Part 2 
Sorry it's late. Hecka crazy weekend. :p
*****LnC*****
The snow was stained red.
There had been more blood than the young man had led them to believe. Will swore to himself and ran a hand down his face. Never in his life, not once, had he expected to come across Superman in an investigation where he wasn't the hero, but the victim. He, like most people his age and younger, pretty much grew up with Superman around. Perhaps he even more so than most people, having grown up around a police station and seeing Superman frequently in passing. To come face to face with the man's lifeless body...
It was more than a little frightening. In fact, it had him quite shaken.
A cab rolled up, and out stumbled a sloppily dressed Lois Lane Kent. Will couldn't help but groan. This would be just his luck. Though in her early sixties now, he knew from all his experience with her that she was still a force to be reckoned with. Still, he was a little surprised to see her out here. They hadn't leaked anything to the news outlets yet-- and even so, she retired a few months ago. So how had she figured it out so quickly?
She definitely didn't waste any time on trying to get to him, practically barreling over all the other officers trying to stop her. They didn't know what the Mad Dog on a warpath was like, and clearly underestimated her. Will jogged up to her, holding out his arm to try to keep her back. "Mrs. Kent, please, we need you to--"
"Get the hell out of my way, Willy."
"Mrs. Kent, please. It's Inspector Henderson, now."
She snorted derisively, turning up her face to look at him. "Just like your daddy. You know, he always knew when to get out of my way. You should take a play out of his book and back off."
"Lois, you're going to have to stay back," his tone was forceful. "This is an active crime scene, and no press is allowed. You're not even a reporter any more."
He could tell by the flash of challenge in her eyes that he'd said the wrong thing. "Oh, so that's how you're going to be, is it? Well,
Inspector, need I remind you that I've known you for your whole life-- I've changed your
diapers-- and I'm pulling rank here."
Will squirmed uncomfortably for a moment as some of the other officers were giving him funny looks, before he once again spoke, this time with a modicum more of respect. "Listen, Mrs. Kent. I don't mean any disrespect. It has nothing to do with that. I just... I don't want you to see what's happened here. I know how close you and your husband are with Superman, and I really don't think you should see him... in this condition."
He could see the impact this information had on her, her eyes growing wide and visibly swallowing. Will tried changing the subject. "Where's Clark today, by the way? I haven't seen him in a while."
Lois' eyes began to water, and for the first time since she showed up here today, William Henderson Jr. was seriously concerned about Lois Lane Kent. He hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. "Mrs. Ke-- Lois? Is everything all right?"
She sniffed loudly and wiped a hand across her face to brush away her stray tears. "I heard... The police scanner..."
"You have a police scanner?"
She didn't even give him a glare, that's how upset she was. Will's stomach churned as Lois continued. "Clark hasn't been home in eighteen hours. I thought that maybe... but then... and now Superman!" She took a shuddering breath to collect herself, not bothering to wipe away her tears. "Tell me, Will. Is it true? The scanner said Superman was seen falling from the sky and that all units were to come right away. How's his condition?"
Will looked to the ground. He was at a moral dilemma here. He didn't know how he could tell her. How was he supposed to tell anyone this sort of news? Let alone the first woman to have met him, and who befriended him. But, on the other hand, she was bound to find out somehow. Perhaps it would be best if she heard it from him first. The pain of having to hear it on the television or through someone else would be too traumatic, particularly if she were alone at the time. Compound that with the knowledge that she seemed to believe her husband was missing... On an impulse, he decided she needed to know, and he had to be the one to tell her. "Lois, I'm sorry. I can't let you see him."
"And why not?" The defiance was back full force, as she pushed aside her pain and tears. She sure hadn't changed a bit over the years.
"Because. Superman... He's not here anymore."
"Then where is he?"
Will sighed and squirmed uncomfortably. He had to swallow past the lump in his throat in order to get the words out. "No, I mean, he's gone. He's... he's dead, Lois."
The series of expressions on Lois' face were heart wrenching to watch. First came confusion, then anger, followed closely by realization and a hollow sadness. Her eyes welled up instantly and she put her hand to her mouth. Lois searched his eyes for any hint that he was lying, messing with her, or just plain wrong. "What?" she barely whispered, a coldness that had nothing to do with the snow settling into her bones.
Will's expression only held great sadness.
Lois started trembling and her tears started streaming. "Oh my god. Oh... oh..." She pressed her hand firmly against her open mouth in a silent but devastated cry. She sank to her knees, not caring that there was snow on the ground or an audience around her. Her entire body was shaking violently with her overflowing emotions.
Will watched her features, contorted with pain, and felt a stab of pain at his heart. How was he not reacting in a similar fashion to the news? He'd known Superman his whole life, almost as well as the Kents. And yet Lois' emotions rendered him speechless. Perhaps they were closer than he'd thought. There was just something Will felt was missing from this puzzle, but that was a thought for later. Carefully, he reached out a hand to put on her shaking shoulder, in a gesture of comfort. "Lois, are you--"
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she shouted and swatted his hand away. Will looked taken aback as she turned on him so quickly. "HOW
DARE YOU?! How could you tell me such a thing? You're lying to me. You're
lying to me! He's not dead. He can't be dead."
"Lo--"
"He's probably been exposed to Kryptonite. You don't know what he gets like after that. Sometimes he's passed out before. Did you even check him?!"
Her words were tumbling out of her so fast that it was all Will could do to keep up with them. When she suddenly shot upright and bolted past him presumably towards where Superman was lying, he didn't even think to stop her until she had already made her way past him. His eyes widened as he spun to chase after her. "Mrs. Kent, NO!"
She froze in place at the crest of the pile of snow, but Will knew it had nothing to do with his order.
Lois looked down into the small crater of snow created by her husband, looked down at his lifeless, unnaturally bent body. He hadn't been moved, obviously. There were some medics surrounding him, who looked up at her where she stood. She was frozen in this moment, completely and utterly motionless, dead inside.
Then something in her snapped.
Lois rushed forward, tears streaking down her face, and threw herself atop his body. She sobbed violently, murmuring his name over and over again, completely oblivious to the world around her. Will found himself standing over her, unsure of what to do. Heart breaking, he watched on as she stained his uniform with her tears. With a pit forming in his stomach, he listened as she blubbered and stuttered out the name Clark over and over again, just barely quiet enough so that few could hear it. And with a cold grip on his heart, Will realized just why Lois was so torn up over Superman's death.
Clark. Superman.
Clark Kent was Superman.
Suddenly everything seemed so much more painful.
Lois jerked upright and began frantically running her hands up and down his body-- mixing her tears with his blood, smearing it across his uniform and all over her hands. She was searching him, scrambling to find something, some sort of purchase.
"Lois?" Will's voice came out gravelly and broken as it all began to sink in with him.
"It's gotta be here," she murmured.
"Lois," he reached out a hand once more, only to be brushed away again.
"No! It's gotta be here somewhere. Maybe it's in his skin, or he ingested it, or swallowed it..." her movements grew increasingly erratic as her search continued to be fruitless.
"What, Lois?"
"Kryptonite! God dammit, it's here somewhere. All he needs is to get rid of it, and get some sunlight, and... and then, he'll be okay. Everything will be okay again. He's gonna be okay. Right, Clark? You're okay. You'll be okay." She brushed away a tear, leaving a stain of blood in its place on her cheek, drawn across her slightly wrinkled skin.
Will knelt to her level and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her away from her husband slightly. "Lois. Lois," he repeated, trying to get her attention focused on him and not the corpse in front of her. "The medics have looked over him multiple times already. They haven't found any Kryptonite."
"Then they missed something!" She shouted.
"No, Lois. They didn't."
"Yes they did! They had to have!"
"Lois, try to understand. I'm sorry. I cared for him too. But why did they have to have found Kryptonite?"
She whirled on him, tears flowing unchecked once more. "Because! Because if it's Kryptonite, then there might be ways to save him. Because... because if it isn't Kryptonite, then... then that means..."
Her voice trailed off and she turned back to her prone husband. She pounded her fist on his chest, directly on the emblem. "You've gotta be okay, d'you hear me? You have to. You can't die like this. You can't!"
"LOIS!"
"He always listens to me, Will. He always listens." She finally quit hammering on his chest, and just laid her hand there to rest on the bloodied crest. She smoothed her hand over the fabric gently, in a soothing motion. "He's gonna come back," Lois whispered mostly to herself.
Will remained silent this time, unwilling and unable to deny her that one last hope, at least not yet. He could barely keep it together himself. If there was any way he could hold out hope that Superman-- that Clark Kent-- was going to rise from the dead, he would cling to that hope for as long as he possibly could, too. The fact that this was also Lois' husband... he couldn't take that away from her just yet.
He gave her a close inspection as she leaned over and cried herself out onto the superhero's chest. She really hadn't changed a whole lot from what he remembered when he last saw her-- at his wedding, a little over two years ago now. She had a little bit of grey showing in at her roots, but kept her hair dyed to its regular dark brown color. He'd noticed a few more wrinkles than before-- but then again, that could just as likely be attributed to her sloppy appearance and the fact that she most likely ran here in haste. She had, perhaps, put on a few extra pounds, though nothing unhealthy. On a whole, nothing about Lois Lane Kent had really changed over the years. Excepting her now heartbroken appearance.
Will then turned his attention back to the body lying in front of him, somewhat hidden by Lois' form draped across his chest. He examined him too, but this time with the knowledge that this man was Clark Kent.
Clark looked much the same as well. He'd aged a little bit better than his wife-- not that he would ever contemplate telling Lois that-- but he supposed that made sense, considering his alien DNA and such. Still, there was a light dusting of grey to his hair, and a slight crease to his now pale features. He tried to picture his hero with glasses on, and was surprised to realize that-- from what he could recall-- he looked younger now as Superman than he had two years ago as Clark Kent. Perhaps, in addition to the glasses, he had begun to disguise himself with some slight enhancements-- additional wrinkles here, a little more grey there. A different pair of glasses, not at all in with the current fad and looking more like they belonged on his grandfather than his dad's friend.
Clark Kent was a grandfather, he realized. Superman had grandchildren. And children, of course, by extension.
That knowledge, although logically he should have realized, nearly knocked William off his feet.
He grew up with the Kent kids. Sure, they had been a little younger than him, so they hadn't been all that close-- but whenever they came to visit, they were there. He'd never had the slightest inclination that anything was amiss. Surely he'd have seen one of them, at least once, lift something just a little too heavy, or run just a little too fast when playing tag. And he had somehow made Inspector? He hadn't even considered these possibilities until now!
An image flashed through his mind of his father and Clark Kent, standing in his dad's study, talking quietly to one of the Kent kids.
Did he know?
"What?" Lois' broken voice brought him back to the present, and her inquisitive eyes led him to realize that he had accidentally spoken his question aloud.
"My da-- uh, nothing."
But Lois understood immediately. She sat back on her haunches and planted her hands in the snow for balance. She sniffed a few times and once again briefly raised her hand to brush away the moisture from her face before gathering herself enough to speak.
"Yes," she breathed shakily. "He's one of the few who did."
Will found his gaze once again staring at the corpse before him as they drifted off back towards silence and crying once again.
"Will?"
Once again, it was Lois' voice that drew him out of it. He turned his eyes to meet hers.
Lois' bottom lip quivered and she adjusted so that she was sitting in the snow, limbs loosely sprawled out in front of her. "If... if there isn't... I mean, if it's not... Kryptonite... Then I don't-- I mean, I do-- but I might..." she trailed off once again, unsure of how to phrase her words any more. It was just as well that she had retired. If she lost Clark before, she didn't know how she would be able to craft any sort of articles. She could hardly form words without him.
Will swallowed, suddenly nervous of where this conversation might be heading. He kept his gaze steadily on the blood red hand print she had left in the white blanket of snow. "Yes?"
She took in one more shuddering breath and locked her sights on the face of her husband. "I-I don't know who... but I might know what killed him."
