Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic The More Things Change

Happy Ficlet Friday!

Last year (2024) around this time, I began a little series in response to the Kerth challenges. It was always my intention to resurrect that series whenever more challenges were issued. Well, it’s Kerth time again and here I am ready to continue “Try Not to Change Anything.”

It is important to note that this series is being written out of chronological order. The first story (which shares its name with the series) must be read first. After that you can read in either the order they were posted or in chronological order as they are listed in the TOC. Just know that future stories may fall anywhere in the order chronologically. Each story mostly stands alone so long as you know the basic premise of the series. So please go back and read “Try Not to Change Anything” before reading this fic.

Kerth Challenge #1: Random Episode Fic

Ask the person nearest to you to give you a number between 1 and 4

Then ask them to give you a number between 1 and 22

The first number is the season your story will come from and the second is the episode from that season. Using that, write a story that either alters the episode, adds to it, changes it, or continues it.

I got 3x22 – Seconds. Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I asked my husband to provide the numbers. As soon as he said 3, I began dreading that he’d pick a number within this arc. I did NOT want to write this. And given the nature of this series, it doesn’t really fit. But I think I came up with an idea that works – something of a rewrite of the entire arc. Enjoy.

The More Things Change

Try not to change anything, Clark thought to himself sarcastically as he sped through the skies. He must’ve said those words a thousand times in the years following his and Lois’ strange soul jump into their own eleven and twelve-year-old bodies. And they’d tried their best to follow that rule – right up until it all just began to seem futile.

Three years ago, after several months of trying to pretend that he was only ‘friends’ with the woman who was technically his wife, he finally threw caution to the wind and decided that trying to stick closely to the previous timeline was only making them both unhappy. He’d kissed her in front of the news room and from there it was a whirlwind of reigniting their romance between all too familiar stories and stakeouts. They were officially married (again, technically) within the year.

And the world hadn’t exploded.

It was incredible really. Despite all of the changes they ended up making, nothing went drastically wrong. In fact, somehow, for some inexplicable reason, most things had played out very closely to the way they had before.

Including this.

“Why this?!” he muttered to himself angrily as he scanned the city, yet again, for his missing wife. “Of all the blasted things that had to stay the same, why couldn’t this one thing change?”

Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same. He hadn’t accidently married his wife’s clone, thank goodness. No. They were already married. And, so far as he knew, Lois hadn’t wound up singing in a bar under the name Wanda Detroit.

No, she’d just been kidnapped and replaced by a clone in a more standard way. Was there a standard way for something like this to happen?

Of course, he’d recognized the clone much faster this time and he’d felt like pulling his hair out when he realized it was happening again.

Naturally, this was all Luthor’s doing – although why he was so obsessed with Lois was a mystery. She’d never dated him in this timeline. They’d began investigating him right from the start. But he and Lois had been openly a couple before they became even peripherally under Luthor’s radar.

Nevertheless, the billionaire crime lord had set his sights on Lois fairly soon after their first official meeting and, after several dinner invitations failed, had begun finding other ways for them to meet so he could covertly work his charms – all of which Lois quite firmly rebuffed.

It didn’t even end after they got married or when they finally exposed Luthor – no, then he just began outright kidnapping her whenever he wasn’t in jail or in hiding. Their only guess as to the source of his obsession was the pheromone perfume that Miranda woman had threatened the city with. If Luthor had been sprayed by the 100% formula, its affects would be permanent and that would explain why he wouldn’t leave Lois alone.

It had been a crazy couple of years.

At least the previous Luthor encounters had been something new – something they weren’t repeating from the past. It kept things… interesting wasn’t really the right word. But no one could say their lives were boring.

Clark thought about heading back home, to the brownstone he and Lois had managed to buy a few years earlier than they had before. But the clone was still there and he didn’t really want to deal with her right now. He just wanted to find his wife.

He’d already checked the underground tunnel where he’d found them the last time they went through this. It was empty – yet another thing that wasn’t the same.

He strained his ears, listening for her call. He scanned the sewers and tunnels for any sign of Lois or Luthor or that Asabi fellow. So far, nothing.

“Come on, Lois. Where are you?” He asked aloud. He didn’t have a lead. He didn’t even know where to start. The only reason he’d been able to find her last time was that the clone followed Luthor and led him there.

The clone… she hadn’t known where Luthor was hiding in the previous timeline, but maybe this time…

With that thought, Clark made a quick U-turn and headed home.

***
MEANWHILE…

Bound and gagged in an underground bunker is pretty standard for Luthor, Lois thought to herself as she pulled against the ropes holding her hands behind the chair. Gotta say though – the two bodies in the eight-foot, glass cylinders has got to be a first.

She wasn’t entirely sure how she’d ended up there but she was fairly certain chloroform was involved, given the nausea she’d felt upon waking up. She’d seen Luthor flit in and out of the room a few times while she was still dazed so at least she knew who her captor was. He’d been gone for about a few hours now though.

She was growing weary of these games with Luthor. He’d escape prison, hide out for a while, kidnap her, and try to convince her to run away with him. Then Superman would rescue her and cart Luthor back off to prison. One would think that Luthor would learn to get out of Dodge the next time he escaped, but nope – he always came back for her. His obsession was getting really old.

She gave the ropes another tug and thought she felt them give just a little bit. Great. A few more hours of this and I’ll be home free, she thought sarcastically. She wondered if she ought to be working harder on the gag instead. If she could just call for Clark, they might be home in time for supper.

Before she could work out the best way to start shifting the gag, she heard footsteps approaching. A moment later, Luthor appeared carrying a large, strange looking gun and followed closely by Asabi.

“Ah, Lois, my dear. I see you’re feeling more awake,” Luthor said. Lois glared in reply. “Tsk, tsk. My sweet. I hate to see you like this – but we can’t have you calling for a certain someone in blue tights now, can we? Perhaps we can do something about that though – I would love to hear your melodious voice.”

Lois rolled her eyes. The only melodious sound her voice would be making if he removed her gag was exactly the sound he did not want to hear. He couldn’t really be that stupid, could he?

Luthor hefted the gun he was carrying, offering her a better look. “You see this? It is a quantum disrupter. I got it from… well it really doesn’t matter where I got it. Would you like to see what it can do?”

Lois turned her head away in feigned indifference but she kept her eyes on the weapon as Luthor pressed a button and then aimed at an old desk on the other side of the room. He fired and a beam of energy shot out. The desk seemed to waver for a moment and then it seemed to come apart at the molecular level, leaving nothing behind.

Lois felt her eyes widen. It was a terrifying weapon to be sure.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Luthor asked. Lois gave him her most incredulous look. “Of course that was only a desk. Imagine what this could do against an enemy. Well, it might even be enough to take down Superman. Shall we find out?”

His threat was clear. If she called for Clark now, Luthor would use that thing on him. Lois had no idea if it could actually hurt Clark or not but she really didn’t want to find out.

Luthor seemed to believe she got the message. He put the gun down and moved to her side, reaching for her gag. “Now, do you think you can behave, my love?” He loosened the material and then lowered it from her mouth.

Lois took a moment to stretch her jaw before replying. “I’m not your love, Luthor. I’m married.”

“For now, perhaps. But that will soon change.”

Lois shook her head. “What is your game this time?” She nodded towards the cylinders which Asabi was currently hovering next to. “What’s with Adam and Eve over there?”

“Ah, you shall soon see, my dear.”

Lois rolled her eyes. Let him keep his secrets. “Do you really think you’re going to get away with it this time? Clark is going to figure out where you’ve taken me. He always does. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Yes, yes. The infamous Mr. Kent. He is so very clever about following the clues – a regular Sherlock Holmes. But I’m afraid that Mr. Kent doesn’t even realize you are missing.” Luthor grinned as though he were in on some sort of twisted joke.

“Well, of course he realizes I’m gone,” Lois contradicted. “It’s not like you could’ve planted some sort of copy…” Something niggled at the back of her brain – a very old memory from before they’d jumped back into their youth. It was fuzzy but…

“No… Oh, no,” she groaned. “Clark told me about this, from that time I lost my memory. You had a clone made of me! You planted it to sabotage our wedding and then you were going to transfer our souls into other bodies or some such nonsense.” She didn’t bother to mentioned that she’d done her fair share of soul hopping.

Luthor looked a bit bewildered for a moment but he shook his head. “While I’m not certain how you came by your information – you are mostly correct. I did plant a clone to act in your place, although I don’t know what that has to do with weddings. By the time dear Mr. Kent realizes, you and I will be long gone – off to start new lives in our new bodies thanks to science and a little help from Mr. Asabi.”

“You’re delusional if you think I will willingly go with you anywhere, Luthor.”

“We shall see. Perhaps after a month or so in seclusion, you will see things differently.” Luthor ran a finger down her cheek. “I look forward to breaking that indomitable spirit.”

Lois shivered in disgust. “The jokes on you. Clark’s already seen through your little decoy. He’s probably on his way here right now.”

Lois had excellent timing. Just after the words left her mouth, several things happened in quick succession. Superman burst into the room, possibly breaking a door or wall in the process. Luthor reached for the disrupter. Lois called out, “Superman, look out for the – ” but she didn’t bother finishing because the hero had already focused his heat vision on the weapon, causing Luthor to drop it before he could aim.

For a moment, everything was still. Luthor gaped. Lois smirked. Superman crossed his arms over his chest and raised one eyebrow. Then Luthor tried to make a break for it – which was foolish. Superman swiftly bound him and Asabi together and then crossed the room to free Lois from her bounds.

“You remembered about the disrupter?” Lois asked, massaging her wrists to work the blood back into her hands.

“Of course.”

“Did he really replace me with a clone again?”

Superman winced. “Don’t remind me. This is one part of our past lives I would much rather have not lived over again.”

“At least it’s not exactly the same. I haven’t lost my memory this time.”

“I’ll count my blessings.” Superman nodded toward the hole he’d made in the wall. “There’s a ladder to a manhole down that tunnel. Why don’t you head on up and call Henderson? I’ll wait here with these two and all this… evidence.”

Lois nodded and headed out the way he’d come in. She found the ladder easily enough – the manhole cover had already been moved out of the way, letting in light from the street up above. She began to climb. The rungs were gritty with rust but she paid no mind. As soon as this was over, she was going to take a long, hot bubble bath.

As she neared the top, she reached for the edge of manhole to heft herself up. Suddenly, the rung she was standing on gave way. She lost her grip on the edge of the hole and felt herself begin to fall. Her breath caught in her throat and she didn’t even have time to scream before she struck her head on the concrete below.

Clark, hearing the fall, was at his wife’s side in an instant. He checked her pulse and x-rayed her for neck injuries. Then he cradled her head in his lap and felt the blood from her head wound run between his fingers. As he scooped her up to take her directly to the hospital, he closed his eyes and whispered a quick prayer.

“Please. Please don’t let this happen again.”