I no longer have much of a buffer - I'm posting close to what I'm writing. So the next part or two may be a week apart again (I had originally hoped to keep posting on a twice a week schedule, but I don't think that's going to happen). So thank you, ahead of time, for your patience - and your continued interest in my story.
From part 19:
They opted to wait in Henderson’s office. “I want to look at those surveillance tapes again, Bill,” Lois told him. “I’m sure you’d rather we watched those in here.”
“Help yourselves to coffee – if you can stand police-issue brew,” Henderson merely said, and then stood and left the office, closing the door behind him.
“Can’t be any worse than the newsroom version at the end of the day,” Lois said.
---
The Girl Next Door, part 20:
Henderson returned about an hour later. Lois and Clark had made use of the time by taking extensive notes on the contents of Antoinete Baines’ documents and the surveillance tapes for use in their story; if all the pieces really did fall into place as they hoped, they could well be writing at least the first part of the story for the paper’s morning edition.
They both looked up expectantly when he entered the office.
“Anything?" Lois asked hopefully.
“Well, John Black is *not* talking. We’ve dealt with him before, and he’s a regular clam. But… Shortly after he was picked up, a young man showed up here at headquarters with quite a tale. He’s – get this – Black’s kid brother. He’s an airline mechanic - and the kid’s singing like crazy. He has detailed information – inside – on how the helicopter sabotage was done, and he has the name of the guy who hired his brother.”
He sat down. “Apparently, John Black brought him along on the meet and introduced him to Luthor’s man – Asabi – as a ‘technical consultant.’ The kid didn’t do the sabotage, but he provided a working diagram of a helicopter engine and described some of the ways such an engine could be tampered with. I don’t know what he thought they wanted to know all that for, but when he saw the news coverage of Baines’ crash, he panicked. Says he didn’t know anyone was going to actually use the information to sabotage a helicopter.”
He shook his head wryly. “I think he’s telling the truth. We’ve actually got the meet on surveillance camera - from a gas station across the street from the diner where they met. It picked them up entering, then leaving, although the tape quality’s pretty poor at such a distance. But after the kid brother scrammed, the other two came across the street, directly into the camera’s field of view, so we’ve got a nice, clear, pretty little shot of this Asabi and Black together.”
“Black brought him along as a consultant? So does the brother have a criminal record, too?” Lois asked.
“No; he’s clean. And yes, it was pretty sloppy of Black to have a witness like that – he must’ve thought that since the kid’s his brother he wouldn’t tell. Black knows when to clam up, but he’s not real bright. I am surprised, however, that this Asabi fellow didn’t abort the meeting.”
“Perhaps he takes his cues from Lex Luthor,” Clark said. “It seems like Luthor’s getting more… careless.”
“Well, things have been moving fast since Black was brought in… As well they should,” Henderson added dryly. “I’ve got my entire department working on various aspects of this case.”
“And Luthor?” Lois asked.
“Lex Luthor is under arrest. My guys picked him up without incident at his residence. And because the man is so high profile, we got an unprecedented rush on the preliminary legalities - we processed him through night court. Because of the magnitude of his resources and the flight risk, as well as the sheer number of charges, the judge is denying bail.”
Lois looked at Clark. They’d done it - “We’ve got him, Clark!”
He smiled at her. “ ‘Who’s come to slay the dragon - come to watch him fall? Making arrows out of pointed words…’ ”
She smiled, recognizing the lines he was quoting.
“Dragon?” Henderson repeated, quirking an eyebrow. “An apt description.”
He leaned back in his chair. “My men also picked up the manservant, Asabi. He’s talking, too. I’m guessing he’ll get some sort of plea deal if he cooperates - and he knows it. He’s giving us dates, and times, and names. More than we ever suspected, as a matter of fact – stuff entirely unrelated to the space program. It turns out Luthor is probably the biggest crime boss in the city. This guy Asabi’s list includes corporate espionage, insider trading, and other illegal forced takeover tactics, and also money laundering, arms trafficking, and a couple of unsolved homicides.” He shook his head wryly. “If even half the stuff is true… Well, even in my wildest dreams I didn’t suspect quite this level of criminality.”
He stood up, offering Lois his hand across the desk. As she stood and shook his hand, he said, “Thanks, Lane. Good job.” His mouth quirking into a half smile, he added, “I’ll look forward to a series of articles, shall I? And possibly still another journalism award, too?”
She laughed as he turned toward Clark, who had also risen to his feet. As the two men shook hands, Henderson said, “And thank you, too, Kent. This guy’s somebody we’ve been after for a long time.”
“Our pleasure, Bill,” Clark replied, smiling. “We’re just as happy about this as you are.”
“Thanks for including us in the Baines thing, Henderson,” Lois said with a grin. “And who knows? Maybe we’ll see you at the Kerth awards this year.”
“Get outta here, Lane. Go write your story. I’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
She gave him a mock salute as she and Clark left the office. She glanced back through the door in time to see Henderson shake his head with a smile. “Lois Lane, dragonslayer. I like that,” she heard him murmur.
With a soft chuckle, Clark leaned toward her and whispered, “Dragonslayer Lane… think it’ll catch on at the office?”
She laughed, tucking her hand into his bent arm and bumping against him affectionately. “Well, the mental picture sure beats that of Mad Dog’s.”
“C’mon, then, Dragonslayer.” He patted her hand with his free one, and gestured toward the door. “Ready to write?”
“Lead on,” she told him cheerfully.
It wasn’t until they were settled in the cab, careening through the streets of Metropolis in true downtown-cabbie-style that she realized neither she nor Clark had felt uncomfortable with those few minutes of physical closeness as they’d exited the police station.
They must be getting the hang of this whole sibling thing.
-----
They returned to the Daily Planet first.
When Lois called Perry at home to tell him about Luthor’s arrest, he assured her that he’d be back at the Planet, ready and waiting, when they finished the story.
Lois also called Jimmy and asked him to meet them there, and the three of them spent some time going over the information Lois and Clark planned to put into the first article. Jimmy would also do a sidebar about the space program and the shuttle, in addition to having his name on the main story as a ‘special contributor.’
So it was almost midnight when Lois and Clark finally returned to Clark’s place. They’d decided to finish the story there, as they both agreed his place was more comfortable.
They’d left Jimmy writing busily. He would turn his work in directly to Perry, who was standing by now, holding one of the presses. Lois knew he would spend at least the next hour or two shuffling stories around to make room for theirs on the front page. It didn’t happen often, but he’d done it before in order to break a big story in the Daily Planet’s morning edition.
By the time they had the story written to their satisfaction, another hour had passed.
Finally, Lois stood and stretched, yawning widely. She’d just sent the story to Perry; now she closed down Clark’s email program and turned off his computer.
She was happy that this story was over – Luthor deserved whatever he got, and Bill Henderson had assured them that they had enough charges that he wouldn’t be able to escape punishment.
Perry had already told them to take the morning off; considering the lateness of the hour, it was nice to know she didn’t have to hurry home so she could get at least a couple hours of sleep.
She glanced at Clark, puttering around his kitchen. Did she look as tired as he did? With the story finished, there wasn’t the distraction of work anymore. For a few hours, she’d even forgotten about… that… for a while.
But she didn’t want to leave yet. Maybe they could talk for a while…
“Clark?” He was putting the finishing touches on two cups of hot chocolate.
He glanced her way with a small smile. “What?”
“Where did you go - you know, the nights we were working on those notes of Dr. Platt’s? …And on that Friday night?”
He brought the two mugs into the living room, handed one to her, and sat down a respectable distance away from her, at the other end of the couch. “I heard things – people who needed help. That first night, it was a mugging. It was close by your place. I... Well, it was an elderly woman; I needed to go help. I was lucky, though – I didn’t need to think up some flimsy excuse. You were nervous having me there, although you hid it well…”
She didn’t argue the point; after all, he was perfectly correct. She *had* been nervous, and she’d suspected, when she’d thought back on that night, that he had known it. Curiously, she asked, “Weren’t you afraid you’d be exposed?”
He shrugged. “It’s always been a tightrope for me, everywhere I’ve been. In this case, I landed in an alley just behind them, and moved up on them as if I’d been out walking – basically, I looked like any old Good Samaritan.”
She laughed a little, and he smiled back before continuing.
“It was the same sort of thing with the next night we were working together. A car accident; that was a bit trickier. I couldn’t do much – I sort of… *helped* a mashed-in door… *fall off* its hinges, and I helped get the children out. Fortunately, there were only minor injuries - but I always worry about… you know, fire… an exploding gas tank… something that will require me to do something… obvious…”
“It’s different now that you’ve got the suit, though…” Lois observed. “You’re more comfortable with Superman’s role now, aren’t you? Now that you know the disguise works okay?”
“Yeah… I’m still getting used to it. It’s getting easier to remember to hold myself straighter, and to speak more formally and in a deeper voice… I’m finally not worrying every single moment that someone’s going to recognize me. Instead…”
He paused, and she glanced over at him enquiringly. “Instead…?”
He flashed his brilliant smile at her. “Instead, I only worry every *other* moment that someone will recognize me.”
She laughed, as he’d obviously intended her to do.
---
For a while, they both sat and sipped hot chocolate. Clark had turned on the TV to LNN, with the volume turned low. Neither of them was really watching it; instead, both were immersed in their own thoughts.
Gradually, though, Lois began to feel restless. She didn’t want to leave, but she was very… aware of Clark. No matter what she tried to tell herself, it was… hard to force herself to ignore how… *attractive* he was. When she was relaxed like this, thinking her own thoughts as he lolled at the other end of the couch, thinking *his* own thoughts, she found it harder to tune out his heartbeat, his breathing… and she was afraid she’d accidentally stray into that mental off-limits area concerning him.
Edgily, she rose to her feet and wandered aimlessly around while Clark, who had also risen to his feet, took their empty mugs into the kitchen. Focusing on his movements as he washed the mugs and put them away, she found herself in front of the globe.
She studied it. It was just a plain, featureless little silver globe. Nothing striking about it. Nothing to indicate that this little globe had sent all their hopes crashing down around them only a few days ago.
She picked it up, moving slowly back toward the couch with it cradled in her hands. It wasn’t really very heavy, either. So small, and so light – yet it had managed to destroy her whole world.
The globe began to glow.
She started to turn, intending to put it back, but more quickly than last time, the ghostly man appeared.
She couldn’t remember if he’d started to speak immediately upon appearing last time, but this time, he seemed to be waiting – like before, almost as if he could see them. He turned to face Clark, who was just now slowly leaving the kitchen and moving toward her.
She looked away from the image, up into Clark’s face, as he joined her. His expression was grim, and he said softly, “I don’t know if I want to hear this again…”
She nodded, but before she could say anything, the man turned fully toward Clark. Raising one hand, palm upward, he brought it up to touch his chest over his heart. “Greetings, my son.”
The globe wobbled in Lois’s grip and she sat down abruptly on the edge of the couch. Clark instantly sat down next to her and placed his hand under hers, helping her to hold it. With the globe held steady, the image appeared to be standing in front of them, in the middle of Clark’s living room. It – the man - continued, “I speak to you from the doomed planet Krypton.”
With a small, formal bow, the man turned toward Lois; again, he seemed to be looking directly at her. Repeating the upraised-hand-to-heart gesture, he said, “Greetings, my daughter.”
She didn’t even realize that she’d leaned against Clark, although she was dimly aware that his free arm had come around her shoulders as if to steady her in the same manner his hand helped steady the globe. All she was really aware of was that he was a solid presence, a rock she might have to cling to when this man – this now-flickering image – once again had his say.
The figure stabilized. The man spread his hands, appearing to look at each of them in turn, and continued, “If you are seeing this message, it means you have found one another –“
He bowed low, then turned and beckoned at a spot beyond them, off to their left into a distance only he could see. As they watched, a young woman, clothed in a long, exquisitely embroidered gown, moved into view beside the man. Like him, she wore a metallic circlet around her forehead.
She smiled at each of them in turn, and finished the man’s sentence. “…And are ready to fulfill your destiny.”
Clark glanced at Lois, and the pressure of his hand under hers lessened slightly. The globe clicked, and the images flickered. Clark again brought his hand up firmly under Lois’s, and the images brightened again.
Lois spared Clark a quick glance. “Do you think it needs both of us?” she whispered. Before he could answer, the man spoke again.
Once again, the man turned to face Clark fully, as if the recording really was somehow attuned to him. “I am Jor-El, of the House of El,” the man said, and his voice acquired a more formal tone. “You, my son, are Kal-El, son of Jor-El, prince of the House of El.”
As Lois and Clark gazed at the figures, the man’s formal demeanor seemed to falter slightly. “You, Kal-El, are the culmination of a long and illustrious line of a most noble family - reaching back to the great Val-El, who set our glorious civilization in motion. Your mother and I –“ He drew the woman beside him closer for a moment, and then continued - “…have sent you forth to the distant planet Earth, of the yellow sun, in order to save your life. Our planet, once-sound and once-enduring Krypton, is disintegrating around us. Our cities are in ruins; our citizens are dying. Within hours, our once-great planet will implode. Your mother, Lara, and I have determined that you will live, and one day accomplish great things.”
He turned toward Lois, who was trembling in Clark’s half-embrace, and struggling to hold the globe steady. Only Clark’s hand, firm under hers, felt real. This man… was Clark’s father. And hers. And the woman was…
The man’s voice continued, breaking her train of thought. “You, my daughter, are Zara Than-Ar, daughter of Than-Ar and princess of the House of Ar. For years, our two houses, both of whom have produced great leaders of our civilization for generation upon generation, dreamed of a match between them. A match to unite the Houses of El and Ar. You, my daughter, were given in betrothal to Kal-El upon your birth. Accordingly, you became my daughter, and the right to wear the crest and the colors of the House of El were bestowed upon you. The great sculptor Jhan-Ar himself, brother to your father, gifted you with marriage bracelets of unparalleled craftsmanship; incorporating the seal of the House of El and the seal of the House of Ar within the Unending Circle.”
As Lois and Clark gaped at the man – Jor-El – he continued. His formal manner had definitely decreased, and his voice suddenly seemed to falter. “Even the mighty House of El is useless now. My children, you were sent away from Krypton in the planet’s very dying day. We shall not be able to save ourselves; the task is too great and the time is too short. We have modified two small exploratory ships to carry you both to safety. We pray that our God, Rao, will protect you.” His voice strengthened again, and was filled with resolve once more. He drew the woman – Lara – now softly weeping, firmly against his side. “Rokyn dau amzeto orutoo Laraa Bythgar El,” he said softly, and embraced her. Then he turned to them and continued, “Your mother inscribed a blessing on your ship, Kal-El, and on that of your betrothed: Rokyn dau flezur amzeto orutoo Kal-El. Rokyn dau flyzar amzeto orutoo Zara El. May you live long, children of Rao.”
The images faded, and once more the globe was dark.
For a breathless moment, it felt like the whole world stopped.
Then Lois drew in a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, and shifted to look up into his face. “Oh! Clark - did you hear? We’re… he said we’re *not*… You’re *not* my brother! We’re… It’s –“
Whatever she’d intended to say was cut off when he rose abruptly, took the globe from her and dropped it on the couch, and pulled her to her feet. “I heard.” His voice was low and rough, sending shivers over her scalp and down her spine. “And I don’t want to talk right now.” He drew her into his arms as he spoke, cupping the back of her head with one hand, fingers tunneling into her hair. His voice was almost a whisper as he finished, “I just want to...”
His lips came down on hers. Tenderly, softly – but this was no fleeting brushing of mouths. And everything she’d ever read or heard about it paled in comparison to the real thing.
Sensation rocketed through her, a delicious shiver cascading over her scalp and down her spine. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She gasped, and as her lips parted he gently deepened the kiss, arms tightening around her.
She’d never been kissed at all, much less like this, but it felt… Oh! Like… hot chocolate, and… and *Clark*, and… flying, and Mama’s laughter, and… every single moment of happiness she’d ever, ever experienced, but all happening at once.
She responded without reserve, giving him full access to her mouth – and her soul. “Oh, Lois!” he whispered, lifting his mouth from hers for an eternity as he swept her up in his arms and sat down, cradling her in his lap. “I… need you closer.” He kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, her jaw, and then returned with a groan to her mouth.
Without conscious thought, her hands were exploring his shoulders and arms, fingers tunneling into his hair. She was trembling in his arms, awash in sensation. She thought dimly that they might be floating, but maybe it just felt that way.
He raised his mouth from hers again, resting his forehead against hers as they both fought to catch their breaths. When his hands came up to gently cup her face, she opened her eyes and gazed straight into his soul. “I love you, Lois,” he said softly, solemnly. “With all my heart. I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you.”
“And I love you,” she whispered, recognizing it at last. She loved him – had loved him before she had known who he was. Somehow, they’d managed to find each other, as Jor-El had said. Somehow, they’d found their way, reached that state of grace.
She kissed him, and he kissed her back with love. And knowing he loved her, what she’d felt before was a pale shadow of what she felt now.
---
A long, long time later, Lois lifted her head from his chest to look up at him. “Clark?”
He kissed her gently. “Hmmm?” he murmured, and began placing small kisses along her jaw.
“You never did tell me about that Friday, you know…” She shivered. It was hard to think when he did that. “Where… mmmm… did you go?’
He chuckled, and she felt it rumble through his body where she lay against him.
“Do you remember the morning both Jimmy and I came in wet and muddy during that rainstorm?” he asked with a smile.
“Um… Are you telling me you *weren’t* the victim of a drive-by splashing?”
This time he laughed outright. “Nope. It was another rescue. I kind of messed up my suit; I could have kissed you –“ He paused. “I’ll do it now,” he whispered, and then did it so well that she whimpered when he stopped. “Where was I?” he asked dazedly.
“Uh. You kissed me…” she managed to say fairly coherently.
“Oh, yeah. I could have kissed you when you gave me that out by badgering Jimmy…”
She began to sit up, but his arms tightened around her. She had to make do with propping herself up on his chest. “Badgering?! I was *not* badgering! I was merely… offering sound advice,” she said primly.
“I’ll stick with badgering,” he teased her, and as she opened her mouth to argue he swooped in and kissed her again.
It was quite some time before they resumed the conversation.
“So… about the rainstorm? And where you went that Friday?” she finally reminded him.
“Ah, yes… Well, we went down to the lockers. I was lucky – one application of freezing breath, and I was able to remove most of the mud. But your comment about a change of clothes stuck with me. I thought and thought about it…”
He shifted, settling them more comfortably into the cushions, and continued. “The one thing that kept me moving, during those years after college, was my fear of discovery. When I met you, I knew I was done traveling. I also knew, however, that it would be hard to conceal my abilities if someone was in need, and it would be impossible to ignore a cry for help. It was a frustrating dilemma.”
He smiled at her. “But what you’d said – a change of clothes – made me wonder if I could adopt some kind of… disguise. So I talked to my mom; I was originally thinking of a mask, you know. But she made a comment about unmasking and I started to wonder – if I left my face bare – no mask, no glasses - changed my hair, stuff like that…”
“If it would be enough to keep Clark Kent secret?” she asked as he trailed off. When he nodded, she continued, “Because no one would think the brightly dressed flying man could be some regular guy with a job and bills and stuff?”
He laughed. “Yep.”
“So that Friday…” she prompted.
He obligingly continued. “…So that Friday, I went home for dinner - and a costume fitting. It took a while, but we finally came up with the… with Superman’s suit. It kind of all came together when Mom brought out the stuff she’d saved. She said the… I guess we need to call them the family colors, huh? Anyway, she said the bright colors, the cape, and my actual abilities would distract people enough that they might not focus a lot on my face…”
“Oh, definitely,” Lois said, not bothering to suppress her grin. “I suspect that *very* few women looked at your face for very long at all…”
Even after the fairly intense… activities of the past several hours, he still blushed and squirmed, which threatened to dislodge her from her position. Laughing, she levitated slightly and then resettled against him as he tugged her back down.
“And…” Her voice caught as he threaded his fingers into her hair and cradled the back of her head in his hand. “…The final touch was…” He began to kiss her gently, and she moaned softly. “…When she added the ‘S’ to the chest?” It was hard to concentrate, but she managed to finish the question.
“Hmmmm?” he murmured. In the same moment, he shifted so that she was partly under him, and began to kiss her in earnest.
She forgot her question, forgot the whole conversation, forgot everything except Clark and the feel of his lips on hers, and the sensations he was invoking in her.
---
To (still) be continued...
