So it was Tempus. I should have guessed. (Though admittedly the whole thing still seems a little alternative reality to me. How can Lois and Clark have two sets of memories about what has happened to them? How can Lois have left the Daily Planet before Clark ever arrived there, while at the same time remembering her "true" life with Clark?)
So is it still Tempus who's behind everything? Is he the one who made that bomb go off when Lois put her key in that lock?
(Oh, and... this is where I'm supposed to go off my rocker, right? This is where I'm supposed to start ranting and raving and.... But I remember your full WHAM warning, so I will not.)
But now Clark has been saddled with a terrible, terrible choice. He can build that time machine whose blueprints he remembers from his dream, go back in time and save Lois. Only if he does that, Mayson will die.
It seems to me that if Clark goes back in time, knowing that Mayson is about to be killed, he could put her under super-surveillance for a while and protect her. I guess you're telling me that if he goes back in time, he won't remember what's going to happen to Mayson.
Well, Clark has no choice really. He must save Lois. (And I think it could be argued that he has to save H.G. Wells, too.) There is nothing for it: he will have to go back in time, rectify the messed-up timeline, save Lois and H.G. Wells, and doom Mayson. Because the time is out of joint: O cursed spite, that Clark's the one that has to set it right again, whatever it will cost!
Horrible, DJ. I really feel sorry for Mayson. (And for Clark too, of course!) Hmmm... are you going to let him talk to Mayson before he goes back in time? Guess not. What could he say? Sorry, Mayson, but the time stream has been messed up, and I'm going to put it right again. Only that means that you are going to die.... Oh horror!
(Perhaps he could say, "Mayson, I'm so sorry. I've just learnt that the time stream has been tampered with, and I'll have to put it right. Only I don't think you and I are going to be together in the corrected timeline. I don't even think you and I are really meant to be together at all. But please remember this: I do love you.")
This is so sad, DJ. But it's still so fascinating. Hmmm... would it be all right for you to post the final part a little sooner than you'd planned to?
Ann
