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 the beta team of htbthomas and Shado Librarian, a.k.a. dandello.

Chapter 32 – Contingency Plan

Wednesday, October 4, 2006 1:30AM EDT
Lois pulled her Audi into an open parking spot in the Paradise Hotel’s parking structure and shifted the vehicle into park, afterwards closing her eyes and lowering her head to the steering wheel with an aggravated sigh.  From the seat next to her, Clark worriedly called her name, “Lois?”

“Things have really gotten complicated,” she complained quietly.  “I don’t suppose I have to tell you that Richard and I have been having problems.”

“I – I know,” he said unhappily.

Lois lifted her head and looked intently at her partner, somberly asking him, “Did you also know that he thinks we’re having an affair?”

“What?” Clark replied in horrified disbelief.  “Whatever gave him that idea?”

“Well, nothing’s clicked between us romantically since you got back, I’m spending most of my time with you, and some innocent little comments that Jason’s made have set off some alarm bells with him,” Lois explained.

“What kind of comments?”

“He was hoping that our dinner tonight would be ‘as good as Grandma Kent’s’, and when he told Richard about Sunday’s fun in the park, it slipped out that you had joined us at Ron and Lucy’s.  Needless to say, he didn’t find my explanations convincing.”

Clark was silent for a moment and then muttered, “Lois, I’m so sorry.  I never meant to disrupt your life like this…  It isn’t fair to either of them – Jason or Richard.”

“Life’s not fair, but I’m not blaming you,” Lois assured him.

“It’s not right to burden a little boy with these secrets, or to ask him to keep secrets from the only father he’s ever known,” Clark declared adamantly.  “It’s also not right to spirit away the son of a man who’s been his father in every way that counts.”

“Well, Jason’s still going to Smallville tomorrow,” Lois insisted.  “We’re just going to have to deal with the fallout afterwards…  It won’t be pretty – I still haven’t been able to come up with any explanation that’s likely to satisfy Richard.”

“Could he be trusted with the family secret?” Clark asked seriously.

“You don’t seriously want to tell him, do you?” Lois asked incredulously.

“Want to?  No, not really.  But if it’s the right thing to do – to do right by Richard and Jason…  Well, then maybe it’s what we have to do.  Could he be trusted?”

“I… I’m not sure that it would help,” Lois began pensively.  She paused momentarily and then quietly said, “Richard would never do anything to hurt Jason or me – I’m just not convinced that things would be any better if he knew.   It might just be one more thing to argue about or he might think he had to try to compete with you-know-who and do something incredibly stupid…  I really need to think things through a bit more before we consider doing anything that drastic.”

“It’s your call,” Clark said somberly.  “If you think he can be trusted and that it would help to tell him, then go ahead.”

“As if I don’t have enough on my mind right now,” Lois complained, shaking her head as she looked away from Clark.

The two journalists sat silently in the car for a few minutes before Clark informed her, “Um, we should probably head up to the suite.”

“Probably,” Lois agreed.  After a momentary pause, the partners exited the vehicle and walked across the parking deck to the elevators.



Richard lay awake staring at the ceiling as he rested on the king mattress in one of the hotel penthouse’s four bedrooms.  Perry had advised him to try to get some sleep while Lois and Clark were walking into Luthor’s trap, though Richard had found it impossible.  He had also found himself distracted with the disturbing developments in his personal life and doubted the wisdom behind his short visit to Chicago.  His rival seemed to have taken advantage of the opportunity to expand his encroachment into his life.  Richard also reflected that even though Perry had characterized the man as a prude, that was difficult to reconcile with the fact that he had fathered two children out of wedlock, with two different women.  Richard doubted that Clark would voluntarily observe any boundaries were Lois was concerned.
 
His insecurities were reinforced by Jason’s innocent comments earlier that evening.  Kent had obviously spent the afternoon with Lois and Jason on Sunday, and Richard suspected that they spent Monday evening together as well.  It was the only explanation for Jason’s reference to ‘Grandma Kent’.  Richard deduced that she must have flown in to meet her grandson, and Lois had happily obliged.  It also seemed a much more reasonable explanation for Clark’s mother to have looked up gluten-free recipes and cooked the lasagna dinner that for a stranger to have done so, even if she was Kara’s babysitter.  Even worse, it seemed that Lois and Clark now had Jason keeping secrets from him, too.
 
Richard was also unsettled by their rush out of the house after dinner to avoid a likely attack from the madman that Lois and Clark were provoking in their articles.  Such risks were precisely why he’d tried to steer her to safer content over the years.  The stories she’d produced with Clark had been spectacular, but no story was worth getting killed over.  From what he now knew about Lex Luthor, the madman would have no scruples over killing a couple pesky reporters and Richard feared that was precisely what he had planned.   Apparently, Perry feared the same thing and had quickly convinced Bruce Wayne to reserve the penthouse suite for them at the Metropolis Paradise Hotel.  Richard turned and checked the clock, noting that it had now been over an hour since Lois had called Perry to report in.  What’s taking them so long? he wondered.  What are they doing?
 
Richard thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices from the suite’s living room and he immediately rushed out to investigate.  He found Perry sitting down with Lois and Clark and quietly reminding them, “Try to keep your voices down – there are some people sleeping around here.”

Richard knew full well that he’d have to wait until Perry was finished before he’d have a chance to speak with Lois privately, and thus he silently claimed a seat in an armchair as Perry began his informal briefing.  “Well, I think it’s safe to say that we have Luthor’s full attention,” Perry declared somberly.  “Now, what’s your take on what happened tonight?”

“It was a professional hit or at least an attempted one – they got a shot off, but Superman intervened,” Lois informed him.  After a beat, she added, “The building was also wired to blow, but Superman stopped that, too.  His involvement is strictly off the record, by the way.  He doesn’t want to tip his hand yet…  As for Luthor, he called in from wherever he’s hiding.  He did his gloating Lord of the Manor thing, saying that Clark had to die because of the P.R. problem he’d caused.”

“He’s probably worried he’ll get indicted for Gertrude’s murder,” Richard speculated.

Clark shook his head and said seriously, “I, um, think that’s the least of his worries.  An indictment won’t matter much if… if the police can’t find him.  He’s demonstrated in the past that he can, um, live quite comfortably on the lam…”

“…and that subterranean hideout of his from ‘97 was practically a palace,” Lois added.  “Anyway, he’s probably more worried about the impact of the bad press on his probate case.  That’s twelve billion dollars at stake there, remember?”

“Our work has introduced more than a little reasonable doubt over Gertrude’s death and the validity of the new will,” Clark continued.  “He’s suffered some setbacks recently and he probably doesn’t want us making things worse…”

  “Wasn’t the hearing on the gag order tomorrow?” Perry asked.

“Actually, it’s today at ten,” Clark corrected.

“What hearing?” Richard asked uncertainly.

“The Planet filed a motion asking the court to drop the gag order,” Lois explained.  “Vanderworth filed a concurring motion, and Luthor objected.  Judge will decide at ten…  That could be a factor in the timing here – Luthor may suspect that the court will lift the gag order, and is trying to keep it effectively in place by intimidating – or eliminating – his enemies in the press.”

“That won’t help him with the coroner’s report, which seems pretty damning,” Perry speculated.  “He should have that by now, shouldn’t he?  Vanderworth had his copy Monday morning.”

“Harold Junior presented himself at the O.C.M.E. with proof of kinship, but Luthor hasn’t dared show his face since Superman returned,” Lois pointed out.  “His lawyer subpoenaed the report instead.  I don’t think he has it yet, or he’d have complained about more than just bad P.R. this evening.”

“He’s not likely to have seen it yet,” Clark concurred.  “The O.C.M.E. has ten business days to respond to the subpoena.  Our sources there tell us that they normally turn around subpoenas within two days, but in this case, the chief medical examiner has personally held it up to give authorities more time to bring in Luthor before the report scares him off.”

“They have skin in the game,” Lois explained.  “There’s little doubt that Luthor was behind the deaths of two of their investigators.”

“So you’re saying that the shit won’t really hit the fan for a couple more weeks?  This was just a warm-up?” Richard asked worriedly.

“Oh, um, it won’t take that long,” Clark informed him.  “The Vanderworths’ attorneys are sure to include a copy of the report as an exhibit on their motion to, um, throw out the new will, which could be filed at any time…”

“They see no reason to delay filing now – not since it looks like Luthor has already run to ground,” Lois explained.  “They’ll file their motion as soon as they get the report back from their expert witnesses…”

“…and they’re obligated to deliver a copy of the motion to opposing counsel,” Clark added.  “They’ll delay that as long as they possibly can under the state’s rules of civil procedures, but Luthor’s lawyers will still get it within three business days of the Vanderworths filing their motion with the court.  However, if the court grants them an emergency hearing, it’ll be less than that.  Their lawyers will deliver a copy of the motion to Forrester and Morrison at least a couple hours before the hearing.”

“Forrester and Morrison?” Richard inquired.

“The law firm representing Luthor,” Lois explained.

“Well, when Luthor sees that he’ll really become unhinged and lash out in vengeance instead of just swatting at a nuisance,” Perry opined.  “Maybe it’d be a good idea for you to take on an out-of-town assignment while this blows over.”

“No way, Perry,” Lois replied insistently.  “We need boots on the ground here to keep the pressure up.”

“Lois, it’s not worth getting killed over!” Richard objected emphatically.

“And we don’t plan on getting killed,” Lois retorted.  “But we’re also not backing down from this story.”

“We can still be cautious, though,” Clark interjected.  “We’ll stay out of sight for a few days – the kids, too.  The Fineman case demonstrates Luthor’s willingness to target an innocent child, and we don’t need to take any chances there.”

“We won’t,” Lois declared.

“How do you expect to keep Jason safe?” Richard demanded.  “Are you planning to keep him holed up here?

“No, we have something else in mind.  We’re… let’s talk about that later,” Lois suggested apprehensively.

“Let’s talk about it now,” Richard demanded.  “You’ve recklessly put Jason in jeopardy and I want to know how you plan to fix that.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to Jason,” Lois hissed.  “We’ve already made arrangements for him, but it gets a bit complicated.  We can’t explain everything right now,” Lois explained irritably.

“Why not?” Richard asked angrily.

“Because it’s not just about us,” Lois snapped.  “There are… people… helping us.  People who don’t want their involvement known or their secrets revealed – to do so could endanger other innocent lives.”

“’Endanger other innocent lives’?  Oh, don’t be so melodramatic… Your dad’s arranged it, hasn’t he?” Richard retorted.  “I would have thought I’d earned his trust by now.”

“Knock it off, both of you!” Perry barked.  He lowered his voice to a loud whisper and added, “You’re on my time right now and I don’t want to hear the personal bullshit!  I especially don’t want you waking up Alice or Jason.”

After a moment of awkward silence, Clark tentatively said, “Um, Chief?  You – you could be also be a target, after that editorial…”

“I know, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve faced a threat like this.  I’ve toughed it out before and I’ll tough it out this time,” Perry said sadly.  “At least now we have a publisher concerned enough to foot the bill for a place like this, and I suspect we’ll be safe here with the bodyguards Wayne hired outside the door…  I’ll still send my wife to visit relatives out West in the morning, just to be safe…  Now, is there anything else I need to know about this mess?”

“Just one thing,” Clark answered nervously.  “Luthor’s, um, done his homework on us…  Well, he certainly did his homework on me, at least.  He – he mentioned something about me ‘moving back to the farm’, which he shouldn’t have known about.”

“You told everyone you were traveling the world,” Richard muttered suspiciously.

“I, um, wasn’t in one spot long enough to – to justify sending my mail there,” Clark stammered.  “It all went to my mom’s farm in Smallville.  That – that’s been my official mailing address.”

“He probably pulled your credit reports,” Perry speculated.

“He probably did a lot more than that – I’ll bet he’s run thorough background checks on all of us,” Lois interjected.  “He’s a bit anal that way.”

“That was in the psych profile.  He plans things out in excruciating detail, researching every possible angle on whatever it is,” Clark added.  “In this case, it may mean that he’s figured out where our safe havens are - family, friends, and other associates.  None of us will necessarily be safe in such places.”

“Duly noted,” Perry replied seriously.  “Now that that’s settled… Tonight’s attempted hit is still breaking news.  The morning edition may already be running on the presses, but I need the story written up so we can at least post it to the web site before another outfit scoops us on it.

“We’ll have it for you in an hour – half that if a certain farm boy will stop complaining about being the story,” Lois replied confidently.

“Lois, we need to talk privately first,” Richard said insistently.

“It’ll have to wait,” Lois answered impatiently.  “Duty calls.”

“That’s an awfully convenient excuse,” Richard retorted.

“Richard, drop it!” Perry barked.  “Let them get the story in.  You lovebirds can bicker later.”  He turned to Clark and said, “As for you… Lois is right – this time you are the story.  You can’t share the byline under these circumstances, but I still need you to work with Lois to get the story in.  Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Clark replied meekly.

“I’ll get my laptop,” Lois added as she strolled over to the bedroom next to Richard’s and slipped through the door.

“And don’t forget Frank’s legal guidelines for the Luthor stories,” Perry called after her.  He afterwards returned his attention to his nephew, telling him authoritatively, “Richard, I don’t want you hovering over them while they work.  Give them some space.”

Richard hesitated a moment before reluctantly returning to his bedroom and closing the door behind him as Lois reemerged from the bedroom next to his.



Wednesday, October 4, 2006 8:00AM EDT
Superman floated just above Metropolis’ clouds and found himself extraordinarily uneasy as he observed Lois’ car below and reflected on the decisions made the night before.  After they had finished the story, they had debated Smallville’s security and what to tell Richard.  It had taken them until well after three o’clock in the morning to agree on bringing Richard to Smallville through the portal, but to explain it as a favor from Superman rather than revealing the family secret.  Lois was now driving a circuitous route to the Daily Planet, with an irritated Richard in the passenger seat and Jason seated behind them.  Superman lifted his cell phone to his ear and quietly said, “Left on Madison, three hundred feet.  You’re clear right after the Randazzo food service truck.” 

As he watched below, Lois made a sudden left onto Madison, the latest in a series of abrupt turns designed to identify and lose anyone following them.  The sudden turn prompted Richard to angrily declare, “Luthor won’t get the chance to kill us if you keep driving like this!”

“How else do you expect me to lose a tail?” Lois snapped.  She softened her tone as she spoke into her cell phone headset and asked, “Clark?  Do you see anything from the chopper?  Are we clear?”

“Still clear.  Watch for the cop up ahead turning towards you off of Thirteenth Avenue,” Superman answered.

“What?  Oh, right.  I see him.”  Lois slowed her speed just as a police cruiser turned onto Madison and headed towards her from the opposite direction.  Once the cruiser was past her and out of sight, she made an abrupt right turn and sped down an alley, prompting Richard to tighten his grip on the handle above the door.

“Jesus, Lois, will you slow down!” Richard complained.

“Stop complaining!  We’re almost there,” Lois chastised him.

“I’d like to get there in one piece!”

“We will, unless you keep making cracks like that,” Lois retorted.

Richard held his tongue and a few hair-raising turns later, Lois was racing down the ramp of the Planet’s underground garage before she finally slowed to twice the posted speed at the first turn.  “We’re here, Lois – you can slow down now,” Richard pointed out insistently.

“I did slow down.”

  “You’re still going too fast…  Hold it, there’s a good spot right there,” Richard told her, pointing to a pair of open spots along the wall next to the elevator alcove.

“Wrong level,” Lois declared and she continued to speed the car into the lower decks of the underground garage.  She finally pulled her car into a space on the very bottom deck, about fifty feet from the elevator.

“That was so cool!  Can we do it again?” Jason said enthusiastically.

“Not right now, Munchkin,” Lois replied happily.   She then muttered just loud enough for Richard to hear, “Glad one of males around here has some guts.”  The comment prompted a scowl from Richard as he exited the car.  He moved around to the rear of the vehicle and pulled out their luggage while Lois helped Jason out of his seat.

“So where’s this ‘alternate transportation’ you said would be waiting for us?” Richard asked testily.

“You’ll see,” Lois answered enigmatically.  “Please take the bags over to the stairwell.”  Richard rolled his eyes, but complied, carrying the bags into the elevator alcove.

Lois caught up to him and leaned against the door to the stairs, looking at him intently as she demanded, “Before we go any further, I need your word that you keep what I’m about to show you to yourself.  It’s more than off the record – you take this to the grave.”

“Lois, I already gave you my word, now what’s going on here?” Richard complained.

“You’ll see,” Lois replied simply.  She leaned back against the horizontal door release and pushed the door open, gesturing for Richard and Jason to join her.  “Come, on, and bring the bags in here.”

“Lois,” Richard began impatiently.

“Just do it, Richard.  Please,” Lois snapped.  Richard and Jason squeezed past her with the bags, setting them at the bottom of the stairs as she closed the door behind them.  She then walked around them, placed her hand on the opposite wall and said, “Open Sesame.” 

Richard eyes flew wide as the concrete floor dematerialized to reveal a crystal staircase beneath them and he quietly muttered, “Holy sh–crap…  Lois, what is this?”

“I’ll explain at the bottom.  Now, everyone down the stairs, Pronto!” Lois commanded.  She grabbed one of the bags and guided Jason down the stairs ahead of her.

Richard followed behind her with the remaining bags, and as he reached the bottom step, the changing shadows prompted him to look up and he witnessed the concrete floor rematerialize above them.  A razor thin sheet of blue light then passed from one wall to the other, and a male voice declared, “Intruder Alert!”  Richard immediately found himself surrounded by a cocoon of white light.  He was unable to move a muscle – not even his vocal chords to complain about the situation.

“Override.  Identify visitor as Richard White,” he heard Lois inform the voice.

“Visitor recognized,” the voice replied, and Richard found himself released from the cocoon, stumbling with the bags once his motor control returned.

“What the hell was that?” Richard demanded angrily.

“Final security checkpoint,” Lois explained.  “Your DNA wasn’t recognized.   It is now, so next time you shouldn’t have any trouble.”

“Next time?  Lois, what’s going on here?”

Lois gestured around and said dramatically, “This is a Kryptonian transportation portal.”

“Kryptonian?  I thought Superman flew everywhere,” Richard asked skeptically.

“That’s his preference, but when he discovered the burglary at the Fortress, he realized that Luthor had found a way to track him in flight,” Lois explained.  “He doesn’t necessarily want Luthor to know everywhere he goes, so his solution was to build a Kryptonian transportation network.  He grew a series of underground transportation tubes – a mile and half underground.  They stretch from his fortress in the Arctic, down along the East coast, across the continent to California and then back up to the Arctic.  Along that loop there are a number of branches up to hidden portals on the surface, like this one, that allow for covert travel.”

“And he’s letting us use it?  Why?” Richard asked doubtfully.

“Well, the big secret is that Clark and I have been collaborating with him on the Luthor story from the beginning,” Lois informed him.  She waved her hand over a pattern on the far wall, opening the doors to the transportation chamber.  “Let’s get the bags in the turbolift,” she suggested.

“Turbolift?” Richard asked skeptically.  He set the bags in the chamber and gave her a dubious look.

“That’s what I call it,” Lois replied.  “Anyway, Superman has a vested interest in seeing Luthor go down – the man not only robbed him, he nearly killed him some years back.  And Clark and I have made more progress on the Luthor case in the last several days than the authorities have in the last several months.”

“So you’re saying he owes you one?”

“I’m saying he wants us to succeed, which would be hard to do if we’re running for our lives,” Lois retorted.  “We knew that Luthor was likely to lash out once the pressure was on and that we’d need a safe place to hide out when that happened.”

“Thanks so much for the advance warning,” Richard replied sarcastically.

“We thought we’d have more time!” Lois said insistently.  “We didn’t think he’d lose it until he saw the coroner’s report!  Well, Superman volunteered to provide us with untraceable transportation to the safe house.”  Lois then sat on the bench along the chamber’s wall and smiled enigmatically up at Richard.

“Where’s this safe house?” Richard pressed, sitting down opposite her.

Lois looked up towards the ceiling of the chamber and said loudly, “Smallville, please.”

Jor-El responded, “We will reach the destination in five minutes, fifty seconds.”

“Smallville?” Richard asked in disbelief.  “As in Clark’s home town in Kansas?  What about Luthor possibly knowing about our safe havens?”

“Apparently, Clark convinced Superman that in a small town like Smallville, where everyone knows everyone else, a stranger sticks out like a sore thumb,” Lois informed him.  “His mother’s place is also hard to find.  Even if they found it, if Superman had Kryptonian technology deployed to protect the farmhouse, the bad guys would be stopped cold…  Well, Superman added a portal in Smallville late Monday afternoon and extended the sensors and security to protect the house and barn.”

“Lois, you’re not seriously telling me that we’re moving in with Clark’s mom, are you?” Richard asked incredulously.

Lois smiled mischievously and said saccharinely, “Oh, of course not…  We’ll be staying with her fiancé down the road.”  Her tone turned stern and she added, “Remember, not a word of any of this to anyone, understand?”

“How many times are you going to ask me to give you my word on this?” Richard asked irritably.  “I already promised I wouldn’t say anything, which means I won’t say anything!”

Lois remained silent for a moment, and then her tone turned serious as she told him, “Superman has granted us unrestricted access to use the transportation network between the portals in Metropolis, Smallville and San Jose, California.  All other stops are off limits.  He won’t even tell us where they are.”

“What’s in San Jose?” Richard asked curiously.

“He wouldn’t say, but if, God forbid, we have to flee Smallville, that’s where we’d go,” Lois said simply.  After a momentary pause, she continued, “There’s not enough room at the Kent Farm for everyone, so we’re staying with Ben Hubbard, Martha’s fiancé.  He lives about a half mile down the road.  However, Jason is staying with the rest of the Kents–”

“What?” Richard shouted angrily.

“He’s safer there!” Lois explained.  “The house and barn are protected by a force field from the portal and monitored twenty-four seven by the A.I.  Ben’s place isn’t that far and we can still be at Martha’s place with Jason when he wakes up and when he goes to bed.”

“Mommy?” Jason asked apprehensively.

“It’s okay, kiddo,” Lois assured him.  “We’ll be at Grandma’s farm soon and you’ll have all kinds of fun.”  She pulled him into a brief hug, before turning to look over at Richard.

Richard squeezed his eyes closed for a moment, and then testily said, “Fine.  Anything else?”

“We’ll also be sending Jason and Kara to school in Smallville, for the time being,” Lois informed him.  “As for work…  Well, they have county-wide WiMax there, so no problem with broadband access into the Planet.  However, cell coverage is another story – the place is something of a cellular dead zone.  You’d need some classified modifications for your phone to work there.  Just leave it with Martha when we get there, and someone will stop by to get it.  They’ll probably have the modifications done by lunch-time.”

After a moment of silence, Richard admitted quietly, “This is a lot to take in.”

“Tell me about it,” Lois agreed.

Further comment was interrupted when the door of the chamber opened to another crystal staircase and Jor-El declared, “We have arrived at the Smallville Portal.”

“Well, here we are,” Lois said casually.  “Welcome to Smallville.”

[  (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)  ]