Last time:
Clark
I glanced at Lois. I expected this to be some bowtie wearing, gray haired, lives in a lab kind of guy – like a stereotypical lab rat but that voice didn't sound like it belonged to that kind of guy.
Lois was frowning, but I couldn't figure out why.
A minute after that, a full head of dark hair appeared along with a forehead. We could hear some muttering.
"There," he finally said. "All done. I think." His face came into full view and my jaw dropped.
Lois gasped.
He was frozen in place. "Um, you know what, Serena? I have, um, something, um, in a beaker in the next lab and it smells funny. The fumes will kill my lab rat if I don't go get it. Have Billy bring everything over later tonight or in the morning."
The screen went black.
"That was odd," Serena said, a frown creasing her face. "He's usually very personable, besides being the hottest scientist in town." She turned and looked right at me. "Oh, my. *That's* why you've always looked so familiar. I could never place it. I thought you didn't have any family."
"I don't," I whispered. "Not that I ever knew of."
I leaned back in my chair and took a deep breath, running my hands through my hair. This was a lot to absorb.
But now I knew who he was.
Van-El was Bernie Klein.
*~*131*~*
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I couldn't place the disembodied voice of Dr. Bernie Klein. I frowned and thought as hard as I could but I couldn’t figure it out.
"There," the voice said. "All done. I think."
I gasped as I saw him for the first time. I wanted to look at Clark to see what he was thinking, but I couldn't take my eyes from the screen.
"Um, you know what, Serena?" Dr. Klein said. "I have, um, something, um, in a beaker in the next lab and it smells funny. The fumes will kill my lab rat if I don't go get it. Have Billy bring everything over later tonight or in the morning."
The screen went black.
"That was odd. He's usually very personable, besides being the hottest scientist in town." She looked at Clark. "Oh, my. *That's* why you've always looked so familiar. I could never place it. I thought you didn't have any family."
Clark's voice was quiet as he shook his head. "I don't. Not that I ever knew of."
But he did and now we knew who Van-El was in the rest of his life.
Serena sighed. "I guess I'll have Billy run all this over. He works pretty quickly most of the time – maybe he can get this back to us soon."
I'd just bet he worked quickly.
"I'll take it over," Clark said suddenly.
Serena shook her head. "If he said Billy, he meant Billy. He can be a bit of an odd duck at times and that's one of those things. He'll only authorize access to STAR Labs for him today."
As though on cue, Billy walked in. "What did Dr. Klein say?" he asked.
Serena filled him in, though not on the obvious resemblance between Clark and the scientist. She'd mention it later, I was sure.
Billy sighed. "Okay. Get all this back into the bag or something and I'll run it over."
"How's the Van-El stuff coming?" Clark asked. I was sure only I could hear the apprehension in his voice.
Billy shrugged. "There's some interesting stuff about those two jumpers. They don't think the first guy ever intended to jump and the lady is under sedation at the hospital because..." He stopped what he was doing and looked at all of us. "Get this. She's afraid of heights."
"That's odd," Clark said.
"She's afraid of heights, but she jumps off a thirty-story building?" I raised an eyebrow. "That's way past odd."
"Well, I'm still working on it, but I'm wondering if instead of trying to kill him, like Henderson told you guys, someone's testing him – finding out how fast he is, what his weaknesses are, those kinds of things."
I nodded slowly. "That makes sense. Scary, but makes sense."
"Scary how?" Serena asks. "It doesn't seem anything can hurt this guy."
"No, but other innocent people were hurt." I fingered the bandage on my forehead. "Some of them a lot worse than me. And what if he wasn't fast enough to get from the first jumper to the second in time? She would have died – and so would anyone who happened to be walking on the street below."
Billy put the last of the papers into the bag. "Definitely things to keep in mind." He gave Serena a kiss. "I'll be back in a bit."
An hour later, we were on our way back to the house. "What're you thinking?" I asked Clark quietly.
He shrugged. "He's obviously still not ready to meet me."
It had to be hurting him, to know that his brother was out there but that he wasn't ready to meet him.
"Are you going to go look for him again tonight?"
"Probably."
The radio was on, but quietly, when Clark suddenly reached for it.
It was the bottom of the hour news. "The rebels in Latislan have gained strength. The capitol city of Skopje is not a safe place these days as rebels and protesters take to the streets in their attempts to oust General Navance from office. Sources say he may be persuaded to step down in the next few days if the violence doesn't end. Jenny Dorsom, ANC."
I sighed. "Violence doesn't bother him. He'll try to squelch the rebellion or protest or whatever it is with more violence and things will go back to the way they were."
"Maybe. Or maybe this is the time that his luck runs out."
"Don't hold your breath," I told him. "And I know how long you can hold your breath, but I still wouldn't recommend it. I'll believe it when he's dead."
He reached over and squeezed my hand lightly, for just a second before releasing it, but not saying anything else.
We made it home without incident. As he had the night before, Christopher jabbered non-stop about Van-El, wanting to know if I'd seen him again.
I didn't think Clark noticed how it was affecting him. I thought he thought he was just brooding over the fact that he hadn't talked to Van-El yet, but I could see more in it.
"You’re his hero, you know," I said suddenly as we got ready for bed.
"What?" Clark looked up from where he was getting his clothes ready for the next day. He'd searched for Van-El for a while, with no success.
"Christopher. You're his hero, you always will be."
He shrugged. "If you say so."
I moved to stand in front of him. "Look at me. He loves you more than anything. Sure, right now, he's fascinated by a real life super, but you're his hero. You're the one who tucks him in and reads him stories and takes him 'flying' around the house." I rested a hand on his chest. "*You're* the one who put his life on hold for years to protect him. He may not understand that yet, but that makes you a hero. Not the special stuff, but the regular stuff. Taking care of him. Taking care of me. You don't need a special suit and international news attention to be a hero. And if you do the super thing someday, he'll be just as fascinated. I promise."
"Maybe. But I won't be the first super by then and so the novelty will have worn off. He's already talking about wanting to trade his Incredibles bed in for a Van-El one." He sighed. "I just wish he would talk to me. Answer my questions."
I hesitated slightly before wrapping my arms around him and pulling him to me. He rested his forehead on my shoulder and I could feel his feelings of rejection wash over me. If Van-El would just talk to him, I didn't think the Christopher thing would affect him as much.
I wasn't sure how long we stood there, but he finally pulled back. "I'm going to go to bed."
I nodded and followed him, wishing for once, he'd let me hold him.
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
"Clark Kent for Dr. Bernie Klein," I told the receptionist. I didn't care what Lois and my mom said, I had to try to talk to him.
"I’m sorry, sir..."
"I'm with the Daily Planet. One of my colleagues dropped some information off with him last night and we were hoping for an update on it."
"I'm sorry, sir. Dr. Klein has taken an unexpected leave of absence. If he said how long he was going to be gone, I haven't heard yet. However..." She reached for a slip of paper. "...he did leave this for anyone from the Daily Planet who might come by. He took the information with him and will get back to you if he figures something out."
I sighed. "Thank you."
I headed out of the building and wound up back at the Daily Planet.
"There hasn't been any Van-El sightings all day," Perry was saying as I walked into the conference room. "Why is that? Did yesterday's events scare him off?"
"Who knows, Perry," Billy said. "It’s not like we've got a phone number for the guy."
Well, they did, but they didn’t know that and he wasn’t there anyway.
Perry turned to Lois. "What about you? Did he give you any contact information?"
Lois shook her head. "Nope. Sorry, Chief. I've got a couple of thoughts, but..." She shrugged. "If he doesn't want to be found, I don't think he will be."
Perry turned back to Billy. "Any word from Klein yet?"
Billy shook his head. "He's left the lab. He told me he was taking it all with me and would get in touch if he had anything."
I decided not to mention that I'd been at STAR Labs a few minutes earlier.
Perry looked at Eduardo. "Anything on Latislan?"
Eduardo shrugged. "Violence in the streets of Skopje. That's about it at the moment. There's rumors that Navance may step down, but I wouldn’t believe that. I've followed him for too long. The only way he's going to leave office is in a body bag."
I looked at Lois who was studiously ignoring everyone and everything except the pencil in her hand.
"Kent, since you covered the Orani Jewels, I'd like you to do a follow-up on the attempted assassination of Secretary Wallace. That was the last place Van-El was seen."
"On it, Chief," I said, with less enthusiasm than either of us would have liked, I was sure.
A few minutes later, the meeting broke up and I headed for my desk, making phone calls and gathering the information I needed. It wasn't hard and before long, the story was sent to Perry.
I poked my head into his office. "In your inbox, Chief."
"Thanks, Kent. Now what're you working on?"
"Do you have anything specific for me?"
"Not at the moment."
"I'll go look for Van-El then."
"How's the Platt stuff coming?"
"Waiting to hear back from Dr. Klein."
"Okay then. Let me know if you come up with anything."
"Will do."
I headed out and decided that I was going to go towards the building where Platt was squatting. I stopped at a diner near there and asked around for information but no one was talking.
I stood on the sidewalk, hands shoved in the pockets of my pants as I pondered my next move.
"You want information?" a dark-haired skinny guy asked me.
"Do you have any?"
"Maybe."
He wanted payment. I pulled out my wallet and started to pull forty dollars out. I put twenty back in. "You have information that pans out, I'll get you some more."
He snorted. "I don't want money."
"You don’t?" I asked skeptically.
"I work for food."
Of course.
He glanced around. "Come on."
There was an explosion in the distance.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Explosion. The helicopter with Dr. Baines and Dr. Platt in it," he told me.
I stopped and looked at him. "How do you know?"
"That one's a freebie. How I get my information is of no import to you. It's nothing illegal and that's all you need to know."
"Okay." I followed him into a hole in the side of Platt's building. "Platt!" I turned an accusing look towards the other man. "You said he was in the helicopter that just exploded."
"I was," Dr. Platt told me. "I got off, but no one can know I'm alive – not yet. What did you do with all the information I gave to Mrs. Kent?"
I sighed. "Bernie Klein has it."
He nodded. "He's a good man." He shoved something else into a tattered brown suitcase. "I'm leaving. When this is all over, maybe I can see my family again." He picked up a picture of a woman and a redheaded little girl in a wheelchair. "Maybe she'll walk someday," he said quietly before putting the picture into the bag, too. "They say love isn't who you can live with but who you can't live without. I never thought I could leave them, could live without them, but the only other option was to stay and it was too dangerous. At least this way I know they're okay. If they were killed, I couldn't live with that." He buckled the suitcase.
He looked at me. "Please don't follow me."
I nodded. He left.
"Who are you?" I asked the skinny man leaning against a wall.
"They call me Bobby Bigmouth and you owe me dinner. Four courses, with drinks and desserts."
I stared at him. "Do you have an ethnic preference?"
He thought for a minute. "Chinese. This time."
"Where can I find you tonight? If you want the good stuff, it'll have to wait until then." It was almost a challenge. After dark, I could fly to China and get him real Chinese. I had a feeling this was one relationship I wanted to cultivate.
We made arrangements to meet about eight – I'd have to get Lois to cover for me at home. And maybe I'd run into Van-El.
I went back to the newsroom and filled Perry, Lois, and Serena in on what had happened. Billy was off covering the explosion. We all agreed that for the moment, we needed to keep Platt's survival quiet.
Perry headed back to his office and Serena turned to me. "How on earth did you get Bobby Bigmouth to help you?"
I shrugged. "He offered."
"He's the *best* snitch in town, but he's very selective. Billy and I have only gotten a handful of tips from him. Mostly he works for the cops and a couple of television reporters with a reputation for honesty."
"Maybe I have an honest face? I do owe him a big Chinese dinner later tonight."
"Make sure you take it to him and give him more than he asked for," Serena advised. "If you ever slight him, he'll know it and you'll never get anything else from him. If he asked for four courses, bring him five. And don't skimp and go some place cheap. Go to one of the best places you can find, even if it's a bit more expensive. You can usually get the Planet to reimburse you after the tip pans out."
I nodded. "I know just the place."
About seven-thirty, I ducked out for a 'run'. Promptly at eight, I met Bobby where we'd arranged. My arms were full of bamboo containers.
He took one from me and dipped his fingers in the container, pulling an egg roll out. If I didn't know better, I'd think his eyes rolled back in his head.
"This is great, Kent. Where'd you get it?"
"If I told you, you wouldn't need me," I pointed out.
He stared at me then nodded reluctantly. "Okay." He pulled a fortune cookie out and glared at me. "It's in Chinese."
I didn't know much, but I knew enough. I hoped anyway as I took the slip of paper from him. "A good horse is like a member of the family."
"That is *not* a fortune."
I shrugged. "Can you overlook the lack of a real fortune with food that good?"
He contemplated for a moment as he pulled something out of one of the other containers. He tried it then nodded. "Fine."
He turned and walked away.
I watched him for a long minute until he disappeared before heading for home.
*****
TBC
