Recovery (Superman Returns) 4/?
RECOVERY
RATING: PG-13 (for now)
PAIRING: Eventual Lois&Clark.
SUMMARY: Lex Luthor's plotting anew while Lois, Richard, Jason and Clark come to terms with changes to their lives after Superman returns. (Ch.4: 3060 words)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The credit goes to the beta-queen htbthomas.
CHAPTER ONE | CHAPTER TWO | CHAPTER THREE
"When are you going to admit to yourself that you’re still in love with Superman?"
Lois sat silent. She couldn't say she was completely surprised by Richard's question. She'd been counting on his innate sense of chivalry to keep him from prodding her on the way that she'd changed since Superman came back into their lives. At first it had been easy to keep up the façade: the anger that had fueled her Pulitzer Prize-winning article wasn't faked. It hadn't been easy for Lois to admit that, perhaps, her abandonment hadn't been a one-sided pain. But after hearing his muted "Goodbye, Lois" when Superman flew out of their plane to dispose of the New Krypton threat, she realized that he, too, suffered when it came to matters of the heart. That revelation made it impossible for her to hold the grudge that had sustained her for over five long years. And, without the grudge, it seemed that Lois Lane had no defenses in matters of the heart.
Aware of Richard's regard, she lifted her eyes to meet his. "I tried, Richard. I really thought I was over him."
His laugh was hollow. "You told me you never loved him at all."
Lois turned away, slipping out from under the covers and walking over to the closet. She pulled out a charmeuse robe and belted it tightly around her waist. When that was done, she turned back to look at her fiancé. "No one really wants to talk about the mistakes of the past, Richard. Yes, I loved him. And I still feel something for him but I chose you. I'm going to stick with you."
She saw him close his eyes, seemingly pained, and then shake his head abruptly. "You say that, Lois, but I don't want you to be with me because you feel you have to honour a commitment. I want you to be with me because you want it, too." He looked at the grainy newsprint image of her clasped in Superman's arms, their gazes meshed as closely as their bodies. "I don't want to be your second best."
Lois wrapped her arms around herself and paced across the small bedroom. "You're not second best, Richard! You're a great guy. You've been there for me from day one. You're a great father to Jason and a great fiancé!"
She watched as Richard shook his head. "Look, Lois, I appreciate it. But I can see, now, that I'll never be to you what he is." He looked her up and down consideringly. "You're okay, aren't you? I talked to Uncle Perry and he assured me that you and Jimmy were just fine after today's excitement."
Distractedly, Lois nodded. "Of course, I'm fine. That's not the point, Richard. I don't know what's up with this, but I'm not about to take up with Superman." Not again she added inwardly.
Richard walked over to the closet and pulled out his small carry-on, efficiently filling it with items from the drawers and hangers.
Lois' pacing sped up and she put one hand to her mouth as she stalked the bedroom in frustration. "Are you- are you leaving, Richard?"
As he zipped up the bag, he looked up. "Just for now. I'm going down to Washington. There's a summit there I'd asked Simmons to cover but he's still under the weather. It'll give me, us, a chance to think things over. Plan what's coming next. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe not." He paused at the doorway. "Tell Jason that I got called away on business. I'll call him tomorrow after supper."
Lois blinked back the tears and held her chin high. "And us?"
Richard smiled minutely, looking every inch the man she'd sworn she'd fallen in love with, all those years ago. "We'll talk after I'm back."
With that, he was out the bedroom door and down the stairs. Lois heard him exit towards the rear of the house and within a few minutes, the drone of the seaplane's engine was audible. She stepped to the window overlooking the water. In the moonlight, she could see the plane ghosting away from the dock, out to the open water and to takeoff.
She stood there in the window for a very long time.
***
The sleep which had seemed so imminent an hour beforehand proved elusive as the night wore on. Lois retreated to her book-lined study to review her notes. The jumble of scribbles and jottings, the growing accumulation of recorded interviews, all took on a new significance as she poured over them. No longer was this just a story of criminal negligence on the part of an obscure technology company. Ever since uncovering that possible link to Lex Luthor, the story they were investigating took on a greater significance.
Logged into the Planet's VPN, Lois searched for information on Katherine Kowalski. The details were slim - a well publicized but eventually fruitless court case for palimony from an aging Broadway impresario, a nursing qualification which landed her a job in the corrections system and then, for four years, nothing as far as the world was concerned. Well, almost nothing. Just after Superman returned, Katherine Kowalski had made front page news in the arms of Superman. Lois eyed the photograph of the woman desperately clutching the shoulders of her superhero saviour, the same image Perry had praised as iconic. Hmph. It hadn't been long after that she'd seen the same woman, in person, on board Luthor's yacht though it had taken her days to make the connection between Luthor's "Kitty" and the car crash victim from the front page.
Now that same person was back, even if in name only, linked to this increasingly worrisome story she and Clark were assigned to unravel. Lois dropped her head into her hands and groaned.
"Lois? Is there a problem?"
Her head flew up and she turned around in her seat with a gasp. There, in the doorway, stood Superman. She supposed he'd stopped by to look in on Jason and heard her exhalation. Her first impulse was to shut down on this emotion, but she knew that Superman would be as worried about the implications as she was.
"It's just that I've, I mean, we've, Clark and I, discovered a possible link between Lex Luthor and this whole surveying scam. Lex Luthor's girlfriend owns the company that bought up Roscoe and his technology."
Superman had come up close behind her and stared at the onscreen image and lines of notes. "I remember her. She seemed so. . . needy. I suppose being with Lex Luthor would make someone feel that way."
Lois glared over the rim of her reading glasses at the woman onscreen. "She took us all for a ride, but I suppose she escaped with Luthor and is helping him with some new scheme."
Superman turned away from the computer. "Or she could be helping him in name only. Or her name could even be used without her knowledge."
Lois saved her research and shut down her computer. Standing up from the desk, she put her arms to the small of her back and groaned. At Superman's concerned glance, she quickly explained, "It's nothing. I'm just a bit sore. Look, I'm going to get going on this tomorrow but maybe you could. . . ?" Her voice trailed off hopefully.
Superman nodded. "I'll go and check out the corporation and anything else that seems to relate to this site. I've been scouting warehouses around Metropolis for much of the day, trying to see if Roscoe's equipment is simply stashed away somewhere."
Lois stifled a yawn. "I'm betting it's long gone. And we need to figure out where he is, as well. All this coverage and not a peep out of the man, himself? It's not right."
Superman nodded again. "Maybe, but I think it's time for you to get some sleep, Lois."
She smiled wanly. "I'll try. Thanks for stopping by. Jason will need a little extra looking-after for the next few days." At her hero's raised eyebrow, she reluctantly elaborated, "Richard. . . well, he took off for D.C. tonight to cover the summit. I don't know when he'll be back." Lois held her breath. It felt a little bit like cheating on Richard to be here, in such intimate circumstances, with the man that he thought she was in love with. It felt even more like cheating in that she was amazingly aware of the attraction of the moment, the slither of silk against her skin and the warmth of his body only a short distance away from hers.
Fortunately, Superman didn't press any further with questions about Richard or in commenting on her discomposure. With a silent nod, he was out the door and, from the faint sound that reached her, flying out the window in the hallway. Lois turned off the lights and left her study. Hopefully, sleep would come soon.
***
"Morning, Mom," Jason called out as he pelted down the stairs. Entering the kitchen, seeing her clutching a coffee cup close, with eyes marred by dark circles no makeup could hide, he slid to a stop. "Whoa. You sick, mom?"
Lois shook her head slowly. "No, kiddo. Mommy just didn't sleep well last night." As he looked around, obviously seeking Richard, she told him about the sudden change of plans.
Jason's faced dropped. "Do you think he'll miss the holiday concert?"
Lois patted her son's hand, reassuringly. "That's not for weeks, silly. Daddy won't be gone that long. Now, scoot and eat your breakfast. We have to get going to school in twenty minutes."
Jason obediently sat himself at the table and began shoveling down his macrobiotic cereal and soy milk with only a small grimace. "Do you think I'll ever grow out of my allergies, mom? Dallas used to be allergic to milk, she says, but now she can get milk at school and drink it all."
Lois paused in packing her son's doctor-approved lunch. "I don't know, honey. Dallas' allergies might not be anything like yours." I'm sure of that! she muttered inwardly. Catching her son's disappointed expression, she winced. "We'll ask Dr. Simmons when you see her for your check-up after New Year's, okay?"
Shrugging his shoulders with feigned indifference, Jason glumly finished his breakfast. Only Lois' reminder that he could play with his model cars if he finished quickly inspired any liveliness. As soon as Jason began zooming his toy cars across the living room floor, however, his earlier upset was forgotten.
Lois pinched the bridge of her nose. She felt dead tired and dreaded going into work. It wasn't the challenge of investigating that daunted her, but what she might not find. If they couldn't make a strong connection to Luthor and soon, Perry would turn their investigative energies elsewhere. It only made editorial sense, she knew, when they had papers to sell. But Lois couldn't get out of her mind that speculative expression Luthor had on his face as he waved the Kryptonite in front of her son.
Her cellphone alarm buzzed and Lois shook herself. Putting her mug down in the sink, she went to the living room to collect Jason and get on with her day.
***
"Now, Perry, I think it's a worthwhile angle to pursue-"
"No. You need to get the goods on Roscoe. I hear the DA's preparing an arrest warrant to be served this morning and I want you guys on it. This guy's been holed up in his apartment since Kent's first story broke and no one's seen him. I want you to get in there. Get an exclusive on the arrest if you can't work some of that 'Lane magic' and get an interview with the guy before the cops get there."
Lois smashed her notes down on Perry White's desk while Clark sat, wide-eyed, to one side. "Perry, you're not giving me a chance. I think we've got reason to believe that Lex Luthor's behind this-"
Perry snorted. "You've got nothing more than what you showed me yesterday afternoon, Lois, and you know it." She gritted her teeth in frustration as the editor calmly repeated his instructions.
Storming out of Perry's office, Clark following in her wake, Lois muttered all the way to the coffeemaker about the short-sighted stupidity of their editor-in-chief. Pouring a cup of coffee for each of them, she continued to vent until her cup was at her lip. While she sipped the brew, Clark timidly spoke up. "Maybe we could do both things, Lois? You know, go for the Roscoe interview and look into this corporate background for any hint of Luthor's involvement?"
Lois looked up in surprise. "You'd be willing to go behind Perry's back?"
Clark grinned. "He said you had to cover Roscoe. He didn't say anything about me." He seemed to bob nervously beside her in the confined area as he spoke, but straightened, turning towards the windows as he finished his explanation.
"Great idea, Clark!" Lois smiled in delight and turned back to the coffeemaker to refill her cup. She knew that she'd regret making this a four-cup morning at some later point in the day, but, for right now, she needed the caffeine. Carefully filling her cup, she continued on, "only I think there oughta be some changes to the plan. You can cover Roscoe. Perry won't mind if at least one of us does the main story he assigned and I really want to look for myself at what ways Luthor might be involved. Besides, this all began with your story, so you should be the one to cover the results of your investigation."
Congratulating herself on the fair-mindedness of her proposition, Lois turned around and blinked in surprise. Instead of Clark, there was nothingness. "Clark?"
She stepped out towards the main aisle and looked in vain for her partner. The door near the elevators was slowly swinging closed and she could only assume that Clark had sped off to start the investigation into the numbered corporation and the possible Luthor links. Lois stomped a foot in aggravation.
On cue, Perry White popped his head out of his office door. "You on my story, Lane?"
Biting her lip, Lois turned around and nodded. "Yes, Chief!"
"Good! I want the final copy by three. And pictures! Take Jimmy with you."
Lois rolled her eyes. Now there was no way she could sneak out on the story Perry had assigned her. Jimmy Olsen stumbled up beside her, shoving a camera into his bag. "Ready when you are, Miss Lane," he said.
Lois grabbed her handbag and strode towards the elevator. "Try to keep up, Jimmy."
***
"Inspector Henderson! How nice to meet you here!"
The lean officer appeared unmoved by Lois' greeting. "Save it for the press. Wait! That'd be you, surprise, surprise."
The cavernous lobby to the high security apartment building felt cramped as Lois elbowed her way into the crowd of policemen. Jimmy followed behind, craning his head at the press of bodies.
"What's going on here? You don't need this many people to serve a warrant."
Henderson stretched his mouth into what would pass for a smile in a kinder person. "You haven't lost any of your smarts, Lane. Boys from the DA's office have been called off. It looks like we're past that stage."
Lois cocked her head, unsure of Henderson's precise meaning. "He's skipped town?"
"And, here, I thought you were smart."
Lois grimaced as she pulled out her recorder, wanting to get the words on tape that she knew were soon to follow. "You're telling us that Jacob Roscoe- the man that the Daily Planet revealed as having bilked the government out of millions and put the safety of the city at risk -is dead? That he killed himself before he could be brought to justice?"
"Yes and no. Yes, Jacob Roscoe is dead. And no because the forensic team is having a fit."
Lois arched an eyebrow as she stepped closer to Henderson. "Why?"
"That's because it wasn't suicide, Miss Lane. Only, since Jacob Roscoe's been incommunicado in his apartment since your partner's story first broke, that makes things a little interesting," Henderson said. He gestured over to the uniformed doorman being interviewed by two intent officers in a nearby alcove. "Twenty-four hour security, yet nobody's seen a thing or so they say. Yet someone got into Roscoe's apartment, took all his paperwork and computer files, then drilled him." The inspector punctuated his explanation with a finger to his own forehead. "After cutting out his eyes, that is, though maybe they shot him first. Kinda hard to tell this early in the investigation."
Jimmy blanched at the sickening description. Lois soldiered on. "Any suspects?"
"If this were six years ago, I'd be sure of the matter. But now? Things ain't so clear."
Six years. Lois froze. "Why do you say you'd be sure 'if this were six years ago'?"
At the last question, Henderson's shark smile reappeared. "That's what I like about you, Lane. You pick up things the others miss. Six years ago, I saw a string of hits on guys like this, guys who'd tried to double cross their boss and gotten caught out. The big guy had them taken care of, to teach everyone a lesson."
Lois swallowed minutely. A chill wave swept up her body and she had to force the words out of her mouth with painful effort. "And who was that boss, Henderson?"
The inspector's teeth shone brightly as he replied "Why, don't you remember? That was Lex Luthor. It wasn't one of the big cases that Superman uncovered, just some garden-variety crime that Metropolis' finest had to handle. But since Luthor's missing and officially presumed dead, it can't have been him. Anyway, what interest would he have in some two-bit con artist bilking the government? Right, Miss Lane?"
Lois blinked, willing herself to appear unmoved by Henderson's revelation. It wasn't hard, considering she felt numb with terror. Lois didn't know what linked Roscoe and Luthor. It had to be something fiendish and twisted, of that she was sure, and would be likely to pose a threat to her son as well as Superman, if not countless millions more. Whatever it was, Lois vowed she would be the first to find out.
CHAPTER FIVE | CHAPTER SIX
RATING: PG-13 (for now)
PAIRING: Eventual Lois&Clark.
SUMMARY: Lex Luthor's plotting anew while Lois, Richard, Jason and Clark come to terms with changes to their lives after Superman returns. (Ch.4: 3060 words)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The credit goes to the beta-queen htbthomas.
CHAPTER ONE | CHAPTER TWO | CHAPTER THREE
"When are you going to admit to yourself that you’re still in love with Superman?"
Lois sat silent. She couldn't say she was completely surprised by Richard's question. She'd been counting on his innate sense of chivalry to keep him from prodding her on the way that she'd changed since Superman came back into their lives. At first it had been easy to keep up the façade: the anger that had fueled her Pulitzer Prize-winning article wasn't faked. It hadn't been easy for Lois to admit that, perhaps, her abandonment hadn't been a one-sided pain. But after hearing his muted "Goodbye, Lois" when Superman flew out of their plane to dispose of the New Krypton threat, she realized that he, too, suffered when it came to matters of the heart. That revelation made it impossible for her to hold the grudge that had sustained her for over five long years. And, without the grudge, it seemed that Lois Lane had no defenses in matters of the heart.
Aware of Richard's regard, she lifted her eyes to meet his. "I tried, Richard. I really thought I was over him."
His laugh was hollow. "You told me you never loved him at all."
Lois turned away, slipping out from under the covers and walking over to the closet. She pulled out a charmeuse robe and belted it tightly around her waist. When that was done, she turned back to look at her fiancé. "No one really wants to talk about the mistakes of the past, Richard. Yes, I loved him. And I still feel something for him but I chose you. I'm going to stick with you."
She saw him close his eyes, seemingly pained, and then shake his head abruptly. "You say that, Lois, but I don't want you to be with me because you feel you have to honour a commitment. I want you to be with me because you want it, too." He looked at the grainy newsprint image of her clasped in Superman's arms, their gazes meshed as closely as their bodies. "I don't want to be your second best."
Lois wrapped her arms around herself and paced across the small bedroom. "You're not second best, Richard! You're a great guy. You've been there for me from day one. You're a great father to Jason and a great fiancé!"
She watched as Richard shook his head. "Look, Lois, I appreciate it. But I can see, now, that I'll never be to you what he is." He looked her up and down consideringly. "You're okay, aren't you? I talked to Uncle Perry and he assured me that you and Jimmy were just fine after today's excitement."
Distractedly, Lois nodded. "Of course, I'm fine. That's not the point, Richard. I don't know what's up with this, but I'm not about to take up with Superman." Not again she added inwardly.
Richard walked over to the closet and pulled out his small carry-on, efficiently filling it with items from the drawers and hangers.
Lois' pacing sped up and she put one hand to her mouth as she stalked the bedroom in frustration. "Are you- are you leaving, Richard?"
As he zipped up the bag, he looked up. "Just for now. I'm going down to Washington. There's a summit there I'd asked Simmons to cover but he's still under the weather. It'll give me, us, a chance to think things over. Plan what's coming next. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe not." He paused at the doorway. "Tell Jason that I got called away on business. I'll call him tomorrow after supper."
Lois blinked back the tears and held her chin high. "And us?"
Richard smiled minutely, looking every inch the man she'd sworn she'd fallen in love with, all those years ago. "We'll talk after I'm back."
With that, he was out the bedroom door and down the stairs. Lois heard him exit towards the rear of the house and within a few minutes, the drone of the seaplane's engine was audible. She stepped to the window overlooking the water. In the moonlight, she could see the plane ghosting away from the dock, out to the open water and to takeoff.
She stood there in the window for a very long time.
***
The sleep which had seemed so imminent an hour beforehand proved elusive as the night wore on. Lois retreated to her book-lined study to review her notes. The jumble of scribbles and jottings, the growing accumulation of recorded interviews, all took on a new significance as she poured over them. No longer was this just a story of criminal negligence on the part of an obscure technology company. Ever since uncovering that possible link to Lex Luthor, the story they were investigating took on a greater significance.
Logged into the Planet's VPN, Lois searched for information on Katherine Kowalski. The details were slim - a well publicized but eventually fruitless court case for palimony from an aging Broadway impresario, a nursing qualification which landed her a job in the corrections system and then, for four years, nothing as far as the world was concerned. Well, almost nothing. Just after Superman returned, Katherine Kowalski had made front page news in the arms of Superman. Lois eyed the photograph of the woman desperately clutching the shoulders of her superhero saviour, the same image Perry had praised as iconic. Hmph. It hadn't been long after that she'd seen the same woman, in person, on board Luthor's yacht though it had taken her days to make the connection between Luthor's "Kitty" and the car crash victim from the front page.
Now that same person was back, even if in name only, linked to this increasingly worrisome story she and Clark were assigned to unravel. Lois dropped her head into her hands and groaned.
"Lois? Is there a problem?"
Her head flew up and she turned around in her seat with a gasp. There, in the doorway, stood Superman. She supposed he'd stopped by to look in on Jason and heard her exhalation. Her first impulse was to shut down on this emotion, but she knew that Superman would be as worried about the implications as she was.
"It's just that I've, I mean, we've, Clark and I, discovered a possible link between Lex Luthor and this whole surveying scam. Lex Luthor's girlfriend owns the company that bought up Roscoe and his technology."
Superman had come up close behind her and stared at the onscreen image and lines of notes. "I remember her. She seemed so. . . needy. I suppose being with Lex Luthor would make someone feel that way."
Lois glared over the rim of her reading glasses at the woman onscreen. "She took us all for a ride, but I suppose she escaped with Luthor and is helping him with some new scheme."
Superman turned away from the computer. "Or she could be helping him in name only. Or her name could even be used without her knowledge."
Lois saved her research and shut down her computer. Standing up from the desk, she put her arms to the small of her back and groaned. At Superman's concerned glance, she quickly explained, "It's nothing. I'm just a bit sore. Look, I'm going to get going on this tomorrow but maybe you could. . . ?" Her voice trailed off hopefully.
Superman nodded. "I'll go and check out the corporation and anything else that seems to relate to this site. I've been scouting warehouses around Metropolis for much of the day, trying to see if Roscoe's equipment is simply stashed away somewhere."
Lois stifled a yawn. "I'm betting it's long gone. And we need to figure out where he is, as well. All this coverage and not a peep out of the man, himself? It's not right."
Superman nodded again. "Maybe, but I think it's time for you to get some sleep, Lois."
She smiled wanly. "I'll try. Thanks for stopping by. Jason will need a little extra looking-after for the next few days." At her hero's raised eyebrow, she reluctantly elaborated, "Richard. . . well, he took off for D.C. tonight to cover the summit. I don't know when he'll be back." Lois held her breath. It felt a little bit like cheating on Richard to be here, in such intimate circumstances, with the man that he thought she was in love with. It felt even more like cheating in that she was amazingly aware of the attraction of the moment, the slither of silk against her skin and the warmth of his body only a short distance away from hers.
Fortunately, Superman didn't press any further with questions about Richard or in commenting on her discomposure. With a silent nod, he was out the door and, from the faint sound that reached her, flying out the window in the hallway. Lois turned off the lights and left her study. Hopefully, sleep would come soon.
***
"Morning, Mom," Jason called out as he pelted down the stairs. Entering the kitchen, seeing her clutching a coffee cup close, with eyes marred by dark circles no makeup could hide, he slid to a stop. "Whoa. You sick, mom?"
Lois shook her head slowly. "No, kiddo. Mommy just didn't sleep well last night." As he looked around, obviously seeking Richard, she told him about the sudden change of plans.
Jason's faced dropped. "Do you think he'll miss the holiday concert?"
Lois patted her son's hand, reassuringly. "That's not for weeks, silly. Daddy won't be gone that long. Now, scoot and eat your breakfast. We have to get going to school in twenty minutes."
Jason obediently sat himself at the table and began shoveling down his macrobiotic cereal and soy milk with only a small grimace. "Do you think I'll ever grow out of my allergies, mom? Dallas used to be allergic to milk, she says, but now she can get milk at school and drink it all."
Lois paused in packing her son's doctor-approved lunch. "I don't know, honey. Dallas' allergies might not be anything like yours." I'm sure of that! she muttered inwardly. Catching her son's disappointed expression, she winced. "We'll ask Dr. Simmons when you see her for your check-up after New Year's, okay?"
Shrugging his shoulders with feigned indifference, Jason glumly finished his breakfast. Only Lois' reminder that he could play with his model cars if he finished quickly inspired any liveliness. As soon as Jason began zooming his toy cars across the living room floor, however, his earlier upset was forgotten.
Lois pinched the bridge of her nose. She felt dead tired and dreaded going into work. It wasn't the challenge of investigating that daunted her, but what she might not find. If they couldn't make a strong connection to Luthor and soon, Perry would turn their investigative energies elsewhere. It only made editorial sense, she knew, when they had papers to sell. But Lois couldn't get out of her mind that speculative expression Luthor had on his face as he waved the Kryptonite in front of her son.
Her cellphone alarm buzzed and Lois shook herself. Putting her mug down in the sink, she went to the living room to collect Jason and get on with her day.
***
"Now, Perry, I think it's a worthwhile angle to pursue-"
"No. You need to get the goods on Roscoe. I hear the DA's preparing an arrest warrant to be served this morning and I want you guys on it. This guy's been holed up in his apartment since Kent's first story broke and no one's seen him. I want you to get in there. Get an exclusive on the arrest if you can't work some of that 'Lane magic' and get an interview with the guy before the cops get there."
Lois smashed her notes down on Perry White's desk while Clark sat, wide-eyed, to one side. "Perry, you're not giving me a chance. I think we've got reason to believe that Lex Luthor's behind this-"
Perry snorted. "You've got nothing more than what you showed me yesterday afternoon, Lois, and you know it." She gritted her teeth in frustration as the editor calmly repeated his instructions.
Storming out of Perry's office, Clark following in her wake, Lois muttered all the way to the coffeemaker about the short-sighted stupidity of their editor-in-chief. Pouring a cup of coffee for each of them, she continued to vent until her cup was at her lip. While she sipped the brew, Clark timidly spoke up. "Maybe we could do both things, Lois? You know, go for the Roscoe interview and look into this corporate background for any hint of Luthor's involvement?"
Lois looked up in surprise. "You'd be willing to go behind Perry's back?"
Clark grinned. "He said you had to cover Roscoe. He didn't say anything about me." He seemed to bob nervously beside her in the confined area as he spoke, but straightened, turning towards the windows as he finished his explanation.
"Great idea, Clark!" Lois smiled in delight and turned back to the coffeemaker to refill her cup. She knew that she'd regret making this a four-cup morning at some later point in the day, but, for right now, she needed the caffeine. Carefully filling her cup, she continued on, "only I think there oughta be some changes to the plan. You can cover Roscoe. Perry won't mind if at least one of us does the main story he assigned and I really want to look for myself at what ways Luthor might be involved. Besides, this all began with your story, so you should be the one to cover the results of your investigation."
Congratulating herself on the fair-mindedness of her proposition, Lois turned around and blinked in surprise. Instead of Clark, there was nothingness. "Clark?"
She stepped out towards the main aisle and looked in vain for her partner. The door near the elevators was slowly swinging closed and she could only assume that Clark had sped off to start the investigation into the numbered corporation and the possible Luthor links. Lois stomped a foot in aggravation.
On cue, Perry White popped his head out of his office door. "You on my story, Lane?"
Biting her lip, Lois turned around and nodded. "Yes, Chief!"
"Good! I want the final copy by three. And pictures! Take Jimmy with you."
Lois rolled her eyes. Now there was no way she could sneak out on the story Perry had assigned her. Jimmy Olsen stumbled up beside her, shoving a camera into his bag. "Ready when you are, Miss Lane," he said.
Lois grabbed her handbag and strode towards the elevator. "Try to keep up, Jimmy."
***
"Inspector Henderson! How nice to meet you here!"
The lean officer appeared unmoved by Lois' greeting. "Save it for the press. Wait! That'd be you, surprise, surprise."
The cavernous lobby to the high security apartment building felt cramped as Lois elbowed her way into the crowd of policemen. Jimmy followed behind, craning his head at the press of bodies.
"What's going on here? You don't need this many people to serve a warrant."
Henderson stretched his mouth into what would pass for a smile in a kinder person. "You haven't lost any of your smarts, Lane. Boys from the DA's office have been called off. It looks like we're past that stage."
Lois cocked her head, unsure of Henderson's precise meaning. "He's skipped town?"
"And, here, I thought you were smart."
Lois grimaced as she pulled out her recorder, wanting to get the words on tape that she knew were soon to follow. "You're telling us that Jacob Roscoe- the man that the Daily Planet revealed as having bilked the government out of millions and put the safety of the city at risk -is dead? That he killed himself before he could be brought to justice?"
"Yes and no. Yes, Jacob Roscoe is dead. And no because the forensic team is having a fit."
Lois arched an eyebrow as she stepped closer to Henderson. "Why?"
"That's because it wasn't suicide, Miss Lane. Only, since Jacob Roscoe's been incommunicado in his apartment since your partner's story first broke, that makes things a little interesting," Henderson said. He gestured over to the uniformed doorman being interviewed by two intent officers in a nearby alcove. "Twenty-four hour security, yet nobody's seen a thing or so they say. Yet someone got into Roscoe's apartment, took all his paperwork and computer files, then drilled him." The inspector punctuated his explanation with a finger to his own forehead. "After cutting out his eyes, that is, though maybe they shot him first. Kinda hard to tell this early in the investigation."
Jimmy blanched at the sickening description. Lois soldiered on. "Any suspects?"
"If this were six years ago, I'd be sure of the matter. But now? Things ain't so clear."
Six years. Lois froze. "Why do you say you'd be sure 'if this were six years ago'?"
At the last question, Henderson's shark smile reappeared. "That's what I like about you, Lane. You pick up things the others miss. Six years ago, I saw a string of hits on guys like this, guys who'd tried to double cross their boss and gotten caught out. The big guy had them taken care of, to teach everyone a lesson."
Lois swallowed minutely. A chill wave swept up her body and she had to force the words out of her mouth with painful effort. "And who was that boss, Henderson?"
The inspector's teeth shone brightly as he replied "Why, don't you remember? That was Lex Luthor. It wasn't one of the big cases that Superman uncovered, just some garden-variety crime that Metropolis' finest had to handle. But since Luthor's missing and officially presumed dead, it can't have been him. Anyway, what interest would he have in some two-bit con artist bilking the government? Right, Miss Lane?"
Lois blinked, willing herself to appear unmoved by Henderson's revelation. It wasn't hard, considering she felt numb with terror. Lois didn't know what linked Roscoe and Luthor. It had to be something fiendish and twisted, of that she was sure, and would be likely to pose a threat to her son as well as Superman, if not countless millions more. Whatever it was, Lois vowed she would be the first to find out.
CHAPTER FIVE | CHAPTER SIX