Chemistry
Chapter 9 Remember me?
One of the presents Clark gave his girls was another set of matching outfits, these were pastels and intended for their Easter celebration. The problem was Lois and Alex didn't know if they could wait that long to wear them. Clark threatened to lock the clothing up in an undisclosed location until just before Easter. He was VETOED with the promise that his girls would behave themselves. He was skeptical, but took them at their word.
DAILY PLANET NEWSROOM
Lois and Clark are working in their shared cubicle (office, kingdom, domain) when Lois slides her chair back so she is even with him, "Clark, we've been really busy so it's not surprising, but . . ." She holds up her left hand, where her diamond sparkles in the sunshine streaming in through the windows. She wiggles her hand under his nose.
"Uh, what?" He doesn't get it.
'Men can be so dense.' "Planning." She whispers.
"Planning what?" He whispers back.
"Smallville! Wedding, I do's!"
"Oh, yeah. I suppose we should get to that, shouldn't we?"
"Duh . . ." Her cell beeps, an incoming TXT. From an unknown caller.
U: I found U. U ruined my life. See U soon, baby bear.
Lois gasps. Who could this be?
Clark notices, "Who was that, babe?"
"I don't know." She is trembling as she hands him the phone.
He reads the message. "Baby bear? What does that mean, Lois?"
Lois thinks for a few minutes, then it hits her. "The zoo! Clark, it must mean the zoo!"
"What do you mean?"
"That day I took Alex to work with me. The story I was working on was a rumor of cruelty to the bears. Probably two men, one younger and one older, suffered consequences. I didn't follow the justice part of the case so I don't know what happened."
"Who followed up," Clark asked.
"Wilson, I think. He covers legal/justice with his partner. I'll check with him."
"Ok, good idea. I'll call Lt. Adam West at Met PD; he and I have started playing racquet ball on Friday mornings. See if he can track down the sender of that TXT."
"Oh god! Alex is at risk too! They may have seen her, she was right behind me, remember." Lois exclaims.
"Yeah, right. I'll ask Adam if they can assign any protection to Alex, or do we need to arrange that ourselves?"
"We can have Carl drive Alex and Nancy to and from school for now. I'll call him." Lois says as she rushes off to Wilson's desk.
"Lieutenant West here."
"Adam, this is Clark Kent. Do you have a minute?"
"Sure, are you going to beg off on racquet ball again, buddy? I didn't beat you that badly, did I?"
"Nah, but I'm looking for revenge."
"Anywhere, any time my man!"
"Listen, Lois and I have a problem." Clark describes the TXT, the zoo incident, and his concern for Lois and Alex.
"Well," Adam responds. "If you get me the phone I'll see if my tech guys can track down the sender. Also, get me the names of the perps and I'll see what happened to them. As far as security, we'll need more to go on before I can spring police resources, sorry."
"I understand. Can you give me a couple names of trustworthy personal security guys or firms?"
"Will do. I could put up a notice and see if any cops want to sign up . . . moonlighting, you know."
"Nah, we'll handle it for now. Thanks, I'll get Lois to drop off her phone at the 12th for you. Bye."
"Bye, see you Friday!"
"Right on!"
Lois returns with the names of the perps. An 18 y/o and a 50 y/o, both males. Clark sends Lt. West a TXT with the info.
"Lois, how is your workload this afternoon?" He thinks he knows.
"On the light side, why?"
"Let's tell Perry we're leaving early. I'd like you and I to pick up Alex from school today. We can see if Perry has a spare phone you can use for a few days; we need to drop your phone off with Lt. West. He will see if they can track the TXT sender. You Ok with that?"
"Ok, but what about security?"
"I have a couple names. We can call when we get home."
12TH PRECINCT
Lois and Clark are shown to Adam West's office.
The LT. whistles softly. "Clark, you've been holding out on me! Now I see why you come dragging in some Friday mornings! You devil, you."
"Smallville, what the hell!" Lois snorts.
"Smallville? I don't think he's . . ."
"Can we get down to business," Clark interrupts. "Here is Lois' phone. When can we expect to hear from you?"
"Give me 24 hours. I'll give you a call." He shakes Lois' hand, holding it longer than needed.
She smirks and holds up her ring under his nose. "Loser," she whispers with a smile.
"That's my girl," Clark mutters. "Friday is on," Clark says as they walk out the door hand in hand.
SCHOOL
They swing by home and get Carl and the limo. Then pick up Alex who is quite surprised. After hugs all around, "Hey, great to see you two, what's up," Alex exclaims.
"We'll fill you and Carl in when we get home," Lois tells her.
They gather everyone in the family room and Lois starts. "I got a threatening TXT this morning. We think that it is from one of the guys at the zoo, they were abusing the bears. Since they may have seen Alex as well as myself, we must consider both of us as being at risk."
Clark picks up the story. "The police are on the case, but until this is settled, we must be extra careful. We want Carl to take Nancy and Alex to and from school for now. Carl, do you have a CC permit?"
"Yes, I do."
"Ok, are you comfortable with us depending on you for a few days." Lois asks.
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Clark and I are arranging for extra security. Even after that is in place, we all need to be extra careful and observant." Lois emphasizes.
They all nod agreement.
FRIDAY RACQUET BALL COURT
"21-15, I whipped your ass, buddy," Clark shouts. "3 games in a row!"
"Man, you are on fire. What's up?"
"You messed with my girl!"
"That little handshake? Come on man."
Clark smashes the ball hard against the front wall; Adam ducks, the ball barely misses his head. "Ok man, I'll watch myself around the little lady. You still want me as best man though, don't you?"
"Can you behave yourself?"
"Absolutely!"
"I'll let you know. Any news on that TXT Lois received?"
"I'll know by noon. I will call you."
'Thanks, buddy."
"No problem."
DAILY PLANET
Lois is so nervous she thinks hat she is having a nervous breakdown. All week she has had Carl drive her around to all her appointments, when she isn't by Clark's side. Clark does all he can to help her; rearranging his schedule to match hers as much as he can. They are waiting for Adam's call.
12:05
"He said He would call by noon!" Lois exclaims.
"He said he should know something by noon," Clark softly says, trying to calm her down.
RING, RING, RING
Lois grabs Clark's phone "Hello, what have you got?"
"LOIS, CLARK!" Perry shouts. "MY OFFICE NOW!"
"Damnit, we don't have time for him!" Lois complains.
"Who was on my phone?"
"I don't know, they hung up." She whines.
"LANE, KENT, NOW!"
They rush to Perry's office; he is standing in the doorway. "You have a visitor; you have 5 minutes." He walks away, leaving the door open.
They enter, there sits Lt. Adam West. "You two deaf?"
Lois strides up to him, stopping 6" from his nose. "What do you know, copper?"
Adam blinks and takes a step back. "Ihave some info for Clark."
Lois balls her hands into fists. Clark looks Adam in the eye, shaking his head slightly. This is no time to push Lois' buttons.
"And you," Adam quickly adds.
"Well . . ."
"Shall we all take seats and I will explain?"
They are seated. Adam starts, "We couldn't trace that one TXT. It probably came from a disposable (burner) phone. The two perps from the zoo incident received probation, no jail time. They both lost their jobs. We had detectives visit the two men and put them on notice that we are 'watching' them. What good that will do, I can't say."
"What does watch them mean?" Lois snarls.
"Basically, we'll have a squad car drive by their place of residence from time to time. If officers on foot patrol see them, they will pay close attention. Maybe have a chat."
"Won't that just annoy them?" Clark asks, Lois nods.
"Probably. Shall we back off?"
Clark looks at Lois, she shrugs. "I think so," Lois says, with resignation.
"I agree, we are stepping up our personal security," Clark adds. "Thanks Adam. You will be our 1st call if anything else happens."
"I'll see to it that we do all we can if further evidence pops up."
"Thanks Lieutenant," Lois adds.
TBC