Clark and Lois - Despair to Hope – Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 4 – 13/22
By Ken Janney
This version is rated PG-13
* denotes emphasis *
< denotes thoughts >
[ playback of a recording ]/ telepathic communications /
(#) footnotes
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Reminder:
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 - Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Canon Alt Clark universe also called – Alt 1
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
Previously –
Superman replied, “I think the Chief would be more qualified to answer that question than me.” He turned to the Chief and said, “Chief, can you answer this young man’s question?”
The Chief stepped over and said, “Gladly. What you have witnessed was what is called BLEVE. BLEVE stands for Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion. The fire under the tank heated up the liquid inside like in a pressure cooker and caused it to boil. The harder it boiled the higher the pressure inside became. When the tank couldn’t take the pressure anymore it ruptured. When that happened all of the vapor was released and it burst into flame. If Superman hadn’t been here the man out on the end of the ladder would have been fried. That’s the real story here. Superman rescued my man when no one else could have.”
The news hounds were all writing furiously.
Ralph Pinedo spoke up, “What took you so long to show up Superman?”
Superman replied, “As you know, Clark Kent and Lois Lane were married a little while ago. If I had heard about this I would have left the wedding and responded immediately, however I didn’t know about this incident until I returned from dropping them off in Hawaii for their honeymoon.”
Ralph continued, “How does it feel to be beaten out for Lois Lane’s hand by Clark Kent? Everybody knows that you had the hots for her.”
Superman replied, “You are very much mistaken! I have always had a professional relationship with Lois Lane and Clark Kent is one of my closest friends. I am very happy for them and I wish them a long and happy marriage.”
While all of this was going on the paparazzi had spotted Lois and Clark in Hawaii. Since the story about Luthor had been in the papers for a couple of days they had started hounding Lois and Clark to get a statement from them about Luthor so there were plenty of pictures and eyewitnesses that Lois and Clark were in Hawaii when the BLEVE occurred at the rail yard.
Lois and Clark were in Hawaii for two weeks on their honeymoon and shortly after their return it was time for Alt Superman’s ride. Before Herb showed up he had one last meeting with local Lois and Clark at 344 Clinton.
“Well you guys, I’ll be leaving shortly.” Addressing Lois he said, “It looks like you have reconciled your problems with Clark.”
Lois had a happy smile on her face as she said, “I just couldn’t stay mad at him. We had an absolutely wonderful honeymoon. I don’t know how to thank you. It was wonderful to not have to worry about being interrupted by emergencies.”
Alt Superman chuckled and said, “Glad to have been of service. Listen you guys, don’t be surprised if in the future Herb chooses to visit. When he does, he may have a gift for you, an extra wedding present, if you will.”
Local Clark, his curiosity piqued, asked, “What would that be?”
Alt Clark said, “I’m not at liberty to disclose that right now, but, if you see him, you will appreciate the present. Trust me.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
End Flashback
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And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 11 – The Second Mission Starts
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 024 x Gamma 035 x Tau -180
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
After Clark finished relating his adventure Herb said, “Well my boy, this worked out just fine. You managed to save him from Luthor’s death trap, brought them together and you were able to see them happily married. How delightful! I must say that *was* a success.”
“I do feel good about the outcome. To see them together was like seeing the other Lois and Clark. They are so happy together, and after I told them about the soul mates thing they were even happier.
Rubbing his hands together, Herb asked, “Well, are you ready for the next mission?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be I guess. I hope that this one will work out for them again like the last time.”
“Well, here we go. I have programmed the universe and time into my device here and we can start your next adventure.”
Almost as an afterthought Herb asked, “Do you have any jewels left?”
”I should have enough to cover me for a few days without any problem.”
“In that case I guess we can start right away.” Herb pulled out his TaDT and set the coordinates for the desired place and time.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 025 x Gamma 120 x Tau 086
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
They stepped through and Clark found himself on the same street as the last time they had moved through the portal. They proceeded to the same convenience store as the last time and checked the paper. What they saw was a headline about Jimmy Olsen being arrested for murder. Clark picked up the paper for a closer look. He turned to Herb and said, “This doesn’t look like something that would put Lois in danger. Are you sure you didn’t get the wrong time or things aren’t lining up the way they did in Prime.”
Herb said, “Oh my, my, my, let me see. No, this is correct. During the investigation, while they are trying to clear Jimmy there is a chance that Lois will die. We are at the correct time. In fact you may not have very much time in which to act, but, I already know you succeed.”
With a resigned expression, Clark gave in, but first he asked a question, “You say I succeed, what if I do nothing?”
With a pensive expression Herb replied, “If you fail, the Lois of this universe could die. Do you want to risk that?”
Giving in Clark replied, “Okay, I’ll stay and see what I can do.”
“As usual I will meet you in a month. I’ll meet you January tenth, 10AM Pacific, on the pier that the Midway Museum is tied up to in San Diego.” Herb pulled out his TaDT and entered the coordinates as he walked into the alley nearby. He stepped through the portal onto the pier and almost literally bumped into Clark who was dressed in a suit as Clark and was looking at the aircraft carrier with some tourists who were taking pictures. He waited until they were finished before approaching him and asking, “Well, my boy, how did it go?”
“Well, there wasn’t as much danger to Lois as we had thought; however, I did save Mayson.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Flashback
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Clark departed the convenience store and headed for Mazik’s Jewelers where he sold some of his gems after which he took a room at the Apollo.
He found Lois and Clark at the Planet. It was something of a shock seeing her again. Encountering Lois after Lois was going to be a sore temptation. Well, he was here to see that she didn’t die, the way his had so he decided that he needed to pay attention to his assignment, so he followed Lois at a distance as she left and went to the store to shop for dresses. Not perceiving any danger he went back to the Planet and picked up Clark’s trail.
He followed him to his apartment. Clark was trying on different suits trying to see what would be best. Putting two and two together he figured that they were going out on a date. Lois hadn’t told him much about her early relationship with Clark and he was very interested in their relationship. He decided to follow and see just where this was going. Where it was going was an up-scale restaurant where Lois and Clark had a fancy meal and a lot of conversation after which Clark took her home.
Alt Clark hovered just out of sight and followed them with his x-ray vision and tuned in on their conversation with his super hearing.
Local Clark walked Lois to her door. When they got to Lois’ door she opened a single lock and pushed the door open. As she did she turned to Clark and with a sigh she said, “Well,” and stepped into the doorway.
Clark replied by saying, “Yeah.”
Lois turned to face him and looking up into his face she said, “Okay, look, ummmmm, Clark, I had a really nice time.”
Clark with a relieved chuckle said, “So did I.”
Lois sighed and smiling very broadly said, “No, I mean I had a really nice time. … Probably, one of the best times I’ve ever had. It wasn’t the funniest or the wildest …”
Clark interrupted, “But, don’t knock yourself out Lois.”
Lois finished, “It just seemed to … work.”
They just stood there looking at each other for several seconds before Lois heaved another sigh and said, “It was *really* nice …” She got a look of panic on her face and in a rush, as if she couldn’t get it out fast enough she said, “That’s why I can never see you again.”, as she finished speaking she spun through the door and closed the door in Clark’s face. As soon as she had the door closed she slumped back against it, sobbing, practically in tears, not tears of joy or even tears of hurt or pain, tears of fear and panic.
This was something totally beyond her experience. All the time she had dated Lex, she had never had a date like this one. It had been a perfect evening, well, maybe not perfect, but nearly so and it scared her. The feelings that were cascading over her left her stunned. What she was feeling was so different from what she had ever felt with Lex that it was like night and day. She had enjoyed the attention that Lex had lavished on her, but, looking back on it, it had been too … impersonal.
This single date with Clark had engendered emotions within her that she had never felt with Lex and didn’t think she ever could have felt with him. There was a comfort with Clark, a lack of pressure; she didn’t have to pretend to enjoy settings that she really didn’t care for. The restaurant that they had gone to this evening she felt certain that she would have felt uncomfortable if she had been there with Lex sure that she had to live up to some unspecified expectations. But, with Clark, there was none of that and she had been comfortable just being herself. She never would have dared to ask for a taste of Lex’s desert but she felt comfortable asking Clark for a taste. She didn’t even object when he used his own fork to serve her. There was just something …so … Clark, about this date. She had been shocked when they had noticed that it was nearing midnight, the time had flown by. Now she was afraid that she would lose all of it, lose Clark. She didn’t know what to do.
Clark was bewildered and simply stood there for several seconds before he said, “Lois?” in a hurt tone. He could hear her sobs on the other side of the door and couldn’t come to a firm conclusion as to the cause. Had he done something? If he had, what was it?
She could hear the hurt in his tone and it tore at her. All the time she had been dating Lex she had never had an experience like this night. Lex had taken her places she could only imagine existed and that neither she nor Clark could ever, in their wildest dreams, afford yet this evening they had gone to a very nice restaurant. She was a little afraid that the bill for this evening might have cost him his next month’s rent. But, this had been a very special evening. She was afraid that if she admitted how good a time she had had that it would change her relationship with Clark, maybe damage it irreparably. She was afraid that she would lose him as her best friend and partner and she desperately didn’t want that to happen, but how could this not change things? She desperately didn’t want to ruin their relationship. She wanted things to remain the same between them but didn’t know how they could after tonight. That was when she was unable to hold back the tears any longer. The tears finally came as she slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs and her face in her knees.
Clark just stood there at her door. He heard her clothing scraping along the door as she slid to the floor and then he heard her start crying. He didn’t know what he could have done that could possibly have caused her to cry. That was the absolutely last thing he ever wanted to do. He determined that if he had in fact been guilty of causing her to cry, it would be the last time. He never wanted to put her through that kind of pain again. He stood there for what seemed an interminable time searching his memory of the evening and coming up blank. After a time he decided that she needed some space and so did he to try to come to terms with just what had been said and what had happened. He was mystified because the two didn’t correlate. From what she had said, he had been hoping that they would be kissing goodnight. Instead he had had the door slammed in his face. He knew that Lois was unpredictable and mercurial but this was pushing the limits of credulity. This was going to require a lot of thought and tomorrow, after they had each had some time to come to grips with what had happened, a long discussion. He just didn’t know how to start it. He turned and trudged down the hall away from her door.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning, Alt Clark flew in and hid in the supply closet just off the bullpen so that he could see what was happening. He heard a ding as the elevator arrived and as the doors opened he heard Lois’ heartbeat so he tuned in with his enhanced vision and watched as she dropped her bag at her desk and immediately headed for Perry’s office. She appeared to be upset and didn’t even bother to knock but just burst into his office.
As she walked up to Perry’s desk with a very sad expression on her face and sad tone in her voice she said, “I need a new partner.”
Perry slammed down the pen he had been marking up copy with and said, “I knew it! One bad date and there goes my whole newsroom.” As he threw his arms out expansively to encompass the bullpen he stood. He continued, “Why don’t you just shoot me now. Send me up to Elvis!”
Lois tried to interrupt, “Perry …”
He was on a roll, “No, no, no,“ He cut her off with a sweeping downward motion of his arm like he was cutting her words, “Don’t say it. You know I have … stood on the sidelines … hoping against hope that Mother Nature would smile on you two …” He looked toward the heavens and made a sweeping gesture upward as if to call down what he was about to mention, “that the blue bird of happiness would come down, lite on your shoulder … “ emphasizing his points he was moving around and finally moved out from behind his desk as he continued he brought his hand up and patted his shoulder to indicate just where he expected the blue bird of happiness to land and said as he indicated the ground under her feet, “That four leaf clovers would spring up wherever you walked and all the time my gut is singing …” Lois was growing increasingly frustrated that Perry wasn’t allowing her to get a word in. Perry continued, “a different aria.”
Lois tried to interrupt his rant, “Perry …”, but he cut her off. “Lois, anybody with half a hemisphere could see that you two are gasoline ‘n fire, TNT ‘n matches, two trains headed toward …”
Lois finally shouted, “*Perry*!” He stopped and startled looked at her.
Lois calmly said, “Thank you. The problem is, we *didn’t* have a bad date.”
Perry was like a balloon that was slowly, or actually not so slowly deflating. He said, “Oh.” He got a very pensive expression on his face as he looked down in deep thought as he was taking her statements in.
Lois continued, “It was a really *great* date,” Emotion started to creep into her voice and a look of panic overtook her features as she continued, “and now I’m *completely* panicked and I don’t know what to do next.”
Perry was winding down from his rant as he saw that he had really jumped to the wrong conclusion and the reality of what she was saying sank in. He pulled his hands apart where he had interlocked his fingers where he had been demonstrating two trains colliding and said, “Oh, oh, darlin’ I …” He could see that she was close to tears and he held out his arms inviting her into a hug as he said, “Come ’ere Honey.” As he folded her in his arms her tears began to flow. Perry was at a total loss for words.
Observing all of this Alt Clark couldn’t help but smile. He could see that things were going well between them and didn’t see how he would need to help them. He would have to keep following them and see.
While Lois was in with Perry, Alt Superman heard the elevator ding and he checked to see just who was arriving. He saw local Clark exit the elevator and head for his desk. He saw him spot Lois’ bag and look around for her eventually spotting her in Perry’s office. He settled into his chair to wait.
While he was waiting a delivery boy dropped off a Desk Friend to him and asked where to leave the Shower Friend that was to go to Lois. Clark pointed out Lois’ desk. The delivery boy dropped off the device and left.
Alt Superman kept watching. After Lois had had a chance to settle down she left Perry’s office. Clark was sitting at his desk playing with a pair of scissors from his Desk Friend and as she walked by he tried to talk to her. “Lois …” She ignored him and walked right past him to get to her desk. Clark said, “That came for you while you were in there with Perry.”
She replied, somewhat distractedly, “Uh, thanks.” She started to examine the Bath Friend that was propped up on a desk chair next to her desk. She grabbed the card, opened and read it. “I thought I’d save you the trouble of ordering. Enjoy, Lucky Leon” She leaned down and picked up the Bath Friend. Clark stood and started walking over to her as he said, “Lois, about last night …”
Lois changed the subject, “These things are kind of attractive, in, in a hideous sort of way.”
Clark continued, “I’m a bit confused …”
Lois again tried to change the subject, “Oh look, yours has a stapler and a radio … pencil sharpener, that’s pretty convenient.”
Clark continued, “Did I … do something to offend you …” He continued as she talked over him, “Because if I did I apologize.”
Lois continued trying to deflect, “Oh my goodness, imitation wood paneling, ha he hu, must be the deluxe model.”
Clark, still trying to discuss the issue, he stepped closer to her as he said, “Lois, no one is asking for a lifetime commitment or anything like that, so there’s no pressure here at all.” As he was finishing she was talking over him again.
Lois continued, “Oh look, batteries *are* included.”
Bowing to the inevitable he changed tack and reaching down, picked up his Desk Friend and as he was picking it up said, “Here, you want to trade?”
As he came back up facing her she said, “No, no, no, no, I love mine.”
He took the Bath Friend and handed her the Desk Friend as he said, “Please believe me, I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time.” He finally succeeded in exchanging items with her.
Lois’ face fell into a very sad expression as she said, “Ohhhh, Clark, about last night …”
Trying to encourage her to continue he said, “Yeah”
Lois had a pleading expression as she continued, “I just want to say that ...”
Suddenly Mayson Drake, who had been crossing the bullpen floor, stopped and shouted, “Stop the presses!”, and there was suddenly quiet all around. She laughed quietly, to herself as she walked over toward Lois and Clark. She said, “I’ve always wanted to say that in the newsroom.”
Lois with an insulted expression said, “Nobody ever says that you know. That’s just on television.”
Lois stepped around her and Mayson sort of followed her with her eyes as she said, “Sure, but it felt good.”
Lois set the Desk friend on her desk and turned to Mayson to ask, “So, what’s the deal with Jimmy?”
Mayson, serious now, crossed her arms as she replied, “Well, the judge wants to revoke bail and bring him in. He thinks he’s a flight risk, after his car escapade.”
Clark leaped to Jimmy’s defense coming over closer to Mayson as he said, “That was an accident.”
Mayson, addressing Clark said, “I got him twenty-four hours more, but that’s it. Meanwhile, I’ve been doing some digging. I called a friend of mine in D. C. he’s going to call me back as soon as he finishes a background check on Borjaes and Lucky Leon.”
Lois with a skeptical look asked, “And you came all the way down here to tell us that in person?”
Mayson, nervous now replied, “Actually I came to ask Clark to Lunch. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to be more decisive. Plus, it’s much harder to reject somebody in person.”
Alt Clark could see that this Mayson was just as attracted to Clark as his Mayson was to him, once she got over the vigilante thing. He wanted to help Clark out, but, how to do it was the question. He would have to continue to follow and maybe something would come up.
“Clark replied, “That’s nice, Mayson, but ...”
Lois interrupted, “Go! I’ll hold down the fort,” as she settled into her desk chair.
Clark turned to her and appealed, “But Lois …”
Lois replied, “No, it’s okay. If anything breaks, I’ll call you. Have a good time.”
Mayson said, “Hey, I told my office that I’d either be here or at Mars Café so if they call will you …”
Lois interrupted again, “Absolutely.”
Mayson smiled and reached for Clark’s arm and he didn’t have a very happy expression as she started to drag him away. After only a step she stopped and turned to Lois and said, “By the way, Borjaes was poisoned. Somebody killed him with synthetic curare.”
Lois with a dumbfounded expression said, “What???”
Mayson just finger waved and dragged Clark away, not noticing Clark’s unhappy expression.
Lois watched them go, but even though she had been the one to tell him to go, she wasn’t happy that he was actually going and as they left she looked down with a very sad expression on her face.
Alt Clark’s heart was practically breaking as he watched this. Just then he saw someone headed to the supply closet so he made his exit through the window.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He spotted Clark and Mayson as they exited the building. Staying out of sight he followed them to a café and watched as they ordered.
After they had ordered and while they were waiting for their meal to arrive Mayson started the conversation. “Clark,…”
Clark replied, “Yes?”
Encouraged by this, Mayson resumed, ”This isn’t easy, but, I’m sure it’s obvious from the way I’ve been throwing myself at you that I have feelings for you.”
The waitress asked, “Is everything alright?”
Mayson waved her away.
After she went away, Mayson resumed, “This is when you’re supposed to say, I have feelings for you too Mayson.”
Clark looked like he was trapped in a Kryptonite cage and was somewhat panicked. He couldn’t lie to Mayson, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings unnecessarily either so he said, “Well, I do.”
Mayson’s countenance fell at this response and she said, sarcastically, “That was enthusiastic.”
Clark wanted to let her down easy so he said, “Mayson, I care about you and I think about you, a lot …”
She shot back a question, “Then what’s the problem?”
Clark sighed, and gestured with his hands as if to say that he was at a loss for words. He asked himself, “How do I say this?”
Mayson said, “Tell me. Clark, I’m a lawyer. I know you’re hiding something, something that’s keeping us apart. What is it? I can handle it.”
With another sigh he replied “Mayson, it’s not that easy.”
Mayson could see her hopes crumbling and she said, “If it’s Lois, just say it.”
Clark, still wanting to spare her feelings said, “Mayson, I care for you … and I care for Lois.”
Mayson sat back I her chair as she took this in. She started to address him, “Clark, I …” but at this point she was interrupted by his cell phone ringing.
More than a little chagrined he said, “I’m sorry.” And reached for his phone and answered, “Clark Kent. What? Lois are you sure? Alright, I’ll see if I can contact Superman right away.” He closed the phone and turned to Mayson saying, ”Mayson, I’m really sorry, I have to go.” He got up and ran.
As he did so Alt Clark could hear what local Clark couldn’t. Mayson said, almost under her breath, “I love you.”
Alt Superman didn’t know where local Clark was off to but he decided to continue to follow Mayson. After returning to her office to check on some paperwork she eventually wound up back at the Daily Planet. He flew into the supply closet again and started to observe. They had arrived just before a televised news conference announcing that Superman had turned over a load of atomic warheads to terrorists.
Mayson was in the newsroom again and Clark and Lois were standing right behind her as they heard the announcement and they were blown away by it.
Perry said, “Oh, boy, I just never thought I’d see the day when Superman turned to crime.”
Mayson turned to them and smugly said, “I’ve said all along that he was a menace, now he’s proved it.”
Clark interrupted, “He’s been tricked Chief, I’m positive.”
Lois jumped in, “Superman would never help terrorists.”
Perry was standing there with his arms crossed as he said, “Yeah, well then why isn’t he out there try’n to make good?”
Mayson smugly offered, “Because he’s a criminal, that’s why.”
Clark said, “You know, I just remembered something really important I have to do. Excuse me.”
Perry brought him up short by asking, “More important than a bunch of terrorists blowing us all from here to Elvis and back? Now you get your butt over there in your chair and you start typing.” He looked at Lois and said, “You too. I want everything you’ve got on this mess and I want it in a half an hour.”
As he stalked away, Lois said, “Right, Chief.”
They started to head for their desks. Mayson stopped Clark, “Clark, um, I guess I picked a bad time to finish our conversation, but, you still owe me for lunch.”
She turned to Lois and sarcastically said, “Um, and Lois, thanks for taking that message for me.” Just before she turned and walked away.
Lois said, “You know, the big news is going to be, who finds those nuclear warheads.”
Clark said, “Believe me, I’d love to solve this but even Superman wouldn’t know where to look.”
Just at this point Alt Superman saw someone headed to the supply closet, so he had to make his exit again. He decided to find Mayson and follow her again. From what he had seen and heard he knew that this Mayson was very much like his Mayson, that is, before she really got to know him. She headed back to her office and settled in so he decided to go back and follow local Clark.
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 12 – The Second Mission – Saving Mayson
