In Any Reality

"Oh no," Lois heard Laura say a half second before all hell broke lose.

In a display of speed and strength that would no doubt have astonished Lois if she'd had the time to appreciate it, Laura grabbed her fellow newswoman and, literally lifting her off the ground, pulled her away from the curbside. Everything blurred as Lois felt herself flying through the air, slamming against the side of the Daily Planet building, a half second before she felt Laura's body press tightly against her own.

She had no way of knowing that Laura had instinctively reacted to an almost imperceptible but familiar double click, one that had emanated from a car parked at the curb just behind them. A sound unique to the firing mechanism of an Uzi machine pistol in the seconds before it spewed a lethal stream of lead at six hundred rounds a minute. And in this case, there had been two double clicks.

Lois opened her mouth to say something, but her words were drowned out by the roaring rip of machine gun fire that shattered the early morning calm, causing the plate glass window of the office supply store just behind them to explode inward in a hundred tiny fragments. An army brat familiar with the sounds of the firing range, Lois identified the booming sound, along with the thought that both she and her friend were dead women.

The thunder of gunfire cleared as unexpectedly as it had appeared, replaced by the screech of tires as the ambush car sped away from the curb. In their haste, they failed to note that despite the carnage, they were leaving behind a still standing, stunned but very much alive, Lois Lane.

"Laura!" Lois screamed as her mind came back into focus and her first thought was that the woman pressed up against her had taken the brunt of the deadly assault.

She could see where the stream of bullets had first impacted on the younger woman's side, then worked their way across her back, ripping the light jacket she'd been wearing to shreds. Death had to have come almost instantaneously, Lois thought as her mind continued to race, Laura's body falling against her own, saving Lois' life at the cost of her own.

"Oh God, Laura," Lois sobbed, tears running down her face as she held on to the body of a friend who only minutes before she wondered if she might have been much more.

"Lois..it's okay."

The sound of Laura's voice came as a bigger shock than the assault itself, and Lois instantly decided that if she had actually heard it, it had to have been a dying breath.

"It's not possible," Lois gasped as she felt the body in her arms shift, and then lift itself to stand on its own.

"It's not possible," Lois repeated, refusing to believe what she was seeing as the battered, but unbloodied girl before her began to quickly examined Lois' body.

"Oh no, you're hurt," Lois heard Laura say, this time loud and clear, the comment drawing her attention to her left shoulder where the material of her jacket had been ripped away and blood splattered across it.

"Thank God, it's just a flesh wound, probably from a ricochet," Laura went on, "there's no muscle or bone damage beneath the skin."

"How can you know that?" Lois asked, her inquisitive nature kicking in automatically. Then, as the first waves of shock began to dissipate - she knew.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, in a voice eerily reminiscent of one Laura had heard in a cornfield on a spring night years before. "How could I have not seen it? You've been right in front of me all along."

"Lois," Laura said, a measure of unaccustomed panic in her own voice. "I never meant for you to find out like this."

"Get out of here," Lois abruptly said, her voice now again strong and firm.

"No," Laura said, "Please no..."

"You have to get out of here," Lois repeated, "before someone recognizes you."

Laura finally realized that Lois wasn't lashing out at having been deceived, she was taking control of the situation. Already, people drawn by the sound of gunfire were converging on the two. Those closest had kept their distance as they ascertained their own safety, but the more adventurous were already putting that aside. An emergency medical unit was also pulling up into the space the gunmen's car had vacated, having been just around the corner when the sound of gunfire filled the air.

"Go!" Lois insisted as she pushed Laura away. "I'll be fine."

Laura stepped back as the first EMT approached, turning so that if he hadn't already seen the impact marks on her back, they would be hidden from his view.

"Her first," she said in an 'I will be obeyed' tone.

Seeing the blood on Lois's shoulder, the medic followed her instructions.

Quickly assessing that Lois's injury was not life threatening, he then turned to check the woman who had been standing next to her. To his surprise, despite the fact that he had only turned his head for a few seconds, there was no one there. His partner, who had been grabbing their emergency gear from the ambulance, confirmed that there had indeed been two women standing there when they arrived. The second one had just vanished and he was likewise at a loss to explain how.

-=-=-=-

A thousand feet above the Daily Planet building, Laura rid herself of the last of her tattered outfit and incinerated it, along with the rest of her civilian disguise, with a burst of heat vision. There was no time to find a hiding place for what parts of it might be salvageable.

Focusing her telescopic vision on the street far below, she first confirmed that, yes Lois was indeed going to be all right. Then she altered her range of perception and picked up both the heat and emissions trail of the gunmen's car. There was no doubt who had sent them as, even over the roar of gunfire, she had heard one of the would be killers cry out that it was a gift from Boss Mannheim.

It took but a few more moments to track the car to a large, seemingly nondescript, but in reality heavily fortified warehouse a half mile distant. From having read Lois's notes on her story, she identified the warehouse as belonging to a front company for Inter-Gang and a favorite hiding place for Bruno Mannheim. The place was so heavily armored that they could probably hold off a dozen Swat teams if they had to, which was fine, because this time Supergirl was in no mood to be gentle.

Inside the warehouse, in the central first floor hall where the King of Crime in Metropolis liked to hold court, Bruno Mannheim was receiving the report of the men who had carried out his orders. It had already been a busy day for the gang lord, after having managed to successfully slip out of the downtown jail where he had been held since his arrest, leaving behind a double to convince the police that he was still in custody. Eventually the deception was sure to be discovered, but his doppelganger had been well paid to take the fall once it was.

Good sense should've dictated that Mannheim waste no time in getting out of the country. Had he wished, he could even now be on his way to a country with no extradition treaties. But ever since he had been a lowly button man working for the old bosses, Bruno Mannheim had never been one to leave unfinished business behind. There were at least thirty men, dead by his own hand, as proof. If he couldn't do the same for Lois, he would be damned if he would leave until he was sure his orders had been executed.

"There's no doubt that you hit her," Bruno asked his top shooters for the third time.

"Boss, we emptied almost a hundred rounds into her and some other broad she was with," the lead gunman answered yet again. "Those bodies have got so many holes in them that they're not even going to be able to embalm them."

"Good," the mob boss finally said as he sat back in his chair. "I owed that lousy bitch and Bruno Mannheim always pays his debts."

The gunman who had answered couldn't believe how much trouble the boss was giving him over one simple hit. If he'd known it was going to be like this, he'd have brought along a fourth guy to videotape it all. Then, on reflection, he figured he'd better keep that idea to himself, or the boss might think it was a good idea for the future. That's all they needed, films of their hits that could wind up in court.

"You said there was some other broad with her," Mannheim asked. "Any idea who?"

"Just someone with worse luck than the late Lois Lane," the hit man laughed. "What's it matter, she ain't about to come knocking to complain."

Bruno Mannheim stared at him for a few seconds, then began to laugh. The gunman joined in, followed by all of the gang in earshot. If Bruno thought it funny, everyone had better think so.

The loud laughter abruptly stopped as a sudden roar of wind drowned out the sound, one that quickly built in intensity until it exploded into a sonic boom that shattered every window in the three-story structure. As if by magic, every man's hand filled with an automatic weapon, aimed in every direction including that of the eight by ten, five inch thick steel door that led to the street outside. A seemingly impenetrable barrier that, a heartbeat later, blew off its hinges, shattering as it did into a dozen pieces.

With a direction to aim in, if not a target, two dozen weapons came to life, filling the entranceway with billowing clouds of dust and debris, punctuated by a shower of death. Out of that conflagration walked the red caped woman in blue, moving forward with slow deliberate steps as she made no effort to avoid the fusillade.

After a minute or so, the sounds of destruction decreased in volume as most of the weapons began to click on empty chambers, while others ceased fire of their own accord. The sight of the growing pile of depleted slugs that had dropped harmlessly at her feet had been enough to cause even the most determined gunmen to have second thoughts about drawing her attention to them.

Still, there is always one made braver by the gun in his hand; or in this individual's case, a shoulder-launched rocket propelled grenade. It had been part of the loot from a raid on a military supply depot some months back. Taking quick aim at the Girl of Steel from a second floor balcony, he confidently pressed the trigger.

A column of smoke shot across the warehouse as those who recognized the weapon's signature quickly sought cover. To their confusion, the roar of the missiles passage had not been followed by the expected explosion of its high explosive warhead.

Looking up from behind the storage crates where they'd dropped for safety, they were met by the sight of Supergirl calmly standing in the same spot as before, the crushed rocket in her hand. That had been enough for even the most diehard of Mannheim's minions, as the sound that now filled the air was that of weapon after weapon being thrown to the floor.

"I don't care what kind of super-bitch you are," Mannheim bellowed as he stepped down from the elevated chair he had been using as a makeshift throne. "Bruno Mannheim doesn't roll over for any broad."

With that, he drew his personal firearm from his shoulder holster and aimed it directly at the Maid of Might. Supergirl slowly shook her head. After watching all the gunmen at his command fail to stop her, what did he really think he was going to do with that popgun?

Still, just to be sure, she gave the weapon a quick x-ray scan. After all, Inter-Gang had been known to possess some extraordinary technology at times and it was never good to be overconfident. The weapon turned out to be a common.357 magnum, no more dangerous to her than a bag of peanuts.

Supergirl took one step forward, and Mannheim fired at point blank range. Whatever he was expecting, it certainly hadn't been to have none of his shots find their target. By the time his last round had been expended, Supergirl was only a foot in front of him. She smiled, lifted her hand and one by one, dropped each of the pristine slugs to the floor. Too fast for the eye to see, she had caught each one in mid-air. That was enough for even the fearsome Bruno Mannheim.

"Don't worry," Supergirl grinned as her sensitive sense of smell drew her attention, first to the stain on Bruno's pants, then to the small puddle at his feet. "After they book you back at the jail, you'll get a brand new suit free of charge."

As she watched the MPD escort Mannheim and his men into the waiting police vans outside, Supergirl felt a sense of satisfaction at how things had turned out. When she'd first crashed through the door, she had been uncertain if, for the first time in her life, she was going to be able to keep her anger in check. They had tried to kill Lois, and the desire to grind their all too human bones to paste had been strong indeed. If Lois had been hurt worse, she might now be surrounded by the mangled bodies of those who had done it.

-=-=-=-

Like a tiger in a cage, Lois Lane paced back and forth in the small hospital room. Clad in just a hospital gown with her bandaged arm in a sling, she fumed at the ridiculous determination of both the doctors and her own editor to keep her here, at least until the last of her lab tests came back. She had been shot, big deal, it wasn't as if it had been the first time. She remembered how in her first year in Metropolis she had ignored the orders of the incident commander and found herself hit in the leg by a stray round, when a standoff between the Special Crimes Unit and Inter-Gang degenerated into a shoot out.

"I've got to get out of here," Lois thought as for the third time she looked into the empty closet in her room, "if only to find out what happened to Laura."

So far, she had stubbornly refused to answer any questions about what exactly had happened this morning, much to the consternation of both Perry and the Police Inspector who had interviewed her. No matter what, she had to keep Laura out of it. At least until she could come up with an explanation as to why she wasn't dead, without explaining that her junior partner moonlighted as a superhero.

"Nice view," a familiar voice said, coming from an unexpected direction, that of the open twenty-third floor window.

"Laura!" Lois cried out as she whirled around to face the figure now gliding through the window. "I mean Supergirl." she quickly corrected herself.

An unaccustomed blush filled her face as Lois realized that the view Supergirl had been referring to wasn't that outside the window, but rather the one presented by the hospital gown, which had refused to stay tied and had been hanging open in the back. Normally, she could've walked naked through the locker room of the Metropolis Monarchs and not given it the slightest pause.

"Are you okay?" Lois asked as her momentary embarrassment faded.

"I think that is supposed to be my line," Supergirl said with a smile as she glided across the room, closing the small distance between them.

"Oh, this is nothing," Lois said, grimacing slightly as she attempted to lift her bandaged arm to show it was fine.

The discomfort on Lois's face brought a twinge of sadness to Supergirl's.

"I feel responsible for that," the girl in blue said. "If I'd been paying more attention, if I hadn't been distracted, none of this would've happened."

"Don't be absurd," Lois said, gratitude evident in her tone. "You saved my life. Having to put up with this for a little while is a small price to pay," she added, indicating her arm but this time keeping it hanging in the sling.

"Well, that I can at least do something about," Supergirl said as she produced a small instrument, the likes of which Lois had never seen, from a belt pouch that had been hidden beneath her cape. "This might sting a little at first, but it will pass quickly."

Lois watched in fascination as the end of the device began to glow and, as Supergirl ran it back and forth against her wound, a soothing warmth began to spread outward from the injured area. By the time she was done, her shoulder felt as good as new.

"That was amazing," Lois said as she removed the now superfluous bandage, revealing unmarked skin beneath it. "What was that?"

"It's a dermal regenerator," Supergirl responded as she slipped it back into the hidden pocket. "Part of an emergency med kit that my father had the foresight to add to my rocket just before launch. I haven't had much use for it, but in this instance I'm glad I had it."

Lois took another few moments to stretch and test her arm, marveling in her recovery. Satisfied, her thoughts turned what had happened during her enforced stay in the hospital.

"Mannheim?" she simply said, remembering the Inspector mentioning that his escape had finally been discovered.

"Back in police custody, along with his men and a whole new assortment of charges," Supergirl replied.

"That's good," Lois said, not really expecting any other answer, especially after the way Supergirl had charged off in pursuit of the gunmen this morning. That brought forth another question, one that she waited a moment before asking.

"Did anyone see you this morning?" Lois asked, worried what the answer might be. "I mean, did anyone connect you and Laura...I'm sorry, but it's still hard to realize that the two of you are the same person."

"I know it probably does take some getting used to," Supergirl smiled, "but Supergirl is just something people call me when I have this costume on. In or out of it, I'm still just Laura. Just give it a little while, you'll be surprised at how quickly you become accustomed to it."

"Okay," Lois smiled.

"And to answer the question, as far as anyone is concerned, Supergirl, who had learned of a possible attempt on your life by Inter-Gang, decided to play bodyguard while in disguise. - Laura Kent was never there."

"And you think people will buy that?" Lois asked, her tone expressing her own disbelief.

"People will buy a great many things if presented correctly," the Metropolis Marvel grinned. 'Sometimes all it takes is a wig and a pair of glasses."

"Touche," Lois thought, only partially suppressing her smile.

"And you think people will buy that?" Lois asked.

"Well, it's been up on the Metropolis Star website for the last two hours," the Girl of Steel replied, pausing for a second as she double checked that no one was within earshot outside the room "an exclusive by Toby Raines, and no one seems to have any reason to doubt it. I thought that in this instance the story should go with another paper, even though I'm sure Perry is furious about it."

"Toby Raines?" Lois asked, suddenly picturing the reporter for the Star who had been an occasional rival, in both professional and personal circumstances. "How do you know Toby Raines?"

"I met her a few times through Maggie Sawyer," Supergirl said, amused to discern a touch of jealousy in the tone of Lois's question.

The mention of the Police Inspector, who Lois also knew in a non- professional capacity, caused her to further recall a conversation with Cat Grant a few months back. Evidently, one of Cat's contributors had spotted the head of the Special Crimes Unit and the reporter for the Star in certain invitation-only nightspots, and the gossip columnist was considering making it an item in one of her reports. While Maggie Sawyer made no real attempt to hide her sexual preference, she did value her privacy when it came to non-job related matters. Lois had casually suggested to Cat that it was her decision, of course, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to get on Maggie's bad side.

"I've actually been worried about you," Lois said, putting her previous thought aside. "I know that sounds pretty silly, given what I now know, but I actually have."

"It doesn't sound silly to me, Lois," Supergirl smiled. "I think it's quite natural to worry about someone you care about, regardless of how unnecessary that concern might be."

"I don't just care about you," Lois said. "I realized that in that single terrifying moment when I thought you were dead."