Title: Origins
Author: Nadia Mack
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing
Summary: Crossover with Batman Begins. Friendships forged. Destinies realized.
Timeline: Post Batman Begins and Smallville. Author's Notes: The format was inspired by Sonia (Sunrei) because it was really easy for me to understand and transition from one section to another without feeling confused.

The storyline is simple. I'm gonna establish a link between Gotham and Smallville if my idea is going to work. Do I know where I'm going with it? No, not really. Is this a Lois and Clark story? Of course, but I'm gonna flesh out Lois' character a bit more before I throw those two love birds together.

Chapter 1

Main Floor - Wayne Enterprises, 2006

It was 10:30 in the evening and Bruce Wayne needed to meet with Lucius Fox. He had called his secretary a few hours earlier and was told he'd be working late this evening. Upon arriving to his office, he heard noises coming from the inside and he immediately went into the defensive.

He opened the door carefully and once inside, the lights were out, the only thing allowing him to see was the skyscrapers that hovered outside the office windows. And then he saw movement on the side. He crept slowly towards the busy perpetrator before grabbing his wrist.

"Hey!" he says commandingly, gripping the intruder's wrist tightly.

To his surprise, he was met with a twist of an arm and a knee to the forehead, throwing him down on his back.

He shook the surprise off and quickly swept his feet against the other, and he fell to the ground. Bruce suddenly found himself on top of him when a whimper broke his focus into two.

It was a woman.

And before either knew it, the lights turned unceremoniously on.

Bruce found himself staring into a pair of decadent green eyes that seemed to run forever. Pinned down and nowhere to run, he was suddenly at a lost to what to do.

"Ahem"

The two good looking specimens on the ground raised their heads at the interruption.

"Mr. Fox" and "Uncle Luke" they say simultaneously.

Bruce looks down on the presumed intruder with even more surprise.

"Uncle?"

All he got in return was a smirk and a hint of annoyance. "Do you mind getting off of me now, Mr. Wayne or will I have to knee you in the groin?" she says sarcastically and then added. "How's your head?" she asks amusingly.

Bruce got up, helping her up in the process. He immediately dusted himself off and fixed his unruly hair. She looked like no niece he had ever seen. He turned to face Lucius Fox.

"She's your niece?" he pointed in disbelief.

"Not biologically no" Lucius replied, greatly amused by the events that just occurred. "Mr. Wayne, I'd like you to meet Lois Lane."

"Hi," he finally greeted her correctly, extending his hand to greet hers.

She didn't respond to his extended hand, and he could understand why. Heck, he wouldn't have shaken his hand either if he was in her position.

"Look, I'm sorry about what just happened," Bruce tries to apologize. "I thought you were…"

"An intruder," she finished for him.

"Well, you were browsing around in the dark," he says calmly. The hours of lectures in the law classes he had to endure in Princeton came to the forefront of his mind.

"It isn't my fault the switch was hidden"

"You weren't looking hard enough," he retorted with equal vigor.

"Enough, you two!" Lucius mediated and turned his full attention to Lois. "It's good to see you again, Lo. Do come by more often," he insisted, hugging her warmly.

"You and The General are the only ones who call me that," she smiled, growing used to the nickname years ago. "Call me"

"I will"

When she left, Bruce turned to Lucius. "Who is she again?"

Wayne Enterprises - Applied Sciences, 2006 (Same Night)

"So let me get this straight. Her father is a General for the United States Army," he repeated Lucius' brief description of his niece.

"We knew each other a long time, Sam and I, long before Lois was even born," he explained, walking the hallways of the Applied Sciences division late in the evening.

"Explains why she thinks of you as her uncle"

"Yes and no," Lucius replied, who garnered a curious glance from Bruce. "I'm her Godfather"

Bruce's eyes went wide.

"Really"

Lucius smiled. "She made quite an impression with you, didn't she?"

Bruce unfashionably tries to shrug it off. "Well… you know… she was good… I mean, she fought well…" he brushed a hand through his hair, perplexed. "I'm not explaining myself right, aren't I?"

"Horrible, Mr. Wayne"

He laughs it off.

Narrows, Gotham City

Covered from head to toe like a homeless person, Lois maneuvered her way towards a dilapidated building. Her Uncle Luke (short for Lucius) had told her about the Narrow's and how it housed many of Gotham's dangerous citizens, so she made a point in blending in.

Removing a piece of paper held hidden beneath the stained clothing she wore, she noted the last known address her baby sister Lucy had been staying at.

Looking up at the building where she presumably resided for the last few weeks, Lois sighed in disappointment. So this is what she's a part of now. She just desperately hoped that Lucy wasn't out to get herself killed.

Inside the rotting building, she made her way up the creaking stairs and into the room. After the events of the second meteor shower that hit Smallville, she made the conscious decision to remain there until she knew Chloe and the Kent's would be all right.

Everything during that time seemed to migrate like one big giant blur.

Now, a year later, she found herself using any free time she had tracking down her wayward sister. She had even went as far as calling Uncle Luke for help, and to her relief, he had found her, for a brief time anyway.

A smile crept on her face when she recalled her first meeting with the billionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne. Come to think of it, judging by the way he presented himself to her, and even afterwards, he didn't feel at all like the playboy Gotham has so easily dubbed him as.

Looking around, she found nothing to trace where Lucy had gone off to this time.

Swoosh!

Lois turned at the sound; it was uncharacteristically windy like for the simple fact that the Narrows and its occupants were so tightly housed together, winds were hardly anything that can be felt.

In the distance, she heard the muffled sounds of children being harassed in the street. Lois ignored her surroundings and sped out.

"No, leave her alone," the little boy pleaded.

"Peter!" she cried, clutching the bag of chips to her chest.

"Come on, kiddie. Give it to me!" the harasser commanded hoarsely.

Up above, Batman waited to make his move.

"NO! Go away!" the boy tried to fight back, but the man pushed him hard to the side.

"HEY!" Lois yelled at him, removing the stained cloak she wore. "Leave them the hell alone," she threatened.

Batman looked down in momentary surprise. Where had she come from? She seemed to be everywhere nowadays.

The harasser took out a knife and threw it at her, but he missed by a long shot. As Batman was about to fly down and assist, he saw Lois remove the knife the attacker threw lazily at her and she threw right back at the harasser with intense precision.

"AHHH!" he screamed, the knife imbedded in the middle of his palm.

Lois kneeled by the children. "Go home," she says softly.

"BITCH!" the man yelled at her.

She rolled her eyes and stood in front of him calmly, her head cocked to the side. "Why don't you go away before I decide to give you a new religion?"

The man's eyes pop out at the implications.

He ran away, weeping.

"So many criminals, just about the same amount of idiots," she muttered under her breath before picking up her cloak. She was dusting it off when she felt another presence behind her.

She turned abruptly and was met with a very imposing figure.

It took but a second to regain her composure. "A little too early for Halloween, don't you think?" She eyed the man in the black bat suit up and down. "Nice outfit"

"You're not afraid of me," he replies in a monotonous baritone voice.

She arched her eyebrows knowingly. "I've seen worse"

Wayne Manor

"She thinks my outfits bad," Bruce said, walking briskly across the cave grounds, removing his gear. He's had to meet her twice and both times she ran circles around him effortlessly.

They walked into the elevator.

"Who, Master Bruce?" Alfred followed, wondering incredulously. Since his master's return, he had been awfully cranky.

His secret doorway opened in his study. "Lois Lane," he answered, flopping down the nearest sofa.

"Lois Lane," Alfred repeated. "This wouldn't happen to be the same woman that you presumed broke into Lucius' office now, would it?"

"Not now, Alfred"

"As you wish, Master Bruce"

District Attorney's Office

"I want the depositions on my desk by noon." There was a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey Rachel," the voice was vaguely familiar.

She looked up and saw the visitor's reflection on the mirror. "Lois!" she spun around and launched herself into her arms. "What are you doing here? Gotham's the last place I expected to see you"

"I was in town and I wanted to say hello to an old friend." She looked around her scattered desk. "How's crime fighting working for you?" she asks with a wry smile.

"Some times when I think it's getting better, something happens to make it ten times worst," she sighed a bit.

"You're doing the best you can, Rach. Don't beat yourself up for it"

She sighed again restlessly. "Thanks, but what about you? What's going on in the life of Lois Lane?"

"People have got to stop saying my name in full," she quipped crossing her arms across her chest. "As of my life, nothing all that interesting really. School and Lucy is about as simple as I can describe"

Rachel's face softens. "Have you heard from her?"

Lois shook her head. "She's making an active effort to deceive me. She's become a stranger to me now, Rach. I don't know what to do anymore"

"You'll think of something, you always do"

"Thanks for the encouragement"

"Listen, where a bit hectic with work right now." She picks up an invitation. "A friend of mine is holding a Gala this evening. You should come," she says handing her the invite.

Lois takes it and raised an eyebrow upon seeing the name plastered in expensive ink across the invitation.

"Bruce Wayne?"

"The one and only"

"I'll pass." Truth is, there was something about Bruce that reminded her a bit of a certain farm boy she knew. She deduced it to simple tall, dark and impeccably handsome features they both carried.

Rachel was a bit taken aback. "What? Why not? Come on, Lois, I haven't seen you in years regardless of how many e-mails we exchange. It'll be like old times," she wholeheartedly urged.

"If I say yes, will you halt all legal action," Lois says funnily.

Rachel laughs. "You got it"