Sorry about the delay. My computer crashed at about two minutes before midnight.
PREVIOUSLY...
‘Hoka-hey!” Steven Baker shouted.
Clark’s felt the color drain from his cheeks. He knew that expression. A quotation from the Sioux leader, Crazy Horse. ‘Today is a good day to die.’* * * * * * * * *
AND NOW...
Lois was disoriented when she woke to the feel of a wet tongue on her cheek. She quickly sat up and looked around. She was back in the police trailer. Shadow was tending to her as best he could. But how...
“What happened?” she asked Henderson who turned towards her when she spoke.
He smiled. “Well, looky here. Sleeping beauty’s awake.”
“What happened?” she asked again.
“I was hoping you could tell me that.” When she didn’t respond, he continued, figuring she needed a couple more minutes to get her bearings. “Shadow here came back to the trailer a few minutes ago and began scratching frantically on the door. When I realized you weren’t with him and saw that he was holding what appeared to be the seat of a pair of pants in his mouth, I sent an Officer Hodge out to look for you. Given your penchant for getting in trouble, it seemed the prudent course of action. Officer Hodge said Shadow practically dragged him to where you were lying unconscious on the sidewalk across the street. He brought you back here. I had him put you on the couch and he’s gone now to fetch a medic. So what happened?”
“Leit and Munch...”
“The men you think are behind this?”
Lois nodded. “They were watching things from across the street. I guess they got the jump on me.”
Henderson instantly turned to one of the men in the trailer, telling him to get pictures printed up of Munch and Leit and to get them to his men with instructions to sweep the area for any sign of them. Then he picked up his walky-talky and ordered all of his men to detain anyone missing the seat of their trousers.
As Henderson barked orders, Lois swung her feet off the couch and looked at Maggie. “What happened with Superman? Just before I was knocked out, he’d been spotted. Is anyone dead?”
“They’re all safe,” Maggie immediately informed her. “Apparently, we missed the fact that the men were wearing explosive vests. Fortunately, Superman caught it and managed to disable them while tying the men up.”
Lois let out a breath of relief. Still, there was another question she needed to ask. “And Superman?”
“He disappeared the moment my men stormed the room. We’re sending explosive experts up there to handle the vests but it appears that the mission was a complete success.”
“Oh, thank god.” Lois paused to catch her breath before adding. “This isn’t over yet, Henderson. More than four men were part of Munch and Leit’s experiment.”
“I thought of that. While we were waiting for Sawyer and Superman to do their thing, I called the precinct. Told them to proceed with the search warrant for CostMart. Hopefully men are on their way over there even as we speak.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois leaned against Clark’s shoulder as the two of them sat on the couch in Henderson’s office waiting for the results of the raid on CostMart. Apparently, Munch and Leit had vanished - probably that’s what they’d been trying to do when they’d encountered Lois.
Clark’s arm tightened protectively around Lois.
Clark had joined Lois at the trailer about ten minutes after things had quieted down at City Hall. He’d been horrified when he discovered what had transpired while he’d been dealing with the hostages.
His mind turned to Shadow who was on the couch next to Lois. He owed that animal a debt of gratitude. Lois had refused to go to the hospital, of course, but fortunately a medic had arrived to check her out. And at least Clark now knew what to signs to watch out for - so to speak - over the next few hours.
Clark smiled slightly as Lois quietly began playing with his hand, calming him by the simple gesture.
His mind drifted to what Lois had overheard Leit and Munch talking about in the alley. That, together with the reason for the whole hostage situation, made him wonder why they thought he might have gotten his eye sight back. He’d come to believe it was gone for good. So what was he missing?
He shivered slightly as his mind again returned to the events at City Hall. That had been close. Too close. If he hadn’t smelled those explosives, the outcome could have been so very different. As it was... Thankfully, superspeed could cover for a lot of sins. From his time as Superman, he knew about various types of exploding vests. So as soon as he’d grabbed the first kidnapper, his hands had moved so fast he doubted the people in the room would have even seen them as he’d used touch to figure out how it worked and disabled it before moving on to the next man.
He wondered how the entire thing would have gone down if he had his eyesight. He would have undoubtedly simply arrived on the scene and flown in to apprehend the kidnappers. In his rush to act, would he have x-rayed their clothing to discover the explosive vests? He thought so, but wasn’t entirely sure. One thing he did know was that he wouldn’t have had time to smell the explosives. And if he’d tied them up without simultaneously cutting the wires to the vest, it could have been a disaster.
The explosive vests had actually turned out to be the thing that had saved the day. There had been five kidnappers, not four. The fifth one had been there in the guise of a hostage. Only because he could smell the explosives had Clark realized the mistake and been able to correct it. And he’d done it without accidentally tying up any of the hostages.
“You did good,” Lois said softly.
“I sort of did, didn’t I,” he responded. He could feel her face transform into a smile against his shoulder. Still, at the moment, words just couldn’t do justice to the way he felt about being able to defuse the hostage situation. He hadn’t thought he’d ever again feel that kind of satisfaction - the kind he got from being Superman.
She squeezed his hand, telling him she understood. God, how he loved this woman. She knew him so well. Understood what made him tick and supported him without reservation. He raised their joined hands to his lips, gently kissing her fingers even as it crossed his mind to wonder how long he should wait before bringing up the topic of marriage. Because if there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that it was only a matter of time before he began a full-court press to make Lois Lane his wife.
“I’ve got news,” Henderson said, finally returning to his office. “What do you want first? The good news or the bad news.”
* * * * * * * * *
“So...” Lois said, sitting in Perry’s office sometime later. “...the good news is when they executed the search warrant at CostMart, they found a large room where they were holding fifteen more men.”
“The bad news is that all of them appear to have the same type of programming as the men who took the hostages at City Hall,” Clark added. “They’ve taken all of them, including the kidnappers, to the secure wing of the Metropolis Psychiatric Hospital where they hope to reverse the programming. Unfortunately, when we snuck into Storage, Storage and More Storage and got the file on Faraday, it didn’t tell any of the details about how the device actually worked.”
“We did pick up a few other files that looked interesting, however.” Lois shrugged. “Well, they are being destroyed tomorrow so we figured they wouldn’t be missed. But as far as finding out how the Faraday device works, the police didn’t find the device at CostMart,” Lois added. “And since both Leit and Munch seemed to have disappeared again...”
“Actually, they may have done more than disappear,” Perry said.
“What are you talking about?” Lois asked.
“LNN is reporting that two men whose pictures were released by the police as ‘persons of interest’ in relation to the hostage situation at City Hall were found floating in Hobbs Bay about an hour ago. One of them was missing the seat of his trousers.” Perry smiled at Shadow who was currently sleeping at Lois’ feet.
“What happened to them?” Lois asked.
“My guess is that someone wasn’t very impressed when their pictures showed up on television,” Perry responded. “Probably didn’t want them questioned about who they were working for.”
“But if they’re dead...” Lois said.
“...the doctors at MPH will have no idea how to help these men,” Clark concluded.
“Successful amalgamation of the Faraday information with previously acquired erudition is a two step process. After the information has been implanted it can only be activated by exercising the neural pathways, conceivably assisted with an epinephrine catalyst,” Lois said. “What?” she asked when both Perry and Clark both looked stunned. “Oh, great. I did it again, didn’t I. I had another Faraday leak.” When they still continued to stare at her, she asked her original question again. “What?”
“Lois,” Clark said cautiously. “Did you just leak how to fix the problem?”
“No... I don’t know... did I?”
“Successful amalgamation of the Faraday information with previously acquired erudition is a two step process. After the information has been implanted it can only be activated by exercising the neural pathways, conceivably assisted with an epinephrine catalyst,” Clark repeated.
“Did I say that?” she asked. “I don’t even know what epinephrine is.”
“It’s adrenaline,” Clark said.
“So what does that mean? To integrate the two types of knowledge currently in my mind, I have to... what?”
“Practice, Lois,” Clark said excitedly. “It’s much like a child learning to ride a bike.”
“Or Superman learning to use his heat vision,” Lois added, catching on. “That means the information has always been accessible to me, I just have to learn how to access it?”
“Right.”
“But...” She concentrated for a moment before letting out a frustrated breath. “...I don’t even know where the information is, so how do I exercise the proper neural pathways?”
“We’ll figure it out, Lois. Maybe while riding on a roller coaster to get your adrenaline levels elevated.”
Lois nodded. “Well, assuming we haven’t figured it out before Metropolis Wonderworld opens for the season.”
“And assuming that Hell’s Terror Roller Coaster is enough to actually get your adrenaline flowing.”
Lois grinned.
“Perhaps you could take some sort of artificial adrenaline,” Perry suggested.
“No!” both Lois and Clark said at the same time.
“I don’t want to become dependent on an artificial adrenaline supplement,” Lois said.
“I suppose that makes sense,” Perry said. “After all, your Faraday leaks aren’t much more than an annoyance. But it might make sense for the men at the MPH - given that their condition is so much more serious.”
Lois and Clark both nodded.
“Oh, and one more thing we should tell you,” Lois said. “The police have taken Bill Church Jr. in for questioning, but apparently he’s already lawyered up.”
“Junior?” Perry asked. “What about Bill Church Sr.?”
“Apparently by the time the cops arrived, he was being taken away in an ambulance.”
“What happened?”
“Heart attack,” Clark said. “Henderson said it seems to have happened when Superman was first spotted at City Hall. Guess his heart just couldn’t take the thought that Superman had returned.”
“Who wants to bet that Junior is practically salivating at the idea of being in charge of Intergang? Well, provided he beats the current rap, of course,” Lois said.
“Lois, we don’t know if Bill Church Sr. was the head of Intergang, so we can hardly be sure that Junior will take over for him,” Clark said.
“Psshh,” Lois responded.
“Getting back to Superman...” Perry said, obviously realizing the Church discussion wasn’t going anywhere. “Did he say where he’s been or if he’s back for good?”
Lois glanced over at Clark before turning her attention back to Perry. “We didn’t have a chance to ask him,” Lois said. “He came in, dealt with the situation and was gone before anyone had a chance to ask him any questions.”
Perry nodded thoughtfully. “So it’s just another one of those great mysteries in life that we might never know the answer to. Like who was on the grassy knoll in Dallas.”
“Pretty much, Perry. Well, unless he’s back. Then we’ll be sure to ask him where he was,” Lois said.
“Okay,” Perry said. “Let’s get down to business. First, I’m holding the front page open, kids. So get out there and write something I can fill it with. Once that’s done, you should call the MPH and tell them what you think you just learned. They might be able to help you come up with some ideas on how to put theory into practice on integrating those Faraday leaks - not to mention helping those poor men. Have you called Steve’s daughter yet?”
“Not yet,” Lois said.
“Let me do that, then,” Perry said. “Okay, kids, if there’s nothing else...”
“Actually,” Clark said slowly. “there might be something else... something else you should probably know.”
His tone had turned serious and Lois’ mind raced as she tried to figure out what he was thinking. He’d gone silent at the first mention of Superman. So what... Suddenly it hit her. Mayson! In the excitement of the past few hours, she’d forgotten all about Mayson Drake’s threat. And if Mayson’s news came out somewhere and the Daily Planet was caught flat footed, Perry was not going to be pleased.
“What’s that, Clark?” Perry asked.
“There may be some... consequences... coming out of today’s activities. From Superman’s appearance at City Hall.”
“What type of consequences?”
“Someone might... end up... breaking some pretty sensitive news about Superman as a result of his... attendance at City Hall. And I just want you to know before that happens that...”
“Just a second, son,” Perry said, interrupting him. “Are you saying you have reason to believe that someone might have been... blackmailing Superman to prevent him from showing up at City Hall today?”
“Sort of.”
“Is that why he disappeared in the first place?”
“Uhh...” Clark looked slightly flustered, as if not sure how to answer. After all, how would he know the answer to that question? And yet if he didn’t answer, Perry would be left with the impression that Superman was susceptible to blackmail.
“We don’t think so, Perry,” Lois jumped in. “We think that this was just someone trying to stop today’s appearance.”
“I assume you don’t have proof of any of this.”
“Well, not exactly, but...” Clark said.
“I can’t run a story without proof, son,” Perry said, again interrupting Clark, almost as if he was deliberately preventing Clark from continuing with what he might be about to reveal. “Any chance you’re wrong? That this information, whatever it is, won’t come out? It would be a shame if Superman was punished for trying to help. Any chance you could help... prevent that from happening?”
Slowly, Clark’s face transformed from resigned to determined. “Maybe, Chief,” Clark said. “Maybe.”
“Good. Then take the ball and run with it, son.”
* * * * * * * * *
“He knows,” Lois said as sometime later, she walked down the darkened streets of Metropolis with Clark and Shadow. “Somehow, he knows. Unofficially, anyway.”
Clark’s arm slipped around her shoulders even as hers slid underneath his jacket and around his waist.
“Maybe,” Clark admitted. “Still, it’s strange that he’s never said anything.”
“That’s Perry,” Lois responded. “Does it bother you that he probably knows - unofficially?”
Clark shook his head. “I was prepared to tell him when I came back to the Planet.”
“Do you wish he knew officially?”
Again, Clark shook his head. “Actually, in some strange way, it’s easier for me not to be certain of how much he knows. Having it be sort of... unspoken between us. And if we never say it... officially... then we can never slip up.. if that makes any sense.”
Lois chuckled. “Men,” she said. “Your sex has raised not talking to an art form.”
“We talk.”
“Yeah, about the weather, about sports, but never about anything that matters, never about your feelings. Well, unless it’s couched in a bunch of sports metaphors. ‘Take the ball and run with it, son’” she concluded using her best Perry imitation.
Clark smiled as his mind flashed back to his thoughts earlier about giving Lois a full-court press to make her his wife. His arm tightened around her shoulders. “But you love us anyway.”
“You hope,” she responded, a smile in her voice.
“Yes, I do,” he said, turning his head so that he could plant a kiss on her temple. “How am I ever going to convince you to marry me if you don’t.” Before she could respond to that, he changed the subject. “Oh, by the way, I plan to go see Marcus tomorrow.”
“What for?” she asked, slightly flustered. Had he really just brought up the subject of marriage? And how did she even feel about that?
“I want to take him something for all his help,” Clark said, forcing her to push her questions to the back of her mind. “After all, if we hadn’t figured out that Leit and Munch were behind this, we might not have figured out that Superman couldn’t stop the killing by simply showing up. And if they had taken one look at me and set off those suicide vests... It could have been a disaster. I want to pay him back for that.”
“I doubt he’ll take money from you.”
“I agree. But I was thinking he might take a nice new army coat. One that is very, very warm.”
Lois smiled, giving him a squeeze.
“So do you think this will do any good?” Lois asked after a moment of silent walking.
Clark sighed. “I don’t know. But Perry’s right. I have to, at the very least, try again.”
Lois nodded. “Maybe Mayson will be so impressed with what you did tonight that she’ll forget how much she dislikes Superman.”
“Not likely. She’s more likely to think that there wouldn’t have been any emergency at all if Superman had never existed. But maybe she’ll agree to keep quiet anyway.”
They stopped on the street across from the grand old building which housed the D.A.’s office. Clark sighed heavily.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Lois said, trying to find a way to get Clark in a slightly more optimistic frame of mind before they talked to Mayson.
“About?”
“My Faraday leaks.”
“What about them?”
“Well, if the device can be used to implant any type of information, why couldn’t Faraday have used it to put classical poetry in my mind?”
Clark’s eyebrows crinkled.
“Well, wouldn’t it be amazing if, instead of spouting science, I was prone to suddenly quoting some beautiful verse or poem?”
Clark immediately laughed.
She gave him a squeeze. “So come on... Let’s tackle the monster.”
Suddenly, Clark’s head shot up as a familiar scent hit his nose.
“What?” Lois asked, but Clark’s mind was already consumed with locating the source of the smell.
Clark sniffed the air. The loss of his sight had made him even more sensitive to smells and he’d just recently smelled this particular scent. But where was it coming from?
* * * * * * * * *
Mayson Drake came down the steps to the D.A.’s office, one hand holding a briefcase, the other pressing a cell phone to her ear.
“Okay, well I’m just leaving now,” Mayson said. “If you want the scoop of the century, meet me at Callards in twenty minutes.”
Folding up her phone, she picked up her pace as she walked to her car. If Clark Kent thought she was not a woman of her word or would let sentiment stop her from doing what was right, he was sadly mistaken. He’d promised her that Superman was gone for good. And yet at the first possible chance he had to prove that he meant it, he’d broken his word.
Approaching her car, she hit the button on her remote, undoing the locks. She climbed inside and closed the door before putting the key in the ignition and turning. The engine seemed to struggle to come to life.
She gave a gasp that was half surprise and half terror when her car door was ripped off and arms began pulling her out. She caught sight of the face of the man holding her, a face shaded with sunglasses.
He pulled her away from the car, forcing her to the ground, his body practically on top of hers. “Clark, what the hell do you think...”
Boom!
She automatically threw her hands over her head when the explosion came, sending shards of her car flying past her. She could tell that pieces were hitting Clark as he kept his body between her and the car. It felt as if it went on forever. But after what was in actuality probably only a few seconds, the excitement ended.
She was breathing heavily but unharmed as Clark slowly released her and moved away. Having no strength in her legs to rise to her feet, she sank back onto her butt beside the ruins of her car.
“Why?” she finally asked, her eyes alighting on Clark, even as she realized that Lois, sporting one hell of a black eye, was now approaching the scene with... a dog?
“Why what?” Clark asked, forcing Mayson’s mind back on track.
“Why did you save me? If you’d just waited a few more seconds, all your problems would have been solved.”
“That’s not how I work,” Clark responded, his words almost a rebuke.
Mayson gathered her strength before finally rising to her feet. It was an awkward moment when they were all finally facing each other. “I don’t quite know how to thank you,” she said, not able to look at Clark directly.
“Well, maybe you could just keep what you know about him to yourself,” Lois suggested immediately.
The sound of sirens proceeded the arrival of police vehicles and a fire engine and in moments, the area was being flooded by people.
* * * * * * * * *
Fade To Black
* * * * * * * * *
ML
