Sorry it took me so long to post the next part. I was waiting for my beta to catch up - I had overwhelmed her with new parts.
Table of Contents Thanks again for your comments and feedback they are really appreciated. If you need a quick recap - There are kidnappings happening and Superman is being blamed. Lois and Clark found a lump in her breast that they are going to have checked out before they decide to try having another baby. The leader of the SHARP organization was released on an early parole. And Aaron and the Leader have begun implanting subliminal messages into their test subjects - the subjects will hate Superman.
FROM PART 3: Aaron looked skeptically at the Superman outfit he had rented from a costume shop. He didn't have what it took to fill the thing out, but that didn't really matter. All that mattered was that the girl thought she was seeing Superman. The room would be dimly lit, so she wouldn't be able to see him too well. It should suit their purposes fine. They had to get this testing finished up and get her back to her parents, but they also had to know it was going to work. It was time for Superman to see himself as someone's nightmare rather than a hero.
PART 4: **********
Lois led a reluctant Clark up to the front door of the Scott home. She knew this was going to be hard for him. She had told him he could wait in the Jeep and she'd do the interview by herself, but he'd said it was something he needed to do. She reached over and rang the doorbell.
A young woman, close to Lois’ own age, opened the door. She wiped tears from her face and smoothed the loose hairs of her auburn-colored ponytail out of her face.
"Mrs. Scott? Lois Lane and Clark Kent with the Daily Planet. I talked to you earlier on the phone," Lois introduced them.
Without saying anything, she waved them to come inside. Lois walked inside the house, Clark following behind her, and they sat down on the couch that Mrs. Scott had pointed to.
"I'm sorry my husband isn't here right now. He's out taking care of a few things and talking with our lawyer, just in case we get a ransom note."
Lois wasn't quite sure what to say. So, she started with condolences. "Mrs. Scott, first, let me say how sorry I am about Matthew. I’m the one who wrote the story of his rescue by Superman yesterday. The news of his abduction last night came as a shock to us," Lois said, gesturing at herself and Clark.
Mrs. Scott was shaking her head. "Thank you. It came as a shock to us too, at first. I mean we had seen the news yesterday about the other child who had been kidnapped, and how Superman had been blamed for the action, but didn't really give it a second thought until it happened to us."
"Mrs. Scott," Lois began.
"Please, call me Trisha."
"Okay, Trisha. Did you notice anyone who might have seemed out of place at the park yesterday?"
"You mean other than Superman?" she asked. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't."
"What about on your way back home? Did you happen to notice anyone who seemed to be following you, or anyone in your neighborhood that you didn't recognize?"
"No, I'm afraid after all the excitement at the park we were just happy to get back home. I wasn't paying much attention to anything but my son."
"So, last night, when..." Lois paused, finding her own questions difficult to ask. "When Matthew was taken, you didn't hear anything, or see anything?"
"No, and that was the really scary part. We were both still up when it happened. After we put Matthew to bed, Dale and I stayed up for a while, talking. We heard the floorboards squeak and knew that Matthew had gotten out of bed. He gets up at least one more time after going to bed to get a drink or go to the bathroom. So, we didn't think very much about it, until we heard him come back to his room and then immediately go back out into the hallway. Dale got up to check on him and get him back to bed. Matthew told him he just had to do one more thing. When we didn't hear him come back to bed, Dale went looking for him and couldn't find him. We both got up and searched the house from top to bottom, but all we found was the note on his bed from the kidnapper." Trisha broke off, unable to continue. Lois got up to walk over to her and Trisha held up her hand.
"No, I'm fine," she told Lois, regaining her composure. "The reason I agreed to see you today is because I want to ask a favor of you."
"A favor?" Lois asked, returning to the couch.
"Yes. I'm sure that you and Mr. Kent will write up this story in your continuing coverage of the kidnappings, and I want you to include something in your article, please. I want to you to tell Superman that we can't accept any more help from him with this. He saved our son's life and, for that, we're grateful, but I...we don't want his help this time. Tell him for our sake, for Matthew's sake, to please stay away. The note said not to accept any further help from Superman or our son's safety could not be guaranteed. We still don't know what the kidnapper wants. We have hope that somehow we'll get our son back unharmed, but that may not be the case if Superman gets involved."
Lois started to say something, but it was at this point that Clark finally became animated.
"Mrs. Scott, we can sympathize with how you are feeling," he told her. "We have a daughter of our own. But your son's safety can't be guaranteed anyway, even if Superman doesn't get involved. You aren't dealing with a rational individual, and this person isn't to be trusted. Superman can only help matters by assisting the police in their investigation."
"No!" Trisha shouted, emphatically, and then she continued in a softer tone, "No, please, we don't want his help. If you see him, please tell him that. I know he only wants to help, but we just can't take that risk. Please, tell him, I'm begging him, just let us handle this ourselves."
On that final plea, Lois stood up and picked up her purse and bag, signaling that the interview was over and they would be on their way.
"Trisha, we will respect your wishes," Lois assured her. "I don't know if what you're asking will actually make it into our article, but if we *see* Superman, we will pass your request on to him."
Lois made her way towards the front door. She didn't think putting that kind of a plea in their article would be a good idea. All that would do is push people into a mass panic, making them afraid to accept help from Superman. But she didn't need to explain that to Trisha.
Clark got up and quietly followed her to the door. When she heard him stop, she turned around and watched as he put his hand on Trisha's shoulder.
"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Scott. We are deeply sorry about what has happened to Matthew, and I know Superman is also. If we find out anything else, we'll let you know," Clark told her, earnestly.
Watching him hurting, Lois felt tears come to her eyes. It wasn't fair, what this fanatic was doing to Clark. Clark was such a special person. He did everything in his power to help wherever he could. That was his gift to the world, and now that gift was being refused, rejected, and returned unwanted. That thought broke her heart. She knew right then that she would find this person and stop them if it took the rest of her life to do it.
**********
Aaron peered over the roof watching as the woman buckled her son into his seat belt and walked around to the other side of the car to get in. The boy was almost too old to be an effective subject, he'd been held him back from starting kindergarten, but in this case it worked to Aaron's advantage. He would be old enough and big enough to follow Aaron's commands.
Okay, it was time. He pulled out a cell phone and made a call to the Tiny Tykes Daycare Center. A high-pitched, cheerful girl answered the phone.
"Tiny Tykes. May I help you?"
"Yes, I have an urgent message for a Melinda Nelson. Is she there?" he said, trying to sound impatient and important.
"Well, actually, she's just leaving. Let me see if I can get her for you."
Aaron watched from up above as the young woman came running out the door, waving her hands at Melinda. The mother, who had already started her car, turned her car off, got out, and walked up to the younger woman. They both headed back towards the building. It was now or never. He trained the machine on the boy and spoke into the microphone.
"Jeffrey Nelson, can you hear me? If you can hear me, I want you to unbuckle your seat belt and climb into your mommy's seat, okay?" He watched as Jeffrey obeyed his command.
"Jeffrey, are the keys still in the ignition? If they are, wave your hand at the window." Aaron watched and saw the small hand waving.
"Okay, Jeffrey, I want you to find the button on the door that your mommy locks the doors with. Push that button down to lock the doors. Now, try opening the door to make sure it’s locked." Aaron watched, no doors opened so he continued, "Jeffrey grab the key in the ignition and turn it. Just put your hand on it and twist it forward. Good boy. We're going to drive the car. It'll be so much fun. I need you to scoot forward on the seat; now, reach real hard with your foot down to the brake pedal and push it in. There are two pedals on the floor. It is the bigger one closest to the door. Keep your foot on it. Now, grab the stick your mommy drives with, it's the one by the steering wheel. Okay, pull it back and then down until you can't move it any further."
If Jeffrey followed Aaron's instructions, that would put the car into first gear, but it didn't matter, he only needed Jeffrey to go fast enough to frighten his mother.
"Okay, Jeffrey, now take your foot off the brake pedal and put your foot slowly down on the other pedal," Aaron told him, his hands getting sweaty. It worked. The boy had followed his instructions perfectly. The car was creeping forwards.
"I need you to listen closely to what I say, Jeffrey. Don't push the pedal too hard. Just keep your foot where it's at on the pedal. I'm going to tell you when to turn the steering wheel."
At this point, the mother had come back out the door and could see what was happening. He had to act quickly.
"Jeffrey, quickly push down hard on the pedal," Aaron commanded. The boy did so and the car lurched forward. "Okay, now pull your foot back just a little bit. There...keep your foot right there. Turn the wheel just a little bit left, towards the door next to you...there, hold it still. Good, you are doing so well."
Aaron looked around the large, vacant parking lot from his vantage point on the roof. It was an interesting set up. It actually encircled the adjoined buildings it provided access to. The day care shared the lot with a night club - strangely enough - an insurance office, and a lawyer's office, to name a few. There were a few cars parked here and there, but with Aaron guiding him, Jeffrey wouldn't hit any of them. He wouldn't be in any actual danger, but his mother wouldn't know that. Aaron would have him drive around the circle lot as many times as it took to give a certain superhero time to arrive.
The mother was now frantic, screaming for help. She ran after the car managing to catch it and get along side it. Aaron watched as she reached for the door handle. A valiant effort on her part, but it didn’t matter, though, since the doors were locked. Once *she* realized that, it would probably just make her scream even harder. He smiled to himself. Superman would be here in no time.
**********
Clark pulled a chair out for Lois, and she sat down. Admiral Whalen was there already, waiting for them. Clark took his seat as Lois began questioning the retired Admiral.
"Were you able to get anyone to talk about what was stolen at the base?" Lois asked, her eyes bright and hopeful.
"Now, wait just a minute here, we haven't even broken out the games yet," the Admiral replied to her inquiry. It seemed that he wasn't quite ready to start talking yet. Lois was going to have to earn her interview. Clark couldn't help but smile. The smile earned him a playful smack on the arm from Lois.
"Admiral," Lois began.
"Relax. I'm just messin' with you. I mean I'd love it if you had time to play a couple with me, but I talked to Perry earlier today and he told me how busy the two of you were going to be. So, let's order some food, and we can cut to the chase, so to speak," the Admiral replied, picking up a menu and glancing through it.
Clark decided to do the same thing. He picked up a menu, letting it fall open in his hand. The page it opened to was the breakfast menu. A stray memory sparked into his mind. It was of him going to Lois’ apartment all those years ago to tell her that he was Superman. She had asked him where they were going to go for breakfast that morning. He'd told her they should try Callard's. Jacen Mazik had prevented them from making that breakfast.
But, in reality, if things had gone according to plan, he wasn't really sure they would have made it to breakfast anyway. He had planned to tell her about his secret in the privacy of her apartment. What would have happened after that was anyone's guess, and he would never know how it might have turned out.
He looked around at the restaurant. No, they hadn't made it for breakfast that morning, but they'd eaten here several times since then. The food was really good, and the atmosphere was nice, especially out on the patio.
Clark was looking around at the outside decor when his super hearing zeroed in on a call for help. 'Help! Someone help...the car...my little boy!'
He was amazed to discover that he felt hesitant to run off and help. Would this person suffer the same as the others had if Superman decided to help? That thought took just a fraction of a second to happen, and then he heard the call again. He shook his head resignedly. He couldn't just ignore it; he couldn't. He grabbed Lois’ hand under the table, and, when she looked at him, he pointed to his ear and gave her a look. She got the message.
"Oh, Clark!? Oh, my gosh. I left my...favorite pen out in the car. I just can't concentrate on this interview if I don't have that pen. Could you get it for me, please?"
"Uh...sure, Lois," Clark stammered out, trying his best not to smile in spite of himself. That had to have been one of the funnier excuses he'd heard her come up with lately. But he was glad to have the help. He dashed off at the fastest human speed possible, looking for a place to make a quick change as he went.
**********
"Help! Someone stop that car...my son is inside!" Clark honed in on the frantic mother's voice and spotted the car driving through a parking lot, dodging cars, with a woman running behind it. Clark did a double take. Was the car being driven by a child?
Superman flew behind the car and gently pulled on the bumper until the car came to a stop. He let go of the bumper, cautiously, but the car didn't begin moving again. The mother, who had been chasing alongside the car, rushed to the driver side door and began banging on it. Clark was about to pry the door open for her with a little force when he heard the door locks click. The mother threw the door open, reaching in and pulling out her son.
"Oh, Jeffrey! What did you think you were doing?" she asked him, anxiously. "Oh, my god. You could have wrecked and been hurt, or worse!" she continued as she repeatedly planted kisses on both of his cheeks. Superman walked around the car and up to the reunited mother and son.
"What happened, Jeffrey?" he asked the boy.
The mother seemed to notice, for the first time, that Superman was even standing there. She first smiled warmly at him, but then her demeanor changed. It was a subtle change, but it seemed to Clark that her smile started to *drop* and the hand she had simultaneously extended, had also dropped. She looked around, nervously.
"Um, thank you, Superman," she managed finally. Her voice sounded very faint, the words weak. She had obviously watched the news today about the other kidnapping. She opened her mouth again, as if to say more, but her son interrupted her.
"I don't know," Jeffrey said simply. "A man told me to drive the car. He told me what to do and when to turn the wheel. He told me it would be fun," he explained, sounding a little confused.
"What man?" the mother asked, turning her attention back to her son. "Did someone get in the car with you?"
Clark was almost afraid to hear his answer.
"No. I just *heard* him. I heard a voice. It told me what to do," the boy replied.
Clark grimaced. Just like Matthew.
"Jeffrey," Superman began, but the mother broke in before he could continue.
"Superman, I don't want you to take this the wrong way. I am grateful that you saved my son but, please, just go. I can handle it from here. I don't need any more help. Please, just let me take care of this myself," she said as she began walking back towards the daycare center.
It seemed to Clark that she was literally trying to distance herself. He had struck out again in the helping out department. This was beginning to get old. He didn't know what to say and didn't think there was anything he *could* say that would change her mind. So, he nodded his head at her sadly and took to flight. He needed to do some looking around.
**********
Clark looked at his watch again as he waited to be admitted to see Clarice. He was ready to get this day over with. The interview with Mrs. Scott that morning had been very difficult. It had broken Clark's heart and almost his spirit to hear her say that she and her husband understood Superman wanted to help, but they didn't want it. He did want to help. Isn't that what he had always said? That he felt he had these powers for a reason, and the one reason he could think of was to help? But, now, someone was using that against him, making people afraid to accept his help or to ask him for help.
Clark thought back to his rescue earlier that day. The mother had seemed almost afraid to thank him for his help. That was another bizarre rescue. The little boy, Jeffrey, had said he had been *told* to drive the car, just like Matthew had been *told* he could fly. But after Lois had told him about her conversation with Whalen, everything had started to make sense.
After leaving the daycare center, scanning the area for anything suspicious and coming up empty-handed, he had gone back to meet up with Lois. Rather than try to explain his extended absence to the General, he had called Lois on her cell phone and told her he'd meet her at the Jeep. Clark was again reminded of how nice it was for someone else to be in on his secret. Thanks to Lois’ quick thinking the Admiral had just thought Clark had been called away on a story.
Lois had met up with Clark at the Jeep, and, on their way to her doctor's office, they had discussed her lunch interview. Apparently, it had been quite a feat for the Admiral to find out anything useful for them on the break-in at Fort Truman, but after a few favors, he had finally found out what was taken.
It seemed that after the incident with 'John Doe' a couple of years back and the subliminal techniques he had used on the country, the government had gotten involved in experimenting with subliminal suggestion. They had actually created a prototype piece of equipment that could plant subliminal messages into a person on a one-on-one basis. Nothing as powerful as the *subliminator* Tempus had used, since this one basically worked on one person at a time, but definitely a step in that direction. Its signal didn't reach very far either. The subject had to be within fifty feet of the device; and to reach the target you had to know their name.
Lois had decided someone must be staging these accidents, and he had agreed with her. Someone had told Matthew to climb the fort and that he could fly. And someone had told Jeffrey to start the car and drive it. The kids both said they had heard a voice in their head tell them to do it. It had to be that someone was choosing these kids and then planting these subliminal thoughts in their head.
At first, he had wondered, why? But then he had realized it was possible that the person doing this *was* the kidnapper. He could be creating the accident, watching Superman clean up his handiwork, and then be the one kidnapping the kid later, leaving the note. It made sense, but, if so, who was the kidnapper?
Lois had called Inspector Henderson to report their findings to him and to see if he could call the Tiny Tykes daycare center to get the phone number for Jeffrey's mother. Someone needed to warn her that Jeffrey might be in danger. Henderson had said he would try to get in contact with the mother.
"Mr. Kent?" a voice cut through his thoughts. He looked up and saw an attractive young woman in uniform standing in the doorway, holding the door open. "Mr. Kent, if you'll follow me, I'll take you to the visiting room now."
Clark followed the officer into the room and took a seat. Another lady officer gruffly pushed an irritated looking Clarice into the room.
"You've got ten minutes," the second officer sternly informed him, a frown plastered on her face.
"Thank you," he told her.
"What do you want?" Clarice spat at him.
"I want to talk to you about the leader of SHARP."
"I don't have anything to say to you. It's thanks to your investigative reporting that I'm here in the first place. You’re a friend of Superman, and so you're no friend of mine. I'm willing to admit I may have gone too far in my crusade against Superman, but my feelings haven't changed. The Constitution gives us both the right to free speech. You can report what you want and I can protest Superman’s existence."
The last words stung Clark a little, but they didn't surprise him. He had already known how she felt.
"Clarice, there are children involved this time," he said, trying to gauge her reaction.
He and Lois still hadn't been able to make a real connection between SHARP and the kidnappings, but Lois said her instincts were screaming that they were involved.
"I'm willing to put aside our differences," he explained, "to see if we can help them. Is SHARP involved in kidnapping these kids?"
"Hah. I'd be worried about my own kid if I were you," she said, caustically.
Clark was instantly angry. He rose out of his chair and loomed over her menacingly.
"What do you mean?" he asked her sharply. This change in behavior caught Clarice by surprise and cowed her slightly.
"Look, *I'm* not going to hurt her, if that's what you're thinking. I don't even know for sure what they've got planned. Listen, I love kids as much as the next person, and I don't agree with what the Leader is doing. You have to believe me when I say that I'm not involved. I cut my ties with him after he used me and let me take the fall with him for SHARP's criminal activities," she explained.
Clark looked at her doubtfully, and she continued. "We've kept in touch through a guy that works for him, Aaron, oh what's his last name...? Henderson? But Aaron didn't have much use for me after I told him I didn't want to be any part of kidnapping kids. Which is why the *Great Leader*," she said the title sarcastically, "is out, and I'm still in here. That's all I know and all I would tell you anyway, so don't ask for more."
Clark felt a wash of feelings come over him: relief, anger, fear. So SHARP was involved in the kidnappings like Lois had suspected. But what was their plan? What were they going to do with the kids, and, more importantly, were they going to try and kidnap Laura?
**********
To Be Continued...
