Missing Lois - TOC Author’s Note: The “Lois” in this part refers to alt-Lois. Canon Lois will be called “Lucy” to help lessen the confusion between the two characters.
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 usually canon Clark)
- Lucy El = pregnant canon Lois avoiding the curse by hiding out with alt-Clark, aka Lois's secret identity
- Kal = Lucy El's husband's name, or what Lois-Lucy and alt-Clark call canon Clark
- Lois = alt-Lois, wife of Lex Luthor
- Lola Luthor = ‘wife’ of Lex Luthor; alt-Lois, if not referring to Clois (Cloned Lois)
- Mr. Amazing = alt-Lois's nickname for Superman
- Wow Woman = alt-Clark's nickname for his Lois
- Ultra Woman = originally the costume Lucy/Lois wore to Perry's 'Come as Your Favorite Superhero' party; now, alt-Lois.
- Martha and Jonathan Kent = canon Clark's parents
- Lex Luthor = no explanation necessary, same bad guy as always, this time bald
- Junior = Lex Luthor, Jr., Lex's first born son, creator of the Neuroscanner
- Barry Balson = Superman beat reporter for DP
- Mayson Drake = police detective, partner to Detective (in alt-world) Henderson, alt-Clark's ex-girlfriend
- Dr. Bernard Klein = S.T.A.R. Labs scientist and Superman's 'doctor'
- The only people who know canon Lois's true identity are alt-Clark, Sam, Moonbeam (alt-Star), Dr. Klein and alt-Lois. 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.
To refresh your memory on the last part:
Chapter 7: Part 1***
Part 2Meanwhile back at the Daily Planet in Lucy’s home dimension…“Jimmy,” Clark said, waving to his friend standing by the coffee machine. “How much do we owe you for our share of Chinese food the other night? Sorry about ditching you like that.”
“It’s okay, CK.” Jimmy smiled. “I knew you’d get me back. You’re always good about that.”
“Thanks. How much?”
Jimmy pulled the receipt out of his wallet. “Did you hear about the new sextuplets just delivered at Met U. Hospital?”
“Sextuplets?” Lois whistled, adding sugar to her coffee. “Ouch. Wouldn’t want to be that mother.”
“Wouldn’t want to write the article,” murmured Ralph, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “And we sure don’t want you to write it, Lois.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lois asked. Clark glanced up from the receipt Jimmy handed him, curious.
“After you went bonkers last summer, I ended up with that teen pregnancy article Perry had assigned you. Never again.” Ralph raised his hands and laughed.
“Bonkers?” Clark inquired, brow raised.
“I didn’t go crazy,” Lois blew off Ralph’s statement with a wave of her hand and returned to her desk. “Just a little exhaustion.”
Clark looked at Jimmy. “Bonkers?”
Jimmy pressed his lips together and glanced away. So, there was truth to Ralph’s statement.
“When was this?” Clark asked his friend.
“Late June, early July. It was nothing, Clark. Don’t worry about it.” Jimmy tried to wave it off as well, but then he swallowed. It was definitely something.
“What happened?” Clark coaxed him.
“It was while you were on that Intergang assignment.” Jimmy shook his head and glanced over at Lois, making sure she couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he lowered his voice anyway. “She was on this strange diet, bananas and yogurt. Perry thought the lack of protein and lack of Clark made her mind go a little out of whack.”
So, this meltdown happened while he was away with Zara and the New Kryptonians. “Bananas and yogurt? Even for Lois that’s a funky diet. She hates bananas.”
“She said it was a pre-wedding diet. I don’t understand women, CK. Why would a woman as beautiful as Lois think she’d need to lose weight? She even stopped drinking coffee, so she was extra crabby. Perry told her you loved her just the way she was, but she didn’t listen.”
“A strange diet doesn’t sound too bonkers.”
“Oh, that wasn’t the bonkers part, that was the cause,” replied Jimmy, checking off the reasons on his fingers. “The bonkers was her falling asleep at the morning meeting, almost passing out at her desk before turning green and then sitting in the conference room repeating your name for three minutes straight. Clark. Clark. Clark. Clark. Clark.” Jimmy shook his head. “Perry thought she might throw up, so he sent her home.”
“What?” Clark stammered. “How come nobody told me about this?”
“It was nothing. I drove her home. She got some sleep, your Mom came to visit her for a girls’ weekend, and she was right as rain when she returned on Monday. Fine, she couldn’t remember my girlfriend’s name, but same old Lois, otherwise.”
“My Mom?” Clark raised an eyebrow. This was more than exhaustion if Lois called on his Mom. “When was this again?”
“I don’t know. You’d been gone something like thirty-five days, three hours, according to Lois.” Jimmy laughed with a shake of his head.
“That’s quite a specific number, Jimmy.” Clark crossed his arms and waited.
“We’d been talking about the reason for the rise in teen pregnancies or something. Ralph made his usual crude comment tying Superman to teen pregnancy rate, literally. Lois jumped in to defend Superman as she always does…”
Clark glanced over at his wife, his staunchest supporter, and smiled tenderly.
“She said that Superman had been ‘gone for months’,” Jimmy continued. “I told her I didn’t think that was right, and asked her how long you had been gone, because you went undercover around the same time. She checked her agenda and told me something like ‘thirty-five days, three hours,’ and that’s when she turned green and started repeating your name over and over.” He smiled, patting Clark on the shoulder. “She was worried about you, that’s all. You hadn’t checked in for a week or something. But you’re here now. She’s fine. It was a long time ago. Eight months back, thereabouts. Don’t read too much into it. It didn’t mean anything.” Jimmy walked back to his desk.
Clark felt like he had been hit in the head with a shovel and it actually hurt. He saw stars. Eight months? He swallowed. Eight months ago, Lois freaked out because he had been gone for what, five weeks, when they had been talking about pregnancy. And then she called his Mom to visit her. Five weeks after their
first, first time? Had she missed her period?
Only… Clark stared at his wife… only she didn’t remember their
first, first time. Said it couldn’t have happened or the curse would have kicked in. Only it had happened. They had definitely made love. And five weeks later she had a public freak-out, got sent home from work, spent the weekend with his Mom and then returned to work, just fine. Clark sat down at his desk.
“Are you all right, Clark? You look like you saw a ghost,” Lois said, placing her hand on his shoulder.
“Lois, you didn’t miss anything early last summer, did you?” he murmured, taking hold of her hand and kissing it.
Her eyes went wide as her body froze. “Like what, Clark?”
Clark stood up and wrapped his arms around her; she was shaking. He lowered his voice, “Like your period?”
Lois hit him in the arm and laughed. “Clark!”
He raised a brow. “Well?”
She grabbed his tie, then whispered, “Of course not. How could I? You know we didn’t… until our honeymoon.” She pulled him in for a kiss. There it was, that denial again.
“Lois, did my Mom come visit you last summer?”
Lois froze again. “Uh-huh.”
“Why?” He raised a brow, studying her closely.
She swallowed as her eyes darted everywhere but to his face, her heart rate increasing. “Exhaustion. Over work. It was nothing, Clark.” She kissed him and then again, deeper. “I was fine. Just missed you, that’s all. I needed someone I could talk to... really talk to about you.”
He took her hand in his. “OK. It doesn’t matter. Just curious.”
Lois released a breath she had been holding and returned to her desk. OK. That was weird. His wife’s explanation made perfect sense, but a part of her was lying. There was something she didn’t want him to know. He wondered what it was? Did his Mom know? He shook his head. He couldn’t go around his wife and ask his Mom. No, that would surely get him into trouble.
Why had Lois had a meltdown? Why had his mother come to visit? What was Lois lying about? And why was he almost certain it had to do with that dream Lois who came to visit him before Thanksgiving?
***
Back in the other dimension…Mayson Drake walked into the newsroom and straight up to Clark’s desk. He glanced up.
“Mayson!”
“You didn’t call. Can we talk?” Mayson asked, nodding toward the conference room. “Now.”
“Sure.”
With a raised brow, Mayson glanced at Lucy typing away at her computer and then walked into the conference room.
Clark shut the door behind him. “What’s going on, Mayson?”
“I’m removing myself from Lois Lane’s murder investigation.”
“What?” Clark was startled. He hadn’t expected this. “Why?”
“I know.”
“Know what, Mayson?” he asked.
“I know that wasn’t Lois we buried the other day.” She swallowed. “I can’t, in good conscience, continue working on her murder investigation when I know she isn’t dead.”
“What?” Clark gasped. Oh, God, they didn’t need this. No one was supposed to know. How did Mayson figure it out? He gaped at her.
“The body we buried had long hair. Lois cut hers when she started impersonating Lucy.”
His jaw dropped. Clark turned and looked at Lucy – his Lois – at her desk. Mayson knew. She knew that it was his Lois she had lunch with a couple weeks past. Lucy glanced at him, alarm in her eyes.
“I won’t say anything, Clark,” Mayson continued. “I just don’t want to be in a position to be put on the stand someday and asked questions about this case. So, I asked to be removed, because of you. Because we dated and because of your relationship with Ultra Woman. I thought you should know.”
Clark had no idea what to say. To admit the whole thing or deny it, although denying it would be tantamount to lying. He couldn’t deny it if she asked him directly, which strangely she hadn’t. She just stated the facts.
Mayson sighed, touching his arm. “I still love you, Clark. I know this wouldn’t look good for you if it came out. I know Lois did it to get away from Luthor. Having met the guy, I can’t say I blame her. I won’t say anything, because even though I know you would do anything for her, even now. I don’t think you had anything to do with this. You were crushed the other day at her apartment. You really thought she was dead. I don’t envy Ultra Woman; she must really trust you the two of you.” Mayson shook her head.
“Thank you, Mayson,” he murmured. “You’re a good friend.”
“I just have one question, Clark.” Mayson closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and stared at him. “Who did we bury in Lois’s grave?”
Clark swallowed. The direct question of all direct questions. “Lola Luthor; the clone that Lex killed the night I rescued Lois in Singapore.”
“Poetic. I guess, Lex was right after all.” Mayson chuckled. “Well, he won’t learn the truth from me.”
“Thank you.” It was all he could say.
Mayson thought about that information some more. “Clark, didn’t she die back in December? How come she didn’t look decayed?”
He nodded. “I buried her near my parents’ graves in Smallville.” Near his farmhouse would describe the location better, but that detail wasn’t important. “Her body must have become frozen in the cold winter temperatures.”
“Let’s hope that Lex isn’t able to exhume Lola’s body. Frog DNA and the fracturing of the red blood cells due to being frozen might be noticed by a thorough autopsy and give Lois away.”
Clark swallowed. “Then let’s hope every judge in town continues to deny Lex that opportunity.”
“Oh, by the way,” Mayson said opening the door of the conference room. “Henderson wanted to let you know, Lex Luthor is insisting we add Ultra Woman to our list of suspects in Lois’s bombing. Same garbage he was spouting at the funeral.” She shook her head. “It won’t stick.”
Clark watched as his ex-girlfriend left. She was still quite a woman.
***
Lois, dressed in her Lucy costume, joined Clark at the conference room door.
“So, Ultra Woman is a suspect in Lois Lane’s death, huh? I just can’t win, can I?”
Clark smiled reassuringly at her. “Mayson’s right. It won’t stick.”
“Should we write it up?” she asked him.
“Go ahead and tell Barry. He’s covering the Lois investigation. I told Gareth I wouldn’t write anything on Ultra Woman or Lois Lane. I was too biased.”
“I could write it,” Lois suggested.
“Ha. Ha.”
She shook her head. “Lex Luthor thinks Ultra Woman didn’t rescue Lois, so she could have Superman free and clear.” Lois chuckled wickedly at him with a bouncing eyebrow. “There is a little truth in that.”
Clark shrugged. “Who knew I had such an effect on women?”
Clark’s secret girlfriend slugged him on the arm, hard. “Not me, buster. I’m a married woman.”
He rubbed his arm. “Ow. I’m lucky to have you, Lucy.” His sarcasm wasn’t lost on her.
“Perry called,” she told him. “He said he had the scoop of a lifetime and he wanted us both there. Mayor’s house, drinks, six p.m.”
“It’s a wonder we get anything accomplished. Wait a minute. Lucy doesn’t drink.”
Lois rolled her eyes. Just another facet of her wonderful new persona. “I have that next Intergang article finished. Let them try to come after me again.” She grinned at him, gleefully. Let them try and catch her this time.
“Please, no.” Was that panic in Clark’s voice and fear in his eyes?
She put her hand on his arm, reassuring him she would be fine. “OK.” When would he get used to how unbreakable she now was? Perhaps they had killed her off once too many times.
Clark released his breath. “Thank you.”
“We’ll wait until what’s-her-name goes home. Then we’ll have some fun with Intergang.”
“Lu-cy.”
Lois’s gleeful grin reappeared.
“Do I have to tell you the code, again?”
Heaven forbid! Not again! “No.” Thou shall not kill, thou shall not break the law, thou shall work within the guidelines of the justice system. Blah. Blah. Blah.
“Good.”
Lois sat back down at her desk. What was it going to take? She was invulnerable and she could tell he still worried about her. She heard someone calling for help and looked to him.
“I’ll go,” he said, disappearing toward the supply room.
Lois nodded with a sigh. Of course,
he would.
The phone rang. “Research. Lucy El, speaking.”
The man on the other end swallowed, nervously. “
Hello, Lucy.”
Lois raised a brow. Who was this? She didn’t recognize his voice. “Hello.”
“
It’s Dr. Klein. Is Clark in?”
Aha. Just the man with whom she needed to speak. “No, just went on a call, Dr. Klein. How are you?” She hoped she didn’t sound too enthusiastic.
“
Fine. The big question is, how are you?”
Clark wasn’t joking when he said Dr. Klein knew everything. Let’s see, how had Lucy been answering that question recently? “Fat.”
“
That’s to be expected.”
“Will you be there for me should I need you?” This was what Lucy wanted her to ask him.
The scientist cleared his throat. “
I don’t think that’s the best idea.”
Clark had definitely put the fear of Superman into him about Lucy, but they needed him. “This isn’t the best time to discuss this. Shall I come to you?”
“
NO!” He gasped. Ooops. That’s right. No going to S.T.A.R. Labs.
“It’s okay. Clark read me the riot act, too. I’ll send a friend instead.”
He gulped. “
Just tell Clark I called. We need to schedule our next appointment.”
“Will do,” Lois answered, hanging up. She wrote the message up for Clark. She wondered exactly how Clark had threatened the man.
Despite what she wrote to Martha, Lois knew that Kal’s Lucy was worried and she wanted the whole team assembled. Lois thought a part of Lucy wanted to have the birth in a hospital with a flock of medical staff available, just in case. But for some crazy reason Lucy kept saying “no hospitals, no medical staff.” Lois knew it would cause too many questions, if something went wrong, but there was something else worrying Lucy, making her extra paranoid. Lucy told her that she didn’t like that Sam suggested that they have the birth elsewhere, more secluded and soundproof than at the apartment.
Actually, the apartment had been soundproofed and reinforced structurally when she and Clark had repaired it, Lois smiled. They had wanted a little extra precaution, should they ever spend the night there in the future.
Lucy hadn’t liked any of the alternative locations that Sam and Clark had come up with. Lois had wanted more medical personnel, but there weren’t any more in their small circle and Lucy refused to add anyone else to their circle. Lucy said she would feel better with just Dr. Klein’s advice. Clark refused. He didn’t want Dr. Klein to come to the birth, but Lucy and Lois both knew should there be super complications, Clark would want him there. Lucy had asked Lois to convince Dr. Klein to be on standby. Lois smiled. This looked like a job for Ultra Woman.
***
Ultra Woman saw Dr. Klein walk out of S.T.A.R. Labs and over to his motorcycle. She landed next to him. “Hello.”
He stumbled backwards almost knocking over his bike. She grabbed it and put it back upright.
“You!”
Ultra Woman smiled. “Lucy mentioned she was sending a liaison… a friend.”
Dr. Klein cleared his throat. “You’re a friend?” He seemed astonished. Exactly how much did the man know?
Ultra Woman frowned. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t be her friend, Dr. Klein?”
The scientist shook his head adamantly. So, he did know. Wow! Clark wasn’t kidding when he said that Lucy had gone over the edge.
“Needless, she’s my friend and she asked me to convince you to be available for her, should she need you. Clark’s being stubborn.”
He gulped and nodded. “Superman doesn’t want me anywhere near Lucy and…” Dr. Klein lowered his voice. “… the baby.”
“It’s not his. You know that, right?” She wanted to make that crystal clear.
Dr. Klein nodded. “Do you know…” He swallowed. “… her husband?”
Ultra Woman smiled with a slight nod.
“Wow!” He gulped. “It’s so hard to fathom. Well, not since you showed up. Obviously, there are more of you… Oh, God! There are more of you!” His eyes popped from their sockets and he gripped his bike.
Ultra Woman chuckled. “We did grow up here.” She wasn’t quite sure how Clark had described Kal’s background to Dr. Klein, if he had.
“Right.”
“I am curious about one thing. What would cause Lucy to come and visit you when she was so… ill?” She raised a brow.
Dr. Klein looked away. “She was searching for someone,” he murmured.
“At S.T.A.R. Labs?”
“No.” The scientist didn’t want to elaborate. He glanced around and up to the sky, shading his eyes.
So, Ultra Woman waited with her hands on her hips. Superman crossed his arms, Ultra Woman put her hands on her hips. Lucy had explained the difference.
“Lois Lane,” Clark’s doctor finally admitted.
“Pardon me?”
“She wanted help finding Lois Lane.”
Lois hadn’t expected that. “How could you help find Lois Lane?”
Dr. Klein looked extremely uncomfortable.
“I owe Lois my life. She rescued me from a trap into which I had fallen.”
This piqued his interest. “How could you have been trapped? You have the same powers as Superman, right?”
“Not all traps can be broken with strength,” she replied, cryptically.
“Ah. Like the Neuroscanner.” He nodded.
“The Neuroscanner?” What did this man know about that?
“The device that was holding Lois Lane captive. The one that allowed… the ‘bad man’… as Lucy called him, to see through her eyes and hear through her ears. And talk directly to her mind. Give her migraines.”
Ultra Woman remembered all too well. “And you developed a device that neutralized this Neuroscanner?” she asked him in awe, gaining more respect for the scientist every moment.
“I wish. No, Lucy wanted me to find a way to track the Neuroscanner back to its source. So she gave me a sample of Lois’s hair and asked for me to find the man controlling it.”
Ultra Woman took a deep breath and slowly released it. Lucy had risked everything to talk to Dr. Klein about a way to trace the Neuroscanner signal back to Lex, Jr. so Superman could make sure that she would no longer be tortured by him. “Did you do it? Did you find a way to trace the source?” He must have. She hadn’t had any more headaches since leaving Singapore. Actually, Lex, Jr. had been right in the middle of giving her a migraine when the pain and his voice had disappeared. That was right before Mr. Amazing appeared.
“As far as I know. Superman did rescue her originally, I understand.” Dr. Klein sighed. “Poor Clark.”
My God! Did Clark tell everyone he was in love with her? She shook her head. And he told
her to be discreet.
“No, I didn’t mean that. I meant…” Dr. Klein stumbled over his words before clamping his mouth shut.
“It’s hard when you lose a friend,” Ultra Woman said and the doctor nodded. “I don’t think Clark would be able to handle it, if we were to lose Lucy as well.”
Dr. Klein blanched.
“He would want everything possible to be done for her. And besides a medical doctor, a superpower expert might be exactly what she needs on the big day. Who knows what kind of complications we might run across?”
Dr. Klein looked her in the eye. “I’m his expert?”
Clark’s girlfriend nodded. “You’re the best we’ve got. The baby’s due on the fifteenth, so be sure to keep your schedule open.”
The scientist cleared his throat. “Ultra Woman, you do know that it could be anytime in the two weeks surrounding the fifteen, if not sooner, right?”
Panic filled her eyes. “Let’s hope not. But just in case, don’t leave town.”
Dr. Klein nodded. There was still something obviously on his mind, but for a minute he didn’t say anything. He glanced back up into the sky. What?... Ah, Superman. Why had Clark scared this man? Finally the scientist leaned forward, lowering his voice, “What will he do to me if I can’t do anything for her?”
Ultra Woman set a reassuring hand on his arm. “If you have tried your best, nothing. That’s what he gives every day and he expects no less from everyone else. I fear more of what he would do to himself, if something were to happen to her.”
“You love him.” Dr. Klein sighed in relief. “Clark has learned some hard lessons this year. In some ways, he’s quite naïve, especially about women.”
Ultra Woman couldn’t help but grin mischievously. “Not anymore.”
She flew off and could hear him laughing to himself. “Good for you, Clark. Good for you.”
*** End of Part 2 *** CommentsChapter 7: Part 3
