Hattie and Mr. X -- Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 1 -- P

By KenJ <ken.janney@kjanney.com>

Rated PG-13

Submitted -- March 2014

Summary: This story takes place in the Matchmaker Chronicles
universe. Hattie Kaplin has had a long-standing relationship with
Jon Kent and the entire Kent family; in fact she is almost part
of the family. Recently she had been brought in on the family
secret that the Kents are in fact the super family.

Disclaimers: Some of the characters in this story are property of
DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros., except those I
created. No copyright infringement is intended. I have just
borrowed the characters for a short time.

Note:

I want to thank my beta reader, Artemis for her help on this.

This story is a sequel to Hattie Kaplin and the Main Street
Bomber -- Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 1 -- O and takes place
approximately one year after that story.

*denotes emphasis*

<denotes thoughts>

/" denotes telepathic communications."/

/* xxx*/ denotes playback of a recording

***

Chapter 1 -- Birthday Party

February 28, 2029

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 Canon universe also called --
Prime

%%%

It was five in the evening and Hattie looked over at her partner,
JJ, whose desk was just across from hers, and saw that he was
shutting down his workstation. Looking at her watch she decided
that she needed to do the same thing if they were to get to the
party on time.

As she was shutting down her system she pulled out a box of
expensive chocolates from her desk drawer. She had been rationing
them, limiting herself to one piece a day so that they would
last. Taking her time as she picked out the piece for today, she
smiled. The box had been a Valentine's Day gift along with a
dozen long stemmed red roses from her fiance, Jimmy Junior. She
popped the piece of chocolate into her mouth and closed her eyes
in rapture, savoring the flavor as it melted in her mouth. After
two minutes of blissful enjoyment she finally opened her eyes to
see JJ leaning on her desk, a smile on his face, watching her.
She smiled and said, "Whoever said that Valentine's Day is only
one day of the year? I was just reliving it. Thank you!" She
closed the distance between them and gave him a kiss.

There were two very interested observers. Lois and Clark were
both in the process of preparing to leave when they saw the scene
unfold. Lois looked at Clark and said, "Guess who they remind me
of?"

"It took us a couple of years to get to that point."

"They had an advantage. They've known and liked each other
since they were teens. Teaming them up was a good move on our
part."

Clark moved over and gave Lois a hug as he said, "My little
matchmaker."

Lois inclined her head in their direction as she said, "That
match was made long before we put them together."

Clark said, "I wonder why they're leaving so early. The party
isn't for a few hours yet."

Lois shook her head at the reminiscence as she said, "I'm glad
I gave up, long ago, on trying to throw a surprise birthday party
for you. The one time you were surprised, we were both caught off
guard practically ripping each other's clothes off when the
lights went on and everyone was yelling 'Surprise!' I was
mortified! Ah well. Don't worry, they will be at the party, but
they have a karate class first. Hattie is preparing for testing
for her third dan black belt. Jimmy has been working hard and
pretty soon will test for his first dan brown belt. He has
progressed through the ranks very rapidly. Hattie has been
working with him to hone his skills and it has helped her prepare
for her own test."

Chuckling, Clark said, "I guess he decided he needed to learn
karate in order to keep up with her. He already knew Judo."

Lois added, "He's been teaching her some of that. By the time
they are finished, they could be unstoppable in a fight."

Thoughtfully, Clark added, "They have been able to take care of
themselves in the skirmishes they have been involved in." He
continued, "You know, it seems like the criminals are becoming
even more violent than when we were doing investigations. I am
still concerned. In the last year Kam-El has had to save her when
she was thrown off the top of a building, Ultra Woman had to save
her from being blown up, Superman saved them both from dying in a
car wreck when the crooks ran them off the road and over a cliff,
Kam-El kept her from being shot by a sniper; it's a good thing
he happened to be patrolling there at that time.

Lois interrupted, "Jon caught that bullet just inches from her
body and was able to catch the sniper, but he either wouldn't or
couldn't identify the one that put him up to it."

Clark resumed, "Yeah, if he would have talked we might have
gotten somewhere by now. Ultra Woman saved her again, this time
from being run down by a hit and run driver; again, he wouldn't
talk and last but not least, just last week, they were tied up
and I pulled both of them off a boat that was about to explode."
He started to chuckle. "I have always said that you and she are
like two peas in a pod, but as hard as it may be to believe, I
think she has actually outdone you in the number of times she's
had to be rescued."

"Do you think that she is taking unnecessary chances?"

Clark still had a thoughtful expression as he continued,
"Actually, I'm sure there's more to it than that. It looks
like there is a concerted effort on the part of someone to do
away with our girl and they are going to extremes. Hiring a
sniper isn't something that could be called an accident. She has
ruffled someone's feathers and they are trying to get rid of
her."

In a very excited tone, Lois said, "We need to find out who it
is and put them behind bars!" 

Clark was confident as he answered, "I'm sure Hattie is working
on just that. Come on, we need to get home so that we can get
ready for our guests."

***

At 6:30 Hattie was unlocking the door to her apartment. When she
had opened the last lock she gave the door a little shove, turned
around and put her arms around JJ's neck and gave him a kiss.
After several minutes they broke the kiss; because both of them
needed air. She leaned her head into his chest and breathed
deeply in an attempt to overcome the oxygen deficit and once she
had recovered somewhat she started to giggle. Finally she was
able to say, "Either we have to learn to breathe through our
noses while we kiss or make our kisses shorter."

Breathlessly, JJ replied, "I wonder how Aunt Lois and Uncle
Clark do it. I've seen them in a lip lock for five minutes at a
time."

Hattie laughed and replied in a whisper, "They can each hold
their breath for a llllllooooooonnnnnnggggg time."

JJ laughed and said, "I guess that does make a difference."

Hattie closed the distance and gave JJ another, this time
shorter, kiss and said, "We need to change and get ready for the
party."

"I'll pick you up in half an hour. Has the insurance company
told you when they will settle on your car?"

"Yeah, next week. They have threatened to put me into a high
risk category if I wreck another one. This is the third one this
year." In an exasperated tone she continued, "None of them were
even my fault. It all started when they blew up my car when the
head of MetroServe tried to kill me. The second one was when we
were following that car so that we could spy on their meeting and
that other car ran us off the road and off the cliff. Superman
got us out while we were still falling. He didn't bother with
the car because it would have been totaled anyhow. Then there was
that hit and run with the driver using an armored car, no less.
He was trying to crush us. Fortunately, Ultra Woman stopped him
and got us out of the wreck before the gas tank exploded."

"Okay, I'll be back in half an hour." JJ turned and headed for
the stairwell. Fortunately he was only on the next floor with his
apartment directly over Hattie's.

Twenty-five minutes later JJ was back in front of her door and
knocking. He heard her opening the locks as she said, "Just a
sec."

When she opened the door she stepped back to let him in. She was
drying her hair from a shower and all she had on was a towel.
When she lifted her hands to use the towel on her hair it lifted
the hem of the one around her body and opened it along her side,
which afforded JJ a generous peek at her. Noting his stare she
did a slow pirouette and asked, "Like what you see?"

"You know it," he said with feeling.

Looking at the ring on her left hand, she replied, "Just a few
more months, then what you see is what you get."

He replied, "I am having a hard time waiting. What if something
happens to one or both of us? Look at how many times we've
almost been killed in the last year."

"We just have to take that chance. I wanted to wait so that the
wedding night would be special." Suddenly a memory came to her
mind and she said, "Wait right here," and in a flash of pink
flesh she scampered into her bedroom.

Once in her bedroom she dropped the towel from around her body,
pulled open her dresser drawer and drew out a royal blue lacy bra
and matching lacy thong. After donning these she grabbed a sea
green terry cloth robe that reached to her knees and put it on.

Walking back into the living room, in a saucy tone she asked,
"Would you like a preview?"

Mystified, he asked, "Preview of what?"

With a mischievous grin she replied, "Our wedding night."

"I don't know. I'm already having a hard time controlling
myself. If you entice me any more, I may not be held responsible
for my actions."

"Just keep in mind that this is look, but don't touch. This is
just a preview with the emphasis on *view*."

"Okay, I'll try to keep that in mind."

Hattie put her hands on his arms and guided him to one side of
the living room and then she moved to the other side. Once there
she turned her back to him and loosened the robe. Slowly she slid
the robe off of one shoulder, revealing the strap of the bra and
a part of her back. Sliding the robe off the other shoulder, she
allowed it to fall to her waist with her arms still in the
sleeves and looked coyly over her right shoulder. Judging his
reaction, she lowered her arms and allowed the robe to fall to
the floor.

JJ's eyes flew wide and his mouth fell open in a gasp. She was
standing there almost nude, just a thin band around her waist and
another at her back. He couldn't believe how beautiful her body
was. He had seen her in her workout gear, but this was her
virtually unadorned body. 

Slowly she turned towards him and she watched as he started to
breathe heavily and sweat. The bra she was wearing enhanced
without really covering and the thong was so brief and both were
of such a sheer very fine lace that virtually nothing was
hidden.

Once she was completely facing him, in a throaty, sultry, tone
she asked, "You like?" Looking at him and seeing his reaction,
she already knew the answer to her question. When she had been
looking back over her shoulder she had seen his body's reaction.
Now that she was facing him she could almost see his reaction
increase.

All he could get out was, "Wow," in a hushed tone.
Unconsciously he took a half step in her direction and his hands
reached for her.

Smiling, she said, "Hold on, tiger. Remember, I said, 'Look,
but don't touch'. This was just a preview." She bent and
picked up her robe and when she did she displayed her assets just
that much more. Her smile persisted, a very satisfied smile. This
was the reaction she had been hoping for almost a year ago when
she had dressed similarly for the superhero Kam-El. Of course, at
that time she didn't know that Kam-El was actually her best
friend Jon Kent. At that time he was about to be married to
Jennifer and they were living together, but that night she had
learned the truth. He hadn't so much as looked at her and that
rejection had hurt. JJ was most definitely looking. Her ego had
smarted under Kam-El's rejection, at least until she had been
told the family secret. Now, with JJ, seeing his reaction, her
ego was receiving quite a boost. 

JJ said, "Do we have to wait? I mean, we could elope tonight."

Her joy was bubbling up and was evident in her tone as she
teased, "What, and miss your uncle's birthday party?" as she
put the robe back on. 

"After seeing you like that, I don't think I want to wait until
June."

She reached down and laid her hand over the very prominent bulge
in the front of his pants. As she did, he jumped. "Just remember
what I looked like and let me go put on some clothes."

"I'm going to have a hard time concentrating on anything other
than the memory of what you look like."

Hattie put her hand gently on the side of his cheek and slid it
along his jaw line as she said, again using a sultry tone, "Just
keep in mind that under the clothes I'm about to put on, I'm
wearing," she opened the robe again for him to see, "this."
When he reached for her again she giggled, closed the robe,
scampered out of his reach and into her bedroom. Two minutes
later she emerged wearing a scoop neck blouse that showed off a
lot of cleavage and an ankle length wrap skirt. It was February,
after all. As she walked, the side where the skirt overlapped
would open as a slit and reveal her shapely leg to his view.

Seeing her, JJ thought, <I'm in big trouble. She's teasing me
deliberately. I hope I can hold out.>

JJ helped her with her coat and then they moved downstairs and
out to JJ's car for the trip to the, Wisteria Lane Kent home. JJ
held the door for her and Hattie gracefully got into the
passenger side. Once JJ was behind the steering wheel and she saw
him glance in her direction, she slowly crossed her legs which
opened the slit in the wrap skirt on his side all the way to her
hip, giving him a view of her entire leg. She grinned as she
watched him staring at her display. She could see a hungry look
in his eyes and it sent a shiver up her spine. The thought of
having someone want her that much ... she just couldn't believe
her good fortune. 

For so long, she had thought that *Jon* was the one. She had to
admit to herself that she had fallen in love with Jon Kent the
first day they met, all those years ago in middle school, but
unfortunately, that was never to be. She had learned, later that
it was a Kryptonian thing, a love at first sight and if it
didn't happen then, it just wouldn't. She was destined never to
be his wife and lover, but to always be just his friend and
pretty soon, his cousin. She had spent a lot of time with Jon and
Lara and the rest of the family through the years and fortunately
for her that had included JJ. Now she and JJ were engaged to be
married in just a few months. 

She was starting to have second thoughts, herself, about waiting
and seeing how eager he was just weakened her resolve that much
more. She knew that Jon and Jen had lived together for about six
months before they had gotten married and look at how happy they
were. They were blissfully happy, as were Lara and Mike. They had
been married now for several years. They had married while in
college and she had worked to put him through law school and then
he had returned the favor. Now they worked together at the same
law firm in LA. 

Hattie had found out that fateful night why Jon and Jen had
decided on living together before the wedding. It was ultimately
for her safety. The modification of her body's physiology by his
Kryptonian aura was approximately a three-year process. Once her
body had been changed, by using the pendant she would also be
super and safe from criminals that might attack the members of
the family if their secret identities were ever revealed. It was
a simple idea; the sooner they started living together, the
sooner she would be super and safe. 

Coming out of her reverie, she realized that JJ hadn't even
started the engine and she was starting to get cold. He was still
staring at her leg with that hungry look in his eyes. She reached
down and pulled the bottom of her coat over, effectively
concealing her leg, and JJ snapped out of his almost hypnotic
state. Hattie said, "At this rate we will never make it to the
party. I'm sorry, JJ, I shouldn't be teasing you this way. I'm
not being very kind, am I?"

"No, please don't stop. I don't mind at all. I just wish I had
Uncle Clark's powers. Right now I could use a swim in the
arctic."

Hattie burst out in tinkling laughter and JJ thought it was the
sweetest music he had ever heard.

***

A little later that evening at the party, Hattie asked if she and
JJ could speak with Lois and Clark, in private.

Once in the office, Hattie addressed Lois, "I'm planning my
wedding party." Lois nodded. "I'd like you to be my Matron of
Honor."

Lois smiled and said, "I thought you would be asking Lara or
perhaps Jen. Are you sure you want me? Lara has always been your
best girlfriend and you were in Jen's wedding party."

Hattie replied without even needing to give her answer any
thought, "I've known for a long time that you were the one I
would want up there with me. Even before I met Jon, you were my
hero and role model. In the years since ... well ... I've gotten
to know you and, I have to be honest, I really love you. You've
always been like a mother to me and I can't think of anyone that
I would rather have stand with me when I join this family. It
just wouldn't feel right having anyone else there."

JJ chimed in, "Please say yes, Aunt Lois, because otherwise I
won't be able to have the best man that I want." He turned to
Clark and asked, "Uncle Clark, would you be my best man? My dad
will be there, but you're the one I want to stand with me."

Clark looked at Lois and said, "I think I can speak for the both
of us when I say, we accept and we are honored that you have
asked us to do this."

Hattie threw her arms around Lois and started to weep for joy.
Lois pulled her into a hug and said, "Hattie girl, you have made
me very happy. I have to be mother of the bride or groom for our
kids. This is going to be a special day, for both of us."

JJ shook Clark's hand and said, "Thanks, Uncle Clark. I
appreciate you doing this for me."

Going back out into the main room, Lois called for everyone's
attention.

"Listen up. Hattie has just asked me to be her Matron of
Honor."

Hattie was surprised. She expected a response of disappointment
from Lara or perhaps Jen, but instead both of them smiled and
congratulated their mom. No matter how long she would know this
family, they continued to surprise her. Their attitude of
selfless service and the total lack of animosity continually
amazed her. She just hoped that she fit in. Even as she was
thinking this she saw how Lois was looking at her and realized
that yes, she did belong in this family. She had been with them
for sixteen years, more than half of her life, and it felt so
natural here, even more than her own. She just felt like she
belonged here. She wasn't super, but that wasn't important. It
was the people, not the powers that made this family what it was
and she got a warm, comfortable feeling just being with them. She
just couldn't imagine being with anyone else for the rest of her
life.

Lara, Jen, Celeste, Jessica and Lucy all came over and
congratulated her and as they did, each was added to the wedding
party.

While the girls were gathered, JJ asked each of his cousins to be
ushers. Thus the wedding party was balanced out.

The girls took Lois and Hattie into another room so that they
could start planning the wedding.

The guys all gathered around the TV and put on the Metropolis
Hoopsters / Gotham Growlers game.

***

Chapter 2 -- Who or What is the Mysterious 'X'?

Wednesday, February 28, 2029

***

After the party JJ had dropped Hattie off at her apartment, but
only after a lingering goodnight kiss which left both of them
breathless.

As she was preparing for bed, Hattie was thinking, hard. So much
had happened that evening. She lay down, but she had a hard time
getting to sleep. She kept thinking about JJ and his reaction to
her display of her body to his perusal. She tossed and turned for
what seemed like hours before finally dropping off into a
troubled sleep. She dreamed about JJ and how, on their wedding
night, he would carry her to the bed, rip her clothes off of her
and make wild passionate love to her. She woke up moaning in a
sweat of passion. Her nether regions were athrob. She had never
been so aroused in her entire life. She hastily got out of bed
and removed her soaked pajamas. She looked at herself in the
mirror, turning side to side and looking over her back trying to
get the full picture. Finally fully satisfied that she had
nothing to be ashamed of in that respect she decided to handle
her arousal by exercise. 

She moved into her living room and, still nude, moved the coffee
table from the center of the room and started practicing the kata
that she would have to perform for her grading. After going
through all three, four times each, she was sweating and weary
from the exercise. She hastened into the shower. Just as she was
about to turn the water on she heard the shower in the apartment
above go on. She smiled as she thought to herself, <Looks like JJ
is having a hard time sleeping too. I wonder if it's for the
same reason.>

***

After dropping Hattie off at her apartment and kissing her
goodnight, JJ had gone to his apartment and after changing for
bed tried to sleep, but the image of Hattie, wearing only that
see through bra and thong was driving him crazy. The more he
thought about her the more he knew he had a problem.

Finally he gave up on any thoughts of going to sleep right away.
He decided that he would have to distract himself somehow. He
went into his living room and started practicing the kata that he
was having a problem mastering. He knew that he had to be able to
perform it at least nearly perfectly in order to win his next
belt. He started off moving slowly, almost as if he were
practicing Tai Chi, so slow were his movements. After going
through it four times that way he started to speed up his
movements. After another four times, at just about full speed, he
called it quits and decided that he needed to take an ice-cold
shower. He removed his sleep shorts and turned on the shower.
This was what Hattie heard.

***

March 01, 2029

In the morning she awoke, but it had not been restful slumber.
She simply lay there awake in bed for a time, thinking. The
emotional upheaval that had prevented Hattie from getting her
sleep had resolved itself, at least partially. She thought she
had made a decision, but she still wasn't sure that it was the
right one. She decided to let circumstances decide the matter.

When she finally got up, before she even got dressed she placed a
call. The final outcome of the call still left her in a quandary
and she decided that she would have to think about it some more,
before she said anything.

***

At 9 a.m. JJ knocked on her door. As soon as he did, he heard the
locks being undone. The door opened and before he even had a
chance to say 'Hi,' Hattie thrust a travel mug of coffee into
his hands and said, "Let's go, partner, we're gonna be
late."

In a halfway mocking tone JJ said, "Good morning, JJ. Did you
sleep well? You look good today. New shirt? New tie? Hi Hattie!
Yes, it is a good morning isn't it? Yes, I slept well ..."

Hattie rolled her eyes and said, "Sorry. Good morning, JJ."

JJ asked, "Is there a problem, Hattie? Did I say or do
something?"

She looked down at her feet and said in a shy tone, "No, you
didn't do anything. It ... it's me. I'm ... Well, I'm not
sure."

JJ stopped and spun around. He put a hand on her shoulder and
said, "Please don't tell me you're planning to call it off."

A shocked expression took over her face and she quickly said,
"NO! No, that's not it! No, that's one thing I'm very sure
of. It's ... it's something else."

"Whew, you had me worried there for a second. Okay, you can tell
me. Maybe I can help."

"We can talk about it later. Let's get to work."

"If you say so. Whenever you want to talk about it, I'm
here."

She laid her hand on his cheek and said, "I know you are, and I
promise, I'll talk to you about it, just not right now.

***

When they arrived at work, Hattie found that she had a voice-mail
from Graham Kerr, Bobby Bigmouth's son and her main stoolie,
asking for a noontime meeting. She called JJ over and played the
message a second time so that he could listen. She asked, "What
should we get him?"

"Hmmmm, lunchtime. How about a Double Bacon, Double Cheese
Burger Supreme from Hank's?"

"Yes, with fries, apple pie and a drink. That ought to satisfy
him." Looking at her watch she said, "I'll call the order in
for pick-up for lunch. Mmmmmmm, just thinking about that burger
is making me hungry. Maybe we could go there ourselves."

JJ said, "Not exactly a quiet place to talk, if you wanted to
talk about whatever it was that was bothering you, if you want to
talk about it that is."

"JJ, I do want to talk about it, just ... Now isn't the time.
Maybe later."

"I'm a patient guy. I can wait. How much later?"

Hattie giggled because his protests of patience were very
impatiently given. She figured that if she didn't give him some
timeframe he would continue to pester her about it all day so she
said, "Take me out someplace nice for dinner and we'll talk
afterwards, okay?"

"Nice dinner, then talk, okay." Now he just needed to figure
out where to take her. 

Hattie's phone rang as JJ was moving back to his desk. "Daily
Planet, Kaplin." It was one of her contacts at the MPD. 

"Listen, Kaplin, this is Boyce; last night we had the strangest
robbery that I ever heard of. This guy, a young lawyer no less,
walks into a jewelry store and sticks it up. He is ID'd from the
security cam footage. He was picked up this morning, no jewels
and he claims not to know anything about it."

Hattie had been taking notes and asked, "Was he arrested?"

"Yeah, we have too much evidence against him not to. Aside from
the camera footage his fingerprints are all over the place."

"Did you confront him with the video footage?"

"Yeah, and he still claimed to not know anything about it. Says
it must be someone made up to look like him."

"Is that a possibility?"

"Not a chance. We figure it's a dodge to try and get out of it.
The problem is that the guy would not have any possible motive
for pulling the job. He works in a big firm and was just made a
full partner. He's rolling in dough. Unmarried, not a gambler,
doesn't do drugs. He just doesn't fit the profile for someone
that would do something like this."

"Is he going to have a psych eval?"

"Yeah, he has an appointment with the shrink this afternoon."

"Please keep me posted."

"No problem. I appreciated that write up you did on me when I
made that arrest last week. I wound up with a citation for it.
Got a bump in rank and pay, thanks to you. I'll be in touch."

Hattie was thoughtful as she hung the phone up. She smiled; this
was just what she and JJ needed to take their minds off of the
events of the previous evening. She called him over, "Hey, JJ,
got a minute?"

He said, "For you I have as many minutes as you require," as he
arose and moved over beside her desk. She pointed to her guest
chair and he sat.

"Remember Boyce?"

"We did a story about him last week, didn't we?"

"That's him. He was a plainclothes cop that broke that case. He
just called to thank us for the story. He got some bennies from
our story and he was repaying the favor. The MPD just made an
arrest in a weird case. A guy with no motive robbed a jewelry
store and he claims to have no memory of doing it."

"Is he claiming amnesia?"

"No, he claims that he is innocent. They got him on the security
tape, but he claims it isn't him."

"This sounds like some kind of mystery. I think we need to
interview this guy."

"I agree with you." She glanced at her watch. "It's nearly
lunchtime. You think we could go and get lunch and then meet
Graham?"

"Okay with me."

Hattie headed for the office. It looked like Lois saw her
approach, although she really knew that it was probably Lois'
superhearing that tipped her off as to Hattie's approach. Lois
signed for her to enter. 

Hattie stepped in and said, "I just had a call from MPD. Weird
robbery that we're going to look into. Also, I had a call from
Graham Kerr, he asked for a lunchtime meeting. We're headed
out."

Lois smiled and said, "Ask him to give my regards to Bobby, will
you?"

Hattie smiled as she replied, "Sure thing. I don't know how
long we will be gone. We may stop by the precinct and interview
the guy they arrested to get a feel for the story."

Lois nodded and said, "Try to stay out of trouble for a
change."

"Awww, come on. You know that none of those were my fault.
Someone has it in for me and JJ."

"I know and that is what has us concerned. Over the last year,
watching out for you and JJ has become almost a full time job.
It's a good thing that there's more than one of us and we can
share the load."

Hattie saw the smile that Lois had as she was speaking and knew
that she was teasing so she didn't take any offense. She
replied, "Maybe you should make me and JJ super, then your
problems would be solved."

With a serious expression, Lois replied, "You don't know what
you are asking. I don't know any way we could do that, but are
you sure you would really want that, if we could? There's a lot
of responsibility that goes along with the powers."

"I know that and I also know that there probably is no way for
it to happen, but if it did, I think we would handle it. If I had
married Jon instead of Jen and had been made super as a result,
well ... I think I would have been ready, but there's no way
that will happen now and JJ's from the wrong side of the family
for that to happen, he's an Olsen not a Kent."

Lois smiled and said, "In many ways he's more Kent than Olsen,
just not that way. He's been with us so much over the years,
more than his brothers and sisters, that his personality is
different from his siblings. I guess we rubbed off on him. Maybe
that's a good thing, time will tell. Anyhow, just be careful out
there, at least until you find out who is after you and we get
them."

"Don't worry, we'll be careful. Gotta go. We're gonna catch
lunch before we meet up with Graham."

***

Hattie and JJ were sitting in JJ's car around the corner from
the main entrance to the Metropolis Museum of Art. They had only
parked a minute earlier when there was a knock on Hattie's door.
JJ hit the switch that unlocked the doors and Graham climbed into
the back. He challenged, "What's with the locked doors? Don't
you trust me or something?"

Hattie laughed and said, "It's not that, it's just that there
have been so many attempts on our lives in the last year that we
are trying to be extra careful."

"Yeah, I heard something about that. You've really ticked
someone off."

"Don't we know it. Well, what do you have for us?"

"I don't know, but it may be related to your situation."

Hattie was suddenly very eager to hear what he had to say. "Come
on, don't keep us in suspense. What do you have for us?"

"That depends, what do you have for me?"

"How does a Double Bacon, Double Cheese Burger Supreme with
fries, apple pie and a drink from Hank's sound?"

"Sounds like we're talking business. Okay, here's what I have.
There are rumors on the street about 'X'."

Mystified, Hattie looked at him in disbelief. She snatched away
the bag she was about to hand to him. She challenged, "'X'?
That's all you have for us, just a letter? 'X' could stand for
anything. You've gotta do better than that." With a look of
defiance, she deliberately reached into the bag, pulled out a fry
and stuck it into her mouth and chewed.

Seeing his payment start to disappear, Graham said, "Look,
don't be hasty. 'X' is more than a letter, it's a name. 'X'
could be the one behind all of these attacks on you. The word on
the street is that he has started buying up parts of the old
Luthor Empire. He could have been behind MetroServe and its
attack on you. I think he's behind MiraLabs as well. He's been
slowly buying up controlling interests in those businesses."

Hattie extracted another fry and turning to JJ, waving the fry in
her hand like a teacher waving a ruler at a student, she said,
"That could fit. All of this started when I busted MetroStaff
and proved their collusion with MiraLabs in that corporate
espionage caper. That was shortly before you joined the Planet."
She popped the fry in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully for a few
seconds, swallowed and absent-mindedly pulled out another fry and
placed it in her mouth before turning back to Graham. Once she
swallowed she said, "You said he was also buying influence?"

She was starting to put her hand back into the bag when Graham
reached over the seat back and grabbed her hand, stopping her.
She looked at her hand, partly in the bag, with his holding it
and suddenly realized what she had been doing. She started to
blush, closed the bag and handed it to Graham. "Sorry, I wasn't
thinking. No wonder I'm feeling so full. You say he is also
buying influence?"

"Right, political influence."

Hattie turned to JJ and said, "I wonder if Robbins was on his
payroll. It looked like it was businesses downtown, but we were
never able to get any actual names and no convictions as
accessories. What if that was all a blind and it was really this
'X' that was behind Robbins the whole time? I always thought we
found those documents that showed the plan to embezzle the money
from the bond sale too easily. What if they were planted so that
we would find them?"

JJ rebutted, "It may have been, but he's definitely the one
that taped that bomb to your hands, so he was still guilty of all
of those deaths."

"Right, we got him on that, but he could have been innocent of
the other." Turning back to Graham, she challenged, "Okay, just
who is 'X'?"

"'X', that's all I know at this point."

"It has to stand for something! 'X' as in 'X' marks the
spot, 'X' as in cross. If it was 'XX' that would be double
cross. Something!"

JJ offered, "What if it's an initial? 'X' something.
Something like Xavier or Xandra or Ximena," snapping his
fingers, he added, "how about Xena?" Shaking his head he said,
"I've run out of names that start with 'X'." 

Hattie turned back to Graham and said, "We need more
information. Tell you what, get us a name and it's a full dinner
at Travaglini's, pasta, wine, dessert, the works. A sit down
dinner, not take out."

Graham smiled in anticipation and said, "Stick by the phone. As
soon as I have something it will be ringing." He grabbed the
door handle and let himself out.

JJ smiled to himself; he had just decided where to take Hattie
for dinner.

***

Chapter 3 -- A Strange Robbery

Thursday afternoon, March 01, 2029

***

After Graham departed, JJ drove them to the Twelfth Precinct
where the robbery suspect was being held.

As they were entering, Hattie spotted Boyce. She headed in his
direction and he spotted her as she approached.

He moved to meet her and said, "He just returned from the psych
eval. I don't know what the results are as yet."

"Would it be possible for us to interview him?"

"I think that can be arranged, he isn't in solitary or
segregated holding. Wait here a minute. I'll arrange it."

"Thanks, we owe you for this. How is it that a plainclothes cop
is in charge of this investigation?"

With a smile, Boyce replied, "Hey, I owe you. I'm not a
plainclothes cop anymore. I've been promoted to detective,
thanks to you and your partner." He started moving down a hall
and said, "Come this way. His name is Dennis Day. He works for
the firm of Benny, Livingston and Van Jones. No previous arrests,
not so much as a parking ticket."

"Sure doesn't sound like a hardened criminal, does he?" JJ
commented.

Boyce replied, "Appearances can be deceiving, but I don't think
so in this case. I think I believe him,"

Boyce left them in a room with a table and some chairs. At one
end was a large mirror that Hattie guessed was a one way glass so
that interviews could be observed. While they waited, Hattie
delved into her bag and came up with a mini-recorder, notepad and
pencil. 

After a few minutes, Day was brought in. JJ introduced himself.
"Hi, I'm James Olsen Junior and this is my partner, Henrietta
Kaplin. We work for the Daily Planet. Do you mind if we record
the session?"

Day had a thoughtful expression for a few seconds and then said,
"No, I don't mind, record away. Kaplin and Olsen. I've read
your stuff. You're good. Why are you here?"

Hattie said, "We'd like to find out what happened last night.
Did you really rob that jewelry store?"

He burst out, "NO! No ... well, I don't really know." He
started shaking his head. "They showed me a tape and it sure
looked like me and they say that they found my fingerprints, but
I don't remember anything about it."

Hattie indicated the chairs and said, "Why don't we get
comfortable?"

After they were all seated, Hattie placed the recorder on the
table and said, "Why don't you tell us what you do know, what
you *do* remember."

He started getting agitated and almost shouted, "But I don't
remember anything. If I don't remember anything, what can I tell
you?"

JJ said in a soothing tone, "Dennis, we're on your side. We
want to solve this mystery and get you off the hook. Help us out
here."

He settled down somewhat and said, "Sorry, it's just, I've
been arrested for something I didn't do and they seem to have
everything they need to prove that I actually did it."

Hattie said, "If you don't remember the evening, let's start
in the afternoon. What were you doing in the afternoon?"

His countenance was one of concentration as he thought back. He
was concentrating for almost half a minute before he spoke,
obviously marshaling his thoughts. "It had just been announced
that they were making me a partner in the firm. I was really
happy; all of that hard work had finally paid off. I was on my
way up the corporate ladder. The sky's the limit. There was a
meeting of the staff for the announcement of my promotion."

"Everyone was congratulating me. Lots of hands patting me on the
back. There were a couple that I was very happy didn't hold a
knife. It's a cutthroat business. There were a couple of other
junior partners that were also vying for the same position. I'm
sure they weren't happy with the decision."

Hattie held up a hand to stop him and said, "Let's look at
that. Would it be possible that one of them was responsible for
what happened?"

Shaking his head he said, "I don't see how."

"What are their names?"

"Well, there's Don Blank and Phil Harris ... and oh, yes, Mel
Wilson. Don't forget Mel."

"Do you suspect anyone in particular?"

"If I had to guess, I'd guess Mel. He did an impersonation of
Mr. Benny, James Benny, our CEO, that had all of us rolling on
the floor laughing. He doesn't look that much like him, but over
the phone, you can't tell them apart. One time, he called the
deli and ordered a catered lunch for the entire staff and
impersonated Mr. Benny when he did. When the lunch was delivered,
the delivery boy who had taken the order swore up and down that
it was his voice on the phone. It really galled Mr. Benny to have
to shell out the cash for the meal. He's a real penny pincher,
that one." He started laughing at the memory.

"We aren't dealing with voice impersonations here. How much
does he look like you?"

This had the effect of sobering him up. "Well, not a lot. He's
shorter than me and his hair is thinning."

Hattie had been writing in her notebook. "Let's move on. What
happened after the announcement?"

"We all went back to work for the afternoon; time is money, you
know, and then after work some of us went out for a couple of
drinks. Now, I don't normally drink, mind you, but this was a
celebration, so I had a couple. At least I think I had a couple,
it could have been just one. After that things get kinda hazy. I
remember talking with Sadie. The next thing I remember is waking
up in my bed. That was really odd. I was still dressed in the
clothes I'd had on the previous day."

"Have you ever suffered from blackouts before?"

"No, never."

"Are you on any medications?"

"No, I'm as healthy as the proverbial horse."

"Where did you all go for the drinks?"

"We went to 'Stokes'. It used to be owned by Lenny Stokes, but
it was taken over by a group after he was sent to prison. They
still play a lot of loud music even though the founder isn't
around anymore." 

Hattie made a note of the name of the club.

"Is it possible that somebody put something in your drinks?"

"You mean like Roofies or something?"

Hattie chuckled and said, "Guys usually give Roofies to girls so
that they can take advantage of them. You're the wrong sex, but
the idea still applies. Perhaps you were given something in your
drink that made you ... I don't know ... pass out. Ooooh, no,
that wouldn't work. If you had passed out you couldn't have
pulled the stickup. It would have to be something that would, I
don't know, make you act like you were hypnotized or something.
JJ, we need to ask your cousin, Sean. He's a doctor. Maybe he
would have some ideas on that."

"It's worth a try. Want me to give him a call?"

"Could you? That'd be great."

JJ pulled out his cell phone and hit a speed dial number. After a
few seconds the call was answered. "Sean, JJ, got a question for
you. ... Do you know of any drugs that could make someone act
like they had been hypnotized?" JJ pulled Hattie's pad over and
pulled out a pen to take notes. "Uh huh. ... Yes. ... Okay,
thanks." He wrote down a final word and closed his cell. "There
is a whole class of compounds called," he referred to his notes,
"Benzodiazepines. There is also a drug called scopolamine. A
long time ago, scopolamine was used as a truth serum. Now it's
used in low doses to prevent motion sickness, but in high doses
it can do some nasty things, especially when combined with
alcohol."

"I wonder ... did they do a blood test?" she asked Day.

"No, they haven't taken any blood samples."

Hattie jumped up and pounded on the door. When Boyce answered she
said, "Detective Boyce, we need to have a blood test performed
on Mr. Day. Can you get that done?"

"Let me see." With that he closed the door again. A few minutes
later he reappeared with a paramedic. "I got lucky, Pete was
here to transport a prisoner that had a heart attack to the
prison hospital. He says he can do what you need while his
partner preps for the transport."

Hattie stepped in and said, "We need at least three vials of
blood drawn. JJ's cousin works at STAR Labs with Dr. Bernie
Klein. We want them to analyze the blood for any drugs that may
be in his system."

Pete replied, "I don't normally carry a supply of vacutainers
around in my bag. I do have some syringes and some heparin.
Heparin is an anticoagulant. If there will be any delay in
running your tests, I'll need to add that to the samples, so I
think I can accommodate you. He opened his kit and pulled out
what he needed and laid it out. He had Day sign a waiver and
after putting a restricting band around Day's arm he examined
the inner aspect of the elbow to find a vein, then he swabbed the
area. He took a syringe and pulled up a small quantity of heparin
from a vial and then inserted it into a vein and drew out a
syringe full of blood. After capping the syringe he repeated the
procedure until he had the required samples, which he marked and
turned over to Hattie. He gave a copy of the waiver he had signed
to Day and left.

Hattie said, "Okay, we need to go. We have to get these samples
to STAR Labs. Don't worry, Mr. Day, we'll get to the bottom of
this. Come on, JJ." She turned to Boyce and said, "Thanks,
Boyce. We'll let you know what we find out. If we can solve this
they might make you a sergeant." 

Boyce smiled at the thought and waived to their retreating
backs.

***

JJ parked the car and they hurried into STAR Labs. As soon as
they entered they spotted Jon. Hattie had called him and filled
him in while JJ drove. She handed him the syringes of blood and
followed him as he headed down the corridor to the lab.

When they entered the lab, Hattie spotted Dr. Klein and said,
"Hi, Dr. Klein!"

"Well, if it isn't Ms ... "

"Kaplin," she provided.

"Right, Ms Kaplin. You were in Jon and Jen's wedding. So nice
to see you again. Wait a minute, wasn't it you that found the
nitroglycerine that was being used in those bombs about a year
ago?"

"That was me, all right. How have you been?"

"Well, I've been busy helping this assistant of mine unlearn
everything wrong he was taught in school. He'll make a fine
researcher one day."

Jon was off to the side laughing at Dr. Klein's little joke.

Dr. Klein spotted the syringes in Jon's hand and asked, "What
do we have here?"

Hattie said, "Dr. Klein, we need your help again. There was a
robbery last night and the person that they say did it has no
memory of the event or the entire night for that matter. I was
wondering if you could check and see if there are any drugs in
his bloodstream. We are looking for, I don't know,
benzodiazepines or scopolamine or something like that. Can you
find things like that?"

Bernie was intrigued. He started thinking aloud, "Hmmmmm, has to
be non-destructive, qualitative, not necessarily quantitative.
Have to separate them from other natural blood components. Most
likely organic." He seemed to come to a decision. "Jon, take an
aliquot of this sample and dilute with normal saline solution. We
have some of it in that cabinet over there. We were using it in
those rat studies. Then inject it into the HPLC under standard
conditions. Run the effluent through the mass spec. I'm going to
process some of this and run an FTIR. Once you finish with the
HPLC, take the same sample and run UV Fluorescence and also run a
UV spectra. Pull up those standard spectra from that drug
study." He turned to Hattie, "Do you know the blood type?"

"No, I didn't ask."

"Jon, do a blood type analysis so that you get the right
profile. Make sure you pull up the right type."

"Will do, Doc." Jon turned to his tasks.

Hattie asked, "How long will all of this take?"

Dr. Klein looked over at Jon and said, "I don't know, it all
depends on how efficient my assistant is." He saw that Jon was
moving at superspeed. He looked at Hattie and JJ and raised an
eyebrow.

Seeing this, Hattie reassured him by saying, "We're all
family." She hooked her arm through JJ's and said, "We're
being married in just a couple of months."

Bernie released a relieved sigh and said, "Okay, so you are in
on the family secret. That's a relief." He had been concerned
about Jon revealing what he could do.

In a relatively short time, short only because of Jon's
superabilities, they had the answer, at least a partial answer.
Jon provided Dr. Klein with the reports that he had generated.
Dr. Klein moved to his lab bench and after donning a hot mitt,
picked up a beaker containing a steaming brownish liquid that had
been sitting on a stand over a low-burning Bunsen burner and took
a sip. Seeing the shocked expression on his visitor's faces he
held it out and asked, "Coffee?"

Seeing what it was in Hattie thought that there was a danger of
ingesting something other than that which was being offered and
said, "Uh, no thanks, Dr. Klein."

"Your loss, Jon makes a terrific beaker of coffee." He took
another sip and paced it back on the burner. He took a few
minutes to look over the reports. 

Once he had finished his analysis he said, "Okay, when we
compare his blood to a sample of, let's see, type O negative,
from an earlier study I believe that I can see some traces of
foreign substances. By running this sample against the previously
run sample of the same type the common factors are identified and
eliminated. It looks like most of it has metabolized and there
isn't enough to get a clear analysis of the structure. It looks
like a benzyl ring, some hydroxyls, could be a carbonyl, some
amines or amides. Hard to tell, but there definitely is something
there. It's a shame that the sample wasn't taken sooner, then
we might have had a better chance at a complete structure. You
mentioned benzodiazepines and there are structures that could
indicate that something related to them is present."

"Thanks, Dr. Klein. Could you please write that up for me? If
this happens to someone else, we can use your analysis to make
sure they order a blood sample be drawn as soon as the individual
is picked up next time." Turning to JJ she said, "Let's go,
JJ, we have to get this written up. Maybe he'll be granted bail
based on these findings. At least we can hope."

***

Chapter 4 -- A Stranger Proposal

Thursday, March 01, 2029

***

That evening, JJ took Hattie to Travaglini's, their favorite
restaurant. It was too cold to sit outside so they occupied a
table in the rear. Since they were regulars, when JJ had called
earlier to make the reservation he had been given a choice
table.

After a delicious pasta dinner and half a bottle of Chianti each
they were both feeling a little mellow.

Hattie somewhat shyly asked, "JJ, did you really like what you
saw last night? I mean, it wasn't too much, too soon was it? I
mean, the wedding isn't until June and here I am enticing you. I
mean, I have to be trying your patience. I mean, I saw your
reaction, boy, did I see your reaction. You *were* reacting to
*me* ... weren't you?" Her nervousness caused her to repeat the
same phrase over and over. 

He had picked up on her nervousness, so to make her a little more
comfortable, with a smile he replied, "You'd better believe I
was reacting to you. I'd have to be dead not to react to you.
You're gorgeous; you know that, don't you?"

Smiling self-consciously at this praise she started to blush.
"You're just saying that."

"What? No, no I'm not. It's the honest truth. You are the most
beautiful woman I have ever met. I can't believe that you have
actually consented to marry me. I have to be the luckiest guy in
the world."

Shyly, Hattie asked, "Do you really want to get lucky?"

Startled, he asked, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I don't know about you, but I had a hard time sleeping last
night."

He snickered and said, "You and me both. I finally got up and
worked on kata until I decided on a cold shower."

Hattie laughed, attracting the attention of those at the tables
near them. Seeing this she quieted and finally said, "Me too."

Now it was JJ's turn to laugh. After calming himself he asked,
"What are we going to do about this situation? I guess we could
just give up on sleep until after the ceremony, but I don't want
to fall asleep on our wedding night."

"Neither do I. I've been looking forward to it too much. I just
don't think I can continue to go on this way though. We need to
do something."

"What do you suggest?"

Hattie was silent for a long time which was trying JJ's
patience, but when she finally spoke, he was happy that he
hadn't let his impatience show. "Well, this morning I called
our super. I asked if there were any two-bedroom apartments
available. I figured we would be needing a bigger place once we
are married and if there was one available we should go ahead and
get it instead of waiting and maybe not finding anything."

Trying to remain calm, JJ commented, "That was a good idea. What
did he say?"

Hattie was relieved at JJ's response and pressed on, "There is
a two bedroom that will be available next weekend."

JJ was now becoming eager. He could see where this conversation
was headed and couldn't be happier. "Wow, that soon? Which
one?"

Hattie was pleased with how JJ was taking all of this, but now
she was going to broach the most important question and her
trepidation was returning. What if he didn't want the same
thing? "It's apartment 501. What should we do?"

"I think we need to grab it while it's available. Maybe he'll
accept the security deposit from your current apartment for it
since you will be moving from one apartment to another in the
same building."

Her feeling of relief was almost palpable; he hadn't outright
rejected the idea. "I already did and he did."

He was exuberant, but was careful not to appear too eager; still,
he said, "That's my girl! Wow, we already have a new
apartment."

Now came the critical point. "That still doesn't solve our
problem. In fact it could exacerbate it."

JJ shook his head as he asked, "What problem?"

Hattie smiled as she replied, "Sleep deprivation."

Having a very good idea what Hattie was suggesting, JJ decided to
play dumb. "Well, I don't know. Do you have a suggestion?"

Looking down at her empty plate with a red blush moving up her
neck and into her cheeks, she shyly said, "Well, you could give
up your apartment at the same time. Between the two of us we
could afford the increased rental and actually save some money,
but only if we both only had the one apartment to pay for."

As she had been speaking, JJ's mouth had gone suddenly dry. He
couldn't believe what he was hearing, but there it was, right
out there in the open. She was asking him if he wanted to move in
with her. He stuttered, "You mean ... you want me to ... but ...
June ..."

"Yeah, I know. I think that if either of us is going to get any
sleep between now and then, it is going to have to be ...
together."

He was beside himself he was so happy, but decided to still play
it cool, but not too much. "You want me to move in with you?
Wow, this is so sudden! I'll have to think about it. ... That's
long enough, let's start packing for the move." JJ called for
the check.

***

Silence prevailed during the entire trip back to the apartment
house. They were each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Once they arrived at Hattie's apartment they went inside and sat
side by side on her couch. JJ put his arm around Hattie's
shoulder; she leaned into him and snuggled in, getting
comfortable. She was sitting on his right, so she took her left
hand and reaching across intertwined the fingers of her left hand
in his right. They sat that way for a time, just enjoying the
contact. Finally JJ broke the silence, "What made you decide to
check on apartments?"

She looked up at the ceiling and said, "Having you up there, so
close and yet so far away ... it was just too much. I just feel
like I need you closer. That's why you have to give up your
apartment and move in. If you stayed in your apartment and I
moved to 501 we'd be farther apart. That would defeat the
purpose."

"Do you still want to wait, for ... you know?"

Hattie was blushing at the thought as she replied, "I think I'd
still like to. It *is* a two bedroom apartment and we could still
say goodnight and go to our separate rooms, but you'd be a lot
closer."

"If that's what you want. I'm a very patient person."

"Really? You could have fooled me last night. You seemed rather
anxious."

"Well, as long as you don't parade around the apartment, nearly
in the nude, I'll do my best."

With a wicked little smile, Hattie said, "No promises."

JJ pulled back and looked at her with a shocked expression.

Hattie pulled him back into close contact and said, "I'll try
not to push you beyond your limits ... but ...."

"But what?"

"I reserve my rights as a woman ... to change my mind." She
craned around and gave him a kiss.

He shifted her around and deepened the kiss.

***

March 02, 2029

First thing the next morning, Hattie went into Lois and Clark's
office. Clark was blue penciling an article so Hattie addressed
Lois, "I need to go down to HR and file a change of address."

"Oh? Where you moving to, Hattie girl?"

"Well, the wedding will be soon and we will need a bigger place.
I found a two bedroom apartment in the same building."

Lois had a thoughtful look as she asked, "You know that you are
living in my old building, don't you?"

Smiling, Hattie replied, "Yeah, actually I knew that. I figured
that you had chosen it for good reason and I was right. It isn't
too far from work and the rooms are pretty nice."

"What apartment will you be moving to?" Lois asked.

"I called the super to inquire and he said that 501 would be
opening up."

Lois started to smile while Clark threw down his pencil and burst
out in laughter.

Hattie was surprised at this reaction and looked back and forth
between the two.

Clark calmed himself and looking at Lois asked, "Is history
repeating itself, or what? Next thing you know they'll be moving
to 344 Clinton!" Clark lost his temporary control and started to
laugh again.

Hattie looked at Lois, a question in her eyes.

Lois gave in to her mirth and chuckled briefly before she said,
"501 is *my* old apartment," and started laughing again.

Hattie was stunned. She hadn't been aware of this fact.

Lois controlled herself again and said, "I hope it brings you
better luck than it did me. Even with all of the locks I had on
that door it had nearly as much traffic as Grand Central Station.
While I was in the shower one day an assassin let himself in and
set up a bomb with a pressure plate. I had to keep moving on the
pressure pad. If I stopped it would blow up. If I jumped off it
would blow up and it was keyed to a metronome that kept going
faster and faster. Just in the nick of time, Superman arrived and
carried the bomb away. Then there was the time that the Mechanic
jimmied my microwave to knock us out and then explode. Again,
Superman arrived in the nick of time to save not only me, but my
parents and Clark's folks. Dan Scardino let himself in the
window one night. All I had was a kitchen spatula to defend
myself. There was the time that Mr. Makeup came in disguised as
the super. He was trying to kill me when Clark intervened. He was
so sweet. Clark, I mean, not Mr. Makeup; he had been sitting up
all night keeping a watch over me. Then, another time, Ching and
Clark used my living room to train on the Drei so that Clark
could fight Nor."

Hattie was speechless. Finally she managed to say, simply,
"Wow," in a hushed tone. 

Lois had a dreamy expression at the memory as she said, "Don't
worry, it wasn't all bad. That living room was the first place
that Superman took me air dancing," and she sighed at the
memory. Smiling, she looked back at Clark. "That was a special
night."

Clark smiled as he also remembered. He moved over and put his
arms around Lois' waist as he said, "Yes, yes it was." As he
was finishing his statement, he kissed the side of Lois' neck.
As he did, Lois sighed and tilted her head aside to give him more
room to continue. He was more than happy to oblige her.

After almost a minute he stopped; Lois finally opened her eyes
and with a dreamy look, added, "I almost always left the back
window in the living room unlocked," she looked over her
shoulder at Clark again and finished, "just in case a certain
superhero wanted to stop by."

***

A little later Hattie had a call. "Daily Planet, Kaplin."

"Kaplin, this is Boyce. We've had another one."

Immediately, Hattie grabbed her notebook to take notes. "What do
you have for me?"

"Young guy, no criminal record, robbed a liquor store. Caught
him on the security cam. He had been a customer and was
recognized by the clerk. We picked him up this morning. Per your
request we had blood drawn immediately. We already sent it over
to STAR Labs for analysis. I guess you can contact them."

"Thanks, Boyce. We'll follow up on it. Did you find out how it
happened?"

"Nah, just like the other one, he claims not to remember
anything."

"As soon as we have the results from STAR Labs we will be in to
do an interview."

"I'll make sure that he is kept in holding and not sent to the
tombs."

"Thanks, we'll see you in a little while."

Hanging up she said to JJ, "We've got another one. Let's head
over to STAR Labs. They could have the analysis complete by
now."

After grabbing his jacket and putting it on, he grabbed her coat
and held it for her. She smiled her thanks and picked up what she
called her 'bag of tricks'. It was very reminiscent of Lois'
bag, but in Hattie's case held various items such as lock picks,
opera glasses, a strong little telescope, a telescoping wand or
escrima and sundry other items. A few seconds later they were in
the elevator headed down.

Upon arrival at STAR Labs they immediately went back to Dr.
Klein's lab. After they entered and the occupants knew who it
was, Jon resumed his tasks at superspeed. 

Half an hour later Dr. Klein was correlating the findings. "The
samples we got this time were a lot fresher. We were able to
identify a number of familiar chemical structures. I checked the
structure of the class of drugs called benzodiazepines and the
individual structures we detect are all components of that class,
however, there are some novel components such as lithium and an
overabundance of oxygens. The oxygens could indicate an alcohol
form, but the lithium has me stumped."

Hattie asked, "Wasn't lithium used in treating
schizophrenia?"

"Oh? Let me check." He pulled up a search and checked. "By
Jove, you are correct. They have new treatments now, but lithium
salts were used to treat bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia."

"What if this time the lithium is being used to create a
schizophrenic episode?"

"I hadn't considered that, but I suppose it could be possible.
Someone in a schizophrenic episode would not necessarily remember
what they did after coming out of it. If it were combined with a
drug in the benzodiazepines group it is conceivable that they
could have a psychotic episode and be in a suggestible state as a
result of the drugs administration. They could be told to do
something and they would simply follow orders and then remember
nothing after the fact when they come out of the psychosis."

Hattie was exuberant. "All right, we know how it is being
done!"

JJ pointed out, "We still need to find the source."

"Right! Let's go interview this new victim. Thanks, Dr. Klein.
Thanks, Jon. You guys are the best!"

A short time later JJ and Hattie arrived at the Twelfth Precinct.
As soon as they walked in Boyce spotted them and called them
over. "Same drill as yesterday. You can wait in the room and
I'll bring him to you. If you don't mind, I'll be watching
through the glass."

"We don't mind. We just need to get some background information
from him. What's his name?"

"Andrews, Archibald Andrews. Here we are. I'll be back in a
minute." He closed the door and left, only to return a minute
later with the latest victim.

JJ started it. "Mr. Andrews, My name is James Olsen and this is
my partner, Henrietta Kaplin. We'd like to ask you a few
questions."

"Sure, go ahead, but please, call me Archie. Mr. Andrews is my
father. I already told the police everything I know, which is
nothing. Last night is a complete blank. It's really strange,
this morning I woke up in my own bed and I was still dressed in
the clothes I had on yesterday."

Hattie had pulled out her pad and recorder and started recording
before he started to speak. She asked, "Did anything unusual or
a special occasion occur yesterday?"

"Yeah, well, I got a promotion. I was assistant manager for a
chain store. They just made me manager of another store that will
be opening next week."

Hattie smiled; it was all starting to fit together. "Did you go
out to celebrate, Archie?"

"Sure, you have any idea how often promotions like this occur?
Not very often, I can assure you."

Hattie was closing in for the kill so she asked, "Where did you
go?"

"Well, Jug, Betty, Veronica, and I went to 'Stokes'. We all
like the music and the drinks are reasonable." When he said the
name Veronica, he let out a sigh and got a wistful expression on
his face. He obviously had a crush on her. 

Hattie nodded her head. The last piece had fallen into place.

***

Chapter 5 -- Undercover

March 02, 2029

***

After interviewing Archie Andrews they headed back to the Planet.
When they arrived a little later, Hattie and JJ gave Lois and
Clark an update.

"So far we have two robberies, both carried out under unusual
circumstances. In both cases the robber can't remember anything
from the night before. Both victims were drugged and now we have
a good idea with what. We would need to get a sample to confirm
it, though."

"How are you going to do that?"

"In both cases the victims were upwardly mobile young guys. They
had just been promoted and were celebrating with friends."

"Okay, now you have a profile. How do you plan to capitalize on
that?" Lois asked.

Hattie looked at JJ and said, "We might go undercover and see if
they will try to drug JJ."

"Whoa, that could be risky. Besides, how would you know where to
go?" Clark asked.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, both victims went to 'Stokes' to
celebrate," Hattie replied.

Lois looked at Clark and a knowing look passed between them. "I
haven't even thought about that place since we put Lenny away. I
wonder if it's still being used for a hideout."

"I could fly over and check it out."

"Why don't you do that and I'll fill these two in on the
history of 'Stokes' and Lenny Stokes."

Clark headed for the stairwell, loosening his tie as he went.

Lois had Hattie's and JJ's attention as she summarized, "Lenny
Stokes used 'Stokes' as a front while he built a device that
used sonic waves to destroy buildings. He stole the technology
from his old band partner who was a genius in the effects that
sound waves could have. Anyhow, Lenny Stokes was blackmailing
Metropolis, threatening to knock down the town hall if they
didn't pay a ransom. We went to confront him and he captured me.
He had this glove ... it was full of electronics. It created a
wall of sound around him that even Superman couldn't penetrate,
at least at first." She started to smile at the memory, "That
is until he had the idea to fly so fast that he broke the sound
barrier and he was able to crash right through and rescue me.
Keep in mind, this was back before we were married, or even
dating for that matter, let alone before I knew who he was. All
that to say, 'Stokes' has a history and that history may be
continuing into this day." 

When Lois finished telling her story, Clark exited the stairwell,
straightening his tie as he headed for the office.

"No, nothing. If they are using the club for this, they aren't
using that basement for anything other than storage."

Hattie said, "That just means that the drug is being made
somewhere else." Turning to JJ she said, "Looks like we are
going undercover, partner."

Lois said, "Hold on there. How do you plan to handle it? It is
doubtful if the other victims knew they were being drugged. Maybe
you should call in the reserves. I wonder what Jon and Jen are
doing. If they try to drug Jon it won't have any effect and Jen
has never been a drinker, but of course, neither of you are
either. How are you going to do this?"

"I don't know. Archie said that they went there because of the
music. I wonder ... Maybe the band could use a new female backup
singer."

Lois smiled and thought to herself, <Just like me, again!> before
she said, "If you even knew which band was playing and you knew
someone in the band, perhaps; as it is, I don't see that
happening."

Hattie looked at JJ and said, "Maybe they could use a new
bartender."

Lois thought again, <Just like Clark at the Metro Club.> before
she said, "Again, there would have to be an opening."

Hattie was getting frustrated. She was being thwarted at every
turn. But frustration brought inspiration, so she suggested, "I
think we will have to go with my original plan. JJ and I will go
out to celebrate and hope they try to drug him and I can keep an
eye on him."

JJ looked at Hattie and said, "Gee, thanks! I'm gonna be the
guinea pig, huh?"

Hattie looked at him and asked, "Do you have a better idea?"

"Yes, let's just go there and observe. If we see someone acting
oddly, we follow them."

The wind was taken out of Hattie's sails with that one. Finally
she said, "Yeah, I guess there's that too. We could just go and
see if anything happens."

Lois smiled and said, "Sounds like a plan to me."

After JJ and Hattie left, Lois said to Clark, "They balance each
other out, same as us."

Clark smiled at his still lovely wife and reflected on his good
fortune. "Yeah, they do, don't they?"

***

5:00 PM, Friday, March 02, 2029

***

To prepare for this assignment they discussed how they should
dress and then they discussed the arrangements with Lois and
Clark since they were more experienced at undercover work. 

After Hattie and JJ left the office, Lois and Clark discussed how
they would handle what was sure to happen and how to do it in
such a way that they didn't cramp Hattie and JJ's play.

After shutting down for the day, they headed out to prepare. The
decision they had reached was that JJ should look like someone in
the business world and moving up while Hattie should look like
arm candy. Accordingly JJ changed into a conservative suit while
Hattie put on a scoop neck top, a royal blue skirt with a hem
that reached just below mid-thigh and was slit up the left side
to a point just below where her royal blue spandex shorts stopped
and a pair of knee high boots. She didn't know what would
happen, but she wanted to be prepared. The short skirt with the
slit would allow her freedom of movement and the spandex shorts
would maintain her modesty.

Once they were attired they went out for dinner, after which they
headed for 'Stokes'.

Their timing was good and there was already quite a crowd when
they arrived. People from all kinds of businesses crowded around
in little groups and around the bandstand. The group that was
playing was not one that Hattie was familiar with. It was
probably a house band, so her idea of hiring on as a backup
singer had been doomed from the start. Behind the bar were three
bartenders, so there went the idea of JJ being hired in that
capacity. 

Keeping their eyes open for any strange behavior on the part of
the patrons, they cruised the floor. 

Unknown to them, as soon as they had entered they had been
spotted on a security monitor and a call had been made to several
men wearing communication devices similar to those used by the
secret service, who began to converge on Hattie and JJ. 

Another command was sent and the band started their next number.
A majority of the customers were drifting in that direction when
JJ suddenly realized that they were surrounded. He grabbed
Hattie's arm and squeezed it to get her attention. 

Addressing the nearest tough, he said in a nervous voice, "Hi,
nice night, isn't it? Good song! Can I help you?"

The thug was reaching into his jacket as he replied, "Yeah, you
and your girlfriend can come along with us, nice and quiet-like.
We're gonna take a little ride."

Hattie pouted. "But we just got here! I haven't even had my
Shirley Temple yet."

With that last word Hattie launched her attack. She started with
a side snap kick to the crotch of the guy on her right. He
immediately doubled over in pain. As she was recovering position
from that move she continued her movement to the opposite side,
spinning her body a quarter turn and using the same foot to front
snap kick her assailant on her left in the chest. The air
whooshed out of his lungs. That move flowed into a drop sweep
that knocked the legs out from under the guy in front of her.
When he fell he hit his head, knocking himself out.

While Hattie was performing her mayhem, JJ was dealing with three
of his own. He also started on his right, delivering an elbow jab
to the solar plexus. The thug's air was forced from his lungs
and he was left gasping. The recovery from that move JJ turned
into a palm strike to the chest of the guy on his left. That thug
was left in the same condition as the other guy. He was about to
deal with the attacker in front when that worthy swung a
blackjack and caught him just over the right ear with a glancing
blow which stunned him briefly, but long enough for him to be
grabbed. JJ reacted instinctively as the thug grabbed him by
stepping back away from the thug. JJ pulled the thug along using
the thug's own momentum against him. As the thug followed, JJ
grabbed the thug's shirt and spinning his body, pulled the thug
across his right hip, throwing the thug to the floor. The thug
skidded across the floor and his head hit the base of the bar
with enough force to knock him out.

Hattie jumped up from her squat and did a split kick, sending a
foot into the face of each of her two assailants that were still
standing, knocking them both over. With all three of her
assailants down she kept a wary eye on them as she called out,
"JJ, you okay?"

She heard some grunts and the sound of blows and then puffing
from the exertion, JJ said, "I'm fine, how about you?"

Hattie released a relieved sigh when she heard his voice and
said, "I think we've worn out our welcome. We need to get out
of here." She now looked around only to find that with all that
had been happening, it had all been so quick and the band was
playing so loud that most of the patrons didn't even know that
anything was happening.

JJ shouted over the din, "What about your Shirley Temple?"

Hattie laughed. "Maybe another time."

"Whatever you say, sweetheart."

Stepping over their fallen foes, they headed for the door. Before
they got there, however, they were intercepted by a man with a
gun. "Going somewhere?"

Hattie and JJ both stopped. The way he was holding the gun
demonstrated intimacy with the weapon and they were not close
enough to deal with it. Waving the gun in a casual manner he
inclined his head and said, "Over that way. We'll use the side
exit."

Hattie tried to inch closer as she said, "But our car is out
front."

He backed a pace and said, "Keep your distance. I said you're
leaving by the side door. Now move!"

The thugs that they had dealt with had been recovering and a
couple of them each grabbed JJ and Hattie, one on each arm, none
too gently as a result of the rough handling they had just gotten
from the couple, and led them out.

Outside they found themselves in an alley with a delivery van
standing in it. One of the thugs moved over and opened the side
door. A second thug, the one that had slugged JJ, reached into
his jacket and pulled out an automatic. The first thug kept his
gun on them as the second pulled out a black metal tube and
screwed it onto the end of the barrel of his 9mm. While he was
screwing it on he said, "This will net us a nice bonus. The
bounty the boss has on you two will set us up in another town."
Once the silencer was in place he negligently waved the gun
around. "We load you into the van, take you out into the woods
and dump you. They won't find the bodies for years, if ever."

JJ started to make a dive for the first thug, but the one with
the silencer used it to club him over the head. He went down like
a felled tree.

Hattie shouted, "JJ!" and dove onto him.

The one with the silencer laughed and asked, "Want to bet I can
get both of them with one bullet?"

The others shouted their bets.

Silencer guy said, "Let's see." He leveled the gun and pulled
the trigger. There was a soft plop, almost like a stifled cough.

The bullet never reached its intended target. A hand snatched it
out of the air.

Seeing this, silencer guy shouted, "It's Ultra Woman! Get
her!" He and his associate both opened up on Ultra Woman. Her
hands became a blur as she snatched bullet after bullet from the
air. 

As suddenly as the fusillade had started, it stopped when both of
the gun wielders dropped their weapons because they were hanging
in the air, suspended by their jacket collars, which were in the
hands of Superman.

As the rest of the thugs tried to run, Kam-El knocked each one
out. As soon as they were all unconscious he removed their belts
and used them to secure their legs and used their shoelaces to
secure their wrists.

Ultra Woman knelt and assisted Hattie to stand. She said, "Ms.
Kaplin, how are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks, Ultra Woman. They were going to kill us."

"I know. We overheard."

"You overheard? Why didn't you come in sooner?"

"Terroristic threats and kidnapping don't carry the sentence
that kidnapping and attempted murder does. We had to wait for the
first shot to be fired."

Hattie was irritated. "And in the meantime, poor JJ got hit on
the head!"

JJ was just starting to sit up at this point. He said, "It's
all right, Hattie. I'll live."

"I need to take him home." She said it in an irritated tone.

Superman said, "That's okay. We can handle it from here. You
will need to make a statement, but you can probably do that
tomorrow. I'm sure the MPD will understand."

Hattie assisted JJ to stand and then with him leaning on her
somewhat they headed for his car.

Once in the car, she challenged, "What did you think you were
doing, going for that gunman that way?"

"I was hoping to distract them so that you could, I don't know,
get away or something."

"James Olsen, Junior, don't you *ever* do anything like that
again. They almost *killed* you."

Looking at her JJ could see the tears running down her face. He
realized that she had really feared for his life and the thought
that she could have lost him had really upset her. He said in a
subdued tone, "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

Her reply was succinct. "You'd better not or I'll kill you
myself."

***

Chapter 6 -- Aftermath

***

When they arrived at Hattie's apartment a few minutes later, as
soon as the door was closed behind them, Hattie threw off her
coat, jumped into JJ's arms and started a kiss that he deepened.
They staggered, together with Hattie going backwards, dragging JJ
toward the couch. It caught her behind the knees and she fell
back onto it with JJ on top. All during this action their lips
never broke contact.

Hattie struggled with his jacket, trying to remove it. She broke
the kiss long enough to gasp out, "Coat!"

He released her long enough to remove the coat and then came back
down on top of her, resuming the kiss.

Her hands were at the back of his head, twined in his hair,
pulling him into the kiss.

Suddenly, as if she had just made a decision, her hands left his
head and started yanking at his tie. Once she had thrown that
aside she started working the buttons on his shirt. She got one
open and then a second, but was frustrated with how long it was
taking. Suddenly buttons flying, she ripped the shirt open. Once
it was open her hands were on his chest. That satisfied her for
only a few seconds and then she reached down and started pulling
the hem of her top out of her waistband. Once it was free she
grabbed JJ's hands and guided them under the shell to her
bra-encased breasts.

Realizing where his hands were he broke the kiss and asked, "Are
you sure you want to do this?"

In answer she attacked his mouth again; her hands caused his to
close on her breasts and she released a protracted sigh of
pleasure into the kiss.

Releasing her left breast, JJ moved his hand behind her back and
released the hooks of her bra. When his hand came back around, it
was under the material and he could feel the velvety soft flesh
and the hard little nub pushing into his palm.

Suddenly she renewed the assault on his lips with the fervor of
unbridled passion.

JJ pulled away and gasped, "Are you sure you want to do this? I
thought you wanted to wait."

With an air almost of desperation she said, "Waiting is
overrated. It's only a matter of time. Why waste it?" As she
was saying this she was fighting with his belt. Then she said,
"Come on, we'll be more comfortable on the bed."

They got up and moved to the bedroom, shedding clothes as they
did.

Once in the bedroom, Hattie pulled the coverlet down and turned
to look at JJ. She was impressed. She had seen him with just his
gi pants on before which showed off his chest, but now there was
nothing obstructing her view. His well-defined pecs and six-pack
abs. The musculature of his arms and legs. She closed the
distance between them. In a throaty, sensual tone she said,
"Come to me. Please, come to me."

He lifted her and gently placed her on the bed. Even in the dim
light he could see how beautiful she was. 

He hesitated and as he did, he asked, "Are you really sure you
want to do this?"

Her answer assured him of her firm decision and they started a
period of delicious awe-inspiring intimacy.

After a time she said, "It's only ten o'clock and I will give
you just two hours before you have to stop. We do have to get
some sleep before work tomorrow. Oh, wait; forget that, we're
off tomorrow. We can forget sleep."

Smiling, he said, "I'll see if I can accommodate you." They
started another intimate episode.

In a dreamy tone she said, "I never dreamed it would be this
good. This is better than the other night."

"The other night?"

"Yeah, I dreamt about our wedding night, but it was nothing like
this. This is sooo much better."

JJ levered himself up, kissed her and staring into her face said,
"Maybe it really isn't normally. Our senses could all be
enhanced because we were nearly killed just a short time ago."

"Well, maybe that is true, but anyway, I think I need a nap
after all of this."

JJ started to get up and she stopped him. "Just where do you
think you're going?"

"You want to sleep."

"Not without you here next to me I don't!" She pulled him back
down and pulled his hand over and firmly placed it on her breast.
"Now I'll be able to sleep for a while." JJ settled in and
with occasional squeezes of her breast watched as she composed
herself for repose.

He must have dropped off as well, because the bedside clock read
11:30 when she awakened him. There followed another period of
intimacy which was every bit as good as the first time.

She collapsed onto his chest and lay there breathing very heavily
and eventually she said, "No, it wasn't the fact that we were
almost killed. That was every bit as good. Mmmmmmm, I think I'll
take another nap." She closed her eyes and her even breathing
told him that she was already asleep.

After another short rest they had yet another period of intimacy
after which she lay next to him with her head on his shoulder for
a pillow and her arm across his chest.

He played with her hair as she fell asleep again.

The next time they awoke the clock read 7:30.

It was Saturday and they had the weekend off. They called for
takeout and didn't leave the apartment at all until Monday
morning.

***

The Saturday edition of the Planet had the following story:

*"STOKES CLOSED, STAFF ARRESTED, MANAGEMENT UNDER INVESTIGATION
"*

Daily Planet staff writer.

"A number of staffers at 'Stokes' have been arrested on
varying charges ranging from assault to assault with a deadly
weapon and attempted murder.

The intervention of the superheroes, Ultra Woman, Superman and
Kam-El, prevented two members of the Daily Planet team from being
murdered while doing an investigation.

The reason for the assault has yet to be determined; however, it
is thought to be related to the investigation being pursued by
the Daily Planet staff. Story continues on A2"

The paper was spread out under a light on top of a desk. A female
voice challenged, "Now what are you going to do? Those losers
that you had working for you failed just like all of the rest.
When are you going to learn? You can't brainwash anyone and then
be able to depend on them."

In a petulant tone the individual in the dark replied, "But I
was assured it was foolproof. They are supposed to follow orders
implicitly! Not only has this set our timeline off, it has lost
me some key operatives and a testing venue."

"How many more tests were you going to run?"

"They were testing the beta sample. They just completed the
gamma formulation. It was supposed to be longer-acting. The next
step in my goal of being able to brainwash world leaders into
doing my will and this time, I won't need a computer to do
it."

The female voice held a hurt tone. "And just what is the problem
with computers?"

"Oh, nothing really, it's just that I've spent more than
enough time in computers."

"And whose fault was that? It wasn't mine."

Defensively he said, "I know, I did it to myself, but you
helped!" He flipped up a split keyboard and scooted out from
under on four wheels and started rolling back and forth as one
would pace. "I need a new venue. We have to test the gamma
formulation. Delta should achieve the results I am after, but we
need to know how much more effective gamma is over beta before we
can move ahead. Once it has been tested then we can move on to
world domination."

***

*Monday March 5, 2029*

***

When Hattie and JJ walked into the newsroom Monday morning there
was a change in their relationship and Lois spotted the
difference right away. In a low tone she said, "Clark, I think
something has happened."

Clark had always been somewhat obtuse in matters of relationships
and he asked, "Oh, what?"

"Hattie and JJ."

"What about them?"

"I think they changed their minds about waiting."

Clark looked at Lois with a mystified expression. "Oh? How can
you tell?"

"Just by looking at them." Lois snickered "Also, Hattie is
walking a little stiffly. I think she has been using muscles she
isn't used to using and taking unaccustomed positions."

"I wonder why they changed their minds."

"Don't you think that almost being killed again might have had
something to do with it?"

"Well, don't embarrass her by saying anything."

"What? Me? Do you really think I'd do something like that?"

"I wouldn't put it past you."

Lois snickered in reply.

Hattie and JJ made their way to the office.

Lois asked, "Soooooo, what did you guys do after you left Friday
night? Huh? Anything ... interesting? Watch a movie? Explore the
pleasures of the bedroom?"

Hattie's jaw dropped and the flush moved rapidly up her neck and
into her cheeks while JJ tried to hide a nervous smile.

Clark said sharply, "Lo-is! I said not to embarrass them.
You're getting as bad as my mom. Actually, I don't think even
she would go that far."

Lois said, "Oh, come on. You didn't act this way when Jon and
Jen moved in together and we both know they didn't sleep in
separate bedrooms even though it was a two-bedroom apartment.
Look, they're getting married in just a couple of months. So
what if they jumped the gun a little. After what nearly happened
Friday night, who can blame them?"

Hattie, trying to change the subject, said, "Yeah, about Friday
night. What did you do with those characters?"

Clark said, "Ultra Woman went to report the incident while
Superman and Kam-El made sure they stayed put until the paddy
wagon arrived to cart them away."

Lois said, "If you haven't done so already, the two of you need
to go in and give your statements."

Clark added, "Superman, Ultra Woman and Kam-El all gave
statements Friday night. They are being charged with attempted
murder." He laughed. "The bullets and shell casings were enough
to prove that. The one is also being charged with felony
possession of an illegal weapon. That silencer, he didn't have a
license for it."

"They mentioned that there was a bounty on our heads."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me. At various times something
like that has happened to Superman. You've made a powerful
enemy. You may have to keep a low profile for a while."

"It's not in my nature."

Clark said, "See what I mean?"

Mystified at his statement, Hattie asked, "What?"

Lois answered, "He just means that I would have said the same
thing. Look, Hattie girl, it'll be best if you just keep a low
profile for a while. Work from the office. No undercover.
Obviously, they know what you look like."

"That just means that we have to use disguises."

Clark said, "Look, Hattie, Superman, Ultra Woman and Kam-El
can't be everywhere at once."

"We know that. We also know that we have to be able to do our
jobs and we have to be out and about to do that. What kind of
reporter would I be if I stayed in the office all of the time?"

"Okay, you win; just try to be careful, will you?"

"We'll try. Oh, JJ and I discussed it and ... we've decided to
move up the wedding. I'm glad we didn't schedule the church
already."

Lois asked, "Okay, how soon?"

"Just long enough for me to get my gown and you and the girls to
get dresses. How does, three weeks sound?" 

"How about we make it four weeks? March 31st. That should ensure
that everything can be ready."

Hattie looked at JJ and he nodded. She said, "Okay, March 31st
it is."

Lois said, "Now that that's settled, what other angles do you
have to go at this story?"

"I need to call MPD and see if there have been any more
robberies. I would guess that they could be laying low.
Obviously, they know we are on to them. We really blew it by
going there Friday."

Lois said, by way of encouragement, "There's always another
angle. You just have to think of one."

"Let's go, JJ. Let's see what we can come up with for a new
angle."

Back at Hattie's desk JJ sat in her guest chair and asked,
"What do you want to do?"

With a sly smile she replied, "You already know what I want to
do, but we are here and not in the bedroom."

He hissed, "SShhhhhhhhhh. Remember who's in the office?
Superhearing."

Hattie blushed as she looked back over her shoulder and saw Lois
looking at her, a broad smile on her face and Clark laughing
quietly. She muttered to herself, "I'll probably never get used
to that."

Changing the subject, JJ said, "They have to be getting the drug
from somewhere. If we could find out who discovered it and where
it's being made, maybe we could cut off the supply."

Hattie jumped on that suggestion. "Yes, that's it. You know,
this all started with MetroServe, Metro-Staff and MiraLabs. Three
businesses that were formerly parts of the Luthor Empire. I
wonder if someone at MiraLabs formulated the drug."

"They have a drug division, so it would be easy for them to hide
the research and manufacture. I wonder if there are any
components that could be traced to them specifically."

"We need to start checking invoices and bills of lading. I'll
call Dr. Klein and see if there's anything special we can look
for. Why don't you start checking and see if you can find out
who this mysterious person is that is buying up the stock. There
has to be a public record somewhere. Also, see if there's any
research being done on the benzodiazepines drugs. There might be
something in the trade publications. Peer reviews of the
research, test results and such." 

"Maybe I can get my dad to help on that. He taught me a lot
about computers, but he's the best. I'll see if he's
available. If he isn't on an assignment, he might be able to
help. I think Aunt Lois and Uncle Clark will be satisfied. This
will keep us in the office for a while."

"Yeah, but for a change, I'm looking forward to quitting
time."

"At lunchtime do you want to start looking for your gown?"

"Yeah, but I'm going to ask Aunt Lois to accompany me. I like
the sound of that ... Aunt Lois. It won't be that long until
she's my aunt. I'll really be a part of the family. I'm gonna
go ask her." 

Hattie got up and moved to the office. "I'd like to go looking
for a gown at lunchtime. Are you free?"

"Don't you think your mom ought to be involved?"

"Ohmygosh! What was I thinking? Yeah, you're right. I need to
give her a call. I'll get back to you." She hastily exited and
returned to her desk. Picking up the phone, she dialed her mom.
"Hi, Mom. It's your wayward daughter. ... I'm doing fine.
Look, the reason I called, well, actually there are a couple. We
are moving up the wedding. ... March 31st. ... Yeah, the end of
this month and that's the other reason I called, I need to gown
shop. Are you free at lunchtime today? ... Good! Can you come by
here? Aunt Lois will be going with us. ... Yeah, I'm starting to
call her that so that I get into the habit. ... Okay, see you at
noon! Love ya, bye." She released a relieved sigh and hung up.

She went back to the office and said, "All set. She'll be here
at noon and we can go shopping."

Lois looked over at Clark and asked, "Does the Editor have any
problem with some of the staff taking a long lunch?"

Clark laughed and looking at Hattie, said, "I'm only the editor
when she wants something. Sure, go ahead and have a good time.
Maybe you should actually have lunch with Mel before you shop.
I'm sure she'd enjoy the time with both of you. After all, you
see Hattie every day, but Mel doesn't see her that often
nowadays."

Lois turned to Hattie and said, "That sounds like a good idea to
me, how about you?"

"Lunch with my two favorite women? How could I turn that
down?"

"It's a date, now, get out of here and get some work done. I
like your idea of looking into MiraLabs." Lois reached up and
touched her ear.

Hattie smiled and said, "It is another angle to pursue."

"And a safer one."

Hattie smiled and exited.

***

Things were quiet for a time. There were no more mysterious
robberies. The evidence provided by STAR Labs was used by the
lawyers when the cases went before the Grand Jury and the
decision arrived at was against indictment.

The nicest thing was that there were no more overt attempts on
the lives of JJ or Hattie.

A search of the trade publications provided them with a lead.
There was a researcher, Dr. Clarence James, now an employee of
MiraLabs, that had worked with benzodiazepines in previous years.
He had been hired based upon the articles that had been
published.

There was also a Dr. Frank Simmons who was a researcher in
psychoactive drugs, specifically those used in the treatment of
bipolar disorder. His article on the use of lithium in the
treatment of schizoaffective disorder gave them a lead as well.
He also was employed by MiraLabs subsequent to the publishing of
his article.

A search of the background of Doctors James and Simmons showed
that both had problems, both were gamblers. Dr. Simmons had taken
a second mortgage on his home to pay off gambling debts.

Recently, however, both had received massive influxes of cash
from unnamed sources. They had both claimed that they were salary
bonus checks; however, they were the only individuals to receive
such bonuses.

Red flags were waving all over the place when Hattie and JJ found
this information.

***

Saturday, March 10, 2029

***

Moving day had arrived. Jon and Jen, Lois and Clark all showed up
to help move the couple to their new apartment.

Hattie and JJ had been living in Hattie's apartment, but he had
only moved enough of his clothes down to get by, so items had to
be moved from both apartments.

Hattie and JJ had taken Friday off to begin packing up.

Lois and Hattie led the way with the first load. Hattie opened
the door, stepped back and said to Lois, "Why don't you go
first?"

Lois smiled and stepped forward. As soon as she crossed the
threshold she said, "Hello, apartment," and chuckled. "It's
been a long time. Be good to our girl."

Hattie smiled as she heard this. She entered and said, "That box
goes into the bedroom."

Lois nodded and headed in that direction.

***

Chapter 7 -- A Little B&E

Friday, March 16, 2029

***

After discovering the information on James and Simmons, Hattie
and JJ had researched the plans for MiraLabs by pulling the
architectural drawings of LexLabs. They found out where James and
Simmons each had their labs. Fortunately they did not have
separate offices. Theirs and each of their technicians' desks
were located within the lab itself, which would simplify matters
considerably.

By checking the sub-surface maps, they found an old subway spur
line, not much more than a tunnel. It was a part of the old,
unfinished subway that Luthor had been funding.

Clark came into the conference room when he overheard what Hattie
and JJ were talking about. "Luthor never did anything that
wouldn't benefit him in some way. There has to be a reason for
that tunnel. It is possible that it was going to be used for
either an escape route or else as a means of moving contraband,
in or out. There is most probably a hidden access into the
basement of MiraLabs that has been forgotten about. What are the
two of you thinking about doing?"

Hattie replied, "Well, we need to get in and search a couple of
the labs to see if we can find evidence of the manufacture of the
drug."

Hearing what they were talking about, Lois abandoned her desk and
joined them in the conference room. Looking over the plans, she
said, "Sweet! We could get in easily and avoid the guards and
security systems." She pointed to a section of the basement and
said, "Electrical room. If we short out the panels the entire
place will be without power and we won't have to worry about the
security cameras or electronic locks."

Hattie asked, "Why not the locks?"

"Fail safe. In the event of a power outage they all release so
that the occupants aren't trapped. It's a disaster emergency
policy."

"Oh, that's a good thing to know."

Lois asked, "When do we go?"

Hattie looked at her in surprise. "We?"

Lois smiled and said, "Sure. I haven't done any B&E for a long
time. I want to make sure I'm not getting rusty."

Hattie smiled, Lois was going with them! She looked at Clark. He
was shaking his head as he said, "You are incorrigible, you know
that?"

"Come on, Clark! It'll be fun. Besides, it'll give us a chance
to watch over the two of them."

He was weakening and Hattie could see it. He asked, "What if we
get caught?"

"With what we can do? Who could ever catch us? Come on, Clark,
loosen up!"

Shaking his head, he said, "All right. It has been a while.
It'll make a nice change of pace and if we can find the evidence
we need we can put this gang out of business."

Hattie was smiling broadly as she said, "Great! Shall we do this
tomorrow night? There shouldn't be any staff to avoid, just the
guards."

Lois was also smiling as she said, "Sounds like a plan. Come on
over to our place for dinner and we'll leave from there."

***

Saturday, March 17, 2029

***

When they arrived at the Wisteria Lane home, Hattie was wearing
her black cat suit with the equipment belt. In one pouch was her
lock pick set. She had two telescoping batons, one on each hip. A
forehead flashlight as well as a regular flashlight were in
another pouch. . 

JJ had on a tight-fitting coverall. He also carried a flashlight.
On a utility belt he carried a mini-scanner in a pouch. The
scanner plugged into a smartphone and was wide enough to feed
full sheets of paper into. The images would be stored on the
phone until downloaded or e-mailed to an account. Their
smartphones also had integral high-resolution cameras. He also
carried a hand scanner, in case they had to copy pages from a
research notebook.

Lois and Clark were both dressed in black as befitted their
purpose. They all headed out in one car. When they arrived at
their entry point they all dropped down through a manhole into a
culvert. This led to the tunnel they were after. After traveling
down this for a distance with Lois leading the way they found the
access into MiraLabs. Passing through the hidden door, they
entered the sub-basement of MiraLabs. After ascending a flight of
stairs, Hattie found the electrical room. Clark opened the main
switch panel and used his heat vision to melt all of the breakers
in the box. When the breakers failed, emergency lighting
throughout the structure turned on.

Quickly, they ascended another flight of stairs and took refuge
in a room because they could hear feet rapidly approaching. Once
the guards had passed, they quickly moved up a stairwell to the
third floor, where they had determined James' and Simmons' labs
were located. They found them without any difficulty. Before they
were able to start their search, however, they heard guards
approaching. They could hear their shouts and doors banging as
they attempted to force them closed.

Clark grabbed JJ and Lois grabbed Hattie and they floated up to
the ceiling close to the door. When the guard looked in, all he
saw was an empty room.

Once the guard had left they proceeded with the search.

Hattie used her lock picks on a file cabinet while Lois opened a
locked desk drawer where they found a research notebook.

JJ started thumbing through it looking for some familiar words.
Dr. Klein had been kind enough to provide a list of terms to look
for. It wasn't too long until he said, "Bingo," in a hushed
tone and started scanning pages. 

While he was doing this Clark continued to look through the
files. 

Lois and Hattie had gone to search the other lab. They found
evidence of cooperation between the two scientists in references
to each other's work. 

The final piece fell into place when Lois found a clinical trial
report that referenced DD as a subject and there was another
reference to AA as another subject. Apparently the
'Programming' of the two subjects prior to the robberies had
been done by the scientists. 

The icing on the cake was a container of gelatin capsules labeled
"Zombie version beta". Hattie placed six capsules in another
container, labeled it and put it into a pouch to give to Dr.
Klein.

She said to Lois, "This is the mother lode. I think we have all
that we came for. Let's collect JJ and Uncle Clark and split."

Lois sent, /"Clark, let's wrap it up and get out of here. We
have all that we came for."/

In the other lab, Clark said to JJ, "Lois and Hattie are
finished. Let's put everything back and get out of here."

JJ nodded, finished scanning the final report and started putting
things away. 

Just then they heard the guards returning. Seeing books and
papers scattered around and knowing that if the guards looked in
they would know that something was up, Clark sent, /"We are
going to need a distraction. We can't possibly clean up before
the guards look in."/

Looking down the hall and seeing a six-gallon bottle of water on
a water cooler, Lois used her heat vision to poke two very small
holes in the top. As soon as she did, water started to run out of
the bottle, overflowing the reservoir and onto the floor. Hearing
the guards approach she flew up over the water and used her
superbreath to first spread the water over a large section of the
hallway and then freeze it into ice. When she finished the
hallway was a slick as an ice hockey rink. She quickly flew back
and rejoined Hattie. She sent a message to Clark, /"I think you
will have the time you need."/ At the end there was a mental
snicker. 

Picking up on that, Clark sent, his worry coming through the
link, /"What did you do?"/

Lois smiled as she replied, /"It's pretty cold outside. With
the power off it's starting to get cold in here. I thought I'd
give them a chance to play some winter sports. Are you packed up
yet? Watch the fun."/

/"Just about finished."/

/"That's good because here come the guards."/

Thanks to the poor lighting provided by the emergency lights, the
ice was invisible on the floor. Lois picked up a souvenir
paperweight that was sitting on a desk and threw it out the door
and down the hall, aiming at a fire extinguisher hanging from a
bracket on the wall. There was a metallic clang as it struck. 

The shouts of the guards were clearly heard by all four of the
trespassers as they started in pursuit of what they thought could
be an intruder. Their shouts of, "Stop right there," and "Hold
it!" Suddenly changed to cries of dismay as they hit the ice and
their feet went out from under them and they fell heavily to the
floor. Their attempts to stand only got them more contusions from
bumping into each other and from additional falls. It was a
ludicrous situation and Lois and Hattie both were hard put to
stifle their laughter. 

While this had been going on, Clark had been putting books and
papers back at superspeed. He sent, /"Finished here. Let's play
shepherd and get our little flock out of here. I'll carry JJ.
You carry Hattie and we will superspeed back to the basement. If
there's no one there, I'll replace the breakers I fried and we
can exit."/

/"Gotcha, we're on our way."/

The guards were hanging on to each other and barely managing to
keep their feet when the breeze created by the passage of the
superheroes and their companions passing at superspeed knocked
them down again. They thought that they heard brief laughter, but
were unable to identify its source and decided that it must have
actually been something else entirely.

***

Monday, March 19, 2029

***

Hattie and JJ went straight to STAR Labs in the morning. Jon met
them in the lobby and took them back to the lab.

"Well, Ms. Kaplin! Do you have something else for us to look
at?"

"I think so, Dr. Klein." She pulled out the vial and extracted
a capsule, and holding it up, asked, "Could you analyze this and
tell us what it is?"

Dr. Klein looked at it and said, "Well, off hand, I'd say it is
a gelatin capsule. Fairly common. Used by a lot of pharmaceutical
companies." 

Hattie was shocked at this apparent unconcern. "No, Dr. Klein!
Not the capsule, what's in it!"

Bernie started to chuckle. "Just my small attempt at humor.
Sure, we'll look at it and see what we can come up with. Jon,
standard protocol. See what it will dissolve in. Make a solution
with a measured quantity. Add an external reference that we can
calibrate against. There will probably be diluents included,
Barden Clay, talc, sugar, something like that. The clay and the
talc won't dissolve while the sugar will. Make notes of your
observations."

"You got it, Doc." Jon went to work.

After two hours of intensive effort the reports were correlated.
After Dr. Klein reviewed what he had, he directed Jon, "Send the
data to Cray. Let's see what he can come up with. Let's see if
he can give us a structure."

Hattie asked, "Who's Cray? Is he some brainy guy that you work
with?"

"We keep Cray down in the deepest, darkest, coldest dungeon we
have and make him work on projects like this."

Shocked, Hattie blurted out, "He's a prisoner? Slave labor?"

Jon was standing in the background, laughing and shaking his head
at Dr. Klein's joke.

Hattie looked at Jon questioningly, seeing his reaction to her
question.

Dr. Klein was also laughing at her reaction to his joke. He
clarified, "Cray is actually a Cray25B supercomputer. It has a
liquid nitrogen cooling system and it is very big and takes a lot
of space even though its components are very small. It isn't the
latest version, but it is only two years old."

Jon checked the data transfer progress and said, "Upload
complete, Doc."

"Thanks, Jon." He motioned for Hattie and JJ to follow him. He
led them over to an oversized monitor, handed them each a pair of
what looked like sunglasses and turning on the monitor, said,
"These are polarized glasses. The offset is 90 degrees. They
should render the picture in 3-D. Let's watch as Cray builds the
molecule for us."

While they watched, different colored balls appeared on the
screen and started to move together. Bars of light started
connecting them, some single, some double and some triple. Dr.
Klein used a laser pointer to indicate the balls as he narrated,
"The red are carbon atoms, the yellow are oxygen, blue are
hydrogen, green are nitrogen. Oh, what is that?" He typed a
command and in a second he had a label attached to an orange
ball. "Lithium!"

For several minutes the display shifted and rearranged itself,
the computer adjusting the display as more data was fed in. After
about five minutes the display firmed up and across the bottom of
the screen a line of text appeared. "Statistical probability 97%
within three standard deviational units."

Dr. Klein let out a sigh of satisfaction as he said, "There it
is. That's what has been causing this. You were right about the
lithium. See all of those double bonds on the oxygens? That is an
alcohol-like structure. The basic structure is a lot like the
benzodiazepines, but enhanced. It would have an effect similar to
several shots of alcohol to start with, then the victim would
become suggestible as the psychotic episode kicked in. As we saw,
it metabolizes fairly rapidly and when the concentration in the
blood falls below a certain level, the victim comes out of it
with apparently no side effects other than not remembering the
period they were under the influence." He hit a key and an
attached printer started to spit out a sheet of paper with the
structure on it.

Hattie felt in her pocket and felt the vial with the extra
capsules in it and smiled. She asked, "During the initial
phases, could the drug act like a truth serum?"

"Hmmmmm, this structure here is basically the benzodiazepines
structure. This section is more like scopolamine. They are joined
by an oxygen bridge and each side has a lithium atom replacing a
hydrogen atom in several key locations. I'd say that it
could."

"Thanks, Dr. Klein. That's very helpful. Let's go, JJ. We need
to take this to the MPD. Maybe with this and the articles we
found they can get a search warrant. They might even be able to
bring in James and Simmons for questioning. If they do, I want to
be there. Maybe I can make them a cup of coffee."

"Coffee? Why?" JJ was mystified at this sudden change in her
behavior.

"Just being nice."

JJ saw her smile and was apprehensive.

***

Sometimes the wheels of the judiciary, like bureaucracy, can
grind slowly, but in this case, based on the evidence presented
by Hattie and JJ coupled with the testimony already obtained and
presented to the Grand Jury and judge, the judge hastened to sign
the search warrant and the order for detaining James and Simmons
for questioning 

Files and research notebooks were all impounded and the
assistants as well as the researchers were brought in for
questioning.

After several hours the assistants were released. It had become
obvious that they were simply following directions prepared by
the researchers as they set up equipment and added reagents.

James and Simmons were each being questioned in separate rooms.
Boyce was handling the investigation and was moving from room to
room, but both researchers were stonewalling him. Their answers
were evasive at best. 

Boyce was taking a break when Hattie and JJ approached. Hattie
asked, "How's it going?"

With a disgusted air, Boyce replied, "It isn't. The only good
thing is that they haven't lawyered up yet. At least this way I
am free to question them."

"Could we have a few minutes to talk with them?"

"Only if I can observe through the glass."

Hattie smiled and said, "That's fine by me." She appeared to
think about it for a second before she said, "Maybe I'll fix
Dr. James a cup of coffee. You know, break the ice. Put him off
guard."

Boyce said, "It might be worth a try. The coffee maker is in
that room over there."

Once in the room, out of sight, Hattie poured a cup of coffee and
then extracting one of the pills from the vial, she dropped it
in. She stirred it to make sure it was dissolved before exiting
and moving to the interview room.

Boyce entered the observation room as she and JJ entered.

Hattie asked, "Dr. James, would you like a cup of coffee?"

He said, "Sure. Cream and sugar."

"JJ, would you get the creamer and sugar for Dr. James?"

"Be right back."

Less than a minute later he was back and Dr. James was preparing
his coffee. As he started to drink, Hattie said, "My name is
Henrietta Kaplin and this is my partner, James Olsen, Junior. We
work for the Daily Planet."

"I've read your articles. You're good. Almost as good as Lane
and Kent."

Hattie smiled and said, "Thank you for that compliment. Lois
Lane has been my hero for years. We're incredibly lucky to be
working for them. Dr. James, we have read your treatise on
benzodiazepines and their use in treating bipolar disorder. It
was groundbreaking."

He was surprised. "You read that article?"

"Of course we did. We are very interested in the subject. You
have been adding new, novel variants of the basic structure to
form new compounds, each with unique properties. The inclusion of
lithium in the molecule was brilliant."

He was startled. "How did you know about that? It wasn't in the
article."

"It was a logical extrapolation. Since lithium salts had been
used previously in the treatment of bipolar disorder." As Hattie
was speaking she noticed that his eyes were starting to glaze
over. He shook himself as if he was struggling to stay awake and
a look of strong apprehension overtook his features. 

Suddenly convinced that something was wrong, he asked, "What did
you put in that coffee?"

Hattie smiled and said, "Well, to paraphrase an old saying,
I've given you a taste of your own medicine. A little something
I think you called 'Zombie'."

He started to rise from the chair and then his strength failed
him and he fell back.

Hattie asked, "Dr. James, can you hear me?"

In a rather flat monotone he replied, "Yes."

Hattie pulled out her recorder and turned it on before she
continued, "Are you the inventor of Zombie?"

"Yes."

Hattie waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. She realized
that she would have to couch her questions in such a way as to
elicit the desired responses. She asked, "Who was involved in
the creation of the Zombie formula?"

"Myself and Dr. Simmons."

"Who funded the project?"

"It was funded through MiraLabs."

"Who is behind MiraLabs?"

"It recently changed hands. The new owner chooses to be called
'X'."

"Is that supposed to keep his name a secret?"

"Perhaps, but I gather that it is part of his name."

"What is that name?"

"I'm not sure. I heard the name Jackson, but I don't know how
'X' could be part of that name."

"Did this 'X' order you to use Zombie on innocent people and
use them to commit robberies?"

"Yes."

Again Hattie was frustrated because she had failed to phrase the
question properly. "Why did you choose the individuals that you
drugged?"

"We left that up to Colbert."

"Who is Colbert?"

"He works at 'Stokes'. He is a bartender."

"But why were these particular individuals chosen?"

"It was a random selection."

"Why did you consent to go along with this criminal activity?"

"I had large gambling debts. 'X' picked up my paper and
threatened me. Then he promised large payments if the drug worked
as he wanted."

After placing a large pad of paper in front of him, Hattie gave
him one final direction. "Write down everything you know about
'X', and then write down how you got involved in this and what
your part was."

He picked up a pen and began to write.

Hattie shut off the recorder and motioned to the mirror that
Boyce should join them. A few seconds later he entered. She said,
"I'd let him finish writing and then I'd let him sleep it
off."

"I'm not so sure that any of this will be admissible in
court."

"If it isn't, you will still have leads that you can follow up,
plus, you can take this in to Simmons and tell him you have
James' statement and if he doesn't want to take the full weight
of the charges, he should also write up a statement, putting
himself in the best light possible."

Boyce smiled and said, "That's a very good idea. Thanks!"

Hattie looked at JJ and said to Boyce, "We're getting married
this weekend, so I doubt that we'll do anything more on this
until we are back from our honeymoon."

Boyce clapped JJ on the back and said, "Congratulations. All the
best," and shook his hand.

They exited and headed for the Planet.

***

Tuesday, March 27, 2029

***

The headline in the Daily Planet read:

*"MYSTERIOUS ROBBERIES SOLVED -- ARRESTS MADE"*

By -- Kaplin and Olsen

The case of the mysterious robberies being performed by
individuals with no previous criminal record has been solved. 

Researchers at MiraLabs discovered a drug that enabled them to
program individuals to perform robberies and then have no memory
of doing it.

Based on evidence gathered by the Daily Planet staff, the drug
ring has been broken and most of the principals taken into
custody. Story continued on 2A."

***

Chapter 8 --Rehearsal Dinner

Wednesday, March 28, 2029

***

In an otherwise darkened sanctum lit only by flashing lights on a
console and a computer monitor screen, a single light glowed in a
shaded lamp over a desk. The front page of Tuesday's Daily
Planet was open. A pair of hands wearing a strange pair of gloves
appeared in the light. A pen was picked up and a circle drawn
around the article and then a large 'X' was drawn through it.
Then the hands grabbed the sheet and tore it in pieces in obvious
anger. A voice growled, "Kaplin and Olsen again! Those two have
been thwarting me at every turn. Each time I manage to start a
project, they queer the pitch. This is the last straw. The
problem is that they seem to have a special connection to the
superheroes. Each time I try to get rid of them they interfere.
I've almost lost count of the number of times it has
happened."

A female voice seemed to speak from the air. "If you had more
reliable underlings rather than the dregs of the criminal world
you might have better luck."

"Luck has nothing to do with it. It's like a computer
algorithm; you input the data and find out what the result should
be. You set the same conditions and expect the same result, but
then a random element is introduced and the entire calculation is
thrown off."

"So, how do you plan to handle this?"

"I have to hit them when they least expect it," 'X' replied.

"All right, bright boy, when would that be?" the female voice
challenged.

Now that the previous day's paper had been removed from the desk
top, the gloved hands pulled the current edition of the Planet
over under the light and opened to the Society Page. Central was
the announcement of the wedding of the reporters on the City
Desk, Kaplin and Olsen.

He pointed to the article in the paper announcing the upcoming
nuptials. Details of the wedding were included.

The hands wearing the strange pair of gloves picked up the pen
and a circle drawn around the article. A button was pushed and an
underling entered. The underling was addressed, "The rehearsal
dinner for this wedding will be on Friday. Call around and see if
you can find out where that dinner is to be held. Once you find
out, get a couple of guys out there to take them out. I'm tired
of them ruining my plans." 

***

Friday, March 30, 2029

***

Friday evening was the wedding rehearsal. Lara and Mike had flown
in for the wedding and were staying at the Wisteria Lane home
with Hattie's soon-to-be aunt and uncle.

The minister had been amazed at the size of the wedding party;
twelve aside from the bride and groom would be crowding his
platform. He was hoping that the church would hold the guests.
This promised to be a very large affair. The notoriety of the
principles, the former investigative reporting team of Lane and
Kent who were now the Editors-In-Chief of the Daily Planet and
the current reporting team of Kaplin and Olsen who had also been
making a name for themselves over the last year since their debut
as a team would have a lot of friends and family.

With a party this size he tried several arrangements, finally
deciding to have only the Matron of Honor and the Best Man on the
platform with him, and the bride and groom with the rest arranged
on the steps leading to the platform in a 'V' pattern, the apex
being the bride and groom with him in between them.

The organist found that she had to add several extra bars to the
wedding march to accommodate the large party and it took her two
walk-throughs to get it right.

After the rehearsal the wedding party went to Cafe Americana for
the reception. It had changed hands after Lois' Uncle Mike had
passed away, but it still was one of the best places in town to
eat and because of the founder, it drew the Kent family. On this
occasion they were joined by Hattie's parents.

Years ago, when Hattie first decided on her career and selected
Lois Lane as her role model, her parents had been concerned. The
number of times they had read articles describing how Lois Lane
had needed to be rescued by Superman caused them to fear for
their daughter's safety in that field. When Hattie actually met
Lois and started getting close to *that* family their fear only
increased, that was until they met the Kent family themselves.
That coupled with the effect that the association with the Kent
family had on Hattie. She had always been a good student, but
being associated with Lois Lane and trying to follow her example
had only spurred her to new heights of excellence. Whenever Jon
Kent came over to study with Hattie, his respectful conduct and
his very gentle spirit finally overcame any anxiety that they
might have had. Such an example as he set had to come from a warm
loving family. They were actually happy that their girl had found
such a good friend. 

Hattie had always been very open with her mother and would
discuss even matters that some girls would shy away from with a
parent. She had, on many occasions, discussed her growing
feelings for Jon Kent and her lamentations that he only
considered her to be a friend, his best friend admittedly, but
just a friend, none the less. The relationship couldn't seem to
progress past that stage to Hattie's dismay.

Hattie had gone to her mother for consoling when she found out
that Jon had met another girl and that he was going to be moving
to Smallville so that he could be close to her. It all happened
so quickly. It was a matter of only a week. Initially, her
disappointment had manifested as anger toward this new girl that
had stolen *her* boyfriend from her. That changed rapidly when
she finally met Jennifer and got to know her. Seeing how she and
Jon related to one another, she realized that their relationship
was such as none she had ever seen before aside from Lois and
Clark. Then thinking about it some more she realized that the
relationship that Lara and Mike shared was also like that. She
began to hope that she would have that kind of relationship when
she found the right guy. Then JJ had come back into her life. 

JJ, Jon and she were all the same age. They had spent a lot of
time together as teens. She had always liked JJ. Jon's cousin
was a little overweight and very sensitive about it, but it never
bothered Hattie; she liked him as a person and didn't care about
his weight. There were lots of times that they would be playing
games and she and JJ would team up against Jon and Lara and
Hattie was usually pleased with the outcome because most of the
time, they won.

When she had been paired with him at Jen's wedding, she almost
didn't recognize him. They hadn't seen each other for a few
years. They had been in different schools and then he had hired
on at the Gotham Gazette. 

When she saw him at the rehearsal for Jen's wedding she was
shocked. He had dropped the excess weight and really built
himself up. He had taken up the martial arts and weight lifting
and it had done wonders. He had bulked up and was ever so much
stronger, but the martial arts had given him a lithe grace
characteristic of a practitioner. Later, he had confided in her
that she had been his inspiration for getting his weight under
control and all of the rest of it. As far back as their teen
years he had determined that she was the one that he wanted as a
wife and he wanted to become what she deserved.

Hattie's parents had been invited on numerous occasions to
affairs, birthday parties and holidays, at the Kent home and had
met JJ at those times. In this last year, ever since Hattie had
been teamed up with him, they'd had more opportunities to get to
know him and had found that even cousins of the Kent family
displayed the same strength of character that they had observed
in the Kents and when she had accepted JJ's proposal they
heartily approved of Hattie's choice of a life mate. The only
reservation they had was the number of times that their daughter
had been in danger over the last year.

A room at the back had been set aside for the use of the wedding
party for the rehearsal dinner and they all had a pleasant meal.

Jack and Melissa (Mel) Kaplin sat at the table with Lois and
Clark as did Hattie and JJ, Jimmy and Lucy Olsen. This was the
first time that they had met JJ's parents. They knew James Olsen
by reputation as a famous photojournalist with the Planet, but
this evening they found out that on the side, he had a computer
business called 'White Hats On Call'. The company specialized
in contracting with corporations to do penetration testing to
discover security flaws in their networks.

Among the first to leave were Jon and Jen. It was Jon's turn to
do a patrol and he was going to fly Jen home first. They had only
been together about a year and a half so her body was not ready
for the pendant to infuse her with the superpowers yet.

Shortly after Jon and Jen, Jack and Mel with Jimmy and Lucy left.
Jack and Jimmy were discussing contracting White Hats to test his
corporate network, which had recently suffered an intrusion.

After the festivities the attendees started leaving, as couples.


Sean and Celeste were the next to leave because they were due on
duty at the hospital. They were just starting their internships
and were beginning their clinical rotations, but they would be
off shift in time to change for the ceremony.

Jessica, James Perry, Lucy and Sam had all car-pooled so they all
left together.

Lois and Clark, Lara and Mike were still talking as Hattie and JJ
prepared to exit. Lois said, "Now, remember, you need to be at
the house at ten to get dressed. The seamstress dropped the gown
off at the house this afternoon. She said that she has never had
to rush the fittings like this before. She usually likes to have
more time. Your mom will be there with the rest of us. JJ, Clark
will meet you at the church at ten-thirty."

Hattie chuckled and said, "Got it, 'Momma' Lois." She and JJ
turned and headed out through the doors.

Stationed outside the restaurant, unknown to those inside, were a
pair of gunmen. They had a picture of the red-haired couple that
was their target.

As they exited the cafe, JJ helped Hattie on with a jacket. It
had been somewhat overcast all day and it was the end of March so
it was a bit cool. 

One of the gunmen nudged the other and said, "There they are. It
has to be them. That red hair is distinctive. Let's go." They
got out of their car and stood across the street from the couple
and when they had come abreast the first one shouted, "Kaplin
and Olsen!" Then he sneered, "The hottest team in town! Hah!
Try some hot lead!" They both opened up with automatic weapons.

Hattie and JJ had both been startled and as soon as JJ realized
what was happening he threw himself between the gunmen and
Hattie, but he wasn't fast enough.

Lois and Clark, Lara and Mike heard the shouts in the street and
then the gunfire. They had been the only ones left so all four
spun into their uniforms and took off through the window. Coming
down on the sidewalk they evaluated the scene. Clark did an x-ray
of JJ while Lois x-rayed Hattie. As she did, Hattie recovered
consciousness long enough to weakly say, "JJ," before she
passed out again.

Looking across the street they saw the two gunmen sprawled out on
the sidewalk, obviously unconscious, and Kam-El standing over
them, staring across the street at the wounded couple. The
expression on his face was one of pain and sorrow. He was also
angry! Oh, so angry! Angry at the two at his feet for what they
had done and angry at himself for not getting there sooner and
protecting Hattie and JJ.

Clark sent a thought, /"JJ has only minutes to live. He's been
hit in the liver, spleen, lung, kidney, intestine and there is
one bullet lodged very near his heart."/

Lois sent, /"Almost the same for Hattie. They missed her spleen
and heart. What can we do? Take them to the ER?"/

/"I don't think that will help."/ There was a pause of several
seconds, before he continued, /"Pick up Hattie and follow me. We
have only one chance."/

Lois picked up Hattie as she sent, /"Where are we going?"/

As Superman took to the sky, he replied, /"Perpetual Pines
Cemetery."/

Lois followed, but was mystified and sent, /"Why there?"/

/"Gretchen Kelly's machine. It was sealed up, but never
dismantled."/

Remembering the incident, Lois sent, /"Do you think it will
work?"/

Clark was grim as he replied, /"It has to! It's their only
chance."/

Seeing Ultra Woman and Superman take to the sky, Ultra Woman 2
and Torque followed. When they landed in front of a mausoleum at
a cemetery Lara said, "They're not dead yet, why bring them to
a cemetery?"

Lois replied, "This may be their only chance."

Lara was totally mystified, but trusted her mom and dad to do
what they needed to do.

Superman said, "Torque, I need you to open that door. Time is of
the essence, so don't worry about damaging it."

Torque grabbed the door and ripped it off of its hinges. 

As they entered, Clark said, "Shove that casket aside and stand
out of the way"

Lois shouted, "Wait!" She nodded in the direction of the light
sconce on the wall as she said, "Turn that sconce a quarter turn
to the right."

Lara turned the light fixture and the trapdoor opened. 

Descending the stairs they noted a thick layer of dust on
everything and there were no footprints so it appeared as though
everything was undisturbed. Clark placed his burden on the left
hand platform. As he pointed at the various mechanisms he was
speaking about he said, "Lara, throw that switch, that's the
power." Once this had been done he said, "Now throw that lever.
Watch that dial. When the pointer is in the red, stop it. If you
don't it'll transfer all of my powers."

Lara followed his directions to the letter. There was an
artificial lightning display and Lara watched the needle. When it
hit the red she moved the lever and once the lever had been moved
back to neutral she noted that the needle had stayed in the red.
Clark again picked up JJ and moved him so that Lois could place
Hattie there. This time Lara stepped onto the right hand plate.
Superman said, "What are you doing?"

"We don't want to take a chance of draining you too much. Come
on, we don't have all day! Throw that lever."

Realizing that she was right Clark stepped over to the control
and operated it. After another lightning display; as soon as the
needle hit the red, he moved the lever back. Again the needle
stayed in the red.

Lara tried her x-ray vision and was able to see through Hattie.
She checked and didn't find any bullets. She looked at the floor
of the platform that JJ and then Hattie had been on and saw a
small scattering of bullets on the floor.

A few seconds later, JJ woke up. Immediately he started patting
his body. He saw places where his blood had soaked his clothing.
Then he remembered and started looking around as he shouted in an
anguished tone, "Hattie!"

In a feeble tone, she replied, "Right here, tiger."

He jumped up and knelt next to her. He pulled her into his arms
and weeping said, "I thought I had lost you."

She asked, "What did you think you were doing, throwing yourself
into the line of fire like that?"

Suddenly realizing what she was saying, she looked down at
herself and saw that her clothes were a bloody mess. She looked
at JJ and saw the same thing. She stared incredulously and in a
hushed tone asked, "How???"

She looked up into the face of Lois, Ultra Woman, and said, "You
guys saved us again, but we were shot! I remember. It hurt so
much. And now ... it doesn't hurt anymore. How long were we
out?" Looking around and noting the stone walls she said, "This
definitely isn't the ER. What happened?"

Lois asked, "Think you can stand?"

JJ helped her upright.

Lois handed JJ an iron bar that had been lying nearby, part of
what looked like a prison cell at the side of the room. She said,
"Okay, strong man, bend this."

In appearances it was an iron bar although it didn't appear to
weigh anything. Either she believed that it was metal and didn't
know the difference, or else this was a trick that they were
playing on Hattie to make her think that he was stronger than he
really was. He decided to go along with the gag. "Aw, come on
Aunt Lois, yeah, I lift weights, but you know I'm not *that*
strong."

Lois raised an eyebrow and just said, "Trust me. Try to bend
it."

With a dubious expression he said, "Okay, but don't be too
surprised if I fail." He prepared to apply maximum effort to the
task she had set him. He got a good grip on either end and with a
look of concentration and a sudden movement he brought his hands
together. He let out a squawk and dropped the bar as if it had
bitten him. It was bent in half and it hadn't even taken that
much effort to do it. His eyes were wide and staring at the bar
as it clattered to the floor with a very solid clang. He was
surprised when he heard that sound. The ease with which he had
bent it had convinced him that it was plastic.

Lois picked up another bar. She handed it to Hattie and said,
"Your turn."

Hattie said, "Huh? JJ's the weight lifter, not me."

Lois proffered the bar and said, "Here, give it a try."

Hattie took it. It sure looked solid. She used it to tap the
floor and it gave the ring of metal, but it didn't have any
discernible weight. She looked at Lois with a question in her
eyes.

Lois said, "Trust me, Hattie girl. Try to bend it."

Hattie grasped it as she had seen JJ do and brought her hands
together bending the bar in half. She challenged, "What is this,
some kind of plastic?" 

Lois shook her head and said, "Nope, one inch of solid steel."

With a mystified expression she asked, "But ... how?"

Lois smiled and said, "Welcome to the *super*family."

JJ said, "Super, but we aren't on that side of the family!
That's you guys."

Lois said, "It looks like you need a little more convincing.
Close your eyes and think happy thoughts like Peter Pan and try
to float."

Hattie and JJ both closed their eyes in obvious concentration and
slowly both started to smile. As they did they both left the
floor and when they were a couple of feet up, Lois said, "Open
your eyes, you two."

When they did, the first thing they saw was each other and their
smiles broadened. Obviously the happy thoughts had been about
each other. Then they realized that something didn't look right
and they glanced around. Seeing the rest below them they realized
they were floating and crashed to the floor.

Hattie was the first to recover and said, "Wow," and continued
in a hushed tone, "super. We're ... super!" She looked at Lois
and asked, "Just like you?"

"Yeah, just like me. You can thank Lara. She was the source."

"Is this going to make her lose some of her powers?"

Clark said, "No, we were careful. What she gave you will
regenerate as soon as she is in sunlight. The nice thing is that,
from previous experience, your powers should be permanent and
renew just the same way. Resplendent Man didn't lose his powers
until they were stripped from him by this machine."

JJ asked, "Who was the source for me?"

Clark answered, "That would be me."

JJ shook his head in awe. Superman had just given him some of his
life force.

"Why did you guys do this?"

Lois addressed them and as she did they both turned toward her.
"You were both dying. You would have been dead within only a
couple of minutes. If Clark," she nodded in his direction,
"hadn't thought of this machine, we would have lost you." 

Hattie was surprised that even here where it was basically dark
she could see the sheen of tears in Lois' eyes; then she
realized that it was her super vision that enabled her to see
it.

She moved over to Lara and threw her arms around her in a hug and
said, "Thanks, cousin."

Lara returned the hug and said, "The one you really need to
thank is Pop. It was his idea that saved you."

Hattie let Lara go and approached Clark. As she reached to hug
him she said, "Thanks, Uncle Clark. Thanks for everything.
Thanks for saving my life, once again." Clark could feel his
Suit getting wet from her tears of gratitude. 

He wrapped his arms around her and said, "I couldn't allow
anything to happen to *our girl* or our nephew either," he
glanced at JJ who was hugging Lois. "You and JJ are family,
every bit as much as Jon and Lara, and nothing will change that
now. Oh, speaking of Jon, there's someone I need to speak to."
Clark sent a thought, /"Jon, where are you?"/

/"About 30,000 feet."/

/"What are you doing that high?"/ 

/"I'm about to drop a couple of pieces of garbage in the
ocean."/

/"Jon ... look, I know that I taught you better than that, Son.
We do not act as judge and jury."/

/"This time it's different. This was family, can't you see
that? Hattie ... Hattie was like a sister to me. JJ was my cousin
and these two vermin ..."/

/"Jon, listen to me! The wedding is still on! Everything is
okay. We got to them in time."/

/"Huh? How? I saw them. I was sure they were dead. I x-rayed
them. They were each hit with about half a dozen bullets. How
could they have survived?"/

/"Take my word for it, Son, they are alive and well and there is
a bonus. We aren't going to have to worry about them
anymore."/

/"Why are you lying to me? You've never done that before."/

The others were standing around him and could see the play of
emotions on his face as he communicated with Jon. /"I'm not
lying to you, Son."/ Clark shook his head in denial. 

/"The only way we wouldn't have to worry about them anymore
would be if they were dead."/

/"No, Jon, there is another way."/

/"Really? You need to convince me quickly, before I throw out
this trash."/

/"Jon, Hattie and JJ are standing right here next to me and they
are as alive as ever, in fact they are healthier than they have
ever been in their lives."/

/"How could that be?"/

/"I knew we had to do something so we took a chance and it
worked. Hattie and JJ are now superpowered."/

There was a mental gasp and then, /"Really? How?"/

/"We can explain it later. Right now you need to turn those two
over to the MPD so that they can face attempted murder
charges."/

/"Right, Pop, I'm on the way."/

/"Good! Hattie and JJ are headed home, but I don't think
they'd mind a brief visit. Just keep it short, remember we have
a wedding to attend."/

/"Right, Pop. I'll keep it short ... And, thanks."/

/"For saving their lives?"/

/"For that and also for keeping me from doing something I would
have regretted for the rest of my life."/

/"Don't mention it, Son. See you at the church."/

Clark summarized for the group, "I just spoke with Jon. He's
turning the shooters over to the MPD. I got to him just in time.
He was about to do something ... rash."

Lois had a worried look as she asked, "He wasn't taking the law
into his own hands, was he?"

"I'm afraid so and actually, I find it hard to blame him. I
can't tell you the number of times I almost did when something
happened to you. It was a near thing, but he's settled now."
Turning to Hattie and JJ he said, "He'll be stopping by, just
to reassure himself that you're okay."

"We'll wait up for him."

Lois said, "Hey, I just remembered, we have a wedding to go to
tomorrow, and the two of you are indispensible. I think we need
to get out of here. Clark, we need to seal this up again."

"Right you are." He turned to JJ and Hattie as he continued,
"It will take you some time to master your powers. I'd suggest
that after your honeymoon we take some time to go to Smallville.
That's where each of the kids learned to control their powers. I
think that your boss will see fit to give you some extra
vacation, but there will be a string attached."

Hattie asked, "What would that be?"

"Find the one responsible for the shooting and bring them to
justice."

"Nothing would give me more pleasure."

Lois said, "Keep in mind, now you have a secret that you need to
protect."

Chagrined, Hattie said, "I hadn't thought about that. How do we
explain this?"

Mike suggested, "How about, since the sniper attempt, you have
been wearing bullet proof vests?"

JJ smiled, "Just the thing. Yeah, that will work. In fact, we
can start wearing them under our work clothes, just in case they
try again."

***

Chapter 9 -- The Wedding

March 31, 2029

***

At ten the next morning JJ dropped Hattie off at the Kent home
and headed for the church. Hattie's dress was there waiting for
her to put it on and Lois and all of the girls including Mel
Kaplin took turns helping button her into it. 

There was a cavalcade of cars that left the house and headed for
the church. Once everyone was in position the signal was given to
the organist and she started the prelude. 

Hattie had a final minute with her mom.

"Hattie, you have been looking forward to this day for a while
now and I just know that he is not going to disappoint you. Over
this last year we have seen how he treats you and he is a good
man."

"I know he is, Mom. He's special and I couldn't love him
more."

"I'm happy for you. My little girl. My little girl's all grown
up and today she starts a family of her own." Mel started
weeping, but not tears of sadness or regret, tears of joy for she
knew that her daughter would be well-cared-for and loved.
Smiling, she gave Hattie a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she
turned away and took Jon Kent's proffered arm. He had insisted
on the honor of escorting Mel down the aisle to her place in the
front pew. 

Hattie's father gave her a hug and asked, "Are you ready for
this, little one?"

Hattie had returned the hug and when her dad winced she realized
that she had applied too much pressure. Calmly she replied,
"I've never been more ready for anything in my whole life."
She thought, <I'm going to have to be careful. I'm not used to
being this strong. I just hope I don't start to float up there
on the platform. Oh well, it is a long gown. The train may
conceal it if I do.>

The seating of Mel was the signal for the organist to begin the
Wedding March. Lucy, being the youngest, was first down the aisle
followed by Jessica, Celeste, Lara and then Jen as Bridesmaids.
Lois as Matron of Honor immediately preceded Hattie and the
wedding was underway. 

Clark kept what appeared to be a supportive hand on JJ, but this
was actually at JJ's request, to make sure he didn't float.

After the wedding there were pictures taken and then the party
went to the hall that had been rented for the reception. 

A good time was had by all and after the cake was cut the
newlyweds left on their honeymoon. As tradition demanded, after
they had changed they passed through the gauntlet and were pelted
with, not rice, but birdseed. 

The Best Man and Matron of Honor disappeared at the same time as
the bride and groom but after a short time returned to host,
along with the Kaplins and Olsens, the festivities.

***

The reason that Lois and Clark had left was so that they could
take Hattie and JJ to their honeymoon resort.

At the last second the plans for the honeymoon had been changed.
The decision was made for the young couple to spend a week at the
Kent farm in Smallville. They would have the privacy that they
wanted like any newlyweds and there would be less chance of
accidentally revealing just what they could now do. 

Martha and Jonathan, now in their eighties, still lived on the
farm and had decided not to attend the wedding in Metropolis as
it might have been a little much for them. Over the last few
years, they had resisted all of Lois and Clark's efforts to have
them give up the farm and move to Metropolis. They always said
that what they had was better than any system that 'old folks'
used to call for help in an emergency. All they had to do was
carry a cell phone. One speed dial button push and there would be
a super family member there within seconds, a much faster
response than waiting for an ambulance. The family had insisted
on Jonathan giving up on operating the farm, thus, in the growing
season, there were farm hands hired to do the work. Clark could
foresee the day when the amount of acreage planted was reduced or
eliminated. The land was only being worked because of Jonathan.

A few years earlier, at the insistence of Lois and Clark, the
farmhouse had been remodeled. A larger family room in the form of
a Florida room had been added that joined the original house and
the new wing that had been added. There was a home theater set up
with a very large screen HDTV and a sound system, lounge chairs
and game tables. The existing family room had been converted into
the new master bedroom suite so that the senior Kents would not
have to deal with the stairs any longer.

With the assistance of Superman and Ultra Woman, Hattie and JJ
made it to Smallville. Hattie had met the elder Kents years
earlier and JJ had grown up knowing them. Clark led them into the
new wing and showed them which room they could use and then
joined Lois and his parents in the kitchen. It was later in the
evening, but since Jonathan was no longer working the farm
himself, he had started keeping later hours.

Addressing his folks he said, "I've got some news. JJ and
Hattie are now super."

Martha and Jonathan had a questioning look as Martha asked, "How
did that happen, Clark?"

"They had both been shot and it was the only way to keep them
from dying. It was a risky procedure, but we had to try. We had
no other options ... and it worked. They were married today and
we'd like them to stay here for their honeymoon. They need some
time to master their new powers. Could you guys help them ... the
way you helped me and all of the kids?"

Jonathan and Martha both brightened up and Jonathan said, "We'd
be happy to! They'll have to be careful when the farm hands are
here. Fortunately, the planting is done. They'll only be here
for maintenance until it is closer to harvest."

Just then Hattie and JJ made their way into the kitchen. Martha
said, "Welcome to chez Kent. Clark was just telling us what
happened. He asked us to help you master your new powers the same
way we helped guide him. We understand how it is. We were
honeymooners once ourselves. Since there isn't anyone else here
right now but you and us, you should have the privacy you need."


Turning to Clark, Jonathan asked, "Do you have any spare glasses
here?"

Clark snapped his fingers and asked, "Now, why didn't I think
of that? I'll be right back." He stepped out onto the porch and
took off.

Hattie asked the question that she was sure was forefront in
JJ's mind as well as hers. "Glasses? What are the glasses
for?"

Martha explained, "They were an integral part of Clark's
training. They really don't correct his vision. They are lead
crystal. It blocks his x-ray vision. You'll need them until you
get used to controlling it. They will also make you aware of it
if your heat vision kicks in unexpectedly. I hope Clark put you
in his and Lois' room. That bed is specially reinforced. If you
start to float in your sleep and fall when you wake up, it won't
break. It will also stand up to, shall we say, energetic
activity."

Hattie was blushing at this frank talk. 

Martha started to chuckle at her discomfiture.

Lois started to chuckle and addressed her question to Hattie.
"Did I ever tell you about the first time I met Jonathan and
Martha?"

Hattie shook her head.

"Clark and I had just been teamed up and I wasn't even sure how
the partnership would work out. Actually, I was resenting Perry
teaming us up, but we were here on this story. Since it was his
hometown and we were together, Martha and Jonathan offered to let
us stay here. Boy, that's another story. It was the Corn
Festival and even if we had wanted to stay somewhere else, there
were no rooms available anywhere. Well, here we are. We walk in,
first time I'd ever met Martha and she asks if Clark and I would
be sharing his room. I was shocked! I didn't know her. I really
didn't know her son that well and here she is asking if we were
sleeping together. It got me to thinking about what kind of
history my partner had as far as girlfriends was concerned, I'll
tell you." Lois got up and grabbed Martha in a loving hug.
"Then I got to know her better and really love her. This is one
special lady. When you really get to know her, you'll discover
just why your Uncle Clark is the way he is." She put an arm
around Jonathan and said, "These two have to be the best parents
in the world. To have a child thrust upon them, to have him
develop super powers and to be able to keep him grounded and good
... that's what I call special." She gave Jonathan and Martha
each a kiss on the cheek before she released them.

Clark walked back in. He had two pairs of glasses in hand. He
said, "Sorry I took so long. I had to stop at an optical store
and buy a new pair of frames, ladies frames, and fit the
lenses." He handed a pair of glasses to Hattie and a pair to JJ.
"Here, try these on for size." They both tried them on and
after a little tweaking they were fitted properly.

JJ said, "You actually look good in glasses. That is a nice
frame style for you."

"The reason I brought them is for your training, but if you want
to keep using them to help with your secret, that's fine too."

Hattie looked at JJ and said, "They give you an air of
sophistication."

Lois said, "Well, I guess we'll be on our way. You two are
starting your honeymoon and we would just be in the way. Besides,
we have to get back to the party.

***

Before Hattie and JJ headed off, Martha said, "We don't stand
on ceremony around here. The kitchen is available when you need
it. If you want to join us for meals, well, there's always
plenty to go around. You, young lady, could use some filling out
and you, JJ, I remember when you could have stood to lose a few
pounds. Looks like that has been taken care of. We will be having
dinner at 7 if you care to join us. Pot roast with all the
fixin's. Now, get out of here. I'm sure that you don't want to
spend your wedding night with us old folks."

Hattie decided right then and there that she loved this woman and
moving over to her gave her a hug and a kiss. After the kiss she
asked, "Would you mind terribly if I called you 'Grammy'?"

Martha smiled and said, "You can call me anything you want, as
long as it isn't late to supper. Now, go on and get out of here
so Jonathan and I can have some alone time."

Hattie could tell by Martha's expression that she had been
pleased by Hattie's request. She said, "Come on, husband, we
need to leave these two lovebirds alone," and hooking her arm
through his started to lead him back to the bedroom so that they
could unpack. As they were exiting, Hattie said, "See you at
dinner."

Jonathan reminded, "Don't forget about the time change. We are
an hour behind Metropolis time."

Hattie snickered and said, "Right, we wouldn't want to come
down an hour early and interrupt something, would we, JJ?"

JJ smiled and said, "Not on your life. I know how it is when you
want time alone with your spouse."

Chuckling, Jonathan said, "Go on with you! Get out of here with
all that."

Hattie said, "Okay, Grandpa. We're going. Come on, JJ, let's
go unpack. We can relax a while before dinner."

As they were departing, Jonathan said, "In the family room is a
home theater. We have satellite TV and there are a lot of DVDs in
the cabinet."

Hattie said, "All the comforts of home!"

Martha said, "Make this your home away from home. You're all
family."

"We will, Grammy, we will. See you guys later."

After unpacking they saw that they had some time yet until
dinner. Hattie said, "I think I'll take a nice long shower."

JJ asked, "Do you need me to scrub your back?"

With a smile, Hattie replied, "Are you reading my mind?"

JJ had a thoughtful expression as he replied, "No, I wasn't,
but you know, now that you mention it, I think that is one of the
powers we now have. Let's give it a try." He started
concentrating, but a thought intruded. He thought that maybe he
should ask Uncle Clark how it was done and suddenly he got a
message, /"You need to think about who you want to communicate
with."/ JJ was shocked and replied, /"Who is this?"/ 

He received a mental chuckle and then, /"It's Uncle Clark. You
were thinking about asking me how the telepathy works. I got your
message and replied. All you need to do, if you want to
communicate with Hattie, is think about her and what you want to
communicate. Beware; it can be a very intimate form of
communication. It can be intoxicating if used at the right time.
I need to get back to the party. Don't forget, think about
Hattie."/

Hattie had seen a strange expression on JJ's face for several
seconds. When he smiled and looked at her she asked, "What was
that all about?"

"It worked! Only thing is, it was Uncle Clark that answered. I
was thinking about him and we connected. He told me how it's
done. Here, let's try." He stared at Hattie, filling his mind
with her and sent, /"I love you."/

Hattie started to smile and said, "I heard that! Let me try."
/"Let's get into the shower before we run out of time."/

In answer JJ started to remove his clothes.

Hattie smiled and said, "It worked, didn't it?"

JJ's reply was succinct, "It sure did. Let's get into the
shower." 

Very quickly they were in the shower together. They discovered a
tube of body scrub gel and used it to wash each other. When they
left the shower they dried each other off and then moved to the
bed.

The shower time had been more foreplay than shower and they were
both ready to join their bodies.

JJ decided to put Uncle Clark's suggestion to the test. As they
started an intimate episode he initiated a mental link. He could
feel her reaction. Her eyes flew wide as she realized what was
happening and she started to groan with desire. Emotions flashed
across her face. Desire, joy, rapture, and she started to move.
He began to move in concert. When both had finished, they were
both completely spent. Hattie collapsed on his chest and just lay
there playing with the hairs on his chest while he stroked her
back. She looked up at him as she moved her hand up and cupped
his cheek. "Wow, that was super fantastic, stupendous. There
aren't enough words to describe it. It's indescribable."

"I know, I wonder if this is the same thing that Uncle Clark and
Aunt Lois share. What am I saying; it was Uncle Clark that
suggested it. Compared to what we just did, the sex we've been
experiencing was a pale shadow of what it could have been."

"I'm surprised; I'm actually tired after that. I haven't been
tired since we became super."

"I don't think it's tiredness in that sense. I think it is
just supersatisfaction."

Hattie yawned as she said, "You may be right, but I think I'm
gonna take a nap. Right here."

After a short nap they dressed and moved down to the family room.
Hattie found a DVD in the cabinet and said, "We *have* to watch
this one."

"Which one is it?"

She hid it from him as she put it into the player. "I want it to
be a surprise. Afterwards, I'll tell you the story of the first
time I saw this movie."

Suddenly there was a blazing comet crossing the screen and then
the title appeared in the comet's tail; finally a space ship
came out of warp and crossed the screen.

After the movie Hattie told JJ about how one night she had
watched this particular movie with Jon and Lara and how she had
come to the conclusion that Superman and Ultra Woman used
appearance generators to look human. By the time she was finished
they were both laughing at her conclusions. Then it was time for
dinner and they joined Martha and Jonathan.

Over dinner Hattie asked, "When do we start our training?"

Jonathan asked, "How soon do you want to start? I would think
you two would want at least a few days to yourselves." Looking
over at Martha he said, "I remember our honeymoon. We just
wanted to be alone, together, which was fine. As a farmer, we
were never rich so we didn't go anywhere fancy, but that didn't
matter, we had each other, a room and a bed."

Martha reached over and swatted his arm. Hattie noticed that even
though she did this it was obviously playing because there was no
flushing of Martha's cheeks as there would be if she were
embarrassed by his statement. Martha said, "Jonathan Kent, be
good. You're gonna give these kids the wrong impression."

Jonathan smiled and looking at Hattie and JJ, he said, "Every
word is the truth."

Hattie and JJ were both laughing at the byplay. Finally, JJ said,
"No, we really want to start learning how to handle these
powers."

Jonathan smiled and said, "Okay, well, tomorrow is Sunday. Take
that as a rest day from all of your exertions." Hattie and JJ
both blushed at that one. Jonathan continued, "We will start on
Monday."

After they finished dinner Hattie and JJ both helped with the
dishes before saying goodnight to Martha and Jonathan and heading
to their room.

They spent the rest of the night and the next day exploring the
extreme intimacy of using telepathy during intimate moments,
minutes and hours, only taking time to join Martha and Jonathan
for meals and an occasional movie.

***

After breakfast on Monday, Jonathan took them outside and said,
"Let's start simple. The first power that Clark had was
superhearing. See what you can hear. Concentrate and see how
*much* you can hear."

He could see the look of concentration on both of their faces.
Suddenly Hattie looked aside and spotted a grasshopper munching
on a leaf and happily said, "I can hear that and I can hear your
heartbeat," and looking at JJ she said, "I can hear yours too.
Is this the way it is for Uncle Clark and Aunt Lois?" 

Jonathan chuckled and said, "I'm pretty sure it is."

"Ouch, it's like you're shouting now. Wow! How do they control
it?" She put her hands over her ears. "Things are getting
louder and louder! How do I turn it off?"

"You have to concentrate on one thing. Clark usually tunes in on
Lois' heartbeat. He says that it soothes him."

The pained expression that had been growing on Hattie's face
slowly faded. She said, "Yeah, that works. I'm listening to
JJ's heartbeat. It helps to shut everything else out."

"When you want to listen to something else just think about what
you want to hear and block out the rest." Jonathan directed.
"If Clark is trying to listen to a conversation, he looks at the
lip movements and tries to match what he hears to what he is
seeing."

JJ wasn't saying much. He was following Jonathan's directions
as was Hattie and smiling as he listened to her heartbeat. He
found that there were subtle fluctuations, which by observing her
facial expressions, he could link to emotional changes, mostly
joy, surprise and wonder. He was having fun just watching and
listening to her. 

Hattie asked, "Grandpa, it seemed like our hearing wasn't, oh,
I don't know, it wasn't turned on, until we thought about it.
Is that normal?"

Jonathan thought about it for a second then said, "You just
acquired the powers. Clark's developed slowly, over time, as he
grew up. There's really no way to know. From what he said about
how this was done, all we have to go by is how it happened with
Mr. Walldecker and he really didn't give any details."

Eager to explore her new powers, Hattie asked, "What's next?"

Jonathan laughed and said, "Patience, little one, patience.
You'll learn all about what you can do, just take your time and
make sure you master each one as we go. By the time you go back
to Metropolis you want to have complete mastery of your powers so
that you don't accidentally give yourself away. Have you decided
if you are going to help Lois and Clark or not?"

Hattie looked at JJ and said, "We really haven't discussed that
yet. What do you think, honey?"

JJ was lost in thought for a few seconds before he said, "We
could be a force for good, helping stop crimes and preserving
life right there beside them. Just thinking about it gives me a
good feeling. I say, let's do it."

Hattie started to smile and said, "I agree. I want to do it too.
Let's work on mastering these powers."

Jonathan said, "Well, now that that decision has been made, I
think Martha just got herself a couple of new customers."

JJ asked, "What do you mean?"

Jonathan snickered and said, "Didn't you ever wonder where all
of the super suits came from?" 

"I never really thought about it."

"They're all from 'Chez Martha, Couturier to the super
powered'! Did you think Clark made his own Suit? His mom made it
for him. She also made Lois' and Jon's, Lara's and Mike's. I
don't know who will take over when she can't sew anymore. One
of you girls will have to take over. Another thing you need to do
is decide on a secret identity."

"Wow, I never thought it would be so difficult," Hattie
complained.

JJ chuckled and said, "It's like the old saying, 'No pain, no
gain.'"

Putting her hands on her chest and abdomen she said, "Yeah, I
still remember the pain. I'm glad I'll never have to go through
that again. Once was more than enough." With renewed vigor she
said, "Come on, JJ, we need to master these powers so that we
can get the one behind that attack. Grandpa, I think we have a
handle on the hearing. What's next?"

"Let's try telescopic vision. You see that fence post at the
far end of the field? See if you can tell me how many strands of
wire are attached."

JJ looked and said, "I see two strands."

Jonathan said, "We need to work on that. There should be three
strands."

JJ laughed and said, "Yes, there should be, but one is broken. I
can see the two ends lying on the ground on either side of the
post."

Jonathan let out a sigh and said, "Okay, looks like your
telescopic vision works and I need to get the hands to fix that
section of fence."

Over the next week, Jonathan guided them through each of their
new powers, the last being flight. 

Before they took their first flight, however, Martha made each of
them their new uniforms.

Because of a fire that Hattie had created while trying to master
her heat vision, she decided to call herself 'Blaze' and Martha
made what looked like flames of fire and put the El Crest over it
so that it was surrounded by fire. 

Through their training, JJ had shown more patience than Hattie
and Jonathan had said, more than once, that he had the patience
of a saint. That stuck in JJ's mind so when it came time to
choose a super persona he chose 'Saint'. Martha accommodated
him when she made his suit by putting an El crest on the chest
and then, using gold-colored spandex, made an ellipse and sewed
it on above the crest at about a thirty-degree angle so that it
looked like a halo worn at a jaunty angle.

When they were ready and in costume they started with some short
flights at different heights and speeds. Finally they took off
together on an around-the-world flight.

After half an hour, Jonathan was becoming concerned.

After forty-five minutes he was downright worried.

It had been just over two hours when they landed and Jonathan
heaved a relieved sigh. Then he noticed the mud.

They were both flushed with excitement and they were hugging each
other.

Jonathan asked, "What happened? You were gone more than two
hours."

"As we were passing Metropolis we saw Uncle Clark, Aunt Lois and
Jon heading south so we joined them. It was a mudslide in
Tegucigalpa. We helped rescue about twenty people each; about
half of them were children. Between us ... we saved ... about
twenty children and their parents. We made a difference!"

Jonathan was smiling as he said, "That's enough training for
one day. Go clean up. Watch a movie or something."

As they headed for the new wing, Jonathan joined Martha and told
her what had happened. 

Martha quickly whipped up a batter and put on a cake to bake.
They were going to celebrate. She called the Daily Planet and
spoke to Lois.

At 7 p.m., as they were finishing up on dinner, suddenly in
walked Jon and Jen, Lois and Clark, and Lara and Mike.

Hattie and JJ were surprised, but happy to see everyone.

Addressing Hattie and JJ, Martha said, "I called them here so
that we could celebrate your graduation. Clark, you have anything
to say?"

"I sure do! You kids did great today. Thanks to your help we
were able to save a lot more people that we could have otherwise.
Lois?"

"I'll echo what Clark said. You guys did a great job today.
Because of your help there are a lot of kids that will live a
full life that otherwise wouldn't have. Now, you're really part
of the super family. That was a terrific debut. By the way, I
love the costumes. What are your names?"

Hattie said, "I'm 'Blaze' and he's 'Saint'."

Lois laughed and said, "I suppose there is a story that goes
along with each name, but I'll wait." She took Hattie in her
arms and gave her a hug.

Martha brought out the cake and they had a celebration.

***

Chapter 10 -- Mr. X

Monday, April 2, 2029

***

'X' had seen the report of his minions being arrested and
charged with attempted murder. He shouted into space,
"*Attempted* murder!!!!! That means that they failed! What is it
with this couple? They seem to lead charmed lives. It had to be
those blasted superheroes again! Years ago, it was Superman,
Clark Kent and Lois Lane that foiled my plans. Because of them, I
lost the program!"

"The gunmen failed and now Kaplin and Olsen are married.
They're away on their honeymoon at some undisclosed location so
there's no way to get them now. If they know too much they can
cause problems when they get back. They might even let Lane and
Kent know what they found out while they are away. We must take
precautions."

The female voice challenged, "What can you do? You can't leave
this hideout. You depend on minions to do your dirty work."

"I may have time to plan while they are on their honeymoon."

***

Tuesday, April 3, 2029

***

The light flicked on over the desk in the darkened room. The
gloved hands appeared and spread out the latest copy of the Daily
Planet.

The headline of Tuesday's Planet read:

*"STRANGE ROBBERIES SOLVED -- NEW DRUG RESPONSIBLE"*

By Kaplin and Olsen

A new drug synthesized at MiraLabs is responsible for the rash of
odd robberies. Two chemists have been arrested and bound over for
trial. Story continues page A2"

"Aaaarrrrrggggggggg! I've lost, I've lost, *I've lost*! James
and Simmons were working on the delta form and they were not
finished. Now they will never finish! My plan for world dominion
is ruined ... ruined, I say!!"

The female voice challenged, "So, you're going to just give up
on your plan? Are they the only ones that can do this job? I
thought that no one was indispensable."

"You may be right. Set up a search; look for anyone working on
drugs like these. Search all trade publications. I don't care
what country. Just find them."

"I'm not programmed to read oriental characters or Arabic."

"So search everything else and look for translations of those
articles."

"Searching."

***

Monday, April 9, 2029

***

Hattie and JJ returned on Monday morning. As soon as they were in
the bullpen Lois called them to the office. "Welcome back, you
two. Are you ready to get to work?"

Hattie reached up and adjusted her new glasses on her nose,
smiled and said, "Another week with Grammy and Grandpa would
have been fun, but not necessary."

Lois interrupted, "Grammy and Grandpa, huh? One would think you
like the Kents."

Hattie looked at JJ and seeing his nod answered, "Like them? We
love them. They are like another set of grandparents. Are we
ready to get back to work? We are ready to go after the creep
that's behind all of this. We may have a lead. We are after
'X', but under the influence of the drug, Dr. James gave away a
name. It seems to be unrelated, but you never can tell. Here, let
me play the tape."

/*Hattie: "Are you the inventor of Zombie?"

Dr. James: "Yes."

Hattie: "Who was involved in the creation of the Zombie
formula?"

Dr. James: "Myself and Dr. Simmons."

Hattie: "Who funded the project?"

Dr. James: "It was funded through MiraLabs."

Hattie: "Who is behind MiraLabs?"

Dr. James: "It recently changed hands. The new owner chooses to
be called 'X'."

Hattie: "Is that supposed to keep his name a secret?"

Dr. James: "Perhaps, but I gather that it is part of his
name."

Hattie: "What is that name?"

Dr. James: "I'm not sure. I heard the name Jackson, but I
don't know how 'X' could be part of that name."

Hattie: "Did this 'X' order you to use Zombie on innocent
people and use them to commit robberies?"

Dr. James: "Yes."

Hattie: "Why did you choose the individuals that you drugged?"

Dr. James: "We left that up to Colbert."

Hattie: "Who is Colbert?"

Dr. James: "He works at 'Stokes'. He is a bartender."

Hattie: "But why were these particular individuals chosen?"

Dr. James: "It was a random selection."

Hattie: "Why did you consent to go along with this criminal
activity?"

Dr. James: "I had large gambling debts. 'X' picked up my paper
and threatened me. Then he promised large payments if the drug
worked as he wanted."*/

Hattie turned off the recorder at this point.

Lois and Clark were both mulling the name over for a time. Lois
asked, "Clark, where have we heard that name before?"

"How do we get 'X' out of Jackson?"

Lois snapped her fingers and said, "Wait a minute, what if it
isn't spelled J a c k s o n? What if it just sounds like that.
Remember, years ago -- Jackson spelled J a x o n, as in Jaxon
Xavier?"

Clark was stunned at the thought. "Yeah, but didn't he die?"

"No, he didn't. He was still breathing on his own, remember? I
think they put him into a care facility so that they could feed
him through a tube. What if he recovered?"

"But his higher brain functions were trapped in the Internet!"


"What if somehow he was able to transfer his mind back into his
body?"

"He was trying for world dominion by brainwashing world leaders.
He was going to lure them into trying his VR world and while they
were in there, brainwash them with a program developed by
LexCorp. He lost the program when we escaped from his VR world
and took his escape window with us. From the sounds of it, this
drug would do the same thing. We need to check up on him."

Hattie was shocked. She said, "You know who might be behind
this? Just who is this Jaxon Xavier, anyhow?"

Clark said, "JJ and I can start calling around to see if we can
locate where he was taken and if he is still there while you fill
Hattie in. Come on JJ, we have a bunch of calls to make."

While Clark and JJ went to the conference room to first identify
the possible facilities prior to starting the calls, Lois told
Hattie the story.

"It was years ago, before we were married. Perry sent us to
check out a new amusement center which was based on Virtual
Reality."

"Oh, you mean like a FPS where you are, like, really in there?
JJ and I play them sometimes. When we team up we usually win."

"Something like that, but on steroids. When you put on these
hoods and gloves you were like, really in this Virtual world. I
really felt it when we kissed. When we arrived, it apparently
threw a monkey wrench into his plans; you see, I was supposed to
be alone. Anyhow, the point was that it was all a setup. Jaxon
Xavier Luthor was the illegitimate son of Lex Luthor. A young son
that everyone thought had died in a car crash with his mother. He
was trying to get into the protected archives of the computer
system of what used to be LexCorp ..."

Hattie interrupted, "That fits! MiraLabs used to be LexLabs and
whoever is behind this has worked to buy a controlling
interest."

"Right! The thing is, he trapped me in the virtual world and
kicked Clark out. He didn't know it, but we knew we were still
in the virtual world because Clark didn't have his powers and
there was another Superman that acted kinda ... aloof, if you
know what I mean. He thought that we were still fooled.
Apparently he was attracted to me and he created this monstrous
persona of a man with a big 'X' tattooed on his chest. After
Clark was kicked out, he confronted Jaxon and Jaxon threatened to
trap me in the matrix forever. That's when Superman went for
help. He went to the only person he could think of to help, JJ's
dad. Jimmy, senior quickly built a powerful computer and tied
into the VR complex's matrix and they entered the virtual world.
While they were working on getting in, Jaxon changed his VR
persona to become Clark. He tricked me into giving him three
names that Luthor wanted to use for his children. Those were
three of the four words in the passcode to unlock the protected
archive where the mind control software was stored. Anyhow, that
was when Superman and Jimmy showed up. They figured out what he
used as his escape window and we got out. He was still hooked in
and when he lost, he crashed the system. His higher brain
functions were trapped in the matrix and I guess eventually, the
Internet."

Hattie was fascinated with the story and when Lois paused she
asked, "If his higher functions were trapped, how could he
possibly still be alive?"

"That's exactly what we have to figure out. Let's see how the
boys are doing."

Exiting the office, Lois headed for the conference room while
Hattie headed for JJ's desk. As she approached he shouted, "Got
it!"

Clark and Lois both came out of the conference room and
approached JJ's desk. Once they were there he said, "Would you
believe that there is still a facility in this city that carries
the name 'Luthor'? Well, there is. Luthor Perpetual Care
Center. It is a nursing home. It appears that until about a year
and a half ago, Jaxon was an inmate. One day, he suddenly just
woke up."

Lois said, "Let's go! We have to go there and find out what
happened."

They all went down and piled into Lois' car and drove to the
Luthor Perpetual Care Center. After they entered they inquired
about who was present when Jaxon Xavier woke up. Records were
checked and the individual was called to the lobby.

Lois read her nametag and was surprised to see that she didn't
have R.N. after her name. Instead she had R.E.E.G.T. It read:
Donna King, R.E.E.G.T.

Lois addressed her. "Ms. King, I'm curious, you're not an
RN?"

She smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm asked that a lot. No, I'm not
a nurse. There are many things that are done here other than
nursing duties. There are certain individuals who, because of
their condition, require different diagnostics to be run. My
specialty is brain waves. I am a Registered
Electroencephalography Technologist. I use an EEG machine to
measure the activity in the brain."

Lois said, "That's very interesting. We are here to inquire
about what happened to a patient of yours. We were told that you
were with him when he woke up. His name was Jaxon Xavier."

"Oh, wow, yeah. I have good reason to remember that day.
Actually, there are a couple. First, it was the first day I had
my new machine."

Hattie asked, "New machine?"

"Yeah, would you like to see it?"

Clark said, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Right this way." She led the way down a couple of hallways and
into a room with a bed next to a wire harness in the wall. Above
the bed was a light and in the wall near the wire harness was a
window. 

She led them into an adjoining room, which put them behind the
window. Against the wall was a device with various wire leads
that went to a wire harness in the wall. Proudly she said, "This
is it, the latest thing in the field, detects even the slightest
activity." She pointed through the window. "The patient lies on
the bed and I apply the electrodes. Depending on the type of test
and how sensitive it needs to be we could use the mesh." She
picked up what looked like a rubber band skull cap with
electrical connections and held it up for display. "Sometimes I
have to actually glue the electrodes to the scalp. In extreme
cases, there are electrodes that are inserted into the nasal
cavity and into the nasal sinus."

Hattie made a face and said, "Sounds painful."

She replied, "Believe it or not, there is little to no pain
involved."

JJ said, "That's very interesting, but what about the day that
Xavier woke up?"

"Oh, yes, well, as I said that day was memorable for a couple of
reasons." She reached out and lovingly patted her machine and
said, "I had just gotten this baby. He was my first patient on
it. I had been directed not to use the mesh so I had glued all of
the electrodes on and had inserted the nasal-pharyngeal leads. I
returned here and turned on the machine. A few seconds later, he
woke up. It was quite a surprise, I can tell you. After all of
these years to suddenly have him wake up."

"What did he do when he woke up?"

She thought for a few seconds as she searched her memory. "He
coughed a couple of times. He ... he reached up and removed the
nasal-pharyngeal leads and looked at them with a curious
attitude. And then asked, 'Where am I?'."

"I immediately hit the panic button to summon help. I had never
needed that before. The nursing staff was surprised to get a call
from EEG. They almost ignored it thinking I had hit it by
accident. When they finally arrived, they were shocked to see him
awake. I removed my electrodes and they wheeled him out. I never
saw him again."

Lois muttered, "That makes no sense. Why would that time be any
different than any other?"

Hattie asked, "You said that he was your first patient on this
machine. What is different about this machine from the one you
had before?"

"Well, the doctors were getting tired of looking at paper
tracings and going through what seemed like miles and miles of
paper for a single record. They wanted the tracing sent directly
to their workstations, electronically, so we got this baby. It is
networked so that the doctors can connect directly to it and see
the tracing in real time if they want to."

JJ almost shouted, "That's it! Networked!" He challenged,
"The doctor's computers are on the Internet, aren't they?"

"Of course!" She looked around to make sure there was no one
around. "I can't tell you how many times I've entered one of
their offices and found them surfing the porn sites. Naturally
they excuse it by saying that they are studying anatomy. Yeah,
right. Give me a major break."

JJ said, "There's the link! His higher functions were trapped
in the Net. The EEG device is linked to the doctor's computer,
which in turn is on the Net. He found a way to return to his
body."

Hattie asked, "What happened to him then?"

"Well, like I said, I never saw him again. There were some
rumors that he disappeared, but if he did, he had to have help.
After so many years of inactivity his muscles were mostly
atrophied. He also squinted a lot. After years of having his eyes
closed they were extremely sensitive to light." 

Clark said, "Thanks, Ms. King, you've been very helpful.' To
the rest he said, "Let's go."

The four of them headed for Lois' car to return to the Planet.
When they were in the car, Clark said, "Okay, now we have a
direction to travel. We have to start looking for where he is
getting his money. It is possible that while he was in the matrix
he diverted money to accounts or perhaps got account numbers so
that he could access some of Luthor's hidden Swiss accounts. We
have to find companies that specialize in the kind of equipment
he would need for his continued support. She said that his eyes
were sensitive to the light, so he is either in a building with
the windows blocked or else underground. My bet would be
underground. Lois, you remember Lex's penchant for going
underground."

"Do I ever!"

Hattie asked, "Why does it always have to be underground? I
almost got blown up, underground."

JJ said, "Look at it this way, at least if you fall, you aren't
falling twenty stories or more."

"Yeah, like that hasn't happened before."

***

Chapter 11 -- Jaxon

April 9, 2029

***

When they returned to the Planet, Lois and Clark had to return to
their office. They had actually been gone longer than they should
have been, but this had been too important and they had a
personal stake in this particular issue. Now that Hattie and JJ
had something to go on, they would take the ball and run with
it.

Accordingly, the first thing they did was call Sean. "Sean,
Hattie! ... Hi yourself, cousin! I like the sound of that,
cousin. Really fits. Just rolls off the tongue easily. ... Yeah,
actually there is a purpose for the call other than to pass the
time of day. Here's the situation, I need to know what kind of
supplies an individual that has been bedbound for," she did a
quick calculation, "a little over thirty years would need. ...
Yeah, just stuck in bed, being fed by a tube, but breathing on
their own." She started taking notes as he dictated, "Uh huh,
... yeah, got that. ... Okay. ... Yeah. I think I got it all.
Thanks, cousin. Yeah, it's about the guy that's been trying to
kill us. ... Yeah, he's in for a little surprise if he tries
again. We'll let you know. Talk to ya later."

She called JJ over and said, "Okay, here's what Sean said to
look for. A lot of these would be one-time purchases, but some of
them would be ongoing. First and most importantly, he would need
a power chair. After thirty years of inactivity he would have
significant muscular atrophy. He probably wouldn't even be able
to lift his own weight so he would need staff. He would need high
energy, low residue, low fiber foods."

JJ observed, "That would be just one step up from what he was
receiving through a feeding tube." After thinking for a second
he added, "In all probability he would need an adjustable bed
like they have in hospitals. That would be available through a
medical supply store."

Hattie offered, "From what Aunt Lois told me the guy is a genius
and is a computer geek so he would have purchased, if not
readymade systems, at least components. With the advances made in
the last thirty years, he probably just bought off-the-shelf,
prebuilt equipment."

JJ summed it all up. "Okay, so we start looking around the time
that he woke up for power chair sales and hospital beds. We have
to see where they were delivered."

"I'll check on computers and equipment like that. The one item
that won't be past research will be his ongoing need of special
foods. He has to be on a special diet because of the time he was
restricted to the bed. We need to see if we can locate supply
houses and follow up on deliveries. Okay, let's get to work,"
JJ suggested. 

Hattie said, "Why don't you take the power chair and computer
equipment and I'll take the bed and food. We can check back
together when we have something."

"Sounds good to me, wife. You know, I like the sound of that ...
Wife. It suits you."

Hattie smiled in reply, then said, "I like the sound of it too,
but right now we have a job to do. Let's get to work."

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and said, "You're the
prettiest slave driver I ever met."

Three hours later they got together with Lois and Clark in the
conference room. 

Lois asked, "What have you found out so far?"

"In a city the size of Metropolis the number of power chairs
purchased in one week is staggering! I took the date that he woke
up and canvassed the sellers of those devices. For the most part
they have been accounted for. There are a few that I still need
to check back on, there are a few on the list that have passed
away in the interim and there are three that are still
unaccounted for," reported JJ.

"I looked into the hospital beds. Same as what JJ said. There
are an unbelievable number of hospital beds sold in one week. I
have a few to check back on also."

Clark suggested, "I think you should cross reference your lists.
See if some of yours cancel out JJ's."

"Good idea. We'll do that."

"What about the food angle?" Lois asked.

"I wish we had a better handle on that diet. I've started
checking around, calling home hospital supply houses. I found
that the foods can come from the same places as the beds.
Unfortunately, since the foods aren't so bulky, they could be
picked up and not have to be delivered. That looks like a dead
end," Hattie reported.

"I've also been checking on the stock purchases of MiraLabs.
That leads to a trust. The money is coming from a numbered Swiss
account. It could be some of the money that Luthor had squirreled
away. Funds from that same account were used to purchase a ton of
computer equipment. It was all delivered to an old warehouse that
used to belong to LexCorp."

Hearing this, Hattie started getting excited. "Where is this
warehouse?" she asked anxiously.

"Down by the docks, why?"

"One of the beds was delivered to a warehouse down by the docks.
I didn't think much of it until now. I thought it was just being
put into storage."

"I need to go back and check my power chair list. I might have
missed something. Back in a flash," JJ said.

Lois cautioned, "Be careful that no one sees anything."

"I only meant it as a figure of speech, Aunt Lois. Gee, give me
a little credit," he said in a slightly offended tone.

"Sorry," said Lois, "I only meant it as a friendly
reminder."

In a mollified tone he said, "Sorry, I guess I was being a
little touchy." He left the conference room and retrieved a
sheet of paper he had been working on. When he returned he said,
"Sure enough. I did miss something. Here's a power chair going
to that same warehouse."

"Keep at it, you two. Sounds like you are narrowing it down,"
Clark commended.

"Narrowing it down? I'd say that it looks like that warehouse
could be his location. Look, it would fit our criteria.
Everything on one floor so that he could get around on the power
chair. No windows so subdued lighting could be maintained. Easy
access for support staff with no questions asked. Who would
question workers in a warehouse? Large doors or a loading dock
for bringing in lots of equipment. It would be the perfect set
up, " Hattie said enthusiastically.

"Okay, seems likely; now, how do you first, convince the police
that he is the one behind all of this and second, convince them
that this warehouse is his hideout?" Lois challenged. 

JJ offered, "I could do a flyover and use my x-ray vision to see
if he's there."

Clark smiled and said, "Now you're starting to think like a
true superhero. Way to go," then he clapped him on the back. 

JJ headed for the stairwell, loosening his tie as he went.

In a musing tone, Hattie said, "You know, I've seen Uncle Clark
do that so many times ... In the last year, ever since Jon and
Jen brought me in on the family secret ... now I know why ...
Now, to see my husband, JJ, do it, it sends a thrill up my
spine."

Lois smiled and said in a wistful tone, "I saw the same thing
and for the longest time I couldn't figure it out. He was doing
it right there in front of me and I didn't tumble to what was
going on. Some investigative reporter I was. The biggest story of
the century and I missed it." She snickered and continued, "I
can't tell you how mad I was when I did finally figure it out
and how happy I was when we finally resolved our relationship.
One of the happiest days of my life was the day we got married.
There have been many more since that day." 

"It is a thrill to think, 'There he goes. He's a superhero and
he's mine.'" Hattie offered.

"Yeah, I know exactly how you feel. Until I got the pendant all
I could do was watch as he left. I had a taste of it when I was
Ultra Woman that first time. It's still a thrill, realizing that
Superman is *my* man." 

Seeing JJ exit the stairwell again and head their way, Hattie
said, "That didn't take long at all. I wonder what happened."

JJ walked in and said, "No luck. I couldn't see anything."

Clark chuckled and said, "Believe it or not, that could be a
sign that you are on the right track."

Lois added, "Yeah, that means that they either lined the
building with lead or used lead-based paint in an attempt to hide
what they are doing from the superheroes."

Hattie said, "I think I'm ready for a break. Let's go get some
lunch."

JJ replied with a question. "Lunch or a nooner?"

Hattie blushed and swatted his arm. "Much more of that and one
of us will be using the other bedroom."

JJ was shocked. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Well, no, not really. Just don't say things like that in front
of Uncle Clark and Aunt Lois, okay?"

Lois chimed in, "Hattie girl, don't worry about it. I can't
tell you the number of times we did that."

"Oh, I knew you would understand, it's just talking about it,
right here in front of you guys. It's a little embarrassing."

Lois pulled Hattie aside and asked, "Are you using the telepathy
when you join?"

Hattie nodded. "It's like nothing I've ever experienced before
in my life."

Lois smiled, "It adds an entirely new dimension to the act.
Gives a whole new meaning to the word togetherness, doesn't
it?"

Hattie nodded her head enthusiastically.

Lois said, "Go on and have lunch or whatever. We'll see you
when you get back."

Hattie and JJ walked out of the conference room and back to their
desks. Hattie picked up her 'bag of tricks' and they headed out
to lunch. As they got into the elevator, Hattie said, "Because
of your comment, we are going to lunch, only." She said the last
word with emphasis.

JJ put on a mock-disappointed face and said, "You know that we
really don't need as much in the way of food now, don't you? We
derive a lot of our energy directly from the sun."

"Yeah, I know that, but I like to eat. I enjoy the taste."

They exited the elevator and headed out of the building. Turning
right, they headed for Hank's.

They had only gone a dozen paces when a cab pulled up to the curb
slightly ahead of them. They didn't think anything of it as they
continued walking. As they came abreast of the cab a man stepped
onto the sidewalk from an alley on the right, opposite the cab,
and he had a hand in his pocket. When Hattie perceived his
presence, faster than the eye could follow, she dipped her hand
into her bag, extracted her mini-recorder, turned it on to record
and dropped it into her pocket. The thug said, "Get into the cab
and don't try any of your karate stuff. I have a gun and so does
the driver. There's also another gun on you from back in the
alley."

They entered the cab and the gunman got in front, next to the
driver, who started the cab and pulled into traffic.

JJ asked, "What's this all about?"

"The Boss wants to find out how much you know."

Hattie thought about Lois and sent, /"We are being kidnapped.
They say that the Boss wants to find out what we know. This may
be the payoff. In view of what happened before, maybe JJ's dad
could be a key player."/

Lois sent back, /"You could be right. We'll collect him and be
nearby when needed."/

She sent to JJ, /"The cavalry is on the way."/

They both sat quietly while the cab took them to the harbor area.
When they arrived they were ushered from the cab and into a
warehouse, the same one that they had identified as being the
most likely location for Jaxon Xavier.

Hattie's bag was taken from her, but they were not frisked. They
were taken at gunpoint to a darkened room. Once they entered, a
light was turned on. It was like a spotlight and it was directed
right at them. Instinctively they each brought up their hands to
shield their eyes. As a result they couldn't see into the
darkened area and their glasses blocked their x-ray vision.

A voice that sounded as if it were coming from an old and
enfeebled man came from the darkness. "Just how much have you
found out about me?"

Hattie asked, "Is that Mr. Jaxon Xavier speaking?"

A female voice filled the room. "She's got you there, bright
boy. Now what are you going to do?"

"Shut up! I didn't ask for you to comment. How did you discover
Zombie?"

"You were careless."

"How much of what you know have you told Lois Lane and Clark
Kent?"

"Well, you see, they are our bosses, so we have told them
everything. They know that you were behind Zombie. That you own
the controlling shares of MiraLabs, that you were behind the
corporate espionage using Metro-Staff. Need I go on?"

Slowly they had acclimated to the light and with their
supervision watched as Jaxon donned an odd helmet. He adjusted a
split keyboard in front of him and started hitting keys.
Suddenly, he appeared on a monitor behind the lights and his
voice came from a set of speakers, strong and youthful. "You
have been a thorn in my side from day one." His appearance was
that of a twenty-something guy, small of stature with curly black
hair reminiscent of pictures they had seen of Lex Luthor. 

"If I'd had more time I'd have set up some more stations and
then you would have joined me in my world!" His image on the
monitor spread its hands to indicate the surroundings. Suddenly
his image morphed into that of a muscular giant. Along with the
change in appearance his voice got lower and more gruff, "Then I
would have dealt with you myself. If you had died in here, your
body would have died also, but since I can't deal with you
myself my associates will have to do it for me. Kill them!" 

Not unexpectedly, in response to this order there was a burst of
gunfire from the shadows behind the lights. The impact of the
bullets knocked Hattie and JJ down and into the shadows, or at
least it looked like the impact of the bullets did that.

As the echoes of the gunfire faded away, the door was burst open
and Superman came in with Ultra Woman. They disarmed the gunmen.
As this was happening, Jaxon was shouting, through the speakers,
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Don't come a
step closer. I'll disappear into the net again."

Just then Jimmy Olsen entered the room. He said, "I wouldn't if
I were you. You won't be going anywhere. I pulled the plug on
your modem. You are off the Net. If you try to disconnect, you
will simply be trapped in the hard drive."

An anguished tone squawked from the speakers. "Nooooooooooooo!"
As they watched, the hulking brute on the monitor morphed back
into Jaxon Xavier as he had looked thirty years earlier. 

Jimmy replied, "Yes! You may have been a genius and very
advanced in computer technology, but we've made a lot of
advancements in thirty years. With every system, there's usually
an unavoidable single point of failure, the single connection to
the Internet. Pull that plug and you have to rely on your own
resources. You have two choices, one, come out of there and face
the music or two, stay in that world you created and replay the
few scenarios you've had time to build for as long as the power
lasts, which alone could drive you crazy. If you disconnect,
I'll personally pull the power plug, rip out the hard drive and
run a drill through the case so that it will never spin up
again."

"You wouldn't!" Jaxon challenged.

"Try me," Jimmy threatened.

"But you're with them!"

"Yes, I'm with them, but not one of them. I don't live by
their superhero code of ethics," Jimmy replied calmly.

"At least I've had my revenge. Those two are dead," Xavier
said with a smirk.

Just as he finished speaking, Hattie and JJ stepped into the
light. Hattie said, "I wouldn't go so far as to say that."

Jaxon sputtered, "How?"

JJ said, "Ever since that sniper attempt we have both been
wearing bulletproof vests." Opening his shirt, he displayed the
blue vest. "That's what saved us the night before our
wedding."

Jimmy asked, "What's it going to be, Jaxon? Do we take your
mindless body back to the nursing home while I destroy your mind
stored on that hard drive or do you take your chances in the
courts?"

"Well, it'll be my word against theirs. My thugs will not
remember anything when the drug wears off." Suddenly the screen
went blank, Jaxon's body shook. He reached up and removed the
helmet and then removed his strange gloves. JJ stepped over and
moved the helmet out of his reach. He said, "Do you want to tell
him now, Hattie?"

Hattie smiled and said, "When your bully boys picked us up, I
had my recorder in my pocket. I was able to record every word
said. She rewound the tape and hit play. Out of the speaker
blasted, "Then I would have dealt with you myself, but since I
can't my associates will have to do it for me. Kill them!"

Forgetting the enfeebled state of his body, Jaxon suddenly
lurched up and tried to spring at Hattie, but his strength failed
him and he toppled forward. As he fell his head hit the corner of
his desk. His constitution was so weakened from thirty years of
inactivity that he was dead before he hit the floor.

***

Back in the office they were all gathered in the conference
room.

Lois said, "Such a shame. There was just nothing we could do for
him. Jimmy, would you really have done that to him?"

"Nah, it was all a bluff. I mean, I could have done that and he
knew it, but I wouldn't have. Oh, I would have kept him off the
net and isolated, but I would have left him active. That was a
solid-state drive so there were no moving parts to wear out. As
long as the system had power he could have existed. I might have
tried to program some new scenarios for him so that he wouldn't
go stir crazy, although I think he was already crazy. You know
what they say, that there is a very fine line between genius and
insanity."

Hattie said, "I'm sort of sorry it turned out this way, but at
least now I won't be wearing a target on my back."

Lois laughed and said, "You mean, until the next time." She
gave Hattie a hug as she finished. "With you and me, Hattie
girl, there'll *always* be a *next time*."

THE END