In a Better Place, from part 16...
***
She looked into the recorder, speaking as plainly and calmly as she could. “Tempus is not a legend. He is real. My job and the job of others in the Ministry of Helpers and Peacekeepers has been to contain him. We have not. And it appears that he has succeeded in his goal to destroy our world. With that in mind, I, Margaret Hathaway, am making this record of our past....”
It would take some time, but she wouldn’t leave until she had covered everything she knew of Superman, Lois Lane, and what they meant to her people.
And now...
***
Clark didn’t put her down until they reached the attic. He was trembling with emotions too many and too right to name when he raised her face to his, pressing kisses over her cheeks, eyelids, forehead...
Marriage. Utopia. Museums and history books. A family lineage that went down through the centuries. Holding her, tasting her, feeling her tight against him, it was as if it had already happened. Or was happening right now. Lois was his wife. The mother of his children. His life’s partner. It all started and ended with her.
She pulled back from him and he let her go immediately, raking an agitated hand through his hair, wondering how to begin to speak to what was between them. The words of his heart so tangled he knew they would never string together coherently.
Lois’s eyes never left his face as she walked purposefully, not stopping until the back of her knees hit the bed. She slowly reclined onto the mattress, holding out her hand to him in a mute invitation.
“Lois.”
She didn’t answer, but her eyes were clear and untroubled. The meaning in them, the absolute certainty, both shook him and thrilled him.
He went to her. Without question and without hesitation. With a profound sense of homecoming.
In the short walk to their bed, the Clark Kent he was and the Clark Kent he would one day be merged into one man. One man, who despite the years yet to live, would be husband to his wife, and lover to his soul mate. He laid his body over hers and any thoughts- whether or not this was wise, if they should be here at all, if they should know everything they did- stopped completely and ceased to matter. The here and now, the woman in his arms, against his skin, sighing underneath him, was everything.
Tempus had meant them harm. He had tossed them into turmoil and confusion. His sole purpose had been to break their life story, to steal their future and dissolve Utopia. And yet, when the sun slid out from behind the clouds and shone through the window lighting their bed, Clark cradled Lois to him and felt nothing but deeply grateful. He thanked the stars that had guided his ship from Krypton, thanked the currents that had led him to Metropolis, and thanked whomever had designed the Cosmos for this gift, this preview, of loving Lois Lane.
They would find a way back. He had to believe that. Together they were unstoppable. And they had a whole lifetime ahead of them.
***
Silas had assured Clark he would put the word out. He knew everything that was riding on it. Understood perfectly that time was of the essence. He had decided to start with the Justice League. He knew them well. His uncle and grandmother had enhanced abilities and they worked hard as part of the world’s caretakers.
They worked so hard League headquarters had been empty. A distant cousin at the front desk had informed him of the earthquake on the other side of the world, chastised him gently for not knowing about it, and asked him to leave a message.
Silas laughed now, a hollow chuckle. Some message that would have been. ‘Come back. The world is ending.’
He sighed, holding the zip-com in his fist. He had just left his name and number, nothing more. And he had been waiting, longer than he knew he should have, for them to call.
Which left him with the Family Council yet to contact. And more specifically, Elise. He would call her and tell her everything.
And in so doing, take her world apart.
Silas stood up from his desk and put down his zip com. How long had he been sitting, overwhelmed and aching to pull the trigger, and yet despairing of what he was about to do to his family?
He was just one man. One family member. There were so many better suited to this position than he.
Coward.
He was. He didn’t deny it. But it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since he had run into Lois Lane and Clark Kent in the museum’s kitchen. Not even a full day since they had opened their mouths and changed every single thing he had thought he had known to be true.
Silas studied his face in the mirrored glass of Martha Kent’s painting. He looked exactly the same. Not like someone who had just found out his life and the lives of every person he had ever loved hung in fragile balance, dependant on behind the scenes cosmic maneuverings they would never be privy to.
He straightened his stance, squaring his shoulders, just as he had seen Clark do. His grin mocked him. Some Superman.
Still... he was here. Intact. His reflection showed no ghostly outlines, no faint, glowing aura. He flexed his hands and reached for his zip-com. He was still substantial. Still able to hold things... no reaching through them... not yet.
He palmed the zip-com, turning it over a few times, turning the thoughts over in his mind. It was already decided. He knew that. It was crucial, he reminded himself, even as he fought down the waves of guilt and regret as he spoke his sister’s name into the com’s programmed memory.
She was his closest friend, his confidant since childhood. Keeper of his secrets, all the ones he had dared to share. Some had been hard, too heavy to tell... up until today, until this morning in the records room with Clark, who had known those secrets, and understood them in a way no one else ever could.
Elise was far smarter than he. Better suited to the burden of this knowledge, and once he shared it with her, part of him knew she would take over. Take charge. She would call the Family Council to order, make the Justice League drop everything and come back from wherever they currently were.
He wanted exactly that, right? To be off the hook. To have the job placed into hands more competent than his own... which were shaking.
She picked up immediately, nearly startling the com from his nervous grip. “Well? What did he say? Did he agree? What took so long? I’ve been dying here!”
“That’s quite a hello,” he said, taking comfort in the sound of her voice, decision made, no going back.
“Silas?”
“Who were you expecting?”
“Hank. He said he’d... never mind. Is it important? I guess it is. You’re calling me and you never call me any more. Not unless it’s to beg me to stop fixing you up on blind dates which you botch on purpose, and even then it takes you a few days to get around to it-”
“Usually I can wait as long as it takes for you to run out of words,” he cut-in quickly. “But this is sort of important.”
Elise paused, drawing in a sharp breath. “Any other time, I’d love to hear you out, but things here are really... urgent... so I don’t think I can concentrate on your woman problems right now, Sy.”
“They can’t be more urgent than what I need to tell you.” He raised his voice, knowing she was about to hang up on him. “Can I fly... uh... run over and see you?”
She sighed heavily. “Really, Silas. No. I’m sorry. Any other time, it’s always yes. You know it is. But Hank and I are working on something... vital.”
“Tempus is real,” he blurted. “Tempus is real and he sent Lois Lane and Clark Kent, the originals, our founders, forward into the future. If they can’t get back to their time, get married, have kids, you and I won’t need to put this conversation off until later. We won’t be here to argue it. And... I do not have problems with women.”
“Come over,” Elise squeaked. “Come over this instant. Why did you call, you big doofus? Why didn’t you just break the door in?”
“This seemed more polite.”
“Screw polite,” she retorted.
“Why aren’t you asking me a thousands questions, starting with ‘Am I high?’” he said as he moved to the doorway, then turned back slowly and eyed the window. “Why do I feel like you aren’t surprised?”
“Just get here,” she said. “Wait!” Her shout reached his ears as he was disconnecting. “How did you know they’d been sent into the future?”
“They’re living in the museum.”
He listened closely, but all he could make out were half-strangled exclamations, swear words that raised his eyebrows. He would have sworn before today she didn’t know such an assortment.
He smiled, perversely enjoying one-upping the sister he’d spent his entire life being one-upped by. “I’m on my way.”
“No. Meet me at the museum. I’m headed there.”
“Let me come get you.” He easily opened the protesting window. “Trust me. It’ll be faster... I think.”
He disconnected and set the zip-com down on his desk.
A breeze was blowing, ruffling his hair. He placed his hands on the edge of the window and boosted himself up. It was a long way down from the fifth floor.
When his tie started to flap in the wind just as the flags over the museum entrance were doing, he ripped it off and tossed it behind him.
“He wasn’t ready either,” he muttered to himself as he swung his legs out. “And that was Prometheus. This is just a trip to my sister’s. If it doesn’t work...” He looked down again, tightening his grip on the ledge. “... no one has to know.”
Trying to get the image of a baby bird being hurled from the mother nest out of his head, Silas closed his eyes. “If you can float, you can fly,” he recited. And, god, he was really counting on that being true.
With a wordless prayer, Utopia’s new Superman pushed off into the blue.
***
“Did I fall asleep?” Lois sat up quickly, alarmed. She wouldn’t have thought it possible, but the rhythmic beating of Clark’s heart under her ear had slowly taken her from her worries and into dreams.
“Only for a few minutes. Did I wake you?” he said, coming back over to the bed.
“Not really.” She leaned back against the headboard. “I just knew you were gone.”
“It’s the noise.” He came and sat down next to her, lacing his fingers in hers.
“I don’t hear anything.”
“I guess it’s just loud to us Kryptonians, then.” He tried to smile reassuringly, but he couldn’t quite pull if off.
“What do you hear?”
“There’s...” He hesitated, and she squeezed his hand. “...a pitch in the air. It’s hard to describe.”
“Try, please,” she said softly, moving closer to him.
“It’s a rumble, sort of low and constant, but it’s picking up now. A bit... rougher, less stable. It reminds me of...” He stopped.
“Don’t try to cushion it. Just tell me.”
“The sounds that precede an avalanche or an eruption, just higher pitched. No. I don’t know really. I’ve never heard anything like it before.”
She was quiet for a minute. As was he.
“What happens to us? That’s what I keep wondering. This isn’t our world or our time. Does that mean that whatever comes, we’re basically unaffected? That we’ll be left standing in the middle of... what’s left? Or can we die here? Will we? If everyone else does?”
“No one is going to die.” But the way he said it, she knew that’s what had him up and pacing the floor. The worry crept into his voice, across his face, and more than anything else, it told her how close the end really was.
“Silas isn’t back yet?”
“Not as of two minutes ago.”
“Do you think he’s with the Justice League? Or maybe meeting with the Family Council?”
“That’s all I can figure. I expected him before now. He was going to come back and keep us updated, but I haven’t heard him, and he’s not downstairs...” He voiced trailed off and he closed his eyes.
“You think he might be... gone?” She forced herself to say it, since she knew that had just occurred to him, too.
“Maybe he’s just... hung up somewhere. Having trouble getting back... or something. I need to go look for him.”
“I’ll come with you.” She swept back the covers, standing up and finding her clothes. He watched her from where he sat, eyes dark and deeply appreciative. And it felt... nice. Natural. As if she had always dressed in front of him.
She opened her mouth to tell him that when she saw the change in him. He had tensed and was listening, head tilted in way she had come to know well. “Is he here?” she guessed, moving a little faster.
“Downstairs,” he answered, the worry lifting from his face immediately. “Do you want me to...?”
“Go on,” she said. “I’ll catch up with you. Go and see what’s happening.”
He pulled her to him, tipping her off balance so she spilled into his lap. He kissed her lightly and returned her gently to her feet. “Meet you downstairs.”
Before she could blink again, he was gone.
***
Madge knew what had drawn her to the Krypton Wing of the Superman Museum. It had been many years since her last visit. In general, she found the commercialization of the Lane-Kents more than a little off-putting, but today she hadn’t been able to walk past without stopping.
In the early evening hour, the place should have been crowded, but it wasn't. Like the rest of Utopia, everything was shut off and closed down. Madge preferred it that way. She didn’t need to see the display; she only wanted to stand in the quiet and find the pocket of peace she needed.
The parallels had drawn her. One world exploding and one more on the verge of disappearing. Centuries and galaxies apart, and yet so intimately tied. Linked by one man.
At least Clark Kent would never know. There was some comfort in that. He had already lost his past. Madge was grateful to the fates that he would never realize he had lost his future.
And besides, wherever he and Lois were now- and the search committee had looked so many places and times she had lost count- Madge knew one thing for certain: wherever they were together, or whenever, a new future would be formed.
This future would just pass away. But somewhere a new one, a better one, maybe, would take root.
“I failed you,” she spoke aloud. “And I’m sorry.”
She let the first tears fall. She would do her mourning here, then put on a serene face and go home and be with Fredrick. She was a lucky woman to have him. Blessed in so many ways. She had lived in a wonderful society. Had been given the opportunity to serve it for most of her years. If only she had served it better...
“Can I help you?” a gentle voice asked from behind her.
Madge only shook her head. She was beyond words. Any words at all. Even polite refusals to caring strangers.
“Are you sure?” the voice asked again, and its owner stepped into her sight. In the dim light she could see kind brown eyes searching hers.
“I thought all the Clarks were required to wear glasses,” she said upon getting a closer look at his face. It was the very first thought that came into her head. She had seen many Supermen and many Clark Kents, but never one who looked so much like both at the same time.
He smiled, and there was something in that smile that raced into her heart and straight down every nerve. “The museum closed early. I’m kind of out of uniform.”
“Only the real Superman can help me,” Madge said sniffling. “You should go home to your family, ok, dear?”
While she was speaking his stance changed. His smile vanished and his eyes, no longer filled with concern, grew wide.
“You’re the woman from EPRAD!” he gasped.
“You *are* the real Superman!” she said simultaneously.
They both started speaking at once, then both stopped politely to let the other have their say, then both leapt into the silence once more, talking all over each other again.
The real Clark Kent held up his hand. “Time-out. Ladies first.”
“I’m Margaret Hathaway, Director of Peacekeeping. Madge,” she choked between grateful sobs. “And I’m so glad to see you, you have no idea.”
“I think I have some idea,” he said, a fleeting smile showing, and Madge let herself enjoy- for only the briefest of seconds- nothing that would be disloyal to sweet Fredrick- how nice he was to just... look at it. Listen to. Stand near. She remembered the old saw about never meeting your idols; they’re always bound to disappoint you.
Baloney. This one was even better in person.
“Where’s Lois?” she asked, a new worry hitting her all at once. “Please tell me she’s with you! That you didn’t get separated!”
“She’s upstairs. I’ll get her,” Clark said. “I know we need to leave,” he added at the exact same instant she remembered her job and yelled, “You need to leave!”
“Give me two seconds. We’ll meet you back here.”
A very large part of her didn’t want him out of her sight. She wanted to catch hold of his ankles and make him drag her with him.
But she knew he would be back. He was Superman. He didn’t lie. And sobbing at his feet wouldn’t be dignified.
Also, she would have missed the whoosh of his exit, which thrilled her to her toes. She’d read about that, but to see it...
Madge pressed one shaking hand over her heart, a chorus of joy like a choir loft of angels sprang to voice inside her head singing over and over, “Oh my God! He’s heeeerrrreeee!”
Here.
Madge gasped, then sputtered. Here. And now. In her own time. In her own hometown.
In Utopia.
In the one place Lois Lane and Clark Kent would never register on the soul tracer. The one place in all of time and space they couldn't be monitored. Utopia simply wasn’t wired for it. Why would it be?
The current incarnations of their souls were already present. It was Madge’s job to know that, and though she would never tell, it was her pleasure to work closely with one of them. She knew when and where all the other incarnations existed across all time and space. Those souls were watched closely. But unknown to anyone else, on an entirely separate device only she was privileged to see, Utopia’s two souls were watched by her alone. Beyond that, Utopia was entirely monitor-free.
Besides, wouldn’t Tempus have to be crazy to send Lois and Clark right into the very center of the Ministry’s life and work? To put them right in their backyard, out in the open, where anyone could see them?
Madge took a long, slow look around the building.
Right out in the open... alongside dozens of look-alikes...
Tempus. That evil, brilliant bastard. All his bragging had been right. He really was a diabolical genius.
Madge found herself laughing. She almost wished he hadn’t been eaten just so she could tell him so. He wouldn’t like that he’d been foiled. But still, only the two of them could appreciate the new level he had raised their game of cat and mouse to.
"Ah well. Rest easy, Tempus. You sick git."
Finding her knees a little wobbly, Madge decided she would just sit for those two seconds.
***
Hank stood in his empty bedroom trying to absorb what it meant. Despite his show of temper, he had done as Madge had asked and stayed with Petal to process the bones.
It had cost him. Precious time. Time he should have been here...
When the results had finally come up, he had sprinted home, thrown open the doors, shouting for Elise. His voice had echoed off empty walls, bounced off the floors, come back to him, shrill and mocking.
He was alone. He had looked thoroughly, over and over. More times than it made sense to, but sense was something he currently didn’t have. As if they were playing an elaborate game of hide and seek, he had checked the oddest places. Any place Elise might fit.
She’d gone out, then. Gotten impatient, and who could blame her? She had probably decided on her own to raise the alarm, go to the family... something.
But her zip-com was still on the counter in the cook unit. And Hank couldn’t find any theory that had her leaving it behind. Not when she would have been waiting to hear from him. Not when today, of all days, it was so important.
He drew in a series of hard breaths and switched off his thoughts before they could proceed to their logical conclusion.
Pocketing her zip-com and imagining handing it back to her and fussing at her for forgetting it, he headed out the door. He would go back to work. He would finish this, fix this, and get her back.
If there was any justice in the world, that was the way it would be.
***
“That was quick!” Madge said, breathlessly, standing and beaming at the woman Clark was holding in his arms.
Lois Lane smiled back and Madge relaxed a little. She hadn’t been too sure what her reception from the legendary woman of tomorrow would be, and she had half expected Lois to read her the riot act.
Which she clearly wasn’t going to do. And that was nice, if not a tiny bit disappointing.
“You’ve fared well?” she asked the couple in front of her. “Lost and confused as you must have been?”
“Our time here has been very...” Lois paused and searched for the word. “Bizarre,” she concluded, in the same instant Clark said, “Wonderful.”
Madge nodded vigorously. Two vastly different takes on the same thing. And both true. That was Lane and Kent in a nutshell. She would remember this. Maybe even cheat horribly and tell it to Fredrick. “Splendid! But we really must get going; things are very unstable.”
“Exactly where are we going?” Clark asked as they hustled towards the lobby doors. “We’ve looked for you and never found more than...”
“...a few crumbs,” Lois finished for him.
“The Ministry of Helpers and Peacekeepers,” she said proudly. Madge had to pinch herself. Look at her! She was filling in Lois and Clark on the details of something they had obviously investigated. She was a.... what was the word? A source! “There’s a very good reason you couldn’t find us. You see-”
“We should let Silas know,” Lois interrupted, turning away from her and back to Clark.
And Lois was being rude and abrupt! Oh, this was too, too good. Madge knew she didn’t deserve this, but was grateful, all the same. And she would tell Fredrick. How on earth could she not? A newer, more open policy was in the works anyway. She decided quickly that justified it very neatly.
“Right,” Clark said. And then he did the oddest thing. He threw back his head and yelled, “Help, Superman!”
What in the name of...?
Lois looked just as blank as she felt. “Clark, what the hell are you...?”
Clark draped an arm around Lois’s shoulders. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you-”
Whatever he had been going to say was interrupted. There was a zooming sound. It started from far out and grew louder and more immediate. Madge braced herself, fearful of the unfamiliar noise, and of what it might mean. That this was it. The end. And what a horrible way to go, when she was so very close to fixing everything. “Oh no,” she barely voiced.
Then the doors burst open and gust of wind filled the room. The blur that came with it slowed and inexplicably formed into a young man who was holding... Elise.
“I was on my way when you called,” he blurted at once, “and you will *not* believe what my brother-in-law does for a living.” Catching sight of Madge, the young man holding her assistant’s wife stopped talking at once. “Oh, um, hello.”
She smiled politely, waiting for an introduction, an explanation, a... something.
“Madge!” Elise said with joyful surprise. “You’re here!"
"As are you, Elise." Madge's voice wobbled on that a bit. “Thank God.”
Elise threw her arms around her. “Where’s Hank?”
She frowned. “We... ah... concluded our business early; he was on his way home to you some time ago.”
“I’m not there,” said Elise entirely unnecessarily. “Silas called and said the strangest...”
Her voice trailed off as her gaze moved, belatedly, to the other members of the group.
“So, you’re Silas’s sister,” said Clark, stepping into the silence and offering his hand. “It’s really nice to meet you, Elise. He speaks highly of you.”
“Sis, this is Gramps,” said Silas with a huge, face-splitting smile. “He’s holding up pretty well for his advanced age, don’t you think?”
“Holy freakin’ cow,” said Elise, then immediately blushed hotly. “I mean, that is, on behalf of the family... uh... holy freakin’ cow.”
“You practice that speech on the way over?” Silas asked her solemnly. “Because it’s excellent.”
“And I’m Lois,” said Lois. “Introduce me as Grams, Junior, and you’re grounded.”
“Lois Lane,” said Elise with a smile. “My hero. You have no idea how... well... I’m just... this is just... We’ve been... so worried. Hank has been... so... so...”
“Call him,” said Madge briskly. “Have him come back to the Ministry. We can’t waste any more time.”
A slight tremor shook the building to punctuate her point. From the feel of it, Odias Sinders's theory had been the most correct. Another point in favor of the old goat, Madge begrudging noted. If she wasn’t busy saving the world, she would have felt downright bitter over it.
“It’s getting louder,” said Silas, looking to Clark. “Closer, too.”
“It is,” he confirmed. “We need to go now.”
“Can you carry all of us?” asked Lois anxiously.
“I don't think that will be a problem,” said Clark. “Right, Silas?”
“For a maiden voyage," said Elise, "he wasn't half bad. Though I kept my eyes closed the whole time."
"I was shaky," confessed Silas. "But..."
"...you did it," Clark finished with a wink. "And it's the best part, Sy. Trust me; it just gets better."
"I can't wait to find out," Silas said.
“Neither can I,” commented Lois darkly. “Why was this somewhat important detail left out of your report of your afternoon with Silas?”
“You and I got a bit... ah... preoccupied,” said Clark. And Madge noticed he didn’t look even the slightest bit sorry.
"All I can say is it’s about time." Elise gave her brother an affection jab. "Mom and I thought you'd never get a clue."
"You...? What?"
"You float in your sleep, little brother. Kind of hard not to notice when we shared a house."
"You knew? Mom and Dad... know?"
"That you're the throwback?" Elise said seriously now. "That you're Superman? Yes. And I can't think of anyone else I would rather see in the role."
"I agree," said Clark simply.
“I’ll second that, Junior,” Lois supplied.
"But there's no pressure, Silas,” Clark continued. “Really. Find your own way. Make your own decisions. You have more than fulfilled your obligation to this family."
"Listen to your grandfather,” added Lois. "Don’t let anyone force you into anything."
Elise smiled smugly. "Such as working in the Superman museum?"
Silas's look bordered on amusement and disbelief. "You engineered that! I thought I was needed because of the clone thing!"
Madge watched as Lois and Clark exchanged a look. "I am starting to really hate how they throw that word around," Lois muttered.
"I guess we find out in due time?" he whispered back, giving her a smile that had Madge sighing dreamily... just before she remembered that while family reunions and revelations were their own good things, and really fascinating to watch, certain other matters were more pressing.
She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. "We must go at once."
"Where to?" Lois asked, marching over to Silas and pulling his arms around her.
He held her loosely. "You brave enough to go with me, Grams?"
Lois shrugged. "I'm good at flying with brand new Supermen."
“We'll lead the way.” Clark walked towards Madge now. "Is it ok if we’re seen?” he asked as his arm came around her.
Words failed her. For just a moment. Granted it was a pretty critical moment, but Superman was... holding her. Lifting her against his side like she was a feather. A tiny, downy, floaty...
“Madge?” Clark prompted.
And she was back and all business. Or mostly so. Sweet Fredrick, of course, was the owner of her heart and her loyalties, that went without saying, but good heavens she wasn’t dead yet. She felt a little less guilty when Elise, happily married to Hank, as she well knew, wore an identical look when Clark wrapped his free arm around her.
“No, it doesn’t matter,” Madge said in a strangled voice. “We’ve decided to reverse our Tempus policy so the citizenry can be better informed, able to protect themselves."
"If you didn't, we were going to," said Lois pointedly, and Madge felt a thrill of fear... or really, just a thrill. Lois was fussing at her!
"Take us right down the middle of the city, straight to the bakery. We'll wave at anyone we see on the way,” she said proudly.
“The bakery? We’ve been there,” Silas said. “Earlier today. There was nothing.”
“Evidently we missed something fairly big,” Clark said with regret.
“You can’t look for what can’t be seen,” Madge tried to say comfortingly, but his chest muscles were so hard against her side she might have just said ‘meow’, she wasn’t sure.
“Let’s go." Clark lifted off.
Silas lifted off almost as smoothly.
”I didn’t know we had a current Superman,” Madge commented happily, bringing down an awkward silence.
“I don’t want to be in the League,” Silas said grimly. "I don’t know what I want to do... yet."
Lois said nothing, but sent what was clearly a warning glare in Madge’s direction.
“Of course not,” Madge stammered, taking just a moment to admire the glare, wondering if she could learn it and use it herself. Imagining all the ways it might come in handy. “Though if you’re looking for adventure and travel, I might know just the job for you, dear.”
***
They turned more than a few heads on their way down main street. Two flying men carrying three women. Concerned citizens, noticing the changes creeping over their city, and feeling uneasy for reasons they couldn't have named, were out on the sidewalks conversing with one another as the sun set.
Clark's heart sang at the sight of them. They looked worried and appropriately stunned at the spectacle of the five of them passing overhead, but they were all still well. Still whole. And now they would stay that way. The future, his and Lois's, would unfold as it was meant to. Maybe even better than before.
Madge had been rattling off orders into her zip-com, so he knew the Ministry was open and waiting for them. From his vantage point, he could see lights pouring from the bakery windows and anxious, robe-wearing workers, some of whom had been in the bakery that very morning, pacing the sidewalk.
"Right here," said Madge, "just inside. And we need to hurry. Anna says the lifelines are nearly entirely gone."
He didn't know their exact meaning, but he recognized the urgency in her words.
"Follow me in, Silas," he said in a normal tone he knew his grandson could hear above the din. "Straight through the doors."
"Behind you," Silas returned easily.
"He's going to be good at this," Elise told Clark quietly, her eyes shining. "I wish I could have known you, but thank you, for whatever you did for him."
Clark looked at the young woman he held. Probably not any younger than he was, he realized, but his granddaughter, all the same. The instant kinship between them felt exactly right. "I honestly don't know who helped who more," he said, just as they burst through the doors and past dozens of dancing and clapping Peacekeepers.
***
To be concluded on Tuesday! Thank you for reading!
