PREVIOUSLY...
“I just thought of something else we need to tell Jimmy,” Lois said. “We should get him to link us up to The Star - so that we can access any articles you’ve written for them. I don’t know if they’re on line yet, so he might have to get creative.” With that, Lois strode towards the door.
“You can tell him when he gets back,” Clark said, but he was talking to himself.
He lowered his glasses and watched his wife walk across the newsroom to where Jimmy was pilfering the necessary items. She hadn’t left to tell Jimmy about some additional access they were going to need. No, the look on Lois’ face told him that Lois had something to say to their younger friend.
Still, he didn’t listen in. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what she might have to say. Besides, he’d learned enough over the years to know there were certain times when he’d better honor his wife’s privacy - or face her wrath. Instinct told him this was one of those times.
AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Chapter Seven
* * * * * * * * *
“Do you want to tell me what that was all about in there?” Lois said, causing Jimmy to look up from where he was unhooking the computer cables.
“You know full well what that was about! How could you bring him in here after what he did to Perry?”
Lois remained silent for a moment, desperately hoping that Jimmy would elaborate. When he didn’t, she let out a breath. Although she knew, without any doubt, that Clark would never hurt Perry - at least deliberately - no matter how they had changed the past, it was obvious that people here didn’t know that. And right now, she couldn’t exactly correct the impression - especially without knowing what had happened.
But that didn’t mean she could stand the way their colleagues were making Clark feel. Watching people hurt her husband brought out every protective instinct she possessed. The Man of Steel might be invulnerable, but Clark Kent was not. She knew that better than most. He had one of the gentlest, most sensitive hearts she’d ever known. And to watch it being broken was more than she could bear.
Still, how could she explain any of that to Jimmy?
She let out a breath. “Okay, fair enough,” Lois said finally. “I get it. You don’t like him.”
“Do you?” Jimmy asked incredulously.
Lois ignored his question, deciding to believe it was rhetorical. “Perry has approved his being here. And I really do need his help. So can’t you just put your feelings on the back burner for now?” When he just continued to look at her, she continued. “Please, Jimmy. It’s really important. Do it for me?”
Jimmy shifted a bit uncomfortably.
“Jimmy?”
“I’ll try,” Jimmy finally conceded.
Lois hesitated for a moment before nodding. It was probably the best she was going to get. “By the way, I wanted to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Do you know the combination to my locker? I need to get in there.”
“No. Don’t you know it?”
“I seem to have forgotten it. Any ideas on how I might figure it out?”
Jimmy shrugged.
“Well, it was worth a shot. Okay, so how about you...”
“So what’s this I hear about you having brought Kent in here?” asked a smooth male voice with a French accent.
The voice seemed familiar, but she couldn’t immediately place it. She turned around and had to fight back a gasp. He was older than she remembered, but there was no mistaking the man standing there, casually leaning against Jimmy’s desk. “Claude,” she said, “where did you come from?”
“I was out on a story,” Claude replied. “So what exactly are you and Kent doing in the conference room, cherie? You wouldn’t be showing him the road to paradise, now would you? I’d be broken hearted if I thought you were sharing our secrets with another.”
Lois felt heat rise up her face and into her hairline as her mind took her back to that night shortly after she’d first started working for the Daily Planet. She and Claude had been working late in the conference room when it had happened. It had been ages before she’d been able to enter the conference room without thinking about it. In fact, during the months that followed, before Claude had transferred to the Daily Planet’s Paris bureau, every time she and Claude had been in there, alone or with a crowd, he’d been sure to remind her. Sometimes with a crude word in her ear. Sometimes with a wink or a pointed look at the table. Even after they’d broken up.
He stepped closer and she found herself taking an involuntary step back. “Don’t you miss those times, cherie?” he asked, keeping his voice low and seductive. “Why do we not enjoy each other like that anymore?”
She let out a breath of relief. From his comments, even in this skewed reality it seemed they were no longer lovers - not that she could even imagine forgiving him for sneaking out of her bed and stealing her story. Still, a lot could have happened - had obviously happened - since she had changed the past.
But... what was Claude doing back here? When had he come back? This was something she definitely did not need to deal with right now - any more than she had needed it when Claude had returned to work at the Planet. Two disasters had befallen her within days of each other. First, she’d met Clark Kent and then Claude had been called back from Paris to fill the current gap in the newsroom.
Or... wait! Meeting Clark hadn’t been a disaster. So what...
Suddenly, it hit her. Those double memories. Of course. Clark hadn’t been hired, so Perry had obviously raided the Paris office to bring Claude back to fill the gap in the newsroom. Given that Claude had previously worked the city beat in Metropolis, he appeared to be the obvious choice. He must have been here ever since.
She finally chanced a look at Jimmy. He was completely ignoring Claude. Okay, good. It seemed that maybe, just maybe, he’d heard enough of Claude’s innuendo filled comments over the years that he didn’t even react to them. Then that was how she would treat them, too.
“Give it a rest, Claude,” Lois said, trying to sound bored. “Jimmy, how long before we can have those computers?”
“It’ll be a few more minutes.”
“Good.”
Ignoring Claude, she turned back towards the conference room. She was glad when he didn’t make any further comments, simply allowing her to walk away. Until they got this matter sorted out, she would simply pretend that Claude did not exist.
* * * * * * * * *
“So that’s Claude,” Clark said, looking over the top of his glasses. “Wonder if anyone would object if I just used a little bit of heat vision to set his shoes on fire?”
Lois gave him a swat. “Forget about Claude. He’s not important. We’ve got to quit delaying and get to work. So... any luck finding it?”
He turned his attention to the computer screen. “No. It doesn’t seem to be here.”
Lois nodded. “Okay, then - what we know so far is that you must have come to the Planet when you first arrived in Metropolis. After all, you knew who Jimmy and I were by the time you rescued us in the warehouse at EPRAD. But if the article about the razing of the old theater on Forty-Second Street isn’t there, then you never returned after that initial interview. But...”
“Wait!”
“What? Did you find something?” Lois leaned over his shoulder to stare at the screen. “Woman Killed In Destruction of Theater,” she read. “What...?”
“Beatrice,” Clark said, continuing to read the article. His name was not on the byline, but he still devoured every word. “I can’t believe it. Not that great old woman.”
“She’s the one you interviewed, isn’t she?” Lois said, continuing to read the story. “But why would she have died?”
“In our reality when I went to the theater, looking for the story, they were just starting up the wrecking ball. I heard something coming from inside the theater. A woman’s voice. So I took a peek inside. Beatrice was up on the stage, reciting from The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. I guess she snuck past the barriers unnoticed. Anyway, I quickly blew the belt out on the wrecking ball so that they wouldn’t start demolition while she was still inside the building. I went inside and she and I started talking. I made sure that she was out of the theater before the demolition began. And the rest, as they say, is history... or was history... or... isn’t history.” A slightly confused look crossed Clark’s brow as he struggled with that thought for a moment.
“So you must not have gone to Forty-Second Street that morning and because you didn’t, you weren’t there to rescue her. As a result, she was still inside when they began demolition. But... Can you remember why you didn’t go?”
Clark concentrated for a minute before shaking his head.
“Okay, so we keep going,” Lois said, trying to sound upbeat. Why didn’t they have just a little bit more control over these memories? It seemed that for a memory to return, there had to be some sort of trigger, some reminder - whether it be Claude showing up unexpectedly or Perry’s reaction to her bringing Clark into the newsroom. And if that was the case... “Let’s take a look at the stories we each did about the Space Program. It might trigger something else. Something that we hadn’t thought of before.”
Clark nodded, turning back to the screen as Lois took a seat at the second computer.
“Why don’t you look at your stories for The Star? I’ll look at mine for the Planet. Then we’ll compare notes.”
* * * * * * * * *
“Yes!” Lois exclaimed, punching her fist into the air in triumph, before realizing what she’d just done and looking over at Clark sheepishly. “I just meant...” Her voice trailed off. It had been more than obvious what she had meant.
Clark smiled. “It’s okay, Lois. I’d expect you to be excited. After all, we both know how much you enjoy getting the scoop.”
“But why didn’t you get the EPRAD story, too, Clark?” she asked. “After all, we’ve already established that you were in that warehouse.”
“Think about it, Lois. How would I have ever been able to explain being there?”
Lois bit her lip, nodding slowly. The warehouse had been demolished. There was no way he could have survived if he had been in there, listening to her conversation with Baines. And if he had admitted to being there, it would have begged the obvious question: why hadn’t he been killed during the explosion.
So keeping his peace and letting her get the story really had been his only option. Suddenly, her victory at getting the scoop didn’t seem quite so sweet.
“So let’s just see what comes next,” Clark said, seeing her expression change.
Lois nodded and they both returned to their research.
Clark was the one who found something next. A story in The Star about the invisible Robin Hood. A story with Clark’s sole byline. There was no such matching story under Lois’ byline in the Daily Planet.
“I remember that story,” Lois said.
“I should hope so. After all, it was our story.”
“No, I remember what happened in this reality. The news media was full of stories about some invisible Robin Hood. Jimmy tried to convince me to follow up on it. Morris’ wife even stopped by the Planet. She’d heard a lecture I’d given at her women’s group: ‘The Weaker Sex: Fact or Fiction.’”
“I’d have loved to hear that lecture. Actually, I’d have loved to be a fly on the wall the day you were given the topic for that lecture.”
Lois swatted him. “Anyway, I completely brushed her off when she claimed to be the invisible man’s wife. After all, as I told Jimmy over and over again during that time, ‘There’s no such thing as...”
“...an invisible man,’” Clark completed for her before smiling.
Lois met his smile with one of her own. “Anyway, when you broke the story... I think that’s when I started to realize that, no matter what I thought of you at the time, you were competition. I swore right then that you would never beat me to another story.”
“And did I?”
Lois thought for a moment before shrugging. “I imagine you did,” she admitted, realizing from Clark’s smile that he took her admission as a compliment. “But I can’t remember at the moment.”
Clark nodded. “Okay, so let’s keep going. Or... wait! I, too, remember something about that story.”
“What?”
“It was the first time I met Dr. Klein.”
She crinkled her eyebrows.
“I took the material I found at Helene Morris’ house to Star Labs and he was the one who examined it. But in our reality, I took it to Dr. Hamilton.”
“So that’s changed,” Lois said before yelling, “Jimmy!”
“What?”
“Well, since we ran into Hamilton in 1992, there might be something there.”
Clark nodded.
“Jimmy,” Clark said when the young man appeared in the doorway, “find out everything you can about Dr. Emile Hamilton since 1992.” It was only after he’d spoken that he realized that he probably should have let Lois make the request.
Jimmy simply nodded and left.
“What did you say to him?” Clark asked once they were again alone. “I mean, he wasn’t exactly friendly, but...”
Lois shrugged. “Okay, so while we wait for that, let’s see what else we can find.”
The first headline they found had Lois’ name on the byline: ‘Fighter Tommy Garrison Surgically Enhanced.” She and Clark stared at the headline or a moment, but when nothing of particular interest came to them about the story, they quickly moved on.
Lois studied her next headline for a long moment. There was nothing different about the headline itself - except that only her byline was attached to it. But there was something there. She could feel it pulling at the edges of her brain.
‘Arson Runs Rampant In Riverview.’
“Too much alliteration,” Lois mumbled under her breath.
“What?” asked Clark, looking up from where he was studying his computer.
“Clark, have you found any stories about the Toaster fires yet?”
“I was just getting there,” he said. “Firefighters Fight Futile,” he read off his screen.
“And I thought the Daily Planet’s headline was bad,” she said. “Is your name on that story?”
He glanced back. “Yeah. Why?”
“Because there’s something there,” she said. “I just can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“I think I might remember something,” Clark said.
“So... don’t keep me waiting! What is it?”
“I can remember how frustrated I was. I kept thinking how much more I could help if people knew what I could do.”
“But that didn’t stop you.” It wasn’t a question.
He shook his head. “I did what I could to help the firefighters, but... It never felt as if it were quite enough.”
“But even as Superman you felt that way, didn’t you? I can remember seeing Superman on the news and he looked as if he were about at his wit’s end.”
Clark nodded. “Luthor was certainly enjoying it, too. I can remember him, in our reality, taking the opportunity to knock Superman’s abilities to the press - subtly, of course.”
“Of course. But... do you remember anything else from this reality?”
“Yeah. There was talk that organized crime was somehow involved in the fires. I decided to go down and check it out.”
“I remember now,” Lois said, beginning her recitation about this altered case.
**“What the hell is ‘he’ doing here?” Lois wondered under her breath. And that disguise! Please! As if anyone who knew him would be fooled by that fake beard or that black toque. I mean, it would be like taking off his glasses and styling his hair differently and expecting people not to recognize him. Who exactly did he think he was, anyway? Popeye the Sailor Man? She ducked back into a hallway, out of sight, wondering how she could avoid being seen.
“Five minutes!” someone yelled backstage.
She glanced around the entrance way, looking again at Kent when she heard him raise his voice. He appeared to be in some sort of disagreement with the bartender.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kent said, causing a number of heads to turn in his direction.
From his exaggerated movements, it was obvious that he was drunk. She rolled her eyes in disgust. Drinking on the job. He really was just some unscrupulous hack. Getting the invisible Robin Hood story must have just been a fluke.
She watched as Toni Taylor stepped towards him. Lois smiled. He’d be out of there faster than the speed of light in a vacuum, leaving her to find the story. Satisfied, she turned to walk backstage when the sound of the doors to the Metro Club swinging open startled her.
She looked back just in time to see four figures, dressed in metallic outfits and matching hoods and masks burst in. Her first impression was that they looked a little like asbestos cat burglars. In their hands were some sort of weapons.
“Johnny, you’re a dead man!” one of the cat burglars shouted. The words still hung in the air when a stream of fire was discharged from the end of the weapon in the man’s hands.
Lois took an automatic step forward, as if instinct told her to push Johnny Taylor out of the line of fire. She gasped when Kent seemed to get there first. Leaping over a table with the ease of a gymnast rather than the drunken fool he’d appeared to be moments before, he tackled Johnny to the ground. Lois gasped when the fire hit Kent’s back, setting the back of his coat on fire.
But without more than a quick shrug to divest himself of the garment, Kent rose, turning to examine the rest of the club. While Lois watched, transfixed by Kent’s apparent control of the situation, Kent spotted Toni trapped behind the bar. With a leap Lois wouldn’t have believed had she not seen it with her own eyes, Kent vaulted the bar, picked Toni up and carried her to safety.
“Out! Everyone!” Kent yelled, as he set Toni down on her feet. Suddenly, Kent spotted Lois.
For a moment, he looked startled and then, without missing much more than a beat, he rushed forward, pushing her and Toni from the room.
The move forced her into action. He was right. The fire was quickly getting out of hand. They had to get out of there now. It wasn’t until they were outside that she realized that Kent hadn’t followed.
Turning, she rushed back into the building. She wasn’t entirely sure why. But if he was still in there...
She ground to a halt when she spotted him just inside the entrance, staring back into the room. She was about to yell at him that he had to get out of there when she realized the place was no longer on fire. Smoke and fire damage could be seen all over the room, proving that she’d not been crazy in believing that the fire was extensive, but... there was no fire.
“How...” Lois began, before falling silent when Kent began to speak.
“I think we’ve just been introduced to the Toasters,” Kent said, pointing to the burn pattern on the far wall.**“Okay,” Lois said slowly. “So obviously we were both working on the same story. Clark, I have to tell you, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Clark nodded slowly. So did he. They’d had enough problems working on that story as partners. But if they’d been working for different papers... He hardly dared to speculate. However, he didn’t have to since Lois had already picked up the tale again.
**Clark Kent was definitely an enigma, Lois Lane decided as she worked with the other employees of the Metro Club to get things cleaned up. That leap over the bar had been almost super-human. Adrenalin, obviously. Still... there was something... not quite right about Kent. One minute he’d been acting like some sort of drunken fool; the next he’d taken charge, moving like some sort of super man. Obviously, he had been acting earlier. It figured, she guessed. After all, he had ‘innocent’ down to an art form.**“What does that mean?” Clark asked.
Lois merely shrugged and returned to her tale.
**Not that it particularly mattered to her what the deal was with Kent, of course. The only thing that mattered about Kent at the moment was that she’d managed to lose him when the police had questioned him about the fire. Now, she only needed to get the story before he had a chance to return - assuming he even did. Hopefully, he would think he already had the story - that someone was challenging the Metro Club for control of the Riverview Area. But there was more to this story. She could almost smell it. And she was the one who was in place to get it.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Toni and her gang disappearing into their inner sanctum. After quickly pouring some drinks and putting them on a tray, she turned towards the room. She had just arrived at door when a man stopped her.
“Beat it,” he said, before closing the door in her face.
She looked around, making sure no one was watching her. Then she slipped through a doorway backstage. When she’d been in Johnny’s inner sanctum the day before, serving drinks, Johnny had shot into the wall a number of times. Maybe, just maybe... She moved a few dishes that were piled on one of the shelves and smiled. Bingo. The bullet holes allowed her to see and hear into the room where Johnny and his thugs were meeting.
“First thing we gotta do is find out who these guys are and arrange a little payback,” Johnny said.
“I don’ t think so,” his sister, Toni, responded.
Lois already knew that Toni wasn’t happy with the way Johnny was running the gang. Still, when she’d stood up to him the day before, he’d shot up the room. So who knew what would happen now?
“Hey, I’m talking here,” Johnny said.
“Not any more,” Toni said. “Your days of speaking for this organization are through. As of now, you’re out.”
“Says who? You?” Johnny said, laughing as he pulled out his gun.
Suddenly, everyone else in the room was also holding a gun - all of them pointed directly at Johnny. Johnny looked startled for a moment before lowering his gun.
“Get him out of here,” Toni said.
Lois gasped. She’d just witnessed Johnny Taylor being replaced as the head of the Metro Gang - and by a woman, too. Oh, this was going to make one great story. But why? What was Toni planning?
“I know some of you want to go back to the way things were when my father was alive,” Toni said. “But that’s not going to happen. We’ve got an opportunity to move our organization to the next level. Out of the back room and into the board room. If any of you disagree, you can always join Johnny in retirement. Any questions?”
When none were forthcoming, Lois quickly moved the dishes back in front of the bullet holes. She had to get out there - and write the story. She smiled. At least she’d scooped Kent. But then, that was to be expected.**“Oh, honey, I love you,” Clark said, laughingly pulling her out of her story.
“What?” Lois asked, surprised.
“Your excitement over scooping me on the story.”
“I was just telling you what I thought back then.”
He laughed again, pulling her into his arms. In spite of the awkwardness caused by the chairs, she came willingly enough, although she was still acting slightly prickly after his accusation.
“Sure you were,” he said, smiling at her. “And the pride I heard in your voice when you were telling me about it... I suppose that was just my imagination.”
“Absolutely,” she said defensively, although the corners of her mouth twitched slightly on the word.
“Have I told you lately how much I love you?” he asked.
“I’d prefer if you showed me instead,” she said, moving closer until her lips were on his. His response was quite enthusiastic.
In fact, both were so caught up in the kiss that they failed to hear anyone coming. The conference room door opened with a crash.
Lois leapt out of her chair and spun towards the open door.
Jimmy!
“We were just... I was just... It wasn’t...” Lois hesitated as an awkward silence descended on the room. Deciding that a diversion was her only remaining maneuver since she was never going to be able to explain away what Jimmy had obviously seen, she changed tactics. “So what do you have for us, Jimmy?”
TO BE CONTINUED...
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