Author's Note: I don't own Superman

If anyone is a fan artist and wants to help turn this into a free digital comic strip, let me know in a DM or review and we can go from there.

"It is morning. Superman flies into the Sun. The world is safe."

Daniel Mitchell longingly read that line on the front page of the Daily Planet's newspaper and put the coffee cup back on the table, as a nostalgic smile grew slowly on his face. 'God, how I miss seeing his morning flybys. Made my coffee hour that much better. I guess Lexcorp really does hate Superman. Otherwise I don't see why they would force us to come to work so early. Oh well, it's good to see the Daily Planet still keeps us up to speed on that, in spite of some people's attempts at undermining our favorite Big Blue Boy Scout's efforts.'

Another sip of his coffee later, the man returned to his painstakingly boring job. As he was going through the month's transactions, he noticed something.

'Well this is a strange one. It's all legit but the money goes through too many accounts to make any sort of ethical sense. Just what are you hiding, Mr. Luthor?'

As such, Daniel started to follow the money, until he saw the final buyer in the list, a company by the name of HexaCorp Inc.

'I guess it's time for NumberWizard99 to act once again.'

Discreetly, he memorized the route through which the money was transferred. He wrote a quick note on his personal phone during lunch break, where he only used certain initials for each account, as sort of his own mnemonic device. It was also a way to ensure no one would understand what that was if they tried to read it. Luckily, as an accountant, he had a mind for numbers and cyphers were something he grew up with.

Later that day, he went home and took one of his burner phones in order to send the information to his intended beneficiary. Said burner phone was used from a randomly selected place in the city and was promptly destroyed after use.

Lois was in her office, researching a new story to write about, when, suddenly, a ping on her phone told her that NumberWizard99 had a new lead for her that might help incriminate Lexcorp once and for all.

'Ah, just in time. Let's see what you have for me, my dear NumberWizard99.'

'Hmm… now that's interesting. A transfer through multiple off-shore accounts that ends with HexaCorp Inc. Seems they have a supposed HQ in the outskirts of Metropolis. I guess I know where I'm going this evening.'

Sure enough, just as she said, by evening she was at the location presented by her lead. Looking around, Lois realized it was just an abandoned empty hangar. Or at least, that's what it looked like on the surface, but she knew better. Thus, it was time to take a closer look. She snuck closer and found a backdoor. She closed in on it, all the while looking around to make sure no one was on her trail.

She tried the door. Strangely, it wasn't locked. That spooked her. She decided to back off and go home, her instincts screaming that something was wrong, but it was too late. Not a moment later, with a strike to the back of her head, her entire world went black.

Lois' head was pounding like crazy as she woke up. Finally able to open her eyes, she took in her surroundings, which pretty much limited themselves to a dimly lit room and her tied to a chair, next to a middle aged man with brown hair. His attire, consisting of a teal square patterned long sleeve shirt, khaki pants and brown derby shoes screamed middle class employee of the month.

A few lights turned on towards the entrance, which caught both their attention. The two soon realize that an apparition of Lex Luthor just graced them with his presence.

"Mr. Daniel Mitchell, you played with fire one too many times. Or should I call you NumberWizard99? Yes, Miss Lane, meet your elusive lead."

"You set us up." responded Daniel in disgust.

"Indeed. I must say, Mr. Mitchell, that your diligent employ of single-use burner phones was quite ingenious. Your simple, yet effective tactic made me so curious to see just who it was that kept betraying me, that I took the matter into my own hands. Firstly, I discovered that the problems started to happen in the year that your batch of employees were hired. Due to the specific nature of our work, we keep very tight records of who goes in what positions, and we also have a very detailed record of each individual's background and, in particular, habits. As such, it was just a matter of narrowing it down to the most likely suspects. And you should know by now that, with this amount of information at hand, such a task is child's play for someone like me."

"Shit. I'm sorry Miss Lane for dragging you into this."

"It's fine. I knew what I was getting myself into when I chose to work as an investigative journalist."

"How touching. Should I tell Superman you dumped him for a mere accountant? That would make for quite the headline, don't you think, Miss Lane?"

"Shut it, you bastard. You know full well that Superman will come and save us. And when he does, you're screwed."

"Oh, but Miss Lane, I am not even here. Though I wish I were. I would have loved to have a front row seat and see his face when he realizes just what I have in store for him. Alas, just this once, caution must take precedence over pride." And just like that, Luthor disappeared like a reflection.

"Shit."

"What?"

"I worked for Lexcorp's R&D branch. One recent project was the study of Mirror Master's inter-dimensional travel through mirrors technology. They were never able to replicate the time-space aspect of his work, but they were able to develop the ability to create powerful remotely accessible holographic projections just like this one."

"How are you privy to such information, as an accountant?"

"I wasn't supposed to have access to it, but you'd be surprised what you can claw out of people when you buy them a free cup of coffee and act like an innocent office worker who wants to live vicariously through the experiences of once-renowned scientists. And you'd likely also be surprised how much such scientists are willing to share in order to obtain even the smallest shred of validation for the work that they do but can never put their name on, for contracting reasons."

"So, what do we do?"

"I don't really know. I don't even know where we are. And I don't even know what Lex's plan is. Though, knowing him, he'll likely want to remove any evidence of his connection to this incident, all the while hurting Superman in some way. Any idea what time it is?"

Lois looked down and realized her wristwatch was still on her person.

"Assuming my wristwatch hasn't been meddled with in any way, it's 3 a.m."

"I see. Wait. Do you hear that beeping sound? Also, does the room smell funny to you?"

"...Y-yeah… Oh no."

"What?"

"Remember the hologram?"

"Yes."

"There was a noticeable green tint to the lighting in the room when it was on. You can see it even now, but it was much more obvious during Lex's little show."

"...Shi-."

Suddenly, the ceiling just in front of them was pierced by a tremendous force. A second later, they could distinguish the silhouette of their hero.

"Superman! Go away! It's a trap!" they shouted desperately, in unison.

"I know." replied Superman with a smile.

A moment later, the room exploded, launching shrapnel, debris and rebar pieces in every direction. Superman covered the two with his body and cape, to protect them from the fire and the shock of the explosion as they flew out.

The flight didn't last long however, and soon the three found themselves landing roughly on the ground, in a forest on the outskirts of Metropolis.

"A-are you okay?" they heard Superman ask weakly.

"Y-yes" replied Lois, still recovering from the shock of seeing her life flash right before her eyes.

"Good" said Superman smiling and then promptly fell to the ground, unconscious.

Lois was shell-shocked. She couldn't process Superman falling right in front of her.

"Oh no." she finally heard from her side. That seemed to be enough to wake her up from her daze and she finally took a better look at their situation. She saw Daniel roll Superman over. That gave both of them a clear view of his back, which was now peppered by a bunch of shrapnel embedded into it. It all seemed to have a slight green tint to it.

Both Lois and Daniel dropped to the ground and started looking over Superman's body, desperately trying to assess the damage.

"We need to pull these pieces out and throw them away as fast as possible." She finally said.

"Right. Let's hope he also has some super healing factor among his abilities."

"He does."

"Good to know."

The two looked over Superman's body and did their best to pull all the bits they could find.

"Sure hope none of them snuck inside."

"For now it'll have to do. We need to get him out of the forest. He needs the sun."

"Right."

The two then grabbed Superman by his arms and attempted to holster him over their shoulders.

"What the hell does this guy eat for breakfast? Mountains?" asked Daniel as they were struggling to carry the Man of Tomorrow to a new dawn.

"Probably." responded Lois, whose physique was definitely not built for hauling six-foot tall demigods across entire expanses of forest.

"How did he get his hands on this much Kryptonite?" She asked as they trudged their way forward.

"I think it's synthetic kryptonite. Remember project "Green Stinger"?"

"Yes, I remember your lead. It was eighteen months ago, right?"

"Yeah."

"I couldn't find anything. The trail got cold."

"Sorry I couldn't give you more info back then. Would have been too risky. But yeah, I didn't know what it was at the time either. Now it makes sense though. The one thing I distinctly remember is that the scientists that I talked to about it all felt unanimously guilty for some reason. I suppose this would explain it."

"Y-yeah. Wonder what he has on those guys if they're willing to work on something like that."

"I don't know, but I guess it's something worth looking into. Assuming we survive the night."

As if on cue, the two of them heard a loud, metallic shout come from the depths of the forest.

"Oh, Superman! I heard you came out to play. Didn't know you were into hide and seek! I already counted to ten, so, ready or not, here I come!"

"You had to jinx it, didn't you?" whispered Lois exasperatedly.

"Less talking, more dragging."

A tree started falling down in the distance. It was about two hundred meters away.

"I know you're out there, Superman! Come and face me or I'll find your little proteges and crush their skulls with my own hands!"

"He's getting close." muttered Lois as they struggled to make progress.

"I know, I know..." It was obvious to Lois that, at this point, Daniel was acting frustrated more as a means to drown out just how terrified he was.

"Found you." they suddenly heard, from around a hundred meters back in the forest. The two looked at each other, then nodded and, with all the strength they could muster, rushed towards the end of the forest.

"Not so fast." with a leap, a hunk of moving metal was right in front of the Superman carrying duo.

"Uh, hi? Mind moving to the side please? We're trying to make it to the beach, you see." responded Daniel with a struggling smile on his face.

"You have balls, little man, I'll give you that, but no one gets to mess with Metallo's target and survive."

With a mighty swing, Metallo attempted to turn Daniel's head into paste, only for his strike to be swiftly blocked by a hand that belonged to a blue wearing, seemingly unconscious, individual.

"Lois, Daniel. Go home. I got this."

"Are you su-"

"Go! Now!" without another word, the Man of Tomorrow grabbed onto Metallo and flew him across the forest, towards the beach.

The two stood there in stunned silence for a good few seconds, until the remnants of a big shock wave from the beachside grazed their faces.

"Sooo, do we go home then? You're the Superman expert here." Asked Daniel.

"No. He's still weakened. Let's see this through."

"I was hoping you'd say that. Let's go."

Steadily, they ran towards the source of that not-so-natural breeze to assess the situation. As they arrived, they realized Superman was wrapping up the fight, but was clearly struggling.

Metallo did a number on him, if the wounds on his body were anything to go by.

"It is time for the Great Metallo to finish the job!" As he said that, he opened his chest cavity and the two witnesses could see a bright green light wash over Superman, knocking him to the ground.

At this point, Superman was struggling to stand up. It was clear that Metallo was about to win the match.

"It's now or never." said Daniel, a hardened look on his face.

"Right." responded Lois, sharing the same resoluteness.

As he was getting ready to deliver the finishing blow, Metallo felt a couple of pebbles hit the back of his head. Turning around, he was surprised to see the two people from the forest, looking at him with an expression that definitely did not match their trembling bodies.

"Hey, you second-rate piece of scrap metal! You should know that we filmed all of this! You and Luthor are about to go down!"

"I was there when you were brought in, you dolt. I know you were stripped clean of any unwanted devices before you were tied up. The only reason you even had the watch still on was at my benefactor's request. He said he wanted you to know the hour in which you contributed to the downfall of your "God", to remember it before you expired. Anyway, I was hoping you didn't run too far. I was tasked to end your miserable little lives as well, in the event the explosion fails to kill you. Especially yours, Mr. Mitchell. No one likes a mole after all."

"Then come and take your best shot. I don't regret a thing."

"Alright. If that's how you want it."

A shockingly fast leap later, Metallo was in front of Daniel, ready to end him once and for all. Once more, Daniel's life flashed before his eyes and, once more, the finishing blow failed to land on its intended target. Instead, two strong arms were wrapped around the waist of the steel robot, which then proceeded to toss him over and back. With his last ounce of strength, the Man of Steel flew back and ripped Metallo's arms and legs right off, rendering him imobile. Having accomplished this task, he fell to the ground, unconscious once again, and much worse for wear.

This time, it was Lois that recovered first "We have to get Superman away from Metallo!"

"Right!"

"What do you think you two are doing?!"

"Oh, shut up you overused blender." said Daniel as he leaned forward to drag Superman away from Metallo.

"You can't save him. I gave him a hefty dose of Kryptonite radiation. After what he went through, he won't survive." Metallo started laughing, his chest cavity opened once more just to spitefully flood the area with even more radiation.

"We need to stop Metallo from doing that or it's all for nothing." said Lois.

"I have an idea. Let's drag Superman away first though."

After dragging him about twenty meters away from their now downed enemy, Lois looked at Daniel expectantly.

"Sand."

"In his cavity. Simple but convenient. Let's hope it works to shut down the effects"

"At the very least, it will dim it."

"Well, it's worth a try."

The two then approached Metallo, who was still laughing maniacally at the heroes' plight, only to then shift to a worried look, noticing their arrival.

"What are you two about to do?"

"A little experiment. Seems to be a day of field tests today, so might as well." responded Daniel, with an evil glint in his eyes. "Plus, I just got fired, so it's as good a time as any to shove it to my former boss, one last time."

With that, both Lois and Daniel started grabbing sand and dumping it into Metallo's chest cavity. More and more they did it, whilst ignoring Metallo's screams and curses, until finally, his entire body was covered in a mound.

"Let's go check on Superman." Lois finally said.

"Right."

"Hey! Don't ignore me you shitheads! I'll get you for this! No one humiliates Metallo like this and gets away with it!"

Daniel and Lois were too tired and too concerned for their hero to care about Metallo's ranting at this point. Both leant down once again to check on Superman's vitals.

"He's still weakened. There's a chance some of that shrapnel is still in his body! I don't know what to do! Please wake up, please wake up! Please! Please. Please…" Tears started streaming down her face, as she cradled his head in her lap, desperately trying to wish him back to his usual, happy-go-lucky self.

A few moments later, she felt a hand land on her shoulder. She looked up and found Daniel's determined look.

"Have hope. When all seems lost, that is the one thing we always have. We owe it to him to believe that he will fly into the morning sun once more."

Lois looked deeply into Daniel's eyes. There was doubt hidden in there, but it was actively pushed away by fierce belief. She could see it clearly, how he was fighting his misgivings with all that he had.

"You're right. Hope is not the absence of doubt. It's to believe in spite of it." She steadily wiped the tears off her face and looked lovingly towards Superman's resting body, caressing his hair gently. "All shall be well."

A moment later, the first ray of sunrise finally pierced the edge between sea and sky. Red turned to yellow and the timid rays finally reached the Man of Tomorrow.

At first, they saw nothing and their hearts sank. Just when they were about to give up. It happened.

A resting head, meekly turning towards the sea.

A pair of eyes opening, ever so slightly.

A hand, reaching out slowly for sunlight.

A body rising, struggling to get back on its feet, seemingly unaware of its surroundings.

A man, standing, wearily, his tattered cape fluttering in the morning breeze.

A deep breath.

A look over his shoulder.

A smiling "Thank you".

And a flight into the morning Sun.

After what felt like an eternity, the authorities arrived at the scene. Their presence in the area brought the two humans back to reality. As they gained their bearings, they realized Metallo was already taken into custody by the police and shut into a metahuman mobile container.

"Are you two alright?" asked a paramedic that came to check on them for injuries.

"Y-yes." The two responded after a short while, their gazes still looking towards the sunrise. Idly, they noticed that said paramedic was joined by a police officer who seemed to be in charge of the entire operation.

"What happened here?" the officer asked.

"Superman." replied Lois longingly.

"I see."

"I need to get to my office." Lois said, her longing now replaced by her usual all-business-no-nonsense attitude.

"Mind if I come with? I just got fired so I don't really have anything better to do. Nor anything to keep me from spilling anything I know for your story." asked Daniel.

"Ma'am you need to stay behind. We need to hear your testimony about what happened."

"On second thought, how about I stay behind and talk to the authorities while you go and do what you need to do?"

"But, sir, you're both needed here."

"Are you seriously going to try and stop the Lois Lane from writing such an important piece for the Planet?" he asked the officer with an amused smirk on his face.

"I guess you were both privy to the same events, yes?"

"Yes. I can give you first-hand accounts and you can call in Miss Lane at a later time today to confirm my recounting of said events."

"That should be fine. Or better yet, Miss Lane, I'll have my second in command escort you to your office and you can give your testimony on the way."

"Great! Then it's settled."

"Thanks, Daniel. You're a good man."

"No worries, Miss Lane. It's what Superman would do." he replied again, smiling.

"Indeed."

Hours passed and Daniel finally found himself at his new home away from home. Luckily, given that he did not suffer any significant damage, he was allowed to go, albeit under witness protection program, until everything was investigated properly. He washed the grime off of his body and read the newspaper while eating his much needed brunch.

On the first page, he noticed the headline and smiled. Before, his smile was just admiration. Now, it was brightened by a touch of fulfillment.

"It is morning. Superman flies into the Sun. The world is safe."