Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: In a Better Place, part 16

What's Hank doing with the babble gene, when it's his wife who's the descendant?
YES! And when he offered her that space, and she accepted it for what it was and "threw herself at him"... Happy, happy sigh.

I have a feeling, though, that there's going to be *some* kind of reset button. Either that, or they've moved through dimensions. Or something. Whatever the case may be, I'll wait for the Mistress to post the next two parts and see what she comes up with herself.

Hazel

Yes, yes...how to resolve this dilemma, if I were so lucky to be in CC's shoes??

Hmmmmm

Well, let's see. What do we know? (I love doing this)

* When they arrived in Utopia, they had a slight memory loss

* Lois' diary that Tempus had read stated that Superman flew her home when the dawn was breaking.. but in reality, Tempus arrived in the darkness...
* There is no mention of Tempus in any of the Lane-Kent memoirs.... (not even H.G. Wells?? then how did the Ministry of Peacekeepers and Helpers know about him? Ah, from 50 years ago..the disappearing person case)

Amnesia is always the "catch-all" used when you want to show an "elseworld" situation but don't want to make it stick. God knows, the Smallville PTB use it every week! They used it in STM to make Lois forget she knew Clark was S-Man.

Somehow, though, I think CC has something else up her sleeve, and that there are clues in the story somewhere that tell us how it resolves.

I'm going to have to mull this one over...

I will say I don't think Tempus is really dead. Maybe they're Andrus' bones?? LOL or Herb's??? One of his replicants, which was alluded to early in the story but never really mentioned since?

I'll be back. Actually due to the miracle of re-editing (kind of like a temporal time shift), I've already been back 3 x's and no one knew !<g>

No, thank you for writing! This story continues to be everything that is wonderful. Do you realise the Saturday thing is almost enough to make me cancel my holiday? Almost... But not quite.

I'm with Hazel on the Utopia front. I honestly hated the idea of Utopia as portrayed in the show. It didn't sound like any world I'd want to live in. You've managed to provide a convincing scenario here. The society works, but it is dull and flawed.

You've also managed to humanise Tempus, despite his almost total absence from the drama. He's still a villain, but he's now a sympathetic one. It's easy to see where he's coming from.

Not much action in this part, but the conversation made up for it. I love Lois here. She's come a long way in 16 parts and has accepted her destiny. Her arguments are well reasoned and balanced. Clark has aspirations for a better world; this Lois will temper aspiration with realism, and hopefully the end result will be the better for it. You make the whole idea that perfection isn't good for us seem completely reasonable.

Actually, I'm wondering whether Lois and Clark will go home, forget everything, and still go on to create Utopia... They might not remember their stay, but their influence and / or involvement... or maybe the mere fact of their presence... will lead to the undoing of the worst of that society.

I'm wondering about those bones, too... As much as I'd like to think they belong to Tempus -- you haven't redeemed him enough for me not to be applauding his demise -- I'm not so sure. Have I missed something crucial about the missing person case?

Two parts to go. How on earth are you going to wrap everything up in so short a space?

Chris

Yay! Silas is going to see Elise, Hank is going to see Elise, Hank has already revealed the existence of the Peacekeepers to Elise; we're moving right along now.

Tempus may have had a point about there being a problem with Utopia as it existed, but I still think he went about changing things all wrong. If he was that convinced things needed to be changed (even if he was right about that) he should have worked to change his *present* rather than trying to change his past.

I'm wondering if Tempus isn't going to end up being nothing more than a myth because he's effectively managed to erase himself by changing Lois & Clark's history just enough to cause the evolution of a more balanced Utopia?

We still have Andrus and Wells floating around as loose ends; and apparently Wells really can be as dangerous a loose cannon as Andrus.

This is all awesome stuff and I have REALLY enjoyed this story. You've done a wonderful job and I look forward to reading the rest of it. Thank you.

Oh wow. Oh my god. I don't know how you do it, CC, but with every new instalment the tension is mounting to an unbearable level. Now I'm on the edge of my seat once more, and frantically scrolling, scrolling, trying to get the screen to scroll down some more to find the rest of the story... and...

...and...

...and THERE ISN'T ANY MORE!!! ARGH!!!!

Okay, okay. General impressions. I'm with Chris: I'm not convinced those bones are Tempus's. And the fact that no-one's rushing to get them identified is making me even mpre suspicious.

I agree entirely with Chris and Hazel about Utopia. This is not a perfect society by any means. So whatever changes are made can only be for the better. I like Madge's Doomsday scenario thinking - actually, few of those options are truly terrible, except for the disappearance of the Lane-Kents. They just reflect normal life: not always good, sometimes dangerous, sometimes scary, but real. Where people have genuine choices, and make them.

I have to quote this:

This made me laugh out loud. Why? Because in my last job I knew a Robert Smith, and this is him to a T!

Oh, good, Madge. Because I'm worried Tempus tried to fake his own death somehow.

Great, great line. If I had even the slightest doubt about what Lois' felt about this whole crazy situation, that says it all right there for me.



Well, hell's bells, I'm an absolute wreck over the rest of this. Silas, hurry up and find Elise! Hindsight is 20/20, but you probably should have told someone like...when this all first started! Maybe everyone wouldn't be in the pickle they are now.

Here here! Although I think, just think mind you, that maybe I know why Lois and Clark never mention Tempus.

Madge made him up.

Just an idea, just thinking here, but her record of what she knows will get jetisoned into the past, and some brand new UTOPIAN busy body is going to discover it.

LOVE THIS all the waffy first date stuff Wendy mentioned, and already praised so very well,
I LOVE THIS STORY!!!

TEEEEEEEJ<going, ACCCKKK!! Saturday!?>

Edit PS: And if Tempus gets eaten by a tiger for all of this, so much the better.
TJ

Deep, satisfied sigh ... I know we still have two parts to go, but this is coming together so nicely.

I love this, Hank's growing hysteria. I can just picture this whole scene, and it's so rich.


LOL on her waiving the clavicle. And I also laughed because I'd been thinking the exact same thing! Get those bones ID'ed! If there was any was possible for Tempus to arrange this, he would. I really do think they are his, and if so, it's an ingenious way to "solve the Tempus problem once and for all" (kind of reminds me of Phil blowing up Lex with a nuclear hand grenade down his pants in S6 <vbg>) but I won't believe it till I see it.

Excuse me while I beam with pride. I knew it!!! LOL! Well, OK, I may have had it a little backwards with the timing of the comic book -- if you'll recall, my theory was that Tempus existed as a character first and Robert Smith adopted the name in an attempt to become a future day Jesse James/Robin Hood combo -- but I was right about him being just a regular guy who had finally just had enough. That counts for something, doesn't it? Just a little, maybe? Kinda, sorta?

Still think he might have some Lane blood in him, though. Eighteenth cousin, twice removed ... so he doesn't show up in the history books.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

I'm still guessing as to whether L&C will be returned with their memories intact. I want them to remember, in no small part because I have PTSS from the S1 finale reset and I always feels that renders an entire story moot, yet I can see evidence for them not to. But then you get into the whole time loop paradox thing again ... do they not write about Tempus because he never returns to their time and they never know about him? Or do they simply learn from the Peacekeepers who return them that Tempus is dead so they don't bother? And either way, has the information Clark read about their future already changed to reflect this new time loop?

Of course, if they're upstairs doing what I think they're doing, they may have an early start on this whole family thing anyway, which could mean a whole new branch of the family.

And this was very well done. Again, a nod to fandom as future observers, but also a great way to explore some of the various options for how this will all end. I like your various theories.

Can't wait to see Silas track down his sister just as Hank is trying to share a last tender moment, LOL.

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday!

Kathy (who can't believe this story is almost over. What am I going to DO???)

I'm back because, while I was cleaning out the pond, I had a thought. (Well, you have to focus on something other than pond slime, believe me! ). Anyway, it's about the bakery/deli thing. What if the reason the Peacekeepers run a bakery chain is this:

The world knows, through Family oral history, that Clark first emerges from seclusion after The Big Exposure because Lois makes him go and buy her a bagel. But history doesn't record where he went to get it - what matters is the fact that he got it, not the exact location. And so, when the Peacekeepers needed a cover for their real activities, they remembered the bagel story and chose a bakery business in honour of Clark Buying Lois The Bagel - after all, bagels are baked in bakeries, right?

(Not that this ever needs explaining in the story, of course. But, you see, this is what you have us doing, CC - coming up with all sorts of theories around absolute trivia in the universe you've created! )


Wendy (who hasn't a clue what she'll do when this story is over either... )

I'm still loving this, CC.

Not sure how much I have to add this time to what's already been said, though. Seeing Lois talk about Utopia was really fun, all the more so because she's echoing what a lot of people (including you) have been saying in the comments folders.

I was also gratified to see that they weren't going to blindly, naievely trust that the bones actually were Tempus's. If they hadn't done that, I'd have been sure he was still alive. Now... I suspect he is, but I'm open to the other possibility.

I'm also hoping that, whatever happens when L&C go home, Utopia will have become a better place for their having been there -- both because of their direct influence in the future and because of subtle changes to the past. Maybe, if Utopia does come out better the next time around, there won't be any reason for Tempus to snap.

BTW, I, like many, love Tempus's new name and origin. Great job.

Oh, yes, and ditto Chris on the reaction to "Thank you for reading." I've said it before, I'll say it again. Thank you so much for writing this and sharing it. I can honestly say that reading this story has continuously been one of my high points for the last few weeks, if not longer. I'm starting to feel like we should be paying you or something. I'm trying to be better about commenting, but really... it feels weird to get entertainment this good and know that it's free. I don't know. Maybe you could sell advertizing space in the comments folders or something?

One more thing. Something Kathy said just sparked a really odd idea.

I doubt it's going to happen, but let me run with this for a sec. Lois gets pregnant in the future. L&C are found. L&C have to be returned to the past for the sake of the timeline. That also means that most, if not all, of their memories will have to be wiped. That means that Lois can't be returned pregnant. They're certainly not going to do anything to the baby. So, they have to wait (or transfer the fetus to an artificial womb or something). L&C can then be sent back to their proper time.

Now, though, there's another problem. What can they do with the baby? Sure, the family would be happy to take care of it, but it wouldn't really be right. It's out of place. It's first generation. It wasn't supposed to be born in that time. It really should be raised by its parents.

The thing is, the peacekeepers have a time portal. So, the baby could be sent back to its parents at virtually any point in their lives. Now, you'd want to send it to a time when L&C are happily married and ready to at least start thinking about kids. You wouldn't want to wait too long, though, because they have to have the time and energy to raise another child. So, not in their old age, and not when they have a bunch of other kids running around, and probably not when the kids are teenagers (because then the gap would be too big for comfort). For L&C's emotional well-being and that nice bit of symmetry, and because the baby is, technically, their first born, it might be nice to send it to them at a time when they want kids but think they can't have them.

Now, you'd want them to be completely sure that it was their child. At the same time, you can't risk letting them know too much about the future. So, clearly, the best solution to the whole thing is to send the baby back to just that point I mentioned (when they're ready to have kids, but don't think it's possible) and leave it comfortably in a crib inside their home, wrapped in a Superman blanket with a note attached saying, "Lois and Clark, this is your baby."

Doing so might even manage to save Utopia from coming apart. You know, send the baby from a dying world to good parents who want a baby but don't think they can have one, secure in the knowledge that they will take care of him and he'll grow up to fulfill a great destiny.

Makes sense, no?

Paul

OMG!! PAUL!! All I can say is if CC already has this, you're both BRILLIANT!

TEEEEEEEJ

Amazing part!!!

I can´t wait to read the next one.

Karla

I have loved this story greatly, but I have one little...
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Why don't they just go back to a slightly earlier time before Tempus was supposedly eaten?


James, who is ducking under his keyboard to prevent getting hit by cyber-veggies.

Sounds like we have just read another version of the Family Hour!!

LOL James! I actually thought the same thing.

The answer, though, is probably, "because then it would wipe out this awesome ending CC spent so long constructing." <vbg>

Kathy

James, there is a really simple answer to that. So simple, I'm surprised you aren't familiar with it.

Paul will now explain it to you...

Paul?

Hatman?

Hello?

Ok.

How about this: If you are holding the clavicle of the person you are going backwards in time to fetch, and *then* you bring the living body of that person into the same room as their own future deceased clavicle... the world explodes in a rain of fire and other really bad stuff you don't want to be messing with.

Kinda?

<sigh>

CC- going back under the bed to wail 'No more time-travellll!!!'

Edit: Actually, I think I can work around that little plot hole I just. did. not. see.

KathyB had it right. I had all this lovely Madge introspection set to go, and we've been fretting over the world ending for close to 200 pages now, so it's about darn time it actually did.

Anyway, I have an idea. And thank you for the catch, James. You gave me the high school locker, so I didn't have the heart to stick more than a few pins in my James-replicant voo-doo doll this evening.

Actually, I was working on that, CC.

Best I could come up with, though, was:

A) If you find the dead body and then go back in time to prevent the body from becoming dead, you get into one of those awful causality loops that no one really wants to have to deal with. (That exploding thing you mentioned.)

B) Temporal Prime Directive, Corollary One: You can go back in time to fix problems created by villains, but you can't go back in time to fix your own mistakes or problems that occured naturally. If that sort of thing was allowed, it could easily get out of hand and lead to all sorts of abuse problems. So, there's a strict departmental policy against trying anything even close to that without solid proof that there has been interference in the timeline. Madge has gone far enough using the portal without due process. Using it again to break a rule that big is just out of the quesiton.

(This also explains why no one has gone back to fix any of Andrus's flubs. It may also explain why no one went back in time to stop Herb from picking up Tempus in the first place. Herb himself, of course, is not a member of the department, but he is sometimes monitored by them. So, he has some leeway, but he's not completely free.)

C) Given the shock and dispair felt by Madge and crew at seeing their last best hope crushed, they simply didn't think to try it. They barely convinced each other to test the remains, and even that was, in their minds, mostly busy work. They're not exactly at their best right now.

Not sure what you came up with, CC, but that's what I've got.

Paul

I love you, Paul. Have I mentioned?

Also, I was thinking something exactly along the lines of your second option. If you can just erase your mistakes, that's cheating. And you never really move forward in a linear way. Just keep circling back around.

Option three works for me, too. And I think that's where I was in writing it. Closing the last avenue, pushing Madge into despair.

Maybe we should vote on it?

CC

edit: You know, I just thought of something much easier, way less complicated. A one paragraph addition.

So... whew. Ok, then. Thank you, James and Paul! Writer's Babbling Concludes.

Hi,

Love it.

MAF

You would start off with a POV switch...

ACK!!! I think I'm dying here... soooo waffy!! I love it!! *sigh*

Still got those tears in my eyes...

That right there is *great*!!

It's right here at this moment, CC, that you should be bloody proud of yourself for reaching such an emotional level to make me cry tears of happiness at a fictional story... it's not anymore. Fictional. That's how real it is.

Just two things: and

Bawling like a big baby again...

Might come back for more intelligent comments later... but I have to calm down a bit first.

Sara