A/N: I only have so many high octane chapters in me. Today we're at the docks, building some ships.
The lights were off and the TV screen was on mute, the images flashing across the screen showing a blurry wall mounted camera. It recorded a hunched black figure creeping slowly towards a tied up woman who's face was the picture of perfect terror, tears and mucus streaming down her face. Normally this scene got her every time, but right now the fear in her heart was much worse.
Lois stared dumbfounded at the phone in her hand.
Her father had just called. Obviously he had found out she had been at the scene in Metropolis. Virtually the whole world had seen her report, and one of Jimmy's photo's-showing Wonder Woman and all the heroes in mid air in the heat of battle, just before the lasso landed around the androids shoulders-had gone viral, and there were whispers that it would win an award. She didn't know much about the photography end of the business, but she knew an iconic shot when she saw one, it was the kind of stuff that went on the cover of Time magazine. Whatever the outcome, Jimmy would go down in history as the guy that took the first shot of the JLA in action.
To say her father had been pissed off would have been the understatement of the year. Frankly she was surprised it had taken him so long to call. He was absolutely livid, and some things had been said on both sides that could never be taken back. At the end of the conversation he had more or less hinted at cutting her off completely. Battle lines had been drawn in the sand, all because of Superman.
Her father simply didn't understand why Lois believed in Superman so much. This wasn't the first time they had a disagreement, sometimes it seemed they argued about everything.
Sam Lane may have been a four star General, but he was no brick.
In high school he had been a total nerd, he was on the debate team and he was a mathlete.
In college he wrote as his final term paper for Philosophy about the perils of a society that relied too much on financial wealth as a yardstick for success, and he further posited that self-actualization could only be fully realized if one found some deeper sense of spiritual fulfillment in their chosen vocation.
At West Point Military Academy the joke was often told that he always had his nose buried in a book, whether it was one on military strategy or something as random and totally unrelated to his job as ebonics.
He had passed this on to Lois, because he recognized in her a fellow intellectual. Whenever he would come back from his theatres of duty he always came back with books, magazines, comics, anything with words really, and Lois would gobble it all up. She remembered the look of pride in his eyes the day she graduated from university. He had taken many embarrassing photos and he cried without shame. Not that anyone would have dared call him out on it, he could still be Scary Dad when he needed to be.
He wouldn't really cut her out of his life, would he?
It wasn't the money she was worried about, she didn't give a damn about the money, but she really did love her father.
Life was never easy being an Army brat.
Always moving, never settling in one place for too long, always leaving friends behind. It was even harder if your parent was a senior officer, everyone treated you like you were a box of high explosive. She soon learned never to go past the superficial in her relationships, romantic or platonic, because she would always end up leaving after a short time anyway. She soon learned to be detached. Not that being a senior officer's kid was all bad. Nobody messed with you, for starters, and you got the best-and first-pick of everything. No one asked you any questions. If she walked into a garage to 'borrow' a Humvee, the serviceman on duty had to decide which Lane's wrath he wanted to incur.
It didn't really matter, either way Sam Lane would find out, and he would put his boot so far up his ass they'd almost need surgery to have it removed.
She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit spoiled and precocious.
It had its fun moments though, especially in her late teens, when she learned that soldiers partied as hard as they fought. Many a young cadet found themselves doing 'maintenance work' such as unclogging blocked toilets and cleaning out the barrack mess hall if Sam Lane so much as suspected they had winked at his little girl. And those brave-or stupid-enough to take her out on a date found themselves unceremoniously transferred to a backwater base in a town with a population of 1,000 dust motes.
Life was never easy as an Army brat, but she could say with absolute confidence she had the best Army parent ever.
He always, always made time for her, never missed a single recital,sports event, or (rather unfortunately) PTA meetings. Lois had never known her mother, she had died of complications shortly after giving birth to her. It had fallen on Sam Lane to be both mum and dad when she was growing up. The only memory she had of her was a couple of old photographs. One in particular stood out in her mind, showing a much younger Sam Lane standing beside the hospital bed, looking proud with his chest thrust out and in full dress uniform, a rare smile on his face, and her mother holding Lois in her arms, looking tired but happy. She had long black hair and violet colored eyes, and her mouth was very red even without lipstick. Her mother had been very beautiful.
'Don't know what the hell she saw in a man with an ugly mug like mine.' Her father once said of her.
Lois didn't know what the hell he saw in the military. But even as she asked, she knew the reason. It was simple. Sam Lane was disgustingly, unapologetically patriotic. If his superiors told him to blow up a city full of puppies, he would nuke the shit out of it and never ever ask why. He was loyal to a fault. It was the most admirable thing about him, she thought, but it was also the most annoying. The Big Army did for him what journalism did for her. It didn't answer how someone so smart could be so stupid.
From day one, he had perceived Superman as a threat, it was just the Army in him. He saw Superman the same way he saw Captain Atom, as a living weapon, except Captain Atom was all good because he worked for the Man.
Oddly, if you pushed Sam Lane hard enough, he would acknowledge (albeit grudgingly, very grudgingly) that Superman was a force for good, but he always stressed that such a person, with such great power, could not be allowed to operate unchecked.
According to him, Superman was just one bad day away from killing everything.
Funny he didn't think the same of Captain Atom, in fact he seemed so sure that Captain Atom would never ever go rogue. Whenever they came to that point in the debate, her father would always assume a very smug expression.
Her musings were cut short by a rapping on the french doors of her balcony. That should have been impossible this many floors up. Unless it was...
She did a quick check to make sure everything was fine, then she opened the door. And when the cold wind blew in she was reminded that she was wearing nothing but a large t-shirt.
IDIOT, she screamed internally.
"Um, hi." he said with a sheepish grin.
"Hi." Her voice sounded small to her. She cleared her throat. "How did you know where I live?"
He coughed.
"This will sound really creepy but...I know your heartbeat."
Lois felt herself blushing slightly.
"Really?"
"...Yes. Every heartbeat is unique."
She stood with her hand at the door as he hovered in the air, unsure what to do next.
"God, where are my manners. Come in."
"Thank you."
He glanced at the screen and his eyes widened slightly. Lois followed his gaze. The hunched figure had now straightened itself and was standing beside the woman, jabbing two very long needles into her neck as she hyperventilated violently. Lois quickly turned off the television.
"Sorry. Horror movie night."
"The Poughkeepsie Tapes? Where did you get it? It's so hard to find."
"Y...Yes. Yes it is actually. I borrowed it. From a friend." she said, stunned.
"I don't spend all my time saving lives." he said by way of explanation.
"It certainly doesn't seem that way. Please, have a seat." she said, smoothing her crumpled white t-shirt and cursing herself for her laxity. I must look terrible. In the time it had taken her to think this, he had already scanned the entire room and everything in it.
Here and there was a tasteful art piece, a memento from some far off corner of the globe. She did say she liked to travel. On one of the walls there was a large embroidered tapestry.
The carpet underfoot was thick and soft, he felt like he was standing on a giant pillow. There was a small bookshelf with several neatly stacked novels, then more novels stacked in an increasingly messy manner as they piled above each other. There were a lot of magazines too, many in languages he didn't recognize. The furniture was very Lois Lane. Very chic and minimalistic.
The TV was the only exception, it was impossibly huge,a 60 incher at the very least. It took up most of the room. He noted with some amusement that there was a gaming console with what looked like a first-person shooter atop it. He had never figured her for the gaming type. There was also a stereo and surround sound that looked expensive judging by its shiny black lacquered finish. On the coffee table there was a Macbook Pro that lay dormant. Most likely she had been working on something. There was an open bottle of wine beside it, with a glass that was a quarter full. He was happy to see there were no tell tale signs of male life in here.
And I'm happy about that because...?
The chair was like a marshmallow. It was ridiculously soft, and it seemed to be trying to eat him. He had no idea how she was sitting cross legged on it so easily.
"Nice spread." he said. Then he realised how it sounded. "I meant the house." he added quickly.
"Thanks. I did it all myself y'know." she said with a touch of pride. The nervousness was forgotten. Already she was herself again. "So what can I do you for?"
He cleared his throat.
"Actually its what I can do to you. I mean FOR you." he amended quickly. My God. What the hell?!
Lois pretended not to notice his slip up.
"Go on."
He took a deep breath.
"I've decided to join the JLA."
She blinked. The big scoops just keep on coming. Already her brain was working feverishly on an article. Jimmy would have to get that really expensive camera he owned, because there would certainly be some fanfare for Earth's first and most hated alien joining Earth's first team of super-friends. And Clark would have to get his ass in gear too. This needed the Trinity, wrecked office space or not.
But Clark was away helping his parents on the farm...No matter. The wonders of modern technology would fix that. She only hoped they had computers in Smallville. And internet. Whenever he described his home he made it sound like this amazing American Heartland where the air was clean and fresh, the bushels of wheat were fat and golden, and the milk from the cows was thick and creamy.
Lois always visualised a barn and a decrepit house far apart from all civilization, with a toothless old man in coveralls, his skin tanned to the color of bacon, driving an ancient rusted tractor and wielding a pitchfork for no apparent reason. And whenever he spoke of Jonathan and Martha she visualized the pair from the American Gothic painting.
But now wasn't the time to be thinking of that.
"I see. So, I'm the first person to know this?"
He nodded.
"I thought it would be good if I let you know first. I wouldn't want you to hear about this from some other source."
"Mhmm. Well thanks."
"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do after all you've done for me." He rose.
"Leaving so soon?" she asked as casually as possible, sipping from the glass of wine.
He hesitated.
"Well...I don't want to interrupt your plans..."
"Yeah, right, because a half empty wine bottle and a horror movie qualify as 'plans'."
"I assume you'd have other plans."
"You can stay if you want."
"I...I'd really love to but... I have to go. You know how it is."
"It's all right." she said, masking her disappointment masterfully. "Wait, you 'assumed'?"
Superman turned with a small, almost embarrassed smile.
"Well, I imagine someone like you..well.."
"Yes?" she was obviously enjoying this.
"You know what I mean."
"I'm not sure I do actually. You'll just have to be more specific."
He had to be very, very careful here. Once Lois took offense, she never, EVER, forgot it.
"I imagine a woman of your...reputation...would have many...suitors."
"Are you saying I'm easy?"
"No! Not at all! Not that there would be anything wrong with that, mind you. I don't do the slut shaming thing..." Jesus Christ Clark, dig any deeper and you'll strike oil.
"What I mean is, I figure a woman like you probably has a lot of guys knocking down her door."
"Yeah well, you'd be wrong Superman. Most men are just somewhat...intimidated by me."
Understatement of the year, he thought. He heard some of the crap from the men-even a few women-at the water cooler. Lois was 'opinionated' a 'ball-buster',and 'too aggressive'.
Then the same people turned around and called Perry 'steadfast', 'meticulous' and 'determined' when he exhibited the same traits. The last time Jimmy tried to stop them someone had called him an SJW and then everything went to hell afterwards, ending with a few unpaid suspensions and a bill for a damaged trailing socket and a broken laptops.
Jimmy seemed to have the ability to attract conflict without even trying.
Still he expected men outside the Daily Planet offices, the type of guys that drove German cars and wore Italian suits, to snap her up immediately.
And why not?
She was intelligent, and she was passionate about her job. She may have lived luxuriously and made a show of her disdain for the 'lesser' things in life, but he had seen her wade through garbage juice, blood, fecal matter and god only knows what just to interview someone so a story could see the light of day. And if that story touched her heart- even threats of bodily harm wouldn't faze her for an instant. She was also the only person who kept him on his toes in both personas. Of course her pretty face played a big part in it too.
God, who am I kidding. I still like her. And now its the real her.
"Well, that's their loss then." he said with an easy smile that he hoped was more Friendly Compliment than Let's Get Nekkid.
"See you around Lois." he said before he flew out of the room.
A/N: I've never liked the idea that Lois gushes and fawns over Superman as though he is some God. It made sense back in the 60's when women were toys men came home to play with. However considering her personality, I don't think she'd be that type of woman at all.
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