Christmas 2015 Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 1 CG2
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.
I wish to express my thanks to my Beta reader Ray Reynolds for his invaluable help. This was a VERY rough draft when it first landed in his hands.
/ “text”/ indicates telepathic communication
*text* indicates bold
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From Thanksgiving 2015 - Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 1 CG1
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In the evening of Friday, November the twenty-seventh, the doorbell was rung and when Lois answered it Bud Kyle was on the stoop, holding a pumpkin. When she had opened the door, she said, "Well, Bud, did you want to see Jon?"
When he looked up she could see that he had some healing bruises on his face and around his eyes and he said, "I came to replace the pumpkin I ruined." He proffered the large orange squash to her, "and to say that I'm sorry."
Lois accepted the pumpkin and said, "I hope you have learned a lesson."
In a somewhat belligerent tone, he replied, "Yeah, I have." As he turned away, she saw that he moved stiffly, as if her were in pain. Using her x-ray vision, Lois checked and saw bruising and red welts on his back and ribs.
Bud didn't hear her gasp of dismay. She stopped him, "Bud!"
He turned back to her as she asked, "What did your father do to you?"
He hung his head and said, sullenly, "Nothin'. He didn't do nothin'," as he turned away and left.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lois placed the pumpkin on the porch where the other had been and then stepping back into the house, called her husband, /Clark!/
Having just returned from a rescue, he replied, /I'm upstairs./
She rushed upstairs and plopping down on the side of the bed, she said, "I think we have a major problem."
"What would that be?"
"Bud Kyle was just here to deliver the replacement pumpkin. Clark, I think he is a victim of child abuse. I think his father beat him because of what he did. His face was bruised and when I checked using my x-ray vision, so is his body and he had red welts on his back."
"Lois, you know we aren't supposed to violate individual's privacy by using our x-ray vision on them."
"This was justified. That kid was injured."
"I know and I sympathize, but there are just some things we don't do."
Chagrined, Lois replied, "I know. It's just like old times. I was jumping in before checking the water level, but it was probably my fault! I was the one that took him to the police."
He could sense that she was on the verge of breaking down, so taking her in his arms, he said, "Look, maybe the appearance in family court will help. We can only hope that it will and that they will be ordered into counseling."
Lois relented and slumped in his arms, "Yeah, you're right. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
The prologue continues.
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Chapter 01
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120
Local designation - Canon Universe also called Prime
2015
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Things had been fairly quiet for the Kent family since Thanksgiving, but it was approaching the middle of December. Since it was common knowledge that Lois and Clark had a continuing relationship with Ultra Woman and Superman, Clark was contacted at the Daily Planet by the Clerk of the Court. When Clark took the call, he was surprised at the request, "Mr. Kent?"
"Yes, this is Clark Kent. How may I help you?"
"My name is Janet Harris. I am the Clerk of the Family Court here in Metropolis."
Clark, who usually sat somewhat slumped in his chair to disguise his posture, unconsciously sat up a little straighter in his chair as he replied, "How may I help you?"
With a little, embarrassed giggle, she said, "I realize that this is not how things like this are usually handled, but …"
Clark's curiosity was piqued by this and he encouraged her to continue, "Yes, unusual. Please go on."
"Well, you see, it's this way, we need to get hold of Ultra Woman and short of going up to the rooftop and shouting, ‘Help, Ultra Woman!' this was the only way I could come up with. Everyone knows how close you and Ms. Lane are to the superheroes, so I thought that just maybe; you could get a message to her."
"I would be happy to. I'm always happy to help the courts. What message would you like me to give her?"
"Well, I can't go into the details over the phone with anyone. I really need to speak with her. Could you have her call me and set up a meeting?"
"Sure, just give me your number."
He wrote as she dictated the number and she finished with, "Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to hearing from Ultra Woman," and hung up.
Clark sat there, thoughtful, for a moment before standing and taking the number to Lois. As he handed it to her he kidded, "Have you had any rescues involving kids recently?"
Smiling, she replied, "You know that most of my rescues involve kids. Why?"
"Has someone accused you of abusing their child recently?"
Becoming concerned, Lois concentrated and came up with nothing. "Not that I can recall, why?"
As she took the note, he said, "I just had a call from Family Court asking that I pass on a message to Ultra Woman. They want to talk to you."
Taking the note, Lois mused, "I wonder what this is all about."
Smiling, Clark replied, "One way to find out, call."
Lois nodded and they moved into the conference room. Picking up the phone, Lois called the number that Clark had written down. When it was answered, she said, "This is Ultra Woman. I'd like to speak with Janet Harris."
She heard a gasp from the receiver and then, "Ultra Woman?" There was a pause and then she heard, "I don't mean to doubt you, but over the phone I could be speaking to anyone. Could you come in to the office? I have a matter that I need to discuss with you."
Grabbing a pencil and paper, Lois said, "I'd be happy to. What is your address?" Lois wrote as it was dictated. "Got it. I'll be there shortly."
Clark smiled and asked, "Need any help?"
Lois shook her head and said, "I don't think so. I'll see you in a while," walked out and entered the stairwell as Clark returned to his desk.
Thirty seconds later, Ultra Woman was standing in front of a desk in a Clerk of the Court's office.
Sensing a presence, Janet Harris looked up from the papers she was perusing and was startled to see Ultra Woman standing over her. Her hand flew to her throat and she exclaimed, "My, when you said, shortly, I thought you meant later in the afternoon."
"The extent to which you went in order to contact me seemed to make it urgent."
Having second thoughts, she said, "How can I be sure that you're Ultra Woman?"
Lois thought for a second and then spotting a cup of cold coffee on her desk, used her heat vision and then said, "Enjoy you coffee."
Looking at her cup, Janet saw steam rising from it and picking it up took a cautious sip of her steaming, hot coffee. She sighed in pleasure and all questions of the identity of her visitor removed, asked, "Would you like to have a seat?"
"No, thank you. I prefer to remain standing," and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Oh, okay, well, the reason I needed to contact you is … last month you brought in two teens. They were charged with vandalism and littering. As a result of the fine being imposed a family court hearing has been ordered. I have been asked by the lawyers involved to arrange for you to appear at the hearing."
Lois nodded and said, "If you will let me know when it is scheduled, as long as I am not called away for a major rescue I will make every effort to attend."
"We appreciate it. It is scheduled for the seventeenth at three PM."
"Thank you. As I said, I will make every effort to be there."
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After she returned to the Planet, Lois pulled Clark into the conference room and said, "What am I going to do, Clark? They want me to appear at Bud's family court hearing. What am I going to say? I saw what his father did to him."
Putting his arms around her, Clark comforted her and said, "All you can do is answer any questions they ask, within reason, and tell the truth."
"I'll have to tell them about the bruises I saw."
"Lois, stop and think. Who saw the bruises?"
"I did."
"When?"
"When he dropped off the pumpkin."
"Who is going to be in court?"
"I am."
"Be specific, who will be in court?"
"Ultra Woman."
"Be specific again, who saw the bruises?"
She thought for a second before answering, "Lois Lane. Wow, it is really coming home to me just how complicated your life has been ever since you created Superman. It gets confusing, doesn't it?"
He snickered and said, "You have no idea. You never worked with the best investigative reporter in the world and tried to keep a secret like the one I was keeping. Sometimes it was hard to remember who saw or said what. There were times I screwed up; fortunately, you didn't pick up on them. You just thought that Clark and Superman talked together a lot, exchanging bits of gossip."
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When Ultra Woman entered the courtroom, the judge welcomed her and said, "I know how valuable your time is so if you will take the stand we will precede."
After the bailiff swore her in, the judge addressed her, "Ultra Woman, are you aware of why you were asked to appear?"
"I had assumed that it was to testify about the evening I apprehended two teen aged boys in the act of damaging private property and littering."
"Yes, actually, it is about that night, but not about that act."
The lawyer standing next to Bud and his family started to speak and Lois was astonished at what she was hearing.
"Bud claims that you beat him up for this minor infraction because you and Superman have a special connection with the Kent family." He produced some pictures and said, "Your honor, I have here pictures taken of Bud shortly after he was picked up by his parents from the precinct. They clearly indicate bruising of the face and black eyes. These injuries, he claims, are the result of the handling he received from Ultra Woman. These are the pictures already placed into evidence." He then handed the pictures to the judge.
The judge leafed through the pictures, a thoughtful expression on his face as he refreshed his memory. As he placed them down on his desk, Ultra Woman asked, "May I see them?"
The judge nodded said, "Certainly," and handed them over. Ultra Woman looked them over and then handed them to the judge.
The judge asked, "Do you have anything to say?"
"Yes, your honor, those injuries look real enough, but he did not sustain them at my hands. When I dropped him off at the precinct, he was … unblemished."
Bud's lawyer challenged, "Then how do you explain these injuries?"
"I have no explanation. All I know is the he was uninjured when I dropped him off. The sergeant on the desk that night can verify my statement. If he sustained his injuries after I dropped him off and before he was picked up by his parents they were either self-inflicted or else he had a fight with the other teen that was with him when apprehended."
The judge said, "I thought of that and asked for the cell tapes for the night in question. Unfortunately the camera in the cell was malfunctioning. I had already tried to contact the sergeant. Again, unfortunately, he is unavailable. He just got married and is on his honeymoon."
Ultra Woman thought for a few seconds and then a thought came to mind. She said, "That night, when I brought them in, there were a number of patrolmen there. Some of them were taking pictures of me. Perhaps the boys could be seen in some of those pictures."
The judge smiled and said, "There will be a short recess while I contact the precinct and request that those patrolmen e-mail those pictures to me. We will reconvene in one hour." He banged his gavel and said, "We stand in recess."
When Ultra Woman made that suggestion, Bud started to sweat. His lawyer gave him a close scrutiny and as the judge exited, he said, "We have to have a discussion." Inviting Bud's parents to accompany them, he led the way from the room.
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Lois had been blind-sided by this accusation and hadn't known what to do. Instead of being there simply to testify as to what Bud had done, she had been the one placed on the defensive. She continued to sit in the witness stand as she watched Bud, his family and lawyer leave. She knew she was innocent, but had no way, other than possibly the pictures taken by those patrolmen to prove it. She decided that she needed to talk to Clark.
Lois walked out of the courtroom, down the hall and out the door so the she wouldn't disturb anyone any more than necessary. Once outside however she moved faster than the eye could follow and within a split second she was on the roof of the Daily Planet building. As she passed through the roof access door she spun back into her beige business suit before descending the stairs at super-speed. Exiting the stairwell, she crossed to Clark's desk and said, "We need to talk. Conference room."
Clark could see that she was upset, but had no idea as to the cause so he stood and walked with her to the conference room, his hand at the small of her back. He could feel the tension in her body which added to his concern. As soon as they were inside he closed the door and the blinds then he turned to her. He could see that she was having difficulty restraining tears. In a comforting tone, he asked, "All right, what happened?"
Stepping to him and throwing her arms around his neck, she sobbed, "Oh, Clark, they accused me of child abuse."
"What? How could they?"
"Remember the night that Bud brought over the replacement pumpkin? I told you about the bruises. He is claiming that Ultra Woman did that to him."
Clark stuttered out, "But you didn't. You wouldn't have. There's just no way."
"I know, but he had pictures and is claiming that I did that to him."
"There's always someone looking to turn us into a big payday. Don't they have surveillance on the cells? What about the desk sergeant?"
"They already thought of that. The camera was on the fritz and the desk sergeant is away on his honeymoon."
"There has to be someone. What about the patrolman that put them in the cells?"
"Fortunately I thought of them and some of them were taking pictures of me which may have the kids in the frame. For once I am very happy about the skin tight suit. If not for that, they might not have been taking pictures."
Pulling her in tighter, he said, "I love you in that suit. Frankly, though, I love you better ... out of it."
Smiling, she tilted her head up and kissed him, then she sighed and said, "You always say the sweetest things."
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While this was going on, the lawyer was talking to the Kyle family, "You said this would be a sure thing."
Bud replied, "It should have been. I noticed the out of order sign on the camera. I knew it would take Pop a while to get there. In that time they were sure to have a shift change so the same guy wouldn't be on the desk. I threatened Mike until he hit me a few times, hard enough to make bruises. I forgot about those cops takin' pictures of Ultra Woman."
"All right then, the only thing to do is say it was all a mistake."
Bud's father stopped him and said, "Nothin' doin'. I hired you to keep my kid out of juvie and to keep me from havin' to pay that fine and make some money in the deal. You're gonna go in there and convince that judge that she done it. Then we all get a big payday."
"That is going to be impossible if those pictures show him unblemished."
"Maybe they won't. We're just gonna have to wait and see."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When the hour had elapsed they had all returned to the courtroom. The judge addressed Ultra Woman, "Please resume your place in the witness box."
After she had resumed her seat, he said, "I just received the pictures." He pulled them up on his laptop and said, "It is hard to tell. The pictures are rather small."
Ultra Woman zoomed in with her microscopic vision and in her anxiety went too far, seeing a field of dots spaced wide apart without seeing a picture. She backed off on the magnification and scanned the pictures. Pointing to two of them, she said, "If you have these two enlarged and printed, I believe it will show that Bud was unblemished at the time the pictures were taken. From the angles I would say that these were taken by two different individuals."
The judge checked the original emails and saw that her supposition was correct. He looked at the lawyer with a stern expression, "Well, councilor, what do you have to say?"
The layer was in a panic and chose to throw his clients under the bus, "I didn't know anything about that, your honor. They came to me with the pictures and told me that Ultra Woman had done it. That's all I know."
Bud’s father responded with a loud snort.
Hearing that, the judge replied, "Councilor, if there was any way I could prove that you willingly participated in this attempted fraud, I'd have you disbarred. As it is, all I can say is - get out of my courtroom and thank your lucky stars that I can't prove it."
The lawyer hastily grabbed his bag and left. As the door closed behind him, the judge muttered, "I hate ambulance chasers," then turned his attention back to Ultra Woman, "I want to apologize for doubting you and taking your time this way. You are excused."
"Thank you, your honor, but might I ask what is to be done here?"
"I have to say, I don't like what has happened here. First, there was the incident that brought this young man in, in the first place, but complicating that is what they tried to do to you. I don't know if I should blame the child or the parents. I think it is apparent that the parents had some level of involvement."
"May I speak on their behalf?"
"You want to speak for them, after what they tried to do to you?"
"Yes, your honor. The attempt has failed. They paid for a lawyer unless he was working on commission. I think there is a fine for littering. Let that be the end of it, unless you feel that family counseling would help."
“I am inclined to agree with you.” He turned so that he was facing the Kyles and said, “The fine for the littering will be fifty dollars and I agree with Ultra Woman, I think that family counseling is needed and it is so ordered.” He brought his gavel down with a loud thwack. “Pay the bailiff. Court dismissed.”
As Ultra Woman was leaving, she could hear Bud’s father grumbling and muttering indistinctly. She couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was a threatening one.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As soon as Lois was back at the Planet, she sat on the corner of Clark’s desk and looked at what was on his computer screen. It was a write-up of a recent Superman rescue.
He asked, “How did it go?”
“I’ll never complain about my uniform being too tight again.”
“The pictures showed that he was uninjured.”
“Sure did. Their lawyer threw them under the bus, claiming he had nothing to do with the attempted fraud, but I think the judge knew better.”
“All’s well that ends well.”
“Yes, all’s well that ends well and this ended well. They’ve been ordered into family counseling.”
“It just might do some good.”
“To borrow a phrase from Herb, ‘Only time will tell.’”
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