A/N: Don't shoot me! I meant to get this to you earlier, I swear, but break caught up to me... and then I meant to post it yesterday, but I received an unhappy haircut and spent my day sulking... But! I am not a year late! It's currently 10:43 pm on 12/31/2012 for me, so I made the deadline! It's a depressing way to end the new year... but never fear! I'm coming back tomorrow with fluff!
Thanks to any who stuck with me on this crazy ride!
*****Part Three*****
Lois walked through the front door to her brownstone, mentally and physically exhausted beyond belief. She couldn't bring herself to think anymore, let alone cry. The world's worst headache had descended upon her, and she just felt so numb and dried up that there was nothing... There were no words-- no thoughts-- worth thinking any more.
She flipped on the lights as she led the way in, an officer following closely behind her. "Are you going to be all right here alone tonight, Mrs. Kent?" he asked.
Lois nodded mutely.
"If you need anything, Officer Brinkley and myself will be in our car right outside. Inspector Henderson demanded that we stay all night, just in case. All right?"
Lois didn't give any other response except to put her purse and keys down on the counter.
"Are you sure you don't want us staying in the house? You will be okay, right? Maybe we should do a quick sweep of the house--"
"I'm fine, Officer," she finally managed to force out. "Thank you."
He gave her a curt nod in response before turning and walking back out the front door. Lois watched him to make sure the door was closed before slumping to her knees. She didn't know how, what with how exhausted she felt and how dry her eyes were, but she started to cry again. She took in breath after shuddering breath, not even able to contemplate what it would take to stop the tears. She couldn't imagine how she would ever stop.
But eventually, her tears dried, and Lois sat there shaking convulsively as she stared at the dark grain of the hardwood floor. The house was silent around her-- everything so quiet that she could hear the blood rushing through her head, echoing in her ears. Part of her-- the part that could somewhat manage thought-- wished something would happen, that something would come and take her away from this, or at least give her some sort of distraction. She couldn't live like this. She couldn't just sit here, bruising her knees, crying and sobbing the rest of her life. But at the same time, she couldn't imagine ever being able to do anything else. Not without Clark.
Lois stuck by her earlier statements to Will. If there was no Kryptonite involved, then it could mean only one thing-- another Kryptonian. Some being that was more powerful than Superman, someone that could beat him without contest. Lois didn't personally know of anybody like that, but she was sure that there had to have been a New Kryptonian or two who stayed behind and made a life for themselves on Earth. The why connecting them to Superman was the mind boggling part.
Will had seemed a little more reluctant to latch onto that idea, but Lois refused to back down. Will still hadn't been sure, even when she'd left, that there hadn't been small doses of Kryptonite involved, perhaps so small they hadn't caught it. Or he'd ingested it. Both plausible explanations, on their own, and Lois had agreed. But they didn't fit with the way Superman was killed. Poisoned by Kryptonite was a completely different M.O. than beating him to death-- one was cold and calculating while the other was a crime of passion. Eventually, she had turned Will to see her side was right, but they were no further than that. He had demanded she go home and get some rest, before she said or did anything else compromising to her own or Clark's true identities. WIth armed escort, just in case this was personal. Lois had tried her best to brush him off, reassure him that if whoever had killed Superman knew that he was also Clark Kent, they surely wouldn't have found his body this way.
Lois had gotten him to see some reason, but he still demanded that officers be posted outside her residence all night long, just in case. Lois was torn between relief and terror at staying alone in her house-- not separated by a rescue, as it usually was, like it was this morning with that train wreck, but by a force greater than Superman. This was finally it. Lois and Clark were separated by death. Lois had always assumed she would go first. She was still shaking, despite the fact that her tears had long since dried.
There was a faint click that echoed in the recess of her mind. Lois sprung to high alert, spine straightening and ears straining. It was eerily quiet, so it could have just been in her head, but it sounded like it came from inside the house somewhere. Although she really wouldn't put it past herr imagination to conjure up different noises and nightmares the second that Clark wasn't there to defend her.
Wait-- there. So it wasn't in her head. There it was again. Had the noise been there the whole time and she just didn't hear it? A few more seconds and there was another click. It was an odd noise, not something she could easily identify. It wasn't the click of a gun cocking, or a light flicking on, or any of the other various noises she had grown accustomed to in their brownstone. It almost sounded like a latch, locking and unlocking. A frown creased her brow as Lois slowly rose to her feet. She listened a few more moments, deciding that it definitely had to be a person inside the house causing the noise. She wiped her face with the corner of hewr shirt sleeve and cast a quick glance at the front door. Officers Krandall and Brinkley were right outside. Maybe she should go and get them right now and have them investgate... But something inside her told Lois that she shouldn't do that just yet-- be it intuition or a simple death wish. If it was truly a threat, she would scream and they would come running, she was sure. And it's not like she was entirely helpless. Sure, she had relied on Clark a lot over the years, but Lois knew how to handle herself in a fight.
Not that Lois was entirely sure she wanted to fight, even if the situation called for it. She hadn't yet decided on whether or not Clark was worth more than what was left of her life.
Lois forced herself to focus on the threat at hand. Looking about her, she grabbed the nearest object to her-- which happened to be a soup laddle off her kitchen counter-- and held it at the ready. Carefully, she tiptoed her way through the house, following the oddly patterned clicking noise as it got louder and louder, straight into Clark's study-- or what used to be, anyway.
The door was slightly ajar. Lois leaned forward and peeked through the doorway, surprised to find the room lit only by a few slats of moonlight streaking through the closed blinds-- it was quite dark if someone was indeed there. There was a figure seated at the desk, facing away from her. But the silhouette felt so familiar, so much like... "Clark?"
The figure stiffened and froze, and the clicking noise came to a halt.
Lois swallowed and took a step through the doorway, towards the desk, a desperate hope rising in her chest and her heart thrashing and raging about against her ribcage. "Clark, is... is that you?"
The figure remained silent for a beat before slowly turning the chair to face her. Lois felt her hope as it was dashed away and replaced with a sadness worse than before. A pit formed in her stomach as he spoke, voice broken and hoarse and somehow sounding
wrong.
"Mom?"
Lois started shaking as her tears caught up to her once more. "James," she stuttered out. Her mind had played a cruel trick on her. James did look a lot like his father, but certainly not mistakably so. But she had been so sure... It was almost like she had lost him all over again. She took in a shuddering breath and started to walk towards her son. "James, what are you doing--?"
"Stay where you are."
His voice was so cold and distant all of the sudden, commanding. Lois froze in place automatically. Fear suddenly gripped at her heart, and she started to play the what-if game in her mind. What if someone else was here-- Clark's mystery attacker? What if the room was booby trapped? What if he was trying to protect her from some unnamed evil she was not aware of yet? "James? Why? What is it?"
He didn't respond. But the clicking began again.
Lois swallowed as the pit in her stomach continued to grow. Something did not feel right here. "Did... did you hear the news?"
James swalllowed thickly. He knew what news she was talking about. It wasn't the news he wanted to share with her, the one he wanted her to know. He wanted her to see him and run into his arms, apologizing and telling him it was all okay, she would take care of him-- even though he would know deep down that nothing was okay anymore. He wanted her to look into his eyes with tears, and hold him, and let him sob it all out until the pain went away. He wanted her to be his Mommy right then. But she couldn't be that for him anymore. She was broken.
He had broken her.
Lois took his silence as confirmation. She choked back her sobs. "I... I am so sorry, baby--"
"Don't."
Lois swallowed hard, knowing something was very wrong now indeed. "James, what's going on? Are you all right?"
A sharp, pained laugh burst out from his throat. "Oh, Mom. You have no idea." The clicking had stopped once again and Lois glanced down to see just what the noise that led her here was.
A glint of silver reflected back at her in the pale moonlight. A shiver raced down her spine instantaneously, a gut reaction to what looked to be a lead box. Her mind jumped to the worst, though she tried fruitlessly reassured herself that she could be wrong. But she remembered earlier when Willy got a call from Star Labs about some missing Kryptonite...
Oh, dear God, please let me be wrong about this... She swallowed past the lump in her throat as best she could but still couldn't voice her question, except to whisper her youngest son's name once more.
If James took any note of the way his mother's stance and features had changed, he did a good job ignoring it, instead continuing on with his own thoughts. "You know, when Dad went out... to that train crash this morning..." he hesitated, swallowing another lump that had formed in his own throat before making an effort to continue. He made sure to keep his voice even and void of any emotion-- not that the task was too difficult. After his day, he was in so much shock that he could barely feel the pain. "She wasn't even supposed to be there. I don't know what possessed her to take the subway to work... Maybe it was defiance. What with the baby coming and all... I guess I'd been getting a little too overprotective of her lately. We'd had a few fights."
An icy chill raced through her veins and Lois paled even more as she struggled against the realization of what her son was telling her. "No," she whispered hoarsely.
James didn't look her way, mind still off in it's own tortured world as he slowly spoke his words. "She was sitting at the front of the train. She... she got the brunt of the impact. In her condition..."
"No," Lois pressed her hands to either side of her temple, in denial. Her brain was already jumping ahead of her, way too far ahead for her own liking, taking her to a place that scared her more than anything she'd ever faced in her life. She knew where this was heading, she just wished there was some other way, some other explanation she could look to, other than the obvious.
James finally broke, shaking violently as the reality of it all started settling in for him. "He should have saved her, Mom."
"No, no, no, no..." Lois felt her tears streaming once more. It couldn't be. Her daughter-in-law and her husband, in the same day. And if her son's attitude were any indication... "James. Please. Please tell me you didn't. Please tell me I'm thinking wrong. Please. James? Please."
James didn't respond for a while as he continued to tremble, yet no tears would come, not anymore. He stared at the lead box in his hands, absolutely unable to look his mother in the eye as he spoke. Words that would seal his fate. "He... he was crying. He apologized to me, said he didn't even know, couldn't even help her in time if he'd wanted to..."
Lois made a low keening noise as she choked on her sobs, harder than before even. This was worse, so much worse than what she'd conjectured with Henderson earlier. She never thought how much less painful it would be not knowing. "Oh, God, no. Please. Please, no..."
"He... he didn't even try to fight back." James' voice broke and he finally shed his tears, body convulsing with the strength of his emotions. "I was just so much stronger than him. I didn't even realize what was happening until... until he was gone... And then... I didn't know what else to do... I just flew...."
Lois pressed a hand to her mouth as she tried to stem the flow of her tears. The click that brought her back here sounded again, twice, as Lois watched her son unlatch the locks on the metal box. And despite all that he had just told her, fear still raced up her spine at the sudden knowledge of it's purpose.
He flipped the lid open without second thought, except to eliminate the pain, and a sickly green glow reflected onto James' features and bounced slightly around the room. He groaned as a wave of pain crashed over him, and he heard his mother's shriek of fear echoing through the room and piercing his ears. She cried for him to stop, for help, for it all to go back to the way it was, despite the fact that they both knew that wasn't an option any more for either of them.
"I swear to God, James, I'll call the police this instant!! You close that damn box, you hear?! JAMES!" Tears were streaming down her face continuously as she watched her son writhe and groan in agony at the exposure to the poisonous rock. At first, she had thought maybe that he had found the Kruptonite that had been stolen, then she'd had the horrible thought that perhaps he had used it already... But this? "JAMES!" She screamed again.
The sound of the front door being broken down and forced open intruded the sounds of the room. The two officers raced in, weapons drawn and at the ready. Brinkley was already calling for backup, while Krandall shouted at James to freeze. Lois shouted at him to stop, reaching out to grab his arm and try to pull his weapon away, but unable to explain beyond her tears. She heard Officer Brinkley relay it through the radio that the intruder had been found with a stash of Kryptonite, and all units should respond.
Everything was swimming in chaos. Somehow, Lois found it in her to finally speak up. "STOP!" Her voice was shrill and frightened. Both officers gave her a brief sidelong glance before returning their eyes to their suspect, who was looking suspiciously in pain. Lois took it upon herself to try to help him out. She took a deep, shuddering breath and stepped forward carefully. "James? Jimmy?"
"Mrs. Kent! Please, stand back--"
"You do not get to tell me what to do with my son!" she snarled back before taking another step forward. "Jimmy?"
"Mom, stop," he gritted out. "Please."
"I'm just going to close this lid, okay?"
"NO!" he roared out, slamming his fist down onto the desk.
Lois pulled back slightly frightened by his behavior. "James, please--"
With a huff of pain and irritation, James stood quickly and disarmed the officer nearest to him in a flash, though not as fast as he normally would, given his surroundings. Shouts of commotion arouse loudly as he took the gun and held it at the ready, still grinding his teeth in pain.
"Hey, hey, hey! Put the weapon down, son." Officer Brinkley backed him up and kept his own weapon in a steady grip and trained on the offender.
"Leave me alone!"
"How the hell did he get my gun so fast?"
James allowed a slight smile to pull at his lips, but it was more of a grimace. "You can thank my father for teaching me that one."
"All units, beware. Suspect is now armed and considerd dangerous," Officer Brinkley spoke into his radio once more, not removing his gaze even slightly away from the boy. "Stand down, James."
James had just about had enough of this. He was starting to go crazy, and he waved his newly acquired weapon through the air. "By all means, go ahead and shoot! You'd be doing everybody a favor."
"James! Please. Put the gun down and the Kryptonite away. Everything will be okay. Please. If you'd just do that, we could send these officers away and everything will be okay again. Okay?"
"No! You don't get it, Mom!
Nothing is going to get better! You're lying to yourself. You're lying to me! I've got nothing left to live for!"
Lois was completely torn, and the pain of it all was seriously hurting her heart. On the one hand, he had killed her husband and soul mate, and along with him, the world's hero. On the other hand, he was still her son, and it was obviously a lapse in judgement. She couldn't forgive him, not in the least. It was far too soon. But she couldn't let him kill himself before she had a chance to work all this through. "Don't you talk like that! You... I don't know... y-you made a mistake. I... well, I still don't know what to make of it, but--"
"But nothing! I killed him! I killed
Superman with my own bare hands! Do I deserve anything more than death myself?" He raised the gun to his temple and pressed the cold metal there, inciting another stirring of panic among his observers. James felt the presence of tears stinging his eyes once more. The pain of the Kryptonite was getting to him. It wouldn't be much longer now; he just had to stall.
At that moment, more cops stormed the house, led by William Henderson. When he got to the room where the commotion seemed to coming from, his eyes widened, but he did not change his defensive stance. "Jimmy?" he asked tentatively, eyeing the weapon pressed against his childhood friend's head with a bit of confusion. "What's going on here? Lois?"
"Please, stop him! Help him!"
"Inspector Henderson! I'm glad you boys finally came. Young Kent here stole Krandall's piece and just confessed to murdering Superman."
Will whipped his head back to face James, shocked. "You did what?"
"Don't bother with me, Will. I'll be out of your hair real soon."
Lois turned to him with wild eyes, still overflowing with tears. "Willy, there's Kryptonite. He stole the Kryptonite. It's making him weak."
Will's eye caught on the open lead box sitting seemingly innocuous on the desk. The other officers didn't quite seem to notice the effect the rock was having on their suspect yet, but knowing what to look for helped him to see that Lois was right. James was doing his best to withstand the pain-- possibly hoping that it would end him before he had to find out what happens next.
Will swallowed as he tried to talk him down off the ledge. as more men started swarming the room. He kept his tone quiet and calm. "Come on, Jimmy. You can't do this, all right? You know you can't. Think about Marla. Think about the baby--"
Lois was shaking her head at him, but the warning was too late. James exploded with anger. "Marla's dead, Will!"
He swallowed, the picture starting to clear up a little bit. He allowed his anger to show through a little bit. "Dead? What, did you kill her too?"
"How dare you! I loved my wife! I would never--"
"Oh, yeah, you would never. That's bull, Jimmy! Why the hell would you kill Superman, then?"
"I didn't kill Superman!"
"Oh you didn't, did you?"
"No! I didn't kill Superman, Will! I killed Clark Kent!"
A stunned slience suddenly enveloped the entire house, an almost fragile peace descending upon everyone for a moment. Then the murmurs began between the officers. Will turned to look at his force, realization sinking in on each of their faces.
Then there was loud groan. Will snapped his attention back to his one-time friend, in time to watch him slump to his knees and collapse to the ground.
"James!" Lois' hoarse voice screamed at him.
Will dropped to the ground to examine him. Tears were rolling down his face as he winced and writhed in pain. Will knocked the gun out of his reach instinctively and called out to his men. "Close the box! Get a gurney in here!" People began swarming around him in chaotic motion.
The lid was closed and the box of kryptonite was sealed. James could feel the difference in levels of pain, though it was still throbbing through his veins. He let out a groan and coughed. "Will," he spoke hoarsely.
Cautiously, he leaned in. Lois rushed to her son's side as well. "Lois--"
"Don't you dare," she threatened menacingly as she cradled her son's head in her lap. Will nodded silently and let her stay where she was.
"I-I didn't mean to. Mom, I'm sorry. I'm s-so sorry." He broke down into uncontrollable sobs, his mother crying along with him. Will shed a few tears himself, but quickly reigned it in to give orders once more.
*****LnC*****
On the news the next morning, no one was quite sure what had happened yesterday-- except that eight had died in the train wreck, the youngest Kent son was arrested and Superman was missing. The few who cared realized Clark Kent was gone also. The world did not yet realize the weight of everything that had happened, all because of one simple change in events. But soon, sooner than they might expect, the world would change, and it change for the worse.
Tempus sighed and stepped through the time window back into the future. He took a deep breath of pollution and gunsmoke, and smiled.
