The ship came to a stop, signaling it had landed on Earth. She lifted the puppy into her arms. He at least felt like he was still a normal weight. She waited as the door opened. The sunlight was blinding. It had been so long since she had been under the sun; it was almost too painful to bear.

She took in her surroundings as she made her way around to the other side. There was a long line of women waiting just beyond the ship. There was only one thing to do now that her plan had succeeded and she was back on Earth, she had to get back onto the ship. She had to get back to Kal-El whatever the consequences when the Kryptonians saw her emerge.

"Hey, you there! Get in line or get lost!" shouted one of the guards.

Lois joined the line. As she was waiting, she noticed that the women all had papers in their hands and they were showing it to the guard before they were allowed to get on. She was fairly certain this didn't bode well, but if there was any way humanly possible to get back on, she was going to take it.

"Papers, please," said the brusque-looking guard. It wasn't the guard that had pushed her on before like she hoped it would be. "And as you should have been instructed earlier," he said, looking at the dog in her arms, "there will be no taking of pets."

"Oh no, I must have left the papers at home."

"Sure you did," he said snidely. "No papers, no leaving the planet."

"Do I have time to go back and get them?" she asked, trying to hide her desperation. She was sure she could find a way to forge them if she was given a chance.

The guard's response was to pick up his walkie talkie. "We have a situation here. A young lady needs escorting off the premises."

2 guards came and she knew it was hopeless. They took her to the gate and finding out that she was Lois Lane of the Daily Planet, they let her go with a warning.

She heard the small buzzing sound of the ship taking off and watched as it disappeared completely. It was ironic. She had been taken against her will to Argo City and now that she wanted to get on the ship, she couldn't. She let out a small, dry chuckle. That was the life and luck of Lois Lane, she thought ironically. She had no choice now that the ship was gone but to accept it and go home.

She looked down at the puppy. He at least looked happy, and he hadn't tried to escape or do anything weird in front of the people. "Well, I guess you'll get to see my apartment."

She set him down as soon as she got through the door and went over to her answering machine. She pushed play. There weren't as many messages as she expected there to be.

"Lois, this is your father," he said gruffly. Lois rolled her eyes as if she could mistake his voice. "You know I did what was best for the country. I assume you're still coming for Thanksgiving. Call me if you're not, so I know whether to set a place for you."

"Lois, it's Lucy. I'm in Metropolis for the day. We should have lunch. If you don't call me back, oh well. I'll assume you either didn't want to or didn't get the message in time."

"Lois, this is Perry. I know I sent you on an important assignment and you're probably tracking down information on it or some other story, but why haven't you checked in? Lane, you'd better call soon or I'm going to send somebody to find you!"

"Vote Bill Hake into office. He will listen to the people. This means you. Call our office at 555-2393 and tell him where you stand on the issues. Bill Hake is not a fake. He cares." She shook her head at the stupid slogan and deleted her messages.

4 messages and one was a recording. It was kind of sad really. She could drop off the face of the Earth, and had, and nobody would even know it. She would be one of those people they found rotting in their apartment because nobody cared enough to check in on them. That wasn't true, at least not anymore. The dog would care, and she was sure Kal-El would care if he was still with her. On earth, the only one who had noticed that she was missing was her workplace, showing where her life was tied.

She gasped when she saw the puppy. It was creating a white blur as it ran around the room and then it leapt onto the very top of the bookcase like it was flying. It picked up the heavy brass statue she had gotten in France and tossed it with his teeth like it was a hollow bone. It hit the floor with a heavy thud. Then it whined as it noticed where it was and looked toward Lois expectantly.

"So you're afraid of heights. That's just perfect. I can tell I'm going to have to train you quick."

She picked up the phonebook and flipped to the V in the yellow pages and called the first number under vet.

"Yes," she said to the may we help you. "Theoretically speaking, if your dog flew up onto the very top of your bookcase and found out only after it was up there that it was afraid of heights, and also taking into account the fact that it has super strength and would probably topple you over if you tried to get him down, how would you get the dumb dog down? Hello? Hello?" she wasn't that surprised to hear the dial tone.

sss

"What's wrong?" Lara asked, knowing something was wrong the moment she saw her son's face.

"Lois, she's gone. She went back to Earth."

There was stunned silence as his parents took in the news. His father spoke first. "Do you still want her?"

"Of course I do, but what can I do without alerting the council to the situation?"

"Well, son, the airship I've been tampering with could get you there. I could open the dome for you when everyone is in bed."

"Are you sure, Father, that it could handle that long a journey? I'll find a way to get the ship when it comes back if I have to."

"I'm sure. I thought there might come a time when a privately owned vehicle that could travel the distance would be handy to have now that we have women from Earth living in Argo City."

As soon as night fell, Kal-El and Jor-El drove the airship out to the dock area. Jor-El turned to Kal-El and put a hand on his shoulder before he got out, "I'm going to open the dome now. Good luck, Kal-El."

Kal-El took a deep breath and got situated for his long trip.