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.

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Author’s Notes:
As always, my thanks to the beta team:  htbthomas and Shado Librarian, a.k.a. dandello.

Chapter 28 – Closing In

Sunday, October 1, 2006 4:30PM EDT
Lois leaned back in her chair at the kitchen table, sipping iced tea as she spied through the window at the kids sitting at the patio table behind the house.  The kids were still excited from the touch football game at the park and were retelling each other the highlights as they drank their juice.  Lois’ team had won, of course, but it had been remarkably close, and everyone had enjoyed the game.  It had also helped bring Kara out of her shell, and she had been as thoroughly immersed in the game as the others, though still keeping her actions within the norm for a child her age.

As Lois observed her now, Kara was chattering excitedly with the other kids.  A small smile spread across Lois’ face and she thought, Someone had fun today.  She needed that, after everything she’s been through.  Jason was also caught up in the post-game chatter, bouncing in his seat excitedly as he told his favorite parts.  He’d had a blast running and chasing the others around, and the other adults had even let him tag them a couple of times.  Everyone had fun today, Lois corrected herself.

Lois jumped slightly at the sound of her sister’s voice beside her.  “Glad you came?” Lucy asked cheerfully.  Lois rolled her eyes, and Lucy added, “It certainly looks like the kids had fun.”

“You think?” Lois asked sarcastically.  “Looks like Kara is fitting right in, too.”

“So what’s up with that?” Lucy prodded.

“What’s up with what?”

“Well, as attentive as you’ve been with Kara all afternoon, it was almost like she was yours,” Lucy pointed out.  “Lois, let’s face it.  You just don’t connect well with other people’s kids.  Yet, you seem to have bonded with Kara.”

“She’s special,” Lois answered simply.  She shifted her gaze out back out the windows at the children.  “And she’s my son’s sister.”

“That doesn’t make you her mother.”

“Well, I’m the closest thing she’s got to one,” Lois snapped.  She briefly locked eyes with Kara and didn’t notice her sister’s wide-eyed reaction to the words.  After a beat, Lois smiled at the little girl, broke away from her stare, and quietly told her sister, “Besides, Clark could use the help.”

Any response that Lucy may have considered was interrupted by Lois’ cell phone, which the reporter reluctantly fished from her purse on the counter.  After a quick check of the caller ID, she hit the ‘Talk’ button and said, “Clark?  Did they find the ship?  …Sneaky bastard….  Okay, you can fill me in when you get here…  We’re at Ron and Lucy’s…  No, they moved a few years ago.  They’re at 1978 Shuster now.  Do you need directions?  …Okay, then.  See you in a few.”  Lois pressed the ‘End’ button on her phone, and frowned at the display.

“Everything all right?” Lucy asked cautiously.

“Just everybody and their brother’s been trying to call me today, including Richard.  Twice.”



Clark had barely knocked on the door before it swung open and Lucy Troupe pulled him into a tight hug.  “Clark!” she greeted him.  She released him from the hug and said teasingly, “We’ve been hearing a lot about you lately.”

“Uh-oh,” Clark muttered.

“Relax, it’s not that bad,” Lucy assured him.  She guided him through the house as she continued, “Ron and the kids are out back, and Lois is in the kitchen listening to about ten million voicemails.  Sounds like some people noticed that story in the paper this morning.”

“Um, yeah.  I’ve been getting calls, too.”

Lucy stepped through the patio door to the back deck and announced, “Hey, everybody!  Look who’s here!”

“Clark!” Ron greeted enthusiastically, rushing over and offering the other man a firm handshake.  “Here, pull up a chair.”

“Oh, um, we can’t stay long,” Clark said reluctantly.

“But we’re still having fun!” Kara whined.

“Clark, we’ll have plenty of food if you want to stay for dinner,” Ron suggested.  “Besides, we’d all love to hear about your world travels.”

“Well, with things so, um, complicated right now…”

“Clark, you’re our friend,” Lucy said insistently.  “We’re not going to shun you just because Lois’ life is so complicated.  You’re staying for dinner.”

“Take it from me, it’s best not to argue with the Lane women once their minds are made up,” Ron said mirthfully.

Clark smirked and commented, “Actually, I think that it can be kind of fun.”

  “Then you’re a glutton for punishment, my friend,” Ron said with a chuckle.  “You are staying for dinner, right?”

“I, um, suppose we can stay,” Clark said pleasantly.  “I’ll need to, um, cancel our dinner plans first, and update Lois on the story…”

“Well, do what you need to do, and I’ll fire up the barbeque.”

After letting his mother know of their change in plans, Clark found Lois in the kitchen.  Once she spotted him, she held up her index finger, signaling him to wait.  A moment later, she ended the call and snapped her phone shut.  “So… no sign of the Gertrude?” she said.

“No.  In fact, it looks like he faked the AIS signal to hide his tracks,” Clark confirmed.  “They left Boston late Friday, purportedly in route to Palermo, Sicily, and the Port Authority tracked their signal east out of port.  However, they slowed to a stop fifty miles out, and drifted around that position until the signal was lost shortly before dawn Saturday morning.   When Superman searched for the ship, he found a deflated rubber raft on the ocean floor, with a transmitter tied down to it.  We assume it was sending the AIS signal, while Luthor snuck away.”

“It sounds like he’s run to ground, and before we printed a word about any of this,” Lois concluded.

“Maybe Superman’s return spooked him.  Whatever the case, he apparently doesn’t want to be found,” Clark added.  “Superman found something else on the ocean floor, suspiciously close to their presumed course.”  He paused and shifted his gaze through the kitchen window at the children and added, “We need to be mindful of young children’s hearing.”

Lois followed his gaze and added, “That bad?”

“No need to chance nightmares,” Clark replied.  He scanned the room, and pulled a paper pad and pen from a drawer, his hands moving in a blur as he wrote.  A moment later, he handed the note to Lois and she quickly read it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Superman found two bodies weighed down on the ocean floor, recently deceased.  The victims were an adult man and woman, both of them stripped, tied up in a heavy plastic tarp and anchored to the ocean floor by several eighty-pound bags of concrete.  X-Ray vision revealed broken hyoid bones in both victims, which leads us to believe that they were strangled or garroted.

Superman worked with Coast Guard and a forensic team to recover the bodies, which will be taken to the Boston M.E., although they’re not expected to begin work on them until tomorrow.  We’re also not expecting a quick ID on the bodies, either.  They might not even have been reported missing yet.  We’ll have to follow up with the Boston M.E. tomorrow or Tuesday.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“We’re assuming Luthor was behind this, right?” Lois asked.

“There’s nothing definitive to tie the murders to him, but he seems to be the most likely suspect,” Clark confirmed.

“There something about this…” Lois began.

“We’ve already established that he’s a monster,” Clark reminded her.

“I know, but it’s not that.  I just can’t shake the feeling that we’re missing something big staring us back in the face,” Lois explained.  She folded the note and stuffed it in her purse and added quietly, “I need to think this all through a bit more.”

“Maybe Henderson or Sawyer will notice something we’ve missed,” Clark suggested.  “They both know about this now and we can follow up with them tomorrow.  In the meantime, your sister is demanding that Kara and I stay for dinner, so we should probably join the others out on the deck and enjoy their company.”



Sunday, October 1, 2006 7:15PM EDT
As Lois drove home from her sister’s townhouse, she concluded that the afternoon had an unexpectedly cathartic effect on her.  The stress of recent days was gone and she felt reinvigorated.  The afternoon’s events had also been an undeniable delight for the children.  All five of them had clearly enjoyed the long visit, the last two and half hours of which had also included Clark’s delightful descriptions of tales from around the globe.  All of the children had been enraptured by the stories, skillfully told and animated by Clark’s exaggerated expressions.  The last of the stories had evolved into a game that had Clark and Ron chasing the children around the back yard.

They had lost track of time, but the setting sun had made the hour obvious and eventually everyone had to acknowledge that it was time to end the visit, much to the disappointment of the children, Kara especially.  Lois had managed to settle her down rather quickly, however, with assurances that the others were her family and that she’d be seeing a lot of them.  Kara had politely said her goodbyes and thank-you’s and left with Clark.

Jason had also protested their departure, but fortunately, there wasn’t much fight in him and his exhaustion was impossible to hide.  He’d fallen asleep almost as soon as they pulled out of the Troupes’ driveway.   By the looks of things, he was down for the night, and he’d have to be carried up to his room when they got home.  She’d have to manage it alone, given Richard’s impromptu trip to Chicago.

Lois recalled the two messages that he had left for her, both apparently missed while they were playing touch football in the park.  The first message had been somewhat restrained, wanting to know when they’d be home so they could make dinner plans.  The second, recorded forty-five minutes later, had tersely announced his plans to fly to Chicago that afternoon, returning late Monday or Tuesday.  Lois had felt oddly relieved at the news and was looking forward to the solitude, eventually pulling into the drive of their home with a contented smile on her face.



Monday, October 2, 2006 8:30AM EDT
Lois felt wonderfully refreshed and unusually content as she stepped onto the elevator from the parking deck.  She even caught herself humming along with the Muzak before she caught herself and forcefully focused her thoughts back on the Luthor story.  It seemed that there were a quite a number of threads just out of reach, and there were quite a number of unknowns that would require a lot of legwork to tie them all together.  Lois mentally compiled the list of hot items they’d need to jump on that morning and completed her transition to work mode.

A few moments later, she stepped off the elevator and marched to her desk, pausing only long enough to drop off her coat and purse and power up her laptop before circling back to the break room with her coffee mug.  She surprised Ron and Jimmy at the coffee pot, where they were whispering conspiratorially.  “Am I interrupting?” Lois asked suspiciously.

“Just discussing touch football strategy for our rematch,” Ron joked.

  “Good morning, Lois,” Jimmy greeted her.  “Everything okay?”

“Fine, considering the hour,” Lois answered neutrally.  “Is that sludge drinkable?”

“No more so than usual, but no worse either,” Ron informed her, retrieving the pot and offering to fill her mug.  Lois accepted the offer and held out her empty mug.  “Say when,” Ron advised her.

“That’s good,” Lois replied after a moment.  She took a sip of her coffee and mirthfully inquired, “So, I take it you’ve filled Jimmy in on your humiliating loss yesterday?”

“You got lucky and you had my son on your team,” Ron insisted pleasantly.  “He put you over the top.”

“He got lucky by ending up on my team,” Lois insisted cheerfully.  “Be prepared for even more humiliation next time…  Well, I got tons of work waiting for me.  Catch you boys later.”  She promptly turned on her heel, and marched back to her desk, leaving Ron and Jimmy staring after her as they followed her out into the bullpen.

As soon as Lois returned to her desk, she logged into her laptop and performed a new Nexus search on the weekend’s Boston crime stories.  She was more convinced than ever that Kowalski’s auto accident had been staged as a distraction, though the main event wasn’t readily apparent and she didn’t dare eliminate anything from her results list.  She had been deeply immersed in her research several minutes later when she looked up to discover Clark walking down the aisle to his desk.  She saved her results and quickly intercepted him at his desk.

“M-morning, Lois,” he greeted her cheerfully.  He set down his briefcase and laptop and turned his full attention to her.

“We need to figure out what Luthor was after in Boston,” Lois reminded him.

“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” he agreed.  “Considering that he hightailed it out of there Friday night, whatever it was probably happened that night.”

“Probably about the same time Kowalski crashed into that restaurant–” she began.

“Lane!  Kent!  My Office! Now!” Perry bellowed.

Lois sighed irritably and muttered, “I swear, lately Perry’s timing is getting even worse than Jimmy’s.”

Perry was lounging back in his office chair when Lois and Clark entered.  “Close the door,” Perry instructed them.  Once the door was shut and the reporters had settled into the guest chairs, Perry leaned forward attentively and informed them, “I have a few announcements from the suits upstairs.  First, from this point forward, legal needs to review any Luthor stories before we go to press.  Apparently, his lawyers have already faxed over a letter this morning to make their displeasure known.  They’re demanding both a retraction and that we identify the sources for the story.”

“That story’s solid,” Lois announced defiantly.  “We can’t–”


“Relax, Lois.  We’ll never capitulate,” Perry assured her.  “We just need to make sure everything is rock-solid before going to press, so you need to allow time for the legal review.  Second, the Planet’s filing motions with the court this morning requesting to unseal the documents in the Vanderworth case and to lift the gag order. ”

“We have a pretty good idea what’s in the legal record, but if the motion carries, it could help get Harold Junior on the record,” Lois commented.

“I thought as much,” Perry replied.  “Now, what’s this I’ve been hearing about Luthor in Boston?”

“Well, you remember hearing about that car crashing into a crowded Boston restaurant Friday night…” Lois began.  The two reporters then proceeded to summarize what they’d learned of the madman’s actions over the weekend, with Perry listening keenly to their description.

Once they had finished, Perry leaned back in his chair with a pensive expression on his face.  Finally, he turned back to them and said, “You realize that even as suspicious as it looks, there’s no way to tie those bodies from the Atlantic back to Luthor, especially not without an ID on the victims.”

“We know,” Lois admitted.

“They may have an artist’s sketch of the victims out tomorrow,” Clark offered.  “If that yields an ID, it should tell us what Luthor was after in Boston, and maybe tie the murders back to him.”

Perry was silent a moment, and then stated, “Well, sounds like we’ll need to wait on that,” Perry declared.  “What can you give me for a follow up to Sunday’s story?”

“What about Homeland Security’s concerns?” Clark asked cautiously.

“We won’t publish a word about the arctic burglary or the EMP tie-in, but from the sound of things, the man’s already run to ground,” Perry declared.  “I see no reason to sit on the murder story, but we won’t put everything out there at once, either.  We’ll carry it over several days.  So what have we got that we can print?”

“There’s a lot of action going on at once on the case, but it hasn’t yielded any fruit yet…” Lois started.

“…although we’ll probably have an indictment later today against Hunter and Martin for the morgue murders,” Clark reminded them.

“We should track down their parole officers,” Lois added.

“Make that the parole board,” Perry corrected.

“The M.E. should also have their results in today, but only the police and family get copies without a subpoena,” Clark commented.

“We may have a way around that,” Lois suggested.

“Let’s go with the indictment story for tomorrow morning,” Perry declared.  “And if you should see Superman, send him to talk to Harper and Evans.”

“What have they got?” Lois asked.

“Harper’s handing off Superman to Sue Evans for the ‘pool coverage’, and I want his reaction to Luthor,” Perry informed them.  “It’d be the perfect companion piece to Luthor’s cronies’ indictment.”

“If we see him, we’ll pass it on,” Lois promised.

“See to it,” Perry insisted, and he waved them off as he turned to his PC display.



Monday, October 2, 2006 11:30PM EDT
It had been a hectic and only partially productive morning chasing down leads on the Luthor story, when Lois received the unexpected call from Harold Vanderworth Junior, requesting a discrete meeting at an upscale downtown restaurant.  Clark had been nowhere to be found and wasn’t answering his calls, which left Lois rushing down there on her own.  It wasn’t until she approached the entrance of TJ’s Bistro that she noticed him fall in step beside her.  “You really need to do something about your cell coverage,” she grumbled.

“I’ll have that resolved soon,” he assured her.

They walked up to the maître d’ and Lois announced, “We’re here with the Mr. V. party.”

The slender older gentleman smiled and them and said, “Of course.  Right this way.”

He led them to an upstairs banquet room, which was empty except for a slender man in his early sixties sitting at one of the tables enjoying a glass of wine.  He waved them over and the maître d’ retreated from the room, closing the door behind him.

“Mister Vanderworth,” Lois greeted him warmly.

“Please, it’s Harold.  So wonderful to see you again, Lois,” Harold greeted her.  “I assume this is your partner?”

“Clark Kent,” Clark introduced himself, extending his hand, which Harold eagerly shook.

“Wonderful story yesterday,” Harold commented cheerfully.  “Absolutely wonderful.”

“No lawyer this time?” Lois began cautiously.

“He’ll be able to honestly say that he’s only aware of a single meeting with you, that he was present and that we strictly abided by the terms of the gag order,” Harold informed her.  “Let’s get something straight – I’m still constrained by the gag order.  If we’re to continue this conversation, I need your assurances that it stays off the record.  This is strictly background material, unless you can corroborate with someone who can go on the record.”

“You have our word,” Clark assured him.

“What can you tell us about Luthor?” Lois asked quietly.

“Here’s how it’s going to work,” Harold declared.  “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine.  I need to know what you’ve dug up as much as you need what I’ve got.”  He patted an envelope on the table and added, “If what you have to tell me is distracting enough, I might even forget to take this copy of the coroner’s report with me when I leave.  Now, you go first.  What have you got on Luthor that wasn’t in yesterday morning’s story?”

Lois stared longingly at the envelope for a moment before turning her gaze back to Clark.  He nodded, and then somberly told Harold, “He seems to be leaving a trail of death behind him.”

“That’s fairly obvious,” Harold replied.

“Well, in addition to your mother, we suspect that he’s behind the murder of… at least five other people in the last month,” Lois informed him.  “Three related to the M.E. investigation of your mother’s death – the victim from Saturday morning, and the missing investigator who did the original death certificate, along with her daughter.  He’s also the prime suspect behind two unidentified bodies fished out of the ocean near Boston yesterday.”

“He was in Boston?” Harold asked.

“You heard about that car that crashed into a crowded Boston restaurant Friday night, didn’t you?” Lois asked.  At Harold’s nod, Lois added, “Well, the driver was Luthor’s mistress, Katherine Kowalski.  When we checked with the Boston Port Authority, we discovered that the yacht arrived in port Wednesday and left late Friday.  And there was a transmitter tied down to a rubber raft broadcasting the ship’s AIS signal to hide his departure course.”

“He’s gone into hiding,” Harold concluded.

“Superman’s return may have spooked him,” Clark suggested.  “We’re also certain he has something bigger in mind than just swindling you out of your inheritance.”

“Similar to what he tried in ninety-seven?” Harold asked.

“Could be,” Lois confirmed.  “We really don’t know what he has in mind, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.  Your turn, now.  What have you got for us?”

“Luthor poisoned my mother, both in body and mind,” Harold said sadly.  “In addition to the arsenic that took her life, the medical examiner found a plethora of psychotropic drugs in her system.  It would explain the odd behavior we noticed in her shortly after Luthor moved in.  We thought it was Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia, but Luthor blocked our efforts to get her proper care.  Her behavior turned erratic.  She was paranoid and suspicious of everyone except him.  He took our mother from us long before he killed her.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Clark told him sincerely.

Harold nodded his acknowledgement and added, “We have medical experts reviewing the coroner’s report, and once their analysis is in, we’ll file a motion to throw out the new will and recover what he took from the estate.  There’s no way my mother could have been anything close to approaching sound mind when she died, even if she really signed that thing…  As for the body count – how likely is it that these murders you mentioned are going to stick?”

“It’s mostly circumstantial, though your mother’s case seems to be the most compelling,” Lois revealed.  “Of course, Luthor has a history of finding convenient scapegoats for his crimes.  It’ll be all that much harder with the high priced legal talent he has working for him.”

“Maybe I can do something about that,” Harold suggested.  “We’re planning to file a wrongful death suit against him, alleging that he conspired from the beginning to murder our mother for the money.  We’ll demand restitution of all the funds he took along with treble damages⁽¹⁾ and we’ll ask for a constructive trust on his accounts while the case is being argued.  He won’t have two cents to rub together.”

“People have tried to recover money from him in the past but without much luck,” Clark pointed out.  “He finds ways to hide his assets.”

“This is different than the class action suit from the early nineties,” Harold pointed out.  “They probably did a cost-benefit analysis, determined that it would cost more to pursue than they’d recover and thus they didn’t aggressively go after the accounts he was paying his bills from.  We don’t care about the cost – it’s the principle of the matter that counts.  This man took our mother from us, and we will not stand down.”

“Neither will we,” Lois assured him.  “We’re taking the bastard down.”

“Then I think we understand each other,” Harold declared seriously.  “Lunch is on me.  Let’s eat while we figure out how else we can help each other.”



(1)  Treble damages are defined as the tripling of damages allowed by state statute in certain types of cases, such as not making good on a bad check or intentionally refusing to pay rent.  Federal anti-trust violations also carry treble damage penalties.  (Definition from (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)).

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