When Churches Come Crashing Down
Folc4evernaday | Rated: M | Chapter 6
"Red Kryptonite?" Clark asked confused.
"If you remember we were doing some experimentation with the meteorite." Dr. Klein prompted. "From what Dr. Peterson was able to fine; Lois had slivers of the meteorite in her blood stream. They're already taking the precautions to remove it from her, but.."
"How did it get inside her in the first place?" Clark asked in concern.
"We don't know." Dr. Klein shrugged.
"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?"
"Clark, please calm down…" Dr. Klein urged.
"I'm not going to calm down. You have no answers. You don't know anything! This meteorite has somehow gotten into Lois' body and you have no idea how or why? What if she gets sick? We don't' know anything about this stuff! We don't even know what effect it has on me!"
"Clark…"
"NO!"
"If you would just calm down?" Dr. Klein tried to calm Clark down, but he wasn't listening.
"Mike, this is great stuff. Superman being labeled as a deadbeat dad. I love it. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it myself." Bill took another puff of his cigar as he paced in front of the STAR editor.
"Ironic, huh? Golden boy's got some skeletons in his closet too. Just like any politician."
"This Leigh-Anne? You sure she's legit?"
"I'd stake my reputation on it."
"Count on it."
"Thank God." Dr. Klein breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lois step into his office.
"Where is he?" Lois asked.
"In a soundproof room." Dr. Klein motioned her to follow him down the hall. "I don't know what happened. He just lost it. He got so angry and he just…."
"He what?"
"He collapsed…right in the middle of the lab. I- I didn't know what else to do." He opened a sliding door that revealed Clark lying on a cot in the middle of the room.
"Clark?" Lois approached his motionless figure, uncertain of what to expect from him.
"He hasn't woken up since he collapsed a couple hours ago."
"Clark." Lois gently shook his shoulder, trying to wake him. "It's Lois."
"Jor…" He murmured so softly she had a hard time hearing him.
"What?"
"Jor…dan." He murmured again. His eyes still remained closed.
"Clark, wake up. You're dreaming." She knew what he'd just said. He hardly ever said their son's name anymore.
"Lois?" He slowly opened his eyes and groggily looked towards her. "What happened?"
"You don't remember what happened earlier?" Dr. Klein asked in concern.
"I remember checking on a bank alarm and….I don't know." He shook his head, confusion written across his face.
"What do you mean 'you don't know?'?" Dr. Klein repeated.
"You really don't remember?" Lois asked.
"No."
"Memory lapse of some sort? Has this happened before?" Dr. Klein asked.
"Uh, yeah, about a month ago," Lois said.
"Any other side effects?" Dr. Klein asked. Neither herself nor, Clark answered. She felt the heat from her crimson blush crossing her cheeks. "Okay, let's run some tests…If that's okay with you?" He looked at Clark skeptically.
"Yeah."
"This Red Kryptonite seems to affect Superman mentally." Diana mused, "As interesting as this is; it just isn't doing the job in trying to eliminate him. I'm going to need the green kryptonite."
"I'm doing everything I can right now," Bill reassured her. "It isn't easy."
"If you want Superman taken out, get me the Kryptonite. Otherwise, you can leave me alone."
"So, you think this Red Kryptonite is affecting him mentally?" Lois asked.
"Or emotionally. Whichever way you want to look at it. It seems to be bringing out your subconscious feelings. Things you're suppressing." Dr. Klein explained.
"You think subconsciously I suspected Jordan was kidnapped?" Clark asked.
Dr. Klein looked from the pained look on Lois' face to the guilty expression on Clark's and shook his head, uncertain of how to even broach the subject of their son. "We don't know anything for sure."
"She's hiding something. I know it." Lucy said to Mayson. "Why is she so interested in the archive files all of a sudden? It makes no sense."
"Maybe you're being a little presumptuous?" Mayson suggested. "I know everyone's had a hard time these past few weeks…"
"Files are missing. The evidence is gone. How convenient is that when we're supposed to be arguing the appeal for Baby Rage and his file is GONE?"
"I don't know. Do you want me to open an investigation?"
"Lucy, can I talk to you?"
Lucy turned around to see Jimmy standing in the doorway of her office. He seemed nervous. He was toying with the strap of his camera bag. He never went anywhere without that camera. Her friend, Jimmy.
How could she have…?
This was Jimmy.
"What is it?" Lucy asked.
Why couldn't she forget that night? She couldn't remember the details of what had lead up to them making love, but every detail of that night in his arms was seared into her mind.
"You're avoiding me."
"Should I…?" Mayson pointed at the door.
"No, Mayson, we have work to do." Lucy cut her off. "Jimmy, I've been busy."
"Too busy to pick up a phone?"
"I should go."
"No," Lucy ordered once more. "We have to piece this case back together piece by piece by tomorrow morning or else this case gets thrown out."
"Maybe I can help?" Jimmy suggested, taking a seat. "You can talk while you work, can't you?"
"Jimmy, I don't have time for this…"
"Hey, the Skins case. I remember this." Jimmy smiled up at her. "Fires."
"Yeah."
"I think Lois and CK have a copy of a lot of the original stuff from that file. I could bring it by tonight…. We can talk over dinner?"
"Dinner?"
"You have to eat and I need to talk. I'll see you at seven." Before she knew what had just happened he was gone.
"Sounds like you've got yourself a date." Mayson winked at her. "Problem solved. Now, about these missing files…"
The screen showed Lois on the operating table. Doctors surrounded her as they worked on trying to save her life. A cry echoed as a young baby was pulled out from her womb.
"He's okay." The doctor said. "I think he's okay."
"Doctor, her blood pressure is rising." The nurse said, motioning to Lois' unconscious body.
The image began to shake and the screen went black.
"I've tried everything I can, but nothing seems to be able to help restore the image," Lois explained. Clark nodded, wrapping a supportive arm around her, pulling her towards him.
The screen shook once more and showed the doctor looking at the young baby. "I don't…" The screen shook again and the audio changed once more. The screen went black again.
"No." Clark shook his head and rewound the tape once more. "We're missing something."
The image of Lois on the operating table appeared once more.
"Oh, good, you're still here," Lucy said coolly, approaching Lana's office.
"Lucy, I thought you were off," Lana said a bit flustered to see her colleague. She reached for a manila file folder to cover up what she'd been working on.
"I was, but I decided to come in. What's that?" Lucy asked, pointing to Lana's desk.
"Nothing," Lana replied sweetly. "So, how are you doing?"
Lucy pulled up a chair and took a seat. "I'm fine. Mind telling me how you're doing? I mean, there must be a reason why you keep messing around with all the archive files and why they have come up missing….all of a sudden?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lana said, brushing her off.
"Yes, you do," Lucy said. "Keep your hands off my files."
"Where is she?" Bill Church hissed angrily.
"Who?" Diana asked innocently when Bill came barging into her office.
"I'm radioactive?" Bill narrowed his eyes at Diana. "How could you let things get so out of control? I'm going to have to explain to everyone why they got exposed to a radioactive substance at my party."
"It's temporary." Diana shrugged. "I'm already clean. It was just a small bit of red kryptonite. Nothing to write home about."
"We don't even know what this stuff does. You were supposed to test it on Superman, not the entire upper class of Metropolis."
"What's done is done. Do you have the green kryptonite?" Diana asked.
"No, I…I'm working on it."
"Then we have nothing further to discuss."
"I got an interesting call today. Mr. Church was inquiring on our status and interested in a possible purchase of Kryptonite." Mrs. Cox smiled up at Nigel. "He sounded desperate."
"I'm guessing his quest with the Red Kryptonite didn't go as planned." Nigel mused.
Test after test. The last few days had been filled with endless visits to different labs; monitoring the slow decrease in the presence of this radioactive substance in Lois' body. Almost everyone they had spoken with that had attended the party a few weeks ago had suffered the same effect. It made no sense. He and Lois hadn't attended the party so how had she been exposed to the radiation?
"I swear to God, if I have to be pricked in the arm with one more needle I'm going to scream." Lois snapped angrily, rubbing her forearm as they exited the doctor's office once more. She walked with Clark towards their Jeep.
"I'm sorry, but at least we know that stuff is out of your system." Clark tried to reassure her.
"I guess." She said. "It still doesn't make any sense to me. None of this does. A large majority of the city goes crazy for three days; now that same percentage is radioactive." He opened the door for her then walked around to the passenger side to climb in.
"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out the logic in this whole mess. What's the point?"
"Well, there were a lot of crimes being committed those few days. Maybe someone thought you would be out of commission?" Lois suggested, cranking the engine. "Perry did try and get us to have Superman make an appearance."
"I guess." Clark sighed, "By the way, I called the hospital and requested background information on everyone that was allowed access to that operating room."
Lois nodded in recognition. "Good. It still doesn't make any sense. Why would this woman kidnap a baby then come forward like this?"
"I don't know," Clark said. "But we're going to figure it out."
Diana pored over the files in front of her, sipping a glass of white wine. Superman. He had appeared on the scene a little over a year ago. His first interview was with Lois Lane when he had rescued her from the blast at Prometheus. After that, his interviews seemed centered with both Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Other journalists, of course, had had exclusives with the Man of Steel, but none of them with the same in-depth exclusives as this duo.
"Interesting." She mused, taking another sip of her wine as the wheels in her mind began to turn.
Clark spun into his civilian clothing after he landed in the trees behind the Pine Grove Cemetery. A tradition he'd started since he'd buried his son's ashes. Maybe. He reminded himself. What if it wasn't his son? What if his son was in the clutches of this Leigh-Anne person?
He swallowed the lump in his throat and approached the grave. He was surprised to find someone standing over his son's gravestone. It was Lana. What was she doing here? "Lana? What are you doing here?"
She turned around sharply. Fear was written all over her face. "I…I'm sorry. I should go." She said, moving away from the gravestone.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I was just…paying my …my respects," Lana said tearfully.
Clark winced inwardly. "I..I'm sorry. I just…I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"It's fine. I should go." She repeated.
"You're crying." He noticed.
"It's a cemetery. People are dead, Clark." She said, pointing out the obvious.
"Yeah." He said solemnly. He stared at the gravestone marked, 'Jordan Lane Kent'.
"I'm sorry," Lana said. "I know I never said it before, but I'm really sorry about what happened."
He hated this. He hated it when people apologized for Jordan. He never knew what to say or do. "Please don't." He said quietly.
"Don't what?" She asked.
"Don't apologize for my son." He said.
"Oh." Her voice changed to a bit more edgy tone. "Well, like I said. I should get going."
"Yeah." He watched her leave then turned back to the grave marker where they had buried Jordan's ashes. Using his enhanced vision, he scanned beneath the ground to the contents of the urn. He felt his stomach churn and his knees buckle as he examined the contents. "No…" He fell to his knees.
From a distance, Lana Lang watched as Clark Kent fell to his knees. What was going on? Why was he on his hands and knees? She'd never seen Clark cry. Not even as a child. He'd always been pretty well put together in more ways than one. She'd been angry when he'd humiliated her senior year of high school by breaking up with her in the middle of the pep rally. It had taken years for her to get over her anger. Looking back, she'd always thought of Clark as the one that got away.
Below the cemented gravestone was the urn he'd had buried so many months ago. He hadn't known what to do with it? The claims of the doctors and nurses that they had cremated their son's remains had been heart-wrenching. Now he saw the lies for what they were.
The closer he examined the contents of the urn the angrier he got.
Why hadn't he ever thought to examine the contents of the urn before? Why? Anger coursed through him as he stared at the gravestone before him. His son was not dead.
The doctors had lied.
The nurses had lied.
Kidnapped. That's what Lois had been saying all this time. In the last month or so since Leigh-Anne's appearance he'd begun to suspect, but now he had the proof that they'd been lied to.
He angrily stalked out of the cemetery as he planned how to get his son back.
"I'm very sorry for your loss, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, but I can't exactly give out personnel information. It would be unethical." Dr. Benzen said, nervously readjusting his glasses as he looked back at them.
"Unethical? Don't even start with me on unethical!" Lois fumed.
"Lois.." Clark tried to calm her down but to no avail.
"First we get told our baby died on the operating table; which I'm sure you recall that that is a lie! We watched the tape. We know he cried. Then we get told you had him cremated! Another lie. Since when does cremating a human body create wood chips?" Lois was furious.
"Mrs. Kent, I know you're upset, but I can't…."
"Upset? Upset doesn't even begin to cover half of what I'm feeling. You lied to us. Your entire staff lied. Then you have the gall to try and pull the ethics card?" Lois glared at him angrily. Dr. Benzen had backed away from them by a few steps.
"Mrs. Kent…I really really can't. I..I could lose my license…"
"You could lose your license?" Lois asked innocently. She turned around to see a patient being wheeled in. The man wheeling her in was glowing in anticipation. The woman was obviously in labor.
Very loudly, Lois turned to the crowded room of expectant mothers and announced, "Careful, you might wake up and find out your baby was kidnapped like I did!"
"Mrs. Kent, please…" Dr. Benzen pleaded.
The crowd looked at her in shock. She continued. "Yeah, I got told my baby was cremated; only I find out it's only a pile of burned wood chips. No baby. And now, Dr. Benzen refuses to tell me anything about the people that operated on me the day my baby supposedly died."
"I could sue you for this." Dr. Benzen hissed.
"Maybe, but you won't," Lois said angrily. "I could take this hospital to the cleaners if I wanted. What I want is my baby. You are going to give me the information I'm looking for or I'm going to keep telling all your patients here what you and your staff did got it?"
"I cannot believe you just blackmailed that doctor into giving us this information." Clark hissed as they stepped off the elevator, into the lobby of the hospital.
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Lois asked. "Now we just need to narrow the search down."
Two Weeks Later…
"This is the report on the contents of the urn. The medical examiner said it was impossible for the ashes to have been anything but …but burnt wood chips." Henderson read off the report.
"The stray pieces of pine are a dead giveaway too," Clark said angrily as he paced Henderson's office.
Henderson looked up at Clark and slowly put the file down he'd been reading over. Ever since Clark had come to him about his suspicions of Jordan's kidnapping he'd been a constant fixture in his office every morning the last few weeks.
"Clark, we're doing everything we can right now. We're trying to track down everyone that was working that day and…"
"We've already given you all of that!"
"I don't know how you got that information, but it wasn't by legal means." At Clark's stern look, Henderson sighed, deciding to take a different approach. "I'm doing everything I can right now. I have to do everything by the book or I risk having this case fall apart when it goes before the grand jury. Is that what you want?"
"You know I don't…"
"Then let me do my job."
"What am I supposed to do until then? What am I supposed to tell Lois? That we can't do anything but just…wait? Hope maybe you'll catch this person? Our son is out there somewhere with some…."
"You can't keep doing this to yourself. You're going to drive yourself crazy." Henderson laid a supportive hand on Clark's shoulder.
"How am I supposed to NOT concentrate on this? My son was KIDNAPPED in the middle of a hospital. I had doctors and nurses lying to me for months about what happened."
Henderson stared at Clark, uncertain of how to answer the young man's question.
"You're avoiding me." Jimmy accused.
"You said dinner. I had dinner with you and you gave me my files. End of story." Lucy harrumphed, turning back to her computer monitor to finish typing up the deposition she was working on.
"A drive-in burger joint wasn't exactly what I had in mind."
"Jimmy. I really don't want to talk about this." Lucy said in a harsh whisper.
"Why? Are you afraid you might actually have to admit you have feelings, Lucy?"
She glared back at him, "You need to go now."
"You can't avoid me forever." He shot back angrily, turning towards the door to leave.
Leigh-Anne sat with Diana Stride, tearing up as she spoke into the microphone, "This last year has been so hard. Sure, I've always hoped Superman might give us a little loan or something to get us on our feet…But mostly…" She let out a choked sob, "I just want him to see his boy."
"Turn that trash off!" Perry bellowed across the newsroom. He then muttered underneath his breath, "I can't believe Diana would buy into all that."
Jimmy looked at him curiously, "You don't think there's a story here, Chief?"
"A story? All you have here is tabloid trash; plain and simple. I used to think Diana Stride was above this kind of tawdry…Well, I was wrong." He sighed. "The Daily Planet, by the way, will not be wasting one drop of ink on this cock and bull story."
"Uh, Mr. White?" Allan approached him with a pink message slip. "Publisher called. He wants to talk to you about the Superman scandal."
"Pencil pushing, yellow-bellied…" Perry muttered as he took the message from Allan and made his way back towards his office to return the publisher's call.
"What's wrong with Perry?" Lois asked, walking up to Jimmy and Allan.
"Oh, the publisher called about the Superman scandal." Allan supplied. "I got to get this down to Doris." He gestured to the files in his hand and left.
"Amazing, huh?" Jimmy gestured to the muted image of Leigh-Anne on the television screen. "I never thought Superman would do something like this."
"What makes you think he did?" Lois accused.
"Hello?" Jimmy grinned, pointing at the screen. "That's hard to deny."
"All you have is this woman claiming to have his child. Where's the proof?"
"That photo says a lot." Jimmy pointed out. Clark walked up to them with a file in his hands. "CK, what do you think? I mean if I was Superman and had, you know, his looks, muscles, and tight pants…women falling all over me…" Jimmy noticed Lois' glare was darkening as he continued. "I sure might …." Clark's glare was equally dark. "Or not. Probably not. Wouldn't be a thing I'd think about." He tried to recover.
"Jimmy, do yourself a favor and please refrain from comments like that around my sister. You'll only dig yourself even deeper into the hole you're in." Lois snapped.
"What's the big deal?" Jimmy asked, not understanding.
"The big deal is that you've already found Superman guilty of what this woman claims without even talking to him." Lois said irritated, "Then you're over here talking about scooping up women like they're prizes at a carnival and…." She was in full force Lane babble mode. He could tell she was angry.
"I'm sorry," Jimmy said, holding his hands up as a sign of surrender. "I wasn't thinking. I was joking. I promise. I'd never…"
Seeing Jimmy needed a way out of this conversation before he dug himself any deeper, Clark interrupted. "Jimmy, do me a favor and get me some contact information," Clark handed him a list from the file he held. Jimmy looked at him curiously, waiting for an explanation, but got none. Clark's expression was grim. He nodded and headed towards his desk.
"So, what's all this?" Lois asked, taking the file from Clark as they made their way back to their desks.
"The information on the staff that was in the room when Jordan was born," Clark said solemnly. "I figure it's a start. The same stuff that everyone was exposed to a few weeks ago is most likely the same substance that made everyone crazy that day as well."
"Except this time it didn't have green kryptonite in it." Lois pointed out.
"Yeah. It's still out there." Clark said solemnly.
"So, what have we got here? Amanda Marshall? Surgical Registered Nurse during the c-section. Tony Benzen…Lead surgeon…" Lois read off the list.
"Yeah, I figured we could try and track down the RN and talk to her about what happened in that operating room. Maybe get some clues."
"Yeah." Lois smiled weakly. "The sooner we get to the bottom of this the better."
"You want me to what?" Gene asked.
"Break into their apartment and see if you can find anything incriminating on Superman. Bring it back to me. You'll be reimbursed for your troubles." Diana smiled warmly.
"Why don't you do it yourself?"
"Unnecessary risks aren't a part of my job description," Diana said.
Amanda Marshall watched intently as Lana finished her meeting with one of the victims of a rape from the recent events the last few weeks. She wasn't sure why Lana was having so many problems with Lucy Lane. Lana had been nothing but kind to her. She had helped her to get this job when she had been desperate for money. Raising a young child was hard on anyone. She wouldn't trade her young son for anything, but she hadn't anticipated the financial cost of having him.
That fateful day at the hospital six months ago had been a blessing for her. After Benjamin's death, she'd felt an empty hole inside of her that only a child could fill. Steven had left a month after his death, leaving her to pick up the pieces of her life alone.
Dr. Benzen had spoken of placing the young child in foster care when the parents weren't waking up a few hours after the surgery. There had been so many children that hadn't made it. Her young son had proven the doctors wrong. He was almost seven months along when he had come into the world and many had thought he would too face the same fate the other premature babies had, but he hadn't.
It had been fairly easy. Switching the bodies of the two babies and pretending not to know what happened when Dr. Benzen asked. Premature babies had issues all the time. Complications from surgery. Issues breathing. Once Dr. Benzen had filled out the death certificate she'd known she was in the clear. After putting the poor baby that hadn't made it back in the morgue she'd began planning how she would fake the ashes. She'd lucked out when the mother and father both had remained in a coma for a week. Most people that had been exposed to the gas had only dealt with issues for a few days. She'd taken her new son home and had thought she'd been home free until her visit from Lana Lang.
A young man in his late teens stared up at the brownstone on Hyperion Avenue. He checked the address he'd been given. After assuring himself that the address was correct he headed up the steps.
"Oh, God, Lois..." Clark moaned as his wife's warm inner walls enveloped him. Her moist curls caressed him lightly as she settled her round bottom on his thighs, raking her fingernails up and down his chest.
"I love you, Clark," She murmured, whispering open-mouthed kisses down his chest as she began to move against him. He let out a muffled groan, running his hand through her silky brown hair. Her chest pounded against his.
"Oh, Baby," He growled as he felt the mind-numbing sensation wash over him. The sensations of being inside of her never ceased to amaze him. The warmth surrounding his member; the throbbing muscles clenching around him...
She held onto his shoulders for support, picking up momentum as she cried out his name. Sensing she was close, he floated them a half foot off the bed to allow her legs more room and gain the leverage and angle she was after. He growled his approval as her hardened nipples grazed his cheek.
She threw her head back as she continued to move against him. She clenched her inner muscles around him with each movement. She tightened her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper inside of her.
He guided his hands up and down her back, guiding each movement towards his own completion…"Oh, God, baby…"
Lois leaned back, arching her back into his supportive arms, "Cl-ark..."
He trailed feather light kisses up her chest, until finally taking a pert nipple into his mouth. She let out a low growl, fisting his hair as his tongue moved at super-speed against her breast. Her strokes slowed as she concentrated on the sensation he was creating within her.
"Clark….yes….." She moaned as he moved up her body once more, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses in his wake. She looked into his eyes filled with the same desire he knew was reflected in his own.
He loved this woman so much.
He captured her mouth hungrily. She continued to move, bucking her hips against his. He could feel her body begin to quiver against his touch. He moaned against her lips as the sweet torture of her inner muscles convulsing around him continued. Her arms were wrapped tightly around him, his face buried against her neck as he continued to move her body against his.
Her muscles tightened around him and he felt her orgasm begin to wash over her. She raked a ragged hand through his hair, pulling him as close as she could. "Clark—oh, God, baby…yes…"
"Oh, God, Lois…" He moaned in pleasure, feeling the warmth of her climax washing over him. He felt himself coming undone, steadying her by keeping a hold of her hips as he kept the momentum needed in order to reach his own climax. He was so close. He felt her muscles clenching around him…
CRASH!
A noise from downstairs broke them both out of their reverie. "You have got to be kidding me…" He muttered under his breath as he painfully removed his throbbing member from inside his wife to investigate the intrusion.
His head was still spinning and his heart still racing from their recent lovemaking. He quickly spun into his clothes and sped downstairs to see what the commotion was that had disturbed him and Lois in the middle of the night.
"Lucy, wait!" Jimmy pleaded.
"I told you this was a mistake. Why do you keep pushing?" Lucy cried as she attempted to push him out the door.
"Because I love you."
"Don't say that," Lucy yelled vehemently. Her fists pounded against his chest, "Please just go!"
Realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere further in their argument until they both cooled down, Jimmy nodded and left. She closed the door behind him, sinking to the floor as she gave into the tears that had been threatening to overtake her. How had her life ended up so screwed up? She barely spoke with her sister anymore. Everyone she knew was no longer who she thought they were, but mostly she was disappointed in who she had become. She no longer felt confident in herself or her choices. She had allowed herself to be duped by the biggest criminal in Metropolis. What business did she have in trying to work with the District Attorney's office in prosecuting criminals when she couldn't read the signs everyone had been pointing out to her for months?
A dark shadow fled as Clark moved at super speed to catch the intruder. The intruder had been by the bookcase where his suits were kept. Had he seen anything? He looked over at the table where a bag of his and Lois' belongings had been flung into the bag carelessly. "Where do you think you're going?" He snapped, grabbing the intruder by the collar.
Jack had lived on the street for roughly one and a half years. After he and his brother, Denny had entered the foster care system at the age of nine and seven they both had witnessed their fair share of crime. Every home promised to be better. Every social worker offered empty promises. They soon learned to rely on one another.
After the last foster home had sheltered them with more abuse and alcoholic caretakers, Jack decided the best thing for himself and Denny was to leave. He packed his and Denny's things and left in the middle of the night, keeping an eye over his shoulder for that unsuspecting blow to the head that might come if he were caught. Fortunately, for Jack, they weren't.
They survived on the charity of others; willing and unwilling. His plan to save up enough money for their own place seemed like a pipe dream until he had run into a man named, Gene Newtrich. $50, 000. It seemed easy enough. Break into the home, look for any connection to Superman while making it look like a robbery.
When he'd realized the tenants were otherwise occupied he'd taken longer than usual for his raid on the home. He had been just about to investigate the hollow sound behind the bookcase when a dark figure had descended the staircase, "Where do you think you're going?"
He fought against the figure, but to no avail. The man had a strong grip on him and was not letting go. He'd screwed up. What was going to happen to Denny? He couldn't survive on the streets by himself. "Let me go!"
A flood of light filled the room and Jack looked up into the very angry eyes of Clark Kent, "What are you doing here?" He snapped, gesturing to the bag of loot Jack had acquired so far.
"What does it look like?" Jack snapped back sarcastically. He still hadn't loosened his grip. Clark's eyes narrowed. For a split second, he thought he was going to hit him.
He found himself thrown to the couch roughly, "It looks like you're just a kid, but that gives you no right to break into other people's homes and steal their stuff."
"The door was open." Jack snapped back.
Clark crossed his arms over his chest, looking disapprovingly at Jack, "Try again."
"Clark?" A feminine voice from the stairwell caught Clark's attention, causing him to look away. Jack took the opportunity and ran for the door.
"Oh, no you don't!" Clark grabbed him by the collar and threw him down to the couch once more. "You're not going anywhere." He picked up the phone nearby.
"What are you doing? Calling the police? Good luck with that." Jack scoffed.
Clark kept a strong hold on the young man's collar and Lois confronted the young man angrily, "What's your name?"
"Yeah, like I'm going to tell you." Jack snorted, "I'll take my chances with Juvie."
"So, you've been in the system before? You make a habit of stealing and breaking into people's homes?" Lois asked. "Your parents must be proud!"
"Nope." Jack shook his head. "No parents. I don't live anywhere. I'm responsible for me. Want to call the cops? Be my guest." Jack snapped.
Lois' face softened as well as Clark's. "What do you mean you don't live anywhere?" Clark asked. "You're just a kid."
"I'm seventeen years old. I'm nobody's problem." Jack sighed, "What do you want from me? An apology? Fine; I'm sorry I broke into your place and tried to steal from you, but I got to make a living somehow."
"By stealing?" Clark asked.
"Pays the bills." Jack snapped.
Lois and Clark looked at one another for a moment before turning back to him. He wasn't sure what to expect. Were they going to let him go? They hadn't called the police yet. Maybe that was a good sign.
Clark gestured to the pile of loot on the table. "If we catch you trying to do this again you will go to jail. This is your warning." He set the phone down and released Jack.
Lois opened the front door for him to leave. "Don't let this happen again."
"I can't thank you enough." Amanda smiled at Lana, "First the money you've given me; now this job. I don't know what I would have done without your help."
"It's no problem. I know it can't be easy raising a child on your own." Lana smiled sweetly down at the sleeping baby, "He's so cute."
"Yes, he is. He's surprisingly such a good baby. I just wish he didn't cry so much when I hold him." Amanda sighed. "It's an adjustment."
"Well, maybe he's teething," Lana suggested.
"Maybe." Amanda sighed, "Thank
After putting everything back in its place at super-speed, Clark re-entered the bedroom only to find Lois asleep on the bed. He winced at the uncomfortable tightness that still remained in his pants. He knelt down to kiss her before turning towards the bathroom to take a very cold shower.
He closed the door behind him, not noticing his wife's eyes slowly opening and watching his retreating figure.
Very gently, he curled his hand around the base of his erection. The memory of her soft hands on him caused him to harden even more. "Ahh.." he groaned. Relief. He needed relief. His hand glided up his member, "Oh, God.." he winced. The ice cold water hadn't helped one bit. An hour ago he had been fully sheathed inside his wife before their intruder had so rudely interrupted them.
He glided his hand up and down his shaft in a slow deliberate motion, imagining Lois' hand on him. Lois. Yes, that would help. He had been so close…."Oh, God…" His hand tightened around his shaft as he glided his hand up and down his organ …faster and faster… He was so close. He could feel it. Just a little more pressure…
It was strange. The water beating against his back felt warm. He gasped in surprise when a small feminine hand curled around his member from behind, "Need a hand?" She whispered seductively.
Without a word, he turned to face her, water pellets dripping down his face as he captured her mouth hungrily. She responded eagerly, molding her body against his. His hands sought her soft ivory skin out eagerly. He moved to cup her bottom cheeks, lifting her up in his arms as her arms linked around his neck. "Oh, God, I love you." He whispered against her lips.
"Oh, Clark…" She moaned as he pressed her back against the tile wall. Her legs tightened around his waist. He wanted nothing more than to sheath himself inside her once more and bring them both to the point of ecstasy that had been long delayed. "You're shaking." She commented in between shaky breaths.
"Holding it in for that long is painful for even me." He whispered, recapturing her lips.
"Oh, Clark…" She moaned, tracing her hand through his dampened hair. His hands roamed up and down her thighs as he continued his assault on her body. She felt so good in his arms. "Oh, God…" She trembled against him. Her hand slipped in between their bodies, curling around his length.
"Oh, Lois…" He moaned; a mix of pain and pleasure in his voice.
"I think we've waited long enough." She guided him to her entrance. He slowly slid his length inside her, reveling in the feeling of being one with her. He lowered his mouth to hers once more. "Clark…" In one swift motion, he thrust himself inside her. "Oh, God…" she moaned. His thrusts became more insistent as he held her against him.
Her soft sighs echoed in his ear as he felt the world around them fade away. The water continued to beat on his back as he lost himself in her arms, concentrating on the warm pulsing sensation surrounding him. Her body stiffened against him as she started chanting his name over and over, fisting his dampened hair. He felt a numbing sensation wash over him as his quivering flesh withered between her contracting inner muscles. He held her close, sealing his lips over hers as he gave into the waves of pleasure, reveling in the sensation of being one with her.
"What is it?" Denny asked, looking at the round globe before them.
"I don't know." Jack said, "But hopefully it'll be worth something."
Superman. He had come to Metropolis as a hero; uplifted by many and feared by some. He had never met as much fear and resentment as he had in the past few months. Mike Rogers smiled as he looked at the latest report on the Star's subscriptions. Their readers were growing more and more angry with Superman. Letter after letter came in demanding the government step in and rid Metropolis of this alien. Superman would soon be out of the picture, making room for Intergang.
Ellen Lane stepped out of the yellow checkered cab, carrying a single suitcase. She paid the cab driver and looked up at the apartment complex before her. Her daughters had been avoiding her phone calls for the last few months and it was time she put an end to the lack of communication. After all, how else were they supposed to know what was going on in her life, and vice versa?
She headed up the steps to her youngest daughter's apartment, determined to fix the problem.
TBC...
