Okay... This is Part 8a, since I realised it'd been a wee while since I'd posted Part 7. Part 8b will be along in a couple of days, perhaps even followed by an epilogue... But we'll see. Forces have yet to determine whether there will be an epilogue... (it may depend on how much people want one...
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Anyway, enjoy Part 8a! And you don't have to wait for 8b to post FDK....
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Waking the next morning, Clark wondered if it had all been a dream: a wonderful, life-altering dream. Then he realised that he wasn’t in his own bed and that something – or more correctly, someone – was stirring at his side. As he looked down at the woman beside him, Clark took a moment to marvel at her beautiful dark tresses and her lithe form that fitted so perfectly against his own body. He sighed happily and slipped further beneath the covers, pulling Lois’ body closer to him. She responded in kind, her arms tightening around his upper torso.
“Clark…” she murmured, her breath against his neck sending shivers down his spine.
“Hmm?” he responded.
“This is nice.” Lois sighed again, the smile he could see on her face contagious.
“Very,” Clark said, kissing her softly on the cheek. “Good morning. I think I like waking up to you.”
“Even with my morning breath?” Lois teased. She kissed him back, this time on the lips. “Mmm… You’re brave.”
“Not brave,” replied Clark, “just in love. And anyway…you don’t have morning breath.”
“Nice try,” Lois giggled. “I don’t think that it’s possible *not* to have morning breath.”
“Hmm… Well then I love you, morning breath and all.” In order to cement this somewhat peculiar announcement, Clark rolled Lois on her back and pressed a gentle kiss to her exposed throat, his lips feathery light.
Lois giggled harder than ever; she couldn’t help it. “Clark!” she squealed. “That tickles!”
“Oh, *that* tickles?” Clark answered playfully. “Well, what about this then?” And at his final word, he sat up and began to tickle her sides.
“C-Cl-!” Lois’ vain attempt at his name was produced through a stream of laughter.
Clark ceased his finger’s attentions to her abdomen. “Hmm… I think we’ve found your ‘Kryptonite’, don’t you?” He looked at her with a cheeky grin on his face.
“My ‘Kryptonite’?” Lois gazed back at him, her expression amused; she panted loudly following her laughing fit. “Tickling is my ‘Kryptonite’?”
Her fiancé nodded. “Looks like it. It completely incapacitates you, like that annoying little green rock does to me.”
“You’re forgetting something,” Lois reminded him. “Kryptonite also brings pain with it. Tickling does not.”
“Tickling brings discomfort though,” Clark insisted. “That’s close to pain. Sort of.”
Lois didn’t look convinced, but she decided to go along with his thought process. “Okay, if you say so.”
Clark leaned down to kiss her, his lips teasing hers apart as he deepened the kiss. After he pulled back, Lois stared intently into his face.
“What was that for?” she questioned with a smile. One hand reached up to stroke Clark’s cheek.
“Just because you’re you.” He smiled back. “And I like doing it.”
“Hmm…me too,” said Lois, “but looking at the time, I’d say if we keep doing it, we’ll end up late for work.”
Clark cocked his head sideways as he peeked at the clock radio on her bedside table. He then looked back at Lois. “You’re right,” he said, “but I’ve been thinking…”
“You seem to do that an awful lot,” Lois teased.
“Yes, well, it’s one of my many sterling qualities,” Clark shot back, their usual banter flowing easily between them. “But you’re distracting me.”
“I can be *very* distracting,” Lois promised with a wink.
“As I said,” Clark replied with a slight gulp, “you’re distracting me…”
“And succeeding?”
“And succeeding,” Clark affirmed, leaning down to kiss her once more. However, he stopped mid-way there, shaking his head and looking directly into her eyes. “Lois, I really need to say this. It’s important.”
“Okay, go ahead,” Lois sighed, removing her hands from his chest. They’d slowly been making their way up to his pectoral muscles and she was a little disappointed that he insisted on interrupting. “I’m listening.”
“Okay,” Clark took a deep breath. “Now, people tried to kill you yesterday – more specifically, Dougal in the pay of Intergang tried to kill you yesterday.”
Lois shuddered, her eyes closing as the memories washed over her. “Please, don’t remind me, Clark.”
Clark winced. He felt her pain as clearly as if it was his own. “Sorry.”
Lois nodded, opening her eyes to look at him once more. “It’s okay. Just get on with your explanation, okay? Then you can kiss me to scare away the memories.”
“Now that I can do,” Clark assured her. “Right, so yesterday happened and I was thinking about work and I realised that you couldn’t go because then Dougal would see you and know that you weren’t dead and then he’d tell his boss at Intergang and that would just screw everything up because they’re counting on you being dead so that you can’t stop their plans and-”
“Clark! You’re getting to be as bad as me!” Lois interrupted his babbling, placing a finger over his lips.
“But you get my point, right?” Clark said removing her fingers gently. “We can’t let Dougal see you.”
“So I guess we tell Perry about Dougal and Intergang then?” Lois sighed. “I suppose it’s necessary now, huh?”
Clark nodded. “He might be able to help us out in some way.”
“But then how do we stop Perry from killing Dougal?” Lois looked inquisitively at Clark. “Because he’s going to want to – desperately – and I think Dougal’s death might just give the game away too.”
“We’ll just have to make Perry promise,” Clark said determinedly. “But whatever happens, Lois, please don’t go into work today. Promise me.”
Lois looked carefully at her fiancé. She didn’t usually let people tell her what to do, but Clark was different, and what he was saying made sense; a lot of sense. There was no way she wanted to put herself at the mercy of Dougal again and if he was aware that she was alive the investigation, not to mention her life, would be at risk again. So as much as she disliked the fact that Clark was right, he was. This time she had to give in.
“I promise, Clark,” she replied with a grimace. “I’m not about to stick my neck on the executioner’s block twice in two days. Trust me.”
Clark heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Lois. I’ll call Perry and ask if I can stay with you today – we can work on the story from here.”
And Clark linked his words to an action by picking up the phone and dialling the Planet.
“Hello? Oh, hi, Jimmy. Can you put me through to Perry? Alright, thanks.” Clark tapped the phone as he waited for his boss to come on the line. “Perry? It’s Clark. Listen, there’s something I need to talk to you about. Could you meet me at Lois’ apartment?” A pause. “Yes, at Lois’. Well, something’s happened that I think you should know about and I’d prefer to tell you in person. Can you get here soon?” Another pause. “Okay, thanks, Chief. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up the phone.
“He’s coming?” Lois questioned. “Why didn’t you mention me?”
“Someone from Intergang – Dougal or otherwise – might have tapped the line at the Planet. I thought it’d be safer not to mention you and to get Perry to talk to me here, face to face.”
Lois’ confused look cleared to a smile. “Oh… That makes sense, I guess. So do you think he’s heard anything about my ‘death’?” Lois made little air-quotes with her fingers as she said the last word.
“Probably not. He sounded perfectly normal anyway. Not like he was grieving.” Clark looked at her. “And anyway, I doubt Dougal was advertising it, though he’d expect your body to be found…eventually. He was probably planning on going back to the warehouse today to move it.”
“Which brings me to the question of why they left me to die in the first place,” said Lois. When Clark gave her a look that clearly said that he thought the reason had already been established and was quite obvious, Lois shook her head. “Oh, I don’t mean why they wanted me to die. I mean why they just left me there in the warehouse and didn’t stand guard.”
“You know, I was wondering about that too,” Clark admitted, “and the only conclusion I could come to was that they naively assumed that with you gagged, tied up and stuffed in a box with limited oxygen and no air holes, there was no way you could call to me; no way I’d know you were even there. So they felt safe leaving you without a guard since in their minds there was no possible way you could escape from that sarcophagus.”
“They didn’t count on our mystical telepathic connection,” Lois wiggled her fingers in the air dramatically as she light-heartedly tried to express the mysteriousness of it all.
The corner of Clark’s mouth turned up slightly as he looked at her, amused. “‘Mystical telepathic connection’, huh?”
“Sure,” said Lois with a nod. “What else would you call it?”
Clark thought for a moment and then shrugged. “‘Mystical telepathic connection’ sounds as good as anything, I guess.”
“Anyway,” Lois began, changing the subject, “isn’t it about time we got dressed? Perry will be here before you know it.”
“Good idea,” Clark responded.
Lois took the bathroom first and it was more than twenty minutes later that she emerged, her hair wet and her casual jeans and a T-shirt hugging her body.
“I guess we’re lucky I can be super quick,” said Clark as a knock sounded at the door. And, in the time it took Lois to cross to her apartment door and look through the peephole, he was in and out of the shower, dressed and walking back into the living room.
“Chief,” he said as Lois opened the door to their boss. “Thanks for coming.”
“No problem, son,” the elder man said walking inside. He turned to look at the both of them. “Now, what’s this all about? What’s so important that I had to come here for you to tell me about it?”
“Maybe you should sit down, Perry.” Lois gestured towards her couch.
Perry’s eyebrows rose. “Something I need to sit down for? This must be serious.”
“Well…yes.” Clark followed Lois and Mr White and watched as his editor sat down with Lois sitting beside him. “Chief, something happened yesterday. Lois was…”
“Don’t tell me – whatever it was resulted in another lawsuit. Am I right?” Perry looked wryly from one to the other.
“Not this time, Perry.” Lois shook her head. “Someone…tried to kill me yesterday.”
“Lois, honey, at times that’s happening once a week,” Perry cracked a smile, which quickly disappeared as he caught the looks they were exchanging. “But this time wasn’t the same as all those…was it?”
“No,” Clark replied. “This time she was seconds away from suffocating to death. Superman only just got there in time.” He sat on the arm of the couch, taking Lois’ hand in his own.
“And Perry?” Lois began again. “It was Dougal.”
“Dougal?” Perry looked at her as if he didn’t understand. Maybe he thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. “As in Dougal Finnegan?”
Lois nodded. “He was the one who tried to kill me…and very nearly succeeded.”
“He’s working for Intergang, Chief,” Clark chimed in. “Lois saw him earlier this week, and heard him taking the orders to kill her from none other than Mindy Church.”
“Mindy- But why didn’t you tell me, honey?” Perry looked at Lois. “And why didn’t you just stay far, far away from Finnegan?”
“Believe me, I tried,” Lois said with a sigh. “It wasn’t as easy as I thought it’d be. Not even with Superman for protection.”
“So Superman knew about this too? Well, why didn’t *he* tell me?”
“None of us wanted to worry you unnecessarily,” Clark explained. “And we didn’t want Dougal to know that we knew, which is why we asked you to come here today, instead of talking about this over the phone.”
“Clark thinks that Intergang might have bugged the Planet’s phone lines,” clarified Lois.
Already being angry about the fact that one of his reporters had almost been killed by another – on purpose nonetheless! – it didn’t take long for the elder man’s emotions to develop into absolute rage.
“Bugged my phone lines? The very avenue through which my reporters receive some of their most sensitive information from sources? And trying to kill you, Lois! Just wait until I get back to the Planet…”
“Chief, you can’t say anything,” Clark cautioned his boss. “Not just yet anyway.”
“But why?” Perry questioned passionately. “That criminal deserves to-”
“He deserves a lot,” Lois agreed. “Things that only the nice guards at the Metropolis Penitentiary can give him. But Perry, the reason you can’t say anything yet is because of what is still going on; what Intergang is still doing.” And Lois and Clark proceeded to explain to their boss what they’d found out concerning the importation of stolen Egyptian artifacts into Metropolis.
“So you see,” said Lois, “the only way we can stop Intergang in their tracks is if Dougal thinks I died and reports that to Mindy Church. Then, she’ll carry on with the delivery that we heard her talking about at the governor’s ball.”
“I still can’t believe that the new governor is involved in all this too.” Perry shook his head. “I knew I never should have voted for that sorry excuse…”
“We need you to go along with all of this.” Clark looked his boss in the eye. “Please, Perry, treat Dougal as if everything was normal and you’d never heard any of this. Pretend I’m on assignment and that you haven’t heard from Lois. You can act worried if you’d like. I’m sure Dougal would like that.” A dark look came into Clark’s eyes. He was going to have a score to settle with Mr Finnegan when this was all over.
“Okay, but what are you two going to do?” Perry gazed at his two best reporters: the young man and woman whom he loved as if they were his own children. “You said this delivery is scheduled for just after 11 o’clock tonight.”
“We’re going to contact Henderson at the Metropolis PD,” Clark said. “We’re hoping he can help us and that we can help him – his department already has its own suspicions about the smuggling of these artifacts.”
Perry nodded slowly, accepting that his part in the events was going to have to be on the sidelines.
“Uh, would you mind if I tell Jimmy?” A fond look stole over his face. “The boy would hate me if he was left out of something like this.”
Lois laughed. “I don’t mind. Just as long as he manages to keep his mouth firmly shut when he’s around Dougal, you can tell him anything you want, Perry.”
*****
Later that day, Henderson had joined the reporting duo in Lois’ apartment and was pacing the floor, a grim expression on his face.
“You say that the governor said he’d be home soon after eleven o’clock? They’re planning the delivery for then?” He stopped pacing momentarily and turned to face them.
“That’s what we heard,” Clark confirmed. “Any ideas on the best way to stop it?”
“Well, if we want it to stand up in court,” Henderson said, “we need to do this legally for a start.” He looked pointedly at Lois.
“Why are you looking at me?” she protested. “I’ve never- I mean I…”
“Don’t say anything that’ll further incriminate you, Lois,” Henderson advised. “Officially I don’t know about any of your…activities. We don’t want that to have to change.”
“But I…” Lois paused, seeing the twinkle in the detective’s eye. She grumbled, though the smile on her face was good-natured enough. “I hate your teasing.”
“Anyway,” Henderson continued, “here’s what I’m thinking… Lois, do you remember how to get to the warehouse where they’re storing the artifacts?”
“Of course,” she said dryly. “I had to drive there at gunpoint – I doubt I’d forget the route.”
“Then we’ll need your help to get there. I think that we should grab the delivery men when they’re a significant distance from the warehouse and wire them.”
“And what if they protest?” Clark said with a frown. “I’m assuming that these men will be loyal to Intergang.”
“I think you’ll find that most hired men are only loyal while there’s something in it for them. Once you take that away from them, they become loyal to you because you hold the upper hand. You can make them, or break them. Police work is kind of like the entertainment business in that respect.” A slight smile tugged at one corner of Henderson’s mouth.
“So you intend to give them a deal in return for their loyalty, is that it?” Clark watched the other man’s face as the smile grew wider. “Something along the lines of ‘you talk and do the deed and your slates are wiped clean’?”
“Something like that,” said Henderson. “Now in order for this plan to work, we must do this…”
*****
Later that night, Lois and Clark sat in the backseat of a nondescript car parked one block from the warehouse. Henderson sat in the front, a radio in one hand while the other rested seemingly casually on his right hip. Clark knew, through using his X-ray vision to take a quick peek, that that was the spot where his concealed handgun sat.
“Eleven o’clock,” Henderson said, staring at the digital display in front of him. “Won’t be long now.”
“So what if this plan doesn’t work?” Lois piped up.
“Ah, Lois. Always a naysayer,” said Henderson. “If this plan doesn’t work then we’re in trouble. But I’d like to think that we at the Metropolis PD have this sort of thing down to a fine art. I don’t foresee any hiccups. Not unless certain people,” he turned to look pointedly at Lois for the second time that day, “create them.”
Lois made a grunting sound and crossed her arms across her chest petulantly. “I promised I’d stay put, didn’t I?”
Clark coughed as he tried to cover his laughter. “Uh, I’ll keep an eye on her,” he said, meeting her eyes when Lois shot him a malevolent look. He shrugged, shooting a smile right back. Lois tried hard to maintain her furious expression, but there was something about Clark’s smile… She couldn’t help but smile back.
“Okay, I see the men,” Henderson suddenly barked into his radio. “They’re heading for the warehouse. Don’t let them see you, but don’t lose them! We can’t afford to have them slip away.”
A brief response came quickly from the person at the other end of the radio: “On it.”
“Now what?” Clark asked.
“Now we wait.”
It was a tense fifteen minutes before a crackling but triumphant transmission came across through the radio’s speakers.
“We’ve got them, Sir! Awaiting orders.”
“Hold tight,” Henderson replied animatedly. “I’m on my way.” He turned to Lois and Clark when he was halfway out the car door; his voice was firm as he carefully enunciated each word. “Stay here.”
“I already promised…” Lois huffed as the door closed on the two of them.
“Somehow I get the sense he doesn’t trust you in that respect,” Clark chuckled.
“Hmp,” Lois groused. “I don’t go looking for danger.”
Clark looked at her reproachfully. “Lois…”
“I don’t!” Lois insisted. “It just…manages to find me.”
“Every single time,” Clark added.
“That’s why I keep you around, Flyboy.” Lois grinned as she threaded her fingers in between his. “You keep me out of trouble.”
“I think ‘get you out of trouble’ might be a more correct way of putting it, Lois,” said Clark squeezing her hand. “You have, after all, been saved by Superman more times than anyone else in the world.”
“True,” admitted Lois, “but isn’t saving me worth it?” She glanced up at him coquettishly from underneath her long lashes.
“More than worth it,” Clark replied, his voice a little rough. “There’s been so many times, Lois. Yesterday I…” He lifted a hand to brush some loose strands of hair from her face. “I almost lost…”
Clark’s voice broke on this last word. He couldn’t describe what he’d gone through the day before, the anguish he’d felt when she’d been laying there so still. To all appearances she’d been dead: her skin had been grey and cold and unless you’d looked very closely there’d have been no sign of breath. It was only owing to Clark’s super powers that he’d known otherwise, but even this knowledge hadn’t helped. She’d been so close to death; he’d been so anxious, so fearful of losing her for good. He could still hardly believe that she’d come back, that because of *his* voice calling her she’d returned to him. He felt like the luckiest man on earth.
Lois watched her fiancé as he struggled with his emotions. It wasn’t often that she saw this side of him, though she realised that he was a man more in touch with his feelings than most others she knew. The fact that he felt safe being vulnerable around her made her feel special and trusted; though it certainly didn’t mean she enjoyed seeing him like that.
“Clark,” she whispered, “it’s okay. I’m here. Yesterday was horrible for both of us believe me. But it’s over and we’ve come out the other side of it stronger than ever, haven’t we? I’m here, you’re here and we love one another. We’re getting married! Just remember that they tried to get rid of me, but they didn’t succeed. Thanks to *you*.” She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. It was kind of nice to be the one comforting him for a change. “I love you.”
Clark seemed to relax at her kiss. He pulled her close, angling her body so that she could sit on his lap in the somewhat cramped backseat. “And I love you. So very, very much.”
Lois leaned into him, allowing him to place another kiss on her upturned mouth. She giggled. “What would you do if Henderson came back right now, Clark?”
Clark kissed her again, this time on her jaw line. “Hmm… I think I’d find it very easy to,” another kiss that made Lois’ insides feel as if they were being flipped over, “completely ignore him.”
Lois felt her body responding to his familiar touch. “Mmm… Me too,” she said as her hands slid into his hair. “Henderson who?”
*****
About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the car window. Henderson opened the door and slid back into his seat as the couple grudgingly moved apart.
“Am I interrupting something?” he grinned.
“Hmp,” said Lois with a scowl. “So, what happened?”
“Everything went as planned. The men are wired and continuing on to deliver the artifact to the governor’s house. We can only hope the governor is so anxious about being found out that he accepts the delivery personally.”
“And if he does, we’ve got him!” Lois cried delightedly. “This is going to make the perfect story. Kerth material, if not Pulitzer!” She caught the look on Henderson’s face and paused, blushing a little. “Um, when we can publish it, that is.”
“I’m glad you remember our agreement, Lois,” said Henderson. He waved a finger in her direction as though she were a naughty child. “No going to print with this until the trial is over. We don’t want to compromise the investigation, or influence the jury in any way. If we do this properly without providing the defence with any ammo to shoot down our case, I know that the district attorneys will be able to bring about the demise of Intergang. And that’s a day I’m looking forward to.”
“You and me both,” Clark mumbled.
“So what do we do now?” Lois questioned. “Can we wait outside the governor’s house?”
“I don’t think that that’s necessary,” Henderson answered. “I have men I trust implicitly watching the house for the moment those men leave. They’ll be listening in to the conversations they have while inside the house and will take the men back to the station after they’ve done their job.”
“And then you’ll take their statements?” said Clark.
“Right,” the grizzled detective nodded. “But in the meantime, I’ll take you two home.”
“Oh don’t worry about us…” Clark already had one leg out the car door, his hand still entwined with Lois’. “We’ll make our own way home.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” said Henderson. “Just make sure you keep her safe, Kent. We can’t have one of our star witnesses ending up in Hobbs Bay.”
“Believe me, there is no way I’d let that happen to Lois,” Clark shivered a little at the thought.
“No… I guess you wouldn’t.” Henderson recalled the scene he’d observed just a few minutes earlier. “Take it easy you two. I’ll give the district attorney your number so that they can let you know about testimonies, court dates and all that kind of stuff.”
“I still wish you’d let us stay…” Lois said wistfully, her hopeful voice trailing off as she saw the expression on Henderson’s face. She slid out of the car to join Clark. “But I suppose I’ve had enough first hand experience in this investigation for now.”
“For *good*,” Clark agreed firmly, his arm going around her shoulders. “Good night, Henderson. Thanks for all your help today.”
“Thank *you*, Kent. And you, Lois.” The detective’s reproachful manner had been replaced with a seldom seen appreciative mood. “Your information really did help us get this investigation off the ground.”
Lois again looked hopeful. “Then maybe I can just…”
Both Henderson and Clark looked at her and said sternly, “No!”
Lois sighed. “It was worth a try…”
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Continued in Part 8b!
~Anna.
