The sound of beeping evaded her ears as she found her body ached from tip to toe. She kept her eyes shut as she listened desperately to the sounds around her.
The last moment she remembered she was dying in Lex's arms, thanks to him. Despite trying to maintain control, and knowing she was lying in a comfortable bed, she couldn't stop her hand twitching.
"Tess?" 'Emil!' thought Tess, 'Could it possibly be?'
"Tess, I'm here! Don't worry! You are completely safe, the Watchtower team got to you before it was too late. You are currently in a secure room underground Star Labs, owned by Oliver. It is Thursday, around 7:00a.m."
Emil decided not to mention that the facility was heavily guarded.
Tess breathed a sign of relief, "Lex, Darkseid?"
"Lex has no memories from what we know, but time will tell if he remembers. We don't think he think he knows about Clark. Darkseid is gone, Clark became Superman!"
Tess could not mistake the pride and joy in Emil's voice, then heard him say,
"And married Lois in the process, although that was before we knew about you."
"How long have I been out?" she croaked,
"Not long actually, probably going on for fifteen hours." he replied then added,
"You just need rest Tess. Forget about the outside world for now, it will get on just fine. Clark and Lois are looking to pay a visit later this morning to see how you are doing."
Tess weakly smiled, replying, "Thankyou..."
He touched her hand,
"I'm glad you're awake Tess. What you did was incredibly selfless and brave. I thought I'd lost you!"
Tess smiled as she looked at Emil, she had no doubt that he'd been put through it, she could see the dark circles under his eyes. Somehow she thought the last twenty hours or so had been far more exciting than he was letting on.
"And why do I have the feeling that without you I wouldn't be here now Emil? I love you, you know?"
her voice still croaked, Emil smiled,
"Rest Easy Tess, I love you too. And it was a combined effort to save you..." he smiled shaking his head,
"What you did for Clark was bravery beyond words..."
She smiled looking up at him into his eyes,
"It needed to be done, Lex with that kind of knowledge would have been very dangerous."
Emil leant down to her and kissed her on the lips.
Meanwhile...
Major Quell watched General Sam Lane approaching the Kent Farm with a smile on his face. They were a long distance away to avoid detection, and keeping very quiet, they did not wish to attract attention of any kind... just yet. The security detail around the General had been considerably tightened for the Presidents presentation later that morning to Superman.
"Subject is approaching Location B. Details as predicted..."
The receiver clicked. Quell smiled once more,
"Be ready." came the reply from Slade.
At the Kent Farm...
Clark motioned to Lois as they came to land, hidden from view behind trees at the farm,
"Your fathers here Lois, he's approaching the doorstep to the farmhouse."
Lois quickly adjusted her black suit as Clark quickly changed into office clothes with glasses, they had a busy day ahead of them.
Clark had heard the Generals approach when he was flying Lois to the farm, and seen him at a distance, he also sensed the it was both personal and business that the General was coming to the farm for, and informed Lois as such.
"Daddy! Lucy!" shouted Lois loudly, walking hand in hand with Clark,
they both noticed that the General was dressed in smart presentation military uniform, Lucy was dressed smart casually, even though there was the ceremony they both felt it was more business he was here for.
To both the General and Lucy Clark appeared nervous.
"Hello Lois, Clark." said the General who noted Clark's nervousness as they exchanged greetings,
The events of the previous day had obviously taken a toll on him,
'Lois looks fabulous though! Pity I've got to sour it! Clark, the poor kid! it affected a lot of people, some quite badly - what happened the other day. I only hope he won't hold Lo back! If he does, I'll have to do something about that!' thought the General.
Lois and Clark had agreed that Clark would act the bumbling reporter in front of both Lucy and the General, as Clark had not told the General his secret.
Noticing the wedding ring on Lois hand,
"And congratulations Lo on your marriage! I'm sorry we couldn't be there for it."
Lois smiled replying, "It's understandable, with everything that's happened. You had a job to do."
"Yes we did." he replied then hugged Lois, who then hugged Lucy, Clark shook hands nervously with the General, and hugged Lucy.
Before any of them could say anything more, Martha opened the door and Lois made the introductions, Martha asked if they all wished to have breakfast, to which they agreed.
Over breakfast what had happened was briefly discussed, before Martha invited the General to the party that Saturday. Breakfast finished very quickly as Lois and Clark needed to see the presentation to Superman as well as the General, then the General asked Lois,
"Can I speak to you privately please Lois."
Lois looked at the General and replied, "Why do I get the feeling that this is business!"
The others had stopped what they were doing, and to the Generals annoyance were listening, "Business."
Lois looked at Clark and Martha, and at a smile from Martha began walking to the door saying,
"The Barn will do fine." she turned to Clark motioning him with her hand, "Clark."
the General was not happy with this, "I would prefer you alone Lois."
He didn't wish to subject poor Clark what he had to show Lois.
"Its with Clark or we discuss it here.",
the General looked at his daughter, "this is business Lois, and very important."
Lois motioned for Clark to join her, who remained quiet while Lois replied, "Regardless."
The General grumbled and followed Lois and Clark to the barn, noticing the hand-holding.
Lois looked at Clark briefly, he was concentrating a little and caught her eye briefly. He was on guard and had just squeezed her hand three times, 'We are being watched!' she heard the thought, he had also just given her the discreet hand secret signal 'And I don't think its just by the Generals men...'
Back at the house...
Martha greeted Lucy Lane, "So Lucy how are you?"
"I'm fine thankyou Mrs Kent." she looked around,
"You seem to have a really nice place here."
"It is, and its nice to come back too, especially when I've been in Washington."
"How have you found it? Being a Senator I mean?" asked Lucy,
"It's mostly a constant barrage, with a lot of people being convinced their opinions are the right ones, and trying to find a balance. It involves very long hours and an awful lot of meetings with a diverse range of groups of people." smiled Martha,
"Wow, and I thought my dad had his work cut out. Did you manage to make it for the wedding? I'm sorry that we were unable too." said Lucy,
"Yes, and it's not a problem, and understandable considering the major event that was happening. So I wouldn't worry about it." smiled Martha,
"The base went on lock-down and Dad grounded me, concerned over what was happening. It was all hands on deck, and I helped out where I could with the little things on base."
she paused adding, "And then Superman appears! Quite a catch for Lois. Just in time to save the day!..."
Martha kept her voice neutral when she replied, having already heard the evidence from Chloe about Lucy's telephone call with Lex. She was very suspicious, so much so that she had specifically asked Conner to keep an eye on Lucy when she saw both her and her father greeting Lois and Clark.
She suspected the General didn't know about Lucy's telephone conversation with Lex,
"Yes! Superman saved the day! Thankfully! or else I dread to think what would have happened."
"So you think he is a good thing, this 'Superman'?" asked Lucy,
Martha stopped what she was doing and looked at Lucy in the eyes,
"Lucy, you do realise that in saving Air Force One, Superman not only saved Lois, but also the President, as well as some very important members of the Presidents team!"
Lucy replied nonchalantly smiling, "Yes! he did... didn't he."
adding, "I'm glad!"
Martha spoke, "It is nice to see you anyway! Do you know if you're staying in the area? or are you going with your Dad?"
"Oh I'm staying!... If that's okay! For a few hours anyway! Daddy doesn't want me hanging around him for the next few hours."
at Martha's kind look she adds, "He doesn't want me getting in the way of work."
"Well make yourself at home while you're here, if you want or need anything to eat or drink just help yourself, it's nice to see you."
"Will you be staying?" asked Lucy,
Martha shook her head replying,
"Sadly not! Because of what has happened I need to get back to Washington. A Senators work is never done, and I'm needed more than ever now, especially after the event we have just had!..."
Meanwhile in the barn...
Once in the barn, the General placed a laptop he had been carrying on a bale of hay, opened it and turned it on in an instance, and turned to Lois,
"I was hoping to avoid bringing Clark into this, but since you insist."
"We are in this together Sir!" replied Clark hesitantly,
He looked at Clark, nodded, then pressed a button, and footage appeared on the screen from a facility both Lois and Clark recognised only too well. 'How did he get hold of that!' they both thought.
The footage did not last long, and the General turned to them and said,
"You see! Undeniable and irrefutable proof!..."
The General stopped at the look on Clark's face, while Lois looked incredulous, the General looked at Clark, and noted he looked more disturbed than before, he looked distant, and truly looked uncomfortable.
This concerned the General, but before he could say anything, both Lois and Clark's pagers beeped.
Lois looked at Clark, and he had the look of needing to go and looked at his pager quickly,
"If you'll excuse me Lois."
he nodded to the General "Sir!", and ran out the barn, the General stared after him as he went,
"He's chasing up a story." said Lois briefly looking at the pager and desperately trying to keep a straight face,
at his look, Lois exclaimed,
"We arein the reporting business you know! News, like yourself doesn't stop happening because it's the weekend or because family's visiting."
In fact they each had two pagers – both identical, but different beeps, and it was the Watchtower pager which had beeped.
It had been a message declaring Tess to be conscious and speaking, it was on a secure channel, but Lois also knew by the look on Clark's face, that he had also been distracted by something he heard, a look which Lois recognised instantly, Superman was needed.
The pager had ironically saved the day, and had given him the ideal excuse to leave at that moment, even though she knew considering what they had just seen, he didn't wish too..
After what seemed an eternity for Lois, the General said,
"Well, it was you I wished to speak to anyway.."
after an eternity he shut down the laptop, turned to Lois and said,
"Lois, we need to talk."
At Watchtower...
Chloe Queen looked at the screen, the large screen started flashing,
"What the!" she exclaimed,
She quickly found the source of the alarm, a train derailment in Metropolis – on a viaduct. She clicked onto the cameras at the scene, which showed Superman lifting the train back onto the viaduct then flying away after a quick wave to the passengers.
The front end had fallen off the viaduct and had been heading to the ground, and had caused by what looked like an explosion on the rails.
Chloe smiled, "Well done Clark."
John Jones entered, "Hello Chloe."
"Hello John, You okay?" remarked Chloe smiling,
"Thought you were on duty today!"
"The presentation to Superman has been called off, or rather delayed, with a new date to be announced. I only called in to let you know."
Chloe looked at him with raised eyebrows, "Why?"
"The President has been needed elsewhere. An emergency situation has arisen, and he has had to cancel, and because he wanted to do it personally, he has sent his apologies. It will appear on the news-channels shortly."
Chloe looked at the screen, and saw the aftermaths of several bombings around the world,
"Or rather emergency situations?" Chloe looked at the screens,
"Explosions galore across the country and natural disasters."
she looked at John, "Clark's going to be busy.."
"The President wants resources to be concentrated in helping in those emergencies, and to ensure peoples safety. He is also concerned about the explosions." stated John,
"If you can let Lois and Clark know, I've got too be on my way."
"The explosions seem to coincidental, especially where they are. This is too well timed" said Chloe, who sent the message to Lois and Clarks pagers.
"It is, I'm already on it." replied John with a grim smile,
"Are the others aware?"
"Yes, Kara's busy out there, so is A.C, Dinah, Victor and Bart. Oh, and the Batman."
"Who!" asked John,
Chloe turned around and looked at him,
"Someone who dresses up as a bat, and scares the living daylights out of the criminals out there!" pausing she added,
"He's well known in Gotham, his resident place."
"Indeed! How do you know he can be trusted?"
"He has provided reliable vital information previously. Also, a resident Gotham billionaire, Bruce Wayne, has also come up good, vital reliable information that we've needed, which has included information regarding where the Batman has been and other areas."
"Bruce Wayne and the Batman? This sounds too good to be true, can we truly trust either of these characters?"
Chloe smiled, "Oh, don't worry, I am certain they can be trusted! My past experience and dealings with them has left me in no doubt on that now."
"This gets more and more interesting, especially that they have both provided reliable useful information. So what are they like? And when do we get to meet either of these characters?" asked John,
"Well, personality wise, Bruce Wayne and the Batman could not be more opposite. Mr Wayne is outgoing but the Batman keeps himself to himself, and likes to carry out his 'work' himself. He also does not consider himself a team player. I planned on it being a gradual introduction to the rest of the team, especially with the Batman, and have Clark or Lois meeting either of them next, considering their area and experience of work."
John raised his eyebrows, "Mad Dog Lane? That should be an interesting one! I would just love to be a fly on the wall there, especially in the same room as Mr Wayne!"
Chloe laughed at John,
"Shouldn't it just! But as I said, the Batman likes to work alone, and he is very, very cautious with who he works judging from what I've read about his work."
"Keep me informed, and if there's anything I can do to smooth the way with either of them, let me know." said John,
Chloe smiled replying, "I will, thanks John."