Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Another Lois (25/25)

You can find the Another Dimension, Another Time, Another Lois[/i] TOC here.

Where we left off in Part 24…

Lois ran back down the hallway and came to the door leading to the offices where Dr. Carlin had held her therapy sessions. As she got close, she heard the secure door unlatch and start to open. She leaned up against the wall next to the door as Arianna and two other people in white doctor jackets exited the hall and ran towards the Day Room. As the last one passed through, Lois jutted out her hand and caught the door before it closed. She slipped down the secure hall and started checking doors.

The first door on the left had been the therapy room where she had talked with the ex-Mrs. Luthor; she skipped that one. If Wells existed, then it proved Clark’s story as true and she might as well accept the truth: Dr. Arianna Carlin was the ex-wife of Lex Luthor.

The first four doors were locked. Maybe they were only therapy rooms with patients currently held in lockdown, while their doctors were dealing with the mess in the Day Room. She finally came to an unlocked door. It was a doctor’s office, but one cursory glance told Lois she would never get out from that room – it had no window.

Lois tried the next room and found the same problem. Instead of trying the next door, she skipped all the doors until she reached the end of the hall. There was a large window there, and she could see the fire escape outside. Just as she went to try to open the window, she heard a sound and realized someone was coming. She ducked inside the last office on the hall and closed the door behind her.

As she leaned against the door attempting to catch her breath, she looked around her new hiding spot, searching for a way out. She saw lots of books on bookshelves, a computer, a telephone. Oooh. She could call Perry.

And say what exactly?

No, scratch that idea. She saw a door in the wall behind the desk. Figuring it was a personal bathroom, where she might be able to find a change of clothes, Lois opened the door.

On the other side of the door was a long hall.

[i]A back exit perhaps, suggested Clark.

~Perhaps,~ Lois agreed, quickly darting down the hall. There were three doors on the hall. The first was to the restroom. She closed it as soon as she opened it. The second was locked. The third was also locked. ~Damn!~

Lois returned to the office and started checking the desk for anything. In one drawer, she found a pens, pencils, paperclips, tacks, pair of scissors, and other office supplies. In another, blank papers, folders, and envelopes. The last drawer was locked. Could she use a paperclip to get that locked drawer open? What was in there worth securing, she wondered. Did it merit her time and effort to find out?

Her mind returned to that woman who looked like her in the hospital ward. It had been spooky how nobody had noticed her enter that room, like she wasn’t even there, like she had been a mirage or a dream or something.

It was someone who looked like you, Lois, but she wasn’t you, Clark reassured her.

Lois would make sure no one made the mistake of confusing the two of them. She grabbed the scissors and a lock of her hair. A few snips later, her shoulder length bob was now up to her ears. She probably looked a wreck, but maybe being unrecognizable as herself would buy her more time to escape. Now, she only needed a change of clothes.

Lois, what are you doing? Wells will end up taking the wrong you back in time to save me if he doesn’t recognize you.

She looked down at the clumps of hair in her hands and dumped them in the waste paper basket. “Nothing I can do about that now,” she muttered.

Lois took the scissors and dug one of the blades into the lock on the desk, popping it open. Inside she found a large ring of keys. She dropped the scissors, grabbed the ring, and returned to the secret hallway. She tried the middle door, first with one key and then another and another and another. Finally, she found one that fit. She turned the lock and opened the door.

On the other side of the door she found an apartment. Did one of the doctors live in-house? She looked around the ornately furnished living room, still searching for an exit. Running to the windows, she noticed they were all barred.

“You’re not going to find a way out,” a familiar voice said from behind her.

Lois spun around and found herself facing Lex Luthor.


Part 25

Luthor?

“Lex?!” she sputtered.

“Lois! Darling, is that you?” A genuine smile spread across his face. Lex was dressed casually in slacks and a button down Oxford, no tie. “I hardly would have recognized you.”

She passed one hand uneasily over her unwashed, newly cut hair as the other tugged down the hem of the hospital gown. She took a step back for every one of his steps forward, but he still caught her and pulled her into a friendly embrace.

“Ari said that she had convinced you to join us.”

“You’re dead,” she finally exclaimed.

Lex chuckled. “Well, no.” He took her arm and led her over to the sofa to sit down. “Funny story actually…”

“What? Gretchen Kelly gave you a new heart and a blood transplant and somehow miraculously you’re alive again?” she scoffed, scooting further away from him.

“If Gretchen ever reanimated that body, which was stolen from the morgue, she’d have been in for a rude awakening. You see, I wasn’t with you the night you got caught by the terrorists at Daily Planet. That wasn’t me.”

Lois’ eyes opened wide. “Not you?”

“No, not me,” he said with his charming smile that now reminded her of fish oil. He leaned closer and whispered, “That was my clone; an expensive bit of science that, only to have it die prematurely and force me into hiding. Shame.” He shook his head in disappointment.

“Clone?” Lois echoed.

Of course, it makes total sense. Without me in this world, Luthor had himself cloned instead.

Her lips pressed into a line. “You sent a clone on a date with me?”

That would explain why Arianna said that the man who had died at the Planet wasn’t her husband, why he was only an acquaintance she had met on a few occasions. He was the clone! She wasn’t lying! I wonder if that nose-diving Luthor was also a clone.

“You sent a clone on a date with me?” Lois roared, standing back up. “This whole time I thought you liked me and the first chance you got you set me up with your second string replacement?”

Lois, priorities. Dead man back from the dead. Ex-wife trying to kill you. Exact double of you in another room. Time running out.

“All this time, I thought you loved me!” she said, continuing her rant.

“I do love you, Lois,” Lex said calmly. He shrugged. “It was Madame Butterfly. It wasn’t as if we were going to do much talking. He needed some more real world experience and I had a standing date with Ari. We always get together on our anniversary…” He grinned.

“More experience?” Lois repeated in a huff. “You sent him on dates with me before? Is that why he told me he loved me? Or was that something you taught him as well?”

Lex stood up and crossed to her, setting his hands on her shoulders. “Lois, darling, I admit in the past I stretched myself a bit thin, but that has all changed. I’m a new man.”

She knocked his hands off her shoulders. “Don’t touch me!”

His charming smile grew. “Ah, that fire. How I’ve missed that fire. You… you are irreplaceable.” He sighed. “A one of a kind.”

Not available. Lois, time to go!

Lois nodded and she turned to go out the front door, but then paused as Lex took hold of her arm.

“Not, yet, Lois,” he requested in a firmer tone. It wasn’t quite a command, but it wasn’t as nice as a suggestion either.

“I’ve got to go. They’re looking for me,” she said, realizing she was stating the obvious.

Lex didn’t let go of her arm, actually his grip tightened as his other hand removed the key ring from her fingers. “I’ll be holding on to these,” he said, and slipped the key ring into the pocket of his slacks. “Come. Sit down. Relax. Would you like…” His eyes looked down her body and then back up again. “… to freshen up?”

Lois wanted to, but not within a mile of this man. The creepy fingers of dread danced across her shoulders. “I should go,” she repeated, pulling on her arm to free herself.

“Where are you going to go, Lois?” He sat back down. “Now that I’ve got the keys; you’ll need them to open any doors.”

Lo-is! Bad guys with Tasers hunting you down. Keys or not, time to escape, honey.

~Right!~ Lois turned back to the door.

Two steps later, Lex’s words made her hesitate. “As I said before, there isn’t a way out. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

Go!

She ran out the door and back into the hallway. There were still only the four doors. The bathroom, the apartment, the locked door, and the door that led back into the office. Arianna’s office, Lois presumed. She chose door number four: anywhere that Lex wasn’t.

She found Arianna’s suit jacket hanging on a hook on the back of the office door that led back to the hall with the therapy rooms. Lois slipped the jacket on. Anything was better than this nightgown. She opened the door a crack and heard feet running and voices calling to one another. They knew she was here. She was trapped.

Lois went back out the door to the hallway that led to Lex’s apartment. She tried the third door again; it was still bolted tight. She heard the jingling of keys.

“You’ll need these I’m afraid, Lois,” Lex said, leaning against the doorframe to his apartment, rattling the keys.

She dived to grab them from his hand, but he held them outside of her reach.

“Uh-uh-uh,” Lex replied with a patronizing shake of his head, and returned to the apartment. “Come with me and you’ll be safe from the bullies with the Tasers.”

Lois heard voices from Arianna’s office. It was only a matter of moments before they opened that door and found her. Having no other choice, she followed Lex, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it. Her breath was ragged, more from fear than physical exertion. She didn’t want to go back to her cell.

This is the lesser of two evils, Lois?

~Clearly not!~ Lois snapped back at Clark. She really didn’t have much of a choice. Anyway, she had too many questions, yet unanswered. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here,” he replied simply, sitting back down on the sofa.

“Live here?” she echoed. Who would want to live in a mental institution? “Why?”

“Ari and I had almost finished building the Luthor House for the Mentally Unstable prior to my untimely death by terrorists. I needed a place to lay low until I could figure out a way of not being dead, and Ari suggested these apartments,” Lex explained. “No one knew that they’re here or that they lead to and from the mental institution and the building next door. It’s the perfect hideout really. Then, when my body was stolen from the morgue, it was the ideal time to make my reemergence into Metropolis.”

“So, you didn’t steal your body to stage a comeback?” Lois inquired.

“Brilliant that, but alas not. I can only assume, like you did, that Gretchen with her unhealthy attachment to…” He smiled indulgently. “… my body, was the responsible party.”

Lois shivered at that disgusting thought.

“Cold, my dear?” Lex asked, standing. “I do like that jacket, but that nightgown leaves something to be desired.” His teeth showed with his bad joke. He opened a door on the other side of the room. “Your bedroom.”

“Excuse me?” she gulped.

“There is a bathroom and a closet full of clothes in your size. You’ll be most comfortable,” he explained. The lip above those teeth sneered upwards. “I won’t peek.”

Somehow, I don’t believe him.

~Neither do I,~ Lois thought, continuing to lean against the front door to the apartment and keeping her gaze focused on the recently dead man.

“Lois,” drawled Lex, that indulgent tone returning. “Did you think that Ari would bring you here only to leave you with those people? You aren’t crazy, headstrong maybe, but certainly not insane.”

~Really not feeling the sanity at the moment.~ Lois decided it was time to test her voice again. “Why would she do that? Arianna’s in love with you.”

Lex shrugged. “True.” He sighed with pity as if he knew that anyone foolish enough to love him wasn’t worth his love in return. “Physical intimacy isn’t high on her list, though. She’s more of the lie there and take it type.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Some childhood trauma or whatnot. Extremely boring, if you ask me. It’s actually why we divorced. I felt it was better for her to have her freedom.” Then he chuckled as if it had been a lie for his wife’s benefit. “She didn’t want the divorce and said she’d do anything for me.” He indicated the door to Lois’ bedroom again. “She thinks it’s better for me to get my carnal pleasures elsewhere as long as I keep my friendship with her.”

I don’t like the sound of that.

Lois gulped, neither did she. “So, you and Arianna aren’t divorced?”

“Oh, yes. The divorce was finalized,” Lex said, turning to a side table with decanters of liquor and pouring himself a glass of some amber liquid. He must have seen her eye the decanters. “Don’t get any ideas, Lois. They’re plastic.” He tapped the decanter against the table to prove his point. “At first, Ari was afraid I might try to hurt myself or her with broken glass.” He laughed, pointing over his shoulder at the windows Lois had first looked out upon entering the apartment. “Unbreakable glass as well. Trust me, I’ve tried. Anyway, after the divorce I moved on with my life, built up LexCorp and my billions. Of course, as my founding partner of LexCorp, Ari did well for herself, but she refused to be ignored and was almost impossible to satisfy. We settled on a compromise; I would play husband once a month, meeting her for dinner and conversation…” Lex yawned, took a sip of his drink, and shrugged. Then he shot Lois a wolfish grin. “And once a year, on our anniversary, I get my way with her.”

Lois cleared her throat. “Why not just have her killed and be done with the whole charade?”

Lois!

~It’s a fair question, Clark. We both know killing isn’t above his abilities. He was ‘The Boss’ after all~ she retorted.

This isn’t an interview. This is your life.

“Frankly, the challenge more than makes up for the inconvenience,” Lex replied, setting down his drink and crossing to her at the front door. He ran a finger down her jaw. “I hope you won’t mind sharing. It’s only once a year, my dear.” His eyes flashed with an idea. “Unless…”

Lois’ knee flew upwards, making contact with Lex’s crotch as the heel of her hand hit his jaw. “Not in this lifetime.”

Not in any lifetime.

Lex staggered backwards, but he didn’t let the blows floor him.

“Give me the keys!” she demanded, taking a step towards him.

When he spoke, Lex gasped, “Yes, a fiery volcano.” He sounded pleased. “I knew there was an inferno behind those demure little suits and innocent doe eyes. I’m glad to see I wasn’t wrong.” He licked his lips in anticipation and then coughed as he straightened up. “I’ve hidden the keys, Lois. No amount of searching will find them.” To show her the truth of that statement, he pulled out his empty pockets. “I’m a patient man, Lois. We won’t tango until you’re ready, but what a tango it will be.” He held out his hand towards the bedroom again. “Really, Lois, I won’t peek. I’m not that kind of man.”

Uh-huh.

“Mind if I don’t believe you, Lex?” Lois replied, returning to her spot against the door. “So, go on with your story. You never explained why you never reappeared as the great Phoenix.”

Lex took a gulp of his drink and sat gingerly down on the sofa again. “Arianna.” He chuckled in admiration. “I became her prisoner.”

The decanter story. The comment about the window and doors.

The grand Lex Luthor, “The Boss”, taken down by his ex-wife. Despite herself, Lois’ esteem of Arianna Carlin rose, and a hesitant smile brushed her lips. “You’ve been stuck here all this time?”

He shrugged. “It isn’t so bad. I have a personal chef and maid service. Any number of female companions, whenever I require, to do with whatever I please. True, most of my billions got distributed to those charities in my will, and the rest went into Ari’s trust. As founding partner of LexCorp, she inherited control of that as well, but she turned that over to me in time to give me something to do during the day. Of course, I delegate, not being able to leave my rooms, but…” He raised his glass in a toast. “… there’s compromise in every relationship.”

Something was wrong, off in his version of the truth. If he were truly her prisoner he would have taken his opportunity to escape when Lois barged into his rooms with the keys. “You’re not really her prisoner, are you?”

Lex smiled proudly. “Astute.” He winked. “Not for quite some time, but I see no reason to go about in society anymore, making nice, playing gentleman businessman. Now, that I have you, my life is complete.”

Lois rolled her eyes at that statement. “So you just gave up the power being 'The Boss' gave you?”

“Did I?” he asked innocently, taking another sip of his drink.

She frowned as the final puzzle piece fell into place. “You had Toni Taylor killed, didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “She had been warned not to talk.”

“What did it matter that she ruined your reputation? You’re dead! Are you going to kill me too because I’m the one who revealed your secrets to the world at large?”

Don’t taunt the megalomaniac, Lois.

~Please, Clark. He’s not into necrophilia. He wants me alive and fighting.~

“I expected as much from you, Lois. Actually, I’m disappointed that it took you this long to see the real me,” he replied, resting his jaw on his hand. “Now, that you know the truth about me, it should make our relationship more exciting.”

“We don’t have a relationship,” she reminded him.

“I love you, Lois,” he said with a long desirous sigh, his fingers trailing across his lips as his eyes once more caressed her body.

“Then you’re going to be disappointed, Lex, because I’ll never love you and this…” She pointed down to the body he was ogling. “…will never be yours.”

“Never say never, darling.” He held out his hand to the bedroom. “Please, go clean up and change, Lois. Relax. You’ve had a hard couple of days, I’m sure with Ari playing with your mind.”

She still didn’t move.

“Unless you prefer wearing those rags,” he challenged, and then turned on the familiar charm. “Please, Lois, join me for dinner, whatever you want to eat. No ulterior motive, I promise. I’ll even take you to the symphony. Being head of Luthor Foundation for the Arts does have some perks. I won’t make any passes. Just two old friends getting reacquainted. The bedroom and bathroom doors have locks, I won’t come in, promise.” He held up his hands in a gesture of goodwill. “It’ll be just like old times.”

Lois pressed her mouth into a line. “With or without the clone?”

“Touché, my dear.”

“Am I free to leave?” she challenged, her brow raised, already knowing the answer.

“Of course not. This is your home now unless you want to return to your cell, where your entire life is watched, your food chosen for you, no entertainment, mandatory therapy sessions with Ari, and the only company you have are the mentally disturbed. You’d be insane yourself within a week.”

Choose the cell, Lois.

~Even if I chose the cell, Clark, he wouldn’t let me go. It’s just a control play; he wants me to believe I have some. We just have to bide our time, until we can find the keys or possibly somehow get away at the symphony.~

Lois, you don’t really believe that he’d show his face at the symphony, do you?

~We’ll have to see about that, Clark.” She took a deep breath and exhaled, finally pushing herself off the door and walking into the bedroom that he indicated.

***

With Clark’s expertise to guide her, Lois had looked in every conceivable place for microphones and hidden cameras. Finding none, she took a shower. The shampoo and conditioner were the same brand she used at home, as were the make-up and toiletries in the medicine cabinet. If Lois hadn’t known that the quantities were different, she might have assumed that they were the same, because they were hers and she had bought them.

It had felt good to shower, normal. She had let the hot water run down her back and the stress of the day flowed down the drain. It helped that Clark rambled on with funny stories from his travels and his life, distracting her from thinking about what Lex wanted or expected from her. Being with Clark was more intimate than she had ever allowed herself to be before. It wasn’t just that she couldn’t have a private thought to herself; she felt comfortable with him in a way she never had with a real living, breathing person. She wondered if she would feel as at home with him, if he were actually in the room, instead of just in her head.

Lois couldn’t believe she had considered sending the man away. Now, that she had let the anger from the last twenty-four hours ebb away, she realized her love for Clark had returned stronger than ever. He had been hurt by her rejection, by her lack of trust in him, but like a chocolate stain Clark would not go away; he was always there to remind her of the wonderful time they had together.

The clothes in the closet also gave her a bizarre sense of déjà vu… like hers, but not. Lois picked out a modest maroon gown for her and Lex’s ‘evening out’, but once she had it on, Clark bashfully told her that he had always liked her in that color. She switched to basic black in case the maroon did make her look better; she didn’t want to impress Lex. This wasn’t a date. She was this man’s guest, his captive, but she wasn’t planning on letting him get the upper hand. Plus the black dress had a nice slit up the side to free her legs for defensive action, should it be required.

Dinner had been an intimate affair and reminded her of that first supper she and Lex had shared, when she was supposed to be interviewing him for the Daily Planet. Lex had tried to flatter her, ply her with his charm, only this time she had the good sense to not to believe any of it. Clark was largely quiet, whispering suggestions in her ear only on those few occasions when she seemed to have been lacking a sharp barb.

Lois heard a ding of a mantel clock announcing the three-quarter hour and Lex stood up.

“Shall we go?” he asked, holding out his hand to her.

She looked at his hand, then blatantly ignored it as she rose to her own feet. “Is it supposed to be warm tonight?” Lois inquired. “Or will I require a wrap?”

“Darling, you will never be cold again,” he replied cryptically, and motioned for her to follow. He led her down a hall off the living room and opened a door. He waited, expecting her to enter first.

Lois peered inside, not wanting to enter a room without knowing if it was floorless with a crocodile pit at the bottom or just a room. She saw it was a home theatre with navy draped walls and comfortable, better than movie theatre seats – a grand total of eight of them.

“Our own Luthor Conservatory of Music,” he announced.

Her brow furrowed as she entered the room. “Is the symphony coming here?”

“Yes and no,” he replied. “Come, let’s take our seats.”

“Why did we get dressed up, if we aren’t leaving the apartment?”

Lex smiled indulgently. “Because it’s much better to be dressed up. It helps with the ambiance.”

Okay-dokey. It’s official. Lex Luthor has fallen off his rocker.

Lois hid her agreeing smile as she sat down.

Lex sat down opposite her and picked up a large remote control. One button opened the curtain on the stage, revealing not a wide-screen television, but a small movie theatre type screen.

“I’ve never pictured you as the movie buff, Lex,” Lois teased him.

“I’m not,” he responded, pressing another button. The lights dimmed. He pressed another couple of buttons and a picture and sound appeared. It was as if they were actually there at the Luthor Conservatory of Music. She could hear people talking as they took their seats. The picture was focused on the stage.

“Is this a live link?” she asked, perplexed. “Or pre-recorded?”

“Live,” Lex whispered, leaning towards her, as if they were actually there in Lex’s private box, instead of on the other side of town. “Being the chairman of the Luthor Foundation for the Arts does have its little perks.”

Lois stared at the man. “When you say you never leave the apartment, do you really mean ‘never’?”

“Lois, I have a world class chef. I have my office with all necessary equipment to run my company. I can watch any show, concert, or opera in Metropolis in my very own theatre,” Lex explained, indicating the screen. “I no longer have to make small talk with small people, sit through tedious business meetings that accomplish nothing, and pretend to be someone I’m not. This is the most free I’ve ever been, and now I have you to share it with. Why would we ever want to leave?”

“What if I want to go for a walk in the park?” she questioned.

“The exercise room has a treadmill with a large view screen. There are a thousand preprogrammed walks, mocking the conditions at national parks all over the states. Scents are pumped in from our greenhouse…”

“You have a greenhouse?” Lois interrupted. A green house meant sunlight, fresh air, and windows, lots of lots of windows.

“Of course. I grow my orchids there,” he responded naturally.

“Lex, I can’t live like this,” she said, trying to communicate with his logical side. “I’m a people person, a reporter. I need to talk to people, have discussions, visit new places, experience life, not watch it on television.” She flipped her hand at the screen.

“You’ll adapt. As my wife, you’d have given up your career anyway,” he replied.

Maybe Arianna was right to lock him up in a mental institution.

Lois’ eyes widened. There would be no communicating with this man.

The lights in the auditorium dimmed and the concert started. Lex seemed absorbed in the music, but she felt nothing but bored. After what felt like hours, but probably was a much shorter time, Lois felt her eyes grow heavy with sleep.

Lois, why don’t you get up, move around, search for the keys. Tell him you need to use the restroom.

She agreed; sitting and waiting for this farce to be over, so that they could head to their respective bedrooms would take too long. She stood up.

“Where are you going?” Lex hissed. “You’ll disturb the orchestra.”

“I’m tired, Lex; it’s been a long couple of days. I’m returning to my room,” she replied, heading for the door.

“I’ll accompany you,” he insisted.

“No!” Lois exclaimed in horror, and then calmed her voice. “Finish the concert, Lex. As you said, there’s no escape. Where else could I go?”

Lex nodded in agreement and sat back down.

She exhaled in relief and returned out to the living room. There hadn’t been much time between when he had jingled the keys at her and when she had re-entered the apartment. He must have hidden them somewhere in that room.

After a half-hour and a fruitless search later, Lois walked over to the large barred picture windows. It was starting to rain, and she could see the water splatter onto the glass. Would she ever feel the surprise or enjoyment of being caught in a rain shower again?

Go to bed. Get some rest, Lois. Wake up early and try searching the other rooms, while Luthor is asleep.

Lois nodded in agreement.

***

An echoing scream woke Lois up. It almost surprised her how heavily she had slept in these rooms. It was still dark outside, and she could hear the rain coming down in buckets, pelting her picture windows like a lover’s pebble. She sat up in bed and pulled her comforter up to her chest, her heart beating faster than a newborn’s. She listened in the silence, wondering if she had heard the scream in her dream or if it had been real. A roar of thunder made her start with its ferociousness. She wondered if that had been the noise that had awoken her.

~Clark?~

I’m here, Lois.

She was wide awake now and too terrified to shut her eyes again. Had the scream come from the mental institution or from within this very apartment? Had it been her own scream that had awaken her? Or had Lex brought some other victim in to give him pleasure while he pretended patience with her? She didn’t want to move, only feeling a bit reassured that she could lock her bedroom door from intruders.

After another minute of silence, then two, Lois took a deep breath and exhaled. She must have imagined it.

Suddenly, she heard someone bang open the front door to Lex’s apartment, then slam it shut.

“Lex! Lex!” she heard Dr. Carlin call to her ex-husband.

Lois heard another door slam and then Lex’s voice. “What is it, Ari?”

“Lois escaped!” Arianna yelled.

She gulped. Did Lex not inform his ex-wife about her new accommodations?

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ari,” Lex’s voice chided her. “She’s asleep in her bed.”

Lois heard someone rattling her doorknob and was glad that she had triple checked that she had locked the door.

The door flew open. Lex and Arianna stood in silhouette outside the door. Lois could see a smaller ring of keys in Lex’s hand.

~He lied!~

Big surprise there.

“Not that Lois,” the doctor explained, flinging her hand towards Lois. “The other one.”

The other one?

~My clone?~ Lois guessed.

I doubt Arianna would spend the money it would take to clone you.

~Not clone. Facial reconstruction! The woman in the hospital. Me, but not me.~

Yep, a double.

“I told you not to call her Lois,” Lex scolded his ex-wife. “She isn’t Lois. She gave up too easily. Instead of fighting me, she turned the knife on herself.” His voice was full of derision. “Pitiful.”

“Well, then you’ll be happy to know she didn’t make it,” retorted Arianna, closing Lois’ bedroom door.

What?

Lois clambered out of bed and went to the door, opening it a crack.

Lex and Arianna were looking out the living room windows.

“Call the police,” Lex ordered.

“What?! Lex, no. They’ll crawl all over the place,” Arianna replied, her eyes wide with fear. “With the storm, no one will find it in Hobs Bay. It will get washed out to sea.”

“Call the police, Ari. They won’t find me. I’m safe,” he said, reassuring her and caressing her jaw with the palm of his hand. “Everyone knows this building is condemned. They won’t think to look for witnesses here.”

A fresh wave of chills shivered down Lois’ spine. ~Witnesses?~

Arianna wrapped an arm around Lex’s waist and hugged him. “If you think that’s for the best, darling,” she murmured, placated by a kiss from Lex to the top of her head. “You know better about these things.” The doctor nodded and left the apartment. Lois heard the distinctive sound of the door being locked.

Lex turned away from the window and, spotting Lois at her door, crossed over to her. “Don’t worry, darling. You’re safe. Nobody will come looking for you again. Go back to bed.” In Lois’ shock, Lex kissed her cheek unaccosted. “No need to worry your pretty head; we won’t be rushing into anything. We have all the time in the world now. Good night, my sweet. Oh, and don’t think about trying to signal the police, they won’t see you – the windows are tinted – and they won’t hear you over the storm,” he said with a Cheshire Cat sized grin and left the room, presumably to return to his.

Lois? Honey?

Lois felt frozen at the door, Lex’s words echoing in her head. ‘Nobody will come looking for you again.’ Had someone come looking for her? Someone other than Wells? Someone had come to visit Lois and had been shown her double instead. Who? Jimmy? She shook her head. Not Jimmy, someone with power, who insisted on seeing her. Perry?! Had he believed that the double was her? Why wouldn’t he come looking for her again? In the pit of her stomach she knew the answer, but needed to see it for herself. Slowly, she crossed the living room to the window out of which Lex and Arianna had looked.

Down on the pavement, between two dumpsters, lay a woman’s body in a hospital gown. The heavy rain pelted her and washed away the blood, pooling around her. Her unblinking eyes recognizable despite the petrified stare up at the heavens. Lois’ double.

Perry will remember that you told him Star’s prediction about the ex-wife killing you, only killing someone else instead. He’ll know the body isn’t yours.

“Will he?” she whispered. Or would she disappear into these rooms, never to be seen again, her screams for help going unheeded, in the shadow of the mental institution?

Don’t think that, Lois. Have hope, Clark’s voice caressed her, soothed her.

“What hope can I have?” she murmured. “As far as anyone will know, I’m dead. I’ll be locked in this prison with a mad man bent on breaking my soul.”

H.G. Wells! He’ll go back in time and save you.

Lois squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the image of the woman in the alley. “No, Clark, I don’t want that. You heard Star, if we go back, you’ll be lost. I can’t lose you. I love you.”

And I love you, Lois, Clark reassured her. With her eyes closed, Lois could almost feel him standing next to her, holding her in his arms. But I’m already lost. I’d rather have Wells fix the past to save you, than have this as your fate.

A sob broke from her chest. “Oh, Clark, no! I don’t want any life without you.”

Star said you’d still have me.

“No,” Lois corrected, her voice firm. “What Star predicted was that you would die and be replaced by a new Clark. I don’t want any other Clark. I want you, my Clark!”

I want you, too, honey, but Star said this new Clark would love you, treasure you, be there for you, and protect you. Sounds like a pretty upstanding guy to me.

“Well, I refuse to love him,” she insisted adamantly, turning away from the windows.

Lois tested the main door of the apartment, just in case, but it was securely locked. Then she took another look around the living room, trying to figure out where Lex could have hidden those keys. Wherever the hiding spot was didn’t matter anymore as Lois realized what he must have done. Lex probably took the keys from where he had hidden them and locked them in a safe in his office while she was in the shower. Stupid, stupid mistake; she should never have left the room after he had hidden the keys. She took one last look around the living room before returning to her new bedroom.

I’d much rather have you love another Clark than have you at the mercy of men like Luthor or Spencer or Sullivan.

“But he’ll be the wrong Clark, Clark. He won’t be you,” she repeated.

Well, nobody’s perfect, Clark teased.

Lois scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “You think you’re all that and a piece of cheese, do you, Flyboy? You better watch out, or I might end up falling for that wrong Clark fellow just to spite you.”

Really? Would you? As long as you don’t give him an easier time than you gave me.

“Oh, be careful what you wish for,” Lois retorted, shutting her bedroom door, locking it, and moving a chair under the doorknob. “I just might fall in love with him at first sight.”

Clark chuckled. And still be Lois Lane? Doubtful.

***End of Part 25***

Don't forget to read The Epilogue !

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