Okay, I'm back from the wedding. Thank you all for the fdk and for waiting patiently. Here's part 5!!!
Table of Contents From Part 4:
And that was that. Lois Lane, intrepid reporter, is back on the hunt, in search of her next great story. I grimace inwardly. Great, I get to put off my confession, yet again. I wanted so badly to come clean with her tonight. It would only get harder the longer I wait.
“Sure. Have a good *interview*,” I say emphasizing the last word. I give her a soft smile to let her know I mean well.
“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow at the Planet.”
“Yeah.” I watch her drive off with *him* and feel the slight stirrings of jealousy. Clark, you are a doomed man.
**********
PART FIVE:
Chad is nowhere to be found when I get back home. I see a note taped to the fridge. It reads: Gone out, Cat called! – Chad. I smile. Well, good for him, I guess. It’s just as well - I don’t feel like talking to him right now anyway. I glance at the phone sitting on the table by the couch. Truth be told, I don’t feel like talking to anyone, but I promised Lana I’d call her tonight.
‘Is she really the one?’ I hear the question in my mind.
I dial her number and then hang up before it can ring.
‘Is she really the one?’
I set the phone down on the table and lower my head into my hands. I’m startled when the phone begins to ring.
“Hello?”
“Clark?”
“Lana? I was just about to call you,” I lie to her, feeling the worst guilt I’ve ever felt in my life.
“Looks like I beat you to the punch. I miss you. It sounds like I’m going to have to miss you even longer. Your parents told me that you’re planning to stay up there a few more days. Why?”
She really has to ask me? Does she really know so little about who I really am?
“Because I have to see what I can do to help. That shuttle was sabotaged, Lana, I’m sure of it. If Lois and I can just find some solid proof of that, we can keep it from happening again. We don’t have much time. The colonist launch is scheduled to go up in less than a week.”
“Lois? Who is Lois?”
Another stab of guilt. “A reporter who works for the Daily Planet. I met her at a function I attended with Chad and she’s the one who’s been working on the possibility of the shuttle having been sabotaged.”
There is silence on the phone for a bit.
“Well, that would explain why I haven’t heard from you yet,” Lana says softly.
The stab travels deeper, hurts more. “What do you mean?”
“Well obviously you’re getting all the female attention you need from this Lois woman. You don’t need to talk to me.”
“That’s not true, Lana.” Is that another lie?
“No? Then prove it. Leave. Right now. Come home to *me*. This isn’t your fight. You don’t live in Metropolis. These aren’t your friends. You have people here that love you, that need you.”
“I can’t. These people need me too. There are people in danger here.”
“Clark, you’re just one man. One man can’t make a difference. The Daily Planet can print this, expose this, with or without your help.”
After that final statement I realize something. I finally realize she’s not ‘the one’. And it’s not just because I’ve met another woman and felt feelings for her. Lana really doesn’t hold the same values that I do. I believe that one man, any man, can make a difference if he really wants to. She’s only thinking selfishly, about her own needs.
But now’s not the time to go into this. If things do progress to the point that I decide to break things off with Lana, it’s not going to be like this. I do love her, and I respect her. I respect her enough to talk about this with her, and not on the phone, in person.
“Lana, it’s late. I don’t feel like discussing this anymore right now. I’m sorry, but I’ve made my decision. I’m staying. I have to see this through. As soon as things conclude here and I think things are safe, I’ll come home and we’ll talk. Okay?”
There is only silence on the other end.
“Lana?”
“Goodnight, Clark,” she says, with an edge in her voice that I’ve never heard before.
I sigh. “Goodnight, Lana.” .
I set the phone down and get up from the couch. I can’t stay here right now, if I do, I’ll suffocate. I’ve got to get some fresh air. What I really want right now, more than anything, is to see Lois.
***********
I feel guilty, and actually a little like a stalker, as I hover outside the top of the LexCorp building. But I just have to check in on Lois. I use my x-ray vision to peer inside the Penthouse.
To my relief I find that she’s not here. It had taken me a while to work up the nerve to come and check on her here. Enough time must have passed that the dinner was over and Luthor had taken her back home.
I find myself a little excited at the prospect that Lois might be at home, where I could talk to her some more. But what would I say? How would I explain what I was doing at her apartment at this time of night?
I’ll worry about that later. I fly up into the night sky and head over to her apartment building.
She said she was in apartment five-oh-one. So I scan the fifth floor of the building looking for her. There’s no sign of her.
Where could she be?
Something Jimmy did earlier comes back to my mind. When Lois told Jimmy she’d call him later to go over the test results from the lab, Jimmy had reacted really strange. Why?
Maybe because of the fact that Jimmy had already given her the results, I realize. He didn’t even have them anymore. And they were pretty self-explanatory from what I could see. There wasn’t any need for her to call Jimmy to go over them with him. Was there?
Oh no! She wouldn’t? ...Huh, wouldn’t she?
I turn around in mid-air to head off towards the EPRAD facility, where the wreckage from the sabotaged shuttle was being held.
I stretch out with my senses, listening for her voice, for any indication of trouble as I fly. I hear it, just barely. Distressful sounds coming from Lois; she’s in the middle of a confrontation with someone.
I fly even faster and land just outside the building I’m hearing her voice coming from. She’s making muffled grunting sounds. I *peer* through the wall to find her tied and gagged. Jimmy is lying beside her on the floor, unconscious.
Part of me wants to just go charging in there, rescue them, and fly them out of there. But of course, I’d have to reveal myself. I sigh. I’ve got to get back to my mom on that whole secret identity thing.
I wait patiently, keeping my eye on the situation. A blonde-haired woman walks behind the shell of the shuttle. She begins reaching towards a couple of valves on the back of it. I x-ray the content behind those valves and see some nasty looking liquids. I stretch my hearing out.
“...accidents do happen,” the woman was saying.
“Accidents?” Lois asks.
“Yes. You see, while dissecting the orbital maneuvering systems, the monomethyl hydrozene leaked and mixed with the nitrogen tetroxide... Unfortunately, the blast killed two nosy reporters who didn’t bother to read signs.” She pointed to a sign on the wall. It read ‘Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted.’ Then she reached out for one of the valves.
“Answer one question,” Lois demands. “Why?”
“It’s very simple, Lois. Profit. Outer space is no different from any new frontier. It will belong to those who get there first and seize the high ground.”
High ground? Haven’t I heard that phrase somewhere before? Yes, and I know who said it, too. He’s got a lot to answer for, but I don’t have time to think about that right now. I watch as the woman turns both valves and liquid begins spilling out of them.
I hide as the woman and her henchman exit the building. As soon as they’re clear of the building, I head for the door. One well-placed shoulder and a little force and I’m through.
“Lois? Are you okay?”
“Clark? Clark you have to get out of here, this whole place is going to explode. Get Jimmy and get out!”
“I’m not leaving without you,” I tell her as I come up beside her. I work quickly to untie the ropes holding her.
“Can we stop it?” She asks, pointing towards the liquids about to mix.
“There’s no time. Come on,” I say grabbing her hand and tugging on her. I stop to lift Jimmy up and lay him across my shoulder, holding him with my arm on the side he’s lying on. I use my other arm to grab hold of Lois again and I rush us all out of the building as fast as I can.
Before we get too far, the building explodes. I use the force of the explosion and lift us into the air and across the ground to safety. Trying to help cover what I’ve done, I drop us into a nearby mud puddle. We all land with splattering thuds.
“What happened?” Lois asks, turning around to look behind her at the building now in flames.
“I’m not sure... I think the force of the explosion carried us here. It’s fortunate we landed in this soft mud.”
“Look!” Lois yelled, pointing up at the sky. A helicopter was flying overhead and suddenly it exploded in a spectacular fireball.
Lois covers her eyes and ducks back down towards the mud. What could have caused that, I wonder? It had been flying well above the burning building.
The sound of the explosion must have woken Jimmy; he is pulling on me trying to find his footing in the mud so he can stand up. Lois is now pulling herself up as well.
“Clark! You saved us!” she says, throwing her arms around me. I’m a little unsteady with Jimmy already pulling on me and we fall together into the mud. Her body is pressed against me and I can feel her trembling. Oh god, the heat is coming again.
Unable to resist, I put my arms around her. “Are you okay?” I ask.
“Mmm-hmm,” she mumbles against my chest, and then she sits up abruptly and pushes me away. “Clark? What were you doing here?”
“What were you doing here?” I counter.
“I’m an investigative reporter, that’s what we do... investigate. Your turn.”
I give her a wry look. “I got bored at home alone. Chad wasn’t home yet and so I thought I’d try being an investigative reporter. You know that’s what they do, they investigate.” I smile at her. She smiles back and smacks me lightly on the arm. “Anyway, while I was looking around I heard voices coming from the building you were in.”
“I’m so glad you found us. That was too close. Jimmy, are you okay?”
“I think so. Except for being wet and dirty.” We were all wet and dirty, some of us more than others. I grimace inwardly at the direction my mind was headed. Focus!
“Yeah, me too,” she says. “I think the thing I want more than anything else in the world right now is a hot shower and a soft bed.”
Soft bed? That did it. That blew my focus. I look at Lois in her bedraggled appearance. Even with mud in her hair she was still ravishing. I could think of a few other things I want more than a hot shower right now, but again I drag my mind away from those thoughts... Maybe I need a cold shower instead.
“I guess I’d better go by the police station and give a statement to Inspector Henderson about what happened here tonight,” she tells us.
“Do you want me to go with you?” I offer. “Actually, they’ll probably need statements from all of us.”
“Yeah, but they won’t need them all tonight. Jimmy was out unconscious for part of the time and you showed up after Dr. Baines left. You and Jimmy ought to go ahead and get some sleep; we’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I’ll let the Inspector know you’re coming by in the morning to give him your statements.”
I reluctantly nod my head at her.
“CK do you need a lift back to Chad’s?” Jimmy asks. It was sweet of him to offer but would Lois have offered if Jimmy hadn’t? I’m a little disappointed.
“Thanks Jimmy. That’s nice of you but actually I think I’ll walk for a bit. I’d like to think for a while and the fresh air will do me some good. When I get tired I’ll catch a cab,” I assure him. If Lois had offered I would have taken her up on it, but otherwise I’d rather just rely on my own means of transportation.
“Okay, well suit yourself. See you in the morning CK, Lois.”
“Bye, Jimmy. See you in the morning,” Lois says.
“Yeah, see you in the morning,” I echo. I turn to face Lois as Jimmy walks off. “Will you be okay?”
Ask me to come with you.
“I’ll be okay. I guess I’d probably better get going, though. There’s no telling how long it will take me at the precinct, and I’m pretty tired.”
“Yeah, me too. Oh, but one more thing, before you go. How did your interview go?” I ask her, practically itching with curiosity.
“Oh, okay, I guess. You were right about him. It wasn’t much of an interview. He was flattering, and was just mainly interested in talking about me, instead of answering my questions.”
I feel my blood starting to boil. “He didn’t try anything did he?”
“No... not really.”
“Not really?” I exclaim. If he took advantage of her, he was going to answer to me.
“He kissed me when he dropped me back home, but just on the cheek. No big deal.” I feel my hands ball into fists. “Anyway,” she continues, “he asked me if he could see me again and I told him no. I told him things were too complicated right now.”
I’m silent as she finishes speaking, thanking the stars that she hadn’t agreed to see him again. Should I tell her my suspicions that he’s involved in the sabotage? No, not right now. Later. When I’ve earned her trust. Much later.
Clark?”
“Yes?” my voice breaks slightly as I answer her.
“I’d really like to finish our conversation from earlier... but right now I just don’t think I have the energy.”
“Yeah, you need to get going or you’re never gonna get any sleep tonight,” I tell her, trying to both mask my disappointment at losing her company and at the same hide my relief. I’d told her I had something to tell her. She’s going to expect me to tell her what that something is, eventually.
“Goodnight, Lois.”
“Goodnight, Clark. Get some sleep. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow. We’ve gotta write up this story and get it to Perry.”
We? We’ve got to write up the story? She wanted a partner on it? I’m floored. “You bet. See you in the morning.” I watch her walk to her Jeep and get inside. I watch her pull away and drive down the road. I watch her until I can’t see her any longer... and that’s pretty far. Then I lift up and take off into the night sky.
**********
To Be Continued...
