Clark was sitting on the couch, shaking slightly. Agent Davison was seated in one of the two arm chairs that flanked the couch. Agent Sanders had sat next to Clark; hoping a female presence would ease his tension, if only a little. It didn't.
The detective had taken up residence behind the couch, leaning against the far wall. One officer was posted at the front door; the broken lock made it impossible for the door to close completely. The other was standing at the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. The drapes were pulled back, the large glass sliding-door was half open, and the view was spectacular. The lower eastside stretched out before him; a skyline full of towering buildings set against the backdrop of the rippling surface of Metropolis Bay, and beyond that, a nearly endless vale of clear dark skies and billions of twinkling stars. A cool breeze blew into the unit. It was hard to believe that beneath all that beauty, a city was tearing itself apart.
The overhead lights, a creative curve of track lighting, had been turned on, filling the room with a bright warm glow.
Clark raised a glass of water to his lips with a shaky hand. He finally had to use both hands to control the shaking and keep the water from spilling to the floor. As it was, he was barely able to sip any.
"Mr. Kent…" Davison said softly.
Clark looked at him over the top of his glasses. "I apologize, Agent…"
"Davison. And we completely understand. Seeing your wife like that couldn't have been easy."
"It was on every channel! All of them!" Clark said softly. "Everyone saw what he did to her! The way she screamed… and then…" Clark lowered his head and began to cry again softly. "She… she stopped breathing…"
Sanders placed a hand on his back and rubbed in soft small circles.
The room was silent, save for the sounds of Clarks' gentle sobs. Sanders looked at Davison with compassionate eyes. A few moments more and she may have started crying as well. Davison wanted to be polite, wanted to be patient… but they were running out of time…
"Mr. Kent." He said again, sitting forward in his chair. "I can't imagine how you must feel right now, and I want you to know that we are going to do everything we can to find your wife. Even now, we have agents at all the local cable stations trying to track the source of the transmissions. Mr. Kent…"
And Clark looked up at him again.
"We. Will. Find. Her!" Agent Davison emphasized. "But we need your help!"
Clark looked from him, to the agent seated beside him. He seemed to regain much of his composer then. He wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeves, ran his hand through his hair, scooted back on the couch, and took a deep breath. He then looked at Agent Davison, his eyes filled with fresh resolve.
"What can I do?" he asked.
Davison licked his lips slightly and inched forward a bit. "First," he began. "I need you to think of anyone that your wife has dealt with in the past; anyone from an old boyfriend to someone she pissed of in an article, someone that may have the resources and the know how to do something like this."
Clarks' eyes danced around the room. "I can't think of any old boyfriends, but the list of people she's upset with her articles is a long one. Local crime bosses, corrupt politicians, crooked business men… you name it. But I can't think of anyone with the ability to do something on this large a scale."
"Mr. Kent," Davison urged. "Who ever is behind this went through a lot of trouble to make a lot of public statements! At first, we thought it was something between just him and Superman. But then he drags Lois Lane into it. We need to understand why. Not to mention why he was so interested in who she was married to."
"I don't know," Clark said, his resolve fading slightly. "I don't know who he is, or why he's doing this to her…"
"Let's start at the beginning." this from Agent Sanders. She gave a quick glance to Davison, who seemed to ease back a little. Sanders took the gesture as permission to continue. "When was the last time you saw your wife, Mr. Kent?"
Clark hesitated. "A few days ago; I dropped her off at the airport. She was invited to the Stangin Research facility in Antarctica." he said softly.
"The Stangin Research facility?" Davison asked. Clark nodded gently. "The one the exploded and took a small portion of the continent along with it!?" Again, Clark nodded solemnly.
"I was devastated when I heard." Clark continued. "I came home and turned on the news. I didn't know what else to do or who to call. I was just waiting for them to say something; to tell me that they found her… that she was okay… that she was coming home to me!"
Clark lifted his glasses slightly and rubbed his eyes. The room was silent again for a moment.
"I didn't know what else to do…" he repeated, replacing his glasses. "I haven't moved since. I just watched the news coverage of the explosion… and then that… that video cut in."
And suddenly, Clark was on his feet, pacing through the apartment, waves of anger and rage flowing from him.
"Do you have any idea what it feels like to find out that the person you love the most in the world, the person who, for the last sixteen hours, you thought was dead, is alive! And then to watch them get tortured mercilessly! To watch them… nearly… die… again?!"
Clark stopped pacing and began trembling slightly. He rounded on Agent Davison then. "We need to find her!" he shouted.
Agent Davison was on his feet then, his hands raised in front of him defensively, backing away slightly. "Calm down, Mr. Kent." He said calmly. "I understand how you feel but we need to focus…"
"Focus on what?!" Clark shouted. He was fuming. Everyone was looking at him. Agent Sanders was on her feet and moving forward slowly. The two uniforms moved a little further into the room. The detective's right hand hovered close to his firearm. "We're wasting time! The power plant is going to meltdown and the city's going to be destroyed! And if Superman saves the city… then Lois… Lois… is going to die!"
"I'm not going to let that happen!" a voice said, loud and clear.
Every head turned. And there, in the open doorway of the balcony, stood Superman.