Kryptonian hospitality? Kryptonian masochism was more like it. She had to figure out a way to get back to the past. The future, her present, was a nightmare. The 'prisoner's quarters' turned out to be the old Luthor wine cellar. Lois looked around in disgust. They hadn't even left any of the wine.
The Amazon had dragged her down here and tied her hands and feet to a pole that had been shoved into the ground through solid concrete. Her shoulders and knees were aching from being in the same position for hours and her long dark hair was hot and sticking to the back of her neck. Clark had said that the ring was important, that it could get her back to the past where she belonged. She just had to get it from Zod somehow.
Thinking of Clark brought tears to her eyes. They had made love for the first time in an old abandoned house, just after she'd arrived here. They'd only had a mattress, some sheets, and each other but that had been enough. Making love to Clark had meant something to her that nothing else ever had. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes and she mentally slapped herself.
Do you want those assholes coming in here, thinking you're crying because of them? Get it together, Lane.
Those silent, angry words resounded throughout her head almost as if she'd spoken aloud.
XXXXX
Zod sat on his throne staring at the ring he'd taken from Lois. What did it do? He suspected, but without confirmation he wouldn't let himself barely even think it. The letdown would be horrible. Fortunately, he had within his grasp the one person who would know.
He heard the doors open and a guard came in. It was Terim.
"Tess, sir." He stood at attention waiting for a response.
Zod flicked his hand and Terim stepped aside to let Tess through. She strode in smiling winningly at Zod and he smiled back, deliberately twirling the ring where he knew she could see it.
As expected, as soon as she laid eyes upon it she stopped up short, staring back and forth between the ring and Zod. He stood up, walking slowly toward her. He would never get tired of seeing fear in her eyes. "Tess, do you know what this is?"
She swallowed. "A ring. Where'd you get it?"
"My men discovered Clark Kent's hideout this morning. Miss Lane was with him."
Her eyes widened. "Lois? She's here? But, how?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know. But, this ring has something to do with it. You're the last person who saw her before she disappeared."
She had to be careful with what she said to him. She'd worked hard to gain his trust the past year and she would not ruin it. She was finally getting somewhere with him. They'd been sleeping together off and on for months now and it was only a matter of time before he made it official.
She cleared her throat and schooled her expression. "Lois and I were fighting over the contents of this box about a year ago. She got to it first and when she touched whatever was inside it, she just… disappeared. There was a bright light."
"You've told me this before. But, that doesn't answer my question. How do you know this ring?"
She hesitated for a second, then went ahead. "Clark had it before it was stolen from him. I suspected it was in the box, but I couldn't be sure. These people from- the future gave it to him."
Interesting. "And what does it do?"
"I'm not sure. I always suspected that it was some sort of portal. To what, I don't know."
He regarded her silently for a moment. "And you decided to omit this information when I first asked you because…?"
"I-," she began, but hesitated. "I wasn't sure and Lois was gone. No one knew where she was, not even Clark. I didn't think it mattered."
He sneered at her and turned away. "Thankfully, my men are more diligent than you. Otherwise this would be in Clark's hands right now instead of mine."
Her jaw clenched, but she stayed silent.
"How does it work?"
"I don't know. Clark's the only one who does. Maybe he told Lois something." She saw a gleam in his eye and thought quickly. Tess was a bitch, for sure. But, she didn't want Lois tortured. "But, I doubt it. He loves her. He would never put her life in danger by telling her his secrets."
He stared at the ring and murmured softly, "But, how to get Clark to tell me his secrets?"
Tess relaxed her posture and smiled slowly with a hint of suggestion. She drew closer. "You have Lois Lane, don't you? She's the most important thing to Clark. More important than his friends even. She'd make a great bargaining chip."
The beginnings of a plan began forming in his mind. He smiled at Tess who did a good job of hiding her relief. Almost.
"Should I come to your room tonight?" she asked in a low voice, leaning over to kiss him.
He stopped her, still staring at the ring. "No. Tonight won't work. I'm afraid I'll be tied up with Lois."
She frowned and drew back. "She's here? In the mansion? Can I see her?"
Yeah right, he thought humorlessly. So you can try and get to the truth first?
He ran a finger down the bridge of her nose and shook his head. "Not tonight. " He paused. "Tomorrow. You can see her tomorrow." Then he walked out of the room leaving her alone to contemplate what had just transpired and all the implications of it.
XXXXX
Lois had spent two more hours with her arms behind her back, trying to get free. The ropes were cutting into her wrists and blood was trickling down to the concrete floor below. Her knees and legs were screaming in agony as numbness slowly took over. She didn't want to give up trying to escape, but fatigue was taking over as well as pain. Her head rested against the pole and every now and then her eyes would close.
Just to rest them, she told herself stubbornly. There had been no weakness in the pole or rope that she had been able to find, so she had to do the next best thing. Rest and conserve energy. Sooner or later they had to untie her and when they did…
Suddenly, her head jerked up as the doors to the cellar opened and two men walked through. They were dressed in all-black uniforms. They were soldiers, she realized. She'd recognize a soldier a mile away, no matter what planet they came from. One was carrying a plate and a cup, but he set it down out of her reach. She had to stop her eyes from following it. Instead, she stared challengingly up at her captors.
"General Zod has commanded that you be interrogated. If you cooperate you will not be harmed and you will be allowed food and water to sustain your pathetic existence."
The soldier stood in front of her, reciting it like he was a robot. Soldiers were all alike. She smirked at his arrogance.
"Nice monologue, Captain Asshole," she responded smartly. "Oh, that's just a little word we humans here on Earth like to call people who resemble the—"
"I am very familiar with your crude language," he interrupted. "Should you refuse to cooperate, we have been ordered to resort to more –painful—measures."
She swallowed hard and put on a false bravado. "I've already told your Commander everything I know."
"Where are the rebel headquarters? The ones who are friends of Kal-El?"
The other man who'd been silent so far walked over and stood behind her. She nervously tried to see what he was doing, but her neck wouldn't turn that far.
Her wrists suddenly fell apart as she hissed as burning pain radiated from them. "What the hell was that?" she gritted out, bringing her sore arms to her chest. Her wrists literally had burns on them.
They didn't pay her any attention. "Where do Kal-El's friends reside?"
She glared at him. "The name's Clark, pal, and I have no idea where they are." Her ankles were freed in the same manner and she was jerked upright to be held in place. She couldn't stand on her own yet anyway, and the pins-and-needles feeling was starting to prickle her legs.
The man held her tight and felt like a steel wall while the other really chatty one walked closer to her. He had light blonde hair combed straight back and inhumanly blue eyes. Arrogant bastard, she thought contemptuously. Her body instinctively readied itself for any pain he might be about to inflict on her.
"This is your last chance to tell us what we want to know," he said calmly.
Her heart was pounding with fear and adrenaline and he smiled. "Your heartbeat is as quick as that of a mouse. It's obvious you're frightened. Cooperate and we'll leave you alone."
She tried to be reasonable even though her temper was starting to rise. She spoke in a semi-calm tone. "I've already told you, Clark didn't show me anything other than the house you guys found me in. Maybe that's it."
She almost didn't see his arm move at all. But, it did. He slapped her hard across the face and she tasted blood in her mouth. Anger vibrated through her and she turned back and spat at him.
He smiled briefly and looked down at the saliva that had barely missed his shoe. "Your little acts of rebellion do you no service. You will soon learn who your masters are." He slapped her again and it hurt far worse than the first one.
Tears unbiddingly sprang to her eyes. "You're real brave hitting a girl," she said when she had caught her breath. Her sarcasm wasn't lost on them. However they didn't seem to care.
"It is distasteful to hit an unarmed woman," the blonde conceded blandly, "However, on Krypton our women are treated more equally than yours. If necessary I will not hold back simply because of your sex."
"Don't you mean 'were' treated? After all, your planet blew up right? So using the present tense-"
That earned her another slap. She could feel her face bruising and this time was not able to keep from crying out. "I told you, I didn't know about Clark 'til that megalomaniac upstairs told me. I don't know who his friends are."
The blonde walked calmly over to a file he'd laid on an empty wine shelf against the wall. He flipped it open and scanned the contents while walking back over to her.
"Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow-,"
Shit.
"—Chloe Sullivan, aka Watchtower, Dinah Lance, aka Black Canary." He flipped it shut and looked up at her. "There are others but these three are the leaders."
"Chloe Sullivan is my cousin," she spat. "I don't know anything but if I did I wouldn't tell you."
His eyes narrowed slightly and he tossed the file carelessly onto the floor. "I guess I'll have to resort to more drastic measures. Just remember you brought this on yourself."
He moved his stare very deliberately from her eyes to her shoulder, the fleshy part right under her collarbone. Lois felt the man holding her tighten his grip on her arms and her fear level spiked.
Then suddenly, (she really thought she was going crazy) red beams of light shot from his eyes and hit her squarely in the shoulder. This was a whole new level of pain she'd never felt before.
She screamed.
Upstairs, sitting on his 'throne', Zod heard. The barest hint of a smile flicked across his lips.
Back in the cellar, Lois' had died out and her head hung limply. A cup of water to the face revived her however and she choked and spluttered before slowly raising her head. She glanced down at her shoulder and blanched when she saw the small circular ring of charred flesh that was still smoking.
"Are you ready to cooperate?"
The sick bastard didn't even feel bad for mutilating her. She hated him. "Your general has an alien ring that brought me here three weeks ago from the past. When Clark found me, he stuck me in an old crappy house right up until you guys captured us." She glared at him spitefully, beads of sweat dotting her forehead. "Then I was brought here this morning. You can torture me all you want but my story's not going to change."
He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and then stepped closer. She refused to flinch even though her shoulder was stinging with pain. He grabbed her face and forced it back against his partner's chest. His blue eyes filled her vision.
"I believe you. No human would take this kind of torture without breaking."
She wanted to hit him so badly. If looks could kill the two Kryptonians they would drop dead on the spot. "We're not as pathetic as you think," she snapped.
He smiled coldly. "Yes, you are. But," he added, squeezing her face harder, "perhaps you are different. Perhaps you wouldn't sell out your friends under torture." He leaned closer. "Perhaps you're a very good actress and you're lying to me right now."
Her heart started pounding again and he smiled briefly. He held up his hand and the same lasers shot from his eyes, this time aimed at a big bulky ring on his finger. She swallowed as it began heating up in front of her eyes.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "If that is the case and I find out, I will make sure your last hours are filled with unimaginable agony."
He paused and then leaned back releasing her. She took a deep breath and he put on a neutral expression.
"Now is there anything you would like to tell me?"
She tried to slow down her breathing, to not betray her fear and shook her head. "I'm telling the truth. Clark said he couldn't tell me anything in case I got captured." Like now, she thought.
He held up the glowing amber ring to his face for inspection and then jerked up her shirt so that her stomach was exposed. He was going to put it on her skin, she realized with panic. She tried to struggle, but it was still far too easy for him to press the red hot metal against her lower abdomen right above her hip bone and brand her.
She screamed again, this time with tears running down her face, as she smelled her own flesh burning again. It seemed as if the pain would never end. And then it did suddenly as the man removed his hand and stepped back.
"Are you sure?"
"Go to hell," she said, breathing hard through her nose to stay in control of the pain. Her hair fell over her face as she bent her head and closed her eyes.
He stared at her and then looked at his friend. "Release her, Dral. She knows nothing. We'll report to General Zod and await further orders."
And just like that they were gone. Dral had dropped Lois onto the floor and they both just disappeared in a gust of air. Her eyes widened as she remembered all the times she had felt just that around Clark and then looked up to find him gone. It was true. Everything Zod had said was true.
Her shoulder throbbed as she weakly tried to crawl to the food and water that was left for her. She couldn't move her arm without intense agony searing through her upper torso which only in turn forced her to remember what had happened to her. He had burned straight through her muscle tissue probably to her bone. With his eyes.
What the hell were these monsters? she wondered, rolling onto the side with the ring burn. It was better than the side with the laser burn.
XXXXX
Zod listened to the reports of his two best lieutenants with frustration and remembered what Tess had said.
"She knows nothing useful, sir," Shor-Ra informed him, looking straight ahead. Dral stood at attention to his left.
"I suspected as much, but I had to be sure. And now that she knows what we're capable of she will be less willful." Zod rose form his seat and walked closer to them. "I have a plan that involves Lois Lane. In the morning I want you to announce to Alpha camp that we are going to execute out new prisoner. Invite Kal-El to join us. He's back isn't he?"
Shor-Ra nodded stoically. "Val-En and Mara threw him back in the pits this morning."
Zod placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. You're my best soldier, Shor-Ra. I know I can count on you. Now," he said in a louder, brisker tone, "I must see to Miss Lane."
At the odd looks his men gave him he explained. "Your interrogation was rather… strenuous and I need her alive for the morning." He grinned and his men followed suit, relaxing and allowing smiles to spread over their faces.
Zod turned on his heel and walked out through the double doors still laughing.
XXXXX
She blearily opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. Her head was groggy and her mouth felt like it was filled with sand.
"Ah, you're awake. Good."
That was Zod's voice, her brain registered. For a moment she had thought that maybe, just maybe, this horrible future she'd been dumped into had been just a bad dream. She re-opened her eyes and saw him standing over her, smirking arrogantly. She was instantly on her guard and tried to sit up. Lying down around him made her feel vulnerable. But, doing so caused a slicing pain in her shoulder and along her abdomen that instantly laid her out again. She closed her eyes against the nausea.
And instantly became very aware that under the white sheet draped over her she was naked. She snapped her eyes open, feeling incredibly violated, and looked scathingly at him. "Where the hell are my clothes?"
He gestured to the side of the room and she saw them folded neatly on the floor. "It was necessary to remove your clothes to treat your wounds."
"Wounds that you inflicted," she said tightly. Whatever pain reliever he'd given her was making her dizzy and she closed her eyes briefly again. "It was necessary to remove the underwear too, or was that just a perk?"
He walked slowly around the cot she was lying on. "I've been a soldier for over fifteen years. I have stitched up the battle wounds of my soldiers while enemy fire flew over my head and men's screams filled the night." His face took on a haunted look. "I crossed enemy lines and dodged laser projectiles capable of destruction far beyond your human comprehension just to rescue someone very dear to me from…" He paused. "I can assure you that your modesty is safe with me."
She had kind of started to listen to him for a moment before his arrogant friggin' tone took over again. For a moment he had almost gained a tiny ounce of her sympathy. She knew what it was like for a soldier who'd seen war. God knows she'd seen more than enough men in her life succumb to the slow-eating madness that stemmed from it. Some like her father were born for it. Some weren't.
As she looked at him, she knew that he belonged in the former category. In another lifetime, she could've respected him and maybe even liked him. She certainly had before when she'd thought he was Agent Zod. But in this lifetime, his damn voice was so arrogant and mocking that it set her teeth on edge. The knowledge that he had seen her naked for God knows how long pissed her off big time.
So she responded the only way she knew how. Bluntly and tactlessly.
"If I ever get the chance, I'm going to kill you."
He laughed and a look she didn't like came into his eyes. "A human could never kill one of us. In fact, nothing can kill one of us. That's what's so great about your planet, Miss Lane. I could snap your neck right now without exerting any pressure at all."
And then it seemed as if she blinked and he was by her cot, bending down to her level so that he was closer to her. His hand was on her throat gripping it tightly. She instinctively tried to move back but she was already pinned down with his hand. She threw a fist at his face but he knocked it away with no effort at all. She tried to draw up a knee but he grabbed it with his other hand.
He smiled at the wide-eyed fear she wasn't aware that she was showing. It was a mixture of fear, panic, and stubbornness. Humans were so fragile and ignorant. This one was almost asking for him to kill her.
A memory flashed through his mind just then of him dying on the floor and her above his prone body fighting for both of their lives. It wouldn't be very honorable of him to kill her.
His hand tightened around her throat imperceptibly and he remembered that this was a different world now. This wasn't Krypton. The same code didn't apply. "Do you understand now? I can move faster, see and hear better, and lift a hundred times more than the strongest human. And that's just the beginning."
She swallowed and looked down at the sheet that was about to fall away from her. One wrong move and she would be exposed and helpless. That was worst feeling she'd ever felt. Then she looked up at him,
"You're not better than us. You're a monster. A better man wouldn't keep humans shackled up in death camps. Bodies of dead children would at least get a burial. The sun would be normal again. You are the pathetic one, not me," she said in a venomous voice, knowing that he might kill her for it. But it wasn't in her nature to cower in the face of death. She preferred to spit in it.
For a moment he really considered squeezing just a little harder and ending her forever. But, he remembered his plan and eased his grip.
"I've done what was best to ensure the survival of my species. In life, the weak are destroyed and the strong live on. Accept it."
There was one thing though that she didn't understand. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you keeping humans alive at all? Trying to ensure as slow a death for us as possible?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, "I keep humans alive because slavery is all they're fit for. To work for us and maintain the tower."
"But… the sun."
He was getting irritated. "What about it?" She was the most provoking female he'd ever met.
"Humans can't survive without a yellow sun. The animals and plants will begin dying soon and our bodies will shut down. Not to mention you're about to bring us into the next ice age."
He scowled at her. He'd never heard that before. She was lying so that he'd tear down his tower and reverse the damage he'd inflicted. Well, she didn't know him very well. "We can't feel the cold so why would I care? The red sun is what gives my people strength, thanks Jor-EL," he said bitterly. "And it reminds us of our home world, Krypton." If that damn scientist had just given them the gifts they were entitled to none of this would've happened.
She jerked her head away from his grip and quickly sat up, ignoring the shooting pain through her arm. He was surprised but didn't move away. Her face was closer and even after hours of torture and being tied up, she was beautiful. His eyes wandered to the large bruise on her cheek and then back up to her eyes. She leaned closer, clutching the sheet to cover her breasts.
It didn't however, he noticed, cover her ribs or the curve of her back.
"And that's why you're a monster."
He didn't like the way she looked at him. He had loved more deeply than a human like her ever could. Everything he'd ever done had been for Krypton and its people. Other galaxies thought Kryptonians were hard and cold and unfeeling, but that wasn't true. Their passions were simply hidden deeper.
He stood up abruptly and glared angrily down at her. "What would you know? Clark Kent, the man you love so much, didn't really tell you anything about himself or where he came from, did he?" He sneered. "So keep your mouth shut about things you know nothing about."
Her temper flared. How dare he bring up Clark's secrecy to her? It was kind of a sore subject. "I know all about soldiers and war and honor. My father was a great general and a great man and he tried to be a great father." Anger tears glittered in her eyes. "And he taught me that a great leader doesn't have to crush others to get people to follow him. I don't know what kind of person you were on your planet, but here on Earth you're nothing but a power-hungry egomaniac."
"Well," he said with tightly controlled fury, walking over to her clothes and throwing them in her face, "then it's just as well you won't be alive much longer to be bothered by me. Get dressed," he ordered, smiling angrily and walking to the door, "You have a date with Clark Kent in one hour."
Then he slammed the door shut and left her pale and shaken on the cot.
Ahhh, I really liked this chapter for some reason even though it was a pain in the ass to write. It seemed to go on forever. I'm not sure if I'm going to have Lois start up something with Zod here in the future or wait 'til she gets back to the past. Basically it's going to be just like the show in that respect. When she gets back, she won't remember anything but what she gets from flashbacks. That'll complicate things because she won't get all the information at the same time.
And of course will tag a long for the ride. I don't know if I'm going to have him kill his past self or just assume the same body. Because he's Kryptonian he'll keep all his memories from the future.
