Jeremiah was shaking slightly as he unlocked the door leading into the sound proof room. He pulled the key free, twisted the knob, and pushed the door in. The rooms pitch black interior seemed to rush to greet him.
He turned on his flashlight and slowly swept the room from the doorway. The circle of light moved sideways, falling almost immediately on the metal chair at the center of the room.
It was vacant.
Jeremiah froze.
His first instinct was to close and lock the door. "Let her hide in the darkness if she wants." he told himself. The idea was appealing. So appealing that he grabbed the door handle and began to pull it closed.
"But if she's not in the chair, then all this will be for nothing!" he reasoned. "Superman will shut down the reactors and then it'll just be a matter of time before he finds this place. If she's alive when he gets here, than all of this, everything, would be meaningless. He has to learn the lesson!"
Jeremiah stepped into the darkness.
"Lois." He called out softly as he moved further into the room. "I know you're in here. There's no where to go, Lois. Even if you make it out this room, you're still trapped. There's only one way in our out and I have the only key."
Jeremiah was taking slow, cautious steps as he spoke, the beam of the flashlight sweeping back and forth.
"And your husband; Superman." He went on. "He can't save you. Even if he wasn't busy trying to save the entire city, he wouldn't even know where to look. And even if he did, he still wouldn't find us. The Martian can't hear your thoughts. The Batman can't use any of his gadgets to sniff us out. It's just you and me, Lois. So why don't you come out so we can talk about this."
Something moved to his left.
Jeremiah had a split second to turn; just enough time to see the light catch the edge of the base of the lamp before it smashed into the side of his face.
The force of the blow knocked him to his hands and knees, the pain sudden and all consuming.
The flashlight fell from his hands and skidded across the floor, spinning as it went, throwing light randomly throughout the room.
Jeremiahs vision swam and he was slightly disoriented. Blood dripped onto the floor below him. His blood. He touched his head were the lamp had struck him and pulled back crimson finger tips.
Something moved in front of him, the spinning light catching it for a second.
Lois reared back and kicked him hard across the face, his mouth suddenly filling with the metallic copper taste. His teeth chattered with the impact.
He fell onto his side and she was on him.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed. The first punch caught him in the eye, white spots exploding into his vision. The second punch broke his nose. He tried to breathe and spit blood.
"I TRUSTED YOU!" Lois screamed as she rained punches down on him, battering his face and neck wildly. Dazed and disoriented, it was all Jeremiah could do to raise his hands and attempt to protect his face. But still, she screamed, and spit, cried, and yelled, and attacked him relentlessly; her every statement punctuated by a hammering blow.
"MY FATHER WAS AN ARMY GENERAL!"
PUNCH.
"I VACATION WITH WONDER WOMAN ON AN ISLAND FILLED WITH AMAZON WORRIORS!"
PUNCH.
"I JOG WITH THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE!"
PUNCH.
"I GET SELF-DEFENSE LESSON FROM BATMAN!"
PUNCH.
"AND I AM MARRIED TO THE MOST POWERFUL BEING ON THE PLANET!"
PUNCH.
"I AM NOT THE VICTIM!"
PUNCH.
"I!"
PUNCH.
"AM NOT!"
PUNCH.
"HELPLESS!"
PUNCH. PUNCH. PUNCH.
Lois pounded him until her arm was too heavy to lift; until her right hand was nothing but a throbbing ache, until her chest was burning and her throat was raw, and it hurt to even think about hitting him again.
And that's when she grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him up from the floor slightly, and with a scream of frustration, pain, and intense rage, she head-butted him right between the eyes.
She reeled back, releasing him, his head bouncing of the stone floor. Her own head was throbbing, her vision swimming slightly.
She sat straddling him then, looking down at his bloody, bruised, swollen visage. One of his eyes were nearly swollen shut, his nose was flat and bent at an odd angle. Blood was running freely from his mouth and busted lips, and every time he exhaled, a small bubble of blood formed and popped in the corner of his mouth.
Lois was sobbing. She was splattered with blood and covered with sweat. The adrenaline was fading and the pain in her thumb returned with a vengeance. Her entire body ached. She could barely move. Even so, she pushed away from Jeremiahs still form, careful not to use her left hand, and got to her feet.
She limped towards the door and the light beyond. Her bare foot was aching and she thought she might have sprained her ankle when she kicked him in the face.
She paused in the doorway and looked back at the man that was her captor. He laid there, bathed half in the darkness and half in the beam of the flashlight. His chest was rising and falling very slowly. His head was rolling from side to side, his eye fluttering open, and then closed again. He was moaning and trying to speak, but the words were inaudible do to the fluid in his mouth.
Lois spit at him, and closed the door behind her.