<><><>
Part 9/20
<><><>
"I think we're in the wrong tunnel," Lois complained.
"What makes you think that?" Clark asked.
"Can't you smell that? It's like something died in here!"
"Something probably did die in here."
"Doesn't it make you sick? The smell, I mean. It's…" she gagged, but continued to slog after Clark. What made him so certain he knew where they were going?
"Lois, I grew up on a farm, remember? I don't have your delicate urban sensibilities."
"There is nothing delicate about that stench!"
Clark had to agree with her. The air in this tunnel was gut-churningly rancid and foul. It reminded him of himself. Rotten to the core, he told himself. You are rotten to the core.
It had been just over three weeks since they started sleeping together. Two nights ago, as she was leaving his apartment in the middle of the night, he had realized this really wasn't what he wanted. He wanted Lois, more than ever. But it wasn't just sex for him like it was for her. He'd been wrong to think that a little tenderness would ease her into loving him.
It was even worse when he factored Superman into the equation. She hadn't given up on her Superman fantasy. She had kissed him back with ardor the night Gatenby's brain had been left in her apartment. The few times she had seen him in the suit since then she had given him hopeful little smiles that tore his heart to ribbons. She still wanted Superman, not him. He had to end the physical aspect of their relationship. He couldn't tell her the truth about Superman while they were still involved. She would hate him for it, and rightfully so. He hated himself. He hated himself for the deception. He hated himself for wanting her so much. He hated himself for not telling her. With each day that passed, with every time he made love to her, he hated the deception all the more.
To add to his frustration, they had come no closer to finding Bad Brain in the past few weeks either. After Henderson had cleared the crime scene at the nuclear plant, they had looked in every nook and cranny and come up with nothing. If there was a way into that building besides the door even his x-ray vision couldn't discern it.
Four other dead men, all of them vagrants, had been found around Metropolis in addition to the man left at the nuclear plant. If Bad Brain had killed them, he hadn't claimed responsibility. All of them had the same odd electrical burns on their ankles and across their chests. Was Bad Brain experimenting with a new type of weapon? What had happened to the ESW gun that STAR Labs had developed?
"Clark, wait up!" Lois called out and he stopped, his flashlight swinging back to light her way.
What was up with him? He was so aloof and moody lately. After the first flush of excitement, they had settled into an every-other-night routine of… Lois frowned, unsure what to call it. Sex sounded so dirty. Sleeping together wasn't really accurate. Fooling around? That was closest.
Her disappointment that he had voiced aloud the words "not real" still simmered below the surface. She knew it was her rule, but she had thought that maybe he actually cared for her as more than just a friend or a sex buddy. Most days she woke up resolved to tell him they had to end their arrangement. But then, he'd touch her or give her that look as they were leaving work and she knew it was only a matter of time before they'd both be naked. He was never more attentive and sweet than when he got her naked. If only he wasn't so distant the rest of the time.
Today he seemed especially sulky. Joe had asked her out again this morning, this time within earshot of Clark. She hadn't been able to see Clark's eyes, the lights above had created a glare off his glasses, but he had been even quieter since then. Did it bother him? Was he jealous? If he was, why didn't he just ask her out himself?
She could hear her mother's voice - why should he buy the cow when he was getting the milk for free? Lois had always hated that expression and she hated it even more now. There was no mystery left to her in Clark's eyes. Why should he try and deepen their relationship, if you could call it that, when he was already getting everything he needed from her?
Why couldn't he even talk to her anymore?
She couldn't take his silence any longer; she had to say something. "So tell me, what is it you hope to find down here?"
"You were the one who thought Bad Brain was traveling underground." Now that she had caught up, he turned and began walking again.
"So your plan is just to wander around down here until we find him?" She tried, but couldn't keep the irritation out of her voice.
"I was looking at a map of Metropolis that I marked to show where the bodies have been found, this tunnel triangulates to all of them. So maybe he's hiding somewhere along here." Clark stopped abruptly, holding up his arm to keep Lois from walking over the edge. "Watch out," he said, pointing with his flashlight.
They had come to a long flight of concrete stairs, leading down into blackness further than their lights could illuminate.
"What now?" Lois asked. She didn't want to go down there. A sense of foreboding, deeper even than the pit they were looking into, pressed down on her. It wasn't just the smell; there was something off about this place. She had never been claustrophobic, but she could feel herself working towards hysteria. Not that she would ever admit that to him.
Clark started down the stairs, turning back to caution her, "Stay close to the wall."
Lois rolled her eyes. "Stay close to the wall," she muttered as she followed him down the stairs. One good thing, she told herself, the lower they went, the more the smell improved, but the sound of running water became louder.
"You don't think we're headed down into the flood tunnels, do you? It's raining today." Lois pointed out.
"Do you want to go back?" Clark tried to keep his voice even but she was beginning to wear on his nerves. If she didn't want to explore the tunnel, why didn't she just turn around and leave?
"No, we've come this far. Let's see where this leads," Lois said grudgingly, wishing he hadn't made it sound like a dare.
The stairs ended in a small chamber with two tunnels leading off of it. Lois curled her lip when she took the final step and found herself standing in a few inches of water.
"Now what?" she asked.
"This one looks older," Clark pointed at the tunnel on the left with his flashlight. "I say we go that way first."
"Is there a logic to that?"
"The old tunnels have more access points. He has to be getting in and out somewhere."
"You first," she said. If there was anything furry and prone to biting, she wanted him to scare it away before she got there.
"Do you even remember how to get out of here?" she asked after a few minutes of walking when his silence began to annoy her again. "We should have left a trail of breadcrumbs. Then again, I guess those would float away. Maybe we should have put chalk marks on the walls."
"Shhh, wait." Clark stopped and tilted his head. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Footsteps… I think there's someone else down here." He tipped his glasses and scanned the tunnel in front of them. He couldn't see anyone and the footsteps had stopped moving. He could only hear the faint distant beat of their heart - there was a mechanic tick to it. Someone with a pacemaker? He cocked his head, it was familiar. It was… "Ken," he muttered in irritation. And since he was ahead of them, they couldn't really accuse Ken of following them.
"Ken's here? How can you tell?" Lois asked. "Is that what the smell was?"
He was about to reply when there was a new sound, in the direction they had come from. A low roar that confused him for a moment. When recognition set in it sent a chill through him. He took hold of her hand. "We have to get out of here, now!"
Lois tried to pull her hand away and turn around. If they were leaving, why didn't they just go back the way they came in? Then she heard it too, just as she realized the water at her feet was rising - fast.
Clark could hear Ken start running. He seemed to know where he was going if the certainty of his gait was any indication. Clark ran in the direction of Ken's footsteps, pulling Lois along with him. Soon he couldn't hear Ken over the rush of the oncoming water. It was up to their knees now and Lois was having problems keeping up. He stopped and turned to her, ready to pick her up and just fly them the hell out of there.
Lois yanked her wrist free from his grip and ran past him. "Clark, this is no time to stop. Keep going!" She tripped and lost her flashlight in the swirling water. Clark pulled her to her feet just as a wall of water slammed into them, tearing her from his grasping fingers.
"No!" The word was ripped from his throat and he began frantically searching for her.
Lois cried out, choking on the water that knocked her into the wall. She was tumbling, bouncing off of brickwork as she was drawn along like a rag doll by the swift current. She fought against the inky liquid darkness that surrounded her, desperate to find some air. Then she was snagged on something and lifted above the water. It was an arm, she realized. An arm attached to something solid and steady.
"Clark," she sputtered, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging to him for dear life. The water rushing by seemed determined to pull her away from him.
"I've got you. It's okay," he soothed, holding her close.
Her lungs were burning and she choked and coughed up water as he held her above the torrent. All her previous annoyance with him was forgotten. They came into an alcove where the water swirled but seemed to have little effect on Clark. He stepped near the wall and she realized there were rungs on it. She looked up and saw a few small points of light.
"Can you climb?" he asked.
She nodded and grabbed one of the rungs. Her palms and knees stung as she climbed. She wished her hands would stop shaking. She got to the manhole cover but couldn't lift it.
"Hold on," he said, climbing up behind her, his arms encircling her as he held onto the rung above the one she was gripping. She held tight to the ladder, watching as the little pinpricks of light from the manhole became full daylight when he reached up and pushed the cover out of the way. Lois started to climb out and slipped. Clark put his hand out to steady her, giving her a little boost as she tried again. As soon as she started to clear the manhole he nervously ruffled his hair, not wanting it to look slicked back.
Lois crawled out onto the sidewalk and looked around. "I think we're close to your apartment," she told him as he emerged. It was still raining so their bedraggled appearance didn't draw much attention as they walked toward his building.
Lois limped alongside him, feeling like a drowned cat. When they got to his apartment he led her into his bathroom, left for a moment and came back with a towel and one of his t-shirts. "Why don't you give me your clothes and I'll clean them up for you to wear home?" he asked. She nodded and he walked out, closing the door behind him.
Lois took a quick shower and changed into his shirt. The soft cotton felt sensual against her skin and endlessly preferable to the clothes she had been wearing. She bundled her clothes together and walked into his kitchen. Clark took the wet clothes from her and threw them in his washing machine.
"Give me a few minutes to get cleaned up and we'll figure out what to do next, okay?" he asked. Lois nodded wearily and sat down on his couch.
She couldn't stop shivering. She desperately wished that she could just go home and crawl into bed. Clark came back, dressed in shorts and t-shirt now, his hair still damp. It was unfair, she thought. He didn't look like he had a scratch on him. Her arms and legs were covered in scrapes and the beginnings of bruises. Clark went back in the bathroom and came out with a wet washcloth and a first aid kit.
He knelt down in front of her. "Let's take a look at you," he said gently, turning her left hand over to look at her palm. He dabbed at the cut there softly and went to open the first aid kit when she stopped him.
"No really, don't waste your bandages. I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," he said, his eyes worried as he looked at her closely. She seemed feverish, her eyes were glassy and her skin clammy.
"I," she started and then swallowed back the nausea rising inside her. "I don't feel so good. I think I swallowed too much water."
"Can I get you anything?" he asked.
Lois shook her head vehemently, the movement only made her more dizzy and nauseated. She stood up quickly, pushing past him and ran to the bathroom. She barely made it in time. After a few gut-wrenching heaves she sat down heavily, coughing as tears came to her eyes. Lois rose on wobbly legs and grabbed his toothbrush, put a little toothpaste on it and brushed her teeth. Another wave of nausea overcame her and she sank back down to the floor, sitting close to the toilet, just in case.
"Lois?" he asked from outside the open door.
"I'm okay," she said, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I always cry when I throw up."
"Can I come in?"
Lois let out a sound that was half-sob, half-laugh. "Oh god, please don't tell me you think this is sexy."
"Not really," he said, "but that doesn't mean I like you less." He came into the bathroom, still holding the washcloth. He rinsed it in the sink and then ran cold water over it before wringing it out. He sat down next to her, putting the washcloth over the back of her neck. Lois leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Thanks," she murmured, feeling too drained to move.
"Would it make you any happier to know that I saw Mike this morning and he said Ken Randall got sick after wandering around in the tunnels? There must be something down there."
The corners of her mouth twitched in a smile. "Good." She opened one eye to look at him. "So why aren't you sick?"
Clark hesitated. Not now. Not when she's sick. He scooped her up in his arms instead, carrying her to his bed and setting her down gently. "I'll make you some tea."
"Okay," she murmured, snuggling gratefully into one of his pillows.
When he came back with the tea, she was asleep. Her forehead was damp with sweat, a few tendrils of hair stuck to the pale skin there. He brushed them back, kissing her softly just above her eyebrow. Then he worked the blanket out from beneath her and spread it over her.
<><><>
Lois woke up to moonlight streaming in from the window. She was in Clark's bed, she realized. She had a hazy memory of him carrying her here and… something about tea? She got up and padded into his living room. He was lying on the sofa, bathed in transferred light from the television.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Better now, thanks. I'm sorry." She pulled self-consciously at the hem of his t-shirt. It hit her at mid-thigh but she was suddenly very aware that she had nothing else on beneath it.
"For what?" Clark sat up and stretched.
"For being a party pooper. I know it was your night."
"Lois, I don't care about that. All that matters is that you're okay."
"Oh, well, um, I'll get out of your hair now. Are my clothes dry?"
"It's two in the morning. Just go back to bed."
"No, it's okay. I'll go home."
"I'll take you." He bent over and reached for his shoes.
"No, Clark. Like you said, it's two in the morning."
"I wasn't tired anyway. You've been sick. I can't just let you wander out into the night now."
Lois sighed, "Okay, you win, I'll stay." She backtracked and climbed into his bed, hoping he would come join her. She felt guilty making him sleep on his own couch.
Clark came in to check on her, pulling the covers up a little higher before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Good night, Lois," he whispered and turned to go back in to his living room.
"Why don't you sleep in here?" she asked, her heart racing. It wasn't just guilt because she had taken over his bed. She wanted him, she realized. Not for sex, just for… him. Was there any good way to ask him that without sounding needy?
"Are you sure?"
"I, uh, yes."
"Okay." He went back and turned off the television. When he came into his bedroom he pulled the blinds closed on the window and then climbed in on the other side of the bed.
Lois turned towards him. "Clark?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?" He rolled onto his back, turning his head in her direction.
"You saved my life today. And you were really nice when I got sick."
"Anytime, Lois."
She didn't say anything and he was about to roll away from her when she said, "I used your toothbrush."
He grinned at the ceiling. "That's okay."
"I just thought you might want to know, you know, in case that grosses you out."
He laughed. "Lois, after everything else we've done together I can hardly call foul over that."
She blushed. "I guess so."
"Would it bother you if I used your toothbrush?"
She thought about it. "I guess not. Not if it was just once. Or twice."
"What if I confessed I was sneaking in to your apartment every day to use your toothbrush?"
"Yeah? How are you getting in?"
"The window?"
"I don't think so, I keep them locked now."
"Because of Bad Brain?"
What if he told her now? Lois, it was me. I asked you to lock your windows because I can't always tell the difference between Clark and Superman when I'm around you. I love you. Please forgive me.
"Yeah," Lois whispered. She wondered if Superman ever flew by and felt bad that the windows were locked. Then again, he was the one who insisted she start locking them. Did he even fly by her apartment anymore?
Clark reached over and nudged her shoulder. "Did you ever wonder if maybe Bad Brain used your toothbrush when he broke into your place?"
"Clark?" She couldn't hide the smile in her voice.
"Yeah?" He was smiling, too.
"Do you want me to be sick again?"
He laughed. "It was just a thought."
Lois inched closer to him. "I'm cold, aren't you cold?"
"Come here then." He stretched out his arm and she snuggled up to him, resting her cheek on his chest. Her foot slid over his ankle, bringing her leg to rest between his. There was an interested twitch from his groin that made him take several deep breaths. Not gonna happen, he warned himself. Not tonight. She doesn't feel well, you can't take advantage of her like that. He closed his arm around her shoulders and rested his chin on the top of her head.
Lois let out a small sigh, soothed by the steady beat of his heart beneath her cheek. This, she thought as she slipped closer to sleep. This is all I want. Why can't he be like this all the time?
<><><>
The next morning they were called into Perry's office. "Is there something wrong?" Perry asked conversationally, leaning back against his desk.
"Wrong?" Lois asked, trying to gauge just how loaded that question was.
"With you two," Perry clarified. "I don't see much chit-chat out in the bullpen between you these days. It occurred to me this morning that maybe there's something wrong."
"It's nothing between us, Perry," Clark said. "It's just this situation with Bad Brain. It's been a strain on our work."
Lois nodded her agreement. "Yes, that's it."
"So there's nothing… here," Perry indicated the space between them. "You don't have anything you want to confess to me?"
Lois' eyes went wide in horrified surprise. Did Perry know?
"There's nothing, Chief," Clark said reassuringly. Lois looked at him in amazement. She had always thought Clark was a lousy liar - this was a revelation.
"All right then," Perry said, giving them a look that made them both squirm. "Get back to work."
Lois stopped in front of Clark's desk after they left Perry's office. "You're better at this than I thought," she told him.
"At what?" Clark looked up at her quizzically.
"Dissembling."
"You didn't think I could lie?" He tried to keep his voice neutral but he was feeling a rising panic.
"Not that well. I just never expected it from you."
"I hope that's a compliment."
"It is." She regarded him for a few seconds. "So what else are you lying about?"
"What?"
"A person doesn't lie that well without practice. And you seem to keep a lot of secrets. I bet there are lots of things you don't tell me."
"And there are things you don't tell me," he said, hoping to divert her.
"Like what?"
"Like Joe asking you out."
"I didn't say yes."
Clark shrugged.
"Why does it matter, Clark? It's not real, remember?"
Clark looked down at his keyboard, then straightened it on his desk. "Lois, I, when I said that, I didn't mean it like that."
"No? How else could you possibly have meant it?"
He shook his head, hating himself more than ever. Then he looked her right in the eye. "Can I ask you out?"
"Now you want to date me?" Suddenly the idea of dating Clark seemed like a scary proposition. It might be easier if he only wanted her for sex. Dating implied commitment and commitment never ended well for her. Friends was better. Friends she could control.
"I need to talk to you." He looked so serious, her stomach bunched unhappily.
"So talk," she said flippantly.
He shook his head. "It's not that kind of conversation."
"What kind of conversation is it?"
"One that we can't have here. Will you give me a chance to show you how real this all is to me? Please?"
She looked at him for a few seconds as her curiosity warred with caution. "Fine. Pick me up at seven."
"Okay, I…" He rose from his chair quickly, flattening his tie down nervously. "I'll be right back."
<><><>
A few minutes after Clark left her phone rang.
"Lois, heard you had a fun time in the sewers last night!"
"Hi, Bobby." Lois didn't want to know how Bobby knew that. Please don't let him be calling just to gloat.
"So I asked myself, what was Lois doing in the sewer?"
"It was a storm water run-off tunnel," she felt compelled to point out.
"Whatever. My guess is you're looking for Bad Brain."
"Do you know where I could find him?"
"I know that a lot of guys at the mission are worried for their health and safety these days. And that the last guy who went missing, Mickey? He was last seen heading into the sewers with a tall, thin guy. Next morning he turned up dead."
"Which manhole?"
"Fourth Street and Haines."
"That's close to the Hobbs Bay Tower, isn't it?"
"A few blocks away, yeah."
"Bobby, I owe you! I'll buy you dinner, but not until tomorrow night, okay?"
"If I have to wait twenty-four hours I get double portions."
"Deal."
Lois hung up and glanced over at Clark's desk. Should she leave him a note? She glanced at her watch, it was just past four o'clock. She could tell Clark if she found anything over dinner.
<><><>
This tunnel, at least, smelled better than the last one. Lois picked her way slowly forward, then stopped, her heart hammering painfully in her chest. Was there someone else down here? She listened, becoming more certain she could hear the shuffle of footsteps. She switched off her flashlight and pressed herself against the wall, wishing she had somewhere to hide.
The footsteps were getting closer and she could see a flashlight's beam approaching. It was stupid, she realized, to just stand against the wall like this. She took a step to the side, creeping just ahead of the beam. Then it swung and caught her in its glare.
"Why it's lovely, lissome Lois," Ken Randall laughed. "Did Lois lose her light?"
"Ken!" she snapped in irritated relief, switching on her light and shining it at his eyes. "Why are you here?"
"Is that an existential question? Or are you just wondering why I always seem to get here before you do?" He lifted his hand to block his eyes and she saw that he was carrying a small camcorder. "I'd advise you to shut the hell up or we're both going to lose our stories."
Ken resumed walking and she fell into step behind him. "Do you actually know where you're going or are you just trying to impress me?"
"Lois, if this impresses you, you're even easier than I thought."
She frowned and decided to change the subject. "Where's Mike?"
"He called in sick today."
Her stomach turned in a sympathetic reflex. "So where are you going?" she asked.
"You don't understand what an 'exclusive' is, do you?" He dodged around a corner, reaching out and pulling her next to him. "Turn your light off," he whispered as he put his light out.
Lois did, but after a few seconds in which she could hear nothing but water dripping and her own heartbeat pulsing in her ears she let out an exasperated sigh.
"Shhh," Ken cautioned. "He'll be along soon."
"What makes you so sure?" she muttered.
"I saw him earlier. He had the gun with him. I think he stuns them first and then drags them to his lair."
"You've seen him stunning someone?"
"No, I saw him walking with the gun earlier this week just before the last murder. But then he lost me in this maze and I couldn't find him again. The next morning there was another dead body."
"Do you live down here now? I was right when I said you were a sewer rat."
Ken didn't answer, but his hand smacked her arm as a warning to shut up. Lois listened intently. Then she heard it. Footsteps, further down the tunnel. Footsteps and a dragging noise. Light flickered off the walls of the tunnel. Then the light faded and the shuffling slowly faded away.
"If he has someone, we need to go help them escape," she whispered.
"You do that and you'll get us all killed. You do realize he carries that shock gun with him everywhere? I've seen him shooting rats with it and it just obliterates them."
The two of them crept through the tunnels in the direction that Bad Brain had gone. Soon they could see a large room ahead. Ken dropped to his knees, slung the camera around his neck and began crawling. He tilted his head at Lois, indicating that she should start crawling, too.
At least I'm not wearing a skirt today, she thought glumly. When I get home I'm going to take the world's longest, hottest shower. Ken stopped just short of the room, staying in the shadows at the mouth of the tunnel. Lois squatted next to him, hardly daring to peer around him to see what was happening. Ken took the camera from around his neck and she saw a little red dot glow when he started recording.
Tensed and ready to run at the first sign of trouble, she peeked around Ken. The room ahead of them was filled with electrical equipment, tall racks that danced with blips of light from the machinery stacked on it. Next to one of the racks was a table. A man laid on the table, secured with two copper bands, one around his chest and the other around his ankles.
"Oh my god," Lois breathed, "that's how he's electrocuting them."
A tall, thin man came into view, carrying what looked like a hollow plexiglass sarcophagus. He set this down over the man on the table, then went around the table locking it into place.
"We have to help him!" Lois urged quietly, nudging Ken.
"I think it's too late to help him."
"Then we go get the police." She turned and crawled back up the tunnel. She had gone around the corner when suddenly her hair was yanked from behind and she fell onto her knees. Her flashlight clattered away. A hand covered her mouth, stifling her surprised gasp and Ken hissed in her ear, "You are not going to ruin my story!"
Lois swung her elbow back, driving it into Ken's groin. He struck back at her, catching her under the chin with his flashlight. Dazed, she fell sideways, the taste of blood thick in her mouth. Ken roughly dragged her further down the tunnel. Suddenly he stopped, pushed her through a doorway and shut the door, leaving her in darkness. She started to yell but then let it die. What if Bad Brain was the one who opened the door?
Lois cursed under her breath and crawled towards where she had been thrown in. Her jaw ached, she felt along her teeth with her tongue, still tasting blood, but nothing seemed to be loose. That rat bastard, she fumed. He's going to pay when I get out of here.
There was a wall in front of her and she stood up, finding a door handle when her wrist smacked against it. No matter how much pressure she exerted, she couldn't get it to open. She traced the periphery of the door but the hinges were on the outside so there was no way she could work it open.
Lois put her right hand to the wall and started walking, mapping out the room in her mind. It was circular and it took her fifty-seven steps to come back to the door's handle. She leaned back, girding up her courage to leave the relative comfort of the wall. Putting her hands in front of her she slowly stepped out, hoping there wasn't a drop-off in the center. Her breathing echoed in the room, sounding harsh and much too loud. Surely Bad Brain could hear her. After seventy-nine steps her fingers bumped into the wall again. Probably half that many steps, she corrected herself. You shuffled more than stepped.
She followed the wall around again until she got to the handle. Then she turned, resting her back against the door. She listened to the faint drip of water, the ticking of her watch and her own anxious breathing. If only she had one of those watches that lit up. She couldn't even tell what time it is. It was near five when she came down here. She and Ken followed Bad Brain and watched him, was that another hour? Surely it had to be close to seven o'clock by now?
She was going to kill Ken the next time she saw him. First she was going to kick him the teeth. Then she'd find a flight of stairs to throw him down.
Was it seven o'clock yet? Was Clark standing outside her apartment door right now, knocking? How long before he realized she wasn't there? Would he go back to the Planet to look for her? Why hadn't she left a note for him? How long until he asked Superman to look for her?
Her heart sank as she remembered that Clark had said Superman had been looking for Bad Brain in the tunnels. He still hadn't found him, how was he ever going to find her? Would Ken eventually relent and confess what he had done? Maybe call in an anonymous tip when they set up a search for her? Or would he just let her rot to save his own reputation?
Bobby! Bobby knew where she had gone. Wouldn't Clark eventually ask Bobby if he knew where she was? It didn't matter that she was blocks away from Fourth Street and Haines. It would at least give him a starting point.
It will be okay, she reassured herself. They'll find you. Clark, and Superman, neither of them will stop looking until they find you.
Then she heard the screams. From the other side of the door came a rising wail of pain and panic. She put her hands over her ears, trembling at her own impotence to help the man.
Please, she thought desperately, just let them find me before Bad Brain does.
<><><>
End 9/20
