Okay everyone, here is part 6. I know I've taken a long time but between catching three nasty viruses (human, not computer) in the past 6 weeks or so, plus having to replace my computer and trying to get the new one working the way I like, I had some difficulty getting part 6 written. My new computer and I are still fighting about certain things because it thinks it knows better what I want than I do and we're still having a strong disagreement over who is in charge, but we'll work it out eventually. Meanwhile, enjoy part 6.
Nan
Smallville: 6/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
Tony Daus almost couldn't believe his good luck. Perry White had actually agreed to give him a try at the Daily Planet!
He actually hadn't expected anything when Lois Lane had said that she would mention his name to her boss, but apparently the famously brilliant and equally cranky investigative journalist for the city's top newspaper had been as good as her word. He made a mental note to thank her the next time he saw her.
He brought the cab to a stop by the curb, and accepted the fare and a miserly tip from the little man in the business suit before unlocking the rear door for him to exit.
"Have a nice day," he said, automatically.
The passenger didn't reply, but got out, slamming the door behind him, and made his way directly toward the door of Lex Tower. Tony shrugged philosophically and pulled away from the curb.
It wouldn't be until some twenty minutes later that another passenger alerted him to the presence of the large manila envelope that lay on the floor of the cab.
**********
And now, Part 6:
The rollicking square dance came to an end. Lois paused to catch her breath, and she and Clark joined in the applause by dancers and spectators alike.
"You really know how to do this stuff," Clark said as he led her from the dance floor.
"A friend of mine convinced me to take a country dance class last summer," Lois explained. "She said it was a great way to meet guys."
"And was it?" Clark asked.
Lois grinned. "Define guys." She nudged him with an elbow. "I prefer guys that are light on their feet. *Very* light on their feet."
He snorted. "Guilty as charged. Well, Ms. Lane, what would you like to do next? Shall we go over to the high school and watch my new cousin Jack wrestle pigs, or maybe you'd like to watch the pie-eating contest."
"I thought they did stuff like that at county fairs," Lois said. "Not at a Christmas Eve party."
"But this pie-eating contest has a Christmas theme," Clark explained, looking so innocent that Lois was instantly suspicious.
"How do you give a pie-eating contest a Christmas theme?" she asked. "Is it under a bunch of mistletoe or something?"
"They use pumpkin and mince pies," Clark explained, straight-faced. "And the contestants have to wear a Santa beard."
The thought of a bunch of contestants having to cram down whole pies while wearing a long, white artificial beard produced a graphic picture. "Are the contestants teenagers, or something?"
"No, they're grown men," Clark said, with a faint grin. "The challenge is to eat the pie and not the beard. I tried it one year. I swallowed more artificial beard than pie. It ended up looking like moths had gotten into it."
Lois couldn't help laughing at the picture this produced. "I think I'll pass. And pigs don't do much for me, either."
"Okay," he said agreeably. "Then how about the Tunnel of Love?"
Lois felt her cheeks turning unexpectedly pink, although the thought of a Tunnel of Love wasn't exactly repellent. "Is there one?"
"Sure," Clark said. "It's really just a pedicab that takes you through a big canvas tunnel in the park, with the usual sorts of silly things that pop up unexpectedly, but we can snuggle up in the back seat." He looked hopefully at her. "It'll give you a chance to warm your hands."
"And other things, I'll bet," Lois murmured. "Why do I think you suggested all those other things first so this would sound good?"
"You mean it doesn't?" he said, seeming hurt.
"Actually, It sounds wonderful," Lois admitted. "You're just so easy, that's all. All right, partner, you're on. Lead me to this so-called Tunnel of Love."
**********
The envelope was blank on the outside.
Tony turned it over and examined both sides minutely, just to be sure that he hadn't missed anything that would identify the owner, but there was nothing. It was simply a bland manila envelope that apparently had a fairly hefty load of contents, judging by its weight.
Tony sighed. The company collected stuff like this on a fairly regular basis. He and his co-workers had found forgotten hats, coats, jackets, umbrellas, cellular phones, laptop computers, business presentations, briefcases, rings, watches, portable radios, prescriptions, passports, legal documents and once he had even found a torn woman's brassiere. And worse. The possibilities were endless.
Whenever they could identify the owner, the company would make every attempt to contact him but Lost and Found had a constant and revolving population of every item he could think of. Tony laid the envelope down on the front passenger seat. There was a good probability, he thought, that it belonged to the guy who had gotten out at Lex Tower, but he didn't know for sure.
He could, of course, open the thing and attempt to find identifying information, but the company tended to discourage such behavior. Sometimes people got unreasonable about the violation of their privacy. He figured that he would turn it in to his boss when his shift was over and that would be the end of his responsibility. At least this time it wasn't a baby snapping turtle, like the guy had left behind yesterday. Fortunately, the owner's mother had shown up and retrieved her son's pet, carelessly left behind by his father (although why a grown man was toting around his kid's pet turtle Tony couldn't quite figure) before they'd had to turn it over to Animal Control.
He put the engine in gear and pulled out into the street again.
**********
The Smallville Tunnel of Love turned out, as Clark had said, to consist of a very large and winding canvas tunnel in the park, decorated on the outside with surprisingly good wooden, handmade models of the various surprises to be found within, and the cars in which the participants rode were pedi-cabs such as tourists often rented on the streets of Metropolis. Lois raised an eyebrow at Clark, who just shrugged and grinned. "It'll get us out of the breeze for a little while," he pointed out. "And besides, you've never been in a genuine Smallville Tunnel of Love before."
"True," she admitted, straight-faced. "Besides, I get to cuddle up to you in the dark. That has its own appeal."
"And then," Clark said cheerfully, "maybe we can go over to Maisie's for some of her coffee and hot soup before we go over to the pond for some skating, if you like. Do you ice skate?"
"Some," Lois said. "I suppose you do?"
"Of course," Clark said. "But we don't have to if you don't want to."
"Just so long as you promise to catch me if I start to fall," Lois said.
"I'll always do that," he said, suddenly serious, and Lois felt her heart try to turn over at the look in his eyes. Abruptly her wish for Henderson to conclude his investigation of Lex Luthor, and make an arrest, was considerably more intense than it had been. Somehow the whole prospect of being openly engaged to Clark was getting better and better all the time. The Tunnel of Love might be a silly Christmas party ride in a small town, but it was the fun of being with him that mattered, not the other stuff. She had once gone to France for a journalists' convention and dutifully taken a tour around the city to see all the wonders of Paris. She had been bored during the tour and vaguely disappointed when it was over, but now, walking around Smallville in the cold, she realized all at once that she was enjoying herself, and the thought came to her as she looked up into his suddenly intense dark eyes, that if she and Clark were to tour Paris together, or Cleveland for that matter, she wouldn't have been bored at all.
"Come on," she said, her voice sounding unusually constricted, even to her, "Let's go rent one of those pedicabs."
Clark drew a breath and nodded. "Okay."
The kid running the concession grinned when Lois and Clark approached. "Hi, Mr. Kent! Want to rent a ride?"
Clark produced money. "Two tickets," he said.
The teenager glanced approvingly at Lois as he handed over the tickets. "There'll be a car along in a minute," he said. "Just wait over there." He nodded to a bench located about ten feet away, protected from the cold breeze that had sprung up in the last few minutes by a canvas screen. Clark and Lois strolled over to the spot and took a seat.
As she pulled her jacket more tightly around her throat, another couple approached the teenager and the man purchased tickets. The kid nodded toward the bench.
"Hope you don't mind sharing." The man was a short fellow, with sandy blond hair, in a business suit that seemed a little out of place in its surroundings. The woman was also a blond, but more of the strawberry variety, pretty in a determined sort of way, with a markedly purposeful set to her jaw. She had compromised between fashion and weather conditions with a pair of stylish slacks and a fuzzy sweater. Either could have stepped directly out of a catalogue for Gromingdale's in Metropolis, Lois thought, looking curiously at them. Who would show up for the Smallville Christmas Eve party dressed like they were headed for a fashion photo shoot for the Young Professional?
The blond woman turned her head to smile mechanically at them and her expression changed. "Clark! Clark Kent! I didn't know you were going to be here!"
"Hi, Lana," Clark said calmly. "I always attend the Christmas Eve bash."
"Well, yes, but that was before you decided to move to -- Metropolis, was it?"
Lois felt her hackles figuratively rising. So this was the Lana Lang of Clark's childhood! She schooled her expression to one of polite interest. Clark had already told her that he had never seriously considered Lana's plans for his and her future, but that didn't mean she had to like the woman.
"That's right," Clark said. "I work at the Daily Planet now, but I'd never miss the party." He turned to Lois. "Lois, this is a friend of mine: Lana Lang. She and I were in the same graduating class at Smallville High. Lana, this is Lois. She's my reporting partner at the Daily Planet." He glanced at Lana's companion.
Lana belatedly took the hint. "This is my fiance, Edward Spengler. He's a Vice President at Electron Systems in Silicon Valley, where I work."
Clark smiled at Spengler. "Congratulations," he said, sincerely. "I hope you'll be very happy together. When is the wedding?"
"Next month," Spengler said. He sat down next to Lois. Clark stood up to give Lana his seat, as the space on the bench had shrunk considerably. Lois said nothing, but her opinion of Clark edged up another notch. His attitude made it obvious that she had no reason to worry about Lana Lang.
She got to her feet as well, to stand beside Clark.
"I think the next cab'll be here in a minute," Clark said.
"Oh?" Lana stood up quickly. "I hope they hurry! I'm freezing!"
Lois gave her a sharp look. Did Lana Lang think that she and her fiance were going to grab the next ride before Clark and her? Not likely!
"I think they only allow two per cab," she said pointedly.
"I'm sure the next one will be here in a minute," Lana replied confidently.
"I'm sure it will," Lois said easily. "But Clark and I were here first."
Lana turned to look at Lois with a genuinely surprised expression. "I'm sorry?"
"I said Clark and I were here first," Lois said, daring the other woman to make an issue of it.
Lana turned to Clark with a hurt expression. "Oh, Clark, I'm cold, waiting in this wind."
"So am I," Lois said. "And we were here first."
Clark said nothing and Lois couldn't read his expression, but she had no intention of backing down now.
Lana glanced at her, and Lois wasn't surprised to see that the sweet smile was masking an angry glare. "Clark won't mind, will you, Clark?" She looked confidently back at Clark. "Maybe your girlfriend doesn't understand who I am."
"I'm sure she does," Clark said. Lois thought the corners of his mouth twitched.
Lana looked back at Lois, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm Dr. Lang's daughter. We have standing in this town."
Lois raised her eyebrows. "Oh? That's nice to know. But we were *still* here first."
What Lana might have replied, Lois was never to know, for the approaching pedicab pulled to a stop beside them and the laughing couple in the passenger seat jumped down. Lois stepped firmly in front of Lana and began to hoist herself into the seat, completely ignoring the other woman. She heard a faint cough from Clark, and then he jumped into the place beside her. He leaned forward to greet the youthful source of motive power. "Hi, Jake."
"Hey, Clark! How's it going in Metropolis, man? Your name has been all over the headlines, the last two or three weeks!"
"Pretty good," Clark said, cheerfully. "There's never a dull moment in the city."
"Yeah," Jake said. "That's why I still live in Smallville. Okay, let's give you and your lady your money's worth." He started forward at a practiced trot.
"Sorry," Lois said in a low tone.
Clark put an arm around her shoulders as the pedicab turned onto the path that led to the entrance of the Tunnel of Love. "She'll recover." He chuckled suddenly. "You do have a way of puncturing an inflated ego, don't you?"
"Do you mind?"
"Not a bit." He tightened his arm slightly. "This is turning out to be a great Christmas Eve."
Lois relaxed against him as their cab entered the shadow of the big canvas tunnel. Abruptly, she felt Clark's body tense slightly and he lifted his head in a familiar gesture, obviously listening. "What is it?" she asked.
Shook his head and she fell silent, watching him. Seconds went by, and slowly, Clark relaxed. "Later," he said, with a significant glance at Jake. "It might not be anything."
"Okay," she said uncertainly.
Clark took one of her hands with his free one. "Enjoy the ride," he said. "But we might --" He broke off. "I'll tell you later," he said in a low voice. "There might not be anything we can do, but we'll see."
**********
tbc
