Metropolis - Blood (part 3B)
An hour later Lois sat in one of the plastic chairs in the lobby of Family Services with a cotton swab pressed between her forearm and bicep where the nurse had taken a sample of her blood and did her best to ignore the other people waiting around her. Julie Monroe had never named a father on Lucy’s birth certificate so, regardless of the physical similarities and Lois’ admission, Family Services wanted more concrete proof of her relationship to Lucy before they went any further.
The question was; further towards what? She’d told Mr. Scott in no uncertain terms that, now that she knew about her, she wanted to be a part of Lucy’s life. But that was so vague as to mean anything and that was because she kept coming back to the same question again and again in her mind; could she really take responsibility for an eleven-year old girl?
Okay, it wasn’t like she was in diapers and needed constant attention; Lucy’s ability to get herself to Smallville and across town to her apartment on her own spoke to a fair degree of independence on her part; possibly too much. But she was still just a girl, not even a teenager yet.
Oh God, Lois exclaimed to herself. In two years Lucy would be a teenager. She remembered how clueless she’d thought her father had been during those years with her and he had been a grown man with more than a decade of parenting and several decades of actual life experience under his belt. Plus, he’d been her father, the one who’d raised her since she was a baby. How in heaven was she, a virtual stranger, supposed to enforce discipline on a teenage girl when she was just a half dozen years past being a teenager herself?
Further, she’d never be able to replace Lucy’s mother. For all the girl’s hopes that finding her flesh and blood would make everything just like it was before Lois knew that such a thing was impossible and she would be the one having to deal with that fallout. Given all her own issues regarding the death of her father was she even remotely qualified to try and help this girl get back to a normal life?
True, the definition of ‘qualified’ for a blood relative was a lot less stringent than for a non-relative, but that just made Lois’ logical side even more upset. After all, what did blood really matter when it came to raising a child? Just look at Martha and Clark. He wasn’t even from the same planet and yet when you looked at them you couldn’t see anything other than a mother and her son.
Lois, on the other hand, felt like she didn’t even have a reference point in the same galaxy for what it would take to be a mother; it had been two-decades since she’d been abandoned by her own. What she knew of parenting at all she knew from her father… the only reason she was even here was because of his final lesson in what it meant to be a parent.
Lois’ eyes moistened at the thought. Her father wouldn’t have hesitated for an instant at bringing this girl into his life no matter how bad things had gotten towards the end. It would be a sacrifice, but how could she not do the same?
No, blood had very little to do with being a parent… being a family. It was something far deeper. A connection that her heart told her reached far beyond life and death… even if her head did want to chalk up her ghostly experience the previous day to her subconscious. Lucy was a living breathing part of her father and she couldn’t turn her back on that.
What blood would do in this case though was grease the wheels of the bureaucracy, a rather gory metaphor she knew, but an apt one. If she was seriously considering going through with this then she needed all the help she could get. It wasn’t even a matter of whether or not she wanted to bring Lucy into her life, but whether she even could.
Take her job for example; where long and erratic hours were the norm and a part of what she craved. Being there for Lucy would probably mean cutting back on both the number of hours and her ability to come in at the drop of a hat as well. Could she even afford to take care of Lucy if she did that? Sure she was getting by right now and even saving a little; but it wasn’t like she was rolling in money. What would adding a second mouth to feed do to her budget?
And it wasn’t just food. There would be clothes… school books… a two-bedroom apartment too if she wanted any privacy.
Oh God, Lois silently exclaimed again. Forget the hypothetical apartment… her actual apartment was a wreck; she’d have to get it spotless and soon. Family Services would be turning her life upside down and inside out if she wanted custody of Lucy. Actually it had already started. As per the fine print in the release she had signed before the needle had been stuck into her arm, her blood was going to be checked for more than just a DNA match, which could have been done with just a mouth swab.
At least she didn’t worry what they’d find there. Other than caffeine, which to her qualified as a food group, the strongest drug in her home was aspirin and she’d never felt the need to drink much; she didn’t like to lose control and even a single glass of wine was enough to give her petite frame a buzz. Her drunken binge after Lex had dumped her had been the painful exception to that rule and that was a low point she was determined never to repeat; so much so that she had actually poured what little alcohol was left in her apartment down the drain the following day… admittedly more out of spite than an actual desire to become a teetotaler.
No, it was the rest of her life that concerned her. It was one thing to acknowledge who she really was to herself, but she had become Lois Lane for a reason and that reason conflicted with bringing her past into the light of day. Her long hours at the Daily Planet could well become a non-issue if the connection between Chloe Sullivan and Lois Lane became too well known… and not in a good way. Mr. Scott, and by extension the DFS, was now at least peripherally aware of the connection.
It was frustrating and completely overwhelming to tell the truth.
Honestly, Lois didn’t even know why she was still waiting around the depressing DFS offices; the bleeding from the needle had to have stopped by this point. Nothing would be decided today or even tomorrow anyway. The nurse who’d taken her blood had said it would take five to six business days to get the results back from the lab and they had her home, work, and cell phone numbers if anything else came up. Lucy had already gone home, very reluctantly, with the Evans so it wasn’t even like Lois was hanging around here for her benefit either.
That said, Lois just didn’t feel like going anywhere else. Even exploring the wonders of the Fortress had lost all its appeal. She watched with idle amusement as a man walked out of the lobby and almost fell as he hurried too quickly past the wet floor sign that was still in front of the lobby door.
“I’m sorry,” she heard the voice of a man with the familiar appearance of life-long janitors everywhere say as he scurried across the floor to the man.
“Robby!” the man called out in a slightly irate tone as he looked at the janitor. “Robby, didn’t you wash this floor already today?”
“Yes, Mr. Kramer,” the janitor replied timidly. “But there were some streaks and I wanted to…”
“…I don’t care,” Kramer interrupted. “Just make sure it’s dry before I get back. I have some things to check up on.”
Yes, this place was just gushing over with the warm feelings, Lois thought in response. Actually it fit her mood perfectly. About the only thing she really wanted to do at this moment was to see Clark. Yet even there she found herself doubting. Clark knew she had emotional baggage, but her time and her life had still been her own. If she went through with this her life and her relationship with Clark would have to be secondary… Lucy would have to come first. Would Clark still be on board for that?
Lois looked glumly over at the entrance and blinked in surprise.
“Lois?” Clark called out as he walked through the door into the lobby. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same question,” Lois said as she sprung up and gave him a slightly hesitant hug.
“I’m following up on a lead,” Clark replied. “I went by your apartment first but you weren’t there so I figured I’d get a head start and fill you in when we met up later. Now what are you doing here?”
Lois found herself balking at the question. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Clark; she couldn’t keep something like this from him ever; it was just that she had no idea where to begin.
“My life has gone insane,” Lois said finally. “This morning everything was going along great and my only plans for life were to meet you at the Planet to do the whole… thing we had planned when a girl named Lucy showed up on my door claiming to be my sister, well half-sister anyway, and because I was the only family she had left she wanted to come live with me and Clark, I have no idea if I am even going to be able to do this because, you aside, my life is a wreck and how am I supposed to take care of an eleven-year old girl when I can barely keep my own life from going down the… mmmmppphh!”
About halfway through her stressed-out run-on soliloquy Clark’s eyes had gone wide; Lois couldn’t blame him. But then he’d started looking wildly around the room and then clapped his hand solidly over her mouth with a nervous look on his face.
“Lois, though I want to hear all about this… you have to stop talking now,” Clark told her in a hushed tone as he gently lowered his hand from her mouth.
“May I at least ask why?” Lois whispered back, her voice laced with annoyance. It wasn’t like his action was intended to hurt her, but she was in the middle of a venting her frustrations here and it felt like he wasn’t taking it seriously at all. Yet even at her whisper Clark again looked around nervously and it was only then that Lois noticed that a few of the people waiting there were staring at her a little funny.
“Because you’ve just been speaking in Kryptonian,” Clark whispered back.
Lois felt her own hand shoot up to cover her mouth as Clark led her from the lobby. Fear coursed through her veins as Clark lead her down the stairs and out the front doors of the building and into the city street. A million questions poured though her mind, but she was too scared to utter a single one.
“Okay, I don’t think it’s anything to be alarmed about, but we should get to the Fortress just to be sure,” he told her in his most reassuring tone.
Not be alarmed? Who was he kidding? She’d just started speaking a completely alien language here and she could read the concern hidden behind Clark’s otherwise calm expression.
She shrugged as if uncertain and sliced one hand up into the air, shooting him a questioning expression as she did so. Hopefully he’d understand.
“No, I think we can drive,” Clark said cautiously. “But let’s do it quickly… and until we know for sure… no matter how much you may want to… just don’t say anything.”
Jim Olsen got to work almost an hour late. He’d had to take the already overburdened city bus line because his car, like so many others, was still sitting on the interstate. Between the gridlock caused by the initial rush to recover their cars and the fact that many had left their cars running when they’d been abandoned there were probably a hundred thousand or more automobiles blocking the lanes of the interstates that were either out of gas, or wrecked, or blocked in by a car that was. FEMA had already set up a number of locations where people could put in their information to retrieve their cars and shuttles that would be departing throughout the day as, mile by mile, they worked their way through the mess. He was expecting a call giving him the time, hopefully later today… but maybe tomorrow, when the shuttle to where his car had been left would be departing.
Odds are it would be the better part of a week before things were even remotely back to normal. But Jim was still amazed that the city had gotten this far so soon and with a minimum of violence. He guessed that surviving an alien conqueror and coming within a hair’s breadth of nuclear annihilation all in the span of twenty-four hours did a lot to keep violence at a minimum. People were all still so relieved to be alive that they’d forgotten to be uncivil to each other. You couldn’t leave Superman out of the equation either.
Superman was truly the hero of the day and at the moment Jim was basking in reflected glory. Perry had authorized the sale of his stunning picture of Superman and Brainiac to other media organizations across the world and, as outlined in his contract, he would be getting a share of those proceeds as a nice bonus. Even more important than the cash Perry had let slip that TIME/Newsweek had purchased the picture for a possible front page; his picture would be looking out of the newsstands of checkout lines across the country and around the world.
Jim was definitely starting to think that perhaps Photojournalism was his niche. After reading Lois and Clark’s second Superman exclusive he could honestly say that, while he wrote a competent story, he’d never truly be in their league when it came to writing. But with pictures he could excel and make a name for himself and be regarded as every bit the equal of Lois Lane and Clark Kent.
Lois and Clark; that was the big news as far as the office was concerned. No one had said anything in so many words but it was clear to everyone that the last few days had finally catalyzed them into a couple. As much as Jim liked Mr. Luthor he had to admit that Lex’s belief that Lois had feelings for Superman couldn’t have been more off target. He’d never seen Lois and Lex’s relationship before Superman had shown up, but it had always been pretty obvious to Jim that it wasn’t some mysterious and distant alien Mr. Luthor was losing out to; it was the friend and co-worker who’d just been there for Lois day after day while Lex had become ever more distant.
Whatever the specifics were, their couplehood was clear enough that Hendricks from accounting had been able to collect on the office pool. Jim wasn’t exactly proud of betting on his coworkers’ happiness, but when you’re the new kid in town you try to socialize wherever you can. Besides it wasn’t like it was hurting anybody and anyway, now that this bet was done the office would move on to betting on something or the other new by the end of the day.
“New pools,” Jenny Cartman whispered to Jim as he emerged from the elevator into the city room.
Or even sooner.
“What are the bets?” Jim asked nonchalantly.
“First major fight and date of the engagement or break-up,” Jenny replied. She didn’t have to say who. One thing Jim had learned was that those who did not participate usually became the object of the bets. Lois, he had learned, did not participate much in any office recreation. Abby Dawkins, Perry’s secretary, had confided in him that Lois had only attended one office New Year’s party in the five years she’d worked here and that was only because Perry had forced her and even then she’d slipped away almost immediately. She just didn’t go out of her way to make friends; which was why after just a few months Jim probably had more friends at the Planet than Lois had made in five years.
That said, though she didn’t go out of her way to make conversation, Jim had always found Lois to be social enough; with other people anyway. His article the day after her front page Superman exclusive had chilled her opinion of him greatly. Despite that Jim still didn’t regret writing the piece. It was all factually true; just yesterday Kal-El had even admitted to being an alien and people HAD been fearful of Superman; and Jim would never feel bad about writing the truth, even if it hurt. Still, he was glad that Lois and Clark had ultimately been proven right about Kal-El’s benevolence. Maybe now that she had been proven right they’d be able to move past the earlier bitterness and be friends… or at least be cordial.
Considering the office pools again Jim decided to hedge his bets and on more than just the office pool. “I’ll pass on the first,” he said finally. “Put me down for six months on an engagement.” Even if Lois did find out about the betting pool she couldn’t be mad that he’d bet on a speedy courtship and happily ever after… he hoped.
“Suit yourself,” Jenny said as she veered off for her desk.
It was maybe five minutes after that when the objects of the betting pools emerged from the elevators and into the City Room. It was clear even from this distance that something was wrong and Jim moved to intercept them.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” he asked, but Lois just stormed right past him without saying a word. She was clearly agitated by something.
“Clark? What’s going on?” Jim asked as he stepped directly into Clark’s path. “What’s got Lois so upset?”
“Look, Jim,” Clark replied, “now really isn’t a good time.” Lois had already disappeared through the door to the stairwell. “Lois and I just need to… um, figure some things out. In private,” he added.
“On the roof?” Jim guessed. In the past two days he’d seen them both head up the stairs to the rooftop overlooking the city a couple of times. He guessed it was sort of becoming their ‘spot.’ But the look on Lois’ face suggested that romance was the last thing on her mind.
“Yeah,” Clark replied. “On the roof. I don’t have time to explain it. Just…”
Jim saw Clark’s head jerk suddenly from him to the stairwell door. “… I’ll tell you later,” Clark said as he bolted for the door leaving a stunned Jim in his wake.
Jim very casually walked in the direction of Jenny’s desk.
“Is it too late to get in on that ‘first fight’ pool?” he asked.
“Totally,” Jenny replied with a smirk. “Besides, I already called ‘inside of twenty-four hours.”
It had been just over ten minutes since the incident at Family Services when Lois finally made it up onto the landing just inside the roof access to the Daily Planet. Ten minutes in which she’d managed to concoct a half dozen different scenarios as to what had happened back there in her head; none of them good and most of them involving Brainiac having managed to survive and trying to possess her. The image of the possessed man named Milton swirled up inside her head again and again as she imagined the horror of being trapped inside her own mind with no way to escape.
Yet if that were really the case, would Clark have spared even a second getting her to the Fortress? Definitely not. Brainiac was a threat to the entire world. Whatever was going on with her, Clark must have been pretty certain that this was not Brainiac trying to return. Actually he didn’t seem nearly concerned enough to her thinking, which was unusual in and of itself.
Lois looked nervously around the landing, hoping that it wouldn’t take Clark too long to extricate himself from Jimmy’s questions. She would have said something, but she didn’t trust her own mouth to let her words come out in English. Instead she moved up to the wall where the entrance to the Fortress was to wait for Clark.
How could she have spoken Kryptonian and not realized it?
Lois was just starting to ponder that thought as she leaned up against the wall… and screamed.
It was as if all the other sounds in creation had suddenly vanished as Clark heard the single most horrible sound he’d ever had to hear… one he’d heard far too many times… that of Lois’ terror-laced scream. But this time it was different. This time it had cut off suddenly. A fraction of a second after that all the other sounds in the world died away too as the world froze in place around him. The world as seen through the lens of his super-speed was one that was, in some ways, even more bizarre than when seen through his heightened senses.
Jim stood before him as motionless as a statue, his eyes glancing away towards the door with a befuddled look on his face. Clark dimly recalled glancing around the city room to see if anyone was looking in his direction; they weren’t; but honestly, preserving his secret identity in this case was a distant second in his mind.
In that moment of perfect stillness, Clark’s x-ray vision blazed around him as he sought out Lois and what might have caused her to scream out. Yet at first glance there was no sign of Lois at all up above; just the luminous glow of the portal to the Fortress in his x-ray vision. His senses swept outward but there was nothing amiss outside the Planet either. No one had fallen; there was no accident on the streets below. It was as if Lois had vanished into thin air.
“…I’ll tell you later,” Clark told Jim as he forced himself back into real time and ran for the stairwell. It took every ounce of his willpower to refrain from blazing into full super speed until the instant he’d made it through the door and then again the world froze in place as he raced up the flight of stairs to the rooftop as he tried to find her.
Clark could feel the desperation rising in him, but then an instant later he saw Lois’ purse laying next to the entrance to the Fortress … the strap going right up to the seemingly barren section of the wall where it was severed in two and a large section was missing.
Without thinking he plunged into the portal and into Fortress where he saw Lois frozen on the floor with an expression of mute and wide-eyed terror on her face as she stared at the severed section of purse strap which lay just inside the entrance to the Fortress.
He again let his super-speed collapse around him and Lois seemed to come alive as her eyes went from the strap to Clark.
“Clark!” she cried out as he took her in his arms. “What’s happening to me?”