AU In the year 2020, Luthor is taking over and Lois Lane is alone. There is no Superman. With the help of Kara and Jor-El, Lois goes back in time to enable Clark's superhero status and a corrected future. This means Lana Lang's influence must be removed. Inspired partially by "Apocalypse," Imzadi by Peter David, and the current stupidity while Lana is back. I miss Lois!

Time's Fire

"Time is the fire in which we burn." ~Delmore Schwartz

"Time is making fools of us again." ~J.K. Rowling

"Can't repeat the past? Why, of course you can!" ~Jay Gatsby

*****

Lois Lane was working late, yet again. It seemed like no matter how hard she worked to dig up dirt and try to make a difference; she just couldn't find enough hours in the day. Everyone else had already headed home, leaving the underground bunker through the various secret entrances and hoping that the squads of Enforcers weren't making their rounds. Lois wasn't the head of this operation, but since she always stayed late anyways she had gotten the added responsibility of locking the bunker for the night.

She perused the little information she actually had on this story. Only a mere matter of hours ago, Lex Luthor had managed to twist the US Constitution into making him some sort of dictator. Lois had contacted her sources in the government, the few who were still alive, but they were far too busy themselves to enlighten her on how this was actually possible. Everyone at the small resistance organization, which called themselves The Truth, had spent all day trying to find some legitimate facts about what had happened in the capital. They had had very little success. It seemed Luthor was getting better at blocking leaking information.

Lois mostly concentrated her time on the small newspaper the organization put out, Truth's Witness. It was dangerous work. Sources often didn't show or were found dead at places where the resistance workers were supposed to meet them. On worse days, some resistance workers didn't make it back to the bunker at all and were never seen again. Even if the sources did show and a story could be written, printing the newspaper took time and funding. Distributing the newspaper was a nightmare every week. They had to work quickly and quietly to spread their information.

Lois had been relatively lucky so far; she had only been arrested for suspicious behavior three times in the last two weeks. Prior to that, she had at least managed to keep all of her limbs, although she was missing her left pinky finger due to a particularly bad torture session. It only affected her typing speed, though.

Luthor's rise had been slow and methodical over the years. This had kept the populace unaware of what was really going on and had allowed Luthor to extensively expand his power. Lois had left the Daily Planet six years ago, fed up with how much Luthor was controlling the press and stifling her stories, in particular. She couldn't just sit back and watch him destroy the country without doing anything about it. She had found her current job with Truth's Witness by stumbling into some old co-workers who had convinced her to join once they had learned of her hatred for Luthor. She didn't regret the decision; she was just tired of living in the shadows all the time.

This life that she had now…there was something not right about it. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

She sighed and stirred the coffee that had turned cold and stale hours ago. There was nothing more she could do on this story tonight. This whole feeling of powerlessness was beginning to get to her more and more. She had found a gray hair while looking in her cracked bathroom mirror this morning and hadn't even bothered to pull it out. What was the point? There was no time to think about the future as she worked frantically to keep a handle on the present. Distant memories of the past were all she allowed herself to occasionally indulge in.

Lois thought about making some more calls to try and press for more information, but then the phantom pain kicked up again in her missing finger. This was usually the sign that she was nearing complete exhaustion and needed to head home. She looked reluctantly around the bunker. They had been making so little headway lately. She had long given up her idealistic dreams that some mysterious hero would streak down from the sky and right all the wrongs in the world. It just wasn't possible.

She shut down her ancient excuse for a computer and packed up her papers and files. She locked the files in the cabinet along the wall and made sure that nothing on her drab desk could connect her to this place. She grabbed her set of the bunker keys and moved around the perimeter, locking the entrances. Once they were all locked she went to the entrance that led to the bar. This would be the only way in for the next morning. The green light was glowing, indicating that it was safe to use. She ran a hand through her hair, adjusted her purse, and began to climb the ladder.

The hatch at the top of the ladder opened on the floor of a storeroom in the back of the bar. She closed the hatch behind her and pushed a tall column of heavy boxes over the hatch to further hide it from view. She picked her way through the storeroom to the door. After checking through the eyehole to make sure the coast was clear, she pushed open the door and closed it quickly behind her. It locked automatically.

Even though her "finger" was throbbing, she decided she needed a drink after the day she had just had. Few in the bar would actually know the full extent of what had happened in the government. She wanted to pretend that she was blissfully unaware of the full awfulness of the world. She wished she only had to worry about making money and staying safe. Those who could still only worry about those things were far luckier than she was.

Lois saw a couple of her colleagues in the bar, but it was policy not to interact outside of work. If someone were watching one of them it would lead to more trouble for the whole organization if the Enforcers could draw connections between people. She took a stool at the end of the bar, wondering if she could hold herself to only get one drink before heading home. She checked her watch and swore silently. It was already last call with the new curfews imposed on the city. Lois hated curfews.

"What will ya have?" the bartender asked. He was fully cooperative with The Truth, although secretly, of course.

"Whiskey sour," Lois replied glumly. Why was it that now all she wanted to do was sit here and drink herself into oblivion?

"Lois Lane?" a woman's voice said behind her.

She tensed, dreading the identity of whoever it was. She was in no position to run from the Enforcers right now. Her mind raced, trying to think of possible escape routes from the bar. She didn't have many choices. She turned around slowly, her heart racing.

"Holy frak! Kara?" Lois whispered when she finally recognized the woman in front of her. She hadn't seen her in what felt like a decade. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you had been disappeared years ago!"

Kara looked furtively around, obviously uncomfortable, before taking the stool next to Lois. "No, I'm fine. I've been away for some time, doing my own work abroad."

Lois narrowed her eyes. Something seemed off about Kara. She wondered if Kara was up to something. Luthor had been fond of her in the past. "Oh really?"

Kara must have noticed the coldness in her tone. "Yes. I just came back to look for Kal—Clark and I found…this. I went to the Fortress and tried to talk to Jor-El, but he only told me to find you. This is terribly wrong, Lois. What happened?"

Lois had no idea what the fortress or this el person was that Kara was talking about. Her mind was still caught on the name that she hadn't allowed herself to say out loud for years. Clark Kent was someone she tried to forget every single day of her life. "This is the result of Lex Luthor's presidency. His regime has taken over the whole country and is working on the rest of the world. You really have been gone a long time. A lot has changed…everything has changed." Her voice took on a hollow tone as she struggled to tell Kara. "I haven't heard from Martha Kent in at least…a decade now. I want to believe she's still alive somewhere. Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow both vanished about eight years ago. Oliver's body was found in a lake nine months later. Chloe died six years ago under torture by the Enforcers. I was sent the video that showed the whole thing. Jimmy disappeared three years ago. I have no idea what happened to him."

Kara looked sick. "What about Clark?"

Lois got her drink and swallowed it in one gulp. "Clark and Lana originally were trying to stop Lex, but that was years and years ago. I haven't heard from Lana in at least ten years. Clark…the last time I saw him was nine years, seven months, and two days ago. I wanted to believe he's alive somewhere, too, but I don't think I can anymore."

"How are you?" Kara said with worry.

Lois shrugged. That was something she didn't try and think about. "Alive. That's better than a lot of people."

Kara looked around while Lois paid for her drink. "I think we need to leave," Kara said. Lois followed her gaze outside the window, where a group of men was approaching the bar.

"Ohhhh, hell no! Enforcers!" Lois breathed. "Follow me, there's a back entrance."

Lois and Kara scrambled to the hallway that led to the restrooms and the storeroom. It didn't seem like many other people had noticed the Enforcers approaching, but Lois could only take time to save herself and the clueless Kara. At the end of the hallway was another door that led to the back alley. She jimmied the handle open and they burst into the outdoors.

She swore again when she noticed another pack of men entering the entrance to the alley. Kara still looked completely confused. "Follow me!" Lois barked and she ran to the fire escape on a nearby building.

They ran up the stairs, the noise of their climbing covered by the wail of sirens throughout the city and the announcements telling the civilians that curfew was in effect. The Enforcers were moving slowly and methodically, with small groups entering buildings while the rest fanned out across the alley. Lois prayed they hadn't discovered the location of the bunker. The Truth had already had to relocate five times in the past three months.

The two women had almost reached the top of the fire escape when a stream of people started coming out of the bar exit. The Enforcers moved in quickly. Most of the crowd laid down on the ground to submit to being arrested. Others tried to escape from the men. Gunshots and screams riddled the alley. Lois and Kara moved faster.

They reached the roof and Lois searched in vain for a way down again. "We need to get down now."

"Why? We just got up," Kara didn't seem winded at all.

"If the Enforcers have to shoot they always send a helicopter out. They'll find us."

Kara looked around, squinting, "There's no way down."

"There has to be! I will not get shot at again this week! And I will certainly not die on this stupid roof!" Lois yelled.

Kara looked uncertainly at her. She took a deep breath, "Ok, Lois, don't freak out. I know a way to get off the roof."

"What is it?" Lois was willing to try absolutely anything at this point. There was no cover on this flat roof.

"I can fly."

Lois blinked. "Don't be stupid, Kara. This really isn't the time for jokes. Not even slightly funny."

"I'm serious, Lois. This is the only chance we have. I can hear the helicopter approaching." Kara began to hover over the roof as she spoke. Lois' jaw dropped. It was true. No wonder Kara had always been weird.

Lois hesitated, but then she could hear it in the distance too. This was crazy. Unfortunately, she had gotten used to doing absolutely crazy things to stay alive over the years. How bad could flying be, anyways? At least she wouldn't have to go swimming in the sewers again. The sewers were full of bodies but at least the sky was just stars and Enforcer crafts.

"Fine! Let's go!" Lois said.

"I've never really done this with anyone before…" Kara said, coming back down to the roof.

Lois groaned, "I'm always open to trying new things if it will save my life."

"Grab my shoulders," Kara said as she turned her back to Lois. "We'll try it that way."

"Sure, a piggyback ride through the sky," Lois said as she held on tight. "Just beam me up, Scotty."

Kara grabbed one of Lois' wrists to keep her secure. Man, that girl had an iron grip, Lois thought. Kara thrust her other hand in a fist into the sky as they lifted off. They were soon streaking across the city and away from the rapidly approaching helicopter and alley.

It was amazing.

It was also an incredibly awkward way to travel.

"I should tell you how to get to my apartment!" Lois shouted over the wind.

"We're not going there!" Kara shouted back. "I have to take you to Jor-El!"

Lois hoped she wasn't being set-up. Sure, she trusted Kara for now, but she was beginning to have serious reservations about Clark's cousin. Could she really have no idea what Luthor was up to? Lois hoped Kara wasn't some new agent that had been sent to find her specifically for the bald mastermind. Kara had saved her from being killed, though, so Lois would have to take being alive right now. Even if it meant being dead later.

TBC…

*****

AN: I guess I'll see where this goes. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to happen. Feedback and comments are great! If you just want to complain about the most recent Smallville episodes or voice your hate for Lana, I'll enjoy reading that too!