You can blame it on the weather that I post this part, though I thought that I would already be walking on mountains. I'm not, but after this post I will be away for a week.
I hope you'll like this Part. And I promise that our favorite couple will meet soon.
From Part 4:
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.
Part 5:
Perry and Clark were still walking through the debris of the Planet. Clark searched the floor in the small cone of light. He examined every fibre he saw very closely. The floor was filled with burnt sheets of paper. He x-rayed almost all of them until he found the corner of an identity card. There were two photos on it, and that caused Clark to really notice it. The photo down below was almost undamaged, but it wasn’t the interesting one. The upper photo was melted, and the person on it was hard to identify. Clark decided to give it a try though and kneeled down to pick up the card.
He wanted to look at it more closely when he was outside again.
“Don’t think we’re going to find anything, Kent,” Perry said suddenly.
“Maybe it’s time to go, Chief.” Clark agreed, and the two of them turned around to walk outside again. Since they weren’t searching the floor anymore, they were able to get out quickly.
The sunlight greeted them outside, and both Perry and Clark sighed with relief that they weren’t walking through the darkness anymore. Clark fetched the card out of his pocket and looked at it. He lowered his glasses to use his super-vision to see the burnt parts of the photo a bit clearer and tried to memorize the face.
Clark could see the name on the card underneath the burnt one, but what good would that do him? He frowned and very much wished that the upper photo had a name next to it, too. But that wasn’t likely since it was a faked card. After all, the intruder had wanted to remain unnoticed. Clark chewed his lower lip in frustration. Having a name could possibly be helpful, but when he looked up again, he suddenly saw the face on the card watching him. He smiled. Maybe he wouldn't need that name, after all.
“I’ll be right back,” he mumbled and started running.
“That isn't the first time I've heard that,” Perry muttered and shook his head when he saw Clark chasing after a young man.
Clark was fast, and he didn’t use super speed or at least not much. It wasn’t exactly difficult to get to the young man. He had panicked when he saw Clark approaching and had run in the opposite direction. But the street had a dead end, and unless the guy had super powers himself it was unlikely that he would get away.
Clark caught the wrist of the man and stopped him, holding him tightly so that he couldn’t struggle free.
“What’s your name?” Clark demanded and repeated his question menacingly when he got no answer.
“John Black,” the young man muttered.
“I know it was your bomb that destroyed that building over there. Who asked you to place that bomb?” Clark dug further.
“I have no idea what ya’ talkin’ about.” John tried.
“Don’t lie to me,” Clark said. He shook the guy and waited for an anxious glance to appear in his eyes. “So are you going to tell me, or do I have to get angry first?”
“I don’t know who he is. He’s called the boss.” John admitted and Clark let go of him.
“Who spoke to you?” he wanted to know.
“Someone phoned me, I don’t know the name.”
“Man or woman?”
“A woman,” John replied.
Mrs. Cox, Clark thought. Would she really be the one to give orders directly? He wasn’t sure. Unfortunately John had told him nothing important yet. Clark searched for the next question, the one that would bring him closer to Luthor.
“What do you know about this boss?” he asked.
“Nothing, really. A whole lot of people are scared to death, and they pay any price to be left alone. He demands money from almost everyone in the entire city,” John said. “Restaurants, bars, shops, whatever. Nobody works here without his permission.”
Clark sighed. This sounded so like Luthor. “Did you already get paid?”
“Paid? Are you kidding me? I'd be grateful if they don’t kill me. That’s the deal. I set up that bomb and stay alive.” John almost laughed at Clark’s shocked expression. “You’ve killed me now, you know that, don’t you?” he hissed at Clark and tried again to struggle free.
“I can bring you to the police department, you’ll be safe there.” Clark offered, but John just laughed and ran away as soon as Clark had loosened his grip. Clark didn’t follow him. He couldn’t watch the whole city. But he seriously hoped that he would catch Luthor before he had the chance to kill John Black.
Clark returned to Perry and gave him a sad glance while he shrugged. “No news, I’m afraid. But I’m pretty sure now that Luthor is responsible for the explosion at the Planet. Luthor is way too avaricious to burn money that easily. I think we should do some investigation about the financial background of the paper. Maybe that will give us a clue,” Clark said.
His former editor nodded. “I will do that, but first I’ll have to find a place to stay for the night. Alice still thinks that I’m fishing.” He sighed. “When I return to her, I’ll have to face another marital argument, but to tell you the truth, Clark, I want to know what happened to the Planet.”
“Feel free to come to my place, Mr. White.” Clark offered.
“That would be good, Kent. Where are you going now?”
“I’ll try to find out what I can about a person called the boss. See you later in my apartment, Chief.”
* * *
It was already dark when Perry and Clark met at Clark’s apartment. Clark had arrived there a bit earlier and opened the door when his editor stood in front of it. They smiled at each other, and Clark invited Perry in.
“What did you find out, son?” Perry asked.
“This boss is still somewhat mysterious, but I bet it’s Luthor, “Clark replied, disappointed that he hadn’t been more successful.
“I spent the day hunting the chairmen of the Planet. It took ages to find one of them willing to talk to me. They hadn't really wanted to sell the Planet, but Luthor promised them a lot of things if they did- Ferraris to begin with. If they didn't agree, they faced financial ruin. Of course he didn’t say that out loud. But Luthor must have been pretty convincing.” Perry mused.
“I found out that there was additional insurance at Lexal investments. It would have been enough money to rebuild the Planet.” Clark added.
“That’s interesting. I think we’re getting at it, son.” Perry said slowly. “Aren’t you hungry? I could prepare us a meal you could tell your great-grandchildren about.”
Clark grinned and nodded, then showed Perry the way into the kitchen. “I’ll guess you’ll find what you need, Chief.” He suddenly heard an emergency call. “I’ll just go and return a video, and I’ll be right back.” Clark rushed away and left Perry in his apartment.
Perry shook his head. This was somehow familiar. He had seen Clark disappearing from time to time. In the majority of cases he left a fuming Lois in the newsroom, who was just about to tell him something. He didn’t understand the guy; he really should keep his thoughts together. Why did he return things at the last minute? Perry decided not to think about it and turned his attention to the fridge.
He was even more astonished. How had Clark survived to his age with food like that? He remembered clearly what his physician frequently told him. But Clark seemed to have missed all those little speeches. Did he hide all this stuff when his parents were visiting him? There was no way they could agree with that kind of nutrition.
But there were a couple of useful things, too. Perry grabbed what he needed and searched for a pot. He looked over Clark’s numerous spices and noticed with satisfaction that he wasn’t such a hopeless case after all.
* * *
In the meantime, Superman flew over Metropolis and listened for the sounds of the alarm bell he had heard earlier. He followed the sound, and it led him to a bank. An officer was pacing on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance. He looked up when Superman landed in front of him.
“Oh, Superman, thanks for coming, but there isn’t actually anything happening here. We’re already checking on the alarm, but we have no idea yet, why it went off.”
“So everything’s okay here?” Superman wanted to know.
Suddenly he felt queasy, and pain spread through his body. His head felt as if it was going to explode, his vision went blurry, and through a haze he heard the concerned police officer ask if he was alright. The pain subsided almost as quickly as it had started.
“I’m okay,” Superman assured the officer and wanted to take off into the sky again.
It didn’t work. Superman did his best to act like he had never planned to fly and hurried to the next abandoned alley. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one had followed him. As he didn’t see anybody, he slipped into the next dark entrance of a house. He was pretty sure that no one had noticed him and leaned against the wall. After his last encounter with kryptonite he had hoped to never see that stuff again. He was weak and exhausted from this brief exposure.
At least he hadn’t passed out this time. He had managed to run away and should be grateful. That wouldn’t have been possible after what had happened in Smallville. Lying unconsciously on the street would have gotten Superman into serious trouble. The fact that the kryptonite obviously hadn’t been destroyed completely worried him. Even worse was that someone had gotten hold of it. And this alarm at the bank had supposedly been a test. He had to change back into Clark. Since it was dark outside he wasn’t going to regain his strength before dawn.
Clark needed a lot longer to dress as an average guy. He prepared himself for going back on the street. He breathed in and out and decided to return to Perry. He still felt a little queasy and hoped that his editor-in-chief wouldn’t get suspicious. Clark stepped away from the entrance of the house back into the night air.. He wasn’t so weak that he couldn’t move on his own, but he was anything but super. He needed about ten minutes to walk back to his apartment. When he had finally reached it, he noticed with worry that the glass was shattered, and the door gaped a little.
“Chief? Everything alright?” he asked as he entered his flat. Perry was standing in the living room and stared at two masked men in front of him.
“What are you doing here?” Clark shouted and went over to the invaders. ”Get out of my apartment!”
He approached the man that was closer to him and grabbed his shoulder. The man struck out to land a punch. Clark saw his fist coming, but he didn’t move out of the way. When the fist landed hard in his stomach, it pressed the air out of his lungs. Clark stumbled back. The second man came close to him quickly and hit him hard in the face. Clark’s cheek was burning and his stomach heaving. He struggled with nausea and the weakness from the kryptonite exposure. He didn’t even see the third punch coming that impacted his stomach.
Clark landed on the floor, struggling for air and trying to avoid the aggressors. They kicked his side. Clark moaned with pain. This was different than kryptonite. This wasn’t the first time Clark had to fight without his strength. Clark tasted blood. He wasn’t actually familiar with that. Again and again the two men kicked and punched him. Had they broken one of his ribs? Clark didn’t know.
He had no chance to get up. He was already weakened from the kryptonite, and this rough treatment only made it worse. Through a haze of pain he heard Perry shouting, trying to get to him. Clark saw that one of the men hit Perry, who sank down on Clark’s sofa and didn’t move. He was on his own. Another kick struck his upper body. Clark could barely breathe. He felt so weak and silently prayed for the embrace of unconsciousness to come.
But they would kill him if he lost consciousness, so he couldn't let that happen. Not that he cared if he was dead or alive, but he was the last person to save his beloved Lois. Since it was pitch dark outside, he knew he wouldn't regain his super strength any time soon, but he had to survive this. And somewhere deep in his soul, he found strength. Clark grabbed the ankle of the first man and caused him to stumble. The man fell against his partner, and Clark had enough time to get to his feet. He gave one of them a hook to the chin and managed to knock him out. The other hit Clark again, and he fell back down on the floor.
By then, Perry had woken up and sent the remaining man to the ground with a hard punch in the face. The fight was over, and Clark was still lying on the floor, his entire body bruised and hurting like hell. He coughed, struggling for air helplessly.
“Clark!” Perry was appalled. He kneeled down beside Clark.
“I’m okay, Chief. Call Henderson!” Clark managed to say. Perry looked at him indecisively. Then he helped Clark to get up and to sit down on the sofa.
“Thank you. Are you okay?” he whispered.
When Perry said that he was alright, Clark lowered himself down into a partially reclining position. His ribcage was hurting with every breath he took. Clark heard Perry rushing through his apartment and speaking with someone.
“Henderson is sending a car to get these two,” Perry told Clark as he returned to him. He watched him anxiously. “I should call you a doctor.”
“I’m fine, Chief. I don’t…need…a doctor.” Clark replied firmly but not very convincingly.
Actually he didn’t feel too well, but if someone found out how bad his injuries were and checked on them again tomorrow they would start to wonder. For the sake of his parents, Lois and a private life he had to play along. If that meant gritting the teeth, it was worth it.
The police came within minutes and arrested the two men. Clark had to tell the policemen again that he was okay and not really injured. He hoped that Henderson would do a good job with their interrogation. Maybe the two knew something about Luthor.
Perry’s meal was slightly burnt, and so Clark had an excuse for not eating very much of it. His stomach wasn’t up to food yet. He mumbled something about a hard day and went to bed rather early. Perry had prepared his bed on the couch.
One thing was sure: Clark wouldn’t go out tonight to save the world. Usually he would have flown around for his patrol, but he dismissed the idea. A little bit of sleep would be helpful, he thought, before he fell onto his pillows and closed his eyes with a sigh.
* * *
Lois sat in her apartment and was still clueless. She had phoned Lex earlier in the evening to explain that she couldn’t see him tonight. Lois wasn’t up to it because her mind was still trying to get a grip on the new information. It wouldn't have been fair to Lex if she went on a date with him without being able to concentrate fully on him. She had had dates where her partner was obviously totally distracted by something else. A pair of long legs was an example, and she had sworn to herself that she’d never be so impolite.
Lex had understood her and told her that she should take the time she needed to come to terms with the marital status of her former partner. He felt that it wasn’t so easy to accept that her partner had lied to her. Lois was still hurt, but she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Clark. His life was certainly a lot different from the life he had dreamt of. She considered him as the romantic type of man who longed for a family to return to in the afternoon. What he wished for in life was probably nothing more than to have someone he could bend down to and kiss softly. He didn’t want to come into an empty flat after work, and he’d want to play with his children, read or tell them a story and kiss them good night. He’d pull their covers up tight. And he would leave a light on their nightstand to scare away the dark shadows that carried nightmares.
Lois was surprised and slightly frightened as she imagined herself waiting at the door of their children’s room, watching Clark in delight. He’d be a father like she had never had. But why on earth would she consider his children hers as well? She didn’t want children because she could never be a good mother. His declaration of love had just confused her.
Still lost in thoughts, Lois went to bed and drifted to sleep almost immediately.
1 Day earlier
Hours later a ringing phone interrupted her sleep violently. Lois was wide awake. Dawn was breaking, and she wondered who would be calling her so early. She picked up the receiver.
“Lois Lane,” she said gruffly. She wasn’t exactly a morning person.
“Lois, this is Perry. I’m worried about Clark. There were two guys here last night that he had to fight with. They beat him up, though he managed to overpower them in the end,” her editor-in-chief told her.
“Oh my god! Is Clark alright, Perry?” Lois asked anxiously.
“I don’t know. I’m pretty sure that he needs a doctor, but I can’t make him go. Lois, will you please come over to his apartment and talk to him? I could barely sleep last night, and I frequently checked on him while he was fast asleep. I didn’t have the heart to wake him up, but maybe he has some serious injuries, broken ribs or something,” Perry replied.
“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, Perry.” Lois promised and hung up.
Someone had beaten up Clark? But why? Lois was afraid that Perry might be right, and Clark had really bad injuries. A broken rib could penetrate his lung. His spleen could be ruptured. Lois knew that he might lose a lot of blood this way. Heaven knew what could have happened to him. It was an awful idea that he might be gone forever some day. She didn’t want to lose Clark. Lois jumped out of her bed and got dressed quickly. Then she stormed out of her apartment to get to her car and drive over to Clark's.
tbc.... (Sunday the 15th of October)
