Second Chances: Superman and Lois

Chapter 16

Superman was currently at the Fortress of Solitude, having his father's AI run tests on the pendant Lucy had taken from Ally, hoping to get some answers about what exactly it was and what made it so dangerous.

"Well?" Superman asked as his father continued running tests.

"I don't know what to tell you, Kal. I've never seen anything like this before. All I can tell you is that this pendant is old. Older than perhaps even the universe itself. And it's powerful, though I cannot determine what its purpose is." Jor-El said and Clark sighed.

"So what you're saying is that you have no idea what this thing is?" Clark asked.

"I'm sorry my son, but this is something that was never known to Krypton." Jor-El said.

"I need more answers. Someone very close to me lost someone to this thing. I need to know what I'm dealing with." Clark said.

"And if I had any idea of what it was, I would tell you. However, there is nothing in any of the Fortress's archives pertaining to this artifact." Jor-El said and Clark sighed.

"Do you have any ideas of what would happen if I destroyed it?" Clark asked.

"No and right now I do not believe it is worth the risk. Like I said, this artifact is powerful, there is some kind of energy within it and there's no way of knowing how that energy would react if you destroyed it." Jor-El said.

"Can you continue running scans and tests on it if I lock it up with the rest of the artifacts I keep here?" Clark asked.

"Of course. I'll be sure to let you know if I discover anything else." Jor-El said and Clark nodded as he moved to take the pendant to the most secure vault in the fortress, where he kept the worst weapons he'd ever taken from his enemies. Which meant that the vault had a whole section of it devoted to the weapons he'd taken from Lex Luthor.

"Well?" Sam asked when Superman returned to the DOD.

"Whatever that pendant is, my father couldn't id it. I have it locked up in the most secure vault I have at the Fortress so he can keep running tests on it. The only things he could confirm immediately were that it was old and powerful and as we know from Lucy's story, it's very dangerous." Superman said.

"That's why I agree that it's best that you keep it at your fortress, since no one in this division knows where it is." Sam said, since the Fortress's location was a heavily guarded secret.

"Yeah, but in the meantime, I think there is someone who can give us more answers. Ally." Clark said.

"You really think she's going to tell us?" Sam asked.

"I think she doesn't have a choice, since don't you now have cause to arrest her, since Lucy can testify that Ally killed someone in front of her and then sent people to kill her. The thugs at your cabin are proof of that." Clark said and Sam grinned.

"And here I thought Lois was the only one with brains in your marriage. Looks like Ally Allston's luck has just run out." Sam said with a grin as he went to call in his team to bring Ally and her people in.

"Dad, what's going on?" Lucy asked, surprised that her father called her back to the DOD later on that day.

"I want to show you something." Sam said as he led Lucy to the interrogation room.

"You have Ally." Lucy said in shock at seeing her former role model sitting in that interrogation room in handcuffs.

"We brought her in an hour ago." Sam said.

"How?" Lucy asked, wondering how they were going to justify having Ally in custody.

"With your testimony. You saw Ally kill a woman and the unconscious men we found at the cabin prove that she sent them after you, especially since we found proof Ally sent them." Sam said.

"I don't know dad, this all seems too easy. How do you know this isn't some kind of trap?" Lucy asked.

"Because I told her that the pendant you stole is beyond her reach. Her only request was to speak to you, since I think she knows that there's no way she's getting out of this. Especially since I froze her assets." Sam said, looking particularly proud of that.

"She wants to talk to me?" Lucy asked.

"You don't have to say anything to her, Luce. She's in no position to make demands." Sam said.

"No, I want to talk to her. I've got a few things on my mind I need to tell her. But before I go in there, I need you to hold on to this." Lucy said as she removed her gun from her side holster and handed it to her dad.

"And the one around your ankle." Sam said, since he'd taught Lucy to never just rely on having one weapon on her person.

"Thank you." Lucy said as she removed the gun from her ankle holster and handed it to her dad.

"Now the only issue is that I might strangle Ally to death. Not that that would be a bad thing." Lucy said, thinking that the world would be better off without Ally Allston in it.

"Lucy, I don't want to have to put you in a prison cell, since killing Ally in a government building would be too hard to cover up." Sam said.

"Fine." Lucy said as she took a deep breath before heading into the interrogation room.