This is a fanfic based on the television show, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. No copyright infringement is intended. I’m borrowing these characters for a little fun and not for any profit. For a complete disclaimer, go to:
http://www.thompsonlawoffice.ca/Disclaimer.htm. My special thanks to the writers of Tempus Anyone since I use a number scenes from that show in particular in this story. Before reading this story, if you haven’t seen the episode Tempus Anyone, you might want to read through the script since it is in the background of this story. The script can be found here:
www.lcficmbs.com/scripts/txt/314.txt My thanks to the people on the Fanfic message boards for answering all my silly questions. In particular, thanks to everyone, and in particular Paul who came up with hundreds of them <g>, for all the great Superman pick-up lines you provided to me. I wish I could have used all of them in this story.
And my special thanks to my Beta readers, Gerry and Carol - without whom I would be lost. Thanks so much to both of you for continuing to stick with me through so many stories. You’ve been subjected to thousands of pages, tens of thousands of grammatical errors, plot holes, bad characterizations and probably about a million spelling mistakes and typos (Fortunately, not all of them in this story <g>). Your patience when finding the same mistakes made over and over and over again has been astounding. Because of you, all of my stories are much better then when they started out. So thanks to both of you.
This is an Alt-Universe story with our beloved Alt-Clark from the show. I have, however, made one little change to the story. Alt-Lois never came to work for the Daily Planet.
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Lost In Time
By: ML Thompson
August 2006
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* * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER 1
* * * * * * * * *
Clark stood on the platform beside Perry White as the older man addressed the press following his near unanimous election victory as Mayor of Metropolis. As Perry began his introduction of Clark, or... more accurately... Superman, Clark’s mind drifted. She and Herb were standing at the back of the crowd. The woman he loved preparing to return to the one she loved. The roar of the crowd dimmed around him as he watched her slip into the alley across the street from him. A bright flash of light informed him that she was irretrievably lost to him. Losing Lana hadn’t hurt nearly as much as losing Lois.
“Lois, I don’t just need your help. I need... you.”
“So does he,” she had whispered in response.
“What I’m trying to say is... I know this sounds crazy, but... I think I...”
“So does he,” she had interrupted, not even willing to hear his declaration.
The world suddenly seemed a much darker, more dismal place without her in it. Alternate universes. Who would have believed he’d lose his soulmate to another version of himself? But... Something clicked in his mind. If there was a Clark Kent in her universe, might there not be a Lois Lane in his - one who really and truly was meant for him?
The kernel of hope began to grow. No one at the Daily Planet had known who she was when Lois Lane had shown up out of the blue, but that didn’t necessarily mean Lois Lane didn’t exist in his universe. She could be anywhere. Doing anything. And he suddenly just knew that whatever that ‘anything’ was it would be... great. Excitement began to bubble up inside him. He began to shift from foot to foot, anxious to get off the platform so that his fingers could fly over the keyboard of his computer in search of his Lois Lane.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois jolted upright in bed, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. It took her a moment to realize that she’d been dreaming again. After giving her heart a moment to calm, she wiped a hand over her forehead, brushing the damp strands of hair back out of her eyes.
Reaching over, she grabbed her palm computer off the night table. She closed her eyes for a moment as she allowed the images in the dream to stay with her until she could recite each one into the computer. The man was back. Dark eyes. A haunting smile, almost a smirk. But this time there was something new. The plastic bracelet. It had been pink. She’d seen that clearly when he’d cut it off her wrist. But what had it said? She growled. Why could she never remember what was written on the bracelet? She chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip for a long moment, but no matter how hard she concentrated, the words wouldn’t come to her.
Giving up that line of inquiry, she focused on another aspect of the dream. Why had the man cut the bracelet off her wrist? It couldn’t have been worth anything. Unless, of course, it would have given her too much information. But what information? Was she at some sort of amusement park, a resort, a hospital? Maybe it was some sort of police identification bracelet? She’d never heard of such a thing. After all, everywhere she had checked used laser markings. Maybe she was reading too much into that aspect of the dream. Maybe it was... a keepsake or something. But then why had it been cut from her wrist?
She concentrated for a moment on the man. He always seemed so big, almost a giant in her dreams. But who was he? Her father? No. No, that didn’t feel right somehow.
Growling, she got out of bed, making her way over to the window of her one room apartment. She undid the latch and struggled with the old-fashioned window until she finally got it up. The cold breeze made her shiver. She wrapped her arms around herself subconsciously as she stared out into the night. She could hear the steady hum of the transports as they rushed down their tracks. A nearby howl of a cat in heat. Even the distant sound of sirens. The familiar noises of Metropolis were... comforting somehow. If only she could figure out what the dream was trying to tell her.
It had something to do with her past - of that she was certain. All she knew about her roots was that she had been found on the front steps of the Sisters of Metropolis Convent in a baby blanket with a note attached to her blanket saying: ‘My name is Lois ‘L’. Please don’t send me back or bad, bad things will happen.’ But what bad things? Did this have anything to do with the man in her dreams?
She puzzled again over the name - as she had so many times in the past. Lois ‘L’. The nuns insisted that it didn’t mean anything, but she couldn’t stop wondering why the ‘L’ had been in quotation marks. It was almost as if the man... whoever had brought her to the convent was trying to tell her something with the ‘L’. But what?
The note and a blue blanket with a Superman crest on it was all she had to figure out the mystery of her childhood. Well, that and her dreams.
Not having anything else to go on, she’d chosen to be known as Lois Lewis. After all, it had become repetitious having to explain to everyone why she only had a single letter for a last name. But legally... She hadn’t changed her name legally. She was still hoping that someday she’d be able to replace the letter ‘L’ with her real last name.
She sighed. Maybe she should let it go. The nuns had told her to - repeatedly as she recalled. And now, David was telling her the same thing. But she couldn’t. Something inside of her wouldn’t let it go. It felt as if her she was just putting in time. As if she was never meant to have a life here.
She growled. David was right. She was thirty-one years of age. What was she supposed to do? Spend the rest of her life in a holding pattern while she tried to figure it all out? It was time to let it go. She just wished she could.
Her thoughts turned to David. David Shultz was a junior editor for the Daily Planet. He was a few years older than her - although not enough to make the age difference worrisome. And David had made it clear, more than once, that he wanted to be more than friends and colleagues.
Lois thought about that for a moment. David certainly had enough to recommend him. Talk around the office was that he was the favored one to take over when their old grouch of an editor, Tom Balsam, retired in a few years. Besides that, David was cute. His brown hair was usually unruly, but something about his personality made that seem... appropriate somehow. He had the truest blue eyes she had ever seen. In stature, he was no muscle man, but he was well proportioned. And she had to admit that she loved the way he laughed - it was contagious. But more than all that, he was a good listener, a good friend and a good man.
Still... Lois sighed. She had no idea what was stopping her from getting involved with him. She’d spent many a night pondering the question and was no closer to an answer now than the first time she’d asked it.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois was exhausted as she stepped through the doors of the Daily Planet the next morning. Making her way to the lifts, she placed her hand on the scanner. A moment later, the door opened and she stepped inside.
“Good morning, Ms. Lewis,” said the overly cheerful computer voice. “Which floor would you like to go to this morning?”
“Nusruum,” Lois said over a yawn.
“I’m afraid I didn’t understand that destination.”
“Newsroom. Newsroom,” Lois repeated in frustration.
“Very good.”
A moment later, Lois appeared on the lift platform on the second floor. Stepping off the platform, she headed directly for the coffee. After grabbing a cup, she sat down at her desk.
“Computer on,” she said, blowing slightly on the over-heated coffee.
“Morning.”
Lois looked up at the sound of another all-too-cheerful voice. Why did everyone have to sound so chipper in the mornings? Didn’t they know it made grouches like her even grouchier? Like former smokers, they seemed obsessed with converting everyone around them. Well, it wasn’t going to work with her. Still, she looked at the man seated on the corner of her desk and gave him her best attempt at a smile. Maybe if he thought his evangelical strategy had worked, he’d quit trying to convince her to be happy.
“Rough night?” David asked.
“Great! What a way to greet a girl!”
“What?”
“You might as well have told me to put a bag over my head.”
David laughed. “On your worst day, you’re still beautiful. And this February 27, I’d say this is one of your most beautiful worst days.”
“Humph.”
“Did you have the nightmare again?”
She met his concerned expression.
“You’ve got to let this go, Lois.”
Lois looked back at her coffee.
David sighed. “Well... did you remember anything else - something you can use to figure all this out?”
“The bracelet on my wrist was pink.”
“Oh, great! Add pink to your list of search words. I’m sure that will solve the mystery.” He let out a breath, letting go of his sarcasm along with it. “Lois, one day you’re just going to have to accept that sometimes there are no answers. Maybe your parents couldn’t take care of you and...”
“No, David. Don’t you see? There’s more to this than just parents who couldn’t raise their child. That’s why I can’t let this go.”
David began rising from the corner of her desk. Lois’ hand on his arm stopped him.
“Don’t be upset,” Lois said softly. “I just... I can’t let it go.”
David settled on the corner of her desk. “I can understand that. What I can’t understand is why you feel that you can’t start a relationship with me until this is resolved.”
“I didn’t say I would start a relationship with you even if this was resolved,” Lois responded. “But... until it is... It’s not you, David. I mean you’re a good friend and a great guy, but... I just feel...”
“As if you’re not supposed to have a life here,” David completed for her. “It doesn’t make any sense, Lois. Maybe one day you’ll finally see that.”
With that, David rose from her desk and walked away. Lois watched him, torn. Yes, he was a great guy. And, yes, it made no sense to her either. But... She sighed.
“Lewis!”
Lois looked away from where she was still watching David walk across the newsroom.
“Yes, boss?” she asked.
Nothing was distinctive about Tom Balsam’s appearance. Neither short nor tall. Neither fat nor slim. Hair of average length, average thickness and an average color for a man his age. A common looking man with an extraordinary job - editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet. The only thing that seemed truly remarkable about him was the permanent scowl affixed to his face. Lois often wondered if the man even knew how to smile. A grin quirked momentarily at one corner of her mouth as she imagined that scowl on the face of a newborn Tom Balsam. Before she could get completely lost in that image, Balsam arrived at her desk.
“I need you to get over to Klein Labs,” he said.
“What’s up?” Lois jumped to her feet and grabbed her palm computer. “Something juicy? High-tech computer thieves steal some sexy new program?”
“Quite the comedian, aren’t you, Lewis?” Balsam replied dryly. “You’re meeting with Dr. Philip Klein. He apparently...”
Lois’ face fell. “Come on, boss. Klein? Do you have any idea how boring he is? Surely Stan in science would be better...”
“He asked for you specifically, Lewis. Said something about a follow-up on the story you did last month.”
“Yeah, and that was such a...” She faked a yawn. “...exhilarating story. I can’t believe he would ask for me again. He had to have known I only understood every second word.”
“Maybe he has a crush on you,” Balsam said, his tone remaining completely without humor.
“Bite your tongue,” Lois responded.
“Either way, it’s your story, Lewis,” Balsam said. “Besides, finding a way to prove Einstein’s more radical theories correct isn’t exactly boring.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be if he could do so without showing me an incomprehensible number of mathematical equations.”
“Either way, git. He’s expecting you in half an hour.”
“That hardly gives me enough time to get a transport.”
“Then I suggest you get moving,” Balsam growled sending Lois scurrying from the room.
* * * * * * * * *
Dr. Philip Klein rushed around. Whether he had an actual purpose in mind or not was impossible to tell. He picked up and set down items, flipped open files before flipping them closed and punched in various numbers into his computer. He was so absorbed in his work, he didn’t even seem aware that he was no longer alone.
“Dr. Klein?” Lois asked, almost reluctant to end this highly entertaining show. Klein was in his mid-thirties, stood no more than five feet and a couple of inches and had hair that pointed in almost every direction. In fact, in some ways, he reminded her of a young Albert Einstein.
Klein looked up. “What? Oh, right. Nice to see you again, Ms. Lewis.”
“Lois,” Lois corrected.
He turned from her then, continuing on his incomprehensible mission. Lois stood there for a long minute before speaking again.
“You asked to see me, Dr. Klein?”
“Oh.” Klein fumbled around for a moment before finding his glasses on his head. Sheepishly, he lowered them. “Right. Right. I did. I asked to see you.”
“Because...?” Lois prompted, somewhat frustrated, when he still didn’t continue.
“Well, I explained my work to you last time.”
“Right. So...? Dr. Klein, why did you want to speak to me?”
“Oh, right. Well...” he finally stopped his movement, looking directly at her. “...I finally did it! Well, sort of. There are still one or two kinks to work out, but... Well, I hesitate to even call them kinks. They are more... improvements really. But necessary to make the machine fully functional. After all, unless it’s possible to move geographically at the same time, the usefulness of the machine will be seriously compromised.”
“What are you talking about?” Lois asked.
“Oh, didn’t I say? Time travel. I’ve done it.”
Lois fought valiantly to keep a straight face. “Really?” she asked, trying not to let her scepticism come through in her tone of voice. It was one thing to be told it was theoretically possible. But this...
“Yes, Ms. Lewis, I’ve invented a machine to transport man back in time. I suppose it could go forward, too. But I haven’t actually gone forward yet. Not entirely sure why.”
“So you’re saying you’ve actually... gone back in time?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Where to?”
“1996.”
She shook her head. What was so significant about 1996?
“The debut of Superman. I was there. Here, I’ll show you.” After fumbling around for a bit longer, he slipped a disk into his computer. “Computer, play,” he instructed.
An image came on the screen that Lois was familiar with - as was anyone who had gone to school. It was grainy, a little unfocused and had several points were the words were incomprehensible, but she would have known it anywhere. Superman’s debut. “What’s so...”
“Computer, pause!” Klein said excitedly. “Look!” he said, pointing at the man on the screen.
Lois stepped closer.
“That’s me!” Klein exclaimed.
She squinted. Okay, so maybe the guy looked a little like Philip Klein, but... she knew how easy it was to alter these old news reels. They didn’t contain built-in chips to protect against tampering. Any kid over kindergarten age could put himself in the action. Her eyebrows rose as she looked over at Dr. Klein.
He seemed not to notice her skepticism. “That’s me. But even more importantly... and the reason I asked for you is... Computer, continue. There! Computer pause.”
Lois looked at the screen again. The woman on the screen was small, had dark hair and a decent figure. But her face was somewhat fuzzy. “What am I looking at?” she asked.
“Not what - who.”
“Okay, who am I looking at then?”
“You.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois was in a daze as she re-entered the Daily Planet. Dr. Klein had completely lost his mind. Time travel might be theoretically possible, but... No. She knew she hadn’t been at Superman’s debut. She was firmly in the crowd who believed Superman was a myth. The idea that an ordinary man - a reporter no less - named Clark Kent had flown around the world for three years, doing good deeds - her favorite was his rescuing cats from trees - and then, for no explicable reason, had simply disappeared, was too unbelievable to be true.
She sat down at her desk and picked up a computer marker. Twirling it in her fingers, she tried to figure out what she should do with this information. Dr. Klein was well respected. The great, great grandson of the man after whom the Klein Labs had been named. The two time Nobel Prize winner - Dr. Bernard Klein.
She might have been able to believe Philip Klein had conquered time travel. But when he’d claimed Lois had been at Superman’s debut... she’d had no choice but to know that he had completely lost his mind. So what did she do with this information?
“Hey, got time for lunch?”
Lois looked up to see David standing by her desk. She studied him for a long moment.
“What? Have I got food stuck between my teeth or something?” David asked.
“What? Oh, no. I was just thinking.” She gestured for him to pull up a chair. “I just had a... really odd meeting with Dr. Klein. And I’m not quite sure what to do with it.”
“Odd? How?”
“I think he’s lost his mind.” When David waited for further explanation, she continued. “He claims he’s gone beyond theorizing that time travel is possible. He claims he actually did it.”
“Really? That’s incredible! Have you written the story yet?”
“No. No, it’s just... well... he claims that he went back to witness Superman’s debut.”
David’s eyebrows rose into his hairline. “Cool! That’s where I’d go, too.”
Lois groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re a Superman fan.”
“Absolutely.”
“And I used to think you had good taste.”
“What? And you think the fellow was a complete loser, I suppose.”
“I don’t know, David. He sounds... boring to me. Too good. Too decent. Not my type at all.”
“Well, I can’t say that thought bothers me,” David responded with a grin.
“Besides, I doubt he even existed.”
“Come on, Lois. That’s like saying the world is flat. Or that Christopher Columbus didn’t discover America.”
“Well, actually Christopher Columbus didn’t discover...”
“You know what I mean. There’s more than enough evidence that Superman existed.”
“A man who flies around in tights and a cape, wears his underwear on the outside, does all these good deeds for no reason other than the good of humanity and has the audacity to call himself Superman?”
“I don’t think he actually gave himself that name.”
“And yet we are expected to believe he worked as a mild-mannered reporter until his late twenties - under the name of Clark Kent. Oh, and to top it all off, after three years of good deeds, he simply disappears as if he’d never existed,” Lois said, ignoring the interruption. “Come on. If I really had been at his debut, I’d have exposed him for the fraud he was. Hey, maybe that’s why he disappeared. Someone was about to expose him as a fraud so he disappeared before that could happen.”
“Wait,” David said, something in Lois’ comments catching his attention. “If you’d really been there? What’s that all about?”
“Oh, did I forget to mention? Dr. Klein claims I was there, too.”
“What? Where?”
“At Superman’s debut. Hence, my conclusion that he’s lost his mind.”
“Wait a minute, Lois. Are you certain you heard him right? After all, Dr. Philip Klein is one of the most respected...”
“I know his reputation, David. That’s the only reason I haven’t stormed into Tom’s office and told him there’s no story here. Or worse, written up the story that Klein has lost his mind.”
“So what’s the plan from here? After all, he might just have seen someone who looks like you.”
Lois nodded slowly. “An ancient ancestor perhaps...”
“What?”
“Maybe... what if this woman is an ancestor?” she asked, her voice getting faster in excitement. “Maybe she’s the key to my finding out who I really am.” She turned back to her computer, hitting the privacy button and typing in her request.
“Lois...” David said hesitantly. “...I don’t like where this is going. The chances that she’s related to you are almost non-existent. I don’t like to see you getting your hopes up.”
“I’m just researching this story,” Lois said innocently.
“Oh, yeah? Then why did you hit the privacy button?”
“I don’t want to disturb everyone. I’m trying to be considerate here. Don’t knock it. It might never happen again. Besides, what if I do find out that Dr. Klein is having problems... you know... upstairs? I think we need to approach this entire story with the utmost care.”
“Yeah, right,” David responded, anything but convinced. “So what are you looking for?”
“Dr. Klein showed me the news reel from Superman’s debut. I’m trying to find a copy of it in the Daily Planet archives. He said that... Uhh... here it is. Okay, now...” She waited as the picture captured some of the people in the audience before suddenly pausing it. “He claims that’s him.”
David squinted at the screen. “It sort of looks like him.”
“I figured he had altered the record. But he’d have a hard time getting past our security to alter this one, too.”
“Then maybe it really is true. Maybe he really did make it back there. Where’s the woman he says looks like you?”
“She’s coming up. Right... there!” She stopped the picture, pointing to a woman on the stage behind Superman.
“Can you clean it up at all?”
“Let’s see...” She took a moment to punch a few commands into the computer. It looked clearer, but still not clear enough to get a good look at the woman’s face.
“I suppose it could be you.”
Lois elbowed him in the ribs. “It’s not me.”
“If you say so,” David replied, a grin in his voice.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois spent the rest of the afternoon closely examining every article and every picture associated with the debut of Superman, looking for both information about the woman and to see if there were any other shots of Dr. Klein, when one picture in particular caught her attention. Why hadn’t she noticed this before? Unlike the news reel from Superman’s debut, the picture she’d found was clear. An old eight by ten of the man who had been running against Perry White for the position of Mayor of Metropolis. He was known simply as Tempus.
She knew that man. The eyes. The slight smirk. It sent shivers down her spine. She’d swear he was the man from her dreams.
Not entirely sure what her next step should be, she glanced up at the clock. It was nearly seven. Most of her colleagues had already called it a day. Turning off her computer, she stood up, grabbed her coat and headed for one of the offices.
She was relieved to see that David was still bent over his computer, obviously working on something.
“Taking a supper break?” Lois asked, leaning against the doorframe.
David looked up and blinked. “Is this... Are you asking me out for supper?”
“Consider it your lucky day.”
Smiling, David quickly closed down his computer and rose to his feet.
“Besides, I need to pick your brain. I want to know everything you can tell me about Superman.”
David froze for a moment before shaking his head in resignation. “I should have known,” he mumbled.
“So... are you still coming?” Lois asked.
“What do you think?” David asked, grabbing his coat and following her out of his office. “But I’ve got a better idea. Let’s just grab a sandwich from the deli computer downstairs. There’s a place I think you should see.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois looked skeptically at David as they stepped through the doors of the old-fashioned building. “Are you sure about this?” she asked.
“I take it you’ve never been to the Superman Museum before.”
“Can’t imagine why,” Lois mumbled under her breath.
“Well, you’re the one who said you wanted to learn more about Superman.”
“Yeah, and I’m so glad I did,” Lois returned sarcastically.
“Okay, okay. I get the point. Not a fan here. Still... you’re going to love this place.” Taking her hand, he led her further into the building, obviously excited about the chance to share his obsession. Come to think of it, this was probably his idea of the perfect date.
Lois gave her head a shake in light of the typical male behavior. Talking about Superman was right up there with talking sports. If she had a nickle for every guy who had ever removed his glasses and folded his arms across his chest before coming up with some of the most unbelievable pick up lines, she’d be rich. ‘Hey, baby, let me show you what it’s really like to fly.’ ‘Wanna know the real reason they call ‘me’ the Man of Steel.’ ‘Wanna join the mile high club?’ ‘You must be made of kryptonite because being around you makes my knees weak.’ ‘They sure don’t have babes like you on Krypton.’ And her all time favorite... ‘You’d look great in my cape - just my cape.’ Please. What did they think? That women melted at the mere mention of the superhero?
She stopped in front of a life size image of Superman in his blue suit, his red cape flying out majestically behind him. Okay, so he was sort of cute - if one overlooked the comic book outfit. And she couldn’t say she was particularly wild about the hair style. He looked so... unreal. On the other hand... Her eyes drifted slowly down his body. ...he did have other things to recommend him.
“Uhh... Lois?”
“Huh?” Lois asked, quickly tearing her eyes away from where they had focused on a particular part of Superman’s anatomy. ‘Is that really all him?’ was the question that flashed unbidden through her mind as she made herself look at David, hoping he didn’t notice the increased color in her cheeks.
The smug grin on David’s face made it clear that he had noticed, causing her cheeks to flame even more. Good thing he wasn’t the jealous type.
“So... you going to stand there all day, ogling his statue or do you want the nickle tour?” David asked, obviously amused.
“I wasn’t ogling,” Lois responded indignantly. “Okay, so maybe he’s impressive... at least the statue of him is. But he’s still not my type.”
“I’m just as glad about that.” He flexed his own biceps, comparing them to the superhero. “Yep, I’m certainly glad about that.”
Lois gave him a playful slap on his arm, causing him to laugh. “Okay, so where do we start?” she asked.
“Uhh... Well, I think we start here. With Clark Kent.” He led Lois over to a photo of the man in question.
Lois had to fight back the slight hitch in her breath when she saw the photo of the man behind the costume. His slightly ruffled hair. His easy demeanor as he lounged in an over-stuffed chair, his face lit up in a dazzling smile. His casual clothing - a t-shirt that showed off his muscles to perfection and a tight pair of jean. This man was easily the most gorgeous man Lois had ever laid eyes on. Oh, she’d seen Superman’s picture many times in her life. He was still used in many forms of advertising - as well as the pictures she’d seen of him in school. But she was fairly certain she’d never seen the man - Clark Kent - because there was no way she would have forgotten him. It was his eyes more than anything. They were so guileless, so true. They seemed to look right inside her - and all this even without the x-ray vision. Of course, that was probably what made him such a great con-artist - able to convince the world he was doing all these superfeats.
“I’m sure you are aware that he came from a planet called Krypton,” David continued, unaware of the effect seeing this picture was having on Lois. “He was sent here by his parents, Jor-El and Lara, because his planet was about to explode.”
“Why didn’t they build a ship big enough for the whole family?” Lois asked.
“No one knows. Oh, there are certainly lots of theories.”
“Like?” Lois asked, looking over at David.
“Well, some think that maybe they didn’t have the time to build a bigger ship. Or maybe they didn’t have enough money or resources. But no one really knows. Anyway... Hey, here’s something you probably don’t know. His real name... or should I say his Kryptonian name was Kal-El.”
“Kalelle...”
“No, it’s two words. Kal from the House of El. Kal-El. He was actually a Kryptonian lord.”
Lois’ eyebrows rose.
“What can I say? Everything you ever wanted to know about Superman but were afraid to ask... I’m your guy.”
Lois smiled.
He led her to a display cabinet with pictures of a young child, many of which had two adults in them, beaming proudly at the young boy. “Anyway, he arrived in Kansas and was taken in by a couple named Martha and Jonathan Kent. Farmers. They named him Clark Kent and raised him as their own son.”
“Now, see... that’s part of the story that makes the whole thing so unbelievable to me,” Lois said. “I mean, if I found a baby in a spacecraft, I wouldn’t likely just take him in and raise him as my own son without ever telling anyone about it. Besides, how would they explain his sudden appearance? There would be no record of him.”
“Apparently, they told neighbors he was the illegitimate son of a cousin of Martha Kent’s.”
“But still...”
“Okay, okay. They never would have gotten away with it today. But... I don’t know. Maybe no one looked too closely. Anyway, he lived with the Kents from then until they were killed in an automobile accident when he was ten years old.”
“I heard those automobiles were dangerous. That just proves it. Give me a transport any day. So what happened to him then?”
“He bounced around from foster home to foster home.”
Lois shivered. She knew what that was like. Her eyes focused on the devastated face of a young boy standing by the coffins of his parents. He looked so scared. So alone. She suddenly felt a great deal of empathy with him. Maybe that was why he’d come up with this crazy Superman idea. After all, she knew only too well the lengths to which one would go to get noticed when one was a product of the foster care system. In fact, she had four Kerth Awards and one Meriweather Award to prove it.
“Hey, are you okay?” David asked.
Lois gave him a sad smile. “Yeah, I guess I was just sympathizing a bit.”
“Oh, yeah. I forget sometimes,” he said, giving her arm a sympathetic squeeze. “Rough, was it?”
“It was fine,” she lied. “Anyway, so what happened then?”
“He went to journalism school...” He moved over to a display cabinet filled with pictures of Kent during his years in college. His college year book photos. The transcripts of his marks. The letter informing him that he was being offered a full academic and football scholarship. Photos of him in a football jersey. Even a small football trophy. Lois leaned over an read the inscription. ‘Most valuable player.’
“See... That’s exactly what I mean,” Lois said, looking back at David.
“What?”
“Okay, so he can outrun bullets, kick nuclear bombs into space and fly fast enough to be practically invisible and yet he lets them give him a trophy for ‘most valuable player’ and even a football scholarship without revealing that he has these secret powers? I’d call that cheating. How was that a level playing field? And how can he claim to be this benevolent superhero when he paid his way through college by cheating at football?”
David sighed, taking her arm and leading her over to the next display.
“I’m only saying,” Lois mumbled under her breath.
“After college, he spent the next several years traveling the world.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think he ever said. But think about it, if you could fly anywhere you wanted in a matter of minutes, wouldn’t you be out exploring the world?”
“But I’d still come home to sleep in my own bed at nights.”
“You mean float over.”
“What?”
“Float over... as in floating above the bed.”
“He floated in his sleep?”
“I’m not entirely sure. I read it somewhere, but I’m not sure if it was just someone’s speculation.” The next display case was filled with an odd collection of items. “These are some of the souvenirs he brought home.”
Lois stared for a long time at a weird-looking, wooden statue with a big head. The man certainly had strange taste. The sign under the statue indicated that it was some sort of fertility goddess.
“Fertility goddess?” she asked, turning to look at David.
He merely shrugged.
Lois felt a giggle rise in her throat. ‘Hey, babe, come back to my apartment and see my fertility goddess.’ She cleared her throat, quickly redirecting her attention to the rest of the items. Nothing looked overly expensive. But with his powers... “I don’t understand. I mean, those are some odd trinkets. But that’s just what they are. Trinkets.”
“What are you saying?”
“Well, with those abilities, he would certainly have had enough money to be buying... Oh, I don’t know. Persian rugs or elephant tusk carvings or... something. So what’s with this... stuff?” She waved her arm towards the case.
“He wasn’t a rich man, Lois. In fact...” He headed towards another display. “Here’s the apartment building he moved into when he first went to work for the Daily Planet.”
“That’s this building!” she said, looking from the photograph to the building around her.
David nodded. “The city wanted to tear the place torn down about fifty years ago. Anyway, the building was declared a historic landmark by the Department of Culture and History and... hence, the museum.”
She studied the picture of the worn down building. It looked almost identical, at least from the exterior, to what it was today. She supposed if it had been declared a historic landmark, that was deliberate.
“And here are some pictures of his apartment. But we will go upstairs afterwards, and you can see it for yourself. I’m not sure if all the furniture is authentic, but at least it is authentic to the period.”
The apartment itself was... sparse, but homey. But certainly nothing that said money.
“He lived here until he disappeared.”
Lois narrowed her eyes. This didn’t quite add up to the image Lois had of him as a con-artist. Most con-artists did it for the money. But if this guy wasn’t getting rich from his con, what was the point? On the other hand... “Maybe he was saving his money so that by the time his con was discovered, he’d have enough to buy a small island somewhere.”
David rolled his eyes. “One thing I’ll say for you, once you get an idea in your mind, you don’t let it go.”
“They don’t call me Mad Dog Lewis for nothing,” she said with a grin.
He placed his hand on the small of her back. “This is something you might want to see,” he said, directing her to a pedestal with a glass enclosure at the top. Inside sat what looked like a small globe, although from the continental configuration, it was obviously not Earth. “Apparently, there were messages inside that told him about his origin. But since his disappearance, no one has been able to make it work. They have done extensive analysis on it and it’s made of some alloy we don’t have on Earth.”
Lois studied the globe from all angles.
“And here’s something else that might interest you,” he said, leading her over to another pedestal.
“Kryptonite,” she said. She’d never seen the substance before, but she knew immediately what she must be looking at. The word itself had long ago made it into popular language as an expression for something that could hurt or kill. She felt an uneasiness in her stomach as she looked at the sickly glow. She’d seen the tape of Superman’s unveiling and watched the effect the substance appeared to have on him. “Is this the only piece in existence?”
He shook his head. “There are a number of pieces kept as souvenirs by collectors, other museums... that sort of thing. There was a lot of construction in Smallville shortly after his disappearance. And they found quite a few pieces of it. Most of it, if I recall correctly, was in a place called... Oh, what was it again? Samuel’s... No! Schuster’s... Schuster’s field! That’s right. There were other colored rocks there, too, that looked a lot like kyrptonite. We don’t know, however, if those other rocks would have affected Superman because he was never exposed to them.”
Lois studied the rock for a moment more before looking around to see what else they had. She spotted a display on the far wall and made her way over to it. “So this was Superman’s coming out party,” she said when she saw stills obviously taken from the now famous news reel.
“Yeah. And they have this...” David hit a button and a holographic display emerged on a nearby platform, allowing them to watch a life size 3-D display of the entire event. As it played, Lois circled the platform, watching the supporting cast in this drama more than she watched the hero. Tempus. He certainly had the same eyes as the man in her dreams. He had the same smirk. But more importantly, he left the same feeling in the pit of her stomach. But how was that possible? Unless, of course, her subconscious had noted the man when she’d seen the film of the event in school and then her dreams had used this same man to give a face to the man in her nightmare. She nodded slowly. It made sense.
However, one of the other players was definitely harder to explain. The woman’s hair was different, but other than that... The woman was the spitting image of her. Same height. Same weight. Same mannerisms. Right down to a birthmark of the same shape and size on the same spot at the edge of the woman’s hairline.
“Wow. I never noticed that before,” David said as he too studied the woman. “I can see why Philip Klein was convinced he saw you at Superman’s debut. Hey, maybe he saw you there because you go back in time at some point.”
Lois slowly shook her head as she continued to examine the woman. “I’d never cut my hair that short.” She continued circling the woman. “You said we don’t know her name. Do we know anything about her?”
“Well, some think that she was the person who persuaded Clark to become Superman.”
“Then she’s definitely not me,” Lois muttered. “I’d never have put Kent in that ridiculous outfit. I think I heard somewhere that he was engaged to be married. Is she the woman he was supposed to marry?”
“No. That woman was Lana Lang, a childhood sweetheart.” He gestured to a picture of a blonde. “She left him when he went public about his origins.”
“Or maybe she wasn’t happy that he was perpetrating this fraud on the public,” Lois muttered.
“There’s actually a biography about her that she authorized,” David continued, ignoring Lois’ mumbled comment. “Apparently, she told the biographer that she had warned Superman for years about what would happen if he went public. And then, when he disappeared, she claimed she had been right.”
“What did she think happened to him?”
“That he couldn’t take the spotlight. She portrayed him as sort shy - friendly, but reserved. She maintained until her death that he’d disappeared because he didn’t like all the attention - which was what she had predicted would happen.”
Lois’ eyebrows rose. “Bet she felt good to be right.” She was surprised by how much she suddenly disliked this woman.
“So what’s in this case?” she asked, making her way over to a case they hadn’t looked in yet.
“This case... as well as those...” He pointed to some other photos further along the hall. “...document his life as Superman from the time of his debut until the moment he disappeared.”
Lois slowly made her way through the remainder of the displays, seeing Superman at disaster sites, Kent at the Daily Planet or in front of his house or sitting alone on a park bench in Centennial Park. Dozens. Hundreds of pictures.
She was about half way through them when something suddenly occurred to her. To make sure she hadn’t missed something, she went back to look at the pictures again. No. She wasn’t wrong.
“What?” asked David.
“Well, look at these pictures. There isn’t a single picture with him smiling from the time of his debut until he disappeared.”
“Are you sure?” asked David.
“Well, look!”
Making her way back to earlier pictures of Kent, she found herself realizing how obvious it was once she figured it out. In the pre-Superman pictures, he was smiling and his eyes almost danced, as if he had a secret he was just dying to tell someone. In the post-Superman pictures, he remained serious and his eyes... It was his eyes that bothered Lois the most. They just looked so incredibly sad, as if he alone carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“You know,” David said as they were about to leave. “I think it’s not so much that you don’t believe in Superman. I think you don’t want to believe in Superman.”
Lois didn’t respond. It took her a long time, thinking seriously about his comment, before finding an answer for herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to believe. She did - more than anything she wanted to believe. But she didn’t. No one was that good. Everyone had an angle. Still, she didn’t share that with David. It was just too... depressing.
TO BE CONTINUED...
