Personal Loyalties By C. Leuch Rated PG-13 Submitted January 2001 _______________ Comments: My thanks to Shayne for his help in brainstorming this story - he provided me with many good ideas to build on. Also thanks to Dia and Adam for beta reading. This story is a sequel to Professional Loyalties, and is the fourth in my line of next generation Kent family stories. I would recommend reading them before this one to get a better understanding of the characters. Standard disclaimers apply. Feedback is always welcome. ********************************************************************* Jon Kent entered his modest apartment as he did every evening after a hard day of work. He considered this apartment to be his home, just as his parent's house had been his home as a kid, but he couldn't help but notice the general emptiness of the place. Sure, he had plenty of furniture to fill it, and it definitely had a lived-in quality that he appreciated - in the corner sat a basket of unfolded laundry, on the coffee table was a used drinking glass, and on the couch was yesterday's edition of the Daily Planet. Even so, it would be nice to be able to come home to something or someone that could give him a little companionship. Jon hadn't realized it immediately after he graduated from college, but it slowly dawned on him that he was lonely. It was hard, after graduation, to see all of his friends move away and find jobs elsewhere. It was equally hard to move out of his apartment of four years, which he had recently shared with his brother, to a new place more suited to his status as a reporter with a major newspaper. Sure, he always had his family to keep him company, and he knew that they loved him no matter what, but they weren't there when he walked in the door at night, and sometimes coming home to an empty apartment was just too much to bear. Jon supposed he could get a dog or cat, but he didn't think that he had enough free time to give them the attention that they deserved. Goldfish would even be nice, but could a goldfish keep a person company, really? After seeing his brother, CJ, and his friend, Jenny, hook up during the previous summer, it became clear to Jon what he needed. At the time he chided himself, saying that nobody NEEDED to be a codependent, that someone who respected himself didn't need anyone else to make him feel whole. But he couldn't ignore that growing feeling of desolation, and the feeling of longing that he saw whenever he saw two people holding hands. He loved his brother dearly, but he had felt almost physically ill when CJ got engaged. Jon was the first to admit that his love life was not exactly active. He had gone on a few dates, and even went steady with a girl in college for a little while, but his heart had never truly been with any of those women. He knew that a lot of girls found him attractive - he was not immune to the appreciative glances that he received, but glances were just that, and he never went out of his way to even acknowledge them. He wondered if maybe there wasn't something wrong with him, if maybe he was just incapable of love. It didn't seem possible, considering the experiences of other members of his family, but he couldn't deny the evidence so far. Jon sighed and closed his apartment door behind him, flicking on some lights on his way to the kitchen. Another long night stretched out in front of him, and he didn't have any idea of what he would do. He liked to watch the occasional sporting event, but the baseball season was over, it was too early for basketball, and it was the wrong night of the week for football. He supposed that he could drop by and visit his folks, but if he spent any more time at their place, he figured he might as well move back in. His little brother had schoolwork to do, and he didn't have any close friends from work to hang out with. It was nights like these, he thought wryly, that having his other job came in very handy. He had to admit that when he first donned the red and black Crimson Superman uniform, he had been wary of the press and publicity that hounded him wherever he went. As invigorating as the work itself was, the attention made him uncomfortable, and subsequently he didn't go out much. But as time went by and the Crimson Superman lost his novelty, the press began to go away, and magically, Jon found he liked to go out. He had always loved flying - the feeling of the air rushing against his face, the beauty of the landscape, and the freedom flying afforded him all made it a spectacular experience. He also truly loved being of assistance to other people. Jon had always been very conscientious of other people's feelings, and he never liked to see others get hurt. It was ultimately because of that that he had endured the unpleasantness, and he was glad he had. In the last few weeks he had increased his exposure as the Crimson Superman. He told himself that it was because he was becoming more comfortable with everything, or maybe to make amends for his earlier skittishness, but he couldn't help but think that he was using it as an escape from the emptiness he felt at home. He even found himself staying out later than he would like at times, just because he didn't want to face the empty apartment. As he prepared his dinner, Jon decided that it would be another good night for him to go out. He could do some patrolling, and his dad would be more than happy to have another night off. If things kept up at the rate they were going, the original Superman could almost go into retirement. Jon threw together a quick meal and sat himself down in front of the TV, turning it on and viewing the local news. The stories that the newscasters presented were more of the same that he saw every night - stories of crime and violence, mixed in with the occasional inspirational story. Even with his increased presence in the city skies, Jon knew he couldn't stop all crime. It truly did amaze him how much violence there still was in the city, even after so many years of having a Superman around. He grudgingly acknowledged that all the crime fighting in the world couldn't change human nature, and as long as there were human beings on this earth, there would be violence of some sort. Jon flicked the TV off again and cleaned up after his supper. That done, he lazily changed into his Superman outfit and took off out of the back window of his apartment. As he lifted further into the air, the city began to spread out below him. He remembered the first time he had witnessed the city from the air - his dad had taken off from the backyard of their house with Jon in tow. Jon had been 15 at the time and couldn't fly on his own. He clearly remembered how his house had begun to shrink, and as they went further and further up, it blended into the blocks upon blocks of houses that made up suburban Metropolis. Eventually as they continued their flight, the skyscrapers that were ever so prominent in the Metropolis skyline had loomed closer and closer. His father had set them down atop the tallest of them, and they just stood there for the longest time, chatting and taking in the sights. The action had been relatively slow that night, Jon recalled, but even watching discreetly as his dad stopped a couple of muggings and put out a fire was incredibly exciting to him. They had shared quite a few nights like that during his high school years, until one day he found that he could fly on his own - that had been very interesting. His dad had strictly prohibited him from flying in the daylight hours until he became an actual superhero, but that didn't stop him from taking the occasional jaunt across the United States during the nighttime hours. He just loved the way the lights of the cities seemed to sparkle when viewed from high up in the air, and the way that the stars seemed to burn so much more brightly as he rose higher into the sky. Nighttime was still his favorite time to go flying, if only because it brought back pleasant memories of those days - a happier time for him in general. Jon forced his mind to return to the present as he circled above the city. The sun was still out, although it probably wouldn't be for much longer. He found himself drifting toward the Metropolis University campus, as he did often. He knew his little brother and Jenny were more than capable of taking care of themselves - heck, a few months earlier, they had proven that they made quite the crime fighting team, too - but he still liked to discreetly check on them. As he flew by his old apartment, he saw CJ inside, his nose in a book. Jon next flew toward Jenny's apartment. He remembered the first time he had glanced in there - he almost had almost fallen right out of the sky. Her roommate brought the word obsession to new heights with that Superman shrine of hers. It was no wonder that Jenny preferred to spend time at CJ's. Jenny was closed into her room, also studying. Jon smiled a little - as acutely lonely as he was, one thing that he truly didn't miss in his life after leaving college was all the studying. Sure, it was good for keeping his mind occupied, but there came a point, especially toward the end of his senior year, when he just got sick of reading books and writing term papers. Jon continued past the campus and toward the harbor. He was nearing the docks when a loud burst of gunfire in the distance caught his attention. Zeroing in on the sound and setting his bearings, he quickly concluded that it was coming from the Garden District. With a burst of speed, he raced toward the shooting. The Garden District at one time had been what could be considered an upper middle class, inner city neighborhood. Brownstones lined either side of the street, their intricate brickwork a sign of the money that was once present in the neighborhood. But, like so many areas of the city, crime had steadily worked its way in, and the residents had moved on to newer, safer neighborhoods. The once proud neighborhood was little more than a hangout for various criminal organizations, although the organized crime families had kept a special eye on the area. The police had always done what they could to try and keep some semblance of law and order there, but it was hard to keep up. It seemed that this night the police had taken the initiative and raided one of the more notorious drug houses, but the criminal element wasn't going to go down without a fight. Gunfire once again burst forth from inside one of the brownstones, raining bullets into the row of squad cars that sat in front of it. The police hid behind their vehicles until the shooting stopped, then they pointed their own guns toward the house and fired back. Jon could see at least one officer injured on the ground, and several more men down inside the house. This gunfight obviously wasn't accomplishing anything aside from getting a lot of people injured, so Jon decided that it was up to him to stop it. Taking a deep breath, he raced in to disarm the criminals inside the house, hopefully before any more of them came to any harm. As he flew through one of the shattered windows, bullets danced in slow motion all around him. He plucked them out of the air and quickly crushed them before taking the guns out of the hands of the gunmen, in some instances even as their fingers were tensing over the triggers. Jon also grabbed any spare guns and ammunition that he saw lying around so that the criminals didn't have any chance to resume their assault on the police force out front. Before leaving, he took a quick look at the wounded criminals and determined that their injuries weren't life threatening. He then exited through the same window he entered and set down in front of one of the police cars, waiting for time to slam back into place before dropping his payload on the ground. The officers blinked in surprise as they became aware of his presence, looks of relief spreading across their faces. "Everyone inside is unarmed," Jon announced, using his Superman voice. One of the officers began to move toward the building and made a hand signal indicating that the others should follow him inside. Confident that the situation was taken care of, Jon strode quickly toward the injured cop that he had noticed earlier. As he approached the officer, he noticed that another officer was bent over him, removing his jacket. The injured officer appeared to be unconscious, but Jon couldn't see any blood, which was good. Surreptitiously X-raying the man on the ground, Jon could see that a bulletproof vest worn under his clothing had been hit, with a small circular indentation marking the spot. His only injuries were some bruising and a cracked rib - nothing to be worried about, although the officer should probably see a doctor. "He'll be just fine," Jon said to the attending officer, his attention still focused on the injured officer. As Jon spoke, the other officer's shoulders seem to droop with relief. "Thank goodness," the attending officer said. The voice was higher than Jon anticipated, a woman's voice. For the first time he gave her his full attention, and he quickly came to the conclusion that her sex shouldn't have surprised him at all. Beneath the standard issue navy uniform was a slender, unquestionably feminine form. Jon forced his eyes away from her body and toward the back of her head, aware that Superman could never ever be seen gawking. It had really never been an issue before - Jon never, ever treated women with anything less than complete respect, and he most certainly never gawked. But tonight, for some reason, he had that urge. After a second she finally turned her face toward him, and as soon as his eyes met hers, Jon had to stifle a gasp. The world outside of her face faded away and everything seemed to slow down, much as it did when he moved at superspeed. But he knew couldn't possibly be moving at superspeed - in fact, he doubted he could move voluntarily at all. Inside he screamed at himself to look away, but her dark eyes drew him in and spoke to him. He could feel the muscles in his jaw going slack, but he was helpless to stop it. After a long couple of seconds they both blinked, and the spell was broken. Jon looked away quickly and tried to compose himself. He took a few deep breaths and addressed her again, careful to make his features appropriately neutral. He avoided looking at her face, instead choosing to address her downed colleague. "I can take him to the hospital if you wish, but he just has a cracked rib." Officer Martinez opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a moaning coming from the ground behind her. She turned to face her partner. "Bob?" she asked. "Diane? What happened?" came the weak reply from her partner. She laid a hand on his chest to silence him before turning to address the Crimson Superman, her eyes carefully diverted to his chest instead of his face. "I think we'll be fine here, thanks, Superman," she said and smiled. She looked into his eyes again for a split second before turning back to her partner. Jon nodded quickly and shot up into the air, any further patrols quickly forgotten in favor of getting home. He needed to do some serious thinking about what had just happened. What exactly DID just happen, he wondered? He looked into a women's eyes, he felt himself freeze up, the world stopped....oh God! Jon stopped suddenly in mid-flight as he realized what it meant. It happened to his dad, it happened to CJ, and now, finally, it happened to him. He didn't know whether to be ecstatic or terrified. Was SHE really supposed to be the love of his life, the person he was meant to be with? Jon began his forward motion again, now urgently wanting to get home. This was a monumental occurrence in his life, and he had no idea what to do. One thing was certain, though: he had to see her again. How or when, he didn't know, but he wanted to be cautious and do it right. True love only came around once, and he wasn't going to blow it. --- Diane Martinez walked into the police station, her office, with her partner hobbling close by her side. He was still a little bit stunned from being shot in the chest - lucky for him his bulletproof vest protected him from being seriously harmed. As it was, the chief would probably send him home after writing up his incident report. Speaking of which, Diane had to write one of those, too. She parted company with her partner and headed toward her desk, reviewing the night's activities. They had gone into the Garden District with a warrant to search one of the brownstones there - they had suspected it of being a drug house for a long time, but it was only recently that they had gotten enough evidence to really do anything about it. They had gone in there fully expecting to meet with some resistance, although they hadn't expected them to be quite so well armed. As they approached the brownstone, they had immediately been shot at, and the confrontation quickly degenerated into a shooting match, with neither side gaining any ground. Then the Crimson Superman intervened. The thought of the Crimson Superman made her pause for a few seconds. She would be lying if she said it hadn't been a thrill to meet him. Although she never admitted it, even to herself, she had always wanted to meet one of the supermen in person. She respected their sense of justice and dedication to crime fighting, among their other qualities. In fact, she had been influenced by those qualities, even all the way down in her home state of Texas, and had decided to become a police officer in Metropolis partially because of their example. So when he came onto the scene tonight, she couldn't help but feel a little excited. Diane had always considered herself to be a very level-headed person, never one to get obsessed with anything. She liked things, sure, and she would consider herself to be a fan of certain things - sports, TV shows, and Superman, for example - but never to the point of letting it take over any part of her life. She couldn't see how people could spend hours of their lives obsessing over these things, although she did indulge herself in reading the occasional article about her favorite subjects. But tonight she had met Superman, and everything changed. There was something when they looked at each other, she didn't know what it was. His face had transformed - she could've sworn that he looked stunned, although nothing she had ever heard or read said that the supermen showed any emotion. And then there were his eyes, his expressive eyes. She sensed a lot more depth to his personality than just the stoic, crime fighting hero persona. He seemed to communicate something to her - she couldn't tell what, but it was something that she felt she had to follow up on. All of a sudden she felt the need to find out more about the Crimson Superman. Her thoughts were interrupted by a man standing over her desk. He wore black slacks and a white button-up shirt with a navy blazer and multi-colored tie. She looked up toward his face, and saw a rather handsome man with very dark hair and glasses. "Excuse me, Officer Martinez?" "Yes?" she said with some annoyance. She had been in the middle of some very pleasant introspection before being so rudely interrupted. "I'm Jonathan Kent with the Daily Planet. I would like to ask you a few questions about what happened tonight in the Garden District." He smiled at her pleasantly, if not somewhat timidly. That smile was somewhat disarming, she thought, but men had tried to charm her in order to get their way so many times in the few months that she had been on the force that she was becoming immune to it. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him, wondering where he could have found out about the Garden District fiasco, and how he had known that she was there. She understood that reporters had their sources - he no doubt owned a police scanner - but that didn't mean that she felt in the least bit compelled to answer any of his questions. "Listen Mr. Kent," she said gruffly. "We will release a statement when the time is right, but for now that is still an investigation in progress and I cannot volunteer any information." Diane had considered that to be the end of the matter, but instead of leaving, this reporter sat down in the chair next to her desk, his eyes never leaving her. She began to shuffle papers around on her desk, hoping he would get the hint, but he started speaking again, his voice still pleasant and steady. "I understand that," he said. "But I really just want to ask you a few questions." She sighed and looked back at him, her eyes still narrowed in annoyance. "Fine, but don't expect me to give you anything you can use." He smiled at her, which only strengthened her resolve. She wasn't going to let him charm her into giving away information on their investigation. "Can you confirm that Superman was there?" he asked. "The younger one provided us assistance, yes." Her answer was very curt, but the thought of the Crimson Superman had made her feel a little bit warmer inside. "Were there any injuries or fatalities?" Jon asked. He knew perfectly well what the answers to these questions were, but his father had taught him early on that he shouldn't rely on a phantom interview with his alter-ego for all of his facts - it was just too suspicious, and he wanted to keep himself separated from the supermen as much as possible to protect his identity. "No officers were seriously hurt, but a few of the perpetrators were hit and had to be taken to the hospital." She didn't bother to embellish any details, instead giving him the bare-bones facts and hoping that he would go away. "Can you confirm that tonight's incident was related to a similar incident involving members of the Zarate crime family that happened a couple of weeks ago?" Diane frowned. How did he know about the link with the Zarates? She had no intention of answering the question, but all of a sudden she felt the need to ask him some questions of her own. Anyone who knew that much about the case could be dangerous. She considered it for a moment, but decided it would be wise to just let him go - he would probably say that he got his knowledge from some source that she wouldn't be able to touch, and it would end up being a waste of time. "I think I'm going to have to wrap this up, Mr. Kent." The reporter didn't look too surprised that she didn't answer his question. He reached into his coat and pulled out a business card, holding it out to her. "All right. If you do have any information to share, please give me a call." She snatched the card out of his hand and looked at his face once again. He was giving her another one of those dazzling smiles, and she found herself melting just a little under his gaze. She looked into his eyes, dulled as they were behind his glasses, and felt a slight spark. She frowned once more, this time for letting this reporter get to her. She looked at the card in her hand and watched out of the corner of her eye as he stood up and left. Maybe she would need to find out more about this Jonathan Kent, too. *** Susan entered the sizable foyer of her uncle's house. She couldn't help but have the feeling like she was in some sort of large train station or something when she entered the mansion - the domed ceiling hung three stories above her head, the skylights emitting enough light that no other illumination was needed. Her uncle came down the grand staircase, smiling as he always was when she visited him. He was really the only person in her family that had come into any money at all, not that that was the reason that she came to visit. He had built a publishing company from the ground up, and had earned a fortune in the process. Even after all of that, though, he still took an active interest in his company, and he was still the same nice guy that he had always been. When she ran away from home as a teenager, her uncle had allowed Susan to stay with him, and they had been very close ever since. Susan had to admit that she was partial to the books published by her uncle's company, and it wasn't just because of his relation to her, either. No, he published every book written by Ridley Davenport, her very favorite author. Ever since he published his "Superboy" novel, she had been a faithful fan, and she truly enjoyed the advanced readings of his books that her uncle allowed her to have. Susan waved at her uncle as he approached. "It's good to see you again, my dear," he said enthusiastically. "It's good to see you, too Uncle Ed," she said. He lived so far outside of town that it was hard for her to get out to visit too often, especially since she didn't have any transportation of her own. For some reason, though, he had offered to drive her out to meet him today. He had made it sound like it was pretty urgent, too, although she couldn't figure out why. It had gnawed at her on the ride over, but upon seeing him, her fears vanished. Susan and her uncle embraced quickly and then pulled apart. Susan took another look into his smiling face and was somewhat surprised to see a hint of wariness in his eyes, and a sense that his smile wasn't completely genuine. All of a sudden the urgent tone of his voice when he called her earlier in the week came back to her. He had always been so upbeat and cheery, she wondered what could've possibly happened to affect him so badly. She wanted to ask him about it, but he spoke before she had a chance to. "Come with me, dear. I have something for you that I think you'll like," he said. With that, he started walking toward his study, a sizable room with bookshelves lining every wall. A quick glance showed that he owned a very diverse collection of books, including classics, comics, and everything in between. Toward the back wall of the room was a large, slightly cluttered cherry-wood desk, an overstuffed leather desk chair sitting behind it. Ed motioned for Susan to sit down behind the desk, and he proceeded to a bookcase on the side wall. On the outside, Susan couldn't see anything different about that particular case that would warrant his attention - it was made of the same wood as all the other ones, although it only contained books published by his company. He quickly started removing books from the bookshelf, stacking them neatly on the ground. As he cleared out more and more shelf area, a panel was exposed that contrasted with its surroundings. He reached back and pulled out the panel, revealing a small hidden compartment containing several items, some of which Susan recognized as accounting ledgers and other business documents. Out of place among them was a large manuscript. Susan briefly wondered why her uncle felt it necessary to keep a manuscript hidden away in his study at home -he had always been adamant about keeping work related items at work. In fact, whenever she read novels in advance, as much as she had pleaded for him to bring them home, he always forced her to come to his office to do so. Her uncle grasped the manuscript, gently took it out of the compartment, and placed it on the desk beside her. She was extremely puzzled and curious at the same time - if this manuscript was important enough to warrant the special attention it was getting, it must be something special. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she glanced at the title of the front page. "The Life of a Super Man," it read. She had to fight a sense of giddiness - it was a new novel by Ridley Davenport! She reached out to grab it, but her uncle stopped her. "I know Mr. Davenport is your favorite author, and I know Superman is your favorite subject, so I'm giving you this. I want you to enjoy it and keep this safe, and I don't want you to tell anyone about its existence. Understand?" Susan swallowed and nodded, wondering why her uncle didn't want anyone to know about the new novel. She also wondered about the serious tone in his voice. But again, her curiosity got the better of her, and she picked up the manuscript and immediately opened it to the first page. She scanned the first few paragraphs, a smile growing on her face, and then forced herself to stop. Her uncle had invited her over, after all, and he needed her attention, too. She looked up and watched him putting the bookcase back in order. "So, Uncle Ed," she said, setting the manuscript aside, "I haven't talked to you for a while. How is everything going for you?" Her uncle looked over his shoulder and smiled at her, this time genuinely, and sat down on the desktop next to her. The two proceeded to chat about what was going on in their lives, all hardships momentarily forgotten. --- Ed Bantram watched as the car containing his niece pulled away from the house. As soon as it was out of sight, he allowed himself to sag against the wall, letting out a sigh as he did so. That had gone better than he had anticipated. Susan had lived with him for a couple of years, and she probably knew him better than almost anyone. There had been a few times during her two-hour visit when he thought for sure she wasn't buying his deception. It wasn't that he didn't think she was capable of hearing the truth about why he gave her the novel, but he didn't want her to be worried - her happiness meant more to him than his own. It was partially for that reason that he had given her that damnable manuscript - he knew it would please her to no end, and it would give more credence to the story that he had told the Zarates. At the time that novel had come to his attention six and a half years ago, he had been excited - the concept was certainly original, and the subject matter was a popular one with almost all demographics. But then the Superman Foundation had withheld approval, and the project was essentially killed. He wondered at the time about the precise reason why they didn't want the novel printed - it wasn't like the foundation to turn down much of anything. When Ed asked the author what his opinion was about the circumstances a few days later, Ridley just shrugged and smiled strangely. Ed thought for sure that Ridley would fight for the novel, but he was more than content to let the matter drop, which had always bothered Ed. That had pretty much been it, and the novel had been more or less swept under the rug after that, until shortly after the Crimson Superman turned up. Ed would certainly like to tell people, and he often did, that his own brilliance had caused his publishing company to be a success, but the reality of it was that his company would've gone under shortly after its inception if not for the help of a certain "family organization." In return for a few favors, the Zarate family had given him their money and support, and had even covertly tried to make things harder for other local publishing companies. With their help, his company had flourished, but over time their favors had gone from being relatively harmless, to being ever more demanding. Then, about six months ago, they started asking about that old Ridley Davenport Superman novel that had been forgotten about by almost everyone. He didn't have any idea how they found out about the novel, but they had, and they wanted it. Badly. Ed had read the novel when it first crossed his desk. He had to admit the premise was interesting - that Superman had a secret identity. He couldn't help but wonder why the Zarates were interested in an unpublished piece of fiction. Whatever the reason, knowing the Zarates, it probably wasn't for good purposes. He had always done what they asked before, but this time he just couldn't bring himself to give them the novel - something just felt supremely wrong about it. He had always had a great deal of respect for Superman, and he just couldn't willingly participate in anything that might bring any type of harm to the superhero. In recent days their questioning of him about the novel had grown more and more insistent, and he couldn't play dumb much longer - they were wearing him down. The only solution to his problem was to get rid of the novel, and Susan was the perfect person to give it to. She had had a very strong obsession with Superman ever since he had known her, and he knew that she would be very protective of anything about him that she considered to be unique, even if it was just fiction. He didn't think the Zarates would think to ask her about it, or at least, he hoped they didn't. But now the novel was gone, and he could reiterate to them that he didn't have it, and hopefully that would be the end of the matter. *** Joey Zarate sat at his desk, studying the latest statistics brought to him about the state of the family business. As much as he hated to say it, things weren't looking too good right now, and they hadn't since that new Superman had come on the scene. It was hard enough conducting their activities with just one of them patrolling the skies. With two, it was nearly impossible, although to be fair, they tended to trade off time instead of share time on duty. Still, something needed to be done, and fast, if they were to stay in business much longer. Joey stood up and began to wander toward the large conference table at the corner of his dark, spartan office. It was time to put their plan into motion. He looked at the maps hanging on the wall and took in the patterns that the multicolored pins pushed into it created. For years they had been collecting all information they could find about Superman. The family had spotters throughout the city that called in whenever they saw him; they bought every newspaper sold in town to see who was covering his movements; they followed the tabloids even, all hoping for some insight into Superman's life. Dates, locations, and times were recorded with every sighting and charted to try to find some pattern to Superman's appearances. Joey picked up a report written by the family's most noted detective and read it for the umpteenth time. The report was very interesting when coupled with the map hanging in front of him. According to their data, during business hours, Superman tended to be seen in an area, circular in shape, immediately radiating out from central Metropolis. At night, the sightings tended to be more spread out throughout the city and her suburbs. The daytime sightings outside of the central area were only usually for major occurrences that garnered a lot of media attention, while the sightings nearest to the center of the city were for smaller things, such as muggings and bank robberies, that didn't really get any coverage while they were happening. Many theories floated around the family's various experts as to why this was, but Joey was fairly sure he knew. Only one thing could truly explain the pattern, and that was that Superman must have a regular job somewhere in the central area of the city. Superman was known to have extraordinary hearing, but even he had his limits. Those limits would be exactly the type of thing that would cause the circular coverage area during the daytime. If he had a job, he would be expected to spend business hours in the building where he worked, although the sheer number of sightings that still happened during those hours attested to the fact that he likely had a job that allowed him to come and go pretty freely. The random appearances that showed up in the evening hours could be explained away as being caused by Superman patrolling the city, as he was known to do. So how could Superman work in the central area of the city unless he masqueraded as someone else? He certainly couldn't dress in that gaudy blue spandex suit of his and NOT get noticed - no, he had to be going out in something else, probably as someone else. When Joey had first voiced this theory, many people had been skeptical, but the sudden appearance of a son seemed to sway some of them into seeing things his way. How could Superman have raised a son without anyone noticing unless he was living as someone else? The secret identity theory was actually a very old one, first voiced during the second year that Superman had been in the city. The Diana Stride expose was something that Joey remembered quite vividly, along with its exposure as a hoax. The person she tagged as being Superman might have been wrong, but the idea was certainly intriguing, and it had been wedged in his mind ever since, gaining credence as time wore on. Joey had made it one of his goals in life to reveal the secret to Superman's identity, and the time to do so was drawing near. His thought process was interrupted by the ringing of the cellular phone hanging on his belt. "Joe here," he said. "The Bantram niece just left his place with a manuscript under her arm," the voice on the other end said. Joey allowed himself to smile a little. The manuscript, the one thing that could end up being a crucial piece to the puzzle, was almost his. Joe had read with interest the Ridley Davenport book "Superboy" when it came out several years ago. At the time of its release, Joey had considered it to be very interesting. As of six months ago, he saw it as being downright prophetic. Joey wasn't the type of person that believed in coincidences - something had to cause Mr. Davenport to write that book, and Joey had to know what it was. As much as he would've liked to have asked the author first hand, Mr. Davenport had spent the past year in hiatus in one of the few locations that was outside of the Zarate area of influence. It didn't really matter, though, since the Zarate family had the book's publisher in their back pocket. Joey had put his feelers out and, lo and behold, had found out about the existence of a mysterious unpublished Ridley Davenport novel, written around the same time as "Superboy," that supposedly dealt with a secret identity for Superman. Joey had nearly fallen out of his chair when he heard about that one. In his curiosity, Joey had called out for another favor from Ed Bantram, the company owner and friend of the family, but Mr. Bantram had been less than forthcoming. Joey had kept up the pressure in hopes of getting what he wanted, but his patience had been wearing very thin in recent days. Now it seemed that Mr. Bantram had been less than honest when he told them that he didn't know of this manuscript. That was unfortunate for him, Joey thought. "Tail the girl and grab Bantram," Joey said. The man on the other end grunted out his agreement and Joey ended the call. So the manuscript was in the hands of the niece. A quick thought ran through his mind, and Joey dialed up another number on his phone. "This is Joe. What have you got on Susan Bantram, niece to our publisher friend?" Joey waited a few seconds while the man on the other end found the file. "Junior at Metropolis University, lives off campus. Is a known member of several different organizations, most of them Superman oriented. In fact, she formed the Friends of Superman club at the University a couple of years ago. I have addresses, phone records, bank records, a list of mailing lists she's on, and logs of her internet activity here if you want to see them, boss," said the voice at the other end. Joey's grin grew wider. She was a Superman fan, huh? An idea was forming - her cooperation might be much easier to get than her uncle's. She could come in very handy. "Just drop that whole file off at my office as soon as you get a chance. Thanks Tony," Joey said before hanging up. It was all coming into place. Soon, tantalizingly soon, he would be able to have Superman out of his way once and for all. *** Jon Kent entered the Daily Planet the next morning in a cheery mood, a definite spring in his step. Jon had no doubt as to what had caused the mood - he had had all night to think about it. It was amazing how the sun seemed to shine brighter that morning, how his coffee and muffin had tasted that much better, and how delightfully musical all the standard sounds of the city were. Everywhere he looked, he saw the face of Diane Martinez. She had a very exotic look, very dark and beautiful. And she was very... tantalizing. Yes, that was the word. Obviously not easily intimidated. When she was working, she was completely focused, but when she smiled...oh, boy. Jon moved to his desk on autopilot, oblivious to the curious stares of coworkers, who weren't used to seeing him so sunny first thing in the morning. He just couldn't stop thinking about the encounter the night before. He had not realized until he went back to the police station to interview Diane how strong his feelings for her were. It was truly amazing that those feelings had only come from a couple of exchanged sentences and some stray glances. Sure, her manner with him the second time around had been brusque, to say the least, but somehow that made her all the more desirable to him. Maybe it was the fact that it showed that she was an independent person, the type that didn't let other people (men, in particular) run all over them, the type that he had a great deal of respect for. In any case, trying to win her over was certainly a challenge he was up to. He had waited his whole life for that connection that he had felt when he looked into her eyes, and he knew definitively that he would do whatever it took to make her love him, even if it meant having an extreme amount of patience and a will of steel. Jon slowly became aware of a hand being waved in front of his face. He blinked a few times and regained his focus, then turned to face the hand's owner. He blushed a little when he saw his dad there - Jon had been so lost in thought that he hadn't seen his father come over to his desk and sit down at the chair next to it. Clark Kent was smiling in an amused way at his son. "Earth to Jon! Are you with me, bud?" "Uh, hi, Dad," Jon said, an embarrassed smile crossing his face. "I guess I was just lost in thought. What's up?" Clark held up an edition of the morning paper. "I saw the article you wrote about that shootout in the Garden District last night and I wanted to congratulate you. Good piece of investigating." Jon blushed again. His dad had always been quick with a compliment, and had always taken every opportunity to let his children know he was proud of them. Even so, Jon felt humbled every time one of those compliments came his way. "Well, I figured since I had been there, I might as well write the article...." "Well, yeah, there's that," Clark said quickly, giving a small dismissive gesture with his hand. "But it fell awfully nicely into that series of stories you've been doing about the organized crime in that area. It will be really interesting to see what connection turns up between the people from last night and the Zarate family. Have you gotten any hard evidence to support your hypothesis that the Zarates are running that part of town yet?' Jon sighed. Just flying over the Garden District at night and tuning in his superhearing had yielded enough mentions of the Zarate name that it would be extremely hard for him to believe that the family wasn't controlling the area. But none of what he heard could be substantiated by anyone else, and none of it had garnered him enough information to make a large bust of his own that would prove once and for all that the Zarates were behind the drug dealing, prostitution, illegal gun sales, and extortion that was happening in that part of town on an almost continual basis. Even the occasional police raid that went down in that neighborhood wasn't making much of a dent, and the criminals caught weren't snitching on the family. He briefly wondered if the police even suspected how ingrained the crime family was to that neighborhood, but then he thought about his interview from the night before. When he broached that very subject with Officer Martinez, it had definitely gotten a reaction. Maybe the police were working toward the same ends that he was, after all. The thought of his interview with Officer Martinez almost caused him to slip back into his reverie, but he forced himself to look at his father, who had that amused smile on his face again. Jon realized that he had been lost in thought for a few seconds, but he didn't try to cover it up, instead slipping into professional reporter mode. "No, I don't have hard evidence. I think it's just a matter of time before something turns up, though - there's enough activity out there that they're bound to slip up sometime," Jon said. He looked at his father again, and a thought popped into his head. "Dad, can I ask you something?" Clark's smile faded slightly - the tone of Jon's voice had changed significantly from his earlier statement. His face seemed to have changed, too - the confident tones fell away and he almost looked timid. "Sure. What do you want to know?" Jon glanced around nervously, noting the bustle of the newsroom. What he wanted to ask was somewhat personal and certainly not job related - he wanted to do it somewhere more private. "Uh, let's go to the conference room first." "Okay," Clark said slowly, completely confused. He stood up and immediately Jon took him by the arm and dragged him into the conference room, shutting the door behind him. "Tell me about when you first met Mom," Jon said as he sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the big conference table. Clark looked at Jon's eyes and caught his eager expression, and almost laughed. As much as he expected the subject to come up eventually, Clark certainly hadn't expected it to be first thing in the morning some day at work. He wondered briefly what had prompted the question, but he was sure he would find out soon enough. Clark took a seat across from his son. "Well, I was in Perry's office interviewing for a job when she just burst in. All of a sudden, there she was, talking to Perry like I wasn't even there. I don't know what happened, but at that instant I first saw her, everything else seemed to dissolve until there was just me and her. Time meant nothing. I almost felt like I had been hit by a...." "Bulldozer." Jon said, almost dreamily, cutting him off. Clark had been staring in the direction of Perry's old office when he started his tale, but Jon's interruption had brought his attention right back to the conference table. Clark looked at him and saw a very far away look on his face. "Well, I was going to say Mack Truck, but the point is the same," Clark joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. "Anyway, at that second I fell hopelessly, completely in love, and I knew my life would never be the same again," he continued in a more serious tone. "Mmmm. No doubt in your mind?" Jon's face took on a wistful quality that Clark had never seen before. Clark narrowed his eyes and looked at his son more closely. What exactly happened to him last night? He had been fine when he left work.... "No, none whatsoever," Clark said cautiously. "Why do you ask, exactly?" "Huh?" Jon asked, suddenly bringing his attention back to the conference room. He smiled timidly again and avoided looking his father in the eye. "Oh, no reason. You know, I just...uh, well, I just met a girl last night and all of that applied. No big deal." Jon shrugged. Clark arched his eyebrows and felt the corners of his mouth tug up, completely against his will. He found Jon's downplaying of the situation to be rather humorous, but Clark figured Jon probably wouldn't appreciate his amusement right now, so he tried to suppress it. He molded the best "concerned father" look on his face that he could before speaking. "You did?" "Yeah," Jon said, very matter-of-factly. "Officer with Metropolis Police Department. Diane Martinez. I don't know what happened, but one second I was just doing standard rescue stuff, and the next we were looking into each other's eyes and...zap!" Jon made a hand signal that was supposed to imitate lightning. An alarm bell went off in Clark's head - rescue stuff? He must've been dressed as Crimson Superman when the... zap took place. If that were the case, and she was falling for his alter ego, the whole situation could get ugly. Clark wished he could offer some sort of advice - the last thing he wanted was for Jon to go through the same torture that he had experienced. But, he didn't know enough about the situation to be of much help right now. The best he could do at the moment was offer support and encouragement and let Jon work out his love life on his own. That's what Clark would've wanted had he been in the same position. "Well, you know, if you ever need any advice or an ear to bend or anything, you can always come to your mother and me," Clark said. Jon smiled sincerely. "I know. I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more about this before everything is said and done." Clark nodded. "I'd be worried if I didn't. Now, what do you say we get back to work?" Jon nodded in agreement and stood up. As he was heading toward the door, Clark's conscience began to eat away at him. Sure, he had told himself that he was going to butt out of Jon's love life right now, but the memories of those days long ago, when he was so in love with Lois but she was only in love with Superman, came flooding back to him. Even with all the years that had passed, all those feelings remained fresh in his head. He couldn't help but feel that Jon was going down the same path. "Jon?" Clark blurted out, causing him to come to a halt. "Yeah?" Jon said looking over his shoulder. Clark stood up and took a deep breath, his mind quickly trying to figure out what, exactly, to say to his son. After a small pause, he began to speak again. "Just remember that the cornerstone of any relationship is trust, and being honest with someone will be the best way to gain that trust." Jon looked Clark in the eyes, his expression puzzled at first. He nodded slowly as he caught the meaning. "I know. I guess...I'm new at this. I don't know what to do or what to say. It's so soon, you know?" Clark smiled. He knew all too well what Jon was saying. "Yes, I do. It'll come to you, eventually. And I think that's all I'm going to say right now - it's your show, after all." Clark said with a small smile. He began to move forward, and as he walked past Jon, he gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. Jon grinned in return and followed his father out of the conference room, the beautiful face of Diane Martinez shoved momentarily to the back of his mind. He always thought better about things when he wasn't actually actively thinking about them, anyway - maybe by the end of the work day, he would have some sort of strategy on how to win her over worked out. Until then, he had work to do. *** Jon took off across the city that night after his solitary supper. Unlike the previous night, however, he had a purpose in mind as he launched himself out of his apartment window. Without a second thought, he steered himself in the direction of the Garden District. All the talk about the Zarate family at work that had had made him anxious to get to the bottom of their involvement in the neighborhood. As he reached the district, he slowed his velocity and tuned in his superhearing. It didn't take him long to see that activity was pretty slow, although he thought he heard someone alluding to something bigger that would be happening in the near future. He was about to give up and move on to patrol other areas of the city, when a scream caught his attention. Quickly he headed toward the sound, and found a woman being assaulted in an alley. It took very little effort to subdue the attacker, much to the relief of the woman. Jon let her know that he was taking the man to the nearest police station, and that she should probably go there herself and file a report. She agreed and thanked him profusely as he lifted off into the air, his passenger in tow. Dropping off wrongdoers at police stations had always been a very routine part of his job as a superhero - it was one of those things he just didn't think about much anymore. But this time was different. The local precinct here was the one that Diane worked at, and that meant that there was a possibility that he would have to run into her again, face-to-face. While part of him felt gratified about that, the other part was completely terrified. He wanted to see more of her, but he wanted it to be on his terms, and out of uniform. Subconsciously, he knew that part of his reason for coming to the Garden District that night was to see her, but only from afar. He had come frighteningly close to giving away too much of himself the previous evening, and he was afraid that it would happen again. The flight to the police station was uneventful and entirely too short. By the time that Jon finally decided he should keep an eye out for Diane Martinez and avoid her at all costs if he did happen to spot her, he was landing on the steps of the precinct. His attention had been so focused on making up his plan, that he hadn't noticed Diane standing just outside the door to the station. Jon felt his breath catch in his throat as their eyes met, and that strange feeling of the rest of the world melting away came back. Jon mentally screamed at himself to snap out of it, that he couldn't afford to lose control of his emotions with a prisoner in his custody. But try as he might, he couldn't force himself to look away. He involuntarily felt the corners of his mouth pull up as his eyes drank in her face, with those twinkling brown eyes; eyes that betrayed the fact that that she was just as spellbound as he was. Then she smiled at him. Inside, Jon felt something akin to euphoria when she flashed that brilliant smile. But soon enough her eyes crept down to the S-shield on his chest, and that euphoric feeling quickly fled. All of a sudden he clearly remembered why he was at the police station, and more importantly, he remembered who he was to her. That realization was a crushing blow, a stark reminder of something that he had forgotten about in the heat of the moment. Her smile as she glanced at the S-shield could only mean that whatever it was she was feeling was meant for the Crimson Superman. He hadn't even considered that his other identity would come between himself and his plan for winning Diane, but hadn't he been wearing the suit when they first met? Of course he had. Women were constantly swooning over the Crimson Superman, that was certainly nothing new, but never before had he felt such a connection with another person as he had with Diane. He didn't want to believe that his feelings were false anymore than he wanted to believe that she was just another Superman enthusiast, but a sense of dread came over him as he realized that he didn't know what he thought anymore. Jon carefully molded his facial features into the most neutral expression that he could and brought his attention back to the present. He glanced at his prisoner, who seemed to be oblivious of the small non-verbal exchange which had just taken place between the policewoman and the superhero. Jon nudged the man, and they walked up the steps and toward where Diane stood. He noticed that she was still looking at him, her smile of earlier now replaced with puzzlement. She no doubt wondered about the sudden change in his expression, as well she should, he thought bitterly. "I caught this man in the middle of an assault," he said, keeping any trace of his anguished emotions out of his voice. --- For the first time, Diane noticed that the Crimson Superman was accompanied by another man. She stared at the man for a few seconds, wondering why she hadn't seen him earlier, before looking back at the superhero, who was looking dispassionately at some point past her. "So you want me to take him into custody?" she asked. "Yes," the superhero said flatly. "His victim should be coming in shortly to give her report." Diane stared at the Crimson Superman, her eyes narrowing. What was it about this guy? He put on this hard outer shell, but for the second time in as many nights, she thought she had seen a crack. He had smiled at her - she had never heard of him really smiling at anyone. It was a shame, too, because that smile was extremely striking. As a whole, he was more than striking - breathtaking, even, she thought with a little bit of surprise. Diane had always figured herself to be the type not to be suckered in by a man's looks - what was it about this man that made her change that? Maybe it was the reputation he had for honesty, or the way he had devoted so much of his time to fighting for the same type of thing she believed in: the well being of the common man (and woman). In any case, she knew he wasn't the type of man that would hurt anyone, and maybe it would be okay to get into a relationship with someone like that. She mentally chastised herself. What possessed her to think about a relationship with a man who was possibly the most eligible bachelor on the planet? What made her think he would go out with anyone? The original Superman was never, ever, seen with a woman on his arm - his son would no doubt be the same way. But, then again, the fact that Superman did, in fact, have a son meant that Superman had a woman somewhere - heck, he probably had a WIFE somewhere. It was very strange for her to think of Superman as being married - he didn't even wear a wedding band - but what else could explain the existence of a son? And how could Superman get married or have children without anyone knowing about it, anyway? Diane recalled the small amount of research that she had undertaken after her shift ended yesterday. There were so many resources available if you just knew where to look, and even though she had only been a cop for a few months, she was beginning to know those resources pretty well. Some of the things she had seen were nothing but speculation, and she had dismissed those offhand, preferring to stick to fact. And the fact was, there wasn't too much to see outside of all the heroic acts that the supermen had done, no clues into their personalities or private lives. There were rumors, of course - some of the juicier Superman rumors were over 20 years old, but rumor wasn't something she was willing to put any stock into. She still wanted to know about these men, though. Everything. And, she thought with a small smile, it might just be easier to get the information first hand. She pulled herself back to the current situation again and studied the Crimson Superman. Yes, he had smiled at her earlier, but then that smile disappeared, and he turned into the unemotional man that stood before her. A quick glance into his eyes showed something strange - sadness, maybe? The change in him just a few seconds earlier had been so abrupt, it was downright puzzling. She supposed that he had covered his emotions in an attempt to be more superhero-like. It was very possible - after all, he did have an image to protect. She really wanted to find out what he was actually thinking, but now wasn't the time. She figured that if she played her cards right, she would run into him again. Until that time, she could think up a way to approach him about it. It was strange how quickly this improbable attraction she had to him had manifested itself into something more, she thought. She just hoped the attraction was reciprocated. Judging by what she thought she had seen briefly in his eyes, she didn't think that would be a problem. She reached down onto her belt and pulled off her handcuffs. "Thanks for bringing him in, Superman," she said looking into his eyes, which were focused off into the distance. "I know we can't be everywhere at once, and you make the city that much safer just by taking care of the things that we can't get to." She smiled and touched his arm lightly, which caused him to flinch slightly and draw in his breath quickly. His eyes were drawn suddenly back to hers, and what she saw was surprise mixed with a wistful longing, but that was quickly replaced with a look so sad, it almost made her heart break. "Thank you," he said softly and shoved his prisoner in her direction. Diane took the man's hands and cuffed them. She began to read him his Miranda rights as she led him away. She looked over her shoulder quickly as she walked away and saw the Crimson Superman still standing there, his whole face now a careful mask of neutrality. But those eyes...again, they indicated something deeper than just a Superhero. She would find out someday what that something was, she vowed. Definitely. --- Jon just stood rooted to his spot, watching her retreating form. As indifferently as he had tried to look and act in her presence, he knew that his face had given away far more of his tumultuous emotions that he would've preferred. He shook his head and glanced down at his red and black outfit. He had known when he had taken on the role of the Crimson Superman that his life would become more complicated - it went without saying that trying to keep two identities separate was not an easy task. But he had never realized what all that entailed when the emotion of...love was involved. Yes, he was sure it was love, and tonight it had only taken a few seconds of looking at her gorgeous face, of hearing her musical voice, before he was sure. It made him sadder than he could possibly imagine to think that this woman, who he had felt an incredible bond with, was only interested in Superman. He supposed that, if he really wanted to, he could give her what she wanted, ethics be damned. Why did it matter what side of him she was interested in? It was still HIM, or at least part of him, that she wanted. And he wanted nothing more than to be with her, or at the very least spend some meaningful time with her. In frustration Jon took off into the air. No, he thought sadly, it really would be wrong to lead her on as Superman. He could never be happy with someone that he had to hide things from, and she wouldn't be happy when she found out who he really was. Honesty, that's what his dad had said. The cornerstone of a good relationship. To have an honest relationship with her meant to have one with her as Jon Kent. When he had vowed to himself that he would do what it took to have her love him, he never realized what a monumental task that would be. It was almost enough to throw him further into despair, but the bond he felt with her was strong enough that he felt the pain of trying to win her would be nothing compared to the pain that would come if he didn't. Jon looked around himself, realizing that he had been flying on autopilot. He saw that once again he was moving toward the Metropolis University campus to check up on his brother and Jenny. He drifted over his old apartment and looked down, seeing CJ in the process of cooking a supper of his own. As he watched, a voice drifted up from below. "Don't think I don't know you're up there," CJ said before looking in Jon's direction, giving him a salute as he did so. Jon blinked. "Wha...?" "Don't look so surprised. You aren't the only one with talents, in case you forgot," CJ said, giving one of his mischievous smiles. Jon's mind was still not thinking clearly after his latest encounter with Diane. "Of course not..." CJ cut him off. They knew each other well enough to recognize signs of distress in each other. CJ's expression indicated that he seemed to be finding amusement in Jon's current emotional state. "Why don't you come down here and we can talk like normal people. That lurking up there is just creepy." Jon managed a smile as he nodded. In less than a second he was standing in front of the door to the apartment, dressed in casual street clothes. He inserted his key into the lock and entered, inhaling the aroma of CJ's supper as he did so. CJ emerged from the kitchen with a plate of meatloaf and sat down on the couch as Jon watched. "So what brings you hovering over my neck of the woods?" CJ asked just before taking a bite of his supper. Jon wandered over to the recliner and sat down. "I don't know. Just kinda happened, I guess." CJ cocked one of his eyebrows and looked at Jon. The tone in his brother's voice told him something was going on. "Uh-huh," he said slowly once he finished chewing. "So sue me if I want to check up on my little brother," Jon said, a bit too defensively. CJ smiled a little, trying to guess what the problem was. He'd never known Jon to be the excessively moody type - he was annoyingly levelheaded most of the time, in fact. Then again, so was CJ. The only time he had ever really been temperamental was that time in Gotham city, right after he met Jenny.... "Oooh, wait. I know - you're having girl problems!" CJ said and scooted closer to Jon. He took another bite of his supper and gave Jon his undivided attention. Jon blushed, turning his face an interesting shade of pink. CJ almost started laughing, but he managed to control himself. "Well, I, uh," Jon started, a bit embarrassed. He wondered whether he should tell CJ his problem or not, but as he remembered what CJ had gone through only a couple of months earlier, the correct decision became clear. If anyone could help him, it was his brother. As CJ ate his supper, Jon began to tell his tale, not leaving out any detail, no matter how small or inconsequential. CJ listened in rapt attention, keeping his expression neutral. He knew Jon was having problems, but he didn't expect them to be that bad. "I would suggest that you visit her some more as yourself and try to get to know her better," CJ said. "I mean, if your connection is really that strong, I bet she figures it out on her own." "Like Jenny did?" Jon asked, a small ray of hope surfacing inside him. "Yeah, like Jenny did. But Jenny would have to tell you her side of the story to give you a better idea..." CJ broke off and looked quickly at the piles of books on his floor, thinking briefly. He then looked back at Jon with a smile on his face. "How would you like to go out, have a few drinks, and hear all about it tonight?" Jon opened his mouth to protest, but CJ held up his hand, stopping him before he could get a word out. "I know for a fact that you don't have anything better to do. You've been patrolling the city all week - Dad even called me once or twice with all the free time he had. I'm sure he would be more than happy to take over for one little night while you went out with us." CJ said. Jon had to admit that his brother had a point. What else was he going to do for the rest of the night? Sulk? "Okay," Jon said, surprising himself somewhat. It wasn't the type of night that Jon had envisioned himself having when he left his apartment earlier that evening, but it promised to be relaxing and a little therapeutic. He remembered back to his college days, when the thought of spending a night out like that would've sent him running to find anything else at all to keep him occupied, but now he was really looking forward to it. Things certainly did change. Jon made a point to call his father and let him know that he wasn't going to be available for extracurricular duties that night. Clark had seemed somewhat surprised and curious, and he had been pleased to know that Jon and CJ were spending some time together. CJ then called Jenny and let her know what was going on. She happily agreed to accompany them on their night out, since she didn't have much going on, either. The two left the apartment a few minutes later and drove to Jenny's place. As they walked in the door to her apartment, CJ noticed Jon shield his eyes from the shrine and figured that Jon must have peeked into the apartment before, probably while checking up on Jenny. Either that, or the shrine really was that much of a legend, he thought with a grin. CJ made a mental note to ask him about it later. Susan was sitting on the couch in the living room reading something that looked like an unbound book. She looked up as soon as the men entered the apartment, an appreciative look forming on her face. It was the same look that she got every time she saw something that she considered to be desirable, be it supermen or ordinary mortals that she found attractive. CJ saw that look every single time they met. The brothers looked at each other, the same thought on each of their minds, before looking at Susan. CJ cleared his throat and approached her. "Uh, Susan, this is my brother Jon. Jon, Susan," CJ said, pointing to each in turn as he made his introductions. Jon stepped forward and offered her his hand, which she shook firmly as she looked him over thoroughly. CJ could feel his brother tense up under the scrutiny, and it was no wonder, he thought as he glanced at the wall of shame. For whatever it was worth, Jon was valiantly trying to distance himself from his alter ego, slumping his shoulders slightly and moving without that air of confidence. It must've worked, he thought as Susan let go of his hand. "Nice to meet you," Susan said. She glanced over to her wall and then back to Jon again. "So," she said, "are you a Superman fan?" CJ rolled his eyes and slugged Jon in the bicep. "I'm going to get Jenny. You two have fun," he said as he retreated from the living room. As he rounded the corner and approached Jenny's bedroom, he had to start laughing - that pleading look on Jon's face as he left was just too funny. CJ could appreciate Jon's apprehension, but that didn't make it any less humorous in his eyes. He knew Jon would be able to hear his laughter, but he just couldn't stop himself. Just then, the door to Jenny's room opened. She was still putting in one of her earrings as she approached him, a crooked smile on her face. "What's so funny?" she asked. CJ grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in. "The piranha has just found her next victim," he said in a low voice. "Jon is hearing all about Susan's Superman obsession, and how she would love to eat his other identity for breakfast, I'm sure." Jenny giggled. "It's kind of ironic if you think about it." "I try not to," CJ said, bending over to give her a quick kiss. As they pulled apart, he found his eyes wandering down to the ring she wore on her left hand - his ring. Every single time he saw that, he felt like the luckiest guy on Earth, and this was no exception. Her took her hand in his and slowly drew it up to his lips, giving it a small kiss. "So, beautiful, are you ready for your night on the town?" She gave him that smile she reserved for him and him alone. "I could never pass up a night out with the two most gorgeous men in Metropolis." CJ arched is eyebrows at her, pouting slightly. "Gosh, I thought you only had eyes for me." "I do," she said, kissing him again. "But you have to admit...." CJ pressed his index finger to her lips, silencing her. "No, I don't." "Well," she said after taking his hand from her lips and into her own, "think of it this way: I chose you. You are the man I love. I can't help it, though, if your family turns out good looking men. I mean, look at your dad...." CJ shook his head. He really, really didn't want to hear about how handsome his dad was - that would just be too much. "Okaaaay. You made your point," he said with an air of playfulness. He bent down and kissed her again before speaking. "I think we should go rescue my brother now." "Good idea," Jenny said. CJ released her waist but kept her hand in his. Together they walked to the living room, and what they saw made both of them pause. Susan was standing in front of her bookcase, talking about the letter she received from Superman, facing the wall as she did so. Jon was holding the unbound book, thumbing through it at superspeed with his jaw hanging open. He reached the end and looked up at Jenny and CJ, his jaw snapping shut audibly. CJ detected a hint of fear behind his eyes, but that quickly fled. Jon gently replaced the manuscript where he found it, careful to make sure that Susan hadn't heard him, and stood up. "Well," he said to Susan, "it's been nice talking to you but we have to go now." She turned around quickly, apparently a little annoyed at the interruption. "All right, if you have to. Goodbye, then." She waved her hand at them dismissively and returned to the couch. The trio exited the apartment together, CJ and Jenny hand in hand with Jon trailing behind them. As they closed the apartment door behind them Jon let out a sigh. "If you ever put me through that again, I swear to God you are a dead man," he said to CJ. CJ snickered. "What, you didn't find her hero worship to be interesting and entertaining?" "No, I think scary is the word I would use." "Come on you guys, she means well," Jenny chipped in. The brothers looked at her with raised eyebrows, identical expressions on their faces. Okay, so maybe they thought her roommate was a flake. But her obsession really was pretty harmless. Add to the equation the fact that Susan was also pretty dense, and Jenny certainly didn't think Jon or CJ had anything to worry about in the identity department. "What?" Jon and CJ looked at each other. "Yeah, definitely scary," CJ said to Jon, and they both snickered. Jenny just shook her head. She had learned long ago - from the beginning, in fact - that those two operated on their own wavelength. "So what were you speed reading there, Jon?" Jenny said, trying to change the subject. Jon's smile faltered. "It was a novel or something. Really creepy. It was about Superman having a secret identity. It went into his home and family life - the weird part is that it seems to be modeled on Mom and Dad." "You're kidding!" CJ said, more surprised than upset. "No, I'm not. It was strange, but the date on it shows it's about seven years old. It was a manuscript, though - I don't think it's even been published." "So what's Susan doing with it?" Jenny thought out loud, genuinely curious. Susan always seemed to have the inside track on novels and other published material, but Jenny could never figure out where she got her information. "I think I'll ask Dad about it. That had to have gone through the Foundation at one point or another," Jon said, shrugging his shoulders. "In the meantime, though...." The trio reached the outer door to the building. "It's a beautiful night, let's go enjoy ourselves," CJ finished. They walked out into the cool night air and headed in the general direction of campustown, which was only a few blocks away. As they walked down the street, they failed to notice a nondescript black Cadillac sitting against the curb, the men inside of it with their binoculars trained on the building they had just exited. The man sitting on the passenger side of the car watched the trio pass by. He waited for them to go another block before taking a cellular phone out of the jacket of his neatly cut suit. The man in the driver's seat kept his binoculars on the building as his passenger dialed a familiar number. "Joe? She's alone," he said, and then hung up. It was time. *** Susan read her manuscript in the peace and quiet of her apartment. As much as she truly wanted to be focusing on the words on the page in front of her, she found her mind wandering back to her introduction to CJ's brother. She had this vague feeling that she had met him before, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was really strange, because she surely would've remembered a meeting with a guy like that. He had been wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and she had seen a very well-defined figure underneath, like he worked out heavily. His face had been somewhat obscured by glasses, but she had seen that underneath, he was quite handsome - he might even be the type of guy she would go for if she weren't saving herself for one of the sons of Superman. It wouldn't take too much imagination to see how stunning Jon Kent would look if he got contacts, stood up a little straighter, and maybe gained a little more confidence. She mentally gave herself a shake and forced herself to get beck to the story. Reading along, she also found herself grafting CJ and Jenny's forms onto the main characters of the novel, who were supposed to be journalists at a major Metropolitan newspaper. She didn't know why, exactly. Maybe it was just because they were really the only couple that she knew very well. Imagining CJ in a Superman suit was somewhat funny - he just didn't seem the type, although he, like his brother, was certainly well built. But the idea of CJ picking up a car or shooting laser beams out of his eyes...come on! In a way, it made reading the novel that much more interesting, but the mental effort made the reading very slow going, indeed. About half an hour after Jenny, CJ, and Jon left, Susan heard a knock on the apartment door. She was genuinely enjoying her reading, and the interruption had her more than a little annoyed. She delayed for a few seconds, hoping whoever it was would go away, but they didn't, and the knocking returned. Reluctantly, she set her manuscript aside and got up to answer the door. A quick look through her peephole showed a man standing in the hallway about her age with dark hair and an outfit that looked like it was straight out of the frat boy fashion catalogs. Puzzled, she slowly opened the door. The man in the hallway seemed to brighten up as he caught sight of her, much to her satisfaction. His smile was very disarming, helping to ease away her trepidation. "Miss Bantram?" the man asked somewhat timidly. "Yes?" He held out his right hand. "I'm Tony Smith. I got your name from a friend of a friend that said that you were THE person to talk to around here if I wanted to know anything about Superman." Susan took his hand tentatively at first, but the mention of her favorite subject melted away most of her lingering fears. Anyone who was coming to HER to find out about Superman was all right in her book. "Someone said that?" she asked shyly. "Oh, yeah," Tony said enthusiastically. "Can I come in?" "Sure," Susan said, gesturing for him to enter. She closed the door after him and led him into the living room. She noted with glee how his eyes widened upon seeing her Superman wall. What Superman fan wouldn't appreciate her display, she wondered? Susan sat down on the couch and gestured for Tony to sit in the neighboring chair. "So what do you want to know?" "Well, first I want to ask you a question," Tony said. "Okay, shoot." "What would you say if I told you that I thought that Superman had a secret identity?" Tony looked directly into her eyes as he asked his question. Susan swallowed and broke eye contact with him, glancing quickly at her wall before looking at the manuscript. "I don't know," she said slowly. Before today, she would've thought the idea to be preposterous. In fact, before today, the idea had never crossed her mind. But that manuscript was saying the same thing, and she really didn't know what to think. Was it possible for him to have a secret identity? Why on Earth would he even feel the need to have one? Tony followed her gaze, and he smiled triumphantly as he saw her looking at something that could only be the elusive manuscript. He made a concerted effort to wipe the signs of this discovery off his face as Susan's gaze came back to him. "Let's just say I have some pretty good evidence to support my theory, and I would be willing to share it with you if you would help me out with something." "Help you out with what?" Susan's voice took on an awed tone. "Finding his identity," he said with a gleam in his eye and a smile on his lips. Thoughts began to fly around furiously in Susan's brain. The opportunity to help him find Superman's identity? It was truly a once in a lifetime offer, one that was way too good to pass up. "Yes, I'd love to," she said softly, her mind still numb. "Great!" Tony said as he stood up. "What do you say we get started this weekend?" Susan nodded mutely, her eyes focused on her wall. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tony retreating toward the door. A question suddenly permeated the haze in her mind, one that she just had to have answered before she could proceed. "Why me?" she asked him. "I mean, of all the people in the world who know about Superman and have studied Superman, I am hardly the foremost expert. Why would you want some kid with nothing more than an unhealthy obsession on your side?" Tony plastered a smile on his face and looked over his shoulder, delivering his line in the most sincere manner that he could. "Sometimes an unhealthy obsession is a better thing to have than raw knowledge. Who would you want on your side when something was on the line - someone dedicated to the cause, or someone who just had knowledge of the cause?" Tony glanced at her wall before continuing. "And I can tell that you have a genuine love of Superman. You are exactly the type of person that I want on this project. Don't get me wrong - I have experts on my team, too, but I only take the best, and everyone I've talked to has said that you're one of the best." Susan blushed and smiled widely. She knew she had tried throughout the years to make herself known throughout the legions of Superman fans, and she knew that plenty of people now knew who she was, but she had no idea that people thought so highly of her efforts. Maybe her persistence and fanaticism were finally paying off. She stared dumbly off into space, not even noticing as Tony exited the apartment, pulling the door closed behind him. Floating around amongst the various self-congratulatory thoughts and images of Superman was a small, solitary feeling of dread; the feeling that something just wasn't right. That thought was never given credence, however, and was soon forgotten almost as quickly as it had appeared. --- Tony walked down the hallway after exiting the Bantram woman's apartment, the smile fading from his face as soon as he had shut the door. That was almost too easy. He had been expecting her to ask what she could possibly get in return for his offer, but it had never been brought up. Flattery can get you everywhere, he thought as he walked along. He had sure laid it on thick, and it had worked. Joe was right - she was definitely going to be useful to them. Not only would she willingly help them to find Superman's identity, no questions asked, she was also going to hand over that manuscript, or at least the information it contained. *** CJ and Jenny approached her apartment after bidding Jon goodnight. Their night out had been everything that it had promised - relaxing, fun, and distracting. For a while Jon had even seemed to forget about his problems with Diane, but CJ had noticed that every now and then he would get an almost pained expression on his face, and it wasn't because of any missed distress calls. A little bit of playful prodding by CJ would draw Jon out of his dark moods, but the fact that they kept coming back meant that Jon had it bad. Really bad. The apartment was dark as the pair entered. After flipping on some lights, they nestled together and sat down on the couch, just holding each other for a while. It was Jenny who finally broke the comfortable stillness. "So what's up with Jon?" she asked. "Problems on a personal front - he met a girl who only seemed interested in...a certain side of him." CJ said carefully. Sometimes he hated talking at her apartment, just because they always had to resort to code whenever there was a possibility of Susan overhearing them. Even though she was in bed at the moment, he didn't want to take any chances. Jenny nodded, understanding the meaning easily. "Why don't you tell me about it," she said. If it were anybody else, CJ would've flatly refused just out of respect for his brother's privacy, but Jenny had a unique take on the situation. Maybe she could offer him some advice, since Jon hadn't broached the subject while they were out. CJ related to Jenny what he had heard from Jon. She listened closely, her eyes focused off into the distance, her mind obviously formulating a plan. CJ tended to get a little scared when she plotted, if only because of the fact that her plans always seemed to get somebody into trouble. As he finished his story, he noticed a wicked grin spreading across her face. CJ cocked his eyebrow and looked at her. "Do I even want to know what you're up to?" Her eyes twinkled as she bent down to kiss him. She was buttering him up, no doubt. That kiss had answered his question - he was sure now that he did not, in fact, want to know what she was up to, but he knew that he was going to find out nonetheless. He was probably even part of whatever plan she had concocted. "How would you like to play matchmaker?" Jenny asked as she pulled away. "Matchmaker?" CJ said, with more than a hint of skepticism. Both eyebrows were now arched as he looked at her unwavering, mischievous grin. "Yes. Come on, Clark, you know your brother. If you leave him to approach this woman on his own, their courtship will be very long and arduous and we're going to have a lot more nights like tonight." CJ thought back on his brother's love life and he had to admit that she did have a point. On the few occasions that CJ had gotten Jon to go out with him in the past, he had noticed women approaching Jon all the time, but invariably Jon would politely turn them down. In fact, CJ had never seen him approach a woman before on his own. Okay, Jon had a couple of girlfriends over the years, but those were all platonic female friends who goaded him into upgrading their relationship to dating status. It was never a matter of girls not liking Jon, it was always a matter of him being too shy around them, or maybe not interested enough in them, for anything to happen. So nothing had. Now along came this policewoman, and Jon had felt that feeling that was all too familiar to CJ. How would the shy, but now suddenly interested, Jon handle it? If CJ knew his brother, it would be in the most careful way possible. Unfortunately for Jon, the men in his family seemed to have an affinity for strong, fiery women (albeit, strong fiery women with warm, lovable personalities lurking beneath the surface), and those women never seemed to take real quickly to the soft and gentle route. CJ suddenly remembered tales of his parent's courtship - it took two painful years of dancing around their feelings before they had finally gotten together. CJ didn't think he could take two years of Jon's brooding. If this was the solution, than he was more than happy to participate in it. "You are correct, sweetheart, as always. So what exactly did you have in mind?" CJ asked. "Well, the school paper has been doing this series, where the reporters follow around a professional for a day and report on what it was like." "I think I know where this is going..." CJ muttered. Jenny smiled at him and continued. "I've always wondered what it would be like to be a policewoman." "I just bet you have." Jenny smacked him lightly on the arm and gave him an amused look. "Do you want to know the rest of my plan or not?" CJ molded a look of sincere repentance on his face, although Jenny wasn't fooled. "I'm sorry," he said in a pouting tone. Jenny grinned lopsidedly. He may not be sorry now, but she would find a way for him make it up to her later. "Good. Well, to continue, I'm willing to bet that she and I are at least a little bit alike, personality wise, given that I know your brother and what type of person he tends to hang out with. Anyway, I'll spend my day becoming good friends with her, and I'll convince her to get set up on a blind date with Jon for that night, even if she doesn't know it." CJ grinned. This was shaping up to be a plan was definitely worthy of her reputation - devious, yet simple. "And how do you propose to do that?" "It's easy, really: I'll invite her out to supper with us, my treat, and Jon will mysteriously appear. No problem." Not for the first time, CJ felt pity for those on the receiving end of his fiancee's brilliant plotting. Jon didn't stand a chance. It was too bad that his dad didn't have a conniving little brother and soon to be sister-in-law when he was trying to win over Mom - it would've made the whole process so much easier. To show his appreciation for her, CJ kissed Jenny deeply. "So when do you expect to put your little plan into effect?" he asked her as they came up for air. "Tomorrow, first thing. I wouldn't want them missing out on something like this. It would almost be too cruel," she said as they kissed again. CJ sighed inwardly. She was right, again. Being made to live alone, not knowing that your true love is out there is tolerable. Living alone when your true love is in sight but just out of reach, that was torture. CJ knew that, throughout the years, he and Jon had done many things to goad each other, but in this particular matter, he figured that his brother deserved a break. *** Susan woke up the next morning, the pleasant wisps of Superman dreams still floating around in her head. It had taken a great deal of patience, but she had finished her new Ridley Davenport novel last night, and it had been everything she could've possibly imagined and more. It had certainly given her plenty of fodder for her dreams, as well as for a few days worth of pleasant fantasies. She would close her eyes and see herself as a fly on the wall of some suburban house, watching Superman and his wife interact. Then, inevitably, she would find herself in the body of his wife. It felt so wonderful, staring into his dark eyes, knowing that the love that filled them was meant only for her. But then she would open her eyes again and would find that it had all been a dream. As Susan pulled herself out of bed, her thoughts drifted to her strange visitor the night before. It was such an odd coincidence that, on the very day she received her new novel that alluded to Superman having a secret life, she had received a visitor who wanted her to find Superman's real secret identity, as if he actually had one. Susan was smart enough to know where fiction ended and fact began, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was all some sort of cosmic twist of fate, a sign from God that it was her destiny to uncover the man of steel's real life. And who was she to challenge fate? She gathered some things together and wandered into the bathroom to take a shower. If she was meant to find Superman's identity, then she supposed she needed a plan. Sure, the man from last night -Tony - had said that they would get together over the weekend to work on it, but she was far too impatient to wait that long, even though the weekend DID start tomorrow. She wanted to go into that meeting with something that showed that she did, in fact, know what was going on. But what could that something be? The more she thought about it, the more she was certain that the answer was contained in her novel - it HAD been right about the secret identity, after all. The hot water from the shower flowed around her, relaxing away the last vestiges of sleep and helping to clear her brain. What had the novel said Superman's real occupation was? She had spent a lot more of her time focusing on the personal interaction between Superman and his family and she had kind of skimmed the details that she had considered to be less important, his job being one of them. Newspaper reporter, maybe? Yes, that sounded right. Maybe what she could do today was to scope out the major newspapers in town and see if she could find anything. Okay, so she also had classes today that she should go to, but in the grand scheme of things, fulfilling her destiny, as well as her own personal dream to get to know Superman, was much more important. Her course of action now decided, she quickly finished her shower and toweled off. Before returning to her bedroom to change, she diverted to the living room to grab the phone book, deciding that it would be a really good idea to see exactly what she was getting herself into. Flipping to the listings for newspapers, she was disheartened to find more than a dozen entries. Looking more closely, though, she saw that some of the "newspapers" named were actually tabloids. She ruled those out quickly - Superman had way too much integrity to work for one of those rags. That halved the number of listings. What were left were the two major newspapers in town - the Daily Planet and the Star; one international publication - America Daily, but they only had a small correspondence office in Metropolis; a couple of advertisers and the local college newspapers. She thought for sure the novel said he worked at a MAJOR paper, so she decided that her investigation should be limited to the Planet and the Star. Both were located within a few blocks of each other downtown, which was a good thing since she would be relying on cabs for transportation and she didn't have enough money to be riding around all over Metropolis. In high spirits, Susan practically skipped to her room and changed. Today was going to be a great day, especially since she was most likely going to see Superman! *** Jon Kent sat at his desk and stared off into the distance, trying to decide on a course of action. He had spent the whole day yesterday and most of the morning today researching his Zarate crime family story, and now all he needed was a nice, solid statement from the police. He had been putting this part off, knowing that if he waited longer, he might be able to catch Diane, since she worked a later shift. It was a terrifying thought, to be sure, but it was something that had to be done. While he had been out last night with CJ and Jenny, he had taken the opportunity to do some thinking. He knew the purpose of the excursion had been to kick back and relax, and he had eventually, but not before getting a better handle on what exactly needed to be done. CJ was completely right - he needed to talk to Diane as his real self. The problem was in finding a way to do that without seeming too forward. He wanted to get close to her without it looking like he was trying to get close to her, if that made sense. Right now this Zarate case was his only lifeline, and he was going to milk it for all it was worth. He supposed that he could find other stories that would be in the area that her precinct covered, and he had to admit that idea had a large amount of appeal, but he was still a rookie at the Planet with nothing more than a minimal say in the stories he got assigned. The only reason he got the shootout story in the first place was because it related to the Zarate story he was already assigned to. As he let his thoughts drift some more, he was jolted rudely into the present by the ringing of the phone. Startled, his hand shot out and fumbled around for the receiver, eventually getting a grip on it. He almost dropped it as he brought it up to his face. "Daily Planet, Jonathan Kent speaking," he said, recovering quickly. That particular phone greeting was becoming so ingrained in him in the few months that he had worked at the Planet, that he found himself almost using it at home. That had to be a sure sign that he worked too hard, he thought wryly. "Mr. Kent," the voice at the other end said. They were two small words, three syllables all told, but they had affected him immediately - he would know that voice anywhere. He suddenly found himself sitting up straighter in his chair, not fully realizing that he had been slumping at all. He felt his heart begin to beat a little harder, and his hand automatically flew up to straighten his glasses. He was acting as if she were sitting in front of him, he realized, rather than speaking to him over the phone. With a considerable amount of willpower he forced himself to contain his excitement over having her actually calling him. It would do him no good in the long run to let his excitement carry through to his phone conversation, plus it would be somewhat unprofessional. Yes, he told himself, be professional, be completely objective. Be Jon Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet, talking on the phone to a random member of the police department that you have no personal interest in. Grabbing on to that reasoning, he steeled his voice and spoke. "Yes?" he said as evenly as he could. To his ear, his voice sounded a little TOO controlled, possibly a little too deep and analytical. But then again, he told himself, she would hardly be able to notice that, since they had barely even spoken to each other. Besides, one syllable could hardly convey that much of his mental state to her. Even so, Jon cringed slightly as he waited for her reply. "This is Officer Martinez with the Metropolis Police Department. I'm just calling to inform you that the Department has released its official statement concerning the incident in the Garden District two nights ago. I thought you might be interested in that information." Jon's smile began to turn into a frown as he listened to her speak. Her tone was so stilted, so completely devoid of any emotion, that it was disconcerting. He supposed that maybe officers were trained to talk that way when dealing with the media, but then he thought about some of the other members of the force that he had talked to on a professional level, and they had all been much less formal. Some had even joked around with him. So, no, that wasn't it. His mind began to formulate various explanations for her behavior, but then he realized that she was still on the line, waiting for his reply. "Yes, I am, thank you. So where exactly can I obtain a copy of this statement?" "I can fax it to you or you can come down to the station to get it," she said with a hint of annoyance, which only served to deepen Jon's frown. He knew it wasn't a question that a seasoned veteran would ask, but he was new to the process.... He decided that this wasn't the time to dwell on that. Jon began to open his mouth to tell her to fax him the statement, but then an idea popped into his head. Sure, he would receive the statement, probably read it over, but then what? Having seen one or two official police statements in his time, he knew that they often left out facts that they considered to be critical to other cases and that they didn't want released to the public. He would undoubtedly have questions after reading it, and, all things being equal, he would much prefer to ask those questions to someone face-to-face. Even better if it meant that he could ask them to HER face-to-face. The frown on his face changing to a smile, Jon decided that it was time to take a trip down to Diane's precinct. "I'll be by to pick it up in a few minutes. Thank you, Officer." Officer Martinez mumbled out, "You're welcome," before ending the phone call. Jon couldn't help but let his grin deepen. This could be the golden opportunity that he was looking for. A song suddenly in his head, Jon pursed his lips together and began to whistle as he got up from his desk and headed for the elevators. The day was most certainly looking up! He pushed the elevator button and rocked back and forth, transferring his weight from the back of his heels to the balls of his feet and back again. The elevator arrived shortly, and he entered. As he turned around to push the button that would send him down to the lobby, he caught sight of something that almost took the wind right out of his sails. There, sitting on one of the couches in the reception area, was Jenny's roommate, Susan. Jon furrowed his brow and looked at her. What was she doing there? She caught his gaze and looked at him, the expression on her face easily as confused as the one he undoubtedly wore. Recognition came to her as the doors of the elevator began to close. She quickly held up her hand in a gesture of greeting, and Jon held up his in a similar manner. Neither of them smiled at each other - they were both too confused. Jon's mind dwelled momentarily on the possible reasons for Susan being in the newsroom, but his thoughts quickly slipped back to his trip down to the police station. He couldn't wait to see Diane in person again. This time, when they felt that mutual attraction like they had felt last night, it would be okay for him to acknowledge her interest. Then...well, he didn't want to think about what happened then, but suffice to say, it would probably be wonderful. --- Jon looked around the police station, the statement clutched into his left hand and a small notebook clutched in his right. He was right to assume he would have questions after reading the statement - he had plenty of them, in fact. The statement itself was little more than a bare bones description of the physical actions of the shootout. No mention was made of the weapons used, the people harmed, or any of the possible motives behind the shooting. Something strange was going on, and Jon wanted to know what it was. He quickly located Officer Martinez sitting behind her desk. His heart jumped slightly upon seeing her, but his overriding desire to get to the bottom of the discrepancies in the police report momentarily prevailed over his attraction to her. He strode with purpose over to her desk and stood over her. She caught his presence immediately and looked up into his face, her expression wary. "Can I help you, Mr. Kent?" she asked. Her tone indicated that she didn't appreciate his appearance at her desk. If the statement hadn't gotten Jon so riled, he probably would've been hurt by her coolness toward him. Jon sat down in the chair next to the desk and opened his notebook. "I read through your department's statement and I couldn't help but notice a complete lack of details." "Such as?" Diane asked. "Well, for starters, nowhere did you mention a motivation for the attack." "The department is not at liberty to release that information at this time," she said flatly. "Could it possibly be linked to the mob-controlled drug activity that has been present in that area?" Her eyes shot daggers at him. "Again, the department is not willing to release any details concerning the attack at this time." Jon studied her face for a moment, finally looking deep into her eyes. It was funny how meeting her gaze had seemed to break down his defenses in each of their past meetings, but this time, nothing happened. Her eyes held a look of unyielding defiance, not the admiration that he had seen in them before. The fact that her defiance was aimed at him only served to strengthen his stubborn resolve. Before he knew what was happening, his mouth was opening and words were tumbling out. "It seems to me that the department has had very few answers concerning the Garden District in recent months, and I'm not just talking about the official statements being released." As soon as the words were spoken, he regretted them. He would usually be the last person to ever accuse the police department of incompetence. It was just something about the way she had looked at him that had caused him to react. Diane's whole face took on a steely look that Jon almost found frightening. "Look, Mr. Kent, I don't know who you think you are to come in here and accuse me or anybody else of not doing their jobs. I realize that you have your faithful readers to look out for, but I'm certainly not going to compromise an ongoing investigation for the sake of selling a few more newspapers. Now, unless you have something else you would like to ask me, I would like to get back to work." Jon knew better than to press his luck any further - it was evident that he wasn't going to get anything out of her that night. Trying to preserve his dignity and well aware of the many sets of eyes which had now turned their undivided attention to his conversation, Jon stood up and stuffed his notepad into the inside pocket of his coat. "No, I think that's all...for now," he said with an edge in his tone that rivaled hers, before leaving the station. As soon as he exited the big front doors, he made his way around to the alley next to the building and leaned up against the brick wall. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, wondering what the heck had gotten into him. It wasn't like him to be rude to anyone, yet somehow Diane had managed to push his buttons. It was embarrassing, really - not the fact that she yelled at him; no, he had that coming. What was embarrassing was that he had lost his cool, and for what? A story? Pride? To prove a point? Whatever it was, it wasn't worth possibly ruining whatever real relationship existed between them, and he was almost certain that was exactly what he had done. Slowly, Jon pushed himself away from the wall and began to walk in the general direction of the Daily Planet. He knew he was several miles away from his destination, but at the moment he just felt like walking. It would be relaxing, it would be calming, and, most of all, it would give him the opportunity to brood. *** Susan plopped herself down on the couch in her apartment, her eyes immediately drawn to her wall, the symbol of her one love. It was too bad those posters and pictures gave the only glimpses of Superman and son that day, even after 12 hours on the job. It wasn't for lack of trying, either - she had studied so many faces that she had almost gone into sensory overload. No, the problem was that there were just too many people. She had started in the lobby of the Daily Planet, but the continuous mob of people going in and out of the building had quickly grown overwhelming, and she decided it would be more productive to go up to the newsroom to observe. To her delight, the first thing that she had seen after stepping off the elevator was a big comfy couch with a great view of the whole newsroom. She sat down on that couch and stayed there until roughly two in the afternoon, never once getting bored. It was exciting, really - phones were ringing all the time, heated and insightful conversations were taking place all over, and the editor, who barked out orders with such authority that Susan had no doubt he moonlighted as a drill sergeant, was doing his best to make sure everything ran smoothly. She could see why someone would want to go into that line of work. It looked like the type of thing couldn't get dull even if it tried. As much as she had watched the office happenings, she had also kept her eyes opened for her hero. If her novel was right, she would be looking for a reporter who spent a lot of time working with his wife. She had stared at her own photographs enough to know that Superman would be tall and muscular with short, dark hair and dark brown eyes. She had certainly seen many dark-haired men in the course of the day, but none of them really stood out from any of the others. It was so hard to see their physiques when they were all wearing business suits, although she suspected that Superman's muscles would most likely be big enough that they would come close to splitting the sleeves of any conventional jackets that were out there. Along with men wearing loose-fitting suits, she had also immediately dismissed men wearing glasses - everyone knew that Superman had perfect sight, so he certainly wouldn't need glasses. The men that were left after her weeding out process, both at the Daily Planet and later at the Metropolis Star, just didn't seem right. She KNEW what Superman looked like, she spent her life studying him, but she just hadn't seen him. She had seen plenty of other people that she recognized - the legendary reporting team at the Planet of Lane and Kent, the older brother of CJ, and her favorite gossip columnist, just to name a few. So the day hadn't been a complete waste, but it had certainly been disappointing. She had wanted so badly to come up with something, anything, to please her new bosses, but it just didn't seem meant to be. In the end, though, it didn't matter much, and that thought reassured her. She would find Superman eventually; it was just too bad it wasn't today. *** Jon hovered in the air above the Garden District, feeling somewhat ashamed at himself for having to resort to spying to catch a glimpse of Diane. It wasn't the type of thing that he would normally do, but he just felt drawn to her and he couldn't keep away. The problem was that she had made her feelings toward Jon Kent perfectly clear during their last conversation. That rejection had caused a part of himself to go dark, but the shining ray of hope lay in the fact that she had feelings for his alter ego. He knew it was wrong to encourage those feelings, and he had no intention of doing so, but that didn't mean he couldn't take a bit of selfish pleasure in them. Granted, he couldn't bask in the light of her smile from up in the air, but it was certainly safer. It seemed that every time he approached her while on duty, she wore down his defenses a little bit more, and there was no telling what would happen if he were to run into her again. Directly below him sat Diane's empty squad car. She was out patrolling the neighborhood on foot with her partner, who was now back from his medical leave. Jon kept his watch for the hour that it took the two to complete their patrol. It was interesting to see Diane interacting with the residents - as abrasive as her manner was to certain reporters, she seemed like a totally different person when talking to the common Garden District resident. She was quick to crack a joke or offer a friendly ear, but she didn't take any crap from anyone, either. Jon would give anything to be able to be at the receiving end of her quick wit and obviously caring demeanor, but at the moment, it seemed destined not to be. He didn't know why he tortured himself by watching her, but he just couldn't make himself leave. He felt so protective of her safety - hundreds of what if scenarios flew around in his head, all involving Diane and sudden death, but none of them in the least bit probable. What if a stray bullet hit her out of nowhere? What if she suddenly got run down by a car? What if...? Jon shook his head. Visualizing these things certainly didn't help his emotional state, that was for sure. He banished the gory thoughts from his mind, if only for his own sanity. Diane and her partner returned to their squad car in high spirits. It was nearing the dinner hour, and, even from several thousand feet in the air, Jon could hear her stomach growl. He grinned a little bit at the sound. So did her partner. "You sound like you're ready to grab a bite to eat," the partner said, eyeing a small diner across the street. "Is it that obvious?" Diane asked, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Oh, yeah. Hey, how about I go get us some supper? I owe you for looking after me the other night," the partner said. Diane nodded wordlessly and unlocked the squad car door while her partner headed across the street. She sat down in the car, her legs hanging out of the door, and laid her head on the headrest, closing her eyes briefly. Even doing something so mundane as sitting in a car, Diane seemed to have a grace and beauty that Jon just couldn't deny. He zoomed his vision in and drank in the sight of her. A muffled sound brought Jon out of his stupor. It reminded him of the sound of a timer, counting down the seconds. The sound seemed to be coming from the area around the car, but he didn't know how that could be - he had been in the air guarding that whole vicinity, and he would've certainly noticed it earlier. A quick scan of the whole neighborhood revealed nothing, meaning the only place left was the car itself. With mounting dread, Jon x-rayed the car thoroughly, and what he found was an incendiary device hidden under the hood, it's counter just hitting 3 seconds. It must've been activated when she opened the door, he figured. How else could he have possibly missed it? Without thinking twice, Jon swooped down, grabbed Diane out of the car, and shot up into the air. They had barely cleared the top of the neighborhood buildings when the bomb went off, blowing the car to unrecognizable bits. There was no way that anyone in it could've survived that - Diane would've been dead for sure if he hadn't been there. Suddenly he was very thankful for his obsessive behavior. The feel of her body in his arms, her arms clutched firmly around his neck, was making it difficult for Jon to think clearly. He looked over at his passenger and saw a look of awe on her face. He seemed to see that particular look on the faces of practically everyone he rescued in that manner, but Diane's look hinted at an additional something behind it. As he watched, she turned her head so that her eyes met his, and her awed expression morphed into one of respect and - could it be? - love. Jon felt himself drowning helplessly in those eyes again and, conscious of the fact that he was still in the act of flying, he diverted his gaze and forced himself to concentrate on the surroundings. He was heading in the general direction of the police station, he knew, and he decided that the sooner he got there, the better. If she didn't get out of his arms quickly, he might end up doing something he regretted. Jon increased his speed and quickly made it to the roof of the precinct. As he was landing, Diane, who had spent the entire trip studying his face and not the spectacular cityscapes that the flight afforded, began to speak. "I can't thank you enough for saving my life." "It's what I do," Jon said matter-of-factly, his eyes still avoiding hers. "I know it is, but I've just kinda had this feeling like you were looking out for me today. I don't know why or how, but I just did. It made me feel safe somehow, and...I just wanted to say thanks." Jon looked at her wide-eyed. How could she possibly feel him watching over her? He almost despaired of the fact until she said that she liked it. She LIKED him looking over her. He had been so scared that she would hate him for it that her words seemed to lift an enormous weight off his shoulders. "You're welcome," Jon said softly as his feet hit the roof of the building. He felt the beginnings of a smile spreading over his face. Suddenly he wished that he hadn't flown her there so quickly. Suddenly he just wanted to keep holding her in his arms some more. Apparently Diane had the same thought. As Jon lowered his arms and stooped over so that she could stand on her own, he felt her arms tighten around his neck. They stood that way, both with their feet on the roof, Diane with her arms around Jon and Jon with his hands on her hips, for what seemed like an interminable amount of time. They stared into each other's eyes, neither speaking, but both searching the other's face as if trying to commit it to memory. Jon knew that his smile had grown goofy, but he didn't care anymore. The smile on her face told him everything he wanted to know about how she felt. Gradually Jon became aware that her face was moving closer to his. Before he knew it their lips were touching, and parting, and they were engaged in a deep, longing kiss. Jon's hands moved from her hips up to her back, and he embraced her tightly, deepening the kiss as much as he dared. The time dilation that he felt when he was around her was back again in full force. The kiss seemed to last forever, yet seemed entirely too short at the same time. As their lips pulled apart, she trailed kisses along his check, around to his ear. "I love you," she whispered. Jon almost shot straight up in the air with her in his joy. He had never experienced a woman (well, a women other than his mother) saying those words to him, ever. He had never known the indescribable feeling that those words brought with them, especially coming from the mouth of the one that he loved more than anything else. He tightened his grip on her and ran his lips along her jaw line and around to her ear. He was about to return her sentiment when one word made his heart freeze. "Mmm. Superman," she moaned softly. Jon stiffened. Superman. He had reveled in her feelings for him, soaking them up and getting drunk on them before he had even realized what was happening. In all the euphoria and all the electricity that flowed between them, he had almost forgotten his attire, his role for the evening. Superman. Curse the day he ever met her in the blasted suit, he thought as he dropped his arms and straightened up. He knew that she wore a look of confusion and sadness, but he couldn't make himself look at her face to confirm that knowledge - it would be too much to bear. He turned on his heel and took a couple of steps away from her. "Superman?" her voice called from behind him. It sounded so anguished.... Jon dropped his head and slumped his shoulders in despair. There was certainly no doubt who she wanted, and he couldn't give that to her, as much as he wanted to. "Only some of the time," Jon said softly, his head tilted slightly to the side, the disguise that he put on his voice while in uniform gone. The last thing he heard before taking off was Diane gasping at his sudden change. Let her wonder, he thought gloomily as he shot through the air toward his apartment. He had never felt more confused about himself and his behavior than he was at that very moment, and it scared him. --- Jon, still wearing his Superman outfit, wandered into his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. "Who are you?" he asked himself softly as he ran his hand through his hair, trying to give it a style like he more normally wore. This wasn't the first time that he had stood in front of a mirror and asked this question, but it was the first time he had done it since assuming the Crimson Superman identity. For a long time he thought he knew exactly who he was. He was Jonathan Kent, son of Clark and Lois Lane Kent. He was a normal, all-American kid who developed extraordinary powers in high school and now went out nights in red and black spandex, stopping crimes and saving people and property. Therein lay the problem. He had created the Crimson Superman identity to shield himself from the public, from all the people who wanted a piece of Superman. Some of those people were completely innocent, but many more were dangerous, and he knew very well what sort of jeopardy he would be in if any of those people knew who the Crimson Superman was. His dad had spelled all this out to him many years ago, and it made as much sense now as it did back then. So when he helped, he changed his voice, his appearance, and his attitude, but it was just an act, wasn't it? He had always thought so, but act or not, it was Jon Kent putting on that suit and doing all those things. He was the Crimson Superman just as much as the Crimson Superman was him, and no amount of acting could change that. He had always managed to keep his real feelings suppressed while in the suit, had created a mental barrier that kept the essence of his personality pent up while performing super feats. That barrier had always held, that is until he met Diane. What was it about her that made him forget himself? What did she do to him to crumble that mental barrier? When she was around him, the practiced poise just disappeared, and what was left was just Jon, at least until she reminded him that he wasn't just Jon. But she didn't know that. Diane had seen a side of the Crimson Superman that nobody outside his family had. Under normal circumstances, he would wonder what she would do with that information, but if she loved him as much as she claimed to, then she would keep that new information to herself. But...she had seen part of the real Jon Kent now. If he saw her again in person, would she figure that out? How could she not? She had studied him so hard that she would probably know him anywhere. And, like an idiot, he had spoken to her in his actual voice. Just as Jon began to resign himself to the fact that she would find his identity, he reminded himself that twice they had met, and she had studied him. He had let part of himself be known to her, only to not have her recognize him when he talked to her as Jon Kent. And not only did she NOT recognize him, she had treated him with a cool indifference that she no doubt reserved for people that she had no love lost for. In the mirror, he studied his nose and eyes and mouth, letting his eyes roam all over his facial features before looking at the rest of himself. She probably hadn't noticed anything because she hadn't been looking. He reached out and grabbed his glasses, putting them on and then studying himself again. Now, however, she no doubt would be trying to find him, and he had to be careful, didn't he? Sure he did, if he didn't want her to find out, but.... Would it be the worst thing in the world if she did? That thought surprised him. Of course it would be bad! She hated him, er, Jon. The second she found out that the Crimson Superman was him, it would probably be the death knell for any further relationship. Yes, if he were to have a real, honest to God relationship with her, then she most certainly would have to find out sooner or later, but not until he made her change her mind about her feelings for Jon Kent. Until then, patience was the name of the game. He would just have to avoid seeing her as the Crimson Superman anymore. If he was concerned about her safety, them maybe he could have Dad watch over her. Jon quickly spun into some street clothes and wandered into his bedroom to grab his trombone. Making a little music always seemed to relax him, and that was most certainly what he needed right now. He put the horn together and brought it up to his lips, a soulful tune running through his head. *** Joey Zarate paced around the large conference table, clenching and unclenching his fists in an attempt to control his emotions. Things had looked up just a few hours earlier, but now.... He took a good look around the room, seeing his business associates gathered, each watching him nervously. He allowed himself a small grin - it was always so nice to see a little fear on their faces. It meant that they valued what he said and, more importantly, it meant that they knew what would happen if they crossed him. Taking a deep breath, Joey stopped pacing and addressed his audience, his exterior as calm as it could be. "I have brought you together because a rash action on one of your parts has caused me to have to implement my plans earlier than expected." He scanned the faces of the men assembled, looking for any indicators of guilt, but seeing none. No matter, he thought, he didn't need to see their faces to know who the guilty party was. He had his resources. He continued. "As you know, a bomb was detonated this evening in a Metropolis Police squad car in the Garden District. Those of you who are privy to my long term agenda know what I would like to accomplish in that neighborhood in due time. However, none of that can be done before a certain problem is taken care of - I am talking about getting the supermen out of the way." Joey clasped his hands behind his back and slowly made his way around the room. "The plans for eliminating Superman and son have just begun to be put into motion after several years of careful research and preparation. Now, in one thoughtless action, one of you has jeopardized everything that's been worked for." He stopped and turned toward the large table, leaning over and placing his hands on it. His voice dropped so that his gathered associates almost had to strain to hear him. "I know for a fact that one of you planted that bomb - my experts can verify the workmanship. Let's just hope, for all your sakes, that your carelessness doesn't cause any further disruptions to my plans, or else..." Joey slapped his hand loudly on the table, causing all assembled to jump slightly. "I would hope that you are religious people." A sinister smile crept across Joey's face as he looked around again, seeing the expressions everyone wore. It wasn't very often that he lost his temper, but when he did, it was truly a sight to behold. His wife had told him once that he was more intimidating when he got so angry that he got very quiet. Judging from people's reactions, this was one of those moments. His longtime friends merely looked resigned, but some of the young hotshots looked truly frightened, and with good reason. Joey was completely serious about this operation - it meant life or death to the organization. He would gladly put a few of the younger ones out of their misery if they threatened the livelihood of himself and his family. Joey let the electricity sizzle in the room for a few moments before straightening up. Calmly, he again clasped his hands behind his back and began walking again. "Now, you all know what your roles will be - you will be expected to fulfill those without any further mishaps. I will be contacting you again at a later time. You are dismissed." Joe turned toward the wall and looked at his map, the colorful pins sticking out of it. Superman, he thought, your secrets will be mine. The Bantram niece had been tracked to the Daily Planet and later to the Star. Newspapers. Joey had no doubt that her adventure was due to the novel, and as such he had no doubt what Superman's profession was supposed to be. It made Joe sad in a way - after all that time pursuing the mysterious novel, it was just a takeoff from the botched Diana Stride expose from oh so many years ago. He should've known as much, he told himself. But a little part in the back of his mind still held onto the hope that maybe the novel did contain some truth. The Daily Planet and the Star were both toward the center of the circle of daytime Superman sightings on the map. Also, the fact that the book had been rejected by the Superman Foundation led him to believe that maybe it hit a little too close to home. Joe looked over his shoulder and saw the men filing out of the room. "Tony," he called, and motioned for one of those men to come over to him. Of all the people that he had on the Superman project, Tony was by far the most levelheaded and dependable, even if he was a relative newcomer. That was why he had chosen him to be their physical contact with the niece, and that was why he was calling him over now. If the novel was truly just a throwback to the Stride article, the girl really wasn't of any more use to them. Although, after thinking about it for a while, he decided that she might be handy to have around after all. "Sir?" Tony asked, ever respectable toward his boss. Joe couldn't help but smile - they didn't make them like Tony any more. All the other kids Tony's age in the organization had real problems with authority and with controlling their tempers. "It's time for the next phase. Get the tracking devices and give them to Ms. Bantram. She will tag Superman for us and then she will find him." A look of worry came across Tony's face. "If you don't mind my asking, why are you having her do this and why would she agree to it?" Joe placed his hand on Tony's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. The kid was respectful, but at the same time, he wasn't just a yes man. Brains - that was another thing too many kids lacked these days. "In order to tag Superman, she will have to put herself in a life-or-death situation, something that will require rescuing. There is always a chance that Superman will miss the rescue - it's been known to happen - and I can't risk losing one of my men for that. While most would probably shy away from putting themselves in that position, she will do it gladly. In fact, she will most likely thank you for giving her the idea. Then, once Superman is tagged and she begins searching for him, there is a possibility that he will catch on to her attempt. One would think that Superman might get angry at anybody wishing to expose him, and we don't want to be in that position, or at least not until we have the leverage we need. That is why I want her to do it and why she will want to. Besides, we have her uncle - if all else fails, his jeopardy will ensure her cooperation. Understand?" Tony nodded his head. Joe removed his hand and gave Tony a quick pat on the back. "Tomorrow?" Tony nodded and left. Joey stuck his hands in his pocket and turned to his map once again. Things might just turn out all right after all. *** Diane Martinez sat at her desk and stared off into space. The whole night had been bizarre. It had been more than bizarre. In fact in the last few days her whole life felt like it had been turned upside down. Only a couple of days ago, she was a young, green officer on the Metropolis Police force, nothing special. Then came the Crimson Superman. His presence had an effect on her much like some sort of strange aphrodisiac. When she was around him, she lost all her inhibitions, and she did things that she would never imagine herself doing. Why was that? What was it about him that made her forget her better judgment? She thought back to the events of just a few hours ago. It was strange how she had thought she was being watched all evening. Usually that feeling gave her the willies - after all, why would somebody be watching her unless there was something sinister going on? But tonight it had been comforting. She had felt the concern for her well being coming through somehow, and she knew that she was completely safe, no matter what she may do. That feeling had been well founded, as it turned out. She remembered sitting in her car, and then the next moment, two strong arms were wrapped around her and she was shooting through the air, her car engulfed in a fireball below. That feeling of flying through the air was breathtaking, but it was nothing compared to the feeling she got when she looked at his face. The naked concern was evident, and she knew right away why she had felt like she was being watched - he had been looking after her. That revelation confirmed, in her mind, that he did feel something for her, that he did care about her, and it made her heart swell. When he became aware of her eyes on him, his guard dropped momentarily. She saw her expression of love mirrored briefly on his face, but then he put his defenses up and steeled his expression, increasing his speed. She wasn't fooled, though. His actions and unspoken emotion told her all she needed to know. As they landed on the roof, she tried to vocalize her gratitude to loosen him up, and it worked. Instead of pulling away from her as her feet touched the roof, he had held on, and they had looked deep into each other's eyes. It was hard to describe the emotions that