PREVIOUSLY...
“I swear. That’s not what happened,” Kent insisted. “You have it all wrong. I never would have betrayed you if your life hadn’t been in danger.”
She fumed. He wasn’t even willing to apologize. She stepped closer, poking him in the chest with her finger. “In the future, Kent, just stay the hell away from me,” she hissed before turning and walking away.**AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Chapter Five
* * * * * * * * *
“I guess you’d concede now that... we are in our future,” Lois said hesitantly, desperately hoping he’d object. “A future that we ruined by something we did to the past.”
Clark ran a hand through his hair, messing it. “It really is the only thing that makes any sense. After all, how would we be getting these memories if they weren’t... ours?”
Lois cringed. She had so hoped she was wrong - that this was an alternate reality. The idea that they had destroyed their reality - one in which they were married and had a daughter - was almost too horrible to actually believe. But it was true. There was no Vicky. No marriage. And definitely a new set of memories.
“Okay, so we had obviously met by then,” Clark said slowly, pulling her away from her depressing thoughts. “Even if I wasn’t working for the Planet. I mean, I could have known who you were without us meeting. After all, you were something of a...”
Her eyebrows rose as he searched for the right word.
“...legend in the news business, especially around Metropolis. I didn’t know what you looked like before coming to the city. But I certainly knew your name. But you wouldn’t have known who I was.”
“Yeah, but I can remember thinking that I really didn’t like you.”
“You thought that in our reality, too.”
“No, I didn’t,” Lois objected.
Clark raised his eyebrows but didn’t respond.
“Okay, so I wasn’t exactly happy that Perry had decided that my ‘investigative team’ was going to be made up of the office grunt and an inexperienced farmboy - I was investigating the space program, for crying out loud. Or that I was pleased that he was partnering me up with anyone. But that didn’t mean I didn’t like you.”
“Okay, so you liked me.”
“Well, the least you could do is to say it as if you believe it.”
“Lois...” Clark said, pulling her over so that she was leaning against him, his arm around her shoulder. “That was then. I know you like me now.”
She gave him a slight smile, but Clark realized immediately that it didn’t touch her eyes.
“Okay, Lois. What’s going on?”
“It’s just... Clark, I hated you.”
His eyebrows rose.
“No, I don’t mean in our reality. But in this one... I honestly hated you, Clark. How can that be?” She searched his eyes, as if trying to find the answer there. “Oh, Clark. This has disaster written all over it. Not only don’t you work for the Planet but whatever has changed has caused us to hate each other.”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean, ‘not exactly?’ I know what I felt, Clark.”
“And I know what ‘I’ felt.”
Her mouth was open to respond, but closed again when it sank in what he was saying. Her hand came up tentatively, smoothing out his hair. “I’m sorry, Clark,” she whispered. And she was. She knew that, at that moment, she had honestly hated Clark Kent. And if he was saying what she thought he was saying, it must have hurt him so much to know how she felt.
“Hey, Lois, it’s not your fault or... well, actually, it is. But it’s not just your fault. It’s our fault. We’re the ones who changed the past. But, Lois, we’re going to get this all straightened out. And then we can go back to you thinking I’m the greatest thing since canned beer.”
“Actually, I think you’re even better than canned beer.” She lowered her eyes, looking at him through her eyelashes.
“Ahh... honey. That’s probably the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
An involuntary grin crept onto her face. “Yeah, well, don’t get too cocky there, flyboy. After all, I don’t particularly like canned beer.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m more of a bottled beer sort of gal.”
Clark laughed, a full, deep-throated laugh - one that told her she’d managed to genuinely amuse him. Lois smiled fully at the sound. It did her heart such good every time she heard his laugh. It seemed to reach inside her, infecting her with its untethered delight, healing the pain inside her - and in this case, the fear. She couldn’t imagine hating him the way she seemed to remember.
He might not believe her, but in their reality, she’d never disliked him. At times, she’d found him annoying. But she’d always sort of liked him, too. But more than anything, he’d scared her. Her caustic comments and dismissive attitude had been more of a self-defense technique than anything else. She’d seen the way he sometimes looked at her. And the slight flip her heart would do as a result told her exactly how easy it would be for her to let things get out of her control.
She’d been right, too. Because she hadn’t been in control - not since the moment she’d finally recognized her feelings for him. Before she’d met Clark, she’d been strong and independent, needing no one. Since then she’d been one half of a conciliation of two. What she hadn’t been right about was that, for once in her life, not being in control hadn’t been a federal disaster.
But that was what scared her so much about this new memory. Because what she’d honestly felt as she’d looked back had been hate. But why? What could possibly make her hate Clark?
She sighed.
“What are you thinking?”
She shrugged. “It’s just... scary.” She gave her head a shake. This wasn’t helping them get to the bottom of things. “But I guess that answers how I survived the shuttle disaster. And since I obviously didn’t say it then - thanks.”
Clark smiled. “It was my pleasure.”
“Still, it’s hard to believe.”
“What?”
“Well, I’ve been saved a lot by Superman over the years. Now, this was the first time, but...”
“Actually, that wasn’t the first time.”
“What do you mean?”
“The warehouse. About twenty-four hours before...” His voice trailed off.
“What?”
“Well, I’m just wondering why you weren’t killed in the warehouse. Dr. Baines meant to kill you. And I always thought you would have died then if I hadn’t...”
“What?” Lois asked when he stopped speaking.
“I’m getting another one of those memories - one that contradicts another memory.”
“What is it?”
“Okay, instead of finding you and Jimmy because you didn’t show up for a staff meeting, I remember that I was interviewing Dr. Baines for The Star when I realized you were in trouble.”
“So what happened?”
Clark let out a slow breath, gathering his thoughts before beginning what was still a somewhat hazy memory. “I was working for the Star. I had been partnered with Brian Cagle. He was a lot older than I was and so, for the most part, I was following his lead. Anyway, we had been sent to get EPRAD’s official position on the explosion of Commander Laderman’s shuttle. In fact, we were in the middle of interviewing Dr. Baines when...”
**“So you’re sure there was no sabotage?” Clark asked.
“Well, we can’t be sure of anything until they’ve finished examining the wreckage,” Dr. Baines responded. “But I can’t see how it could be sabotage. The security around here is state of the art. No one gets in without a thorough security check.”
“What about someone on the inside?” Cagle asked.
“Impossible. We’re like a family here. Trust me. The Messenger had a horrible accident but it wasn’t the result of sabotage.”
“What about Lex Luthor?” Clark asked. While preparing for this interview, Clark had discovered that Baines had been photographed with Luthor a couple of times during the past year. Once she’d even been listed as his ‘date.’ And given Luthor’s interest in a space program of his own, Clark had been suspicious. Cagle seemed to dismiss his suspicions, but Clark still wanted to know how she’d respond to the name.“Wait a minute,” Lois said. “In our reality, you never told me your suspicions about Lex during the messenger investigation. How come you told Cagle?”
Clark shrugged. “I had no proof. And unlike you, Cagle had no personal involvement with Luthor.” He hesitated momentarily. “At least, I don’t think he was Luthor’s type.”
Lois rolled her eyes and gave him a swat.
“And without proof, I figured you’d just write off my suspicions as jealousy - given the argument we had when you told me about your ‘interview’ with Luthor.”
Lois shifted uncomfortably.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Clark said, reaching over to give her hand a squeeze. “Why don’t I just get on with my story?”
At Lois’ nod, he continued.
“Lex Luthor?” Dr. Baine’s eyes darted between Cagle and Clark. “What does Lex Luthor have to do with this?”
“It’s an angle we’re working on,” Clark said dismissively. “So do you know Mr. Luthor?”
“Everyone in the city knows who Mr. Luthor is,” Baines responded.
“But... do you know him personally?”
“Can’t say that I do. I think I might have been introduced to him at a party we were both attending once, but... no. What would make you think I do?”
Clark lowered his glasses slightly, watching in satisfaction as the pulse in her throat jumped as her heart rate sped up. Baines was their link to Luthor. Now... how to prove it?
“It’s just that you attended a function as his escort about a year ago,” Cagle said. Although not blessed with Clark’s powers, he had obviously seen something in the woman’s demeanor or heard something in her comments that now had him wondering about a possible Luthor connection.
“Oh, that. Right. I’d forgotten about that. It was nothing. A charity for raising money to allow intercity kids to get exposure to the space program. It was strictly business.” Suddenly, her cell phone rang. “Excuse me,” she said, sounding somewhat relieved.
“She’s lying. I’ve seen pictures of her with Luthor on more than one occasion,” Cagle whispered when Baines stepped away to answer her call. “I think you actually might be on to something here, rookie.”
Clark wasn’t listening. His hearing was tuned into the phone conversation taking place a short distance away.
“We got a problem,” said the man on the other end of the line.
“Can it wait? I’m sort of in the middle of something here.”
“There are a couple of reporters snooping around the hanger where we put the damaged shuttle. What do you want me to do?”
Clark quickly lowered his glasses and glanced around, quickly finding the hanger in question and then spotting the reporters. His heart rate leapt when he realized that one of them was none other than Lois Lane.
Baines looked back at Clark and Cagle. “I’ll be there in a moment,” she said before quickly hanging up the phone and rejoining them. “Now, is that all?” she asked. “There’s a problem I have to deal with.”
“No, actually,” Cagle said. “We have a few more questions we need to ask you.”
Baines looked annoyed, as if angry that they weren’t taking the hint. “Fine. Why don’t you have a seat in our waiting area? But I should warn you, this could take a while.”
“That’s fine,” Cagle responded, seeming to enjoy her obvious irritation and together Clark and Cagle watched Baines stroll quickly away. “So what’s your take on this? I mean, it’s one thing to suspect Luthor, it’s something else altogether making such an accusation,” Cagle said when Baines was out of earshot.
“I’ve got to find a bathroom,” Clark responded, leaving Cagle standing alone before he had a chance to stop him.
Once he was out of Cagle’s sight, Clark lowered his glasses, looking through various buildings until he could again see into the mostly deserted warehouse.
“Take pictures of everything you can,” Clark heard Lane’s whisper as the young man with her raised his camera to do as instructed, snapping off pictures as fast as he could. It was the same young man who had rushed into Perry White’s office during the first part of his interview. He struggled to remember if he’d ever heard the young man’s name. What had Mr. White called him? Jimmy. That was it. He didn’t think he’d ever heard a last name.**“Wait!” Lois said, snapping Clark out of his story. “So you’d met Perry White and Jimmy by then.”
“It seems so,” Clark responded.
“So you must have gone to the interview with Perry. So... what happened?”
Clark shrugged.
“By the way, why do you keep calling me ‘Lane?’ You never did before - not even when you were first hired.”
Again, Clark shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, that’s just the way I remember it.”
“So maybe at that point, we’d never actually met? Or maybe we did meet, but just not in a way that was conducive to you calling me by my first name.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not exactly sure.” She let out a breath. “Okay, so what happened then?”
He took a moment to think back once again. He’d been looking into the warehouse, listening to what was going on, but most of all... he’d been watching Lois.
**“We’ll have them analyzed later,” Lane said as Jimmy continued snapping pictures.
She wandered around to the far side of the shuttle. Contrary to what Baines had told him and Cagel, the left side of this shuttle was blown out. And no one even appeared to be around, doing any sort of analysis on it. Clark jumped when he heard a scuffle of some kind. He’d been so focused on Lane that he’d missed an attack on the young man with her. He quickly turned his attention to Jimmy, relieved to realize that he was just unconscious, but otherwise, appeared uninjured.
He had to get a move on. He had to get into that warehouse now.
Resuming his path towards the warehouse, he continued to watch and listen to what was going on inside.
“Shh...” Lane said assuming the noise from the other side of the shuttle had been caused by her young colleague. “We can’t risk anyone finding us.”
“Too late,” Dr. Baines responded.
Lane spun around to discover Dr. Baines standing there holding a gun. Clark’s heart leapt into his throat. His pace increased and his muscles tensed, ready to invoke superspeed if Baines fired that gun. Even if he had to expose his secret - and in front of one of the best reporters in the business - there was no way he could stand by and let Lane die. There was something about her...
Now was not the time to think about that. What mattered now was finding a way to save her.
“You’re little friend is already taken care of,” Baines said.
Lane’s eyes focused on the gun, seeming to weigh her chances against it.
“I wouldn’t try it,” Baines said. “It’s Lois Lane, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. And you’re Dr. Baines. I knew you were in on this,” Lane said, although Clark found himself thinking that she was completely caught off guard by this turn of events.
Clark opened the door, stepped into the warehouse, closed the door and darted out of sight faster than the human eye could follow. By the time he came to a stop, Lane was tied up on the floor in the middle of the building. Jimmy was lying unconscious a few feet away. From his position, Clark took stock of the situation, trying to think of a way to get them out of their predicament without giving away his secret.
His quest was interrupted by the sound of Lane’s voice.
“Jimmy! Wake up!” Lane said, struggling against the chains binding her. Jimmy didn’t react. “I ask Perry for a task force and what do I get? Jimmy.” She looked in frustration at Jimmy for a moment before sighing. “Come on, Jimmy. I’ll take back every rude thing I’ve thought about you in the last ten minutes if you’d just wake up now.” Still, there was no response from Jimmy.
“Baines has to kill us now,” Lane muttered in frustration. “Don’t know why she hasn’t done it already.”
‘Not going to happen,’ Clark thought as he snuck between various pieces of equipment, determined to keep out of sight.
Lane glanced at Jimmy again. “Come on, Jimmy.” She let out a breath when he still didn’t move. “Oh, god. This is really it this time, isn’t it? Why do I do things like this? Why do I always have to jump into the deep end without checking the water level.” Her tone of voice changed from wistful to something more determined. “Because it’s the only way I know how to do it. To get the job done. To get the respect that I want. That I deserve.”
Clark’s heart broke. Didn’t she know that, in spite of her youth, she was fast becoming one of the most respected journalists in the business?
“But now it’s going to get you killed,” Lane said, looking over at Jimmy who was still unconscious. “And I’m so sorry.” She sniffed. “I’m such a fraud. I mean, I’ve only ever had three rules for myself and I’ve broken every one of them. I always seem to get involved in my stories. I don’t always get there first. And I even slept with someone I worked with.” She looked meditatively at Jimmy. “Given my reputation in the newsroom - the Ice Queen - you probably find that surprising, don’t you? On the other hand, maybe you’ve heard the rumors. I’m sure the office grapevine is still as active as ever - in spite of the fact that it was several years ago.”
She sighed. “His name was Claude. He was French.”
Clark’s movement stopped, suddenly caught up in the story spilling from her lips - as if she’d been waiting years to tell her side of the story. Clark was completely captivated, even though he knew he shouldn’t be listening.
“I guess I must have been in love - or thought I was. I was only twenty-one, working on my first big scoop: this perfectly ordinary middle-aged couple - gun runners. One night, I told Claude about it and when I woke up the next morning he was gone.” When she continued, there was anger in her voice, “So was my story. He even won an award for it. Didn't even thank me for my... input.”
Anger caused Clark’s blood to boil. How could anyone do something like that? Take an impressionable young woman and... He had to consciously stop his hands from turning the beam he was standing behind to dust.
“And now I’m going to die. And I’m never going to have a chance to even find out if there is a decent guy left in the world.”
‘That’s not going to happen,” Clark said, reminding himself again that he needed to keep moving, not listen to the way this woman was pouring out her heart thinking that no one could hear her. After all, he knew without a doubt that there was no way she’d be saying any of this if he were here - not after the way she’d responded to him when he’d gone for his interview at the Daily Planet.**“So we did meet when you came to the Planet! But... what did you mean when you said, ‘the way I responded to you?’”
He struggled to remember before shaking his head in frustration.
“I mean, I know I was dismissive of you when you first interviewed, but...”
“I get the feeling it’s something more than that. But...” He shrugged helplessly.
Lois let out a breath of frustration. “Okay, well, go on. Maybe it will trigger something else.”
“Okay, let’s see. Where was I? Oh, right. I was listening to your monologue, having almost forgotten that I was there to rescue you...”
**Dr. Baines suddenly reentered the room.“I hope you’ll forgive the accommodations,” she said, “but then again, I’ve never been much of a hostess.”
Clark jumped slightly. He’d been so engrossed in Lois’ story that he hadn’t even heard Dr. Baines approach. Damn! What was wrong with him? He had let the situation get worse, eavesdropping on words he had no right to hear, instead of taking action. Now what did he do?
If Baines decided to use her gun now, he’d have no choice but to give away his secret to save Lane... and Jimmy, too, of course. Why couldn’t he have been less curious and more wise?
He watched, ready to spring into action, as Baines opened a valve in the rocket booster, allowing a substance to leak out. Then she opened a second valve and two liquids began a slow but sure course towards each other.
“Sorry you won’t be around to enjoy the rest of the evening,” Baines said. “But accidents do happen.”
“Accidents?” Lane asked.
“Yes,” Baines said. “You see, while dissecting the orbital maneuvering systems, the monomethyl hydrozene leaked and mixed with the nitrogen tetroxide... Unfortunately, the blast killed a couple of nosy reporters who didn’t bother to read the signs.” She pointed to the ‘No Trespassing’ sign on the wall.
“Answer one question,” Lane said. “Why?”
Clark shook his head with an equal mixture of admiration and disbelief. Even with death looking over her shoulder, she couldn’t stop being a reporter.
“It’s very simple, Lois. Profit. Outer space is no different from any new frontier. It will belong to those who get there first and seize the high ground.”
The two liquids were getting closer to one another with each passing second.
As Baines left the warehouse, Clark could see Lane pulling frantically on the chains binding her. He shot a quick blast of heat vision at the chain, snapping it easily.
Lane looked shocked to find herself suddenly free. Then she moved, rushing over to Jimmy.
“Jimmy! Come on! You’ve got to wake up! We’ve got to get out of here,” Lois said, all the while trying to pull the young man to his feet.
Clark looked back at the liquids. They were inching ever closer. He tensed. Maybe he should go out there, help her. On the other hand, if he did that... Would he actually slow her down? After all, he knew how she felt about him, how reluctant she would be to let him help her, how suspicious.**“Why would I be reluctant to let you help me?”
Clark shrugged. “I don’t know. That was just how I felt. Lois, the more I think about this, the more I think that at least part of this is the result of something that happened between us.”
“What? Or why? We didn’t even meet our past selves when we went to 1992. So... how could any of this be happening?”
“I have no idea.”
Lois let out a slow breath. “Okay, well, tell me the rest of what you remember. Maybe it will give us another clue.”
**“Wake up, Jimmy!” Lane yelled, grabbing Jimmy’s shoulders to drag him out of there.
Panicking, Clark quickly shot a blast of freezing breath at Jimmy. Much to Clark’s relief, Jimmy woke. Clark’s eyes darted between the liquid and Lane and Jimmy as Jimmy scrambled to his feet.
“Come on!” Lane yelled, finally getting an arm around the young man and dragging him as fast as possible towards the door.
She had just stepped over the threshold when Clark realized they were out of time. If the explosion were large, they’d be killed by shrapnel from the exploding building. At superspeed, he rushed to the door. Opening it, he gave Lane and Jimmy a push with his superbreath, sending them through the air and into a mud puddle where the water would hopefully keep them from being hurt by burning shrapnel.
The building exploded.
Clark stood there for a second more to be sure they were okay before dashing back through the explosion to exit on the far side of the building.**“Do you remember anything else?” Lois asked when Clark finally finished his story.
Clark shook his head. “That’s all.”
“So we still don’t know what went wrong.” She let out a breath.“I think we need to get out of here - try to find some more information. Because right now, we don’t know nearly enough to fix... whatever we did.”
“So what’s next?”
“I think we see if I still live on Carter Ave. After all, I can’t go into the newsroom like this.” She gestured to her black clothing. “I look more like a cat burglar than a reporter. After that, I think we should head for the Planet. Maybe doing a bit of research into stories we’ve written will prompt some more of these weird double memories. And as much as I hate them, I think they are our best chance of figuring out how to fix this.”
“Good plan.” Clark rose to his feet, searching around for something.
“What are you looking for?” Lois asked, observing his mounting frustration.
“My wallet.”
“We left our identification back at the brownstone - before we went to Star Labs, remember. We didn’t want to risk leaving something behind that could identify us as the thieves.”
“I remember. Still, I must have a wallet in this altered reality.”
“Did you check the place you used to keep it? Knowing you, it will be right where you left it then. Has anyone ever told you you’re not very creative?”
Clark smiled. “That’s not what you thought last night.”
Lois blushed. “Yeah, well you were more inspired than normal last night.”
Clark laughed, going to check the drawer in the kitchen where he had always kept his wallet.
“Is it there?”
Clark shook his head, lowering his glasses to do a quick search of the apartment. “I can’t see it anywhere.”
Lois let out a breath. “Well, we can walk to my apartment. I’m sure my purse will be there.”
Clark looked around the apartment one last time before nodding. What else was there to do?
* * * * * * * * *
Both Lois and Clark grew increasingly nervous the closer they got to Lois’ apartment building. Neither said anything to the other, but their hands subconsciously reached for one another as they walked up the steps to the building.
They never shared their fears. And it wasn’t that either of them particularly cared where she lived. But if she lived there, a number of their fears would be put to rest.
Clark’s main fear was that, due to a lack of Superman, he might have been too late to save her during one of her more adventurous moments - which would mean... what? Would she suddenly vanish off the face of the planet? Did it take a while for the changes they had made to the past to catch up with them physically the same way that it was taking a while for their memories to catch up with them mentally?
Lois was more concerned about another possibility - one that would also be alleviated if she discovered that she still lived on Carter Ave. Why hadn’t she thought about this possibility last night? Surely, even if they didn’t know who she was, Martha and Jonathan could have told her about Lex - was he dead, had he gone to jail and probably most importantly of all, was he married?
But none of those questions had crossed her mind and so, as she walked up the steps that had once been so familiar, she grasped Clark’s hand, praying that her fears would be laid to rest - that she would find her apartment essentially intact. That she was still living there. And, thus, that she wasn’t Mrs. Lex Luthor.
“Wait a minute, Clark.” She pulled him to a halt on the top step of the building.
“What?”
“I just remembered... Even if I live here, I don’t have my keys.”
“Okay, so why don’t we go see Mr. Tracewski?”
“And say what?”
“Just tell him you lost your key.”
“And if I don’t live here?”
“Then you’ll look like an idiot, I guess,” Clark said, the corners of his mouth twitching.
Lois rolled her eyes. “Okay, well here goes nothing.” With that, she pulled open the door to the building and stepped inside.
They stopped in front of the door to Tracewski’s apartment and, after taking a deep breath, she knocked. It was answered almost immediately by a young girl, about the age of ten.
“Who are you?” Lois asked.
“Who are you?” the girl replied.
“Don’t use that tone with me, young lady,” Lois snapped back automatically.
“Whatever,” the girl said as she started to close the door.
“Wait!”
The girl paused, looking at Lois expectantly.
“I’m looking for Mr. Tracewki.”
“He doesn’t live here.” The girl began closing the door again.
“Wait! Where does he... I’m looking for the building’s super.”
“That’d be my mom.” The girl turned. “Mom!” she called before walking away, leaving Lois and Clark standing in the doorway.
“Oh, god. This doesn’t look good,” Lois said.
“Now, we don’t know anything yet, Lois,” Clark responded, squeezing her hand a little bit tighter as if to prevent her from suddenly disappearing.
“Yet being the operative word. Clark, she doesn’t know me. How can that mean anything except that I don’t live here anymore?”
“Maybe they just moved in. Maybe she normally lives with her father and is just visiting. And anyway, even if you don’t live here... it doesn’t mean anything.”
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Lois repeated, taking deep breaths to control her pounding heart.
“Can I help you?” asked a woman in her late thirties from the doorway of what should have been Mr. Tracewki’s apartment.
“Uhh... yes,” Lois said, trying not to sound as unnerved as she felt. “I seem to have misplaced my keys.”
“Your keys?”
“Yes. The keys to my apartment. I’m wondering if you have a spare.”
“And your name is...?”
“Lois Lane.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure what kind of game you’re playing here, but there is no one by that name living in this apartment building.” She began to close the door.
“Wait!” Lois said, getting her foot in the door before it could slam shut. She winced slightly from the pain caused by the closing door. Still, it accomplished the task. The woman opened the door once again. “Can you at least tell me when I moved out?”
The woman’s eyebrows rose. “I’m not sure what you think you’re doing. But I’ve never laid eyes on you in my life. Now, you can leave quietly or I can call the cops.” With that, the super closed the door. This time Lois didn’t try to stop her.
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
