Superman Movieverse Forum

Title: Family Reunion
Author: Mr. Beeto
Rating: PG-13
Beta: htbthomas and Shado Librarian
Summary: AU Twist on Donner/Singer Movieverse: Tie the three films together into a cohesive whole, and provide a more credible and interesting reason for Superman to have returned to Krypton.

[  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  ]     [  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  ]     [  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  ]     [  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  ]

Author’s Notes:
Thanks again to htbthomas and Shado Librarian, a.k.a. dandello.

Chapter 25 – Miscalculation

Friday, September 29, 2006 11:00PM EDT
Rain was falling lightly over Metropolis when Lois finally drove out of the Planet’s underground parking garage and turned left onto Fifth Avenue.  Her late hours had been productive and the pieces of the puzzle on Luthor’s henchmen were coming together nicely.  However, as she began the drive to her home in the southern suburbs, her thoughts turned to something of a more personal nature – the new knowledge of the events that had transpired between her and Clark before he left six years earlier.  She had been his intended bride, he’d taken her to the Fortress for Jor-El’s approval and hadn’t been deterred by his father’s disapproval or the harsh penalty for continuing their relationship.  However, three super-powered Kryptonian criminals had managed to throw a monkey wrench into their plans, with help from a demented human accomplice.

I wish I could remember that, instead of having to take it all on faith, she thought.  He’s lucky I believe him with a story like that…  I wonder how would things have gone down if Clark had thought to include me on that discussion with Jor-El.  What is it with the guys I pick that they always think they can make such important, life-altering decisions about our future without consulting me on it?  I’m pretty sure that I would have at least asked ‘why’.  I might even have insisted on a second opinion about not being able to have kids.

But Jor-El approves now – not only that, he actually seems excited about the idea, Lois reminded herself.  Even had the nerve to demand more grandkids.  And Clark…  Clark would be delighted to oblige – he’s obviously still in love with me, even if he doesn’t dare come right out and say it.  I can read between the lines from what he said to Kara about us, and I can practically feel it emanating from him whenever he’s in the room…  It’s almost too much to imagine, that I could actually go home to that every night.  God, even at my most obsessed fangirl worst, I never thought domestic bliss was an option with Superman.  But he’s Clark, which is about as domesticated as they come.  And he’s already a responsible dad to a young child, responsibly employed, and paying his taxes.  I really could have it all if I wanted to.

But it’s not quite that easy.  We don’t even agree on living arrangements.  Sounds like he’d be perfectly happy to spend the next fifty plus years commuting from Smallville and I’m a born and bred city girl – though I have to concede his point that Smallville’s probably a being a better place for the super-kids …   And how do you have a love life when the kids have super hearing and X-ray vision?   At least I still have a few years before I have to worry about that with Jason…  Geez, this would be hopelessly complicated even if he had explained things to me before he left…  He really should have said something – I might have waited for him…  But he hadn’t explained, and Lois had been devastated by both Superman’s disappearance and Clark’s apparent abandonment, just when she needed him most.

I lost my best friend when Clark left – God, I missed that goofball, she realized.  She reflected on the camaraderie that she’d shared with Clark Kent and how they had always been so completely in sync with each other – something she’d never come close to with anyone else.  It was like old times today, Lois thought, even with the Superman mind job thrown in there.  How on Earth did we manage that when I should still be furious with him?  It was almost like he had never left – except at the end of the day, he’s going home to take care of a young daughter, and I’m going home to our son...

Lois turned onto the entrance ramp for the southbound Clinton Expressway and her thoughts turned to speculation on how different her life might have been if Clark had explained things to her.  I wouldn’t have been so freaked out wondering if Superman had been killed, or felt so abandoned by my best friend, and my head wouldn’t have been so messed up that Perry felt I needed his nephew’s close supervision to keep me on track... Oh, God.   Richard.  I forgot all about him…  He makes this even more complicated…

He’s a good man and he was there when I needed him.  And he’s Jason’s daddy, the biology notwithstanding.  But lately every conversation with him turns into a fight, and he’s still trying to impose that damn Stepford Wives fantasy on me.  Where does that leave us, especially now that everyone knows that Jason’s a Kent?  Even if Richard does finally give up on that fantasy, will that be something he’ll be happy with, considering how much he’s pestered me for all that stuff over the years?  And how badly would he freak if Jason’s Kryptonian heritage ever slipped out?   Geez, why did things have to get so complicated? 

Lois looked at her watch and swore under her breath.  Richard won’t be happy with me getting home this late.  And the chances of him letting that go without a word are probably somewhere between zilch and none…  Great.  Just what I need after such a long day.  Another fight to look forward to.



Richard sat on the living room couch, watching a political program on GNN with the volume turned low.   Normally, he would listen with interest to the debate, especially since the Washington Bureau reported up through him.  However, he once again found himself consumed with his personal matters and unable to focus his attention on anything else.  He was growing increasingly frustrated by Lois’ tardiness and struggling to suppress his anger over it.  He had hoped for an honest discussion on recent developments after putting Jason to bed, but her late hours had precluded that and she hadn’t offered much in the way of explanations during her short call late that afternoon.  It was more time spent with her ex and Jason’s biological father – a man who apparently knew Lois better after a six year absence than he did after living with her for almost as long.

Richard glanced up at the clock in the kitchen and frowned at the time.  What the hell is she up to? he wondered.  After stewing over the situation for what seemed an eternity, he finally heard the garage door opening, signaling her arrival.  He got up from the couch and marched into the kitchen to confront her.  Lois jumped with a start when she walked through the door and found him glaring back at her.  “I was beginning to wonder if you planned on coming home at all tonight,” he said testily.

“Don’t start,” Lois warned.  “It’s been a long day.”

“For both of us,” Richard retorted.  “I was expecting you home hours ago.”

Lois rolled her eyes and irritably informed him, “I told you that I’d be working late and not to wait up.  Things happened kind of fast once our source came through and I was working the phones and buried in the story.”

Richard hollered in a loud whisper, “Lois, we have some important personal matters to work out, which is a bit difficult to do when you’re not here to talk it through.”

“Richard.  Stop it,” Lois commanded.  “It’s been a long day, I’m tired, and I really don’t have the energy for this right now.”

“Is that so?” Richard asked skeptically.  “Was it because of your alleged long day at the office with your ex, or are you just trying to avoid discussing this with me?”

Lois hardened her expression and glared at him.  “You disappoint me, White,” she said angrily.  “I’m not a frightened little girl who runs and hides from an argument, and I’d think that we’d have had a little more trust here after five and a half years.”

“So would I, but that was before I found out you’ve been lying to me all this time,” he rebutted harshly.  “And now, you insist on making your ex your new partner and running around with him all day and night.”

“Is that an accusation?  Because it sure sounded like one!” Lois snapped.  She didn’t give him a chance to respond before she continued.  “Dammit, Richard.  We potentially have the biggest story of the year by the tail here – bigger than Superman’s return!  But blowing it wide open means researching court documents, some of which are sealed, talking to witnesses, some of whom are bound by gag orders, as well as talking to the police, the M.E., the D.A., the warden at Stryker’s prison, along with the usual sources that have an ear to that element.  You don’t find that by running a Nexus search and calling it a day at five.  You have to be dedicated to the story, put in the extra hours, and pound the pavement.  That’s how I won those investigative reporting awards back in the day, and that’s what I’ll need to do if I’m ever going to win again.”

“You can’t just spend all night at the office on a whim,” Richard complained.  “There are other people’s needs to consider, too.”

“Needs?” Lois replied in disbelief.  “If you think you’re getting any tonight, you are sorely mistaken.”

“I wasn’t talking about that,” Richard snapped.  “I’m talking about Jason wondering why Mommy’s not home yet when I tucked him in, for one thing.  And what if I had to suddenly put in overtime or make an out of town trip?  Perry was strongly encouraging me to visit my folks in Chicago this weekend, you know.   He thought some time away would give us both some perspective.  Of course, it’s a bit hard to coordinate things like that when you don’t return my calls!”

“Well, you didn’t mention anything about a trip when we talked this afternoon, so don’t you blame that on me!” Lois countered.  “Besides, Lucy and your Aunt Alice have already volunteered countless times to help out if something like that ever came up.”

“Lois, I…” Richard began, before snapping him mouth shut.  He dropped his gaze and silently rubbed his brow.  After a moment, he calmly said, “Lois, I didn’t want to fight with you tonight.  I just want to talk and try to figure everything out between us.  It’s all kind of gotten turned upside down.”

Lois sighed and impatiently replied, “Do we really have to do that now?  It’s been a really long day and I’m exhausted.”

Richard said insistently, “Lois, we both have to be willing to try if we’re going to put these problems behind us.”

“Could you please skip the guilt trip?” Lois asked irritably.  “I can’t do this now.”  She then turned, marched past him and up the stairs up to the bedrooms.

He stared after her momentarily as she climbed the stairs before slowly following her.  Well, we’re really batting a thousand lately, he lamented.  Why is it so impossible to have a civil conversation with her these past few days?  He came to an abrupt stop at the foot of the stairs and looked pensively towards the upper floor for a moment, listening to Lois’ footsteps retreating down the hall and to the sound of Jason’s bedroom door opening as she checked on him.  Who am I kidding? he finally asked himself.  There’s no way I will be sleeping any time soon and with my luck, we’ll just end up starting another fight.

He reluctantly turned away from the stairs and returned to the living room to reclaim his seat on the couch.  After briefly considering the political show still playing on the television, he fished the remote out from under the pile of newspapers on the coffee table and began flipping channels.  There’s got to be something on that can distract me from this mess for a little while, he told himself.  Finally, he recognized the opening scene of Resident Evil: Apocalypse and set down the remote.   This looks like a possibility, he thought.  A couple of hours of zombies and popcorn might be just what I need right now.



Saturday, September 30, 2006 6:45AM EDT
Lois was sprawled across her bed sleeping alone in a deep and peaceful slumber that belied the recent unpleasant arguments with her fiancé.  She remained oblivious to imminent dawn as the first tendrils of the coming sunrise threatened to invade the darkness from across the horizon.  She only grudgingly bore witness to the dawn in the best of times, usually at the tail end of a long night.  As a rule, she stubbornly refused to spend her weekend mornings conscious, if it could be avoided, which was a tradition that few dared to disrupt.  However, this morning’s tranquility was rudely interrupted by the shrill ring tone from her vibrating cell phone on the night stand.

Lois blindly groped for the cell phone while the noise continued before finally finding the device, pulling it under the blankets with her and groggily answering, “Hello?”

“Good morning, Sunshine,” Clark replied melodiously.  After a beat, he added mirthfully, “I didn’t wake you did I?  It is almost dawn there.”

“Do you have a death wish, Smallville?” Lois growled at him.

“Lois, I know better than to risk life and limb by interrupting your beauty sleep without good reason,” Clark teased.  His tone turned serious and he grimly informed her, “Gertrude’s body was stolen from the morgue early this morning.  They snuck in around one o’clock but were surprised by one of the investigators who was shot dead.”

Lois sprang up into a seated position, immediately alert and she muttered, “Holy shit…  What have you got on it so far?”  While waiting for Clark’s reply, she turned on the light on the nightstand and immediately squinted against the sudden illumination.

“Well, it’s mostly off the record, but here’s what we have:  They were able to match fingerprints to a couple of the convicted felons we’ve recently become acquainted with – Brutus Martin and Grant Hunter…”

“…they raided the Fortress with Luthor…” Lois recalled.

“…and they’ve got them on surveillance video, too, though it’s a bit grainy and hard to tell who’s who,” Clark added.  “Also, the M.E. thinks that they found what’s left of Gertrude’s body in a dumpster in Suicide Slum, which was discovered an hour after the incident at the morgue.”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s left’ of her?” Lois demanded.

“The body was liberally soaked in some kind of accelerant and set ablaze in a dumpster behind the Pleasant Acres housing project,” Clark explained.  “By the time the fire was discovered and put out, her extremities had already been completely consumed in the blaze and the head and torso were also in pretty bad shape – there’s not much left.  Another hour and the body would have been completely cremated and nobody would be the wiser.”

“They were probably counting on emergency services’ delayed response time to that part of town, especially at that time of night.” Lois suggested.

“And that would normally be a safe assumption, but Superman noticed the fire and put it out before the evidence was completely lost.  The good news is that despite the damage to the body, the M.E. investigator is fairly certain that they’ll be able to identify it as Gertrude.”

“But there’s not much left for an autopsy.  Luthor wins another round,” Lois stated unhappily.

“Actually, he’s made a gross miscalculation – Gertrude was autopsied yesterday afternoon and his panicked reaction this morning will speed up the search warrant…”

“They autopsied her already?”

“They started the autopsy about the same time we were sitting down with Faulkner.  I guess the odd circumstances in this case were suspicious enough that the investigator ordered an autopsy almost immediately.  However, they still need to wait for toxicology to come back before they write up their final report.   By the way, that’s also why they’re so sure the body in the dumpster is Gertrude –it had already been autopsied.”

“How can they tell if it was practically incinerated?”

“There's enough left of the skeleton to identify post-mortem damage consistent with an autopsy – the top of the skull had been cut off, and the rib cage had been cut through at the perimeter of the chest cavity.  They still have to confirm the identification, though.  We might even get it today, now that they’re giving the case their highest priority.  They have skin in the game on this one – Luthor may be responsible for the deaths of two of their investigators in the last month.”

“So we’ve finally got him,” Lois said triumphantly.

“There’s still work to do,” Clark cautioned her.  “MPD’s already talked to Harold Junior this morning about his mother and he’s on his way in to look through a photo line-up.  If he can identify the suspects and tie them to Luthor, they’ll have probable cause for a search warrant.  In the meantime, police have cordoned off the mansion to preserve potential evidence.  I also have it from a reliable source that the case has attracted Superman’s attention, and he’ll probably show up during the search.  One of us also needs to be there to cover the story for the Planet.”

Lois read between the lines and caught his meaning:  Clark Kent couldn’t be on the scene while Superman was there, which meant that she’d have to cover for him.  “Fine.  I’ll be there in half an hour,” Lois told him grumpily.  “Should I expect to see my partner there at all?”

“Um, it’s hard to say,” Clark answered enigmatically.  “My usual sitter has a lot going on today, and Kara’s been clingy ever since we got back from our trip.  It’ll be hard enough sneaking out solo for my morning ‘appointment’.  That and we still have the transportation issue we discussed yesterday.”

“You’re going to have to do something about that and soon,” Lois said sternly.

“I know.  I’ll take care of it as soon as I can…  I’ve got to get going.  Please call me when they get there with the warrant.”

“I will.  Bye.”

Lois marched into the bathroom and turned on the shower.  It was only as she moved to shut the door that she finally noticed her now empty bed.  Richard never came up last night, she realized.  I didn’t think that he was that pissed off…  God, I really don’t need that drama right now.  She took one last look into the bedroom, then shut the door and began her shower.



Saturday, September 30, 2006 3:25PM EDT
Richard found himself in an uneasy mood once again as he drove over to his uncle’s house and reflected on his recent interactions with Lois.  After falling asleep on the couch the previous night watching the zombie movie, he had been rudely awoken by Lois at dawn and informed that she had to leave to cover a story.  After a short but heated argument, she had bolted out the door.  Lois up at dawn? Richard thought.  On a Saturday?  We’re usually lucky if we can roll her out of bed by ten o’clock on the weekends.  What on Earth is going on here?  Los stopped answering the phone after the third time he called complaining about her absence.  He had no idea when he’d hear from her, until she called fifteen minutes earlier and asked him to bring Jason over to Perry’s.

He finally arrived at his uncle’s house, pulled into the drive and parked behind his fiancée’s car.  After helping Jason out of his Lexus and letting him into the house, Richard was surprised to find Kara running up to them and coming to a sudden stop two feet in front of Jason.  He looked into the room behind her and saw Lois and Clark with his Aunt Alice, as they all rose from their seats.  What the hell is he doing here? Richard thought.

“Hi,” Kara said cheerfully to Jason.  “I’ve got some games in my backpack.  Do you want to play something?”

Kara’s invitation was ignored when Jason spotted Lois and ran past Kara into his mother’s arms.  “Mommy!” he greeted her.

“I missed you, too, munchkin,” Lois told him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug while Kara looked on with a stricken expression.  Lois noticed the little girl’s appearance, waved her over and told Jason, “I think your sister missed you, too.”  Kara came running over and Lois pulled her into the hug with Jason.  After a moment, she relaxed her hug, and told them, “Listen.  I’ve got to talk work with Perry.  Why don’t you two set up your games in the kitchen?”

“Come on, kids.  This way,” Alice instructed them and she guided them out of the room.

“Oh, this just keeps on getting better and better,” Richard said sarcastically.  “Now, what the hell is going on here?”

“Um, little pitchers with big ears?” Clark reminded him tentatively.  “There are certain words I’d rather the kids didn’t add to their vocabularies.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here today, Richard,” Perry interrupted, surprising the group when he walked into the room from the back hall.

“What’s going on here, Uncle Perry?” Richard asked insistently.

“Besides your bad timing?” Perry asked seriously.  “I need to talk to these two about the bombshell they’ve dug up and find out why I’ve got the Secretary of Homeland Security asking me to kill their story.  Frankly, I’m surprised to see you here.  I thought I made it perfectly clear that you were not to be involved in their assignments.”

“It’s okay, Perry,” Lois interrupted.  “I asked him to come.”

“Lois, you didn’t need to do that,” Perry insisted.  “If there’s a problem –”

“The only problem is that my credibility is apparently shot,” Lois interrupted sarcastically.  “Richard doesn’t think I really have a story here.  He thinks I’m just using that as an excuse to avoid being around him.  Maybe this briefing will enlighten him.”

Perry sighed in frustration.  He was silent for a beat and then asked brusquely, “What part of ‘leave the personal bullshit at home’ did you two not understand?”

“Perry, he needs to hear this,” Lois insisted.

“All right, but consider this a one-time only event,” he told them sternly.  “I do not want your personal arguments spilling over into the job again.  Understood?”

Richard and Lois both verbalized their assent, and Perry led his three journalists to his office in the back of the house, which was only slightly smaller than his office at the Planet.  The group took their seats, and Perry said gruffly, “All right.  What have you got?”

“Well, um, it looks like… like Luthor’s up to his old tricks,” Clark said hesitantly.  “And the deeper we dig, the more disturbing it gets…”  Clark then launched into a thorough summary of their investigation into Gertrude’s death and Luthor’s suspicious behavior, including the theft of Gertrude’s corpse and the make-shift cremation apparently attempted by Luthor’s hired help.

My God, Richard thought.  They really do have something big.  Maybe I’ve been letting my imagination get away from me…

Perry silently considered Clark’s tale for a moment and then commented gruffly, “Well, all that has the makings of a great city story.  Why is DHS crawling up my ass over it?”

“That part is strictly off the record,” Lois answered.  “We need everyone’s word that it doesn’t leave this room before we continue.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Richard assured them sincerely.  There’s more?  God, what else have they uncovered?

“All right, then.  It doesn’t leave the room,” Perry assured them gruffly.  “Now, what’s the rest of the story?”

“Well, in a nutshell, it looks like Luthor caused the EMP – using stolen Kryptonian technology,” Lois answered.

Oh, God, Richard thought.  Luthor with Kryptonian tech is like… like Attila the Hun with nukes.

“You’re not serious,” Perry said in disbelief.

“We’re as serious as a heart attack,” Lois told him.  “Superman told Bill Henderson that he had built a retreat of sorts in the arctic several years ago.  He’s calls it his Fortress of Solitude.”

“Actually, he grew it from a pre-programmed crystal,” Clark clarified.

“Well, while he was away, the place was burglarized and a set of crystals containing the Kryptonian database was taken,” Lois continued.  “A Canadian forensic team processed the scene and identified fingerprints belonging to Luthor, his mistress, and four of his convicted felon henchmen…  By the way, Superman’s not anxious to advertise the existence of his Fortress or the burglary.  If fact, he put strict confidentiality conditions on allowing the forensic search.  Fortunately, he included us on his approved list.…”

“Well, it’s a relief to hear that you haven’t completely pissed the man off,” Perry commented.

“Um, anyway, when they searched the Vanderworth mansion this morning, they found a twelve thousand cubic foot crystal mass protruding from the basement that resembled the crystal construction at the Fortress,” Clark quickly added.  “Luthor caused the EMP when he initiated that crystal growth.”

After a beat, Perry asked, “How sure are you that this caused the EMP?”

“Um, we’re absolutely positive,” Clark told him.

“After they found the crystal mass, they got another search warrant to allow Superman to scan it with his technology,” Lois continued.  “He’s turned over the raw data and his analysis results to Faulkner at Star Labs.”

“Among other things, he concluded that the aggressive electromagnetic dampening protocols usually incorporated in Kryptonian crystal growth had been intentionally disabled, presumably so that the extra energy could be used to feed the transformation,” Clark clarified.

“How could he tell?” Richard asked.

“His scan was able to decipher the original programming from the seed crystal buried deep inside the mass,” Clark explained.

The group was silent for a few minutes as Clark and Lois’ testimony sunk in.  Finally, Richard quietly asked, “This is the story that DHS wants killed?”

“They don’t want to tip their hand to Luthor and let him know that they’re on to him,” Lois explained.

“And neither do we,” Clark said emphatically.  “It, um, won’t be easy keeping him in the dark, though.  As soon as the lawyers get a hold of the autopsy report, he’ll… he’ll know that something’s up, and could very well run to ground.  He won’t be easy to find if that happens.”

“We want to keep him in the dark as long as possible,” Lois added.  “As long as he thinks he’ll be able to steal the Vanderworth fortune and that he’s literally gotten away with murder, there’s a chance that he’ll show up sooner or later.  It’s in his psychological profile – he’s the Lord of the Manor, far superior to us mere peasants, and he’ll need to show up to validate that superiority complex.”

“Fortunately, the Vanderworth’s are willing to work with MPD on this, and, um, delay filing new motions a week or so.  They won’t hold off indefinitely, however,” Clark added.  “And as soon as they file, Luthor’s lawyer automatically gets a copy, and Luthor gets tipped off.”

“So what’s next?” Perry asked.

“Well, the authorities need time to finish their investigations…” Clark started.

  “And the U.S. Attorney’s just started a corruption investigation into the hired help’s parole,” Lois continued.

“You found something fishy there?” Perry pressed.

“Luthor’s men should not have even been eligible for parole for several more years,” Lois explained.  “But not only did they get paroled, they all got released within two weeks of Luthor winning his appeal, and then went right to work for the madman.”

“They suspect bribery or blackmail…” Clark explained.

“…which is consistent with Luthor’s apparent M.O.,” Lois supplied.

“…and they’ll need time to look into their finances and trace it back to Luthor.” Clark clarified.

Jesus, how can one man corrupt so much of the system? Richard wondered.  The appellate court, the probate court, the parole board, and kidnapping an innocent child to force an investigator to forge a death certificate?  How far has this spread?

Perry leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply as he considered the information.  After remaining silent for a moment, he asked seriously, “What can we print without tipping off Luthor?”

“The incident at the morgue last night has already been picked up by the TV news stations…” Lois pointed out.

“…and we can tie that to Luthor in our story...” Clark added.

“…along with the suspicious circumstances of Gertrude’s death and the fight for the family fortune…” Lois told them.

“…but we’ll leave out the fact that the body was already autopsied…” Clark suggested.

“…and that they searched the house,” Lois supplemented.

“We could probably tie in the judgment against Luthor from that pyramid scheme in ninety-one and his mad land scheme in ninety-seven – there’s a pattern there.  That should be more than enough to put something good together by deadline,” Clark suggested.  “We’ll have to be careful how we write it up, so that Luthor won’t think that another shoe’s about to drop.”

“You’ll need to be quick about it so we can run it by legal in time for the morning edition.  I’ll call Frank at home to let him know it’s coming,” Perry stated authoritatively.  “I also want the full story written up and ready to go to press as soon as Luthor’s in custody…  Good work, you two.”

Perry was right, Richard realized.  They really are that good.  But what is their partnership going to do to my relationship with Lois, especially given their history?

Clark hesitated a moment, and awkwardly stated, “Um, Kara’s not going to want to leave Jason this soon.  She’s really been latching on tightly to her newly discovered relatives since I brought her home and she hasn’t stopped talking about her little brother since she found out about him.  I think we might have a fight on our hands if we try leave right now.”

“Both kids can stay here while you write it up,” Perry suggested.  “I doubt Alice will mind watching them.”

“Are you sure?  I wouldn’t want to impose,” Clark said tentatively.

“It’s a done deal,” Perry declared.

Lois turned to Clark and said quietly, “We’d better get going.”

“Lois, Clark, hold on a sec,” Richard interrupted.  “Guys, this stuff is incredible.  I had no idea.”

“Oh, um, thanks,” Clark stammered.

Richard turned to Clark and somberly told him, “Just to be clear – this doesn’t mean that I’m okay with your intrusion into my life, or that I like seeing  Lois spending so much time around you, or putting in all the extra hours she’s has on this.  But I’m also not so blind that I can’t see what you’ve got with this story, or what the Planet’s got with you two collaborating on it.  Fortunately, I don’t have to like it in order to be an adult about it.”

“The paper comes first,” Perry reminded them.  “Glad that finally sunk in.  Now, let them get to work so we can print this thing.”

[  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  ]     [  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  ]     [  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  ]     [  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  ]