part 7
***Metropolis2
It was her ticket home. Broken into tiny pieces, but her ticket nevertheless. So much better than no ticket at all.
Lois picked it up as slowly and gently as possible. As if it were… a new born baby. The thought gave her pause, but only for a minute.
This was what she had made contact with in her desperate leap into the window. Tempus must have already set the time and place, because even without it, the window had stayed activated. It had still closed.
With great care she laid her treasure on the kitchen table.
“Superman!” she screamed, because she couldn’t stand being alone with it for one more minute.
“Superman!”
She imagined that in the instant before the sounding of the sonic boom, there had been a subtle shifting in the wind currents, predicting his arrival. Maybe it was only her imagination, after all she wasn’t the one with the super senses. However, imagined or not, it was completely appropriate. A sign. The winds were shifting. The currents, it would seem, were about to blow their way at last.
He hit the terrace with such force, Lois covered the exposed time device with her body, as if it were a patient on an operating table she didn’t want infected. She almost shushed him. So fragile was her patient, she didn’t want it disturbed.
“What?” His face was a tight mask of concern. And fear, also. He wasn’t hiding that as well as he thought he was. And he was obviously more affected by the day’s events than he’d allowed himself to show in front of her. No doubt out of a misguided notion that she needed protecting. As different as he was from her Clark, they weren’t called counterparts for nothing.
“I won,” Lois answered in a soft tone that didn’t hide the triumph in it. “Tempus,” she marveled at how easily she said the name, “didn’t get away clean.”
His eyes bore into hers. “For God’s sake, Lois,” he said in anguished tones. “What gives?”
With a flourish she stood up straight from the table. “It fell from the window. I…helped it out, I think. I won,” she repeated, a note of wonder in her voice.
Clark approached it reverently. “You saved the day,” he spoke in awe. Studying the minute circuitry with great care.
“Well, maybe.” Lois beamed. “Let’s not get too excited.” She hopped from one foot to the other, simply because she needed the exercise.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Cause you’re not excited.”
“There is the matter of having it repaired. I’m not sure the shops in Metropolis could handle it, but maybe…”
“Star Labs!” They spoke simultaneously.
“Dr. Klein,” Clark whooped. “Get your shoes, Loes. We’ll fly. Wait. I’ll call Bernie, first. Sometimes it’s easier if I go after normal working hours, he’s always there and doesn’t mind and this way we avoid awkward questions of any nature…”
“Clark,” she halted him. “You’re babbling.”
He had the phone in hand. “Curious. Where might I have learned that?”
“I’m going to change.” She grinned. “I’m still wearing what I was throwing up in this morning at work.”
“There’s a colorful snapshot of the alternate universe I didn’t need,” he called as she headed to the bedroom.
“Yes, hello. This is Superman for Doctor Klein…Thank you…No, that’s ok, I can hold. No, really, I can hold. No, I insist! I’m holding….don’t interrupt him…an emergency? Well….I’d rather just tell him, thank you….No, thank *you*, no, but I haven’t done anything…ok, you’re welcome. No problem….Does he get this, Lois, when he calls?” he yelled to her.
She rounded the corner dressed in an old sweatshirt and faded jeans, carrying one of her former favorite pair of sneakers.
“Why is my stuff still here?” she asked him pointedly.
“Um…what?” he replied distantly.
“My stuff. My shoes, my clothes, old story notes…why?”
“Can we maybe talk about this later, Lois?” he asked impatiently.
“We will talk about it,” she said. “We did me. It’s your turn.”
“I don’t think I’m getting Dr. Klein on the phone anytime soon,” he remarked evenly. “I can hear all this commotion, sounds like things at Star Labs are…chaotic.”
“We could just go later, after dark. If you know Dr. Klein will be there,” Lois offered.
“Can you wait?” he asked regretfully. “I should have said it was an emergency. Should have pulled rank.”
“A couple of hours, Clark.” She whispered his name, just in case anyone on the extension had a bionic ear. Not out of the realm of possibility at Star Labs.
He hung up reluctantly.
“Maybe I’ll change, too,” he offered weakly.
“Maybe you’ll slink off and avoid the subject, you mean,” she answered dryly.
“Were you always this mean?” he teased. “I’d forgotten that.”
“Here is where we stand right now.” She moved towards him, steering him towards the sofa, and in a move reminiscent of the one her Clark had used on her, pushed him down to sit. “I’m pregnant. Reentry into my own life is proving difficult. My Clark is trying to help, but how can he when I don’t know what kind of help I need?”
Lois moved to stand in front of him. “Now you,” she challenged.
***
He put his boots up on the coffee table and studied them closely for some time. He just needed a minute to organize his thoughts. This wasn’t the easiest topic in the world.
“Hey,” she barked. “No organizing your thoughts. Just spit it out, mister.”
“Cut that out!” he laughed. “No fair mind reading.”
He stood up to pace, hoping that would help the words flow. A habit he had learned from her. “Here goes,” he began, taking a deep breath. “I thought I was something of an expert on Lois Lanes, you know. I mean, I had this huge advantage. Not only did I love that woman on sight, Lois. Um…” He turned back to her uncertainly, “…we can talk about this, can’t we?”
“We can talk about this, Clark,” she said firmly, seating herself in the spot he’d vacated. “Go on.”
He hesitated a fraction, studying her.
“You’re sure?” he finally asked in a tone that made her raise her eyes to meet his.
She smiled at him. “I’m sure.”
He blew out a relieved breath. “I miss you, you know.”
“Me too,” she agreed.
“Ok, our subject: Lois Lane. I thought I did pretty well my first year with my first Lois.” He looked to her for confirmation, and she nodded encouragement. “Right. So when HG leaves me with my Lois, I’m thinking, ok. I can do this. No problem.”
“No problem?” Lois asked him incredulously. “Did we meet the same Lane from the Congo?
“Point to you,” he nodded. “But she’d been in a prison for five years, Loes. You can’t come away from that and not have a little…attitude.” He smiled at the look on her face. “Some might say you, yourself, aren’t immune to the attitude thing, you know?” At her arched brow, he continued. “Ok, ok… And her life had been lived in her absence, and there was no one to miss her.”
“What happened to her parents?” Lois asked with sudden interest. “They weren’t here when I came, remember?
“And we were a bit relieved.” He nodded. “Not wanting to play the part of the resurrected daughter for grieving parents.
“Right. It was bad enough with Perry.”
“She lost them early,” he supplied. “Like me.”
“Does she have a Lucy?” Lois was sitting upright now, conveying more with her expression than she knew. “I know we couldn’t find her, but she had to have a Lucy, even a really silly one like mine. Without a Lucy how do you play ‘name your most horrifying childhood memory’?”
“There’s a Lucy. She’s a physician in London. World renowned.”
“No kidding!” The look of horror on her face didn’t escape him.
What would Lois have done if her Lucy was more successful that she was?
“And she’s a bit…removed from Lois’ life.”
“Ok, no family then. No one but you. Sounds very similar to how I was when I came.”
“Exactly! So why is this so much harder? I’ve done this before. I can love Loises.”
His eyes met her shining ones. “Don’t you dare laugh,” he threatened.
“I can love Loises,” she sang sweetly.
“Can’t I?” he asked pointedly, completely changing the tone of the conversation.
“You can, Clark.” Lois sighed. “And you will. It’s just that seeing where she’s coming from, and what she walked in to, I’m amazed she’s still here.”
“She has no place else to go,” he stated. “Sometimes I think that’s the only reason she’s still here. You know I absolutely dread pay day now? Like any Friday she’ll announce that she has just enough money saved to go off and get a place of her own. I’m always waiting for that. But then a day will pass, or two, and I’ll think, well, maybe she’s here for another week, at least.”
“She would find a place,” Lois countered. “If she really wanted to, Clark. She wouldn’t still be living here, and wouldn’t still be playing the part of your wife, if she didn’t, on some level that she maybe hasn’t explored yet, feel…something for you.”
“You know what I think?” He turned his back on her and pretended to study the darkening sky from the window. “I think I’m the guy who helps the girl when she most needs him. But I’m not the guy who keeps the girl.”
The room fell into heavy silence.
“I would have stayed with you if she hadn’t come,” Lois spoke at last.
Clark didn’t turn around, but he could see her watching his reflection closely in the window. “No, you wouldn’t have, sweetheart. You had a life and a home and a family and…him. And we made the best of a bad situation. If HG had come even before my Lois, you would have gone.”
***
Her eyes filled with tears. She wanted to deny it. Wanted to deny that she would have thrown away what they had together so easily. Having the other Lois come had left her no choice and at the same time had taken a difficult decision out of her hands. “You can’t know what you mean to me,” she whispered brokenly.
“I made you cry,” he said, turning with a start. “I never did that before.”
“Did I hurt you so much, Clark?” Lois fairly pleaded. “Did I make you think you were worth so little? I can’t stand that thought. I can’t. Should I have…stayed?”
“No, Loes. No. I have missed you. Missed this. Having someone to tell it all to, no matter how stupid it sounds. Having a friend. But Lois, my Lois…”
“Finish that sentence for me, Clark,” she demanded.
“…has my heart in her fist.”
“Oh, thank God!” she exclaimed, moving across the room and throwing herself into his arms.
“You’re getting me wet,” he complained, though he tightened his grip on her.
“You’re in love with her.” Lois smiled.
“Completely,” he affirmed. “And these last few months have taught me that what I felt for you, sweetheart-” He set her down gently and looked into her eyes. “-while it was great…” He seemed to be asking permission to go on. She nodded quickly. “It wasn’t anything like the exquisite torture of Lois Lane the Second.”
Their laughter drove away the gloom that had settled over them. They held onto each other in the fading light.
After a time Lois ventured. “And the baby?”
“Not an easy one,” he admitted softly. “If this baby is ours, then he or she was made in love. That will always be true. And if we can’t fix this…if Bernie can’t fix the device or if the fates are against it or whatever...” He swallowed hard. “If you and I can’t put things back, then I want to be the dad, Lois. I would love to be the dad.”
“But if I can get back, Clark, then this baby belongs to him.”
“This baby-” Clark moved his hand to cover her stomach, spreading his fingers out to span the width of her. “-belongs to you. And you belong with him.”
“You see why I married you?” she asked him.
“I told you at the time you wouldn’t be sorry.” He grinned.
***Metropolis
“Are you nervous?” Clark asked Lane quietly as they entered the elevator from the lobby.
“Not as nervous as you are,” she answered matter-of-factly. “Remember, I’ve done this before. I do it everyday. Same charade, different universe.”
“You must hate this!” he blurted. “I hadn’t really thought of it from your point of view. You are never really…you…are you?”
“Can I tell you something?” She turned towards him. “Something I haven’t said out loud to anyone before?”
“Please,” he prompted. “I think it’s safe to say that I can be trusted.”
“I don’t think I even know me anymore.” She let out a nervous breath. “It feels good to just say that. I mean, I spent five years locked away with very few people to talk to, none of whom spoke my language. And as it turns out? That was the easy part.”
“Damn,” Clark answered in hushed tones. “Oh…sorry. I mean…that’s awful, Lane.”
“Your first response was the right one,” she smiled. “So, I come home…”
She stopped abruptly as the elevator doors opened to accept new passengers. He moved her gently beside him, making room for the others. He didn’t know if she would recognize the familiar faces or not, and wanted to be next to her, ready to run interference if she needed it.
She didn’t.
“Ralph,” she pronounced disdainfully. “Jimmy,” she greeted cheerfully.
There really was a parallel universe.
Of course there was, he knew that. Lois had told him so, and he believed her completely. And had from her first words about it when she’d arrived in Smallville.
“I was taken by a man with a time window.”
He had never once questioned if she was hallucinating, or suffering brain damage, or some kind of psychosis due to kidnapping, injury, or unspeakable trauma. He hadn’t thought she was crazy, in short. Clark had accepted everything Lois had thrown at him, right down to the identical husband. He really had.
But seeing Lane so casually and easily respond to Ralph and Jimmy in just the right way…well, maybe seeing was believing. She was Lois Lane. No doubt about it. Not just that she shared her body and her face. But she obviously shared her world…the people and the places in it.
For just a moment Clark let himself remember what he had spent months suppressing. His dreams of Lois in the altworld. His ability to be with her as she slept, or didn’t, with his counterpart. The way in which he was able to see her and feel her with the other Clark. Because he could dwell inside the mind of his counterpart, if only in the unconscious state.
Did it work that way for Lane and Lois? Did it work for all counterparts? Or was it just Kryptonians? Maybe he had always dreamed the dreams of other Clarks who weren’t him. How would he have known the difference?
And what was the difference? Who was he really? Was he just one of a corporate Clark Kent? One member of a family of Kryptonians trying to make a life in his own universe in his own way? And if that was the case…how was he different? Was he?
Lane wasn’t the only one with an identity crisis here. She was just brave enough to say so.
And who was Lois Lane to him? To all of him? Was there one assigned to every Clark Kent in every universe? Did it matter, ultimately, who went with whom? Maybe it really didn’t matter who the father of Lois’ baby was. Maybe they all were.
Clark passed a shaky hand over his forehead. A gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by Lane.
Her look of concern did little to comfort him. It…scared him.
<She knows me,> he thought frantically. <She met me yesterday, but she knows how to read me already. What am I supposed to do? If Lois doesn’t come back…do I marry her? What if…those dreams start again?>
He started breathing rapidly. Suddenly the elevator seemed far too small. He wanted to punch a hole in it and fly away.
“You guys go ahead,” he heard Lane say to a curious Ralph and Jimmy. “Clark and I have some…unfinished business.” She said it with just enough menace that the men fled quickly, no questions, no teasing about being late. Just gratitude, he was certain, that it was him in trouble and not them.
The elevator doors closed on the bullpen.
“Sit down,” she ordered him softly. “Take deep breaths, Clark. Those are too shallow. They make me dizzy just listening.”
Her hand was on the top of his head. He had obeyed her without thinking about it.
“This is going to be ok,” she said with great confidence. “You are going to be ok.”
How many times had he said that to Lois? How many times in this very elevator had he held her and told her, as hushed and as quickly as he could, knowing that at any moment they’d be interrupted, that it was all going to ok?
He’d been wrong hadn’t he? Because she was gone. And he was going to work with her…replacement. And that was about as far from ok as they could get.
“Do you want to go home sick?” she offered kindly. “Maybe this is too soon.”
“We don’t know when it is,” he ground out. “Do we? We don’t know if this is the first day of one hundred or one thousand or of forever.”
“We know that Tempus is here,” she snapped, apparently abandoning soothing and calm as the way to go.
She rooted around for the sketch of Tempus, pulling it from her briefcase. No…from Lois’ briefcase. It looked so completely right on her. She looked so completely like Lois when she searched through her bag that way. Quick, energetic, angry motions. A spring tightly wound, frustrated with the slightest hold-up. She was Lois. She was so Lois it frightened him.
Hadn’t Lois told him that when she had found the altworld’s Clark Kent she had almost cried with relief. He could see that now, how that Clark would have been so…him. Not scary, but a comfort. Familiar in all the ways that she knew. A harbor in a fog of confusion.
And hadn’t he asked Lane, just last night, if he could hold her for a while? Devastated as he was by Lois’ taking, he had needed to feel Lane in his arms. And she had felt…familiar. In a way that had comforted him.
He understood fully, heart and mind, how Lois would have felt with the other Clark. How once she had gone home with him, she hadn’t wanted to leave. It made a horrible, perfect kind of sense.
“We’ll…take the sketch to Perry,” he spoke firmly, or at least he tried. “We’ll tell him we need this guy found. We need to hear from anyone who might have seen him….And we’ll…wait.”
She was crouched down in front of him now, eyeing him closely.
“Are you finished freaking out?” she asked bluntly.
“For today,” he smiled ruefully.
“I’ve had more practice at this, you know. This is still just your first universe, and you’ve never met counterparts of any kind, until just now. I’ve met Lois. And I know Clark and now…you. So, I’m a little ahead of the game.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “But it’s not my first universe. You’re forgetting Krypton. And you’re just trying to make me feel better for falling apart.”
“You want to tell me what set this off?”
“Later,” he breathed, meaning never. “After we’ve had that talk with Perry. After we get through today. After we’ve gotten our feet wet, so to speak.”
She held her hand out to him to help him rise. He took it like it was a life preserver and he didn’t know how to swim.
He didn’t yet. But he’d learn. Best to just get day one underway.
tbc...
