Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Federal Disaster (25-26/37)

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Chapter 25

They spent the evening lost in each other’s arms. They abandoned any legitimate attempts to watch the movie Lois chose — Dirty Dancing — and instead allowed themselves to slowly, and carefully explore one another, taking the time both to give and receive the pleasure and comfort they desperately needed.

The following day, Lois woke with a renewed sense of determination to redouble her efforts to stop Lex Luthor. She could tell Clark felt the same way, which meant both of them dressed and ate quickly so they could get a start on their day.

Once they were at the Planet, she called the police precinct early, punched in Henderson’s extension number and was relieved to hear him answer almost immediately.

“I thought I’d be hearing from you,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact. “I got your messages. Is it about Luthor?”

“It is,” Lois replied, thankful that Henderson knew better than to give her a hard time right now. “I spoke with Superman and we might have an idea that could help stop Luthor as well as everyone involved. Will you meet with us? We can be there in twenty minutes.”

“Where?” Henderson asked.

“Not at the precinct,” Lois said, remembering that Lex had people on his payroll almost everywhere. Or he had. She had a feeling those same people would distance themselves very quickly once they realised the money was gone. “Centennial Park. Northwest entrance. Superman will find you.”

“I’m on my way,” Henderson said, and hung up without saying goodbye. She knew she didn’t need to let Clark know that Henderson was coming.

Lois knew that they couldn’t arrive together and yet, after the previous day’s phone call she was not terribly eager to drive there on her own. Clark solved the internal dilemma for her.

“There’s an isolated alley near the northwest entrance I occasionally change in. Drop me off there and before you head into the park to meet Henderson. I’ll have my eyes on you at all times.”

She nodded and they wasted no time getting into the Jeep and driving to the park where Lois dropped Clark off before finding a parking spot. Just as she was getting out of the Jeep she heard the familiar sound of Clark taking off and knew he’d be there before she found Henderson.

Sure enough, she spotted Clark almost immediately, standing straight with his arms folded in a stance she’d come to recognise was as much a part of the disguise as the suit, glasses and choice in hairstyle.

“About time, Lane,” Henderson said gruffly as she arrived. To her shock and amazement he handed her a coffee, cream, and a packet of sugar. She glanced over to see that Superman’s hands were empty and Henderson looked slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t know if you drank coffee, Superman, or I would have…”

“It’s fine,” Clark replied with a disarming smile.

“We should probably get down to business,” Lois interrupted. She glanced around and gestured for them to step into a more secluded spot where she knew Clark would be able to have a better view of any potential dangers. “We know Lex’s full plan, including when the President is meant to be assassinated and by whom. We have enough evidence to implicate Vice President Wilson in the scheme as well. We’ve even managed to find Lex’s revenue stream and cut him off from it.”

“Impressive,” Henderson murmured, looking at Lois in a way that made her feel oddly proud of herself. She and Henderson had clashed so often, that earning his admiration felt odd. “How did you manage to do that?”

Lois took a deep breath before explaining the bank account and what she was doing with it. The last thing she wanted was for Henderson to know how badly she’d been duped by Luthor, but it was necessary if she wanted to make sure Steven was safe. After all, she’d brought him into this, and even though he claimed to know the risks, if something happened to him, she felt the fault would lie with her all the same.

Henderson whistled as she revealed the amount of money in the account.

“That’s a big chunk of change,” he observed. “Money like that you could retire on a beach somewhere in Bora Bora.”

“Keep dreaming, Henderson,” she shot back with a small smile. “I just so happen to love my job, so expect me to continue being a thorn in your side for years to come.”

“Fair enough,” Henderson said with a shrug. “So, I’m assuming you want your lawyer given a protection detail until this is all over?”

“Can you do that?” Lois asked hopefully.

“I can spare a few uniforms,” Henderson said with a nod. “Or...do you want me to call in for federal protection? I am breaking all kinds of protocol by not informing them as it is, given that there is a legitimate plan to assassinate the President.”

“No Feds,” Lois said firmly in a way that earned her a raised eyebrow from Henderson. After all, she wasn’t in any real position to tell Henderson how to do his job. Before she could reply, however, Clark spoke.

“She’s right,” his voice was strong and sure. “We can’t be sure who we can trust in the FBI, and if Luthor got to the Vice President, you can bet that he has men there as well.”

“Any protection you can offer Steven will be more than enough,” Lois added. “After all, Superman will check up on him as well.”

Henderson sighed in resignation. “Very well. I’ll spare a few every day to make sure he’s safe. I won’t say why, and I will pick my best guys — ones I am sure are good honest cops, but I still can’t guarantee —”

“I know,” Lois interrupted. “I understand.”

“That still leaves stopping Luthor,” Henderson continued. He looked over at Superman. “I assume that’s where you come in?”

“It’s where we all come in,” Clark replied, his voice lowered that familiar octave, and his eyes serious. “You see, we need Mills and Luthor to think that everything is status quo. It’s even more important now because the money is getting moved. If Luthor discovers we know when the assasination is supposed to take place, he’ll change the date, and then he might just succeed.”

“Are you suggesting we use the President as bait?” Henderson asked, incredulously.

“Sort of,” Superman replied. “My friend Clark Kent’s mother knows how to make a fairly convincing hologram. She could make one of the President. I can speak to the President and let him know what’s going on ahead of time so that we have him moved and hidden somewhere secure. The hitch is that we have to make sure we arrest Vice President Wilson quickly and quietly before the President is due to give his press conference in two days. He can’t know what’s happening until it’s too late. When the hologram of the President appears to walk on stage, I will already have tracked Mills to his location and can grab him before he can take the shot.”

“Once the key players are dealt with and Luthor’s money has dried up, it should be relatively easy to arrest the others connected to him,” Lois continued. “Once we have a few, my guess is they will be more than willing to name every person who worked for Luthor in exchange for some kind of plea bargain. Luthor will have new charges added to his already extensive sentence, and nobody else willing to help him.”

“That’s a good plan,” Henderson admitted. He cast a begrudging look at Lois. “You know, Lane, if you weren’t such a pain in my behind, I’d say you should have been a cop. You’ve got the mind for it.”

“No thanks,” Lois replied with a feigned shudder. “Polyester uniforms and doughnuts are not my style.”

“So, you’ll help then?” Clark spoke before Henderson could reply to Lois’ mildly playful barb. “We have two days to pull this off. We need you on board.”

“You have me,” Henderson replied with a reluctant sigh. “I’ll put some uniforms on your friend Steven today. We shouldn’t be in contact with each other until the day of the press conference, though, just in case.”

“Good point,” Clark agreed. “If it becomes absolutely necessary to get a message to you, I’ll fly by the precinct. Superman visits there on a regular basis, so it won’t seem too out of the ordinary.”

“Alright. Until then, Lane. Don’t do anything stupid.” Without waiting for a response, Henderson turned and walked back towards the entrance he'd come through.

Lois shook her head. “You know, just when I think I’m starting to like that guy…”

“I should go visit my folks tomorrow night and get that hologram machine,” Clark said, but his eyes looked worried. Lois knew that deep down he didn’t want to leave her, especially not after the phone call she’d received in his absence the day before. She also knew that he was struggling with the fact that he knew how much she valued her independence against his own instinct to protect her.

Lois touched his hand. “We can go together. Have dinner there maybe?”

She didn’t say it out loud, but the part of her that fiercely guarded her independence was also at war. And in this one circumstance, she found herself wanting to be as far away from Metropolis as possible.

“Sounds good,” Clark said with a relieved smile. “My parents will be happy to see you.”

“We should get to the Planet,” Lois said, “and update Claude and Jimmy. It might not be a bad idea to get them to lie low for the next two days as well. Perry, too, though I doubt he would listen.”

“I’ll spin into the suit when we get there,” Clark said. “Maybe Superman can at least convince Perry to take some precautions.”

Lois nodded and they walked quickly back to the Jeep, her heart thudding swiftly as she put her key into the ignition. She wasn’t sure why her nerves were so on edge, but she knew that the phone call from Lex had her more rattled than she cared to admit.

She was grateful to finally arrive at the bullpen, and although she was theoretically safe amidst the hustle and bustle of the newsroom, a part of her still remained unsettled. He was in her life.

Logically, she knew it meant that he had people working for him and reporting back to him. People on his payroll that hadn’t discovered the well had dried up yet. But obviously the fact that he hadn’t personally been watching her did not make her feel any better. The Planet was supposed to be a sanctuary. It was the closest thing she could have gotten to a home beyond her apartment, and to violate that…

She shuddered and sat down at her desk. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Clark had arrived in the suit and was talking to Perry in his office. Smiling, she got up and headed over to the coffee maker, feeling more relaxed now that she’d seen him. It was irrational, really, but no matter where she was, or what she was doing, the sight of Clark always had the power to make her feel safe.

Chapter 26

The rest of the day passed in a blur as they all made preparations for the looming press conference. Lois kept an eagle eye on her extension, hoping for some news with regards to the money. She knew that Steven would be doing his best to make sure it went as swiftly as possible, but she was equally certain that Carstairs would be trying every trick in the book to stall the procedure on Lex’s behalf.

Perry, as expected, had not seemed the slightest bit worried that Lex Luthor was plotting something. Indeed, Lois had watched Perry as Superman had delivered his warning. He’d puffed his chest out and hooked his fingers around his suspenders before informing Superman that an old experienced newshound like himself could smell danger from a mile away. He’d then proceeded to thank Superman for his concern, but insisted he’d be fine. Lois could tell as Clark left the office that he’d been trying to keep a straight face as he’d listened to Perry’s exaggerations.

She also knew that at some point, Clark would have to leave to go and inform the President that he was in danger and tell them about their plan. She had expected him to do it right after they returned, but instead, she’d watched as he found excuse after excuse to stay. And even though there were a million reasons he should leave, she loved him that much more for staying.

She allowed herself to get lost in thought for a few more minutes until a coffee appeared in front of her. She looked up and smiled at Clark feeling both grateful and guilty that he was still there.

“How many cups of coffee have I had this morning?” Lois asked absently as she took a sip.

“This is your third,” he said with a bemused smile. “I think you might have a problem.”

“Do you think they do twelve-step programs for caffeine?” Lois grinned back.

“Hmm, well since the first step is admitting you have a problem, you might have trouble getting to the other eleven steps,” Clark teased. Lois gave him a mock pout.

“I’ll have you know I can stop any time I want,” she shot back. Before Clark could offer a retort, Lois’ phone rang and she instantly felt her entire body go rigid. Clark noticed the change in posture and leaned over to pick up the receiver before she could stop him.

“Clark Kent,” he said tentatively. Lois watched and felt the tension melt from her body the moment Clark visibly relaxed. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t Lex. After a moment’s exchange, Clark handed the phone to her and Lois answered it.

“So, I finally got to meet the famous Clark Kent…well, sort of.” Steven’s friendly voice caused the rest of Lois’ worry to ease slightly. “Is he moonlighting as your receptionist?”

“Sort of,” Lois admitted. “I got a rather unexpected phone call from Lex Luthor yesterday. Clark was just making sure this wasn’t a repeat occurrence. He hasn’t…tried to contact you at all, has he?”

“No, thankfully,” Steven said, and Lois wondered if he sounded slightly rattled. She imagined it was one thing to be told that you could potentially be enraging a psychopath and another to have evidence of it. Before she could dwell on that too much further, Steven spoke again. “Listen, I just called to let you know that the account has been closed. I have a cashier’s cheque for the money for you. It’s in the safe in my office, but I’ll be honest, I —”

“Want to get rid of it as soon as possible?” Lois finished for him. Despite the incredibly tempting amount, something about having that much money in your posession — money previously owned by a notorious psychopathic murderer — must be absolutely terrifying. Lois couldn’t blame him for wanting to get the money to her as soon as possible.

“Yeah,” he admitted, sounding slightly embarrassed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not normally spooked, but something about having a heavy police presence outside my home and office is a bit unsettling. Do I have you to thank for that, by the way?”

“Superman, actually,” she said, “but I might have mentioned it to him.”

“Well, I am grateful for your friends in high places. Literally high places.” She could almost hear him grinning at his own joke and remembered why he was always so much fun at parties.

“Well, I’ll give you the chance to meet the man himself,” she replied, shooting a look at Clark that he immediately understood as his cue to listen in. “Superman is at the Planet right now. I am sure he will have no issues picking up the cashier’s cheque and bringing it back here to me as a favour.”

“Wow, that’s impressive,” Steven said with a whistle. “I’ve always wanted to meet the man in blue. I appreciate it.”

“No more than I appreciate all you’ve done for me,” Lois replied gratefully. “Seriously.”

“Well don’t thank me too thoroughly. I added a couple of extra zeros to the bill since you can afford it.” Lois knew he was joking, but resolved to write a cheque for much higher than what she’d originally promised him. She knew exactly what he was risking by helping her, even if he didn’t fully realise it.

“Superman should be there soon,” she told him. “Once you give him the cheque, do me a favour and take a vacation for a few days?” She tried, but she couldn’t keep the nervousness out of her voice.

“That bad, is it?” Steven asked, all jokes forgotten.

“Something is about to happen that’s going to make Lex Luthor extremely angry,” Lois said, not wanting to get too specific, lest he have people watching and/or a way to bug their phones. “And prison or not, he has ways of getting to people. I would feel a lot better if you were out of town.”

“Gotcha,” Steven replied. “I feel a spur of the moment fishing trip coming on the second this cheque is out of my hands.”

“Good,” Lois said, feeling relieved. “I’ll be in touch soon.”

Once she’d hung up, she looked at Clark, who seemed to know what she was going to say before she said it.

“I’ll pay a visit to the President first and pick up the cheque from Steven as fast as I can,” he promised, looking as if leaving was the last thing he wanted to do.

“I’ll be fine,” Lois insisted, pretending for his sake that the idea of Luthor calling her again while he was gone didn’t terrify her. “I will stay at my desk and Jimmy, Perry and Claude will be here the entire time. Go.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead settled for a soft kiss on the lips before heading for the elevators. Moments later she could hear the sound of him taking off into the sky and forced herself to turn her attention to the computer screen in front of her as she typed up her notes for the story of a lifetime on her machine.

She allowed herself to be immersed in that task while he was gone. When he returned, he seemed immensely relieved when she informed him that she’d had a boring, if not productive hour and a half, and he possessed similar good news when he informed her the President was willing to go along with their plan.

“Did you managed to get the —”

“It’s somewhere safe,” he assured her. She nodded and chewed her lip thoughtfully. Clark sat down next to her and took her hand.

“You’re still not sure what to do with the money, are you?”

“We both know we don’t want it,” Lois replied with a sigh. “But what do I do with it? That money destroyed lives. Luthor used that money to create an empire by swallowing up company after company in his bid to control everything and everyone around him.”

“It was the source of his power,” Clark agreed, clearly feeling the heavy weight of responsibility as well. “We need to make sure that every vestige of his power base is gone. If we get rid of too much of the money in one place, like a charity, then someone loyal to Luthor might still be able to regain control.”

“That’s it!” Lois exclaimed, an idea suddenly coming to her. It was so simple. Why hadn’t she thought of it before. “Clark, we have the list of all the companies Luthor bought out or took over don’t we?”

“Claude has it, I believe,” Clark replied, looking at her curiously. “After all, his family’s aviation company was one of the ones Luthor bought shares in.”

“Then we use the money to buy them back,” Lois replied. “All of them. We buy back every company Luthor took via hostile takeover. We give people back their livelihoods and donate whatever money is left over to a series of charities.”

“Are you sure?” Clark asked, looking slightly surprised. “You realise this will mean buying Claude’s family’s company back for him.”

Lois grimaced.

“I know,” she sighed. “But whatever my feelings for him are, his family didn’t deserve to lose their business. Besides, for Claude, that money will come at a price. He and I still need to have another conversation. But as long as the money is safe for now, that can wait until tomorrow.”

They had one more day to plan before the press conference, and Lois already felt exhausted. She checked her watch. It was early, but she knew Perry wouldn’t begrudge them if they left.

“It seems the only thing left for us to do is get the hologram equipment from my parents,” Clark said as if reading her mind. Her stomach rumbled just as he’d spoken.

“Let’s get out of here,” she urged him. “Let’s go to Smallville now.”

“Right now?” Clark asked her as he stood up and reached for her hand. She allowed him to pull her to her feet and into his arms where he placed a soft, but tantalising kiss on her lips. The din in the newsroom seemed to vanish.

“Why not?” she said, suddenly feeling the full intensity of Clark’s gaze. She shivered slightly, thinking of just how much she enjoyed the way he was gently running his fingers up and down her arms.

“I thought we’d go back to the apartment and spend some…time together,” he said somewhat lamely. She laughed, enjoying the innocent sheepishness in his expression. She leaned over and whispered in his ear in a way that was intended to drive him crazy.

“Let’s get out of here.”