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Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used without permission. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
Pretend You Don't See Me
by ChrisH
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Metropolis, New Troy
====================
"No, I'm not saying I don't like it. I'm just saying ... well ..."
Lois raised an eyebrow, looking at her partner inquiringly as they exited the elevator. "Yes?"
"Well ..." Clark squirmed. "Forget it. It looks great."
"No. You hate it."
"No!" With a soft smile he added, "You're beautiful, Lois. You'll always be beautiful, no matter what you do to your hair. I like the new color. I do. Really."
She sighed. "I knew it. I knew it was a stupid idea."
"No. It was just ... creative," he finally said. "Impulsive. You. It ... fits. It does. I swear."
"Clark ..." she began with a sigh, knowing he was just being his normal polite self. She knew he would never tell her to her face that he hated it. It just wasn't like him. But the expression on his face when she'd picked him this morning had been abundantly clear.
"Lois, Clark, my office!" a voice suddenly shouted, interrupting their conversation. Lois was grateful for the diversion.
Perry was standing behind his desk, talking to someone who was sitting in the chair on the other side, when Lois and Clark entered his office.
"What's up, Chief?" Lois asked.
"Lois, Clark, come in. I want you to meet someone." Perry gestured for them to shut the door. Then he looked up and his eyes widened. "Lois, darlin', what did you do to your hair?"
Lois gave Clark a look that said, 'See?'
"Don't ask, Chief," she finally said with a sigh.
"I like it," the man in the chair said with a smile. He rose and Lois saw that he was even taller than Clark at about six foot three. "I'm Jarod Parker," he told them and offered his hand. Lois and Clark took turns shaking it.
"Jarod, this is Lois Lane and Clark Kent," Perry said to Parker, then informed Lois and Clark, "Mr. Parker is going to be working here."
"Oh, he is?" Lois asked.
Clark smiled. "Hi, welcome to the Daily Planet."
"Thanks."
Clark waited for Lois to say something and when she didn't, he gently nudged her arm. "Excuse Lois," Clark finally said, when it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything. "She's still in shock about her hair," he joked.
Parker laughed. Lois gave him a glare, which she then directed at Clark. "I hope you like it here, Mr. Parker," she finally said. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Clark and I have work to do."
She brushed past Clark and out the door, leaving the three men in stunned silence.
"Is she always like this?" Jarod asked.
"She can be a little moody sometimes," Clark answered sheepishly. "I'll go and find out what's wrong."
"Be careful," Perry advised with a grin.
Clark left the office in a hurry. He found Lois at her desk, sipping at her coffee.
"Lois," he said when he approached her. "Is something wrong?"
"I don't like him," she said.
"What?"
"I don't like him. He's hiding something."
"Lois ..."
"Clark, don't give me one of your lectures." She glanced in the direction of the office where Jarod Parker was engrossed in a conversation with the Editor-in-Chief. "I know him. I've seen him before."
"What?"
"I can't remember where, though."
"Lois ..."
Just then the phone rang. Lois frowned. Her eyes still fixed on Jarod Parker, she reached for the receiver. "Lois Lane," she said absently. "Bobby, hi." Her attention snapped into place. "What've you got?"
She looked at Clark, waving her hand at him in a manner that suggested she wanted him to leave. He rolled his eyes, gave an exaggerated sigh and removed himself from her desk.
Clark strolled over to his own desk and plopped down in his chair, thinking that this was going to be a long day.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker entered her office, switched on the light and shut the door. She walked over to her desk, sat down and let out a long breath. One of these days, she was going to kill him. Seriously, he was a weasel. The thought that he was also her brother made her skin crawl. Lyle was dirt.
Finally, after about five minutes, a soft beeping sound brought her attention back to her dark office. She looked at her computer screen, seeing the little icon at the bottom blink, declaring "You've Got Mail!"
Jarod!
'What are you up to now?' she wondered. 'What kind of game are we playing this time?'
The message was simple -- only one question.
WHO DO YOU KNOW -- REALLY?
She frowned. What the hell was he talking about? Jarod had sent the weirdest things over the last few years; she'd had to solve many riddles posed by him. But what was he trying to say this time?
Suddenly the door flew open.
"Knock!" she told the intruder angrily.
"Sorry, Miss Parker, but you really should see this." Broots was excited and out of breath, having sprinted all the way to her office to tell her.
She raised her eyebrows. "Jarod?"
Broots nodded. "Yep."
She jumped up from her chair. Maybe this time, finally, after all the years of chasing him and missing him by inches, she would get there in time.
After a few moments she realized what it was she was thinking and muttered to herself, "Who am I kidding?"
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
"Okay, Lois, I need the story on the election!" Perry called, standing in the door to his office.
Lois held up her hand. "Five minutes, Chief!"
"Clark!" Perry looked around the newsroom, which was bustling with activity, only to discover that his other top-notch reporter was nowhere to be found. "Where the Sam Hill is that boy now?" he growled angrily.
Lois looked up from her screen, taking a glance around the Pit herself. She frowned. Clark had been here just minutes ago. Hadn't he?
"Lois, where's your partner?"
She shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? He never tells me where he's off to."
Perry muttered something under his breath and followed up with, "Damn. I still need his article about the police raffle."
Suddenly the volume on the television set was turned up and a group of people gathered in front of it.
"Hey, Chief, take a look at this!" someone called.
Lois jumped up from her desk and hurried across the newsroom to stand with her colleagues. Perry joined them only seconds later. On the screen, Superman was zipping in and out of the burning Metropolis General Hospital.
"The fire broke out about half an hour ago. At this point, the cause of the fire is unknown, but arson does not seem likely. Superman arrived at the scene only a few moments after the fire broke out and started to put out the flames and take the patients to safety. I'm Gloria Campos, reporting live for LNN from Metropolis General."
"Lois," Perry said, "I want you down there!"
Lois turned, headed over to her desk and LAN'd her election article to Perry before heading for the elevators. As she waited impatiently, she was joined by Parker, which only worsened her bad mood.
"What?" she asked, not caring if she sounded rude.
"Mr. White told me to go with you."
"I already have a partner," she told him coldly.
Parker looked around. "Apparently, your partner's not here."
"Look, Parker, I don't need your help. Most likely, Clark's down at Metropolis General anyway. I'll meet him there."
"I'm still coming with you."
Lois sighed in defeat. "Okay. Do whatever you like."
"Oh, and please call me Jarod."
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker joined Broots and Sydney, who were standing in front of Jarod's newest 'present', obviously trying to figure out what it was supposed to tell them. A frown crossed her face when she saw what it was.
Two cardboard, life-size imitations of Lyle and her father stood in the middle of the room. The odd thing was, they were both missing their faces. In their place was simply a white blotch of paint.
"Has Jarod taken up painting again?" she commented dryly.
Broots shook his head. "I think he's trying to tell us something."
Miss Parker slowly turned her head to look at the man. "I was joking, Broots," she told him patiently, or at least as patiently as she could be.
"Oh!" He had the grace to look sheepish. "You don't do that very often. I guess I'm not used to it."
She just rolled her eyes. "Did something come with this?"
Sydney handed her a white envelope with her name on it. She ripped it open and pulled out a sheet of paper.
WE ALL HAVE SECRETS HIDDEN DEEP.
ASK YOURSELF:
DO YOU KNOW THE PEOPLE YOU TRUST?
"Oh, boy," Miss Parker said sarcastically. "He's started to play my conscience."
"But we know that Lyle isn't the man he appears to be. He has many secrets," Sydney reminded her. "Secrets so dark and horrific that we can't even begin to imagine what kind of man he really is."
Miss Parker folded up the piece of paper and put it back in the envelope. Then she took a step closer to the cardboard figures. She knew that Lyle was a bastard -- and a murderer. And her father ... well, she had had to realize that she didn't know him as well as she thought she did. But then, secrets were part of the Centre -- everybody had them. Hell, the Centre consisted of nothing but secrets and lies.
Ultimately, the only person she could trust was herself.
And what about Jarod? a voice in the back of her mind asked her. He's never lied to you. He's always been honest with you. Well, most of the time. Do you trust him?
She shook herself mentally. This was not the time to contemplate her complicated relationship with Jarod. She couldn't allow herself to think of him as anything else but what he was: a Pretender. The Pretender she had been ordered to recapture and bring back to the Centre.
Images of Jarod as a boy flashed through her mind. He'd been her friend. Later he'd told her that she'd been the girl to give him his first kiss.
And now ... now he was hunted by the Centre and she was the huntress, who could not show compassion for her prey. Things were complicated between the two of them, to say the least.
"Parker?"
Sydney's voice brought her back to the present.
"I have to go," she told him abruptly and turned on her heel, heading for the door.
"Where?" Broots called after her.
She didn't answer.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Jarod had trouble keeping up with Lois as she headed back to the Daily Planet after getting her quote for her article from Superman. She had barely acknowledged his presence during their visit to the site, so he'd wandered off somewhere down the line to talk to police officers and firefighters. He had to keep up his Pretend as an investigative reporter, after all.
Superman had been busy most of the time and hadn't given interviews to any of the reporters, aside from Lois Lane. Jarod couldn't help but wonder what kind of relationship the Man of Steel had with a certain ace reporter, but he figured it wasn't any of his business. He was in Metropolis for another reason.
Henry Thomas, a serial rapist and murderer, who'd done unspeakable things in several cities all over the country, had moved to this one and taken a cover as a reporter at one of Metropolis's most popular and respected newspapers. Problem was, the FBI didn't have a clue about Thomas's whereabouts; as far as Jarod knew, no one did. He'd stumbled upon Thomas by accident. Unfortunately Thomas wasn't only a rapist and murderer, he was also a master of disguise, who took a new name and look in each new city, which meant that Jarod had no idea who he was looking for. As far as Jarod knew, Thomas stayed in a city as long as possible and only moved on when things got too dangerous for him. Who knew how long he'd been living in Metropolis under a false name?
Another day, another city, another name, another Pretend.
That was Jarod's life. That and running from the Centre and a certain woman who worked there.
It wouldn't take Parker long to find out where he was this time and she'd be on his tail faster than you could say 'speeding bullet'. Until then, however, he was going to do what he'd always done best: pretend.
**********
Lois finished up her article on the fire, not bothering to edit it beyond running it through the spell check. She LAN'd it to Perry, who was in his office at the moment, talking on the phone, and who would stay there for quite some time, then started packing up.
"Are you leaving?"
She tiredly turned her head to look at Parker, who'd sneaked up behind her. "It's late," she said.
"PEZ?" he offered, holding up a Spider-Man PEZ dispenser.
"How old are you? Five?" she asked caustically.
He shrugged, grinning wryly. "Say hi to your partner. Does he do that often? Disappear and don't come back?"
"He always shows up again," Lois replied.
"I guess you're right," Parker said, pointing his finger over her shoulder at the elevators.
She turned, seeing the doors slide open to reveal a tired-looking Clark Kent, who was leaning against the back of the elevator car, his hands in his pockets, his hair a mess, his tie askew. He strolled out, whistling to himself, and headed down the ramp.
"Hey," he greeted them cheerfully. "You still here?" he asked Lois.
"I had to wrap up my article on the fire at Metropolis General. Where were you?" Her voice was sharp and impatient, with just a hint of annoyance shining through. She hated having him dump the workload on her so he could disappear for hours on end and then show up again with some lame excuse about how he had to return a library book.
Where did he go when he pulled his continual vanishing act? Surely not the library or his doctor's office. He had to think she was stupid if he thought she actually believed all his excuses.
And ever since their almost-first date, she had the feeling that he was running away from her when he disappeared.
"Uh, I ..." She could almost see the little wheels turning in his head at hyper-speed. "I had to meet a source," he finally said.
"Oh, did you?"
"Yeah." And he grinned that mega-watt smile that made other woman go weak at their knees. But not Lois Lane.
"Really. And why didn't you take me, your partner, with you?" she demanded sharply. "If this was such a hot lead, why not fill me in?"
That was when Parker, whom Lois had completely forgotten due to her anger, spoke up. "I think I'll leave you two alone," he said. And he was gone, just like that.
Lois she watched him stroll over to the conference room and shut the door behind himself. But Jarod Parker was quickly forgotten when out of the corner of her eye she spotted Clark walking over to his desk.
"Don't think I'll let you get away that easily!" she told him. "I had to write the story about the fire all by myself and Perry made me write your stupid article about the police raffle, too! Raffle!" she repeated indignantly. "Do you know where that ranks on my list of Stories I Want to Write Before I Retire? Right above Retirement Home Leisure Park Gets Shut Down Due to Asbestos Problems!"
"Lois--"
"To top it off, Perry foisted Parker off on me and I had to drag him along to Metropolis General! And I don't trust him, because I know I've seen him somewhere else before and he wasn't calling himself Jarod Parker then!"
"Lois--"
"You know, Clark, one of these days I won't be there to save your butt and what are you going to do then? What kind of attitude is that, anyway? I mean, how did you ever manage to hold down a job before?"
"Lois--" He stopped, looking at her expectantly.
She folded her arms in front of her chest, returning the look. "Yes? Would you please go on?"
"Sorry. I thought you weren't finished yet." He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. Really, I am. I'm sorry I ran off like that without telling you where I was going. I thought I was going to be back in time to write my article, but I got ... delayed."
"What are you, an airplane? Couldn't you have called?"
He grimaced. "I forgot."
"You forgot. Well, thanks a lot, Clark. That's just great. You're my partner and I thought we could rely on each other, but for one and a half years you've been holding out on me and running off in the middle of important conversations and I'm sick of it! Partnership's about trust and reliability and you sure aren't reliable!"
"Lois--"
"No. I don't want to hear it. I'm going home."
Furiously, she stalked off, without giving him another look. Once in the elevator, she punched the button for the ground floor, then turned to look at him, still standing at his desk, giving her those puppy dog eyes.
She returned the look with a glare.
**********
Clark sighed heavily as he watched the doors slip shut. If looks could kill ...
Running his hand through his tousled hair, he turned around and spotted Jarod Parker sitting in the conference room all by himself. Poor guy. He'd been on the receiving end of Lois's fury today, just because Clark's alter ego had once more interfered with his work at the Planet. He knew that Lois had a tendency to take out her moods on whoever was available, but Clark felt bad for Jarod. The guy had been here barely a day and he'd already met Mad Dog Lane.
Clark could relate.
He glanced at the coffee table and discovered that the pot was still half full. Quickly, he walked up the ramp and grabbed a spare cup from next to the pot and his own Smallville cup. The coffee was only lukewarm, but a blast of heat vision took care of that. Grabbing the cups and two stale, leftover donuts from the carton, he headed back down the ramp and across the Pit towards the conference room.
He knocked gently, then opened the door and poked his head in.
"Hey," he said. "Coffee?"
Jarod looked up, smiling. "Sure. Come in."
Clark pulled up a chair and sat down, handing Jarod his cup. "You might want to bring a cup of your own. We have some for visitors, but all the reporters have their own."
"I'll do that," Jarod replied.
"Here, I brought a donut, too. It's stale, but it'll go great with the newsroom coffee."
Jarod laughed. "You know where you get the best coffee?" he asked. "San Francisco. Harry's Diner."
"Have you ever been to Rome?" Clark asked.
"No," Jarod said. "But I was a Sherpa on Mount Everest once."
Clark's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? Well, that's ... interesting. I've done some traveling myself. And it was Rome where I had the best coffee of my life."
Clark sipped his coffee, taking a glance at the papers strewn out in front of Jarod: newspaper articles from The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Examiner, all focusing on the rape and murder of young women.
"Are you on to something?" Clark asked Jarod, indicating the newspaper clippings with a nod.
"Sort of," Jarod replied slowly. "It's more like a private investigation."
"Can I help?"
"I don't think so, but thanks."
"Okay. Just let me know if you need something." Clark paused, taking another look at one of the clippings. "It says here that they have no idea who the murderer is," he muttered, reaching out to pick up the clipping.
"Serial murderer," Jarod corrected with a scowl. This was obviously an emotional topic for him. "He's been on the loose for over three years. First time he struck was in Phoenix. Twelve victims later, they still have no idea who he is."
Jarod sounded angry, talking about the murders. Clark couldn't blame him.
Clark nodded. "Well, good luck at whatever it is you're doing."
"Thanks."
Clark got up from his chair. "I think I'll be going. It's getting late and I still have a few things to do."
"See you tomorrow, then," Jarod said.
"I wanted to say that I'm sorry Lois was in such a bad mood today, which was mostly my fault. She gets a little ... hard to handle sometimes, but she's usually easy to get along with. At least, it seems that way to me."
"Ms. Lane reminds me a little of someone I know," Jarod said, obviously remembering someone special.
"Really?"
"Yes. But she and I don't see each other often. And we don't really get along, either."
"Oh. Well."
"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess," Jarod said.
"Yeah, sure." Clark opened the door and left the conference room, looking forward to a hot shower and his soft bed. First, though, he had to fly his patrol and make sure Lois was safe and sound.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker sat in her office, the lights dimmed, the curtains drawn. Her feet were resting on the tabletop. She was looking blankly at the piece of paper in her hand:
WE ALL HAVE SECRETS HIDDEN DEEP.
Secrets hidden deep. Oh, yes. How very true. Who did she know who didn't have secrets? Dark secrets? Bad secrets? Secrets they covered with lies?
Strangely, aside from Angelo, only one person came to mind.
Jarod. The Great Pretender.
For as long as she'd known him, he'd always tried to help her find the truth about what had happened to her mother and in that respect he'd never lied to her. When it came to Catherine Parker, Jarod had always told her the truth. He'd fed her clues, had helped her unveil some of the Centre's secrets, had somehow always been there in the shadows. Watching her. Watching over her.
Sure, she wanted to catch him, because then she'd finally be free to leave the Centre, but she also knew that there was more than that that bound them together. Jarod was her equal. He was smart and capable; he was able to be anyone he wanted to be.
Yet, at the same time, he was almost like a child. He was naive in many ways. Innocent. He cared about people and tried to help them whenever he could. The really strange thing was that he seemed to care about her as well. It seemed as if it didn't matter to him that all she wanted to do was track him down and lock him up again.
Sometimes, late at night, the phone would ring and she'd pick up and it would be Jarod at the other end of the line. And he'd say in that soft, gentle voice of his: "Are you okay?" And then he'd tell her something; about her mother, or Lyle, or someone else. He'd feed her more clues and say smart things and then the line would go dead.
That was Jarod. The Great Pretender, who pretended he didn't see who she really was and what she really wanted.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Jarod opened the door to his hotel room and flicked on the light. He dumped his black leather jacket on the bed and sat down at the table where his laptop sat along with several old Daily Planet newspapers and stacks of books such as "Investigative Reporting: A Study in Technique (Journalism Media Manual)" and "Investigative Reporting for Print and Broadcast".
He picked up his cell phone and dialed a number. As he waited, he got up and walked over to the window.
"What?" a voice snapped at the other end.
"Have you ever been to Rome?" he asked.
"What?" Miss Parker asked impatiently.
"Well, I've never been to Rome and I've heard they make great coffee there."
Jarod sat down on the hotel room bed, loosening his tie and kicking off his shoes.
"Is there a point in this conversation?"
"Did you get the things I sent you?"
He could hear her exhale sharply. "Yes. Is there a reason you sent them or are you just being your usual annoying self? Because I have work to do, you know. I've been assigned to tracking down this pain-in-the-ass jerk who gets a kick out of provoking me. Maybe you know him."
"Is he tall, dark and handsome?" Jarod quipped.
"Tall and dark, but forget the handsome."
Jarod grinned. "Well, Miss Parker, I'm afraid I can't help you." He waited a few moments before saying in a voice now completely lacking the provoking, teasing tone, "Sweet dreams, Parker. I'll think of you tonight."
"I'll think of you, too. And of ways to cause you great pain once I've found out what stone you're hiding under this time."
He chuckled and pressed the button to disconnect the call. Undoing the top button of his shirt, he flopped down on the bed. As he stared unseeingly up at the ceiling, he remembered a time long ago, when he'd been ten years old and had met a young girl who'd changed everything he'd ever known.
"You're a girl," he'd said to her in a tone close to wonder.
When he closed his eyes and tried really hard to remember, he could still recall the feel of her lips on his. The sensation of being kissed by a girl had been a strange and exciting one. Years later, he'd met Nia and of course Zoe, but they both had come and gone. The only woman in his life who had stayed was Parker.
She wasn't like Nia and not like Zoe; she was someone else entirely. He'd known her for years, but he'd never been able to find out what went on in her head. He knew that she wasn't the Ice Queen she pretended to be, because he'd seen her love passionately and without conditions. Tommy's death had almost killed her, but she was stronger than she herself had ever imagined and she'd survived.
Jarod saw things in her that she couldn't even begin to imagine. He hoped that one day she'd realize what she was doing to herself and how special the little girl he'd met so long ago still was.
**********
Clark was floating three feet above his bed, fast asleep. His tights, cape and boots were scattered across the floor. He'd come home late -- it was a busy night -- and had undressed himself, not caring where he tossed his clothes. Most likely, something would happen during the night anyway and he'd need the Suit again. No sense in dumping it in the laundry basket.
When an insistent knocking at his front door roused him from his sleep, he sat up groggily, his hair sticking out every which way. He x-rayed the door and saw his impatient partner, dressed in jogging pants, a sweatshirt and running shoes, standing on his doorstep.
Clark reached for the glasses on his nightstand, slipped them on, then picked up his Suit at superspeed and dumped it in the laundry basket. Then he went to open the door.
Lois Lane, in full babble mode, did not even pause to say hello.
"I remembered," was the first thing she said to him when the door swung open.
"Remembered what?" Clark asked, puzzled and groggy. He yawned and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Parker," she said as if it were obvious. "Only then he was calling himself Jarod Talbott and was working on a murder case in New Orleans. He's with the FBI, Clark!"
"What?"
She let out an exasperated sigh. "Clark! Pay attention!"
He walked over to the couch and sat down on it, another yawn escaping him. With an unobtrusive glance at his watch, he noted that it was 3 a.m. and no time for one of Lois's wild tangents. "Okay, so he's an agent. Or was," he said, maybe with less enthusiasm than he should have been feeling.
"I was in New Orleans on vacation -- yes, I actually do take vacations ... occasionally," she added before he could say anything, "and stumbled upon this serial murderer who was killing young women all over town. Parker -- or Talbott, whatever his name is -- was part of the investigative team."
"Then he's obviously one of the good guys and we shouldn't be worrying about him," Clark said.
"Why is he here? Why is he calling himself Parker? Why is he posing as an investigative reporter?" Lois started, ticking off the questions on her fingers. "Is there an undercover operation going on at the Planet that we don't know about? Does Perry know? Is Parker really with the FBI? Is he--"
"Lois," Clark interrupted. "Stop. You're giving me a headache."
"Anything to wake you up," she replied dryly.
Clark frowned, running his hand over his face. He suddenly remembered the newspaper articles about the serial murderer that Parker had been looking through. If he recalled correctly, he'd also seen police reports lying around.
"Let's talk to Perry tomorrow," Clark suggested finally.
"Let's call him right away."
"Lois," Clark said patiently. "It's three in the morning. Perry's asleep. Like your tired partner was, up until a few minutes ago. Jarod Parker isn't going anywhere. In four hours we'll talk to Perry and find out what he knows."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off by holding up his hand. "Now, I'd like to get some more sleep tonight, but if you feel like you need to talk about this with me and it can't wait four hours, I'll be happy to make coffee."
"No, it's okay," she said with a little sigh. "I'll just go home and catch a few more hours of sleep."
"Lois, you can stay if you like," he said, suddenly not feeling that tired anymore and knowing that Lois was way too excited to go back to sleep tonight. She might as well stay and have coffee, and later breakfast, with him. It wasn't like he wasn't used to her showing up in the middle of the night. "I'm sorry if I seemed a little impatient. That wasn't my intention. I'm just a little groggy, that's all."
She looked at him for a long moment. "I'm still ticked at you, by the way," she told him then with her pouty little girl's voice.
He heaved a sigh. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" he muttered.
"Now don't get sarcastic on me, mister!" she told him, pointing her index finger at him. "I have every right to be ticked at you!"
He hung his head and ran his fingers through his hair. This Superman business and the secrets and lies that came with it was starting to get really, really complicated. Lois had put up with his disappearing act for more than a year and he realized that sooner or later he would have to tell her. She wasn't going to stand for it much longer.
There was also the fact that he was so hopelessly, head-over-heels in love with the woman and just hated lying to her. But the longer he kept up the pretense, the increasingly more difficult it became to work up the nerve to tell her. The closer they got, the angrier she would be when he finally did tell her.
Oh, what a complicated life superheroes led!
"Lois, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm an idiot who doesn't deserve to be partnered with someone as brilliant and dedicated to her work as you," he said, giving her a gentle smile. "I swear, from now on, I'll try to be more reliable."
She looked at him and he could see her anger fade. "Okay. I forgive you." She walked over to the couch and stood in front of him, looking down on him with a smile. "But," she said, "you still owe me an explanation. I want to know where you go when you ... well, go. I won't buy another one of your excuses about your doctor's appointment or how you have to return a video." She poked her index finger in his chest. "If you refuse to be honest with me, I'm going to ask for another partner. And you can forget about this whole dating business."
He could tell by the look in her eyes and by the tone of her voice that she wasn't entirely serious.
However, the fact remained that he did owe her the truth. "Is that an ultimatum?" he asked her.
She looked at him, a little surprised. But then she nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"You might not like what you hear," he said to her.
She shrugged. "I'm at a point with this where I have to know the truth, no matter what it is."
He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I'm afraid of what you might say," he confessed finally.
"Good Lord, Clark!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "What is this terrible secret of yours? Do you rob banks in your free time? Do you have a wife and three kids somewhere? What?"
"No, nothing like that. It's not a bad secret. I'm not a bank-robber and I'm not married." He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, began with, "Lois, I'm --" -- and stopped.
From across town he could hear sirens wailing and tires squealing: either an accident or a car chase. Either way, this was a job for ... Super Wimp! With a frustrated sigh, he told himself he had to tell her and somehow stop his alter ego from getting in the way. This, however, was not the right time.
He had to admit that he was a little relieved that his super-hearing had kicked in just now. At least, he could buy himself some time and pick the perfect place and time to tell her, which, he hoped, would make it a little easier.
"Lois, I'm sorry," he said. "I have to go."
"What?" The expression on her face was one of disbelief and disappointment. "Now, in the middle of the night? Clark!"
"Loi--"
"You're running out on me at three in the morning? Am I that repulsive? You can't even stick around in the middle of the night when all the libraries and video stores and doctor's offices are closed?"
Tears filled her eyes and she reached up angrily to wipe them away. He felt his heart ache.
"Lois--" he began helplessly.
"No, Clark! No. Just shut up. I have had it with you!"
Angrily, she spun on her heel and marched up to the front door. Clark took two steps in her direction, but she stopped him dead in his tracks when she whirled on him, her eyes ablaze with anger.
She poked her finger in his chest again and said, "Don't even think of following me! You don't want to get in my way for the next two days." Reconsidering it, she said, "No, make that the next two weeks."
With that she stormed out the door and slammed it so hard that the glass vibrated and Clark thought for a moment that it was going to shatter.
He stood in the middle of his living room for a few moments, then he remembered the sirens and spun into the Suit. With a defeated sigh, he zipped out onto the balcony and launched himself into the air.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker sat, one leg on either side of the chair, her arms folded on its back and her chin resting on top of her hands. She was gazing unseeingly at the two cardboard figures in the middle of the room.
She knew what Jarod was telling her; that the faces Lyle and her father wore were a facade. That she didn't really know either one of them.
Miss Parker squinted at the blotched face of her father. She loved him. So much. He was all the family she had left. Lyle might be her biological brother, but he didn't count as family.
She couldn't lose her father like she'd lost her mother. If she did, she didn't know what she'd do. Without him, there'd be nothing left for her. She'd be lost.
Like Jarod.
Jarod who had lost his family when he'd been four and had lived for years without knowing them. He'd found his father, Major Charles, but what about his mother? His sister? He was alone. He walked the world by himself, changing his name and profession almost daily. Jarod didn't belong anywhere.
She was afraid of ending up like that. How could she lose the only father she'd ever known without losing herself?
"Jarod, you bastard," she whispered into the dark. "Don't think I'll let you play Jiminy Cricket."
Suddenly the door opened and bright light flooded the room. Miss Parker shut her eyes.
"What the fuck ...?"
It was Lyle.
"It's late," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"I think you're the last person who has a right to know," she told him acidly, turning her head away from him.
He switched on the light and walked down the steps to stand next to her. When he saw the cardboard figures, he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, looks like Jarod's been hard at work again," he commented, amused. "What's he trying to do this time? Convince you how terrible I am?"
"I don't need any convincing in that respect," she told him. "All I have to do is look at you. Your eyes give you away."
Lyle chuckled. "Parker, you're funny. Really funny."
"Shut up."
"You're drunk."
"So what?"
"Go home."
Lyle turned to leave and was already up the stairs when Miss Parker started laughing. He turned and gave her a puzzled look. "What?" he asked.
"I should shoot you right here and now," she said.
"Why don't you?"
She raised an eyebrow, giving him the once-over. "You're not worth the mess," she told him sweetly.
Lyle's lips formed a thin line as he left the room.
**********
Miss Parker couldn't say how much time passed while she simply sat, staring at the two cardboard figures. Maybe two minutes, maybe two hours, maybe more. She had so much to think about that it hardly mattered anyway.
When the door opened for the second time that night, she didn't even turn to look who it was.
Sydney stopped and looked at her. "It's late, even for you, Parker," he said.
She waved her hand at him like one would wave one's hand at an annoying insect.
He came over to her and crouched down in front of her so he could look into her eyes. "How much have you had to drink?" he asked.
Miss Parker shrugged.
"I remember you telling me once that drowning your problems in alcohol only helps until the next morning," Sydney told her softly.
She gave an exaggerated laugh. "Now I know where Jarod gets it from," she said. "He got the Jiminy Cricket thing from you."
She got up from the chair quickly; too quickly as it turned out, because suddenly the room started to spin and she swayed dangerously. Sydney was at her side in an instant, but she regained her balance alone.
She held up a hand to stop him. "Okay. I'm fine."
Sydney sighed heavily. "Parker, this is not the way to deal with it."
"Well, then, what is?" she asked. "Tell me, Syd, because I sure don't know. I've been living this way for years. I don't know a better way."
"Parker ..."
"Did you know that he was my first love?" she asked him.
"Who?"
"Jarod."
Sydney said nothing, but then she hadn't expected him to. She laughed bitterly, maybe even a little sadly. "And now he's out to fuck up my life ... or what's left of it."
"Don't say that, Parker," Sydney said softly. "Jarod doesn't want to hurt anybody."
"Oh, that's right," she said thickly. "Jarod, the Great Pretender, who wanders the world with the one intention of saving the weak and helpless. Jarod, the Last Boy Scout." She laughed almost hysterically.
"Jarod cares. That's all. He cares about other people." Sydney paused before he added softly, "He cares about you, Parker."
"Why should he?" she shouted, spinning around to look at Sydney. She poked her finger in his chest. "Why should he care about me or about what I do? Why? God knows, he has no reason to."
Sydney grabbed her hand and said in a calm voice, "You both are in search of the past; in search of the truth. He knows exactly how you feel, because he feels the same. And he hurts for you."
"Oh, that's good, Syd," she laughed. "That's really good."
"It's the truth."
"No," she said angrily. "The truth is that Jarod and I have nothing in common. Jarod and I are as much alike as ... as ... Broots and I. He gets a kick out of making fun of me. The Wicked Witch of the West, remember?"
"Think what you like," Sydney said. "But he does care."
"Sure," she said, defeated. "Sure he does."
There was silence for a few moments, then Sydney took her shoulders. "Go home, Parker. Get some sleep."
She looked up at him, into his warm eyes and realized suddenly that Jarod was the way he was because of Sydney. Who knew what Raines could have done to him? Sydney had saved Jarod and now he was doing his best to save her.
The tears came to her in a rush and she turned around quickly so he wouldn't see her cry.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Lois Lane sat on the couch with a tub of chocolate ice cream (what was left of it, that is) melting on the table in front of her. "Damn you, Clark Kent," she whispered angrily.
She'd thought she knew him. She'd thought he was the straight guy she took him for. Clark Kent, the Last Boy Scout. Clark Kent, the naive farmboy from Kansas.
"Hah!" she exclaimed. "Farmboy! Right."
He was hiding things from her. She hated that. There was nothing she detested more than not being in on the secret -- whatever that was. Why didn't he just tell her? It couldn't be that terrible, could it? What was the worst-case scenario? She couldn't quite picture Clark as a hitman for Intergang and she didn't think he had a wife on the other side of town who expected him home for dinner every day.
"What are you hiding from me?" she asked aloud. "What's your secret?"
Suddenly she felt a gust of air and the curtains by the window fluttered. She looked up and saw a familiar figure hovering in midair outside of her apartment.
"Good evening, Lois," Superman said.
"Superman!" she exclaimed, her face splitting into a smile. "Hi! Come in."
He floated into her living room and landed on the floor. "I was in the area and thought I'd check on you. Is everything okay?"
"No psychopath killers, if that's what you mean," she replied with a grin.
With a slight frown she noticed that Superman's presence didn't affect her the same way it had only a few months ago. It wasn't that she didn't like the fact that he dropped by to check on her; it was sweet in a way. But right now she would have rather been alone so she could clear her head. Superman wouldn't understand anyway. Would he?
Superman smiled. "Good." He looked at her for a long moment, then said, "I had better be leaving. I still have to finish my patrol."
She nodded. "Thanks for dropping by. That's sweet of you."
The Man of Steel gave her a smile, then jumped onto the windowsill. He was just about to float out, when Lois called his name. He turned around and looked at her curiously.
"I want to ask you something."
"Sure."
Lois wrung her hands before she finally got the words out. "How well do you know Clark, Superman?"
He looked surprised at the question. After a few moments of hesitation, he answered, "Next to you, he's probably the only real friend I have. Why do you ask?"
She shrugged. "No particular reason," she lied.
Superman gave her a look. "Lois. Come on. Tell me."
"Clark has been behaving strangely," she finally said, looking at the superhero.
A grimace crossed his face and she found that strange, but it was gone so quickly that she didn't comment on it. Superman sighed. "Clark ... cares about you, Lois. Very much."
She pulled up her eyebrows in surprise. Did Clark and Superman talk about her? Had Clark told Superman that he'd asked her out on a date? How much did Superman know about their relationship?
"Clark cares about everybody," she said with a little laugh, turning away from him. "When his apartment was robbed, he got the kid who did it a job at the Planet."
Superman floated down from the window sill and took a step towards her. "I'm sure that whatever Clark did, he didn't do it to hurt you. You mean a lot to him, Lois. Believe that."
"He sure has a way of showing it," she said bitterly.
Superman gave a little sigh. "Sometimes people do things that don't make much sense at first. But when you look a little more closely, the things they did become obvious and you understand."
Before she could reply, he was gone in a blur and a gust of wind, leaving the curtains fluttering in his wake.
**********
Jarod sat at his desk, observing several members of the Daily Planet staff closely. It was frustrating, knowing you were so close and yet ...
Jarod reached for his coffee cup and took a sip, then turned to look at his computer screen. There was an old photograph of Henry Thomas and next to it a biography with many holes and mistakes. Thomas had been twenty when the picture was taken and he had undoubtedly changed since then. The fact file said he was six feet tall, had an athletic physique, brown hair and green eyes.
That was not much to go on, Jarod thought, frustrated.
He focused his concentration on a man named Carter Havens. Havens had begun work at the Planet a little less than a year ago and since then he'd turned in a few stories of decent quality, but nothing that would get him anywhere in the world of journalism. Certainly nothing like the articles Lois Lane wrote.
Havens had roused Jarod's suspicion, because he resembled Henry Thomas a lot, although his hair was blond and he had blue eyes. But there were things like hair dye and contacts. Havens's face, the jaw bone and eyebrows, the nose and shape of the eyes, they all made him look like an older Henry Thomas. If Havens was his man, he was getting extremely sloppy and overconfident.
Of course, Jarod couldn't say for sure whether Carter Havens and Henry Thomas were the same person, but he had a strong feeling.
There was also the fact that Carter Havens had virtually no past. According to Datanet, the man didn't exist.
Jarod narrowed his eyes and looked closely. Havens didn't look like a rapist. Then again, they rarely did. Most of the time they were neighbors and colleagues and husbands and brothers.
Jarod had several other suspects, aside from Havens, but so far none of them had behaved in a way that would lead him to believe they were anything but reporters for a major newspaper. Initially, he'd also thought that Clark Kent might be who he was looking for, what with his disappearing act, but something told him that idea wasn't worth pursuing.
For the moment, Havens was the prime suspect. If it turned out that he was innocent, Jarod could still investigate Kent and the others on his list.
"Hey, Parker!"
Jarod looked up, over to where Mr. White was standing outside his office. Ms. Lane was standing next to him, with an unreadable expression on her face. After a few moments, Jarod realized she looked smug.
"Yes?"
"My office."
Jarod closed the window and got up from his desk. Lois Lane stood next to Mr. White's desk, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Jarod gave her a curious look, but she returned it with a blank one of her own.
"Sit down, son," Mr. White said.
"What's the matter? Something about my article?"
Jarod had turned in an article about the exhibition at the Metropolis Museum of Art, which he thought had turned out to be pretty good. He'd read quite a lot about reporting and--
"No. Nothing to do with your article," Mr. White said. "Lois?"
Jarod looked at Ms. Lane, his eyes questioning.
"The first time I saw you I knew I'd met you before," she said. "Last night I remembered where."
Jarod's eyes widened a little. This was not good. Not good at all.
"You were down in New Orleans, calling yourself Jarod Talbott and working for the FBI. There was a murder case you worked on. I remember you because one of your colleagues said you were weird. That you didn't know what Star Wars was, or something like that."
He remembered. A few years ago he'd been in New Orleans and he remembered the murder case she was talking about. Okay, this required some quick thinking.
"Actually," he began, "you're right. I am with the FBI."
"So what is this?" Mr. White asked. "An undercover operation?"
"Yes."
"Can I see your badge?"
"I ... don't have it with me," Jarod said. "I'm not carrying a gun, either, as you can see. But feel free to call the local FBI headquarters. They'll tell you."
It was a lie, of course, but he was going to take his chances.
Lois Lane looked like she wasn't pleased with his explanation. Maybe she'd expected a front pager. "So, Mr. Talbott--"
"Parker. I don't want anyone blowing my cover."
She rolled her eyes. "Parker, then. What are you investigating?"
"And why didn't I know about this?" Mr. White demanded roughly.
"Mr. White, it's an undercover operation and the fewer people know about it the better," Jarod said. "As for what I'm investigating, I'm afraid I can't tell you."
Lois Lane tossed her boss a look. "What does Jimmy always say? FBI stands for 'Forget 'Bout It'."
"It's confidential," Jarod said, hoping that she was going to let it lie. He was afraid that she was going to find out that there was no Jarod Talbott with the FBI and then he'd have to start all over again with his investigation on Thomas. He'd have to plant a false resume as fast as possible, he thought, so that if she decided to check, she'd find him listed.
"Okay, Talbott -- Parker ... whatever your name is," Mr. White said, "you have my permission to investigate ... whatever it is you're investigating. But let me tell you one thing." He pointed his finger at Jarod and gave him a stern look. "You can tell those boys in Washington that I won't stand for this again. The title 'Secret Agent' doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want. Got it?"
"Got it, sir," Jarod said. He got up from his chair and hightailed it out of there. Boy, that woman was better than he'd thought. This would teach him to underestimate her again.
**********
Lois sat down in the chair that had been occupied by Parker up until a few moments ago. "See. I knew it. I have an instinct for these things."
Perry nodded. "He seems okay. As okay as those FBI boys get. They think they can do what they like without asking for permission first, just because they happen to have an abbreviation printed on their badge."
The Chief reached for a pencil, and then looked up at Lois. "What are you still doing here? Go find your partner and find out what this 'undercover operation' is all about!"
Lois made a face. "I am not talking to Clark at the moment," she told Perry.
Perry rolled his eyes. "Lois, these 'moments' when you're not talking to Clark happen at least once a week. If I let you and your personal problems get in the way of your work, I wouldn't have a newspaper to print! Now go find that boy and do something useful with your time!"
Lois got up from her chair, muttering something under her breath.
"I heard that, young lady!" Perry shouted after her as she hurried over to her desk.
Clark was sitting at his desk, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. He was talking to someone on the phone, but obviously the person on the other end was not being cooperative.
"No, no, wait! I-- hello?" He gave the receiver a dirty look. "Have a nice day, too. Thanks."
Lois managed to shift her concentration from Clark to the fact that she was still mad at him. As if she didn't see him, she strolled over to her desk and sat down, demonstratively ignoring him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him sigh heavily; something she noticed with a certain amount of smug satisfaction.
The jerk deserved to suffer a little.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker cocked the gun, aimed and fired. The bullet hit the target square between the eyes. She pulled the trigger another time, just to be on the safe side. The second bullet impacted almost exactly where the first one had.
Pleased with herself, she put down the gun and removed the ear protectors from her head. In the booth next to her one of the Centre's Sweepers was practicing his shooting skills.
She didn't come out to the Centre's shooting-range very often, but today she needed something to take away the anger inside. She'd always been best at taking out her bad mood on other people, but shooting did wonders for her, too.
She could always pretend it was Lyle, after all.
Miss Parker put her gun back in the holster, and then put her jacket back on.
She felt a little better now, but Jarod's games still wouldn't leave her thoughts. He thought it was easy, leaving the Centre -- leaving behind what you knew. The Centre never let anyone walk away. No one just left.
She'd tried.
Once.
It had cost Tommy his life. It had cost her her heart. The Centre had taken away everything: her mother, Thomas ... her soul.
Nobody just left and lived to tell about it.
Except Jarod, that was. He'd escaped; he'd run. He'd outwitted them all. Jarod was different from her. Braver, maybe. He wasn't afraid of leaving behind the Centre, wasn't afraid of starting over somewhere else as someone else. He'd always been good at that. Pretending was what he did best.
And suddenly a thought came to her -- a thought so ridiculous, so out there, that she almost laughed out loud.
What if she went with him? What if she joined him on his run? Where would he take her? And ... would he even want her to come along?
"I'm going mad," she said to herself in a low voice.
What was she thinking? It was impossible. Jarod wasn't like her -- wasn't that what she'd told Sydney last night? How could they ever go anywhere together?
Miss Parker left the building and began crossing the square to the main building, when her cell phone suddenly rang. Taking it from her pocket, she pressed the green button.
"What?"
"Hey, Parker," a familiar voice said to her.
"Oh, it's Wonder-Boy," she said, trying to give her voice some of its usual sarcasm, but somehow her heart wasn't in it. "What do you want?"
"Many things, but I don't think you can be of any help with those. Unless you can convince the Centre to just leave me alone." There was a pause. "But then you wouldn't do that, would you, Miss Parker?"
She was about to snap an angry reply, but then she surprised herself by saying, "Is that how you see me?"
"So far you've always made it very clear that you'd be happy to shoot me and drag me back to the Centre by my ears," came the answer. "How do you want me to see you?" he asked then, softly.
She looked off into the distance, hearing herself say, "As the girl who gave you your first kiss."
And she disconnected the call.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Clark approached Lois's desk for the third time that morning. Lois Lane gave the phrase 'holding a grudge' a whole new meaning, he thought bitterly. She couldn't still be mad, could she? It hadn't been that big a deal, had it? Okay, he'd apologized for running out on her all the time and she'd forgiven him ... only to watch him run out on her again.
Maybe it was that big a deal.
Sometimes he contemplated giving up the Suit and everything that came with it. His life would undoubtedly be less complicated if he did. But he knew he never would. He loved being Superman. He loved helping people, loved seeing children smile when they saw him flying high above Metropolis's rooftops.
But he also loved Lois.
And that was the problem.
Ultimately, there was only one solution that would be fair to both of them: he had to tell her. Better sooner than later, because the longer he waited, the more she would yell at him.
He winced at the thought.
Tonight, he told himself. Tonight he was going to tell her and he wouldn't let anything get in the way.
Clark came to stand next to her and hid a painful grimace when she pointedly ignored his presence.
"Lois?" he asked tentatively.
Nothing, but cold silence.
He sighed heavily. And tried again. "Lois? Talk to me. Please."
She didn't even look at him, but he did hear her say in an ominously calm voice, "I have nothing to say to you."
This was going worse than he expected. Maybe he should try again later. Or change tacks. Eventually he chose the latter.
"Perry told me you talked to Jarod this morning. And that there's some sort of FBI undercover operation going on at the Planet that he's involved in." He smiled, although he knew she couldn't see him. "You were right. That was good thinking, partner."
"Sucking up won't get you anywhere," she replied, her voice strangely detached.
"Perry also said we should find out what Jarod's doing here, exactly," Clark went on, trying his best not to feel hurt by her harsh comments. He probably deserved them.
She remained silent, but did finally turn around in her chair and look at him. Clark wouldn't have been able to say what she was thinking and feeling even if his life had depended on it. Her face was completely emotionless. A sign that something was seriously wrong and of course he knew exactly what that 'something' was.
Talking about work was always a safe terrain to move in, so he said, "I saw him going through some old newspaper articles and police reports the other night. They were all about a serial rapist and murderer who's been killing women all over the country for three years."
She looked at him and it almost felt like her eyes were boring into his soul.
After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, she looked away and said, "I had him checked out. His files are in the computer, but I couldn't find anyone who knows him. Not at the local FBI headquarters anyway."
It was progress; not much, but he was getting there. "That doesn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe he was just transferred here. Or he's just a very introverted person."
Somehow Clark couldn't imagine Jarod Parker as one of the bad guys. He was a good judge of character and Jarod was mysterious, sure, but no criminal. Heck, he himself was probably a mystery to many people. It didn't mean anything.
"So what's with this serial murderer? What does he have to do with the Planet?" Lois asked.
"Maybe nothing. Jarod said it was a 'private investigation', whatever that means," Clark replied. "As for this guy he's apparently looking for, nobody's ever seen his face. He's practically a ghost. The only people who knew who he is are the victims. And he took care of that problem."
A grimace crossed Clark's face as he thought of all the women who had died at the hands of this madman. Whoever he was, he had to be stopped. Jarod was obviously trying to do just that. Maybe he could use some help. Super help, that is.
"Maybe he's hiding out here," Lois said slowly. "That's why the FBI's here. He's working at the Daily Planet, Clark."
The thought wasn't completely off the wall, he thought. It would make sense. If what they said about this 'ghost murderer' was true, he wouldn't have any problems at all working at the Planet in disguise.
"I've checked what's known about him. They had a team of profilers do a character analysis and they say he's between twenty and thirty, white, very intelligent -- even dangerously so -- and he kills completely without remorse."
Clark walked over to his desk, picked up a thick, brown paper folder, then returned to Lois's desk. "I've had Jimmy put together all the personnel files of male Daily Planet employees that fall into that category."
She sighed. "It'll take weeks to go through them all," she said.
"No, not at all," he said. "The Planet has about two-hundred employees, counting everyone from the paperboys to Stern's personal assistant, and only forty-four are suspects. Not all of them are a perfect match for the profile, though."
Lois nodded. "Okay, give me half the stack and I'll go through them."
"I thought we could get together this evening," Clark suggested carefully, "and, you know, go through them together."
"Nice try," she said wryly. "I'm still mad at you."
Clark's face fell.
Drat. He'd been so close.
**********
Jarod watched Lane and Kent talking to each other on the other side of the newsroom. He was too far away to understand what they were saying, but the tension between them was almost palpable and their body language spoke volumes.
He couldn't help but be reminded of Miss Parker when he saw how sarcastic and icy Lois could be when she was angry. Maybe he should arrange for the two of them to meet some day. It would certainly be ... interesting, he thought with wry amusement.
And then he suddenly thought of Parker's words this morning and he once again found himself puzzling over what exactly she'd meant. Her voice had lacked its usual venom when they'd talked on the phone earlier today. What had she been thinking about before he called her? he wondered.
If only she'd understand what he was telling her. They'd been enemies for so long that they'd both forgotten how close they'd been as children.
The Centre had ruined his life. It had robbed him of his family and of his childhood. It had taken him away from the people he loved and had used his talents to kill.
Jarod choked up a little, thinking of his brother, Kyle, and of all the Centre's other victims that had died because some people thought they had the right to play God.
In a way, Miss Parker was just as trapped as he'd been at the Centre. They'd murdered her mother and had led her to believe she'd committed suicide in an elevator, until he'd helped her find the truth.
They'd taken Thomas from her. Thomas, whom she'd loved so much -- enough to give up everything she knew for a life with him on the other side of the country.
They'd denied her that.
Jarod knew what that felt like, because thanks to the Centre he'd lost many people dear to him. He hadn't been able to stay with Nia and he hadn't been able to stay with Zoe. How could he put them in that kind of danger, when he knew that behind every street corner, in every dark alley, the Centre's Sweepers might be waiting for him?
Nia and Zoe were gone now, both part of a past he'd tried to make for himself when the Centre had robbed him of the one he should have had.
And only Parker was left.
**********
"Carter Havens," Clark said, shutting the conference room door behind himself.
Lois, pouring over her stack of files at the table, looked up. "What?"
"Carter Havens," Clark repeated. "After going through all the files in my stack, he's at the top of my list of suspects." He pulled up a chair and sat down at the table next to her. "What about you? Anything?"
She shook her head. "No. Nothing." She gave a sigh, sitting back in her chair. Then she gave him a curious look and a frown. "How did you manage to go through all those files so quickly anyway? I still have three quarters to go."
Clark shrugged. "Speed-reading classes," he said as casually as possible. In an attempt to get her to think about other things, he went back to talking about the story. "I had Jimmy check out Havens. Guess what, the guy practically doesn't exist. As far as Datanet's concerned, Carter Havens was born eleven months ago."
He opened the file and showed her Havens's fact file. "Look here. Eleven months ago he started at the Planet. His resume says before that he used to work for the Gotham Chronicle, but I called them and they've never heard of someone named Carter Havens."
"Sloppy," Lois commented. "Let me see."
He handed her the file and watched her scan the contents. This seemed like a good opportunity to broach another subject, he thought.
"Um, Lois? I was thinking that we could maybe ... go out tonight. Have dinner together." He looked at her hopefully.
She closed the file and gave him a long look. "Dinner?" she asked then.
He nodded. "We could rent a movie and watch it at your place later on. And there's something we have to talk about."
"No, really?" she said sarcastically.
Clark sighed.
Finally, Lois said, "I'll think about it."
Clark nodded. It was progress. And after tonight, he thought, there would be no more running out without explanations, no more hurt feelings on her side, no more pretending she didn't see him when he tried to make up for mistakes. After tonight, everything would be different.
In a good way, he hoped.
"I'll go tell Perry what we've found out," he then said, rising from his chair.
"Okay."
Clark left the conference room.
**********
Lois watched him go, feeling very conflicted inside. It was easy, pretending he wasn't there when he tried to apologize. In any event, it was easier than facing her complicated feelings for him. The thought of actually telling him how much it hurt when he pushed her away made her feel nervous.
She had to admit, though, that Clark was trying very hard to show her that he was sorry. But if running out on her caused him so much distress, why did he keep doing it? What was the reason?
He'd said they needed to talk about something. She was pretty sure he'd meant they had to talk about what made him constantly disappear in the middle of conversations. Maybe tonight would finally put an end to all of this. If she said yes.
Lois had to admit, though, that she was afraid of finding out what this big secret of his was. What if it destroyed everything? What if she was better off not knowing?
She was being silly, she thought then. Her job as an investigative reporter was to find out about other people's secrets. This was no different. And one thing was for sure: it couldn't stay the way it was between the two of them.
Lois had made her choice. She grabbed her stack of files from the table and exited the conference room, heading straight for Perry's office from there.
The Chief and her partner were just exiting the office when she walked up. The look on Clark's face wasn't very promising. It seemed like whatever he'd -- they'd -- planned for tonight would have to wait. Her heart sank. She'd wanted to talk to him badly.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
Clark sighed. "We're busy tonight."
"Busy with what?"
"Staking out Carter Havens's apartment," Perry answered. "And don't tell me you can't because you're not talking to Clark at the moment. You're a professional, Lois. Behave like one."
"But, Chief--" she began.
"Lo--is," Perry warned. "No complaints."
"You don't understand, Perry. Clark and I--"
"Whatever's the matter between you and Clark, I want you to solve it far away from my newsroom," the Chief said and left, making it very clear that he wasn't going to listen to anything she had to say.
"He's got it all wrong," she muttered to herself, then turned to Clark. "Looks like dinner will have to wait."
**********
Jarod was sitting in his hotel room, packing his bag with surveillance equipment. He was sure that Carter Havens was the man he was looking for. All he had to do now was get some proof.
The idea of that monster getting away made Jarod sick inside. Men like Carter Havens made him so angry that he sometimes thought he might forget about what he thought of killing other people.
Jarod finished packing, then sat down on the bed. He picked up the phone and dialed a number.
After a few moments, he heard a familiar female voice say, "I'm busy."
Jarod smiled, feeling strangely happy to hear Parker's voice. Over the last few weeks he'd realized how important it was to him that she was okay. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure she was okay.
"I know you are," he answered.
"Jarod," she said, her voice sounding weary. Normally she got all worked up when he called and flung insults at him. Was she feeling ill? But then he remembered their conversation this morning and thought that maybe she was thinking more clearly than ever. At least, he hoped so -- with all his heart.
"Are you okay?" he asked gently.
There was a pause before she answered, "Why do you care?"
He was taken aback by the question. Didn't she know by now that he cared about her? Sure, he teased and provoked her, but that didn't mean she wasn't important to him. Why, did she think, did he keep calling her?
"I care, because when I think of you, I see the girl who gave me my first kiss," he answered. "Because we were friends and because I worry about you. I don't like it that you're trapped at the Centre and can't get out. You're made for other things. Better things."
There was a long silence. When she finally spoke, her voice sounded strangely strangled. "It's not that easy, Jarod. You know that. I tried to leave. God knows I did. But where did it get me? They took Tommy away from me."
Jarod switched the receiver to the other ear. "Parker," he said softly, "they took Tommy and they took your mother. They took Kyle. They took so many people we both cared about." He paused. "Lyle, Raines, all of them, they're bad people, Parker. You don't fit in with them."
"Things aren't just black and white, Jarod," she answered. "There's so much gray."
"It's never easy, leaving behind things you know," he said to her. "It's scary, starting over someplace new." He paused. "Follow your heart, Parker. You'll do what's best for you. For all of us."
He disconnected the call, taking a deep breath. Oh, Parker, he thought. Be careful.
If they took her, too, he didn't know what he'd do. He couldn't survive another loss. Especially if it was her.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker looked at the cell phone in her hand, feeling confused and shaken. It was something completely new and scary, knowing that Jarod cared about her well being so much. They'd been enemies for so long that she had forgotten how much she'd once loved him.
She remembered Tommy and how he'd urged her to leave the Centre and come with him to Oregon. It had cost him his life. What Jarod was doing now was basically the same thing.
It worried her.
Miss Parker was surprised at how much the thought of Jarod's possible death affected her. She'd always thought that if it came to it, she would be able to shoot him. Now, if she thought about it, she realized that she never could pull the trigger on him. The last few years had bound them together in a way she couldn't explain.
Jarod was the key to her past.
Maybe, she thought, a weak feeling of hope flickering to life inside her, he was also the key to her future.
Miss Parker jumped up from her chair and bolted out of her office.
She found Sydney working with some of the Centre's test children and spotted Broots across the room, working at the computer. Quickly, she approached him.
"Broots," she said, "Jarod just called. See if you can trace the number."
"Miss Parker," Broots said, "Jarod always makes sure we can't trace him. He's way too smart."
"Do it!" she snapped.
She had a feeling that this time was different. Jarod had always liked to play games. An inner sense told her that he had made sure they could trace him this time, if only to leave some provoking message in his lair for her to find.
Broots looked truly frightened. "Okay," he said. "It'll take a while."
"Hurry." She turned on her heel, but then remembered something important. "And, Broots, you only report to me. Keep Lyle out of it."
"But, Miss Parker--" he protested.
She grabbed him by the collar. "Listen, I want you to do what I just told you." She released him. "Be quick."
And she left, leaving behind a stunned Broots and a confused Sydney.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Lois was still at the Planet in the morgue, although she was supposed to pick up Clark in less than half an hour so they could drive over to Havens's apartment together. She hurried to put back the old newspaper articles on the 'ghost murderer', and then sprinted down the stairs to the newsroom.
She was going to be late. Better hurry, she thought.
However, when she spotted Jarod Parker sitting at his desk, dressed in black jeans, a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket, she stopped.
"Hi," she said.
Parker looked up and smiled. "Hi."
Lois looked at him, biting her lower lip. Finally, she said, "Listen, I wanted to apologize for being so rude. But I didn't trust you and ... that's just the way I am."
"I know someone who's very much like you," Parker said. A faint smile crossed his face. "You remind me of her sometimes."
Lois could tell by the way he spoke of this woman that he cared for her. Was she his girlfriend? Wife? Then she saw an expression of longing and sadness cross his face and she knew she wasn't.
"Where is she?"
"Not with me," he answered. "Though I wish she was, sometimes. It would make it easier for me to protect her."
Lois almost laughed. That sounded like something Clark would say. "Protect her? From what?"
Parker hesitated. "Bad people," he then answered. "Dangerous people." He smiled. "And sometimes I think she needs protecting from herself." He paused, and then changed the subject. "How are things going with Clark? Are you two okay?"
Lois shrugged uncomfortably. "Okay is the wrong word. We're having some problems."
She frowned, wondering if she should tell him what was going on. For some reason, Jarod Parker looked like someone who might be able to understand and give some advice. Only yesterday she'd been suspicious of him, but the way he spoke of this woman led her to believe that he had to be one of the good guys and someone who could be trusted.
When she thought about it, he reminded her a lot of Clark.
"Clark's keeping things from me and it's driving me nuts!" she finally blurted out, before she could stop herself. "He's not honest with me and that makes me feel like he doesn't trust me, and that makes me mad, because I'd do anything for him. I don't keep things from him, either. At least," she amended with a grimace, "not anymore."
Parker didn't reply immediately. When he did, the reply took her aback. "Do you love him?"
Lois's eyes widened a little, but then she took the time to think about it. Did she love Clark? A difficult question.
"I'm not sure," she finally answered. "The fact that he has secrets from me makes our relationship very complicated."
Parker got up from his chair. "Well, I think you should figure that out for yourself. Maybe he's just afraid of telling you the truth, because he doesn't want to lose you. If he knows you love him, it might be easier for him."
Lois was amazed at how much sense that made. If Clark knew he wasn't going to lose her, no matter what it was that he had to tell her, he might finally be able to be honest with her. He'd told her after all that he was afraid of what she might say.
"Hey, that's good," she told Parker. "What are you, a psychologist?"
"Among other things," Parker answered. "I have to go now. Good luck."
She nodded, watching him leave. He probably didn't know it, but he'd just made things very easy for her.
**********
Lois finished packing her overnight bag, tossed her toothbrush on top of everything else and zipped it up. Then she changed from her business suit into a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater. Sitting down on her bed, she tied her Nike running shoes. Then she tied her hair into a ponytail, picked up her bag and headed outside.
On the way over to Clark's she wondered how she should broach the subject -- and when. Tonight was probably not such a good idea. They had work to do and didn't have time to talk about their relationship and the problems they had.
I love you.
The three scariest words in the world, she thought. She hadn't said them for a very, very long time. The question was, could she say them to Clark?
She sighed, pulling up in front of his apartment building. He was already waiting for her outside.
"Hi," he said, tossing his bag on the back seat.
"Hi," she replied.
He got in and buckled up. As she pulled out onto the street Clark looked at her curiously. "Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied, smiling nervously. "Why do you ask?"
"You're just a little quiet, that's all," he shrugged. "You're not still mad at me, are you?" he then asked carefully.
Lois sighed. "I don't know what I am, Clark. I'm probably just hurt. I hate it that you have secrets from me. I hate it that you don't trust me."
"I do trust you!" he protested. "Lois, believe me, I do."
"Sure."
Her voice was weary. How could she believe him? Words had to be proven through actions and his actions only proved that there were things he refused to tell her, even though they were partners and friends. Didn't he see that? Didn't he understand how much he hurt her when he ran off without telling her why?
They drove in silence the rest of the way. Sometimes there just didn't seem to be enough words to say what you were feeling.
**********
Jarod walked up to the backdoor of Carter Havens's apartment building and knelt down, inspecting the lock. Picking it would be easy.
Only a minute later, the door swung open to reveal a shadowy hallway. Jarod hurried inside and took the stairs two at a time. When he reached the third storey where Havens lived, he took a quick look around to check if anyone was looking. Then, deciding it was safe, he picked the lock to the apartment next door. It was vacant and hadn't been cleaned for weeks. Nobody would disturb him.
Jarod put his bag with equipment down on the floor, then unzipped it and took out two small surveillance cameras. He was sure Havens wasn't home yet, so he exited his stakeout spot and picked the lock to Havens's apartment. Once inside, he installed one of the two cameras in the bathroom and the other one in the large room that served as a living room, bedroom and dining room all at once.
He then approached the closet next to the bed. Aside from a table, a chair and a small refrigerator, it was the only other piece of furniture in the room. Carter Havens was obviously not a rich man.
Or, Jarod thought with an angry frown, he wasn't planning on staying here for long.
Jarod tried to open the closet door, but it was locked. It almost seemed like Havens was hiding something in there. Expertly, Jarod picked the lock and pulled open the door.
What he saw inside made him shiver. He clenched his fists angrily and took a deep breath.
Inside were newspaper articles, all featuring Henry Thomas's murders, along with pictures of the victims.
That was all it took to convince Jarod that Carter Havens was the man he was looking for. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't convince the police.
Quickly, Jarod shut and locked the door to the closet and left the apartment, making sure he left everything the way it had been.
When Carter Havens got home, a surprise would be waiting for him. And he would feel the same fear his victims had felt moments before he'd killed them.
**********
Lois unlocked the apartment door and walked inside, immediately heading for the living room window. It gave them a clear view into Carter Havens's apartment. Perry had arranged it so they could use this place for their purposes. It would do nicely. They had been forced to stake out people in cold, damp holes, so this apartment, which offered a couch and a bed to sleep on, was more than enough.
"Come here, Clark," she called, waving her hand. "Take a look."
He came to stand behind her and looked over her shoulder. "It'll work nicely."
He knelt down to unzip their bag with surveillance equipment and took out a video camera and a tripod to put it on. "Here, help me put this up," he said.
For the next fifteen minutes they worked together, setting up their equipment.
When they were finished, Clark asked, "And what do we do now?"
"We wait," she told him simply.
"I know. I meant, what do you want to do while we wait?" He walked over to his overnight bag. "I brought a stack of cards," he announced with a grin, holding them up.
She shook her head. "I'm not in the mood for games," she told him, sitting down on the couch.
"I'll even let you win," he offered, coming to sit with her.
"It's only fun if I beat you fair and square and you whimper for mercy," she said to him.
Clark sighed. "Okay, do you have any ideas? We can't just sit around and do nothing. We'll go nuts!"
"How 'bout we talk?" she finally suggested, her stomach fluttering nervously. Maybe, she thought, this was not such a bad opportunity after all. He couldn't just run off, could he? It would take a lot of nerve to leave her in the middle of a stakeout.
"Talk?" he asked.
"Yes. I think it's time we did."
Clark sighed and looked away, running his fingers through his hair. A strand fell over his forehead, making him look like a little boy in trouble. The look on his face only added to the appearance.
Lois smiled and reached up to brush it out of his face. He looked at her, his eyes nervous, his jaw set.
"I'll go first," she said. "I've been rehearsing this in my head for the last five hours, so let's see if I can get it right."
She paused, taking a moment to look at him carefully. This wasn't going to be easy, but somebody had to be the one to take the first step. And, damn it, she'd never been one to back down from challenges.
"Clark, you mean a lot to me," she said. "You're my best friend. And, you know, ever since you asked me out, I get all nervous and self-conscious every time you smile at me and I take my time every morning getting dressed so I look nice and I get butterflies in my stomach when you touch me."
She took a deep breath and avoided looking at him. Suddenly she couldn't stand to be that close to him anymore and jumped up from the couch. Wringing her hands, she started pacing.
"What I'm trying to say is, well, I ... like you. Very much. Very, very, very much," she added for emphasis. "I have no idea where this is going, you know, you and me and all that, but I want you to know that you'll never lose me. Whatever it is that you have to tell me, it won't make me hate you." She stopped to look at him. "I could never hate you."
The look on his face was one of pure joy. He was grinning from ear to ear. When she came to stand in front of him, he reached out to touch her hand.
"You have no idea how much that means to me," he said. "I was so nervous ... and afraid of what you might say and ...
As his voice trailed off, he looked a little lost all of a sudden and she reached out to stroke his cheek. Then she bent down and, gathering up all her nerve, planted a gentle kiss on his lips.
He returned it with such caring and obvious love that she was almost blown away. With a soft moan, he reached up to cup her cheek.
The position she was in was fine for talking, but a little awkward for this kind of activity, so she slipped onto his lap, straddling him, which made it much easier for both of them.
For some reason the way he held her and the way his tongue gently probed her mouth seemed awfully familiar and she wondered where she'd experienced this kind of kiss before. She had kissed Clark before, but not like this, and anyway, it wasn't his kiss she was remembering.
It came to her in a sudden flash.
With a soft shriek, she pulled away from him and stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Superman!" she gasped. "You kiss just like Superman!"
The look on Clark's face said everything.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker sat in her office, looking at a snapshot of herself with her father. Only a year ago she'd believed her father could do no wrong. Now, she knew better. He could be just as manipulative and full of lies as anybody else at the Centre. It didn't make her love him less, though. It made it difficult, however, to trust him.
Survival was all about knowing who to trust.
Jarod had taught her that less than a year ago when he'd locked her in the container along with Lyle, the weasel. At the Centre there was no one, aside from Angelo, who could be trusted. And Angelo, well, he wasn't exactly much help.
Sometimes you just had to let go of the people you loved in order to start over. She couldn't have it both ways. Either she stayed with the Centre and her father ... or she left and lost him. There was no way he'd let her go -- he'd proved that over a year ago when she'd announced she was moving to Oregon.
Parker knew that she'd reached a turning point in her life. The question was which path she was going to choose. At the end of one there was her father, along with Lyle and Sydney and Broots ... along with the lies and the secrets and the heartache that the Centre had always inflicted upon her.
At the end of the other there was Jarod, the Great Pretender. Waiting for her.
Miss Parker sighed heavily, running her hand over her face. She was facing tough choices and she didn't know if she could deal with the consequences of the decisions she made.
There was a knock at the door and Parker looked up, thankful for the opportunity to think about other things.
It was Broots. "I found him," he said.
Parker nodded. She'd known. Jarod loved leaving clues for her. He'd made sure she could find him if she wanted to.
Idiot, she thought. He was crazy. Or he was just incredibly brave. With Jarod you could never tell.
"He's in Metropolis," Broots said. "I traced the phone number to a Holiday Inn on Flynt Avenue."
She looked at him and saw that there was something else. "What?"
Broots sighed and seemed unsure whether to tell her about what else he'd found out. Eventually he said, "He's registered there as Jarod Parker."
Miss Parker's eyes widened. "Parker?" she asked disbelievingly. Did Jarod think that was funny? He'd done some pretty nasty things to provoke her, but this ...
"Where's Sydney?" she wanted to know.
"Working with some of the children," Broots replied.
"Tell him I want to see him."
Broots nodded. "Is ... everything okay?"
She glared at him. "Go!" she snapped.
**********
Miss Parker paced angrily in her office as she waited for Sydney to arrive. Jarod was his Pretender, so Syd should be able to explain what the fuck Wonder-Boy thought he was doing, using her name for one of his Pretends. It just wasn't funny.
To think she'd been contemplating leaving the Centre and going with him ...
He hadn't changed, she thought bitterly. He didn't care at all. He was still out to provoke her and tease her.
Nothing had changed.
When the door opened and Sydney walked in, she immediately directed her anger at Jarod at him. "He's calling himself Parker!" she snapped furiously. "Your Pretender's running around out there calling himself Jarod Parker!"
Sydney looked at her, a little taken aback. "Coincidence?" he suggested weakly.
She snorted. "Sure! Hah! Coincidence, my ass!"
Sydney crossed his arms in front of his chest. "He's trying to say something, Parker. Put together everything he's sent and told you this time and then try to figure out why he's calling himself Parker. It has to mean something."
"Yeah! It means he's still the same annoying jerk he always was!"
"Parker ..."
She held up her hand to stop whatever it was he wanted to say. She didn't have time to listen to Sydney defend Jarod again.
After a few moments of trying to come up with ways of hurting Jarod when she found him, Sydney's words finally registered.
Jarod was trying to say something. What? That he still laughed at her attempts to recapture him? That she still amused him?
'Put together everything you know ...'
'Who do you know -- really?'
'We all have secrets hidden deep.'
'I care ...'
'I care.'
The answer came to her suddenly, taking her by surprise. Her eyes widened and she grasped the edge of the desk to steady herself.
"He's my family," she whispered. "That's what he's saying, Syd." Parker looked up at the man, her eyes wide with surprise. To her disgust, she felt a lump forming in her throat as tears rose in her eyes.
Her voice soft and strangled, she repeated, "He's saying he's my family."
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
"That's what you couldn't tell me," Lois said, taking a step away from him. Only moments ago she'd been in his arms, losing herself in his kiss, and now everything had changed.
The world had changed.
"Lois ..." He looked almost pained. "I'm sorry ... I wanted to be the one to--"
"You're him. Superman. You're ... you're ..."
She put a hand to her forehead. Was she dreaming? Running a fever? Going crazy? Was her partner, the man she'd been working with for one and a half years, really the superhero she'd fallen for so hard all that time ago?
"I wanted to tell you," he said. "I did."
Lois remembered the other night at his apartment when she'd come to tell him about Parker. He'd been in the middle of telling her something when he'd gotten that look on his face and had practically thrown her out of his apartment.
'Lois, I'm Superman.' That was what he'd wanted to say.
"I should have seen it," she suddenly said. "I should have realized you were ..." A humorless laugh escaped her. "Look at me! Prize-winning investigative journalist. I didn't ... I couldn't ..."
She shook her head, unbelieving.
Clark gave her a lopsided smile. "That's the whole idea," he said.
"You lied to me," she said, her heart suddenly aching. All the times he'd come to see her in her apartment, all the times he'd given her exclusive interviews -- he'd lied every single time. "You deceived me. You made me believe you were two different people."
"Not to hurt you," he said. "Never to hurt you."
She took a deep breath, wondering what to say now. She didn't even know what to think! It all made sense, all of a sudden. His strange behavior, his lame excuses and his running off: it all made sense now.
Clark was Superman.
And Superman? Who was he?
"And Superman?" she asked. "He's ..."
"Not real," Clark replied. "He's a disguise -- a way for me to help people without giving up being who I am."
"And who are you?" she asked, a certain bitterness in her voice. Was he Clark Kent, farmboy from Kansas? Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet? Clark Kent, other half of Lane and Kent? Clark Kent, superhero? Visitor from outer space? Kryptonian?
She didn't know anymore. Somehow it was hard to tell all of a sudden.
"Just Clark," he answered softly, coming to stand with her. "Just ... me."
Lois looked at him, searching his eyes. There was caring there and love -- the same things she'd felt in his kiss. There was regret, too. And ... uncertainty. He was nervous, she realized with a certain amount of wonder. Superman was nervous, because he wasn't sure what she was going to do now.
She'd promised him something and she wasn't about to break that promise. She couldn't. He had lied to her, he'd deceived her, he'd made her feel incredibly stupid ... but she still cared for him. Very much. Whether he was Clark or Superman, ordinary guy from Kansas or strange visitor from another planet, the fact remained that he was the only one for her.
She realized now he always had been.
This changed everything, but they would manage. She was hurt and angry, but she would move on. And he'd come with her wherever she went. She knew him well enough to know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
She realized suddenly how hard it must have been for him, seeing her throw herself at someone who wasn't real, while pretending she didn't see him, Clark.
"Give me some time," she said, "to clear my head and figure out a few things."
"I did what I did you protect you. And my parents." He looked at her, doing his best to explain. "I did it because I couldn't bear to lose you -- ever. And later ... I was afraid."
She nodded. "It's thoughtful, I guess. In a strange kind of way."
"It wasn't about deceiving you," he told her with a grimace. "I hated hiding this from you. I guess I don't have much of an excuse. All I can say is I'm sorry you had to find out for yourself."
"Well, you wanted to tell me," she threw in. "Today at the Planet you said there was something we had to talk about. You meant this, didn't you?"
Clark nodded.
There was silence for a few moments as Lois tried to sort out her feelings. She knew Clark -- the real Clark, not the superhero, not the celebrity, not the man in tights and a cape, but the man she'd worked with all this time. He had problems like everyone else and he made mistakes like everyone else. Keeping his secret from her for so long had undoubtedly been one of them, but she believed him when he said he hadn't meant to hurt her. She knew him well enough to know that he would never willingly hurt anybody. Going by his own weird kind of logic, he'd thought he was doing what was best.
The fact that he cared -- so much he apparently couldn't think straight sometimes -- made him so lovable and special.
"I'm hurt, because you lied to me," she told him.
"I know," he said softly. "And that's okay."
"And it's ... unexpected! I mean, I knew you were ... different, but I had no idea ...!"
"I know it's a lot to take in and--"
He broke off all of a sudden and got The Look on his face. She'd seen it countless times before, but now she finally recognized it for what it was. "What do you hear?" she asked.
"Car chase," he replied absently. "I have to go."
She nodded.
"But not if you don't want me to. I know there's still lots of things we have to talk about."
"Go," she told him. "We'll finish this later."
"Okay. I'll be back as soon as possible." He turned, but then hesitated. "And, Lois, please don't do anything impulsive while I'm gone. Just stay here and watch the apartment, okay?"
She rolled her eyes. "Just go!" she laughed.
He nodded and vanished in a blur. The door opened and closed so quickly she barely noticed it.
"Whoa!" she managed. A smile crept across her face. "He's just full of surprises."
**********
Jarod sat in the empty apartment, watching the screen of the small portable TV in his hand. Carter Havens hadn't shown up yet, but Jarod was confident that it wouldn't take much longer.
While he waited, he planned his next move. He'd done this countless times before and was very good at it. Almost scaring the bad guy to death was one of his many talents. He wanted Carter Havens to feel the same fear and panic that those women had felt.
So Jarod waited patiently, his eyes grim, his jaw set.
Finally the door to Havens's apartment opened and a shadow appeared in the room. When the light flickered to life, Jarod was able to identify Havens who tossed his jacket on the couch and walked over to the refrigerator to get himself a can of beer.
Jarod moved.
Moments later he stood in front of Havens's apartment door and reached for the knob. It was unlocked. Havens was getting careless, Jarod thought. Overconfidence could be dangerous.
Jarod slammed open the door.
Havens started. "What the hell--"
He didn't get any further. Jarod took two steps in his direction and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back.
"Who--"
"Your worst nightmare," Jarod replied, even before Havens had finished his sentence. "I know who you are -- who you really are ... Henry Thomas, isn't that right?"
Havens tried to twist free, but Jarod's grip was merciless.
"What do you want?"
Jarod twisted his arm further until Havens yelped in pain.
"This isn't about me," Jarod replied. "It's about Carla Freemark and Jodie Hendriks and Mary Jefferson. And all the other women you kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed."
That did it. Havens suddenly went completely still. After a few moments, he said in a breathless whisper, "I've never heard those names before."
"Of course not," Jarod replied acidly. "They weren't humans for you, were they? Why would their names interest you?"
"Listen ... whatever your name is--"
"Jarod."
"Jarod," Havens repeated. "I don't know those women. I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."
Jarod released him and shoved him across the room. Havens stumbled and fell, then scrambled as far away as he could. Panting, he sat up against the wall, his eyes filled with terror.
Jarod approached him menacingly. "Well, I guess I'll just have to refresh your memory, won't I?"
**********
Lois was at the window the moment she heard voices over the directional microphone. One of them sounded awfully familiar.
"What the-- Parker!"
She reached for the binoculars to get a better look. She'd been right; Jarod Parker was in Havens's apartment -- and if she wasn't mistaken he wasn't there as an FBI agent.
"... have to refresh your memory, won't I?"
Lois lowered the binoculars, biting her lower lip. What the heck was that guy up to? She was pretty sure this wasn't the FBI's standard procedure -- unless the rules had changed while she hadn't been looking. Either Parker's superiors had no idea he was here or ...
She took another look through the binoculars. Parker had tied Havens to a chair and was now gagging him.
"We wouldn't want to disturb the neighbors, would we?" she heard him say. His voice was so cold and merciless that it sent shivers down her spine. "We wouldn't want anybody watching, either. Right?"
Lois had a bad feeling about where this was going. Indeed, Parker walked over to the window and pulled the drapes closed.
"Drat!" Lois exclaimed. Frustrated, she tossed the now-useless binoculars onto the couch.
Over the microphone she could still hear Parker's voice, saying, "Do you recognize this? It's a knife like the one you used to slit Carla Freemark's throat. It's sharp. Wanna feel?"
Lois heard a muffled reply.
"I thought so," Parker said. "Now, I'd like to hear you admit that you were the one who raped and killed those women," Parker went on. "And, believe me, I know how to make people talk. It's a gift."
Lois's mouth went dry. What was he going to do? Torture Havens? Her heart started beating quickly. She had to do something. Parker couldn't just go and execute people, no matter what they'd done.
Frantically, she checked her watch. Clark had been gone for about fifteen minutes. There was no time to wait for him to get back.
"Are you going to cooperate?" Parker asked. There was a sound, then Jarod said, "What's that?"
There was a sharp ripping sound as the tape was removed from Havens's mouth, followed by a painful scream. "Owww!"
"Oh, I'm sorry." There was a pause, then Parker said in a low, menacing voice, "Now, tell me, do the names ring a bell? Or do you need me to refresh your memory a little more?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Okay, that's it!" Parker snapped furiously. "Say goodbye."
That was it. Lois started towards the door and threw it open, then broke into a run as she headed down the stairs.
**********
Jarod cut the rope he'd used to tie up Havens and then grabbed the man by the collar. The apparent lack of remorse and the arrogance with which Havens was handling himself, made Jarod furious -- so furious he had to try hard to control himself from tossing Havens out the window onto the street three stories below.
What he did do, was lift Havens from the chair and slam him against the wall. With a smile that he hoped looked a little like a madman's, Jarod looked at the blade in his hand.
"I wonder how Carla felt when you killed her," he said softly. "I bet you'd like to know, too, huh?"
Havens's eyes widened in terror. "What--?"
Jarod smiled. "Here's your chance to find out."
"No!" Havens started to twitch, trying to free himself. "No! Don't! I-- I admit it! I killed those women! I killed Carla Freemark and Mary Jefferson and all the others. They didn't deserve any better!"
Jarod let him go. "Hey, that wasn't that difficult, was it?" he said with grin.
As Havens sank to the floor, Jarod reached into the pocket of his jacket to retrieve a small cassette recorder. Triumphantly, he rewound it and pushed 'play'.
"They didn't deserve any better!" came Havens's voice from the tape.
"The police will be very interested in this," Jarod told Havens. "It'll make a nice--"
He didn't get any further.
Suddenly the door flew open, slamming into the wall. Jarod immediately recognized the woman in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" he asked incredulously.
This was dangerous! What did she think was doing--
"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Is this standard FBI procedure?"
"Ms. Lane! You shouldn't--"
All of a sudden, the air was knocked from his lungs and he felt his knees give out from under him. Stupid, Jarod! he thought angrily. He should've paid attention to what he was doing, not to Lois Lane.
Carter Havens pulled back and punched Jarod's face. Moments later, the taste of blood filled Jarod's mouth.
"Hey!" he heard Lois Lane yell. "Stop right there!"
Jarod felt dizzy and sick. His head was aching and he felt blood dripping from his nose. Any moment he was going to throw up, he thought disgustedly.
Carter Havens used Jarod's distraction for one final blow. With a cry of rage, he grabbed Jarod around the waist and lifted him from his feet. By the time Jarod had realized what was happening, it was too late.
The sound of shattering glass surrounded him and he felt a stinging sensation all over his face as the tiny fragments penetrated his flesh. And then there was nothing but the feel of wind against his skin as he fell three stories to the ground below.
**********
"No!" Lois shouted, her heart almost stopping for a moment.
She saw Havens smash Jarod through the window and for moment everything seemed like a surreal dream. When she realized it wasn't, fear for her own safety temporarily shoved her concern for Parker to the back of her mind. Carter Havens was obviously crazy and he wasn't going to stop at throwing Parker from the third floor.
Lois and Havens moved almost simultaneously, both diving for the knife that Jarod had dropped. Havens was a split second faster and came to his feet, holding the sharp blade directed at Lois.
She stopped for a moment, watching Havens approach her. When he'd come within five feet of her, her knowledge of Tae Kwon Doe instictively took over. With a kick she disarmed him, sending the knife flying across the room. Havens momentary distraction made it easy to send him to the ground with an expert kick to his stomach and a forceful right cross. When he tried to get up, she sent him flying with a powerful kick to his face.
He landed on the floor, unconscious.
Taking a deep breath, she muttered to herself, "Where's Superman when I need him?"
"Right here."
She whirled and saw Clark, dressed in his usual clothes standing in the hallway. Lois breathed a sigh of relief, shutting her eyes briefly.
"What's going on?" Clark asked, walking over to her. "I thought I'd asked you to--"
"-- wait. I know," she finished for him. "I'll explain later. You have to take Parker to the hospital. Havens just threw him out the window."
"What?" Clark said incredulously.
"Hurry!" she said, shoving his arm. "I'll stay here and make sure he doesn't go anywhere."
"Lois, what if he wakes u--"
"Clark, don't fuss! Just go!"
With a stern look and a "Be careful", he disappeared.
**********
Lois and Clark were sitting next to each other on one of the long waiting benches in the hospital's hallway. Clark was feeling terrible that he hadn't been there in time to stop Jarod from getting injured. If only he'd let the police handle the situation and had stayed with Lois. If he'd been a few seconds faster ...
"Hey," he heard Lois say softly. "It's not your fault."
He looked at her, caught. "How'd you know?"
"That you're obsessing? You get that look on your face." She smiled. "I'm pretty good at figuring out what's going on inside that head of yours."
He couldn't help but smile. "It's your business, looking beyond the external. Right?"
"Right."
Clark couldn't quite believe yet that she knew everything about him. What was really amazing was the way she was handling the whole situation. There were no unjust accusations, no fits, no 'I never want to see you again.'
He couldn't even begin to describe how relieved he was. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his chest.
The future was going to be interesting, he thought with a smile.
"We still have a lot to talk about," he said to her.
"Yes," she replied. "We do." She looked past him and when he followed her gaze, he saw a doctor leaving Jarod's room. "But right now we should be worrying about other things," Lois said, getting to her feet.
Clark followed.
"How is he?" he immediately asked.
"He's going to be as good as new," the doctor replied.
"Thank God," Lois said.
Clark breathed a sigh of relief, a broad smile spreading over his face. "How badly is he hurt?" he then wanted to know.
"Considering what happened, it's really a miracle," the doctor answered. "He has a minor concussion, two cracked ribs and a broken arm. The fact that he landed in a garbage dumpster undoubtedly prevented serious injuries." The doctor looked up from his files. "I'm surprised at how fast he seems to be recuperating. He'll probably be able to go home tomorrow."
"Can we see him?" Clark asked.
"Sure, but don't be too long."
"We won't. Thanks, doctor."
Clark and Lois entered Jarod's room and Clark was happy to see that Jarod was obviously feeling better. His arm was in a cast, he had a Band-Aid over his left eyebrow and his face was covered with tiny cuts, but other than that he seemed okay.
"Hi," Jarod said when he saw them. He sounded a little down, but that was understandable. "They told me you were here."
"We were worried," Clark explained. "You looked awful when Superman brought you here."
Jarod grimaced. "I guess I felt pretty awful, though I don't remember much of what happened. Hey, thank Superman for me if you see him, okay? I owe him."
Clark smiled, exchanging a look with Lois. "I think Superman's just glad he could help. You don't owe him anything."
Lois returned his smile. Clark was amazed at how good it felt to have her in on the secret. It made it much easier to be himself around her. It felt great to have someone to share these private moments with, knowing the other person knew exactly how you felt.
"Oh," Lois suddenly said, "I think you'll be happy to know that Carter Havens aka Henry Thomas is behind bars. They're investigating him and the DA's confident that they'll get enough proof to put him on trial."
"Great!" Jarod exclaimed. "I'm very happy to hear that."
"We should probably be leaving," Clark said after a few moments. "The doctor said you need rest."
"Thanks for coming to see me," Jarod said with a smile. "I hate hospitals. But," he added with grin, "I love the chocolate ice cream I get here."
Lois laughed. "You know, Jarod, to quote Humphrey Bogart, 'I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.'"
Jarod looked at her blankly. "Who's Humphrey Bogart?"
**********
Clark waited for Lois to join him, then pulled the door to Jarod's room shut behind them. They stood in front of the door for a few moments, just looking at each other. He smiled.
"How about we get out of here and find someplace to talk?" she suggested. "And, maybe, more than that," she added with a sly grin and nudged him with her hip. "Because, you know, you kiss pretty amazingly."
He grinned. "That goes right back to you, ma'am."
"Come on," she said, taking his hand.
When they started walking down the hallway together, Clark spotted a woman in a pair of jeans, a red blouse and a black leather jacket heading their way. She looked like she was in one heck of a hurry. The look on her face reminded her a little of the one that Lois got when she was hot in pursuit of a story.
"Excuse me," she said. "I'm looking for someone. Are you Lois Lane and Clark Kent?"
Clark exchanged a glance with Lois. "Yes," he replied.
"I'm looking for this man," she said, holding up a picture. It showed Jarod Parker. "Do you know where I can find him?"
"He's in room three hundred four," Lois replied.
The woman's professional and determined appearance slipped. Suddenly she looked worried, but she hid it quickly. "Is he injured?" she wanted to know.
"He'll be okay," Clark replied.
"Who are you?" Lois wanted to know.
"Someone ... he grew up with," she replied after a moment of hesitation. Then she smiled and Clark had the feeling she didn't do that often. "Thanks," she said.
"You're welcome."
Clark watched as she walked up to the door and took a breath before she opened it and disappeared inside.
"Who do you think she is?" he asked Lois.
She smiled. "I don't know for sure. But I have the feeling he'll be happy to see her."
They continued their way down the hall. "You never did call Washington to find out if he really is with the FBI, did you?" Clark asked after a few moments.
"Nope," she replied. "You won't believe this, but I don't think I really want to know."
"Me, either." Clark paused for a moment. "What about the surveillance tapes? Did you give them to Perry?"
Lois shook her head. "Nope. You?"
"Uh-uh." He looked serious when he continued, "I may not agree with his methods, but I must admit they are incredibly effective. I have no idea who he is, but I don't want to get him in trouble, you know?"
"Yeah. I know what you mean." She laughed. "I like him. To think I was so incredibly suspicious when I first met him ..."
Clark grinned. "Do you think we'll see him again?"
Lois shrugged. "Who knows? If there's one thing I've learned this week, it's that life is full of surprises."
They walked in silence for a few moments, then Lois said thoughtfully, "You know, I think I'll dye it back. My hair, I mean. Red's just not my color."
"I was just starting to get used to it!" Clark protested.
She laughed. "We can just include that topic in the nice long conversation we're going to have now. My place or yours?" she asked.
Clark grinned wryly. "Well, actually," he drawled, "I was thinking more along the lines of Paris ..."
**********
Jarod was lying with his eyes closed in a slight state of drowsiness when he heard the door to his room open. Turning his head, he opened his eyes and immediately felt a slight jolt of panic when he saw who it was. He hadn't thought she'd find him so soon. He'd wanted to be able to walk away -- run -- if she didn't come alone.
Unfortunately, things hadn't quite gone as planned.
"How'd you find me?" he asked, knowing the answer, but thinking he should give her the opportunity to gloat.
When she answered, her voice lacked the smugness he'd expected. "I followed my heart," she replied.
"You have one?" he quipped with a wry grin.
She pulled up a chair and sat down next to his bed. "Don't go blabbing about it," she replied, deadpan. "I have a reputation to protect, you know."
"I won't tell if you don't," he promised.
The teasing banter quickly made way for reality. Jarod knew what she would have to do. He had always known what would happen if she caught up with him and for some reason or another he wasn't able to escape. He just hadn't believed it would be so soon. Actually, he hadn't believed it would ever happen.
"Psst," he hissed and added in a confidential whisper, "I'm not really here. Pretend you don't see me."
She sighed. "You're the Pretender, Jarod. Not me."
"Just try. It's not that difficult."
Parker got up from the chair and walked over to the window. "I came alone," she said after a few moments. "Nobody knows I'm here, aside from Broots and Sydney. And you'll be long gone before the Centre finds out what they know."
Jarod couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "You're ... letting me go?" he asked cautiously.
She nodded, her back still turned to him.
Jarod straightened up, wincing at the pain in his chest. "What about you? If they find out you let me get away ..."
"Don't worry about me, Jarod," she said.
"But I do!" he protested. "I worry about you all the time."
She didn't reply, but he could see her sigh. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and got to his feet. For a moment he thought he'd die of agony, but then the pain in his chest subsided and he let out a sigh.
Slowly he approached her and reached out to touch her. She didn't turn, didn't even wince, when he cupped her shoulder with his hand.
"Come with me," he said, not quite sure himself where the words had come from, yet knowing that he was saying the right thing.
"Jarod ..."
"We'll fight them together," he continued, not giving her the time to object. "And we'll take them down together."
She finally turned around and looked at him. In her eyes he could see what she would never say aloud. Something passed between them; an unspoken agreement and a silent promise that wherever one of them went, the other would follow.
Jarod smiled, pulling her against his chest for a warm embrace -- something they'd both needed for a long, long time. She hugged him gently, carefully, making sure she didn't hurt him.
The world was changing.
THE END
Pretend You Don't See Me
by ChrisH
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
"No, I'm not saying I don't like it. I'm just saying ... well ..."
Lois raised an eyebrow, looking at her partner inquiringly as they exited the elevator. "Yes?"
"Well ..." Clark squirmed. "Forget it. It looks great."
"No. You hate it."
"No!" With a soft smile he added, "You're beautiful, Lois. You'll always be beautiful, no matter what you do to your hair. I like the new color. I do. Really."
She sighed. "I knew it. I knew it was a stupid idea."
"No. It was just ... creative," he finally said. "Impulsive. You. It ... fits. It does. I swear."
"Clark ..." she began with a sigh, knowing he was just being his normal polite self. She knew he would never tell her to her face that he hated it. It just wasn't like him. But the expression on his face when she'd picked him this morning had been abundantly clear.
"Lois, Clark, my office!" a voice suddenly shouted, interrupting their conversation. Lois was grateful for the diversion.
Perry was standing behind his desk, talking to someone who was sitting in the chair on the other side, when Lois and Clark entered his office.
"What's up, Chief?" Lois asked.
"Lois, Clark, come in. I want you to meet someone." Perry gestured for them to shut the door. Then he looked up and his eyes widened. "Lois, darlin', what did you do to your hair?"
Lois gave Clark a look that said, 'See?'
"Don't ask, Chief," she finally said with a sigh.
"I like it," the man in the chair said with a smile. He rose and Lois saw that he was even taller than Clark at about six foot three. "I'm Jarod Parker," he told them and offered his hand. Lois and Clark took turns shaking it.
"Jarod, this is Lois Lane and Clark Kent," Perry said to Parker, then informed Lois and Clark, "Mr. Parker is going to be working here."
"Oh, he is?" Lois asked.
Clark smiled. "Hi, welcome to the Daily Planet."
"Thanks."
Clark waited for Lois to say something and when she didn't, he gently nudged her arm. "Excuse Lois," Clark finally said, when it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything. "She's still in shock about her hair," he joked.
Parker laughed. Lois gave him a glare, which she then directed at Clark. "I hope you like it here, Mr. Parker," she finally said. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Clark and I have work to do."
She brushed past Clark and out the door, leaving the three men in stunned silence.
"Is she always like this?" Jarod asked.
"She can be a little moody sometimes," Clark answered sheepishly. "I'll go and find out what's wrong."
"Be careful," Perry advised with a grin.
Clark left the office in a hurry. He found Lois at her desk, sipping at her coffee.
"Lois," he said when he approached her. "Is something wrong?"
"I don't like him," she said.
"What?"
"I don't like him. He's hiding something."
"Lois ..."
"Clark, don't give me one of your lectures." She glanced in the direction of the office where Jarod Parker was engrossed in a conversation with the Editor-in-Chief. "I know him. I've seen him before."
"What?"
"I can't remember where, though."
"Lois ..."
Just then the phone rang. Lois frowned. Her eyes still fixed on Jarod Parker, she reached for the receiver. "Lois Lane," she said absently. "Bobby, hi." Her attention snapped into place. "What've you got?"
She looked at Clark, waving her hand at him in a manner that suggested she wanted him to leave. He rolled his eyes, gave an exaggerated sigh and removed himself from her desk.
Clark strolled over to his own desk and plopped down in his chair, thinking that this was going to be a long day.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker entered her office, switched on the light and shut the door. She walked over to her desk, sat down and let out a long breath. One of these days, she was going to kill him. Seriously, he was a weasel. The thought that he was also her brother made her skin crawl. Lyle was dirt.
Finally, after about five minutes, a soft beeping sound brought her attention back to her dark office. She looked at her computer screen, seeing the little icon at the bottom blink, declaring "You've Got Mail!"
Jarod!
'What are you up to now?' she wondered. 'What kind of game are we playing this time?'
The message was simple -- only one question.
WHO DO YOU KNOW -- REALLY?
She frowned. What the hell was he talking about? Jarod had sent the weirdest things over the last few years; she'd had to solve many riddles posed by him. But what was he trying to say this time?
Suddenly the door flew open.
"Knock!" she told the intruder angrily.
"Sorry, Miss Parker, but you really should see this." Broots was excited and out of breath, having sprinted all the way to her office to tell her.
She raised her eyebrows. "Jarod?"
Broots nodded. "Yep."
She jumped up from her chair. Maybe this time, finally, after all the years of chasing him and missing him by inches, she would get there in time.
After a few moments she realized what it was she was thinking and muttered to herself, "Who am I kidding?"
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
"Okay, Lois, I need the story on the election!" Perry called, standing in the door to his office.
Lois held up her hand. "Five minutes, Chief!"
"Clark!" Perry looked around the newsroom, which was bustling with activity, only to discover that his other top-notch reporter was nowhere to be found. "Where the Sam Hill is that boy now?" he growled angrily.
Lois looked up from her screen, taking a glance around the Pit herself. She frowned. Clark had been here just minutes ago. Hadn't he?
"Lois, where's your partner?"
She shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? He never tells me where he's off to."
Perry muttered something under his breath and followed up with, "Damn. I still need his article about the police raffle."
Suddenly the volume on the television set was turned up and a group of people gathered in front of it.
"Hey, Chief, take a look at this!" someone called.
Lois jumped up from her desk and hurried across the newsroom to stand with her colleagues. Perry joined them only seconds later. On the screen, Superman was zipping in and out of the burning Metropolis General Hospital.
"The fire broke out about half an hour ago. At this point, the cause of the fire is unknown, but arson does not seem likely. Superman arrived at the scene only a few moments after the fire broke out and started to put out the flames and take the patients to safety. I'm Gloria Campos, reporting live for LNN from Metropolis General."
"Lois," Perry said, "I want you down there!"
Lois turned, headed over to her desk and LAN'd her election article to Perry before heading for the elevators. As she waited impatiently, she was joined by Parker, which only worsened her bad mood.
"What?" she asked, not caring if she sounded rude.
"Mr. White told me to go with you."
"I already have a partner," she told him coldly.
Parker looked around. "Apparently, your partner's not here."
"Look, Parker, I don't need your help. Most likely, Clark's down at Metropolis General anyway. I'll meet him there."
"I'm still coming with you."
Lois sighed in defeat. "Okay. Do whatever you like."
"Oh, and please call me Jarod."
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker joined Broots and Sydney, who were standing in front of Jarod's newest 'present', obviously trying to figure out what it was supposed to tell them. A frown crossed her face when she saw what it was.
Two cardboard, life-size imitations of Lyle and her father stood in the middle of the room. The odd thing was, they were both missing their faces. In their place was simply a white blotch of paint.
"Has Jarod taken up painting again?" she commented dryly.
Broots shook his head. "I think he's trying to tell us something."
Miss Parker slowly turned her head to look at the man. "I was joking, Broots," she told him patiently, or at least as patiently as she could be.
"Oh!" He had the grace to look sheepish. "You don't do that very often. I guess I'm not used to it."
She just rolled her eyes. "Did something come with this?"
Sydney handed her a white envelope with her name on it. She ripped it open and pulled out a sheet of paper.
WE ALL HAVE SECRETS HIDDEN DEEP.
ASK YOURSELF:
DO YOU KNOW THE PEOPLE YOU TRUST?
"Oh, boy," Miss Parker said sarcastically. "He's started to play my conscience."
"But we know that Lyle isn't the man he appears to be. He has many secrets," Sydney reminded her. "Secrets so dark and horrific that we can't even begin to imagine what kind of man he really is."
Miss Parker folded up the piece of paper and put it back in the envelope. Then she took a step closer to the cardboard figures. She knew that Lyle was a bastard -- and a murderer. And her father ... well, she had had to realize that she didn't know him as well as she thought she did. But then, secrets were part of the Centre -- everybody had them. Hell, the Centre consisted of nothing but secrets and lies.
Ultimately, the only person she could trust was herself.
And what about Jarod? a voice in the back of her mind asked her. He's never lied to you. He's always been honest with you. Well, most of the time. Do you trust him?
She shook herself mentally. This was not the time to contemplate her complicated relationship with Jarod. She couldn't allow herself to think of him as anything else but what he was: a Pretender. The Pretender she had been ordered to recapture and bring back to the Centre.
Images of Jarod as a boy flashed through her mind. He'd been her friend. Later he'd told her that she'd been the girl to give him his first kiss.
And now ... now he was hunted by the Centre and she was the huntress, who could not show compassion for her prey. Things were complicated between the two of them, to say the least.
"Parker?"
Sydney's voice brought her back to the present.
"I have to go," she told him abruptly and turned on her heel, heading for the door.
"Where?" Broots called after her.
She didn't answer.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Jarod had trouble keeping up with Lois as she headed back to the Daily Planet after getting her quote for her article from Superman. She had barely acknowledged his presence during their visit to the site, so he'd wandered off somewhere down the line to talk to police officers and firefighters. He had to keep up his Pretend as an investigative reporter, after all.
Superman had been busy most of the time and hadn't given interviews to any of the reporters, aside from Lois Lane. Jarod couldn't help but wonder what kind of relationship the Man of Steel had with a certain ace reporter, but he figured it wasn't any of his business. He was in Metropolis for another reason.
Henry Thomas, a serial rapist and murderer, who'd done unspeakable things in several cities all over the country, had moved to this one and taken a cover as a reporter at one of Metropolis's most popular and respected newspapers. Problem was, the FBI didn't have a clue about Thomas's whereabouts; as far as Jarod knew, no one did. He'd stumbled upon Thomas by accident. Unfortunately Thomas wasn't only a rapist and murderer, he was also a master of disguise, who took a new name and look in each new city, which meant that Jarod had no idea who he was looking for. As far as Jarod knew, Thomas stayed in a city as long as possible and only moved on when things got too dangerous for him. Who knew how long he'd been living in Metropolis under a false name?
Another day, another city, another name, another Pretend.
That was Jarod's life. That and running from the Centre and a certain woman who worked there.
It wouldn't take Parker long to find out where he was this time and she'd be on his tail faster than you could say 'speeding bullet'. Until then, however, he was going to do what he'd always done best: pretend.
**********
Lois finished up her article on the fire, not bothering to edit it beyond running it through the spell check. She LAN'd it to Perry, who was in his office at the moment, talking on the phone, and who would stay there for quite some time, then started packing up.
"Are you leaving?"
She tiredly turned her head to look at Parker, who'd sneaked up behind her. "It's late," she said.
"PEZ?" he offered, holding up a Spider-Man PEZ dispenser.
"How old are you? Five?" she asked caustically.
He shrugged, grinning wryly. "Say hi to your partner. Does he do that often? Disappear and don't come back?"
"He always shows up again," Lois replied.
"I guess you're right," Parker said, pointing his finger over her shoulder at the elevators.
She turned, seeing the doors slide open to reveal a tired-looking Clark Kent, who was leaning against the back of the elevator car, his hands in his pockets, his hair a mess, his tie askew. He strolled out, whistling to himself, and headed down the ramp.
"Hey," he greeted them cheerfully. "You still here?" he asked Lois.
"I had to wrap up my article on the fire at Metropolis General. Where were you?" Her voice was sharp and impatient, with just a hint of annoyance shining through. She hated having him dump the workload on her so he could disappear for hours on end and then show up again with some lame excuse about how he had to return a library book.
Where did he go when he pulled his continual vanishing act? Surely not the library or his doctor's office. He had to think she was stupid if he thought she actually believed all his excuses.
And ever since their almost-first date, she had the feeling that he was running away from her when he disappeared.
"Uh, I ..." She could almost see the little wheels turning in his head at hyper-speed. "I had to meet a source," he finally said.
"Oh, did you?"
"Yeah." And he grinned that mega-watt smile that made other woman go weak at their knees. But not Lois Lane.
"Really. And why didn't you take me, your partner, with you?" she demanded sharply. "If this was such a hot lead, why not fill me in?"
That was when Parker, whom Lois had completely forgotten due to her anger, spoke up. "I think I'll leave you two alone," he said. And he was gone, just like that.
Lois she watched him stroll over to the conference room and shut the door behind himself. But Jarod Parker was quickly forgotten when out of the corner of her eye she spotted Clark walking over to his desk.
"Don't think I'll let you get away that easily!" she told him. "I had to write the story about the fire all by myself and Perry made me write your stupid article about the police raffle, too! Raffle!" she repeated indignantly. "Do you know where that ranks on my list of Stories I Want to Write Before I Retire? Right above Retirement Home Leisure Park Gets Shut Down Due to Asbestos Problems!"
"Lois--"
"To top it off, Perry foisted Parker off on me and I had to drag him along to Metropolis General! And I don't trust him, because I know I've seen him somewhere else before and he wasn't calling himself Jarod Parker then!"
"Lois--"
"You know, Clark, one of these days I won't be there to save your butt and what are you going to do then? What kind of attitude is that, anyway? I mean, how did you ever manage to hold down a job before?"
"Lois--" He stopped, looking at her expectantly.
She folded her arms in front of her chest, returning the look. "Yes? Would you please go on?"
"Sorry. I thought you weren't finished yet." He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. Really, I am. I'm sorry I ran off like that without telling you where I was going. I thought I was going to be back in time to write my article, but I got ... delayed."
"What are you, an airplane? Couldn't you have called?"
He grimaced. "I forgot."
"You forgot. Well, thanks a lot, Clark. That's just great. You're my partner and I thought we could rely on each other, but for one and a half years you've been holding out on me and running off in the middle of important conversations and I'm sick of it! Partnership's about trust and reliability and you sure aren't reliable!"
"Lois--"
"No. I don't want to hear it. I'm going home."
Furiously, she stalked off, without giving him another look. Once in the elevator, she punched the button for the ground floor, then turned to look at him, still standing at his desk, giving her those puppy dog eyes.
She returned the look with a glare.
**********
Clark sighed heavily as he watched the doors slip shut. If looks could kill ...
Running his hand through his tousled hair, he turned around and spotted Jarod Parker sitting in the conference room all by himself. Poor guy. He'd been on the receiving end of Lois's fury today, just because Clark's alter ego had once more interfered with his work at the Planet. He knew that Lois had a tendency to take out her moods on whoever was available, but Clark felt bad for Jarod. The guy had been here barely a day and he'd already met Mad Dog Lane.
Clark could relate.
He glanced at the coffee table and discovered that the pot was still half full. Quickly, he walked up the ramp and grabbed a spare cup from next to the pot and his own Smallville cup. The coffee was only lukewarm, but a blast of heat vision took care of that. Grabbing the cups and two stale, leftover donuts from the carton, he headed back down the ramp and across the Pit towards the conference room.
He knocked gently, then opened the door and poked his head in.
"Hey," he said. "Coffee?"
Jarod looked up, smiling. "Sure. Come in."
Clark pulled up a chair and sat down, handing Jarod his cup. "You might want to bring a cup of your own. We have some for visitors, but all the reporters have their own."
"I'll do that," Jarod replied.
"Here, I brought a donut, too. It's stale, but it'll go great with the newsroom coffee."
Jarod laughed. "You know where you get the best coffee?" he asked. "San Francisco. Harry's Diner."
"Have you ever been to Rome?" Clark asked.
"No," Jarod said. "But I was a Sherpa on Mount Everest once."
Clark's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? Well, that's ... interesting. I've done some traveling myself. And it was Rome where I had the best coffee of my life."
Clark sipped his coffee, taking a glance at the papers strewn out in front of Jarod: newspaper articles from The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Examiner, all focusing on the rape and murder of young women.
"Are you on to something?" Clark asked Jarod, indicating the newspaper clippings with a nod.
"Sort of," Jarod replied slowly. "It's more like a private investigation."
"Can I help?"
"I don't think so, but thanks."
"Okay. Just let me know if you need something." Clark paused, taking another look at one of the clippings. "It says here that they have no idea who the murderer is," he muttered, reaching out to pick up the clipping.
"Serial murderer," Jarod corrected with a scowl. This was obviously an emotional topic for him. "He's been on the loose for over three years. First time he struck was in Phoenix. Twelve victims later, they still have no idea who he is."
Jarod sounded angry, talking about the murders. Clark couldn't blame him.
Clark nodded. "Well, good luck at whatever it is you're doing."
"Thanks."
Clark got up from his chair. "I think I'll be going. It's getting late and I still have a few things to do."
"See you tomorrow, then," Jarod said.
"I wanted to say that I'm sorry Lois was in such a bad mood today, which was mostly my fault. She gets a little ... hard to handle sometimes, but she's usually easy to get along with. At least, it seems that way to me."
"Ms. Lane reminds me a little of someone I know," Jarod said, obviously remembering someone special.
"Really?"
"Yes. But she and I don't see each other often. And we don't really get along, either."
"Oh. Well."
"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess," Jarod said.
"Yeah, sure." Clark opened the door and left the conference room, looking forward to a hot shower and his soft bed. First, though, he had to fly his patrol and make sure Lois was safe and sound.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker sat in her office, the lights dimmed, the curtains drawn. Her feet were resting on the tabletop. She was looking blankly at the piece of paper in her hand:
WE ALL HAVE SECRETS HIDDEN DEEP.
Secrets hidden deep. Oh, yes. How very true. Who did she know who didn't have secrets? Dark secrets? Bad secrets? Secrets they covered with lies?
Strangely, aside from Angelo, only one person came to mind.
Jarod. The Great Pretender.
For as long as she'd known him, he'd always tried to help her find the truth about what had happened to her mother and in that respect he'd never lied to her. When it came to Catherine Parker, Jarod had always told her the truth. He'd fed her clues, had helped her unveil some of the Centre's secrets, had somehow always been there in the shadows. Watching her. Watching over her.
Sure, she wanted to catch him, because then she'd finally be free to leave the Centre, but she also knew that there was more than that that bound them together. Jarod was her equal. He was smart and capable; he was able to be anyone he wanted to be.
Yet, at the same time, he was almost like a child. He was naive in many ways. Innocent. He cared about people and tried to help them whenever he could. The really strange thing was that he seemed to care about her as well. It seemed as if it didn't matter to him that all she wanted to do was track him down and lock him up again.
Sometimes, late at night, the phone would ring and she'd pick up and it would be Jarod at the other end of the line. And he'd say in that soft, gentle voice of his: "Are you okay?" And then he'd tell her something; about her mother, or Lyle, or someone else. He'd feed her more clues and say smart things and then the line would go dead.
That was Jarod. The Great Pretender, who pretended he didn't see who she really was and what she really wanted.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Jarod opened the door to his hotel room and flicked on the light. He dumped his black leather jacket on the bed and sat down at the table where his laptop sat along with several old Daily Planet newspapers and stacks of books such as "Investigative Reporting: A Study in Technique (Journalism Media Manual)" and "Investigative Reporting for Print and Broadcast".
He picked up his cell phone and dialed a number. As he waited, he got up and walked over to the window.
"What?" a voice snapped at the other end.
"Have you ever been to Rome?" he asked.
"What?" Miss Parker asked impatiently.
"Well, I've never been to Rome and I've heard they make great coffee there."
Jarod sat down on the hotel room bed, loosening his tie and kicking off his shoes.
"Is there a point in this conversation?"
"Did you get the things I sent you?"
He could hear her exhale sharply. "Yes. Is there a reason you sent them or are you just being your usual annoying self? Because I have work to do, you know. I've been assigned to tracking down this pain-in-the-ass jerk who gets a kick out of provoking me. Maybe you know him."
"Is he tall, dark and handsome?" Jarod quipped.
"Tall and dark, but forget the handsome."
Jarod grinned. "Well, Miss Parker, I'm afraid I can't help you." He waited a few moments before saying in a voice now completely lacking the provoking, teasing tone, "Sweet dreams, Parker. I'll think of you tonight."
"I'll think of you, too. And of ways to cause you great pain once I've found out what stone you're hiding under this time."
He chuckled and pressed the button to disconnect the call. Undoing the top button of his shirt, he flopped down on the bed. As he stared unseeingly up at the ceiling, he remembered a time long ago, when he'd been ten years old and had met a young girl who'd changed everything he'd ever known.
"You're a girl," he'd said to her in a tone close to wonder.
When he closed his eyes and tried really hard to remember, he could still recall the feel of her lips on his. The sensation of being kissed by a girl had been a strange and exciting one. Years later, he'd met Nia and of course Zoe, but they both had come and gone. The only woman in his life who had stayed was Parker.
She wasn't like Nia and not like Zoe; she was someone else entirely. He'd known her for years, but he'd never been able to find out what went on in her head. He knew that she wasn't the Ice Queen she pretended to be, because he'd seen her love passionately and without conditions. Tommy's death had almost killed her, but she was stronger than she herself had ever imagined and she'd survived.
Jarod saw things in her that she couldn't even begin to imagine. He hoped that one day she'd realize what she was doing to herself and how special the little girl he'd met so long ago still was.
**********
Clark was floating three feet above his bed, fast asleep. His tights, cape and boots were scattered across the floor. He'd come home late -- it was a busy night -- and had undressed himself, not caring where he tossed his clothes. Most likely, something would happen during the night anyway and he'd need the Suit again. No sense in dumping it in the laundry basket.
When an insistent knocking at his front door roused him from his sleep, he sat up groggily, his hair sticking out every which way. He x-rayed the door and saw his impatient partner, dressed in jogging pants, a sweatshirt and running shoes, standing on his doorstep.
Clark reached for the glasses on his nightstand, slipped them on, then picked up his Suit at superspeed and dumped it in the laundry basket. Then he went to open the door.
Lois Lane, in full babble mode, did not even pause to say hello.
"I remembered," was the first thing she said to him when the door swung open.
"Remembered what?" Clark asked, puzzled and groggy. He yawned and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Parker," she said as if it were obvious. "Only then he was calling himself Jarod Talbott and was working on a murder case in New Orleans. He's with the FBI, Clark!"
"What?"
She let out an exasperated sigh. "Clark! Pay attention!"
He walked over to the couch and sat down on it, another yawn escaping him. With an unobtrusive glance at his watch, he noted that it was 3 a.m. and no time for one of Lois's wild tangents. "Okay, so he's an agent. Or was," he said, maybe with less enthusiasm than he should have been feeling.
"I was in New Orleans on vacation -- yes, I actually do take vacations ... occasionally," she added before he could say anything, "and stumbled upon this serial murderer who was killing young women all over town. Parker -- or Talbott, whatever his name is -- was part of the investigative team."
"Then he's obviously one of the good guys and we shouldn't be worrying about him," Clark said.
"Why is he here? Why is he calling himself Parker? Why is he posing as an investigative reporter?" Lois started, ticking off the questions on her fingers. "Is there an undercover operation going on at the Planet that we don't know about? Does Perry know? Is Parker really with the FBI? Is he--"
"Lois," Clark interrupted. "Stop. You're giving me a headache."
"Anything to wake you up," she replied dryly.
Clark frowned, running his hand over his face. He suddenly remembered the newspaper articles about the serial murderer that Parker had been looking through. If he recalled correctly, he'd also seen police reports lying around.
"Let's talk to Perry tomorrow," Clark suggested finally.
"Let's call him right away."
"Lois," Clark said patiently. "It's three in the morning. Perry's asleep. Like your tired partner was, up until a few minutes ago. Jarod Parker isn't going anywhere. In four hours we'll talk to Perry and find out what he knows."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off by holding up his hand. "Now, I'd like to get some more sleep tonight, but if you feel like you need to talk about this with me and it can't wait four hours, I'll be happy to make coffee."
"No, it's okay," she said with a little sigh. "I'll just go home and catch a few more hours of sleep."
"Lois, you can stay if you like," he said, suddenly not feeling that tired anymore and knowing that Lois was way too excited to go back to sleep tonight. She might as well stay and have coffee, and later breakfast, with him. It wasn't like he wasn't used to her showing up in the middle of the night. "I'm sorry if I seemed a little impatient. That wasn't my intention. I'm just a little groggy, that's all."
She looked at him for a long moment. "I'm still ticked at you, by the way," she told him then with her pouty little girl's voice.
He heaved a sigh. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" he muttered.
"Now don't get sarcastic on me, mister!" she told him, pointing her index finger at him. "I have every right to be ticked at you!"
He hung his head and ran his fingers through his hair. This Superman business and the secrets and lies that came with it was starting to get really, really complicated. Lois had put up with his disappearing act for more than a year and he realized that sooner or later he would have to tell her. She wasn't going to stand for it much longer.
There was also the fact that he was so hopelessly, head-over-heels in love with the woman and just hated lying to her. But the longer he kept up the pretense, the increasingly more difficult it became to work up the nerve to tell her. The closer they got, the angrier she would be when he finally did tell her.
Oh, what a complicated life superheroes led!
"Lois, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm an idiot who doesn't deserve to be partnered with someone as brilliant and dedicated to her work as you," he said, giving her a gentle smile. "I swear, from now on, I'll try to be more reliable."
She looked at him and he could see her anger fade. "Okay. I forgive you." She walked over to the couch and stood in front of him, looking down on him with a smile. "But," she said, "you still owe me an explanation. I want to know where you go when you ... well, go. I won't buy another one of your excuses about your doctor's appointment or how you have to return a video." She poked her index finger in his chest. "If you refuse to be honest with me, I'm going to ask for another partner. And you can forget about this whole dating business."
He could tell by the look in her eyes and by the tone of her voice that she wasn't entirely serious.
However, the fact remained that he did owe her the truth. "Is that an ultimatum?" he asked her.
She looked at him, a little surprised. But then she nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"You might not like what you hear," he said to her.
She shrugged. "I'm at a point with this where I have to know the truth, no matter what it is."
He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I'm afraid of what you might say," he confessed finally.
"Good Lord, Clark!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "What is this terrible secret of yours? Do you rob banks in your free time? Do you have a wife and three kids somewhere? What?"
"No, nothing like that. It's not a bad secret. I'm not a bank-robber and I'm not married." He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, began with, "Lois, I'm --" -- and stopped.
From across town he could hear sirens wailing and tires squealing: either an accident or a car chase. Either way, this was a job for ... Super Wimp! With a frustrated sigh, he told himself he had to tell her and somehow stop his alter ego from getting in the way. This, however, was not the right time.
He had to admit that he was a little relieved that his super-hearing had kicked in just now. At least, he could buy himself some time and pick the perfect place and time to tell her, which, he hoped, would make it a little easier.
"Lois, I'm sorry," he said. "I have to go."
"What?" The expression on her face was one of disbelief and disappointment. "Now, in the middle of the night? Clark!"
"Loi--"
"You're running out on me at three in the morning? Am I that repulsive? You can't even stick around in the middle of the night when all the libraries and video stores and doctor's offices are closed?"
Tears filled her eyes and she reached up angrily to wipe them away. He felt his heart ache.
"Lois--" he began helplessly.
"No, Clark! No. Just shut up. I have had it with you!"
Angrily, she spun on her heel and marched up to the front door. Clark took two steps in her direction, but she stopped him dead in his tracks when she whirled on him, her eyes ablaze with anger.
She poked her finger in his chest again and said, "Don't even think of following me! You don't want to get in my way for the next two days." Reconsidering it, she said, "No, make that the next two weeks."
With that she stormed out the door and slammed it so hard that the glass vibrated and Clark thought for a moment that it was going to shatter.
He stood in the middle of his living room for a few moments, then he remembered the sirens and spun into the Suit. With a defeated sigh, he zipped out onto the balcony and launched himself into the air.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker sat, one leg on either side of the chair, her arms folded on its back and her chin resting on top of her hands. She was gazing unseeingly at the two cardboard figures in the middle of the room.
She knew what Jarod was telling her; that the faces Lyle and her father wore were a facade. That she didn't really know either one of them.
Miss Parker squinted at the blotched face of her father. She loved him. So much. He was all the family she had left. Lyle might be her biological brother, but he didn't count as family.
She couldn't lose her father like she'd lost her mother. If she did, she didn't know what she'd do. Without him, there'd be nothing left for her. She'd be lost.
Like Jarod.
Jarod who had lost his family when he'd been four and had lived for years without knowing them. He'd found his father, Major Charles, but what about his mother? His sister? He was alone. He walked the world by himself, changing his name and profession almost daily. Jarod didn't belong anywhere.
She was afraid of ending up like that. How could she lose the only father she'd ever known without losing herself?
"Jarod, you bastard," she whispered into the dark. "Don't think I'll let you play Jiminy Cricket."
Suddenly the door opened and bright light flooded the room. Miss Parker shut her eyes.
"What the fuck ...?"
It was Lyle.
"It's late," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"I think you're the last person who has a right to know," she told him acidly, turning her head away from him.
He switched on the light and walked down the steps to stand next to her. When he saw the cardboard figures, he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, looks like Jarod's been hard at work again," he commented, amused. "What's he trying to do this time? Convince you how terrible I am?"
"I don't need any convincing in that respect," she told him. "All I have to do is look at you. Your eyes give you away."
Lyle chuckled. "Parker, you're funny. Really funny."
"Shut up."
"You're drunk."
"So what?"
"Go home."
Lyle turned to leave and was already up the stairs when Miss Parker started laughing. He turned and gave her a puzzled look. "What?" he asked.
"I should shoot you right here and now," she said.
"Why don't you?"
She raised an eyebrow, giving him the once-over. "You're not worth the mess," she told him sweetly.
Lyle's lips formed a thin line as he left the room.
**********
Miss Parker couldn't say how much time passed while she simply sat, staring at the two cardboard figures. Maybe two minutes, maybe two hours, maybe more. She had so much to think about that it hardly mattered anyway.
When the door opened for the second time that night, she didn't even turn to look who it was.
Sydney stopped and looked at her. "It's late, even for you, Parker," he said.
She waved her hand at him like one would wave one's hand at an annoying insect.
He came over to her and crouched down in front of her so he could look into her eyes. "How much have you had to drink?" he asked.
Miss Parker shrugged.
"I remember you telling me once that drowning your problems in alcohol only helps until the next morning," Sydney told her softly.
She gave an exaggerated laugh. "Now I know where Jarod gets it from," she said. "He got the Jiminy Cricket thing from you."
She got up from the chair quickly; too quickly as it turned out, because suddenly the room started to spin and she swayed dangerously. Sydney was at her side in an instant, but she regained her balance alone.
She held up a hand to stop him. "Okay. I'm fine."
Sydney sighed heavily. "Parker, this is not the way to deal with it."
"Well, then, what is?" she asked. "Tell me, Syd, because I sure don't know. I've been living this way for years. I don't know a better way."
"Parker ..."
"Did you know that he was my first love?" she asked him.
"Who?"
"Jarod."
Sydney said nothing, but then she hadn't expected him to. She laughed bitterly, maybe even a little sadly. "And now he's out to fuck up my life ... or what's left of it."
"Don't say that, Parker," Sydney said softly. "Jarod doesn't want to hurt anybody."
"Oh, that's right," she said thickly. "Jarod, the Great Pretender, who wanders the world with the one intention of saving the weak and helpless. Jarod, the Last Boy Scout." She laughed almost hysterically.
"Jarod cares. That's all. He cares about other people." Sydney paused before he added softly, "He cares about you, Parker."
"Why should he?" she shouted, spinning around to look at Sydney. She poked her finger in his chest. "Why should he care about me or about what I do? Why? God knows, he has no reason to."
Sydney grabbed her hand and said in a calm voice, "You both are in search of the past; in search of the truth. He knows exactly how you feel, because he feels the same. And he hurts for you."
"Oh, that's good, Syd," she laughed. "That's really good."
"It's the truth."
"No," she said angrily. "The truth is that Jarod and I have nothing in common. Jarod and I are as much alike as ... as ... Broots and I. He gets a kick out of making fun of me. The Wicked Witch of the West, remember?"
"Think what you like," Sydney said. "But he does care."
"Sure," she said, defeated. "Sure he does."
There was silence for a few moments, then Sydney took her shoulders. "Go home, Parker. Get some sleep."
She looked up at him, into his warm eyes and realized suddenly that Jarod was the way he was because of Sydney. Who knew what Raines could have done to him? Sydney had saved Jarod and now he was doing his best to save her.
The tears came to her in a rush and she turned around quickly so he wouldn't see her cry.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Lois Lane sat on the couch with a tub of chocolate ice cream (what was left of it, that is) melting on the table in front of her. "Damn you, Clark Kent," she whispered angrily.
She'd thought she knew him. She'd thought he was the straight guy she took him for. Clark Kent, the Last Boy Scout. Clark Kent, the naive farmboy from Kansas.
"Hah!" she exclaimed. "Farmboy! Right."
He was hiding things from her. She hated that. There was nothing she detested more than not being in on the secret -- whatever that was. Why didn't he just tell her? It couldn't be that terrible, could it? What was the worst-case scenario? She couldn't quite picture Clark as a hitman for Intergang and she didn't think he had a wife on the other side of town who expected him home for dinner every day.
"What are you hiding from me?" she asked aloud. "What's your secret?"
Suddenly she felt a gust of air and the curtains by the window fluttered. She looked up and saw a familiar figure hovering in midair outside of her apartment.
"Good evening, Lois," Superman said.
"Superman!" she exclaimed, her face splitting into a smile. "Hi! Come in."
He floated into her living room and landed on the floor. "I was in the area and thought I'd check on you. Is everything okay?"
"No psychopath killers, if that's what you mean," she replied with a grin.
With a slight frown she noticed that Superman's presence didn't affect her the same way it had only a few months ago. It wasn't that she didn't like the fact that he dropped by to check on her; it was sweet in a way. But right now she would have rather been alone so she could clear her head. Superman wouldn't understand anyway. Would he?
Superman smiled. "Good." He looked at her for a long moment, then said, "I had better be leaving. I still have to finish my patrol."
She nodded. "Thanks for dropping by. That's sweet of you."
The Man of Steel gave her a smile, then jumped onto the windowsill. He was just about to float out, when Lois called his name. He turned around and looked at her curiously.
"I want to ask you something."
"Sure."
Lois wrung her hands before she finally got the words out. "How well do you know Clark, Superman?"
He looked surprised at the question. After a few moments of hesitation, he answered, "Next to you, he's probably the only real friend I have. Why do you ask?"
She shrugged. "No particular reason," she lied.
Superman gave her a look. "Lois. Come on. Tell me."
"Clark has been behaving strangely," she finally said, looking at the superhero.
A grimace crossed his face and she found that strange, but it was gone so quickly that she didn't comment on it. Superman sighed. "Clark ... cares about you, Lois. Very much."
She pulled up her eyebrows in surprise. Did Clark and Superman talk about her? Had Clark told Superman that he'd asked her out on a date? How much did Superman know about their relationship?
"Clark cares about everybody," she said with a little laugh, turning away from him. "When his apartment was robbed, he got the kid who did it a job at the Planet."
Superman floated down from the window sill and took a step towards her. "I'm sure that whatever Clark did, he didn't do it to hurt you. You mean a lot to him, Lois. Believe that."
"He sure has a way of showing it," she said bitterly.
Superman gave a little sigh. "Sometimes people do things that don't make much sense at first. But when you look a little more closely, the things they did become obvious and you understand."
Before she could reply, he was gone in a blur and a gust of wind, leaving the curtains fluttering in his wake.
**********
Jarod sat at his desk, observing several members of the Daily Planet staff closely. It was frustrating, knowing you were so close and yet ...
Jarod reached for his coffee cup and took a sip, then turned to look at his computer screen. There was an old photograph of Henry Thomas and next to it a biography with many holes and mistakes. Thomas had been twenty when the picture was taken and he had undoubtedly changed since then. The fact file said he was six feet tall, had an athletic physique, brown hair and green eyes.
That was not much to go on, Jarod thought, frustrated.
He focused his concentration on a man named Carter Havens. Havens had begun work at the Planet a little less than a year ago and since then he'd turned in a few stories of decent quality, but nothing that would get him anywhere in the world of journalism. Certainly nothing like the articles Lois Lane wrote.
Havens had roused Jarod's suspicion, because he resembled Henry Thomas a lot, although his hair was blond and he had blue eyes. But there were things like hair dye and contacts. Havens's face, the jaw bone and eyebrows, the nose and shape of the eyes, they all made him look like an older Henry Thomas. If Havens was his man, he was getting extremely sloppy and overconfident.
Of course, Jarod couldn't say for sure whether Carter Havens and Henry Thomas were the same person, but he had a strong feeling.
There was also the fact that Carter Havens had virtually no past. According to Datanet, the man didn't exist.
Jarod narrowed his eyes and looked closely. Havens didn't look like a rapist. Then again, they rarely did. Most of the time they were neighbors and colleagues and husbands and brothers.
Jarod had several other suspects, aside from Havens, but so far none of them had behaved in a way that would lead him to believe they were anything but reporters for a major newspaper. Initially, he'd also thought that Clark Kent might be who he was looking for, what with his disappearing act, but something told him that idea wasn't worth pursuing.
For the moment, Havens was the prime suspect. If it turned out that he was innocent, Jarod could still investigate Kent and the others on his list.
"Hey, Parker!"
Jarod looked up, over to where Mr. White was standing outside his office. Ms. Lane was standing next to him, with an unreadable expression on her face. After a few moments, Jarod realized she looked smug.
"Yes?"
"My office."
Jarod closed the window and got up from his desk. Lois Lane stood next to Mr. White's desk, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Jarod gave her a curious look, but she returned it with a blank one of her own.
"Sit down, son," Mr. White said.
"What's the matter? Something about my article?"
Jarod had turned in an article about the exhibition at the Metropolis Museum of Art, which he thought had turned out to be pretty good. He'd read quite a lot about reporting and--
"No. Nothing to do with your article," Mr. White said. "Lois?"
Jarod looked at Ms. Lane, his eyes questioning.
"The first time I saw you I knew I'd met you before," she said. "Last night I remembered where."
Jarod's eyes widened a little. This was not good. Not good at all.
"You were down in New Orleans, calling yourself Jarod Talbott and working for the FBI. There was a murder case you worked on. I remember you because one of your colleagues said you were weird. That you didn't know what Star Wars was, or something like that."
He remembered. A few years ago he'd been in New Orleans and he remembered the murder case she was talking about. Okay, this required some quick thinking.
"Actually," he began, "you're right. I am with the FBI."
"So what is this?" Mr. White asked. "An undercover operation?"
"Yes."
"Can I see your badge?"
"I ... don't have it with me," Jarod said. "I'm not carrying a gun, either, as you can see. But feel free to call the local FBI headquarters. They'll tell you."
It was a lie, of course, but he was going to take his chances.
Lois Lane looked like she wasn't pleased with his explanation. Maybe she'd expected a front pager. "So, Mr. Talbott--"
"Parker. I don't want anyone blowing my cover."
She rolled her eyes. "Parker, then. What are you investigating?"
"And why didn't I know about this?" Mr. White demanded roughly.
"Mr. White, it's an undercover operation and the fewer people know about it the better," Jarod said. "As for what I'm investigating, I'm afraid I can't tell you."
Lois Lane tossed her boss a look. "What does Jimmy always say? FBI stands for 'Forget 'Bout It'."
"It's confidential," Jarod said, hoping that she was going to let it lie. He was afraid that she was going to find out that there was no Jarod Talbott with the FBI and then he'd have to start all over again with his investigation on Thomas. He'd have to plant a false resume as fast as possible, he thought, so that if she decided to check, she'd find him listed.
"Okay, Talbott -- Parker ... whatever your name is," Mr. White said, "you have my permission to investigate ... whatever it is you're investigating. But let me tell you one thing." He pointed his finger at Jarod and gave him a stern look. "You can tell those boys in Washington that I won't stand for this again. The title 'Secret Agent' doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want. Got it?"
"Got it, sir," Jarod said. He got up from his chair and hightailed it out of there. Boy, that woman was better than he'd thought. This would teach him to underestimate her again.
**********
Lois sat down in the chair that had been occupied by Parker up until a few moments ago. "See. I knew it. I have an instinct for these things."
Perry nodded. "He seems okay. As okay as those FBI boys get. They think they can do what they like without asking for permission first, just because they happen to have an abbreviation printed on their badge."
The Chief reached for a pencil, and then looked up at Lois. "What are you still doing here? Go find your partner and find out what this 'undercover operation' is all about!"
Lois made a face. "I am not talking to Clark at the moment," she told Perry.
Perry rolled his eyes. "Lois, these 'moments' when you're not talking to Clark happen at least once a week. If I let you and your personal problems get in the way of your work, I wouldn't have a newspaper to print! Now go find that boy and do something useful with your time!"
Lois got up from her chair, muttering something under her breath.
"I heard that, young lady!" Perry shouted after her as she hurried over to her desk.
Clark was sitting at his desk, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. He was talking to someone on the phone, but obviously the person on the other end was not being cooperative.
"No, no, wait! I-- hello?" He gave the receiver a dirty look. "Have a nice day, too. Thanks."
Lois managed to shift her concentration from Clark to the fact that she was still mad at him. As if she didn't see him, she strolled over to her desk and sat down, demonstratively ignoring him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him sigh heavily; something she noticed with a certain amount of smug satisfaction.
The jerk deserved to suffer a little.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker cocked the gun, aimed and fired. The bullet hit the target square between the eyes. She pulled the trigger another time, just to be on the safe side. The second bullet impacted almost exactly where the first one had.
Pleased with herself, she put down the gun and removed the ear protectors from her head. In the booth next to her one of the Centre's Sweepers was practicing his shooting skills.
She didn't come out to the Centre's shooting-range very often, but today she needed something to take away the anger inside. She'd always been best at taking out her bad mood on other people, but shooting did wonders for her, too.
She could always pretend it was Lyle, after all.
Miss Parker put her gun back in the holster, and then put her jacket back on.
She felt a little better now, but Jarod's games still wouldn't leave her thoughts. He thought it was easy, leaving the Centre -- leaving behind what you knew. The Centre never let anyone walk away. No one just left.
She'd tried.
Once.
It had cost Tommy his life. It had cost her her heart. The Centre had taken away everything: her mother, Thomas ... her soul.
Nobody just left and lived to tell about it.
Except Jarod, that was. He'd escaped; he'd run. He'd outwitted them all. Jarod was different from her. Braver, maybe. He wasn't afraid of leaving behind the Centre, wasn't afraid of starting over somewhere else as someone else. He'd always been good at that. Pretending was what he did best.
And suddenly a thought came to her -- a thought so ridiculous, so out there, that she almost laughed out loud.
What if she went with him? What if she joined him on his run? Where would he take her? And ... would he even want her to come along?
"I'm going mad," she said to herself in a low voice.
What was she thinking? It was impossible. Jarod wasn't like her -- wasn't that what she'd told Sydney last night? How could they ever go anywhere together?
Miss Parker left the building and began crossing the square to the main building, when her cell phone suddenly rang. Taking it from her pocket, she pressed the green button.
"What?"
"Hey, Parker," a familiar voice said to her.
"Oh, it's Wonder-Boy," she said, trying to give her voice some of its usual sarcasm, but somehow her heart wasn't in it. "What do you want?"
"Many things, but I don't think you can be of any help with those. Unless you can convince the Centre to just leave me alone." There was a pause. "But then you wouldn't do that, would you, Miss Parker?"
She was about to snap an angry reply, but then she surprised herself by saying, "Is that how you see me?"
"So far you've always made it very clear that you'd be happy to shoot me and drag me back to the Centre by my ears," came the answer. "How do you want me to see you?" he asked then, softly.
She looked off into the distance, hearing herself say, "As the girl who gave you your first kiss."
And she disconnected the call.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Clark approached Lois's desk for the third time that morning. Lois Lane gave the phrase 'holding a grudge' a whole new meaning, he thought bitterly. She couldn't still be mad, could she? It hadn't been that big a deal, had it? Okay, he'd apologized for running out on her all the time and she'd forgiven him ... only to watch him run out on her again.
Maybe it was that big a deal.
Sometimes he contemplated giving up the Suit and everything that came with it. His life would undoubtedly be less complicated if he did. But he knew he never would. He loved being Superman. He loved helping people, loved seeing children smile when they saw him flying high above Metropolis's rooftops.
But he also loved Lois.
And that was the problem.
Ultimately, there was only one solution that would be fair to both of them: he had to tell her. Better sooner than later, because the longer he waited, the more she would yell at him.
He winced at the thought.
Tonight, he told himself. Tonight he was going to tell her and he wouldn't let anything get in the way.
Clark came to stand next to her and hid a painful grimace when she pointedly ignored his presence.
"Lois?" he asked tentatively.
Nothing, but cold silence.
He sighed heavily. And tried again. "Lois? Talk to me. Please."
She didn't even look at him, but he did hear her say in an ominously calm voice, "I have nothing to say to you."
This was going worse than he expected. Maybe he should try again later. Or change tacks. Eventually he chose the latter.
"Perry told me you talked to Jarod this morning. And that there's some sort of FBI undercover operation going on at the Planet that he's involved in." He smiled, although he knew she couldn't see him. "You were right. That was good thinking, partner."
"Sucking up won't get you anywhere," she replied, her voice strangely detached.
"Perry also said we should find out what Jarod's doing here, exactly," Clark went on, trying his best not to feel hurt by her harsh comments. He probably deserved them.
She remained silent, but did finally turn around in her chair and look at him. Clark wouldn't have been able to say what she was thinking and feeling even if his life had depended on it. Her face was completely emotionless. A sign that something was seriously wrong and of course he knew exactly what that 'something' was.
Talking about work was always a safe terrain to move in, so he said, "I saw him going through some old newspaper articles and police reports the other night. They were all about a serial rapist and murderer who's been killing women all over the country for three years."
She looked at him and it almost felt like her eyes were boring into his soul.
After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, she looked away and said, "I had him checked out. His files are in the computer, but I couldn't find anyone who knows him. Not at the local FBI headquarters anyway."
It was progress; not much, but he was getting there. "That doesn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe he was just transferred here. Or he's just a very introverted person."
Somehow Clark couldn't imagine Jarod Parker as one of the bad guys. He was a good judge of character and Jarod was mysterious, sure, but no criminal. Heck, he himself was probably a mystery to many people. It didn't mean anything.
"So what's with this serial murderer? What does he have to do with the Planet?" Lois asked.
"Maybe nothing. Jarod said it was a 'private investigation', whatever that means," Clark replied. "As for this guy he's apparently looking for, nobody's ever seen his face. He's practically a ghost. The only people who knew who he is are the victims. And he took care of that problem."
A grimace crossed Clark's face as he thought of all the women who had died at the hands of this madman. Whoever he was, he had to be stopped. Jarod was obviously trying to do just that. Maybe he could use some help. Super help, that is.
"Maybe he's hiding out here," Lois said slowly. "That's why the FBI's here. He's working at the Daily Planet, Clark."
The thought wasn't completely off the wall, he thought. It would make sense. If what they said about this 'ghost murderer' was true, he wouldn't have any problems at all working at the Planet in disguise.
"I've checked what's known about him. They had a team of profilers do a character analysis and they say he's between twenty and thirty, white, very intelligent -- even dangerously so -- and he kills completely without remorse."
Clark walked over to his desk, picked up a thick, brown paper folder, then returned to Lois's desk. "I've had Jimmy put together all the personnel files of male Daily Planet employees that fall into that category."
She sighed. "It'll take weeks to go through them all," she said.
"No, not at all," he said. "The Planet has about two-hundred employees, counting everyone from the paperboys to Stern's personal assistant, and only forty-four are suspects. Not all of them are a perfect match for the profile, though."
Lois nodded. "Okay, give me half the stack and I'll go through them."
"I thought we could get together this evening," Clark suggested carefully, "and, you know, go through them together."
"Nice try," she said wryly. "I'm still mad at you."
Clark's face fell.
Drat. He'd been so close.
**********
Jarod watched Lane and Kent talking to each other on the other side of the newsroom. He was too far away to understand what they were saying, but the tension between them was almost palpable and their body language spoke volumes.
He couldn't help but be reminded of Miss Parker when he saw how sarcastic and icy Lois could be when she was angry. Maybe he should arrange for the two of them to meet some day. It would certainly be ... interesting, he thought with wry amusement.
And then he suddenly thought of Parker's words this morning and he once again found himself puzzling over what exactly she'd meant. Her voice had lacked its usual venom when they'd talked on the phone earlier today. What had she been thinking about before he called her? he wondered.
If only she'd understand what he was telling her. They'd been enemies for so long that they'd both forgotten how close they'd been as children.
The Centre had ruined his life. It had robbed him of his family and of his childhood. It had taken him away from the people he loved and had used his talents to kill.
Jarod choked up a little, thinking of his brother, Kyle, and of all the Centre's other victims that had died because some people thought they had the right to play God.
In a way, Miss Parker was just as trapped as he'd been at the Centre. They'd murdered her mother and had led her to believe she'd committed suicide in an elevator, until he'd helped her find the truth.
They'd taken Thomas from her. Thomas, whom she'd loved so much -- enough to give up everything she knew for a life with him on the other side of the country.
They'd denied her that.
Jarod knew what that felt like, because thanks to the Centre he'd lost many people dear to him. He hadn't been able to stay with Nia and he hadn't been able to stay with Zoe. How could he put them in that kind of danger, when he knew that behind every street corner, in every dark alley, the Centre's Sweepers might be waiting for him?
Nia and Zoe were gone now, both part of a past he'd tried to make for himself when the Centre had robbed him of the one he should have had.
And only Parker was left.
**********
"Carter Havens," Clark said, shutting the conference room door behind himself.
Lois, pouring over her stack of files at the table, looked up. "What?"
"Carter Havens," Clark repeated. "After going through all the files in my stack, he's at the top of my list of suspects." He pulled up a chair and sat down at the table next to her. "What about you? Anything?"
She shook her head. "No. Nothing." She gave a sigh, sitting back in her chair. Then she gave him a curious look and a frown. "How did you manage to go through all those files so quickly anyway? I still have three quarters to go."
Clark shrugged. "Speed-reading classes," he said as casually as possible. In an attempt to get her to think about other things, he went back to talking about the story. "I had Jimmy check out Havens. Guess what, the guy practically doesn't exist. As far as Datanet's concerned, Carter Havens was born eleven months ago."
He opened the file and showed her Havens's fact file. "Look here. Eleven months ago he started at the Planet. His resume says before that he used to work for the Gotham Chronicle, but I called them and they've never heard of someone named Carter Havens."
"Sloppy," Lois commented. "Let me see."
He handed her the file and watched her scan the contents. This seemed like a good opportunity to broach another subject, he thought.
"Um, Lois? I was thinking that we could maybe ... go out tonight. Have dinner together." He looked at her hopefully.
She closed the file and gave him a long look. "Dinner?" she asked then.
He nodded. "We could rent a movie and watch it at your place later on. And there's something we have to talk about."
"No, really?" she said sarcastically.
Clark sighed.
Finally, Lois said, "I'll think about it."
Clark nodded. It was progress. And after tonight, he thought, there would be no more running out without explanations, no more hurt feelings on her side, no more pretending she didn't see him when he tried to make up for mistakes. After tonight, everything would be different.
In a good way, he hoped.
"I'll go tell Perry what we've found out," he then said, rising from his chair.
"Okay."
Clark left the conference room.
**********
Lois watched him go, feeling very conflicted inside. It was easy, pretending he wasn't there when he tried to apologize. In any event, it was easier than facing her complicated feelings for him. The thought of actually telling him how much it hurt when he pushed her away made her feel nervous.
She had to admit, though, that Clark was trying very hard to show her that he was sorry. But if running out on her caused him so much distress, why did he keep doing it? What was the reason?
He'd said they needed to talk about something. She was pretty sure he'd meant they had to talk about what made him constantly disappear in the middle of conversations. Maybe tonight would finally put an end to all of this. If she said yes.
Lois had to admit, though, that she was afraid of finding out what this big secret of his was. What if it destroyed everything? What if she was better off not knowing?
She was being silly, she thought then. Her job as an investigative reporter was to find out about other people's secrets. This was no different. And one thing was for sure: it couldn't stay the way it was between the two of them.
Lois had made her choice. She grabbed her stack of files from the table and exited the conference room, heading straight for Perry's office from there.
The Chief and her partner were just exiting the office when she walked up. The look on Clark's face wasn't very promising. It seemed like whatever he'd -- they'd -- planned for tonight would have to wait. Her heart sank. She'd wanted to talk to him badly.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
Clark sighed. "We're busy tonight."
"Busy with what?"
"Staking out Carter Havens's apartment," Perry answered. "And don't tell me you can't because you're not talking to Clark at the moment. You're a professional, Lois. Behave like one."
"But, Chief--" she began.
"Lo--is," Perry warned. "No complaints."
"You don't understand, Perry. Clark and I--"
"Whatever's the matter between you and Clark, I want you to solve it far away from my newsroom," the Chief said and left, making it very clear that he wasn't going to listen to anything she had to say.
"He's got it all wrong," she muttered to herself, then turned to Clark. "Looks like dinner will have to wait."
**********
Jarod was sitting in his hotel room, packing his bag with surveillance equipment. He was sure that Carter Havens was the man he was looking for. All he had to do now was get some proof.
The idea of that monster getting away made Jarod sick inside. Men like Carter Havens made him so angry that he sometimes thought he might forget about what he thought of killing other people.
Jarod finished packing, then sat down on the bed. He picked up the phone and dialed a number.
After a few moments, he heard a familiar female voice say, "I'm busy."
Jarod smiled, feeling strangely happy to hear Parker's voice. Over the last few weeks he'd realized how important it was to him that she was okay. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure she was okay.
"I know you are," he answered.
"Jarod," she said, her voice sounding weary. Normally she got all worked up when he called and flung insults at him. Was she feeling ill? But then he remembered their conversation this morning and thought that maybe she was thinking more clearly than ever. At least, he hoped so -- with all his heart.
"Are you okay?" he asked gently.
There was a pause before she answered, "Why do you care?"
He was taken aback by the question. Didn't she know by now that he cared about her? Sure, he teased and provoked her, but that didn't mean she wasn't important to him. Why, did she think, did he keep calling her?
"I care, because when I think of you, I see the girl who gave me my first kiss," he answered. "Because we were friends and because I worry about you. I don't like it that you're trapped at the Centre and can't get out. You're made for other things. Better things."
There was a long silence. When she finally spoke, her voice sounded strangely strangled. "It's not that easy, Jarod. You know that. I tried to leave. God knows I did. But where did it get me? They took Tommy away from me."
Jarod switched the receiver to the other ear. "Parker," he said softly, "they took Tommy and they took your mother. They took Kyle. They took so many people we both cared about." He paused. "Lyle, Raines, all of them, they're bad people, Parker. You don't fit in with them."
"Things aren't just black and white, Jarod," she answered. "There's so much gray."
"It's never easy, leaving behind things you know," he said to her. "It's scary, starting over someplace new." He paused. "Follow your heart, Parker. You'll do what's best for you. For all of us."
He disconnected the call, taking a deep breath. Oh, Parker, he thought. Be careful.
If they took her, too, he didn't know what he'd do. He couldn't survive another loss. Especially if it was her.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker looked at the cell phone in her hand, feeling confused and shaken. It was something completely new and scary, knowing that Jarod cared about her well being so much. They'd been enemies for so long that she had forgotten how much she'd once loved him.
She remembered Tommy and how he'd urged her to leave the Centre and come with him to Oregon. It had cost him his life. What Jarod was doing now was basically the same thing.
It worried her.
Miss Parker was surprised at how much the thought of Jarod's possible death affected her. She'd always thought that if it came to it, she would be able to shoot him. Now, if she thought about it, she realized that she never could pull the trigger on him. The last few years had bound them together in a way she couldn't explain.
Jarod was the key to her past.
Maybe, she thought, a weak feeling of hope flickering to life inside her, he was also the key to her future.
Miss Parker jumped up from her chair and bolted out of her office.
She found Sydney working with some of the Centre's test children and spotted Broots across the room, working at the computer. Quickly, she approached him.
"Broots," she said, "Jarod just called. See if you can trace the number."
"Miss Parker," Broots said, "Jarod always makes sure we can't trace him. He's way too smart."
"Do it!" she snapped.
She had a feeling that this time was different. Jarod had always liked to play games. An inner sense told her that he had made sure they could trace him this time, if only to leave some provoking message in his lair for her to find.
Broots looked truly frightened. "Okay," he said. "It'll take a while."
"Hurry." She turned on her heel, but then remembered something important. "And, Broots, you only report to me. Keep Lyle out of it."
"But, Miss Parker--" he protested.
She grabbed him by the collar. "Listen, I want you to do what I just told you." She released him. "Be quick."
And she left, leaving behind a stunned Broots and a confused Sydney.
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
Lois was still at the Planet in the morgue, although she was supposed to pick up Clark in less than half an hour so they could drive over to Havens's apartment together. She hurried to put back the old newspaper articles on the 'ghost murderer', and then sprinted down the stairs to the newsroom.
She was going to be late. Better hurry, she thought.
However, when she spotted Jarod Parker sitting at his desk, dressed in black jeans, a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket, she stopped.
"Hi," she said.
Parker looked up and smiled. "Hi."
Lois looked at him, biting her lower lip. Finally, she said, "Listen, I wanted to apologize for being so rude. But I didn't trust you and ... that's just the way I am."
"I know someone who's very much like you," Parker said. A faint smile crossed his face. "You remind me of her sometimes."
Lois could tell by the way he spoke of this woman that he cared for her. Was she his girlfriend? Wife? Then she saw an expression of longing and sadness cross his face and she knew she wasn't.
"Where is she?"
"Not with me," he answered. "Though I wish she was, sometimes. It would make it easier for me to protect her."
Lois almost laughed. That sounded like something Clark would say. "Protect her? From what?"
Parker hesitated. "Bad people," he then answered. "Dangerous people." He smiled. "And sometimes I think she needs protecting from herself." He paused, and then changed the subject. "How are things going with Clark? Are you two okay?"
Lois shrugged uncomfortably. "Okay is the wrong word. We're having some problems."
She frowned, wondering if she should tell him what was going on. For some reason, Jarod Parker looked like someone who might be able to understand and give some advice. Only yesterday she'd been suspicious of him, but the way he spoke of this woman led her to believe that he had to be one of the good guys and someone who could be trusted.
When she thought about it, he reminded her a lot of Clark.
"Clark's keeping things from me and it's driving me nuts!" she finally blurted out, before she could stop herself. "He's not honest with me and that makes me feel like he doesn't trust me, and that makes me mad, because I'd do anything for him. I don't keep things from him, either. At least," she amended with a grimace, "not anymore."
Parker didn't reply immediately. When he did, the reply took her aback. "Do you love him?"
Lois's eyes widened a little, but then she took the time to think about it. Did she love Clark? A difficult question.
"I'm not sure," she finally answered. "The fact that he has secrets from me makes our relationship very complicated."
Parker got up from his chair. "Well, I think you should figure that out for yourself. Maybe he's just afraid of telling you the truth, because he doesn't want to lose you. If he knows you love him, it might be easier for him."
Lois was amazed at how much sense that made. If Clark knew he wasn't going to lose her, no matter what it was that he had to tell her, he might finally be able to be honest with her. He'd told her after all that he was afraid of what she might say.
"Hey, that's good," she told Parker. "What are you, a psychologist?"
"Among other things," Parker answered. "I have to go now. Good luck."
She nodded, watching him leave. He probably didn't know it, but he'd just made things very easy for her.
**********
Lois finished packing her overnight bag, tossed her toothbrush on top of everything else and zipped it up. Then she changed from her business suit into a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater. Sitting down on her bed, she tied her Nike running shoes. Then she tied her hair into a ponytail, picked up her bag and headed outside.
On the way over to Clark's she wondered how she should broach the subject -- and when. Tonight was probably not such a good idea. They had work to do and didn't have time to talk about their relationship and the problems they had.
I love you.
The three scariest words in the world, she thought. She hadn't said them for a very, very long time. The question was, could she say them to Clark?
She sighed, pulling up in front of his apartment building. He was already waiting for her outside.
"Hi," he said, tossing his bag on the back seat.
"Hi," she replied.
He got in and buckled up. As she pulled out onto the street Clark looked at her curiously. "Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied, smiling nervously. "Why do you ask?"
"You're just a little quiet, that's all," he shrugged. "You're not still mad at me, are you?" he then asked carefully.
Lois sighed. "I don't know what I am, Clark. I'm probably just hurt. I hate it that you have secrets from me. I hate it that you don't trust me."
"I do trust you!" he protested. "Lois, believe me, I do."
"Sure."
Her voice was weary. How could she believe him? Words had to be proven through actions and his actions only proved that there were things he refused to tell her, even though they were partners and friends. Didn't he see that? Didn't he understand how much he hurt her when he ran off without telling her why?
They drove in silence the rest of the way. Sometimes there just didn't seem to be enough words to say what you were feeling.
**********
Jarod walked up to the backdoor of Carter Havens's apartment building and knelt down, inspecting the lock. Picking it would be easy.
Only a minute later, the door swung open to reveal a shadowy hallway. Jarod hurried inside and took the stairs two at a time. When he reached the third storey where Havens lived, he took a quick look around to check if anyone was looking. Then, deciding it was safe, he picked the lock to the apartment next door. It was vacant and hadn't been cleaned for weeks. Nobody would disturb him.
Jarod put his bag with equipment down on the floor, then unzipped it and took out two small surveillance cameras. He was sure Havens wasn't home yet, so he exited his stakeout spot and picked the lock to Havens's apartment. Once inside, he installed one of the two cameras in the bathroom and the other one in the large room that served as a living room, bedroom and dining room all at once.
He then approached the closet next to the bed. Aside from a table, a chair and a small refrigerator, it was the only other piece of furniture in the room. Carter Havens was obviously not a rich man.
Or, Jarod thought with an angry frown, he wasn't planning on staying here for long.
Jarod tried to open the closet door, but it was locked. It almost seemed like Havens was hiding something in there. Expertly, Jarod picked the lock and pulled open the door.
What he saw inside made him shiver. He clenched his fists angrily and took a deep breath.
Inside were newspaper articles, all featuring Henry Thomas's murders, along with pictures of the victims.
That was all it took to convince Jarod that Carter Havens was the man he was looking for. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't convince the police.
Quickly, Jarod shut and locked the door to the closet and left the apartment, making sure he left everything the way it had been.
When Carter Havens got home, a surprise would be waiting for him. And he would feel the same fear his victims had felt moments before he'd killed them.
**********
Lois unlocked the apartment door and walked inside, immediately heading for the living room window. It gave them a clear view into Carter Havens's apartment. Perry had arranged it so they could use this place for their purposes. It would do nicely. They had been forced to stake out people in cold, damp holes, so this apartment, which offered a couch and a bed to sleep on, was more than enough.
"Come here, Clark," she called, waving her hand. "Take a look."
He came to stand behind her and looked over her shoulder. "It'll work nicely."
He knelt down to unzip their bag with surveillance equipment and took out a video camera and a tripod to put it on. "Here, help me put this up," he said.
For the next fifteen minutes they worked together, setting up their equipment.
When they were finished, Clark asked, "And what do we do now?"
"We wait," she told him simply.
"I know. I meant, what do you want to do while we wait?" He walked over to his overnight bag. "I brought a stack of cards," he announced with a grin, holding them up.
She shook her head. "I'm not in the mood for games," she told him, sitting down on the couch.
"I'll even let you win," he offered, coming to sit with her.
"It's only fun if I beat you fair and square and you whimper for mercy," she said to him.
Clark sighed. "Okay, do you have any ideas? We can't just sit around and do nothing. We'll go nuts!"
"How 'bout we talk?" she finally suggested, her stomach fluttering nervously. Maybe, she thought, this was not such a bad opportunity after all. He couldn't just run off, could he? It would take a lot of nerve to leave her in the middle of a stakeout.
"Talk?" he asked.
"Yes. I think it's time we did."
Clark sighed and looked away, running his fingers through his hair. A strand fell over his forehead, making him look like a little boy in trouble. The look on his face only added to the appearance.
Lois smiled and reached up to brush it out of his face. He looked at her, his eyes nervous, his jaw set.
"I'll go first," she said. "I've been rehearsing this in my head for the last five hours, so let's see if I can get it right."
She paused, taking a moment to look at him carefully. This wasn't going to be easy, but somebody had to be the one to take the first step. And, damn it, she'd never been one to back down from challenges.
"Clark, you mean a lot to me," she said. "You're my best friend. And, you know, ever since you asked me out, I get all nervous and self-conscious every time you smile at me and I take my time every morning getting dressed so I look nice and I get butterflies in my stomach when you touch me."
She took a deep breath and avoided looking at him. Suddenly she couldn't stand to be that close to him anymore and jumped up from the couch. Wringing her hands, she started pacing.
"What I'm trying to say is, well, I ... like you. Very much. Very, very, very much," she added for emphasis. "I have no idea where this is going, you know, you and me and all that, but I want you to know that you'll never lose me. Whatever it is that you have to tell me, it won't make me hate you." She stopped to look at him. "I could never hate you."
The look on his face was one of pure joy. He was grinning from ear to ear. When she came to stand in front of him, he reached out to touch her hand.
"You have no idea how much that means to me," he said. "I was so nervous ... and afraid of what you might say and ...
As his voice trailed off, he looked a little lost all of a sudden and she reached out to stroke his cheek. Then she bent down and, gathering up all her nerve, planted a gentle kiss on his lips.
He returned it with such caring and obvious love that she was almost blown away. With a soft moan, he reached up to cup her cheek.
The position she was in was fine for talking, but a little awkward for this kind of activity, so she slipped onto his lap, straddling him, which made it much easier for both of them.
For some reason the way he held her and the way his tongue gently probed her mouth seemed awfully familiar and she wondered where she'd experienced this kind of kiss before. She had kissed Clark before, but not like this, and anyway, it wasn't his kiss she was remembering.
It came to her in a sudden flash.
With a soft shriek, she pulled away from him and stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Superman!" she gasped. "You kiss just like Superman!"
The look on Clark's face said everything.
**********
====================
Blue Cove, Delaware
====================
Miss Parker sat in her office, looking at a snapshot of herself with her father. Only a year ago she'd believed her father could do no wrong. Now, she knew better. He could be just as manipulative and full of lies as anybody else at the Centre. It didn't make her love him less, though. It made it difficult, however, to trust him.
Survival was all about knowing who to trust.
Jarod had taught her that less than a year ago when he'd locked her in the container along with Lyle, the weasel. At the Centre there was no one, aside from Angelo, who could be trusted. And Angelo, well, he wasn't exactly much help.
Sometimes you just had to let go of the people you loved in order to start over. She couldn't have it both ways. Either she stayed with the Centre and her father ... or she left and lost him. There was no way he'd let her go -- he'd proved that over a year ago when she'd announced she was moving to Oregon.
Parker knew that she'd reached a turning point in her life. The question was which path she was going to choose. At the end of one there was her father, along with Lyle and Sydney and Broots ... along with the lies and the secrets and the heartache that the Centre had always inflicted upon her.
At the end of the other there was Jarod, the Great Pretender. Waiting for her.
Miss Parker sighed heavily, running her hand over her face. She was facing tough choices and she didn't know if she could deal with the consequences of the decisions she made.
There was a knock at the door and Parker looked up, thankful for the opportunity to think about other things.
It was Broots. "I found him," he said.
Parker nodded. She'd known. Jarod loved leaving clues for her. He'd made sure she could find him if she wanted to.
Idiot, she thought. He was crazy. Or he was just incredibly brave. With Jarod you could never tell.
"He's in Metropolis," Broots said. "I traced the phone number to a Holiday Inn on Flynt Avenue."
She looked at him and saw that there was something else. "What?"
Broots sighed and seemed unsure whether to tell her about what else he'd found out. Eventually he said, "He's registered there as Jarod Parker."
Miss Parker's eyes widened. "Parker?" she asked disbelievingly. Did Jarod think that was funny? He'd done some pretty nasty things to provoke her, but this ...
"Where's Sydney?" she wanted to know.
"Working with some of the children," Broots replied.
"Tell him I want to see him."
Broots nodded. "Is ... everything okay?"
She glared at him. "Go!" she snapped.
**********
Miss Parker paced angrily in her office as she waited for Sydney to arrive. Jarod was his Pretender, so Syd should be able to explain what the fuck Wonder-Boy thought he was doing, using her name for one of his Pretends. It just wasn't funny.
To think she'd been contemplating leaving the Centre and going with him ...
He hadn't changed, she thought bitterly. He didn't care at all. He was still out to provoke her and tease her.
Nothing had changed.
When the door opened and Sydney walked in, she immediately directed her anger at Jarod at him. "He's calling himself Parker!" she snapped furiously. "Your Pretender's running around out there calling himself Jarod Parker!"
Sydney looked at her, a little taken aback. "Coincidence?" he suggested weakly.
She snorted. "Sure! Hah! Coincidence, my ass!"
Sydney crossed his arms in front of his chest. "He's trying to say something, Parker. Put together everything he's sent and told you this time and then try to figure out why he's calling himself Parker. It has to mean something."
"Yeah! It means he's still the same annoying jerk he always was!"
"Parker ..."
She held up her hand to stop whatever it was he wanted to say. She didn't have time to listen to Sydney defend Jarod again.
After a few moments of trying to come up with ways of hurting Jarod when she found him, Sydney's words finally registered.
Jarod was trying to say something. What? That he still laughed at her attempts to recapture him? That she still amused him?
'Put together everything you know ...'
'Who do you know -- really?'
'We all have secrets hidden deep.'
'I care ...'
'I care.'
The answer came to her suddenly, taking her by surprise. Her eyes widened and she grasped the edge of the desk to steady herself.
"He's my family," she whispered. "That's what he's saying, Syd." Parker looked up at the man, her eyes wide with surprise. To her disgust, she felt a lump forming in her throat as tears rose in her eyes.
Her voice soft and strangled, she repeated, "He's saying he's my family."
**********
====================
Metropolis, New Troy
====================
"That's what you couldn't tell me," Lois said, taking a step away from him. Only moments ago she'd been in his arms, losing herself in his kiss, and now everything had changed.
The world had changed.
"Lois ..." He looked almost pained. "I'm sorry ... I wanted to be the one to--"
"You're him. Superman. You're ... you're ..."
She put a hand to her forehead. Was she dreaming? Running a fever? Going crazy? Was her partner, the man she'd been working with for one and a half years, really the superhero she'd fallen for so hard all that time ago?
"I wanted to tell you," he said. "I did."
Lois remembered the other night at his apartment when she'd come to tell him about Parker. He'd been in the middle of telling her something when he'd gotten that look on his face and had practically thrown her out of his apartment.
'Lois, I'm Superman.' That was what he'd wanted to say.
"I should have seen it," she suddenly said. "I should have realized you were ..." A humorless laugh escaped her. "Look at me! Prize-winning investigative journalist. I didn't ... I couldn't ..."
She shook her head, unbelieving.
Clark gave her a lopsided smile. "That's the whole idea," he said.
"You lied to me," she said, her heart suddenly aching. All the times he'd come to see her in her apartment, all the times he'd given her exclusive interviews -- he'd lied every single time. "You deceived me. You made me believe you were two different people."
"Not to hurt you," he said. "Never to hurt you."
She took a deep breath, wondering what to say now. She didn't even know what to think! It all made sense, all of a sudden. His strange behavior, his lame excuses and his running off: it all made sense now.
Clark was Superman.
And Superman? Who was he?
"And Superman?" she asked. "He's ..."
"Not real," Clark replied. "He's a disguise -- a way for me to help people without giving up being who I am."
"And who are you?" she asked, a certain bitterness in her voice. Was he Clark Kent, farmboy from Kansas? Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet? Clark Kent, other half of Lane and Kent? Clark Kent, superhero? Visitor from outer space? Kryptonian?
She didn't know anymore. Somehow it was hard to tell all of a sudden.
"Just Clark," he answered softly, coming to stand with her. "Just ... me."
Lois looked at him, searching his eyes. There was caring there and love -- the same things she'd felt in his kiss. There was regret, too. And ... uncertainty. He was nervous, she realized with a certain amount of wonder. Superman was nervous, because he wasn't sure what she was going to do now.
She'd promised him something and she wasn't about to break that promise. She couldn't. He had lied to her, he'd deceived her, he'd made her feel incredibly stupid ... but she still cared for him. Very much. Whether he was Clark or Superman, ordinary guy from Kansas or strange visitor from another planet, the fact remained that he was the only one for her.
She realized now he always had been.
This changed everything, but they would manage. She was hurt and angry, but she would move on. And he'd come with her wherever she went. She knew him well enough to know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
She realized suddenly how hard it must have been for him, seeing her throw herself at someone who wasn't real, while pretending she didn't see him, Clark.
"Give me some time," she said, "to clear my head and figure out a few things."
"I did what I did you protect you. And my parents." He looked at her, doing his best to explain. "I did it because I couldn't bear to lose you -- ever. And later ... I was afraid."
She nodded. "It's thoughtful, I guess. In a strange kind of way."
"It wasn't about deceiving you," he told her with a grimace. "I hated hiding this from you. I guess I don't have much of an excuse. All I can say is I'm sorry you had to find out for yourself."
"Well, you wanted to tell me," she threw in. "Today at the Planet you said there was something we had to talk about. You meant this, didn't you?"
Clark nodded.
There was silence for a few moments as Lois tried to sort out her feelings. She knew Clark -- the real Clark, not the superhero, not the celebrity, not the man in tights and a cape, but the man she'd worked with all this time. He had problems like everyone else and he made mistakes like everyone else. Keeping his secret from her for so long had undoubtedly been one of them, but she believed him when he said he hadn't meant to hurt her. She knew him well enough to know that he would never willingly hurt anybody. Going by his own weird kind of logic, he'd thought he was doing what was best.
The fact that he cared -- so much he apparently couldn't think straight sometimes -- made him so lovable and special.
"I'm hurt, because you lied to me," she told him.
"I know," he said softly. "And that's okay."
"And it's ... unexpected! I mean, I knew you were ... different, but I had no idea ...!"
"I know it's a lot to take in and--"
He broke off all of a sudden and got The Look on his face. She'd seen it countless times before, but now she finally recognized it for what it was. "What do you hear?" she asked.
"Car chase," he replied absently. "I have to go."
She nodded.
"But not if you don't want me to. I know there's still lots of things we have to talk about."
"Go," she told him. "We'll finish this later."
"Okay. I'll be back as soon as possible." He turned, but then hesitated. "And, Lois, please don't do anything impulsive while I'm gone. Just stay here and watch the apartment, okay?"
She rolled her eyes. "Just go!" she laughed.
He nodded and vanished in a blur. The door opened and closed so quickly she barely noticed it.
"Whoa!" she managed. A smile crept across her face. "He's just full of surprises."
**********
Jarod sat in the empty apartment, watching the screen of the small portable TV in his hand. Carter Havens hadn't shown up yet, but Jarod was confident that it wouldn't take much longer.
While he waited, he planned his next move. He'd done this countless times before and was very good at it. Almost scaring the bad guy to death was one of his many talents. He wanted Carter Havens to feel the same fear and panic that those women had felt.
So Jarod waited patiently, his eyes grim, his jaw set.
Finally the door to Havens's apartment opened and a shadow appeared in the room. When the light flickered to life, Jarod was able to identify Havens who tossed his jacket on the couch and walked over to the refrigerator to get himself a can of beer.
Jarod moved.
Moments later he stood in front of Havens's apartment door and reached for the knob. It was unlocked. Havens was getting careless, Jarod thought. Overconfidence could be dangerous.
Jarod slammed open the door.
Havens started. "What the hell--"
He didn't get any further. Jarod took two steps in his direction and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back.
"Who--"
"Your worst nightmare," Jarod replied, even before Havens had finished his sentence. "I know who you are -- who you really are ... Henry Thomas, isn't that right?"
Havens tried to twist free, but Jarod's grip was merciless.
"What do you want?"
Jarod twisted his arm further until Havens yelped in pain.
"This isn't about me," Jarod replied. "It's about Carla Freemark and Jodie Hendriks and Mary Jefferson. And all the other women you kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed."
That did it. Havens suddenly went completely still. After a few moments, he said in a breathless whisper, "I've never heard those names before."
"Of course not," Jarod replied acidly. "They weren't humans for you, were they? Why would their names interest you?"
"Listen ... whatever your name is--"
"Jarod."
"Jarod," Havens repeated. "I don't know those women. I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."
Jarod released him and shoved him across the room. Havens stumbled and fell, then scrambled as far away as he could. Panting, he sat up against the wall, his eyes filled with terror.
Jarod approached him menacingly. "Well, I guess I'll just have to refresh your memory, won't I?"
**********
Lois was at the window the moment she heard voices over the directional microphone. One of them sounded awfully familiar.
"What the-- Parker!"
She reached for the binoculars to get a better look. She'd been right; Jarod Parker was in Havens's apartment -- and if she wasn't mistaken he wasn't there as an FBI agent.
"... have to refresh your memory, won't I?"
Lois lowered the binoculars, biting her lower lip. What the heck was that guy up to? She was pretty sure this wasn't the FBI's standard procedure -- unless the rules had changed while she hadn't been looking. Either Parker's superiors had no idea he was here or ...
She took another look through the binoculars. Parker had tied Havens to a chair and was now gagging him.
"We wouldn't want to disturb the neighbors, would we?" she heard him say. His voice was so cold and merciless that it sent shivers down her spine. "We wouldn't want anybody watching, either. Right?"
Lois had a bad feeling about where this was going. Indeed, Parker walked over to the window and pulled the drapes closed.
"Drat!" Lois exclaimed. Frustrated, she tossed the now-useless binoculars onto the couch.
Over the microphone she could still hear Parker's voice, saying, "Do you recognize this? It's a knife like the one you used to slit Carla Freemark's throat. It's sharp. Wanna feel?"
Lois heard a muffled reply.
"I thought so," Parker said. "Now, I'd like to hear you admit that you were the one who raped and killed those women," Parker went on. "And, believe me, I know how to make people talk. It's a gift."
Lois's mouth went dry. What was he going to do? Torture Havens? Her heart started beating quickly. She had to do something. Parker couldn't just go and execute people, no matter what they'd done.
Frantically, she checked her watch. Clark had been gone for about fifteen minutes. There was no time to wait for him to get back.
"Are you going to cooperate?" Parker asked. There was a sound, then Jarod said, "What's that?"
There was a sharp ripping sound as the tape was removed from Havens's mouth, followed by a painful scream. "Owww!"
"Oh, I'm sorry." There was a pause, then Parker said in a low, menacing voice, "Now, tell me, do the names ring a bell? Or do you need me to refresh your memory a little more?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Okay, that's it!" Parker snapped furiously. "Say goodbye."
That was it. Lois started towards the door and threw it open, then broke into a run as she headed down the stairs.
**********
Jarod cut the rope he'd used to tie up Havens and then grabbed the man by the collar. The apparent lack of remorse and the arrogance with which Havens was handling himself, made Jarod furious -- so furious he had to try hard to control himself from tossing Havens out the window onto the street three stories below.
What he did do, was lift Havens from the chair and slam him against the wall. With a smile that he hoped looked a little like a madman's, Jarod looked at the blade in his hand.
"I wonder how Carla felt when you killed her," he said softly. "I bet you'd like to know, too, huh?"
Havens's eyes widened in terror. "What--?"
Jarod smiled. "Here's your chance to find out."
"No!" Havens started to twitch, trying to free himself. "No! Don't! I-- I admit it! I killed those women! I killed Carla Freemark and Mary Jefferson and all the others. They didn't deserve any better!"
Jarod let him go. "Hey, that wasn't that difficult, was it?" he said with grin.
As Havens sank to the floor, Jarod reached into the pocket of his jacket to retrieve a small cassette recorder. Triumphantly, he rewound it and pushed 'play'.
"They didn't deserve any better!" came Havens's voice from the tape.
"The police will be very interested in this," Jarod told Havens. "It'll make a nice--"
He didn't get any further.
Suddenly the door flew open, slamming into the wall. Jarod immediately recognized the woman in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" he asked incredulously.
This was dangerous! What did she think was doing--
"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Is this standard FBI procedure?"
"Ms. Lane! You shouldn't--"
All of a sudden, the air was knocked from his lungs and he felt his knees give out from under him. Stupid, Jarod! he thought angrily. He should've paid attention to what he was doing, not to Lois Lane.
Carter Havens pulled back and punched Jarod's face. Moments later, the taste of blood filled Jarod's mouth.
"Hey!" he heard Lois Lane yell. "Stop right there!"
Jarod felt dizzy and sick. His head was aching and he felt blood dripping from his nose. Any moment he was going to throw up, he thought disgustedly.
Carter Havens used Jarod's distraction for one final blow. With a cry of rage, he grabbed Jarod around the waist and lifted him from his feet. By the time Jarod had realized what was happening, it was too late.
The sound of shattering glass surrounded him and he felt a stinging sensation all over his face as the tiny fragments penetrated his flesh. And then there was nothing but the feel of wind against his skin as he fell three stories to the ground below.
**********
"No!" Lois shouted, her heart almost stopping for a moment.
She saw Havens smash Jarod through the window and for moment everything seemed like a surreal dream. When she realized it wasn't, fear for her own safety temporarily shoved her concern for Parker to the back of her mind. Carter Havens was obviously crazy and he wasn't going to stop at throwing Parker from the third floor.
Lois and Havens moved almost simultaneously, both diving for the knife that Jarod had dropped. Havens was a split second faster and came to his feet, holding the sharp blade directed at Lois.
She stopped for a moment, watching Havens approach her. When he'd come within five feet of her, her knowledge of Tae Kwon Doe instictively took over. With a kick she disarmed him, sending the knife flying across the room. Havens momentary distraction made it easy to send him to the ground with an expert kick to his stomach and a forceful right cross. When he tried to get up, she sent him flying with a powerful kick to his face.
He landed on the floor, unconscious.
Taking a deep breath, she muttered to herself, "Where's Superman when I need him?"
"Right here."
She whirled and saw Clark, dressed in his usual clothes standing in the hallway. Lois breathed a sigh of relief, shutting her eyes briefly.
"What's going on?" Clark asked, walking over to her. "I thought I'd asked you to--"
"-- wait. I know," she finished for him. "I'll explain later. You have to take Parker to the hospital. Havens just threw him out the window."
"What?" Clark said incredulously.
"Hurry!" she said, shoving his arm. "I'll stay here and make sure he doesn't go anywhere."
"Lois, what if he wakes u--"
"Clark, don't fuss! Just go!"
With a stern look and a "Be careful", he disappeared.
**********
Lois and Clark were sitting next to each other on one of the long waiting benches in the hospital's hallway. Clark was feeling terrible that he hadn't been there in time to stop Jarod from getting injured. If only he'd let the police handle the situation and had stayed with Lois. If he'd been a few seconds faster ...
"Hey," he heard Lois say softly. "It's not your fault."
He looked at her, caught. "How'd you know?"
"That you're obsessing? You get that look on your face." She smiled. "I'm pretty good at figuring out what's going on inside that head of yours."
He couldn't help but smile. "It's your business, looking beyond the external. Right?"
"Right."
Clark couldn't quite believe yet that she knew everything about him. What was really amazing was the way she was handling the whole situation. There were no unjust accusations, no fits, no 'I never want to see you again.'
He couldn't even begin to describe how relieved he was. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his chest.
The future was going to be interesting, he thought with a smile.
"We still have a lot to talk about," he said to her.
"Yes," she replied. "We do." She looked past him and when he followed her gaze, he saw a doctor leaving Jarod's room. "But right now we should be worrying about other things," Lois said, getting to her feet.
Clark followed.
"How is he?" he immediately asked.
"He's going to be as good as new," the doctor replied.
"Thank God," Lois said.
Clark breathed a sigh of relief, a broad smile spreading over his face. "How badly is he hurt?" he then wanted to know.
"Considering what happened, it's really a miracle," the doctor answered. "He has a minor concussion, two cracked ribs and a broken arm. The fact that he landed in a garbage dumpster undoubtedly prevented serious injuries." The doctor looked up from his files. "I'm surprised at how fast he seems to be recuperating. He'll probably be able to go home tomorrow."
"Can we see him?" Clark asked.
"Sure, but don't be too long."
"We won't. Thanks, doctor."
Clark and Lois entered Jarod's room and Clark was happy to see that Jarod was obviously feeling better. His arm was in a cast, he had a Band-Aid over his left eyebrow and his face was covered with tiny cuts, but other than that he seemed okay.
"Hi," Jarod said when he saw them. He sounded a little down, but that was understandable. "They told me you were here."
"We were worried," Clark explained. "You looked awful when Superman brought you here."
Jarod grimaced. "I guess I felt pretty awful, though I don't remember much of what happened. Hey, thank Superman for me if you see him, okay? I owe him."
Clark smiled, exchanging a look with Lois. "I think Superman's just glad he could help. You don't owe him anything."
Lois returned his smile. Clark was amazed at how good it felt to have her in on the secret. It made it much easier to be himself around her. It felt great to have someone to share these private moments with, knowing the other person knew exactly how you felt.
"Oh," Lois suddenly said, "I think you'll be happy to know that Carter Havens aka Henry Thomas is behind bars. They're investigating him and the DA's confident that they'll get enough proof to put him on trial."
"Great!" Jarod exclaimed. "I'm very happy to hear that."
"We should probably be leaving," Clark said after a few moments. "The doctor said you need rest."
"Thanks for coming to see me," Jarod said with a smile. "I hate hospitals. But," he added with grin, "I love the chocolate ice cream I get here."
Lois laughed. "You know, Jarod, to quote Humphrey Bogart, 'I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.'"
Jarod looked at her blankly. "Who's Humphrey Bogart?"
**********
Clark waited for Lois to join him, then pulled the door to Jarod's room shut behind them. They stood in front of the door for a few moments, just looking at each other. He smiled.
"How about we get out of here and find someplace to talk?" she suggested. "And, maybe, more than that," she added with a sly grin and nudged him with her hip. "Because, you know, you kiss pretty amazingly."
He grinned. "That goes right back to you, ma'am."
"Come on," she said, taking his hand.
When they started walking down the hallway together, Clark spotted a woman in a pair of jeans, a red blouse and a black leather jacket heading their way. She looked like she was in one heck of a hurry. The look on her face reminded her a little of the one that Lois got when she was hot in pursuit of a story.
"Excuse me," she said. "I'm looking for someone. Are you Lois Lane and Clark Kent?"
Clark exchanged a glance with Lois. "Yes," he replied.
"I'm looking for this man," she said, holding up a picture. It showed Jarod Parker. "Do you know where I can find him?"
"He's in room three hundred four," Lois replied.
The woman's professional and determined appearance slipped. Suddenly she looked worried, but she hid it quickly. "Is he injured?" she wanted to know.
"He'll be okay," Clark replied.
"Who are you?" Lois wanted to know.
"Someone ... he grew up with," she replied after a moment of hesitation. Then she smiled and Clark had the feeling she didn't do that often. "Thanks," she said.
"You're welcome."
Clark watched as she walked up to the door and took a breath before she opened it and disappeared inside.
"Who do you think she is?" he asked Lois.
She smiled. "I don't know for sure. But I have the feeling he'll be happy to see her."
They continued their way down the hall. "You never did call Washington to find out if he really is with the FBI, did you?" Clark asked after a few moments.
"Nope," she replied. "You won't believe this, but I don't think I really want to know."
"Me, either." Clark paused for a moment. "What about the surveillance tapes? Did you give them to Perry?"
Lois shook her head. "Nope. You?"
"Uh-uh." He looked serious when he continued, "I may not agree with his methods, but I must admit they are incredibly effective. I have no idea who he is, but I don't want to get him in trouble, you know?"
"Yeah. I know what you mean." She laughed. "I like him. To think I was so incredibly suspicious when I first met him ..."
Clark grinned. "Do you think we'll see him again?"
Lois shrugged. "Who knows? If there's one thing I've learned this week, it's that life is full of surprises."
They walked in silence for a few moments, then Lois said thoughtfully, "You know, I think I'll dye it back. My hair, I mean. Red's just not my color."
"I was just starting to get used to it!" Clark protested.
She laughed. "We can just include that topic in the nice long conversation we're going to have now. My place or yours?" she asked.
Clark grinned wryly. "Well, actually," he drawled, "I was thinking more along the lines of Paris ..."
**********
Jarod was lying with his eyes closed in a slight state of drowsiness when he heard the door to his room open. Turning his head, he opened his eyes and immediately felt a slight jolt of panic when he saw who it was. He hadn't thought she'd find him so soon. He'd wanted to be able to walk away -- run -- if she didn't come alone.
Unfortunately, things hadn't quite gone as planned.
"How'd you find me?" he asked, knowing the answer, but thinking he should give her the opportunity to gloat.
When she answered, her voice lacked the smugness he'd expected. "I followed my heart," she replied.
"You have one?" he quipped with a wry grin.
She pulled up a chair and sat down next to his bed. "Don't go blabbing about it," she replied, deadpan. "I have a reputation to protect, you know."
"I won't tell if you don't," he promised.
The teasing banter quickly made way for reality. Jarod knew what she would have to do. He had always known what would happen if she caught up with him and for some reason or another he wasn't able to escape. He just hadn't believed it would be so soon. Actually, he hadn't believed it would ever happen.
"Psst," he hissed and added in a confidential whisper, "I'm not really here. Pretend you don't see me."
She sighed. "You're the Pretender, Jarod. Not me."
"Just try. It's not that difficult."
Parker got up from the chair and walked over to the window. "I came alone," she said after a few moments. "Nobody knows I'm here, aside from Broots and Sydney. And you'll be long gone before the Centre finds out what they know."
Jarod couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "You're ... letting me go?" he asked cautiously.
She nodded, her back still turned to him.
Jarod straightened up, wincing at the pain in his chest. "What about you? If they find out you let me get away ..."
"Don't worry about me, Jarod," she said.
"But I do!" he protested. "I worry about you all the time."
She didn't reply, but he could see her sigh. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and got to his feet. For a moment he thought he'd die of agony, but then the pain in his chest subsided and he let out a sigh.
Slowly he approached her and reached out to touch her. She didn't turn, didn't even wince, when he cupped her shoulder with his hand.
"Come with me," he said, not quite sure himself where the words had come from, yet knowing that he was saying the right thing.
"Jarod ..."
"We'll fight them together," he continued, not giving her the time to object. "And we'll take them down together."
She finally turned around and looked at him. In her eyes he could see what she would never say aloud. Something passed between them; an unspoken agreement and a silent promise that wherever one of them went, the other would follow.
Jarod smiled, pulling her against his chest for a warm embrace -- something they'd both needed for a long, long time. She hugged him gently, carefully, making sure she didn't hurt him.
The world was changing.
THE END
