A/N: Okay. Warning for this chapter: this story just got a lot darker. Seriously. Mainly this chapter. The summary has changed, and I've decided to make this story more about the creation and evolution of a superhero instead of just Lucy's life. Still going to be the same set up, what with the drop-in, one-shot feel, just more centralized plot. This is how Lucy becomes who she's meant to be.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, Superman or otherwise. I own this plot, and not much else.


Chris opened the door to their apartment and was surprised to find it dark. He tossed his keys into the bowl next to the door as he struggled to carry in two bags of groceries and his briefcase. "Honey? Little help here please?" He kicked the door closed behind him and looked around. His question was greeted by silence.

Curious, he fixed his hold on the bags in his arms and strode forward through their apartment. He glanced at the clock on the wall- it was nine fifteen on a Thursday evening. Photojournalist or no, his wife should have been home by now- in all five years of their marriage, she was either there to greet him when he got home or left a note for him next to the key bowl. He double checked to make sure he didn't miss anything or accidentally knock it off the table, but to no avail. Chris frowned.

"Honey? You home?" He thought he heard a small noise coming out of the kitchen and he headed that direction. "Honey?" Chris set the bags on the table and walked around the island.

He felt his heart plummet as he saw her.

Lucy was huddled up in the corner, arms folded over her knees, face burried in the crook of her elbow. Her form shook with her sobs. Chris ran over to her side immediately. "Honey, what's wrong? Are you alright? Is everything okay?"

Her voice was broken when she finally managed to speak. "I-I c-c-can't. . . d-d-do it."

Chris's brow furrowed in confusion. "Can't do what?"

"D-damn S-s-super-man."

Swearing was uncharacteristic of his wife- unlike her mother, Lois, she rarely lost her cool. She took after her father in that way. And frankly, who could find anything bad to say about his father-in-law anyways? The man was. . . well, Superman. Nevertheless, her words only heightened his concern for his wife. "Why?"

"I-it's his d-damn DNA t-that's s-s-stopping m-me."

Chris felt his throat close up. "What?"

Reluctantly, she reached beside her and handed him the butcher knife from their kitchen drawer. Or rather, what was left of it. The blade was twisted into an unnatural form, bent out of shape, and the handle had fingerprints permanently imprinted on it.

The realization hit Chris faster than a speeding bullet.

"Lucy," he began slowly, "What's. . . why. . . what would possess you. . ."

"There's more in the bedroom," she muttered in a flat, resigned tone.

"More? Did you run through the entire knife drawer?" She shot him an irritated look, mascara staining her features, making her look even more depressed, and he changed tactics. "Why would even think about something like this, Lucy? What's the problem? You have a great job, a family that loves you, and you will always have me-"

Suddenly she broke down crying again, burying her face into her husband's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling him close against his body. Why on earth Superman's daughter would attempt suicide was unfathomable to Chris.

"Th-th-the doctor c-c-called."

And just as quickly as he had denied the situation, it all clicked in his mind- and Chris paled at the realization. Unconsciously his arms tightened around her shaking body as he remained silent for a moment, trying to think of what to possibly say to that. All their hopes and dreams were lying in wait for that phonecall- and from his wife's reaction, it obviously wasn't good news. Finally he managed to gulp past the lump in his throat and ask the dreaded question.

"And what did he say?"

Her trembling violently increased and he gripped her as tightly as possible. One of the perks of having an invulnerable wife. "U-um, it's n-no-ot g-good. He-e, um, said th-that. . . that w-we c-c-c-an-an-an't. . ." Her voice trailed off.

Chris bit his lip fiercely and felt a hot tear stream down his cheek. He shut his eyes, trying to block out the words from his mind, but it was no use. They were already there, and he knew the truth now, despite how much he might try to deny it.

We can't have kids.

It was like being punched in the gut. Chris felt sick to his stomach. They had been trying for a little over a year now, and he knew how badly Lucy wanted to have kids. Especially after her brother's wife had one, with another on the way- despite the fact that Jason had married after them. Hell, he had wanted to have kids as badly as she had. It was like the universe was spitting in their faces.

"I-I don't understand, Chris. Jason could. How come we c-can't?"

He shook his head slowly, reluctant to open his eyes and face the truth. "I don't know, sweetie. I just don't know." If it were possible for the grip on his wife to get any tighter, it did. For a long moment, they both just sat there in silence, mourning the loss of something they never had.

Eventually, when her sobbings had subsided a bit, Chris turned to his wife's form in his arms. "Hey," he said, catching her chin gently and raising her face so that his eyes could meet hers. "No matter what, I will always love you. I don't want you to ever think that life's not worth living just because someone told you that you couldn't do something. If you weren't invincible, do you have any idea what kind of pain you would have caused me, caused your family?"

A pained, sheltered look entered into her eyes at his words. "But. . . you wanted kids as much as I did. Why would you want to be with a woman who couldn't even give you a family?"

He shook his head firmly. "Lucy, no. You know that's not true. I love you. Did I look forward to having kids, sure. Anyone would. But not in a million years would I trade my love for you just to have a kid of my own. You are my family."

Her blue eyes were filled to the brim with tears, one silent betrayer leaking free. Chris brushed it away with his thumb gently. "Thank you," she whispered, turning and planting a kiss in his palm.

Chris brushed her hair back from her face. "Don't leave me, sweetheart. Ever."

She closed her eyes briefly before returning her impossibly blue gaze back to her husband's loving, concerned face. "I won't. I promise. It was just a moment of irrational thinking."

He gave a small, bitter laugh. "Yeah, well, let's not have anymore of those, alright? Besides, who knows? Maybe the doctor's wrong. I mean, your dad got your mom pregnant on the first date," he nudged her with his elbow suggestively.

A brief smile lightened her features. His joke had worked. "Yeah, but my dad's Superman."

"And you're his daughter. That's gotta count for something. I don't know. Maybe we can go down to Star Labs or something, run some other, more specific tests on you. See if it's at all possible. Besides, there's always other options."

Lucy smiled at her husband and planted a kiss on his lips this time. "Thank you, honey. You always know exactly what to say. I love you."

He kissed her once more with a grin spreading across his features. "Yeah, I am pretty great, aren't I?"

She rolled her eyes. "And so humble." She swatted his arm gently as he chuckled. She sighed and pulled herself to her feet, Chris coming up with her. With one final kiss, he strode off to their bedroom, loosening his tie as he went.

He stood at the threshold with a look of horror. "Um, sweetheart? Care to explain all this?"

Lucy appeared at his side within a second, but shrank back when she saw what he was refering to. An extension cord dangled from their ceiling fan in the form of a noose, and half a bottle of pills lay on the floor, along with a completely drained bottle of wine. He turned fearful eyes to his wife, who couldn't bring her unearthly blue eyes to meet his dark brown gaze once again.

He spoke when she remained silent. "Just a moment of irrational thinking?"

"Maybe it was longer than a moment," she muttered before blurring her form and removing all the evidence from sight. "Sorry," she muttered when she returned to his side once more.

Chris sighed and wrapped his arms around his wife, who once again buried her face in his chest. "Don't scare me like that anymore," he whispered.

"I won't."

After a pause he finally chuckled. She glanced up at his face suspiciously and saw her husband fighting a smile. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just. . . you really tried to hang yourself? Little Miss Flighty?"

She frowned, but felt the corners of her mouth pull upwards. "Yeah, it didn't work really well. Turns out flying really is second nature for me. It's difficult to fight. And when I did successfully hang, I was too invulnerable to cause any damage, let alone cut off my air supply- especially since I can hold my breath for hours on end. . ."

He laughed outright this time. "I'm lucky you take after your father in that way. Was there anything you didn't try?"

Her expression darkened and she looked to her feet. "Kryptonite. I didn't try kryptonite," she whispered.

Chris felt his pulse quicken at the mention of the word. That topic was generally held as taboo for the entire family. The fact that she would even mention it must have meant she was thinking about it. His grip tightened around her before he pulled back and looked her in the eye. "Lucy," he began in a stern, chiding tone. "Don't you dare talk like that ever again, understand? I'm lucky to have you- everyone who knows you is lucky to have you in their lives. If you even so much as think about that horrible substance ever again, I'm going to have to put you in the care of an insane asylum, got it?"

She flushed and looked to the ground once more, but her husband's steady hand kept her gaze on him. She shifted uncomfortably. "What was I supposed to say, Chris? I didn't go that far, and I knew that none of this would work. You know I knew what I was doing. I wouldn't even go that far, and you know it. Besides, I don't even know where to find it. I'm safe. Really. You don't need to worry about me anymore."

"Honey, I will always worry about you, invulnerable or no. I can't help it. Just, please: promise me that you'll never, ever do anything stupid like that ever again. Don't even go there in your mind, all right? We're in this together, all right?"

Lucy heard the sincerity in his words, and what's more, saw the terror in his eyes. True, genuine fear. It suddenly hit her how trying this had to be on him- no matter how ridiculous it seemed to her, being that she was invulnerable and knew everything she tried wouldn't work, for someone who was very vulnerable it must have come as more than quite a shock. She placed herself in his shoes, and knew that even if he was as invulnerable as she was, that wouldn't keep it from mattering.

His expression had grown more terrified as she stood there thinking, non-responsive. Her next words were spoken with a strong conviction, and she knew that she was telling the truth when she said them. Lucy nodded as a tear leaked from her eyes once more.

"I know. I promise."