Second Chances: Superman and Lois

Chapter 25

"Sam, what's the emergency?" Superman asked his father-in-law as he entered the DOD to find everyone on defcon one.

"Earlier this morning I got a phone call from Stryker's Island." Sam said and Superman's blood ran cold.

"I'm really hoping you're not going to say what I think you're about to say." Superman said.

"So do I, but we both knew this would happen sooner or later. He's out and he's in the wind. It happened early this morning." Sam said.

"Lex Luthor is free. How long do we have until that news hits the papers?" Clark asked.

"Until Lois finds out about this and I do not want her to find out about it until I've had time to put proper safety protocols in place, not just for her, but for everyone. Including setting up evacuation plans for Metropolis, since we both know that it's only a matter of time until you and Lex start fighting it out there and I want as few casualties there as possible." Sam said.

"Agreed. I'm gonna head to National City, since Lena Luthor needs to know that her brother's escaped if she doesn't already and so does Kara, since Lex likely hates her almost as much as he hates me, just because I don't think he could hate anyone as much as he hates me." Superman said.

"I know. I still can't believe there was a time that you and Lex were friends." Sam said.

"Yeah, I still wonder how I missed the signs." Superman said.

"Don't blame yourself, Lex was very good at hiding his true motives from everyone, even you. And I think that his intentions did start off good, but eventually, his paranoia turned into insanity and while you tried to help him, he just kept falling deeper and deeper into madness. You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped." Sam said.

"Tell me about it." Superman said.

"At least his sister isn't like him." Sam pointed out.

"I'm just glad that Kara's going to be keeping a close eye on her now. Just to be safe." Superman said.

"How close are we talking?" Sam asked.

"The kind of closeness that I shouldn't be telling you about without her permission." Superman said.

"Copy that." Sam said, clearly understanding the meaning of that, right as Sam's phone rang and he saw it was Lois.

"Lois, what is it?" Sam asked.

"Put Clark on the phone." Lois said and he could hear the emotion in her voice.

"What's going on?" Superman asked.

"You really need to start finding a way to keep your phone on you when you're Superman, because Kara's been trying to reach you for an hour. The boys and I are actually on our way to National City now and you'd better be there before we get there." Lois said.

"What's going on?" Superman asked again.

"Clark, Alex was shot at Kelly's campaign rally. She's currently in the hospital and they're still working on her." Lois said.

"I'll head out there now. I need to go to National City to talk to Kara about something anyways." Superman said.

"Why?" Lois asked.

"I'll tell you when I see you in National City. I don't want to risk being overheard." Superman said, since he and Sam were in agreement that Lois could not find out about Lex being on the loose until they'd had time to implement protocols they'd put in place and if Lois found out, her journalistic instincts would lead her to publish the news before they could properly prepare for it.

"Got it." Lois said, though Superman could tell she was frustrated as he hung up.

"You need to get those protocols in place asap Sam. Lois is going to know about Lex by the time I get to National City." Superman said.

"I know and we're going as fast as we can. I need at least another 24 hours to have Metropolis fully prepared for evacuation. See if you can keep Lois from revealing this until then." Sam said.

"I'll do my best, but you know I can't make any promises. But now I need to get going, since this is a family thing." Superman said.

"I'm aware. I heard what Lois said. Go. I'll start looking into who's going to run the DEO while Director Danvers is recovering." Sam said and Superman nodded as he headed out.

Superman was currently flying towards National City from Metropolis when suddenly, he felt something knock into him and all he saw was a flash of green metal before he crashed into the middle of the street in Metropolis and he felt the all too familiar sensation of kryptonite.

"Really, not even out of prison a whole day yet and you're already attacking me?" Superman asked, since he'd recognize that color scheme anywhere as his attacker landed to reveal it was the lexosuit and the helmet retracted to reveal Lex Luthor himself.

"What can I say, I'm eager to make up for all the time I lost after you threw me in prison." Lex said.

"I'd say you got off easy considering what you were doing before you were locked up." Superman said.

"All I ever did was try to defend humanity from the alien filth who forced their will on mankind." Lex said and Superman rolled his eyes.

"Get some new material will you. I don't have time for this right now." Superman said, really wishing that he had a kryptonite suit like the one he knew Lena had already built Kara.

"Well too bad. I suggest you find a way to make time." Lex said as he reactivated his helmet and fired a kryptonite blast at Superman, dodged, right before the two charged at each other, resuming their decade long dance right where they'd left off.