Dinah was waiting for Bruce in his Metropolis penthouse, wearing a bra, panties and high heels. She was also drinking a glass of champagne. To say that Bruce was a bit thrown by the sight of her, nearly undressed in this manner, was an understatement. And he realized that was because the only woman he would like to see before him looking like that, was Lois Lane.

Dinah tilted her head as he stared at her.

"What's wrong? You're looking at me as if you're seeing a ghost." she smiled, now unsure that her plans for the two of them to spend some time in bed, were welcome. Bruce moved to take the glass of champagne she was holding, out of her hand and set it down.

"Nothing. I just assumed this was going to be a quick meeting. I didn't plan on anything else." Bruce said, keeping his tone light.

Dinah didn't have an answer for that remark that would not come out sounding hostile. She decided the best course of action was to shrug this whole thing off. She would act like it was no big deal if he didn't want to have sex with her.

"Okay, well, I just thought I would give you a heads up. Tess Mercer had a talk with Kal-El today about Queen Industries merging with LuthorCorp. Kal-El flat out said no. Only Tess wasn't so easily dismissed."

"And?" Bruce asked.

"Well I'll cut to the chase: Tess now believes that Wayne Enterprises is interested in merging with LuthorCorp. So you will be receiving a call from her."

"Am I missing something? You made this all sound so much more cryptic." Bruce said to her, his eyes looking her over.

"Well if you had answered my calls or texts, you wouldn't have had to waste a trip over here. And I can definitely see that you do think you're wasting your time!" Dinah snapped. She had planned on playing it cool but found that she couldn't!

"What is wrong with you, Dinah?" Bruce asked. But in the back of his mind, he knew...

"I should be asking you that! But I think I can guess: you've slept with Lois, haven't you? That's the only thing that makes sense."

"I don't want to get into anything with you." Bruce said coldly. "You know how things are between us."

"Yeah. I'm your go-to-fuck after you've lost the woman you really want! Rachel Dawes Dent was understandable. You grew up with her and I even think she's a good person. That whore jewel thief I will never understand and now Lois Lane, who as far as Kal-El from Krypton is concerned, belongs to HIM!" Dinah huffed.

Bruce was spared from having to answer her when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his inside suit pocket and saw it was from Dr. Hamilton.

"Tell me you have something?" Bruce said, now walking towards the terrace. Dinah stood where she was. Bruce thought he was dismissing her. She was not about to go anywhere!

"Yes. But not about how to stop Lois's condition. I am still working on that in the lab. Some of the data Davis Bloom left behind when he created the weaponry, has helped tremendously. Actually, Mr. Wayne, I don't mean to be indelicate, but I received a visitor here at the lab."

"Who?" Bruce asked, not quite understanding why Dr. Hamilton was being slow about getting to the point.

"Lionel Luthor." Dr. Hamilton answered. "I got the distinct impression that he had some past fondness for Moira Sullivan, but I can't be sure of that. The point is, he told me something odd about what is happening with Lois."

"What could Lionel Luthor possibly know?" Bruce asked skeptically. Dinah heard Lionel's name and moved closer to Bruce to listen in.

"More than anyone would have ever imagined." Dr. Hamilton said quietly, "he knew all about Mr. Bloom and that his father was the one that infected him. He also knew that he had a crystal that could save Krypton if it was returned there. At first I assumed that maybe someone within our inside circle told him all of this...but..."

"But what?" Bruce asked.

"Mr. Wayne, Lionel Luthor just seemed so 'scholarly' when it came to the planet Krypton, it's people...almost as if he were Kryptonian himself. And he told me that the books I had read, and the Kryptonian elders, were wrong about Lois's 'affliction'."

"How does he know about Lois? And wrong in what way?" Bruce asked, now feeling somewhat agitated. He didn't understand why Lionel Luthor, of all people, was suddenly a player in this nasty bit of business involving Lois and Kal-El.

Before Dr. Hamilton could answer, another call came in for Bruce.

It was from Rachel Dawes.

"Dr. Hamilton would you hold on for a moment? I have an emergency call coming through." he told him. Dinah stared at him curiously. It sounded as if Dr. Hamilton was about to reveal something very important! Who the hell was this emergency call from?

"Rachel," Bruce said calmly, "how are you?"

Dinah rolled her eyes! Good God! Bruce put Dr. Hamilton off to speak to HER?

"Bruce, this isn't a social call. I am at the Gotham Emergency Center. Alfred was brought in."

"Alfred? What happened?" Bruce asked, tensing up.

"He was attacked. By the same creature that killed all of those people in Metropolis. Bruce, the woman that is here with him was one of the survivors of that attack at the Daily Planet. Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"Do you want to tell me what the D.A.'s interest is in this?"

"I'm sorry, Bruce, did you not hear me? A frickin' creature has half demolished your house, half killed Alfred and the only thing I can think here is that this woman, who was almost killed in Metropolis, is the reason the creature was in your house!"

"There is no need to yell. I have been working with the military on this matter. It is handled. How is Alfred?"

"Just regaining consciousness. And no, Bruce, it is not handled. Your nearest neighbor is a mile away but he is the one that wants the D.A.'s office to look into this! We work for the taxpayers of Gotham County. And Oswald Cobblepot is almost as big a name as yours. Now I suggest you get here, see to Alfred and then be ready to answer some questions on what the hell is going on!"

Bruce almost flinched when Rachel hung up. He noted Dr. Hamilton was long longer on the line either. Bruce hung up as well and looked at Dinah, who was staring at him expectantly.

"What the hell is going on?" Dinah asked. "What happened to Alfred?"

"Davis Bloom left his area of containment and went to my home to see his wife. He turned into the creature and Alfred was hurt. I have to get back to Gotham." Bruce said sounding dejected.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure Alfred will be fine. But where is the thing? Maybe Oliver and I can hunt it down?"

"Try and do that. If you spot it, get back to me with a location. I'll see if I can get ahold of Jor-El or Kal-El before the military finds Mr. Bloom." Bruce said began to leave the penthouse.

But Dinah had one last thing to say. Or ask.

"Was Rachel calling in an official capacity? Or a personal one?"

"Does it matter?" Bruce asked tiredly.

"I was just wondering if you planned on letting her know that you're in love with another woman these days." Dinah said coolly. Bruce turned and walked out and Dinah stared at the closed, elevator door for awhile, before moving to get re-dressed. She didn't have any time for Bruce's crap anyway. She and Oliver needed to hunt down that creature before he hurt or killed someone else.


Lois was scribbling on a notepad in the Fortress, when Kal-El returned with a few items for her. One of them was a laptop. He handed it to her without saying a word, then walked over to the console that housed all the different crystals. Even from afar, Lois could tell that things probably did not go well with Chloe. She set the laptop down and walked over to join him at the console.

"How did things go?" Lois asked. She found herself rubbing his arm. Kal-El had been mindlessly picking up the crystals and looking at them. Now he turned his full attention to Lois.

"Not as I had expected. Or hoped."

"I can see that," Lois said carefully, "how much does Chloe hate us?"

"I didn't get a chance to tell her. She is suspicious though. I wasn't there two seconds before she began accusing me of not being there because she was blind. And your aunt didn't make things any better. How well do you know her?" Kal-El asked.

"Not very. I mean I was a kid when she was institutionalized. I still don't understand that whole thing. Zod is the reason she couldn't function?"

"Lois, I don't believe your aunt's story. Something is just off. And Chloe still does not know about any of that. She will be going home soon and Lor-Zod will probably expect to spend time with her. I do not like the fact that she will have to deal with us and her newfound family." Kal-El said quietly.

"Well...let's have her not deal with us. I know you don't like sneaking around, but Kal-El, we'll just have to. I mean her new brother turns into a creature. The one that blinded her. I don't think she can take two blows like this." Lois pointed out.

"You know what? I do not want to talk about any of this anyway. I stopped by the house and found your Black Canary costume in the closet. Let's go out." Kal-El suggested, smiling at her.

"You said something about that earlier. I don't know if it's a good idea to run around impersonating Black Canary and Green Arrow. I mean it sounds illegal." Lois said, though she did not know that for sure.

"What is illegal about it? Besides, if someone needs help we can assist them."

Lois nodded. That sounded like a good idea. But...

"But what if we run in to the real Green Arrow? Or even Black Canary? I'm not up to having my eardrum demolished by her screeching."

Kal-El was about to answer, when the console screen came on and a pretty blonde woman appeared.

"Kal-El my son, where is your father?" Lara asked. Lois stared at the woman. THIS was Kal-El's mother? Lois mentally compared her mother to this woman and found herself feeling a bit angry on behalf of her mother! Lois did not think that Jor-El would ever leave this woman for Ella Lane.

Kal-El turned to Lois.

"Lois, why don't you go and change?"

"Why don't YOU introduce me to your mother?"

Lara frowned, eyeing the earthling that for some reason, was wearing a Kryptonian dress! Kal-El coughed nervously and his tone took a harder edge.

"Lois, I need to speak to my mother alone."

"Are you going to tell her who I am? Who my mother is?"

"Lois, this is NOT the time! Would you please leave us?"

Lois nodded.

"Fine." she said and walked off. Once Kal-El was satisfied she was gone, he turned to his mother.

"Mother, what is it?"

"Kal-El, who was that girl?"

"She is no one, Mother. Now what is wrong?"

"Have you all found Lor-Zod? There have been severe earthquakes here that are not subsiding..."

Kal-El was horrified when he witnessed his mother's surroundings shake and tremble violently, before she managed to get her bearings.

"We need the crystal. Or we need to leave. Where is your father? I have not heard from him in so long..."

"Mother, I will find him now. We will come to you with either that crystal or an evacuation plan. Trust me and hold on!" Kal-El told her. Lara nodded just as another earthquake cut off their communication. Kal-El took a deep breath and turned to find Lois standing there!

"I am 'no one'? Nice, Kal-El!"

"Lois, I do not have time for this! Krypton is dying! My mother could die and I need to either beat that crystal out of Lor-Zod, or get my people to this planet to rule!"

"Not to integrate, hey?"

"Lois, you will be the mother of my child and my wife. Nothing will happen to you."

"But the others on this planet that aren't married to you or having your kid can go to hell, right?"

"I do not want to argue with you. I have to leave. We will discuss this later." Kal-El told her, pulling out his disc and walking off. He had the oddest feeling that he had messed up somehow, but at the moment, he could not pinpoint how or why.

Lois glared after him! The NERVE of that man to tell his mother she was 'no one'! She guessed her mother was 'no one' as well! Lois took a deep, calming breath and closed her eyes. What the hell world had she been living in, anyway? Kal-El touched her thigh and her whole world went to shit. She had gotten off point. And the point was that her mother had been tricked. Lois was not about to let herself go down her mother's path.

She pulled up her dress and saw that the mark was still there, thank God! Just as she pulled it down, Lois heard a sort of dragging sound. When she looked in the direction it was coming from, she spotted Davis, who was naked again, limping towards her. His tail was just disappearing. Uh oh...

Lois hurried off, then returned with a blanket to cover Davis up with. She sat down next to him as he seemed to be trying to catch his breath.

"What happened?" she asked. "I thought you went to see Cat?"

Davis's eyes teared up!

"I did. And Cat was angry, then forgiving...then loving. Lois, Cat has some problems...well...not problems per say. But she...she wanted me to turn into the creature and have sex with her."

Lois jumped up off of the couch!

"YUCK! Is she crazy? I didn't think you could turn at will?"

"I can't! She began throwing stuff at me and insulting me, and something must have ticked me off. I vaguely remember Cat kind of jumping me before Alfred opened the door. Lois...I think I hurt him!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down. If you're Kryptonian you can fly, right?"

"Yes." Davis said, sitting up.

"Fine. I'm going to change clothes, get out of here and find out what's going on with Alfred." Lois said, now walking off to change. If Davis had hurt Alfred, it would kill Bruce.


Kal-El walked back into the mansion and got the surprise of his life.

Jor-El was in the study talking to Zod! Kal-El closed the door just as Zod rose from a chair to greet him.

"Kal-El. It is good to see you."

"It is good to see you too. We should have met much earlier. I am glad you are both here: Mother contacted me at the Fortress. The earthquakes are starting. We need to either evacuate Krypton or force Lor-Zod to turn over that crystal. He said it was at Wayne Enterprises..."

"He is lying." Zod said. "I was just telling your father not to bother helping him. Lor-Zod spent some time on Apokolips before he came here."

Kal-El looked from Zod to Jor-El.

"Lor-Zod is under Lord Darkseid's influence?" he asked. Apokolips and Darkseid were a headache none of them needed right now.

"Kal-El, I have seen nothing that supports that." Jor-El said. Zod looked from Kal-El to Jor-El.

"You are calling me a liar, Jor-El?"

"No," Kal-El answered, "Father is not saying that. He has allowed more than a few earthlings to cloud his judgment. Now what are we going to do?"

"We will get the crystal," Zod said, "and it is not at Wayne Enterprises. I believe Lor-Zod gave it to..."

"His mother." Moira Sullivan said as she threw open the doors to the door and held up the very crystal they needed, in her hands, all while her eyes locked on Vice-President Zod.