Joanne stared out the window. The top was open slightly, but any breeze came through the bars. Why hadn't she noticed the bars before? She'd known they were there, but she never thought this was prison. At first, she'd just taken it to be something left over from the old army barracks. And she put up with the ugly house that was hers and the square buildings devoid of all color. They were surrounded by trees, at least. She watched the trees sway and breathed deep, trying to take comfort from the clean country air.
She'd never liked the city. It was Morgan who had the important career, making their move necessary. She still missed Vermont. It was another world. Two women holding hands were just another couple there. Nothing to be sneered at or even leered at. But even with the small minds in the big city of Metropolis, even with the exhaust, and the lingering smells of garbage and urine-soaked alleyways... She'd take it over this. It was like being in a place where everything was as sweet and rural as it should be, but at the expense of what?
Her head turned at the raised voices in the hallway. She moved toward the thick window near the door slowly, staring through the blinds.
"And you let her go?" Joanne winced at the uncharacteristic loudness from the Doc.
The guard's voice was quieter. She had to strain to hear it. "...and then she took the hummer. Didn't know we were supposed to..."
"This is unacceptable. I told you the other day to report back to me on her. Her behavior has become increasingly erratic and has made most of our patients lose faith in our mission." The Doc's eyes were slightly wild as she looked to the side and... right at Joanne. Joanna flinched as she strode to the door. But she didn't come in. There was only an ominous jingle and click. "Come with me."
Joanne knew it was foolish, but she tried the door. Locked. As if the guards weren't enough, this sent the message clearly. Being on the grounds was no longer optional. She backed toward the bed, blindly groping for Morgan's limp hand. "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." She whispered it over and over.
***********************************
"Pods?" AC echoed. There was a light scuffle sounding in Clark's ears. "Holy shit, you guys. This is just like Ruby..."
"Damn it!" Ollie groaned.
"Arthur, really," a feminine voice groaned. "You could at least..."
"I didn't mean it."
"Code names," Victor hissed. "And I mean it, Flag Day."
"That's not my code name," Diana growled.
"What's going on?" Clark cut in.
"Nothing," Ollie's voice said tiredly. "What do you see again?"
"Can't you see?"
"We would see," Ollie said, tension lacing his words. "Except our video feed's out. Someone was wildly gesticulating with their beverage and...
"Dude," AC sighed. "I said I didn't mean it. I mean, anyone can..."
"I clearly said no beverages in the control room and you..."
"Hey! I happen to need water to survive. It's special circumstances and..."
"Everyone, shut it. Cyborg, just keep focus on finding the buyer. We can fix it later. Boyscout, just... Just go on. You said you saw... pods?"
"Shipping pods," Clark clarified. He looked at the extremely large containers inside the warehouse. Looking through, he saw boxes and furniture. Any further looking just revealed useless knick-knacks and dishes, even furniture stacked up. In a way, he was relieved. He didn't want to think the couples were holed up in a place like this. "We got led straight to a storage facility. There's no people. No..." Everything suddenly went black and he tried to adjust his vision. "Lights are out." He focused in the darkness. "Someone cut the lights. There's someone in there."
"Just me, Boyscout," Bart whispered over the earpiece.
"Flash, what the hell are you..."
"I knew it. I knew he would..."
"Could everyone zip it?" Bart hissed. "Trying to concentrate. Stupid night vision..."
Clark focused on Bart, zipping around in the darkness. "When did you..."
"I told you. You can't keep up with me."
"Get out of there. Now." It was Ollie's voice, not Victor's, that rang in Clark's ear. "Boyscout said there was surveillance. Why would you risk that, not even to mention the lead poisoning from..."
"Oh, calm down, Green Giant. I didn't touch the walls. And what am I? In training? I disabled the security in seconds... By way of cutting the lights, of course."
Clark heard Ollie's groan. "Of all the foolish... You were supposed to wait for the go-ahead."
Bart was rifling through a desk in a tiny room to the side of the empty warehouse. "If I was to actually to wait for the go-ahead from you old biddies, nothing would ever get done."
"What do you have?" Clark cut in.
"Nothing in here... Well, except dirt and some fairly ugly spiders. Gross. I thought there must be some paperwork or..."
"I'll deal with you later. Just get out of there," Victor sighed. "And get back here. Wait a sec... At least we got one thing out of this trip."
"No way," Clark heard AC say softly. "Didn't think the guy still had it in him."
"Hold up, guys." Clark watched Bart lean down, picking something up off the ground. "Got something."
"Do you think he could have been faking it this whole time?" Ollie said thoughtfully.
Clark shook his head. "What are you all talking about?"
"Hello, guys!" Bart appeared below Clark, waving a scrap of paper. "I said I got something."
Clark lowered himself and took the scrap from Bart. "A receipt?"
"Yeah. From a gas station in Vona." Bart took it back, holding it up proudly. "Someone bought a red bull and some mallomars. Only scrap in there, so..."
"Great," Ollie said tiredly. "I'm really glad you risked your neck for that knowledge. Meanwhile, Cyborg's dug up something real."
"Teacher's pet," Bart muttered, pocketing the receipt.
"Just get back here. I expect both of you to walk in the door in five minutes. This thing just got more interesting."
"How do you mean," Clark asked.
"Buchan paper was bought by Thorul Industries."
*********************************
Pammie handed the packet back to Lois as Marcy started drooping on the couch. Lois held the papers and stared dumbly as Pammie helped Marcy up. "Why don't we lay down?" she said softly. "Come on. There we go."
Lois followed them into the small spare room as Linda and Foxy seemed to be having a staring contest. "Could you possibly clarify?" She held out the page with the picture on it. "You say this woman is Lizzie's niece. That's..."
"Well, I know they don't look alike, Darcy being so fair, but Lizzie's a bit of a mutt, or so she says. There was this funny way she had of putting it..." She touched Marcy's face. "What did she say, Marcy? Do you remember?" Marcy only closed her eyes, laying her head back on the pillow. "I just can't get her to respond most times," Pammie said, her eyes sad. "Maybe the medicine tires her out. She's only supposed to have it every four hours, but she..."
"Pammie, this woman's name is not Darcy," Lois broke in, holding the paper in front of her. "This is a dangerous woman."
"Dangerous?" Pammie laughed bitterly. "You know, I let you in because I thought maybe you had a point. But this is ridiculous. Darcy may be a bit stand-offish, but to accuse an innocent woman..."
"This woman is Doctor Helen Bryce. And, besides being presumed dead, she's connected with the illegal medical experiments being performed on the missing..."
Pammie glanced at her coldly. "Seems everyone has at least two names these days."
"Pammie, you have to believe me..."
"First of all, you told me a few days ago that the couples were missing and it was suspicious. Now you say they're being experimented on. What kind of evidence do you have to support any of this?"
Somehow she thought Because my fake husband became infected with a mysterious substance and his blood was stolen. And did I mention he's Superman? wouldn't go over well. "I can't say," she finally said. "You just have to trust me."
"Why should I? I've known Lizzie longer than I've known you. I've even known Darcy longer. And Darcy is no doctor. She teaches third grade math. Lizzie told me..."
"Lizzie lies, apparently." Lois glanced at the inhaler. She moved forward and carefully took it from Marcy's hands. The woman whimpered slightly, but turned over in bed. Lois pulled the canister from the actuator. There was nothing on it. Usually, a prescribed inhaler had a sticker of some sort. "You say Lizzie gave her this?"
"Well, yes. Lizzie doesn't practice anymore. But she does have a prescription pad. She helped me out once when the kids needed some antibiotics and..." Pammie stopped, shaking her head. "No."
"So Lizzie is a doctor," Lois breathed. "Wonder why she kept that under wraps?"
"Well, that proves nothing. I knew mostly because Marcy told me. But Lizzie asked me to keep it to myself. The whole neighborhood would go to her with their medical troubles and..." She broke off at Lois' steady stare. "No. You're wrong. Lizzie is one of the kindest, sweetest..."
"Pammie, you need to get to the hospital, have them do a tox screen on Marcy as soon as possible." Pammie only stared, her eyes wide as Lois pocketed the inhaler. "I can get this tested in the meantime." She headed for the door.
"But..."
She turned at the door. "Which house is Lizzie's?"
Pammie swallowed hard. "Thirty-three Poplar. It's blue with white... No. La...Lois, this is crazy."
"Maybe it is." Lois shook her head. "Maybe I'm wrong." She glanced at Marcy. "You get her tested and we'll see."
Lois strode into the living room where Foxy was now sitting on Linda's lap. Linda was stroking him and kissing his nose. She looked up. "You know, he really is the sweetest little thing. He doesn't make me sneeze even a little. And he had to be in that house practically alone. Poor wittle baby..."
"We have to go."
"Now?" Linda stood, holding Foxy on his back like a baby. His paws kicked in the air. "Where are we going?"
"Lizzie Albright's house."
"So who exactly is..."
"The one we're looking for," Lois cut in. "Could you put the dog down?"
"Okay." Linda pouted, but finally deposited Foxy on the couch. "I kind of thought we might be barking up the wrong tree. Marcy didn't exactly give off the vibe of evil mastermind."
Neither did Lizzie. "Well, she's connected, all the same." Lois grabbed her bag, still half-spilt and spread across the floor. She stood and moved to the front door.
"Wait." Pammie turned off the light and closed the door behind her. "If you think you can just walk over to..."
"Pammie, this is serious," Lois snapped, whirling to face her. "I don't care if there's even a headline, here. There are lives at stake, no matter how sweet Lizzie seems."
"But..."
"Come on, Linda."
Linda smiled awkwardly at Pammie. "Just great meeting you."
Lois pulled the door open and stalked into the street. Maybe she should have known. Lizzie was always there, but always so separate. She saw it now. her whispering on the love seat with Marcy at the party, at the potluck, at her own house... Always there, but always so inconspicuous...
"Lois?"
She didn't turn back, just kept striding down to Poplar. "Yeah?"
"I think I like dogs again. I think I want a puppy. Something tiny like that one. You think Ollie would..."
Lois yanked her away from the glow of the street lights as headlights appeared down the street. They stood crouched by a square bush as a Hummer moved past.
"Honestly," Linda growled--and a little too loud.
Lois turned to her. "Keep it down."
"Well, just look." Linda gestured to the disappearing lights. "As eco-conscious as these suburban types claim to be, they sure drive a lot of unnecessarily large vehicles. I've seen more SUVs on this street than in a dealership. You'd think they..."
"Oh, just come on." She glanced down the street as the tail lights faded. She was as concerned about CO2 emissions as the next reporter, but this was not the time. Linda had, obviously, been listening to Ollie's eco-diatribes for too long. They didn't call him the GREEN Arrow for nothing... Suddenly, she was in a room...
a very lavish room. Linda was tossing every aerosol can in her haircare collection in a bag. "What are you doing?" She heard someone ask. It sounded like her.
"I'm saving the world... I think." Linda paused, tossing her red hair, still slightly jarring even after months. "You think the spritz bottles should go, too?"
"What exactly prompted all this..."
"Ollie says I need to be more conscious of my carbon footprint. AC agrees." She hefted the bag, tossing a can of aqua net in for good measure.
"But that's my..."
"I guess I just didn't think of all this. I'm so ditching the SUV and getting a compact car." She dropped the bag and sat on the bed, finally dropping back on it and closing her eyes.
Lois laughed slightly. Linda always went whole hog on something... until it just plain wore her out. "Done saving the world from my products?"
"Yeah. That's enough for today." She sighed. "Sorry about that. Ollie just... he makes it sound so urgent. As if we're all going to burn to cinders because I like using Glade."
Lois shrugged. "They don't call him the Green Arrow for...
"...nothing."
"Huh?"
Lois turned to Linda, her eyes focusing again. There was a zinnea bush in her face. "Uh... nothing," she hissed. "Meaning we should keep quiet."
"Are you okay?"
No. "Yes." Lois stepped toward the sidewalk again, still keeping out of the light. These flashes... They seemed to creep up since the whole crew had come to town. They didn't always hurt, not physically. Sometimes, they just left her with this inexplicable anger. As if there was some big, cosmic joke and she was just out of the loop.
"So you think this Lizzie is behind the whole thing?"
She turned back to her cousin. "With a little help from her supposed niece, yes. It makes some sort of twisted sense. You have one hiding out with the couples and one getting out there, wooing them, even. Engendering trust." In a small way, it comforted her. Completely ruthless people wouldn't care about trust. They would just take the couples and use them. She had no illusions about this Helen Bryce, however. Anyone who would cripple Clark, knowing what he was, was without scruples.
But Lizzie had to mean something by keeping up this act. Maybe the couples were safe, at least physically. Despite the mysterious moves, there was no family out searching. Perhaps these people were on board in some way. She was a bit young to feel the lure of motherhood, but these women all craved it. It was used to lure them somehow. She remembered Mitzi's rather sad words about not having any children. That was a way to get to her. She remembered that day. The day her brakes were cut and the impromptu meet-up at her house. Mitzi had walked off with Marcy and Lizzie. She didn't think Lizzie would have had time to do it. She'd seen her come and go. But Helen... She could have done it easily. After what she'd done to Clark, she wouldn't put it past her. Helen was the wild card, here.
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