Review Comments:

blaker316 - Thanks!

Jas- El - I've had that Perry/Lois/Clark interaction in my notes for a while, haha. It's one of my favorite bits, and it really kind of shows off what I love about the three of them in a room. I just picture Jimmy like Holowitz on Big Bang Theory, running around on his little scooter, thinking it's big and bad, haha. One of my favorite things about Lois is her bad disguises, so it was only natural to give her something equally cheesy in this one, haha. Glad you liked it.

Graysongirl1 - Meh, who doesn't love some cheese? haha.

LoisNClark4Ever - I missed her too, haha. And don't worry, there will be some sparks in the very near future, haha. Lois is not about to let Clark get all the glory here, haha, and that carries over into this one. She's definitely got her ninja skills in full effect, and whether or not Sam notices that it's here will remain to be seen! haha. Lex definitely has an agenda here, and I'm excited to see what you think about what goes down in this chapter!

Author: CaptainTightPants12

Rating: K

Disclaimer: If I owned Superman, his story lines, or any related characters, you'd be seeing this story in the pages of the this month's issue of Superman and not for free on FanFiction. Ditto any DC Comics characters or storylines.

Summary: After Barry Allen changes history to save the world, Clark Kent faces an uncertain destiny in a new world.

Chapter: #38, Brooms and Foxes

Author's Note: Well, time for some more Flashpoint! Enjoy!

"Lois!" he whispered harshly. "What are you doing?!"

She made a shushing motion, "What do you think I'm doing?! I'm getting the scoop! I'm not going to let you waltz in here and dethrone me. I'm the scoop queen. They wanted to use my likeness at Baskin Robbins!"

"Was that all you could come up with?"

"I'm under pressure!"

He rolled his eyes, "Why are you wearing a fake mustache? That's not going to fool anyone!"

Lois snorted, "You're one to talk, Glasses."

"What?" he tensed up a bit.

"Oh, don't start with me, Smallville. I've been to your house now, I know the truth," she whispered as she peeked out the door. "The jig is up, you can't fool me anymore. I know why you wear those glasses."

He swallowed deeply, and inwardly starting to prepare his speech about how he was still Clark even though she knew that he was an alien from out space who occasionally dressed up in costume to be a super-hero. Or something like that.

"You want people to think you're a dork, which you are, so we'll let you cobra us."

"Look- Wait, what?"

She turned and poked him in the chest, "You heard me. I saw all your little awards and ribbons your mom has out, you're all smart and crap, aren't you? You're trying to snake into my territory and cobra my ass. Not on my watch, Smallville."

"I'm not trying to-" he tried to remember the word, "-cobra anything!"

"Whatever," she pushed him against the wall, making a loud sound. "I'm watching you!"

Sounds came from outside as the door swung open, "Hey! What is going on in there?!"

Lois grunted and deepened her voice, "Uh..." She quickly grabbed a broom that was leaned against the wall. "Like I was saying," she grunted in a deep voice. "This is how you sweep the floor, uh... Maggot..."

"What?" he asked in confusion, a look he shared with the soldier in the doorway.

She elbowed him in the gut before grunting in her deep voice, "For cleaning! Maggot!"

"Uh... Right... For cleaning. I'm very... messy. She- I mean, he, was just showing me how to... broom..."

The soldier stared at them in confusion before having a moment of realization. "Oh... Right... Well... Understood. Next time just put a hat on the door or something, fellas..." He closed the door awkwardly.

Lois closed her eyes as her mouth dropped open, "Ew! He thinks I would have... With... Ew!"

"Because that was the shocking part about what just happened," Clark rolled his eyes. He peeked out the door and saw that the coast was clear, "Come on, we've gotta get out of here before someone comes."

"I could totally do better than you!" she whispered harshly.

He turned and glared, "It could have been worse! You could have been with Jimmy!"

"The horror," she groaned. "The freckle covered horror..."

Clark rolled his eyes, "Let's get out of here before they come looking for us."

They quickly scampered out of the room and back towards where they had left Lex and the General. Jimmy had already got changed and beat them there. Lois quickly turned around to avoid her father's gaze.

"What took you so long?" Jimmy asked.

He gulped a bit, "Uh... I had to take a call from Lois." Her head shot up. "She wanted to get my advice about a story because she respects my writing and intelligence so much. She doesn't admit it, but she really looks up to me."

Lois elbowed him hard and glared, "Eyes forward, Maggot!"

The General frowned, "At ease, Soldier. We're moving along well enough."

"Uh... Sir, yes, sir!"

He started to lead them down to towards the platform at the center of the room. "A facility like this one was designed for the containment of super-powered individuals who propose a threat to national security and the public at large."

"And who gets to decide who is a threat and who isn't?" Clark asked.

General Lane narrowed his eyes, "I do."

"And what exactly qualifies you to be the people who gets to decide that? Do you know anyone that actually has abilities? I mean besides the people you shoot first at," Clark added with a bit of a smirk.

A chuckle came from behind the General, "I believe what Clark is trying to say, is what conditions would we take in a threat and it is a good question. At the time being, this would be strictly a tier one threat, obviously. Someone that is actively causing a panic and a threat to innocent people. It would be a circumstance of national security," offered Lex.

"As I was saying," the General glared. "This facility..."

He continued on, and both Jimmy and Clark made to follow him, but Lex held his arm out to hold him back while the rest followed the General. Clark looked at him with a questioning gaze, but he didn't move a muscle.

Lex turned and spoke quietly, "Don't you see what I'm trying to do here, Clark?"

"It looks like you're making cages for people with abilities."

"You were never a fan of the killing option," he said cooly.

He turned with a glare, "Who says you need to put people who are different in cages in the first place?"

That familiar smile set in Lex's face. The one that Clark knew came before a speech. "Remember back on the farm when that fox kept getting into the chicken coop? And it kept killing the chickens?" Clark remembered it well. "Your father tried to build a better fence, tried to scare it off, but it just kept coming. How many did you have left by the last time? Five? Six? What was your dad supposed to do, Clark? Let it kill them all? No. He killed it. We watched him shoot it."

Clark went steely. "What's your point, Lex?"

"They're the fox, Clark. Superman is-"

"Superman isn't going to kill anyone."

Lex grinned to himself, "I know that. But they're not all like Superman, are they? Even you know that. Think about who he would be without his morals. You've seen what he can do, haven't you?" he gave Clark a knowing smile that sent shivers down his spine. "What if he didn't have those? He'd be the most dangerous person on the planet."

The thought wasn't foreign to Clark.

"You know that there are others out there like him. Just as strong, maybe stronger. What are we supposed to do? Let them run wild? I know you would never approve of just killing them. You're too good for that. So I made a prison where we could contain them. How do you not see how good that is? I did this with your voice in my head, Clark."

"I would have never told you to play judge and jury, Lex. I've seen what you've done. I know what really happened in DC. It doesn't matter what story you have to sell. I know you held someone just because they had abilities."

He smirked, "The difference between your father's story and mine, is that I'm not going to let anyone die while hoping that an animal will go against it's nature. I see a threat, I neutralize. That fox was only doing what was in it's nature. You know what people are capable of. You know what they would do with those abilities. It's a ticking time bomb."

Clark glared, getting close to Lex with a harsh whisper, "I know what people are capable of because I've seen the things that you've done. Things like this. Stop dragging them down to your level. They're better than you."

"Are we interrupting?"

They turned to see General Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and a disguised Lois Lane watching. It was in this moment that they both realized that they were chest to chest with steam coming out of their ears. Clark had to wiggle his nose to signal Lois that her mustache was falling off. He quickly stepped back and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Uh, of course not, sir," Clark stammered.

Lex grinned, "We were simply discussing the finer points of the glass-half-full vs. glass-half-empty notion."

General Lane narrowed his eyes, but Jimmy Olsen spoke up first, "Isn't it always full? I mean, yeah, it's only got so much water in it, but the rest of it is full of air, right? So, isn't the glass always full then?"

"I suppose you're right, Jim," Clark smiled. "Room for both."

An eye roll from Lex moved things along, "I don't think we're here to talk about philosophy, are we? No, I think we should go ahead and take a look at what I'm here to show you. How impossible it would have been to escape a facility like this."

The General led them towards the center of the room. "You two wait here."

Clark narrowed his eyes as the General and Lex retreated to the monitors. Jimmy glanced over with an eyebrow raised, but didn't say a peep. Clark frowned, "What exactly are we waiting for?"

"Our cells are designed to scan it's inhabitants and devise a way to best contain them. They've been prepped to increase the density of their material to oppose enhanced strength, we had to create vibration waves to keep someone from phasing out of the cell itself," Lex explained. "But you two should have no problems, right?"

Glass panels dropped beside them, and quickly Clark and Jimmy found themselves contained inside. Jimmy immediately hit the glass, testing it out in a fit of glee, while Clark watched Lex intently.

"I mean, if you don't have super-powers, it's shouldn't even activate," Lex grinned.

As a light green tint came across the ceiling, Clark grew pale and nodded. "Right..."

Author's Note: Well, what did you think? This one was a lot of fun to write, and I'm hoping you guys had fun reading it. I have been hungering for some Lois and Lex action, and I feel like we got a nice dose in this one. Clearly, things are just getting heated up though! haha. What will happen to poor Clark? Does this machine know who he is? That he is Superman and kryptonian? I guess you'll have to show up on Sunday and find out!

In the mean time, shoot me some reviews and let me know what you thought! Until next time!