From Part Two:
“Mm,” Lucy took a sip of her wine. “Lois told me about it. Weird, huh?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, “weird.”
They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts. As his mind wandered, Clark picked up the sound of a siren and cries for help.
“Er, Lucy, look, I really don't want to run off and leave you, but I really need to go and do some research on--”
“Go,” she smiled at him as he rushed off, leaving a bunch of notes on their table. He didn’t even hear her when she finished her sentence by whispering: “Superman.”
*.*.*.
Part Three
*.*.*.
Lois and Clark sat in silence in Lois’ jeep as they waited for their source. Lois looked over at her partner, and the bag of food on his lap. “Mmm. That ravioli smells great.”
Clark stopped her hand before it managed to sneak its way into the bag. “Lois, it's for Bobby.”
“He won't know.”
“Oh yeah? Remember what happened that time you picked some of the cheese off his pizza? He got all pouty and wouldn't tell us anything...”
“I still don't know how he knew that cheese was missing. I was very careful not to disturb the pepperoni.”
Clark’s pocket bleeped. He pulled out his pager. “That's the office. I better call in.”
Lois watched him rush off. Somehow they had fallen into their old ways today, she’d almost forgotten that he was doing... whatever it was he was doing with her little sister. She sighed. Maybe not forgotten at all. Still, food might take her mind off it...
“Hey, hey, hey!”
Lois quickly pulled her hand out of the bag and turned to see Bobby eyeing up the food from her back-seat. “Bobby... how did you get back there?!”
“Trade secret.”
“And how dare you eavesdrop on my conversation.”
“I can't help it. I'm a professional snitch.” He picked up the bags they had brought for him. “What'd you bring me?”
Lois narrowed her eyes at him. “A wide variety of culinary delights. As always.”
He grinned at her. “Hey, do I detect an attitude? You know, I don't have to snitch for you. There's a reporter at The Star who'd give me my own chef if I started working for them.”
He started eating a breadstick as Clark returned. “Hi, Bobby.”
“Mmnmph.”
“That was Jimmy. You're not going to believe this. Al Capone paid Perry a visit.”
“What?” Lois exclaimed. “How many more of these characters are out there?”
“I don't know. But Capone tried to bribe him. Apparently, the Mayor got the same offer. Bobby, what do you know about all this? Who are these people?”
The snitch was busy eating and stowing away items of food. “From what I hear, they're an experiment gone bad.”
Clark blinked. “Hamilton really did it.”
“Oh, and this regenerated Capone character? Not a big fan of the no smoking laws.”
“What else?” Lois asked.
Bobby stared at her in amazement. “For this food? That's all you get. You didn't even bring me dessert.”
“Lois...”
She glared at the men, then sighed and produced the hidden bag from under her seat which she handed to Bobby. He happily opened it and looked at the contents. “Ooo! Tortes!”
“So talk.” Lois snapped.
Bobby swallowed his food. “Okay. There's this guy, runs an illegal gaming club down on Hobs street... Georgie Hairdo. Capone's thugs have been leaning on him pretty hard.”
“What's Capone's interest in the club?” Clark asked.
“He wants a piece of the action. Like the old days. Anybody want the pickle?” Lois grabbed the food item from him without Clark getting a look in. “Look, there's something goin' down tonight at the club. That's all I know. I gotta run. Oh, and next time, bring me something to drink. And I don't mean none of that imported water. Something American.”
Bobby left the car, leaving the two reporters alone, in silence once again.
Clark decided to break it. “So what do you think?”
Lois pulled a face as she put the pickle away. “I think this pickle's awful... and I think we should visit that club. Y’know, if you’re not too busy with my sister tonight.”
He sighed in a mixture of fear and possible relief. “Are we finally going to talk about this?”
She laughed bitterly. “What’s there to talk about? You’re dating my sister, it’s no big deal.”
Clark rolled his eyes, “Well, it obviously is and I’m not dating Lucy. She--”
“No!” Lois hastily interrupted him. “If you’re not *dating* her, then I certainly don’t want to know what you’ve been doing. I know what Lucy’s like. I mean, I thought you weren’t like that, but then you are a man, aren’t you?”
“It’s not what you think.”
Lois glared at him. “Please! Give me some credit. Lucy spent a whole evening, alone with you, in your apartment, and you’re telling me it’s not what I think?”
“You spend whole evenings with me in my apartment.”
“*Spent*, Clark, past tense. Besides, I am not my sister. It’s *never* platonic with Lucy.”
“OK, so say you’re right, I still don’t get what your problem is!”
“It’s...” Lois spluttered as her brain tried in vain to explain itself to her. “It’s just weird, OK? And I don’t like it, and I don’t think I ever will.”
“What?”
“It’s wrong, that’s what it is. You and Lucy being together is just the wrongest thing in the universe!”
Clark opened the car door and stuck one foot out onto the road. “Am I not good enough for your sister, is that it? You know, Lois, I thought you thought better of me than that.”
The slamming of her car door rung her ears as she watched Clark march off, his temper quickening his stride. Lois was surprised to find herself crying. She sniffed and rubbed the tears into her cheeks.
“I do,” she whispered. “She’s not good enough for *you*.”
*.*.*.
“You’re not going out with Clark tonight.” The front door slammed behind Lois as she rushed into her apartment.
Lucy looked up from where she was sitting on the sofa, watching the television. “Huh?”
“Clark and I have to work.”
“OK. Whatcha doing?” Lucy watched as Lois strode past, into her bedroom. She got up, followed her and lounged in the doorway, watching as her sister raided her wardrobe.
“Going to an illegal gaming club to get information on Capone.”
“Al Capone? Has he been resurrected too? Cool!”
Lois groaned. “Only you would think that Al Capone was cool. What’s a girl with your taste in men doing with my partner?”
“You’re the one who wants me to date nice, normal guys. Clark’s a nice guy.”
Lois said nothing as she got her outfit ready for the evening.
“You’re not wearing that, are you?”
Lois whirled on her sister. “What’s wrong with my red dress?”
Lucy looked at it.
“Well, nothing, but it’s very eye-catching and it’s my feller you’re going with. Or is there some gangster’s eye you want to catch?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
She rolled her eyes. “I do not want to catch anyone’s eye, Lucy. I just want to fit in.”
“Sure,” Lucy took in a deep breath, then looked away. “You know, if you did want to catch someone’s eye, you could tell me. I--”
“Lucy!” Lois snapped. “I’m busy. I’ve got to get ready and then go and pick Clark up. OK?”
Lucy watched her sister for a few more seconds, before Lucy gave up and returned to her previous position on the couch. She needed to tell Lois that she’d happily step aside and let her have Clark, if she’d just be honest and tell her that she wanted him. And she needed to tell her soon, before she made irreparable damage to either relationship.
*.*.*.
The sound of voices jolted Lucy out of her doze, then the door opened. Lois came traipsing in as if she was drunk, held up by some stoic-looking guy Lucy didn’t know. Something was up.
She leapt to her feet and walked over to help guide Lois to the sofa, where she sank down, weeping. Lucy couldn’t smell any alcohol on her breath but Lois definitely wasn’t herself.
“You gonna be OK now, Lane?” The strange man asked Lois.
“Guess,” Lois mumbled.
Lucy sat beside her distraught sister and put an arm across her shoulder in comfort but she held herself too stiffly to allow Lucy to pull her into an embrace.
“What happened?” Lucy asked.
The man sized her up. “You Lane’s kid sister?”
“Yeah, I’m Lucy.”
“He’s dead,” Lois sobbed, interrupting them. “It’s all my fault and... Oh, God, Lucy, I’m so sorry. I killed him!” She completely broke down in tears.
The man knelt down to look at Lois, who was hiding her head in her hands. “Listen, Lois, you didn’t kill him. You didn’t pull the trigger or even hold the gun. We’ve got Detective Wolfe trying to track them down, he’s the best. We’ll get them and make them pay. That’s a promise, Lane.”
Lucy looked at the two figures. “OK, can someone *please* tell me what happened?”
The man straightened up. “Clark Kent was shot dead this evening.”
“What? That’s impos--” Lucy checked herself. “Are you sure?”
“Shot right in the heart, died almost instantly apparently. Unfortunately Capone and the others took the body with them, so we also have to try and recover it.”
Lucy glanced at her sister. She really had no idea about her partner’s double life. Lucy had followed Clark once, after he had made one of his weak excuses. She hadn’t seen Clark, but she had seen Superman take off. After the same thing happened every other time he ran off and she thought to follow him, Lucy figured it out. Obviously, despite having known Clark and Superman for over a year, Lois still hadn’t.
“I see.”
“I’ll leave you to look after her. I’ll call White and let him know. I assume he’s got contact details for Kent’s parents?”
Lucy nodded, following the stranger to the door. “Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for looking after her, er...”
“Henderson. Bill Henderson.”
She smiled. “Thanks Bill.”
Henderson nodded curtly then left. Lucy locked and bolted the door, then looked back at her sister. Lois looked up at her.
“He’s dead!” she repeated.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Don’t you care?! You were dating him, for crying out loud, and you’re just... just,” Lois apparently couldn’t think of a suitable word, so instead she started thumping a cushion as she cried.
“In shock.” It was true. Knowing that he was alive wasn’t allowing her to grieve properly but she also realised that he couldn’t easily walk back in to work the next morning like nothing had happened.
“I hate you,” Lois mumbled into the beaten cushion.
Lucy sighed. “I think you need to go to bed.”
“Things won’t seem better in the morning.”
“No. But it’s late, and you’re not really fit for anything else.”
Lois nodded dumbly and let Lucy take her through to her room. Neither sister spoke again until the morning.
*.*.*.
Lois slumped down at her desk the next morning. She wasn’t up for work but she couldn’t stay at home with Lucy. Clark’s death had left a massive hole in Lois, far bigger than it should have been. She couldn’t help it. He was Lucy’s boyfriend, not hers, yet she was the one falling apart. It wasn’t her place to be acting like the grieving widow but that was how she felt. Like Clark’s widow. She sniffed and pursed her eyes together in a desperate attempt to not let the newly-formed tears leave her eyes.
“Lois, you didn't have to come in today.”
She looked up to see Perry looking at her, concerned and upset. She looked away. “I couldn't stay home. All I could think about was Clark... lying there. I can't help feeling it was all my fault Clark was killed.”
“Honey, you can't blame yourself. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen.”
“Clark died trying to protect me. In one lousy second, they took away my partner... and my best friend.”
Perry nodded in understanding. “How’s Lucy takin’ it? I know she and Clark were getting close.”
Lois shook her head. Of course. Lucy. They were all concerned about Lucy.
“I don’t know. Well, I suppose. She’s upset, but...” she tailed off. How could she tell *anyone* how she was feeling? She felt like a bitch but the thought of her sister’s easy acceptance made her angry.
“Miss Lane?” They looked over as a man walked over to her. “Sorry to bother you. I'm Detective Wolfe. Homicide. I need to get your signature on the statement you gave last night.”
He gave her the form, which she mindlessly signed as Perry asked him if they had any leads.
“Not yet. But we will.” Wolfe was interrupted as he was informed that he had a phone call. He picked up Lois’ phone, and made notes on her notepad. “Wolfe. Yeah... Has it been confirmed?... Look, we've got fourteen possibles on Capone's whereabouts... OK. Add it to the list.” He ripped off his note as he put the phone down. “Listen, uh... we're gonna work on this round the clock. I'll uh... keep you posted.”
Perry watched as the detective left, then he turned back to his friend. “You want to go get some coffee, talk about it?”
She shook her head. Perry patted her shoulder then returned to his office. Lois felt her gaze draw to the notepad on the desk, where she could just about make out the carbon copy of the address Wolfe had jotted down.
1500 Old North Road.
She snatched the paper off the pad and made her way out of the Planet. If she had to get rid of all this anger, she might as well do it in a worthwhile way and catch the bastards that had murdered her partner.
*.*.*.
Clark paced restlessly in the Kent’s cellar as his parents watched him, concerned. “I didn't know what else to do. I had to pretend I was dead or everyone would know I was Superman. Now everything I've worked for... my job, my friends, my life... is over.”
“Mr. White called this morning while you were in the shower,” Martha told him. “He was very nice, wanted to know if there was anything he could do for us.”
His face lit up a little. “Did he say anything about Lois?”
Martha smiled at him. “Just that she was taking it pretty hard.”
“I guess that should make me feel a little better... but it doesn't. I wish I could be there for her.”
“What about Lucy?” Jonathan piped up.
Clark sighed. He almost wished he hadn’t confided in his parents his worries about the youngest Lane’s behaviour, but then he didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Lois wasn’t willing to listen to him and oddly enough Jimmy was acting colder towards him as well.
“I guess that problem’s sorted itself out now. I’m dead. Whatever game she was playing, whatever she really wanted from me, it’s not important now.” His face fell. “I’ll never get the chance to make things up to Lois now. I won’t get to speak to her again.”
“You will... as Superman.”
“It won’t be the same, Dad. I can’t explain Clark Kent’s behaviour to her as Superman. Being *him* won’t be a way back into my old life. Superman doesn't work at the Daily Planet. He doesn't go to ball games with Perry and Jimmy. He doesn't listen to Lois go off on some weird tangent... and secretly love it.”
“But you'll still be able to see them,” Martha told him.
“Yeah but not the way I want. They treat me so differently as Superman. Especially Lois...” He sank onto a bale of hay.
“Clark,” his father began, “I wish we could tell you that everything will work out. But we can't. All we *can* say is a lot of people you care about are still in danger. And Metropolis needs Superman.”
He was right. Clark sighed. “Yeah, well... I wouldn't even know where to start looking for them. All I have to go on is a ticket stub that Dillinger dropped.”
Jonathan’s eyes widened in excitement. “Clark, don't you know? That's how they caught him sixty years ago. He was coming out of a theatre. Dillinger's a real movie buff.”
Suddenly a look of hope flared in Clark’s eyes.
To Be Continued...
