Thank you all so much for your encouraging words
. It was so nice to see those 'welcome back!'s. A couple of notes here. I hope this doesn't seem terribly short, considering how long it took to write it
!! Second, I am assuming here that Clarissa was born about two years into Lois and Clark's marriage.
Please enjoy!
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Pt. 2
The Past
Once again, the atmosphere shimmered briefly as the time machine whirred, then came to a stop. Clarissa looked around, surprised to find herself in the exact same alley as where they had started.
“Did it work?” she asked Mr. Wells, who was busy locking the time setting controls.
“Hmmm?” Herb asked, slightly distracted. “Oh yes, yes quite, my dear. We are precisely where we should be,” he chuckled happily.
“But this is the same alley where we started,” she pointed out, following him out of the alley. But as they got closer to the street, her eyes widened.
“Look more closely my dear. You will find not everything is the same,” he said softly, watching her stunned expression.
“Oh my gosh!” she breathed upon seeing the Metropolis of her parents’ past.
“This, my dear, is where it all began,” he said solemnly as they walked down the busy city street.
Clarissa stared in awe at her hometown. “It looks so different from the Metropolis I know. And yet, it’s totally familiar!” she smiled at Wells.
“Indeed. A thousand details will be completely different, and yet a thousand will have remained the same.”
“So, where are we going first?” she asked. Instead of answering, Wells simply nodded in the direction of the tall, imposing building directly ahead.
“To the beginning,” he said cryptically. Clarissa regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, expecting him to elaborate. Instead, he walked silently ahead, leading her under the giant globe hovering over the entrance to the building. As they walked through the lobby towards the elevators, Clarissa couldn't help but stare in fascination. She'd grown up in the Daily Planet; it was her second home, but this place...
The colors were all wrong, things were out of place, missing. This lobby was darker, lacking not only natural light, but also the almost constant buzz of life and activity her Daily Planet had. The coffee/snack bar, with the holo-projectors of national news and world events was gone, and there was only a little snack counter and four little leather stools. There was a magazine stand she didn't recognize. Feeling suddenly lost, Clarissa grabbed Wells' arm.
"Mr. Wells, this can't be right!" she whispered nervously. "This isn't *my* Daily Planet! Nothing's where it's supposed to be!"
Just then the elevator doors opened, and they stepped in. "You must remember, my dear, that this is the Metropolis of some nineteen years ago," Wells explained gently. "As you yourself have already seen, many things will be very different."
Clarissa thought about that for a minute, then sighed. "I know. I guess it was just seeing this place so changed kinda sent me into a momentary shock. I mean, I grew up here; I know every detail of this building!" she laughed, her voice trembling slightly.
"I'm sorry it was such a shock for you, my dear," Wells remarked sympathetically.
Clarissa smiled ruefully. "I guess we really are in the past, aren't we?"
Herb regarded his young charge's dazed expression with concern. If simply seeing the lobby affected her like this, how was she going to react upon seeing the newsroom, and most importantly, her parents? He'd promised Lois and Clark he would return their daughter safely and unharmed; he did not want to betray their trust by returning her to them mentally scarred for life! He needed to find a way to help Clarissa not only accept the current situation, but embrace it. He thought long and hard before asking his next question.
"Clarissa, do you wish to continue our journey?"
Clarissa looked at him, startled. "What?"
"Do you want to continue?" At her befuddled look, he took a deep breath. "I brought you here so you could see your family's history, in a way most people will never have the chance to." He smiled. "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, my dear, I just want to be sure you're prepared for what you're about to see, that's all."
Clarissa considered his words. She'd really freaked when they'd first entered the Planet; it was nothing like she remembered, and it had startled her. Now, she was about to see even more of it. Was she ready? She gave herself a mental shake. She was Clarissa Lane Kent, daughter of Lois Lane-Kent and Clark Kent. Of course she was ready! Wells was watching her, probably for any signs of doubt. She lifted her chin defiantly.
"Yes, Mr. Wells, let's do it," she declared, a small sparkle in her eye.
"I knew you had your mother's determined spirit, my dear," he chuckled.
The elevator dinged, the doors slid open, and they stepped out into the bullpen. Once again she was overcome by how unfamiliar it was, but instead of recoiling, she gazed around in amazement.
"Wow!" she breathed. Together they made their way down the ramp, past desks, cabinets, and copy machines, as reporters, photographers and gofers hurried around, paying no attention to them. "Can anyone see us, Mr. Wells?"
"No, my dear. I've modified the time-tracker to keep us just a fraction out of this time's range. No one can see or hear us, and so therefore we cannot affect anything here."
Clarissa looked around, trying to find her parents' desks; they were always right across from each other, but no matter where she looked she didn't see either one.
"Mr. Wells, where are my parents' desks? I don't see them, or my parents. Are they out on a story, or something?"
"No. As a matter of fact, at this particular moment, your father doesn't even work here."
Her eyes grew wide. "He doesn't work here?" she echoed. "How can he not work here? He's always worked here, he and my mom!" Now they were outside the Editor's office, and she looked in. "Oh, my gosh, is that Uncle Perry?" she laughed in disbelief.
"Indeed, it is the venerable Mr. White," Wells answered admiringly.
After a moment, Clarissa frowned. "He looks so...so...um," she trailed off uncomfortably. "I just remember him being a little trimmer than that. He's always been a big tall man, but here, he's..." she paused. "He's fat, Mr. Wells!" she exclaimed, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed. "And he looks *so* stressed out!"
Wells nodded. "I'm afraid at this point Perry was more concerned with the Planet's health than his own. Luckily his habits changed, and he learned to take better care of himself."
"I'm glad. I don't know what Mom would do without him; he's like a father to her. Well, besides Granddad, but he's different," she remarked. "Who's that he's talking to?" she asked, noticing the dark-haired man sitting in the chair across from Perry.
Mr. Wells pulled out his pocket watch, nodded, then put it back in his coat. "In less than a minute, you will see."
Once again Wells' cryptic remark left her wondering, but she remained silent. Finally though, true to his word, he gestured to her and they walked into the Editor's office, where Perry was apparently interviewing someone for a job. Clarissa gasped when she saw the young man her Uncle Perry was talking to.
"Daddy?" It was her father! She felt herself staring, slack-jawed, at him. She couldn't believe how young he looked. And it wasn't just his face that was changed; his clothes were immature, and his behaviour seemed almost timid, not at all the self-assured, assertive man her father was. She watched in amazement, and amusement, the scene before her. Perry White was about to turn the young Clark Kent down for the job, when suddenly the door flew open, and a young man burst in.
"Hey Chief!" the freckle-faced, eager boy exclaimed. "I fixed the horn on your golf cart..."
"Not now, Jimmy," Perry interrupted gruffly.
"*That's* Uncle Jimmy?" Clarissa whispered to Wells, who nodded. "Weird. I mean, I know we're in the past and everyone's younger, but it's almost like he's a totally different person!"
"...the tone's still a little off, but..." Jimmy continued.
"Jimmy, not now!" Perry shouted, the veins in his neck popping. Finding himself dismissed, Jimmy turned and walked out, a blank look on his face.
"Oh, poor Uncle Jimmy," Clarissa giggled. Perry then continued with his rejection speech.
"Now, uh, as I was saying, you just can't walk in here, with those kind of..." he began again, but was again interrupted by someone barging into his office through the other door.
"Chief? I think there's a story here, and we should have this guy checked out. The crazy one from this morning. He was an engineer at Eprad for ten years..." she rambled on.
"Mom!" Clarissa murmured excitedly, with just a touch of wistfull. Just like when she first saw her dad, Clarissa was struck by how young her mother was. There was a freshness about her, a vibrancy and bounce that the girl realized would one day, with marriage and motherhood, become a more focused maturity. Clarissa watched as Clark rose to his feet, seemingly spellbound by this rude woman.
"Lois!" Uncle Perry growled. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something here?"
"Oh," Lois replied, only briefly chagrined that she'd intruded.
Perry sighed. "Lois Lane," he turned, indicating the young man, "Clark Kent."
"Nice to meet you," she threw at him, then turned back to Perry, ignoring Clark's outstretched hand. "Anyway, he worked on the Messenger..." she continued on. Clark, feeling quite invisible at that moment, reached up with his hand to adjust his glasses. The exchange between Editor and reporter continued, until, distracted by something else, Lois raced from the room, leaving Perry sputtering, and Clark jobless.
It was after Clark left that Clarissa finally began to understand why she was there. Not only had she just witnessed a pivotal moment in history, but seeing how her parents met for the first time, the look of wonder on her dad's face when Lois barged in, and her mom's total disregard for him, opened up a lot of questions for Clarissa! All her life she'd heard her father describe what he felt the first time he saw her mom, but she'd never heard much about her mother's first impression of her dad. Now she knew why.
"You understand now, don't you, my dear?" Wells asked, seeing Clarissa's expression change.
"My parents," she began contemplatively. "They didn't fall in love right away. Well, I mean, my dad did obviously. But my mom..."she looked at Wells. "She completely ignored him!" she said incredulously.
"Yes, quite. Lois and Clark's first encounter was certainly unique," he remarked.
"That's the understatement of the century!"
"Well, I must warn you, it gets worse," Wells chuckled painfully. "A lot worse."
Her brown eyes widened fearfully.
He reached up and gently squeezed her arm. "*And* much better," he added.
"I want to see it, Mr. Wells," Clarissa said. "I want to see it all."
Herb inhaled deeply, and nodded, convinced by her resolve that he'd made the right decision. "And so you shall, my dear," Wells replied.
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Again, I invite someone else to start a comments folder.
