Fic: Mourning In America IV: Insurrection (1/1)
Title: Mourning In America IV: Insurrection (1/1)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters: Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Diana Prince
Series Notes: This series will star various DC characters as they live under the new regime in America. The entire series can be found here.
Genre: Drama
Rating: G: Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Summary: During the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Lois and Jimmy witness the astonishing events.
Date Of Completion: January 31, 2021
Date Of Posting: March 13, 2021
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, DC does, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 2303
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
The Darkness calls,
Beguiling,
Intriguing,
Inveigling.
The Rage calls,
Hot,
Fiery,
Blazing.
Gleaming light
Shadowed
By febrile flames
And twisted teases.
Merrill Shayness
“Eternal”
2000 C.E.
The orange-haired man at the podium exhorted his followers to go to the Capitol to fight and to take back the country. The fired-up crowd did their leader’s bidding, surging toward Capitol Hill on this bright January day. Emotions were running high as people shouted, “Stop the Steal!” and “Hang ‘em high!”
Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen were in the crowd. Jimmy had left his camera in his hotel room, using his cellphone to take pictures. It was a better way to blend into the crowd. He wore jeans, cowboy boots and hat, and a fringed buckskin jacket over a red-checked shirt. Lois wore jeans, sneakers, a puffy winter coat and a knit cap. Both wore scarves wound around their faces to conceal their identities because very few in the crowd were wearing masks.
Lois had her cellphone out and was recording the ascent to the Hill. People were laughing and boasting as they waved American flags and shouted their favorite slogans. When a camera crew for CNN was spotted, they were roughed up and their cameras yanked away and smashed.
The familiar dome of the Capitol Building loomed high above them, the golden statue of Freedom glinting at the very top. The marble gleamed in the early afternoon sunlight. It was peaceful as a few people were walking up the steps, going about their daily business.
The crowd surged up the steps, chanting and waving flags. “We were invited here! We were invited here!” Someone unfurled a Confederate flag and waved it defiantly.
Lois could feel the tension in the air. There was something simmering in this crowd that was different. Her years of experience of covering political events was telling her that something explosive was about to happen.
She could tell that Jimmy could feel it, too. The shouts were growing bolder and more raucous as the crowd grew more frantic.
“Stop the Steal! Stop the Steal! Stop the Steal!”
A man wearing a faux buffalo hide and horns charged up the steps. Lois could hear glass breaking and realized that the crowd had turned into a mob and were breaching the Capitol. Astonishment washed over her. She was certain the last time a hostile mob had overrun the Capitol was in 1814 as the British invaded the city during the War of 1812. Not even during the dark days of the Civil War had this building been attacked.
“Lois…” Jimmy said, his eyes wide.
“I know. Let’s see how this goes.”
The mob poured into the Capitol, filling the Rotunda. A man in a MAGA hat climbed up on the base of a statue and put the hat on its head to raucous cheers.
A Capitol policeman appeared and told the crowd to disperse. The mob stepped forward and the black policeman backed up. A man in a knit cap and QAnon shirt led the intruders. The policeman kept telling the mob to leave and they continued to pursue him with a fast walking pace.
Lois realized that the policeman was luring the mob away from the Senate chamber where they were counting the Electoral College ballots to formally certify the election of Joe Biden as President.
What followed was utter chaos. Lois and Jimmy witnessed some of the mob getting into the House chamber and one man sat in the Speaker’s chair.
Elsewhere in the building the chant, “This is our house!” echoed in the halls. The man with the Confederate flag was roaming the halls.
Lois was busy recording the events. If Superman was not off-world, she would have expected him to show up. The Capitol police were being overwhelmed, though she did see a couple of officers taking selfies with the rioters.
“What the hell?” she muttered as she recorded the recorders.
“Where’s the National Guard?” demanded Jimmy. “Hell, where’s the Army?”
A man walked by carrying a lectern. “It’s Pelosi’s,” he said with a grin, and several rioters whooped and laughed.
The tumult was incredible. Lois had seen many amazing things in her life, but this was taking the cake.
“Hola!”
Lois smiled as she saw Wonder Woman in all her star-spangled glory stride into the Rotunda. Her face was stormy and her voice rang true as she said, “Cease these disgraceful actions!” Lois and Jimmy pointed their cellphones at her.
“Get lost, bitch!” screamed a man in a Proud Boys T-shirt.
“This is going to be good,” Lois said.
Wonder Woman strode toward the Proud Boy and took a fistful of shirt and lifted him up off the floor with ease. He swore and his arms and legs flailed ineffectively as the Amazon watched him with studied detachment.
“Let me down!”
Wonder Woman opened her hand and he fell to the floor. “Boy is correct. No man would betray his country.”
She walked away, short skirt and cape swirling, and unhooked the Golden Lasso from her belt. She looped it around her head and captured several rioters with it, yanking them back into the Rotunda. The Lasso glowed brightly as the rioters struggled, but they were not going to break it.
A Capitol policeman ran to the security office and returned with two other men and a long rope. Wonder Woman lifted the Lasso and the policeman threw her the rope. In seconds she had the captured group tied up and the policemen dragged them away.
Lois and Jimmy followed Wonder Woman, who entered the House chamber and walked up to the Speaker’s chair, pulling the rioter out. He fought her and she ignored him, dragging him out of the chamber and tossing him out of the Capitol with ease.
She confronted a band of roving rioters in the hall and lifted her arm. “Hola! Begone, scurrilous mob! Stop this chaos and leave these hallowed halls.”
A man in a QAnon shirt shouted, “You have no place here, woman. Americans only!”
“Shame.” Wonder Woman shook her head. “Sedition is a sorry business, people. Go home and consider your actions.”
“We have considered them, Amazon. This is our house!”
The rest of the mob took up the chant. “This is our house! This is our house! This is our house!”
“How’s she going to get this group out of here?” Jimmy asked his colleague.
“Diana will figure it out.” Lois looked around. “Still no National Guard or D.C. police. What’s taking them so long?”
“Fishy business.” Jimmy shook his head.
“It sure stinks from the head down all right.”
Wonder Woman went into full battle mode but still tried to reason with the invaders.
“Why is she still trying to talk them out of them?” Jimmy asked.
“She’s a diplomat as well as a warrior.” Lois clearly admired the Amazon and Jimmy agreed with her.
“Why are you doing this, Wonder Woman?” a woman asked in the group. “You wear our colors.”
“I do, out of respect.”
“Then respect us!”
“You must respect yourself and your country first. I ask you to leave the Capitol, an enduring symbol of this country.”
“We have a right to be here!” The woman pushed back her silver-gray hair. She wore a bubble jacket, jeans and hiking boots.
A strong woman, but deluded, Lois thought.
“Yes, but not as an invading mob. Go home, otherwise you will be taken to jail.”
“They should go to jail,” Jimmy muttered.
“She’s trying to resolve this peacefully,” Lois said.
Jimmy remained unconvinced. “They shouldn’t get a free pass.”
“Well, it looks like they’re not listening, anyway.”
The rioters were refusing to leave. Wonder Woman shook her head and said, “So be it, then.”
She began a methodical round-up of the rioters. They struggled, and Wonder Woman had to herd them out with careful precision. She was hampered by the lack of police support. The Capitol police simply could not handle them all.
Wonder Woman went deeper into the Capitol, meeting a group of insurrectionists whose defiance was the most volatile yet. One of the men raised and aimed his rifle at the Amazon. “Don’t tell us what to do, feminazi!” He fired off several shots.
Wonder Woman immediately raised her bracelets, parrying the deadly bullets with lightning-fast skill. They ricocheted off the marble walls and Lois and Jimmy hit the floor.
“Stop, you fool!” Wonder Woman demanded.
The man kept shooting but was no match for Bullets ‘N’ Bracelets. One of the group tackled the man and the rifle clattered to the floor. The Golden Lasso swirled out and banded around the group.
“Cleaning out the vipers,” Lois observed.
“If anyone can, it’s Wonder Woman.” Jimmy picked up the rifle. “Man, what a crazy day.”
“Historic.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
Someone shouted, “Where’s Pelosi? Let’s get her!”
“Where are the Reps and Senators? Some place safe, I hope.” Jimmy slung the rifle over his shoulder.
“They were hustled out at the beginning of the invasion.” Lois listened and pointed to the right. “Let’s go.”
The reporters’ footsteps echoed in the halls as they searched for the next confrontation. There would be plenty of opportunities.
& & & & & &
Outside on the Capitol lawn, a TV camera rolled. “This is Lana Lang of WGBS reporting outside the Capitol. The rioters are slowly being evacuated from the building by Wonder Woman. The President has yet to authorize the National Guard, so it’s up to the Amazing Amazon.”
Chants of “Stop the Steal!” were loud as the ousted rioters vented their frustration. The Capitol doors were bolted shut and the broken window had been hastily boarded up.
“Behind us the mob continues to chant,” Lana said. “They claim that the President invited them here and they won’t leave until they stop the certification of Joe Biden as the next President of the United States.”
& & & & & &
Lois and Jimmy found one of the Proud Boys crouched in a hallway outside the meeting rooms. He was fiddling with a backpack.
“What are you doing?” Lois demanded.
The intruder stood and turned. A MAGA hat shaded his eyes as he pulled a handgun. “Get out of here.”
Lois’s eyes narrowed. “Are you planting a bomb?”
“Time to take over this joint and send a message.”
“Blowing up the Capitol will send a message, all right,” Jimmy said wryly. The rifle hung heavy on his shoulder.
“Get out,” the bearded bomber repeated.
“C’mon, Jim,” said Lois.
Jimmy followed Lois around the corner. He took the rifle from his shoulder and checked it for ammunition. “Couple rounds left.”
“Let’s go save the Capitol, Mr. Action.”
Jimmy grinned and carefully peered around the corner. He gave the ‘all clear’ signal and Lois followed him. He tapped the bomber on the shoulder with the rifle.
“A little too focused on your task, buddy,” Jimmy said jovially.
“Maybe so.” The bomber sighed. “Tunnel vision.” He slowly rose to a standing position.
“Turn around,” Jimmy ordered.
“Sure.” The bomber turned around to face Jimmy and Lois.
Lois narrowed her eyes. “He’s too cooperative, Jim.”
“Yeah, I know.” Jimmy gestured with the rifle. “Let’s go, buddy.”
“Sure.”
“Now he’s cooperative,” Lois said. “Again.”
“Cheerful fella.”
“We’ve got to call this in.“ Lois dialed 911.
Jimmy prodded the bomber with the rifle. “Get a move on, schlub.”
“Who you callin’ a schlub?”
“You, numnutz.”
Lois broke the connection to the dispatcher after being assured that the D.C. bomb squad was on the way. She looked down the hall. “Diana!”
Wonder Woman was re-coiling her Lasso. “Where is it?”
“Right around the corner.”
Wonder Woman attached the Golden Lasso to her belt. “Make haste.”
“Right.”
“Speed it up, schlubby,” said Jimmy, poking the bomber in the back with the rifle.
“Watch it, carrot top, those Proud Boy rifles are crap.”
“Faulty triggers?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Watch your step, then.”
Wonder Woman ran past them with gazelle-like strides. She was carrying the backpack.
“Let’s make even more haste,” urged Lois.
“Hastier,” said Jimmy.
“Hasty pudding,” said Lois. “Actually, the Harvard Hasty Pudding Club honored me with their pot one year.”
“Good taste.”
“You know it.”
A loud blast rocked the building. The bomber thrust up his arm. “Yes!”
“I was right. Numnutz,” Jimmy said in disgust.
“Diana’s fine. She’s too smart to get blown up,” Lois declared.
“Hola!” Jimmy said.
& & & & & &
Lois and Jimmy dropped the bomber off at the security office. They went outside and saw smoke rising to obscure the Statue of Freedom on the top of the Capitol Dome.
Lois shaded her eyes with her hand. “The statue’s intact.”
“Is she in her invisible plane?” Jimmy asked.
“Diana?”
“Well, I didn’t mean the statue.”
“Ha, ha, I don’t see her.” She held up a finger. “And don’t say she’s invisible. That’s just her plane.”
Jimmy grinned. “You cut me off at the pass, pardner.”
Shouts and pointing fingers attracted their attention. Wonder Woman piloted her plane over the Dome and jumped out, the plane presumably on autopilot. She landed close to Lois and Jimmy.
“Hola, Lois. Hola, Jimmy. »
« Hi, Wonder Woman.” Jimmy took a picture.
“Have you cleared the rioters out?” asked Lois, holding her cellphone up to record.
“I am not sure. I will go back and check. I will have to keep vigil until the authorities arrive.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” said Jimmy.
She smiled. “This Capitol reminds me of home. Such lovely architecture.” With that, Wonder Woman bid them goodbye and rode the wind currents up to the Dome, then disappeared down behind the building.
“Glad she likes our buildings. Bet she loves the White House, too,” Jimmy said.
“We’re lucky to have an ally like her,” Lois agreed. The January day still sparkled and she took a deep breath of fresh air.
The Capitol and the Republic still stood.
reliablecounter.com
This story can also be read on AO3.
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