July 1926

Lois Foster was born on November 11th 1918 to Jack and Celia Foster. They always considered her a good luck charm, especially seeming as her birthday fell on the day that the Great War ended. Everyone remembered celebrating and laughing, which was suddenly interrupted when Celia went into labor. "You knew it was safe to come out," her mother would always tease her.

Lois was a very smart little girl. Smarter than her three older sisters and smarter than her older brother too. Her brother, William – named after his grandfather – took a particular shining to the little girl. Twelve years her senior, he absolutely adored her, something that made Lois' three sisters resent her.

Yes, Lois was exceptionally smart. She was very adventurous and always reading, wanting to learn more. William would often take her on trips around Central Park and New York City, pointing out historic buildings and teaching her their pasts. Her father thought that, if she had been born a boy, she would have been one of the greatest minds of her generation.

Jack Foster always tried to teach her and feed her need for knowledge, but he was a realist, and he knew that she would never be respected for her brain because she was a woman. It broke his heart.

Jack Foster was a professor of History at New York University and had seemingly passed his intelligence down to his children, notably his first and last born. His son was born to be an engineer, and while Jack would of preferred that he ventured down Jack's own line of expertise he encouraged his son to pursue his talents.

Jack had no doubt that when his youngest daughter was old enough she would want to go to university too. Luckily, the Foster Family were financially well off and his daughter was smart enough to go (as well as stubborn enough not to let misogynistic trolls stop her) to university. Jack and his wife were just thankful that they would be able to allow their youngest daughter the opportunity to go.

Lois was an exceptional little girl. She was extremely kind, pretty and smart. Her raven hair bounced around as she skipped everywhere, her bright green eyes were always full of life. Freckles sprinkled her face and she always wore a smile. By the age of six she was already reading books meant for high schoolers, and at the age of ten she was reading books meant for university students. It was truly amazing.

Lois' one draw back, however, was her reluctance to make friends. Her three older sisters adored her, but they were very different to Lois. The other little girls that her mother's friends would bring around bored her. When she was very little she would go play with the boys that came to visit their family and they would all run around and fall in the mud and laugh, but as they got older they started to ignore her, saying that she wouldn't be able to keep up in her dress.

Lois' eldest sister, Evelyn, would tell her that they didn't want to play with her anymore because playing in the mud was something boys did, not little girls. She told Lois that she would 'never get a husband by rolling around in the mud playing silly little games'. Lois told her that if that was the case she didn't want a husband.

When Lois was six, William went to MIT to study a degree in engineering. Lois was sad to see her best friend go, and William was heartbroken to leave her behind. But he promised her that he would write to her and talk to her on the phone whenever he could to tell her all about university. Lois was now without a real friend for the first time in her life, and her mother told two of her three daughters to look after Lois and include her to keep her company.

Evelyn, who was determined to marry as soon as possible and be a good housewife and mother, spent the majority of her time attending dinner parties with her friends. Evelyn was sixteen years old, and Lois would rather burn all her books than spend a day with Evelyn and her friends. Evelyn had beautiful golden locks that curled at the top of her shoulders, and they were often a feature that Lois envied. Lois had taken after her father, whereas Evelyn had taken after her mothers blonde hair and blue eyes, the poster girl of beauty at the time with her pink cheeks and lips and her soft skin. Lois didn't think too greatly about looks, but she still hoped that when she was older she would be as pretty as her eldest sister.

Her second eldest sister was fourteen-year-old Grace. Grace was Lois' favourite sister, but Lois wasn't allowed to spend time with her unless it was in the house. According to her mother, Grace had fallen into a 'rough crowd', the sort that people of their class didn't fall into. Their father still loved Grace but he agreed with his wife; partying with common riff raffs was not acceptable for one of his daughters. Grace was much more fun than Evelyn of Lottie though; like Lois, Grace was always full of life. She was always laughing and moving about and Lois wished that she could go around with Grace, but even Grace thought that it would be a bad idea.

The last option was Lottie, the second youngest in the Foster Family. Lottie was only a year younger than Grace but completely different. In some ways she was similar to Evelyn. Lottie wanted to be a 'woman of class' and marry a rich young man, but where Evelyn was kind and charming Lottie was cold and reserved. She disapproved of Lois' want to run around in the mud and her interest in superheroes and cars and university and she didn't mind telling Lois her opinions. Lottie was Lois' least favourite sister.

Unfortunately for Lois though, Lottie thought that it would be a wonderful opportunity to teach Lois how to be a proper young lady instead of follow William around all day, reading and playing in the mud.

It was November 13th 1924 when Lottie took a six-year-old Lois out with her friends to town in Brooklyn. Lottie and her three friends, Ruth, Mabel and Emma had taken Lois to all their favourite clothes shops in Manhattan and were now taking a walk through Brooklyn to meet with some more friends where they would get some tea. Lois was having a horrid time, and as she passed a group of boys playing football she itched to go tackle them and score a goal, something that Lois would have been able to do easily, despite being in a stiff dress.

"Lois," Lottie's sharp voice called Lois from where she was walking with her friends in front of Lois. "Respectable ladies don't dawdle. Keep up."

Lois dragged her feet along the ground even slower just to peeve off Lottie. They were currently walking through a park, which was in the middle of a busy block. It was extremely cold out and Lois was grateful for her coat.

A girl was walking past them in what looked like near rags. The girl could have been pretty if it weren't for her gaunt face and heavy bags under her eyes. Lois heart wrenched at the thought of anyone going hungry. The girl must have been about her age, a little taller than Lois though and with dark skin and brown eyes.

Lottie's shrill laugh erupted from in front of Lois along with Lottie's friends' laughs. Lottie pointed at the young girl and whispered into Emma's ear before the both began to giggle again. Lois clenched her fists angrily. This girl looked like she hadn't eaten a good meal in weeks, nor did it look like she had any decent clothes, and they were laughing at her?

The girl looked scared at the attention on her and quickened her walk through the park, but Lois stepped in front of her. Lottie and her friends kept walking until they heard Lois' voice talking to the girl, which, when they heard, they quickly turned on their heels.

"Are you okay?" Lois asked the girl who looked startled at Lois' words. The girl nodded, but her eyes were stuck to the ground. The girl was without a coat and she looked freezing, her arms had goose pimples dotted everywhere. "Here," Lois said, shrugging off her coat, "Take my coat."

"Lois!" Lottie stormed over to them and ripped the jacket from Lois' outstretched arms. The girl looked up at Lottie with a terrified expression on her face. "What are you doing?"

"Giving her my coat. I have plenty at home and-"

"You don't give people like that," she nodded at the girl who looked like she was about to cry, implying that Lois shouldn't show her kindness due to the colour of the girls skin, "coats like this." Lottie lifted the expensive coat as an example. "Now, put it back on." She shoved the coat back into Lois' hands.

Lois was seething with anger, something that the little girl rarely felt so strongly. But with Lottie's stern glare on her she slowly put the jacket back on. Lottie nodded, pleased with her work, and stepped back, motioning for Lois to continue walking with her. Lottie's friends were watching on with sad expressions on their faces, but none made a move to defend Lois.

In a split second decision, Lois grabbed the girls hands and, ignoring Lottie's screech, began to run, dragging the girl along with her. Lois giggled manically as Lottie screamed after her, and her laughter seemed contagious because the girl she was dragging along with her had begun laughing too. Lois knew that her sister wouldn't run after her.

Lois didn't know how long they ran for, only knowing that they were both running as fast as they could. Eventually, Lois dragged the girl into an alley way off a busy road when a pain found its way to Lois' side. The pair fell to the ground, laughing and panting.

When both girls had calmed down a bit, Lois stood up and outstretched her hand to the girl. The girl got up too and hesitantly took Lois' hand and shook it. "I'm Lois." Lois grinned.

"Frances," The girl replied, still slightly out of breath.

"Are you cold?" Lois asked, letting her hand fall to her side.

The girl nodded, looking at the ground like she had in the park.

"Here, take my coat." Lois shrugged the coat back off her shoulders and offered it to the girl. Frances shook her head violently.

"No, I couldn't."

"Nonsense!" Lois laughed, "You need it a lot more than I do." The girl eventually took the coat and placed it over her shoulders. "It looks much better on you anyway." Lois leaned in and whispered.

Frances smiled down at the floor. "Thank you," She said, but it came out only as a whisper. Lois wasn't stupid, far from it. She knew that people of colour were not very well liked, although she had read that it was a lot worse in the south – at least before her brother ripped the books from her, telling her that she was too young to read about those sort of affairs.

"I better go," Lois said lamely after a moment. "Take care of yourself." She said and went to turn, but the girl unexpectedly launched herself on Lois, hugging her tightly. After a moment of shock, Lois hugged back.

Frances released Lois and smiled widely at her, her eyes filling with tears. Lois started to feel a bit uncomfortable. Why was this girl about to cry? Had Lois offended her? Lois smiled back at her, but it didn't reach her eyes. She waved at Frances and turned to walk away.

As she walked along the street on her own she finally realised just how cold it was. The breeze felt like pins on her bear arms and passing grownups looked down at her in an odd manner. It was a strange sight, though. A young, well groomed girl was walking along on her own, with no coat on in this weather.

Lois ignored their stares and just kept walking.

~8~

Lois had been wondering around Brooklyn's street for about four hours, avoiding all police officers. She was very cold, and the sky was getting dark. She knew she would have to find her way back eventually.

She was currently perched upon a set of fire escape stairs, the cool metal burning her though her dress. She had her head in her lap when she heard some voices from the level above her.

"John Carter is much better than Zorro," One of the voices said. She could tell that he was a young boy, a little older than she was.

"No way," another voice squeaked. "Zorro could easily take on John Carter."

Lois' ears perked up, listening to the conversation intently. She had, of course, read both of the comic series that the two voices were talking about, having obtained them through William. She personally preferred Zorro and agreed with the second, smaller voice. She got up and began climbing the stairs, ready to defend Zorro to her grave.

When she reached the next level she found two boys sitting by an open window, cross legged and facing each other. One of the boys had a mop of dark hair on top of his head and a crooked smile plastered on his face. The boy sitting next to him was substantially smaller, with light blond hair, combed back across his head.

"John Carter would slaughter Zorro, admit it!" The boy with brown hair said, nodding as he spoke.

"Nonsense," Lois said, interrupting them. Both boys turned to face her, startled expressions on their faces. "Zorro is much more skilled with a sword."

The boy with brown hair's face hardened. "Who are you?" He asked.

Lois shrugged.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you doing on this fire escape?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

The blond boy looked on, a concerned expression on his face.

"This," he motioned to the open window, "Is Steve's apartment."

Lois didn't know who Steve was, but the boy with brown hair didn't seem to care. "Yes, but it's freezing out," Lois said. "Why aren't you inside?"

"Why are you out without a coat?" The blond boy finally spoke, and both Lois and the dark haired boy looked at him, startled.

The boy with dark hair looked back at Lois and seemed to suddenly notice that Lois was, in fact, without a coat. "What the heck? You must be freezing! Where's your jacket."

Lois shrugged again. "So you think that John Carter could beat Zorro." She sat down next to the two boys.

"What would you know about it, girl?" The dark haired boy growled. The blond boy's eyes widened.

"Enough to know that Zorro would totally win." Lois said, ignoring that insult. She got it enough at home to know how to ignore it.

The dark haired boy seemed taken back by Lois' lack of reaction towards the insult and he looked lost for words.

"Well, she obviously knows more than you to know that Zorro would win." The blond boy said, and Lois grinned at him. "I'm Steve." He stuck out his hand, and Lois shook it.

"Lois." She nodded at Steve. Steve turned to look at the other boy, and Lois followed his gaze.

The other boy looked at Steve and then back at Lois before rolling his eyes. "I'm Bucky." He said and shook her hand too.

"But I think we all know that Cave Girl would beat both of them." Lois smirked.