ONE MONTH LATER-

Kal-El was very pleased at how well things were moving along. For once.

Many members of Darkseid's elite force, had been captured and put into special holding cells. Unfortunately, just as many managed to escape back to Apokolips through some alternate portal, that consisted of a some special orb that one of them had been carrying on their person.

With that threat contained, for now, the Kryptonians went about the business of ruling Earth. And that meant they had to have places to live. It was decided that they would just take any home they liked and the family that already occupied it, would be forced to find another place to live!

Lex Luthor came out of hiding and went back to being the President...until the Kryptonians decided otherwise.

Additionally, it was also made clear that Kryptonians would have no use for money. They would just take what was needed. That did not sit well with many business owners on the planet. A special hearing was being conducted in Congress over this matter and more than a few Kryptonians, that sympathized with the Earth business person's plight, were scheduled to speak against their own kind.

Kal-El was not pleased by these turn of events at all. The divide and conquer strategy they employed, was supposed to pit humans against humans. He did not believe Kryptonians should publicly speak out against one another. And unfortunately, the main one of these 'Uncle Tom's' was none other than Lor-Zod!

Lor-Zod had become a hero of sorts to the earthlings. He was outright fighting other Kryptonians, whenever they were abusive or aggressive against mankind. It was not as if Kal-El wanted anyone to be abused. But there were still people on this planet that had not signed the loyalty pledge. That meant they were fugitives.

And unfortunately, Lor-Zod could now change into that monstrosity at will! So he had Kryptonian strength and his monster strength which was twice what a Kryptonian had from the yellow sun. He was being called by the earthlings 'Doomsday'.

Jor-El and Lara now lived in the Luthor mansion. Ella had been given a rather generous settlement from Jor-El that he did not have to give to her. Ella took the money and purchased a large, yet modest home, that was formerly owned by the First Lady's aunt, a woman named Nell Lang. But Ella Lane was still hostile and...well...as part of her 'settlement', she did not have to sign the pledge! Jor-El explained that by telling people that by her being married to a Kryptonian, that proved that she could be loyal.

Kal-El didn't necessarily approve, but he was not asking Lois to sign one either, so he could not really press the matter. And he could tell his mother didn't like it either. But what Kal-El hoped for, was that the Luthor mansion would provide sufficient privacy for his parents to mend their problems.

Kal-El had his own. Problems. And he divided them into the 'Good Problems' and the 'Bad Problems'. The Good Problems were as follows:

Lois's memory was still stuck within her teenage years. Not that that was a good thing, but Lois's affections had switched from 'Orin' to Kal-El, which pleased him to no end. And it saddened him a little. If Jor-El had picked another woman to get to know when they first arrived on this planet, then maybe he could've gotten to know Lois under different circumstances.

Amnesia was a nice, different circumstance. Though he had had Kryptonian doctors examine her. The bruise on her head was gone and there didn't seem to be any reason for her continued memory loss, though the doctors were of the opinion that her memories could come back at any time, unexpectedly.

Kal-El also decided that maybe this was the time to plan the wedding. Before Lois's memories and her torn feelings between him and that damnable Bruce Wayne, returned! Bruce Wayne. He was a fugitive as well and since he chose to be uncooperative, Kal-El took his house. Took it and moved himself and Lois into it!

Lois knew who Bruce was but had no memory of actually liking him in any manner. But Mr. Wayne was cagey being, among other things. For while Kal-El seized his property, for some reason, Alfred came along with the package!

That was a 'Bad Problem'.

They had found him there, the day they moved in, in bed, coughing! Kal-El knew he had suffered a heart attack and had a Kryptonian doctor see to him. He was informed that Mr. Pennyworth was improving nicely, but probably needed rest somewhere.

Lois, even though she did not remember him, took to him instantly! She insisted that Alfred stay...which is what Kal-El suspected was the plan all along! Alfred had been taking some kind of stupid looking cough medicine called 'Papa Pete's 12 Hour Cough Syrup', that when Kal-El inspected it, smelled more like pure liquor!

So now...Alfred lived with them, though he actually served as a butler and helped supervise the care of the estate. But Kal-El knew he was there to spy for Bruce Wayne. He knew that he was keeping everything up so that HE could eventually reclaim all that was his-and that included Lois.

Kal-El did have one small bit of satisfaction: Lois found the bat cave and didn't really seem to care about what the equipment was that was in there.

She put an ad out for a garage sale to get rid of the junk! She thought the cave itself was rather interesting and might make a good special play room of sorts, for the baby.

Kal-El knew Alfred was in a quandary and he planned to keep a close eye on these events. He suspected Mr. Wayne and some of his allies would arrive to try and buy some of the items. If they did, they would be arrested and put in detention centers until they signed the oath!


"Miss Lois..." Alfred began, as Lois eyed some kind of strange looking piece of radar equipment. She then pulled out her iPhone and looked online. She needed to put a price tag on this thing!

"Miss Lois..."

"Alfred, how many times do I have to tell you, it's just 'Lois', okay? And you shouldn't be down here! It's drafty."

"I could say the same for you, Miss."

"Oh, I'm carrying a 'super baby'. So the baby is fine and his good genes give me good health or whatever." Lois said, moving around the unknown piece of equipment to look for a company name. If she knew who had made this thing, then she could find out what it was online.

"Miss Lois," Alfred said, ignoring her request, "maybe we could move some things into storage? I just don't think that equipment this size should be hawked at the end of the drive. We could have an estate sale instead? The buyers could come in here and look at things..."

"Alfred, there are a lot of crooks out in the world. I just wouldn't be comfortable with strangers being in the house right now. Someone could rip us off! I don't know much but some of those vases in the front hallway look like they must have cost a good deal of money." Lois argued.

"Miss, they are family heirlooms."

Lois peered at him.

"Oh. Well...ordinarily I would just secretly box these things up and give them to Mr. Wayne. But I think Kal-El kind of hates his guts. I don't see him going for that."

It was at that moment that Ella Lane stepped into the 'bat cave' and her mouth dropped open! Jeez! She'd heard about Bruce being accused of being this bat guy, but she hadn't really believed it until now. She glanced at Alfred, who looked quite pained. She cleared her throat and Lois stopped what she was doing to walk over and give her mother a hug!

"Hey, Mom! What brings you by?"

"Honey, we have to go over the wedding plans, remember?"

"Oh. I forgot. You know with this garage sale thing coming up..."

"Yes, hon, about that. This isn't the type of home where you throw stuff on the lawn and put a sticker on it. Maybe you should have an estate sale instead?"

"Mom, there are some real creeps out there. Creeps that would rip us off. Now it will be fine! I was just telling Alfred that I'll put some signs out and some notices in the paper. But this room could be used for the baby. And I bought some paint. Do you think Lucy would help out with the painting?"

"Truthfully? No." Ella admitted.

"Yeah, I guess. I know Chloe would've helped-if she could be found." Lois said dejectedly. Granted, the last time she saw her cousin, they weren't the best of buds, but Lois had not doubts that by now, she'd be a supportive family member about everything.

"You know, Kal-El let me in and he was looking for you. I need to talk to Alfred about the reception, okay?"

"Okay." Lois said, sitting down her stickers and walking out of the cave. Once they were sure she was gone, Ella threw up her hands!

"I wouldn't sleep a night if you weren't here, Alfred! That piece of Kryptonian...bastard crap, is taking advantage of the fact that Lois thinks she's sixteen! I don't believe for two minutes there isn't something those people can do to bring her memories back!"

"It would not be in Kal-El's best interests for her to remember." Alfred said in a low voice. "Mr. Wayne did not want me to do this, but I insisted. Believe when I tell you, they are working on a way to make those clear rings that they wear, inactive so that the original chemical that subdue their kind, stop them."

"Well I'm going to do all I can to stall this wedding! Has Bruce said anything about Chloe? How is she?"

"He has not said but I think she is still catatonic. Dr. Hamilton is looking for other ways to bring her out of her state other than turning the sun red again."

"Yeah, I don't want to see those weirdos that were here before, ever again." Ella said.

"How is your sister? If I may inquire?" Alfred asked kindly.

"Not well. She's staying in that detention center because of what she tried to pull. I love her but I can't help her there. All I can do is look after Chloe and Davis the best I can."

"Yes," Alfred said, lowering his voice even further, "Mr. Wayne has said that your nephew has been of great help to them."

"Good, though I wish his wife would cut him a break. After I leave Lois I'm going to look in on Davis's very hostile bride. She's actually talking about suing someone for being tricked into marrying him." Ella revealed.


Lois found Kal-El in one of the many rooms that could be called a study. But it seemed like there were at least ten of those as well.

She poked her head in the doorway. Kal-El was staring at a computer screen and he looked away from it when he saw her. Lois had to admit that while she did not remember him, he always looks enormously pleased to see her. It was sweet.

And then there was the way he made love to her. It was like he was making her his, over and over again. Thinking about it almost made her blush. It also didn't hurt that her parents hated him! It made Kal-El all the more appealing. And if she had to be forced to have a kid and marry an alien, Lois supposed it wasn't so bad that it was with Kal-El from Krypton.

"Lois? Did your mother leave already? There was something I wanted to discuss with both of you." he said, now standing up from his chair and walking over to her.

"No she's in that cave room with Alfred. She said that you wanted to talk see me about something?" Lois asked innocently. Kal-El refrained from looking surprised. No, he had not asked Ella to find Lois. But he suspected Ella made that up just so she could talk to Alfred alone.

"Yes," Kal-El half lied, "my mother thinks that our wedding plans are coming along a little slowly. She wants to help with the planning." he told her. Lois shook her head quickly.

"No."

"I know that it would be uncomfortable for our mothers..."

"It would be cruel, that's what it would be," Lois said pointedly, "and while I don't remember much but highschool, Whitesnake and sneaking out at night, I do know a messed up situation when I see it. Your mother doesn't need to be anywhere near my mother."

Kal-El said nothing to that but his stare was rather-disapproving.

"Come on! You have to understand how this is! I mean my mother thought your father was single. She didn't know he was married. That's a crappy thing for a guy to pull on a woman. It takes time to get over something like that."

"I understand that, Lois. But..."

"And," Lois continued, "I just think it would be kind of disloyal to my mother if I included your mother in my wedding plans. It's not like she can't be there."

"Lois, this is not some...what is it called on this planet? Yes, a 'clique'. A clique that only involves your mother, yourself and Lucy. Our child is part of my family too. And you will be part of mine. My mother is very hurt that no attempt has been made on your part to get to know her." Kal-El huffed.

"On MY PART? Look, I don't know if you've been drinking or what in here, but I haven't done anything wrong! Now I have a yard sale to get ready for so..."

Kal-El reached for Lois's hands and held them tightly.

"I don't want to fight with you. I have never liked fighting with you." he told her. Lois could sense the raw truthfulness of that statement and squeezed his hands.

"I don't like fighting with you either." she answered. "But I don't know what you expect me to do? My mother is my mother. I can't just ask her to work with someone that makes her feel bad."

"Why don't we take small steps then? How about we ask your mother to accompany us to Smallville today? We can have a 'peace offering' lunch." Kal-El suggested. Lois raised a brow.

"That's kind of short notice for your mother, isn't it?" Lois asked. But as she studied Kal-El's face, she could see that this was something that had been in the works longer than a few minutes!

"Okay, okay! I'll ask...but how about you do something for me then?"

"Like?" Kal-El asked, taking one of her hands and kissing it.

"How about we let Alfred take some things to Bruce? Things that mean something to him because they belonged to his family?"

"Alfred suggested this?"

"I think he just thinks that I'm putting too much out for the yard sale."

"Bruce Wayne is never getting this estate or his items back. That is what this is all about. He somehow thinks he is going to usurp my people and get what is his, back. It's not going to happen. This home is ours."

"But it's not ours fair and square, is it?" Lois reminded him. "You didn't buy it from him. You kind of stole it. We could just box up a few things..."

"Fine. I will allow a few things to be boxed up. Now come, let's ask your mother about accompanying us to Smallville today." Kal-El said, as he enclosed a rigid arm around her middle and they left the study to return to the cave. Lois hid her worry but privately, she didn't think her mother would go for this. And if she didn't, would Alfred be able to take some of Bruce Wayne's things back to him?


If Alfred or Ella looked surprised to see Kal-El and Lois appear together, they did not show it. Kal-El had no doubt that they had been saying most unkind things about him. He let go of Lois and looked around the 'batcave'.

"This room definitely has possibilities...thought it is a bit drafty. Lois, I would be happy to help you price some of this strange and outdated looking equipment." he said, but his eyes were on Alfred. Lois spoke up.

"Alfred, Kal-El agreed to let you take some things to Bruce Wayne! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes, Alfred," Kal-El said, "you can take anything to Mr. Wayne that you can fit into a shoe box."

Lois's mouth dropped open! Ella rolled her eyes and looked at Lois.

"Hon, I need to talk to Kal-El alone for a bit. Alfred, maybe you could find that shoe box?"

Alfred was determined not to display any shock, anger or surprise. He walked out of the batcave with Lois, who was pissed off with Kal-El! If he was going to act like that then she wasn't asking her mother squat!

Once they were alone, Ella walked up to him.

"You know, I'd hate for Lois to see that video of the two of us."

Kal-El raised a brow.

"You know that there is no 'video' of us. I would not have touched my father's wife."

"You know...there was a time when I thought Jor-El was cheating on me. I now know that he was sneaking back to Krypton to see your blonde mother. But the point is, I doubted him so much, that I kind of rekindled something I'd had going on the side, with this really husky soldier. He was about your build and even had your hair coloring."

"Ah. So my father was not the first man you had been unfaithful to General Lane with?"

"No. But the point is this: he sure looks a hell of a lot like you...from the back. And Lois will believe that it is you if she sees it. I plan to make sure that my girl, ends up married to Bruce Wayne. She's home. She just doesn't have the right man by her side. So you're going to actually allow Alfred to rent a U-Haul and take whatever the fuck he likes out of here, okay?" Ella said in a sweet sounding tone.

"I would be willing to bet, that if I told Lois that the man in the video is not me, she would believe me. You underestimate how deep our bond is. There has been something between us from the very beginning." Kal-El replied coolly.

"Well that's always a possibility. Then again, you do have a bad track record when it comes to the women in my family. If I were you, I wouldn't take that chance. I'll rent the U-Haul for Alfred. Say hello to your blonde mother." Ella said and walked out of the cave. Kal-El had to restrain himself from choking the life out of his former step-mother! This little rumor was not going away!

It was time to pay Lionel Luthor a visit. The Smallville lunch he had had planned with his mother and Lois, would have to wait.


But things would get much worse.

Chloe Sullivan suddenly awoke in a special bed that had been brought in to the JLA secret headquarters. A nurse had been hired to be with her while the other members were off doing other things. Things related to sending the Kryptonians packing!

The nurse was startled to enter Chloe's room and find her sitting up and not staring into space!

"Miss Sullivan! Oh my God! I'm going to call Dr. Hamilton right away!" she exclaimed. She turned and ran out of the room. Chloe stared blankly at the now empty doorway, then pulled herself out of bed. What the hell had happened? Why was she here? Where was here?

The last thing she remembered was finding Kal-El and Lois at the Kent Farm. Kal-El. Lois. The betrayal she had not seen coming. The betrayal that still stuck in her gut like a knife.

Chloe ran her hands over face and looked around for some clothing. She was currently wearing some sort of gown/smock. The nurse hurried back in.

"Dr. Hamilton is on his way, along with Mr. Wayne and your brother."

Chloe blinked.

"Dr. Hamilton? What? And why would Bruce Wayne and my brother be coming here?" Chloe asked in confusion. Her hands felt tingly for some reason and she began to shake them out, to get the circulation moving in them again...

That was when the nurse shrunk before her very eyes! Chloe squeaked as the nurse screamed and appeared as small as an ant on the floor! Chloe gaped, then looked at her hands. She turned and looked at the bed. She pointed her hands at the bed and it shrunk!

"Oh my God." Chloe whispered in horror.