Lois woke up the next morning with heartburn. So maybe she *would* be able to think of taquitos without smiling. She crawled out of bed and ambled to the bathroom in search of the antacid bottle. "No more spicy stuff for you," she told the baby, her hand over her abdomen. Lois found the Tums and popped two in her mouth. Then two more. She grimaced at the chalky taste as she chewed, but hopefully they'd do their job and extinguish the four-alarm fire in her esophagus. Her reflection stared at her from the mirror and she stared right back.
Lois Lane. Journalist. Intelligent. Witty. Fiancé. Mother-to-be. Lonely. Lost. Scared. She ran a hand down over her abdomen again, watching herself in the mirror. Her fingers found the hem of her shirt and she lifted it slowly, revealing the small pooch in her midsection. The image did look rather cute, though she couldn't help but feel like she was getting fat. She rested her hand against the bare skin of her stomach and just stood there for a moment. She imagined she could feel the baby moving inside, but just knowing that there was a little life growing inside her was awe-inspiring by itself. She sighed and let her shirt fall back down. She had a busy day ahead of her and she couldn't spend all her time brooding.
Lois made up a mental to-do list as she adjusted the water in the shower. She and Clark had to visit Henderson for sure. She wasn't keen on sharing her information, but maybe they could work out a little quid pro quo with the detective. After that, they had to figure out a way to prove that Mindy was guilty. Joey's testimony by itself wouldn't cut it. Besides, as much as the whole ordeal still affected *her*, the attempted murder of Clark and everyone she cared about was old news. Joey's cooperation would simply put one more nail in Mindy's coffin. They needed hard evidence of Mindy's current activity to put her behind bars where she belonged.
Lois ran through what they had so far as she undressed and got in the shower. One. Clark's source had alerted them to the presence of suspicious activity in the warehouse district, rumored to be Intergang, namely Mindy Church. When Lois thought about all the crimes Intergang and Mindy were responsible for, it was infuriating. She wanted to prove once and for all that Intergang *did* exist and that Mindy Church was the malevolent force behind the whole operation. Mindy Church would pay for her crimes and Lois would be the one to bring her down.
She'd gotten off track. Okay, two. Guns were being imported from somewhere and being stored at an old warehouse owned by Harris Shipping. Harris, the owner, was in on it and was somehow tied to Mindy Church. Harris had called Mindy in a panic after she and Clark had left. Unfortunately, having Clark's witness of the conversation didn't do much for them in the way of evidence. At least evidence they could use in court. Lois made a mental note to ask Clark later what Harris and Church had said, word for word.
In the meantime, three. Shoot. She didn't have a three. Unless she counted Joey Bermuda's testimony, but that wasn't relevant to their current investigation. Well, they'd have to get a 'three' today. Now, what did they need? Some kind of proof that Harris Shipping was going a little arms dealing on the side and that Mindy was the one funding it all.
Bank records!
Lois growled at herself. Why hadn't she though of that already? She was losing her edge.
She finished rinsing the conditioner out of her hair and turned off the water. Getting out of the shower, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. She'd better get moving if she and Clark were going to get any work done today.
***
"What do you *mean* you can't do anything?!"
Clark winced as Lois roared at Detective Henderson, her hands flailing wildly in the air. He watched the scene in silence, afraid to interrupt.
"Lois, what I mean is, you should have talked to me before making deals with convicted felons. My hands are tired here, I'm sorry. I'd love to put Ms. Church away just as much as you do, but at the moment, it seems that neither one of us have any solid evidence."
Lois sat down in a defeated huff. "But you will agree to lean down on the parole board on Joey's behalf *when* we get our proof?"
"I'll do my best, Lois. But you have to bring me that proof first."
"You can bet I will. Come one, Clark." She stood up abruptly and looked at him. "Let's go."
He followed her mutely out of Henderson's office and out of the precinct. He tried not to smile when he heard the detective's, "I know you will, Lane, I know you will." Well, that made Clark feel better about Lois's verbal assault on the poor guy. Not that Henderson hadn't given as good as he'd gotten, but Clark could tell now that the detective's relationship with Lois went a little deeper. Maybe not quite so far as friendship, but there was a definite mutual respect there.
Clark turned to Lois as they headed for the Jeep. "Where to now, partner?"
She unlocked the car doors and they both got in. "The Planet. We need to dig up Harris's financial records." She looked determined as she stared up the Jeep and peeled away from the curb. "There's got to be some extra money in there somewhere. I only hope we can link it to Mindy Church."
"Me too."
"And after that, we take the evidence back to Henderson, he arrests Mindy and Harris, and we write the story of the year."
She beamed at him and he smiled right back. This was fun. He hadn't done this, this real investigating, in a long time. For the past year in his universe, he'd been reporting solely on Superman feats. That's all his editor had wanted. And to tell the truth, that was really all he'd been able to do. He couldn't really go undercover, not with his wide spread celebrity. And anything else he'd try to investigate would be subject to extreme scrutiny because everyone knew of his powers. Had he "cheated" to get the story? Clark shook himself mentally. He wasn't going to think about that now. He was here, with Lois, and they were about to crack the biggest story of the year wide open.
***
Lois hadn't had the patience to wait for Jimmy to find the financial records. She'd gone straight to the database herself and now the evidence they needed was staring back at her from her computer screen. She looked over at Clark, smiling triumphantly. "We did it!"
He beamed back at her. "We sure did."
"You'd think Mindy would have put up a few more roadblocks for us. Seriously, only a handful of subsidiary and shell companies? She must really lack confidence in our abilities."
"No kidding. Now all we have to do is get all this compiled for Detective Henderson. So...you want me to do that while you get typing?"
She could kiss him she was so happy, not to mention relieved that she didn't have to do any time-consuming grunt work while she was so fired up. She settled for a hug instead and he welcomed her into his embrace, though she could tell he'd been a little surprised to find her there. Regardless, he held her tight for a minute before he pulled back.
"Alright, let's get to work, Partner."
She could tell he got a kick out of calling her "partner." She smiled at him and nodded.
***
Lois could hardly contain her excitement as she and Clark followed behind Henderson on the way to arrest Diane Harris. She hadn't liked that woman and she wanted to see Harris's face the moment she found out she was caught. Besides, her reaction would add a little flavor to the story. Lois smiled as she pulled the Jeep in next to Henderson's sedan in the Harris Shipping parking lot.
Looking over at Clark, she saw him grinning too. She could feel the eagerness through that connection of theirs and it helped to feed her own excitement. So there *was* an upside to this connection thing after all. "Ready, Partner?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world!"
They got out of the car and met Henderson and one of his patrol officers at the door. Henderson looked at them sternly, but she could tell he was just as keyed up as she and Clark were.
"Okay, you two know to stay in the background. You're only here to observe." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I mean it, Lois."
She threw her hands up in surrender. "Trust me, Henderson, I do *not* want to screw this up. I want to see that woman in jail. Plus, her testimony is key to getting Mindy behind bars where she belongs."
The detective nodded. "As long as we're clear on that." Then he gave her a smile and entered the building, the young officer tailing behind him.
She and Clark followed behind in what must have been the true definition of nipping at one's heels. Henderson glared over his shoulder at them and she and Clark backed off a little. But not much. The detective flashed his badge at the secretary before barging into Harris's office.
"Excuse me, Ms. Harris?"
The young woman looked up and shifted her eyes nervously between Henderson, the officer and Lois. Though she still managed to make eyes at Clark before she schooled her expression back to one of innocence. Incredible. Lois was fuming. It's not like Clark was hers, but Harris didn't know that. And she obviously didn't know just how much trouble she was in either.
"Can I help you?" Harris smiled sweetly as she snuck another glance at Clark.
"Diane Harris, you're under arrest for illegal arms dealing as well as working in collusion with a suspected felon, among other things.”
Lois watched and relished the moment comprehension dawned on her face.
"Excuse me?" Harris tried lamely.
"You heard me, Ms. Harris." Henderson nodded to the patrol officer and the man grabbed his handcuffs and headed towards Harris.
"But...but!" For some odd reason, she looked at Clark desperately. "You're not going tot let them do this. Are you, Mr. Kent?"
Lois watched Clark's expression with amusement.
"Well, yes, I am."
Harris seemed like she was going to say something else but instead admitted defeat as the officer secured her hands behind her back and read her her rights.
"You'll pay for this," Harris growled, focusing her glare for the most part on Clark.
Lois had no clue what she was talking about. How did she think she'd manage to carry out that threat? Oh, well, probably just the ravings of a mad woman. Lois turned to Clark who was just as confused and shrugged. "Come on, Clark, we have a story to write.
***
The next day brought with it Mindy Church's arrest, a 40-point headline, and the first Lane and Kent byline anyone had seen in months. Clark sat next to Lois at her desk and surveyed the newsroom. Perry had allowed someone to make up a banner and even break open a few bottles of champagne. Clark wasn't surprised at the editor's laxity today. This was the first big story in months. A very good reason to celebrate.
Clark watched Lois pour her champagne into her desk plant and smiled, briefly wondering if anyone had noticed she hadn’t actually had any. He felt good. No, that was an understatement. He felt euphoric. He didn't need the ability to fly to be on cloud nine right now. Lois smiled over at him as she set her glass down. She was happy. He could tell that much from her body language, but he could feel something was weighing heavily on her mind.
"Lois," he started quietly, "Are you okay?"
She sighed. "Yeah, Clark, I'm alright. I was just thinking that now would be a good time to tell everyone."
"Tell everyone what?"
He watched her hand move down to cover her abdomen. Oh. *That*. Clark wasn't sure he was ready for that emotionally, but if Lois was, then they should do it. Not that he really had a say in the matter. "Are you sure, Lois?"
She looked down before meeting his eyes again. "Yeah, it's time."
"Okay."
Clark stood and held out a hand for Lois to help her up. She took it and together, they made their way to the center of the newsroom.
"You ready?" she asked under her breath, squeezing his hand and pasting a huge smile on her face.
He smiled back at her for appearances sake and whispered, "Only if you are."
She nodded. "Attention everyone!" The raucous in the bullpen took a moment to subside. "Clark and I have an announcement to make."
tbc...
