Clark and Lois - Hope Realized - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 5 22/25
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:
While they waited Clark advanced the tape to the section of interest. When Muggervin entered Bill performed the introductions and Muggervin said, “What do you have for me?”
Lois replied, “With a little super assistance from a couple of friends of ours we got a recording of some conversations in a particular office. One deals with some people you may be familiar with. Clark?”
“All set.” He hit the play button.
[(Voice 1 – Luthor) “I need to see Mitzie and Izzie. Arrange meetings with them for tomorrow night. Set them up for oh, ten and ten thirty.”
(Voice 3 – Mrs. Cox) “Which do you want to see first?”
(Voice 1 – Luthor) “Set it up for Izzie Banks first. Constance can watch the house while Mitzie is here.”
(Voice 3 – Mrs. Cox) “I’ll set them up, Lex.”]Muggervin was beside himself. He asked, “Is that who I think it is? Lex Luthor, and he’s summoning Mitzie to a meeting? I always suspected that she had powerful friends. I’ve never been able to get a warrant for a raid. With his money he must have half the judges on the bench in his back pocket. I wish I could listen in on that meeting.”
Clark said, “We’ll have a recording for you tomorrow. We want to gather as much evidence linking him to criminal activities as we can so that when we go for an indictment it will be an open and shut case.”
Muggervin asked, “What do you get out of it?”
Lois answered, “Aside from personal satisfaction, a front page headline and maybe a Pulitzer nomination.”
Chuckling, Bill said, “You don’t set your sights high, do you?”
Laughing, Clark replied, “If you don’t shoot for the big Kahuna, you’ll never hit it.” Becoming more serious, Clark asked, “What do you want to do about Nigel?”
Bill replied, “I think we have at least enough to bring him as a material witness.”
Clark said, “If you can get a warrant issued we can ask Superman or Superwoman to pick him up and deliver him to you. They can probably find him when your people couldn’t.”
“Let me make a call.” Bill picked up his phone and dialed a number. When it was answered he said, “Hello, who am I speaking with please? Ah, Ms. Drake, I need to get a warrant issued.” Hearing this name Lois and Clark exchanged looks. Bill continued, “Person. Material witness. Recording. Nigel St. John. Pick up for interrogation. I’ll be right over.”
Clark and Lois looked at each other at Mayson’s name. Lois thought, /The universes work alike, don’t they? At least here you haven’t developed a relationship with her./
Clark thought back, /It’s our good fortune they do, honey. It’s a good thing we’re married already. Remember, she’s been a problem, not just in my universe, but others as well./
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 21 – Lois! Look Before You Leap
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Universal Locator Designation
Common name ALT2
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Bill turned to Lois and Clark and said, “There shouldn’t be any problem. Go on back to your office. When I have the warrant in hand, I’ll give you a call then you can pass the word to Superman.”
As Lois stood to go she said, “We’ll wait for your call and pass the info then we’ll contact you tomorrow after we have the tapes from tonight’s meetings.”
At two p.m. Clark had a call, “Daily Planet, Clark Kent.”
“Clark, Bill Henderson. I got the warrant. Please get word to Superman and Superwoman that I would appreciate it if they could bring him in to me for questioning. After they bring him in I could use that video tape. I’d like to provide some entertainment for my guest, in between questions, if you know what I mean.”
Laughing Clark said, “You’ve got it Bill. We’ll pass on the request.” As he hung up Clark gave the flying hand signal to Lois and they both headed for the stairwell. They supersped to the roof and emerged from the door in uniform. They stopped at that point to confer.
“Where are we most likely to find him? If he’s not at LexTower he could be out looking for a sharpshooter.”
“We know who we are dealing with. I wouldn’t put it past him to be carrying Kryptonite. We can’t be too close together. Let’s take opposite sides of the building and start looking for him there.”
They both flew off and each took station on their side of LexTower and started scanning.
Clark received a thought, /Spotted him. Two floors below Lex’s office. Looks like he’s alone. I’m gonna go get him./ She was flying at the office window even as she was sending the thought. Too late she received his reply, /Wait! We don’t know if he has Kryptonite or not!/
Nigel had his back to the window and therefore didn’t see Superwoman approaching. As she neared the window however she started feeling pain and it increased the closer she got. By the time she was five feet away she was in agony and losing control of her flight power and starting to fall out of the sky. She started to scream from the pain and fear. Clark came around the building and gave the 98th floor a wide berth since that was where Nigel was. He spotted Lois falling past the 75th floor and shot off in pursuit. He caught her as she was passing the 70th floor and cradled her in his arms. She was unconscious so he flew her back to the apartment and laid her on their bed. He removed her mask and got a cold compress to swab her brow.
After a few minutes she came to and asked, “What happened? Ohhh, I ache. Yeah, right, Kryptonite. I should have been more careful. That’s going to be a problem. We aren’t going to be able to get near him.”
Clark said, “Let’s not jump to any hasty conclusions. He may not carry it on him. It could be in his office. Think back, when you had dinner with Luthor, were you near Nigel and did he have Kryptonite on his person then?”
“I don’t know. That dinner was before Clark’s powers were transferred to me. I wouldn’t have felt anything.”
Clark said, “Your exposure was rather brief so you should recover your powers quickly. Why don’t we do this, I’ll fly us up to about 25000 feet so that we are above the clouds and in direct sunlight. That should help regenerate your powers.”
She started to pout and said, “You mean I don’t get a chance to lay out on the beach with you like we did after you dealt with that ring?”
He laughed as he said, “My exposure that time was a lot longer and a lot closer, if you recall. I’ll give you a rain check on the lying out on the beach thing. Besides, we need to get Nigel.” He thought for a second and then said, “Maybe we should go to the Congo and see if we can buy the Ubuntu in this universe.”
“Not that I don’t like the Congo, but, let’s find something closer, perhaps on the Chesapeake Bay.”
“Sounds like a plan. We can start looking. Right now I need to get you into the sun. Let’s go, Love.” After she had put her mask back on he lifted her in his arms and flew out through the back window and up.
As soon as she felt the sun on her exposed skin she started feeling better. It was only about ten minutes later that she said, “I think I’m back. Let me try to fly.” He extended his arms and she floated out of them and then reversing course came back into his arms and kissed him. She said, “Thanks for being there. It wouldn’t have been very pretty if I had fallen all the way to the sidewalk.”
“We’ll always be there for each other. That’s what marriage is all about. I love you Lois.”
“Yes, that’s what marriage is all about. You’re right. I love you.”
“Okay, Nigel has Kryptonite, probably just in his office. We need to wait for him to leave that office in order to get to him. This looks like a surveillance job. We just have to stand back and watch. He can’t stay in that office 24x7. As soon as he leaves it we can grab him.”
“I’ve sure learned my lesson. From now on I’m going to go slow and check before jumping in.”
He smiled as he said, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Okay, let’s go back and start watching him.” They both flew back down and took station on the roof of a building across from Nigel’s office and used their enhanced vision to watch.
While Lois watched his movements, Clark gave the office a minute exam. Finally he said, “There it is. It’s on the corner of his desk. Do you see that little statuette?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s been plated with chrome but underneath it’s pure Kryptonite. If you had gotten in through that window I wouldn’t have been able to get in there to rescue you. He would have had us both.”
“We’re going to have to make sure we give his office a wide berth in the future. We need to be careful, he may also carry some on his person when he is out and about. I never want to feel that kind of pain again. After feeling that I don’t know how you were able to stand up to it the way you did with that ring.”
Looking her in the eyes he said, “I did that for you. I couldn’t allow that ring to be used against you. I had to deal with it so that you’d be safe.”
Feeling that verbal communication would be unable to convey everything she was feeling she switched to telepathy. When she did she packed all of the love she felt for him into the side channel communication as she thought at him, /I love you more than I could ever express verbally. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for me. I can’t wait to finish this so that I can show you just how much I love you./ She continued verbally, “I’m glad you taught me how to communicate that way because words were inadequate.”
He leaned in and gave her a kiss which lasted a couple of minutes and took her breath away, “That’s another form of non-verbal communication. I hope it conveyed what I’m feeling.”
Breathlessly she replied, “And how! We have a date later, husband mine.”
It was only a few minutes later that they saw Nigel leave his office. She said, “He’s on the move!” They tracked him through the corridors and into the elevator. A few minutes later they saw him enter Luthor’s office and speak with Luthor briefly and depart. They followed him again. This time when he got into the elevator he took it to the ground floor. They watched as he crossed the lobby. As he was about to exit through the front doors Clark thought, /I’ll go pick him up. You hang back, just in case he has Kryptonite on him. I’ll try to get close without him even knowing I’m there./
As Lois watched Clark took off and took a path which passed an apartment building. As he passed it, he grabbed some laundry which was hanging on a fire-escape rail and spun into it. Landing at the side of the building and ran around front.
Lois saw Nigel just as he was about to walk out the doors. Then she saw Clark, in disguise, approach him. He didn’t appear to be experiencing any discomfort as he walked up to Nigel and grabbed his arm. She saw Nigel wince at the pain created by Clark’s firm grip. Nigel had to know that it was Superman because she saw him reach into his pocket. She x-rayed it and saw what he couldn’t. She sent a thought, /Watch out! He’s reaching for Kryptonite with his other hand!/
Clark grabbed his other hand and restrained him, preventing him from reaching the Kryptonite. He said, “Now, let’s not be too hasty. Before you know it, you’re going to be thanking me. Let’s take a walk. Lt. Henderson over in precinct twelve wants to show you a movie after which he wants to have a talk with you. It could work to our mutual benefit.”
Superwoman landed next to Nigel and extracted the lead lined box from Nigel’s pocket. She used her heat vision to seal the kryptonite up in the lead and then gave it a heave, straight up, launching it into space.
Superwoman assumed custody of Nigel so that Superman could remove and return his disguise. They continued walking toward the 12th precinct. When Superman returned he picked up Nigel and took off. Superwoman instead of following, took off on another errand.
After landing at the 12th precinct, Superman conducted Nigel to Henderson’s office. He knocked and heard, “Come!” He opened the door and pushed Nigel down into one of the chairs before saying, “Lois Lane and Clark Kent asked if we could bring this individual to you.”
Nigel blustered and almost shouted, “What’s the meaning of this? I know my rights! You can’t haul me in here without a warrant!”
Bill picked up a piece of paper and said, “Right here.” He read from the warrant, “Warrant for one Nigel St. John. British citizen here in the country illegally. Wanted by MI6 for questioning.”
As each point was enumerated his countenance fell. When he heard MI6 he actually started to panic. These people knew too much.
Bill finished up with, “Wanted by the MPD as a material witness.”
Nigel blurted out, “Material witness? What do you mean?”
Just then there was a knock on the door. Bill called, “Come.” The door opened and in stepped Superwoman. She had a videotape in hand. She handed the tape to Bill. Bill said, “Thanks, Superwoman.” He turned to Nigel and said, “You may find this hard to believe but Superman here and Superwoman may have just saved your miserable life.”
Nigel, with look of disbelief on his face said, “I find that hard to believe.”
Bill replied, “Oh, you can believe it alright. Let’s have a little show and tell, shall we?”
Bill turned on the TV he had set up behind his desk. Once it was warmed up he put in the tape Superwoman had just given him. He played the entire tape.
When they reached the discussion between Luthor and Mrs. Cox he blanched. He said, “That lousy, two timing, back stabbing … What do you want to know?”
Bill said, “First, have you contracted the hit on Kent?”
Nigel replied, “No, I was stalling. I didn’t think that was the best way to go. Too many questions generated by that kind of hit. Kent’s safe.”
Bill continued, “Okay, we’re going to want everything you can give us on Luthor and his activities. We want to know where all the bodies are buried.”
Nigel saw an opportunity to bargain, “If I cooperate, what do I get?”
Bill asked, “What do you want?”
“I want immunity from prosecution, no deportation and the witness protection program.”
“It’s up to the DA to make those kinds of deals but I’ll put in a good word for you, if you cooperate fully. Let’s go down the hall to Interrogation 3 so that we can make a recording.”
As Nigel stood up he turned to Superman and Superwoman and said, “I never would have believed I’d be saying this, but, thanks. Oh, and by the way. Steer clear of my office and Lex’s. Within the last couple of days we each got Kryptonite statuettes. If you go near them, well, you know what will happen.”
Superman said, “Thanks for the warning. We’ll keep it in mind.”
After Henderson and St, John went down the hall Superman and Superwoman left. Shortly after that Lois and Clark appeared in front of Sgt. Tartaglia. Lois said, “Hi Gino. Is Bill handy?”
Gino replied, “I think he’s questioning someone. You want I should call him?”
“Yeah, Gino, Please do. We forwarded his message to Superman and wanted to see how that all turned out.”
Gino rang Henderson’s office and there was no answer. He called over a patrolman and asked, “Roberts, would you be so kind as to go find Lt. Henderson and inform him that he has some very important visitors waiting?”
Roberts replied, “You got it, Gino. I’ll find him and let him know.” Roberts disappeared down the hall.
A few minutes later Henderson came into the lobby and signaled for Lois and Clark to join him. They accompanied him down the hall. As they were walking he filled them in, “Superman and Superwoman brought in St. John. He’s willing to cut a deal. ADA Drake is on her way over to see what can be worked out.”
Bill’s statement hit Clark like a ton of bricks. The thought, <Mayson! Here we go again.> Then he shot a thought to Lois, /What kind of relationship did Clark have with Mayson here in this universe?/
Lois replied, /We never met her./
Clark sent back, /Thank heaven for small favors. Thank you for marrying me. That should remove at least this possible problem. It’s bad enough that we had to deal with her in the other universe./
When they arrived outside of Interrogation 3, Bill stopped and said, “Everything said in this room is being recorded. See what you can find out.” He opened the door and they, all three, entered.
Bill addressed Nigel, “I think you already know Ms. Lane and Mr. Kent.”
Nigel answered, “Yes, I do. As far as my relationship with Lex Luthor, the two of you have been a thorn in my side. In view of what I just found out, and I understand I have you to thank for it, I’m glad you were. Thank you for warning me.”
Lois asked, “Why was he going after Clark? What was his motivation?”
“It all goes back to the White Orchid Ball. From that night on he has been obsessed with you, Ms. Lane. He will do anything to possess you. It happened suddenly, for no apparent reason almost like a post hypnotic suggestion suddenly kicked in. From that night on all he could think about was having you. He saw Kent as an obstacle to that end and decided to take him out of the picture. Initially he wanted to make it look like an accident. When the bomb failed he tried the mugging. After that didn’t work he wanted me to hire a sniper.” He saw the look of shock and horror on Clark’s face and quickly added, “I hadn’t done that. I was stalling because I didn’t feel that was subtle enough and would generate too much police investigation. If I disappear though, he may take matters into his own hands and contract the hit himself. He is desperate to possess Ms. Lane.”
There was a knock on the door. Bill answered it and Mayson walked in. Bill performed the introductions.
Mayson really gave Clark an appreciative eye after Lois was introduced as his partner.
Lois, seeing this, thought that early intervention was going to be important so she corrected Bill’s introduction, “Mayson, actually Bill’s introduction was incorrect but it is easy to excuse since it was so recent, you see, Clark and I are more than reporting partners, we are life partners as well. We were recently married.” She held out her ring hand as evidence.
Mayson’s countenance immediately fell. As, apparently in all universes, she had had an immediate attraction to Clark. This was a distinct disappointment. She turned to Bill and asked, “Okay, Lt. Henderson, what do we have?”
Bill introduced St. John, “ADA Drake, this is Nigel St. John. He is in the employ of one Lex Luthor. He has a story to tell. In order for him to give us his story though, he has asked for certain guarantees.”
She asked, “Such as?”
Nigel spoke up, “Quite simple, actually, immunity from prosecution, no deportation and the witness protection program.”
Mayson was shocked, “That’s quite a bit. Your information needs to be such that it will make it worth our while to give that level of guarantees.”
Nigel said, “As Lt. Henderson so quaintly put it, I know where all of the bodies are buried, those for which Lex Luthor is responsible. I know a lot besides that. You have heard rumors of ‘The Boss’ haven’t you? The central figure behind all of the major rackets here in Metropolis. Lex Luthor is ‘The Boss’. I can tell you where his secret books are and all of his hidden bank accounts.”
Mayson said, “Lt. Henderson, will that be adequate? Exactly what do you need from him?”
Bill replied, “All of it. What rackets does he run, well actually who runs each of the rackets and what can we use to bring each one of them in? How does he handle the money he takes in from these various enterprises?”
Nigel replied, “I can give you a list of all of his seconds. As far as the money goes, he has so many corporations and dummy corporations to move monies back and forth between that it’s ridiculously easy to confuse the money trail. He does, however, keep a detailed set of ‘secret’ books. Those he keeps in a small vault in his office. You will need to be extremely careful though. That vault has an intrusion prevention system which at any unauthorized access will incinerate the books. It would take Superman to get the door open and get to the books before they were like Burnt Toast. The problem you have is that Superman can’t enter his office because of the Kryptonite. You’ll have to deal with that first.”
Bill turned to Mayson and said, “At this point I’d say that it looks like he’s cooperating.”
Mayson said, “Tentatively, I’ll authorize all of your conditions, but, If Lt. Henderson tells me you’re holding back or giving false info, all bets are off.”
Nigel replied, “You don’t have to worry, I’m very motivated.”
Bill chuckled as he said to Mayson, “He’s telling the truth on that one at least. Luthor is planning on silencing him. The only thing keeping him alive is cooperating with us.”
Mayson replied, “All right, I’ll go back to my office and get the ball rolling on his guarantees. When you are satisfied that you have everything, let me know and we’ll go the next step. When the case is finally closed we will execute the final step.”
Mayson turned to Lois and Clark and asked, “How did the two of you get involved in this?”
Lois answered, “Luthor was after me and tried to kill Clark twice. We asked Superman and Superwoman to help out.”
At the mention of the superheroes Mayson got an angry expression and an irritated tone in her voice as she said, “Those vigilantes! Why did they have to get involved?”
Lois continued to be the one to interact with Mayson. She replied, “They were able to do some super surveillance which got the low down on Luthor’s plans against Nigel here. That’s why he’s being so cooperative.”
Turning to Henderson she asked, “Did you have a court order authorizing wire tapping or however it was done?”
Bill answered, “No, we didn’t. In this particular case it wasn’t needed. The evidence obtained will never go to court. It was for an audience of one.” He pointed to Nigel.
Mayson, mollified, said, “Okay, I’ll start the paperwork. Keep me posted.”
Bill said, “I’ll be asking for a number of warrants shortly, both Material Witness for people and search warrants for documents.”
Mayson said, “I’ll grab a couple of assistants to help with the paperwork.”
Nigel chimed in, “Be careful who you choose. Luthor has people in your office on his payroll.”
Mayson stared at him, “I’ll need names.”
Hesitantly he said, “That could take me some time to remember.”
Mayson, refusing to joust with him said, “The longer it takes you to remember, the longer it takes me to get the necessary paperwork done. I may just have to pick someone and hope they aren’t on your list when I finally get it. Of course, if they are then Luthor will probably have been informed and will have destroyed all this evidence you have promised us and we’ll just have to release you.”
Nigel started to panic again and said, hastily, “That’ll be the first list I give the good Lieutenant, rest assured.”
Mayson looked at Bill and said, “Call me as soon as he gives you that list.”
Bill chuckled as he said, “You got it. I like your style.”
Mayson nodded and exited the Interrogation room.
Lois said, “Bill, once you get the warrants you are after, let us know. We will contact Superman and Superwoman and let them know that you have some more pick-ups for them. It would be extremely satisfying for us to see them pruning the branches off of Luthor’s tree of crime.”
Bill replied, “As soon as I have the first one I’ll call, count on it and, thanks for the help.”
Clark spoke up for almost the first time, “Don’t mention it Bill. We are always happy to help the MPD, you know that. All we ask for is an exclusive.”
Bill barked out a laugh, “I should have expected nothing less! You’ve got it. It’s your story.”
Taking Lois’ hand they exited the interrogation room and headed for the Planet to await the call.
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 21 – Lois! Look Before You Leap!
