Summary: Due to unforeseen complications, KR is delayed. Lois thought she was going to have a quiet time while her husband went to space to prove his innocence. Then she met his clone. Mama! Lois


Tempering Steel

Chapter One: Soap Operas and Reality


Lois Lane's clearest memory of her mother was her cranking up the television to watch a soap opera. She remembered many sick days, cuddling up to Ellen Lane with her sister Lucy while they watched the overly dramatic lives of bored, pretty rich people who didn't know how to communicate, constantly got amnesia and couldn't keep it in her pants.

Unlike her sister, Lois always despised those soap operas. She had always thought they were unbelievable, silly, and everything about them simply couldn't happen in real life.

That was until she met a man who could fly.

Lois, who had always thought soap operas were ridiculous, had gone through an six year dance as she found herself waffling between two wonderful men, a brave hero that spent his days benchpressing planets and saving kittens and a kind, gentle reporter who couldn't hurt a fly. Before learning they were one and the same. She had dealt with billionaire ex-boyfriends trying to kill him, alien queens trying to steal her fiancé away, a metal man who had become obsessed with her and crashed her wedding, and a father who unknowingly wanted to get his son in law off of earth.

Even now, here she was alone in her office, past one instead of going home, going over a Pro-League article that she had long finished to counteract the poison of Godfrey's propaganda, rather than discussing her anniversary plans with her husband in bed. Because her husband wasn't with her, he wasn't in town, he wasn't even on earth. Instead he was trying to prove his innocence for a crime he didn't commit on a world a galaxy away.

Her mother must be laughing at her in Heaven right now.

As Lois wondered what piece of junk she could manage to stomach at this time for dinner, her cell phone went off. Recognizing the number as one for the justice league, she rapidly went through every horrible scenario she could think have occurred before she answered, "hello."

"Lois," Dinah said and even with only one word, Lois could tell the Black Canary was exhausted. "Good, you're up? Sorry, but I'm going to need you to head to the Hall of Justice as soon as possible."

"What happened? Is it Clark? Is he back?"

"No. I'll explain when you get there."


By the time she managed to get to the Hall, it was nearly three. It was an odd feeling crossing the doors, while Clark had given her authorization years ago to move freely though any League. She had only been at the building as a member of the press.

The inside was filled with dozens of teens of all ages who observed her with interest. It was plain to see the majority were runaways or homeless youths from their clothing. Lois wondered if the league had become a temporary shelter and she hadn't gotten the memo.

Among the kids, a blonde girl in a purple puffy coat that was sitting in one of the available chairs wrinkled her nose at her. "I know you. "

"You do?" Lois asked, wracking her brain to put a face to the girl.

"You're Superman's girlfriend," she said.

"Always happy to meet a fan," she said wryly. "How you doing?"

"Can't complain," the girl said in a matching town, while crossing her arms. "Got taken of the street to be kidnapped by aliens, ran for my life."

"You get used to it," Lois replied blithely. "Next time it happens make sure to bring an extra pair of shoes." The girl let out an offended huff as Black Canary came to greet her.

"When can I go home?" the blonde girl demanded of the superheroine. "I deserve to know!" The other teenagers made sounds of agreement.

"Soon," Dinah said, before turning her attention back to Lois. She grabbed her hand and pulled the reporter through the crowd.

"You said that hours ago!"


Dinah dragged Lois straight into her office, past a smaller group of teenagers that included a black boy, a Asian girl, a native American boy, a Latino boy, a boy in blue armor, a Atlantean, boy who looked like the flash and the only one she did recognize, Beast Boy who waved happily to her. Once they stepped inside her office, Lois noticed the duo wasn't alone. Sitting in one of the two chairs in front of Dinah's desk was a teenage boy already waiting.

The boy was around thirteen or fourteen Lois guessed, he looked about the same age and height as Beast Boy and the kids outside. He was wearing a white costume that glowed with a light so bright, she couldn't look directly at it. He had short black hair, and his eyes were so blue that her heart had almost stopped.

He was undeniably her husband in miniature form.

He turned and while she narrowed her eyes to avoid the glare of the clothing that didn't have the decency to have a dimmer switch, she could manage to make out her husband's symbol on his shirt.

"Who is this?" he asked in a higher version of Clark's voice. Lois wondered if he had super hearing because her heart definitely skipped a beat.

"This is Lois Lane. She's…" Dinah struggled for a second; the night was noticeably getting to her. "She's Superman's friend. Lois, meet Superboy. He's-"

"Superman's clone," he said, meeting her gaze in defiance, daring her to say something.

"The Team found him hidden on The Reach ship," Dinah added. "They were experimenting on him along with the other children, so they took him along." Lois didn't know who the Reach were, but anybody who experimented on children had to be worse than the devil.

Lois had long known The Light was capable of cloning individuals. The fiasco with Red Arrow had forced an examination of nearly anyone even remotely involved with the league to get examined, so they wouldn't be compromised in such a way again. Clark as a safety procedure had put a microscopic tracker under her skin so that she couldn't be swapped. An alert would be sent straight to the fortress if anyone tampered with it.

But she had thought that if her husband had been cloned, she would end up dealing with a second Clark going through an identity crisis, the level of Red Arrow, or a man who lived a life that wasn't his and at worst try to end the life of the original to affirm his place in the world. She had thought that if her husband was cloned that it would be a nasty, sad affair for all involved.

But all she could feel right now was unbridled joy.

She had known a long time ago that when she had chosen to stand by her husband who she loved with every fiber of her soul, she would never be a mother. Kryptonian and human DNA was incompatible and nothing they could do would change that fact. She never regretted her decision. Every day with Clark was a blessing and made her happier than she could ever dream of being. But she did wonder…

Would their hypothetical child have had her violet eyes or Clark's unearthly blue? Would it be a girl or a boy? What would they have named them? Would they have given them a Kryptonian one as well? She had spent many nights keeping herself up with all of these questions of how they would be.

But none of those questions seemed to matter.

The impossible child that she had always thought of was standing right in front of her.

Because it was plain to her that this Superboy wasn't his clone. At least not like how she pictured it. He wasn't like Roy who had replaced the other. From the sheer lack of recognition of her identity it was apparent to see that see didn't have Clark's memories or upbringing.

He was young, clean, and new. And all of a sudden she couldn't see him as Superman's clone. No. This Superboy was undeniably Superman's son. Clark's son.

And that made him hers too.

After spending several seconds trying to find her voice while the teenager refused to break eye contact, she managed to choke out with her voice much higher than she wanted it to be, "It's nice to meet you."

Lois Lane-Kent had become used to the fact that her life was a soap opera. Every day she since she had crossed paths with Clark made everyday an adventure. A series of ridiculous events that many would call unbelievable, filled with unexpected twists and turns that continued to make her zag when she expected to zig.

But as far as they go this was a nice one.


End Chapter

If you want more Mama Lois. Try my other story. The World Is Still Beautiful