Chapter 26: Clark Kent Missing

Lois was so proud of her front page article, that she read it three times before lunch. Between the readings, however, her thoughts were on Superman. Was he successful against Metallo? No one had seen him since they departed from the park, and she found that deeply unsettling.

No, she was not going to go there with her thoughts. He was Superman; he was virtually indestructible. She convinced herself that no one had seen him around in Metropolis because there had not been any big emergencies in Metropolis since last night. That had to be the case.

Another thing that was weighing heavily on her mind was the whereabouts of her apprentice. Clark Kent had not shown up for work at all today. She asked the chief about him, but he had no idea where he was either; Clark had never called in sick. While no one in the office seemed to care about his location, something inside of her was telling her that she needed to be concern about this.

"Darn it, this is my best work ever, and Smallville isn't even here to read it."

"Hi, Miss Lane," Jimmy greeted with his normal enthusiasm. "Your article is becoming the talk of the town. Most of the newsstands in Metropolis have sold out all of their copies of the Daily Planet."

"That's great Jimmy," she responded, not really listening to what he said. "Say, have you seen Clark anywhere?"

"Now that you have mentioned it; no, I haven't? Perhaps he came down with the flu? It is that season."

"Hmmm," Lois hummed as her eyes narrowed in intense concentration. Her concentration did not last long, and ended abruptly as she jumped to her feet. "Jimmy, tell Perry that I am heading out."

"Sure, but do you think that something is wrong with Clark?"

Lois grabbed her purse from her desk and hooked the strap over her right shoulder. "It's probably nothing, but when it comes to Lex Luthor, one can never be too careful."

"I thought Clark and Lex Luthor were friends?" Jimmy replied, confused by her logic.

"One thing I am certain of, Jimmy; Lex Luthor has no friends other than a big bank account."

Lois was able to get a hold of Clark's address from the payroll department. It was far from ethical, and perhaps even illegal, but it did prove fruitful. If she was more computer literate, she could have accessed the accounts payable database and pull up Clark's file to find out where his checks were mailed to. Since that was not the case, she had to resort to a more old-fashioned method: looking through stacks of envelopes until she came across one addressed to Clark.

As time consuming as that was, she was able to explain her presence away to anyone who inquired. When she found his apartment address, she took a cab to Clark's address. When she arrived, she discovered that his apartment was on the tenth floor.

Entering the lobby, her first impression was less than thrilling. From the unsightly condition of the lobby, she knew she needed to be ready to see rat pellets everywhere. She wondered when the last time a maintenance man had stepped foot in this building. She went to the elevator to see it crossed off by yellow caution tape. "How come this dump is not condemned yet?"

She had no choice but to climb up ten flights of stairs. She muttered under her breath as she commenced her long climb up the filthy flight of steps. The conditions only got worse, as there were spots of rat urine on a few steps she passed on the way up. It was at the fifth level when she encountered her first live rat, which she nearly stepped on it. "I swear, Clark Kent, you better be dead or dying for putting me through this."

Her legs were starting to get tense by the tenth floor. She prayed that the apartment was in better shape than everything else she has seen. She walked down the narrow hall. The hallway was so narrow, that there was no possible way for anyone to pass someone else standing in the hallway. She found Clark's apartment number and knocked on the wooden door.

After two attempts, no reply came from inside. She was convinced that he was not inside, or in no condition to answer the door. So she had to find a way to break into the apartment. She tried the door handle first, not expecting the door to open; but she was startled when the door opened for her without hesitation.

"Clark, you really need to learn to lock your doors," She said to herself. She knew she should not be surprised. Clark Kent almost had a child-like innocence about him. She was surprised that he had lasted this long in Metropolis without being mugged or swindled by a con-artist.

She entered the house, and was relieved that it was cleaner than the rest of this forsaken building. "Clark, are you home? It's me, Lois."

Not only was it clean, it was virtually unfurnished except for couch, a card table, and a chair. There was no television in the apartment, but a bookshelf full of classic literature. "Wow, he really is a nerd."

In the kitchen, she found a cordless phone docked in it's recharging station. A red light flashed, announcing the presence of voice mail. There was no way she could guess what his pin number is; she did not know him close enough to even begin to venture a guess. She did, however, know enough about phones to check on phone numbers that had recently called.

She carefully began to test for buttons that would pull up the call list, hoping that it was not a complicated matter. After a few attempts, she stumbled upon the right button, and the LED screen started to display a list of names and/or numbers of recent callers. The first number she did not recognize, but the second one had a name above the phone number labeled 'MOM'.

"Lois Lane, what are you thinking," She rebuked herself. Calling the mother of a co-worker was the tackiest thing imaginable, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

She pushed the call button and waited for someone to pick up. "Hi, Clark."

"Hello, I'm sorry to bother you, but my name is Lois Lane. I am a close friend of your son."

"What can I do for you, Ms. Lane?"

"I don't suppose you know where Clark maybe? No one around here has seen or heard from him in twenty-four hours."

There was a pause on the other line, as if Clark's mother was thinking carefully about her words. "I would not be worried, Ms. Lane. My son may look helpless, but I can assure you that he can take care of himself."

Lois wished she could believe that, but she knew Metropolis too well. With Lex Luthor nearly running the city, anything could have happened to him. Ms. Kent's words did not do much to sooth her uneasiness. Her next question, however, completely made her forget about the situation. "If it's not too intruding, are you and my son…close?"

"Close? Oh, no, no, no, no," she replied, imagining that she was probably blushing. "We're just friends. We're kind of like temporary partners at the Daily Planet."

"Oh." Lois could not help but detect the disappointment in her voice. It made Lois wonder about Clark's past love life. She wondered if he had gone through a hard break-up, or experiences a tragic heartache. "Well, I would not worry about my son. I am sure he is just fine."

"Very well, then. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"It's perfectly alright. Take care now."

Lois hung up the phone and let out an unsatisfactory huff. His mother did not know where he was, but was, sincerely, certain that her son was safe. Her mind began to race with what her next step should be. Could it be that she was overreacting? It had only been twenty-four hours; there could easily be a simple explanation to his disappearance.

Certain that she was not going to find any more clues in this apartment; she made her way out of the building. She found that leaving the building was much quicker than going in. She was only happy to get out of that dirt hole of a place, which probably hastened her descent down the stairs. The moment she stepped out of the doors and back onto the streets of Metropolis, she took a big whiff of fresh air. She took the next minute just savoring how she had survived her worst experience ever.

A young woman plowed into her, having been too busy talking with her friend, to see where she was going. "Hey watch it!" Lois snapped.

Both young women did not even acknowledge her existence; they acted as if they had run into an invisible wall, and walked around her. "Wha- How rude!"

When more people ran past her in the same fashion, she knew something was happening. She finally recognized the sound of sirens quickly approaching. Sometimes she had become so accustomed to the sounds of Metropolis, that she was late in recognizing sirens. Anyone native to Metropolis was the same way.

A crises was happening on this very street, and where there was a crises, there usually was Superman. If he still lived after last night's battle, he would be around shortly, and then she could tell him about Clark's disappearance.

She followed the crowd of people, but did not have to go very far. Everyone gathered around a skyscraper, looking straight up. She followed everyone's line of sight to see Superman floating down, as gentle as a feather, with a woman in his arms. The fear in the woman's eyes told Lois that she had fallen off the rooftop, fallen off or jumped off, that is. Either way, she was just glad that one of the two missing people was found.

An ambulance arrived just as Superman's feet touched the ground. "There you go, Ms.; these paramedics will take good care of you from here on out."

Two paramedics came and escorted the woman in shock to the ambulance. Superman was ready to take off again, and Lois pushed through the crowd to try to get to him. "Wait, Superman! Over here!"

His attention was captured as he looked towards her. She pushed through the last few people to, finally, reach him. Seeing her, Superman gave his normal warm smile. "Hello, Ms. Lane."

"Oh thank god you're alright. I was afraid Metallo had some kind of trap for you."

He gave her a look, as if he did not understand what she was talking about. "You do not have to worry; nothing is going to happen to me. If you will excuse me now…"

"No wait!" Lois urged. "I need your help."

"What can I do for you?"

"This is kind of an awkward request, but a friend of mine, from the Daily Planet, has gone missing. His name is Clark Kent. I was showing him the ropes, and I probably got him involved with a very dangerous investigation too early."

"I am real sorry to hear that, Ms. Lane, but missing persons is not my department. You should report your concerns to someone in the Metropolis Police Department." His response was cold and heartless as he took to the sky.

Lois was left there, even more confused than ever. He no longer used her first name, and he showed no personal interest in her or anyone. This was the first time he was willing to turn a blind eye on the well being on someone in trouble. She could not hide the shock she was feeling. "What was that?"