Second Chances: Superman and Lois

Chapter 32

John Henry Irons was getting frustrated. He'd spent weeks on board his ship trying to regain contact with his daughter after weeks of silence, but no luck.

Which was why he'd decided to maybe get off the ship for a while and get some fresh air, since it was clear that he wasn't getting anywhere, so maybe a change of scenery could help.

Since he was technically a contractor for DOD right now, he was living near Smallville. Both the DOD and even Superman had tried to help him regain contact with Natalie, but this was beyond their expertise. And while John had faith that his daughter would find a way to him, that didn't mean that he wasn't getting anxious about the lack of contact with her.

That was why he was going into town today, even though he was aware of the fact that the DOD was currently tracking his every move, since they knew who he was and he doubted that Sam Lane trusted him enough to let him travel into a populated area without some kind of supervision, not that John blamed him one bit, since he hadn't made the best first impression when he'd arrived on this earth.

Anyways, John Henry had decided to stop in at the local diner for some real food instead of the rations he had on his ship, which he was starting to run low on. He was likely going to need to find some kind of work to pay for his utilities.

Anyways, when he entered Rosie's Diner hoping he had enough cash on him to cover a decent meal or even a cup of coffee.

However, before he could even sit down, he felt someone grab his arm and pull him back out.

"What the hell?" John Henry asked as he turned to see that the person who grabbed him was none other than mayoral candidate Lana Lang.

"I could ask you the same question. What the hell are you doing in my town? From what I hear, you're lucky you're not in a government prison right now." Lana said and that's how John knew that somehow, Lana knew the truth about him.

"How do you?" John asked.

"Know about you? Here's a hint." Lana said as her eyes glowed red, just like Superman's.

"You're a kryptonian." John said.

"One who does not like dangerous criminals in my town. Superman told me all about you. So why the hell are you here?" Lana demanded.

"I just came here to get a bite to eat. I made my peace with Superman. Now I'm more interested in what caused Superman to go bad on my earth to make sure it doesn't happen again." John said and Lana calmed down after seeing and hearing nothing but truth.

"Sorry, but when Superman warned me about you and then I saw you in my town, even though you didn't have the warsuit." Lana said, a bit embarrassed at her reaction.

"I get it. If I were in your shoes, I'd react the same way." John said, assuring her that he understood and didn't hold it against her.

"Thank you. Now, since I pulled you off unfairly, why don't you let me buy you lunch. Especially since I'm guessing you don't have any cash on you right now." Lana said with a smirk.

"Not much and I've been a bit preoccupied on something else to try and find work." John said.

"Really with what?" Lana asked as they sat down in a booth.

"Trying to find a way to get in touch with my daughter." John said.

"Where is she?" Lana asked, since Clark hadn't mentioned this part to her.

"She's stuck in a different dimension than this one, but not our home one either and I'm grateful for that, since this world's Superman might still be a hero, but mine became a monster. But before I bring Natalie here, I want to make sure that won't happen again here." John said and Lana saw the true man John Henry was.

"I still can't believe there's a world out there where Superman turns evil." Lana said, though she knew it was because John Henry had married Lois before Clark could, since Clark had told her about that and his marriage to Kara. It seemed like he had a thing for women who in this room had a special relationship with Superman.

"I couldn't believe it either, but after watching him destroy Metropolis, I did." John Henry said.

"Well, hopefully you can keep that from happening, since Superman is an old friend of mine." Lana said.

"Really? How close?" John asked.

"I was almost Mrs. Superman before our lives went in different directions. He chose to become Superman while I chose to stay here and live a normal life." Lana said.

"Normal life with powers?" John asked.

"I actually gave up my powers until a few weeks ago when it turned out that I still passed them onto my daughter Sarah." Lana said, right as the diner door opened the very devil walked in with her girlfriend Aubrey.

"That's her over there." Lana said as she quickly pulled a menu up to cover her face.

"Everything okay?" John asked, looking at her.

"I don't want Sarah to think that this is anything it's not, especially since she didn't take it very well when her dad started dating again." Lana said, inadvertently revealing that she was divorced as John looked over at Sarah, who quickly tried to act like she didn't see them before Aubrey pulled her over to a booth.

"I don't think you need to worry. If the look on her face, she clearly got the wrong idea, but she liked it." John said.

"I'll deal with her later. But now, let's just have lunch." Lana said and John nodded as their waitress finally came up to take their order.