Fly Hard- Matchmaker Style
Rated PG-13
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously
Cat and George, still handcuffed together, were sitting on the floor at one side of the conference room. Looking at Lois, Cat was speaking to George, "You know, I really don't see how she does it. This is the kind of situation that Lois gets herself into all of the time and she appears so calm about the whole thing. For her this is simply going to make another incredible story. I mean, how many journalists have had this kind of opportunity? To be in the belly of the beast,
part of the event, not just a casual observer. Just like those guys in the Baghdad Hotel." With a shake of the head, she said, "She can have it. All the intrigue I need is an illicit affair or two."
Lois, for her part, was not immune to the implications of the situation. She and Clark were sitting together at a location where he could keep an eye on what was happening. She whispered, "How are we going to get out of this and still keep The Secret?"
Clark was also worried, "I don't know. Lois. We'll have to wait and see how things work out. I might not have to act, but I will not hesitate if your safety is threatened. I won't let
anything happen to you."
Lois looked around, "I love it that you consider my safety above anyone else, but … these are our friends. I wouldn't want to see anything happen to them."
"Neither would I, but your safety is my
chief concern." His tone held finality in it. He wasn't going to make it an argument, but he would act unilaterally if it came to it.
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a wail from Cat, "George?
George! George, wake up!
Somebody help! George has passed out!"
Unknown to anyone, hidden by the jacket of his tux, George had been losing blood from the wound in his shoulder. His athletic frame and good condition had sustained him until then. But the blood loss had gotten to the point that if continued it would become life threatening. As he slumped to the side, leaning on Cat, his jacket gaped open and the blood soaking his shirt became evident.
Seeing this, Cat gasped and wailed, "George! Help! He's bleeding to death!"
Quick as a flash, Lois used her paperclip again and released Clark's cuff.
As Clark stood to move to George's aid George suddenly woke up and tried to push himself erect and off of Cat's shoulder, but failed to do so because of his weakened condition.
As Clark knelt next to him he took George's weight so that Cat could move away. Lois applied her paperclip again and released Cat from its constraints as Clark laid George down on the floor.
Clark opened George's jacket and moved it aside. When he did they found that the left side of his crisp white dress shirt was now stained a bright crimson and that the stain was spreading, rapidly.
Cat gasped out, "He's really hurt."
And Now:
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Chapter 4
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Clark eased George's jacket off of him and opened the shirt underneath. Just then Jack appeared at his side after imitating Lois's trick with the paperclip again. He asked, "How can I help?"
"Help me get this shirt open."
Between them they managed to open the shirt so that Clark could examine the wound.
Lois saw Clark slide his glasses down slightly and she knew that he was examining the wound with his x-ray vision. Then he said, "The bullet went clear through, but he's losing a lot of blood."
Perry was now kneeling at Clark's shoulder. He commented, "We have to stop the bleeding, close the wound somehow."
Cat asked, "How do you suggest we do that?"
Clark knew how he was going to do just that, but he needed to cover his super efforts. Lois had suggested camouflage by joining the Superman Fan Club (See Vatman - Matchmaker Style) thinking that no one would think of a fan actually being the hero, now he needed some camouflage for what he needed to do. Looking around he started to get an idea. Something he had picked up from an old medicine man he had met on his world travels, "I'm going to need three tea bags, a cup, an orange and a pack of gum."
Cat was mystified, "For what?"
Clark explained, to clarify, "A remedy I learned from a Bornean medicine man. It should stop the bleeding."
Perry and Jack scurried around the room gathering the requested items.
Cat was bemused and blurted out, "Clark, this is no time for Voodoo."
With calm assurance, Clark addressed her fears, "Borneo, not Haiti."
Mystified, Cat blurted out, "What do those countries have to do with this?"
"Voodoo is an ancient religion practiced mostly in Haiti. I learned this from a medicine man in Borneo."
"Oh."
Clark said, "Cat, we have no choice. Trust me, everything will be fine."
Lois smiled, knowing that Clark had something up his sleeve and it was more than an herbal remedy.
As Perry and Jack returned with the requested items, Clark directed their activities, "Open the tea bags and combine the leaves. Jack, chew as many sticks of gum as you can." Noting that the bowl of fruit that was usually kept in the conference room held some oranges he gave Cat something to do to take her mind off of what was happening, he said, "Cat, squeeze some orange juice into that cup."
She really trusted Clark, but even as she was complying with his directions, Cat complained, "This is ridiculous."
To ease her fears, instill confidence and primarily, to cover what he was actually doing he explained, "The oils and tannin from the tea leaves, combined with the peppermint from the gum and the ascorbic acid from the orange juice form a very potent healing mixture."
Lois was watching closely, dividing her attention between what Clark was doing and what everyone else was doing in their assigned chores. She knew that he needed them busy so that they wouldn't see his super-cure. She whispered, "Nobody's watching."
George happened to be unconscious at the time so Clark slid his glasses down and used precise blasts of his heat vision to cauterize the major vessels that had been opened by the bullet.
George came to and groggily looked up to see Clark and not Cat. He said, "Clark? Where's Red?"
Clark tried to ease George's mind, "She's right here and she's more worried about you than you are of her. By the way, why do you call her Red?"
George chuckled, but it caused him pain in the shoulder. When it settled he replied, "She looked stunning in that red dress she wore to dinner that first night."
Clark nodded and said, "Don't worry, you're probably a little dizzy, but you'll be fine in a little bit." He addressed the prep crew, "Is everything ready?"
Lois took the cup of juice from Cat and said, "Why don't you go hold George's hand."
Cat readily acquiesced and move to George's side. She held his hand and said, "I'm right here, George, baby," as she brushed his hair and then cupped his cheek with her free hand.
Lois held out the cup so that Perry could drop in the tea leaves and then Jack dropped in the gum. She used a stirrer to thoroughly stir the mixture and then offered it to Clark.
Clark regretted the necessity of causing George unnecessary pain, but it was unavoidable if he were to protect The Secret. He pulled the handkerchief from George's breast pocket and soaked it in the mixture. He hesitated a second so that he could warn George, "This is liable to sting … maybe more than a little."
Cat could feel it as George braced himself then saw him nod.
Clark applied the mixture to the wound.
George winced as it was applied and then groaned in pain.
Clark said to Cat, "I need more cloth. Cat, could you tear off part of George's shirt tail?"
Grateful for something to do, Cat grabbed the shirt and after starting a tear with her teeth ripped off a major portion of the shirttail. Once she had separated it she looked at Clark. He said, "Soak up some of the mixture. Lois, please take over here. Hold this in place. I have to address the exit wound."
Lois put her hand on the cloth covering the front wound and Clark gently rolled George over so that he could get to his back. He took the cloth from Cat and applied it to the exit wound. "Cat, please tear off a couple of long strips. We need to bandage this in place."
Seeing that what Clark was doing was working she leapt to obey.
Before applying the bandage, Clark loosened the pads and everyone could see that the bleeding had stopped.
Perry blew out an exclamation, "Well, I'll be damned."
Cat handed the cloth strips to Clark and as she did, she said a heartfelt, "Thank you."
George was feeling somewhat better already and asked, "Help me sit up?"
After Clark had tied the cloth strips in place to hold the compresses he moved to help George sit up, but as he did the building was shaken by a huge jolt.
Lois blurted out the question that was on everyone's mind, "What was that?"
Jack offered, "An earthquake?"
Almost as Jack finished speaking there was another tremor. On a hunch, Clark looked through the window and saw Fuentes on a walkie-talkie. He looked more than a little annoyed.
Seeing this, Clark said, "I don't think so."
The shaking ceased its sporadic nature and became a steady throbbing.
Lois saw Clark push his glasses up and peer under them at the floor. He rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache to cover the move. Lois stepped over next to him and placed her hands on his shoulders as if to comfort him and leaning in close, whispered, "What do you see?"
He whispered back, "The other guys are using demolition equipment on the floor and walls below us."
As the rumbling continued, George offered, "They must be using that equipment that we saw them unloading from the elevator."
Perry was furious, after all, this was
his building, "For what? Why would they come in here and destroy the Daily Planet?"
As they talked they all looked out and at Fuentes. He was becoming angrier and more demonstrative by the minute. His arms were cutting the air and they could all hear as he shouted into this walkie-talkie, "I told you to wait for my instructions. I'm still studying the plans."
Suddenly the rumble ceased and everyone relaxed, somewhat.
Clark checked the lower floor again and saw them sifting through rubble as if they were searching for something. He said, "I don't think they're trying to destroy the Planet, Chief. I think they're looking for something."
They all saw Fuentes slam down his walkie-talkie in frustration and heard him shout, "There's nothing there!" He turned his attention to Remy who was trying to get the computer to work after its soaking, "Get that thing working again."
She shrugged and said, "There's no way. Too much water damage."
His frustration became too much for him to bear and he took his anger out on the computer by pulling his sidearm and firing into it. Then he swept the water-soaked papers from the desk.
Clark, with a note of concern in his voice, said, "I guess they didn't find it, whatever it is."
Once his fury had been spent, Remy approached Fuentes and Clark listened in with his super-hearing as she challenged, "So that's it? A machine breaks and we just give up?"
In frustration he yelled, "I have no blueprints. Dragonetti's office isn't where we thought it was. What am I supposed to do?" As his frustration built, Fuentes's hand hovered over the detonator switch.
Everyone in the conference room could hear Fuentes shouting, but Clark was the only one that heard him clearly. He repeated the name that he had heard, "Dragonetti."
Lois didn't catch all of what Clark had said and asked, "Dragon what?"
Clark clarified, "He said Dragonetti."
Everyone looked at Clark in disbelief. For the crowd's benefit, Lois said, "Must be all of those years growing up on the farm listening to nothing louder than crickets. Improves the hearing."
Perry heard what Clark said and blew out a breath, "Dragonetti? Well, I'll be damned. I haven't heard that name in years."
Lois turned to Perry and asked, "You know him, Chief?"
Perry had a thoughtful look on his face as he replied, "Know
of him. Pino 'Pretty Face' Dragonetti. One of the fiercest gangsters in Metropolis during the Prohibition era, as ruthless as he was handsome."
"Dragonetti actually built this place. He and a consortium of other high profile gangsters. They hid behind a dummy corporation and tried to launder their gin money through the real estate market. This was before the Daily Planet moved in, of course. Anyway, Dragonetti used this as his headquarters. There was even a speakeasy in the basement, right where the cafeteria is now. It was pretty well reported in the papers at the time. Now, of course, it was before my time, but since it involved this building, I read up on it. You’ll have to give an old story-teller a little leeway while I tell this tale, but the way I remember it, the story went something like this:"
As Perry told the story, each listener fixed a picture of the person in their mind's eye. For Lois and Clark the part of the gangster, Dragonetti, happened to be filled by an image of Lex Luthor
“The story started with Dragonetti passing under a theater marquis advertising for a talkie performance of ‘The Jazz Singer' and turning the corner into an alley. Proceeding down the alley Dragonetti passed some trash cans and finally stopped in front of a non-descript door in the wall. When he knocked an eyehole in the door opened. The individual behind the door obviously recognized Dragonetti, opened the door and Dragonetti entered. As soon as he was through the door the music enveloped him and he had to practically shout to make himself heard whenever he spoke. As soon as he was through the door, the cigarette girl, dressed in a short, form-fitting dress flashed him a smile. He winked at her as the maitre d’ approached.
The Maitre'd was dressed in a double breasted suit with his hair slicked back with pomade. He greeted him, "Evening P. D. Good crowd tonight."
Dragonetti asked, "Who've we got tonight?"
The maitre d’ reported, "The mayor's brother, that actress from the coast, Lieutenant Moore at the bar and Bill Robertson waiting for you at your table with Lily."
The cigarette girl was dressed in little more than a sequins covered bathing suit with feathers stuck in her hair. She crossed the floor and as she did, she hawked her wares, "Cigars, cigarettes, Tiparillos …"
Lois smiled to herself as Perry related the tale because she couldn't help, but picture Cat as the cigarette girl.
The maitre d’ fell in behind Dragonetti as he approached the bar and the man he recognized as Lieutenant Moore, "Lieutenant?"
The man addressed spun around on his stool and returned the salutation, "Pretty Face."
Dragonetti was ingratiating, "Enjoying yourself?"
Lt. Moore lifted his glass of good sour mash whisky and replied in a gruff tone, "As always."
Lt. Moore was on Dragonetti's payroll so he asked, "About that little problem my trucks ran into in the Hobbs River precinct …"
"All ready taken care of."
Dragonetti smiled and replied, "Who says you can't find a cop when you need one?"
Dragonetti turned away from Moore and headed for a table at the far side of the room. As he approached he noted Bill and Lily with their heads together in a private conversation.
Dragonetti, in a display of pique said, "I didn't realize your share of the business entitled you to fifty percent of my personal assets as well."
Hearing that Lily and Bill separated quickly, but not quickly enough to cover the look of affection that passed between them.
Lois, hearing this and knowing Lex's attraction to her pictured herself as Lily and even though Clark would never be a partner with Lex, because of her relationship with Clark she pictured him as Bill.
Lily, in an attempt to defuse the situation, stood and approached Dragonetti. She was wearing a slinky, short white flapper dress with bead tassels hanging from the waist that swished around as her hips moved. She put her arms around him and said, "Pino, I missed you."
In a sneering tone, Dragonetti replied, "I can see that. Now, beat it. I've got business with Bill."
Lily, still trying to cover said, "Your business is my business, you big lug."
Dragonetti dismissed her, "Later, baby."
Lily looked back and forth between Bill and Pino, trying not to give anything away, but failing to conceal her attraction to Bill before she blew a kiss to Pino and sashayed away. As she walked away, Pino was taking in the sway of her hips and slid into the seat she had just vacated at the table.
Pino addressed Bill, "So, what's the emergency?"
"It's Murphy." He nodded his head in the direction of a group of people on the other side of the bar. "He's making a play for our action down by the Wharf."
Lois had no difficulty in casting Fuentes in this part.
Thoughtfully, Dragonetti looked at Murphy and said, "Is that so?"
Murphy chose that time to look up and seeing both Bill and Pino looking at him decided that it was time to beard the lion in his den. Standing he pulled his jacket straight and then strode over to their side of the bar.
Being sarcastic, Murphy looked down at his adversaries seated at the table and he said, "Gentlemen, what a lovely establishment you have here.
Bill spoke up, "You've got a lot of nerve, Murphy."
Dragonetti replied, more dismissively, "But, fortunately for us, not too many brains. We've got the wharf locked up."
Perry's story was interrupted by Fuentes as he came into the conference room. Looking around he saw that all of his hostages were out of their handcuffs. He blurted out, "What do we have here a bunch of Houdinis?"
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