Missing Lois - TOC Story Notes: This story is mostly set in alt-dimension, although visits to the canon dimension do happen from time-to-time.
- Clark = Alt-Clark unless otherwise noted (such as when we are in the canon dimension, then 'Clark' is canon Clark)
- Lucy El = pregnant canon Lois avoiding the curse by hiding out with alt-Clark, aka Lois's secret identity
- Kal = what Lois-Lucy and alt-Clark call canon Clark
- Lola Luthor = alt-Lois, wife of Lex Luthor
- Sam Lane = alt-Lois's Dad, Lois's doctor & roommate
- Martha and Jonathan Kent = canon Clark's parents
- Mayor White = aka Perry White, former Editor-in-Chief at the DP
- James Olsen = owner of the
Daily Planet, Lois-Lucy's friend, who is working with Lois to find Lex Luthor (and hopefully alt-Lois)
- Cat Grant = helping alt-Clark out with PR on his '50 dates' charity winners and social columnist at the DP, now Acting Editor-in-Chief at the DP
- Dr. Bernard Klein = S.T.A.R. Labs scientist and Superman's 'doctor'
- H.G. Wells – famed author – inventor of the Time-Machine – the man who brought canon Lois to alt-Clark
- Lex Luthor = no explanation necessary, same bad guy as always
- Junior = Lex Luthor, Jr., Lex's first born son, creator of the Neuroscanner
- Jaxon Xavier = Lex Luthor's son and spy at
The Planet, does website design and research for the paper
- Mayson Drake = police detective, partner to Detective (in alt-world) Henderson, alt-Clark's ex-girlfriend
- The only people who know canon Lois's true identity are alt-Clark, Sam, Moonbeam (alt-Star) and now Dr. Klein. Alt-Clark told Mayson Drake that Lucy El is his sister-in-law and that he has a twin brother, but not about the other dimension. Mayson didn't believe him (thinking instead that Lucy was a con-artist).
***
What happened in Chapter 4: Part 8:With Lex’s business card in hand, Lois tried to set up an interview with the evil man himself for Clark. After work one night, while waiting for the right time in the right time zone, Lois accidently revealed to James that she was pregnant with Kal’s child. Lois set up an interview with Luthor that night for Clark – without her friend’s prior knowledge – for two weeks in the future.
***
Part 9The weeks passed and Lois got no closer to convincing Clark to let her stay in this dimension while he was in Singapore interviewing Lex Luthor. Sam compromised only so far as insisting that the time machine – who knew that H.G. Wells had left one with Clark? – would be brought to her as opposed to her being to flown to it.
Lois sat at her dining room table eating breakfast when the phone rang. Sam answered it.
“We’ll see you soon,” he said and hung up. Sitting next to Lois, he relayed the message. “Clark’s on his way.”
“Really, Sam. I’ll be just fine here in Metropolis. I won’t leave the apartment, I promise. Who knows what all this interdimensional travel is doing to the baby?”
Sam looked at her over his coffee mug. “Are you actually worried about the baby’s safety or do you hate being sent away like some poor defenseless woman?”
Lois sneered. He knew her too well. “Both,” she growled.
Her substitute father put his hand over hers. “Know that this isn’t about you.”
“I know.” She pouted. “It’s about your Lois.”
He nodded. “That’s why we need to tell Clark she’s blind as well.”
“We can’t, Sam.” Lois had debated this point in her mind long and hard. “You didn’t see him at the hospital when Mayson got hurt, Sam. He was out-of-control and then he rushed off to attack Jaxon and ended up trapped in his Virtual Reality computer. If Clark finds out that Lex blinded your daughter… who knows what mistakes he might make in anger. It’s better, better for Lois, if he doesn’t know.”
“I’m going to have to disagree with you about this one point.” Sam shook his head. “But I don’t want him make mistakes either, Lucy, which is why you need to go to the other dimension.”
“But I have put so much work into this story, I want to be here for the outcome. I want to be here in case he needs me.”
Sam sighed. “It’s so hard to let our children grow up, Lucy. Let them stand on their own two feet, take those first few steps on their own.”
She pressed her lips together. “You think I’m mothering Clark again.”
“By giving Clark the crutch of you being here, you’re telling him you don’t believe he can do this without you. He needs to be one-hundred percent confident. This is my daughter we’re talking about here.”
Lois’s heart ached. She desperately wanted to be needed. But she didn’t want to undermine his fragile confidence. This Clark wasn’t emotionally strong like her Clark. He needed to know he had sent her someplace safe, know that he protected her. Sam was right. If Clark was worried about her and the baby’s safety, he would be distracted. She sighed. “OK. I’ll go. No complaints.”
A moment later the time machine appeared in her living room. Superman stepped off the machine and then spun into his Clark clothes. Lois put a hand to her mouth. That was her Clark’s move.
Clark caught her expression and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, but it really is more convenient.”
Lois let herself breathe. “It’s okay. I just hadn’t known you had adopted it.” She swallowed. “I’ll just go get my things.”
Clark watched her leave the room and then sidled up to Sam. “She’s not going to fight me?” he asked surprised.
“She said that she saw that you were right. If you were worried about their safety, it would be a distraction.”
Clark glanced at him skeptically. “She’s never admitted that I’m right before. You must have misheard her.”
“No. He heard me correctly,” Lois said reentering the room with snow boots on her feet, her heavy coat on and a small suitcase in hand. “It might never happen again, so savor the moment.”
He grinned. “Believe me, I am.”
She put her stuff down on the passenger seat and touched the edge of the sled. As she did so, several lights came on and she pulled her hand to her chest.
A male voice spoke from the machine. “Lois Lane – DNA authorized and approved.”
“What the…” she gasped.
“Lois Lane - Voice fingerprint authorized.”
“It’s been programmed only to work with you, me and Mr. Wells. Safety precaution, in case someone else stumbled across it,” Clark explained. Then he showed her how to reprogram the machine to return to his dimension.
“So, I turn this knob here. Set the date and time here?”
“No! Don’t touch the date and time knob or you’ll travel through time. This knob controls interdimensional travel. If you don’t touch the time/date knob, it will remain in sync,” he explained.
Lois nodded. She hoped she would remember two days hence.
“I wrote down the instructions on this piece of paper,” he said with a reassuring smile, handing her the paper. “I don’t want you to get lost.”
She took a deep breath and smiled at him. “Neither do I. It was so nice of Mr. Wells to leave his spare ship with us.”
“He was worried that you might come down with time sickness again before the baby is born and he might not be around to catch it.”
“I could live without that,” Lois murmured staring at him.
“We all could,” Sam agreed.
“Ready?” Clark asked.
“No, not quite.” Lois stood up and hugged Clark. He smelled so good when he was this close. How easy it would be to fall under his spell again. She shook her head. That spinning costume change had really messed with her head. She kissed his cheek. “I’ll miss you, Clark. You can do this.” Stepping back, she took a deep breath while still staring into his eyes. Maybe it was best that she was spending a couple of days back in her dimension.
Clark moved a fraction of an inch closer to her, when Sam cleared his throat. Lois blinked her eyes and climbed back onto the time machine.
“Under your seat is an invisibility tarp. Use it to hide the machine while you’re not using it.” Clark’s voice seemed a bit rougher than normal.
Lois nodded.
“Let’s go over the ground rules, one last time.”
She sighed. “No visiting Kal. No contacting Kal. No leaving the Kent farm for any reason whatsoever.”
“No coming back early,” he reminded her.
She saluted him. “Yes, sir. Martha knows I’m coming, right?”
Clark’s eyes went wide as saucers.
“Clark.” She groaned with a shake of her head. “We’ve got to stop dropping by unannounced. One of these days, she won’t be at home.”
“You’re her grandbaby’s mama,” said Sam. “You’ll be welcome.”
Lois smiled at Sam. “Oh, wait,” she said digging through her pockets. She pulled out a small envelope and handed it to Clark. “An early Christmas present.”
Clark glanced at the envelope and started to open it, when she put her hand over his. “Wait until I’m gone.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Am I going like it?”
“Oh, yes. You’ll love it.” She grinned, putting her hand on the lever. “You just might not be happy about it.”
Lois waved to Sam, who waved back. Then with one last long glance at Clark, she pulled the lever and faded from view.
***
Clark rubbed his hand down his face. “How could she ever think she wouldn’t be a distraction?”
“Maybe a few days in the other dimension will clear her mind,” said Sam.
“Right,” Clark reluctantly agreed. He looked down at the note in his hand and decided to look at it later. He slipped it into his pocket. “But will a few days without her around clear mine?”
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Sam asked, heading into the kitchen.
Clark looked out the window. He really should be heading to work, morning meeting and all, although, he and James had already informed Cat of his weekend assignment. “Sure.” He wasn’t in a hurry to meet Lex Luthor face to face. Luthor had kidnapped the woman of his dreams. He glanced back at where the time machine had disappeared. Both of them. He wondered if he would be able to hold his anger in check. It was just one of the parts of him that he knew he failed in holding to the original Superman’s standards.
He followed Sam into the kitchen and took a mug of steaming coffee from him.
“I really appreciate you looking for my daughter, Clark. Don’t be surprised, though…” Sam was interrupted by the telephone ringing. He set down his coffee and answered it. “Hello?”
“
Is Lucy there?” Clark recognized Dr. Klein’s voice straight away.
“No. Can I take a message?” answered Sam. Clark held out his hand for the receiver. “Or would you like to speak with Clark Kent?”
“
Oh, yes. I should speak directly to him.”
Sam passed Clark the phone. “Could you please tell me why you are contacting Lucy, at home, when I specifically told you not to contact her?” Clark said, acidly.
Sam looked at him with a raised brow.
Dr. Klein swallowed and cleared his throat. “
Lucy gave me this number and asked me to contact her here at this time as she would be unavailable for a few days.”
Clark closed his eyes and grimaced. “May I ask what this is regarding?”
“
I have the prototype she asked for. She said that you would need it for your trip.”
He had no idea what Dr. Klein was speaking about. Then he remembered the envelope she handed him. “Hold on, Dr. Klein.” Clark put the phone on his shoulder and took the note out of his pocket.
Clark:
I had Dr. Klein work up something to help you track Lex Jr.’s Neuroscanner. Hope it helps on your mission. Don’t be angry with him. I didn’t go to S.T.A.R. Labs. Everything was handled via messenger.
Love, LucyClark ran his fingers over that last line of the note and then passed it to Sam. He put the phone back to his ear. “Is it operational, Dr. Klein?”
“
It only has a range of a couple of miles. I can guarantee you that the Neuroscanner is not operational in Metropolis.”
“I didn’t think it would be, Dr. Klein.”
“
Unfortunately, since I haven’t been able to pick up any readings, I cannot guarantee that the tracker works one-hundred percent. Or it could be that the Neuroscanner is turned off or broken, again. I’ll explain exactly how the tracker works when you come pick it up,” said Dr. Klein.
“Thank you, Dr. Klein. I’ll be there straight away to pick it up.” Clark hung up the phone and glanced at Sam.
He handed the note back to Clark, fear in his eyes. “The Neuroscanner? Is it what caused the pain in her head?”
Clark looked at him, confused. How had Sam known about the Neuroscanner? Sam had not been privy to that initial conversation where Clark described what Jaxon had told him about Junior’s device.
“James said that Luthor’s wife grabbed her head and was forced to her knees in pain, when she spoke out of turn during their conversation,” Sam clarified.
Ah, Lois knew that the Neuroscanner had been fixed. The little minx realized that it would have to be destroyed before he could rescue Lex Luthor’s wife.
Clark nodded to Sam. “I don’t like the way Luthor spoke to Lucy. Sam, could please you stay the weekend at my apartment? I don’t want you caught in a trap meant for her.” He tossed him his keys and then spun into his blue suit. He stepped towards the window.
“Thank you, Clark,” Sam said, hesitantly. He pressed his lips together as if he were trying hard not to say something.
“Was there something else?” Clark asked.
“Could you tell my girl that her Daddy says ‘rainbows after thunderstorms’? She’ll know what it means.” Sam’s chin shook as he spoke. “And, Clark, don’t let love blind you as her love once blinded her.”
“I won’t,” he said wondering at Sam’s strange advice. He nodded once more and blew through the windows to S.T.A.R. Labs.
***
Meanwhile, over in Lois’s home dimension…Here she was in the Kent’s barn. How in the world was she going to hide the time machine from Jonathan all weekend? Even with – Lois shook her head – had Clark actually said ‘an invisibility tarp’? Even with one of those, couldn’t Jonathan still bump into it? This was why she liked being in charge of the planning. He hadn’t even contacted Martha. Oh, Clark. She hated to be an unannounced visitor, let alone one that had to stay hidden all weekend long.
Lois took a good long listen to see if Jonathan was nearby, but only heard the animals and the blowing of wind. Oh, joy, Kansas in December. She missed Metropolis already. She put her suitcase down on the ground. Bending down was already becoming a problem with her ever bigger tummy. How was she going to reach that tarp? She squatted down and reached out her hand, holding on to the edge of the sleigh.
“Lois Lane – DNA authorized and approved,” that same male voice announced, causing her to stumble backwards and land on her bottom. So much for stealth mode. She wondered if there was a volume button. Taking her gloves from her pockets, she put them on and then proceeded to pull herself to her feet, grabbing the tarp from under the driver’s seat in the process. Ugh. Luckily, the tarp was lightweight and easily covered the time machine with one good flick of her wrists. Wow, it completely disappeared. Thank you, future inventor.
Lois picked up her suitcase and went to the barn door. She knew the general direction the from the barn to the house and concentrated in that direction. Martha, she could hear, was in the kitchen putting something together on the stove for lunch. She concentrated harder, hoping to hear Jonathan. There, he was listening to the radio and what was that other sound? It almost sounded like spooling of thread. Was he sewing?
“
Ow.” She heard him yelp, then the sucking of his finger.
“
Are you all right?” Martha called to him.
“
Huh?” he called back, lowering the volume of the radio.
“
I said, are you all right?” Martha repeated.
“
I’m fine, honey. Just cut my finger on this darn fly.” Ah, he was tying fly fishing flies in his office. Then he turned the volume back up on his radio. That radio would be great cover.
Lois opened the barn door and pushed herself through the several inches of snow to the kitchen door. She tapped softly on the window. She must have tapped too quietly, because Martha didn’t even glance her way. She tapped again. This time, Martha tilted her head and looked at the door as if she was hearing things. Lois waved at her and Martha dropped her spoon on the floor.
Clark’s mother let her in and just stared at her. “Lois?” she whispered, looking carefully at her. “What are you doing here?”
Lois set down her suitcase and shook off the snow that had accumulated on her in the two minutes it took to walk from the barn. Then she took off her heavy coat, hanging it on a hook by the door. “Can I stay for the weekend? Clark’s worried about our safety,” she said, setting her hand on her tummy.
“Of course. Stay forever, if you like,” Martha answered, looking out the door for someone else. “Where’s Mr. Wells?”
Lois shrugged with a shake of her head. “He left his spare time machine with us, just in case I went delusional again.” She grinned. “I haven’t.”
“Glad to hear it,” Martha said, wrapping her arms as well as she could around her. “My, how you’ve grown in less than a month.”
“Tell me about it.” Lois pulled out a seat and sat down. “Just two more months.” She sighed.
Martha sat down next to her. “What’s this about Clark worried about your safety? Is there something wrong in his dimension? Did some crazy psycho figure out who you are?”
Lois shook her head. “We found Lois. She’s married to Lex Luthor, like I suspected, and living in Singapore of all places. I mouthed off to Lex Luthor on the phone, when I was setting up an interview for Clark, and so now Clark is worried that Lex will send some goons after me while he’s off rescuing her.”
“You spoke to that dimension’s Lex Luthor. Are you nuts?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Lois shook her head. “I did it as my secret identity,” she said in her Southern Lucy voice.
Martha looked at her like she was still nuts. “So, Clark sent you to us? I’m going to have to tell Jonathan, Lois. I cannot keep you for the weekend and sneak around my husband’s back. It’s too much; I just can’t.”
Lois put her hand on her mother-in-law’s. “I know, Martha. But maybe we could break it to him later. Maybe not mention the baby and see if he notices I’m a different Lois than the one Clark has back in Metropolis.”
Martha looked at her head to toe. “He’ll notice.”
“I’ve got a bulky sweater in my suitcase.”
Martha raised an eyebrow. “Sweetie, did you ever own a bulky sweater before moving to the other dimension?”
Lois thought for a minute. “Perhaps not. But the snow is falling by the shovelfuls out there. It wouldn’t be unthinkable for me to wear a sweater.”
Martha shrugged. “You can try it, but we’re telling him the truth, if he notices. And we’ll have to tell him anyway. He’s sure to mention your visit when we head out to Metropolis next week for Christmas.”
Lois tapped her fingers on the table. “The less people here who know the better. We’ll think of something. If you think he can keep it from Clark, because if he gets suspicious of the stand-in…” She shivered. “The stand-in is my past. If something happens to her, I’m history.”
“I know the drill, honey. I still wish we didn’t have to lie to Clark.”
“Me, too, Martha. You don’t know how much I miss my Clark, miss sharing this with him, knowing he won’t be there for her birth.”
“Still convinced it’s a girl?” Martha asked with a smile.
“I hope I’m right or I’ll have given our first son a total complex.”
Martha laughed. “I’m sure he or she will be fine. Heaven knows that before the sexual revolution, people of both genders were all referred to by the pronoun ‘he’ and all us women turned out all right.”
“Yes, but women have always been more adaptable to gender roles.” Lois grinned.
“That’s true,” Martha agreed taking a sip of her tea. “Oh, how rude of me. Would you like something hot to drink?”
“Cocoa would be great. Or maybe some herbal tea.”
Martha got up and took the box of cocoa out of the cupboard. It only had one packet left. “Oh, dear. We’re almost out.” She glanced out the window. “That snow is really coming down. We’re going to have to make a run to the market before we get snowed in.”
“Snowed in? Does that happen often?”
“Several times every winter. Luckily, we’re farmers so we have lots of cold storage,” Martha said, pulling out a pot and filling it with a mug full of milk.
“At least, if we’re snowed in this weekend, I’ll be guaranteed no other unexpected visitors will show up.”
“Except Clark.”
“What?” Lois gasped.
“Oh, that’s not what I meant,” Martha explained. “I mean, he’d be able to get through the storm. We’re not expecting him though.” She smiled.
Lois released the breath she was holding. “Good. I really don’t need the extra stress. I’ll be so worried about Clark enough this weekend… Other Clark. I don’t trust Lex Luthor.”
“I wouldn’t imagine you would.” Martha stirred the cocoa. “While this is heating, why don’t I take you up to Clark’s old room? You can stay in there.”
Lois smiled. She hadn’t had a chance to snoop through his room the last time she and Clark were in town. She had been so worried about Bad Brain Johnson. “I’d like that.”
As they were going up the stairs, Lois intentionally masked her footsteps by making herself extra light as she stepped at the same time as Martha. If she could go the whole weekend without telling Jonathan that she was there, it would be easier on her. Maybe not easier on Martha though.
She set her suitcase down on Clark’s old footlocker at the end of his bed. The whole room was filled with his essence – childhood photos, old football flags, books. She sat down on the bed and just breathed it all in. Lois looked at Martha. “When I get back for good, I have this strange feeling I’m going to stick to him like a leech.”
Martha laughed. “Good luck with that, Mrs. Superman.”
“Oh, right.” Lois smiled. “Maybe we’ll just need a second honeymoon.”
Martha didn’t say anything, but glanced at Lois’s tummy with a skeptical expression. “We’d better get back to that cocoa before it bubbles over.”
“Can I have a minute, Martha?” Lois asked running her fingers over the bedspread.
“Of course, honey. Take as much time as you like.” Martha nodded leaving the room. Lois shut the door and then hugged his pillow. Clean. She set it down and looked around the room. She opened the dresser drawers, but all those clothes were clean and didn’t smell like him either. She opened the closet and found hanging from a hook an old red and blue scarf that Martha had obviously knitted for him. She held it up to her nose and sighed. Clark. She wrapped it around her neck and opened the door.
“Martha!” Jonathan called coming out of the office. Lois closed the bedroom door all but a crack and listened. “Martha! The weather service said we’re likely to get over a foot of snow with this storm. We better head to the market and pick up supplies, while we still can.”
“I was thinking the same thing, Jonathan. I’m making up a list, now.”
“I’m going to go out to the barn and check on the animals and feed.” He was quiet for a minute. “Martha, did you get a new coat and snow boots?”
Lois gasped. Jonathan was more observant than she had given him credit for.
“They’re Lois’s,” said Martha and left it that. She could hear her pouring the cocoa into a mug.
“OK,” he replied, hesitantly, and then she heard the door open and shut.
Lois wanted to skip down the stairs and hug Martha, but the extra weight had been throwing her off balance recently. She went into the kitchen. “You are marvelous.”
“Thank you.” Martha smiled and handed her the mug of cocoa. “What did I do?”
“Jonathan and the boots.” Lois laughed.
Martha shrugged. “He’ll ask about them again, eventually. Anything in particular you are craving at the moment? I’m making a list.”
Lois sighed and took a sip of the cocoa. “Clark.” She smiled. “He’s the only thing I crave.”
Martha nodded. “I noticed the scarf.”
“Do you think he’d mind if I borrowed it?” Lois rubbed the soft wool against her cheek.
“He hasn’t worn it in years. I doubt he’d notice it missing.”
Lois grinned. “Mine!”
“Do you want to come into town with us?” Clark’s mother offered.
Lois shook her head. “I’m not here, remember. Too many questions. Also, I told Clark I wouldn’t leave the farm.” She rolled her eyes.
“He worries about you.”
Lois nodded. “He’s gone into this super protective mode. I’m not allowed to fly. I can’t go anywhere in Metropolis unless someone from his approved list goes with me. I’m not allowed to taunt super villains anymore.” She laughed. “OK. That last one I made up. He and Sam are debating if it’s biological, you know like wild animals protecting the pregnant members of the herd.”
Martha raised a brow. “He cares about you, too.”
“There’s that, as well. He is a Clark. And Clark and Lois are destined to be together, we can’t help it.” She took a sip of her cocoa.
Martha was staring intently at her as if expecting her to say something else.
Lois continued, quickly, “But we do. He’s not my Clark. He knows that and I know that. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been trying so hard to find his Lois. Maybe with her around, he’ll stop looking so moony-eyed at me.” She sighed, because it was really hard for her to resist him when he looked at her like that.
“So, what’s he going to do with two of you around?”
Lois chuckled. “I hadn’t thought about that.” Her chuckle turned into a heavy laugh. “We’re going to drive him batty.”
“I have no doubt in my mind about that. Tell him he’s welcome to come and talk to us, should he need to.”
“I’ll do that.” Lois turned her head off to the right. “Jonathan’s on his way back to the house. I’m going back upstairs. We’ll wait for my big revelation after you get back from town, if you don’t mind.”
“Did you think of anything in particular you wanted me to pick up?” Martha asked.
Lois pushed herself to her feet. “More cocoa? I don’t know.”
“I’ll call you from the store. Maybe you’ll have thought of something by then. Perhaps something that’s not available in the other dimension.”
Lois shook her head and shrugged as she left the kitchen. She floated herself up the stairs, so as not to make any noise. Much easier on her back than climbing them. Jonathan came in to the kitchen just as Lois reached the base of the stairs.
“Ready?” he asked Martha.
“Let me just throw on my coat and snow boots.”
“What about the ones that Lois gave you?” he asked. Ah, so he thought they were hand-me-downs.
“Wrong size,” Martha replied.
“Oh.”
Lois knew where Clark got his ability to tell people the truth without them realizing he was speaking in half-truths. She shut Clark’s bedroom door and lay down on the bed.
Sleep had been avoiding her lately. She was worried about Clark and his trip to Singapore. And watching her dream Clark get all rosy-eyed about Christmas again made her just ache for him more. The other Clark was more like her; Christmas was more of a holiday to avoid than to participate in. They had bonded recently over
not putting up a tree,
not stringing lights,
not drinking eggnog, and
not buying Christmas gifts. She sighed, turned on her left side and closed her eyes.
Lois had no idea how long she had been asleep, when the phone rang. It hadn’t felt long, just a moment really, but long enough to give her that foggy mind feeling. She opened the door to Clark’s room and wandered down the hall to his folks’ room. She could hear the telephone ringing louder there.
With a yawn and a stretch, Lois pick up the telephone and murmured, ”Martha, check and see if you can get me a box of Double Fudge Crunch Bars, could you?”
“
Lois?” her husband’s voice gasped.
***End of Part 9*** CommentsChapter 4: Part 10
