Sooo, losing your internet connection for a couple of weeks sucks (and trying to work on this guy anywhere but the house or a hotel just doesn't please our muses). That said, here we are, late and begging forgiveness. Our RL workload hasn't helped much, either. But here we go. We're already planning the next chapter, so here's hoping that there's no delays this time. We love you guys! Thanks for sticking by us!

Oh, and to the guest reviewer who asked is this was a sequel, no. There are two other small oneshots that were written before the series started and one when we were first writing it. The bad thing about FF is that nothing ends up in 'story-sequence', but by the order that all of the stories were written. There is a reader's guide in the story listings that will show you the in-order stories quite easily. Hope that answered the question!

"I can't have heard that correctly. There must be static on the line," the sharp voice said into General Lane's ear.

"Transmission is perfectly clear on my end," he replied, his voice level and factual. Conversations like this were part of being the Vice Chief of Staff, but he tried to make them as brief as possible. The presidential adviser on the secured line had no official title and did not appear in photo opportunities for the President's cabinet. As far as Sam was concerned, he was just another spook from some alphabet-soup agency. He hadn't even bothered to learn the man's name. Once the current threat was over, he'd disappear somewhere. They always did.

"Then one of us is losing his mind. You found the Kryptonian who freed the hostages. And you simply let him go? Into the custody of your daughter – who happens to be a minor and the mother of his hybrid child – plus a couple of farmers?"

"And the junior senator from Kansas," Sam informed him.

"Ross doesn't matter. How is this not a total security breach, General Lane?"

"We still have our perimeter," he reminded the adviser. "And what I've seen that boy do, it wouldn't do us any damn good to drop him in Leavenworth. We have his promise of voluntary cooperation. And minor or not, my daughter is a Lane. She's more than capable of keeping him in check."

"Your claims about the Kryptonian's supposed powers are another discrepancy," the adviser fretted.

Being called a liar was a bit more than Sam could take. "I saw him bend steel with his bare hands. Feel free to doubt me, for now. A more complete report will be forthcoming."

"Then why did the others manage to keep it a secret from us?" That was asked with a strange sort of triumph, as if the man were a cat and the question a fat mouse he'd pounced on. General Lane managed not to sigh in disgust.

"The other Kryptonians shielded themselves at all times from our atmosphere," he explained, thinking as you would know if you'd actually read my entire brief. "Whatever caused these powers to manifest in Kal-El had to be something the rest were never exposed to. And let me remind you, we do not want the rest figuring it out."

Silence on the other end of the line, and General Lane waited patiently. Half the work of a officer was learning how to wait, in utmost readiness, for the moment to act. How to do it without getting bored, or distracted, or so impatient as to jump the gun. Ordering the wrong action could be disastrous, of course, but ordering the right action at the wrong time could be even worse.

Right now the adviser was trying to work out what his angle was and how he ought to respond. Sam didn't have to do the same kind of dance, and was grateful for it. He had only spoken the truth, as always—well, as much of it as was safe. And his angle was the same as ever: the liberty and safety of his country. That liberty and safety did not precisely go hand in hand was an argument he'd heard, in less flowery language, from his eldest daughter, but in this case there was no line between the two that he had to balance upon. The safety of the United States and her people lay in freeing them from the Kryptonian occupation.

And unlike the spook on the other end of the secured line, Sam had what could be a very effective tool close at hand. If he could get the right grip on Kal-El to use him.

"What exactly do you intend to do if this Kryptonian refuses to comply?" the spook finally said.

Sam scoffed at him. "Leave that to me. Right now he thinks he's got me under his thumb, and that's just what I want him to think."

"Of course. What makes you think there's any way you can control him if he decides to turn on us?"

The general's grin was predatory. "You needn't worry about that. He's going to do everything in his power to protect my daughter and their baby. All we need to do is make sure that what we want him to do lines up with that goal."

…

Lois and Kal-El were left standing in the garage, both rather bemused. "Did she just…?" he began.

"Oh yeah, she did," Lois snickered, even though she could feel her cheeks warming up. She looked down at Connor in his car seat, not quite able to meet Kal-El's eyes as she explained. "Lana … isn't the perfect specimen of Midwestern purity everyone thinks she is. So yeah. She and Pete just basically gave us their blessing, married or not." Oh, her whole face had to be flaming crimson by now. Why the hell had Lana done that? And why did she have to make her intent so obvious? She might as well have added an exaggerated wink and nod!

Kal-El nodded slowly, and from the corner of her eye she saw that he was blushing, too. And looking everywhere but at her. "Well then. Um. I suppose we should go inside."

"Yes," Lois said, and then couldn't help snickering. Her traitorous mind had presented her with the image of the two of them passionately embracing, right here in the Ross' garage, with Connor's car seat at their feet and the recycling bin on the other side. It was a soppily romantic notion, the kind of thing she scoffed at when other girls swooned over some scene in a movie.

He looked at her then, his gaze puzzled, and it just made her laugh harder. "This is ridiculous. Just … here, carry the baby. We need to talk anyway."

"Yes, we do," Kal-El agreed. He lifted the car seat and tickled Connor's toes lightly, getting a laugh from their son, then headed inside as soon as Lois unlocked the door.

Lois had been feeling surreal rather often lately. Hell, as far back as her trip to New Krypton last year. But somehow this was the most unreal moment of all. Alone with Kal-El in the cozy warmth of Lana's house, with their baby gurgling happily at them both, it was hard to believe that this was her life. All the things she'd never wanted, even adamantly argued against, were right here. A good guy, a new baby, a charming house that felt like her own after so many months, no 'job' at the moment other than taking care of said baby … it felt like she'd fallen into Lucy's dream life by mistake.

But that was just on the surface. If she stepped back and looked at it all from the correct angle, it was more than she could have ever expected. They weren't nearly close to the perfect suburban couple, in any way, shape, or form. That was just the way she liked it. And she intended to keep it that way. The son of Krypton's greatest scientist and the daughter of Earth's most dedicated general would never be quite normal, not with espionage and treason in their relationship history.

Without any further word, she led him back to Connor's nursery. Although it was gaily decorated, Lois had been worse than a little kid with baby animals in the house. The description made her groan with the implications, even if it was spot-on. She had rarely left her son alone in the room for long periods in spite of her best intentions. The need to see him, be assured that he was still where she left him, was intense. As vehemently as she'd always hated the idea of becoming a mom, Lois loved her son a thousand times more strongly. And the very unreality of it all—her, at this age, with this child she hadn't expected to have and wouldn't have guessed she could adore so much—caused her need to check on him again and again. Surely it was some mistake of fate that she even had Connor, or that he was so perfect. Only by reassuring herself frequently could Lois be certain that the mistake hadn't been rectified, that she wouldn't wake up from the dream she'd once thought would be a banal nightmare.

Kal-El, the baby in his arms now, was staring down at him again. Lois had to smile. That he was reluctant to put his son down was a definite point in his favor. In that he had only known about him for a few hours, it was probably cruel to want to drag him away. Especially when she knew her father and knew that the Devil would be coming to call sooner than she could want. Again, they found themselves on borrowed time. If she could only just get Kal-El to understand that. "He'll be here later," she murmured, pushing that thought away for the moment to smile softly at him. "I promise he's not going to disappear if you put him down for a bit to talk to his mom."

He glanced up and smiled sheepishly, those gorgeous blue eyes of his half-bashful. God, I love him, she thought, feeling her own smile broaden in answer. "I know. I just … I can't get over him, Lois. He's amazing. We have a baby, and he's wonderful, and I didn't even know you were carrying him when you left. It's all too much." Kal-El shrugged, finally putting Connor down in his crib, but not without a kiss to his forehead.

That stilled her a little. It was pretty certain that he didn't mean it the way most would take it. That said, Lois had been thinking about that very thing since she had first seen his face again. Romantic nonsense aside, there was a lot that they needed to get straight between them. And without well-meaning, yet prying, eyes and ears. "Yeah, about that…"

Her words trailed off deliberately as she walked over to her little boy's bed. All this worry over such a tiny little thing. One slim hand reaching down to tousle his dark curls, Lois kissed two fingers and gently pressed them to his warm little cheek. "Get some sleep, kiddo. I love you, Con." That ritual completed, she looked up at his father. "Come on, you. Let's talk in the living room."

Kal-El followed her there, taking a seat on one end of the sofa and looking at her expectantly. "There's a lot we've both missed," he said, holding his hand out to her. "Nothing more than I missed you, Lois."

The urge to just go over and curl up in his lap was almost irresistible, but she fought it. They had to get a few things straight first. A lot more than her libido was riding on this. A hell of a lot more. "I missed you, too. On top of everything else, I want you to remember that, okay? 'Cause we gotta talk, like it or not."

He tilted his head to one side, then sighed. "All right. So talk. If it's what I think it is, though, this won't be pleasant. I have to go with your father. Surely you realize that."

Even now, she had to give him credit for knowing her so well. "No, no I don't. Kal-El, you don't know him. You don't know the government here. It was enough when they thought that you could be a political pawn, you being the scion of your house and your dad being as important to New Krypton as he is, but with these powers?" She could feel the heat of anger on her skin, feel her eyes narrow, but she couldn't help it. There was no way she was going to let him think that this was anything more than it was. "Kal-El, they're going to use you as an actual weapon against your own people. Against Zod. I know the way that man's mind works and that's an advantage they're not gonna pass up."

This time his sigh was aggravated. "Lois. I am certain your father would like to use me that way, but I have no intention of being his very own guided missile. I will help him, because he is working to end the oppression by my people, which is my own goal and why I am here. What we have done to you, to your entire planet and species, is wrong. It was unnecessary, it was calculated for the profit of one person, and it is morally repugnant to me and to most of my kind. It is a stain on the honor of my entire species that we let this happen. Someone must make a stand. And here I am, with the abilities I have. How can I not step forward?"

That was all well and noble, if a little sweetly naïve, but there was another thing he wasn't thinking about here. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because your son and I just got you back? Maybe because, little bit of powers or not, you're still learning about the realities of life here? And the fact that there are a lot of people here you can't trust? Not to mention, General Lane doesn't care if this war has casualties, as long as he wins it? I'm not going to get you back now, have you for a day, only to lose you again because The General's a smooth-talking bastard."

He gave her a look then that encompassed disbelief, irritation, a touch of insult, and a great deal of patience. "Lois. First of all, you haven't seen the limit of this 'little bit' of powers. Most likely, no conventional weaponry can harm me. The more important thing is, I have no intention of letting your father sacrifice me. I have too much to live for. Some of it is sleeping in his crib, but a lot of it is you. I will not walk into a trap just because it's your father who asks, and I am forewarned. I am not a fool, Lois. But I can't refuse him completely, because he's right. Your side needs me."

"Yeah, and maybe I might just need you more than they do!" There, like it or not, it was out. But before she had to acknowledge just how idiotic and needy that sounded, Lois pressed on. There wasn't time for the fear she was feeling. She had to get through to him on this. There was no telling what line they'd feed him once he was away. "You don't even know all that you can do. Or if there's a limit. Which, I'm pretty sure, there is. Kal-El, you're not a soldier! A freedom fighter amongst your own people is one thing, but you're the son of a scientist, for God's sake! And don't think they won't use me and Connor to get you to do things you might not want. They know how to manipulate a situation, Kal-El!"

"I wasn't a spy when I got involved with the Resistance," he pointed out stubbornly. "I wasn't a interplanetary pilot when I brought the last of the hostages home. You and I, we've both had to become what we needed to be. I know they'll try to use you and Connor, it's the most obvious way to go about it, but I have no intention of letting that happen. Lois, I can probably be at your side in minutes from anywhere on the continent. I am not going to lose you. Or him."

Kal-El reached out to her, cupping her cheek in his hand, and his voice was stern. His eyes bored into hers, but their expression was all tenderness. "Lois, you are my love and my life. I cannot risk letting General Zod win this war. What sort of future is there for you and Connor if he does? I have to do everything I can."

"And where exactly does that leave me? On the sidelines, hoping and waiting, with my eyes on the sky and a baby on my hip? I don't think so. Not after what we've been through." Her eyes snapped right back at his, showing her mixed emotions whether she wanted to or not. "And I love you, but you've lived a little while in a little corner of a country. What makes you think that you know enough, that you can trust enough, to be revealing what you are to an entire world that's mostly terrified of your kind?"

It hurt to put it that way, but it was true. The vast majority of the world would most likely see him as a threat in this current climate. Even without powers, there was a large swath of the Earth's population that would condemn him for Zod's actions. Use him as New Krypton's scapegoat. Her conscience hurt her then, crossing her arms over her chest as she frowned. "Okay, that was an asshole thing to say, but it's true. How can you expect to let me know that you're here, that you're here and this and everything, not to mention the fact that we both have a bit of unexpected luggage, and be okay with you wandering off with that crackpot tyrant and I'm supposed to say, 'Good luck! Have a good war, honey!'? That's crazy!"

Kal-El took both of her hands in his, looking at her steadily. "I know you're not going to sit here in Kansas and wait for me to get back. You'll be in the thick of this too, Lois, only you're not bulletproof. You lived pretty much like one of us—you know more than almost anyone else on this planet about how Kryptonians think. That's going to make you important on the intelligence side." A little smile then, and he added, "To use one of your phrases, you get to be the brain, and I get to be the brawn."

"As for the rest of humanity and how they'll react to me … I don't know, Lois. If I could tell them that I'm doing this for you and my son, it might help. But we don't want the whole world to know that yet. So it has to be the fact that I'm the one who brought the rest of the hostages back. That, and condemning Zod, ought to get me enough goodwill to at least have a chance of helping people."

He had a few points, some she hadn't even thought too hard about herself yet, but didn't change her basic feelings on the situation as a whole. There were just too many unknown, and much too well-known, variables here. Still glaring unhappily, Lois muttered, "I don't like it. Any of it. Especially not the part where you have to make a deal with the Devil. Most especially since he and I share DNA."

She caught the sigh he tried to suppress. Kal-El didn't know her father, despite all he'd been told, despite the ample evidence of her own behavior toward him. He had no idea what he was in for. But before she could take umbrage, Kal-El spoke again.

"Your father is not the Devil, Lois. He's stubborn, determined, and absolutely convinced he knows best. I have a bit of experience with that personality type." His grin was warm then, and he ran his thumb along the line of her jaw.

It was Lois' turn to sigh now, hating that she knew that there was nothing to be done for it now. There was no way that talking him out of this was a possibility. Fighting his optimism was, as always, an uphill battle. But all she knew was that there could be no losing in this. If they were going to go all-in, then that was that. Too much of her life was bound up in this man now to lose him, even if she had to find a way to do it behind the scenes. She'd never been up against a playing field so damn large, but either of them getting crushed under someone else's heel wasn't an option. Knowing her aggravated expression hadn't lessened and content with that, she leaned her head against the caressing touch. "I really hate you sometimes, you know that?"

"You look as though you despise me utterly," Kal-El said, his voice gone low and thoughtful. His gaze was warmer, too, as he slipped his hand into the mass of her dark hair and rumpled it affectionately.

They had been left alone to talk, and they'd come awfully close to arguing instead. But Lois and Kal-El were young and very much in love, and had not seen one another in months. It was inevitable, in a way, that when she tipped her face up to kiss him, he was already leaning in to kiss her, and their noses bumped together, making them both laugh. It was in that shared breath of amusement that Kal-El finally captured her lips with his own, and Lois forgot about war and espionage for a little while.

No one wail and gnash their teeth. We have PLANS for this guy. Maybe even a 'deleted scene' for those of you that have been with us forever and know what THAT means! :D But yes, this isn't going to be the utter ending for this last scene! HEE!