Her brain felt like it was in a fog as she forced her heavy eyelids open. Her mouth tasted like cotton. She took in her surroundings, a bunker. That jogged her memory. Captain Luthor had shot her with a tranquilizer dart, and worse, he'd kidnapped her.

And speaking of the devil, she saw him sitting in a chair in the corner as her eyes focused. She was laying in a bed, which she got out of at once. She tried to push away the discomfort with her usual wit. "You know usually after I've been knocked out, I find myself tied up. The gag is optional though often preferred by my kidnappers before the ordeal is over."

"The fact that you have a point of reference should concern you. I'm not holding you hostage."

She went over to the door and tried the handle. "The lock says otherwise."

"I just need to persuade you of the truth, and I know of no other way to get you to listen."

"If it's to persuade me that my husband is some kind of diabolical killer or conqueror, forget it. You'll just be wasting your breath."

"What did he do to make you marry him?" It was as if Luthor suspected he had the power of mind-control or he'd forced her hand in some way.

"Just being his lovable self. You don't know him like I know him. He's sweet, shy, humble, and yes, a little dorky, but I find even that endearing."

"That sounds nothing like Superman."

"That's because Superman is the mask, not the other way around. Sure Clark acts a little clumsy to throw people off, and his abilities and alien heritage are a part of him too, but Clark Kent is who he is, the man I love and the father of my children."

He winced. She supposed it was kind of cruel of her to remind him of those facts, but it couldn't be helped.

"My Lois was a friend to him as well. Maybe not as friendly as you are with him, but one day he was saving the world and the next he was destroying it. And a long friendship didn't even make him pause when he killed her."

"That doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't, but that's what happened. Maybe he snapped or more likely he had been biding his time and other freaks like himself showing up was the opportunity he had been waiting on, but however it happened, it happened, and this time you're not going to be going above ground, running headlong into the danger while I live."

Speaking of snapping, he wasn't seeing her. He was seeing his wife. She had to get out of here. She didn't want Clark cutting his rest short to come looking for her. It would make him too vulnerable.

sss

"What do we do?" Jordan asked in a full-blown panic. Not being able to see wasn't adding to his peace of mind.

"We can't call 911," Jonathan said. "That's for sure. No way could we explain to an operator that an alternate world husband of our mother kidnapped her to save her from our father, whose doppelganger went evil and killed her in that universe."

"Grandpa?"

"He'd definitely believe us, but I don't know that this elseworld stuff is his specialty. I think we need Dad."

"Dad is out of commission. Besides, it's not like Captain Luthor would hurt her even if he has some pretty backwards ideas about people from other planets."

"Are we sure about that? I've seen a lot of people act in ways I never thought they would lately. What happens when he realizes Mom is not going to change her mind about Dad?"

"My supersonic button is in my sock drawer. Just give me a chance to plug my ears before you push it, but don't expect much. He may hear it but not be able to come."

Jonathan pushed it and looked expectantly toward the sky. Minutes passed and nothing. He'd never taken so long in responding.

"I guess we do need to get Grandpa," he told Jordan, but as soon as he said it, their dad landed with a thud on the ground in his Superman costume.

"Dad," Jonathan said, rushing to his side to help him up. It was disconcerting to see him looking so weak. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine or I will be. What's wrong?"

"It's Captain Luthor. He has Mom."

A momentary look of panic and then he forced calm probably for their benefit. "That's not so bad. At least, it's not Morgan Edge."

That was one way of looking at it and another was why were so many people constantly after his family? It was terrifying. He supposed their lives had always been like this, but being in on the secret now, they were just now seeing the constant danger. No wonder ignorance was bliss.

Their dad saw Jordan's unfocused eyes or rather hyper-focused. "Are you okay?"

"No. The microscope vision or whatever kicked in."

He reached into a hidden pocket in his cape and pulled out one of his spare pairs of glasses. "You might think this is to help hide my face, and it is, but it does more than that, having to look through concave lenses will help you focus on what you want to see instead of your eyes seeing too far or too close. Eventually you'll be able to do it without them, but in the meantime..."

Jordan took them and put them on, relaxing when he was able to see normally again.

"Don't worry, boys. I'll find your mother." He started to fly off, but he'd used up so much energy on the flight back home, he didn't even get off the ground.

"Better use the truck, Dad," Jonathan said. "They couldn't have gotten far, and we can go with you."

"No."

"Why not?" Jordan asked. "He figured out your identity. That's part of the reason he went psycho, knowing she was married to you."

"That's even more of a reason for you both to stay here. He's not exactly pro-Kryptonian. I don't want to have to worry about you two as well."

"I don't think he will though. He talks a big game, but he'd know better than to hurt Mom's children in any world. She'd never forgive him. We can help."

"Fine, but you follow my orders to the letter. You do what I say when I say it. Got it?"

"Got it," Jonathan promised.

"Got it," Jordan echoed though less convincingly.

"Okay then. Let's go."

"Not trying to usurp your authority or anything, Dad," Jonathan said, "but you might want to rethink the costume and change into civilian clothes. Like Jordan said, Luthor already knows and two teens riding around with Superman in a beat-up pickup truck is bound to attract attention."

Jordan snickered, and his dad grinned before following his advice.