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 =
was pregnant canon Lois avoiding the curse by hiding out with alt-Clark,
now 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
- Gareth McTinney = new EIC at the alt-DP.
- Mayson Drake = police detective, partner to Detective (in alt-world) Henderson, alt-Clark's ex-girlfriend
- Mayor White = aka Perry White, former Editor-in-Chief at the DP
- James Olsen = owner of the
Daily Planet, Lois-Lucy's friend
- 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
- Moonbeam = AKA alt-Star; divorce lawyer for alt-Lois
- Tempus = extremely bad dude from the future, bent on destroying Superman (both of them) – same guy as canon
- 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
- Jaxon Xavier = Lex Luthor's son and former spy at
The Planet- 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.
***
Where we left off in Chapter 7: Part 8...His phone rang. “Clark Kent.”
“
Clark.”
“Hi, Sam.” He lowered his voice. “How is she? Everything…” He pursed his lips. “Normal?”
“
I’m not a pediatrician, Clark, but what I can tell from my research into the norms for her age, she falls into them.”
Clark exhaled. Lara was normal, so to speak, except for the telepathy of course.
“
Actually, that’s not why I’m calling.”
“What’s up?” he asked, although he had a strange feeling he knew what Sam wanted to talk to him about. They all had been avoiding the topic for weeks.
“
I’ve thought long and hard over this. Debated the pros and cons and I’ve come to the conclusion that Lara needs to stop breast feeding and switch to formula.”
This wasn’t what Clark expected him to say. He glanced at his girlfriend and he could tell she was listening to every word her father was saying. “We’ll be right there.”
Ultra Lois nodded, standing up.
“
Maybe that’s for the best. So, you can see what I’m talking about in person,” agreed Sam, hanging up.
As Clark stood up, he noticed Mayson walk in. He took a deep breath and shifted his gaze over to her. Ultra Lois caught his shift and glanced over her shoulder.
“Hi, Mayson,” she said with a smile. He never understood how his Lois and Mayson had always gotten along while Kal’s Lois and her were like vinegar and oil.
“Hi,” Mayson replied. “How’s everyone?”
Clark raised a brow. This wasn’t her usual greeting. “Fine,” he said hesitantly.
She looked at Lucy for confirmation and his girlfriend nodded. He glanced between the two of them, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand-up.
Mayson looked at Clark and lowered her voice, “Do you still have your visitors?” Before he could question her use of the plural, she brought a package out of her bag and handed it to him. “I saw this and thought of you. It’s nothing really.” She seemed almost embarrassed.
Clark raised a brow and opened the bag. He swallowed. A baby’s rattle in the shape of a gavel. As he pulled the item out of the bag, he glared at his girlfriend.
“Aww, Clark, isn’t that…” Lucy started to speak until he caught his expression.
“I know. It’s silly. But since you stand for truth and justice…” Mayson smiled with a shrug.
Clark did love it. And under any other circumstances, he might even think it adorable, but what he was wondering was why a baby’s rattle would make his ex-girlfriend think of him?
Part 9Lucy cleared her throat. “Gareth’s son will really love it, Mayson.”
“Gareth?”
“Here, let me introduce you.”
Clark raised a brow at his Lois and watched as she tried to maneuver her way out of this situation.
“Gareth McTinney, have you had a chance to meet Clark’s and my good friend, Mayson Drake?” she said turning around. He was standing a few paces behind her.
Clearly, Gareth had been close enough to hear some of this exchange.
“A pleasure,” Gareth said, holding out his hand. “A great pleasure to meet the famous Ms. Drake.”
“Detective Drake,” Lucy corrected him.
“I wouldn’t say famous, Mr. McTinney,” Mayson said uncomfortably. She always hated being known as one of Superman’s girlfriends.
“As the only person to survive a Sean McCarthy bombing. He’s a big name in London, having lent a hand to the IRA a time or two.”
“Oh.” Mayson glanced at Clark. “That was due more to Clark than me,” she said softly.
Clark sighed. He didn’t like to speak about that day, either.
“Well, yes, I guess so,” Gareth said, creating an uncomfortable silence. He noticed the toy in Clark’s hand. “What’s that?” He glanced over at Lucy, curiously. “I thought you said that you weren’t expecting? Or is that for someone else, Clark?” he asked with raised brows. Oh, crap, he meant Ultra Woman.
“Oh, this isn’t for me.” Lucy laughed. “Mayson was in the bullpen last week and she saw that photo of your new son and, you know, how us women get around babies.”
Clark released his breath, thankful for not having to speak.
“I was just asking Clark the best way to give it to you. After that editorial on our justice system in the paper a couple weeks ago, I thought you’d get a kick out of it. I hope you don’t mind.”
Clark was amazed. Mayson had picked up on Lucy’s clues and rolled with it.
“Oh!” Gareth replied, taking the rattle. “Thank you. I love it.” He smiled at her. “Martin will, too, I imagine.”
“Martin?” Mayson asked, a brow raised. “A James Bond fan or a car fan?”
He was taken aback. “Both actually. How did…?” Gareth stared at her.
Lucy laughed. “They didn’t give her the bright shiny detective’s badge just because of her pretty face, Gareth.” His Lucy really was a remarkable woman.
Mayson laughed. “Because Lucy mentioned you had another son, Austin, and a daughter, Penny.”
“Oh!” Gareth laughed. “Ooops. When you put it that way, it does fly off the page doesn’t it?”
“Clark and I were just heading out to lunch, Mayson. Would you like to join us?” asked his girlfriend to his ex. Not good, Ultra Lois.
Clark raised a brow and shook his head with a sigh. She loved showing off Lara.
“At ten o’clock in the morning?” Gareth asked.
“Low blood sugar,” Lucy explained with a roll of her eyes. “I made the mistake of telling Clark that I missed breakfast.”
“I promised Kal to keep his wife well,” Clark replied. Low blood sugar. Perfect excuse for everything. Who knew?
“Clark’s a bit overprotective, isn’t he?” Mayson added to his girlfriend.
Earth swallow him up now, he begged, looking to the ceiling.
“You have no idea,” Lucy answered with a smile at him.
“I’ll walk out with you,” said Mayson. “Nice to finally meet you, Mr. McTinney. I hope you keep a favorable opinion of Metropolis’s police detectives.”
“Gareth, please.” He held up the gavel rattle, giving it a little shake. “This surely isn’t a bribe?”
Mayson laughed with a shake of her head.
“You won’t find a more honest police detective, Gareth,” Lucy said. “Clark Kent wouldn’t date anyone less than honest, now, would he?”
Clark pursed his lips at her, grabbing both women’s arms. “Let’s go, ladies.”
In the elevator down, Clark didn’t speak, trying to keep his anger in check.
“I’m sorry, Clark.” Lucy smirked. “I couldn’t resist. You know how my mouth sometimes moves faster than my brain.”
Clark glanced at his girlfriend, but only shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Mayson, for giving away your wonderful gift…” Lucy started, before Clark glared at her in earnest. She swallowed, realizing what he was really angry about. “Oh.”
“Don’t be angry with her, Clark,” Mayson murmured, setting her arm on Clark’s. “She thought I knew. I should have known better than to bring a baby gift to you at the office. I’m sorry.”
Clark kissed her cheek. “It was very thoughtful of you, Mayson. Thank you. I really did love it.” Lara wasn’t his daughter, he wanted to add, but for some reason it felt like a lie. “I’m sorry, we’ve got to bolt, because we have an appointment.”
“You’re welcome to come…”
“No, Lucy,” Clark interrupted her with a glare. “I apologize, Mayson. But this isn’t a good time.”
Mayson held up a hand. “I understand. Lucy probably wouldn’t want me within a mile of her anyway.”
He sighed. They would be lucky if Kal’s Lucy even noticed Mayson’s presence. It had been a week since she had spoken to him or even allowed him in her room.
“Keep in touch, you guys. I’m sorry, again.” Mayson left with a wave of her hand.
Clark waved until she turned the corner. He grabbed his Lois’s arm and pulled her into the alley. “Are you out of your mind? How could you tell her?”
Lois swallowed. “You had told her the truth about Kal and Lucy, I thought you had mentioned that as well.”
“I haven’t told a single person here about the baby. Not one.” Spinning into his blue suit, he swooped her up into his arms and into the sky.
Lois gasped. “But Perry? And James? And my father? Dr. Klein? Moonbeam?”
“Perry figured it out on his own. Lucy had to tell Sam. She didn’t mean to tell James. Or Dr. Klein. And she told you. You told Mayson. I have no idea about Moonbeam. I’m guessing she just knew. I haven’t told a single person. Actually, correction. I told H.G. Wells; the younger version that came to get me to help with Tempus.” He sighed. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m the only person who fears what could happen to Lara if the wrong people found out about her.”
Lois was quiet for a moment. “You’re right, Clark. I’m sorry. Please, forgive me. I’ll be more careful.”
“I know.” He kissed her cheek. “And here I thought Ultra Woman and I were an item.”
“What?” she gasped.
“Since I only date completely honest women.” He grinned. “I couldn’t possibly be dating her. I’ve never seen anyone lie faster than a speeding bullet until I met you.”
Ultra Lois laughed as he pulled up to blow through the living room windows. As soon as they had landed, she punched him in the arm. “Very funny, Clark. Truth and justice is your thing. Ultra Woman never claimed they were hers. Hi, Daddy.”
Clark turned to Sam. “I’m sorry we’re late. Mayson walked in just as we were leaving. You said something about switching Lara to formula instead of breast milk.”
Sam nodded with a swallow.
“I thought you said she was within normal parameters. Is she not gaining enough weight?” he asked.
“Oh, no. Lara is completely healthy. I know breast feeding would be the best for her; I’m not halting it for her benefit.” He sighed. “Come with me. I need your help with something.”
Clark felt a cold chill run down his spine and he turned to Ultra Lois. Her expression told him she felt the chill as well. Lara was asleep in the bassinette.
Lois sat in bed as usual. She hadn’t wanted him anywhere near her, so he had only seen her in passing over the past two weeks, not at all in the last week. He hadn’t realized how sunken her eyes had become.
“Lois?”
She didn’t react.
Sam pulled off the covers on the bed and they gasped. She was as thin as a rail. Lois tried to pull the covers back over herself. Clark turned his sharp expression on Sam. “Hasn’t she been eating during the day?”
“Obviously, not enough. Pick her up, Lois,” the man said to his daughter. “I want to weigh her.”
Ultra Lois nodded, picking her up. Kal’s wife turned away from her, refusing to acknowledge her. His girlfriend carried Lois into the bathroom and returned a minute later to put her back in bed. Then she went into the bathroom alone. “She’s down to one-hundred one pounds.”
“Oh, my God. Lois.” Clark sat on the bed next to her. She refused to look at him and turned her back on him. He turned back to Sam. “How could she have lost all that weight so fast?”
Sam waved them out of the room. “I’ve been feeding her lunch. She said that you’ve been getting her breakfast and dinner?”
“Dinner. I thought you were making her breakfast,” his Lois responded. “So, she hasn’t been eating even three meals a day.”
Clark sat down at the sofa, burying his face in his hands. “I’ve failed her again. How could we have let this go on so long?”
“Normal breastfeeding can burn up to five-hundred calories a day, Clark. If Lara has even a quarter of your metabolism, it might be more than that. I’m afraid Lara might be literally sucking the life out of her mother. If she had been eating properly or even a high calorie diet, she probably would have been fine. We haven’t noticed – none of us – because she hasn’t been leaving her room or her bed on most days and we’ve been focusing more on her daughter than her.”
“She feels discarded. Unnecessary. She misses Kal,” murmured Clark. He felt like he had been punched in the gut. He still loved Kal’s Lois. How could he have let this happen to her?
“We need to make sure Lucy’s eating at least three meals a day, more if possible. And watch her eat. We cannot let her breastfeed any longer. Lara will be just fine on formula. Lois needs to get out of bed and stay out of bed, every day. Shower every day. Get dressed every day. She needs to go outside, get sunlight, fresh air and exercise.”
“She needs to go home.” Ultra Lois voiced what they all knew to be true. “I know I’ve said it before, but she needs her Clark. I’m afraid she’s given up on ever seeing him again.” Sitting down next to Clark, his girlfriend took hold of his hand.
Sam shook his head. “She needs to gain weight before she can return.”
“If she’s supposed to merge into her life back home, seamlessly enough to pretend that Lara is an adopted child of hers and Kal’s…” Clark swallowed. “Until she’s healthy enough to sub for you at work, Lois, we really can’t let her go home, even if H.G. Wells came to take her home himself.”
“The one activity she has been doing reliably has been breast feeding Lara,” his girlfriend reminded him. “If we take that away from her, we need to give her something else to do, besides pine for Kal. She’s going crazy, trapped in here, not using her brain. Is there some kind of research we could let her do on Vixen?”
“Vixen?” Sam asked, sitting down. “What’s Vixen?”
“A new vigilante superhero babe who has taken a liking to Clark.”
Clark rolled his eyes. “She hasn’t taken a liking to me, Lois,” he said, correcting his girlfriend. “The wrestling in China was just a demonstration of her strength and power.”
“Uh-huh.”
“V – I – X – E – N?” Sam spelled out her name.
“Yes, Daddy. She wears this big gold V on her almost fully exposed chest. Not that you’ve noticed that, either?”
Clark just shook his head. Better her be jealous of Vixen than Kal’s Lois.
“No, Princess. Vixen stands for Virtually Indestructible Xenon Electrical Network. It’s the project I refused to work on when Lex took you. He must have used my data on the cyborgs…”
Clark sat up. “She’s a machine?” He turned to Ultra Lois. “That would explain her strength and her speed.”
“A cyborg, I think,” Sam corrected. “A least part of her is human. I just don’t know how much or how little.”
“Wait a minute. This is a Lex Luthor project?” Ultra Lois stood up and started pacing. “Lex is greedy. He wants to own everything, control everything and everyone. What would he want with a vigilante robot? What else is he using her for? She’s a little expensive a toy to use just as a distraction. Besides the super speed, what’s her M.O.?”
“Gold specs.” Clark slapped his knee. “That sounds familiar. I recall something, some crime where the only evidence on the video was gold specs. I’ll have to go back over my notes.”
Ultra Lois raised a brow. “That doesn’t sound like a vigilante if it were a crime.”
“I wonder if Kal’s ever dealt with Vixen?”
He and his Lois locked eyes and they both jumped up at once. He reached Lois’s bedroom door first. “Lois!”
His sister-in-law still refused to look at him.
“Lois, we need your help.” He knew she was listening. Lois always listened, even if she didn’t look like it. “Ultra Woman and I have been dealing with a new superhero person called Vixen. Have you met her before? Do you know anything about her?”
“Blonde. Black leather. Gold V surrounding her exposed bosom,” Ultra Woman said. “She’s super fast and not very nice.”
Kal’s Lois did not respond.
“Lois, please, focus. We need to know if you or Kal have dealt with her before.”
“Clark met her this morning,” Lois whispered, her back still towards them. “Jimmy called her a chick. We’ve got a new owner of the
Daily Planet, too. Something Luckaby… Australian. Cute.” She turned to look at Clark. “Clark and Lois made love without precautions this morning. If he gets that stand-in pregnant, it will cause a tear in the time-line that we won’t be able to fix without erasing me.”
Clark dropped onto the bed.
“How could she be erased?” his Lois asked him.
Kal’s Lois looked at her twin. “By going back in time and stopping Clark from rescuing me from Lex Luthor and the clone. If that happens, I don’t come to this dimension. You don’t get rescued from Lex either. Lara doesn’t get born. We all end up dying.”
Clark took hold of her hand. “You are not going to be erased, Lois. You wouldn’t be having these memories unless we returned your stand-in to her correct spot in time. They can only be memories because they happened to you earlier in your life.”
“My memories are my hope,” Kal’s Lois whispered, pulling her hand out of his. She looked him up and down. “I told you I didn’t want to see your Superman, again.”
Superman stood up in all his glory. “Well, tough, Lois, because he’s a part of who I am and sometimes I forget to change my clothes. So, deal.” He shook his head. “This is why I love you so much, Lois,” he said turning to his girlfriend. “You love everything about me.”
She smiled at him. “Even when you yell at a delusional anorexic.”
“I’m not delusional and I’m not anorexic, I just haven’t felt like eating,” Kal’s Lois thundered, pointing at Clark. “And I don’t like to see him as Superman because that’s the man I cheated on my husband with, not Clark. Superman. I hate being reminded of my mistake, the man who ruined my marriage and the reason my husband will take our daughter and leave me.”
His girlfriend looked at him for a moment, before crossing her arms and saying, “I think I’m going to have to side with her on this one, Clark. I don’t want her to be reminded of the man she slept with either. Change your clothes.”
He rolled his eyes. “What are you going to do when you return to Kal and
his blue suit?”
“My Superman is not allowed to kiss me anymore, because it got caught on film and smeared across the tabloids. Clark almost revealed to the world that he was Superman just to stop the scandal of him sleeping with the married Lois Lane. It turned out the photos were doctored and we were safe.”
Ultra Lois spun her finger in the air and, with another roll of his eyes, Clark changed his clothes. “Let me get this straight. You’re not attracted to this guy…” Ultra Woman pointed to Clark in his business suit. “Even though he looks like your husband, whom you kiss and sleep with every day. You’re only attracted to his Superman, who reminds you of the Superman you’re not allowed to kiss in your dimension anymore.”
Lois nodded.
The other Lois shook her head. “And you say you aren’t delusional.”
Even to Clark it sounded messed up.
“You are in serious need of therapy.”
“I don’t trust therapists except Dr. Friskin. Lex’s ex-wife had a double of me made and tried to frame me for Superman’s death when I went to see her after Lex died. Dr. Max, my amnesia doctor, seduced and hypnotized me into quitting my job and running off to France with him.”
“Wow. Which of Lex’s ex-wives did you go to for therapy, Sandra Xavier? No, wait, he didn’t marry her…Arianna Carlin?… or Linda Luckaby? No, she died in childbirth… Helene Henries?... Bonnie ‘Big-Ears’ Butte? Fine, I made that one up. Nobody called her ‘Big-Ears’, but me… Cindy Chivers, perhaps?...”
Lois’s jaw dropped. “How many times was Lex married? He told me I was his first true love.”
Ultra Woman pressed her lips together. “Yeah. I heard that line, too.”
“Lois, didn’t you say the new owner of the
Daily Planet was some guy named Luckaby?” Clark asked her.
Lois covered her mouth. “Ew. Leslie Luckaby is a Luthor? And I thought he was cute.” She grimaced.
“Wait. Wait. Wait.” His Lois held up her hands. “Linda Luckaby was Lex, Jr’s mother. Lex, Jr. isn’t cute; he’s disfigured.”
“Lex bought the
Daily Planet, right before he asked me to marry him. Then he blew it up, so I wouldn’t be around my friends anymore,” Kal’s wife explained. “Why would Lex, Jr. want to own the
Planet? It doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t know about you ladies, but I’m getting a little worried about James Olsen’s safety. He said he would never sell the paper, but if both Lex Luthor and Junior owned the paper in the other dimension… I have this strange feeling that they would try to take it by force,” said Clark.
“Jaxon said Lex was interested in buying it, too. Remember, Clark, he said it while everyone was standing around gossiping during Lex and Lois’s divorce settlement meeting,” Kal’s Lois told him. Then a hint of a smile graced her lips. “Isn’t that how James finally was able to fire him? Corporate espionage?”
Clark nodded.
His girlfriend sat down and took Clark’s hand. “That’s what Lex meant that my job security depended on him. I thought it had to do with the rumor he was going to start about Clark and me.”
Lara woke up and started to cry.
“Here, give her to me. She’s probably hungry,” Lois said, stretching out her arms.
“Let me change her,” Clark volunteered, jumping up. He picked up Lara. “Hello, sweetie. Daddy’s here.” He winced as soon as he said it, anticipating Lois’s reaction.
“Clark,” he heard Lois say through gritted teeth. “You are
not her father.”
“I know.” He swallowed. “Slip of the tongue.”
She raised a brow, not believing him. “Right.”
His Lois held out a hand to Kal’s Lois. “Come on, why don’t you take a shower? I’ll feed Lara.”
“With what?” Lois said, crossing her arms and glaring at her.
“A bottle.”
“I thought perhaps lactating was your newest super ability.” Lois held out her arms. “Give her to me.”
“Lois, I’m changing her diaper,” Clark reminded her.
“Give her to me when you’re done then.”
“No can do, Lois. You’ve lost too much weight. No more breast feeding for you. Doctor’s orders.”
Lois crawled across the bed to them. “Give her to me. She’s my daughter and I decide when and where and how and what she eats.”
“Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll take you out to lunch. My treat. Anything you want to eat. Anywhere in the world,” Clark recommended.
“I don’t want to go out to eat, I want to hold my daughter,” she groused.
“Lois, you need a break. Go with Clark. Enjoy yourself,” his Lois suggested. “My father and I will watch Lara. Take the afternoon off.”
“I’m not going to leave you alone with my daughter, Lois. Don’t think I don’t know how you look at her. You want her to be your daughter. Well, you can’t have her. She’s mine. Give her to me, Clark.”
“Lois, you need a break.”
“You’re going to kidnap her, aren’t you? You think you can’t have kids, so you’re just going to take mine and raise her as your own. You’ve all been conspiring against me. Using your telepathy to convince her that you two are her parents. No wonder she doesn’t like me. You’ve turned her against me.” She climbed off the bed and tried to push Clark out of the way, but he didn’t move. “Give me my daughter.”
“Again with the delusional, Lois.”
“I’m not delusional.” She pushed harder against Clark.
“Lois, you have no strength, because you have lost so much weight. You need to eat and you need to get out of this apartment. Let me fly you someplace for lunch. I promise you that Lara will be here when we come back.”
She looked at him. “Promise? You aren’t trying to steal her?”
“I love Lara. I would like nothing more to be her father, but I know that’s not in the cards for me…” He looked at his girlfriend. “For us. Anyway, Kal has enough reasons to kill me, I really wouldn’t want to add kidnapping his daughter to that list.”
Lois pushed him on his shoulder. “He’s not going to kill you.”
“Not even for sleeping with his wife?” When would he learn to keep his mouth shut?
Kal’s Lois waved off his worries. “He’ll be pissed off about that, but he’ll forgive you, because…” She shrugged. “No man can resist Lois Lane.”
“Really?” Now, that sounded like the Lois Lane he knew.
“Proven fact. It’s me he’s not going to forgive. I’m the one who wasn’t supposed to cheat…”
“Oh, he’ll forgive you, Lois. I’m Superman…” He shrugged. “No Lois Lane can resist me.” He grinned. Two could play this game.
“Lois,” Lois said to his girlfriend as she took her daughter from Clark’s arms and walked towards the door.
“With pleasure.” His Lois slapped him across the face.
“Ow. Lo-is.” Clark rubbed his cheek. “It hurts more when you do it.”
They both smirked at him.
“I was just trying to punch a hole in her logic.”
Lois walked into the living room with Lara and handed her to Sam. “Sam.”
“Come to Grandpa!” he said, holding out his arms. Lois raised a brow, but didn’t say anything.
Lois turned to Clark. “I’m going to take a shower, get dressed, and you are going to take me to that hamburger stand in Key West. You know the one you took me to for my birthday.”
A smile slipped onto Clark’s face as he remembered her birthday on the beach, but then he winced knowing the explosion was about it erupt.
“Sounds like fun,” his Lois said, too sweetly. “Can I come? I can carry Lois.”
Clark sighed. His girlfriend didn’t want Superman carrying Lois anywhere, especially anywhere special for them. “I’ve got a better idea, Loises,” he said. “Why don’t you two girls… women go somewhere and eat? Sam and I will stay here with Lara.”
“Girl’s day!” His Lois grinned with a clap of her hands. “Oh, Lois. I know where we can go. There’s a new Chippendale review in Las Vegas…”
“Hey!” Clark gasped. Him and his big mouth.
“Chippendales?” Kal’s Lois seemed to be considering it. “Hmmm.”
“Please. Please, no. Ultra Woman cannot be seen visiting a Chippendale review,” Clark reminded her.
“They do have all-you-can-eat buffets in Las Vegas,” Ultra Woman reminded him.
“No.” He growled.
His Lois rolled her eyes. “He ruins all my fun.”
Lois looked out the window as if she was searching for someone and then sighed. Quietly, she left the room. Clark watched her, knowing she was still deep in the woods.
***
Lois looked across the picnic table at Ultra Lois. She looked pretty ridiculous in that blonde wig, but Clark wouldn’t let the two of them out of the apartment together unless one of them was wearing a disguise. Ultra lost the coin toss. Lois wore it on the trip over and Ultra wore it once they landed and she had changed back into her civilian clothing.
Ultra Woman had purchased them a couple of pastrami sandwiches, chips and drinks and had taken them to a deserted state park in the southwest. California, Lois thought, but she wasn’t sure.
They really hadn’t spoken much one-on-one since after she had come out as Ultra Woman. For some reason she had gotten jealous of Lois again after that. Clark obviously was smitten with the woman and Lois couldn’t understand how she could ever be competition. This other Lois still had the spit and fire she once had, but had lost somewhere along the way. Sitting here felt awkward, uncomfortable. Lois wondered if it felt the same for her double.
“So tell me about Kal’s life. How does he differ from Clark?” Ultra Woman asked.
“We finally get out of the apartment and all you want to talk about is Clark?” Lois rolled her eyes. Thinking about her husband and Clark made her heart tug in two different directions at once. She didn’t want to compare them. She didn’t want to think about either of them. Every time she did, she ended up crying.
Ultra blonde Woman shrugged. The super duo was still in their honeymoon phase of their relationship. All they could think about was each other. Lois knew she was just a thorn on the rose of their love.
“Tell me about Kal’s little brother, then,” Ultra asked, taking a bit of her sandwich.
Lois’s brow furrowed. “Clark doesn’t have a little brother.”
“Not Clark. Kal… oh, you meant
your Clark. Sure, he does. There are pictures of him and Clark and the Kents at Martha’s house. I saw them.”
“Clark does not have a little brother,” Lois repeated. Her head was beginning to throb. She didn’t want to be here with Ultra Woman. She missed her room, her bed, the darkness.
“Well, I know what I saw, Lois. He’s probably eight to ten years younger than Clark.”
Lois sighed, playing with the straw of her cup. Ultra just wouldn’t drop it. “You mean Jimmy?”
“Jimmy?”
“James Olsen’s double is Clark’s best friend,” Lois clarified.
“No. It wasn’t James. This kid is younger than James. His face is thinner, jaw more angular. He had an earring in his left ear.”
Lois shook her head. She had no idea who that person could be. “I don’t know, Lois. Clark doesn’t have a brother. He…” Suddenly a face jumped into her mind. “Jack.” Her eyes closed to slits and a growl emerged from deep inside her. “What color hair did this kid have?”
“I don’t know, sandy brown, dark blond, I guess. Who’s Jack?”
“A mullet?” Lois asked through clenched teeth.
“Yeah, in a couple of photos. The older ones. In the newer ones his hair was shorter.”
Lois’s eyes flashed to hers. “Newer photos? Were they in Metropolis?”
“No.” Ultra shook her head hesitantly and then tried to change the subject, “It’s beautiful out here in the sunshine, isn’t it? I can’t believe how addicting sunshine has become after the accident. Don’t you just love how it feels on your skin? It makes me feel like I could take on the world! How’s your sandwich?”
“Could you tell where they were in the photos?” Lois wasn’t going to be detoured.
Ultra coughed, looking away. “The farm. In one of the newer photos, with the shorter hair, the kid was wearing a cowboy hat.”
“Jack was on the Kent farm?” Lois groaned. A new ache started to burn inside of her. Why hadn’t Clark told her that he had relocated Jack to Smallville? Why was he hiding him from her? Did he not trust her? Lois felt as if a hole opened up in her chest. Her mouth felt like it was full of sand and she was drowning. Clark – her Clark – had lied to her. He had promised never to do that again. She dropped her sandwich on the picnic table with only a few bites taken. “Take me back to Metropolis, Lois.”
*** End of Part 9 *** CommentsChapter 7: Part 10
