PG-13 version
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ denotes telepathic communication/
For reference purposes the following will hold true throughout.
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 - Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Canon Alt Clark universe also called – Alt 1
Previously –
The little girl was awake and alert and as he approached her eyes, metaphorically, got as big as saucers. Superman was *impressive*!
Clark knelt next to the stretcher and took her hand in one of his and with the other he smoothed the hair from her forehead, leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “How are you feeling little one?” he asked her.
Her only response was, “Wow.” Her mother had told her that Superman had been the one that had rescued her. She felt like she was in love. “Mommy, he kissed me!”
Clark chuckled and said, “I guess you’re feeling Okay.”
The mother grabbed his hand and said, “I really don’t know how to thank you. You saved my little girl.”
Clark said, “You really don’t need to thank me. Just seeing her alive and well is thanks enough.” Turning back to the little girl he said, “You be good for your Mommy, okay?”
She nodded to let him know that she would.
The medics then loaded the little girl and her mother into the back of the ambulance and headed off to MetGen.
Seeing that the fire was basically under control, Clark went over once more and reported to the chief filling him in on his firefighters and the injuries received by the one. The chief thanked him, “Superman, sometimes I don’t know how we got along without you. Because of you there are sure a lot of people walking around alive and well that wouldn’t have been. I want to thank you on the behalf of the department and the city for your efforts in general and particularly for your efforts for the little girl and my injured man.” The Chief looked aside for a moment, and then stated, “We had gotten word you would be gone for several weeks. Let me just say I’m glad you hadn’t left yet.”
Smiling, Superman shrugged, “You know the saying, ‘Stuff happens’, Murphy’s Law even effects me. My departure was slightly delayed and that enabled me to be here to assist.”
“Well, we were certainly lucky today. Thanks for your help.” The Chief, who had interacted with Superman on a number of occasions, extended his hand.
Superman shook it gladly. “I’ll always do whatever I can to help,” He turned to lift off.
As Superman had been speaking, the Chief got a call over his radio with a report of an accident on the interstate. As Superman was turning away he shouted, “Superman! A call just came in. There’s a PI 10-10, multiple vehicles, with injuries on the interstate. Can you give them a hand?”
He replied, “It sure looks like Murphy is working overtime today. Since everything is under control here, I’ll go there immediately.” <This is really delaying me but in the suit I don’t have my cell phone to call Lois. Oh, well. I’m sure she’ll understand.>
And Now –
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Chapter 3 – The Investigation
Meanwhile, back in Smallville
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When the expected time of Clark’s return had passed, Lois wasn’t that concerned initially, but, when he was more than an hour overdue she began to get worried. She had started fidgeting and finally asked, “Martha, can we turn on the TV and check LNN? Clark’s late and it may be because he got involved in something. I hope he’s okay.”
Martha tried to reassure her by saying, “Honey, I’m sure he’s okay. There isn’t much that can harm him.”
Lois with more than a little fear in her voice said, “I know but what if somebody ambushed him with Kryptonite or maybe they made another weapon like the Quantum Disruptor? He could need me and here I am in Kansas. I should be there with him. He might need me to get rid of the Kryptonite. I never should have let him go alone. Oh, Martha, what if he’s dying and I’m not there with him? I could never live with myself.”
Martha picked up the remote, turned on the set and tuned in to LNN and sure enough, there was Superman dealing with a multi car pileup on the interstate. There were a number of bodies laid out on the side of the road and some individuals walking around, apparently in shock.
Relieved that it wasn’t anything worse Lois let out a relieved sigh and thought <Clark’s going to need to decompress after this one. I hope there aren’t any children that have died. Those are the worst.>
Finally, at about 7:30, Clark made it back to Smallville. He immediately took a shower and when he came out Lois was waiting for him. When he came out of the shower he had a towel wrapped around his waist and was using another to dry his hair.
Lois had heard him when he got back and had gone up to the bedroom. As she entered she could hear the shower running. She saw the bag with their ‘snooping clothes’ and decided to change. She had gotten as far as removing her pantsuit when she heard the water go off. Wanting to be there for him when he came out she sat on the edge of the bed wearing just her lacy bra and bikini panties.
As soon as Clark exited the bathroom he spotted Lois sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him. He stopped drying his hair and just stood there looking at her. The look he saw on her face was priceless. She was just staring at him. Like watching the red colored alcohol rise up the column in a thermometer when it is heated he could see the blush rise in her skin starting at her breasts and moving up her chest to her shoulders and then to her neck finally coloring her cheeks. He was wondering just what was going through her mind.
With some fear and trepidation as to how the deaths would be affecting him, Lois waited on the edge of the bed for him to come out of the bathroom from his shower. When she saw him in that towel, even though in their three years of married life she had seen him in much less any number of times, she was transported back in her memory to that day six years prior when she had showed up at that fleabag hotel where her new rookie partner was staying and when he had answered the door all he had been wearing had been a towel. She had been shaken to her core at the sight of the well muscled and well defined chest and six pac abs. She could only imagine what lay behind the towel and she had a good imagination. At the time she thought, <Oh … My … God! Wow! Who woulda thought?> She hadn’t wanted to admit just how he had affected her but it had come out inadvertently when she had said, “I said nine, I thought you’d be naked.” <OhMyGod! What did I just say?!?!> She cleared her throat a couple of times. “Umm, mm ,” and then tried to cover her mistake by trying, unsuccessfully to substitute, “ready.” Remembering that and remembering what she had actually been thinking caused a flush to make its way into her cheeks. It started by her nipples hardening and then her breasts engorging slightly with the flush, not from embarrassment, but from something more … primal … more visceral … pure instinctual sexual desire, the mating instinct. This was her mate and what she wanted right then was nothing less than to rip that towel off of him and make love to him immediately. But, then she thought, not about herself and her desires, but of his needs. She had seen what he had been through and she knew how much those types of rescues affected him. She had to be here for *him*. Her desires needed to become secondary. He *needed* her and she had to be there for him and not let him down.
He watched the many emotions that flitted across her features.
All he could do was stand there as she stared at him obviously reliving some memory with an expectant look on his face. He wasn’t sure why she was there but figured it had to do with why he had been delayed.
Clark cleared his throat and said somewhat defensively, “Honey, I can explain everything.”
Dragging her eyes up so that she was looking at his face and finally coming back to the present she broke her silence by clearing her throat and then asked calmly, “Want to talk about it?”
Relieved Clark shrugged and replied, “Oh, I guess you saw it on LNN. Yeah, it was rough, but it could have been worse. Five cars, three killed, five others injured. I had to fly three of the injured directly to MetGen. Boy, they were getting a workout today what with the fire then the accident.”
Startled by this revelation she blurted out, “Fire, what fire?”
Clark explained, “As I was approaching Metropolis I saw that there was a fire in Suicide Slum. I rescued a little girl and a couple of firefighters. The little girl had some smoke inhalation and minor burns. One of the firefighters had a concussion and had a fractured collar bone.”
“Oh, Wow.”
“The little girl was so cute. When I went to check on her afterward all she could say was,” he started chuckling, “Wow. The same way you just did.”
Lois thought <He saved a child. That is a very good thing,> and then said, “I’m happy that she’s going to be okay. I bet her mom is very happy.”
Very brightly he replied, “Yes, she is. The last I saw of both of them they were in the back of the ambulance getting ready to go to MetGen and they were holding hands.”
“Now, the firefighter, that’s another interesting story. The injured fire fighter’s partner was very relieved too. She and the injured man had just gotten back from their honeymoon.”
With a relieved sigh Lois stood up and started to move in his direction as she responded, “That sounds very promising. Now, are we still going to do this tonight? Are you up for it?”
Clark knew what Lois was asking but that didn’t keep him from teasing her. He lowered his voice until it took on a sultry tone and reached down to release the towel around his waist as he replied, “I was up for it this afternoon. I think I could be up for it tonight as well.” Lois couldn’t help glancing down as he removed the towel and she could see just how up for it he was and she could feel the heat rise in her cheeks as they flushed once again. Still, he asked teasingly, “Besides, is it really time for number four already?”
That sultry tone, that view of her husband’s very physical response and the promise both held got her juices flowing but she quickly snapped out of it and said, “You are just too much,” as she moved into his arms.
He came back with, “Oh? I thought that you always said that I was just enough.”
Her hands started a slow slide up his chest and around his strong neck and she couldn’t hide the desire in her voice as she replied, “You are that. In fact, I would say just about a perfect fit.” She sealed this particular statement with a kiss. When she pulled back a couple of minutes later she continued, “But, seriously, are we going to do this *investigation* tonight?”
Clark had slid his arms around her while they were kissing and was enjoying the feel of the skin of her back under his hands as he slowly stroked her back with one hand while the other drifted down and cupped her pert derrière pulling her body even closer. Acting very disappointed and putting something of a pout in his voice he replied, “Oh that! Is that what you were talking about? Now I’m disappointed.”
Lois leaned in for yet another kiss and her body melded against his as with an arched eyebrow and keeping a sultry tone in her voice Lois replied as she rubbed herself against him, “You won’t be later.” She pulled back slightly so that she could look into his eyes and get a little distance and perspective. “Now, let’s get serious. What about the investigation?”
With a soft chuckle he replied, “Well, I guess that in order to get to the fun we have to do the work first.” He turned and reached for his briefs. Lois was more than a little disappointed when he started getting dressed. He said, “I brought our snooping clothes. I also brought back your dress and boots for the Corn Festival. I keep jeans and flannel shirts here.” They both pulled out their dark clothes and finished dressing and then they moved downstairs and joined the elder Kents in the living room.
While Clark had been gone a front had moved in and the sky had clouded up. There was a possibility of rain or thunderstorms.
They were in the living room spending some time with Clark’s parents when a bolt of lightning split the sky followed closely by the thunder, but there was no rain yet. Jonathan, with his typical dry sense of humor, said, “Heat lightning, one of the joys of the Midwest.” Everybody got a chuckle out of his statement.
Clark said, “It sure looks like we’re going to have a little help from the weather. It’ll be extra dark and if there *is* a storm it could cover any noise that we might make.”
After a pleasant dinner with Martha and Jonathan, Lois and Clark waited for it to get darker. It wasn’t too long before the elder Kents went upstairs to bed. ‘Early to bed and early to rise’, the old farmer’s motto had always held true for them. Lois and Clark had already changed into their ‘snooping clothes’ so they cuddled on the couch and watched some TV. They figured that they would give the storm a little longer to reach their target area.
At 10:30, as anticipated, it was as dark as the inside of a barrel because of the overcast. Clark flew them to the outskirts of the farm and they landed near a back gate.
Clark used his enhanced vision to check the place out while Lois used a pair of binoculars that she had borrowed from Martha. What they found was an armed camp. Obviously Clark was able to see more than Lois, and to him there appeared to be seven individuals in total. Two were sleeping in the house and three were playing cards while the other two were out on roving guard. All in all it had the appearance of a military operation.
“Lois, I think we’re going to have to re-evaluate how we do this. Here is the situation. There are seven total with two roving guards. It will be nearly impossible to get them all out at the same time.”
“Yeah, I can see the guards. They look like they have had at least some military training but they are still sloppy. I bet that if we can distract the two guards you could slip in and out without alerting the others.”
They had been hearing thunder in the distance for some time and just then it started to rain and the rolling thunder was coming closer. There was a flash from a bolt of lightning followed almost immediately by the crash of the thunder. Lois commented, “Wow, that was close!”
Clark quipped, “I would say, less than a mile away.”
Lois asked, “How do you know that?”
Clark replied, “Count the seconds between the flash and the noise of the thunder. It’s called the flash-to-bang method. Divide the number of seconds by 5 and that’s how many miles away the strike was.”
Lois gave him *the* eye and said, “You and your trivia, less than a mile, huh? Well, that’s good. That will help. The two roving guards will probably look for some kind of shelter from the rain.”
“If there are any lightning strikes in the area, I should be able to start a fire with my heat vision as a distraction. That might draw them away, but we may not need to do that. I only see one building other than the house. If the guards seek shelter from the rain, as long as it isn’t in the out building we should be okay. If they go back into the house why don’t we start with the out building? That has to be where they are stockpiling the fertilizer. If they are planning to create a bomb there has to be evidence of it in there.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Before it started raining too heavily Clark flew back to the Kent farm and got a couple of black lawn and leaf bags to use as ponchos while they waited for the guards to take shelter.
When they saw both of the guards go back into the house they made their move. Clark picked up Lois and flew them to the out building. Clark kept an eye on the guards while they forced a window and gained entry.
What they found was enough fertilizer and other ingredients to make a truck bomb of sizeable proportions and there wasn’t any question as to the purpose since most of the other components weren’t used to fertilize the ground for crops.
They took pictures of what they found and exited the same way they had entered. Clark flew them straight back to the Kent farm.
Lois said, “Now that we have the evidence, where do we go from here?”
Clark replied, “I wish we had been able to determine their target. The nearest large city is Wichita. But, I don’t think there is a major governmental office building there like there was in Oklahoma City. I think that we need to first write up the story, and second call Sheriff Rachel Eck and ask that she contact the FBI and ATF. The authorities will act quicker if it comes from a local official.”
Immediately the duo set about writing the story outline, leaving out only the details about the group’s identity and target. When this was complete they headed off to bed. When they got into their room Lois turned and put her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss. She asked, “Are you still up for it?” This led to the fulfillment of the thoughts and desires they had each been harboring since earlier in the evening,
On Friday, September 10 at 8:00 in the morning, Clark called Rachel and asked her to come out to the farm. She arrived at 8:45 after seeing that her deputies were started on their assignments. Since Lois had used a digital camera they had the images on the laptop to show to her. Clark explained, “Rachel, when we arrived, my parents told us about what was happening over on the old Wilson farm. It seemed rather odd that they should be buying up large lots of fertilizer with no crops in, so we investigated. We went over to the farm last night and took some pictures of what we found.”
Lois brought the pictures up on the screen of the laptop. She explained, “What we found was a large amount of fertilizer and kerosene and other components easily identifiable as the components of a fertilizer bomb. There is even a large panel truck parked on the property. Fortunately that thunderstorm last night covered our activities. The camera flash went unnoticed because of all the lightning strikes.”
Clark then said, “Our concern is that they are preparing for an Oklahoma City style bombing. Do you think that we have enough evidence to justify a search warrant?”
“Well Clark, from what I see here, we just may. Can I get copies of these pictures to take to the judge?”
Lois picked up a sheaf of papers and proffered them to Rachel, “Already printed out. If you can get the warrant don’t you think that the FBI or ATF should be involved?”
Rachel accepted the pictures and said, “You’re probably right. I’ll go to the judge first and then call the FBI. Stick around. I’ll be in touch.”
Clark said, “We’ll be here waiting for your call.”
At 10:30 AM Rachel called. When Clark answered she said, “Okay Clark, the FBI is sending out a field agent from Wichita. He should be here by about noon. They seem to be interested, so if you could, I’d like you and Lois to be here when he arrives to explain what you found. I’ve gone to the judge and have the warrant so we’re over that hurdle. As soon as the FBI and ATF are on board we should be ready to move.”
Clark borrowed his parent’s truck and he and Lois drove into town joining Rachel downtown at 11:35 and half an hour later the FBI agent, Nick Charles, arrived.
Looking at their evidence, he asked rather acerbically he asked, “Okay, just how did you acquire these photos?”
Clark responded smoothly, “When we got into town yesterday my folks told us about what was happening. We went out last night and checked. We climbed in through a window and took pictures of what we found.”
Agent Charles asked, “Okay, Let’s see, so first off you trespassed and then you entered illegally and these both took place before you took the pictures, is that it?”
Clark replied somewhat sheepishly, “Yeah, I guess that about sums it up.”
Agent Charles started raising his voice because he could see that nothing that they had obtained was usable. “You realize of course that this evidence would not be admissible in a court of law as a result of the way it was obtained.”
With a slightly raised voice but in a sarcastic manner Lois stepped forward, invading his personal space, she had a hard time restraining herself and almost poked him in the chest as she replied to this salvo with, “We’re aware of that. We also know that it was enough for the judge to issue a *search warrant*!”
Agent Charles literally took a step back in response to her retort and regrouped. Trying to salvage some of his professional pride he responded somewhat sheepishly. “Okay, well, since we now *have* a warrant we can get the evidence we need legally.” He pulled out a cell phone and placed a call to his office and arranged for additional agents to join him in Smallville. He also called the ATF office and brought them up to speed on what was going down and requested support. They said that they would have a team there within 3 hours and would bring the FBI agents with them.
As soon as this had all been arranged Rachel called all of her deputies in on special assignment. At 3:00 a call came in on the police radio for Rachel. It was the leader of the ATF team calling from the lead chopper. “Sheriff, we have three choppers. Where can we land so that we can pick up your people? It’ll need to be fairly level and a reasonably large space.”
Rachel keyed her mic and said, “This is Sheriff Eck, there’s a crop duster field approximately two miles south of town. We can rendezvous at that field. It should meet your criteria.”
“Roger Sheriff. I have it spotted on the sectional. It’s listed as Shubert Field, correct?”
Keying the mic again she said, “That’s a 10-4. Schubert Field. We’ll be there waiting for you. Sheriff out.” She hung the mic back up on its clip and was all business now as she turned to the others in the room and said, “Alright folks, Clark, Lois why don’t you ride with me. Mr. Charles, you have your own car, correct?”
“Yes, I do sheriff. I’ll follow you.”
The Sheriff hadn’t been too impressed with agent Charles and said in an ‘almost’ sarcastic tone, “You do that.” She turned to Lois and Clark and said, “Let’s go.” Suiting her actions to her words Rachel grabbed her hat and headed out the door with Lois and Clark right behind her.
When they got to the field Rachel grabbed her twelve gauge Remington pump from its bracket and checked to make sure it was loaded by jacking a shell into the breach and then put the safety on. With the shotgun resting in the cook of her arm she pulled her revolver and checked that all chambers were loaded. Re-holstering her side arm she stood there negligently dangling the Remington in one hand while she laughed and chatted animatedly with Lois and Clark about the Corn Festival as they all awaited the arrival of the ATF choppers.
Agent Charles was standing over near his car watching the sheriff and her friends. The Sheriff’s deputies were all standing around in a group a short distance away. They had a mix of weapons. A few, like the Sheriff were carrying shotguns while most simply had their revolvers. He was somewhat surprised that they didn’t carry semi-automatics but, who was he to question department policy. He had been looking at the group of deputies when his attention was suddenly drawn back to the sheriff, Lois and Clark when he heard Lois squeal and he saw her throw her arms around the sheriff and give her a hug. As Lois released her he saw Clark lean in and give her a hug too. He wondered what that was all about but figured that it didn’t have anything to do with this raid so he let it pass.
Rachel called her deputies over and had Deputy Brennan brief them. Deputy Brennan had been Air Cavalry in the Army until recently and was very experiences in air operations. He had them break up into six small groups and spaced them out on both sides of the runway so that they would have easy access when boarding the choppers using both side access doors on each aircraft. He also directed all of them to secure their hats to make sure that the rotor wash wouldn’t snatch them off their heads.
By 3:30 when the ATF and FBI arrived everything was ready to go. The ATF came in three Blackhawk helicopters and in force, landing at Schubert Field in line of attack. The deputies that had accompanied the sheriff as well as agent Charles, Lois and Clark all prepared to board the choppers.
Rachel had briefed her deputies when she had dispatched several cars to the scene. On a map of the county she had pointed out to each team where they would wait until they saw the choppers. They were to proceed code 1, no lights, no siren, to their assigned stations. When they saw the choppers landing they were to move to their blocking positions code 3, lights and siren, and block all exits from the farm.
As they were boarding the aircraft Rachel asked that their departure be delayed for ten minutes to give the deputies she had dispatched to the scene time to get into position.
Ten minutes later she and the rest of her deputies boarded the choppers with Lois and Clark. All of the aircraft held a mix of her deputies, the FBI and ATF agents. The aircraft with Lois and Clark would be the last aircraft in line. They had thought ahead and Lois had pocketed her digital camera and Clark had pocketed his mini-recorder when they had come into town earlier so they were ready to document the raid with pictures and interviews.
The raid went down just like a textbook exercise. The choppers came in quickly and the agents and law enforcement personnel disembarked like air cavalry troops entering a hot zone. The police cars moved in with lights and sirens blaring and blocked the exits. As soon as the cars were in position the deputies all exited their vehicles and stood behind the hood with their shotguns pointed in the general direction from which fugitives could be expected. The operation was executed with startling efficiency so all of the conspirators were captured with only a few shots fired. Clark had to use his heat vision to melt the firing pin on a weapon he saw aimed at Rachel but that went undetected.
Once the conspirators had all been taken into custody, the FBI started searching the premises. The warrant had been written in such a way that anything from a piece of paper to a truck could be considered as evidence so the house, out building and truck were all examined. They found that they had come not a minute too soon. A large amount of the fertilizer and other components of the truck bomb had already been assembled in the panel truck. There was only about one third of the materials left in the out building. The FBI found by interrogating the perpetrators that they were going to be leaving that night to drive to Kansas City. If they had been even two hours later they might have missed them. The FBI while examining the contents of the house had found maps and diagrams. On examination of the maps and documents captured it was determined that the target had, in fact been the government building in Kansas City, Kansas. It was bigger than the Murrah building, and like the Murrah building it also has a daycare center on the ground floor.
After these facts had been discovered and the perpetrators restrained, Agent Charles who was the agent in charge of the raid came up to Rachel, Lois and Clark as things were being wrapped up and said, “Thanks to your heads up on this we have been able to avert a major tragedy. I’ll see to it that you get the appropriate credit.” He reached for Rachel’s, Clark’s and then Lois’ hands and shook them. He said, “Thanks, not only from me, but from a grateful nation.”
Agent Charles continued, “We found out that the target was the federal building in Kansas City. This would have been a bigger tragedy than Oklahoma City. I’m familiar with that building. For your information It’s bigger than Murrah and it had a day care center just like Murrah. Depending on where they placed this truck they could have killed upwards of 400 people and that day care center hosts about 40 kids on any particular day. Thanks to your actions, they have all been spared.”
Clark asked, “May I quote you on that?” Clark had been handling this like an interview and had been recording the conversation. Lois had taken a number of pictures as the raid had gone down.
Agent Charles replied, “Yes, you may quote me. Thanks again.” He shook hands again with Clark, turned and left.
Later Lois and Clark found out that true to his word their names were mentioned prominently in the FBI report for providing the information necessary to the disruption of this domestic terrorist plot.
Prominently mentioned also were Sheriff Rachel Eck and her department and they were recommended for special commendation for their efficiency in the preparation for and conduct of the raid itself. A few months later the FBI sent Agent Charles back to Smallville with a letter from the head of the FBI and a plaque representing a departmental citation for their work. Rachel had the letter framed and it and the plaque now hang proudly in the entryway to the Sheriff’s office.
One of the deputies that had driven patrol cars to the site gave Rachel a ride back to the field so that she could retrieve her car and another gave Lois and Clark a ride back to town where they had left the truck. At 6:00 PM after the raid, they had returned to the farm, and had dinner with Jonathan and Martha then they filled in the blanks on their story and e-mailed it to Perry at about 7:30, 8:30 Metropolis time.
In Metropolis, Perry White was just about to head home. It had been a long day, but the morning edition was just about ready and the night editor would not have a lot to do to finish up. He was just about to shut down his computer when he heard a beep and a pop-up announced that he had received an e-mail from Lois. He thought, <They’re supposed to be on vacation. I wonder what this is.> He maximized his e-mail program and opened the e-mail. As he read it he said, “By Elvis, they’ve gone and gotten themselves into something.” He opened the attachment and as soon as he read it, he muttered, “Bless my blue suede shoes!” He flagged it for the front page and called Smallville.
They were all in the kitchen and Lois and Clark were filling in his parents on what had happened on the raid when the phone rang. Martha reached over and answered the phone, “Kent residence.”
His excitement was evident in his voice as he said, “Martha, its Perry White. Where’s my star reporting team?”
Martha laughed and said, “Right here, hold on. Kids, its Perry.” She actually said his name in a sing-song voice as this call was not totally unexpected.
Clark picked up the phone and Martha handed Lois the extension. Clark said, “Hi Perry. I take it you got our story.”
Perry replied, “I let the two of you out of my sight for *two days* and you come in with another front page story, when you’re supposed to be on *vacation* yet. How did you do it?”
“Well, Perry, when we got here my parents told us about some strange happenings going on, so we investigated. The raid went down this afternoon,” Clark said.
“I’m just happy you kids are okay. Actually, this story looks like more Kerth material to me. How many lives do they think were saved by this intervention?”
Lois replied, “They said that this was going to be a very large bomb, larger in size than the one Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols put together. That one killed 168 including 19 children under 6. The FBI estimates that between 300 to 400 lives have been spared and untold injured. Among those would have been about 40 infants and children under 6 years of age in a day care center.”
“Redo the story, add those details and send it to me again. I loved the pictures too. I’ll sort through and pick one or two to run with the story. You guys *really* did good on this one. All those kids owe you their lives. Tell you what, in view of this new story; take some extra time on your vacation. I’ll look for you back here two weeks from Wednesday. This time, take some time off, would ya?”
Lois and Clark both laughed, “Thanks Chief. We’ll try! We’ll e-mail the story to you in a few minutes.”
Lois and Clark excused themselves and moved into the living room. The elder Kents went to get ready for bed. After a few minutes of work on rewriting the story they sent the final copy to Perry.
After they sent it off they shut the laptop down and went upstairs. When they were alone in their bedroom, Lois and Clark looked at each other as the fact of what they had just typed up sank in. Actually it was a combination of that and the news that Rachel had given them while they were waiting for the choppers. Rachel had recently found out that she was pregnant and Lois and Clark had been the first of her friends that she had told. They hadn’t mentioned it for some time. They hadn’t even allowed themselves to think about the subject for some time, but, it suddenly hit them, . . .the *children*. The children they had saved. The child their friend was about to have. The children that *they* couldn’t have. Lois walked over to Clark and put her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest while he wrapped her up in his arms and she started softly crying.
They spent the rest of the evening, in their room just holding and being held, each comforting and being comforted by the other. After a while they made love, not desperately or fiercely, but gently and passionately.
What they didn’t know at that time was the fact that all of their married life to this point had been preparing them for this night, or more correctly had been preparing Lois’ body for this night. All of the studies that Dr. Klein had performed were done in the early part of their relationship. Even then, on a review of the data by Sam there had been a discrepancy noted. As a medical doctor he had realized that there were some discrepancies, although very slight, in Lois’ data. He had forgotten all about it when the Bummer Be Gone malfunctioned, so he had never told them. The truth of the matter was that early in their relationship there *was* a genetic incompatibility, but, more or less constant exposure to Clark’s aura had made subtle changes to her physiology which changed all that.
comments go here To Be Continued in Chapter 4 – The Real Vacation
