Thanks to the best betas ever, Carol, Beth, and Mark!
From Chapter 49
“Come here,” he said. “I think I found something.”
Lois walked over to his desk, leaning on the side with little interest. “What is it?”
“Look,” Clark said, pointing at his screen. “It says here that Superman donated a lock of hair at a charity auction.”
Lois perked up. “Where is it?”
“It says a Mrs. Doyle Alexander bought it,” Clark said. “What do you say we give her a call?”
“I'm on it,” Lois said feeling energized again.
Clark laughed at her sudden exuberance now that they had a break in the case and almost called her back. After all, she had taken over what he had been planning to do.
Then he realized – there was only one way to determine if this cloning idea was correct or his original idea of an alternate universe was the right one.
“I'll be back in about an hour,” he said to Lois as he made his way towards the stairs, but typical Lois, she was engrossed in her task and just nodded at him as he passed.
Chapter 50
“Hey,” Clark called as he spotted the other Superman up ahead. They caught up to each other within seconds and Clark took in the look on the other Superman's face. He did not look happy.
“I don't like you,” he said simply and Clark stared at him. Sometimes this Superman spoke like a child. “You weren't very nice to me at Lois',” he explained still sounding child-like.
“I'm sorry,” Clark said, finding himself reacting to this Superman as if he were a teenager. “But you were frightening Lois.”
“She said she liked me.”
“I'm sure she does, but I don't think she wanted to kiss you.”
“But if she likes me it should be okay,” the other Superman insisted. “And I could kiss her. She couldn't push me away. Might is right.”
“What?” Clark blinked his eyes. What the heck was that?
“Might is right,” the other Superman said again.
“Look, Superman,” Clark said, trying to keep his tone even. “I just want to know who you are. I didn't mean to hurt you at Lois'. I just want to know – are you from another universe?”
“I told you. I was born,” the other Superman said.
“Where did you grow up?” Clark asked. Did this Superman remember his childhood on Krypton? Although, if he did, he would have known what Krypton was.
The other Superman's face scrunched up as he thought. “I don't remember. But I was born in the womb and my father took me out.”
Clark was becoming more convinced the clone theory was right after all. “Who is your father?” he asked, his heart beating loudly.
“I can't say.”
“I think you're a clone,” Clark said softly. “That's why you don't remember growing up. I think you were made out of a lock of hair.”
“You don't know what you're talking about!” the other Superman said, sounding upset. “I don't want to talk to you anymore.”
Clark decided not to follow him when he flew away.
************
Clark flew to Smallville after he saw the clone. He knew his parents knew what was going on, but he needed someone to talk to about this – someone who knew all the important pieces, which meant Lois would not work.
Martha looked sad when he entered the farmhouse. “Clark, I'm so sorry for this morning.”
“I know, Mom,” he said as he put his arms around her. “Where's Dad and Superman?”
“Dad's in the barn and Superman got bored with sitting in the house, so he offered to plough the field. You know how much your father hates ploughing, so he gladly let Superman take over.”
“Hi,” came a voice from the doorway. “I'm so sorry, Clark. I shouldn't have told your parents what was going on,” Superman said. “I didn't think about the impact that would have on you.”
Clark waved away his apology. “It's not your fault. You need someone to talk to as well,” he said, not knowing he was repeated Martha's words from earlier. “But I still need someone to talk to, even if no one here can really help me.”
“What is it?” Martha asked as Clark and Superman took seats at the kitchen table.
“I thought it was a Superman from another universe,” Clark said. “But now I think it's a clone – Lois does as well, although she doesn't know about parallel universes. Oh, and that reminds me. I sort of screwed up, but I think it may end okay.”
“What do you mean?” Jonathan asked, having just come in.
“The clone or whatever came to see Lois. I didn't trust him and so I went to make sure she was okay.”
“She didn't cancel her plans? I thought once you told her there was more than one…” Superman started.
“I didn't get a chance to tell her,” Clark explained. “She was gone when we got off the phone. Anyway, so I went over, but when I glanced through the door, it looked like he was hurting her. He was kissing her and it looked like she wanted to get up and he wasn't letting her.”
Martha shot a look at Superman. “You didn't tell us this!” she said somewhat accusingly before turning back to Clark. “Is Lois okay?”
Clark nodded, “I decided that maybe more than Clark Kent was necessary and since Superman said she was going to find out there was more than one anyway, I spun into the suit and came in before things went any further.”
“Did she recognize you?” Jonathan asked.
“No,” Clark said. “That's why I think it may be okay. She thinks I'm just another clone.” He could see his father's shoulders slump in relief.
“Anyway, we found an explanation for how a clone could exist – I found a record of a lock of your hair auctioned off for charity,” he said to Superman, “and I went and talked to the other Superman and I'm even more convinced that the clone idea is right as he seems very immature. Plus, he doesn't know anything about Krypton or Jor-El, but he keeps referring to a father he won't name.”
“What's Lois think?” Martha asked.
“She agrees with the clone idea, although I obviously haven't told her about my chats with him. She's at the Planet now looking up what happened to Superman's lock of hair.”
Something seemed to occur to Superman as he suddenly spoke with urgency in his voice. “This is probably a mistake, but we need to figure out what to do about the young Superman clone idea. So…” he hesitated for a moment, “I'm going to tell you what happened next in my world so we can determine the best way to proceed. But we need to move quickly. I don't think he would hurt Lois, but just in case…”
Clark smiled. It felt good to be on the inside for a change.
************
“Let her go,” one of the Supermen called as the original imposter tied her to a pole. From this distance, Lois could not tell if it was the young imposter or the original, or perhaps a new clone she had yet to meet.
“I never would have hurt you,” the imposter said to her. “But I had to be sure he would come.”
The other Superman walked over and ignoring the imposter, untied Lois. She looked at him closely. He certainly looked like the original.
“Where have you been?” she asked, although she still could not be one-hundred percent certain that this was the Superman she had known for several months rather than yet another clone.
“Sorry, Lois,” he said to her softly. “I was trying to figure out what was going on.”
“What is going on?” Lois asked. “Clark and I think it's clones. But who knows how many of them there are.”
“I think there's just the two you've seen,” he said. “No, please, Lois, stay here.”
He spun around and Lois watched him walk away for a minute. Then she remembered – she was Lois Lane. She did not stand still for anybody – not even Superman!
She turned to head into the bar Superman had disappeared into, but he appeared in front of her with the imposter in pursuit before she could get inside. She backed away and hid behind a post.
The two Supermen seemed to move at a distance from each other and then suddenly the imposter aimed a ray of heat vision at Superman. Superman flew up and avoided the beam. A second later, the imposter tried again, and again, Superman flew above it.
“Why aren't you fighting me?” the imposter asked, sounding frustrated.
“I don't want to hurt you,” Superman said. “But you are getting weaker and I can keep dodging your attempts to hurt me until you can't do so anymore.”
“How did you know that?” the imposter asked, sounding scared.
“I can tell,” Superman replied softly.
“Why would you care about hurting me? Might is right,” the imposter said sounding confused and sad.
“I don't believe that,” Superman said. “You and I, we're brothers.”
As he finished speaking, another Superman flew down and landed next to the original. It was hard to tell from where she was hiding, but she thought it might be the younger clone.
“Who are you?” the older clone asked.
“I'm Superman.”
“Then who are you?” the imposter asked the original.
“I'm also Superman.”
The imposter looked at the newcomer critically. “You don't look like us,” he said. “Not exactly. You're the one that was in Lois' apartment.”
“I'm younger than you are,” the young one said.
“What do you mean?” the imposter asked.
“I think you are clones,” Superman said to the imposter. “He must have been born after you,” he said, gesturing to Clark.
“Are you supposed to replace me?” the clone asked the younger clone.
“I don't know,” the younger one said. “If so, I'm not going to do a very good job of it.”
The older imposter moved closer to the other Supermen. “Are you dying?” he asked. “Because I'm dying,” he admitted, his voice less combative.
“I don't know,” the younger Superman said.
“Why don't you take us both out?” the imposter asked the real Superman.
“I told you,” Superman said. “We're all brothers. I can't hurt you.”
The imposter looked at the ground. Then looking up again, he asked the young Superman, “Do we have the same father?”
The young Superman nodded. “I don't know.”
“Don't you talk to your father?” the imposter asked. “Don't you live with him?”
The young Superman shook his head. “No.”
“Did your father kick you out?”
The younger one shrugged. “I don't remember my father.”
The imposter suddenly bent over and the younger clone moved over to him. “Are you all right?” he asked.
The imposter nodded his head, then looked up at Superman. “You aren't my enemy, are you?”
“No,” Superman said.
“We're brothers,” the younger clone said softly and Lois crept closer so she could hear better.
“Can you wait here? I have something I need to do,” the imposter asked and when Superman nodded, he took off.
Superman glanced up at Lois. “You need to go back to the Planet,” he said to her.
“I…” Lois started to tell him she would go back when she was good and ready, but something in his eyes made her change her mind. “Okay,” she agreed.
“Will you be okay here alone for a minute?” he asked the young clone. Once he nodded, Superman picked Lois up and flew her away.
“What's going to happen to them?” she asked him.
Superman spoke softly. “I think they are both dying. The younger clone seems to have a little more time, but I think they'll both be dead by tomorrow.”
“Was it a clone last week at the elevator rescue?” Lois asked as the idea occurred to her. “Is that why you seemed so nervous?”
Superman thought. He had already told her it was him, but since that was a lie, would it be any more of a lie to tell her it was a clone? He had seen Clark's most recent save and he was doing better now. He doubted Lois would notice a difference anymore as long as she was not there.
“I'm sorry,” Superman finally said. “I was still trying to figure out how someone else had shown up to do that rescue.”
He flew her into the window of the Planet. “I need to go,” he said as he set her on her feet.
“I'm glad you haven't been acting weird,” Lois said. “I was worried about you.”
“Thank you, Lois. It means a lot to me that you care,” he said, hating himself for saying it and hating himself more because he knew it was true.
************
“Where is he?” the clone asked Clark as he landed.
“He went to take Lois back to the Planet,” Clark said. “Where did you go?”
The clone held up a lock of hair. “This is what my father cloned us with, right?” Clark shrugged since as another clone, he could not really know. “I think… I think we were only made to destroy Superman and he's good, don't you think? I like him better than my father.”
Clark nodded.
“So, I don't want my father to be able to make more of us.”
Superman landed behind him as he said this. “Thank you,” he said in response.
“But that's not all,” the clone said. “You need to kill us, too, or he could use tissue from one of us. You need to kill us and burn the bodies.”
Clark groaned slightly from behind the clone. When Superman had told him what was going to happen, he had refused to tell him what happened to the clone. He knew the clone was dying, but the idea of burning his body still bothered him.
“I'm in pain,” the clone said. “You would just be putting me out of my misery. And you could wait until he gets the same way,” he said, gesturing to Clark. “Just as long as he stays away from my father.”
“Who is your father?” Clark asked.
“I don't know his name, I always call him Father. But he lives in the big tower in the middle of the city.”
“LexTower?” Clark asked exchanging a glance with Superman.
“That's the one,” the clone said as he fell to the ground. “I don't have much longer.”
Clark moved forward first and wrapped his arms around the clone. “I'm glad to have met you,” he whispered.
The clone smiled through his pain. “I am glad to have known both of you. The world is different than Father taught me. Nicer.” With that, his eyes closed and he seemed to drift off.
“That's it?” Clark asked with tears in his eyes.
Superman nodded.
************
“I told Lois the Superman at the elevator rescue was a clone,” Superman told Clark later as they cleaned up from dinner. “It explains all "my' strange behavior and I've seen you recently. I don't think she'll notice anything anymore. If you're still nervous, you're covering well.”
“Thanks,” Clark said quietly. “I'm still petrified, but I'm glad it isn't coming through.”
He picked up a glass and brought it over to the sink as he thought. “I think we should do away with the make-up idea,” he said. “At least when you're not on rescues.”
“What?” Superman asked.
“I think you should keep wearing it for rescues in case a reporter starts to notice the differences between us, but not around her. Not for Lois. She spotted the difference too quickly,” Clark said.
“So, what are we going to do?” Superman asked although he would be more than happy to not have to wear make-up around the apartment. “I mean, at some point she's going to be faced with a younger Superman. You can't keep not performing rescues in front of her once I'm gone.”
“I don't know yet,” Clark sighed. “But we'll think of something.”
************
“I'm so sorry,” Lois said softly, her cheek against his chest.
“It's not your fault,” Clark replied. “If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I'm sorry.”
Lois leaned back. “Don't be ridiculous. I didn't even want kids until I met you, Clark. I'm still not really sure. But you want them and I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy,” he said as a tear leaked out of his eye and Lois laughed at him. “I am,” he insisted. “I'm not saying I couldn't be happier, but I am already happier than I've ever been.”
Lois leaned up and kissed him. She pulled away a moment later, though. “Herb said that our descendents lead to Utopia.”
Clark smiled, realizing what she was getting at almost immediately. “Which means we have descendents.”
“Right,” Lois agreed. “I mean, I don't know how yet, but it seems like we must.”
“Maybe we adopt?” Clark suggested.
Lois shook her head, “But then our descendents wouldn't have superpowers.”
Clark shrugged. “Maybe they don't need them. Remember what else Herb said. We're both revered in the future.”
“It wasn't your superpowers that are important,” Lois realized, “It's your desire to help.”
“Which is something you share in spades,” Clark said, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose.
“So, should we start thinking about adoption?” Lois asked.
“Maybe…” Clark paused. “I'm not quite ready for that yet.”
“Me neither,” Lois admitted. “Maybe we revisit it in a few months?”
“Sounds like a deal.”
Superman lay on his bed, taking in the quiet of the building around him. Everything had ended well, including seeming to rid Lois of the desire to ask him what was wrong. Clark, as a result, was sleeping like a baby. He could not sleep, though. He was restless.
He was getting more and more homesick and it bothered him. He did not want to abandon Clark right now, not when he was making such strides towards overcoming his fears. Still, he was eager to get back home.
He smiled. At least this time, Lois' hair had been the right length in his memory. It was the same short hair cut she had had when they had that conversation. Although, now that he thought about it, something was still wrong about the memory. What was it?
Superman went through a list of Lois' physical traits and finally convinced himself that she had looked fine. He went through the memory again, but was also sure that he was recalling the conversation right. So what was it? What else could it be?
With a start, Superman sat straight up in bed. It was Lois' heartbeat. That was not the heartbeat of his Lois. It was the heartbeat of the Lois in this universe. They were similar, but not the same. He sighed. He had been away from home too long and was getting confused.
He lay back down, schooling his breathing to be calmer. It was just a silly memory. There was no reason to panic. So what if he was having trouble remembering his wife? It would be fine. In a few weeks, Clark would be ready to take over and he could go home anyway.
