Clark and Lois - Hope Realized - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 5 09/25
By Ken Janney
Rating PG-13
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.
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ denotes telepathic communication/
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary]For reference purposes the following will hold true throughout.
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
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 New universe called Alt 2
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Clark and Lois – Hope Realized - The Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 5
Previously:
“Wow, okay, that pretty much parallels most of the other universes. Lex Luthor made a play for Lois Lane. He would stop at nothing to possess her, uh, you. He even tried to kill Superman a number of times because he was interfering in his criminal operations. Believe it or not, Lex Luthor is the criminal mastermind behind all of the rackets here in Metropolis.”
Lois was very thoughtful as she replied, “So, that confirms what I already found out. Nigel St. John, Lex’s butler was the intermediary. Lex had Clark killed.”
Clark asked, “You say you just had dinner with him recently?
Lois replied, “Yeah, but, never again!” Lois, with an eager expression looked at him and said, “You know, with everything you know, you would be a tremendous help. We could make Luthor think his little trap failed. Do you want to team up with me while you’re here? We could get the final low down on Luthor and put him behind bars where he belongs.”
Clark replied, “I thought you’d never ask. I’d love to. It’ll be just like when I was working with my Lois.”
“Okay, how do we go about it?”
“You’ll need to fill me in on the specifics of this universe. For instance, in my universe the Daily Planet was bought by James Olsen, a billionaire who made his money in computer software, while in another universe I’ve been in, Jimmy Olsen is a research assistant/photographer for the Daily Planet. Do you have a Jimmy Olsen?”
“Yeah, Jimmy is kind of our mascot. He’s the gofer/researcher/photographer like the second one you described.”
“Who is Editor-in-Chief?”
“That would be the erasable Perry White.”
“So far so good, what does Clark call Perry?”
“We all call him either Perry or Chief.”
“Good, who owns the paper?”
“Franklin Stern.”
“Check. Tell me about some of your co-workers.”
They spent some time going over the information Clark would need to fill in for the other Clark. When they had finished they went out to dinner and then caught a movie.
When they arrived back in Smallville Clark asked Lois to spend a couple of days there. She agreed and he grabbed a blanket and pillow and headed for the couch while she settled in Clark’s bedroom.
In the morning Martha came downstairs to find Clark on the couch and looked up the stairs as if to see who was in the bedroom. Immediately she knew without looking just who was in Clark’s bedroom, it just had to be Lois. He had managed to get her to stay. With a look of understanding she turned and headed for the kitchen. Jonathan would be down shortly and she needed to get his breakfast ready.
Clark woke to the aroma of coffee brewing and just continued to lay there on the couch enjoying the feel. The feel of being home and the feel of having his parents back after all these years. Okay, they weren’t really his parents but in a way they really were. He thought, <Maybe they’ll allow me to be their son while I’m here.>
After a while Lois and Jonathan both came downstairs. Lois was dressed in the cocktail dress she had worn the previous evening. Clark sat up and Lois sat on the end of the couch. She said, “I think I really need to get back to work. As far as anyone knows you’re still recovering from your injuries sustained in the bombing. You might as well hang out here as anywhere.” She turned to Jonathan and Martha and asked, “Are you guys okay with that?”
Martha answered, “We already invited him to stay.”
Lois said, “Okay, good, well, I uh, I guess I can come by every night.” She looked at Clark and said, “Maybe we could spend some more time together, you know, getting to know one another.”
Clark answered, “I’d like that.” Looking over at Jonathan he said, “We have some fence to mend today, right?”
Jonathan smiled and said, “That’s right.” Chuckling he looked over at Lois and said, “I’m going to put him to work. Good honest farm work, not like what you call work in the big city.”
Knowing that he was kidding, Lois went along with it and asked, “Can I expect to find a dirty, sweaty, callused farm hand when I get back?”
Clark chuckled and said, “I don’t know about the sweaty and callused thing but I just might get dirty.”
Teasing Lois said, “I’ll check when I get back this evening.”
Martha said, “If you’re going to be spending any time here, perhaps you should bring some changes of clothes to keep here.”
Lois said, “That’s probably a good idea. I’ll bring some this evening. I think all I’ll have is a cup of coffee. I really need to get to Metropolis.”
For the next three weeks Lois went in to work while Clark was at the farm and commuted in each afternoon. They were getting to know one another and building a relationship. Though they thought they were taking their time about it, because of their prior relationships things progressed rapidly.
On Friday night when the three weeks had elapsed Clark had convinced Lois to stay at the farm rather than going back to Metropolis. She went to bed in Clark’s room and he slept on the couch.
In the morning Martha came downstairs and saw him on the couch again and she started to chuckle softly. She went into the kitchen and put the coffee on.
A few minutes later Lois came downstairs wearing a football jersey she had found in one of Clark’s drawers. It came down to just about mid-thigh and Clark couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Unbidden memories of his Lois dressed in a short skirt, showing plenty of leg came to mind, but he found them being overlaid by the more recent memory of this Lois in her cocktail dress. When that happened, he started feeling some guilt for allowing this to happen.
He sat up as Lois came over and this time instead of sitting on the opposite end of the couch, she sat down next to him. Unexpectedly she snuggled up close to him and pulled up her legs and tucked them under herself as she did.
Martha came out of the kitchen just as Lois got settled and got an amused smile on her face when she saw them. She walked over and sat in Jonathan’s chair. Once she was settled she said, “Jonathan and I had a talk last night. We’ve been together now for several weeks and we’d like to know if you would consider being our son while you are here.”
Clark was stunned to silence by this.
Almost as if Martha had talked it over with her beforehand and before he was able to respond, Lois added, “If you accept, it means that you have to be my fiancé as well.”
Jonathan had just reached the bottom of the stairs as Lois made her statement and chimed in with, “We were wondering if you might be able to extend your stay.”
“With you here it’s like we never lost Clark,” Martha added.
Lois reached up for his arm and pulled it across her shoulders and said, “I feel the same way. I don’t know why because you really aren’t him but in a lot of ways, you are. I am feeling more and more comfortable with you as time goes on.” She started playing with the fingers of his hand, lacing and unlacing her fingers in his absently as she spoke. “I’d like you to stay too. You told me that your missions were to help the Clark Kents of the various universes to stay alive so that they could marry their Lois Lanes, but, this time it was to rescue me from the despair that you suffered when you lost your Lois. We.ve been hanging out here at the farm for a while now and if you were to ask me out on another date I wouldn’t turn you down. I’ve had very nice times on our other dates.”
It didn’t take any thought to reply to this, “I enjoyed our dates too.” Looking around at Lois and the Kents he said, “What can I say? Thank you for your acceptance. I’ll do my best not to make you sorry for asking me to stay.”
Martha stood up and said, “Alright, now that that’s settled, let’s have breakfast,” and she led the way to the kitchen.
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 8 – New Family
March 11, 1994
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator Designation
Common name – ALT2
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
It was now late March and it had been five weeks that Clark Kent had been hiding out and living with the Kents while ‘recovering’ from his injuries. It had been almost four weeks since the rescue in Florida. Lois had been back at work for several weeks and was still dodging calls from Luthor’s secretary. Superwoman had been keeping in contact with Detective Lieutenant Henderson on the progress of the case and spending the evenings making sure that Clark was prepared. They had been spending all of their time together, had a number of dates and were developing their relationship.
After the five weeks had elapsed, Superwoman stopped in to talk to Henderson and he said, “The lawyer for the bomber, Jack Duggins, is trying to impeach his confession on the basis that it was obtained through coercion.”
Somewhat sheepishly Superwoman replied, “Well, much as I hate to admit it, he might be right. Okay, well we still have his image on the security tape. Did the forensics team find any fingerprints, like from the door or something else he might have touched when they examined the apartment?”
Henderson replied, “Yeah, we have that image. He apparently was too cagey. Either he wiped down any surface he touched or else he wore gloves because they didn’t find any prints, other than those that would be expected, Lois’ and Clark’s. How far do we want to go with this thing? So far all we have to charge him with is malicious destruction of Kent’s apartment and possibly attempted murder. You did tell me that Kent is alive, just in hiding, correct?”
After a brief hesitation Lois replied, “Yes, actually he’s in Kansas visiting his folks and Lane is spending a lot of time with him. I’m flying her back and forth. How soon do you want them back here?”
“Frankly, I don’t think they need to be hiding any longer. With Duggins in jail there isn’t much more of a threat. What do you think?”
“Actually, if I were to bring Lois and Clark back they may try again and if they do, we might be able to get more evidence against Luthor. They may be willing to act as decoys to draw him out. Okay, I’ll talk to them and see what they want to do.”
That evening when Lois flew back to Smallville she spotted the Kents and Clark at the grave and she landed next to Jonathan and Martha. Clark was standing off to one side allowing them some time with their lost son and her fiancée. Over this time the emotional impact had lessened as they had been able to adequately say their goodbyes. It still hurt, but, the hurt was fading with time and also to a certain extent the presence of Alt Clark. After a time they returned to the house and they all had a meeting.
Lois said, “I had a meeting with Henderson today and he thinks that it’s time that Clark came back to Metropolis. Do you think you’re ready?”
“I guess I am. I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. You’ve been going over details about the people at the Planet and other friends. It’s late in the day, why don’t we go back tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is Saturday; it should work out better to move over the weekend.”
They had a pleasant evening with the Kents.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning March 26, 1994
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As they were preparing to leave, Clark looked at the Kents and said, “I’ve enjoyed the time here with you and I will be back.” Turning to Lois he said, “One thing though, could I stay with you? My apartment isn’t in any condition to live in right now. I’ll take the couch. It’ll be easier that way.”
After giving this some thought Lois said, “Well, as far as anyone else knows we are engaged so I guess no one would question it if we moved in together. Yeah, I guess I could. You don’t need to sleep on the couch because I have a spare room that Lucy usually uses when she is in town. You’ll have to see how much is salvageable at your apartment.”
Martha stepped over to him and gave him a hug and said, “Come back soon.”
Jonathan chimed in, “Yeah, I’ve got some more fence I need a hand with,” as he clapped him on the back.
With tears of joy in his eyes he said, “I don’t know what to say. I can only hope that my parents would have been as nice as you. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart.”
Martha looked at Jonathan as if to get permission and at his nod she said, “We’d like it if you’d call us … Mom and Dad.” This was the first indication that they were ready to move on.
With a startled look he put his arms around both of them and said, “You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“It’ll mean a lot to us too. We know that you didn’t grow up with us, but you are so like our son, it’s like he never left. You are just as sweet and caring as he was.” Martha couldn’t say any more because she started weeping.
Clark wrapped his arms around her in a hug and then reached over and Jonathan wrapped both of them up in a hug of his own.
After a few minutes they all separated and Clark stepped over to join Lois. They both spin changed and exited, taking off from the front porch.
When they arrived in Metropolis, Clark went to his apartment to pack. She had given Clark her Clark’s keys and wallet so that he would have proper ID.
He packed up what he could and after hailing a cab took his bags to Lois’. Once they had him moved in they went shopping for groceries and picked up enough to stock the refrigerator and freezer.
When they got home Lois put the groceries away and proceeded to start dinner. Clark was amazed, this Lois could cook! Since he had been spending all of his time at the Kents, Martha had done all of the cooking. Lois made what he considered to be one of his specialties, a shrimp stir-fry. Even the rice was perfect. She noticed the surprised look on his face and asked, “What’s so funny?”
“Well, there are some differences between the universes. Lois, *my* Lois wasn’t a cook. She could make a few things, as she put it, ‘I can make exactly three things and two of them involve chocolate.’” And they both started to laugh.
Lois said, “I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to be able to save some money, I needed to depend less on take-out so I took a cooking class. What about you? Do you cook?”
Clark nodded, “In one of my foster homes there were a lot of kids and we all learned to cook. I found that I enjoyed it and continued to learn new recipes.”
They moved over to the table and continued the conversation as they ate.
Clark told her, ”After high school, I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life so as soon as I turned eighteen and before I started college I started traveling. As a result, I’ve been all around the world and everywhere I have been I’ve learned the local cuisine. I have to say, you did a nice job on the stir-fry. It’s perfect.”
Blushing prettily Lois replied, “Thank you. That is a difference. Clark wasn’t much of a cook. Martha had always cooked and he hadn’t shown much interest. I guess we can share the cooking duties. Maybe you could teach me about some of those foreign dishes.”
With a smile on his face and in his voice he said, “I’d love to.”
When they had finished eating and cleaning up they moved to the couch. Before sitting down Lois suggested, “Why don’t we change and get comfortable?” She headed to the bedroom and Clark headed for the spare room.
When he came out he found her wearing some sweats which pretty well matched what he had on and they settled on the couch together.
After he was seated Lois snuggled up to him and pulled his arm around her shoulders and twined her fingers in his. She said, “I’m glad you’re here. When Clark died, I just didn’t know what I would do. I didn’t really want to go on. I thought I would die of loneliness. There couldn’t be anyone else and then you came along and it’s like he never left.” She started tearing up as she thought, <I remember what I said when Clark slid the ring on my finger, “There’s no one else like you.” How much more wrong could I have been?> She finished up with, “He was a pretty unique guy and I didn’t think there was anyone else like him but, here you are.”
“When my Lois died, I went into a profound depression. I didn’t eat or sleep for over a week. I just knelt on the ground at her graveside and wept. One of my friends from the local Daily Planet office found me and took me home with her to her apartment. She and her twin took care of me until I came out of it. Their thoughtful care is what brought me back from the brink. I almost died. I’m glad I was here for you.”
“If you were to leave, it’d be like he died again.”
Decisively, Clark challenged, “You know, I think that we both have to stop doing what we’ve been doing. We have both been comparing the other to the ones we’ve lost. I think that we’ve seen that there are enough differences between me and him and you and her that we need to start to develop a new relationship with each other. We need to get to know each other and stop the comparisons. If we are going to be together it can’t be with me being a replacement for him and you a replacement for her. We are different people. I like you as you and I’m trying not to compare and I hope you can do the same.”
Thoughtfully, Lois added, “I’ve been thinking along the same lines and I’ve been trying to do that too. I have to admit that I do slip occasionally but that’s becoming less and less as I discover more about you.”
“We still have a few weeks until Herb shows up. I think that before he shows up we need to make a final decision. I know that I want to stay and the Kents have accepted my continued presence, but, you and I, we, need to decide if this is going to work, if I’m going to stay … if *you* really *want* me to stay.”
Turning in his arms so that she could look him in the face she said, “When Jonathan and Martha asked you to call them Mom and Dad, I realized that they had come to the point where they were ready to move on. They have their memories of Clark, as I have mine and we will never forget him, but, now, you are here and we are making new memories, of … us. Seeing that I realized that I too am ready to … move … on. My Clark is gone and I miss him and I will continue to miss him, but, here you are, so, I can answer that question right now and I think I can speak for the Kents when I do, yes, we want you to stay. I already feel a connection to you and it is every bit as strong as that which I felt with him but, it’s been getting stronger. I can’t explain it.”
“You don’t need to. It’s what I told you about before; it’s the soul mates connection getting stronger the longer we are together.”
The expression on her face displayed her wonderment at all of this. She moved so that she was sitting in his lap. Her arms drifted up and around his neck as she moved in closer. Slowly, inexorably their lips closed on one another. The soul mates tingle manifested itself even stronger than before and immediately she moved to deepen the kiss. As she did her body moved closer and melded to his. She reached out with her tongue and touched his lips. As he parted them her tongue slid past the portal of his lips and caressed his tongue as a moan of pleasure escaped from the back of her throat.
After several minutes they separated to catch their breath and just sat there holding one another. Finally, Lois got up off his lap and standing reached for his hand. When he had placed his hand in hers she pulled him up and then led the way to the bedroom.
Once there she grasped the hem of his sweatshirt and pulled it up and off of him. For a brief time she stood there drinking in the sight of his naked chest, admiring the play of his muscles as he moved his arms. Then she grabbed the hem of her own sweatshirt and pulled it off. She pulled it up slowly, revealing herself a little bit at a time. When she reached her chest her breasts sprang into view because she had been braless since they had changed.
Clark couldn’t believe what he was seeing and he simply stood there in stunned disbelief as she proceeded to remove her sweatpants. She stood before him for a moment before moving into his waiting arms and initiating another kiss. The soft pillows of her breasts were being crushed into his chest as they pulled one another closer and closer.
Breaking the kiss she said, “Let’s move this to the bed.”
Once they were lying next to each other she again initiated a kiss which led to a period of intimacy.
Finally they were kissing again and after several minutes she broke the kiss and said, “Oh, wow that felt so good. I haven’t been able to really let myself go, ever since Clark’s powers were transferred to me.”
“You mean that you and he were intimate?
“We were engaged to be married. We have been making love for some time. This time, with you, wow, soooooo much better! I can’t believe how fulfilling it was.”
Chuckling he asked, “When was the wedding planned for?”
She replied, “We were going to be married on April thirtieth, about five weeks away, why?”
He asked, “Would you like to move it up a bit, say, two weeks from now, April ninth?”
With an arched eyebrow and a wicked little grin she said, “Why, Mr. Kent, I hardly even know you,” and then she initiated yet another kiss and as she did she started raking the soft pillows of her breasts across his chest. This led to another period of intimacy.
Lois resumed the conversation right where they had left off, just as if it hadn’t been interrupted by their sexual activity. She said, “Yes, let’s do that. Tomorrow we can make the changes to the arrangements for the church and hall. I can let the bridesmaids know of the change. They already have their dresses. Everything is ready to go. Jimmy is acting as your best man and Perry is giving me away. We can fly your folks in.” After she had said this she marveled at just how easy it had slipped out. It just seemed the most natural thing to think of them as his parents.
“Did you or he ever fly them anywhere?”
“No, I never did and I don’t think he did either.”
“It will be a new experience for them then. I’ll need to make sure they enjoy the ride.”
“Good, I know that they will be pleased. We can tell Perry and Jimmy tomorrow when we get to the Planet.” As she was talking her hand moved up his stomach in ever widening circles mapping the planes and ridges of his abs and chest until her fingers met his right nipple. Pinching and tweaking it, she pushed him on his back and initiated another kiss. This time it was slow and languorous, deepening slowly but finally reaching a fever pitch. There followed yet another sexual encounter.
“I just don’t know what to say. You are fantastic. Making love with you is incredible. I never knew that it could be this good!”
She asked, “Didn’t you and she ever …”
He replied and as he did she could hear the pain in his voice, “No, we never did. She died before we could …”
Sensing his pain she rolled over so that she could pull him into her arms with her naked breasts again pressing into his equally naked chest. He started kissing the side of her neck and slowly worked his way to her mouth finally capturing her lips again as they started kissing again. They slowly started drifting back down to the bed.
Once there they broke the kiss and she reached up and stroked the side of his face. Gazing intently into his eyes, she said, “I’m with you now and I’m not going to die the way she did.”
He replied, “Now that we are together I can see how much we are meant to be together. I can’t tell you how much in love with you I am. I can’t wait until we are husband and wife. It will be my dream come true. By the way, I *like* how you mix business with pleasure.” He gave her a wicked smile.
With a smile and a wink Lois said, “It can’t be too soon for me either. Tomorrow we’ll announce the change in plan. I’m sure everybody will understand. At least there is one thing we don’t have to worry about. Superman has already announced his return from his ‘mission’ by joining me on those rescues. That does bring up another question. What will the relationship be between Superman and Superwoman? If they get married at the same time we do, it could generate a lot of questions.”
“I really hadn’t given that much thought. Perhaps Superman should court Superwoman for a period before announcing their engagement. When did Clark tell you just who he was?”
She laughed and replied, “He didn’t tell me until after I had figured it out on my own. We had been on an undercover assignment pretending to be newlyweds in the honeymoon suite of the Lexor. We were in the bedroom sorting out some equipment when suddenly Clark threw a blanket over the equipment and then threw me on the bed. It was so sudden and unexpected I didn’t know what was happening and I started to struggle and then he started kissing me. When he started kissing me I just melted it was so wonderful. I wanted it to go on forever. Unfortunately after a short time he stopped and I heard the maid excusing herself. He had just done it to cover our activities, but I could never forget that kiss.
“Later he was going off on a dangerous mission, you know, Nightfall, and I was there when he was going to leave and I kissed him. It felt very familiar and I realized just who it was that I was kissing. I didn’t say anything. When he came back he had amnesia. When I found him he didn’t remember me. I called his parents and told them what had happened. They came to Metropolis and helped him get his memory back. I told them that I knew and asked them to keep it a secret.”
“From then on he didn’t realize it but I helped cover for him by helping with his excuses for his disappearances. Eventually he got up the nerve to tell me. He was so cute, he was so nervous! He thought I’d be mad at him and that I’d hate him for the rest of my life because he’d lied to me and kept this secret.”
“We were alone one day when he finally said, ‘I’m him. I’m Superman.’ I couldn’t help it, I squealed and asked, ‘What took you so long?’ as I jumped into his arms and started kissing him. He had this dumbfounded expression on his face and asked, ‘You already knew? How long?’ I told him and we kissed some more. It was fun and funny and romantic and I’ve loved every minute I had with him. I do want you to know that I love the time I now have with you, every bit as much. I love you Clark Kent.”
Clark replied, “I love you Lois. I never got the chance to tell my Lois about myself. You see we were in the past, 1992, and Superman wasn’t around as yet. If she had lived I would have been telling her. We were going to be picked up on February 28th to move to 1997. There would have been a problem with that though. You see, I am unique among the supermen, it appears as though I am the only one that my secret identity has been revealed. That means that any spouse would have to be protected constantly from attack or kidnap. You wouldn’t have that problem. Since you are super you would be safe.”
With a very thoughtful expression and sound Lois said, “You know, that presents a problem. We have two separate universes with a superhero now one of them will have two and the other will have none. Can we really do that?”
Clark for his part was becoming worried as she pointed this out and said, “You know, you’re right. I for one do not plan to let that stop us from being married.”
With conviction Lois echoed his sentiment, “Now that I have you, I’m not letting you go without a fight.”
Clark proposed, “Maybe Herb will have a solution. We can talk to him when he shows up to pick me up. In the mean time we can see if we can come up with a solution of our own and follow through on our plans.” He pulled her in close and kissed her again. When they separated they composed themselves for sleep and still naked they drifted off in each other’s arms, the bed in the spare room completely forgotten.
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 09 – Working Together
