Clark blurred into the bank vault, disabled the bomb and recovered any bodies that had survived the explosion all in a matter of seconds but to Clark, it seemed like he was moving too slowly. The bodies, fragile and bloodied, were heavier then normal and Clark found it suddenly difficult to move back and forth. Soft moans of pain filled his ears, melding in with the slow beats of hearts around him. Once he was done, making sure that everything was situated, he super-speed off but not before leaving his family emblem burned into the wall of the bank.

"Sorry it took me so long to phone the story but you know Perry..." Clark's words trailed off as he stopped readjusting his tie to see Jimmy laying on the floor, his lip bleeding and his frantic eyes searching the crowd.

"Jimmy?! Jimmy! What happened?" Clark too glanced around and noticed something that made his stomach collapse. "Where's Lois?!" He grabbed Jimmy's shoulders, pulling him up to his feet.

Jimmy glanced around uneasily, his mouth opening and shutting as he tried to makes sense of what happened. "She-He had a gun and he hit me-" He placed a finger to his lip, yelping as he pulled back a few traces of blood on his finger, "He took her, Clark. He just took her."

"Who took her?!" He yelled.

Jimmy's blue eyes looked up to his. "I don't know."

Clark took his hands off Jimmy, frustration heating him and he was afraid what that feeling might do to an innocent bystander. He had been gone for a minute, two at the most and he had lost Lois. He searched the crowd, using every ability he had to find any trace of her but nothing. NOTHING!

"Um, Clark..." Even Jimmy was afraid to talk in front of Clark. He watched as Clark clenched his hands, the muscles in his body flexing beneath his thin shirt. Jimmy raised his eyebrows in surprised....Where those there when he had met the reporter?

Clark turned his head slightly, giving Jimmy enough attention but focusing more on searching for any clue of where Lois could be.

"Could this help?" Jimmy asked uncertainly. He held up a small piece of paper that he had found stuck under his shoe where it had been causing him some minor annoyance.

Clark glanced down at the paper, sliding it from Jimmy's hand. "Metropolis Bank. 3:30 pm. Lois Lane."

Jimmy glanced at his watch. "It's 4:05, right now and we didn't get here till 2."

"And the bank blew up...right around 3:30. So somebody knew the bank was going to blow up."

"And they knew that Lois was going to make an appearance."

Clark turned to Jimmy. "Did he say anything? Anything that could help us?"

Jimmy thought about it then suddenly flashed a big grin, wincing slightly. "He did! He mumbled something about her father!"

Clark's forehead creased in confusion. "Her father?" He wasn't enjoying the icy feeling trailing down his spine. Sam Lane wasn't a bad man but he got himself into bad situations with bad people.

"Yeah...he said, and this isn't a direct quote, 'For the sins of the father something you gotta pay something something.' Actually, I think it was just that." Jimmy fiddled with his camera for a moment. "Maybe my pictures could help." He smiled bashfully. "I got bored and started taking pictures of the crowd. Maybe I took a picture of him?"

Clark gave Jimmy a weak smile of hope but it was enough to lift the spirit of the young photographer.

"That'll help out a lot." Clark turned his direction back to the ground where Lois' purse laid. He bent over and picked it up slowly, running his finger of the leather. He didn't want to leave. It would be like leaving her but if she really was in trouble he couldn't stay and hope that she would magically appear. No, he had to leave but only to find her. At least they had a lead...

"Sam Lane." He whispered into the air.

******************

For a small man, his grip on her arm was piercing. He pulled her down a dark corridor, the only noise being his perverted heavy breaths and the sound of her heels trying to get some traction.

"Okay, OW! Can we ixnay on the grab holding-ay?!" She winced as he pressed his nails into her skin.

"You should remember me, Lois?" He muttered.

"Like I said a thousand times before in about a thousand of the same damn hallways, I have amnesia! I don't even know my father!"

He stopped suddenly. The motion causing her to lurch forward. "You're mouthy like Lois Lane."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?!." She asked softly as she rubbed her shoulder.

He pressed her into the wall, the butt of the gun digging into her side. "Your father hurt me." He pressed it deeper until she cried out softly.

"I get that..." Her voice grew shaky as the fear spilled into her.

"General Sam Lane. Married to Ellen Lane. Two daughters: Lois Lane and Lucy Lane." He rambled off, pulling her off the wall and into a door she hadn't seen before.

"Ellen Lane. Ellen Lane. Ellen Lane. Ellen Lane." He muttered over and over again into his straggly hair as he threw her to the ground onto a soft mound of newspapers. The gun was pointed straight at her head, his finger just grazing the trigger.

He tilted his head, his small watery eyes peering. "You look just like her." He said softly, as if his mind wasn't even there. Lois took the opportunity to her her hand slightly. "BUT SHE WAS BLONDE!" He shouted suddenly, the dazed looked replaced with full alert. He bent down to her till she could smell the stale beer on his breath. She lean back a bit, her breaths heavy with panic.

"Why aren't you blonde?" He asked into her ear.

She cringe as his breath itched her ear. "I don't know...genes?" She breathed deeply. The awkward position she laid in now was putting heavy pressure on her back but she didn't dare move in fear that any sudden movement might cause him to harm her.

"Your father hurt me by taking the one thing I loved the most." He cried into her ear, his face lowering into her neck. "I loved her so much and he took her from me. He took her from me."

He moved away from her, reaching behind him and pulling out a strand of rope.

"So, I'm going to hurt him by taking the thing he loves the most." He grabbed her hands, struggling with her to tie the ropes.

"You don't have to do this." She pleaded softly, all sarcasm repressed and placed with pity for the man.

He tied a tight note that tore into her skin. He lifted his head where a pair of soft brown eyes looked at her. "I do. I need to remember Ellen. I need too. She's fading away and I can't catch her." His voice shook and Lois was surprised to see a soft tear fall down his face. "This is the only way I can remember her." He pushed a stray lock of hair off her face.

"I need to remember...and hurt your father like he did me."

She watched as he back off slowly towards the door, leaving her there with her hands tied.

"No! Don't!" She cried to him but he was already gone and the door slammed shut.

"That's him! That's the guy!" Jimmy pointed animatedly to screen where a man with white shaggy hair stood hunch in the crowd. Clark pointed the mouse cursor on the face, clicking and enlarging the picture.

"Are you sure?" Clark asked.

Jimmy scrunched his nose. "I think I would remember somebody who hit me and that's definitely him."

Clark nodded, picking his cellphone up and dialing a number so familiar he could do it in his sleep but right now the digits seemed so foreign that he had trouble.

"Um, Jimmy. Could you go up and tell Perry what we're doing? I don't want him to get angry like last time."

Jimmy nodded his head. "All over it, CK!"

Clark snapped his head to the side and watched with an open mouth as Jimmy climbed the steps up from the basement. Clark dipped his head down as the phone rang.

"Hello?" Came the soft voice.

"Chloe, I need...I have to tell you something."

She paused for a moment. "Clark, what's wrong? Is Lois okay?!"

Clark closed his eyes, trying to put the words out in a way that wouldn't sound like everything was a complete disaster but every combination sounded the same: Lois was gone.

"Lois is missing..." He said slowly.

There was a hard pause where Clark could hear Chloe digesting the words.

"What?!" She screamed into the phone.

He explained the situation to her. The story, the rescue and then the disappearance all in matter of seconds though to Clark it felt like hours where the words spilled forth from his mouth like molasses.

"But I have a picture of the guy who Ji-Um...of the guy who I think took her."

"Send it to me."

"Already did." He said, clicking send.

"Chloe, I'm sorry."

"Clark, this isn't your fault and I have no right to blame you for it. We will find her, okay. I'll get the entire team together and we will find her." Her voice carried the promise and for once that day, Clark felt reassured.

"I know you will." He said before hanging up.

Oliver opened the door to Watchtower, rubbing his eyes as he made his way into the center of the room where Chloe stood, her eyes glued to the monitor in front of her and her fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Is there a reason we woke me up from a very much needed nap." He yawn as he threw himself down on a sofa chair.

"Lois is missing." Chloe stated, not taking her eyes off the screen.

Oliver snapped his head up, "Well, I guess that's better then coffee." He said seriously. "What hap-"

"Long story. Just know that's she's missing and I'm all over it but I can't do it by myself. I need you to contact Victor and Bart."

"Chloe, what happened?"

She spun around to face him, her blond hair shining bright beneath the monitors screen and her eyes igniting with pain and tiredness.

"I need you right now, Oliver. I need you to help me find my cousin." Her voice was low but strong.

"Yeah, okay." He said simply, taking in the heavy bags that laid beneath her eyes. "So, what do we know?" He asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"This." She turned back to the monitor where a picture of a young man stood with a familiar yet unknown woman. The picture was old by Oliver's guess since it was black and white. The two stood side by side, both in white lab coats, both smiling at the camera.

"Why does she look so familiar?" He asked as he gazed at the smiling figure.

"Because you know her daughter." Chloe said. "That's Ellen Lane. Lois' mother and my aunt."

She clicked on a series of buttons and a better picture of Ellen appeared. Her blonde hair was curled up and she wore glasses that couldn't hide her vivid blue eyes.

"She was a cyberneticist for the government where she worked on small projects. That's where she met my uncle."

She clicked to another picture that showed a smiling Sam Lane and Ellen Lane at their wedding.

"But while she was there, she worked closely with a man named Daniel Presnell. Some people say that he was in love with Ellen even bordering on obsessed." At this point a mugshot appeared of Daniel, completely different then the first. His hair was in strands over his face while he grimaced at the camera.

"He got arrested when on finding out of the Lane's coming nuptials, he went Incredible Hulk on the lab and completely destroyed it. He was fired and sent away never to be heard from again until now." She then clicked on another photo, the same one Clark had sent her.

"I think he took Lois."

"Why?"

Chloe shrugged one shoulder, "Clark mentioned him rambling about sins of the father. I think he blames my uncle for not getting my aunt.

"So, he takes Lois?" Oliver grabbed the file that laid by Chloe's hands. "It says in here he suffered from dementia."

"Yeah though I don't think that helps with anything."

Oliver placed the file down thoughtfully. "Maybe it does. I had a friend when I was younger who had an uncle-"

"Please don't tell me this is a 'I had a friend who had a friend who had a friend' story." Chloe interrupted with a soft smile.

"-Who suffered from dementia" Oliver continued though a small smile played on his lips too. "He use to be this big time baseball player, even went into the big leagues until a bad knee injury destroyed him but he still loved the game. When he started to lose his memory, he asked his family to keep him surrounded by baseball so he wouldn't lose the memories. He was kept in this room filled with all his baseball memorabilia so he would never forget."

"So, you think he took Lois to remember Ellen."

"I think so." Oliver nodded. "That helps out a lot."

"Yeah, it does! Because if I wanted to remember somebody that special I would stay in the one place where I knew I would never forget her."

Oliver started to grasp where Chloe was heading. "The lab where they worked."

Chloe turned to the screen. A small bleep and a smile revealed to Oliver that Chloe had found what she was looking for.

"Ellen Lane and Daniel Presnell worked at what is now the closed Fort Leavenworth near the Kansas state line."

"I'll go." Oliver said as he headed for the door. "Guess we don't need Victor and Bart."

"No!" Chloe cried out. "I think we do." She walked over to him. "Don't you think it's weird that Lois is attacked one day and then kidnapped the next."

"It does seem oddly suspicious." Oliver pondered.

"I mean, why now? Why come out of the woodworks now? I think this has something to with Sack's or maybe even more. I mean, Lois has pulled her fair share of tails and I think some of the big cats are coming back to bite. I think we may need the entire team for this one."

Oliver pulled Chloe into a tight hug. "Don't worry. We'll get her back and find out what the hell is going on. Don't worry, Chloe." He pulled her away softly. "Get some sleep."

"Only when I know my cousin is safe and sound."

"I'll get her back." He told her one more time before leaving.

"I know you will." She said to the closed door.

Lois bit at the ropes, her gums bleeding slightly from where the rough wires had cut them. Even with the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth, she continued to bite down, determined to get herself out of this bind, no pun intended.

"Where's this so called Blur when you need him?" She pat out some blood before digging back at the ropes. They seemed to be loosening slightly even though she was no where near untying the note. Her head snapped up as the doorknob twisted and she threw herself to the ground as he stepped into the room, carrying a tray.

"I brought you some breakfast. Ellen loved breakfast. She could eat it anytime of the day." He commented as he placed the tray on the ground. As much as she didn't want to give into his delusions, her mouth couldn't help but water at the smell of the buttery brown waffles, the toast, the scrambled eggs, Oh God, was that bacon?

He walked to her and she backed off slightly. He paused at her movement then continued, softer this time.

"I didn't mean to tie you up but I couldn't let you leave." He reached into his pocket and brought out a knife. Lois hissed with fear, struggling as he grabbed her arm.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" He seemed to plead and she stopped giving him the opportunity to cut the ropes.

"You're doing such a swell job." She muttered as she rubbed her wrists.

"I'm sorry." His voice was quite and small. He backed away into the corner where he sat on the chair.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"Ellen loved waffles. I preferred french toast but she always loved waffles." He shook his head. "Or was it french toast. I keep forgetting. Help me remember?" He asked Lois, his eyes wide with fear.

"I can't! I don't remember!" She screamed. She tried not to but frustration built up inside her.

"I keep forgetting the color of her eyes. I keep forgetting the sound of her laugh. I forget the perfume she wore. I keep forgetting and I don't want to forget." He whispered, rocking back on the chair.

Lois wanted to hate him. She wanted to hate him for keeping her locked up with no bathroom but she couldn't. She couldn't hate him for holding her at gunpoint. She disliked him for hitting Jimmy but she didn't hate him. No. Because he was like her. Losing his grip on reality. Losing himself to the void that she now lived in where nothing was real or fantasy. Where everything blended into one and she didn't know what was what and it pulled at her until she didn't know who she was. Familiar faces gave way to nothing but fear and she felt like she had no place in the world.

She grabbed the waffle, the butter sliding down her fingers as she took a bite. "What was my mom like?"

He looked up softly from his hands, a smile transforming his face that made Lois believe that he had at one time been a handsome man.

"It's hard..." He said after awhile, the smile faltering.

"Make me laugh." She said suddenly, unaware of where she was headed.

"What?"

"I'm told I have my mother's laugh." Which was a complete lie, at least to Lois.

"Ummm..."He looked around as if some joke was lying around to be picked up.

"I laugh at anything...I think. You could be my first test run." She gave him a hopeful smile.

He sighed. "You have your mother's smile." He said in awe as he stared at her.

"Then it's very possible I have her laugh."

He stood up abruptly and walked to the door.

"You can go."

Lois was taken aback. "What?"

"Ellen would never approve of me kidnapping her daughter." He pointed to the door. "You are free to leave."

She stood up slowly, her legs shaky from sitting for such a long time.

"What about you?" She asked as she headed for the door. Even though she had grown slightly comfortable in his presence, that didn't make her trust him, so she moved with caution.

"I'll stay with Ellen." He looked around the room till his eyes turned back slowly to her. "I loved her."

She made it to the door and turned to him. "I'm sure you are good man and I'm sure my mother remembered you till the day she died. Even though you kidnapped me at gunpoint, tied me up and kept me locked in a room with no bathroom, it was nice meeting you. I just hope we never meet again under these circumstances or at all for that matter, whatever." She smiled st him.

"I still hate your father." H replied roughly.

"Something tells me I'm not too fond of him either." She made to touch his arm but decided not too. She gave him one last smile before walking through the door. She walked down the corridor, her heels making a rhythmic tapping that soothed her. As she walked near the door she assumed was her exit, a tall figure emerged, a weapon pointed to her face.

"Lois?" The voice was deep, masked.

"Oh god! Who the hell are you?" She rolled her eyes. "I've been kidnapped once today so could we give a week before it happens again please.

"Lois! It's me." The figure removed the hood that had been hiding his face.

"Oliver, right?" She asked as he removed his glasses and flashed her a smile she figured made all the girls swoon.

"Uh...Yeah." His smile fell slightly. "Are you okay? Where's Daniel?"

"He let me go."

"Just like that?" He glanced behind her, his weapon raised.

"Yeah..." She glanced at his weapon then down to his outfit. "Is that an arrow? What's with the leather?"

"I'm Green Arrow." He said to her confused face which grew even more confused at his alter-ego. "Never mind. Where is he?"

"What does it matter? He let me go. So, can we go?" She started to walk around to the door but he grabbed her arm.

"He's dangerous. He may be connected to the bomb at the bank. He kidnapped you and you just want to leave?"

"I'm sure he's capable of a lot of things but I don't think he kidnapped me to hurt me." She tugged at her arm.

"Oh really?" Oliver grabbed her wrist where she winced in pain as he rubbed the welts on her wrist from where her pulling had caused them to cut into her skin.

"That was my fault. Not his. Please, his just misunderstood. Please...Don't hurt him."

Oliver gave into her pleading face. "Okay but he needs help."

"That's fine. Help is better then hurting."

Oliver let her go when a massive body was thrown at him. Oliver cried out in surprise as Lois was thrown into the wall.

"YOU DON'T TOUCH HER!" Daniel screamed into Oliver's face as he struggled to pin him down.

"NO!" Lois shouted when she heard the snap of the arrow and the hard grunt.

Daniel stared down at Oliver who gazed up in shock. He felt the body slowly slid off him and hit the floor hard. He gazed down and saw the tiny droplets of blood. His breathing grew labored as he rolled to the side, the hard tears flooding his vision.

"Oh god!" Lois ran to Oliver. "Are you okay?"

Oliver stared off, the tears falling hard, "I didn't-He grabbed the-I didn't know"

Lois grabbed his face. "It wasn't your fault. Okay, it wasn't your fault."

Daniel gave a soft cry and Lois put Oliver's head down gently, crawling over to Daniel's body. She picked up his head softly and placed it into her lap.

"It's okay. Everything is going to be okay." She said down to him.

"Ellen..." He breathed deeply, coughing up some blood as he did.

Lois gave a soft cry, the tears that had been filling her eyes, now slid down her cheeks and rained down on him.

"Lois Lane. Daughter of Ellen Lane." He said softly, his brown eyes shimmering with similar tears. "I have a joke for you." The words were coming out slower as the blood came out of his chest faster.

"Okay, tell me." She cried, wiping the strands of hair off his face.

"What kind of hair do oceans have?"

She shook her head. "I don't know? What?"

He chuckled softly. "Waves."

She gave a small laugh that turned into a soft sob.

He gazed up at her, his brown eyes filling with light. "You do have her laugh..." He said quietly, the last bit of breath leaving his mouth as he died.