And the Truth Will Set You…
Part 6
The Star newsroom showed more activity on a Sunday than Lois generally saw on that day of the week during her time at the Planet. If she decided to take Petersen up on his offer, she’d need to find out why they staffed so heavily on Sunday. Lois was still basking in the glow of two Page One stories. They’d made the evening edition on Saturday and seeing her name on a page one byline lifted her spirit so much that it almost made up for the fact that this was the Star and not the Planet.
She was still mulling over Petersen’s surprise offer to make a position for both her and Clark when the phone rang. She picked up the handset and answered with a short, “Lois Lane.”
“Hi, Lois. I hear you’ve been looking for me.” It was Clark.
“Clark, I’ve been so worried. Where have you been?” Lois made sure she projected as much concern into her voice as she could.
“I’m really sorry. I should have let you know where I was going, but we haven’t been getting along so well lately. I didn’t think you’d miss me.”
“Well, you were wrong,” she said definitively. “Listen, Clark. I know you weren’t happy about me getting married. But you’re my best friend. We have to be able to disagree at times without it threatening our friendship.”
“I know,” Clark replied. “I owe you an apology. I still think Lex is wrong for you, but if he is the man you love, then I’ll do my best to support your decision.” Clark did a good job of sounding like a friend trying to be understanding and supporting.
It was amazing to hear Clark work through the speech they’d written together. Clark had discovered the bug on her work phone. It seemed reasonable to overlook this bug as it provided a means to pass along false information. “Clark, I decided to say no to Lex. With all the turbulence going on in my life right now I can’t make a commitment like that.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Clark replied, exactly according to the script. She swore she could hear the grin that must be on his face. “I guess if you and Luthor are meant to be together, he’ll wait for you to get comfortable again.”
“Thanks, Clark. Your support means a lot.”
“Lois, we’re partners. I’ll always do my best to support you.” This was part of the speech. The idea was to convince whoever had tapped her phone – almost certainly Lex – that they were friends and partners but nothing more. Still, when he said it, it was like a warm wave washing through her. He would always try to do what was best for her, whatever the cost to himself. He’d proven that this week. He cared that much. That idea was both exhilarating and frightening.
She must have tuned out for a second because suddenly Clark was speaking again. “I saw the Star this morning. Those were great stories but it seems weird to see your byline in the Star.”
“It is for me too. But the Planet is gone and I have to move on. Before I came here I talked to some people I know about this situation. Petersen, the editor here, was brought in to bring some respectability to the Star. For now I’m only freelancing but I have an offer to join the staff.”
“It looks like it might be a good opportunity,” Clark said. “I’ve heard of Petersen. Last year he was rumored to be in the running for the editor’s spot at the Chicago Sun. He didn’t get it, but I heard it was a close thing. He certainly brings some respect to the Star. I’m happy for you, but I’ll miss working together.”
“Clark, he told me the same offer is open to you, too.”
There was an extended period of silence. She hadn’t talked to Clark since Petersen made this offer and this part was all off script. “Clark?” she finally asked.
“I’m here,” he replied quickly. “I’m just … surprised. I mean, I know why he’d want Lois Lane, but why would he want me?”
“Because he believes that the two of us together are an investment worth making. Of course, you’ll have to meet with him yourself – that is, if you’re interested.”
He was quiet for a few seconds. “Lois, what do you want? I remember that you weren’t exactly enthusiastic about working with me.”
“That was a long time ago. Honestly, Clark, I agree with Petersen. We do make a good team. Perry thought so, too, remember?”
“I’ll think about it…” he said hesitantly. At first, his apparent lack of enthusiasm confused her, but then she remembered that they were on a bugged line. She almost missed when he continued. “…but right now my parents still need me here.”
Clark had returned to their script. “What happened?” she exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to reach you all week. I was scared that something bad had happened to you.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you. I got a message late Monday night that one of mom’s cousins had an accident. I was lucky enough to see Superman and he gave me a ride to Smallville.”
“Well, don’t disappear again without letting me know where you are going. I could have used your help this week when Superman turned up missing.”
“I really am sorry, Lois. Superman didn’t say anything to me about going to China. That must have happened after I saw him.”
“Yes. he told me he received news of his friend early Tuesday morning.”
“I was sure surprised when Superman turned up missing,” Clark said.
“Everyone here was too. His disappearance made people nervous. It’s hard to believe that he’s only been around for a year. It’s nice to have him back.” Lois paused for a minute. “Speaking of coming back, when will you be returning to Metropolis?”
“I’ll probably be here in Smallville for another week or so. I left pretty quickly. Would you do me a favor and keep an eye on my apartment?”
“Sure, Clark. I went by last Monday but I’ll swing by every couple of days to keep an eye on things.”
“Thanks, Lois. Well, I have some chores to do. Call me if you want to talk.”
“I will, Clark. Bye.”
“Bye.”
As Lois hung up the phone, she hoped that it had been worth the effort. If Lex was monitoring her phone that should be enough to convince him that Clark’s disappearance had nothing to do with Superman’s absence. Lois knew that she was probably worrying about this too much, but Clark risked so much for her and she wanted to err on the side of caution.
~~~***~~~
Clark was nearing Metropolis. It hadn’t been more than 30 seconds since he finished the phone conversation with Lois. By appearing as Superman in the city at what would appear to be the exact time of their conversation, he would provide more evidence that any connection between Superman’s missed days and Clark Kent’s absence was strictly coincidental. The call had been Lois’s idea. Since her other calls to Smallville had been monitored, it provided closure to that part of the story.
Clark was still reeling from Lois’s news. It was great, but he hadn’t expected the job offer. When the Planet had closed, he was so worried about Lois that he had never considered applying to the Star. He’d heard that they were trying to upgrade their image but he hadn’t bothered to investigate. Petersen had a reputation as a capable and serious editor. The fact that Lois would even consider that job spoke volumes about her belief in the Star’s increased respectability. In any case, he needed to talk to her without having to worry about being recorded. It sure sounded like she wanted to work together again.
Everything with Lois had become so complicated. What was their relationship? He knew what he wanted it to be. He knew what he hoped it was rapidly becoming. But he was so scared. They had a promise of a date when he returned as Clark. But it was all so new. Could her change of heart be mostly a reaction to learning the truth about him and Lex.? What if when they did get some personal time together, she didn’t feel the magic he did? Clark knew from hard experience to be extra cautious when things seemed too good to be true.
Clark was over Metropolis now. The sound of a gunshot cut short his confused thoughts. A little super-speed brought him quickly to a convenience store where he found a gunman attempting to leave. Clark stopped the gunman, disarmed him and tied him up with a cord from one of the store shelves. Only then did he look behind the counter. There was a middle-aged Hispanic man lying dead on the floor. He had a gunshot wound in the center of his chest. It looked like he’d been killed instantly.
A few seconds later a younger woman came running out of the back of the store. She barely glanced at Superman before falling to her knees by the dead man. “Papa,” she cried. “Oh, Papa.” After a second, she looked up at Clark. “Help, him!” she shouted.
Clark had used his X-Ray vision to look into his chest the instant he’d seen the man. His heart had been completely destroyed by the bullet. He had been beyond hope before Clark had even heard the shot. “I’m sorry, Miss, but there was nothing I could do.”
“You don’t care!” she shouted through her tears. “You only help your friends. You’re too busy with your friends in China to help an old Puerto Rican man trying to feed his family.” She looked down at her father again and simply wept.
Clark was struggling for a way to reply when he realized that a crowd had started to gather outside the door. One man stuck his head in the door and surveyed the situation. Then he turned to some of the others and said, “Superman doesn’t care about us. He’s too busy watching out for his friends uptown. With him around, they cut our police service and more of us are being killed like this.”
Then a younger woman spoke up. “Yeah. I saw it on TV. He said we aren’t worth his time anymore. He’s getting ready to move to China.”
Then another man spoke up. “This group did a study. He only saves Whites and Asians.” He turned to face Clark. “Why did you bother to show up at all? Did you think Jose was Asian? Did you let him get shot because when you got here you realized he wasn’t one of your special people?”
Clark was speechless. No one had ever reacted like this before. He was still clueless as to how to respond when a pair of patrol officers arrived. It only took a few seconds for the older officer to sense the growing hostility. He cleared the shop and closed the door while his partner checked both the victim and the criminal that Clark had captured.
As soon as the area was secure, the officer came over and introduced himself. “Superman, I’m Officer Ramirez. Can you tell me what happened here?”
“I was flying over the city when I heard a gunshot,” he explained, thankful to have a respite from the hostility of the crowd. “I arrived to find that man…” Clark pointed at the man bound in the corner. “…inside the store but trying to leave. When I got here he was carrying that gun.” Then Clark pointed at the gun where it had fallen to the floor. “He dropped the gun when I captured him. I detained him until police could arrive.”
“What about Mr. Sanchez?”
“I checked him with my X-Ray vision as soon as I saw him. He was already dead. The bullet went right through his heart.”
Officer Ramirez looked at the crowd growing outside. “You’d better get out of here before this turns ugly. Please come by Precinct 17 tomorrow in case we have any follow-up questions.”
“Of course,” Clark replied. He looked at the angry faces on the other side of the door. “I don’t understand,” he said defensively. “I’ve never had a reaction like this before.”
The policeman looked briefly at people beyond the door, then turned back to Clark. “After that fire on Thursday LNN began running a series of media reports saying that you don’t treat everyone fairly. I saw one report that claimed you favored some people over others in your rescue activities.”
“What?” Clark almost shouted. “I’ve never done anything like that. I go wherever I’m needed.”
“I believe you. But this stuff is on television just the same.” He pointed toward the doorway. “I guess they’ve seen the same reports I have. You should get out of here.”
~~~***~~~
As Superman disappeared over the skyline of Metropolis, one individual left the scene quickly. He sought out a relatively isolated vacant bench in a nearby park, pulled out a cell phone and hit 9 on his speed dial. After only a single ring there was a click indicating that someone had picked up. There would be no response from the other end unless there was a reason. After a second he heard a tone that he knew to be the “give your report” signal.
“This is Joe Sampson, operative number 243. I just left a convenience store at 339 North Twenty-Seventh Street . There was a robbery attempt that turned into a murder. By the time I arrived on the scene, Superman was already there. Per standing instructions, I was about to make an accusation from the list when the daughter of the shopkeeper did that for me. I immediately followed up with a related statement. The tone of the crowd turned hostile quickly. About 30 seconds after I got there, Cecil Jenkins arrived and joined in. Roughly a minute later I saw Dorothy Samuels approaching but I waved her off since the group was already hostile. By the time Superman left the scene, he looked very shaken.”
Joe stopped and waited. There was a click and the line went dead. That was how “Ms. X” ran things. Nine times out of ten she never said a word. But Joe knew from experience that she heard everything. He also knew that her ears and voice were those of the Boss. He was glad things had gone so well. If incidents continued to go like this, Superman was sure to believe that the whole city hated him.
~~~***~~~
An hour later Clark was at a complete loss. After that first incident, he’d thought that the negative reactions would be limited to the Metropolis’s Hispanic population. That proved not to be the case. In two other incidents he’d been yelled at and once he’d even had a few rocks thrown at him. This didn’t make any sense. He’d missed rescues before without this kind of backlash. A few negative TV stories didn’t seem like enough to cause this kind of reaction.
~~~***~~~
Lois had been run ragged all day. She’d known that Clark would be looking to make an appearance as soon as they’d completed their phone call. Sure enough, within a few minutes she heard a report of a shooting at a convenience store only four blocks from her location at the Star.
She’d arrived at the convenience store to find near-riot conditions. Superman had been too late to save the store owner. Even though he was only a few seconds late and in spite of the fact that he’d caught the shooter, the neighborhood seemed to be holding Clark responsible for the store owner’s death. When she tried to get to the bottom of what happened all she got was wild-sounding accusations that Superman only saved people he personally liked. Before she was done, Lois was glad that she hadn’t been recognized as the woman who’d kissed Superman during the Nightfall crisis.
Now she was back at the Star working on the story. She’d barely begun when Emily Griffen, one of the young interns, hurried over. “Ms. Lane, did you hear about the Superman rescue?”
She looked up at the young blonde woman. Emily had been one of the people that had made a genuine effort to reach out and welcome Lois to the Star. She was energetic and bubbly in a way that reminded Lois of Jimmy. “Hi, Emily. Do you mean the convenience store robbery? It wasn’t really a rescue — Superman got there too late to save the victim”
“No,” Emily replied excitedly. “I was going out for some afternoon shopping when I came across an accident at the corner of Harrison and Fifth. Superman had just arrived and seemed to just be making sure people were okay when a woman started shouting at him to go back to China. It seemed weird because it was like she got angry for no reason. People were stopping to see what was happening when another man started up with more of the same. He was going on that these must be friends of Superman’s since he didn’t let them die. Within a minute or so more people started joining in and it was turning nasty.”
Lois was stunned. This was over the top. Even after what had happened in the convenience store, Lois would have never expected anything like this. At least at the robbery the shopkeeper’s death might explain his neighbor’s irrational reactions, but why would people be so upset at Superman for actually helping the people at the accident scene?
“I’m working on a write-up of a shooting earlier today that has some similar elements,” she told Emily. “Superman showed up and people started getting angry. I thought it was because the store owner had been killed, but it doesn’t sound like anything like that happened at the car accident.”
“No,” Emily replied. “There were two cars and no one suffered any serious injury. All Superman did was check on people and help separate the cars.”
“Then what’s going on?” Lois asked.
“It must be all those TV and radio stories,” Emily replied.
“What stories?” asked a deep, masculine voice behind her. That was the last voice that Lois expected to hear today. At least, in person, and in this place.
“Superman, what are you doing here?” Lois asked. She was proud that she’d managed to avoid saying Clark’s real name. Still, addressing Clark as Superman, now that she knew who wore the suit, was going to take some getting used to.
“Hello, Lois. The incidents you were discussing weren’t the only ones today. I decided I needed information from someone who would know what’s going on.”
While Clark was talking, Lois looked around the newsroom. Everyone was frozen in place staring at the hero. It reminded her of the first time Superman had put in an appearance at the Planet. Poor Emily looked like her eyes were about to pop out of her head. “Well, Superman, you came to the right place but I’m not the right person. Fortunately, Emily here seems to have some idea of what’s going on.” Lois turned to the young intern. “Superman, I’d like you to meet Emily Griffen. She’s been helping me settle in here at the Star.”
Superman reached out to shake Emily’s hand. “I’m glad to meet you. You’re fortunate to be working with Lois. She’s the best there is. Now, can you tell me anything about what’s going on?”
The young woman seemed to shake herself out of shock. She reached out and took his offered hand. “Wow,” she said, almost breathlessly. “Everyone said that you and Ms. Lane were friends but … meeting you in person is so… wow.”
Lois almost laughed as she watched Clark react to the blatant adulation. Knowing that it was Clark under the famous suit explained so much. He hated that kind of reaction. He hid it well, but he hated it just the same. In a flash, she realized that watching Emily was almost like looking in a mirror. No wonder Clark hadn’t trusted her attraction to Superman. This girl just furnished a critical insight into the problems that had existed – and to some extent still did exist – between her and Clark.
After a few seconds, it became clear that Emily had lost all track of the question. Lois tried to drag her young colleague back to reality. “Emily, you said something about things you’ve seen on the TV and heard on the radio that might explain what happened today.”
That snapped the girl out of it. “Yes,” she stuttered. “I keep the TV on in my apartment all the time. Mostly on LNN. You know, to make sure that I’m up on any breaking news. Well, it started right after that fire on Thursday.” She glanced back and forth looking for confirmation that they knew what fire she was talking about. Lois nodded and she continued. “At first it was just some of the pot-stirrers – you know, the people that seem to be paid to complain about a person or some policy – who started complaining about Superman. They were trying to make it his fault that the people died in that fire.” She turned to face Clark. “By Friday night I was hearing more and the tone had gotten even worse. Some of those commentators were throwing out allegations of favoritism in who you saved. Then after Ms. Lane ran the story about where you’d been, these same talking heads started going on about you probably being racist.”
Lois could see that Clark was taking this hard. He looked confused and dejected. It actually reminded her of how he looked in her apartment on Monday night. She was not going to let this happen. “Emily, you said this started on Thursday?”
“Yes. In the beginning it had all been about the apartment fire,” she answered a little defensively.
“And it was on LNN?”
“That was where I first saw the harsh criticism,” she answered with a little more confidence.
This conversation was veering into sensitive territory. She needed to get Clark alone before they could discuss it further. “Emily, may I speak with Superman privately for a moment?”
Lois could see Emily’s spirit drop at being excluded. “Of course,” she answered.
As Emily turned to leave, Clark called to her. “Ms. Griffen, thank you for your input. I have a feeling it will be very helpful.”
That seemed to make her feel better. “I’m happy to help.” Then she walked away with her head held high.
Even without Emily in earshot, Lois thought that the middle of the newsroom was still too public. “Superman, may I speak to you in a conference room?”
“Sure, Lois,” he answered, with a slightly confused expression on his face.
Lois led them to one of the small interview rooms just off the main office area. When they were both inside, she closed the door and the privacy blinds. Then she turned to Clark and pointed at her eyes and then her ears. It took Clark a few seconds to figure that she was worried about bugs. Finally, he started looking around carefully. After a thorough review of the room, he spoke up. “It’s okay. We’re not being monitored.”
“Those allegations… it has to be Lex’s doing.” She practically spit the words out. “But why?”
Clark leaned back against a table. “I don’t know. I think he’d always planned to come after me sooner or later. The timing suggests that it has something to do with you. But before Friday, you hadn’t been around Superman for weeks. I don’t understand.”
Lois thought for a minute. Then a thought came to her like a loose thread popping up. “How do you think Lex reacts to not getting what he wants? I mean, based on how you’ve interacted with him as Superman.”
Clark barely took time to think. “He sees it all as a contest. And from what I’ve seen, nothing is ever over until he wins.”
“I hate to say it, but I think you’re right. I think he sees my… rejection of him as just another move in a game. All my friends are gone. I’d guess he’s making sure that Superman isn’t around to help me either. If he was going to do something against you anyway, this may have just been convenient timing.”
Clark seemed to consider that for a moment. “If you’re right – and I believe you are – what can I do? I can’t see that he’s doing anything illegal. People have the right to say what they think.”
Lois considered the problem. Maybe Lex would back off if she asked. “What do you think about my talking to him?”
Clark looked stunned. “You mean Luthor?”
“If we’re right, and this is partly about me, then maybe I can get him to back off. I’m betting that he thinks I might be interested in getting back together sometime in the future. If that’s true, then I should have some influence.”
He reached out and took her hand. “Lois, I’m trying very hard not to have this sound jealous or petty, but I believe he’d find a way to tell you exactly what you want to hear and then continue with his plan, whatever it is.”
Clark was probably right. Besides, she was happy to accept any excuse where she wouldn’t have to pretend to still be interested in Lex. “So what are you going to do?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he answered in a dejected tone. “I have to trust the people of Metropolis. Now that I’m back and helping as much as I can, I should be able to win the people back to my side. If it keeps up, maybe I should address the public. I can arrange to speak in front of city hall and try to counter these … lies. I’m sure there’s no pattern of special treatment or discrimination. All I can do is make my best case and see what the people of Metropolis choose to believe.”
Somehow, Lois knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
TBC
Bob
