For Artemis's updated geneology of the Kent clan, go here: http://www.zoomway.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=002528
Home: On the Fourth Day of Christmas: 5/6
by Nan Smith
Previously:
The door to Lester's office was closed, but Lori marched up to it and knocked firmly. In the back of her mind, a sense of urgency was growing, the conviction that time was of the essence.
The door slid open and Lester glanced up from his computer. "What is it, Lori?"
"Here." Lori set the printout on the desk in front of him. "These are the streets where the Christmas Killer picked up his victims last year. In sequence. Look at the first letter of each street."
Chow's assistant didn't waste time asking questions, she noted. He read the list and his bushy eyebrows snapped together. "Sandra Benson?"
Lori nodded. "Does it mean something to you?"
Lester didn't answer. Instead he spoke into his office intercom. "Dispatch! Put out an APB for Officer Gary Benson. He's driving his own vehicle, and he went off duty about twenty minutes ago. Move!"
Lori stared at him, and suddenly she knew why the name sounded familiar. "Oh my god! Uma went with him! She said he was taking her to the corner deli!"
Lester was on his feet and heading out the door, speaking into his own wrist talker. Lori looked after him, and then punched Clark's 'talker code into her own. Less than a second elapsed and Clark's voice said, "Superman."
"It's Lori," she said, rapidly. "Cl ... Superman, Uma is with a cop. His name is Gary Benson, and he may be the Christmas Killer. They're putting out an APB right now. She left with him about fifteen minutes ago, so they may still be somewhere in the vicinity of the Precinct."
"Got it," Clark's voice said. The connection went dead.
**********
And now, Part 5:
Uma scrambled to her feet, nearly unaware of the snow that coated her hands, face and clothing and ran, not looking back. Behind her, she heard a breathless curse from Gary Benson, the slam of a car door and muffled footfalls as he came after her.
Uma ran as hard as she could, slipping and skidding on the icy ground, back toward the street and the relative safety of the lights and passing cars. Would he dare to attack her and commit murder in the open? Probably not, but the man had to be insane. Who knew what a crazy man would do?
She wanted to scream for help, but with the breath tearing in her throat, it was all she could do to breathe and her one attempt to summon a scream produced only a faint, breathless gasp.
But, this was an emergency! The telepathic talent that was her inheritance from Clark Kent was permissible in an emergency!
*Uma!* The shout that echoed in her head was so loud that she thought for a second that she was hearing it with her ears.
*Clark!* she screamed, as loudly as her mental voice could project. *Help me!*
From behind, a pair of arms caught her and swung her around, and Gary Benson laughed breathlessly as he slammed her body to the ground and pinned her there with his own.
"Nice try." His voice was a breathy whisper. "But useless. No one gets away." His fingers closed on her throat and exerted pressure. Uma strained uselessly, trying to pry them free, to no avail.
Wind burst over them both like a hurricane, and his hands were wrenched away. Another pair of hands was lifting her to her feet, and through a blur of tears, Uma saw Gary Benson struggling uselessly, while Superman effortlessly pinned both his wrists behind him. The superhero's face was grimmer than she had ever seen it, and the anger blazing in his eyes frightened her a little. She had never seen Clark really angry before.
Blue Lightning was standing beside him, and a little behind him, CJ Kent, her great-grandfather, in his guise as Tan-El. Henry Olsen, in the red and black of Cyclone, produced a thick bar of metal, and an instant later, it had been twisted around the Christmas Killer's wrists. Her Aunt Lara, in the red and blue of Superwoman had helped her to her feet, and now looked balefully at Gary Benson. In fact, Uma realized in surprise, all the superheroes who had made Metropolis their home were present.
"Are you all right, Ms. Kent?" Superman asked.
Uma became abruptly aware of the fact that tears were running down her face and she was beginning to tremble in every limb. From somewhere not far away, came the wail of rapidly approaching sirens.
"Yeah," she whispered, through a throat that was going to be bruised and sore for several days, "now I am."
Headlights flashed across them as the first of the police cars dropped out of the sky to a fast landing in the snow-covered expanse of the park, followed by a dozen more in quick succession. The blue-clad forms of Metropolis's finest converged on the little knot of superheroes and their captive. Velma Chow, looking unexpectedly bulky in her heavy coat, surveyed her former subordinate.
"Well, Gary," she said, in a voice devoid of emotion, "this isn't going to do your career any good." She gestured to two burly officers. "Take him back to the station. Les, you take over here. The rest of you, find his car and recover every piece of evidence you can find. If he's linked to the other murders, there's bound to be traces." She turned to Uma, who was staring at her in stunned silence. "I knew who it had to be as soon as I heard what Lyons had found," she said. "Are you all right, Ms. Kent?"
Numbly, Uma nodded.
"We'll have a doctor check you over back at the Precinct," she said. "We've already called Olsen. He'll meet us there. May I give you a lift?" She glanced at the superheroes. "I'll see the five of you there, too. I want a statement from every one of you."
"We'll be there," Superman said.
The flashing lights of at least a hundred police ground- and aircars glittered off the snow, turning the scene eerily psychedelic as Uma followed Chow obediently back to her vehicle. Behind her she heard the characteristic "whooshes" that marked the departure of the supermen. Slowly, she got into the rear seat of the aircar and cautiously felt her bruised throat. It hurt, but she had to know what Velma Chow had meant. "What did Lori find?" she asked, as the officer slid into the driver's seat.
"The first letters of the street names where the victims disappeared spelled the name of his ex-wife," the lieutenant said, briefly. "She was a cop that worked at the Precinct. They'd had a rocky marriage, but then, two years ago, on December 26th, she left him."
"Oh," Uma said, and the hoarseness of her voice was a grim reminder of what she had escaped. "I guess I sort of understand why."
**********
"I guess it makes sense, in a sick sort of way," John said. He planted the heels of his shoes firmly on the writing surface of his desk and leaned back so far that Uma expected him to tip over. On the desk, the headline blared "Christmas Killer Caught!" and underneath it Uma could see the byline of Kent and Lyons. That was still something she had to take care of, she thought. True, Lori had indirectly saved her life by alerting Clark to the identity of the killer and giving him some idea of her location, but Uma didn't *want* to feel grateful to her. Lori Lyons had still stolen the man who was meant for her and she was determined to get Clark alone before she had to leave and straighten out this mix-up.
"It doesn't make sense to me," she said, knowing she sounded sullen, and not caring. It hurt to talk, and she had to constantly remind herself not to clear her throat.
"It's a familiar pattern," Clark told her. "You see it with a lot of serial killers. Each time they kill, in their minds they're killing a particular person. Only the real target isn't really dead, so the killer has to keep killing, over and over -- until he's forcibly stopped. Sandra Benson has dark eyes and hair like each one of Benson's victims." He shook his head. "He was taunting the police with that clue, I think -- daring them to catch him. I doubt he really expected anyone to pick up on it, though."
"I guess he didn't figure on Lori," John said, sounding just the slightest bit smug. "You might want to do a general background on the subject for your report, Uma. I'd say you've got a potential "A" waiting for you."
She might, at that, Uma thought. She might be able to submit this as her report on the project, after all. There wasn't any mention of exactly *when* the shadowing of a journalist had to be done. Maybe she could explain that she had known the assignment was coming up, and that she had taken the opportunity when it arose. With such a well-known journalist as Clark as her subject, she just might be able to get away with it.
"Yeah, probably," she said.
"How are your parents taking it?" Clark asked, watching her with an expression that she couldn't read.
Uma shrugged. "By the time they found out what happened, it was all over," she said, offhandedly. "I told them I'd be home tomorrow. I still have another day to shadow you."
"Oh," Clark said, and she was sure he was trying not to grin. "Well, we're going for an easy assignment this afternoon. We're interviewing the Muskrats -- that's the team coming in to play the New Troy State Spartans after the parade. Not exactly dramatic journalism, but Metropolis's sports fans will appreciate it."
"Where's Lori?" John asked. "I notice she didn't come in with you, this morning."
"Lori will be in about ten," Clark said. "I suggested that she sleep in a couple of extra hours this morning, and she didn't fight very hard."
"Not a bad idea," John said.
Uma shrugged. "That's okay. I'm really supposed to shadow you, anyway."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere until she gets here," Clark said, "unless there's an emergency or something. I still have some follow-up calls to make about last night, and there's a bail hearing, today. The judge is going to deny bail; nobody doubts that. If you want to listen in, you're welcome to, Uma."
"Okay," Uma agreed, glancing at her chronometer. It was nine-thirty. That meant she had better get Clark alone pretty quickly. Once his so-called wife was here, she wouldn't let him out of her sight.
"By the way," Clark said, turning to John, "Rhonda got back to us last night. It's official."
John grinned, swung his feet to the floor and extended a hand. "In that case, let me be the first to congratulate you," he said.
Clark took the hand and the two men engaged in a hearty handshake. Uma watched the little routine with a sinking sensation, hoping that it didn't mean what she was afraid it did.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Clark and Lori are expecting a baby," John said.
Uma stared at him in shock. It wasn't possible! Not after all the planning she had done!
"I didn't know," she said. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," Clark said. "Now my only problem is going to be how to get her to cut back a little."
"Good luck with that," John said, dryly.
"Yeah," Clark agreed, but he was smiling.
"Looks like you can start now," John said, waving at the room beyond, visible through the window of his office. Uma looked around and grimaced. Lori Lyons had just stepped out of the elevator.
It was too much. Uma couldn't stand it any longer. She burst into tears.
**********
Clark glanced at his editor and John got to his feet at once.
"I have a few things to take care of," he said. "Uma can stay here until she feels better. I'll just go have a few words with Lori."
Clark nodded. John was a smart guy he thought, but he would have expected nothing else of Jimmy's great grandson.
Uma was sobbing miserably. Clark waited patiently until the storm began to wear down, then quietly fished out his handkerchief and put it into her hands.
She wiped her eyes and blew her nose on it, and Clark smiled a little sadly as he remembered Lois doing the same thing to more than one of his handkerchiefs. Uma looked a little like her great, great grandmother, but only a little. Still, that trace of Lois was there. He had seen it last night in the way she had managed to survive her encounter with Gary Benson when so many other women and girls had not. Hurting her wasn't something that he had any wish to do, but he couldn't give her what she wanted.
"Better?" he asked, finally.
Uma shook her head. "I'll never be better," she whispered.
"Uma." Clark tilted her chin up with one finger. "Do you know how old I am?"
"You were born in 1966," she said. "But ..."
"Yes, I was. By Earth standards it was probably about the end of February in 1966 -- or at least that was my parents' guess. They figured I was between two and three months old when they found me. We never knew for sure, but by the time you were born, I was over a hundred years old."
"You were over a hundred years old when *she* was born, too!"
"Yes, I was, but it's not the same. The bond makes the difference."
His great, great, grand daughter looked at him, tragically. "How can you be so sure?"
"That the bond is there? Once it happens to you, there won't be any doubt in your mind. And it will -- someday."
"But I love you," Uma said, softly. "I've known it for years."
"I love you too," he said, keeping his voice gentle. "But not that way. That kind of love is reserved for Lori, and will only be for Lori for as long as the two of us live." He took her hand. "Uma, even if you were married to me, it wouldn't work. I know -- I've known for years -- that you felt cheated when you discovered that you hadn't inherited my powers, when all of your brothers did. It's not fair, but it happens, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. John is the only one in his family without super powers, but he didn't let it stop him."
"It's not the same," she whispered.
"Isn't it? Did you know that before we married, Lois had my powers for a short time?"
"I didn't know that was possible," Uma said.
"Let's say the situation was unusual. Lois and I were exposed to Red Kryptonite, which hasn't been seen on Earth in nearly a century, and it temporarily transferred my powers to her. Do you know what she discovered?"
Uma shook her head.
"She found that super powers weren't the picnic that she had imagined they would be. She discovered that even a super-powered being can't be everywhere or do everything, and that even Ultra Woman could fail." He met her eyes. "Being super-powered means tremendous responsibility; it means making life and death decisions every day, of sometimes choosing who lives and who dies. You don't have that responsibility, but it doesn't mean you can't someday make as much of a difference to the world as John Olsen -- or Lois Lane. It just means you'll have to do it the normal human way."
Uma wiped her eyes. "You knew all along."
"Well, not all along, but I figured it out pretty quickly," he admitted. "That's one of the advantages to having lived so long. You get so you don't have to be a telepath to know what people are thinking." He smiled at her. "Uma, I'm truly sorry that I can't give you either of the things that you want so badly but I married Lori because I love her, and I always will. Nothing can ever change that."
**********
(tbc)
