The Foundling - Matchmaker Style
Rated PG-13
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously
Louie looked up from his sandwich and jerked a thumb toward the far wall.
Turning in that direction, Lois and Clark saw Jack sitting hunched against the wall with his hands behind his back. He had a sullen and yet stubborn expression. On a pool table next to him was a pile of goods which Clark immediately recognized as ‘their' stuff.
Turning to Louie, Clark asked, "Are you sure he's the one?"
Unfazed, Louie pointed at the pile of Clark's belongings and asked, "That your stuff?"
Clark sorted through it and then said, "Most of it."
Lois picked up on his tone and whispered to him, "The globe?"
He whispered back, "Missing."
"Oh, no."
Louie explained, "Kid tried to move it through a guy who knows a guy I know." Louie held up a thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills, "Had this on him too. Yours?"
Seeing what he was holding, Clark said, "No."
Louie offered the money to Lois and after a moment of thought she took it and she and Clark approach Jack. Clark could tell that Jack was scared. His heart was racing and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead, but he was putting on a tough act.
Jack's bravado surfaced and he said, "That's my money, lady."
Lois challenged, "You robbed our apartment?"
Jack tried the same subterfuge he had used on Luthor, "I found that junk in a dumpster. I should of left it there."
Lois could see that Clark was weakening. He always had a soft heart. It was one of the things that had endeared him to her even before the memory transfer
Clark asked Jack, "How old are you?"
Jack sensed that he might have an out with this guy and shot back, "How old are
you? Look, I don't know anything. Just let me go." He moved his arms to the side and displayed the handcuffs that in fact were on his wrists.
Lois looked at Louie with a reproving look, "Louie!"
Louie shrugged and nodded to the pool player who threw the keys to Lois.
As Lois was catching the keys and moving toward Clark and Jack, Louie said, "Careful. You got yourself a real rabbit there."
Lois, taking his meaning hesitated, but only for a second. Clark encouraged her, "We're not the law, Lois. He's just a kid."
Lois gave in, nodded to Clark and reached to release the cuffs.
Once the cuffs were off, Jack started rubbing his chafed wrists. Now that he was released his bravado increased, "Yeah, I could sue you for kidnapping.”
Louie said, "Ya got me quakin' in my boots, kid."
Lois stood her ground, "I'm waiting for an answer. Did you rob our apartment?"
Jack kept silent, but his eyes were darting this way and that as he evaluated his possible escape routes.
Shaking the money she still held in her hand, Lois challenged, "Where'd you get all of this money?"
Clark interrupted this line of questioning, "Look, this doesn't have to go to the police. I just want to ask you some questions about ... some personal items that are still missing. One in particular."
At this statement, Jack looked up quickly, then, just as quickly, dropped his eyes again. Jack realized that this guy was saying that he knew the gizmo belonged to Superman, but he wasn't saying any more. If he identified him to Superman he would be in deep trouble. He needed to get that money and get out of there as fast as he could then he and Denny needed to put as much distance between themselves and Metropolis as possible.
Clark had been watching and this was exactly the reaction Clark was hoping for. Jack’s heart rate kicked up and his pupils dilated slightly.
As Lois started to speak, his fear spurred him to action.
Lois was saying, "You could save yourself a lot of trouble …" He jumped up, grabbed the cash from Lois's hand and fled. Lois shouted, "Hey!"
Louie's pool playing pal tried to make a grab for Jack as he passed, but he missed.
Seeing him go, Lois shouted, "Clark, grab him!"
Even though he passed close to Clark, he made no try at stopping him.
After he was past, Clark said, "I'll go after him."
Lois realized that Clark probably thought that one-on-one he might be able to get more information so she simply nodded.
As Clark rushed out, Louie chuckled and said, "Like I said, a real rabbit."
After Clark exited, Lois moved over and started going through the pile of stuff that had been stolen from the apartment. She found some photos and gasped when she saw them. Pictures of Jor-El and the globe showing the continents of Krypton. She quickly pocketed the evidence.
Louie had heard her gasp and asked, "Problem, sweetheart?"
"No, Louie. There's just evidence here that proves the kid was lying."
"You want we should catch ‘im again and maybe, toss him around a little? Get the truth outta him."
"No, Louie, I think we'll handle it Clark's way from this point on."
And Now
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Chapter 6
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Once he had grabbed the money from the dame's hand, Jack had run for all he was worth, without looking back. Although Jack was both young and strong, his diet hadn't been healthy enough to sustain his growing body as it needed so fairly quickly he tired. He pulled up panting, leaning against an alley wall. He stood there for several seconds catching his breath and regaining some of his strength before putting more distance between himself and those people. He tried to breathe quietly so that he could listen for sounds of pursuit. Hearing none after almost a minute he finally stepped away from the wall and looked around. Getting his bearings he decided which way he needed to go and started to jog away at a more sustainable pace.
As he rounded a corner he ran right into … Clark's arms.
He was startled and feeling trapped again started to struggle to get free, but quickly realized that this guy was no push-over and he wasn't going to get free that way.
As Jack eased his struggles, Clark eased his grip and said, "I'm not going to hurt you." To make sure he heard him, he repeated his statement, "I said, ‘I'm not going to hurt you.'"
As Clark's words finally penetrated, and he looked into Clark's eyes. What he saw in Clark's eyes surprised him. He would have expected hate and anger, but he didn't. What he saw was hurt and concern. He ceased his struggles.
When Jack stopped struggling, Clark said, "Be straight with me and I'll let you go. I promise." At an imperceptible nod he took a deep breath and continued, "Do you have the globe?"
Jack just shook his head. Finally he spoke, "I sold it." His defiance reasserted itself as he finished, "I had to."
"Who did you sell it to?"
The gentle tone that Clark was using was having an effect. Jack was still defiant, but he did open up some, "I don't know. Some guys. I took pictures of it, passed 'em around, you know. Older guys. Kinda strange."
"What did they look like?"
It was apparent the Jack was lying when he said, "I don't remember."
"Do you have any idea where the globe is now?"
His answer had the ring of sincerity as he said, "No. That's the truth, man."
As Clark released his grip on Jack, he asked, "What's your name?"
"Jack."
"Just Jack?"
"Yeah, just Jack." He looked at Clark again and asked, "Is the globe yours?"
"I've been keeping it … for a friend."
Jack asked, "How does it work? Who's the guy with Superman's 'S' on his shirt?"
It appeared as though his worst fears were being realized. Inadvertently, Clark again grabbed Jack's arms and forgetting himself applied a lot of pressure. Seeing Jack wince in pain, he immediately relaxed his grip. Realizing that he had let himself lose his control, momentarily, he said, "I'm sorry. I …" He changed his mind on what he was about to say and instead asked, "How do you know about him?"
Jack was more than a little scared now. This guy looked like a lightweight, but his grip was like that of a weight-lifter. He stammered out, "When I touched it. A man appeared. It looked like he was talking …"
Becoming even more concerned, Clark asked, "What did he say?"
"That's just it, it looked like he was talking, but I didn't hear anything."
"You didn't hear anything?"
Jack nodded in agreement and asked, "You gonna cut me loose?"
Clark could see just how scared Jack was and pitied him. He asked, "Where will you go?"
Jack was even more scared at this question, not just for himself, but his brother, Denny. "No way am I gonna tell you. And don't try to follow me."
Even though it was now spring, there was still a chill in the air and Clark saw Jack shiver because he didn't have a jacket.
Resigned that he probably wasn't going to get anything out of Jack, Clark said, "I won't follow you." He thought for a second and then pulled a business card from his pocket. As he handed it to Jack, he said, "Call me if you want to talk."
Jack took the card, hesitantly and looked at it. Again Clark saw him shiver. He removed his coat. He held it out to Jack.
Jack looked at it with avarice, but hesitated to take it.
Extending it to him, Clark said, "Go ahead. Take it."
Jack finally reached for the coat and Clark watched as he put it on.
The coat was several sizes too large for Jack and he looked ridiculous in it, like a little kid playing dress-up, but at least he was warm. Warily, Jack started to back away. When he saw that Clark was honoring his word and not following, he turned on his heel and took off.
After Jack was out of sight, Clark continued to watch, slipping his glasses down his nose so that he could use his super-vision to do so. After he saw him enter a boarded up building Clark turned and moved in the direction of Louie's. Once he was there, he found that Lois had loaded their stuff into the Jeep and she was sitting in it waiting for him.
As he slid into the passenger seat she asked, "Well, did you catch him?"
"Yeah, but I let him go."
"What?"
"I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't hold him."
You talked to him, though?"
"Yeah. I asked about the globe."
What'd he say?"
"He said he didn't have it. He sold it. That must be where the thousand came from. Had to be a high roller, someone like Luthor."
"Then you believe him? That he didn't still have it or know who did?"
"Yeah, I believe him. He was panicky and scared, but aside from that the physiological signs were in line."
"What else did he say?"
"Something interesting … he said that he could see the hologram, but he didn't hear anything."
Lois sighed with relief, "Thank heaven for small favors. At least he didn't hear Jor-El. Which doesn't change anything. What if someone else
will hear it? You've got to get the globe back before it gives up any more information about your past."
"I know. I've never felt so
exposed. And if I'm exposed, you and Mom and Dad and everyone else close to me are, too. What if whoever has the globe discovers I'm Superman?"
Always the voice of reason, Lois said, "Look, as long as we are the only ones that can hear Jor-El the damage that the globe can do is limited. We just need to work on finding it, before too much more
is revealed." Lois thought for a second and then asked, "Do you think it would do any good to scan Luthor's penthouse to see if it's there?"
Clark shook his head and said, "He'd be too smart to keep it there. Knowing that it belongs to Superman and knowing that I'd suspect him, that's the last place it would be. He will probably hide it somewhere else. Who knows, it could be in a secret vault or in a laboratory being analyzed even as we speak."
Lois had been driving while they had talked and pulled up to the apartment as they finished.
As soon as they had unloaded, following along on that train of thought, Lois picked up the phone and dialed. "Jimmy? Lois. Jimmy, we need you to find the locations of
all of Luthor's holdings. Especially the laboratories." Lois held the phone away from her ear so that it wouldn't be damaged by Jimmy's shout.
"What?!?!?!? Lois, you've
got to be kidding! Do you have any idea of his holdings? There have to be hundreds if not thousands of offices and buildings in and around Metropolis alone and places outside of Metropolis on top of that!"
Once he was calmed down she said, "Yeah, I know that it will be a long, a very long list, but it's important. In this particular case, I don't think that Luthor would want it to go too far from his control. Concentrate your search here in Metropolis. We'll be in shortly so if you could start on it and have at least part of it for us that would help, a lot." After Lois hung the phone up, she looked at Clark and asked, "Do you think you should scan LexTower to see if it's there?"
"Lois, that's a pretty tall order. You're talking over a hundred floors."
"I would think that you could concentrate on his office and quarters, maybe the floors immediately below. I don't think he's going to allow it too far from his person."
"At this point he's had probably twelve hours or so to hide it."
"Any lead lined enclosures would, of course, be suspect," Lois offered.
"Lois, I can't just go barging in there and ripping open lead lined safes. That would require the police and a search warrant. In order to get that we would need probable cause. Now, if Jack would identify Luthor as the person that bought it, that would be probable cause, but he won't. He claimed he doesn't know who it was."
"I'm going to head on in to the office, you my dear husband, need to go look over Luthor's lair. I'll meet you at the Planet. If you spot the globe, you need to recover it, no matter what. If Luthor tries to have you arrested, he'll have to prove that the globe is his and not yours, which will be impossible for him to do."
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Later, Clark came out of the stairwell, straightening his tie. As he approached his desk, Lois lifted her shoulders in question. Shaking his head in the negative he dropped into his chair, the very picture of disappointment. Lois got up and moved over to his desk. She perched on the corner and bending down asked, "Nothing, huh?"
"I scanned the top ten floors. There was actually very little that I could see. If it isn't lead sheets, Luthor has gone to the extent of painting a majority of his offices with lead based paint, probably just so that I can't monitor his activities."
With a smirk, she said, "There you go! If he had nothing to hide why would he do that? Okay, while you were out, Jimmy got me a partial list." She jumped up and went to her desk retrieving a piece of paper. Returning to his desk she placed it in front of him. Pointing to entries, she said, "My guess is that he would want to have it ‘checked out' to make sure it's legit. That means that he'd probably send it to one of his labs. I've highlighted those on this list. I think you need to check them out. Who knows, we might get lucky."
Taking the list, Clark headed for the stairwell once more.
As he was disappearing through the door, Perry came out of his office and approached Lois's desk. "Where's Clark off to?"
"Oh, hi Perry. He's, uh, helping me with the crime story. Since it became personal with our apartment being robbed. He's gone to check on a few things … for the story."
"Do you have anything you can give me yet?"
Lois considered and then asked, "Can I speak with you in your office, Chief?"
Curious, Perry said, "Sure. Anytime. Let's go."
Lois got up and followed Perry into his office. When they were inside and the door closed, Perry moved around, sat behind his desk and asked, "Okay, what do you have?"
"Well, you see Perry, it's this way. This story is about petty crime, but we think there are bigger fish involved. There have been rumors of a crime boss running most of the rackets in Metropolis. We're starting to work on that angle. We don't know where it will lead, but we may have to go undercover at some point."
"Will you need more assistance?"
"Jimmy is helping."
"Is there someone that you suspect?"
"I hesitate to say. Let me just say that it isn't someone you would suspect."
"That covers a lot of territory, darlin'."
"I know, Perry, but if we can get the goods on him, it will blow the lid off of the rackets in Metropolis, but good. We could be talking Pulitzer here."
Perry sat back in his chair, stunned. He started to smile and said, "That big, huh?"
"Yeah, that big."
"If you and that husband of yours can pull this off, it'll be the coup of the century."
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Later that night Nigel and Luthor approached a large vault door in a darkened sub-basement. Nigel entered the combination and the ponderous door slowly swung open. As they entered, Nigel flipped a switch which lit the enclosure with a subdued lighting. The center of the room was suffused with indirect light, supplied by the lights in the alcoves around the walls.
Luthor was carrying an ornate black lacquered box as if it contained the British Crown Jewels in his gloved hands. In the center of the room a crystal pedestal had been erected. The top had a velvet drape, but other than that it was empty.
Luthor stopped short of the pedestal and looked around, speaking in a musing tone as he did so. "My treasures." Then he looked at the box he held and stepped closer to the crystal pedestal. Almost reverently he opened the box he held and removed the globe. As the box was opened it started to glow. Luthor placed it, carefully in the center of the top of the pedestal and stepped away, staring at it in awe.
Nigel joined him, standing slightly behind and to one side as they both stared at the glowing object.
In hushed tones, Luthor said, "Magnificent. See how the light catches its depth, Nigel. Like a perfect jewel. I want it analyzed atom by atom."
"As you wish, sir," was Nigel's simple reply.
Luthor threw his hands out expansively as he said, "We stand on the verge of a historic moment."
Nigel's comment of, "I can feel the vibrations," elicited a reply from Luthor.
"Can you?" He started another survey of the vault as he said, "The accumulated plunderings of a lifetime: the Venus de Milo's missing arms, Gainsborough's ‘Yellow Boy', Beethoven's 'Tenth Symphony', Van Gogh's
better self-portrait, the full figure 'Mona Lisa'. Unknown and unseen by the world at large, they exist solely for my pleasure. But, my private collection was incomplete.
I was incomplete." Luthor slowly, deliberately removed his gloves. "No more. In many ways Superman remains a mystery. Despite all our conflicts, I still lack the knowledge, the wedge that will bend him to my will, or break him. Perhaps, finally, this globe will shed some light."
Following on the heels of this speech, Luthor approached the globe and with his now uncovered hands placed both hands on the globe. Apparently in response to his touch the globe changed its appearance and started to glow. Soon the beams of light were sent out and the hologram formed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Across town, Lois and Clark were in the office studying a map of Metropolis. The map was marked off in a grid pattern. Using the list of LuthorCorp facilities that Jimmy had produced he was marking the locations so that he could plan his search when suddenly they ‘heard',
"This is the second of the five times I will appear. You may wonder that I speak your language, and not my native Kryptonian: I don't. That is another property of the object, it converts the sound to telepathy and broadcasts it directly to the brain of those it is attuned to."Lois gasped and said, "The globe."
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