Lois grinned at her father and hugged him as Clark and his friend went out to the barn.
"Dating already?" her father asked.
Kal smiled. "Apparently they're 'just good friends'." He held out a hand to his father-in-law. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Sam."
"Thanks to you," the former general smiled. "We all thought we were goners, actually."
Jonathan smiled. "We were just about to have coffee," he said. "Would you care for some?"
"That would be great, Jonathan. Thanks."
"Just make sure yours is decaf," Martha told Jonathan. "Remember your blood pressure, dear."
Jonathan made a face at his wife, but went off amiably enough to make the coffee.
"Tea for me please," Lois called out. She smiled again at her father. "We have something to tell you."
They hadn't even told her father about the pregnancy, since Lois had wanted to wait until the scan anyway.
"You're pregnant," he said, then laughed at her surprised look. "It's hardly a newsflash, sweetheart. I'm not so old I can't remember what it was like for your mother." His eyes took on a faraway look. "The first time she told me she was pregnant, we were in Russia. I went out and bought her this little glass bird. You know, there's this fairy tale in Russia, I forget what it's called, but the bluebird is a symbol of hope."
"I remember that glass bird," Lois said, glancing at her husband, who sent her a loving look. "Mom used to put it in the window in the kitchen of every place we moved to. What happened to it?"
"I still have it somewhere," her father replied. "I've always been meaning to give it to you, but you've been travelling around so much the past few years … now that you're married and settled down, I think it's time Ol' Blue got a new home, don't you?"
"You're right, Daddy," she said, sitting down with her father at the table as Jonathan brought out the coffees. "Anyway, it's not just the fact I'm pregnant. We just found out today, we're having twins. A boy and a girl."
Her father's face lit up in a huge grin. "That's wonderful, sweetheart. Two more grandbabies." He looked at Kal, who nodded.
"We're thrilled," Kal told him. "I know my mother and father would be very happy as well." His face took on a wistful look and Lois knew he was missing his parents. It looked like it was time for a visit to the fortress.
She decided to change the subject and asked her father about the attack on the plane. The two men holding the President hostage had demanded money and the release of some prison inmates on death row.
"I don't understand why they would threaten to blow up the plane, knowing they would be blown up with them," Martha said.
"Maybe that's a question for them," Lois told her. She looked at Kal. "I'm guessing they'll be in FBI custody. I know an agent I can talk to. His name's Dan Scardino."
"Isn't he …" her father began.
Lois chewed her lip. She had met Scardino years ago when he had been working undercover, pretending to be a lawyer with the Federal Drug Administration, trying to uncover a scam being run by a corrupt pharmaceutical company. Lois had been chasing the story.
Scardino had tried to get her to go out with him, but she had never been interested.
Kal correctly interpreted her hesitation.
"Sweetheart, you don't need to explain," he said. "That happened before I came back and I know I have no reason to be jealous."
She squeezed his hand and smiled at him lovingly. He trusted her with his heart and soul and she felt the same way.
Her father smiled.
"Anyway, the President is very keen to meet you, Kal." He frowned slightly. "We can't exactly call you Kal."
"Actually, I've been giving that a lot of thought," Lois told her father. "I read Nietzsche years ago."
Kal frowned. "Nietzsche?"
She nodded. "He's a kind of philosopher. Anyway, Carter Hall and I were having this deep discussion a couple of months ago and he reminded me of Nietzsche."
Kal looked confused.
"Carter told me that Nietzsche believed the true hero was someone who embraced the life he was given and made it better. He called that person Ubermensch. Superman."
Her husband still seemed puzzled.
"Honey, what I'm saying is, your powers are a gift and instead of wasting that gift, you're using it to help humanity. That's what I mean."
"Superman," Jonathan said, a small smile on his lips. "That sounds like a great name."
The general nodded. "It does."
Kal looked dubious. "I don't … know," he said slowly.
"Daddy's right, honey," Lois told her husband. "Now that you're out there, helping people, they will want to know more about you. So, you need a name. Besides, I think it fits, and not just because of Nietzsche. I mean, the symbol on your suit - I know it's the El family crest, but to the average human it looks like an 'S'. And you are super human, and male, so … Superman. I mean, it doesn't matter that you're not really human."
"Oh, that's something you need to think about. Are you going to tell people you're an alien?"
"We actually already talked with Perry before dinner," Lois told her father. "He thinks we should stick to the truth … that Kal is the survivor of a doomed planet."
"Which would get the sympathy vote," Jonathan said with a smile.
"I still don't know," Kal said with a sigh. Lois' father looked at him.
"Son, if there's one thing I have learned it's that you do not argue with a Lane woman. Especially when she's pregnant. Trust me on this. They will find some way to hold it over you …" he trailed off as Lois glared at her father. "Uh, maybe I should go see what my grandson is up to."
Kal nodded. "I think I'll join you, Sam," he said, getting up from the table. The two men slunk away.
"Yeah, that's right," Lois grumbled. "Run away. I'll get you back."
She couldn't help but notice the grins from the older couple, who swiftly rose, pretending they had something urgent to do.
ONE MONTH LATER
Kal flew in to Watchtower through the open skylight, hovering in mid-air for a second before slowly lowering himself down to the main floor. His teammates frowned at him.
"You're late," Batman admonished.
"Sorry," he said. "I was caught up dealing with …" He nodded toward the huge screen where news reporters were speaking on camera, relaying the details of his various saves throughout the city.
"Don't you think you might be overdoing it?" Green Arrow asked.
Kal frowned at him, but didn't ask what he meant. Since his rescue of Air Force One, he had been kept busy all over Metropolis, attempting to keep the crime rate down. Bruce had cautioned him about doing too much, especially since it could create resentment among the local police, not to mention the emergency services if they thought he was taking their jobs.
Still, he didn't see that he had much choice. In the past month alone, two police officers' lives had been almost cut short as the crime rate in Metropolis escalated. Kal had only just managed to stop them being gunned down when they had each gone to separate incidents in Suicide Slum, only to find themselves in the middle of gang activity.
Lex, while he had been uncharacteristically silent over the new superhero's debut, wasted no time in pointing the finger solely at Kal as the cause of the rising crime rate. Superman - Lois had won that little debate - had soon discovered his share of critics as well as supporters and she had reported they were pretty much neck and neck.
"Batman, why don't you back off," Lois interjected. "Superman can't help what's happening out there."
Batman glared at Lois. He'd been, as Lois suggested, like a bear with a sore head lately, but Kal presumed that was because he had had a few run-ins with Catwoman, aka Selina Kyle. Clearly Bruce was having issues with his would-be girlfriend and she was retaliating the only way she knew how.
Batman looked at Lois for a moment, then nodded.
"You're right. I'm sorry," he said. "Now that Superman has arrived, we can get the meeting of the Justice League started. What do we have to report?"
"Why don't I start?" Green Arrow replied. "Metropolis isn't the only city having problems with an escalating crime rate. Star City's is soaring. It's like the bad guys have all banded together and agreed to step up activity in every city."
Impulse nodded. "Same thing in Central City."
"I hate to point out the obvious, but this all did start as soon as Superman appeared on the scene."
Kal frowned at his teammates. Could the media be right and his presence was to blame? Lois squeezed his hand, clearly knowing what he was thinking.
"No, honey," she said. "This isn't your fault." She turned back to the others. "My instincts tell me there's someone behind the scenes pulling the strings. And who do we know who likes pulling the strings?"
"Lex," Kal replied. "You think Lex is behind this?"
"It makes sense," she said. "I've been trying to talk to some of my sources, but they've all clammed up like, well, clams. It's like they're all running scared. Even Bobby Bigmouth let me down."
Kal continued to listen as his friends talked about the various incidents. It seemed that the Justice League had its very own counterparts - a team of villains who thought they were strong enough to fight the members of the Justice League. Yet, apart from the Joker, who used the proceeds of bank robberies to finance his schemes, none of them seemed to have much money of their own. Which begged the question. Who was the money behind the Injustice League, as Impulse called them.
It seemed to make sense that Lex, with his billions, was financing various schemes to either destroy the reputations of the Justice League members, or generally to cause trouble. It was fairly clear the bald billionaire was doing his level best to turn the public of Metropolis against Superman, before Kal had really even had a chance to establish himself as the city's resident hero.
Lex was claiming that Kal was the vanguard for a fleet of aliens, intent on taking over the planet, based simply on the story Lois had written and published in the Daily Planet. It would have been laughable if it weren't for the fact that the other man had managed to dig up the files they'd thought buried by Amanda Waller. As much as Kal wanted to think that Checkmate was dead and buried, the one lesson Jor-El had taught him was that ideas could be buried, but they could never die.
He'd learned other lessons through the war on Krypton. Lessons which he wanted to show the people of Earth. The trouble was, most of those in charge viewed his ideas with suspicion. How could he tell them that his main motivation was to prevent the same kind of disaster on Earth that had befallen his own planet?
His family, not to mention Bruce, had advised him to not take the criticism to heart. Eventually the population would come around once they realised that he really was only there to help.
He heard a small cough and Lois nudged him.
"Oh," he said. "Guess it's my turn. Well, Lois has been doing some digging into the attempt against the President on Air Force One. She has a contact in the … FBI?" he asked, turning to his wife for confirmation, who nodded. "Um, so the agent working on the case said he didn't believe the two men who tried to blow up the plane were terrorists."
Scardino had told her the explosives on the plane had been rigged to blow the engines once they'd got what they wanted out of the President. The so-called 'terrorists' would have jumped from the plane before it crashed.
"Hey, you guys might want to take a look at this," Bart called out. He had left the meeting to take a call on one of the other screens.
"What is it, Bart?" Bruce asked.
The smaller man showed them the screen, where a video of Lex showed behind the anchorwoman.
"LexCorp today announced they have won the contract to produce new security tech which the company's CEO claims will prevent the kind of terrorist act which saw the President and several of her aides attacked last month.
"The situation, in which two men took President Wallace hostage, demanding millions of dollars and the release of several unidentified death row prisoners, was quickly ended without further incident by Metropolis' Superman.
"However, LexCorp CEO and president Lex Luthor says this incident could have been prevented with tighter security measures."
"Frankly," Lex stated, "I believe the President's security is inadequate. My company has been working on tech which my researchers believe will prevent such incidents from reoccurring.
"While I, among many other citizens of this country, am grateful to Superman for his brave actions, I find myself questioning his motives. Having said that, had my company's new tech been in operation there would have been no necessity for Superman at all."
Lois looked at Kal.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If you're thinking Lex may have been behind this attack, I would say that's not a huge stretch of the imagination," Bruce replied.
Bart shushed them.
"In other news, Mr Luthor has announced he is putting his hat in the ring for next year's Republican nominations. Lex Luthor, the son of industrialist Lionel Luthor …"
Kal gazed at the screen as Lex again spoke in what seemed to be a press conference. He was highly critical of the President's inability to protect herself and her people, implying that a President who could not protect herself was hardly in a position to govern the country.
He could understand why Lois would think Lex would be behind the attack on the President. Not only could the billionaire CEO make profits from the tech he was developing, but h could also win votes with his criticism of President Wallace.
Lois was fuming when they returned home.
"How dare he question your motives? And how dare he criticise the President? Who the hell does he think he is?"
"Honey, calm down. Getting upset isn't good for you or the babies."
"But he …"
He put his hands on her shoulders. "Lo, I know how you feel, but the one thing I have learned from both you and Bruce is that I cannot take this to heart. The fact is, Lex is just trying to hit back in the only way he knows how."
Clark came in, frowning.
"I heard Mom yelling from outside in the barn. Is everything okay?"
"Just Lex causing trouble," Kal told his son. "Your mother's fine, just a little upset."
Lois continued to grumble. "I oughta show that man the bad side of my fist," she growled.
"That won't change the situation," he told her, trying to calm her down.
"He's right, Lois. If you go after Lex in this kind of mood, it's going to make things worse."
They looked around at Bruce. He smiled.
"Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing."
"What's going on, Bruce?"
"I had an interesting conversation with an old friend. Or rather, Batman did. It seems Selina has decided to change sides again."
"Which means?"
"She came to me with some very valuable information. She knows someone who is willing to testify that Lex was definitely behind the attack on the President. I thought you might like to come with me, Kal."
Kal glanced at Lois, who nodded.
"You should go."
Kal couldn't help wondering why Selina would suddenly change sides. Clark seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"It sounds to me like this is some kind of trick. Why would Selina change sides all of a sudden?"
Bruce nodded. "I know what you're thinking, and my instincts are telling me the same thing. Still, I think we should let this scenario play out. I mean, it's not the first time she's done something like this, or are you forgetting the night she tried to break in to the manor?"
"No, you're right," Lois said. "It doesn't mean I trust the woman." She turned to Kal. "It's up to you, honey."
"I think we need to take the chance."
Bruce nodded. "Meet me tonight. Midnight. Gotham Tower."
"I'll be there," Kal promised.
Lois still looked concerned as Kal prepared for his meeting with Batman later that night. She lay in their bed, watching him as he donned his Superman suit.
"Are you sure about this, honey?" she asked.
"As sure as I can be," he said. He sat on the bed and kissed her, gently caressing her swollen belly. He felt one of the babies moving in her womb. Kal had read that babies moved from the moment they started growing but the mother tended not to feel it until she was well into her fifth month.
"Bruce wouldn't have asked me to come along if he thought it would be too dangerous."
Lois still looked uncertain.
"What if she knows about Kryptonite?"
Kal knew that was a possibility, especially if she was really working for Lex, but he didn't want to alarm his wife. He kissed her again.
"I'll be back soon, I promise."
"I love you."
"I love you," he replied.
He flew to Gotham, scanning the streets below before landing atop Gotham Tower. Batman was waiting for him.
"Let's go," Batman said, all business.
Kal didn't even ask where his friend was going as the caped crusader jumped off the tower, using the aerodynamically designed cape to propel him down, almost like a parachute. He landed on the top of another nearby building.
Kal saw a slender woman in skin-tight leather waiting for them. She grinned.
"Well, looky here, Bats and Supes."
"Catwoman," Batman said tersely.
She looked miffed. "What? Not even a kiss hello, baby? Bet you would, wouldn't you Supes? I'd love to know what an alien kiss is like."
"Miss … uh … Catwoman, we're not here to play. You said you could lead us to someone who knows about the attack on the President."
"Pooh, you're no fun at all," she said, pouting. "Fine. Follow me."
Catwoman led them over the rooftops, occasionally glancing back to make sure they were still following her. Kal was uneasy as she led them down into the worst part of the city. There were some abandoned warehouses where the homeless tended to squat. Bruce had told him that as much as he wanted to help them, he was bound by the city bylaws and a mayor who was more interested in improving his lifestyle than improving the city.
"So, where is he?" Batman asked as Catwoman finally stopped moving and stood in the middle of the alley, clearly waiting for something.
Kal's uneasiness intensified, along with a niggling feeling in his stomach. He looked around, x-raying the surroundings and saw there were about six people in the shadows. Something was definitely not right.
The feeling in his stomach worsened and he realised it was the same feeling he had experienced when his ship had first landed in Africa. He groaned loudly, unintentionally. Catwoman smirked.
"Something wrong, Supes? Cat got your tongue?"
There was a giggle from the shadows.
"Maybe it's this," the man said. He was a heavy set man with lank, greasy hair down to his shoulders. Oddly, he wore what seemed to be blue-tinted glasses over his eyes.
Kal was in too much pain to care, his stomach cramping, his head swimming. He collapsed to his knees, looking up. There was a full moon and just enough light to show the tops of the surrounding buildings, which appeared to be closing in on him.
It was a trap!