“Clark. Lois. It’s really good to see you both again!” Bernie’s enthusiasm was genuine.
“You may feel a bit differently once you hear what we’re here for,” said Lois nervously.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well… not…exactly. Actually… something’s right. Clark and I have decided to get married. We haven’t gone public yet –because we wanted to tell our family and friends. So… that’s one reason we’re here.”
“Oh… well… well… that’s just…That’s just… wonderful… it’s wonderful. Congratulations… I’m sure you both will be very happy together.”
Clark gave Lois a warm smile.
“I know we will be.”
“I do too,” she said, smiling back at him as she gripped his hand warmly.
“Is… that's not the only reason you came, right?”
“Not exactly. I… we need to tell you something – something that may change how you view the universe – and… it’s… as a scientist… it could be upsetting – or … overwhelming – or annoying – I don’ t know – “ Said Lois nervously. “It’s kind of mind-boggling.”
“Okay…”
“Bernie –do you believe in the idea that there may be multiple universes?” Clark decided to just bite the bullet.
“That’s an interesting question… why do you ask? I mean – I guess – it’s an interesting theory, and one that has some merit – but… “
“Okay. I’ll cut to the chase… we …we know that there are alternate universes… we’ve been to them, and – people from alternate worlds have been here.”
“Okay…”
“We aren’t crazy, Bernie,” said Lois hastily. “If you talk to Inspector Bill Henderson of the Metropolis police force, or Perry White, you’ll find that they’ve met people from other universes as well.”
“Um. This could be some kind of mass – hysteria – and…“
“It isn’t,” said Clark firmly. “Lois … disappeared for three years. In those three years, she was actually in another universe. She was kidnapped by… well… she was taken there against her will…and forced to live there, until someone else found out about it, and rescued her.”
“You… rescued her?”
“No. Somebody else. If I told you who - you’d surely think I was insane. “
“Uh…”
“Okay –so maybe you think we’re crazy now. But – you know that Lois – supposedly returned a few years back, only to disappear again?”
“Yes. She was instrumental in you becoming Superman, according to what I’d read – but then – she disappeared again, only to return again a bit later… “
“Hating my guts. The original … the woman who was here before – who convinced me to … expose my alien origins – she didn’t hate me. But Lois – this Lois – she did.”
“I thought that was strange – when she started her campaign against you – sorry – I guess I shouldn’t talk about that.”
“It’s okay Bernie,” she said awkwardly. “People are going to mention it when they find out about Clark and I. I better get used to it.”
“Lois had good reason to hate me, Bernie. The world she was forced to live in was overrun by Kryptonians – their leader was my - uh –identical counterpart, and he was vicious and cruel. He treated Lois very badly, and when she came back home, she thought that I would turn out to be like him. She had no choice but to start her investigation.”
“Then how in the world did you two ever get to this point – the point where you’re considering marriage?”
“It’s been a long, strange trip, Bernie,” laughed Lois mirthlessly. “Too long, too strange… but in a nutshell, I couldn’t find any evidence to really corroborate my fears – everything I learned about Clark indicated that he was a good man. We got to know each other during the asteroid crisis, and after that, we started to spend more time together… one thing led to another, and now – we’re getting married.”
“Look. I mean – you two – are terrific – wonderful – I like you both a lot – respect you both a lot – but… is this some kind of ‘fool the scientist’ gag. I mean – it’s not like you’d be the first to do it.”
“Bernie. I think I can convince you – just… “ Lois gripped his hands, and attempted to form a mental link with him. She didn’t think physical contact was necessary, but she was trying to stack the odds in her favor.
Bernie gasped as images flooded his mind. He saw Lois, saw her captor – saw what that world had been like. He twisted his hands away from her, and backed away in horror.
“God… my … my … god…. “
“Kryptonians are telepathic,” she said quietly. “And… I … I guess… being around them woke that up in me – maybe all humans have this ability.”
“But – but what you showed me – was… unreal… and that … that… that man… he – he looked like you,” he said, turning shocked eyes back to Clark. “But he wasn’t – he … he was so… different – and – “
“Horrible. He was horrible.”
“He hurt you,” said Bernie, uncomfortably. “Right?”
“Right.” The word came out. Taut and full of pain. “And that’s why we’re here.”
“You want to go back there? You want to - “ He turned to Clark “You want to avenge her… or –“
“No. Well. Yes. But no…. Lois… has this mark on her back – that he gave her. He… he used his… heat vision. He branded her, Bernie,” he said, the pain evident in his voice. “He left a mark of… “
“Ownership,” said Lois quietly. “It’s… not a random burn mark. It looks kind of like Clark’s symbol, and I can’t go around with that on my body. People might get the wrong idea, and then – well – it could get ugly for Clark if people started believing in the fear-mongering stuff that I perpetuated with my articles. I want it removed… and I – we – we didn’t know how to get that to happen. I – I asked Clark to do it – with his heat vision, but he refused, so… so – then – we thought maybe you could help us.”
“You wanted Clark to burn you?”
“I didn’t want him to,” she said quickly. “I just want it gone. And that seemed… a good idea.”
“Can you help, Bernie?”
“Well – you know – this kind of thing… reconstructive techniques – it’s not anywhere near my specialty… and – I’m not … “
“You are our only hope.”
Bernie looked at her a long moment with an air of unease. Finally, he exhaled forcefully, and nodded.
“Okay. I… I’ll help. I … I want you two to be happy. I don’t want anyone thinking Clark… would do that to you… or that… you would want him to do that to you… I’ll help.”
“Thank you,” she said in heartfelt tones. She reached out and gripped his hand. It trembled under hers, and she saw him fight to not recoil.
“I’m… I’m sorry about the… uh… mental… uh – “
“Mind-meld?”
“Yeah…” She grinned. “Call me Spock, I guess.”
Bernie did not smile back. “You know… you really need to keep that thing … under wraps.”
“I know – it was upsetting. I’m sorry – I only did it because – “
“I mean… if … if the government… ever found out… you… you’d have a high price … on… on… your head. Specifically… your brain.”
“What?”
“Telepathy would be a powerful weapon against one’s enemies. I can easily see unscrupulous agents wishing to get your brain tissue on a petrie dish. Many petrie dishes… so they could learn how you do it. Really. Lois. Lay low with that. Okay? Please. I know… personally… people who would – without giving second thought about the utter unconscionable nature of the act – kill or kidnap you too learn how you do it.”
“Dissect me like a frog,” she murmured, shaking off a sudden chillt hat ran through her. “Oh … Clark… is this how you feel?”
“It’s … I’m … less worried about that now, Lois- but… I hadn’t thought about you in that context… and … Bernie’s right…”
“Oh. Don’t worry. I agree. I’m not letting anyone know. Bernie. Thanks.”
“You’ve been through enough hell,” he said vehemently. “It’s the least I could do.”
“What about… her … scar?”
“We can cut it out, and then replace it with a skin graft.”
“So – cut skin from somewhere else,” she winced. “I guess… I mean – it makes sense…”
“We can grow skin… from your own cells. Using… um… some information we obtained from… Luthor’s cloning experiments, I’ve been able to do some pretty amazing things. Cloning skin is… now… it’s easy.”
“Wow,” she said, her tone suddenly bothered. “I’d hate to benefit from what Luthor did.”
“Lois – it’s the best… I don’t know…revenge? Getting something good from what he did.”
“Clark, he … he was going to kill you.”
“But he didn’t. And now – we can use his ill-gotten information - you can spare yourself getting skin removed off your body for grafting purposes. If Luthor knew he were helping us, he’d be furious – and that alone makes it worth doing.”
“I… I guess.”
“It’s simple," Bernie piped in. "And it doesn’t involve embryonic stem cells, in case that bothers you. We can take stem cells from your ovaries and use them to grow new skin cells without creating a zygote.”
“That seems unreal.”
“It’ll take about a month to get the skin we need, and then we can do the procedure.”
“Oh. God. Bernie. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“My pleasure Lois.”
“I… I don’t want to go through insurance companies – I want total discretion – so- so I can pay you – “
“No. No fee. Nothing. Lois – like I said… it’s my pleasure. I want to help – and I’m glad I can. That’s it.”
Smiling, she nodded. “Okay. But you know – if you ever need anything…”
“Having my tail saved by this guy here stopping a huge asteroid from hitting the earth clears any and all imagined debts.”
“You know – I did it because I didn’t want the earth to be destroyed… I live here too. Nobody owes me anything.”
“Fine. I'm doing this in the name of furthering scientific discovery."
"Well. When you put it like that..."
[tbc]
