Bruce kept sending hostile glances at the young girl in his lab. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Lois who was trying to muster a smile.
"I do not like this."
"What a shock!"
"I don't understand why this amuses you."
"You geniuses, so territorial sometimes." The young girl snorted in disdain. "Did you want something?" Lois asked.
"You call him a genius?" she laughed.
"Miss Kord, it is not nice to insult your host." Lois said with a smile, "Can you make the changes?" The girl straightened up and looked at her with a smile.
She was wearing very low-cut red cotton pants and a bright red shirt. She had been working on Lois' beetle for the last hour.
"No problem."
"Then why aren't you done with it yet?" Bruce grumbled.
"You don't rush a work of art, old man!" Kord looked at Lois, "I'd love to hear where you got that thing, Ms. Clark. At first it just looked familiar, now I feel like it's my job."
"You won't believe me."
"Is it tailored to anyone else besides you?"
"No. Just me. My…partner insisted."
"Why would a female journalist walk around with a device that disables electronic surveillance?"
"You ask way too many questions!" Bruce said.
"Those who are embarrassed do not learn, Brucey!"
"Sometimes secrecy is necessary, Ms. Kord. To prevent security cameras from noticing you, to prevent the lawmen from eavesdropping on you, etc. Especially for an investigative journalist who is not afraid to go against the police as well."
"Call me Teddy." A beep was heard from the central part of the cave and Bruce turned from them to check.
"And call me Joanna. The man who created the beetle was an expert at evading surveillance. He provided another beetle to a friend of mine that prevented facial and voice recognition software from focusing on him and identifying him."
"Sounds like my kind of a person. What's up with the blue beetles?"
"Some kind of family talisman, from what I understand."
"Okay, enough rambling. You wanted the beetle to be able to send out a distress signal that only the recipient could detect."
"Yes. It is very important that no one else even knows that the signal is being transmitted."
"I can do that. I guess you wear the pin on your chest."
"When I'm about to use it, yes."
"Then I can add something else, if that's okay with you."
"What did you think about?"
"If you get caught, and I guess that's why you're upgrading this work of art, I guess Bad Gay won't offer you a cup of tea. He'll probably take anything he finds odd or interesting."
"Reasonable discount."
"Then you won't be able to activate the distress signal. How about adding a sensor that will activate the distress signal if it doesn't feel your heart for more than half an hour? Of course, you'll have to activate the beetle first."
"I think that would be a good idea."
"I can't get over how genius this device is. It has a lithium battery but only as a backup because it runs on kinetic energy. Genius!"
"Then there's no energy signature either and no one guesses it's anything other than an imitation of an ancient jewel." Her enthusiasm was contagious.
"Do you mind if I shamelessly copy the plans?" Lois giggled and handed her a disc.
"Here are the diagrams of some different models of beetles. Enjoy."
"Honey, are you an industrial thief? At least half of what's here are registered patents."
"It's okay, Teddy, you won't be sued."
"What about Mr. Vigilante here?"
"Given that he got similar material from me, I doubt he'll give you any trouble. In this area at least."
"It's very difficult for him when he's not the only genius in the room." Teddy's smile was almost malicious. Lois giggled.
Martha went up to the second floor of the farmhouse with the basket of clean laundry and saw Clark sneaking down the hall near the room where Lois was sleeping.
"Clark? What are you doing?"
"I think she's having a nightmare. I was going to wake her up." Martha quietly opened the door. Lois muttered out of restless sleep. "You see? I..."
"No." Martha shoved the laundry basket into Clark's hands. "Do the laundry for me. I'll take care of it."
"Mom, I..."
"Go!" She ordered her hand firmly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Clark swallowed, nodded, and walked away, sending worried glances in the direction of the sleeping Lois. Martha entered the room and closed the door. She sat on the bed and shook Lois lightly.
"Lois, sweetie, wake up."
"No! No! Hold on a second! No!" Lois' voice was so full of pain and fear that Martha's heart broke.
"Lois, sweetie, wake up." Lois woke up with a start, sitting up at once. She looked around, remembering where she was. She ran her hand through her hair looking at Martha with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry. I hope I didn't disturb you too much."
"You didn't bother me at all, Lois. Sweetie, how many times a week do you have nightmares like that?"
"Every time I..." she answered awkwardly.
"Every time what?"
"That I'm sleeping. It's okay, it's not a big deal." Martha put her hand on Lois' arm.
"It's a big story, Lois and I want to hear it. What are you dreaming about?"
"I..." She looked at Martha awkwardly and then took a breath and continued, "I dream about Clark, my Clark. Mostly about his death."
"I'm sorry, Lois. How did this happen?"
"Are you sure you want to hear about it?" Martha nodded.
"Yes, Lois."
"Ok. There was this monster, someone called him Doomsday, he's made entirely of stone and he's a killing machine. He killed anything he came across, anything. The Justice League tried to stop him with no success. Clark tried to stop him and only managed to slow him down and then he arrived at Metropolis. Clark tried to stop him, and he gave everything he had, he went further than he ever dared and, in the end, he violated the principle most important to him, to take a life. He managed to kill Doomsday and then he collapsed in my arms and a few moments later he died." Tears flowed freely down Lois's face and she made no attempt to hide them. "He did what he had to do, and he had my full support, but he died and I lost my fiancé and the man I love and my best friend, our future together. And despite what your Clark believes I'm not getting that back. There's no way to resurrect him and even though in my mind I accept it my heart refuses to listen, refuses to lose hope and every moment I'm in this universe it's easier and easier to believe that I've found my Clark. Only that's not the case. Your Clark is great but he's not my Clark." Martha hugged her tightly. "And I want him back."
Clark in the hallway, sat on his ankles with his back against the wall and his head down.
"Mr. Wells shouldn't have done that to you." Martha said in a harsh tone. Lois broke away from her hug and wiped her eyes.
"It's not his fault, it was my decision. And I will never regret taking your son out of Dr. Hamilton's lab."
"We'll find a way to get him back, Lois." Lois held Martha's hands.
"According to Mr. Wells it requires two things: that he wants to return and that someone activates his citadel."
"Clark will surely be able to activate his fortress."
"No. Once we fix what's wrong in this world, once he meets his Lois, even if they don't end up together which I find hard to believe. He's an amazing man and anyone intelligent enough will see that and there's no way his Lois won't see that," Lois smiled a wet smile and Martha answered her with a smile. She loved this girl, "Once they'll be together, he won't be able to move into my universe."
"Why? You made it, Mr. Wells made it."
"Mr. Wells succeeded because he is out of his time anyway, I succeeded because my world is messed up and I don't have Clark waiting for me but..."
"Once he has Lois the balance will return to this universe, and he won't be able to leave." Lois nodded.
"And he can't leave now because he has to continue and finish what we started. Mr. Wells is sure it's essential because the damage done to this universe is greater. Here Lois is gone and there was no Superman. In mine Superman may be dead but..."
"There's still Lois."
"Yes."
Lois Lane sat in the featureless room. Just sat. She was tired and weak since they brought her here. She counted the months at first but the fact that there was no natural lighting in the place and that she was not sure that they were not disrupting her sense of time made her stop in the end. Judging by the length of her hair, she wouldn't be surprised if years had passed. She tried to escape five times that she can remember, after the last time they moved her to this room. The room was not white but gray and completely upholstered, with no corners at all. The bed was just a block sticking out of the floor. She didn't know where the door to the room was, she was unconscious when they moved her here. She screamed for what felt like hours. She still didn't understand why she was here and what they wanted from her. No one asked questions, no one spoke. Their eyes were completely white, and they acted like robots. The encounter with their operator still sent shivers down her spine.
She went on a trip around the world, a high school graduation gift from her parents. She was going to start studying at Metropolis in the fall. On a whim, she decided to jump to Africa and got lost in West Africa. Not the best place in the world to get lost. She was in the Congo when that strange man approached her and before she knew what was happening, she found herself here. He took everything from her, clothes, belongings, documents, leaving only tight gray overalls that covered everything. He didn't explain. He treated her like an insect, and she really couldn't understand why she was still alive if he was so indifferent to her.
Lately, Lois assumed a few weeks maybe two months but who knows, she started having strange dreams, dreams of freedom, of love that overcomes all and then of a horrible death. She woke up from the last dream with an overwhelming feeling of pain and sadness and loneliness. The man in the dream died to save the world and his wife secretly mourned him. Lois couldn't see the face, it was blurry, but she felt a strong urge to hug that woman, to protect that man in the colorful suit. She wanted to experience a great love like theirs, she wanted a man who would love her and accept her and protect her like he did, a man who would laugh at her jokes and who wouldn't mind if she was rude or if she had a big mouth. Lois wanted to be swept away in the arms of someone like him. And no matter what she dreamed about, what dream her subconscious pulled out for her, she always woke up with a terrible sense of loss, with longings that folded her in half with pain.
Lois decided to go back to sleep in fear and expectation. The dream this time was different. The man and woman were standing in what appeared to be a training room. The floor was soft and a bright blue color that reminded Lois of the suit the man was wearing when he died. The man and the woman both smiled at each other and then Lois was suddenly swept into the woman, it was the strangest feeling. She was startled at first, would have probably panicked if the feeling wasn't so familiar but then she was filled with wonder. The man taught the woman a mental martial art and Lois immersed herself completely in these lessons. She was unaware that her body had entered a coma that even the people operator couldn't bring her out of.
Then the man in the dream looked directly at her, Lois was sure of it. He did not look at the woman, he could not look at the woman because she had completely disappeared. She couldn't make out anything in his face except the blue eyes that smiled at her. Lois almost burst into tears at that moment. She had been, God knows, how long stuck in this place without any human contact whatsoever...
"For ten years, as a matter of fact." said a male voice in her head and her eyes opened in wonder.
"Are you..."
"I'm in your head."
"So, I've finally gone crazy?" She heard laughter in her head.
"No. You're quite sane."
"Then..."
"Who am I? My name is not important. I am the man you dreamed of."
"But he's dead! And stop ending my sentences!"
"Yes, I'm dead but something happened and I'm here."
"What happened?"
"I don't know exactly."
"And what about your girlfriend? Why aren't you in her head?" He tilted his head to the side.
"She suffers enough." His voice was quiet and sad. Lois wanted to touch him, but he shook his head, "You can't touch me. I'm here because I couldn't see you alone, because you need help."
"For what?" Tears filled her eyes again, "For me to live another ten years in this prison?"
"No. Help will arrive soon. You're being looked for, I promise." She swallowed the tears. "The man who kidnapped you was named Milton Fine and he couldn't kill you or take over you even though he tried for three years."
"But... three years? I don't remember anything!"
"I know. I'm sorry for the invasion of privacy but I went through all your memories. I'm not sure how I found myself in your head and I wanted to understand why. Besides, it's not every day I get the chance to find out how Lois Lane's mind works." There was a teasing tone to his voice and Lois couldn't help but giggle.
"Are you responsible for all the dreams?"
"Not on purpose. When I probed your mind, my memories came up like dreams in yours." Lois bowed her head.
"You must miss her."
"More than anything else. There is something you need to know before we continue."
"What?"
"As we speak you are in a coma. This could be life-threatening the longer this goes on."
"Can you spot the point of no return?"
"Yes, but..." there was hesitation in his voice.
"So, I'm staying here." There was determination in her voice.
"Are you sure?" Lois nodded.
"Yes. Why would this HaMilton Fine want to kill me?"
"Milton Fine tried to erase your existence. He failed."
"But why?"
"You mean a great deal to his enemy."
"I do not understand."
"Think about it for a moment, about everything you know." She stopped and considered everything.
"I can't see your face. Why? Not the woman's face either."
"My fiancée but that can be fixed." She stood next to him looking at a seated woman deep in her work.
"It's... it's me! But older."
"Not by much. It's been ten years, remember?"
"If it's me and I know that everything I saw from your memories didn't happen to me, couldn't have happened without me finding out about it, unless it happened while I was stuck here..." She bit her lower lip lost in thought.
"It happened while you were stuck here and at the same time it didn't happen either." He pointed to the working woman. "It's a memory from five years ago."
"So, if I'm her, then there's someone else like you! But how can that be? Wait! Don't tell me! I read a book once, a science fiction book. It talked about something like that." Her eyes opened in wonder and excitement. "Parallel worlds! You are from a parallel world!" He nodded and Lois could have sworn that if he'd let her see his face, he'd have a huge smile on it right now. "And I and he, the you of this world. He is Milton Fine's enemy!?"
"Yes, Milton Fine is trying to weaken him."
"And he's in trouble? You must help me out of here!"
"Lois," it was the first time he addressed her by name and Lois was filled with warmth, "I can't."
"Then what's the point of you being here? You must help me!"
"I'm just a ghost, the willpower of someone who died months ago..."
"And you're going to leave her alone? Give up like that?"
"I do not give up." Lois swallowed hard at the restrained power in his voice, the determination. "There are things I can do, there are things I can't. There is a slim chance that I will be able to return, resurrect and for that you need to be with him." She was silent. "My world is losing hope, your world has already lost it. My Lois came here to help and unknowingly took me with her. I still don't know how. She's helping him now. I'm helping you."
"But if I stay locked up here, I can't even get to know him!"
"I know." There was silence for a long time, it was Lois who broke it.
"Did you say they were looking for me?"
"Yes."
"And you will help me."
"Yes."
"How?"
"You were about to give up before we spoke."
"I am..."
"You were hoping not to wake up this time. And I can hardly blame you, but I can't let him find you dead. He won't stand for it. I won't stand for it."
"So, what should I do?"
"You are the general's daughter, you tell me."
Clark and Bruce were standing in the cave examining Teddy Kord's latest work, which actually went into the beetle section only hers were red, when J'onn J'onzz unexpectedly entered the cave. He was very restless and could not stay in the same form for more than a few moments. Clark put his hands on his shoulder.
"J'onn, go back to your true form, it should calm you down."
J'onn froze for a moment then morphed into a lean creature with long thin limbs and a long head with green skin. Teddy and Bruce recoiled. John took a breath or two and then transformed again. He was still green, but he looked more human. Most importantly, he stopped bombarding Clark with images of fire and danger.
"What happened?" Bruce said.
"Lex Luthor captured... Ms. Clark." J'onn remembers at the last moment that Teddy doesn't know the truth.
"What? How? You were supposed to watch over her!" Bruce exclaimed. Clark looked at J'onn pale. J'onn took out a small device about the size of a linseed from his pocket.
"I found it on myself later. It's a tracking device. I was able to disable it without destroying it." Teddy approached him with a small test tube and J'onn inserted the device into the test tube. "About half an hour after we got to Star City we walked into an ambush. I'm sorry, Kal El, they had the flame throwers."
"Why does it matter?" Teddy asked.
"J'onn is vulnerable to fire not to mention having a phobia of fire. It's not your fault." Clark said. "What happened?"
"They surrounded us. I would have stayed with her, but she recognized the flames. She put her engagement ring and bracelet in her bag and gave it to me. She told me to leave."
"She stayed with her beetle?" Teddy said hopefully.
"Yes. She wore it before she gave me the bag and also a simple ring instead of the engagement ring." Jones said and Teddy rushed to the computers in the cave, John turned back to Clark and Bruce "I was trying to decide when they put it and I think it was when we left Perry White's office in Montana."
"It's a disaster!" Bruce said. "You've been here, at the farm and a million other places since then. The entire underground and resistance movement is exposed now! I said this woman is a risk!"
"We had to do it, Bruce!" J'onn said. "How else would we contact the underground?"
"And how the hell did you not feel someone putting a tracking device on you?"
"There are ways to work on a telepath especially when you know he is a telepath. And if you are a telepath yourself..."
"Then they must have heard the whole conversation with White! They must know everything!"
"Enough!" cried Clark. "Teddy, did you locate her?"
"Yes, Superman. She's in..."
"Don't tell him where she is." Bruce said. "I won't let you do anything idiotic!"
"I can't let Lex get his hands on her, Bruce! I'm going to get her out whether you like it or not! It's not just the underground and the resistance movement that's in danger!"
"Exactly! And so, I will imprison you in a kryptonite cage myself if you even think about going on a suicidal rescue!"
"So, who's going to rescue her? Teddy? One of your geniuses? Someone must make sure all the people she's met with are safe, make sure the pocket world is safe and everyone inside is protected. If Lex links her to me..." Bruce looked at Clark quietly. He had lost his self-control again and knew it.
H. G. Wells left one of the labs and entered the main hall holding his pocket watch and looking at the confrontation in front of him with concern. Bruce took a deep breath.
"Batman will rescue her." Bruce said.
"Bruce!" Teddy called worriedly, "Are you even ready for this? Up until now these have only been petty criminals in an area you know very well."
"Is Irons done working on that armor of his?"
"He said everything would be ready tomorrow."
"What about Holt?"
"He's ready. He's dying to try his balls in a real situation. But..." Teddy walked over to them, "It'll expose us to Lex. I like Joanna too but is she worth the risk of going unprepared?"
"We knew we'd have to test our mettle. Now is the time. Wonder Woman is a bit too prominent for this operation." Bruce turned his gaze to Clark and smiled. The calmness and confidence that Clark suddenly displayed didn't surprise him, "We'll see now how much I can scare people when I walk into a room." Clark smiled back. "Teddy, make Oracle the recipient of Ms. Clark's locator signal. Tell the Genius Unit to meet me there at three in the morning."
"But Irons..."
"He will have to be ready. What about you? Are you joining?"
"I think I'll help Oracle... I'm not ready for battle yet."
"Then you better get ready, we're leaving in half an hour." Teddy nodded.
She quickly packed her toolbox and rushed out of the cave. Bruce looked at J'onn J'onzz.
"J'onn, contact Diana and the speedsters. Check that everyone is okay and do it discreetly."
"What about Kal El?"
"I need Mr. Kent with me." said Mr. Wells. They looked at him in surprise, noticing him for the first time.
"For what?" Bruce said.
"It's between me and him and it's something only he can do."
"Mr. Wells…" Wells smiled, Bruce would never admit it, but he was positioning himself as Clark's big brother. He will sting him and go down on him at every opportunity, but he will protect him from anyone.
"I need his help in locating Miss Lane." The place sank into silence until only the chirping of the bats in the ceiling of the cave was heard.
"I won't let him put himself in danger to save one Lois Lane and you think I'll let you drag him to save another Lois Lane?"
"Wow! Since when I ask you for permission to do something, Bruce?"
"Kent!"
"No. I admit my initial impulse was to get to Lexcorp and tear the place apart until I found Lois. Luckily, someone needed to redirect your energies into more positive channels."
"And what's the difference between the two cases, eh?"
"To take Lex down, we need to take care of Brainiac, otherwise he'll just find someone else to take advantage of. Do you think you and your geniuses can take care of him?"
"You don't have to take care of him alone."
"No. Brainiac is a Kryptonian, he is my responsibility. I will not endanger anyone else."
"Kent, the world needs you. That was the whole idea!"
"Bruce, you can't even begin to understand what it's like to be Brainiac's prisoner. He uses people like puppets, like robots. Lois is only there because of her connection to me. Even if we don't and won't have the connection that Lois has with her Clark, I can't leave her there. Right now, she needs me more than the world. The world has all the heroes Lois found and told you about. Who does she have? You'll send her father and his soldiers to rescue her? Right now, the entire underground and resistance movement is exposed and vulnerable. It's the right distribution of resources. You can do without me."
"Lois said you are the hope of this world, how will you do that if you die?"
"How am I going to do it if you keep hiding me here? Going against Brainiac is exactly what I'm supposed to do, it's my job, it's a job for Superman."
"Ms. Clark, you are definitely a unique case."
Lois sat cross-legged on the soft armchair. In front of her, leaning on a huge glass table, was Lex Luthor. He was taller than she remembered but still bold. She woke up in this office ten minutes ago, not bound, not bruised, not drugged. On the contrary, Lex offered her a glass of whiskey. She was holding it right now, spinning it around, making the ice in it move in the golden liquid. She won't hesitate to drink or eat anything from Lex. He had no reason to kill her, and J'onn J'onzz worked for hours on creating barriers in her mind that would prevent any drug and telepathic penetration from reaching the secrets kept in her mind.
"There is nothing unique about me."
"You hang out with aliens and that doesn't make you unique?"
"Aliens? I thought you were holding the only alien. Cao El or something." Lex leaned back with a smile.
"Kal El. And as I've warned people for years, he's not the only one. They've been hiding among us for years. Like the guy who accompanied you to Star City."
"J'onn J'onzz? He's a Gotham City's cop!" Is he really trying to make it look like he saved me from a horrible fate then death? seriously?
"Then why did he escape the flames so quickly?"
"His family died in a fire when he was a little boy. He has a phobia."
"I'm sorry to break your illusion, Ms. Clark. He was an alien, a shape-shifter."
"And he's here to conquer Earth? How? One criminal at a time? No, J'onn is one of the most down-to-earth people I know."
"Too bad my people couldn't catch him. Nevermind, next time." He got up from the table and sat in the armchair next to her. "But you are much more interesting than him. For starters there is no record that you were even born, and you visit very interesting places."
"Interesting places. Was that town in Montana you mean? Or maybe Hamilton Labs in Metropolis? I know! Smallville, Kansas. There was of course my brief visit to Gotham, and I know about the deadly rivalry between you and Mr. Wayne, who hasn't heard of it?" Lois looked at him with a small smile, Lex couldn't hide his surprise when he heard her describe quite accurately the route he was following in his efforts. "So, Mr. Luthor, which of these places are you particularly interested in?" Lois downed the whiskey in her glass in one go. "Do you have anything stronger? I prefer tequila or vodka."