WOOHOO! Didn't make much progress yesterday but more than I expected so that's really good
. I *think* I have about 5 chapters left and that I can use at least part of some of the original ending so that'll help. Some of the stuff I wrote Saturday I couldn't use any of what I'd originally written [which stunk because it was 1500ish words /sigh/] because it just didn't fit right given some of the things that happened between the time I wrote it in July or whenever and now.
I *hope* to have it finished tomorrow. We'll have to see... Queenie helped me tweak the final major plot point because I wasn't happy with it and I don't *think* it'll add any chapters to my master chapter list, but I suppose it's possible because it's pretty different than the original.
Thanks again - very much to Alisha, Beth and Nancy.
A note: The last chapter ended with Lois and this one starts with her. It's a short segment, but I really liked the other one ending where it did
and it doesn't really work to move it to the next Lois section and I didn't want to for other reasons I'll explain in FDK because of their spoilerish nature
.
Last time:
Lois
There was a shout from the crowd.
"What the hell is that?" one man yelled.
"Is it a bird?" another hollered.
"Too small for a plane." Zymak said shading his eyes as he looked over my head. "Dear God, I hope it's not a missile or we're all dead."
Another police officer nearby held up a pair of binoculars. "Nope. It's a guy in a pair of tights. He's flying."
My head jerked up and around as the black streak came to a stop above the building just as the fire jumped from the shorter office area to the roof of the main building.
It was a man.
In black.
Black spandex.
He had dark hair but that was all I could tell from this distance, but it had to be Clark – who else could it be?
I was going to kill him.
As everyone watched he took a deep breath and blew in the direction of the warehouse, dousing the flames.
I was going to kill him dead.
*~*128*~*
I was going to kill him dead and now that the fire was out and he was talking to the fire chief, I was going to tell him that.
"Clark Jerome Davis Kent, you get your flying Kryptonian butt over here or or I *will* tear you limb from invulnerable limb and you'll only *wish* I had Kryptonite to make you pass out." The words were spoken quietly and no one was close enough to hear.
I saw him look directly at me about the time I hit 'flying Kryptonian'. He finished talking to the fire chief and walked my way.
He stopped directly in front of me and my eyes narrowed as I studied his face.
"You're not Clark." I barely breathed the words.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" He looked distinctly uncomfortable.
I studied him carefully for a minute longer as he shifted nervously from foot to foot. "Van-El?" I whispered.
His eyes went wide and a second later, one arm was wrapped securely around my waist as we shot into the air.
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
For the second day in a row, I was in the most absolutely boring presentation in the history of presentations – and I'd had Dr. Long for Philosophy.
How someone managed to make topics that *should* have been interesting so incredibly dull was completely beyond me.
This guy was droning on and on and on and...
My phone vibrated on my hip, but this time no one noticed. Everyone was too busy pulling out their own Blackberries or iPhones or whatever.
It was from Perry. Well, it was probably from Jimmy, but on behalf of Perry.
<To all reporters. Flying man on ANC a hoax? Fire at warehouse on Bessolo near wharf. Lois already there – anyone with more information contact immediately.>
I froze as I read it.
Flying man?
What the heck?
Everyone else was wiggling in their seats. I glanced at my watch. Ten minutes to go. I lowered my glasses slightly and zoomed in on a couple of the other devices. The messages were all similar.
There was a flying man on ANC and everyone wanted to know if he was real or a hoax and – either way – how.
And Lois was there.
It obviously wasn't me. Who could it be? Someone from some other planet? A Kryptonian?
My phone buzzed again and I glanced down.
There was only one word on the screen.
Van.
Van?
If I'd been standing, I was sure my legs would have given way beneath me.
I double checked. It was from Lois and it just said Van.
Could it possibly be?
Could it really be Van-El?
My brother?
Would Lois have sent me a cryptic text if it wasn't?
"Are there any further questions?"
No one said a word. In fact, I was fairly certain that none of us had heard anything from the last ten minutes of the presentation.
I was glad I was close to the door and I was easily the first one out. I took off at a sprint, glad the museum wasn't too far from the wharf.
I was there in just a few minutes – faster than anyone else.
Officer Zymak was standing guard near the police tape.
"Have you seen Lois Kent?" I asked him.
He nodded. "She was here earlier, but the flying guy in black talked to her for just a second and then grabbed her around the waist and flew off with her. I hope she's okay."
"I'm sure she's fine," I said distracted. "Which way did they go?"
"Um, up," he told me. "You know up, up and away or something super-ish like that."
"Did anyone talk to him besides Lois?"
"The fire chief did for a minute, but that's it."
"I know probably every member of the press wants to talk to him, but this guy *flew* off with my *wife*. Is there any chance the fire chief would talk to me – off the record if necessary?"
Zymak hesitated then pulled out his walkie. A couple minutes later, we were walking towards the fire chief who was talking with Henderson.
"Kent, where's your wife?" Henderson asked without preamble.
I shrugged. "I was hoping you could tell me."
What I really wanted was to fly off and search for them.
The fire chief shook his head. "I was talking to him. He suddenly looked over at her, excused himself and left. And by left, I mean talked to her for a minute, grabbed her around the waist and flew off."
"Hey!" came a voice from the crowd of reporters. "How come you're talking the Planet's newbie?"
We all ignored them.
"What did he say to you?" I asked.
"That he was a friend and here to help. That there was a man in one of the rooms. He was passed out but okay. The building was stable and then he was distracted by Mrs. Kent. We were able to get the man out and to the hospital."
My phone had been vibrating nonstop. I finally pulled it out of the holder on my waist, hoping it was Lois.
"They're all from Perry," I told them before they asked. "Where are you? Where is Lois? Where are you and Lois? And so on."
It buzzed again in my hand.
This one was from Lois. Planet. Fifteen minutes.
I sighed but didn't tell them it was from her. "I've got to get back the Planet. That's where she'll probably go anyway – once she's done interviewing him or whatever."
They nodded. "Have her call us if he threatens her or whatever and she needs help."
"I will." I couldn't tell them that if she needed help or he threatened her, he'd have me to deal with.
After all, what could country boy Clark Kent do against a flying man?
I trotted back to the tape line and was immediately inundated with questions by the other members of the media. I ignored them and jogged another couple blocks until I found a taxi.
It took less than ten minutes to get there.
I zipped up the stairs and into the bullpen just in time to see the glass doors above the newsroom open.
Gasps went up throughout the entire newsroom as a man wearing a black Spandex shirt of some kind and pants that reminded me of the ones that male figure skaters wore flew in through the window.
Lois was in his arms.
He was cradling her against his chest.
I didn't know who he thought he was but I was the only one who was supposed to fly with her – and a feeling of... jealousy swept over me.
Jealousy?
He set her carefully on the floor next to her desk and I noted the bright blue shield on his chest.
The crest of the House of El.
"Van-El," I breathed.
He looked up sharply, right at me.
I was rooted to the spot.
"You owe me a full interview," Lois told him. She glanced at me. "How will I find you?"
He floated into the air. "I'll be around."
There was a black streak even I couldn't follow as he flew out the window.
"Did you find out what the 'S' stands for?" Cat asked.
"No," Lois said turning back to her desk. "But I do have a story to write up."
Perry leaned on her desk. "Lois, darlin', before you do that..."
She looked up at him, her eyes wide and innocent. "Yes?"
"Would you mind to tell us what he said?"
"Not much, really," she said looking at me. "He's from a defunct planet called Krypton. He's here to help. He can fly and put out fires."
"Did you get any pictures?"
She pulled a digital camera out of her purse and handed it to Jimmy. "Don't delete anything."
"Don't worry," he said. "You should trust me."
Lois typed furiously though I was dying to drag her off to the conference room and demand that she tell me everything.
I couldn't take it any longer and wheeled my chair towards her. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly as I sat near her.
She stopped typing and turned towards me. "Are you?" she asked back, reaching out and covering the hand that was resting on her desk.
"In shock, I think. He's really Van-El?"
She nodded. "He is."
"My brother?"
She reached out and cradled my face in her hand. "Your brother. Give me two minutes and I'll go tell you everything I know."
I nodded, trying to keep the tears at bay.
She turned back to her computer and typed for another minute before hitting send. She grabbed my hand as she stood up, leading me to the conference room.
She shut the door behind her and moved to where I was standing near the windows. She wrapped her arms around me and my forehead dropped to her shoulder.
I couldn't stop the tears at that point. I didn't even try.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I held Clark for long minutes.
It reminded me of when Pop Pop died.
"Tell me everything," he finally whispered. He straightened and just held me close as I spoke.
"I thought he was you at first and I was going to have to rip you limb from invulnerable limb. I know we'd talked about how you want to do this someday but that you'd do it without at *least* *telling* me about it... That made me mad. I said something about getting your Kryptonian butt over here and he heard me. When he got close enough, I knew he wasn't you. The resemblance is uncanny though. You wear your hair different and he's obviously older, but very similar. He could pass for you if it was someone who didn't know you well."
I sighed. "He didn't tell me the whole story, but he did tell me that he looked for you when he got here. I'll let him tell you the rest of it. Mostly he took me to a nearby rooftop and grilled me for information about you. What did I know, how did I know it, did anyone else know anything – that kind of stuff. Did I know how to get in touch with you?" I rubbed a hand over his back. "He wants to see you, to talk to you, but he said he needs some time. He's spent ten years thinking you were dead. Between that and his debut, he's overwhelmed. He knows where to find you. I gave him all kinds of phone numbers and instant message IDs and emails and all that."
"Ten years?" he said suddenly. "I've been here a lot longer than that."
"He said something about it taking him longer to get here. Honestly, I didn't really absorb a whole lot of it. I was in a state of shock, too."
"*Kents*!"
We heard Perry bellowing in the newsroom.
"You were making sure I was okay after Van-El flew off with me," I told him. "Nothing more than that."
He nodded.
There were huge blow ups of the pictures I'd taken of Van-El. Clark stood behind me as we looked at them. He leaned close to my ear. "Did he tell you if he has another name?"
I nodded.
"Did he tell you what it is?"
I shook my head.
The entire newsroom was gathered around Perry and the pictures. "Okay – I already got a call from Stern. I guaranteed him that each and every one of my staff would chip in. Would not rest until Van-El?"
He looked at me and I nodded in confirmation.
"...was ours." He paused and looked at everyone. "Are we clear on this?"
I *had* to put up a fight. Not only was it my second big story, but if I could keep *anyone* from finding out too much... I crossed my arms in front of me. "No. Perry, you can't be serious. *I* was the one Van-El flew with. *I* wrote the original piece. *I* found him!"
"Actually, *he* found *you*, didn't he?" Clark asked.
"Put a sock in it, Clark." I used my best pleading voice. I might be the new kid on the block but I knew how it worked. "Chief, this isn't fair. I should have the exclusive on the follow-up. Those are the rules."
"The rules are off," he told me. "This is too big."
I felt like Christopher when he threw a fit. "But he's *mine*, he's *my* story."
"Forget it, Lois. Van-El's fair game. Every reporter for him or herself."
The buzz around the newsroom increased.
"Settle down. Think. What could draw him out? Use your instincts. Beat the bushes. Turn the stones. *Get*. *Me*. *Van-El*."
"I bet I know what could draw him out," Cat purred.
"But if he *is* an alien, like he told Lois, maybe he doesn't get the old ... you know, itch." That came from Jimmy and caused both me and Clark to shift uncomfortably.
"One way to find out." Cat waggled her eyebrows.
"A possible visitor from another planet arrives on Earth and all you can think of is hauling him off to your lair and trying him out?" Serena asked her, her own eyebrow raised.
Cat shrugged. "Test drive, Ms. Judd-Norcross. A couple hours behind the wheel, I'd know for sure if we're talking import or domestic." She sauntered off.
I could practically feel Clark cringing.
*I* was cringing.
Granted, I had no other experience, but he'd still seemed... domestic to me. Until we were on the ceiling, of course.
"What the hell is this? The Betty Crocker Bake-Off? Get back to work! We've got a newspaper to run!"
At Perry's bellow we all scattered.
Well, Clark and I didn't scatter too far.
"I want to go look for him," he told me quietly, his chair pulled up near my desk. It was turned so he was straddling it, his arms folded over the back and his chin resting on them.
"I know." I couldn't really get to one of his hands to hold it so I put my hand on the back of his neck, rubbing his hairline gently.
What I really wanted to do was go somewhere, take him in my arms and kiss him senseless.
Instead of that, I pulled up the Planet's internal WIP file. Before I could get too far, it hit me.
"Platt was at that warehouse," I said suddenly.
"What?"
I nodded. "Zymak told me there was someone in there – an out of work, slightly crazy scientist."
He moved back and then smacked his head. "Of course. Billy and I went by there earlier looking for him, but I was so preoccupied with the 'flying man flew off with my wife' thing that it didn't register. Henderson said they took someone to the hospital but not who and that he was going to be okay."
I pushed back from my desk. "Let's tell Perry we're headed to the hospital and that we might have a lead on Van-El and we'll check it out, too."
He nodded and moved his chair back over to his desk. "Let's go."
*****
TBC
