*shuffles feet* Okay, so we suck. We would have been here sooner, but the workload at both jobs has been much heavier this summer than it's ever been. We closed a district store two months ago and have had their customer flow and orders are MUCH stronger in my department than they were this time a year ago. It's been really rough.

And to be honest, the stress shoved me to another childhood-favorite fandom and I've been main-lining the epsiodes and fic like a fiend. *waves to Scarecrow and Mrs. King fandom* Nope, no plans to jump ship over there, but it was nice to spend some time with two characters who meant so much to me before I had ever met Clois. Geez, the chemistry! But I could never be 'good' enough to get in Amanda's head. Shocked to discover that as much as I adore Amanda, I'm more of a Lee! Don't ask me how that happened!

Also, for those that are still looking for the love scene, look in the fic index under 'Across the Universe Deleted Scene: An Eternity in an Hour'. It's separated from ATU so that those that prefer their fic without overt graphicness (which I know is not a word) can read it as they wish and those who do can get it. ;) It worked out well with LS, although we likely should have done that with Heart and Soul. XD.

So, yes. Welcome back. Fingers crossed that we don't blow the next deadline, but we're already planning the next. We're coming up to the really fun part. Enjoy!

Lana knew that anything she said would sound trite, so she simply put a hand on Lois' shoulder and gently squeezed. The younger woman turned to her, hazel eyes troubled, and Lana pulled her close for a hug. That whole facade of endless courage Lois had going on was overrated, anyway. She was just as worried as any of them, and more than most; trying to conceal it as anger toward her father wouldn't help in the end.

So Lana hugged her, and Pete rubbed her back, and the Kents held hands as they looked off in the direction Kal-El had gone. "He'll come back," Jonathan said finally.

Lois lifted her head and stared at him. "How can you be sure?"

His smile lines deepened as he answered. "Because every other stray critter Martha took in and nursed always showed up again. Usually on our back porch around suppertime."

That got the tension-breaking laugh he wanted, and Lois stepped away with a sigh. "I can't let him just run headfirst … but it isn't just me, I've got Connor too. And I can't have Connor in the thick of all this. He needs to be protected." She scowled, eyes stormy. "I'm nobody's damsel in distress. I ought to be with Kal-El. I've got the intel, I've got the skills, and I know my father. If it was anything else, anyone else, I'd just go. But it's Connor."

Lana found herself torn between Lois' obvious need to be doing something, and her own common sense. In what could soon become a battle for Earth's freedom, Lana really wanted to make sure Lois stayed far away from anything resembling a front line. She'd grown to care deeply for this fiery young woman, and her instinct was to shield her.

But there was no shielding Lois from anything. When Lois was curled up on the couch with a pint of ice cream making fun of sitcoms, Lana could forget that she was anything other than an ordinary teenage girl. Even when she got up to feed Connor, she seemed like a girl who was facing the consequences of her choices with fortitude and courage. A smart and funny young woman, someone she liked and respected, but fairly normal.

Then when they watched the news, and Lois snarled profanity at the image of Supreme Chancellor Zod, the reality of the situation splashed across Lana's awareness like icewater. Lois was a spy and a survivor, and her cherub-cheeked baby was the child of two worlds that just so happened to be at war. The stakes, for her, were extremely personal.

The terror was real, too. Lana saw through the snide and rather graphic remarks on Zod's parentage and hobbies, for once not trying to curb Lois' language. Lois was scared of the man, with more insight than most of them, and her hatred was fueled by her fear. Not that she'd ever admit to being afraid. The closest she ever got was to mention, offhandedly, that she would've liked a front-row seat when he finally got what was coming to him, but there would probably be a lot of collateral damage.

"We'll work something out," Lana said at last. "Lois, I highly doubt anyone—even your father—expects you to just wait around until this is all over."

"If they did, we'd have something to say about it," Pete told her.

That seemed to mollify Lois a bit, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. "All right. At least you guys are on my side. So, what're we going to do now?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm going to see if anyone around here will tell me where the coffeepot is," Jonathan said. They had all been sitting in the kind of room that might've been rented out for conventions, and he rose to amble toward the door. That quickly turned into a group procession. General Lane had told them they'd be safe here, but he hadn't indicated that they had to stay in the same room. Or for how long. Sooner or later they were going to need sleep, and showers, and someplace to sit down and have a meal. Keeping them confined to one room just wasn't feasible, so there had to be some freedom of movement expected. And since the armories were where the Guard met and drilled as well as where the weapons were stored, there had to be more livable space than what they'd seen so far.

The hallway outside appeared empty, but Lana could hear voices coming from the direction they'd originally come in from. She turned that way, planning to ask the first guardsman she saw where they could get something to drink.

As it turned out, the man on duty had more pressing concerns. As Lana—and the rest of the group, who had followed her—got close to the end of the corridor, she could hear the same young guardsman who'd greeted them when they all arrived with General Lane. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but this facility is currently not open to the public. You'll have to contact the security officer tomorrow morning." And then, disapprovingly, "Private Muñoz, escort them both back to the front gate."

"Sir, by your leave, I think…" the unfortunate private started to say, and Lana knew enough military culture to wince. Allowing visitors to a facility that was supposed be on high alert was a grievous mistake, but she didn't particularly want to overhear the dressing-down that Muñoz was going to get.

Then a new voice cut in. The woman wasn't shouting, but her voice rang with defiance and was pitched to carry, so every crisply-enunciated syllable was utterly clear to the group in the hallway. "Sergeant Rutledge, I do not intend to leave until I speak with my husband, so I suggest you contact him. Now."

At those words, Lois went white and froze. Her voice, normally so brash, went up far enough to squeak when she said in utter disbelief, "Momma?!"

"Lois?!" came the reply, echoed by a younger voice.

Lana had just enough presence of mind to take Connor from her before Lois dashed off toward the front. Pete cut her a bemused look. "I thought Mrs. Lane was in witness protection, or the army version of it?"

"Not anymore, apparently," Martha said dryly.

…

Lois hadn't even felt this helpless the day Kal-El had made her board the ship home, Lana's arms being the one thing keeping her tethered for the moment. Her mind was there for the discussion, but her heart was also dividing her mind in other directions. In so short a time, she wasn't sure how she and Kal-El had managed so many staunch allies, friends, family, but she had never been so grateful for it as she was now.

From the moment her father had actually set his eyes on him, the ante had upped impossibly. In light of the fight that was looming, the General would use every advantage, she'd known that from the moment he'd arrived. These new-found powers were just an enormous bonus. The ultimate ace-in-the-hole. And he didn't give one whit how his daughter felt about the situation, a child involved or not.

In the end, there had been no arguing with Kal-El. Abilities that had only just cropped up, mostly untested, some knowledge of Zod's methodology and current plans, and he was willing to try to fight a war on mostly foreign turf. He was doing what he thought was right; he was fighting for his people, for her, for a son he had only discovered days before. She hadn't been able to make him stay and there was no way of knowing how deep her father would drag him into this plot.

Her son. What was she going to do in all of this, every cell in her body crying out for action in this mess, when the last thing in the world she could do was leave Connor? If the Supreme Chancellor had the slightest clue that Jor-El's son had actually survived the crash, was here on Earth, things would get complicated fast. Even faster, if he found out about the powers. God help everyone if that came out. The level of fear on that point was out of the stratosphere; none of them know for sure just how much of the radiation had caused Kal-El to manifest the abilities. Just how much would it take for another of their kind to develop them? The thought of Zod's army here on her planet turned her stomach. They had no clue of the array of things he might be able to do…

That brought her right back to her baby boy. What would his people do when they realized that there had been a child, a hybrid of both their kinds, born? A child that had been birthed of an actual womb and not a matrix? The outrage would likely be enough to start a war amongst the more conservative of both their peoples, she knew. The danger for her child grew by the moment and she knew it.

Which was why she couldn't just sit here and do nothing. Sense dictated that she just stay hunkered down, in hiding and doing everything she could to make sure that no one remembered that they both existed, but she couldn't do that. She needed to do everything she could to make sure he was safe. That no one would be able to take him, them, from her. From the moment she had made the decision to love Kal-El, it had been a silent resolution to fight whatever came at them to fracture that. And she couldn't not do that. Not with the future that stormed toward her.

All of that and, in the end, at this moment, all she could do was second Jonathan on the coffee. If anything at all could make any of this bearable for a few minutes, it would be caffeine … and food. With Connor still feeding, she had to make sure she had enough for both of them. There had been too much going on for her to be stir-crazy yet, but if they checked it out together, she'd know what she was up against later. Constantly knowing the lay of the land and where all the exits were was starting to be all-too-important in this life she found herself in now.

So focused was she in making sure to make a mental map as they explored that she didn't notice the conversation that was happening up ahead of them. Trying to remember exactly how many gates they had been brought through. How many guards stationed at each gate. It wasn't until a woman's voice spoke up that she startled and glanced up, frowning. She knew that voice, but it had to be in her head. A reaction to the sheer level of stress she was under, needing to hear something grounding. Something that soothed and comforted her. It was only when it raised, the voice stronger to her ears, that hope flared in her heart. There was no way, was there? But she couldn't stop herself from calling, "Momma?!"

Hearing her name called back, in much the same relieved and tentatively-hopeful tone, Lois couldn't nail down the exact emotions that she was feeling when the reality of her mother's presence struck her. Only that she had to see her; so many months, being so far away when she had known Ella's health was not always the best. Her mother. Her mother was here.

There was an instant when only the frustrated, frightened seventeen-year-old came to the forefront, wanting nothing more than to run to her mother. That would make everything right. That would fix everything. Momma had a way of always making everything all right again. Only Lana catching her shoulder stopped her, reaching out to take Connor from her before she could rush off. And the reality of it all settled on her again. Lois nodded fiercely before she turned and took off toward the sound of that much-loved voice.

Connor. Momma didn't know about Connor. Didn't know about Kal-El, either. Her father never was one to share any details about cases he was working on. Which was what she was now, a case. Even as she ran, it struck her that her mother likely didn't know a lot of things about the last year. Now she was going to be up to her to have to tell it.

But, somehow, somehow she knew everything would be all right.

…

Elinore Lane had put up with a great deal of nonsense in the process of making her way here, but she was an Army wife and knew all the tricks. There were ways to get information, if you really wanted to know—and if you knew which highly-ranked officials were liable to let things slip to their wives. She had spent the last two decades networking, and called in as many favors as she needed to.

No one knew where Lois was, but Ella got a solid lead on Sam. And he owed her an explanation. So she found herself, Lucy in tow, at the Kansas Army National Guard armory. It looked quite ordinary, except for the tripled guard. No matter. Ella could talk her way in, and once she got hold of her husband, even his legendary stubbornness wouldn't stop her.

And then, just as she was speaking to the sergeant who seemed determined to prevent her from reaching her goal, she heard the one voice she wasn't expecting. "Lois?!" she called, and Lucy at her side echoed her. A moment later her brave, beautiful, impossible oldest came pelting around the corner, and Ella rushed to embrace her. Lucy shrieked delight and jumped at her sister, a cacophony of "I missed you!" and "Where'd you come from?" and "I love you!" tumbling out of her mouth.

Ella herself had no words. A choked sob as she squeezed Lois to her, the scent of Lois' hair filling her nose. This little girl of hers, always so tough, and yet so tender if you knew the heart of her—she'd worried more for Lois in the last year than she'd ever worried about anything in her life. Not even the time they'd been stationed in Beirut and actually under fire could compare.

Lois was just as incoherently overjoyed, and for a few moments nothing else mattered. "I love you, baby girl, I love you," Ella finally managed to say, still unwilling to step back from the hug that had been too long denied.

…

Kal-El had never imagined that the Rebellion spy would be his aunt. She'd kept firmly out of politics despite Zor-El's vehemence, and after his death she'd become very subdued. He felt a pang of regret at not keeping in better touch; he'd been too wrapped up in helping the Resistance. "Yes, Aunt Alura, I am alive. Forgive me, please. I have been…"

General Lane gripped his shoulder abruptly. The man might've tugged him backward, but Kal-El's strength prevented that, and as he turned he saw a brief expression of surprise before the general returned to his typical fierce scowl. "How do you know this person?"

They'd been speaking Kryptonese, and of course that would spook him. "This is my aunt, Alura Zor-El. General, this means our informant is on our side…"

Again, he didn't get to finish his sentence. "Not necessarily. And even so, given your people's superior technology, how do we know this is actually your aunt?"

"He has a point," Alura said in unaccented English. "Kal-El, do you remember the dinner at which Kara asked you what it was like to have a human in your home?"

He did, faintly. That said dinner had occurred before he'd realized he was falling in love with Lois—and before Zor-El's death—made his chest ache with something like nostalgia. Life had been less complicated then.

No, it had been just as complicated. He just hadn't known it yet. "I remember, Aunt."

Alura sighed. "Kara expressed her father's view that humans are a primitive people, and doubted we could learn from them. Your reply was the reminder that a fresh perspective is always informative. I seem to recall you praised your Lois highly enough to cause my late husband to make a sarcastic remark…"

Memory clicked into place. "I called her a sophisticated human, and he said it was a contradiction in terms."

"Whereupon you turned Zor-El's beloved argument of practical versus theoretical knowledge on him." She smiled, equal parts fondness and sorrow. "I dare not say it to anyone else, but I miss him, Kal-El. I miss him terribly."

"I am sorry, Aunt Alura. I miss him, too."

"It was not your fault. It was his own—and I hope his actions had some positive effect overall on our efforts. Speaking of which, I do have information for General Lane."

The general sighed. "All right. I've seen too many families reunited to disbelieve you both. I hope you can forgive my caution, … Alura." The name sounded unfamiliar on his tongue, and technically, he shouldn't have addressed her by her given name alone. Kal-El was less concerned by the lapse than by the circumstances that he led his aunt to turn informant—from inside the capital.

"There is much I wish to know as well," he said, "but please, the General needs your help more. And the journalist trapped in the facility needs to be freed, if you can."

"I overrode the doors as soon as I saw you," Alura told him. "The man is now in the custody of the General's soldiers. Please tender my apologies to him—I needed your attention swiftly. And of course, General, I forgive you for being wiser in matters of military intelligence than either of us."

She took a deep breath then, and Kal-El saw something he'd never expected to. Alura was deeply frightened, even more so than the night his uncle had died. "Your father—it must have been him—successfully crippled our fleet to prevent pursuit of your ship. But there is one ship that will be ready to fly any day now."

Kal-El frowned, wondering what difference a single ship could make. General Lane was a step ahead of him, it seemed. "Which ship is it?" he asked sharply.

"The Lance of Flame," Alura replied. Kal-El felt his stomach drop suddenly; he knew that ship, and who commanded it. For General Lane, Alura continued, "The Supreme Chancellor's flagship. It has never flown without him. Kal-El, General Lane … Dru-Zod is coming to Earth."