TP&S II - The Return of a Superman
by Tank

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lois stretched and let her leg slide off the edge of the bed searching for the floor. She finally gave in and opened her eyes... mistake! Bright sunlight assaulted her vision, making her eyes water. She hadn't pulled the curtain the night before and now the sun's bright presence was streaming in the uncovered window. She threw up her hand as protection as she stumbled out of her bed toward the bathroom.

It had been a pleasant evening. She and Clark had enjoyed a great meal together, but mostly it was the company that she had savored the most. It wasn't as if she and Clark hadn't gone out to dinner before. They had been dating pretty regularly the last few months. No, it was a matter of timing. With all the turmoil her life had been going through these past several days, the 'timeout' with Clark had been a blessing.

It wasn't as if she had forgotten what a mess her life currently was. She still had a hard knot in the pit of her stomach everytime she thought about Bill, and the fact that he was a captive of Nigel St. John. She, also couldn't help but worry about what being St. John's inside person was going to entail. How much of her professional ethics would she be forced to compromise, if not abandon outright.

She and Clark had discussed it, and once again he told her he'd follow her lead, and do whatever she felt she needed. It was nice to know that, but until they had some concrete lead, or at the least, a direction to pursue, they'd decided to play it by ear as the situation played itself out.

Clark's interview with the Luthor woman hadn't yielded him anything to latch onto. He was sure that she was involved, but he didn't know how to go about proving it. They still had to prove that Luthor's illegal dealings were still operating. She figured that she wouldn't really have much to go on until St. John started asking her to 'do' things for him. That might give her an idea where to begin her inquiries.

She stepped out of the shower, toweling off her hair as she reached for her robe. It wasn't one of those silky, thin, negligee type affairs. It was an oversized cotton terry that had been washed to an incredible softness. It was comfortable, and that said a lot about her. She generally chose practical over flash.

She retrieved her copy of the Daily Planet from outside her front door and moved to her kitchen. She stopped in her tracks as she glanced at the front page headline. Setting the paper down on the table, she pulled out a chair and began to read.

That the front page had a huge picture, and coverage of the Superman press conference, didn't surprise her. But underneath the large 60 point headline proclaiming the Man of Steel's return, were several stories of amazing rescues and super deeds that Superman had performed yesterday. She scanned the articles, shaking her head the whole time. That super clone had been a busy boy. The question was... why?

Lois was under no illusion as to the true nature of the bogus super hero. She'd only caught the tail-end of his encounter with her partner, but there was no mistaking his tone, or his meaning. He might not have intended to actually kill Bill, but he sure enjoyed making him think so. His actions were intentionally cruel, and he enjoyed the fear he was able to instill in Henderson. She could see it in his eyes. That... creature was evil.

She frowned as the phone jerked her away from her reading. She was reluctant to pick up, thinking that it might be St. John. After the third ring she shook off her apprehension and lifted the receiver.

"Lois Lane."

It was the watch commander. "Lane, this is Captain Davis. Sorry to do this to you, but I'm going to have to ask you to forgo your vacation for a day or two. I need you to come in. Something's come up."

Lois frowned. "Come on, Dan, I haven't had a day off in months."

"I know, and I am sorry, but I need you."

Lois expelled a heavy sigh. "Oh, all right. What's up?"

"I don't really want to get into it over the phone, but it could be the start of something big. Look, Lane, I know you weren't expecting this, so don't rush. If you can get in here by noon, that will be fine. It's not like these guys are going anywhere."

The connection was broken without further comment. Lois placed her own receiver back onto its cradle. Her frown of annoyance had changed to one of curiosity. What had Davis meant by that last remark? Was someone already in custody? Or were they... dead. She moved back into the kitchen looking for the filters for her coffee maker.

She hadn't taken her first sip of her coffee when a knock on the door interrupted her morning routine. Setting down the cup, she went to the front door. Peering out the spyhole, she noticed an innocuous young kid in a 'Speedy Messenger' shirt. She unlatched the four deadbolts and opened the door, leaving the long safety chain engaged.

"Yes?"

The kid looked up. "You..." he glanced at his paper work. "Lois Lane?"

"Yes."

He shoved a small plainly wrapped package toward her. "Sign here." He offered her his board with the delivery receipt clipped to it.

Lois took the package and set it on the umbrella stand next to the door. She then took the clipboard and hurriedly scrawled her name on the proper line. She handed the clipboard back. The young man stood there.... expectantly.

Lois groaned. "Just a minute," she said, as she moved over and grabbed her purse off the living room side table. She reached in and pulled a dollar out of her wallet. "Here - thanks." She shoved the bill at him through the door. The kid glanced at the single bill in his hand and frowned. Without another word, he turned and moved toward the exit.

"Jerk," she said, as she slammed the door shut.

Picking up the package, she noticed that there were no markings indicating a return address. She had an uneasy thought that it might be a bomb or something, but she quickly rejected the idea. Too risky using a commercial delivery service for something like that. Besides, she was no longer on anyone's hit list that she was aware of.

She tore off the plain paper wrap to find she was holding a video tape. Her heart skipped a beat or two as she stared at the unassuming rectangle of plastic. Her step faltered just a bit as she moved over to her VCR and slide the tape into the slot. Grabbing the remote, she shuffled back to her couch and sat down. She took a couple of deep breaths before she was able to push the 'play' button. The screen on her television flared to life and after a few moments of static, the picture cleared. It was Bill.

He was in a plain dorm-like room that seemed vaguely familiar to her. But then it looked like a lot of dorm, or cheap hotel rooms, she'd seen or been in. Bill had a wry smile on his face as he glanced around the room and then faced the camera.

"Hey Laney, oh boy, this is quite an improvement, I have to say." He winked at the camera. "I hear you're responsible for my upgrade. Thanks a ton." He moved to one end of the room, forcing the camera person to follow him. "See, I even have a real bathroom, and..." He moved over to the other side of the room. "A desk with a chair. Not that I have any need for a desk." He shrugged then walked over and sat on the edge of the twin sized bed. "This is going to be appreciated, though."

Lois felt the heat of a tear prick at the back on her eye as she watched her partner lie back in the bed. "Oh boy, I think I can really get used to this. It's better than my bed at home." He moved back up to a sitting position. He faced the camera and seemed to look straight into Lois' eyes. "I'm not too pleased to hear that you agreed to St. John's blackmail. Really, Lois, I'm not worth ruining your career over." Lois glared at the screen as she saw Bill put his hands up. "Look, I know how you feel about this, and I am grateful. But I just hope you don't wind up regretting what you've had to do."

Bill rose from the bed and leaned toward the camera, as if he was sharing something confidential with her. "Hey, does Nigel know about you and Kent? You know, that you're actually engaged?"

Lois sucked back a cry of surprise. What was Bill talking about?

"Look," he continued. "I know that it is supposed to be a secret, but you were going to have to tell Nigel soon anyway. How else would you have been able to explain your trip to Smalltown..."

"It's Smallville." Lois absently corrected the man on the screen.

"... next week to visit with Kent's folks. St. John's no fool, well, not too big a fool, and he would need to know why you were going out of town so soon after your agreement to work for him." Bill paced around the small room a couple of times, then reached over and grabbed a newspaper that she hadn't noticed sitting on the desk. He held up a copy of yesterday's Daily Planet. "Oh, I almost forgot. I was supposed to hold this up to show you that I'm still currently alive and well. You'll be getting updated photos or tapes about once a week to satisfy your conditions."

Bill tossed the paper aside and stared back into the camera lens. "Personally, Laney, I think you're nuts. So I'm going to ask you to think this over real hard. You got a good thing going with Kent, and your whole career is still ahead of you. Don't do this." Another wry smile appeared. "Hell, with me gone, you'll make Inspector inside of a year." His smile disappeared. "Hey, you know I care about you. I don't want to see you ruin your life because of me. I'm not worth it."

The screen went dark. Lois had tears in her eyes, and a fierce smile on her face. "Oh yes you are. Thank you, my friend. Thank you for the chance to save you."

Just then the phone rang. Lois picked it up, knowing full well whose voice she was going to hear on the other end. "Lois Lane."

"Miss Lane. I assume you've had time to view the tape we sent you?" Nigel cultured, clipped speech was instantly recognizable.

"Yes, St. John, I have... and the name is *Ms.* Lane." She heard him chuckle. "So what do you want?"

"First, I want to make sure that Henderson's impassioned plea for you to forget about him hasn't swayed your resolve." Lois could swear that Nigel's tone was mocking.

"No," she quickly responded. "I'll do as you ask as long as Bill stays well."

"Good. Now, that matter that Henderson alluded to concerning your supposed engagement?"

Lois bit her lip. "Well, it's not generally known yet. We were waiting to tell Clark's parents before we made it official. Only Bill and Perry White know about our intentions."

"I see." She could hear the skepticism in the man's voice. "Seems rather sudden."

"Yeah, well, I'm not getting any younger and Clark just happens to be a pretty nice guy," she answered in her 'not that it's any of your business' tone of voice.

"Very well. I expect to be informed as to when you plan to depart on this little side trip, and when I can expect you back. Not that I won't know." His tone was one of menace. "But I just like to make sure that you aren't trying to pull a 'fast one', as they say."

Lois let him hear her sigh of exasperation. "Look, St. John. I said I'd be your stoolie, and I will. Is there anything else you want before I hang up and get ready for work?"

"There is one more thing."

"Yes."

"I know that you were called to come in today even though you were supposed to be on vacation. You weren't trying to avoid me already, were you?"

"Whatever... just get to the point."

He chuckled. "You will be given an investigation. I'm going to want to be kept abreast of its progress."

"Is that all?" Her tone was definitely sarcastic.

"Oh, no. When the time comes, I'm going to want you to bury the case."

Lois felt the muscles in her neck tighten. "What do you mean?"

"Please, don't play dumb, *Ms.* Lane. This is going to be an investigation that leads nowhere. You will go through the motions and reach only dead ends. I want the case shelved."

Lois didn't answer immediately. She hadn't realized how bad this was going to be. Passing along some information now and then was one thing. But to purposely throw an investigation was quite another. She had to hold on, at least long enough to bring St. John and his cronies down. She had to hold on.

"Ms. Lane?"

She sighed. "Okay. How do I get in touch with you?"

Another chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll get in touch with you when I need to."

"I'm sure you will." She allowed the sarcasm back into her voice as she slammed the phone down.

She hurried into her bedroom. She had a lot to do before she made it to work. She'd have to find a safe phone and call both Clark and Perry White. She now knew where they were keeping Bill, and he had given her the breathing room she needed to act on it. She just had to be ready to take advantage of it.

She threw open her closet door and tore an outfit off its hanger. She tossed it on the bed as she went to her dresser. For the first time in quite a while, things were beginning to look up. If she could just figure out where to get a cheap engagement ring in the next couple of days.

********************

Bill Henderson laid back in the small but comfortable bed staring up at the ceiling. He had to grin. Leave it to Lois to force concessions from St. John even before he got her to do anything for him. That was one incredible woman. His grin quickly faded as he was brought back to the reality of the situation. Lois was being forced to be Nigel's pet policeman. That was a very bad thing. It was something else his karma would have to answer for. The whole mess was his fault. If he hadn't been so stupid, but then love makes one do dumb things. Oh yes, he'd admit that he loved Lois Lane... to himself. He would never admit it to her.

They shared an 'understanding'. She loved him like a best friend, and he just loved her. He was her partner and friend, and Lois took that very seriously. She had always been fiercely loyal to her friends. He, on the other hand, had allowed himself, over the years, to fall for the dynamic bundle of energy that shared his work day.

He let his mind wander back to those early attempts at dating. He had to laugh, but his bark was more than a tad melancholy. It had been a disaster. He could tell that Lois had been trying so hard not to show how miserable she was. While they could mesh like a well-tuned engine on the job, minds working in tandem, they just couldn't seem to get the hang of 'downtime'. If they weren't talking about a case, or teasing each other about their personal foibles, there was just uncomfortable silence.

It was funny how little they had in common off the clock. Lois had been relieved when he'd voiced the obvious. It was fortunate that neither had let the awkward fumblings that had been their dating adventures spill over and ruin their working relationship.

They had both redoubled their efforts as work partners and 'just friends'. For Lois that had been a balm to her skittish psyche, and truthfully it was for the best. He had to admit that the two of them could never be a couple. That didn't stop his heart from going the way that it would, but his brain knew the truth. Her friendship was all he would ever be able to have from her... and from a woman like Lois Lane, that wasn't so bad.

Of course, he'd probably screwed that up now. After what he'd done, he was surprised she hadn't cut him loose completely. But then, that wasn't Lois. No, she'd remain loyal and bust her butt until she had him out of this current mess... then she'd kill him.

He stuck his hands behind his head. He hoped that his messages had gotten through to Lois. He'd had to be fairly circumspect since Nigel was right there when he made the video for her. He thought that he had been, but had it been too careful, too cautious? Had she gotten the message? Lois was sharp. She had be quickest mind he'd ever seen. He had to assume that she'd got the message; if not, then they were all screwed.

As soon as Nigel brought him up to this dorm-like room, he'd recognized it, and so, had known where he was. He hadn't been in on the original bust of the facility at Boynton; he'd sent a couple other officers to take care of that. He'd been more worried about Lois and the confrontation he knew that she was planning to have with Luthor.

Still, he had visited the place a few times during the investigations that had followed. All the rooms for the tech staff had a boring similarity to them. He had immediately recognized the room as one of those when they'd brought him in.

So Nigel was back at Boynton. He knew that Arianna was busy playing the widow Luthor, so he doubted she was here. But he doubted that St. John was there for the ambiance, so what exactly was he doing here, and more importantly whose was here with him?

Certainly that bogus Superman who had 'escorted' him here in the first place called this facility home. Where better to hang out than an abandoned science lab. But who else might be here... and why?

******************

Lois walked into another abandoned warehouse. Why did these things always happen in abandoned warehouses? They'd probably be able to cut crime in half if they could just put to use all the abandoned warehouses that seem to infest the seedier parts of Metropolis.

She flashed her ID to a uniform who was there for that purpose, and he pointed out the coroner to her. She approached a scene that looked like it was out of some cheap horror movie.

There were six tarp-covered bodies carelessly strewn about one corner of the nearly empty building. Whatever furniture that had been there had been reduced to kindling. She didn't think there was a piece more than a foot long left anywhere.

"So, Bennie." She addressed the medical examiner who was jotting some notes on a piece of paper. "What have you got."

The elderly Japanese coroner turned to Lois. "See for yourself." He reached down and pulled back the tarp that covered one of the bodies.

Lois bit on her lip. She'd seen a lot of grisly deaths in her day, but this had to be one of the worst. The body was badly burnt, almost as if it had been in a serious fire. She glanced around. There was no indication that a fire had existed anywhere in the building.

"Ick," she said, shaking her head.

The coroner nodded. "That about says it. Not only are the burns over ninety-five percent of the bodies, they all suffered significant injuries before they were burned."

"What do you mean?"

He used a telescoping pointer to indicate parts of the badly charred remains. "You can see here that many of the bones, most generally in the arms and legs, have been shattered. Not just broken, but almost pulverized. I can't begin to tell you how that could have happened. Usually the only time you see that kind of breakage is if some extremely heavy object falls on it, or the arm or leg is caught in some heavy machinery."

Lois looked around again. There was nothing in the warehouse except a few old crates and some wooden pallets. "I don't see anything like that here." The M.E. just nodded in agreement. "So, how about these burns? Any idea how those came about?"

"Extreme heat from an very intense fire?"

Lois frowned. "Cute. No, really, do you have any ideas? I don't see any signs of a fire here."

He shook his head. "No, you're right. There are no signs of any fire here, yet every body is as badly burned as this one." He flipped the tarp back over to cover up the body. "Tell me, Sergeant, do you believe in science fiction?"

Lois met the man's eyes warily. He wasn't joking around. "I don't follow."

"If I didn't know any better I'd say these men had been gunned down by some sort of Martian death ray."

Lois knew that the coroner's remark had been born out of frustration, but it caused a sudden chill to creep up her spine. Maybe not a Martian death ray, but possibly an alien one. Did anyone know how Superman's heat vision worked?

She looked at her surroundings with a new perspective. Pulverized bones could be a result of the use of incredible super-strength, and heavy wooden furniture was like tissue paper to a superman. Had he been there? Had the bogus Man of Steel committed these murders? If so, why?"

"Do we have an ID on any of these guys yet?"

The coroner shook his head. "Not yet. The conditions of the bodies make that very difficult. We'll have to get them back to the lab and try to find something to give us a starting place to guess who they might be, then use dental records to confirm it."

Lois nodded. It was what she figured. "Are you done here then?"

"Yeah, we've been done for a while, but we were supposed to wait for you." He gave a nod to some men who'd been standing around, obviously waiting for his signal. They proceeded to transfer the bodies from their spots on the floor to the black vinyl body bags.

Lois sat on one of the old crates and watched as the M.E. and his men finished up. So this was the case that Nigel wanted buried. Well, if his pet Superman was involved, she could understand why. Still she was curious as to who the victims had been. Whether or not this investigation would come to an 'official' dead end, Lois was going to find out who the dead guys were, and why they died.

****************

Clark knocked softly on Lois' door and gave her big smile when she let him in. "Hi," he said.

"Hi, yourself," she said, then rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss."

Clark had to grin. "What was that for? Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Lois gave him a coquettish look. "What? Can't a girl kiss her fiancee?"

"Oh course she... what?" If he'd had dentures Clark would have dropped his teeth. The look on his face must have been funny because Lois howled with laughter.

Clark was clearly confused. Lois had called early this morning to tell him that there had been some important developments in their shared investigation, and that he should come over for dinner tonight. So, as the dutiful boyfriend, he gladly did as she asked. Actually, he would have called her and suggested it if she hadn't.

"So, what's up?" Clark frowned, then looked around. If Nigel was having Lois watched, he might just... "Do you think that it's okay to talk?" He spoke softly into her ear. It looked like he was nuzzling her... if anyone was watching.

She pulled away and smiled at him. "Yeah. I borrowed a sniffer from the guys down in vice."

"A what?"

She laughed again. It was a wonderful sound. "A sniffer. It's used to sniff out bugs - listening devices."

Clark nodded. "I know what bugs are." He set the cartons of take out he'd brought with him on the table. "So, the place is clean?"

She nodded. "Yeah, only the phone is bugged, which is why I went out and got a cell phone today. Remind me to give you the number."

"Lois..."

"Don't."

"Don't forget to give me your new cell number."

"Cute." Lois swatted him on the arm. "Anyone ever tell you you're a funny guy?"

Clark grinned, then gave her a thoughtful look. "You know, I don't think anyone ever has."

"There's a reason."

Clark rolled his eyes. Lois was in an unusually good mood. It was nice to see, but considering all she'd been going through he had to admit that he was confused by it.

"So what's this about an engaged woman?" As he rolled the term over in his mind he found that he liked the sound of it. "And does it have anything to do with the strange grin Perry gave me as I left this evening?"

"Bring the food over to the coffee table." She was putting a tape into her VCR. "Come watch this."

Clark brought the food over and sat next to her on the couch. The television screen flickered to life and he was greeted by the image of Bill Henderson. No wonder Lois was in a good mood, Bill looked well. A bit tired, perhaps, but otherwise he seemed to be in good shape.

"That looks like a lot better accommodations than we saw in that picture." Clark said.

"Shhhh, just watch." She pointed to the screen.

Clark sat back, the meal forgotten, and watched Henderson's monologue. He was surprised to hear Bill claim that Lois and Clark were engaged. It took a moment for it to register, but Clark soon saw why he'd done so. It was clear that he was giving Lois a reason to be with Clark without raising St. John's suspicions. Henderson must have felt that Lois would need his help. Though Clark figured Bill was more concerned about Lois' safety than he was about whether or not he ever got out of Nigel's clutches.

When the tape ran out Lois turned to Clark, her face bright with a huge smile. "Isn't it great!" she exclaimed. "He not only gave us the time to go look for him with that trip to your folks dodge, but he also told us where he is."

Clark looked at her. Okay, he would accept that Bill had acted a little strange at times during his commentary, but he wasn't sure what Lois was so excited about. Yeah, the excuse of vacationing in Smallville would give them a reason to sneak out of town, but was that really that helpful? And he had no clue as to where St. John might be keeping Henderson. Of course, he didn't know Bill like Lois did, so it was clear that he was missing something that she had picked up on.

"Okay, I'll bite," he said. "Where is he? You couldn't possibly have recognized that generic looking dorm room... could you?"

She laughed again. "No, but it did seem familiar to me, and I realized later why it did." She was a bundle of pent-up excitement waiting to burst. She took a deep breath before she began. "I guess you have to know Bill to have really gotten his message. He's a wise guy, likes to tease me, and make cracks about things, but he seldom uses cliches, or silly exaggerations. There were a few things that jumped out at me when I heard this tape this morning. Like, he's never called me Laney before."

She reached down and took a sip of the cream soda she'd brought over before they started watching the tape. She expelled a breath, then turned her attention back toward Clark. "Twice he used the exclamation 'oh boy'. In five years I've never heard him say that. But here he used it twice. The other thing is he used the term 'thanks a ton'. That's something else he would never say." She glanced down for a second, then back at Clark. "I said that to him once and got a ten minute lecture that started with 'What the hell does that mean?' and ended with, 'If you're going to say something, say something that makes sense'. I never forgot that. So I doubt if it was a simple slip up on his part."

"Okay, so he purposely used 'oh boy' and 'thanks a ton' to pass on a message." Clark knew he was looking stupid here, but he didn't see what Lois obviously had. He spread his hands in surrender.

"Oh *boy*? Thanks a *ton*?" She looked at him expectantly. "Boy? Ton?"

Clark sucked in a breath. "Boynton?"

Lois grinned. "Bingo."