What can I say? The muse has just hit me! I can't seem to stop writing! Anyway, 'Congo' is just a working title... but I just had to share. It's an alt-Clark story, as you may have suspected. I haven't finished it yet, but I've gotten quite a bit of it written.
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~CLARK~
His soul mate was out there somewhere, he knew it. Lost, alone, searching for her heart like he was searching for his. He knew it was absolute, real, and true, after meeting the other Lois. He had felt his breath catch, his heart hammer, that spark of almost recognition... but then knew it was a false read. She was the other Clark's Lois. The other Clark, who had a great family, who seemed to be the luckiest guy in the world.... while he, who was just as generous, just as loving, just as *super*, and yet was alone, haunted, and without a family. It just wasn't fair. And he wasn't a petty man. But why had fate granted him a glance through to the other side of the mirror, into a world filled with love and wonderful people, eventually leaving him alone on this side of the looking glass? He *was* Clark Kent! He looked like him, he talked like him, he was Superman, too. Yet, he hadn't had the love of a family, he had had no Lois Lane to fall in love with... It was cruel and unjust. Yet, he didn't want to feel jealous of the other Clark. He didn't want to hate him. If he were just like the other Clark Kent, he wouldn't feel any of those things. They weren't supposed to be in his nature. <<Then why do they seem a part of mine? Where had I taken a wrong turn? Why was Tempus able to ruin my life?>>
So, with these thoughts swirling in his mind, he couldn't believe his luck when HG Wells had turned to him and suggested they go search for his Lois. He could have kissed the little old man! Yes! If he could go back to the Congo, search it far and wide, then maybe, his world would be as perfect as the one he had glimpsed ever so briefly, so tantalizingly out of reach...
~LOIS~
5 years ago...deep in the Congo...
It had been almost two months since she left Metropolis, the Planet, and civilized society. Almost two months since she had had a Double Chocolate Fudge bar. Almost two months since she had ice cream or a proper shower, or a decent cup of coffee. And what had she to show for it? She'd been on a wild goose chase through the jungle to follow a guy that she thought was the leader of a drug cartel, a guy they called Papa Ludu. Whom she thought was connected to a mafia group based in Metropolis. A thug who she thought was getting closer to realizing he was being tracked and who was getting her closer and closer to danger. But also closer to a story that she thought could win her a Pulitzer.
Lois reluctantly sent off her latest notes to the Planet on the story from an outpost in the middle of nowhere. She had paid twenty dollars, American, which was ludicrously expensive, considering she didn't even know when or if the package would make it back to Metropolis. She sighed, <<Not like there's that much information in there to begin with.>>
It was all speculation. Well, mostly. The best she had was a photo she had taken of his weapons arsenal, which was almost run of the mill out here in land of the lawless. It had been nearly impossible to get the film developed, but with a few bribes, she had found a tiny hut with a guy who did it using outdated methods. Lois had prayed the negatives wouldn't be ruined. She had taken a camera Jimmy had given her last Christmas, when she had confessed that she didn't own one. It was a great Nokia, lots of lenses attached to it, and it used real film. Not that Lois knew what to do with it besides point and shoot. Jimmy had offered to give her some lessons, but she had never found the time. And the developing process was a complete mystery to her. She only knew it was a delicate operation. But thankfully, her prints had returned perfect, negatives included.
She had sent the prints along with her sketchy notes to Perry. She had the outline of a story, but she didn't have any names to tie this Papa Ludu character to in Metropolis yet. It was all still speculation...
When she had gotten the shot of the weapons arsenal, she had caught a glimpse of her villain as well. He was a heavyset tan guy, with dark hair and even darker eyes. His face was drawn taught, his mouth in a constant scowl. He carried a machine gun constantly across his back, and she suspected he packed other weapons on him as well. He had given her the creeps and she had high-tailed it out of there quicker than an instant.
Once she had gained some ground, she had felt like a coward, though she'd never admit it to anybody. What kind of reporter was she, if she couldn't get close to the main attraction? But instinctively she knew this guy was way tougher than most of the refined criminals she dealt with in Metropolis on a regular basis. This guy, she feared, wouldn't play nice.
She got further proof of that two days later. Again she had managed to sneak into the arsenal. This time, he was interrogating a guy in a suit.
"Why did Gainsley send you here? To spy on me?! I told him to send me *money* and he sends a sniveling twerp like you!"
Lois wrote the name quickly on her pad, her heart pounding hard. <<A name! I've got a name!>>
"The--the money's coming Mr. Ludu. I swear. One more week, and he'll have it." The guy swallowed, terrified. "He just sent me to--to confirm you had the next shipment lined up."
Papa Ludu shoved his gun in the man's face. "I don't take kindly to spies!"
"I'm not a spy, honest. He just sent me to--to check on things."
Lois felt for the guy, even if he was a criminal.
"I'll just bet he did," said Ludu, before he pulled the trigger. The man slumped over, and Lois was thankful she couldn't see the full impact of that bullet.
She ran out of there and found Kawa, her guide. When she told him the events of what she saw, he shook his head.
"Papa Ludu powerful man, Miss Lane. You be careful. Be very careful."
That night Lois couldn't sleep. This assignment was terrifying, much more terrifying than anything she had covered in Metropolis. At least there she could hide in her apartment, lock her half dozen locks, and dive into her comfort foods. Here, she was exposed, and only to herself did she admit, scared.
She knew she had to get closer to the story, maybe even try to talk to this Papa Ludu character and the thought made her blood run cold. Yet, she was the best reporter out there, Perry trusted her to get the story, every time. No matter the cost. <<Even if it costs my life?>> she asked herself. In college they had given her the name Mad Dog Lane, for never letting a story go. But just this once, she wished everyone didn't hold her in such high esteem. That just this once, she could run home scared and all would be forgiven.
It took her forever to get to sleep that night. She kept hearing that gunshot, seeing that man die, and the remorseless look on Papa Ludu's face as he did it. He wouldn't play fair if she got close to him.
Eventually, pure exhaustion pulled her to sleep...
She woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for air. Her soul felt like it had been ripped out of her, her heart screaming for a name she couldn't remember, couldn't know. She was surprised to find tears on her cheeks. Where were these intense emotions coming from? Sure the jungle was dense and scary and way more intense than what she had bargained for, but what was that dream for?
She closed her eyes, trying to remember anything specific about the dream. If she could remember it, maybe she could analyze it and try to sort out what it meant...
<<I remember facing Papa Ludu, his gun in my face... he was pushing me towards the edge of something, and then I was...falling... and then, flying? No, someone is holding me... a man? Did someone catch me? He had the kindest face, the sweetest eyes... but then *poof*, he was gone! I was falling again... and then I woke up.>>
She shook her head. It made no sense whatsoever.
"I think I've just spent too much time out here," she whispered to the dark tent.
She couldn't quite fall back asleep though. It was hot in the tent, and uncomfortable. She knew it would be cooler outside, before the light of the sun warmed the canopy of trees above to a humid sauna by midday...
Lois got out of the tent. She judged it to be around four in the morning. The sun was casting a purplish glow on the forest, just barely starting to hint at sunrise. She could see outlines of what was around her: the tent of her guide, Kawa, and the nearby small stream where they had set up camp. Kawa had been a very helpful guide, and had even been helpful in keeping her safe. There was that day, about a week ago, he had saved her life from a rattlesnake that had snuck into her tent. She still got the willies from that. <<If--no *when* I make it back to Metropolis, I will never take for granted the comforts of a city! Give me a rat any day of the week over a rattlesnake!>>
She made her way to the stream, still trying to shake off the dream... She could understand the terror and why Papa Ludu was taunting her in it, but who was that other man? That man that looked at her like he could see her soul. That man that could--fly?
The cool water helped a little bit, but the jungle in early morning dawn felt very surreal, and she could still feel the vestiges of the dream. Sheer terror one minute, utter bliss and safety the next. What did it mean?
She eventually finished her ablutions at the river and made her way back to her tent.
Maybe she'd try to sleep for another hour...
~CLARK~
Before he had left present day Metropolis with HG Wells, Clark had super-read through the archives on the notes Lois had managed to send to the Planet on her unfinished story. The most he got was a thug named Papa Ludu, and that her guide was named Kawa. She had been tracking the thug through the jungle as he went from village to village setting up cocaine rings and looking for mules to get the cocaine to Metropolis. The guy had an arsenal of weapons, according to Lois, who had stumbled upon a shed filled with guns just outside what she suspected was his hometown. That had made Clark freeze in terror. <<Geez, Lois. What kind of danger are you putting yourself in?>>
Clark had an approximate location for where he thought Lois might be, based on the locations she gave in her notes. He suspected this Papa Ludu character would hide just outside the cities, but be close enough to them to do business in them. Once they traveled back in time, he had decided to head there alone, as Superman, leaving HG Wells, or Herb to explore the Metropolis of five years ago. Clark had set him up in a hotel for two weeks, and prayed it wouldn't take longer than that to rescue Lois and bring her to Metropolis and to her future---with him.
He sighed. This wouldn't be easy, to convince Lois Lane to drop a story and leave with a flying stranger. But he figured if he could rescue her---and this part made him nervous---he figured he'd have to let her get close to the story, really put herself at risk, so she'd be thankful for his help, and then, would hopefully accept his help and listen to him.
<<I'm banking on destiny, here. You've got to trust me, Lois. You've just got to.>>
