TOC Chapter 24:Lois was panting as she reached the morgue. She bent forward and held her sides in a desperate attempt to get her breathing back under control. There was no sign of Henderson. She looked at her wristwatch. It was twenty minutes past 3 p.m. Traffic had been tough. She doubted a cab could have brought her here any sooner than the subway had. Still, she wished she'd made it earlier.
Heaving a sigh, she stared at the closed doors of the Metropolis morgue. Should she just walk in or wait for Henderson outside? Had he meant that he would arrive or leave at 3 p.m.? She wished that she’d taken the time to ask.
Lois muttered a curse. But her gut feeling told her that he wouldn't have been more specific if she'd asked him at gunpoint. It was a miracle that he'd agreed to meet her at all.
Lois paced back and forth, eyeing the closed door with mounting frustration. Any other day she might have just stormed in. But she knew she was going to need Henderson on her side if push came to shove. Getting him to meet her here was testing his limits, she knew. There was no way he'd simply shrug off a transgression like this.
Lois balled her hands into tight fists and reminded herself that some things could only be achieved by patience.
She resumed pacing while arguing with herself over whether she should try to call Henderson at the precinct. It made no sense to wait in front of the morgue for someone who might not even appear. He might be gone already, or perhaps he’d postponed this appointment, because something else was more important. Who knew?
The dead guy in the morgue wasn’t going to run away. Unlike she and Clark, Henderson had all the time in the world. It wasn’t likely there would be much public interest in the deaths of a convict, a petty crook or even a lawyer.
Again, Lois cursed herself for not asking a more specific time.
Her gaze drifted toward her watch. The big hand had moved all of five minutes. Lois' gritted her teeth. She was terrible at being patient. How long was she even going to stand here and wait for Henderson? Another five minutes? Half an hour? A full hour? She huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest to keep herself from glancing at the watch every five seconds. Time was ticking by slowly enough as it was.
What was Clark doing right now? Was he still in the hospital or on some island in Asia? Would he be able to reclaim his body or just end up wiping himself out, even diminishing their chances of success? Hadn’t Kelly warned him that the switches were costing both Lex and Clark? Lois squeezed her eyes shut, trying to rid herself of the unwanted thoughts. If only she were doing something more productive than pacing in front of the morgue, hoping for a new lead that might or might not pan out.
How had she never realized that in times like this she craved Clark’s advice? He always seemed to know exactly what to do in such situations.
Her lips twitched into a wry smile. Well, of course he did, He would tip down his glasses and check the insides of the building. Being patient must be a whole lot easier if one knew that the thing you were waiting for was going to happen.
Just when Lois thought she couldn’t take it any longer and had to do something to find out if this whole pacing thing was just an awful waste of her time, she saw movement behind the glass doors of the morgue. She hoped that it meant Henderson was finally coming. Staring at the door with bated breath and at the same time trying to appear as casual as she could, Lois unfolded her arms and did her best to relax.
But the tension didn’t quite leave her until she saw Henderson open the door. He stepped to the side, waiting until Mayson Drake left the building before following her. The Assistant DA stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted Lois.
Her expression turned into a tight mask of fake indifference that just barely concealed her dislike of Lois. “What are
you doing here?”
Taking a deep breath, Lois swallowed down the snippy reply that was already on the tip of her tongue. “I need to talk to Henderson. To you both, actually.”
“Talk about what?” Mayson said curtly.
The assistant DA folded her arms in front of her chest and pursed her lips. Her gaze drifted over Lois to the empty space next to her where Clark would usually be and help her along. Lois managed to hold Mayson’s gaze for a moment, feeling beads of sweat on her forehead. Her heart rate picked up, and her palms felt clammy. In the back of her mind, Clark’s voice was urging her to already tell Mayson everything she knew before she could ask why Clark wasn’t with her.
It was obvious that Mayson wasn’t happy to see her and Lois felt the own hairs in the back of her neck rise. She wanted to be anywhere but here, speaking to Mayson about what had happened. But Clark was right. It was insane to try and bring down SuperLex without so much as a backup plan.
No matter what she’d told Clark, walking into S.T.A.R. Labs to steal kryptonite wasn’t going to be easy.
She felt both Henderson’s and Mayson’s eyes on her. Henderson’s forehead furrowed as he waited for her to say something while Mayson looked like she’d leave if Lois didn’t make up her mind soon.
Lois opened her lips to speak, but the words still wouldn’t come. If Mayson and Henderson knew what kind of a threat Superman currently was, they might be valuable allies. But Lois hated the idea of confirming Mayson’s prejudices concerning the Man of Steel. Would that woman be even able to see the difference between Lex and Clark? Would she recognize the significance of the kind heart inside the real Superman’s chest, when there was such overwhelming evidence that a being with Superman’s powers had the potential to be a monster?
Lois didn’t want to give Mayson the key to destroying the man she loved. How could she ever expect her to trust Superman when, right now, not even Clark seemed capable of trusting himself?
“Are you going to say what you want or do you leave us guessing?” Mayson huffed. “This is not the place to give press statements. How did you even know we’d be here?”
“I told her.” Henderson replied, startling Lois.
She’d almost forgotten about his presence. Her gaze drifted toward him, registering the same worn trench coat that seemed to accompany him wherever he went. His slightly tinted glasses shielded his eyes, making his expression even harder to read than it already was.
Mayson’s lips became a tight line. “I didn’t realize you were fond of the press,” she said to Henderson.
“I’m not.” The inspector frowned. “But Lane knows a lot more about our victim here than I do - about our victims, to be precise. In two days, we have three bodies, and my instinct tells me they’re linked. Lane tells me the same, so I’m listening.”
Mayson huffed again but said no more. Just her eyes narrowed on Henderson, giving a quiet warning that he’d better not jeopardize their case by revealing too much to a journalist.
As Lois watched their quiet exchange, she realized that her chances to see Rollie Vale had just dropped from slim to non-existent. It shouldn’t bother her, because she wasn’t even sure what she was hoping to accomplish here in the first place. But still, her instinct told her that Vale’s role was important. Though, admittedly, she was wrong on occasion.
Lois tried to suppress the notion that she was just wasting her time. “What did you find out?”
Henderson shook his head. “Pending investigation, Lane. What is this all about? I mean, it’s no surprise that you’re a pain in my neck. But this is far more than your usual tenacity. So, what is really going on here? All this stuff about kryptonite and Superman.”
Mayson inhaled sharply. “Superman?”
A shiver ran down Lois’ spine. What was she doing here? There was no way any of this was going to help Clark. All she could do was deliver the reason for Mayson to get rid of Superman forever. But… her heart pounded heavily in her chest… that was exactly what Clark expected her to do. Lois closed her eyes as a rush of nausea hit her.
“I’m sure kryptonite is the reason why St. John and Bender visited Vale in prison,” Lois said softly. “What I don’t understand is why St. John killed him. If Vale still had the kryptonite, then it would have made a lot more sense to break him out of prison. I mean, the guy was a nutcase, but he wasn’t stupid. I seriously doubt he would have told St. John where to find the crystal without getting something in return.”
Henderson folded his arms in front of his chest and his gaze drifted back and forth between Mayson and Lois. He seemed torn between heeding the Assistant DA’s warning and throwing Lois a bone in the hopes of getting to the bottom of this.
Anger welled up in Lois’ chest, and she felt the strong urge to reach out and shake some sense into both of them. Didn’t they understand that there were things going on here that were a lot more important than the solidity of Mayson’s case?
But how could they? She’d given Henderson nothing but the barest of hints.
“Well, the autopsy didn’t reveal much,” Henderson said haltingly.
Once again he exchanged looks with Mayson, whose eyes glared another warning. But the expression on the inspector’s face was a quiet plea to bear with him in this instance. He heaved a sigh, unfolded his arms again and stuffed them into the pockets of his coat. He kicked at a stone that skittered a few yards over the ground. Lois wondered whether that meant he was going to stop talking or not. She clenched her hands into tight fists and quietly told herself to give the man another minute. Again, it seemed like she was hearing Clark’s voice in the back of her mind, cautioning her that her usual head-on approach was likely to backfire in a situation like this. But the inspector was wearing her patience thin.
“He was poisoned, as far as the medical examiner could tell,” Henderson finally revealed. “The only other thing that was odd about the man is that he obviously had an artificial arm that was far more advanced than any technology I’ve ever seen. It looked like it was real.”
“That’s enough, Bill,” Mayson chimed in sharply. She focused her attention back on Lois. “What were you saying about Superman?” she asked, her chin raised in slight defiance but her eyes curious.
“Artificial arm?” Lois piped up, alarmed. Memories of Johnny Corben and his kryptonite-powered body surfaced.
“Hey, Lois, I asked you a question,” Mayson tried again.
Taking her chances in ignoring Mayson, Lois stepped closer to Henderson. “Did you study it any closer? It might have contained kryptonite as an energy source. Vale used the substance before to power the cyborg known as Metallo.” She started pacing as the pieces of the puzzle slipped into place. She slapped her forehead. “Of course that was where he kept the kryptonite. And St. John must have recognized the significance of the artificial limb. We kept the kryptonite out of our article, but as Lex’s right hand, he would have guessed how Metallo had been able to defeat Superman. He killed Vale because he knew it would be much easier to break into the morgue than try to get the man out of prison.”
Henderson blinked. “Are you telling me Vale has kryptonite in his arm?”
“Well, he should if St. John didn’t already get his hands on it,” Lois replied.
Her mind started racing, and she felt a strange flutter of excitement in her stomach. Could she really be so lucky that she’d find kryptonite here of all places? But if she did, how was she going to get Henderson and Mayson to hand it over to her? She drew a shuddering breath and racked her mind for an explanation that would be so close to the truth that it wasn’t going to come back and haunt her if by some evil twist of fate they would find out what was really going on.
Meanwhile, Mayson’s lips had become a very tight line. “Would anyone care to enlighten me what it is you two are talking about?”
Henderson ran his hand through his hair and let out a puff of air. “Yesterday, we found the body of one Ramin Tarbush, who was involved in the abduction of our second victim, Luthor’s former lawyer, Sheldon Bender. Bender and Luthor’s former butler, Nigel St. John, who we think also worked for him as an assassin and who was an MI-5 agent before he immigrated to the States…” He trailed off and shook his head as if he was having trouble sorting his thoughts. Then he gave a shrug. “Anyway - St. John and Bender visited our third victim, Rollie Vale, in prison and a few hours later, Vale is found dead in his cell. According to what Lane tells us he might have wanted to get his hands on kryptonite-”
“Or he already did,” Lois snapped impatiently. “Which is why you should go back into the morgue now and find out if the crystal is still there.” She couldn’t believe that they were still standing here talking while there were much more important things to do. “I don’t even want to think about the havoc St. John could wreak with kryptonite.”
Henderson rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, Lois. Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a bit here? We could always warn Superman and -”
“No, we can’t,” Lois cried.
Her eyes widened as she realized what she’d just said. She clapped her hand to her mouth, but it was too late. The words were out. And as Mayson’s expression changed from annoyed to curious, she knew that the Assistant DA hadn’t missed their significance.
She narrowed her eyes on Lois. “Okay, out with it. What’s going on here? Why shouldn’t we tell Superman that someone is threatening his life?”
Lois swallowed hard. She opened her lips, but no words would come out. No matter what Clark might have to say about it, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Mayson what exactly had happened to Superman. And even if she did, she strongly doubted that anyone was going to believe the truth.
Henderson’s jaw tensed. “From what I gathered from our last conversation, Lane seems to believe that Luthor somehow managed to obtain control over Superman.”
Lois raised her chin defiantly. “Well, that’s exactly what he did.”
“Oh, come on, please,” Henderson threw up his hands in exasperation. “And how would he have accomplished that? The guy is dead. He jumped off Lex Tower and fell over a hundred floors down. And I know for a fact that Superman didn’t save him because I had to watch as the M.E.’s assistants wiped his remains off the ground. It wasn’t a pretty sight, I assure you.”
A look of disgust flashed across his face, but Lois also thought she heard guilt in his voice. The way he pursed his lips and his whole body tensed, it was easy to tell that memories of that day were still haunting him.
Lois felt bad for delivering another blow to his ego. “And then you lost his body because someone stole it and revived Lex."
Mayson frowned and shook her head in disbelief. “So you’re saying that Superman is no longer in control of his actions and someone else, a dead man at that, is what - steering him?” She folded her arms in front of her chest and wrinkled her nose. “I have evidence saying that Superman was responsible for the destruction in the harbor area this morning. And you’re trying to tell me he’s not?”
It was obvious to Lois that Mayson had no intention of giving her explanation as much as a second thought. Not that it surprised her much. Mayson had never been a fan of Superman. In her opinion, Superman was like a loose cannon. The way the other woman’s lips curled in contempt; she probably didn’t think Superman needed much of a reason to be out of control. Mayson had more than once voiced that she considered the Man of Steel a vigilante who was unwilling to respect the law.
“As a matter of fact, yes." Lois huffed in frustration.
It seemed like her time would be better spent trying to get blood from a stone than convincing Mayson of anything. The analogy was a painful reminder of the bargain Clark had been forced to strike with Lex's nutcase doctor.
Lois balled her hands into tight fists and took a shaky breath, fighting to retain her composure. "Look, I can’t explain what’s going on. You wouldn’t believe me anyway. And I know how crazy I’m sounding when I tell you that Lex Luthor is on the loose and in control of Superman. But no matter what you think about me, neither of you can honestly tell me that you believe it’s a good idea that people like Nigel St. John get their hands on kryptonite.”
Her chest heaved with every breath she took, and for a moment, Lois had the strong impulse to just strangle both Henderson and Mayson into submission. All she wanted was to find out if Nigel already had kryptonite, or if fate was finally blessing her with a lucky twist. She pressed her nails into her palms to quench the urge to grab Henderson’s lapels and shake some sense into him.
Lois silently counted to ten before addressing the inspector. “Now, would you please go back inside and look if the kryptonite is still in Vale’s arm or not?”
Henderson pursed his lips, clearly not liking that Lois was trying to boss him around. He shared a glance with Mayson, perhaps in the hopes of finding an ally in her. However, his face fell when the Assistant DA gave a slight nod and indicated that she, too, wanted him to go back inside and check Vale’s body for kryptonite.
The inspector voiced his disapproval with a heavy sigh, then he reluctantly turned and trudged back into the morgue. His hands were still stuffed deep into the pockets of his coat, and the way he hunched his head between his shoulders, it was difficult to tell if he considered his endeavor a waste of time or if he just hated that Lois Lane of all people was ordering him around.
When the doors closed behind Henderson, Mayson relaxed her stance a bit. “Is Clark working with you on this story? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
Lois felt the familiar wave of jealousy and anger wash over her that seemed to accompany her every encounter with Mayson Drake.
“What is it?” she said testily. “Are you more inclined to give Superman the benefit of the doubt if I had Clark repeat to you what I just said?”
Against her will, Lois felt new tears prick in her eyes. She blinked them back, not willing to give into her despair now, least of all in front of Mayson Drake. Geez, how she wished that she could answer Mayson’s question with a wholehearted yes. What she wouldn't give to entwine her fingers with Clark's and get a reassuring squeeze of his hand that told her they were going to get through all of this, no matter what. How many times has she complained about having to work with him? How many times had she forced him to go his separate ways because she'd been upset about insignificant things? It seemed like she was unable to value him unless she was about to lose him. Why did he put up with her?
"I'm sorry, Lois," Mayson said quietly. "I didn't want to imply that Clark's word counts more than yours. I just wondered… well, I never made a secret of my opinion on Superman."
"No, you didn't," Lois replied tersely.
Mayson unfolded her arms, relaxing her stance a bit. "Now, if the two of you suddenly are on the same page as I am concerning him-"
"I doubt we are on the same page here," Lois interrupted her. "And no matter what you seem to believe about Clark, he'd be telling you the same." Lois felt a pang of uncertainty. After her last conversation with Clark, she wasn't so sure if he hadn't adopted Mayson's critical view after all. "At least he should. You don't know Clark as well as you think."
Mayson bore her eyes into Lois'. "Why don't you let me and Clark decide whether we're right for each other?"
Lois was about to give Mayson a piece of her mind but clamped her mouth shut before she could say anything she'd come to regret. It wasn't her place to reveal Clark's secret to Mayson, not if she could help it. Lois had never understood what Clark saw in Mayson. Now that Lois was in on his secret, she understood it even less. Mayson would never be able to accept him the way he was. So why hadn't he come clean about the fact that there could be no future for them? Was he still hoping that she’d come around?
Lois saw the longing in Mayson's gaze and she felt pity for the woman. She was in love with a man but hated a side of him that she didn’t even know about. It was unfair and not unlike her own experience, when Lex had fooled her into believing he was a good person.
Lex! Lois’ breath caught as she thought about him. Should she warn Mayson that Clark wasn’t who she thought he was, even less so than usual? Would Lex know about Mayson’s attraction to Clark and find a way to exploit it? It was a terrifying thought. But at the same time, the scenario was so unlikely that she didn’t want to risk exposing Clark’s secret over it. Even so, Lois realized it wouldn’t be prudent to reveal any of her plans to Mayson. If there was even the slightest chance she’d talk to Lex in Clark’s body, then they were doomed.
“You’re right, what’s going on between Clark and you is really none of my business,” Lois said tersely.
She wrapped her coat tighter around herself, feeling cold all of a sudden. Clark had told her he loved her, but the old hard feelings toward Mayson were creeping back up on her nonetheless. And for the first time she was willing to admit that jealousy was a huge part of those emotions.
Inspector Henderson saved them from having to continue their conversation. He left the morgue with a brisk pace, his hands still stuffed into the pockets of his coat.
“No kryptonite,” he announced. “But you were right about the arm having some sort of power source. Whatever it was, though, it’s gone.”
Lois felt her heart sink. “Then St. John was quicker.”
She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. He’d told her as much, but deep down she’d hoped that he’d just been bragging about having kryptonite. Why couldn’t they be lucky just this once? Lois wanted nothing more than to get her hands on that green crystal and return to Clark so they could really start fighting Lex. Despair settled upon her, and for a moment, she thought about asking Henderson to turn a blind eye toward S.T.A.R. Labs. Or maybe she could convince Mayson to break in with her. Maybe the prospect of getting rid of Superman forever would suffice to make the Assistant DA her partner in crime.
“Whatever you do, don’t talk to Superman about it,” Lois said quietly. “Clark won’t be happy about this.”
She muttered a goodbye, hoping that the last sentence would keep Mayson away from the Planet for the foreseeable future. But given their streak of bad luck, lately, she wasn’t going to place any bets on it.
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