I know this isn't supposed to be posted until tomorrow, but our anniversary is Saturday [11 years!]. DH is taking tomorrow off and we're spending the day together - no kids! I get to eat lunch with grown ups!! And company on Saturday so rather than waiting till Sunday, I'm posting today. However, the next part will likely be Sunday or, more likely, Monday.
This segment brought to you by
Brad Paisley\'s He Didn\'t Have To Be , which was the inspiration for Mike.
Thanks again to Alisha and Beth!
*****
Chapter 23
*****
"Please, come in." Clark held the door open and gestured inside.
Mayson hesitated for a second and then walked in and down the steps, taking in the apartment as she did so. "Where's Lois?"
Clark shut the door and followed her. "She's asleep."
Mayson raised an eyebrow.
"She hasn't been sleeping well for a long time and she's exhausted. After the last couple of days..." He sighed. "She fell asleep on the way home so I laid her down..." he gestured towards the other room. "Can I get you something to drink?"
She shook her head. "I just ate so, please, let's just get this over with." She sat on the edge of the chair. "What is it you want to talk to me about?"
Clark glanced at the other room and sighed. "As much as she needs some sleep, I was hoping she'd wake up before you got here," he admitted. He sat on the couch. "It's really her story to tell but..." He took a deep breath. "Thursday night, Lois was almost raped."
Mayson's jaw dropped. "What?!"
"She was working late at the paper on campus and Professor Paul Smith decided that he wanted her. He came on to her and said that he wanted to have a relationship with her for the next few months. She said no and he got violent. I had gone to pick her up and walk her home and when I got there, he'd duct taped her mouth and hands and..." He ran a hand through his hair. "If I'd been more than a minute or two later..."
"That's awful. I’m sorry, Clark, really I am. My sister was date raped in high school by the starting quarterback and..." She shook her head. "But what does it have to do with me?"
Clark stared at his hands. "One of the things he said to her before he..." He couldn't finish the sentence and so just sort of waved one hand in the air. "...was that no one would believe her if she reported it. She said that I would believe her and that Perry White would. He's the editor of the Daily Planet and we've known him for several years. Paul pointed out that everyone would believe that he was biased because of our friendship with him. And as for me... he said that no one would believe the..." he took a deep breath and refused to look at her, "...cheating husband."
"You've been cheating on her? With who?" Mayson sputtered.
He shook his head. "No. I haven't been cheating on her, but according to Paul and Dr. Snodgrass, there's a rumor that I have been."
"With who?"
He finally looked her straight in the eyes. "You."
Mayson gulped. "What?"
"I guess there's a rumor going around campus. I didn't hear about it until later Thursday night when Lois told me. Anyway..."
A scream interrupted whatever he was about to say.
He managed to keep himself to normal human speed as he bolted towards the other room.
Lois was sitting up, her eyes closed. The screams had stopped, but the sobs continued.
Clark reached out to touch her, but she flinched as his hand grazed her shoulder. "Lois, honey, wake up." He spoke softly to her for a few more minutes, until her eyes opened and she turned and buried herself in his chest. After several more long minutes she pulled back slightly. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Another nightmare."
"I figured. Listen, Mayson's here. She's been here for a little while and I told her most of what happened, abridged version of course."
"What did she say?"
"Her sister was date raped in high school, so she's sympathetic, but otherwise nothing yet. I had just told her about the rumor when you woke up."
Lois pulled away from him and swiped at her eyes. "Okay, let's go." She wobbled as she tried to stand.
"Hey, careful there." He carefully picked her up and she rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her to the living room to set her on the couch. "I'll make you some tea, okay?"
She nodded as she pulled the quilt - the one his grandmother had made when his parents married - onto her lap and buried herself beneath it. "Thank you."
He turned to their guest, still seated in the chair. "Are you sure I can't get you something?"
Mayson shook her head. "No, thank you." She looked down. "On second thought, could I get a glass of water?"
Clark nodded. "Sure." He dug the kettle out of the cabinet next to the stove – they so rarely used it with Lois and Lucy both taking advantage of his ability to heat the water without it – and filled it with water and set it on the stove to boil. He filled a glass with ice water and handed it to Mayson.
"Thank you."
Clark moved to the couch and sat at the end of Lois' feet, watching her until she nodded almost imperceptibly and then rested his forearm lightly on her lower leg.
"Lois, I'm sorry to hear about what happened the other night. I understand a little better why... I mean, earlier..." She took a deep breath. "My oldest sister was date raped about ten years ago and she still has flashbacks and stuff from time to time. I mean, usually, she's fine and she has a... good relationship with her husband and even a couple of kids, but every once in a while – maybe once a year or so – something still triggers her. I know what she's gone through and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone."
"Thank you," Lois said quietly.
"And Clark told me about... the rumor. I swear I didn't know about it either until he told me."
Lois nodded and chose her words carefully. "I didn't know about the rumor either until *he* said something."
"I'm not sure what I can do to help, but..." Mayson took a deep breath, "...if you need me to tell anyone that there wasn't anything going on between me and Clark, I will. I won't pretend that earlier didn't hurt – it did – but I'm willing to admit that, in some ways, it was probably called for and I won't let my hurt feelings stand in the way of trying to bring Professor Paul to justice. I'll do anything I can to help."
Lois glanced at Clark. He was watching her, willing to let her take the lead and back up whatever she decided. "Thank you, Mayson. I appreciate that, but other than telling the truth about your friendship with Clark when necessary, I don't know what you can do."
"Um... I don't know if this will mean much coming from me, but I do mean it. If you need to someone to talk to, you can call me."
"I appreciate the offer," Lois said quietly.
Mayson stood. "I'm going to go, but please let me know if there's anything I can do." She walked towards the door. Clark stood and followed her. As she reached the door, she turned and looked back at Lois, the tea kettle beginning to whistle in the background. "I am sorry, Lois. I won't bother either one of you again. One of you will have to initiate any contact between us."
Clark nodded and opened the door for her. "Thank you." Mayson looked at him for a long moment, while he looked at the ground, and then she left.
*****
Lois was still curled up on the couch a few moments later, sipping the tea that was finally done, when the door opened.
Lucy hurried to Lois' side while Jimmy headed to the kitchen to talk to Clark.
"What was Mayson doing here?" Jimmy whispered to his friend.
Clark sighed. "It's a long story, but she's willing to help us with whatever we need, including testifying or whatever that there was no relationship between us."
"That's good." Jimmy thought for a long minute. "You said yesterday that he and Dr. Snodgrass told Lois that half the campus thinks that you two have had a thing going on, but I've never heard anything about it. Have you ever..." he tugged an ear. "...you know, heard anything?"
Clark shook his head. "No, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything."
"Will the other guys – Joe, Les, that boyfriend of Mayson's from last year – will they corroborate as much as they can?"
Clark shrugged. "I don't know why not, but we haven't talked to them. I'll mention it to Eduardo and give him and Henderson a list of the people who were with us most of the time. I don't know what affect it'll have except to make the story of what I saw more believable." He sighed. "If people who know me believe it... staff at either newspaper and such... that's harder to refute I suppose. I don't know that it really matters except between me and Lois. I don’t think it has anything to do with whether or not Paul tried to rape her."
"Unless they think she was part of everyone who thought you were cheating on her. Then it's more likely that she'd be cheating right back, right?"
Clark stared at the back of Lois' head, cradled against her sister's shoulder. "She did believe it, Jim. She had for a long time," he said quietly.
"What?!" Jimmy hissed.
He took a deep breath. "I'm not going to tell you the whole story, but for a long time she thought there might be something between me and Mayson. You were right – I should have told her to get lost a long time ago, but I was too polite."
"Did you tell her the truth?"
"Of course I did! And she believes me." He shook his head. "She said she never mentioned it to anyone so there wouldn't be anyone who could say that she believed it, so as far as that goes..."
"That's good." He paused. "How long did she...?"
"I'm not going to tell you the whole story, Jimmy. I'm just not. It's between me and my wife. And if it ever needs to come out as part of all of this, it will, but I'm not going to tell it just to tell it. You of all people should know how even the suggestion of something like that would scar her."
"That's part of the reason why I thought you should tell her to get lost a long time ago."
Clark ran a hand wearily down his face. "Lucy's told you a lot more than Lois has ever told – or may ever tell – me. I don't know what it was like growing up in the Lane house and I don’t think I want to."
Jimmy's lips were set in a thin line. "You don't. Trust me on that one. I'm glad Lucy's trusted me enough to tell me what it was like for them, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear. And I'm sure it was harder on Lois. She insulated Lucy from a lot of it."
"That sounds like her. That's why we got married when we did, you know. To protect Lucy from the system."
"Yeah, I know."
"I've never even thought about another woman since I met her. And since I met her when I was fourteen, I didn't do a whole lot of thinking about other women before her either. I mean, I dated Lana a few times and wondered about... things in the abstract, but I've never wanted to be with anyone else. Ever. Sam sure didn’t do anything to help either one of them believe that a man could be in a completely monogamous relationship, but, God help me, I'm a one woman man. I always have been."
"You know," Jimmy said thoughtfully, "I sort of saved Lucy from a guy the night of our first date."
"What?" Clark's exclamation came out louder than he meant for it to and the girls on the couch started a bit. "What?" he whispered.
"Nothing like that. He was hitting on her and when I realized how scared she was of him, in that minute, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, protecting her and loving her. The thought of another man's hands on her..." He shuddered. "It sickens me." He stopped as he realized who he was talking to. He opened and closed his mouth more than once before finally finding words. "We've never..." His eyes were wide and his words earnest as he spoke. "Clark, I promised you a long time ago that I would treat her like I would want someone to treat my own daughter and I have, I swear to you, I have. I realized that if I have a daughter, I wouldn't ever want a guy to... you know. Ever. I mean, I would want her to grow up and get married and maybe then... but really I'd rather she adopt, you know?"
Clark nodded. "Yeah, I think I can understand that."
"And I know that's not realistic and I know that's sure not what I want with Lucy, but... I think I should stop talking now."
A small smile crept across Clark's face. "I know you'd never hurt her. I am curious about what happened the night of your first date though."
Jimmy blushed a bit. "I'll tell you about it some other time." They watched the women sitting on the couch for another minute. "I love her, you know, and someday I'm going to come asking you for her hand in marriage."
"I figured you might."
"And it probably won't be too long either."
Clark looked at him thoughtfully. "Don't rush into anything. You guys are still so young."
"By the time you two were our ages, you'd been married for a year and a half."
"I know. The only thing I'd change about being married to Lois the last three plus years is the way she's been hurt, but that doesn't mean it would have been easy or that it's right for everyone – or even for us. In a lot of ways, sometimes I wish we'd been able to wait. That we'd dated and done things 'right'." He used his fingers to imitate quote marks. "But we are where we are and we have to go from here."
Jimmy thought for a minute then changed subjects. "Well, I've got addresses on four of the six women on the list. I went to the alumni office on campus and said I was looking for former students and they gave me the information. The other two students haven't kept in contact with the university. Two of the four are married, one is divorced. One of the ones that's married has one child, the other one has two. The one who's never been married has a 5-year-old son and get this... she graduated six years ago."
Clark instantly paled. "Do you think...?"
Jimmy shrugged. "I don't know. The alumni office lady said the only reason they had an updated address for her was because of a new job or something so it doesn't sound like she's trying to keep in touch with her classmates or anything like that."
Lucy's whisper interrupted their conversation. "Clark, she's asleep. Can you come move her?"
"Yeah. Be right there." Clark pushed back from the counter and moved to the couch, easily lifting Lois in his arms and carrying her to bed. The covers were already pulled back from earlier and he gently laid her down, pulling the blanket over her as she settled into the pillow. He moved back into the living room where Jimmy had settled on the couch next to Lucy.
He leaned on the bricks of the arch between the bedroom and living room. "I'm gonna go take a shower real quick and then stay with Lois. She doesn't have nightmares as much if I'm there with her." He looked at Lucy. "Will you take care of her if she wakes up before I get done?"
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I will."
Clark started to move back into the bedroom when he turned. "Jimmy, I'd appreciate if you'd keep what we talked about between us at least for now," he said with deep breath. He looked at his sister-in-law. "That's not something I say lightly, Lucy, I promise."
She nodded. "I know. When it's time for me to know, one of you will tell me."
"Thanks, Luce."
*****
"Ms. Anderson, can we speak with you for a few minutes?" Cat Grant asked the striking brunette sitting behind the editor's desk.
"What about?"
"My name is Cat Grant and this is Clark Kent. We work for the Daily Planet and your name was given to us during the course of an investigation."
"Does this have anything to do with why the police were here earlier?" she asked hesitantly.
"Was it a gentleman named Henderson?"
She nodded.
"Then, yes."
"I have nothing..."
Clark interrupted her. "Please. We won't use your name. We'll change the details and we won't print anything you're not comfortable with. And if you're not comfortable with me being here, I'll wait outside, but please at least talk to Ms. Grant." He pleaded with her with his eyes.
She hesitated then nodded. "Please have a seat. Both of you."
A few minutes later, they were seated in her office, with the door closed.
"I signed a confidentiality agreement, you know. But I consulted with an attorney today – a Constance Hunter – who said it probably wasn't binding, but until I find out for sure... everything is off the record completely, okay?"
They nodded. "Constance Hunter is a friend of our editor, Perry White, and is working with several women who have found themselves in a similar situation," Clark said. "She's a good lawyer and has only your best interests at heart."
"Okay."
Cat looked at her gently. "What can you tell us about the last few weeks before you graduated?"
She took a deep breath and started her story. "In some ways it was the best thing that ever happened to me – it gave me my son..." she glanced at them. "Don't tell me you haven't done the math already."
Cat nodded. "We had no way of knowing for sure, of course, but the possibility had crossed our minds."
"Anyway, it gave me my son, but in most other ways it was the worst thing that ever happened to me."
Olivia Anderson told them about how she'd been a journalism major. Her dream was to be the editor of her hometown newspaper, a small town in Iowa, not too different from Smallville or the northern New Troy town she was now in. Her parents had died when a tornado hit their farm on the outskirts of town during her sophomore year of college. Paul had taken her under his wing and worked with her on stories and helping her learn to edit. He'd been a good friend, listening to her talk about her parents and her little brother – who had died of leukemia when she was ten. He listened to her talk about her failed relationships – boyfriends who broke up with her after a couple of months when she refused to sleep with them. It wasn't that she was a prude, she said, or that she was waiting for marriage or anything like that, but she wanted to wait until she knew it was right and the time wasn't right yet. Her last boyfriend had broken up with her when she wouldn't go to Florida with him for Spring Break during her senior year.
Paul had consoled her, assuring her that the right guy would come along sometime soon. They continued to work together for another month or so and they talked several times a week about things that had nothing to do with the school paper. She'd also been working at the Star with Tony Rader during that time period. Then one night, about a month before graduation, they'd been working late...
From there the story continued to be eerily similar to Lois'. He'd locked them in the conference room, told her he wanted a relationship with her and when she said no, he proceeded to duct tape her hands and mouth and rape her. The next morning she'd gone to Dr. Snodgrass and filed a complaint only to discover that Paul was claiming they'd had an intimate relationship for some time. He also claimed that when he refused to commit to her, she told him that she was going to accuse him of rape.
She'd been offered a degree and a confidentiality agreement and, alone in the world, had taken the offer, wanting to simply put it all behind her. She'd lost her job at the Star two days later – a month before her contract was to expire. Through sheer force of will she made it through the last few weeks of classes. Finals week she'd caught a flu bug, but managed to pass her classes and walk at graduation.
The flu refused to go away and by late June she was back in Iowa, where she went to see her childhood family doctor who pronounced that she was expecting. Only then did she remember that he hadn't used protection and she hadn't been on birth control of any kind.
Clark skin went pale at that but didn't comment.
"Why didn't you go to the police then?" Cat asked.
She shook her head. "I was already home by then. It had been two months and I'd signed that agreement. I just wanted to put it all behind me and raise my son."
"Does your son know?" This question came from Clark.
She shook her head again. "No. He just knows that his dad isn't a part of his life. When I moved to back to New Troy, I was ready to start over again. Everyone back home knew that I hadn't been in a relationship with the father and there's a stigma attached to those kinds of things in small town America."
Clark nodded. "I come from a small town in Kansas. My parents couldn't have children, which carries its own stigma. I was adopted – the son of a distant relative who was 'in trouble' at a 'tender age'." He used finger quotes to emphasize his point.
"Then you know what it's like, Mr. Kent. My son... he's starting kindergarten this year and I was afraid that the other kids... Anyway, I heard about this job about six months ago and here I am. I'd done my very best to forget all about it until Henderson showed up this morning." She picked up a picture frame. "He doesn't look anything like him. He looks just like my brother did at this age.
"I'll tell you the same thing I told the MPD. I'll help if I'm needed, but I'd rather keep my son out of this. There's no way I'll be able to do that if I try to bring charges or whatever." Her eyes teared up. "And I've finally met a man who loves him as much as I do. I've dated a time or two since he was born, but none of them wanted to take on another man's son. But Mike... he asked Tommy if he could take me out before he ever asked me. He's a good man and he knows about most of this – in general terms. He doesn't know who it was or anything, but he loves Tommy anyway."
Cat nodded and reached for her recorder, turning it off as she did so. "Thank you, Ms. Anderson. We'll be in touch before anything goes to print."
"Thank you."
*****
Lois' eyes practically danced as Clark and Cat came back into the conference room. "You guys will *never* guess what happened while you were gone?"
The two looked at each other and shrugged. "Nothing good ever happens on Sunday," Cat told her.
"It did today. It seems President Emmert read the article in this morning's paper. Dr. Snodgrass and Professor Paul Smith have been suspended pending investigation." She handed the press release to Clark.
The Sunday edition of the Daily Planet had a small article, buried halfway back and written by Clark Kent, which indicated that there were allegations of sexual assault against a university professor and that at least one member of the administration could be implicated in a cover-up but that names were not yet released to the press.
"Lucy called and said that Professor Levinson had left a message. When I called him back, he said that he was taking over the Metropolitan for the rest of the semester and we should report as normal this week."
Clark frowned. "I think I'm going to call him and see if I can get my shifts switched until the end of the semester. I'm not sure I want you there by yourself."
Lois hesitated then nodded. "I'd appreciate that. Then we can work together here, too. What did you two find out?"
Cat hesitated. "I'm not sure I should share with you, Lois. Not until it's in the public domain. We don't want to taint you as a witness, even if it's only in the minds of the jury if it makes it that far. But, in general, about what we expected."
Lois sighed and nodded. "Okay. I don't like it, but okay."
Clark moved the phone and, reaching the new faculty advisor, made arrangements to move his shifts around for the duration.
"This is starting hit on campus, too." He leaned back in his chair. "I'm afraid that it's going to be common knowledge that it was you before too long, honey."
Lois' eyes took on a deer in the headlights look. "Why?"
"He said that Tory and Leslie are already looking into the allegations and trying to find out who it is and what happened. It won't be long until someone comes forward and says that you were the last one there that night."
Jimmy poked his head in the door. "Guys, there's someone here to see you."
Lois and Clark looked through the window of the conference room. There, in a pair of casual slacks and a rugby shirt, stood Dr. Robert Emmert, president of UNT Met.
*****
TBC
