Chapter 14 - A Daymare to Forget

That morning, Clark dropped Brittany off at the center and signed the permission slip for the trip to the children's museum. He was impressed by the amount of activity that the center put her through. On the other hand, it made her tired enough when they got home.

"What time will they get back?" Clark squatted to kiss Brittany bye before she ran off across the playroom.

"About 4. We will be back before all you busy reporters are through for the day." Clark smiled and waved goodbye to his daughter before he headed downstairs.

"Morning Lois. Got anything for us to do today?" Lois was already on her third cup of coffee before he arrived at the office.

"I don't know about today. I have this funny feeling I usually get. Slow news days do this to me. They seem to get me all ancy."

"Well, I'm sure something will come up or you'll make something up. Maybe your new friend will come around again today." Clark threw his coat over the chair and walked over to the coffee pot, smiling at her.

"Watch yourself Kent."

The two sat and looked at the copy for the early edition with nothing to print for the cover. That morning they talked about follow-up stories that could fit in the space.

"LOIS CLARK!!" Perry was running out of his office. "You need to get down to the corner of Grand and National. There was a call for the SWAT team. Sounds like a good one." Clark and Lois both looked at each other and grabbed their stuff up. "Clark."

"What is it Perry, you know anything..."

"The museum's there."

Please don't say that. Clark thought. "The kids arrived an hour ago. Clark..."

"I gotta go." Clark grabbed Lois and ran for the elevator.

In the elevator, "Lois, promise me you won't do anything stupid to get the story."

"Clark, but this is it. The story is sitting right there for us to take. I have to get in and get it." Clark pointed a finger at Lois and his voice changed.

"Not with my daughter in there. You just stay away." Lois looked blankly at Clark and then turned white, telling her that he wasn't kidding about her staying out. "Let this Superman character take care of it this time." Lois nodded as they headed out to the car.

"You think he'll be there this time." Lois started the car and drove off in a frantic state.

You better believe it, Clark mumbled to himself.

"Huh?" Lois reached over for his hand and squeezed it. "She'll be ok. I promise."

Arriving at the corner, they couldn't get any closer than a block from the situation now. Lois was waiting to get the story while Clark thought about one little body in the building.

"What can you tell us?"

The cop turned around and quickly answered, "We know that a group of students from the Daily Planet Center are being held in the Science Foyer by some armed man. We believe there are more since he threatened that there were trip wires set. Evidently, the man worked at the Planet and got fired and now works for the museum. He could do it; he has access to every part of the museum. He's asking for ten million dollars. They've been talking to the owners."

"Thank you. Clark, see they're going to... Clark?" Lois looked around and couldn't find her partner anywhere.

"Did you see a tall, plain looking guy leave just now?" Everyone shook their head. Just then, everyone looked up as a boom came from the sky. "Superman. He was right."

Superman flew over the crowd of people that had gathered stupidly around the building and landed in front of the building. Lois strained to see over the other people but couldn't. People stood anxiously waiting to see what this guy was doing. Superman was x-raying the building for clues. Trip switch, trip switch, trip switch, trip switch...man with the gun has the detonator. He tried to keep his composure in front of the crowd, knowing that his blood was one of the children inside. Do this for the other children, he tried to keep telling himself.

"GO IN AND GET HIM!" The crowd started getting impatient and wanted action. The police and SWAT stood back and waited for him to take the lead.

"The Planet won't bargain with him Superman." Superman shook his head and knew he had to do something. He walked slowly into the front entrance of the building and up to the Science Foyer.

"How about we try to handle this calmly." He stood a safe distance from the man and the children. He eyed Brittany and saw she was one of the few not in tears. Good.

"Let me see the money."

"Why don't you hand me the detonator and then we can talk."

"Why don't you Peter Pan out of here." The man waved the detonator around in the air

"Don't do that."

"You nervous Supes? Not in your blood to have fear is it? Or is it something more?" The man was starting to hit a nerve.

"Come on. This isn't the way to make a career. Give me the detonator." Superman walked toward the man a little more as the man slid his finger up to the trigger switch. Superman stopped.

"I'd love to see that heat vision thing too. No, wait...you can't melt lead. And if you heated me up enough to drop it, it could set it off too. All the trips are linked. One removed sets off the others. One in each of the cornerstones of the building. Look like the wheels in that head are spinning. Remove the kids and then collapse the building. Nope. You can't get them all in time and some don't look scared enough to leave yet."

"These children are not your problem. Put the detonator down and we can get you some help."

"I'd rather die first. Anyway, we haven't had any fun at all yet." This statement made Superman think harder, knowing that this man was starting to lose it. If he rushed him, he may not get the detonator in time or the man might press it before. "Any ideas Supes?"

"I have to go the bathroom." The little girl tugged on the teacher's dress as the teacher resisted to move. "I have to go." Superman was thinking while keeping a close eye on the gunman until the girl pushed two kids out of the way.

"Mister, I have to go the bathroom now." Superman looked up and saw his daughter make a grave mistake. She continued to tug on the man's pants and badger him. Superman felt his heart stop.

"Boy, you are a smarty little one." The man grabbed the girl by the collar. Superman stood, holding his stance. "Why don't you shut up and hold it. You have been annoying me since I got here." Whipping her around toward Superman, he directed the question, "Girl's got guts. What your name?" The girl crossed hre arms and ignored him. The gunman shook her some more.

"Brittany," she whimpered as she started to cry. "I got to go."

"Brittany what?" Brittany had had enough. Screaming, she kicked the gunman hard in the shin.

"Why you little...OWWWW!" The gunman dropped the gun and Brittany picked it up.

"Brittany, put the gun down sweetie." Superman had tried to run for the man but he had slid his finger over the trigger again.

"No, stay right there." The gunman eyed the little girl who fiddled with the heavy object like it was made of plastic.

"You really need to put the gun down." The little girl frowned and started looking at the gun in more detail. As Brittany turned the barrel toward her face, Superman got almost sick at what could happen in front of him. "I'll take it from you."

"And then I'll hit this." The gunman stepped between the little girl and Superman. The room went silent for a minute and then a shot rang out.

Superman ran for Brittany and caught her as she shot backwards and then for the gunman, thinking the shot was from the SWAT team. Superman grabbed the device and ran it to the SWAT team where the bomb squad could get to work. He went back over to the gunman and saw that Lois had collected Brittany.

"Is she ok? Who fired at the gunman? It hit in the shoulder; he's not going to live." Lois looked at Superman, momentarily taken by his talking to her and then realized he was asking her for information. Speechless, Superman looked elsewhere for answers as he checked over his daughter.

"I did. I shot him." Superman's gaze became serious and puzzled as he looked at the girl with brunette curls and a big smile on her face.

"You did something very dangerous. You shouldn't have done that."

"I had to." Superman smiled and patted her on the head. "My daddy couldn't. I still have to go." Lois glanced at Brittany quizzically. Superman chuckled as the little girl changed her demeanor almost instantly and went back to dancing for a bathroom.

"We should go find your daddy or your grandma. I'll talk to you later." She signaled to Superman before she walked off with Brittany in tow.

"I promise." Superman continued on with his work, talking to investigators and calming some of the other kids on the way out of the door. After a few minutes, Superman disappeared into the sky and Clark came running around the corner. "Mom, where's ... You ok?" Lois was standing next to her. "Thank you. Did you see what happened?"

"Yes, we'll talk about it back at the Planet." Clark shook his head as he hugged up his daughter.

"Daddy, come here." Clark leaned in closer to her. "Did I do good?"

Clark smiled, "Dangerously good. You don't need to be doing that again." Brittany wrapped her arms around him tighter and whispered in his ear.

"I had to do it. You couldn't."

"I know honey. I couldn't get in there. You just scared me and a lot of other people." He looked at her. She was looking back at him and smiling.

"You couldn't," she whispered even more intently as she traced a backwards 'S' on his chest. He looked up at his mother and then back down at her. "I helped you."

"You can't say anything here Brit. You go home with grandma and we'll talk later." She smiled and walked off with Martha.

"Where did you go?" Lois walked up behind Clark as his mom and Brittany walked off.

"I went around the back to see if I could get in behind."

"So, you were telling me not to get myself in trouble but you were willing to risk her life for you to save her. You think you're Superman or something?" Lois slapped him on the back. "Gee...then again maybe you do." She shook her hand out as they got in the car.

"I just hope that Superman will drop by and give a story to me. And Brittany, what was she thinking. It was like she was impersonating Batgirl or something."

"I wouldn't say Batgirl." Lois looked at him.

"I've never heard of Mrs. Super man...so Batgirl is the best I could come up with." Clark just sat silent in the car until they returned to the Planet where Perry was still watching the news relays.

"Jimmy, you get your pics yet? Clark, look's like your daughter is on the cover. That was incredible - like no story ever reported. If Lois hadn't have been there then we wouldn't know what happened. Where were you?"

Clark stood silent in front of a quiet newsroom, waiting for an answer. "I got worried."

"Well, I understand that. Jimmy, where is that...ahh. She's an awful photogenic little girl."

"Mom's an actress," Clark mumbled on the way back to his desk. He sat down and immediately planted his head in his hands.

"Clark, she saved everybody in there." Lois sat on the edge of the chair and took one of Clark's hands. "She's a wonderful little girl. If we had ever. Never mind." Lois started to walk away when she felt that Clark hadn't let go of her hand.

"Thank you. You don't know what it means to have you in my life again, especially today."

"I love you too. I mean you're welcome." Lois shook her head as Clark let go of her hand in shock. That night, Lois waited for Superman with her window open but he never showed. On the other side of town, Clark talked quietly to Brittany about himself and how it must be a secret for all time. No one ever said a word about the cover story or the picture in the paper after that day.