When I got back to my dorm room, I called Tim Drake's cell phone.
"What is it?" He answered gruffly, annoyed.
"Tim, I need your help. Something's wrong."
"This isn't exactly a good time," He rasped angrily into the receiver.
"Well, I'm sorry I interrupted you in the middle of class or whatever, but this is big."
"What could it possibly be?"
"I took those articles to Luthor this morning."
A pause.
"Tim?"
"You did what?" His voice sounded overly conscious; as if I had made a potentially fatal error.
"I couldn't wait anymore. Look, I—"
"Do you realize what you've done?"
"I don't get it. He just shrugged them off as forgeries or planted attempts to make him look bad."
"That's what he does," Tim said insistently.
"Granted, but—"
"Allen, I'd love to come to Metroppolis, but I'm sort of..unable to. I'm in San Francisco for the weekend, and—"
"Tim."
"What?"
"Why did you send me that list of names? Why are you helping me? After the way I treated you."
"It's…what friends do for each other."
I smiled, unseen. "Thank you Tim."
"Don't mention it."
I received a voice-mail on my cellular from Jesse, saying that he had gone to Blüdhaven and would be back later tonight.
I had the timing pretty good; I could stop by the market for a bite to eat, and then head back to campus. By the time I would return, Jesse would already be back in town. I made one course correction-stopping by a specialty shop and picked up a box of chocolates for Jesse. Why? My unending quest to be loved. Probably. Cost wasn't too bad, and the chocolates were actually pretty good as I sampled a few off the bottom level. Guh…coconut.
I opened my door, tossed the box of chocolates on the bed, and went to my PC.
As I waited for the computer to power up, I thumbed through a copy of Newstime. Cover story: the selling of the Daily Planet.
The phone rang. Still reading the cover story, I reached across the desk to grab the phone, and pressed the talk button.
"Hello?" It was Jesse.
"Hey Jess," I said. "Nice to hear your voice. I brought you a little...reconciliatory snack. Too bad you can't have any yet." I tossed aside Newstime and examined the candies.
Curious.
"Hmm," he murmured across the line.
"What is it?" I asked as I went to the micro-fridge and pulled out a Sprite.
"Big headlines today."
"Oh yeah. Lex bought out the Daily Planet."
"Well, yeah," Jesse said condescendingly. "Don't think they're in the mood to talk about it either."
"Probably not," I said dubiously. "So you're coming back later tonight?"
"No. Actually, something's come up, and I've gotta hang out here a little longer." He sounded…tense.
"Fair enough," I said with a chuckle. "You need anything?"
"Morgan Edge…in a nice little package."
"And I thought only the girls fell for him."
"It's the stubble," Jesse said lewdly. "Works wonders."
"Especially on the ladies, I'd say. See you later."
"Yup."
I opened up my email. No new messages. Lex hadn't called. Ever. And Tim…well…
San Francisco ? What the hell is in San Francisco ?
The shrill metallic ring of the phone distracted my attention.
"Hello?"
"Allen. It's Hope. Listen; don't say anything, this phone call has to be invisible."
"Okay," I said plainly.
"Listen, I've got...something here that you may or may not be interested in."
After a pause, I spoke, fearing the worst. "What is it?" I asked grimly, my voice slipping.
"It's Jesse."
"You wanted to see me, Chief?"
"Yeah," Perry White said laboriously. He extended a hand towards the seat in front of his own cluttered desk, and Clark Kent sat.
"Is this about the…"
"Yeah. It is, Clark ."
"I see," Kent said nervously. "So…what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to get your hide down to LexCorp. See if you can get Luthor's two cents on this damned thing."
"Check," Kent said, and stood. White stopped him short of leaving the office.
" Kent ."
"Yes, sir?"
"If we do get shut down…"
"Chief?"
"Nothing."
Kent left White's office. And then it came. Hypersonics; a long, sustained shrieking drone, piercing Kent 's hyper-sensitive alien auditory system. It was like the emergency broadcast system being directly broadcast into his brain. The only difference was that every dog inside ten miles could hear it, plus Superman. Carried over the wavelengths…the voice of Lex Luthor.
"This is Lex Luthor. There is only one thing with less than four legs that can hear this, and that's you Superman."
Kent rushed through the newsroom, down the hall to an empty janitor's closet.
"I won't waste too much of your time, but if you're going to look for me, you're wasting your time."
Kent ducked inside and pulled off his suit, revealing the Superman uniform underneath. He looked up at the ceiling and lifted off the ground, heading out of the building through the heating duct. Luthor's voice continued.
"I'm not in Metropolis, and in the time it takes you to find me, you could spend finding Lois Lane."
What?, Superman thought grimly."That's right," Luthor's tinny voice continued. "She's missing. And if you don't find her, the barrel of a gun will."
Next: The Runaround!, Superman thought grimly.Next: The Runaround!
