Sorry that we're running late, but our exhaustion has been showing, methinks. Thank you again, saavikam77, for all of the work that you put in on this one. We really couldn't do without you, see? :D

It was long past mid-day when the dispirited searchers reconvened at the Kents’ apartment, their best lead having fallen flat. The news didn’t get any better when they met the kids. All of the phone calls and visits to Kala’s usual hangouts had yielded nothing and they were clustered in the kitchen, trying to brainstorm something, anything, they could do now. Clark had the car when he left campus, supposedly to confer with Superman, while Lois accepted a ride from Maggie, and thus they were the two who had to tell the kids that Kala wasn’t with her mysterious boyfriend.

Lois was trying to remember the last time she had seen Jason so resolute and so absolutely forlorn. Listening to the kids hash out the options left, her eyes just kept going to her son. It hurt to know just how much his emotional equilibrium was off. Worse, there was nothing she could do to erase that look any more than she could stop her own guilt. Maybe if she hadn’t flown off the handle. . .

This isn’t helping, Lois. You can’t figure out where she is if you’re feeling sorry for yourself. And it’s not getting Kala home any faster. Right now the only important thing is having your daughter back with you. You can fall apart and act like a drama queen later.

The voice in her mind was familiar. And the General’s Daughter had a point. Grief was for afterwards, once all were present and accounted for. Forcibly grounding herself, Lois squeezed Jason’s shoulder before excusing herself. It did her heart good to see those blue eyes come up to hers and give her a tiny smile.

She headed out onto the balcony, hoping the cold air would blow some of the fatalism out of her mind. Maggie followed her, taking a cigarette from the pack in her pocket and lighting it. Lois eyed it, thinking back to when she’d smoked Marlboro Reds – she and the cop had always been bumming smokes off each other, something of a competition.

Before she could make the decision, they both heard the door open and turned to see Tobie and Cat coming to join them. Both looked as low as Lois felt. Nothing. Neither one got anything. It was as clear asin the way that they wouldn’t look her in the eyes, asin the way they immediately lit up their own cigarettes. And daylight was wasting. In the face of this defeat, Lois bit her lip and then gave in, pawing through her purse for one of her cloves. When Lois exhaled her first plume of smoke, finally Maggie spoke up, asking casually, “So what freaked you out so bad about Mr. Powell?”

The reporter sighed. She' had hoped that no one had noticed her reaction to the boy, but since when had Maggie not had the eyes of hawk? It didn’t help that it was complicated. And a part of her past she would have happily forgotten. “He reminded me a little bit of Cameron,” she began, not comfortable with the line of questioning at all.

Which was made all more so when Tobie and Cat groaned and shared a bitter look. It was Tobie that said what they were both thinking, “Oh shit, Mags. If that’s the case, shoot the boy and do us all a favor.”

HerThose hazel eyes cut over at her oldest friends, her expression decidedly surly. “The difference is that this Nick seems like he gives a damn. Even if they were up to whatever bullshit they were up to, he tried to defend her. Which is more than I can say for Cameron back then.” Thinking back on those days, she couldn’t help a sigh.

Lois could feel the cop watching her as she lazily blew a smoke ring. “There’s a story behind this,” Maggie said.

“You wanna know my secrets? Ask your wife, and the cackling blonde. The less I have to remember, the happier I’ll be.” Lois was staring out across the city now. Part of the reasoning was true: Clark could arrive back at any moment, and she didn’t want him to see her smoking. The other reason was that it wasn’t a time in her life she was particularly fond of.

Unsurprisingly, it was Tobie that spoke first. “Okay, okay, this is a great story,” she said, glad of some distraction from their current worries. “So, when me and Cat and Lois were in college, we shared an apartment, right? And Lois never dated, she was practically married to her books.”

“While you made up for it by seducing a whole sorority,” Cat cut in.

The blonde was swiftly elbowed, the Star reporter frowning at her. “Hey, this is about Lois and Cameron, not about how much of a whore I was back in the day, Cat.”

“Yeah, we don’t have time to get into that, Tobe,” Maggie teased.

“Shut up, oh virtuous one. Anyway. So this guy Cameron decided to make it his life’s mission to get Lois in bed, mainly to save her from the inevitable result of spending too much time around the massive charisma of yours truly.”

Cat snickered, and Lois joined in after a moment, but Tobie ignored them to continue. “He somehow managed to sweet-talk her into dating him, and everything was okay for a while. She saw him on weekends only because she was too damn busy during the week, with school and working at the Planet.”

Cat couldn’t resist adding to the tale. “If I remember it right, a class got cancelled midweek, and Lois went to go spend an hour with Cameron. Only she found him in bed with someone else.”

“Two someone elses,” Tobie corrected. “Obviously, she dumped him. And when he was dumb enough to come by the apartment to apologize, Cat and I beat the shit out of him and fucked up his car. The only reason we never got charged with assault and property destruction of property was he couldn’t admit he got his ass kicked by two girls. Plus, I think he knew he deserved it, the cheating little bastard.”

Sawyer’s eyebrows had been rising steadily through the story, and she shook her head at that last. “I’m so glad you wild pack of heathens has settled down since I started hanging out with you.”

“Yeah, you’ve only had to threaten to arrest us once,” Cat said with a smile. Tobie and Lois, who’d been causing that particular disturbance that almost got all three hauled off to jail, just glared at her.

“So, what about Nick triggered all these not-so-happy memories?” Maggie asked, eyeing Lois. The other two, who hadn’t met Nick, listened intently.

That one question was enough to sober Lois again. “Well, he’s a college guy. Good-looking, pretty sure of himself. And he strikes me as a bit of a player.”

Tobie curled her lip. “And our Kala’s dating him why?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Tobie? As much as she hates it: like mother, like daughter. And she has enough problems without adding that to the mix.” Lois took another drag off her cigarette, her anxiety in every movement, her right hand fidgeting with the locket around her neck.

“He stood up for her,” the cop pointed out. “I agree with you, Lois, he does seem to actually care about her. Doesn’t mean I think her seeing someone that much older than her is a good idea, but that’s not important right now. What is important is that she’s not with him, and if he had any idea where she was, I think he’d tell us.”

“Which leaves us with what?” Cat asked.

Sawyer paused to take a drag of her own before admitting, “Not a damn thing. My guys are covering the case as a kidnapping at this point. We’ll know if they find anything. Until then…”

There was a pause of silence as they all let the reality of the trail going cold start to sink in. It didn’t seem right, not in the case of Kala. It was Lois who broke it with a sigh, exhaling another plume of smoke. “I have an idea,” she said quietly, still staring at the skyline. “It’s just a hunch, but…”

They all turned to look at her when she trailed off, but Lois had that tight-lipped look they all knew so well. “Go on,” Maggie said, watching her curiously, “but call me if you hear anything.”

Lois ground out her cigarette and leaving the others on the balcony as she headed inside, only to run into Richard on his way in. He’d gotten Maggie’s call to come in, and had heard that their last lead had evaporated. Lois found him ruffling Jason’s hair and shaking hands with the other three kids. Seeing her, he immediately pulled her into a hug, and Lois gratefully relaxed against his shoulder with a sigh.

“Lana’s at the pediatrician with Kristin,” he whispered against her hair. When Lois tried to look up, worried, Richard just held her as she was. “It’s okay, Lois. Nothing big; Little K was upset last night and never got any sleep. She already had the sniffles, but now her ear hurts, so Lana took her in.” He squeezed Lois again to let her know that the littlest one’s troubles weren’t her fault, and added, “How’re you holding up?”

With a shaky laugh, Lois replied, “I have an idea I want to follow up.”

“And Clark’s out scanning the skies? Great, I’ll come with you. Sounds like you could seriously do with the company.”

Lois winced. Considering where her plans were taking her, and the secrets that they could possibly reveal, the last person she wanted with her was her ex. “I’d rather follow this one up alone.”

Richard narrowed his eyes at her speculatively. Before he could say anything else, Jason appeared at his mother’s side, having heard the discussion and walked away from the other kids. All of whom had been surprised by the way he had abruptly taken leave of them. “No way,” he said, and Lois saw her own inflexibility reflected in her son’s eyes.

Correction: the last person she wanted with her was her son. This was getting more complicated by the minute. There was no way she wanted Jason to even guess the things that had been happening outside of the apartment lately. Not to mention that fact that three pairs of eyes were now watching them in surprise. “Jason, honey, it may not be safe,” Lois began, but he cut her off.

“I’m not letting you go alone. Dad’s not here, and if I hadn’t left Kala alone…”

“It’s not your fault,” Richard and Lois said in unison, sighing at each other before giving him their best stern parental looks.

Normally it was be enough to cow the boy, but Jason wouldn’t be so easily mollified now. “Doesn’t matter. It has to do with Kala and you shouldn’t be alone. I’m going with you, Mom. I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know where you are.”

“Jason,.” Lois sighed, but the moment before she could say anything else, her son gave her a look from under furrowed brows that she’d seen too often in the mirror.

“If you won’t let me go, I’m telling Dad as soon as he gets here.” The way he tilted up his chin and crossed his arms as he returned her steady disbelievinggaze was pure Lane stubbornness.

Utter disbelief welled up that this threat and Lois was sure that it was written all over her face. Great, now her own son was blackmailing her. As if this day couldn’t get any betterworse.

Richard couldn’t help laughing despite the seriousness of the situation they were in. “Better take him, Lois, he’s gonna tell Dad,” he teased. But when Lois glared at him, he tipped her a wink. Having Jason along would keep Lois from doing anything too crazy, and if something did happen unexpectedly, well, he was in superhero training for a reason.

The fact that his one of his fathers was mocking him, even gently, didn’t appear to sway Jason in the slightest. His arms remained crossed, his position firm as he stared his mother down. Her hands going to her hips, Lois easily returned the annoyed expression on his face at having a figurative gun put to her head. And by her own son. There was no way she wanted him anywhere near her last lead, but what choice did she have? Wouldn’t it be worse to have to worry about Kal-El trying to find her out? But the part that got to her the worst was that it would have been something she herself would have done to get her way, and had, many times.

For a long moment, she didn’t trust herself to speak for fear of what would come out of her mouth. Off to theirre left she could hear the other kids started to mutter worriedly. She missed most of it, but caught Sebast’s whispered, “One of these days, Mom’s going to lose it and Jason isn’t going to know what hit him. The boy can’t try her forever.” Wasn’t that the truth. “Fine, you can go. Are you happy now?”

And when he grinned in relief and practically bounced to her side, he reminded her so much of his father back in the day that it hurt her heart. How was it that Jason had the impossible power to keep her from being angry at him for long, even when he deserved it? She gave an aggravated snort at the thought as she uncrossed her arms. Without another word, Lois was headeding straight for the door with him right at her heels, sheand added grumpily as they stepped into the hallway, “But you’d better keep up and keep quiet, Jason. I’d better not even know you’re there…”

As the two of them left, Lois still lecturing Jason, Richard just shook his head slightly. He didn’t notice Elise and Sebast turning to stare at Giselle; the three kids had been summarily abandoned after spending the day following up on all the phone calls made yesterday.

Giselle looked a little miffed at having been left behind, but the steady glare coming from the other two teenagers redirected her attention. She looked back at them with a trace of shame in her expression, but there was absolutely nothing she could say in defense.

Just as the tensions began to mount, Richard strolled up and leaned against the counter. “Since your fearless leader just disappeared on you, I guess it’s my turn to be field commander. Bring me up to speed, kids."

Sebast and Elise sighed in unison as they turned their attention from Giselle to do so.

…

General Zod was still looking at Kala with an air of surprise when an all-too-familiar voice spoke further up the hall. “Well, I see you’ve already introduced yourselves. My, how you’ve grown, Kala! You could be Lois’ sister instead of her daughter.” Ice ran down the girl’s spine. That seemingly jovial voice – with mocking laughter beneath every word – came from another face Kala remembered well.

The difference was, she’d met Lex Luthor in person, not in holograms from the Fortress’s crystal bank archives. He had taken her and Jason captive, deliberately exposed them to kryptonite, and when Kala attacked him for beating up her father, Luthor had thrown her off the side of his damned kryptonite island. A long fall into icy water, and if not for Jason and Superman, she would’ve died there. Looking at him, she could feel the frigid sea again, taste the salt water that stung her eyes and nose. Her nightmare came to life, and Kala shivered in terror.

Now, as she had ten years ago, she instinctively relied on the one fragile thread of sanity that she could grasp in such a desperate position. Despite her current upset with the answer, it came immediately. What would Mom do? Simple: get angry, and get even. Never admit to being afraid.

“Luthor, you slimy sonofa…” Kala growled, taking a step toward him. Her left arm was still throbbing, but the pain felt distant in the face of her growing rage. She was far faster than the goons who’d brought her in. If she could just get one good punch…

“He wears a shard of kryptonite set in a ring,” Zod warned her an instant too late. The moment Kala shifted her weight, Luthor raised his hand, and she realized the dull metal on his finger was lead. Luthor hadn’t approached too closely; it would take him only an instant to flip open the cap and expose her to the radiation. Kala was fast – but not that fast. Not yet. And the memory of pain and weakness and that horrible ringing in her ears after her last exposure kept her at bay.

I have to get out. Kala did the unexpected, and whirled to bolt back through the group of men who’d brought her here. They were disorganized and demoralized, both from getting hurt by a teenager and from Zod’s heat-vision attack. The girl put on a burst of speed and dodged them easily, racing along the corridor looking for an exit.

She skidded to a halt at a dead end. There were other corridors, but she could hear the men running, Luthor barking orders at them. Not just the ones who’d brought her in; from the sounds of it, the villains had a whole flock of henchmen stashed here.

Trapped, Kala used the only option she knew was fool-proof: she flung her head back and screamed for her father, screamed loud enough that her throat burned. If he could only hear her, and she knew he could…

The flare of optimism she felt died almost as soon as it lit. “The entire facility is sound-proof.” That was Zod’s voice again, still speaking Kryptonese with its formal, flat tones. He’d caught up to her somehow … well, he was supposed to be dead, killed in an escape attempt just a few years after Ursa, so if he was alive it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he’d somehow managed to regain his powers.

Furious, Kala whirled on him, her eyes feral. She was cornered, no escape, no hope of help, and she knew her only option was to fight. Without thinking she leaped at Zod, her good arm cocked back for the hardest punch she’d ever thrown.

Thwack. Zod caught her wrist and held it, looking into her eyes steadily as she winced. Surprised, Kala read little in his expression beyond a distant sort of curiosity. “I mean you no harm,” he said with more than a little force, and added almost too swiftly for her to comprehend, “I am as much a prisoner here as you are, Kala Kal-El.”

With that, he released her, and Kala quickly stepped back. The rest of Luthor’s goons had arrived, but they hung back from the general even as they eyed Kala with obvious anger. It seemed she’d injured more than flesh, and blows to ego had a nasty way of incurring revenge.

No options left, no way to save herself, no way to call down a rescue. She was trapped for real, no running away. The enormity of it crashed down on Kala, and she staggered, leaning against the nearest wall for support. While all of them stood watching her – Zod unreadable, the men wary, Luthor avaricious – she slid down to sit on the floor, arms wrapped around her knees and her eyes glazing with terror.

Luthor smirked. “I didn’t expect you to volunteer for the welcoming committee, General,” he said. Zod turned his head slightly, but didn’t fully face Luthor, contempt etched in every line of his body. The bald man continued tauntingly, “Then again, you and Kala have sort of a connection – if her father hadn’t been so busy conceiving her, your little reign of terror would’ve ended much sooner.”

The Kryptonian did not acknowledge him, turning away again. Luthor’s eyes narrowed in wrath, and he snapped out, “Gentlemen, Miss Kent needs some time to adjust to her circumstances. Take her to her new quarters.”

The goons started to move, but Zod cut them a look that stopped them in their tracks. “Luthor, your filth will not lay hands on a Kryptonian,” he said sharply. It was the first time Kala had heard him use English, and she was unsurprised to realize it was just as formal as his Kryptonese.

All of them turned to look at Luthor, and even in her daze Kala saw their dismay. They couldn’t decide which man they feared more, Luthor or Zod. Luthor, however, was looking at Zod with amused disbelief. “What, you want to carry her over the threshold yourself?”

Again that half-turn and sneer. Kala realized that Zod had never looked directly at Luthor; a lot of animosity existed between the two, but at the moment that was just another fact floating through the numbing fear that swamped Kala’s mind. Ignoring Luthor’s snide chuckle, Zod closed the distance between himself and Kala, and extended a hand toward her. “Kala Kal-El,” he said, and waited.

Kala looked up at him, her expression bruised. She reached for his hand, but drew back, hesitating. Luthor made a tsking sound, but no one else moved, and Zod simply waited.

At last, Kala took his hand and let him help her to her feet. After a shaky moment, she stood up straight, and Zod immediately released her hand. “And where do you intend to quarter her, Luthor?” he asked, not even bothering to turn the slightest degree toward the bald man.

The continued slight clearly irritated Luthor. “Considering how well you two are getting along, I think I’ll give her the room across the hall from you,” he said with ill-disguised irritation. Zod didn’t acknowledge him further, merely took a step back from Kala before turning to lead the way.

Kala snuck a glance at the uneasy goons. For all their ambivalence toward Luthor and Zod, they seemed pretty clear on one thing: all of them hated Kala. And Luthor himself was watching her far too intently for Kala’s taste. She summoned all her dignity to walk away at Zod’s measured pace instead of fleeing their glares.

…

Erik Eastlake felt like a heel. Even more so now that the reason for his shame had been avoiding him like the plague. And with good reason. Lois Lane-Kent had more enemies than she knew about, and they were more powerful than she thought. He’d actively been trying to spare her the worst of what was coming, partly because his superiors had ordered him to bring her over to their side, and partly for his own selfish reasons. He was embarrassed about those reasons; the fact that she was older by ten years, at least, didn’t bother him, age was just a number, but the woman was married. Her marriage didn’t seem to be all that stable, but Erik didn’t like to think of himself as a home wrecker.

Still, she was fascinating, one of the most dynamic and attractive womean he’d ever met. And even knowing about her husband, and the kids, and the trials waiting for her ahead, Erik was still captivated by her in a way he really hadn’t expected. There was a vibrancy about her that spoke of a fire in more than just her career. He couldn’t stop himself from wondering what it would be like to lift her up onto her own desk, wrap her legs around his hips, and kiss her deeply while rocking against her. He could vividly imagine burying his face in her dark hair, his arms around her waist holding her close…

The doorbell rang, and Erik startled out of his guilty fantasy. Gotta stop that, he scolded himself guiltily. How are you ever going to face her again if you don’t get this under control? And you’re going to have to face her again, so get over it. You offered, she said no, end of story. Let it go. Strange that the doorbell should be chiming in the middle of the afternoon, though. He wasn’t expecting a package.

Erik opened the door of the condo, summoning the casual version of his charming grin. That expression fell as soon as he saw who was standing on his doorstep. With her hair wind-tossed and her color high from the extremity of the temperature was the very woman that had been invading his thoughts. He blinked, taken aback, and then finally managed to say, “Lois, I wasn’t expecting you.”

Her entire demeanor, however, was the exact opposite of what he’d hoped to see in this situation. Lois’ shoulders were tense, her lips thinned in anger. “I think we both can safely say that I wasn’t expecting to be here, Mr. Eastlake,” she said at last, a note of cold implacability while she watched him through narrowed eyes. Just in case he was entirely blind to body language and deaf to tone, she added, “And it’s Mrs. Lane-Kent.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and somehow wound up continuing, “for … everything, you know.” Did I really think I could just suggest something like that to her, and have any chance of it being received well? I am an idiot. Already wondering just how much he’d have to grovel to convince her it had been a mistake and would never be repeated, Erik was glad to be cut off.

“I’m not here for an apology,” she replied, arching one eyebrow, and Eastlake had the distinct feeling she knew something she wasn’t supposed to.

Distinctly uncomfortable, Erik scrambled to come up with an explanation for her presence. If she wasn’t here to take him up on his offer – oh, optimism was eternal – and she wasn’t here to make him apologize, then what did she want? Maybe this was going in a positive direction. And maybe it was about to get worse. “Well, how can I help you?”

“I need to see your father’s notes.” He stared at her, this being the furthest thought from his mind at the moment. The pause seemed to just irritate her worse. The line of her jaw tightened before her gaze pinned him down. Heat was starteding to seep back into her voice when she added in a dark tone, “Now.”

Erik rubbed the back of his neck, thinking quickly. Maybe he had a way in with her again. The opportunity to seduce her was gone, but if he could just crack that armor the tiniest bit… “This is really unprecedented,” he replied in his most professional tones. “I’d consider letting you in, if…”

Lois held up one hand in front of his face, immediately shushing him. “Erik, you might want to hold on a second before you finish that sentence,” she warned. She made a beckoning gesture with her other hand, and a tall young man stepped out from where he’d been concealed beside the door. At first, Erik didn’t recognize him, but Lois said icily, “You’ve met my son, Jason.”

“Right,” Erik said. He hadn’t recognized the boy he’d seen around the Planet offices with that apprehensive glare on his face. Was Lois really the kind of woman who’d bring her own son to threaten a man for his actions? But no, the boy would’ve been angry if he’d known about New Year’s Eve, and right now he was only confused and suspicious. Quickly editing his reply, Erik continued, “As I was saying, I’d be happy to let you in, if only you’ll tell me why you need to see those notes right this instant.”

“My daughter is missing,” Lois said flatly, and Erik flinched. He knew perfectly well how devoted she was to her children, and if one of them was gone…

“I don’t see how my father’s notes can help you,” he replied, “but you’re welcome to look. Just, please forgive me for being boorish the other day?”

“I’ll consider it.” Lois’ response was guarded, a flash of guilt flickering in her eyes. Just enough to let him know she had considered his offer, for an instant, and still rejected it. And then she just waited with a resolute stance, which essentially forced Erik to open the door wide and step back.

Knowing he had no other real choice, Eastlake stood aside. He had made this mess; this much he owed her. And just maybe there was a possibility of cleaning up loose ends. “Come in,” he said with a touch of resignation in his voice.

…

Across town, Clark and Richard hurried down the steps into the Busiek Street subway station. By rights, they really shouldn’t have been down there – investigating the disused tunnels where Kala’s sunglasses had been found was a task for the police. But this was their daughter, so ordinary rules didn’t apply. Clark wanted to check it out, and the other man couldn’t blame him. Not only was his super-vision powerful enough to pick up traces of forensic evidence the human eye couldn’t see, both men just had to see for themselves. And for the moment, Sawyer was letting him get away with it; she’d passed the information on to him with only a warning not to interfere with the officers on the scene.

Richard had come along because he’d been talking to a recently-arrived Clark when the news about the found sunglasses had come in. Lois had only been out the door a few minutes to pursue another lead, and Richard didn’t like the thought of him haring off by himself anymore than Jason had liked Lois going out alone. Super-powered or not, any fool could see Clark was taking this very hard; not that it was easy for Richard, or anyone else, but he seemed to blame himself for Kala’s disappearance and it showed to a painful degree. Only Lois looked more haunted and guilt-ridden than he did.

They were very nearly at the location when Clark stopped mid-stride and turned his quickly to the left, a frown furrowing his brow. HeRichard had just enough time to glimpse the exasperation on his face before Clark was stepping away, saying,. “Just a minute,” he said to Richard, and disappeared into the crowd. Richard sighed; amazing how a guy his size could still manage to eel through the throngs of people in the subway.

Letting himself drift through the crowd, Richard tried to keep Clark in sight. He caught a sightglimpse of the taller man over at the end of the platform, and headed in that direction. Surely Clark wasn’t going to just jump down and walk along the rails looking for further clues … not in street clothes, anyway.

As it turned out, that wasn’t his goal. He’d cornered a tall, black-haired woman, and though Richard couldn’t hear their conversation, Clark’s body language made it clear that he was angry. The woman just folded her arms and gave him a regal stare. Richard decided not to just walk up and ask what the hell was going on – he did, however, make his way around to one of the support columns close enough to hear their conversation.

“We’re aiding you, Clark, whether you want us to or not,” the woman was saying. “It doesn’t matter that this is personal. If anyone deserves the help of the League, it’s you, who have given so much to our cause over the years.”

“Diana,” Clark began to say, while Richard sucked in a breath. Knows Clark, tall, black hair, and talking about a League? Holy shit, that’s Wonder Woman, he thought, and quickly looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. Fortunately, it seemed that the citizens of Metropolis were ignoring everything except themselves, as usual. It helped that he was the only person around who knew Clark was Superman.

“Clark, you don’t have a choice. Bruce is already investigating our findings.”

“I don’t like using League resources for this,” Clark protested.

“We volunteered,” she replied. “We all volunteered.”

“You’re treating my daughter running away as if it’s a catastrophe of world-shaking proportions, Diana.”

“It is,” Diana said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. “For you, it is. And you know that if you haven’t found her, it’s very likely someone has taken her.”

Richard saw Clark shudder. That possibility had lurked in the back of everyone’s mind since yesterday, along with the extensive list of criminals and super-villains who might have a reason to kidnap Superman’s daughter. No one had spoken it aloud yet, but everyone who knew the secret was thinking it. The search for Kala had been twice as desperate, knowing that the longer they didn’t find her, the more likely it was that she couldn’t return on her own.

“Clark, let us help you,” Diana said. “Wherever she is, our combined efforts will be more successful at finding her. Besides, we’re your friends as well as your colleagues.” Clark had hung his head, and Diana cupped his cheek, making him look at her. “It’s not about professional responsibility or repaying favors. We care about you.”

Clark sighed and took a step forward, closing the distance between them. He enfolded Diana in a hug, resting his forehead against hers. She slipped her arms around his neck, letting him lean on her, and they stood like that, oblivious of the rest of the world. The busy commuters a few yards away didn’t notice the embrace any more than they had noticed the argument a moment ago.

Richard, however, noticed it all too well. The obvious familiarity was enough to make his eyebrows shoot up. What the fuck?! That was absolutely not what he had been expecting. All of a sudden, the problems in the Lane-Kent marriage seemed to be much more serious than he and Lana had thought. If he’s cheating on Lois, she’ll kill him … and I might help her. What the hell is he thinking?

Fans of the JLA had often speculated on a match between the supposedly-single Superman and Wonder Woman. Even their names seemed meant for each other. But Richard had always had the impression, from stray remarks by Clark, that the possibility hadn’t even crossed the Kryptonian’s mind. Now he had a panicked moment where he wondered if they’d all been deceived, and the fanboys were right after all…

Living with Lana for ten years had taught Richard patience and discretion, though, and the longer he looked, the more he realized exactly what he was seeing. After all, he’d watched Clark hug Lana just as easily, and a kiss on the cheek was the normal greeting for the two old friends. The bigger man was something of a magnet for platonic female affection; Lucy hugged him enthusiastically and teasingly called him her big brother, and all of Lois’ friends tended to give him a hug when the gang got together. Hell, even Raines would hug Clark, and she still refused to shake Richard’s hand, claiming he might be contagious.

Richard himself hugged Lois as often as he could, once in a while picking her up just to make her yelp and threaten him. When it came right down to it, Richard had hugged Clark on a number of occasions, and so had Jimmy. The taller man might not realize just how damning it looked, his arms around Diana so familiarly. And that Lois approved of his hugging friends; in Lois’ mind, Diana wouldn’t be among them.

His heart in his stomach, Richard refocused his attention to the pair on the platform. “Thank you, Diana,” Clark said in a murmur so low, Richard barely caught the words. If not for a trick of the acoustics, he wouldn’t have heard the soft tone.

“Who else is going to reprimand you?” she asked. “Bruce? I’m certain that would be in everyone’s best interest.”

Clark chuckled, and stepped back from her. “If I don’t tell you often enough, I’m grateful to have you in my life.” Richard winced at that, knowing Lois well enough to know that this exchange would have hurt her if she had been the one overhearing. The entire family considered it to be Lois’ job.

“The feeling is mutual,” he heard the woman reply, and added, “and the rest of the League feels the same.”

Yeah, Richard thought, looking at her wistful expression, but not quite the way you mean it. He was fairly certain of Clark’s innocence – the guy was an open book where women were concerned. His love and desire for Lois shone in every glance toward her, and he looked at other women as just people, no differently than he looked at men. Richard had never seen him doing the kind of casual appraisal he himself was so often caught at.

But just because Clark was completely starry-eyed in love with his own wife didn’t preclude the possibility of trouble. Richard knew perfectly well that Lois would’ve done her best to put a bullet in Diana’s brain if she’d seen what he just saw. He sighed as Clark headed back over to him, thinking that they needed to focus on finding Kala … but this was one more thing that needed to be discussed. Richard would take it up with Clark himself, though. He doubted bringing Lana – or God forbid, Lois – into it would help the situation.

…

Eastlake hovered nervously as Lois flipped through his father’s journal. She pointedly ignored him, scanning the old man’s tiny handwriting. She wasn’t going to get into all of that mess right now, especially with her son present. That had been one of the main reasons that she had given in and let him come. Erik didn’t seem like the kind to air his dirty laundry in public or with an audience present. And Jason hovered even closer, watching Eastlake with a dubious air. That said, Lois was keeping half an eye on her son; in spite of her attempt to keep him in the dark, he sensed something more than research was going on.

“So,” Eastlake finally spoke up after a tense twenty minutes. “Let me guess. Being interest in the software? All of it was about some story, wasn’t it? It had nothing to do with upgrading the Planet’s computers; you just wanted more information on L-Tech.”

Lois shot him a look that had silenced district attorneys and mayoral candidates, and Eastlake sighed. “Yeah. Look, I might be able to help you find what you need if you tell me what you’re looking for.”

There was a derisive snort at that as Lois looked back to her task. “And what makes you think I would trust you?” she said calmly, never looking up from the ledger she’d moved on to. Damn, Eagle Capital Investments handles a hell of a lot of money, she thought, glancing at the figures.

“Lois, I’m on your side,” he said, and there was a note of sincerity there that Lois hadn’t heard from him before. It was enough for her to stop and consider it. If he could shed a little light, it might go a long way to finding Kala. And that was what was important. Regardless of what she thought of that little stunt he pulled, she finally met his gaze.

His expression was equal parts guilt, pleading, and fear. It had occurred to Lois before that Eastlake might be someone’s pawn, but her background research seemed to prove him legit. Maybe he was being used without his knowledge or consent, a more charitable interpretation, but she knew that this could have been dangerous. Taking Jason hadn’t been her idea, but she’d let him come along because she was armed, and he was so determined to protect her. Besides, even if Eastlake was working for Luthor more directly than she suspected, bursting into his house without warning was probably her safest option. If she caught him off-guard, she would have more control over the situation.

Now, though, she reassessed the situation and figured Eastlake might know more than she’d thought. As always, Lois took a deep breath and laid her figurative cards on the table. “Alright, fine. Ever heard of Lex Luthor?” she asked point-blank, and Jason sucked in a shocked gasp.

The way Eastlake’s brow furrowed looked completely genuine. If he was faking, he was a damn fine actor. “He was that guy that went after Superman a while back, wasn’t he? Created some kind of island. I always thought he sounded like a nut, actually.”

Lois leaned back the chair as she turned to fully face him. Her reporter’s instincts were locked on to every movement of Eastlake’s, down to the slightest gesture. If he was lying to her at any point, she’d know. “Crazy, but too damn smart for anyone’s good. And he managed to dodge prison last time around. No one’s seen him since. Except I think your father might have met him at a business function.”

“What?” Eastlake said in incredulity. There was no missing the indignant tone in his voice. “Dad wouldn’t have anything to do with someone like that. The investment business can be pretty cutthroat, but he’d never deal with someone who broke the law…”

That sent those hazel eyes heavenward and her raising respect for him plummeted a bit. “Erik, calm down. No one accused your father of first-degree murder, okay? Odds are that he might not have known,” Lois countered, flipping the ledger closed. “Where’s the scrapbook? If Luthor’s using the alias I think he’s been using, you might just have a picture of him.”

“Who do you think he is?” Eastlake stepped away, rising on tiptoe to get a leather-bound book off a top shelf. He blew a thing coat of dust off it before handing it to Lois. “Someone in L-Tech?”

“No,” Lois replied. Her voice sounded preoccupied, but she was on full alert, every muscle tensed for sudden action. Erik’s reaction to her next words would reveal whether or not he had any knowledge of Luthor’s current activities, or the deal Lois had struck with the maniac ten years ago. “I think he’s the founder of Prometheus Corp., Alexander Roth.”

Eastlake cocked his head, brow furrowing. “I don’t know either of those names,” he admitted.

“Well, Prometheus funded a lot of ECI projects,” Lois continued, still wary. She paged slowly through the scrapbook, finding old, sepia-tinted photographs of dour men in double-breasted suits. “Usually through their subsidiary, Vanderworth Holdings.”

“Them I remember,” Erik said with a grimace. “Pop said they had no class but plenty of money. The husband named everything after his wife – she had a couple of those puffball dogs, carried them around everywhere with her. Pomeroys? Something frou-frou like that.”

“Pomeranians,” the reporter corrected, still absorbed in every detail of the pictures before her. “And Lex Luthor married the widow Vanderworth when she got him out of prison. She left her entire estate to him. He used the yacht to kidnap me and the kids, and managed to escape in the helicopter that came with it. Police found the chopper in Texas but never caught up to Luthor. The yacht and the estate reverted back to the family, but he’d drained all of the accounts. He’d started moving Gertrude’s money while he was still in prison.”

“Wow,” Eastlake said softly, shaking his head. “She seemed like a nice old lady. I can’t believe she got mixed up in all this.”

“Erik, at the time you would’ve been about the same age as Jason is now,” Lois said with a sigh. Her instincts had finally decided the young investor wasn’t a threat. There was no way that Luthor could have trained him to be this far off the mark. And she had to admit that it was a relief. “I wouldn’t have relied on you for a character assessment when your biggest concern in life was not having an acne breakout right before prom.”

“Touché,” he said, with a glance at Jason. The boy hadn’t spoken a word, just watched Erik carefully, and now his expression suggested that he was a much better judge of character than Eastlake would ever be. With a sigh, the investor said to Lois, “Upper management at L-Tech is notoriously camera-shy, and I’ve never run across the Prometheus company in Dad’s notes. I doubt you’ll find what you’re looking for in there. But I might be able to ask some people…”

“You don’t have to call anyone.” Lois was still flipping the pages slowly. “I’d really rather you not say anything about what I’m looking for – the wrong people might get wind of it.” She bit her lip, thinking that the wrong people had probably already known about her investigation. Why else would Kala disappear so suddenly?

Eastlake shuffled his feet, and he looked as though he was about to suggest something else, when Lois shuffled through a few more pages and was rewarded with a familiar face looking up at her. “Gotcha,” she said, giving a triumphant and predatory smile.

Jason was leaning over her shoulder, worried and curious at her reaction. “What is it, Mom?” He gasped in recognition the moment he saw the photo.

“It’s not Luthor, but I know this guy.” Lois tapped the image of the third man from the left in the photograph, who had a pained expression on his face as he and half a dozen others posed in front of a sign that read ‘L-Tech’. “He looks Indian, but he had a British-sounding name…”

“Stanford,” Jason supplied with a pause. “His name was Stanford, Mom. He was with the others on the boat, but we didn’t see him very much. He stayed away from the other guys. I think he was Luthor’s tech guy.”

“And he was flying the helicopter,” Lois murmured. “So he escaped with Luthor. There’s no way he would’ve gotten involved with a major company like this if he was on the run from Lex, so he must still be working with him.”

…

Perry leaned back in his desk chair and pretended to study the series of photos Jimmy had just handed him, while actually watching the younger man. Once upon a time, the freckled photographer would have been fidgeting in his seat, worrying what Perry was thinking. Now he sat with his elbows on the desk, waiting patiently.

He’d come a long way from the anxious kid trying to break into the news business, and the pictures showed that just as much. Perry knew that once he’d decided which ones the Planet would run, Jimmy might offer the others to a magazine or two. His work had been published in Newsweek and Time, and Perry had approved completely, since the kid knew where his primary loyalties lay. As the head of the Planet’s photography department, Jimmy not only coordinated with all the other photographers, he was a photojournalist in his own right – the shots on Perry’s desk were from Olsen’s recent trip to the Middle East. Powerful stuff. The redhead deserved all the compliments he’d been getting.

“We’ll see,” Perry said gruffly. Olsen just grinned; he’d finally learned, after years of shying away from every outburst, that the Chief only really yelled at the employees he liked. He made a point of challenging them; his favorites were never coddled, and instead were given just the right climate of adversity to inspire them to rise above it all and prove his dire prognostications wrong.

“Thanks, Chief,” Jimmy said with a grin. “So what’s been going on while I was out? Anything happen since New Year’s that I should check out?”

The older man frowned. It wasn’t like Olsen to be out of the loop, especially on something like this. “Checked your voicemail yet?” Perry asked.

“No, my phone died and I haven’t charged it yet,” the younger man replied. “What’s up?”

Perry took a deep breath, wondering how he would break the news to Olsen. Lois’ twins adored him, the feeling was mutual, and telling Jimmy that Kala had run away wasn’t going to be easy. Fortunately, he was spared having to tell him right then by the arrival of Laurel, Lois’ secretary.

“Sorry to interrupt, Mr. White, but I think you should see this,” she told him.

Jimmy craned his head around to look at the piece of paper she’d given Perry. The editor scowled at the graph with its spiky upward line. “Our stock price is going up,” he commented. “That’s good.”

“Sir, that’s since this morning,” Laurel told him. “It’s jumped over ten dollars so far today, and the trend keeps going higher.”

Perry scowled. “That’s odd. Someone out there knows something I don’t?”

“Are we suddenly gonna make a lot of money?” Jimmy wondered.

“I only found out because Kay – Lana’s assistant – called me,” Laurel said. “Lana has a lot of stock in the company, and her broker wanted to know if she wanted to sell at these prices.”

“I’m calling my broker,” Perry said decisively.

…

Kala paced around her room, looking at everything and touching nothing. Everything was in a monochromatic color scheme of grays accented with black and white. The lights were recessed, except for the one tucked under the bed that shone a subdued gleam along the floor. The lines of the minimalist furniture were clean to the point of sterility, and the shelves were recessed into the blank expanse of the wall. Mercy had selected the furnishings for this room and the one across the hall, which was nearly identical except that it used more white than black.

Kala cradled her left arm close to her body as she moved, her shoulders hunched and her eyes wide. Suddenly she froze, then ran to the door. It opened at a touch, and she sighed in relief at not being locked in before letting it close. Soon she was back to pacing warily.

The surveillance camera over the door caught her attention, and she stared into the dark lens. Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves watched her on a large screen. “She’s more self-possessed than I expected,” Luthor said thoughtfully.

Mercy’s response was immediate and to-the-point, her pale blue eyes riveted to their subject. “It was in the surveillance notes. She puts up a good façade, but she is vulnerable. She’ll break.”

The girl sat down on the edge of the bed, a platform design that matched the room’s ultra-modern décor. When she began taking off her boots, it was obvious that she was struggling to do it without using her left hand. “She’s injured,” Mercy commented.

“We’ll have it seen to.” He watched the screen as avidly as a diner in a seafood restaurant watched the aquarium. “In a while. For the moment, it might give us leverage.”

His assistant looked at him with a reproving expression. “We have all the leverage we need. We don’t want to turn her hostile; the General is enough trouble in that department.”

Lex scoffed; meanwhile, Kala walked over to the surveillance camera with a boot in her hand. Standing on tiptoe, she hammered at the lens with her boot heel. “Smart girl,” Lex said with amused approval as the image went dark, switching the video feed to the room’s other camera. This one was hidden behind the room’s mirror.

“Intelligent subjects don’t react well to a negative approach,” the blonde woman warned, watching the girl again. “Be patient, Lex. If you push her too hard, we’ll lose her. And she’s already dealing with trauma.”

“I had to let the boys bring her in. Her mother got loose aboard The Gertrude because the guys I had then couldn’t believe she was dangerous. I won’t have this one running around just because those idiots can only see a pretty little teenager. It was an object lesson.”

“The security staff does respond better to aversive techniques.” Mercy herself had caused innumerable injuries during her tenure as chief of security, having to repeatedly remind the staff that her sleek good looks were deceptive. “Of course, now they’re angry with her, and they’ll want revenge, but they’re smart enough not to take her on without a larger group. She was drugged when she was brought in, and we don’t know the extent of her powers. We may have some fatalities from this.”

“Her brother killed one of my guys when the twins were only six. I won’t be surprised if she kills a couple of them before they catch on. They’re prison scum; we can always find a few more.” Dark humor leaked behind the smile on Lex’s lips, coloring his words.

The woman at his side gave a slow nod. “We might not have to worry so much,” she said thoughtfully. “Zod seems to have designated himself her protector.”

“That did surprise me,” Luthor admitted. “I expected him to be a lot more ‘grandchild of my jailer’ about the whole thing. That’s why I didn’t tell him we were bringing her in, or who she was. I can’t figure out what his angle is – he has to know she’s direct competition for him, in terms of usefulness to me.”

“Zod no longer cares if he’s useful to you,” Mercy replied with a dry chuckle. “I saw how he behaved down there. He hates you as much as he ever hated Jor-El.”

“That would sit easier with me if I knew what his motive was concerning the girl,” Luthor muttered. Kala had paced the room for a few more minutes before curling up on the bed, her eyes flicking around the unfamiliar surroundings.

“Hmm.” A slow smile curved her lips, and then she said speculatively, “Time has no meaning in the Phantom Zone, and he hasn’t visibly aged in his sixteen years on Earth. Essentially, he’s still in the prime of his life, albeit the late prime. And you are aware that she is the only living female of her kind…”

Luthor looked up at her, and then at the scared sixteen-year-old huddled on the bed. He and Mercy started snickering in unison.