Last Time:
Jiang took the passport and replaced it in his jacket pocket. One of his bodyguards peeled off from the others to collect his bags. Jiang walked through the deserted terminal to where a limousine was waiting for him. Another mute bodyguard held the door open as Jiang climbed in.
His associate was already waiting inside. Hsiao Chen sat with his hands folded serenely on one knee. “Welcome to Metropolis, Mr. Jiang,” he said. Hsiao was Jiang’s advance man. An indispensible sort of character, but though Hsiao certainly knew that, he didn’t act that way. He was quiet, calm, and effective. He was also brutally efficient.
“I take it you’ve acquired what we came here for?” Jiang asked impatiently.
“Metropolis Central Bus Depot. Locker number 643,” Hsiao said with a placid smile. “One of my men picked it up yesterday.”
Jiang said nothing in response. He would consider this phase of the operation complete when he could hold the item in question. Examine it for himself.
********
Part 36:
He knotted his fingers through Lois’s as they walked just a few steps behind Jon down the cobblestone path. The trees overhead blazed with color and the leaves that had already fallen provided their little boy with almost endless amusement. He stomped on them to make them crunch and he kicked his way through little piles, sending the colorful leaves flying.
The air wasn’t cold yet, but it was crisp. The clean tang of autumn could be tasted on the breeze. Centennial Park wasn’t the wilderness by any stretch of the imagination, but the large cluster of trees at its heart and its expansive meadows were a welcome refuge from the bustle of the city. The park wasn’t quiet exactly, but its energy was different from the buzz that constantly surrounded midtown Metropolis. Around them, other young families were enjoying the early evening. On a nearby playground, kids Jon’s age played on the swings and the teeter totters. A field in the Sheep’s Meadow was hosting a pickup game of soccer.
Jon made his way to the top of the hill that looked down on the valley that was home to the Park’s large reservoir. He turned around and looked at his parents with a bright grin. “Daddy, are there frogs in the lake?”
Clark couldn’t help but smile back. “I don’t know, buddy. Why don’t we find out?” he asked.
Lois let his hand slip from hers. She gave him a small half smile and nodded toward Jon, quietly giving him permission to go off and play like a kid with their little boy. He kissed her softly in a silent thank you before jogging ahead to catch up to Jon.
Jon stretched up for his father’s hand even before Clark reached him. With a grin, Clark took Jon’s hand and led him toward the reservoir. With a glance over his shoulder, he saw Lois take a seat on a bench along the path, near the water’s edge. She smiled and waved at them and he encouraged Jon to wave back.
“Hi Mommy!” Jon said. “We’re going frog hunting!”
Clark could see Lois smile in response. “Good luck!” she declared. Clark wasn’t sure if there would still be any frogs around here. The early fall hadn’t been that cold, but he imagined most of the frogs would have already started to hibernate. Even if there weren’t any frogs around, it was a good chance for Jon to start learning what animals did in the winter.
It amazed him how much Jon absorbed from the world around him. His little boy soaked up information about everything and he was always asking questions. Helping Jon figure out how things worked and why was one of the most fun things about being a dad. Jon’s eyes grew wide as he craned his neck, trying to scan the murky waters for his favorite amphibians. He frowned slightly, unaware that his father was cheating by x-raying through the cloudy pond water. If there were any frogs in there, Clark wasn’t above a little surreptitious use of his powers to help his son find them.
********
Lois smiled as she watched the two men in her life play along the banks of the reservoir. She loved seeing her family so happy, especially after the tension that had marked their lives only weeks ago. Having to be separated from Jon, knowing someone was out there, trying to target him, had been just about the hardest thing she’d ever done. Given all that she’d been through in the last five years, that was saying a lot.
For now, she just wanted to enjoy moments like this one. In a short while they might be welcoming a brand new member to their family. It would be an exciting new adventure for them and she was thrilled by the prospect of getting to share the experience with Clark. Watching her husband and her son play together, she couldn’t help but feel wistful; for all the fun they were having now, there was so much they hadn’t been able to share together in the first few years of Jon’s life.
Would it be bittersweet for Clark? Being there for the sonograms and preparing the nursery? She knew it was something he was looking forward to, something he wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. But would it make him feel guilty about having missed all of these things with Jon?
Then there was how Jon was going to handle the changes that having a new brother or sister would bring. Sure, he’d asked for a little brother for his birthday, but how would he really react to no longer being an only child? Would he be jealous of the baby? Would he resent having to share his parents’ attention?
Lois shook her head with slight bemusement. Up until a few days ago, they hadn’t even been thinking about having another child. Well, she’d been thinking about it, but they hadn’t been talking about it. And they certainly hadn’t been taking the concrete steps toward having another child. Even though the idea of having another baby had frequently been in her mind for the last few months, it was only in the last few days that she found her gaze lingering on strollers and babies wherever she saw them throughout the city. It was amazing how she’d never noticed how many little kids there were in Metropolis. At night, it was the glamorous and sophisticated world of the glitterati. But by day, her hometown revolved around all things baby. Mommy and me yoga. Jogging stroller caravans down Fifth Avenue. Play groups in every bit of green space the island had to offer. High end designer baby stores and Montessori schools and organic baby foods from community sponsored agriculture were all just a few of the uniquely Metropolitan takes on parenthood.
She wondered what pregnancy would be like this time around, without the pain and confusion of Clark’s absence, without constantly worrying about his safety, knowing that he would be there with her through every moment of it. Clark had assured her that he would be fine taking over as the city’s only superhero if they got pregnant. It had been difficult the first time around, knowing Ultrawoman was needed and not using her powers to help. This time, she hoped that the assurance that Superman was in the sky would be enough to assuage the guilt that would invariably come from not using her powers to help others.
She watched as her husband and son played on the edge of the reservoir. As best she could tell, they weren’t actually catching anything. Dusk settled on the park and father and son soon gave up their quest. Jon came running back toward his mother.
“Mommy, Daddy says all the frogs are sleeping,” he announced with some consternation.
“Yeah, it’s probably too cold for them now,” she agreed.
“How come people don’t sleep all winter?” Jon asked.
“Because we have coats and hats and mittens to keep us warm,” she replied as he scrambled up onto the park bench next to her. “Besides, if we slept through the winter, we wouldn’t be able to go sledding or make snowmen.”
“Or have Christmas,” Jon added.
“That’s right,” she said.
Clark came to sit down on the bench, lifting Jon up so that the little boy could sit in his lap. “You guys ready to go home?” he asked.
“What do you think, buddy? Is it dinner time?” Lois asked.
“Yeah, I’m hungry,” Jon said. He hopped down off the bench and reached up for her hand.
********
Jiang knotted the belt of his silk robe and grabbed the remote control from the mahogany stand next to his bed. He pushed the button to open the curtains across the suite’s bedroom, letting a cascade of sunlight drench the room. He padded across the plush carpet to the wet bar in the next room and opened the exterior door to the safe next to the small refrigerator. Punching in his code, he opened the little door and delicately removed what was inside. It was only last night that he’d seen it for the first time. In the intervening hours, he’d dreamed about it. He held the glowing green crystal in his hand, impressed by how small, how light it was. It barely filled the palm of his hand and yet it could destroy the most powerful beings in the universe. Its edges were jagged, its shape was unimpressive, but it was more powerful than anything he could imagine. It wasn’t the same shade, but he hoped that like jade, this green stone would prove to be auspicious for him. He looked up from the Kryptonite at his associate. Hsiao stood, ever at the ready, his hands folded in front of him.
“You’re certain it’s real?” Jiang pressed him.
“I had it chemically analyzed. It is a perfect match for the meteorite described in the notes from LexLab and those belonging to Rollie Vale, the scientist who used a piece of it to power his cyborg. Even short term exposure should have promising results.”
Jiang frowned as he considered Hsiao’s plan. “Why a newspaper?”
“Superman and Ultrawoman have peculiarly close ties to the Daily Planet and to a number of its employees. If we threaten the newspaper’s headquarters, I’m certain they will respond.”
Staring out at the skyline of Metropolis from his midtown suite, an odd feeling of pity and admiration mingled within him. The city was like an old woman whose beauty had not quite yet faded. The enchantment of her youth could still be imagined. But Metropolis was tired. A relic of the past. The future lay far to the east. In ambitious cities the size of which put this one to shame. China had a dozen cities larger than Metropolis. All of them still growing. Soon, another dozen would eclipse the size of the once great center of American power. “Both of them?”
“There is no way to guarantee it, sir. But the Daily Planet is the optimal target for this mission. Even if only of them responds, once incapacitated, they will become bait to lure in the other.”
Jiang allowed himself a smile. “A second explosion.”
“Deadlier than the first,” Hsiao confirmed.
“When do you intend to carry it out?”
“The last day of the month, sir.”
A familiar frown settled on Jiang’s face. That was more than two weeks away. “Why wait?”
“An American holiday called Halloween. Some frivolousness involving children and costumes. The newspaper will be having an event for the employees’ children.”
Jiang shook his head slightly. He had not misjudged Hsiao. The other man was the most brutally efficient individual in Jiang’s employ. “The more innocent the victims, the more likely that Superman and Ultrawoman will both make an appearance.”
Hsiao said nothing. With the slightest enigmatic smile, he bowed his head modestly and slipped out of the room.
********
Her breath was warm against his chest. He listened to the soft, steady beat of her heart and marveled at how small she was, lying in his arms. It amazed him that he was still capable of feeling something as simple and pure as contentment. He had figured the ability to entertain such emotions had been stripped away from him in one of the countless dungeons he’d inhabited. Or on the battlefields of that distant planet. Yet despite all he’d been through, holding her reaffirmed something primitive and elemental about his humanity. He had been given incredible strength, not to destroy things, but to cherish the things that mattered most to him. He could hold his wife and make her feel loved. And in the small circle of her arms, he too felt loved. And even protected. As powerful as he may have been, he needed her protection. He needed the comfort of knowing that no matter what, she was always going to be standing right next to him. For all that had happened in the last five years, it was the one thing he was absolutely certain of.
Despite what he’d seen, what he’d been through, what he’d done, he could still be a good man. Because Lois Lane believed in him. Because Lois Lane would never give up on him.
She mumbled something incomprehensible—he thought it might have been ‘is it time to get up?’—against his chest. He dropped a kiss on the crown of her hair. “Sleep, sweetheart,” he whispered in response.
“Love you, Clark,” she murmured.
“I love you, too,” he replied.
********
“Have you decided what you want to be for Halloween?” Lois asked as she took Jon’s hand, leading him out of his nursery school.
“A cowboy,” he declared.
“That sounds like a good idea.” They descended the steps to the busy sidewalk.
“Or maybe a astronaut.”
Lois couldn’t help but smile. “Grandma’s going to help you make your costume today after Mommy goes back to work.” They carefully navigated the sidewalk, avoiding joggers and dog walkers and dozens of people it seemed who were pushing strollers. Even in this most residential of Metropolis’s neighborhoods, the city thrummed with energy.
“Do I get to go trick or treating?”
“Mmm hmm. There’s going to be a very special party for you and the other kids at Mommy and Daddy’s work. You’ll get to go trick or treating there.”
“Will Uncle Perry and Uncle Jimmy have good candy?”
Lois stopped and leaned down to give her son a conspiratorial wink. “Uncle Perry always has the best candy,” she informed him. Jon’s face lit up with a bright grin.
“How come Grandma’s going to make my costume? How come we aren’t going to buy one in the store?”
Oh, if she could only explain it to him, she thought with an inward smile. “Trust me on this, little man,” Lois began. “No one in the world is better at making costumes than your grandma.”
Jon frowned, as though he could tell his mother was trying to impart some important information to him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. “Okay, Mommy,” he said at last. Happy that her son’s faith in her was still as strong as ever, she led him the rest of the way home.
********
Jonathan draped his arm across his wife’s slim shoulders as they walked the path wending its way over the park’s small hills and through groves of brightly colored trees. A cold breeze stirred the branches, causing a rain shower of colorful leaves to fall all around them. He looked up at the riot of oranges, reds, and yellows, wondering if this was one of the things that gave his wife inspiration to paint.
They walked over the little wooden footbridge that spanned a creek, gurgling and bubbling its way through the nadir of the valley formed by the small hills on either side. He could almost forget for a moment that they were still in Metropolis. “You know,” he began wistfully. “I can’t really remember ever spending an autumn being so unproductive.”
“You’re not unproductive!” Martha exclaimed. “You just finished helping the Historical Society put together its new exhibit on the state’s abolitionist movements.”
Jonathan stopped and turned to face her, taking her hands in his. “I mean I don’t wake up before sunrise every day anymore to milk the cows or feed the chickens. I’m not stacking bales of hay.”
“And thank goodness for that,” Martha interrupted.
He smiled at her. “And my hands have gotten soft.”
She gave his hands a gentle squeeze. “It’s not the worst thing in the world,” she said quietly. “But you miss the farm.”
Jonathan sighed. “I miss being able to run the farm. Even if we were in Kansas, I still wouldn’t be able to be a farmer. And it’s all I really ever knew how to be.”
“That isn’t true,” Martha replied, shaking her head. “You’re a wonderful husband. An amazing father. And the best grandfather a little boy could ask for.”
“Thank you,” he said as he pulled her closer and kissed her temple.
“I think we still have autumns in our autumn years so we learn to enjoy them. When did you ever have time in the middle of the afternoon to just walk with your wife through the trees and enjoy their colors? Or traipse around in a pumpkin patch for hours with your grandson to pick out the very biggest and best one the two of you could find? Or laugh gently at city folks who go apple picking because it’s as close to real manual labor as most of them will ever get?”
Jonathan chuckled softly. Maybe Martha was right. Maybe he’d worked hard all those autumns before this one so he could enjoy the ones to come. But he knew it would take more time to get used to this. He shook his head mentally. He had a wonderful wife and family and all the time in the world to let Jon beat him at checkers and to take Thai cooking classes with Martha. To swap books with Harry at the Historical Society. To drive up to the Catskills with his son and go fishing. To read Lois’s columns before anyone else in the world had the chance. There were tougher things in the world for a man to get used to, he realized.
********
The reporters and editors filed out of the conference room at the end of the weekly meeting. It didn’t matter that every conceivable surface at the Planet had bowls of candy corn and miniature double chocolate fudge crunch bars on them or that the interns were all dressed like zombies and cheerleaders—there was still work to be done. Clark followed his wife toward the door but stopped suddenly when the sound of sirens cut through the city’s usual din.
Lois turned immediately to look at him. He realized he was already reaching for his tie. “Did you forget your edits to the dock strike piece?” She asked without missing a beat.
She was still a lifesaver. He hadn’t even begun to think of one of his lame excuses. “You know what? I did.” He started to ease his way past the other editors and journalists toward the door.
“I swear, he’d forget his head if it wasn’t attached…” he could hear Lois say as he dodged his way through the work of the decorations committee toward the stairwell. God, he loved his wife.
“Be back in time for the party,” he heard her whisper.
“I will,” he responded almost silently.
********
“What’s this?” Jimmy asked as the delivery crew pushed past him on their way out of the elevator.
“Uh, piñatas,” one of the two guys carrying a tremendous box yelled over his shoulder.
Because the newsroom didn’t already have enough candy in it, Jimmy thought to himself. He frowned as he watched the two pairs of delivery guys struggled with their loads. Those boxes looked awfully large for piñatas. He shrugged. It wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary for Perry to splurge on parties, especially for the employees’ kids. Every year, he dragged the biggest tree the newsroom could hold onto the bullpen floor.
Ralph swaggered over toward him, dressed—as best Jimmy could guess—as Don Johnson during Miami Vice. “What are you supposed to be? A real journalist?” Ralph sneered.
Jimmy looked down at the camera bag slung over his shoulder. He’d just returned from shooting the dock workers’ latest union meeting. Without a word, he stepped around the office bottom feeder. He had photos to sift through.
“Hey, can’t you take a joke?” Ralph yelled. “Come on, where’s your Halloween spirit?”
Jimmy ignored him and made his way to the graphics department.
********
“The first one goes in the supply room, all the way in the back,” Sid gritted out. He didn’t know what was in these boxes and he didn’t want to know, but he was being paid pretty damn well to follow a very specific set of instructions.
“What about this one?” one of the guys carrying the other box said.
“Goes one floor down. In the storage room.” Sid heard the other guys groan. Tough. They were being paid enough not to complain. Sid looked at the guy holding up the other end of the box, sweating profusely. What was his name again? Patrick? Benjamin? It didn’t really matter, Sid thought with a mental shrug. They slowly made their way to the supply closet.
“Careful,” Sid cautioned as they lowered the box to the ground. He’d been specifically warned against dropping it.
“What the hell is in this thing?” Pat or Ben or whoever he was, said as he wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.
“We’re not getting paid to care,” Sid grunted. “Now get out of here.”
The other guy shrugged and left the storage room. Sid pulled his box cutter from his pocket and tore into the box. Pulling away the cardboard, he let out a low whistle. No wonder it was so heavy. Whatever the damn thing was, it looked like it was made of lead.
‘Set the computer clock on the first box for thirty five minutes and the clock on the second for thirty minutes. Do you understand?’ The little Asian man in the fancy suit had repeated those instructions to him at least a dozen times. It had annoyed him at the time, but now, he was kind of glad the other man had done so. He felt beads of perspiration forming on his brow. What exactly was it that he’d agreed to do? He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. There wasn’t much sense in dwelling on it now. He set the clock as he was instructed and watched as it started to silently count backward immediately. Feeling his heart pounding in his throat, he stood back up and started for the stairwell. It would only take half a minute to program the other clock, but he was pretty damn sure that he didn’t want to be around when either one got to zero.
********
“Just how much candy did you eat?” Lois asked as she looked at her little boy.
He proudly held up his empty plastic pumpkin pail. “All of it,” he announced.
Lois shook her head. What kind of preschool were they running, exactly? She was going to have a serious talk with Jon’s teacher about setting boundaries for four year olds. Lois knelt beside her son in the Planet’s entrance. “All right, Cowboy, time for Uncle Perry’s party. But no eating any more candy. You have to save it for later.” She straightened his brown cowboy hat and his red neckerchief. Martha had, of course, done a terrific job with his costume—from his fringed vest to his ‘Sheriff Jon’ badge. Taking his hand again, she walked with him toward the elevators.
Inside the elevator car, she let Jon push the button for the newsroom floor, helping him reach it since it was still just a bit too high for him. “Hold that elevator!” she heard a familiar voice call out. She held down the “Door Open” button and her husband slipped into the crowded car.
“Daddy!” Jon exclaimed as his father picked him up.
“Howdy Pard’ner,” Clark replied with a grin. They reached the newsroom floor and shuffled their way past the other passengers toward the wildly decorated bullpen. Fake spider webs were hung from every overhang and doorway. Purple, orange, and black streamers criss-crossed the ceilings and wrapped themselves around all the pillars. A giant banner declaring “Happy Halloween” greeted them even before they reached the bullpen floor. Vampires and ghouls and fairy princesses ran all around them, having possessed the newsroom for an afternoon of mischief. Clark smiled as he maneuvered to kiss Lois’s cheek.
“Did you find your notes?” she asked cryptically.
“Of course,” he said, still grinning. “Everything’s fine.” Holding Jon up with one arm, he slipped his free hand into hers. “I heard there’s a caramel apple station,” he said to his son.
“No more sweets for him right now. He’s already had a bucket of candy,” Lois cautioned.
“But Mommy, you said apples are good for us,” Jon protested.
She shook her head ruefully, remembering being a kid and trying to use that logic herself. She wondered if Clark had ever tried the same. She remembered the first time they’d gone to Smallville, not long after they’d been made partners. He’d spoken wistfully about the caramel apples Wayne Irig and his wife had given out every Halloween, expecting her to make a snide comment about country bumpkins and their Halloween traditions. Instead, she’d told him that she loved caramel apples. He’d seemed pleasantly surprised by the comment. She marveled at the fact that they’d actually had that conversation, somewhere approaching a hundred lifetimes ago. It was almost impossible to remember a time when she didn’t know things like the fact that they both loved caramel apples. Or that he secretly flew around in the night rescuing cats in trees and damsels in distress.
********
Hsiao monitored his two little devices from the rundown walk-up about a few blocks west of Planet Square. Here, he was well outside the potential blast zone, but close enough to feel like he had control over his operation. The built-in cameras on both bombs let him see the surrounding area and would give him the advanced warning he’d need in the event someone accidentally stumbled upon them before they could explode. The little remote detonator he held loosely in his hands was his failsafe. If the cameras revealed that someone discovered the bombs before the first could go off, he could simply blow one of them up from here.
As the timers counted down, he tried to imagine the scene that would have been unfolding. Unbeknownst to the many party-goers, the lead shielding on the devices was about to open, ensuring maximum exposure to Kryptonite for Ultrawoman and Superman. The bombs themselves were nothing special – some high grade explosives and Kryptonite, of course – but they were placed near load bearing walls in order to ensure significant structural damage.
The first bomb wasn’t designed to kill the innocent bystanders, just to cause panic and ensure the widespread presence of Kryptonite for the second explosion. He could envision in his mind the two heroes trying to evacuate the building, their strength failing them. The second explosion was the one designed to end their existence. It had both a greater quantity of Kryptonite and a larger payload of explosives.
Hsiao watched the closed circuit television in silence. It would only be a few more minutes.
********
Her son tugged on her hand as they waited for his turn to get his face painted. “Mommy, I don’t feel so good,” Jon whimpered.
Probably from eating all that candy, she mused silently to herself. “Does your tummy hurt?” she asked as she knelt beside him. Lois frowned, noticing his face was flush with color. She touched his forehead. He was burning up. From across the newsroom, Clark was standing beside them in an instant. She swore he must have moved with superspeed.
“Is he okay?” Clark asked, concern evident in his voice.
Lois stood up and felt the room start to sway and spin. A sudden dizziness set over her. One look at her husband told her that he felt it, too. “Get Jon out of here,” he barked. She wanted to demand that he come with them, too, but he’d already started for the stairwell.
Damn him.
Lois didn’t have time to properly curse her husband’s obstinate behavior. Swiftly, she lifted her son in her arms. She felt weaker than she should have, but it wasn’t going to stop her from getting him out of the building faster than humanly possible. Running toward the other stairwell, she could hear the shouts from the newsroom as people registered their surprise at Superman’s sudden appearance.
Jon gripped her arm tightly and moaned as she ran down the steps. He leaned over her shoulder and retched, but she didn’t slow down. She breathed heavily and her head swam. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally threw open the door to the lobby. She rushed out into Planet Square, still carrying Jon in her arms. Scanning the area, she frantically sorted through her options. She could find a way to change and fly Jon out of there, but she didn’t know if she’d actually be able to stay airborne. She could try a cab, looking for the fastest way to get the most distance between them and the Kryptonite.
Suddenly, she caught sight of the two most wonderful people in the world. A block away from the Planet, her in-laws were approaching. She ran, carrying her son, to meet them.
“Are we too late?” Martha asked. “Did we miss all the excitement?” Her mother-in-law’s smile died when she finally got a good look at the two of them.
“Get Jon as far away from the Daily Planet as possible. Get him to Dr. Klein,” Lois instructed as she handed her son to her father-in-law, oblivious to Jonathan’s bad back.
“Lois, are you okay?” Jonathan shouted as she started back toward the building.
She stopped for the barest of moments, feeling beads of sweat pour down her face. “I have to go back for Clark,” she said breathlessly. Frightened children and their parents were already starting to pour out of the Planet building. She had no choice but to detour briefly to the alley behind the paper to change into the suit. From the alley, she rocketed upward.
Controlling her flight was harder than it should have been. Her body moved like she was trying to swim through mud. And she couldn’t help feeling like she was about to throw up. But there was no way in hell she was going to leave Clark behind.
They’d had the conversation about this scenario. He’d made her promise that if somehow, it came down to protecting him or Jon, she wouldn’t hesitate for a second before making the choice to save their son. She’d extracted the same promise from him. But Jon was on his way to the one man best suited to take care of him at this moment. She wasn’t going to leave her husband to face down death alone.
Not this time.
