***~~~***
Chapter 21: Downfall
***~~~***
Clark tried to absorb what he had just heard. Luthor had sabotaged the Nightfall mission and killed Superman. To get at the hero, Luthor had risked destroying the world. But, from everything he’d heard and could remember about this man, Luthor probably saw it as a calculated risk. Clark had to admit that even in the light of the mission failure, Luthor had come out ahead.
He had no idea how much time had passed when he heard Bill Henderson’s voice. “This is incredible,” Bill said. The shock of the news had caused Henderson’s voice to take on an unfamiliar tone of surprise. “I always thought Luthor might be dirty, but I had no idea that he was capable of anything like this.”
“What do you think you can do with this evidence?” Clark asked.
“We can get a search warrant of other LexCorp facilities including his residence in LexCorp tower.” Bill paused in thought for a moment then turned to the scientists. “Is there any chance that this recording will be in the duplicate pack we found in the warehouse?”
Bernie and Fred exchanged a glance before Bernie answered. “It’s hard to say. This part of the system was one of the late additions. If the second pack is a complete duplicate of this one, then the data file might be there. However, there just isn’t any way to know without looking. I’m sure Luthor wouldn’t have wanted this part duplicated, but like I said, if the other pack is a complete copy, then this file might have been duplicated along with everything else.”
Henderson thought for a moment. “Did it look like the toxic gas was loaded in the survival pack?”
Fred answered immediately. “No. There was a sleeve designed to hold a complete canister of the toxic gas. It had a window to allow a visual verification of the presence of the tank. I looked. It was empty. The canisters in the other room that had toxic labels on them appeared to be the size to fit that space.”
“So it would be safe to bring out the other survival suit?” Bill asked.
“Yes,” Fred answered. “Except for going back into the warehouse to get it.”
“If that recording is there, I want it tonight,” Henderson said. “It’s too dangerous to send anyone back in the building. I’ll go and bring it out myself. There was a wheeled cart in the room. I should be able to get it on the cart and return with it.”
Clark spoke up. “Bill, that pack is too big for you to handle by yourself. I’ll go with you.”
“Kent, are you sure?”
“Yes. For me this is personal. If that has evidence that can bring some measure of closure for…” Clark glanced at Lois who still looked to be in a state of shock. “… Superman and others, then I have to help any way I can.” As he looked at Lois he realized that he had a more important task first. “Bill, can you please give us just a minute?”
Now that he saw her face, Clark wished he’d been standing with Lois when that awful recording was played. Hearing it was hard and it triggered a wave of revulsion. However, in his case it felt similar to the sense of loathing he had been feeling every time he thought of Luthor. It was as if he already knew that the man was capable of evil of this magnitude. But Lois had been hit hard. She had been shaken by Lex’s voice and Clark should have gone to her immediately. He wanted to kick himself for not thinking of Lois first. He moved over to her and put his hands on her arms. “Lois, are you going to be okay?”
When she didn’t respond, Clark risked gently lifting her face so that he could see hers. “Lois?”
Her arms flew around him and it was like she was holding on for dear life. She buried her head in his chest and he could hear her crying. Immediately, he put his own arms around his partner. As he applied a gentle pressure, he was sure he could sense her relax just a little. As the seconds dragged by, Clark remembered that he’d promised to help Bill with the backpack. He wanted to stay with Lois and she needed him here but he’d promised to help. He was trying to figure out how to be in two places at once when he saw Fred come up behind Lois.
“You stay with her. I’ll help Inspector Henderson,” Fred said softly.
Clark started to protest but Fred just shook his head and mouthed the words, “Stay with her.” Clark watched as Fred and Bill started back toward the warehouse. After a second, he turned his attention to Lois. A few minutes later, she seemed to be past the worst.
“Lois, are you all right?”
She answered without ever lifting her head from his chest. “I… I can’t believe anyone could do something like this. I guess I always knew Lex had a dark side. I had just brushed it off to being in big business. Even with what we’ve learned this past week, I guess I never really believed it would be him. I know the evidence pointed that way but I kept thinking it would have been some crazy in his organization. Clark, he’s responsible for the deaths of millions of people.” She paused for a moment as if collecting herself. “He talked like it was some kind of game and I was one of the prizes.”
“You can’t blame yourself. I don’t think you had much to do with this. Think about the way he mentioned you at the end. It was like rubbing salt in a wound. Did he know that Superman had feelings for you?”
Lois barely paused before answering. “Yes. Lex was there when Superman kissed me under the influence of the pheromone drug.” She sounded so fragile.
“So think, Lois. This wasn’t about you. It was about power. What could Superman have been doing that would have caused him to be an adversary to Luthor?”
She seemed calmer now as she pulled back and looked at Clark’s face. “Superman never involved himself with business. No matter what Lex may have done as a businessman, Superman wouldn’t have cared. Superman only intervened in natural disasters and crime. As powerful as Lex is, he’s not a natural disaster.”
“We talked about a connection between Luthor and The Boss. Did it cross your mind that Luthor might *be* The Boss?” Now that he’d voiced the words Clark knew it was the truth.
“Of course.” Now her voice gained some strength. “That fits in so many ways. Superman’s appearance changed the whole dynamic of Metropolis. If Lex were The Boss, then between that and his business connections, he pretty much owned this city. Superman was a threat to him on both sides. Knowing what I do about Lex, I suspect that to him this was a game that he would do anything to win.”
She seemed more in control of her emotions now but didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave his arms. Clark was also content with her location but it was time to get back to business. “This is your show. We have the story of the century but we need to be careful about running with it. When this story comes out, people will be out for Luthor’s blood.”
“You’re right. But I’m sure Bill will want to arrest him immediately. Before the story can break, Lex will be in MPD custody.”
Clark heard the sound of a cart rolling. Suddenly Lois turned her head and looked over to see Bill and Fred with the backup survival pack on a cart.
“Wait here,” Lois said as she let go of Clark and went over to Henderson. After only a few minutes, she returned to where Clark was waiting near the front of the Star Labs van. “They’re taking everything to the MPD evidence lab,” she said. “Henderson will be leaving a senior detective here with enough officers to secure the area until the military arrives. I told Bill that we intend to run the story in the morning paper. He’s not happy about that, but his plan is to get the warrant for Lex as soon as they get back to MPD so Lex will either be in custody or a fugitive before our story hits the street.”
Lois seemed to have lost the fragile feel that she had earlier. Now she felt like the headstrong reporter that Clark had come to know so well these past weeks. Clark had to fight the temptation to ask if she were sure that she was up to this. He knew her well enough to realize that such a question would only insult her and neither of them needed that tonight. He tried to sound upbeat. “Well, partner, it sounds like we have a long night ahead.”
When she replied her smile was forced. “Yes, we do.” She looked around to find Jimmy taking close-up pictures of the survival pack. “Jimmy,” she yelled, “let’s get back to the Planet. We have a front page to make.”
***~~~***
The next morning Lois thought of inventing a word that meant more crazy than crazy. Thank goodness for the guards in the lobby of the building. She had never imagined that there would be such a need, but in the light of the Superman-Nightfall-Luthor story, she was relieved that she didn’t have to deal with tabloid reporters badgering her for her story on top of everything else. She had been involved in big stories before. In fact, on more than one occasion she had been part of a big story. But this was beyond all reckoning.
They had called in Perry as soon as they got back to the office last night. This story was way too big to leave him out. The paper was already locked for the early edition but they had enough material for a whole special section. Perry had fretted over how to include this story in as many editions as possible. Due to the nature of the timing, some versions went out without the story but adjustments to fit in late-breaking news were all part of the game.
Perry had been uncertain about running a transcript of the Luthor message to Superman until they got the call from MPD that the backpack in evidence had the same Luthor recording as the one recovered from the damaged building. That put this recording in two places, one of which had a solid evidence trail. Bill had also verified that the police lab had run a voice print analysis on the recording and Bill was confident that this would hold up as Luthor’s voice.
There had been a brief debate about how to present the story. Lois was torn between favoring, ‘Superman Cleared’ and ‘Superman Murdered’ for the lead headline. Perry had immediately vetoed the ‘murdered’ headline as being too tabloid. They did present the story as well as the transcript of the recording but stayed completely away from making any statements that would appear to pass judgment on Luthor. Perry had rejected the first two versions of the story that Lois submitted as not meeting journalistic standards.
They were still confused as to why Lex would have left this evidence laying around. He must have known that this backup equipment existed and if it were ever discovered it could lead directly to him. Lois and Clark talked it over and wondered if the death of Nigel St. John didn’t play a factor. Luthor was notorious for not involving himself in situations where he could be traced. If Nigel had been responsible for the details of this operation, Luthor might not have known of the existence of the backup equipment. It was also possible that he knew it was “out there” somewhere but when Nigel died, it had gotten lost among the countless LexCorp facilities in Metropolis.
By the time the first edition hit the streets, the raid on LexCorp tower was history. The televised news services had the story of the police raid but they lacked any of the evidence behind the raid. When the police entered Lex’s apartment, Lex was gone. He seemed to have disappeared sometime in the middle of the night.
Lois and Clark had already written up most of the supporting material covering the investigation. There were parts covering the damaged equipment that they found in the burned out building. There were sidebars on nerve gas and Kryptonite. They had been reluctant to publish that there was a substance that could hurt Superman but there proved to be no way to write the story without it.
After the police raid, MPD had clamped down on all data about the Luthor investigation. Lois had tried to call Bill Henderson but he either went home to get some sleep or he was ducking calls. Lois thought that they might be able to sneak into LexCorp tower but found it to be sealed tight. Lois and Clark made calls to their contacts but found all their sources blocked as well. It was well into the afternoon that they got a call back from Bill Henderson asking to meet at MPD.
When they entered, it was almost eerie. As soon as they were in the building, it was like a cold, silent wave rolling in front of them. Almost everyone stopped talking and Lois could feel the eyes on her as she crossed the room. As they were going through security, Lois asked what was going on.
“It’s you,” the officer replied.
“Me?” Lois asked.
“You know, the Lex Luthor – Superman thing.”
Lois had to struggle not to react. “C’mon, Clark. Bill’s waiting.” They went on to Henderson’s office and were relieved to see that they would go right in.
“How are you holding up, Lois?”
“Bill! Not you too.”
Henderson looked surprised. “What’s been happening?”
Lois opened her mouth to respond but stopped short. Instead, she turned to her partner. “Clark, why don’t you explain it? Maybe I’m over reacting.”
Clark reached out and put his hand over hers in a sign of support. Henderson was only a tiny bit surprised when he saw Lois grasp her partner’s hand. Still holding Lois’s hand, Clark turned back to Henderson. “Shortly after the story hit the street this morning, Lois began getting interview requests. Perry had to add extra security to fend off the reporters trying to sneak into the building to get her version of what some of them have called the Superman – Luthor – Lois Lane triangle. One jerk got into the newsroom this morning and was shouting across the room. It was both ridiculous and insulting.”
Lois cut in at this point. “He wanted to know what it felt like to be responsible for the death of Superman as well as millions of other innocent people.”
The fragility in her voice as she said that was unmistakable. Clark certainly heard it as he scooted his chair to be adjacent to Lois’s and put his arm around her. While Clark was changing positions, Bill answered that point. “Lois, we all heard the recording. This wasn’t about you. This was about Luthor eliminating his greatest obstacle.”
“Thanks, Bill. I know that, but I worry that this is going to haunt me for a long time.”
“Well, I have news that I hope will lessen that impact,” Bill said. “Luthor must have left his building in a hurry. We found a sub-basement full of stolen artwork. It seems that Lex ran a number of operations from that tower. We found cabinets full of records that point to him being The Boss.”
Lois practically jumped out of her seat. “Bill, you have to let us have something.”
“Relax, Lois. You’re here because… well, throughout this whole Nightfall mess you two have taken some of the greatest personal hits as well as being the source of Luthor’s downfall. I have copies of information that I wanted to share.” He picked up a manila envelope and handed it to Lois. “It will all be released to the public tomorrow but I’ve been able to get the go-ahead to share this with the two of you. There should be enough here for your article but the short version is that Luthor was The Boss.”
Clark reacted before he realized he was speaking. “I knew it.”
“Kent, did you remember something that I don’t know about?”
Clark looked over to Lois for guidance. “You should tell him about you and Lex,” she said.
Clark cleared his throat and then proceeded to explain. “Eventually I remembered some images of interacting with Luthor where he was in some kind of conflict with Superman. I couldn’t remember any of the details and I don’t remember seeing Superman but it was as if I were in hiding, eavesdropping on their conversation. Lois thought that it sounded like I was working with Superman to do an investigation of Luthor. I don’t remember any of the details but as near as I can tell there was no one else involved. Even Lois didn’t know anything about it. But ever since those memories surfaced, I’ve believed that there was something wrong about Luthor that went way beyond personal dislike.”
Henderson thought for a minute. “So you think Superman was trying to gather evidence that he was The Boss?”
Lois beat Clark to the reply. “Yes.”
“Well, we can hope that Superman will rest a little easier knowing that Luthor is finally being held accountable for his crimes. I’m sure that between the information you have there and your own sources, there will be much more to find out about our former leading citizen.”
***~~~***
Bill’s envelope extended an already long day and Clark was surprised that he wasn’t more tired at the end. He figured it was a sign that he was continuing to recover from his Nightfall injuries.
While there was only a minimal amount of hard information in Bill’s packet, there was enough to develop a short front-page story that could be linked to the revelations of the previous night. It was after dark when Perry told them both to go home and made them promise to get some rest.
The evening seemed superficially similar to many of their recent nights. Clark prepared a light meal and they planned to turn in early. They were still at the dining table when Lois asked, “Does tonight feel different to you?”
“So you’ve noticed it too,” Clark replied. “I’ve been thinking that ever since we got home but I thought it was just an aftereffect of breaking the story.”
“There’s something different,” she said. “I’ve broken big stories before but this is different. Now I’ll admit that they weren’t this big, but I know the signs. There is more to it than just the end of an investigation.”
Clark thought for a moment before offering, “It’s time to move on.”
“Clark, what are you talking about?”
“Since Nightfall hit, you and I have been working on the Superman investigation. That was all tied into the world-changing event that was Nightfall. But that’s over now. I think we’re both realizing that we need to think about getting on with our lives. I need to find a life that isn’t just investigating Superman’s Nightfall mission. You… I don’t know. Have you contacted your family? I don’t remember you saying anything.”
“I talked with Lucy a few days ago. She said that she’s been in contact with my mom and dad. They’re fine and staying with friends on the west coast. That’s as much contact as I need. My family seems to do better when we hardly talk.” There was a touch of sadness in her voice, but only a tiny bit. It sounded like these were issues that she’d long ago come to grips with.
“I’m sorry, Lois. Before Nightfall, what did you do around Metropolis when you weren’t working?”
“Actually, I don’t have much of a personal life. About six months ago Lucy was staying with me for a while and she commented that I don’t have a personal life. She told me that I didn’t have dates, I had interviews.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I thought our date the other night was fantastic,” Clark offered.
There was a pause as if both of them were thinking of how to change the subject to a less personal topic. It was Clark that came up with an idea first. “I guess you could start looking for an apartment,” he suggested hesitantly. He really didn’t want her to move out, but it was the next logical step.
She looked like he’d slapped her. “Clark, do you want me to leave?” She sounded hurt.
“No!” It was almost a shout. Then he continued in calmer tones. “I didn’t mean… You know… Well, if I had my way…” He was nervous about saying any more than that.
She reached across the table and put her hand on his arm. “Clark, please tell me.”
He could drown in those eyes. “It’s not fair for me to … want you to stay, but I do. Most of my old memories are gone for good. I have to accept that. But having you here… Being with you… I can’t imagine that I was ever happier than I’ve been since you’ve been here. I don’t want you to leave.”
To Clark’s relief her expression brightened at this revelation. “I feel the same way,” she replied with energy. “I haven’t lost my memories but these past weeks have been like a different life for me too. It used to be that I’d get home from work and think about the best way to kill time until I could go to bed so I could get back to work. Since I’ve been here, I’ve found that there’s better ways to spend time than trying to kill it. This really has been a different life. Clark, I like this life.”
He was so confused about what to say. But then he remembered that kiss and what happened after. “But Lois, this…” and he waved his arm in a sweeping motion. “…can’t go on the way it has. It’s been wonderful but it’s just like the Nightfall investigation. It isn’t part of the world moving forward. Our arrangement, as much as I’ve come to enjoy it, isn’t real for the long term.” It was difficult to say the words since it might lead to Lois moving out. But he knew it was important that they not get stuck in an in-between relationship.
“You’re right,” she replied. “But what ‘arrangement’ are you talking about? If you mean that we can’t go on just being roommates I agree. You mentioned our date the other night. It was wonderful and I’m not ready to give up on the chance of there being an us.”
Clark just didn’t know what to say. She’d just said that she wanted there to be an “us.” His was still trying to get his mind around that when she continued. “Clark, how would you feel about me being here a while longer until we see how our relationship develops?”
He managed to shake off the brain-freeze. “You know I can’t say no to that. Lois, if you’re comfortable staying, I would love to have you be here as long as it takes for you to figure out what you want.”
TBC
Bob
