Okay, let's give this another shot, and hopefully I won't run into writer's block three chapters in. This is the fifth (and maybe last, although not necessarily) story in the Nightfall series. It has nothing to do with the television show of the same name, except that some of the names are the same <g> Feedback is encouraged if you want to keep the harassed writer motivated.
Nan
This is the sequel to "The Hottest Team in Town".
Disclaimer: The recognizable characters and settings in this story are the property of D.C. Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, and anyone else with a legal right to them, and I have no claim on them whatsoever, nor am I profiting by their use, but any of the new characters and situations are mine, and the story belongs to me.
Smallville
By Nan Smith
Lois Lane looked up as the messenger, carrying an enormous bouquet of deep red roses, crossed the Pit to her desk. "Lois Lane?" he inquired.
Lois nodded, and the man deposited the vase on the corner of the desk. An envelope displayed prominently with the flowers drew her attention, and she removed it.
"Love, Lex," it read.
The messenger was on his way back toward the exit, and Lois was aware of the fact that several persons were casting curious glances in her direction. Well, obviously Lex Luthor's attitude toward her a week or so earlier had completely turned around, she thought, keeping her expression neutral. From attempting to have her killed, he was now openly in pursuit of her. She supposed that most women who got two dozen red roses from Lex Luthor would have been thrilled. On the other hand, she wasn't most women.
"Should I be jealous?" Clark's voice said softly in her ear.
"Not for a minute," she replied in an undertone, knowing that he would hear her.
"Hey, CK!" Jimmy's brash, cheerful voice cut across the private moment. "Where are you going for Christmas Eve?"
"Home," Clark said, straightening up. "Christmas is always the biggest party in Smallville. I'm flying out tonight. Where are you going?"
"I'm supposed to meet my mom in Las Vegas."
"That sounds like fun," Cat remarked, slithering by and managing to brush against Clark as she did so. "Except for the 'mom' part. Maybe I should drop by Smallville, just to see what Christmas in the country is like."
"What, and miss all the parties in Metropolis?" Lois said lightly. "You'd be bored stiff."
"Mmm," Cat murmured, running her sultry gaze over Clark. "Not if I were given a reason not to be bored."
Clark shrugged. "I don't know, Cat," he said. "I'm staying at my parents' place. It's an old farmhouse with thin walls. My mother has pretty strong views about that kind of thing."
Cat wrinkled her nose distastefully. "I guess they'd probably miss me at the Lexor's Christmas Eve party," she said. She glanced at Lois. "Where are you going?"
She'd figured that was coming. "I usually go to my mother's for Christmas Eve," she said. "She's in California, so I'm leaving tonight. I understand she's got a new boyfriend, though. We might end up having a support group party instead of a Christmas one. My sister won't even be there. She's spending her Christmas in Italy."
"She might be having the best Christmas of all of us," Jimmy said.
"Oh, I don't know," Clark said. "Christmas in Las Vegas sounds kind of exciting."
"You don't know my mom," Jimmy said. "She's going to stay up all night playing Roulette and flirting with the bartender."
"Well, that might not be so bad," Cat observed. "Depending on the bartender, of course." She gave Clark a wistful, lingering glance and sighed dramatically. "I guess I'll be attending the Lexor's party after all."
"Just as well," Clark observed, straight-faced. "I don't think you'd like the part where we bob for apples in root beer on Christmas Eve -- or the ladies' pig-wrestling contest."
Lois turned away, pressing her lips firmly together. It was all she could do not to break into giggles. The innocent expression on Clark's face was a dead giveaway to her but the horrified look that Cat gave him told Lois that he had gauged the gossip columnist correctly. Her Charlie was learning, all right.
And again, as she had done several times since it had happened, she paused for a moment, savoring with wonder the knowledge that he was indeed *her* Charlie. Exactly nine days ago he had asked her to marry him and she had accepted. No one else knew it yet, of course, but as soon as Henderson had enough evidence to arrest Lex Luthor that would change. Bobby Bigmouth had told her yesterday that the word on the street was that The Boss was still looking for his diary and the two boys who probably had it. Since the diary was in Henderson's hands and the boys were safely tucked away on the Kents' Kansas farm, it was unlikely that he would find either in the near future. Hopefully, Henderson wouldn't keep them waiting too long, she thought. The idea of marrying Clark Kent was looking better all the time.
"What are you doing for Christmas, Chief?" Jimmy asked.
"Alice and I are going to the Mayor's shindig," Perry said. "Got a special invite."
"Sounds like he's kicking his campaign off early," Lois said.
Perry grinned at her, telling her exactly how correct she was. "By the way," he added. "I haven't seen a follow-up on the Luthor story yet. What have you got so far?"
"I'm waiting for a call from a source," Lois told him. She glanced at her watch and got to her feet. "Oops. And I'm late for an appointment. Come on, Clark." She scooped up her bag and started for the elevator.
**********
"A source?" he asked her, once the doors had closed and the elevator began to move downward. "Why don't I know anything about it?"
"Because we've got to go get one," Lois said. "I know that Henderson's promised us an exclusive if he manages to bring you-know-who down but if Perry doesn't get something he's bound to send in somebody else who might not be as careful as us. The last thing I want is for that mud-wrestling episode to go to waste."
Clark grinned. "Actually, I've never been so impressed by anyone as I was with you that night," he said. "I know for sure now why you're the Planet's top investigative journalist."
Lois glanced up at him. "You really mean that, don't you?"
"You'd better believe it," Clark said. "Any good editor would kill to have you on his team. But I've said that before."
"That's okay, partner," Lois said. "By the time we're through we'll be able to say that any good editor would kill to have *us* on his team. I hate to admit it but you've made me a better reporter in just a couple of weeks."
"Ditto," Clark said. "So, where do you want to go right now?"
"First we're going to head over to the Twelfth Precinct," Lois said. "If we're lucky we'll catch Henderson while he's still in his office. If he can give us something to add to our follow up, it'll pacify Perry. And after that, maybe I can get a statement from Lex's people. If he's sending me roses, he might be willing to give me a short quote."
Clark nodded. "Sounds good," he said. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly. An instant later a taxi screeched to a stop in front of them. He opened the door for Lois and got in beside her.
"Where to?" the driver inquired.
"Twelfth Precinct," Lois said.
"You got it." The cab took off with a squeal of tires.
"How you doing these days?" the driver inquired. Lois looked up to see the man glance at them in the rearview mirror, a withering retort on the tip of her tongue but she didn't voice it. Sometime in the last three weeks the usual hostility with which she viewed the world had softened considerably and, without her habitual bristles, it was harder to crush someone with one of her famous put-downs.
The driver smiled at her in the mirror. He was a young black man with a narrow face and bright, intelligent eyes. He looked familiar. She frowned, striving to recall where she had seen him before.
"Hello, Tony," Clark said. "We're doing fine. I never said thank you for helping me to find Lois that day."
The taxi driver's teeth flashed in a wide grin. "That's okay. I saw the story the next day. That was great -- exposing a secret government agency that had gone rogue. It's the kind of scoop most journalists dream about. And I saw your interview with Superman, Ms. Lane. It was terrific."
"Thanks," Lois said, glancing inquiringly at Clark.
"You remember Tony," Clark told her. "He was the cab driver when you were trailing George Thompson, and he helped me find the warehouse on Bessolo Boulevard."
"Oh yeah," Lois said. "Now I remember. The only cab driver in Metropolis who can really drive."
Tony snorted. "Thanks, I think."
"Tony's a journalism student over at New Troy State," Clark said. "He drives a cab to make a little extra cash on the side."
Lois nodded. "Yeah, I remember. You told me. I guess I owe you some thanks, too, Tony. If it hadn't been for you, Clark wouldn't have had any idea what had happened to me."
"No problem," Tony said.
"So, when do you graduate?" Clark asked.
"In January," Tony informed him. "I've got applications out for every paper in town and a few out of town. Nobody's answered yet, but I guess that's probably because of all the stuff that's been going on recently. When you think the world is gonna get destroyed by a giant asteroid, not many businesses think about hiring new people."
"There's that," Clark said. "Did you send one to the Planet?"
"Yeah," Tony said. "Not that I expect a paper like yours to want a guy right out of school."
"You never know," Lois said. "I'll mention it to Perry. I don't know if we're hiring right now, but it can't hurt."
Tony pulled up to the curb as she spoke. "Thanks. Here we are. That'll be twenty-four-twenty-three."
Clark dug in his pocket and paid the fare, including an extra five on top of the tip. Lois hesitated and then dropped another five into Tony's hand. "A little extra," she said, opening the door. "Thanks, Tony."
"You don't have to do that," Tony said. "Anybody would have helped if they could."
Lois wasn't so sure of that. "Maybe. Merry Christmas, anyway."
"Merry Christmas," Tony said. "Good luck."
**********
"I like him," Clark said as the taxi pulled away from the curb.
"Yeah, so do I," Lois said. "I probably owe him my life -- at least he sure helped Superman find me in time."
"Yeah," Clark agreed. "And I wouldn't have found my ship, either, if not for him. He's an observant kid."
"Drives like he's in the Indy 500," Lois said. "Really, I mean. He's good. Most cab drivers scare me to death but he sort of gives you the feeling that he's in control."
"Did you mean it, about mentioning his name to Perry?" Clark asked as they hurried toward the steps of the Twelfth Precinct.
"Yeah. If he's even half as smart as he seems, we don't want him working for another paper," Lois said.
"You have a point there," Clark agreed. They ascended the steps to the building and Clark held the door open for her.
Robert Gunderson, the desk sergeant, looked up as they entered and Lois saw him roll his eyes. "Can I help you, Lane? No carjackers today, I hope."
For a moment, Lois was puzzled and then she recalled that Gunderson had been the sergeant on duty when she and Charlie had brought in the man who had tried to carjack her during the Nightfall crisis. "Nope, not today," she said. "Is Henderson around? I need a statement from him."
"About what?" Gunderson asked.
"About the attempt on Lex Luthor's life," Lois said. "My editor's after me to do a follow up article." She smiled hopefully at the sergeant. "Give me a break, Gunderson. Wouldn't you prefer I got a statement from Henderson instead of poking around on my own?"
Gunderson gave a sour smile. "You know how to persuade a guy, don't you, Lane? Just a minute and I'll see if he has time to see you."
Lois glanced at Clark, who shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and managed, in spite of his straight face, to look faintly amused.
The sergeant was speaking into his desk phone. After a moment he nodded. "Yes sir," he said. "I'll send them right back." He set the receiver down. "He says he's got a minute but that's all. You know where his office is."
Lois headed for the door that led to the offices. "Thanks," she threw over her shoulder.
Henderson's door was closed. Lois knocked lightly on the wood and Henderson's voice invited them inside. Lois pushed the door open.
The police inspector was studying his computer screen and barely glanced at them as they entered. Clark carefully shut the door behind them.
"Perry's after me to do a follow-up on the other night," Lois said, without preamble. "I need some kind of quote from you about it."
Henderson lifted his gaze from his computer. "I have one all printed up for you." He extended a sheet of paper. "Quote: The task force assigned to investigate the murder attempt on Lex Luthor is following all possible leads. In such a high profile investigation, it is necessary to be extremely meticulous in our methods. We believe a powerful underworld figure to be involved but we can't be more specific at this time or it could seriously compromise our case and prevent us from bringing the perpetrator to justice.' How's that?"
"Very good!" Lois said, scanning the sheet quickly. She gave Clark a warning glance, folded the paper up and thrust it into her purse. "You said exactly nothing new and sounded very official doing it."
"Remind White that if the case pans out the Planet will get the exclusive, since you were the one involved in saving Luthor's life," Henderson said. "If he throws a wrench in the works, he'll never get another quote from the Metro PD as long as he lives."
"Sounds fair to me," Lois said. "Mind if I tell him my way?"
"No. Just keep him out of my hair. The attempted murder of Metropolis's most prominent citizen is too important to blow through a media frenzy over it."
"We'll do our best," Lois said.
Henderson nodded briefly and turned back to his computer screen.
**********
"Well," Clark said quietly, as they made their way toward the outer door a few moments later, "Henderson is sure being close-mouthed. What was that little charade all about?"
"Wait until we get outside," Lois said.
Clark nodded. "What's next on the agenda?"
"I thought maybe I could talk to Lex -- or more likely one of his spokespeople -- and get a quote about how he's doing. Then we can write up a short follow-up."
"Sounds good," Clark agreed. He pushed open the door and followed her out.
On the sidewalk outside, she scanned the street for a cab. "Where's Tony when we need him?"
"Let's walk part of the way," Clark suggested mildly. "There's an alley half a block up the street."
"Good idea," Lois said.
Together, they started to walk briskly down the sidewalk. Clark glanced around casually and said in a lowered voice. "What is it?"
Lois opened her purse and extracted the paper. "Read that."
Clark took the paper and read the single line of print. His eyebrows flew up. "Found bug in office. Watch what you say," he read aloud. "Will call later."
**********
"Let's hope that makes Perry happy," Lois said as she sent the short follow-up on the attempted assassination of Lex Luthor to her editor's computer. "A generic statement from Lex Luthor's people, and another from the Metro Police, and a general recap of the attempt on Luthor's life. There really isn't much more to say that won't mess up Henderson's investigation."
"Well, this should do it for now," Clark said. "What I don't like is the idea of someone planting a microphone in his office. That means someone suspects something."
"Not necessarily. It might just mean that someone is covering all the possibilities," Lois said. "You know who didn't get where he is by being careless."
"True. We'll have to be careful, ourselves. We don't know we're not still under suspicion, either."
"Absolutely true," Lois said. "We probably are, actually." She glanced around the office. "Where's Jimmy?"
"He went out for doughnuts," Clark said. "He'll be back in a few minutes. How do you like your new computer?"
Lois glanced at the shiny new computer that she had found sitting on her desk when she and Clark had returned from the 12th Precinct. "Nice. I guess they finally decided their top investigative reporter really should have her own computer instead of having to borrow her partner's," she added with a trace of acid in her voice. For the past few days she had been borrowing Clark's computer, since her own had vanished in the break-in of the Planet several days previously. "I'd still like to get my old one back, just so I could save some of the stuff on the hard drive. And don't," she said, with a warning look, "remind me to back it up on a floppy."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Clark said meekly. Lois shot him a suspicious glance, but he met it with a look of complete innocence. If it hadn't been for the completely guileless expression on his face, she might have been fooled. Oddly enough, the fact that he was subtly teasing her didn't annoy her in the least.
"See that you don't, farmboy," she said. "I'm not changing my habits just because the computer age has arrived. I was perfectly happy with typewriters before they invaded the newsroom, and they never needed backup on floppies."
"Of course not," Clark said understandingly. "There was always the Xerox machine."
Since the office Xerox machine had been on the sick list since the day before, this wasn't exactly the vindication she was looking for. Clark's innocent expression became, if possible, more angelic than before.
"Lois! Clark! In my office!" Perry's bellow cut across their conversation.
Lois got to her feet and made her way across the room to the editor's office and entered without knocking. Clark, on her heels, didn't say anything.
"Yes, Perry?" Lois asked, sweetly.
"This article doesn't say a lot," Perry said. "Don't tell me there's nothing else."
"Not right now," Lois said, a little defensively. "Henderson's promised us the exclusive when they have enough evidence to make an arrest, but we had to promise not to go poking around on our own while he's investigating."
Clark nudged her sharply. She cast an annoyed look at him and saw the unmistakable message in his expression.
"Anyway," she continued, with barely a pause, "as you pointed out, the attempted murder of Metropolis's most prominent citizen is big news. And so is an exclusive on whoever was behind it."
Perry opened his mouth. Lois put her finger to her lips and beckoned him toward the door, opening it invitingly. "Clark and I have an appointment with a contact about that sewer system story that we're working on," she added, beckoning more vigorously. "We need to get going."
Perry got to his feet, one eyebrow raised. "All right, darlin'," he said. "I guess an exclusive like that is worth it. You and Clark better hurry up." He moved past her out of the office, and Lois and Clark followed him out. Clark shut the door firmly behind them.
"All right, what was that all about?" he inquired.
Clark beckoned him a little farther from the door. "There's a bug in your office, Chief."
"*What*?" It was a credit to her editor that he kept his startled exclamation to barely more than a whisper. "How do you know?"
"He's good at spotting bugs," Lois said. "Especially after this last few weeks. My apartment was bugged, my car was bugged -- and Henderson's office has been bugged. Somebody is definitely keeping an eye on us."
"You got any idea who?"
"Who do you think?" Lois asked.
"Luthor?" Perry barely whispered the word.
"We think so," Clark said. "Do you want me to get rid of it?"
Perry opened his mouth and closed it again. "No," he said at last. "If you do that he'll suspect we might be onto him. Come back in a bit, show me where it is and we'll give him a couple of harmless conversations to chew on, and then, in a few days, I'll 'find' it on my own, call in Security an' make a row about it."
"Blame it on the Star," Lois suggested. "They'll make a good scapegoat."
"Just what I was thinkin'. But I want this guy brought down," Perry said grimly. "Understood? Nobody bugs my office."
"We'll do our best," Lois said. "Oh, by the way, you got an application a few weeks ago from a journalism student named Tony Daus. He graduates from New Troy State this January."
"I might have," Perry said, blinking at the abrupt change of subject. "Why?"
"I was just going to suggest that if the Planet is hiring any time soon that you might want to call him in for an interview."
Perry looked doubtful. "Any particular reason?"
"Clark and I met him during the Trask thing," Lois explained. "He was the cab driver that took me to the warehouse, and then helped Clark track me down so Superman could find me."
"Well, I appreciate that," Perry said, "but it doesn't mean I should give him a job."
"Not a job -- just an interview," Clark said. "This kid is sharp, Chief. He notices things."
Lois nodded. "It can't hurt to look at his resume and talk to him, can it? The Planet can use somebody like him -- and I don't want to see that kind of talent go to a rag like the Star when we can benefit from it."
"You think he's that good?"
"I think he deserves a chance," Lois said. "He's already proven that he's smart and observant. And," she added, "he's the first cab driver I've ever ridden with who doesn't scare me to death. He knows what he's doing."
Perry snorted. "That deserves some respect right there," he said. "Okay, you got it. His application'll be in the file. I'll look it over and give him a call."
**********
Lois's phone rang at that moment and she picked up the receiver. "Lois Lane."
The voice at the other end spoke quietly for several seconds and then there was the buzz of a dial tone. Lois hung up and got to her feet. "Duty calls, Boss. Come on, Clark."
Perry nodded briefly. "Just come back later and show me where that thing is, got it?"
"I will, sir." Clark promised, and followed his partner toward the elevator, grabbing her coat and his from the coat rack as they passed. "What's up?"
"Tell you when we're outside." Lois signaled for the car.
The door opened as she pushed the call button and Jimmy stepped out, a box of doughnuts in his hands. "Where you going?"
"Got a hot tip," Lois said, stepping past him. Clark followed her and the door closed.
"Who was on the phone?" he asked.
"My source," Lois said. She didn't elaborate.
Clark took the hint, closed his mouth and waited as the car bore them to street level. They stepped into the lobby and Lois pushed her way through the inevitable group of persons waiting for the elevator to the revolving door.
Flakes were drifting down lazily from the leaden sky and the wind had begun to pick up slightly. "Looks like we're in for a storm," she remarked.
"Just snow flurries," Clark said. "Probably won't even stick. Who was on the phone?"
"Henderson," Lois said. "He's going to meet us at the corner hamburger stand. It's only a five-minute walk. Let's go."
**********
tbc
