Twins: 24/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Kent," she said, "no excuse I make for you could possibly be as lame as some of the ones you've come up with!"
Definitely better. "We'll see," he said, unintentionally repeating the words he had spoken to her after her return from the sewage reclamation facility.
"Care to bet?" she asked.
"Okay. Let's see what you say the next time I take off out of the blue."
"It's a deal! But you get to cook me a steak dinner if I do better than your last one!"
"Which one was that?"
"'I left my story notes in the car'? Give me a break!"
"Okay, it's a deal," he said. "Just make sure it's believable."
"Oh, I will; you can count on it!"
**********
And now, Part 24:
They were nearly to the Daily Planet when Lois thought to ask him the question that had occurred to her some time before. "Your powers -- have they come back yet?"
He shook his head. "My hearing is starting to improve a little. I could hear Bill's heartbeat when you mentioned Lex Luthor, but that's it so far."
"But they're going to come back?"
He nodded. "I'd say it looks like it. This only happened to me once before -- in Smallville, as you already guessed, but since my hearing is coming back, I'd say it's just a matter of time."
"That's a relief. Really, Clark, you need to be more careful now that we know this stuff is out there -- and more important, that Lex knows it too. Have you ever thought about taking a few steps for self-defense?"
"What do you mean, self-defense?"
She gave a small snort of exasperation. "Clark, sometimes you can be awfully dense! Am I right in thinking that your ship landed in Kansas somewhere near Smallville?"
"Well, yes. In Shuster's Field, actually."
"And Wayne Irig found that meteorite nearby, right?"
"Right. On his farm."
"Have you ever thought of going back to where he found it and finding any others that came in at the same time? I mean, you could hover in the air and spot them with your special vision, couldn't you? Then, since it doesn't hurt humans, maybe you could get your dad to help you. Heck, even *I'd* help you if you wanted me to! We could collect them for you and put them in lead, like the piece at your apartment. Then you could get rid of them -- throw them into space or something."
"We don't know they all came in there," Clark said.
"No, they probably didn't," she agreed, aware that she was going into what he called 'babbling mode', but not really caring, "but it's a heck of a coincidence that Mr. Irig found that rock so close by the spot where your ship landed. Maybe it somehow pulled some of the chunks along. Well, it would have had to, really. How else would it have gotten all the way from wherever Krypton was to Earth in such a short time? I mean, normally they couldn't travel faster than light like your ship, could they? So a lot of it probably *is* in the general area. Even if it isn't *all* there, it would sure cut down on the chances of somebody finding more of it and using it against you. You really ought to do something about it before somebody else -- like Lex -- decides to hunt around Mr. Irig's farm and finds some more!"
Clark looked at her in astonishment. "You know, you're right! I never thought about it before. I really don't want this to happen again, and since Brian is probably going to be in the area, it would probably be a good idea, anyway."
"What about Brian?" Lois asked.
"I called my parents to talk to them. I told you that his morning," Clark reminded her. "My mom said that they want Brian to come and live with them, since he's my brother, and they could teach him how to be an adult. If he agrees, it would be the ideal solution. He couldn't have two better parents. I know that from experience."
"Clark, that would be perfect!"
"That's what I thought. We're going to have to figure out how to get him a Social Security number, but there are ways of proving someone's an American citizen without a birth certificate. There are still a few places in the country where kids are often born at home and never get one -- especially back in 1966 when I was born. And he *is* a native of the United States, after all. We wouldn't be lying."
"Appalachia, maybe," Lois suggested. "He could be your cousin. If you show up to vouch for him, no county official could miss the resemblance."
"That's true," Clark said. "After I get my powers back, I'll fly out and do what you suggested. It could save us a lot of trouble in the future."
"That's for sure. What did you do with the piece from last night?"
"It's still in my apartment. I figured I'll wait until my powers come back and toss it into the sun or something. Or I could give it to Dr. Klein to test. It might be a good idea to know more about it."
"It can't hurt," Lois said. "You trust him, don't you?"
"Bernie Klein? Sure."
"Then take it to him when your powers come back," Lois advised. She pulled into the entrance to the Planet's garage and a moment later they got out of the Jeep and headed toward the elevator.
When they stepped out of the elevator, the first thing Lois saw was the massive bouquet of two dozen red roses sitting on her desk. Cat slithered past them as they made their way toward their workstations, glancing casually at Lois. "Send yourself roses again, Lois?"
Lois ignored her. "I guess you didn't send those," she remarked.
"I'm afraid not," Clark said. "I can guess who did, though."
"Lex," Lois said, sounding resigned, even to herself. "What am I going to say if he proposes, Clark? I don't want to agree to marry him, but if I turn him down completely, I'll lose my inside track with him."
"Well," Clark said, "I suppose you could tell him you have to think about it. It would gain you some time. Or maybe you should pull the line about needing to get to know him better."
"I don't know how he'd take that," Lois said. "Lex is used to getting what he wants."
"Well, it may not matter, if he winds up under arrest," Clark said.
"I hope not." Lois opened the card that was attached to the bouquet. "'Love, Lex. I'll call you soon'. Great."
"I've got that stuff for you," Jimmy said, as he passed them with a stack of folders that reached his chin. "Back in a minute."
True to his word, he returned a moment later and laid several pieces of paper on her desk. "It took me most of the morning, but I tracked down the cash transfers for you." He indicated the first page. "They went through a dummy company, but the originating source was Lexel Investments."
"LexCorp," Lois said. "It's not exactly a surprise, but they seem to be getting a bit careless."
"Overconfidence," Clark said. "So LexCorp is trying to launch a hostile takeover of the Daily Planet."
"Looks like it," Lois said. "Lex wants to control one of the most reputable papers in the world. That's scary."
"We'd better show this to Perry," Clark said. "He needs to know."
"Definitely," Lois said. "Thanks, Jimmy. That was good work."
"Put in a good word for me with Perry, will you?" Jimmy said. "I could use the brownie points."
"Will do," Clark said. "You certainly deserve it. Let's go, Lois."
**********
"LexCorp?" Perry White scanned the printouts that Jimmy had provided. "And you two are thinkin' corporate takeover, huh?"
"I think so, Perry," Lois said. "This whole thing fits the first step in LexCorp's pattern when it makes a corporate takeover. Financial trouble that no one can trace -- only no one else had Jimmy to track down the source of the trouble. If we manage to keep going in spite of the financial troubles, after while there will be more substantial problems, then, when our stock drops, they'll move in with an offer to buy at pennies on the dollar. I've done some research on a bunch of its takeovers. Always the same pattern."
"You've researched this?"
"Yes I have. I've been investigating Luthor and LexCorp for months."
Perry scratched his hairline and then stopped when he nearly dislodged his toupee. Lois didn't comment. "I thought you were seein' him."
"I am," she said. "I guess I was pretty convincing. I've been dating him to investigate him."
Perry raised an eyebrow. "Playin' with fire," he remarked. "Lex Luthor didn't become a self-made man by bein' soft."
"I know, Chief, but he isn't just a tough businessman. Clark and I think he's a criminal. We've been trying to prove it."
Perry's eyebrows climbed higher. "And have you?"
"Let's say we've found some pretty good evidence," Lois said. "We'll keep working on it. I don't think the Planet would do very well with him as CEO. Lex is a micro-manager if I ever knew one -- at least about certain things."
Perry blew out his breath. "Okay. Try and keep me informed. Make me some copies of this stuff -- and send Jimmy in here when you leave."
"Will do." Clark opened the door for Lois and closed it carefully after them. "I'm going to give Dr. Klein a call," he said. "I want to talk to Brian, and arrange a meeting with Henderson."
"Where do you think it should be?" Lois asked.
"How about my place? Brian seems to feel pretty comfortable there."
"That sounds good." Lois beckoned to Jimmy. "Perry wants to see you."
Jimmy looked worried. "I'm not in trouble, am I?"
"I don't think so." Lois glanced at the collar he still wore. "How's your neck today?"
"Sore," Jimmy said. "I brought the aspirin bottle with me. It'll be all right."
"Well, just take it easy today. Nobody's going to blame you. Neck injuries can be serious stuff."
"I know. Superman said the same thing." Jimmy seemed to gather his courage and knocked on the door to the editor's office. Lois took the printouts.
"While you're doing that, I'll copy these for Perry. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Maybe when I'm done, we could go get some lunch."
"Sounds good to me," Clark said. "I'm starving."
The thought occurred to her while she was making the copies that although she had always known that Clark liked to eat, she had never heard him complain of real hunger before. What was it that Superman had told her in the beginning? Something about not needing to eat, but liking to. Chalk up one more little piece of information about her partner. But if he didn't get his energy from food, where *did* he get it? What had Dr. Klein said about Brian? The addition of the frog DNA chain had somehow permanently impaired his ability to absorb sunlight, even after his body rejected the foreign DNA, so Superman's energy came from sunlight, like plants. Well, what did it matter, anyway? He sure didn't look like a dandelion or any other kind of plant she could think of. When he was wearing the Suit, he looked like a very well constructed specimen of Homo sapiens and that was good enough for her. And although their future relationship might not be completely clear sailing, at least she knew that he did trust her. It was a promising start.
Emerging from the copy room minutes later, she saw Clark standing by her desk, the phone to his ear. He saw her, spoke to whoever was on the other end, and set the receiver down.
"Who was that?" she asked, setting the small stack of papers next to her computer. "I made an extra copy of this stuff so we'd each have one, by the way."
Clark put his lips close to her ear and lowered his voice so that she could barely hear him. "Believe it or not, that was Henderson. They presented their search warrant at Leek's laboratory, searched the place and found the evidence we told him about, plus considerably more. He actually thanked us."
"He must be getting soft," Lois said, automatically. "That was fast. Did he say anything else?"
"They've taken Leek in for questioning."
"I hope Lex doesn't find out about it," Lois said.
"Henderson said the only person who knew what was going on was Leek," Clark said. "They were pretty quiet about it. Henderson doesn't want Luthor to hear about it too soon either, you know."
"Well, let's hope Leek doesn't call Lex for help," she said, dryly. "The only help he's likely to get is twenty-to-life. If he's lucky."
"I doubt he'd have collected all that evidence if he had any real confidence in Luthor," Clark pointed out. "Give Henderson some credit. He's pretty smart. If I had to bet, I'd lay odds that Leek spills his guts."
"So would I," Lois said. "Let me take these copies to Perry, then we can go get some lunch. How about Jose's?"
"Sounds good to me," Clark said.
**********
"Are you sure you don't prefer another restaurant?" Lois asked, as the elevator bore them toward the basement.
"No, Jose's is fine, unless you've changed your mind," Clark said.
"Not really; it just occurred to me that you always let me pick the place, so I've never found out what you prefer. I thought maybe you'd like to make the choice this time."
Clark grinned. "I've tasted cuisine from every culture," he told her. "I have a very wide range of favorites."
"Really? That's right, you said you traveled the world after college. Do you speak any other languages besides English?"
"Oh, a few. I can order dinner in 347 languages."
"You're kidding."
"Nope."
"Wow. I'm lucky if I can remember muy bien, gracias."
"The accent is on the first syllable."
"See what I mean?"
Clark grinned at her. "Don't worry. If we ever end up in any foreign countries, I can handle the conversation."
"You'll have to," Lois said. "Just remember, you're going to have to answer some questions when we get the time, pal."
"Sure," Clark said. "Let's just get this mess squared away, and when we can get a few minutes of peace and quiet, I'll answer any questions you want."
Lois nodded. "Don't think I'll let you forget, either." The doors slid open and they exited in the direction of the Cherokee. "So Mexican is okay?"
"It's fine. I'm thinking the Nachos Grande and guacamole dip with cheese smothered chips."
"I can foresee a two-hour workout at the gym this evening," Lois said, without rancor. "Oh well, life is more than dieting, anyway." She took out her key ring as they circled a nondescript station wagon and approached the Jeep.
A figure stepped from behind one of the big concrete sections that supported the building above them, and Lois stared unbelieving at Nigel St. John. The prim, white-haired man looked the perfect gentleman's gentleman. He was impeccably attired in a suit and tie, and his face was the perfectly expressionless mask that Lois had grown to know over the months that she had dated Lex Luthor. But the .38 in his hand was completely out of character for the image that he had always projected, and it was pointed directly at her.
"Miss Lane," he greeted them, "Mr. Kent. My master has directed me to bring you to him." He gestured toward the station wagon. "Get in please."
**********
tbc
