More Young Justice Trash

Close Quarters (Part Five)

-Writing this w/ a cold. Important info at end.-

Superboy was intrigued: those doors were moving like the ones at the mountain! When he entered, it was like walking into a large pod. He knocked against the wall and gaped in awe at the buttons: glowing. He pressed the other buttons, almost forgetting about Superman with the excitement of the little buttons lighting up under his fingers.

He hardly noticed when the doors closed. But as soon as they snapped shut, Superboy knew he was in trouble. Was this a trap? What was happening? the pod began to whirr, and he felt a drop in his stomach. He jumped at the doors, about to tear them open, when there was a ding, and the doors opened themselves.

A bustling blur of furniture and movement and noise met him on the other side. What happened to superman and his friend? Where was the door? It was like opening a window to another dimension. Panicking, he hid with his back against the wall, desperately smacking the buttons.

The doors finally began to close again. Superboy sunk to the floor of the capsule, wishing the big buzzing pod would take him back to Superman's friend.

There was another chime, making him jump to his feet with anticipation. However, when the doors opened, he was not returned to the atrium area. In fact, the noisy, bustling, world that met him looked just like the previous one. Heart racing, he was about to jiggle the buttons again, when a voice pierced through the deafening buzz.

"Hey Kent! I think Lois was looking for you yesterday," He looked across the busy room and zeroed in on a blonde person, dressed in what looked like very uncomfortable and very clean clothes. "Did she stop by already?" Superboy looked around him, even stepping out of the capsule and into the noisy room, there was no one else around him. He pointed to himself unsurely. "Yes you. What's wrong with you lately?" She stood from her desk, and turned to face him. She raised both eyebrows and hesitated. "...Clark?"

There was a ding, and Superboy turned to seen identical pair of sliding doors open to another pod.

"Stop-- hi, Cat." Superman said, pausing in his tirade out of the pod. "This is all a misunderstanding." He made a grab for Superboy's hand, which he quickly drew back. Not quickly enough though, as a fist of steel closed around it. ow! He tugged helplessly, only to realize his other arm was similarly incumbered by the --significantly less tense-- Ms. Lois.

"Cat, this is Clark's brother."

"He's just leaving." Superman tugged his arm.

"Actually, you were going to show him around the office." Ms. Lois tugged his other arm. "Right Clark?"

"Well--"

"Let's start down here." Inexplicably, Ms. Lois won the tug-o-war against superman, pulling him down the aisle of small boxy office spaces, opening the door to somewhere labeled 'rec room'. "You first, young mister."

It's not like he had a choice, as Superman's iron grip grabbed him from behind, shoving him inside. "Fast thinking, Lo. We'll-- uh, we need somewhere to put him."

"We don't need to hide him." Lois protested. "You can sit with me. Right?" She asked the clone, who just stood there, seemingly not comprehending their words.

"This isn't the place for him, he needs to be somewhere out of sight." He insisted. "Out of the way, I mean. Having him in the city is bad enough, in a busy office building..."

"He can sit with me; I'm taking him off your hands for the day." Lois snapped. "Just work, relax, don't worry about him. It's my responsibility today."