Countdown
Day 72, Wednesday, 6:30PM, Metropolis, 1938 Sullivan Lane
Lois leaned back into Clark's chest as she snuggled in closer to him on the living room couch. Their son busied himself with a crayon drawing from his position on the floor, apparently obvious to the television, currently tuned to The Disney Channel. As Lois enjoyed Clark's embrace, she was amazed at how complete this simple setting made her feel. Confident in their home's security, Lois was able to forget the threats facing the family and relax in sleepy happiness. Clark feelings mirrored his partner's as he lounged back with his family, temporarily oblivious to the problems of the world. Clark tightened his grip around Lois as she snuggled into him, placing a brief kiss on the top of her head.
"I think your aim is a little off," Lois teased, as she lifted her head up to him and offered him a mischievous smile.
Clark returned the smile, and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. Before she had a chance to complain about its brevity, he glanced quickly over to Jason and back, as he whispered the reminder, "We need to keep this rated G for now."
Lois giggled lightly as whispered back, "Neither of us would let it go farther than that, but you can still do more than that under a 'G'." She pulled his head down to her as she demonstrated with a tame though affectionate kiss. "We need more nights like this."
"And we'll have them," Clark assured her, leaving the known challenges unspoken. As the two silently enjoyed their embrace, Jason jumped up and excitedly showed them his latest drawing, this one of his Grandma Martha and Ben Hubbard at the Kent Farm. The picture had clearly been inspired by his parents' revelation earlier in the evening that they would be going to Smallville that weekend. Though the crayon drawing was still awkward, the image was clearly recognizable as the elderly couple.
"See what I made?" the tyke asked excitedly. "I'm going to give it to Grandma and Poppa Ben when we see them!"
"This is amazing," Lois told their son enthusiastically. "They're going to love it! How'd you get to be such a good artist?"
Jason beamed back at her, as he shyly mumbled, "I dunno." Her son's shy grin was a facsimile of the familiar expression that she'd seen on Clark's face countless times. Lois wondered how anyone could have missed the striking resemblance to the mild-mannered man. "I'm going to make one for Grandma and Grandpa Lane, too," he promised, as he ran back over to his crayons.
As Jason sprawled back out on the floor, he looked back at his mother with a confused look on his face. "Mommy, how come Grandma and Grandpa don't come to see us anymore?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, sweetheart, it's just that everyone's been so busy lately," Lois explained guiltily. "We'll see them soon. I promise."
"How long it's been since they've seen him?" Clark inquired curiously.
"Not since before I left Richard," she admitted in a nearly inaudible whisper. "Things are bit rocky between me and my parents right now. My mom thinks I'm not thinking things through, and dad's convinced that I'm ruining my life."
"So they haven't seen their grandson," Clark confirmed sadly. "We'll need to fix that."
"Then get ready to get raked over the coals," Lois warned him. "My parents aren't understanding like your mom is."
"You should have been there when she chewed me out after I first told her about Jason," Clark told her with a smirk. "I got quite the lecture." At Lois surprised expression, he added seriously, "She was worried that I wasn't seeing things straight. Once she was convinced that I was going to do the right thing, she relaxed and has been fully supportive ever since… It's probably similar with your folks: They're worried about you because they love you."
"I think my dad loves yelling," Lois muttered. "No wonder he joined the army."
"We'll have to face the music sooner or later," Clark pointed out. "Why not get it over with? Once they're satisfied with our explanations, they'll relax and we can put it behind us."
"If you'd met my dad, you wouldn't be so quick to say that," Lois told him anxiously. "He's hated all our beaus, at least while we were dating them. His first kind words about Richard didn't come until after I left him. You won't fare any better, even if he knew your secret… which we will never tell him."
Their discussion on in-laws was disrupted by Jason, as he innocently asked, "Mommy, how many stars are on Grandpa's uniform?"
"Three," Lois answered proudly, as Clark suddenly became nervous at the prospect of meeting his de-facto father-in-law. "Yeah, you'd better be nervous," Lois teased with a soft giggle, as she noticed him tense up.
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Day 73, Thursday, 6:55AM (Mountain Time), Littleton, Colorado
The briefest blur of red and blue was all there was to suggest anything out of the ordinary over Ridgeview Park on this brisk fall morning. Even if someone had noticed the blur between heartbeats, it passed at too great a speed for anyone to determine its source or destination. A moment later, two figures emerged from behind the trees, their footsteps producing a small spattering of water from the grass, still wet from the overnight rain. Clark was wearing khakis, a blue polo shirt and a light green windbreaker as he led his son across the park, and down the road to the Fergusons' house.
The explanation given to the Tom and Lily Ferguson was that Superman blamed himself for Luthor's release from prison, and was thus providing Jason's transportation as a small penance for that failure. Despite that revelation, Clark didn't want to alert the children to the Man of Steel's presence, or reveal his dual identity to the parents. Thus, he chose to disguise himself on these encounters with business casual dress and a Metropolis Meteors baseball cap in place of his ill-fitting suit and glasses. The precaution was almost superfluous, since he had always managed to drop off Jason without being seen by the Fergusons' children.
Jason was skipping along besides his father, telling him everything that he wanted to do in Smallville that weekend with Grandma and Ben, as Clark guided him across the street. The tyke momentarily ceased his chatter, before inquisitively asking his father, "Are we going to go back to the quarry this weekend?"
"I think you're getting too strong and throwing too far for that," Clark told him reluctantly. "We can take a picnic there if you want, but we'll have to find somewhere else to play catch if that's what you want to do."
"'Kay," Jason answered, satisfied. "Are there going to be any other kids there?"
"Of course, and I'm sure lots of them are dying to meet you," Clark assured him. "In fact, when Richard and I were there Sunday, we told a couple kids your age all about you." After a rare moment of silence with his son, Clark asked him, "You have a lot of fun here with Stevie, don't you?"
"Uh-huh," Jason replied automatically. "Tina can be mean sometimes though." Looking up at his father, Jason asked him curiously, "Why is Tina always mean to Stevie?"
Clark frowned for a moment, as they reached the front door of the Ferguson's house. "It's like that a lot with brothers and sisters," he explained. "They love each other, but sometimes one of them is jealous of the attention that the other one gets, and acts up. It happens a lot."
"But, I would never do that," Jason assured him.
"I know that, son," Clark agreed as he broke into a wide smile. He squatted down in front of his son and pulled him into a hug. "Now, be a good boy at school today, and I'll see you this afternoon." Before Clark could release Jason from his grip, the front door opened suddenly, and both of them turned in surprise to see Tina grinning down at them.
"Told you he was here!" she hollered over her shoulder, as Stevie came running up behind her, still in his pajamas. Both Stevie and Jason smiled widely as they saw each other.
"Is that any way to answer the door?" Lily hollered from the other room. "Let him in and, Stevie, get upstairs and get dressed right now!"
Clark released Jason from his hug and stood, telling the children, "Well, I'd better get going now. Bye, kids."
As Clark turned to leave, he heard Tina's voice behind him, "Goodbye, Mr. Kent."
Clark looked back in surprise as Tina closed the door behind him, his eyes wide. Why is it that kids are never fooled by the disguise? he wondered anxiously. He shook his head in disbelief and focused his senses inside the house. Lily knew it was really Superman dropping Jason off, but she apparently hadn't heard Tina's goodbye. The kids' nonchalant demeanor could only mean that they recognized him as Jason's daddy, Clark Kent, not as Superman.
Inside, Jason was asking innocently, "How'd you know who he was?"
"Duh, he was just here last Sunday," Tina answered sarcastically. "Like we're not going to recognize him with contact lenses… Our dad wears contacts, too." Thankfully, Jason didn't correct her.
Clark kept his hearing sharply focused on the kids in the house as he slowly walked down Highland Drive back to the park. Of course she recognized me as Jason's daddy, Clark realized as his anxiety finally receded. Who else would be dropping Jason off in the morning and giving him a hug good-bye? He continued to listen in on the childrens' chatter as he walked back to Ridgeview Park, and disappeared behind the trees before returning to Metropolis.
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Day 73, Thursday, 2:10PM, Metropolis, Daily Planet Newsroom
Despite their prior warning to Perry about their potentially declining output due to the Luthor situation, Lois and Clark's had been prolific over the past few days. The first front-page story had detailed Luthor's invasion into their personal accounts, followed up by a series on identity theft, and an exposé on the inequities of credit reporting bureaus that left consumers at a disadvantage. Perry had been pleased, and the two journalists were guilt-free as they relaxed in the post-deadline decline in newsroom stress.
"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Lois asked in a barely audible whisper, eyes wide and a bit nervous.
"No point in delaying it," Clark whispered back. "Besides, your folks are overdue for some time with their grandson. My friend Pete's offered to mediate, if we need it."
"What do you mean, 'mediate'?" Lois asked inquisitively.
"Pete's on the armed services committee and has worked quite a bit with your dad on one thing or another," Clark explained in a low whisper. "He'll invite your folks over, we'll be there, and everyone can talk peacefully, trusting that your dad won't go ballistic as a guest of the good Senator and possibly his future Commander in Chief."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that, and I'm not sure that it's a good idea for him to meet you while we're trying to keep our relationship hidden from everyone else," Lois countered in her barely audible whisper. "Knowing my dad, he'd find some way of outing us at the worst possible time."
"It's your call," Clark conceded. "I just wouldn't want you to have to face the music alone, or to keep your parents from their grandson."
Lois grimaced at that, shaking her head as she told him, "I never figured you for one to lay a guilt trip on someone, Clark."
"Sorry," Clark apologized. "I guess that there are extenuating circumstances here. Maybe they'll understand if you tell them that it's too dangerous for anyone to be around us right now."
Lois and Clark were not the only ones enjoying casual conversation in the post-deadline calm. As had always been the case, the idle staffers engaged in mild gossip during these quiet periods, and the nature of that gossip had transformed since Luthor's retaliation on the financial stories became known. Maggie had fueled some of that fire when she revealed that Luthor's flunkies had gone after Clark's mom, misquoting Perry and embellishing the story somewhat for effect. That resulted in comments that were much more charitable towards Lois than they'd been several weeks earlier. The subject matter still made it difficult for Clark to maintain the cheerful façade as he listened in, however:
"That's got to horrible to have a madman go after your family like that."
"Looks like Kent finally grew a pair, going after Luthor like that. I guess Lois is a good influence on him."
"That poor little boy. I hear that Luthor is gunning for him, too."
"Clark and Lois are so brave to keep sticking it to Luthor after he tried to kill him and Richard."
"I heard that Luthor tried to kill Kent's mother over that story. I'm glad I'm not in their shoes."
"Looks like Richard got out of there just in time." "Not really. Luthor still tried to kill him."
"I can't imagine the stress they're under, with that lunatic coming after them. That son of a bitch even put Superman in the hospital."
"Can you image the invasion of privacy, to have that madman access all of your accounts?"
Lois noticed the faraway look in Clark's eyes and the neutral expression and asked him in a low voice, "So what are they talking about today, or do I want to know?"
"It's sympathetic, mostly… about Luthor and the stress we're under because of him," Clark told her. "I'm not sure if that's an improvement or not, though."
"Any day that they're not gossiping about my love life is a good day," Lois responded simply as she stifled a yawn.
Maggie Gonzales furrowed her brow pensively at her desk as she surreptitiously glanced through the glass walls of Perry's office at the editor and his nephew. Confident that they would be there for a little while, she cautiously asked Jimmy Olsen and Susan Walters, "So who do you think the man in Lois' life is now?" At the shocked expression on Jimmy and Susan's faces, she defensively added, "What?"
"A person would have to be nuts to even consider getting involved with her right now," Suan told her seriously. "It'd be a quick way for someone to get their name on Luthor's hit list."
"What if they're not afraid of him or already on his list?" Maggie inquired seriously, as she shifted her gaze over at Lois chatting with Clark.
As Susan followed her gaze, she commented mockingly, "In his dreams! The farm-boy wouldn't last a week with her. Beside, you'd think she'd have learned her lesson about office romances."
"It was uncomfortable with her and Richard for a little bit, but it looks like they're past that now," Maggie countered as she looked back at Susan.
Susan nodded her head in agreement, telling her authoritatively, "Pure luck. I still can't believe how quickly that turned from uncomfortably cuddly to chillingly cold."
"Not that cold, Ms. Walters," Jimmy pointed out. "It looks like they've managed to kind of stay friends after it all. I don't think that I could do as well under those circumstances."
"That doesn't answer the question," Maggie persisted. "Yeah, she's obviously stressed, but every once in a while, you'll catch her trying to hide an oddly contented smile. She's being discreet, but I'm sure that there's a man in her life."
Susan looked over as Lois was smiling weakly up at something Clark was saying to her. "She could be smiling over something her kid did, too," she countered skeptically. "Besides, when would she have time, with her and Kent putting in so much time on their page ones lately?"
"Maybe they make the time," Maggie suggested as she watched Clark smile widely at something Lois had just said to him. After a moment of silence, Maggie commented quietly, "You know, those two are definitely good together professionally." Motioning to the pair with her head, she continued, "Perry thinks that they'll get next year's Pulitzer for the Luthor financial exposé."
"So does everybody else, Ms. Gonzales," Jimmy reminded her proudly. "And nobody ever concedes that ahead of time. It's usually, 'I can't believe they got it'. This time, it's, 'They'd better get it'. They're really remarkable together."
"So who do you think it is?" Maggie asked again.
"Maybe someone in blue tights?" Susan suggested jokingly.
"Oh, get real!" Maggie chastised her as she turned back to look up at her friend. "He hasn't been seen anywhere near her since he got out of the hospital. He's probably still pissed off over her Pulitzer Prize winning editorial. Whatever chance she might have had with him is long gone now."
"I wouldn't read anything into that, Ms. Gonzales," Jimmy insisted. "He's not the type to keep a grudge."
"Well, let's stick to mere mortals anyway," Maggie insisted, as she returned her gaze to Lois and Clark. "What is it she was looking for that she couldn't find in Richard?"
As Susan followed her gaze, she chuckled mirthlessly as she admitted, "You've got me there. I really thought she and Richard were going to work out."
"Interesting…" Maggie muttered, still watching Lois as she recalled asking her about Clark's availability for her sister, and the surprising reaction that had provoked. It couldn't be, Maggie thought to herself. Could it?
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Day 73, Thursday, 2:15PM (Mountain Time), Denver Colorado
"Okay, let's go over this one more time," Lou Mueller impatiently told the men gathered in his apartment. "We don't want any screw-ups." As he glared at each man in the eye and the room fell quiet he continued. "You all need to know the plan like the back of your hand, and no improvisation. Everyone sticks to the plan!"
Turning to a blonde man in his early twenties, Lou continued, "Danny, you, Sean, Tony and I will be parked in front of the school on Windermere, at the south end where the bus is. As soon as the driver climbs on the bus, you jump in behind her. Let her know you have the gun, but don't let the kids see it until the door is closed and you're on your way. If any of the kids ask, just tell them she's teaching you the route so that you can sub for her. Sean and Tony will join you on the bus as you pull out. Force her right on Calay and across Broadway to the Bethany Church parking lot. You keep the gun on the driver, and Sean and Tony tie up the kids. We want everyone tied up by the time you get to the church. We can't afford to waste time doing it there."
"What about the kryptonite?" Danny asked curiously.
"I'll give it to you when it's time," Lou answered irritably. "Now, as I was saying, I'll meet you at the church and we'll take the kid in another car. Does anybody here not have the picture of him?"
Lou looked around and seeing that everyone had the required picture, he continued, "Ian and Ricky, you'll wait for us at the bowling alley. We'll switch to your car, and hightail it out of there. Any questions?"
"Why do we need kryptonite?" Danny asked. "I don't think that Superman's ever been to Denver before. Why now?"
"Our client tells us that the Man of Steel is friendly to the family," Lou explained for the second time that afternoon. "It's just an insurance policy. In the unlikely event that he does show up, the kryptonite will drop him, and we'll bag him, too."
Lou looked at his watch before he commanded, "Okay, then, let's get moving. I want everyone in position in a half hour."
The color drained from Ricky's face as the realization struck. "You're grabbing him today?" he asked in shock. "I thought we were going to stake it out for a few more days."
"Waste of time, we already have what we need," Lou declared. "Besides, we can't run the A/C on stakeout, not if we don't want to be noticed, and we've spent enough days baking in our cars… And don't even think about trying to go over my head on this."
"The boss may have other plans to coordinate with this," Ricky pointed out as he attempted to delay the assault. "If you move too soon, he may not be pleased."
"Then you keep the kid until he's ready!" Lou told him curtly. As he guided the men out of apartment, he authoritatively instructed them, "Alright, let's move it!"
Ricky shook his head as he reluctantly headed to his car as he pondered, How do I prevent this fiasco?
Author's Notes:
Yes, an evil cliff-hanger!
As I'm writing this, I'm noticing that it's taken a lot longer to get to this point that I thought it would. It takes time to write something with depth that gives 'screen time' to so many supporting characters and flesh them out. (I feel a little bad for not giving more time to Jimmy Olsen, but it just got in the way when I tried). We still have a ways to go yet, but we'll get there.