Missing Lois - TOC Author’s Note: Canon Lois will once again be addressed as ‘Lois’ or ‘Kal’s Lois’ or ‘Kal’s Lucy.’ She will still be called ‘Lucy’ when others who know her as that speak with or about her. Alt-Lois will now be called ‘Ultra Woman’, ‘Ultra Lois’, ‘the other Lois’ or just plain “Ultra” or sometimes a rare ‘Ultra Lucy.’ I’m trying to keep it clear, who is who. I apologize in advance for any confusion between the Loises.
Story Notes: This story is mostly set in alt-dimension, although visits to the canon dimension do happen from time-to-time and more regularly during this chapter.
- 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 alt-Lois's secret identity
- Kal = Lucy El's husband's name, or what Lois-Lucy and alt-Clark call canon Clark
- Lois = canon Lois (again); unless we're in canon dimension, then Lois could be referring to the substitute Lois borrowed from canon Lois's pre-amnesia time to fill in for canon Lois while she was in alt-dimension; or the ‘deceased’ wife of alt-Luthor
- Ultra Woman = originally the costume Lucy/Lois wore to Perry's 'Come as Your Favorite Superhero' party; now, alt-Lois
- Lara = the name Lois has chosen for her daughter (after Clark’s birth mother)
- Mr. Amazing = alt-Lois's nickname for Superman
- Wow Woman = alt-Clark/Superman's pet nickname for alt-Lois/Ultra Woman
- Sam Lane = alt-Lois's Dad, Lucy’s doctor & Clark’s roommate
- James Olsen = owner of the
Daily Planet, Lois-Lucy's friend
- 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 previous part:
Chapter 7: Part 6***
Part 7Ultra Woman ran into the operating room. “Am I too late?” she asked urgently, carefully tossing the bag of blood to Clark. He hung it on the IV pole that Sam had hooked up in her absence. She stumbled and fell to the ground.
“Lois!” both men gasped.
“I’m fine. Just tired. Exhausted.” Ultra Woman swallowed, taking a breath. “I left Dr. Klein at S.T.A.R. Labs. I couldn’t carry him back.” She leaned up against the wall of the room. “It took me twice as long to fly here as it did with me carrying him.” She closed her eyes.
“Just rest, honey. You’ll feel better soon,” Clark reassured her. He pulled a blanket from the pile next to him and tossed it to her.
“Okay,” Sam said releasing a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” He plugged Ultra Woman’s new crimson donation into Lois’s IV. He returned to the end of the table to continue sponging up her hemorrhaging blood that would not stop.
Clark still held on to Kal’s wife’s hand. “You can do this, Lois. Live. Live for Clark. Live for Lara. The world needs you. Superman needs you. Survive, honey. Survive.” Nothing happened. He looked down the table to Sam, who shook his head. Clark leaned against her head. “I will never give up on you, Lois. You can do this. You can beat the curse. Don’t let Tempus win!”
Lois’s chest arched upward as the blood finally reached her heart. Then she started to twitch slowly at first, then more and more violently from head to foot. Ultra Woman stood up and walked to Clark. They just stood there and watched. The twitching slowed as Lois started to float.
“Clark, hold her down!” Sam ordered.
Clark smiled at Ultra Woman as he held Lois to the table. “Powerful juice you’ve got there, honey.”
Ultra Woman kissed his cheek and picked up Lara, cooing softly to the baby. “Who loves little Lara? Mama loves little Lara.”
Sam glanced up and watched his daughter for a moment, then shook his head like he was seeing a completely different person. He glanced at Clark who smiled weakly at him. Never go through this again, huh? Wait ‘til he got a taste of being a Grandpa.
Clark looked at Kal’s Lois and sighed. Had it worked? He closed his eyes and listened to her heart. “Her heart has stopped racing,” he said to Sam. “And her pulse feels stronger.”
“That’s something. Let’s hope that super juice will stop the bleeding. I wish we had some morphine.”
“It isn’t good for the baby,” Ultra Woman said from the other side of the room where she was floating lightly with Lara.
“She’s not pregnant anymore,” Clark reminded her.
Ultra Woman rolled her eyes. “Mother’s milk.” Why did Clark feel like she just called him an idiot? “We need to feed Lara soon if Lucy doesn’t perk up enough to breastfeed. Anyone think to bring any formula?” At their silence, she shook her head. “We need to give her a bath. Get her vital stats. Weight, height. Is Lucy stable enough to move?”
Sam shook his head.
Clark’s girlfriend cooed to the baby. “We’ll give Mommy a few more minutes, won’t we, little Lara?”
“It took you all night to come out of your coma, Lois,” her father reminded her.
“She had been in a coma?” Clark looked at his Lois again with intense love. He can’t believe how close he had been at losing her. Twice. No. Three times. Kryptonite. Clark shook his head. That woman was his world. She smiled at him. “Is Lucy in a coma? Or just unconscious?” he asked the doctor.
Sam shrugged. “She’s had quite a day. Exhausted. Gave birth. Little to no sleep. That Lucy’s alive is more than I could hope for after what she’s been through in the last hour. Sleep is the best thing for her right now. I don’t want to move her for at least another hour unless there is a drastic change.”
Clark nodded. Understandable.
“Lois, why don’t you bundle Lara up and take her home? Do everything you need to do. There is formula at the apartment. If you need anything, I’m sure Mr. Olsen would make a grocery run for you.”
“At one o’clock in the morning?” Ultra Woman raised a brow at him. “We have formula, bottles, and diapers at the apartment, she should hold out until morning. And I wouldn’t mind some one-on-one time with my little darling here.”
Clark sighed. “Lucy’s little darling.”
Ultra Woman waved her hand at the distinction. “Lara can’t tell the difference, Clark. Just like she thinks you’re her Daddy.” She glanced over at him and he wondered if she could sense the flip-flop of his heart when she said that.
“You all right for flying home?” he asked. “Maybe you should rest here a little while longer. Kryptonite exposure isn’t easy to recover from.”
Lois floated over to him. “Stay with Lucy, Clark. She needs you right now. I’ll be okay. I’ve got my little battery charger, right here.” She gave a silly grin to Lara.
“Someone should go back and check on Dr. Klein. The lab needs to be sterilized and the tools and residual blood samples destroyed.”
“Has she stopped hemorrhaging, Daddy?” Ultra Woman asked.
“For the most part.” Dr. Lane nodded, tossing some bloody towels into the trash.
“I’ll go,” Ultra Woman said, almost handing Lara to Clark and then changing her mind. They floated over to Sam. “Do you want to go to Grandpa?” she asked Lara.
“I could use a break.” Sam sighed, pulling off his bloody gloves. “Hi, there, angel,” he said unable to stop the smile coming to his lips as he took Lara out of his daughter’s hands. “Nice to finally meet you.”
Clark closed his eyes.
Sneaky, he said to her telepathically. She gave him a naughty grin, rushing over to him with a kiss.
“I needed my hands free,” Ultra Lois murmured, cupping his face. “You owe me one hell of a Valentine’s Day, buster.”
“What are you talking about? What could beat the excitement of this?” Clark smiled tenderly at her.
You know. She winked. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He nodded, then kissed her. “Fly safe.”
Ultra Woman flew out the door and returned two seconds later with the chair that Dr. Klein had been using. She set it down behind Clark, then disappeared again.
“Thanks,” he called, but she was gone. Clark sat down, putting his head next to Kal’s Lois’s. He ran his fingers through her hair. “Come back to us, Lois. Lara is beautiful and she wants to get to know you. Clark misses you.” He lowered his voice, so Sam couldn’t hear him. “I miss you. You know, President of your fan club. The ‘I love Lois’ club.” She didn’t react. He had been hopeful, but not optimistic. “I know you’re tired. I know you’ve had a long day. We just need to know that you’re okay. We’re worried about you.” Her body arched again and rested on the table, no longer floating.
Clark glanced over at Sam who was smiling at Lara. What a ray of sunshine that baby would bring to their lives. Until it was time for her to return to her dimension and her real Daddy. He sighed.
The blood in the IV bag was almost empty. He hoped it would be enough, that she wouldn’t start bleeding again when the super blood thinned in her bloodstream. He wondered what residual effects might remain, if any. If it had only worked like a shot of adrenaline to stop her hemorrhaging, he would be happy. But a little super healing would be an extra bonus for Kal... and for her. He ran his fingers down her face. “Sam, can I take off the oxygen mask?”
“How’s her pulse?”
Clark placed a couple of fingers at her neck; his own heart was beating so loud he couldn’t hear hers. “Stronger.” Better.
Sam handed Lara to Clark. He put a blood pressure gauge on Lois’s arm and pulled out his stethoscope.
“Hello, there, beautiful.” Clark sighed. He never in his life thought anything could be so precious. “Your Daddy is the luckiest man in the whole wide universe. Not only does he have sweet, loving Mommy like yours, but he also has the most loved daughter ever imagined. You are unique, little one. The first and only of your kind. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Do you know that you have two Mommies and two Daddies willing to spoil you rotten? And an extra Grandpa, as well. And a line of men a block long to be your uncles. If ever you don’t feel loved enough in your dimension, you are more than welcome to come and live with Uncle Super and Aunt Ultra here in our dimension.” He kissed the top of her head. Walking over to the bassinette, he found the little pink hat that he had tucked into the side. He placed it on her head to keep her skull warm. He turned around to see Sam, watching him. “I think Grandpa wants you back, little one.”
Sam had taken off the oxygen mask and Lois looked more rosy-cheeked and less at death’s door without it. Clark handed Lara back to Sam’s outstretched hands and sat back down next to Lois. He took her hand in his once more.
“She’s the most wonderful daughter, Lois. Wake up and meet her, please.” He kissed her hand. “You know you taught me what love feels like. I never thought I’d love someone more than you. Then you helped me find my Ultra Lois. And now Lara.” His lips shook as he whispered to her. “My heart doesn’t know what to do with all this love. My dimension is going to explode with all this happiness you brought us.” He ran his fingers down her cheek. “I love you so much.” He placed a gentle kiss upon Lois’s lips. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. Wake up.”
Her eyes slowly started to blink and he felt a gentle squeeze on his hand.
Clark didn’t want to say anything, didn’t want to do anything, in case it was a figment of his imagination.
Lois’s eyes opened and focused on him. “Clark, you’re here,” she whispered hoarsely, bringing his hand to her lips. “I missed you so…”
Ultra Woman returned and rushed to his side. “Did it work?” She looked down at Lois.
Lois’s damp eyes closed for a moment. “Oh,
that Clark.” Her love of Clark had pulled her back, but it turned out he was again the wrong Clark. It was as if his flip-flop heart went silent. He would never have been enough for this woman.
“Daddy!”
Sam brought Lara back towards her mother. “Oh, God, Clark!” he gasped. “She’s alive.”
“Can I see my daughter, Sam?” Lois asked.
Sam passed the swaddled Lara to Clark and he held her so Lois could see her daughter, again.
“Hi, precious. Sorry, about that. Mommy has had a long day and I got tired.” She reached out and caressed her cheek. “She’s so soft.” Her lips began to shake and she turned her gaze to Ultra Lois. “Can you take her home for me? I’m so tired and it’s so cold here.” Her eyes closed, as she blinked slowly.
“Of course. My pleasure,” Ultra Woman, replied not wanting anyone to take away that opportunity again.
“Thank you, Lois,” Lois whispered to her twin. “Clark will bring me home when he can.” She was still holding on to his hand.
“Are you up for this, Lois?” Clark asked Ultra Lois.
She nodded. “I’d say I’m seventy-five, eighty percent. I would never let anything happen to her.”
Clark held out Lara to her and she set the sleeping baby into the bassinette and covered her with blankets to block the cold during the flight home.
Ultra Woman turned to Lois. “We’ll try nursing once you’ve gotten a few hours sleep. Mother’s milk will be best for her.” She kissed Clark on the cheek and nodded toward her father. “See you at home.” Carefully, she picked up the bassinette and left the room.
“Sleep, Lois,” Clark commanded to the new mother. “You’ve had a busy day.”
“She’s so beautiful, isn’t she, Clark?” she whispered.
“Now. Now. You don’t want to jinx her. She might turn into a stubborn, obstinate, hardnosed reporter like her Mommy,” he teased.
“Not with you as a father.” She set her head on his hand. “I’m so cold, Clark. Can you hold me?”
He glanced at Sam, who nodded. Clark pulled her into his arms and Sam covered her with some more blankets.
Lois rested her head against his chest. “I’ve always slept better with you around,” she whispered.
Clark swallowed. Soon she was back asleep. He watched as Sam cleaned up the mess they had created. All those blood soaked towels. “Don’t worry about it, Sam. After I bring Lois home, your daughter and I will come back and sterilize this place again. We’ll incinerate all the evidence.”
Sam leaned against the operating table. “I could use about four thousand winks.”
“You did well, Sam. Lois was right to choose you for her doctor.”
“Thanks, Clark. But if it hadn’t been for your plan with the blood…” he started.
“Actually, it was Lois. Your daughter, that is. She realized that my blood might be the wrong blood type and insisted that Dr. Klein draw her blood, instead.” He shook his head. That was not exactly what happened, but no need to explain the details. “Crazy idea, but it worked.”
“We make a good team,” Sam said with a nod. “Next time, we’ll be better prepared.”
Clark glanced up at Sam. Next time? What next time? “Right.” He only wished there could be a next time. He sighed, resting his head against Lois’s head.
***
Meanwhile back in the other dimension…Clark sat upon a blanket on the white sandy beach. Lois gathered the remnants of a picnic lunch scattered around them. A bottle of champagne, uncorked and sitting in a child’s beach bucket of half-frozen sea water, sat next to him. He had his arms wrapped around his knees as he gazed into the turquoise waters. He really was trying to enjoy himself, but all he could think of was her. His missing Lois. Was she okay? Was she in labor at that very moment? Had she had their child? Was he a father already? Had they survived? When would they return to him?
Lois crawled across the blanket and covered his eyes. “Penny for your thoughts? You seem so far away.”
He smiled weakly. “Sorry, honey.” Sighing, he took her hands from his eyes and pulled her into his lap. “It’s nice to get away from it all, isn’t it?”
“This was a nice surprise, Clark. Although, the wig…”
He shrugged, sheepishly. “Can’t have Superman and Lois seen going off on a romantic weekend again, can we?”
“Oh, please, no.” She laughed. “Let’s hope there are no satellites pointed at us as we speak.”
He shaded his eyes and gazed into the sky. “Not at the moment, but if there were all they would see would be Clark Kent and his wife enjoying a picnic.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “So true.” She kissed him, pushing him back onto the blanket. “I love you, husband.”
“And I love you, wife.” He really did.
Lois tugged at his shirt, pulling it out of his pants. Then she slowly, deliberately started to unbutton it.
“Lois, whatcha doing?”
She grinned as his chest was finally exposed. No blue suit. She ran her fingers down his bare chest to his bellybutton. “If you have to ask, I must be doing it wrong,” she whispered, kissing his neck.
“No, you’re doing it right,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her and pulling them back to a sitting position. He swallowed. “But I didn’t bring any precautions.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip as she considered that statement. “Living a bit on the wild side there, Clark?”
He smiled, sheepishly. Honestly, Clark hadn’t thought about making love to this wife since he discovered he had another wife somewhere in the universe ready to give birth to his child at any moment. If he and this stand-in Lois had an accident and he got her pregnant… He didn’t even want to think about the ramifications of that scenario.
“Hold that thought.” Lois kissed him once more, grabbed her bag and ran for the small clump of coconut trees.
Clark pulled his knees to his chest again and returned his gaze to the waters. Their lives would change completely with the addition of a child. No more dinners on the other side of the world. More nights at home. No more nights out with friends or parties. Would they ever be able to trust a babysitter alone with their child? Would they both be able to continue working at
The Planet and put their very special child in day care? Perhaps a nanny? How could they hire a nanny without revealing Superman’s secret identity? Would they want to chance it? How would they ever be able to go out again? Would the child be more human or Kryptonian? When would they know? Would the child start out human and develop powers as it got older as he had?
Suddenly, a woman in a maroon bikini ran past, clearing all those thoughts from his head. She was so beautiful.
“Last one in is a superhero,” she called, giggling.
He beamed at her and spun into his suit, his swimming suit. He dropped his glasses on the blanket and chased after her into the water. She had gone out deep enough that she was treading water.
As he reached her, Lois wrapped her arms around him. “Ha-ha, you’re the superhero.”
Clark moved them closer to shore, so that his feet touched the sand beneath them. “Yes, but not Aquaman.”
Lois laughed and kissed him, really kissed him.
“You’re driving me crazy, Lois,” he murmured, returning her kisses.
“It’s okay, Clark. I didn’t forget.” She raised her brows up and down with a grin.
Didn’t forget what? Oh. He smiled. “I’m married to the smartest woman in the world.” Clark kissed her again. Well, at least she was using precautions.
***
Back in the alternate dimension…Clark flew into the apartment carrying a woman with long grey hair tied up in a bun, who held on to him for dear life. As soon as he set her down, she bent down and kissed the carpet. He smiled. She had never flown before, even in an airplane. He put a bag of fruit down on the dining room table.
Ultra Woman came out to the living room. “Where on Earth have you been?” she demanded, then stopped in her tracks as she noticed the woman. “Clark?”
“Ultra meet Manni. Manni, Ultra.”
The old woman stood up and looked Ultra Woman over with suspicion and uncertainty. Ultra Woman waved.
“Manni is the midwife from a small village in the heart of the Amazon. I met her earlier this year, when I stopped some strip miners from destroying her section of the rain forest,” he explained.
Ultra Woman eyes filled with love as she gazed at him. “I love you,” she said, though her eyes had already told him. She took the woman’s arm and led her back to the bedroom.
Lois still lay in bed. Her eyes, although red and puffy from crying, had an emptiness in them that scared Clark. Lara lay next to her, crying. Clark knelt down next to the bed and took Lois’s hand in his.
“Lois. I’ve brought someone to help you.”
Her finger caressed Lara’s cheek, but otherwise she didn’t move.
“Manni, Lois.” Clark picked up Lara and rocked her for a moment, before handing her to Manni. “Lara.”
Manni tsk-tsked him, taking Lara. She handed the baby to Ultra Woman and grabbed a baby blanket from the pile next to the changing table. She spread it out on the bed, and taking Lara back, swaddled her so fast and tight he wondered if she had super powers. The swaddling stunned Lara into silence.
Manni handed the baby back to Ultra Woman, then shooed Clark from the room. He sighed. Rejected again. He leaned against the wall in the hall, watching with his x-ray vision. Manni studied Lois lying in the bed and Lois studied her just as closely. The midwife clapped her hands together and pulled Lois to a sitting position. She felt her forehead, nodded. She pulled a pillow from next to her and set it on Lois’s lap. Placing Lara onto the pillow in the crook of Lois’s arm, she flung open Lois’s robe and in two seconds had Lara nursing. He nodded and switched off his x-ray vision with a smile.
Ultra Woman came out of the bedroom a few minutes later. “From what I understood, Lucy needs something to drink to stay hydrated,” she called as she stepped into the kitchen. In a second, he was at the blender making a mango-papaya smoothie.
“Coming right up,” Superman called. He poured the smoothie into a large plastic cup with a straw. “Here you go.” He pulled her into his arms with a kiss. “Hello, beautiful.”
“I’ll be right back,” Ultra whispered, taking the drink back to the bedroom. She flew back into his arms, moments later, kissing him. “You are the best man in the whole world.”
“Well, thank you, ma’am.” He grinned, tipping an imaginary hat.
“What made you think of bringing us a midwife?”
“It looked like you two needed some professional help this morning. Yelling and tears weren’t doing any good and just frustrated everyone. I was tired of feeling useless.”
“Totally redeemed.” Ultra kissed him again. “I thought nursing would be easy for her. Natural. Innate. But I guess this is also another skill that cannot be taught from reading a book.” She shook her head. “I’m worried about her. When we came in this morning, while you were changing Lara, I...” She swallowed. “I found her curled up in a ball in the shower, repeating Clark’s name. She hasn’t spoken since.”
“Nothing?” He frowned.
“She glared at me while I was trying to get Lara latched on. Other than that, she hasn’t looked at me.” His girlfriend leaned her head against his. “A thank-you would have been nice.”
“She doesn’t know what you did, Lois. What you sacrificed. How incredibly stupid you were.”
Ultra Woman raised a brow. “We couldn’t use your blood. The glass, remember. Plus, I knew my blood would match hers.”
“Or how incredibly smart. You saved her. Kal will forgive you for kissing him now.”
She smiled, tracing his ‘S’ with her finger. “Oh, he’s forgiven me already.”
“Lois.” Superman growled.
“For some reason men forgive beautiful women for kissing them quite easily.” Ultra Woman pulled his lips to hers. He picked her up and brought her closer. “See.”
“I don’t want you kissing anyone else but me.”
“Ditto, big boy.” Ultra pointed at her eyes and then at his. “I’m watching you. She’s off limits now. Or I will tell Kal and the two of us will beat the crap out of you. Comprende?”
Superman swallowed with a nod. “He won’t need your help, Lois.”
“He’ll still have it.” She raised her eye brows at him. “I gave up my life for you, don’t you forget it. I can ruin you just as easily and I know where Dr. Klein keeps his Kryptonite, now. Don’t mess with me.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry, Lois. I know yesterday was…”
Ultra Woman held up her hand, silencing him. “Everything from before this minute is over. Forgiven. I don’t want it mentioned again. I don’t want to think about it again. We begin now.”
“Got it.” Superman kissed her again.
“Where is my father? I want to start my romantic Valentine’s Day. And you need to wash up.” His girlfriend rolled her eyes. “What
is that smell?”
Superman smiled, sheepishly. “I rescued a sinking fishing boat of the coast of Peru on my way to pick up Manni. That’s why it took so long for me to come back.”
Ultra Woman shook her head, taking a step back. “You, my dear, need a shower.”
Naughtily, he brought her towards him for another kiss. “My thoughts exactly.”
“I’m exhausted. All I want to do is go to bed.”
He kissed her again, whispering, “My thoughts exactly.”
Ultra Woman wrapped her arms around his neck. “How about this? We go to Smallville, pick up the time machine and go get Kal, bring him back to deal with her and any emergencies in our dimension and we go on one long vacation in his. Secret identities. Man and wife. Paris is calling us.” She kissed him.
“Sounds great. What about his temporary wife?” Clark reminded her.
“Oh, crap. Her.” She sighed. “You know this plan you and Mr. Wells hatched was way too complicated.”
Superman shrugged. “We achieved our goal. Everyone lived.”
“You never told me why Lucy didn’t want to go to the hospital. It couldn’t be just to keep your precious reputation intact.”
Superman pulled her tighter against him. “Trust me, Lois. You don’t want to know.”
Manni came out and handed Lara to Ultra Woman, then took Superman’s arm and brought him back into the bedroom. She pointed at Lois, sitting alone in the bed, staring off into space. The mid-wife patted him on the back and left the room, shutting the door.
*** End of Part 7 *** CommentsChapter 7: Part 8
