Still feeling very grateful to Beth, Mark, and Carol for their help whipping this into shape!
From Chapter 50
He was getting more and more homesick and it bothered him. He did not want to abandon Clark right now, not when he was making such strides towards overcoming his fears. Still, he was eager to get back home.
He smiled. At least this time, Lois' hair had been the right length in his memory. It was the same short hair cut she had had when they had that conversation. Although, now that he thought about it, something was still wrong about the memory. What was it?
Superman went through a list of Lois' physical traits and finally convinced himself that she had looked fine. He went through the memory again, but was also sure that he was recalling the conversation right. So what was it? What else could it be?
With a start, Superman sat straight up in bed. It was Lois' heartbeat. That was not the heartbeat of his Lois. It was the heartbeat of the Lois in this universe. They were similar, but not the same. He sighed. He had been away from home too long and was getting confused.
He lay back down, schooling his breathing to be calmer. It was just a silly memory. There was no reason to panic. So what if he was having trouble remembering his wife? It would be fine. In a few weeks, Clark would be ready to take over and he could go home anyway.
Chapter 51
“I'm going to a movie with Jack and Denny tonight,” Clark called out from his bedroom. “I'm not sure how you could come with us, but if you wanted to I'm sure we could figure something out. Lois isn't coming so…”
“Thanks for the offer,” Superman said appearing in the doorway, “but I'm just going to hang out around here tonight.”
“Okay,” Clark said. “If you change your mind, we're meeting at the Planet.”
“Thanks,” Superman said again before disappearing back to the living room. He came back a minute later, though, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “When are you leaving?”
Clark glanced at the clock. “About a half hour,” he said. “Why?”
“Can we talk for a minute?”
“Sure,” Clark said, motioning to the living room.
“I'm not sure I should do this,” Superman mumbled.
“What?” Clark asked and when Superman looked at him confused he asked, “What is it you're not sure about?”
Superman smiled, “I forgot you can hear me when I speak super-softly.”
“Sorry,” Clark said, smiling back.
Superman took a deep breath. “Something's going to happen tonight. Just sit tight and let me deal with it even though it's right in front of you.”
“What?” Clark asked. “Why would I do that?”
Superman sighed again. He had wanted to do this without talking to Clark about it – without letting him know what was going on. He could see now that that was not going to be possible.
“There is going to be a break-in tonight at the Planet. But it's going to be hard for you to do anything to help.”
“What did you do?” Clark asked.
“Nothing, really. I waited. But someone was shot in the process…”
“Were they hurt?” Clark asked.
“Not seriously, but they could have been. I'm not sure when I'll be able to help – they'll be on the lookout for me and they have a dirty bomb they will threaten to use if I show up. But I'm going to try. If you don't see me, I guess, try to do what you can, but I'm going to try to help head them off before anyone is hurt.”
“Sounds like a deal,” Clark said. “Let me know if I can help if there's any way to contact me.”
************
Clark sat at his desk working. He had received a last minute call from a source and wanted to write up a small article beforehand. He glanced at the clock. There was still an hour and a half before the movie started. Both Jack and Denny were busy playing video games, so he had some time. Besides, while he was not sure, he assumed they would not make it to the movies tonight anyway due to the hostage situation Superman had mentioned.
The elevator doors dinged and out of habit, Clark looked up to see if it was his partner. Of course, given that it was a Saturday night and Lois had mentioned that she had a date with Lex tonight, there was no reason why she would be coming in.
“How was I supposed to know my source was going to get arrested?” Lois asked as she exited the elevator. Seeing that it was Lois, Clark smiled. Then Luthor followed her and Clark's smile disappeared.
“The opera starts in half an hour,” Lex said, and his tone was slightly exasperated. Not that Lois seemed to notice.
“I know,” Lois said, placing a hand on Lex' arm. “But I just have to rewrite my lead,” she said as she sat at her desk.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Clark.
“We were supposed to be meeting here to go to a movie,” Jack answered for him.
“And we still will. It doesn't start for an hour and a half,” Clark said. “Last minute story I want to write up. Hi, Lex,” he said, trying to appear friendly.
“Hello, Mr. Kent,” Lex said and Lois smiled at him. Clark grimaced. Did Lex get points for being polite now?
“What are Perry and Jimmy doing?” Lois asked while she waited for her computer to start up.
“Cleaning Perry's office,” Clark said with a smile.
“More like fighting over what can be thrown away,” Denny offered.
“Well, Perry is a bit of a pack rat,” Lois said.
The elevator dinged again and Willie, the old janitor, came out and looked around.
“Evening, Willie,” Clark called.
“Uh, hi, Mr. Kent,” Willie said. “I wasn't expecting the Planet to be so busy on a Saturday night.”
“Yeah, it's sort of a weird Saturday, isn't it?” Clark said with a smile.
“Well, good night,” Willie called as he got into the elevator.
“Good night,” Clark called back.
“Hey!” Lois said a minute later, just before she started banging the top of her computer.
“Lois, calm down,” Clark said, laughing at her as he moved over to her desk.
“I just lost my story!” she said to him.
Clark bent down to look at the computer. “It's off,” he said from Lois' feet.
“Let me,” Lex offered, bending down in his tux.
“It's all right. I have it,” Clark said.
For a moment, there was silence while Clark and Lex stared at each other. It was clear to everyone but Lois that neither of them wanted the other helping her. Finally, Lex stood back up with a grunt. “Have it your way,” he mumbled.
“I didn't shut it off,” Lois said to Clark.
“Well, I just turned it back on,” Clark said as he crawled back out from under the desk. For a moment, Lois, Clark, and Lex watched Lois' computer reboot. Just as it finished rebooting, it crashed again.
“That's just great!” Lois said. “I lost my story.”
Just then the elevators dinged for a third time. “What is it – Grand Central Station in here?” Lois asked, still annoyed about her story.
She got quiet a moment later, though, when four men and a woman exited the elevator, each holding an automatic gun. The woman aimed her gun for the ceiling and sprayed it with bullets.
The noise brought Perry out of his office. “What the blazes is going on out here?” he asked, Jimmy following on his heels.
“The Daily Planet building is now ours. I suggest you cooperate smoothly and everything will be fine,” one of the men said.
Clark could see Perry start to argue, but then he took in the guns and changed his mind.
The man who appeared to be in charge took a small rectangular box out of a bag. “In case any of you feel the need to contact the police or your friend Superman, you can tell him I'm holding a small but dirty nuclear device,” he warned them. “I'm a bit trigger happy. If I catch just a glimpse of red cape, this building and the surrounding environs will suffer.”
Clark leaned forward and placed a hand on Lois' shoulder for comfort, but Lex then put his arm around her waist and gave Clark a dirty look. With a sigh, Clark backed away and watched Lois move closer to Lex' side.
************
Superman sat on the couch staring out the window. He should head over to the Planet soon. He sighed. It felt like he had basically given up on following the timeline. Whether that was because he did not care anymore or because living life exactly the same way two times through was pretty boring, he did not know. He liked to think it was because if you have the chance to live your life again, it makes sense to correct your mistakes, but that was rationalization and he knew it. When he first got here he let Lex bully him into heading to Smallville even though he knew it did no good.
When had he lost the will to make sure things were the same as in his universe? When had that stopped seeming so important?
It did not even make sense this time. Lex was the only person who suffered any injuries. What did he care if things went differently here and Lex died? That would be better, right?
He looked at the clock. He should start heading to the Planet. His plan, which was not a good one, he knew, was to fly around the roof watching for a moment when they left the bomb unattended using his x-ray vision. He sort of wished he had determined in his universe if the bomb was real or not. It would be useful now to know how much of a risk he was taking.
“She's beautiful,” Clark whispered, running a finger down her cheek.
Lois sat up in the hospital bed, bringing baby Emily with her. “I'm glad we decided not to adopt,” she said, her voice unreasonably loud given the private nature of the conversation.
“I never thought…” Clark said.
“What?” Lois asked.
“I guess… I wasn't surprised when Dr. Klein told me that I was unlikely to be able to mate with a human woman. I had expected that. I never would have thought I would be able to have a child that was part me.”
“Why?” Lois demanded. “What do you know about Kryptonian biology that you're not sharing? Are you keeping secrets from me, Superman?”
He shook his head as he reached the Planet. What was that about? Lois did not call him Superman at the birth of their first child. With a sigh, he realized the memory was a fake – nearly everything about it. Emily had been born, of course, and he had been there. So the event was real, and even his words - he had said those things. Lois, though – he was nearly certain the conversation had gone differently, although he could not remember what she had said now.
He used his x-ray vision to check on the hostages below. There she was – the woman in his memory. She was lying on the floor of the conference room, her head in Lex' lap. Lex was stroking her hair in a gesture that Superman would have thought spoke of love if Lex had not been the person doing it.
She was the person in his memory. The woman in his memory had her hair, her heartbeat, her features (which his Lois certainly did not have moments after giving birth), even her personality. His Lois had softened over time. Mad Dog Lane was still present at work sometimes, but by the time Emily had been born, Lois had turned into a softer, gentler version of herself at home. None of that had been present in his memory.
How had he let this happen? He had let the Lois here eclipse the memory of his wife? Even when he closed his eyes tightly, he saw her. He could not seem to picture his Lois at all. He knew how they looked different, but that was not enough to compose the mental image he wanted – he needed.
He felt a tear leak out and brushed it aside impatiently. He needed to focus on the hostage situation below. He could deal with his missing memories of his wife later.
************
“Negotiation,” Lex said while he absently played with Lois' hair. “I've dealt with worse across a boardroom table. We need to find out what they want and offer them a better deal.”
Clark tried not to glare at him. He was not sure if he was more upset at Lex' suggestion or his seeming inability to stop touching Lois.
“It's five against five. I say we take them,” Jack said. “I bet the bomb's not even real.”
“Six against five!” Denny corrected annoyed.
“Den, we can't let you do that,” Jack said, the bravado of being a teenager disappearing for the fatherly like role he tended to adopt around his younger brother.
“I'm big enough!” Denny insisted.
“We can't take that chance,” Clark said, then seeing Denny's hurt face, he corrected himself. “For any of us to go out there.” Clark wondered what Superman's plan was. From here, it looked hopeless. The bomb was lead-lined. He had tried to burn the wires with his heat vision, but that had not worked due to the lead. What was Superman going to be able to do?
“Clark, they're going to kill us!” Lois insisted getting up, but to Clark's frustration she ran her hand along Lex' shoulders as she paced. “We know what they look like.”
“I know these kinds of people,” Lex said and Clark rolled his eyes, but no one noticed and Lex continued talking. “We should consider ourselves dead. In that regard, we have nothing to lose.”
“Luthor,” Clark said and grimaced when Lois glared at him. He tried to remember to call him Lex, but it was hard. “They may be holding the lives of thousands of people in their hands. We don't want to do anything to provoke them.”
“Well,” Lex said with a simpering smile, “now that we know what Mr. Kent is made of…”
“Fine!” Clark said, feeling exasperated. “I don't care if you think I'm a coward. I'm not playing it safe, I'm playing it smart. I would have thought a man in your position would be able to tell the difference.”
Lex, who had been sitting, now stood and the rest of the room got quiet watching the two men battle it out.
“So what is it you're suggesting, Mr. Kent?” Lex asked. “That we just sit here and wait for them to kill us?”
Clark sighed, but it did nothing to cool his temper. “No, but I have no choice. If I try to get to the bomb, one of the others might try to kill one of you. And I risk them setting the bomb off!”
“Clark, take it easy,” Lois said. “You're not Superman.”
Everyone in the room laughed except Clark. She was right. He was not. Still, he should be able to help them and it was frustrating that he was not.
“Superman will find a way to save us,” Lois said, her voice firm. For a moment, Clark had to fight the urge to smile. As much as Lois' adoration of Superman bothered him, it was clearly nothing on how much it bothered Luthor. The man was virtually steaming.
After a moment of silence, Denny asked, “What if he can't? You heard what that man said.”
Lois' head fell as she acknowledged that Denny had a point.
“We need to negotiate,” Lex repeated.
“We need a plan,” Lois spoke over him and to Clark's surprise Lex allowed it. She turned to Lex. “I'll create a diversion. Lex, you hit him over the head with a chair.” She turned to Perry. “Chief, sit down. You're having a heart attack.”
Lois started screaming, calling for help. At first just the man who had been watching guard over their room came in, but Lex did not hit him and within moments, Lois' screaming had gotten the remaining men and the one woman to gather in the doorway.
“That's enough!” the lead man yelled, shooting a shot off towards the ceiling. Everyone got quiet, and that was when Clark saw it. No one else would have been able to, he had gone way too fast, but Superman had come in and taken the bomb and left.
Clark sat still. He still could not move right now with all the guns around, but things were a lot simpler without the bomb around.
“Now, you will all stay quiet. I trust you are fine now, old man,” the leader asked Perry, the tone making it clear he was aware the whole thing was a ruse.
Superman was back. He nodded to Clark and at once while Superman aimed his heat vision on the guns of the men who had turned back to the newsroom, Clark did it to those that were still mostly turned towards him. With everyone's attention now on Superman, no one noticed Clark's actions. Within moments, the men had dropped all their guns and Superman was keeping a close eye on them until the police arrived.
************
“I wonder what they were after,” Jack said as they all made their way downstairs.
“I heard them say something about something called Dragonetti,” Lois said.
“Dragonetti?!” Perry said.
“Yeah, why?” Lois asked.
“Dragonetti was a mobster during the Depression. He built this building. Operated a speak-easy where the cafeteria is now. He was gunned down and no one ever found his stash. There were rumors that it was in here, but no one knows where.”
“Well, apparently, someone thought they knew,” Clark said with a smile.
“Well,” Lex said looking at his watch, “we missed Madame Butterfly, but perhaps I can interest you in dinner?” he asked Lois. “You look way too lovely to go straight home.”
Lois put her arm through his, “That sounds perfect.”
“We could still make the late showing,” Jack said to Clark. Clark did not respond however, as he was watching Lois and Lex. Jack reached over and punched him on the arm. “Yo, Clark! Are you interested?”
“Sure,” Clark said, still distracted by Lex and Lois. A minute later, he seemed to wake up, though. “Now that you're finished with the office cleaning for the evening, do you two want to join us?” he asked Perry and Jimmy.
“I need to get home to Alice,” Perry said, “but thanks for the offer.”
“I'm in,” Jimmy said.
As they exited the building, Lex' driver pulled the car around.
“Good night everyone,” Lois called as she and Lex disappeared into his car.
“Must be nice,” Denny said, looking wistfully at the car.
“Come on,” Clark said, taking in his expression. “I think after the night we've had we should splurge on popcorn and candy at the movies. "Night, Perry.”
Denny smiled as Perry turned towards home. “Really?”
“Definitely,” Clark said. “I think we could all use a pick-me-up.”
