Just One Bad Day Away...

[wallflower23]

Wow! I never really thought about it like that before. Really, really good chapter! You have to continue real soon! Okay!

[4EVACHLARK]

WOW!!!!!!

[hanemg]

CHAPTER 7

Clark came through the window of his apartment at super speed and slowed as he passed his couch, but remained floating several inches off the floor as he headed for the bathroom. He was uniformly covered with soot from head to foot and his mother had taught him enough as a child to not track dirt into the house.

Entering the bathroom he pulled off his uniform and tossed it into the hamper before entering the shower. Under normal circumstances Clark could take a shower in a matter of seconds, but tonight he slowed to human speed or perhaps somewhat slower and simply allowed the water to wash over him as he stood with his head bowed and one arm braced against the wall for balance.

Twenty minutes later he stepped out of the shower and toweled off. Putting on his robe he entered the living room and crossed over to a desk with a computer and sat down. People who visited Clark’s apartment were few and far between, but the ones who did always remarked about how clean and tidy everything was. Clark always thanked them politely, but would remark to himself that cleanliness was easy when one was seldom home. Between his two “jobs” he did little including sleep at his apartment. He mainly used it as a place to keep his belongings and to write the story of any of his activities that were newsworthy.

Booting up his computer he began to do exactly that. Writing the story about the fire and "quoting" Superman in a few places as well as the few speculations that the firemen had voiced to him and not pointed out to be kept confidential.

When he was finished he transmitted the story to the Planet’s server for the night editor to review for the morning edition and then went to bed. It might only be three hours sleep, but for one of the few times in his life Clark felt he needed every minute of it. At least Perry would be happy to get the inside scoop on the fire and maybe the rest of the morning could be tranquil as well and allow Clark at least a few hours to focus on just one job.

**********

"What the Hell is this Kent?"

Clark’s head raised up from where he was pouring coffee and he turned around to face the speaker.

"And a good morning to you too, Lois," he said as he extended the second cup of coffee in his hands made to her preferences.

He had picked up the sudden elevation of her heart rate a few minutes ago and knew that whatever was going on the coffee would be a necessary step in keeping peace in the newsroom. He tried with varying amounts of success most days to ignore or rationally explain why he was attuned to the sound of her heartbeat. He had found that ignoring the issue usually worked better than attempting to explain what had become increasingly unexplainable over the last couple of years.

Lois drew up short as she took the coffee almost automatically and then suddenly shook her head as she started to bring it to her mouth for a drink.

"Don’t try to change the subject, Smallville. I thought I warned you years ago about stepping on my turf."

"And I have remained suitably fearful and reverent since that date, Lois."

"Obviously not fearful or reverent enough. You stepped all over my byline about the fire over on Lincoln."

"Your byline?" Clark asked "I, uh, didn’t see you there last night, Lois."

"Yeah, and I didn’t see you either so how did you manage to pull this off?" she said gesturing with the morning edition in her hand. "And with quotes? Don’t tell me you played the Good Ol’ Boy trick again, Smallville or I may have to deck you."

Clark cursed himself for his carelessness in missing her last night, but he’d been in such a hurry to get home he’d forgotten to even look around for the press.

"No, I showed up just as Superman got there so I guess my attention was more on him than the crowd. Probably yours too, which is why we missed each other. You know I would have ran in the other direction back to bed if I’d known the Planet already had someone there."

Clark flashed a brilliant smile at Lois with a look of what he hoped to be suitable contriteness and backed by all of the Kent charm he could muster hoping to distract her from thinking too closely about whether or not she was that distracted by the Man of Steel.

"Spare me the wattage, Smallville. You get a free pass, THIS time, but only because Perry thought I had enough for a sidebar piece to yours AND if you’ll answer a few questions for me."

"Questions, Lois?" Clark asked not having to fake the nervousness in his voice.

Clark and Lois had become friends and even occasionally partners over the past few years, but Clark still had not stopped having that slightly nervous feeling whenever in her presence. It worsened when her thinking took light speed turns and Clark realized he had met one of the few people in the world that could possibly stay a few steps ahead of him.

For her part, Lois tried to ignore the feeling she had whenever they worked closely together and came into physical contact. As she grabbed his arm to pull him toward the conference room she was again reminded of how solid he was despite the way he acted at times and the realization was quickly followed by thoughts about what he had hidden under those clothes. Lois, the victim of numerous federal disasters, usually tried desperately not to consider her sometimes partner in that light and generally succeeded, but not always.

The problem, she told herself, was that she knew she made him nervous and it gave her a perverse pleasure at times to do things that increased that nervousness. She didn’t set out to do it, and God knew the thought of being a tease mortified her, but there was something about that calm, mild mannered demeanor that cried out to be messed with.

Mentally shaking herself back into reality she continued pulling him toward the conference room and didn’t turn loose until they were inside with the door closed.

"What questions?" Clark asked again suspiciously as he tried to sit nonchalantly on the edge of the conference room table.

"Exactly how well do you know Superman, Kent? And don’t try that 'aw shucks, country boy' routine with me, it lost it’s believability about five seconds after you turned in your first big story."

"Well," Clark said having to swallow a couple of times to counteract the dryness in this mouth and throat, "I guess I know him about as well as anyone does. I mean he tends to keep everyone at a distance so I know him about as well as he allows me to."

"I’m the babbler of this partnership, Kent. Don’t forget my rule about treading on my turf. Now how 'well' does he 'allow' you to know him?"

"Hold it, what do you mean partnership?" Clark said overcoming his mounting anxiety. "I thought you said the last time you and I were partnered that it was 'Ok, but let’s not make a habit of it.'"

"I also said that I’d decide when it happened again and so I am. I’m offering to let you in on the ground floor, farm boy. You don’t want in, that’s fine. You just answer my questions and go on about your business."

"What questions?"

Lois dropped her head in exasperation.

"You do that just to irritate me don’t you?"

"Sorry," Clark said sounding apologetic, but trying to hide his smile before she looked up "I wasn’t thinking there for a moment."

"Then let’s take it from the top," Lois said looking up and pinning him with her stare. "How well do you know Superman?"

"Well, like I said I know a little about him, enough to speak to him and have a conversation, but it’s all superficial. I don’t know anything you probably don’t."

"But you’ve known him longer."

"Well, yeah, but its not like we sat down and had any heart to hearts. It’s always been pretty much the way it is now."

"So, nothing you’ve been keeping off the record for an old high school friend?"

"High school friend? Lois, you make it sound like we shared a locker and ate fudge rounds in the cafeteria together. I think a kid in tights with a cape would have been noticed at Smallville High."

"You know what I mean, Smallville. Have you been keeping anything back from public consumption?"

"Well, Lois, if I was then it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to share it with Metropolis’ number one investigative reporter now would it?"

He said it so earnestly that Lois felt a smile start to form on her lips before she caught herself.

"You’re good, Kent, but flattery won’t even get you to first base let alone knock my concentration out of the ballpark."

Lois’ inadvertent turn of phrase occurred to her even as she said it and she felt her cheeks flush. Seeing a weakness form in his opponent’s armor, Clark quickly moved to exploit it.

"Well, first base with Lois Lane might knock anyone’s concentration out of the park," he said flashing his most charming smile and getting up from the table so as to move closer into her personal space, but not appear threatening. He wanted to distract her and make her a bit angry, but not invite sexual harassment charges.

Lois stepped back blushing even more furiously, but caught onto Clark’s trick immediately. Clark was not a forward person where sex was concerned. Enough women around the Planet had tried over the years with little success. Some had even speculated that he was gay, but Lois knew different. Not because of anything he had said or done with her, but from every little fidget or clumsy maneuver that he exhibited when she was close. That and well, something else, she just wasn’t sure how to describe it. He definitely felt an attraction for her, but would never follow through on it for whatever reason.

No, he was hiding something and whatever that something was Clark Kent, the original Mr. Lone Wolf, was willing to play this kind of game to hide it. But, that was ok. Lois Lane was her father’s daughter and so she didn’t mind competition and she rarely lost at any game. Pulling herself up short she met Clark’s gaze, arched an eyebrow and stepped forward to within inches of him.

"If first base could do that then you should see the seventh inning stretch," she said.

She almost laughed when she saw the fear flicker in his eyes as they widened almost imperceptibly and he took an involuntary step backward bumping into the table and almost losing his balance.

"Now," she continued, "are you through with little game or were you hoping for some early batting practice?"

Lois moved another step closer and continued to hold his gaze. That was when she saw it. Hunger. The other "something" she had considered earlier, but couldn’t place a word to. It was only there for an instant, but it was unmistakable. A deep longing that didn’t make her feel the least bit threatened, but a bit excited. The look that replaced it disappeared even more quickly, but was equally as obvious. Sadness. A wall seemed to close over Clark’s face at that point and the calm, mild mannered look that she now knew to be a façade, returned.

Whatever kept Clark from getting close to anyone probably caused him as much pain or more than actually what he risked by getting close, Lois thought to herself. But, then again she didn’t live in his skin so that was probably easy for her to say.

Their gazes remained locked for several seconds without anyone saying a word until Clark broke the connection and moved to put distance between the two of them and kept his face averted.

"Seriously, Lois, I doubt I know anything more than you do about Superman."

"I'm sorry," she said surprising herself as well as him with the statement.

"What? No, don’t be silly. We were just kidding around. I’m sorry I joked like that. It wasn’t appropriate. You just wanted to know some information. But, you said it was for a story and hinted you might need my help so why don’t you fill me in."

Lois listened to Clark babble and watched as he composed himself and was again able to maintain eye contact. Her apology hadn’t been for the joking around, but for the pain she had seen in him. She knew, however, that now was not the time to bring that up so she smiled and sat down at the table and he sat in a seat across from her.

"A friend of mine brought to my attention the amount of psychological stress that emergency workers function under. Superman’s the ultimate emergency worker and the question was raised about how he handles it. I just wanted to see if you had any insight."

Clark seemed taken aback for a moment and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I...I guess I never really thought about it. He deals with it because he has to. Losing it isn’t an option for a Superman."

"Come on, Clark. If it were that simple then emergency workers wouldn’t have the problems they do. I researched it. Higher incidents of suicide, burnout and stress related health problems. Don’t tell me that Superman is invulnerable psychologically too."

"Of course not, Lois. But I don’t hardly think he’s a candidate for therapy either."

"I never said he was, Clark. Why are you getting defensive? I just want to know how he deals with it."

"This just sounds like a touchy-feely piece, Lois. Not your style at all, so why are you interested?"

Lois fought the urge to raise an eyebrow at the query. Clark wasn’t denying his defensiveness and was trying to change the subject again, just with different tactics.

"It’s not touchy-feely if it affects a million emergency service workers and it sure isn’t if it involves the mental health of a man who can destroy mountain ranges."

"You think there’s something wrong with his mental health?!" Clark asked incredulously.

"No, no, Clark. I really don’t. But I am concerned. Not just because of a story, but personally as well. How does he handle the things that he sees or has to deal with? It has to take its toll."

"It probably isn’t as serious as you think, Lois. I mean sure he sees some pretty bad things, but he sees a lot of good stuff too. He probably just balances it out somehow in his head. Really, I just think you’re worrying about something that isn’t even an issue."

"Maybe," Lois said backing away from the conversation. Clark was acting strangely, even more than usual and didn’t appear to be looking at this matter too objectively.

At that moment the conference room door opened and Jimmy Olsen stuck his head in.

"Hey, guys, you gotta come see what’s on TV. The police just served the warrant on Maxwell at City Hall, but he took his secretary hostage and there’s now a stand off."

Robert Maxwell had been Lois and Clark’s last big story together. Maxwell was the deputy mayor and had been implicated in a kickback scandal involving city contracts. The entire matter had blown up in his face when the press box at the new municipal stadium had collapsed during a game severely injuring all of its occupants. Superman had arrived almost immediately, which prevented there being any fatalities and he had later reported to investigators seeing signs of severe metal fatigue and instability in the concrete throughout the stadium.

His report had been born out by the findings of the investigation and Perry had assigned Lois and Clark to work on the story as a team to focus on both the contractor and the money trail back to City Hall. The trail had eventually led to Maxwell and their investigation had provided the authorities with the evidence needed to proceed with an arrest.

Forgetting for the moment her questions regarding Clark’s behavior Lois bolted from her chair and ran out into the bullpen where the TV was reporting the current hostage situation.

"Clark, tell Perry I’m heading over..." Lois said turning toward her erstwhile partner only to find him not at her side as expected.

She turned full circle trying to locate him, but was unsuccessful.

"Jimmy," she asked her younger colleague "where did Clark go?"

"Huh?" Jimmy said looking at her and then turning to scan the room. "I thought he was right here."

"Damn him." Lois muttered and then turned toward the elevator calling over her shoulder "Jimmy tell Perry I’m heading over to City Hall."

"You’d better hurry, it’s almost over," Jimmy said pointing to the TV.

"What?" Lois asked as she stopped in mid stride and turned to look up at the TV where Jimmy was pointing.

Superman had arrived on the scene.

TBC...

[dawho2]

Damn, I enjoy reading this.

[Snowflake]

Great chapter!
Please post more soon!

[Mayan]

This is great stuff... keep it coming

[wallflower23]

This story is so cool! I mean it is really, really good!
Can't wait till you post more!

[Snowflake]

Come on please post more!

[PIckle Lily]

this is so good. post more soon please

[wallflower23]

Originally posted by dawho2
Damn, I enjoy reading this.

I couldn't say it better.

[hanemg]

CHAPTER 8

The police officer moved the barricade aside and waved through an unmarked car followed by the Special Crimes Unit van. The car pulled to a stop at the curb and the van pulled to the side. As the back of the van open and a squad of armored police officers jumped out a tall woman with short hair and body armor matching those of the other officers got out of the car.

Maggie Sawyer was having a bad day. She had forgotten to take her blood pressure medicine this morning, had been late for work due to traffic and was a month behind on staff evaluations. Now on a day she had set aside just for paperwork some idiot decided to stage a crime serious enough to call out the Special Crimes Unit. Correction, not just some idiot, but the deputy mayor, himself, who was currently holding his secretary hostage.

“What’s the matter, Bill” Sawyer said approaching a middle-aged man in a gray trench coat and matching hat from behind, “can’t you even serve an arrest warrant without letting things go to hell in a hand basket?”

“Har-dee-har-har, Sawyer,” Inspector Henderson replied turning to the SCU commander. “Who the hell knew the twerp even had a gun let alone the stones to use it?”

“You mean no one checked to see if he had one registered?” she asked amazed.

“He doesn’t show up as ever registering one so I’m assuming it’s illegal unless he snagged it from someone else in there. God knows every idiot in City Hall that qualified for a concealed weapons permit got one the day after they were hired. That’s why it stuck out that he didn’t have one registered.”

Sawyer shook her head and looked around the scene.

“News people got here awfully fast,” she commented.

“That one was our fault,” Henderson said. “They arrived to set up for some kind of press conference just as we were going in to serve the warrant. Renee Guest from channel 6 recognized me and had her guy start filming before we got in the front door. We think that’s what tipped off Maxwell because he had the gun out and already had the secretary when he got to his office.”

“Wonderful,” Maggie grumbled her gaze zeroing in for a moment on the blonde with the channel 6 microphone talking into a camera.

“We know who the secretary is?” she asked looking back at Bill.

“Jennifer Bowers,” Henderson said looking at his notepad “single, 26 years old, she’s worked for Maxwell for the past year.”

“Hostage negotiator here yet?” Sawyer asked.

“Just got here. The tech boys are splicing into the office lines now so the media can’t listen in. If Maxwell will answer he should be on the phone in just a couple of minutes. You got a fall back plan yet?”

“Simmons is deploying the men now. Snipers are heading for the adjacent roofs, but the rest are just for show. We dropped Turpin and a team a couple of blocks back. They’re heading for the sub-basement through the sewer system. They’ll set up inside near Maxwell’s office and await deployment orders there.”

“A squad’s going in and you didn’t want to join them?”

“I’m the new media darling,” Maggie said with a scowl. “If I wasn’t in plain view of the cameras everyone would know something is up.”

Henderson laughed and turned back to watch the building looking for any sign of movement from Maxwell’s window.

“Any sign of the big guy yet?” Maggie asked after a moment glancing briefly up at the sky.

“Not yet, but it should be any time now, what with all of the media on the scene. But, hell, he could be somewhere in space stopping an asteroid or fighting a flood in China for all I know. His beat’s a pretty big one.”

“Well, we shouldn’t get too used to him anyway,” Sawyer replied. “We don’t need to get soft.”

“’Soft’,” Henderson said, “is not a term I think you ever need worry that someone will apply to you.”

Maggie barked a laugh as she headed toward the hostage negotiator with Bill at her side.

“Now, you’re just gonna make me blush,” she said.

************

Across the street away from the police cordon a tall man with a patch over one eye stood slightly apart from the crowd looking up toward the Deputy Mayor’s window. His face wore a sour scowl and he shook his head slightly as he took a cell phone from his pocket. He flipped the phone open and pressed the “send” button without even bothering to dial a number.

“Yes?” came a voice from the other end.

“He’s barricaded himself in his office and has his secretary hostage.”

“Damn!” the voice grunted. “What’s the police situation like?”

“They have the place locked down tight and the SCU just arrived. Standard deployment, but I’d bet the SCU has another team working to get inside for a more direct assault.”

“Any sign of ‘outside’ interference?”

“No sign of him yet,” the man replied knowing exactly to whom the other was referring, “but, I doubt that’ll be the case for much longer.”

“Can you neutralize Maxwell?”

“Certainly, but not without attracting a lot of attention while I’m doing it. And if the ‘interference’ arrives while I’m in the middle of it I might have some trouble getting away even with my ‘insurance’. It’s probably best to let the police solve our problem for us.”

“And what if they don’t take care of it? We can’t afford to have him taken alive.”

“I have an independent contractor that can take him out after he’s in custody if it comes to that.”

“Independent contractor?” hissed the voice. “Can’t you do it yourself? I thought you were supposed to be the best?”

“Mind your tongue. You might be paying me money for my services, but never make the mistake of thinking that I work for you. The contractor’s expendable and doesn’t know anything about your organization. I don’t fit either of those categories. But, if you don’t think I’m the best perhaps I need to provide you with a personal demonstration.”

“No, no,” the voice said quickly, “I didn’t mean anything by that. I just don’t want anything to go wrong. You were hired because you’re the best. I just want the job done right.”

“Then trust that you’ve spent your money wisely and let me do what I was hired to do. If I need to act directly then I will, but until then I have other avenues I can pursue.” After a brief pause the man continued, “Just remember, I don’t like to be second guessed.”

“Yes, of course,” the voice on the telephone said. “As I said, you’re the best. I trust you’ll take care of matters.”

“Exactly,” the man said.

Before he could add anything else though a heightened mummer and pointing from the crowd drew his attention skyward.

“Uh oh, gotta go. ‘Interference’ has just arrived,” he said as he ended the phone call.

**********

Clark had left the conference room on Lois’ heels, but had turned toward in the direction of the stairwell rather than the TV. After ascertaining that no one was looking in his direction his pace increased and he became a blur of motion. His departure into the stairwell was so quick that the opening and closing of the stairwell door was as a single, brief sound barely distinguishable from the normal background noise of the building.

Once in the stairwell he never touched a step, but became an airborne blur changing clothes as he ascended toward the roof door and out into the sky above.

As he approached City Hall Superman replayed the conversation with Lois in his mind. Was he bothered by some of the things he encountered on the job? Sure it could be pretty gruesome at times, but most of his activities involved preventing things from getting to that point.

He shook his head. Lois was just overreacting. He’d been doing this stuff since he was thirteen. If it were going to get to him it would have done so a long time before now. He didn’t feel any different than he always had except possibly just some wiriness from the weight of continued experience. Surely he would notice it if he started feeling “stressed.”

He laughed to himself as he spotted Bill Henderson and Maggie Sawyer and dipped down toward the police command post. At least that is if he felt anymore “stressed” than was normal for a man living two lives, working to meet deadlines, fighting criminal AND dealing with Lois Lane.

**********

Robert Maxwell was in a panic. He had been tipped off several days ago that his connection to the whole stadium fiasco was being investigated and when he had turned on the TV to watch Renee Guest’s commentary on the impending news conference about the proposed citywide budget cuts he knew the jig was up.

Maxwell had passed Guest earlier setting up for her newscast just outside of City Hall. When he saw her interrupt her cameraman to have him follow a couple of policemen and a grim faced Inspector Henderson as they passed behind her he was startled. When he saw them turn down a particular hallway after entering the building he knew they could only have one destination.

Before he had even realized what he was considering he had grabbed his gun from his briefcase and headed toward the outer office where his secretary Jennifer sat. He reached it just as the door opened and Henderson stepped through. Maxwell grabbed Jennifer and put the gun to her head before Henderson could even say a word. The two officers trailing him quickly pulled theirs and within seconds all were engaged in a standoff.

“Maxwell,” Henderson had said holding his hands up palms outward, “you don’t want to do this. It’ll only make matters worse. Put down the gun. No one’s going to hurt you.”

“Damn right! At least not as long as I’ve got Jennifer here, now back off. I want you out of the building. If I don’t see you out on the front lawn in 3 minutes I’m going to blow her head off!”

“Ok, Ok, we’re going. But you know it isn’t going to be that easy.”

“Whatever, just back the hell off!”

Henderson and the other officers had left and Maxwell pulled Jennifer into his office to watch out the window as the situation rapidly grew out of his control and the crowd outside had grown.. He knew his options were becoming limited because this was Metropolis and no hostage situation lasted long here and the clock was ticking. With the arrival of the SCU the lump in his chest grew and he knew his chances were dimming even more.

The descent of Superman from the sky a few moments later didn’t improve his anxiety.

TBC…

[PIckle Lily]

oooh suspense. post soon pleeeeease!

[wallflower23]

Yippee! An update! This is really good. Can't wait till ya post more.

[hanemg]

CHAPTER 9

“Keep that freak away from me!” Maxwell screamed out the window pressing the gun even tighter to the head of his hostage.

“Freak?” Maggie said turning to Henderson.

“Think that would justify constituting it as a hate crime if he fires on Supes?” Henderson asked.

“Probably not. We’d better just go for the usual Reckless Endangerment charges if he does that.”

“You charge everybody that shoots at me with Reckless Endangerment?” Superman asked as he approached the two.

“Hell, yes,” Maggie said. “We charge them with Jaywalking if we can. Bastards usually have a hundred different attorneys waiting for us by the time we reach the station house. We hit them with enough charges then something has to stick.”

“Besides,” Henderson added, “when some idiot starts bouncing bullets all over the place he needs to be held accountable for the danger he places everybody else in. We just charge them for every crime they commit and let the D.A. decide what’ll he’ll use and what he won’t.”

“In Maxwell’s case,” Henderson added with a grin, “in addition to what he was originally being charged with he’s already added Resisting Arrest, Terroristic Threatening, Possession of an Illegal Firearm, and False Imprisonment. He tangles with you and we’ll at least get Reckless Endangerment and Discharging a Firearm Within the City Limits. All of it in full view of the news crews who are capturing it all for posterity if not material evidence.”

Superman shook his head and offered a slight smile before continuing with the business at hand.

“What’s the situation?”

“Pretty much what you see.” Henderson replied. “Maxwell has one hostage, his secretary, and as far as we know only one handgun. He’s threatened the hostage and ordered the police out of the building, but so far hasn’t made any other demands.”

“But, well see in a second,” he added nodding toward the hostage negotiator who had apparently made contact with Maxwell as he now had a phone to his ear.

“We don’t believe he’s really thought this through,” Maggie said. “It seems like the whole thing was more spur of the moment when he got surprised with Henderson showing up with a warrant. “

“You’d think after living in this town as long as he has he’d know better than this,” Henderson said turning his gaze back to the window where Maxwell had been a few moments before.

“I’ll never understand what makes anyone do something like this,” Superman said shaking his head as he too looked up toward the window.

“You know what they say, Superman,” Henderson said. “We’re all just one bad day away from becoming our own worst nightmare.”

Superman looked at Henderson briefly seeming to contemplate the statement, but quickly returned his gaze back to the window without comment.

“Do you see anything?” Maggie asked.

“Like you said, only one handgun and he has it to the poor girl’s head. We’ll need to coordinate a plan to make this end as easily as possible.”

“Can’t you just grab the gun at super speed?” Maggie asked.

“No,” Superman replied “too dangerous. If I moved too slow it would give him an opportunity to shoot and if I moved too fast to be seen I would probably rip his arm off grabbing the gun.”

Maggie continued to look at Superman without speaking.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m not seeing the downside of the plan yet,” she said.

Superman’s eyed widened slightly as he realized he couldn’t tell if she was joking or not, but was interrupted by Henderson’s hand on his arm before he could ask.

“Don’t mind her, Superman, she skipped Due Process at the Academy in favor of extra credit riot control classes. Come on, it looks like the negotiator has him on the phone. We’ll see if talking things out is an option.”

“Humphhh, it’s like people think riots take care of themselves,” Maggie muttered to herself.

Henderson rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored her as he approached the hostage negotiator with Superman at his side. The negotiator was hanging up the phone as they approached.

“What happened?” Henderson asked.

“He’s loosing it,” the negotiator said. “He won’t talk until Superman gets out of here.”

“He has to know that it doesn’t matter whether Superman is here or not, he’s not walking away from this,” Maggie said.

“I don’t think it matters at this point,” the negotiator said. “He’s panicked and becoming irrational.”

“I agree,” Superman said staring up at the Deputy Mayor’s office window. “His pulse and blood pressure are elevated and his voice is becoming high pitched with hysteria. He could lose control at any moment.”

“So what do we do?” Henderson asked.

“Maggie,” Superman said still staring up at the widow, “tell your men to stand down. They’re about to hear a single gunshot and then it should be over.”

Maggie stared at Superman for a second and then quickly grabbed her radio and then began broadcasting the stand down order.

For his part Superman continued to stare intently at Maxwell watching his every movement. His finger was tensing and untensing on the trigger of the gun as was his hand on the grip as stiffness began to set in. When his grip loosened briefly on the gun and he straightened his finger Superman fired a short burst of heat vision at the sprinkler head above him.

As the sprinkler went off Maxwell moved the gun away from his hostage’s head as he cast a startled glance at the ceiling and Superman then fired a second burst of heat vision at Maxwell’s trigger finger. The sudden sting in his finger caused it to involuntarily convulse and contract on the trigger and the gun discharged into the ceiling. As the gun’s slide moved to eject the shell Superman fired a third and more powerful burst of heat vision. This burst flash welded the slide in the open position preventing it from moving back into place and chambering another round.

Before the police could react to these developments Superman disappeared from the crowd and reappeared at Maxwell’s side and grabbed his gun arm holding it aloft. The entire sequence of events had taken two seconds from the time Superman had told Maggie to issue the stand down order till he had Maxwell by the arm.

Maxwell stared in shock at the man beside him who held his arm in an unbreakable grip. When he finally found his voice though it was Superman’s turn to be surprised.

“I wasn’t in on the stadium thing alone. I was just following orders. If I can make a deal and you promise to protect me I’ll name names. I’ll give you InterGang.”

**********

When Lois exited the Daily Planet building she had already made up her mind that City Hall was a dead issue. Things happened with lightning speed in Metropolis and with Superman on the scene the matter would be settled and Maxwell on his way to booking before she even made it to the building. Besides she noted glumly, Clark Kent already had the jump on her. But, she reminded herself, she was Lois Lane and the Maxwell story had originally been half hers. While Clark may have the jump in speed, Lois knew how the system worked and had the jump in deviousness.

Henderson would know what a media circus there would be wherever booking took place and would take steps to avoid it entirely. Traffic would undoubtedly be blocked off when they left City Hall with his prisoner so he couldn’t be followed and he would avoid all of the logical places with high security because that would be where the media would be lined up waiting for him. No, he would choose an out of the way precinct not noted for being suited to deal with high profile cases, but one where the natural architecture and location could work toward limiting access and providing security. He would know that it would soon get out where Maxwell was being held, but at least booking could be completed with relatively little hassle and perhaps some interrogation as well. Or so he could hope she thought with a grin to herself because she knew exactly where he could go that would meet all of those criteria.

The desk sergeant raised his head when she walked through the front doors of the 102nd precinct and broke into a grin. Lois was puzzled until she saw him hold his hand out to another officer who had a glum look on his face as he placed a $20 bill in the sergeant’s hand.

“Hey, Murphy,” Lois called as she approached the sergeant, “don’t tell me I’m getting predictable.”

“Only for your unpredictability, Laney,” Murphy said as he pocketed the money.

“They here yet?”

“On their way. Henderson’s not going to be real happy that you’re here you know.”

“Since when is Henderson ever happy?” Lois said with a grin.

“Actually,” Murphy said, “I’ve seen him happy plenty of times. Just none that I can recall when you’re around.”

“Every Irishman thinks he’s a comedian,” Lois replied as she rolled her eyes.

“How’d you figure out he was coming here anyway?” Murphy asked.

“Because you cops *are* predictable,” Lois said with a smirk.

“Irishman and girl reporters apparently share the same delusion,” Murphy said with a grimace.

“Girl?” Lois said her eyebrows raised and all trace of humor vanishing from her voice.

“Hey, it’s a felony to strike an officer of the law,” Murphy said holding his hands up and moving back from the desk slightly. “I just thought you should know.”

“I don’t see nothing,” the other officer said as he spun around to continue sorting through some mail and Murphy cast a sour glance at his back.

“With the number of witnesses apparently dwindling my criminal record might still remain secure should I take exception to the phrase ‘girl reporter’, Murph.”

“Point taken, Laney,” Murphy said laughing and returning to his paperwork.

Lois dropped down on a bench located beside the entrance to wait. A teenager that had been sitting there already turned to her with a large smile on his face. He was dressed in a silk jogging suit and had several gold chains around his neck and a large diamond pinky ring on his right hand.

“Hey, babe,” he said as Lois sat down.

She turned to him and stared. Her face was blank of expression and she never said a word.

The boy’s smile faltered somewhat and died completely after several seconds of silence before he finally turned away blushing scarlet with embarrassment.

Lois continued staring at him for a couple of seconds before turning away and leaning back with her arms crossed and her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles.

At his desk Murphy laughed even harder to himself.

“Hey, babe,” he said echoing the youth and shaking his head as he laughed.

The kid turned even redder and sank down further in his chair.

Lois closed her eyes and settled back to wait patiently for Henderson’s arrival.

TBC...

[PIckle Lily]

This just gets better. i'm really loving this.