"Need a lift, big boy?"
Clark turned on the street, stopped by a voice he'd know anywhere.
"Lois, what are you doing here?" he asked, looking around, anxious.
Lois shrugged, gesturing to the fancy convertible she was driving, "Well, Lex gave me the car for the day, and I just couldn't sit under his thumb another minute. Take a ride with me. Please? I'm sure it'll be fine."
Clark did not like the idea of riding around in a car owned by Lex, but he missed Lois terribly. He would love to spend a few moments with her.
Only slightly reluctant, he got into the car.
"So, how's LNN?" Clark asked, lowering his glasses to inspect for microphones. He found one in the glove compartment and zapped it with his heat vision, without Lois even noticing. Maybe one mic out wouldn't appear abnormal to Lex. Technology didn't always work perfectly, after all. And, it made Clark feel just a tiny bit better.
Lois shrugged. "Television's interesting, I suppose. But I miss the Planet, Clark. I wish--well, no point wishing for something that won't happen. How are things going on your end?"
He shook his head, reluctant to tell her everything just in case there were more bugs in the car or they were being watched. "Getting better, I think," he said vaguely.
Lois seemed to get the hint and dropped the topic.
"Have you seen Perry? Jimmy? I miss those guys..."
"Yeah, they miss you too, Lois. We've been, uh hanging out a lot together," he said with a smile, hoping she got the hint that they were working very hard to nail Luthor. "Don't worry. Somehow, we'll all be together again."
"I hope so," she said sadly.
Clark was worried by her tone. He leaned in a bit. "Are *you* okay? I mean, he hasn't--"
She shook her head. "No, he's the perfect gentleman these days," she said angrily. "Now that he thinks you and the Planet are gone from my life for good--" she felt a lump in her throat. "I just hope this ends soon. That things can get back to normal. That we---" she looked over at him. "That we can pick up where we left off," she finished quietly.
She had driven Clark to his apartment. Both were reluctant to say good-bye, but knew they shouldn't stay in each other's company for long until Lex was put behind bars.
Clark got out of the car, then turned to her. "We will, Lois. I'll be waiting for you."
**********
When Lex's limo picked up Lois from work the next day, Nigel didn't even say hello. Not that she really cared, but how isolated could she get and still remain sane? It had been so nice and much too short a time seeing Clark the other day. She had wanted more than anything to ask him to take her back to Smallville, take her away from this fake engagement and cold world of Lex and working at LNN. She'd barely even seen Lex in the last few days anyway, though he checked in on her often with a phone call. She also couldn't find any dirt on him, despite her snooping around the LNN building. He was clean as a whistle according to all of the LNN sources she could get to.
Lois absently watched the city lights go by, as evening turned to night. She suddenly noticed that they weren't heading to her apartment. She knocked on the glass that separated her and Nigel.
"Where are we going, Nigel?"
Just then, a gas started coming out of the air vents. Lois looked at it puzzled a moment, wondering if something was wrong with the engine. Then she started choking as the gas began to take effect. She felt herself begin to panic, as she couldn't even talk, much less yell for Superman!
She tried frantically to open the window or the door, but both were locked from the driver's seat. She struggled to undo her seat belt, trying to twist her body so she could punch the window with her foot. As she leaned on her side to angle herself, she began to feel extremely dizzy and then suddenly, the world went black.
********
Lois awoke some time later. She was lying on a bed, still in her clothes from work. She looked around the dark room, unable to judge the time of day or how long she had been out of it. Her head hurt terribly, and her vision was a little blurry. She sat up and reached for a familiar lamp on the stand nearby. She shivered with cold and wondered if the window was open.
She stood up carefully to head in to the living room to check. Her floor didn't feel quite right. Was it made of cement?
She was suddenly fully awake now, moving quicker into her living room, looking around in alarm. It *looked* like her apartment, yet--
She tried her front door. As she feared, it was locked shut. Her heart started pounding. She knew where she was... in the basement of the LexCorp building! She was in the apartment Luthor had built for her during Nightfall! She was his prisoner in the one place that terrified her more than any other. Her home, yet definitively *not* her home!
Then she saw something that scared her even more. Off near the kitchen stood a gorgeous Edwardian wedding dress. Her wedding dress apparently. She walked over to it, wary.
There was a note addressed to her by it. It was in Lex's stilted, scrawling hand.
"My dear, please make yourself at home. You will find the apartment well stocked, for your every whim. I hope you like the dress. We will be married tomorrow at noon. Get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow will be quite a day!
Yours,
Lex"
She threw down the note as if it had burned her.
"You won't get away with this, Luthor!" she cried futilely to thick walls around her. As panic set in, Lois started screaming for Superman with all her heart, praying he could hear her. Tears streamed down her face as she ran back over to the door, to pound on it with all of her might.
"Superman! Help! Somebody, please! Superman!!" she cried, over and over until her voice felt hoarse. She knew it was futile. And the basement was lead-lined, so Clark couldn't find her even if he knew she was missing. She was stuck, a prisoner, and tomorrow, she would have to marry Lex Luthor.
She slipped to the floor sometime later, worn out from crying. Lois laid her head on her bent knees, trying to take deep breaths to calm herself.
"Clark... please... find me..."
