"I want to talk to him."
Sam frowned. His daughter was a renown investigative reporter, which meant she was no stranger to facing down the criminal element. She could take care of herself. He'd seen to that when she was growing up, insisting on martial arts lessons and firearm training. Yet, the thought of her with that villain still set his teeth on edge. "He's dangerous, Lois. You know as well I do how close he came to killing Superman."
"I do know, and that's why I have to do it. Clark tried to get him to talk. The army tried. I think I should get a shot at it. After all, he sought me out before he was arrested. For whatever reason, he seems to trust me and getting people to open up is what I do."
She wasn't wrong. Irons had an unhealthy obsession with her one might say. When he'd tried talking to him, Irons had begged and pleaded for him to keep Lois away from Superman. If he'd been able to accomplish that trick, she wouldn't be married today. "Fine, but I go with you. You're not going to be alone with him even for a second."
"Deal," she said.
He shook his head as he followed her toward the cell, hard-headed woman. Ella would laugh if she were still here and say she'd gotten it from him. He probably had treated her too much like a son, made her believe she could do anything, but darn if he wasn't proud of her tough-as-nails attitude even if it had made their relationship rocky.
"Look alive, private," he said to the man guarding his cell. "I want your gun on him too, ready to shoot if anything goes wrong."
"Sir, yes, sir," the private said, joining the entourage.
Sam pulled out his gun and kept it trained on the scumbag's head as soon as they entered the interrogation room. "You make a move in her direction, Irons, and I blow your head off. Clear enough for you?"
"Crystal, sir, but unnecessary. I wouldn't hurt her for the world."
"But you would hurt Superman after I told you he was trustworthy," Lois began. "Why is that?"
"Because I know he isn't. Kryptonians consider themselves superior to us, to be trampled beneath their feet as they build a new Krypton."
Sam couldn't really blame the man for his fear. He'd been concerned about that possibility when Superman had first shown up on the scene.
Lois was quick to jump to Superman's defense as she always was. He just hoped she had sense enough to dial back her passion, so neither the prisoner nor the soldier with them jumped to conclusions. "I don't know what Kryptonians you know, but Superman isn't like that. He serves humanity every day and expects nothing in return. He is on our side."
"Would you be surprised if I told you that isn't the first time I heard you say something like that? He showed up later than in your world from the research I've done, but she used to say, 'Just because he's alien doesn't mean he can't be a friend'. Well, that friend joined forces with Morgan Edge and created a new race of Kryptonians. We were just a weak, powerless race in his eyes. One that he had to tolerate until he didn't. Anyone who didn't agree to take on powers, powers that might destroy their body, was eliminated. He will turn on us as soon as he gets the opportunity."
"Our worlds are different. Our Superman would never turn on us."
Sam heard her conviction. She believed it with all her heart, but that was really the problem. Love was blind, and he knew that every man or alien had his breaking point. He wanted to hear more.
"Different, are they? Then how come I know you keep rocky road in your freezer for when you're really upset? How do I know that after a long, hard day of chasing down leads and looking for angles, there's nothing that relaxes you more than a glass of wine. Why do I know that you drink so much coffee during the day that it pumps through your veins. That is if ink isn't there instead."
Sam's heart beat wildly. The things he was saying about her was true. If he knew her so well, why wouldn't he know Superman just as well?
"Okay, that's weird that you know my dietary habits, but-"
"I know more. Care to test me?"
"No, I don't. I want you to believe that Superman is a good person. I think you could be invaluable in the fight against Morgan Edge. Maybe even the key to stopping events from playing out in a similar fashion, Superman thinks so too, but you can't leave these walls if you're going to be trying to kill him."
"Don't act like he's some kind of hero, some kind of saint. He, your Superman, tried to kill me, and you know it."
"Because you attacked him!" she shouted, the frustration starting to set in. Sam knew she wanted to add because those red lights could have hurt their boys but couldn't. The fact that she had kept her composure so long was admirable because a bear wasn't as ferocious as Lois protecting her family, and Clark had shown lately that he had more fire when it came to defending his loved ones than Sam would have guessed. "You obviously know a lot about him, but you don't know what's most important and that's that he fight for truth, justice, and the American way."
Irons applauded. "Fine speech, Lois. I can almost picture Kal-El with a flag waving behind him. You're forcing me to be honest with you, you know, to have to tell you the truth."
"That would be refreshing," she said, her voice as hard as steel.
"The Kal-El of my world killed my Lois."
He didn't know if she heard it, but he did. The way he said my Lois, the pain his voice held. He wasn't bluffing, and Sam felt his heart stop for a moment at this revelation.
"No," she said stubbornly. "That can't be."
"But it is. Right in front of international television for the world to see."
"That wouldn't make sense. Why would he kill me? Her," she said, correcting herself.
"Because he was murdering men, women, and children to start over and carry on a legacy of a planet that was no more. She revealed to the public that the only way to stop the Kryptonians was kryptonite." He choked up a little here, but then he forged on. "And he took her life for it. She knew full well he would, but she did it anyway to give the world a fighting chance. She died a hero."
"I still don't believe it. Superman is not like that. He's just not. You're lying."
"Tell yourself that if you want to, but I'm being straight with you because I want you to have a chance this time. I love you."
This alarmed her, and she took a step back from him. "What?"
Irons looked away for a moment, trying to pull himself together. "I shouldn't have told you that. I know you're with someone else in this world. And he seems decent enough though a bit of a dweeb. Not your type if you ask me, but I guess I can accept it since my counterpart isn't here. Not to say it doesn't still hurt. We had a life together. A daughter. Your father introduced us. I served under him."
Didn't that sound like paradise? A man he had introduced her to, a military man. It was also the part that almost made him doubt the veracity of it. Lois hated military life, couldn't wait to get away from it growing up, and she would have despised any man he had approved of. That was a fact. Still, he had too many details not to think he wasn't telling the truth. Anything was possible he supposed. Including the possibility that Superman could betray the human race.
Lois had heard all she could take, and she left the room. He backed up slowly, weapon still trained on him, though he felt like less of a threat now.
She had stormed back to his office, and he followed her there. Her fury was immediately directed at him. That was okay. He was used to it. "I bet you're just eating this up, aren't you?" she accused.
"No," he said sadly. "I'm not."
"It's what you've always thought, isn't it? That Superman could go to the dark side. That's the real reason you've been stockpiling all the kryptonite, isn't it?"
"You know it's not. It was and always has been to protect your husband and children. It's true I never approved of you marrying him, and I've made no secret of that."
"No, you haven't," she said with a glare that would have cowed a weaker man.
"But I've accepted it as best I'm able. I wish you'd chosen an easier life for yourself, but you didn't, and this is part of the madness you chose for yourself, facing these other worlds. Now you must accept that maybe Irons is right. Maybe history is repeating itself, and whatever made Superman decide to go for world domination could happen here."
"I can't believe you! You're the one with no loyalty. Not Clark. Some guy waltzes in and claims Kal-El is the devil incarnate, and it doesn't take but a hot minute for you to believe it."
"I saw Clark when he came out from his interrogation. I don't know what all he told him, not as much as he told you, but he was bothered by what our new friend had to say."
"Of course, he was. It's Clark. He takes the weight of the world on his shoulders and that's exactly why I know he would never do what Irons is saying because he cares, because he holds himself to a higher standard, because he's him. And if you'll excuse me, I have to go reassure my husband. And you had better not do anything stupid because of this."
Sam admired that trust as he watched her leave. He wished he had her faith and confidence, but he didn't. He was too practical-minded for that, and the plain facts were no one knew what they were capable of until it happened. He made a call. "Start fashioning all the kryptonite into bullets. We may need them."