Chapter 02
"Insecurities"
Nine more victims. Nine. They thought four were a "streak", but Luthor kept going. Superman was hovering high up in the air somewhere over Metropolis, listening. Trying to find the one voice he hoped never to hear again. But Luthor was not to be found. All he could hear were a troubled people, going about their daily lives. Among them, somewhere, was one small child with very special abilities, and his very worried mother.
Lois had been right about the connection: All the murder victims that had turned up had been known associates of Lex Luthor. Perry White awarded this scoop the front page, and now the city was buzzing with questions. And as each new body confirmed the news, people were getting more afraid and restless. Where was Luthor hiding?
Superman suddenly took a dive through the clouds. An alarm had gone off somewhere, and he'd waited to see whether it was something that people could handle by themselves. He had become wary of intervening at all times, and kept away from people as much as he could. Not in emergencies, however.
In a town north of Metropolis, a fire had gone out of hand. He flew straight into the building and listened for heartbeats. Two, on the second floor. Flames licked at his face, but he did not mind the heat. He raised his arm and flew upwards, crashing through the feeble floor. A young couple was cowering in a corner, holding on to each other, tears running down their faces. "It's okay, I'll get you out," he said. He picked them up, one frightened teenager under each arm. With his breath, he extinguished the flames that barred the way to the window, and carried them out to a cheering crowd below. He flew back and did as much as he could, but the house was beyond saving by now. He couldn't undo that.
Before the people could approach him, he quickly made his escape. He rose higher and higher, until he was at last looking into space. He flew on until he saw the moon. There was a dark chunk in front of it. The island Lex Luthor created had settled into a Lunar orbit, and Superman dared not approach. The last thing he needed was a loss of his powers while in outer space. He glared at it in defeat for a while, the symbol of his failure. There was an almost unlimited supply of kryptonite up there, and if anyone could find a way to retrieve it, it was Luthor.
His sensitive ears picked up Lois' voice. "Where is Clark off to again?!"
He smiled and turned back to Earth.
Minutes later, Clark Kent stumbled into Perry's office. "Sorry, Chief."
His boss acknowledged his presence in the small meeting with a curt nod. He glanced around and sent a quick smile in Lois' direction. She looked tense. Richard was standing close by.
"Annie, I want you to do the history piece: Not everyone is up to speed on Luthor's past – we'll tell them what they need to know. Brad, you do the victims' profiles with Linda. David, you're on…"
Lois was trying to interrupt Perry, but he paid her no heed. As he was done giving out assignments, people filed out of the office and Lois approached him. "What the hell, Perry, I was on the murders all this time, you know I had this covered!"
"You had the scoop, Lois. Now let lesser beings do the small print. The interviews you did could have been done by anyone. I've got something else for you. Clark! Stay here. JIMMY!" He yelled into the newsroom. Seconds later, the young photographer stood attention.
"Oliver Queen", Perry said, and slid a copy of the Business Star over the table. A large photograph showed a blonde man with a condescending, boyish smile. QUEEN DECLINES BID ON TANKS DEAL, it read.
That certainly grabbed Clark's attention. He skid closer to the table and skimmed the article along with Lois. Oliver Queen had apparently turned down several potentially lucrative deals and was criticised accordingly.
"Old news. Doesn't the business section cover that sort of thing?"
"Well, the new news," Perry grumbled, "is that he's in Metropolis right now." He paused to look at them. "And last night somebody tried to kill him."
Clark and Lois stared. "What?" "Why?!"
"Poison gas. Missed him, killed his secretary instead. I want the exclusive: Why is he here? Who might have a motive? Jimmy, I want some decent pictures. All of it. Go!"
"Clark?!" Oliver Queen's face lit up, as Clark, Lois, and Jimmy stepped through the door to the expansive office. Oliver strode up to them with his hand outstretched. Clark grinned and grabbed it, and was momentarily pulled into a bear hug.
"I had no idea! Of course, you work for the Planet, right?" Oliver's surprise made way for a genuine smile. Clark was glad to see him. "Oliver. It's been a while."
"Sure has. And this must be the famous Lois Lane", he beamed at her and offered his hand. Clark noted Lois' slack-jawed expression and smiled to himself. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Queen," she managed.
"Oh, and this is our photographer, Jimmy Olsen."
"How're you doing," Oliver nodded. Jimmy had a similarly bemused look on his face and just gave a silly little wave. Oliver spread an arm around the office. "Do come in. I'd offer refreshments, but as you can see…"
The office was covered in yellow police tape – which, Clark noted, they made a habit of crossing lately – but was otherwise in no state of disarray. However, a swirl of police, hazard teams and forensic units didn't exactly offer an inviting atmosphere.
They crossed the walk to Oliver's desk. Jimmy, after asking for permission, started photographing everything, drawing annoyed glances from the police. Lois stared at Clark and finally burst out, "You KNOW Oliver Queen?! Why didn't you tell me?!"
Oliver chuckled. Clark fell into his usual act. "Gee, Lois, you never asked!"
"Last time I wanted to interview him, I couldn't get past the secretary's secretary's intern…!" she added with a reproachful look to the grinning billionaire.
"Well, Miss Lane, now's your chance."
Lois was positively fuming, and shot Clark the "I'll grill you about this later"-look, but put on a gracious smile as she turned to Queen. "Well, now that we're here," she pulled out her recorder and held it towards Oliver, "what exactly happened last night?"
He ran his fingers through his blonde hair and suddenly turned serious. "I was invited to dine with a few business partners last night. My secretary, Malcolm, stayed here." He paused. "I came back, and found him dead. Poison gas, they tell me." It sounded pretty rehearsed. Clark watched his friend carefully.
"You were unharmed?" Lois continued.
"Yes, the gas must have dissipated. I… you see Miss Lane, this isn't just my office. It's partly a rented apartment – since I am in Metropolis on business for a few weeks, I thought it would save me time. So I'm here most of the time."
"Indeed. So that's why you think the gas was actually meant for you, am I correct?"
Oliver hesitated for a split second. "Yes, of course! Going out was a rather spontaneous decision."
"Hmhm," she nodded.
A policeman suddenly came up to Oliver. "Mr. Queen, is it really necessary to have the press in so early? We're not yet finished here." He gestured to Jimmy snapping pictures.
Oliver was not fazed. "Is Mr. Olsen disturbing you?"
"Not exactly, it's just that…"
"Well, then I don't see a problem," he interrupted the man. He turned to the reporters. "I want people out there to know about this. I want whoever did this to know I'm not hiding anything."
His arrogant look was betrayed by the emotion Clark detected in his voice. He knew Oliver well enough to also know that his careless playboy image was just a façade – for a dedicated man who, just like him, spent his spare time donning a costume, protecting people. There was something he wasn't telling them.
Clark quickly scanned the office with his X-Ray vision, but detected nothing out of the ordinary at first. He had a few questions of his own, but they'd have to wait. Meanwhile, Lois continued.
"That sure is admirable, Mr. Queen," she said as the policeman left. "Not all our readers get this amount of honesty from … well, shall we say, men of your position." Oliver smiled rather smugly.
"Was anything stolen?"
"No, it seems that nobody entered the office at all. The gas came through the ventilation, and that was all."
"Was your secretary working on any sensitive files? Was his current work particularly important to you?"
Clark could see Oliver's fist clench under the table. "All the work he did was important – he was my secretary. And," he added, "if he had worked on any 'sensitive files', I certainly wouldn't be telling you about them."
"Not so honest after all, Mr. Queen?" she exclaimed, missing his underlying tension.
Oliver forced a laugh. "You got me there, I admit."
"Any reason anyone might want to kill you?"
Oliver grinned, but it looked harsh. "Plenty of people, Miss Lane."
"How come?"
"'Unfavourable investments'," he air-quoted. "Some people think they should be allowed to tell me what to do with my own company."
"You inherited Queen Industries from your parents, correct?"
"You're well informed. Yep, well, that seems to piss people off more than anything, really." He stretched his arms and placed them behind his head, leaning back. "Can't let an 'upstart' like me ruin the company, can they?"
Again, Clark didn't pay much attention to what he was saying, but rather marvelled how he could see so well beyond his friend's careless act. His ears, meanwhile, were tuned in to the little noises in the office. Trying to blank out the talking, breathing, working people, he tried to concentrate on the architecture, the ventilation shafts, the little holes, nooks and crannies in the building.
"The ventilation shafts," he began, "are they connected along the entire building?" Lois and Oliver were staring at him, the one rather annoyed, the other, amused. He had obviously interrupted Lois mid-sentence. Clark quickly pushed his glasses up and lowered his eyes. "Um, sorry, Lois, didn't mean to interrupt."
Oliver turned to him. "What about the ventilation shafts?"
Clark got up and walked to the wall that had a large ventilation grid on it. It was hanging open, and one of the members of the hazard team had been taking samples. "Well, if the system is, uh, the same in the entire building, that begs the question how our perpetrator avoided poisoning everybody else." They were 45 stories up, after all.
Oliver followed him and gave him the most obvious stare. Leave it.
Clark frowned and looked at the ventilation shaft again. This time, his X-Ray vision discovered a small, hidden device close to the wall, and an intricate system of wires attached to it. It was a camera of sorts. Oliver came a little closer and murmured in a barely audible whisper, "not now."
Aloud, he said, "doing police work now, Clark?" He casually hit his shoulder and tried to sound a little snobbish. "You always were a jack-of-all-trades. Probably makes you a decent reporter, though, am I right, Miss Lane?"
Clark coughed out an awkward laugh and tried to look embarrassed. He vowed to get Oliver for this one later. "Thank goodness I didn't become a police officer, huh, Lois?" He grinned maybe a bit too stupidly, because she eyed him suspiciously.
Darn it, he still couldn't keep up the act quite as well as he'd done in the past. He used to be so convincing, she never gave him a second glance. Now he had to actually work at being awkward, clutzy and shy.
Oliver turned to Lois with his most charming smile. "Shall we continue?"
He captured Lois' attention once more as he spoke about the intricacies of the security system and a few other minor details. But after a while, Oliver began to deflect most of Lois' more detailed questions openly. With a sardonic smile she noted that since he stopped being cooperative, they might as well leave. Oliver played a bit of the mock-insulted boy, and saw them to the door. He once again clasped hands with Clark. "Good to see you again. Call me, we could go out for a drink or something."
"Sounds great," Clark smiled innocently.
"Present company included, of course," Oliver added. "Just don't expect another interview!" He laughed.
Lois shook hands and Jimmy gave another awkward wave, and they were gone.
Back in the taxi, Jimmy was the first to sigh in admiration. "Oliver Queen! Damn it, CK, how come we never knew you guys were buds? To think… the Queen himself." He giggled.
"I didn't know you were such a fan, Jimmy?"
"Oh, I'm not, really …but he's playboy number one in Star City, a real celebrity and all. And did you see how he greeted us, like …well, he was pretty cool" Jimmy concluded sheepishly.
"I think Jimmy's in love", Lois noted. She searched through her bag to find her phone and checked for messages. She did that a lot, lately, Clark noted.
"Waiting for a call?"
"What? No… just checking if… you know, everything is all right."
Clark knew exactly what she was referring to. Ever since the incident with Lex Luthor, she had been worried about her son. Their son. The thought seemed wrong in connection with him being Clark Kent at the moment – when Jason embodied exactly the end of that act.
She was staring out of the window. Clark guessed that she was always waiting for that one phone call that would trigger the next crisis. A call from Jason's pre-school, maybe, because he had accidentally ripped a door from its hinges. Or a call from the police, after he stepped out of an accident, unharmed. Clark shuddered at the thought. Who even knew what powers the little guy already had? At least in Kansas, Clark mused, he'd had space to explore his abilities without running into other people all the time. Or maybe Lois was expecting a call from Richard, demanding an explanation. Had she told him or hadn't she?
He wished he could be there more often – and more openly – to help his son figure out this strange heritage he had thrust upon him.
Lois noticed he was staring at her, and admonished him. "Earth to Clark," she grimaced.
"Huh, what?"
"…Never mind." She paused a little. "Nothing against Queen, but I wish we'd stayed on Luthor for now. I have a personal score to settle," she added quietly.
Clark couldn't think of anything to say. Jimmy turned around to ask, "what was the problem with Luthor?"
Lois sighed. "There was just nothing. No leads. I mean, usually we got something, but this time… it's eerie."
"I guess that was the idea," Clark said.
"I interviewed neighbours of the victims, I checked out his old business contacts, re-checked a lot of archive footage… all useless." She looked defeated.
Jimmy tried to sound hopeful. "Don't worry, something will come up, it always does! Luthor is not so smart."
They stepped out of the taxi and returned to the Daily Planet.
Clark turned left and right, checking whether he was being watched. Concerning security cameras, his new desk was positioned somewhat in a blind spot in the newsroom – he had seen to that. Most people were gone for the night, he noticed, even Perry. As usual, only he, Lois, and some cleaner guy remained. Lois was typing away on her interview, whilst simultaneously browsing the online press archives of Star City.
Clark sighed. Being almost alone was calming. He aimed his heat vision at his half-empty coffee cup, and proceeded to sip the newly hot drink in silence. He felt more comfortable when he could occasionally use his powers for these little things. After all, he reasoned, it was only natural to him.
Clark was researching Queen Industries' business deals from previous years when he received a text from Oliver. "Come over, I need to tell you the rest." He gathered his things, shut down the computer and quickly stopped by Lois' desk. "Uh, I'm off, goodnight, Lois," he stammered. She barely looked up. "Sure, night, Clark…"
He turned and left. She called after him, "don't think I've forgotten about the Queen thing. I'll grill you first thing tomorrow, Smallville!"
But even her attempted threat sounded half-hearted. Just as Superman had trouble being Clark Kent again, Lois seemed to be having problems being Lois Lane, fearless reporter.
As Clark stood in the elevator, he X-Rayed back through the walls, to see her grab her ringing phone. "No, of course not," Clark heard her say. "Of course I haven't forgotten. You always say that! Yes, I'll be there in a few. Packing now. Bye." She sighed, snapped her phone shut and looked forlorn around the office.
Clark ascended to the roof, unhappy about leaving Lois like this. He pulled off his suit, changed into Superman and launched off in the general direction of Ollie's apartment.
When Superman appeared in front of the wall-high windows of the apartment, Oliver jumped and nearly spilled his Scotch.
"Sweet mother of Jesus, Clark! Can't you knock, like normal people?!" he exclaimed, opened a window, and slumped in his chair again.
Superman winced at the careless use of his name and quickly X-Rayed the apartment again for bugs. There were none, and he decided to refrain from admonishing his friend.
"You sounded urgent."
Ollie scoffed at his "Superman"-voice. "You know, I think I prefer your alter ego. Not as intimidating. More casual." He accompanied his words by sloppy gestures. He looked distraught, and a little tipsy.
"Oh come on, you don't really find me intimidating, do you?" Clarked smiled. Oliver took another look at him, probably re-iterating in his mind every argument he'd ever brought up against the – in his mind – 'ridiculous' suit. "Not really."
"Okay then, what's the whole story?"
Oliver sighed. "Whatever you saw in the ventilation shaft, I suspected it to be there. Some kind of timer, or a sensor?"
Superman walked to the ventilation and took a quick look. "A motion sensor, probably, and a heat camera."
Oliver raised his eyebrows. "You can tell that from here? …Never mind. Can you get it out?"
"Not without breaking your wall."
"Hm. I'll take care of it tomorrow, then."
"You suspected this?"
"Yes," Oliver frowned and ran his fingers through his hair. "It means this wasn't an attempted murder – this was a successful one."
Superman nodded. He had thought as much. "Whoever released the gas made sure that you were gone. But why your secretary?"
Oliver walked back to his desk and leaned against it. "Malcolm was not only damn good at his job. He was also a close friend. He's been working for me for years, kind of a personal confidante…"
Superman sensed where this was going. "He knew."
"Yes. He helped me manage the double life. Honestly, Green Arrow wouldn't have made it without Malcolm."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Clark lowered his head. This was one of the worst things he could think of. Confidantes, friends, lovers… put yourself in the path of danger, and you draw those closest to you along.
Clark thought for a moment. "But do you think this was why he was killed? Maybe the business you were involved in…"
"I'm not sure, that's the problem. As a secretary, he was valuable, but easily replaced. As Green Arrow's P.A. – rather irreplaceable."
Clark nodded. "But if someone suspected something, why not capture and interrogate him?"
Ollie began to pace. "I've been wondering the same thing."
"Unless…"
"Unless they already knew. That's what has me worried."
"Why the secrecy, Oliver? What does it matter if the public knows somebody meant to kill your secretary?"
Oliver sighed. "I know, it seems overly paranoid… but I don't want people fishing too close to the truth here. I don't want them digging - least of all Lois Lane. She's too smart for her own good, if you ask me."
"No need to ask you," Superman mumbled.
Superman's ears suddenly picked up a bank alarm somewhere in Metropolis. His head made an involuntary movement.
"Did you receive any demands, any blackmail from anyone?"
Ollie looked out of the window. "No… it's as if they just wanted to let me know they could."
A car was pulling up to the bank. If he flew now, he would still catch them. Quite the nerve, he thought, robbing a bank in Metropolis. He'd been gone too long.
"Oliver…" he stepped closer to the window. "There's a robbery…"
He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, sure, go."
Superman opened the window. "Oh, and Clark?" Oliver turned to him once more. "Andrew Griffith. He's probably our guy."
Superman rolled his eyes and nodded. Then he flew towards the escaping van, as quickly as a speeding bullet, trying to remember what he knew of Star City's business circles.