PREVIOUSLY IN OOPS: THE DESTRUCTION OF UTOPIA...
Lois fought back the dizziness, trying to see through the darkness before realizing that the low lighting was a result of being seated in a restaurant.
“Lois, are you okay?”
She blinked, focusing on her dinner companion. What was Dan doing here? Her eyes widened when she realized when she was. Frustrated by what she had seen as Clark’s inability to commit, she had gone out with Dan.
Why, of all places, did she have to jump into the middle of a date with Dan Scardino? She was a married woman. She shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be doing this. She couldn’t. But... what about the future? Or was that the past?
AND NOW... PART SEVEN...
“Lois?”
She turned her tormented eyes on Dan.
“Are you okay?” he repeated.
She tried to give him a smile, but she knew it was wobbly.
“I thought we were having a good time. If I’ve said something to upset you...”
“No, Dan. It’s not...” Her voice trailed off.
“Look, if you want to call it a night and head home early...”
She didn’t answer, looking down at the half eaten food on her plate. She and Clark had agreed not to do anything to change the past. But was a date with Dan what Clark had in mind? She doubted it.
Still, if she hadn’t decided to date Dan, would she and Clark have continued dancing around each other for months, years even? After all, dating Dan had shown her just how much she wanted to be with Clark. And she suspected that her dating Dan had made Clark realize just how easily he could lose her. He had proposed almost immediately after she’d ended her relationship with Dan. Would he have done that if Dan had never been in the picture?
“No, Dan. I’m fine. I just...” She noticed the dance floor. Maybe dancing would be easier than talking at the moment. She wasn’t exactly comfortable with the thought of being in Dan’s arms - especially while memories of her recent interlude with Clark were so close to the surface. Still, if she had to find something to say right now, the jig would be up. “Would you like to dance?”
* * * * * * * * *
Clark was suddenly aware that he was in his Superman suit, carrying an unconscious woman in his arms. Lois! But what... Fighting against the dizziness of the leap, he headed at full speed towards Metropolis General Hospital as he tried to figure out when he was. Studying the gash on her forehead, he suddenly remembered. Bob Fences had tried to blackmail foreign countries into paying him large quantities of money to compensate him for what Fences claimed were unfair trade barriers.
For the past week, Lois had, because of brainwashing by Fences, been putting herself in dangerous situations every time Fences wanted to pull a heist - thereby, effectively neutralizing Superman. When Lois and Clark had finally figured it out, and Superman had destroyed Fences’ weapon, Lois had been hurt.
Oh, yes, he could still remember the last time. The cold fear in his heart when he thought his cocky actions in melting the weapon had seriously injured Lois. Not that a head wound was ever something to fool around with. But at least this time he knew Lois would be fine.
His flying suddenly faltered when he remembered what had happened next. He’d broken up with Lois ‘for her own good,’ breaking her heart in the process. Well, that wouldn’t happen this time. He’d learned his lesson. And since they had gotten back together again, it wasn’t as if there would be any consequences if he didn’t break up with her this time. He’d only be saving them both a whole lot of unnecessary grief.
The decision made, he flew quickly towards Metropolis General.
* * * * * * * * *
Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat as necessary.
Lois forced herself to relax in Dan’s arms as he moved them around the dance floor. It was just a dance. It meant nothing. And, really, she had no one to blame but herself for finding herself in this position now. She’d chosen to date Dan of her own free will.
Okay, so he’d been exciting and attentive at a time when Clark had been pushing her away. But even then, she’d known what she wanted and it wasn’t Dan.
Still, she was here now - again. And she had to play this out, take it where it had gone the last time. She froze slightly when she remembered the passionate kiss Dan had given her when he’d taken her home that night. It had made her somewhat uncomfortable, even then. What was she supposed to do this time?
“Lois?”
She forced herself to relax when she realized that she had tensed up again with that final thought.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat as necessary.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark allowed the air currents to carry him as he flew his patrol over the city. After the hospital had released Lois, he’d taken her home, kissing her passionately outside the door before turning her over to Star’s care so that he could go out and fly his patrol. He would return later.
He could still hardly believe his faulty reasoning the last time he’d been at this particular point in time. Breaking up with Lois for her own good - to keep people from using her to get to Superman. And yet, in truth, her involvement with Clark Kent put a natural barrier between her and Superman - at least in people’s minds. Why would she be dating Clark Kent, maybe even marrying Clark Kent, if she and Superman were an item? Breaking up with her would, in all likelihood, make her more of a target not less.
He grinned, taking another sweep around the city, more for the pleasure of flying than for any need to check on the city once more. The city was quiet tonight. And, unlike the last time, he planned on spending a pleasant evening cuddling with Lois.
Last time, she asked him what was wrong when he’d left her after her trip to the hospital. He could still remember how sulky and withdrawn he had been that night. He’d been obsessing. It felt so good to do things differently this time. Not to hurt her - first with his silence, then with his speech. Not this time.
Patrick Sullivan. The name came unbidden to Clark’s mind. If he hadn’t broken up with Lois, she never would have gone out with Patrick Sullivan. But... that was a good thing, wasn’t it? After all, Sullivan had tried to kill her.
But... that was how they had stopped Sullivan’s terror spree. How many women had he sacrificed to his gods before Lois? Weren’t the deaths of a number of women the reason he and Lois had started their investigation in the first place? And how many more would he have killed if they hadn’t stopped him?
Clark stopped dead in the sky as another, infinitely more terrifying, thought struck him. If Lois hadn’t agreed to go out with Sullivan, would that have stopped the man from targeting her? After all, his old nursemaid had told Clark that Sullivan believed he loved Lois and so had to sacrifice her to the ancient gods. The way things had played out, Clark had gotten to Lois just in time. If they changed the circumstances, would they be as lucky the next time? Even a change of a couple minutes would have made him too late.
He closed his eyes. He might get away with this small change to history. But... could he really be sure that he wasn’t sparring Lois’ feelings only to sacrifice her life? He never should have broken up with her in the first place. But now that he had, did he dare change things?
Still, how could he break her heart again? He suddenly understood Lois’ comment about how much easier it was to keep the past the same in theory. In practice, he knew it was going to tear him apart.
* * * * * * * * *
“So...” Lois said as she unlocked the door to her apartment and turned towards Dan.
“So...” he responded, leaning against the doorframe. “I had a good time tonight, Lois.”
She smiled. “I did, too, Dan.” And after she finally managing to relax, she had enjoyed herself. Dan was still a lot of fun to be around.
Not that she’d appreciated his flirting as much this time. And doing such things as holding hands had often made her uncomfortable. Still, Dan had been a lively dinner companion - more than holding up his end when she had faltered. Yes, she still liked Dan. In fact, he only had one fault: he simply wasn’t Clark.
When he moved closer, she placed a hand on his chest.
“Good night, Dan,” she said, leaning closer to give him a peck on the cheek before turning and heading into her apartment.
Once she closed the door on his baffled face, she leaned against it and let out a long, slow breath. She could only hope she’d been charming enough and the kiss had been enough to keep him pursuing her a little bit longer. Okay, so maybe she had to kiss him. She had last time, after all. But... if he was hoping for something more than a chaste kiss on the cheek... No. No matter how much she needed to keep from changing the past, she simply was not able to contemplate anything more. And the passionate kiss he’d given her on this night in the past... No. No matter the cause she couldn’t betray Clark by letting Dan kiss her like that now.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark landed in Lois’ living room, decked out in the Superman suit only to find that Perry, Jimmy and Star were still there.
“Can I speak to Lois alone?” Superman asked.
Perry made a comment about needing to get to the gym anyway as he and Jimmy and Star headed towards the door, but Clark’s mind was already focused on Lois - on what he had to do. He had to break her heart.
Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, reminding himself that they had survived it before and would do so again, he headed into Lois’ bedroom.
“Lois, I feel horrible about this,” Clark said, gesturing to the bandage on her forehead.
“Clark, it wasn’t your fault. You saved my life.” He saw a slightly shy look on her face at the final comment and wondered if this was the first time he’d saved her life since she’d found out about his connection to Superman. He supposed it sort of was. After all, not long ago, she’d saved his life from Spenser Spenser.
Still, she was wrong in thinking he was the hero in this story. “No. I got... careless. I was overconfident. No matter how bad the situation is, I always think I’m strong enough or fast enough to fix it.”
“And you are,” Lois insisted. “You saved a whole city full of people from being microwaved like popcorn.”
“But you... still got hurt. I’m used to saving people, not getting them injured.”
“You can’t control everything. You can’t protect everybody all the time, Clark. It’s impossible.”
He gave her a sad smile. She sounded so much like his parents. Still... he focused his eyes on the floor, wishing he could think of another way to handle this situation.
“But we can handle it,” Lois continued. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “In fact, Clark, there’s something I want to tell you.”
“There’s something I need to tell you, too.”
“I know this isn’t the best time, or the most romantic, but...”
Oh god, she was going to accept his proposal. He hadn’t realized that last time. He couldn’t let that happen. Not now. So he rushed to interrupt her. “Lois, I love you too much to ever let something like this happen to you again. I know I can’t control everything, but I can control people not using you to get to me. That’s why I came. To tell you...” His voice cracked. This hurt as much this time as it had the last time. “I don’t think this is going to work out. I’m sorry.”
Hearing a cry for help which may or may not require his immediate attention, he looked back at Lois - but seeing it as a perfect way to extradite himself from the current situation, he seized onto it. “I gotta go,” he said before disappearing in a gust of wind.
“Clark,” she breathed after him and he could hear the hurt and confusion in her voice. The sound tore his heart apart.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois was dreading work. This had been such a difficult time in her relationship with Clark. Still, she headed towards the Daily Planet. It was a work day, after all.
“Hi.”
She turned towards the sound of the familiar voice as she waited for her coffee and smiled when she saw Clark. Then, remembering that they weren’t exactly getting along, she broke eye contact and turned back to the vendor.
“So how was your date with Agent Scardino?” Clark asked with the same amount of contempt she always heard in his voice when he said the man’s name.
“Now there’s my favorite sight in the whole world,” Lois said. “The truck that delivers our payroll checks.”
“Okay, if you don’t want to talk about it, I understand.”
Lois finally turned towards him and whatever good intentions she’d had to maintain her distance from Clark vanished in the light of the pain she could see in his eyes. Without thinking, she grabbed his tie, pulling him to her so that she could give him the very kiss she’d avoided giving Dan the night before, telling him without words how she felt about him.
Suddenly, what she was doing struck her and she forced herself to break the kiss, breathing heavily. Damn! How could she have done that? Hadn’t she and Clark decided that, no matter what, they wouldn’t do anything to change the past?
“Lois...” Clark began.
“Help! Police!”
The yelled words interrupted whatever comment Clark had been about to make - a comment which, Lois feared, could have changed the past. As a result, she was almost relieved when she saw the men robbing the payroll truck.
“I’ll call the cops!” Clark said before disappearing into the Daily Planet.
A moment later, Superman showed up.
Lois smiled. Why had she never seen it? It was so painfully obvious to her now. And if she recalled correctly, Superman was about to get his first exposure to red kryptonite, which meant that in a moment, he wouldn’t likely care about her kissing him any more than he had cared about anything else. Who would have thought she could be grateful for red kryptonite?
* * * * * * * * *
He couldn’t stand it. He honestly couldn’t stand it. Last time he’d been too caught up in feeling noble, not to mention his own pain, to think much about Lois.
This time, he found himself sitting on top of her apartment building, trying mentally to send her comfort. How he ended up standing in front of the door to her apartment, he was entirely uncertain. But once there, he knew what he had to do. He was still her best friend. And he had once promised her that no matter what else changed between them, that wouldn’t.
And right now she needed her best friend.
He raised his hand and knocked. It was a minute or so later before he heard her unlocking the door. When she swung it open, he could see the tear stains on her cheeks.
“Clark,” she breathed softly, even as new tears welled up in her eyes.
He stepped into her apartment immediately, closing the door before sweeping her into his arms, holding her as she silently cried against him.
“I can’t take back what I said, Lois,” he said softly, lest he give her the wrong idea and increased her pain.
“But, Clark...” she said, pulling back.
She fell silent when he placed a finger over her lips.
“Not tonight, Lois. Please, don’t try to talk me out of it tonight. I can’t change my mind on this.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I promised you once that no matter what happened, I’d always be your friend. And I figured tonight...” He shrugged.
The corner of her mouth pulled down. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” she said, not able to hold eye contact as the tears started again to flow. “But right now, if you’re not here to tell me you were wrong and beg me to take you back, I don’t want you here.”
He pulled in a sharp breath as tears came to his own eyes. “Lois,” he breathed.
But she was already stepping around him to open the door. “Please leave,” she said softly, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the floor outside her door.
He hesitated a moment, wanting more than anything to recant everything he had said to her, to tell her he loved her and that he couldn’t let her go. But he couldn’t. Knowing that, he reluctantly stepped out into the hall. He turned back towards her, hoping for one last chance to convince her to let him stay but she had already closed the door.
Lowering his glasses, he looked through the door just in time to see her sink to the floor, her back to the door, and drop her head into her hands as sobs shook her body.
He was just about to raise his hand again when he felt the world around him beginning to fade.
* * * * * * * * *
“Lois, you know there is such a thing as individual responsibility,” Clark said as they rode the elevator to the newsroom.
“What does that mean?” Lois asked, glad that this new, apathetic Clark hadn’t mentioned the kiss since returning after his Superman appearance.
“The payroll company is responsible for the safety of the cheques, not Superman. Let them take care of it.”
“What about the responsibility of the individual to the society as a whole?” Lois asked, needing to keep Clark focused on this rather than their kiss. “The social contract that obligates one person to help others for the betterment of everyone?”
“If that’s what you feel, great,” Clark said as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out together. “Otherwise, I say, kick back. Enjoy. Do your own thing.”
But Lois was no longer listening because as she and Clark stepped into the newsroom, she saw Dan and Mayson, both looking like kids who had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, jump apart slightly when they saw her and Clark.
Mayson Drake. She was alive. Lois supposed that was the good news. And if Mayson and Dan were... nah. That was crazy.
She grabbed onto the banister as the world around her began to fade. She let out a breath of relief. Anywhere would be better than here.
* * * * * * * * *
“Well!” William asked when Andrus returned. “Do we know what’s causing this?”
“Not exactly,” Andrus said, looking around at the council nervously.
“What does ‘not exactly’ mean?” Laddy demanded. “Do you know or don’t you?”
“It means... Well, we know that Tempus is still in his cozy jail cell - acting as sarcastic as ever. We questioned him, but... I’m afraid the art of interrogation has been lost over the years. He seemed to enjoy giving us vague and often contradictory answers. And we can’t know for sure if he didn’t...” Andrus’ voice trailed off and he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Our time watchers think that he might have done this in the past - before we caught him - and that this is only catching up with us now. Or that it’s something he will do in the future and...”
“Am I the only one getting a headache?” Laddy asked.
“It’s all very complicated and... I can’t say I really understand it myself.”
“So the time watchers still think that Tempus is our most likely suspect?” William asked.
“That seems to be the consensus. So...” He looked up at the time monitor. “...how’s it going here?”
“Well, so far we seem to have managed to avoid any serious disasters. Although we can expect a few minor time quakes,” William said.
“But it’s just a matter of time before they do change something. And if that happens...” Laddy said, not bothering to elaborate further.
“Well, why doesn’t someone go back and fix this?” Andrus asked.
“Until we know why it’s happening, how are we supposed to stop it? It’s not as if there is some way we can tie down their souls so they don’t leap,” William said. “That’s why it’s so important that we find out why this is happening. Only then do we have a chance of stopping it.”
“What about going back and talking to Lois and Clark?” Andrus asked hopefully.
“And say what?” asked Laddy. “For all we know, anything we would say to them would end up doing more damage.”
Andrus let out a breath of frustration, suddenly understanding the problem.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark was looking into the eyes of John H. Dillinger as he again regained cognizance of his surroundings.
* * * * * * * * *
to be continued...
ML
