End: Zatanna Comes To Lois

The carpet had been blue, once; now faded into a dull grey. The wooden paneling on the furniture was either peeling or rubbed raw. There was no art, not even the mass-produced prints and cheap paintings could be bought in bulk; the television was bolted into the wall in a steel frame, and the remote control was attached to it by a length of braided steel cord. Decades of tobacco smoke stained the ceiling, but otherwise this place smelled clean, if utterly lifeless, sad, and sterile.

Unlike the reporter herself. Lois Lane went to the sole full-length mirror in the room—screwed into the wall—and lifted her shirt up. Then she turned to the side. Wondering if it was just her imagination or if her stomach was already poking out. 6.66 hours, Blaze had said...and it must have been half an hour already. How many weeks did that make her? She pressed a hand against her lower abdomen, wondering if she could feel a difference there.

Then the door knocked. Lois strolled over and opened it without even bothering to see who it was...and heaved a sigh of relief as she saw the tall, trim figure that doffed her tophat in a graceful sweep and stepped inside.

Zatanna was in her stage outfit; a black topcoat with tails, bow tie and white bustier, fishnets and heels. The swell of her breasts and the sweep of her shapely legs and thighs gave a great deal of sex appeal...but Lois knew there was a lot more than just card tricks up the magician's immaculate sleeves, and the spotless white gloves immediately came off as Lois closed the door.

"Take off your shirt, and lie down on the bed," Zatanna ordered.

Lois had never heard that tone of voice before. Professional, restrained. Very unlike the Zatanna she had shared margeuritas with after the show, and had regaled her and some of the other Justice League ladies with tricks that would never have made it to the Vegas stage.

Clad in just her bra and tight red pants, Lois lay down on top of the covers. Zatanna's grey-blue eyes flciked over her form, and then she pressed both hands, palm down on the reporter's abdomen, around Lois Lane's navel. The hands were warm and dry.

".cigam ezylanA," Zatanna whispered.

The reporter stared up at Zatanna, whose eyes began to glow with a soft white light. A shiver ran down Lois Lane's spine then, as she remembered Blaze. The painted lips pursed, and then tugged downwards into a frown. Under her breathe, Zatanna whispered something...it sounds to Lois like a curse...but then the sorceress took a deep breath, which did incredible things to her cleavage from Lois Lane's vantage point, stiffened her spine, and said with a calm, clear, forceful voice:

".ycnangerp esuaP"

The white light in Zatanna's eyes flashed brightly. Something traveled down her arms and over and into the reporter's body. Lois Lane couldn't even gasp, her every muscle contracting for half a heartbeat like an electric shock...but then it was done, and she relaxed completely, with no lingering pain.

Zatanna took her hands away, the light fading from her eyes. She looked around the room, spotted the minibar, and grabbed a plastic cup and a couple small bottles, not even bothering to look for ice.

"I'll have one of those," Lois said, sitting up in the bed.

The sorceress winced, head sinking below her shoulders. Then she poured both bottles into her cup and said.

"You shouldn't."

Lois blinked and poked at her stomach. She didn't feel any different, but she'd just assumed...and then a sinking sensation seemed to open in her chest.

"Why?" Lois asked, compelled by curiosity.

"The pregnancy can't be aborted. Not...normally. Not without killing you. Even that might not stop it. Whatever Blaze has been up to, she put a lot of power and planning into this. The kind of power normally associated with multiple human sacrifices, the right astrological conjunctions...there's a really complicated and powerful set of spells in place to protect the fetus. If it's in danger, like if you try to abort it, it can come to term in seconds. And the clock was ticking..." Zatanna took a deep breath, let it out, and then tossed the contents of the cup back into her mouth. Lois watched with awe and concern as the magician down the equivalent of two double drinks in a single gulp. "...so I did what I could."

"What did you do, Zee?" The half-naked clambered onto her knees on the bed. "Tell me!"

"I paused the pregnancy," Zatanna said. "You're the equivalent of about eight weeks pregnant. With all that entails. No periods, possible morning sickness, weight gain, cravings, hormones going nuts, mood swings...but the fetus won't develop anymore."

She gave a weak grin. "So, you see why you shouldn't drink? Bad for the baby. Shouldn't smoke, either. As long as the fetus isn't in danger, my spell should hold. Until we can figure something else out."

Lois opened her mouth. Shut it again. Mind buzzing through what Zatanna had said, thinking through the consequences. A million questions came to mind, but Lois Lane's voice was very quiet when she asked the one foremost on her mind: "And if we can't figure something else out?"

"Then you're pregnant forever," Zatanna said, digging back among the bottles. "The fetus...it can end the world, Lois. We can't allow it to be born. There's...prophecies about this kind of thing. You picked a hell of a night out to have unprotected sex."

The reporter sank onto the bed. Trying to process things.

"Fuck," she muttered.

"You might as well," Zatanna said as she poured herself another large drink. The witch looked very, very tired now, Lois saw. There were bags under her eyes, wrinkles at the corner of her mouth that hadn't been there a minute ago. Lois wondered what it had cost Zatanna to cast that spell and stave off the apocalypse brewing in Lois Lane's womb. "I mean, pregnancy is nature's own birth control. Superman can cum in you all he wants now. No risk. Your uterus is already occupied."

Lois Lane collapsed back onto the bed. She was fucked—perpetually, supernaturally fucked. She closed her eyes. Her stomach growled.

"Thanks Zee," Lois said. "Sorry I'm not more ecstatic about it, but..."

",maerceci dna selkcip nommuS" Zatanna muttered...and Lois felt a cold circle on her abdomen. She looked down and saw a pint of Ben & Jerry's Double-Dip Rocky Road, the top off, green pickle-spears sticking out of the top, with a pink plastic spoon.

"We'll try," Zatanna said. "I'll get the Justice League and the Shadowpact together...maybe we can find something, some way to fix it. Until then...you need to take care of yourself, Lois. The fate of the world depends on you and the fetus staying healthy."

It was with heavy heart that Lois sat up and dug a pickle out of the carton. It crunched between her lips, and weirdly the mix of sweet and sour hit a need inside of her she had only half-recognized. The reporter ate mechanically, without relish, already imagining what these cravings would do to her diet.

Saving the world was going to have a detrimental effect on her waistline.