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Chapter 5
Friday's Child
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November 21, 1998, 10:00 am
348 Hyperion Avenue
Rachel sat on her new bed and surveyed her surroundings. This was, by far, the nicest room she'd ever lived in. It was even prettier than her room in Papa Gary's house. The Kents were being nice to her, but she was sure it wouldn't last. After all, the people at the orphanage had been nice to her, at first. Rachel was sure it was only a matter of time before Mr. Kent hit her like the man at the orphanage and Papa Gary did.
Nothing good could last, she was sure of that. Mr. Kent's behavior was strange—it was as if he were different than Papa Gary. In her experience, however, all men were the same. They yelled, they hit, and they hurt. Mr. Kent was nice to her and to Ms. Lane. It was weird to see him kissing Ms. Lane and her acting as if she *liked* it. She remembered watching Papa Gary kissing her nanny and her nanny saying no.
Rachel sighed and wondered what she should do. She had been left with Mr. Kent for the day while Ms. Lane was at work. She had overheard them talking about how their days off that week didn't coincide, and how it was probably a good thing since she was only on the waiting list for the Planet's daycare center and they hadn't found a good babysitter yet. Since they were alone, perhaps he would start to hit her today, she thought.
Rachel bit her lip and a frown crossed her small face. Papa Gary had always hit her harder and more often when she had done something in particular to annoy him. Perhaps she should do something to set him off--after all, she didn't want to get too comfortable in this nice house. She stood, grabbed CJ and Amiee from the bed behind her, and went downstairs. She set her toys on a chair where they could watch as she pulled a book from the shelf, rifled though it and then tossed it on the floor.
Rachel stared at the book for a moment. "If I did that at Papa Gary's house, he'd hurt me," she whispered. "He'd hurt me for *nothing*." She grabbed another book and hurled it to the floor. "Take *that*, Papa Gary," she muttered, grabbing another book. It didn't take long for the bookcase to get emptied as high as she could reach. She stared at the scattered books, then deliberately trod on the spines of the books to walk over to the couch.
She pulled off the cushions and threw them to the floor before she climbed onto the cushion-less sofa. She stood at the back and jumped up and down a few times as hard as she could before putting her foot on the back. Determinedly, she pushed against it before it fell to the floor with a loud crash. She jumped off the fallen furniture and began to turn over as much stuff as her five-year-old frame could handle. She surveyed the mess and pictured Papa Gary's house looking that way. It was good, but not enough.
She moved over to a display case and, opening it, pulled out some awards and hurled them at the books with a grunt of effort. She grabbed a book from the floor and glared at it; this one had to be Papa Gary's favorite because it was the same color. She ran over to the large fish tank and threw the book in. Winded, Rachel gathered CJ and Aimee to her and looked at her work, finally satisfied. *This* should do it, she thought desperately. *This* should bring normality to her small world. Mr. Kent was like Papa Gary and the men at the orphanage--he *had* to be. Otherwise, her world was changed, skewed, and strange.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Clark heard the crashes coming from downstairs and sighed. Quickly, he x-rayed the floor to find that Rachel was determinedly destroying the living room. He picked up a book on parenting and read it at superspeed. He should have expected something like this, he thought. She was testing him. He supposed that he should go down there, but he wasn't sure quite what to do.
Rachel hadn't had the best beginning, and she'd been treated pretty badly by every male caregiver she'd ever had, Clark thought. He knew there had to be a fair amount of anger at the terrible treatment she'd received pent up inside her tiny frame -- he'd overheard her furiously mumbling about 'Papa Gary'. So now he knew he needed to be really calm about the whole situation and be nice to her despite the fact that she was doing something that she probably knew that she shouldn't. If he weren't as kind and gentle as he knew how to be, it could make her afraid of him, and that was the last thing they needed to happen.
Clark sighed and ran his hand through his hair before walking slowly out of the bedroom and downstairs. Inwardly he grimaced as he caught sight of Rachel--she was sitting on a pile of heaped-up books, holding her favorite toys, and smiling to herself. For one small girl, she'd managed to inflict quite a bit of chaos on the once orderly room. "Rachel," he called softly, catching her attention.
She stood up and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. "What?" she asked sullenly.
"Rachel Elizabeth K--Pierce," he began, trying not to sound as if her were scolding. "Why did you decide to destroy the living room? I know you've been taught better--so you're going to help me clean it up," he finished.
Rachel's face took on a stubborn look that he knew all too well from Lois. "No," she said, hugging the bear he'd won for Lois at their first Corn Festival and her doll close to her.
Clark sighed and put his hands on his hips; he definitely had his hands full with his two girls. "*Rachel*, if you're not going to help clean up the mess you made, then go to your room, *now*," he ordered gently, pointing toward the stairs.
Rachel glared at him for a moment before turning and stomping up the stairs, slamming the door of her room behind her. Clark sighed and began to pick up the room at normal speed. He missed using his powers around the house, but until Rachel was really theirs, he couldn't risk having her find out.
Clark hoped that this would be the last such test of him, but from what he'd read, he knew that it was likely that there would be more. Rachel was trying to make him lose his temper now, just to prove to herself that her experiences weren't anomalies. Unconsciously, he began to smile as he thought about the little girl.
It had been so easy to love her--he just hoped that she'd love him back as her daddy one day. He hadn't wanted anyone to love him this badly since he had met Lois. Luckily, he'd had experience in this kind of thing. He'd talked to his parents, and they had counseled patience, so that's what he was trying. Hopefully, she'd learn to trust him quickly--and maybe even learn to love him at the same time. She had insinuated herself into his heart faster than he had thought was possible.
In some ways, she was like Lois had been when he first met her. Little Rachel was determined that she could take care of herself--that she didn't need anyone else at all. Clark smiled. He finished replacing the books and their Kerth awards before turning to right the furniture and put the cushions back on it.
Clark winced as he heard noises coming from Rachel's room that meant that she was wrecking it, too. So much for hoping that his would be her last test of him. A small smile crossed his face as he decided to do the unexpected. He climbed the stairs, knocked on her door, entered the room and surveyed the damage. Rachel had pulled all of her new toys out of the toy box and thrown them carelessly around the room. The drawers to the dresser were opened and her clothes were strewn around the space in crumpled heaps.
Somehow, Rachel had managed to pull the mattress from the bed, and the blankets and bedding were heaped in a pile in the middle of the floor where Rachel sat. "Well," Clark said and paused. "I'm not sure I like the new décor, but it's *your* room, so until you decide to change it, it stays this way." Clark almost laughed at the shocked look on the child's face, but managed not to. "I'll be in the living room if you need me, peanut," he said gently before turning to leave.
Just before he opened the door, Rachel spoke. "Mr. Kent?" she asked softly.
Clark turned back towards her and dropped to his knees so that he was at her level. "What is it, Rachel?" he asked softly.
"Why didn't you hit me?" she asked. "Papa Gary would have--so would those men at the Orp'anage."
"Rachel," he began, "you didn't deserve it then, and you don't now. I'm not going to ever hit you, not now, not ever. Sweetie--real men don't beat up little kids because they get mad."
"Really?" she asked in a small voice. "But sometimes grown-ups lie."
"That's true," he answered "but I won't lie to you, Rachel. Superman's my best friend and *he* doesn't lie to people--I don't either." Clark said, hoping that she'd at least trust Superman. Most people did, after all.
Rachel buried her face in CJ's fur. "Don't like him," she whispered, the sound muffled by the bear's fur.
"Why don't you like him, peanut?" Clark asked.
"He's scary," the child replied. "He's big, an' real, real strong. He could hurt me."
"Rachel, he'd never hurt you--Superman just puts bad people in jail," Clark explained.
"Then he's gonna come and put me in jail and hurt me," she insisted. "I'm bad. Papa Gary and the others hurt me 'cause I'm bad." She jumped up and ran to the corner. Rachel sat down and began to rock back and forth. "I'm bad," she whispered. "I'm a bad girl, just like Mommy. Papa Gary says I'm goin' to hell, 'cause I'm bad." The rocking got fiercer.
Fearing that Rachel would hurt herself and start to bang against the walls, Clark stood, walked over, and tried to pick her up. She shrunk from him and continued to rock. Moving just shy of super speed, Clark gathered Rachel into his arms and walked over to the rocking chair. He set it upright and sat down, ignoring Rachel's struggles. "No!" she cried and struggled, trying to get free.
Clark held her gently and began to rock back and forth, rubbing Rachel's back soothingly, the same way he had seen Lois do it the night before. "It's okay, peanut," he said softly. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing, but he had decided to just try and do what came naturally. It hurt to see this little girl in so much pain and not do anything about it.
He knew that she didn't trust him, and he didn't really blame her, but he couldn't just let her hurt either. He wanted to make it better. Clark wished that he could fix it with a slice of pie and some buttermilk, the way his mom had fixed what was wrong in his world when he was little, but he knew better. Rachel was suffering from far worse problems than he had ever faced as a child.
As she finally relaxed against him and began to cry, he was suddenly even more grateful to his parents for taking in a little orphaned space baby. He had been lucky. Of all the couples in the world who could have found him, it had been Martha and Jonathan Kent--people who had raised him with love, not abuse.
Finally, he heard Rachel's slightly muffled voice from where her face was buried in his chest. "You won't hit me?" she asked softly. "No matter how bad I am?"
"Rachel, I won't *ever* hit you--and you're not bad." He replied.
"Never, ever?" she asked softly.
"Never, ever," he affirmed. Clark continued rocking and soon, Rachel relaxed into sleep, the morning's events having worn her out. He stood, laid her on the window seat, and covered her with one of his mother's afghans while he pulled the mattress back on the bed. Quickly, he grabbed the bedding and re-made it before picking Rachel up and tucking her into bed.
"I love you, Rachel," he whispered to the sleeping child. Clark leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, then went and turned off the lights in the bedroom. He left the door cracked slightly behind him as he started downstairs. If she needed him, he would be able to hear her, and perhaps a nap would do her good.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
November 21, 1998 1:00 pm
Daily Planet, Metropolis
Lois sat at her computer, typing away at her story on the school board scandal. The School Board president had been caught having an affair with one of the students from the local high school--and she wasn't his first indiscretion. This was normally the kind of story that Ralph would love to write about, but after discovering his long history of extra-curricular activities with the teenagers, Perry had assigned her and Clark to try and root out the problem.
He was currently facing ten counts of statutory rape and had resigned from the school board. That, along with other allegations of misconduct and the misappropriation of funds was more than enough to warrant a Lane and Kent investigation. Lois looked across the aisle at Clark's empty desk and sighed. It was rare that their days off didn't fall on the same day anymore and she missed him when he wasn't there.
At the same time, she supposed it was a good thing that one of them could stay home with Rachel that day. She was on the waiting list for the Planet's daycare facilities. While she had been admitted to the after school program, they didn't have anywhere to leave her until she started kindergarten again. They had taken her to the local elementary school and gotten her registered, but it was now the weekend, so someone had to stay with her.
She'd have to come to the Planet with them, tomorrow, Lois decided. There wasn't anything else they could do about it--leaving a traumatized child with her mother wasn't an option, and Clark's parents were too far away without some Super help. Lois grabbed a pen off her desk and began to click it nervously.
Rachel had started to come out of her shell--just a little, but she still wasn't comfortable around Clark. Fervently, Lois hoped that Rachel would start to trust him. The little girl needed one man in her life that wouldn't hurt and betray her; Lois didn't want her to enter adolescence and adulthood mistrusting every male she met.
Rachel deserved better. Lois hoped that she'd never meet Rachel's stepfather and the men at Coates that had beaten her. She wouldn't be held responsible for her actions if she did. Lois's stomach tightened in anger as she thought about the men. They had hurt the child she was starting to regard as *hers*.
Lois turned back to her computer, finished typing up her story, and LAN'ed it to Perry. She grimaced as her phone rang--she had been hoping to leave earlier than usual to get home to Rachel. She answered it brusquely. "Lois Lane."
"Hey, Lois? This is Bobby."
"Hey, Bobby," she replied. "What've you got for me?"
"First of all, I wanted to say congratulations on the little girl. Word on the street is that you and Clark want to adopt her. Great of you two to rescue her."
"Bobby, we've had her for four days--are you slowing up in your old age or something?" she said teasingly. "Now, do you have anything more for me on the SIDS death case?"
"But, Lois, you haven't paid me from last time."
Lois sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Bobby, I'll have two pizzas with the works delivered to wherever you want--if this is good."
"Hold the anchovies, and you've got yourself a deal," Bobby answered instantly.
"You've got it. Now spill," she demanded.
"I don't know anything more specifically about the SIDS cases, but word is that there have been a lot more under the blanket adoptions lately," Bobby began. "There are lots of babies and toddlers suddenly showing up in the homes of the wealthy that weren't there before, and there's no sign of a reputable agency taking care of said adoptions," he finished. "They're all handled by the same lawyer and somebody's been pulling strings to get them seen by the same judge."
"Hmm… Maybe the SIDS case and this one are related?" Lois wondered out loud.
"It's possible, Lois. I don't make the connections, I just provide the information. Now, about my pizza…"
Lois took down the information, hung up, and called Bobby's favorite pizza place. It didn't take long to place her order and get it sent to the address that Bobby had provided for her. Absently, she gathered up her notes and went to find Jimmy. If anyone could find out about these adoptions, it would be him. Adoption records *were* sealed, after all--it would take an excellent hacker to get to them, and Jimmy fit the bill.
She smiled to herself as she saw him exiting the darkroom. "Jimmy," she called.
Jimmy turned and hurried over. "What's up, Lois?" he asked.
"Jimmy, I need you to find out about all recent adoptions of infants by the rich and famous in Metropolis from the past month. I need everything you can get me," she demanded.
"It'll take a while, but I think I can do it," Jimmy replied. "I can probably have it for you by tomorrow."
"Thanks, Jimmy." Lois smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow--I need to get home."
"No problem, Lois; how's Rachel working out?" he asked.
"She's getting better, " she said softly. "Now, I have to run and talk to Perry before I go home--Rachel doesn't have a lot of faith in Clark yet, so she needs me to be there."
Jimmy seemed a bit surprised by Lois' remark, after all, CK was the mildest-mannered guy he'd ever met. "Hey, why's that, Lois? CK will make a great Dad!"
"Jimmy, I agree completely. Unfortunately, for Rachel he has one major flaw... he's male."
"Yeah, I see what you mean," Jimmy half laughed and half grimaced. "You can see where she's coming from, though."
"I know," Lois sighed. "I just hope that Rachel realizes pretty quickly that Clark loves her and that he'd never hurt her."
"It'll be good, Lois. Like every other female on the planet, Rachel won't be able to resist Clark's charm!" This time Jimmy laughed wholeheartedly.
"Yeah!" Lois joined in the laughter and finished picking up her things.
"See you later, then," Jimmy said as he turned to his computer and started entering the search information.
Lois simply waved, headed towards Perry's office, and poked her head inside. "Perry, I'm headed home, okay?"
Perry gestured towards a small pile of papers on his desk. "Sure thing. I've got your story, and it's good stuff. Lois, when are you gonna bring that little girl up here to meet her Uncle Perry?"
"We're bringing her with us tomorrow, but she's afraid of men." Lois gave Perry a warning look. "If you're not careful, you'll scare her off."
"I understand," he said, nodding seriously. "Quiet and gentle will be my watchwords. Just bring her on by--nurture wins over nature every time," he said with a smile. "We'll turn her into a first-rate newswoman--like you."
Lois simply shook her head in amusement. "I'll see you tomorrow, Perry," she said. She walked to the elevator and headed home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
November 22,1998 1:00 am
348 Hyperion Avenue
Rachel huddled in the corner as three men loomed over her. She could see light glint off the weapons in their hands, so she flinched away from them. They were going to hurt her again; she knew it. Light flared up, revealing the identities of her attackers. She tried to make herself smaller in the corner, hiding from her stepfather and his new cronies--the men from the orphanage.
Desperately, she stood and tried to run between the men, but one of them caught her by the scruff of her neck and held her up for Papa Gary to see. "Is this the one, Boss?" he asked gruffly. His voice sent shivers down her spine.
"That's the one," he said in his softest voice. Rachel knew that tone all too well--it meant that she was in for a lot of pain. "Rachel, you should have known better than to try and escape," he said in an even gentler tone. "You're such a *bad* little girl that you have to be punished--and we all know what I do with bad little girls to make them behave. You won't end up like your mother--in Hell." He advanced toward her, swinging his favorite leather belt in his hand, the overlarge belt buckle making a smacking sound as it hit his palm.
Rachel burst into tears and sat straight up in bed. "Ms. Lane," she hiccuped in between bouts of crying. She fumbled under the covers and pulled CJ out from underneath them, then slid out of bed and headed towards the Kents' bedroom. She stopped at the door and pushed it open, the moonlight illuminating the room.
Rachel walked over Ms. Lane's side of the bed and tugged on the blankets. "Ms. Lane?" she said tearfully.
Lois woke up and blinked groggily at the little girl. "Did you have another nightmare, sweetie?" she asked, the end of her sentence almost swallowed up by a yawn.
Rachel nodded and used CJ's fur to wipe away the last of her tears. "Can I sleep with you?" she asked with a quaver in her voice. "You didn't come in when I called," she said with a sniffle.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Lois said apologetically, "Neither of us heard you."
"Can I sleep with you?" Rachel asked again, wanting the comfort of her foster mother's embrace. Before, when she'd had nightmares, Ms. Lane had been there to comfort her and rock her back to sleep with songs that drove them away. Rachel was convinced that Ms. Lane's singing scared the nightmares into leaving her alone for the rest of the night.
"Of course you can, peanut," Lois said quietly, holding up the blankets.
Rachel clambered up on the bed and climbed in between her foster parents. Clark rolled over so that he was facing both of them and propped his head on his hand to watch. As long as Ms. Lane was there, she knew that Mr. Kent wouldn't hurt her. Papa Gary'd never hurt her when her mommy was alive. She threw her arms around Lois and cuddled close to her. "Thank you, Ms. Lane," she whispered.
"You're welcome, peanut," Lois replied, dropping a kiss on the top of the child's head.
"Ms. Lane, why do you and Mr. Kent call me peanut?" she asked sleepily.
"Because we figure that you're about the size of one, sweetie--do you like it?," Lois answered as she rubbed Rachel's back lightly. She began to sing a lullaby softly.
Rachel sighed and moved closer to Lois. "It's okay," she said sleepily, "but I'm bigger'n a peanut." Rachel yawned. Soon, the calming effect of the song and the backrub had its desired effect and she fell asleep.
Clark leaned over and kissed Rachel's cheek. "I hope she learns to trust me like she trusts you," he said wistfully.
"She will, sweetheart," Lois said softly, "she will."
"I hope so," he replied. Clark's head shot up as he heard a call for help. He leaned over and kissed Lois quickly before hopping out of bed. "I'll be back as soon as I can, honey."
"Be careful, Clark," Lois said quietly, hugging Rachel close to her.
Clark spun into the Suit and gave his wife and new daughter a lingering glance before speeding off into the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
November 22, 1998 10:00 am
Daily Planet, Metropolis
Rachel sat in a desk chair and swung it back and forth idly. She had been excited about coming to the Planet with Ms. Lane, but there didn't seem to be much to do there aside from the coloring books that her foster mother had insisted on bringing. She was bored.
Lois finished her telephone conversation and swiveled her chair around to face Rachel. "Sweetie, there are some people I'd like you to meet. Would you like to come with me?"
Rachel nodded hesitantly. She wasn't sure about meeting more people, but it was better than boredom. She had a feeling that Ms. Lane's boss wouldn't like it if she started running around the newsroom, and at least meeting Ms. Lane's friends was something to do.
Lois stood up and offered Rachel her hand. Rachel sighed, slid out of the chair and took Lois's hand. She stuck close to Lois's side as they walked across the newsroom floor.
"Jimmy," Lois called as she approached Jimmy's cubicle, Rachel in tow.
Jimmy crawled out from underneath the desk and stood up. "Hey, Lois. What's up?"
Rachel ducked behind Lois, using her as a shield. "Jimmy, what were you doing underneath your desk?" Lois asked.
"I, um, kind of, well, accidentally, hit the button on my power strip and turned off my computer," he began sheepishly. "Then, before I could fix it, I knocked my pencil cup off of my desk and everything rolled underneath it. And then…"
"One of those days, I guess." Lois interrupted as she tried to keep a straight face and failed utterly. "Jimmy, I'd like to introduce you to my foster daughter, Rachel."
Rachel peered out from behind Lois shyly. "Hi," she whispered. Jimmy wasn't anything like Papa Gary or the orphanage men--he was impossible to be afraid of. She looked at him from her position of safety behind Lois and decided that while she didn't have to be afraid of him, trusting him wasn't an option, either.
Jimmy leaned down and offered her his hand. "Hey, Rachel," he said with a large smile. "It's nice to meet you; you can call me 'Uncle Jimmy' if you want to."
Rachel ducked back behind Lois. "Okay," came the almost inaudible response.
"Jimmy, how are you coming on the records I asked for?" Lois asked.
"I'll have them for you before you go home today," he promised.
"Thanks, Jimmy. And if you could get us some background on the adoptive parents, I'd be grateful."
"Sure thing, Lois," he answered before returning to his computer and turning it on.
With Jimmy's attention directed elsewhere, Rachel emerged from behind Lois's back and took her hand again.
"C'mon, peanut," she said softly. "There's somebody else I want you to meet."
Lois led Rachel over to Perry's office, knocked, and entered. Perry looked up as she came in. "Hey, Lois," he said, his usually boisterous voice gentled because of Rachel's presence.
"Hey, Perry. Rachel, I want you to meet Perry, my boss and one of my oldest friends. Perry, this is Rachel, my foster daughter." Lois squeezed Rachel's hand reassuringly.
Rachel tried to duck behind Lois again, but before she could, Perry dropped to his knees and smiled at her. "Hey there, Miss Rachel," he said softly. "Why, aren't you the prettiest little thing I ever did see." Perry smiled again, disarmingly. "And I think the visit of such a pretty little girl to my office calls for ice cream. Do you like ice cream, Miss Rachel?"
"Yessir," she answered softly.
"Perry, it's not even lunch time," Lois objected. "Don't you think it's a bit early to be stuffing her with junk?"
Perry winked conspiratorially at Rachel before he answered. "Lois, it's *never* too early for ice cream; especially when I don't have such pretty young ladies come to visit me very often. Now, you go talk to some sources--Miss Rachel will be okay here with me." He looked down at Rachel and smiled kindly. "Won't you, Rachel?"
Rachel looked up at Lois for reassurance, her desire for ice cream warring with her mistrust of the man. "You'll be right outside?" she asked softly.
Lois nodded. "Of course, sweetie."
"Okay," Rachel said. "I'll be all right."
Lois kissed Rachel on the forehead and leaned down to give her a hug before heading over to her desk. A few minutes later, Lois poked her head in the office. "Rachel, honey," she began apologetically. "I have to go check a source--Perry knows where to reach me if you need me. Is that okay?"
Rachel nodded hesitantly and watched as both of her foster parents left the office with a wave and a blown kiss. She had never felt so… deserted.
"Jimmy," Perry called.
Jimmy hurried into the office, not noticing that Rachel had curled up in one of the big wing chairs. "Yes, Chief?"
Perry pulled some money from his pocket and handed it over. "Jimmy, I want you to head over to the nearest Dairy Queen--there's one two blocks over--and get me a small chocolate-dipped cone for Miss Rachel."
Jimmy glanced around, found Rachel, and smiled at her. "Sure thing, Chief," he said as he pocketed the money and hurried toward the elevator.
"Miss Rachel, I'll tell you what," Perry began. "How about while you're here, I make you a Junior Investigative Reporter for the Daily Planet?" He leaned over and turned on a special CD of Elvis lullabies that he'd gotten Jimmy to burn for the occasion.
Trying to distract him from his question, Rachel listened to the music for a minute and looked at him. "Who's that singing?" she asked innocently and pointed at the CD player.
"Why, that there's Elvis, darlin'," he replied. "I got this here lullaby collection especially for you, and you can take it home with you tonight."
"Who's Elvis?" she asked softly.
"Why Elvis is the greatest singer that ever walked the face of this earth," Perry said enthusiastically. "I'll teach you all about the King. Now, Miss Rachel, would you like to be a Junior Investigative Reporter?"
Rachel considered this offer for a few minutes before replying. "Like Ms. Lane?" she asked.
"Kinda, honey," he said kindly. "Your foster parents are the best darned investigative reporters ever to work for the Daily Planet."
Rachel frowned slightly, thinking about this new development. She wanted to be exactly like Ms. Lane when she grew up, so why shouldn't she start now? "Okay," she agreed softly.
"Good!" Perry exclaimed happily. "Now, investigative reporters, even little ones like you, *investigate*. Sweet pea, do you know what your foster parents' names are?"
Rachel nodded hesitantly. "Lois Lane-Kent and Clark Kent," she answered quietly.
Perry looked at her curiously. "I was wonderin', darlin. Why don't you call them by their first names? I've known those two for years, and I know that they've probably asked you to by now."
Rachel climbed out of the chair and kicked the toe of her mary jane against the floor. "Because then they'll leave me," she whispered. "If I love them, they'll leave me all alone."
Perry got up, walked over, and hugged her gently. She stiffened momentarily, but didn't object. "Sweetling, they won't do that. Lois and Clark aren't the leaving kind."
"Perry," Rachel began quietly, holding in her fear of his close proximity, "Does Mr. Kent ever get mad and hit people?"
"Miss Rachel, I've seen Clark get mad, but I've never seen him hit *anyone*," he paused, lost in thought. "I've seen him come close when someone threatened Lois, but I've never known him to hurt anybody if he could help it."
"Not even little kids?" she questioned.
"*Especially* not little kids," Perry replied reassuringly.
Rachel frowned, trying to process this new information. Could it be that she could trust her new foster father? Was it possible that there were some papas that didn't beat up their kids?
"Now sweetling," Perry began, interrupting her train of thought. "You've told me Lois and Clark's first and last names, but what about their middle names?"
"I dunno," she said, looking puzzled.
Perry reached in his pocket and pulled out two one-dollar bills. "I'll tell you what, Miss Rachel. You find out what Lois and Clark's middle names are and these are yours."
Rachel looked at the money longingly. She'd never really had money before, and two whole dollars could buy a lot of candy--or a present for Ms. Lane. "Okay," she agreed.
"I've got only one rule," Perry began. "You can't ask Lois or Clark, okay?"
"Yessir," she said. "Can I ask anyone else?"
"You sure can," he agreed amiably.
Rachel smiled for the first time since he had seen her, then walked out the door of his office. "What a pretty smile," he muttered to himself. "I hope we get to see a lot more of that smile."
Perry turned back to Ralph's story as Rachel wandered the newsroom, asking questions from everyone she met. She quickly became so interested in the search that she was distracted from her fear of strangers.
Rachel asked someone else her important questions and was disappointed when she was told yet again that she didn't know. She had asked five people in the last ten minutes, and it seemed like nobody knew. More determined now than ever, Rachel wandered back in the general direction of Lois's desk to ask someone else. She almost ran into Jimmy, who was carrying an ice cream cone.
"Here ya go, squirt," he said with an engaging smile as he handed her the cone.
Rachel took it from him and began to lick at the ice cream that was starting to drip from under the chocolate. "Uncle Jimmy," she began, using the name he had told her to use. "What are Ms. Lane's and Mr. Kent's full names?"
Jimmy thought for a moment. "Well, Rachel, I'm afraid I don't know. But I'll tell you what. If you come over to my desk, we'll look up their personnel files and see if we can't find out, okay?"
Rachel smiled again, the promised reward beckoning. "Okay," she agreed and followed him to his desk.
Jimmy sat down and lifted her into a spare chair, carefully keeping the ice cream away from his keyboard. He typed on it for a few minutes and pulled up Lois's file.
Rachel bit the top chocolate swirl off of the cone and sucked some of the more melted treat through the chocolate hole. Carefully, she smoothed down the pale green jumper she was wearing and swung her feet under the chair. Perry had given her a lot to think about--at least she wasn't bored anymore.
"Rach, it says here that Lois's middle name is Ellen," he looked down at his new blonde shadow and smiled. "I guess she was named after her mom."
"Okay," she said, biting another piece of chocolate off the ice cream. "What about Mr. Kent?"
"Just a few more minutes, little one," he said, typing a bit more into the computer. Clark's record popped up a short while later. "It says that his middle name is Jerome," Jimmy said.
"Thank you, Uncle Jimmy," Rachel said as she climbed out of the chair and started toward Perry's office. If Mr. Kent's name was "Clark Jerome", and she knew he worked at the Planet, then perhaps her friend CJ was named after him? She pondered this for a few minutes as she walked, eating the chocolate off the outside of her treat. CJ was nice, and he was probably named after Mr. Kent. Maybe it meant that Mr. Kent was nice, too. Maybe it meant that he could be trusted.
Rachel wiped her hand across her mouth, smearing the remnants of chocolate around it. Papa Gary would have hit her for wrecking the living room and her bedroom like she had yesterday. Mr. Kent hadn't done that. And when she'd woken up after her nap and told him that she didn't really like her room all messy, he'd helped her straighten it up. Her stepfather would never have done that. From what Perry had said, Mr. Kent just didn't hit people. She was still shy of him, but maybe he wasn't at all like Papa Gary. Maybe he was… nice. Maybe it wasn't an act. A glimmer of hope began to expand in her heart. Perhaps she had finally found someone to trust.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Perry sat down the story and smiled as he watched Rachel question his employees. He had been right--Rachel would make a good investigative reporter someday. He hoped that he'd be able to play this game with her again. If, at five, she could find out something that wasn't generally known, then at twenty, she'd be able to dig up good, solid stories that he could print.
His smile broadened as she went off with Jimmy. Five years old and already learning the value of a good researcher. If he were extremely lucky and Lois and Clark got to keep her, he'd get a top notch investigative reporter out of her.
Perry leaned back in his chair and hummed along as Elvis started to sing "Big Boots". Life was good. He ran the world's best metropolitan newspaper, Alice was back in his life, Lois and Clark were like his own children, and to top it all off, the child they wanted to adopt, his new grandchild as far as he was concerned, was going to be a good reporter.
Rachel came in, chocolate and ice cream smeared on her face. She was smiling happily as she licked her ice cream cone, having demolished the chocolate coating. "I know the answer," she announced triumphantly.
"Well, Miss Rachel, *that* was fast," Perry said, smiling genially. "What are your foster parents' names?"
"Lois Ellen Lane-Kent and Clark Jerome Kent," she said, smiling.
"Good job, Miss Rachel. Usually, I make my reporters write up their stories, but since you can't write…" He reached in his desk to pull out fat crayons and drawing paper that he had obtained for the purpose. "How about you draw me some pictures of you and Lois and Clark?"
Rachel set her melting ice cream cone on Perry's desk and took the items from him. "Okay," she agreed. Rachel put the paper and crayons on the floor before going back for her ice cream.
"Don't forget your pay," Perry said, handing her the money.
"Thank you, Perry," she said a trifle shyly.
Perry grinned. "You can call me 'Grandpa Perry'," he said.
"Yessir, Grandpa Perry," Rachel responded.
Perry reached over and messed up her hair. "Rachel Pierce, welcome to the Daily Planet."
Rachel smiled, walked over to her paper and crayons, sat down, and began to color, licking her ice cream as she made her new grandpa some pictures. He didn't live with her, so he probably wouldn't hurt her, and it looked like Mr. Kent wouldn't either.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~