* This section contains some semi-minor mention of violence/guns etc. If you’re a little guy, I suggest you ask your parental units to prescreen this section.
Chapter Seven – I Feel There’s Nothin’ I Can Do
…
“SUPERMAN!! HELP!!” Lois screamed. “Oh god! Shhh, don’t cry Jaymee! Auntie Lois didn’t mean to scream in your face.” She said as the baby began to wail.
“Lois? Did you call me because the baby was crying?” Clark asked as he hopped off the window ledge.
“No—“
“Seriously, Lois. I can’t come running home every time you can’t handle something. It’s lucky I was already on my way home when I heard you. What if I had left and people were hurt because you didn’t feel like calming the baby down.”
“Clark! Shut up, you lunkhead! That’s not why I called you!” Lois said as she slammed the letter against Clark’s chest.
Clark took the letter and read it at super-speed.
“Oh my god! He could still be-- He’s alive?”
Lois nodded as she soothed the baby.
“Shhh, angel. I got you.” She said, cradling the baby, and imitating Clark’s ever-perfected Jiggle-Rock.
“I have to go look for him, Lois…” Clark said softly.
“Yes. You do.” Lois said, looking into his eyes. “Superman needs to go get him and bring him home.” Lois said.
Clark sighed and walked closer to her. He gripped her shoulders and stared into her eyes.
“Lois, there’s no telling if he’s alive now. That letter was received at *least* two weeks ago. Who knows how long it took to arrive. I’ll go, and I’ll look for him, but honey, please don’t get your hopes up yet. I don’t want to be the one who causes them to come crashing down.”
Lois nodded and kissed the baby’s head.
“Just try, okay?” She asked, her eyes pleading.
Clark nodded and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers.
“You two will be okay if I go now? I’ll be back by morning for work, and then I’ll go and look again. I promise.” He said quietly.
Lois nodded and followed Clark back to the window. He reached on the table next to the window and removed a photo of Jimmy from the small frame they kept on display.
“Be careful.” Lois whispered as he disappeared into the night.
…
Superman landed outside what was considered the jail in Rwanda. Ignoring the shocked gasps of the soldiers loitering outside the small structure, he entered and approached a soldier sitting in a chair near the front of the room.
“Superman!” The soldier exclaimed, obviously shocked.
“I’m looking for someone, a friend, and I’d like to know if he’s being held here.” Superman said in his most authoritative tone.
“Who is this friend of yours, Mr. Superman?” The soldier asked, standing up and resting the long barrel of his gun over his shoulder.
“He’s an American man. Young. I have a picture.” He said as he handed the photo of Jimmy to the soldier.
“Yes… I know this man.” The soldier said, nodding thoughtfully.
“He’s here then?” Superman asked excitedly.
“No, no, Mr. Superman. This man was taken somewhere else.”
Superman cleared his throat, frustrated.
“Where was he taken? Who took him?”
The soldier shrugged.
“Some of the other soldiers saw that he made the woman back here better. She was bleeding. He fixed her, sewed up her wound. He’s a doctor, your friend. There was a soldier who was shot. These soldiers, it was their friend. They took him to fix their friend. That’s what I hear anyway. I wasn’t here when he left.”
Superman sighed.
“Do you know where these soldiers would be? Where their camp is?”
The soldier shook his head and tapped his fingers on the butt of his gun.
“If you see this man again, please tell him to stay here. Tell him I’m looking for him.”
With that, Superman walked outside and questioned the soldiers standing around, but none of them had seen Jimmy.
…
Clark flew over the area, scanning for Jimmy and listening for his heartbeat, but the sounds of gun fire and torture rang loud in his ears. He had tried to help in several cases. He rescued a woman who’d been kidnapped from her village and returned her home after tying up the assailants and dropping them at the door of the jail, but he knew they’d be released soon anyways. He took guns away from several child soldiers despite knowing they’d only be issued new guns.
…
Clark got home just after 4am and spun into his boxers. He climbed into bed next to Lois and pulled her close to his body.
“Did you find him?” Lois mumbled sleepily.
“Not yet.” Clark whispered as he held her tight to him.
“Clark…” Lois said, turning in his arms to face him. “It’s not your fault if you can’t find him.” she whispered, holding his face in her hands.
“I know. Lois it’s horrible there. People are dying, and I can’t do enough to change it, and I know it’s a war that’s been going on for decades, but over there, I just feel so helpless. I can only imagine how helpless Jimmy feels… felt.”
Lois stroked Clark’s face gently.
“It’s okay, Clark. You have to focus on what the goal is: bringing Jimmy home or at least finding out what happened to him.”
Clark nodded. He knew she was right, but it didn’t help as much as he wished it would have. Lois shifted her body and rested her chest against Clark’s so she could reach his mouth.
“I love you.” She whispered as she kissed his lips with a feather-light touch.
“I love you too.” He whispered back, brushing the hair out of her face.
“Lois, what-- what are you doing?” Clark asked as she shifted her body onto his completely.
“Shhh…” She said as she slipped her night gown off her shoulders.
“You don’t have to do that…” Clark said as Lois started a trail of kisses down his neck and across his chest.
“Clark, just relax.” Lois whispered, feeling his body tensed beneath her.
She knew how hard it was for him to see so much pain and violence and not be able to fix it.
“Lois, I really have no energy to do this.” Clark said, despite the obvious reaction his body had already exhibited.
“Shh baby. Let me take care of you.” She whispered before locking her lips down on his.
…
“Clark.” Perry’s gruff voice came from behind Clark. “You heard anything from Superman? Any news?”
Clark shook his head.
“Nothing new, Chief, but I think he’s heading out there again sometime today.” Clark replied.
Perry nodded.
“Why don’t you take off son?” Perry suggested, his face serious, but something strange in his eyes.
“Sir?” Clark asked, confused.
“Why don’t you go on now? Maybe have a talk with Superman. Get him to head over there sooner rather than later and get us some news.” Perry said, his voice low as his words came out slowly and seriously.
“Uh… sure sir. I’ll go find him now and let him know what you said.” Clark replied as he gathered his things.
“You do that.” Perry said, clapping a firm hand on Clark’s back before turning and heading back into his office.
…
“Excuse me. Have you see this man? I believe he stayed here for a short time recently.” Superman presented Jimmy’s photo to a group of people standing outside of a large tent structure.
“Superman? Yea, yea sure, this man stayed with us for a while. He helped with vaccinations for several days before he and his group moved on. Is something wrong?”
Superman nodded and explained everything to the woman.
“Jimmy was taken by soldiers? Superman, the chances of you finding him alive, well, they just aren’t good.”
Superman nodded.
“I know, but I’ve got to try. Is there anyone else I could speak to? Do you know where I could look next?” Superman asked.
“Behind the hospital here.” The woman said nodding at the large text structure. “We’ve set up a large camp area. You can go tent to tent and ask the refugees if they know anything. Some of them have just arrived or have gone back to the villages for family members. They may have seen your friend.”
Superman thanked the woman and followed her through the hospital tent and out a large flap in the back that opened onto the refugee camp.
“Who is that!?”
“Look!”
“Oh my goodness!”
Shocked voices were heard from every direction and a large man in a red and blue costume strode out of the hospital. Clark nodded and smiled at the people who began gathering. He stopped and stood amongst them all.
“Many of you probably don’t know me. My name is Superman and I’m here looking for a friend of mine. He’s an American, and he was taken by soldiers. If you could all please just look at this picture of him, and tell me if you’ve seen him, I would really appreciate it.”
Clark made his way through the hundreds of people, slowly showing them the picture and asking them about Jimmy’s presence in the camp and the surrounding villages. Many of them remembered him from his time spent at this camp, but after that, they’d not seen him again.
“Excuse…” Clark turned around when he felt a tugging on his cape.
“Oh, hello.” He said, crouching down to meet the eyes of a small girl.
“You looking for Jimmy Olsen?” She asked, her voice quiet.
Clark nodded and showed her the photo of Jimmy. It was then that Clark noticed something around the girl’s neck.
“You know Jimmy. You must Sigele.” He said, recognizing her from the photos.
“Jimmy give this to me.” She said, showing Clark the laminated Daily Planet issue press-pass with Jimmy’s photo on it. “The soldiers take him?” She asked, looking into Clark’s eyes.
“Yes… I’m afraid so, but I’m here to find him.” He said, hoping to reassure her.
“The soldiers take my family too.” She said
“I’m sorry they did that to you, Sigele.” Superman said, stroking her cheek. “Who takes care of you now?”
A voice from behind Clark startled him.
“We take care of her. Fortunately she’s our only orphan here. The rest of the people here are families. Sigele usually bunks in with the doctors.”
Superman nodded and smiled down at the little girl.
“Thank you for your time. If you do hear something about Jimmy, or if he comes here… Please tell him I’m looking for him and I’ll be checking back soon.”
…
Superman, again, flew over the surrounding area. He came upon a village and landed. Most of the homes looked like they used to be shacks. They had been burned to the ground, but several homes still stood and with a quick x-ray scan, Clark confirmed that people still lived in them.
He knocked on the side of one house next to the open space where a door might have been.
“Excuse me, may I bother you for a moment?” He asked, looking across the small room at a woman, huddled in the corner with three small children.
“I won’t hurt you and your family. I’m just looking for my friend.” He explained, holding the picture out to her.
The woman shook her head violently and held her children closer to her.
“Is there anything I can do for you before I go? Are you okay?” He asked.
She again shook her head, and waved her hand at Superman, gesturing for him to leave.
“I’m sorry to have bothered you.” He said before ducking out of the doorway and walking off.
He headed toward another small structure and knocked again.
“Pardon me, I’m sorry to bother you…” Superman said, peeking in the open doorway.
“Who are you?” A young boy asked.
“I’m Superman. I’m looking for my friend. Have you see him?” Clark asked, holding out the photo.
The boy took the photo.
“Jimmy Olsen!” He said excitedly.
Superman nodded.
“Yes! You know Jimmy? Have you seen him? Do you know where he is?”
The boy shook his head.
“He was here before. The soldiers brought him here to fix their friend. They wanted to take me and make me be a soldier too. Jimmy Olsen told them, if they leave me behind, he will be a soldier, and he will fix them all when they are hurt.”
Superman took a deep breath.
“When was this? When did they take him?” He asked.
The boy thought for a moment before walking over to the far wall.
Clark noticed some lines drawn on it. It seemed to be some kind of calendar.
“The sun go down this many times since Jimmy Olsen left.” The boy said, pointing to a group of lines on the wall.
Clark counted them quickly.
“Fifteen days?”
The boy nodded.
“Yes, fifteen.” He said, but the boys confused tone suggested to Clark that he really wasn’t all that confident with the number.
“Do you know where they would have taken him?”
The boy shook his head.
“They might take him to the training camp.”
Superman sighed.
“Do you know how to get there?” He asked, but the boy shook his head.
“No. I’m sorry.” He replied sadly.
“You’ve been a big help. Thank you. Can I take you anywhere?” Superman asked.
The boy shook his head one last time before Superman flew away, leaving the boy awestruck.
…
TBC
