Flee

Some inner sense screamed at Lois Lane. Instinctively, she turned away from the wall, not even looking at the remaining words. What she had read was enough, more than enough. Gripping the solid weight in her lower abdomen, she scrambled through the curtain, out and away from the circle...

Fear ran through the reporter. So she ran.

Down the dark, damp sewer. Legs pounding, feet splashing in the puddles, barely able to see, and when she turned a corner and the darkness was all, she crawled forward on hands and knees, feeling her way, hands squishing through unseen filth...and all the way, she could feel the terrible weight in her stomach, growing steadily lighter. So she moved on, putting as much distance between her and the room as she could, not even memorizing the twists and turns.

Lois vomited, guts heaving, hot foulness pouring from her mouth, and she felt a little better out of that, but didn't stop. She could still feel something inside of her, though it was barely there, no worse than having a diaphragm in, but still present in a strange and terrible way.

The fear had taken her before. Once, in her dorm at college, a boy had tried to **** her. She had heard him in the dark, getting himself hard, working himself up for the act. Any hesitation would have been the end of her...but Lois hadn't hesitated. She had bolted, run, scrambled away. Heart pounding, brain not off but no longer given over to the rational part of her mind.

The reporter in her liked to think of it as Cave Lois. The part of her that was concerned only with survival, that picked up on the little things that the rational mind dismissed. It had saved her life more than once, giving in to those instincts, and Lois had learned to trust them.

It wasn't only danger that brought Cave Lois to the fore, that the reporter in her didn't like to think about that. In a fight, Cave Lois was the one that would bite and gouge. In bed, Cave Lois was the wild animal that would scratch their backs, nails digging into the flesh, legs wrapping around her lover to hold them deep inside of her as they pumped their seed into her snatch...and Lois had to be very, very careful to keep Cave Lois from coming out at times like that. It didn't pay to lose control...

...but now was not one of those times. Cave Lois told her to flee, so Lois fled.

Then...somewhere in the dark...exhaustion overcame fear. She wasn't sure if she could still feel the stone inside of her or not. But she stumbled to a stop, leaning against a wall. Lois knees and the palms of her hands felt raw, and she could still taste the bile...she was breathing through her mouth, gulping in air, heart pounding in her chest in her ears...

...and she could hear something, around the next corner. Someone speaking. A glow was lighting up the darkness, giving shape to the sewer. Professional instincts cut in, and Lois controlled her breathing, going silent. Away from the source of her sudden panic, the Daily Planet's greatest reporter gained control of herself once again. She ignored the pain as she crept forward now, curiosity and caution balanced, every sense on edge.

Carefully, moving slowly, she poked her head around the corner.