PREVIOUSLY IN OOPS: THE DESTRUCTION OF UTOPIA...
He let out a breath. From the tone in Lois’ voice, she must have seen at least part of the exchange between him and Cat. And she was upset. He couldn’t blame her. He was upset, too. Still, what he couldn’t quite tell was whether she was upset with him or with Cat. Or if it even mattered. She was upset. That was enough.
“Lois,” he said softly, walking over and taking the seat next to her at the table. “Don’t let her upset you.”
“Huh?” Lois asked, her scowl turning to confusion.
“I mean, I wouldn’t blame you if you were upset. After all, I’m upset. But...” He took Lois’ hands in his own. “...Lois, honey, she just isn’t worth it.”
Lois jerked her hands out of his.
“Honey, you know I love you,” Clark rushed to continue. “You know I’d never do anything to jeopardize what we...”
“Clark, have you lost your mind?” Lois demanded, springing to her feet and taking a few steps back to put some distance between them.
AND NOW...
Part Two:
* * * * * * * * *
Clark Kent had lost his mind. There was no other possible explanation for it.
Oh, she’d noticed the way Cat had been all over him. Not that it mattered to her, of course. No. Not at all. What Clark Kent did on his own time was his business. And she couldn’t care less if he wanted to make a fool of himself with that floozy. Just as long as he kept his hands off her copy!
But then he’d made his grand announcement about having a wife and that he’d never cheat on her. That revelation had come as a bit of a shock. Somehow, she hadn’t thought that Kent was married. Still, why shouldn’t he be? And just to be clear, she couldn’t have cared less about that either!
But when he’d come into the conference room, taking her hands, telling her not to let Cat upset her and calling her honey... The man was a stark-raving lunatic! Was it any wonder she liked to work alone?
“Lois, what’s wrong?”
Her eyebrows rose.
“Look, Lois, just talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong. I promise that...” Suddenly, his voice trailed off and she watched his eyebrows knit together in confusion. “What did you do to your hair?” he asked out of nowhere.
Her eyebrows rose. What was going to happen next? Should she call for help? Did Perry have any idea what a wack-job Kent was when he’d hired him?
“What are you...”
His voice trailed off again as he suddenly seemed to be struck by another thought. She watched suspiciously as he rushed over to the papers she had been studying earlier, flipping them to the side as he appeared to speed read them faster than she would have believed possible. Of course, he obviously wasn’t reading. But when he started dropping papers on the floor as he attempted to look at them all, she finally stepped forward.
“Hey! What do you think you’re...”
“EPRAD? Prometheus Space Station? Messenger explosion?” He looked up at her. “What day is it?”
“Friday,” she responded in confusion.
“No! The date!”
“May fourteenth.” When he continued to look at her expectantly, she continued. “1993.”
“Oh, god,” Clark breathed before slumping into a chair at the table and burying his head in his hands.
* * * * * * * * *
Married? When had Lois gotten married? Or more importantly... “Who?”
“What are you talking about, Clark?”
“Who did you marry?”
“Who do you think I...” She suddenly seemed distracted, looking around at his apartment in confusion. “Where’s my stuff?”
“What stuff?” Clark asked, having problems understanding the leaps she seemed to be making. As far as he knew, Lois hadn’t been seeing anyone since Luthor. He supposed that to an outside observer, one might wonder if she was involved with Superman. At least, enough criminals seemed to think of her as Superman’s girlfriend. But he wasn’t a casual observer. He was Superman - so that ruled out Superman.
“My stuff!” Lois insisted. “Come on, Clark. This isn’t funny. After the day I’ve had, the last thing I need is for you to be making jokes. My stuff. Where’s...” She suddenly stopped, as if another thought had occurred to her. “Wait a minute! Why isn’t Mayson dead?”
Clark’s eyebrows rose. “Lois, are you feeling all right?”
“No! Obviously! Clark, what’s going on here? Why were you kissing Mayson?”
“Actually, and not that it’s any of your business, but she was kissing me.”
“Right! And you were what? Just some innocent victim, I suppose?” She folded her arms across her chest, unconsciously mirroring Superman’s stance.
“Look, Lois, I’m not sure why you’re acting like this. But if you have a problem with me kissing Mayson...”
“Of course I have a problem with you kissing Mayson!” Lois exclaimed. “What the hell do you think has me so upset?” She glanced around his apartment again. “Other than the fact that all my stuff is missing and that Mayson is even alive and that I can’t remember anything about this day since we were in the elevator.”
She was no longer looking at him, appearing lost in her own thoughts.
“Lois, maybe you should sit down,” Clark said, taking her arm and leading her over to the couch.
“Mayson’s alive,” she said thoughtfully. “Yet we saw her...” Suddenly, she spun around to face him. “Clark, what day is it?” she demanded.
“Wednesday.”
“No! The date.”
“October twenty-seventh.” When she continued to look at him expectantly, he continued. “1994.”
“Oh, god,” Lois said, stumbling down the few remaining steps into his living room and collapsing onto the couch before burying her head in her hands.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois stepped cautiously forward. She really didn’t have a lot of experience dealing with these types of mental problems - this full break Clark seemed to be having with reality. Still, he was obviously in distress.
“There, there,” she said, awkwardly patting him on the back. “Listen, I’m probably not the right person to help you at the moment. But I know a really good psychologist. I’m sure she...”
“No!” Clark’s head snapped up. “Don’t you see? No one can know. Until I can figure out how this happened, I have to prevent anyone else from knowing.”
“I’m sure you feel that way now, Clark. But it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Once you get some help, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Mental illness is not something to be ashamed of.” She glanced towards the door to the conference room, trying to figure out how long it would take her to get Perry.
“No, Lois, you don’t understand.” He spun out of his chair.
She felt her blood pressure rise when he unconsciously situated himself between her and the door. Her eyes shot to the door and back to him. Her escape route was cut off.
God, why hadn’t she seen it before? When she’d met Clark Kent a few days before, she’d thought he was just a harmless hack from Nowheresville. But looking at him now, she suddenly realized just how big and muscular he was. And he was standing between her and freedom.
“I do understand, Clark,” she said in her most placating voice.
“Don’t patronize me, Lois!”
“Okay, okay. No patronizing,” she said, hoping that statement didn’t sound as patronizing to him as it did to her.
Clark ran a hand through his hair, obviously agitated.
“Look, Lois. Please. I... Okay so this might sound a little bit crazy...” He ran his hand through his hair again.
“I don’t think you should use that word, Clark. It’s not crazy. You’re just having a little... break from reality. It doesn’t make you crazy.”
“Lois!”
She fell silent, again contemplating whether she could make it past him and out the door to where she would find the safety of her colleagues. She at least wished the blinds were up on the conference room windows. Still, surely if she got into real trouble and screamed, someone would come to her rescue.
“I’m from the future, Lois. Three and a half years, to be precise.”
“Oh, well, that certainly explains it.”
“Look, I told you it would sound crazy, but it’s true.” He growled. “Why couldn’t I have leapt into myself sometime after we first met H.G. Wells?” he muttered.
“The writer? Didn’t he die?”
“Only in this time.”
“So in the future he comes back to life?”
“No, but... Lois, H.G. Wells invented a time machine.”
“He wrote a book about inventing a time machine, Clark. You’re just confused about...”
“No! Lois, he actually invented a time machine. Now I don’t know exactly what is happening. But I need your help to get back.”
“Back to the future?”
“Exactly. You see there’s this man from the future... Tempus and he is constantly trying to destroy Utopia, and to do that, he thinks...” Clark was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness and he grabbed onto the back of a chair as the world began to spin. “Lois...” he cried out as the world faded around him.
* * * * * * * * *
“Lois, what is going on here?” Clark asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Lois mumbled without looking up. “Why couldn’t I have jumped in after we met Herb?”
Clark sat down next to her. “Try me, Lois,” he said softly.
She finally looked up at him. “I’m not supposed to be here.”
“Here? As in my apartment? I don’t...”
“No! Here - as in 1994.”
“I don’t...”
“Clark, I’m from the future. See I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” she said, obviously seeing something on his face.
“No, no, it’s not... Okay, so maybe it is. Lois, you’ve got to admit, it’s a little... far-fetched. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
She laughed without humor. “Oh, fine. Just dandy.” She looked over at him. “Clark, I know you’re finding this hard to believe but... can you just suspend your disbelief for a moment? I’ve got to find a way home and... I need your help.”
“Lois...”
“What if I told you that future me knows that you’re Superman?” she asked, struck by a sudden inspiration.
“What... how...” He suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
“I told you, I’m from the future. Trust me, the me of this time doesn’t have a clue. So... do you believe me now?”
He looked at her for a long moment, silently debating her startling revelation. But this was Lois, so... “Where do you want to start?” he asked.
She finally gave him a smile. It was the type of smile he would do almost anything to see - even if it meant helping her supposedly get back to the future. “Okay, well, I’m not really sure. One minute I was...” She hesitated slightly. “...in the elevator at the Daily Planet. The next I was practically standing outside your door.”
“So what makes you think that this is a different time? Maybe you... I don’t know, just got thinking so hard that you can’t remember your trip to my place?”
She raised her eyebrow. “And found myself in 1994?”
“So where were you expecting to be?”
“In...” Her voice trailed off. “I’m not sure how much I should tell you.”
“Why?”
“What if something I tell you changes the future?”
He let out a breath. “Well, it’s going to be difficult to help you without your being able to talk to me.”
“I know. I know. It’s just...”
“But you have told me some things already,” Clark continued. “Lois, you said you’re married?”
“Yes,” she answered cautiously.
“To whom?”
A grin appeared momentarily at one corner of her mouth. “I have a feeling that’s exactly the type of thing I can’t tell you.”
“Okay, fair enough. I guess I should have known that.”
“I suspect you did know that,” Lois said. “After all, how would knowing that help me get home?”
“Just tell me this... Are you happy?”
Her face relaxed into a smile. “Very.”
“Am I?”
“Clark,” she warned, knowing exactly what he was doing. After all, from what she now knew, he had always loved her. So in his mind, if she told him that she was married and he was happy, then there would be only one possible conclusion.
“Okay, fine. But... I really think I need to know how far in the future you’re from.”
She studied him for a long moment. “Can we just leave that for the moment? It might become necessary, but... well, until we come up with a plan, I think it might be best to keep that to myself.”
Clark nodded. “So you mentioned something about someone named Herb... Wait! Mayson is dead in the future? What happened to her?”
“I can’t tell you that, Clark. It could change the past - or well, I guess the future. But... you know what I mean.”
He nodded. “Besides, given that you won’t tell me how far in the future you come from, she might have died in her late seventies.”
“She might have,” Lois said before hesitating. If she told him what happened, Clark would undoubtedly change the future. After all, Mayson’s death was only weeks away. And if anything could change the future, it would be having someone not die when they were supposed to. Not only that, there was always the question of how Mayson might have changed Lois’ private past. Still, how could she not tell him when it was in her hands to save Mayson’s life? If only she could ask Clark what he thought she should do? But then... why couldn’t she? After all, it was his past, too.
“Clark, I need to ask you something.”
“You can ask me anything.”
“If I know that something bad is going to happen, and I know that by telling you, you will feel compelled to change it and thereby change the future...”
“Should you tell me anyway?”
She nodded.
“How bad is it?”
“Bad.”
“And there is no way you can change it in the future?”
She shook her head.
“And you really think that telling me might change your past?”
She hesitated. She and Clark had just been starting out when Mayson died. If Mayson and Dan had both been alive at the same time, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that Clark might have turned to Mayson when she had turned to Dan. No. No. She would never have turned to Dan if Clark hadn’t been so distracted after Mayson’s death that he had made her believe that she was yesterday’s news.
She flinched slightly. No, that wasn’t exactly true. There was also the issue of Clark’s continual disappearing act - which had made her unsure of Clark’s feelings. She may well have still turned to Dan. And if Clark had turned to Mayson when she turned to Dan... well, who knew what might have happened then?
She suspected it probably wouldn’t have hurt their relationship in the long run, but... could she be absolutely certain about that?
“It could devastate it,” she finally admitted.
He nodded slowly before turning his thoughts inward for a moment. “I’ve never been in your situation,” he said. “So I really can’t tell you what to do. But I’ve always believed that you do what is right and leave the consequences to tend to themselves. But, Lois, as I said, I’ve never been in your situation before.”
She chewed on her lower lip as she thought about his comment. She could save Mayson’s life. One word to Clark would do that. But what if it destroyed her future with Clark? Still, how could she ever be happy if she went back to the future knowing that she’d let Mayson die just so she could be with Clark?
“Clark, Mayson will be killed by a car bomb.”
“What? How do I...”
“Okay, look, I need you just to listen, okay. You can’t tell her this.”
“She’d write me off as crazy for one thing.”
“Exactly. And I’m not going to tell you when it is going to happen.”
“Then how do I stop it? Lois, what am I supposed to do? Follow her around, maybe for years, until I locate a bomb in her car?”
She let out a slow breath. “What I will tell you is this... The day after our first date, we kiss.”
His eyebrows rose.
“Not our almost first date, you understand. But our first date. While we are kissing, Mayson will be killed by a bomb in her car.”
“So instead of kissing you, I should be...”
“No! Clark, that kiss...” She hesitated, torn. That kiss had been the beginning. After slamming the door in his face the night before, she’d honestly believed she’d blown everything. That kiss had set them back on track.
“Lois, what are you saying I should do?”
“We took a long time getting out of the Daily Planet that night - putting our story to bed. We were on our way over to give our statements to Mayson when it happened. Just... get us out of the Daily Planet a little earlier. Please, Clark. That kiss... it’s important. But...” Tears came to her eyes. “...I guess if it comes down to a choice between saving Mayson and... You have to save Mayson. But...”
“You want to make sure I kiss you, too.”
She shrugged. “Maybe it’s crazy, but I think it’s kind of important.”
His hand came up to cup her cheek. “I happen to think that any time I can kiss you is kind of important. But knowing that Mayson is in danger... You said she was killed by a bomb in her own car?”
Lois nodded.
“Then I can probably just dart out for coffee or something earlier in the evening and dismantle the bomb.”
Her expression lightened. “Just remember to come back to walk over to the D.A.’s office with me?”
“I promise, Lois.”
She let out a breath. “Thank you, Cl...” Her voice trailed off as a wave of dizziness came upon her.
“What’s wrong, Lois?”
Lois didn’t answer as she watched the world fade around her.
* * * * * * * * *
Men and women in long, flowing, colorful robes sat in what appeared to be a modern version of a Greek amphitheater, watching tensely the scene play out in front of them on the large virtual screen.
Laddy was the one to speak first - which was to be expected. The most outspoken member of the council, he was an unusual thing in Utopia - a pessimist. “If Lois thinks Clark’s crazy...”
“...she might actually manage to get herself reassigned,” Andrus completed, from his position next to the screen. Not a member of the council himself, Andrus had been instructed to inform the council the moment it had become apparent that somehow the past was being changed.
“Well, she tried not to be partnered with Clark in the original history and Perry White still continued to assign them stories together. So we may yet be all right,” William, also known as William the Wise, said, injecting a note of reason into the nervous atmosphere. There was a reason he was Chief of the Council.
“There will still be a time quake,” Laddy said.
“We’ve survived those before,” William responded.
“What’s a time quake?” Remi asked, looking around at the rest of the group. Remi’s small size was no barrier to the amount of respect she generated among the other members of the council, both as a descendant of Lois and Clark, but also for her own sensible outlook.
“Oh, right,” William said. “You weren’t part of the counsel when Tempus was wreaking havoc in the past last time, were you?”
Remi shook her head.
“Well, when something is changed in the past, it causes a ripple in time. That ripple manifests itself as an... earthquake, I guess - as any changes made to the past have to catch up and change our current realities. Little changes aren’t that bad. But, at least in theory, the very foundation of Utopia could be destroyed by one of these quakes.”
“Is there anyway we can find out how bad this one might be?” Remi asked, horrified by the explanation.
“All we need to do is to run this history a little further forward,” Andrus said before proceeding to do just that. “It seems we have something here,” he said, stopping on a place in the history that was flashing - indicating that a change had taken place. The time stamp identified it as later the same day that Clark had what Lois termed, ‘his breakdown.’
They all fell silent as they watched the scene play out before them.
“Perry, come on. I’ve tried working with Kent. I really have. But this... Perry, he’s seriously wacko.”
“Lois, settle down. He was obviously just funning with you.”
“He wasn’t joking, Perry. He really thought he was from the future.” She rose out of her chair and began pacing Perry White’s office. “Now, you know I’m as much of a team player as the next reporter, but... Okay, okay. Maybe not. But still... you can’t really expect me to work with him after this?”
“Great shades of Elvis, honey. He was joking.”
She stopped in front of his desk, placing both hands on its surface so that she could glare at her boss. “No, he wasn’t.”
“Isn’t it possible that it’s been so long since someone has actually had the nerve to joke with you that you don’t know when they’re doing it anymore?” When she still didn’t back off, he sighed. “Fine. I’ll talk to him. But if he says he was just joking, I’ll expect you to keep working with him. I will tell him, however, that he should not joke like that with you again.”
“Perry...” Lois began to object.
“That’s the best I can do. Now, have you figured out why the Messenger exploded yet?”
“This isn’t over, Perry,” she said, straightening up and heading for the door to his office.
As she left, the council heard Perry mutter, “Great shades of Elvis,” before rising to his feet and following Lois into the newsroom. “Kent, in my office,” he said before returning to his chair.
“Yes, sir?” Clark said, stepping into the office.
“Close the door, son.”
Clark did as told before taking the chair Perry gestured for him to sit in.
Perry ran a hand through his hair as if not entirely certain where to begin. Finally, he just took a deep breath and plunged into the deep end. “You don’t really think you’re from the future, do you?”
“Of course not. Why would you even ask that?”
“According to Lois, you made that claim earlier this morning. I trust you remember?”
“Maybe,” Clark said, looking slightly confused.
“So I take it you were just funning with Lois?”
“Well, if I said I’m from the future, I certainly wasn’t serious,” Clark responded carefully.
“Well, you should know that Lois isn’t really too familiar with people joking around with her. Just stick to getting the story until the two of you get to know each other better. And, please, no more talk about being from the future.”
“Yes, sir.”
Perry let out a breath. “Fine. Then git. Tell Lois you were just joking and get me the story on the Messenger explosion.”
“Yes, sir,” Clark said, rising to his feet and heading out of the office.
Andrus held a hand up to his ear to hear the report coming in from his office. After a moment, he let out a sigh of relief and turned to address the council. “I’ve got one further piece of good news. My team has come across an entry in Clark Kent’s journal about the incident. Apparently, he wrote the whole thing off to some strange mood. He never did have a clear memory of the event - so he didn’t make a connection to future interference. He said it was more like some sort of bizarre dream. And since it never happened again, it didn’t seriously compromise their future relationship.”
William let out a breath of relief. “Okay, then. We should still brace for a time quake. But it shouldn’t be that bad. We’ve managed to dodge the bullet on that one.”
“Never quite understood what that expression meant,” Laddy muttered under his breath. “Back when there were bullets, could people actually dodge them?”
“So do we know yet what caused Clark to leap back in time?” William asked, ignoring Laddy’s comment.
“I still have people checking it out,” Andrus said.
“Fine. Then when you know...” William’s voice trailed off when Andrus raised his hand to his ear again.
“What?” Laddy demanded when he watched all the color drain from Andrus’ face.
“We’ve got another time quake coming in. This one is even more substantial.”
“Clark again?”
“No. This one was caused by Lois. Apparently she also leapt back in time and gave past Clark some information that enabled him to prevent Mayson Drake’s death.”
“Who’s Mayson Drake?” William asked.
“Isn’t she the woman who became interested in Clark when Lois was still vacillating about her feelings?” Remi asked.
“This could be a disaster,” Laddy said, maintaining his tradition of being the voice of gloom and doom. “At the very least, if Mayson goes on to have children, the time quake will significantly change the structure of our society - by possibly creating a whole line of people who should never have been born. At the worst, if she and Clark get together, then Utopia itself could be in danger of collapsing.”
Still, in spite of his overly-negative prediction, no one disagreed. Instead, they all looked towards Andrus who was listening intently to his ear piece.
* * * * * * * * *
to be continued...
ML
