When the four Lane/Kents and an uncomfortable H.G. Wells were settled in the living room, Clark rested his left arm around his wife’s shoulder and brought up the question that had been niggling at his mind ever since the three time travelers had arrived.
“Honey,” (he just couldn’t bring himself to call his own wife ‘Lane’), “not that I don’t appreciate everything that CJ here has done for you while you were gone, but….why did you bring him back with you? It seems to me the solution is pretty simple. We just put you and Lois back before the switch ever happened, and everything goes back to normal, just like the first time we met Mr. Wells.”
“Excuse me?! I don’t think so!” Lois had been seated at the far end of one sofa, as far away from Cla…CJ as she could get. But Clark’s casual suggestion to effectively erase her memory of the last day brought her to her feet.
“Lois, calm down,” Clark tried to reassure her. “I know it grates, but it’s the only way. If you go back, knowing what you know, there’s no way that your future will ever be what it was before. I thought you liked this future.”
“I may like it, Clark, but that doesn’t mean I want my memory fooled with. I’ve already been through a whole day of thinking my memory was erased. Do you have any idea what that feels like? I’m not going to let you do it for real.”
“And I’m not going to let my family’s very existence be endangered!” Clark felt like a bit of a bully, practically shouting at this woman so much younger than himself, but he couldn’t let her have her way. He turned to his wife for support. “Loi…honey, please, talk some sense into her.”
“Actually, Clark, it may be you who needs some sense talked into you.” Lane ignored her husband’s startled look. “But I think we’re jumping the gun here. So, if you two can put that question on hold for a minute…” she gave Clark and Lois her best Mommy glare. They each returned it with respectable imitations of Sam and Jon in their ‘Mom made me stop fighting, but I’m still mad at you’ mode, “…let’s try to keep all our options open until we have our facts straight.
“Now, Clark, the reason CJ is here is that A. he is as much a part of this decision as any of us, and B. his life is in danger where he was. If we don’t do something to change the current ’93 timeline, CJ’s going to be shot and killed by Jason Trask. We left the day of the corn festival, but things are a little different this time. That’s why Mr. Wells finally showed up.”
“Killed?” Lois interjected, turning her attention to her colleague, “I thought you were invulnerable.”
CJ did a double take at the question. He hadn’t realized that this Lois knew about his other identity. But he was used to being himself with Lois Lane now, so he freely admitted, “I was. But I was exposed to a poison that took away my powers.”
Meanwhile, Lane had turned on her husband in surprise. “You told her? I managed to keep the secret for almost a week. You couldn’t manage twenty-four hours?”
“I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret, Lois. Until an hour ago I thought she was you.”
Lane’s face took on an unreadable expression. “You thought she was me. For twenty-four hours. You didn’t….did you…”
Lois realized where Lane was going with this question and hastened to set her straight. “No! Lane, we didn’t. He kissed me, that’s all. It never went any further than that, I swear. Please, you don’t need to feel threatened by me.”
“Ha!” Lois turned an annoyed glare on Ke…CJ, who sat in the other corner of the sofa from her.
“What? What’s so amusing over there?” she demanded.
“Sorry, Lois. I didn’t mean to laugh.” He did have a teasing smile playing at the corners of his mouth, though. “It’s just the idea of Lois Lane Kent feeling threatened by anyone…even you…” he trailed off. This was not the Lois he now knew, and she was not in the mood to be teased.
But Lane was not through with this topic yet. It obviously bothered her. “You kissed. That’s all. That’s supposed to make me feel better?” She waved one hand between herself and CJ. “*We* never…”
“Um, Lo?” CJ was looking at her with raised eyebrows and that same amused twinkle in his eyes. What was his point? Oh, yeah. She remembered now. It had been a while, but yeah. Okay. Never mind.
Lane let out a long breath and hastened to change the subject. “Okay, I’m sorry. Cutting each other some slack here and moving on before poor Mr. Wells loses the will to live,” Lane gave her husband an apologetic little smile and an affectionate squeeze of the knee. “I still think we need to keep as many options open as we can until we know better what our choices are.” She turned to CJ again. “And that means that you, young man, need to get under those sunlamps pronto.”
Clark stood and beckoned to CJ. “Come on, Junior. I’ll show you how they work.” He wasn’t through with this debate yet, but he couldn’t pass up the excuse to get his young counterpart alone for a few minutes.
CJ stood and followed Clark up the stairs. As their voices started to fade, Lois could hear CJ reply, “If you keep calling me ‘Junior,’ I’m going to have to start calling you ‘Pops.’”
****
While Clark and CJ were occupied upstairs, Lane turned her attention on Mr. Wells. He had been sitting far back in a wingback chair, trying to pretend that he wasn’t hearing the embarrassing personal conversation taking place all around him.
“Mr. Wells, I have an idea that may solve our problem. How much do you know about alternate universes?”
The little man was taken aback by the question. “Mrs. Kent, time travel and alternate universes are my field of expertise. I’ve made it my life’s work to preserve Utopia in as many universes as I can find. I thought you knew that.”
“Yes, Mr. Wells. I know that you can travel between universes. I’ve done it myself. My question is, do you know *how* a new universe is created?”
“Certainly. Any sufficiently momentous event leads to the creation of a parallel universe. You yourself have met the Clark Kent from the universe which broke from this one on the day that his parents were killed.”
“Yes, and he and I were both able to travel freely back and forth between those dimensions without putting anyone else in danger.”
“Quite so. A visitor from another dimension poses no inherent danger. Of course, they become an active agent in whatever dimension they visit. They can change the course of events there, as you did by creating Superman in the other dimension, or as Mr. Kent did by filling in for your missing husband when he was here.”
“Yes. So, why can’t this Lois and Clark begin a new dimension of their own? Why do their memories have to be erased at all?”
“Hmmm. Offhand I would say because they are not from an alternate dimension. They are from your own past, and therefore changes in their lives directly affect your own. But you raise an intriguing possibility. It might be possible to affect a divergence in the timestream if we can somehow anchor you and the elder Mr. Kent to your original timeline. I’d need to ponder that question.”
“Good. You do that.” Lane rose from her seat and removed a pad of paper and pen from her desk drawer. She handed them to Mr. Wells. Then she picked up the cordless telephone and dialed a number. After a moment she addressed the person on the other end. “Bernie? Lois. Listen, we’ve got a time travel, dimension hopping problem going on over here. I’m going to put Mr. Wells on the line and see if the two of you can come up with a solution, alright?” There was a brief pause. “Yes, that Mr. Wells. Who else? You’ve been working on this problem for years, and he’s got the practical experience, so put your heads together and see what you can do, alright?” Another pause. “Thanks, Bernie. Here he is.”
Lane handed the phone to a bewildered Mr. Wells. “I’ll leave you to it,” she said and headed for the kitchen. Not knowing what else to do, Lois followed her.
****
Lane walked into the kitchen and straight for the dishwasher. With a sense of déjà vu, she began putting away the dishes from Tuesday night’s dinner. She’d been gone for six weeks, and they were still there. She felt a strange little twinge as she reached for Lara’s sippy cup. Her daughter was supposed to be giving it up now that she was a Big Girl of three. But Lara had wanted it “for special” on the night before Mommy and Daddy went away for five days, and Lois hadn’t had the heart to refuse her. She gave her head a little shake. What was it today with her and nostalgia for dishes? <It’s a Mommy thing, Lois. Give yourself a break,> she thought.
With a mental start, Lane realized that it was only Thursday here. After weeks away, she still had three more days to wait before she saw her kids. She could cancel the Florence trip and bring the kids home early. But how would she explain that to the kids? No, for their sake she needed to stick to the original plan. She’d waited this long, she could wait a few days longer. Especially if her husband put all his considerable talents to the task of consoling her she thought with a little smile.
Meanwhile, Lois sat at the table, idly picking out blueberries and bits of melon from the bowl of fruit salad and popping them into her mouth as she watched Lane bustle around the kitchen. Clark’s half-empty coffee cup and breakfast plate were still at his place, where she now sat. She could hardly believe that only that morning she had thought this was her house, her kitchen, her husband.
After a few minutes, Lane broke the contemplative silence, speaking over her shoulder as she worked. “So spill. What’s on your mind? This whole thing must be a huge shock. You must have questions.”
Lois was not one to spill her guts to anyone, let alone a stranger. But this wasn’t a stranger. This was the woman she had been trying to be since she’d arrived in this world the day before. The woman who used to be her. And there *was* something that had been worrying her for a while now.
“You’re still strong.” It was a statement, not a question, but it carried a sense of wonder. Lane stopped her puttering, dried her hands, and joined Lois at the table.
“How so?” It was Basic Interviewing 101. Encourage the subject to elaborate.
“I used to think Clark Kent was a bit of a wimp,” Lois explained. “He seemed naïve and out of place in the city. But he did stand up to me once, that time I stole his story. You remember. Anyway, then I got here and I thought that I was you. I thought I had a huge case of amnesia and was going to have to figure out how to live this life.” She made a vague gesture toward the refrigerator covered in the detritus of life with kids. “It was pretty overwhelming, and Clark was a really big help. I caught on pretty quick that Clark Kent was anything but a wimp. But after a while it seemed like he was always the one taking the initiative, and I was just sort of following along. I started to worry that being married to him had changed me somehow, made me more passive.
“Then you turned up and I could tell that wasn’t the case. You don’t just follow along where he leads. You’re not afraid to argue with him. And he respects you. I saw what you did just now when Clark wanted to send me back without my memory. You’re married to the strongest man in the world, but he doesn’t dominate you. You stood up to Superman.”
“I stood up to Clark Kent. But I think you understand that already.” Lane gave Lois the gentlest look she knew how. “What you’re asking about is the heart of marriage. In the best marriages, love doesn’t mean losing who you are. It means being encouraged and supported in being the best person you can be. Clark and I love each other with our whole hearts. He’s not perfect, and neither am I. But we don’t have to be. We accept each other, warts and all, and we help each other. I couldn’t thrive in a relationship where I had to hold back, afraid that the other person was going to crack or flee if I showed a little temper now and then. And Clark couldn’t thrive in a relationship where he had to worry about showing who he really is, either. He needs a partner who is as strong as he is. And so do I. We’re stronger together than either of us could be alone. That’s how real love works.”
Lois seemed to be mulling over Lane’s answer. After a moment she said thoughtfully, “Yeah, he said something like that. That it takes a will like mine to put up with his crazy life.”
That remark earned a laugh from Lane. “And vice-versa,” she replied with a knowing smile.
****
CJ stood in his altogether, soaking up the ultraviolet rays emanating from every corner of the Kents’ shower stall. He could feel his strength returning with every passing minute. Beyond the open bathroom door, Clark sat on the edge of the bed, within easy earshot but out of the line of sight.
“Lo told me that she had a scientist friend, but this is fantastic,” CJ called. Like Clark, he couldn’t bring himself to call his friend by her last name.
“Yeah, it helps a lot. I don’t run into kryptonite as often as I used to. It’s pretty rare, and every time I do encounter it I either destroy it or give it to Bernie Klein to use for his research, but it’s good to be prepared just in case.”
“I’ll bet. Now if I do go back to the same time I left I should be able to deal with Trask in short order.”
“Doesn’t he still have the kryptonite that Wayne found?”
“Nope. Dad took it over to Larry Kent and got him to grind it up and wash it down the drain.”
CJ emerged from the bathroom dressed in his jeans and flannel shirt again.
“All set?” Clark inquired.
CJ rose a foot into the air. “Good as new,” he grinned. He started toward the door. “Shall we?” he asked.
“Hold up a minute.” At CJ’s inquiring look Clark ventured, “Can I ask you something before we head downstairs?”
CJ joined him on the bed and turned to face him. “Sure. Shoot.”
“What’s your take on this whole situation? Lois doesn’t want to go back without her memory. What about you? Are you willing to give up what you’ve learned if it means that you get to arrive back here in ten years?”
CJ had been asking himself the same question, but he hadn’t arrived yet at an answer. “I’m not sure, Clark. I mean, I’ve heard a lot about your life from Lo.”
There was that name again. It bothered Clark that this younger man and his wife had nicknames for each other. CJ must have misread the reason for his small frown, because he immediately began defending Clark’s wife. “Maybe she shouldn’t have told me anything, but she didn’t have anyone else she could talk to.” He took a breath and his tone changed from defensive to thoughtful. “Anyway, it’s a great life. I mean, I’ve been here less than an hour and I can already see how much you two love each other. And she’s told me about your kids. A loving wife, a happy family, it’s what I’ve always wanted. You know that. But it’s not just my decision. I really need to talk to Lois about it.”
“That’s assuming that we even have any other choice,” Clark replied. “I don’t see that we do, but I think Lois, *my* Lois, has something in mind.”
“I knew who you meant,” CJ replied. “I can’t call her ‘Lane’ either. It reminds me too much of when we first met and she always called me ‘Kent.’”
“You love her.” It was a statement, not a question. And maybe a challenge.
“Which one?” CJ stalled.
“You tell me. Maybe both.” Oh, yeah, definitely a challenge.
“Who wouldn’t, Clark? Don’t you?” There. Deny that one, old man.
“That’s different. Your Lois is the same person I fell in love with ten years ago. That doesn’t mean I’m going to pursue something with her. Why would I even want to? My wife is the person she grew into. We’ve been growing together for ten years. Why would I even want to go backward?”
“I’m not saying you would. I know that your wife is….” ‘More’ was what he’d almost said, but some small seed of loyalty wouldn’t let him, so he settled for “…different….than ‘my’ Lois. And I *know* she’s *your* wife. Believe me, I’ve had my nose rubbed in that truth for six weeks now. *You’re* the one she’s still head-over-heels in love with, not me. So you can just nip that ugly green monster in the bud right now, Pops.”
The two men were practically nose-to-nose now, CJ’s finger pointing accusingly at Clark’s chest, Clark matching CJ glare for glare. Suddenly, CJ’s sense of righteous anger deflated in defeat. He lowered his pointing hand and retreated from his threatening stance. His shoulders slumped, he looked at his toes, and when he next spoke, it was in a tone of resignation.
“You don’t have to fight me for her, Clark. You’d already won before I ever met her.”
It was a surrender of sorts, and Clark suddenly felt ashamed of the way he’d been thinking about his young counterpart. And about his wife, now that he thought of it. When had she ever given him the slightest cause to doubt her faithfulness?
“I’m sorry, CJ. That must have been rough. You’ve been through a lot these past weeks.”
CJ accepted the proffered olive branch with as much grace as he could muster. “Yeah, she’s a handful. And I’m sorry if I’ve given you reason to worry. You don’t have to. She loves you completely, you know. And I’m sorry I’ve been so envious. It’s pretty silly, isn’t it? Being jealous of myself?”
Clark gave a wry half-chuckle. “Yeah, well, I’ve got some experience in that department too. Never mind. Let’s do what Lo [that name felt strange on his tongue, but better than ‘Lane’] suggested earlier and cut each other some slack.”
“It’s a deal.” CJ held his hand out, and Clark shook it for the second time that day. CJ hoped it was time to go downstairs now. He’d had about all he could take of this one-man tete-a-tete.
Before he could rise hopefully from the bed, though, Clark asked the next hard question. “What about your Lois?”
“What about her?” He knew he was stalling again, but he couldn’t help it. CJ dreaded what he knew would come next.
“Do you love her, too?” Clark pressed. “Can you give her the love she deserves after knowing my wife for so long? Or is she always going to be your second choice?”
CJ didn’t really have an answer for that, either, and he was tempted to get defensive. It wasn’t really Clark’s business anyway, was it? But he remembered to whom he was speaking. Clark cared about Lois because he had loved her. Just as CJ had. Did he still? Could he resist the impulse to compare ‘his’ Lois Lane, young, aggressive, abrasive in her own self-defense, with the Lois Lane he’d become friends with over the last weeks?
Clark realized CJ’s dilemma, and he sympathized. But there wasn’t much he could do for the young man, except maybe to help him spot the issue. He’d have to work it out for himself. “You don’t have to know the answer to that right now, CJ. And maybe it’ll be a moot point anyway. But, if you do end up keeping your memories intact, just make sure you figure it out before you start something with Lois. Nobody wants to be loved as a stand-in.”
CJ just nodded. It was good advice, and there wasn’t much more to say.
“Now,” Clark suggested as he stood up, “Let’s see what they’ve been up to downstairs.”
