Made very unexpectedly good progress yesterday!! WOOHOO! I *may* actually finish this thing in the next few days! WOOHOO!!!!!
Thanks to
The Ultimate, Definitive Guide to Clark Kent\'s Ties for
Clark\'s tie .
Thanks, as always, to Nancy, Beth and Alisha
.
[I don't really like the 'as serious as' thing in the first little bit - if anyone has another suggestion, I'll take it
]
Last time:
Clark
Ten minutes later we were on our way to the Planet. I called Jimmy and refused to hold while he connected me to Perry – telling him instead to tell Perry we had a huge story and would be there momentarily.
I was sure Perry wasn't happy that we'd been ignoring phone calls and pages and text messages for the last hour.
"Stairwell," I told her as we practically ran into the lobby. "Hold on," I said as I checked to make sure that no one else was around before zooming us up to the newsroom floor. She was right – we didn't have much time.
"*Kents*! My office. *Now*!" Perry hollered at us the second we walked through the stairwell door. I'd bet that he'd been waiting for us.
"Can't, Perry! Hot story!" Lois yelled back.
"*I* decide what's hot and what's not. Now."
"We have the exclusive on the capture of the Toyman," Lois said more calmly. "Would you mind if we wrote it up first?"
The bustle of the newsroom stilled and Perry's jaw dropped.
"Would you mind repeating that?"
*~*126*~*
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
"You heard me right," I said with a grin. "Clark and I have the exclusive on the arrest of the Toyman and his accomplice, as well as the recovery of the latest missing child. He was just kidnapped this morning and his name isn't being released yet."
"You're serious."
I almost said 'as a heart attack', but that didn't seem appropriate given our family histories. "As serious as you telling an Elvis tale."
"They arrested the Toyman and you two were there?"
Clark nodded. "I'm going to type up the thing on the Orani Jewels while Lois gets started on the Toyman story."
"I've even got pictures," I told him as I pulled up a blank file.
He seemed to snap out of his stupor. "Okay. Jimmy – get the pictures and get them developed or whatever it is so I can see them – and well, not on some little two inch screen. Cat, start calling the parents of the other kids and get reactions. We'll work some of that in to the main article and more into a sidebar. You got a name on this guy, kids?"
I handed my cell phone to Jimmy. "Don't delete anything," I warned him as he took off. "They're not great," I told Perry, "but they're something."
"Dr. Harold Kriptsley," Clark said as I paused. "His accomplice is Constance Jones, the hypnotist who used to work with Darren Ronick before he was killed a year ago. She admitted to us as she was being led off that her DVDs were why the kids didn't remember anything."
"And we can print all of this?" He looked like a kid at Christmas.
"There's a few things we can't print," I told him. "But all of that, we can."
"How'd they find out it was him and why were you there, Lois?"
I glanced at Clark who was studiously typing up the museum story. "Um, anonymous tip and... right place at the right time." Or something like that. I lowered my voice. "I can't tell you more than that... here," I said looking around at the newsroom. "But that's enough for the story and that's more than anyone else has," I reminded him.
"Billy and Serena, start digging into Constance Jones and any connection she might have to Darren Ronick's murder. Eduardo, drop the Latislani stuff – it's all rumor and conjecture anyway – and start looking into Harold Kripstley and get these guys what you can as soon as you can."
I'd already started typing as he was talking.
"Move!" he hollered as he moved towards me and Clark.
"Clark, can you call your folks and I need to call Dad and let him and Jessica know we're running late?"
Perry squatted down next to me. "What is it you aren't telling me?"
I glanced at Clark who nodded as he pulled his cell phone off his hip. "You know the attempted abduction at graduation? There was a blurb in the Sunday paper on it."
He nodded warily.
I sighed. "That was Christopher. We stopped at Farmingdale's on our lunch break to pick something up for him. While we were there I recognized the guy who was helping us as the guy who'd been staring at us on Saturday. A... friend had seen Christopher with him and scared him off. She helped with a sketch that confirmed to me what I'd seen. *I* was the anonymous tip, but Christopher's name is *not* getting anywhere near this." I tried to sound threatening – as threatening as I could at a near whisper.
He looked at me for a long minute then nodded. "Okay. We'll keep him out as long as his name isn't released by the police. Get it typed up and come see me – both of you."
I nodded, reaching for my desk phone as I started typing furiously again. "Hey, Dad, it's me," I said when he picked up. "I only have a second, but Clark and I broke a huge story today – they caught the Toyman. You know, the guy who's been kidnapping kids using toys to lure them?
"They caught him?" I could hear the relief in his voice.
"They did. But we're going to be here for a while getting it typed up and all that. Can you let Jessica know we'll be late tonight?"
"Sure. We'll get it taken care of, no problem."
"Thanks, Daddy."
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I worked quickly and finished the – much shorter – Orani Jewels piece.
I rolled my chair over to Lois. I'd read most of the articles in a number of local papers and on local news stations' websites and was more familiar with the background than Lois was. Billy and Serena had covered most of the stories after the first two and they gladly helped us put the background information necessary in the main story. They were also working on the background of Constance Jones, of course. Perry had someone putting together a timeline to put on an inside page.
We were in a bit over our heads – and I thought Lois would be the first to admit that.
When no one but *maybe* me would hear it.
It was nearly seven by the time we were ready to leave. Lois stretched and yawned. "We're going to miss Christopher's bedtime if we don't hurry," she reminded me.
I sighed. As glad as I was that the Toyman was off the streets, I kind of hoped this wasn't indicative of what our days would be like on a regular basis. Maybe we could come in later and spend time with the boys in the morning if we were working late often.
"Perry still wants to see us," I said, holding out a hand to her.
She grabbed it and I pulled her up before we headed towards his office.
"Perry?" I asked, knocking lightly on the open door. "You wanted to see us?"
"Have a seat, kids." He looked serious and I'd admit to being a bit nervous. "Great job today, but we do have to have a few ground rules." He sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of you – pulling in this kind of story on your first day..." He shook his head. "It's unheard of. But you need to keep me in the loop."
"Perry, Henderson told us we couldn't," Lois said. "He told me specifically that nothing got told to *anyone*, even you at that point, without his approval or we lost the exclusive. He had to approve my two text messages to Clark and he's the father of an attempted victim," she pointed out.
He sighed again. "You *have* to keep me in the loop. I have to know what to hold space for and all kinds of other things – you've been around long enough to know that. And about Christopher being an attempted victim..."
"Our son is *not* news," I said quietly. "If his name is released by the police and there's a story to be told, we'll tell it here, but we will *not* put him front and center unnecessarily. Not now, not ever. Our family is off-limits for the sole purpose of selling papers."
"As an editor, I hate that. As a father, I couldn’t agree more," he told us. "All I ask is that you don't talk to anyone else if necessary. He can remain one of the unnamed other kids. However, what I was *going* to say is that I'm very glad that he's home and safe."
"Thank you," we both said quietly.
"Now, why don't you get home and give him a big hug before he goes to bed," he said gruffly. "And don't forget – if this is what you start with... I expect something bigger tomorrow."
His grin belied his words. We said our good-byes and headed out.
"I'm proud of you," I told her as she drove us home. "You did great today. You found the pattern where no one else did. You kept your cool and did what needed doing to protect not only Christopher but other kids. Two kidnappers are behind bars tonight because of you."
"Not just me," she said after a minute. "If it wasn't for Lana, I never would have known who to look for. And Daddy would have been paying him off yesterday and we would have been praying that he was okay. And that Navance wouldn’t take it as some sort of lack of caring on your part because you're not his real father or whatever."
"Did you hear what Perry said to Eduardo?"
She shook her head. "Not really. He was talking but my mind was going a mile a minute."
"There's more rumors in Latislan."
"I'll believe it when he's dead," she said, sighing.
I reached over and took her hand, letting it lie loosely in mine. "I know."
Her hand shifted and her fingers laced through mine. "Thank you," she finally said quietly.
"For what?" I hadn't really done much I could think of that would lead to her thanking me – not with the emotion I heard there.
"For marrying me. For doing what you had to in order to protect me. To protect Christopher before we had any idea he was your son."
It was a good thing that she was parking in front of the house because the tears were coming.
"I don't know when the last time I thanked you was. Your life would be so different right now – good or bad or whatever – but you gave it all up to protect us." She swiped at her cheeks.
I got out of the Jeep and walked to her side, opening the door before she could and pulling her into my arms.
I don't know why exactly – but she broke down into tears, crying into my shirt – and the tie she'd made fun of that morning. I smiled slightly at the thought of her mascara ruining it or something.
Wouldn't that be ironic or something?
"Hey, it's okay," I said softly, rubbing a hand up and down her back.
"Thank you," she said again. "I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for you. Pregnant. Alone. What would I have done without you?" she said again.
"I'm glad you didn't have to find out," I told her. "I'm glad I was there. I'm glad you weren't alone."
"Even though it ruined your plans?"
"Even though it ruined my plans," I said instantly. "The thought of you there with him makes ruined plans seem irrelevant in the extreme."
We stood there for another long minute before she moved back, wiping her eyes. "Thanks," she said, turning away from me. "I needed that. We better get moving if we're going to tuck Christopher in."
With that we headed inside.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I chose a gray suit for my second day of work.
"I really hope Perry wasn't serious," Clark called from where he was attempting to tie his tie again.
"About what?" I asked.
"That we have to bring in something bigger than yesterday."
I laughed. "He knows we basically lucked into that. Do you know what's on your agenda today?"
I could see him shrug. "I have the second half of the Orani jewels thing this afternoon. Just promise me you won't get the second huge story of your career while I'm stuck at a museum."
I laughed. "I'll do my best."
"Tie straight?" he asked turning to me.
"It's better than yesterday's." This tie was half black – the bottom half was black with red and blue and off-yellow diamonds on the top half. Where they met was a diagonal stripe.
"Yesterday's has mascara all over it," he told me.
"Sorry."
He shrugged. "That's what dry cleaners are for."
An hour later we were in the newsroom, watching on the televisions scattered about as the Messenger suddenly caught fire.
Perry started barking orders. "Billy, you and Serena get over the EPRAD and see what you can find out."
"She's not here today, Perry," Billy said, grabbing his suit coat.
"Then take Clark. And get a hold of that Platt guy."
He sent a number of other people off to do other stuff.
"What about me, Perry?" I asked a minute later as Clark and Billy headed into the elevator.
"Work on the follow-up on the Toyman, darlin'."
I sighed and turned back to my computer. Figured. Clark would get today's big story.
His hand rested on my shoulder. "Have you even seen today's paper yet?"
I shook my head. "No, not yet."
He tossed a copy on my desk. "Take a look."
I looked it over as he walked off. It looked about like I expected – like what Perry had set up.
"'Toyman Captured; Latest Victim Recovered Safely' by Lois Lane-Kent and Clark Kent with special contributions from Billy Judd, Serena Norcross-Judd and James Olsen," I read to myself.
What?
"Lois Lane-Kent?" I looked up to see Perry watching me from his doorway. He winked at me and turned with a smile.
Where had that come from? I'd have to ask Clark later if he knew anything about it.
I reveled in my first front page story for a long moment and then turned back to the follow-up.
After all, you were only as good as your next story.
*****
TBC
