PREVIOUSLY...
As a result, this reporter can only conclude that Ms. Drake woefully misled the public in making her declaration that Clark Kent was Superman for reasons best known only to her.
Although Ms. Drake declined to be interviewed, a source who knows Ms. Drake claims that her heart was broken when Clark Kent began cohabiting with Lois Lane so speculation that she was acting as a woman scorned does not seem completely unfounded.* * * * * * * * *
AND NOW...
As Lois and Clark pushed their way down the steps leading to her apartment building to get their cab first thing the next morning, Lois glanced at the small park, kiddy-corner to her apartment. All sorts of temporary structures had been erected in a haphazard manner. Litter was scattered everywhere.
As Clark stopped to allow Shadow to do his business, she spotted Michelle Sitkowitz, a neighbor of hers, trying to make her way into the building and gave the woman an embarrassed smile. She cringed when Michelle met her smile with an annoyed glare.
Since Shadow was now finished and Clark had cleaned up, she redirected her mind to getting them safely to the taxi so that they could go to the police station to collect her jeep before going to work. Even though it was Saturday, with the Church operation scheduled for ten o’clock, they wanted to be at the Daily Planet in case the story broke today. Martha and Jonathan would be meeting them at the Daily Planet in the early afternoon anyway, so it would likely be a short day.
Besides, it was better than being held prisoner inside the apartment. With the paparazzi camped out here, it wasn’t as if they could go for a walk or to a restaurant or take in a movie or anything else that they might normally want to do on their days off.
Would they ever be able to do so again?
Lois forced herself to push that thought out of her mind. No point in fuming about things she could not control.
* * * * * * * * *
“Have you seen Eduardo’s story yet?” Jimmy said, skipping up to them as they stepped off the elevator. “He did a great job tearing apart Mayson’s story.”
“Not yet,” Lois said.
“Jimmy!” Perry bellowed across the newsroom.
“Oops. Gotta go,” Jimmy said. “Anyway, I left copies of all the papers I thought you might want to see on your desk.”
They stood still for a moment after Jimmy dashed away, rushing to answer his boss’s summons.
“Well?” Clark finally said. “Shall we?”
Once they were settled at Lois’ desk, Clark detached Shadow’s halter so that he could curl up in what had become his traditional spot next to Lois’ desk and Lois began reading headlines to Clark as she quickly flipped through the various papers.
‘You’re Under Arrest, Superman’
Metropolis Star
By Toby Raynes
Kryptonian Birth Control
Dirt Digger
By Samantha Richards
Superman Prefers Victoria’s Secret
Dirt Digger
By Samantha Richards“Well, I guess we now know who busted into our apartment,” Clark said.
“Only way we’ll prove it is if the police found some evidence that Samantha Richards was in our apartment. Of course, I'm sure these headlines will help get a conviction if there is other evidence that can be used as well,” Lois responded before continuing to read headlines.
Superman’s Tushy Pampered With Super Soft Toilet Paper
The National Whisper
By Martha McNeil
Superman Lit La Version En Braille De Paris Bulletin
The Paris Bulletin
By Bernard Duval“What does that mean?” Lois asked.
“It means Superman reads the Braille version of The Paris Bulletin.”
“I should have known.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have thrown out those papers,” Clark muttered.
“They know what type of toilet paper we use, and what type of birth control we practice and you’re concerned about the papers you threw out?”
“I’m concerned that I’m giving free advertising to someone who went through our trash.”
“Good point,” Lois said. “But...” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I hope The Paris Bulletin is the only foreign language paper you threw out.”
“It was. Why?” Following her lead, he dropped the volume of his voice to match hers.
“Clark knowing French doesn’t really mean much...”
“But everyone knows that Superman can communicate in a lot of different languages.”
“Exactly. So... what else do we have here?” she asked in a much more normal tone of voice before continuing her search.
Senior Kents Charm Reporters Out Of Smallville
Tattle-Tail Weekly
By Sandra Bergquest
Smallville Terrorizes Reporters
National Inquisitor
By Leo Nunk“Sounds like something happened in Smallville,” Clark said.
“We’ll have to ask your folks about it when they get here,” Lois responded still flipping through papers until she found the one she was looking for. Eduardo’s article. She tugged the Daily Planet from the pile and immediately began reading the article to Clark.
The phone suddenly rung. “Clark Kent,” Clark said, picking up the phone on Lois’ desk.
“Hi, Clark.”
“Henderson,” Clark said to Lois before turning his attention back to the person on the other end of the line. She leaned closer and he held the phone in such a way that she could listen in.
“Think you can lose your entourage this morning?” Henderson asked.
“We can try. Why?”
“If you can, you might want to take a trip over to MGH by nine thirty.”
“Any luck tracking down Baby Rage last night?”
“Unfortunately, no. Dr. Grant never went home last night, so we couldn’t bring him in for questioning, and I didn’t have enough evidence to get a search warrant for CostMart. But... Well, I did have some of the boys staking out CostMart and... apparently they saw Dr. Grant leaving with an escort a few minutes ago. He was carrying one of those cooler things.”
“The type they use to transport organs?” Clark asked.
“That’s what we’re thinking. He headed directly to MGH. He’s booked an operation room for ten o’clock this morning.
“At this point,” Henderson continued, “if your theory is right, we figure there’s nothing we can do to save Baby Rage so there’s no real rush to stop this before the operation is scheduled to take place. Then we can hopefully snag the doctor and both of the Churches.”
“We’ll try to be there. But don’t wait for us if we can’t lose our tail,” Lois said.
“Don’t worry, Lane,” Henderson said, a smile in his voice. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Oh, and Inspector,” Clark said before Henderson could hang up. “Do you have a contact number for Agent Daniel Scardino?”
“The DEA agent?”
“That’s right. Would you consider giving him an invitation, too?”
“Why?”
“He’s the one who gave us the critical piece of information to alert us to the fact that people were escaping from prison by pretending to be dead,” Clark said. “I think he deserves to be there.”
Lois reached over and gently ran her hand down his cheek - once again reminded that she’d fallen in love with a good man.
* * * * * * * * *
Getting out of the Daily Planet was easier than the previous day. Not that the number of people out front had exactly diminished as a result of Eduardo’s article - although some of the more reputable news organizations seemed to have decreased the number of reporters they had covering it. Probably because Eduardo’s article was giving them serious second thoughts.
Both Lois and Clark had thanked Eduardo for his story - and had learned something interesting. When Lois had asked Eduardo what had made him think to contact the facial recognition expert the Star had quoted, he’d told them that he’d received an anonymous tip - from Star reporter, Toby Raynes. Apparently, she hadn’t been very happy with that particular omission to her story by her editor.
One of the disadvantages of employing an ethical reporter was that they had... ethics. The advantage was that people trusted her stories. And with Mayson still maintaining the truth of her allegation, Eduardo’s story hadn’t solved the problem - not even with the more legitimate news organizations.
And, of course, the yellow press was still as hungry as ever for any Clark/Superman story. Given the number of papers they were selling, why would they ever give it up? Some of the tabloid papers, like the Dirt Digger, normally a weekly paper, had published a new addition every day since the story had come out.
Lois hoped the Kents had some brilliant plan that would solve this mess - otherwise, it was going to be a long time before the tabs gave up their pursuit of this story, if they ever did.
So a lack of reporters wanting a story about them was not what had made it easier to sneak past them today. It was because today they’d tried a different approach. They had both hidden under a blanket in the back of Jimmy’s car - confusing the heck out of Shadow - and had Jimmy drive them to the hospital.
* * * * * * * * *
By the time Lois and Clark arrived, Inspector Henderson had his group assembled but they still hadn’t moved. Scardino was there, too, and greeted them cordially, thanking them for remembering him.
“What are you waiting for?” Lois asked.
“We want to make sure we have everyone in one place before we move in,” Henderson said.
“What do you mean by...”
“Bill Church Sr. is being transported to the operating room.” The voice coming in over Henderson’s radio cut Lois off.
“Standby to go in,” Henderson responded into his radio before turning to Lois and Clark. “Remember to keep back. We don’t expect anyone to start shooting, but this is a police operation.” He directed his gaze at Lois. “And don’t say anything. You’re only here as a courtesy. Even if we got the crucial tip from you, I won’t hesitate to throw your butts out of there.” He looked at Scardino. “You’re only here as a courtesy, too. So the same rules apply to you.”
Before Lois could reply, he raised the radio and instructed the officers on the other end that they were a go.
When they opened the door to the operating room, the anesthesiologist was preparing to put Bill Church Sr. to sleep. He jerked back when police officers flooded the room. Senior was not unconscious yet, although he was quite obviously groggy.
“MPD. No one move,” Henderson said, his gun in his hands.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The man who spoke was obviously the doctor. “This is a sterile room. We’re about to perform an operation. And get that dog out of here!”
“I don’t think so,” Henderson said, his men immediately securing the people in the room. “This is an illegal operation.”
“I’ll have your job, Inspector,” Junior said, surprising everyone when he pulled down his surgical mask. Officers moved quickly, securing him and taking the gun from where it was tucked into his trousers.
“What are you doing here, Junior?” Henderson asked. “Oh wait... Here to make sure Dr. Grant doesn’t try anything?”
“Get out of here,” Junior continued, outraged. “That heart will be of no use to my father if it takes too long to perform this operation.”
“Heart?” Henderson asked. “You have a heart here?”
“Right in here,” Junior said, tapping the cooler. “And if you don’t get out of here right now so that these doctors can treat my dad, I’ll make sure you’re dismissed from the force.”
“Funny that you say there’s a heart in there,” Henderson said, ignoring the threat completely. “I checked the national registry of donated organs this morning - and this heart...” Henderson tapped the cooler. “...is not on it. I spoke to people at the United Network for Organ Sharing, and they checked into it. They can find no records for a heart transplant for Bill Church or any transplants at all at Metropolis General Hospital today. Heck, according to them, Mr. Church isn’t even on the list for an organ transplant”
“We used another organization,” Junior said.
Dr. Grant practically groaned.
“Tell him why that’s not likely, Doctor?”
“Because UNOS is a private, non-profit organization that manages the entire nation’s organ transplant system under contract with the federal government,” Grant said.
“Besides, when we take this heart to our experts... What do you want to bet this heart has the same DNA as an escaped prisoner - Baby Rage? You didn’t think about the fact that we have his DNA on file, did you, Junior? When we prove that this is Baby Rage’s heart, not only will we have you on illegal organ distribution, we’ll have you for murder. Want to know what will knock Kent is Superman off the front page? ‘Billionaire Kills Man To Steal Heart.’”
In the background, Lois pulled out her notebook, wanting to write down that potential headline. She felt Clark jab her in the ribs.
“What are you talking about, Inspector?” Junior asked. “I read a couple days ago in the Daily Planet...” His eyes briefly alighted on Lois and Clark. “...that Baby Rage died of natural causes in Strykers. Or... are you saying that he didn’t die in prison?”
Henderson bristled, obviously realizing the same thing that Lois and Clark recognized - Junior knew that city officials didn’t want prisoner escapes leaking to the public and was trying to use that information.
After taking a moment to regain his composure, Henderson managed to regroup. “Even if that’s true, we’ve still got you on illegal organ distribution and desecrating a dead body. Boy, that could make an even better headline. ‘Billionaire Desecrates Dead Body.’ Regardless, until this is all sorted out, you’re all under arrest.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois and Clark stayed until the entire police investigation was complete and they got a statement from Henderson.
They said their goodbyes to Scardino who informed them he was headed back to Washington and told Clark to cherish what he had - Clark had assured him that he did. The two men had shaken hands and Lois had received a kiss on the cheek before Scardino had left for the airport.
After saying goodbye to Scardino, they decided to retrieve Jimmy’s pen from Senior’s room and the tape recorder from the storage room while waiting for Jimmy to give them a ride back to the Daily Planet. As they exited Senior’s room, Lois spotted Mindy Black over at the counter talking to another nurse.
“Okay, so maybe Bill Church wasn’t the right guy for me,” Mindy said. “But I heard that Tim Lake was having some sort of minor procedure done on the third floor.”
“Isn’t he married to Amber Lake?” the other nurse asked as Lois and Clark walked by.
Lois glanced over in time to see Mindy shrug. “A minor complication at best.”
Lois gave her head a disgusted shake. Mindy was the type of women who gave other women a bad name.
Jimmy was waiting for them when they arrived at the front doors to the hospital. As soon as they arrived back at the Daily Planet, Lois and Clark immediately went to Perry’s office.
“So anyway,” Lois told Perry once they had filled him in on the story, “since they’d seen Dr. Grant taking the container containing the heart from CostMart, they were able to get a search warrant.”
“And did they find Baby Rage’s body?” Perry asked.
“Minus one heart,” Lois said. “Also, he was killed by slicing his throat. By the amount of blood they found at the scene, there is no way the Churches are going to be able to claim that he was already dead.”
“If he was killed with a doctor right there, why didn’t he just give him an injection or something?” Perry asked.
“Dr. Grant might have been concerned about giving him something that might affect his heart. Or... he refused to kill him and so one of the thugs killed Baby Rage and then Dr. Grant removed the heart. It’s going to take some time to sort out Dr. Grant’s culpability.”
“What about the other escaped prisoners?”
“They picked up a few of them during the raid at CostMart,” Clark said. “Including Sean Macarthy, the man who designed the bomb used to blow up Mayson Drake’s car.”
“But a lot of others are still out there somewhere,” Lois added. “At least now the city can’t keep this story buried. And, hopefully, they’ll find information in Church’s files that will help them locate the rest.”
“And the men they picked up are spilling their guts about the Churches,” Clark added. “Seems that now that Intergang can’t promise an ‘early release’ program, they’re all trying to save their own butts.”
“They transferred Senior into a secure wing of the MGH and put him on the official transplant list,” Lois said. “And Dr. Grant and Junior have been taken into custody.”
“They also found the operations center for Intergang when they searched CostMart this time.”
“That’s because we told them they missed it last time,” Lois added.
“So Henderson doesn’t think either Church has a hope of walking away from this one.”
“Well, that’s one hell of a story, kids. And to think you got it while those parasites outside were practically climbing all over you. So... what are you waiting for? Get out there and write it up.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois and Clark worked together to type up the story. Then Lois sent it to Clark’s computer so that he could use his special program to give it one last edit before sending it on to Perry.
As he tapped his way back to his desk, Lois leaned back in her chair and stretched. She watched him for a minute before her attention wandered over to the television playing softly in the background.
In Your Face with Barry Dunning was on. Lois shook her head. How was it that guy got enough viewers to warrant him having a daily show?
“So how long have you known Mayson Drake?” Dunning asked.
“Since we were cheerleaders together,” a woman responded. On the screen behind them, a picture of a cheerleading squad could be seen - two pictures circled. One was a much younger version of the woman being interviewed. The other was a much younger version of Mayson Drake.
“We’ve stayed close over the years,” the woman continued.
“So you’ve known about Ms. Drake’s mental problems for... how long?”
“For years, the woman said. I remember a time in high school when...”Lois’ eyebrows rose as the woman continued talking. This was a change. It seemed she and Clark might no longer be the only ones under scrutiny. This could be... good. On the other hand, was this woman doing to Mayson what Claude had done to her?
“Lois.”
Lois looked up to see Martha and Jonathan approaching. She immediately smiled, glad they were finally here. Rising from behind her desk, she met them half way, exchanging warm hugs with both Martha and Jonathan.
A soft whimpering broke up the reunion.
“So who are you?” Martha asked, taking in the short, fury one with a waggily tail who had risen from his sleeping spot next to Lois’ desk to check out the newcomers.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois and Clark were still laughing as Lois pulled the jeep up in front of her and Clark’s apartment building. During the drive home, Martha and Jonathan filled them in on events in Smallville.
“Well, this isn’t so bad,” Martha said when there were only a few reporters hanging out in front of the building.
Almost as soon as she spoke, however, people flooded out of the structures in the park across the street and ran across the road, ignoring the traffic that was swerving to miss them. Horns blew and people shouted as the jeep was suddenly lost in a crowd of people.
“Oh, my,” Martha said.
“Welcome to our world,” Lois said apologetically as she turned off the jeep.
“Just keep pushing and they’ll eventually let you pass,” Clark added.
With those words, all four adults and one dog got out of the vehicle and began the slow, painful trek to the building.
When they had all reached the top step, Martha turned around and looked back at the assembled reporters, still snapping pictures and yelling questions.
She held up her hands to get their attention.
“What are you doing, Martha?” Lois asked.
“Trust her,” Jonathan said.
When the reporters finally quieted down, Martha spoke. “I want to thank you all for such a lovely reception for Jonathan and me,” she said. “We have to say that this is a lot more people than normally welcome us when we come to see our son.”
A spattering of laughter was the response of the reporters.
“In a little while, I’ll be sending Jonathan and Clark out for groceries. Now, I know you all are going to be tempted to follow them. After all, watching two men shopping for groceries is so inherently interesting. But if you do that, it will keep them from getting back with what we need to prepare supper in a timely manner. And when I have my cooking interrupted, I get very cranky. So if you can refrain from following them, I promise to provide you with a copy of the recipes of the items I intend to make for supper.
“And, yes, for all of you wondering,” Martha continued, “I always make a homemade meal for my son at least once when I come to Metropolis. And now that’s he’s been lucky enough to have persuaded the woman he loves that she loves him, too, tonight is a very special celebration.”
“And since her mile-high chocolate pie is to die for, I’d suggest you really want that recipe,” Jonathan added.
More laughter followed his comment.
Without another word, the four of them entered the building.
“Do you really think that will work?” Lois asked.
“Can’t hurt to try,” Martha responded.
“Well, I can tell you this,” Clark said. “Right now, they’re debating it.”
“Have you considered calling the police to get rid of them?” Jonathan asked.
“Our landlord, Mr. Tracewski, has tried calling the police a couple of times. They chase off the reporters only to have them begin gathering again as soon as the cops leave,” Clark said.
“We did report a recent break-in to our apartment, however,” Lois said. “Hopefully they take some more definitive action there.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois was glad Clark had gone on a shopping trip back when he first moved in. If he hadn’t, there would certainly have been comments from the reporters out there if they found out that they needed to buy all the spices in Martha’s recipes.
Still, there were a lot of things Martha needed. And since the roast chicken needed to cook for an hour and a half, the list had to be made and the guys sent shopping as quickly as possible.
Lois had to admit that the supper menu Martha had planned had her mouth watering. Roast chicken with onions, carrots and potatoes that were apparently to be cooked with the chicken. Steamed green beans, drizzled with warmed olive oil spiced with garlic and topped off with thinly sliced almonds. And a fresh garden salad.
So any serious discussions were put on hold as Lois helped Martha navigate her kitchen, introduced her to Clark’s unique system of putting various numbers of elastic bands on items to assist him with identification and helped her prepare her list.
Soon enough, Jonathan, Clark and Shadow left for their shopping trip, leaving Martha and Lois alone in the apartment.
“Would you like a glass of wine, Martha?” Lois asked.
“I’d love one,” Martha responded, following Lois back into the kitchen. “How you holding up?”
“It’s been rough,” Lois said as she removed a bottle of white wine from the fridge and sought out a cork screw to open it. She gestured to the windows. “Even things like having to keep the curtains closed to try to keep people from taking pictures through the windows make things difficult.”
“I can believe that.”
“And then... well, before all this started, Clark asked me to marry him.”
“Oh, honey. Congratulations.”
“No, you don’t understand Martha...”
“You’re not ready.”
“I didn’t think I was. I know I love him. I know he loves me. But are we really ready? After all, there are still so many questions that need to be answered.”
“Like?”
“Children.”
“Does the fact that Clark might not be able to have children make you reluctant to marry him? Because even though I’ve told Clark over the years that a farm is not a farm if there are no grandchildren coming to visit...”
“Do you say that about everything?” Lois asked, distracted from the topic by Martha’s comment.
Martha smiled. “Only about the things I want. My most outrageous one was when I told Jonathan that a farm is not a farm without an artist’s studio.”
Lois sighed. “But that’s just it, Martha. Scientific arguments develop inductively, meaning that by multiple observations of certain phenomena, variables are measured and causally linked to each other.” Lois let out a breath.
“What I meant to say is that I know if children are possible, Clark will want them - no matter what he says now. Even you want grandchildren and I just don’t know if I want children.”
“Oh, honey. Is that what’s bothering you? I might say things like that but I’d rather have you for my daughter-in-law than a dozen grandchildren. Lois, you are the best thing to ever happen to Clark. I’ve known you were the one for him from the first time he mentioned you.”
Tears came to Lois’ eyes.
“And I know Clark feels the same way,” Martha continued. “There are lots of issues that you two will have to deal with if you get married. This is just one of them. The thing is that you don’t have to have all the answers before getting married - you just have to have the tools for working through the issues that come up. Like open communication.”
“Well, we’re working on that. I just need to learn not to get angry and really talk to him. And not to let him go all noble on me. I guess it’s... a work in progress.”
“It always will be. The real question is... do you love him enough to promise him the rest of your life?”
Lois thought about that for a moment before a smile appeared on her face. “Yes, I do.”
Lois was no longer the only one with tears in her eyes. Leaning over, Martha couldn’t resist giving the other woman a hug. It took a few minutes, and a few tissues, for both women to regain their composure.
“So was what you did downstairs... your attempt to negotiate with the press... the idea you wanted to discuss with us?” Lois asked.
“Oh, no. Jonathan and I had intended to discuss this with both you and Clark together, but I suppose it won’t hurt to run this past you first. As you know, my latest art endeavor is what is known as laser sculpture which involves the use of holograms...”
TO BE CONTINUED...
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