Post by Jason Todd on Jul 17, 2018 22:10:43 GMT -5
Tap, tap, tap, her fingers moved leisurely across the keyboard. Her police scanner gave a low hum, occasionally spurting out words about a robbery or domestic disturbance. It was joined by the whistle of a janitor across the room. Otherwise, it was a fairly quiet night. She glanced at the muted television in the corner of the room, seeing that her husband was still busy helping with that earthquake in Thailand. It would probably be another hour or two before he was done. She turned her attention back to the document she was typing and promptly grimaced at the amount of red, squiggly lines that were underlining her words. And she thought she had that one word right, too…
She was promptly jolted as the sound of her desk phone ringing pierced the silence. She glanced at the clock in the bottom corner of her computer screen, wondering who would be calling her at this time of night.
Still, she picked it up and put it to her ear. “Lane.”
“Uh, hey, Lois…”
She chewed on the tip of her pen as she tried to place the voice. “Benny?”
“Yeah, uh, can you meet me…?”
A source wanting to meet? Personal experience told her this could go one of two ways. “Sure, where?”
Benny prattled off an address which she knew as an old liquor store. She frowned when he specified the alley behind the old liquor store. Typical. It wasn’t surprising, though; the guy was tattling some pretty sensitive material regarding some recent happenings in the local drug trade: drugs getting ripped off from their manufacturers and then sold at a cheaper price.
She saved what she had of her story so far, shut down her computer, and grabbed her purse. On her way to the elevator she called a goodnight to the janitor and received well-wishes in return. It didn’t take her long to drive to the location, the traffic in the city dying down as the hour became later.
After arriving, she stepped out of the car, hand clutching the strap of her purse as it hung from her shoulder. The only sounds were that of the occasional car and the click of her heels as she walked around the liquor store and into the alley. She raised an eyebrow slightly as she caught sight of Benny, wearing a hoodie and just out of range of the streetlight. "Alright, Benny, what have you got?”
He fidgeted. “Uh, look, Lois, I think I have to back out…”
“What?” she demanded, walking up to him. He backed up a few steps, intimidated. The hand not holding her purse strap went to her hip and she narrowed her eyes. “Have they threatened you?”
He fidgeted again, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “Uh…”
She let out a sigh, eyeing him. Really, she was less irritated at him and more so at them. “If they’re threatening you, I have connections. You can be protected.”
But then something behind her was catching Benny’s eyes and something hard was hitting the back of her head and everything was going black and wow she’ll never live this down.
---
When she finally woke up, she couldn’t keep the grimace off her face. For one, her head hurt. Secondly, this place smelled. Honestly, the smell was probably worse than the headache—she’d had hangovers worse than this, if she was being honest. She cracked her eyes open, eyeing the moldy walls of the apartment she was in. Well, that explains the smell. She was surprised, as she shifted slightly, that she wasn’t tied up. They’d probably been banking on her being out for longer. If so, they’d severely underestimated the amount of times she’d been hit over the head. She glanced at an old clock on the wall, seeing that she’d only been out for a couple hours. She caught the sound of voices and focused on making out their words.
“-asking too many questions. We didn’t have a choice.”
“We need to move. Like, right now.”
“And where do you suggest, dips**t?”
“I don’t know! Maybe Canada. Do they have heroes in Canada? I heard they have free healthcare, though, which would be pretty cool.”
“God, shut the hell up, man.”
Ok, then.
Alright, Lane, you’ve been in stickier situations than this. Literally. She briefly remembered a time she’d been working on an expose that focused on a candy company’s connection to the drug trade. In retaliation, they had tried to make Lois flavored candy just in time for Valentine’s Day. She’d been washing caramel out of her hair for weeks.
She sat up, cautiously watching the door that led to the room where the men’s voices were coming from. Her eyes then landed on her purse, sitting on a decrepit table, and she couldn’t help but smirk slightly, knowing her trusty ol’ can of mace was in there.
She stood up, but that was when the door opened and the two men stilled at the sight of a clearly conscious Lois Lane. The man who she assumed was in charge narrowed his eyes and walked up to her. “Look, Lane, we don’t want to mess with you too much, but-”
She didn’t let him finish, her knee connecting with his groin a moment before she flew her fist straight into his face. The man stumbled backwards, tripping on a chair and falling to the ground. She made eye contact with the wide eyes of the other man, before dashing across the room toward her purse. The other man seemed to finally collect him, going to intercept her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind. She let out a grunt as she was brought to a halt, but didn’t hesitate in stomping down on his foot with her heel before jabbing his gut sharply with her elbow. With a pained gasp, he released her and she reached her purse. Her hand scrambled through her purse, before clutching onto her mace. She turned around just in time to spray it straight into the face of the other man. The first man was there quickly as well, but earned nothing but his own face full of pepper spray. Both men let out yowls and clutched their faces.
She then went to dig her phone out of her purse to call 911, but was distracted by movement outside the window. A familiar man in red and blue lowered himself to look at her through the window. He had his arms crossed, an eyebrow cocked, and the faintest of grins tugging at his lips.
Ignoring the yowling men behind her, she grinned casually. “So, how’s Thailand?”
She was promptly jolted as the sound of her desk phone ringing pierced the silence. She glanced at the clock in the bottom corner of her computer screen, wondering who would be calling her at this time of night.
Still, she picked it up and put it to her ear. “Lane.”
“Uh, hey, Lois…”
She chewed on the tip of her pen as she tried to place the voice. “Benny?”
“Yeah, uh, can you meet me…?”
A source wanting to meet? Personal experience told her this could go one of two ways. “Sure, where?”
Benny prattled off an address which she knew as an old liquor store. She frowned when he specified the alley behind the old liquor store. Typical. It wasn’t surprising, though; the guy was tattling some pretty sensitive material regarding some recent happenings in the local drug trade: drugs getting ripped off from their manufacturers and then sold at a cheaper price.
She saved what she had of her story so far, shut down her computer, and grabbed her purse. On her way to the elevator she called a goodnight to the janitor and received well-wishes in return. It didn’t take her long to drive to the location, the traffic in the city dying down as the hour became later.
After arriving, she stepped out of the car, hand clutching the strap of her purse as it hung from her shoulder. The only sounds were that of the occasional car and the click of her heels as she walked around the liquor store and into the alley. She raised an eyebrow slightly as she caught sight of Benny, wearing a hoodie and just out of range of the streetlight. "Alright, Benny, what have you got?”
He fidgeted. “Uh, look, Lois, I think I have to back out…”
“What?” she demanded, walking up to him. He backed up a few steps, intimidated. The hand not holding her purse strap went to her hip and she narrowed her eyes. “Have they threatened you?”
He fidgeted again, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “Uh…”
She let out a sigh, eyeing him. Really, she was less irritated at him and more so at them. “If they’re threatening you, I have connections. You can be protected.”
But then something behind her was catching Benny’s eyes and something hard was hitting the back of her head and everything was going black and wow she’ll never live this down.
---
When she finally woke up, she couldn’t keep the grimace off her face. For one, her head hurt. Secondly, this place smelled. Honestly, the smell was probably worse than the headache—she’d had hangovers worse than this, if she was being honest. She cracked her eyes open, eyeing the moldy walls of the apartment she was in. Well, that explains the smell. She was surprised, as she shifted slightly, that she wasn’t tied up. They’d probably been banking on her being out for longer. If so, they’d severely underestimated the amount of times she’d been hit over the head. She glanced at an old clock on the wall, seeing that she’d only been out for a couple hours. She caught the sound of voices and focused on making out their words.
“-asking too many questions. We didn’t have a choice.”
“We need to move. Like, right now.”
“And where do you suggest, dips**t?”
“I don’t know! Maybe Canada. Do they have heroes in Canada? I heard they have free healthcare, though, which would be pretty cool.”
“God, shut the hell up, man.”
Ok, then.
Alright, Lane, you’ve been in stickier situations than this. Literally. She briefly remembered a time she’d been working on an expose that focused on a candy company’s connection to the drug trade. In retaliation, they had tried to make Lois flavored candy just in time for Valentine’s Day. She’d been washing caramel out of her hair for weeks.
She sat up, cautiously watching the door that led to the room where the men’s voices were coming from. Her eyes then landed on her purse, sitting on a decrepit table, and she couldn’t help but smirk slightly, knowing her trusty ol’ can of mace was in there.
She stood up, but that was when the door opened and the two men stilled at the sight of a clearly conscious Lois Lane. The man who she assumed was in charge narrowed his eyes and walked up to her. “Look, Lane, we don’t want to mess with you too much, but-”
She didn’t let him finish, her knee connecting with his groin a moment before she flew her fist straight into his face. The man stumbled backwards, tripping on a chair and falling to the ground. She made eye contact with the wide eyes of the other man, before dashing across the room toward her purse. The other man seemed to finally collect him, going to intercept her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind. She let out a grunt as she was brought to a halt, but didn’t hesitate in stomping down on his foot with her heel before jabbing his gut sharply with her elbow. With a pained gasp, he released her and she reached her purse. Her hand scrambled through her purse, before clutching onto her mace. She turned around just in time to spray it straight into the face of the other man. The first man was there quickly as well, but earned nothing but his own face full of pepper spray. Both men let out yowls and clutched their faces.
She then went to dig her phone out of her purse to call 911, but was distracted by movement outside the window. A familiar man in red and blue lowered himself to look at her through the window. He had his arms crossed, an eyebrow cocked, and the faintest of grins tugging at his lips.
Ignoring the yowling men behind her, she grinned casually. “So, how’s Thailand?”
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