PREVIOUSLY...
Lois watched and Clark listened as LNN covered a number of other stories. The ‘Clark is Superman’ story was still the top story of the day. But other than reiterating Mayson’s claim and some basic biographical information about Clark and a shot of him being rushed into the Daily Planet this morning, they didn’t have much - and certainly no pictures of Smallville or his folks.
“Maybe the worst of it is over,” Clark said when the segment had played.
“Maybe,” Lois responded skeptically even as she found herself wondering what might be coming next.AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Thursday
* * * * * * * * *
Superman Living In Sin
Dirt Digger
By Samantha RichardsA source inside the Daily Planet has confirmed that Clark Kent, aka Superman, is living in sin with his reporting partner, Lois Lane.
Speculation about a sexual relationship between Kent and Lane has been frequent in media circles for over a year, but until it was revealed that Kent was Superman, no one took much official notice.
However, there can be no denying that an illicit sexual relationship exists between them now since Superman has been residing with Lane in a conjugal relationship without the legitimacy of a marriage license since his return to Metropolis.
In fact, last night Lane and Superman spent a quiet evening in their apartment during which the only lights on in the apartment appeared to be in the bedroom. Even after taking a delivery of Chinese food, the lights in the main part of the apartment stayed off, leaving observers to wonder if they were ever going to come up for air.
When asked if Superman lived up to the title of Man of Steel in bed, Lois Lane had no comment. Still, after last night, one can definitely conclude that he’s not faster than a speeding bullet.
However, one can’t help but wonder how the revelation that Superman is also a superstud will affect his moral authority.
* * * * * * * * *
When Lois and Clark arrived in the lobby of the apartment building the next morning, Lois spotted a sign that had not been there the day before. It forcefully reminded residents that they were not to open the security doors without knowing who they were admitting and informing them that it would keep everyone safe.
Obviously, that had been put up because of the break-in at their apartment the previous day.
When they climbed into the jeep, Clark had quickly located a bug and, unobtrusively, had disabled it. Then he’d suggested to Lois that if she had concerns about listening devices at any point in the future, she simply tap his ear and he would listen for them.
Arriving at the Planet, Lois and Clark briefly talked to Perry - mainly so that they could tell him about the attempt to bug their apartment and warn him about the possibility that there could be surveillance devices here, too. Perry had taken the warning seriously, promising to get someone in to check for such devices later today - and then regularly thereafter until this matter was resolved.
If it was resolved.
Not that anyone had voiced that thought.
Of course, they had seen the article in today’s copy of the Dirt Digger. Jimmy had provided it to them as soon as they had arrived at their desks. But they hadn’t mentioned it to Perry.
So Lois was surprised when Perry walked into the conference room for the morning meeting carrying a copy of the Dirt Digger.
Without introduction, he began reading. “A source inside the Daily Planet has confirmed that Clark Kent, aka Superman, is living in sin with his reporting partner, Lois Lane.” He paused then, looking around at the reporters gathered in the room. “Listen up, folks, if you have something to say about Lois and Clark, talk to Eduardo. Anyone caught giving information about Lois or Clark to other papers will be fired! If you value your jobs, keep your traps shut.”
Perry’s gaze was hard as it rested on various reporters, those he thought were the most viable suspects.
“But, Chief,” Ralph said. “It isn’t as if they didn’t already know that Lois and Clark are shacked up.”
“I don’t care if they want to know if Lois is a woman and Clark is a man. No one says anything to anyone outside this paper! If I see ‘a source inside the Daily Planet has confirmed...’ in any other papers, I promise you that heads are going to roll. When Eduardo is ready to publish his story, the other papers can quote us. Until then... nothing.” He let that sink in for a moment. “Understood?” he finally asked. “Understood?” he asked again when no one responded.
After a general muttering of people saying they understood, Perry changed the subject, finally getting down to business. “Myerson,” he said, directing his attention to one of the reporters. “Anything from the overnights that we should know about?”
“Another inmate died of natural causes at Stryker’s last night,” Myerson responded. “That’s a total of twelve in the past three months - more than died of natural causes in the previous three years combined. So I was thinking....”
* * * * * * * * *
Clark knew that he’d basically tuned out after the Perry’s initial introduction. When the meeting was over, he slunk out of the room, his head down, trying to be as invisible as possible. He had pretty much figured out from the questions he and Lois had been hammered with when they left their apartment this morning that something had been said, officially, about his relationship with Lois. But when Lois had read the article to him, and had described the picture at the top of the article of the two of them kissing - obviously taken before they’d found the cameras in their apartment the previous night - he’d found himself feeling...
Violated.
That was the only way he could describe how he felt.
The detail Samantha Richards had been able to decipher even without the bugs and cameras, which had obviously been planted by the Dirt Digger, made him feel dirty. And he was fairly certain they had changed the color of his shirt to blue to remind people that they were looking at a photo of Superman kissing his lover. Inside, along with the story, were pictures of the inside of their apartment - including one of the big bed he shared with Lois.
He knew Perry had only been doing what he had to do. But he still couldn’t help but feel violated all over again by having the article referred to in front of his colleagues. The fact that everyone knew what he and Lois had done the previous evening, in the privacy of their own bedroom left him feeling exposed and furious.
They had no right! None at all!
“Hey, Kent,” Ralph said. “Guess Lois really is the Ice Queen if it takes you all night to get her off. Congrats on hanging in there though.”
Clark’s response was automatic. He reached out, grasping his colleague’s shirt with one hand, jerking Ralph towards him.
“Hey, Kent, chill. There’s no reason to get violent here.”
Clark’s jaw ticked even as he twisted the collar of Ralph’s shirt, causing it to tighten around the man’s neck. He could feel Ralph’s hands pawing at his.
He felt Lois’ hand on his arm almost instantly. “He’s not worth it, Clark,” she said softly.
Her voice broke through his rage and he released his grip on Ralph.
“Buy yourself a sense of humor, Kent,” Ralph said when he was finally out of Clark’s reach.
Clark jerked forward, but between Ralph’s hasty retreat and Lois tightening her grip on his arm, he didn’t get his hands on Ralph again.
“What’s going on, Clark? You usually don’t lose your temper like that.”
Her voice was quiet, not much more than a whisper, obviously kept soft to prevent her from being overheard. He listened for a moment, realizing what Lois had obviously already seen. No one was nearby. He also listened for the high pitched frequency that would alert him to listening devices. He couldn’t detect any.
“I’m sorry,” Clark said. “It’s just... They know everything that happened between us last night, Lois. Everything.”
“Well, not exactly everything.” Her voice was slightly suggestive, trying to direct his mind, he knew, in a different direction. But even her flirtation was not enough to distract him. How could it when his privacy had been violated like that?
“They know that we spent the evening in bed. They know what we ate for supper. They even know that we ate it in bed.”
“Shh.”
Lois’ quiet whisper informed him that his voice had risen. He quickly calmed himself.
“They had no right, Lois,” he said, much more softly but no less intently. “No right at all to invade our privacy like that.”
“No, they didn’t,” Lois agreed softly.
“How can you be so calm about this?”
“I’m not. But we have to brush it off. We buy ourselves a set of really good blinds for the windows. Maybe I can even call in a favor or two and get some blackout curtains from Perry’s old army buddy, Admiral Haberstettzer.”
“Stormin’ Norman?” Clark asked.
Lois nodded. “Not sure how many games of battle ship he will want me to play, but I’m sure we can work out something if this goes on long enough.”
He ran a hand agitatedly though his hair.
“So what are you doing today?” Lois asked, changing the subject even as her hand reached up to finger comb his hair back into place.
“I don’t know,” Clark said, following her obvious lead into normality. “The only lead I have on Mayson’s attempted murder is a dead man. How do I follow up on that?”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“Did you hear Myerson’s comments in the morning meeting?”
“I was sort of distracted. What did he say?”
“He said there have been twelve deaths by natural causes at Strykers in the past three months - more than had died in the three previous years put together.”
“Do they do autopsies when someone dies in prison of natural causes?”
“No,” Lois said. “I know that because there was some talk a few years about doing autopsies for everyone who died in prison - whether it was from natural causes or not.”
“What happened?”
“They decided it would be too expensive.”
“Hmph. So... you think there may be a connection?”
“I don’t know. I just found it interesting.”
“It is,” Clark said, his mind beginning to turn. “Maybe I should have a chat with Myerson.”
“Couldn’t hurt.”
“So what do you have planned?”
“Well, I told you last night that I planted a bug in Bill Church Senior’s hospital room...”
Clark nodded.
“I need to go back there and change the tape. Then I need to go to Star Labs and talk to Dr. Klein about some drug formulas I sent him yesterday.”
“Maybe I should come with you,” Clark said. “After all, I need to return Ata to Dr. Klein.”
“That was a great article, by the way,” Lois said. “I think if anything can bring in donors to Dr. Klein’s project, it’s your article. It was brilliant and passionate. You made it come alive, the feeling of freedom this invention gives to someone who is blind.”
“I thought you didn’t like the touchy-feely stuff.”
“I like it when you do it,” Lois said, her voice suddenly playful. “I especially like the touchy-feely stuff then.”
Clark felt himself begin to relax even as a smile came to his lips. “Well, we’ll have to try out more of that touchy-feely stuff later then.”
“Definitely,” Lois growled, giving his butt a playful swat as she turned to get her coat.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark and Shadow climbed out from under the blanket in the backseat of the old clunker Lois had again borrowed from the Daily Planet even as Lois stripped off the ball cap and wig she was using.
“They’re going to catch on to us eventually,” Clark said as Shadow licked his face.
“Well, hopefully by then this will have all blown over.”
“And if it hasn’t... How are we supposed to do our jobs if we have paparazzi following us everywhere?”
Lois turned towards him. “Let’s not borrow trouble.”
“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” Clark said.
“What exactly does that mean?”
“It’s from the Bible. It means... Let’s not borrow trouble.” Clark grinned.
Lois rolled her eyes as she opened the door to the car and climbed out. She threw the trench coat onto the seat and closed the door. “Ready?” she asked when a moment later, Clark and Shadow joined her on the sidewalk.
When Clark nodded, she placed his free hand on her arm and began walking them towards Star Labs.
* * * * * * * * *
“Hello, Ms. Lane,” Dr. Klein said when he met them down at the entrance to Star Labs. “I was hoping you’d drop by this morning. I’ve been looking at those drug formulas you sent me and they’re quite fascinating. Unfortunately, I’ve only had a chance to thoroughly examine a couple of them. I should be able to get to the others at the end of the week or early next week. I hope that’s okay. Anyway, I... Oh, Superman, I didn’t know you were coming, too.”
“I’m Clark Kent,” Clark said at the same time that Lois said...
“He’s not Superman.”
“Oh. Oh... Uhh... I guess I just never heard any denial so I thought... But that was foolish of me. I should have known that Superman couldn’t be blinded. I would love to meet him someday. I’ve always wondered if he has a doctor. Studying his super biology, discovering how he manages to seemingly defy the laws of gravity, I suspect that would be a fascinating study.
“But then, why would Superman have a doctor?” Klein continued. “It’s not as if he’s affected by the common cold. Although, I suppose there could be some sort of Kryptonian equivalent - a super bug, if you will. Could you imagine the amount we could learn from studying...” Dr. Klein seemed to realize that Lois and Clark both looked dazed and quickly cut himself off.
“Anyway, Mr. Kent, it’s good to see you again. I can’t thank you enough for your article about my little device. I’ve already started getting calls from potential investors. I thought your last line... Where you wrote that you’d be first in line to buy one when they finally came on the market was the best advertising I could have hoped for.”
“Well, that’s why I’m here. I came to give you back your device.”
“Oh, well, we can talk about that upstairs. Please, come on in.”
With that, he took them up in the elevator, only talking again when they were all safely seated in his office.
“About the device...”
“Oh right,” Clark said, reaching down and removing Ata.
“I’m sorry about this, Mr. Kent,” Dr. Klein said as he took back the device. “I would let you keep it, but this is my only prototype. What I will promise, though, is that as soon as I have a spare, it will be yours.”
“That’s not necessary, Dr. Klein,” Clark said. “I’m a reporter. I was just doing my job.”
“Given the great recommendation you gave it, I’d like you to do this for you. I wouldn’t expect that it will take too long... especially with the investors I expect your article will generate. A couple weeks at most.”
Lois reached over and squeezed Clark’s arm as Clark stuttered out a heartfelt thank you.
“He’s been dreading the day he would have to give it up,” Lois informed Klein.
“Well, that was evident from his article. And the expense... given the amount of money already coming in to help get the device on the market... I figure I still come out on the better end of that deal. Anyway... about those drug tests...”
Lois leaned forward.
“Nirvana was interesting. The main component was acetylsalicylic acid.”
“Aspirin?” Lois asked, surprised.
“Very good, Ms. Lane. Yes. ASA. A simple pain medication.”
“Oh, but...” Lois voice trailed off. She hadn’t expected it to be something so innocuous. “Well, I guess that’s a bust if they are just inventing some new pain reliever.”
“Not necessarily. As I said, the main ingredient is acetylsalicylic acid. But it’s the other components that make it interesting. I’d need to do further studies, of course, to be certain, but my initial examination of the way these drugs are combined... I suspect they would make one very susceptible to suggestion. They would be susceptible to suggestion about five minutes after taking the drug with the effects diminishing quickly thereafter.”
“But what would be the purpose of mixing these drugs together.”
“My first thought was in using it for the treatment of migraines,” Dr. Klein said. “The effects of the aspirin could be magnified by suggestion, perhaps by suggesting to the person after they take it that the headache is gone.”
“Could that work?” Clark asked.
Klein shrugged. “The mind can have a powerful influence on the body. And if the right suggestion were given... Yes, I suspect with the help of the aspirin, it could bring a lot of relief to migraine sufferers. Or, actually, to anyone suffering pain. Give the person what is basically an aspirin, wait five minutes and then tell them they’re better and let the mind take it from there.”
“That’s assuming that the person giving the suggestion is as ethical as you, Dr. Klein,” Lois said. “Otherwise... you give someone a pill for a headache and then get them to do whatever you want.”
“Within reason,” Klein clarified. “Suggestion can only take a person so far. For example, we know from hypnosis that a person can’t be made to do something that is totally against their nature.”
“But they could be coerced into doing things they don’t want to do. Or even... wouldn’t normally do?”
Dr. Klein nodded. “The other drug I was able to examine was Resurrection.”
“Has someone found a drug that will bring people back from the dead?” Lois asked.
“Almost the opposite, actually.”
“You mean it kills people?” Clark asked.
“No. But it mimics the symptoms of death.”
“How’s that?” Lois said.
“It’s as if... the person has extreme hypothermia. The person’s heart stops, but the drug keeps them from dying. They come to, apparently, with no lasting brain damage, when the drug wears off.”
“But what would be the point of such a drug?” Clark asked.
“Well, the only thing I could think of was for the movies. If a person was supposed to die, they could be given a small amount of the drug and it would mimic the effects of death, giving the camera crew more time to take their shots before the person would have to breathe again. Or to make the theater much more realistic.”
“Sounds like a dangerous drug if that’s all it’s supposed to be used for.”
“Would it look as if the person died of natural causes?” Lois suddenly asked.
“Yes. A heart attack, probably,” Klein said. “Why?”
“Clark, I just had a wild thought. Your dead man. The one Scardino is convinced created the bomb that was used to try to kill Mayson Drake...”
“Maybe he used this drug to escape from prison,” Clark completed for her.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois and Clark had just arrived back at the Daily Planet, still discussing the possibility that Intergang was using Resurrection to break select individuals out of prison when their attention was diverted by LNN playing quietly in the background.
“This is In Your Face with Barry Dunning,” Dunning said. “Sleazebag,” Lois muttered, taking off her coat and hanging it up, even as she looked at the television. The background made it clear that Dunning was currently standing on a busy Metropolis street corner.
“Today we’re asking ordinary people for their reactions to the revelations about Superman living with his super strumpet.”“Super strumpet?” Lois asked incredulously.
“You sir,” Dunning said, apparently stopping a man in a business suit at random. “Have you heard about Superman living with a woman?”
“Yes, I have.”
“So what do you think about that? Does it bring into question his moral character?”
“All I know is that if he was a candidate for president, he’d be folding up camp about now.”
“And you ma’am?” Dunning said, turning to someone else. “What do you think about Superman living with his girlfriend?”
“My momma used to say that if you’re ready to sleep with a man, you’re ready to marry him,” the older woman said. “If he’s going to put himself out there as some sort of moral authority, he shouldn’t be living with a woman. What kind of example is that to our children?”“Superman has never claimed to be some sort of moral authority,” Lois said, outraged. “All he’s ever said is he wants to help!”
“And what about you?” Dunning asked, squatting down to talk to a young boy, probably no more than eight, standing next to his mother. “What do you think about Superman living with his girlfriend?”
“Superman used to be my hero,” the boy said. “But not anymore. I asked my mom to get rid of all my Superman stuff.”
“He used to refuse to wear anything but his Superman t-shirts,” his mother said. “But when he found out...” She pointed to t-shirt he was wearing. “This is the only non-Superman t-shirt we could find this morning that still fit him.That one got to Lois. In her peripheral vision, she saw Clark walk away. She turned her head to watch him enter the conference room, closing the door behind him and Shadow.
She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before getting up to follow. She walked into the conference room, glad that the blinds were drawn when she saw Clark sitting, slumped over, his arms resting on his knees. Shadow, now free from his halter, was desperately licking at Clark’s hands - as if trying to comfort him. She quietly closed the door behind her.
She glanced around the room. Walking up to Clark, she tapped his ear.
“There aren’t any surveillance devices in here,” Clark said.
She let out a breath of relief before speaking. “You know that Dunning’s report is going to be terribly biased. He likes to take the extreme position... whatever that is... and would have found people who took that position to interview. There are probably just as many people out there who disagree with him.”
“I know that, Lois, but...” His voice trailed off and he gave his head a slight shake.
She hesitated for a moment more, her heart going out to him. She loved him so much - and to see how everything that had happened today was tearing him up inside...
Suddenly coming to a decision, she stepped in front of him. Pushing Shadow gently to one side, she removed Clark hands from where they were holding his face and dropped to her knees in front of him, still holding his hands in her own. “Marry me, Clark,” she said. “We could go down to City Hall today and just get it done. There’s no waiting period or blood tests required in New Troy. This will all go away if we just get married.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
