And you all thought I'd dropped this one too...
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Clark’s wake was in full swing when Lois arrived at Perry’s house. Ralph was already three sheets to the wind and leering down Cat Grant’s front. Cat didn’t seem to notice or if she did, she didn’t mind.
Perry handed Lois a beer then beckoned her to follow him. "Lois, have I ever shown you my bomb shelter?" he asked. From anyone else the invitation would have sounded creepy. From Perry it just sounded... creepy.
She followed him down the back stairs to the basement, past the laundry room to another door and down another, shorter flight of stairs to yet another door. This one was heavy and sheathed in metal. “The guy we bought the house from was a little paranoid,” Perry explained. “You know. Red menace, alien invasions. Alice usually uses it for storage.”
The stairwell was lined with sound-proofing material. Perry opened the door with a flourish.
In the room beyond stood Clark's parents.
“Martha, Jonathan… I’m so sorry…” Lois said.
“About what…” Martha began. She sounded puzzled.
Perry cleared his throat and shook his head. “It hasn’t been safe,” he said to Martha.
Lois looked from Perry to Martha in confusion before it finally clicked. “Clark’s alive but you haven’t had a chance to tell me,” she reasoned aloud. “You knew and you didn’t tell me.” She wasn't sure if she should be angry at Perry’s deception or not.
“Lois, the guy who hurt Clark has all of Superman’s abilities,” Perry said. “The last thing we wanted was for him to find Clark and finish the job. Or for him to find Clark’s parents. This room is lead-lined and sound-proof. Like I told you, the previous owner was a little paranoid.”
“Is Clark okay?” Lois asked, only half paying attention to Perry’s explanation.
A flicker of pain crossed Martha’s face. “He hasn’t regained consciousness.”
“I’d like to see him,” Lois began.
“It wouldn’t be safe,” Jonathan said. “That… imposter…”
Martha stepped in. “We have it on good authority that the ‘person’ who hurt Clark is keeping an eye on you.”
“I haven’t seen him,” Lois said.
“But other people have, darlin’,” Perry said. “And we’ve had reports of him threatening people who were less than polite to you.”
“But, that’s nonsense,” Lois protested. “This is Metropolis. Everybody’s rude and in a hurry.”
Perry simply shrugged. “I’m just telling you what I know.”
Martha and Perry shared a worried look then Martha turned her attention back to Lois. “Mister White says you’ve got some ideas on who this imposter is.”
Lois tried not to look surprised that Perry would share what he knew with Clark’s parents.
After a moment, she filled them in on what she and Jimmy had found.
“I’m having lunch with Luthor tomorrow,” she added when she was finished. “Everything points back to him and I know Clark had issues with him even though he never filled me in on why.”
“Lois, Lex Luthor didn’t get to be a man in his position by playing by the Marquis of Queensbury rules,” Perry warned.
“I know that,” Lois admitted. “I’m just hoping that his apparent infatuation with me might persuade him to give over more information that he otherwise would.”
-o-o-o-
‘At least Clark is alive,’ Lois comforted herself. But she knew she didn’t dare let on to anyone that she knew that Clark had survived. She couldn’t even talk to Perry about it unless it was in his bomb shelter. And she wasn’t as confidant as Perry seemed to be about its security.
But the thought of Clark’s survival buoyed her as she went through her closet the next morning. Something professional yet a little sexy for her lunch with Luthor. Afterwards, she would cover his press conference at the site of the Hobs Bay Tower. It was the first step in his proposed renovation of Suicide Slum – a proposal Clark had voiced concerns about before…
Clark had wondered, rather loudly, about how convenient it had been that the string of arson fires a few months before had allowed Luthor to get his hands on exactly the property he needed to put together this ‘renovation’ project in the poorest part of Metropolis. Lois, in turn, had pointed out that there was absolutely no evidence that Luthor was involved with Toni Taylor or the Toaster gang – aside from knowing Taylor as a nightclub manager – and that a major housing/commercial development was exactly what the area needed.
Clark’s response was to start looking into what had happened to the people and businesses the arsons and other violence in the area had displaced. Now Lois wondered what had happened to his notes. Probably Perry had them. Lois made a mental note to ask Perry about it. Knowing how thorough Clark’s research was – and how much time he’d already spent on it – it shouldn’t take too much to shape Clark’s notes into a story to accompany her coverage of the press conference.
-o-o-o-
“Lois, LexCorp and its subsidiaries fund hundreds, if not thousands, of researchers in hundreds of fields all over the world,” Luthor protested mildly when Lois asked him about Fabian Leek’s connection to LexCorp. “I can’t be expected to know each one of them.”
“Not even as renowned a researcher as Fabian Leek?” Lois pressed.
Luthor gave her a benign smile that in the past would have put her at ease. This time she recognized how good an actor he really was. She wasn’t going to be mollified.
“I mean a getting a scientist of Leek’s stature into LexCorp’s stable has to be a feather in somebody’s cap,” Lois added. “And we do have reason to believe he’s gotten the funding to take his research to the next level – cloning humans.”
“My dear Lois, that is research that has serious ethical repercussions. I hope you’re not accusing LexCorp of ignoring federal regulations and conducting unethical experiments on humans.”
“Oh, no,” Lois protested. “I’m just thinking that when I interviewed Leek, he practically denied everything he’s ever published. It sounded a lot like a guilty conscience to me. Or a cover-up. So I’m wondering if he might not be taking advantage of having access to a private lab and private money to do things an ethics board, or you, might not approve of.”
Luthor gazed at her though narrowed eyes. Lois had to fight to keep from fidgeting.
“Lois, this isn’t just background research on LexCorp’s giving grants for scientific research, is it?”
Lois shook her head, weighing how much to tell him. She took a deep breath, blowing it out her nose as her tai kwon do instructors taught her – clear your lungs and clear your mind. “You know about Clark’s murder.”
“Only what I’ve read in the papers,” Luthor said. “He was attacked in your apartment by a man in a Superman suit.”
“There are things about it that never made it into the papers. The authorities don’t want to start a panic,” Lois said. Luthor frowned and Lois continued. “The man who attacked Clark wasn't just wearing a Superman suit. He had Superman’s powers.”
Luthor’s eyes widened. “You’re saying that Superman killed your partner?”
“No,” Lois said. “Superman was Clark’s friend. He would never have hurt Clark, much less kill him.”
“So either Superman has lost his mind, a terrifying thought you must admit,” Luthor began.
“Or it wasn't Superman at all,” Lois suggested.
“You think Leek was involved in creating an imposter?” Luthor pressed.
“You said yourself that it was unethical to do experiments on humans,” Lois said softly. “But Superman wasn’t human, was he?”
Luthor sat back in his chair, his expression unreadable. “I’ll look into Doctor Leek’s association with LexCorp. Assuming what you say is true, well, we can’t have people going around cloning their own Superman, can we?”
The doors to Luthor’s dining room whispered open on well-oiled hinges. Nigel St. John walked in, murmuring something to Luthor that Lois didn’t catch. Luthor nodded and turned back to her. “If I don’t hurry, I’ll miss my own press conference,” Luthor said. “If you don’t mind waiting a moment, I can certainly give you a ride to the conference site.”
It was longer than just ‘a moment’. Lois tried her best to keep from fuming as Luthor sent her downstairs to wait with the limousine while he handled a ‘last minute issue’ Nigel had brought to his attention. Did the ‘issue’ have to do with Lois’s revelation that she suspected that Clark’s attacker hadn’t been Superman but a super-powered imposter?
Luthor had used the word ‘clone’ when describing the imposter. Lois hadn’t used the word. It wasn't exactly a smoking gun, but it certainly lent credence to the idea that Luthor know far more about the imposter and Leek’s work than he had admitted.
Finally Luthor joined her and they sped away to the press conference. Oddly, Luthor seemed fidgety, looking out the side window as if he expected to see something.
“Is everything okay?” Lois asked. She’d never seen him this antsy.
He seemed surprised at her question and settled back in his seat. “I received some disturbing information, but Nigel is handling it,” Luthor said. “I’ve also asked him to look into the relationship, if any, between LexCorp and Doctor Leek. I pray that you’re mistaken and Doctor Leek hasn’t done anything… ‘stupid’ with whatever funds we may have given him.”
“And if he has?”
Luthor seemed surprised by the question. After a moment he responded. “Then I expect we will have to remedy the problem he has created for us. Luckily, I’m quite good at dealing with problems such as this.”
A podium had been set up just in front of the building site. Camera crews and reporters were waiting for Luthor’s arrival. Lois just hoped no one noticed that she had arrived with him. She should have had the driver drop her off a block away – but that would have made it seem that she was ashamed to be seen with Luthor and that was hardly the impression she wanted to leave with the billionaire.
Lois joined the rest of the journalists covering the press conference. None of Luthor’s announcements covering the plans he had for the re-development of Suicide Slum were surprises. The entire thing was little more than public relations. Nearly every media outlet in the city already had a copy of the prepared speech. The only new material would come from the question-answer session and Lois knew that Luthor wasn’t going to deviate from what he’d already publically announced. He never did.
Then ‘Superman’ dropped from the sky.
“Luthor, I told you to stay away from her,” he announced.
Luthor seemed surprised and more than a little annoyed by Superman’s statement. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said after a moment, craning his neck to look at Superman floating above him. “But whatever it is, you’re mistaken.”
“Am I mistaken about you being the crime lord known as the ‘Boss’? Am I mistaken that you ordered the murders of Doctor Samuel Platt and Doctor Toni Baines? That you knew that your nuclear plant was faulty and threatened all of Metropolis? The list goes on.”
All around Lois, pens were scratching away on notepads. What had promised to be a dull news day had turned into anything but. Superman was facing down the third richest man in the world, a man who could make or break entire countries on a whim or a word.
Lois had her own notepad out, noting people’s reactions to the drama unfolding before them.
Luthor snorted, eyes narrowed as he regarded his adversary. “I’d be careful about what I say if I were you, Superman. I have very good lawyers and what you’re saying is positively slanderous.”
“The truth is never slander,” Superman said. “Stay away from her.” There was something very familiar and very ugly in Superman’s tone.
“And if I don’t?” Luthor challenged. He seemed oblivious to the danger he was in. He didn’t seem to realize that this was the person who had attacked Clark. Or if he did, he thought he had some immunity.
Lois screamed out Superman’s name, trying to catch his attention. He paid no attention to her. Superman’s eyes glowed red and suddenly Lex Luthor wasn't standing on the podium.
The air stank of burnt pork.
-o-o-o-
Lois barely remembered getting back to the Planet to file her story on Luthor’s death. The events at the news conference were already on the radio and TV. Commentators all over the world were speculating on what could possibly have made Superman commit such a public and heinous act. No one had any idea who Superman had been warning Luthor to stay away from but Lois knew it was only a matter of time before someone pointed a finger in her direction – she was the first one to interview him.
“Lois, what the devil happened?” Perry demanded. “What was Superman going on about before he killed Luthor?”
“I’m not sure, exactly,” Lois admitted. “Lex and I had lunch. We talked about Doctor Leek and Lex all but admitted to funding him and knowing about his research. Then one of his people came in and gave him a message. It seemed to upset him. He sent me ahead to the limo to wait for him. When he finally came down, he was nervous, antsy. He kept looking out the window like he was looking for something overhead.”
“You think he knew that Superman was after him?” Perry asked.
“I doubt we’ll ever know,” Lois said.
“And Superman’s statement that Luthor was also the ‘Boss’?”
“Clark thought so,” Lois told him. “But he couldn’t prove anything. Luthor was too good at covering his tracks.”
Lois turned to her desk to begin writing her story. She felt Perry’s hand on her shoulder. “Lois, the world saw Superman commit a murder. And as much as it pains me to say it, if we even try to suggest that it wasn't Superman…”
“I know, Perry. Believe me, I know.”
-o-o-o-
‘Superman’ was waiting in her apartment when she got there.
Lois tried to slow her racing heart. If he noticed how frightened she was, he didn’t show it.
“The people on the TV aren’t being very nice to me,” he began conversationally.
“They’re afraid of you,” Lois managed to say.
“They don’t need to be,” he said. “Only bad people need to be afraid of me… and people who aren’t nice to you.”
“Superman, this is Metropolis. It’s a big city and big city people aren’t always polite to one another. It’s nothing personal.” She tried to keep her voice steady.
He finally seemed to notice her nervousness. “You’re not afraid of me, are you? You don’t need to be. I would never hurt you. I love you.”
He reached out to caress her cheek. She had to fight to keep from flinching away from him.
He gave her a hurt puppy dog look as he pulled his hand back. At that moment he looked so much like Clark that it was actually painful.
She held her hand out to him and he took it. “Promise me you won’t hurt anyone else?” Lois asked. “Superman is supposed to stand for what is good and right. People shouldn’t need to be afraid of him.”
“Like I said, only bad people need to be afraid of me,” he said.
“And who decides who is bad?” Lois asked.
“I do.”
