Chapter Eight
>>>Very early Thursday morning
With the lights off, Lois brought her Jeep to a stop and turned off the ignition. “What time is it, Clark?”
“I forgot my watch. Didn’t you bring yours?”
“You mean you don’t have a clock in your head too?”
“Sorry, that’s one extraordinary ability I lack.”
She grinned at him in the dark, knowing he could see it, then pressed the backlight button on her watch. “It’s about ten till one. See anything yet?”
He nudged his glasses down on his nose. “Nobody’s on the bottom floor.”
“What about the cars?”
“Seven, I think. It’s hard to tell. One or two of them are down to the frame already and there are a lot of fenders and doors and other car body parts strewn around the room.”
“That’s what I thought.” Lois smiled. “That vision gizmo comes in handy, doesn’t it?”
Clark almost smiled back. “’Vision gizmo?’ Can’t you think of a better name than that?”
“Well, what do you call it?”
He shrugged. “Enhanced vision. X-ray vision. Heat vision. Telescopic vision.”
“Microscopic vision?”
“Not so much, no.”
Lois leaned back in the driver’s seat and laughed softly.
“What’s so funny?”
“I doubt anyone back in Littleville ever said ‘not so much’ in a conversation.”
This time he did smile. “It’s Smallville, not Littleville, but you’re probably right about the ‘not so much’ part.”
“Thought so.”
Clark allowed several long breaths to pass before he murmured, “Hmm.”
“That was a thoughtful utterance.”
He sighed dramatically. “I was just wondering if all of your stakeouts are this boring.”
“Nope. Some of them are far worse. I spent a night in this very Jeep with Claude a few weeks ago, and he’s not nearly the conversationalist you are. I’d much rather be bored with you for an entire night than be in this Jeep with Claude for ten minutes.”
“Thank you.” He paused. “I think.”
“That was a compliment, I assure you.”
“In that case, thank you without equivocation.”
They fell silent again, but this time neither one felt compelled to break it. For her part, Lois was comfortable with Clark, more so than she’d ever been with anyone since before her father had left his family to struggle along without him. She wondered about Clark’s parents, what kind of people they were, what they did for a living, and were they looking to adopt a grown daughter?
She laughed to herself. Thoughts like those would have sent daggers through her heart just a few days ago, but she’d learned that, while her present circumstances were definitely influenced by her past, her life wasn’t locked into a specific path. She could choose to learn, to grow, to open herself to new people and new experiences.
Maybe she could learn to love someone. Maybe –
Clark suddenly tensed. “Uh-oh.”
She snapped to attention. “What is it?” she whispered. “What do you see?”
“Uh – I have to go.”
“You heard something?” She turned. “Robbery? Car wreck? Earthquake? What?”
“Bathroom.”
She goggled at him. “Wh-what?”
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
The absurdity of the situation almost knocked her down to the floorboard. Apparently Superman had to answer the call of nature just like everyone else. “So, you are human after all.”
He glowered at her under the wan moonlight. “That part of me is, yes. Now where’s the nearest men’s room?”
She tried unsuccessfully to hide her grin as she pointed to a dumpster across the street.
His eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Nope.”
“There? Come on, Lois! There’s got to be a convenience store or gas station or something close by.”
“Closest open store is about eight blocks away, unless you want to break in somewhere. It’d take you a while to walk the distance.”
“I could fly there and back.”
“If you flew fast enough not to be seen, wouldn’t that create a sonic boom? Or at least a lot of wind?”
“Yes,” he muttered. He pressed his lips together and shifted in his seat. “Nuts! I hate this.”
“Can’t you hold it?”
“I’m not that super.”
She clenched her fists in an effort not to dissolve into gales of laughter. “Behind the dumpster. Make sure – make sure no one’s using it as a windbreak.”
“Lo-is – “
She forced herself to look stern. “Go. I promise I won’t peek.”
“Come on!”
“I’ll keep watch while you’re busy. Maybe you can return the favor later.” She lifted a thermos. “I brought lots of coffee.”
He glared at her again, then reached for the door handle. “You’re enjoying this altogether too much.”
She shielded the courtesy light with a towel she’d brought for that very purpose as he slipped out and quietly shut the Jeep’s door. Lois leaned her forehead on the steering wheel and tried to muffle her laughter.
*****
“More coffee, Lois?”
“No thanks.”
“You sure? I can heat it up for you.”
“I’m fine.”
“It’s no trouble – “
“Will you cut it out already? I don’t want any more coffee! I’m jittery enough as it is!”
He nodded and put the thermos down. “Okay, okay.”
Lois lifted her binoculars and made another sweep of the supposedly empty warehouse across the parking lot. She knew Clark could do it better and faster, but it gave her something to do besides sit there and think about the growing pressure in her lower belly.
He crossed his arms and stifled a yawn. “How long have we been here?”
She pressed the backlight button on her LCD watch. “A little over two hours. It’s ten after three.”
“What time did they tell you to be here?”
“Three thirty. They’ve got time yet.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“You’re just nervous about being out this late in the big city.”
“Oh, so now I’m the hack from Nowhereseville again?”
“What? I didn’t – wait a minute, what do you mean ‘again’?”
“That’s what you called me, wasn’t it? When Perry first hired me?”
Her nostrils flared in irritation. “You were listening in on us?”
“No. Perry told me. He wanted me to know something about the people I would be working with.”
“Huh. Nice of him to reveal that.”
“You should hear what he said about Ralph.”
“Are you kidding? Everybody knows – “
His hand suddenly whipped up between them. “Shh!”
She snapped the binoculars up again and scanned the building. Nothing.
Wait. Was that movement on the second floor?
Yes! Someone turned on a small lamp. Lois hadn’t been allowed on that floor, but she figured it was either the office area for the building or storage.
Clark touched her elbow. “Can you see what’s happening on the second floor?”
“Huh? What happened to your vision gizmo?”
He turned to her and pushed his glasses up against his face. “This is an old building. The city code enforcers don’t push too hard in this part of town. The upper floors still have lead-based paint on the interior walls.”
“So?”
“So I can’t see through lead. It blocks my – my vision gizmo.”
She grinned momentarily and looked closer. “I think there are at least two people up there. Can’t tell what they’re doing, though. Not enough light.”
“Okay. You keep scanning up there. I’ll check out the car floor.”
Another light in the window next to the one Lois was scrutinizing snapped on. “I got a light in the next office to the right.”
“I got three, four, five guys by the cars on the first floor with coffee cups in their hands.”
Lois fidgeted in her seat. “What are they doing?”
“Looks like they’re drinking coffee and talking about the cars. I think they’re deciding which one to tackle first.”
The pressure in her abdomen abruptly grew and she hissed between her teeth.
“Lois? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t think so. You’re wriggling around like a nightcrawler on a fishing hook.”
“Eww. Thank you so much for that visual.”
“No, really, Lois, are you okay?”
She lowered the binoculars. “No. Now I have to go. Satisfied?”
He almost hid his grin. “Yes, I am, especially since I went a while ago.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’d hit you if I thought you’d actually feel it.” She handed him the binoculars. “Hold these until I get back.”
“Okay. Watch out for the rats.”
She stopped with her hand on the door handle. “Rats?”
“Only a couple. I can go scare them off if you want me to.”
Her pride reared up and she shook her head. “No. You keep a lookout. Let me know if they do anything incriminating.”
“The men or the rats?”
“Oh, super-funny guy. Just shut up and wait here.”
He lifted his hand to the Jeep’s ceiling and shaded the dome light while she got out. As she closed the door and staggered towards the dumpster, she tried to stay mad, but then saw the humor in the situation and chuckled quietly.
*****
Inspector Bill Henderson walked over to Lois’s jeep and leaned on the hood. “Well, Mr. Kent, that was only a little exciting.”
Clark’s eyebrows rose. “Only a little?”
Henderson shrugged. “No shots fired, no suspects tried to run, no one resisted arrest, and no one threatened to sue me and the police department and the city.”
“So they just gave up?”
“You should have seen them. They were beyond surprised when we burst in.”
“No one even asked to see a warrant?”
“I walked in with my weapon in my right hand and the search warrant in my left, with five SWAT riflemen at my back. Not one of them even said hello.”
Lois closed her cell phone and joined them. “Well, that’s done. The story’s in rewrite. Won’t make the morning edition, but the night editor managed to insert a lower corner front page blurb that promises an eyewitness account in the afternoon edition.”
Henderson nodded. “Good for you, Lois. You’re back on the front page again. Congratulations.”
She grinned impishly. “Actually, Clark and I are both on the front page.”
Clark’s jaw dropped. “What? You put me in the by-line?”
“Second place, of course.” She lifted an imaginary newspaper and quoted, “‘Car-jacking ring broken. Multiple suspects arrested.’ Story by Lois Lane and Clark Kent.”
Henderson tapped Clark on the upper arm. “Not bad, Kent. I doubt her French partner would be treated so well.”
“Me, too.” He turned to Lois. “Thanks. Although I did notice that your name was mentioned first.”
“Of course it is. It’s my story. Besides, if I’m going to have a partner, I’m going to be top banana.”
Henderson quirked the corner of his mouth at Clark. “That’s a-peel-ing, isn’t it?”
Clark chortled. Lois gave him a ‘look’ and said, “How very, very droll. Don’t you have a whole lot of fingerprints to take, Bill?”
“Right. See you two later.”
Clark reached out to shake hands with the policeman. “Thanks, Inspector.”
Henderson caught Clark’s outstretched hand. “You can call me Bill, too. And we’re the ones who should thank you. You helped us a lot tonight.” He glanced at his watch. “I guess I should say, this morning. You two going into the office now?”
Clark looked at Lois, who shook her head. “Clark’s treating me to breakfast, then I’m dropping him off at his place, then I’m going home. My eyeballs itch and I need a significant amount of sleep.”
Clark smiled. “Breakfast sounds great, but I still have to go to the Planet. I have a couple of things to give to Perry about another piece I’ve been working on.”
Lois shrugged. “Then I guess we’ll both make an appearance. I can’t let you walk home by yourself, a country boy in the big city. You might get lost.”
She turned and walked towards the police tape, unwilling to be excluded from even the smallest detail of ‘her’ story. Henderson leaned against the Jeep and frowned. “Funny thing about this bust.”
“What’s funny? I thought it was a textbook arrest.”
“It was, Clark, but those cars weren’t as valuable as I’d expected, and I don’t think we nabbed the boss, or even the local manager. Those bozos were pretty much either protection or just parts-pullers.”
Clark frowned back. “Are you saying someone tipped them off and all you really got was the small fry?”
Henderson’s eyebrows rose. “Me? I’d never accuse anyone of doing something like that.” He stood and began walking away. “Gotta go. I have to get these fingerlings booked before the public defender can round up bail.”
Clark was left standing alone with his jaw slightly askew. Was Henderson hinting that either he or Lois was feeding information to the carjackers?
He thought about it and decided that the answer was ‘no.’ Bill was just expressing an opinion on something that was bothering him.
Something that he’d shared with Clark but not with Lois. Most interesting.
>>>Thursday, 8:06 AM
Claude was seething. He’d been greeted by his faithless partner’s treachery the moment he’d walked onto the news floor, prominently displayed on both the front page of the morning edition and on the newsroom bulletin board. Then, instead of receiving comfort in his hour of need, he’d gotten the cold shoulder from the fiery redheaded gossip columnist. As he’d left her desk, his idiot boss, Perry White, had further insulted him by telling him to work on reporting instead of working on the women. And he had done so in front of Claude’s co-workers. This was not to be forgiven. His honor had to be restored.
And then the ultimate insult entered the newsroom. His treacherous partner and her evil companion were greeted by all and sundry with cheers and accolades, from the backstabbing editor to the newest, lowest errand boy. The obsequious little rodent had even had the audacity to address Kent by his initials, calling him “CK” instead of “Mr. Kent.”
Claude looked closer and noticed a dark stain on the front of Lois’s shirt. As he saw it, the redheaded columnist asked her about it, and he heard Lois reply that Clark had made her laugh at breakfast and she had spilled syrup on herself.
They had shared a morning meal.
He had made her laugh.
This upstart young man had shared a meal with the hateful harpy who had refused to fetch Claude’s coffee only two days ago.
Such an insult could not be borne. He would now make things right.
*****
Clark heard someone stomping in their direction before he saw who it was. Lois looked in the direction of the footsteps and lost her smile. She held up her hand and stepped between Clark and the new arrival. “Claude, wait – “
The man swept past Lois and shoved Clark back against a desk. “Thief!” he shouted. “Robber! Stealer of partners!”
Lois turned and watched the tableau unfold. The other reporters on the floor wore shocked expressions as they also watched Clark try to placate the angry Frenchman. “Whoa, wait, Claude, we just – “
“I care to hear it not!” Claude shoved him again, this time past the desk. “I do not accept your apology! I refuse to hear your explanation! I demand satisfaction!”
“What? Satisfaction for what?”
Claude shoved him a third time, and Clark’s heels bumped the wall. “For the theft of my partner! She is mine! You may not have her!”
“If you’ll stop pushing me, we can talk – “
“No! Your wife is barely cold in her grave and already you seek another woman! You are a cad!” And then he swung a huge roundhouse right at Clark’s chin.
Clark ducked the blow and stepped to the side. “Cut it out, Claude!”
Claude threw a hard left that also missed. “And you are not satisfied with merely finding another woman for yourself! You seek to steal another man’s woman! I will injure you!”
“Claude, please don’t – “
Claude swung the same fist backhand at Clark’s face. “I will destroy you! You are huuuuuaaaaah!”
Clark ducked the backhand swing and lightly popped Claude in the solar plexus with his fingertips, precisely at the nerve center where the rib cages ends and soft flesh begins. Claude’s diaphragm, stunned by the blow to the nerve center, momentarily forgot how to pump air into and out of his lungs. The Frenchman toppled over like a robot with no power source and immediately lost all interest in anything, save a deep and abiding desire for oxygen.
Perry popped out of his office. “What the Sam Hill’s goin’ on here?” He took in the scene before him. “Kent! What do you think you’re doin’?”
Lois piped up. “Claude attacked him, Chief! He shoved Clark and – “
“I don’t care!” thundered Perry. “I will not have this newsroom turned into Metro Sports Arena! Lois, wait in my office! Kent, go home for the day and don’t bring your fight game back with you tomorrow!” He leaned over the victim on the floor, who was still trying to fill his lungs with delicious and elusive air. “Claude, when you get your breath back, you can start on a week’s unpaid suspension, effective immediately. And the next time you start something stupid like this, you’re fired. Got that?”
The Frenchman managed a weak nod between shallow wheezes and groans. “Good! And while you’re gone, you might want to check out your overseas employment opportunities. Just so you can update your resume, of course.”
Claude closed his eyes and sank back to the floor. Perry looked pointedly at Clark and crossed his arms. Clark almost pointed at the helpless man writhing on the floor and yelled, “He started it!” Instead, he kept his silence and strode purposefully towards the elevator.
The stakeout with Lois had been something – not fun, actually, but somehow quite pleasant. The subsequent arrests, with the police needing no help at all from Superman, had been truly enjoyable. Breakfast with Lois had actually been fun. He’d felt a stab of guilt at enjoying a meal with a woman who wasn’t Lana, but Lois had carried him through it, and they’d had a wonderful time.
Until, of course, Claude had intervened. He glanced back to see Lois bending over him, hands on her hips and a vengeful expression on her face.
Her parting comment to Claude, voiced just as the elevator door slid shut, made him laugh out loud. It reminded him so much of Lana.
*****
Lois stood over Claude and caught his gaze. “Stinks to be you right now, don’t it, Claude?” Lois started to turn away, then stopped and looked down again. “And just for the record, I don’t belong to any man. Especially not you.”
Claude groaned again and closed his eyes. No one moved to help him before Lois stepped into Perry’s office. She sighed and averted her eyes as the editor closed the door behind her.
“Sit down, Lois.” She complied silently. Perry pulled out his chair and settled into it. “Now, tell me what just happened in my newsroom. Did I actually see Clark Kent punch a coworker?”
“He was justified.”
Perry shook his head. “No, he wasn’t, and we both know why.”
“He was provoked.”
“That’s not good enough either and you know that too.”
Lois’s eyes regained some of their life. “Look, Perry, Clark didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t have a chance to do anything at all! Claude rushed Clark as soon as we walked in and started yelling at him for no reason, then he pushed Clark across the room into a desk, then against the wall, then threw three punches at Clark’s face before Clark hit him back. Claude would have been hurt worse if he had connected with those blows. And Claude’s pride is hurt worse than his body, I promise you.”
“Doesn’t matter. That wasn’t exactly a fair fight, Lois.”
“Why? Clark could have killed Claude so quick he’d never know why he was dead. Besides, Claude’s about three inches taller than Clark, twenty-five pounds heavier, ten years older, and he claims he knows how to take care of himself in bad situations. Assuming everything else is equal, how could you call that a fair fight?”
Perry sighed. “Look, honey, I don’t blame Clark. I know he didn’t start it, and I’m sure he tried his best to avoid it. But I can’t have fighting in the newsroom. Not ever, not nobody, not for any reason. I don’t want any of my people hurt, especially not by another one of my people.”
Lois pressed her lips together and frowned. Perry pushed his chair back and stood. “I’m on Clark’s side, Lois, but I’ve got to write this up and submit it to Human Resources. I’ll note that Claude was the aggressor and that Clark was only defending himself, but it’ll still go into Clark’s employment record.”
She crossed her arms and huffed. “That’s not fair!”
“It goes in Claude’s record too, and he was the aggressor.”
“Still not fair!”
He leaned on the desk. “That’s the best I can do! I can’t play favorites here! Everybody has to be on a level playing field!”
Her gaze bored into her boss’s eyes. “That’s it, isn’t it? Because of Clark’s special abilities, you’re holding him to a higher standard than the rest of us.”
He sighed again. “Yes, I am doing that. I admit it. But I’m also right.” He came around the desk and put a hand on her shoulder. “After you finish that story, go home and get some sleep. Come back tomorrow morning. I think you’ll agree with me when you’ve had some rest.”
She stood slowly and moved towards the door. “I’ll go. But this isn’t over.”
“It’d better be over! Best thing to do now is to just let it go.”
She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “I promised Lana that I’d take care of him, and I intend to do just that. I won’t let you or anyone else hurt him. If it’s the last thing I do, Perry, I’m going to protect him.”
“Oh? And how are you going to do that?”
She opened the door. “By any means necessary, using any methods necessary.”
She closed the door behind her and walked past Claude, who by this time was sitting up in a chair, without acknowledging his existence.
*****
Clark closed his front door and sighed. He glanced around the living room and decided to clean up after he got some sleep. After all, even Superman needed some rest from time to time.
He hadn’t spoken to Lois about his confused feelings yet. He wasn’t sure she’d understand. For that matter, he wasn’t sure he understood. Several times during the stakeout or during breakfast he’d almost spoken to her about them, but something had stopped him each time. Maybe he was afraid of seeming too needy. Maybe he was afraid she’d reject him or be repulsed by his overtures. Maybe he was afraid she’d misunderstand and expect something more from him than he was ready to give. Or that she’d misunderstand and expect far less from him than he was ready to give.
Maybe he just didn’t know how to explain what he felt for her.
On top of that, he’d noticed that he could sense Lois’s presence. He could even tell what she was feeling, at least in a general way. That was something that he did need to discuss with her, but he wasn’t sure how to bring up that subject. Oh, by the way, Lois, I can tell when you’re angry or sad or upset or excited or when you’re watching Ivory Towers and crying into your ice cream. That would be awkward, not to mention telling her what that information was doing to his own emotions.
He didn’t feel towards Lois the way he’d felt towards Lana, but there was something between them, something palpable that cut through his defenses every time they stood close to each other, every time she smiled, every time he made her laugh. He didn’t know what that meant, and it bothered him that he didn’t know.
It also bothered him that he enjoyed her company so much. It was almost as if Lois had become a part of him, as if she filled some void in his heart that he didn’t even know was there before they became friends.
Compounding all that, he still missed Lana tremendously. He still felt deeply sad that she was gone. He supposed that, most of all, he felt sorry for himself because she wasn’t there with him.
Her clothing still hung in her closet and lay in their chest of drawers. Her shoes were still on the shoe rack in her closet. He could still smell the scent of her perfume in the bathroom. Reminders of Lana were scattered all over the apartment, all over his life. He couldn’t get away from the thought of her. He didn’t think he’d ever want to get away from thinking of her.
But he felt like he’d turned a corner. All of those things no longer threatened to stop his heart from beating. They no longer stood in the way of his continued existence.
He picked up his favorite picture of the two of them. It had been taken at their wedding reception the previous December. Lana was standing beside him with her right arm around his waist and his left arm around her shoulders, and she was lifting a cup of punch towards the camera with her free hand. Her face glowed with joy.
His face glowed, too. The photographer had caught him looking down at her, and his love for her was evident even to him. It was a reminder, both of what had been and what might have been.
He sat down on the couch and caressed the frame. He smiled and blinked away a tear.
“I miss you.”
He started. For a moment, he thought someone else was in the room, but then he realized the voice had been his. He shook his head and took off his glasses. He sat still for a long moment, thinking of how beautiful Lana had looked that night at the reception.
His fingers brushed the glass over the picture. “I really miss you, Lana. I miss having you close. I miss having you here to listen to me, to talk to me when I’ve had a tough rescue or when I haven’t done all I think I could have. And I miss your laughter. I miss your gentle smile. I miss your touch, your embrace, the way you’d bump my hip when we were doing the dishes, all those little things that made me aware of you.”
He leaned back and held the picture in his lap. “I’ll always miss you. I’ll always regret not being able to save you. But I think I’m ready to keep going now. I won’t let Superman disappear, either. I won’t hide in a cave or fly out towards the moon until I run out of air. I won’t dive into a volcano and find out just how much heat I can take.
“Yeah, I’ve thought about doing all those things. But I don’t think I’ll do any of them now, at least not for the purpose of committing suicide. There are things to live for, not just Superman things, either. I can do some good in this world. I can still help.”
He shook his head as he thought of Claude. “A guy at work today made a smart-aleck crack about me. He said I – he accused me of forgetting you too soon. It’s not true. I’ll never forget you, Lana. You will always be a part of my life.
“I can’t believe I actually hit him. Well, not too hard, anyway. The only part of him that’s really hurt is his pride. But I’ll never do that again, Lana. I’ll never let anyone yank my chain like that again. I’ll never let anyone else talk about you like you were my possession or my property, and I’ll never let anyone goad me into a physical confrontation over you again. You’re too important for me to treat you like that, or to let anyone else do it. I’ll run away first.
“My parents miss you so much. My dad misses you more than my mom, I think, almost as much as I do. He thought of you as his daughter, the one he and Mom could never have. And he still blames Lois.”
He hugged the picture to his chest. “But I don’t blame her. And I don’t blame myself anymore, either. I did everything I thought was right. I’ve gone over and over that sequence in my mind, and the only thing I can think of to do differently would have been to drop Lois off in the raft and zip right back to get you. But I needed to make sure she’d be okay first, and then she told me she knew who I was, and then she told me you’d been shot and I turned and – I flew as fast as I – I tried – I really tried – I’m so sorry – “
The tears came again. But they didn’t scald his soul this time. They were cleansing tears, tears which washed away unnecessary guilt and pain. They were tears of mourning instead of tears of recrimination. For the first time, he cried not because he thought he’d failed his wife and also failed himself, but simply because Lana was gone. He didn’t cry because she’d left him alone, he cried because she wasn’t with him.
He missed her. He’d always miss her. But maybe – just maybe – her memory would serve to strengthen him instead of cripple him. Maybe he could remember and celebrate the many good times they’d had together instead of moaning about the days – and nights – he’d have to spend by himself. Maybe he could love someone else again some day, a day far in the future, a day he couldn’t see but trusted would eventually come.
He fell asleep on the couch with the picture folded gently in his arms.
