A/N: I've never posted a story in parts before, but I figured having feedback on this early on might help motivate me? We'll see, I suppose.

First of all, this story is a challenge for the 12days_of_clois (lj community) so if you're planning to read their ficathon, you may not want to read my story now. Thankfully there's nothing in the rules against posting fic somewhere before hand...

Second, is there someone who's willing to be my beta? I've never had one before, but it doesn't hurt to have a second opinion!

~*~

TOC

Rating: PG
Setting: Just after "Soul Mates"

Special thanks to CC Aiken for letting me borrow...well, you'll know what I borrowed in my next post. wink


~*~

Back & Forth

Part 1

It was cold. So cold in fact, that it totally surprised her. Lois couldn’t quite understand why it surprised her. She furrowed her brow and tried to remember.

Clark. It shouldn’t be cold because she was supposed to be with Clark. He was always so warm… A smile crept onto her face just as she decided to hide her cold nose under the covers.

Wait a minute, she thought. Where is Clark?

Lois felt around under the blankets hoping to find him, but she didn’t. Perhaps he was simply getting breakfast. That must be where he is, she decided. Lois flipped onto her stomach and hugged her pillow. Then she wrinkled her nose. This wasn’t the same pillow she fell asleep on last night.

For a moment she wondered how she could possibly think this was the wrong pillow. It certainly felt the same… It doesn’t smell like Clark, she realized. Wait, why should it smell like Clark?

Rubbing her eyes, Lois tried to remember what had happened. Then it hit her. She was married, finally married to the most wonderful person she had ever known. And today was the day after their wedding. She couldn’t suppress her giddy smile. It had taken so long…

But that doesn’t solve your problem, Lois, she told herself sternly. Focus!

She remembered not leaving for Hawaii as planned and falling asleep in Clark’s apartment. So why didn’t the pillow smell like him?

Had he taken her to Hawaii while she was sleeping? Lois considered this option carefully and then discarded it. Clark wouldn’t have done that without asking her first. Besides, it was much too cold for Hawaii—even when factoring in air conditioner.

In fact, it was much colder than it should be in Metropolis this time of year. Lois opened her eyes fully. Where am I? she wondered.

The room was dark except for one small area on the floor. Light was peeping from under a long curtain. Lois looked up and up… The curtain was huge! The window it covered was one of the longest windows she had ever seen. Except in…

She stopped herself. ”Lois, that’s ridiculous,” she said aloud.

Considering her options, she sat up in bed. There were only two choices she could think of. She could simply wait for Clark to come back, or call him. Calling him seemed to be the quickest way to find out where he had taken her. He would return to her and tell her what was going on. Well, after she gave him a huge smack for leaving her, of course.

“Clark?”

A door to her left opened suddenly, and her eyes were accosted with light. Lois had to close them instantly, so she didn’t see him come in the door. So she was utterly surprised when a different voice answered her.

“M’lady?”

Lois blinked, tried to see who this woman was. It was a girl, no older than Lucy…dressed in an old fashioned maid’s dress. Complete with bonnet.

“What?” she managed to squeak.

“You called for me, m’lady,” the girl said simply.

“Oh,” Lois said simply, trying to gather her scattered thoughts. Utterly puzzled she asked, “Who are you?”

“Are you unwell, Lady Claire?”

What? Claire? CLAIRE? What’s going on here?

“Um…no, I’m fine. I just…don’t remember your name,” she said lamely.

The maid gave her a very concerned look and said, “I’m Constance and I’ve been your personal maid for five years m’lady. Are you positive you are feeling all right?”

Lois decided at that moment to yawn. “I’m sorry Constance, I didn’t sleep well,” she fibbed. Something was very wrong.

“We’ll soon put you to rights. If you wait a moment, I’ll fetch some fresh water.” With a bustle of skirts, Constance left the room.

Lois stared after her for a moment. Then she looked down at the covers. It took a moment for her to realize that she’d only seen covers like this in an old fashioned movie like Pride & Prejudice.

Something was very wrong and Clark wasn’t there. Where was he? He wasn’t playing some sort of trick on her, was he?

Lois decided that she would find out. After all, she was an investigative reporter. But her resolve lessened a bit when she saw the nightgown she was wearing.

With a sigh, she threw herself back onto the pillows.

This might be harder than I thought…

~*~

“Clark.”

His name barely registered in Clark’s mind. Dead tired and mostly asleep, he chose to ignore the person who wanted him to wake up. With Lois finally by his side, he had fallen into an exhausted slumber. He was so tired, and Clark figured he deserved a good night’s sleep after all he had been through the past couple weeks. From what he could remember had left his home forever, happily came back, almost died after fighting a madman, and been in two—no, make that three wedding ceremonies.

Clark frowned slightly in his sleep. Something was missing from that list, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. Surely the whole Robin Hood/cowboy/H.G. Wells incident was created by his imagination. Or in a nightmare…but he wasn’t sure…

“Clark.”

“Mphrf,” he groaned. For a moment he considered what he should do to make this person stop.

“Clark.”

The voice was louder, more insistent this time.

Clark wracked his sleep-addled brain for a solution to this annoying problem. A kiss. A kiss would shut Lois up, he decided.

With effort, he moved his arm and searched for the woman he knew was beside him. Clark’s brow furrowed when he discovered she was not where she should be. Her pillow was cold.

“Clark, you must get up.”

It took a moment before he fully realized what was wrong. The voice was far too deep to belong to Lois. In fact, it sounded just like…

“Oh no,” he groaned.

“Clark, Lois isn’t here.”

That was enough to wake him up. In fact, it worked better than a dozen “Help Superman”s. He bolted upright in bed, faster than a speeding bullet.

“Wells? What do you—I don’t under—where’s Lois?”

“Oh dear…this is awkward, isn’t it?” the old man stammered.

Clark watched as Wells nervously shifted his spectacles. Too impatient to wait, he repeated his question with more clarity. “Tell me. Where. Is. Lois.”

“Not here.”

Annoyed, Clark said, “I know she’s not here. Where is she?”

“No, I mean I can’t tell you here.”

“And why not?”

Wells cleared his throat and whispered, “I don’t know where he is.”

“Well you’re just a fountain of information today, aren’t you?”

“Clark, why don’t you get dressed, then we’ll go somewhere safe.”

He crossed his arms and gave the old man his best Superman ‘look’. It wasn’t an easy task to do in a bed, considering his utter lack of clothing. In fact, Clark was certain he looked rather silly. “I will, after you tell me who it is you’re so afraid of.”

Wells gave him a look and said a name that chilled him to his very bones.

“Tempus.”

~*~

To be continued... wink