recover a lot faster if you do. I know." She swallowed. "I don't want to lose you now. I've only just begun to realize how close I came to it, and it scares me."
She saw his face change and moved closer to slide her arms around his waist. "In case you don't remember, I happen to love you, Clark Kent. I loved you before I knew you were Superman. I'm still pretty mad at myself for not realizing it before I married Lex, but at least I can try to make up for it now. You don't have to prove anything. Please, just do this for me."
He put his hands on her shoulders. "You're right. I'll try to behave; I promise."
She rested her head against his shoulder for a long minute. "Thank you."
His arms tightened around her and he rested his face against her hair. His voice was muffled when he spoke, but there was a smile in it. "You don't play fair, you know that? How am I supposed to be all manly for you when you ask me that way? I've never been able to say no to you, Lois."
She giggled softly. "Thank heavens one of us has some common sense. I'm going to hold you to that promise, you know."
"I know. You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Lane." He slowly released her. "I suppose we'd better get going."
"Yeah." She stuffed a final shirt into the bag and snapped the catch. It wasn't heavy when she hefted it to check. "Okay, I want you to set the pace. Just walk as slowly as you want to and rest when you feel like it, okay? No rushing."
He nodded. "Got it. No rushing. Just a walk." Slowly, he started toward the stream once more, Lois walking beside him. The only sound besides the occasional birdcalls was the crunching of their feet in the tall grass. They had proceeded on for several minutes before Clark broke the silence. "You know," he said, "if any rescuers do show up, I hope they find that note. You did put it in an obvious place, didn't you?"
"I speared it on one of those sharp whatchamacallits on the instrument panel," she said. "They can't miss it. Trust me."
"Good," he said. "I hope someone finds it before long. Perry must be going out of his mind worrying about us, and I hate to think what my parents are going through."
The thought of what their friends must be thinking had been bothering her as well, but she hadn't said so. Clark had enough to worry about without her bringing up problems that they couldn't do anything about. "Do your parents know that your ... your powers are gone?"
He nodded, threading his way through the field in such a way as to avoid the worst of the stickers and rocks. "They're probably worried sick. There's nothing I can do about it, though, until we find some sort of civilization. Maybe we'll run into a road or something eventually. If we do, our problems will be solved."
"I sure hope so," Lois said. "I'd sure like to know where we are, though."
"Well, judging by the temperature at night, we're at a pretty high elevation. I'm betting we're in the Rocky Mountains. What I'd like to know is why they dumped us here!"
"Well, they expected us to crash," Lois pointed out. "They couldn't know that you could land a plane. If it happened in a remote area, it would be quite a while before searchers found the wreck -- if they ever did -- and that gives whoever is after Lex's fortune plenty of time to prepare legal stuff to try to get control of it again. They could probably do it, too."
"I wouldn't bet against it," Clark agreed. He stopped for a minute, and Lois waited patiently. Clark had been anxious to get going, and she suspected that part of his eagerness was because of his concern about his parents, but it looked like the initial part of the trip was going to be slow going. Maybe tomorrow he would be able to make better time.
She glanced back at the little plane, sitting alone in the middle of the field. Well, if Superman's powers ever came back, he could retrieve it for its owner, too, she thought.
Clark started slowly onward again, heading in the general direction of the line of greenery, but downstream as well, and Lois trudged silently along beside him, keeping pace. The ground was rocky and uneven, and the walking wasn't easy. Burrs from the tall weeds clung to their clothing, and insects of all kinds buzzed around them, including clouds of tiny gnats of some sort that Lois could have sworn were following them. The sun hadn't reached zenith yet, shining down from a brilliantly clear sky. She glanced at her watch, noting that it was just before two in the afternoon, Metropolis time. It was already growing warmer than was strictly comfortable, although the breeze that ruffled the tall grasses of the field had a chilly edge to it. In the distance, pale against the sky, she could see mountain peaks capped with a layer of white, and not a single sign of civilization anywhere, not even the smoke from a chimney or a jet contrail high in that entire cloudless arch of blue. As far as she could tell there was nothing but a howling wilderness ahead of them. It was going to be a very long walk.
**********
tbc
