The Rival - Matchmaker Style
When Virginia proposed the challenge of taking a first season story and having it result in Lois and Clark being married I took up the challenge and "The Green, Green Glow of Home - Matchmaker Style" was the result.
That was all well and good, but then I started thinking - What about future episodes? How would the fact that they are now married affect the dynamic? For instance, how would "Pheromone My Lovely" have been changed by the marriage? How would it affect "Honeymoon in Metropolis" and "All Shook Up", "Witness", "Illusions of Grandeur", "Ides of Metropolis" and "The Foundling"?
In the previous stories, you've seen my take on the answer. So, now, to answer the question - ‘What if Lois and Clark were already married when The Rival happened?' I offer the following.
Rated 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.
In this, the sequel to The Foundling - Matchmaker Style. Lois and Clark have been back from the assignment in Smallville for a few months. The events of PML were delightful; however, Lois really has no recollection of what happened. Clark finally had a chance to give Lois a real honeymoon. Then her life had been threatened because she had witnessed a murder. Next they investigated the kidnappings of the children of wealthy families. They have dealt with a murder and a threat to the internet and the messages regarding Clark's origin. Now they have to deal with a rival paper.
Lois and Clark now have returned to Clark's ‘old' apartment.
In this particular story a lot of the dialogue is taken from the script text. I wish to express my thanks to my Beta readers Artemis and Ray Reynolds for their invaluable help. This was a VERY rough draft when it first landed in their hands.
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
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Chapter 1
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha -34 x Gamma 255 x Tau -225
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The weather was starting to get warmer. Spring had quickly sprung into early summer.
It was Saturday and Lois was going to be spending most of the day with Lucy, taking care of the lease on her old apartment and getting her settled in. Lucy was going to start at MetU with some summer school classes and wanted to get those things out of the way.
Clark had been called away as Superman because of a mud-slide in the Andes. But because of the sparse population it had not occupied much of his time and he had returned to Metropolis. Knowing that Lois was busy he decided to just kick back and have some fun. There was a community center that the Superman Foundation had paid to rehab and he wanted to check out the facilities. He decided that he didn't want to do it as Superman, but he didn't want Clark Kent to be seen on that side of town when his home was quite a distance away, so he landed nearby and spun into shorts, a cut-off sweat shirt and tennis shoes, but he refrained from putting on his glasses. He figured that without the glasses he looked sufficiently unlike Clark Kent that he wouldn't be recognized and also without the Suit he would look sufficiently unlike Superman that no one would suspect.
In an equipment locker he found a basketball on an unoccupied half-court. He started thinking about great basketball teams and a theme song started playing in his head. He just had to whistle "Sweet Georgia Brown" while he played, spinning the ball while balancing it on a fingertip, then dribbling and practicing his shots. He was really enjoying himself, passing the ball between his legs during the dribble and showing off, a little.
He was concentrating on what he was doing so thoroughly that he didn't know that he had drawn an audience until his observer made his presence known. Clark had just completed a dribble approach to the net that included several between the leg passes when his watcher applauded.
He was so startled that he missed the pass and the ball rolled toward the watcher. When it was at his feet, the watcher trapped the ball under his foot. He said, "You're pretty good."
Clark thought that he recognized him and asked, "You're … Bo."
Bo smiled at the recognition and said, "I know."
Clark smiled again and said, "Of course you'd know."
Bo asked, "What to play a little one-on-one?"
Clark smiled and said, "Sure."
Bo bounced the ball a couple of times and said, "First free throw wins the ball." He approached the foul line and launched the ball. (Swish) The ball went through without even touching the rim. Clark captured the ball and turned to Bo. Bo smiled and said, "Bo knows free throws."
Clark threw him the ball. After some dribbling, Bo broke around Clark's guard and moved in for a clean lay-up shot. He used the backboard, but the ball went right through the hoop.
As Clark recovered the ball and turned around, Bo said, "Bo knows lay-ups."
Clark threw him the ball so that he could try again.
Bo started dribbling, but this time, Clark was guarding him closely. Bo managed to move him closer to the net and with a quick turn and a leap he brought the ball up and over his head in a hook shot. The ball sailed through the hoop once again.
As Clark was recovering the ball he said, "Let me guess, ‘Bo knows hook-shots'."
Bo made another hook shot and then smiled and nodded as Clark threw the ball back to him.
This continued for throw after throw. Bo completely dominated Clark. It just seemed like he couldn't miss. Clark would guard against a lay-up and Bo would make a jump shot. Clark would change his tactic and guard against the jump or hook shot and Bo would circle around and perform a lay-up. Clark just couldn't win.
Bo started dribbling once again, this time he stayed at a distance with Clark facing him. He was outside the three point ring when he set up and launched the ball.
Clark had been limiting himself to his human abilities and had been feeling frustrated at Bo's dominating the game and decided that it was time to stop holding back. Seeing him launch a three point shot, he turned at super-speed and ran toward the basket. Launching himself into the air he floated high enough to intercept the ball in mid-flight, preventing it from reaching the basket.
Bo was simply standing there, his mouth agape. At first, when he launched the ball, he had a smug look on his face because he was sure that his aim was true. His smug look turned to one of consternation when he saw what his ‘opponent' was doing. Seeing him fly up to intercept the ball the realization hit him that he had been playing against Superman in disguise and his jaw had dropped open. As Clark floated back to the ground, Bo finally said, "Bo doesn't know that."
Clark started a super-speed dribble, circling Bo three times so quickly that Bo couldn't move before heading for the hoop. As he left the ground he had the ball in both hands like he was going to do a slam-dunk, but at the last second he simply released the ball and allowed it to gently fall through the hoop.
Landing, Clark caught the ball on the first bounce, smiled and flipped it to Bo who stood there and stared in awe at the person he now knew was the superhero. The ball fell from his hands, unheeded and he continued to stare as Clark waved, lifted off and flew away.
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Clark had told Lois about meeting Bo. She had been concerned that he might have recognized him as Clark Kent and put two and two together, but Clark had reassured her that since he wasn't wearing his glasses and especially since his hair still had some of the gel in it he didn't think that would happen. His hair wasn't slicked back ala Superman, but it wasn't Clark's soft and fluffy do. When they hadn't heard anything for a week, Lois started to feel a little more confident that the secret was safe.
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Some weeks earlier, just after Clark had recovered his globe and rescued Jack, there had been an attempt on Clark’s life. An individual driving a truck had tried to run him down. The driver had been caught and taken into police custody.
Lois and Clark were both convinced that Luthor had been behind the hit-and-run attempt, but the driver had died in police custody before they had been able to get anything out of him. Yet another dead end, no pun intended. (See Foundling – Matchmaker Style, chapter 10)
They had also looked for the woman that Clark had been helping across the street. When they found her, it was in the morgue. She had been the victim of a hit-and-run.
It seemed like that had been a signal for the lower elements of society to take a break and things had quieted down. Of course there were the occasional robberies, but these all proved to be lone-wolf adventures, clumsily handled, many of which Superman was able to take care of.
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Lois awoke before the alarm went off and felt her husband's body spooned against hers. She wiggled her body, snuggling more firmly against him. When she did, she felt something pressing into her behind. She smiled in the knowledge of just what that was and wiggled her behind that much more.
The arm that was across her waist tightened in response and she felt a tender kiss being placed on the back of her neck then he was whispering, "Be careful what you wish for. Your wish just may come true."
She grinned and said, "Promises, promises …" Anything more that she was going to say was lost in her squeal as he started a period of marital intimacy.
This lasted until they were interrupted by the alarm. From her position, still under her husband she reached over and turned off the alarm. Languidly, she said, "Time to get up."
With a smirk, he replied, "I thought I was."
She smiled at his little joke and said, "I'll say you were."
He floated them up and over so that she would be on top. Her knees were on the bed, straddling his hips and she wiggled her bottom. With a grin she asked, "Did you give me all you got?"
He smiled and replied, "Every last drop."
She smiled and said, "Good. We don't want to waste any. We want to make that baby as soon as we can." She rolled onto her side on the bed while he moved to the bathroom to get ready for work.
When he came out a few seconds later he headed for the kitchen while she headed for the bathroom.
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Things had been rather quiet for the past couple of months. Aside from the occasional Superman rescue there hadn't been much since they had found the stash of rare art under the museum.
The police forensics team had been all over that vault dusting for prints. They had not found anything usable. The jets of mist that had been released as Luthor and Nigel fled were a corrosive mixture that wouldn't harm the artwork, but did erase any fingerprints so the police had hit a dead end on that investigation.
Lois and Clark had tried to trace back on the construction, going on the assumption that there had to be records … somewhere, but they had come up empty. Luthor had covered his tracks very thoroughly.
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When they arrived at work the staff was milling around, apparently with nothing to do.
The dearth of lead stories was weighing heavily on all of the staff, but especially on Perry White. It came to a head when Perry was called upstairs. He was up there for a long time and all of the staff became more and more apprehensive the longer he was up there.
It didn't help that when he came down he didn't say a single word and there was a grim look on his face. He walked straight to the conference room and pulled the shades.
Everyone knew that something was up, they just didn't know what it was.
Finally, Perry stuck his head out of the conference room and called Jack. A few minutes later, Perry and Jack wheeled a large board covered by a drape into the pit. Once it was placed, Perry said, "Thanks, Jack." Then he raised his voice , "Gather around, everyone."
Once Jack had finished helping Perry he had gone over to listen to a police scanner. Everyone, including Jimmy, turned to hear what Perry had to say. Everyone was curious about what the chief had been up to in the conference room and the covered board just added to their curiosity.
As soon as Perry was sure that he had everyone's attention he addressed the staff, in a somewhat sarcastic tone, "Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, I'm glad to see everyone is here. Glad, only because I won't have to go over this more than once. The bad news is … that everyone is here! Y'all are
supposed to be out chasin' down stories!" With a flourish he whipped the drape from the board. On the board was a display. On one side was a copy of the Daily Planet. On the other side was a copy of the Star. In between was a listing of the sales figures for the two papers.
The latest edition of the Planet had the headline:
" Council to Debate Coliseum" while the banner headline on the Star literally screamed:
Crooks 1, Cops 0!"Perry stood back and gestured at the display. He said, "The sales department just sent this little reminder down. I'll make it easy. It says that since Preston Carpenter bought the Metropolis Star and started throwin' his money around, the Star's selling twice as many papers as the Planet, news stand and subscription." He looked around the gathered staff and asked, "Anybody know how?"
Lois quipped, "Bigger type, smaller words?"
Perry had a sour expression on his face as he said, "Uh-uh. Carpenter's got people out-hustlin' us on the streets, Lois. In the last month they scooped us on
every major news story in this city. Now what am I going to lead the afternoon edition with that's gonna change that?
Perry acknowledged Clark's raised hand, " Secretary Wallace is in town to sign that nuclear arms treaty with Omir. Lois and I are waiting to hear on a one-on-one."
Sarcasm was dripping from Lois's voice as she said, "I can see them lining up at the news stands for that."
Perry pegged Lois with his eyes and asked, "You got something better?"
Lois really didn't have anything, but she floated a possibility anyhow, "Police charity scams?"
No one, not even Perry reacted with any enthusiasm.
Indignant at this response, Lois became defensive, "At least it's local."
It was time for Perry to climb on his soapbox and motivate the troops, "People, people. For fifty years the Daily Planet's been the top dog in this town and the Metropolis Star's been the dirty little puppy nippin' at our heels. Now I don't mean to be an alarmist, but if we don't start getting some big stories of our own, the faces around here may start changing. We need a good scandal, a crime wave or a ..."
He was interrupted by Jack's shout, "Hotel fire!"
Perry, thinking that he was simply offering a suggestion and not reporting a current event said, "That'll do."
Jack, realizing that he had been misunderstood, shouted, "Police scanner! There's a woman trapped on a ledge of the Metropolitan and the fire department's ladders can't reach her."
Looking at his two main reporters, Perry said, "Clark, Lois! Shake some tail!"
Lois and Clark exchanged a glance. Lois dived for her bag and headed for the elevator while Clark headed for the stairwell.
As they went into action, Perry looked heavenward and lifting his fists said, "Yes!"
Lois knew that Clark had to go be Superman and rescue the woman and was hoping that she could get to the scene in time to get the scoop and perhaps an interview.
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Lois was fortunate that no one needed the elevator while she was on her way to the lobby floor. As soon as the doors to the elevator were open wide enough for her slender frame to squeeze through, she did and made a dash for the street. Placing two fingers to her lips she blew and emitted an ear piercing whistle which attracted a cab. Jumping into the back almost before he came to a complete stop she ordered, "The Metropolitan and step on it! There's an extra $20 in it if we are there in less than five minutes!"
Lois was thrown back in her seat as the cabby, with visions of twenty dollar bills dancing in his head put down the pedal and screeched into traffic, receiving several blasts of car horns for his efforts.
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As soon as Clark was through the doors and into the stairwell he spun into the Suit and flew up the stairs and out the roof access. It was only a matter of seconds before he was airborne. He saw the smoke as he took to the air and headed in that direction.
Using his telescopic vision he saw the woman that Jack had mentioned, clinging to a ledge on the outside of the building, near a window on the tenth floor. He was envisioning a simple rescue as he approached when suddenly there was an explosion in the room behind her and a ball of flame erupted from the window that she was clinging to. Between the fright and the force of the explosion her grip was broken and with a scream she began to fall.
Seeing her start to fall, Superman changed course and intercepted her before she hit the ground, catching her in mid-air. As he did, her arms automatically came up around his neck and she buried her face in his shoulder.
He scanned the crowd for Lois, but apparently she hadn't arrived as yet. He couldn't think of any good reason not to land and turn the woman over to the paramedics, so he slowly lowered them, landing near an ambulance.
As he was placing her on a stretcher he spoke briefly with her. He was thinking that he could use the interview material for a story in the Planet. When he finished he was approached by a very attractive blond. She was talking into a cell phone as she approached, "'if not for the incredible last second rescue by Superman.' Wait a sec. Stand by." She pulled the phone away from her face as she spoke to Superman, "Superman. Linda King, Metropolis Star. Can you tell me what it was like up there?" She held out her cell phone so that it would pick up what Superman said in reply to her question.
Clark felt trapped. He wanted to be giving the story to Lois for the Planet, but couldn't see any way to avoid talking to Linda, "The smoke was very intense. Visibility to the human eye was probably zero. Let's just be glad that woman held on long enough for me to reach her. She's a mother with three kids. And, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go."
As he took off, Linda had a look of satisfaction on her face. She finished speaking into her phone, "'Just another day in the life of a superhero.' That's it, Vicky."
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