Hi! Here is Part 4. I hope you'll enjoy it. Feedback is very welcome! I apologize for not meeting your fluffy expectations. But there will be such scenes. I promise. 
From Part 3: The sight of red, blue and yellow was worth the previous fruitless search. It seemed that Mr. Kent wasn’t that boring after all. Mrs. Cox smiled with content about the knowledge she had gained today. She thought about telling Luthor about it but dismissed that idea. It might be more useful if she kept that knowledge for herself
Mrs. Cox remembered that she had a second assignment that day. She should leave the apartment and prepare for the things to come.
Part 4: “You aren't really telling me anything I haven't already heard, Kent,” Henderson said in a sad tone of voice. “There has been a lot of rumours lately but no evide nce at all. I can’t go to Luthor and arrest him without a good reason. If only half of the things they say about him are true, I won't only lose my job but my life and family.”
The inspector shot Clark a rather frustrated glance. He had obviously tried to get a grip on the billionaire. Clark had tried it himself, but whenever he thought that he had found a trace to follow, he lost it almost as soon as he found it. Luthor’s path was paved with dead bodies, but somehow he managed to let them cover his footprints. It was impossible to tell that he was responsible.
“I know, Henderson,” Clark sighed. “I'm not asking you to arrest him without good reasons. All I want is a bit of help. If I’m going to find witnesses that will testify to his crimes in front of the court, I’ll have to offer them security. Most of them are probably criminals in their own right. They don’t want to get arrested, and I can’t blame them for their wish to remain free. And they will probably be afraid of Luthor killing them. I’ve already asked Superman if he would keep an eye on them. He said that he’d be honoured to help me.“
Clark hated to play the Superman card. He was depending so much on his second identity that he sometimes wondered if he would be able to get around without the Superman suit. Whatever Clark Kent couldn't get, Superman could get at once. It was this way with Lois and surely the same with most other things.
“Well, I’ll ask the DA’s office what they can do about it, but I won’t promise you anything now, Kent. All I can say is that you have to be careful. If Luthor hears what you’re up to, your life’s not worth much anymore. He will hunt you down mercilessly. And I wouldn't count on Superman too much, if I were you.”
Clark shook hands with the inspector and said good-bye. He hadn’t expected Henderson to be excited about his plan. Right now it seemed to be more like the dream of a desperate fool than something that was going to work. Clark left Henderson’s office and returned to the streets of Metropolis.
He hadn’t been especially successful this time, but there was still a lot to do. His next destination was the Daily Planet. He would see what he could find there.
* * *
Lois was still at work when her telephone rang. As she was still filled with the memory of her strange dream, she hadn’t really managed to be productive. She didn’t understand it. She knew that her subconscious was trying to tell her something, but Lois had absolutely no clue why it had her dating Clark so it could do so. She picked up the receiver and said, “Lois Lane.”
“Hi, this is Alan Greene. You hired me as private detective,” the young man she had spoken to this morning said.
“Mr. Greene, I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon.”
“Well, it wasn’t too difficult to find out what ya’ wanted to know, actually. Ya’ told me that Mr. Kent spent most of his life in Smallville, so I decided to call the county offices in Smallville first. I have a couple of friends there. I was lucky with the third one I called. They told me that your Mr. Kent married a Sarah Elaine Warner seven years ago.”
“Is he still married?” Lois asked hoarsely.
“Oh, yeah, he is, but ya’ could say that the couple’s kinda livin’ separate,” Mr. Greene replied.
“Where does she live?” Lois wanted to know.
“Metropolis Penitentiary for Women. She committed homicide when she burglarized jewelry,” Mr. Greene explained.
“What?” Lois exclaimed with shock. “When did that happen?”
“A year and a half ago,” Mr. Greene answered her question.
“Thank you. Send me your bill,” Lois said weakly and hung up.
Lois felt her heart beat thundering in her head. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Lex had been right, Clark was indeed married. How could that be? Had he moved to Metropolis a year ago to be closer to Sarah? An imprisoned wife was of course a reason why he hadn’t mentioned her yet. And it explained perfectly why she had never seen the woman. And if his wife burglarized jewelry, what did that say about Clark? Could he be a criminal as well? No, most definitely not, Lois dismissed the thought.
Lois felt once again like she was losing something very special. But why was this? She didn’t love him so it couldn’t be the fact that he wasn’t free. Was she feeling sorry for him because her mild-mannered, honest partner shared his life with a woman who betrayed him? Was she feeling sorry for him because he was separated from the person he apparently loved deeply? Had this been the reason he had moved from Smallville to Metropolis?
Lois remembered her dream, and for a short moment she wished that someone would love her that much. It had just been a dream, but for a brief period of time she had gotten a taste of this love. Her Dream-Clark had affected her with his kiss beyond belief. It hadn’t been demanding or hungry. The passion in it wasn’t forcing her to do something against her will, and it told her so much about the kisser. It had conveyed a deep love and admiration, a shy begging to get more. It had been a foretaste of what could have been if they had continued.
Lois shook her head. It had just been a dream. It wasn’t real. The Clark in her dream was another man than the one she had worked with for a year. And considering that she had found out that Clark was married made the two even more different. The real Clark had betrayed her, maybe not in the way his wife had betrayed him, but that didn’t diminish his guilt.
Had Clark tried to soothe his hurt soul by being close to Lois? She understood more about his behaviour towards Lex. Maybe he considered his wife still as innocent and hoped to be able to prove that. In fact, Lois had no clue what was going on in Clark’s head. She would have liked to ask him, but could she go straight to him and admit that she had investigated his past without his permission? He trusted her, maybe not enough to tell her his darkest secrets, but she was pretty sure that he trusted her.
*You haven’t told me your secret, have you?* she had asked him.
*No, I haven’t ,* he had replied.
Now she knew his secret, and she somehow wished that she had been less curious. It must be hard for him, she thought. Maybe he was running away to visit her or to catch a glimpse of the woman he loved. Maybe he ran away to hide the tears when he was missing her badly. She couldn’t even imagine what Clark might be enduring. What had he wanted to gain with his declaration of love? Had he wanted a woman he could touch? Or had he wanted to save her from Luthor, who he said was responsible for his misery?
But he wasn’t right about Luthor. She should help Clark to see his wife for what she was. He was the one who needed to be saved.
* * *
The building looked awful. Without the glass the windows seemed to be dead eyes staring into the day. They were scary and depressing. But Clark didn’t look at the debris; he only saw the still visible strength of the former Daily Planet. He remembered his time there, his time together with Lois. They had faced so much, and he had enjoyed every single day he had walked through those doors.
The past year had been so much better than many others in his life. He had found the place he wanted to be, the place where he felt at home. Lois Lane had made it a home though she didn’t even know that. She had helped him to live without the bounds he had had to wear since his childhood. Even though he rarely had any spare time now, Clark Kent had never felt so free.
But Lois had made this free time special. Every single minute with Lois counted. Even when she had been snobbish and offending, he had enjoyed being with her. Of course he liked her to be friendly to him, but that wasn’t a must. He wanted to be with Lois, not with an ever-friendly fantasy. Her stubbornness and her tendency to get in danger were part of her, even though they drove him crazy sometimes. He loved her for who she was. He admired her intelligence, he loved her humour, and he saw how beautiful she was. It wasn’t just her looks, though they were adorable enough. Lois had a beauty coming from deep within. Her soul was beautiful, and it touched his in a way he had never experienced before.
The sight of the building represented his dream of belonging and was so connected to the love of his life. Watching it made Clark light-hearted. For the first time since Lex Luthor had bought the Daily Planet he didn’t worry, and he felt no sorrow. He just breathed the freedom of the past.
“It’s the symbol of dreams, you know?” a familiar voice interrupted Clark’s thoughts.
“What are your dreams, Mr. White?” Clark inquired.
“Truth,” Perry replied. “I came here with the urgent desire to make people see the truth. When I was young the whole world was so complicated. There were communists and capitalists. Everyone claimed to be right and most of it was just propaganda. I had always dreamt of being the light in that darkness of different ideologies. What about you, Mr. Kent?”
“Justice and freedom,” Clark answered but didn’t explain.
Perry nodded. ”So what in the Sam Hill are you doing here, Kent? Just drowning in memories?”
Clark smiled. “Just like you, I want to find out the truth about what happened here.”
“I’m retired, Kent. I just like drowning in memories.” Perry replied.
“Weren’t you just telling me that you wanted people to hear the truth?” Clark teased his editor-in-chief.
“Okay. I just want to know why this ship sank so abruptly.” Perry gave in.
“That’s easy to say but hard to prove. Lex Luthor destroyed this building.” Clark sighed.
“If you’re right about that then we will prove it,” Perry stated and looked at Clark.
“I’m going inside now and see what I will find. Maybe the police missed evidence,” Clark told Perry.
“I’m coming with you,” Perry said immediately.
“I’d rather see you stay here,” Clark replied.
“Lois told me that you’re overprotective, Kent. Do you really think you will find what a bunch of policemen didn’t see? Better if there are two pairs of eyes looking.” Perry stopped every argument before it could start.
Clark sighed again and nodded. The two men went over to the Planet’s entrance that was now covered with wood. Clark pushed the barrier away and went in. Perry followed closely behind him. It was dark inside the building, but Perry switched on his light as soon as the sunlight was gone. The smell of smoke still hung in the air, and the walls were black with soot.
Clark looked up and x-rayed the structure of the ceiling above them. He still wasn’t quite sure if the building was in danger of collapsing, but at the moment it seemed stable enough. They continued on their way, heading for the staircase that would lead them downstairs. The bomb had exploded in the basement. Someone had put it there, and maybe there were still traces left.
Perry and Clark kept silent, and both were nervous but for different reasons. Clark knew that even if the building collapsed on him, it wouldn’t hurt him. That was different with Perry. He would give his secret away with out hesitation if Perry was in danger. But never-the-less, Clark feared that he might not be fast enough. He stayed close behind Perry always looking out for the unexpected.
Perry was nervous because he hadn’t done much investigation in the past couple of years. He knew that they were in a restricted area, and if the police showed up they were likely to be in trouble. For him that didn’t matter so much, but Clark was still young, and problems with the police were never good, not even for a reporter. And last but not least, he didn’t trust the ceiling; he had written about too many collapsed houses to ignore the danger.
Clark looked around, angry because it was so dark inside the building. Seeing in the dark was not exactly one of his special abilities. He had even forgotten to bring a light with him. He had been too distracted pitying himself that he rarely thought about what he was doing.
* * *
Lex Luthor had his spies all over the city. He was aware of the whereabouts of Clark Kent, though the fools had lost him for a short time. That was the risk with relying on others. But he knew where Kent was right now, and that was about all that interested him. Kent was digging in the past, and that wasn't something Lex liked. Of course it was more than unlikely for Kent to find anything there, but Lex had his principles.
He had to be careful, of course, and wait to see if Kent indeed found something. That he had help now didn’t exactly please Lex Luthor. Maybe he should scare the two a bit to prevent them from being too curious. It would be for their own good. He would advise Mrs. Cox to do something about the two men.
Lex was still waiting to hear from Lois. She surely had found the evidence for Kent’s marriage by now. He was ready to soothe the girl; maybe she was so angry at her partner that their friendship was over by now, but he didn’t count on that. All Lex wanted was to emphasize that he was the good guy.
Lex sat back in his armchair and lit his cigar. He loved the scent and taste of the tobacco. The Havana was expensive, and the few people who had them rarely dared to smoke them. Rather they stored them somewhere to look at them and sniff them. Being rich was one of the single best things in the world. Even better than that was to be the smartest criminal around.
tbc...
