Almost Friends (Chapter Two)

Clark watched on tenterhooks as Perry read, making humming noises. "What do you think?"

Perry hummed again, then put the pages down. "It's missing something."

"Well, I got all I could from the witnesses and the police." At least all that Clark Kent could get. Superman, however, got an earful from Maggie Sawyer. Nothing he could print, considering...

"You talked to the police?"

"Not directly." Again, as Clark. "They told all the press the same thing. The one perp is being questioned."

"That's another thing that bugs me," Perry said. "See... Superman managed to catch only one of the felons. You make it sound like Superman failed."

"Well, the other two did get away." His mind went back to Sawyer. The man they caught wasn't talking, but he did contact a lawyer that Sawyer said was a "sleaze with ties to Bruno 'Ugly' Mannheim." Mannheim, from what Sawyer said, was nearly synonymous with Intergang these days.

"I don't care if all of them got away," Perry said, marking up Clark's papers. "Nobody was severely injured and they didn't get what they wanted. The people need heroes nowadays, not strike-outs. I mean, come on... Superman is... Superman. Poor guy's been a little off or... absent lately, but he's still getting the job done. Focus on that when you write about him. We need words like heroic rescue and... majestic save or... I don't know. Why don't you take a cue from Lane? There's a girl who knows how to write about Superman."

And there went his record of five minutes without thinking about Lois...

"I don't know, Perry. All this hero stuff... I don't exactly have the knack for writing it." And it made him extremely uncomfortable. It was one thing quoting witness statements that said things like that, but to say them himself... and about himself. It seemed like the worst kind of self-stroking.

"No, you don't. Not if Superman showed up and buzzed around for a while is anything to go by." He leaned back in his chair. "I should probably leave most of the Superman stuff to Lane from now on. Don't suppose you've heard from her lately," he said, all too casually.

"I told you. She hasn't called me." There. Honest.

Perry frowned. "Fine. I'll dress this up a little myself since you have such a big thing against Superman."

"I really don't have a problem with him." Except for when he lets two thirds of the villains get away. Clark had a problem with that. "But something's bugging me."

"What's that?" Perry asked absently, marking Clark's copy.

"This is the second time the First National's been hit in four days. First Saturday, and now..."

"Interesting observation." Perry looked up, then shook his head. "But it is the biggest bank in Metropolis. Through the years, if some idiots want to rob one, it's usually prime choice.

"But the guy..." he stopped himself. That wasn't something Clark Kent was supposed to know. "Yeah. You're probably right." But the idea of an Intergang connection did make things seem less coincidental.

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

"I'm... meteor infected?" She was considering hyperventilating.

"No. You were meteor infected."

"Linda, I read The Torch. People don't just stop being meteor infected."

"Well, they do if they have friends with ice castles... Oh, God! Head between the knees!"

Lois felt Linda's hands rubbing her back as she obeyed, having moved beyond considering hyperventilating to smack in the middle of doing it.

"Listen, whatever traces were in your system are gone. Clark said there was some kind of hoodoo with crystals. I actually don't remember all the details as I was too relieved to follow up and still too mad to listen to Clark. Lois... you aren't a meteor freak. Come on. Nice, slow breaths."

Lois tried, though her throat burned as the constricted breaths wheezed out of her.

"I only told you this so you'd understand what happened. You're fine. Perfectly healthy." She felt Linda's hand in her hair as her breathing slowed. "Come on. You know I wouldn't lie to you about this."

No. She wouldn't, but... Ex meteor freak. Ex dead girl... thrice. It was a lot to take in. Lois sat up slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out."

"Oh, I was expecting it," Linda said, still stroking her hair. "Why do you think I kept putting off telling you this bit. But you need to know this. Not just because I want you to, but because... There are a few things connected to this that... Well... that I can't tell you. Not that I can't, but... Well, I might not get it right. I came into this pretty late, really. Absolute last to know everything," she sighed. "As usual. I don't have all the details, much as I hate to admit it. Someone else does."

"A Clark-shaped person?" Lois asked softly.

"Pretty much," Linda answered reluctantly. "But that doesn't matter right now." She turned Lois to face her. "You need to know that... what you did for me... that's the kind of person you were. The kind of person you still are, at least in my eyes."

She took another shaky breath. It made sense now, the way Linda was always so invested in her well-being. "I don't think you should consider owing me." She swiped at her wet cheeks. "From what I heard, you're that kind of person, too."

"Well... I did get us out of a few scrapes, but nobody signed my death certificate. So you kind of win." She nudged Lois. "A lot of cousins would use that for the rest of my life to make me their slave."

Lois gave a watery laugh.

"You pretty much never brought it up, not even after I married the rich guy. You could have wheedled me out of so much free crap. It says a lot about you that you didn't."

She smiled, still sniffling. "Do I get a gold star now?"

Linda pulled her in, kissing the top of her head. "You get all the gold stars."


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