Description: Tempus has been captured. He is back in the future where he belongs and every universe is back to the way they should be... or are they? A follow-up story to “Supermen United”.
Superman Divided
By MetroRhodes <metrorhodes@yahoo.com>
Rated: PG-13?
Submitted: November, 2006
All characters and settings are the property of someone else, definitely not me, and whoever else can legally lay claim to them. No copyright infringement is intended. This story was written purely for fun, not for profit.
A thank you to the writers of both the original Superman movies and Superman Returns. And a thank you as well to the writers of Lois & Clark, without them we wouldn’t have this wonderful world to play in and I wouldn’t have written this.
After writing “Supermen United” several FoLCs clamored together saying I should continue the Superman Returns portion of my story... allow us to see what happens to Lois, Superman, Clark, Jason, and Richard – they also asked me to tie up a few loose ends. So I told my muse what I wanted and she thought about it for a while and came back with this. Thank you my dear readers for wanting me to write this and for always being so supportive. I hope you enjoy...
And Sue, my wonderful beta reader. Without your help, this story would have never come to be, because, first and foremost, you helped me shape their story in “Supermen United”. You helped me figure out what I wanted their motivations and real feelings to be. So this is for you, too.
**Note** This story is a continuation of the story "Supermen United". A good portion of the story takes place in the SR universe, but the story begins and ends with us in the LNC universe, and to cut confusion I have that noted at the section headings.
Now, without further adieu...
*****LNC Universe*****
Lois watched Clark tie his tie for about the fourth time since she’d walked into the bathroom and she finally couldn’t take it anymore.
She took his tie in her hands and re-tied it, getting it perfect on the first try. As she wriggled the knot up his chest and settled it snugly against his throat, she realized he wasn’t looking at her. He wasn’t watching her hands, he wasn’t smiling at her, no little dig about getting it right on the first try. In fact...
He looked like he was obsessing.
She hated it when he obsessed. He over-thought and over-analyzed things way too often. He, of course, said she didn’t analyze things enough... but maybe that’s why they made such a good team.
Well, one of the reasons, anyway.
She leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. “Honey?”
“Mmm,” was the only answer she got.
She tried again, moving her kisses from his mouth, across his jawline and down the side of his throat to that particularly *sweet* spot of delicate skin just above the collarbone. She sucked gently. “Honey?”
“Mmm hmm?”
Not the reaction she was hoping for.
She pressed her body against his, reaching up with one hand to begin *undoing* his tie. If she kept up this particular way of trying to get his attention, they were going to be late to work this morning.
She kissed his neck back up to his earlobe and nipped it affectionately.
“Lois? You do realize that we’re already ten minutes behind schedule?” he finally responded. The look on his face, though, told her that he didn’t really care.
“Ah, so you are actually awake and not sleep-dressing? I was beginning to wonder when I realized you’d put on brown socks with your blue suit,” she teased him.
He looked down, wiggling the toes on his right foot, and smiled sheepishly. “I swear they looked black when I put them on.”
“Well, that wasn’t the only indicator that I had a problem on my hands. If I hadn’t taken the can of shaving cream away from you and handed you your hair gel, you were going to try applying it to your hair.”
He looked at her in shock. “I was not!”
She giggled. “Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration.” He raised his eyebrows at her. “All right, a lot of exaggeration.” She smiled at him. “So, what’s on your mind?”
“Just stuff.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Just stuff. That’s all you’re gonna give me?" She poked him in the ribs, doing her best to find his ticklish spot. It wasn’t easy to find. When he finally did a funny little dance and jerked away from her touch, she knew she’d found it.
“Hey! Quit that.”
“Not until you tell me what you were obsessing about. It’s my new torture technique. I’ve heard it’s even effective on Superman.”
He reached out and pulled her into his arms and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Everything you do has an *effect* on Superman.” He kissed her hungrily.
She pushed him away, protesting, “Nuh-uh. No way, Kent. I’ve let you wriggle out of explanations this way before. To this day, there are still things that I know I meant to find out from you, but for some reason the details are hazy.” She flashed him a wicked smile. “Not today. World renowned investigative reporter, Lois Lane-Kent, is not going to be sidetracked so easily. Spill it.”
“Spill what?” he asked impishly.
She smacked his arm playfully. “You know what! What were you thinking?”
“Just now? Oh, well, I was thinking I would drag you over to the bed and...”
“No!” Her face reddened. “Not *that*!” She shook her head at him in mock disgust. “Before. What were you thinking about before?”
He laughed softly; then his face resumed a more serious look and she knew that playtime was over and he was finally going to answer her. “I was thinking about the other Lois and Clark.”
She let out a short laugh. “Which ones?”
He grinned at her. “The ones who have the son, Jason. Do you think they’ll work things out? I know it’s totally selfish of me to feel this way, but since I’m him... err, he’s me... you know... in that other universe... I want to see him end up with Lois. I know she’s engaged to that other guy, Richard, but it pains me to think of that Clark without his Lois.”
“Makes you wonder what your life would have been like without me?” she ventured. She personally didn't even want to *think* about her life if she hadn't married him. What if she hadn't finally said no to Lex? Or what if she hadn't chosen Clark over Scardino - 'you can call me Daniel'? The thought made her shudder.
He nodded. “I know he made a mistake.” Off her astonished expression he continued, “Okay a really *big* mistake. But she made mistakes too. And you can tell that they love each other. And they have a son together...”
“Who believes that Richard is his daddy. And really, Richard is his daddy, Clark.” She leaned up to kiss him softly on the lips. “I know how you feel. I know how much you want to have kids and how much you’ll adore them when you do have some of your own...”
“Some?” He raised his eyebrows at her.
She felt her cheeks flush. “Well, once we found out we could have kids, I didn’t figure we’d stop at just the one." She reached down and rubbed her stomach affectionately. It had only been a few months since the Supermen had united together to defeat Tempus... but she and Clark had made good use of the time. "Anyway, as much as I’m sure *that* Clark loves Jason... Jason doesn’t know him. Jason has only grown up knowing Richard, loving Richard.”
“I know. You’re right. It’s just... I hope he's able to have some kind of relationship with his son...” he broke off, looking thoughtful again.
She embraced him, giving him a squeeze. “Me too. You know, it’s a shame that we didn’t ask Herb to look in on them a little ways down the road in the future and let us know how things turned out. Now that you’ve got me thinking about them again, my curiosity is going to kill me.” What had happened once Herb dropped them back in their own universe? Had they resolved things? Did Jason know about Clark? Were Lois and Clark... together?
She glanced down at her diamond ring that was sparkling luminously under the bright lighting of the bathroom vanity. She grimaced a little thinking about the loss of her original wedding ring when she’d had to use it to power up the time machine.
She loved the new ring that Clark had bought for her – it was beautiful, probably prettier than her original ring - but in her heart it would never take the place of the one she’d lost. She and that original ring had been through a lot together.
Clark had been so sweet... trying to comfort her and reminding her that it was their love that mattered... not some piece of jewelry.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t miss it.
She snuggled against Clark a little tighter and realized that she suddenly didn’t care any more if they were late to work that morning. “Honestly, I hope they end up together. In my opinion, poor Richard doesn’t have a chance.”
He caught her meaning. “Really? You think she finds Superman that irresistible?”
She smiled mischievously at him. “Lois Lane able to turn down Superman? Yeah, I’d like to see that happen in any universe.”
“So does that mean...” He began to loosen the knot on his tie, sliding it down his chest, "...that I’ve got you at my mercy?"
“Completely.”
*****SR Universe – Shortly after events in Supermen United*****
Lois rode up the elevator with Clark in silence. She kept stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye. She had been so hard on herself both times she had figured out that Clark Kent was Superman.
She kept berating herself, thinking ‘how could you not figure it out’? A tight, brightly colored suit and a pair of glasses were able to fool Pulitzer Prize winning, investigative reporter, Lois Lane, so easily?
What a putz!
But as she watched Clark, now, out of the corner of her eye, she could see how easily it would be *not* to see the truth.
Clark’s posture was different. It didn’t hold the measure of self-confidence that Superman’s did. His shoulders slumped slightly and he was slouching self-consciously, like he always did. His head hung a little bit where you couldn’t quite look directly into his eyes.
And then there were those god-awful glasses.
Dark, wide frames, meant to draw your attention to them, instead of the beautifully intense blue eyes behind them. The eyes that told you as long as he had any control over things you would be safe, even if the world around you was falling apart.
The shape and size of the glasses was just big enough to distract you from the perfectly chiseled lines of his cheekbones.
Then there was the hair.
As Clark he wore it all fluffed and feathered up, so obviously and totally out-of-date for the times they were living in. When he was Superman his hair was like molasses taffy all slicked back, the wetness of it accentuating the vivid darkness and highlights in the strands. And there was that curl. That one adorable piece of hair that hung so perfectly down over his forehead in that gorgeous curl.
Her eyes moved away from his face to the business suit he was wearing.
Clark didn’t wear just any kind of suit, either. Half the time besides just wearing a suit, he also wore a vest with it. He layered his clothes. It was the same with the times when she’d seen him in casual clothing. He usually had a sweater on with a shirt underneath it. He used his clothing to hide and disguise the exquisite muscular physique beneath it.
She wasn’t sure how he managed to change himself so completely between his personas, but he did. Not just in his looks either, but in his manner and personality as well.
When he was Clark, he was so bumbling, so awkward, so... Clark. But when he was Superman...
<<<“Do you want this, Clark?” she asked him pointedly. “I want to make love to you, Clark. Isn’t that what you want...?”
She watched the muscles in his throat work as he swallowed nervously. “Yes, but...”
“No. No buts. If you don’t want to do this, if you tell me you want me to stop, I will. I would never force this on you. But you have to tell me that you don’t *want* this. Tell me, Clark. Tell me you don’t *want* this, that you don’t *want* me.” Her voice was raw and pleading.
“I...” She ran her hands up his chest and pulled lightly at the collar of his suit. “Oh, god, Lois. You have no idea how much I *want* this.”>>>
Her mind flashed back to the feeling of that body beneath her fingers. He was the strongest man in the world and yet somehow he made himself so soft for her. His skin had been so alive with warmth and velvet perfection as she slid her fingertips across the lines of his chest.
<“Clark, please, I need... I need more. Please, Clark. I need you...>
She looked away from him quickly, feeling the heat building inside of her.
But he had left, and now there was Richard. Richard loved her, trusted her. He had been there for her through everything - through her breakdown after the disappearance of Superman, through the birth of her son, Jason, and through the ups and downs of her professional career.
He deserved better. He deserved more. He deserved her fidelity.
But she hadn’t been unfaithful to him.
No, but you were tempted, her mind berated her.
<She grasped at his shoulders, her hands moving up and behind his neck, pulling him more tightly against her. She moved her hands up to the back of his head, running her hands through his hair. “Ohhh, Clark,” she moaned against his mouth. “Oh, god, you have no idea...” She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, her own eyes brimming with unshed tears...>
Clark glanced up at her, noticing the way she was staring at him. “Lois, is something wrong?”
She flushed and looked away quickly, becoming fascinated with the last inspection notice of the elevator. It had been a while. It was probably due for some service. “No. I’m fine.”
She sighed quietly to herself when she sensed Clark look away from her. Yes, she had been tempted. It would have been so easy, back at the house, to give in to *him*. She glanced back over at him. He had obviously wanted her. But yet, he hadn’t pushed her, and he never would. He had told her he would give her as much time as she needed. He would wait for her...
Wait for her to what, though? Leave Richard?
A bolt of anger shot through her, straight from her heart to her throat, and her lips parted, words forming in the back of her mouth. But she bit them back.
No. He wasn’t waiting for her to leave Richard.
He was waiting for her to make up her mind, to come to a decision. She hadn’t given him a decision, yet. She hadn’t told him to get lost, that she and Richard were going to get married and live happily ever after.
No.
She had instead told him that she wanted him to be able to have a relationship with his son, Jason. And she did. And she had instead told him that she didn’t want him to leave, that she never wanted him to leave... that they had a lot to figure out and that she needed time.
So that’s what he was giving her, and that’s what he was waiting for... to see what that time allowed to happen.
Lois felt a little bit of disappointment surge in her when she realized the elevator had almost reached their floor. The fantasy was over and now it was time to face the cold hard facts. She was engaged to a good man with a little five-year-old boy by another good man. She had choices to make, consequences to live with. She stepped forward in anticipation of the door opening.
Movement caught her attention and she turned in time to see Clark hit the emergency stop button.
“Clark...?”
He didn’t turn to look at her, keeping the look that was distinctly Clark on his face as he stared down at the elevator controls. She watched as several emotions seemed to flow through his body and face, vying for control. Finally he straightened up, standing a little taller, his shoulders pulling back into the broad stance that could only be described as Superman. He reached up and pulled his glasses off as he walked over to her.
“Lois, promise me...” The intensity of his blue eyes swallowed her and it was if she was drowning in the deepest ocean.
She held her breath, not speaking, unable to even ask him what he wanted her to promise.
“Promise me that you won’t shut me out,” he continued, his voice soft and low. “That you’ll really think about things. Promise me that you won’t make any rash decisions. I’ll give you time.” There was a slight desperation in his tone. “And I’ll give you space. But please don’t shut me out.”
He was afraid. How many people really knew Superman... the way she did? How many people had seen the fear in his eyes that she saw now?
She nodded at him. “I will,” she said softly. “Clark... I will. Now let’s get in there. I want to see our son.”
An almost undetectable smile of relief skittered across his face and he reached out and pressed the button, resuming their motion.
When the doors of the elevator opened to the newsroom floor, Lois’s feet hit the floor at a running pace. She moved in and around desks, people, and other obstacles on a straight path for Richard’s office. When she turned to look at Perry White’s office, she could see Richard in there, but there was no sign of Jason. He was probably in his daddy’s office – the one whose door she was about to push through.
She opened the door and strode inside anxiously. Her eyes found him just seconds later. He was sitting on the floor, looking at a picture of the three of them – her, Jason, and... Richard. He looked up at her and she could see the tears in his small, frightened eyes.
“Mommy? Mommy!” he cried, getting up and running to her. He lunged for her, jumping into her arms and she caught him, lifting him up and squeezing him to her.
“Yes, Jason, I’m here,” she told him, stroking his hair softly. “I’m here. Are you okay?”
He nodded his little head at her, wiping one eye with the back of his hand.
She heard the door open and close behind her and knew that it was Clark.
“Did Superman find her?” Jason asked, looking past her to the man who stood behind her. His face looked bright and hopeful.
She turned in time to see Clark smile at him. “Yes. I found Superman and he found your mom.”
Lois set Jason down on the floor and took him by the hand. “Come on, honey, let’s go find your dad and let him know everything’s okay.” As they walked past Clark to go out the door, Jason shook his hand free from his mom’s and walked up expectantly to Clark. Clark knelt down where he was more at Jason’s level and Jason wrapped his arms around him, giving him a quick hug.
“Thank you,” the boy chirped happily and started to turn away, “...and thank Superman.”
“You’re... welcome,” Clark cleared his throat. “I will.” He threw a knowing glance at Lois and she smiled at him.
“Come on, I’m sure your daddy’s probably worried sick,” she said, pulling Jason along with her out the door of the office.
**********
Clark watched her go, feeling like she was taking a piece of his heart with her. He was going to lose her. He didn’t know how he knew it, but he just knew it.
He wasn’t sure when exactly that he’d fallen in love with Lois Lane, but it hadn’t been long after he’d met her.
He had fallen asleep so many nights thinking of her and wishing there were some way he could have a life with her.
And he could have... if he had only been braver. If he only hadn’t left.
Now it was too late.
He could tell that she still loved him though. That much he knew and it made his heart ache. He had promised he would give her time and she had promised she would think things through. But his head knew what his heart refused to accept.
It had been too long. Things had changed too much. She had moved on.
And he was going to lose her.
His legs suddenly felt weak and he sat down in one of the chairs in Richard’s office. He looked through the walls that separated him from Lois as she walked hand in hand with Jason into Perry White’s office.
He lowered his guard and allowed the sounds and voices to filter through into his hearing.
[Lois? Lois, oh my god, what happened to you, honey?] Richard was saying. He ran to her, embracing her tightly. He kissed her fiercely on the lips and then hugged her again. [I was so scared. Are you all right?] He put one arm around Jason, bringing him inside the hug he was sharing with Lois.
Clark blocked out the sounds and looked away, unwilling to watch any more. His heart constricted inside his chest.
He looked up and moved his eyes around the office he was sitting in. Richard’s office. There were personal effects and pictures scattered all through it.
He got up and walked over to the bookcase on the far wall and picked up one of the picture frames sitting on it.
It was a picture of Richard and Jason at the lake. Jason was much smaller, maybe three-years-old? Clark wasn’t sure. He hadn’t been around children enough to be able to tell how old they were.
Jason had a pair of brightly-colored blue inflatable water wings on his arms. Clark looked a little closer and realized they had a familiar red and yellow crest on them.
That was odd. He thought Lois had been furious at him after he’d left. Why would she have let their son wear Superman... anything? He would have thought she would have banned the name from her house after everything that had happened.
Then he kicked himself... of course at that point she didn’t remember everything that had happened. She just knew Superman was gone and she didn’t know why.
But she had obviously been upset enough to write that article that won her that first Pulitzer – “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.”
His heart constricted again.
She didn’t *really* feel that way, not now. She had just been angry and had done what came naturally to her – she had written about it.
He knew she was writing a new piece now, one that she desperately hoped would earn her another Pulitzer – “Why the World Needs Superman.”
But did *she* need Superman? Did she want him?
He looked over at a few more of the pictures on the shelves in front of him. They were mostly of Jason and Richard. There was a picture of what seemed to be Jason’s first day at school. Richard was standing next to him, holding his backpack, and they were both giving the camera operator, obviously Lois, the thumbs up gesture.
He glanced through the other pictures - ones of special occasions, landmark events, family and friends. Clark’s stomach felt empty and hollow. There was so much he had missed. But he vowed from this point on that it wouldn’t continue to be that way. He was going to be there now.
At least for Jason.
One more picture caught his eye. It was taken when Jason was really small; it looked like Richard was teaching him how to walk. Jason’s little hands were wrapped tightly around Richard’s two index fingers and he had one little foot propped up in the air to take that next step.
Clark would be there for him because he *wanted* to be...
But also because he knew Jason needed him to be there.
Richard had taught him how to walk, but, when the time was right, Clark would teach him how to fly.
He smiled to himself.
**********
To Be Continued...
