Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic All the Daytime and the Nighttime, 3/?

From Part 2:
With that, Johnny pulled out his gun. “I'm still the head of this organization, and don't you forget it!”

He fired multiple shots into the wall above Toni’s head but she didn’t flinch. The woman at the peep hole dove for cover. Clark just stood and continued watching. He heard Toni have the last word. “Just what we need. A cool head in charge.”

The mysterious woman came up from her crouch, uncovered her ears and stood there staring wide-eyed at Clark.

Clark wasn’t surprised to find he was looking at Lola.

Chapter 3

Clark heard Toni slam the office door and start walking toward the kitchen. He had a choice to make and had to make it quickly. Training told him to get the civilians out of the way of possible deadly action. As he had been watching the drama in the Metro Club office, he had realized it could be more dangerous than either the MPD or the FBI had anticipated. Several exit scenarios had played out in his mind.

Supposedly, Lola/Lois was well connected with the MPD. He could grab her, dump her in the trash bin that was about to be picked up and let Henderson find her along with the bug. Somehow, Clark didn’t think she would be too happy about that.

On the other hand, Lola/Lois was apparently here on a job too and he needed a possible ally rather than an enemy. For some reason it hurt to think of Lois as an enemy. Toni was about to enter the kitchen area where the two of them were staring at each other. Without really consciously thinking, Clark closed the distance to Lois, swept her into his arms and began kissing her.

He heard Toni stop and open the door, then start tapping a foot. “Interesting place for a bartender. Run out of olives?” Toni exclaimed acerbically. “I see you’ve met our new singer, Charlie!” With a huff, she turned and left.

Clark heard her go, but he was really enjoying what he was doing and didn’t look up as she left. He had discovered that after the initial resistance, Lois was responding to him.

Slowly, he loosened his arms and started ending the kiss. As he lifted his head, Lois opened her eyes and looked at him, a dazed expression on her face.

“What was that for?”

Clark released her fully, holding her by the elbow until she seemed steady on her feet, and nodded to the doorway. “Toni was coming and I thought you needed an excuse to be here where you possibly could be caught spying on the Metro Gang.”

He indicated the hole in the wall with his other hand. “I don’t think she saw the hole.”

“Yeah, from what she said, I don’t think she was too pleased at what you were doing.”

His smile blazed forth and he said softly, “Oh, but I was. Pleased that is.” Clark released her elbow and extended his hand and changed his smile to friendly.

“Yesterday we didn’t really do introductions during the excitement. I’m Charlie King. The new bartender.”

Lois extended her hand. “L…Lola, the singer. Thank you for saving me yesterday. I’m afraid I was a little abrupt. I think it was the after effect of getting flamed at by the Toasters.”

“Yes, I remember.” He grinned, “Your feathers were a little scorched. I must say, Ms. Dane, I was really impressed with your singing last night.” The grin turned into a frown. “So was Lex Luthor, I noticed.”

They stared at each other for a moment, evaluating each other. Then a loud sound of a truck and a lot of clanging occurred outside.

“Trash truck,” Clark said unnecessarily. Anything to keep her here and talking. For the case, of course. “Picking up the trash.”

Lois broke eye contact first. “Yes, well, I’m here to pick up my dress.”

Clark turned and watched as she left for the dressing rooms, feeling a loss. What was that reaction? Shaking his head in puzzlement at himself, he returned to the storage room and grabbed the bottle of Glenlivit.

Clark returned to the bar and apparently absently set the Glenlivit bottle on the bar, label facing the camera. He turned and opened the grate, confident that Henderson would know what to look for in the trash.

*+*+*+*+*+

Early in the evening there was another meeting in the back office. Frank had returned, so Charlie could take a break. He decided to go outside by the dumpsters and stare openly through the back wall once he found he was the only one out back. As before, everyone was arranged around the table.

Johnny looked around the table and said, “The first thing we gotta do is find out who these Toaster guys are and arrange for a little payback.”

Toni looked him in the eye “I don't think so.”

“Hey, I'm talking.”

“Not any more you’re not. Your days of speaking for this organization are through. You should've seen this coming and you shold've taken steps to protect us before it happened. As of now, you're out.”

“Says who, you?”

“Let's leave it up to the boys.”

Clark was amazed to see one by one the Metros stand and walk over behind Toni, leaving Johnny very much alone.

“Take a vacation, brother. A long one.”

Johnny started to pull a gun on Toni, but she nodded and loyal Lou and another Metro grabbed him by the arms.

Toni gave them a dismissive gesture, “Get him out of here.”

Toni turned to the remaining Metros. “I know some of you want to go back to the way things were when my father was alive, but that's not going to happen. We've got an opportunity to move our organization to the next level. Out of the back room and into the boardroom. If any of you disagree, you can always join Johnny in retirement. Any questions?”

Toni eyeballed each person. Not a word was said. With a nod, she finished, “Good. Let's go to work.”

Clark walked in the back door to find Lois replacing the dishes in front of the peephole.
He smiled and winked at her and headed for the door to the club without comment. As he went through the doorway, he turned and caught her startled, then puzzled look and smiled again.

*+*+*+*+*+*+

Henderson walked through the front door of the Precinct and caught the news report airing on the waiting room TV. “And yet another case of arson has drawn firefighters to the Riverfront area. That makes six in the last twenty-four hours and still Metropolis Fire Department officials have no leads.” He shook his head in frustration as he went on past his office. Things at the Riverfront were not going well. There had been an attack on a police station in the area and he took it as a personal affront. They needed to find and break the Toasters.

“What’s up, Gomez?” Henderson asked, coming into the situation room.

Gomez shrugged. “Not much. Luthor is a no-show so far.”

Henderson noticed Gomez’ computer screen. “What’s that. Info on Kent?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t get much out of the FBI site but name and basic statistics.I figured it was worth knowing the guy we were working with.”

Henderson stared silently at the screen for a moment, then read out loud, “University of Kansas at Lawrence? Bachelors Degree in Criminal Law from the School of Law? Well, I guess that figures if you want to get into the FBI. Hmm. Summer study program between the Junior and Senior year in Istanbul, Turkey? Graduated in 2000. Three years ago. That’s a fast riser.”

“Ah, but that’s not all, boss. Take a look at this part. It’s a double major with the School of Engineering Physics. He also got a Bachelors of Science in Aerodynamic Physics and Astronomy with a minor in Math.” Gomez held his head as if it hurt from reading it. He was from the Police Academy straight from High School. He scrolled the screen down. “And he played Jayhawk football. Wide receiver.”

Henderson again read out loud, “Clark Jonathan Kent. Born Smallville, Kansas, June 10, 1978. Parents Martha and Jonathan Kent died in a car wreck July 4, 1988. No other relatives. Sent into foster care. Legally emancipated himself at the age of 16. Probably how he got an interest in the law. Graduated from Smallville High in 1994. Eagle Scout, 1993. Wow! Talk about an early success story!”

Softly to himself, Henderson mused, “And I wonder what he is going to go on to do. He is only 25 now.”

*+*+*+*+*+*+

It was only 2:30 in the morning as Clark walked back to the Apollo in his jeans and sweater. From the mouth of the same alleyway as last night a grubby looking man emerged. ‘What is this place, the Union Station of muggers?’, Clark wondered to himself.

The man brushed casually against Clark and Clark felt an envelope in his pocket. Whoops. Good thing he didn’t take the guy out. Obviously he was a courier from MPD. Clark walked casually on to his room, eager to find out what the MPD had recovered from the bug.

In his room, Clark retrieved his computer and plugged in the small storage device from the envelope into his USB port. The audio between Toni Taylor and Lex Luthor played out softly.

Clark thought he sounded rehearsed, like he was giving a press conference.

Turning off the computer and putting it back in the battered suitcase, Clark reflected that Toni and Luthor did have some sort of business arrangement and that Toni herself had designs on the West River area.

Could either one of them be behind the Toasters? So far, the Toasters had confined themselves to the Riverfront area of Metropolis. Was there a specific reason for that? Clark had come to gather data on Luthor, but all criminals were fair game. Clark had joined the FBI because he was tired of seeing hard-working average citizens get taken advantage of by people with no respect for the law.

*+*+*+*+*+*+

Clark had been out early checking out the damage to the police station near the Riverfront for himself. He’d come back to the Apollo to get ready to leave for work at 9:30 a.m.

He was just coming out of the shower when he heard the surprising sound of stiletto heels in the hallway. Quickly he scanned through the wall and was amazed to see Toni Taylor walking toward his door. He definitely didn’t want to be caught in just a towel around his waist, so he supersped into a clean poplin shirt and jeans.

He was ready just as she got to the door and knocked. He waited half a minute to open the door, revealing Toni Taylor with a McFriendlys bag in her hand.

She was dressed in tailored pants and a silk blouse and held out the paper bag. “Hi Charlie. Can I interest you in breakfast?”

Clark let his surprise show. “Yeah, sure. Come on in. Be warned, it’s not much.”

Toni swept into the room as if it were a fancy suite. “I’d be suspicious if it were,” she smiled.

Enlightenment swept across Clark’s features. “Checking out the help, eh?” Then he blushed at the unintended double entendre and gestured to the small table and two chairs in front of his kitchen sink.

Toni appeared to ignore the unmade bed and dishes in the sink and gracefully sat down in one of the chairs, opened the bag and removed two coffees and bagels with an assortment of cream cheese and condiments with plastic knives. “Believe me, I’ve seen worse. Although I probably don’t look like I have.”

Closing the door, Clark sat in the other chair and accepted a cup of coffee. He rummaged among the condiments and pulled out three sugar packets and two half and half after Toni has fastidiously picked up a yellow artificial sweetener and poured it into her cup.

He noticed Toni’s eyebrows rise and just shrugged. “Fast metabolism,” he muttered. He then took one of the pre-cut bagels and one of the cream cheese packets and a plastic knife and asked, “Cream cheese or butter on your bagel, Toni?”

Toni’s eyebrows climbed higher at his offer of fixing the bagel for her. “Cream cheese, half the packet on each side.”

Clark fixed it as ordered, tore out the side of the sack to make a plate and served it to her. Then he fixed his own bagel with the four remaining packets, lifted his coffee in salute and said, “Thanks for the breakfast.”

Toni delicately took a bit of her bagel and they continued eating in silence.

When they finished, Clark wiped his hands on the paper napkin, cleared his throat and began, “Did you hear about the Toaster's latest stunt? ? Those criminals burned a police station to the ground about a couple of blocks from the Metro Club.”

Toni was surprised at he vehement tone and shook her head. “This bad for business. They're out of control. They've got to be stopped.”

“What are you doing about it? Not that it's any of my business, Clark hastened to add. “I just don't like anything dangerous getting too close to you.”

“That's quite a line you've got. Do you say that to all women?”

Clark look pained. “I just don’t like to see people getting hurt. There’s too much
savagery in the world. Let’s hope there are no Toaster fires tonight.”

“They wouldn't dare tonight.”

Clark showed his surprise. “Have you found something out? If I don't know what's going on how can I help?”

“Why should I trust you? I hardly know you.”

“In your position I'd probably feel exactly the same way.”

Toni continued ruefully, “My position. Sometimes I think I could cheerfully trade it all for a quiet life far away from Metropolis. Growing up I used to sit at my father's knee and listen to him talk. I learned so much but I never thought I'd have to apply it. If my brothers hadn't turned out to be such idiots...”

“I thought you enjoyed running things?

“Someone had to. Let me tell you, Charlie. I don't want to run a crime syndicate. I want to run a conglomerate. In five years, if I have my way, all Metro business is going to be legitimate. A legitimate corporation with me as CEO. I want to take what my father started and make him proud, put our name up there with the captains of commerce, the Lansings, the Schwabs, the Luthors. No more dirty money, no more shady deals.”

Surprised at her forthrightness and apparent sincerity, Clark could only respond, “Sounds like a good plan.”

“If I can just get past this thing with the Toasters.”

Clark looked her in the eye, “You will. With my help, this thing will end, one way or another. Now, I’m just a poor working stiff and I need to get to work.”

“Come on. I’ll give you a lift to the Metro Club.”

“You parked in this area? Isn’t that a little risky to your car?”

“Not really.” Toni smiled a smile that wasn’t all roses and puppy dog tails. “Lou’s in it circling the block.”

Clark gave a bark of laughter. “Apparently dangerous, but not risk taking. I like it. Let me get my coat.”

tbc


Artemis