You Can't Fight Destiny (The Final Chapter of "Marry in Haste...")
By RL
*****
Clark sat in his darkened apartment with his head in his hands. This had been the worst year of his life. And the horrible thing about it was that it had all been his fault. He thought back to the previous Christmas when in his great moment of weakness, he had tried to sabotage Lois' marriage to that man. He sighed. Even now, he couldn't even say his name after everything had ended so disastrously.
Lois had kept her promise to make his life as miserable as possible. What she didn't know was that just being apart from her would have accomplished the same goal without all the torture she had inflicted upon him in the interim. Even after all this time and pain, he still loved her.
Her series of free-lance articles had succeeded in driving Superman from Metropolis. She had begun with interviews with all those law enforcement personnel who had witnessed Superman's confession of guilt for the framing of an innocent man. Since she knew him so well, she was able to then systematically destroy his reputation.
Finally, after Superman's reputation had been reduced to tatters, she exposed his true identity as Clark Kent. The horrible part was that he had been forced to admit the truth. Even Superman could avoid the press for only so long. Finally, he had been asked for his side of the story, and sadly he had been forced to admit that Lois' articles had been the absolute truth. It was then that he had left Metropolis with great sadness.
After going from city to city, he soon found that Superman hadn't been welcome anywhere he had gone. In defeat, he had retired the superhero and had gone into hiding.
Now he was renting a small flat in one of the poorer sections of London, going under the name of Jerome Clark. With Clark Kent exposed to the world as the faithless ex-superhero, he couldn't risk traveling under his real name anymore. Fortunately, he had known guys who knew guys, so he was easily able to obtain false identification that had allowed him to travel under his new persona. His parents had been forced to flee as well for their protection, since Superman still had many enemies with scores to settle. True to her word, Lois had given him the time to get them to safety before she had exposed him. They were currently hiding out under aliases somewhere in the American mid-west. Even he didn't know exactly where, since his parents had disowned him for what he had done to Lois.
He deserved every bit of this agony that he had been going through for nearly the last year. His actions, which seemed so right at the time, had led to the death of an innocent man. That was something he could never forgive himself for, even if by some miracle, Lois someday forgave him. That wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. Lois had the remarkable ability to stay mad. She called it, "her gift."
Now it was Christmas Eve, one day shy of a year from the day he had destroyed Lois' life. He was commemorating that occasion by wallowing in his own misery. Briefly, he wondered what Lois was doing this Christmas Eve. Probably, she was doing much the same as he was doing at this very moment, thinking of how miserable she was and of how she was missing the love of her life. Even though she had essentially destroyed his life, he still missed her terribly. He loved her as much as ever, though he didn't understand why. If there was such a thing as a soul mate, he could have sworn that Lois was his.
But Lois had proven him wrong on that account. She had never once shown an interest in Clark Kent as a man, except that one occasion when he had opened his door while wrapped in a towel. With his super sense, he had detected the acceleration in her heartbeat and the increase in her breathing rate.
So she had been attracted to him then. That didn't last very long, though. A few short weeks later, he and Lois had gone undercover at the Metro Club to investigate fires in the West River areas. That first day was a day Clark would curse forever. It was that day that she had met HIM. Johnny, the head of the Metro Club, had hired a new band to play at the club on weekends. At first, he hadn't noticed the connection between the bass guitar player and Lois. But very quickly, it would have been impossible not to notice. Clark had even caught the two of them in an embrace in the supply closet once. Fed up and frustrated, he had gone as far as to expose Lois' cover when the new head of the Metros had caught them arguing in that very same closet. That act earned him Lois' enmity for quite some time.
It had taken weeks for Lois and Clark to settle down into their friendship again. But Clark had watched with dismay as Lois spent more and more time with that musician. There was never a time when he had felt more joy than when they had finally broken up. Why he had dumped her, Clark never knew and didn't actually care.
But rather than turn to her friend in her time of need, Lois inexplicably turned to Lex Luthor, of all people. Before Clark knew it, Lois was officially dating Luthor, the most evil man in Metropolis, and she was too blind to notice his true nature.
Fruitlessly, he had tried to warn her about the dangers of being near Luthor, but Lois had stubbornly refused to listen to him. Everything had finally come to a head when Lois accepted that monster's wedding proposal. Clark then had made the dreadful mistake of admitting that he loved her in the hopes that she felt something for him as well. Instead, his admission had effectively ended their friendship.
During the engagement, Perry and Clark had tried their hardest to uncover evidence of criminal activity against Luthor, all in the desperate hope that they could somehow stop disaster from occurring. Unable to uncover sufficient evidence, Clark had given up. Unable to stay away, Clark slipped into the chapel where Lois was to marry Luthor. But before he could stop the wedding, HE had busted his way in with the evidence to put away Luthor for multiple lifetimes. And it was soon thereafter that Clark's world ended. Lois married the man of her dreams and said goodbye to Metropolis.
Frustrated and angry, Clark found himself plotting revenge against Lois and her new husband. Driven nearly insane with jealousy and pain, he had dreamed up the plot that had put him in his current situation. He had never been as miserable as he was right now. Briefly, he contemplated suicide. Perhaps he could break into Star Labs and escape with some Kryptonite. That would surely put an end to his miserable existence.
He was interrupted by a knock on his door. Who could possibly be calling on him on Christmas Eve? Who even knew he was here in England? Curious, he scanned through the door with his x-ray vision. It was a man he'd never seen before.
Getting up slowly, he trudged to the door and opened it. "May I help you?" Clark asked of the stranger at his door.
The man looked at him strangely for a second and then said, "Mr. Kent?"
That made Clark instantly wary. "No one by that name lives here. Who's asking?"
"Ah. My name is Herbert Wells. I'm here to help you, Mr. Kent, or should I say, Superman?"
Hearing the name of his ex-alter-ego made Clark wince. "Why would you want to help Superman? It seems he's persona non grata these days."
"May I come in?" Clark decided that he might as well let him in. It seemed he wasn't going to get rid of him easily, so it wouldn't hurt to find out what the gentleman wanted.
"May I get you some coffee or tea?" Clark asked, more out of habit than of any actual desire to be polite.
"Tea, please. One sugar. Thank you," said his guest.
After getting his guest his drink, Clark sat down on the couch across from the strange man and asked, "So what is it you want, Mr. Wells?"
"You probably won't believe me at first, but I'm here to put time back on track. It seems there's been a dreadful alteration of this timeline." At Clark's confused expression, Mr. Wells said, "Let me start again at the beginning. I'm H.G. Wells, and I'm a time traveler."
Clark's jaw nearly hit the floor. Was this guy nuts or something? "Do you expect me to believe that, Mr. Wells?"
"Not initially, no. I can imagine that I must seem rather crazy to you, but I can prove what I'm saying. Let me tell you my tale and then I'll prove to you that everything I'm saying to you is true. I've visited the future on many occasions. Ah, the future. In the normal course of history, mankind has finally established a Utopia - one where there's no war, no sickness, and no violence. It's a perfect society."
"That's nice," said Clark. "But what does that have to do with me?"
"It seems that Utopia is founded by Superman's descendents."
That left Clark completely dumbfounded. He stuttered, "B...but I'm not married. And I don't think I ever will at this point."
Mr. Wells smiled. "In the normal timeline, Superman is married to Lois Lane. Their children provide the moral and ethical foundations for the creation of Utopia."
Protesting, Clark said, "Lois won't even talk to me now. She hates me more than you could possibly imagine right now. And the bad part of it is that I deserve it. I'd have a better chance of winning the lottery seven times in a row than for Lois to marry me."
"Well, that's the funny part of this, Mr. Kent. Let me explain..."
Clark listened to Mr. Wells' fascinating tale for several hours. Eventually, the strange man did prove to him that he was a time traveler by taking him to the future to see what had come to pass due to the drastic change in the timeline. He became convinced that he had to set everything straight again in the past. He knew exactly what to do now. There would be sacrifices involved, but in the end, he would be at peace with himself, finally. And the most important part was that Lois would be happy again. That thought made him smile.
*****
Lois wiped a tear from her eye as she tried to type on her keyboard. She couldn't help but cry at this time of year. Christmas Day was the one day she hated more than any other. First it was because of her miserable childhood. Now it was mainly because this was the anniversary of the day she had lost her wonderful husband forever.
She reprimanded herself for wallowing in her misery. She had to get this article finished. It was the latest in her "Clark Kent is a louse" series. After an hour of wadded balls of paper accumulating in her wastebasket, she finally gave up. What was the point? She had already succeeded in destroying her enemy. He was nowhere to be found now. Like a coward, he had run, just as she knew he would.
The only problem now was that she had nothing more to do. Without the distraction of her vendetta against that spineless Benedict Arnold, she had nothing to do but think about everything she had lost. Without her dear husband, she had moved back to Metropolis, back to the city she loved so much. But she couldn't face working for Perry White and the Planet again. That place only served to remind her of everything she hated in this life.
So she had spent most of the last year working free-lance. While writing the occasional story exposing crime and corruption, she had mostly been dedicated towards destroying Superman. She succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. Kent was out of her life for good.
Just then, her doorbell rang. "Great, just what I need, a visitor," Lois grumbled to herself. She pulled herself out of her chair with great effort and moved to the door. She glanced at the single, disengaged deadbolt on her door. For some reason after losing her husband, security just wasn't a major issue to her anymore. She flung the door open and yelled, "What do you want?" to the person standing outside her door.
Her eyes widened momentarily. She then stepped back and reached to slam the door. An arm shot out to stop the door from closing.
"Get out!" she shouted. "Go away!" Lois broke down sobbing and sank to the floor. A hand reached down as if to comfort her, but stopped just short of touching her and pulled back.
Lois looked up again into the eyes of her betrayer, the one man she never wanted to see again for as long as she lived. Through the tears, she saw compassion in his eyes...and love. That only made her angrier.
"Go away, Clark. Haven't you done enough to me? You want to come back here and gloat on the anniversary of the day you turned my life into a living hell?"
Clark sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, but he had to do it. "Lois, believe it or not, I'm here to help you. I want you to meet someone I've brought with me." With that, Clark stood aside and gestured for someone in the hallway to come in.
A man stepped into her apartment and held out his hand to her. Lois looked up at him as if she'd seen a ghost.
"Tank! How can this be? You're alive!" She grabbed his offered hand and was pulled up into his embrace. For the first time in a year, the lovers were reunited. The first kiss was sweet and tender, the next more urgent as a mix of hope and desperation drove them to deepen their kisses. Just as Lois felt she was losing herself to the kisses, she heard the sound of a throat clearing.
Embarrassed, she broke away from her husband, but continued to hold his hand. She barely noticed at that point that Clark had someone else with him. It was a strange man dressed in English Victorian clothing. Looking up to her husband, she started babbling, "How are you alive? Who is this person? What's going on? I know something's going on because you men seem like you're just ganging up on me. I think you should tell me what's going on, or else you'll never hear the end of it. And what is Clark doing here? You know how I feel about him. You, of all people, should know that he's not welcome here any..."
Tank interrupted her by placing his mouth over hers in a deep, passionate kiss that quite effectively silenced her. Drawing back slightly breathless, Lois looked carefully at the three men before her. In a more composed manner, she asked the strange man, "Who are you? Do you have something to do with my husband's return?"
"In a way, Miss Lane, oh, excuse me, Mrs. Wilson. My name is Herbert George Wells. I'm a time traveler."
Lois looked at him incredulously. But then she glanced sideways at her husband, wondering if it were really true. Tank had been dead for nearly ten months. But yet he was here, alive! Clearly there was more to this story than she knew.
"Come in, Mr. Wells." She pulled her husband with her towards the couch. She completely ignored Clark, who nervously shuffled his feet near the doorway. Moments later, she noticed him walk to the couch to sit next to Mr. Wells.
"Tank, what's going on?" Lois asked her husband.
"I'm afraid these two will have to fill you in on things. The last thing I remember is going over the prison walls and hearing gunfire. Then I wake up, and I'm sitting in some weird contraption in the alley next to this building where you've apparently been living for a while. She noticed his gaze sweeping the apartment. He, apparently, was as baffled as she was.
"Let me explain, Mrs. Wilson," said Mr. Wells. Being a time traveler, I've taken it upon myself to monitor the timelines of various worlds. When I see something happening in a timeline that shouldn't be occurring, I try to right what went wrong. I've already explained to Mr. Kent, here, much of what should happen in this timeline..."
Lois listened raptly as Mr. Wells describe the future Utopia. He then went on to describe the chaos that was the result of the change in this timeline. She was shocked to find out that her descendents were the ones who would found this paradise.
"Is that why you saved my husband from being killed? Without Tank, the future can't happen the way it ought to?"
Mr. Wells and Clark glanced at each other, each with a somewhat uncomfortable look on his face. Finally, Clark looked at Lois and continued the tale. "In part, that's why Mr. Wells saved your husband. Utopia is founded by the descendents of Lois Lane and Superman." Clark winced as he awaited the impending explosion.
Instead, Lois looked at him curiously. "You mean that Tank and I will have kids? And our children will somehow marry your children? That's not possible. We both took steps to ensure that we can't have any."
Clark looked even more uncomfortable now. He replied, "Uh, not quite, Lois." At her baffled expression, he continued, "In a way, you're right, but only partly. It turns out that Superman marries Lois Lane. It's their children who found Utopia."
Lois saw red at that moment. She growled, "Never! Never in a million years will I marry you, Clark Kent. I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on earth. I'd sooner die."
Clark's expression turned pained. "Don't worry, Lois. You won't have to marry me or have my children."
Lois calmed a bit at that, but didn't understand what he was getting at. "How can that be, Clark? You're Superman."
"Now I am, Lois. Mr. Wells brought me back a newspaper clipping that he had from a future that hasn't been altered." Clark fished the clipping out of his pocket and gave it to Lois. She took it and held it so that both she and Tank could see it.
Lois inhaled sharply. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Looking up, she saw that her husband was equally shocked. "How?" was the only word she could say.
Clark looked at Mr. Wells, who took up the story again. "It seems that Clark and Tank were not intended to be who they are. Cosmically, somehow their souls were switched. I don't know how, exactly, but your soul mate, Mrs. Wilson, was supposed to be Mr. Kent here. At least that's the way it is in all the other timelines I've ever visited." Lois' eyes widened at that discovery.
"I suspected something was wrong the instant Mr. Kent opened his door when I first visited him. Mr. Kent doesn't look at all like the Clark Kents in the other universes."
"What does this all mean?" Lois asked fearfully. She was still frightened that she would somehow lose her husband.
Mr. Wells turned to Clark, indicating to him that he should continue. Clark paused to collect his thoughts and then spoke up. "It means I can't be Superman any longer. It's Tank who was always intended to be this world's Superman. Mr. Wells has a device that contains red Kryptonite. It has the ability to transfer my powers to Tank. Once that happens, he'll be Superman."
Lois looked scared. "But I destroyed your reputation, Clark. If Tank becomes Superman, the world won't accept him, even if he does look different than you do. The world won't trust anyone with your kind of power."
Wells spoke up at that moment. "I have the solution to that problem, Mrs. Wilson. But it'll involve a sacrifice on your part as well. And Mr. Wilson's. In a way, this solution will fix a number of problems. First of all, no one will distrust Superman. Secondly, you'll both be able to conceive children again, which must happen if Utopia is to come about."
"What are you proposing?" Lois asked, dreading the answer she knew was coming.
"I propose going back to the beginning. Back to the time Clark Kent first appeared in Metropolis. Only this time, it won't be Clark Kent. It will be you, Mr. Wilson," Mr. Wells said, pointing at Tank. Directing his attention back to Lois, he said, "Once the power transfer is complete, I'm proposing I take both you and Mr. Wilson back in time to 1993 when it all started. I'm afraid this means you'll have to live the last two years of your life over again. And neither of you will remember anything that has happened since then, as well."
Lois and Tank looked at each other and held each other's hand tightly, each asking the other silently what the final decision would be. After a few moments, Lois turned to Mr. Wells and said, "If this is what it takes to fix the future, then that's what we'll do. Promise me that Tank and I will be together, though."
Mr. Wells smiled for the first time. "That I can guarantee you, Mrs. Wilson, I mean, Miss Lane."
Lois acknowledged the impending change in her status. It scared her to have to do everything over again for the last two years, but if the last year was to be changed, she was willing to do anything. In a way, it wasn't a sacrifice. She would forget the pain of the last year, and she would be with her soul mate again. A smile crept up to her face as well. Another thought occurred to her. "What about Clark?"
"We don't know for sure, Miss Lane. I suspect Mr. Kent will live out his life in Smallville, Kansas. Apparently in this universe, the space capsule carrying the infant who will become Superman lands somewhere in Minnesota of all places."
Lois looked at Clark, her anger towards him gone. She reached out and took his hand. "Thank you, Clark. I know you were responsible for taking my Tank away from me originally, but thank you for bringing him back to me. And I know it will be a great sacrifice to give up being Superman."
Clark smiled back at her. "Thank you, Lois. I'm happy when you're happy. You were right. It's only real love when you care more about the happiness of the one you love than for your own happiness. I want you to be happy. Have a good life, both of you." Clark looked down at that point, unable to meet her gaze. Lois realized at that point just how much Clark loved her, and how much he was willing to give up to make her happy again. It was the best Christmas gift anyone could ever have given her.
"Let's get started, then," Lois said.
*****
How glad a million laddies,
From millionaires to caddies,
Would be
To capture me?
But you had such persistence,
You wore down my resistance.
I fell,
And it was swell.
You're my big and brave and handsome Romeo.
How I won you I shall never, never know.
It's not that you're attractive,
But oh my heart grew active
When you came into view.
I've got a crush on you, sweetie pie.
All the day and nighttime
Hear me sigh.
I never had the least notion
That I could fall with so much emotion...
Lois glanced over at the band playing and was stunned. She nearly lost her place in the song, but without missing a beat, she continued. From that moment on, she sang only for him. She was captivated.
Could you coo?
Could you care?
For a cunning cottage
We could share.
The world will pardon my mush
'Cause I have got a crush, my baby, on you.
After her song finished to a loud round of applause, she rushed off the stage, heading over to where the band had been playing.
She came up behind the man putting away the bass guitar and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hi, I'm Lola Dane," she said, nervously fingering her shoulder-length hair.
The smile she received was absolutely dazzling, making her knees weaken.
"Hello. I'm Tank Wilson. Nice to meet you."
*****
THE END. Really this time.
