Epiphany
Folc4evernaday
Part 19
Note: Okay, I'm totally guilty of leaving you hanging but in my defense, I had a lot going on....and I did leave you with some steam so you can't be too mad, right?
Previously on Epiphany“What are you doing?” Johnny asked as Toni grabbed him by the collar, pulling him to her.
“I’m sorry. This has to look real…” She whispered in his ear. “I’m going to stab you, and you are going to escape. Go underground and don’t come near Metropolis or you’re dead.”
“Wha..?” Johnny stammered, uncertain of how to respond to what she’d just told him. “Toni, wait, Toni, no!” He yelled when he saw the sharp hair stick in her hand.
“I’m sorry, Johnny.”
***
“I’ll need the names of the detectives you think are on Lex Luthor’s payroll and any information you can tell me about the suspect they have in custody,” Mayson said, jotting down notes on her legal pad.
Henderson shook his head, “It’s not that simple. He’s not even in custody.”
Mayson’s jaw tightened as she scowled, “You said he was picked up by patrol and brought to Metropolis P.D.”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Henderson said, with a nod, “…but his paperwork was never processed.”
“Are you telling me we have detectives holding a suspect without processing and obstructing justice?” Mayson asked, her eyes narrowing as she spoke.
“That’s what I’m telling you,” Henderson repeated.
“Sounds like you’ve got a whole slew of crooked gumshoes in the joint.” A voice said as Mayson’s door flung open.
Henderson and Mayson both turned to see a tall man with dark brown hair and chiseled features standing in the doorway of her office. “I’m sorry Ms. Drake, he just came through without…” Her assistant tried to explain.
Mayson sighed, recognizing the man immediately, “Mr. Davenport, what bring you to Metropolis?”
He snorted, “Director Padelski got a call from Mr. Wayne about corruption in the Metropolis P.D. on a toxic level. Wants the place cleaned out.”
“So, I’ve heard,” Mayson said as a petite blonde appeared behind him, putting a folded paper on her desk. “What is this?” Mayson asked.
“Federal warrant to search the premises of Metropolis P.D. and arrest any officers we find connected with coercion in the Luthor case.”
***
“Hey, son, how are you feeling?” Jonathan asked, taking a seat in the recliner next to the sofa Lois and Clark were sitting on.
Sam took a seat next to Lucy. He glanced at Clark with a look of concern, “Are you sure you don’t want to go to a hospital? You really don’t look good. After that fall…”
“Fall?” Lucy asked curiously.
“He, uh, fell on the old fence by the Irig property,” Lois said hurriedly avoiding her sister’s gaze. If there was anyone that could tell she was lying it was Lucy.
“I’m fine, Sam.” Clark smiled back, “I’m just a little sore is all.”
***
Lucy glanced at the time on the grandfather clock. “Almost seven in Metropolis. I wonder if they’ve processed Jimmy yet.”
Lois frowned, looking at her sister sympathetically, “We have his attorney sitting down there on standby ready to get him out the moment they do. I just wish they’d go ahead and book him so we can get him out.”
“You and me both.” Clark sighed, leaning his head against hers as his arm wrapped around her shoulders from behind.
“Jimmy’s a smart kid, but I don’t know that he’d be able to survive in jail very long let alone prison. These are serious charges they’re trying to pin on him.” Lucy sighed tearfully. “I just don’t understand how all this happened.”
“I wish I knew.” Clark sighed, “Believe me, but they can only hold him for 72 hours without booking him. Bill Henderson said he was going to…”
“….try to. He just got demoted, so I don’t know how much pull he’ll have.” Lois reminded him.
“He’s going to try and do what he can to help Jimmy.” Clark conceded her correction.
Lucy looked at them in concern, “What happens if we can’t?”
***
After the screen door had closed, Clark looked back at Lois, “Should we be worried about her making it to the bedroom okay?”
Lois shook her head, “Nope there are no stairs. She’ll be fine.” She leaned in to kiss him, “So, does Superman get drunk?” He could smell the liquor on her breath as she ran her hand seductively down his chest, toying with the cotton of his shirt.
“Not usually.” He said with a grin. She grinned back at him, staggering to her feet as she pulled him with her, “Whoa,” He felt his head spin as he stood to his feet.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, leaning on his shoulder for balance as she adjusted her footing.
“I might be a little…” He searched for the right word, and she laughed.
“Clark Kent are you drunk?”
“No, I don’t get drunk.” He repeated, leaning in to kiss her, tightening his arms around her waist, “Superman doesn’t get drunk.”
Lois laughed, linking her arms around his neck for a moment before moving them to his waist to give him some support as they made their way down the porch steps to head to the spare bedroom for the night. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be too many stairs involved. “Come on, flyboy, let’s get you to bed…”
“Anything you say…” He lifted her into his arms, groaning as her limbs wrapped snuggly around him as he proceeded to make his way toward the barn. He silently cursed the meteorite that had taken away his ability to whisk her with him at super-speed wherever he wanted to go.
‘This is what it feels like to be normal.’
Finally finding his balance he carried her as fast as he could grinning as she shrieked in laughter, “Clark!”
***
Lucy sat down on the couch trying to make sense out of what she’d just seen and heard. Her sister was obviously more than a little tipsy as well as Clark who had drunkenly murmured loud enough through the windows for her to make out what they were saying.
“So, does Superman get drunk?” Lois had asked. Even in her intoxicated state, she could make sense out of what Lois was saying.
Why was she asking about Superman?
“Not usually…Whoa,” Clark had responded.
How would he know?
“What’s wrong?”
Lucy laughed when she realized Clark had been indeed more than a little buzzed.
“I might be a little…”
“Clark Kent are you drunk?”
Yep, she’d succeeded.
“No, I don’t get drunk Superman doesn’t get drunk.”
Why did he keep referring to Superman?
“Come on, flyboy, let’s get you to bed…”
Flyboy?
Lucy sighed, setting the rinsed glasses on the counter and putting the bottle of Tequila back in her bag. She headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Something was definitely going on with Superman and those two, but right now she was half drunk and in no condition to be trying to figure out just what that was.
***
Part 19The hours seemed molded together with the detectives' condescending comments and questions echoing through Jimmy’s mind. He sought solace in the one place he could find peace; his mind as sleep urged him on, but Jimmy knew he couldn’t give in completely. There was no telling when his tormentors would return.
The slamming of a clipboard hitting the metal desk his head rested against jolted Jimmy awake from his half-asleep state.”Wake up you maggot!” Jenkins snapped kicking the table against him hard.
“Well you want to tell him the good news, Jenkins?” the detective he’d come to know as ‘Harris’ asked. He could tell from the smirk on his face whatever the news was it wasn’t good for him.
Jenkins shook his head, grinning from ear to ear, “Oh, no, Harris, you got the warrant. You tell him.”
“Warrant?” He asked confused. “You can’t get a warrant without evidence…” What was he saying? Everything they’d done from the time they’d brought him to the police station had been against the law, but they didn’t seem to care.
“Don’t need it.” Jenkins shrugged, “Imminent danger.”
“Imminent what??” Jenkins shoved a copy of an editorial by Perry White with a red ‘x’ on it criticizing the NIA in his face. He scrunched up his face, as he read the unfamiliar writing on the paper,“What is this?”
“Oh, you don’t recognize it?” Harris asked, “It’s our smoking gun. Your place was littered with anti-Perry White articles and anti-Superman articles that dared come against the NIA….”
“What???” Jimmy scoffed, throwing the paper back down on the table, “You’re out of your mind. No one in their right mind is going to believe this.”
“Judge Stephens did,” Jenkins added with a smile. “He was deeply troubled when it came to light that our young James Olsen was the son of an NIA spy….”
“You’re a liar.” Jimmy shook his head in disgust. “My mom’s a photographer, and my dad’s a structural engineer….”
Harris snickered in laughter, “You poor sap!”
“Don’t believe me?” Jenkins laughed, placing a file in front of him.
Jimmy did his best not to react as Harris opened it up and revealed his dad’s picture with a file on the assassinations he’d been a part of.
Structural engineer.
That’s what his dad had told him he was in sixth grade.
A structural engineer.
‘No, it’s not true...What if it is?’“Today’s your lucky day, Mr. Olsen,” Harris added with a satisfied grin.
“Thanks to the evidence we collected and the explosives we found there’s more than enough to put you away for the rest of your life you miserable piece of…”
“Explosives?” Jimmy croaked in shock. He was being railroaded. These dirty cops had no intention of finding the real villain. They had planted evidence and were now going to ruin his life and….
“James Olsen, you have the right to remain silent….” Jenkins pulled him up from his seat and placed his hands behind his back as he slapped the metal cuffs on him, continuing to read him his Miranda Rights with a sick satisfaction.
***
Off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico a team of approximately a hundred men including crew, specialized engineers and supervisors worked tirelessly into the night. Unbeknownst to any of the crew below deck a man that was not a part of the crew had hacked into the rig’s mainframe and was working just as tirelessly ….against them.
***
A sharp ringing in his ears resonated as Clark’s super-hearing came back at full force in the early hours of the morning.
<<“Help! It’s going to blow!”>>
<<“Turn it off!”>>
<<“I can’t!”>>
<<“The rig is going to blow!”>>
<<“Someone help!”>>
<<“Superman help!!!!”>>Still holding his head, Clark sat up easing himself out of Lois’ arms, “Lois?” He shook her gently.
“Hmm?” She wasn’t quite awake, but he didn’t have time.
“I’ve got to go. There’s an oil rig on…”
“Okay,” She said sleepily. “Go.”
He didn’t wait for her to finish. Within a blink of an eye, he had changed into his suit and was headed toward the Gulf of Mexico as fast as his super-speed would let him.
***
Lois felt the cool sheets against her as she rolled over, frowning when she felt the empty spot where Clark had been a few hours before. She was still half-asleep but she half-recalled her conversation with him early this morning. What had he said? An oil spill?
Anxiety ran through her as she realized the questions she’d never asked.
Was he ready?
<< “Are you okay?” Lois asked, kneeled down to look at Clark, brushing the hair out of his face.
“Easy there, tiger,” her father said, pushing his shoulder back down on the ground when Clark tried to sit up. “You were unconscious for a good couple of minutes. You need to lie back and give yourself a minute.”
“I’m fine.” He said flatly, trying to sit up once more.
“Clark, maybe you should listen to Sam.” His dad interjected. “That was a nasty fall you took.” Lois pushed him back down, keeping her hand on his chest.>>Her mind was still slightly in a fog from not being quite awake combined with her being drunk last night. A slow smile spread across her face at the memory of the night before. It had been fun, cutting loose with Lucy and Clark last night.
He’d definitely been drunk…even if he did insist on denying it.
Uninhibited with every thought and caress.
<< “You were verrry lucky I wasn’t affected by that spray.”
“What would you have done?”
“Not hidden in the other room while you were sleeping the effects from that spray off.”
“You said you weren’t attracted to me.”
“I lied.”
“I know.”
“I love you…I tried to hide it for…a….long time.”
“I think we were both hiding.”
“Maybe we should stop ….hiding I mean.” He grinned back at her, “I like this.”
“I thought we …were.”
“We are, but I don’t say what I really want to…”
“Which is what?”
“That I love you Lois Lane and I want …everything with you.”
“Everything?”
“Everything.” He nodded, nibbling on her ear. “I want to marry you…have kids….build a home together” He stroked her jawline, glaring back at her with an intensity she’d never seen before. The passion and love she felt reflected back from him hit her like a wave as he spoke, “and grow old… together.”
“Oh, Clark…” She breathed softly, unsure of what to say.
“I want to die when I’m 110 years old in your arms. I want a lifetime with you, Lois…” He trailed off softly, “…but I’m so afraid of scaring you off…I don’t say it.”
“Why would that scare me?” She asked, tracing his jawline as she spoke.
“Because you scare easily in relationships,” He whispered. “You bury yourself in your work and get angry and mad to try and hide…because you’ve been hurt and you ….don’t want to be…hurt again.”
“That’s very observant…for being three sheets to the wind.”
“I’m a very observant guy,”>>A thought occurred to her as she began to recall more of her short conversation with Clark this morning.
Oil rig. He’d said something about an oil rig.
How long did it take for him to recover after being exposed to Kryptonite?
<< “How are you feeling?”
“Just a little sore,” He shrugged. “I’ve never come in direct contact like that before….Well, no that’s not entirely true. I had to touch it when I threw it into the pond over there…”
“Oh,” Lois grew quiet, “You scared me.” She murmured softly against the cotton of his t-shirt, resting her chin against his shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I wish you didn’t have to see that.”
“You were hurt. I’ve never seen you hurt before.” She said shakily, leaning her head against his chest.
He nodded, tightening his arm around her waist, resting his chin against her head, “It was a big chunk of Kryptonite.” He admitted slowly.
“How long does it take to, um…” She lifted her head, fingering his chest playfully as she looked up at him, “heal.”
He smiled back at her, leaning in to kiss her as he murmured, “A few days was how long it took last time.”
“So are you….completely vulnerable?” She asked, running her hands up and down his sides gingerly as she spoke.
“Depends,” He shrugged, running his hand down the curve of her back, resting at the hem of her shirt.
“On what?”>>Two days. Last time it had taken him two days. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours.
What if ...
She bolted out of bed and quickly got dressed, heading toward the farmhouse to hopefully find out more about the oil spill Superman was helping with.
***
Lucy stared up at the ceiling fan, letting out a long sigh. She’d been restless for most of the night. Unable to get her sister’s comments out of her mind. She got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom to start getting dressed. Her mother was still sound asleep.
<<“So, does Superman get drunk?” >>Why was Lois asking if Superman got drunk? What did it matter to Clark?
<<“No, I don’t get drunk Superman doesn’t get drunk.” >>Why was Clark talking about Superman getting drunk? Was she missing something?
<<“Come on, flyboy, let’s get you to bed…”>>What was that comment about?
Flyboy?
She’d heard her sister call Clark
‘Farmboy’ from time to time but never
‘flyboy.' Something about the whole exchange seemed …. off…like she was missing a really big clue. The way they were talking…
Clark came to Metropolis at the same time as Superman.
He came out of that window without a scratch on him.
He jumped out of that airplane with Trask.
‘No, this is ridiculous,’ she told herself. ‘Is it?’Why else would he and Lois be talking about Superman getting drunk? Why else would Lois be calling him ‘flyboy’?
If it was true and she wasn’t ready to admit that what she suspected was true yet…How long had she known? It had to have been recent. When did she stop talking about Superman?
'The date.’ Lucy recalled. She’d had to practically shove Lois towards Clark the night she’d told her about her breakup with Lex and Clark’s admission. Was that when he’d told her? Or had she figured it out on her own? There was no telling with Lois.
Lucy stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, shaking her head. “This is ridiculous. He’s not….I saw him bleed. He was bleeding yesterday. Superman doesn’t bleed.”
She leaned toward the tub to turn the shower on, “Too much alcohol.” She told herself.
***
“We’re hearing now that Honeybraun Industries’ oil rig off the Gulf of Mexico hit a fuse and due to a mechanical error that is unclear at the moment a fire has been ignited on the rig. Superman is on the scene with rescue workers and has been working tirelessly to rescue the one hundred man crew from the rig. The Coast Guard has been working with Superman to help keep the fire at bay, but it is unclear how much progress they have made….”
***
“Oh, my God…” Lois breathed staring at the television screen numbly. Martha placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Jonathan’s face was grim. “The preliminary reports are saying sabotage.”
“Is he going to be okay?” Lois asked in concern, looking at the coverage that had zoomed in on Clark’s oil covered face as he pulled four more crew members from the fire, flying them toward the coast where ambulatory workers were waiting.
Jonathan nodded, looking around the room cautiously. No one else was up yet. “Usually when one power comes back they all do. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
Lois visibly relaxed, looking back at the screen in dismay, “Who would do such a thing?”
***
Lucy stood in the doorway of the Living Room, watching as Lois sat with the Kents, staring at the footage of the Superman rescue. The expression on her face wasn’t of a friend being concerned or of a journalist intrigued by the story unfolding before her. It was of a woman in love concerned for the man she loved. The man she was staring at was Superman.
If there was one thing Lucy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was that Lois Lane didn’t cheat. It wasn’t in her nature. So the only possible explanation was what she’d been theorizing before…. Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter and Kansas farmboy was also the man of steel that was currently working tirelessly to save hundreds of oil rig workers from beign caught in the explosion that had just ignited another half of the rig.
It made so much sense yet at the same time it didn’t.
How had he been hurt yesterday if he was Superman?
***
“All systems are a go,” Nigel said, handing Lex a hanger with his Armani suit.
“A perfect disaster to help LexCorp acquire Honeybraun Industries at a competitive rate,” Lex said happily. “Assets are unfrozen?”
“All clear.” Nigel said with a satisfied nod, “Judge Stephens thanks you for your generous campaign donation.”
“Always willing to support our justice system,” Lex said happily, slipping his suit jacket on as he examined himself in the mirror. “Is the press ready?”
“Waiting for you, sir,” Nigel said, gesturing toward the elevator.
“Let’s not keep them waiting.” Lex said, walking with him toward the elevator, “It’s good to be home.”
***
TBC...
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