My Own Worst Enemy
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 19
***
Lois felt a lump in her throat as she watched the image of her husband falling with the metal disc from the sky. Her mother continued to talk around her as the newscaster continued to narrate the horrific scene before her.
“Lois?” her mother’s voice echoed around her but all she could focus on was the image of red and blue in front of her.
“No, no, no, no,” she held a hand to her mouth, unable to move her focus off the television screen.
“Lois?” Ellen called her name again.
“Where is that?” Lois pointed to the screen where the reporter was standing and a red and blue streak could be seen against the waterfront before a loud crash knocked her and the cameraman to the ground.
“Looks like maybe pier on 45th.” her mother said uncertainty. “Why?” Lois reached for the phone and began to dial. “Who are you calling?” Ellen asked.
“Dr. Sam Lane, please,” Lois tried to steady her voice and she listened to the monotone beeping that rang in the receiver.
***
“It’s been hours.” Lucy whispered, craning her neck toward the computer where the man had been at before. After typing something into the computer he had left them tied to one another against a pole.
His evil smile seemed so familiar but she couldn’t place it. She knew that face. She knew that voice but couldn’t seem to connect it with anyone. The missing puzzle piece.
“I know.” Jimmy groaned, “My arms feel like lead.”
“What do you think he was working on over there?” Lucy asked, looking toward the computer.
“I don’t know, but there’s only one way to find out…” Jimmy said pulling out his bloodied hand from the handcuffs.
“Jimmy!” Lucy gasped seeing the red and blood around his wrist. A long piece of skin was hanging around his wrist.
“It’ll heal,” Jimmy reassured,standing to his feet. “Can you stand?” He asked, helping release her arms from the back of the chair.
“I think so.” Lucy let out a low moan when she stood to her feet. “What’s the plan?”
“Find something to get these off?” Jimmy held up the dangling handcuffs from his other wrist.
“There’s a toolbox by the computer.” Lucy offered, craning her neck to look across the room.
“Let’s go.” Jimmy said, taking the first step toward the desk.
***
Ellen paced in the waiting room, holding Jon to her chest. She glanced at the time for what seemed like the thousandth time. Why her daughter had insisted on driving to STAR Labs in the middle of the night was beyond her but staying at the house just waiting wasn’t something she was comfortable doing. Lois was in no condition to drive. Something had spooked her on the footage of Superman’s fall from space. What that was she still was in the dark.
The clock read ‘8:34am’ on the wall. She let out a long sigh.
The information Lucy had told her earlier continued to gnaw at the back of her mind. Why had someone attacked Sam? Why was he working in secret at STAR Labs? What did any of this have to do with Lois? The more she thought about it the more the questions arose.
Jon let out a light whimper and she sighed, turning to the sleeping figure of her daughter curled up in the corner. She’d just given him a bottle an hour ago. Could he already be hungry? She checked his diaper and sighed when she saw it was still dry. Jon wailed louder and she nodded. “I know, I know.” She hated to wake her daughter, but it was clear grandma wasn’t going to be accepted as a substitute any longer.
“Lois?” she gently shook her daughter’s arm.
“Hmm?” Lois opened her eyes, taking her surroundings in before asking, “Has anyone come in yet?”
“Not since three.” Ellen frowned, glancing at the double doors they were both being kept from. Whatever was going on back there was connected to whatever trouble Sam had gotten himself into. That much she was sure of, but how it connected to Lois she wasn’t sure.
“Here sweetie,” Lois took Jon from her, sitting up and pulling a bottle out of the cooler they’d brought. “Good thing he likes it cold.” she said aloud, stroking his cheek as he eagerly began drinking his bottle.
“Quite an appetite.” Ellen observed.
“He’s going through a growth spurt,” Lois said sleepily.
Ellen nodded, looking toward the double doors once more. What could Sam be doing back there that would warrant Lois taking her child out in the middle of the night and spending all night in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs?
“So?” She prodded.
Lois looked at her in confusion. “What?”
“When are you going to tell me what’s really going on with your father?” Ellen gave her a pointed look. “Don’t look so surprised. I know he’s in trouble. What I don't know is how you’re connected.” She glanced at the clock. “Looks like we’ve got time to kill. So talk.”
***
“Where did you say you found him?” Dr. Klein asked as he tried once again to do a body scan on the unconscious man of steel. The problem was the radiation emitting from his body kept causing the machine to malfunction.
“He was fished out of Hobb’s Bay.” Sam said with a frown, holding another device against Superman’s face. “Radiation is going down.”
“That’s a good sign, right?” Dr. Klein asked.
“As long as it keeps going down, yes,” Sam said with a sigh. “Let’s just hope we’re not too late.” He said, glancing at the sun lamps above the man of steel’s body.
***
“Okay, looks like there’s a screw driver under that binder there. You see it?” Lucy pointed with her neck.
“Yeah, I see it.” Jimmy reached over and lifted the binder. Sure enough a long flat head screwdriver with a yellow and black handle sat on the desk. Next to it was a black stone with a strange glow to it.
“What’s that?” Lucy asked.
“Don’t know.” Jimmy said, fiddling with the screwdriver on the lock for the handcuffs. “Okay, I think I’ve got it.”
Lucy sighed in relief when she heard a click and release of the metal holding her hands behind her back. “Oh, thank God!” She gasped, rubbing her hand over her left wrist. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Jimmy nodded, looking at the papers on desk. “I wonder what Project K is?” He reached for the file and brushed against the black rock.
Lucy jumped back when she was a strange glow emit from Jimmy. “Jimmy?
***
“Who’s going to stop us? With technology like this, we don’t even need Intergang anymore.”
“Intergang?” Mayson’s voice echoed from the tape recorder.
Sheldon Bender shot Mayson a glare as Judge Richard folded his hands across the desk. “Your honor this is a frame up. My client had no idea he was being recorded.”
“I’m sure he didn’t.” Judge Richmond gave Bender a disapproving look. “But that’s something you can argue in court.” He shot Bender a smug grin as she signed the warrants in front of him. “Your clients have one hour to turn themselves in or their arrest will be on the morning news. Any questions?”
“No, sir,” Bender said tightly.
***
“Your father was what?!” Ellen gasped in surprise. Her facial expression had fallen from concern to outrage and shock.
Lois took a deep breath and she repeated. “He was working for Intergang, mom.”
“Intergang?” Ellen zeroed in on the name. “The criminal organization?”
“He didn’t know who he was working for when he signed on.” Lois said carefully.
Just as Ellen was about to respond the double doors slid open and Sam Lane and Dr. Klein stepped out. Lois stood to her feet, “Is he going to be okay?”
Dr. Klein and Sam exchanged a look and Lois held Jon to her chest, waiting to hear the verdict.
***
“Joey Bermuda’s transfer unit will be moving him at 1500.” Friez said, looking at his watch. “All units need to be prepared for an ambush from the men he’s turning on.” He paced in front of the crowd of men and women in blue.
“Luthor’s in jail.” One of the beat cops pointed out.
“Last time we underestimated him he nearly destroyed the space station and tried to level this city to dust.” Friez reminded the officer. “You’ll each be assigned a station. I want all eyes on your surroundings. It is our job to get Bermuda from the police station to City Hall in once piece. Any questions?”
There was a murmur of agreement and Friez nodded, pointing to the door. “Fan out.” As the officers stood from their chairs and began leaving a tall man hung to the back, watching him leave. Friez turned down the hall to where Bermuda was being held in a private holding cell and the man followed.
Friez typed a code into the keypad and the lock released. The man reached around to grab Friez from behind. He smiled to himself as he felt the man struggle against him. “Easy, easy,” he whispered in Friez’s ear. “It’s not you I’m after.”
He reached out to open the door only to find himself face to face with the barrel of four Glock 22s and the face of Bill Henderson and Detective Ryder. “We figured it was only a matter of time Mr. Kharti and you didn’t disappoint.”
Asabi gasped when he felt the cold barrel against his throat. Immediately he released his grasp on Lieutenant Friez. He struggled to catch his breath and was quickly ushered behind the line of officers as they moved in to take Asabi into custody.
“Asabi Kharti you are under arrest for murder, arson, aggravated assault….”
***
“Well?” Lois looked to Sam for the news.
Sam’s brow furrowed and he tapped his chin with his index finger, something he usually did when he was unsure of how to broach the subject at hand. “He’s going to be okay, but we’re still unsure about the recovery time.”
Ellen did her best to remain calm as she watched relief wash over her daughter’s face. Sam wore a satisfied grin. She wanted to smack that smug grin off his face and drop kick him into next week. She looked at Lois who seemed to be having an internal battle on what to do at that moment. It was clear she wanted to see her friend and make sure he was okay for herself. Ellen approached, holding her arms out to take Jon, “Why don’t you leave Jon here and go check on your friend?”
“You sure?” Lois asked, looking down at the happy baby in her arms.
“I’m sure.” Ellen said taking him from her. “Come to grandma.” Jon gurgled in her arms for a moment and Lois stood up to follow Dr. Klein behind the double doors. She shot Sam a glare, “Why don’t you take a seat Sam? We need to talk.” the tone in her voice told him this conversation wouldn’t be good.
***
Perry looked over the desks in the bullpen, shaking his head. Jimmy had been a no-show. Ralph hadn’t come back from his interview yesterday with Bill Church Jr. on the Church Network and the biggest story had landed in his lap and his star reporters weren’t answering their phones. He’d come in that morning to find the story of Lex Luthor’s arrest in his inbox along with a message from Lois that she and Clark were working from home the rest of the day. Not something he’d argue with considering the big story they’d brought in but then he found out the arrest of the leader of Intergang was supposed to break and all his city beat reporters were MIA.
“Jimmy!” Perry bellowed across the newsroom when he saw the young man exit the elevator. “It’s almost nine o’clock! Where have you been all morning?!”
Jimmy shrugged, making his way into the bullpen, still not acknowledging Perry’s roar. Perry frowned, approaching him as he raised his voice again, “Jimmy! Am I invisible!? I said, where have you been all morning?!”
“Can it Gramps!” Jimmy shot back with a snort. “So your dry cleaning doesn’t get picked up on time. Big deal.”
“Excuse me?” Perry’s eyebrows rose and he wagged a finger in Jimmy’s face. “Now you listen here…”
“No, you listen here. I’m sick and tired of your running me like a dog. I work hard and you give me no credit. You treat me like your personal lap dog. I’m a journalist not your errand boy!” Jimmy jabbed him in the chest then spun around. “I’m outta here. Call it a personal day.”
With that, Jimmy headed back up the steps to the elevator, leaving the very baffled Perry White behind.
***
“You wanted to talk?” Sam said, taking a seat next to his ex-wife. He glanced toward the double doors Lois had just disappeared behind with Dr. Klein. He looked around the empty room and then back to Ellen.
Ellen set their grandson into the carseat, tucking the blanket around him. “Not sure if that’s a good idea considering…”
“What do you mean?” Sam scrunched his eyebrows at her in confusion.
“How long were you working for Intergang before you knew who they were?” Ellen snapped in a harsh whisper.
Sam gasped in surprise, uncertain how to respond. “I, uh,”
“Don’t try and deny it.” Ellen hissed angrily. “Your daughters already told me everything.”
“Everything?” Sam ran a hand through his thinning hairline. “I’m not sure what’s left to say.”
“How about we start with the truth?” Ellen snapped, trying to keep her voice down. “You put this family, our children...in danger. For what?”
***
“He’s still very weak but he’s conscious.” Dr. Klein explained as they stepped into a room with bright sun lamps set up around the table Superman was sitting on. Dr. Klein shook his head, “I see you’re feeling better, Superman?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” He managed weakly.
“The meteorite weakened your system quite a bit. We’re not sure how long it will take your dense molecular structure to repair itself.” Dr. Klein explained gently.
“How are you?” Lois asked, doing her best to appear as distant as she could considering the circumstances. With Dr. Klein being unaware of the connection between Clark and Superman it was hard to keep herself from asking the questions she wanted to ask and not raising suspicions. It was even harder not to throw her arms around him and kiss him senseless.
“Okay,” Clark said with a partial smile. “Dr. Lane and Dr. Klein seem hopeful that I’ll be back at a hundred percent by the end of the week.”
“That’s good.” Lois whispered.
“Yes, he’s still very weak though.” Dr. Klein pointed out.
“How weak?” Lois asked.
“For instance, his skin is completely penetrable.” He pointed to the bandage on Clark’s arm where it looked like some blood had been drawn. She noticed the scowl on Clark’s face as he ran a hand over it.
“Earthbound for some time.” Clark said with a frown.
A ding from the door echoed through the intercom. “Who is it?” Dr. Klein asked, pressing the button. The camera showed Sam Lane on the other side of the door with his badge in hand. “Right.” Dr. Klein pressed a button and let him in.
Sam stepped in, watching the double doors slide closed behind him then turned to Lois. “I assume he’s updated you?”
“We were just getting to that.” Dr. Klein said, gesturing to Sam to finish.
“Getting to what?” Lois asked suspiciously.
“Well, given the instances where Intergang was trying to control Superman we thought it best to take advantage of his weakened state to try and remove the suggestions programmed by Trask.” Sam began carefully. “It’s a rather painless procedure. As I explained before. All I’d need is a small blood sample and…”
“And you can experiment on him even more?” Lois interjected with a disapproving glare. “I don’t think so.”
“It’s not experimenting Lois it’s a way to remove any third party interference and give him back control.” Dr. Klein interjected.
“I have it under control.” Clark said bitterly.
“It didn’t seem like that to me.” Dr. Klein pointed out. “What about that scene at the school shooting?”
“That wasn’t him.” Lois interjected. “It was a double.”
“A what?” Dr. Klein gave her a dubious look.
“It’s a long story.” Clark said shaking his head. “Are you sure this procedure won’t have any side effects? No more programming from Bureau 39. All of it will be gone?”
“I helped develop the programming. I can reverse it.” Sam said confidently.
Clark looked down, not meeting Sam Lane’s gaze. He looked to Lois, “What do you think, Lois?”
***
Metropolis General was busy with activity. Nurses and doctors were racing from one end of the hospital to the next. Bill Henderson looked down the hall and found his men standing guard outside room 601. He nodded to them and they opened the door. Two officers were in the room keeping guard as Lex Luthor was treated for his wounds.
“He still hasn’t regained control of his vocal cords yet.” one of the officers explained. “Comes in spurts.”
“What a shame,” Henderson noted with an amused expression.
“Doc said they’d be discharging him this morning. All fractures have been bandaged up. Everything else will heal with time. Our docs can keep an eye on him.” the other officer said with a grin.
“And this time there’ll be no escape for you, Luthor.” Henderson shot his inmate a threatening glare. “Six years of waiting and finally I get to see justice served for everything you’ve done.” Luthor looked away and didn’t say anything. “We caught your henchman, what’s his name? Oh, yes, Asabi. He’s agreed to give us everything on you and the Churches. Your friend Joey Bermuda’s agreed to testify against you also. Seems you have a lot of skeletons in your closet.”
“Killing the president of the United States will get you automatic death penalty too.” one of the officers interjected with a disapproving tone. “I’ll be sitting front row.”
The doctor came in with a clipboard in hand. “Officers, Inspector,” He nodded to the men in the room. “I’ve got the discharge and transfer papers ready for you.” He handed the clipboard for Henderson to sign. “I’ve sent the paperwork to your doctor at Metropolis Corrections.” the doctor explained. “You shouldn’t have any further issues. We’re hoping with time his vocal cords will repair themselves.”
“Time isn’t something he’ll have a lot of doc.” Henderson smiled as he gave the final initial for authorization on the transfer. “Let’s pack him up boys.”
***
Lucy sat up, holding her head. She felt the back of her head and winced when she felt the lump. She looked to the side and saw Jimmy slumped over. “Jimmy?” She crawled toward him, reaching out to shake him.
“Oh!” Jimmy groaned, holding his head as well.
“Are you okay?” Lucy asked.
“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.” He groaned in pain, still not opening his eyes.
“Jimmy, we need to get out of here.” Lucy pleaded with him. “He could come back anytime.”
“I know,” He groaned, forcing himself to sit up, wincing in pain. “I feel like my insides are on fire.”
“What happened? You were glowing and then ….”
“I don’t know.” Jimmy shrugged. “It was weird. For a second there it was like all the anxiety and fears I had were attacking me and then they were gone.”
Lucy opened her mouth to respond when a loud bang could be heard across the room. “Come on, we gotta get out of here.” She helped him to his feet, preparing for the worst. The doors opened and in front of a crowd of officers, Lucy recognized Lt. Harris. “Rachel?”
Rachel Harris relaxed upon seeing her and Jimmy, “Ms. Lane, Mr. Olsen, what are you two doing here?”
“Trying to escape.” Lucy said, pointing to the handcuffs Jimmy had taken off of them earlier.
“Check the area. Make sure we’re clear.” Rachel instructed her team as she approached. She saw the condition of Jimmy’s arm and frowned “EMTs are on route. We’ll get them to look that over.”
Jimmy nodded his appreciation. “Thanks.”
“You two wanna tell me what happened here?” Rachel asked.
***
“How are you feeling?” Lois asked, watching as Clark took a seat on the sofa. They’d been home all of an hour when they’d been bombarded by calls from their parents, Perry, and Cat. Jimmy had lost his cool with Perry and Martha and Jonathan were trying to get a flight out to Metropolis. Clark tried to reason with them that they didn’t need to do that but once Martha Kent got something in her head there was no talking her out of it.
“Fine.” Clark said with a frown. “I think I feel fine.”
“What do you mean you think you feel fine?” Lois asked, bouncing Jon in her arms as she spoke.
“I’m not in pain or anything, but I don’t have my powers and I still feel a little weak.” Clark frowned.
“Dr. Klein said it would take some time for you to get back to a hundred percent.” Lois reasoned, taking a seat next to him.
“I guess,” Clark sighed, taking her hand in his. He turned to face her, running his other hand against Jon’s cheek. “I’m just not used to feeling like this.”
“What?” Lois asked.
“Helpless.” He gave her a wry grin. “It wasn’t ever about not having the powers, but not being able to help you. Not being able to protect you…” He shook his head in disgust. “I should have been here.”
“You had no way of knowing.” Lois reassured him, running her hand against his cheek. “I’m fine. Jon’s fine. Can’t that just be enough for now?”
“I love you you know that?” He whispered, cupping her cheek.
“I know.” She smiled, leaning herself against him so she and Jon were nestled against his chest. His arms wrapped around her instinctively and she added, “You have to love us. It’s a rule.”
“A rule?” He chuckled, leaning in to kiss her.
“We’re quite fond of you too.” She looked up at him, her eyes told him she was only half-serious.
He grabbed a throw pillow from the otherside of the couch and tossed it at her. She laughed and he captured her mouth with his. Jon gurgled, making his protest at the lack of attention known. Clark pulled away, looking down at his son, holding him protectively in his arms. “I know, I know.” He blew a raspberry on Jon’s belly and smiled when he heard him giggle.
Lois watched the two of them, feeling tears in her eyes as the gravity of what could have happened began to hit her. It had taken them so long to get here. They were finally a family...together and they’d almost lost all of that.
Clark seemed to notice her withdrawal and wrapped an arm around her, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “I know.” He whispered hoarsely.
***
“What is it?” Officer Jensen asked, looking at the black stone they’d found in Lex Luthor’s warehouse.
“I’m not sure.” Rachel frowned, looking at the metal box Jensen had gathered the stone in. “Send a runner to STAR Labs. Have it analyzed.”
“You got it, lieutenant.” He took the box and carried it downstairs with him.
Rachel watched him leave and turned her attention to the file folders they’d gathered. ‘Project K’ seemed to be an important file with how worn the edges of the papers were. She grabbed the file and carried it with her to her desk.
***
Lucy took a deep breath as she looked around the apartment. She’d had help from a few of her neighbors and even her landlord to help put everything back where it had been. Some things had been too damaged but she was able to salvage most of her things.
After giving their statements to Rachel she and Jimmy had gone home. Jimmy had insisted on staying with her but after being poked and prodded by doctors, her mother, and the police all she really wanted to do was be by herself in her own place. Thankfully he didn’t push her too hard on the issue.
“Finally.” Lucy sunk back on her couch and sighed, looking at the four trash bags by the front door. She could take care of those later. Right now she just wanted to rest.
“Luce!” She heard Jimmy’s voice from the otherside of her front door and groaned.
She got up to answer the door, “Jimmy, I thought I told you to go home?”
“I didn’t feel like it.” Jimmy said, stepping inside the apartment.
Lucy sighed, running a hand through her hair, “Fine. I’m not really the best company right now though.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Jimmy grinned back at her. “Spring cleaning?” He teased, looking at the bags by the door.
“That’s not funny.” Lucy shot him a look.
“Someone’s touchy,” Jimmy commented, taking a seat on the couch next to her.
“It’s been a long few days.” Lucy said, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Yeah,” Jimmy shrugged nonchalantly.
Lucy frowned, noticing the scowl on his face. His behavior seemed odd. His face was anything but friendly, but considering everything they’d been through she didn’t pay it much attention. “So, have you talked to Perry? Maybe he’ll let you work with one of the reporters on the story?”
“I’m done with the Planet.” Jimmy growled angrily. “Thinkin’ about getting a job at the Inquisitor. At least there I’d have a chance at getting my work published.”
Lucy stared at him in disbelief, uncertain how to respond. “Are you out of your mind?!”
***
Clark ran his hand up and down Jon’s back, listening to the soft snores he made in his sleep. It had been a long day for all of them. Trying to write up their stories for Perry without the help of super-speed and keep up with Jon had given him a new appreciation for what Lois did everyday. How she was able to keep going strong with little sleep he wasn’t sure. He could feel the muscles in his body ache from going up and down the stairs most of the day. He could feel himself getting a little stronger as the day went on. Staying near the sunlight seemed to help.
He grabbed the baby monitor on the nightstand and went downstairs to check on Lois. All he wanted to do when they got home was take her in his arms and never let go. Unfortunately, given their commitments with work and responsibilities with Jon it wasn’t practical.
Lois was just hanging up the phone when he came downstairs, “Okay, we’ll see you then. Bye Jonathan.” She turned and smiled at him then set the phone down. “Your parents got an early flight. We’ll need to pick them up from the airport by ten.”
“Jon’s fast asleep.” He said, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her from behind.
“Thanks for getting him settled.” Lois smiled back at him.
“Of course,” He leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Perry okay with the final revision?”
“Leading story for the evening edition.” She turned her head to look at him, a mischievous expression on her face.
“You know what I just realized?” he murmured in her ear.
“That the baby is asleep and we…” She yelped in surprise when he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back upstairs, “Clark!”
***
“What the hell is your problem?” Lucy shouted, standing to her feet. “Quit the Planet?”
“What do you care?” Jimmy snorted, getting up from the couch.
“What do I care?” Lucy echoed, taking a step toward him. “I don’t know what your problem is, Jimmy or where you got the idea that it’s okay to talk to me like that.”
“I don’t got a problem.” Jimmy shot back. “Maybe if you weren’t so busy with your boyfriend turned killer you would notice!”
Lucy slapped him across the face, “Get out!”
“Gladly,” Jimmy snorted, making his way to the door.
She followed him, slamming the door behind him and being sure to lock all the locks on her front door. She let out a frustrated scream, kicking the door.
***
Lois sighed happily as she felt Clark’s hands roam up and down her sides. His hands found themselves in her hair and he smiled at her. She felt the corners of her mouth twitch, losing herself in his eyes. She reached up to stroke his cheek, feeling his breath against her. His lips brushed against hers, gently caressing hers and his palm traced the outline of her face.
“I love you, Lois,” He murmured against her lips.
“I love you, Clark,” She breathed.
***
<<“You guys want to tell me what happened here?”>>
<<“They grabbed Clark though. We don’t know where they took him….”>>
<<“He was ….shot,”>>
<<“We’ll find him...I won’t rest until we find him,”>>
Rachel sat at in the living room, looking at the folder in front of her. She kept replaying that night she’d found Lois and the Kents tied up in the Kent barn. For years she’d tried to make sense out of that night. Nothing made sense.
The information in these files explained so much but if they fell into the wrong hands…
‘I’m protecting a friend.’ she said, setting the file inside the fireplace. She lit the pages with a match, watching as the orange and yellow light flickered and soon engulfed the pages in flames.
***
Lois and Clark sat in the conference room with Lucy and Perry. “It’s like he’s a completely different person.” Lucy said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “I don’t know what’s going on or what’s happened to him.”
“I’ve been trying to get the boy to stand up for himself. Be his own man. I just never imagined…” Perry snorted, “I didn’t even recognize him.”
“Seems like something had to have triggered this.” Clark observed, looking around the room. He noticed the uneasy expression on Lucy’s face.
“Was there anything strange or unusual going on when you two were abducted?” Lois asked, turning to Lucy.
“You mean besides being abducted and held in a rundown factory for twelve hours?” Lucy asked half-jokingly.
Lois reached out to hold her sister’s hand. “I’m sorry, Luce,”
“It’s not your fault.” Lucy said shaking her head. Clark squeezed Lois’ shoulder.
“None of this is anyone’s fault but Lex Luthor’s.” Perry added gruffly. “I still can’t believe he went that long without getting caught.”
“Me too, Chief,” Clark frowned, looking to Lucy.
“That man is shades of crazy like you wouldn’t believe.” Lucy added, rolling his eyes. “Had some weird rock and strange files and computer system…”
“Rock?” Clark asked. “What kind of rock?”
“I don’t know. It was black. It made Jimmy glow a little when he touched it.” Lucy shrugged taking a sip of her coffee.
“That mean something to you two?” Perry asked, a knowing look crossed his face.
“If it’s what we think it is it could explain Jimmy’s odd behavior.” Lois began carefully.
“What do you mean?” Lucy asked.
“The Superman double.” Lois prompted.
“There were really two of them?” Lucy looked between Lois and Clark.
Perry nodded, rolling his chair across the room to grab a copy of the paper from a few days ago. The front page had an image of the two supermen face to face on top of one of Metropolis’ skyscrapers.
“How is this possible?” Lucy gasped, staring at the image.
“I don’t know.” Clark said with a sigh. “We’re still waiting for answers from Dr. Klein.”
“This is crazy.” Lucy shook her head. “So you think that rock Jimmy touched...what?”
“Made him split into two.” Lois answered.
“This doesn’t make any sense.” Lucy sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I mean, really? A rock? How is this even possible?”
“We don’t know.” Clark said.
TBC…
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