The next morning, Clark, as Superman, entered Inspector Henderson’s office carrying the lead box containing the package he had received.
He held the closed box up, but did not yet release it to the inspector.
“Inspector, I believe the contents of this box may be of use to you. It contains a package that was meant to be delivered to me care of Clark Kent. When he gave it to me, I looked inside it and noticed that it held a bomb ready to detonate the moment I opened the package. It also contained a very unusual rock which originated on my home world. When I explained to Mr. Kent what the box contained, he brought to my attention a similar incident which you are investigating. This parcel may prove of use in solving that case. Be sure to have the bomb squad on hand when you decide to open it.”
“Thank you, Superman. I’ll get right on it.” He reached out to take the box. Superman, however, did not relinquish it just yet.
“Oh, one more thing. When the contents of the box are no longer needed for evidence, would you please give them to Lois Lane? She will know by then how I wish the contents to be handled. The box itself belongs to Mr. Kent.”
“I’ll return the box the next time I see him. “
Clark, about to take his leave, surrendered the box to Henderson. He left before the inspector had a chance to open it and re-expose him to its deadly contents.
Clark decided that he needed to talk to Lois about his alter ego that evening. He wished he could tell her earlier, but he wouldn’t be able to get her alone before then. But at least he could, as Clark, fill her in on the package.
***
Lois was delighted and surprised to see C.C. looking more like his usual self. The other clones had steadily deteriorated during their fatal illnesses.
C.C. went directly from the elevator to sit on the edge of her desk. He told her how, after he arrived home the evening before, he had found a package on his doorstep addressed to Superman. When the Man of Steel responded to his summons, he found it to be a mail bomb with a green rock which, he confided to C.C., was kryptonite - a remnant of his home planet. For some reason, Superman seemed reluctant to approach the package, and had requested C.C. to put it inside a lead box which he knew Clark had bought as a memento during one of his earlier overseas journeys. C.C. had complied and Superman took the box, promising to deliver it to Inspector Henderson first thing in the morning.
“Thank God Superman is all right. He *is* all right, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He’s fine. I remember Trask had said he thought that kryptonite could incapacitate Superman, but we never did see any evidence of that, did we?”
Lois thought back to the kryptonite bullet she removed from Superman’s shoulder. But of course, only two other people knew of that bullet. One was behind bars now and the other was Superman himself. Lois had no intention of telling anyone, even C.C., that kryptonite had the power to do real damage to Superman.
“This could be a huge break in the investigation. Let’s go talk to Henderson.”
“Oh, um, I have another appointment in fifteen minutes. I tell you what: You head over to see him, and while you’re on your way, I’ll call him and fill him in on what I know.”
“Fine. Let’s meet up for lunch; say, by the fountain in Centennial Park. We’ll swap info then.”
***
“Clark, could I see you in my office for a minute?”
Clark was surprised at how subdued Perry’s request sounded. When he closed the door and took the seat which Perry offered him, his boss looked at him with a sympathetic expression.
“Clark, did you get a chance to read yesterday’s paper?”
“Sorry, chief, I was busy last night.”
Clark had expected Perry to complain about him falling down on the job. Instead, his boss actually seemed … relieved.
Perry spoke softly. “That’s just as well, son. There was something in it I had wanted to talk to you about in person, but I couldn’t reach you last night. How are you feeling?”
Clark wasn’t following Perry’s seemingly abrupt change in topics. “Um, fine, I guess. A little under the weather, perhaps. Why?”
“The clones at Stryker Island have all been getting sick. Real sick. Some have died.”
Perry’s eyes were full of sympathy. Clark immediately understood the implications, and he deeply regretted having to put Perry through the emotional wringer, but he saw no way of avoiding it without revealing his secret.
And Lois! So *that* was why she was suddenly so nice to him last night. She had mistaken his kryptonite poisoning for the first stages of a fatal illness. That just made more firm his resolve -- He must tell Lois all about himself, and sooner, rather than later. That very night, in fact.
But all he told Perry was, “I don’t feel that bad, Chief. I just have a bit of a headache. I think Superman may have improved the cloning process when he made me. I’ll be fine.”
Perry gave him an inscrutable look, and said, “Well, son, I just thought you should know. If you need anything -- time off or someone to talk to, anything at all, just ask.”
“Thanks, Chief.”
***
Lois entered the inspector’s office immediately after knocking.
“OK, Henderson. Here’s the deal: I have some information that may prove useful for your mail bomb case; but in return, I want an exclusive for the Planet.”
“What have you got?”
“How much do you know about the mail bomb intended for Superman?”
“Kent talk to you? Of course he did. Forensics is checking the outside of the parcel now. The bomb squad is with them on standby. As soon as they have finished examining the outside of the parcel, the bomb boys will do their thing so that the package’s contents can be inspected. From what Superman told me, its contents sound similar to those of the first mail bomb, except for the rock.”
“Yeah, I know. What I want to tell you is about that rock. But before I do, you must swear to me that what I say will NOT leave this room. You are not to tell anything I say to ANYONE -- not anyone you work with, not even your wife -- NO ONE. Is that clear?”
“As a blue lagoon. What’s so ultra-secret?”
“That rock in Superman’s package is no ordinary rock. It’s called kryptonite. I have had a couple of dealings with it in the past; but as far as I know, only a handful of other people even suspect it exists.
“The first time I heard of it was a bit over a year ago when it was mentioned by a nutcase called Jason Trask. He worked for a covert military agency called Bureau 39. He suspected that it might be connected with Superman. He was killed shortly thereafter.
“This past summer, Arianna Carlin had fashioned a bullet out of kryptonite and shot Superman with it. Of course, Superman is fine, and she is in jail. But as far as I know, she and Trask are the only two people who had known about kryptonite and had connected it with Superman.”
Henderson had been jotting down notes as Lois spoke. When he looked up, he seemed pleased to have new leads. “Hmmm… That could be useful. But leave the investigations to us for a change. Anyone gunning for Superman would have no qualms about disposing of a nosy reporter who was getting too close.”
“You’ll tell no one about kryptonite, and the Planet will get the exclusive?”
“I already said so. Now get.”
Lois was sure Henderson had noticed that she hadn’t promised not to investigate. But those investigations would have to wait a day or two. She had an interview with Senator Thomas this afternoon.
***
Clark wanted to tell Lois about his alter ego. He really did. But just as he planned to go over to her apartment, a five-alarm fire broke out in a chemical plant across the city. He spent the next several hours helping at the scene. By the time the fire had died down, it was nearly midnight. Far too late to go over to Lois’ apartment. And he knew that the next night, Lois would be busy with her Tae Kwon Do. Two nights’ hence it would have to be.
***
The next morning, Clark felt recovered enough from the kryptonite for Superman to be able to fly to Lois’ window before she left for work.
“Hello, Superman! What brings you here so early?”
“A favor. I’m sure Clark told you about the package I delivered to Inspector Henderson?”
Lois nodded.
“I’ve asked the inspector to deliver the contents of the package to you when it is no longer needed as evidence. Would you dispose of the kryptonite it contained?”
“Of course, Superman.”
“I seem to be making a habit of this, don’t I? First a bullet and then a rock. Is there anything I can do to thank you for your troubles?”
Lois looked at him shyly. “Well, Superman, I would normally never ask. But since you offered… Would you take me flying some time?”
Clark smiled. There were few things he would enjoy more than to have Lois in his arms again, whatever the reason. “Certainly.”
***
Inspector Henderson read over the forensics’ report on the mail bomb case. He then looked over his earlier notes on the case. He smiled. This lead was almost too obvious. He saw that a neighbor of the first mail bomb’s victim was a “Jillian *Trask*”. Clearly she warranted another visit.
***
Jillian heard a knock on her apartment door. Before she went to get it, she reached for the green rock. She remembered the letter with Jayjay’s final words of advice to her. She would see no one without having the green rock on her. She put it in her pocket. But what if it didn’t work through fabric? She made sure that it was sticking half out of her pocket, just in case.
***
“C.C.! Great news! While you were sleeping late, I was on the phone with Henderson. They’ve made an arrest in connection with the mail bombings! Seems Trask’s sister was behind it all. She lived next door to Heather Meese. And do you want to hear something funny? She made it easy to pin the rap on her -- she answered the door with a piece of green rock sticking out of her pocket; it was the same type that had been found in the second package. Can you believe that? And to make the case even more airtight, her fingerprints match those found on the second bomb. Case closed. Story written and on Perry’s desk.”
***
As Lois lay in bed awaiting sleep, she thought about C.C.. He was still quite healthy. Whatever had killed off the clones didn’t seem to be affecting him. He must have just had a cold or something the other day. But, she figured, he should have been affected by now.
She still couldn’t get over the similarities between Clark and C.C.. She really couldn’t see how their recent lunches together would have gone any differently if it had been Clark himself she had been eating with. C.C.’s gentle teasing had been exactly like Clark’s. His mannerisms were identical. He even had all of Clark’s detailed knowledge of the workings of the Planet, of the recent news, and of the people they knew.
She thought back on Superman’s clone. Although his body looked like Superman’s, his mind was that of a child. He certainly didn’t possess the knowledge or maturity of his progenitor. The more recent gangster clones, in contrast, had seemed to know everything that their forebears did, and to have the attitudes and personalities of the originals. Wait a minute! They couldn’t have known everything their originals did; surely Dillinger’s clone wouldn’t have been dumb enough to get himself arrested in the same way his original had been. Perhaps Dr. Hamilton had taught them about their originals, but had left out some details. She wondered how long they had been living in Dr. Hamilton’s labs before making themselves known to the world.
And that brought her back to C.C.. He obviously hadn’t had the time or the opportunity to study up on Clark. And yet he was *exactly* like him. More alike than any identical twins she had met ever were -- and identical twins spend the formative years of their lives together. C.C. obviously had never met Clark. So how could they be so identical?
A crazy thought occurred to her. What if C.C. and Clark behaved so identically because they really were one and the same person? Not in the soul-transference sense; she’d never believe in that nonsense. But what if, somehow, Clark hadn’t died that awful night, but had only pretended to do so?
But that was ridiculous. Why would he do something like that? And how could he possibly have survived the gunshot wounds? Only Superman could have survived.
Only Superman could have survived…Lois started to think back about all the times that Clark left and Superman immediately appeared. To all of Clark’s feeble excuses. She mentally compared Clark’s face and Superman’s.
That creep! He hadn’t died at all. He knew she was in mourning for him; he saw how much his ‘death’ had affected her, and yet he just let her grieve.
If he hadn’t wanted to tell her he was Superman, fine. It hurt her that he kept his little secret, but she could kind of understand that. But not to tell her that *Clark* was still alive -- that was beyond the pale.
She shot out of bed and started getting dressed. She was going to go give Clark “Superman” Kent a piece of her mind.
***
Clark couldn’t sleep. He knew he ought to wait until tomorrow to talk to Lois. It was 10:00 now -- possibly not too late for an ordinary visit, but definitely too late to drop the bombshell.
Then again, if she were awake, she would probably be tired at the end of the day. That might actually work to his advantage. She wouldn’t have the energy to get into as raging a fit as she was wont to do. All right, that was a rationalization. But still, the dread of the confrontation that would surely come was driving him crazy. He couldn’t take it anymore.
He flew to an alley a couple of blocks from her apartment, spun into his Clark clothes, and walked up to her building. As he started climbing up the stairs, Lois opened the door.
He was glad that she didn’t have heat vision; if she had, he would have been disintegrated -- invulnerability or no invulnerability.
“You! In my apartment! Now!”
Not a promising start to their conversation! When Lois sounded like Perry, it could not bode well for him. He briefly contemplated postponing “the talk” for another day, but now that he had “walked” (flown?) the last mile, so to speak, he just wanted to get it over with.
Nothing more was said until she closed and locked the door behind her. When she turned to face him, both spoke at once:
“Lois…You deserve to know. I’m Superman.”
“Clark…Don’t deny it! You’re Superman!”
Each just stared in shocked silence as they processed what the other had said. Finally, Clark spoke first.
“Um, yeah. And you called me ‘Clark’!”
“Well, you’re Superman, so you’re obviously not a clone. Kryptonian, yes. Clone, no. I can’t believe you just told me you were Superman! I finally figure it out on my own, and now you tell me! You’re not even going to give me the satisfaction of getting mad at you for keeping it a secret, are you?”
Clark breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t out of the woods yet, but this was going much better than he had feared. Apparently his disclosure had knocked some of the wind out of Lois’ sails. He ventured a tiny, lopsided grin. “Nope.”
“But how dare you let me grieve for you all this time? I thought you were dead!” She pummeled his chest. Of course, they both knew that a few punches wouldn’t hurt Superman - at least, not physically. But Clark didn’t want Lois to hurt her hands, so he took them gently in his own and held them to his chest.
“I am so sorry, Lois. The truth is, I was scared.”
Lois snorted. “You? Scared? What does Superman have to be scared of?”
“First of all, I’m Clark. I just disguise myself as Superman so I can help out openly. And I was scared of you -- of losing you. I knew you’d be mad at me for keeping my secrets. And I don’t blame you. It’s just that, by the time I finally knew you well enough to trust that you wouldn’t turn me into your first Pulitzer, Luthor had come into the picture and complicated things. And after that, well, it seemed like too much time had gone by. I didn’t feel that I could have told you earlier, but I also felt that I ought to have. And I was afraid you’d be so mad at me that I hadn’t -- well, I kept postponing it. And that just made matters worse.
“And then I got shot. Even though I didn’t die, I thought that my life as Clark Kent was over. I managed to bring him back, after a fashion, but you were so cold to me as ‘C.C.’. You wouldn’t let me get close enough to you to tell you the truth."
He looked at Lois with an equal mixture of apology, love, and hesitancy. “Lois, I’m sorry I hadn’t told you before. Will you forgive me?”
She was silent for a few seconds, obviously considering what he had just said. Her manner softened a bit, and he realized that she thought he had made some strong points. He mentally breathed a sigh of relief.
“In time. But first, I have a lot of questions. And I want answers, buster!”
The twinkle in Lois’ eye told Clark that he was off the hook for having kept his secret, but the “Mad Dog Lane” facial expression let him know that, as far as she was concerned, he had better answer whatever she asked.
“So ask!”
“I want to hear all about Clark and Superman. How you do what you do. How you manage living two lives. Who you really are. But first…”
“Yes?”
She suddenly blushed. “Did you mean what you said the other day…About what you had told me in Centennial Park and in front of the Planet building?”
Clark kept holding Lois’ hands with his left hand, but with his right, he reached up tenderly to slide his cupped hand across her cheek. “Every word of it. I loved you when I was in the park and when I was in front of the Planet. I’ve never stopped loving you, Lois, and I never will.”
“And I meant what I said about loving Clark.” She withdrew her hands from his hand and gave him a hug. He enfolded his arms about her and rested his head on hers. They stood there quietly for a few minutes, simply basking in each other’s presence.
Lois leaned back to look at him. “But there’s still one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You owe me a flight, flyboy!”
Lois looked on in delighted astonishment as Clark spin-changed into the Suit, scooped her up, and flew off into what, a few hours earlier, would have been the sunset.
