A/N 2015.As I was going through Chap 11 to prepare it for reposting, I found scenes out of sequence that really belonged with material that I had already posted in Chap 10. So, I've taken both sets of events and reordered them. There's some material in this version of Chap 10 that was in the last version and some added. Likewise in Chap 11, there will be some material that was previously in Chap 10, but most of it will be new
Day Three. Evening. Los Angeles.
Ellison and Rayner: New Allies
The sun was starting to lower and rush hour was just beginning by the time James Ellison finally walked out of the OPR Section in the Federal Building and took an elevator to the lobby. Ellison's tie, normally tied with a perfect double Windsor knot, now hung limply around his neck. He'd unbuttoned the top buttons of his starched light tan dress shirt, now stained with white rings where he had sweated through it a couple of times during his 'friendly chats.' He carried his navy blue suit's coat over one arm.
A ding sounded from the row of elevators. Kyle Rayner of The Los Angeles Planet stood up from one the hard, uncomfortable benches, grabbed his gym bag and crossed the lobby toward Ellison.
"Mr. Rayner, where's the camera and the vest with all the pockets?"
"And a hearty good evening to you as well, Agent Ellison." Rayner looked down at his running shows and drying gym clothes, "In the gym bag. You'd be amazed at where a Daily Planet Press Pass will and won't get me in."
"You got into the Federal Building's gym with your Press Pass?"
"No, sir. Just kidding." Rayner continued as Ellison laughed, "My Air Force Reserve ID card got me into the gym, but it wouldn't give me the key punch code to the showers. Your supervisor said you'd be a while so I got in a work out while waiting."
Ellison smiled, still trying to be jovial despite how drained he felt. "I saw you and Ms. Lane on the front page this morning."
"Yeah, we found that Crime Lab technician who signed your report. Ms. Lane was more charming with him." Rayner glanced over at Ellison.
The haggard looking Agent chuckled again. "I saw you decided to go with 'unnamed sources in LAPD and in the FBI.'"
Rayner recited, "The public is accustomed that kind of wording and it protects those who share with us." He briefly shared a knowing smile with the Agent. Then he gestured toward the building's main doorways. "Have you eaten? You look like you could use a meal."
"Yes, I could, but I just don't have much appetite right now." Ellison looked Rayner in the eyes. "Where's Lane?"
The door opened on the other side of the metal detectors. Lois's voice called out, "Hey, Rayner, what did I miss?"
"Evidently she's just walked in," Rayner said to Ellison, then he and Ellison walked over to the screening area where they could talk to her across the ropes. "I thought you were home with Jason. Wasn't he in another fight after school today?"
"He was and I washed his scrapes and cuts, but I had to leave when he started to tell his dad about it." Lois's eyes betrayed the worry she kept off of her face and out of her tone. It got past Rayner.
Ellison's expression didn't show it but the part of his mind that was still a trained, functioning investigator took note.
Lois continued, "I just can't bear to hear about these ventures of his"
"Are the native Angelenos bullying him for being from back East?" Ellison asked, taking a blank index card from his pocket and writing a few digits on the back of it.
"No. I think this is something else." Rayner picked up his gym bag and turned toward the doors.
"Oh it's something else alright." Lane rolled her eyes as if to add and you don't know the half of it.
Rayner snapped his fingers. "Hey, there's a Smoothie King next to the Starbucks about a block from, here. I need a protein drink. Anyone else want a protein shake?" No one else spoke up, but they did take the hint. All three made their way toward the exits.
Once outside and away from the Federal Building, Rayner got to the real reason he'd been waiting for Ellison. "I heard about your raid. I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but my former wingman, the Editor-in-Chief, is holding the front page for us and we'd like to have a quote from you. We'd also like to find a way to make the story look favorable to the Bureau or at least favorable to you."
"You're right Mr. Rayner." Ellison sighed. "I don't want to talk about it, but I need to. You and Lane did right by me and the Bureau in your article this morning, so I will tell you about it." And then his phone rang. Ellison made a gesture that indicated, I should take this.
The dark skinned Agent keyed to accept the call, "Mr. Dixon, hello. Yes, I was in an interview room for the last six and a half hours and my phone was jammed. Okay, that's as good a place as any. And I'm bringing an ally."
"What was that about?" Lois asked, like it was any of her business.
Ellison considered carefully for a moment. His eyes narrowed as he apprised Lane. "The case, Ms. Lane. It was about this case. Mr. Rayner has earned my confidence, Ms. Lane. I'm not sure if I'm ready to let you into the circle yet."
"Agent, since my father is four-star General in the U.S. Army, I had a Top Secret Clearance when I was in junior high school." Lois ticked of two fingers on her left hand. "I know half the Justice League on a real name basis and I'm pretty sure who the others are, too. And, most importantly, none of that has made it into any Planet publication or website on my byline." That made three more. Besides, my son has been tracking down and Retiring dysfunctional machines that pose as people for the last few days.
Ellison smiled welcomingly at Lane. He wrote something else on the card and handed it to Rayner. "Get cleaned up. Meet us at this address.
Derrek's Safe House
Connors and Jason
The Connors were waiting in Derek's warehouse. You could've cut the tension with a knife. They were not used to just sitting around, waiting for someone else to deal with a terminator. And each of their fight or flight instincts were operating on overdrive.
The only one who appeared calm was Cameron, who was still in the process of covering up the exposed sections of her endoskeleton with the T-888's synthetic skin. She had already kneaded samples of her synthetic skin in to the T-888's so that it would match where applied. Cameron had made good use of her time, and there were only a couple of spots on her body that still needed addressing.
Cameron was just about to apply her next patch when the Connors heard the creaking sound of the warehouse's front door. They sprang up, grabbed their weapons and stood in front of John.
It was possible that it was Jason coming to tell them that he'd taken care of Cromartie, but it was also possible that Jason had failed and the noise was caused by Cromartie coming to terminate John. The Connors weren't sure which possibility was more likely.
Their concerns were alleviated when they heard Jason's voice singing. "Today is John's birthday, birthday, birthday. Today is John's birthday and he is sixteen years old." It was possible that the T-888 would've mimicked Jason's voice, but there was no way it would've come into the warehouse singing a birthday song to its intended victim.
Jason came into view as he stepped around some crates. "Happy birthday, John." In his right hand Jason was holding a small cake and a bag containing a half gallon of Neapolitan Ice cream, a pack of paper plates and a small bag of plastic utensils. In his left hand he had a rather large present.
Cameron commented, "Jason White, you are about the worst singer I've ever heard." A slightly delayed smile on the terminator's face caused Jason to interpret the statement as the playful banter it was intended to be.
Jason laughed. "Yeah, I don't doubt it. I'm pretty good at the piano though." Jason grinned.
Sarah asked, "Given your attitude, can I assume that you managed to beat Cromartie this time?"
Jason replied, "Assume away." Sarah opened her mouth, but Jason cut her off. "And before you ask; yes, I did remember to burn the body."
"The entire thing?"
"Every last bolt."
Sarah seemed placated for the moment. She relaxed her stance. Then, by way of curiosity, she asked "How did you manage to defeat him if he had kryptonite powercells?"
"Simple. I just called in a favor from a vampire sharpshooter." Jason smiled again.
"Fine don't tell me." If the kid wanted to play coy that was fine with her. The only important thing was that Cromartie was out of the way.
Dinnertime in LA
Ellison, Dixon, Lane and Rayner: All Cards on the Table
Only Charlie Dixon's eyes betrayed his surprise. He sat in the bar area at a medium bar-height table with five chairs as tall as bar stools. Wearing an old T-shirt with a faded Marine Corps emblem under his leather motorcycle jacket himself, the Paramedic had expected the usually dapper Agent to walk in looking rode hard or at least put away wet. But his guest, this ally he'd promised..."Come on, Agent Ellison, you've got to be kidding me. Why did you bring the press?" He knew he'd seen that woman's face next to a column in the newspapers. Shit. It's her. "I know you; you wrote that editorial back in the nineties about how the world was better off with out Superman."
Lois set her purse in a chair next to Charley's. She looked down at her satin jogging suit and touching her thumb and fore finger to her temples for a moment, exhaled deeply. Yet she couldn't repress as smile at the irony..."And to think that Perry White told me no one would remember what I won the Pulitzer for, just that I won it."
"So what brought you to LA?" James asked trying to open up the conversation.
Lois thought for a moment. A wave of emotion washed over her. Breath Lane; take a deep cleansing breath. "My husband, Richard; he's finally got his own newspaper."
"Oh, man, this is not real." Charley was overawed for some reason.
James shot a questioning look at Charley. Something was eating at the terse man.
Charley continued, "You're Lois Lane. The Lois Lane, and you're married to the new Editor of my daily newspaper, Richard White. Don't tell me your son's name is Jason."
"Yes. It is. Why?" Lois gave Charley a look that was questioning and defensive at the same time.
"I treated him yesterday after he survived...jezzz." Charley looked like he was adding in some new figures into his own mental math. If John had asked him for the favor, that meant that Jason was protecting John or doing something in his place. What would John ask someone else to do that Cameron couldn't? Or had Jason volunteered for some reason? What had that explosion been? He looked back up as Lois asked another couple of questions.
"After he survived what? He's my son, don't you think I know what he does?"
"Sometimes it's hard to tell." Charley was back to his terse self. But the wheels were turning deep in his mind.
James nodded and smiled, to himself. When things don't add up, it's usually because you just don't have all the numbers. And that's what tonight is about. Getting all the numbers and seeing what adds up. "I'm sorry, it's been a really long afternoon. I've forgotten my manners." James made introductions all the way around. Well, he skipped Lois, because she'd already been identified.
And then everyone just sat there and looked at the menus or the artwork on the walls. No one wanted to confront the white elephant in the room. A bubbly waitress with 19 pieces of 'flair' pinned to her suspenders, pinned to her shirt, even some kind of tiara like thing in her hair on top of her head walked slowly past their table. Kyle almost started to order from her. And then another waitress who was prettier but had less flair and seemed, well a downer by comparison, came up,
"Hi. Welcome to Chachki's. I'm Debbi and I..." She spoke slowly, without vive and looking around the group, noted the tension. "You know, guys, I can come back, if I'm interrupting."
"Oh, no. We're ready." Kyle piped up. "One check. It goes on her expense account." The man who had just worked out and still needed his protein shake pointed to Lois, "She'll have a cheese burger with everything and a glass of orange juice. I'll start with a protein shake and a glass of water, then bring me the salmon stir fry." He pointed to Ellison. "Bring him a steak with salad and vegetable soup. And..."
Charley filled in, "I'll just have another decaf cappuccino. Make this one a double. And a bowl of nuts from the bar." He saw the waitress looking crossly at him. The paramedic set a five dollar bill on the table. "I'll pay for them."
The waitress made notes and started to walk off when Lois spoke, "Mmmm, on my burger, hold the mayo, give me the 'whole grain' bun and make the cheese either swiss or cheddar. Not that fake stuff." She almost let the waitress get away again, "And instead of the fries, I want the grilled vegetables."
Kyle gave Lois an appraising look.
Charlie broke the tension, "Okay, Agent Ellison, I understand why you brought Mrs. Lane. But what's he doing here." He pointed at Rayner.
"I flew F-15s with her husband in the First Gulf War." Kyle gave Lois a very thin smile. That was basically how she'd mis-characterized Richard's decision when they'd been partnered for this story.
"He's my bodyguard. My last one..." she sniffled. Between dealing with Clark's death and her son's personal mission to make up for not fighting Doomsday by playing Blade Runner her feelings nearly overwhelmed her. God! Jason was all she had left of Superman. Lois looked like she was going to lose it right there in a trendy restaurant in front of her husband's best friend, and two complete strangers. She took some deep, slow, cleansing breaths. "Let's just say that if this case turns into what it could, he'll need one of those Rings like the Space Cop wields."
"Lois, those Rings don't come out of Cracker Jack boxes. The Guardians only give them to people who are-" Kyle spoke up with a serious, respectful tone.
"The Guardians give Power Rings to people who are honorable, fearless, resourceful; what am I missing...?" The way she gestured with her hands as she named off the qualities made it clear that Lois credited them to her photographer.
The waitress came by with the protein shake and almost left when she saw the emotional moment. While Lois looked a Kyle with respect and friendship in her eyes, Ellison quietly walked around, picked up Kyle's protein shake and his own water and sat silently back down.
Kyle actually blushed. Before, Lois had scoffed calling him a chaperon. Now here she was saying he was worthy to wield a Power Ring, as an Officer in the Green Lantern Interstellar Corps. "Well, I'm sure they don't give them out to painters or political cartoonists. Probably something in that Book of theirs about artists..."
"I've wondered where GL was the day Superman...didn't come back" Ellison asked
"Probably on a Mission for the Guardians." Rayner ventured
"No." Lois looked at her fingers and spoke so low, the guys had to lean in closer to tell what she said. "I know where he was."
The three guys were giving her their complete attention, or at least all the space she needed.
"Where was he?" Charley inquired quietly
"I asked the Lantern to take care of an asteroid the size of Sicily that was on a collision course with Earth. It was supposed to be a birthday present for Superman. Even thought I didn't know when his birthday really was.
"The Space Cop used to be an astronaut. He got his ring during the NASA Mission that put that old space station, Skylab, in orbit. So, I was sure that he could put the asteroid into the Sun. Not drop it on Venus or sling shot it around the Sun and smack into one of the moons of Jupiter.
"Superman underestimated Doomsday, and Green Lantern over estimated the asteroid, spent too much time getting its orbit perfect. For Christ's sake! With that Ring of his, could he have have cooperated with Superman and made the difference?" Now she was sobbing. "But he sat out there in space. For hours, he was out there making sure the asteroid's new orbit was perfect, while Superman fought that Monster, 'till his last breath."
-S-
Lois opened her purse and pulled out some tissues and her compact. She wiped off the smeared mascara and rouge, applied a little powder and … voilà!
The waitress brought their food.
''Now where were we?" Lois asked
"The connection between Charlie, your son and James's case." Kyle summarized
"Hey, all I know is something went boom." Charley looked closed off, he wasn't trusting these people with everything, not yet. "My partner and I hopped in the ambulance and drove toward the explosive cloud. This kid came stumbling out of an alleyway, near the site of the explosion. We treated him and released him. His ID said Jason White."
James wondered if perhaps Charlie was still worried about James trying to bring him or Sarah in. "Okay, people, my supervisor just took my badge, my sidearm and my credentials, so right now, I'm just an ordinary citizen. I'm not an FBI agent right now. And truth be told I may not ever be one again. I'm going to put all my cards on the table here. I hope that you all will do the same."
James related the story of his current serial case. Six murders in LA since last fall, all of them linked by similar anomalous blood evidence: blood that wasn't quite blood. It had plasma, platelets, white cells, but no hemoglobin and no red cells. Some kind of synthetic oxygen carrier served in place of the red cells.
He told them about how he'd been tracking Sarah Connor in 1997 and that the anomalous blood evidence had shown up in that case, too. I wonder if the blood evidence from the Phone Book Killer case in 1984 would show the same anomalies? Wasn't that killer after a 'Sarah Connor,' too?
Ellison began to relate the story of the raid on 'Kester' from earlier that day. Ellison mentioned that 'Kester' had somehow copied the appearance of an out of work actor and then taken over his apartment. Wheels began to turn in the back of Charley's mind but he spoke up.
Charlie told what he had seen when 'Kester' left the site of the raid, how there had been exposed metal in the 'man's' cheek and neck. Then he paused and took the first plunge. The Paramedic mentioned the exposed eye socket and the red glowing sensor that scanned around within it.
"So what are these things?" Kyle asked
"They're Terminators." Lois said.
Charlie and James turned to stare at Lois.
"No wonder you said, 'No comment,' when I compared you to Sarah Connor." James broke the silence.
Lois continued, "They're killer robots that pose as humans, with synthetic flesh, sweat, bad breath...anomalous blood."
Charley continued, "They're stronger than we are, faster than we are, and absolutely relentless. They're sent back across time by a homicidal Artificial Intelligence computer network."
"The Skynet Defense System, the computer that declares war on the world."
Now it was everyone's turn to to look at James.
"And behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over... the earth, to kill with sword... and with the beasts" James took a long sip of his water. "That quote is from the Book of Revelation. Could these Terminators be Death and Hell that were given power over the earth to kill? Could the beasts be the flying and crawling Hunter Killers that Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor raved about while they were in lock up?"
"And these are the things my son has been Retiring like he's some kind of teenaged Blade Runner..." Lois sobbed again. First Doomsday took Clark, and now one of these Terminators could destroy Jason while he tries to defend John Connor.
"Jason has been fighting these these things?" said Rayner. "Are we talking about the same kid that I taught to throw a fast ball last summer? The one who's called me uncle Kyle for years? Lois is he, is Jason...?" the fighter-pilot/ artist let the question hang out loud but he finished it in his mind. Is Jason Superman's son?
"Richard is Jason's Daddy. Our boy is just faster and more durable than most people, that's all."
"Mmm-hmm. He goes ten rounds with a T-888 and then survives a small EMP weapon." Charley spoke up. "And he's only a bit faster and more durable. Right. And I'm Ice Man; Kyle over there is Angel; bald-headed James over there is Xavier; you are clearly Jean Grey, so I guess that makes your husband Richard, Cyclops. Are you telling us your son is Wolverine, Ms. Lane? This isn't one of Brian Singer and Brett Ratner's X-Men movies; this is real life."
"Wow, look at the time.. I bet my girl Alexandra is at my painting studio wondering where I am." Kyle pulled out his wallet and dropped a twenty on the table. "I usually paint on Thursdays."
"Yeah, guys, you've been great. Confession is good for the soul, but you know what they say about moderation and too much of a good thing." Lois picked up the check and Kyle's twenty and left a fifty of her own. She and Kyle walked out and James rose as well.
As Kyle Rayner and Lois Lane walked out the front entrance of Chachki's, their waitress walked out the back. If they had seen this none of them would have paid her any mind at all. Who know how employee shifts were scheduled in restaurants like these? She walked down an alleyway and stopped for a moment to listen. And then she began a transformation that would have had them all paying a great deal of attention.
Her red hair became a dark trench coat. She grew a foot taller, her shoulders and waist broadened and her breasts melted into a muscular chest. No. She didn't become another model of Terminator. The skin took on a dark green tint and the head became slightly oblong. 'She' was in fact not of this world. Removing a phone from the pocket the black pants, the green-skinned person leaped to the top of a five story building, for better reception.
"Talk to me," a gravelly voice flowed down from a satellite link.
"Go secure." A green hand keyed on the pad of the phone. "This is J'onn, Bruce. I have much to report."
All for One, and One for All
"No, Agent Ellison. Wait. We're not done here yet."
"Please, I'm James." He extended a hand.
The paramedic shook it, "Charley"
"Okay here's the rest of my numbers. Sarah Connor is alive."
"I know. She pulled me out of burning building." James picked at his baked potato.
"And I had John and Cameron in my ambulance, when you saw me last."
Ellison nodded encouragingly.
Charley stared to speak, but couldn't decide where to begin.
"What's been eating you tonight, Charley? Something has been gnawing at your insides since I mentioned how 'Kester' had sort of assumed the identity of an out of work actor before social engineering himself into the LA Divisional Office of the FBI."
"Yeah, I put that together with some stuff I overheard at the Connors' while I was checking up on Derek Reese after I had treated his gunshot wound." Charley grabbed a sip from Lois's untouched water glass.
"Cameron brought in the carcass of one of those Retired Terminators. I heard her and the others talking about how it was a T-888, one of the first Terminators that could remodel its own appearance. It could change the length of its arms and legs, reshape its hips and chest cavity, even change it's skin to match samples."
"And?"
"I'm wondering about my wife. I mean she used to have this tattoo on her inner thigh, but now its gone. There's not even a scar of removal there now.
"And a few weeks after our honey moon she had a car wreck and this girl we'd palled around with, Michelle's best friend, disappeared. They were both contract nurses so it wasn't uncommon for one, or the other, or even both of them to be gone from LA for a few days or weeks. They both usually worked at one of many hospitals in the metro area here. I figured she was just on an assignment. But Michelle never spoke of her again. One of my paramedic buddies and that girl had double dated with me and Michelle before the accident, and he'd found a new girl soon enough. But he still mentioned her from time to time. I didn't let myself wonder about why Michelle never brought her up.
"And then recently, when I began playing Team Medic for the Connor Clan, Michelle fixated on John and the time I was spending with him, not on the potential romantic rival she had in Sarah."
"Hmmm." James considered. "Are you wondering if she's actually Michelle or if Skynet replaced her with a T-888? Hoping that you would lead to the Connors if they ever turned up after the bank explosion..."
"Yeah. I guess I am."
Charley drank from his coffee. James drank from his water. Each man seemed lost in his own private internal dialog. And then Kyle Rayner walked back into the restaurant, and up to the table where he'd eaten with Charley, James and Lois.
Charley made a wry comment, "If it isn't Casanova..."
"What did you say corpsman?" Rayner smiled.
"We thought you said you had a date." James spoke up.
"Yeah, I do." Rayner looked at his phone, as he bought a glass of pineapple juice from the bar. "I called her and postponed. I don't do that very often, so Alexandra's usually understanding."
"And tonight?" James asked
"We're not quite finished here." The warrior-poet, looked decidedly more warrior than poet in that moment.
"We already figured that out." The paramedic spun his coffee much in a circle near the center of the table.
"I meant Alexandra, your girlfriend." James prodded.
Kyle smiled. "She's the best."
"So you were saying..." Charley steered the conversation back on track.
"That whole tale of Machines posing as men, picking us off one by one, and some rogue AI network declaring war on the world...It doesn't seem complete. There's something missing." Rayner sat and sipped his juice.
"I could tell you about what she and Reese each had to say when they were locked up. But maybe Mr. Dixon could shed a different light on that part of the story."
"I've seen how protective the girl robot is over John, and how Sarah and his uncle keep him sheltered to a degree." Charley ventured.
"Could they be after the kid?" Kyle asked.
"Sarah thinks so." James said. "She has said he's destined to lead Mankind from the ashes and rubble of the Skynet Defense System's nuclear first strike to victory over the Machines."
"What do you think, Kyle?" Charley asked
"You are the objective witness, here." James added.
"I'm not sure it matters what I think or what any of us thinks. Something up time believes it enough to keep sending Metal back to kill him. And someone else keeps sending soldiers and Machines back to protect him."
"That's deep." Charley held up his coffee mug in a kind of toast to Kyle.
"It seems the strings of fate are being pulled from uptime." Kyle put his hand in the center of the table.
"I can't just stand idle and watch it." Charley put his hand on top of Kyle's
James added his hand. "Agreed, friends."
