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Synopsis of Chapters 1 - 9 Missing Lois - TOC ***
Where we left off in Part 8...Lois shook her head, clicking on the directory. “Here are the sketches he did of the refugees’ missing baby. And… Clark.” She pointed the arrow of the cursor at two files entitled Lara1 and Lara2. She clicked on the first file. Up came the computer sketch of Lara she had seen him with a month before when Perry had made him clean out his desk. “Clark…”
“I see it, Lois.”
The Lara1 file was a composite sketch of Lois and Superman. She closed the file. Then opened Lara2. This sketch, almost identical to the first, was a composite of her and Clark.
“Why would he do that?”
Lois shook her head. “I don’t know. Either way, we better tell him to change his password.” She deleted those files, closed out of the program and switched off Jimmy’s computer. She glanced up at Clark.
“Well, now we know. It doesn’t bring her back to us, does it?” Clark’s voice sounded tired, withdrawn. “He was my best friend, Lois.”
Lois wrapped her arms around him. “He still is, Clark. He did this to save her.”
Her husband held on to her. “I wish he hadn’t. I wish he had told me. I never would have let…”
“Me, either.”
Perry walked up to them. “Any word?”
Lois could feel Clark shake his head.
“Henderson’s here. I’ve put him in the conference room.”
Lois let go of Clark and wrapped her arms around Perry, hugging him for the second time that day. “I’m sorry, Perry. We don’t want to do this.”
She heard their boss sniffle. “That boy made his bed. He’s going to have to sleep in it.”
As they reached the conference room, the elevator dinged. Lois glanced over at it and saw a familiar mop of tawny hair emerge.
Part 9“Jimmy!” Lois shouted, running to the elevators.
Clark beat her there, grabbing Jimmy by the arms. “Where’s Lara?”
Jimmy glanced over his shoulder as Penny pushed Lara’s stroller out of the elevator. Lois unsnapped her daughter and had her in her arms moments later. Clark hugged the two of them, closing the bond circle.
The moment was interrupted by a tap on Clark’s shoulder. “Do me a favor, Kent. Don’t hurt them.”
Lois and Clark turned in unison at the sound of Bruce Wayne’s voice.
“They’re just kids,” Bruce continued. “They thought they were helping.”
Clark glared at him, putting himself between Lois and Lara and that man. “
I don’t hurt people, Wayne.”
“Kids?” Penny sneered.
Lois placed a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “I knew you’d come to your senses.”
Clark shifted his gaze to his friend. “You had us worried, Jimmy.”
Jimmy looked down. “I’m sorry, CK. I kind of acted without thinking. Lois was freakin’ and you were…”
A slight shake of Clark’s head made Jimmy pause.
“Unreachable,” Jimmy finished. He glanced at Penny. “We…”
“She was perfectly safe the whole time, Clark,” Penny reassured them. “We were hoping you wouldn’t find the note until…” She glanced at Bruce.
“Bruce, what are you doing here?” Lois said, glaring at him. “You aren’t welcome here.”
Bruce smiled. “It’s good to see you again, too, Lois.”
Perry and Henderson arrived at the elevators at this moment.
“What in Sam Hill were you thinking, Olsen?” growled Perry.
Jimmy glanced at Clark and then back at the floor. “I wasn’t, Chief.”
“It seems to be a horrible misunderstanding, Henderson,” said Clark. “We won’t need to press charges after all.”
Jimmy swallowed, glancing at Clark. “Charges?” Clark was staring at him sternly. His friend shifted his focus to Perry.
“What in blue blazes did you think he was going to do, Jimmy? You took his child,” the Chief reproached the young man.
“CK, I… I …” Jimmy stammered. “I was only thinking of you and Lois.”
Clark patted his arm. “We know that, Jimmy, which is why we waited until the last minute to contact Henderson here. But Lois and I promised to submit Lara for a blood test if we were unable to find the refugee couple’s missing baby. We were under legal obligation to do so.”
Henderson sighed. “You still are, Kent. Ready?”
Bruce stepped forward. “No, they’re not.”
“Don’t interfere, Wayne,” said Clark, trying to move around him. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Bruce continued to block their path. “Actually, it does. As new owner of the
Daily Planet, I cannot have my star investigative reporters distracted by personal problems.”
“It’s none of your business, Bruce,” said Lois. “Just butt out.”
“It’s too late for that, Lois. You see, your nanny Penny here kindly supplied me with a sample of your daughter’s blood. With this sample, I was able to get a DNA genetic match for Lara’s biological parents.”
Lois froze and slowly turned back to face him. “Excuse me?”
Bruce smiled. “I was able to track down Lara’s biological parents. They were resolute about their reasons for leaving their daughter with you.”
Lois scoffed. “
You spoke to them?”
Nodding, he pulled out a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Henderson. “Here is my sworn affidavit stating that I have been in contact with Lara’s biological parents, that they have named the Kents here as legal guardians of their daughter, until which time the Kents can legally adopt her, and thus giving up all their parental rights at that time to the Kents and only the Kents. On that one fact, they were more than adamant.”
Lois poked her finger into Bruce’s chest. “You took a sample of my daughter’s blood and had it analyzed without our permission? Then you tracked down her birth parents without informing us? Do you know how many boundaries you just crossed?”
Bruce shrugged. “The greater good…”
“The greater good?” Clark snapped. “What? Invading my family’s privacy, so that Lois and I could do our jobs so that you could sell a few more newspapers… that’s the greater good?”
“Win-win.” Bruce smiled indulgently.
“Mr. Wayne… I think what Clark is saying here… you don’t fight in battles to which you haven’t been invited,” explained Perry. “Also, did you say that you’re the new owner of the
Daily Planet? As in Multiworld Communications is gone?”
“Yes, I have been in negotiations with Mindy Church over the
Daily Planet for the last few weeks. The papers were signed last night.” He tapped on the railing to get everyone’s attention. Then he announced to the newsroom, “Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who don’t know me, I’m Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Enterprises and new owner of the
Daily Planet.”
“This does have a familiar ring to it,” whispered Lois with derision. Clark’s lips were pressed into a line.
Perry held out his hand with a grin. “Welcome on board, Mr. Wayne. I’m Perry White, Editor and Chief here at the
Daily Planet.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Mr. White. Lois speaks highly of you.”
“I wish I could say the same of you,” Perry chuckled.
“I must admit, it was that interview that Lois gave…” Bruce coughed. “I gave to Lois several months ago that intrigued me. Never have I had such hard hitting questions. Never one to back down from a fight or a question unanswered. I find such perseverance in this day and age to be quite rare in the media industry as a whole. Especially in the age of TV, the internet, and tabloid journalism. Such qualities should be rewarded so I threw my hat into the ring to buy this dusty old paper and make her sparkle again.”
“Dusty? Old?” growled Perry. “I’m betting you don’t know anything about putting a newspaper to bed.”
“Don’t care to, either, Mr. White. That’s your job. I don’t plan on making any modifications to your operations, just a few minor upgrades and no layoffs.” He raised a brow at Perry, who grinned ecstatically.
Jimmy looked at Clark. “I have heard this speech before.”
Clark nodded. So had he.
“I just want to make sure that there are good, honest people out there working for truth and justice and…”
“That’s Superman,” Perry laughed.
Clark raised a brow at Bruce with a scowl.
“And nobody works better with Superman than the
Daily Planet. He loves you guys. Or, at least, used to. I must say, I’ve hated the editorial direction this paper has taken since Multiworld Communications took over and I’d like to see it go back to the good, honest truth. None of this pro and con reporting. News is facts, not opinion.”
“Even if it means an exposé on our new owner?” Lois inquired, shifting her daughter over to her other hip.
Bruce’s smile widened. “Clark, she’s got spunk. I’ve got to give her that. I can see why you love her so.” He stared at Lois and raised his brows. “Bring it on, honey, I’ve nothing to hide.”
“Don’t call me ‘honey,’” she snarled, enunciating every word.
Clark stepped between them again and glared at Bruce. “I’m not working for you, Wayne. Not now, not ever. Come on, Lois.” He walked down the ramp to his desk.
“Clark?” Lois asked, following after him. “Clark!”
He grabbed his coat. “Let’s go home. Unless Henderson still…” He glanced over at the inspector who followed them down to their desks.
“I don’t know, Kent. This paperwork of Wayne’s looks legit. Let me talk it over with the Captain and the D.A. and I’ll get back to you. If only he revealed who her birth parents….”
“Sealed and locked in my vault, Detective. Should Lara or the Kents ever wish to know, I’ll give it to them and only them,” Bruce Wayne had followed them, too.
“Inspector,” corrected Henderson. “I’m an Inspector.”
“Butt out of my life, Wayne,” Clark insisted, taking hold of Lois’s elbow.
“I hope you reconsider, Clark. There will always be a job, here, at the
Daily Planet for you.”
“Last time I checked, this is still a free country, Wayne. A democracy, not a dictatorship. I get to choose with whom and for whom I work.” Clark looked at the billionaire with contempt. “And it’s not you.”
Bruce chuckled. “Honestly, Clark. I’m hurt. You’d work for Luthor, for Luckaby and even Mindy Church, but not for Wayne Enterprises. I find that quite ironic.”
“Don’t forget, I know all about you. All your dirty secrets.” Clark glared at him, eye to eye, nose to nose. “I could leave this job with a bang.”
Bruce’s smile grew larger. “Like you, Clark, I have nothing to hide.”
“Clark?” Lois took hold of her husband’s arm. “He’s not worth it.”
Clark hesitated a moment, a final glare at Wayne, then accepted Lara from Lois as she put on her coat and grabbed her briefcase. Without another word, they walked back to where Penny stood with the stroller by the elevators.
“I’m so sorry,” Penny said to Lois as the mother strapped Lara into the stroller.
Lois stood up and held out her hand. “The keys to my house, please.”
“I never meant to hurt you or Clark. I was only trying to help.” Penny dug into her purse and pulled out the Kent’s house keys, handing them over.
“We know that, Penny. But you’ve crossed too many lines.” Lois put the keys into her coat pocket. “Not that I really need to say this, but you’re fired.”
Penny sighed. “Yeah. I figured that was coming. No hard feelings, I hope.”
Clark looked at her with a shake of his head. “In time, perhaps.”
“Well, it wouldn’t have lasted much longer anyway. Bruce has offered me a job, programming something for his secret weapons division while I attend graduate school. He’s offered me a full scholarship to Gotham University.”
Lois raised a brow and turned to glance at Bruce Wayne across the newsroom. “Weapons division, huh?” Hadn’t he told her that Wayne Enterprises didn’t make weapons?
Penny’s eyes opened wide. “No. Not weapons. Top secret… Crap.”
Clark chuckled. “Don’t fret it, Penny. Just try harder. Some secrets need to be kept.”
She nodded. “Right, I know.” Then she stared Clark in the eyes, lowering her voice. “He’s not that bad of a guy, you know, under all that façade. You really won’t work with him? He could use a friend, though I bet he’d be the last one to admit it.”
“What’s that old adage, with friends like that, who needs enemies?” Clark replied, pushing the elevator button.
Penny grabbed his arm. “Clark, he was trying to protect me, okay. He saw that I was scared, afraid of what you might do, because I sent that tissue to my brother. Once I realized what I had done, who she really is, I tried to have him destroy it.” She glanced at Lois. “He didn’t know it would hurt her. Trust me on this. He was just trying to protect me. He’s a decent guy, really he is.”
The elevator opened and Clark entered without another word. Lois glanced back at her, before pushing the stroller forward. “You know, he doesn’t date his employees, Penny, don’t you?”
“Date him? This is an employment opportunity of a lifetime, Lois. There are other men out there I can date,” she said as the elevator closed.
Clark wrapped his arms around his wife. “Alone at last.”
Lois started to chuckle.
“What’s so funny?”
“Bruce Wayne is smitten and Penny isn’t going to give him the time of day.”
“What? No, you heard her. They’re just friends, Lois.”
Her chuckles became laughter. “Clark, I’ve seen that expression on his face too many times. That isn’t friendship.”
“What expression?”
Lois turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. “The way Clark Kent looks at his Lois Lane. I know smitten when I see it.”
Clark pointed at his face. “Oh, you mean, this expression?” He kissed her.
“So, you really going to quit the
Daily Planet?” she asked.
“I can’t work for him, Lois.”
She pressed her lips together. “Going to tell me why, now?”
He sighed and shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Is he really worse than Luthor? Is he Bureau 39?”
The elevator stopped and she turned around and took hold of the stroller handles again. Clark still had his arms around her. “Different, Lois,” he whispered. “But not worse. I’m still not sure what he is.”
“A socially inept clod with a big ego and a pocketbook to match, who wants to control his world with an iron fist?”
Clark laughed softly. “Something like that.”
“Definitely not friendship material.”
“Definitely not.”
Lois smiled, happy to finally be heading home with her family at last.
***
Clark sighed. In the other dimension, Professor Cole had tied up his pregnant wife in a straitjacket and had held her at gunpoint in a padded cell at S.T.A.R. Labs, because she had accused him of murder while she was delusional. Cole had even knocked Klein over the head for trying to stop him from injecting her with some kind of sedative. No wonder the other him had knocked the man out.
Clark ran his fingers through his hair. He wondered what he would have done to the man, if he had flown in and seen him treating his pregnant wife like that. He remembered what he did to Ralph just for insulting Penny. What would he have done if someone else had taken Lara? Someone he did not trust? Lois told him that the other Clark did not have his emotions in check as well as Clark did. But still… Clark wondered.
Lara fell asleep after her dinner of squash and rice cereal, never knowing how worried her parents had been the whole afternoon. It was late. Clark and Lois had spent the evening talking. She had told him more tales from her year abroad. Most had been easier to hear than that one with Cole. The more distance she put between her and the other dimension, the easier it was for her to speak about it. He knew she was still holding something back. He only wished he knew what.
Lois was upstairs in the shower. Maybe he should join her, he thought, a smile spreading over his lips. He stood up as the phone began to ring. He didn’t want to answer it. After the day they had had, he really didn’t want to talk to anyone but Lois.
The machine picked up.
“
Clark, we need to talk…”
Clark picked up the phone. “I don’t
need to talk to you, Wayne.”
“Then why did you pick up the phone?” Bruce snapped back. “Luthor Towers. Roof. Ten minutes.” Then he hung up.
Clark sighed and then hung up. Why had he picked up the phone?
He zipped upstairs. Lois was just stepping out of the shower. If he hadn’t answered the phone…
“Lois, I’m going to patrol.”
She stuck her head out of the bathroom. “OK. Hurry home.”
He kissed her lightly and then deepened it. “I love you, wife.”
“I love you, too, husband.”
Clark’s hand slipped under her towel and she swatted it away. “Go, patrol.” Lois laughed. “Naughty boy.”
He grinned, lowering his glasses. His wife slammed the bathroom door shut.
“I can still see you,” he teased and heard her giggle.
Clark smiled and zipped back downstairs, spinning into his blue suit and jumping out the window.
Batman was waiting for him and Superman wondered if he had called from the roof.
“What do you want?” Superman asked him, his annoyance shining through his words.
The Caped Crusader didn’t speak for a minute. “Bruce was only trying to help Clark, Superman.”
The Man of Steel pressed his lips together so Batman couldn’t see the smile that was trying to reach his mouth. Did it sound that funny when he talked about himself in the third person? Or was this whole situation ridiculous? Two grown men in costumes, standing on the roof in the middle of the night talking about themselves as if they weren’t there. The only thing stopping him from laughing was his dislike of the other man.
“He did help,” Superman finally admitted. “What I don’t understand is why.”
Batman jumped down off his perch on top of an air conditioner unit and leaned against it. “Would it make Clark feel better if he knew Bruce did it for purely selfish reasons?”
“It might.” Superman raised a curious eyebrow wondering how helping Lois and Clark out of their adoption mess with Lara could possibly help Bruce Wayne.
“I didn’t want everyone to know. He didn’t want Clark’s wife and child put in harm’s way, if there was a way he could prevent it.”
Superman waited to hear the selfish reasoning, but Batman had gone quiet. Clark waited and waited and then he realized what was missing. Grudgingly, he murmured, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Batman replied. “Was that so hard?”
“Extremely,” Superman confessed.
“See, I told you, I’m not that bad of a guy.”
Superman rolled his eyes. “I’m never working for you.”
“I never asked
you to nor would I ever assume that you would. But I see no harm in letting Clark Kent continue to work at the
Daily Planet. It’s a better newspaper with him there.”
“Why buy the paper at all? Bruce Wayne has never shown an interest in media before.”
“Again, purely selfish reasons. Mindy Church was driving you crazy, depressing you with all the negative coverage. It was showing up in your work.”
“Excuse me?” snarled Superman.
“That slip-up about your wife, for one.”
“That was Red Kryptonite,” Superman snapped.
“I thought Red Kryptonite made your powers go all haywire.”
“That’s before they grazed me with that Green Kryptonite bullet. Now, it just makes my emotions out of control again.”
“Again? It’s happened before?”
Superman shrugged. He didn’t really wish to discuss it.
“And I thought I had problems.”
“It’s more annoying than bad. Bullets don’t harm me, but a little exposure to this rock…” Superman didn’t finish that sentence.
“I hope you don’t mind that Bruce purchased the paper.”
“It feels like he’s trying to control Clark’s life,” replied Superman.
“He’s trying to give Clark back the control he once had in his life.”
That would be nice, thought Superman. “Why?”
“So you can be the best superhero you can be without unnecessary distractions.”
“Like Clark’s boss trying to sabotage his every move?”
“And Social Services trying to take away Clark’s daughter.”
That made sense, except it didn’t explain the selfish reasoning behind it. Superman decided to use the old stand-by. Crossing his arms, he waited. And waited.
Finally, Batman spoke. “Because if you are at your best, you can help me be my best.”
A-ha, the selfish reasoning. “How?”
“By being my sounding board. By being someone I can talk to when something goes wrong. You’ve got Lois and, I guess, I’ve got Alfred, but they don’t really understand how it feels when you do everything right, but the person you’re trying to help still dies.”
Superman sighed. “That’s always hard.”
“Alfred says I need someone to talk to who knows what I’m going through. Otherwise it’s a festering wound. His words. You’re the only one I can talk to about that stuff, about the drawbacks to being a hero.”
“That’s not true. I’m sure there are policemen, fire fighters, paramedics, and soldiers in Gotham City who know exactly what you’re going through.”
“True, but Bruce can’t discuss things with them without being laughed out of the room. And I can’t really talk about it dressed like this.” He held out his arms.
Superman nodded. He understood. The life of a superhero wasn’t an easy one and it could often be lonely. If he didn’t have Lois or his folks… He looked at Batman. Bruce Wayne had lost his folks when he was a kid and he didn’t have a Lois figure in his life. Clark felt a chill run down his spine. In many ways, Batman was very similar to the other Clark, before Lois found him his Ultra Woman. Alone and adrift.
Superman sat down on the edge of the roof and looked out over the city. A part of him wanted to have someone he could talk to about all the crap that had filled his life in the past year. Another part of him still didn’t trust the man.
After a few minutes Batman came and sat down next to him. “Metropolis is really a beautiful city.”
“When the haze lifts, Gotham’s not half bad, either,” remarked Superman.
Batman chuckled. “Haze? Is that the polite way to tell me that my city is polluted?”
Superman smiled. “It could use some cleaning up. That haze is hell to fly through.”
Batman’s chuckle turned to a chortle. “I’m doing my best. One toxic dumper at a time. I can’t clean it up too quickly or you might invade my turf.”
Superman shrugged. “I don’t know about that. Metropolis is my home. You’re doing all right on your own.”
The man in black smiled. “Thanks. Coming from you it means something.”
“You could cut down on the hurting people though. There’s a little good in everyone.”
Batman shook his head. “Hey, I’ve only sent three bad guys to the hospital this month and one of them only needed stitches.”
“I wouldn’t go touting those numbers. We’re only a week into November. There are still the holidays to make it through. It’s the lull before the storm.”
“What is it with villains? Why do they always have to make a big show at the end of the year?”
Superman shrugged. “Hormonal imbalance?”
“Better not suggest that around Lois.”
“I’m a darn nice guy, not stupid,” the man in blue replied.
“She told you about that?”
Superman nodded.
“Frankly, I’m surprised you haven’t told her about me,” Batman muttered.
“There’s not much to tell.”
“Except who I am.”
Superman shrugged again. “Not my secret to say.”
“That’s a vote of confidence.”
“Then I should fly home and tell her now.” Superman leaned forward.
Batman chuckled. “That’s your decision. I’m not Superman’s boss.”
The Man in Blue sat up again. “Lois handles information better if she discovers it for herself. I’ll only tell her she’s right if she guesses.”
“As long as you don’t play twenty questions. I hate that game.” Batman shook his head. “It’s a favorite among bad guys though.”
“Don’t I know it. ‘Guess what’s inside this lead lined box, Superman. I’ll give you twenty questions.’ Ugh.” He rolled his eyes.
A hush fell over their conversation as they looked over the city.
“It’s quiet up here.”
“Not for all of us,” replied Superman with a sigh.
“It must be a pain hearing all the screams.”
Superman shrugged. “I’m used to it.”
“Are you?” Batman glanced at him. “I hear the screams even when they aren’t there.”
Superman didn’t say anything.
“They wake me up at night.”
“Me, too,” Superman admitted. “Me, too.”
“Is Clark going to go into work tomorrow?” Batman asked after another few minutes of silence.
“Somebody needs to watch Lara.”
“
You?”
“Sure, why not? Uncle Super is great with kids.”
“Uncle Super?” Batman inquired, incredulously.
Superman wished he could see the man’s facial expressions; it was nearly impossible with that mask on. “It’s a long story.”
“What if there’s an emergency?”
Superman smiled wickedly. “I hear Batman’s still in town.”
Batman held up his hands. “Oh, no! I’m not covering for you.”
“You’re right. Someone might think we’re friends. The locals can handle it and if it’s bad, Clark can take Lara to the office and drop her off with Lois.”
“We’ll have to do something about that. Metropolis can’t have a househusband for a superhero.”
Superman looked at him skeptically. That man had a lot to learn about women. Luckily, that wasn’t in his job description… Any of them. They continued to sit and watch the lights in silence. Suddenly, a squeal of tires and the Bam! Bam! of gunfire drew their attention.
“Duty calls.” Superman shoved himself off the ledge. “Call me if you ever need to talk,” he said, disappearing into the dark.
“Likewise,” he heard the man in black reply.
***
It was past midnight when Clark crawled into bed. He draped his arm over her and sniffed. Lois smiled, wondering if he noticed her new shampoo. He pulled her closer and kissed her neck. He noticed.
She rolled over and faced him. “How was patrolling?”
“Fine.”
“Anything to write about?”
“Do you need a Superman exclusive?” Her husband smiled.
“Always.”
“How about this, ‘After a busy night of flying the skies, Superman came home and made love with his beautiful wife’?”
Lois raised a brow. “Superman’s married? I missed that press release. That will certainly be newsworthy down at the paper.” She grinned in jest. “If we worked at the
National Whisperer.”
Clark softly kissed her. “I’m not leaving
The Planet.”
This was a change of heart. She wondered what Bruce Wayne had said to him. Was he even going to mention to her that they met up? Had Clark not realized that he left the message on the answering machine?
“For now.” He kissed her again. Longer. “We are not going into work tomorrow. We need a day together as a family.”
“But…”
Clark kissed her again, cutting off the flimsy excuse she had been about to mutter. She ran her hands across his bare chest before wrapping her arms around his neck. Score one for the strawberry scented shampoo.
*** End of Part 9 *** Comments
