Lois awoke in a field of wheat. Her eyes blinked against the bright sun overhead. Carefully, she sat up, adrenaline suddenly pumping through her system as she wondered what had happened and where she had ended up.
Looking around, she could see the Kent farmhouse across the field. She got to her feet as joy poured through her. She’d made it back! She was back in Smallville!
Lois ran across the field, her injured ankle slowing her down a bit. Tears were streaming down her face and she thought she’d faint from hunger, but she raced through the grasses to that beacon of hope, the Kent farmhouse.
She reached the steps, not believing anyone would be there. Was she back in her own time? If she was, then the house would practically be abandoned. Though the paint looked fresh and the front porch was swept. She felt a moment’s trepidation, wondering if she had somehow been tossed into the future or even into the past.
“Hello?” she called, coming up to the screen door.
“Since when do you knock?” said a teasing voice from behind her.
She turned with a huge sigh of relief and threw her arms around Clark. “We made it back! Clark we made it!” she cried into his neck.
Clark’s arm went around her awkwardly. “Lois, what happened? What are you talking about?”
Suddenly, the front door swung open and out stepped Lana carrying a tray. “I made the lemonade. Do you wa—Lois? What happened? Are you all right?”
Lois suddenly stilled, and carefully stepped out of Clark’s embrace, words clogging her throat as realization dawned. She wasn’t in her time… she was in the past. The past when Clark and Lana were in love…
Lois felt suddenly very dizzy. The sun felt too warm, and she was dying for something to eat. She clutched the rail of the porch and tried to pull herself up the stairs.
“Lois? Are you all right?” Clark asked, his warm hand steadying her back.
“I think--- I think I’m going to be sick,” she said, right before her world went dark.
~\S/~
As Chloe waited at Watchtower to hear from the heroes, she received a call from John Jones. He rarely called her, which immediately made her worried.
“John? What is it?” Chloe answered in a rush.
“I need you come to the downtown precinct as soon as you can,” he said in a calm tone, though there was an underlying urgency in his voice.
Chloe was instantly alarmed. “Why? What happened? Have you located Kara?”
“I can’t tell you over the phone, Chloe. Meet me here as soon as you can. Tell the front guard I asked for you and they’ll let you in.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes,” she said, grabbing her purse before heading out the door.
Chloe texted Oliver on her way that she wouldn’t be at Watchtower because something important had come up with John Jones. The team was already making their way to Washington, hoping to locate Kara.
Chloe left Watchtower, and within minutes pulled into a parallel parking spot across from the police precinct office. She quickly crossed the street and got out her ID to show the guard. “Chloe Sullivan to see John Jones.”
The guard barely looked at her, as he nodded for her to enter. “OK, set your purse here to be checked. Take off all belts and jewelry,” the guy said in a bored tone, as if he said the same phrases a hundred times a day.
Chloe did as she was asked, and after running the scan wand over her person a few times more than she thought necessary, he finally let her through.
John was waiting for her at the front desk. He was usually a very cool, methodical guy, but she could see something was distressing him by a tick in his jaw as if he kept masticating on a thought over and over again.
“How are you, Chloe?” he asked, a decidedly uncharacteristic question from John.
“Fine. Why? What is going on? What wouldn’t you tell me on the phone?”
He led her down a hallway, “Follow me. And prepare yourself.”
“Prepare myself? For what?” she asked, growing alarmed with each step.
He stopped walking, a forthright expression on his face as he turned to her. “Just know that he doesn’t remember anything… I am hoping that he may remember you since you’ve known him the longest… but it may take time.”
“Who? John, you’re making me nervous. Just what are you talking about?”
They came to a secure door, which John flashed a card at the side panel to open. They entered a holding area with several secure rooms. “He didn’t do anything wrong, I just had nowhere to contain him. He was found at a homeless shelter, completely lost and confused. He doesn’t even remember what he’s capable of—“
Chloe suddenly felt a dormant hope surge through her. The emotion came out of her in the form of a startled gasp just as John blocked the door to a room in front of where they had stopped.
“I haven’t told anyone else yet.”
He stepped aside, allowing Chloe to enter the small room. Her hand stilled on the doorknob though, as she peered into the small window and saw her best friend for the first time in three years.
Clark sat at a table, his head in his hands. He wore a ragged t-shirt and jeans, his hair mussed and probably dirty. He looked defeated and disheveled.
“What happened to him?” she asked, disheartened at seeing him in this state.
John shrugged with a sigh. “I don’t know. He has to get his memory back first before we can learn what happened. I thought of taking him to the Fortress, and we still may try that, but I have no idea if Jor-El is still a viable option at this point—“
“I heard from Oliver. Jor-El told them about the Crystal of El. Either Clark or Kara has it – but John, Lex has Kara,” she turned to him thoughtfully, momentarily distracted from the reappearance of Clark.
“Do you know where?”
She shrugged with a sigh. “There was a press statement that said she was picked up in Washington. The team is starting there. There’s no telling where Lex will send her, though. Can you try to find out anything through the police?”
“I will do what I can, of course. But meanwhile…” he gestured towards Clark.
Chloe sighed. “Meanwhile I have to try and get Clark’s memory back.”
John nodded. “Try to talk to him. He was frightened of me… I wasn’t sure what to do.”
Chloe made a move to enter the room, but John laid his hand on her shoulder. “I tried calling Lois first, but she didn’t answer.”
“I haven't been able to get a hold of her either. I hope she’s all right. She’ll want to see Clark as soon as possible.”
“I’m sure Lois is fine. We have to first concentrate on getting Clark’s memory back. Then we have to deal with Lex.”
Chloe nodded, stepping into the room, the door closing behind her. The only sound was the low buzzing hum of the florescent lights above them. “Clark?” she said cautiously, her voice sounding oddly hollow in the empty room.
His head shot up, his eyes a striking blue that bore into her. He looked frightened for a moment, and then sighed. “Where am I?” he asked calmly, allowing Chloe to release the breath she’d been holding in relief.
He sounded like himself, even if he didn’t know who he was. There was no anger in him, though perhaps a bit of fear—and a calm resignation to his circumstances. Physically he seemed leaner, if stronger, like he’d been fighting. There were smudges of dirt on him, but no scars, no wounds.
She assumed he had his powers, but she wasn’t sure if he was aware of that fact.
She stepped towards him, and his eyes narrowed, assessing her. “Do I know you?” he asked hesitantly.
She nodded, as unexpected tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. She had missed her best friend.
Chloe cleared her throat as she moved to sit in the chair opposite of him. “I’m—a friend,” she managed to get out, concerned that he would feel in any way that he couldn’t trust her.
“What am I doing here? Is this some kind of holding cell?” He got up suddenly, making her flinch, and moved to look around the room. But he didn’t try the door or touch the plate-glassed window. Did he know what he was capable of? That he could easily open that door and leave?
“We’re going to get you out of here, but first, I—I need you to trust me,” she said levelly. “Do you know anything about what happened to you?”
He shook his head. “I—fell. From where or why, I don’t know. I hit my head when I landed and I think I blacked out. I woke up in a bad neighborhood and found a homeless shelter…” His hand went to feel the back of his head, and he gave her a puzzled look. “The thing is, I don’t have a scratch on me. But—I don’t remember anything else… “ His shoulders slumped, but then he turned to her. “You said you were a friend? What’s your name?”
“Chloe Sullivan,” she said. “We’ve known each other a long time.”
He didn’t seem convinced. “And why should I believe you?”
She sighed. “I can’t prove anything to you here. But at the farm, there’s your high school yearbook. We’ve known each other since our freshman year.” She stepped closer to him, warily, afraid he might accidentally hurt her if he was indeed unaware of his powers. “If you trust me, I’ll help you get your memory back. Actually… I helped you once before,” she mused, remembering.
“Really? Is this a regular occurrence with me?” he asked.
She laughed, “No, not at all. But it has happened before.”
“I just want to get out of here,” he said with a heavy sigh.
“Then let’s go,” she said as she rang the door for John to come back. “You can come with me. And together we can get your memory back.”
“Why won’t you tell me who I am?” he said, suddenly suspicious again.
She hesitated for a moment, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to give him some facts to work with. Slow and steady though, so he wasn’t overwhelmed by the truth at once. “You’re Clark Kent. You grew up on a farm in Smallville, Kansas. Does that help?” she offered.
“Somehow I don’t feel like a farm boy,” he said thoughtfully.
Chloe felt her lips curl up in a smile. “Well, let’s just say you’re a very special farm boy. Now, let’s get you out of here.”
~\S/~
“Lois? Lois answer me. Are you OK?” Clark was by her side, a concerned expression on his face. She thought maybe she was inside, on the sofa.
“Smallville?” she croaked out, her throat parched.
Suddenly, a glass of water was held to her lips, “Here, have some water,” Clark said gently. She took a few sips, and then tried to sit up. She felt her ankle throb in pain, and her stomach rumble with hunger, and it all suddenly came back to her.
The Phantom Zone.
Clark – disappearing into who knows where…
And Lana.
The headache came back with a vengeance.
Even though Clark was right before her, she had never felt so far away from him. This wasn’t the Clark who had saved her as the Blur, nor was he the Clark who had kissed her in the middle of the Daily Planet like his life depended on it.
This Clark’s world still revolved around Lana.
“Lois, what happened?” he asked, his eyes full of concern, belying what she knew and was trying to keep to the fore. For a fleeting moment, Lois thought she could tell him everything, seeing his deep compassion and understanding. She felt a confession welling up, but seconds later, Lana appeared over his shoulder, holding an ice pack, and also metaphorically icing Lois’ hope. He gave Lana a smile as he took the ice pack, and Lois felt herself retreat into her shell, seeing the loving look in his eyes as he turned to Lana. She never was a match for the Clark-Lana duo, and as much as she needed to reach out to Clark now, she didn’t have the strength to do it with Lana standing there.
Clark took the ice pack and put it on her swollen ankle. It was freshly bandaged, evidence that someone had rewrapped it while she had been knocked out.
Though the ice was almost painfully cold, Clark’s touch on her ankle was gentle. Lois fought tears that welled up, seeing him so easy-going, so relaxed. She wondered where he had disappeared to in the future, whether he was all right. She longed to discuss these things with Clark, but Lana’s watchful presence stayed her tongue.
It wasn’t just her own personal feelings for Clark. Lois didn’t trust Lana. She knew that Lana had lied repeatedly to Clark and had learned from Chloe how Lana had manipulated him over the years. She didn’t want to give Lana any more information than was necessary, worried how she might use it against Clark later.
“So, are you going to tell us what got you all beaten up?” Lana eventually asked, handing Lois a glass of lemonade, with an encouraging smile.
Lois took the glass and shrugged. “Um, you know me. Just--- getting into trouble, I guess,” she said, aiming for a light tone. She glanced at Clark, who still seemed to be scrutinizing her closely. “Got anything to eat around here?” she asked, starving, and unnerved by the two’s attention.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll go make you a sandwich,” Lana offered after a moment.
“Thanks.”
As Lana headed into the kitchen, a strained silence filled the room, intensified by Lois’ inability to look in Clark’s direction. She was torn between wanting to blurt out the truth to Clark and wanting to burst into tears, uncertain where the Clark of her present had disappeared to. Would the ring take her back or would it toss her to another time and place?
“Lois? What is it? You seem – different somehow. And not just because of the injuries. What’s going on?” he asked, in that gently understanding way of his that was difficult to resist.
She shook her head, and glanced at him. “N—not now,” she said. His brow wrinkled in concern, but he nodded.
Lois looked down at her hands, noticing the Legion ring. She stilled and glanced at Clark, wondering if he would recognize it. But instead, he only seemed puzzled by her reaction to it.
Lana’s head suddenly popped around the corner. “Oh, Clark – I just got a call from Aunt Nell. She needs me to, um, go over and help with some do-it-yourself project she’s gotten into…” Lana said airily, carrying in a plate with a sandwich, a bright smile on her face. Lois could immediately tell that Lana was lying, but Clark seemed to accept Lana’s excuse without hesitation.
Lana set down the plate and Clark got up to give her a kiss good-bye. “See you later then,” he said sweetly.
“Hope you feel better, Lois,” Lana said, slinging her purse over her shoulder as she headed out the door.
Lois watched her leave in relief, hoping that now she could at least partly explain to Clark the truth.
Clark turned to her with purpose. “So, Lois… do you want to tell me what’s going on now?”
Lois reached for the sandwich and took a few bites, relieved to finally have something to eat. She thought for a long moment, chewing both her thoughts and her sandwich carefully. “So, how do you think knowing the truth about your future in the past affects your future? Theoretically, I mean,” she said, in between bites.
Clark gave her a puzzled glance.
“Answer the question, Smallville. Do you think knowing your future can affect that future if you learn about it in the past?”
“Lois, you’re not making any sense. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”
She set the sandwich down and sighed, flashing him the Legion ring. “Do you know what this is?”
He shook his head. “Quite a bold piece of jewelry, even for you.” When she didn’t respond to his joke, he pushed her further. “Lois, what’s going on?” he asked, somewhat irritated.
“I—I’m from the future,” she said straight out, testing the waters as to how much Clark might believe her.
“Wait, run that by me again.”
She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself and turned to face him, head on. “It’s a really long story, but the headline is this: I put on this ring—and traveled back in time.”
“Lois, time travel is impossible,” he said practically.
“No, it’s not, Clark,” she said with some exasperation. “Look, I know who you are – who you really are,” she said pointedly. He stared at her blankly a moment, and then she gave up and blurted, “Kal-El, from Krypton. You came here from your doomed planet with the first meteor shower.”
He continued to stare, as if afraid to confirm or deny her accusation. She stared back at him, admiring and yet equally frustrated by his ability to seem completely unfazed by her wild accusations.
“How else would I know that, Clark?” she asked quietly after a long moment. “I’m telling you the truth. I traveled back in time.”
His disbelieving eyes seemed to be trying to absorb the implications of what she was telling him. “How far back?” he asked eventually.
She swallowed, seeing he was coming around to seeing the truth. “Five years. But Clark – that’s not the worst of it,” she said, feeling the dormant tears well up, worrying about him in the future somewhere. “I don’t know where you ended up.”
“Me? What are you saying? Lois, start at the beginning. What happened?”
She looked up at him, remembering the look of love Lana had given him only moments ago. She knew she couldn’t tell him the whole story and not convey something of what he meant to her. Yet she was scared to try using the ring by herself, seeing that it truly was unpredictable where it sent her. The one thing she knew though, was that it continually would send her back to Clark. That was some small comfort, especially after the three years of living without him.
“The future is in danger, Clark,” she began succinctly. “That’s why I put on the ring. It was supposed to take me to the Legion, a group of heroes in the 31st century, but instead, it led me to you. But not this time… you had left Earth—“
“Wait. Why would I leave Earth?” he asked, still trying to wrap his mind around what she was telling him.
”You left Earth to save your people,” she said simply. “You’re going to mean so much to Metropolis, to—“ she wanted to say me, but she shook her head to focus on the task at hand. “I need to get back to my present. And I need to find out what happened to you – you were taken away, by some crystal. It had an ‘S’ on it. Any idea what that could be?”
Clark looked dumbfounded for a moment, reeling over the fact that Lois knew the truth about him, and that she took it so matter-of-factly.
“Clark? Are you all right?” she asked, seeing his expression.
“This is just a lot for me to take in,” he answered honestly with a sigh.
They were miles apart in understanding each other. She could see that. Lois was in love with him, and he was still hung up on Lana. She couldn’t begin to express her own emotions, her own hope that someday they could be together. But she knew there was no chance of that if she remained here and Lex Luthor wasn’t stopped in the future.
“Lex,” she suddenly said, knowing this salient point would get Clark’s attention.
“What about Lex?” Clark asked, immediately skeptical.
“He’s endangering the future, Clark. He’s why I went on this weird mission to try and find you in the first place.”
She definitely had his attention now. Knowing his secret or not, Clark wasn’t about to let Lex be a threat. “What did he do?”
“It’s what he’s about to do… Clark, in the future, with you gone, there is no hero to save us, no one to counterbalance the evil in the world… Lex is President of the United States in my time, Clark. And he’s rounding up all the nuclear weapons all over the world.”
“The Fortress. Maybe Jor-El can help,” he said getting up, turning to her as if he might need to explain, but Lois simply nodded.
“Jor-El hasn’t been the most cooperative since you left, but perhaps in this time he will help us.”
Clark’s eyes lit up over an incredulous smile. “I never imagined you’d take my secret in stride, Lois. You always seemed—“
“Confrontational? Pigheaded? Yeah, you should learn to read the warning signs, Clark,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh and then instantly regretted it. “I mean, well—I guess I always liked you more than I admitted,” she said, feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment, remembering their sibling like relationship during this time.
“Lois, I had no idea—“
“Don’t worry, Smallville. It will work out in the future,” she winked at him, trying to make herself feel more confident than she did about that. “At least it will as long as we can stop Luthor from blowing up the planet.”
“Do you get motion sickness?” he asked.
“No, why?”
He suddenly scooped her up in his arms. “I’ll have us to the Fortress in no time.”
~\S/~
Chloe had thought of bringing Clark to her tiny apartment in the city, but from what she knew about amnesia, she thought that it would be better if he was around things that were familiar. So she decided to head to the farm in Smallville.
Chloe glanced over at Clark, his eyes taking in the city around him, like this was all a new experience.
“Are you okay?” she asked, unnerved by seeing Clark so lost. She still couldn’t believe he was really back – and yet not, though the old Clark she knew was buried in there somewhere. And as much as both she and the rest of the world needed the hero she knew he could be, she had to content herself with just having him back physically for the time being.
“I feel strange,” he said, searching for words. “Like I’ve--- been on another planet, or something… Everything seems familiar yet… not.”
“Well, that’s fair, I suppose… you really don’t remember anything?”
He shook his head. “No,” he said simply, and the car drifted into silence once more. “Where are we headed?” he asked a few moments later, noticing they were nearly out of the city.
“To Smallville.”
“You said that’s where I was from, right?”
She hedged. “Yes. Sort of. Well, it’s a complicated story. But yes, you were raised there,” she said, in an effort to be as honest as she could with him.
“Chloe –isn’t it? Why won’t you tell me what you know about me? Have I done something wrong? Is there something about me that must remain hidden?” he asked cautiously, an undercurrent of guilt in his tone.
“I promise that you’ve done nothing wrong,” she assured him.
“Then is there something about myself I need to hide?”
The car became quiet, the only sound being the occasional car that passed them on the highway. “Why do you ask?” she said eventually.
“I don’t know… something just feels---different about me. I can’t explain it.”
“The farm is just a few miles ahead. Get some sleep and I’ll help you try to make sense of things tomorrow, okay?”
He nodded, though she could tell that he wasn’t satisfied.
“Things always look better in the morning,” she said kindly as they pulled into the Kent farm.
The house was completely dark, and Chloe fumbled with the keys until she found the right one. She reached for the kitchen light switch. “Home sweet home.”
Clark hesitated, standing just in the doorway.
“Clark, what’s wrong?”
He took a hesitant step inside. “I—just feel like I’m coming into a stranger’s house.”
She walked over to him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You’re not alone, Clark. This is your home. Come on, I’ll prove it to you.”
She led him over to the credenza and began to narrate the Kent family photos. “See. Here’s your mom. And this is Lois and I. Lana Lang. And this—is your father,” she said, handing him a photo of Jonathan Kent.
“I feel… sad looking at this picture. Like there’s a huge hole in my heart… Is he—“
Lois nodded. “He died, a few years before you—disappeared. He meant a lot to you. He was a good man.”
Clark set the picture down and scanned the others. “It looks like we were a happy family.”
“You were.”
“And my mother? What happened to her?”
“She’s fine,” she hastily assured him. “She’s a senator, actually. In Washington.”
His eyes scanned the photos. “Wow, sounds like it is an amazing family.”
“It is,” she said honestly.
He sighed wearily, “Well, I suppose that’s enough to know for now…”
“You look a little tired,” she said in some surprise, realizing Clark Kent never looked tired.
“I feel okay… I think it’s just the mental stress, but yeah, I think I’m ready for bed.”
“Okay, well, I’ll show you to your room then.”
~\S/~
Clark didn’t think he was tired, but he was worried.
He wondered what Chloe wasn’t telling him.
Three years was a long time to be away…
Clark rolled onto his side with a heavy sigh. The farmhouse was quiet around him and somehow comforting in its silence.
He took a deep calming breath, and willed himself to try and remember something, anything. He conjured up the impressions he had gotten from the photos Chloe had showed him. Surely seeing the people he loved and cared about would help?
He closed his eyes, hoping his subconscious would do the work it needed to help him find his way back to his old life…
“Kal-El, you must do something,” Faora insisted. “Zod will destroy us all. His lust for power knows no bounds.”
“I know. But he has so many loyal to him. And I’m without my powers…” Clark said, feeling helpless.
She touched his shoulder, demanding that he look at her. “Kal-El, on Earth you were the strongest person I know.” Her hand moved to his chest. “Here. This is where that strength counts. Our people are starving. He’s using starvation as a means to control. You can’t let this go on…”
“I’ll need others to stand with me. I can’t fight Zod alone.”
She nodded reassuringly. “There are others, Kal-El. You just have to be ready to lead them.”
~\S/~
Lois had never been to the Fortress, though she had heard enough about it that she thought she’d be prepared for what she saw.
She wasn’t.
The beauty of the crystals that surrounded them was breathtaking, even as the cold arctic air cut through her clothes. She stood closer to Clark and he asked if she was all right.
“Just, a bit cold,” she said, and he took his red jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Sorry, I should have warned you,” he shook his head, marveling. “I can’t believe how easy it is to share these things with you. With Lana—“
Lois nodded in understanding. “Be careful with Lana, Clark. She – has a lot of secrets of her own,” she warned.
Suddenly, the air rumbled around them, and Jor-El spoke. “Something is off balance, Kal-El. This isn’t the Lois Lane of your world.”
“She’s from the future. She’s come to warn me about Lex. He will pose a greater threat to mankind than I can ever have imagined.”
“Lois must return to her time to save you.”
“To save me?” Clark asked, taken aback.
“You are in danger in her present.”
“Can you send me back, Jor-El?” Lois asked anxiously, looking around for the source of the booming voice above.
“The power is in your hands, Lois Lane. Remove the ring, and put it back on. It will return you to your present time.”
“Why did the ring send me here?” Lois asked.
“The Legion ring was used in the Phantom Zone. It altered the reality of time. But now that you are back on Earth, it will correct itself and take you back to your time.”
“And me? Will I be left here to worry about the future?” Clark asked, and Lois felt for him. She could see the insecurity that he felt, not quite the confident hero she had seen in the Blur or even in the Clark she knew before he had disappeared.
“My son, I will erase Lois’ visit from your memory and those who saw her here when she leaves. That will protect the time continuum.”
Clark glanced at Lois, looking like he was about to lose his best friend. “I don’t want to forget her.”
She gave him a sympathetic smile. “When I go to the future, hopefully I will make sure that you don’t forget me… but perhaps, it would be okay if I broke the rules just a little.”
She turned to him, and put her hand on his shoulder. “I missed you for three long years, Smallville. And though you don’t know what you mean to me---“ she leaned up, surprising both of them, and kissed him. “I’ll always love you,” she said simply, tears misting in her eyes.
Clark looked at her, dumbfounded. “Lois, I had no idea—“
She took a steadying breath, nodding. “I know. It’s okay, Clark. Hopefully, in the future, there will be time for us,” she said, handing him back his jacket.
“Lois, wait!”
“It’s time, Smallville,” she said, taking off the ring, and then replacing it, a bright purple hue filling up the Fortress walls.
After she disappeared, Clark stood alone in the Fortress for a moment, contemplating what she said and her kiss. He felt something with her, something that was always missing with Lana. But he didn’t have time to think about it long.
Shortly after Lois vanished, another light filled the Fortress, and Clark was sent back to the farm near sunset, trying to remember where the day had gone…
