Aliens were real.
Though Lois had kept an upbeat attitude throughout the investigation, especially with Clark being so negative, she’d never really believed. Aliens were science fiction, bug eyed monsters come to take women back to mars, creatures out to take control of the world.
Little wizened creatures with gentle eyes wanting to go home.
Clark had been raised here. This was likely the only home he’d ever known. Lois felt a stab of pity. As dysfunctional as her family was, at least she had one. Clark had lost everything he knew in the world not once, but twice. What had happened all those years ago in Smallville must have seemed like even more of a betrayal.
The fire on the horizon was growing, and Lois felt a stab of anxiety. She’d seen Clark take a bullet, but she’d also seen him bleeding. He wasn’t totally invulnerable, and he was going back into an inferno.
Lois glanced back at the trap door behind her. He’d asked that she find safety, but she wasn’t sure that any one place was safer than another. The green sedan that had been chasing them was undoubtedly still out there prowling the streets looking for both of them.
Keeping a low profile was her best option. Even if she was able to find another rental car, Lois wasn’t sure that the people looking for them wouldn’t be waiting for her. She could call a cab, but going back to Smallville wasn’t safe, not if these people were connected to the ones who’d beaten Clark. Besides, finding a pay phone in the city at night might be a chore. This place wasn’t designed for pedestrians in the same way that some of the cities back east were.
She hated situations like this. She’d been through it in the Congo, but she hadn’t had anyone else to worry about there except for herself. Not being able to trust anyone, always feeling that someone was watching, waiting for the bullet to the brain that would mean the end of it all. It was a hellish life, and not one she’d wish on anyone.
Worrying about Clark wasn’t going to get her anywhere, and though she knew that her best option was to stay where she was, it wasn’t in her nature. She’d made her career by always being on the front lines.
Lois sighed and peered over the edge of the building. It was only three stories down, and she had no idea what sort of building she was in. It was a typical downtown neighborhood; brick buildings taller than those in the surrounding city, narrow streets, abandoned government buildings.
She stiffened as she heard the sound of a car engine. She ducked quickly as she saw the silhouette of a car running without street lights turning the corner at the end of the block.
As the car approached, Lois realized that it was the same sedan that had been following her before.
The sedan moved slowly down the block, with it’s windows open. Clark hadn’t flown them all that far from the place they’d left the rental car. Lois was wishing that he had.
She ducked down as the car began to slow in front of the building. She cursed under her breath as the car stopped, and the door opened.
Five men left the car, and Lois could tell that they were carrying rifles. They were staring upward, checking the roof line, and it was all Lois could do to keep herself from ducking down. The sudden movement would be more visible to trained eyes than her silhouette, which was already low.
They spoke to each other in low voices and began to spread out, moving up and down the street. They moved quickly but cautiously up and down the street, pulling at doorways and looking for doors that were open.
There was something odd about the pistols they were carrying. It took Lois a moment to realize that the profiles were wrong; it was something she’d seen in the Congo. Silencers. They wouldn’t suppress the sound entirely, but from a block or more away, the sound wouldn’t be noticeable.
The arms runners had sold tens of thousands before Lois had shut them down. They were highly illegal, at least in Metropolis, and they weren’t cheap;
One man stood by the car, almost directly below. He reached into the open window of the car and pulled out a cell phone.
For the first time Lois noticed that, although the car doors were open, the interior light was not on.
The man spoke in a low voice into the cell phone, shook it, then irritably tossed it back inside onto the seat. He turned to the others. He whistled loudly and turned to head for the driver’s side.
Lois stiffened as she realized that he was limping. She’d kicked one of Clark’s attackers hard enough to injure him, and here one of these people were limping.
She leaned forward, attempting to get a look at the license plate. If she could get the boys back at the Planet to do a check, she’d be able to discover who owned the car, and she’d be one step closer to finding out who ordered the attack on Clark.
The sound of the bullet hitting the brick beside her was the only warning that something had gone wrong. She ducked down quickly, and heard the men shouting at each other.
She heard the sound of breaking glass, and she realized that they were coming through the front entrance.
She turned for a moment and stared at the trap door that Clark had so casually broken open. Without it being locked, she was a sitting duck up here. It was only a matter of time before they surrounded the place and found her.
Her only choice was to go down, where she could find a room to hide.
She opened the door, wincing at the metallic shriek as it clanked open. The others knew that she was up here.
She climbed quickly down the ladder leading into a small supply closet, with walls covered with shelves filled with cleaning supplies. Lois looked around for a moment, then opened the door to the hallway outside carefully.
There was no one in the hall, just large windows leading to offices with cubicles on both sides. Lois tried the doors; both were locked. She didn’t have time to pick the locks; she could already hear the heavy sounds of footsteps on the stairwell from below at the end of the hallway behind her.
She ran quickly down the hall and turned the corner. The lights to the elevator were lit and rising. She was on the third floor, and the elevator was already to the second floor.
A second set of stairs was beside the elevator. She didn’t hear any footsteps from this one; the doors were heavy and they were of the sort that locked from the outside. Once she entered the stairwell, she wouldn’t be able to get into any of the other floors until she reached the bottom. She had no doubt they had someone waiting for her there.
The ding of the elevator decided her. She slipped into the stairwell, and closed the door, shuddering at the sound of the click behind her.
She heard the sounds of footsteps; she heard one man make a low voiced comment to the other. The second man gave a faint chuckle.
Lois slipped quietly down the stairs. They’d search the top floor first, then work their way down, trusting that the emergency stairwell locks would keep her trapped.
As she reached the second floor, she set the cleaning solution down and reached into her pocket. She’d expected to use this in the government offices while Clark distracted the attendant; she hadn’t needed it then, but she was glad she had it now.
She’d have to give Bobbie Bigmouth a kiss for buying her the lock pick set for Christmas; or maybe just a dinner for two at Jean Paul’s.
The professional kit was much better than trying to use a hairpin; it took her less than a minute to pick the lock.
She winced as the door clicked, then she silently entered the darkened hallway on the other side of the door.
The elevator was here too, but the same person who was waiting for her to come out of the stairs was undoubtedly waiting for her to use the elevator. They’d have someone else waiting at the bottom of the other set of stairs.
That left the two on the floor above, and the one person who’d somehow gotten into the stairwell on the other side. They’d have someone waiting outside as well.
She moved down the hall until she saw a large glass window showing a cafeteria.
Picking this lock was easier than picking the other had been. Lois jerked, however, when she heard the sound of the metal doorway to the stairs being kicked.
She slipped inside just as she heard the sound of the elevator dinging.
Moving quickly, but low to the ground, she made her way to the back of the cafeteria, where a small cubbyhole was almost invisible in the darkness.
There was a trash barrel and a metal cage that lowered down, where people were supposed to put their trays. There was also a wooden door, undoubtedly to go back into the kitchen. Lois could see into the kitchen through the slats.
She reached to try the door. Sometimes people forgot to lock up for the night. If not, she’d try picking it, though doing it in the dark wouldn’t be fun.
A flashlight beam swept the area over her head.
She froze. The men were outside, peering into the cafeteria. She prayed that she’d remembered to lock the door behind her; if she hadn’t they’d have a good idea where she was.
The beam moved around the hulking shapes of long institutional style tables and benches.
One of the men murmured to the other. The flashlight beam disappeared, but Lois remained frozen. The men knew they had her trapped, and all it would take was one of them being a little brighter than the others, and they’d have her.
She remained frozen for almost a minute; she finally leaned around the corner to look at the picture window.
She was blinded by the beam of the flashlight, which shone directly in her eyes. She ducked back just in time, as the shattering sound and ping of a bullet told her that they’d already found her.
She lunged for the door, and mercifully, luck was with her for once. The door opened smoothly and soundlessly, even as she heard the sound of the glass door at the front of the kitchen shattering.
Sliding inside just as a bullet impacted the door, she shoved it shut and turned the lock. She doubted that it would hold them long, and once they knew they had her trapped, they’d be able to bring all the others.
Keeping low, Lois entered the kitchen, carefully keeping out of view of the slatted partition in the tray slot. She moved quickly, and she stayed low.
The door banged loudly. It was cheap and flimsy, and had never been meant to withstand much abuse.
And with that, both men were inside the kitchen.
“Come on out, chica. We ain’t here to hurt you.” The first man’s voice was low, and Lois could hear the underlying menace in it. “We just want to talk.”
The other man was quiet...too quiet. They wanted her to focus on his voice, while the other man came around and caught her from the side.
Lois looked around frantically. That was when she heard the movement from behind her. She reached slowly into her pocket to pull out the small tube Perry had given her for her birthday. She’d have to give him a kiss as well.
The man leaned over the counter and grinned at her, the tattoos on his forearms a stark contrast to his pale, milky white skin.
She sprayed the pepper spray directly into his eyes, and he screamed.
Lois only had a moment before the other one was there with a bullet. She lunged for the familiar outline in the wall and quickly pulled it open.
She dived inside, wincing as she felt the sting of concrete ricocheting from the bullet beside her head.
As she slid down the garbage chute, her last thought was to wonder why all her stories seemed to end up this way.
