Previously on Seed of Doubt...
Lois reached over and grabbed his hand. "You'll never lose me, Clark. Eventually, I would have gotten over myself. Today just...speeded up the process."
"Then every dropped of my spilled blood was worth it," Clark said sincerely. "I know it sounds crazy, but I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too," Lois admitted. She scooted a little closer to him.
"I'm glad this is behind us," he confessed. "Maybe now we can focus on important things, like baby names."
Lois laughed. "I have a couple of name books back at my place. Maybe once we get Corben off the streets."
"And the bomber," Clark reminded her.
"And the bomber," she agreed, echoing him. "Did I mention that Jimmy got a match on the emblem you saw in the photo? The starburst?"
"He did?"
"Yeah," she said with a nod, biting into a piece of chicken. "It's from a little known, very elite honors group at the Metropolis Technical Institute. We're waiting to hear back from the school, trying to get a list of the members."
"That's great!" Clark said. "Once we have a name, we've got him." A thought occurred to him then. "How did Perry take it, when Jimmy had no photos to show of the fight?"
"I haven't seen anger like that from him since...since..." She paused, grasping for an example. "Since I started at the Planet. He's never been that mad before, not that I've seen."
Clark winced. "Oh, man," he said miserably.
"I owned up to it. I told Perry that I was the one who prevented Jimmy from taking pictures. I couldn't allow the world to see its hero so vulnerable. The world needs hope, not despair. And, I admit, I wanted to spare you the uh..."
"Humiliation?" Clark supplied. "It's okay, you can say it."
She nodded even while a blush crept into her cheeks. "Yeah. The humiliation of being seen in such a defeated state. It broke my heart seeing you like that."
"I appreciate it, Lois. But you shouldn't have put your own job in jeopardy for me. What did Perry do? Obviously he didn't show you the door."
"Hardly. He knows that you and I are the best reporters he's got. Short of burning the Planet down, there's nothing we can do that would make him outright fire us."
"So...what then? Don't tell me you got off scot-free."
Lois sighed. "No. He's got me covering all the fluff events for the next month."
"Ouch," Clark said, wincing again, knowing how much Lois loathed doing puff pieces.
"It's no big deal," Lois said, shrugging. "The important thing is that world didn't get to see you on your knees, so to speak."
"Maybe it wouldn't have been the worst thing," Clark said. "There are those who look at Superman like he's some sort of god in a cape, like he can't possibly understand what it is to be human. Maybe this would have provided an opportunity to dispel some of those beliefs."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Clark, as much as I appreciate where you're coming from. Prior to knowing who Superman really is, I guess part of me saw him in that same light that you just described. But I think the world at large needs to see Superman as someone who is, even just a little bit, set apart from them. It's part of where he gets some of his authority from, I think. Yes, I know the majority of that comes from the respect he's earned for dealing with us regular folks with such understanding and compassion. But if people found out that he's flawed and can be brought low by a lunatic with a rock..." She paused, shaking her head. "He'd find himself an even bigger target, by people who might never have tried to go against him before."
"Maybe," Clark said, not completely convinced.
"Anyway, what's done is done. There's no going back. Once we catch this psycho, and the subway bomber, Perry will forget this whole thing ever happened."
Clark nodded, chewing a piece of chicken skin carefully. It was true. As mad as Perry was now, he would barely remember the incident once Lois brought in the next big, front page story.
"You're right about that," he allowed.
"Of course I am," she said, reaching over and patting his cheek. Then, "There's two more small pieces of chicken inside. Why don't you finish them?"
"What about you?"
"I'm full. Even the baby's full. I know Superman has mentioned to me before that he doesn't really need to eat, but I kind of feel like the food will help you get back to complete health. Irrational? Maybe. Will you eat them?"
"Okay, but only if you have the last biscuit," he bargained.
Lois grinned at him. "Deal. But only because the biscuits are out of this world."
Clark chuckled as he went to retrieve the food in question. It felt so good, so normal, being around Lois now. His heart, once broken in two, felt whole and unblemished once again. He swiftly returned to the couch, but before he would give Lois her biscuit, he leaned over and captured her lips in a kiss. She returned it passionately. In that moment, Clark's doubts, however small, vanished like shadows in the sunlight, even ones he hadn't realized he'd been harboring.
"I love you," he whispered into her lips as they briefly parted.
"And I love you," she returned, before leaning back into his kiss.
Always and forever, he thought, before the power of their kiss obliterated all thought.
***
Clark checked his watch. Seven-fifteen, on the dot. He rapped his knuckles against the door of Lois' apartment and waited, restraining himself from using his super hearing to catch some sound of her. Seconds later, she opened the door, hoping on one foot while she tried to wiggle her other foot into her high heeled shoe.
"Hi, Clark," she said as the offending shoe finally made its way onto her foot.
"Hi, honey," he said, confident, now that they had worked things out the night before, that he was once more allowed his terms of endearment. "These are for you."
"Clark, they're beautiful," Lois said, as he handed her the dozen red roses he'd picked up from a street vendor on the way over to her place. "Thank you."
"Not as beautiful as you, but I couldn't resist getting them for you."
"Racking up the points this morning, aren't we, Fly Boy?" she replied with a grin.
"How am I doing so far?" he asked innocently, making her laugh.
"Very well," she replied as she went to the kitchen to find a vase. Clark heard her rummaging around in a cabinet, then filling the vase she'd found with water. She brought the flowers to the living room and placed them in the center of the coffee table. "I love them," she said. "And you."
"Good. Because I love you," he said. "Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet. I was about to make some frozen waffles."
"Forget the frozen stuff. We have enough time to grab breakfast before the trial. How about the deli on Schurz?"
"At this hour? We'll be on line forever. Let's just grab some bagels or something from Little Manhattan. It's not that far out of the way."
"You know, I could just zip over there and save us the trip," Clark offered.
"And miss an opportunity to spend time with you in the car? No way. Plus, I'm not dating Superman, remember?"
"True, but you have a guy who can pretty much bring you whatever you want, whenever you want it. I can actually go up to Manhattan to any bagel place you can name. I want to do things for you, Lois."
"Clark, I know you might think that doing stuff like that shows me how much you care. And it's not that I don't appreciate the effort. But, the thing is, I know that you love me, without all of the grand gestures. Having a simple breakfast with you in a small cafe and spending time with you as we drive - those are the things that really matter. You know that, don't you?" She caressed his cheek with one hand.
"Of course, I do," he replied, covering her hand with his own. "I understand that completely, because, believe it or not, it's those simple moments that I treasure above all the others as well. I just...I love being able to provide you with things that no one else can. It makes me happy to see you happy."
"I am happy. You're with me. Now, let's get going, before the traffic gets bad."
He nodded. "Good idea."
Lois locked her apartment up behind her as they left. "I wonder how long the Luthor trial will last," she mused as they walked down the steps to the ground floor.
"I don't know. There are a lot of people waiting to testify on both sides, and a lot of evidence to be presented."
Lois sighed noisily, nodding at some of her neighbors as they exited the building. "Yeah. Well, at least I'll have you there with me, even if you aren't there on official Daily Planet business."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he told her, giving her a wink. "A chance to spend the whole day with you? What could be better?"
"Mini golf, bowling, the zoo, just about anything else with you, instead of spending the day sitting on a hard wooden bench in a stuffy courtroom," Lois complained. "I know I should be thrilled that Lex is on trial, but, it's hard to muster up enthusiasm when I don't even want to see him for a minute, let alone hours."
"You don't have to look at him," Clark reminded her. "I'll be right there, whenever you want to look at someone else. And we can always sneak out for a few minutes here and there to get some air and a short break."
"Lucky me," she said with a genuine smile. "Come on. I've starving."
It took longer that Clark had anticipated, getting to Little Manhattan. They seemed to hit every red light on the way. When they finally arrived, Lois left Clark on the long line to order while she made a beeline for the restrooms. He knew her order well enough, even though she was back in plenty of time. All of that did add up to a very rushed breakfast, however. They ate as swiftly as they could before heading back to the Jeep to drive over to the courthouse. They'd needed to park a few blocks away from the cafe, so they linked arms, sipped their drinks, and walked, talking and laughing as they did so.
As they waited for a light to change, a plain gray van pulled up to the curb alongside of them. The sliding door opened wide and Johnny Corben jumped out. Clark's back was to the van, but he was immediately aware of the danger as he felt the effects of the Kryptonite on his body. His entire body began to ache and grow weak as the life leached out of him. Johnny put one unnaturally strong arm around Clark's throat and dragged him backwards. Lois made a grab for Clark as well, but Corben swatted her away like a fly.
"Tell your buddy Superman that if he wants to see his pathetic little friend alive ever again, to meet me in Centennial Park at five tonight. I'll be waiting," he shot over his shoulder as he shoved Clark into the van.
Clark made a muffled sound of protest as he hit the bare floor of the vehicle. It was dark inside, with the only window in that back portion of the van being on the rear doors, and those were covered over with black plastic garbage bags and what seemed to be an entire roll of duct tape. He heard Lois screaming for him as the door to the van slid shut with a rusty squeak and a solid thud as it closed him off from the world. But he was in too much agony to even make a reply. His heart, however, hurt the most, being torn from her side.
He was blindfolded by a set of hands he couldn't see, lest he get a peek out the front windshield. His hands and feet were bound as well. Normally, such fetters wouldn't bother him at all. He'd simply break them whenever he got a free moment, away from any prying eyes. But now, sick with Kryptonite poisoning, he could neither break the strong zip ties that immobilized him, nor could he ignore the way they bit into his skin, pulled cruelly tight. Every bump in the road wrenched his body and stabs of pain lanced through him.
I'm sorry, Lois, he thought to himself, over and over again, though the rational part of his brain recognized that his kidnapping wasn't his fault.
***
"Jimmy!" Lois screamed the second the doors to the elevator slid open.
"Whoa, Lois, chill. What's up?" he asked from not more than fifty feet away, carrying a box of donuts in one hand.
"Chill? Chill?" she repeated, as though it was some offensive, foreign word. "That guy, Corben, from yesterday."
"That one who beat up Superman?"
"He took Clark." She had to fight around the rising bubble of panic in her throat.
Jimmy paled. "Took?"
"Grabbed him right off the street while we were walking to my car."
"We'd better tell Perry," he said, trying to appear calm, though his hands now shook slightly.
Lois nodded. "I've already given the police the license plate number of the van he was taken in. But I'm going to need your help too, Jimmy."
Jimmy nodded once, stiffly as they wound their way through the bullpen. "Whatever you need, consider it done."
"Jimmy! There you are! How long does it take to get donuts?" Perry asked as they entered his office without knocking. Then, noticing Lois, "Lois? What in Elvis' name are you doing here? I thought you were covering the Luthor trial?"
"I was. Clark and I were on our way when he was kidnapped by that psychopath who fought with Superman yesterday."
I will not admit that he defeated Clark. I will not utter a word about the beating he suffered.
"What now?" Perry asked, his entire expression falling, as if he hoped he'd heard wrong.
"It's true. I've already alerted the police, but..."
"Whatever you need, I'll back you up," Perry finished for her, without the need for her to ask. "What can I do?"
"I gave the police the license plate, but with the budget cuts in the department," she paused, shaking her head, "I think we really need to conduct our own investigation."
Perry nodded and made a gruff sound of agreement. "I don't normally do this, but I'll ask around with my sources."
"Sore..."
Perry cut her off with a look. "Don't mention that name here. But I'll see what he knows, if anything."
"I'll run the plate," Jimmy said without the need for prompting. "What is it?"
Lois grabbed a sheet of paper off Perry's desk, then commandeered the red pencil he'd been using to make edits. She hurriedly scrawled the combination of numbers and letters down. She shoved it at Jimmy even as Perry grabbed his pencil back.
"On it," Jimmy said, excusing himself from the room.
"You okay?" Perry asked her when the photographer was gone.
No.
"I don't know," she said instead.
The man I love, the father of my child, is missing, in pain, and in serious danger.
"This psycho say what he wanted with Clark?"
Lois sighed. "Superman."
"Superman?"
"He's using Clark as bait. I think he wants to finish what he started yesterday. I think he wants to kill Superman," Lois said, using all of her strength to hold her emotions in, though she was aware of how much of her fear had leaked out into her words anyway. "He wants to fight him at five tonight in Centennial Park."
"I'm sure Superman will be there and make this Corben joker wish he'd never gotten out of bed this morning," Perry assured her.
"I don't think so, Chief." She cleared her throat as she caught her near-slip. "I mean, Corben...he's not an ordinary guy. He's at least Superman's equal."
"I'm sure Superman will figure something out," Perry said.
He seemed self-assured, but Lois had learned over the years that still waters could and often did run very deep. Perry might be as frightened as she was. She forced herself to swallow around the lump in her throat and nod.
"I hope so. In the meantime, I'm going to do whatever I can to help figure out where Clark is."
She didn't wait for a response. She turned and stalked out of the office, to her desk. She sat, picked up a pencil, and drummed the eraser end on the top of her desk, trying to slow the rapid beating of her heart and quell the nausea that Clark's kidnapping had caused. She lost the battle moments later and rushed off to the bathroom, retching up everything she'd eaten, presumably in the last week and a half, she judged in her blackened mood.
She rinsed her mouth in the sink, then splashed some cool water on her flushed face. Her mascara was running slightly from the tears that had leaked out of her eyes from the force of her vomiting. She hated that, the wateriness of her eyes when she got sick. It always had felt somewhat insulting to her, liked an added insult to injury. She carefully fixed the offending areas where her makeup was smeared, then put on a brave face to show her coworkers, though inwardly, she was frantic and terrified.
He's got Clark, she thought unhappily as she opened the door to exit the ladies' room. He's got Clark and he's got Kryptonite. He wants Superman. Only...he's already got him. Either way, he's going to kill Clark if I don't find some way to find where Clark's been taken.
"Lois," Jimmy said, waving a piece of paper as he approached her desk.
"What'd you find?"
"The license plate came up as a match on a vehicle that was reported stolen late last night. Belonged to a Mister Everett Von Stampe. He works at FutureTech magazine."
Lois stared at him for a moment. "FutureTech?"
"Yeah," Jimmy said with a nod and a shy grin. "It's the go-to source for anyone with any interest in anything technological. I've had a subscription since I was twelve."
"What would Johnny want with a van that belongs to a guy who works at a magazine?" Lois asked aloud, more to herself than to Jimmy.
Jimmy shrugged. "I don't know. Could just be dumb luck that he stole that particular van."
"I'm not sure I believe in dumb luck," Lois said, her head shaking. "Jimmy, find out what you can. See if Corben had any contact with this Von...Von..." she snapped her fingers, the name beyond the reach of her memory for the moment.
"Von Stampe?"
She nodded. "See if you can find out if Corben ever met with him, spoke with him, tried to get an article published, though I doubt that last one. He seemed to have the IQ of a tennis ball."
"I'm on it," Jimmy said dutifully before turning on his heel and striding away.
"Thanks," she called after him. He waved, but never turned to her. "FutureTech...FutureTech..." she mused to herself under her breath as she typed the name into her computer, running a search on the publication. "Von Stampe...there we go. Hmm...looks like he's an editor. Why would Corben steal an editor's van?"
The more she tried to make sense of it, the more her thoughts strayed to Clark. He'd been in such pain when Croben had grabbed him. And she was painfully aware of the kind of damage Corben could render on Clark if he wanted to. Superman simply didn't exist in the presence of Kryptonite.
"No, that's not true," she whispered to herself.
Clark was Superman, without or without the powers, in or out of the blue suit. Superman wasn't the powers. He wasn't the uniform. He wasn't the superhero. He was a man. A man with a huge and caring heart. A man whose bravery and passion stemmed from his soul, not his alien DNA. A man who routinely fought for what was good and right no matter how small an issue or how much it hurt him, be it mentally or physically. Even when Corben had Clark bruised, bleeding, and suffering from broken bones, Clark had still fought on, hoping to bring Corben to justice, not for his own sake, but for the sake of society at large - people who would never know of the excruciating pain he'd endured for their sake.
"Oh, Clark," she sighed. "I'll find you. I promise. And then, I'm never letting you out of my sight again."
"Talking to yourself again, Lois?" Cat purred as she sidled up to Lois' desk.
"Cat, I'm not in the mood," she snapped.
"Testy, aren't we? Need some pickles and ice cream, Mom?"
"Cat, I swear to God..." Lois huffed, hoping the woman would just go away.
That wiped the smirk off Cat's face at least. "What's going on? Have a fight with your baby-daddy?"
"Far from it. Clark's been kidnapped," she blurted out.
Cat's face fell. "What?"
"I really don't want to get into details. I have to find him and I only have a very short time to do it in. And, since I highly doubt your gossip sources can help me, I really must insist that you let me get to work."
"Always with the working, sis," a new voice said.
"Lucy!" Lois' voice reflected the relief and surprise she felt. "What are you doing here?"
Lucy side-eyed Cat before responding. "We need to talk. Alone."
Cat threw her hands up in a gesture of pacification and slunk away. Lois watched until she was satisfied that the woman was out of hearing. Then she turned to her sister.
"I'm so glad you're here. We do need to talk."
"If it's about Johnny, that's why I'm here," Lucy replied, setting her purse down and hopping up on the edge of the desk, in a manner that Lois found to be extremely reminiscent of Clark.
"Do you know where he's taken Clark?" Lois plowed ahead. "Wait...you don't know, do you?" she asked as the confusion spread across Lucy's face.
"Clark? What?"
"Johnny grabbed Clark this morning and drove off with him in a stolen van. He's using him as bait to goad Superman into a fight with him." There was no use, she reasoned, in getting into the specifics of how it would really be a second fight. "Has he said anything about where he might be staying?"
"No," Lucy said, shaking her head. "But, I did see him a little while ago. He came into the diner. He wanted to show me...God, it was horrible."
"What? What was horrible?" Lois prodded.
"He opened up his shirt. His whole body...it was metal. Smooth, shiny, cold metal."
"Metal?"
Well, that makes some sense, considering how none of Clark's attacks seemed to bother him during the fight yesterday. And why he was so strong.
Lucy nodded again. "He called himself a, uh..." She paused, looking for the right word, turning her finger in the air as though spinning the wheels in her mind. "A cyborg, I think he said?" It was more of a question than a statement. "He even had this symbol on his chest, like a brand. He called it a mobius strip. He said it means eternity."
"Or infinity," Lois supplied.
"He said he would live forever."
"Wait a second. Infinity, infinity..." Lois mumbled to herself, jotting down a note on a pad of paper. "Why does that sound so familiar?" She anxiously bit the pen's cap as she thought. She clicked back through the archives on the FutureTech website. "Aha!"
"What?" Lucy asked, stretching her neck to see what Lois was talking about.
"This article here. 'Infinite Life, Closer Than We Think' by Rollie Vale."
"So?"
"So, it could be a connection."
"Sounds like a stretch," Lucy said, frowning.
"Maybe, but it's the only lead I've got right now." Lois clicked a few more items, then ran a search on Rollie Vale. "Looks like that was his one and only article. And from the looks of things, plenty of other technological institutes blasted his ideas as ludicrous. Let's see...they included a lot about bionics. And cyborgs," she said, her heart thumping wildly in her chest as her stomach roiled.
"So, how do we find this creep?"
"Give me a minute. I'll see what I can find."
For several long minutes, Lois searched for any indication of where Rollie Valle might be. Nothing turned up when she searched on her computer. And a particularly rude receptionist named Tristan refused to release any of FutureTech's information without a court order when Lois called the publication. Lois gave him an earful before slamming the phone down on him. Jimmy was also on the case, once Lois filled him in while waiting on hold, but when Lois shot him a hopeful look, he gave her a thumbs down.
"Lucy, can you contact Johnny at all?"
"I have his cell number, yeah."
"Good. Call him. Tell him that you need to talk to him, but that you want to do it in person. Then, we can either follow him back to wherever it is he's staying, or, if he's as stupid as I think he is, maybe he'll have you go to where he's holding Clark."
"I don't know about this, sis..." Lucy hesitated, sounding terrified at the prospect of facing Johnny. "I want to help, but...well, Johnny and I didn't leave things off very well this morning. He stormed out."
"Even better," Lois assured her. "You can tell him that you've had a chance to think things over and want to mend things with him."
"But...he's not human...not anymore."
"I know," Lois said, giving Lucy a quick hug. "But if we stand any chance of saving Clark's life, we have no choice but to try this."
"Why can't you just get Superman to do it?" Lucy whined.
"If I could, I would," Lois said, her patience wearing thin in her fear for Clark. "But it's just not that simple. It's up to us. You and I have to be the heroes here." Lucy squirmed uncomfortably. "I know it's scary. But we have to do something, anything to save Clark."
"I know you love him," Lucy said after a moment. "And the fact that my big sister has fallen in love with anyone speaks volumes to me. So...I'll do it."
"Thank you, Lucy," Lois said sincerely.
"Let's do this," Lucy said with sudden resolve in her voice.
"Great. Call him from the car. I don't want the noise of the newsroom in the background. Jimmy!"
Jimmy picked his head up from whatever he was bent over at his desk. Lois waved him over. He obliged, making his way over in seconds. He came to a rest right in front of Lois' desk.
"Nothing yet," he apologized.
"Doesn't matter," she said, almost before he could finish speaking. "I think we've got a lead. Grab your camera and let's move."
***
"What if he doesn't show?"
The man nervously paced before Clark, who was bound tightly to a sturdy wooden chair with thick rope and zip ties that were pulled cruelly taut against his wrists and ankles. He wasn't gagged, thankfully, but one had been threatened if he spoke out of turn.
"He will." The other man was seated, relaxed, and smugly confident.
"Yeah, sure, but what if?"
"Then we make good on our threats." The tone told his counterpart that it was a no-brainer.
"We don't really mean that...."
"Of course I do, you small-minded moron. Do you think Caesar grew his empire by issuing empty threats?"
"It's getting late. There's been no word..."
"So? As long as our metallic friend is where he needs to be, when he needs to be there, we shouldn't have a problem." He went on tightening a screw in the metallic arm that he bore.
"So, if Superman shows, you'll let this guy go?"
"No, you moron. He knows who we are. He might even have an inkling of where we are. Of course I'm not going to let him go."
"You're going to kill him." It was a statement of fact, not a question.
"No," the other said, dragging the word out as if explaining to a child. "We're going to get our metallic meathead to do it for us."
The first man nodded thoughtfully. "I like the sound of that."
"This is why you need me, Emmet."
"Just one thing, Rollie."
The one named Rollie rolled his eyes and placed his screwdriver down with an audible and annoyed sigh. "What now?"
"Are you sure Corben will, you know? Off this guy for us?"
"He'll do whatever we tell him to do. Or else we'll stop repairing him." Again, Rollie had that same, patronizing tone to his voice. It was clear to Clark that Rollie really looked down his nose at the other man. "He has no choice. We've got him by the short hairs."
"I guess..." Emmet stammered, sounding unconvinced. "He's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, so to speak. And his temper..."
"You're the one who suggested that we give it a human brain. And you're the one who procured the donor for us, remember?"
The two men continued to argue. Clark stopped paying attention. He focused his energy on trying to break his bonds, or at least loosen them up a little to allow his hands and feet to get better circulation. It was no use. Though Corben wasn't in the room with them at the moment, Rollie had a small piece of exposed Kryptonite out on the table. As Clark watched, the man stuck it in his robotic arm and shut the tiny compartment door. Rollie flexed the arm, wiggled the fingers, and easily picked up a screw with it. He nodded, satisfied.
A slight wave of relief hit Clark as the Kryptonite vanished from sight, but it wasn't enough to stop his head from spinning and his stomach from lurching with nausea. He shut his eyes for a moment and tried to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth, as he'd seen Lois doing over the weeks her morning sickness had been at its worst. It didn't work.
The three men seemed oblivious to Clark's silent suffering. Of that, Clark was glad. He didn't need or want them to make the connection between his discomfort and the Kryptonite. Still, he had the fleeting thought that they wanted so badly to kill Superman, that they had gone to extreme lengths to try to coax him into a fight. The reality was that they might just kill him right there in that musty, dusty room and never be the wiser.
Lois, he thought to himself as few stabs of pain lanced through his body. I love you. I'll do my best to get back to you. I promise. I'm just not sure how. Stay safe and please, don't do anything rash.
"Hey, eggheads!" Johnny's voice echoed slightly in the old building they were holed up in.
"Yes?" Rollie asked with feigned politeness.
"I'm getting bored waiting around. Can't I just push you off the roof or something to draw the Man of Jello in?"
"No, you mor....ah, we can't risk being seen. Not until the time is right," Rollie said, correcting himself. But Johnny looked too agitated and distracted to have noticed. "Come here. Let me check on your power source."
That got Johnny's attention and he eagerly peeled off his shirt to reveal the smooth, shiny, cold metal beneath, polished and formed to resemble the muscular torso of an athlete. Rollie opened the compartment in the center of the chest, the small door emblazoned with what Clark recognized to be a mobius strip. A second later, the Kryptonite was exposed, sending a fresh assault of radioactive death toward Clark. It was all Clark could do to stay conscious as Rollie inspected both the rock itself and the connections and wires that sent the power through Corben's robotic body.
It felt like an eternity before the door was finally shut again, blocking the worst of the Kryptonite poisoning. Clark allowed himself to draw a deeper breath, but he was still hurting from the little bit of radioactivity that leaked through the microscopic gaps around the compartment door. His lungs burned with the effort and Clark had to content himself to keeping his breaths shallow. He wished Corben would lose interest in Emmet and Rollie and move off into another area of the building. Corben pulled his shirt back over his head as a car horn began to blare outside.
A scowl passed over Emmet's features. "What's going on?"
"You," Rollie said, pointing at Johnny. "Go find out who's out there."
"On it," Corben said grimly as he flexed his fingers in and out of a fist.
As he lumbered off, Clark felt the pains in his body lessen. He tried to listen, but his super abilities were not yet back, no doubt due to Rollie's Kryptonite powered arm. Both of the men rechecked Clark's bonds, then followed after Corben.
Just a few minutes, Clark pleaded to the universe. Just give me a few minutes to get my strength back enough to break free.
"Pssst!"
Clark opened his eyes and looked around, but the sound seemed to be coming from behind him.
"Clark!" the whisper came again, this time more urgently.
"Lois?" he shot back in a disbelieving whisper.
He heard a rustling behind him, like someone climbing through the low window.
"Me too, CK."
"Jimmy?"
"Just sit tight. We'll get you out of here," Jimmy promised.
Clark felt Jimmy tugging on his bonds, trying to loosen them. At the same time, he felt his strength starting to leech back into his body. His other powers seemed to be coming back to him as well - his sensitive hearing caught the sound of Lois' pocket knife being flicked open in an effort to free him. Using the barest fraction of his returning strength, he flexed his muscles enough to help her, causing the ropes to split apart along the frayed cuts she was making. He allowed her to cut through the zip ties that held him anchored to the chair, to keep up appearances in front of Jimmy.
"Are you okay?" Lois asked him as soon as the last of his bonds snapped and fell to the floor. She engulfed him in a tight hug.
"I'm much better now, thanks to you," he told her. "How'd you find me?"
"Long story. I'll tell you over dinner," Lois cut in before Jimmy could speak. "We don't have much time. Lucy is outside distracting Corben for us."
"Go," Clark said, giving Lois a knowing look and a nod. "I have some business to take care of here, but I'll be right with you."
"CK, I'm not sure that's a good idea..." Jimmy protested.
"Trust me, Jimmy, I need to take care of this," he said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Go on. Get out of here before they come back."
Lois put her hand on Jimmy's back and guided him back to the window. When Clark was sure that they were safely away from the building, he spun into the avatar of Superman. Then he was out of the building faster than the eye could see. From his vantage point above the building, he saw Lucy and Johnny speaking. Corben seemed agitated, perhaps even close to becoming a threat to Lucy.
"Corben!" Clark called out in a strong, clear, commanding tone. "I hear you're looking for me."
"You better believe it. I'm going to finish what I started yesterday," he called back. "Come on down and fight like a man!"
Clark floated a little closer, but stopped well short of where Corben stood, and before he could feel the crippling effects of the Kryptonite that powered his body. Corben scowled deeply, enraged that he wouldn't be able to reach Superman.
"I think I'll keep my distance this time," Clark said, crossing his arms and giving Corben a hard look.
"I'm gonna tear you to pieces!" Corben swore.
He looked around frantically, searching for anything he could used against Clark. He finally settled on pulling a 'No Parking' sign out of the sidewalk. A ball of concrete remained lodged on one end. Corben twirled it twice like a baton, then aimed it like a spear and rocketed it towards Clark. Clark casually reached out with one hand, grabbed the projectile, and dropped it as though it was a speck of dirt brushed off his uniform. He raised an eyebrow at Corben, silently sending him a "nice try" message.
From the corner of his eye, Clark saw Emmet and Rollie attempting to make a getaway. Before he could move a muscle, Lois and Jimmy were on them. Clark saw Lois sucker-punch Rollie in the stomach. The man double over and Lois knocked him out cold with a strategically placed whack of her purse to the back of his head.
God, I love that woman, Clark thought with a mental smile.
"Is that the best you've got?" Clark taunted, keeping Corben's attention on him and him alone, instead of what Lois was doing.
"Come on, Super Wuss! Fight me!"
Corben ran at Clark and jumped. Clark was surprised by the man's agility and the height he was able to attain. Clark maneuvered out of the way, staying out of the Kryptonite's sphere of influence. He had to think. Normally, he would just find something to bind the criminal with and either wait for the police to show up or deliver him directly to the closest police station. He couldn't do that with Johnny. He was too strong and would likely break any bonds Clark could find, and securing Johnny would bring Clark into contact with the Kryptonite anyway. He could hear Lois on the phone with 911, but he couldn't risk Corben being free when the police arrived. Officers would be hurt or killed, Clark didn't doubt.
Johnny continued to shout insults at Clark, but they fell on deaf ears as Clark sought for something, anything to securely and peacefully subdue the cyborg. He spied some cable in a construction zone just down the block. It was worth a shot, he reasoned, so, in the span of a heartbeat, he raced to the cable, grabbed it, and, though the position was slightly awkward, used a fair amount to wrap up Johnny. Corben roared in rage, flexed his artificial muscles, and snapped the cable as though it was so much silk. Clark frowned. He hadn't expected the cable to fully incapacitate Corben, but he'd thought it would buy him more than half a second to think.
Sirens began to wail in the near distance. Whatever Clark was going to do, he had to do it quickly. Johnny went to the van he and the other men had used when they'd kidnapped Clark earlier that morning. He began to try to lift it. Clark just reacted. He landed and called out to Corben.
"You want me? Come and get me," he taunted.
Corben left the vehicle and rushed toward Clark. That was his mistake. Clark sent a blast of his heat vision at Corben's feet. The metal that comprised his entire body began to melt as Clark kept the heat flowing. He stopped only when Corben was a melted puddle of metal from the knees down. Then he sent a blast of his super breath at the molten metal that had pooled on the sidewalk, instantly cooling it and hardening it in place, ensuring that Corben wasn't going anywhere.
Satisfied, Clark gave Corben a wide berth and went to meet the first of the officers to arrive on the scene. To his delight, he found that it was Bill Henderson. That was good news, with the sensitive nature of the Kryptonite. He knew he could trust Henderson with the knowledge that the deadly green stone was in the area. He also knew that he could walk away from the scene of the fight without having to worry about the Kryptonite's disposal. Henderson would make sure that it got to Dr. Klein at S.T.A.R. Labs.
It didn't take him long to give Henderson a run down on what had occurred and of the threat of the Kryptonite. On that point, Henderson mutely nodded, a silent vow that he, and he alone, would be the one to handle the situation. Clark clasped the man's shoulder in unspoken thanks. He flew off then, giving the appearance that Superman had other things to attend to. Of course, once he knew that no one would be watching the skies, he sped back down into the building. He changed at super speed back into his normal Clark attire, gathered up the evidence he'd meant to save for use in ensuring that Rollie and Emmet Vale never saw the outside of a prison again, and exited the building.
Lois flung herself into his arms as soon as she saw him. "I was worried about you," she whispered in his ear as she subtly nodded toward the partially melted form of Johnny.
"I'm alright," he promised her. "Are you okay?"
"Now that I know you're safe, I'm fine."
"You should probably go to your sister," Clark murmured to her just before she could plant a kiss on his lips. With his super hearing, he could easily hear the younger woman's sobs as Henderson removed the Kryptonite battery in Johnny's chest, causing the entire machine to power down once and for all.
"Mmm," Lois replied. Then, pulling away, "Yeah, you're probably right."
"I'll talk to Henderson, then grab a cab home. Judging from what I can hear, you might be with Lucy for a while. See you tonight?"
"I'll bring the pizzas," Lois promised. "Rest up. You've been through hell today. And I'm just grateful that you're still here, alive, with me."
"Thanks to you," Clark acknowledged. "If you hadn't found me...I'm afraid things would have gone very differently today."
"I'd never let that happen," Lois said, and although her voice held confidence in it, he could also detect a hint of relief that she'd managed to save him.
Clark kissed her again. "I know. Now, go on. I'll see you later."
"Okay. I love you," she said, stroking his cheek with her hand.
"I love you too."
To Be Continued...
