The silence was palpable. After having been given the greatest gift of his life, Clark wasn’t sure how to proceed. Floating in the street in a Santa outfit with the rear end nearly burned off wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to be introduced to the woman he was destined to spend his life with.
Worse yet, HG Wells had already gone, leaving him alone with a woman he really didn’t know.
He landed silently. Smiling weakly, he fumbled for his keys. Normally the most graceful of men, he found his fingers suddenly failing him. When he wanted to be suave, he was a klutz.
He found the keys and opened the lock. “Come on in,” he said. Lois followed behind him. He could hear Lois snicker under her breath and he winced. The scorch marks on his backside must be worse than he thought. He felt an errant breeze and he sighed. No telling what sort of view she was getting. At least he’d always made sure he was facing the children.
The place was a mess. He’d left wrapping paper, boxes, bags and other things behind in preparing for his big night. Playing Santa these past three years had become important to him, a way to connect with people that wasn’t related to being Superman.
Most of the children he visited had suffered great losses in their lives. Their lives weren’t all that much different than his had been- loneliness, loss. Giving them a little something extra had been like giving something to the child he’d once been.
If only someone had brought a little magic into his life.
Glancing back at Lois, it occurred to him that maybe someone had.
He allowed the world to slow around him. Moving as fast as he safely could, he gathered up the mess and straightened his home back into it’s usual semi-immaculate condition. He dashed into the bedroom and changed clothes, returning in time to see the expression on Lois’s face to turn to one of amazement.
Time sped back up with a snap, and she gaped.
He’d set the coffee pot, but he’d learned from hard experience that some things couldn’t be done at super speed. The first time he’d tried in the shower had been an education. Staring up at the drops of water as they stood frozen in the air had been an exercise in futility.
Lois looked slightly overwhelmed. “Mr. Wells has been telling me a little about you. It all seems so unbelievable.”
Clark shrugged. “I didn’t believe in Santa for a long time either.” At her expression, he grinned.
“So…Santa?” she said.
He shrugged. “I rescued a homeless man playing Santa once and a comment he made got me to thinking. I’m in the business to help people, but it seems that mostly I show up when bad things are happening. It’s nice to help by bringing joy instead of just by preventing loss.”
A shadow appeared on her face and Lois looked down. She seemed pensive.
“I don’t know what you expect of me.”
Frowning, Clark said, “I’m not sure what…”
“You fall in love with this woman who looks and sounds like me, and you think that automatically means that we are meant to be together.”
Clark could hear a hint of anxiety in her tone.
“I’ve got some hopes,” Clark admitted cautiously. “But you aren’t obligated to do anything.”
“This is just a lot of pressure to put on one person. People have expectations. You have expectations. Nobody’s even asked what I want.”
“What do you want?” Clark asked.
“I want to go home.” Lois said. “But everything’s different now.”
She started to cry.
**************
He offered her a cup of coffee. Lois gratefully wrapped her fingers around the mug, which was hot, but not piping hot. Her hands had been cold ever since she returned to this place, so far away from the tropical heat. It took her a moment to realize that he hadn’t asked how she took her coffee, yet it was perfect.
Her double must be more like her than she’d thought.
Santa’s home was warm and the furniture was inviting and comforting. It was perfect. He was perfect. A handsome man, kind to orphans and children, dedicated to rescuing the world. A man with, to all appearances, a great derriere. A man who believed that she, Lois Lane was his soul mate. All of this happened without any input from her. No work, no effort.
Nothing was this perfect.
Part of her knew that she was still in the pit, hallucinating. Find a time traveler to break her out of jail, have him take her home….give her to the man of her dreams. Make the man able to fly. It was too good to be true.
“So this is 1999,” Lois said cautiously.
She’d been in the pit for six months before Mr. Wells had found her. He’d briefed her before bringing her to Clark Kent’s front step, and part of her had rebelled at the blatant matchmaking.
Another part of her was grateful. She’d been gone six years, and everything she’d owned was gone. She had no job, no place to stay, and no real prospects for the future.
Lois continued. “I didn’t see any flying cars.” Just one flying man.
Clark shrugged. “Those weren’t supposed to come out until 2000.”
Hesitating, Lois took a deep breath. “What happened to everyone?” If Kent had been searching for her as long as Mr. Wells had said, he’d have done the background research.
“Perry is the mayor of New York. He’s thinking about running for the senate. “
Lois closed her eyes. She’d depended on Perry’s good will to get her old job back. How many people would still remember her, despite her one Kerth award?
Clark continued. “Your parents got back together, and they now live in New Jersey.”
Lois found herself gaping again. New Jersey? Her parents had been on again, off again for years, so that was no surprise. But moving out of Metropolis…
“They moved there to be close to your sister. She got married last year and had a baby.” Clark’s voice had turned gentle, as though he knew how startling she would find all this. None of it was bad news, but it was evidence that the world had passed Lois by.
Lucy was the older sister now, Lois realized. She’d skipped forward six years without experiencing any of them, while Lucy had continued to grow and change. Lois wondered just how much. Six years could make someone a completely different person.
Clark sat slowly down beside her and took her hand. Lois found herself leaning against him.
It felt good to realize that she wasn’t entirely alone.
“Would you like me to fly you out to meet them?”
Lois started, and felt her anxiety start to grow again. What would she have to say to them? What would they think, seeing a Lois who hadn’t aged a day since they saw her last? Would she fit in? She hadn’t exactly been on the best of terms with any of them when she’d left for the Congo. Would things be any better now?
She shook her head. “I think I’d like a chance to think about what I’m going to say.”
The coffee was turning cold. Lois moved to set it down, only to be startled by the sounds of bubbles from her cup. Clark was staring intently at the cup, and so Lois sipped it.
It was perfect.
A thought occurred to her, and she blinked. “I hope I’m not taking you from celebrating Christmas.”
The thought that he might have a loving group of friends, or a family waiting around a fire sent a pang through her, but not as much as his next few words.
“There’s no place I’d rather be,” Clark said. “And besides…it’s not as though I have anyone to spend the day with.”
He was alone, lonely. For the first time, Lois felt the numbness within her beginning to release. She felt an absurd sense of relief.
If he was perfect, that meant that he would eventually realize that she was a fraud. She wasn’t the woman he’d met before, the successful, happy Lois Lane. She was just a damaged woman in a world that was unfamiliar.
But if he was lonely also…two lonely people spending time was the most natural thing in the world. His flaws were her salvation.
She tightened her grip in his hand.
************
Clark stood at the window, Lois beside him. The snow was beginning again. Instead of seeing it as a muddy nuisance, as he had in previous years, Clark could finally see what others saw.
It was beautiful.
He glanced toward the woman beside him. She grew more breathtaking with every moment that passed. It was all he could do to keep from staring.
She didn’t love him, he knew, not yet.
She glanced up at him, and hesitantly took his hand. The sounds of carolers down the street echoed, the sounds of the season.
Lois Lane didn’t love him, but Clark knew it was only a matter of time.
He felt like joining the carolers, lifting his voice in thanks.
Clark had been given the one gift that most people were never given- a chance at true love. For the first time since he was a child he felt that most elusive of emotions, hope.
The world already seemed brighter.
