Clark and Lois - Despair to Hope – Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 4 – 16/22
By Ken Janney
This version is rated PG-13
* denotes emphasis *
< denotes thoughts >
[ playback of a recording ]/ telepathic communications /
(#) footnotes
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Reminder:
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
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
Previously –
The next morning at 8:45 sharp Mayson heard a knock on her door. Mayson had just stepped out of the shower and had a towel wrapped around her which only came down to a little above mid-thigh. She was drying her hair with another towel and when she lifted her hands to use the towel to dry her hair where the other towel overlapped on the left gaped open to reveal the rest of her leg and left side to above the waist. . She checked through the peep hole and seeing Superman opened the door. Brightly she said, “Good morning!”
Noting her attire and looking her up and down, Alt Clark couldn’t help flashing back in his memory to the time, just before he left on his original mission to find Lois in the Congo, when he and Mayson has shared the shower. He was flushed from the memory and somewhat choked up as he said, “Good morning Mayson. I hope I’m not too early.”
Mayson, for her part, noted his scrutiny and his blushing. Even though she didn’t know the source she was inwardly pleased that he was paying her the attention. She said, “No, you’re fine. It’ll only take me a couple of minutes to finish up. Have a seat,” as she padded barefoot to her bedroom.
Superman watched her walk away and as he watched her legs the memory of Mayson in his oxford shirt walking to the table, dinner plates in hand flashed through his mind. She was barely through the bedroom door and not quite out of sight when she released the body towel and he had a view of her back and derriere before she passed from view. Trying to submerge these memories in activity he went into the kitchen and got out the fixings for the coffee and put it on to drip.
Just as it was finishing, Mayson came out, completely dressed. She saw that the coffee was finishing up and said, “Well, you seem to know your way around my kitchen. I guess you can see where everything is with your x-ray vision. What are you doing tonight? I was planning to make lasagna.”
He realized that he had almost made a mistake. His familiarity with Mayson’s kitchen from being in it so much had almost revealed too much. Fortunately she had provided a cover for his knowledge. Somehow he wasn’t surprised at this invitation. He said, “Hmmm, what am I doing tonight? I’d say it looks like I’m having lasagna with a beautiful woman. What time?”
She blushed prettily at this compliment and as she started fixing her coffee she suggested, “How’s seven thirty?”
“I’ll try. You have to understand, if I get a call …”
She almost tripped over her own words to get her reply out, “Oh, I understand completely! I wouldn’t want anyone to be hurt or even die because you were with me.” She took a sip of her coffee.
“Well, as long as I’m not called away, I’ll be here.” He held out his coffee cup as if in a toast and then took a sip before asking, “What do you think the purpose of this drug is?” He had been told the story about Resurrection by another Clark but he needed to find out how much she knew before he could drop any hints.
She said, “It seems that it is a barbiturate that can induce a temporary state of suspended animation which would mimic death. I can’t think of any good use for it.”
Superman asked, “Why would someone want to simulate death? Perhaps a magician in a performance or an escape artist,” he inquired.
Thinking about what he had just said, Mayson snapped her fingers and blurted out, “Escape artist! What if. No ... it couldn’t be. But, maybe it could be. I have to check … There have been a string of deaths by ‘natural causes’ at the Metropolis Penitentiary recently. What if those convicts weren’t really dead? I’ve *got* to check on this! Thanks, Superman! I could kiss you!” Suiting her actions to her words she threw her arms around his neck and did just that. Her intent was a kiss of gratitude, of thanks, but it turned into something more.
Clark was taken by surprise but when she was kissing him, it just felt so familiar that he went with it and Mayson was breathless when they broke from the kiss.
She said, “Wow!” and gave him a very appraising look. She had felt him accept and then deepen the kiss in a way that she really liked, almost as if he knew just how she liked to kiss, almost as if he knew her intimately. The familiarity he showed shocked her.
There was a mystified expression on her face as she stood there looking at him.
He said, “I’m sorry, Mayson. I shouldn’t have done that, taken such liberty.”
She countered, “No, don’t apologize! I ... enjoyed it, *very* much.” She gave him another very close appraisal.
Seeing the way she was looking at him he decided that he needed to distract her somehow. He pointedly looked at her clock and said, “I think we need to go.”
She snapped out of her reverie and said, “Oh, yeah, right, let’s go.”
He cleaned up the coffee maker and cups at superspeed and then offered his arm to Mayson. When he had finished she said, “You’d be really handy around the house.” She walked over, picked up her bag and then stuck her arm through his as they exited the apartment. Once on the front stoop he scooped her up and took to the air. She had an expression like a kid on a carnival ride the whole way to her office. Realizing that they had a couple of minutes, he took her the ‘long way around’ to work and when they landed he continued to hold her in his arms for a few seconds. She looked into his eyes and saw something that she couldn’t identify there. She reached up and placed her hand on the side of his face, caressing it as she said, “Thanks for the lift.”
And now:
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Chapter 14 – The Second Mission – Daniel Scardino
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 025 x Gamma 120 x Tau 086
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Alt Superman had just flown Mayson to her office and as he set her on the ground in front of her office building he asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you? Unless I get a call, I’m available.”
Her reply didn’t surprise him too much, “In view of what you can do, I may be able to utilize your unique abilities to do some research for me. What say, you willing to help me?”
“Mayson, I always help law enforcement. What do you need?”
“Could you get me the coroner’s reports for the recent deaths at the Metropolis Prison? I’d like to know what caused this recent string of deaths.”
“I might need a court order.”
“A note from me should be sufficient. Let’s go in and I’ll write up the request on my letterhead.”
After getting the request Superman went to the prison and saw the Medical Director. The MD gave him a run around and didn’t give him the information he was after which he thought was suspicious. Finally he did find out that no autopsy had been performed on any of the inmates that had recently died. He knew that this was unusual to say the least, but decided to let Mayson handle it. He returned to her office arriving just as Agent Scardino was knocking on her door.
Scardino seeing who had just appeared next to him was momentarily shocked, but quickly regained his composure. He was dressed rather casually in jeans and a red, yellow and blue Hawaiian shirt with a light jacket over it. Superman could see the bulge of a side arm on his left hip. They heard Mayson cheerily say, “Come in!”
When Scardino entered Mayson said in a somewhat deflated tone, “Oh, I was expecting Superman. You must be Agent Scardino.” Then she saw Superman behind Scardino and brightened appreciably, then trying to put a professional spin on it she asked, “Superman, did you get that information I sent you for?”
Superman said, “I’m not sure. I did find out that there were no autopsies performed on the inmates that died recently. The MD was being very evasive. I could tell from his pulse and respiration that he was under a lot of stress when I made the request.”
“Do you think it would do any good to bring him in?”
“It just may, if he’s in collusion with the perpetrators. Your call.”
Mayson turned to Scardino and said, “Agent Scardino …”
He interrupted her and said, “Please call me Daniel.”
She started again, “Agent Scardino, what we have is a new drug. I had a sample analyzed by STAR Labs. They say that it will mimic death.” She pulled the metal cylinder out of her bag and handed a capsule to Scardino before continuing, “Now, I started asking myself why anyone would want to do that and Superman suggested the answer even though he didn’t realize it - *escape*.”
Scardino asked, “Escape? Escape from where?”
Addressing Scardino, Mayson replied, “That’s exactly what I was asking myself when I remembered that recently there have been a rash of ‘deaths’ at Metropolis Prison. I asked Superman to check with the coroner about these deaths. It appears as though there have been no autopsies performed, which is unusual, to say the least especially, in cases of unexpected, sudden death. We could be looking at a sophisticated escape attempt, successfully pulled off.”
Scardino spoke up, “Initially I came here to see about this drug, but I heard about your car so now I have a second reason. I recognized the MO of the bomber. You’re lucky you weren’t killed by that bomb. Others haven’t been so lucky. I want that bomber! He’s mine.”
Superman spoke up, “Agent Scardino, You make it sound like it’s personal.”
Scardino barely looked in Superman’s direction his eyes were glued to Mayson as he replied, “Please, call me Daniel. It is personal. I’ve seen his work before. I know his work like the back of my hand. He killed my partner. The problem is, supposedly, he died in Metropolis Prison three weeks ago. His name was Sean McCarthy. I’m the one that put him in jail. Putting two and two together and coming up with four from what you are saying and what the lab says that this drug can do I’d say that that psycho bomber is back out.”
Mayson responded enthusiastically, “I pulled the records for the prison and the list of recent deaths is interesting. Three weeks ago, Sean McCarthy. Two weeks ago, Diego Martinez. Diego was a bank robber with a knack for getting around security systems. The only reason he was caught was a failure of one of his pieces of equipment on his last job.”
Scardino said, “I don’t see any common thread unless you were planning a bank job. You have a guy that can get past the security and a guy to blow the vault. The problem is that it has to be someone on the outside that’s recruiting them. Someone capable of creating this drug and then the means to deliver it to them in prison. Can we get the visitor logs from the prison for the periods immediately before the deaths?”
Mayson replied, “Yes, I can do that. Let me make a phone call.” She picked up the phone and dialed a number. When the phone was answered she requested copies of the visitor logs for the last three weeks from the prison. When she hung up she turned back to Scardino and said, “The list should be here shortly.”
Superman interrupted and said, “Uh, Mayson, I have to go. I just heard something. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone. Maybe you should invite Agent Scardino over in my place.” He turned to the door and made his exit. After closing the door he stood there for a few seconds and listened. He heard Mayson, with a distinct lack of enthusiasm say, “I’m making lasagna tonight, would you care to join me?”
He laughed, “With a name like Scardino do you think I could turn down pasta? What time and where?”
Superman exited and went out on patrol.
Shortly after he left the visitor lists were delivered. They checked and found that McCarthy had been visited by an individual named Albie Swinson shortly before he ‘died’. They continued checking and found that Diego Martinez had had a similar visit by Swinson just before he also ‘died’. Mayson said, “We may be onto something here.” They continued checking and found that today’s list had an entry for Albie Swinson. Mayson called the prison and asked about the status of Buster Williams. She was told that he had just suddenly died in his cell. He was being sent to the Heavenly Rest Cemetery. She asked, “What cemetery was used for Sean McCarthy and Diego Martinez?”
Her contact at the prison said, “We have a contract with Heavenly Rest. All of the prisoners that die are sent there.”
Mayson thanked him and hung up. She turned to Scardino and said, “Feel up to a little investigating?”
He asked, “What’ca got?
“All of the prisoners have been sent to Heavenly Rest Cemetery. If this is an escape, someone there has to be helping. We need to see their records. If they weren’t embalmed that’s a start. Then we need to check the plots that they were buried in.”
“Got’cha. Let’s go.”
Mayson picked up her bag and they headed for the door. They took Daniel’s car to the cemetery.
They went into the office and Mayson asked to see the records for the prisoners in question. The director, Mr. Goodson, produced them. Mayson looked them over and asked, “Why were these individuals not embalmed?”
He took the records back and looked them over and said, “It must simply be a case of an oversight in the record keeping. Embalming is required by law.”
Mayson said, “In that case let’s talk to your technician.”
As she turned away to step out of the office Mr. Goodson produced a gun and said, “I don’t think we are going to be talking to anyone.” Mayson put her hands up in submission. “You’re going to be going for a little ride, into the crematorium. I think I have a casket large enough for both of you, now move.” He shook the gun indicating what direction he wanted them to go.
Mr. Goodson’s attention had been on Mayson but he caught movement out of the corner of his eye as Daniel started to move. Mr. Goodson started to shift his aim and snapped of a shot which caught Daniel in the shoulder. Daniel’s momentum carried him into Goodson and Goodson staggered. Mayson swung her bag and caught Mr. Goodson under the chin with it like a boxer delivering an uppercut. Mr. Goodson’s head snapped back and he fell back, unconscious.
Mayson grabbed a lamp and pulled the power cord out of the wall and used it to bind his hands behind him. After picking up his gun she grabbed her cell phone from her bag and called 911.
The dispatcher answered, “911, what is the nature of your emergency?”
She said, “This is Mayson Drake, Assistant District Attorney, I need police and an ambulance at the Heavenly Rest Cemetery, immediately!”
The dispatcher replied, “I’m hitting the tones now. The ambulance should be there in a matter of minutes. Stay on the line and I’ll patch you in to the police.”
Mayson heard some clicks and then another voice, “MPD, Sergeant Tartaglia, how may I help you?”
Growing somewhat frustrated with how long all of this was taking Mayson had a hard time controlling her voice to keep from shouting as she said, “Sergeant Tartaglia, This is Mayson Drake, Assistant DA, I need a squad of police at Heavenly Rest Cemetery, *NOW*!” She lost the final shreds of her control and actually shouted that last word.
Very hastily, Tartaglia said, “I’ll inform Lt. Henderson, immediately!”
Sarcastically Mayson answered, “You do that Sergeant.”
She knelt down next to Scardino and pulling him up onto her lap she started stroking his forehead as she asked, “Agent Scardino, how are you?”
Moaning in pain, he grabbed his shoulder where she could see the blood staining his shirt and said, “Please call me Daniel. I’ve been better. Did we get him?”
She said, “Yes, we did, thanks to *you*, Daniel, if it hadn’t been for you we probably would be in a coffin by now getting a whole body hot foot. There’s an ambulance on the way, just rest easy."
He coughed and winced in pain before saying, “How’s this going to affect our dinner?”
She gave him a shy smile as she said, “If you can’t make it tonight, I’ll give you a rain check. You rest easy now I think I hear a siren. I’m going to go out front and bring the medics in here.”
She disappeared out the door and a couple of minutes later led the way for the medics. They applied a compression bandage and loaded him onto the stretcher. As they were wheeling him out the police arrived, headed by Lt. Henderson.
Mayson handed him the gun and indicating Mr. Goodson said, “Here’s his gun. He shot Agent Scardino. Read him his rights. Charge him with attempted murder and aiding and abetting in a series of escapes from Metropolis Prison. I’ll be down to interview him later. I’m going to MetGen with Daniel.” She hastened out the door and just managed to climb in the back of the ambulance before they closed the doors.
Mayson stayed in the room with Daniel while he was examined and treated by the ER physician. Daniel’s wound was not major but they wanted him to stay in the hospital overnight for observation. The slug had passed through without hitting any bone or major vessels. He would have a nice scar as a souvenir, but he would heal rapidly.
The capture of Mr. Goodson broke the entire case wide open. Once he was incarcerated and grilled he explained how the escape was done. From a house nearby a tunnel had been created which led to a number of burial plots. When a coffin was placed in one of these plots while no one was around, a cover was placed over the coffin so that it wasn’t actually buried. It was then winched in through the tunnel and the inmate removed from the coffin and allowed to rest until the effects of the drug wore off. He incriminated Dr. Stanley Gables as the inventor of the drug.
Before any news of the capture of Goodson was able to leak out the police raided the house at the end of the tunnel and found Gables, McCarthy, Martinez and Williams.
When Gables was being cuffed he was raving, obviously insane. Albie Swinson, remorseful over his part in the scheme, gave the entire story once he had been booked as an accomplice.
Gables had been a research scientist at STAR Labs and had performed an illegal experiment after developing what was called the Alpha Virus. Four technicians had died and he had been fired. He had refused to assume responsibility for his actions and had conceived a plan to take revenge. He was going to release the Alpha Virus on the city. The team of convicts he had assembled was going to break in to STAR Labs and steal a vial of the virus. They had stopped them just in time.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next day Mayson went to visit Scardino in the hospital. When she entered his room he brightened up and said, “Well, if it isn’t my favorite ADA. What can I do for you?”
“I just came to see if my favorite DEA Agent would like to cash in his rain check. I hear they are going to release you this afternoon.”
Daniel replied, “Don’t mind if I do. I may need some help though. Got one wing in a sling.”
Mayson replied, coyly, “I think we can manage.” She left and returned to her office. A little later Superman stopped by.
“Ms. Drake, Mayson, sorry about last night. I was tied up.”
She replied, “That’s okay, Superman, it all worked out. You’ll be happy to know that Daniel and I solved the crime. It was a series of escapes. We corralled the whole gang.”
Superman looked around before he said, “I don’t see Agent Scardino. Did he return to his office?”
“Well, no, he’s in the hospital. I’m picking him up in a little while. He took a bullet meant for me. I owe him. We’re having dinner at my place tonight. Do you mind?”
“Mayson, I don’t mind. You know, I’ve really been thinking, I can’t get involved with women. If I did, they would become a target for kidnappers among other things. I don’t think you’d want to risk that.”
Mayson knew, deep down that he was actually being chivalrous and stepping aside so that she could see Daniel even though she still suspected that there was something there between them. A spark that could possibly have ignited into a flame if given half a chance.
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 15 – Stop the Presses - Again
