Chapter 48: Running From the Devil
Lucy tried to focus on her breathing, in and out. It was genuinely the only thing she could do right now. She kept a wary eye on her sister's boyfriend, stomach in a knot and heart pounding hard in her ears. She'd lost track of time, between her slight bout with delirium and the fact that Miranda had been keeping her drugged out of her mind... But four days? She could scarcely believe that. Where was Lois in all this?
She winced. Trying to break her thumb was not going as well as she'd planned. She kept an eye on each of her captors, trying not to attract their attention as she tried to recall every tip her sister had ever given her about self defense and how to escape a situation like this. So far she wasn't passing muster.
The motion of Lex taking a seat in her peripheral drew her attention away again. Head between his legs, fingers pulling at the ends of his thinning curls. He didn't seem like he was really in on this. But his familiarity with these two degenerates didn't make that thought any more comforting. It simply made him an adept liar and a snake in the grass.
Lois could really pick 'em.
The blonde woman cooed over his shoulders, leaning her bosom against him heavily. "We can figure this out, Lexy. Don't you worry."
Lex scowled, and he rolled his shoulders violently. "Get off me, Miranda." She tsked and whined, but he gave no room for argument. He stood up rapidly and pointed at her. "No. This is all your fault. Touch me again and you'll pay."
She pouted and cocked her hip. "But Lex, you're the one that convinced me to make this love potion to begin with."
Love potion? Lucy frowned. She didn't know what they were talking about. "I didn't ask for you to do any of this. Either of you." His eyes landed on hers, and Lucy stopped fidgeting, breath tight in her chest. Lex stormed back to her side, and she flinched. He raised his hands in a submissive gesture and knelt at her side, eyes wide and imploring. "Lucy, you have to believe me. I didn't ask for any of this. I'd never hurt you, or Lois, in any way. You believe me, right?"
She didn't. But saying that might seal her fate. She licked her dry, cracked lips before speaking. "Of course. You're only doing what you have to do. I'm sure Lois will understand this whole mix up. In fact, if you let me go now, we can explain this whole mess together."
His face lit up at her apparent amenity, and for a split second Lucy almost believed he would.
The sound of a gun cocking drew her attention back to the real threat in the room. "Don't you dare."
A dark look sprawled across Lex's face as he stood and turned to face his butler. "Nigel, we have to let her go. This has gone far enough."
"She's playing you."
"She wouldn't."
"She absolutely would. They all are. I don't know why you can't see it." Nigel huffed and gripped the gun tighter. "You're either too stupid or too blind to see it."
"Nigel," Lex growled, taking a menacing step towards his butler. "Put the gun down."
"Do you have any idea where she's been this whole time? Shagging Clark Kent. She's cheating on you."
The surprise Lucy felt didn't compare to the look of horror on Lex Luthor's face. She spent the distraction wisely though, rubbing her wrists raw as she attempted another escape. Lex's tone was tremulous when he spoke, but without a hint of doubt. "She is not. Lois would never—"
"Wouldn't she?" Nigel asked calmly, head cocked to the side. "Why do you think she hasn't been home to notice her sister is missing?"
Lex shook his head back and forth rapidly, coming a little unhinged. "She's not a cheater. She's not capable of that level of deception."
A dark chuckle rumbled up Nigel St. John's throat. "You have a major blind spot for deceptions like this. How long did it take you to realize Clark Kent was after you? How long before you took matters into your own hands? How long did you trust the Man of Steel? How long have you thought I was on your side?"
Lucy watched in confusion and horror as the world tilted on its axis for Lex Luthor. His voice was a rasp. "What?"
"You never can see the whole picture. Which is why you don't understand why we have to kill Lucy."
"No, Nigel, wait—"
Lucy braced for impact as the man turned and fired his weapon at her, her eyes clenched tightly. Her last thoughts were for her sister, who, no matter what happened here, had to get out of whatever psychotic relationship she'd stumbled into with Lex and—
She opened one eye slowly, unsure of where the impact went. A hand reached out from a blur of red and blue that took up the majority of her field of vision. Lucy blinked, and her brow furrowed as the hand tossed a bullet to the ground. Slowly it began to pull together in her mind, and she gaped at the hero.
The hero of mythic proportions leaned over and tore her bindings completely in half, freeing her in less than a second. Her heart skipped a beat in an effort to catch up, and she felt dizzy. Lucy rooted her eyes on the red crest he wore. She rubbed at the chafed skin on her wrists gently.
"You all right, Miss?"
Lucy nodded, speechless.
The superhero turned back to face her captors with a smug smirk as he helped her to her feet at his side. "As you've seen before, your bullets don't affect me. So why don't we wrap this up early—"
"Miranda," Nigel called over his shoulder.
The bubbly blonde bounded towards the hero with a giggle and a grin, taking him off guard. Lucy frowned at the hero’s look of confusion and recognition. "You again? You're working together?"
"That's right, big boy." Her fingers skated down the crest of his suit, gliding lower, before she pulled out a bottle of something pink and viscous from behind her back. He eyed the potion warily as she waved it in his face.
She sprayed a puff at him, and the hero coughed at the acrid smell. Lucy covered her mouth and nose, backing away from the terrible scent. For whatever reason, Miranda waited, watching the man of steel closely as he finished his coughing fit. "How you feeling now, big blue?"
He shook his head harshly and looked up at the woman with a glint of something in his eyes. A tinge of red entered Lucy's field of vision before dissipating, and she frowned again at the lightheaded sensation. Her voice was scratchy when she tried to speak, unable to even get out his name.
Surprise overtook Lucy’s face as the hero scooped up Miranda into his arms, and a gleeful smile took over the woman’s face as he pinned her to the wall. A small shriek echoed in the space, and she ran her hands through the man’s dark, luscious locks before he leaned down for a kiss.
A kiss that never came.
Instead he exhaled deeply, passing his breath on to her, and with it, her poison. He fished the bottle out of her other hand and threw it on the ground sharply, prompting a small, pink, puff of a cloud to billow up around Miranda and himself, and she coughed uncontrollably.
He stepped back from her and let her drop to the floor with a dark smirk. Lucy was struggling to keep her eyes open, dizzy now with confusion and whatever was in that terrible smelling perfume. "That was really your plan, Nigel? If a bullet and a bomb didn't affect me, why would you think some love potion would?"
"He-help," Lucy croaked out, slumping to the ground as her knees gave out from underneath her, and the conversation around her took a confusing turn.
"I should kill you right now, end this for once and for all."
"You won't."
"Give me one good reason."
Nigel's arm shot out and he pulled Lex into him. He pressed his gun to the man's jugular and smiled. "I can give you three. For one, you don't want Lois to find out you're a killer, which she will assuming Lucy lives. For another, you probably want to know where those smart orphans ran off to, and I have that answer. But mostly, you won't make a move because you don't want me to kill him."
"Nigel," Lex whispered, all confidence gone from his tone, and struggled against the old man’s death grip.
"You won't do it." He folded his arms and frowned, but sweat beaded at the edge of his hairline and a touch of nerves swathed his words.
"Oh, I will. Unless you let us leave unharmed. What'll it be, sir?"
A flinch ran through the man of steel, but beyond that he didn't move a finger, eyes solely focused on his antagonist.
Nigel's sneer mocked her from across the room amidst another wave of dizziness and nausea. Lucy gave into the darkness around her as she watched the Man of Steel let Nigel St. John and Lex Luthor escape scot free.
*****LnC*****
"Hey! Honey-Buns of Steel— don't let these bad men take me away! I love you! Please, Sweetheart... If you don't save me, I'll kill you— Ooh, you're cute. Are you single?"
Henderson shook his head at the woman as his officers bent her head over to slide her into the backseat of a police car. She was more scattered than a spilled jar of ashes, her attention split between about three different officers now. With Miranda locked away in the squad car, he removed the breathing apparatus from his face and tucked it under his arm. They would have to keep a close eye on her, possibly keep her locked in solitary. The risk of her manipulating a guard and escaping was very high.
The Man of Steel approached him warily and Henderson smiled gently at the hero. "Is Miss Lane going to be okay?"
Henderson's smile dissipated at the question, and he glanced at the ambulance that was pulling away now. "I hope to God she will, if only for Lois' sake. They're all they have, you know? But her vitals were all within normal range, so that's good. It seems like a reaction to the poison Miranda was using, but why it didn't affect her this way is a mystery."
The hero shifted his weight somewhat uncomfortably, pulled at his ear. "Maybe four, five days ago, Miranda tried to influence me with a lower grade dose of the same potion. It didn't have any affect on me, and I dispersed most of it, but I know she was exposed to some, and it made her... overly flirtatious. A few other people were affected residually—"
A thought clicked into place in Bill's mind, and he nodded. "Ah. I'm guessing you mean the Daily Planet."
The Man of Steel blinked at him in confusion, like he clearly hadn't known that, but went along with it like he did anyway. "Uh, yeah. Right."
Bill looked askance at him, and filed away the disconnect as another oddity of the hero. Maybe he didn't read the paper. When would he have the time? He prompted the man to continue, and the complicated man shook himself. "Anyway, this stuff was much stronger, a completely undiluted solution. She must have thought it would have an effect on me in its purest form, but still nothing. My only guess as to why she didn't have the same reaction as Lucy is that she's been dosing herself with it steadily for days."
A thought scratched at his brain, and Bill paused in his writing and looked at the man of steel with a question. "Do you think she'll recover?"
An unnameable flicker passed across his expression. "I don't know. I didn't get a chance to dilute it before she was exposed. She might never be the same again."
Henderson pursed his lips tightly. Something was off still. He was getting closer and closer to figuring out what it was, but it was still just out of reach. "What about the second captor? Anything else you can think of regarding him besides that he was older and had a British accent?"
The hero paused a second too long before grimacing tightly. "Nope. I'll let you know if anything comes to mind."
Bill's eyes became slits as he glared at the hero. He might not have any superpowers, but he knew when he was being lied to. He smiled falsely at the Man of Steel. "All right. Thanks again for all your help today. To be honest, I don't think we'd have found her without your assistance."
The hero nodded, expression reigned in tight, and took off on an arc through the air. Henderson watched awhile as he faded into the distance, before turning to focus his attention on the remainder of the crime scene.
*****LnC*****
Clark strived to contain his emotions on the short elevator ride up. The anger swirling inside him at Nigel's betrayal, the relief that he'd found Lois' sister, the frustration that Nigel and Lex had escaped his grasp, and that he still couldn't find them. He breathed in deeply, and tried to run through what he was going to say to Lois when he saw her.
Hey, Lois. I slapped on some spandex and saved your sister, and Lex Luthor was behind it all. Hey, Lucy's in the hospital but we think she's going to be fine. Well, maybe. She's alive at least. Hey Lois— I'm sorry for leaving you here. I was worried for good reason. You were right about Nigel—
The doors slid open before him, and Clark steeled himself as he walked around the corner. Empty. He craned his neck to try and see where Lois was, but to no avail. He frowned. He could hear her heartbeat, maybe back near his bedroom somewhere. He headed that direction and called out for her. "Lois? I'm back. I'm sorry for leaving you like that, but good news—"
He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her, blood running cold.
She sat facing away from him on the floor, looking down at something in her lap. His room was a mess, drawers open, a few trinkets tossed onto the floor, closet doors opened and clothing on the floor. She turned big, soulful eyes back over her shoulder and asked him one simple question. "When were you going to tell me?"
Clark rocked back on his heels in surprise. "Uh, Lois. What, uh, what happened—"
She launched to her feet in outrage, pacing already. "Don't even start. You know, I knew it, too. I knew you were hiding something from me. You were shifty and always running off at weird times and... and you're just so... damn, uber-secretive. About everything! You walk around wanting people to believe you're a mystery, and you are. You were," she corrected herself, looking him square in the eye now. Clark swallowed thickly. "You're not so much any more."
He could lie. He could evade. He was good at those things. No one ever tried to look closer— not the ones that lived to see tomorrow, anyway, and he didn't for one second place Lois in that other group. Part of him felt paralyzed with fear, the other part of him laced with adrenaline. It only resulted in confusion and a knot in his stomach.
He could lie. But for some unknown reason, Clark actually didn't want to lie to her. She didn't deserve it. He wasn't ready for all that meant in the long run, but he wanted a shot at whatever that future might look like. "Lois, I can explain."
She scoffed. "Explain what? That you lied to me, or that you moonlight in tights?"
"I just— what?"
She gave him a scathing glare and waved a swatch of red fabric at him, and Clark felt the ground shift underneath him as the room tilted sideways. All of his confidence and determination to tell her the truth went up in smoke, and he was left with the startling realization that she wasn't on the same page as him. She was talking about his alter ego, true, but not the one he'd been thinking of.
He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more concerned.
Clark cleared his throat, eased the cape she had in a death grip out of her hands. He ran a thumb over the fabric gently, in an almost self-soothing pattern. "Look, Lois. There's a lot more to explain. What do you want to know? I'll tell you everything."
And part of him meant that.
Her shoulders slumped and she sank onto the edge of his bed. Clark removed his glasses and ran a hand across his face, uncertainty filling him with dread.
"Did you at least find my sister?"
He bit his lip and sank down beside her. This day was not going as planned. "Yes. That's what I came to tell you. She's in the hospital, though."
Lois pursed her lips, eyes brimming with tears. "I suppose that's why you shipped me off here. So you could go," she mimed a swooping gesture with one hand, unable to say any more. Clark grimaced. "And it makes sense. I guess."
His heart stirred. He had to tell her. "Lois, listen—"
"No, I know. I know we need to talk. About this, and so many other things... But I just... I need to think it all out, okay?"
He swallowed thickly, toying with his horn-rimmed glasses as a distraction. He didn't understand what had happened to cause her to go digging through his room, or how she'd found the suits at all. But it was a moot point. They sat in a relative amount of calm for a few long minutes, the most peace and quiet Clark had seen all day. Ultimately, he knew it wasn't to last. His secret— the other secret— was still hanging like an ax over his head, and hanging on by a thread at that. The longer he waited to come out with it, the harder the fallout was going to be. And if her reaction to this secret was any judge, it was going to be worse than he'd anticipated.
If anything, now was the time to tell her. All he had to do was open his mouth and say the words. You know, Lois, I hate to bring this up right now, but I want to come completely clean. This isn't the only part of my life that I've hidden from you. It was like a bandage, best ripped off hard and fast. Plus, it was like pairing good news with bad news. Lois, the good news is I'm a superhero. Bad news is that I run most the crime in this town anyways. He rolled his eyes at himself. Maybe he'd at least get points for total honesty.
However, the seconds ticked on. And with each passing second, he felt the opportunity to come clean slipping through his fingers. His heart plummeted as he warred with himself, practically begging the words to escape from his throat, out of his brain, off his tongue. But nothing would come. His subconsciousness was reaching, stretching, ultimately drowning as it fell into a deep, fathomless cave below. And for the first time since he'd started up with this whole revenge business, he felt regret. Because eventually, Lois would find out. She was by no means a stupid woman, and secrets always came out. Just like this one did.
Too many seconds. Too much time now, and he was out of his.
So regrettably, Clark locked that steadily growing dread right back up and outstretched a hand to her. "Hey. Let's go see your sister, okay? We can talk more later."
Lois stared at his hand for a long moment, scrutinizing it. He tried to still his shaking fingers, closing his hand into a fist nervously before stretching his fingers out again. Clark usually felt quite unflappable, but this was different. He felt like he needed a good drink, but unfortunately he didn’t have an ablution to cleanse him of this fear. He had to just let it pass, and hope that she didn’t see right through him to his troubled soul.
Gingerly, Lois’ fingers landed in his palm, and Clark felt his heart soar. He smiled at her, swallowing the knot in his throat. This was a good sign. Maybe she didn't hate him. Maybe she wasn't disgusted that he was an alien, or that he'd lied to her. Maybe they could move forward still, without her ever finding out he was the real boss.
He might be simply biding his time, but as long as that secret could stay hidden, he was going to savor every moment.
