PREVIOUSLY IN OOPS: THE DESTRUCTION OF UTOPIA...
“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.
AND NOW... PART EIGHT...
There was no time to do anything but pretend to be shot when Dillinger fired his gun at Clark. Grasping his chest, Clark stumbled slightly, falling, as if in slow motion to the floor.
“Clark,” Lois gasped, reaching out and grabbing at him as if trying to stop the inevitable from happening.
He heard her pain. He hadn’t last time. Last time, he’d only known one sensation. Shock. He’d been shot - or rather, Clark had - at point blank range. There was nothing to do but pretend to be dead.
This time, he heard Lois’ pain. He felt her hands on him as she gently touched his face and chest.
“You moron,” Capone said. “What did you do that for?”
Clark heard Lois’ heavy breathing and knew that she was doing an unsuccessful job at fighting off tears. He wanted more than anything to reassure her. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything that might change the past - and it was sheer torture.
For some reason, he hadn’t realized at the time how deeply his death would affect Lois. He still wasn’t sure how he could have been so insensitive. Of course Lois would be devastated. Even without his current knowledge that she had been falling in love with him, having her best friend shot in front of her would have been devastating.
Why hadn’t he told her he wasn’t really dead the moment she was safely back at her apartment? Hadn’t he trusted her enough to tell her his secret? Hadn’t he cared enough about how badly she was hurting to ease her pain?
“Let’s get out of here,” Capone continued. “And take the stiff. I can’t afford to be linked to a murder.”
Clark remained limp as hands grabbed him roughly and began pulling him away.
“Clark...”
Clark heard Lois’ anguished cry as he was pulled from her. In fact, he heard her sobs the entire time he was in the back of the gangster’s car until, finally, they dumped his body off in an alley and he was able to out fly the sound of her tears.
It was an hour or so later and Clark was pacing the floor of the old farmhouse impatiently, waiting for his mother to get off the phone. Not that it made any difference. There was still nothing he could do.
“That was Mr. White,” Martha said as she hung up. “He was very nice. Wanted to know if there was anything he could do for us.”
“Did he say anything about Lois?”
“Just that she was taking it pretty hard.”
Clark pulled in a long, slow breath. He could remember the last time. Had he actually found some comfort in that fact? How callous could he have been?
If he had it to do over again, he would have gone to Lois and told her everything. It would have been the right thing to do. But he’d been so obsessed with the idea that she had to love Clark rather than Superman. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.
It wouldn’t have brought Clark back - at least until he figured out the idea of pretending to use Dr. Hamilton’s machine. But he could have saved her so much heartache.
And it wasn’t as if he hadn’t trusted her. After all, she had been his best friend for over a year. He’d known she’d never use it against him or write the story for the front page of the paper - no matter how many awards she could have gotten for it. But still, he’d refused to even consider the possibility of telling her the truth. And he’d put her through hell because of it.
Given the amount of pain he’d inflicted, he could hardly believe she hadn’t dumped him the moment she found out he was Superman.
Still, he couldn’t do anything to change it now. After all, Lois finding out that Clark Kent and Superman were one and the same at this juncture would definitely change the past.
He felt a guilty sense of relief when the world began to fade around him and he knew that soon he would be out of there. After all, anywhere had to be better than here.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois was still trying to figure out when she was. She knew where she was, of course. She was in the Daily Planet, talking to Jimmy. Or... well, listening to him talk.
He held up a file. “Carter Clavens. Rich, powerful, healthy, dead. Fell thirty stories. Plop.”
Lois crinkled her eyebrows. None of that meant anything to her. “Suicide?” she asked, trying to put the pieces together.
“Exercycle. Bike went right out a window. With him on it.”
Her eyebrows shot up. Surely she would have remembered something like that. “How?”
“By itself.”
“By itself. As in...” She gestured with her hands.
“Cops said it’s like the bike had a mind of its own or something.”
Nope. Nothing. Not ringing a single bell. Was this before Clark or after? She spotted Clark making his way across the newsroom, her eyes automatically going to his left hand. He was wearing a wedding ring, but... well, could she be sure it was hers? After all, maybe either she or Clark had done something to change the past and... No! She was not going there.
She redirected her attention to his face. He looked serious. “Clark?” she asked, forgetting about the exercise bike’s unusual activity and her concerns about their marital status in the light of his expression. Something was wrong.
“Could we talk?” Clark asked. “Privately?”
It was only moments later when Lois found herself leaning against the conference table, watching Clark close the blinds in the conference room. She was now reasonably certain that either something had happened that had changed their past - after all, she’d seen Mayson Drake during her last leap - or that she was actually in their future.
“I just came from Star Labs,” Clark finally said, turning towards her.
“Okay,” she said cautiously, feeling as if she was treading on quick sand. Still, by the expression on Clark’s face it was obvious... “This isn’t good news, is it?”
Clark seemed to struggle to find words. “Honey, Dr. Klein ran every test he could. The poor guy could hardly face me. But he said Superman’s biology and an Earth woman’s are... incompatible for reproduction.”
She didn’t even have to pretend to be stunned. This must be what every person in a time-travel television show or movie had ever meant when they said it wasn’t good to know too much about one’s own future.
Tears unexpectedly welled up in Lois’ eyes. She hadn’t thought much about having children. Wasn’t even sure she wanted children. In fact, if anybody had asked her before she met Clark, she’d have said she wasn’t the type of person to want children. But to have the very option taken away from her so quickly, so unexpectedly...
She bent over, suddenly struggling to catch her breath. It felt as if she’d just been kicked in the gut, leaving her breathless. If only she’d had some warning, if only she’d known that he’d gone for tests, maybe she would have had time to prepare herself for the news. Her entire world narrowed down to one simple task - trying to get air into her lungs.
“Lois...” Clark’s voice sounded very far away.
She felt hands moving her into a chair. Of all the things Clark could have said, this was the least expected. She lowered her head until it was between her knees.
“Lois, please... honey, are you okay?”
She’d heard someone say once that although not every woman wanted kids, every woman wanted to be able to have kids. She’d never understood that comment until now. God, if only she could get a real breath into her lungs.
She suddenly felt a paper bag being thrust into her hands.
“Breath into it,” Clark said directing the paper bag up to cover her face. Her hands trembled as she took the bag, gasping breaths into it until finally it felt as if air was making its way into her body. She closed her eyes as she again got control.
She finally looked up into Clark’s concerned eyes. His devastated eyes.
That fact brought her back to the present and she knew in an instant that Clark’s heart was breaking, too. It put her own pain into perspective. He was struggling, fighting to hold it together for her sake. And she wasn’t making this any easier for him.
That realization brought tears to her eyes. How long had they been trying to get pregnant? Had each stumbling block been devastating for him? For her? Her hand came up to gently stroke his cheek, even as she felt begin slipping down her own.
A sense of loss permeated her being. Incompatible. Longing for Clark to hold her, to tell her that they would get through this, that their love would be enough, she leaned forward, practically falling against her husband of the future.
“I told myself I’d never make you cry,” Clark said, gently putting his arms around her. “I’m sorry.”
She let herself hold onto him and wept against him until the world began to fade around her.
* * * * * * * * *
“This could be disastrous,” Laddy said as he stared in horror at the scene in the conference room. “So far, we’ve been able to keep the two of them from... making a huge mistake because of their belief that getting pregnant would change the past. But now...”
“Nothing happened - or at least nothing happened that didn’t happen in the original history,” Andrus said. “So how did this leap change the past?”
“Nothing happened?” Laddy asked in disbelief. “How about the fact that Lois now thinks she knows something that she didn’t know before? She now believes that she and Clark can’t get pregnant. Given her new knowledge, how long do you think it’s going to be before she and Clark... do something that could get her pregnant? They could unwittingly destroy Utopia.”
He looked at the surrounding faces as they all stared back at him with dawning comprehension. Bad had just gotten a whole lot worse.
* * * * * * * * *
“Your life is so strange.”
Lois’ voice cut through the dizziness as Clark looked around him, trying to figure out when he was. He was in a cabin. It was night. Lois was lying in bed. And he was... lying on his side in the air near the foot of the bed. But...
He crashed to the floor when he realized when he was, just getting his feet under him in time to prevent him from damaging the floor.
“Clark, are you all right?”
“Uhh... yeah. Fine.” The Larry Smiley investigation. Larry Smiley was the relationship councilor who thought he was Noah. Building an ark and creating a machine to destroy the world with water saving only those couples he deemed ‘worthy.’
So what now? Right. This was the night where they began to heal the rift in their relationship that he had caused by his stupid ‘breaking up with Lois for her own good’ move.
Lois sat up in bed, looking at him curiously. “Clark, are you sure nothing is wrong?”
“No. No. Why would you think something is wrong? I...” His voice trailed off. Although they had worked through a number of things that night and the following day, the exact details of what they had discussed were kind of a blur to him. So... where did he even begin?
“Then aren’t you supposed to be saying something about how although floating is easy for you, this relationship stuff is new?” Lois asked.
He looked over at her in shock. “Lois?” he finally asked, somewhat tentatively. After all, she was obviously Lois, but... was she his Lois?
“Clark?” she asked back, also sounding tentative.
He let out a breath of relief, dropping the facade. “Lois,” he said, not even trying to disguise the longing in his voice.
Lois was out of bed and already half way to him. He opened his arms as she launched herself into them.
“Oh, god, Clark. I missed you,” she said, planting kisses over every available inch of his face. Suddenly, she stopped, pulling back to look at him as if unsure.
“My wife,” Clark breathed.
Her eyes welled up with tears as the kissing resumed, this time on both their parts. First, they were sinking to the their knees onto the floor. The next thing he knew, they were lying on the floor, both hands and mouths roaming wildly.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Clark said, breaking contact. Kneeling above her, he panted. “We can’t... pregnancy... changing....”
Her fingers on his lips stopped his disjointed explanation.
“Clark...” She whispered softly, moisture again accumulating in her eyes.
“Lois, what’s wrong?”
She pulled herself out from under him and went to sit on the bed, patting the spot beside her to indicate that he should join her there. He did, sitting silently as he waited for her to speak.
* * * * * * * * *
Although Lois had never been sure that she wanted children, there was one thing about which she had no doubt. Clark did. If she hadn’t known it before, the look of devastation in his eyes when he’d told her about not being able to give her children made that simple fact abundantly clear.
Part of her didn’t want to tell him. After all, they obviously didn’t find out about this for... at least a little while after they had gotten married. But there was no way Lois could have this knowledge and not tell Clark. It would hang over their relationship. And if there was one thing that they had promised each other, even before they got married, it was that there would be no more secrets between them.
“Clark...” she began, taking hold of his hand and watching it closely while she played with it.
“Hey, honey, what is it?” Clark asked softly. “You know you can tell me anything.”
She let out a jagged breath.
“Did... did something happen on one of your leaps?”
“Sort of. Well, not really, I just... I guess I learned something I probably shouldn’t know yet.”
“What?” Clark asked, sounding confused.
“Clark, we haven’t talked a lot about having children. Just... that discussion when I got the application for the Winki-Tink preschool in the mail and... I guess a little bit afterwards when you were obsessing about whether you’d make a good father.”
“I wasn’t obsessing.”
She looked up at him, meeting his teasing smile with a slightly sad smile of her own. “You were obsessing,” she said definitively before looking back at their intertwined hands.
“Lois?”
“Apparently, at some point in the future, you go to see Dr. Klein to find out if we can have children together and...” Her voice trailed off. “I don’t know why you went. I don’t know if we were having problems conceiving or... I don’t know.”
“And...”
“I leapt into a point in the future just after you got the results.” Her grip on his hand tightened and she looked directly into his eyes, desperately trying to give him strength. “Apparently, Superman can’t reproduce with an Earth woman,” she said gently.
He pulled in a jagged breath.
“Oh, Clark. I’m so sorry,” she said, pulling him into her arms. She found it slightly ironic that Clark had been the one comforting her in the future while she was the one comforting Clark now. “I know how much having children means to you,” she whispered before kissing the side of his neck, his ear, his cheek. She just wanted to make it all better.
She felt his body tremble and heard his breathing become labored as he kept his face buried in her shoulder. “Oh, my love,” she whispered against his hair even as she felt the dampness of his tears on her shoulder. In the future, he must have dealt with his own pain before coming to tell her - trying to make sure he could comfort her without having to deal with his grief. That was just so Clark - and she loved him for it. She closed her eyes and held him, wishing she knew how to make this easier for him, wishing she could take his pain into her body and thus free him of it.
She had no idea how long she held him like that. It could have been an eternity. It could have been a matter of minutes. But finally, his labored breathing stopped. She breathed a sigh of relief, hugging him tightly to her.
“I’m sorry, Lois. I’m so sorry.”
She heard his jagged whisper and felt her heart constrict. Pulling back from him, she cupped his large face in her small hands.
“Look at me, Clark,” she said when he still refused to make eye contact.
It seemed to take him a moment, but finally he forced himself to look at her. “I’m sorry, Lois. I never should have asked you to marry me before finding out if I could even give you...”
“Stop it, Clark! Stop it right now!” When she saw the look on his face, she instantly softened her voice. “You listen to me, poolboy. I didn’t marry you because I wanted super babies or any babies at all for that matter. I married you because I have never loved anyone the way I love you. And no one has ever loved me the way you do. I don’t even know if I want children, but I know you do. And I would give them to you in a heartbeat if it would make your pain go away. But don’t you ever... ever... suggest that you shouldn’t have asked me to marry you! Marrying you is the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me and I will not... What?” she demanded, noticing with irritation the almost amused look that had appeared on his face.
“I love you, Lois Lane,” he said softly, looking at her with a kind of awe.
“Oh, well, that’s okay then,” she said, provoking a smile from him.
He leaned in and she met him half-way as they reaffirmed their love for each other with a kiss that seemed to go on forever.
Neither said it. Neither dared. But the sudden knowledge that they couldn’t get pregnant was in the back of their minds as hands began to roam this time. Lois moaned as Clark’s hands slipped under the over-sized, grey t-shirt Clark had given her to sleep in. She followed suit, running one hand under his black t-shirt while the other pushed him back on the bed.
Tonight they needed each other. They needed to reaffirm their love, their commitment. They both needed the comfort only being lost in each other could give them.
Clark’s hands continued their quest, skimming up her sides, taking the t-shirt with them. She pulled back, raising her hands over her head so that he could slip it off her.
“It seems to me I owe you something,” Clark said.
“Clark,” she breathed, before laying back down on the bed to allow herself to simply feel, let him pleasure her the way she had him in the campground when they were teenagers. And it felt... good. So good. Just to let go of the pain and to simply get lost in the pleasure he was giving her so willingly until he made the world disappeared around her.
When she again regained awareness of her surroundings, she lifted her head, looking down into the eyes of her smiling husband.
“You look pretty pleased with yourself,” she couldn’t resist saying, taking note of the husky texture of her voice. His smile widened.
She sat up then, watching as he pulled off his black muscle shirt. Before joining her back on the bed, he took her into his arms as his mouth again found hers. Hands began to wander until soon they were moving as one, neither knowing where one ended and the other began until the damn burst, carrying both of them along on its powerful wave.
* * * * * * * * *
Exhausted, Lois collapsed back on the bed, looking up at her floating lover. He leaned in and softly kissed her before floating back off the bed and landing on his feet.
“What are you doing?” Lois asked, propping herself up on her arms as she watched Clark gathering up their discarded clothing.
“I just think we should get dressed again...”
She cocked her head to the side in question.
“...in case we leap.”
“But only our souls are leaping, so why would it matter if we...” She gestured down at herself.
“Because we wouldn’t want our past selves to wake up and wonder...”
“...what happened,” Lois completed for him. “Right. I almost forgot about that.” She took her clothes from him and dressed quickly before crawling under the covers and straightening the bed around her.
He followed suit, slipping back into his clothes before returning to a floating position beside the bed - this time, however, lying right next to her so that he could hold her hand.
Lois smiled at him, pulling his floating body in for a gentle kiss. “I guess we need to talk, too,” she said when she broke the kiss. And they did. In fact, they probably should have started talking about what each might have discovered as soon as they leapt in here, but after imparting to Clark the information she had obtained on the last leap, somehow the only thing on her mind had been the need to be there for him, to comfort him - and to let him comfort her.
“I guess we should,” Clark responded, but before he could say another word the world began to fade around them.
* * * * * * * * *
“Any sign of her being pregnant?” Remi asked anxiously.
Andrus stood at the front, hand over his ear as he listened intently to his earpiece.
“Well?” Laddy demanded when Andrus still didn’t speak.
The expression on Andrus’ face changed from intense concentration to relief. “No. Apparently, she didn’t get pregnant. And in their respective journals, they both pass their memories of the night in the cabin off to a pretty intense dream.”
The members of the council gave a collective sigh of relief.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark found himself standing outside Lois’ apartment, hand raised as if to knock. He lowered his hand and snorted. He’d knocked on Lois’ door millions of times. So how was he supposed to figure out when he was from that?
He looked down at himself, hoping it would give him a clue. He even searched his pockets and looked at his watch. Still, nothing told him what he needed to know. That left only one option.
He lowered his glasses and looked through the door. Lois was furiously scrubbing the grout on her kitchen counter with a toothbrush. And... she was quite definitely mad.
Okay, but Lois got mad a lot. At him. At Perry. At the bad guys. At the person who forgot to put the cream back in the fridge. So what had her upset this time?
Still, her hair was long so it was sometime during the first two years of their acquaintance. Not that Lois being mad during the first couple years they had known each other was much help in telling him when he was.
There was really only one thing to do. Raising his hand, he knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Lois yelled, not letting up on her task.
“Lois, it’s me,” Clark responded. That seemed safe enough.
He watched as Lois stormed over and unlocked the door before, without opening it, returning to her task of cleaning her grout as if it would save her soul. He suddenly had a pretty good idea when he was. He took a deep breath before opening the door and walking in.
“I was only gone a few minutes,” he said, cautiously testing the waters.
“I’m a busy person. I have things to do. I have to...”
“...scrub your grout?” Clark asked. Okay, he must be right. At least she hadn’t questioned his comment about only being gone a few minutes. “You’re really letting this woman get to you.”
She stopped scrubbing, spinning around to face him, waving the toothbrush in his face.
“Get to me?” she demanded before suddenly seeming to hesitate. “This does not leave the room, understand?”
Clark nodded, even though he knew what was coming next.
“Okay. Linda and I were best friends. But it was very competitive. You may not believe this, but there was a time when I had to be the best at everything.”
Just like he had all those years ago, Clark fought the urge to respond. It was just such a great opening.
“Anyway,” she continued, somewhat sheepishly, as if she too had picked up on the irony of what she’d just said, “there was this editor I was trying to impress. Paul.” Her voice softened in remembrance. “He was a senior and things were... happening. So when I found out some of the school’s football players weren’t taking their own exams, I thought, this is it. This is the story that’s going to make Paul feel for me the way I feel for him.”
“Did it?” Clark asked when she hesitated.
“No,” Lois said, more than a trace of bitterness in her voice at the memory. “Somehow Linda stole my story and wrote it under her name. Of course, he fell for her and she continued to impress him in ways I won’t go into. Needless to say, that was the end of our friendship.”
“So... she stole a story and she stole a guy and now you think she’s trying to do it again?”
Her eyes flashed in denial of the implications. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Hey, don’t take this out on me.”
“Why not? You say ‘yes’ to her party, ‘yes’ to her lunch, ‘yes’ to walking her home. You’re behaving like her indentured servant.”
Clark was about to respond, remembering that at this point in the conversation, he had deliberately provoked her, escalating the argument so that he could seem legitimate when he handed in his resignation. But... why not trust Lois with everything now? There really was no reason to keep her out of this investigation. After all, she had figured it out eventually.
“Lois, the reason I seem to be catering to Linda is because... I think something fishy is going on over at the Star - something that is getting them all those scoops.”
Her anger faded immediately. “Really?”
He nodded. “I was coming here to talk to you and then... I’m going to go talk to Perry. I was thinking... since Linda seems... interested in me, I might have a way to take advantage of that to get us the story.”
“Go on,” she said cautiously.
“She suggested tonight that if I wanted to work for the Star, she would help me get a job there.”
“No one would ever believe that you left the Planet to work at the Star.”
“They might if you and I pretend that we had a big fight.”
She studied him for a long moment. “You really think there’s something going on at the Star?”
“I do.”
“Okay, fine. I guess your plan makes sense. Just... watch out for Linda. She’ll do anything to get what she wants.”
“Lois, I promise you. I’m not interested in Linda.”
“Well, okay then,” Lois said as disinterestedly as she could manage before turning on the water and holding the toothbrush underneath to clean the Ajax off it. “I don’t really care, after all. I just don’t want...” She hesitated slightly, as if not entirely certain what to say next. Then her expression cleared. “It’s just that you’re a little naive and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Clark smiled, recognizing this time her jealousy for what it was. She was desperately trying not to develop feelings for him - but it seemed obvious to Clark, with the benefit of hindsight, that it was already a losing battle. And he had to admit, now that he was no longer insecure about her feelings for him, it was a little bit flattering.
“So when did you say that you’re going to meet with Perry?” Lois asked in a deliberate attempt to change the subject.
“I was going to head over there now.”
“Great! I’ll come, too.”
“Lois, no. After all, we’re supposed to be fighting.”
“Oh, right. Yeah. Well then... what are you waiting for?” she asked, shooing him towards the door.
He smiled as the world began to fade around him.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois wasn’t sure why she was at the Lexor Hotel. She’d been there a number of times in the past. Still... what were all the secret service men doing on this floor? She glanced up and down the hall, spotting an open door at the end. She could see a swirl of red and blue and then...
Tempus!
Ignoring the secret service detail, she headed at full steam towards the open door. She’d known it. He was behind this. And she was going to force him to tell her what he’d done so that she could finally end all this horrible leaping. Okay, so maybe there had been a few good moments - thoughts of her last leap came instantly to mind. However, she would much prefer doing... what she had been doing with Clark in the comfort of their apartment, in the comfort of their bed, knowing that they were both safe in their own time.
She picked up the pace until she was running. She made it as far as the door when she was unexpectedly tackled by the secret service men.
“No, I want Tempus,” she said, wondering why they were even there. Was Tempus supposed to be meeting with the President? Was Superman? Obviously, she was in the future. When, she had no idea. But still, Tempus was here and she was determined to confront him.
She heard someone yell something from inside the room, but couldn’t seem to break free of the grasp the secret service men had on her. Still, she struggled, determined to confront Tempus.
“Superman!” she yelled when she saw Clark standing inside some very strange, floating window, holding on to Tempus. What was going on here? Was that her Clark? Was that future Clark? And what was that window all about?
“Lois! Get out! Get out now!” Clark yelled.
“No. Let her through.”
Lois blinked in confusion when she saw a second Tempus heading towards the window just as the Tempus inside the window vanished. What was going on here?
In response to Tempus’ yell, the secret service agents released her. “She should see this,” Tempus said.
Lois stumbled into the room, trying to get her legs beneath her after the unexpected release. She watched as Tempus shoved another man aside as he marched towards the window in which Lois could see Superman.
“No!” the man who had been pushed aside yelled. “If he touches the window, Superman is doomed!”
“Clark!” Lois yelled as Tempus placed his hand on the frame of the window.
“Lois!” Clark yelled as the window suddenly began to shatter.
She reached out her hand but it was already too late. “Clark,” she gasped. She spun around to face the stranger who had warned what would happen if Tempus touched the window. “Where’s Superman? What happened to him?” she demanded.
“He was caught in the time window when it exploded. I’m afraid he’s gone,” the stranger said as the world began to fade around her.
* * * * * * * * *
“No!” Lois was still yelling when she found herself standing in an unfamiliar shower stall..
* * * * * * * * *
to be continued...
ML
