Epiphany
Folc4evernaday
Part 23
***
That evening, after dinner and Lucy had gone to bed, Clark updated Lois on what had happened at the bank.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lois asked for the tenth time, placing a supportive hand on Clark’s shoulder.
“I’m fine.” He reassured her, “A little weak but nothing a few hours in the sun won’t cure.”
Her head rested against his shoulder in relief, “I thought you said it was all destroyed.”
He grimaced. “The piece Trask had was destroyed, but as we found out this weekend, it’s still out there.”
“What are we going to do?” She asked, “You can’t go on rescues with that stuff out there.”
“Lois, I can’t just ignore cries for help. You know that. ” He cupped her cheek as he spoke. “Especially not now.”
Her face scrunched up into a scowl, “Because of Lex.”
“Because of Superman,” He said, tilting her head to look at him. “I can’t just abandon everyone because of a threat like this. It’s not who I am, and it’s not who Superman is.”
“You could get hurt.” She reminded him.
“So could any officer or first responder that puts their life on the line every day. I’m not going to let whoever this is, win. I’m not going to run and hide and let innocent people be hurt because of a threat.”
“Clark?”
“Hmm?” He looked down, meeting her gaze.
“What if Lex has the Kryptonite?” She asked in a soft whisper barely audible for even his super-hearing.
“Lois,” He turned to cup her cheek, rolling so he was facing her on his side. The thought had occurred to him when he’d felt the familiar numbing pain earlier. It appeared Lois was having the same thoughts. The same fears.
Unshed tears filled her eyes as she spoke, her voice cracking, “Clark, I don’t think I could stand by and …If anything ever happened to you. If he…”
He pulled her to him, silencing her fears with his lips, “Lois,” He stroked the outline of her jaw, resting his forehead against hers, “Nothing is going to happen. We don’t even know for sure that Luthor has it.” She gave him a ‘yeah right’ look, and he sighed, continuing, “Even if he does there’s not guarantee on how he’d even use it.”
“If he has it. He’ll use it.” She said bitterly. “Let’s not kid ourselves.”
“Fair enough, but he probably doesn’t even know what he has.” Clark reasoned, not quite believing it himself.
“Other than it makes Superman weak?” She asked, narrowing her eyes as she spoke. He nodded, shaking his head. She reached up to stroke his cheek, “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Always.” He ran his fingers through her hair, “Lois, nothing will ever keep me from coming back and being where I belong,” He pressed his solid frame against hers, “Right here by your side.” He moved both hands to cup her face on both sides as he leaned in to seal the promise with a kiss.
***
A bloodied Johnny Taylor made his way through the Oakland P.D. scanning the desks until he found who he was looking for. Toni tried to free him. What she didn’t know was his ‘escape’ wasn’t warranted. He’d already cut a deal with the Feds the week before to turn evidence against the boss and the other organizations that he’d dealt with during his time as head of the Metros.
Now that plan was blown to smithereens if he couldn’t get some help. Recognizing one of the officers he approached his desk with a groan.
“Yes, can I …?” The officer’s eyes widened, “Oh my God! Geez! Johnny, what the hell happened to you?”
“Get me the DA. I ‘d like to renegotiate the terms of our deal.” Johnny breathed unevenly as he sank down in the chair, lifting his arm that had been sliced and revealing the stab wounds from inside the prison from his sister.
***
Bruce Wayne walked through the debris of the printing press floor of what used to produce the world’s largest and most globally known newspaper in the world. The Daily Planet’s online presence was helping somewhat but the days of people turning to technology instead of the paper on their front porch were not here. He needed to get production moved to Metropolis. It was costing him an arm and a leg to keep printing Metropolis’ Daily Planet in the Gotham Gazette’s printing room. He half suspected they were charging him more for helping the competition.
“Over here, Mr. Wayne,” The Fire Marshall pointed toward the elevator shaft where they said the fire started.
Behind him, Michael Clemmons, Judge Stephens, and Constance Hunter followed the fire marshall through the debris. “Now you can where these white spots are,” He pointed to the wall. “That’s where the fire started. He pulled out a charred square metallic device and handed it to Bruce, “One of these bad boys was pinned to every single floor. Luckily Superman was able to disarm them, so only one floor got the blast. If he hadn’t…”
“The entire building would have collapsed.” Bruce finished for him.
“Olsen sure did a number on this place,” Clemmons commented. “How many people were in the building?”
“Three hundred give or take,” Bruce answered glumly seeing the twinkle in Clemmons' eye as he continued to sway the judge.
“James Olsen set this fire and tried to bury three hundred people in it, your honor. You cannot give a man like that bail.”
“Excuse me? James Olsen is innocent until proven guilty.” Constance interrupted, “I’d appreciate if you’d refrain from trying to taint his honor against my client.”
“What’s to taint?” Clemmons scoffed, looking around the room, “We’re standing in the evidence right now.”
Bruce decided to chime in, seeing the pained expression on Constance and Judge Stephens’ faces. “I hate to interrupt, but Mr. Clemmons I can’t have you labeling James Olsen as the arsonist in front of my staff unless he’s been charged and convicted.” He gestured to the suits behind him, “We’re all upset and affected by this. The reality is we don’t know for sure James Olsen is responsible. If there’s even a smidgen of a chance he could be innocent isn’t it your office’s job to get to the truth?”
DA Clemmons shifted slightly, “It’s my job to see justice is served. Right now serving justice is making sure James Olsen stays behind bars so this…” He gestured to the charred walls around them, “never happens again.”
“And what if he’s innocent?” Bruce asked.
“What if he’s not?” Clemmons asked, turning on his heel to follow Judge Stephens toward the exit with Constance Hunter.
Bruce hung back, watching them. “Interesting group. Bond hearing?” The Fire Marshall asked.
“Yep.” Bruce sighed, looking around. “Tell me the truth. How much are we looking at on repairing this place and getting it ready to open again?”
Fire Marshall shook his head, “You’re looking at a couple hundred thousand easy to clean up the damage and fix the structural damage that’s been done.” He pointed his flashlight at a long beam across the room that had two temporary metal columns on each side holding it up. “That’s the beam Superman was holding up when that column over there,” He pointed to a large column in the middle of the room that had split in two, “gave out. It’s a miracle nobody was killed that day.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” Bruce said with a sigh. “So how long will it take to get this place back up to code?”
“Eh, depends on your engineer, but if you get a good crew, you’re looking at maybe six or eight weeks give or take.”
“Six or Eight weeks???” Bruce shouted, surprised by the number.
“It’s a lot of damage.”
“It’s the Daily Planet. We can’t be closed down that long. It’ll cause us to lose all our advertising contracts.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” The Fire Marshall shrugged, “Thank the guy that did this.”
Bruce sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Okay, when we get the damage repaired who do we call for the inspection. I don’t want to be waiting any longer than I have to…”
The Fire Marshall pulled out his card, “You can call me day or night. Just have your checkbook ready and have everything up to code and I’ll take care of you.”
“Thanks,” Bruce took the card and shook his hand. “I appreciate all your help.” An idea came to him, “Marshall? Do you think I could hold onto the device that was used in the arson? I’d like to run it through one of my labs at LexLabs.”
The Fire Marshall was thoughtful for a moment before deciding, “I don’t see why not. The police have the other devices. One missing isn’t going to kill anyone, right?”
“Right.” Bruce smiled.
He handed it over. “Good luck.” With that, he motioned for Bruce to follow him out of the exit.
Once outside, Bruce pulled out his phone, walking away from the group, “Lucius, I need you on the next flight to Metropolis.”
***
Lois watched Lucy pour herself a cup of coffee as she gathered her things. “Don’t let anyone in that you don’t know.”
“I know.” Lucy sighed, taking a sip of her coffee.
“No study buddies or boyfriends.” Lois continued as she gathered her things.
“Lois, when have I had time for either of those things?” Lucy asked annoyed.
“Ask to see ID if anyone comes to repair anything or fix anything…” Lois continued.
“I know I know.” Lucy cut her off. “I’ll be fine. Go!” She pushed Lois toward the door.
“Just be safe,” Lois said, turning to face her before she left.
“I will. Now, go! You’re going to be late.” Lucy closed the door behind her.
Lois thought about opening the door and confronting her about shoving her out the door but thought better of it. Clark had a 747 rescue early that morning, so she was able to shrug off his disappearance as him going home before Lucy got up.
Last night she’d had to feign ignorance on Clark’s slip about it ‘not being that far’ when Lucy confronted him about the Chinese restaurant he’d picked up dinner from. They really needed to get better about his excuses. She wasn’t sure, but she was sure Lucy suspected something was up.
This morning Perry had left a message for them to meet at WayneTech Towers to discuss the future of the Planet. After almost a week they were finally going to get some answers. Working from home was great now and then but doing it full time wasn’t ideal. She needed structure. She needed a place to go and a place to be. Research databases and faster internet and interaction with her co-workers.
She missed the hustle and bustle of the daily routine she’d established over the last few years with Clark and Perry and Jimmy and even Cat. When that had been taken from her, it felt like her world had collapsed. Finally, it seemed she would have some answers.
***
Lucy Lane sighed in relief after closing the apartment door behind her sister. She loved Lois. She did, but sometimes she could be really overbearing. She went back to the table where she’d left the photographs she’d been sorting through the day before.
Nothing seemed to stick out.
No face.
No image.
Nothing.
A hard knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. She set the stack of photos back down on the dining room table and padded her way across the room to answer the door. “I’m coming I’m coming,” She muttered to herself. She jerked the door open, “Yes?”
“Special delivery,” The courier handed her a large package with a stamp ‘Daily Planet.’ on it.
“Uh, thanks,” Lucy said, taking the envelope from him, closing the door behind her. Curious she tore the package open, pulling out a tape with a letter attached to it and read it aloud.
‘CK –
Here’s the still images from the first half of the businesses. I should have the rest ready by tonight.
-Alan’
Lucy began sifting through the still images, matching them up with the photos in evidence. She spotted the angle the photos were taken from and found the ones from where the fire started according to Lois’ notes. From the stack of still images angled at the Daily Planet it looked like these images had the perfect angle of anyone going in or out of the back entrance of the Daily Planet.
“Well, if I was going to plant a bomb I certainly wouldn’t go through the front.” Lucy reasoned aloud, pulling her seat up at the table as she began laying the images out side by side.
***
Clark stepped looked up at the prestigious WayneTech Towers, readjusting his tie as he approached the tall double doors. After stopping the 747 from crashing and landing it safely in an abadoned field he’d done a quick patrol then headed back to his apartment for a quick shower and change.
After checking his messages he found out about Bruce Wayne’s announcement and impromptu meeting. He spotted Lois standing with Perry and smiled, walking towards her as he spotted the familiar faces in the lobby. “No idea where she is. I think we’ve lost a few people…” Perry was saying with his back to Clark as he walked up to them.
“Hey,” He leaned in to kiss Lois on the cheek, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
“Hey,” She smiled, “Did everything go okay?”
He nodded, “I spoke with Superman and got a few quotes from him on the 747 that had engine failure this morning.” He reassured her, turning to Perry who was watching them with an amused expression.
“Kent, glad you could make it.” Perry said then turned to business, “What’s this about a 747?”
“Third plane in the last week to have engine failure flying over Metropolis.” Clark explained. “Superman suspects there’s somtheing more going on than meets the eye.”
Perry was about to respond when a hush fell over the crowded room, “Ladies and Gentelmen, Thank you for meeting me here today.” Bruce’s voice echoed through the large lobby as he came down the tall spiral staircase with three men dressed in expensive suits and another in more casual suit and glasses standing closest to him.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering what you’re doing here?” Bruce walked through the crowd of Daily Planet employees, pulling out a laptop as he pulled up a display on the screen. To Clark’s horror it was an amateur video of the Daily Planet explosion. There was a murmur of outrage in the crowd, “I’m not showing you this to upset anyone. I’m showing you this to remind you that each and everyone of you are survivors, capable of adapting and growing with …” He glanced at the screen, drifting off from his point of thought for a moment before resuming his speech, “There were devices like this,”The man in glasses held up a charcoal burned metalic device for everyone to see. “On every single floor. Only one of them went off and look what happened. We can thank Superman for stepping in when he did.”
“Yeah, well, he should have stopped it from going off to begin with,” Ralph muttered in the crowd.
“Excuse me???” Lois snapped, taking a few steps toward the walking slimeball to confront him, “Have you no shame?”
“Yeah, I do, but I got a real problem with the fact that we’re all fixin’ to be out of a job and ain’t got no place to work because he didn’t douse the fire when he saw it.” Ralph snapped back. “He’s Superman!”
There was a mumur of agreement and disagreement amidst the crowd. Clark grimaced, tightening his jaw. What they didn’t know was he did put the fire out when he saw it. He got him and Lois out of the elevator shaft, destroying each incdeinary device he saw on his way up to the ceiling they broke through. By the time he went back it was too late. All he could do was douse the fire where he could and keep carrying as many people as he could out.
He saw Lois balling her fist and wrapped an arm around her from behind to pull her away, “Don’t,” He whispered in her ear.
At the same time Bruce attempted to intervene,”There’ll be none of that. What makes you think you don’t have a job Mister…?”
“Simms. Ralph Simms.” Ralph sneered with a roll of the eyes, “Well, considering the place is boarded up and listed as condemed I’d say it’s safe to say we’re out of a job.”
“Haven’t we been publishing stories?” Bruce inquired, looking around the room at the dismayed faces. “We’ve had fourteen publications online in the last week and we’ve had one edition sent out to Metropolis subscribers…”
“But not on newsstands.” Ralph reminded him. “How’s the paper planning on…?”
“Can’t report on sports when you’re getting laughed out of sporting events by other newspapers asking if we’re even in business.” Steve pointed out.
Bruce held his hands up trying to calm the crowd that was growing restless, “All right, I hear you. All of you. You’re right. Things are…challenging right now, but let me assure you no one is losing their job. What happened was….”
“Yeah, I heard it was Olsen.” One voice said in the crowd.
“That’s what I heard.”
“I never liked that kid.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh, come on!”
“Hey! Hey! That’s enough!” Perry barked at the crowd.
“Perry’s right.” Bruce continued. “None of that. As far as I’m concerned, Mr. Olsen is innocent until proven guilty and that’s how he’ll remain with everyone’s reporting in this newspaper as long as I’m in charge.” He narrowed his eyes toward the part of the crowd where the comments about Jimmy’s guilt had come from.
Bruce walked toward the double doors the three suits were standing in front of, “The Daily Planet will be rebuilt but to Mr. Simms point we need an office. We need a place to print. We need to put newspapers on the newsstands. We need to keep the Daily Planet here in Metropolis where it’s always been.”
There was a murmur of agreement amidst the crowd and Lois looked back toward him smiling. “Knows how to build up the suspense doesn’t he?” She whispered.
“Which is why,” The double doors opened revealing a large office, “The Daily Planet will be working from here at WayneTech Tower.” He motioned for them all to follow. “State of the art computer systems with the best research databases,” He pointed toward desks on an upper balcony, “We’ll have the research department here.” He then pointed to a group of cubicles, “Some of the beat reporters here,” He then pointed toward some offices on the other side, “and here.” He directed them to an office in the corner. “Perry, your office will be there.”
Some of the workers from the printing press spoke up, “What about printing?”
One of the designers added, “And Marketing?”
Bruce nodded, reaching for connecting doors that were at the end of the hallway, “Follow me,” Behind the double doors was a state of the art printing press with offices aligned on the upper balcony above it. The crowd was awed into silence, taking everything in. “There’ll be some learning curves of course. You were used to working with much older systems. Once everyone gets up to speed we’ll have you up and running in no time.” He patted the man with glasses next to him, “Mr. Lucius Fox will help with the transition. He’s one of the most trusted engineers and advisors at Wayne Enterprises.”
“Who gets the offices?” one of the reporters asked.
Clark rolled his eyes when he saw it was Steve from Sports again. “Who cares?” He muttered to himself.
Lois nodded her agreement, crossing her arms over her chest as she voiced his opinion for him. “Who cares, Steve? It’s a place to park your behind while you snore instead of write.”
“Hey, I do not…”
“Hey Hey Hey! Enough all of you!” Perry bellowed. “Now. Mr. Wayne has made a generous offer for us all to work together in keeping this paper running. It doesn’t matter who gets what office…”
“Yeah, cuz you already have one.” Ralph sneered to himself.
Clark rolled his eyes exasperated when he realized he was the only one that had heard that comment. Bruce interjected, “Offices will be assigned by your editor. I won’t be a part of that. Operations will be run by Perry and the Publishers.” He nodded toward Perry.
“Just as they always have,” Perry reminded them. “Now, Mr. Wayne has the contract for the rest of the week for the printing to continue at the Gotham Gazette to allow enough time for us to get up to speed on the new machinery and computer systems. I suggest you stop complaining and start working.” He barked at the crowd. “Senior writing teams and smaller departments will use the upstairs offices. Keep in mind this is all temporary.”
“That’s right,” Bruce reminded them. “As soon as we get the go ahead from our engineers and the fire marshall we plan on reopening. I plan on implementing the updated systems in the new Daily Planet building as well so get used to these databases.” There was a loud thunder of applause as Bruce turned everything over to Lucius Fox preparing to train them on the new email database system.
***
Nigel handed Lex a remote, setting up the surveillance system to connect to the newly replaced monitors on the walls. "Our team at LexLabs has the new sonar system setup in Lois Lane’s apartment, sir.” He pulled up the footage with the click of a button and smiled, “Anything they say or do, will appear for your viewing pleasure."
"This is more like it, Nigel," Lex said happily as he took the remote and pointed it at the screens. There was a flicker, and then the screen showed Lois Lane's apartment. Lucy was gathering her things and heading out the door.
***
“Oh, my God,” Lucy gasped, grabbing a photo from the still frames she’d organized by angle around the room.
She knew that man.
She recognized him.
Even out of uniform.
The officer that had arrested her the other night.
There it was plain as day.
The smoking gun.
If she could only prove it….
She rummaged through the paperwork Lois had on the floor until she found what she was looking for, “Ah-ha!” She cheered when she found the police report.
‘Arrest made by Detective Jenkins.’
She grinned in triumph, “Got you.” She grabbed the stack of photos and her pursed, heading for the door. Just as she was about to turn the knob she felt a hard knock against the wooden door. “Um, who is it?” She called to the otherside of the door.
“New Troy Pest Control.” The man on the otherside called. “You got to have a treatment everyday for a few weeks. Landlord found rodents down the hall.”
Rationalizing the story in her head, she opened the door. He pulled out his credentials for her to see. She examined them carefully before nodding, “Come on in.” She opened the door for them to enter the apartment.
***
“This state of the art system will allow you to run more than one search at a time,” Lucius Fox pointed to the screen showing how easily you could search for anything in the system. Background checks, police records—You name it. It was there. “Designed by Mr. Wayne himself this system allows you to work smarter not harder.”
He turned to the crowd of reporters huddled in the large conference room, “Any questions?”
***
At the Metropolis P.D. Lucy stopped by the clerk’s desk, “I’m looking for Bill Henderson. He’s a friend of my sister’s. I was supposed to drop this off and completely airheaded…”
“Oh, I can give it to him.” The clerk offered with a smile.
Lucy pasted on her biggest smile, “No, that’s okay. I was told to give his directly to Bill Henderson.”
He pressed a button on his desk and a long beep could be heard, “Bill? You expecting a visitor?”
“Maybe. Who is it?” Bill’s voice echoed from the intercom.
“Lucy Lane.” Lucy whispered to him.
“A Lucy Lane.”
There was a mumur then Bill responded, “Send her back.”
***
“All reporting teams will share offices on the risers with one photographer,” Perry barked out. “No exceptions. Anyone not teamed up will have a cubicle. Any questions?”
“Yeah, who gets which office?”
“How about when do we get back to work?” Another asked.
“Yeah, I’d love to get started.”
“Been too long.”
“Let’s stop the tutorial and start hitting the pavement.”
Perry nodded, smiling at the reporters, “Everyone will be assigned an office. Mr. Fox will set your laptops up so you are connected to the network and then you can get started. Any other questions?”
***
Lucy approached Bill Henderson’s desk clutching the package in her arms for dear life, “Hi, Bill,” She offered a smile to him that made her cheeks ache.
He looked up from his desk, meeting her gaze with a raised eyebrow, “Lucy, a bit early for a social call, isn’t it?”
She smiled at him, “Yeah, I was up all night thinking. Couldn’t sleep.” She explained, looking around.
“Thinking?” He prompted.
“About a lot of things.” She said, noticing the looks she was getting from the officer that had arrested her a few nights ago peering at her and Henderson. Deciding a bit of a diversion was needed she continued with a twinkle in her eyes, “Bill, do you know I’m a psychology major?”
He followed her gaze then met her eyes with a nod, following what she was saying, “Really? No, I never knew that.”
“Yeah, my parents think it’s a waste of time. At first I thought I’d go into child psychology but now after everything that’s happened. I’m thinking of minoring in criminology. What I would love…” She dazzled him with a smile as she said, ‘love’ and continued, “…is to see how you use psychologists in the police investigations. Maybe get a tour of the place?”
He watched her face light up with a smile and realization hit him that she wasn’t asking for just a tour. He stood up, reaching for his suit jacket, “That’s an excellent idea. Let me show you around.”
***
Perry laid a third docking station on the large desk, pointing it toward the window, “I, uh, well I didn’t want to leave the kid out so I figured we’d leave this as a placeholder for Jimmy.”
Lois placed a hand over Perry’s as he released his grasp on what was supposed to be Jimmy’s working station. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate that, Perry.”
“Yeah,” Perry’s jaw tightened and his lips thinned into a thin line, “I’ll have Alice bring that board here so you two can start piecing things together. Go ahead and bring what you have on Jimmy’s case too and we’ll see what we can do about finding the holes. With this new research system we can nab Luthor and free Jimmy at the same time.”
“Sounds good to me.” Clark said with a grim expression.
***
Henderson pointed toward the long hallway, “That’s the lockers for all the detectives.” He watched as two beat cops walked past them, making sure they were out of earshot then turned to whisper, “Okay, what’s up?”
Lucy pulled out a photo from her notebook, “Recognize anyone?”
Henderson’s eyes widened as he looked at the image Lucy was holding. He’d heard Jenkins and Harris talking about their open and shut case on Jimmy. He’d heard the ‘evidence’ but he hadn’t seen any of it. This was the first time he’d seen any images of the Daily Planet arson. It was a landmark. The place you went when you came to Metropolis. The building had been there for over two hundred years. Now with it gone…
“That.” She pointed at a man in a dark hat with sunglasses and a t-shirt and jeans. “Right there.” She tapped at the picture.
“Jenkins.” Henderson breathed grimly.
***
Mrs. Cox handed Lex the necklace in a lead box, “Now you can have what you’ve always wanted: the destruction of Superman.”
Lex stared at the glowing green meteorite in wonder, “Superman’s achiles heel is a stone. A rock.” He chuckled at the thought. “Oh, it would be so easy to destroy him now. See him suffer. Lure him out and crush him like the miserable bug he is.” He slammed his fist on his desk.
“Sounds like a perfect plan, Lex, what’s stopping you?” Mrs. Cox asked with a grin.
Growing thoughtful at the prospect of killing his arch enemy, Lex smiled, “That would be too good for him. Killing Superman is easy, but destroying him. No, that is the ultimate goal.” A sinister expression fell on his face and he paced around the room reflecting on his plans for Superman.
“He’s taken so much from me. Destroyed my reputaton. Shaken the faith this city has in me. For that he must suffer. In order to do that I must know the truth.” His eyes went dark, “I must know the name he hides behind so I can repay his misdeeds and destroy him by taking everything and everyone he holds dear in this world.” He gave an impression of an explosion, “So there’s nothing left but a footnote of the man the world once called Superman.”
“What about Lois Lane?”
“What about her?”
“You’re still pining over her and obsessing over her.” Mrs. Cox noted, “She’ll be your weakness, Lex. Destroy you if you’re not careful.”
“On the contrary she’ll be what I use to destroy him when the time comes. Our man of steel holds a candle for Ms. Lane as do I, but she will be what I use to lure him out and destroy him. I’ll make him watch as I take her for myself…ridding the world of that miserable giblet, Kent in the process.” His face scowled in disgust.
“And what if she won’t have you?”
His face fell dark as his eyes blackened, “I will not be denied. I'll give her the chance to come willingly, but if she won't, I'll take her by force.”
“Before or after you kill Superman?” Mrs. Cox asked. Lex smiled at her, a sinister expression fell over his face. He didn’t answer, opting to open the hidden wall panel to reveal his sureveillance of Lois Lane’s apartment.
***
“Please state your name for the record.”
“Dr. Samuel Lane.”
“Do you specialize in biochemical engineering, correct?”
“Yes with a focus in engineering robotics and sports medicine over the past ten years.”
Davenport folded his hands on the table, “Tell me everything about the super chip you were asked to engineer.”
***
Lucius Fox typed in a few keys, pointing triangle shaped remote toward the monitor on the wall which brought up six screens. “Mr. Wayne likes to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to technology. Each office is equipped with a six quandrant projector. You can control it with this like you would with a mouse or keyboard.” He moved the remote around, looking at the screen as he did so, then turned the remote on it’s side, opening up a keypad and typing a search.
To their amazement the search results ran on the first quadrant of the screen. Lucius then turned to the laptops stationed on the desk and hit a few key strokes, “This makes it easy for presentations. Just hit the project key and it’ll duplicate itself here on the screen. You can choose full screen or quadrant.” Lucius instructed.
***
“What are you doing?” Lucy hissed as Bill Henderson escorted her out of earshot of the other lieutenants. “This is your evidence. Go arrest him.”
“It’s not that simple.” Henderson hissed between gritted teeth. “Luthor’s got his fingers in just about every politician’s pie. Jenkins works for Luthor. It wouldn’t take a lot of muscle for them to kill this case just like they did with Luthor’s case.”
“But…”
“You need someone higher up.” Henderson ran a hand through his silver lined hair, “This isn’t a job you can handle on your own. This is dangerous. If you want to help your friend then you need to let the Feds do their job.”
“Feds?” Lucy asked confused.
He looked around to make sure no one was listening, “The FBI is working on an investigation external from the Metropolis P.D. on Luthor.”
“Does Lois know?” Lucy asked.
“Uh, not yet. I haven’t had a chance to bring her and Kent up to speed.” Henderson sighed, looking around as one of the newer detectives walked towards them.
“Henderson.” He nodded.
“Harris.” He gave half smile. Harris turned to look at Lucy as he walked by giving her a wink. Henderson waited till he was gone and then hissed, “You need to get out of here. It’s too dangerous.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that to me?” Lucy harumphed, grabbing the package she’d handed to Henderson earlier. “This is a police station. It’s supposed to be safe.”
“Supposed to be being the operative word there.”
***
That evening, Lois and Clark were gathering the files they had on Jimmy’s case, trying to make sense out of everything. “We can bring these into the office tomorrow and start trying to make some sense out of all this.” Lois sighed, running a hand through her hair. After finishing up their training with Lucius Fox Perry had sent everyone back home to start gathering everything for the next day and start bright and early the next morning. She and Clark had gone back to her apartment to see if they could make any headway on their research with Jimmy’s case and get everything organized for the next day and taking their research into the office.
Clark nodded, “Alan never did get us those tapes. I’ll have to check with him tomorrow.” He sifted through the stack of papers on the table. “Here’s the stuff on Jack Olsen.”
“You gotta admit they do have a pretty strong case on him being in the NIA.” Lois said sadly, flipping the corner of the tall stack of papers in front of them.
“Doesn’t mean Jimmy blew up a building. That whole motive so …” Clark shook his head in disgust.
“Do you think Jimmy knows?” Lois thought aloud.
“I don’t know.” He sighed, “I doubt it. The way he talks about him…”
“Yeah,” Lois said sadly, “Perry said Jimmy’s lawyer is trying to get another bond hearing.” Clark reached over to grab her hand, squeezing it gently. She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile, turning to rest her head on his shoulder.
“Where’s Lucy?” Clark asked, trying to change the subject.
Lois shrugged, “I don’t know. I got home and found a note on the counter that she had to run some errands.”
He frowned, looking at the time, “Getting kind of late, isn’t it?”
She opened her mouth to respond then closed it when she heard the familiar sound of her front door unlocking, “Speak of the devil.”
Lucy opened the door with a scowl on her face, slamming the door behind her, “Ungrateful, pig-headed…” She muttered incoherently as she stalked through the living room, tossing a package on the couch and throwing herself on it in a huff.
Lois looked at her sister cautiously, not sure how to approach her without knowing what was wrong. Thankfully Clark took the initiative and asked the question they were both thinking at the time, “Something…wrong?”
“No, of course not. What could be wrong? I find evidence that a cop –Yes, a cop—was seen entering the back entrance of the Daily Planet at the same time the reports say the bombs were planted and do you know what your friend Bill Henderson wants me to do?”
“Uh…” Clark couldn’t even finish his thought as Lucy flew into another tirade.
“That’s right! Nothing! Zip! Nada!”
“Luce, I’m sure Bill …” Lois tried to interject.
“He agreed with me. I mean, he saw the pictures, but he won’t do anything? No calls to investigate. Nothing.” Lucy fumed angrily.
“What pictures?” Clark asked, trying to steer her back and hopefully calm her down.
“These.” Lucy tossed him the package she threw down. “When you look at the stills from 8:45am on the Left angle from the ATM you can see clear as day that officer Jenkins.” She pointed out as he pulled the firss stack of images out of the sleeve. “ Oh, I’m sorry ‘Detective Jenkins.’” She corrected herself with sarcasm.
***
< “When you look at the stills from 8:45am on the Left angle from the ATM you can see clear as day that officer Jenkins.”>
Lex tapped his hand on his desk, watching the exchange between Lois Lane and her sister. His face scowled up and he tapped the button on his desk, “Mrs. Cox?”
The door opened and she appeared, ready to serve. “Yes, Lex?”
“This Detective Jenkins. How important is he to the organization?” He turned in his chair to face her.
She shrugged. “Only been with us for the last four months.” She reasoned.
“Expendable?” He asked.
“Everyone is.” She reasoned.
“It seems Ms. Lane is finding connections between him and the arson of the Daily Planet.” He spat out bitterly. “I want to be sure this doesn’t end up at my doorstep. It stops with him.”
“Of course.” She nodded with a smile.
***
“I’m starting to see double here.” Lucy complained, setting the stack of images down.
Lois glanced at the clock, “It is getting late.” She agreed, rolling her shoulders back and forth. Clark rested his hands on them, massaging the crevice between her shoulder and neck lightly. She wasn’t sure but she could swear she felt him loosen the muscle with a blast of heat vision.
“Yeah,” Lucy sighed, rolling her neck back and forth as she spoke, “I think I’m gonna go check in with daddy tomorrow and see if there’s anything new on his case.”
“I thought Bill Henderson had him in protective custody.” Clark wondered aloud, continuing to massage Lois’ shoulders. Where did he learn how to do that? She could feel the tension easing out of her neck with each caress.
“He does.” Lucy sighed. “I just want to see how the case is doing and maybe see if I can talk with the agent that’s heading up the investiation and see if he’ll look into this Jenkins guy.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” Lois asked, turning to give Clark better access to her neck as she spoke.
“Sure.” Lucy shrugged. “The more the merrier,” She let out a long yawn. “But for now I’m going to call it a night. Don’t stay up too late.”
“Night Luce,” Clark called after her. He placed a kiss on Lois’ shoulder, “Better?”
She turned half-way around to face him and grinned, “Almost. You missed a spot.” She ran her hand down the length of his silk tie, watching with a grin as he took in a sharp breath when her fingertips lingered on his belt buckle.
He kissed the side of her neck, pulling her toward him, “Here?”
“Not quite,” She grinned, looking back at him as his hands came to rest on either side, gliding up and down her ribcage as he began placing more heated kisses along her collarbone.
“How about here?” He whispered, bringing her on his lap, pressing himself against her back as he nibbled at the sensetive skin along her jawline.
“You’re getting very…” She breathed, fingering his upper thigh behind her. His body stiffened against her and he let out a mutter she could tell was his version of a curse. He withdrew his arms from her, pulling away, “What is it?”
“I gotta go.” He explained with a long breath, getting up and heading for the door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I look forward to it” She whispered, lingering her gaze on him as she watched him leave. She leaned her head back against the cusions, fingering her sides where Clark’s hands had just been moments ago. “Wow…”
***
Bloody and bruised Jenkins fell to the concrete, hearing the echoes of his attackers’ voices in his head.
“Remember Detective Jenkins what the boss has given you so generously can be taken away. Don’t ever forget that.”
A sonic boom could be heard a few feet away. He lifted his head up, wincing in pain as he tried topen his right eye, “Su—”
Superman knelt down next to him, “Detective Jenkins? Are you all right?”
***
After waiting an hour for Clark to return and not seeing any sign of him Lois decided to go ahead and get ready for bed. It didn’t look like she was getting her boyfriend back tonight. Just as she was finishing up her shower, a knock on the front door caught her attention. She grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself as she reentered her bedroom.
The knocking continued. She sighed, grabbed a robe, and slipping it on as she went to answer the door. Peeking through the peekhole, she saw Clark on the otherside and smiled to herself. She really needed to get him a key. She looked down at herself, grinning as an idea began to form. Lucy was asleep afterall. She quickly shrugged the robe off, tossing it in the corner and unlocked the seven deadbolts one by one.
She smiled when she saw him take a sharp intake of breath, seeing her standing in front of him in nothing but a towel, “Hey,” She whispered in a sultry tone, leaning her head against the doorframe.
“Hey,” He whispered, stepping in the apartment and closing the door behind him.
“You didn’t want to use the window?” She teased.
“The door’s a little less conspicuous.” He reasoned, leaning in to kiss her as he walked with her futher and further into the apartment.”Lucy asleep?”
She nodded, pressing her body against him. He let out a shallow breath as she ran her hands up and down his chest seductively. She grinned, noticing the wet spot on his shirt when she pulled away, “Sorry, just got out of the shower.”
His eyes did a little dance, “I noticed.”
She grinned, looking up to meet his very heated gaze. Her mouth went dry, “I see.” He pulled her toward him as she finally found her voice, “Everything …okay?”
She felt a shiver run down her spine as he whispered in her ear, “It is now.”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out, forming an ‘oh’ as she felt her bedroom door against her back. “Cl…”
He lifted her up into his arms, fingering the knot that kept her towel securely wrapped around her, “I’m not liking that towel very much right now.”
“No?” She asked.
“No.” He echoed, leaning in to kiss her as his hand tugged at the front, watching hungrily as it slipped to the floor.
***
“No…” Lex snarled watching the footage in front of him. Clark Kent wrapped his arms around Lois Lane as he pressed himself against her, putting his hands and lips in places Lex had only dreamed of going.
<“I’m not liking that towel very much right now.”
“No?”
“No.”>
“No…no, no, no, no….” Lex fumed angrily at the screen.
Lex stared at the screen in anger. He couldn’t pull himself away from the screen, staring as the couple quickly lost themselves in one another’s arms. He couldn’t seem to look away as Clark Kent explored Lois Lane’s body thoroughly in ways he’d only dreamt of. A fantasy he would never see come true. That she’d give herself to willingly to that …hack was beyond his comprehension. Just as Lois Lane reached up to remove Clark Kent’s glasses, the screen flickered, and the monitor went dark.
Lex let out a long huff, realizing the twelve-hour limit had been met.
***
That evening, Mrs. Cox reappeared in Lex Luthor’s study, polishing her 9mm. “Detective Jenkins has been sent his warning. He won’t be talking to anyone about his involvement in the organization.”
Lex smiled, walking across the room to embrace her, “I knew I could leave everything in your capable hands, Mrs. Cox,”
“What are personal assistants for?” She asked with a laugh.
***
Lois drew random patterns on Clark’s chest letting out a long sigh. “I don’t think I can move.”
He let out a low chuckle, kissing the temple of her forehead, “Good. We can stay like this all night as far as I’m concerned.” He gestured to her naked torso still wrapped around him.
“Hmm, you won’t get any argument from me.” She whispered, resting her head on his chest.
“Hopefully we didn’t wake your sister.” Clark thought aloud. “I know she’s been pretty stressed about Jimmy the last few days.”
“I think we all are.” Lois said sadly, resting her head into the crook of his shoulder, stroking his arm. Her face lit up and she sat up, “Oh! Almost forgot!” She reached toward the nightstand, rummaging through the drawer until she found what she was looking for. He couldn’t help but admire the sight of her hunched over with her back to him, recalling their recent lovemaking with a smile.
She turned to face him, handing him a small silver object as she leaned up to kis shim. “Here.” She slowly pulled away, “One of Lucy’s old keys. I figured it would make things easier when you have to come and go as Superman.”
He smiled, stroking her cheek, “Thank you,” He leaned in to kiss her, running his hands through her hair, “I’ll get a key made for you too.” He whispered against her lips.
“I love you.” She whispered. “More than I ever thought I could ever love anyone.” He brushed away the few tears that escaped as she spoke. “These past few months have been…amazing. I know the past few days have been hard but there’s no way I could have gotten through any of it without you.”
“Or me without you,” He cupped her cheek, “I love you, Lois. You are everything to me. You have no idea how many times I’ve felt like giving up and then your encouragement always gave me the nudge I needed to keep fighting.”
“Oh, Clark,” She leaned in to capture his mouth with hers. “I love you, so much. I don’t know what I’d ever do if I lost you.” The last statement was a mere whisper as he felt her body shudder against him.
His jaw tightened, holding her close, “I’m not going anywhere. We’ll figure this all out. Before you know it Luthor will be behind bars rotting for the next nine hundred years where he belongs and Jimmy’s name will be cleared.”
She gave him a weak smile, “I hope so.”
“We’ll get his name cleared.” He promised. He still didn’t know how but he knew one way or another he would find a way to clear Jimmy’s name. Although he wasn’t sure how at the moment. They kept hitting road block after road block in all their attempts to get to the truth. He wasn’t so sure if Jimmy’s dad could be trusted. There was definitely a hike in Jack’s pulse when Perry had mentioned talking to the NIA.
“How?” Lois asked, “Every agency seems hell bent on working against Jimmy. They’ve closed the case. No one is investigating except us and Lucy.”
“Well, then we’ll just have to keep digging and find irrefutable evidence on who was behind the bombing of the Planet.” He let out a soft sigh, running his hands through her hair, “Jimmy’s innocent. At the end of the day the courts will see that.”
“I hope so,” She sighed, running her hand up and down his chest, “Lucy said when she saw him last he looked pretty rough. No one’s able to get in to see him now except his attorney.”
“We’ll figure this out.” He promised.
She nodded sadly, resting her head against his chest as she drew random patterns up and down his bicep. He wasn’t sure how much he believed his own statement but he hoped Lois would. He needed her to. They laid in silence, holding one another until they both gave into exhaustion from the stresses of the day.
***
TBC...
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