--Earth I—Alice Jeanine Spencer White was not a stupid woman. In her sixty-two years she had raised two sons and buried one of them. She’d worked as a nurse and supported her family while her husband was working as a journalist overseas. She was married to one of the top newspaper editors in the world.
She knew there was something very odd going on and she was annoyed that her husband seemed unwilling or unable to trust her with the truth. She fixed another pot of coffee and carried a fresh mug up to her husband.
Perry was in the process of changing out the damp cloth on Clark’s forehead when it finally occurred to her. Clark's hair was pushed back, revealing a high forehead and dark eyebrows that were normally hidden by glasses. His nose was straight, almost Grecian. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized she’d seen that face on the television, in the newspapers, especially the front page of the Daily Planet. He was famous, not just in Metropolis, but around the world.
“Perry,” she finally spoke up, handing her husband his coffee. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
His gray eyebrows rose in momentary surprise. She picked Clark’s horn rim glasses up off the nightstand beside the bed and looked at her husband, then over at their patient. “Who could possibly imagine it? He walks among us and hides behind a pair of glasses?”
Perry took the glasses from her hand and put them back on the table. “Actually, I think it’s more that he hides behind a blue body suit and red cape.”
“How long have you known that Clark was…?”
Perry chuckled softly. “Not as long as I should have. If I’d figured it out earlier, I might have been able to talk him out of making a really stupid mistake. Saved him and Lois a lot of heartache.”
“Perry, what are we going to do if he doesn’t make it?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Perry admitted. “We should call his mother.”
“He really does have a mother? I thought…?”
“He used to send money to her every week. Lois thought it was funny,” Perry told her. “Her number’s probably still on redial on the kitchen phone. If not, then I have her number at the office.”
“I think maybe you need to be the one to talk to her,” Alice suggested.
--Earth II--Clark sat back in his chair, watching Wells worriedly. “So, what do we do? Not about Martha, obviously, but about the problems over there.”
“Actually, Martha remaining alive was only a minor change. If anything, her presence actually strengthened the Peacekeepers, although it’s hard to quantify,” Wells explained. “Originally, when the child died, you adopted an orphaned baby girl several months later.”
“But what do you want us to do about the destruction of Utopia over there?” Lois asked, trying to get him back on track.
Wells looked troubled. “I believe the situation requires the unique talents of Lois Lane and Clark Kent to determine why their Superman has, or will, disappear.”
“Do you know what happened to their version of Clark Kent?” Clark asked.
“There was an obituary in the Daily Planet and in the Smallville Post indicating he had died suddenly. There were no other details,” Wells told them. “The date on the obituary in the Daily Planet corresponds to the day Superman disappeared the second time. The Peackeepers of that world were unable to determine if it was his body that was cremated without risking further damage to the time-line.”
“Considering how screwed up their time-line has to be right now, why are they worrying?” Lois asked.
“I may have invented the time machine my dear, but I am still boggled by the complexities of temporal mechanics.”
“You’re sure Tempus isn’t involved?” Clark asked.
“I have been assured that Tempus is safely out of the way,” Wells told them. He checked his pocket watch. “We need to start moving. Time is of the essence.”
Clark started laughing, although it sounded a trifle strained. “You’re joking, right? You have a time machine.”
Lois just shook her head. “I’ll call your mom and get her to watch the kids for us,” she told her husband and the strange little man sitting on the sofa. “I’ll bring Martha with us.”
“Lois, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Clark said. Something was stirring in the back of his mind. “If the problem is what I think it is, you’ll be putting her at risk. She’ll be safer here.”
“What do you mean?” Wells asked.
Clark shook his head. “Lois, did Zara drop off some vaccines for the kids?”
“They’re in the refrigerator,” Lois told him. “They dropped off some other stuff, too.”
“Pack them up in a cooler,” Clark ordered. “They’re coming with us.”
“You think Xon’s behind this,” Lois stated
Clark nodded. “Originally, we must have opened the stasis box here and the kids were exposed. I’m betting Xon didn’t realize that we’ve had the kids immunized against both Earth and New Kryptonian diseases. In fact, he probably had that baby infected with something fairly virulent, since they were supposedly affected despite being vaccinated. Maybe he even engineered something.”
“Like Johnny Bermuda did?”
Clark nodded again. “Well, all he did was figure out how to culture the stuff, but yeah,” Clark said thoughtfully. “In fact, one of the first things Zara did, when I came aboard her transport the first time, was give me full spectrum immunizations against Kryptonian childhood diseases. She figured I had no immunity. She was probably right.”
“And chances are, their Superman doesn’t either,” Lois said, thinking aloud. “And if you’re right, then he…”
“He set off a time bomb meant for our kids,” Clark completed for her. “And he got caught in it. And it may be killing him.”
“But we can’t be sure until we get there,” Wells reminded them.
--Earth I--Perry picked up the phone in the kitchen and hit the redial button. Alice was staying upstairs with Clark. Clark had fallen into a deep sleep, or possibly a coma, Perry couldn’t tell which.
The phone rang several times before he heard the other end being picked up. A man’s voice, muzzy with sleep, answered.
“Is Missus Kent there please?” Perry asked.
He heard a hand go over the microphone on the other phone but could still hear the conversation on the other end.
“Martha, it’s for you…”“At this time of night?” a woman’s voice asked. There was the sound of the phone being handed over to someone else. “This is Martha Kent,” the woman said into the phone.
“Sorry to call so late, but I’m Perry White,” he said. “We spoke the other day?”
“Yes, Mister White…?” she began. “Is there something wrong?”
“I’m afraid there is. Clark, Jason, and the baby became very ill a couple hours ago. Jason and the baby are in intensive care,” he said. He heard her gasp. “We’re trying to take care of Clark here so…” he added.
“You said Clark is ill?”
“He’s running a very high fever and is in a lot of pain,” Perry explained. “And I know that taking him to the hospital is out of the question. Although, frankly if he gets any worse, I may just call an ambulance anyway and hang the consequences.”
“Do what you have to do for my boy, Mister White,” Martha Kent instructed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
--Earth II--“Thanks for watching the kids for us, Martha,” Lois told her mother-in-law. “We’re not sure when we’ll be back. Hopefully soon.”
“Be careful,” Martha told them. She gave Lois a hug and then pulled Clark to her. “You come back, okay?”
Wells cleared his throat. “We need to get started.”
Lois nodded, picking up the small cooler with the vaccines in it and taking Clark’s arm. Wells had a small device in his hand that resembled a PDA. He stepped close to them and pressed a symbol on the small screen.
The room shimmered and changed.
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