Lois & Clark Forums Forums Superman In Other Canon Superman In Other Canon Fanfic Operation Argus 2/? (Superman Returns AU)

Sorry, meant to post this last night and ran into a little writer's block. Thankfully it cleared up this morning! I'm really going to try to post at least once a week, aiming at Saturdays.

In case you missed it: Part One

Operation Argus
Part 2

“Congratulations, Colonel. After all this time, we were starting to think Operation Argus would need to be scaled back. But I see that our investment is finally bearing fruit.”

The Colonel stood at ready attention in front of the video-conference screen in his office. “Yes, sir. And I believe that yesterday should support my findings that Atlas will be reliable.”

“Perhaps.” On the screen the U.S. National Security Director, seated at a desk with a picture window behind him overlooking Union Station in Washington, DC, picked up the day’s newspaper with “SUPERMAN RETURNS” emblazoned on the front page. “I’m still not sure I agree with your assessment that we should publicize the operation in any way.”

“Sir, the foreign implications of Operation Argus are contingent on public knowledge as a deterrence. Furthermore, it will be impossible to prevent the media from asking any questions at all.” The Colonel lifted a file from his desk. “All of our analysts are in agreement. The best way to keep this secret is to make it seem there is no secret at all.”

The Director grimaced. “Are you absolutely sure you can keep Atlas under control?”

“Sir, we have multiple precautions in place. And yesterday’s test was a complete success.”

“Very well. You have our authorization to move forward.” The Director stood and reached for a control near his desk. “I’ll inform the President immediately.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The Director looked back at the Colonel once more. “Just remember, if this fails, it will be on your head, Trask.” The screen blanked out, leaving only the seal of the National Security Council in its place.

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Lois printed off the Press Release attachment and wove her ways across the newsroom to find Cavanaugh at his desk. “Kyle, what the hell is this? Since when does the US Army hold press conferences in Metropolis?”

Kyle Cavanaugh, a late-middle aged man with thinning blonde hair and rosy cheeks, shrugged from his seat. “They’re coming from Fort Truman, must have decided they’d get more coverage if they held it here in the city.”

“Considering the two and a half hour notice and Fort Truman is a four-hour drive from Metropolis, no kidding.” Lois leaned against the cubicle divider as she re-read the press announcement. “Why would they be listing Superman as an attendee? He’s never attended a military press conference before. He’s always avoided them as much as he can.”

“Lois, I really don’t know any more than you do, I got the same release. I just figured I needed to give you a shot at it if I wanted to live through the day.”

She smirked at him. “Smart man. Need a lift over there?”

Cavanaugh stood and grabbed his suit jacket from the back of his chair. “Nah, I’ve got a lunch meeting and then I’ll head straight over. Bring a photographer, will ya?”

“Definitely.” Lois turned back toward her desk, ignoring the people jumping out of her way as she read the release again. What the hell does he think he’s doing? She’d spent all morning combing through the news wires, but Superman hadn’t shown up anywhere after the big plane rescue the day before. It was completely unlike his old habits, which typically started with a major rescue and then a few smaller ones before he disappeared again for several hours at a time.

Glancing up at a wall clock, Lois changed direction and went to Richard’s office. Jason was coloring in the back of the room, and Richard was working on the computer. She could see over his shoulder and winced; the document had copious editing marks. “I’m going to take Jason for some lunch. Need a break?”

Jason’s head popped up and he ran over to hug his mom, dragging the picture along with him. She scooped him up onto her hip. Richard half-turned so he could see her from the corner of his eye as he continued working. “Would love one, but my inbox needs me more. Bring me back a sandwich?”

“No problem.” She nuzzled Jason’s nose then walked out the door. “How ‘bout you, kiddo, hungry for a quesadilla?”

“Yeah!” Jason held on tight as she grabbed her purse from her desk and walked them to the elevator. The lunchtime rush was definitely picking up speed, and they pushed their way onto the elevator together. It wasn’t until the two were settled into local diner that Lois noticed he still had his drawing with him.

He had it back up on the table with the cup of crayons provided by the waitress. She could make out the rough outline of a plane, and a distinctive blue and red figure behind it. Jason was carefully adding flames with the orange crayon. “Honey, what are you drawing?”

“The plane Superman rescued,” he answered very matter-of-fact. Then he set the crayon down and looked up at her. “Mommy, were you on the plane when it was crashing?”

Lois felt her mouth freeze into an “O” shape, caught by surprise. She didn’t want to lie, but, “Why do you think I was on the plane?”

“I saw on the TV pictures when you went down the slide. But maybe you got to go on the slide after asking your questions.”

His blue eyes never left hers, and she reached out to hold his hand. “No, I was on the plane.” Richard’s going to kill me if Jason has nightmares tonight. “Remember the blackout yesterday?”

Jason nodded. “Yup, I was at after-care, and some of the girls screamed. But I didn’t scream - there was lots of light from the windows, it wasn’t even that dark!”

Lois smiled at that. “Well, we had a blackout on the plane, too, and it caused some problems. But it’s okay, because Superman came and helped us to land safely.”

“But what if Superman hadn’t come back yesterday?”

Lois squeezed Jason’s hand. “There were some very smart people on that plane, they might have figured out something.” It’s not really a lie. There’s a small, itsy bitsy, infinitesimal chance they could have done something… “Anyway, Superman did come, so we don’t have to worry.”

Jason nodded and pulled away so he could continue coloring. “All the TV people were very excited and said he’d been gone a long time. Where did he go, Mommy?”

“I don’t know, Jason, he hasn’t told us yet.”

“Are you gonna innaview him?”

“Interview,” Lois corrected, “and yes, I’m going to try. I have to go to a press conference this afternoon and he might be there.”

“And you’ll ask him there?”

“Yes.”

“Can you ask him how he flies, too? Cuz he doesn’t have a plane like Daddy!”

Her heart clenched, remembering years before when she would ask Superman questions about his unique abilities. “I can already tell you, kiddo, he doesn’t need a plane because he flies all by himself. I don’t really understand the physics of it, though. He tried to explain it to me once, but it was too complicated.”

Excited that his mommy had already talked to Superman, Jason started firing off questions through the rest of lunch. Lois couldn’t help but laugh. Definitely a reporter’s son!

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Lois ducked under an elbow as she pushed her way through the mob in the main plaza of the legislative center. She reached a cordoned off area and flashed her press pass. “Lois Lane and James Olsen, Daily Planet.”

The guard nodded and let her duck under the police tape. She turned around to see Jimmy still struggling in the crowd, cradling his camera. “Jimmy, c’mon!”

He finally pushed up and stepped over the tape. “Sorry, Lois, I didn’t exactly have my elbows free to slash through the jungle.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed him as they worked their way into the smaller, but noisier, crowd of reporters. Jimmy spotted the area reserved for photographers and left Lois with a mock salute. Lois continued to try and push her way up to the front where she wouldn’t be overshadowed by the taller men and women around her. As she broke through, she could see why her colleagues were already humming. Behind the temporary stage and podium set up on the main steps, and tucked into the shadows of the entrance, Superman was already present. He looked like he was deep in concentration with three men and a woman. Two of them men were in Army dress uniforms, and the shorter of the two was pointing an emphatic finger at Superman. Lois couldn’t get a good look at their faces, but something about Superman’s posture didn’t look right. Sure, it’d been years since she’d seen him, but she could see a tension in his shoulders and he held his arms stiffly to his side.

The group turned, and the third man in a bland suit led them to the stage. The shorter Army officer drifted back into the shadows, his arms crossed. The plaza fell silent as Superman stepped up onto the stage with the others. When she finally got a good look at him, Lois felt her heart speed up again. Finally, after years of wondering, they would find out what had happened to their hero.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice today,” the spokesman, Alan Green according to the press release, greeted them. “As many of you know, yesterday we welcomed back Superman to -“ He was interrupted by loud cheering from behind the press journalists (and a few reporters who joined in). He raised an eyebrow and waited for the noise to quiet down. Lois looked over to Superman, whose eyes seemed focused above everyone’s heads. She turned to look behind her, but didn’t see anything that should have caught his attention.

“As I was saying, we welcomed back Superman to our home. Before his departure, the U.S. Army and Superman had already begun negotiations for a joint defense strategy.” He was? Lois thought in surprise. Since when? “With his return, he has agreed to formally cooperate with the creation of a global defense initiative. For further detail, I give your General Burton Newcomb, Commander of the U.S. Domestic Command forces.”

General Newcomb stepped forward to the podium. “After the attacks in early 2001 by the Kryptonian criminals led by Zod, the U.S. armed forces were reorganized to create the U.S. Domestic Command for protection against such further threats. As we learned, it was not enough to rely on the aide of any one man.”

Lois returned her gaze to Superman, but couldn’t see any expression on his face. She’d forgotten how good he was at masking his emotions.

“However, Superman has agreed to not only cooperate with the Domestic Command in protecting our citizens, but he will also provide guidance and direction in creating the Argus Global Defense System to counter any future alien threats.” Lois was stunned at the scope of what the General was suggesting. She struggled to listen to further details, but most of it involved timelines and budgeting that she hoped Cavanaugh was catching somewhere else. But as much as this news came as a surprise, the most basic information they wanted to know, which was about Superman, remained untouched.

When the General finally stepped back and the spokesman called for questions, Lois nearly threw herself onto the stage. She called out her question over her colleagues almost before Green acknowledged her. “Lois Lane, Daily Planet. Superman, where have you been all this time?”

Superman stepped forward and, while looking in her direction, he didn’t meet her eyes. “Ms. Lane, I returned to Krypton.”

Her mouth fell open. “But you told me it was destroyed, ages ago.”

“Some astronomers thought they’d found it, and I needed to see it for myself. But,” he paused, and his eyes flickered to hers momentarily before he shifted and looked straight ahead. “It was a graveyard, with nothing left. In fact, it was this discovery that inspired me to aide in the development of the Argus system in order to prevent any similar fate here on Earth.”

Others around her began shouting, and Green stepped forward to regain control and direction of the questions. But Lois couldn’t hear anything over the blood rushing through head, her ears ringing. He just left us? I spent all those years worried he’d been hurt or killed, and he just LEFT US?

Slowly, the world around her filtered back as she reigned in her rage. She could see Jimmy snapping his pictures in the front, and heard Linda King from the Metropolis Star ask about Superman’s new uniform. Lois rolled her eyes, That’s the most important thing she can think of? Narrowing her gaze, Lois again leaned forward and shouted, without acknowledgement, “If you just up and left, why should we count on you now?”

The plaza fell silent around her, and Lois found herself the center of attention. Even Jimmy was staring at her, his camera hanging loosely between his hands. She stood her ground and glared at Superman as he slowly turned back toward you. You better look at me, mister!

But again, he refused to meet her eyes. “Ms. Lane, this is my home. I have no where else to go.” Then his head jerked, as though he’d heard something unexpected. “Um, if you’ll excuse me, there’s something I need to do.” With a rush of air, he flew straight up from the stage and disappeared into the clouds above.

Lois could hear the grumblings around her that she’d scared him away, but she only clenched her pen. She turned and ignored Mr. Green as he continued to field questions about the new defense system, the crowd parting before her as though her anger were a physical shield. When she arrived at her car in the parking lot, she yanked open the door and threw in her purse and notebook, then slammed her fists against the top of the car. Looking up, she glared at the clouds. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Superman.”

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Don't be like Superman and just rush off! Please leave some comments !
Or continue to Part Three