I know you all want to see Lois' reaction, but you'll still have to wait until next part
Previously, on Part 4: “Superman, help the police do their job. Let the undercover police officer do her job and pretend to be your wife, and help us to assure Lane’s safety.”
A police officer… Hadn’t Henderson implied that Andrea would have a role in this cockamamie plan? Afraid to have guessed right, Superman looked at the silent young woman who’d grilled him on his relationship with Lois.
Henderson watched Superman looking uncertainly from himself to Andrea, and back again. He smiled. He’d figured it out, and, even if his face spoke volumes about what he thought about the plan, he still hadn’t said anything against it.
“Superman. Andrea. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You can introduce the bride to the world.”
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And now, Part 5: PART 5: THE CHOICE
Oh no no no no no! That was totally out of the question.
“Oh no, Henderson. Never. I won’t do it.”
Superman’s tone was categorical. His choice was made, and he wasn’t open to options. His resolute expression told Henderson so. But the police inspector knew he had to convince him to play along. That was the only chance a police organisation had to stop Intergang. They had to do it! He had to convince Superman to agree! Quietly, he retorted:
“Superman, why not? You know that’s the only way to keep them from going after Lois.”
“Actually, I don’t know that Henderson. I think there is inevitably another solution, something else I can do, but not *that*. I won’t do it.”
Now the superhero was almost angry. How could Henderson ask him to do something so morally questionable?
“If there’s another way, please tell me what it is, because I don't see one,” insisted Henderson.
Something wasn’t right. The plan wasn’t so great anyway, so why did the old policeman refuse so stubbornly to try to find another way? He hadn’t told him everything.
“Why are you insisting on this? Why aren't you considering any other options?" Superman's eyes narrowed. "What’s going on, Henderson?”
Immediately, Henderson looked guilty, and Superman knew he was right. There was definitely more behind all of this. But the policeman quickly recovered, and remained silent.
“I thought you said we were on the same side?”
Superman took on his superhero pose, the one he used to intimidate criminals, and deliberately stared sternly at Henderon. Lois was in danger, he wanted to know everything that was going on, and if he had to try a threatening attitude to get some answers, then he’d do it.
Henderson seemed to make a decision, and sighed.
“I have orders.”
His response was short, and said quietly. Superman wasn’t sure he'd heard it correctly.
“Sorry. Can you say that again?”
This time, Henderson’s response was firmer.
“I have orders. I have to make you agree.”
Superman was astonished. What was all that about? Someone gave to Henderson an
order to convince him to pretend be married to a police officer? But why? That made no sense! Henderson, seeing the incredulity on Superman’s face, resumed his explanation.
“Superman, you must know that the officials of the city, and of the country, are very worried that Intergang could kidnap Lois Lane. You can deny that you two are together as much as you want, but the fact remains that everybody knows she *is* your girlfriend," insisted the old policeman.
That again!
“But we’re really not…” Superman began, tired of having to deny the assumption again.
“Okay," Henderson cut the super hero off. "So let’s say that the fact remains that everybody
thinks she is your girlfriend. And everybody knows you’ll do *anything* to save her life. Am I wrong?”
When Superman shook his head to say that he was right to think so, Henderson went on.
“So that means she *is* a way to blackmail you, girlfriend or not. And the authorities of the country are very well aware of the risk that you could become if any criminals ever succeed in forcing you to work for them. Haven't you ever noticed, Superman, that the National Whisper, the Dirt Digger, the Inquisitor, and all of the other tabloids never write a word about your relationship with Lois? That was never the subject of Top Copy either.”
No, he had never noticed that all of the stories written about him in those papers never mentioned Lois. But then, he'd never noticed that he was so careless about showing his feelings for Lois when he was Superman before Andrea had pointed it to him either. Henderson didn’t stop talking.
"It'd be easy enough for them to create something out of nothing if they wanted to cause a scandal, but whatever there is between you and Lois, it's not nothing." Henderson raised his eyebrows to punctuate his point. "And it's not like they don't have the material. There was that kiss before you intercepted Nightfall, for example. Camera were there from all over the world and yet afterwards it was as thought it never happened. Strange don't you think?" asked Henderson in a sarcastic tone.
Henderson was right. He should have been more careful. He already recognised the truth in that, and swore to himself again to be more careful in future.
“Just for your information, the owners of all those papers I talked about, and the producer of Top Copy are friends to President Garner. Close friends since you've come onto the scene.”
Wow. The White House was really working on hiding his love life from the public as if it was some National Security secret? Cleaning up after him, so to speak? He almost chuckled, the idea was so funny to him. But then he felt guilty. Of course they were worried that if he responded to blackmail he could become a threat; so it was natural for them to do their best to minimize the risk that criminals used Lois to blackmail him. He really should have been more thoughtful. He'd really messed up. But Henderson hadn’t finished his speech.
“And Intergang isn’t just a group of random criminals. It's a powerful, international criminal organisation. They always act by kidnapping and blackmailing the people they need. And right now, you are the one they want. That’s enough to make this a problem of national security. You could become pretty dangerous for the world if criminals could force you to do what they want. Do you understand, now, why they want to persuade everyone that you’re *not* in love with Lois Lane?”
Oh yes. He did understand it, now. And he had to do something about it. It was time he took responsibility for his actions.
“And Superman, can you really be sure that you’d *never*, on *any* occasion, do something Intergang asked you to in order to save her?” asked Henderson, finally coming to the end of his speech.
Yes, he was right again. He'd even thought earlier that maybe he could go along with Intergang for a while to buy time for Lois if he really had no choice. But only if he had no other choice, and he’d always try to find another solution before even considering something like that.
“I’d find another way, Henderson. There’s always another way, “he retorted.
“What if you don’t find one? What if your choice is obey them or let her die?”
Superman didn’t respond to that. He remained silent, but his expression told to Henderson that he was right, and that he’d choose to obey if that was the choice he had.
The three of them remained silent. Henderson and Andrea were waiting for Superman to speak, and Superman was thinking about the whole situation and all the things the police inspector had said. He had a lot to think about.
The silence stretched out endlessly long, when Superman finally spoke.
“Okay.”
He spoke so softly that Henderson barely heard him, but he didn’t ask him to repeat himself, nor did he pretend not to understand which question Superman finally responded to, since it was clearly not the last one.
“Okay. So, here’s your cover story. Superman, sit down, please.”
Superman noticed for the first time that he was standing. He'd gotten to his feet earlier, when he was refusing Henderson’s proposal. He sat down again and listened to the police inspector explain what he had to say to the press.
“Since there are many criminals who can identify Andrea as a police officer, we don’t want to pretend otherwise, because if Intergang learns that she’s working for the police when we've given the media another story, they'll know we’re trying to trap them. So Andrea keeps her identity and her story. She came to Metropolis a year and half ago after having graduated from the police academy, and began to work for the central police station, under my orders, right away. Exactly as it had happened in reality. The fewer things we change, the more credible this story will seem. So we won’t change the fact that you two have encountered each other many times at rescues all over the city either. Okay, now, the part of the history that we will change: At these rescues, you noticed her, Superman. You found her attractive, you got to know each other, and then, with time, you began dating and fell in love. Then, few weeks ago, you asked her to marry you and she agreed. The story is quite simple. That's what might make it seem possible.”
Superman listened to the entire speech without interrupting Henderon. But there were still some things that needed more explanation.
“Yes, you’re right; a simple story, close to what really happened, has more chance of being believed, but there are certain details that complicate everything. First off, how could I marry her when I don’t even have papers or anything that's needed for a wedding to be legal? And then, it’ll be hard to hide that she and I aren’t living together from the press…”
Henderson was about to respond, but Andrea answered first.
“Superman, your second concern is quite simple to solve. Like Bill said, it’s better to stick close to reality on this. Everybody can know where I live, but nobody knows where you do. What if we tell the press that you’re moving into my apartment? My building will be surrounded by paparazzi who will want to take pictures of you and I, but you’re fast enough to fly without being seen, right? You can fly in at night to be seen and then go away to your own home too fast to be seen. You’ll come back without being seen in the morning, then go out of my window again for the paparazzi's benefit. A little show for the press that will convince them, hopefully, that we are living together. Do you think that’s possible?”
“Yes, I think that could work. I can actually fly fast enough to be invisible to the human eye. But there’s still the problem of my lack of papers, and lack of identity for that matter. I’m not from the US. I’m not even from Earth…”
This time it was Henderson who explained the solution.
“Superman, you’re now aware of the importance of this story for the public authorities. So don’t worry about the legal, administrative side of the plan. They’ll help us. Actually, they've already taken care of it. I already have the wedding certificate along with all the legal stuff required to prove that you two are really married if we need to do so. Don't worry, you're not legally married, but the records will say otherwise if someone check it out. I’ve spent the entire day getting that all straightened out.”
He handed one copy of the papers over to Andrea, and gave another set to Superman.
“And for you, Superman. The president himself signed that letter. He gave you the right to marry a American citizen without papers since he’s aware that you don’t have any. That's legal, by the way. You’ll can use it later if you really do want to marry someday.”
“Thanks.”
Henderson leaned back in his chair, relieved that the superhero had finally agreed to the plan. “So...Do you have any other concerns, Superman?”
“Err… no. Yes. How and when do we announce the ‘wedding’?”
“How and when you want. I think you could give a press conference. And if you don’t have any reasons to postpone it, I think maybe we should do that tomorrow. The sooner the better. We have to remember that there’s a threat against Lois Lane’s life.”
“I guess I can do that. I have an agent, Murray Brown. I’ll tell him to send the news of my wedding to all the press agencies of the world tomorrow morning, and organize a press conference at noon to introduce my ‘wife’.”
“Great. Do that. And if there’s nothing else, I think we can go home. It’s late, and Andrea and I have been up since yesterday. I don’t know about you Superman, but I think we can call it a night.”
Superman looked at the clock on the wall of the office and saw that it was 9:25 PM.
“Okay. So I go talk to Mr Brown. I’ll come by tomorrow morning to tell you where and when we've scheduled the press conference. Goodnight.”
Superman was about to open the door and leave Henderson’s office when the inspector called him back. He seemed hesitant to talk.
“Err… Superman? You do understand that no one outside of this room can know that the wedding isn’t real, don't you? Not even Lane…”
Superman looked incredulous.
“What? Inspector, come on! You know her! You know she’d keep the secret.”
“Yes, I know that. But…»
When Henderson trailed off, searching for the words he needed to explain the situation tactfully, Andrea took up the reigns, less interested in treating the superhero gently than in making him understand why he couldn’t talk to Lois.
“Superman, every single person who's ever approached Lois Lane or talked to her or even just read her stories in the Planet knows that she is crazily in love with you.”
“Even if you’re not together, “ Henderson interjected, cutting off a new denial from Superman before letting Andrea going on.
“If she’s not devesated enough, if she doesn’t react the appropriate way when she learns about your wedding, then nobody will believe the marriage is real, even if she keeps the secret.”
Superman didn’t want to let Lois suffer like that. But her safety was more important to him, and they had a point. Lois had to be completely destroyed by the news to convince Intergang… Finally, he nodded reluctantly to Henderson to indicate his consent.
God, he hated this plan! If only he had another solution to propose. He could really use a brinstorming session with Lois, except she couldn't know anything... He had to go along, he knew it, but that didn't help him to assuage his guilt about lying to the entire world. About lying to Lois.
Sighing, he said, almost to himself, "She's gonna kill me.”
That last comment, from a demoralized Superman, made Henderson smile.
“Yes. I'm sure she’ll try.”
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