AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay last week! I had out of town company and could not write like I wanted to!
It had not been Lana Luthor's intention to ever name a son of hers, Alexander, or even Alexander Luthor Jr.. And after the last year of her marriage, Lana had not been so sure that she even wanted to stay married to Lex.
Then her husband brought Alexander, nicknamed 'Alex' into their lives. And Lana fell in love all over again. But not with Lex.
Lana fell in love with this tiny little person, with dark hair and blue eyes that just stared at her in awe and wonder. She had just finished telling the people of this great nation, that they had adopted Alex months ago, but had wanted their son to get acclimated to his new life here with them.
They neglected to tell the country that he was a full blooded Kryptonian. Lana herself was not sure how that would go over. The people of this planet were still traumatized by what the Kryptonians had tried to pull on them. Hearing that the president of this country, was raising a Kryptonian as his own, might hurt Lex's reelection chances. Then again, Lex hadn't really been elected in the first place.
Lana had her new, executive assistant, check the White House website to see what the reaction was like to their news about Alex. For the most part, it seemed positive. There were some haters that accused them of 'buying' Alex from someplace. Lana would rather have people think that than learn the truth.
Lana put Alex in his crib, blew him a kiss and left him with his nanny, then headed to the kitchen to speak with the chef. She was planning a private dinner with Lex, Lionel, Ella Lane and her own aunt, Nell Lang, and she wanted things to be just right.
But she was stopped by the sight of Lex speaking in earnest with Secretary of Defense, Davis Bloom. That and the sky seemed to be darkening. Lana walked over to the window. She didn't remember hearing about rain...
Lana clamped a hand over her mouth at the sight of Kryptonians, flying towards the White House! It looked like a small army of them!
"LEX!" Lana screamed. Lex and Davis hurried over to the window, then Davis hurried off-hopefully to turn into that monster he becomes so that he could protect them!
"Lex, why are they loose?!" Lana squeaked.
"Don't worry. Davis will take care of everything. I will take care of everything!" Lex assured her.
"They know about Alex, don't they? That's why they're here, isn't it? Don't let them take our baby!" Lana cried. Lex grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her!
"No one is taking our son, okay? He is ours and a few of them must have escaped. They will not get in here." he promised his wife.
But it was one promise he would not be able to keep.
The sound of windows breaking and crashing in, caused a streak of panic to course though Lex's veins! He wanted to run as fast as he could and leave everything behind, but he couldn't. Not this time. He had almost lost Lana by running the last time the Kryptonians took over. He could not show such cowardice again.
Meanwhile, Davis had been knocked unconscious before he could turn into the Doomsday creature! He was dragged off and up into the air by two unidentified Kryptonians. They disappeared off into the distance. Kal-El entered the first floor of the White House, as many of his men, grabbed Earthlings and flew off with them. Others were subdued.
Lois, who had flown with Kal-El, gingerly stepped over some broken glass. This was bad! Really bad! The Secret Service hadn't even had a chance to shoot(thank God) but in her mind, she figured they'd be some kind of threat.
And poor Davis! He tried to change into that thing he turns in to, to protect the White House, but was distracted when ten Kryptonians beat him down into unconsciousness and flew off with him someplace. Probably to see Jor-El. He would know what to give her cousin so that he would no longer be a threat to this insurrection.
"They are hiding on the second floor!" Kal-El snapped. "Go and subdue the President and First Lady, while Lois and I get our son."
Four Kryptonians nodded and whizzed up the stairs! Screams and cries could be heard. Lois winced! Jeez! Was all of this really necessary? Lex Luthor was essentially a coward and Lana had always seemed, to her, like a small wisp of a girl. She would probably just hand over Lois's baby without question...if she didn't want to get hurt.
Loud crying coming from a child could be heard. A female Kryptonian flew down the staircase with little Alex! He didn't like being 'flown' worth a damn and began screaming at the top of his lungs!
Lois stared at Alex, enchanted despite his loud wailing. She had noticed when Lex and Lana presented him on TV, how much he looked like Kal-El, but now, seeing him in person, it just seemed all the more true. She slowly held out her arms and the female Kryptonian placed Alex in Lois's arms, just as Lex and Lana were brought before Kal-El. Lana began yelling!
"GIVE ME BACK MY BABY!"
Lex was allowed to get his wife under control. He put his arms around Lana.
"Lana, Lois Lane is Alex's birth mother. He is safe with her for now." he said in a low voice. But Kal-El heard that and confronted them!
"My son is safe with his mother FOR GOOD! I should have both of you executed for stealing my son!" he snapped. But Lana decided to stand up to him.
"You know good and well that we didn't 'steal' Alex. His mother didn't want him. He was given to us by my father-in-law, who arranged the adoption." Lana said, then turned and looked over at Lois. Lois's back was to the three of them and she was standing by a window, talking softly to Alex, who was now calm. She hadn't heard a word any of them had said about anything!
"My fiancee is busy bonding with her lost son. Additionally, Lois and I will be married in this structure. You two will be leaving. You will be allowed a half an hour to pack" Kal-El said coldly.
"I am not leaving without MY baby!" Lana snapped, walking back up to Kal-El in an aggressive manner. Kal-El's eyes widened and he looked at Lex.
"Do you have any plans to restrain your wife or will I have to do so?" he asked the President, threateningly.
"I need time to explain to the First Lady how things are going to be." he said in a surly tone. What the living hell had happened?! How and why were these Kryptonians suddenly free? He had heard nothing from General Lane and Davis had been subdued. They were literally unprotected and at the Kryptonians mercy-again. And worse yet, they were about to lose their son. He had to think of something!
"Use the half hour I am giving you to do that." Kal-El responded, then watched as Lex and Lana were forcibly taken out of his sight-presumably to go and pack. His eyes then fell upon Lois and their son, who seemed to be listening very attentively to what Lois was telling him. He decided not to use his abilities to eavesdrop. He walked over to them and Alex looked from Lois to Kal-El. He suddenly looked unsure and on the verge of tears.
"Hey, hey, little guy. This is your father. Your real daddy. He wants to say hello." Lois told her son, then gently handed him to Kal-El. Despite his veneer of being dictatorial and hard headed, Kal-El seemed to melt as he held his son. Lois smiled wanly. They both had the same eyes.
Jor-El and Lara flew in through a hole in the ceiling and landed near
them. Lara gasped softly at the sight of her son, holding her and Jor-El's first born grandchild. They approached them, just as Lois heard her cellphone ringing. She had clipped it to her middle since they were flying here. She took it off of her waist and stared at the Caller ID.
General Sam Lane.
Lois glanced at Kal-El, baby Alex, Jor-El and Lara, before moving off down a hallway.
"Daddy." was all Lois said.
"Are you alright?" General Lane asked. "The Kryptonians have managed to escape. I have forces in bunkers, ready to subdue them with radioactive weapons. Just tell me you're okay? i can't get a hold of your sister either."
"Lucy is with me. We're at the White House. I'm going to be married here."
There was a very long silence. Or maybe it just seemed long, as Lois could hear father's wordless surprise and disapproval.
He finally spoke.
"Do not do this, Lois. Don't."
"Daddy, did you lie to me about Kal-El and Mom? I'm giving you a chance to come clean here."
"You're giving 'me' a chance? You listen here, young lady! I gave you a second chance by finding a nice family for that alien baby you gave birth to! I gave you a clean slate and now what are you telling me? That you plan to lay with that piece of Kryptonian filth and just pop out more kids for him? A marriage to Kal-El will be about as legal as your mother's was to that father of his! Don't do this, Lo! Don't! We will regain control again and when we do, you'll be arrested!"
Lois glanced up and saw Bizarro and Lucy land through the hole. Another Kryptonian, carrying Lois's wedding dress, landed behind them.
"Daddy, even after all you have done, I still want you to walk me down the aisle..."
"Is your sister there?" Sam interrupted.
"Yes. She's just arrived."
"Put her on." Sam ordered Lois. Lois sighed, then walked over to Lucy.
"Daddy wants to speak to you." she told her. Lucy's eyes widened and she shook her head.
"Tell him I'm not here!"
"Lucy, he knows you're here! So deal with him..." Lois began, but Bizarro took the phone from her and began to speak.
"Hello? Who is this?" Bizarro asked in an authoritative, deep voice.
"Who is this?!" General Lane snapped. "I know my daughter is there! Put her on whoever the hell you are!"
"My name is Biz El."
"So you're related to Jor-El and Kal-El?" Sam asked huffily.
"I am Kal-El's twin. And I don't appreciate your tone. You sound unkind."
"I'm not even going to go in to what YOU sound like! Put my daughter Lucy on the phone this instant!"
Lucy exhaled and then motioned for Bizarro to give her the phone.
"Hello Daddy!" she said in a bright, chipper voice.
"Don't you 'daddy' me. Tell me what's going on this instant!"
"Daddy, Lois already told you, I'm sure. She and Kal-El are getting married in the White House. Lex and Lana have been deposed...hopefully. But you know I could send Biz to come and get you so you could be here."
Sam Lane paused before answering.
"I take this to mean that Lois found out where her baby was? You told her?"
"No, Daddy. I did not. And the Kryptonians were planning to re-takeover this whole time! You never really stopped them. I think that you should try and cooperate with them. I mean you will be Kal-El's father-in-law. He might cut you some slack."
General Lane had to think as to how to proceed. Lois was reunited with her child. Lucy was not an ally. And Ella had seemingly burned her bridges with both girls.
Or had she?
"Have you invited your mother to this wedding?" Sam asked casually.
"It's Lois's wedding. And no, she is not coming." Lucy told him. "I suspect Lois is willing to cut you some slack because Mom did you wrong. But there is no excuse for her trying to cause this much trouble. I have to go now. Do you want to talk to Lo again?"
"Yes." General Lane said tersely. Soon, Lois was on the line again.
"Hello, Daddy."
"Don't do this, Lo. You'll be ruined."
"I'd really like for you to meet the grandson you tried to give away."
"It wasn't like that."
"Then how was it?" Lois countered.
"Lana Lang was unable to have children with Lex, the President. She loves that boy, Lois. You should leave him where he is. You should forget this marrying an alien crap and get back to your life reporting for the Daily Planet."
"Who says I can't do both? I'm sorry you won't be here." Lois said, hanging up on him. She stared at her phone. Something about her father's words just now seemed off, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She looked up to watch Kal-El walking over with Alex in his arms.
"I wish I could say I hadn't heard some of that." Kal-El said quietly. "By the way, I think it is important that we rename our son immediately. I was thinking maybe we could name him after my paternal grandfather-Yar-El."
Lois just stared at Kal-El.
"I take it you have a problem with that?" Kal-El asked.
"I couldn't think of another phrase for 'hell no'. Look at our son, Kal-El! Does he look as if he wants to be named something like that?!"
Kal-El looked down at the son her held in his arms. Alex was staring at Lois.
"Fine. Then maybe we can compromise."
"There's no 'maybe's' about it! I mean I get that this was your grandfather but that name kind of sucks."
"I wouldn't go that far!" Kal-El snapped. Lois walked over to him, while rubbing on Alex's little arm.
"Your name has power and sounds majestic. If you want Yar-El to be his Kryptonian name, I won't stand in the way of that. But since we'll be living here, I want our son to have a normal sounding name."
"Such as?" Kal-El asked wryly, as if there was no such thing as a 'normal sounding name'.
"Well...I was thinking we could call him...'K' until we think of something."
Kal-El grinned at her!
"I have thought of something. You apparently, cannot come up with a name!"
Lois pulled Alex out of Kal-El's arms and looked at him.
"Do you want to be named something so crummy sounding? No, of course not! Mommy will think of something else to call you!" Lois cooed.
Kal-El refrained from rolling his eyes as he spied Zod and Moira, of all people, flying in through the hole in the ceiling. Zod had clearly flown Chloe's mother here, for whatever reason. Moira was holding the Styrofoam cup Chloe was in.
Kal-El refrained from smirking at Zod! He was doing his utmost to be helpful after turning on their kind and trying to seduce Chloe. Kal-El eyed the cup Moira was holding, before looking directly at Zod.
"General Zod, thank you for coming. I know this whole affair cannot be easy for you."
"On the contrary, Kal-El, I have never been prouder to be a Kryptonian." Zod demurred. "I hope that you understand that I did what I did, so that I could one day get the upper hand on our warden."
"I'd understand it better if you said that from a kneeling position." Kal-El told him. Moira's mouth tightened. Lois moved closer to Kal-El with Baby K.
"Kal-El, let's just get ready for the wedding, okay?" Lois said, sensing trouble and a hell of a lot of it, if Zod ever got the upper hand in this takeover, ever again!
"We will, darling," Kal-El said in a tight voice, "AFTER Zod kneels before me and swears his eternal servitude to me."
Even Moira could see this was going too far! She set down the cup Chloe was in, before speaking.
"Kal-El, please! Hasn't there been enough...well...enough hard feelings between us all?" Moira asked. Kal-El flicked his gaze towards her.
"Madam, you are most fortunate that you are not in that cup alongside your daughter. Or on dog food rations." was Kal-El's reply.
"Oh my God! Lois, are you going to let Kal-El act like this? Haven't we all been through enough?" Moira moaned.
Baby K answered that question. He innocently zapped a red ray out of his eyes that barely missed Moira! To say that Lois was shocked, was an understatement! Baby K began to cry and Lois could see his eyes were bloodshot!
"Whatever just happened here irritated the baby's eyes. I'll take him to Jor-El." Lois said and gave Kal-El a look that said 'be nice'. But Kal-El ignored it and began snapping his fingers!
"Time is wasting, Zod! Kneel! NOW!" Kal-El yelled. The spectacle had attracted attention from the new White House Prisoners and Kryptonians alike. Zod clearly his throat, then slowly got down on his knees. Moira averted her eyes. She knew Zod like the back of her hand. There was no way he would forgive Kal-El for this very public degradation. Zod would pretend to shrug it off, but the reality was, Kal-El, Lois and their son, were in just as much danger of being the target of some retaliatory act from Zod, as she and Davis were.
Moira walked over to the cup that her daughter was now housed in. Things looked bleak. But she was the head of her family now. And she would find a way to restore her daughter to her full size and release her son, who no thanks to drugs that Jor-El had injected into him, was no longer a threat to anyone, much less the Kryptonians.
She stared up at her niece, who was walking up a set of stairs with the baby that she had once promised Darkseid. What she needed, was the mirror. The mirror she used to communicate with Darkseid. Moira could still feel his presence...his dark influence. Darkseid was the only one that could restore Chloe back to full size. And in return she would give him anything, though she sensed she wouldn't have to. Darkseid would want what he had always wanted: Kal-El and Lois's son. And this time, Moira intended to give just that.
She turned to watch Zod kneel. He would be a great ally in this endeavor. He was humiliated and looking for revenge. That and Moira Sullivan strongly suspected that Zod would rather live under the rule of Darkseid than the House of El.
Jor-El didn't think that the redness in Baby K's eyes was anything to worry about. What he did worry about was the idea of Lois calling his grandson Baby K! He liked the fact that Kal-El wanted to name his first born son after his grandfather. Privately, he wished Lois would just accept Yar-El and be done with it. But Kal-El was well aware that his choice for a life mate, was a rather difficult Earthling.
Lara looked after Yar-El while Lucy helped Lois get ready for her wedding. Lucy was fiddling around with Lois's hair as she sat before a dressing table. She was trying to put it in some kind of fancy updo, but Lois was not stop turning her head!
"Lois! I'm trying to help you here! Which I think is very nice of me, considering..."
Lois turned and looked up at her sister.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I'm not marrying Bruce Wayne no thanks to Jor-El! He's having some kind of pseudo reunion with his new clone parents! I suppose I could make a play for his new found brother." Lucy purred.
"I think Tess Mercer is involved with him."
"So?"
"Okay, Luce, well don't forget that that Kal-El clone is hot for you. He might not like it if you run off and marry someone else."
"Well he can still hang around as my bodyguard or something."
Lois eyed her sister.
"Why would you keep him around at all?" she asked her. Lucy looked guilty and Lois now knew that her sister had participated in some kind of sexual act with Clone Kal-El! She sighed and decided that the subject needed to be changed to something else. Something less pleasant.
"Did you think Daddy sounded strange on the phone?" Lois asked.
"In what way?" Lucy asked blithely as she put a pin in Lois's hair.
"He was talking about Lana and Lex. He seemed to know a lot about their personal troubles."
"He said that?" Lucy asked.
"Yes and no. I don't know. It was more the vibe I got from him. It was like he felt really sorry for Lana over me. Daddy's not one to coddle anyone. I just thought it was odd."
Lucy stopped working on her hair and Lois's eyes connected with her sister's via the mirror.
"What?"
"Nothing!"
"What do you know, Lucy?!"
Lucy set down the pins and folded her arms.
"Okay. I was talking to Mom and she told me a kind of messed up story. She said she went to see Daddy one day. You were still pregnant so this was a while ago."
"Why?" Lois asked.
"Well...I don't think Lionel is the marrying kind. And I think Mom was going to try and seduce Daddy on the base in his office. Anyway, she arrived wearing a long trenchcoat and nothing else."
"Mom told you she sent to see Daddy naked?!" Lois asked in disbelief.
"Well she tried to leave that part out but I was suspicious of some things she said, before she revealed what she saw in Daddy's office."
Lois now slowly stood up.
"What she saw?! Which was what?"
Lucy tossed some hair.
"Daddy's secretary was nowhere around, as per the norm. Mom heard the noise from that vibrating machine he keeps in there. She opened up the door and found Daddy and Lana using it...while naked...Daddy was behind Lana..."
"NO!" Lois screamed just as the sound of the wedding march could be heard! Both Lois and Lucy stopped talking as the door opened and Kal-El walked in.
"What is going on in here?"
"Why is the wedding march playing? I'm not even dressed!"
"Yes you are. You have a robe on and your hair looks fine. I don't want to wait any longer." Kal-El griped.
"Well you'll have to because I'm not marching down the aisle in a robe!"
"Who says you'll have to march?" Kal-El asked with a smile as strode towards her, picked her up and proceeded to carry her from the room!
"Kal-El! Kal-El, I can't get married looking like this!" Lois yelled. But Kal-El ignored her and carried her into the 'Red Room' in the White House. Baby K was at the altar in a play pen. He was standing and holding on to the edges, staring at everyone. The guests were mostly Kryptonian.
Kal-El sat her down next to the play pen. Everyone was seated but the only problem was, as far as Lois was concerned, was that Zod was performing the ceremony!
"Uh, he's qualified?" Lois asked skeptically.
"My dear, I was Commissioner on Krypton. That qualifies me to perform wedding ceremonies." Zod said.
"Oh Krypton...which no longer exists." Lois said softly, as to not bring that fact up to the wedding guests. She figured many of them were still mourning the loss of their home planet. Lucy and Clone Kal-El appeared at the altar as well.
"Lois is right," Lucy sniffed, "on this planet we need a man of the cloth to perform a wedding ceremony."
"Lucy," Kal-El said tiredly, "Kryptonians are running this planet. Therefore we will go by our rules."
"And yet," the Clone said, "if the Earthlings get the upperhand again, your marriage to Lois could be deemed invalid."
Kal-El stared at his clone and realized he didn't like this guy being around so much. He would ask Jor-El if he could be put back in storage with the other clones.
"Well we can't have that now, can we?" a voice called from the doorway. Everyone turned to look as Ella Lane walked into the room, her facial expression brimming with contempt, malice and nothing else good.
