The Not Quite Justice League in... The Bee's Pleas!!!

[stands_for_hope]

[continued from here]

Finishing his article, clearing everything with Keith, those things took time. That was why it took a few hours before Clark was ready to make his usual call to Lois that night. He had worried that he might not make the time window that she cleared every day to talk to him and the others, but he was proud to say that he'd left himself an even half an hour as long as everything was to schedule.

After the fifth time she didn't pick up (didn't so much as text or ping him), it became clear that things were very much off schedule.

Clark made his way back to the main floor where everyone seemed to congregate and headed straight for Tony, holding up the phone to him.

"I know we're all tired and we've certainly had a long day, but... can you find out where Lois's phone is from the number here?"

In all the madness of the day, all the fighting and the close calls and the weakness brought on by the proximity of kryptonite, he'd lost track of her heartbeat. Usually, it was simple enough to pick up over the phone once again, a steady pulse that he could find his way back to once the phonecall had ended.

He couldn't hear her. He couldn't tell where she was. And she wasn't answering her phone. She always answered her phone. He didn't want to think anything was wrong, but he wasn't naive enough to discount something like this. Not after today. Not after they'd pulled out kryptonite weapons.

Comments

[stands_for_hope]

"Oh, like there's ever a time when the apartment's empty," she said airily, though her eyes went up to look at Jim. It said, very quietly, that she appreciated what he was saying. And she'd appreciate his presence with her there.

[kolodnoykovki]

"And you could still come upstairs with me when you're not making Clark take dictation," he suggested. "Now that the main construction's done, everything that needs doing is indoors up there. You can tell me when I get the planters level."

He could invent things for her to do. Just like he used to with someone else he cared about.

"Tell me which herbs to plant where. Watch a city boy like me try to remember which one is rosemary and which one is chives."

[stands_for_hope]

She nodded even as she nudged him with her shoulder, but she didn't say anything, letting her eyes close and lean into him. Diana took the movement for what it was and nodded over to Clark before taking her leave to join Steve out in the main room. She knew, just as Steve knew, that sometimes the best thing one could do is let things be. And she knew that Lois was in good hands between Clark and Jim.

[kolodnoykovki]

He hugged her gently, lips pressed to her temple. She was there, she was safe, she was home. Both of them were right there to take care of her, and that wasn't going to change.

And he wasn't going to insist that she never do it again. Or that she take one of them with her. He knew better. But he also knew that they were going to keep an eye on such things anyway.

[stands_for_hope]

"After I finish these amazing eggs," Lois said quietly, "I'd like to see about going home. Then I'm going to pass out for a week."

Clark nodded his agreement with this plan before dishing up another spoonful of eggs for her, which she ate dutifully.

[kolodnoykovki]

"That sounds just fine," Jim agreed, stroking her hair as she ate. "Want me to sponge you off here or wait? It's up to you."

His voice might well have been gentler than any of them had heard before - well. Any but one.

[stands_for_hope]

"Home," she said firmly, "as kind as Tony's been... which is a phrase I never thought I'd use without sarcasm concerning Tony Stark."

And her voice said, more clearly than words could, that she'd feel a lot safer at home. As silly as it sounded, Tony's defenses didn't mean the same thing as the magical wards of a street sorcerer and a mostly-retired guy with a toddler and a magic stick. Home was home. Ever since that first break in, ever since she'd moved in, she'd always felt more safe in the apartment.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Then we'll go home." It was decided. "Get you back where everything smells right."

It was funny how that wasn't even something people thought about so often. That was because it was so subconscious, but he knew when a place smelled right. And now, their apartment, the five of them and Motya - it smelled right.

[stands_for_hope]

She just nodded and let herself lean back, starting to drift off again before--

"Sorry, Uncle Jim, but that guy put me on the good shit, I think."

[kolodnoykovki]

"You deserve it," he whispered, kissing her temple again. She needed her sleep. She had a lot to heal from, and rest would help.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark pulled the plate of eggs away, mostly finished, as Lois dropped off.

"We can probably get her home once she wakes up from this nap. I don't want to move her while she's sleeping."

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim nodded his agreement. "I want her to be aware every time she's going anywhere for a while," he murmured. "But I am going to send Steve and Diana out for... an idea Diana and I had. Then we can fit everybody in one car and head home."

[stands_for_hope]

Clark tilted his head curiously before murmuring low in Russian.

"Is this something you need me to help with?"

[kolodnoykovki]

He smiled gently. "Balloons and cake. A welcome home party." Something for family - the lot of them that were family.

[stands_for_hope]

"I'll get the cake ordered and pick it up with some balloons to get the apartment ready for when we get there. Stay with her?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"Get somebody to bring Motya in," he suggested. "I think we both could use her company."

[stands_for_hope]

Clark nodded and slipped out. He was replaced by Steve and Motya making their way over, Steve leaning down to kiss Jim's hair.

"Hey, handsome," he greeted him quietly.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Hey, gorgeous," he answered, managing a quick kiss on Steve's cheek before he went too far. "I'm feeling better. And Lois will be soon. ...I'm glad to see you."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Glad to see you too," he answered, picking up a chair and very carefully putting it down beside Jim.

"You're both looking better."

When she slept, he couldn't see the pain in her that she was trying to hard to hide. It might have worked on others (well, other than Jim), but Steve knew what it looked like from the inside.

[kolodnoykovki]

"I'll be okay," he exhaled. "And she will, too. She... might need her own Miss Brahms for a while, though."

He was still working with the therapist, still getting his feet back under him, for all it was improving. But now, Lois had gone through... some of the worst that humanity could dish out. The kind of thing that defined inhumane.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"She also might need it to be... a Miss Brahms," Steve admitted gently, knowing his niece (and her grandfather) well enough to know that she wouldn't admit to needing anything. Lois, for all that she could be greedy and conniving and playful on the surface, was incredibly independent. When it came to taking care of the necessities, she needed to pull her own weight and she did things on her own. It would be hard for her to admit she needed something like a psychologist or a councilor, especially given the two men who were discussing the matter right there.

"Sam's... Sam's a little busy right this moment," and far be it from Steve to interrupt the man finally getting a love life, "but I know Diana's already calling some of her friends from the women's circles to see if she can scrounge someone up to help with this. Apparently, she works with a lot of girls who've been through something... rough."

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim nodded with Steve's words, agreeing without hesitation. "We'll... we'll do anything we can to help, even if it means talking her into things."

And that was one thing he was almost counting on. That she'd have to be talked into talking things out with a counselor. Somebody who had experience helping people in ways that he and Steve and Clark and Diana didn't. They were great for beating the crap out of people, but when it came to real mental help, that wasn't something any of them had been to school for. The best they did - which wasn't to be discounted - was offer a shoulder or caring arms.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Diana and I thought it might be best if Diana invited her over as a 'friend' and perhaps see if it could happen organically."

Steve's smile was warm and a little sad.

"She's craftier than she looks."

[kolodnoykovki]

"She's a soldier just like me and you," Jim answered, reaching over to take his hand. "We all learn to be crafty whether we want to or not."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. Then he breathed in and out and closed his eyes.

"These kids don't deserve this."

And he shouldn't think of them as kids. Lois was, when it came to lived experience, older than he was. But he couldn't help but think of them as kids in a way. Lois, and Clark.