Chapter 7 - Sharing the Limelight
Down on the street, Lois was becoming frantic. "What happened?" She physically grabbed Detective Dan Turpin by the trench coat sleeve. "We still don't know, Lane. The Sarge says that they have some suspects trapped on the roof, hence the snipers and chopper."
"My best friend, Clark Kent is missing!" Lois was unusually upset. "Kent? Was he in the bank?" Turpin questioned. "No, but…" Lois considered what would come next. "You know, he has a fool hero's complex!" Turpin grumbled. "I hope he didn't do anything stupid!"
Lois sighed. "He probably did." She stared longingly at the rooftop, watching the helicopter circle lower and lower towards the bank. "We're going in!" Turpin announced. "Crap!" Lois remarked.
The SWAT squad stormed the three bank entrances simultaneously. They quickly herded the bank employees and customers to one side, and locked them up safely in a conference room. The robbers were escorted to the black SWAT van, in no position to put up a fight.
The police searched the bank room-by-room, and floor-by-floor, eventually locating the janitor, and dragged him aside for questioning. Turpin had handcuffed Manheim, and shoved the still groggy thug ahead into the custody of the arresting officers.
"Good job, Bruno." Turpin needled. "You just made the next judges' decision that much easier. This time, you won't be getting out on good behavior or a technicality." Lois had wormed her way closer to the crime scene. She watched as the police made Manheim do the perp walk.
"You!" Manheim cursed as he made eye contact with Lois. "Me? What?" She snarled. Turpin cast her a sidelong glance. "You know Manheim?" He questioned. Lois gulped. "Not personally, no." She lied convincingly, as the helicopter landed on a roof across from the bank.
Clark was sitting up, and Kara's eyes were open, but she wasn't in a hurry to move. Laura Lake stood, arms crossed impatiently, as the police finally reached them. "Thanks, Laura." Clark said as quietly as he could. "Kara? Are you okay?" He asked his little cousin worriedly.
"No." Kara croaked. She still hadn't sat up. It would take the sun a little longer to heal her, due to the extent of her injuries. "Freeze!" Officer Reyes ordered. "That's original." Laura sniped as she stared daringly at the barrel of the policewoman's gun. "What are you supposed to be?"
Laura sighed with annoyance. "Gold Wing!" She snarled at Reyes. "These two are innocent bystanders. You already have the criminals in custody." The teen super hero explained. "Says you." Reyes challenged as she finally noted the rapidly drying blood on Kara's white T-shirt. "Is she alright?" The officer shuddered as Kara's breathing returned to normal.
"I'm fine. It was just a scratch." The alien super girl lied as she sat up. Another officer joined them. "What were you all doing here?" He began. Clark hadn't had a chance to come up with his usual convincing fib. All of them talked at once.
"You see, I was coming into the bank to open an account…" Kara's higher pitched voice won out. "I was covering the hostage standoff for the Daily Planet…" Clark whipped out his newspaper ID. "I'm a super hero in town to do some shopping…" Laura put in.
"Wait! Shut it!" Reyes barked. "You're all going down to the station to explain."
"Fine! You're going to tell my editor why my story isn't ready for the afternoon printing." Clark argued, as the girls chimed in. "I'm new to this city! Is this how you run the police department?" Laura interrupted him. "It's a good thing that I showed up when I did." Kara continued. "I'm certainly not putting any of my money in this bank, or this city for that matter."
Reyes and the other officers stood around scratching their heads. Turpin finally got a chance to talk to the officers on the roof by walkie-talkie. "Is Kent up there?" He growled. Reyes turned her head for a moment. "Ready to go?" Laura urged. "Yeah! Definitely!" Kara smirked, feeling better, but a bit embarrassed.
In the blink of an eye all three superheroes were gone. Clark had dashed down the fire escape, with Laura at his heel, and Kara had felt good enough to fly off towards Smallville. The janitor had been staring aimlessly out the bank window, as Kara soared by. "Madre de Dios!"
"Quiet!" An officer waiting to question him, said. He picked up a cell phone and called Detective Turpin. Laura and Clark sped across the bank parking lot. "Kara's blood!" He suddenly exclaimed, skidding to a halt. "Yeah? About that?" Laura had no idea what the problem was.
"We can't let the police crime scene investigators get any of it." Clark patiently informed her. "They'll run tests on it, and needless to say, will find some anomalies." Laura shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Clark. I'll just zip back and clean it up." She offered.
"Thanks Laura, but I might have a different plan." Clark's eyebrows rose. "Are you sure that you want to share the spotlight?" Laura teased. "I don't mind at all." He flashed her his famous farm boy smile. "Okay, but that's two that K Girl owes me, and one that you do." She chuckled.
"Done." Clark and Laura bumped fists, sending a noisy shockwave through the air. Back in front of the bank, Lois was tripping over the other reporters' feet trying to get in line for a statement that Turpin was about to give. The helicopter once again took off, encircling the area.
"Was that thunder?" He asked as he looked to the sky. Turpin thought he saw something flying into a lowering cloudbank. Hmm, must've been a bird, he mused. Suddenly, the walkie-talkie crackled to life. "What? How could you lose them?" Turpin forgot to lower his voice.
"Lose who?" Lois picked up on the phrase, as she separated herself from the crowd. "Never mind, Lane!" Turpin hissed. "Did you ever find Kent?" Lois shook her head sullenly. "Nope. You don't think he's… you know…I mean he's not picking up his cell." She replied. "He's still missing."
Lois tried his number again. The phone rang behind her. "What the?" She spied Clark winding his way through the crowd. "Who's missing?" Clark asked innocently. Lois hugged him, and then cursed vehemently. "Where the hell were you? You missed the whole…" Her rant was cutoff by the sound of murmurs and snapping cameras.
"I went to pick up a camera!" Clark lied, though he really felt bad about it. He showed her the recent purchase. It was a nice telephoto job, like the one Jimmy had. "A camera for what?" Lois barked. "There's nothing to take pictures of except…"
"Except that?" Clark quickly snapped still photos of Gold Wing as she walked into the center of the police blockade. Lois whirled and gasped. "Holy crap!" Laura strutted confidently up to Clark, milking her part. "Hello citizens of Metropolis." She began grandly.
"Not another one!" Turpin growled. "These capes are gonna be the death of me." Laura spun to face him. "I don't need a cape, Detective." Clark continued to snap pictures of her in full Gold Wing regalia. "I'm not from Metropolis, but today, Mr. Kent and I, working with Metropolis's fine police force, have apprehended the serial bank robbers and saved a number of lives."
Instantly, the reporters flocked to Laura, squeezing Lois and Clark together. Laura was quite a sight in her black leather midriff bearing outfit, glossy black high-heeled boots, bright golden yellow, cropped t-shirt, and tacky gold Mardi gras style mask.
Her raven black long curled hair waved in the wind, as the trademark golden blonde hair strands framed her thin face. Lois noted the black powder burns on Laura's t-shirt. She'd taken two direct bullet hits to her chest without effect. The reporters began their grilling as Clark shoved his way out of the fray.
Lois, predictably, locked her concentration on Laura. "What are you called?" She hollered over the other reporters' questions. "Gold Wing." Laura relished being the center of attention for a change. Back in her high school in Falcon Claw, Nebraska, she'd been a faceless nobody.
"Do you know the Red Blue Blur?" Another reporter called out, scooping poor Lois. "Intimately." Laura smiled brightly, posing for more pictures. Lois's heart sank. "Are you his girlfriend?" A second reporter called out. "Let's just say we're more than friends." Laura was really enjoying herself now.
Clark had zipped past everyone and waited in the shadows at a safe distance from the kryptonite-laced money. After the police had removed it all, he grabbed the vial of Kara's blood from the evidence technician's kit, and pocketed it. When the ET's back was turned, he blew the bloodstains dry. That about covers it, he thought sourly, and zipped back into the street.
The crowd was being dispersed by the MPD and Lois was forced to move on. Laura had vanished after giving the press her statements, much to the objection of the MPD. Clark nonchalantly walked up to Lois, and began going through the Gold Wing pictures. "So, the Red Blue Blur has some competition." He began to make casual conversation.
"Not only that, Smallville, but she's his girlfriend, or main squeeze, or whatever!" Lois's jealousy was unhindered. "What?" Clark reddened. Lois stopped to face him. "What did she mean, I worked with Mr. Kent, and the Metropolis Police Department?"
Clark hadn't thought the ruse that far through. "Oh, I began investigating the alley behind the bank, and at first didn't find anything unusual. I turned around, and Gold Wing was there." He compounded his lies, feeling worse by the minute.
"She didn't want to reveal herself, but still wanted to do the right thing." He continued the fantasy. "It's all right here in our report." Clark smirked as he handed Lois a few pages of neatly scrawled quotes and comments. Lois's jaw dropped as she briefly perused the statement.
"Gold Wing gave you an exclusive interview?" Lois gasped as her heart raced. "I wouldn't call it an interview, Lois. I mean she was in a hurry you know…bank robbery, lives at stake, you get the picture." Clark downplayed the incident. It was no use making Lois feel worse than she already did. Lois gulped, narrowing her eyes at him.
"It's not bad, Smallville. The article's a little rough, though." Lois gave him a backhanded compliment. "I mean for your first front page story, it's a bit thin." Clark smirked. "That's why I'm calling it our story…" Lois smiled broadly. "You mean as in a shared byline?"
"Exactly." Clark grinned. "Maybe you can punch it up a bit." Lois began walking again, as she read through the story more carefully. "I'll give it a little sass." She joked confidently. "This is great, Clark." He smiled thinly. "Hey, we're a team, right?"
"That's right, I can see it now, Lois Lane and Clark Kent, ace reporters for the Daily Planet." She added with playful arrogance. "Please tell me that you got Gold Wing's phone number? E mail? Forwarding address?" Lois asked half-seriously.
"Sorry Lois, none of the above." Clark rolled his eyes. "I get the feeling that she's not from around here." He commented. "You mean she could be an alien from another planet?" Lois laughed, as Clark was suddenly struck silent.
"Uh…don't be silly, Lois." Clark swallowed hard. "What makes you think that there are aliens here on Earth?" She snickered. "After everything we've seen in Smallville, would it really be that much of a stretch?" Clark flashed her a lopsided grin. "I suppose you're right."
"Of course I am." Lois smiled and took his hand. "Don't you forget it."
