Thanks to Anni the Diva, this is finally ready! If there’s anyone still reading out there, I hope they enjoy.
AnnaBtG.
***
Clark held his breath. He had another clue.
But… who was Dr. Owen?
He decided he’d better listen to what was really Welson going to tell him – after he levitated a few more feet, that is, because the circulation had stopped, as everyone stopped driving and stared at him.
He saw Welson picking out of his pocket a cell phone and dialing a number.
“Hi, Dr. Owen, Welson here. … Yes, but we have a problem. … Superman just took her back. … Well, he just opened the door, took her, and flew away. … No, doctor, it’s just that I didn’t expect… … Yes, doctor.”
Then, he hung up the phone, frustrated.
Clark thought that this was enough, for the moment. Now he had to find out about Dr. Owen.
He flew away, anxious to get home. He’d take Lois and they’d go to the Thorns.
***
When Lois saw him with the baby in his arms, she literally fell on him. “Clark, the baby is safe! You did it!”
Then she took the baby, who was not crying anymore, and rocked her in her arms. “Oh, my baby, you’re safe now! Don’t worry, no one is going to hurt you ever again. Right, Clark?”
“Yes, Lois,” he said anxiously, “but we have to go to the Thorns now.”
***
When they arrived at the Thorns – Clark dressed casually, of course – the blacksmith had arrived and was placing the new door.
“I see you don’t like to lose time,” Clark commented to the women, as they were standing in the hallway.
“My baby!” Jane exclaimed. She ran towards Clark and took the baby from his arms. “Where did you find her?”
“It wasn’t us, it was Superman,” Lois said.
Sharlynn, from inside the room, gestured to them to be silent and get in the room.
“So, what happened?” she asked.
“Superman found the Black Team and took her back,” Clark said, in a low voice.
“And where are they, now?”
“Right where they were.”
“What?” Sharlynn wasn’t expecting that. “Why?”
“Because,” Clark lowered his voice more, “he wants to find more about them, especially who’s behind all this.” He looked around. “Do you know who is Dr. Owen?” he whispered.
“I know him!” Rachel whispered, too, but her tone was intense. “He was the director of the S.T.A.R. labs when I was working there.”
“Now he’s not?” Clark asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“So, he knows about the “Treasure”?” Lois interfered.
“Yes. He was strongly supporting it, and tried his best so that it would go on. But Dr. Klein did not want it to go on, because, if we could finally make a philosopher’s stone, it would be a threat for the peace on Earth. So he convinced the donors that the project was a failure, that we had tried everything but nothing worked, stuff like that, and they finally decided to give up.”
“Who were the donors?” Clark asked.
“The Citizens of Metropolis Bank and the Economists of Metropolis Association.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Lois said, impatiently. “You heard what Superman said, Dr. Owen is the one behind it.”
“So, Rachel,” Clark asked, “do you think that Dr. Owen asked the Black Team to threaten you, so that you give him your research?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“And how did he know you’re still alive, researching?” Sharlynn asked.
“They probably don’t,” Clark answered, before Rachel talked. “They probably think that you are continuing your sister’s research, and Jane is helping you.”
“That’s ridiculous! I didn’t even go to college!”
“Neither did I,” Jane said.
“They don’t know Rachel is alive. We saw that many times.” Clark insisted. “When they came here, they said ‘They ‘re all here: Jane Jackson, Sharlynn Thorn and John Thorn’. No one mentioned Rachel. And down at the sewer Welson asked me ‘Don’t you know what Sharlynn Thorn and Jane Jackson are planning to do to him?’.”
“Asked you?” Lois said, emphasizing the word ‘you’. She was hoping he’d realize what he’d said in time so that the Thorns wouldn’t suspect anything.
Indeed, Clark realized what he’d said and tried to correct it. “No, I said ‘asked him’. I meant Superman. Maybe you misheard.”
“Yeah, maybe…”
“So, what are we going to do with Dr. Owen?” Rachel asked, impatiently.
“I’ll arrest him as soon as possible,” Clark said.
Sharlynn raised an eyebrow.
“Clark, what’s wrong with you today?” Lois asked, trying not to show she was almost mad at him for his careless way of speaking.
“Sorry, I meant “I’ll have him arrested”,” he corrected himself, and faked a yawn. “I’m just a bit sleepy.”
“You’re going to tell Superman?” Sharlynn asked.
“Absolutely,” he replied. “Right now.” He turned towards the door and began to walk.
“Excuse me, where are you going like this?” Jane managed to ask, astonished.
He turned back. “Sorry,” he apologized, “I’m just a bit… you know…”
“Yeah, we noticed,” Sharlynn muttered.
“Well, goodbye, and we’ll see you soon.”
He grabbed Lois’s arm, and they headed towards the door.
“Oh, wait, the baby!” Lois exclaimed.
“We can keep it for the moment,” Sharlynn said, bitterly.
“You don’t have to, but… well…” Lois stared at Jane, who was obviously enjoying having Sharlynn in her arms.
“It’s ready,” a voice from behind them said. It was the blacksmith.
“Wait, I’m coming,” Sharlynn said, and went to pay him.
Jane looked at Lois. “Do you want to take her?”
“No, we…”
“Take her.” She gave her to Lois.
Sharlynn leaned at the wall, beside the door, waiting for the couple to leave. Clark saw her.
“So, goodbye,” he said.
“Goodbye,” everyone replied.
Lois and Clark walked outside the door. It was shut and locked immediately.
***
When they reached the car, Clark tried to open the Jeep’s door, but Lois stopped him.
“Clark, what is the matter with you?” she asked him, frustrated.
“What do you mean?” he asked her back, not understanding what she was talking about.
“I mean that you were extremely careless before,” she replied, angry. “You implied that you are Superman twice! Not to mention that you almost left without even saying goodbye! Are you insane?”
Clark was speechless. Lois was right, truth to be told. She had the right to be mad at him. He was mad to himself too, after all.
“You can’t be so careless! It’s dangerous!” she went on. “You saw Sharlynn’s look, she may be suspecting something,” she commented, her voice lower now.
He tried to say something, anything, to defend himself, but he couldn’t speak. “I don’t know what happened to me,” he finally said. “The words were coming out from my mouth before I thought about what to say. Lois…”
“I know you’re sorry,” she comforted him, leaning on his chest. “You didn’t do it on purpose, after all.”
“Of course not,” he assured her.
“Clark…” She stood up again. “Do you think that Rachel keeps red Kryptonite in her lab?”
Clark doubted that. “No, I don’t think so. Besides, red Kryptonite doesn’t affect me this way.”
“Yellow, then?”
Clark rolled his eyes. “Lo-is…”
“OK!” she exclaimed. “Maybe she doesn’t. But what affected you? Because something affected you.”
“I don’t know, Lois… Why don’t we just go home?” he grumbled.
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes, too. “Take the baby.”
She handed the baby to Clark and they all got in the car.
***
Back home, about two hours later, Clark was sleeping on the couch, while the TV was playing a reportage about life in African jungles.
Lois, after spending a great time playing with Sharlynn, she left her in her room and walked down the stairs to check upon Clark.
As she was tiptoeing down the stairs, Clark sighed.
She went towards him, knelt beside him and bent her head over him. He opened his eyes.
“Oh, Lois…” He yawned.
“Are you feeling alright?” she asked him, anxiously.
“Yes…” He stretched his arms and sat on the couch. “You know, I had no idea how tired I was.”
Lois took the remote from the coffee table, turned the TV off and then sat beside Clark, putting her arm around his shoulders.
“Are you sure you are alright?” she asked. “You fell asleep less than five minutes than we arrived. You’re sure you’re not sick?”
“No, Lois, I’m not.” He took her in his arms. “It was a strange feeling… As if something was pressing me on the heart – metaphorically speaking,” he added, noticing the anxious way she looked at him. “And then, I fell asleep, trying to relax. But I’m OK now.”
“I think it has to do with Rachel’s experiments on Kryptonite. Maybe it’s a mixture or a solution she keeps in her lab that affected you. Do you want me to ask her?”
“Do you have her phone number?”
“No,” she nervously replied.
“Never mind. We’ll ask her when we go back there.”
“When is that?”
“Tomorrow.” He held her closer. “Let’s stay home for the rest of the day. We’ve been through so much today. We need to relax.”
“And Dr. Owen?” she said indifferently, resting in his arms.
“He can wait.”
“No, he can’t.” Her voice was still indifferent.
“He can’t?”
“No, he can’t.” She slowly stood up and paced to the telephone, although she was clearly not in the mood. “I’ll call Dr. Klein.”
“Oh, Lois, come on!” he grumbled. “You don’t feel like doing it.”
She turned to him. “I don’t, but the sooner, the better.”
“Oh, well.”
Lois picked up the receiver and dialed Dr. Klein’s number.
“Hello?” he heard him saying.
“Hello, Dr. Klein, it’s Lois Lane.”
“Oh, Ms. Lane! It’s good to hear you. Did you find the information you wanted about Rachel Thorn?”
“Yes, we did.” She paused for a second. “Dr. Klein, I’d like to ask you for information for another person too.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Owen.”
“Which one?”
“Excuse me?” she anxiously asked, confused.
“Which one?” Dr. Klein repeated. “Charles or Catherine Owen?”
***
