Collateral Damage

Folc4evernaday | Rated: M | Chapter 1

One Month Later…

Penelope Barnes sat in the secretary pool at Grady Technologies once again explaining her fascination with the Man of Steel to her friend, Doris. She didn't understand Penny's obsession with pursuing Superman when there were so many eligible suitors out there. The problem was Penny didn't want just any man; she wanted Superman.

"Penny, look at you; you're a beautiful girl. Smart. Educated. You bowl two-eighty. You could have your pick of guys... why waste your time with some fantasy?" Doris asked.

"Superman is not just some fantasy, Doris. Under all that spandex, beats the heart of a man."

Doris rolled her eyes. "You're still laboring on this idea that Superman has some sort of secret identity?"

"Well, doesn't it make sense? How else would someone like him ever hope to lead any kind of normal life?" Penny remarked.

Again, Doris rolled her eyes. "If that's true, I don't know how you expect to find out what it is. He probably has a secret identity for a reason you know."

Penny ignored Doris' comment. "I can keep a secret."

"Sure, but how do you plan to discover his secret?"

"By using modern criminology techniques... First, I've constructed a psychological profile of the Man of Steel. I've taken that profile and factored my theory of a secret identity. He's early to mid-twenties – possibly thirties. Probably, a professional connected to mass communication. I've fed all this information into the computer and cross-referenced them with everything we know about Superman. At this point, it simply becomes about numbers. The computer takes over, digests the information and arrives at the most likely result." Penny's computer began sifting through various photographs and articles of Superman as she began to run the program.

Doris just shook her head. "I still think you'd have a better time at Club L7 with us, but whatever makes you happy. Just be careful." Doris went to leave, leaving Penny to her thoughts as the system began blinking. A match was found. Ninety-seven percent match: James B. Olsen.

Penny smiled as she looked at the picture on her screen. "Well, let's see if we can make it a hundred." She kissed her index finger and placed it over the image of Jimmy on her screen.

"Isn't this incredible, Steve?" Garrett Grady asked, motioning to the display he had set up in his office. He had just demonstrated the destruction his annihilator could perform.

"Uh, yeah," Steve McBride managed. He wasn't too keen on this idea anymore. When he had previously been offered the opportunity to make a few extra bucks, he had been desperate. His wife had just left him, and he saw no other way to dig himself out of the financial hole that a potential divorce would leave him in. Now, however, he and Lisa had worked things out, and they were trying to move towards reconciliation. He couldn't live with himself if he was responsible for the destruction of millions. "Listen, Mr. Grady, about that. I've been thinking..."

"You're having second thoughts? It's only natural," Grady assured, "but Steve, remember our dream. With this satellite, we can keep countries from declaring war…"

"By threatening to blow them up," Steve McBride retorted in anguish. "Mr. Grady, that's un-American."

"No, Steve-o, un-American would be to allow the world to annihilate itself. Once my pulse converter has been installed on its platform nations will beat their swords into plowshares! Mankind will live in perfect, blessed brotherhood! Or I'll blast them all to hell!"

"Right. I've decided to go along with the mission as planned. I can't be a part of this."

"But Steve-o, want to tear down my satellite platform!" Grady watched Steve McBride exit his office and turned to his assistant. "Peters?"

"Yes, Mr. Grady?"

"We need to test the pulse converter to make sure it's in working order. I know the perfect test subject." A look of hatred poured over his face as he stared at the empty space Steve McBride had just vacated.

Lois and Clark sat across from Martha and Jonathan at the breakfast table. Lois was drumming her fingers lightly on the table, unsure of how to bring up the subject of her pregnancy. Martha and Jonathan looked up at them expectantly whenever Clark cleared his throat nervously. He didn't seem to be able to form the words, so they would then continue reading the newspaper. The pattern had continued at least half a dozen times now, and Lois was slowly losing her patience with the situation.

Martha watched Lois and Clark – bemused. She knew they had something they needed to tell them, but Clark seemed tongue-tied, and Lois obviously wasn't very forthcoming with the information either. She sighed as she read the paper. Perhaps they needed a shove in the right direction? "Are you alright, Clark?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I just... we need to tell you something."

"What is it, son?" Jonathan asked, placing the paper down. He always found it amusing whenever Clark was nervous about something, and this had to be big because Lois wasn't her usual forthcoming self with the information either.

"Well, we have some news," Clark edged cautiously.

Martha nodded. "Is everything alright? You said your powers had returned…"

Clark took a deep breath and decided to blurt it out. "No, mom. Nothing like that. I'm sorry if we've worried you. I guess there's no other way to put it. You see..." he cut himself off. His super hearing picked up the sounds of a bank alarm. "I gotta go. Bank alarm. We'll finish this as soon as I get back." He stood up and spun into his Superman suit. Within a blink of the eye, he was gone, leaving a perturbed wife and mother behind as Jonathan continued to read the paper.

Martha stared at the empty seat Clark had vacated. "Sometimes I think he does that on purpose."

Outside of Metropolis Bank was a shoot-out. Two men ran out of the bank, carrying bags of money. They raced to their getaway car and cranked the engine. Once the car had started, they pressed the accelerator only to find they weren't moving. They tried once more and found no movement again. They looked behind them and found Superman sitting behind the car; his foot was propped up on the rear bumper, keeping the car from moving. He just waved.

The men looked at one another for a moment.

FLASH.

A moment later, they found themselves sitting in the backseat of a patrol car without their weapons or the money they had stolen. They looked around in surprise. A woman stood in black leather with a gold 'V' over her chest. She handed the weapons and the money to a nearby officer. "Is there anything else I can do for you, officers?"

The surrounding officers shook their heads 'no,' and in a flash, she was gone, leaving a bewildered Superman and Metropolis P. D. in her wake.

Clark returned a half an hour later and found Martha and Jonathan in the living room with Lois laughing together. "He did not…" Lois laughed.

"Yes, he was determined that Santa was living in the fireplace; every time we went to light it, he would scream bloody murder: 'STOP! You're going to kill Santa!' We finally had to set him straight on the myth of Santa," Martha laughed.

Clark wrapped his arms around Lois from behind as he entered the room. "What mischief are you all up to?"

"Mischief?" Lois scoffed, "I've been entertaining while you have been off saving the world. You better have an exclusive for me. You leave your poor parents here on the edge of their seat like that and…" She was cut off by her mouth being captured by his.

He slowly broke off the kiss. "I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Yes, I have an exclusive for you, but I'll tell you about it later. Now, before anyone else needs saving let me get this out. Lois seems to have developed some complications with the pregnancy…"

At Martha and Jonathan's concerned look, Lois continued speaking for Clark. "I have something called preeclampsia. It's a pregnancy disorder."

"How serious is it?"

"It's very serious," Clark replied solemnly. "Lois has to avoid stressful situations at all costs. She had a close-call during the venture with Tempus. We aren't sure what prompted her bout with nausea a few months earlier either. She hadn't been having morning sickness for a while and then it was back full force. It could be the preeclampsia, or it could be just normal pregnancy symptoms. We don't know."

"We also have a lot of unknown factors in regard to Clark's heritage as well. We don't know if this pregnancy is absolutely normal, or if it may differ due to the Kryptonian genes," Lois replied.

"Oh, my... What are you going to do? Have you seen a doctor yet?" Martha asked.

"We have a doctor picked out. She's the best in her field. My dad recommended her," Lois explained.

"Is that safe? What if your doctor detects something?" Jonathan asked, concerned.

"We'll have Dr. Klein take a look over Lois since he's the only one that is specialized in my physiology...we need to make sure the pregnancy itself will be normal," Clark replied.

"My biggest concern right now is Lois and the health of our child. I'm sorry we didn't tell you guys sooner. It's just been one thing after another, so we just haven't had the time to think let alone tell everyone properly."

"We understand," Martha replied. She moved to embrace them both. "It'll be okay. I just know it. I don't care what any doctor says. I know you and this baby will be fine." She couldn't hide the smile on her face. The tears in her eyes were evident, but she brushed them away. She refused to allow herself to believe that Lois would be allowed to carry a child as special as this and have it snatched away as quickly as it came. She was going to be a grandmother. She wouldn't allow her mind to dwell on these negative thoughts.

Lois and Clark smiled sadly at her, hoping her excitement would not soon be dampened with the news of the passing of her grandchild and/or daughter-in-law. Neither of them wanted to go into the details of how lethal preeclampsia was to Lois.

The Daily Planet was usually filled with a frenzy of activity: reporters scurrying about, Perry White bellowing across the newsroom, and the sound of phones ringing off the hook. This was not the case on the weekend; although, many worked half days. One of those devoted employees happened to be Jimmy Olsen.

He was working on research orders that had backed up over the past few weeks. The phone rang on his desk, and he looked at it suspiciously. Who could be calling him? He picked up the phone. "James Olsen."

Penny smiled over the phone as she spoke. "Mr. Olsen? My name is Penny Barnebeedian. I'm a student at Metropolis University. Journalism Major. One of our assignments is to interview a working journalist, and I was wondering..."

"Lane and Kent are off today, Ms. Barnebeedian. Would you rather leave a number?"

"Oh, no, not them: You. I want to interview you."

"Me? Uh, do you know what it is I do here?"

"I thought you would tell me about it over lunch."

"Lunch?"

"You do eat lunch, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah," he began uncertainly.

"Good. The Roma Café has a great menu; meet me there at one o'clock."

"Okay."

"Great. See you then." Penny hung up the phone and smiled to herself.

Back at the Daily Planet, Jimmy hung up the phone, shaking his head to himself. "Wow…" he murmured.

Martha and Jonathan went out for a movie, leaving Lois and Clark by themselves. Lois lay in bed with Clark, lazily tracing random patterns on his arm. It had been mind-boggling to listen to the list of things they needed to do to prepare for their child. It was hard because, in the back of their minds, they were wondering if they should even get their hopes up.

Once his parents had left they had taken full advantage of the empty house and made love in a frenzy, blocking out the pain of possibly losing their unborn child, and finding solace in one another's arms. "Mmmm…I love Sundays." She laid her head on his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

"Yeah, things are definitely a lot quieter on the weekend."

"Well, Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest."

Clark laughed. "Tell that to the criminals that broke into that bank earlier. Who robs a bank on a Sunday?"

"Well, no one's there except the manager," Lois commented then remembered his statement from earlier. "What happened? You mentioned something about an exclusive."

Clark immediately recalled the incident. "Yeah.…uh, it was weird. I got there and stopped the bank robbers, then I went to get them out of the getaway car, and the next thing I knew they were sitting in the patrol cars."

"What? How did that happen?"

"A mysterious… woman…"

"A woman? Did you get a name?"

"No. She stayed long enough to make sure the criminals were taken care of then left. I tried to keep up with her but…"

"But what?"

"She's fast."

"Fast?"

"Superman fast."

"How is that even possible?"

"I don't know. As far as I know all the New Kryptonians went back to New Krypton with Ching and Zara. I have no idea where she came from or who she is."

"Hmmm… I guess we'll put that on the agenda for tomorrow," she murmured sleepily, nuzzling against his chest.

"Oh? And what about today."

"Enough stress for today. I just want to lay here with you."

"What stress?" he teased.

"We told your parents about the preeclampsia. That's enough stress for today." She nuzzled his neck lightly.

"So, no chasing down criminals or this mysterious woman?"

Lois shook her head 'no' and smiled up at him. "We can pound the pavement tomorrow. After the chaos these past few months, I need to relax a bit."

"Mmmm." He kissed the top of her head. "Relax? I didn't know that word was a part of 'Mad Dog' Lane's vocabulary."

"It's not. I'm not 'Mad Dog' Lane." She curled up tightly against his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat. "'Mad Dog' Lane took the day off. You're just stuck with Lois Lane Kent."

He smiled against her cheek. "Well, I happen to think Lois Lane Kent is very sexy…" He placed a kiss on her cheek. "And beautiful…" He planted a lingering kiss on the opposite cheek. "And gorgeous." He kissed her lightly on the mouth.

"Mmmm… I guess it's a good thing I'm Mrs. Kent, or else I'd be jealous." He laughed at her remark and kissed her once more. She kissed him back enthusiastically, linking her arms around his neck as she slowly broke off the kiss. She snuggled against his chest and sighed. "I don't know why I'm so tired lately."

"Could be nerves, or it could just be the pregnancy. Mmmm, we have that appointment this week with Dr. Pierce. She can answer all these questions then."

"Mmmm hmm… When do you want to talk to Dr. Klein?"

"Uh, we should probably talk to him before we go to that appointment, huh?"

"Yeah." He smiled at her. "That would be wise."

She was quiet for a moment as she contemplated a good time to discuss the preeclampsia and the pregnancy with Dr. Klein. "How about we try to see him tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan." Clark leaned down to kiss her.

She enthusiastically returned the kiss and began to deepen it when he pulled away slightly. She immediately recognized the look. "What?"

"There's a car on fire in front of the Roma Café. I gotta go." He pulled away from her embrace and spun into the Superman suit. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Get some rest." He kissed her on the forehead and was out the window before she could blink an eye.

"Love you," she murmured. She lovingly caressed her abdomen; the small swelling had grown to a very noticeable and prominent baby bump. "Daddy does that a lot. You'll get used to it, though."

TBC...