The neat thing about time travelers was that you could meet with them several times within the same day and actually get a good load of information.
They had summoned him with the device he had left behind. Something he did for her because of his endless guilt for his own role in her abduction. They never used it before now, and he took their summons seriously.
“I checked around,” he said as he sat at the table with them. He felt uneasy looking at Clark after spending so much time blipping in and out of that other horrific place. He knew that it wasn’t this man’s fault for another’s deeds, but the physical similarity was startling. “Some of what you describe happening actually did happen.”
“Was it dangerous for you,” asked Lois, hating herself for putting this man in danger.
“No, no,” he said. “I was always a button press away from safety.”
She shuddered. “Still… I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“For you, my dear, no sacrifice would be too much to ask.”
She kept silent. Herb couldn’t know how bad it could get.
“Of course, I would die before revealing the secrets of time travel. My device is set to self destruct should my heart stop beating.”
“Don’t tell anyone else that,” Clark said, alarmed. “If you mention it there, it could be disastrous!”
“No, no. Nobody will know. Thank you both for worrying about me, but what we need to do is eliminate the connection between you and the other Lois.”
“The other Lois,” said Clark. “Didn’t you say -“ he trailed off. No point in taking this further.
“Most of what Lois is seeing is from her counterpart’s perspective. Her longstanding exposure to … forced telepathy left her mind – it’s like a wound almost. Never healed, and that pathway into her mind is something that – that other telepaths can exploit.”
Clark looked uncomfortably at the table. He was a telepath and on more than one occasion he had gone and seen what was in her mind without her express permission. The word exploit made it sound ugly even though his intent had never been to hurt her.
“The other Lois was also forced into becoming a receptive-telepath. However, since then, she has trained with other Kryptonians to become a powerful sender.”
“I think the truck really needs to be backed up here,” said Clark. “You said ‘other Lois’. I’m kind of having trouble getting past that one.”
“She’s alive.”
“But you said she was dead.”
“And I was wrong,” he said in a rush. “Apparently Ching and Zara rescued her. I think they had reached their limit of how much suffering they felt she could handle. So they rescued her. Not long after that, she rose up to the ranks as leader of the human-Kryptonian resistance. Lois is single minded and driven. All … human kindness has basically been wrung from her soul. She’s a harsh battle-scarred warrior. She is devoted to the task of getting rid of the Kryptonian dominion. More than anything, she wants to kill Lord Kal.”
“Join the club,” said Lois bitterly. “So all along, she’s been alive and I got to take her place.”
Clark winced at that. He felt hot rage as well, but he wasn’t about to show it here. When you are a variation of the monster being discussed, it behooves you to just keep a lid on scary strong emotions.
“So there’s a strong resistance, then,” he asked a hopeful tone in his voice. “With both humans and Kryptonians?”
“Yes. Ching and Zara are part of it. They hate Lord Kal almost as much as you and the other Lois do.”
Clark winced again.
“Lois isn’t deliberately sending, I’d wager,” said Herb. “Why would she torture you? It makes no sense. Kal-El’s transmissions are probably not deliberate either, as he thinks that you’re dead.”
“Rumors of my death have never been more pleasing,” she muttered.
“There’s only one question then. How do we stop them from inadvertently making Lois’s life hell,” asked Clark bluntly. “We can’t go and ask them to switch to a different radio frequency. I’m sure it doesn’t work that way.”
Herb smiled. “No. I doubt it. However… it’s possible the other Clark might be able to help Lois train herself against being an inadvertent receptor. After all, he did spend a lot of time with the new Kryptonians.”
Lois shuddered. Once again, she hoped against hope they would never come to her earth.
“But that’s going to be upsetting,” said Clark, misunderstanding her reaction.
“Clark, it’s worth it,” said Lois looking at him point blank. “I want that world out of my head. Do you think Clark would do it,” she addressed Herb.
“I bet he would. I think knowing you were suffering would be enough inducement.”
She thought how bizarre it was that 2 Kal-Els cared so much for her that her suffering hurt them, and one only lived to make her suffer more.
“Let me go ask,” he said, and he disappeared from view.
“I never get used to that,” she muttered.
“No. No, I don’t either.” And he chose not to add, ‘And I can move at super speed’.
The others appeared within minutes.
“Sorry to take so long,” said Herb. “I tried to coordinate the time entry better.”
“Herb, you took about 2 minutes,” said Clark, shaking his head at the man.
“I should have been instantaneous.”
“It’s because you like to do things with a flourish,” said the other Lois. She smiled at both of them.
“Hey. It’s great to see you both again.”
Lois angled her eyes to her Clark and watched as his face suffused with pleasure at the sight of her doppelganger. She knew that she herself was the one he loved, but now that she was so off and on, did he miss the healthier non-scarred version of Lois Lane?
They embraced, and Lois noted that her double didn’t hesitate, didn’t flinch, didn’t anything that was in anyway indicative of emotional problems. Meanwhile, she shyly looked at Clark’s counterpart as he hesitated. He clearly wanted to do the same with her, but he was afraid of scaring her.
Refusing to let any fear disrupt what should happen, she moved forward and hugged him. She said quietly to him how glad she was to see him, and his arms around her were so gentle, she knew he was walking on eggshells. The way her Clark had done, and then had stopped doing, and had now begun to do again.
Clark insisted on serving coffee and that helped break the awkwardness that still prevailed. She saw the two Clarks smile at each other in fraternal welcome and felt a surge of pain for her soul-mate that he had no blood relatives, even though having more Kryptonians on earth was not a good thing.
When they were seated, conversation immediately went to the point of the matter.
“Herb told us about what you’ve been going through,” the other Clark said directly to her. His voice was kind and his expression a mix of anger and sympathy. “As if you haven’t been through enough, now you have to go through this.”
“Did… did he tell you why we –“ She couldn’t even ask the question. She felt like a tongue tied child.
“Zara and Ching helped me with the telepathy thing,” said the other Clark. “They taught me a lot about how to block myself from sending and block others from sending to me.”
“I feel like I’m in an episode of Star Trek,” said the other Lois.
They all smiled dutifully at her comment, but nobody felt like going with it.
“I could try to train you,” said the other Clark. “If you think you’d be up for it.”
She flushed nervously at the idea. It was terrifying doing this. With Clark, but also Kal. And would she see his memories of being Lord Kal, even if it had been for such a short time?
“Nobody is going to make you do anything,” said her Clark. “If you can’t do this, then that’s okay. We’ll find another solution.”
“I want that world out of my head, “she reiterated. “And Clark… you – Clark,” she said to the other one, “If you’re willing to do this with me, then so am I. It might get weird and upsetting – for both of us. I guess I can handle it. But what I want you to know is if it’s too hard for you, don’t feel you have to expose yourself to some of my more primal feelings.”
Clark looked at her, curious. What did she harbor in that mind of hers that she was now going to expose to his doppelganger?
“Lois, I’ll gladly help,” the other Clark said, sincerely. “I’m not afraid to face the dark stuff,” he said carefully. “It’s worth it if you can be set free of that world.”
“What if it doesn’t work,” the other Lois asked cautiously. “You know me. Contingency girl.”
“Only when it suits you,” said her husband jokingly.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing… “
“Right. Anyway – if it doesn’t work, what’s plan B?”
The two Clarks looked at each other. “If – the others at this table all mutually agree, Clark and I could go – try to help the rebellion,” Clark said, looking at his doppelganger hopefully.
“Clark, we talked about –“
“I’m just offering it as a possible last ditch effort. If we end Kal’s reign, then – we end all these awful sendings.”
“He’d have to die,” said the other Lois grimly. “That’d be the only way. And you both won’t kill.”
“Wait a minute. I fought Nor,” said the other Clark, suddenly clamming up as he saw Lois go pale.
“Nor was in your world?”
“Yeah,” said the other Clark nervously.
“You killed him?”
“The government did,” said the other Lois. “But Clark weakened him.”
“Good,” she said fiercely, taking both Clark’s by surprise. “If he had taken over, your world would be in ruins now,” she said. “He was a sick kind of evil.”
Clark paled. Yet another horrific Kryptonian.
“Let’s focus on this first,” said Lois. “I can’t think past Plan A,” she said apologetically to her twin. “I recognize it might not be enough, but I want to try without worrying about the next step.”
“Then – whenever you want,” said the other Clark carefully. “Whenever you’re ready.”
She paused, and then paled. “I guess I’m ready now.”
