Timelines & Bylines: Four People The Doctor & Lois Met & One That Never Happened
Summary: When you know Lois Lane or the Doctor, one can only imagine what people they meet.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. DC, Warner Brothers, the estates or what not of Siegel and Shuster, the CW, and the BBC own everything. Doesn't it suck?
Spoiler Warning: Oh my god, YES. SPOILERS. For the end of Series/Season 4 of Doctor Who. Totally. Run away if you don't want to know. In fact, expect spoilers at any time from all of the Tenth Doctor's run. It's easier that way. Spoilers for Season 5 of Smallville.
Notes: Another batch of five random scenes, taking place during Smallville's sixth season, except for number Three which is season three. Some are short and some aren't.
Notes Take Two: I was doing some clean up and realized that I apparently never posted this. Huh. Go figure. So... here.

***ONE***

"You really didn't have to go to all this trouble, Mrs. Kent." Lois said as she stepped out of her boss's car with a mild stretch. Finally, she was home. Sure it was the Talon, but it beat being in the hospital. The world had apparently gone crazy as of late, and not just because of the worldwide blackout of Dark Thursday. Oh no, around the same time the areas that had been experiencing the phenomenon known as "ghosts" for a while turned out to be Cybermen. Oddly enough, Smallville had no sightings or appearances of the Cyberman or their ghosts. Lois had a feeling it had something to do with interference caused by all the meteor rock in town. She'd made a mental note to ask the Doctor about it as soon as she'd come up with that theory. And as she thought of him, she wondered if he'd had anything to do with either of the no doubt alien incidents.

"It's not a problem." Martha Kent replied with a smile as she joined Lois near the Talon entrance. Martha's voice caused Lois to return to reality and Martha held the door to the building open for her. "There is absolutely no reason I wouldn't help you get home."

Which was more than Lois could say about other people. She held on to the not quite bitter but slightly hurt thought that her own family didn't seem to have the desire to see her home. Not that she needed any hand holding; after all she was fully capable of taking care of herself. But it was rather telling when all she got was a phone call and some flowers from the General, nothing from Lucy, and one visit from Chloe. It astonished her that Clark of all people visited her more than Chloe, not to mention Mrs. Kent. For christ's sake, they'd almost died because that stupid plane crash and what did she have? The greatest mother figure in the world and Smallville. Martha, she didn't mind one bit. After all, Mrs. Kent was the ideal mother figure and Lois was grateful to have her in her life. But Clark? That was just odd. But they were friends, sort of, and he was everyone's favorite boy scout, so maybe it wasn't too unexpected.

The Talon was silent and dark when the women entered and it reminded Lois that the place was closed for some repairs from damage done due to Dark Thursday. "Still, I really do appreciate the lift, Mrs. Kent." She flipped one of the switches on to turn on the lights and she felt a desire to just lean against a wall and sigh in relief. No more hospital, no more- A startled gasp filled the coffee shop as Martha froze next to one of the tables. Confused and wary Lois joined her, her eyes narrowed. What was wrong? Something had spooked the senator and-

Sitting on the steps that led to the apartment above was the Doctor. He looked up at them and stood up with one of his manic grins. "Oh! Hello. I was wondering when you'd get here."

Lois shook her head and walked over to him, fully intent on jabbing him in the arm, but before she could he'd already grabbed her in a bear hug that lifted her off the floor and she could only return it as he laughed. "Breathing is an issue," she managed to get out and he set her back down with chuckle. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Couldn't visit me in the hospital?"

He made a face at her, "Hospitals and I are not exactly on the best of terms. Running, screaming, Judoon on the moon. Don't want to tempt fate any, do we?"

Lois heard a Mrs. Kent clear her throat in what was probably the most polite way she'd ever heard. Lois grinned and grabbed the Doctor's arm, leading him to the senator. "Sorry about that. Mrs. Kent, this is the Doctor. Doctor, this is Martha Kent."

Martha arched an eyebrow at the man as he suddenly looked almost apprehensive at the introduction. Though she had no idea what he'd been talking about with Lois, the familiar way they spoke had her guessing that this was the friend Lois had been telling her about since Christmas. Still, how had he gotten inside? The place was locked up. "Do you make a habit of entering locked buildings, Doctor…?" She trailed off, waiting for him to answer or offer a name.

"It's just the Doctor." The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish expression. He glanced at Lois who had her arms crossed a smirk on her face. She obviously wasn't going to help him with this. Wonderful. Was there any answer that might avoid him getting slapped by yet another mother figure? "And… well.. locks don't tend to be a problem with me."

Martha 'hmmed' but didn't say any more on it. "I see. Then come on. You can carry Lois's bag and I'll get us something to drink. What would you like?"

The Doctor blinked in surprise even as he found himself picking up the bag in question. "Tea would be brilliant."

After that, the three had spent over an hour chatting away in the apartment over tea, coffee, and some of Martha Kent's apple pie that she had made for Lois's homecoming. After Martha had left, Lois found herself alone with a very confused Time Lord. She settled onto the couch and waved a hand toward him. "What's wrong with you?"

He was staring at the door in utter shock. What had happened? "She…"

"What?" Lois asked with a frown. "She what? What did Mrs. Kent do?"

"It's what she didn't do." He said in disbelief. "She didn't slap me." Had he stepped into another reality without realizing it? Had he- his thoughts were interrupted by Lois laughing at his plight. "It's not funny!"

"Oh my god. That's what you're freaking about? That she didn't hit you?"

He bounded over to Lois and joined her on the couch. "But that's what mothers do. They end up slapping me. Every time! Without fail!" Lois opened her mouth, no doubt to argue about Mrs. Kent not being her mother but he ignored her attempt to do so. "And don't argue about how she's not your mother. She's close enough and I'm not going to listen to you try and deny that. So why didn't she slap me?"

Lois sighed and shrugged as she smacked the Doctor on the chest with a throw pillow. "Because she's Mrs. Kent. You just got approval from the title holder of World's Greatest Mom. Deal with it."

"But she didn't-"

"I swear to god, if you keep complaining, I'M going to slap you."

***TWO***

Lois tried to hold back the yawn that was currently fighting its way to the surface. How she had let Oliver Queen talk her into this gala she'd never know. She stole a glance at him as the handsome billionaire laughed at someone's joke. Who was he talking to again? Professor Wentworth and his wife Sophie? Sandy? Damn, she couldn't remember. The silver haired woman with pearls the size of Lois's eyes could be called Barbie for all she knew. She really needed to pay more attention to the people Ollie had been introducing to her, but it was so damn hard. They were all so fake and just plain boring. It didn't help that Oliver had practically abandoned her once that Professor had entered to room. With a sigh, Lois started to wander around the room, slipping past the upper-class clientele with a plastic smile of her own as she headed for everyone's item of interest. It was a large metal cylinder a dark shade of purple that stood at least eight feet tall and four feet wide with strange markings carved into the side. The carvings were hard to see until she got closer and she realized she could read them. That could only mean one thing and a smile grew on her lips.

"Noticed something interesting, did you?" The Doctor's tone held a touch of amusement as he joined her at the artifact. She noticed he was dressed in a black tuxedo and while he looked good he didn't seem to be too comfortable in it. She didn't even bother to check and see if his Chucks matched or not. They would of course and he wouldn't be wearing other type of shoes with anything.

"That depends on your idea of interesting." Lois replied as her gaze returned to the cylinder. "Does a mysterious metal object found on an archeological dig with alien writing seem interesting to you?"

The Doctor made a show of shaking his head, "Naah. Not at all. Now an Avalician Memorial Casket holding a member of the Avalician royal family, now that might be a bit interesting."

Lois read the carved writing with interest. "Empress Validarian Montrose Xian, may her reign last forever and may her wrath last longer. How ominous sounding." She looked down at her shoes, feeling slightly better that they weren't stilettos like she'd originally planned. She could run in these, albeit not as well as she'd like. Lois turned her attention to the Doctor only to find he was grinning at her. Naturally she couldn't help but return it. "Should I be looking for a place to hide?"

"Oh yes, definitely." Such an answer should have had people with common sense worrying for their lives at this point, but apparently the pair lacked that trait. "But only if you're looking to hide from some of the guests. The Empress here isn't going to be much of a problem considering that the locals don't actually have the ability to generate the power needed to revive the dead let alone open the casket. After tomorrow, well, it won't be much of a problem anymore."

Of course that would be when Oliver finally arrived to claim his date's attention again. "What won't be a problem?" He placed an arm around Lois's waist and gave the Doctor one of those looks that most men would see as trying to mark their territory.

The Doctor of course blissfully ignored the look and the question as he kept his attention on Lois. "Would you care join me later for a bit of catching up?" And running no doubt.

Lois ignored Oliver's silent attempt at claiming her as his property and nodded. "Considering the fact that you still owe me for what happened-"

"I said I was sorry." The Doctor replied with utter exasperation. "It wasn't exactly my fault that you fell into the pool now was it."

Lois snorted. "You pushed me."

The Doctor's jaw dropped. "I did not! I explained how that thermal blast of air startled me and I merely stumbled-"

"Pushed." Lois looked over at Oliver as the Doctor tried to defend himself. Ollie was struggling to decide if he was lost, entertained, or annoyed by the conversation around him. "Sorry about that. Oliver Queen, this is my friend Doctor John Smith." She ignored the curious look the Doctor flashed her at the pseudonym. "Doctor, this is Oliver Queen."

The Doctor offered his hand which Oliver accepted with a firm albeit wary shake. It didn't help that the Doctor was wearing the smile Lois recognized as him knowing something no one else did. "Pleasure to meet you, really it is."

"Likewise," Oliver replied and retrieved his hand. "So how do you know Lois?"

"Oh, we met back when she was working in a shop in London." The Doctor said in an offhand way. "Then we did some traveling together and we've been friends ever since." He flashed Lois a smirk that she knew was bad news for her. "She's a little hard to get rid of. How did the two of you meet?"

"She mistook me for a delivery boy and shut the door in my face." Oliver was grinning now and Lois looked mortified as the Doctor burst into laughter.

"She didn't!"

"Oh she did. Then she sent me a gift basket to try and make up for it."

Lois growled at them to keep Ollie from telling more of her very bad manners, "And if the two of you decide to start swapping stories about me I'm going to have to remind you that I'm a military brat and I know where to hide the bodies."

Of course that was when the lights began to flicker and a moment later they went out, causing the weaker willed guests to panic and shriek. The lights tried to spring back to life, but the only thing that seemed to remain on was the now glowing casket as it emitted a melodious humming sound as the now glowing metal slowly grew brighter with each moment.

"Oh that can't be good." Lois said as she felt Oliver pulling her away from the chamber. She saw the Doctor jump onto the platform the casket was on and whip out his sonic screwdriver. She hoped whatever he was doing would work and the next thing she knew she was being shoved away from Oliver's grip as panicked guests started running around like maniacs. She was shoved against a wall just as the lights finally gave up their struggle for life. She thought she heard her name called but with all the freaking out around her it was hard to tell.

The only illumination left in the immediate area was the purple glow and the familiar blue light of the Doctor's sonic. Lois rushed back over to the Doctor, pushing her way through the crowd that was were all fleeing the building out of fear of the glowing chamber. "What the hell is going on?"

"I'm so thick!" The Doctor snapped, more at himself than anyone else. "It's a stasis chamber not a casket!"

"What?!" Lois's eyes went wide. "How the hell could you make a mistake like that?"

"It's not actually that hard considering the fact they started using stasis chambers for caskets to preserve bodies."

"Like mummification for Egyptians but on a technological level." Lois guessed.

"Exactly, only none of that ripping the brain out through the nose… Humans really are barbaric when you really think about it."

"Not exactly the issue now, Doctor." Lois had a grip on his arm. "Can you stop it from opening?"

He was silent and Lois knew that was bad. "No... But we can lure the Empress away and get her to the TARDIS." He continued before she could ask what for, "Avalicians have minor ability of sensing space travel radiation. The kind we build around us when we travel on the TARDIS. It could calm her down and then we can safely get her out of here... or…"

"Or what?"

"Or she might just kill us and continue on her merry way. Empress Validarian wasn't exactly known for her sense of peace."

The chamber burst open, sending the pair tumbling to the ground and the sound of claw like talons hitting the floor was heard. Lois felt the Doctor pull her to her feet and without a word they started to run. There was shrill sound that Lois could only assume came from the Empress.

"Where the hell are we going?" She asked as she let the Doctor lead them away. She could hear the talons tapping on the floor as the Empress followed them.

"Just follow me!" The Doctor said just as he led her into a hallway that somehow still had emergency power. The lights were dim but at least they were alive. They ran toward a stairwell and no sooner had they reached the door, did the double doors leading to the ballroom get torn off their hinges. "We just need to lead her to the TARDIS."

The Empress was hot on their heels, her large feathered wings pulled inward so she could move within the too narrow corridors. She was chasing after them as the Doctor wanted but she was moving too fast. She'd be clawing their eyes out before they reached the ship. Without much thought, Lois ran toward the nearest fire alarm and pulled the lever. The alarm went off and the Empress let out a shriek, her delicate looking claw like hands covering her ears. She collapsed to her knees and Lois caught the Doctor's stunned yet somewhat exasperated. She shrugged in his direction and he let out a frustrated growl in return. "RUN!"

A moment later Lois was glad they did, because the Empress was now chasing them, though the ringing of the alarm seemed to slow her down some. Her talons dug into the walls as she leaped toward Lois, trying to crush her in a vice like grip. Luckily, Lois had dived out of the way and onto the floor, the wall being the bird woman's only victim as she crashed through it. Debris fell everywhere, sending dust and dry wall into the air as the room started to fall around the alien. Lois rushed to her feet just as the Doctor grabbed her by the arm, leading her away again.

"The TARDIS is this way." He said as they ran further down the corridor. They could hear the familiar shrillness of her Validarian's cry and they felt the floor rumble as she began the chase again, only this time it was accompanied by another sound, one that Lois was familiar with. She turned her head to look back and saw the Empress stumble and hit the floor, sliding to a stop a few feet away as her body twitched to an eerie stillness.

A crossbow bolt was embedded in her shoulder and Lois could feel the Doctor tense up. Out of the shadows stepped the Green Arrow, crossbow in hand. The Doctor eyes were dark and he held his sonic in front of him like a weapon. His free hand was in front of Lois, not for her protection but as a request to stay back.

"Don't move." The Doctor demanded, his voice low and he stalked closer to the archer. The Green arrow stopped in his tracks. The confidence was still in his posture but he made no effort to threaten the Doctor. "What did you do to her?"

"Tazer bolt. It's nonlethal." The hollow echo of his disguised voice did not put much comfort in anything. "If I'd wanted to kill it, I would have aimed for the head."

"You idiot!" Lois shouted at him, startling both men. "You don't know that, she's not even human you leather fetished moron. For all you know a weak surge of electricity could kill her!"

"I just saved your lives from it." The Green Arrow actually sounded shocked by her attitude.

"She is royalty not an 'it', and deserves far more respect than someone of your so called caliber could ever hope to comprehend." The Doctor sneered at the vigilante as he stepped closer to the prone form of the avian humanoid. "Now turn around and walk away."

"And what happens to her?" Green Arrow stepped forward slowly and gestured toward the Empress.

The Doctor didn't lower her gaze or his sonic. "I'll take care of her."

The hand holding the crossbow seemed almost itchy to be used. "And why should I trust you?"

"Because," He made a slight gesture toward Lois, "She does." The Time Lord's voice was quiet enough that he knew Lois wouldn't hear him but the man across from him would.

The Green Arrow stilled. Then he gave a curt nod and turned on his heel, walking away from them both. "I suggest you hurry. The police will be here soon."

Lois was a little confused by their exchange but didn't have time to think about it as the Doctor needed her help with carrying the Empress to the TARDIS which was stored away in an office at the end of the hall.

Luckily, a couple of trips later, both the Empress and her chamber were returned to Avalice and no one was permanently damaged. The Doctor seemed to be annoyingly proud at the fact that Lois had still defended the Empress despite being almost killed by her. It took Lois threatening to tell Martha Kent about the trouble he was getting her into to get him to stop grinning with pride at his influence. Apparently the fear of yet another mother slapping him was still a strong weapon to use against him.

***THREE***

Things were not going as well as Perry White had hoped. He knew there was something strange about that Kent kid, he just needed the proof. This time, he had a fool proof plan to prove he was right. He just needed a little incentive. He was on his way to the Talon for just that when he bumped into a man muttering to himself about the wrong date.

"Oh, sorry about that." The man said with a mirth filled voice and bounce in his step. He stopped when he got a closer look at Perry. "You look familiar, have we met?"

"I've never seen you before in my life."

It was as if a light bulb went off in the stranger's head and he beamed at Perry. "Aha! Perry White. Oh this is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." He grabbed Perry's hand and shook it vigorously. "Always wanted to meet you. Fantastic work, really. Well, not at the moment, but you'll get there again. Good luck with everything, really."

"Thanks, always good to meet a fan." Perry said dryly and managed to wrench his hand free of the delusional man. "You have me at a disadvantage."

"Oh, I'm the Doctor." He grinned again despite the attitude wafting off of the reporter. Or perhaps that was just the booze wafting off the man. It really was hard to tell at the moment.

"Doctor who?" Perry asked.

The Doctor sighed. "It never fails, they always ask that. There's no who, no what. It's just the Doctor." He shook his head. "Blimey, why do I even try? Anyway, brilliant meeting you, but I'm late. Or early. Three years too early actually." He reached out and pat Perry on the shoulder with a look of sympathy. "And don't take it too hard. Trust me; it works out in the end."

Perry stared in confusion as the 'Doctor' walked away from him after that cryptic comment. After a moment he followed him around the corner only to find the Doctor nowhere in sight. With a frown he headed back to the Talon, paying absolutely no attention to the blue Police Box fading from sight in the alley.

***FOUR***

Lois sighed as she snapped a few photos. It was a boring day with a boring story, which was how she wanted it at the moment. After her split from Oliver and that fiasco called Valentine's Day, which she didn't even remember and was choosing to see that as a good thing, she really needed something boring to put her back at ease… And after that she fully intended to call the Doctor for some action.

She was currently working on a piece about a Metropolis urban legend, involving a 'haunted' old factory that the owners refused to tear down. The owners were trying to get it to be a subject for one of those ghost hunting shows on television and managed to wrangle the Inquisitor to help them out. Not the greatest of stories, but Lois was pretty sure it was fake. She'd already conducted her interviews for the story and all she had to do was get some general photos, though her editor had 'encouraged' her to get suitably creepy and questionable ones. So far she had found nothing. She was getting ready to pack it in when she heard a scream.

Lois snapped to attention, putting her camera in a pocket, and ran down the filthy corridor, following the sound of the scream. There was a crash coming from a room nearby and the reporter pushed open a rusty steel door to investigate. The mostly empty room was in a debilitated state and a lone light shone from the ceiling. Lois could see a couple of turned over benches and rotted tables, but in the middle of the room there was a large hole in the floor and a pair of hands trying in vain to maintain their grip. Lois rushed over and grabbed one of the wrists as the person's hands slipped. "Hang on! I've got you!"

It took a bit of effort and struggle, but Lois managed to help the individual back out of the hole and onto the floor with her. Once Lois was sure they were good, she took a look at her rescuee. It was a young woman, probably around her age, with long blond hair and dressed in a pink hoodie and jeans. Something about her seemed familiar to Lois but she wasn't entirely sure why.

Lois got to her feet and offered her a hand. "Are you alright?"

The blond smiled gratefully at her and accepted the gesture. "Yeah, thanks." Her accent was thick but Lois recognized it as likely being British, London probably. Once on her feet she dusted herself off. "You just saved my life."

"It's a gift." Lois said with a smirk. "Saving one person at a time. What are you doing here anyway? I was told it was off limits."

The blond frowned at her, "I could ask you the same thing."

Lois ran a hand through her hair and couldn't hide the mild grimace that crept out. "Unfortunately I have permission to be here."

That had the blonde smiling again for some reason. "Not exactly your idea of fun?"

"Hell no." Lois scoffed and started for the door. "How'd you fall through the floor?"

The girl made a face as she walked with her, "I was trying to fix the light to see better and the floorboards gave way. So much for quality construction." Once in the hallway she tossed her hair over her shoulder as they walked. "I'm Rose."

"Lois." And it hit her right then. Rose as in Rose Tyler. Oh crap. Lois was probably risking a paradox or something now. But then again maybe not. After all, Rose could have fallen to her death if Lois hadn't been there. She may have to chalk this meeting up to that whole 'timey wimey' theory she'd been forced to hear from the Doctor. "Are you here find out about the so called haunting?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Rose said, a little too quickly, and Lois knew it was a lie. That probably meant there was something alien happening. "Can't get enough of that sort."

Lois stopped in her tracks with a frown. There was a strange shadow down the hall from them that Lois hadn't seen before. There hadn't been anything there when she'd run past there to reach Rose. Which made her wonder what was there now. "Rose?"

Rose had stopped too and was staring at the spot Lois was. "I see it."

The women both turned on their heels and shouted "Run!" as they did just that. If they'd look back they'd have seen a large blob-like form sprouting human arms and a white porcelain mask on what would be considered a face, coming out of the shadows and moving across the ceiling to chase after them. Its arms propelled it forward with enough speed that it was catching up to them.

"Elevator!" Lois shouted and they turned to the left and dove for the old elevator. Lois slammed the metal gate shut as Rose started pressing the buttons. The creature rushed toward them and slammed against the mesh gate causing the girls to jump back and against the opposite wall while creature continued to struggle with the gate.

Tempted to ask what is was, Lois instead focused on another escape. The elevator wasn't moving and it was probably best that way. She climbed onto the rail and pushed the old hatch on the ceiling open.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked her as her gaze darted between the creature and Lois.

"Improvising." She grunted in reply and climbed onto the roof of the lift. She held out her hand to Rose. "Come on!"

Without a look back, Rose mimicked Lois's actions, and climbed out of the lift with Lois's help. The pair headed for the emergency ladder and started climbing up to get to the floor above as the creature tried to smash through the elevator below. Luckily for them, the metal was stronger than the floorboards as they reached their destination before they heard the metal gate start to give.

Thankfully the gate to the new floor was open and the duo managed to climb onto the floor and slam the gate shut just as the gate below gave in to the creature's beating. Once again they started running down the corridor, looking for an escape route.

"Do you do this often?" Rose asked as they ran.

Lois had to grin as she recognized the rush of adrenaline she was positive they were both having. "Oh yeah. Can't get enough of it."

Rose's grin matched Lois's. "Me either." She risked a look back and saw that the creature was already right on their heels. Then she felt Lois grabbing her arm and pulling her down to the ground as the creature rushed right past them on the ceiling and into an open doorway. Thinking on her feet, Rose grabbed the open door and just as the creature spun around, she slammed it in the face with the steel door, sending it sprawling from the ceiling and right through the floorboards and into the floors below.

Lois and Rose exchanged a look and they both shrugged before resuming their search for a way out. Lois pointed down the hall, "If I remember right, there's a fire escape over there."

"Brilliant." Rose grinned and they rushed over to an old set of windows. They managed to force the windows open even though they creaked and scratched, trying to deny them their escape.

As they hurried down the rusty fire escape, there was a loud crash followed by yelling. Lois was pretty sure she heard two voices but wasn't positive and instead focused on getting them both on the ground. No sooner than they were safe on the solid pavement of the lot around the factory was there was a bright flash of light emanating from several of the windows of the building. The girls lifted their arms to keep from being blinded and a moment later it was gone, but it was followed by a shout of, "All clear!"

"ROSE!" The voice that called was filled with worry but that one word managed to hold a northern England sounding accent, at least by Lois's standards.

Rose rushed over to the nearest window and pushed it open. She stuck her head through and shouted out in reply. "I'm okay!" There were a few shouts of relief from inside and she looked over at Lois. "Thanks again. Do you-"

Lois shook her head. "I'm good. My car's over there." She gestured to the lone car in the lot. Still, to at least pretend she had no clue about Rose's situation she smiled back. "What about you?"

"I'm good," Rose replied, using Lois's own words while grinning madly. "Nice meeting you."

"Same here. I'll let you get back to... um, your friends I guess." Lois jogged over to her car but before she got in, she looked back to see Rose being greeted by a couple of men, one with a black leather jacket that she remembered seeing in the TARDIS wardrobe. Rose caught her looking and Lois gave her a slight mock salute before getting in her car. As she eventually pulled out of the lot, she could hear the familiar sound of the TARDIS leaving.

***FIVE***

Martha Jones had been wandering through the devastated city for a day now and had yet to see a living soul. With a sigh she readied herself to find a hideaway to spend the night as she was tired and ready to drop. But then she noticed a woman watching her from the entrance of a towering building that was still struggling to survive this new hell. The woman gestured for her to come over and went inside. With a frown, Martha got up and followed. She found herself in the lobby of what was once the Daily Planet. The woman waited at the stairs heading to the basement and Martha was able to get a look at her. She was young, no doubt around Martha's age or so with dark hair that was pulled into a ponytail. She wore a worn black military styled uniform and was strapped with weapons and other items of survival gear. "You're Martha Jones?"

Martha frowned and wondered what she wanted; heck she wondered how she had spotted her considering she was wearing her TARDIS key perception filter. "Why do you ask?"

The woman smiled, and strangely enough it almost reached her eyes. "About damn time. We've been expecting you." She led Martha into the basement where there were others dressed similar to her as well as thirty or so refugees. There were whispers and muttering as everyone realized they had a guest. "How about we trade you some supplies and refuge," before Martha could explain she had nothing to trade the woman continued, "for a really good story?"

And just like that, Martha suddenly felt at ease. Something about the woman was just natural and so human. She might have said that she just had a welcoming yet protective aura around her for everyone around them. Martha smiled. "I think I have just the story you need." She tilted her head at her, "Who are you?"

"Lois. Lois Lane." Lois smirked and the two joined the others. "Welcome to Metropolis."