PREVIOUSLY...
Lois moved cautiously forward. “I assure you... you haven’t lost your mind. We can explain... I think.” She glanced back at her husband who was nodding in agreement. Reaching out, she laid a hand on Lane’s shoulder in support. “Whoa!” Lois gasped, suddenly jumping back.
“What the hell was that?” Lane asked at the same time, scrambling backwards on the couch to put some distance between the two of them.
“I don’t know. It was...” Lois struggled for a moment. “...something.”
“What did you do to her?” Kent demanded, inserting himself between Lois and Lane, his eyes sparking with rage as he looked at Lois.
Clark instantly pulled his wife back out of the way, stepping slightly between them, thereby ensuring Kent could not get to Lois before Clark had time to stop him. And so they stood, two superpowered men, facing off between their women - both determined to protect them to their dying breath.
AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Chapter Forty-Four
* * * * * * * * *
Lois rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling. “Are you two done now proving to us that you’re big strong men, trying to protect the little women?” she asked.
“Lois,” Clark growled, not taking his eyes off Kent.
A burst of nervous laughter erupted from Lane.
“Lane!” Kent exclaimed, not taking his eyes off Clark.
“Clark, quit it,” Lois said. “Do you really think he’d hurt me? He’s... well, you.”
“He’s not me. And right now I’m not letting him anywhere near you.”
Lois growled in frustration, looking around the two men at Lane. “Can you do anything?”
“They really can be silly, can’t they?” Lane responded. “Kent, would you just sit down? We’re not going to find out anything this way. She didn’t hurt me. It wasn’t... pain. It was just...” Her voice trailed off as she struggled to find a word to describe what had happened when Lois had touched her. “...something.”
“Okay, you heard her, Kent,” Lois said. “Now you two... why don’t you just shake hands and make nice?”
The two men stood there for a moment more. Clark was the one who caved first. Listening to his wife’s instructions, he stuck out his hand. A nudge from Lane got Kent to follow suit.
Their hands joined and...
...they froze, staring at each other in disbelief.
Lois moved first; Lane not far behind. Each grabbed her man and pulled him back.
“Whoa,” Kent said, giving his head a shake when they finally separated. “What was that?”
“I don’t...” Clark’s voice trailed off. “You two had quite a weekend, didn’t you?” he said, looking between Lane and Kent.
“Clark, what happened?” Lois asked. “I don’t mean about their weekend... but... when you shook hands.”
“I don’t know. It was like...”
“...I was being flooded with images,” Kent continued. “It was as if...”
“...we were being pulled together.”
“So you two felt it, too,” Lane said. “That’s sort of what happened when we touched. Although, our touch was pretty brief, so I can’t say any of the images made a lot of sense to me, but...” She gestured to Lois. “What was that?”
“I don’t know, but...” Lois began.
“,,,you don’t want to do it again,” Clark finished for her.
Lois nodded. “Still,” she continued after a moment, “I think we need to see if the same thing happens when I touch Kent.” She looked at Kent. “You game?”
Kent swallowed hard, but stepped closer once again.
“Lois...” Clark said, but Lois shushed him.
“It will be all right,” she said, reaching cautiously towards Kent. She held her breath only to let it out in a swoosh when she touched Kent and nothing happened.
“Nothing?” Lane asked.
Lois shook her head. “Okay, so I can’t touch Lane. And Clark can’t touch Kent, but... Why?”
Everyone stared at each other in silence for a long moment, none of them having the answers. Finally, Lane broke the silence.
“I think we’re getting a little off track here,” she said.
“How so?” Lois asked.
“Well... who the hell are you?”
Lois looked over at Clark. Together, they took a seat on one of the couches as Lane and Kent settled on the other.
“Okay, well... where to start?” Clark said.
“Why not start at the beginning?” Kent asked in response.
Clark nodded. “Okay, well... Have either of you ever heard of Tempus?”
Lane and Kent shared a look before shaking their heads.
“Not that I remember,” Lane added for good measure.
“Oh, trust me. You’d remember,” Lois said.
“Well, he’s... from the future.”
When both Lane and Kent looked skeptical, Lois stepped in.
“Just remember... Before the arrival of the New Kryptonians, how many people on Earth believed in aliens? Only the wackos, right? Well, just hear us out before you jump to any conclusions.” She looked over at Clark, silently inviting him to continue.
“Apparently, Tempus comes from a time that is peaceful, crime free and... Okay, so I know I’m not making this a whole lot more believable. But trust me, we’ve been told it’s some kind of Utopia. Anyway, he isn’t particularly fond of Utopia so he keeps coming into the past, trying to mess with our lives in an attempt to screw up Utopia.”
“So he somehow thinks you are responsible for creating this future Utopia?” Lane asked.
“Well, Lois and I,” Clark said, reaching over and taking his wife’s hand. “Or... more accurately, I guess... Our descendants.”
“Descendants?” Kent asked, leaning forward.
Clark nodded. “Anyway, during one of these trips back, he brainwashed most of the country, using some advanced brainwashing equipment, to elect him President of the United States. Well, long story short, we stopped him. But in the process of his arrest, he left behind a damaged time travel device. In fact...” He looked at Kent. “I’m sure a quick trip to your apartment, your secret closet, will show you that we’re not lying. That’s where we left the device when we arrived... here.”
“Arrived?” Lane asked.
Lois nodded. “When we realized that Star Labs had obtained the device and was working on restoring it, we decided we had to steal it back and... Well, during our attempt, first Clark encountered kryptonite... uhh... green S-126 and then we were on the verge of getting caught so... We used the device.”
“So you came... from the future?”
“Not exactly. We ended up in 1992. At first we thought we had leapt into our past, but... Well, I guess we don’t really know. We knew it was 1992, but not much else. Then we jumped ahead again and thought that... Well, we thought we must have done something in 1992 that had changed our present.”
“But we must have jumped into an alternate universe,” Clark completed. “Because 2001 is very much our present, too.”
“Wait a minute. Okay, time travel...” Kent said. “I might just be able to believe that, but... alternate universes? What do you take us for? Idiots?”
“Not at all.”
Kent rose to his feet. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I want it to stop! Now!”
Lois’ eyebrows rose as for a moment she caught sight of Superman in Kent’s voice and posture.
“This isn’t a game,” Clark responded. “I promise you. I’m you. I’m just... from an alternate reality.”
“Prove it!”
Clark slowly rose, keeping his movements even and nonthreatening. Then, he floated. Kent and Lane stared at him in disbelief for a moment before Kent sank back onto the sofa.
“I’m you,” Clark repeated. “Just from an alternate reality... an alternate universe. Which means...” He looked over at his wife, new excitement rising inside him. “Which means... our dimension is still out there. Vicky is still out there. We just have to get back to her.”
“Vicky?” Lane asked.
“Yes. Vicky. Our daughter.”
“You have a daughter?” Kent asked, his voice sounding somewhat... distracted.
“Vicky,” Lane said softly, interrupting any answer they might have given to Kent. “I’ve been dreaming about a little girl lately. Big brown eyes and a laugh that seems to come from deep inside her and bubble up in pure delight when she’s amused.”
Lois smiled. “Yeah, that’s Vicky. You’re dreaming my memories. And I’ve been remembering yours.”
“What?” Kent asked. “Is this part of this alternate reality thing, too.”
“Actually...” Clark looked over at Lois.
“No. No, I was in an alternate reality before and... I never experienced that Lois’ memories.”
“But that Lois was... well, she may very well have been dead.”
“Still, past memories... I never had that. And alt-Clark... when he came to our dimension, he never mentioned anything about having your memories...”
“Again, I wasn’t in the dimension at the time.”
“You were for some of it.”
“Not for very long.”
“But... okay, what about that touch thing? When you shook Alt-Clark’s hand, you never had that strange sensation, did you?”
“No, but... What are you saying, Lois?”
“I don’t know... yet. But...” She turned back to Lane and Kent. “Would you tell me something? It might help us figure out what’s going on here.”
“Sure,” Lane said.
“Something happened between you and Kent... something big... back before you ever met. What was it?”
Clark leaned forward. This was the thing they had thought they’d changed in their past to create this new future. But... why would they need to know it now? This was an alternate reality - wasn’t it? So... where was Lois going with this?
Lane and Kent both shifted uncomfortably in their chairs.
“I know I’m asking a lot, but please. I think it’s important.”
“How?” Clark asked.
“I’m not sure, but just go with me here. I’ve got a hunch.”
Trusting his wife’s hunches, he nodded. It seemed Kent hadn’t quite learned that lesson yet - probably because they hadn’t worked much together over the years.
“What’s your hunch?” Kent asked.
“She’s not really sure yet. That’s why it’s called a hunch,” Lane answered for her. “But... Okay, well, it’s not something we really talk about.”
“We noticed,” Clark mumbled.
Lane ignored him. “I mean, he says it wasn’t him and I believe him. Still, I guess it’s not either of our favorite subject, but...”
**“Lois Lane, you’re under arrest,” Henderson said as one of the uniformed officers with him removed the handcuffs from his belt.
“What?” Lane gasped, confused when the officer began handcuffing her. “Henderson, what’s going on here?”
“You’re being charged with theft of classified military information for sale to a foreign power. In other words... treason.”
“What?” Lane gasped again.
“What the Sam Hill is going on here?” Perry demanded, rushing to the defense of his reporter.
“I have no idea, Perry,” Lane said. “Something about treason.”
“The allegation is that she and a partner broke into Star Labs and stole some top secret research for sale to a foreign power.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Perry said. “Come on, Bill. You know her. She would never do something like that. Besides, Lois never works with a partner. That alone should have told you it wasn’t her.”
Henderson shrugged. “They have pictures of her and some guy from the security cameras. The guy even called her Lois Lane from the Daily Planet. He identified himself as...” Henderson took out his notebook and flipped through it, before looking back at Perry. “Clark Kent. Said he worked here, too.”
“Never heard of the guy. But come on, Bill. Are you going to take the word of some thief over Lois’? She’d never commit treason - or at least she’d never do it for money.”
Lane rolled her eyes at her boss, not entirely sure he was exactly helping her cause.
“I’ve got no choice, Perry. It’s more than some woman who looks like her. Her prints were all over the room where she was being held while they were waiting for the police. Apparently, they broke the window and escaped through it, taking the information with them. Sorry, Perry. But I’ve got to take her in.”
He gestured to the officer who began ‘escorting’ her towards the elevators. People stopped and stared. Lane ducked her head, feeling ashamed as people watched her taken, hands cuffed behind her, out to the waiting police car.**
“When was this?” Lois asked, breaking into Lane’s story.
“Uhh... May... 1992.”
Lois looked over at Clark. Well, they weren’t wrong. On the other hand, when they’d first thought of this theory, they had been Lane and Kent and they’d only been messing up their own lives.
“Oh, boy,” Clark said softly.
“What?” Lane asked.
“I’m not exactly sure, yet,” Lois said, warning Clark with her eyes to keep things to himself for the time being. “But...”
“Wait a minute!” Clark interrupted. “If you were charged with treason, why wasn’t it all over the paper? We looked and couldn’t find anything.”
“The court issued a gag order,” Lane said. “Apparently, it had something to do with national security. I’m not entirely sure of all the details. Anyway, it went to trial and...”
**Not guilty. Never had two little words sounded so good to Lane’s ears. She sagged back into her chair in exhausted relief. Her alibi for the time of the robbery had held up under cross-examination. She hadn’t been entirely sure he would. Not that he wasn’t telling the truth, but this was treason. And people wanted someone to blame when their country’s secrets had been compromised. Besides, her alibi had been a homeless man she’d been interviewing for a story at the time.
But he had been great. Oh, he’d refused to wear the suit Perry had purchased - claiming that if he was uncomfortable, the jury would sense it. And the District Attorney had subjected him to some pretty intense cross-examination. But he’d simply looked the man straight in the eye, not wavering from the truth.
And the jury had believed him! They had looked past his tattered clothes, his shaggy beard and his body odor. They had looked directly into his eyes and... they had believed him.
Thank God.
Not that anything would make up for the hell she’d been put through this past year. Or that Perry had gone through. Or her mother, for that matter. They had both agonized through every minute of this nightmare with her.
Her daughter being charged with treason had even sent Ellen Lane back to the bottle.
If Lane ever found this Clark Kent guy, he was dead meat. Of course, before she skinned him alive and roasted him over an open fire, she’d find out who he was working for. After all, that was the one thing that even with all her investigative skills she’d been unable to determine. Obviously, the decision to give her name when they’d been apprehended at Star Labs hadn’t been an accident. No. Someone had deliberately chosen her name and place of employment. Probably whoever really had stolen sensitive military information to sell to the enemies of the United States. Maybe it was someone who had a grudge against her for a previous investigation - which would explain why they’d hired the woman who looked like her to act as Kent’s accomplice. And placing her fingerprints around the room... No, it was no accident that they had come after her. This was deliberate. Someday she’d find them and when she did... They would pay. By god, they would pay.
Still... not guilty certainly did sound pretty great. She closed her eyes and let the relief wash through her.**
“So... when Kent arrived for his interview with Perry...” Lois began cautiously.
“Uhh...” Lane said before continuing the story.
** “What’s up, Perry,” Lane asked, sticking her head through the doorway to Perry’s office.
“Oh, good. You’re here. Come in.”
She stepped curiously into his office.
“Close the door, honey.”
Her eyebrows rose. This must be serious. She closed the door to his office.
“Take a seat.”
“Perry, if this is about the charge for that champagne on my expense account, I assure you that it was a legitimate expense. I didn’t have any other weapons. I know it was over a thousand dollars a bottle, but it wasn’t my fault that the guy had extravagant taste. And it really wasn’t my fault that he didn’t go down when I hit him over the head with that first bottle so...”
Perry quickly waved off her comments, picking up some papers off his desk.
She stepped forward, taking the papers from him. “What’s this?” she asked, looking at the paper before her eyes meet Perry’s, silently demanding an explanation.**
“So...?” Lois demanded. “What was it?”
“Kent’s resume,” Lane said. “Apparently, he had called and set up an interview with Perry. I couldn’t believe it.”
**Lane waited impatiently, watching the doors to the elevators. It had to be another Clark Kent. She’d watched and rewatched that video tape of them apparently at Star Labs together so many times, looking for some clue to prove her innocence, that there was no way she wouldn’t recognize him. When the door opened, she felt her breath catch in her throat. Damn. It really was that bastard who had set her up. How he had the nerve to apply for a job here, she had no idea. Did he really think they’d forget?
She watched as Kent stopped Jimmy, talking to him briefly. After a moment, Jimmy directed him towards the Chief’s office.
Her eyes darted back to the elevators. Where was Henderson? Whatever happened, they couldn’t let Kent leave before Henderson arrived.
She watched through the window to Perry’s office as Perry talked to Kent, trying to stretch out the ‘interview’ as long as possible.
It seemed to take forever. Suddenly, she saw Kent rise to his feet, as if preparing to leave.
Damn! Well, there was no way that was going to happen! She leapt to her feet, storming towards Perry’s office. Perry was obviously out of ideas for drawing out the interview.
Throwing open the door, Lois stormed into the room, practically colliding with Kent. He reached out, steading her. She instantly jerked her arm away, struggling to regain her footing. Well, if Perry’s delaying tactics weren’t working, maybe she would try the direct approach.
“You!” she spat when she found her voice. “I can’t believe you have the nerve to show your face around here, you bastard! Do you have any idea what you did to me? To my life! The hell you put me through... Perry through... my mother through! Did you really think I wouldn’t remember the man who set me up on charges of treason? I stared at your ugly face for hours trying to figure out who you were and...” Without any more words, she launched herself at Kent, hitting and scratching and...
Perry was there almost immediately, pulling her off the object of her attack.
“Maybe I should just...” Kent, looking quite shaken, gestured towards the door to the office. “...go.”
“Oh, you’re not going anywhere,” Lane spat. “You’re going to pay for this. If it’s the last thing I ever do, you’re going to pay for this.”
Kent seemed to shrink back further into the corner of the office.
“Lois!” Perry said trying to control the bundle of fury in his arms. “Calm down.”
Lois quit struggling, breathing heavily, her eyes never leaving Kent.
“And you,” Perry continued, gesturing at Kent. “Sit!”
Looking too stunned to do anything else, Kent cautiously moved back to his chair.
Seemingly satisfied that Lois was now calm...er... Perry warily released her.
“Maybe I should just...” Kent began again, gesturing to the door.
“Oh no you don’t,” Lane hissed, causing Kent to shrink back into his chair once again. “You try to leave before the police get here and I swear, I’ll tear you apart with my bare hands.”**
“So what happened?” Clark asked.
“Well, when Inspector Henderson arrived, I was arrested,” Kent said. “I was taken to the station but...”
“No charges were ever laid against him,” Lane completed.
“What? Why?” Clark asked.
Lane gave a humorless chuckle. “I remember asking Henderson that very question the next day. Only, I didn’t ask it quite as... calmly.”
**“What the hell do you mean all the evidence was destroyed?” Lane demanded, springing to her feet.
Henderson shrugged. “Apparently when you were found not guilty, and the time passed for an appeal, some over-zealous clerk destroyed the evidence. That’s standard procedure. After all, even if we could find more evidence against you in the future, there is the small matter of double jeopardy... You could never be recharged. What they forgot was that there was someone else involved and... Well, it was an administrative error.”
“So he just walks away... scott free?”
“There’s nothing we can do. There is no evidence against him.”
“But he set me up! He made my life a living hell for almost a year! He can’t get away with this.”
“Sorry, Lane. But there is nothing we can do. We simply don’t have enough evidence to make any charges against him stick. We have no photos to place him at the scene of the crime. No fingerprints. Nothing. We even tried talking to some of the witnesses who had seen him there - showed them a photo lineup. It’s been long enough since it happened, that they really couldn’t give us a positive identification.”**
The room was silent as Lane finished her story. For a moment, all four people just sat there, lost in their own thoughts. Clark clearing his throat seemed inordinately loud.
“So just like there was no way for them to prove your guilt, because they had destroyed all the evidence,” Clark began, directing his comments to Kent, “there was also no opportunity for you to prove your innocence.”
Kent nodded.
“Well, at least now I understand why you felt such hatred for Kent at the beginning,” Lois said, addressing Lane. “In fact, it’s amazing you ever found a way to get past it.”
“It was odd,” Lane said. “Yes, I hated him.” She glanced over at Kent. “But there was part of me... another part that didn’t. Or at least, not after I got to know him a little.” She looked at Lois. “You say you think I’ve been having some of your memories?”
Lois nodded.
“And I take it you two were... friends.”
“And colleagues,” Lois said. “Clark was... or rather is my partner at the Daily Planet. He has been since he first came to Metropolis.”
Lane nodded. “I felt that. As I got to know him... Well, I still remembered what I’d gone through during the trial, but... there was another part of me that kept remembering something else. That we were... friends and later on... more.”
“Not that we’ve ever figured out who set us up like that,” Kent said.
“If I do find them, I can promise you, they’ll pay,” Lane added.
Lois shifted uncomfortably on the couch.
“I think we have to tell them, Lois,” Clark finally said.
“Tell us what?” Lane asked.
Lois looked at her husband, chewing on her lower lip before nodding. “The people who broke into Star Labs,” she began slowly. “Well, I suspect it was... us.”
“What!” both Lane and Kent exclaimed in unison, jumping to their feet.
TO BE CONTINUED...
