Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Wrong Clark (93/???)

Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found Here

Where we left off in Part 92 …

“How close?” Clark asked. His chest touched hers, and they still held hands between them.

“Close,” Lois whispered.

“Close close?” he murmured, tilting his face towards hers.

Lois shut her eyes. “Very close,” she breathed more than spoke as his lips descended onto hers.

They both sighed with the relief of it.

A loud banging made them jump apart.

“Not again,” she grumbled.

“CK! Lois! Are you there?” Jimmy called out from the other side of the front door.

They stared at one another, both their hearts racing as they panted with want. Clark moved first, pulling her tightly against him and kissing her once more. “I’ll send him away,” he said between kisses.

“Oh, please,” she moaned, and then remembered her meeting and grimaced. “Oh, damn! I’m supposed to meet Lex.”

“Cancel. Stay with me,” Clark pleaded.

“Yes!” she agreed both with her words and with kisses; this was what she wanted. “Yes,” she begged, wishing the world would fall away and leave them alone.

“CK? Lois?” Jimmy called again with another bang on the door.

“No,” Lois said, pulling away from Clark.

“No?” Clark repeated, his tone wavering towards anguish.

“Lex might have something. You’re right. He’s big. He might know something. I’ve got to go,” she said, taking a step back and picking up her briefcase from where she had dropped it next to couch. She lifted her hand to Clark’s jaw and ran a thumb over his lips.

He kissed her thumb. “Come back, afterwards,” he insisted.

“How would it look? Jimmy’s supposed to stay the night,” Lois reminded him. “And you need your rest. We’ll spend tomorrow night together.”

Clark focused his eyes on hers. “There is no tomorrow night, Lois.”

In a way, he was right. Nightfall was supposed to strike tomorrow in the early evening.

“There’s only tonight,” he continued.

Lois pressed her lips to his. “Which is why I must go,” she said, breaking off the kiss and moving towards the door. “So that we can have more than just tonight.”

“You really do save the world,” Clark said with admiration.

She grinned at him. “See, your memory is already starting to come back.” She flung open the door, and Jimmy stumbled in.

“Oh, hi,” Jimmy said, catching himself, so he wouldn’t fall down the steps into Clark’s living room. “I thought maybe you guys weren’t here yet.” He lifted up a plastic bag with the words Ralph’s Taj Mahal printed on the side. “I brought dinner. I hope you’re up for Indian.”

Lois looked back at Clark and mouthed ‘lucky you’ as she went out the door. She hoped he knew she was joking.

*

Part 93

As Jimmy set his bags from the restaurant down on the dining room table, Clark watched Lois shut the door behind her with one long last look.

Him and his big mouth. If he hadn’t suggested that she call Luthor back about whatever information the man could provide, Clark would still be kissing Lois. That had been very nice, very nice indeed, and entirely too short. But, unfortunately, she was right. The fate of the world was more important.

“Do you like Indian food?” Jimmy asked, and before Clark could answer he went on. “Aw, man, they took your TV? How are we going to watch the Asgard Rocket blowing up Nightfall? Shoot! Do you have a radio?”

Clark was still staring at his front door, wishing he could watch Lois through it. For a second, it almost seemed invisible, as if it was made of glass instead of solid wood. He shook his head, finally forcing himself to turn around. “I’ll look around for a radio, but Lois said much of my stuff was damaged in the break-in. She and I already ate,” he said to Jimmy. “But thanks anyway.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t think of that. Cat suggested I try this place,” Jimmy said. “Why not? How bad could it be, right?”

Clark looked at the different containers Jimmy was putting on the table from Ralph’s Taj Mahal, but there was something about the way they smelled that didn’t sit right with his stomach. “I don’t know if I’d like Indian.” He shrugged. It didn’t really matter; he wasn’t hungry now anyway.

Jimmy chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to shower and change,” Clark said, hesitating at the arch by his bedroom.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll just sit here and…” Jimmy said, glancing again at the spot where Lois had said once sat Clark’s television. “Eat.”

Clark paused a moment longer, but when Jimmy did seem okay with it, he continued into his bedroom. He started going through his drawers to find clothes to change into and came across some that clearly didn’t belong to him. His eyes widened as he glanced back at the door Lois had left through just a few minutes before.

She left clothes at my place, in my drawers? Clark gulped. How serious were they? It must be pretty serious if Lois left clothes at his place. He smiled at this thought and wondered why she hadn’t said anything all day. Maybe he would feel hesitant about saying anything if Lois didn’t recognize him. He hoped never to be in that position himself.

Clark couldn’t find any pants or long-sleeve shirts, and went to open the armoire. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants, sitting on a shelf. He carried those, a t-shirt, and his underclothes into the bathroom with him, not wanting to change in a bedroom with no doors, and Jimmy in the next room. The hospital had given him enough lack of privacy to last him the year. Of course, if Nightfall hit, who knew what life would be like. Best to get a long hot shower in while he could.

After his shower, Clark once again looked at his face in the mirror, amazed that he still hadn’t grown a five o’clock shadow. How old was he anyway, he wondered. He shrugged it off. Apparently, he didn’t do much shaving, he figured, after a quick check of his bathroom didn’t reveal but one old and rusted razor. Thankfully, he didn’t need it and tossed it in the trash.

His quick check of the bathroom had also revealed a large unopened box of condoms under the sink. They had been in a paper sack and shoved in the back behind his cleaning supplies. That was a strange place to hide such items. Cat had said that he and Lois hadn’t done anything at the Lexor. Clearly, that was wishful thinking on her part. The condoms and Lois’s underclothing in his drawers told another story, a story in which his sex fantasy dream with Meena the night before might have been a reality. He wouldn’t mind reliving the first time he and Lois had made love. No, he wouldn’t mind that in the least.

After he was dressed, Clark combed his wet hair. It had been nice to clean it with real shampoo instead of the ‘body wash’ that the hospital had supplied. The fragrance of his shampoo was a definite improvement over the antiseptic smell of the hospital. He combed his hair back over his head and, for a second, in the foggy mirror it was almost as if he saw a flash of red against a sky-blue background behind him. He turned around but nothing there was remotely red, and the wall wasn’t blue, but bare brick. He shook his head. He must be imagining things.

With a more vigorous shake of his head to loosen the stiffness of the slicked back look, Clark pulled down a curl on the right side of his forehead. No matter what that dream Meena said, it still didn’t feel like him. He pulled down a second curl on the left side and nodded. Yes, that just felt right.

He went out into the bedroom and put his glasses back on. “Jimmy, does this look weird?” he asked.

Jimmy walked in, holding a bowl of cereal. “What? Hey, CK! The old hairdo is back,” he said with a grin.

“So, I used to wear my hair like this?” Clark asked.

“Sure did, CK, for about the first month you worked at the Planet. Then one day, you came in with the new style,” Jimmy said, slurping a spoonful of cereal. “I hope you don’t mind me eating your food, but that Indian stuff just smelled off to me.” He shivered with disgust. “The last thing I need is to be on the toilet when the asteroid strikes. What a way to go, huh?”

Clark agreed with his expression that it wouldn’t be ideal. He opened his armoire. The doctor told him to stay bundled up for at least the first forty-eight hours out of the hospital. He looked at his flannel shirts and then over at his sweaters. He didn’t want to wear a sweater, but it would be warmer.

“You know what the Chief told me after that whole Revenge incident, when Alice had tossed him out, and he had drunk one too many?” Jimmy took in another spoonful of cereal. “That Presley had gone out that way.” His eyes opened widely. “Oh, totally not smooth! You aren’t to tell another soul that I told you that.”

Clark’s brow furrowed, having not followed one word of what Jimmy had told him. “President Presley?” he guessed.

A mouthful of cereal flew across the room as Jimmy began to cough. “President Elvis Presley?” he sputtered, roaring with laughter. “You’re a riot, CK. Oh, don’t you dare tell that one to the Chief. He’ll get all nostalgic and…” Some milk sloshed out of his bowl. “Sorry, man. I’ll go get a towel.” He went quickly out of the room.

Clark shrugged; he still had no idea what Jimmy had rambling on about. He decided on a flannel shirt with a sweater over top, even though he felt comfortable enough in just a t-shirt. His casual style seemed fairly casual indeed, flannel shirts, t-shirts, and jeans. Well, Cat had said he was a Kansas farmer. Wasn’t that what she had said? On the other hand, she might have said, he was impersonating a Kansas farmer.

He had just finished buttoning up the shirt to the neck when Jimmy returned.

Jimmy just shook his head with a grimace. “Leave at least one button open at the throat, CK,” he suggested. “Otherwise you look way too stiff, too nerdy, even in flannel.”

Clark nodded. Nerdy wasn’t a style he wanted to emulate. He popped open the top button of his shirt, and pulled his navy sweater from the top shelf. A plastic bag, which had been under it, slipped out and landed on the floor directly in front of where Jimmy was mopping up the spilled milk.

“CK!” Jimmy exclaimed. “What are you doing with a Superman Suit?”

***

Lex had asked Lois to meet him at his penthouse. Being that it was after hours, she could understand that. Personally, she was glad to avoid bumping into Mrs. Cox.

All Lois wanted to do was learn what Lex knew and leave as quickly as possible to get back to Clark’s kisses. On the cab ride over, she realized that it couldn’t be very important or Lex would have announced it on LNN, instead of coming to her. She should have known better than to fall for another one of Lex’s traps. After she blew up at him for prying into her personal life at their last meeting, Lois hoped that Lex hadn’t bothered her with something less than front page news.

Nigel led Lois into the living room and then left.

Lex stood up and approached her. “How wonderful to see you, Lois,” he said with a grand smile and outstretched arms. “And right on time too. How have you been?”

“Busy,” she replied curtly, but then realized that should probably be courteous since he had information for her. Against her better judgment, she allowed him to kiss her cheek. “I’ve been going non-stop since the day before yesterday.”

“I can imagine. I hope you don’t mind, but I have taken the liberty of having my chef prepare dinner,” he said, indicating an intimate table set for two next to the fireplace.

It looked cozy and romantic, and reminded Lois of their first ‘interview’. Clark had told her then that Lex wanted her for more than the interview. Damn his intuition, and damn Lex for trying to orchestrate her life for her.

“Thank you, Lex, but I’ve already eaten,” Lois said, grateful that she and Clark had stopped for soup and sandwiches on the walk to his apartment. She had suggested it to avoid this very scenario. Lex’s behavior was becoming predictable.

“Oh,” he said with some disappointment. “Are you sure you won’t have any? I’d hate to have such good food go to waste. You don’t know when you’ll be able to eat like this again.”

“Whenever I want to, I’m sure, Lex. The asteroid isn’t going to hit. Superman will save us, and life will go on as before,” Lois corrected him. She was getting tired of all these people who had given up on Superman so quickly.

“Oh, have you heard from him?” Lex asked.

Lois frowned. “No, but that doesn’t mean anything. If there’s a way for Superman to help, he will help.”

“It does you justice that you believe in your hero until the end, Lois, but don’t you think you should prepare for the worst, just in case?” he inquired.

Would she really want to live in a world without Superman? He hadn’t even been on Earth for a year, but she already couldn’t imagine her life without him in it. Just as she didn’t want to think of what she would do if someone had actually killed Clark. She had been lucky that Clark hadn’t been hurt more. “Superman has disappeared before and always returned when we’ve needed him. He will do so again,” she said. “Now, what’s your news?”

“All in good time, my dear. Join me for a glass of wine at least, Lois,” Lex coaxed, pulling a bottle of white wine out from where it was chilling beside the table and handing it to Asabi, his manservant, whom Lois didn’t even see enter the room. Silently, Asabi poured the wine as Lex continued, “The Asgard Rocket should be reaching its destination any minute. LNN has a live feed from EPRAD Control. I’d like very much to watch it, wouldn’t you?” He pressed a button on his mantel, revealing a television screen hidden behind the painting over the fireplace. “Asabi, Ms. Lane has already eaten dinner. You may clear this away.”

“Perchance the lady would be interested in dessert,” Asabi suggested. “The chef has prepared a selection of options. There is dark chocolate mousse, New York style cheesecake with strawberry sauce, petits fours, crème brulee, fresh fruit tart, and a chocolate brownie sundae with hazelnut ice cream.”

Lois’s jaw fell open as she tried not to drool. “Yes,” she finally said, caving in with a cough. “That sounds nice.”

Lex handed her a glass of wine, unable to hide his pleasure at her reaction.

“Which dessert should I bring, Ms. Lane?” Asabi asked.

Lex smiled indulgently at Lois, and then said to Asabi, “All of them. Why should we hold back?”

Asabi bowed and left.

“A toast,” Lex said, raising his glass. “To new beginnings.”

Lois thought about Clark’s lips on hers earlier and agreed, “To new beginnings.”

***

“A what?” Clark gasped.

Jimmy picked up the bag, his mopping forgotten. “Oh, man. This is it. This is really one of his Suits.”

Clark looked skeptical. “Really?”

“What are you doing with it? Why is it in a plastic bag?” Jimmy asked.

Clark was as lost about how he had it in his possession as Jimmy. “I don’t know.”

“Oh, right. Geez!” Jimmy stood up and grabbed Clark’s arm. “Lois said that you had a Page One story before you disappeared. Do you think this is related?”

Again, Clark shrugged. He really didn’t know. Something Cat said danced forward in his mind.

“I’ve known that you’re Superman since the moment you flew into the Daily Planet with Lois in your arms.”

Clark’s gaze shifted from the suit in the bag, from which Jimmy couldn’t move his eyes away, and to the finger, which Cat had stabbed with the scissors just that morning. There wasn’t a mark, or a line, or even an indentation to show him where the wound had been. It didn’t hurt or ache in the slightest. No, Cat couldn’t be right.

“This is huge, CK. Do you think this could be the Suit?” Jimmy asked.

“Does he have only one?” Clark inquired in surprise.

“Well, no,” Jimmy said, shaking his head. “I remember something about Superman donating one of his Suits to Metropolis Museum after he launched the Prometheus into orbit.”

“The what?” Clark asked with annoyance. He felt it was quickly becoming his catch phrase. He hated having to ask about every little detail.

“The first time Superman announced his presence on Earth was when he launched the space station Prometheus into space. That’s where he met Lois. She had snuck onboard and discovered a bomb,” Jimmy rattled off.

“Wow,” Clark said. Lois really was something else.

“Yeah, this is big!” Jimmy exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “We need to check out this Suit and see if it’s been in space. If so, it could prove that Superman made it back to Earth alive after colliding with the first asteroid.”

The phone rang and, hoping it was Lois, Clark picked it up. “Hello?”

“Jerome?” a woman’s voice asked.

Jimmy grabbed the phone out of his hand and held the receiver to his chest. “‘Hello?’ CK! Men are trying to kill you! Don’t answer the phone.”

“It’s a wrong number,” Clark said. “They’re looking for a ‘Jerome’.”

Lifting the receiver to his ear, Jimmy said, “Hello?” Then he held out the receiver so they both could hear.

“Hello? This is Martha Kent. I’m looking for…” She paused.

“Mrs. Kent! It’s Jimmy Olsen,” Jimmy said, putting the phone back to his ear.

Mrs. Kent? As in his mother? Clark’s heart started to both ache and race at the same time. He hadn’t even recognized his mom’s voice, and why had she called him ‘Jerome’?

“Lois has been trying to reach you, but the circuits have all been overloaded,” Jimmy went on. He held out the phone again.

“Why, hello, Jimmy. That’s why we called now. With the Asgard Rocket about to collide with the asteroid, we figured everyone would be glued to their TVs, and the lines would finally be free. What are you doing over at Jerome’s?” she asked.

Jerome? Clark mouthed to Jimmy.

His friend held up a finger, indicating that he should wait. “Um… Mrs. Kent… er…”

“Is Jerome all right? Lois was so worried when I called yesterday morning. Something about him having gone missing,” she went on. “When he didn’t call…”

“We found him, but he’s had a bit of an accident. He has amnesia,” Jimmy said.

“He… what? Jonathan, get on the line. Something’s happened to Jerome,” Clark’s mom said, calling to his dad.

Clark felt a lump in his throat.

“What’s wrong with him?” a man’s voice asked on the line.

“He doesn’t remember, Mr. Kent,” Jimmy explained.

“Remember what?” Jonathan probed.

“Who he is, where he lives, his past, his life, his friends…” Jimmy glanced over at Clark. “You, me.”

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Kent murmured, her voice shaking.

Clark held out his hand and Jimmy handed him the phone. “Mom? Dad?” he said, and the woman broke into sobs. He looked at Jimmy helplessly.

“Why don’t you stay here and deal with this? I’m going to take the Suit to S.T.A.R. Labs and see if they can verify it as Superman’s,” Jimmy said, pulling on his jacket and stuffing the bag with Superman’s suit into his backpack. “At least, it would be some kind of hope for the morning papers.”

Clark nodded and covered the receiver. “Lois didn’t want me left alone,” he said. “I should really go with you.”

“You need to talk to the Kents, Clark. Don’t open the door. Don’t answer the phone. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Jimmy suggested, walking up to the door. “Or do you want me to wait?”

Clark looked back down at the receiver where Mrs. Kent was still weeping. “This is going to take a while… um… could I meet you at the Daily Planet?”

Jimmy nodded. “Okay. Stay safe,” he said, opening the door to find Cat Grant on the other side. “Cat? What are you doing here?”

“I thought I might come and relieve you,” Cat said, stepping through the door. “Were you going out without Clark?” Her expression was scolding.

“Hot tip,” Jimmy said by way of excuse. “Clark! Cat’s here, so why don’t you stay with her, and I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”

Clark waved him off, turning back to the phone. “Mom, please, don’t cry. I’m fine, really, I’m just… confused,” he said, using the word Lois had chosen that morning to explain Clark’s ailment to Perry.

“Jerome, son,” the man’s voice said over the line. “It’s Jonathan.”

“Hi, Dad. It’s Clark,” Clark corrected, and then remembered that these were his folks; they would know better than he would. “Isn’t my name ‘Clark’?”

Jonathan cleared his throat. “Clark Jerome Kent.”

“Oh,” Clark said, fading into silence.

Cat walked into his living room and whispered, “Who’s that?”

He covered up the line. “My folks.” He uncovered the phone again, and said to his dad, “Is Mom all right?”

“She’s fine, son,” Jonathan reassured him, his voice rough. “She’s just worried about you, that’s all.”

“Clark?” Cat whispered, and he covered up the receiver again. “Your folks are dead.”

He rolled his eyes and turned his back to her. “I wish I could remember you guys,” he said.

“We do too, Jerome,” said his mom’s voice. “We’ve been so worried when Superman wasn’t heard from after his mission.”

“Martha,” Jonathan cautioned. “He’s not alone.”

“Right. Right. Of course,” Martha said. “Who’s there with you, Jerome?”

Clark’s brow furrowed. “Uh…Cat Grant. Jimmy had to run an errand.”

“Oh, we hoped it might be Lois,” Martha replied. She sounded disappointed. He was glad his folks liked Lois.

“She had to go meet a source,” Clark explained. He hoped Lois would be back soon, but he knew that she probably wouldn’t be.

Cat walked around to face Clark again. She had taken off her coat and was wearing some jeans and sweatshirt, so at least he didn’t feel like she had come over to seduce him. “Clark, is that the couple from Kansas?”

“It’s my folks!” he hissed, and turned back around again.

She grabbed his arm. “Clark! You’ve known them since October, when you and Lois went out there to help them with some kidnapped neighbor or something. You stole their dead son’s identity. You aren’t their son.”

He glared at her. “Do you mind?”

Cat took hold of the receiver and after a moment, won it from his hand. “Mr. and Mrs. Kent, this is Cat Grant, Clark’s best friend, so I’m sure he’s mentioned me. He doesn’t remember who he is, and he doesn’t believe me. According to the radio, the Asgard Rocket missed. We need him to remember, and remember now. There’s no time to lose. Tell him the truth,” she said, and then tossed the phone back at Clark.

“I’m sorry,” he said to his folks, glaring at Cat. “She’s a little crazy.”

Cat went to clean up the table of Jimmy’s fast food containers. She picked them up and dumped them directly into the trash.

“Jerome, who was that woman?” Martha asked. “You’ve never mentioned her.”

“She’s a gossip columnist I work with,” he said, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “She wouldn’t be here, but I’m being babysat because someone tried to kill me.”

For a minute, neither Martha nor Jonathan said anything. Then they both spoke at once, “How?” and “And?”

“Huh?” Clark said, and decided to broaden his explanation. “I was found half-frozen in Hob’s Bay with a bump on my head and no memories. The doctor thinks someone must have hit me over the head before dumping me into the water.”

“Jerome, listen to me,” Jonathan said. “I don’t know who that woman is. It’s possible she’s your friend, and you just haven’t mentioned her to us. You’ve been so over Cloud Nine about Lois lately, you never talk about anybody else, even Jimmy.”

“Well, I for one am surprised he didn’t mention if he had a best friend, especially a female one,” Martha retorted.

“He probably didn’t want us to get the wrong impression, Martha,” Jonathan returned. “Now, Jerome, the Cat woman is right. There’s no time to lose. Can she hear us?”

Clark glanced over at Cat, who was still cleaning up Jimmy’s mess in the kitchen. “No.”

Jonathan took a deep breath. “You aren’t our son.”

“Jonathan!” Martha scolded. “As we told you before, Jerome, you’re always welcome to be our son. I’d love for you to call me ‘Mom’.”

“What do you mean?” Clark asked with alarm.

“You sort of adopted us this past summer,” Jonathan clarified.

“Last summer? I adopted you?” Clark echoed, his stomach falling. “I’m not your son?”

“We’re doing this all wrong, Jonathan. The poor boy doesn’t remember who he is. Where are those letters he brought us Thursday night?” Martha said.

Thursday night? That was three nights ago. How could he have been in Kansas three nights earlier? He had been with Lois on Friday morning before Superman took off on his mission. Wait. What letters?

“Oh, here they are. Jonathan, one of these letters is addressed to Cat Grant at the Daily Planet, so I guess she is a close friend,” Martha went on, tearing some paper. “I’ll read him the one he wrote to Lois.”

“Martha, that’s private,” Jonathan reminded her.

“Well, then I’ll gloss over anything… private,” she retorted. “‘Min-ha Lois.’ I have no idea what that means.”

Min-ha? Meena? Clark cleared his throat. “Go on.”

“‘If you’re reading this letter it means that your nightmare came true, and something went terribly wrong with Superman’s mission to destroy the Nightfall asteroid,’” Martha continued. “‘I hate that I’m telling you this via a letter. I really wanted to tell you in person and have been trying to do so for a while. I should have told you before I flew off on my mission for EPRAD, and I’m sorry that I didn’t. My life is full of ‘should haves’ it seems.’”

“Wait a minute,” he whispered into the phone with a cautious glance at Cat. “I wasn’t on some mission for EPRAD.”

“Yes, you were, honey,” Martha corrected him, before continuing to read the letter, “‘Lois, I love you. I have always loved you. From the first moment I saw you, when you barged into my interview with Perry and called me ‘Chuck’. You stopped my heart when you recognized ‘Superman’ even before I told you that name. I’ve wanted to confess to you my other identity as Superman since that first day you pressed your lips to mine in Trask’s plane all those months ago.’”

“What? No! No! This isn’t true!” Clark exclaimed. He turned to Cat. “You set this up, didn’t you? These are some friends of yours, you had them call to make me believe this crazy notion that you have cooked up in your head. They aren’t real!” Into the phone, he said, “You aren’t even my parents!”

“No, son, we’re not,” Jonathan said calmly. “The boy we found, our Clark, was dead. You’re from another parallel dimension, where the Martha and Jonathan Kent, who found and adopted you, died when you were still a boy.”

“Was this your idea?” Clark yelled at Cat. “Did you tell these people to lie to me? Did you tell them to call me and tell me that they are like my parents, but that my true parents are dead? You’re sick! When will you get it through your thick head that I’m not him! I’m not Superman!”

Cat grabbed the phone away from him. “He was exposed to Kryptonite somewhere, Mr. and Mrs. Kent.”

“Where?” Jonathan asked.

“I don’t know where. I’m afraid someone found out his true identity,” Cat said. “He’s got a strange rash on his leg that looks like sunburn, but his bare leg hasn’t been exposed to sun in…” She shrugged. “Forever, I guess.”

“Kryptonite poisoning is only temporary. Has he started to heal yet?” Martha asked. “Otherwise, everything we’re doing is moot.”

“I can’t fly. I can’t shoot laser beams with my eyes. I can’t see through…” Clark’s voice faltered. He had seen through his solid front door earlier when he had wanted to see Lois leave. He swallowed. “Things.”

Cat took hold of his hand and then reached for his other one. “Where is it, Clark?”

“Where’s what?” he asked, knowing exactly for what she was looking.

“I stabbed your finger this morning with the scissors. Where’s the wound?” Cat demanded.

He shrugged. “It’s hard to see now that it’s not bleeding.”

“No, you healed yourself,” Cat scoffed. “And in less than twelve hours. Now, show me, or I’ll have to poke you again and this time with a kitchen knife.”

“You’re nuts!” Clark exclaimed, dropping the phone and stepping away from her.

“No, I’m not, Clark. We’re just out of time. We have less than twenty-four hours to get you suited up to save the planet, and we don’t have time to be patient,” Cat said, reaching for his hand.

***

It missed. The Asgard Rocket missed the asteroid. Lois stared at the talking heads of the LNN anchors on Lex’s television screen. She set down what was left of her chocolate hazelnut brownie sundae, no longer hungry.

Oh, God! Was the rocket missing the asteroid what she had seen in her dream? Had she foretold the end of the world? No. No, it couldn’t be. She had been at the Daily Planet with Perry and Jimbo… only… only she hadn’t seen Jimbo in months. True, he had moved to Metropolis and had transferred to Met U. Jimmy had brought his cousin to the holiday party at the end of the year, but since then Lois hadn’t seen her sister’s ex-boyfriend. Anyway, in the last part of her dream Lex had died after telling her that he loved her. She turned her wide eyes towards her host.

“Have you ever seen my wine cellar?” Lex asked, standing up and snapping off the television.

Lex didn’t seem as shaken by these events as she was. Everything was riding on Superman now. Where had he disappeared off to?

Wait. Lex had a wine cellar in Metropolis? “What? No. You’ve never shown it to me,” she said, wiping any remnants of chocolate from her mouth with a napkin and wishing he would get to the point of why he had ‘needed’ to see her. Once again, Lex was taking the scenic route, when all she wanted was the freeway. “It's about time I headed back to the Planet,” she said, standing up and picking up her briefcase. “I have a story to write up.”

“Come on. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “I promise you’ll be awed.”

Lois had a strange hunch that whatever Lex was about to show her had nothing to do with his wine cellar. She got a cold prickly feeling at her neck, as she often did when dealing with Lex, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. In her dream, Lex had loved her. Anyway, when he died, they were at the Daily Planet.

They rode down to the lower parking level beneath the building.

He wouldn’t hurt her, her mind repeated. However, would he try to rid himself of anyone he saw as an obstacle to her, such as Clark? She still hoped nobody would hurt Clark because of her, but that didn’t make her feel all warm and fuzzy towards Lex either. He was still on her suspect list.

This wasn’t the regular parking garage for the building, but a private one for Lex alone. She saw Lex’s limo, his town car, and a selection of very expensive cars, which she had never seen Lex drive. She wondered what he was doing with them. What was the point of owning such vehicles if he never drove them? Moreover, why store them in very expensive per square inch Metropolis?

Lex walked her through a door marked ‘private’, and flipped a light switch. A concrete staircase led down to a wine cellar. Maybe Lex was talking about his wine cellar after all. How was this important enough to interrupt her search for Superman?

She walked down the stairs, did a quick glance at the barrels being stored there, and turned to Lex. “I don’t understand,” she said. “Why show me this now?”

“This isn’t what I wanted to show you, Lois,” Lex said, passing through the main cellar and a room filled with full racks of dust covered wine bottles. On the opposite side of that room was a door, which led to a private elevator. “I want to show you the key to Earth’s future.” He slid a keycard into a security lock and typed in a pass code, causing the elevator doors to open. “After you.”

Now, he was talking! Lois knew that he wouldn’t have called her just to invite her to dinner and a tour of his wine cellar. Actually, Lex might, but she hoped not when an asteroid was bearing down on them. They descended for a few minutes and when the doors opened, she saw what looked like the inside of an old ship, steel plated walls.

***End of Part 93***

Part 94

Comments welcome.