Okay, does everyone remember where we are?
Our Lois & Clark have just found out that Tempus has escaped and Superman can't find him. Alt-Clark is contemplating whether or not to find his Lois and waiting for Wells to return. In the SR universe Lois is missing, even Jason doesn't know where she is and Clark received a letter 'something about Lois Lane'. The final Superman is content to just adore Lois from a far, to love her by keeping her safe.
Table of Contents From Part 1:
“Oh, Mr. Kent, Clark, I’m sorry,” Jimmy said, looking a little sheepish. “I was actually coming to find you.”
“I’m really busy at the moment, Jimmy. Can it wait?” Clark said, looking past him towards the elevator.
“Uh, yeah, sure...”
Clark started to move off when Jimmy interrupted him.
“Actually, no, um sorry, it probably can’t,” he said, holding out an envelope for Clark. “This came for you with a note saying that it be delivered to you immediately.”
“Okay, thanks,” Clark said, grabbing the letter and heading off again.
“Yeah, sure... Wait! The note said it had something to do with Lois Lane.”
**********
PART TWO
**********
Clark flew down into an alleyway close to the Daily Planet. He came walking out a few moments later, reaching up to adjust his Fedora hat.
She hadn’t been home. Clark had scanned her apartment twice, just to make sure, like that was going to make her suddenly appear. He had gone by her apartment to check on her, like he did a lot of mornings before he went in to work. He had thought seriously about actually stopping in to see her as Superman this time. He hadn’t stopped in to actually talk with her in a while and he was feeling an urgent need to simply chat with her. But she had obviously already left for work.
He talked to her every day at work, of course, but it wasn’t the same. They only talked about work, very little about anything in their personal lives and there were days, like today, that he craved that interaction with her. He may have decided that he couldn’t be with her, not the way he wanted to, but that didn’t mean he could stop loving her. He would never stop loving her.
Clark hurried his pace as he neared the entrance to the Daily Planet. If he got there late, would she even notice? He entered the building and walked onto one of the elevators, allowing himself to be pushed and corralled until he was at the back of the elevator. He found himself wedged tightly between a fresh-faced Jimmy Olsen and a large, older woman who smelled like she had bathed in the heavy cologne she was wearing.
“Good morning, Mr. Kent. Nice day today isn’t it?” Jimmy asked, smiling at him.
“Uh, yes, Jimmy. Good morning.”
Another whiff of perfume bathed his nose. Wow. What was it about some older ladies and their love of pungent colognes? He felt like he was going to suffocate. If only there were some way he could get her to move a little bit, give him some space. The smell was accosting his super-sensitive nose.
In fact, he felt a tickle beginning inside his nose. It itched. Clark reached up and rubbed it a little. Wait a minute... It itched? Clark never itched.
Just then he sneezed.
“Gesundheit, Mr. Kent. Are you okay? Not getting sick I hope," Jimmy said with his usual cheerfulness.
“No, Jimmy. I think it’s just allergies.” Allergies? Yeah, right. He didn’t have any allergies.
“Really? In the middle of winter? Those must be some bad allergies.” Jimmy shook his head slightly.
“Achoo!” he sneezed again, right on the shoulder of the woman wearing the heavy perfume. She glared at him looking a little annoyed.
“Uh, sorry, I think it must be your perfume.” Sure. Since when did perfume make him sneeze? Since when did anything make him sneeze?
“Hmph,” she huffed. But she moved over a little bit, giving him some breathing room.
“Golly, you really ought to see a doctor about those allergies. I’m sure there’s something they could give you for that,” Jimmy said, sounding concerned.
Not likely. What was going on? His nose felt like it was closing up on him. He could hardly get any air in and out. Is this what people meant by a *stuffy* nose? Something was wrong. He reached up and rubbed his nose, sniffing a little bit.
The elevator slowed, finally arriving at their floor. Clark was anxious to get out of the confined space and away from that perfume. He’d never felt claustrophobic before, but right now he was getting close. He made his way to the front of the elevator only to find a man in a black trenchcoat standing there blocking his exit.
“Um, excuse me, this is my floor,” Clark said politely.
“No, excuse me,” the man said, stepping aside.
“Thank you.”
“Certainly, Mr. Kent. You know, your friend’s right. You really should get a doctor to look at those allergies.” Clark didn’t recognize the man, brown eyes, brown hair, average height - pretty nondescript - but he swore it looked like he was smirking at him.
“Uh, yeah, thanks.”
Jimmy filed off the elevator behind him. “I know the name of a good ear, nose, and throat doctor if you want it.”
Clark hid a smile. You had to like Jimmy, always eager to help. “No, that’s okay, Jimmy. I think it was just that woman’s perfume.”
“Well, okay. I’ll see you later. I’ve gotta take these photos in to Mr. White before he comes looking for me. See ya.”
“Yeah.” Clark sniffed a couple more times and was relieved when he felt his nose begin to open up. It must have been the perfume. How weird. He shrugged it off and headed towards Lois’ office. He could feel the anticipation building in him. She didn’t usually give him the time of day as Clark, but seeing her, working with her, was just enough to abate the ache in his heart.
Clark found himself surprised and a little disappointed when he walked into her office to find it empty. She wasn’t in there and from the looks of things she hadn’t been there yet that morning. No purse or briefcase. Not even her keys were lying on her desk.
So she hadn’t been at home when he’d gone by and she wasn’t here. Where could she be? Could he have beat her here? Not likely. He had stopped briefly after leaving her apartment to clear some wreckage at a traffic accident before coming in to work. She should have made it here first.
He turned and walked out of her office, headed towards Mr. White’s office. If anyone would know where she was, he would.
**********
Clark was exhausted. That last rescue had really taken it out of him.
He hadn’t slept well the last few nights. He’d lain awake at night thinking about his conversation with Wells, waiting for him to return. Sleep had finally managed to find him tonight and then he’d been awakened to screams and sirens.
There had been a fire in an apartment building downtown. Apparently a couple had lit several candles in preparation for a romantic evening together. They had fallen asleep leaving the candles burning. One of the taller thin candles had melted unevenly, falling over and catching the tablecloth on fire. Their living room was a little worse for wear, but the couple was okay. The fire trucks had arrived just shortly after he had, but it was over by then. He had already carried the couple outside, in their pajamas no less, and had put out the fire.
Clark had come straight back home and typed up the Superman rescue article and then sent it electronically to James Olsen, the current owner of the Daily Planet. He had sent a quick page to Mr. Olsen’s beeper to let him know the article was waiting for him. Since Clark’s former editor-in-chief, Perry White, had taken on the office of Mayor, Mr. Olsen had insisted on Clark sending his stories straight to him.
They had a new editor-in-chief; in fact it was Perry’s nephew, Richard White. He was good, but he’d never be able to replace Perry. No one was like Perry. Clark missed him.
Mr. Olsen had confidence in Richard White, but Superman’s stories came at all hours of the night and if it was a hot enough story, or if they were lacking a good lead for the front page, Mr. Olsen would bring a few people back in to make revisions for the morning edition. A Superman story always made for good sales. Mr. Olsen was a genius at investing his money and he made certain that all his investments brought him the biggest returns; the Daily Planet was no exception.
This was one of the few times that it paid for people to know that he was Superman. Because of his *second job*, Mr. Olsen had afforded him the option to work from home if he wanted, which was almost necessary sometimes. He didn’t have a partner like Lois to work with who could pick up his slack or cover for him when he was off being Superman. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d had to work on assignments or type up his stories in the middle of the night, simply because that was the only time he’d had available.
Lois.
He could use a partner like her, in more than one way.
Clark sighed, glancing over at his bed. He had hoped that little writing exercise would help him calm down. But it hadn’t. He was still too wound up to sleep and now he was thinking about *her* which meant he’d never get to sleep tonight.
Clark floated up to stand on the ceiling and paced back and forth slowly. He looked down, watching his cape fluttering below him as he walked, and realized he’d been so preoccupied in his thoughts that he hadn’t changed out of his suit yet.
Especially one thought in particular - Where was Wells?
Not that Clark was complaining for the extra time. He still wasn’t sure he’d made up his mind about finding Lois. He wanted to, wanted it more than he’d ever wanted anything, but what would he do if he found her? What would he say?
Wells was right; with hope all things were possible. But what if what he found broke his heart? What if she really had died? Then all his hope would be gone.
It worried him that Wells hadn’t come back yet. He had a time machine. He could come and go at any point in time. He had said he would see Clark in a couple of days. It had been three days and there was still no Wells.
Clark sighed again trying to release some tension and a yawn escaped from his mouth. He was surprised to find his eyelids were getting heavy. Maybe he’d get a little sleep after all.
He floated down to his bed and was about to undress when he saw a familiar shimmering light coming from the balcony of his apartment.
Wells? Excitement and anxiety surged through him. It was time to make his decision. Clark hurried out onto the balcony. He got there in time to see the time machine shimmering and flickering and then it disappeared.
What the heck? He walked out onto the balcony further, looking around.
Why had Wells come and then disappeared before Clark could even talk to him? He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, feeling frustrated. He was about to turn around and go back inside when he saw them, two women lying on the floor of his balcony.
Lying very still.
Clark went over to them and bent down to check their pulse. The rhythm was coming steady and strong. The women were just passed out, unconscious. He sighed a breath of relief and when he did he smelled something strange. He took in a deep breath, testing the air. Chloroform?
Make that knocked out.
Why would Wells drug these two women with chloroform and then drop them here at his apartment, without so much as a word about what was going on? Who were they?
He leaned down closer to one of the women, reaching out and pulling a strand of her long, dark, curly hair out of her face. He didn’t recognize her but something about her seemed very familiar, like he was drawn to her. He hadn’t felt this way since the day Lois Lane had walked up to him at the Daily Planet and planted a kiss firmly on his mouth. He smiled at the memory.
He glanced over at the other woman. She also seemed strangely familiar somehow. She resembled the first woman in several ways. Her shape and build were roughly the same and her hair was even the same color, just shorter and straighter.
The curly-haired woman was beginning to moan and move. Clark slipped one hand beneath her and raised her up towards him. Her eyelids fluttered a few times and then she opened them to look at him.
She stared at him wide-eyed and a small gasp escaped from her lips. “Who are you? Why are you wearing that suit?”
Clark looked down at his clothing. He had forgotten that he still had his suit on. But what did she mean who was he? She didn’t know? “Um, I’m Superman. Surely you’ve heard of me.”
“Heard of Superman? Yeah, I’d say I’ve heard of him. Superman and I are close friends. In fact we...” She hesitated for a moment and then continued, “Anyway, I know Superman and you are not him. Now take off that ridiculous costume and tell me what’s going on.”
She doesn’t recognize him as Superman? That didn’t make any sense. Who did she think Superman was? He needed to get some answers from her but his suit seemed to be making her uncomfortable. Well he could change, that wasn’t a problem. Since he had tried out that *spin* thing Lois had told him that her Clark did, he had done it more often and actually kind of liked it. It made it really easy to change clothes.
Clark spun out of his suit and into the clothes he had with him, a pair of blue jeans and a black, button-down shirt. When he stopped spinning he realized that the woman was just sitting there with her mouth open, looking a little pale.
“Ahhhh!” the scream came from the other woman who Clark hadn’t realized was awake yet. “Where am I? Who are you? Who is she?” she asked in rapid succession, looking back and forth between him and the other woman. “No one moves like that except for Superman, and you’re not him. Are you another clone?” She curled her lip at him as if in disgust. “Or are you another one of General Zod’s men?”
Another person who didn’t recognize him as Superman? What was going on here? She thought he was a clone? Who was this General Zod person? This was getting weirder by the minute.
**********
“Mmm. I’ve missed you,” Clark told Lois, slipping a hand inside her nightshirt and caressing the soft skin that it covered. “I’ve been gone too much the last few days.”
Goosebumps lit up the skin on her neck and the backs of her arms causing her to shiver. “No arguments here. At the rate we’ve been getting together lately, it’ll be years before we have a baby.”
His smile faded for just a second, not long, but long enough for her to notice. “Lois, we still don’t know that we’re even going to be able...”
She placed one finger over his lips, silencing him. “Not now. I don’t want to waste our time talking about that now. You’ve been gone too much, remember?” In truth it was her own fault he’d been gone so long, she was the one who’d pushed him to look for Tempus, but she wasn’t about to remind him of that. “So, what are you going to do to make up for it?” she asked, leaning into him to nibble on one of his earlobes.
“Hmm. I’m going to make sure you miss me even more the next time I’m gone.” He tilted his head and seized her mouth in a long, slow kiss. Lois groaned softly into his mouth and then she pulled away from him, pushing him back with one hand against his chest.
“Maybe I should make *you* miss *me* more and then you wouldn’t be gone so long the next time. If you hadn’t shown back up when you did, I was going to put on some lingerie, stick my head out the window and yell for Superman.”
“Oh really...”
She nodded her head at him innocently, biting her lower lip. “Help, Superman.”
“Superman, huh? Tell you what...” he trailed off, tilting his head in an all too familiar pose.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I heard a noise downstairs. Hang on, I’ll be right back,” he told her, jumping up out of bed.
Oh, what now! He’d only been home two minutes! She got out of bed and followed him downstairs.
“Do you *see* anything?” she asked, walking up behind him. He was staring at the front door.
“Not unless you count a paper taped to our door as something. He opened the door and grabbed the note off of it, pausing to read it. He looked back up at her and all the color had left his face.
“Clark? What is it? What’s wrong?” She took the paper from his hands and looked at it. Her fingers trembled as she read it.
I’M COMING TOMORROW NIGHT TO TAKE YOUR WIFE, SUPERMAN. AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME.
**********
‘Something to do with Lois Lane’ he heard Jimmy say as he ran off. He reached into his pocket as he walked, pulling out the envelope Jimmy had given him with a shaky hand. Oh, Lois... What had she gotten herself into this time? Please let her be okay.
He looked down at the envelope as he continued walking. Who could this possibly be from? It had the word ‘IMPORTANT’ written in big bold letters and then ‘Deliver Immediately’. Those were the only words on it other than his name.
Clark slid one finger under the flap of the envelope as he neared the corner to the elevator and reached inside to pull out the letter. As he came around the corner he collided with a man in a trenchcoat. The letter slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground.
“Ooof!” the man exclaimed.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Clark apologized. He watched as the man bent down and picked his envelope up off the floor. Clark restrained his desire to grab the envelope away from him.
“No problem. You’re Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet, right?” he asked, extending a black leather-gloved hand to Clark.
Clark took hold of his hand to shake it and the man grasped his hand firmly around Clark’s, his gloved fingers wrapping around the backside of his hand and up his wrist. “Yeah, that’s me. Have we met? I’m sorry I’ve been gone for a while and I’m still getting to know everyone since I got back.” He searched his memory, trying to place the man; brown eyes, brown hair, just an average looking guy. Clark had met too many people the last few days, he simply didn’t recognize him.
The man was still holding on to the envelope and wasn’t making a motion to give it back. Clark was beginning to feel a little uneasy so he reached out and took it from him. The man’s grip on it was firm and Clark had to pull on it a little to get him to let go of it.
“No, we haven’t met, but you wouldn’t know me anyway,” the man said, his tone was gracious but the look on his face was anything but. “I’m not from around here. Nice meeting you Mr. Kent.” Clark could almost swear that the man smirked at him as he turned away and walked off. The man stopped a little way down to look at one of the older historic Planet editions that was on display under glass.
Clark looked back down at the envelope in his hands, again reaching inside it to pull out the letter. He started to unfold the note to read it when he noticed that his hand was itching. He reached over and scratched it.
Wait a minute. His hand was itching? Since when did his skin ever itch?
It didn’t.
He scratched it again but that only seemed to make it worse. The itch was becoming a burning sensation. Something was wrong. He scratched it again, a little harder. The itch was getting so bad that it was almost painful. What was going on?
He resisted the urge to dig his fingernails into it and instead focused in on it to see what the problem was. An ugly red rash had begun to form. It didn’t look pleasant. There were nasty red bumps breaking out and spreading across his skin, almost in front of his eyes.
How was this possible? Had that man done something to him? He looked up at where he’d been standing, but he was gone now.
Don’t be paranoid, he told himself. How could he have done anything to his hand? Clark concentrated, pushing the itchy feeling out of his mind long enough to take a look at the letter. He began to unfold it again and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the words written on it.
I KNOW YOU’RE SUPERMAN AND I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MS. LANE. I WANT TO HELP YOU. MEET ME AT MS. LANE’S HOME AND I’LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.
Someone knew he was Superman? Clark felt panicky. How was that possible? He’d crafted his life as Clark Kent so carefully, given no one any cause to suspect him.
And yet, someone knew.
He felt his hands beginning to sweat and that only seemed to increase the irritation on his skin. He looked around to make sure no one was watching and he gave the letter a little zap of his heat vision to destroy the evidence.
So this person wanted to meet with him at Lois’ house? Then that’s where he would go, but not as Clark Kent, as Superman. It was time for a quick change.
He looked back down at his hand. As quickly as the rash had come on, it seemed to be disappearing. The redness was going away and the bumps were going down. Just like that, all of the sudden. Clark breathed a sigh of relief. It felt much better now.
It had just been a fluke.
***********
As Clark approached the door to Mr. White’s office he could see he and Jimmy going over some pictures. Mr. White looked pretty animated about something. Clark reached out to knock on the door not wanting to barge in on them.
Mr. White paused mid-sentence and glanced up at him briefly, waving for him to come in.
Clark opened the door and went inside, cringing a little at the intensity in Mr. White’s voice.
“...and this is the best you’ve got?” Mr. White said, pointing at one of the pictures.
“Aww, gee, I thought that one was pretty good.” Jimmy’s face looked a little chagrined.
“Uh, Mr. White,” Clark said, attempting to get his attention.
He ignored Clark and continued on his tirade. “Pretty good? Jimmy, this is the Daily Planet. Pretty good doesn’t cut it here.” Clark couldn’t help but notice the red hue in Mr. White’s face. It must not be a good morning news-wise.
“I need to talk to you,” Clark tried again, but Mr. White cut him off.
“If you want to be a top photographer for this paper, then you’re going to have to do better than this.” He slapped the photos in front of him with the back of his fingers.
“Yes, sir,” Jimmy said a little dejectedly, wincing at the physical attack on his photos.
Mr. White glanced up briefly to acknowledge Clark, his anger at bay for the moment. “Kent. I’m glad you’re here. Have you seen Lois this morning?” Mr. White asked him and then went back to thumbing through the stack of photos in front of him.
He didn’t know where she was either? Now Clark was beginning to get worried. “No, sir, I haven’t. That’s actually what I...”
“You haven’t? Hmm, that’s not like her. She’s usually here about the same time I get here, sometimes earlier.” He paused on one of the pictures and held it up to the light, squinting at it. Then he looked back over at Clark. “Well I’m sure she’s probably just out tracking down a hot lead. When you see her let her know I’m looking for her.” He went back to scrutinizing the picture he was holding in his hands.
No, that wasn’t like her. Clark supposed she could be out tracking down a lead; that was possible. She could have just gotten so wrapped up in her work that she forgot to call or tell anyone where she was going. That definitely sounded like something she would do. He was just making too big a deal out of this; it was probably nothing.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
“Kent,” Mr. White said sharply, startling Clark out of his thoughts. “What are you still doing here? Don’t just stand there, go out and get me some news!”
“Uh, yes, Sir. Sorry.” Clark headed back out of his office, and Mr. White went back to *discussing* Jimmy’s photos. Jimmy didn’t look happy and Clark felt a little sorry for him.
He closed the door to the office and could feel his stomach beginning to knot up. No matter what he tried to tell himself, something just didn’t feel right. It had been so early this morning when he’d gone by to check on her. Surely she wouldn’t have been out on a story that early.
Maybe she was sick?
She might have gone out to get some medication or something when he’d flown by and that’s why she wasn’t home. That would explain why she wasn’t at work, too.
He’d go check on her again. She’d be there now.
He hoped.
**********
Everyone still with me?
To be continued...
