A huge thank you to Beth, Carol, and Mark!
From Chapter 47
“I wonder why Chad didn't die here?” Superman pondered.
“Lois just said that some guy caught him,” Clark said.
“Someone caught him when he was falling off the rock?” Superman said in disbelief. “Wouldn't that have crushed the guy?”
Clark paled. “Maybe. But not me.”
“What?” Superman asked.
Clark did not say anything at first. He was not sure. Could it really be? Was it really possible? It was an awfully big coincidence, but then again… Maybe? Finally, Clark sighed and said, “I think it was me. I saved Chad during his rock climbing accident.”
Chapter 48
“You did?” Now Superman was really confused.
Clark closed his eyes tightly.
It was a beautiful morning. The flooding in Germany had been easy to help with and given the time difference, it was still only late morning in Kansas. His parents might have noticed he was gone, but more likely they thought he was just sleeping in since it was Saturday.
“Chad!” he heard a scream from below him as he passed over the eastern coast of the U.S. He glanced down and saw something that made his heart stop. There was a boy, someone about his age, falling at an alarming rate towards a sharp rock on the ground.
Swooping down quickly, Clark managed to get below him just in time for the boy to fall into his arms.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he placed the boy on the ground.
“Yeah,” he said, looking around in shock.
“You could have been killed!” an older man said, and Clark could hear that the man's heart was beating even faster than the boy who had been falling.
“I'm Michael,” the older man held out his hand, “and this is my son, Chad.”
Clark shook hands with both Michael and Chad. “Hi, I'm Clark.”
“Thank you so much, Clark!” Michael said.
“Yes, thank you!” Chad said.
“No problem,” Clark said. “I was just finishing the climb right next to you anyway. It was just a lucky coincidence.”
“Well, we can't thank you enough,” Michael said. “Could we take you to lunch or something?”
“No thanks,” Clark smiled. “I was on my way out.”
“Let me give you something,” Michael said, pulling out his wallet.
“Really, it was no problem,” Clark said. “I'm just glad I could help and you're okay,” he said to Chad. “See you.”
He walked a few feet away before taking off towards Smallville again.
“Wait,” Superman said as Clark told them what he remembered about what happened. “Did this Lois date Chad after high school? You said he died after her freshman year of college, right?”
“Right,” Clark said. “I think she said they started dating during her junior year of high school.”
“But wouldn't that mean you were in your senior year?” Superman asked, still confused.
“Yeah,” Clark said.
“So, what were you doing helping out with a flood in Germany? You didn't live there during high school, did you?”
“No,” Clark said, now equally confused. “I was helping out at natural disasters. Didn't you do that in high school?”
“You helped out in high school?” Superman asked.
“Well, not all the time,” Clark said, “but a couple of times a week.”
Superman closed his eyes, trying to understand what was going on. “So, you did something that was sort of like being Superman in high school?”
“Sort of,” Clark said, starting to understand. “Except no costume.”
“Wow!” Superman said.
“So, that's why,” Clark said softly.
“Why what?” Superman said.
“Why you were ready for Superman before I was,” Clark said slowly.
“It sounds like I wasn't,” Superman said. “Although… I'm confused. Why weren't you ready when you moved to Metropolis? I mean if you'd already done it in high school. What made you stop?”
“I got caught,” Clark said softly. “I did a rescue in Kansas City and was caught on tape walking through a fire.”
“Some of the guys from what must have been Trask's group decided they wanted to do some tests on Clark,” Martha added quietly finally following the conversation.
“And to make sure he'd come willingly, they kidnapped me when I was in the field one day. Roughed me up some, too, but Clark came and found me,” Jonathan said, smiling lovingly at his son.
“Did they catch you?” Superman asked, feeling his own heart speed up as he imagined how scary that would have been when he was in high school. Heck, it would have been scary now.
“No,” Clark said. “I accidentally knocked over a candle when I went to get Dad. I wasn't thinking straight and it seemed like the most important thing was to get Dad home. By the time I came back they were both dead,” he said, his voice breaking.
“Clark, that wasn't your fault,” Martha said firmly.
“It most certainly wasn't,” Superman added, taking in the pain on Clark's face. “Clark, I'm sorry. I had no idea. If I had…”
“What?” Clark asked. “You would have offered to fill in and be Superman until I was ready?” he gave a wan smile. “Even if you didn't know, you did all you could. I'm so grateful to you for giving me a chance to get used to this.”
“Still,” Superman said. “If you need more time…”
“No,” Clark said. “I need to keep doing this. I can't keep you away from your family much longer.”
“Okay,” Superman said, smiling slightly. “But if you change your mind, please just let me know.”
“I will,” Clark smiled. Then eager to change the subject he asked, “So, what's the deal with staying here anyway? And why have you been keeping a low profile in Metropolis but roaming the rest of the earth looking for people to help?”
Superman took a deep breath. “That's not me.”
“What?” Clark said.
“It's not me. I can't tell you who it is, but when it happened in my universe, I kept a low profile trying to figure it out. For the most part, no one ever figured out there were two Supermen around, so I thought I should do the same thing here.”
************
Clark flew over Metropolis slowly. Superman had said he was staying in Smallville for another few days. Clark was curious. Did Superman know who it was? He said this had happened in his universe, too, so probably. Was it another Clark Kent? Maybe the one whose parents had died when he was young?
“Hey, you!” called someone to Clark's left.
Clark looked over. There he was. He flew over to the other Superman. “Hi,” he said while he looked him over. He looked like Superman, meaning the other one. This guy was definitely older than he was, and looked to be about the same age as Superman. In fact, this guy and Superman could be twins. They looked identical.
“I don't want to talk,” the other Superman said. “You're my enemy.”
“I'm your what?” Clark asked confused.
“I'm the most powerful man in the universe. You have outlived your usefulness,” the other Superman said petulantly.
“I'm not your enemy,” Clark said, not understanding what was going on. The demeanor of this Superman was completely different than the one sitting in his parent's living room. “I want to know more about you – where you came from. Are you from another parallel universe?”
“Parallel universe?” the other Superman asked. “I was born. My father took me out of the womb.”
“Jor-El took you out of the womb?” Clark asked. Maybe this Superman had gotten different messages on his globe?
“Who's Jor-El?” the other Superman asked.
“Your father,” Clark said confused. “Isn't he?”
“I don't know what you're talking about,” the other Superman said before he took off, flying away so quickly Clark had trouble seeing where he went.
************
“Lois Lane, Daily Planet,” Lois said to the police officer when she arrived at the bank. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Hostage situation,” the officer said. “It was tense until Superman got here.”
“He's here?” Lois asked. The officer pointed off-handedly to where Superman was talking to the other officers.
He looked… off again. Not so much nervous this time, but more… cocky? What was with Superman? She knew he had told her he was okay, but his behavior was getting weirder and weirder.
Lois made her way over to him. She wanted to ask where he had been, why he had been keeping such a low profile in Metropolis recently. Before she got there, though, one of the guys broke free of police custody and made his way right toward her. Superman caught him just seconds before he reached Lois and grabbing him around the collar, hauled up way above his head. Then with a flick of his wrist, he tossed the man into the police van knocking him out cold.
Lois watched in fascination. This was getting seriously weird.
“Are you all right?” Superman asked her.
“I'm fine. Are you all right?” Lois asked him.
“I'm fine, miss,” he said and if Lois did not know any better, she would think he was leering at her.
“'Miss'? Superman, it's me Lois.”
“Nice to meet you, Lois,” he said before he flew off.
************
Lois walked quickly towards Clinton Avenue. She really needed to see Superman. She did not care what he said, he was clearly not okay. Last week he was acting all nervous saving people from an elevator and today he was almost too confident, and definitely too aggressive, with the hostage situation. Plus, the way he had spoken to her had been strange. Almost as if he had never seen her before.
She knocked on the door, but no one answered. She knocked again, but still no answer. Where was he? With a sigh, Lois headed back home. She was going to talk to Superman and find out what was going on whether he liked it or not.
************
“I saw him,” Clark said to his parents. Superman was taking a walk around the farm, but Clark had the impression that what he was really doing was avoiding him. “He looked exactly like Superman – like me, only older. And he has all my powers.”
“Mmmhmmm,” Martha said as she worked on a sculpture sitting in the middle of the room.
“Who do you think he is?” Clark asked his parents. “A Clark from another universe? Something else entirely?”
Jonathan shrugged and Martha said nothing.
Clark looked back and forth from one to the other of them. They were acting weird – and almost completely disinterested in what he was talking about. What was up with them? He started to ask them when he realized what was going on.
“You know, don't you?” he asked.
“Know what, honey?” Martha asked him.
“Know who he is. Superman told you,” Clark guessed. Neither of his parents answered him, but Martha had the grace to blush slightly. “Well, that's just great!” Clark said, annoyed. “How can I bounce ideas off of you when you know the truth but can't tell me?”
“Oh, honey, we're sorry,” Martha said, looking truly apologetic.
“A lot of good that does me!” Clark said, annoyed.
“Hey!” Jonathan spoke up. “I know this is frustrating for you, but there's no reason to take it out on your mother.”
“You're right,” Clark said quietly. “I'm sorry. I'm just going to go. You can't help me anyway. I'm just going to try to find him again and see what I can learn.”
“We still want to help you, son,” Jonathan said.
“But you can't. I mean, you couldn't even if you didn't know what was going on, but since you do, you can't even let me talk it out with you. I'm not angry at you. Or at Superman. Just frustrated,” Clark explained. “I'll be okay.”
************
Superman came back into the farmhouse after Clark left. “I'm sorry,” he said to them quietly. It had not occurred to him that telling Martha and Jonathan what was going on would make it difficult for Clark. He felt awful. Plus, he suspected Clark knew he was avoiding him. He knew how difficult it had been for him to deal with the clone and was not sure he would be able to be around Clark and not just tell him what was going on. So, he had decided that a walk around the farm would help him keep what he knew to himself.
He had not meant to listen to Clark's conversation with his parents, but when Clark had started yelling, he just sort of tuned in. It had never occurred to him that Clark would respond differently to the clone than he had, but of course it made sense that Clark would think the clone was a Clark from a different universe.
“Nonsense,” Martha said in reply to his apology. “There's no reason to be sorry. Clark knows you didn't tell us in some sort of effort to keep a secret from him and you can talk to us whenever you want.”
“Thanks,” Superman said, smiling slightly.
“Clark knows that you need someone to talk to just as much as he does. Probably more, sometimes,” Jonathan said.
“I know. He's been very thankful,” Superman said, suddenly feeling like maybe Martha and Jonathan thought Clark was being ungracious.
“I'm sure he has,” Martha said. “Do you want some milk?” she asked, trying to change the topic of conversation.
“No thanks,” Superman said. “I think I'm going to head to bed.”
“Good night,” Jonathan said looking at him with concern.
Superman lay in Clark's old bed, looking around the room. It was sort of comfortable in here – this room was so similar to his room at his parents'.
The only issue was that somehow being here made him feel more homesick. At least when he was in Metropolis he had something to do sometimes. Here he had nothing to do but wait until he could make his way back to Metropolis and take over some Superman duties again.
Now that he understood what Clark had gone through, he felt guilty, but he was more than ready to go home. He wanted to hold his wife in his arms, brush Emily's hair, and read Jory a bedtime story. Was that really too much to ask?
He closed his eyes and tried to get vivid pictures of Emily and Jory – he saw them laughing at the beach, and he felt himself smiling in response. Now Lois. The smile on his face grew wider. She was in her wedding gown and she was looking at him with such love as she spoke her vows, he almost felt himself start to cry.
“Does it bother you not knowing where our wedding was?” Lois asked him. They were lying on their backs in the sand on a deserted island, well into the relaxation of their honeymoon.
“Not at all,” Clark said. “I'm just so happy that we're finally married for real.”
Lois smiled at him, leaning up on her elbow to look him in the eye. “I second that.” She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips, but as she pulled away, Clark snaked a hand behind her head, holding her in place and deepening the kiss.
“I love you, Mrs. Lane-Kent,” he smiled at her.
“I love you, too, Clark. So much,” Lois whispered as she leaned in for another kiss.
Superman smiled to himself at the memory. It had been a perfect wedding and an even more perfect honeymoon. They had done nothing for two weeks except spend time together - no Superman duties, no stories for the Daily Planet, just time to explore each other.
For a second, Superman's mind focused in again on the image of Lois as she hovered above him and he frowned. There it was again – the feeling that something was wrong, something was off. This time, though, he was sure it was not the memory itself that was the problem, it was something to do with Lois.
He tried to focus on the mental image he had of her. She looked like Lois – brown eyes, brown hair, the perfect smile. What was wrong?
With a groan, Superman rolled over intent on falling asleep. He was sick of thinking about this. How important could it be anyway?
Just as he was about to doze off, though, he realized what was wrong. Lois' hair – it had been long there, falling to her shoulders. But when he and Lois got married, it had been cut short. He shook his head. It was not a big deal – so he had forgotten what Lois' hair looked like on their honeymoon. She had worn her hair in the shoulder length bob he had pictured earlier lots of times – when he first met her, shortly after they got married, after Emily's birth. It was not that big a deal.
