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Prologue
Laurel Steele had disappeared without a trace, after leaving her place of work on May 11th, 2010. Five days later, a missing person report fell on the desk of detective Maggie Sawyer of the Metropolis Police Department. Laurel Steele was a 5’11 tall, blond 25-year-old woman and a native to Cleveland, Ohio. She had recently moved to Metropolis and gotten a job at Edgar Allan Poe’s Book Store. On Tuesday the 11th, Steele had closed the store as usual, together with her employer, Edgar Doyle, then gone home. She never made it there. Her neighbors denied having seen her. Doyle was seemingly the last to see the young woman alive, but Sawyer ruled him out as a suspect of foul play. Doyle was 72-years old and confined to a wheelchair. Sawyer couldn’t picture an old man in a wheelchair being able to overpower a fit woman in her mid-20’s. Not to mention, Doyle had an alibi for the rest of the night.
Sawyer considered the possibility that Steele had returned home to Cleveland and contacted the Cleveland Police Department, but that line of inquires hit a dead-end. Not only were there no signs of Laurel Steele in Cleveland, nobody seemed to have any idea of who she was. Granted, Cleveland has a population of over 300,000. But, even people, whom Steele’s records insisted that she had gone to school with, denied ever having heard of a girl by that name. Every computer record insisted that she had, but her supposed classmates denied it. One Cleveland officer looked at yearbooks but couldn’t find any picture or even references to Laurel Steele. Records claimed one thing, but people claimed another. Who were they going to believe? Was it possible nobody at Steel’s high school had noticed her? Sawyer had certainly heard about some kids being invisible, but this seemed to take things to a whole new level.
Despite what all the records claimed, Laurel Steele didn’t seem to have existed before showing up in Metropolis and getting a job at Edgar Allan Poe’s Book Store. This led Sawyer down a new line of inquires. Steele was a woman, whom the people of Cleveland insisted didn’t exist, but records and people in Metropolis said that she did. The only answer to this paradox that Sawyer could come up with was that the woman known as “Laurel Steele” was in the Federal Witness Protection Program. To Sawyer it was then possible that Steele had been spotted by someone, who had identified her. Meaning she had either been moved or whomever she was in hiding from had killed her. Sawyer attempted to get confirmation from the United States Marshals Service, but they denied any knowledge of Laurel Steele. If Steele really was in Witness Protection, Sawyer figured that she was so important that the U.S. Marshalls couldn’t even cooperate with local law enforcement.
Sawyer had intended to continue with her investigation, but after a few months, her superiors advised her to drop the case. There were other and more pressing cases, that needed her attention. They couldn’t devote more resources to the Laurel Steele missing person case. There was no evidence of foul play. No body, no suspects, no new leads. The matter of Laurel Steele was doomed to remain an unsolved case.
Chapter 1
Lois had burned the midnight oil at the Daily Planet. It was at times like this, that she deeply appreciated that she and Clark had moved to Metropolis and no longer dependent on the monorail to Smallville. Lois could barely hold her eyes open when she tried to get the key into the door and got into the apartment. She kicked off her heels but was too tired to change and fell asleep fully dressed. A few hours later, Lois was awakened by the sound of someone ringing on the door. Reluctantly, Lois got out of bed. Whoever it was at the door he or she wasn’t going to live for much longer. She pulled up the door and got the shock of a lifetime. Outside stood Kara with a black eye and her hand on her side, almost like she had broken ribs. What or whom on Earth could’ve done this to a Kryptonian?
“Lois… help.” Kara exclaimed and collapsed in her arms. Lois dragged her in and put her on the couch. Within minutes, Kara’s black eye faded. “Thank heaven Kryptonians heal so fast.” Lois thought to herself, but she was concerned about what could’ve put Kara in such a state in the first place. She pulled a blanket over Kara and went to make herself some coffee. There was no chance that she was getting more sleep this night. Kara finally recovered around 8am and got back up. Her body had mostly healed itself, but she could still feel the pain. Whenever she wasn’t in the sun, her body ran on stored reserves, to fuel her abilities. When she and Lois got up on the roof of the apartment building, she could feel her body recharging itself and healing the last of her injuries.
“So, care to tell me what happened?” Lois asked.
“Where’s Clark?” Kara asked. “I need his help.”
“He’s away. Along with the rest of the League. Some mission with your old friends, the Legion. Do you want me to call anyone else?”
“No, I fear only another Kryptonian can help me.”
“Yeah, I figured that, given how beaten up you were. So, what happened?”
“As you know, since my return to this century, I’ve been living in Chicago. Well, last night I noticed what looked like a meteor hit miles outside of the city. When I went to investigate, I noticed that it wasn’t a meteor.”
“What was it?”
“Matrix-Prime…”
“Okay, now you’re talking Greek to me.”
“It’s a robot, that was created by Brainiac… Mind you, not the Brainiac you’ve met.”
“There’s more than one?”
“Yes, that’s why it’s important that I find Clark. I barely made it away alive, but I managed to damage it too. So, at least, I’ve bought us some time. Guess I’ll have to go for Conner…”
“Yeah, he’s with the Legion also. In fact, all the Titans went with them.”
“Then I guess we’re all out of hope. It’s not like we can contact the clones on New Krypton and there are no other Kryptonians on Earth.”
“Actually…” Lois hesitated. “That’s not entirely accurate. There is another.”
Chapter 2
James Bartholomew ‘Jimmy’ Olsen had only worked at the Daily Planet for a few months but had already gotten the hang of the place. Some of the other older guys, who had known his brother, had been awkward around the 19-year-old. Insisting on calling him ‘Olsen’, rather than ‘Jimmy’. If only Henry hadn’t hated being called ‘Hank’ so much. Naturally, him being ‘a legacy’ had set Olsen apart from the new kids at the paper. Lois Lane and Clark Kent had taken him under their wings, less than a week after him starting there. Olsen couldn’t help but feel, as he walked around the basement bullpen, that he hadn’t earned the attention he had been given. He wasn’t given the attention from the reporters on the higher floors, out of merit, but because he was the brother of the paper’s legendary photographer. The man who snapped the first image of the Blur, later known as Superman. What had Olsen done to prove himself? Meg Tempest and Percy Bratten had started the same week as him but were certainly not given the same treatment as him. Taking the elevator up to the eight floor, he felt like a con artist, a fake.
When he passed the office of Lane and Kent, Olsen came across Lane and a young brunette woman inside.
“Olsen,” Lois proclaimed, “do you have the photos of that banquet?”
“I sent it to your computer.” Olsen replied and looked over at the other woman.
“Oh, this is Clark’s cousin, Ka…”
“Linda Danvers.” Kara interrupted and waved to Olsen, smiling.
“Olsen, if there’s nothing else, we’re a bit busy, I’m afraid.” Lois proclaimed to get rid of him.
“Of course.” Olsen replied and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
“Sorry about that.” Lois told Kara. “Olsen can be a handful at times. He keeps asking me for Lucy’s phone number.”
“Isn’t your sister a little old for him?”
“She’s only four years younger than me! And when did you change your name?” Lois protested.
“About a week after I came back. Figured I needed a new one. ‘Kara Kent’ disappeared and reappeared too many times for a reasonable explanation. Can you find the address of this other Kryptonian? We don’t have time to stand around here. Still can’t believe you and Clark didn’t tell me.”
“Well, we only found out about her a few weeks ago. Thought all the clones had been sent to New Krypton. We weren’t sure what to do, when Clark found her. We’ve had some bad experiences, after all.”
“Yeah, hopefully, this one will help us.”
Lois finally found Clark’s address book, on his computer and began looking for the woman in question. Finally, she made it to the letter ‘X’. There was one address in Brooklyn, but no name. She was sure that this was the right one. Either that, or she and Clark would have to have a little talk when he came back.
Chapter 3
Kara flew herself and Lois to Brooklyn within a few minutes and found themselves in front of an apartment building. They ran the bell for apartment 203, but no one answered. Kara nearly flew up to the apartment, but Lois managed to keep her grounded. No need to draw unwanted attention to themselves. As they stood outside of the building, they saw two young women walking up the stairs to the building. One redhead, in her mid-20’s. The other an African American around the same age. Both looking like models.
“Can we help you?” The redhead asked.
“Yes, we’re from the Daily Planet. Do you live here?” Lois asked and held up her press pass.
“Yes,” The redhead replied, “we do. I’m Liz Joyce. This is Carrie Phillips. Are you looking for someone?”
“Yes, the woman who lives in apartment 203.” Kara proclaimed.
“You mean Karen?” Carrie asked.
“Possibly… Do you know where we can find her?” Lois asked in return.
“At this time of the day, she’s probably at her office in Manhattan.” Carried replied.
“And where is her office?” Lois asked.
“Ever heard of Starrware Industries?” Liz replied sarcastically.
“Yes,” Lois replied, “does Karen work there?”
“Work?!” Carrie proclaimed. “She owns it. Struck it rich a few years back, with some software program or something.”
Laurel Steele had disappeared without a trace, after leaving her place of work on May 11th, 2010. Five days later, a missing person report fell on the desk of detective Maggie Sawyer of the Metropolis Police Department. Laurel Steele was a 5’11 tall, blond 25-year-old woman and a native to Cleveland, Ohio. She had recently moved to Metropolis and gotten a job at Edgar Allan Poe’s Book Store. On Tuesday the 11th, Steele had closed the store as usual, together with her employer, Edgar Doyle, then gone home. She never made it there. Her neighbors denied having seen her. Doyle was seemingly the last to see the young woman alive, but Sawyer ruled him out as a suspect of foul play. Doyle was 72-years old and confined to a wheelchair. Sawyer couldn’t picture an old man in a wheelchair being able to overpower a fit woman in her mid-20’s. Not to mention, Doyle had an alibi for the rest of the night.
Sawyer considered the possibility that Steele had returned home to Cleveland and contacted the Cleveland Police Department, but that line of inquires hit a dead-end. Not only were there no signs of Laurel Steele in Cleveland, nobody seemed to have any idea of who she was. Granted, Cleveland has a population of over 300,000. But, even people, whom Steele’s records insisted that she had gone to school with, denied ever having heard of a girl by that name. Every computer record insisted that she had, but her supposed classmates denied it. One Cleveland officer looked at yearbooks but couldn’t find any picture or even references to Laurel Steele. Records claimed one thing, but people claimed another. Who were they going to believe? Was it possible nobody at Steel’s high school had noticed her? Sawyer had certainly heard about some kids being invisible, but this seemed to take things to a whole new level.
Despite what all the records claimed, Laurel Steele didn’t seem to have existed before showing up in Metropolis and getting a job at Edgar Allan Poe’s Book Store. This led Sawyer down a new line of inquires. Steele was a woman, whom the people of Cleveland insisted didn’t exist, but records and people in Metropolis said that she did. The only answer to this paradox that Sawyer could come up with was that the woman known as “Laurel Steele” was in the Federal Witness Protection Program. To Sawyer it was then possible that Steele had been spotted by someone, who had identified her. Meaning she had either been moved or whomever she was in hiding from had killed her. Sawyer attempted to get confirmation from the United States Marshals Service, but they denied any knowledge of Laurel Steele. If Steele really was in Witness Protection, Sawyer figured that she was so important that the U.S. Marshalls couldn’t even cooperate with local law enforcement.
Sawyer had intended to continue with her investigation, but after a few months, her superiors advised her to drop the case. There were other and more pressing cases, that needed her attention. They couldn’t devote more resources to the Laurel Steele missing person case. There was no evidence of foul play. No body, no suspects, no new leads. The matter of Laurel Steele was doomed to remain an unsolved case.
Chapter 1
Lois had burned the midnight oil at the Daily Planet. It was at times like this, that she deeply appreciated that she and Clark had moved to Metropolis and no longer dependent on the monorail to Smallville. Lois could barely hold her eyes open when she tried to get the key into the door and got into the apartment. She kicked off her heels but was too tired to change and fell asleep fully dressed. A few hours later, Lois was awakened by the sound of someone ringing on the door. Reluctantly, Lois got out of bed. Whoever it was at the door he or she wasn’t going to live for much longer. She pulled up the door and got the shock of a lifetime. Outside stood Kara with a black eye and her hand on her side, almost like she had broken ribs. What or whom on Earth could’ve done this to a Kryptonian?
“Lois… help.” Kara exclaimed and collapsed in her arms. Lois dragged her in and put her on the couch. Within minutes, Kara’s black eye faded. “Thank heaven Kryptonians heal so fast.” Lois thought to herself, but she was concerned about what could’ve put Kara in such a state in the first place. She pulled a blanket over Kara and went to make herself some coffee. There was no chance that she was getting more sleep this night. Kara finally recovered around 8am and got back up. Her body had mostly healed itself, but she could still feel the pain. Whenever she wasn’t in the sun, her body ran on stored reserves, to fuel her abilities. When she and Lois got up on the roof of the apartment building, she could feel her body recharging itself and healing the last of her injuries.
“So, care to tell me what happened?” Lois asked.
“Where’s Clark?” Kara asked. “I need his help.”
“He’s away. Along with the rest of the League. Some mission with your old friends, the Legion. Do you want me to call anyone else?”
“No, I fear only another Kryptonian can help me.”
“Yeah, I figured that, given how beaten up you were. So, what happened?”
“As you know, since my return to this century, I’ve been living in Chicago. Well, last night I noticed what looked like a meteor hit miles outside of the city. When I went to investigate, I noticed that it wasn’t a meteor.”
“What was it?”
“Matrix-Prime…”
“Okay, now you’re talking Greek to me.”
“It’s a robot, that was created by Brainiac… Mind you, not the Brainiac you’ve met.”
“There’s more than one?”
“Yes, that’s why it’s important that I find Clark. I barely made it away alive, but I managed to damage it too. So, at least, I’ve bought us some time. Guess I’ll have to go for Conner…”
“Yeah, he’s with the Legion also. In fact, all the Titans went with them.”
“Then I guess we’re all out of hope. It’s not like we can contact the clones on New Krypton and there are no other Kryptonians on Earth.”
“Actually…” Lois hesitated. “That’s not entirely accurate. There is another.”
Chapter 2
James Bartholomew ‘Jimmy’ Olsen had only worked at the Daily Planet for a few months but had already gotten the hang of the place. Some of the other older guys, who had known his brother, had been awkward around the 19-year-old. Insisting on calling him ‘Olsen’, rather than ‘Jimmy’. If only Henry hadn’t hated being called ‘Hank’ so much. Naturally, him being ‘a legacy’ had set Olsen apart from the new kids at the paper. Lois Lane and Clark Kent had taken him under their wings, less than a week after him starting there. Olsen couldn’t help but feel, as he walked around the basement bullpen, that he hadn’t earned the attention he had been given. He wasn’t given the attention from the reporters on the higher floors, out of merit, but because he was the brother of the paper’s legendary photographer. The man who snapped the first image of the Blur, later known as Superman. What had Olsen done to prove himself? Meg Tempest and Percy Bratten had started the same week as him but were certainly not given the same treatment as him. Taking the elevator up to the eight floor, he felt like a con artist, a fake.
When he passed the office of Lane and Kent, Olsen came across Lane and a young brunette woman inside.
“Olsen,” Lois proclaimed, “do you have the photos of that banquet?”
“I sent it to your computer.” Olsen replied and looked over at the other woman.
“Oh, this is Clark’s cousin, Ka…”
“Linda Danvers.” Kara interrupted and waved to Olsen, smiling.
“Olsen, if there’s nothing else, we’re a bit busy, I’m afraid.” Lois proclaimed to get rid of him.
“Of course.” Olsen replied and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
“Sorry about that.” Lois told Kara. “Olsen can be a handful at times. He keeps asking me for Lucy’s phone number.”
“Isn’t your sister a little old for him?”
“She’s only four years younger than me! And when did you change your name?” Lois protested.
“About a week after I came back. Figured I needed a new one. ‘Kara Kent’ disappeared and reappeared too many times for a reasonable explanation. Can you find the address of this other Kryptonian? We don’t have time to stand around here. Still can’t believe you and Clark didn’t tell me.”
“Well, we only found out about her a few weeks ago. Thought all the clones had been sent to New Krypton. We weren’t sure what to do, when Clark found her. We’ve had some bad experiences, after all.”
“Yeah, hopefully, this one will help us.”
Lois finally found Clark’s address book, on his computer and began looking for the woman in question. Finally, she made it to the letter ‘X’. There was one address in Brooklyn, but no name. She was sure that this was the right one. Either that, or she and Clark would have to have a little talk when he came back.
Chapter 3
Kara flew herself and Lois to Brooklyn within a few minutes and found themselves in front of an apartment building. They ran the bell for apartment 203, but no one answered. Kara nearly flew up to the apartment, but Lois managed to keep her grounded. No need to draw unwanted attention to themselves. As they stood outside of the building, they saw two young women walking up the stairs to the building. One redhead, in her mid-20’s. The other an African American around the same age. Both looking like models.
“Can we help you?” The redhead asked.
“Yes, we’re from the Daily Planet. Do you live here?” Lois asked and held up her press pass.
“Yes,” The redhead replied, “we do. I’m Liz Joyce. This is Carrie Phillips. Are you looking for someone?”
“Yes, the woman who lives in apartment 203.” Kara proclaimed.
“You mean Karen?” Carrie asked.
“Possibly… Do you know where we can find her?” Lois asked in return.
“At this time of the day, she’s probably at her office in Manhattan.” Carried replied.
“And where is her office?” Lois asked.
“Ever heard of Starrware Industries?” Liz replied sarcastically.
“Yes,” Lois replied, “does Karen work there?”
“Work?!” Carrie proclaimed. “She owns it. Struck it rich a few years back, with some software program or something.”
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