Once again, I'm going to remind readers that parts outlined in *** are flashbacks! And, as always, a huge thanks goes out to Nancy for BRing this. Happy New Year everyone!
PART ELEVEN
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I had hardly eaten anything all day. It felt as if a Speed Metal band had taken up residence in my ribcage and the members were currently working towards their next big album. But the lead guitarist kept screwing up and the drummer had a heavy foot.
I was going to tell him today. I needed to do it as soon as possible. Once I decided that I was going to finally tell him everything, the secret began to eat at me more than it ever had in the past. I couldn’t stop thinking about telling him, how I would tell him, how he would respond. I fiddled with the signal watch in my hand nervously. I had never needed it until today. Forcing myself to remain calm, I pulled the pin, sending that supersonic signal Jor had talked about. It was less than a minute before Jor arrived on my balcony and I was able to turn the signal off.
“Hi,” I greeted him.
“Hey,” he said with a smile. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” I replied brightly. Liar. “I just needed to talk to you about something.”
“Oh. Okay.” I led him over to my sofa and we sat.
“Jor,” I started slowly, “lately we’ve been getting pretty serious. And that’s a good thing,” I rushed to explain, “don’t get me wrong. But I think before we go any further in this relationship I need to… You’re not listening to anything I’m saying, are you?” Jor snapped out of his vacant expression and looked over to me guiltily.
“I’m sorry Kaylie,” he apologized. “I’m just a little distracted.”
“How come?”
“There was this bank robbery today,” he explained. “It was pretty routine, but the robbers were using expanding bullets in all their guns.”
“Expanding slugs?” I asked curiously. “Those are only available through high level government agencies.” My mind was whirring with possibilities. “Those bank robbers must have some pretty good connections to be able to get their hands on them and it’s unlikely they would use that kind of ammo just to rob a bank.”
Jor looked at me with amusement. “Did you teach a ‘Ballistics and Ammunition’ class at Riverview or something? How do you know about government authorized firearms?” My forgotten nervousness flooded through my senses again. Yet another reason why Jor needed to know now. Teachers weren’t supposed to know things like that, and it was getting harder and harder to keep that knowledge from slipping out in front of him. Luckily, he didn’t press the issue. “But I’ll deal with that later. I’m sorry I wasn’t listening. You said you wanted to talk about something?”
“Yeah.” My unexpected slip had me off kilter and I struggled to focus on my prepared speech. “I was saying that since we’ve gotten so serious lately, it’s only fair that we… that I…” Jor reached over and put his hand comfortingly on my shoulder.
“You’re really nervous aren’t you?” he asked with concern. “Your heart is going a mile a minute.”
“You monitor my pulse?” I asked, my amusement battling with my nerves.
“Only sometimes,” he replied. “And right now, it’s particularly hard to ignore. Why are you so scared?”
“I’m worried about what you’ll say,” I whispered. “That you won’t like what I’m about to tell you.”
“Kaylie, I love you.” He insisted. “Whatever you say can’t change that.”
“I love you too.” I told him. “And I… I have to tell you…” I struggled to find the words. “You know, I practiced this for two hours in front of the mirror, and I still have no idea what to say.” I looked over at Jor, and he returned my gaze patiently. “I’ve never had a boyfriend.” I finally blurted out. “I mean, I’ve had dates and stuff, but nothing really huge or anything. I even went stag to my senior prom. It was just never very important to me, but now we’ve ended up in this serious relationship and I have no idea how to do this. Maybe I should have told you earlier. Maybe I shouldn’t even be telling you now. Maybe I’m going about it all wrong. I went through all the possibilities in my head and this seemed to be the best way but maybe I should have made a whole big evening for it. You know, cooked a nice dinner and put out candles and stuff. I think I have candles in a cupboard somewhere. Should I get them? Do you want candles?” I asked somewhat hysterically. Jor’s hand landed on mine, putting a stop to my rambling.
“I think,” he told me calmly, “you should just tell me what it is you want to say.”
“You don’t need candles?” His lips twitched.
“No. I don’t.”
“Okay.” I swallowed nervously. “You know how you told me that night before our first date that you had a secret?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I have one too. And it’s big. Pretty much on par with yours.” I flicked my eyes up to see Jor’s face wrinkle into a frown, and then returned my gaze to our hands, still together on my lap. “I didn’t tell you about it because I was scared. And I would’ve risked a lot more than just my safety and the safety of my family. But I have to tell you now. I can’t keep this away from you anymore. I just hope that you’ll understand why I didn’t tell you before.” I chewed on my bottom lip nervously and I lifted my head again to see Jor. He eyes bored into me.
“You have a secret.” I nodded. “And even though you couldn’t trust me with it before, you’re going to tell me about it now? Everything about it?” I nodded again. “Well, what is it?” I took a deep shuddering breath to collect myself.
“I…- Oh, dammit! You’ve *got* to be kidding me. Go!” An all too familiar expression had passed over Jor’s face, one that was usually closely followed by one of his patented ‘I’m sorry Kaylie but I have to…’ excuses. Jor shifted uneasily in his seat.
“You were about to tell me-”
“Yes. I was about to tell you the secret of my life. Do you think I can do it while you’re squirming around like a five-year-old who’s ‘really, really got to go’?” My frustration fed my anger. It was easier to be angry at Jor needing to run off on me than to be nervous about divulging important secrets. Jor stood, but still hesitated to leave.
“This sounds like it could take awhile,” he explained. “It’ll probably be late when I finish.” And I had somewhere to be late tonight, I remembered.
“Then stop by tomorrow morning,” I told him. “I really need to get this out in the open.”
“Nine okay?”
“How about eight thirty?” Jor stooped down to kiss me, and gave me a reassuring smile.
“It’ll be okay, Kaylie. Not matter how terrible you think it is, it can’t be that bad.” Then he disappeared from the room in a gust of wind. I couldn’t let myself mull over his reaction for very long, however. Catty Collins had an important appointment to make.
* * *
***He had been looking in the closet for baby pictures. It was a school project, something about showing how a person’s face changes over the years, but the basic features still remained the same. It didn’t sound too interesting to him. Maybe Ellie would like something like that, but he was more interested in his computer sciences option this semester than Biology. But Jon’s parents had taught him well. Just because he didn’t enjoy a class didn’t mean he shouldn’t do the homework to the best of his ability.
Ellie was downstairs immersed in some kind of science textbook, and his parents were working late at the Planet. Jon had decided to go hunting for a picture himself. He pushed aside his dad’s suit jackets and his mom’s skirts, looking for the picture albums. He bent down to look through the boxes kept on the floor. Nothing. As he stood, Jon whacked his head on the hook that jutted out of the wall.
It hadn’t hurt. He had a thick skull, and nothing much seemed to hurt him. But as he glanced at the hook, he could see that it had lifted up from the wall, as if it was on a hinge. That’s when the entire back wall of the closet slid away. And he saw them.***
* * *
Tonight was going to be the night. After months of hedging around issues and discussing things half in code, Sproxton was finally going to join with Intergang. And I would have my proof. Bill Church III was sitting with him now, and although no one had actually managed to pin Intergang on the Churches yet, it just might be enough to take Sproxton down if I could get proof that he was going to make a deal with Church. All I needed was a signature on a piece of paper, or a briefcase exchanged. At this point I was even willing to take a cordial handshake as proof. Sproxton and Church were sitting in his usual booth removed from the rest of the patrons. I scanned the club, looking for anyone out of place. I couldn’t afford to have anyone else here to screw-up months of my work.
Then I saw the suit jacketed back and head of tousled brown hair. I froze on the spot, not daring to think of the possibility that he could be here. He turned his head in my direction and a violent shock jolted through my body. Glasses. Why was he *here*? Of all places and of all times. Desperately, I clung to the forlorn hope that he wouldn’t recognize me.
Too late. I guess the same instinct that allowed me to recognize him on the street allowed him to look through my wig and makeup and fishnet stockings. I saw his eye widen in disbelief. Furious tears swelled in my eyes. I had never planned for him to find out this way. He had no doubt just gotten the shock of his life and it was about to get worse. And he was still staring at me. I had to go to him and try to explain as best I could without giving my whole identity away.
“Please don’t blow my cover,” I whispered desperately under my breath, knowing that he could hear me. He nodded in response. I quickly emptied my tray of drinks, and deposited it at the bar. I then made my way over to the table where Jor was sitting. Although I had always found the skimpy uniform to be embarrassing, Jor’s gaze on me made me even more exposed, almost naked. I flushed with shame, yet still struggled to remain in character. I reached Jor and swung my leg over his lap and then settled into place, straddling him. His body stiffened in response to my touch.
“Kay-” he began furiously. My mouth clamped over his, effectively silencing him. Our kiss tasted bitter, unlike anything we had shared before. But I had to remain in character, which meant performing every single humiliating, flirty action and refusing my more direct impulses. I released his lips from mine, and slid my mouth over to his ear.
“First thing: You can *not* call me by my name here. I’m Catty Collins right now. I promise you I’ll explain everything as soon as I can, but right now I need you to just follow my lead until we get out of here, okay?” I felt his head nod in response so I eased up vise-like grip I had his arms in. “Do you see the two men tucked away in that booth?”
“Yes.”
“What are they doing?”
“Just talking I think.”
“What are they saying?” I whispered intently.
“I can’t hear them through all the noise in the club.” I sensed the irritation in his voice that was directed at me and I cringed inwardly. I hated doing this to him, but I couldn’t let Sproxton get away.
“Okay, pay attention to their body language,” I instructed. “Do they seem tense?”
“Kay-”
“Catty,” I corrected. It was unlikely that using my real name would cause any harm, but I couldn’t take the chance. “This is really important, Jor, I promise. Please just do this for me and-” Suddenly, the door to the Gentleman’s Club burst open and a fleet of police officers flooded the room. As if it wasn’t a bad enough night already.
“This is the Metropolis Police! We have received reports of minors working and being served in this establishment. Everyone remain calm! We will be running an ID check on all staff and clients. Anyone caught attempting to leave the premises will be taken into custody.”
I didn’t have ID. The Gentleman’s Club didn’t ask for ID upon hiring, so I felt I would be safe enough without it. The cost of my oversight caused my gut to clench. I glanced backwards at the booth where Sproxton and Church were huddled. They had gone. I wasn’t sure if he had arranged for the police raid in advance or if it was just luck, but the momentary distraction was enough for Sproxton to finish his business and get out of the club without anyone noticing. And that’s what I had to do. If I was taken into custody they would run my prints and then the whole game would be up. I leaped off Jor’s lap.
“We have to get out of here,” I explained quickly. Then I grabbed his hand and ran for the stairs leading up to the dressing rooms and offices. We raced up the stairs and into a hallway. I pulled Jor inside a room, but left the door open to listen for anyone coming.
“Did you see where those two guys went?” I asked Jor breathlessly.
“No,” he replied shortly. I didn’t have the courage to look at his face.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” I told Jor, ignoring the stabbing guilt in my stomach. We just needed to get out of here and then I could explain everything to him. “We have to…” The scuffle of boots came from someone walking down the hallway. I shoved Jor against the wall, and waited. A policeman entered the room, his gun drawn and I wasted no time. With a decisive blow, I knocked him unconscious, then picked up the gun from his limp hand and checked it to make sure it was in working condition.
“What did you just do?” Jor cried incredulously.
“He’ll be fine,” I muttered. “I couldn’t let him take me in.”
“So you knocked him unconscious? What the hell is going on here?” I had never felt so shameful about doing my job before. There would be no lasting damage done to the policeman, and I couldn’t have let him take me in, yet I still felt so dirty having assaulted an officer. We were supposed to be on the same side.
“I promise I’ll explain. Please can we just get out of here first?” I begged. Jor nodded tersely. I stuck my head into the hallway to check if the coast was clear then beckoned for Jor to follow me and we stepped out of the room. I could hear the thundering of footsteps coming up the stairs, and I momentarily froze in panic. Jor tugged on my arm.
“This way!” We ran down the hall to the fire escape and Jor burst the door open, pushing me onto escape stairs. I had barely enough time to register the two storey drop before Jor scooped me up and launched us up into the air with a sickening swoop. “I’m taking you back to your apartment,” Jor told me. I didn’t have the nerve to speak. Jor was going faster than he normally flew, making the journey shorter than usual. He set me down on my balcony and we entered my apartment.
“Thank you for… you know.” I spoke quietly. Jor looked me up and down, taking in my image.
I must’ve looked markedly different from the school teacher he had always known me as. My exaggerated makeup was smudged, and my tight skirt had ridden up in the flight. The change in style and color of my hair made my skin take on a different tone, and I noticed belatedly that I still held the policeman’s gun. I clicked the gun safety on but kept it in my hand, not really sure where to put it. Jor reached over to me and gently pulled at my blonde wig. My natural hair spilled out from under it.
“Just checking to see which one of you was the lie,” he told me.
“Jor, look-”
“Kaylie, I’m not sure if I’m ready to discuss this right now.” His expression was detached, and I struggled to interpret his tone. “I’ll be by tomorrow morning like we planned and you can explain then, okay?” He tossed the wig onto the floor and shot out of the room. I stood there, holding that stupid gun in my hand, wondering if I had ruined everything.
* * *
*** The world closed in around him and his vision blackened at the edges until he could only focus on the image of his father floating in the middle of the room. His *father*. Floating. Jon stumbled backwards out of his chair.
His father was Superman.
How could they have kept this from him? They *lied*. For fifteen years.
“It’s not true!” he yelled at his parents. Fruitlessly. His yelling wouldn’t change anything. Thankfully, his father had come back down to earth.
“Jon, I know you must have a lot of questions, and-” but Jon wouldn’t let them finish.
“You lied to me!” His father was Superman and that meant- That meant that he was Superman’s son. Jon swung his eyes wildly around the room until they rested on Ellie, sitting speechless in her chair. She was Superman’s daughter.
“Jon, we never meant to hurt you,” his mom was saying. “We just didn’t-”
“I don’t care,” Jon snapped. “I don’t want to hear anything you tell me. Just leave me alone!” He ran up the stairs to his room, and slammed the door after him, oblivious to the ominous creak that stretched through the wood. He threw himself on his bed, wishing desperately that he could go back to a time when things were still normal. But that was impossible.***
