CHAPTER 9

Superman's deep voice lingered in the air as he left Lois standing in front of the Daily Planet. The crowd gathered beside her gradually turned their gaze toward her. Anger and disbelief covered their faces. Jimmy Olsen stood in between Lois and the encroaching crowd.

"You're the reason why he left us, isn't it?" Jimmy asked as he looked at the back of Lois's head.

"You already ruined a decade of my life…"

Lost in her thoughts, Lois didn't hear Jimmy's question or the shift in the crowd surrounding her. Their silence turned to anger as they swiftly rushed toward her. The crowd pushed past Jimmy as Lois kept her gaze at the spot where Superman once stood.

"Snap the fuck out of it Lois…." Lois heard Bruce's voice shout above her.

From overhead, a cloud of smoke dispersed into the air. Chaos spread throughout the crowd as Batman whisked Lois into the air.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lois hissed as she wiggled in Batman's arms.

"Saving your ass from the mob…" Batman growled. "Some gratitude would be nice…"

"I didn't need saving," she replied. "He was going to come back for me…"

Batman looked down at Lois in his arms in disbelief as he cut her off with a laugh. How could he not? She was delusional.

"What's so funny Bruce?" she asked. "He would have come back… He always comes back for me, he needs me…"

"Did you miss the part where Clark said you ruined his life?"

"I did no such thing," Lois blurted back. "I made him…"

"Miserable…" Batman interjected.

Lois found herself speechless after Batman's words. They swung through the Metropolis skyline in silence until they reached her apartment. Landing on the rooftop, Batman lowed Lois to the ground. He turned to leave but stopped himself. Glancing over his shoulder he said.

"I'll have the papers sent over,"

Lois looked at him puzzled.

"What papers?"

Batman lowered his shoulders as he let out a sigh.

"It's over Lois," he replied. "Just accept it and move on…"

"Never!" she hissed.

Batman shook his head as he walked over the edge of the building.

"Then I truly feel sorry for the unhappy life you are about to lead,"

And with that, Batman jumped into the air and fell off the edge of the building. Lois shouted something back to Batman but he was gone. Alone on the roof, her phone rang. She quickly reached for it hoping it was Clark. Sadly, the phone read scoop. Lois took a few breaths before answering.

"Perry,"

"Lois…"

"What's the scoop?"

Perry sucked in a long deep breath.

"There is no scoop Lois," Perry replied.

"Then why did you call me on our scoop line?" she asked.

Again Perry took in a deep breath.

"I turned a blind eye to what you did with Superman," Perry answered. "It was wrong and I should have stopped it the moment I noticed you had become attached."

"Perry, don't do this…" Lois replied.

"The world was what he said Lois," Perry added. "And this newspaper has a reputation to uphold. The board believes you have compromised that reputation…"

"You can't do this to me!" she hissed.

"I can and I did," he replied.

"I built the damn Daily Planet!" she replied. "Me and my stories…"

"About a man you were sleeping with…"

"You knew I was and now… now you want to do something about it!?"

"Damn it, Lois!" Perry hissed. "My son died because Superman wasn't here!"

Lois was brought to silence.

"Everyone on the board lost someone because he left us," Perry added. "He left us because of you! Your fired Ms. Lane…"

The line went dead. Lois's phone slipped out of her fingers and crashed onto the ground.

Over the past decade, her life was perfect. She had everything she wanted. She had Superman all to herself and all his attention was finally hers and hers alone. He couldn't deny her. She had him wrapped around her little human fingers. A human who made a god chose her. She'd won. She balled her hands into fists as she remembered the look on Wonder Woman's face as Superman walked out of the Halls of Justice for the last time. The demigoddess was in tears.

"Kal…" she muttered.

Superman stopped. He looked over at her. Longing for his precious Wonder Woman yet he still chose to be with a human.

"Come Clark…" Lois said with a smirk on her face. "Let's go home…"

She remembered every second as the doors closed behind them. Diana had lost and that was all that mattered.

"Ahh seems like you've finally gotten your comeuppance, Lois,"

Lois heard Lex's familiar voice behind her.

"What do you want, Lex?" she asked as she looked up at one of Lex's drones in front of her.

"I was hoping to kill you and break your beloved Superman but it seems I've been attacking the wrong person all these years," Lex answered. "Must suck knowing that he's never stopped loving the Amazonian."

"He loves me," Lois replied in defiance.

Lex's drone swirled around Lois as he chuckled at her.

"He left with her," Lex continued. "I hate to break it to you but your alien lover has moved on to better things."

"He's just confused," Lois hissed. "He'll be back. He always comes back…"

Lex's drone drew nearer to Lois's face.

"I highly doubt it," he replied. "But I didn't come just to gloat. I've come with a new job opportunity."

"I already have a job," Lois replied.

"Again…"

An image of the local Metropolis news projected outward from the drone. FAMED REPORTER OF THE DAILY PLANET HAS BEEN FIRED. NEWS BROKE AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT…

Lois frowned her face.

"As I was saying, I have a job opportunity for you at my news organization," Lex said.

"You're an anti-superhero news organization and a conspiracy cesspool," Lois replied. "Why would I work for you?"

"Because no new organization will hire your old ass," Lex replied coldly. "You ruined Superman's life, you know the world's most believed superhero. No one is going to touch you with a ten-foot pole, my dear. Me, on the other hand, see an opportunity for mutual understanding."

"How so?"

"I give you a job and you get to ruin Superman's life for me," Lex answered. "Until I can finally can…"

Lex made a cutting sound. Lois didn't respond.

"Why don't you sleep on it, Lois," Lex said. "I have been waiting for years to be rid of Superman, waiting a few more days won't kill me. You know how to find me, Ms. Lane. Until then…"

In the blink of an eye, Lex's drone vanished.

PING…

As Lois turned her gaze down to her broken phone she was the headline.

WONDER WOMAN IS EXPECTED TO MAKE A COMPLETE RECOVERY.

Picking it up off the ground, she looked at the shattered screen. Below the headline was an image of Superman beside Wonder Woman's bedside.

Meanwhile on the Watchtower

I could barely think straight as the pain from the blast had surged through my body. Remateralizing on the Watchtower aggravated my wounds beyond measure. The world around me was slipping in and out of focus.

"Do your worst…"

Superman's worlds lingered in my mind as the image of Lois's haunting eyes stared back at me. They laughed at me as the lights overhear blinded me. I was between worlds, the living and the dead.

"I've got you…"

Superman's voice blended with the sound of his heartbeat. It seemed like it was the only thing keeping Lois's eyes at bay. It was shaken yet still firm. A part of me laughed inside at that thought. Was this the end? I'd gotten everything I'd wanted, only for it to be taken from me as soon as it had come. My gods were cruel. What an end…

Blackness surrounded me as the sound of Superman's beating heart stopped. A cold shiver ran up my spine.

I screamed yet no sound came out. I heard J'onzz's voice.

"We've got you…" he said. "You need to leave Kal…"

"Please don't make me leave J'onzz," Superman pleaded. "I need…"

"... I'll… be… fine…" I muttered softly.

….Flatline….

"Diana… Diana!"

"Kal let me…"

"I can't lose her…"

Pressure

Electricity

Warmth…

Beep… Beep…

"What did you do Kal…"

Slowly, my eyes opened. Superman was atop me. There was a fire in his eyes, a golden fire. It oozed out of the corners of his eyes. He looked like Apollo himself above me. A smile spread across his face.

"Welcome back,"

"... your eyes, they're…" I muttered.

"Golden…" J'onzz interjected.