This is horribly late and I do apologize. The next chapter will come within a week, I promise. Thanks as always to Nancy and Carol for BRing.
Previously...
So she was left with a list of three people. Chow, Luthor, and Carlin. But she had no idea how to narrow the list down any further. She needed more information to do that.
Or a partner, Lois realized as she collected her notebook and pencil and went off to grab Jimmy to take pictures at the ceremony. A fresh perspective on this would be very helpful.
The trouble was, she wasn’t ready to trust anyone at the Planet with this. Not yet, anyway. Which meant that she was on her own.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Brian O’Hara sneaked a glance around to check if anyone was watching. Finding no one, he reached up to undo the top button of his shirt. He remembered just a few years ago when he had been so happy to don the MPD uniform and patrol the streets. Now, he was counting the days until the end of the week where his job description would officially change and he no longer had to wear a uniform to work every day. He had already decided he was going to be one of those slouchy, grungy detectives who came into work unshaved every day and *never* did the top button of their shirts.
The head of a co-worker poked around the corner, and Brian hastily reached up to cover his undone button.
“Hey, Detective O’Hara,” the man spoke.
“Shh!” Brian cautioned, his hand falling back down. “Quiet, Ron, or else you’ll jinx it.”
“Relax, it’s all signed in paper and everything,” Ron waved aside. “Come Monday, you’re going to be working with Henderson and all the other big shots busting the real criminals rather than handing out traffic tickets to teenagers.”
“Well, I still don’t like to count my chickens before they’re hatched,” Brian spoke cautiously. “Did you want something from me?”
“There’s a guy up at the front,” Ron told the future detective. “He’s asking for you.”
Brian reluctantly did the button up again and followed Ron out to the front desk. A man stood up as he approached, and Brian automatically took in his appearance.
He was tall, and well built, with glasses. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and his feet shuffled nervously on the floor. The man’s brown eyes shifted all over the place, taking in sights while his shoulders slouched and his head hung, showing vulnerability.
“Can I help you?” Brian asked the man. He was searching to remember where he might have met this man. Why was he the one who was specifically requested?
“Well, I have not had any problems with this so far,” the man spoke in a low voice. “But I felt that this would be the best possible test.”
Brian stared blankly at the man. What was going on?
“You do not recognize me, do you?” the man smiled.
“Well… no.” Although the formal speech pattern was familiar.
The man nodded, as if that was the answer he expected. “Can we take this somewhere more private, perhaps?”
Brian led the man to a small conference room away from the noise of the station. The man refused coffee or water or anything else, and finally Brian sat down across from him.
“So are you ready to spill?” he asked the man. “Can you tell me exactly what’s going on here?”
“Maybe it would be easier to recognize me if I did this,” the man spoke.
Then he floated a foot off of his chair.
Brian’s eyes widened, and he looked up at the man’s face once again. Taking away the different hair style and the glasses, the resemblance…
“Well, some detective I’ll make,” Brian spoke wryly.
“Most of the disguise is psychological,” Superman, or Kal, rather, explained. “You did not expect to see me dressed like this, so you did not see *me*.”
“Well, it’s pretty impressive,” Brian conceded. “So this is your solution to get around town without your mob of devoted followers?”
“Yes. I want to be able to observe and learn about Earth culture, and this is the only way to do it. With this disguise, I will be able to participate in anything I wish to without fear of being discovered.”
“Do you have ID?” the policeman in Brian asked.
“Yes,” Kal replied. “Although I do not think I should tell you how I came about it. All you need to know is that it was legal.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Brian said, holding up his hands. “So what’s your name when you’re dressed up like this?”
“Clark Kent,” Kal replied. “I have a complete background story as well, in case anyone asks.”
“Pretty thorough job,” Brian commented in approval. Probably NIA, he guessed, although he wasn’t going to pry. “So now you’re just wandering around Metropolis and getting the whole experience?”
“Yes,” Kal nodded. “Today, I got a library card, and spent an hour reading some of the works of fiction there. They were quite interesting.”
“I bet they were,” Brian smiled. Although he had originally been intimidated by Superman, he was quickly learning that Kal was very much an ordinary man craving to know more about the world he had been dropped into. That realization gave Brian an idea. “Hey, Kal, would you be free one evening this week?”
“Yes, I would. Assuming something does not come up where my assistance is needed.”
“I was wondering if you’d like to come to dinner at my house. My wife would love to meet you. That’s, of course, assuming it’s okay for me to tell her about you.”
“Of course,” Kal replied. “Although it is probably best if as few people knew about Clark Kent as possible, you should not keep a secret like that from your wife.”
“Well, there are some things I can’t tell her,” Brain shared. “As part of the job. But I try to keep those instances down as much as possible.”
“Well, I would love to meet her,” Kal spoke. “I have yet to meet a young married couple.”
“We’ve got a son, too,” Brian told Kal with pride. “Adam. He’s four, so we wouldn’t tell him about you, of course. He has no idea how to keep a secret.”
“I would like to meet him, as well,” Kal said, his eyes lighting up at the possibility. “I have not had much personal time with children here, although I always enjoyed them back home.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Adam’s a bundle of energy and I don’t think anyone with a low tolerance for kids would be able to spend much time with him.”
“Brian, could you answer a question for me?” Kal spoke up.
“Sure,” Brian shrugged.
“The children here. You call them ‘kids’ sometimes. But that is the name for young goats, and I do not understand the association between the two. Is it a derogatory term or something?”
“Ah, no,” Brian smiled. “It’s more of a casual term. Slang, I guess.”
“Oh,” Kal nodded. “I understand. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“Well, I am looking forward to meeting your wife and your ‘kid’ sometime this week.”
* * *
Lois approached Cat’s desk with caution, circling around to get a better look at the gossip columnist.
“Cat?” she asked hesitantly. “Are you okay?”
Cat looked up at Lois. “Of course I am, Lois. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well… are you feeling sick?” Lois tried.
“No! Why are you so worried about me?”
“Well… It’s just…” Lois looked once again at Cat’s attire and tried one last time. “Did you have a problem at the drycleaners or something?”
“No, I did not,” she replied testily. “Is it a crime for a woman to dress conservatively every once in a while?”
“Cat, this goes way beyond ‘conservative’ for you,” Lois argued. “This would be the equivalent of me hiding in a cardboard box for the whole day.”
“Well, based on your usual wardrobe, a cardboard box isn’t much of a change, Lois. How many times have I told you to get some more flattering suits?”
“This isn’t about me, Cat,” Lois replied, rolling her eyes. “What’s with the clothes?”
“Well, if you must know…” Cat glanced around the newsroom cautiously. Then she beckoned for Lois to come closer. “I’ve got a lunch date today,” she whispered.
“So?” Lois shrugged. “You always seem to have a lunch date with someone.”
“Not with one of the richest men in Metropolis,” Cat replied, smirking.
“You mean it’s with…?”
“Arthur Chow,” Cat announced proudly. “And it’s not just an interview date. It’s an after-interview date. Which means that after this… Well, who knows?” she purred.
Lois forced herself to smile, although her list of suspects was still fresh in her mind. “That’s great, Cat,” she told her, trying to summon up more positive feelings.
“Lois, could you at least pretend to be excited for me?” Cat asked, seeing through Lois’ weak façade.
“I’m sorry, Cat,” Lois apologized. “But ever since the Luthor story I’ve been a little wary of rich men.”
“I get where you’re coming from, Lois. But try not to let your prejudice interfere, okay? Be happy for me. He actually seems like a nice guy.”
“Okay,” Lois agreed. “But Cat? Can I give you a bit of advice?”
“Sure, why not?” she shrugged.
“There’s only so long you can hide your true nature from him. Dressing up like this may work for a while, but you can’t do that forever. Sooner or later, you’re going to want to go back to your workplace inappropriate garb and he’s going to find out.”
“Yeah, right, Lois,” Cat scoffed. “Trust me, I know what makes guys like Chow tick, and it sure isn’t wild, party-girl gossip columnists. They’re looking for stability. Which I can definitely pull off.”
And with that, Cat sauntered off to her date.
* * *
Kal walked up the stairs, smoothing his tie as he went. Changing from Superman into Clark Kent would require some practice, he decided. Not that he needed to be dressed perfectly as Clark for this, but he did think it was a good idea for him to be dressed as Clark whenever he wasn’t performing Superman duties.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Kal knocked on the door quietly, wincing at the time he saw on his watch. But the door opened anyway, and Brian seemed happy to meet him.
“Sorry I am so late,” Kal apologized.
“Don’t worry about it,” Brian waved aside, beckoning Kal in. “Marli and I saw the news report. We were just glad that I didn’t get called in.”
“I was not sure if I should even bother coming, but I saw that your light was still on, so I thought I would try knocking.”
“Don’t worry about it,” A voice called from the kitchen amid the clatter of dishes. “Brian and I are both night owls. We’ll be up for a while yet.”
“Kal, I’d like you to meet my wife, Marli,” Brian introduced as she walked out, holding a mug of tea.
Marli was a good deal shorter than Kal, with thick brown hair pulled back into a chaotic shape vaguely resembling a bun. She dressed in jeans and a warm, bulky sweater with sleeves that fell past her wrists. The sweater was probably large enough to belong to her husband, Kal realized, and wondered if Brian was actually the original owner.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Kal,” she told him. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“I also am happy to meet you,” Kal replied.
“Can I get you something?” she asked. “Brian said you wanted us to just go ahead and eat if you got tied up, but I do have some leftovers in the fridge. Or some coffee? Tea? We’ve got beer, too, I think.”
“Yeah, we do,” Brian chimed in, heading to the kitchen himself.
“I am fine, thank you,” Kal replied. “I do not need to eat or drink to sustain myself.”
“Still, you might enjoy it, if you let yourself,” Marli suggested. But she didn’t push him to accept. “You want to sit down?” she offered instead. She looked over at the loveseat and armchair placed in the living area, and then rushed over to them, depositing her mug on the cluttered coffee table. “Here, I’ll just… clear off a space.” Papers, toys, a blanket, and a few clothing pieces that looked like they belonged to a small boy were gathered up in Marli’s arms. “You can sit down here,” she announced. Then she ran off to the hallway, where Kal heard a door open and close rapidly. Marli reappeared almost instantly. Apparently, she had dumped all of the junk into the nearest room just to get it all out of the way.
“All cleaned up, honey?” Brian asked, emerging from the kitchen with a beer in hand and a grin on his face.
“Yeah,” she smiled sheepishly. “I guess you can say that organization isn’t our strong suit here,” she told Kal. “I like a bit of chaos, and when you add Adam into the mix… Well, it gets a little crazy. I don’t know what we’re going to do when this one comes along.” She placed a hand on her stomach.
Kal noticed the small swell beneath the fabric of her sweater for the first time.
“Sometimes I think that a girl would be neater…” Marli continued wistfully.
“But not if she shares your genes,” Brian told his wife, sitting them down together on the loveseat.
“True,” she agreed. “Well, I guess no matter what we have, we’ll have to resign ourselves to more mess.”
“You don’t know the sex of the baby?” Kal asked curiously.
“Not yet,” Marli shrugged. “We could find out if we wanted to, but we’d rather be surprised.”
“On Krypton, everyone knew the sex of a child before it was born,” Kal shared. “Of course, the technology was much more advanced there. The images received of a baby in the womb were much more detailed than the ones available here.”
“I wish,” Marli smiled wistfully.
“It must be weird to be in a world that’s so far behind what you’re used to,” Brian commented. “Even just communicating with people. We’re so dependent on things like phones and pagers and email and everything else, I don’t know what I would do without them. And I imagine it would be kind of the same.”
“Well, communication was quite different on Krypton regardless,” Kal informed the couple. “Kryptonians are telepathic.”
“Wow.”
“I thought stuff like that was all just made-up,” Marli smiled sheepishly.
“Well, it is just as fictional as depictions of aliens,” Kal smiled.
“Touche.” Brian raised his beer bottle to Kal before taking a sip.
“It must be strange to come to this world where there are all those scary movies and books and everything about aliens,” Marli sympathized. “I would be kind of afraid to make a wrong move and scare people.”
“That is something I struggle with,” Kal agreed. “I have to be careful to represent myself properly so as not to be misinterpreted. I do not want to frighten anyone. But I have been told by Lo-…” Kal stopped. As much as he trusted these people, he didn’t need to publicize who his friends were. “By a friend of mine,” he corrected, “that most of Metropolis has warmed up to me.”
“Oh, good,” Marli spoke, visibly relieved. “And, not to sound silly or anything, but I’m glad to hear that you have friends who you can be yourself around. Brian told me about what happened on the street the day you met.” She shuddered.
“Thank you for behaving reasonably as well,” Kal replied. “I find that very few people treat me normally here. Even the President, when we met last week, seemed to be intimidated by me.”
“As you can tell, we don’t feel that way,” Brian spoke up. “Anyone who spends any amount of time with you would probably realize that soon enough as well.”
“Mommy? Daddy?” The sleepy voice came in the direction of the hallway. A little boy entered the room, blinking in the light. His hair stuck up on one side, and one of the pant legs of his pajamas was scrunched up around his knee. A stuffed toy was held in front of the boy’s face, so Kal couldn’t really see what he looked like.
“Adam.” Brian stood up and walked over to his son. “What are you doing up, buddy?”
“Daddy, I…” A huge yawn broke up the sentence. “Daddy, who’s he?” Adam squinted over in Kal’s direction.
“This is Mr. Kent,” Brian introduced. “Can you say hello to him?”
Adam glanced up at his father, then over at Kal, and then up again at his father.
He shook his head, and buried his nose further into the stuffed toy.
“He’s a little shy right now,” Brian apologized. “I’m going to get him back to bed. I’ll be out in a second.” The pair disappeared down the dark hallway.
“Brian’s always so great with Adam,” Marli sighed happily. “He doesn’t get as much time with him as he wants, given all the shift work. Although hopefully that’ll decrease once he gets settled in the new job. I work from home, anyway, so at least we don’t have to worry about childcare on top of everything.”
“What do you do, Marli?” Kal asked.
“I design jewellery,” she answered. “Although lately, it’s been more of a hobby than a job. I just don’t have as much time as I used to.”
“Well, from what I’ve seen, that time has been well spent,” Kal told her.
“Thanks.”
The boy had certainly looked adorable, Kal remembered. The way he had clung to the toy had been endearing. But thinking of that toy…
“Marli?” Kal asked.
“Yeah?”
“That toy Adam had… it wasn’t a…” Kal *really* hoped it wasn’t…
“Oh. Yeah,” she replied, running a hand over her hair. “This is a little embarrassing with you over, but he just got the toy a couple days ago and I couldn’t pry it away from him.”
“So it is a…”
“Yeah,” she winced. “It’s a Superman doll.”
