Written for the June FicGrab at EyesSkyward

Prompt: Manic

Word Count: 1624

Mosaic

Richard looked at the clock. The hands showed after 3. Of all the days to be late, Lois, why did it have to be today?

Richard slammed his cell phone onto his desk when her voicemail picked up for the third time. Did she even make it to the school? She could get so sidetracked by a story she often forgot it was her turn to pick up their son. Richard grabbed the phone and selected the number for Jason's school.

"Riverside Elementary School, how may I assist you?" the overly cheerful voice of the school secretary answered.

"This is Richard White, can you tell me if Lois has already picked Jason up?"

The school secretary chuckled. "Ms. Lane picked Jason up at 3:15. She looked beautiful, by the way. Jason said something about a Pulitzer?"

"Award ceremony's tonight. You said she picked him up at 3:15? Its 4:30 now."

"She's not back then?"

"No."

"I'm sure she's fine. After all, with Superman back…"

That's what I'm afraid of, Richard thought. He thanked the receptionist and clicked the phone shut.

Get it together, White. This is the Daily Planet. Someone has to know something. Richard took a deep breath and stepped into the newsroom.

"Jimmy," he called over the constant ringing of phones and muted conversations. "Did Lois mention if she was going anywhere this afternoon?"

Jimmy looked up from his screen and frowned. "No, just that she was late picking Jason up." He paused. "She'd been checking into an address the power company gave her. It's where the blackout started. Maybe she swung over there?"

"Thanks."

Richard's stomach clenched. Why do you have to be so obsessed with the story, Lois? It was what he loved most about her, but it also drove him nuts. A flash on the overhead TV screen caught his eye. The news was showing a grainy cell video of Superman stopping a runaway car. He was part of the story; somehow Richard knew that. But he wasn't the whole story. Something more was going on and if she'd landed in the middle of it and Superman ended up rescuing them he was going to lose them forever.

Richard opened his uncle's door. The old editor looked up. "Any word from Lois?"

If I didn't know any better, I would think you are hoping she's in some sort of trouble that would require a super rescue. Why are you so insistent on shoving Superman back in her life?

"She picked Jason up from school at 3:15."

Hurried footsteps came up from behind. "Jimmy just said you can't find Lois," Clark said. "Anything I can do to help?"

Great! All I need is Lois's little puppy dog getting in the way when we have work to do.

Perry tossed a proof on his desk and looked over Richard's shoulder. "You're a reporter, Kent. Help Richard find Lois."

What are you doing old man? First you shove Superman back into her face, now you're pushing Kent into the picture too. Are you trying to sabotage our relationship? I mean, the guy was her partner for five years, then he takes off, leaving me to pick up the pieces. What can he do? He can't even find his way out of a paper bag.

"I'll go check her computer, see what she was working on." Richard turned on his heel. He weaved through the maze of desks that made up the bullpen. Clark followed close behind. A few reporters commented on the unlikely team as they passed — along with a few veiled remarks about Lois's rekindled obsession with the Man of Steel. Richard tried to ignore them as he brought Lois computer out of sleep mode.

"She has it password protected." Richard glanced at the photos that adorned Lois's desk, hoping to find a clue. It wasn't Jason's name or his birth date. He picked up a photo they'd taken just a few weeks ago after they flew up the coast to Maine. The glass was cracked. Richard frowned. When had that happened?

"Try Superman." Clark's voice pulled Richard back into reality.

Boy, are you out of it, she hates the guy.

Richard keyed in the letters. His heart dropped when the desktop appeared. What do you know that I don't know, Kent?

He looked at the tall reporter who reminded him so much of someone else, someone he didn't want to think about. Someone he didn't want to involve in finding his fiancé.

Silence fell over the newsroom as the lights suddenly went dark. Computer screens blanked out. Reporters silently cursed themselves for not saving that last paragraph. Richard heard the ever-observant Jimmy Olsen declare the loss of more than just power — both his cell phone and digital camera were dead.

Can things get any worse? Power failures do not cause airplanes to fall out of the sky, nor do they knock out battery-operated equipment.

"Strange," said Kent. "I don't remember the power going out so often. Hasn't Metropolis been upgrading its power grid?"

Hello Captain Obvious, that's why you're supposed to be writing an article on the blackout, not Lois. That's what was driving her to obsession with this story.

Richard spun around in his chair. "What have you found in your research? I haven't seen much from you on it."

I haven't seen anything from you that amounts to all the hype I've heard of you. Why is it that Perry hired you back? What does he know? Why does he insist on pairing you up with Lois?

"It's more than loss of electricity. These are more like EMP's. I've been trying to find out who has the technology to have created one so large. You know, back it the old days we would have just blamed Russia…"

EMP, Kent? That's what you're thinking?

"Power's back, I'm good." Jimmy voice grated on Richard. Clark was still explaining how EMPs worked, but he tuned him out.

Where did I leave off, oh yeah, her password is 'Superman.'

"Guys, this just came through," Jimmy called out again. "It's Lois's writing, I'd know it anywhere."

Richard jumped up but Kent beat him to Jimmy somehow.

"They're coordinates," Kent said.

I guess he does know something. What was that about EMP's and technology? It can wait I have to get to Lois.

"Tell Perry I'm getting the seaplane." How on earth did you end up out in the middle of the Atlantic, Lois? Is our son there with you?

Richard hurried back to his office to grab his wallet and the cell phone he discarded before engaging his search for his missing family, checking the screen of the phone as he darted for the elevator. Of course, it was several floors below. He'd have to wait.

Hurry up you ancient piece of crap. I've got to get to Lois, before…

Thunk, thud

What the – ? It sounds like the building is falling apart. Maybe I'm going crazy. I have to be. I'm flying a seaplane out to the middle of the Atlantic to rescue my family, and I have no idea from what.

Richard stuck his hands in his pockets. The insanity of the mission he was about to embark on struck a familiar chord in his mind. A few years back he would have not given more than a thought on what he was about to do, he'd just do it. He knew what needed to be done. That's why he was such a good agent. That's why he was given the job of protecting Lois, and Jason.

His hand brushed against a paper. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw the name: 'Lex Luthor.' It wasn't his or Lois's writing, it was too neat, too precise. It had to be Kent's: a warning perhaps? How did it end up in his pocket? When?

The elevator doors opened. He took one last look at the bullpen before the closed again. Where was Kent anyway? He'd disappeared by the time Richard left his office to catch the elevator. What was it that Jimmy said about Clark? Lois complained about it too. Something about him always disappearing. Never being around….

Richard drove home almost mechanically, his mind dwelling on everything but the drive. The roads were chaotic at best; everyone was trying to flee from Metropolis, the workday having ended. Richard looked across the bay as he drove over the bridge, a now familiar red and blue figure streaked out towards the sea only to stop in what appeared to be a moment of hesitation, then turned back to the city.

The car jerked. At first Richard thought he'd blown a tire, then he noticed the bridge swaying precariously in his rearview mirror. Richard exited the highway and sped down the side streets to his neighborhood, and the awaiting plane. Evidence that something terrible was happening surrounded him: broken glass, fallen trees and signs, crumbled buildings. The well-maintained streets of Metropolis now resembled a mosaic of crumbled asphalt and open manholes.

"Don't worry, Superman. I'll take care of Lois and Jason. You take care of everyone else." Richard said, hoping that somehow the hero would hear him, that in some small way he could ease the burden that Superman now carried. Richard skid to a stop in the driveway of the home he shared with the most amazing woman in the world. He raced down the walkway to the dock knowing as he did so everything had changed. He pulled the door to the small seaplane closed, climbed into the pilots seat, fired up the engine and flew off to rescue his family. Right now he needed to be 'Superman,' he'd deal with the repercussions later.