Chapter three
A thousand thoughts crossed her mind. She had to think on what she should tell everybody standing there, downstairs. She never thought she was good at that. Looking at Clark she knew that he was the one that always made the statements. Maybe she should just write it down. Looking around the room, she knew that there was no paper, no pen, no computer. She didn't wanted to leave him alone, not for a single minute. So she decided that they could just wait. She didn't care. She sat down again. Took his hand in hers and listened to the beeping of the heart monitor.
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Both Lois as Clark didn't got much sleep that night. They where worried about what it could be and what it could do to Clark and who could have done it. Clark had tried to comfort Lois but she could see his own fear, so it didn't really worked. They talked a lot, about the way they felt, but also about other things. About their parents. About children. About their work.
They ended up arriving at the Daily Planet more than an hour early. They immediately started where they left the evening before and they worked in silence for over an hour. Than a confused Perry arrived at the Planet. He asked if they had fallen out of their bed that morning. They caught him up on the things that had been going on the day before, leaving out their fears, because they couldn't tell the whole truth about that. When Jimmy arrived about half an hour later he was assigned to help Lois and Clark with their research.
At the end of the morning they had a list with 5 people who had the money and the options to get an alien virus, and had a reason to kill Superman. They decided to have some lunch first and than start paying visits to every person on the list, trying to find out something that could help them. But before they left the building, they first called doctor Klein to check if he could tell them some more already. Unfortunately he couldn't.
After lunch they went to the first person on their list. Professor William Wilder. This man worked with biological weapons and recently explained in an interview how much he hated Superman. And from the information Jimmy had found about the guy's bank account they knew he had enough money as well. The man was willing to talk to Lois and Clark. He just made them wait for about 15 minutes, before they could come in.
"Hello, miss Lane and Mr. Kent"
"Mr. Wilder, thank you for inviting us in so soon"
"Where is this meeting about?"
During lunch Lois had made a list with questions they wanted to ask Wilder. She quickly explained that they where doing a story about biological weapons. From the look on Wilders face, they could tell that he was definitely willing to talk about that subject. Lois could ask her questions, and Wilder answered each of them. They even asked him about his earlier statement about Superman.
"Superman is a nice guy, but I hate him. Not that he has ever done anything to me personally, but the things he stand for are peace and all. Well, as you know I make biological weapons. And Superman hates them. He has no idea what they really do and that we can use them for good things also. Why do weapons always have to be a bad thing, tell me that"
Clark wanted to answer that question, but a look of Lois made him stop. She continued.
"What would you do if anybody killed Superman?"
"That's an easy question. Have a party. Like I said, I hate the man. Of course, he does some good things in the world, but I don't think the world would be any worse without him"
"If you find a way, would you kill Superman yourself?"
"If I could, I think I would, yes. I know you are a big fan of Superman yourself miss Lane, but I want to be honest and tell you the way I feel. I think there must be a way to kill Superman, and I won't look for it myself, but if I found it, just by accident, then I would use it."
Lois looked at her husband and saw the look on his face. She knew it would be best to leave now, before he'd do anything that he'd be sorry for later, so she stood up. Shaking Wilders hand, she said "Thank you so much talking to us. You definitely helped us with our story. I would love to stay here a while longer, but unfortunately there is a lot of work to do and we have an appointment in 15 minutes so"
"That's fine, if you have any other questions, just come back, our give me a call"
Clark stood up to, shaking Wilders hand he said, "We will"
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This was the first time Lois realized what a noise it was outside. Once again she stood up and walked to the window. Looking further away than she did before, she could see the mess it was outside. It was like all the city turned black and dark, except from the places where the lights from police cars, fire trucks and ambulances where shining. And this was only metropolis. What would it do to the rest of the world. What if Superman could never come back. The world needed him. And so did she.
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The second person on their list was Big Davy. He was released from prison only 2 weeks ago and he was very angry at Superman, who had put him there almost 5 years ago. He wasn't willing to cooperate the way Wilder was before, but eventually, after they promised him a story to clear the name, he was willing to answer a few questions. Very soon it was clear that he couldn't be the person that wanted to kill Superman. There where no doubts about that.
So they checked the other persons on their list. 2 Sisters named June and Winifred Clayton, a rich child of an oil baron named Albert Michaels and a widow named Leila Adams.
It was late when they finally came home that day. Besides Big Davy they also excluded Leila Adams from there list, so they had 4 names left. They had a quick dinner and worked till about 1.30 a.m. before Lois fell asleep with her head on the table. Clark quietly took her up and placed her in the bed. He decided it was time to go to bed himself either, so he took of his clothes and laid down next to her. He softly kissed her forehead and whispered "I love you"
He didn't slept much for the second night in a row, but he could handle it. Lois woke up early also. They took a quick shower, had some breakfast and went back to the Planet. They where surprised seeing Perry there already. He told them that doctor Klein already called 4 times that morning, and it wasn't even 8 รณ clock yet. Clark called doctor Klein immediately.
"Starlabs Doctor Klein speaking"
"Doctor Klein, this is Clark Kent"
"Clark, thank you for calling back. I think you and Lois need to come over here, I think I know what it is"
"Could it do any damage to Superman?"
"Well, I don't want to tell over the phone"
"I understand, we'll be there soon"
"Okay, see you soon"
Clark hung up the phone. Lois was standing by his side, curious about what doctor Klein had to say.
"He says he has big new, but he wouldn't tell over the phone"
"What about Superman?"
"He said we had to come over, he wouldn't tell"
"Clark" Lois looked at him with a worried expression.
"I know"
Clark took Lois by her arm and leaded her to the elevator. The genitor of the building was there to, so they couldn't talk before they reached their car.
"You can't go in there Clark"
"I don't think we have a choice. I talked to doctor Klein over the phone, you can't show up alone"
"I have to, you are not going in there, not until we know what damage that thing can do to you. It is to dangerous"
"What would you tell doctor Klein?"
"I'll tell him that you had to run a lead, our something, I'll figure out something"
"So where do I go now, I can't go back to the Planet, than Perry knows something's wrong"
"I'll drive you home"
"You don't need to drive me. I'll go by myself"
"Are you sure? It will be the first time you'll be him again, since last Sunday"
"I'll be okay, don't worry honey"
Clark kissed Lois and stepped out of the car, he looked how she drove away. He looked around to make sure nobody saw him, and than changed into his Superman outfit and flew away.
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She didn't knew how much time had gone by when de doctor came in. He quickly checked Clark's vital signs and tested some of his reflexes. Then he pointed out that there was no difference since last night. Seeing Lois's concern he said that in one way it was a good thing, but it wasn't any worse either. How could he say that? How could he even think that. It wasn't a good thing. Who the hell did he thought he was. Who he was dealing with. He had no right to say anything like that. She wanted to tell him that, but she knew that it wouldn't change anything. So she just gave him a weak smile.
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When Lois arrived at Starlabs, doctor Klein was working hard. He didn't even heard her come in.
"Doctor Klein" No reaction. "Doctor Klein" This time she said it a little bit louder. Now doctor Klein looked up from his work.
"Lois"
"Hi"
"Where's Clark?"
"He couldn't come with me, he had to check a lead"
"Oh, I expected him to come with you, I wanted to show both of you"
"He wanted to come, but unfortunately he couldn't"
"Well, it's okay. Follow me, than I'll show you"
Lois followed doctor Klein. He leaded her to a couple of microscopes. He pointed at one.
"Can you tell me what you see?"
Lois took a look. "I'm not sure what it is, but I see cells that become more every second"
"Okay, and now this one" He pointed at an other microscope. "Tell me what you see"
"This looks quiet. Nothing really happens"
"Exactly"
"What does that mean?"
"Well, I exposed some of Superman's DNA with the virus, and I did it with human DNA to. There had been no difference in both of them until now. The first one you saw was Superman's. The second one was human"
"What does that means?"
"Superman's cells are responding to the virus. It's affecting his good cells. It's making him sick. It is not happening with the human DNA, which means that the virus can harm Superman, but no humans"
"How bad is it?"
"It is going pretty fast. I've already started making antibody's against the virus, but it could take years."
"You're saying Superman is sick?"
"He's been exposed. That doesn't mean he's infected. We have to find him and run some tests. But we can't do it in here, if you find Superman, and call me than, I'll make sure I'll find an area where I can exam him.
"Okay, I will"
Lois ran of to her car, driving home immediately. When she arrived at their house, she called for Clark. He didn't answered. She searched the place, but she couldn't find him. Eventually she found a note on the coffee table. It told Lois that had gone back to the Daily Planet. "I've found something, so I had to go back to the Planet. I'm sorry, but it couldn't wait. I'll meet you there, loves Clark."
At the Daily Planet, Clark didn't felt so good. He stood up to get himself a glass of water, but as he was walking towards the man's room, he suddenly felt very light-headed. He grabbed a desk for comfort, but his legs couldn't carry him anymore so he fell on the floor. He fought to keep his eyes open, but soon he passed out.
Everybody ran to him and Jimmy called an ambulance. He also tried to call Lois on her cell phone, but she didn't answered.
