Adult-FanFiction.org : Television / Streaming

Broken	By : MidnightBard Category: G through L > Lois & Clark Views: 2191 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I neither own, nor make, anything. See full disclaimer.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Clark stepped off the elevator as the doors slid open, admitting him entrance into the bullpen. He checked his watch again. Somehow, he'd made it into work on time. His eyes swept the newsroom as he made his way to the ramp and down into the heart of the paper. Lois was there, already arguing with someone on the other end of her phone line. He smiled as she verbally muscled her way into speaking with the person she was trying to get on the line.
                That's my Lois, he thought to himself.
                It made him smile, despite the rough start to his day. He'd been with Bill for more than an hour, going over his story, submitting an official statement. It had been incredibly awkward for Clark, rehashing everything he had just told Lois for the first time the night before. But Bill had been patient and understanding. And, Clark had to admit, it had been helpful that Bill was in on his secret. It had made trying to explain things much easier.
                He reached his desk and took his coat off, then settled into his computer chair. With the push of a button he booted his machine up, trying to push away the thought of Henderson's questioning. It wouldn't be easy, he knew. If anything, it might prove impossible, since he and Lois would be working this morning on their articles detailing both the prison riot Superman had put a stop to and Alex's arrest. Lois smiled at him as she listened intently on to the person on the other end of the line. Clark mustered up a smile for her in return, then turned his attention to his computer screen while Lois went into full Mad Dog Lane mode into the mouthpiece of the receiver. While Lois focused on her work, Clark got down to business on the prison riot story.
                It was an easy enough story to write. He'd gotten the official statement on the event from Henderson while he'd been down at the station, which hadn't held back much in terms of the details he already knew, having been in the thick of it himself. And, whenever he wanted to give greater detail to the story, he framed it in terms of quotes given directly from the Man of Steel, knowing that the world already accepted the close friendship between Superman, Lois Lane, and Clark Kent.
                "Hi," Lois said, coming up alongside his desk and almost making him jump. He'd been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized she was off the phone and walking toward him.
                "Hi," he said, looking up at her from where he sat. "I just finished the prison piece."
                "Great," Lois said, pulling up an empty chair from nearby and glancing at the computer screen. "How'd it go with Henderson?"
                "Rougher than I'd expected it to be," he replied honestly. "I wound up having to answer a lot of questions and leaving an official statement." He raked his sweaty hand through his hair, his nervous habit for as long as he could remember.
                "I'm sorry," she said, giving his shoulder a squeeze.
                "I guess...part of me expected it," Clark said after a moment. "I just thought...I don't know. That maybe, somehow, it would be easier than telling you. I mean, I'd already sort of...practiced, I guess you could say, by telling you. And, let's face it, your reaction was the only one that matters to me, which made me beyond terrified to come clean with you. So, it should have been easier, telling Bill. But, it wasn't. It was almost like exposing my life to some random stranger. I haven't felt that awkward in a long time."
                Lois responded by kissing his brow tenderly. "You did good, Clark."
                "I guess."
                "So, what else did Henderson have to say?"
                "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. After I gave my statement, Bill and I talked a little."
                "And...?" Lois prompted him.
                "Lois! Clark! Staff meeting. Conference room. Pronto!" came the booming voice of Perry White. He pointed to the room in question, as though they could have possibly forgotten where it was.
                "Be right there, Chief," Lois called over her shoulder. Then, to Clark, "We'll talk later, okay?"
                Clark nodded and stood, following Lois' lead to the conference room. He supposed Perry really did have reason to call them out like that. Everyone else was already in the room, looking expectantly at them as he and Lois took their seats. Perry, as usual, stood at the head of the long table, a pencil tucked behind one ear and a pad of paper clutched in his hand.
                "Good of you to join us," he said pointedly, setting his pad down.
                "Sorry, Chief," Clark said, heat rising in his cheeks at the muffled snickering in the room.
                Perry nodded and made a gruff sound of acknowledgement. "Okay, folks. I'd rather this be a short meeting, if it's all the same to you. The less time we spend in here, the more time we have out there, chasing stories." He looked around at the attentive faces staring back at him. "Good. Nelson, where are we on the car theft ring?"
                "I'm all set to go in tonight. Video. Audio. You name it. Rumor is something big is going to happen. I'll be there all night."
                "Good," Perry said, nodding. "Jimmy? Those photos from the drug bust?"
                "Should be back from the lab in thirty or forty minutes, Chief."
                "Gossip column?"
                Cat Grant looked up from filing her nails. Clark wondered idly how she accomplished anything with those claws of hers. Even tying her shoelaces had to be difficult. There were still some things about Earth women that he couldn't quite understand, no matter how hard he tried. He was silently grateful Lois wasn't like that. There were still parts of her that were a complete mystery to him, but he'd gotten pretty good about understanding her and the things she did.
                "It's been slow," Cat admitted. "I'm looking into the rumors regarding Lex Luthor and his wife. Seems like they might be splitting up. Of course, nothing's been confirmed yet, so no one is saying much."
                "Keep on it," Perry said unhappily.
                "Like glue," the woman promised.
                "Alright. Dixon, where are we on the school bus fire?"
                "I'm meeting with driver at three," Dixon said. "And a witness at four. We'll be the first paper to have an interview with the driver."
                "Good," Perry said, cracking a small smile. "Nice work."
                "Thank you, sir."
                "Okay," Perry said, nodding to himself and consulting his pad. "There was a prison riot last night..."
                "We're on it, Chief," Clark put in before Perry could finish his thought.
                "You're on it?" Perry repeated, blinking.
                Clark nodded. "Superman gave Lois and me the information late last night. We were just about to proofread it, right before the meeting."
                "Oh, well, good work there, you two."
                "Thanks, Perry," Lois said sweetly.
                "One more thing," their boss said. "Word is that the police and Superman found that Alex Harwood character. I don't see anything on my desk about it though."
                Clark nodded. "Yeah, Superman told us about that too. We'll write it up right after this. You'll have it by lunch."
                "Good man," Perry said approvingly. "Now, I want you two on this one, you hear me? Once this trial starts, I want you both covering every second of it."
                "I...uh...I can't do that, Chief," Clark stammered, instantly regretting that he'd spoken up.
                Perry's eyes narrowed. "Of course you can. And you will."
                "No, I really can't."
                "Why the hell not?" Perry asked, his voice as disbelieving as if someone told him they'd just seen the real Elvis handing out ice cream in the mall. "I know you knew Alex personally, but you've been completely professional in all the other articles you've worked on during the search."
                "I realize that, Perry, but there's more to it this time."
                "Lois, you need to talk some sense into your partner about arguing with his boss," Perry said, though Clark could tell that he was at least somewhat joking.
                "I'm afraid I'm with Clark on this one," she said, casting her eyes to Clark, who sat just to her right.
                "Aw, what is this? A revolt?"
                Clark cleared his throat. "Normally, I'd talk to you about this alone, Chief," he said, glancing around at the rest of his coworkers. "But, well, I guess you're all going to find out sooner or later. I can't cover the trial, because I'm testifying in it."
                "You're...what?" Perry asked, trying to process what Clark had just said.
                "You are?" Lois asked in the same moment, her eyes widening in shock.
                All around them, the rest of the Planet staff exchanged muttered words to one another. Clark chose to ignore them, and, instead, addressed Lois.
                "I'll explain, I promise."
                "What do you mean, you're testifying?" Perry repeated. "You mean, because you knew him personally?"
                "A little better than I wanted to know him, believe me. He uh...started his spree twelve, almost thirteen, years ago while I was living with his family." Clark took a deep breath before saying, "With me. I just...don't really want to talk about it," he added, seeing the inquiring stares of his coworkers.
                To his credit, Perry instantly paled and looked concerned. "Oh, I...I had no idea, son. I'm sorry."
                "It's okay, Chief. I just...I know I can't cover the trial and testify. And even if I wasn't...it would be for the best if someone else covered it anyway. I'm too close to it."
                "Peterson, Jenner, I want you both on it," Perry said after a moment's thought.
                "Perry!" Lois complained. "If anyone should cover it, it should be me! I've been on the story since Day One."
                "You were," their boss replied, sitting down in his chair. "And you've done a great job so far."
                "So...what? After all that work, I get a pat on the back and a 'good job' while Jeff and Todd reap the rewards?"
                "Lois, ordinarily, I'd assign you to go solo on the case. You know that. But the thing is, it's not exactly a secret that the hottest reporting team in town happens to be a couple outside of work too. Now, I know you're capable of keeping your professionalism. But I won't risk damaging the Planet's reputation as a reliable, unbiased news source."
                "But Perry," she whined, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the rest of the staff was looking on.
                "But nothing. That's my final word on the subject. Comprende?"
                Clark saw that Lois knew the battle was lost.
                "Fine," she huffed in annoyance.
                "Good, now, let's get back to the meeting, shall we?"
                Once the meeting broke up, Lois walked with Clark back to his desk, where the prison riot story was still displayed on his monitor. Clark allowed Lois to settle in at the computer, veering off to the coffee break area. He swiftly made two cups of the strong brew, fixing them in their own ways, then brought them back to his desk.
                "Here," he said, handing Lois one of the paper cups. "This ought to tide us over until we can get out for lunch."
                "Thanks. Nice work on the article, by the way. But I think we should change this here." She pointed to the sentence in question. "Maybe it's just me, but it sounds kind of awkward."
                Clark read over the sentence twice, trying to picture how it might sound to the average reader. "No, it's not just you. Good catch," he said after a moment. He deleted what he'd written and thought carefully as he reworded it.
                Lois read the entire paragraph over again. "Nice."
                "Thanks."
                "Let's get it off to Perry so we can focus on the arrest story."
                "Yeah," Clark said glumly.
                "Hey," Lois said, rubbing his arm. "If you aren't up for it, I can work on it myself. I mean, you wrote up the whole prison riot article yourself and gave me credit." She smiled at him.
                Clark shook his head. "No, I can help. It's just...for so long, I tried to pretend that what happened to me never did. Now, in the past twenty-four hours, more people have come to know about my past than I ever thought would. And far more than I ever wanted to know. It's just...kind of overwhelming. I just wish there'd been another way, that's all."
                "I know," she said sympathetically. "So...you're testifying," she added after a moment of silence had lapsed. "What brought that on? Last night you seemed like you were undecided, at best."
                Clark shrugged. "I guess...I guess it stems from guilt. I could have - and should have - testified against Alex when all of this first started, when I was sixteen. I can't travel back in time to fix that mistake. But I can take the stand now. I'm not a frightened kid anymore. And if my testimony can help seal the case against Alex, then I owe it to all of the victims he took to make sure that happens. I owe it to myself too. And besides, I don't really have a choice. My name is in that notebook. The District Attorney could just subpoena me if they want to. And you know they will."
                "Huh," Lois said thoughtfully. "I guess that's true."
                "I'll have to meet with the DA at some point. Not right away though."
                "How come?" She sounded a little shocked.
                "Well, the trial won't be for a while. Henderson's going to get in contact with the other police departments around the country where Alex's notebook indicates his other victims were killed. If they can find the bodies, they have a stronger case to put Alex away for life. Otherwise he's just a lunatic who jotted down notes - real or imagined - in a book."
                "Too much room to make the jury doubt his guilt," Lois said, understanding immediately.
                "Exactly," Clark said with a nod. "The DA is taking absolutely no chances on this case."
                "I'm glad," Lois said. "I hope that sicko never sees the light of day ever again."
                "Me too," Clark agreed. "But, first things first. Let's get the arrest article written. I don't know about you, but I'd like to get to lunch at a normal hour today."
                Lois laughed and flashed him a dazzling smile. "Me too. And someone had to promise Perry the article by lunch time." She rolled her eyes for good measure.
                Clark couldn't help but join in on her laughter. "What choice did I have? Besides, I'll make sure it gets done in a reasonable amount of time." He flexed his fingers slightly, subtly letting her know that he wasn't going to type at a completely normal pace.
                "You better," she replied, winking.
                "Trust me," he said, winking back.
                Clark craned his head around, checking to ensure that no prying eyes were on him. He'd long since perfected the art, making it seems like he was just stretching the muscles of his neck. Adding to the illusion, he even rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and sighed, as though the brief pause to roll his head around had loosened a kink in his muscles. Then he set his fingertips to his keyboard and began to type. His fingers became a blur, though he kept his speed in careful check. He didn't want to break the machine, or have smoke curl up from between the keys, or set off any alarms in his coworkers if anyone should happen to catch him using his powers. The words flew from his fingers, appearing on the screen in rapid-fire succession. Entire paragraphs took shape in seconds. Lois didn't say a word, and Clark was grateful, his concentration solely on his speed and his choice in wording.
                "There," he said, ten minutes and four edits later. "What do you think?"
                Lois read it over in silence. "I think it could use another good Superman quote or two," she confided in a low whisper.
                "Yeah? You don't think it's overkill already?"
                "People love a good quote. And they eat up what Superman has to say about things, usually. Maybe he had something to say about giving Denny his cape to wear?" she suggested.
                Clark sighed in thought. "Maybe you're right. As it happens, he did mention something to me," he said, giving her a conspiratorial smile. Again he put his fingers to his keys and tapped away. "How about now?"
                "Better. Much better. But I think I'd flip these two sentences here," she said, picking up a pen and pointing with the cap. "It would flow better."
                As in many things, Clark deferred to her experience and dutifully switched the two sentences Lois had pointed out.
                "Better, my queen?" he teased.
                "Much, my loyal servant," she teased back.
                "Servant?" Clark sputtered, good-naturedly.
                "Of course. You cook my meals, you occasionally chauffer me around," she said, making their non-verbal flying gesture with one hand, "you look to me for guidance..."
                "Oh really?" Clark said, arching a skeptical eyebrow.
                "Well...sometimes," she said, grinning impishly. "Now, would you send that to Perry already? I'm starving."
                "In a couple of minutes," Clark said, checking his watch. "We can't get it to him too quickly. It would look too suspicious. Why don't you stay here, look like you're working on the story? I wanted to talk to Perry about Jack. It'll be a perfect way to kill a little time."
                "Fine," Lois said, crossing her arms. "But now you're buying lunch."
                "I was buying anyway," Clark said, cupping her cheek for a second and smiling softly at her.
                "Go," Lois said, a smile creeping up over his lips. "Just try to make it fast, okay?"
                Clark chuckled. "As my queen commands."
                He gave her a tiny bow before putting his desk behind him. A minute later he was knocking on Perry's doorframe. The grizzled old editor looked up from the paper in his hands. He looked a little surprised to see Clark there.
                "Oh, Kent. I was just reading over the prison riot story. Nice work."
                "Thanks. Perry? Could I talk to you for a couple of minutes?"
                The Chief waved him in. Clark entered and shut the door behind him, blocking out the prying ears of his coworkers and the general chaos of the bullpen. Then he sat in the red plaid armchair Perry kept in his office.
                "Look, Clark, if this is about earlier, I'm sorry I pressed the matter. I should have spoken with you privately. I made a bad judgment call. I wasn't thinking. It's just...well, Alice."
                "No apologies necessary, Chief," Clark assured him. "So...you two are fighting again?"
                "It may as well be World War Three," Perry admitted, looking more pained than Clark had ever seen him before.
                "Sorry to hear that."
                "I got home late again last night. Printing had some kind of technical problem. I stayed to make sure the morning edition got done. I forgot to call her. When I walked in at eleven, boy, she was fuming."
                "Yikes," Clark said with a wince.
                "Yeah," Perry somberly agreed. "Anyway, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"
                "A job," Clark said, sitting forward in his seat, steepling his fingers together.
                "You already have one of those," Perry replied, arching an eyebrow.
                "Not for me," Clark clarified. "The brother of Alex's final victim. His name is Jack. He's...I don't know. Fifteen or so. He seems like a good kid, from what Superman told me. Jack and Denny, the boy from last night, are living in the halfway house the Superman Foundation has in the city. They could use a hand up, you know? I thought maybe we could find a place for Jack here, to get him on the right track."
                "I don't know, son," Perry said hesitantly. "Fifteen is awfully young. And a street kid..."
                "I was a street kid at one point," Clark gently reminded his boss. "And I trust Superman's judgment. This kid wants to make a better life for himself and his little brother. He just needs a chance."
                Perry sighed. "You had something specific in mind?" he asked, though it sounded only half like a question, and half like a statement of fact.
                "Well," Clark said, choosing his words carefully. "I was thinking maybe we could start him off in a gofer-like position. Give him enough to keep busy and make him feel like he's really contributing, because he would be. Once he proves himself to you, maybe move him into research. I mean, face it, Jimmy used to do a lot more gofer work for you than he does now. Now, he's out of the office almost half the time Lois and I are. The rest of the time, he's been invaluable as our research guy."
                "I'm not really in need of a gofer," Perry said, scratching his chin.
                "Then put Jack in the mail room," Clark pleaded. "Something. Anything. This kid needs help."
                Again, the Chief blew out a heavy sigh. "The mail room," he said, his voice holding a tone of agreement. "But only because Westlake quit this morning."
                Clark blinked in surprise. "He did?"
                "Yeah. Just called in and said he wasn't coming back. There was always bad blood between him and Anson. I think something happened between the two. At least, that's what Morton said when he told me the news a little while ago."
                "I hadn't heard," Clark said. In his mind, Westlake's departure was a shame. He'd always liked the ever-smiling, eternally joking young man.
                "You tell Superman to deliver a message to this Jack. I want to meet him, in person, tomorrow at one. But, even if I like him, he doesn't get hired until after the trial is over. The last thing I need is for someone to call foul on us for hiring the brother of Harwood's last victim right before the trial. I won't risk the paper's reputation. Or my own. Got it?"
                "Got it," Clark confirmed, trying to hide the pleased smile that wanted to break forth. "Thanks, Chief."
                Perry nodded. "And one more thing, Kent. With this trial coming up, if you need anything...time off, time to meet with the DA's office, what have you, all you have to do is ask."
                This time, Clark didn't restrain his smile. "Thanks, Perry. That means a lot to me."
                "All right then," Perry said, gently trying to dismiss Clark. "If there's nothing else..."
                "I'll get back to work," Clark promised. "Lois and I should have the arrest story to you in a couple of minutes."
                "Good," Perry said, before shifting his gaze back to the papers on his desk.
                Clark let himself out of the office, leaving the door open as he stepped back into the newsroom at large. He swiftly walked back to his desk and sat.
                "How'd it go?" Lois asked.
                "Better than I'd expected. If all goes well, as soon as Alex is sentenced, Jack will be on his way to joining the Daily Planet family."
                "You're a true superhero to all," Lois mused quietly. Then, louder and more to the point, "Can we send this yet? I'm dying for a burger."
                Clark chuckled. "We can send it."
                "Thank God."
                With one click of a button, Lois sent the story off to Perry to be reviewed. Then she was crossing the aisle to her own desk, retrieving her coat, and buttoning it up. Clark shrugged his coat on as well, then powered off just the monitor of his computer. He took Lois by the arm and walked her through the newsroom to the elevators, ignoring the stares of the rest of the Daily Planet staff as he went.
                He'd always feared this, that one of his major secrets would be exposed, and that others would look at him differently. Interestingly enough, it bothered him less than he'd thought it would, having his coworkers and friends know that Alex had raped him. What they thought - how they viewed him - didn't matter. Only Lois' view mattered, and she still looked at him the same way as always.
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Broken