Thanks to LaraMoon for the wonderful beta-reading.
Merry Christmas, Fröhliche Weihnachten, Joyeux Noel to all of you!
Please enjoy!
From Part 3:
For some reason Clark couldn’t really understand, Lois’ expression darkened. He had no intention whatsoever of finding out what this was about, he’d had enough trouble for today and wasn’t keen on another argument with Lois Lane. He was only going to lose. Silently he followed Lois through the newsroom and said hello to the people she introduced to him. Clark didn’t dare think about how long this truce would last.
Part 4:
Neither the press conference nor their investigation on Lois’ neighbor had led to any results. It was late afternoon when Clark called it a day and made his way to the daycare. He was curious to hear what Becca’s day had been like. He really hoped that she liked going to school. He was a bit worried because of the evening activities he had planned. He should be sending Becca to bed early so that she wouldn’t be tired in the morning, but Clark felt an urgency to turn his plan into reality. He hoped that finding the right disguise wouldn’t take too long. He had spoken with his mother about it; she still had his measurements and she had promised to buy fabric and try out some designs.
Clark hardly noticed how quick he arrived at Becca’s school. The daycare was in a smaller building next to it. That was one of the reasons Clark had decided to send her to that school. By no means was it because he liked the principal so much. Clark could still feel anger welling up in him when he remembered those few minutes. At least the teacher had seemed to be considerably nicer. Maybe she didn’t consider it a capital sin not to be married? Anyway, he didn’t feel like receiving the next offense anytime soon.
Clark hoped for the best but was ready to cope with the worst when he entered the daycare center. He went through the hall to a couple of rooms where he saw light. He heard voices of children that were playing together. They obviously had fun and Becca was one of them. He could sound out her laugh among a thousand people. She was okay; Clark breathed a sigh of relief and continued his way.
He knocked on the doorframe and entered the room. A small group of children was sitting in the middle of the room. A teacher was sitting between them and they played some game that Clark only had faint memories of. He neither recalled the rules nor the name of the game. The young woman looked up at him as she heard his knock. She smiled but her expression forced him to identify himself.
“Hi, I’m Clark Kent,” Clark answered the unspoken question. “I’m Becca’s dad.”
As soon as she heard his voice, Becca turned around and got up quickly. The teacher followed her and approached Clark, but somewhat slower than his little whirlwind who had rushed towards him, looking like she was going to explode if he stopped her from telling him literally *everything* about her day. Clark couldn’t help but grin; this was his little girl. He hugged her as soon as she reached him and took the hand the teacher was holding out to him.
“Hi, Mr. Kent. I’m Julie,” she introduced herself. She was about to say something else, but Becca interrupted her. She was pulling at a girl’s hand, trying to convince her that Clark wasn’t going to bite.
“Daddy, daddy, this is Anna!” Becca shouted excitedly and pointed at the shy girl next to her. Anna’s face was red like a tomato.
“Hi, Anna. I’m Clark.” He offered his hand and the little girl took it hesitatingly.
“Hi,” she mumbled self-consciously.
“I’m glad that Becca made a new friend so quickly. Maybe you’d like to visit us some day?” Clark smiled at her broadly and managed to bring a smile to her face. “Becca, I’m afraid that we need to go now. Please say goodbye to everyone and get your things,” Clark said in apology. ”I’m sorry, Anna, that I’ve to drag Becca away so quickly, but the two of us have got a date. Don’t we, honey?”
Becca nodded and said goodbye to her friends. Clark apologized again and after a couple of minutes the two had left the daycare and were headed home. They stopped there only shortly for Becca to change into warmer clothes. It wasn’t long before they took off.
* * *
Lois was still sitting in the newsroom and trying to call a spokesperson of the emergency services. She wasn’t keen on returning home, especially since this home wasn’t her own but only a hotel room. Lois needed the safety of her own apartment and most of all she missed the locks. They represented her independence and ability to survive in the big city. Lois knew how to protect herself, but that hadn’t helped her against the fire. Her memories of that evening were better now that she had had time to think about it…
The week had been long and tiring; Lois had been on a stakeout for several nights and after having written the story which hadn’t really been worth the lack of sleep, Lois had left the Planet a little earlier on Friday. At first she had planned to work through some files, but she had fallen asleep the very moment she sat down on her sofa. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but when she had woken up smoke had made her cough violently. The strident tone of the fire alarm had come a bit too late. Lois had tried to get out of her apartment and obviously she had managed to reach at least the second floor, but she didn’t have any memory of getting down there. That bothered her, because she was so used to remembering everything. So why hadn’t she memorized this moment of her life? Was the fire reason enough? Lois didn’t know because she had no prior experience being caught in a fire; something which she didn’t exactly regret. She hoped that it wasn’t going to happen ever again.
There was another mystery besides this: she still didn’t know her savior’s name. If he existed, that was. But Lois trusted Bobby Bigmouth and he had never disappointed her. Anyway, hard as she might try, Lois couldn’t get the rumors confirmed. Neither the police nor the fire department answered her questions. She had been on the phone for hours, but every time she had reached someone they had only passed her on to another person. No one was competent, or more likely, nobody intended to reply. It was a particularly annoying task to phone authorities.
Lois could hardly imagine that anyone could easily storm into a burning building and vanish into nothingness afterwards. Somehow she still suspected the arsonist of having done it. But if he really didn’t want people to die, why had he set fire to a hotel with twenty guests inside? Lois would be the last to admit to it, but she was clueless. The only hint that she had was her neighbor and he was gone. As she tried to find him, Lois noticed how little she knew about a person who had lived next door. She had never been interested in getting to know him, but now she wished that she had.
Lois had asked Jimmy to find out any possible thing about him, while she tried to convince the police and fire department to release information. Instead of getting it, Lois spent most of her time listening to awful music. She was tired of it. Okay, she was tired anyway, but this was just sickening. Lois felt that she would be better off calling it a day. She wanted to discuss this with someone and, strange as it was, she wished that Clark hadn’t already left the newsroom. He was a good listener and moreover he didn’t second her theory concerning the arsonist. Normally, Lois would have given him a hard time for that, but that was exactly what she needed now. Together they could investigate this story more objectively.
Lois sighed and hung up. It was no use calling people who didn’t want to talk to her. And she couldn’t make Clark appear in an instant. She wasn’t sure how keen he would be on helping her, anyway. He worked with her because Perry had told him to. But after all their arguments, Lois was pretty sure that he hated her. She’d like to get to know him and that was really new for her. But she had utterly blown her chances, which was quite a pity because Clark was the closest to a possible friend that she was ever going to find. He was smart and determined, although in a different way than she was. And no matter what she had told him earlier, he was a match for her.
With another sigh, Lois grabbed her things and stored them in her handbag. She tidied up her desk a bit and looked over to Perry. Even Jimmy had already left the newsroom, but the editor-in-chief obviously didn’t need sleep. Lois admired his ability to rule the Planet. But seeing his never fading power, Lois realized even more how tired she was. She got up from her desk and walked towards the elevators. At the very moment she wanted to enter one of them, the telephone on her desk rang. Lois ran back and took the receiver.
“Lois Lane,” she said and listened to the dark and frightening voice of someone who chose to remain anonymous.
* * *
The farm was a warm and cozy island in the cold winter air. The house seemed to be looking forward to its guests and blew clouds of smoke into the night. Behind each window was light and almost every other one was decorated nicely. Snow covered the roof and it looked like a winter dream. A fir next to the house had lights on it and was the icing on the cake for the two special visitors that were approaching quickly.
Clark and Becca were both glad as they felt solid ground under their feet. They had arrived at a magical place where dreams could come true. A delicious scent of cookies was filling the air and Clark could have sworn that there was apple pie mixed with it. When Clark and Becca glanced at each other they shared the same joyful expression.
They entered the house and found Jonathan and Martha sitting in the living room. Martha was sewing and Jonathan Kent eyed the bowl of cookies hungrily. They were forbidden and he knew it. Martha guarded them fiercely and kept them for guests or to go with a cup of coffee in the afternoon. Particularly since Jonathan had problems with cholesterol, he was only allowed to have them on weekends or other special occasions. Since her cookies were so very tempting, Jonathan prayed that Becca and Clark’s visit counted as a special occasion.
He got up from the sofa and greeted his son and granddaughter. They hugged each other and their eyes wandered involuntarily to that bowl of cookies. Martha came over to them and smiled broadly as she noticed the looks of her family. She, too, embraced Clark and Becca.
“Okay, Jonathan. The two of you can have some cookies, but not too many, you haven’t had supper yet. And you …follow me.” She grabbed Clark’s arm and pulled him towards the table where her sewing machine was. In the meantime, Becca started telling Jonathan about her first day in school. Her grandfather listened eagerly and handed her a cookie before he took one himself.
“So you think that the disguise is a good idea?” Clark inquired curiously. The day before, she hadn’t really sounded convinced of his plan.
“Clark, you know that I support you whenever I can. If you think this is going to help, then it’s fine with me,” Martha replied diplomatically.
“Come on, Mom. Be honest!” Clark insisted, but Martha only shook her head and concentrated on the fabric that was lying on her table. As Clark noticed that his mother wasn’t willing to discuss the disguise with him, he gave in.
“So do you think I should wear a mask?” Clark wanted to know.
“Heaven’s no! If someone thinks that you’ve got to hide something they’ll only be determined to find out about it. Just remember Becca!”
Clark nodded. He did remember that and honestly, how could he ever forget it?
tbc...
