[CHAPTER 7: Identity]Clark returned to his apartment after a day of investigative work and super rescues. He was grateful for the simple day since he had enough on his mind concerning his upcoming meeting with Lois at 7:00. Why on earth did he schedule it so late?
While waiting for 7:00 o’clock to come around, he cleaned and prepared his apartment, not that there was much to do. He actually spent more effort mentally going over what he would say for the hundredth time while hoping and praying that Lois would respond positively, or at least not badly.
His parents had been supportive, though in different ways. His mom was excited that he was finally going to tell Lois while his dad was simply happy he had met someone who he could trust enough with the secret. Both of them were also unashamedly cheering him on to take the next step with Lois. It was embarrassing but what could he do? At least they weren't outright asking for grandkids. Yet anyway.
He shrugged those thoughts away and suddenly remembered he needed to schedule a meeting with Mayson and Henderson to tell them about Diana Stride. Even though there was no hard evidence yet, the fact Church Sr. named her was enough for him to begin investigating her. Henderson and Mayson would certainly want to know what he had already found.
But that would be done later as, finally, the time arrived and the knock on the door came. He barely restrained himself from using super speed while opening the door.
O o O o O
Lois submitted the article on the arrest of Dr. Leit and Munch, happy to exclude the temporary blindness Superman had suffered. Henderson was pleased and was certain they had plenty of evidence to have the two locked up for a very long time for the murder of Dr. Faraday, and that was before they included the assault on Lois.
Perry was ecstatic, since it meant they had a front page worthy article and a set of future articles they could draw upon as Leit and Munch went to trial. It was just unfortunate that Lois was personally involved again, but there was no use in complaining.
Lois looked at the clock, wondering once again what Kal-El wanted to talk to her about.
She wished time would go faster.
She glanced at the television screen. It was a slow news day and she hoped it would stay that way.
Thankfully, it did, and she soon found herself walking up the steps to the address Kal-El had given her. She had forced herself not to research the location or even determine who owned it for fear of drawing attention to a place that likely had a connection to the Man of Steel. Why else would he shroud it with such secrecy? But now her curiosity was killing her and she could hardly wait to talk to him.
"344 Clinton Street, 3D," she muttered to herself, going up the stairs.
Reaching the top floor, she quickly realized this apartment had a loft, as desired as that may or may not be, considering the taller buildings surrounding it. There couldn’t be much of a view. Still, not a bad place to live. Why did Kal send her here to talk?
Coming to the door, she took a moment to straighten her clothing and hair. She assumed this was informal, but it never hurt to look nice, especially when around Kal-El. So with that done, she took a deep breath and knocked.
The door opened and instantly her excitement was sidelined by confusion.
"Clark?" she asked.
"Hi, Lois!" Clark said, beaming as he stepped aside. "Please, come in."
She entered and went down the three steps from the entry landing. A full wall of bookcases was to her left, filled with books and a variety of keepsakes she could only assume came from all around the world. Clark closed the door behind her. Her eyes quickly scanned beyond the front room, to his living room and kitchen where the wonderful scent of freshly baked brownies touched her nose . . . pure, sweet chocolate heaven. She hoped Clark could not hear the insistent growls of an empty stomach.
Pushing her hunger aside, she didn't see or hear anyone else in the apartment, which only baffled her more as she turned to face him.
"So, uh, I assume Superman asked you to come too?" she asked.
She knew Clark was working with Kal-El on the Intergang case. Was this about that? She was investigating one of the new police officers, Peter Jones. She suspected he might be a spy for Intergang.
"Uh, kind of," he said, suddenly looking nervous. "This is my apartment."
"Oh," she said, growing interested but more confused.
"Here, why don't you sit down. Would you like anything to drink? I was about to have a brownie and a glass of milk. Care to join me?" he asked, hurrying to the kitchen.
"Sure. That sounds good," she said as he grabbed two cups and a plate from the pantry. He put four brownies from the cooling rack onto the plate and then poured some milk into the cups. "So is Superman on his way? Did he tell you what this is about? Did he learn something more about Intergang?" she asked, unable to stop her stream of questions.
"It's not about Intergang," he said, before joining her on the couch and putting the plate on the coffee table before holding her cup out for her.
She slowly took it, trying to read the expression on his face. He looked anxious and hopeful, but also . . . afraid? It was the most bizarre combination of emotions she had ever seen on someone.
"Is . . . is something wrong?" she asked.
"No, I'm just not sure how to go about this. Even after thinking about it for so long." He took a deep breath as she looked at him quizzically.
"Okay. . ." she said.
"Okay. Lois, when you investigated me, how far did you go? I mean, what do you know about me?" he asked.
Now utterly bewildered, she set her cup down on the nearest coaster and looked at him.
"Well, I read up on your military career, of course. You were one of the first to lead and train members of a new division in the Air Force that would serve as specialty guides of sorts for ground units, allowing for better engagement with locals and such, particularly when providing aid after natural disasters," she said, recalling the files she had gone through. "You received a number of impressive service medals for your service but left the Air Force after your four years were up."
He nodded as she continued.
"I know you were a private investigator before that, traveling the world. You solved well over a hundred cold cases in over a dozen countries and are known in certain circles to be able to find any missing person. You know several languages and grew up in Smallville, Kansas. You were raised by Martha and Jonathon Kent, and they run a farm that's been in the family for five generations. You played football in High School but didn't go to college immediately after. A few years after traveling the world, you got a degree in Astrophysics from ETH Zurich, which allowed you to go to Officer Training School when you joined the Air Force. I do not understand why you chose astrophysics, but it seems to have worked for you. You also have no speeding or parking tickets, nor any other violations. You're annoyingly squeaky clean, and--” she said after taking a bite of the brownie, “--an excellent baker," she rattled on, inwardly very pleased by how impressed he appeared to be by her report on himself.
"Very thorough, as I'd expect," he said with a smile.
"Thanks," she said, proud.
"Did you determine where I was born?" he asked.
"Uh, no," she said, suddenly uncertain, since she knew the topic was likely sensitive. "Some paperwork I came across mentioned you . . . were a foundling." She narrowed her eyes, suspicious. "I get the feeling you're doing this for a reason, but. . . ."
She leaned back, staring at him as she took a moment to process everything that this could mean.
"Are you serious?" she slowly asked, squinting her eyes at him while not quite allowing herself to take the full jump in logic just yet.
Clark slowly began to smile as he took off his glasses and silently looked at her.
"Kal?!" she gasped, leaping to her feet.
"Hi, Lois," he said, looking up at her with a grin.
"You're--! Oh my G-d!" She had no clue what to do, but she found herself reaching out to him.
He laughed, though intense relief was in his eyes as he let her place her hands on either side of his face.
"I've wanted to tell you for a while now, but things just kept coming up," he said. "I couldn't let the opportunity I saw last night pass by. Especially after what had happened."
"I don't know what to say, other than I'm glad you decided to tell me," she said, slowly sitting back down and removing her hands.
He took her right hand in his.
"Other than my parents, I've only discussed this with one other person, and they had figured out the big portion of the secret on their own first."
"Who was that?" she asked.
"General Newcomb."
"'General'?" she asked, concerned for a split second before concluding there was no problem.
"He's been a family friend for a long time. He's like an uncle or grandfather to me in some regards now," Kal admitted.
"So did he figure it out when you joined the Air Force?" she asked.
"I actually joined to help him out on a case. At the end of that case is when he figured it out. After that, he made some arrangements to allow me to stay on to complete the rest of my time in a way where I could sometimes use my abilities in secret. We both agreed to keep me out of combat for obvious reasons, so it all worked out pretty well."
"I’ll say it did,” Lois agreed while still digesting the truth.
Clark, or Kal, leaned back, sensing her turbulent mental state.
“What do I call you?” she asked.
“I suppose that’s a good question. Well, I’ve been called Clark for as long as I can remember, so I suppose the easiest way moving forward is to call me Clark when I have my glasses on and call me Kal when I . . . don’t? Sorry, I haven’t ever really thought about this before,” Clark said apologetically.
“That makes sense. I wouldn’t want to reveal your secret by accident or something,” Lois said.
Clark nodded. “So, uh, what are you thinking?”
“I don’t know. The only thing I can think of right now is, how did I not see it?”
Clark shrugged before she suddenly laughed at herself.
“Or maybe the better question is, how long would it have taken me to figure it out if you hadn’t told me?” she said as he chuckled with her. “No-no, can you imagine me knowing you both separately as Clark and Kal for years and me not knowing? Oh man, I think I would have been ticked if that had happened and I learned later!” she said, laughing more.
“Oh gosh! I don’t want to imagine. Doing that would have driven me nuts! These past months were hard enough: with being Clark and then Kal around you and not being able to say anything that only Kal would know or vice versa. . . . I can’t imagine doing that for years! But the scary thing is that I can actually see how it could have happened,” Clark said, torn between laughing more or groaning. “If it had gone on for so long that I knew you’d be upset with the truth . . . it would have been harder to tell you.”
“Yeah, but then there’d be the growing risk of me figuring it out, and that would have made things even worse,” Lois said, catching her breath.
“Urgh, you’re right! Wow, I am so glad I told you now,” he said smiling with newfound relief.
“Me too.”
They both sighed and grew quiet, looking at each other.
“I know this is weird after eating brownies, but, have you eaten dinner?” Clark asked.
“Actually, I haven’t. Pizza?” she asked.
Clark grinned. “Sure.”
O o O o O
The following week passed in a blur.
He and Lois had been able to have two dinners within that time but not much else due to their work schedules and his super activity.
As much as he wanted to spend more time with Lois, however, it was just as well.
He knew she needed time to get used to the knowledge of him being both Kal-El and Clark Kent and that was before they could even approach addressing where their relationship was going.
“All good there, Kent?” Henderson asked, coming up beside him as he gazed at the missing persons wall.
“Yeah,” he assured, looking away from the faces and names.
“Good job on finding that boy yesterday. If he had been taken across state lines, there’s no telling where he would have ended up,” Henderson said.
“I’m glad I was there. I just wish I could see to them all being found,” Clark said.
Bill nodded in understanding, his eyes falling to the dozen faces of individuals still missing on the wall. The day before had been a good day, as well as a reminder of why it was so important for them to always be vigilant.
A six year old had Clark to thank for his life. Bill was under no delusion of what would have happened to him had the PI not recognized his young face over the shoulder of a man carrying him. A kidnapper.
This would be the seventy-eighth person he had found since moving to Metropolis.
Granted, many of those were runaways, but about a third were not. And of those found, ten of them had been reported missing from out of state.
Kent was a marvel.
“Well, I should head out,” Clark said after a moment.
“Of course. Oh, did Mayson update you on the new witness?” he asked. "He's been put under witness protection."
“No. Is she in?” Clark asked.
“Unfortunately she’s in court for the rest of the day, but she’ll be in tomorrow morning.”
“I can wait until then, unless you want to brief me now?” Clark inquired.
“No, I better let her do it. She knows the ins and outs more than I do, and this is more your case and hers than mine,” Bill said. "But things are getting close to being wrapped up in preparation for arrest warrants."
“Alright. Thanks,” Clark said before heading out.
Walking down the street, Clark was about to meander down to Suicide Slum when he heard the tall tale whine of Intergang’s special way of contacting him before he heard Mr. Church Sr.’s voice.
“Kal, I need to speak with you urgently. My son has done something exceedingly foolish,” he said in earnest.
Clark ducked into an alley and soon was shooting toward Mr. Church’s mansion.
"What's going on?" Superman asked as he entered.
Church Sr. jumped but looked relieved as he faced him.
"He's hired an assassin to kill Frank Lials, a former bodyguard of mine who is currently a witness for Mayson Drake's case against me and Intergang."
"Is the assassin Diana Stride again?" he asked.
Bill Sr. nodded. "After I told Frank to turn himself in -which I was going to update you on- my son heard about it. What's more is that he got information on where the safe house is. He's no doubt told Stride."
"Another spy in the department?" Kal asked.
"Peter Jones, though he's my son's man, not mine. I only just recently learned about him thanks to my spy. Anyway, this is the location. I don't know when she'll make the attempt, but I suspect sooner rather than later. Possibly tonight." He sighed, handing over a slip of paper. "I just want this to be over. I'm just so done."
"Fortunately, a great deal of that is up to you, and I know you've been working toward it - hence Frank Lials. But I think it's time for you to go all in, if you're serious about bringing an end to Intergang," Kal stated.
"I know. And thank you. I'm working on something and should have it ready soon. I'll let you know once I've sent it to the Foundation. Should be in a few days," he promised before looking thoughtfully at him. "I don't know of anyone who would have done what you have for me. After everything I've done and brought about. . . ."
"You will have to answer for those things, but I know there is good in everyone and they should be given the opportunity to prove it if there's evidence that they will," Kal said.
Bill Sr. smiled sadly. "My wife would have liked you."
Kal looked down at the paper, deciding not to respond to his compliment.
"Thanks for this. I won't let anything happen to Mr. Lials," he promised before disappearing.
O o O o O
Clark returned to the precinct, this time as Superman, and quickly found Henderson.
"Kal-El, I take this is not a social visit?" Henderson asked as he looked up from his desk upon hearing the knock.
Superman closed the door and did a quick scan (as he always did when about to discuss something critical). He didn't find any listening devices.
"No. I just got back from talking with Mr. Church. An assassin will go after Ms. Drake's witness soon, possibly tonight. I'm going to the location now and will be keeping an eye out. I just wanted to give you a heads up, but I don't believe we should move the witness. I think we'll be able to catch Diana Stride."
"If it was anyone but you telling me Stride is an assassin I'd be concerned for your mental health," Henderson said, shaking his head. "Anyway, thanks, I'll let Mayson know."
"Thank you," Kal said with a smile before leaving to the safehouse.
O o O o O
The safe house was located in a secluded cluster of woods on the outskirts of Metropolis. It was a good place to conceal someone, but it was also a good place to be able to sneak up on a hiding person and take them out.
And so he waited. Hovering high above the clouds and out of sight, he peered down, scanning the woods and the roads, searching for any individual who did not belong.
He saw over a dozen officers and security personnel around the cabin and scattered around the perimeter of the property, but it was only after 11pm when his eyes spotted a feminine form making their way through the woods.
She was certainly good at what she did. Had he no military experience, he might have seen her too late, but he had seen. So when she leveled her weapon and took aim, he was upon her, snatching the gun and hoisting her up as he called out to the guard.
"Here! I have the assassin!" he bellowed.
Armed individuals immediately swarmed around him as Mayson Drake hurried forward.
"Thank you, Kal-El. You've made our job much easier," she said, nodding to two officers who quickly searched a fuming Diana Strike and handcuffed her as one recited her rights.
"No problem," he said, ignoring the soon to be former TV host's glare.
"With any luck, everything Intergang will be coming to an end soon," Drake said.
"I suspect it will be," Superman said knowingly before nodding his farewell and shooting up into the sky.
O o O o O
The cascade of evidence slammed in like a surge from a blasted dam, the blast being Bill Church Sr. himself.
The District Attorney's office was swamped, but no one was complaining.
Mayson grinned.
Intergang was in shambles.
Bill Church Sr. had turned himself in after providing a crate of criminal evidence in the form of documentation, videos, and audio recordings. Along with those, he had a folder of notarized confessions from over a hundred individuals. Individuals who were found peacefully waiting in line outside their nearest county jail for processing. Only a dozen of them operated in Metropolis.
It was unequivocally unconventional, but it certainly streamlined a few things and would likely lead to a number of plea deals. What was even more astonishing were the proposals and offers from the Superman Foundation to help those people reacclimate to society after they had served their sentences, which would likely range from a few months to twenty years depending on the individual's crimes.
Of course, the Superman Foundation was already paired up with certain prison programs but this was by far more proactive. And while Mayson was doubtful everyone entering this new program would turn their lives around, if it helped prevent a few individuals from returning to crime, she would welcome it.
Kal-El certainly believed in it and had provided a statement that accompanied Church Sr's.
Within, Superman outlined his actions since the moment Church Sr. had tried to intimidate him into turning a blind eye to Intergang's criminal activities and how he had brought in Mayson Drake before beginning a pseudo undercover investigation of Intergang. And then he described how he had seen the potential of changing Church Sr.'s outlook on life and took a chance while continuing to gather evidence in case it failed.
But it had succeeded.
Maybe there really is good in everyone like Clark said.
Though not everyone acted on it.
Mayson watched Church Jr. march out of the courtroom in handcuffs after he was rejected bail.
He had resisted arrest, and was one of many around the world who had been rounded up over the past week because of all the evidence they had gathered and been given.
He wouldn't be the last.
O o O o O
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