Almost Lois (Chapter One)

Prologue

My name is Lois Lane. If you don't believe me, I have papers that say so.

I work at The Sentinel in Star City.

My childhood is sketchy at best. If people ask, I say that I'm an army brat whose father is MIA, whose mother has died.

My only family is my cousin, Linda King-Queen. Our history is all in the documents. Brand spanking new papers that say that we're related through my mother.

I have an "aunt." I visit her in the hospital every day. She's the only living relative of another cousin. A girl who died at the hands of Lex Luthor. The "aunt" is in a catatonic state. She has been for years, driven to it by a power she couldn't control.

Lex Luthor is also in a catatonic state. I find it incredibly just. I find it a fitting revenge for a man who used and experimented on and placed so many people in Metropolis' Belle Reve Sanitarium. It's only fitting that it should be his home now. That he's stripped of his power and money and lives the life of my aunt, who he tortured like any other freak.

People wonder why I visit this aunt so often. Why I look into her sightless eyes and cry. I just tell them we were close.

She was like a mother to me.


Chapter One

"How is she?"

"Not too good," Doctor Ramirez said sadly. "Her B.P. has been dropping steadily."

Lois looked closely at Moira Sullivan, wishing she'd just open her eyes one more time and see what was left of her daughter. She turned to Sara Ramirez. "Is there anything that can be done?"

"It's just her time." The older woman patted her shoulder. "Lois, I know that it isn't fair. I know that..." She whispered the next words. "Your mother... Well, her life wasn't what it should have been..."

"No. It wasn't! To spend most of her life scared of her power, then unaware of her surroundings, and now I'm just supposed to..." She took a deep breath. It wasn't the doctor's fault. Doctor Ramirez had been keeping secrets for Lois, Linda, Ollie... all of them. And for years. In the six months Lois had existed, she was the only one outside their immediate circle that knew. The only other was Martha Kent, the mother of a guy she once knew...

Doctor Ramirez was a mother, too. She had a grown son and daughter. Mother's were good at keeping secrets. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I just... I wish she would look at me one last time."

The doctor patted her arm again. "There's always hope. Do you want to sit with her? I'll tell the staff. You can stay until..."

"Yes. Until." She wiped her eyes and sat in the plastic chair at Moira Sullivan's bedside. She was the last Sullivan. The last remnant of someone who now seemed so far away...

There had been many reasons to stay in Star City, to take her cousin's name as her own. That way, she'd at least have some journalism on her resume. Tabloid journalism wasn't ideal, but it was something. It got her in.

She'd supposed Oliver could have pulled some strings and had her at The Washington Post. But she didn't want to get a job that way. Whatever strings she'd let him pull for her identity change, she wanted to at least get a job on her own merits. And if all those merits were, as Lois Lane, was a stint at The Inquisitor and a few of her own writing samples, then so be it.

It had taken a lot of convincing to even get the low-level job she had now. "Just give me a chance," she'd said. She wanted to tell them about her degree, finished at an advanced rate. She wanted to tell them about her experience at The Planet. In the end, she just asked for a one week trial. That impressive resume was no longer hers. It had belonged to Chloe Sullivan.

Things were going better. Her exclusive on Star City's mayoral candidate had impressed her editor. He'd been less impressed when he'd found out she was his campaign manager/wife's cousin. He'd gone back to being impressed when Oliver Queen won the election. In fact, he regularly encouraged her to get some dirt on him. She constantly told him there was no dirt to find- not of the truly dirty kind anyway. She just stuck to covering Green Arrow's exploits.

As far as Green Arrow went, Lois was about the only journalist on his side. It was frustrating to her editor, but she refused to compromise. As long as she was in Star City, Lois Lane would always stick by those that fought for the innocent. And she would stay in Star City. Where else would she go?

She touched Moira's cheek and got up to close the door. This woman was why she stayed, more than for herself.

When the door was safely closed, she said it. "Mom." Then she sobbed it. "Oh, Mom." She moved to the bed, saying the forbidden word over and over. She laid her head on her mother's stomach. "Things are hard, Mom. I hate coming here every day, calling you Aunt Moira in front of people and... calling you mom in my heart. I just... I have to say it to you. Even if it's the last time." She lifted her head and looked at her mother's eyes. If there was a God and he cared for her even a little, he'd let her look into her mom's eyes one last time. She stared and prayed... But there was nothing. She took her mother's hand and kissed it. "I love you, Mom."

"Love you, Chloe."

Her eyes opened wide. It was so faint, she was afraid she'd imagined it. She leaned in towards her mother's face and gasped when her eyes cracked open... just a little. "Mom?" The hand in hers twitched slightly. She leaned closer. "Mom..." She shut her mouth when she saw her mother's lips working. "Mom, what?"

The lips smiled slightly. "Be happy."

The beep of the heart monitor went fast, too fast. "Don't worry. I'll get help." She tore the door open and yelled into the hall. "I need someone in here!"

She moved out of the way as the nurses came in. They had to try. They had to try and revive her. But she had a feeling her mother wasn't in the room anymore. She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall as the commotion rose around her. "I'll try, Mom," she whispered. "I'll be happy for you."

******************************

Happiness. What was it really? She stared at the bustling newsroom around her. Everyone was going crazy. Green Arrow had pulled another stunt. Slave labor at a paper mill. She, of course, wasn't surprised. And while her editor was encouraging everyone to put a shady spin on it, she was writing her own piece, knowing full well he wouldn't publish it.

The thrill of a great story. Maybe that was happiness. It was fleeting, though. Afterwards, you were right back where you were, only as good as your next story. She couldn't find that thrill here. She had a consistent inside scoop on the biggest story in town. It wasn't even challenging. It actually felt like cheating.

Star City was just... not what she wanted. She minimized her story's window and hit her internet icon. She went where she went every day - The Daily Planet's website. She was hungry for what was happening in Metropolis. She wished she could be there to witness every spring shower in the weather section, every stupid story about dogs that could count from the Weird and Wacky section, every billionaire that was up for exoneration... "What?" She looked around. No one had noticed her outburst. She stared closer at the words.

LEX LUTHOR SPEAKS

By: Janice Murphy

Today is a shocking day for all of Metropolis. Lex Luthor, billionaire mogul and - some would say - mad man has spoken for the first time in six months. Authorities are still puzzled by the events that transpired in Canada's Yukon territory. Was Lex Luthor performing illegal experiments in cloning?

Even more shocking, did he kill his own father and former Daily Planet reporter Chloe Sullivan? Gun residue was found on both his and Lionel Luthor's hands and, as the younger Luthor hasn't spoken all this time, there is no explanation for this or for why both men's prints were on the gun. While he is still being held at Belle Reve, these answers aren't available to the public. But authorities are already preparing to question these events.

Eve Tessmacher, former personal assistant to Lex Luthor, insists that Lex was not involved in anything illegal. "His father was a strange man and always involved in so many nutsy things. Lex was a good man," she said, her eyes tearing up. "He gave to charities. He was a philanderist. I think, if he could have, he would have been a mercenary who would go to foreign countries and feed poor babies and..."

She stopped reading. She'd read enough of the drivel to know that they had a high priority situation. She stood and ran to her editor's office. While this story was big news in Metropolis, it was nothing to Star City. "Jack, I gotta go early... uh. Doctor's appointment."

He didn't look up from his desk. "No, you don't. That should be cleared in advance."

"But this is important. Please."

"Not more important than the classifieds, Lane." He looked up and smirked. "Which is where you'll stay... at least until you decide to be a reporter and not a silly girl champion of eccentric billionaires and Robin Hood wannabes that..."

"Jack... I have to see my gynecologist. I forgot to put a slip in with Terry, but this is important. It's my pap smear. When they scraped the uteral walls..."

The older man grimaced and waved her away. "Don't tell me about it." He took a deep breath and glared at her. "Fine."

She knew the jerk would let her go if it was a "woman's trouble" as long as she didn't tell him about it, which she would have done all night if he hadn't let her go. She was sick of working under a man. Pauline Kahn at The Planet had been hard, but she'd at least listened to her sometimes. Jack Greeley wanted to spin the news his way, the truth be damned.

But the truth was all she had. And now that truth was threatened in Metropolis. She had to do something about it. She whistled for a taxi. "City Hall, please?"

****************************

"I'm going crazy." She paced Oliver's office floor, biting her nails. "Every second, there's more news and... I just can't believe it."

Linda snorted. "Now he's blaming it all on his father. The guy kills his own dad and then just pisses on his memory."

"I truly didn't think he could worm his way out of this one." Oliver sighed. "Then again, this is Lex Luthor. He's no dummy."

Linda leaned forward in her chair. "I wouldn't be surprised if the catatonic state was all just... a ploy. He let it go on, garnered some sympathy..."

"No," Lois said firmly, still wearing a groove in the carpet. "He was in real shock... But it could have worn off a lot sooner. It would take more than plain and simple murder to send Lex off the deep end." She stopped, nearly smiling. "He waited it out. And then he could say the shock of having to kill his murderous father drove him into himself." As awful as the events were, she couldn't help feeling nearly excited, motivated. It was a change.

"But what about Ruby Ridge?" Oliver asked. "He can't get out of that. Chloe's phone call implicated him."

"But the gun powder was also on Lionel's hands," Lois said, trying not to flinch at her old name. "He could spin it that Lionel had decieved Chloe and..." She shook her head. She didn't want to talk about Chloe Sullivan. It was just too wierd. New lives must take a while to truly fit. "Lex has more power than anyone in Metropolis. He can get out of nearly anything."

"And he knows about Boyscout," Oliver said sadly. "That could complicate things for us. If he comes back..."

Linda stood. "I personally don't care how complicated things get for... Boyscout." She sneered the word. "But Martha..."

Lois covered her face. "Lex could threaten her. Even now..." She stopped, crossing her arms, her mind turning it all over. "No. He'd wait. Lex is too smart to start claiming he saw a farmboy that could bend bullets. He won't pursue this from the inside. He'll want to get him personally." She stared at nothing. "All of this is very personal now."

"Chloe..."

"Don't!" she hissed to her cousin. "Even in private. We've talked about this." It wasn't only about the threat to her life. Chloe Sullivan was a girl who pined after a hero and got brushed aside. Lois Lane was a girl who got by just fine on her own.

"Fine," Linda said tightly. "Lois... We can't let him get on the outside."

"That's obvious, Honey," Ollie said. "So what do we..."

"I need to go back," Lois said suddenly. "I can't sit here while this is going on. I'm a part of this and I... Well, I have to fix it." She turned to Oliver. "I want... I'm ready to accept your offer."

"You know it's always stood. But are you sure?"

"Yes. I can't be here when my city's threatened." She looked softly at Oliver and Linda. "It's not that I don't care about Star City. And it's not that I'm not grateful for everything you've done for me. But I want to go home. Enough time has passed and... Well, having the kind of secrets I did, I never got too close to that many people. But those I knew..."

"Could suddenly have lucrative offers from out-of-state papers," Linda said. "Or even network news."

"But Pauline Kahn. She's an editor. How could you..."

"She already left," Oliver put in quickly. "Kahn works at LNN."

"Did you..."

"No," he said, putting his hands up. "I just keep tabs. I remember you said not to interfere. Kahn made the move to T.V. months ago. And... to tell you the truth, with the fall of Luthorcorp, there were a lot of staff changes all over Metropolis. People who'd been blackballed by Lex and Lionel could suddenly work in Metropolis again. Like the new editor at The Planet."

"Who?" Chloe asked.

"They got a new guy." Oliver turned on his monitor and began clicking the screen. "Man had apparently been working crappy freelance and bad T.V. ever since he'd run afoul of the Luthors." He typed something and hit enter. "I think Lex's fall from grace helped him get back in the game." He nodded and scrolled down on the screen. "Yeah. Perry White."

Lois sat down. "Oh, no."

Chapter Two