YAY! The edits weren't as hard as I thought they would be and didn't affect 15
.
Thanks again to Kathy and to all of you for your patience
. I have through 19 ready to go now, 20 started and I think I can wrap it up in 25 or so. Hope to get some of that done this week =D. We'll see. Still working on school work but am going to reward myself for finishing the first unit of each class with some writing time. [and house cleaning... :p ]
Anyway, here tis..
Last time
He started to say something but was interrupted by his ringing cell phone. "This is Clark," he said into the phone. "Hi, Perry. What's up?" His face went white. "We're on our way."
"What is it?" Lois asked, a concerned look on her face.
"A bomb at the natural history museum." He pulled to the curb, giving her a quick kiss. "I'll see you there."
Lois nodded, getting out and heading towards the driver's side of the vehicle as Clark ran off.
Clark was speeding towards downtown Metropolis and the museum when a voice reverberated through his head.
/The test have only begun, Superman. Whether you are the one to pass them remains to be seen. Somehow, I doubt it./
*~*15*~*Lois tried not to speed too much towards downtown Metropolis, but then realized that she had no idea where she was going.
She sighed and headed towards the Daily Planet. She knew where that was.
She was getting out of the Jeep when there was a loud 'boom' well above her. She ran towards the street to find Superman and Jimmy standing there looking into the air.
"He was also in a movie called 'Destination Tokyo'," Jimmy told the hero.
Superman smiled slightly. "Thanks."
"Superman!" Lois called. "What happened?"
He turned to her. "Ms. Kent, I believe."
Lois nodded, remembering that she and Superman had never officially met. "Yes. I believe you know my husband, Clark."
She could tell he was trying not to roll his eyes. "Yes. I think it's time for your first exclusive, though." He looked at Jimmy. "Is there anything else I can help you with, photo wise, Mr. Olsen?"
Jimmy's grin grew bigger. "Call me Jimmy, Superman. And I'm good – I've got everything I need."
"Well, thank you, Jimmy." Superman turned, walking down the sidewalk. "Ms. Kent?"
Lois fell into step beside him, tape recorder in hand. "Superman, I heard the bomb was at the museum. How did you end up here?"
They ducked into an alley near the Planet building where Superman turned back into Clark as he told her what had happened. Lois hadn't actually turned the tape on, knowing she could get the information she needed anytime from Clark – and then there was no chance either of them would slip up and reveal something that could be heard by someone else later.
"That's just weird," Lois said, contemplatively as they walked back into the newsroom. "Why would someone set up a mini-cd player for Superman to reassemble in order to give him clues that led him to the Daily Planet's manhole cover? And the manhole cover had a very real bomb underneath it. How many people could have been hurt?"
"Here's that research," Sarah interrupted, handing Clark a file folder. "Thirty-five feel good stories."
"Thanks. I'll look at it later." He headed towards his desk, effectively ending the conversation with the researcher. "That's something else I need to talk to you about," he told Lois.
Lois set her bag down on her desk, as Clark pointed towards the conference room. She nodded, following him. He shut the door after she'd entered.
"What?"
He looked around carefully. "First, I wanted to do this." He gave her a gentle kiss.
"You can do that anytime," Lois sighed.
"Second..." He hesitated. "I wanted to ask you about something my father said in the storm shelter."
Lois picked up one of the donuts sitting on the table. She pulled off a piece and took a bite. She made a face and set it back down. Stale. "Anything," she told him.
"What did it *sound* like?"
"What did what sound like?"
"When he talked to you in your head?"
Lois shrugged. "Just like when he was talking to both of us, only in my head. Like when you imagine hearing me say something or something like that. Just his voice in my head. Why? Did he talk to you again?"
"I heard something in my head, but it definitely wasn't my father. Male but not my father."
"What?"
He told her the words that had reverberated in his head since he'd taken off towards the museum.
"That's weird, too. Someone telling you something about tests – in your head – and then the whole bomb riddle thing? Weird." She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Are Kryptonians telepathic?"
He shrugged. "I have no idea. I think my father may have mentioned it in one of the messages I heard years ago, but I don't really remember. Why?"
"Why not? I heard your father in my head. You heard something in your head. What if there was another Kryptonian around who, for whatever reason, is just now deciding to contact Superman? And a male, so it's not like it's your birth Kryptonian chick wife. Maybe he's been living in the bush in Australia for the last two years and just heard about you or something."
"The real estate agent!" Clark turned suddenly grabbed a notepad, sketching quickly before poking his head out the door. "Jimmy!" he hollered. "I started to tell you about it earlier but..."
Jimmy interrupted whatever it was Clark was going to say. "What's up?"
"I need you to find out everything you can about a man named Dave Miller. I think he may be an agent for Century Twenty-two but I'm wondering if that's actually true." He tore the page off the notepad. "Here's a sketch of what he looks like."
"I'll see what I can find." Jimmy left the room and headed towards his desk.
"What's that all about?"
"I couldn't out shake his hand." Clark turned to look out the window.
"What?"
"I always have to be careful not to hurt someone when I shake hands, but him... He was the one who practically turned it into an arm wrestling match, but I couldn’t out shake him."
Lois' brow furrowed as she thought. "Do you think he might be Kryptonian? Who else could match your strength?"
Clark shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't recognize the voice in my head, but we only spoke with him for a minute so I don’t know that I would have."
Lois sighed. "Well, I'm going to go work on the bomb thing."
He nodded. "Let me know if you need anything else."
"I will."
Lois bit her bottom lip as she walked back to her desk. Could there really be another Kryptonian around? Was there more than one? Was that why Clark didn't recognize the voice?
She typed furiously for a while before she heard a sonic boom in the distance and realized that Clark was off on another rescue.
"Ms. Kent?"
Lois looked up from her keyboard to see Sarah standing there. Didn't she ever bug anyone else?
"Yes, Sarah?"
"Um, I have a question for you."
Lois leaned back in her chair. "Shoot."
Sarah looked around. "Not here. In the conference room?"
Lois watched her for a long moment. "Okay."
The two headed into the conference room. Lois shut the door behind them.
"What can I do for you?"
Sarah took a deep breath. "I need to ask you a question."
"You already said that."
"What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Mr. Lane?"
Lois raised an eyebrow at the other woman. "Why is the exact nature of my relationship with Mr. Lane any of your business?"
Sarah hesitated. "Because it is," she finally said vaguely.
"Why? My relationship with Clark isn't anyone's business but our own. And if you really want to know you could probably ask the grapevine. I've heard the news of our marriage has already reached the circulation phone pool and that there's a betting pool on when we're going to announce I'm pregnant. I don't think that even the new girl is that far out of the loop, so why are you asking?"
The door opened suddenly. "Lois, you've got a call on line three," Jimmy said, looking from one woman to the other. "Everything okay?"
"Everything's fine." Lois smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I was just telling Sarah that Clark and I did actually get married and that, no, it wasn't a shotgun wedding. I was also going to tell her how much I appreciate her asking for clarification before acting on any feelings she might possibly have." She nodded towards the other woman. "Excuse me?"
Sarah's face was unreadable as she nodded.
Lois went back to her desk, closing her eyes and taking a couple deep breaths before reaching for her phone. "Lois Kent." She pulled out a notepad and pen, putting the other woman out of her mind and focusing on work.
*****
TBC
