Disclaimer: blah blah blah DC comics yada yada Warner brothers
Authour's notes: BJ I think sometimes you read my mind, especially about the bomb shelter
, read on and you'll see.
Remington Steele’s hospital room twenty minutes earlier
Steele awoke in a fog, his eyes still heavy from his morphine induced slumber. Reaching blindly for his wife’s hand, he was somewhat shocked to discover her absence from the room. “Laura” he called his voice thick with sleep, clearing his throat he tried again “Laura!” still no answer. He began to panic, all manner of violent scenarios played out in his head. What if she was attacked by the same people who’d accosted them last night? What if she went looking for them herself? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d gone off half cocked on an investigation without him.
Remington fisted his hands in the thread-bare sheets on his, so-called, bed. How could a woman be so frustrating, and so utterly captivating all at once? He was priming himself for a very dangerous, and no doubt painful, trip out of his bed when he heard someone clear their throat from across the room.
“Mr. Kent? What are you doing here—not that I’m ungrateful for the company, but we really don’t know each other all that well.”
“I’m actually here in a professional capacity. May I sit down?” Clark asked gesturing slightly to the chair by Remington’s bedside.
“Certainly, by the way, you haven’t seen my wife wandering around here have you?”
“Actually she’s waiting in the lobby I asked to speak with you privately.” Clark could see Remington relax immediately at his words.
“Well I’m always available to the press Mr. Kent, provided of course I’m not on assignment.” Steele chuckled weakly “since I’m indisposed at the moment I’d be only too happy to discuss whatever it is you wish to—discuss” Steele reclined against his pillow, still feeling loopy from the drugs.
“I want to ask you a few questions about—“
“Of course” Steele interrupted “I would rather like to ask you something first. If that’s ok?”
Slightly puzzled Clark acquiesced.
“Uh sure, go right ahead”.
“I was wondering, how you do it?”
“How I do what?” Clark asked, shifting in his seat. For some reason he felt like a kid in the principal’s office. Which was silly, because for one thing he was the one doing the interview—and secondly he wasn’t that much younger then Steele.
“How you pull it off I mean. I would think some kind of mass hypnosis like at a magic show, which would explain how I’m immune. Magic has never held much sway with me, especially since I know how it’s all done.”
Clark shifted again “I don’t get your meaning”
Steeled chuckled a bit more heartily this time “Superman.” He stated plainly, as if he were discussing the weather “I was wondering how you pull off the whole dual identity thing.”
Not again. How was it that two people, in the same day no less, had discovered his secret? Was it that obvious? Maybe it was the glasses; they were a new pair after all. He concluded that it was time to get some new frames—or maybe a haircut. Alright, so Steele knew his secret, or at least thought he knew. Play it cool, that’s the best way to get out of any situation.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Superman is my friend—“
“Your friend?” at that Steele burst into laughter “You two must be the closest friends on the face of the earth. You and I are both intelligent adults Clark, if its secrecy you’re worried about then there’s no need to panic. I’m an expert at keeping secrets.” Steele smiled broadly, his morphine was defiantly up too high, otherwise he would never insinuate that the great detective Remington Steele had any secrets.
“For instance” Steele began “did you know that I once stole the “Three Nude’s of Cairo”, it’s a painting—very valuable at that. Of course Laura made me give it back, but for a few moments I was the owner of one of the greatest paintings ever…painted.”
This interview was not at all what Clark had imagined. Steele was supposed to be tight lipped and reluctant, the Clark would whip out the photographic evidence and Steele would crack under the pressure—at least that’s how it had played out in his head. Now the complete opposite was occurring, and to top it off Steele somehow discovered his secret.
“And that’s not even the half of it” Steele grabbed the lapels of Clark’s jacket and mock whispered “I’m not even Remington Steele” Steele darted his eyes around the room as if to confirm that they were alone “Laura invented him, he doesn’t exist. At least he didn’t before 1980—do you know where I was in 1980?” Steele asked, looking as if he expected Clark to answer “I was in South Africa, don’t really remember why, but that’s not the point—the point I’m trying to make Mr. Kent is that I’m a fraud. I owe everything I am to Laura Steele-Holt…I mean Laura Steele…ur Holt Steele. “
Releasing Clark Remington collapsed backward onto his pillows again.
Deciding to play along Clark switched tactics “Do you remember where you were in 1978 Mr. Steele?”
“Zurich…no Geneva…no, no, no, no” Steele’s eyes lit up as if he’d had a revelation “I was here, right here in Metropolis--working for these two really sleazy guys, it was basic stuff break into some bank get some documents. Nothing too complicated, especially for a brilliant artist such as me. It was almost comical how easy it was, but that was back in the day when they didn’t have so many computers guarding everything.”
“Those two guys, did they give you any names?” Clark asked steering Steele back on track.
“The old guy was named…uh what was it, I remember it was something snobbish—Nigel St. George…no that’s not it, St. Paul, St. Ives, St. John that’s it Nigel St. John.”
“What about the other guy?”
“Never got a name outa him, St. John kept calling him “Boss”. Of course, he’s famous now everyone knows him, Lex Luthour 7th richest man in the world…or something like that.”
Steele fiddled with the wires attached to his chest “he was a nobody back then, and let me tell you, confidentially of course, the man was a world class nutter. He would talk to himself for hours making speeches to imaginary board members; he even had this delusion about becoming president, or at least leader of his own country.”
Clark couldn’t believe his ears, he’d known all about Luthour’s shady side from day one, but to have all his suspicions about the billionaire made reality was too much.
“I remember one time we were all sitting around discussing our dreams, I wanted to retire a wealthy man in the south of France. Luthour, wanted to create his own city. I asked him how, and he gave me this creepy half smile. He said it would be easy, he said it was all about showmanship. I’m a naturally inquistive guy, so I ask him: how’d you know it would be that easy? And he said you just need a fall guy, the world’s full of em.”
“Did he ever go into any more detail about it?”
“No, but this case the one I’m here in Metropolis for, it kinda reminded me of him. And then when he invited us to his ball…thingy I got the feeling he had something to do with us being here. See I told him he was nuts, I said there’s no way in hell you could carve yourself a country and nobody would try and stop you.”
“What did he say about that?”
“He just smiled and said ‘it can be done’” Steele snorted and repositioned himself more comfortably “gave me the creeps’ cuz’ I could tell he meant every word.”
“Do you remember anything else?”
“Yes—I went to bed after that, but I woke up during the night--had an achy back. Anyway he was talkin to his buddy they mentioned some guy from Russia, don’t know his name, they said this guy was a real screwball, he wanted to “Destroy the world”, over his wife’s death. I’m pretty sure he was the fall guy they had in mind, I just figured they were two wackos with delusions of grandeur.”
“What happened after that?”
“I got the hell outa dodge, to put it not so delicately, I am, correction was, a thief not a mass murderer or a terrorist.”
“Did you ever see him again after that?”
“No, well I saw him in the papers after he started to get famous, but we never spoke face to face after that. I never even told Laura that story, and she knows all about my past...oh well, wonder what’s on T.V” without so much as a flinch Remington switched on the television and began flicking through all the stations. “Ah…speak of the devil” Remington said stopping on LNN “see, he’s a big shot now. That’s a nice suit wonder where he got it”
Clark paid little attention to his companion, as it was becoming more and more apparent the morphine had not worn off. It looked as if Luthour was holding some kind of press conference, but it hadn’t started yet. The anchorwoman was speaking, but Remington was still loudly inquiring about Lex’s suit.
“Uh…Mr. Steele” Clark said hinting at Remington to be quite.
“Oh…sorry”
They both turned back to the television.
“We will now read the official letter released by the authorities, we’ve been told that certain portions of this have been edited for national security reasons, but it remains for the most part identical to the original:
To whom it may concern,
For too long the world has suffered at the hands of greedy, power hungry men from the west, and prideful barbaric fools from the east. The tyranny of both the United States and the Soviets has doomed this planet and its inhabitants to a fiery and swift destruction. May god have mercy on the souls of all their victims, and may the ruins of Metropolis serve as a reminder that all men, no matter how much political or economic power they may or may not have, are equal in the face of death.”
Steele coughed “Very dramatic, I don’t think Hitchcock could have done better—“
“Shhh” Clark hissed
“ The power encased within these stones is so vast, that every human being, every animal every building, every body of water within seven-hundred miles will be seared to nothing more than ash.
This device cannot be defused even the slightest wrong touch will result in immediate detonation. If anyone (Superman included) touches this bomb for more than three-tenths of a second it will detonate.”
Clark inhaled sharply, whoever had done this really knew him well he wasn’t fast enough to deactivate that device.
“Hey Clark they’re talking about you, isn’t that neat?”
Clark decided he was still playing it cool, and ignored Steele’s comments.
“And even if Superman managed to move the device from beneath the streets to the sky in that amount of time, the shock wave has a vertical radius of three-hundred miles.
And this will not end with Metropolis similar devices have been wired beneath the streets of Moscow, Paris, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Rome, Mexico City, Ontario, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Bogota, and Morocco. They will all detonate Tuesday at precisely at 11:59 pm eastern standard time.
I have no demands, no conditions. It is what it is.
My only hope is that mankind’s survivors build a better future.
Signed
The Hammer of Thor~Dimitri Nowitski”
“Oh my god…” Clark gasped, marveling at the implications. Millions—possibly hundreds of millions of people would be killed. “I can’t believe this.”
“I know” Steele said seriously “I can’t believe he wouldn’t rig Los Angeles, it’s a major city, and what about Sidney?” Clark stared at Remington in disbelief; clearly they were not on the same page—probably not even the same planet.
“I have to go—“
“Of course no need to explain. You have to do the whole superhero thing, well cheerio and since you’re on your way out, could you ask Laura to come back in here? I hate watching T.V. alone makes me feel like I’m wasting my time.”
Clark sprinted from the room, and stopped only briefly to tell Laura about Steele being awake. Laura walked in slightly confused “why was Mr. Kent in such a hurry?”
“He has to go save the world or something, so how bout we christen these hospital linens?” Steele asked waggling his rather expressive eyebrows suggestively.
Laura snorted, and went about tidying the room “He left his folder behind...”
Steele glanced at it speculatively “You’re not thinking of opening it are you? That would be a blatant invasion of privacy Mrs. Steele—“
“Your point being?” Laura asked giving him some eyebrow of her own.
“No point, I’m just wondering what’s taking you so long to open the bloody thing.”
Laura flipped to the first page of Clark’s notes, and read silently to herself for a moment, flipping the page she gasped softly and read her findings aloud “Remington Steele is a fabrication, an alias assumed by an ex-thief.” She jerked her head up from her reading and met Steele’s eyes “he knows about you”.
“Of course he does love. What do you think we were talking about all this time? But don’t worry I know all about him being Superman, and he really wasn’t interested in me at all.”
“What! Clark Kent is Superman?!
“Mhmm” he replied as if it was the most natural revelation in the world “like I was saying, he was much more interested in this Lex Luthour guy, and then the news came on and he heard about this terrorist who planted some bombs underneath a few major cities, which by the way does not include L.A. I think it’s a bit rude really, as if L.A’s not good enough to be wiped off the face of the earth, but Metropolis is. I mean really, L.A’s not perfect, but it’s no Gotham City.”
“Are you even listening to yourself, or is your mouth on autopilot?” Laura asked baffled by her husband’s morbid commentary.
“I drift in and out” he replied grinning “now about that roll in the sheets”
“Not now. We need to get you someplace safe.” Laura beeped for the nurse’s station. Seconds later, Joyce appeared out of breath.
“Mrs. Steele, we have to evacuate the hospital immediately, some relocation personnel should be here soon. Right now we need to remove your husband’s morphine—“
“Thank god…” Laura mumbled
“But we have some Vicadin we can give him to take the edge off the pain. I’ll be back in a second to change his bandages in a, but right now I have to get Mr. Windsor his heart medicine” and just as suddenly as she appeared, she vanished around the corner.
“Well at least you’ll be slightly lucid.” Remington didn’t seem to notice that anyone had come in the room at all, he continued to flip mindlessly through the channels.
“Oh, “Lover Come Back” is on TCM” Remington patted the side of his bed invitingly “Laura this is a rare cinimatical feast that I refuse to allow you to miss.”
She rolled her eyes; the morphine wouldn’t wear off fast enough in her opinion.
***
“Will you stop fidgeting!?” Nigel snapped. His patience, as it often did while Jason was around, had worn out. “For god’s sake you’re supposed to be a professional, have some class.”
“Class—Jason? Don’t make me laugh” Mrs. Cox sneered “he’s about as sophisticated as a rug burn”
“Well you’d know all about those wouldn’t you?” Jason replied blood boiling “I’m sure you’ve gotten rug burn from every man in metropolis by now”
“How dare you!” Mrs. Cox hissed “Do you know how insignificant you are? I could drop you where you stand and the only inconvenience it would cause would be to the cleaning crew. Of course they are well equipped to dispose of filth.”
“That will do Mrs. Cox.” Nigel drawled “I’m sure Jason knows just how worthless he really is…don’t you boy?” two pairs of cold eyes met across the room, challenging the other silently.
“Sure Jeeves, I’ll be a good boy.” *for now* he added silently.
“I’m so glad, I took the time to call this little meeting.” A smooth voice said from the stairwell “I can see how well my money has been spent, or in some cases misspent.”
“I’ve assembled everyone as you asked Mr. Luthour” Nigel said bowing slightly to his superior.
“Excellent, I didn’t doubt you for a moment Nigel, is everything in place in the bunker?”
“Yes sir, but our scientists have estimated that we don’t have enough room for all the people. They say we can only accommodate at the most ten-thousand, and that’s stretching our supplies to the limits.”
Lex smirked “You’re quite right my friend, that’s why we’ve only arranged for five-thousand people to be collected.”
“And the rest sir” Nigel asked, in his usual monotone.
“unfortunately they’ll be unexpectedly detained.”
“Excellent sir another wise decision if I may say so myself, may I inquire as to who specifically we will be letting in.”
“Only the best and brightest Metropolis has to offer…with a few exceptions.”
“Such as?”
“Superman of course, and that meddler Perry White, what kind of Utopia would it be if I let an honest newsman survive Armageddon?”
Nigel cackled appreciatively “Very droll sir.”
“Of course you’ll be letting that Lane woman in won’t you?” Jason interjected, much to Nigel’s disgust.
“I had planned on allowing Lois the opportunity to join us, if she’s so inclined...”
“And what if she’s not” Jason goaded pulling a cigarette from his pocket “inclined I mean.”
“You’re very inquisitive for a lackey I hired to follow that idiot Steele. And since you haven’t done a very good job I honestly debated whether or not I should keep you alive. Be glad the philanthropist in me decided in your favor.”
“I bow to your generosity Mr. Luthour” Lex nodded in his direction and turned to once more address Nigel “but you didn’t answer my question *sir*, what happens if this Lane woman won’t go along with your little scheme. She is after all in love with Superman”
Lex turned again “A problem easily solved when he’s dead”
“But then of course there’s Clark Kent, a man who should be dead, but by some massive screw up is not” Jason aimed his barb directly at Nigel. The older Gentleman for his part didn’t even flinch, years of stoicism in the face of adversity had hardened him. “Do you really think she’d just go willingly into the lair of the beast, without her buddies from that rag she writes for?”
“He has a point sire” Mrs. Cox admitted her teeth gritted in frustration “there’s no way she’ll go anywhere without Kent, or White for that matter.”
Lex rolled his eyes “have you all gone soft in the head, or don’t you realize that people can be drugged. She’ll wake up when it’s all over, and I’ll feed her some sob story about the bus not making it on time. Honestly you’d think I didn’t hire professional mercenaries.”
“For the most part sir” Nigel snarled “you did.”
“Good. Are there anymore questions?”
His question was greeted with silence “well then down to business, Nigel you’re in charge of the relocation centers, only two of them are going to bused to the underground shelter. Make sure all heads are counted, and then get them here.”
“Of course sir.”
“Mrs. Cox, you stay here and supervise the incoming traffic, make sure everyone is comfortable.” His secretary nodded her head in assent.
“And you” Lex turned his cold stare on Jason, the young man became slightly uneasy, for the first time in a long time he couldn’t immediately read the person in front of him. Nigel was easy; he was greedy old fool who was eager to please his boss, and he would be loyal to the point when the money and power ran out, or when they shifted to someone else’s hands. The woman was a bit harder, but he was still pretty sure she had a thing for her “Boss”, not that she wouldn’t betray him on the contrary he was sure if it came down to his life or her own she’d gladly give him up. But she was content, for now to serve.
Luthour was…well to say Lex Luthour was insane was like saying the Romans kinda destroyed Carthage. The man looked as if his blood was really ice water, Lex was the kind of man you feared and yet respected all at once. Jason, a man who didn’t respect anyone or anything, found himself inexplicably compelled to do the man’s bidding.
“You have a very special job, one I hope you have the brain capacity to understand. There’s a scientist, a doctor Bernard Klein, he seems to have discovered a way for Superman to deactivate these devices. I’ve already secured him in one of the bunker’s below.”
Lex pulled a black nine millimeter from his suit jacket “I’m pretty sure you know how to use one of these”
“Of course I do” Jason snapped.
This was bad, he could deal with the world ending. He didn’t care about millions of people who would be burnt to a cinder. But if that happened, no one would ever learn the truth about Remington Steele. All his hard work, his years of planning and manipulation would be for nothing. The look on Lex’s face however, told him exactly what would be waiting for him if he failed, and he was fairly sure it wouldn’t be as kind or quick as a bullet to the head.
“Don’t worry about a thing; I’ve been taking people out of their misery for years.”
“Good” Lex handed him the weapon “He’s down in room 1013, take care of the body when you’re done.”
Lex dismissed him with an inclination of his head, and continued to talk softly with his other two comrades.
Jason was sure he’d never walked down a longer path then the one he now traversed. On the one hand if he killed Klein, he got to live, on the other hand if he didn’t kill Klein, then Steele would be exposed for the fraud that he was.
*Do it Jason, kill him. Do you really want to mess with a man like Luthour? Even if Superman saves the day and Kent writes the article, Luthour will make sure you never see the light of another day* Jason’s feet felt like lead as he continued to move down the passage way. Room 998, 999.
*Don’t listen to him Jason* his mother’s voice pleaded *you’ve worked so hard on this, if you let go now you’re admitting that Steele is the better man.*
*Of course Steele is the better man* the drunken slur of his father roared *You’re not even good enough to wipe his shoes, best to take the easy way out like you’ve been doing your entire life, and kill that doctor.*
1002, 1003. *Jason, son you were robbed of a fair chance at life, don’t you want revenge don’t you want justice* the voices mingled together indistinguishable from one another 1005,1006.
*You have to do this*
*be a man Jason*
*Revenge*
*Coward*
*Do it you sorry son of a bitch!*
“SHUT UP!!” His shout echoed through the hall. He turned numbly to his left.
Room 1013
Jason cocked the gun, the sound was deafening in the complete silence of the corridor. There was only one thing he could do, he knew deep in his heart that it would hurt like hell, but no amount of revenge was worth his life…right? With the skill of a practiced assassin he slowly turned the doorknob. Gently he eased into the room, with a sigh of relief he noticed the doctor was sound asleep in his bed. Good, that meant he wouldn’t have to look at his face when he did it. With a deep breath, he squeezed the trigger twice, and heard the satisfying thud of bullets entering the bed clothes.
He entered the room, and maneuvered over to the bed. With a quick flick of the wrist he pulled the sheet back to reveal two pillows embedded with bullet holes, it was less than a second later that his whole world went dark.
***
