TOC

~


Part 11
~ - ~
Alt-Metropolis – December 1992

“Truth and Justice”
~ - ~

Lois checked her watch again. Her source was twelve minutes late and Bobby had been very clear about the timing of the meet. If she made him wait even five minutes, Bobby had warned, then Gino wouldn’t talk. Lois shivered and pulled her coat collar up around her ears. She glanced beyond the entrance to the darkened alley and knew something bad had happened to her source.

What should she do? She knew where Gino lived, knew where he worked, but she didn’t want to jeopardize him by linking him to the Metro Club’s leak to the press.

“Okay, Lane. Don’t panic,” she whispered out loud. “Focus on Gino and we can figure out what to do next.”

Her feeling of unease grew until Lois couldn’t remain still any longer. She ducked out of the alley and hailed a cab. She instructed the cabbie to head south and sat back in her seat. After only three minutes, Lois felt her distress building. When she felt Gino’s painful presence, she stopped the cabbie, paid him, and got out. As the cab sped away, she took stock of her location and realized she was in the south side, about a block away from the warehouse district. She hauled in a shaky breath.

Just then, Lois heard the rumble of a car. She ducked into a shadowed alcove as headlights turned the corner and a car stopped obliquely at an alley across the street. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the leader of the Metro gang and his son, Johnny, get out of the car.

She watched in dismay as Johnny hauled Gino from the trunk and dumped him into the alley. The gangsters then dropped several pieces of paper on top of his prone form and got back into their car. Lois waited until the car had sped away before dashing across the street.

The anguish she’d felt doubled until Lois could hardly breathe. She recoiled as soon as she realized what they’d done to him, but kept moving. She was his only hope for survival. Lois found Gino lying on the ground, panting and whimpering as he cradled both arms against his chest. The smell of blood, along with the gruesome images of his torture and amputations, made her dry heave once, but she forced herself to lift him into a seated position against the alley wall. Somehow the Metro’s had figured out Gino had squealed, and they’d taken his hands and tongue in retribution.

Lois reached around him to undo his gag. Gino tried to speak, but all she heard was a series of animalistic grunts and a gurgle of blood. Looking down, Lois understood that the papers were pictures of Gino’s family. Using the pictures on his lap, she figured out what he was trying to say, but she had to get him to think the information she needed to know. Lois picked up a picture of his wife and held it in front of his face.

“Gino. Do the Metros already have your family?”

He shook his head frantically and groaned again. Lois shook his shoulders and forced him to look at her. “Are they at home?” No. “Do the Metros know where they are?” He gave her a moan of misery and a nod. “Give me the address.”

Gino grunted and gargled angrily and Lois had to turn his face back to hers. “I know you can’t speak, but I still need to know. Blink the street number at me and then try to say the street name as slowly as possible.” He confirmed the information Lois needed and she pulled an image of the house from his head. She repeated it back to him and his eyes widened with hope. “221 Fullerton? In the Hobbs Bay district, right.” Lois looked around and then placed a hand on Gino’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

Lois dashed back across the street to a pay phone and dialed Henderson.

“Henderson, the Metros are going after Maria Petrelli and her two sons.” Gino gurgled into the silence as Lois listened to Henderson’s reply. “No, they’re not at home. Gino says they’re hiding out at 221 Fullerton Court. Yes, that’s the Hobbs Bay district. It’s a yellow house with a tall spruce in front.”

“Hurry. The Metros know where they are and I figure they’ve only got about ten minutes.” Gino whimpered again. “No, I need to get Gino to a hospital or he’s going to bleed to death. Send an ambulance to 5th Street at Accordia Avenue. I’ll take care of him. The number here is 555-4092.”

She slammed the receiver down and ran back to Gino. Lois stuffed the pictures into her purse before helping Gino to his feet. He groaned again. “Don’t worry, Henderson’s got a guy only a few minutes away. He’ll get them out.”

Lois grunted as she shouldered Gino’s weight and started toward the corner. By the time they’d shuffled the hundred feet to the street sign, they could hear the ambulance in the distance. The pay phone rang once and then subsided.

Her hunched shoulders relaxed at the sound of Henderson’s all-clear signal. She passed the information to Gino and he sagged with relief, almost taking them to the ground. Gino grunted a garbled thank you at her and she shook her head in admiration. He’d lost his ability to communicate, almost died, and lost his family in an unthinkable manner, but Gino actually felt lucky.

Score one for humanity.


~ - ~
Alt-Metropolis – July 10, 1997
~ - ~

Lois and Clark climbed out of the cab in front of the Fudge Castle and then they made their way around the outdoor tables to an inconspicuous alley behind the building next door. She turned to scan the street and then opened herself up to what might be hidden in the shadows. She sensed two people, one calm the other scared. Clark held up two fingers and Lois nodded. They walked into the alley together.

Lois called Gino’s name softly and she heard a younger female voice whimper. Lois could see the two people now, Gino and a teenage girl. She didn’t know what kind of trouble the girl was in, but she didn’t want to scare her away. An empty bottle skittered away as the girl started to bolt, but Gino made a soothing gesture and the girl stayed.

Lois and Clark stopped a few feet away from Gino. “Gino, this is Clark Kent. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He is my work partner and a friend.”

Gino offered his right hand to Clark and Clark shook his prosthetic limb without giving it a second glance. She regarded Gino in the dimness and was glad to see he was looking fit and happy. Ever since she’d helped save him and his family from the Metros, he’d been one of her best sources. Gino had recovered and instead of leaving Metropolis for a witness protection program somewhere, he and his family had decided to stay. He had worked odd jobs over the years, what ever he could manage with his clumsy prosthetics, but he’d found his calling working with a shelter and rehab center, especially the runaways. Most people generally regarded him as harmless and as such, they opened up to him, telling him of things they were too scared or ashamed to tell anyone else.

Lois placed her hand on Gino’s arm and Gino started to talk, then. Although he had learned to annunciate what sounds he could, his words were still garbled. Lois had always found if she touched Gino, she could understand him easily. Gino was concerned for the girl – a runaway he’d helped through his work at the rehab center – who hadn’t been hooked on a drug when they’d met, but given her story, was in danger of using. The girl looked on nervously as he related her tale. Gino told Lois about the reason that he’d called Lois to help. Lois nodded and asked a few follow-up questions before turning to the girl.

To make sure that the girl agreed with Gino’s version, Lois repeated Gino’s words to ensure she had received the correct message. “Hello, Trisha. My name is Lois Lane. I’m a reporter for the Daily Planet. Gino and I have known each other for many years. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m here to help you in any way I can. Gino tells me that you were part of a group, young ladies with an interest in the supernatural, which seems to have been targeted. Can you tell me about it?”

Trisha had watched the interaction between them and Lois could tell that she was impressed that Lois understood so much of what Gino had said. But she still hesitated. Lois knew it was easy to talk to a man no one could understand, tell him her problems, but she didn’t know anything about Lois. To the girl, she was an unknown woman.

Gino nodded in Lois’s direction. “Go on,” he encouraged.

“It was nothing, just a bunch of girls getting together with an old carnie to play Ouija, learn how to palm read, and use tarot cards. One of the girls was a couple of years older than me. Bev disappeared and then we heard that her dad had died of a stroke. A week later, Sharon didn’t show up and when I found out that her mom and step-dad had died in a gang-shoot out. I knew something was wrong. I tried to explain it to my mom…” Trisha swallowed hard and angrily swiped away tears, “but she wouldn’t listen.”

Lois looked at the girl with understanding. “I’m sorry to hear that your mother died in a car accident and that your brother is missing. I’m going to help you find him, if I can. Can you tell me about the men that came to your house before you ran away?”

Trisha took a deep breath. “My mom and I had argued again and I was angry. I filled my backpack and climbed from my bedroom window onto the branches of the tree outside. That’s when I saw an old, dark sedan pull up to the house. I decided to hide, so I climbed up onto the roof and sat in the shadowed space next to my dormer window.”

“Did you see them? Who got out of the car, Trisha?”

“Two white men in suits, both of them older. One had a short haircut and a mustache; the other was wearing a suit and this weird sort of turban. They came to the door and talked with my mom for a minute. She let them into the house. I heard my brother yell once, and then nothing, no sounds, until our car pulled out of the garage.”

“So your mom and brother left in your car. What about the men.”

“No. I mean, yes, they did leave, but not like you think. My mom was in the passenger seat with her eyes closed and my brother was laying down in the back seat. The old guy with the mustache was driving the car.”

“And where was the man in the turban?”

“In the house. He was looking for me. When he came into my room, he searched it for a while and I could hear him muttering to himself.”

“Did he say anything that gave you clues to who he was or where they took your family?”

“He swore a lot and then just mumbled, “She’s gone. Dammit, I hate intuitives.” A few minutes later, he left. As soon as I could, I ran away. Two days later, I found out mom had d…died in a car wreck. No one has seen David since. What? What do you know?”

Lois’s spine stiffened and her heart skipped a beat when Trisha had said the word ‘intuitives’. She had only heard one person describe psychics that way – Klaus Mensa. Lois ignored Trisha’s question and opened her purse to retrieve her wallet. She pulled out an old photograph and her penlight. She held the picture out and clicked on her light.

“This is a really old photograph, but did the man with the mustache look like this?”

Lois held her breath while Trisha squinted at the picture. Please, Lois thought, please say no.

Slowly, Trisha nodded. “Yeah, I think so. He had the same grim expression, same haircut and mustache. Do you know him?”

Lois took the photo back and stood staring at it, trembling. She felt Clark place a supportive hand on her back. After a moment, she nodded. “Yes, I know him. Gino, will you take Trisha back to the shelter until we can sort this out? Clark and I are going to the twelfth precinct. Contact Inspector Henderson, if you need us.”

Trisha grabbed Lois's hand. “I don’t know if I’m psychic or not, but I can tell that you know something. Tell me! Who is that man? Who killed my mom?”

Lois smiled sadly. “The same men who killed my mom and sister. I think I can find your brother, but I need some time to track them down.”

~ - ~

Clark glanced at Lois as he hailed a cab. She had declined to fly with him to the police station, stating that she needed a little time to think. So Clark had done his best to wait, giving her the space she needed.

When they had first left Gino and Trisha, Lois had turned silently to him and she had fallen into his outstretched arms. He was inexperienced with interpreting her emotions, but he definitely knew that she had felt shocked and dismayed, and then she’d been overcome with grief. As she had pulled away from him, he’d felt her anger, a spike of fury that made him glad that it wasn’t directed at him. After that, he had felt nothing. She had shut him out.

The twelfth precinct was just a few blocks away when Clark felt Lois squeeze his hand. He lifted their clasped hands to his lips.

<I’m here if you want to talk,> he offered.

Lois smiled. <Thank you. I needed to sort things through first.>

<You think your father is involved, don’t you? That was a picture of your family that you showed to Trisha.>

Again, he felt a spike of anger. <Yes. I do. I hope not, but the pieces fit.>

She shifted to spoken language then. “When MEPWar was first started, most of the other people were tested offsite under the guise of a university study. That way, he or she could participate without a security clearance and if the individual tested out, go back to their normal lives without having debriefings. Those that joined MEPWar were few and far between. Most were young and I already knew that none of us had any other immediate family. What I hadn’t put together is that most of our family members had died just before our enlistment.”

“I remembered hearing something about an uptick in missing teenagers whose parents had died when Trisha mentioned Bev’s and Sharon’s caretakers dying.”

Lois nodded. “The police went at the problem from the wrong direction. The girls weren’t running away because their families had died. Their families were dying because someone wanted those teenagers to disappear.”

“I bears an eerie resemblance to our celebrity murder victims, too, don’t you think.”

The cab pulled up in front of the police station and after paying the cabbie, Lois and Clark got out. Clark motioned for Lois to go ahead of him and placed his hand on the small of her back and ushered her through the front door. Lois smiled at him.

“And the man in the turban?”

Lois stopped at the front desk and her expression darkened. “Klaus Mensa, or as his colleagues started to call him, Fat Head. Inspector Henderson, please,” Lois requested from the desk clerk.

At Clark’s quizzical look, Lois smiled. “I’ve kept my eye on Mensa since his dishonorable discharge from the U.S. Army. He later started a movement called Dynonomics, where intellectuals could meet. The goal was to train their minds, trying to access the underutilized potential of the human brain. Most of the group gave it up when the police got an anonymous tip that Mensa was planning something illegal. Most members had claimed that they had been “under his spell” and denied knowing about his criminal plans. It didn’t stop them from dividing up the groups’ money and holdings, though. Mensa got out of prison in May.”

“Anonymous tip, huh? Does that mean you know where to find him?”

“I do. My father, too, if they’re not together. My father had a private practice for a while and then later concentrated on sports medicine. His research turned to robotics, but his project got shut down and his funding dried up a few months ago. Something to do with a division of Lex Corp and some rather unorthodox enhancements to a group of boxers.”

Clark shook his head. “Have I told you how glad I am that I’m not on your bad side?”

“I’ll second that sentiment,” Henderson said from behind them. “How can I help you two tonight?”

“Henderson. With luck, we might be able to close more than one investigation tonight. How fast can you get a warrant for Fat Head? We have a lead that connects him the disappearance of several children and multiple murders. This may make our celebrity murder case plan obsolete, too.”

“Best news I’ve heard all night. Give me fifteen.”


~

TBC