Right at the edge of Clark’s consciousness, a funny whining noise was preventing him from dropping down into deep sleep. He frowned. Unless he was very much mistaken, that was their fridge-freezer, which he didn’t usually hear when he was asleep. He heard things like the water tank in the loft, but not equipment downstairs.
He allowed a little more consciousness to bleed into his sleep. Yup, definitely the fridge-freezer. He shifted in bed...why was there a hard button underneath his hip? It felt like one of the buttons on the sofa. And this pillow was resting on something considerably less yielding than their mattress.
Okay, he was awake. No denying it any longer. He opened his eyes and gazed around the darkened...living room. Not their bedroom.
Funny. He could have sworn he’d gone to sleep in a bed in a bedroom.
Oh.
Everything came flooding back to him. He’d been switched with the other Clark. Spent the day with the other Lois. Gone to bed with Lana...
He sat up abruptly and gazed intently all around the room. Found their wedding photo. Him and Lois, with his parents flanking them. He was back!
Exultant, he sped upstairs to their bedroom. Lois was asleep, curled up on his side of their bed clutching one of his sweaters. His heart clenched, and, before he could stop himself, he’d x-rayed her from top to bottom to make sure she was okay. Relieved to find her unblemished, he lifted the bedcovers and slipped into bed beside her.
“Lois?” he whispered, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Mmmm.”
“Lois, honey, I’m back,” he whispered, shaking her very lightly.
“Jus’ five more minutes,” she mumbled.
“Wake up, sweetheart,” he urged. “Your husband’s back.”
“Mmmm.” Her eyes flickered open and her head stirred on the pillow. “Clark?”
“Yes, it’s me,” he whispered, clasping her shoulder softly. “I’m back.”
“Clark?” Her gaze lifted at last, but as her eyes focused on him, they grew wide with alarm and her body tensed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get out of here!” She scooted away from him to the very edge of the bed. “Get away from me!”
Dear God, what had the other Clark done to her? “Lois, it’s me,” he urged. “Not him.”
Her eyes narrowed and examined him suspiciously. “Where did we go on our honeymoon?” she demanded, clutching the sheets high around her neck.
“We didn’t,” he replied quickly. “We were planning on Hawaii, but we never got there.”
“What were you wearing on our wedding night?”
“Which one?” he asked.
“Okay, bad question. What’s the inscription inside my wedding band?”
“There isn’t one. But this year I gave you a silver locket for your birthday that said ‘CK loves LL’ on the back,” he added, aching to reach out and comfort her. Instead, he contented himself with inching just a little closer to her in the bed. “Lois...you’re scaring me. What did he do to you?”
“Nothing,” she replied. “I just...” She closed her eyes. “It’s really you, isn’t it?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he said, swallowing past the lump in his throat.
And then she was in his arms, his beautiful, adorable Lois, all feminine softness and indomitable spirit. “I missed you,” she said just before her lips closed over his and sent his senses soaring and his pulse racing. He’d missed her so much – they’d spent barely one day apart and it had felt like a lifetime.
It wasn’t long before they’d shed their clothes and they were together again, skin to skin, melding back into the single entity they’d created when they’d married just three short weeks ago. Her voice, uttering quiet murmurs and soft gasps of pleasure, was like the most sensual music he could imagine, caressing his soul and calming the jittering nerves he’d been living on throughout the day.
Afterwards, lying loosely together, they exchanged stories of their day spent apart. They soon discovered that they’d both found out about the affair fairly quickly, and they both knew that Lana was treating her husband like some kind of experimental animal. However, Clark didn’t know that Lois had already begun to investigate the possible cause of the body-swap. When she told him about Dr Klein’s twitchiness at Star Labs’ teleportation demonstration, he had to agree that she might be on to something.
“You think he knows the device isn’t as safe as they’re claiming?” he said.
“Exactly. What if it doesn’t always work? Or what if it actually does something other than what they think it’s doing?” she replied.
He frowned. “Hmm. In that case, why didn’t we switch back when they ran the demonstration?”
“No idea. But tomorrow you and I are going to interview the project director, Dr Schulz, and find out what’s going on,” she said. “Jimmy’s researching one of the other scientists who looked like he knew something, and we’ll also track down Dr Klein. I don’t want to lose you again.”
“Me either.” Although a part of him would have liked to know that his counterpart and the other Lois were going to be okay. He worried that Lana really had used kryptonite the other night, and might even use it again. The other Clark, not being aware of kryptonite and its effects, wouldn’t even know what was happening to him – he’d just think he was sick. Perhaps it would have been wise to tell the other Lois a lot more about kryptonite than he actually had. Then she could have warned her lover...
“Hey.”
Her murmur interrupted his thoughts. “Yeah?”
“You’re wishing we could have done more to help them, aren’t you?”
He smiled softly. “You know me too well. Yes, I guess I am. I think he may be in real danger.”
“Oh? Why?”
So he told her about Skywatch, and his suspicions that Lana might be working for them. He also told her about his kryptonite theory.
“The Lana I know is nothing like that,” he exclaimed. “I mean, I haven’t seen her for years, but I can’t imagine her growing into a complete monster. I wonder what made this Lana so different?”
“Who knows?” replied Lois. “The Clark I met wasn’t much like you, either. I mean - an adulterer? I don’t exactly approve of what he’s doing, but don’t forget he has a different background to yours – no loving parents to reassure him when all these weird things started happening to him. Not to mention that he was unlucky enough to marry a woman who kept reinforcing all his negative feelings about himself.”
“Unlike you,” he murmured, dipping down to kiss her. “I am so lucky you finally figured out I was worth marrying.”
She smiled. “And I’m lucky you didn’t give up on me.” Her face grew wistful as she reached up to smooth her hands over his bare shoulders. “Do you think we could have ended up like them? Having an affair, I mean?”
He hadn’t really considered it. In fact, he realised, although he’d been disapproving of his counterpart’s attitude, he hadn’t judged the other Lois at all. Hadn’t condemned her, hadn’t been angry with her, hadn’t even thought about the rights and wrongs of what she was doing. He’d been too busy figuring what to say and do every single minute of the day, he guessed.
But his instinct, now that Lois had asked, was clear enough. “No,” he said. “If you’d been married when I met you, I’d have respected that. It would have killed me, of course, but I guess I’ve been brought up to believe that marriage is sacrosanct. I could no more break my wedding vows than slit my wrists, and I couldn’t ask anyone else to do it for me.”
He hesitated. This was kind of an awkward conversation to be having so soon into their marriage. The natural thing was to ask in turn how Lois felt, but he didn’t want her to think he didn’t trust her, or that he needed some kind of reassurance that she’d never break her vows.
“What if I’d been married to Lex?” she asked softly.
“Honey, please don’t bring him into this,” he murmured, rolling over onto his back and taking her with him so that she was lying on top of him. “That man has no place in this marriage, and besides, he’s dead.”
“Sorry,” she said, kissing his chest. “I guess I was just fantasising about you riding in on your white charger and rescuing me from a fate worse than death.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You have fantasies?”
“Oh, yeah,” she replied with a grin. “You never asked me if I thought we could have had an affair.”
“Okay, I’m asking,” he said. “What do you think?”
“Oh, I agree with you,” she said airily. “You’re far too well brought up to do this sort of thing with another man’s wife.” She planted a row of small, leisurely kisses up the side of his neck, then captured his earlobe between soft, sensual lips.
“Too right,” he choked. “My parents never taught me to do this with a married woman.”
She laughed. “Boy, am I glad to hear that.”
*************
Back with Lana, his darling, beloved wife. Back in the middle of the chaotic mess he laughingly called his life. Thank God he’d awoken early and could come down for breakfast on his own. He needed some time to figure out how to face the day.
How much did she know about the switch, he wondered? Had the other Clark told her who he really was? His mouth twisted: knowing Lana, she wouldn’t have given him much of a chance to tell her anything. She’d have steamrollered through any attempts he might have made to alert her, preferring to live life at her own pace and entirely on her own terms.
No, that wasn’t fair. Lana could listen. Listen and make copious, detailed notes about everything you did.
Why did she do it? That was what he simply couldn’t understand. What possible motive could she have to watch and record everything he did? Why would she want to live such an appalling double life of lies and secrets?
He could only imagine that he held some kind of incredible fascination for her. She’d found herself right in the middle of the sort of science fiction adventure most kids could only dream about, and she’d revelled in it. She’d acquired her very own pet alien and had resolved to study him like a lab rat. Perhaps she was hoping she could sell her story at some point. Portray herself as some kind of expert on alien life.
Oh, God.
His gut twisted and he tasted the sour taste of bile in his mouth. Exposure. The one thing he dreaded above all else. Bad enough that he had Skywatch on his tail, although at least their agenda was covert. They’d want to use him for secret experiments and tests, so it was in their interests to keep his existence out of the public arena. Lana would have no such qualms.
Time, it would seem, could be running out for his existence as Clark Kent, and, meanwhile, Lois was growing impatient.
Lois. He loved her so much that sometimes he thought his heart might burst. Why, oh, why couldn’t he have met her sooner? If only he’d known her before he and Lana had become so intertwined, perhaps things would have been different.
As it was...occasionally he wondered if he should distance himself from Lois. There was the feel of danger in the air, and the last thing he wanted was for Lois to get caught up in anything dangerous. He was pretty certain that she’d be upset if he turned his back on her, but that was surely better than risking her life. In fact, perhaps it would be best for both of them if he just turned tail and ran – took off to some far-flung place on the other side of the planet and began again. All those miles would make it easier for Lois to start afresh, too.
But he knew he’d never do it. Quite apart from the fact that he strongly suspected that Skywatch would hunt him down wherever he went, he refused to run away with his tail between his legs. What little self-respect he had left would shrivel and die, and without Lois, he’d be less than half the person he was when he was with her. Oh, he’d survive, but life would be an empty existence if he had to spend it alone on the other side of the world.
So he was locked in to this tortuous game of deceit and danger which, somehow, he had to navigate his way through while at the same time protecting Lois. It was a tall order, but he’d do it. He had to do it, because Lois was his future.
**************
“So, a quick check in at the Planet and then we go over to Star Labs?” Clark spread a thick layer of peanut butter on his toast and took a healthy bite.
Lois nodded from over beside the coffee machine. “Yes - Dr Schulz first.”
“And then the elusive Dr Klein.” He swallowed and went to take another bite, but as he opened his mouth, his head began to swim. Disconcerted, he lowered the toast to the kitchen counter and steadied himself.
“I want to ask him about success rates,” Lois was saying. “What percentage of test runs fail, for example.”
“Sounds good,” he agreed thickly, fighting shaky legs and a woozy head. “Lois...”
“I mean, it can’t work every time, can it? And what does he think goes wrong when it fails? That’s what I’d like to know.”
Her voice sounded like it was coming to him from down a long tunnel. The room seemed to be growing dim. God, he was blacking out. “Lois,” he said weakly. “I don’t feel so good...”
************
She twisted around just in time to see him crumple slowly towards the floor. “Clark!” She rushed across and caught him, but she wasn’t able to do much more than fall with him, merely slowing his descent so that he didn’t hurt himself. They ended up as a messy heap on the linoleum, she with her arms around his waist and he on all fours and threatening, by the look of it, to collapse sideways at any minute.
But he wasn’t unconscious. Not yet, at any rate. “Sit,” she said, helping to ease him sideways. He landed clumsily on his bottom and flopped back against the kitchen unit behind him.
Hurriedly, she eased his tie loose and undid a couple of buttons on his shirt. He seemed confused and disorientated while she did this, and when she asked him how he was feeling, he didn’t seem able to answer. Scared, she felt his forehead – normal, so far as she could tell – then grabbed one of his hands – warm and dry – and began rubbing it vigorously between her own two hands. “Come back to me, honey,” she urged as his head tipped forward. “Come on, talk to me.”
Was this some kind of delayed reaction to yesterday’s body swap? She couldn’t see why else he’d be sick.
“Mmmm,” he moaned. “Lana?”
She almost dropped his hand. It couldn’t be. Could it?
“No, it’s Lois,” she said, stroking his hand more slowly. Perhaps he was just confused – thought he was still in the other universe. “You came back, remember? Last night.”
“Did I?” he mumbled, raising his head and resting his unfocused gaze on her. “Was with Lana...why’re you here? She mustn’t know.”
No! Not again! Please, not again. He was confused, that was all. Whatever had made him collapse had scrambled his brains temporarily.
“Clark? It’s me, Lois. Your wife.”
His eyelids drooped and his head began to dip forward again. “Lana...married to Lana,” he mumbled. “You should go.”
Her heart plummeted: they really had switched places again. She let go of his hand and sagged back on her heels, feeling the tug of separation even more keenly than last time. She didn’t think she could bear this - seeing him for just a few precious hours and then losing him again. It was like some kind of slow, vindictive torture.
Her thoughts flew to the other universe, where he’d doubtless be struggling, as this Clark was, with dizziness and disorientation. He’d need a hug and reassurance and there’d be no-one there to give it to him – just that witch of a wife, Lana. Oh, Clark... She almost wished he’d be waking up at the other Lois’s apartment rather than with Lana. At least there he’d get some sympathy.
“Go, Lois.”
The other Clark’s anxious voice jerked her away from her own Clark. He looked perplexed, as if he didn’t understand why she was still there. She sighed heavily, recognising the expression as the same one he’d used yesterday when he thought he’d discovered her in his bedroom. “I’m not your Lois,” she explained slowly. “You’ve switched with my husband again.”
His face creased into a bleary, confused frown. “Your husband?”
“Focus, Clark,” she urged, gripping his shoulders firmly. “Remember yesterday? You switched places with my husband for the day. We went to the Star Labs demo together.”
His expression began to clear. “You...you’re married to the other Clark,” he said slowly.
“Yes! That’s it,” she encouraged. “And you told me all about Lana and Lois.”
“Right.” At last, his eyes focused properly. “You mean we changed places again?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” He looked around, seemingly noticing for the first time that they were sitting on the floor. “Did I black out?”
She let go of his shoulders and sat back on her heels. “I’m not sure. Clark – my Clark – collapsed, and then you were here.”
Suddenly, a lump sprung fully-formed at the back of her throat. Clark needed her, wherever he was, and she couldn’t be there for him. She’d lost him. After just one night, he’d been taken away from her. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.
She scrubbed her face with her hands and told herself sternly to pull herself together. Pining for him wasn’t going to bring him back. “Do you think you could stand up now?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so.”
She moved back to give him room to clamber unsteadily to his feet, standing with him. “I don’t know about you,” he said, grimacing as he came upright, “but I’d like to find out who’s doing this and ask them if they’d kindly stop it.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and screwed up his face, giving the distinct impression of someone with a pounding headache.
“Yes,” she agreed, “except I wouldn’t be kind about it. I’d twist their arm up their back until their eyes watered and then I’d stomp on their feet with stiletto heels.”
He dropped his hand from his face and raised an eyebrow at her. “That bad, huh?”
She nodded, sinking down onto one of the kitchen chairs. “We’ve only been married for three weeks,” she confessed. “I miss him.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You really love him, don’t you?”
Stupid question. She’d married him, hadn’t she?
But she knew he was only trying to be nice. And, she supposed, maybe marriage and love didn’t necessarily go hand in hand so far as this Clark was concerned. She sighed. “Yes,” she replied. “Yes, I do.”
“You’re lucky.” He sighed. “I thought I loved my wife.”
She winced. “But you love Lois?”
“Oh, yeah. She and I...she makes me whole again.” He began rubbing his fingers over his temples in little circles. “I’d never have survived without her.”
“I heard about Skywatch,” she said, nodding. “Clark told me.”
His eyes widened and he paused in his rubbing motions. “Lois must have spoken to him. Does that mean she knows what’s going on? With us swapping places, I mean.”
“Yes, Clark told her everything.” Lois grinned. “She took it quite well, apparently.”
“Sounds like Lois,” he agreed, resuming his temple massage again. “She takes most things in her stride.”
“But Lana doesn’t know a thing,” she added.
“Good. Let’s hope he keeps it that way.” He gave up on his temples and sighed. “I don’t remember a pounding headache the last time we switched places.”
“Maybe because you were both asleep at the time,” she suggested. “It’ll probably pass soon.”
“I hope so,” he said. “I can hardly think straight.”
Which meant that her Clark was probably suffering, too. She would have massaged his shoulders and made him a mug of his favourite tea. Told him to rest his head back and close his eyes. Given him a hug...
“Is there anything I can get you?” she offered. “A hot drink...?”
He shook his head slowly. “I’d try aspirin, except I doubt it would work with this freaky body of mine.”
Freaky? “Hey, watch what you’re saying,” she admonished. “That’s my husband’s body you’re criticising.”
He smiled wanly. “Sorry. I promise I’ll treat it with respect.”
“Too right you will,” she replied acerbically. “I’m very attached to that body.” Oh, God, had she really just say that? “I mean, I’m very attached to Clark. My husband. I care about him, I mean.” She threw her hands up in exasperation: apparently she’d temporarily lost the ability to string words into coherent sentences. “As any wife would.”
“Don’t worry, Lois, I understand,” he said. “I care about my Lois in exactly the same way.”
“Fine. Then we’re clear. You’ll take care of that body and I’ll...” Change the subject, quickly. She remembered her conversation with Clark last night. “There’s something you should know,” she rushed out. “I’m not sure how to tell you this, because I know how bad things are between you and Lana already, but when Clark was with her...well, he thinks...he thinks she could be working for Skywatch.”
He blanched. In fact, she’d never seen a person turn so pale so quickly. “No,” he whispered. “No, she can’t be.”
Clearly, she should have broken this to him more gently. Although, come to think of it, what if another switch happened? At least he’d know what he was facing when he returned. However, she tried to soften it a little. “I’m sorry, Clark. It’s just a theory – he doesn’t have any evidence. But from what I’ve heard, I think he’s probably right.”
“No.” Slowly, he turned around to face the wall and then leant forward on his hands. “He’s wrong.”
“It makes sense,” she told him as gently as she could. “You know Skywatch has been pursuing you since you were a kid, and Lana has been your closest friend since you were a kid – wouldn’t it be natural for them to try and recruit someone like that to observe and take notes? Why else would an ordinary country girl like Lana decide to write all those horrible things about her best friend? It doesn’t make sense. Unless she was recruited by an organisation like Skywatch.”
“No...” His voice was barely audible. “Not Lana. Please, not Lana.”
She hadn’t realised he’d take the news so badly. He’d seemed so disillusioned with Lana, she’d assumed he’d be fairly dispassionate about any further news of her misdemeanours – especially since he was already cheating on her. Besides, surely he must have wondered why she treated him the way she did. But he wasn’t taking this at all well. In fact, to her alarm, his body began to convulse – once, twice - and then he was clapping his hand over his mouth and bolting for the sink.
She quickly averted her gaze while he threw up noisily, choking and coughing up the contents of his stomach. If he’d been her Clark, she would have rushed to help him, but the urge to hold and comfort just wasn’t so strong with this Clark. So she sat and listened uncomfortably while he suffered, wrinkled her nose at the faint, acrid stench of vomit drifting across the kitchen to her, and sighed a little in relief when at last he turned the tap full on to wash away the mess.
Then the rush of water stopped abruptly, leaving in its place a heavy silence.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
Now she felt the tug, the need to make him feel better. He might be cheating on his wife, but he was still a person with feelings and he sure as heck didn’t deserve what his wife was doing to him. Hesitantly, she went to stand beside him and place a hand on his back. “Are you okay?” Well, clearly he wasn’t, since she could feel him trembling, but everything was relative, she supposed.
He nodded, his eyes cast downwards. “Do you have a glass?”
She grabbed one from the counter and handed it to him. He filled it up with cold water and rinsed out his mouth, running the tap again to clear up after himself.
“Why don’t you sit down?” she suggested.
“Thanks.” He moved over to slump down on a chair at the table. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I guess you weren’t expecting to deal with a strange guy throwing up in your kitchen sink when you came down to breakfast this morning.”
She sat down opposite him. “It’s okay,” she said. “I gave you quite a shock.”
He nodded, taking a sip from the glass of water he’d brought over to the table. “I just...I can’t believe it, you know? I mean, you’re right, it makes perfect sense, but I thought I knew her. Loved her, even. We did everything together. We shared everything, told each other everything.” He took another sip, his hand trembling slightly as he raised the glass to his lips. “How could I have been so blind? I’m a reporter. I’m supposed to notice things like this. Make the connections that no-one else makes.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she soothed. “You’re too close to it, that’s all. Believe me, I know how blind a person can be when they’re too emotionally involved in a story.”
“Even when they’re married to the story?” he asked bitterly. “Even when they live in the same house as the story? Share the same bed?”
“Especially then,” she replied firmly. “I know what it’s like to be too close to a story.”
He sipped from his glass again. “If Lana’s been working for Skywatch all this time, then that means they know all about me. It means they’ve been watching me my entire life.” He banged the glass down on the table. “God, who am I?” he cried desperately. “What am I? An...an insect for people to study? A freak show for their amusement? I trusted Lana. Did what she asked because I trusted her – stayed in Smallville instead of travelling the world, went to Kansas State instead of MetU, didn’t ever go back to the farm. I thought she knew what was best for me, but now... I’m just a...a puppet. A freaky puppet who’s been trained to behave exactly like they want me to behave - normally.” He spat the word as if it were an expletive. “Is anything in my life real?”
“Lois is real,” she answered quickly, anxious to head him away from hysteria. “She loves you for what you really are, doesn’t she? Hold on to that.”
“How do I know?” he demanded. “How do I know if she loves me? How do I know if I love her? I thought Lana and I loved each other, but that wasn’t real. How do you tell if it’s real?”
“You...you just know,” she faltered. “Think about how you used to feel about Lana, and then think about how you feel about Lois. Surely it’s not the same?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, his voice rising in pitch and volume. “Maybe.” He began to rub compulsively at his temples again. “Maybe not.”
“You told me earlier without any hesitation that you love Lois,” she pointed out. “Surely you haven’t changed your mind about that?”
“No. No, of course not.”
“There you are, then. You love Lois and she loves you. That’s as real as it gets.” She reached over and grabbed his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face. “Stop this, Clark,” she ordered softly. “You’re winding yourself up into a full-blown panic attack.”
He looked down at her hands gripping his wrists. “I’m fine,” he protested.
“No, you’re not.” She quirked a smile. “You’re rubbing my husband’s temples like you’re trying to drill holes in his head. I thought you promised to take good care of his body.”
His face relaxed a little and then, to her relief, broke into a rueful smile. “I guess I did.” He leant back in his chair with a gusty sigh. “It’s just a shock, you know?”
“I understand, but don’t forget this is all just speculation,” she said. “When you get home you can check it out more thoroughly yourself. In the meantime, if you’re feeling up to it,” she continued, “I think we should head over to Star Labs and check out this Dr Schulz character. Clark and I were going to drop into the Planet first, but that was before you arrived. Now I think the sooner we go to Star Labs, the better.”
He nodded. “I agree.”
***************
The Skywatch clerk broke the seal on another brown padded envelope and tipped out this morning’s tapes. From the labels, she saw that these were Jason Trask/Lana Lang conversations and duly opened the relevant file on her computer. Entering the date and time at the top of the page, she slotted the first tape into the tape recorder, pressed play and began to type.
JT: We’re concerned, Lana. You appear to be losing control of it.
LL: I’m not.
JT: It’s showing too much interest in the Lane woman. You mustn’t let that happen.
LL: I can’t stop them working together.
JT: No, but you can make sure it doesn’t have any reason to stray. You can make sure it’s well satisfied at home. You do know what I mean by satisfied, don’t you?
LL: Y...yes.
JT: Good, because I don’t want you to use the Smallville B unless absolutely necessary, okay? The doses are difficult to get right and we sure as hell don’t want to kill it yet – there’s too much money invested in this project.
LL: Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he...it stays with me.
JT: Good girl. Your country’s proud of you.
