A/N - If you want me to flesh it out, let me know in the comments. This was taking too long in the re-writes, and you have already waited long enough. There's another chapter waiting to go up after this one.

-CLARK-
Back at his apartment, Clark remembers that Kal-El was supposed to phone Bruce Wayne tonight. But if he calls now from his apartment, it will be obvious that he's not wearing the tracker any more, and also Bruce will know his true location.

He decides to have his good friend Clark Kent make the call for him.

He picks up the phone and calls the number from the business card he received earlier this evening.

An older gentleman with a British accent answers the call. "Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth at your service. Who is calling, please?"

"This is Clark Kent, calling for Bruce Wayne. Kal-El wants to know where to meet Mr. Wayne tomorrow morning."

"Ah, yes. I've been instructed to tell him to go to Wayne Industries headquarters, Gotham City, fifteenth floor, at 10 o'clock."

"Thank you. I- I'll let him know."

-LOIS-

Lois is walking with Steve to her apartment to pick up her car.

"What happened to your car?" she asks.

"My friends took my keys, thought I was too drunk to drive. Wish they'd seen me take out those hoods. Ha! I showed them!"

"How will you get into your place, then? Without your keys, I mean."

"My roommates will let me in. Wish *they* could have seen me. Two against one. Kapow! Right in the kisser. One in back of me, one in the front. Used the old leg swipe on one of them, down he went. Too bad you slept through most of it. At least you're finally going out with me, huh?"

In the dark, he doesn't see her grimace.

"Saved your honor. Maiden in distress, and all that. Not to mention all those passengers on the train. I'm a regular hero, that's what!"

They reach Lois' car. She rolls her eyes as she pulls open the passenger door. "Get in, hero."

All the way to his house, he won't stop talking. "Now you know what great guy I really am, bet you're sorry now for all those times you turned me down. You are one lucky girl, getting to spend some time with me!"

Reaching a red light, Lois strums her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel until it turns green, wishing she could just get to his house already.

As the car whooshes down the street, so do his words. "We're finally going out together, and having a wonderful night! Who knew we'd get on so famously?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "I did, that's who!" he chortles.

As soon as they reach his apartment, she urges him out.

"Bye, now!"

He steps out onto the sidewalk and turns to call out, "Thanks, Lois! I had a wonderful -"

She reaches across the seat and yanks shut the passenger door; speeding noisily away, she drowns out the rest of his words. What a guy, indeed.

-CLARK-
The following morning, before sunrise, Kal-El visits the fortress.

"Jor-El. I brought the video footage of the fights in Metropolis. But I'm not sure I need them. I met a warrior woman who has offered to train me in her facility."

Jor-El is instantly standing before him. "This is good news. You may wish to use the guard robots; I will show you how to set them to sparring partner mode."

He summons a guard robot and flips a switch in its back panel. "In this mode, they do not inflict mortal wounds."

"May I borrow them?"

"They are at your disposal, my son."

"Regarding the two humans who were sent to the Phantom Zone, how do I retrieve them?"

Again, holographic images appear around Jor-El as he speaks. Clark pulls out a note pad and pen to take notes.

"You must modify the Phantom Drive according to these schematics." He indicates a very complicated diagram projected behind him.

Kal-El shoves the useless pad of paper back into his pocket and hands his father the flash drive Diana gave him. "Can we upload it onto this drive?"

"Certainly." While it's uploading, Jor-El shows Kal the switch he'll need to use for activating and then inverting the vortex.

"Does it need to be done from here? If I'm in the Phantom Zone, someone else will need to do it, and then the location of the fortress will be compromised."

"Fear not, my son. I'm also including instructions for a remote access controller and some re-routers, so the location of the fortress can remain safe. As an added precaution, you can relocate the fortress after your return, before the signal can be tracked back here."

"One more thing. How will I signal earth when I am ready to return with the humans?"

"There is a signal device in this life pod." They are standing near what looks like a sealed transparent coffin; inside is a skeleton which may once have been a Kryptonian.

"Do not open the life pod until you are ready to depart," Jor-El cautions him. "The communications device has been here for several centuries. When the life pod is opened, the power source will begin to diminish. If the power runs out, you will not be able to signal earth. Once it is depleted, it cannot be recharged."

Kal-El retrieves the flash drive, the Phantom Drive, and all of the necessary parts, and places everything in an empty box he finds conveniently lying around in the storage room.

Now he is ready to fly to Wayne Industries.

It's 9:45 am. Bruce Wayne is in a conference room, seated at a long table with several other men and women in business suits; hearing a knock, he looks up at the picture window and is surprised to see that it's Superman, hovering just outside, fifteen stories above Gotham City, carrying a large box, red cape fluttering in the wind. Mr. Wayne motions to his secretary to open the reception area window and let him in.

Emerging from his meeting, Mr. Wayne leads Superman into a smaller side room.

Superman says, "This box contains the Phantom Drive and all the parts needed for its modification, and the specifications are on this flash drive."

Bruce buzzes the secretary. "I need some runners."

Two men appear.

"Take this down to Lab B." To Kal he says, "My science team will take it from here. It should be ready by this afternoon."

"And how's the satellite coming along?"

"It's taken care of."

Kal is surprised. "So quickly?"

"I have powerful friends."

He nods. "Excellent. I'll be there this afternoon."

-LEX LUTHOR-
It's Sunday noon. A man lies unconscious on a white cot, covered in a white sheet up to his throat. Beside him stands a man in a white lab coat. Joining him is another gentleman, tall and slender, completely bald. Over his dress suit is a long, black, high-collared trench coat. He gestures toward the patient with a black-gloved hand.

"How is he?" The man in black seems friendly enough, but the doctor is startled and begins to fidget with his stethoscope.

"Mr. Luthor. The patient is recovering nicely. He now has full use of all of his limbs."

He pulls back the sheet and holds up one arm of the sleeping man. "See? The nano-cybernetic enhancements have left no marks whatsoever. No one will ever know, unless we use this activator." He holds up a remote-control device. "He will seem just like any ordinary human."

"And the mind control?"

"This time I think we've got it right, sir. Of course we still can remotely trigger any degree of pain or pleasure at will, but now the modifications to the brain's sensory processing centers seem to be functional as well, so we can send all of the signals and commands from a single -"

"And the memory wipe and reconditioning?" Lex Luthor impatiently interrupts the doctor's nervous babble.

"All working within acceptable parameters."

"Completely undetectable?"

"Don't you worry, Mr. Luthor. There's absolutely no way to detect these modifications, even when activated."

Lex Luthor nods and turns to go. His Senatorial campaign fundraiser dinner will be starting soon, upstairs.

He has guests to greet.

-LOIS===

Bruce Wayne is the first to arrive; at the door, he hands Lex a check for a sizable donation. Lois Lane arrives soon after; she has her suspicions regarding the subway stations, but the tie is not clear. She wants to get answers directly from the lion's mouth.

The ballroom is filling up quickly. Bruce Wayne catches sight of Lois - she is positively stunning in her sparkling silver evening gown - and invites her to sit by his side; he hasn't brought a plus-one this evening, which is unlike him.

Wow, Bruce Wayne! He noticed me! she can't help but think. But she quickly composes herself and they begin to converse. "So. How do you know Lex Luthor?"

"We first met at the national high school science competition," he begins. As he speaks, she notes how his chiseled features seem like an extension of his crisp, tailored suit and perfectly arranged hair. He speaks with careful earnestness, yet she can catch the tones of his earlier youthful conviction. "There is such a thing as thinking things through; I am sure that the animal cruelty activists were protesting my science fair project as a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that bats are animals, but without any regard for the fact that, in my care, the bats were safer and more contented than they had been in the caves where I discovered them. Still, someone opened my cage and released all the bats, and I was disqualified. The same happened to Lex Luthor; he tried to charge his batteries prior to the exhibit, but some Luddite or fellow contestant unplugged his recharger, and he didn't discover the problem until he tried to demonstrate his robot for the judges. So Lex didn't win, either. But we got to talking, and found that we had a lot in common. We didn't see each other again for many years; Lex lived in Kansas, after all, and I was from Gotham. But lately we find ourselves moving in the same circles, and both of us have gained worldwide renown far more significant than a mere national science fair ribbon. The ground-breaking research Lex's team of scientists has been doing, and the almost-miraculous patient recoveries in the hospital he founded, are legendary."

"And you?"

"Well, surely I don't need to remind you of the Wayne Foundation and all the humanitarian -"

Someone stands and proposes a toast. "To Lex!"

Hundreds of crystal wine glasses are raised, Lois' and Bruce's among them. "To Lex!"

*************CLARK***********

Seated in the pew beside his mother, Clark is so consumed with thoughts of Lois, he doesn't really hear the sermon. He can't wait to see her again. He wonders what she is doing right now.

After the service, he doesn't allow himself to go hang out near her apartment, though. He knows that stalkers are generally frowned upon.

Instead, he makes a quick trip to the arctic for the battle bots, and up to the satellite, which is, as Bruce said, somehow fully upgraded.

Diana greets him there, and doesn't seem at all surprised to see him; she shows him where the annex is (actually he figured it out with his x-ray vision, but to be polite he lets her lead him there anyway) - and since she already viewed the satellite footage (she had kept a copy), she is ready to start giving him pointers.

Even without the Lasso of Truth, Clark feels that he can trust Diana completely, so he tells her that he has super powers on earth because of the empowering effect of the rays of the yellow sun. He guesses that in the Phantom Zone, he'll be the same as everyone else. The satellite is a perfect place to practice, because it's orbiting in earth's shadow, where it's always night.

Diana agrees; as he'll be vulnerable in the Phantom Zone, he needs to learn to survive without powers. She shows him how to guard against injury, to protect head and face, to fall and land properly. She gives him exercises to build up other advantages, such as observational skills. She shows him how to feint, dodge, and strike. She activates two bots which begin to circle him. "You need to practice this again and again, to build up endurance." For a few hours he feints, dodges, and strikes without any letup; the longer he does this, the more his powers are diminished; after three hours he has become as weak as any ordinary human. Diana is not satisfied; she has him continue on for three more hours, until his movements have become slow; his legs feel like lead weights; barely able to stand, he raises his arms with great difficulty.

Now that he is thus weakened, she activates the bots' lasers and instructs him to continue. He steadies himself and turns to face an oncoming bot. Suddenly, the other bot comes at him forcefully from behind and knocks him off balance. He lands hard, breath knocked out momentarily. As he tries to recover, the other bot's laser glances off his side. The cut is not deep, but the sensation is completely new to him. He recoils in surprise; the bot doubles back and slices deeper in the same spot. Suddenly, he is in more pain than he has ever felt in his life. He grasps at the open wound, gazing in wonder as blood begins to seep out onto his hand. He is gasping for breath and trying to rise as a new jolt of searing pain flashes across his arm.

"Defend yourself," Diana urges. "Think of the humans who need you."

"Lois!" Through sheer force of determination, he stumbles to his feet and fights fiercely on, sweat streaming down his face until he is struggling to see where the bots are coming from. More slices, and his suit is in shreds. One strip of material flips upward, blocking his vision. Now he is lashing out blindly as the bots close in; he drops to his knees, helpless with exhaustion and the intensity of the pain.

As he receives one last painful gash to his already-bloodied arm, Diana presses the control button. "Enough," she says. "Now you rest."

She carries him to a cot and places him on it, gently. "In a few hours, you practice again."

"The yellow sun," he chokes out. "Get me... to... the yellow sun."

"Not yet," she says. "None of your wounds are fatal. You need to build up a tolerance for pain, to endure it. Otherwise you will never make it in the Zone."

She gets a bottle of alcohol and some bandages. "These you will be able to bring with you. This will sting." She peels back the remaining material and opens the bottle, pouring the potent liquid into his wounds.

At the first burn of the alcohol, he cries aloud. Yet another new sensation, and not a pleasant one. But he is learning; when she returns with more of the same, he grits his teeth and remains silent, then passes out.

*************LOIS***********

Meanwhile, at the Luthor mansion, the guests have finished their meal. As the dancing begins, Bruce offers Lois his arm and escorts her to the dance floor. He is remarkably lithe for one so slim; his arm beneath her hand is solid muscle. As they begin to glide gracefully among whirling couples, she notes his confidence. Years of dance lessons, she bets. She doesn't need to keep an eye out for possible collisions. She gazes up into his face. His smile is pleasant and relaxed, but as she watches intently, his eyes show a hint of something darker. Sadness? Grief? She tries to keep her tone casual, to match his outward demeanor. "How's business? Bet you're glad those thugs are behind bars." He, too, keeps the conversation light. "Thanks to the alien," he says. "Came to the rescue yet again. Seems to be making a habit of it." Lois pauses at this news. She was there; Steve was the one who saved the station. But she decides it's not worth arguing right now. They're near Lex Luthor; time to switch dance partners.

Lex is a good dancer, too. Actually, that's an understatement. What is it about rich people and dancing, she wonders. Like Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor is tall and slender, but he is not as athletic. Also not as follically endowed. Still, his wealth and generosity are, as Bruce Wayne said, legendary. He has even established a special residence hospital called Hallowed Hope, from which countless paraplegics and mentally ill have been discharged, completely whole. Who would ever suspect such a renowned philanthropist of something so heinous as blowing up subway stations? She blinks her lashes up at him and sweetly intones, "Has anyone made a connection between you and the subway explosions yet?"

Lex fiddles with his necktie in an idle gesture, then gives it a firm pull; a mist shoots out from a nozzle at his throat, previously concealed by the knot of his tie. Lois swoons.

Two women rush over. "Helga," Lex addresses one of them. "She needs medical attention."

The one referred to as Helga nods, and the two women lift Lois between them and drag her away.

The guests dance cheerfully on, unaware that downstairs an unconscious Lois is in a locked room awaiting her fate.