Ghost From the Past
Folc4evernaday
Part 8
Later that evening, they laid on the bed in the aftermath of their lovemaking. Lois had the silk sheet wrapped around her body as she laid on top of Clark. “So, I’ve got an idea…” He began. She looked up at him, “…maybe this weekend we could drive out to Smallville and you could meet my parents…tour the town…let me show you off…”
“You want me to meet your parents?” she asked.
“Yes,” He brushed his lips against her hair, “I love you and I’m sure they’ll love you too. We’ll be back by Monday I promise….So, what do you say?” He looked at her expectantly.
What could she say? She knew she loved him. Meeting the parents was a normal step in any relationship. She knew that. Were they ready for that step? She’d heard Clark talk about his parents with love and admiration. He seemed to have had a wonderful childhood and good memories of growing up. Her parents on the other hand….
She sighed, looking away for a moment, “What’s wrong?” He asked.
“It’s nothing…this weekend sounds…great…” she managed weakly.
“But?” He prompted, wiggling his hip against hers.
“But meeting your parents means you’ll have to meet MY parents and unlike you, I didn’t have that great of a time growing up….The Lane household was fights, fight, and more fights…”
“I’m sorry,” He said quietly. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just figured…mom said she’d like to meet you and I’d love for you to meet them, but if you’re not…”
Lois shook her head, giving him a peck on the lips, “No, I want to. I think we’re at that stage of our relationship…” She motioned to their naked bodies beneath the sheet, “…we’ve definitely explored all the physical aspects…”
“…not all of them,” He whispered against her lips.
***
Later that evening, Lois and Clark stood at the window with binoculars and the camera, listening and watching Roarke and Harrington who had returned to Apocalypse Consulting,
“So, there’s ... no possible way the test will be postponed?” Roarke asked.
Harrington shook his head, “Weather’s clear. Naval monitoring ships are en route. Dawn, day after tomorrow. It's set,”
Roarke smiled, “Good and after the test fails we’ll get my system approved and installed. How soon before you can vote again?”
Harrington shook his head, “There’ll be delays of course. Analysis of test results, modification proposals…”
Roarke shook his head, “No,” at Harrington’s confused look, “After what happens at that test no one will be interested in ‘modification proposals’”
Harrington seemed on edge, “What…what exactly will happen?”
Roarke smiled, “Why don’t I show you?” He motioned for his bodyguard to get the blinds.
“Drat!” Lois fumed.
“Lead-lined,” Clark muttered under his breath.
“What? Lead lined? What does that mean?” Lois asked.
“Uh, I, uh…” Clark stammered before pointing at the blinds being opened, “Look, they’re opening the blinds again,”
Roarke wore a smug smile while Harrington was shaking in fear, “What do you think of the computer model Bart had made up? Murderous, isn’t it?”
Lois looked back at Clark in concern, “What do you think it was?”
“I don’t know, but it can’t be good,” He said pointing at the visibly shaken Ian Harrington.
***
The next day, Lois and Clark sat in the conference room going over what they’d learned last night during their surveillance with Roarke and Harrington. Cat pulled out a file on the table, “Tsunami?” She glanced around the room. “Is that the one with avocado and crab?”
Lois gave a forced smile, “Yes, Cat, that’s the one,” She glanced at the board impatiently. “Is this everything you were able to get?”
Brian nodded, “I wasn’t able to get much from my source…Apparently, these were in the files under ‘Vote,’”
Cat glanced through the file, “Why would they keep a file on Japanese seafood?”
Clark sighed, feeling bad for Cat, “Cat, Tsunami isn’t what you think it is,”
Brian nodded, “It’s a giant wave. Like a tidal wave.”
Cat glanced between them confused then Perry nodded, pulling out a file, “Wave? I’ve got a wave here too,” Lois and Clark opened the file which read, Project Shockwave in big bold letters.
Brian snapped his fingers, “Wait a minute, ‘Shock Wave’…” He leafed through a few stacks of papers before he found what he was looking for, “Harrington’s committee voted on something called Project Shock Wave not too long ago…here it is!” He handed the file to Clark, “’Appropriation approval for system test installation’”
Lois read the file, handing it back to Clark, “This vote was taken five weeks ago,”
“Passed eight to zero with one abstention….Congressman Ian Harrington,” Clark read. He glanced at Lois. “Still nothing about WHAT Shockwave is.”
Lois nodded, “This is what they were talking about. Roarke wanted Harrington to have the vote reversed…”
Perry nodded, “Sounds like a good theory if I ever heard one....You two thinking he wanted his own system approved instead…whatever that means?”
Lois nodded, “If only we knew what Shock Wave was,”
Clark nodded, turning back to Cat, “How’d it go with Harrington yesterday?”
Cat smiled broadly, flipping open her notebook, “One thirty: lunch with a semi-attractive blond. Thre o’clock: haircut and manicure. Four thirty: drinks with a so-so redhead. Seven p.m dinner with a mousey brunette.”
Perry sighed, “Geez, nice to know our tax dollars are being spread around,”
Cat continued, “Ten o’clock: drinks with an auburn haired beauty,”
Brian nodded, “Finally a little class. Who was she?”
“Me!” Cat grinned impishly. Perry and Brian stared and she shrugged, “Like superglue!” She then continued, “He then came back here to meet Roarke,”
Lois glanced at Brian, “What about you?”
“After they left yesterday evening Roarke and Bart drove to Pier 31 and went into a warehouse. They were still there this morning when I left to come back here. Warehouse leased to….” He gave a drumroll to hold the anticipation.
Clark held up a finger, “Let me guess, ‘Apocalypse Consulting?’”
“Bingo!” Brian said, handing over his notes. “…but I couldn’t even look inside…no windows.”
Lois tapped her fingers against the table, “We’re spinning our wheels. Some test monitored by the Naval units is taking place tomorrow at dawn and Roarke is planning on sabotaging it.”
Perry sighed, “I think its time. Time to go to the top. To the man who always knows what’s going on…The man who’s never let me down…”
Brain’s eyes widened, “You don’t mean…”
Perry nodded, “I do….Bobby Bigmouth!”
Lois looked at Clark and whispered, “What’s a Bobby Bigmouth?”
***
Lois stared in disgust as she watched the middle-aged man fill his plate with a mountain of food. He held up a piece of bread, “Roll?”
Lois shook her head in disgust, “No, thank you…Mister…Bigmouth?”
Bobby smiled, “Please, call me Bobby,”
“Bobby,” she nodded. “So, what can you tell us about Project Shockwave?”
Bobby seemed to think a moment then took a bite and spoke, “Where did you hear that name?”
“We have reason to believe Thaddeus Roarke is working with Congressman Ian Harrington to sabotage Project Shock Wave,” Clark explained, “It's due to be tested…”
“At dawn tomorrow,” Bobby nodded, “I know all about it. Project Shockwave: experimental coastal defense network. A couple of years ago the Navy being lobbying for their own version of a Star Wars system. Several proposals were made, the Navy picked Shock Wave. Roarke’s system was runner-up.”
“Who’s behind Shock Wave?” Perry asked.
“Luthor Technologies,” Bobby said, taking another bite.
“Figures,” Lois muttered then asked, “Why was Shock Wave picked?”
Bobby took a bite, “More sophisticated. It's designed to automatically analyze any foreign object within sensor range and calibrate an appropriate response,”
“What kind of response?” Clark asked concerned.
Bobby smiled, “Think of it as a sonic curtain. Sonic vibrations providing an impenetrable barrier that would disable whatever tried to pass. Rumor is Roarke had millions tied up in his own system so it's not that farfetched that he’d take the steps to guarantee he gets a return.”
Lois shook her head, “He said something about how they were stopping the test would be ‘murderous.’ What does that mean?”
“It means he’s off his rocker and is dangerous. The information you have is classified,” Bobby explained. “There’s no way to stop the test tomorrow…Lex Luthor made sure of that when he designed it.”
Lois exchanged a look with Clark, “Then I guess we go to the source,”
“How do you plan on doing that?” Perry asked bemused, “Lex Luthor has never met with any press since his takeover of his father’s company at seventeen,”
“He’s never met Lois Lane before,” Lois said smugly, grabbing Clark by the arm, “Let’s go,”
***
Present Day…
Jimmy stared towards the Editor-in-Chief’s office in anticipation. Something was going on. Everyone had been talking about how Clark Kent had risen from the dead. He’d never met the man but he’d heard stories. Lane and Kent had cracked open the biggest story of the year on their first undercover story.
He’d heard Lois talk about Clark. He was the love of her life. Her best friend and nobody could compete. She had lived and breathed the Daily Planet after losing Clark, then, a year later when she’d been given the miracle of a son…a son she’d never known existed until three months after Clark had ‘died’ ... he had been taken from her too. The police had ruled it a ‘SIDS’ death. No explanation. No cause. Unknown. That had been a punch to the gut for Lois. A taunt by fate for her to lose the last piece of the man she loved.
The sassy and funny Lois Lane had disappeared replaced with a no-nonsense hard-bitten newswoman that would stop at nothing to uncover the truth when chasing a story. Very few times she’d break down and he’d see a glimpse of the old Lois Lane he’d met when she was expecting Jamie, her and Clark’s child. This morning was one of those times.
“Excuse me, Earth to Jimmy!!!” Brian waved a hand in front of Jimmy trying to get his attention.
“Huh,” Jimmy shook his head, bringing himself pack to the present, “What is it, Brian?”
He pointed at an elderly woman near Lois Lane’s desk, “She’s looking for Lois…Where’d she go?”
“Oh, I got it, Brian,” Jimmy approached the woman with a smile, “I’m James Olsen, can I help you?”
The woman looked at him skeptically, “I’m looking for my…uh, I’m looking for Lois Lane,” She said hesitantly.
“Oh, she’s in the Chief’s office,” Jimmy explained, pointing toward Perry’s office. “Her partner reappeared in the newsroom this morning and…”
She looked at him in despair, “Her partner?”
“Clark Kent?” Jimmy squeaked out as she got in his face, forcefully.
“Where is he?” She asked, grabbing him by the shirt.
“I..I don’t know…the office I think…” She grabbed Jimmy by the ear, pulling on it, tightly, “Owww!!!”
“Where is my son??” She repeated vehemently as she drug him towards the office.
***
Perry looked at Lois in concern as she paced around the office, “I feel like I can’t even go home, Perry. What am I supposed to do?”
“We’ll figure this out. If I have to I’ll set you two up in a hotel under a surname or something…” Perry reasoned.
“How is that going to work? We have a meteor heading straight for Earth!” Lois fumed. “I doubt there’s even…”
The door opening caught Perry’s attention and he and Lois both looked at the doorway to see a very angry Martha Kent with Jimmy Olsen being held by his ear. She released Jimmy then looked at Perry and Lois, “I want some answers NOW! Where is my son??”
***
Six Years Ago…
Lois stared up at the Luthor Towers in anticipation as she nervously fidgeted with her jacket. Clark seemed to notice her nervousness and placed a hand over hers to calm her nerves. She glanced over at him and smiled.
Perry stepped out of the lobby with two thumbs up, “We’ve got ourselves a meeting,”
An elderly man with a mustache and balding hairline stepped outside behind Perry and cleared his throat, “Mr. White? Mr. Luthor will meet with you and your colleagues in one hour at this location.” He handed Perry a note, “No recording devices,” the man warned, looking between Lois and Clark.
“We understand,” Perry nodded, shaking the man’s hand. He turned to Lois and Clark, “Let’s go,”
***
When they arrived at the location they realized they were approaching the warehouse that Brian had tailed Roarke and Harrington to. Lois looked around nervously, “Are you sure this is the right place?”
Perry nodded, then pointed to the limo pulling up behind them, “There he is now,”
A man in black stepped out of the limo, wearing sunglasses and brown curly hair. He had a certain air about him as he approached them. He gave Perry a nod, “Mr. White I presume,”
Perry nodded, “Mr. Luthor, it's an honor, but I wish these were different circumstances,”
Lex Luthor nodded, turning towards Lois and Clark, “You must be Mr. Kent and Ms. Lane,”
Clark nodded, extending his hand to shake his, “Clark Kent, sir,”
“Lois Lane,” Lois said briskly. She noticed Lex’s gaze staying on her longer. She shifted uncomfortably, reaching for Clark’s hand. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and couldn’t shake it. Why were they at Apocalypse Consulting’s warehouse? “What is this place?”
“A warehouse owned by a dummy company posing as my subsidiary Apocalypse Consulting,” Lex answered. “…but let’s get to the real issue here. Luthor Technologies has approximately half a billion dollars in research and development tied up in a project code-named Shock Wave. Shock Wave, even the name, is top secret. Yet, Mr. White you call to tell me you not only know of the project but suspect Thaddeus Roarke, a man with whom I’ve had previous unsatisfactory dealings is intent on sabotaging the impending test. Under the circumstances, I might have elected to stay home and watch reruns of Flipper on an all night cable channel, but instead, I’m here with you three. What is going on?”
Clark sighed, “We’ve Roarke and Congressman Ian Harrington under surveillance. Roarke is positive your system will fail its test, leaving the door open for his system to be adopted instead.”
Luthor sighed, raking a hand through his hair in confusion, “You say Roarke is positive?” Lois and Clark nodded, “That would imply sabotage. No one ever described Thaddeus Roarke as an incurable optimist.”
“How could your system be sabotaged?” Lois asked.
Lex shook his head, “So far as I know, it can’t…”
Perry tapped his fingers against his chin, “What about power failure,”
“Too many back-ups,” Luthor shook his head.
Lois shook her head, “No, Roarke hinted at something more than a simple breakdown…”
Clark nodded, “He described it as ‘murderous’ and hinted at this being something BIGGER…”
Something clicked in Lois’ head, “Like a tidal wave?”
“Tsunami!” Clark caught on to her train of thought.
“Shock Wave,” Lex said grimly.
The sound of guns cocking behind them caused them to turn around. Lois glared at the man holding the gun. It was Bart, Thaddeus Roarke’s bodyguard with Thaddeus Roarke beside him. They both held guns on them all, “You,” Lois breathed.
“I see you’ve all figured out my plan,” Roarke said shaking his head. “Too bad it’s a bit too late,” He looked at his watch. “Mr. Luthor your test will be taking place in one hour. Don’t want to miss the big show!” He motioned towards the column on the pier.
A sinister look crossed Lex Luthor’s face as they were escorted at gunpoint towards the pier. Lois did her best to remain calm but when she tripped over the corpse of Congressman Ian Harrington she couldn’t help but scream.
***
“Stupid…stupid…” Lois muttered to herself. Clark sighed, looking around. Roarke and his man had left them tied to the column on the pier to watch the view. He knew he had to do something, but he had to get everyone off this pier first. He began working on the chain that held his wrists together. He couldn’t just break everything at once or he could risk exposing himself. He had to do it slowly…
“Well, this wasn’t exactly how I envisioned my first meeting with you, Mr. Luthor,” Perry was saying in a half joking manner.
“Please, we’re all tied to this pier and most likely going to die together…call me Lex,” Lex said with a grim smile. “I should have known…”
“This isn’t your fault. It’s Roarke’s,” Perry sighed, “I wish I could talk to Alice one last time…”
“Alice?” Lois asked, intrigued.
“My wife,” Perry said with a broad grin, looking over his shoulder. He sighed, “At least you two are with the one you love in the end…”
Lois looked back at him in shock, “How did you…?”
Perry sighed, “Lois, I didn’t become Editor-in-Chief of a great metropolitan newspaper because I can yodel. Did you seriously think I didn’t notice? The looks….the hand holding….the finishing each other’s sentences?”
Clark smiled to himself. He’d suspected Perry had known about their relationship. They’d tried to keep it professional at the office, but hiding how they felt about one another when in close proximity wasn’t an easy task. He felt one of the links to the chain that bound his hands together give and he smiled to himself. This was going to work.
“Oh, my….” Lex stammered, staring at the water that began to build by the pier.
Clark looked towards the water Lex, Perry and Lois were staring at. It had to be at least a hundred feet tall. Noticing that they all seemed to be in shock, he broke the chains and stood up, pulling first Lois then Perry and Lex to their feet and pushed them towards where Perry’s car was, “Run!!!!”
They nodded, unable to say anything. He waited until they were out of sight then took flight, heading straight for the center of the tidal wave. He could hear Lois calling for him as he began to spin, pulling the wave down with him.
***
“Clark!!!” Lois looked around, unable to find him.
“There’s no time!” Lex snapped, trying to pull her back as she tried to run back towards the wave that was headed towards them.
“I have to find Clark!!” Lois struggled against Lex’s grasp.
“I told you there’s no….”
Perry interrupted, “Look!” He pulled out his camera and began taking shots of the tidal wave to end all tidal waves as it began to fold on itself back into the water.
“I don’t believe it…” Lex stammered, still holding onto Lois.
“Let me go!!” Lois snapped angrily before kneeing him hard below the belt.
“Ohhh!” Lex groaned in pain, releasing his grasp on her.
She ran back towards the pier where they had been tied, looking for Clark, “Clark!”
“Unbelievable,” a familiar voice said from behind her.
She turned around and smiled when she saw the familiar voice of her boyfriend. “Clark!” She turned around to hug him, planting kisses all over his face. “I thought…”
“I’m fine. I…saw the wave fold over like that and….I just kinda stopped running…” He managed. “Nice touch, kneeing Luthor like that. Great first impression.” He teased.
She smacked him lightly, “You know I don’t respond well to being grabbed like that…”
He nodded, “All too well,” He patted his face, pretending to wince at the memory of her slapping him.
“How’d you get us out of there?” She asked.
“One of the links in the chain was weak so I was working on it until it finally gave away. Luckily it broke when it did.”
“Yeah,” She said, running her hand through his hair, noticing it was slightly damp. “Your hair’s wet.”
He ran a hand through her hair as well, “So is yours…I think the mist from the wave…” He shrugged. She stared at him for a moment contemplating something for a moment. “What?” He asked nervously.
“Nothing, it's just…You’re always saving me…” She said softly, linking her arms around his neck.
“Someone’s got to…” He murmured, leaning in to kiss her, cupping her cheek with his palm.
“You signing up to be my personal superhero?” she teased.
“Maybe…the benefits are out of this world…” He murmured, against her lips.
***
TBC...
