PREVIOUSLY...
“Will you marry me?”
The question floated up to Lois and Clark from the still and quiet beach.
“Yes,” came the tearful reply even as Lane threw herself into her longtime lover’s arms. “Oh, god, yes!”
Lois sighed softly, leaning back into her husband’s shoulder. “I love happy endings.”
The young lovers, newly engaged, on the deserted beach were currently too preoccupied with each other to be aware of the new arrivals.
AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Chapter Forty-Seven
* * * * * * * * *
Lois giggled when Clark rolled his eyes for what had to be the millionth time since their flight back to Metropolis had started. The couple they had met yesterday evening bore almost no resemblance to the couple flying next to them now.
They seemed like a couple of teenagers, smooching so often that Clark repeatedly had to yell to keep them on course. And when they weren’t smooching, they were giggling or whispering to each other, oblivious to the world around them. Already the flight to Metropolis had taken twice as long as it should have.
“How can they be so immature?” Clark grumbled after yelling once again to get them back on track.
Lois smiled, snuggling closer in his arms so that she could swirl her tongue around his Adam’s apple in a way she knew drove him nuts.
“Lois,” he growled at her when he recovered from a sudden drop of about ten feet.
“Sorry,” she responded, not sounding very apologetic.
“Hmph.” He set his sites on the horizon.
She began nibbling at a sensitive spot on his neck and he had to swerve to avoid bumping into Lane and Kent. His detour caught both Lane and Kent’s attention and he gave them a sheepish look even as he growled under his breath at his wife. She merely giggled in response before returning to her very distracting activity.
Fortunately, it was only a minute or so more before the sight of the lights of Metropolis captured everyone’s attention. And seconds after that they were flying through an open window at Star Labs.
“Oh, good. You’re here,” Klein said as they landed, each man depositing his precious cargo on the floor.
“So... have you found something?” Lois asked excitedly.
“Yes. Yes. My original theory was correct.”
“Meaning?” Clark asked.
“Your blood tests confirmed it.”
“Confirmed what?” Lois asked in frustration.
“Well, first of all, your DNA is exactly the same.”
“Well, it would be if we’re alternate versions of each other - wouldn’t it?” Lane asked.
“Yes. Yes,” Klein said. “But as a result, I decided to run a test to determine what man-made chemicals were in your blood.”
“Excuse me?” Clark asked.
“Everyone’s blood these days contains traces of man-made chemicals. The composition of these chemicals and the amount in the blood varies from person to person - depending on what contact he or she has had with the chemicals. Everything from pesticides to flame retardants to PCBs, which as I’m sure you’re aware have been banned since the seventies as a result of health and environmental concerns. It’s fascinating, really. I mean, even new born babies have man-made chemicals in their blood due to...”
“What does this have to do with us?”
“Oh, right. Well, during the last year, we’ve been perfecting a machine that will tell us the age of these chemicals. For example, we can now tell you how much of any given chemical was in your blood during a given year. We’re hoping that will enable us to be able to find out when and where these chemicals came from and how to prevent their introduction into the blood stream.”
“So...”
“So, when I tested your blood...” He looked at Lois and Lane. “...I discovered that until 1992, the chemicals in your blood were identical for both of you. Same concentrations. Same make-up. Since then... there are differences.”
“Which means?”
“Until 1992, you two were the same person.”
Lois and Lane looked at each other in confusion.
“And although I didn’t test your blood...” Klein continued, looking at Clark and Kent. “...I suspect that the result would be the same for you, too.”
“So... I don’t understand...” Lois said slowly.
“Okay, follow me here and I think you’ll see where I’m going with this. In the nineteen fifties, a scientist named Everett came up with a radical new way of dealing with some of the more perplexing aspects of quantum mechanics. The Many-Worlds Interpretation, he called it. Simply put when numerous viable possibilities exist, the world splits into many worlds, one world for each possibility. In each of these worlds, everything is identical, except for that one different choice. From then on, they develop independently from each other. In this way, the worlds branch endlessly.”
“In other words,” Clark said slowly... “He came up with the theory of alternate realities.”
“Quite so,” Klein continued. As he spoke, Klein walked over to a nearby chalk board, pointing to a number of complex mathematical equations that meant absolutely nothing to anyone else in the room. “This was quite a departure from the Copenhagen Interpretation, of course. Copenhagen Interpretation maintained...”
“Dr. Klein!” Lois said.
“Right. Right. Anyway, the Many-Worlds Interpretation pertains to quantum events, but also has implications for macroscopic systems. Although you may think there are certain alternatives you would never choose, can you be sure of that? There are an infinite number versions of you who have split off at some point in the past from the path you are now following. There may be versions of you that split five or ten years ago, or perhaps five minutes after you were born.
“However, this need of universal split is in constant conflict with their need for unity, and thus, the universes thus created are always trying to merge. And since many choices might not result in long term difference, those universes will again merge, lessening the ever growing number of dimensions.
“Now, if we were to assume that only something truly cataclysmic could keep the universes from finding a way to merge once again, then we have to ask ourselves what is it that split the universes here. And is it cataclysmic enough to prevent merger. Thus, we have our answer.” Once finished, he turned and looked at them triumphantly.
“Uhh...” Lane said. “Could you try that once again in English?”
“I’m saying that in 1992, the universes split. Before then...”
“We were the same people?” Clark asked.
“Precisely,” Klein said.
“So what happened? What made the universes split in 1992?”
“A paradox,” Klein exclaimed. “When you went into 1992, you created a paradox.”
“A paradox?” Lane asked.
“Isn’t that were a man travels back in time and kills his grandfather before he was ever conceived? And if he kills his grandfather, how could he have ever been born? And if he’d never been born, how could he have traveled back in time to kill his grandfather?” Lois asked.
“Precisely,” Klein said as if that explained everything.
“Okay, I’m still a little fuzzy on what you’re saying,” Clark said.
“Okay, you two told me that you got this device...” Klein pointed to the time travel device. “...when a man from the future named Tempus traveled back to your time in order to destroy Utopia.”
“Right.”
“But you two...” He pointed to Lane and Kent. “You say you’ve never heard of Tempus.”
“Right.”
When the penny still didn’t drop, he tried again. “Okay, when you two went back to 1992 in your own universe, you made a change that prevented the two of you from ever getting together. Because of that change, Utopia was never created. Thus the person you got the time travel device from...”
“Tempus.”
“...never felt a need to travel back in time. And if he never traveled back in time, how did you get the time travel device that allowed you to go back in time in the first place?”
“So when we went back in time, we created a paradox in our own universe?” Lois asked.
“Precisely!” Klein said, sounding excited that they were finally understanding. “Now, as a result of that action, a new universe or reality had to be formed. You were now in this new universe so when you used the device to jump forward in time, you were still in this new dimension. The fact that you’re getting each other’s memories and have this weird reaction to touching each other is a result of these two realities trying to merge again - to become one.”
“So what are you saying?” Clark asked. “That if we go back to 1992 and simply clean up the mess we made to the past, the universes would again merge?”
“Most likely. They are trying to do exactly that anyway, so it shouldn’t be too hard to do. From what you’ve told me, all you’d need to do would be to remove any evidence that you’d been there - using your vision gizmo to destroy the surveillance tapes, using a bit of superspeed to get rid of the fingerprints. There would still be the people who you gave your names to, but without the rest... I would suspect the whole issue would die off pretty quickly.”
“Wait a minute!” Lane said. “If they do that... what happens to us?”
“Well, in all likelihood,” Klein said. “This reality would simply cease to exist.”
“You mean, we’d die,” Lane corrected.
“Not exactly. But...”
“So your solution to this problem is to kill us?” Lane asked. “We cease to exist.” She looked at Lois and Clark. “This is your mess. Why should we be the ones to pay for it? If anyone should lose their universe, it should be you.”
“Look, I sympathize,” Lois said. “But I’ve got a daughter to get back to.”
“Oh, so what are you saying?” Lane asked. “That our universe, that our world, that our lives are less important than yours because you have a daughter and I don’t.”
“No! Of course not. But our universe is the way it’s supposed to be. This universe is...”
“Don’t you dare say it’s a mistake,” Lane interrupted. “I’m not going to just lay down and die because...”
“No one is dying,” Clark interrupted. “And no one is losing their universe.” Her turned back to Klein. “Dr. Klein, you said that the paradox created a new dimension, but you didn’t say what happened to the old one.”
“Oh, it’s still out there somewhere.” He gestured abstractly with his hand. “It’s currently short one Lois and Clark, of course, but... it’s still out there.”
“So then, we don’t need to destroy this reality. We just need to find a way to get back to our own reality.”
“And what would happen then?” Lois asked. “Would we continue to share each other’s memories?”
“Oh, I doubt it. You’d remember what you remember now, but new memories... No. I’d be very surprised if you got new memories from each other. What is pulling the universes back together again, I suspect, is the fact that the two of you are here. After all, from what you told me, the events in 1992 led to some serious changes to your futures. You have a daughter together.” He gestured to Lois and Clark. “You don’t.” He pointed to Lane and Kent. “And even if you...” He pointed to Lane. “...got pregnant tomorrow, your child would be younger than theirs is. So the universal change is... permanent. Or would be if the two of you weren’t here. Right now, the universes are still in flux because you aren’t supposed to be here.”
“But I was in another alternate reality before and I never experienced these shared memories,” Lois said. “How do you explain that?”
“Obviously, you were not in a reality where you and your counterpart were ever the same person,” Klein responded. “That’s where the memory swapping aspect comes from.”
“Okay, so if you’re right, how do we get home?” Lois asked.
“Well, let me study this,” Klein said, picking up the time travel device. “I’m sure I can figure it out.”
“But if there are an infinite number of realities out there...” Clark said, pointing out an obvious problem. “...how are we to find ours?”
Klein clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Well, you could just search for it. It could take you the rest of your lives and you might never find it, but... wouldn’t that be quite an adventure?”
Lois and Clark didn’t look nearly as thrilled at this prospect as Dr. Klein seemed to be. There had to be another answer. There just had to be. They had a daughter waiting for them at home. And they would do whatever it took to get back to her.
* * * * * * * * *
Lane felt unexpectedly shy when Kent opened the door to his apartment and ushered her inside. After leaving Star Labs, it had been decided that Lois and Clark would, once again, stay at Lane’s apartment for the night. But this time, Lane had decided to go home with Kent.
But for some inexplicable reason, now that she was there, she felt shy. The fact that they had been lovers for years hardly seemed possible. Everything seemed new. Everything felt different.
“So...” he said as he closed the door behind them.
She looked over at him. He sounded slightly breathless as if he too were feeling this unexpected sense that they were in unfamiliar territory.
“So...” she said in response.
They stood there in silence for a moment, just staring into each other’s eyes. And then, almost as if some force greater than either of them suddenly reached in and pushed them together, they found themselves in each other’s arms, kissing, touching, exploring as they tripped together down the steps into his apartment.
Hands moved feverishly, over bodies and under clothing. Shoes, socks, jackets, shirts and other sundries soon marked a path to the bedroom.
Lights remained off and they worked by feel as they tumbled together onto Kent’s bed. Every touch was like fire. Every sound was like music in her ears. Never before had she felt anything like this. Not even with Kent.
He rolled her beneath him and began trailing his lips down her throat - at first in soft, butterfly kisses and then with growing need and intensity. She entangled her hands in his hair as the first tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. Instead of a moan, a small, unintentional sob erupted from the back of her throat.
Kent instantly looked up.
No! She did not want him to stop. She attempted to pull his head back to her neck, but he resisted.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered, his hand coming up so that he could gently wipe away the path the tear had taken down the side of her face.
She shook her head, unable to get the words past the lump in her throat. Tightening her hold on his hair, she forcibly pulled his mouth back to hers, kissing him with fierce intensity, moving her body urgently against his.
A deep growl emerged from the back of his throat, her actions having the desired effect. He responded to her kiss pitch for pitch before suddenly pulling back, panting heavily.
Dazed and struggling for breath she looked up into the midnight black of his eyes. Desire seemed to radiate from every pore of his body. She watched as he visibly got himself under control. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft, tender with just the tinge of a growl underneath.
“What’s wrong?” he asked again.
This time a slow smile lit up her face. Nothing was wrong. In fact, for the first time in her life, everything was right. “You’re mine,” she whispered, her hands gently cupping his face. She raised up slightly so that she could touch her lips to his. This time she kissed him with a tenderness, a reverence that seemed to rob him of breath. “You’re mine,” she said again. “Mine. Mine. Mine,” she repeated, interspersing each word with another kiss.
“I’m yours,” he confirmed. “Always and forever.”
She repeated his final phrase before pulling him back in and rolling him over so that she could explore every inch of his magnificent chest with her mouth. Her hands ran over his body as if she were trying to soak his very essence in through her fingertips. He was hers. Now and forever. And she was his. Finally. No more was she being pulled in two different directions. And as they came together, she gave herself, heart and soul over to this man - in a way she never had been able to do before.
And all too soon, each was calling out the other’s name to the universe, inviting it to witness the bond that had been forged between them..
* * * * * * * * *
Lois woke with a start, suddenly overcome by a blaze of passion. Her husband’s eyes opened only a moment after hers and they stared at each other as the fire that had somehow been ignited seemed to spread quickly throughout the room around them. They reached for each other, kindling the powerful heat of their love, a heat that soon consumed them with the intensity of its flames.
After the fire finally was abated, leaving the soft warmth of glowing embers in its wake, Lois and Clark lay together, breathing heavily as they cuddled in each other’s arms.
“So...” Lois said when she regained the power of speech. “I guess we know what Lane and Kent have been doing tonight.”
Unable to help himself, Clark burst out laughing.
* * * * * * * * *
“So we’re going to head back to STAR Labs this morning,” Clark said as the four of them sat around Kent’s kitchen table eating breakfast together. “Hopefully, Dr. Klein will have come up with something that will be a little bit more... concrete than just having us jump in and out of random universes, hoping to find the right one. What about you two?”
“Well, Lane says she needs to go into work this morning,” Kent responded, looking over at the dreamy expression on the face of his fiancee. “Isn’t that right, honey?”
“Hmmm?” Lane asked, seeming to again become aware of the world around her.
The other three people around the table laughed.
“What?” she asked, suddenly sounding slightly indignant.
“Nothing,” Kent said. “We were just wondering if you wanted to share with the rest of the class where you were just now.”
When Lane turned a deep shade of pink, Lois jumped into the fray. “Don’t worry about them. I wasn’t wondering that at all.”
“Anyway,” Kent continued, knowing better than to risk more of Lane’s wrath by pursuing the subject further, “I quit my job so...” He let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not entirely sure what to do about that. But... I’m not going back. The Star and the Daily Planet compete for too many stories. And when Lane and I get married... It would just be too hard working for rival papers.”
“So any idea what you might do instead?” Clark asked.
“I thought I might see about working for one of the weekly news publications. Surely one of them can use a writer. And at least that way, we wouldn’t find ourselves competing - at least not in quite as direct a way.”
“I have an idea,” Lois said. “Perry told me that there is an opening at the Daily Planet for a reporter...”
Lane and Kent were both shaking their heads by the time Lois finished speaking.
“Actually,” Clark said, backing up his wife’s idea, “that might not be such a bad idea. Perry and I sort of... forged a truce this weekend.” When Lane and Kent both showed interest in this development, Clark filled them in on the happenings in the newsroom - and in particular, their encounter with Dragon’s men and the aftermath. “Which reminds me,” he continued, looking over at his wife. “When we finally do jump back home, we have to make sure we jump in before Dragon’s men came to the newsroom.” When his wife gave her head a shake, indicating that she didn’t understand the importance of what he was saying, he continued. “You wrote the same story in our reality that you wrote here. If that’s the case, I’d expect the same result.”
“Which means Dragon’s men will probably come by our newsroom looking to exact the same revenge,” Lois continued for him, finally catching on to what he was saying.
“Exactly. And I think Superman should be there to... disrupt their plans.”
“Do you always talk about yourself in the third person?” Lane asked.
Clark laughed. “Occupational hazard.”
“Oh, before I forget...” Lois said. “Perry offered me... or I guess he offered you a job as a department head.”
“Why would I want to be a department head?” Lane asked.
Lois let out a breath of relief. “Oh, good. ‘Cause I told him I wasn’t interested.”
Lane smiled. “And what would you have done if I said that I had wanted to be a department head - that it was my dream, or something?”
“I’d have gone to see Dr. Klein immediately,” Lois responded. “Because I’d know he wasn’t right - that you never could have been me.”
Everyone laughed.
“Oh, right,” Clark said. “When we leave, I was thinking I’d leave you my suit.” He looked at Kent. “It will at least give you one to get started on.”
“I don’t know how we’ll ever be able to thank you,” Kent said.
“Just be happy,” Lois said. “Both of you.”
Lane smiled. “I think we can handle that.” She reached over, running her fingers down Kent’s shoulder and over his arm as they seemed to get lost for a moment in each other’s eyes.
Even Lois and Clark could feel the reflection of the heat her touch was generating.
“Oh, and as far as Perry goes...” Lois continued. She waited until she had their attention before continuing. “Might I make a suggestion?”
* * * * * * * * *
Perry looked up at the two people standing in his office before looking back at the paper in his hands. He continued reading for a moment before looking up once again.
“And you handed in your resignation at The Star...”
“Yesterday afternoon,” Kent responded. “Yes, sir.”
Perry nodded. “And you got this story...” He indicated the paper he had been reading.
“I wrote it this morning.”
Perry looked back at the paper, studying it carefully. The first one-on-one interview with Superman. He was holding a piece of dynamite and all three of the current occupants of the room knew it.
“And you didn’t sign any sort of non-competition agreement when you went to work at The Star?” Perry asked.
“No, sir.”
Perry set the paper on the desk. “Now, tell me exactly why you resigned from The Star.”
“Uhh... well...” Kent said, not quite sure how to respond.
“We thought there would be a conflict of interest,” Lane said, jumping into the gap.
Perry narrowed his eyes. “We?”
“Well...” Lois reached over, entwining her hand with Kent’s. “...we’re getting married.”
Perry stared at them, speechless for a long moment before squeaking out a single word. “Married?” he asked, certain his ears must be playing tricks on him.
* * * * * * * * *
“So how do we fix it?” Lois asked Dr. Klein, gesturing to the time travel device.
“Fix it?” Klein asked. “Oh. Well, it’s not broken.”
“But our Dr. Klein said... and you even agreed that the button for jumping to alternate universes is stuck.”
Klein nodded. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s broken.”
“Okay, so how do we get back home, Dr. Klein?” Clark asked, not sure that the current line of inquiry was getting them where they needed to go.
“Oh, right. Well, as I said, the button is stuck on a single location. But what that means is that if you were to jump right now, you’d go back to the last universe that you created. So provided that you haven’t created a paradox since 1992, you should jump directly back to your universe. You haven’t... have you?”
“Created any paradoxes other than the one in 1992?” Clark asked for clarification.
Klein nodded.
“No!” Lois said. “Of course not.”
“Then one push of this button...” He pointed to the appropriate button. “...and you should be home. If, however, you need to come back, press the return. On the other hand, if you need to jump to yet another universe, you just need to press the button again - and on and on until you find the right one. To come back, simply continue to hit the return button.”
Clark picked up the device, rolling it over in his hands. “So...” He glanced at Lois. “...what do you say? You ready to go home?”
* * * * * * * * *
Lane stood by the window in Perry’s office, watching as Kent settled into the chair at her desk. She’d known that Perry would want to talk to her alone. She’d also known that this was bound to be more of an interrogation than a ‘friendly’ chat. She and Kent had even discussed it before coming in to the Planet. Problem was, telling the truth was out of the question. No one would ever believe it. If anything, it would merely convince Perry that she...
“Have you lost your mind, honey?” Perry asked, interrupting Lois’ thoughts.
Lois sighed. Yep. That was exactly what he’d think if she told him the truth. “I don’t expect you to understand this, Perry.” She turned to regard him seriously. “But I do need you to trust that I know what I’m doing.”
“Is he threatening you in some way? Forcing you to marry him to give him credibility or... I don’t know, for some reason?”
“What?” Lois gasped. This was not one of the scenarios they had discussed. “No! Of course not.”
“Then how...” His voice trailed off, as if he really wasn’t certain what to ask next.
Lois preempted him. “I love him, Perry. With all my heart.” She put everything she felt for Kent into her words. “And I know he loves me.” She gave him a crooked smile. “Isn’t that why people normally get married?”
Perry ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’ve heard about women falling in love with men in prison, but I never thought you...”
“He’s not a criminal, Perry! I was wrong about him. Completely wrong. I’ve known it for a while now, but I just wasn’t certain how to tell you.” She let out a breath. “You saw him - when he saved us yesterday from that bomb. He didn’t have to stay. He could have called the bomb squad and then left the building. No one would have blamed him for that. But he didn’t leave. He saved us - and he was only able to do it because he was prepared to share our fate. Were those the actions of a criminal?”
“Then how do you explain the Star Labs incident? Treason, Lois! He sold government secrets for money. And I shouldn’t need to remind you that he set you up to take the fall for it!”
Lois let out a breath. This was the whole sticking point. Kent hadn’t liked the idea of them lying - so she’d promised to stick as close as possible to the truth - without actually telling the truth, of course. But would she be able to? Perry was a sly old dog, and if she made a single mistake, she had no doubt he’d pounce on it. “It wasn’t him, Perry,” she said at last. “He was working in Borneo at the time. I’ve seen the proof. I can’t explain what happened...” Okay, so that was true. After all, if she did, Perry would think she’d gone crazy. “...but I can say with absolute certainty that it wasn’t him - any more than it was me.” Then she held her breath as she waited, praying it would be enough.
For a long moment, Perry didn’t respond as if he was trying to digest her words. “Don’t you think that maybe you’re rushing into this? Maybe if you took some time...”
An unintended half-laugh escaped from the back of Lois’ throat. She was obviously more nervous than she’d thought. “I’m sorry,” she said immediately. “It’s just... Do you really think I’d be here talking to you about this if I wasn’t sure? Perry, Kent and I have been dating... on and off... for years now.”
Perry’s mouth fell open and a completely stunned expression settled on his face.
“I know him, Perry. I know him better than I’ve ever known anyone. I know his strengths and weaknesses. I know what makes him happy and sad. I know all his secrets - and he knows mine. And I know that he loves me. I’ve wanted to marry him for so long - I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t. If that means you don’t want me working at the Planet anymore, I’ll understand.” This was a gamble - but she was completely prepared to accept the consequences. Clark Kent was more important to her than any job - even one she loved. It was best Perry understood that up front.
“What?” Perry gasped. “Honey, what would ever make you think... oh,” he said, obviously answering his own question. He ran his hand through his hair as he slowly rose to his feet. “Okay, well, I can’t say I understand it, but... I guess it really is your choice. I just hope he treats you right. So... congratulations, I guess.”
It wasn’t exactly a full endorsement, but it was better than she had expected.
“And Kent getting a job here?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t pushing this too far. “I mean, it was hard enough keeping my stories from him when we were dating.”
“Have you ever considered that scooping you on stories might have been the reason he’s been dating you?”
“No. It isn’t. One of our rules was that we never discussed our current stories. So if that was what he’d been after, our relationship would have ended years ago. But... that isn’t a feasible option if we’re married...” She let the sentence trail off. “He’s a great reporter, Perry. I mean, I know he was used by Carpenter, but normally... You’ve got to admit that he is probably the best reporter at The Star. He’s smart and a hard worker. Over the years, he’s given us a real run for our money. If he was working here, I bet we’d get all the scoops. And then there’s the Superman interview. My guess is that might even be Pulitzer material. And if you let that go, some other paper or magazine will snap that up so fast...”
“Lois!” Perry growled, interrupting her monologue. “I don’t need you to tell me what that Superman interview would do for the paper. They didn’t make me editor because I can yodel. And I certainly don’t want to hear a recitation of Kent’s successes. I’ve already made my decision.”
“But, Perry,” Lane tried to object.
“Get Kent back in here,” Perry said, ignoring her final plea.
* * * * * * * * *
“Hey, Lois, can I speak to you for a moment?” Jimmy asked as Lane and Kent left Perry’s office a few minutes later.
Lane glanced over at Kent. This was something else they had been expecting.
“Yeah, sure,” Lane said. She’d have preferred to put this off for a little bit longer, but... Taking a deep breath, she followed Jimmy into the conference room. She just hoped their plan of attack here worked.
Jimmy closed the conference room door and turned to look at her.
“What’s up, Jimmy?” Lane said, trying to affect an air of casual curiosity.
“What’s up?” Jimmy returned in complete disbelief.
Lane’s eyebrows rose.
Jimmy’s eyes narrowed. “Where did you learn how to boost a car?”
Lane tried to look shocked by the question. “Where do you think?”
When he just stared at her, she rolled her eyes.
“Fine,” she said, acting as if she were humoring him. “You taught me how to boost a car and pick a lock. Even told me you learned to do those things in reform school - said it was a bum rap. So...? Do I pass?”
Jimmy lost some of his defensive stance. “Okay, so fill me in. What’s going on?”
“What are you talking about? Nothing’s going on. Or well... I guess Superman’s going on. But everything I know about that is in my story. Kent managed to snag a great interview with him, though - so if you’re wanting more information...”
“No! I mean about the two Kent’s and the other Lois!”
Lane’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“You know! The other night! The two Kent’s and the other Lois!”
“Are you feeling okay, Jimmy?”
Jimmy let out a frustrated breath. “When I came to your apartment the other night there were...”
“You never came to my apartment the other night,” Lane said, interrupting him.
“Yes! I followed you and Kent to your apartment and...”
“I dropped Kent off at his apartment and went home alone.”
“No! No! That’s not right. I saw you.”
Lane placed a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “You must have been dreaming, Jimmy. Maybe you fell asleep at your desk and dreamed about coming to my apartment. You know, I read somewhere that sleeping at one’s desk can have weird effects on a person’s dreams.”
“But I...” Jimmy’s voice trailed off in confusion, obviously wondering if he might have dreamed the whole thing.
“Come on, Jimmy,” Lane persisted, adding a laugh to give her comments added punch. “You’re joking right? Think about it. Two Kent’s and two mes? What are the chances of that? You must have been dreaming. What other possible explanation could there be?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Unless... your sure you’re all right, aren’t you? You haven’t been experimenting with hallucinogenics or something, have you?”
“No! Of course not!”
“Good,” Lane said, letting out a breath of relief.
“I suppose I could have been...” Jimmy’s voice trailed off as he seemed to be trying to sort out in his own mind what was true and what wasn’t.
“Anyway, enough talk about dreams. I just wanted to tell you what a great job you did on those Superman photos,” Lane said, deciding that now might be a good time for a distraction.
Jimmy’s confused expression cleared almost immediately. “Thanks. I couldn’t believe it. He just floated in front of me for almost a full minute. I just snapped off picture after picture. And now news organizations all over the world are calling Perry to get permission to use my pics. Perry said there will be a bonus in this for me. He even mentioned the possibility of a Kerth...”
Lane smiled as she listened to Jimmy drone on excitedly about his world-famous photos. It seemed the plan had worked.
* * * * * * * * *
“So we’re going to go back in time first. That way when we jump back to our own reality, we’ll be able to stop Dragon’s men,” Clark was explaining to Lane and Kent some time later.
The four of them had decided to meet back on their beach in Cuba during the lunch hour to catch each other up on any developments, but it turned out that this was an unexpected good-bye.
“So you’ll be leaving then,” Lane said, her voice wavering slightly.
Lois knew how she felt. Sharing memories with this woman had forged a bond between them that would never be broken.
“I wish I could say I’ll see you again,” Lois said. “But...”
“I know. Maybe we’ll come and see you sometime,” Lane said.
Lois stepped forward, as if to hug her doppelganger, before remembering they couldn’t touch. She gave Lane an apologetic smile.
“So how did the job interview go?” Clark asked.
“Oh, right,” Lois said. “Are we looking at the Daily Planet’s newest reporter?”
“Well... I’m on probationary status, but yes, you’re looking at the Daily Planet’s newest reporter.”
“That’s great! What did it? The Superman story?”
“Well, I don’t think that hurt,” Kent responded, reaching over and taking Lane’s hand. “But I think it might have something to do with the fact that Perry White didn’t want his star reporter married to the competition.”
Lane swatted his chest. “I just pointed out the pitfalls in that scenario. You got the job on your own. That Superman interview was a brilliant idea, by the way,” Lane said, looking at Lois.
Lois shrugged. “Well, in our universe, Clark getting the Superman story was a turning point in our relationship. It’s a good thing I didn’t know at the time that all he had to do was sit down and interview himself. He had me thinking that he was either really, really lucky or he was a better reporter than I gave him credit for.”
“So which one was it?” Clark asked, a twinkle in his eyes.
A slow smile lit up Lois’ face. “You were really, really lucky.”
“Oh, really,” Clark responded, feigning indignation. “I’m lucky, am I?”
“Well, you got me to marry you, didn’t you?”
Clark turned back to Lane and Kent. “She’s right. I’m really, really lucky.”
Lane and Kent laughed.
“So how long before the wedding?” Lois asked.
“Soon,” Kent said, tightening his hold on Lane’s hand. “We’ve already wasted too much time.”
“We?” Lane asked.
“Okay, me.” Kent leaned over, giving Lane a kiss.
The kiss lingered a bit longer than was probably strictly necessary - but Lois and Clark granted them this indulgence without annoyance. After all, no one knew better than them the price Lane and Kent had paid to get to this point
“Anyway,” Kent continued when he finally managed to pull away from his betrothed, “after work today, we’re going to Smallville to meet my parents.”
“I’m still not sure about that,” Lane said, shifting nervously from foot to foot. “Mothers and I... Well, we don’t exactly get along.”
“She’ll love you,” Clark said. He glanced over at his wife. “Trust me.”
“And you’ll love her,” Lois added. “You’ll love both of them, actually. Oh, and we should warn you that they probably won’t exactly be surprised.”
Lane and Kent shared a look before looking back at Lois.
“We’ve sort of already met them.”
“When?”
“When we first realized we had a problem,” Lois said. “They’re always our first port in any storm.”
Lane turned and looked at Kent. “Well, if they’re going to be our port in a storm, I suppose I should meet them. After all, when we tell my mother, I’m expecting gale force winds.”
“So have you figured out how you’re going to tell Mother?” Lois asked as it occurred to her that they really did share the same mother.
Lane cringed slightly, her hold tightening on Kent’s hand. “Very, very carefully,” she finally said. “I know it won’t be easy, but... the alternative is losing Kent. And I can’t do that. So...” She shrugged.
Lois nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.
“Can I ask you something?” Clark said, this conversation reminding him of something he’d wondered about for a while. When they nodded their consent, he continued. “Well, it’s just... in our reality, I’m quite close to my parents. But when we visited yours...” He looked at Kent. “...they indicated that you’d been sort of pulling away from them in recent years.”
Kent shifted uncomfortably.
“If you don’t want to tell us, that’s okay,” Clark added.
“No. No. It’s not that. It’s just... well...” He glanced at the woman beside him. “At first, I was just so floored about the accusations that Lane was making that I... I guess I just didn’t feel up to talking about it. It was too heartbreaking to realize that I’d just fallen hopelessly in love with a woman who... pretty much thought of me as an axe-murderer.”
Lane squeezed his hand.
“And then when we finally did get involved... I’d promised her I’d keep our relationship secret. And then... well, I guess I wasn’t exactly proud of my behavior. I was willing to sleep with her - but not willing to marry her.” He shrugged.
Lane gave him a look of understanding, giving him the courage to continue.
“Anyway, it just got... uncomfortable. Suddenly, there was this huge part of my life that I wasn’t able to share with my parents so...” He shrugged.
“So it was easier just to stay away?” Lois asked.
“I guess so.”
“Well,” Lois continued, glancing between Lane and Kent, “something tells me it’s time to go home.” She took her husband’s hand. “For all of us.”
The other three members of the party laughed.
“Oh, have you had a chance to talk to Jimmy, yet?” Lois asked.
Lane nodded.
“So... did it work?” Lois asked, after all the plan to convince Jimmy he was dreaming had been cooked up by her and Lane.
“Like a charm. Between our plan and redirecting him a bit onto the Superman photos, I don’t think he’ll be a problem.”
Lois laughed. “Much better than convincing him that he owes me forty dollars.”
“What?” Lane asked.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Clark said. “We borrowed forty dollars from Jimmy the other day.” He shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry.”
Kent laughed. “Well, after everything you’ve done for us, forty dollars seems a small price to pay. Anyway, everything considered, one thing I am just as pleased about, at least in our reality, there is no Tempus.”
Lois and Clark exchanged a look.
“What?” Lane asked cautiously.
“Well, there was no Tempus because you two never got together,” Clark said.
“But now that you are together...” Lois continued.
“You think we can... expect a visit,” Lane completed. “Oh, great.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Lois said. “I suspect you will become quite well acquainted with Tempus in the future. Oh, and H.G. Wells.”
“The writer?” Kent asked.
“We’ll let him explain,” Clark said.
The conversation had come to a natural end. It was time to say goodbye. But now that the moment had come, no one could quite do it.
“Oh, I left my Superman suit in your secret closet.”
“Okay; thanks.”
“There’s one thing that still puzzles me,” Lois said. “If you two were getting our memories, why didn’t you know about Superman?”
“Well,” Lane said. “It wasn’t as if your memories were... really clear. Or at least, whenever I’d have one of those ‘weird thoughts’ about things that hadn’t really happened, I didn’t know it was a memory, so I’d try to ignore it, push it out of my mind. It was the feelings mostly that stayed with me.”
“Whereas we,” Clark said, “knew that what we were getting were new memories, so we shared them, examined them, explored them for any possible clues we might have overlooked. As a result, our recollection of your memories are fairly clear.”
Lane, Lois and Kent were all nodding by the time Clark finished. It made sense.
“Do you guys need any money for your trip?” Kent finally asked.
“I think we’re fine.”
“I wish I could hug you,” Lois suddenly blurted out. She’d shared this woman’s past with her. Shared her ups and downs. Her heart aches and her triumphs. If only she could top it off by sharing a hug...
“I feel the same,” Lane said. “How exactly are we supposed to say goodbye?” After a moment, she turned to Clark. “At least I can give you a hug.”
And as Lane hugged Clark, Lois hugged Kent.
“Take care of her,” Lois told Kent as she stepped back to join her husband.
Then with one final look, she linked her hand through Clark’s arm.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Clark hit a button on the device and the time window appeared. After exchanging their final goodbyes, Lois and Clark stepped through the window. When the window again vanished, they were still standing on the beach, but this time, they were alone.
“Okay, so... if everything went as planned, we’ve gone back two days.”
“Why don’t you take a quick trip to Havana, check out the date on a paper.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than had Clark both disappeared and returned.
“It’s May 20th, 2001. So...”
“Let’s go home, Toto,” Lois said, giving his shoulder a pat.
Kent chuckled, even as he pushed another button on the time travel device. They stepped through the window again and found themselves, once again standing on the same deserted beach.
“Did it work? Are we home?” Lois asked excitedly.
“Only one way to find out,” Clark said, scooping her up in his arms and taking to the air.
“Es el Hombre de Acero!” someone shouted in Spanish from the ground below as they flew high overhead.
“So far so good,” Clark said as they left Cuba far behind. He was a little concerned about being seen flying without the Superman suit. Still... from this altitude, it was unlikely that the individual who had spotted him had seen more than a streak across the sky.
* * * * * * * * *
“So... what do you see?” Lois asked impatiently as they hovered high above their brownstone.
“Well, we live here, but...”
“But... what?”
A moment later, they were standing in the nursery. Only... Something was off. Blues instead of pinks dominated the landscape.
“Oh, boy,” Clark said.
TO BE CONTINUED...
