Part 9
At the same time, Tempus was in an undisclosed area of the city. “It's so elementary, if we can control the entire youth drug culture of Metropolis, then we can create more chaos than the likes this town has seen since Superman showed up here and started all his do-gooder deeds.”
“Mister Tempus, you know how it is, the drug culture is dying out here, people are wanting to be like Superman, the kids aren’t getting hooked anymore,” Smyth, one of the most notorious drug lords in the city, said as he lit a cigar and blew a ring of smoke in the direction of the man from the future.
In response, Tempus irritably waved his hand in front of his face, and looked at Smyth with disdain. “Are you kidding, Smyth, we're already on our way. The pills we gave to your hoods last night were filled with mind-altering substances that make the user only listen to the sultry sounds of my voice. I could turn the entire underground world into a mobilized army within seconds.” He grinned evilly and his eyes brightened as his next words emerged. “What could be better than an army that will listen only to me and do my bidding?” He regarded the drug lord who was smoking his cigar contentedly. “You underrate the sheer magnitude of the workings of my brilliant mind.”
“No, boss, of course I don’t, I just wonder what will bring me and the boys into more money,” Smyth said, his eyes gleaming. “So, what about Superman? You did say you had a plan as to how to get him out of the way. Are you going to tell me about it, or do I have to grovel for information?”
Tempus smiled broadly, his eyes lightening up with evil intent upon the mere mention of the man of steel. “Superman,” he held up a single finger and then pointed towards a bookshelf that was located on one end of their underground dwelling. “You see, my dear Mr. Smyth, behind that wall is just another of the many tricks I happen to have up my sleeve.”
Smyth still looked confused and it was obvious to the man from the future that the drug lord could barely add one and one together, much less manage to see that Tempus had a surefire plan to back up his arrogant claims. After a few moments of impatient silence, Tempus looked at him as he stubbornly stuffed the cigar back in his mouth and took a long draw on it.
“You remember about a year ago when Lex Luther was about to marry Lois Lane don't you?” Tempus asked all the while showing his disdain at having to explain something that he was already well aware of.
“Not really,” Smyth responded, and it looked as thought his brain working on overload, and that one could literally see the gears turning.
“Well, let me refresh your memory, my little pea-brained friend,” Tempus sneered, his eyes flashing. “Lex Luther had somehow managed to trap Superman in a basement. He had what I have come to call a handy little cage, the bars made entirely of kryptonite; the one substance known to man that could destroy Superman. It's sort of his Achilles heel so to speak, Mr. Smyth, but strangely enough, Luther didn't count on Superman escaping and well, based on my estimations, it seemed rather impossible for him to do so.” He paused and watched as Smyth took another draw on his cigar and exhaled, the smoke encircling his head. “After Lois jilted poor Lex at the altar, poor Mr. Luther freaked out a little and ended up jumping from a window of a high rise building. Not a very safe or smart exit, but a pretty dramatic and effective one. Anyway, as ironic as it sounds, he turned up a little later, but eventually, Lois and Superman helped land him back behind bars and thus, to the underground world, Luther was completely humiliated.”
“What does this sob story have to do with us?” Smyth asked.
Tempus pressed a button and the bookcase slid away, and behind it, the kryptonite cage was seen parallel to the room where they were now standing. “You see my dear pea-brained assistant, if Superman gives us any trouble with our plan, and I imagine he will, then, we'll simply lure him right where we want him…to this cage and to his…” he smiled smugly, but after a few seconds, the dramatic final word emerged from between his pursed lips, “…death.”
Smyth looked at Tempus with a crooked and tobacco-stained yellow grin. “You seemed to have thought of everything, but what about that nosy reporter, Lois Lane? The story is, she's all buddy-buddy with Superman.”
“Don't worry about her, we’ll send her and her friends off on a wild goose chase and then move in for the kill. In two nights, we're going to stage a rave, one that the likes of this town has not seen in years.”
“A rave?” Smyth pondered.
“Yes,” Tempus smiled. “Lois Lane has been known to go undercover at events like this to get the latest stories, and so we're going to set up what she is going to want. I am certain that she and her partner will show up there and then…”
“We move in for the kill?” Smyth asked still chomping down on his cigar.
“Right you are, and by the time they realize what has happened, the Daily Planet will be writing Superman’s eulogy for the weekend edition,” Tempus grinned. “Lois Lane and Clark Kent will both die on Friday night and if we're really lucky, then poor Perry White will be doing the writing, because his star reporters will be gone.” Tempus said, but when he looked back over at Smyth, he still carried the look of unhidden disgust on his face. “Now then, did you give your boys the pills that I asked you to?”
“They should be distributing them as we speak,” Smyth responded all the while grinning as though he had been awarded the key to the city.
“Good, then by tomorrow morning, Metropolis will have a new threat to contend with, this one emanating from drugged out and hypnotized youth,” Tempus smiled broadly as he clapped Smyth on the back with his hand, thus causing the cigar to fly out of the mouth of the drug lord.
As he scrambled to retrieve it, he looked back over at Tempus. “Will I still get my cash like you promised?”
“A million big ones, just like we agreed on. First we play a little, get Superman out of commission and then you'll get what you have coming,” Tempus said and smiled.
Although he didn't trust Tempus, Smyth knew that the man had the upper hand in this caper. However, he also knew that without Superman around, his business would run much smoother than before. Now that the youth had a good role model, they were saying no to his wares, and he was loosing money.
Without Superman's influence, then perhaps he would have the upper hand with the kids, and they would once again become dependent on him to supply them with what they needed. Without saying anything further, he blew the dust off the cigar, and stuffed it stubbornly in his mouth as he stared at the large kryptonite cage that Tempus had somehow managed to get his hands on, the thoughts of the drug lord no longer on the green bars of the cage, instead, his focus was now on something else that was green in color.
*****
Martha Kent arrived at Lois’ front door at that moment, and she rang the doorbell. She looked down at her watch, and realized that it was half past eleven, but when the door eventually swung open, a surprised Lois was standing on the other side and looking out at her. “Martha, what on earth are you doing here, it’s nearly midnight?”
“Actually, I think you and I need to have a little talk about something,” Martha began as she outlined a letter ‘S’ over her chest, and looked at Lois with an earnest look on her face. “Clark told us that you figured out the truth, but there are a few things you need to know not just about him, but also about why things happened the way they did.”
Lois nodded as she wordlessly backed up allowing Clark's mother to come into the apartment. As the two women got comfortable on the sofa, Lois looked at her expecting her to begin speaking.
“I realize that it may seem out of line for me to come here, but the reason I am here is because I'm concerned about you, but I'm also worried about my son. I thought I should at least try and find out what has happened between you two, and Jonathan is back in Smallville trying to talk to Clark about this so I flew out here this afternoon in the hopes that I could talk to you about what has been happening.”
“Martha, I…” Lois began to speak, but somehow her words trailed off.
“Lois, my son has spent his entire life with one goal in mind, and that is something that you and I, as well as everyone else in this world, takes for granted every single day of our lives. It's this idea of leading a completely normal life without a care in the world. You wake up each morning and you go about your normal routine of getting a cappuccino on your way to work. You don't have to worry about a secret that could have a catastrophic impact on the rest of the world.” As she spoke, she could see that Lois was processing her words.
Taking a deep breath, she continued. “You know that you can simply walk down the street never having to worry about hearing voices ringing in your ears crying out for ‘help’. But you see; Clark lives with this kind of thing every day. He became Superman so that he could use his gifts to help people, not to hide from what he is or keep secrets from those he loves, but so that he could, as Clark, live a normal and productive life. He loves you, Lois, and his reason for keeping this from you was not to hurt, lie to, or to anger you, but simply because he had to.”
The reporter shook her head. “I know you’re trying to help, but I really have to find my own way of dealing with this.”
Martha nodded. “I know you do, but keep in mind that Clark is who my son is, Superman is just an inherited state that he got from Krypton. But, imagine the loneliness he feels at being the only one of his kind here. Just try to picture how you would feel if you were in his shoes and had to live with the burdens that he must deal with.”
As she thought about what Clark’s mother had said, she realized how right Martha was. She really did love Clark even though she was still hurt by what he had done to her. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the wise woman as she got up to leave. “Do you have a place to stay?” She asked trying to keep the focus off of the disturbing thoughts that seemed to emanate her.
“I'm going to spend the night at Clark's apartment, I imagine after being away from there for two weeks, the place could use a little bit of attention,” she said smiling gently at Lois.
“He's been staying in Smallville?” Lois asked softly.
“Yes, but Lois, please give him a chance, let him tell you how he feels, and what he’s experiencing in all of this. He does love you, you know and he really didn't intend to hurt you,” Martha smiled reassuringly at her and once Lois nodded, she left the apartment leaving Lois alone to think about the words she had said.
Once she was gone, Lois went over and sat down on the sofa. Even if I wanted to, she thought sadly to herself, I don't think Clark would even want to talk to me anymore. I wouldn't even know what to say to him, so what does it matter? Maybe when he comes back to the Planet, then we can talk about all of this.
She took a deep breath before getting up to lock the front door. As soon as she had turned the lights out, she went back to her bedroom. As she crawled into bed, she leaned over to turn the light off, but oddly enough, she was not able to sleep. She kept thinking about some of the things Clark had told her when he had been there earlier, but she shook her head when she contemplated the assertions Clark had had about Andrew. There was simply no way that the photographer could be involved with Tempus.
Use your instincts, you're a reporter, Clark's words kept returning to her and she tried with everything that was inside of her to trust those instincts, but they kept telling her the same thing, Clark was overreacting and he was jealous. After a few moments, she started to think about Andrew. As she did a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. He must have dropped from the heavens, she thought as she closed her eyes. After a few moments, she opened them again and stared at the ceiling for some hours, her thoughts drifting from Clark, the man she loved, to Andrew, the new friend she had met at work, and back again.
She remained lying on her back staring at the ceiling, her thoughts adrift until she managed to drift off into a dreamless slumber.
*****
Metropolis was a buzz of activity the following morning when Lois arrived at the Daily Planet building. She rode up to the newsroom in silence and when she reached the floor of the newsroom, she emerged to hear Jimmy’s voice as the young photographer was addressing Monica.
“I tell you there were three armed robberies all of them on one street during a twenty minute span of time,” he was saying and she approached.
“Did you find out anything else about what had happened?” Lois asked Jimmy.
“Yeah, three guys, all seventeen-years-old were found dead outside of the ‘Willis Warehouse’ this morning at six. The police have already sealed off the entire area and when I talked to them this morning, they said that it looked to be an overdose. Anyway, Monica has been doing some research since before you came in and she found out that there is going to be a rave downtown tomorrow night,” Jimmy said.
“A rave, huh?” Lois said more to herself than to him, but she nodded and walked slowly over to the computer terminal where Monica was hastily typing. “You find anything else, Rookie?”
Monica looked up, her expression somewhat bemused; Lois was actually talking to her, and she sounded as though she was trying to be friendly to her.
Smiling weakly, the angel nodded as she began to speak. “Well, according to this website, the ‘Portal of Love’, techno group are planning to have their annual rave for months now. It’s supposed to happen tomorrow night. Now, I was also looking for information about their history and I found this in the Metropolis Police archives.” She reached for a printout and handed it to Lois. “It says that this particular group has been known to have run-ins with the police quite frequently, and more often than not, they have been the object of raids and what have you.”
“So this says that they are rather notorious here,” Lois said once she had consulted the printout. “Jimmy, was there anymore information given when you talked to the police this morning?”
“Yes, they referred me to Dr. Klein from Star Labs. Anyway, according to the police, they said that Superman had requested that the lab run some tests on the traces of medication that were found at the scene this morning, and he affirmed that there were traces of ecstasy as well as some unknown chemical substances. Dr. Klein further concluded that some of these seemed to be mind altering substances inside them, but nothing conclusive has been established as of yet.”
Lois nodded. “You think someone’s trying to drug the kids as a way to control them?”
“Well it seems kind of weird that the entire underworld has apparently gone psychotic on us all in one morning,” Jimmy said.
Seconds later the phone rang and Jimmy grabbed it. “Jimmy Olsen?” After a few moments, he handed the phone to Lois. “It's the police chief, he wants to talk to you.”
Lois accepted the phone. “Hello?” A pause. “A press conference?” Another pause as the officer gave her some more news and she nodded. “Thank you for the information.” With that she hung up the phone. “He said that he’s baffled by what's happening here, and there’s going to be a press conference at the City Council meeting today at one.”
“Something tells me that this is not the makings of an exclusive,” Jimmy muttered as he handed Lois another piece of paper.
“Did the police say anything else when they called?” Lois asked. “You did say that three seventeen-year-olds were found dead outside Willis Warehouse this morning. Is all the criminal activity in the city being committed by young people?”
“You know, they didn’t really say, but according to the police, the culprits of some muggings from early this morning were all committed by teenagers who were known by the police as being repeat offenders of petty crimes, you know pick-pocketing, shoplifting and what have you. I can always go and check the online news service and see if there’s any new developments.” As he spoke, Andrew had arrived and was stepping out of the elevator and was now making his way over towards where Lois, Monica, and Jimmy were all hunched around the computer terminal.
As he reached them, Lois nodded at him as if to say ‘good morning’, but her attention was primarily focused on the papers she now held. Seconds passed and with a new sense of determination, she went back over to her desk leaving Monica and Andrew standing alone. As soon as she reached it, she picked up the phone.
Once Jimmy returned his focus to the computer, Monica got up and excused herself saying that she was going downstairs to get an mocha latte. She motioned to Andrew who followed her to the elevator. Once they came into the small enclosure and the doors had closed, she looked at him.
“Andrew?” She spoke her voice etched with concern and gone were the notions that Lois had been nice to her, and the story they were researching. She could immediately tell that based on Andrew's outward appearance that he was tired bordering on exhausted. “You were there with those three boys?”
He nodded, and she could tell that he carried a look on his face that clearly said: ‘I really don't want to do this’. She knew this look well; it was the same expression that she had seen when some teenage girls who were HIV positive had pondered suicide.
“Did you hear anything about what has been going on around here?” Monica asked.
Andrew nodded numbly, his green eyes filled with utter hopelessness. “Monica, I’ve been on call since five-thirty this morning. I’ve already taken five people Home, and I have another ‘appointment’ in about five minutes,” Andrew said as he reached in his pocket, pulled out his watch.
He opened the golden cover, looked down at the numbers and then back at Monica as he closed the cover and returned the object to his pocket. “I have to get going, but something is happening in this city, Monica, maybe you and Lois can find out what it is. I'm going to see if any other angels have been sent here.” Once the elevator doors opened, Andrew stepped out from the enclosure. As he left her in the building's lobby, she watched as he faded from view. Monica was still staring after him even after he was gone.
“Father, what is happening here?” She whispered under her breath, not really expecting any sort of answer. She stepped out onto the street and looked around. The street seemed to be filled with business people, all of them making their way towards large office buildings. On another street corner, she could see some pale-faced boys dressed in black t-shirts and jeans. A strange feeling encompassed the young angel, but without thinking, she walked in the direction of the small coffee wagon not far away.
As she got her drink and paid for it, one of the youths came over to her, his gray eyes flashing with unkind intent. He started looking her up and down; this action, she realized was not exceedingly a positive mannerism, but she said nothing, not even when she suddenly felt a hand pressed up against her lower back. “Hey baby,” he slurred, his hand becoming heavier against her back.
Monica abruptly turned around, the surprise shadowing not only her face, but also that of the youth, because the coffee cup she now held had practically flown out of her hand and the hot substance spilled, thus the brunt of it landing on the boy's arm. He yelped in pain, as the scalding hot liquid spattered across the exposed skin on his lower arm.
Rather than standing around waiting, he and his three friends ran off shouting obscenities and Monica released a pent-up sigh as they disappeared around a corner. Glancing back, she sought eye contact with the vendor of the coffee wagon. The man smiled at her. “Thanks lady,” he said with obvious relief. “I was convinced that those guys were going to rob me.”
“What’s happening here?” She eventually asked.
The young man shook his head. “I haven't the foggiest, it's like the entire city is drugged out or something.”
Monica nodded, “you don't suppose I might get another mocha latte?”
The young man nodded and handed her a second cup. “This one’s on the house.”
The angel nodded, accepted the cup, and walked back towards the planet building. The vendor was definitely right about one thing, something was happening here, there was something evil in the air and the Irish tongued angel did not like it one single bit.
*****
At the other end of town Andrew was making his way down the street where he met Adam, another Angel of Death and a mutual friend of his and Monica’s. It was obvious that Adam, too, had been sent to Metropolis to take care of the same sorts of things that had taken Andrew away from his current assignment. “Hey Adam?” He called out, and the angel with beard and salt and pepper hair turned abruptly around and came over to where he was now standing.
“Hey Andrew, buddy, what brings you to Metropolis?” Adam asked as he rubbed his hands over his face and eventually made eye contact with his younger friend.
“Monica and I are on assignment here,” Andrew said shaking his head, but when he could see the chaos that seemed to emanate the city, he shook his head. “But, right now, I think I’m here for the same reason you are. Something very strange is going on, it's surreal almost evil in nature,” Andrew said shaking his head. “I’ve already been called away from my regular assignment six times since this morning and I'm at a loss about what is going on.”
“You and me both, I already took three kids home who overdosed, and then I have a tentative 10:15 out on the east side,” Adam said as he shook his head, the entire situation in this city had him somewhat mystified. “Anyway, I heard Monica’s working over at the Planet, does she have any idea what's going on?”
“No, I’m on assignment there as well and neither of us have any idea what is happening here, we just got in this morning to hear that there was a lot of chaos happening in and around the city. I kept having to take off so I didn’t get a chance to find out what, specifically was going on. I just took another kid Home two minutes ago, and now have another tentative assignment in about twenty minutes,” Andrew said sadly. “I wish I knew what was going on, but it's like it's out of our control. It's as though pandemonium is ruling the day.”
“You know that's not true,” Adam objected.
Andrew smiled weakly and nodded. “I know, it just feels that way at times. So much has happened, and this just after everything here had been so quiet. It’s strange.” As a shot was fired in the distance, Adam’s gray eyes widened and he nodded.
“I gotta go, Buddy, that’s my 10:15 goin’ down,” the angel said sadly.
“OK, then I guess I’ll see you later, then. Maybe when all this is over we can meet for a ginger ale,” Andrew suggested.
Adam smiled and within seconds, he walked in the direction of where the gunshot had originated and within seconds had disappeared, thus leaving Andrew standing and staring down the street in the direction of a small delicatessen where he was now being sent.
When he reached the corner, he rounded it all the while, completely unaware that from above, he was being closely watched by Clark Kent, and instead of calming him down, Clark’s concern was only heightened by this particular situation. The one who called himself Adam looked oddly familiar to him, but what Adam had said had triggered a number of feelings that were going rampant in the man of steel.
Like Andrew, Clark had also been working through the night as Superman. He was literally going from one drug bust and dangerous situation straight into another. Thankfully, he did not tire quickly from this, but it did do a run on his emotions.
It was at that precise instant that Clark had reached the realization that he would probably not be able to go back to Smallville and continue the job his alter ego had started, he would have no choice but to return to his life in Metropolis as it was before Lois had learned the truth. Luckily, he happened to work for an editor at the Press who seemed to think that a reporter of Clark's caliber was too experienced in the field to be working at a small town newspaper.
I’ve been selfish, he thought to himself, all this time I had thought about my relationship with Lois, but now looking around, I know that in good conscience, I cannot leave Metropolis, this city needs Superman, and for what it was worth, Superman needed the city; especially now, when things here were literally reaching a breaking point.
With his thoughts still drifting, he returned his focus towards the man in beige who was making his way down the street in the direction of a small Japanese deli that was run by Mr. Yin, a friend of his and Lois.
Without thinking twice about what he was doing, he landed in a nearby alley, quickly switched back into his street clothes and within seconds, had practically cornered Andrew as the angel was coming towards the door that would lead inside the delicatessen.
“Hey,” he called out suddenly, thus causing Andrew to turn around and seeing him standing near the entrance.
Instead of speaking, Andrew consulted his golden watch and when he realized that he had some extra time, he returned the object to his pocket before walking closer to where Clark was waiting. Once he reached where Clark was now standing, Andrew offered him a tired smile.
“Who are you?” Clark asked as opposed to giving the angel any sort of cordial greeting.
“My name is Andrew,” the angel began, his voice soft.
“No, when I said ‘who are you?’ I did not mean name, rank, and serial number, I meant; what are you?” Clark looked at him, his gaze never faltering. When Andrew said nothing, he took a deep breath and continued speaking. “I’ve been watching you.”
“You have?” Andrew asked weakly.
“After I saw you with Helen, I started following you and I would see how you would appear and disappear at will. Don’t try to deny it, you’re not from here, are you?” Clark asked, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
“No, and I'm not denying any of it, Clark,” Andrew said, his voice soft. “Anymore than I did the last time we spoke.”
“We have never spoken,” Clark said eventually, but he knew that he was speaking an untruth, as he could not get the event that had happened at the Planet out of his mind.
“Yes, we did speak, it was a few days ago, you were floating outside of the window at the Daily Planet,” Andrew said calmly. “I know who you are, I also know that you are Superman.”
“Who told you?” Clark asked bitingly. “Tempus?”
Andrew took a deep breath, here was that name again and he was getting more and more confused with this assignment, especially whenever the mention of ‘Tempus’ were to emerge. He remembered what Tess had said about him, but even this information was sketchy, and he could not comprehend how someone would conclude that he and the man from the future were linked. Finally, he spoke. “Please tell me, who is this Tempus? I have heard a little bit about him, but I don’t know who he is and how you could link me to him.”
“How?” Clark asked, his voice emerging more or less as a sarcastic snort. “Shall I start reeling off the list? Let’s see, you appear and disappear at will; that would be enough evidence for me to say that you are either not from Earth or at least not from this time period. What I don't know is who you work for, and why it is you have taken it upon yourself to become all buddy-buddy with Lois.” Clark said evenly.
“Clark, you really don't understand, I don't work for Tempus, I work for God, and no one else,” Andrew said, but he could see disbelief on the face of the other man.
“God?” Clark spoke the name as though it were a question, but there was no denying it, he was baffled. He had heard Tess mention God, and now he was hearing Andrew speak of Him as well. This was getting very, very strange.
Instead of replying to this question, Andrew looked earnestly in the eyes of the other man. “I think deep inside, you know that I would never ever hurt Lois. I also know that you do care very deeply for her, but you have to know that I am not here to start a relationship with her, or hurt the one you and she have built. The truth is, I'm trying to help both of you.”
“You're trying to help us?” Clark shook his head. Somewhere he could sense the truth in Andrew's words, but his jealousy seemed to be what was preventing him from listening to the truth.
The Angel of Death nodded. “I share something very important and significant with you, Clark, I don’t lie. When I said I work for God, I meant it,” Andrew said softly. “However, I have to say that although I would never lie to anyone, I do understand why you have to bend the truth in to protect your identity.”
“How could you know or understand any of this?”
Andrew cocked his head to one side, but did not offer an answer; instead, he waited for Clark to continue processing his words. When he did not speak, the Angel of Death continued. “I realize that this sounds very strange to you, but I do understand.”
“How could you? Have you ever had a secret identity?” Clark demanded but before he could even stop himself, he continued, his voice rising in pitch and fervor as he looked into the compassionate eyes of the angel. “Do you even know how hard it is to keep such a thing a secret from the people you love?”
Andrew nodded. “You may not believe me, but yes, I do.”
“You couldn’t possibly…” Clark said as he shook his head, his words trailing, but before he could take a breath and begin to speak further, Andrew was gone.
Clark remained standing in the alley some moments after Andrew had left and all the while, he continued to ponder whether or not there was even a trace of honesty and truth in Andrew's words. Somewhere deep inside of him, he wanted to believe that Andrew was there to help him, but the words 'too good to be true' kept echoing in his conscious.
Some time passed and the sound of a gunshot catapulted him back to the real world and he raced through the door at super-speed all the while switching back into his blue and red suit. As he ran through the small shop and to the front of the store, he stopped when he recognized that a drugged out teenager had shot Mr. Yin.
Taking a ragged breath, Clark stopped short when he saw that Mr. Yin's youngest daughter was hovering next to his body, the man was loosing blood fast and the teenager’s face streaked with frightened tears.
“Superman,” the girl cried out in broken English as he reached them. “He’s hurt.”
“I know, Li, I'm going to take him to the hospital, but he'll be just fine.” Clark said as he smiled reassuringly at the fourteen-year-old girl.
She nodded and watched as the man of steel picked her father carefully up in his arms, walked outside, and disappeared in a blue streak. At that moment, the young girl looked up to see that she was not alone, there was a handsome man in beige standing over her, his green eyes shining with relief as he regarded her. After a few seconds on the floor, she got up and as she walked towards him, she could feel the tears still streaming down her cheeks. With sad coal black eyes, she regarded the man curiously.
“Who are you?” She whispered softly, the English words emerging slowly.
“A friend,” Andrew spoke, his voice soft as he smiled gently at the young girl.
“Thank you for watching over my father,” she whispered to him and offered him her tiny hands. “He will be OK, yes?”
As the Angel of Death took her offered hands in both of his, he continued to smile at her as he nodded. “Your father is going to be just fine, Li. Don't worry, Superman came at just the right moment.”
The girl nodded and looked up at him, a smile of relief on her face, and once she released his hands, she could see that the angel was now gone and the Japanese girl went over to the counter on one side of the delicatessen and lit the candle that was placed before a small statue of Buddha.
“Thank you,” she whispered as she grasped a heart shaped locket that hung on a golden chain around her neck.
TBC
