I know I should be coy and wait another day or two before posting, but I'm still giddy from the response to part one so I'm in a generous mood. 
TOC Previously:
"Oh my god," she said softly. "I marry Clark?"
Superman ran one hand through his hair and looked away. The gesture was so much like Clark when he was struggling for words that her breath caught in her throat. Her knees wobbled as the realization hit Lois hard. It was 1998. She was married to Clark. Superman had tried to become intimate with her in what was apparently her bedroom. Clark was forever running off on the flimsiest of pretexts. Superman was inexplicably nearby whenever she needed him.
… Did you want me to take you flying first? …Are you going to call me Superman the whole time? …What else would I call you? She took a step backward and her legs bumped into the bed. Superman's bed, her mind whispered. Superman's driver license. Superman's wife. With new perspective, Lois looked up at the man she had idolized for the past two years. Her entire body felt cold and her voice was a squeak as she asked, "Clark?"
Superman hesitated for a moment and then dipped his chin in a nod. "Yes."
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Part 2/10
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1998
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For several seconds Lois simply stared at him as she tried to take in the enormity of this discovery. It felt as though her mind had gone blank, unable to process the information overload. Above all, her instincts were screaming to get out of there. To get as far away as possible. To get somewhere familiar and safe. When she finally spoke, her voice was a dry whisper.
"Will you please move?"
Superman - no, make that
Clark - looked taken aback. His head swung to look at the open door and then back to her. He looked startled, as though it hadn't occurred to him that he was blocking her way. She saw his lips part, as if he were going to say something and then he sat down on the sofa, leaving her a clear path to the door.
Lois rushed past him, her senses heightened at the thought that he might follow her. A quick glance behind her revealed that she was alone in the hallway. She rushed down the stairs as swiftly as she could. As she neared the bottom she looked up to the landing above, but there was no sign of him.
On the wall to her left was a picture of her and Clark at what appeared to have been their wedding. Lois stared at it in disbelief. Their arms were around each other and their expressions as they looked into each other's eyes could only be described as joyous. For a few disorienting seconds Lois felt almost envious of her future self.
A floorboard creaked above her and Lois hurried out of the building. Superman! All this time and Superman was really Clark! It was Clark who had flown her from EPRAD to the Planet. Clark who flew into space to stop an asteroid. Clark who had saved her - and the world - time after time. It was Superman who edited her copy, teased her, and frequently annoyed her. The man who flirted with her and brought her coffee and opened doors for her was the Man of Steel.
And she
married him.
The street outside was residential and well-lit by street lamps and the lights from windows. She walked to the end of the block and then turned to look back. He wasn't following her. Then again, she chided herself, he could just be watching her through the wall right now. The thought set off another spark of indignation - how many times had he acted helpless or clueless when he could have been
useful in getting to the bottom of a story?
Lois raised her hand to signal for a cab. One pulled over and she gave the driver her address on Carter Avenue. The credentials taped to the glass divider revealed that the driver's taxi license had been issued in December 1997. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she tried to decide what she should do if this was all real. Credentials and drivers licenses could be faked, after all.
But why, her mind persisted, why would Superman, or Clark, or whoever the hell he was - why would he play such an elaborate joke on her? Sure he was a liar - but what could he possibly hope to gain by this?
As the cab worked its way across Metropolis, Lois noticed that some things were different. The little bistro that Lucy loved so much was gone, replaced by a cellular phone store. The abandoned warehouse on 17th Street was now a nightclub. The massive hole in the ground that had been under construction on the corner of Bessolo and Main that morning was now a gleaming thirty-story building.
This was real. She had leapt three years into the future. A future that included a husband who moonlighted in tights and a cape. The hollow, panicked feeling in her stomach increased.
The cab turned onto her street and she was relieved to see that it looked the same. When they stopped in front of her building, though, she felt a cold stab of dread. The front door was a different color. A large neon sign advertising psychic services was glowing in a ground floor window. That definitely had not been there when she left for work.
Inside her building, the carpet was no longer burgundy; it was beige. Her hand felt for the keys in her pocket but found nothing. Lois groaned as she remembered that she had left them at the Planet and taken a cab to the police station earlier.
Three years earlier, she told herself as she climbed the stairs. Unless this was all a hallucination, that was three years ago.
Lois stopped before reaching her apartment door. There was a tiny shimmer of light coming from the peephole; someone was home. Lois hesitated - should she knock? And what would she say to them?
The sound of a lock sliding open startled her and she took a step backward. Her door opened and a man stepped out into the hall. He was holding a grocery bag that had been tied closed at the top as he walked past her toward the garbage chute just across the hallway. Lois moved to peek into her apartment. The walls were painted a pale green and that was definitely not her furniture.
"Hey!" the man called out, his tone full of warning. "Can I help you?"
The canned laughter of a television sitcom erupted from inside the apartment as he returned to stand protectively in the doorway.
"Oh, sorry, no." Lois hurried toward the stairs. "I think I'm on the wrong floor."
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During the ten-minute ride to the Planet, Lois gave herself a pep talk. Instead of freaking out, she should be rejoicing. She was being given a glimpse of the future. Granted there were a couple of rather large surprises, but she should be practical about this. At the very least, she could find out who won the past few major sporting events and make a killing at the bookies if she ever got back to 1995.
When she arrived at the Planet, Lois stood on the sidewalk and looked up. The building seemed the same. Inside, the front lobby was unaltered. Lois pushed the button for the elevator and hoped that her desk was still in the same place.
It was - but the name plate now read 'Lois Lane Kent'. The daily appointment calendar on her desk was open to Tuesday, March 24, 1998. Her hands shook as she leafed through the papers on her desk. There were notes there in her own handwriting about stories she wasn't working on. It was too surreal to be true and yet…
Good grief - Dudley Micheals, the city councilman who had resigned under a cloud of controversy, was now the mayor? Had the voters lost their minds? How did a crook like Michaels get elected? That she'd still be writing stories about his shady dealings was the first non-surprise of the evening.
In the quiet of the after-hours newsroom, the elevator's 'ping' seemed overly loud. Lois tensed and looked up, absolutely certain that she knew who was going to step out of the elevator.
Clark was wearing a dark long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. Now that his hair wasn't slicked back, she could see that it was shorter. His glasses had a sleek wire frame. There was a plain gold band on his left ring finger which caught the light as he raised his hand in greeting.
"Hi," he said. She was a little reassured by the fact that he appeared just as uneasy as she felt. Then again, he should be nervous. He was a lying, duplicitous fiend who got his jollies from pulling the wool over everyone's eyes.
"Are you following me?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even.
"We need to talk," he said, casting an apprehensive glance at the handful of people on the far side of the newsroom. "Can we go somewhere else? Please?"
She looked away from him and her gaze caught on a florist's card taped to the bottom of her computer monitor.
"I love you," it read and was signed simply, "Clark".
Lois closed her eyes. It was too much to take in, too much to be believed. Clark was Superman. Superman was Clark. She married Clark.
Married Superman! Superman was standing in front of her in Clark's clothes. In spite of her anger she felt cheated out of the date she was supposed to be on tonight. Had it been a good first date? The evidence would certainly suggest that. Would Clark remember it well enough after three years to be able to tell her about it? How long did they date before he proposed? How did he ask her? And did she know that he was Superman when he asked?
"How long have we been married?" Lois reached forward to straighten her stapler, lining it up carefully next to her phone.
Clark sat down in the chair next to her desk. "One year, four months, two weeks and four days."
Lois frowned at him, unsure whether to be flattered or disturbed that he could answer so definitively. She adjusted her Rolodex so that it was parallel to the phone as well. "Are we happy?"
"Yes," he said without hesitation and grinned at her. "We're very happy."
"When did I find out? You know, about, uh…" She made a swoosh gesture with her right hand.
"It's been almost three years."
"What?" she asked sarcastically. "You can't give me the exact count on it?"
His eyes widened and she felt a momentary flicker of triumph that he looked hurt before her conscience whispered that she was being petty.
Lois brushed her fingers over her keyboard. It was different; the 'e' wasn't worn away. The thought that someday her keyboard was going to be replaced made her sad. Was Dudley Michael's lack of integrity going to be the only constant in her future? Was she ever going to have the last three years or was she stuck here? Clark had certainly caught on fairly quickly that she wasn't in the right time - he was the one who asked what day it was after all. How had he known?
"So what happened?" she asked, trying to sound a little more conciliatory.
"Do you mean how did you find out? Or what happened after you found out?"
Lois looked him in the eye and wondered at the incongruity of this moment. How many times had they sat at her desk or his, talking about a story or simply shooting the breeze? This would have felt familiar, if only the subject of their discussion wasn't so mind-bending.
"Actually I was wondering if you knew how I ended up three years in the future. But feel free to tell me about--." She made the swoop gesture again. "Forewarned is forearmed, after all."
He shifted in the chair to take another glance at the people on the other side of the room. "How about we go somewhere else to talk about this?" he asked as he turned back to her. "Anywhere you want, just name it."
"I want to go home," she whispered and pushed the keyboard away. It bumped against her stapler, making it fall sideways with a 'clunk'. "But someone else lives there now."
To her horror, tears began to blur her vision. There was a huge lump in her throat and she wasn't sure she could breathe anymore. She couldn't go home - and even if she did somehow get back to 1995, she would never be able to look at Clark the same way again. She was supposed to be dating him tonight. She should have been hoping that he would kiss her good night and, instead, she was jumpy with the knowledge that he would do far more than merely kiss her in the future. And he was Superman, for crying out loud. Superman! Superman had sat next to her desk for the past two years and she had completely overlooked that fact.
"Hey." Clark's fingers took hold of hers. His light touch startled her and he quickly withdrew his hand. "Lois, please don't cry. It's going to be all right, I promise."
Lois sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "How can you possibly promise that?"
"This has happened before. We've both jumped time and gone back, once it was even hundreds of years. And it never goes for any longer than a day or two."
"Really?" Lois swiped beneath her eyes with her fingertips. "This has happened before? Where did we go? So you know how to get me back where I belong? Why didn't you tell me this back at the house? Can you do it now?"
He held up his hands and made a shushing noise. "I can't--." He stood and gestured for her to leave with him. "Please, can we go someplace else to talk?"
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They rode the elevator in uneasy silence to the ground floor. It wasn't until they were outside that Clark turned to her and asked, "Did you want to catch a cab or--." He made the swoosh motion with his hand.
"Oh, uh, well, I guess, uh, we could just, you know--." Lois swatted the air, feeling incredibly tongue-tied. What do you say when your partner (husband!) just offered to
fly you home? "That's fine," she concluded awkwardly.
"In here." Clark took hold of her elbow, guiding her around the corner of the building and into the alley.
They passed a dumpster and Clark moved so that it was blocking any view of him from the street. He blurred into motion before her and then, suddenly, Superman was standing before her. She gaped at him, momentarily awestruck by the sight of Clark so undeniably Super.
"So that's how you do it?" Lois asked, a little breathless. Even knowing who he really was didn't squelch the rush of euphoria she always got when seeing Superman from this close.
"What were you expecting?" He held out his hand in invitation.
"Oh, well, you know, I didn't know that you had to change clothes," she hedged and took a nervous step toward him. It was silly to be so tense, she told herself. How many times had she flown with Superman? She already knew the answer - eight times. Not that she had kept track or anything, mind you. Never once, not even that first time, had she felt as anxious as she did at this moment.
"But it makes sense - now. I mean, you can't really go around dressed like Superman all day. Not when you have a real job. Not that being Superman isn't a real job, it is. But it probably doesn't pay the bills and uh, you know…" Lois closed the distance between them and, feeling even more awkward, cautiously touched her left hand to his shoulder.
He bent slightly and for a moment she thought he was stooping so she could get her arm around him. Suddenly her feet left the ground and she found that she was cradled against his chest as he straightened up.
"Ready?" he asked.
Dazed by the realization of who was actually holding her, Lois could only nod and mumble an "uh huh." And then they were rising, higher and higher, until the buildings were far below them. She tried to remember if Superman had always flown so smoothly. It seemed like he had, but it was impossible to think clearly when her mind was vacillating between awe and anger that this was
Clark.
She cleared her throat to find her voice and then asked, "So how did I find out about you?"
His expression flickered, going from thoughtful to sad before he answered, "I'm not really sure how much I should tell you."
Indignation shot through her and she stiffened in his arms. "What? Are you kidding? You're Superman and we're married - is there really something else more shocking that you're hiding?"
"I don't know why you're here, in this time, now. I don't want to inadvertently tamper with the past by telling you too much. You're only a few months away from finding out so, hopefully, this is not going to change things drastically. I just wish Wells would tell us what's going on."
"Wells?" Lois asked.
Clark nodded. "HG Wells."
"The author? Isn't he dead?"
"Technically. But his time machine works and he's been known to show up on occasion to help us."
Lois gave him a skeptical squint. "Uh huh," she said slowly.
Clark smiled. "I can fly, Lois. You've just jumped three years into the future. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility."
"Fine," she temporized in an attempt to keep him talking. "So HG Wells--" Lois fought the urge to roll her eyes. "--has transported me three years into the future. Why?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. He only shows up when he thinks that Utopia is in danger."
"Utopia? So Thomas More is on this too? Is there a whole closetful of dead writers somewhere who--"
"No." He cut her off before she could work up to a full rant. "I don't know that much about it myself, but apparently, in the future, you and I help to create an ideal society. Which means that your being here has one other possibility; a man named Tempus. This actually seems more his style."
He shifted her closer against him and angled them into a descent. They landed in the back yard of a townhouse and Clark set her gently on her feet.
"Wait," she said, grabbing his arm as he took a step away from her. "At least tell me this much - was I angry when I found out?"
He looked a little nervous as he answered, "Not at first. You kind of worked up to it. Why? Are you angry now?"
"I am. Or I was. I mostly am." Lois scowled at him. "I'm not sure how I feel yet. This is a lot to take in. You. Us married. The whole flying and seeing through walls thing that you've got going on. Did you know that there's a psychic living in my old building?"
It was the first time she had ever seen Superman with Clark's grin. He had always been so formal around her; it was a revelation to see him so relaxed. If she wasn't feeling so irritated and overwhelmed, she almost could have forgiven him at that moment. That she could be as casual around Superman as she was around Clark was an appealing thought.
"Yes," he said, "I knew that. Her name is Star and you're friends with her."
In spite of the confusion and anxiety swirling inside her, Lois laughed. "Is she really psychic?"
Clark thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. "She's right more often than she's wrong."
"And does she know? About you being Superman?"
He shook his head. "No."
The thought that even a psychic hadn't figured out Clark's secret made Lois feel just the teensiest bit better.
"Good," she said and followed him into the house.
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1995
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"I don't think he believed you," Clark said conversationally. He leaned one shoulder against the outside of the condo and looked over to where Bender's boat bobbed gently on the incoming tide. "Then again, you didn't exactly offer much proof."
Lois made another irritated stab with the key at the lock, frustrated by Bender's pigheaded determination to ignore her warning and her inability to explain the truth to Clark. "This isn't a hunch. If we don't do something, tomorrow morning Nigel is going to kill Bender."
"Nigel?" Clark's attention swiveled back to her. "Nigel St. John? Why would he kill Bender?" Clark's hand touched hers, deftly taking the keys away to make his own attempt at opening the door. "What does Nigel, or Luthor, have to gain from killing him?"
Lois took a step back so Clark could access the lock as his question echoed in her mind. Why had they killed Bender? Whose idea was it? Nigel had double-crossed Lex. So was removing Bender part of Nigel's master plan and not necessarily Lex's? No matter whose idea it was, both men were after the same thing - the Kryptonite that was powering Rollie Vale's artificial limb. If Vale didn't escape, what was going to happen to the Kryptonite? She was going to have to find a way to warn Clark without drawing further suspicion.
"Maybe Bender knows too much?" she ventured.
"About what?" Clark opened the door and gestured for her to go first. "Any involvement Bender had with either of them technically ended after Luthor's death. Wouldn't it draw less attention to fire him instead of killing him?"
Instead of entering the condo, Lois turned to take another look at Bender's yacht. Did Bender know something that was worth killing for? All this time she had believed that he had been killed to cover-up bribing the judge. What if there was more to it than that? Was that why Wells had brought her back in time?
"Clark?" Lois turned back toward him, only to find he was already watching her closely. "I have to tell you something. Something important…"
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End 2/10
