Clark and Lois - Hope Realized - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 5 10/25
By Ken Janney
Rating PG-13
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.
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ denotes telepathic communication/
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary]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
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 New universe called Alt 2
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Clark and Lois – Hope Realized - The Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 5
Previously:
“I just don’t know what to say. You are fantastic. Making love with you is incredible. I never knew that it could be this good!”
She asked, “Didn’t you and she ever …”
He replied and as he did she could hear the pain in his voice, “No, we never did. She died before we could …”
Sensing his pain she rolled over so that she could pull him into her arms with her naked breasts again pressing into his equally naked chest. He started kissing the side of her neck and slowly worked his way to her mouth finally capturing her lips again as they started kissing again. They slowly started drifting back down to the bed.
There they broke the kiss and she reached up and stroked the side of his face. Gazing intently into his eyes, she said, “I’m with you now and I’m not going to die the way she did.”
He replied, “Now that we are together I can see how it is with you. I can’t tell you how much in love with you I am. I can’t wait until we are husband and wife. It will be my dream come true. By the way, I *like* how you mix business with pleasure.” He gave her a wicked smile.
With a smile and a wink Lois said, “It can’t be too soon for me either. Tomorrow we’ll announce the change in plan. I’m sure everybody will understand. At least there is one thing we don’t have to worry about. Superman has already announced his return from his ‘mission’ by joining me on those rescues. That does bring up another question. What will the relationship be between Superman and Superwoman? If they get married at the same time we do, it could generate a lot of questions.”
“I really hadn’t given that much thought. Perhaps Superman should court Superwoman for a period before announcing their engagement. When did Clark tell you just who he was?”
She laughed and replied, “He didn’t tell me until after I had figured it out on my own. We had been on an undercover assignment pretending to be newlyweds in the honeymoon suite of the Lexor. We were in the bedroom sorting out some equipment when suddenly Clark threw a blanket over the equipment and then threw me on the bed. It was so sudden and unexpected I didn’t know what was happening and I started to struggle and then he started kissing me. When he started kissing me I just melted it was so wonderful. I wanted it to go on forever. Unfortunately after a short time he stopped and I heard the maid excusing herself. He had just done it to cover our activities, but I could never forget that kiss.
“Later he was going off on a dangerous mission, you know, Nightfall, and I was there when he was going to leave and I kissed him. It felt very familiar and I realized just who it was that I was kissing. I didn’t say anything. When he came back he had amnesia. When I found him he didn’t remember me. I called his parents and told them what had happened. They came to Metropolis and helped him get his memory back. I told them that I knew and asked them to keep it a secret.”
“From then on he didn’t realize it but I helped cover for him by helping with his excuses for his disappearances. Eventually he got up the nerve to tell me. He was so cute, he was so nervous! He thought I’d be mad at him and that I’d hate him for the rest of my life because he’d lied to me and kept this secret.”
“We were alone one day when he finally said, ‘I’m him. I’m Superman.’ I couldn’t help it, I squealed and asked, ‘What took you so long?’ as I jumped into his arms and started kissing him. He had this dumbfounded expression on his face and asked, ‘You already knew? How long?’ I told him and we kissed some more. It was fun and funny and romantic and I’ve loved every minute I had with him. I do want you to know that I love the time I now have with you, every bit as much. I love you Clark Kent.”
Clark replied, “I love you Lois. I never got the chance to tell my Lois about myself. You see we were in the past, 1992, and Superman wasn’t around as yet. If she had lived I would have been telling her. We were going to be picked up on February 28th to move to 1997. There would have been a problem with that though. You see, I am unique among the supermen, it appears as though I am the only one that my secret identity has been revealed. That means that any spouse would have to be protected constantly from attack or kidnap. You wouldn’t have that problem. Since you are super you would be safe.”
With a very thoughtful expression and sound Lois said, “You know, that presents a problem. We have two separate universes with a superhero now one of them will have two and the other will have none. Can we really do that?”
Clark for his part was becoming worried as she pointed this out and said, “You know, you’re right. I for one do not plan to let that stop us from being married.”
With conviction Lois echoed his sentiment, “Now that I have you, I’m not letting you go without a fight.”
Clark proposed, “Maybe Herb will have a solution. We can talk to him when he shows up to pick me up. In the mean time we can see if we can come up with a solution of our own and follow through on our plans.” He pulled her in close and kissed her again. When they separated they composed themselves for sleep and still naked they drifted off in each other’s arms, the bed in the spare room completely forgotten.
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 9 – Working Together
March 28, 1994 – Twelfth Precinct
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator Designation
Common name – ALT2
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Monday morning Lois dressed in a beige skirt that was flouncy and came to just above her knees. Her long slender legs ended in beige pumps. She had a matching jacket which she wore over a turquoise sleeveless blouse with a scooped neckline which revealed just a hint of cleavage. Clark was dressed in one of his normal GQ style suits in brown with a beige shirt and turquoise tie that matched Lois’ blouse.
When they entered the twelfth precinct, Lois and Clark presented themselves to the Desk Sergeant and Lois said, after reading his name tag, “Hi Sgt. Tartaglia, I was expecting Sgt. Cooper. I hope he's not sick." Lois was already aware of the change on the desk, but, that was as Superwoman so she had to feign ignorance of the change.
With a thick Italian accent Sgt. Tartaglia replied, "No, Ms. Lane, Coop is not sick, he is retired. I, on the other hand, have not yet reached the age at which I can retire, but, I am not so fast as I used to be, so I have now been assigned to this desk in his place. My name is Tartaglia, Gino Tartaglia. Please feel free to call me Gino. I have seen you and Mr. Kent around a lot and I must tell you that of all of the reporters that report on police activities, you are the most fair in your reporting. You both have my respect and that of the entire force because you give all of us an even break and we appreciate it. I would imagine that you wish to see Lieutenant Henderson who does not happen to be in his office currently. If you would choose to wait a couple of minutes, I do expect him to be here shortly. In the mean time would you like a cannolo? Mrs. Tartaglia makes them from scratch. "
"Why, thank you, Gino. I would love one." she said as she reached in and picked up one of the cannoli she said, “They look delicious. Clark?” Then she took a bite and got a rapturous expression as she said, “These are wonderful!”
Clark said, “Thank you sergeant and please thank your wife for us.” He took a bite of his and echoed Lois’ previous sentiment, “They are delicious!”
Sergeant Tartaglia was beaming in appreciation of the compliments to his wife’s cooking. Gino saw a light come on on his panel and said, "Lt. Henderson just walked in. Third door on the left. I will let him know that you are here.” He picked up the phone and dialed an extension as they turned and started walking away finishing their pastry and licking their fingers, appreciating every morsel.
When they got to Henderson’s door they knocked and heard, “Come in.”
Opening the door, Lois greeted him, “Hi Bill, we just got back into town. Superwoman said that you thought that we ought to return. What’s the story? She told us that she got the bomber for you. What have you gotten out of him?”
Noting the powdered sugar on their lips he started to laugh as he said, "I see that Gino brought in some more cannoli. I hope he saves one for me. They are out of this world. Clark, I’m glad to see you back in one piece. To answer your question, yeah, we got the bomber and we have a statement but we may not have enough to hold him and all we have to charge him with at this point is malicious destruction of property. We might be able to make a case for attempted murder.”
Clark spoke up, “What do you want us to do?”
“At this point all I can say is go back to work. Look, Luthor probably knows that we’re on to him now. I think he’s going to lay low for a while. Go back to business as usual, live your life. Let’s see what happens.”
Lois looked over at Clark before she said, “Bill, this has brought one thing home to us, one or the other or both of us could have been killed. We decided that we are going to move up the wedding. It’ll be in two weeks, April ninth, and you’re invited.”
Bill, with a huge grin, said, “Well, congratulations you two. I’ll be there, count on it.” He reached out and clasped Clark’s hand and shook it. As he did so he remembered the cannoli and said, “How appropriate! You had the cannoli, right?”
They both had mystified expressions as Lois cautiously said, “Yeah, we did. Why?”
Bill was laughing as he replied, “Here’s some trivia for ya, Cannoli were historically prepared as a treat during the Carnevale season, possibly as a *fertility* symbol,” and he started laughing harder than ever as Lois and Clark exchanged looks.
They thanked him and left hand in hand. Next stop was the Daily Planet. Lois thought at Clark, /You did good with Bill. You sounded like the old Clark./
Clark smiled back and squeezed her hand.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Newsroom at the Daily Planett
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Perry White was on the floor of the newsroom giving directions to Jimmy about some prints he had been showing him. “I want you to reprint this one, improve the contrast and crop it for the person in the center and burn him in while you dodge out the people in the background. Son, you’re eventually going to be a good photographer if you keep this up.”
Jimmy was beaming with his praise and said, “Thanks, Chief! I’ll get back to the lab and get these done right away.”
Perry replied, “You do that, son.”
Just as Jimmy was turning away Perry heard the ding of the elevator as it arrived. Jimmy and he both turned to see who was on the elevator. As soon as the doors opened and Lois stepped out they both got a huge grins on their faces and when they saw Clark come out right behind her they were even more pleased. Perry shouted, “Clark, it seems like I haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays. What are you doing back here? Have you healed up? More importantly, is it safe?”
Jimmy shouted, “Hey guys, long time no see! I’ll see you later, got to get down to the lab, got some prints to doctor.”
Lois replied, “Okay Jimmy, see you later. Make sure you come see us we need to talk.”
Worried now, Jimmy asked, “Oh, okay … something serious?”
Lois tried to reassure him, “No, nothing bad, just a change of schedule.”
Relieved, Jimmy said, “Alright, as soon as I get out of the lab, I’ll come by.”
Lois said, “Chief, can we see you in your office?”
“Sure Lois, come on in.” He led the way, moving around and sitting down behind his desk as they followed and Clark closed the door.
Perry noting this thought, <She’s got a bee in her bonnet, I wonder just what it is.>
Without preamble Lois said, “Chief, you asked if it was safe for us to be back. Superwoman has been keeping in touch with the police while Clark was recovering. We were both staying with his folks in Kansas. Now that Clark is fit again the police asked Superwoman to tell us that we should come back. Now, what are you doing two weeks from last Saturday, on the ninth?”
“Well, since Alice and I have gotten back together we decided that we would have some time to date. We are planning to go to a movie. They’re showing ‘The Cool Surface’ at the Palace. Why?”
With a serious tone, Lois asked, “Do you think you could change your plans?”
Worried now, Perry asked, “We might be able to, what do you have in mind?”
With a somewhat lighter tone she said, “With what happened, we decided not to wait so long and we want to move up the wedding date. You’re supposed to give me away, remember?”
All of his apprehension fled with these words and he smiled very broadly as he said, “I think Alice won’t mind rescheduling for such an excellent reason. What made you decide to change the date?”
“It was the bombing of Clark’s apartment. Clark or I or both of us could have been killed and we don’t want to waste any more time by being apart. Actually, over the weekend we moved in together. If you need Clark, call my apartment.”
“That’s wonderful news. I can understand how it is. Sure, no problem. I have my own monkey suit so it isn’t like I have to change a rental date, besides Alice always likes to see me in it, she says she can’t wait to get me out of it, if you know what I mean.”
They all laughed at this comment and then Clark changed the topic. “Chief, we found out just who was responsible for the bombing. It was Lex Luthor.”
Perry sat forward in his chair with a look of incredulity on his face as he said, “What?!?! Luthor is a pillar of the community, a philanthropist! He’s been the man of the year! Are you sure?”
Lois said, “Superwoman got a confession out of the bomber. Remember, he named Lex Luthor’s butler as his contact and the man who contracted the hit. I’ve been following up on that since I’ve been back. Luthor is still having his secretary call me, almost on a daily basis.”
Being a good reporter, Perry asked, “Do you have independent confirmation? The bomber could have been lying.”
Clark said, “That’s why we want you to assign us to the investigation, full time. We were working on a story that could possibly have been related, but we want this to be our only assignment. We want to devote all of our time to it. Can you do that for us?”
“Okay, you’ve got it. You’re full time on Luthor. Go get me a story.”
“You may not like what we find, Chief.”
“Like it or not, if it’s the truth, we’ll print it. Just make sure of your evidence.”
“We will Chief.” They both got up and exited his office.
They went over to Lois’ desk. She sat in her chair and he perched on the corner. He leaned in and said, “By the way, do you happen to know Clark’s password?”
“L01$_L@n3”
Chuckling he said, “I should have guessed.”
Clark went over and caught up on the e-mails that had accumulated in ‘his’ absence and didn’t see anything that he couldn’t handle with the exception of one. He called Lois over to take a look at it. “Lois, you got a minute to look at this?”
She got up from her chair and moved over to his desk. She perched on a corner and leaned in, crossing her legs as she did. This all had the effect of hiking her skirt up a notch and causing her blouse to gape open revealing the creamy flesh of the upper slope of her breasts. He found himself staring and could feel his pulse starting to race. His breathing started coming in short sharp gasps. Lois reached over and stroked the side of his face and then cupped his chin, lifting his face and eyes to her face. She giggled as she said, “You had something to show me?”
Coming out of his stupor he said, “Uh, yeah. Here, look at this e-mail.” He maximized the display.
“From: BobbyB@Metro.com
To: Clark.Kent@DPlanet.com
Subject: help
Greetings, Mr. Kent.
I understand that you recently lost your main stool.
Meet me in Centennial Park, 6:30 tonight, picnic bench near the fountain. Bring a lasagna dinner from Travaglini’s. We might be able to do business.
Bobby”
“That’s interesting; I just got a similar note.” She switched users on his machine and brought up her mail program and selected the message in question.
“From: BobbyB@Metro.com
To: Lois.Lane@DPlanet.com
Subject: help
Greetings, Ms. Lane.
I understand that you recently lost your main stool.
Meet me in Centennial Park, 6:30 tonight, picnic bench near the fountain. Bring a lasagna dinner from Travaglini’s. We might be able to do business.
Bobby”
“What do you make of it?”
Clark looked around and saw that there were several people within earshot. He looked at the conference room and saw that it was empty and said, “Conference room.” He stood up and guided her through the door. Once the door was closed he said, “In that other universe, the one that Herb calls Prime, the Lois and Clark there have a source that has to be the best that there ever was. His nickname is Bobby Bigmouth. He never asks for money! Every time he has information the pay he asks for is food, usually, expensive food. This could be him. If it is, he can be an invaluable source on just about anything.”
“Okay, let’s take a chance; after all, all it’s going to cost us is a lasagna dinner.”
Clark laughed, “From what the other Lois told me, since he sent the note to each of us, I think he expects two dinners!”
At first Lois gave him a look of disbelief, but, seeing his reaction she said, “You’re serious, aren’t you? *Two* dinners?”
Still laughing he replied, “I’d be willing to bet on it.”
Clark looked around to confirm that they were alone and asked, “Since we are in here and have some privacy, let’s talk. How do you want to proceed on the investigation?”
Lois thought for a second before replying, “We need to get the goods on Luthor. From what you have said, he’s behind all of the major rackets here in Metropolis.”
With assurance Clark replied, “A lot of what he did was centered around Lois, uh, you. He tried to destroy her, uh, you, your support systems so that you would depend on him. First he forced advertisers to pull their copy from the paper so that financially it was in trouble then he coerced the board of the Planet into approving the sale of the Planet to him and then he bombed the Planet so that you would be out of work so that he could offer you a do-nothing position at LNN.”
Lois was astounded, “All of that just so that he could get me?”
“He wants to possess you. He doesn’t love you he wants to break you and control you. That’s his thing and it may also be his Achilles Heel. If we can make sure that his control falters and fails, we may be able to break him.”
Lois had a thought and said, “I just had an idea,” and walked over to the door. She opened it and looked around the bullpen. Spotting the object of her search just coming out of the stairwell door she shouted, “Jimmy!”
His head snapped around and he spotted Lois in the conference room door. He shouted, “Be right there!” He took the prints he had just finished to Perry’s office and then headed for the conference room.
When Jimmy came into the conference room Lois said, “Two things, first – we are changing the date of the wedding to two weeks from last Saturday. Can you change the date of your tux rental?”
If Jimmy could grin any wider he would be splitting his face in two. He said, “No problem, I’ll call and change it today.”
Lois continued, “Okay, good, now next, I need everything you can get on Lex Luthor. All of his businesses, even those that he’s a minor partner in, those should be an extremely short list. See what you can get on banking transactions, mostly from his personal accounts, but, check his businesses as well.”
Jimmy had at first been excited, but, realizing the scope of this assignment started to get worried. He said, “Wow, all of that? That’ll take a while.”
“Let it. We need it to bring him down.”
What she said, finally hit home, “Wow! You’re going after *Luthor*!?!?”
Lois clamped a hand over his mouth. She said, “Not so loud. You never can tell just who might be listening. Luthor could have spies anywhere.”
Jimmy, quieter now said, “Right, mum’s the word. I’ll get right on it.” He left the conference room.
Once he had left, Clark said, “We could possibly do some super surveillance to try to get evidence against Luthor. What do you say to that suggestion?”
With a grin, Lois said, “I’d love to. When do you want to start?”
He suggested, “How about this evening? We can get a feel for how he does things. We could fly up to the roof and listen in to some meetings.”
“Sounds to me like a perfectly enjoyable date. We could get some take out.”
Clark chuckled and said, “I know this little place in Hong Kong that has the best Chinese food you have ever tasted.”
She said, “We can do that after we meet with Bobby.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That evening, after a visit to Travaglini’s to pick up two lasagna dinners they headed to Centennial Park and were sitting on a bench near the fountain talking when a lanky individual that looked very much in need of a decent meal approached. He sat down next to Clark and introduced himself, “Kent, I’m Bobby. I see you got my message. I heard you were back in town and thought I’d take a chance and contact you. I smell the delicate aroma of Lasagna. Is it from Travaglini’s?”
Clark picked up his bag and opened it so that Bobby could get a better smell. After doing this to tempt him he asked, “What do you have for us?”
Bobby reached for the bag but Clark snatched it away. Clark said, “Information first.”
Bobby, with the appearance of one being put upon said, “You’re looking for information on the current rash of fires on the waterfront, right?”
Lois replied, “Actually, we are on a new assignment now. Lex Luthor. What can you do for us?”
Bobby asked, “Is that a second Lasagna dinner I see there?”
Lois opened her bag so that he could get a whiff. Bobby closed his eyes and took a deep sniff and with a rapturous look on his visage simply enjoyed what he smelled.
Clark brought him back to Earth, “What do you have for us?”
Bobby came back and opened his eyes. He glanced back and forth between them and then said, “Okay, you already know that an Englishman commissioned the bombing of your apartment. Superwoman got that information out of Duggins. That Englishman’s name is Nigel St. John and he works for Lex Luthor.”
Lois said, “Tell us something we don’t already know.”
Bobby was surprised at this response. “Okay, how about this. Luthor wants to build a high - class marina in the Hobbs Bay area. That’s where the information on the fires comes in. He is all set to snap up the properties in that area at fire sale prices.”
Skeptically Lois asked, “How’s he going to do that? Those are valuable properties; no one is going to be selling, especially at fire sale prices.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Luthor has commissioned the Toasters, a group of firebugs with some hi-tech gear, to start some fires. Their gear creates fires without the use of accelerants so there is no way to prove that it’s arson. After a few places are burnt to the ground there will be a panic sale that Luthor will capitalize on.”
Lois handed over her bag and said, “Bon Appetite.” And Clark handed over his.
Bobby grabbed them and opening one stuck his face in the neck of the bag and inhaled again. With a rapturous expression he pulled back and said, “Heavenly. They make the best lasagna in the city. If I hear anything else I’ll either call or send a note to set up a meet.”
Clark said, “Okay Bobby, we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial association.”
“As long as you guys are willing to meet my price, we’ll get along just fine. I’ll be in touch.”
Lois and Clark looked at each other and after he was out of earshot they both broke out in laughter. When Clark calmed down somewhat he said, “Just like the other one. I can’t get over it!” He sobered somewhat and continued, “In the other universe he is an invaluable source. I’m glad we have him here as well.”
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 10 – The Investigation
