Chapter 3

Corner of Eighth and Maple...

Maggie Sawyer stands exactly where Superman told her to. She pulls her brown trenchcoat tighter around herself and checks her watch. 22.59.

Any second. One thing about Superman she has learned is that he is punctual. He'll appear exactly on the dot of 11 and not one second before.

23.00.

Whoosh!

There he is.

"Bring the crayons?" his baritone voice asks.

Maggie turns round to find him with a full brown sack slung over one shoulder. "Yeah," she says. "What's in the bag?" she asks, nodding her head at it.

"Peace offering," he says mysteriously. "She's going to be mad as hell that I brought you with me."

"Who is?"

"You'll see soon enough," Superman says with a certain foreboding in his voice. "Follow me," he instructs her as he walks down the street and Maggie follows him. They turn into an alley where Superman bends down and lifts off a manhole cover.

"What?" Maggie asks, lost utterly.

He points downward into the blackness. "We have to go down there. Your choice but if you want answers..." he leaves it hanging.

Maggie looks at him sternly but he isn't budging. "Fine...but these answers better be pretty damn good," she warns him.

"You'll understand as soon as you see it."

"After you," she says.

Superman accepts her offer and jumps down, waiting for her at the bottom as she takes the ladder down. "This way," he points down a dark tunnel, taking her by the hand so she doesn't get lost in the pitch black which he can easily see through.

In the home of the Morlocks Caliban makes a noise of great discomfort. "Callisto...he is coming," he reports, being able to sense Superman from a long way away due to the sheer amount of power he gives off.

Callisto snaps herself to her full height. She guessed he would come eventually. She's ready for him. She's not intimidated. Not even by him...and her elevated heart rate has nothing to do with him.

She waits and waits and then he comes...and he's not alone. Callisto can feel the rage that he would betray them build inside her. She opens her mouth to give him a piece of her mind...

Only be knocked, almost literally, out of her stride as a small blur barrels past her.

Superman drops his sack, bends his knees, opens his arms and catches the blur...which turns out to be a young girl, around 8 or 9, with long brown hair, green eyes, and light skin, with fairly large hands – much too large for a child her age. She was wearing a simple pink t-shirt and a pair of dirty blue jean-overalls with thick gloves covering her hands. Superman picks her up and spins her around. "Hello Torpid!" he greets her warmly. He sits her in his left arm. "Have you been a good girl?" he asks her.

Torpid nods enthusiastically, a happy smile on her face at seeing Superman again.

"Yeah. Of course you have," Superman says to her, ruffling her hair which makes her giggle quietly which is as close to talking as she ever gets.

Maggie blinks and looks around at the place they are in. A large open space with many mutants, most with obvious physical mutations. "What is this place?" she asks.

"This is the home of the Morlocks," Superman answers her.

"Morlocks? Like in the Time Machine?" she queries.

"Sort of. They're mutants who feel they don't belong up there," he explains, pointing upward. "So they live down here where they feel safe."

"We did feel safe until you brought a stranger!" Callisto snipes with fury as she storms right into Superman's face.

Clark knew this was coming. He doesn't rise to the bait. "Maggie Sawyer meet Callisto, leader of the Morlocks. Callisto this is...Detective Maggie Sawyer."

Maggie takes a moment to take in the fairly attractive young woman, tall and lean, with fairly dark skin, and fairly long ebony hair, and one brown eye, the right eye covered by a black eye-patch, clad in tattered black pants and an olive tank-top.

"You brought a cop down here!" Callisto virtually screeches.

"This cop is all that stands between you and the Special Crimes Unit coming down here and dragging you off to jail!" Superman snaps back.

Callisto opens her mouth to argue more but Superman cuts her off.

"Plus we had a deal Callisto," he reminds her of it. "You stay out of trouble. I leave you be. You broke your side of it," he accuses. "So before you give me a piece of your mind remember that."

"They attacked us first!" Callisto hisses.

"Who attacked you first?" Maggie asks, slightly irritated at being spoken about but not spoken to.

Callisto glares at her.

"Look I don't know what he," Maggie jerks her thumb at Superman, "is thinking or planned but explain to me what is going on or Superman is right. I will cart you off to jail because I can assume you wrecked the factory," she works out because this is why Superman brought her here in the 1st place. She matches the ebony haired woman stare for stare...which allows her to notice the old, faint scars around the eye patch. This strongly indicates the loss of the eye was a violent affair.

Callisto takes a few moments to reign her temper back in. She's actually a fairly even tempered person usually but when she feels like her Morlocks are being threatened it can snap quickly. "Follow me," she says in low tones.

Superman picks up his sack, still carrying Torpid. He tosses the sack to Lucid, the sort of turtle faced looking mutant Clark had met 1st which was what led him to discovering the existence of the Morlocks. "Some food and extra clothing," he explains what it is. "How are you Lucid? Not picking fights with groups of men again I hope," he teases, referring to the fact that the 1st time they met Clark saved Lucid from that very fate.

"Ah n-no. Lucid been good," he insists with a slight stutter.

Superman chuckles. "I'm just joking, Lucid."

"Oh...Lucid see," he says with a small smile.

"Oh do me a favour. Send my apologises to Caliban. I know my presence is...uncomfortable for him," Superman says, seeing the bald, pale-skinned mutant on the far side of the space, as far away from Clark as possible. Clark's sheer power is difficult for Caliban when they're physically not too distant from each other and Clark knows it.

Callisto watches but doesn't comment. She finds Superman odd. He's so perfect looking but he treats all the Morlocks with the same respect as if talking to a normal person. Even shows concern for something he can't control. She doesn't understand it to be frank. Though she can't help but admire him for it.

"Why don't you live up at Xavier's?" Maggie asks as she and Superman follow Callisto.

"We have no interest in his stupid cause or anyone else's. The whole world doesn't revolve around Xavier and Magneto and their 'visions' for the future. Most mutants just want to live quiet lives. For some of us that means living down here away from the cruelty of the top-worlders. Besides, even if we were inclined to live up there, just look at us. Even other mutants are reviled by us," Callisto says, her voice laced with spite and anger, a long held anger at whatever it is that drove her down here.

Clark sighs. He's heard this before. "You know that's not true Callisto," he argues with her as he brushes his hand over Torpid's cheek affectionately. He could say more but they've had this argument before and he's said everything he can about it. Callisto's just too stubborn to listen to his perfectly valid and reasoned thoughts on the subject.

"It is true," she insists. "We're the outcasts amongst outcasts. Down here, away from the cruelty of the top-worlders, we're safe...or we were," she adds on as she leads them into another chamber of their home and lying all around are sick mutants in bed.

Clark puts Torpid down and zips next to one, scans them with his vision and then moves on to another and another before reappearing before Callisto. "They have all the symptoms of being poisoned," he recognises.

Callisto looks mildly surprised. "You get that from looking at them?"

"I can look at them on the cellular level...and doing what I do I've had to study up on many, many things."

"You're observations are most astute," an elderly voice says...before it is followed by a hacking cough. A tall, lean man, in his mid-fifties. His hair was fairly long, and grey, with a short white goatee beard. His eyes were a bright green, and he wore a slightly tattered, black, long-sleeved priestly robe, with a white collar, and a simple wooden cross about his neck.

"Healer," Superman greets the man who is a sort of spiritual advisor to the Morlocks...or as close to one as you get around here. "Are you sick as well?" he asks, seeing the man is pale and very tried looking.

"No...I..." he starts coughing heavily and Superman helps the man into a chair.

"You've been healing them," Maggie states.

Superman looks at her.

"Well I'm assuming with his name and all but look at them all..." she gestures, stricken by the heart-wrenching sight of so many ill.

Superman looks at Healer. "Have you been healing them non-stop?"

"Just enough to keep them alive...but I only have so much to give."

"You rest," Superman says, his tone broaching no argument. He looks at Callisto. "You. Start explaining."

"I have something else to show you," Callisto says. "Just him," she insists, glaring at the blond cop.

"Detective stay here, please and help if you can," Superman requests as he accepts this is the price Callisto is laying down. He then looks down at Torpid. "Can you look after my friend for me?" he gently asks her.

Torpid nods.

Superman pats her on the cheek. "Good girl. Thank you...oh she has some crayons and paper for you."

Torpid's eyes light up.

Superman leans in and whispers in Maggie's ear. "Don't touch her skin. It produces a paralysing toxin," he warns her in relation to Torpid's mutant gift.

"Paralysing? It was her...the guards...and you knew," she accuses.

"Was rather obvious as soon as I figured out it was the Morlocks." He looks at Torpid. "You were just protecting your friends weren't you?"

Torpid nods.

Clark winks at her with a soft smile.

"I should come along," Maggie argues in a whisper.

"No. Callisto doesn't trust you. If I want the truth I have to go alone. I promise I'll tell you everything she says."

"Fine," Maggie accepts. "But I do want to know everything," she insists.

"Cross my heart," Superman says, doing just that with his finger. "Oh Torpid doesn't talk so don't expect her to reply to you," he adds.

"She's mute?"

"Physically she can talk. She just won't. Have fun! Be good!"

"I'm sure she will," Maggie says.

"Wasn't talking about Torpid," Superman says, tongue-in-cheek.

Maggie fixes him a death glare.

Torpid giggles behind her hand.

Even Callisto smiles a little at Torpid's happiness before she shakes herself out of it. "This way," she tells Superman and he follows her out as she leads him into the tunnels.

"So when did this start?" he asks her.

Callisto stows her anger over him bringing the cop for a minute and answers. "I think a few weeks ago reflecting back on it. People got stomach aches. Thought it was a virus but they didn't get better. They kept getting worse. I didn't put it together until a few days ago. It wasn't a virus. We were being poisoned."

Even if she tries to hide it and be strong Clark can hear the worry in Callisto's tone.

"It's in our water and we can't get rid of it. It boils at the same temperature as the water," Callisto tells him.

"And you didn't call me why?" Superman asks even if he can guess the answer.

"We don't ask top-worlders for help," Callisto snaps. "Not even you."

Yep. That's what Clark thought she'd say. Damn stubborn, prideful woman. He avoids having this argument again and continues his quest to get the facts about the situation. "How does this lead to wrecking the Pow-R8 factory?" he asks, thinking it must be linked.

"Here. This is it," Callisto says, pointing at a pipe, a wine-coloured liquid dripping from it.

Superman reaches his hand under it and lets it drip on his fingers. He raises it to his nose and sniffs. "Pow-R8," he recognises the smell. He turns to Callisto. "I don't understand. It's just a sports drink," he says in confusion, making the link Callisto is showing him. That it is responsible.

"Obviously not."

"So you wrecked the factory to stop Spears dumping it down here," Superman makes the most obvious conclusion.

"We have the right to defend ourselves," Callisto argues strongly, her hands on her hips.

"Callisto...if you had just called me," Superman says with a weary shake of his head. "No-one can sell anything harmful. Would never have been certified. Spears can't realise that it is harmful to mutants."

"Wouldn't bet on that," Callisto remarks, being far more cynical than Superman.

"I..."

"What?" she asks at him stopping.

"Spyke's been drinking it for days. They gave him free samples because he's taking part in their skateboarding competition tomorrow," Superman says, his concern for his friend growing. He hadn't noticed anything wrong but he hasn't been paying that much attention to Evan lately. Been busy and all.

"Then he'll soon be like the others," Callisto darkly warns.

"Ok. I'll fix this," Superman promises.

"Well why you're fixing things why don't you fix me an explanation of that blond cop back there," Callisto demands an explanation, the anger in her voice rising.

"You left your prints behind...Raquel."

Callisto's whole body goes rigid. "Never, ever call me that name again," she hisses from between her teeth. "Raquel's dead. She died where they left her bleeding in that alley," she says with a complete embodiment of hate and anger.

"And what? Callisto was born?"

"Yes."

Clark would like to get more on that story but he doesn't have the time right now. "Well your prints led to a picture and I recognised it as you and Detective Sawyer saw something in my expression. Need to work on my poker face."

"Obviously," Callisto drawls.

"She's not a bad person, Callisto and like I said convincing her not to tell her colleagues is the only thing stopping the police coming down here after you...and I will. I understand why you did it now."

"Thank you," Callisto says and it is not something she says very often. "So what now?"

"First I get you some medicine and a whole bunch of bottled water so you don't have to drink the contaminated water. Second I need to run some tests on Pow-R8. As soon I can prove scientifically it is harmful Spears will have to shut down...or the authorities will shut him down. Failing that I'll shut him down and in the unlikely event he did know about it being harmful...well I'll leave it to your imagination but I will say I can be pretty scary when I'm annoyed."

"Why do you do this...all of this for us?" she asks. Callisto can still not figure him out.

"Because I'm a nice guy."

"And that's it?"

"Pretty much. Not everyone has an ulterior motive Callisto."

Callisto snorts derisively at that.

Superman steps up to her and places his hands gently on her arms. "I'll fix this. You have my word and you know I always keep that."

Well, yeah, Callisto would concede he has never broken his word with her. She looks up into his almost, it appears to her, unearthly blue eyes. So damn pretty...especially down here where it stands out more. Normally she would never let a man touch her in any fashion but he's just different somehow. So charming, disarming, just a feeling he's not a threat. He makes you feel safe. It's disconcerting. She focusses on what he was saying. "I have a condition," she says, laying out what she needs before she'll agree to let him help.

"You just don't know when you're pushing your luck do you?"

"Why start now?" she quips and she smiles. A real, genuine smile. She rarely does that but this is oddly humorous right now.

Superman chuckles, shakes his head and has to mentally note that, since this is the first time Clark has ever seen her smile, really smile, it is actually a very pretty smile that lights up her actually very pretty face despite the scars...though comparing her to that picture he saw...it's like she's lost something. That glow of inhuman perfection is missing. He wonders what happened to her but won't bother asking because she won't answer. "Alright," he agrees. "What's your condition?"

"That you don't tell the X-Men or ask for their help."

Superman groans. "Callisto..."

"Your word," she insists.

"They could help you know...and without them I'll take longer to sort this out."

"No," she refuses absolutely. "I won't risk us being dragged into their cause. It's not and never will be our fight. Now your word?"

"You're impossible," he complains.

"3 times before breakfast most days."

Superman eyes her oddly for a second. "Ok fine. You have my word," he accepts her condition however irrational and stupid it is because it's the only way he'll get an agreement out of her.

"Good. Now I won't have to kill your cop friend," she dead-pans.

Superman narrows his blue eyes at her. "If that passes for your sense of humour I can't imagine why you're single."

"I have taste and no man has yet to meet my standards."

"You have standards?" Superman says in complete sounding surprise.

"Uh huh. You're single too aren't you," she assumes from his lame humour with a teasing grin pulling at her lips. She is actually playfully bantering with someone instead of snapping their heads off. She hasn't done that in years. She had forgotten how much fun it is and something about Superman just sucks you into it.

"Just stay out of trouble until I'm finished. Think you can manage that?" Superman asks her, shifting topics, not sure how or why he allowed it to get into the area of relationship status.

"I never cause trouble," Callisto insists.

Superman snorts. "That's what my ex use to say and she causes nothing but," he mutters as he goes to retrieve Detective Sawyer.

Callisto lets out a deep shuddering breath after he leaves. That's closer than she has been to any man in a long time and his hands...she wears a vest top so his hands were on the bare skin of her arms so she could feel the warmth, even sense the power and strength in them a little yet his touch is so gentle and reassuring and comforting at the same time.

Also...she's not sure he was even aware he was doing it but his thumbs were gently stroking over her skin as they talked and the pleasured goosebumps he was causing...

Oh yeah. Way too long since she felt that. If this place had a cold shower she would be taking one right about now.

Clark strides quickly back through the Morlocks home grumbling under his breath about his luck and stubborn strong-willed women. Seriously how many of them are there in his life? He needs to start being more picky about who he befriends let alone who he dates.

He finds Detective Sawyer sitting on the floor with Torpid helping her draw. He bends down. "That's awful good Torpid," he praises her. "You going to be artist when you grow up?"

Torpid looks up, her face screwed up in thought at his question before she shakes her head in reply.

Clark smiles at her. Due to her lack of speech it seems, to him at least, she's compensated by making her face that much more expressive. He leans in and kisses her on the forehead sweetly. "I think it's time for bed young Missy. Detective Sawyer and I need to go."

Torpid pouts.

"Superman is correct," Healer says, feeling a little stronger for his rest. "Time for your rest young one."

Torpid rises to her feet and throws her arms around Superman's legs since she only barely reaches his waist, height wise.

"I'll visit soon," Superman promises her. He looks at Healer. "And I'll fix this as well...though Callisto doesn't make it easy."

Healer nods knowingly. Callisto was a great leader but she could be unnecessarily stubborn at times.

Superman and Detective Sawyer depart. Superman fills her in on what Callisto showed him. It isn't until they're topside again Maggie speaks in response. "I had no idea any of that was under Bayville," is her first response.

"No. No-one really does. Well the Professor but like me he promised to keep it secret."

"How can you let them live like that?"

"Because I can't force them to leave and I won't. I wear this costume for the very reason of defending people's right to choose. I do what I can for the Morlocks, bring them food and clothing but they truly, honestly believe that they're better off down there away from the cruelty of the world up here."

"You've put me in a hell of a position," she complains at him. Now she's caught in a bind. It isn't like she doesn't feel for them, of course she does, but she's a cop and she has her job.

"And you would never have asked me to show you if you didn't realise you might end up in one," he argues back because she's not daft. Quite the opposite. She's very insightful. It's why she's so good at her job. "You've seen them Detective. They're good people who feel that someone was attacking them. In their position what would you have done?"

"Called the police. It's what we're for."

"Except they don't recognise themselves as part of this society. They believe they have to take care of themselves."

"And in that case I would have done the exact same thing. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"I don't want anything except to help."

"And how do we do that? Especially since you gave your word not to include the X-Men which was stupid."

"Probably," Superman concedes. "But if I don't keep my word what does it become?" he asks her rhetorically.

Meaningless. Maggie doesn't need to say it.

"May I also point out that you yourself realised that normal police procedures can't always be applied to mutants when you and the Professor discussed the formation of the Special Crimes Unit," he reminds her.

Ok. Point to him. "So what's the plan?" she asks, indicating for now she's going along with this...though she's certain she'll regret this decision later. Probably when she gets fired.

"I need to prove Pow-R8 is harmful so I need a sample of the drink, some blood samples, minimally, both human and mutant to run a comparison of the effects and a lab to run the tests in and an accredited scientist to verify my results so you have grounds to shut the factory down."

"You can do the tests?"

"I study."

"That's not an answer."

"Kinda is...but yes I can do it. I made that signal watch I gave you after all," he points at her wrist, at the watch he gave her that emits a hypersonic signal only he can hear.

Maggie peers down at her wrist. Truthfully she hadn't really thought too much about how he did it. "So lab?" she queries.

"Can't be at the mansion. My word and all," Superman suddenly laments giving it but he can't use any of theirs at the Institute because someone will notice.

Maggie thinks for a moment and comes up with a solution. "I can sneak you into one of the CSI labs as long as we're gone by the morning," she offers, though she is pushing her luck there. Could get her in a whole lot of trouble. That unemployment line is getting closer.

"Right. I need to go get the Morlocks the medicine and water I promised. I'll collect all the samples we need and meet you there," Superman proposes.

Maggie nods. Sounds like a plan.

Superman gives her a small salute and vanishes in a gust of wind leaving Maggie lost whether he flew or ran off. Flew off? Jesus she'll never get her head around all these people with abilities. She places her hands on her hips and sighs. Guess she's not getting any sleep tonight.

Author's Note: Torpid was just too cute for words on the show yet she also has this little bit of a creepy vibe going as well. Great combo. She was an original character for the show and it is such a scandal they never found a way to include her in the comics. I'm still waiting Marvel! Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; X-treme Measures part 4 and the day of Spyke's skateboarding competition.