~ 45-30 Minutes before prologue present ~
The beauty of upper New York state held nothing for Lois lane. She barely noticed it as she took the cab from the hotel to the airport her second night away from Metropolis. Clark had visited the previous night, arriving with a couple of beers, ice cream and chalupa's; he knew how to get straight to her heart.
She smiled at the memory of the time taken, how sensual her smallville could be and oh.. ice cream, cold delightful ice cream. Sometimes the man took the magic between them to the next level and just when she thought it couldn't get better. The hotel room had only made it all the more fun, easier for the roles they played. She giggled, only Lois Lane could get Clark Kent to behave that way. When the taxi driver gave her a strange look through the rear view mirror Lois blushed, she didn't mean for her thoughts to be so transparent.
The simple time of being together had ended at some point during the night. She had become aware of his absence, the lack of his warm body against hers, and found it hard to sleep after that.
The day had past by far too slowly and the remaining little interviews bored her. Which worked to her advantage, it made it all the more easier for her to turn inner frustrations outward and give difficult people hell. In the end she'd gotten two wonderful quotes that would add fire to her finished article.
Once at the airport, Lois grabbed her bag wishing it was Clark flying her back. But there were far too many reasons that would just cause a problem. Not to mention she knew after seeing the news during lunch, that he been spending his day dealing with some severe flooding in the lower states, a repercussion of the recent hurricanes.
Whatever private island they choose.. it was going to be so private and remote that the rest of the world didn't exist..at least for one day. Didn't Oliver owe them one? She was sure of it. She was going to have to hit him up on this.
Preoccupied in these thoughts, Lois didn't notice the dark hooded figure that came up behind her, though it probably wouldn't have mattered, no one else would ever recall seeing them.
A hand reached out, a shriveled deformed hand and gently touched the back of her neck and as it drew back an energy rolled out of Lois and into the hand. Then the figure turned and left unnoticed.
Shuddering violently, Lois rubbed the back of her now hurting neck as she waited at the check in line, alternating between feeling pity for the airport employees and loathing them. Once she had her turn, the pain that had started in her neck had now spread to her head and chest. She spun around looking for the nearest restroom, feeling suddenly very ill. What had come over her? Bad restaurant food..? Just her luck dinner had been contaminated.
Once she got to the restroom she found she couldn't focus her eye's all that well and realized that she had left her carry on case somewhere on the way to the bathroom. Heading over to the mirror, she could see the sweat pouring down though she felt quite cold. Activating the sensor in the sink, she splashed her face but was unable to make it to the paper towel. Half away there her knees gave out and the world spun. Her last thought before she hit the floor was how Lois Lane doesn't faint, at least not like this.
~20 minutes before prologue present~
Clark ignored it all.. he knew she had been here but now he couldn't hear her. He could still feel the pulse of her heart but just couldn't hear it at all. It was a strange separation of something that he hadn't consciously known was multifaceted, and it disturbed him. Where was she? The growing anxiety started to become a very real physical ache in his chest.
Looking around, alternating between x-ray vision and hearing for any sign of Lois, it was then he noticed her little blue travel suit case. It laid haphazardly on its side by a garbage bin, near the restroom and dining area of the airport. Clark made his way to it as several of the airport staff approached him. "Superman.. we're honoured you are here.." the balding official began, "however, it is concerning.. is there something wrong?"
Clark barely registered what the man said as he picked up Lois' case, when the words did sink in a moment later, he held out the tag attached to it. "I need to find her.. Lois Lane. I believe she is in trouble." He was trying not to sound like a desperate spouse.
It wasn't surprising that her name got a reaction, she was openly connected to Superman. Having finally nailed the one on one interview with her red and blue superhero and the only reporter to have been favored in such away.
"Oh..Ms We can use the intercom system to call for her and there is the security footage." he indicated the camera that was currently pointed in their general area.
At Superman's barely perceptible nod the staff were sent off to go about helping to find Ms Lane. After a moment, the official who introduced himself as Mr. Edwards, managed to divert the hero to the security office and out of the public eye. While Edwards had every intention of giving Superman his full support, he couldn't have the big man standing there, in his hard to miss primary colours, distracting the entire airport.
Clark was doing his best to remain calm and cool. To the rest of the world it would appear he was just waiting, collected and patient, while the footage near the area where her bag was discovered was scanned.
Clark though was doing his damnedest to hear her heart beat again, the feeling he had from it was so faint that all he knew was that she was still alive, that was it. He never in his wildest nightmares would have ever thought the precious gift would give out on him, especially when he needed it the most, when she needed it.
"AH!" the security guard exclaimed. Forcing Clark's attention back, "She is right there sir.. uh Superman." He pointed to the third screen.
It took everything he had to not react to the sight of Lois stumbling towards the rest room, dropping her case on the way. Her legs looked like they were going to give out at any moment, he could tell even with the crappy quality of the footage that she was sickly ill. His felt ill himself seeing her like that, watching her barely make it through the door.
One of the guards spoke up, "We checked that rest room .. there is no one in it." Clark glanced over at him causing the guard in question to step back at the look in the heroes eyes.
"Can you find footage of her leaving?" he said little sharply in no mood for pleasantries and even if he had been the security guard would have helped just the same. It was obvious to him and everyone else that Superman was concerned. There was a satisfaction to be had as well in helping the super hero. Like fifteen minutes of fame it was a dream a lot of people shared even if it was subconscious.
The guard zoomed through the footage but there was no sign that she had ever left the restroom in the twenty-five minutes since she entered it. All eye's turned to Clark.
"I will look myself.." He stated as fact and before any of them could react he was gone.
The restroom held no clues, not a sign that she had been there. Her purse had either been picked up by someone or was taken with her. But if that was the case then there should be footage of her leaving with someone but instead nothing. This struck alarm bells in him, if she didn't leave by the conventional method then that meant someone super powered took her.
Clark wanted to bellow and scream, throw a fit, trash the restroom, instead he settled for clenching and unclenching his hands and jaw. After a few moments he was able to clear his raging thoughts and scan the room again, this time using his microscope vision as well as x-ray. Trying to find a single clue.
It paid off when he noticed that part way between the sinks and the towel dispenser there was a strange texture to the three of the large floor tiles. He ran his hand over them, not the typical scorch marks left by a teleport. No, this had no discoloration but the surface was pitted, hot, and bits of it came off on to his hand like muddy sand.
A guard came in both exuding excitement at being around Superman and apprehension at interrupting him. "Sir, we were wondering if there was anything you needed?" the man found he couldn't get himself to offer Superman a cup of coffee. It seemed ridicules, what did you offer a superhero?
When Superman looked up at him from examining the tile floors the stern look on the hero's face made him want to turn and run. But he held his ground and waited, "I'm Marshall, Sir.. and really anything I can do to help.."
Clark sighed, he knew he was being testy and that it wouldn't help Lois. "I'm gonna need to take one of these with me." he pointed at the tiles which were degrading as they spoke.
Marshall walked over and knelt by the tile, never in his life had he ever seen such a sight. Tile did not, no matter the pummel it took, become like sandy pudding. Even as he watched another part of the tile went from being fairly normal to turning into mush. Not just mush he could feel the heat coming off of it. "Um Yea.. I'll see about getting you some sort of canister for that.." He stood, "Do you think it would be safe to put it in plastic"
Clark looked down at it himself ,"Don't know. Something designed for a corrosive would probably be best."
Marshall nodded then left. Once alone, Clark leaned his arms on the sink and looked in the mirror. Did Lois look in this same mirror? Did she understand what was going on? Did she see her abductor? Was she okay? The thoughts ran like fire through his head and let himself groan out loud at the pain of it.
~ღ Present ღ~
Ranting more at the voice had brought no results. Instead she just ended up staring in the dark and feeling out of breath. It was getting harder not to panic, the calm and collected Lois lane was fast becoming a mad woman. Several times she thought she heard the familiar whooshing sound of her husband coming to her rescue. Then after calling out to him there was nothing. Disappointment could be a real b**ch!
Oh Clark! She knew by now he would know something was wrong. "I'm sorry." she whispered.
Remembering the anguish he had felt the last time she had been abducted, not that it had been a bucket of roses for her either, but for him...
Clark didn't have to say it, he showed it every time he looked at her, the way he felt. His need for her. While her career was important Lois had come to realize a long time ago that her purpose was to be there for him first and foremost, and right now there was a bit of a stitch in that plan. She despised hiccups, stitches, and anything else that made her plans difficult.
"Ow!" she called out sharply as the box she was in abruptly went from upright to its side. Her face and side pulsated painfully and flashing lights peppered her vision from the impact. Once the pain cleared enough for her to think she yelled, "What the hell are you doing? isn't enough that you've locked me up like a trophy!"
Nothing.
"Oh I see.." she had to lower her voice, yelling only made her hurt more, Lois was also pretty sure she was bleeding from her mouth as well several other places. "Still the silent treatment. You do realize that most kidnappers generally talk to me, even if it is just to gloat."
Again nothing.
That was it! It didn't matter the pain she was in or how ill she felt or the fact she couldn't hardly move. She was not going to stay in some smelly metal box for another minute.
With all her might she pushed against what she was hoping was the door of the box. Her elbows scraped against the abrasive metal, her hands and left arm screamed in protest, but she kept it up, giving it all she had. After a moment she had to stop, the action took the breath out of her and made her feel faint. She wasn't sure it was exactly helping either.
"Let me out!" she demanded. "I swear if you don't let me out right now.."
The answer she received was just mean but she didn't have a chance to say so before consciousness left. The box rolled all the way over several times, this time forcing her head to slam against the metal door before whipping back and forth in its strict confines. If Lois had of been able to think about it she would have decided the last thing she needed was another head injury, not that she had a choice, usually never did.
She would have been mad as well that the response she had been asking for came when she was unable to hear it, "Lois Lane.. you'll be home soon. You shouldn't worry.. but he will."
The box was flipped again on to its back and the door opened. The deformed hand reached in and caressed down the bruised and battered face. "Aww.. I like you. Too bad you won't like me. "
Then it scraped down her front, tearing clothes and flesh alike before withdrawing rapidly. "Mmmmm.. I can taste him in your blood. So sweet.." The hand came back placing her cell phone upon her chest, hitting 911 before it's final retraction.
The Emergency operator felt a shiver at the voice pouring into her headset and the sound made the operator feel an overwhelming urge to cry, though later she wasn't sure why. Each word the voice sent her way was spoken slowly, deliberately and with a slight hint of glee.
"There is a woman here..badly injured. So badly. You must come and save her. She bleeds."
Then it was gone. The line was open but the operator could get no further response.
Fifteen minutes later Lois Lane's unconscious, bruised, and bloody body was loaded into an ambulance.
~ღ~
He knew before he received the call that Lois had been found, he felt the pulsing of her heart wash over him in a tidal wave. Feeling lightheaded he was barely able to answer the phone. All Clark could feel was the rhythm, a strained beat that told him the woman he loved was far from okay.
"Where is she?" he spoke hoarsely into the phone, he could see Tess looking at him with worry. "I'll be there soon." the cell hit the floor.
Tess picked it up, "Clark.. is she okay?" her voice deep with concern.
"She's alive..but " he couldn't breath. Funny he couldn't really ever recall feeling so ill before, " in bad condition.. they said I should come soon.."
Tess' eyes widen, "Oh..Clark." she turned back to the screen and keyboard both to give him some space and make a call, "I'll notify Oliver."
All he could think before he left was.. I wasn't there to save her!
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