THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY
By Zoomway <Zoomway@aol.com>
Rated: PG
Submitted: November 2002


["A 'person' is smart. *People* are dumb, panicky, 
dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years 
ago, everybody *knew* the Earth was the center of the 
universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody *knew* the 
Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you *knew* that 
people were alone on this planet." -- Men in Black]


~ The Persistence of Memory ~


Lois felt rotten.  It was like having a hangover but 
without having enjoyed overindulging the night before.   
"If Clark gave me the flu, I'll kill him," she whispered 
drowsily as she trudged to the bathroom.

She looked in the mirror and grimaced. "I look worse than I 
feel."  She turned on the hot water and grabbed her 
toothbrush.  "Although," she said to her reflection, "I've 
never known Clark to get sick."   She ran the brush under 
the stream of water and her thoughts drifted back to last 
night.

They had been snuggled together on his sofa, a bowl of 
popcorn, some wine, and "To Have and Have Not" in the VCR. 
Being in Clark's arms felt more and more like the place she 
wanted to be for the rest of her life, and yet the thought 
frightened her.  Though she'd known Clark nearly two years, 
it had only been in the last couple of months they'd begun 
sharing a romantic relationship.

She did concede that for a few months prior to that, she 
had felt a growing attraction to Clark, and when he finally 
asked her out on a date, she was willing.  Then that 
*stuff* started.  That need he seemed to have to run off at 
the most crucial moment.  She squeezed some toothpaste onto 
the brush.  Then again, when she thought about it, he ran 
off *before* they started dating.

"Where do you go?"  she asked as she placed the brush in 
her mouth.  What was he so afraid of?   *Was* he afraid?  
She'd dumped Dan, and she thought when she'd done that, 
Clark would stop being so...high-strung, but no, he was 
still nervous...flighty.   Not all the time, though. She 
smiled as she rinsed.  Most of the time he was the 
sweetest, most loving man she knew.

Lois rubbed her stomach. "Bleh. Please just be that salmon 
I had for dinner last night, and not the stomach flu."

Maybe it was too soon, she consoled herself.  She'd only 
dumped Dan a week ago.  Still, she shrugged, Clark had said 
'I'm ready to take the next step if you are.'   When she'd 
asked him what the next step was, he'd said 'Commitment.  
Just you and me.'   An exclusive relationship.  A little 
scary, but in a good way.  He was also understanding.  
Sometimes they'd kiss pretty hot and heavy, but she'd 
always...stop the forward momentum.  Maybe that was it. She 
was sending mixed signals.  She loved him. She loved him so 
much, but that intimacy line -- why couldn't she cross it 
with him?

Lois started dressing, still feeling queasy.  Maybe it was 
a good thing they'd never been intimate, she mused. If they 
had, she might rush out and buy a pregnancy kit considering 
her unhappy digestive system.

It wasn't like she had no experience.  Not that any of it 
was good, but she *did* have experience.  Could that be it?  
Every man before had been a disappointment.  Worse, she 
felt she'd been a disappointment.  They always seemed to 
leave after the relationship became sexual.  Did men have a 
sixth sense?  Could they tell she was only going through 
the motions?

She shook her head as she buttoned her blouse.  Then again, 
she'd never felt desire with the few other men she'd been 
with, but she most *definitely* did with Clark.  It was so 
overpowering sometimes, and yet, the stronger the pull, the 
more she resisted, the more she balked.

Did that frustrate Clark?  Probably.   Was she 
unintentionally telling him she didn't find him desirable?  
"God," she whispered. "I hope not."

There was a soft rapping at the door. Lois brightened 
instantly. "Speak of the devil," she said ruefully as she 
slipped into her blazer. She loved Clark's new habit of 
dropping by to accompany her to work.

Maybe it was time to take Clark where no man had 
gone...well...no man in at least five years...had gone 
before. Cross the line. Love him completely. She sighed. 
They hadn't even said the "scary words" to each other yet, 
and while Lois acknowledged that every kiss, glance, and 
gesture from Clark shouted the unspoken words, she also 
acknowledged it would be nice to *hear* them.

She trotted to the door, smoothing back a few stray hairs, 
took a composing breath, and opened the door. "Hi," she 
said brightly.

"Good morning, Ms. Lane," a nasal voice responded.


A young man with a smooth-featured face sporting owl-eyed 
glasses smiled benignly back at her. Lois placed a hand on 
his thin shoulder and swung him out of the way like a 
garden gate. She peered down her apartment hallway, sighed 
with disappointment, and then swung the young man back into 
place. "Good morning, Corey," she said and glanced at the 
large manila envelope he was carrying. "Perry can't wait 
for me to even get to the Planet this morning?"

"Guess not," Corey shrugged and handed her the envelope, 
receipt and a stubby little pencil.

"I've got news for Perry White," Lois griped as she 
scribbled her name on the receipt. "I'm not a twenty-four 
hour convenience store."

"Hey, Corey. How's it going?" Clark said cheerfully as he 
brushed by the young man en route to Lois.

"Fine, Mr. Kent," he replied, his voice breaking with a 
squeak.

"Hi," Clark said softly as he touched Lois' shoulder.

"Morning," she smiled, and leaned into a kiss waiting to 
happen.

Corey swallowed and tried to fix his eyes on something else 
in the apartment. Unfortunately Clark Kent was a bit 
broader in the shoulders than Corey had anticipated. The 
young man, suddenly feeling inadequate, squared his 
shoulders and took a deep breath in an effort to puff 
himself up. The effort only served to make him dizzy, 
however, and so he exhaled quickly.

Lois broke from the kiss. "Oh, I'm sorry, Corey," she said 
and handed back the receipt and the pencil.

"It's okay, Ms. Lane," he said rather glumly as he turned 
to leave. He wished he had at least given her a bigger 
pencil.

Clark closed the door. "Perry delivering homework?"

"Apparently," Lois sighed as she opened the envelope. She 
extracted the contents. "Photos," she said, handing them to 
Clark.

"From a security camera."

"Uh huh," Lois nodded as she read an enclosed note. "Perry 
says these were taken at STAR Labs last 
night...blah...blah...the police were already called 
in...blah...and wants us there ASAP."

Clark smiled. "You've got a real Reading Rainbow flair, 
Lois."

She tipped her head slightly to the side. "Cute," she said 
and grabbed the free corner of the photos. "This guy is 
pretty bold. He's staring right into the camera."

"Arrogant," Clark said as he surreptitiously lowered his 
glasses to magnify every detail. He noticed the man had a 
tattoo of barbed wire around his wrist.

"That too." Lois stuffed the photos back into the folder. 
"So, I guess we'd better head to STAR--" She stopped and 
held her stomach. "I almost thought this went away for a 
minute."

Clark's jovial expression changed to one of concern. He 
placed the back of his hand on her forehead and then her 
cheek. "Feeling bad?"

"Rotten," Lois corrected. "Remember Ralph's Pagoda?"

"Lois, you didn't--"

She shook her head. "No, no, but I think it's the same 
thing. I had some salmon last night and it's not always 
easy to tell if fish is fresh."

"Why don't you stay here and get some rest," he offered. "I 
can cover the STAR Labs thing."

"That's sweet of you, Clark," she said as she opened the 
door, "but sometimes I get like you and ... obsess."

She fished in her pocket, removed her car keys and dangled 
them in front of Clark. "Do you mind driving? I don't feel 
up to it."

Clark took the keys. "I do *not* obsess."

Lois switched off the lights. "You *do* obsess, Clark."

* * *

"All I'm trying to prove," Clark said as he held open the 
door to STAR Labs, "is that I do *not* obsess."

Lois placed a hand on his chest. "Clark, all the way up 
here you've been obsessing on how you *don't* obsess. What 
does that tell you?"

A balding man in a lab coat approached them. "Can I help 
you?"

"I'm Lois Lane, and this is my partner Clark Kent.  We're 
from the Daily Planet."

The man extended his hand.  "I'm Dr. Bernard Klein. I'm the 
one who phoned the police."

Clark shook his hand. "We've seen the security photos."

Lois quickly retrieved a tape recorder from her purse.  
"What was stolen, Dr. Klein?"

He shook his head.  "We're still cataloging, Ms. Lane.  
They definitely took all controlled substances they could 
carry."

"Illegal narcotics?"

"Illegal *and* legal, Mr. Kent.  Worst of all, they took 
some experimental drugs, some with very dangerous side 
effects."

Lois frowned.  "Do you think they'd try and sell them on 
the street, Dr.--" Lois suddenly placed a hand on her 
forehead, and then swooned forward.

Dr. Klein caught her, "Oh, my!  Ms. Lane?"

Clark hurried to Klein and took Lois into his arms. "Lois?"

"Here," Klein said.  "Place her on this examining table."

Clark laid her gently on the table and then took her hand. 
"Lois," he whispered.

Klein put his fingers at her throat and then lifted her 
eyelid.  "She seems to be fine. Just fainted." He sighed 
with relief. "But I'll do a more thorough exam."

"She was complaining about not feeling well. Her stomach 
was upset."

"Do you know if she's been vomiting," Klein asked 
offhandedly as he pulled a small cart next to the table.

Clark shook his head, his face clouded with concern and 
confusion. "I don't know.  Maybe.  She didn't say."

"Does she have a boyfriend or husband, Mr. Kent?" Klein 
asked as he inflated a blood pressure cuff.

"What?"

"I'm not trying to pry, I'm just trying to eliminate 
certain possibilities, like pregnancy."

"Oh," Clark smiled uneasily.  "I'm her boyfriend, but she 
isn't pregnant."

"You never know," Klein shrugged.  "Even the most proven 
birth control methods can fail on occasion."

"I guess so," Clark said, and couldn't believe he'd even 
said that.  Why was he embarrassed to tell Klein that he 
and Lois had never made love to each other?  Did it make 
him feel less of a man?

Clark tried to comfort himself with the knowledge it was 
not for a lack of interest.  He had wanted to make love to 
Lois that night she came to his apartment stating that he 
was the one she wanted, not Scardino and not Superman, but 
Lois had put on the brakes. She *always* put on the brakes. 
Maybe it was a matter of trust. He still ran off to be 
Superman with no explanation.  That certainly must make her 
feel insecure.  She deserved to know the truth, and maybe 
it wasn't right for them to make love until she knew.

Lois's eyes fluttered open.  "Clark?"

Clark squeezed her hand tenderly.  "I'm right here, Lois," 
he said, putting a hand behind her neck and helping her sit 
up.

"Did I faint?"

"I'm afraid so, Ms. Lane.  Mr. Kent told me you weren't 
feeling well. Have you been vomiting?"

Lois held her stomach.  "Don't remind me.  I think it was 
that salmon I had last night for dinner."

"Then let me run a few tests," Klein said.  "I don't often 
do clinical work, but--"

"Oh, no, please, Dr. Klein.  I'm sure it's nothing."  Lois 
insisted.

Klein looked down at her, his expression rather resolute.  
"People don't faint from 'nothing', Ms. Lane, and since 
you're so petite, vomiting could be a little too much for 
your body to take.  You might be partially dehydrated, or 
your electrolytes--"

"Okay, okay," she said, surrendering.  She knew Klein was 
probably like her father, and that meant take the tests and 
get it over with.  She looked up at Clark.  "As long as I'm 
conscious, at least for the time being, I can finish the 
interview.  Maybe you could find Superman and have him stop 
by. Maybe there's something at the crime scene here he 
could pick up that the police might have overlooked."

Klein beamed. "Superman?  Maybe he's old hat to long-time 
residents, but I'm new to Metropolis. I'd love to meet 
Superman."

Lois sighed.  "Another scientist who wants to find out how 
he ticks?"

"How he ticks?"  Klein asked.  "Oh, how he ticks!  No, Ms. 
Lane, I just want to meet him.  I mean he's from another 
planet.  Don't you find that fascinating?"

Lois smiled.  "You'll find he's as far from a Hollywood 
alien life form as you can get, Dr. Klein."

Clark heard a cry for help.  "Well, I'm going to leave you 
in Dr. Klein's capable hands, Lois, and try and find 
Superman," he said and kissed her cheek before dashing for 
the door.

***

The Superman emergency took longer than Clark had 
anticipated.  One side of a high-rise under construction 
had become the victim of a nasty sinkhole.  The skeletal 
structure had shifted violently and two men were killed 
instantly.  The entire site was deemed unsafe and 
ambulances were told to keep back and that helicopters 
would try and rescue the stranded workers.  It was the kind 
of accident scene that presented too many options, and none 
of them good.  Since the medical teams were warned away, 
Clark had to pick up the injured and deliver them to the 
ambulances waiting behind the designated line.  There were 
also men trapped on a gondola scaffold after the structure 
shifted, which was being battered by high winds.  Other men 
dangled from safety harnesses at various places throughout 
the massive skeleton. On top of all that, the building was 
still sinking on one side.

Brute strength wasn't going to solve the problem, and 
Clark's strength was not infinite.  Usually he lifted 
extremely heavy objects by letting his aura do the work.  
When he levitated, and was thus weightless, any object he 
touched likewise became weightless.  This time, however, 
the building had been stressed and bent and straightening 
it would stress it again, perhaps fatally so.  No, he had 
to rescue the workers and then turn his attention to the 
building.  He began a painstaking process of breaking and 
rewelding key support points so that they could take the 
stress of being straightened, and then came the problem of 
literally propping up a multi-ton metal structure. After 
two hours an extremely tired Clark flew to STAR Labs.

***

"Dr. Klein?"

Klein studied information on his clipboard, seemingly 
oblivious to the sound of someone calling his name.

"Dr. Klein."

Klein finally glanced up. "Superman!"  He smiled and 
extended his hand. "I was expecting you.  Thank you for 
your help in solving this..." He thought a moment. "Caper."

Clark smiled despite his fatigue. "My pleasure, Dr. Klein.  
If you can show me where they broke in."

"Right this way, Superman."

After studying the area a few moments, Clark folded his 
arms and sighed. "No fingerprints, no substances or 
particles.  They were certainly careful."

"Oh well," Klein shrugged.  "It was worth a shot."

Clark glanced over to the far wall.  "They left this vault 
intact."

"From what we've been able to catalog of our losses so far, 
it seems they were interested mainly in drugs and 
chemicals.  Even if they weren't, that vault weighs about 
four tons and has three different locking systems.  It 
would likely require a sizeable explosion to force it 
open."  Klein said.  "Actually you can be glad they didn't 
access that vault, Superman.  It contains Kryptonite."

"Kryptonite?"  Clark asked, and actually felt his blood 
chill.  "Why would STAR Labs keep Kryptonite here?"  His 
tone became suspicious, even a bit accusatory.

Klein looked startled.  "I'm sorry, Superman, I thought you 
knew."

"What's to stop me from taking that vault and throwing it 
into the sun?" Clark asked, and wasn't kidding.

"Nothing I can think of, but it was my hope that since all 
specimens of Kryptonite, known and unknown, can't 
realistically be disposed of, then perhaps this element 
could be studied. Maybe we can find a weakness that can be 
exploited," Klein said simply.  "Or perhaps a pseudo-
vaccine developed rendering it harmless to you."

Clark suddenly looked hopeful.  "Is that possible, Dr. 
Klein?"

"That's what I was hoping to find out, Superman."

Clark sighed.  "Then what can I do to help?  Did you want 
me to be exposed to it over a period of--"

"No," Klein interrupted.  "That would be a toxic trial, and 
maybe fatal." He shook his head.  "Much too risky."

"Then--?"

"Well, a hair or skin sample.  Something we can test the 
Kryptonite against. Get an idea of how it affects you, what 
it specifically attacks and then," he smiled, "build a 
counter-attack."

Clark pulled a couple of hairs from his head and handed 
them to Klein.  "Thank you."

"I hope we can come up with something efficacious."

"Me too," Clark finally smiled.  "Oh, Clark Kent told me 
that Lois Lane fainted. Is she all right?"  he asked, 
though he knew that Lois was back at the Planet, having 
done a 'fly by' to make certain.

"I'm sure Mr. Kent knows by now that she's fine, Superman.  
Her upset stomach and fainting were due to her pregnancy," 
he said casually as he placed Clark's hair samples into a 
plastic bag.  "It must have been a total shock to Ms. Lane. 
She kept saying 'that's impossible', but then again--" 
Klein looked up, and saw he was talking only to himself.

***

Clark sat in his apartment staring at the blank TV screen.  
He was numb.  It was all a lie.  It was all over.  Lois was 
pregnant with another man's baby.  Clark closed his eyes as 
his thoughts grew ever darker.  He began to convince 
himself that Lois hadn't dumped Scardino at all, that it 
had been the other way around.  He dumped *her*, maybe when 
she told him she was pregnant.  What had she planned?  Turn 
to him after Scardino left her pregnant?  Foist the baby 
off as his?  That thought made Clark laugh bitterly.  She'd 
left out an important step if that had been her plan.

"No," Clark said firmly. "Lois would *not* do that."

She could so easily have made love to him and then claimed 
the baby was his. It's not like he was the one balking.  
No, it had to be another reason she'd turned to him. To 
make Scardino jealous?  Clark laughed again.  Right, a DEA 
agent jealous of a journalist.

Something wasn't adding up. *Nothing* was adding up. If 
Lois knew she was pregnant, she wouldn't have let Klein run 
tests on her. So, maybe she didn't know she was pregnant 
until she got the test results. Maybe that's why he hadn't 
heard from her yet.  She had to contact Scardino and give 
him the "joyful" news.

Clark rose from the sofa with an exhausted sigh.  Lois 
hardly *knew* Scardino.  Clark had known her two years, and 
yet even with them now in a romantic, committed 
relationship, she wouldn't ... Nope, it wasn't adding up at 
all.  Something was just *way* off.

It was at that moment Klein's comment cut through Clark's 
murky thinking. "It must have been a total shock to Ms. 
Lane. She kept saying 'that's impossible'."

"Impossible," Clark whispered.

Lois had no idea.  Had Dan done something? Taken advantage 
of her?  He had access to drugs ... no, no, no.  Clark 
shook his head vigorously.  He may not have liked Scardino 
much, but while the golden boy of the DEA was certainly an 
opportunist, he hardly seemed a crazed sexual predator.

Clark started at the sound of the phone ringing, but was 
grateful for the interruption. "Hello?"

"CK?"

"Hey, Jimmy," Clark said, trying to sound casual. "What's 
up?"

There was a long pause before Jimmy responded. "Is there 
some trouble with you and Lois?  I mean I know it's none of 
my business, but she just filed for a leave of absence and 
didn't want you knowing about it until tomorrow after she 
was safely on a plane --"

"Jimmy," Clark interrupted.  "Thanks, don't worry. I'll 
find her, and I won't tell her you called."

"That's okay."  There was another awkward pause.  "I mean 
if it was my girlfriend and she was pregnant--"

Clark's heart began to pound. "She told you!?"

"No, she didn't say anything, CK," Jimmy quickly corrected.  
"But I guess hanging out with you guys for the past couple 
of years has made it easier for me to put two and two 
together," he said and laughed weakly.  "I mean if you guys 
had just had a fight or something, she wouldn't run away."

Clark sighed. "You're getting pretty good at deductive 
reasoning."

"Well ... that and Lois got sick in Perry's office twice." 
Jimmy cleared his throat. "And Perry said that's what Alice 
went though when she was pregnant. Plus," Jimmy added, 
"Perry said it looked like Lois was retaining a little 
water--"

"That's fine, Jimmy." Clark interceded before Jimmy's 
"deductive reasoning" ended up including a confession and 
three pieces of corroborating documentation.

"If there's anything I can do, CK, just ask."

"Thanks, Jimmy, I owe you ... We *both* owe you."

"Nah," Jimmy said, and swallowed hard.  "Just bring her 
back, CK."

***

"No, Lucy," Lois sighed into the phone.  "Please don't fly 
out here.  There's nothing you could do right now.  Maybe 
I'll fly out there and spend time with you later."

Clark hovered outside the window and noticed Lois' packed 
suitcases.

"No, the DNA test wasn't dangerous, everything's fine." 
Lois groaned with frustration. "Quit believing everything 
Mother says. It's *not* Satan's needlepoint. Dr. Klein only 
took a sample of *my* blood to do a maternal-fetal cell 
separation test. He said he wouldn't need to get any 
samples from the fetus itself ... I don't *know* how it 
works," Lois said, her voice edgy.

"I just wanted the test for my own peace of mind, that's 
all, and Dr. Klein said he could accelerate the process for 
faster ...  No! I definitely do not suspect Clark ... I'm 
*not* defending him ... He's just not like that."

Lois sighed again as Lucy droned on and on.  "Look, Lucy, 
I've got to go...what?  No, I won't change my mind ... That 
is a non-issue, so please stop bringing it up.  No, that's 
okay...really. I'm just upset.  I love you too. Bye."

Lois hung up the phone and sank back into the sofa.  She 
barely had a chance to relax when she heard someone 
knocking at the door.  She glanced at the plane ticket on 
the coffee table.  She should have just gone and waited at 
the airport. Now she was stuck.  Maybe if she was just 
quiet.

The rapping continued. "Lois," Clark's voice called softy. 
"I know you're home, please open the door."

Lois started for the door, but froze in mid-stride.  
"Clark, it's late."

"Lois, I know you're pregnant," he said tenderly. "Just let 
me help you."

That did it, the dam broke. Lois opened the door and fell 
against him sobbing.  "Thank you, Clark.  You don't know 
how badly I needed someone to say that. *Just* that. "

"Shh," he whispered as he closed the door behind them.  
"I'm here, Lois.  It's going to be all right."

Lois began crying very hard. Clark, though having faced 
Lois's tears before, had never experienced this.  She was 
just crying her heart out. No words, no attempt at words, 
just a steady stream of tears and sobbing as if they'd been 
bottled up inside her forever.  All he could do was hold 
her and let her cry. Just be a physical presence for her to 
release against.  Then, after what seemed an eternity to 
Clark, Lois's crying subsided and she pushed away.

"I swear to you, Clark, I don't know how this happened," 
she sniffed.  "I mean I know *what* happened, but not who 
or how he got access to me.  I must have been drugged! 
Remember that story we did on--"

"I remember," he said. "The article on date rape drugs."  
Just knowing someone could have done that to Lois made it 
difficult for Clark to stay calm.

"Dr. Klein figured I was about 10 weeks pregnant, I mean I 
knew I was late, but I had called my doctor about that 
weeks ago, Clark."

"Lois," Clark said softly. "I'm on your side. I'm not 
looking for loopholes in your story. There was no reason to 
think you were pregnant. I believe you."

"Thank you." Lois sighed with relief. "Anyway, my doctor 
said that if I hadn't been sexually active, then any number 
of reasons could be responsible, including stress. I had an 
appointment for next week."

Clark ran a thumb across one of her stray tears. "You've 
certainly had your share of stress the last couple of 
months."

"That's why I didn't want to face you," she said, the tears 
threatening to start anew. "I figured you'd think it was 
Dan's baby, but Clark," she said firmly,  "there was 
absolutely nothing between us. One kiss on the cheek was 
about as romantic as it got."

"I know," he soothed, but felt a bit guilty that he had 
briefly thought exactly that.

"Oh, God, Clark, my life is ruined!  Every hope and dream 
of what I wanted to accomplish was taken away from me by 
some animal who's out walking free knowing he got away with 
this," she said as she paced the room.  "It's over for him.  
He can go on with his sick little life, but it doesn't end 
for me.  I'll have a reminder of what happened every 
*single* day of my life."

"You're keeping the baby," Clark said, and made certain 
that it did not sound like either a question or accusation, 
but rather a simple statement.

Lois turned and looked at him.  She'd never looked so small 
and helpless before. Her face was puffy and red from so 
much crying, and there was a deep pain in her eyes. She 
looked so lost.  "It's not wrong, Clark. It's not the 
baby's fault."

"I know," he said, once again taking her into his arms. 
"It's late, but I'm guessing you haven't gotten any sleep 
since you found out, have you?"

He felt her shake her head against his chest.  "Come on," 
he whispered and reached down and lifted Lois into his 
arms.  He carried her into the bedroom.

"Get ready for bed and I'll heat some milk for you," he 
said as he set her down next to the bed.

"Clark--"

He drew a thumb down her cheek.  "You're keeping the baby, 
Lois.  Keep the baby healthy."

Lois sighed and nodded. "Thanks."

Clark left the bedroom, his thoughts working overtime. He'd 
always been the one to think and plan for the future, and 
Lois had always been the impulsive one.  Now she was going 
to have a baby, and for the most part, her impulsive days 
were over. Clark poured some milk in a pan and heated it 
the old-fashioned way.

After several minutes Lois heard the soft rap on the door 
frame.  "Come in," she said.  She had placed a cool cloth 
over her puffy eyes.  She heard the glass being set on her 
night table. "Thanks, Clark."

"You're welcome," he said and then sat on the floor, his 
back resting against the wall.

Lois pulled the cloth away and looked at Clark.  "You 
haven't gotten any sleep either, have you?"

He smiled and shrugged. "I'm fine."

Lois reached her hand down to him.  "Sleep with me, Clark."

"Lois, I--"

"We're in this together?"

"Yes, but--"

"Then sleep with me," she repeated.  "I just need to feel 
you with me, Clark."

Clark swallowed. "Okay," he said, his voice robbed of 
breath.  "Drink your milk."

Lois smiled and took the glass. "Thanks."

Clark loosened his tie.  He'd thought about changing in the 
bathroom, but he was experiencing a strange, seductive 
emotion.  For no logical reason whatsoever, he suddenly 
felt like a husband.  It was a crazy unshakable thought.  
It didn't matter to him that he and Lois had never made 
love; or that he was a virgin.  Just the sight of Lois 
lying there, waiting for him to come to bed, a baby growing 
inside of her, fueled his irresistible notion.

As soon as Clark had stripped to his shorts, Lois pulled 
the covers back.  "Leaving your glasses on?"

"All the better to see you with," he smiled and slid in 
next to her. "Actually, I take my glasses off just before I 
turn the light off."

Lois leaned forward and kissed him tenderly. "I love you, 
Clark."

Clark's heart skipped a beat. All the time they'd been 
dating, he'd longed to hear those words. Well, he conceded, 
for two years now he'd longed to hear those words. He 
wrapped his arms around her and kissed her just below the 
ear. "I love you too," he whispered. "We'll be okay."

She pulled back slightly and smiled. "I know."

The tender moment was interrupted by the phone. "Oh, no," 
Lois said and looked at the telephone as if it had just 
been delivered from Hell.  "It's probably my mother."

"You want me to answer it, honey?"

"No, that's the last thing ... did you just call me 
'honey'?"

Clark hesitated for a moment.  "I don't know, did I?"

"Having endearment blackouts?" She laughed and reached for 
the receiver. "And yes, you called me honey."

"I guess the question is, did you like it?"

Lois pressed the receiver to her ear and covered the 
mouthpiece. "Yes, very much. In fact ... oh, Dr. Klein?"  
Lois sighed with relief. "Thank goodness, I thought you 
were my mother.  What?  No, Dr. Klein, it had nothing to do 
with your voice... no, really, your voice is very 
masculine."

Clark smiled. "Is this a lead on the burglary?"

Lois' expression darkened. "The DNA sample?  How is that 
possible?"

"What?" Clark asked, his expression becoming a mirror of 
hers.

"Good bye, Dr. Klein ... and ... thank you." She pulled the 
receiver from her ear and looked at it for a long moment as 
if it had betrayed her in some unspeakable manner.

"Lois? Are you all right? What did he say?"

"He said he knows who the father of the baby is."

Clark shook his head. "That's impossible unless he has 
sample DNA from a suspect."

"He does," Lois said, her voice trailing off as she hung up 
the phone. "It's Superman...he says the father is 
Superman."

**************

The blood began to thunder in Clark's temples. "It can't 
be," he whispered. "That's impossible," he finally managed 
in a louder voice.

Lois covered her face with both hands. It was almost as if 
she wanted to keep her head from splintering into a million 
pieces. She finally lowered her hands and looked into 
Clark's stunned face. "This can't be happening," she said, 
her voice fragile.

She backed out of the bed, her steps unsteady. "This can't 
be happening," she repeated her mantra.

Clark quickly followed her and grabbed her shoulders 
firmly. "This *isn't* happening, Lois. It's *impossible*!"

Lois looked into his urgent and assured expression. Clark 
suddenly seemed so strong. She smiled a smile that did not 
reach her eyes. "Clark, when you didn't leap to the 
conclusion that Dan was the father, I was so touched and so 
relieved, but this--"

Lois shook her head and pulled from his grasp. "You know 
how I've always felt about Superman, how over the top I was 
about him. You'd be crazy not to at least *consider* that 
he could be the father. I mean," she laughed, and like the 
smile, it was not really a laugh, "I know I did *not* sleep 
with Superman. Not once. Not even close, but who would 
believe me?"

"I would," Clark said, the urgency of his conviction 
undiminished.

"Why?" Lois asked, some frustration entering her voice. 
"It's not that I don't appreciate this unconditional 
support from you -- I do, Clark, more than I can say-- 
but," she sighed, "why disbelieve a *fact*?  A medical and 
scientific fact."

"What about the *truth*, Lois?  Isn't that as strong as a 
fact?" he asked.  "You say you didn't sleep with Superman, 
and I believe you."

Lois shrugged and walked towards the window.  "Maybe truth 
and fact can be the same thing here, Clark."

Clark rubbed the back of his neck. "Lois, I'm having a 
little trouble following this."

"Think about it," she said, staring through the dark glass.  
"There's no expert out there on Kryptonian biology. I mean 
how do we know how Kryptonians ... you know. Maybe it's 
mental, or some kind of trance thing."

Clark closed his eyes for a moment. "*Trance* thing?"

"I don't know, Clark!" Lois exploded. "He's from another 
planet! Maybe Kryptonian men and women go into some kind of 
trance and then they ... well ... they make love, and then 
snap out of it, and .... and I have *no* idea what I'm 
talking about!" she wailed. "All I know is I'm carrying 
Superman's baby, and I don't know why!"

"You are *not* carrying Superman's baby, Lois."

Lois, tiring suddenly of Clark's "confidence" on the 
subject, felt suspicion creeping in. She folded her arms 
and approached him slowly.  "Okay, Clark, let's have it."

Clark swallowed. "Have it?"

"You know something," she said pointedly.  "Nobody is 
*that* trusting. Especially when a scientist at STAR Labs 
seems to disagree with you," she continued as she circled 
for a landing. "Did Superman tell you something?"

"No," was all Clark could manage to say.

"But you *do* know something."

"Lois, remember I had asked you to go to breakfast with me 
tomorrow morning? I mean," he said, and scratched the side 
of his head, "I asked you that before all this stuff with 
the pregnancy ... happened."

Lois shook her head. "What does that have to do with any--"

"I asked you to breakfast," he quickly interrupted. "A 
little place called Callard's I'd found, because it has a 
nice quiet garden outside, and I wanted to tell you 
something very private there."

He gently gripped her shoulders again. "I had to tell you 
this *one* thing before our relationship went *any* 
further. If I didn't--" Clark sighed. "If I didn't ... it 
wouldn't be fair to you."

"What *thing*, Clark!" Lois began to tremble. "This has to 
do with Superman?  Why I'm pregnant?  What!?"

Clark looked up at the ceiling, his expression almost 
prayer-like as he searched the air itself for the right 
words. He took a deep breath and brought his gaze down 
level with hers.  "It has to do with why Superman can *not* 
be the father of that baby, Lois. But," he said, regret 
softening his tone. "I almost wish it were true. You have 
no idea how much."  He removed his glasses. "Because ... 
*I'm* Superman."

Lois' knees suddenly buckled, and she went reeling into 
Clark and dangled limply in his arms. "Lois!" He touched 
her face tenderly, "Lois?"

At first he thought she had fainted, but then a low hissing 
sound became audible.  There was some faint scent filling 
the room. Clark began to feel light-headed. He placed Lois 
on the bed with what seemed his last bit of strength.

A man wearing a field protective mask stepped into Lois' 
bedroom. The mask plate was darkly tinted. "Who are you?" 
Clark asked, and fell to his knees next to the bed.

The man, unheeding, reached for Lois. There was a tattoo of 
barbed wire around his wrist.

***


Lois moaned and opened her eyes. Greeted by bright 
sunlight, she closed them again. She forced herself into a 
sitting position and was surprised to feel grass under the 
palms of her hands. She glanced down cautiously and shook 
her head. Sure enough, she was sitting on a patch of grass.

Lois frowned. "What is this?" she asked as she lifted her 
gaze and noted several smallish hardwood trees, vines and 
undergrowth in front of her. She looked to the right. More 
trees. The left. Ditto. She closed her eyes and rotated her 
head from shoulder to shoulder. She had a dull, persistent 
headache.

She decided to stand and get her bearings. There was 
something vaguely familiar about the setting, but she 
couldn't remember anything specific. Just a feeling of 
'deja vu' and nothing more. She swiveled slightly to the 
left, pulling her feet under her to stand. However, the new 
position gave her a downward and slightly rearward view of 
her surroundings. She froze instantly when she saw a bare 
leg less than a yard away. The rest of the body, assuming 
there was one, was obscured by the low drooping foliage of 
a weeping willow.

Lois gasped and fell backward, scrambling crab-like in the 
opposite direction until her momentum was stopped by a 
tree. She placed her hands behind her and crawled them up 
the bark until she was in a standing position. She panted 
for breath as her heart pounded. She wanted to admonish 
herself, to find that scolding voice that always told her 
to "get a grip," but Lois was in a place she hadn't 
remembered entering voluntarily and seemed to be outfitted 
only in her nightgown. Not a good defensive position at 
all.

She held her breath and moved warily in a sideways 
direction. She noticed the leg had a companion, and with 
great relief noticed both were still attached to a body -- 
or was it a relief? Did the legs belong to her kidnapper? 
Was she kidnapped? Why couldn't she remember?  She took a 
cautious step forward. Maybe seeing his face would remind 
her.

"Clark!" she shouted, and ran to him and knelt next to his 
body.

Clark was only wearing boxer shorts. His glasses were 
missing. Lois finally felt the fog lifting. She remembered. 
She was pregnant. She and Clark had been together the night 
before. He had been in her bed. The phone call.

"Superman," she whispered.

Doctor Klein had told her that Superman was the father of 
her child, but Clark had told her that was impossible, 
because *he* was Superman. Lois brushed back Clark's hair 
gently and held her hand in place. She smiled sheepishly. 
He was Superman all right, or a long lost twin.

She nudged him. "Clark?"  There was no response.

"Superman," she said, and nudged him again. Nothing.

Lois felt panic creeping back. She took her thumb and 
lifted one of his eyelids and took his pulse. Though alive, 
he was totally unresponsive. She rose quickly and moved a 
few paces from Clark hoping to spot something or someone 
who could help. Unfortunately there was nothing but woods 
in every direction. She wiped the perspiration from her 
forehead. It seemed so much hotter than the last time she 
had been here.

Lois halted abruptly. The *last* time? "What's happening to 
me," she said and was again overtaken by that feeling of 
'deja vu', but it was coupled with the anxiety that reality 
itself was breaking away.

"It's happening to *all* of us, I'm afraid."

Lois, already bristling with anxiety, executed a swirling 
roundhouse kick. Fortunately for her intended victim, he 
was a bit shorter than average and so just his bowler hat 
was sent sailing. Lois watched the small man retrieve his 
hat, all the while keeping herself tensed in a combat-ready 
position.

"I apologize for startling you, Miss Lane," the man said as 
he dusted off the brim of his hat.

"You know my name?" she asked, but did not budge from her 
defensive stance.

"I dare say," he smiled. "I've known you and your husband 
Clark for quite some time."

"My *husband*!? Look, mister, I don't know who you are, but 
you should have done some research before you pulled this 
stunt," she said, her defensive posture giving way to her 
anger. "I lo...I care about Clark, but he is *not* my 
husband."

The man pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped it 
across the back of his neck. "Well, no, not in this time 
era anyway. Not that there really is a distinct time era 
anymore after I created that time flow ripple," he babbled 
on. "And I'm so dreadfully sorry I did, Miss Lane."

"Did *what*?" Lois asked, now feeling her adversary was 
more lunatic than criminal mastermind.

"Well, I did explain the dangers of creating a time flow 
ripple effect the day you and I met for the first time, 
which," he considered, "would seem to be a couple of months 
ago...to your current memory anyway."

"Listen...whoever you are, I don't remember meeting you two 
months ago or two *days* ago, but I have a feeling you're 
someone I wouldn't forget," she said, eyeing his antique 
wardrobe. "But you *are* adding to a headache I've had 
since I woke up here, and the heat isn't helping."

"Quite right," he agreed. "It is deucedly hot. Then again 
it's July and the last time we were here it was May, but it 
does feel a bit more like Pakistan than Kansas, doesn't 
it?"

"Kansas," Lois whispered. Her mind started to race. Images 
of Clark, Superman, his parents, all started to flash in 
her memory. Even the odd little man was there.

"Remembering?"

"No, I...it...doesn't make any sense. Maybe I'm losing my 
mind. That would at least explain all this."

The man's eyes filled with sympathy. "You're not losing 
your mind, Miss Lane. You remember me. I'm H.G. Wells."

Lois shook her head and laughed softly at the irony. 
"You're a dead writer from England just chatting with me in 
Kansas, and that's supposed to convince me I'm not crazy?"

"I know it's a horrible shock, Miss Lane, but Clark is the 
issue here. If we can't reverse the time ripple...he 
might...well, he might cease to exist."

"Clark," Lois said. Her voice and pace sharpened by fear, 
she hurried back to where she had left him. Though she was 
relieved he was still there, he was still unconscious.

She knelt down and began to stroke the side of his face. 
"Clark, please wake up."

Wells, puffing loudly, finally caught up to Lois. "Still 
unconscious."

"Yes, but alive."

Wells removed his jacket. "When I said he would 'cease to 
exist' I hadn't meant that as a metaphor for Death, Miss 
Lane," he said and began scrunching his jacket into a ball. 
"I meant *literally* Clark would cease to exist. Gone. 
Vanished without a trace ... as if he never were."

"That's impossible," Lois said, though there was no 
conviction in her voice.

Wells knelt next to her. "Lift his head. We can make him a 
bit more comfortable."

Lois hesitated a moment, but then did as instructed. Wells 
placed his jacket beneath Clark's head and then turned to 
face Lois. "You're remembering some things, aren't you, my 
dear?"

"Impossible things," Lois said, but did not take her eyes 
from Clark. "They *can't* be true."

"I wish that were so," Wells said sadly. "But very shortly 
now, the effects of the time flow ripple will become 
apparent, and you'll have to be ready, Miss Lane."

Lois finally turned on him angrily. "Ready for *what*! You 
know, I'm getting a little sick of hearing about this time 
ripple flow..."

"Time flow ripple."

"Whatever! The point is, Clark and I have been hijacked and 
dumped here in the middle of nowhere, and you keep going on 
and on about this time flow...."

"Oh, my," Wells whispered, and then covered his mouth.

Lois, despite her anger, followed Wells' horrified gaze. 
"Clark!"

Clark's features were changing. He looked subtly younger. 
His hair lengthened and his body became slightly thinner. 
Then, just as abruptly, his hair began to shorten, his 
boyish features were reclaimed by the more manly face Lois 
had become accustomed to, yet the changes continued.

"Oh, my God," Lois whispered as she observed the last 
change. His hair, cropped shorter at the temples and 
winding it's way to the back of his head, the style Lois 
had teasingly referred to as 'hat hair', was an 
unmistakable identifier to her. "He *is* my husband...I 
remember...I...but the timing is...."

"All wrong," Wells said, finishing her sentence.

Lois grabbed Wells by the front of his shirt and pulled him 
to his feet. "What did you do to him?! What did you do to 
*us*?!"

"Very nearly destroyed you both." Wells lowered his head. 
"It may yet happen if we can't reverse the effects."

"Because of this time flow ripple?"

"Yes."

"How do we stop it?" she asked, and released her death-grip 
on his shirt. "Why am I pregnant in my...in *this* body? 
This is how I looked over two years ago!"

"You were caught outside the ripple effect."

Lois shook her head. "What *is* this...ripple effect?"

"To put it simply, it's a time anomaly caused by a phasic 
temporal...."

"Hold it," Lois said flatly. "You said *simply*. Just cut 
to the chase."

"Cut to...."

"Tell me how it happened and how we can stop it and why am 
I remembering pieces of things that can't *possibly* be 
true."

Wells took a deep breath. "Do you recall Perry White's 
surprise birthday party?"

Though Wells' comment sounded like a complete non sequitur, 
Lois tried to concentrate. "The Planet," she said with 
uncertainty. Her memory seemed to have all the cohesion of 
a document sent through a paper shredder. Only flashes of 
things were clear. "1995."

"Excellent. Yes, Mr. White's birthday."

"You...took us from there... to ... somewhere... but you 
brought us back.... Why can't I remember this?!" Lois 
finally blurted in frustration.

"I'm afraid that's my fault too, Miss Lane. I *said* I 
would take you and Clark back to a point before our 
adventure took place, but I realistically couldn't do 
that."

"But I remember that part," Lois insisted. "Well, some of 
it."

"No," Wells said softly. "I could not return you and Clark 
in time to a point before the adventure took place for a 
variety of reasons, not the least of which being the fact 
that you both were kept outside of passing time with me in 
the time machine. I..." Wells hesitated. A look of guilt 
was in his eyes.

Lois leveled her most menacing gaze at Wells. "You did 
what, exactly?"

"I used a device from Tempus' era...."

"Who?" Lois asked. The name was familiar and unfamiliar at 
the same time.

Lois was mentally and emotionally trapped between two 
distinctively unique versions of herself -- the Lois she 
had been two years ago who believed Clark and Superman were 
two different men, and the Lois of two years later who was 
married to both men and had learned to "live the 
impossible."

"You'll remember him in a moment," Wells said, a bit 
impatient to get to the point. "The upshot of it is, this 
device shunts recent memory from the forefront of the 
thought process and also makes the person susceptible to 
suggestion... well, a bit like hypnosis."

"Men in Black," Lois said, and laughed at the unreality of 
all of it.

"Men in black?"

"A movie Clark and I went to see...*will* go to see." Lois 
sighed in exasperation. "A gizmo was flashed at people that 
made them forget what they'd just seen or done in favor of 
memories *implanted* by the men in black."

Wells nodded. "That cinematic version sounds quite similar; 
however, I never took your or Clark's memories away. As I 
said, it was more like hypnosis. I even gave you both a 
post-hypnotic suggestion...or rather a trigger word that 
would permit you to remember in the event it became 
necessary."

"Wonderful," Lois said sarcastically. "We've left the Men 
in Black for the Manchurian Candidate."

"Pardon?"

"What was the trigger word?"

"Unspool."

Lois' eyes closed instantly. Images appeared and moved 
forward in a logical order. Missing time and memory 
restored themselves. She opened her eyes. "I remember," she 
said softly. "You...the older you, used that word on me in 
the alternate Metropolis."

Wells smiled with relief. "Then you understand."

"No, I *remember*, but I *don't* understand," Lois sniped, 
her restored memory lending confidence to her voice and 
demeanor as the more mature version of herself became 
dominant. "What memories did you give me and Clark?"

"Ah," Wells nodded. "You'll recall I said that 
realistically I couldn't return you to a time before our 
adventure, but I had to make you *believe* I had."

"And you did this by...?" Lois prompted.

"By making you and Clark believe you'd attended Mr. White's 
party, left during it, and returned to the beginning of 
it." He thought a moment. "Instilling a sense of deja vu, 
you might say."

"But *why*?" Lois asked and glanced back down at Clark, his 
body still caught in the continuous loop of aging and 
regressing. "If you wanted us to forget, why make us 
remember false bits and pieces? That doesn't make sense!"

Wells expression became contemplative, his fingers steepled 
in front of his chest. "Imagine the reaction if you landed 
an aeroplane in ancient Egypt, or screened a motion picture 
at the first Continental Congress. Miss Lane," Wells 
sighed, "the world is more fragile than most can comprehend 
or would care to comprehend. There is order and there is 
chaos, or on a more human level, sanity and insanity. 
Sometimes the *only* thing keeping chaos and insanity at 
bay is the desire of the human spirit to cling to that 
which is conventional and familiar."

Lois, though tempted to argue the point, found herself 
agreeing. "Like me," she said, after a long pause. "I 
thought I was losing my mind when I first woke up here. 
Everything was familiar and *nothing* was familiar. But," 
she added quickly. "It was those fragments you implanted in 
my memory that made me think I was going crazy in the first 
place."

"Initially perhaps," Wells said with a shrug. "However, 
those memories have spared me from having to try and 
convince you that time travel is viable, that we've met 
before, or that Clark Kent is your husband."

"Fair enough," she said. "But why is this only affecting 
Clark and not me, or *you* for that matter?"

Wells removed his hat. "Since the adventure in Smallville 
took place in 1966, you were caught outside the effect 
because you weren't born until 1967," he said, and ran his 
handkerchief around the perspiration soaked hatband.

"What does *that* have to do with any of this?"

"Quite frankly, Miss Lane, it has *everything* to do with 
this," he said matter-of-factly. "Neither you, nor I, or 
even Tempus for that matter, had another version of 
ourselves that existed in 1966, but Clark did. And because 
he did, that set the ripple effect in motion."

Lois pushed an annoying strand of hair behind her ear. She 
was hot, exhausted, frustrated and completely lost. "If you 
*knew* that would happen, then why did you deliberately put 
him through that? Through *this*," she said, pointing down 
to Clark's ever changing form.

Wells closed his eyes momentarily. "I didn't know this 
would happen, Miss Lane. I knew the time flow ripple 
phenomenon was theoretically possible, and I took all 
precautions to prevent that, but the theory gave no 
indication that it could be triggered by your husband 
encountering another version of himself from his own 
lifetime."

Lois shook her head. "I wish I could feel some kind of 
sympathy for you, or forgive you for what you're putting 
Clark though, but I can't," she said, her voice and 
expression filled with reproach. "All of this could have 
been avoided if you hadn't believed a lunatic. Hadn't 
brought him back from the future giving him a chance to 
kill Clark. Hadn't...."

"...put Tempus in an asylum in 1866 rather than taking him 
back to his era where he could have been properly 
restrained and cause no further problems."

Lois turned. Though the voice was unmistakably that of 
Wells, it was the older Wells who was speaking. The older 
man, a bit stooped and diminished by the aging process, 
stepped from a thicket into the clearing. A bewildered Dr. 
Klein stood at his side and a third man, whom Lois did not 
know, but who seemed vaguely familiar, joined them.

"Thank goodness," Klein said as he approached Lois. "I was 
beginning to think I was losing my mind. Not that seeing 
you precludes that hypothesis, but .... you have your old 
Prince Valiant hairdo."

"Prince Valiant?" Lois shook her head. "Forget the hairdo, 
Dr. Klein, I'm still the Lois you know from 1997, but what 
are *you* doing here in 1966?"

Klein put a hand on the older Wells' shoulder. "This man 
told me Superman was in trouble, and then this one," he 
said, looking up at the stranger, "brought us both here in 
some ... "

"Hold it," Lois interrupted and walked past Klein. "I 
thought you said the time flow ripple was caused because 
there was another version of Clark in 1966," she said, 
addressing the younger Wells. "Dr. Klein would have another 
version of himself in 1966 too."

Klein nodded. "Definitely. I was a senior in high school in 
1966. Our class song was "Last Train to Clarksville" oddly 
enough." He thought a moment. "What does this have to do 
with Mr. Kent?"

"He's my husband."

"I know, but..."

"He also happens to be Superman."

"Oh, dear." Klein shook his head. "I hope when I wake up 
from this, I remember to write everything down," he said as 
he knelt next to Clark.

"Actually, Miss Lane, I said Clark *encountering* the other 
version of himself was the suspected catalyst," Wells 
corrected. "Dr. Klein won't likely meet up with his 
counterpart in Kansas."

"Then what about you and *your* other self, Mr. Wells? 
You're both here."

"True," he conceded. "But if you'll forgive the Dickensian 
waffling, the two of us are more like shadows from the 
past. Neither he nor I ever existed in this era. But," he 
said, raising an index finger. "Clark not only existed in 
1966, his adult self had physical contact with his infant 
self. It may have been that very contact that triggered the 
anomaly."

"However, there still might be a risk to Dr. Klein," the 
elder Wells added. "But when I explained the situation, he 
was willing to take that risk to help save your husband."

Lois walked back to Klein and knelt next to him. "Thank 
you," she said softly.

Klein smiled. "He's my friend," he said as he observed 
Clark trapped in the loop. "It's hard for me to see him 
like this. I can imagine how hard it must be for you, 
Lois."

"Can you stop it?"

"From what Wells told me, and from what I know of temporal 
theory, Clark encountering himself in 1966 caused the 
creation of duplicate time lines." Klein straightened with 
a groan. "Not that I know that much about temporal theory, 
you understand."

Lois glanced at the older Wells. "Like the alternate 
Metropolis?"

"Oh, no, my dear. These worlds are identical in every 
detail. Imagine a stone being cast into still water causing 
rings to ripple out from the centre. The rings are 
concentric. Since they don't touch each other, they can't 
overlap and cause an alternate reality. However," he said, 
his tone a bit darker, "these identical time lines are 
causing distortions in the true time line, like...."

"Being pregnant at the wrong place in time," Lois finished 
his sentence.

"Correct. It is a phenomenon that will continue and Clark 
will remain trapped if this isn't reversed."

"I *know* he's trapped!" Lois erupted as she rose to her 
feet. "How do we get him back?"

"With this," he said, and handed an object to his younger 
self. "You remember this device, Lois."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Please, not the Quantum Leap thing 
again."

"Quantum Leap?" Klein asked.

"That Gameboy from hell gizmo. It made me and Clark leap 
into versions of ourselves from the past."

"Amazing."

"Although in this case," Wells continued. "You'll only be 
"leaping", as you put it, into versions of Lois Lane 
between the years 1993 and 1997. The span of your current 
relationship history with Clark."

"And that will stop this ... how, exactly?"

"Theoretically," the elder Wells began, "if you "leap" into 
each of these extraneous time lines and are successful, 
they'll vanish in favor of the one *true* time line. There 
will be no more distortion and Clark will be freed from the 
temporal loop."

Lois took the device warily. "What am I supposed to do? You 
said if I'm successful. Successful how?"

"By accelerating the time lines," Wells said and tapped the 
device. "When you go back to each phase of your 
relationship with Clark, you have to try and speed along 
the relationship."

"Ah," Lois nodded. "The dawn finally breaks. By speeding up 
the relationship, the other time lines are brought up to 
speed with the real one."

"Precisely. Thus merging them back into one."

Lois' jaw worked itself back and forth tensely. "Isn't this 
all just a little too pat?" she finally asked. "I throw 
myself at Clark, promise him love everlasting, and suddenly 
a magic pink bow appears to tie all the time lines 
together?"

"Not exactly, Lois," Klein said as he brushed dirt from the 
knees of his trousers. "As I understand this phenomenon, 
Clark will be as he was in each era you return to."

"And?" Lois shrugged.

"Well," he continued. "If you "throw yourself" at him in a 
time when Clark would never expect such behavior, it's 
doubtful you'd get the reaction from him you hoped for, or 
worse, it could backfire."

Lois half-smiled. "You're right. A chemist created a 
pheromone compound that made people fall madly in love, or 
*lust* was more like it. I chased poor Clark all over the 
place and he ran like a scared rabbit."

Klein sighed. "Only men who look like Clark get chased by 
women who look like you."

Lois noticed the stranger smiling at Klein's comment. She 
approached the fiftyish, distinguished-looking man. "I 
don't know you, but you seem familiar."

"My apologies, Ms. Lane," he said, extending his hand. His 
sleeve receded to reveal a barbed wire tattoo. "I believe 
you've only seen my photograph."

"That's where I know you!" Lois said with unhidden disgust 
and quickly disengaged her hand from his. "The thief from 
the STAR Labs surveillance photos."

"Yes, ma'am, that would be me."

"The robbery two years ago?" Klein asked.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Klein," the man said and ran a hand through 
his silver-gray hair. "It was necessary to get the right 
combination of elements to create a compound that would not 
only render Ms. Lane unconscious, but Superman as well. 
Plus making sure it would not harm the unborn child. No 
small task."

"So you're the one who drugged me and Clark and brought us 
here?"

"I am, but believe me, Ms. Lane, it was necessary. This is 
the focal point of the ripple flow effect," he explained. 
"If we ever hope to break your husband out of this loop, it 
has to happen here."

Lois narrowed her eyes. She wasn't ready to buy everything 
just yet. "And just how did you happen to know I was 
pregnant?"

"I'm from the future, and ..."

"Of course," Lois said and sighed with resignation. "I'm 
beginning to think I know more people from the past and the 
future than I do in the present."

"I'm sure that's not true, Miss Lane," the younger Wells 
said sympathetically.

Lois raised an eyebrow. "No offense, but coming from a man 
who's dressed a hundred years out of step with current 
fashion trends that isn't really reassuring."

Wells tugged at his collar. "Point taken."

"Speaking of points," the elder Wells chimed in, facing the 
gray-haired man. "You have your work to do while Miss Lane 
does hers."

"On my way," he said with a nod and departed.

Wells turned back to Lois. "There's also another danger," 
he cautioned. "If you accelerate things too much, you'll 
start causing any number of bizarre glitches in time."

"Great," she sighed. "How do I work the gizmo?"

Wells took the device and smiled. "I'll operate the 
"gizmo." It will send you back to the widest ring in the 
ripple, so to speak," he said, and placed a hand on her 
shoulder. "Are you ready?"

Lois glanced longingly at Clark a last time. "Yes," she 
said, and soon felt her body begin to ... drift.

"Incredible," Klein whispered as Lois vanished. "I would 
have thought her body would stay here and just her soul, or 
spirit, or whatever ... would leave. I mean on Quantum Leap 
..."

"No," Wells said as he looked up from the transmigrator. 
"This device creates what might be called an evanescence 
effect. The body particulates, if you will, become one with 
the spiritual component. In that aggregate form, they're 
able to merge with the host body."

Klein loosened his tie. "But what about the host? I mean 
won't the other Lois feel the ... the ... intrusion? Fight 
it?"

"There's nothing to "feel" actually. In fact," Wells said 
as he slipped the device into his pocket. "It's the person 
migrating who experiences odd sensations. Depending on the 
circumstances, it can take anywhere from seconds to several 
minutes before the migrator has total control of the host 
body."

"I think I need a drink."

Wells nodded. "I dare say Miss Lane will be wanting one in 
a few short moments as well."

*****************

The effect was disorienting. Lois was suddenly watching the 
conference room door at the Planet closing. Yet the body 
she was occupying--her body-- was moving without her having 
any control over it. She felt like a camera being operated 
by someone else. She turned. Clark was there smiling. He 
was so young!

"He was right!" Lois heard herself saying. "Platt was 
right." Platt? Platt! The Messenger shuttle.

"Now we can write the story," Clark said.

"*I* can write the story," 'Lois' corrected.

"With *my* help."

"With your help," she agreed. "And if we can convince 
people there was sabotage, and who was behind it...."

"We can stop them," Clark said firmly.

"Oh, God!" Lois heard herself squeal, and then felt her 
body move impetuously to embrace Clark. He laughed warmly 
in her ear. His hair was so long.

They broke from the embrace and Clark's eyes locked with 
hers. It was his turn to be impetuous. "Why don't we have 
dinner?"

"Oh," her former self wavered. "I don't know."

"We should celebrate," Clark said, taking the 'date' onus 
off the suggestion.

She relaxed. "Okay. Dinner."

"Okay," Clark said, but was so happy the word dissolved 
into a chuckle.

"Oh, wait a second, what am I talking about? I can't, I 
have plans tonight."

Plans? Lois tried to think back, but it was so long ago.

Clark's jovial expression quickly sobered. "Luthor?"

Oh, yes, that worthless interview dinner with Lex Luthor. 
How could she forget. She mentally sighed waiting for her 
1993 self to speak, which in turn would trigger Clark to 
launch a nasty argument, but ... nothing happened.

"Lois?"

Lois wiggled a finger experimentally. Yes! She had control. 
She looked into Clark's grim eyes. "Yes, but I don't want 
to stay long," she said, and was amused by the higher pitch 
of her voice. "It might just be me, but Lex Luthor kind of 
made my flesh crawl."

Clark's brows peeked over the top of his old, heavy-framed 
glasses. "He did?"

"Yeah," Lois shrugged, and then placed her hands softly on 
his chest. "We haven't known each other long, Clark, and I 
know I haven't been the easiest person to get along with so 
far...."

"I hadn't noticed," he said warmly, completely unaware that 
Lois could feel his heart pounding under her palms.

"Thanks." Lois smiled. "Then would you mind rescuing me at 
nine forty-five tonight?"

"Rescue you?"

"Come to Lex's penthouse and just say that Perry wants us 
pronto," she said, and moved her hands to his lapels. "Then 
we can go out for coffee and late night jazz at this little 
place I know." She smiled. "And celebrate."

Clark shook his head, but returned the smile. "Deal."

* * *

Though Lois had avoided the argument that had taken place 
in the original time line, she had done little to 
accelerate the relationship. She was still stuck listening 
to Lex drone on about himself as he dodged direct questions 
and made polished passes at her. Strangely enough, Lois 
felt nothing as she tried to remember questions to ask Lex 
that had seemed so important a long time ago.

"All work and no play," Lex crooned. "Is that your credo, 
Lois Lane?" he asked, finally tiring of the endless line of 
questions.

"I don't think...."

"Why don't we just enjoy the evening? Enjoy each other. Let 
down your hair, loosen your tie...."

"I'm not wearing a tie."

"You're so tense," he said, and took her hand. "Here, just 
let your defenses down."

Lois pulled her hand away. It was amazing how fast he moved 
to crowd her. Overwhelm her. Eyes that had seemed intense 
and piercing four years ago now seemed haunted and on the 
edge of insanity.

Lois grabbed her note pad. "I have a story to write 
tonight. I should get going."

Lex leaned away and smiled. He was still at a point in his 
life where he could more or less control the madness. He 
still had the capacity to discern when he was pushing too 
hard and when it was time to relent. "No dessert?"

"No, I ... uh ... I only have dessert when I'm in love," 
Lois said, but regretted the wording instantly. She wasn't 
even sure why she phrased it that way other than the word 
dessert itself always made her think of Clark feeding her 
chocolate on their first date. However, she knew how Lex 
would misread the comment, and she was right.

"No lover, Lois?" he asked, his tone more of a challenge 
than a question. "You don't know what you're missing."

"Well..."

"Mr. Luthor," Asabi interrupted.  "Pardon me, sir, but a 
Mr. Clark Kent is here for Ms. Lane."

Lois' whole posture became a visual sigh of relief, but she 
noticed Lex's eyes flash with anger as he glanced up at 
Asabi. It was only momentary, and something most people who 
didn't know him would never notice. His demeanor quickly 
eased back into reptilian coolness.

Lex dabbed at the corner of his lips with his napkin and 
then casually tossed it on the table. "Don't keep Mr. Kent 
waiting, Asabi. By all means, show him in."

"Yes, sir." Asabi bowed and retreated.

Lex turned back to Lois. "You know, Lois, it's a good thing 
I'm not suspicious by nature, or I'd suspect Mr. Kent's 
sudden interruption to be of a ...," he paused, pretending 
to search for the proper wording, "...prearranged nature."

"Prearranged?" Lois stalled.

"Well, yes," he said smoothly as he clasped Lois' hand once 
again. "Perhaps little Red Riding Hood, fearing she'd be 
trapped in the lair of the big bad wolf, convinced a 
gullible farmer from the village to come to her aid."

Lois pulled her hand away. "I think you've gotten the wrong 
idea about this dinner, Lex."

"I see," he nodded soberly. "So I'd be wrong in assuming 
that Mr. Kent will be rushing in here to spirit you away to 
some late breaking news story your editor just happened to 
stumble upon at this late hour?"

Lex was so clever. Always one step ahead. Always able to 
keep an opponent off balance. Lois cleared her throat. 
"Well, actually ...."

"You would be wrong, Luthor," Clark said as he took Lois' 
coat from Asabi. He walked to the table and pulled Lois' 
chair out for her. "Ready?"

"Yes," Lois said gratefully as Clark helped her on with her 
coat.

Clark turned to Lex. "Lois estimated your interview dinner 
would last about two hours and so wanted me to pick her up 
afterward so we could leave from here for our date."

Lois sighed inwardly. God bless super hearing and male 
posturing. "Right," she said, and picked up her note pad.

"A *date*?" Lex asked in a tone that Asabi seemed to fear. 
The servant stepped back reflexively.

Clark shrugged. "Just coffee...."

"And dessert," Lois added, locking eye contact with Lex 
momentarily before exiting arm in arm with Clark.

Lois was sure she heard the whole elegant dinner setting 
clatter to the floor in a characteristic fit of Luthor rage 
as she began to fade from the current time era. Pity, she 
would have loved dessert ...

* * *

Once again Lois found herself in a body that was moving 
robotically without her input. She saw Clark round a corner 
in the wrong glasses and wearing a server's tuxedo. Oh, 
God, the Metro Club. Anything but that!

"Lois!" he said in a distraught, strangled whisper.

Lois put a finger to her lips. "Shhh!" She whispered and 
then motioned for Clark to join her.

Clark hurried forward nearly colliding with two chorus 
girls dressed in humiliating animal costumes. Lois entered 
the supply room with Clark hot on her heels. He closed the 
door. "Did you see him?!"

"Of *course* I saw  him," she replied and noticed she had a 
rose in her hand. A rose Lex had thrown to her while she 
was on stage.

"Well get out of here, now! Don't even stop to get your 
things."

"Lex Luthor is a friend of mine. He wouldn't do anything to 
hurt me," Lois' naive counterpart insisted. "And besides, 
he's way too smart to let anything slip."

"I don't trust him. What's he doing here anyway?"

Lois waited for herself to respond, but realized she was in 
control when the rose slipped from her hand. She knew that 
in about one minute Toni Taylor would be coming through 
that door and in about five minutes after that, Lois would 
end up in a garbage dumpster.

She had to think fast. "Doing here? It's a nightclub, 
Clark. Why *shouldn't* he be here?" she said, glad for the 
chance to state the obvious this time.

"I still don't trust him, and if he talks ...."

"Okay, okay," Lois said and patted Clark's chest. Time was 
running out. "Toni's looking for a leak, so if you sell me 
out, she'll stop looking for one and your cover will still 
be intact."

Clark blinked slowly. "You're *volunteering* to be sold 
out?"

Lois sighed. "Clark, you were right. You're a man, she's a 
woman and you don't have to draw me a diagram. You're 
currently in a better position to, excuse the expression 
... score," she said, and extended her hand. "Deal?"

Clark smiled and took her hand, pleased by the turn of 
events. "Deal," he whispered, his voice gone soft and 
smoky.

Lois noticed the door beginning to open. She brought her 
other hand up and grabbed Clark's wrist and then began to 
struggle, or rather pretended to. "Let go of me!"

Clark, suddenly confused, tried to release her hand only to 
find Lois' grip increase.

"I said let go of me!" she demanded as the door swung open.

"Run out of olives?" Toni Taylor asked placidly.

Lois finally released Clark's hand as if it took every 
ounce of her strength. "Okay, you win," she said in a 
defeated tone. "Your goon boy here found me out."

Clark frowned. "Goon boy?"

Toni looked from Lois to Clark. "What?"

"Uh ... this is your leak," Clark said, finally snapping 
back into character. "Lois Lane. A reporter for the Daily 
Planet."

"Good work, Charlie."

"What do you want me to do with her?" Clark asked, taking 
Lois' forearm aggressively.

Toni merely tipped her head to the side indicating the 
exit. Clark quickly hustled Lois from the storeroom and 
winced as she called him several names, "jerk" being the 
mildest of her epithets.

Though Toni was obviously impressed with Clark, she didn't 
seem to completely trust him since one of her well-fed 
thugs joined the escort to the exit. Lois decided to seize 
that opportunity to forestall the inevitable trip to the 
garbage dumpster.

She put on the brakes and continued to pretend to struggle 
in Clark's grasp. "What do you mean you're putting me on a 
bus! Is your boss too cheap for cab fare?"

The tuxedo-clad thug leaned inside the doorway. "You ain't 
worth cab fare."

Lois took a sweeping kick at the thug that did not connect. 
"There isn't even a bus stop near this place!" she lied.

"How'd somebody so dumb get a job at a newspaper?" The thug 
laughed. "There's a bus stop right around the corner."

"Let's go," Clark growled convincingly and began ushering 
Lois back toward the street. As soon as they turned the 
corner, Clark released his grip. "Okay, what was that all 
about?"

"I needed a chance to talk to you where that trained 
penguin couldn't hear us," she said, keeping her voice low. 
"Toni has a bag of groceries tucked away in her office. 
According to the backstage gossip, she's planning to visit 
you tonight and give you a home cooked meal ... if you know 
what I mean."

"What?"

"Clark, just listen. The bus will be here any minute and if 
you don't get back to the club after it passes by, they'll 
get suspicious," she said, and glanced down the street. 
"After your romantic dinner with Toni, ask her about Lex."

Clark folded his arms. "What would she have to do with 
Luthor?"

Lois sighed. "She was sitting ringside with him tonight, 
Clark. How many patrons does she do that with? I think she 
and Lex are up to something."

Clark smiled. "You're jealous."

It was Lois' turn to fold her arms. "Ah, so that means 
you're jealous of Lex Luthor."

"That's ridiculous," Clark said, his self-satisfied 
expression giving way to a defensive one.

"Oh, I see. If a woman is suspicious of another woman, 
she's having some territorial emotional response, but if a 
man is suspicious of another man, like your suspicions 
about Lex, the man is being logical?"

Clark sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry. You're not jealous of 
Toni."

"Actually," Lois said. "I probably would be jealous of Toni 
if I liked Charlie King, but I don't. He's a self-centered, 
condescending creep channeling Bruce Willis from a rejected 
Moonlighting script."

"Now wait a minute!"

"Clark Kent, on the other hand," she said casually as the 
bus pulled up, "is the kind of man a lot of women might get 
territorial over."

Clark, his jaw gaping, watched the bus pull away from the 
curb.

*  *  *

Lois slipped off her shoes and then her earrings as she 
walked towards the bedroom. This time she would not be 
caught in her schlumpy bathrobe when Lex paid his visit. 
She remembered how uncomfortable and vulnerable she had 
felt. He probably loved that, she thought as she wiggled 
out of her gown. "The snake," she whispered and pulled a t-
shirt out of the dresser.

Lois was well ahead of schedule since she hadn't gone to 
Clark's apartment to chew him out over blowing her cover 
this time. Not that it had done her any good. The smarmy 
smug expression never left his face the whole time. Lois 
sighed as she buttoned her jeans. 'Smug' was not something 
Clark wore well, and it probably explained why Lex, though 
attractive, was never really handsome in her eyes.

She sat on the edge of the bed a moment after tying her 
sneakers. She wasn't looking forward to her meeting with 
Lex, but this time she wouldn't feel ambushed and off her 
guard either. She began to formulate possible responses to 
Lex's well-oiled routine, but realized she'd spent too long 
lost in her counterpoint thoughts when they were 
interrupted by a knock on her door.

Lois took a deep determined breath and headed for the door. 
She smoothed her hair back and put her hand on the 
doorknob. "Here we go," she whispered, and opened the door.

"Hi."

"Clark!"

No, no, no, this was *all* wrong. What had she done? She 
looked furtively into the hallway, grabbed Clark by his 
vest, and pulled him into her apartment and slammed the 
door.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at your 
apartment while Toni spins her pasta web!"

Clark merely shrugged casually and pulled a large bag from 
behind his back and walked over to the sofa and sat down. 
He placed the bag on the coffee table and started 
extracting small cartons. "It occurred to me," he said as 
he opened a package of paper plates, "that you might not 
have time to fix dinner after your farewell performance at 
the Metro Club and it didn't seem fair that someone was 
going to fix dinner for me, but not for you."

"But..."

"So, I thanked Toni for her thoughtful gesture, but told 
her I had a date tonight. I was able to save most of the 
groceries she threw at me."

"Clark, the story ...."

"Lois, I know what you're going to say," Clark interrupted, 
"and you're right. The story is the important focus, but I 
don't want 'the story' showing up on my doorstep with a bag 
full of groceries," he said, and turned slightly to face 
Lois more directly. "Where do we draw the line? I'm still 
new to all of this. If I find out something important for 
the story, I want to find that out at the Metro Club, not 
at my apartment while Toni is ... what did you call it ... 
'spinning her pasta web'?"

"Something like that," Lois said and offered him the 
parmesan.

Clark smiled and waved off the offering. "I just like 
having a private life ... a personal life away from work. 
Though," he said, after a thoughtful pause, "I have to 
admit I enjoy *discussing* work ... at least with you."

Lois smiled up at Clark. "That's probably because work is 
about all I ever talk about."

Clark laughed, but the moment was interrupted by a soft 
rapping on the door. "Expecting company?"

"No," she lied, having forgotten all about Lex. "Could you 
get the door and send whoever it is away?"

Clark rose from the sofa. "You sure?"

Lois nodded. "We only have enough spaghetti for two."

"Okay," he smiled and headed for the door. "I feel like a 
butler anyway in this vest."

"Oh!" Lois bolted from the sofa. She ran to Clark and began 
undoing the buttons on the vest while Clark just observed 
her in stunned silence. She didn't think Lex had taken 
notice of Clark as the bartender, but that server's vest 
was a dead giveaway.

"You told Toni you had a date," she said as she peeled the 
vest from his shoulders. "So, now you look more like you're 
on a date and less like a caterer."

Clark watched her fold the vest and place it beneath a sofa 
cushion. "And I thought pasta affected *me* strangely," he 
muttered as he opened the door.

"Let's do ... it?" Lex Luthor said as he belatedly noticed 
Clark had answered the door, and not Lois.

"Excuse me?" Clark said, and folded his arms.

"Song lyrics, Kent," Luthor said as he walked in uninvited. 
"Birds do it, bees do it, even ..."

"Educated fleas do it," Clark said, finishing the line.

"You've surprised me yet again, Mr. Kent," Lex said, and 
punctuated his sentiment with a condescending smile. "I 
wouldn't expect someone who has the blush of youth still so 
prominent on his boyish face to be familiar with the old 
standards."

Lois rose quickly from the sofa. "Hi, Lex, this is a 
surprise," she said and moved to Clark's side and slipped 
her arm around his waist. "I didn't even know you had my 
address."

Clark unfolded his defiant stance and draped an arm over 
Lois' shoulders. "Can I get you something to drink, 
Luthor," he offered casually.

"Yes, we have some nice wine," Lois added.

"*We*?" Lex said as if tasting the word and finding it 
bitter. "Then you two are a couple?"

"Yeah, just don't ask a couple of *what*," Lois responded, 
laughing at her own joke and nudging Clark with her hip. 
She was determined to undermine Lex's image of her. The 
image of a Lois Lane who was sultry, deep and not mundane. 
She would destroy that fantasy for Lex even if she had to 
rent bowling trophies and paint-on-velvet Elvis portraits. 
Actually, she could probably get both from Perry.

"I see," Lex said thoughtfully. "I should have phoned 
before dropping by. I'm sure you have plans for this 
evening that my intrusion might disrupt."

"Not really," Clark shrugged. "We were going to finish 
dinner, and then turn in early."

Lex's spine stiffened despite his efforts to appear 
unaffected. "Well, I won't detain you any longer. I had 
just wanted to congratulate you on your bravura performance 
at the Metro Club, Lois."

"More like my swan song. My undercover assignment didn't 
quite pan out," she said, and opened the door. "Though I 
wondered why *you* were there, Lex. You told me you never 
went to public places."

Lex merely half-smiled. "A bistro hidden away in an 
economically depressed area of Metropolis hardly seemed 
that *public* to me, Lois. However," he added thoughtfully, 
"I'm interested in some property in that area and so I 
decided to mix a little business with pleasure."

"You can certainly get property at fire sale prices there, 
Luthor," Clark noted dryly.

"Astute, Mr. Kent. Goodnight, Lois," he said with a slight 
nod of his head, and departed.

Lois closed the door with a sigh of relief and then smiled 
conspiratorially at Clark. Soon the smile turned to 
laughter for both of them and they embraced.

* * *

Lois drifted from the embrace, metaphysically speaking, and 
found herself in darkness. Her hand swam through the 
dimness and tripped a light switch. It was Clark's 
apartment. As with all times before, Lois was still on 
auto-pilot. Her body turned to the open doorway. "Clark? 
Come in. This is your place. Does it look familiar?"

Ah, the Nightfall asteroid. Clark's amnesia. She watched 
Clark look into his apartment. He was wanting to remember, 
but she could tell it meant nothing to him. "Not yet," was 
all he said.

Lois followed him as he looked carefully at various books 
and mementos on display in his apartment. Each was met with 
the same blank, but pained expression. He picked up the 
game ball he'd been awarded. She smiled as he put the 
football to his nose and inhaled.

"You played in college," she said, but her smile faded as 
the football, like everything else, failed to trigger a 
memory.

He lifted a framed photograph. "My parents?" he asked, and 
looked to Lois for confirmation.

"Nice people," Lois said, still not under her own control, 
though relieved she'd been kind and patient with Clark that 
far back in their relationship. "The office tried to get in 
touch with them, but they didn't answer. Phones have been 
overloaded all over the country."

Clark gave the photo one last look. "I'll keep trying," he 
said, but his voice sounded unsure.

Lois handed Clark his apartment keys. "Well, I should get 
going."

Her heart sank as she turned from him. Still not in control 
of her actions, she did as her former self willed her to 
do.

"Do you have to?" Clark asked. His tone was almost urgent.

She turned back. "Clark, there's too much at stake, I can't 
just write Superman off, we need him."

"You're right, we should keep at it," he said, though now, 
from this new rearview mirror perspective, it was so easy 
to see that all Clark wanted was to be with her.

She walked back towards him. "No, *I* should keep at it. We 
need you too. You've been through a lot. Why don't you get 
a good night's sleep. I know you must be scared."

"To have time running out, and not even know what you've 
missed, it's ..."

"Well, you've traveled the whole world, and you have a 
family that loves you," she said and touched his chest. 
"You haven't missed anything important."

Nothing important! Lois was screaming for control, but 
again, she turned from Clark and began to walk away.

"And we're friends, right?" he asked, once again causing 
her to turn and face him.

"Sure we're friends."

Clark met her halfway this time. "Are we ... more than 
friends?" he asked, and dropped his voice as if it were the 
most private intimate thing he could ask.

"More than ...," Lois' past self paused, trying to take in 
Clark's question and its implications. Lois remembered that 
moment -- now her skin seemed to burn with the realization. 
Clark was feeling something he should not have been feeling 
for her. Lois had not known about the bond back then, and 
yet she knew something was telling Clark that despite any 
comments or evidence to the contrary, there was some very 
deep connection they shared.

Let me speak! Lois mentally demanded, but her past self 
continued on. "Well, like I told you, we're partners. We 
work closely together."

"How close?" Clark asked quickly.

"Close," she responded, and at that moment her former self 
finally relinquished control.

Unfortunately, Lois had been thinking how much she would 
have loved to hug Clark. To comfort him. Not expecting to 
have complete control at that moment, her mental desire 
became a physical act. She was propelled forward, her arms 
wrapping tightly around Clark's neck. Before she could 
react, Clark folded his arms around her.

"I knew it," he whispered into her hair. "I could feel it 
... something between us."

"Oh, God."

Clark pulled away slightly. "I ... wasn't wrong, was I?"

Lois searched his eyes. Clark was always so strong, so 
focused, but here, in this exiled moment, nothing was real 
to him except... her. He looked so forsaken.  Lois 
considered the consequences of moving things too fast in 
any one time line as she'd been warned, but she couldn't 
bear to see Clark like this.

**************

"No," she said softly. "You're not wrong."

She pressed her lips gently against his. Though the kiss 
was brief, the effect lingered. Without opening his eyes, 
Clark pulled Lois back into a tender embrace. "I love you, 
Lois."

Lois was suddenly standing in a hole she had dug for 
herself, the shovel still in her hands. The best she could 
do now was try and minimize the damage she had started in a 
vulnerable moment.

"I love you too, Clark," she said and then pulled away. 
"But this is all pretty new between us."

To Lois' surprise Clark smiled. "That's why you waited 
until we were alone to tell me? The people at the Daily 
Planet don't know?"

Lois laughed. "That's for sure. I guarantee no one at the 
Daily Planet knows," she said and took his hand. "You try 
and get some sleep."

"Okay," he nodded and escorted her to the door.

Lois kissed his cheek. "Good night."

"Good night, Lois ... and thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. I was happy to help you."

"No, I don't mean for helping me-- well I do, but ..." He 
sighed in exasperation. "It's just that until you told me 
you loved me, I was starting to believe that maybe I'd lost 
my mind along with my memory."

Lois put a reassuring hand on his arm. "Clark --"

"No, I'm serious, Lois. I kept having this *feeling* every 
single time you were near me. But," he shrugged. "Everyone, 
including you, kept acting like there was noting there. 
Even when Ms. Grant told me that she and I had a 
relationship, I didn't believe her. I *couldn't* believe 
her. That feeling wasn't there."

"Hold it," Lois interrupted. "Cat told you that she was in 
a relationship with you?"

Clark nodded. "And that we were keeping it a secret ... 
especially from you."

"Incredible." Lois shook her head. "Of all the colossal 
gall. Taking advantage of a man who's lost his memory. She 
should go into business with Max Deter. I can see it now," 
Lois ranted. "They could put up a billboard. 'For the best 
in amnesia abuse ...' "

"Who's Max Deter?"

"Cat Grant with a diploma."

"Sorry?"

"Nothing." She smiled. "The important thing is that you 
didn't fall for her lie."

"Couldn't happen."

Their eyes locked a moment and once again Lois' heart 
melted. "I have a feeling you're not really sleepy, are 
you?"

Clark grinned. "No, not really."

"C'mon," she said, and took his hand. "In that case you can 
help me find Superman."

Clark's grin widened as they left his apartment. "Sounds 
good to me."

* * * * *

It was nearly midnight when Lois unlocked the door to her 
apartment. She and Clark had spent hours interviewing 
everyone from scientists and scholars to drug dealers and 
prostitutes hoping for a lead on Superman's whereabouts. It 
had all been as fruitless as it had been years ago when she 
made that same circuit by herself, but this time, with 
Clark ... it was nice.

Lois smiled and headed to the bedroom. She knew that things 
really couldn't have been too different between them back 
in those days because neither one of them was really 
"ready." Still, she conceded, it was pleasant walking near 
the waterfront with Clark, holding his hand and commenting 
on their hopes of finding Superman, refusing to dwell on 
the negative, and pausing for a moment to notice how 
beautiful the moon's reflection was as it glinted on the 
surface of the bay.

She sighed as she pulled back the covers on her bed. 
Something dangerous was happening. Lois was falling in love 
with Clark all over again. She missed him. She missed 
touching him, holding him, making love with him, and just 
the simple pleasure of Sunday mornings spent lounging in 
bed for as long as the world could do without Superman.

Lois put on a sweatshirt and shorts and slipped under the 
covers. She hated sleeping alone most of all. How 
incomprehensible her feelings would be to her counterpart 
of this era. The Lois who belonged here would have laughed 
in the face of anyone who dared suggest that one day Clark 
Kent would become the center of her world, love of her life 
and the father of her child. She closed her eyes, 
exhaustion finally setting in. How much longer would this 
last?

* * * * *

Lois had scarcely finished brushing her hair when she heard 
knocking at the door. She tossed down the brush, picked up 
her blazer and headed for the door. She peered through the 
peep hole and smiled.

"Come in, Clark," she said, and stepped back as she started 
putting on her blazer.

"Morning," he said cheerfully as he entered, and as was his 
custom, even in this time, helped Lois on with her jacket. 
However, unlike the Clark of this era, he kissed her. It 
was soft and brief, but very welcome.

Lois, who if truly of this era would have handed Clark his 
head on a platter for that, returned the kiss. "Morning," 
she said as she grabbed her purse. "Did you remember how to 
get to my apartment, or look it up in the book?"

"It's strange," Clark said, and opened the door wider. "I 
felt like I knew where I was going until I got here. For 
some reason I ended up in the alley facing your window."

Lois laughed nervously. "Really?"

He nodded. "It's like, in my mind, that's where the 
entrance to your apartment should be."

"Well," she said airily as they headed for the street, "I 
think your memory is coming back. It's just a little ... 
off."

They decided to walk to the Planet and Lois was grateful. 
It afforded her some 'thinking time' on the way. She 
couldn't figure out why she hadn't "leaped" yet. She'd 
already accelerated her relationship with this Clark far 
beyond what had been years ago, and yet she was still here, 
and the Nightfall asteroid was still coming.

"Oh, no," she whispered. Was she to tell Clark about his 
secret identity?

"What's wrong?" Clark asked, having overheard her whispered 
concern. He looked up and noticed the Planet. "Oh, right," 
he said, and removed his arm from her shoulder. "You said 
the staff doesn't know we're dating."

Lois smiled and took Clark's hand. "Maybe it's time they 
found out."

* * * * * *

"Dr. Klein?"

Klein glanced up from a stack of paperwork. "Yes?"

"I'm Joey," the handsome young man said as he extended his 
hand.

Klein rose and shook his hand, but then rotated it 
slightly. "Is that a tattoo?"

Joey smiled sheepishly as he released his grip. "You know 
how it is," he said and pulled his sleeve down over his 
wrist. "I was assigned here to help with some file 
transfers."

"Wonderful," Klein smiled. "I'm fairly new here, but I seem 
to have arrived during a major computer upgrade."

"No problem," Joey said confidently.

"Great. You can start with the personnel files."

"Well," Joey shrugged. "I was thinking about the inventory 
files. After all, the personnel know who they are, but 
they'll be needing those inventory files."

Klein smiled. "True. I was just trying to start you out 
with something less complicated. The inventory files need 
to be recoded before being transferred."

"The more complex, the better, Dr. Klein," he said 
cheerfully. "Can't wait to get started."

* * * * * *

The news room seemed almost business as usual as Lois and 
Clark exited the elevator. There was still a feeling of 
high tension in the air, but with EPRAD planning an attempt 
to destroy the remnant of the asteroid, there was also a 
feeling of guarded optimism.

"I could use some coffee," Lois said, her hand still 
clasping Clark's.

Clark stopped. A puzzled expression on his face.

"Remembering something?"

He nodded. "I think so. You never take real cream or real 
sugar in your coffee."

"Very good," she said, and laughed. "Since you remember so 
well, I'll let you get my coffee."

"Happy to," he said, but then turned back, "Do I like 
coffee?"

"Oh, Clark," she said softly and smoothed down his necktie. 
"Your memory will come back, but I have to admit it's kind 
of sweet that you remember how I like my coffee even though 
you can't remember if you like it at all."

Clark gazed down at her with that adoring expression. That 
look that could de-ice every snowbound plane at JFK in the 
middle of January. An apt analogy, Lois conceded, because 
he certainly melted her heart, and back in those days her 
heart was rumored to contain enough ice to sink the Titanic 
three times over.

"Did we like each other right away? You and me?"

Lois remembered that question and her answer from years 
ago, but now she felt maybe Clark would be more comforted 
by the truth, or at least part of it. "Would you believe me 
if I said you fell in love with me about two minutes after 
you met me?"

"It took me that long?" Clark grinned. "How long before you 
fell in love with me?"

"Well ... I ... uh --"

"Message for you, Lois," a woman said, handing off a note 
to Lois as she passed by.

"It's from Lex Luthor." Lois paused and looked up at Clark. 
His face was a blank. The name meant nothing to him. "He's 
the most connected man in Metropolis," Lois said flatly, 
with none of the naive enthusiasm she had expressed the 
first time.

Clark shrugged. "Then maybe he's heard something that might 
help locate Superman."

Lois slipped her arm around Clark's waist. "I doubt it, but 
I guess there's no harm in finding out what he wants, 
partner."

Clark reflexively wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm 
afraid I'm still not much of a partner yet."

"You'll get there, Clark."

"Well, well. What is this? Jack and Jill: The Motion 
Picture?"

Lois sighed. "And good morning to you too, Cat."

"Ms. Grant," Clark said, dipping his head slightly in 
acknowledgment.

"So what's the gag here? Why the Siamese twin act?"

Clark's eyebrows raised slightly. "Sorry?"

"You and Lois," Cat said with a sweeping hand motion. "You 
look like you just got back from one of those cheap 
honeymoon junkets to Florida ... not that Lois would be any 
fun, but ..."

"Cat," Lois sighed, tiring of the exchange. "It's not very 
complicated. Clark and I love each other."

Oh, that felt good! Lois hadn't expected to feel that way, 
not after so long. But there was definitely no denying she 
felt a slight vengeful glee at telling Cat that she and 
Clark were in love.

Cat placed her hands on her hips as her narrowed eyes 
darted from Lois to Clark. She was a cheetah sizing up her 
prey. Which would she pull down? Who would get it in the 
neck?

To Lois' surprise, Cat didn't pounce. She laughed, or 
rather what passed for a laugh from Cat. A kind of humming 
in the throat. A purr of amusement. "I get it," she finally 
said. "The stakeout at the Lexor Hotel last week."

"The what?"

Cat clucked her tongue sympathetically as she drew a finger 
down Clark's jaw line. "Poor baby. Trapped for three days 
and two nights with Dry Ice Lane."

Lois folded her arms. "Dry ice?"

"All smoke and no heat," Cat said and turned to leave. She 
slowly smoothed the undercupping of her skirt and then 
looked back over her shoulder at Clark. "When you're ready 
for a forest fire, I have the gasoline."

Lois and Clark watched her slink away, their mouths both 
slightly gaping. When they turned to look at each other and 
noticed their expressions matched, they both laughed.

Clark shook his head. "She's kind of blatant, isn't she?"

"Blatant? Try shameless," Lois countered. "The only present 
she ever thanked me for was a set of knee pads that were 
supposed to be for Jimmy to go with the Rollerblades Perry 
gave him."

"Ouch."

"At the very least," Lois agreed and tugged his arm. "Ready 
to take on Lex Luthor?"

"Sure," he smiled and took her hand.

They had almost reached the elevator when Jimmy came 
barreling up. "CK," he puffed. "Just the man I want to 
see."

"Me?"

"Yeah," the young man nodded and brandished the charred 
remnant of Superman's 'S' emblem.

Clark took the cloth gingerly and examined it. Lois could 
tell he was experiencing another one of those moments. The 
feeling of waking from a dream, but not quite remembering 
the details. Clark glanced at Lois. "What is this?"

His question was so earnest. Somehow he *knew* Lois could 
tell him what he needed to know. She took the cloth from 
Clark and then pressed it against his chest. "Superman," 
she said, her eyes locked with his. "Always shows up in the 
nick of time."

"Exactly," Jimmy agreed. "And since my last hunch paid off, 
the chief is giving me another chance. I figured we could 
go to this psychic and give her the ...."

"Uh, you know what, Jimmy," Clark interrupted and blinked a 
couple of times as he emerged from his waking slumber. "I 
just remembered my parents have been trying to reach me and 
I have to ... uh ...." He searched Lois' eyes.

"Check your phone messages."

"Right," Clark smiled and quickly disappeared into the 
elevator.

Jimmy scratched the back of his neck. "I think CK's memory 
is coming back."

Lois swallowed nervously. "What makes you say that?"

"CK always used to run off like that...well, before he 
bumped his head."

Lois shrugged innocently. "I guess I never noticed."

* * * * * *

Lois felt a crushing disappointment as the leaping effect 
took over. She wanted to be there for him when he returned, 
but she would go where she was sent. It wasn't like she had 
a choice in the matter anyway.

She found her counterpart reading a book. The words on the 
page were familiar, but she couldn't connect a specific 
time in her life when she'd read that novel. She was 
trapped reading and couldn't check out her surroundings. 
However, after several minutes had passed, Lois realized it 
had been a while since a page had been turned. She finally 
had control of the body.

Lois glanced up and noticed she was in her apartment and 
dressed for bed, but .... A breeze stirred her hair. She 
turned around and saw Superman standing by the window, his 
expression stern and implacable.

"Clark Kent said you wanted to see me." There was anger and 
hurt in his voice. It was so much easier to hear it now, 
looking back, than it had been when he had originally 
spoken that simple sentence years ago.

No! Not *here*! Why? What could she do? This had been a low 
and painful point in her life. Clark had confessed his love 
for her, and though Lois had loved him as a friend back 
then, she didn't love him romantically. Of course not. That 
was saved for Superman in those days, and there he stood, 
all primed to break her heart in exchange for the one she 
had broken.

Lois set her jaw. There was no time to formulate a plan. 
She'd have to create something on the fly.

"Superman," she said as she tossed the book on the sofa and 
approached the man of stone. "I'm so glad you got the 
message. I need your help."

**************

There was a momentary glitch in Clark's granite expression. 
Obviously that was not what he expected to hear. "My help?"

"Yes, I've decided to investigate Lex Luthor's ... business 
practices," she said, and emphasized the words with air 
quotes. "So, I'm accepting his marriage proposal so I can 
investigate from the inside."

Clark's defiant stance fell completely apart. "Lois, you 
can't do that! It's too dangerous!"

Lois observed him placidly. "That's why I called for you 
instead of letting Clark in on this, Superman," she said 
casually and seated herself in the windowsill. "If I told 
Clark, he'd go through his Clark cycle reasoning, and I 
..."

"Clark cycle?"

"You know," she said, and began counting off on her 
fingers. "'Lois, this is crazy.' 'I'm not going to let you 
do this.' 'Do you ever stop to think about your own 
safety?' 'We'll see what Perry has to say about this ...' 
and by the time Clark gets to 'I'm going with you,' a lot 
of precious time has been wasted."

"It actually sounds like good advice."

Lois couldn't help but smile. What a surprise that Clark 
would think Clark's advice sounded good. "Oh, it is, 
Superman," she agreed as she rose from the windowsill. 
"That's why I contacted you. You'd be able to stay close, 
but out of sight, in case something went wrong."

Clark's granite expression returned. "I have to side with 
Clark on this, Lois. It's too dangerous. Luthor, whether 
you believe it or not, is capable of anything, including 
murder."

Lois narrowed the space between them. Even without touching 
him she could feel his body warmth, his energy. "I wouldn't 
be wanting to investigate him if I thought he was a 
straight arrow, now would I?"

"No, but..."

"Superman, if you believe Lex is crooked and Clark believes 
he's crooked, don't you think it's about time someone found 
out for sure and brought him down if it turns out to be 
true?"

"Okay, yes, of course someone should," he conceded 
reluctantly. "But *not* like this. If he found out you 
accepted his proposal just to get a story ... Lois, he'd 
kill you."

"You're probably right." Lois sighed. "Even you can't watch 
me 24 hours a day. I guess I'll try to figure out a way to 
investigate from the outside," she said and patted his arm. 
"Thanks for stopping by and at least hearing me out. I 
think I'll turn in and work on a new angle tomorrow."

"Uh ... Lois," he said as she walked past.

Lois suppressed a smile and turned back around. "Yes, 
Superman?"

"Is that *all* you wanted to talk to me about?"

"What else is there?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing, I guess," he said, his voice confused. "It's just 
that Clark made it sound ... that is, he mentioned that he 
told you he ... that he was in love with you."

Lois nodded. "Yes, he did."

She could tell Clark was becoming agitated. It always 
happened when he obsessed on something. "I got the 
impression from Clark that an investigation of Lex Luthor 
wasn't exactly what you had wanted to talk to me about."

"Really?" Lois asked, her innocent tone unshakeable. "I 
told Clark that I hadn't told Lex yes and that I wouldn't 
until I talked it over with someone else first. Apparently 
he understood who that 'someone else' was, because here you 
are."

Clark's mouth opened, his lips moved, but for all his 
powers, he could not, at that moment, form one single word.

"And because of your good advice, I won't be telling Lex 
yes. I'll just figure out some other way of investigating 
him."

Clark shook his head. "I guess Clark got the wrong 
impression."

"What impression would that be?"

Clark cleared his throat. "Well, since you told Clark you 
only loved him as a friend and you didn't admit to loving 
Luthor ... then ... sent for .... me, I thought --"

"Oh, Superman," Lois said with practiced sympathy as she 
approached him. "You thought I asked you here to confess my 
love for you?"

The upper edges of Clark's ears turned crimson. "Well ... 
like I said," he fumbled, "Clark must have gotten the wrong 
impression."

"For what it's worth, Superman," she said, placing a hand 
on his chest. "I do love you in a special way."

"A *special* way?" he asked, his facial expression akin to 
a man who'd just been told he had a rare disease.

"*Very* special," she said, savoring the moment. "You 
almost single-handedly restored my faith in human nature, 
made me believe in magic, and most of all, Superman, you 
helped me learn to trust again."

"Lois, I ..."

"Trust is the most important thing," she said as she 
brushed her fingertips lightly across the shield on his 
chest. "Without that, I'd never have been able to open my 
heart to Clark. And though he's not happy that it's not 
romantic love ... not yet anyway," she continued. "I hope 
he understands how far I had to come emotionally just to be 
able tell him how much I love, admire and respect him, 
because he's the last person in the world I would ever 
hurt."

Clark swallowed hard and closed his eyes momentarily. "If 
he can't see that," he began, his voice very soft, "then he 
doesn't deserve you as a friend, Lois."

"He understands, Superman." She smiled up into the eyes of 
her hero. "But maybe I'd better phone him."

"I could give you a lift to his apartment," he suggested. 
"Uh, Clark .. told me he'd be up late."

"Even better," she laughed. "Just give me a few minutes to 
change into something less comfortable."

* * *

"Hi. Can we talk?" Lois asked as Clark opened the door. She 
was impressed. He'd just dropped her off as Superman and 
yet managed to reach the door dressed as Clark in less than 
ten seconds.

"I think we should."

They walked down the steps to his living room in silence. 
Lois moved to the sofa and sat in the far corner. "I wanted 
to make sure we're okay."

"I've had some time to think about this afternoon," he 
said, taking the opposite corner. "I probably shut my 
hearing off after you said you didn't feel the same way 
about me, but," he sighed, "after going back over our 
conversation, I realized how close we've become ... as 
friends," he added hastily.

"Definitely." Lois scooted a bit closer and placed her hand 
on his.  "I don't think I could have been this honest with 
you even as little as a month ago."

She laced her fingers with his. "It used to be a big show 
for me. I guess it was easier to pretend nothing touched me 
than to run the risk of being disappointed or hurt." She 
met his gaze. "You're not going to recant your confession 
of love, are you?"

Clark blushed. "If I did, I'd be lying," he admitted. "I 
guess I could cross my fingers."

Lois smiled. "Please don't. When you told me you could lose 
the Planet, say good-bye to Perry, Jimmy and everyone and 
still go on, but realized there was one thing you didn't 
want to live without ..."

"You."

"Yes," she said softly. "I have to admit that scared me, 
because it's how I've come to think of you too."

Clark became electric with anticipation. "Really?"

Lois nodded and tightened her grip on his hand. "I prided 
myself on my independence. I liked believing I'd never need 
anyone, but," she shrugged, "that day you packed up and 
left the Planet ... *that* day, I knew I'd been kidding 
myself."

"If it's any consolation," Clark said after a long pause, 
"I know *exactly* what you mean. I had all kinds of rules 
and goals set up for myself and they were easy to follow 
... until I met you."

Lois released his hand and moved her arms around his neck. 
"Is there a relationship stage between friendship and 
romance?"

He smiled and pressed his forehead against hers. "Agony?"

"Poor baby," she teased and kissed the tip of his nose. "We 
might make it past that agony phase, Mr. Kent."

"In the meantime, Ms. Lane?"

"Ah," she brightened. "You and I will take down Lex 
Luthor."

* * *

"The loop is down by one!" Klein shouted triumphantly.

The younger Wells approached Klein and looked down at 
Clark's face. "Thank God," he whispered, noting that the 
youngest of Clark's many versions had vanished.  "Miss Lane 
must be succeeding."

"Apparently," Klein said thoughtfully. "Still," he sighed, 
"I can't figure out why this is happening at all. None of 
the theories would account for this phenomenon. I just 
don't understand it."

"Neither do I," the elder Wells commented as he rose from 
an uncomfortable sitting position. "However, as with all 
things scientific, one must eliminate as many of the 
variables as possible in order to reach the most viable 
conclusion."

The younger Wells nodded in agreement. "In this case, the 
one variable Clark possessed that was untrue of the others, 
was the existence of a duplicate version of himself in the 
year 1966 and having contact with that duplicate."

He glanced warily at Klein. "Of course, if it turns out 
merely to be the fact that two Clarks existed at the same 
time in this era, you could be at grave risk, Doctor."

"True," Klein acknowledged. "But something isn't adding up 
logically here. Not to mention there's one variable we 
can't really account for."

The elder Wells nodded. "The fact that Clark is 
extraterrestrial."


* * *

"You look nice," Clark said as he stepped into Lois' 
apartment.

"So do you," she said with a smile as she straightened his 
necktie -- which didn't need to be straightened.

"I still don't like the idea of taking Luthor's limousine 
to Perry's retirement party."

Lois leaned against the door frame. "Think of it as Lex's 
last hurrah, partner, because when we get through with him, 
that limo likely won't be used for a long, *long* time."

"I guess." Clark shrugged. "But I'm worried about what 
happens when that limousine gets returned to him tonight."

"Simple," she smiled. "I turn down his marriage proposal."

"*That's* what I'm worried about, Lois. You have no idea 
how he'll react, what he'll--"

"Clark," she interrupted. "First of all, you said Superman 
would be there watching over me, and second, Lex, even if 
he is crazy, is not crazy enough to do anything to me while 
I'm in his home."

"Maybe," Clark said. "But I want you to stay with me after 
you turn him down and until he gets arrested."

"Oh?" Lois asked and folded her arms.

"Lois, I'm not saying you can't handle this. In fact, maybe 
what I'm saying is *I* can't handle this." He shook his 
head. "If Lex is even half as vindictive as I suspect he 
is, you'll be a target the minute you turn him down and if 
you won't stay with me, then I'll park outside your 
apartment --"

"Okay, okay," Lois said, cutting him off. She grabbed his 
lapels playfully. "I didn't say I wouldn't stay with you, 
Clark. Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Good, because I was ready to--"

"Shh," Lois cautioned. "I think our ride is here," she 
whispered and with a nod of her head indicated a tall, 
exotic woman dressed in traditional chauffeur's regalia 
moving up the hallway.

The woman observed them coolly. "Lois Lane, Mr. Kent. 
Follow me, please."

Clark shot a quizzical glance at Lois as they followed the 
woman. Lois shrugged. "Lex's *personal* assistant," she 
whispered.

"What exactly does a personal assistant do?"

Lois replied, quoting Mrs. Cox from memory. "Whatever is 
necessary."

* * *

"The loop sequence stopped," Klein said casually, almost as 
an afterthought.

"Excellent!"

Klein glanced up. "But he's still unconscious."

The elder Wells hurried over. "I don't understand. 
Something must still be holding him back."

"Well, at least we're down to one Clark, the *right* 
Clark," the younger Wells commented.

The gray-haired man, who had rejoined the group, sat under 
a tree with his eyes closed. "Hopefully it means Ms. Lane 
is getting close to ending this thing."

"Amen to that," Klein said, fanning his lab coat. "I've had 
about all of this heat I can stand."

* * *

Jimmy had to literally pour Perry White into the limousine. 
The besotted editor was singing, "Just say you will, say 
you will."

Jimmy turned to Lois. "You know, it must be nice to have a 
free car at your beck and call."

"Come on, Jimmy!" Perry shouted as Jimmy ducked into the 
back seat.

"The word 'free' is not in Luthor's vocabulary," Clark 
sniped. "With him you *always* pay."

Lois looked at Clark over the open door and out of Jimmy's 
line of sight. "You coming?"

"Time to find Superman to make sure he can watch you at 
Luthor's penthouse," Clark whispered. But, "I'd rather 
walk," is what he said aloud.

"Suit yourself," Lois said, but pleasantly, not with the 
hurt and anger in her voice that had been true of the first 
time this incident happened.

Clark had barely walked two paces after the engine to the 
limousine engaged when the report and concussion from the 
explosion knocked him forcefully to the ground.

He turned on his side, his eyes squinting as the fireball 
remnants of the leviathan automobile came crashing back to 
the street. "No!!"

* * *

The four men stood holding their ears as a deafening roar 
erupted. "What is it?!?" Klein shouted over the din.

The older Wells shook his head. "I haven't a clue!"

"What's happening to me?" the gray-haired man asked. He 
pulled his hands from his ears as his entire body began to 
shimmer and fade.

"Joseph!" the younger Wells shouted. "Hold on!"

"I can't," he said simply, and vanished.

As Joseph's last word still lingered in the air, Clark sat 
up abruptly. "Lois!"

**************

The noise ended as swiftly as it had begun.

Klein rushed to Clark's side and helped him stand. "Are you 
all right?" he asked urgently. "How do you feel?"

"Feel?" Clark rubbed his forehead. "Tired ... fuzzy," he 
said, trying to focus. "Dr. Klein?"

Klein nodded. "That's right. I'm sure this is very 
confusing."

"This *what* is very confusing?" he asked, but began to 
survey his surroundings. "This is near my home ... I mean 
my Smallville home," he commented foggily. "But some things 
are wrong ... out of place... I--" he interrupted himself 
when a downward glance revealed he was attired only in a 
pair of boxer shorts.

Clark's dismay quickly turned into anger. "What is this? 
Where's Lois?!"

"I...I ...Superman ... please calm down!"

"Who told you I'm Superman?"

"Your wife!" Klein assured him, but kept retreating as 
Clark advanced.

"Please, Clark, it's not Dr. Klein's fault," a familiar 
voice protested behind him.

Clark wheeled around. "H.G. Wells," he said, recognizing 
the man who had sent him and Lois on their honeymoon-
delaying adventure. He glanced past him to the older man 
similarly attired. "And you're the one who rescued me from 
the time window. The one Lois met in the alternate 
Metropolis."

The elder Wells cleared his throat nervously. "Quite 
correct."

Klein raised an eyebrow. "There's really an alternate 
Metropolis?"

Clark nodded. "Yes. I've met the other ... me from there."

"The *other* you," Klein said thoughtfully. "That must have 
been fascinating."

"Actually," Clark said, leveling a stern gaze on Klein. "He 
was a little too attracted to my wife for me to find the 
experience 'fascinating'."

"That ... that would certainly kill the moment." Klein 
tugged at his collar. "I'm having enough trouble keeping 
the two H.G. Wells straight as it is."

"If I might suggest a basic contrivance, Dr. Klein," the 
elder Wells commented. "Simply refer to me as George and my 
younger counterpart as Herbert."

Klein nodded his approval. "Thank you ... George."

"Yes," the younger man agreed. "But please, not *Herb*. I 
found Tempus' condescending usage quite off-putting."

Clark took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No 
offense, but it *never* seems to be good news when either 
of you show up," he said evenly, trying to keep the edge 
out of his voice. "And with both of you here, it's probably 
*very* bad news."

"I believe I can be of some help, Superman," the newly 
christened 'Herbert' said as he approached. "First you'll 
need to ... unspool."

Clark, as Lois had done, closed his eyes. Finer detail 
filled in the blanks between the choppy dreamlike images. 
After several moments he opened his eyes slowly. "That's 
why everything is out of place, isn't it? We're back in 
Smallville in 1966."

"Indeed."

"Now," Clark began carefully, "I'm not going to ask why. 
Frankly, I don't *care* why. I just want to know where Lois 
is."

Herbert removed the transmigrator from his pocket. "I'm 
sure you remember this, Clark."

Clark sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So Lois is 
back in time?"

'George' Wells, still maintaining a discreet distance, 
nodded. "Yes ... after a fashion."

"I can retrieve her," Herbert asserted as he pressed 
several buttons on the device in sequence. "But...this 
can't be." His expression became grim as he ran the 
sequence again.

"Can't be what?"

"She's ... gone," he whispered.

"I know she's *gone*," Clark said, his anger resurfacing. 
"Bring her back!"

Herbert raised his hands in a gesture of supplication. "I'm 
so dreadfully sorry."

Clark set his jaw and approached the younger Wells with an 
unmistakable menace. "I don't want apologies, explanations, 
or excuses," he said tersely as he literally loomed over 
the smaller man. "I want Lois back. *Now*."

Klein hurried forward and placed a restraining hand on 
Clark's arm. "Superman," he said, deliberately invoking the 
hero's name hoping it would act as a calming influence. "I 
think what he's trying to say is that currently he can't 
find Lois and so he can't retrieve her."

Herbert nodded and extended the device cautiously. "As you 
can see, Superman, she's simply not there."

Clark took the device and looked at the display screen. 
"Does this mean she's lost in time?" he asked, and turned 
to the elder Wells. "Like I was?"

"Unfortunately, no." George shook his head. "This isn't a 
time travel device, Clark, despite any similarities it may 
have to one. As you'll recall, it was used to send your and 
Lois' souls into former incarnations of yourselves."

"But it doesn't make sense," Clark said absently as he 
glanced back at the screen. "This device, if I'm reading it 
correctly, says Lois vanished in 1994. That wouldn't be a 
'former incarnation' of her."

"In all fairness," Klein interrupted softly, "you did say 
you didn't want any explanations, Clark."

"All right," Clark said bluntly. "Tell me what happened, 
but," he added, "just the bare minimum. I just want to know 
how to get Lois back."

Herbert swallowed. Despite the bluster in Clark's voice, he 
could hear the fear as well. "It seems when you were here 
in 1966 the last time, your encounter with your infant self 
set a chain of events in motion. It not only created 
identical, concentric time lines which started causing 
anomalies in the real time line, but it trapped you in some 
sort of temporal loop."

Clark tapped the transmigrator against his fingertips. 
"Temporal loop?"

"Yes," Herbert nodded. "A version of you from what I would 
guess was 1993, one from 1995 and ... well.. this one," he 
said, extending a hand towards Clark. "The current you, 
were all trapped in the loop."

Clark sighed. "So Lois was sent back to former versions of 
herself to change something?"

"Not precisely. Her task was to accelerate the time lines 
by accelerating her relationship with you in an attempt to 
bring the time lines current with the true one," Herbert 
explained. "It was hoped that if she was successful, it 
would free you from the loop."

"But I *am* free of the loop, so she must have succeeded."

"Indeed. However", he said, exchanging a furtive glance 
with his older self, "since the transmigrator tracks souls, 
but can't find Lois ... I fear she --"

"No," Clark interrupted abruptly and thrust the device back 
into Herbert's hands. "You sent her back, now send me back 
to find her."

"But ... but, Clark, there is no one to find!"

"I'll find her."

"But--"

Clark put a hand on Herbert's shoulder. "Send me 
back...please."

"Maybe Clark has a point," Klein said, his voice hopeful. 
"Since the device is still displaying the moment Lois 
disappeared, you could send Clark back to some point prior 
to that."

"Yes." Herbert brightened. "Perhaps there's still a 
chance."

"Then do it," Clark said anxiously.

Herbert nodded enthusiastically as he began pushing buttons 
on the transmigrator. "Keep in mind, Clark," he said 
without looking up from the device, "the Lois you 
encounter, though looking like the Lois you remember from 
three years ago, will be *your* Lois. Your wife."

"I understand."

He glanced up. "You'll not only have to convince her that 
you're her husband, but also prevent her from doing 
whatever it was that ... made her vanish," he said, 
avoiding stating the obvious.

Clark nodded. "Let's do it."

Herbert set the final sequence in motion. "Good luck, my 
boy," he said to the dissolving image of Clark Kent.

"Maybe he won't need luck, Herbert," Klein said 
thoughtfully. "I mean if he doesn't succeed this time, 
can't you retrieve him and try again?"

"Theoretically it's probably viable," he said with a shrug. 
"However, I plan to simply monitor the transmigrator. The 
instant I see Lois make a reappearance, I'll retrieve both 
of them, and then --"

His confident chatter was interrupted by a low rumble. 
Klein, who had come to expect almost anything at this 
point, was thrown to the ground by the force of a powerful 
tremor and collided with Herbert.

A tree the elder Wells had been leaning against suddenly 
vanished, causing him to topple backward and hit the ground 
hard. Before either of his companions could come to his 
aid, trees throughout the small wooded area began to vanish 
as well.

"Oh, God," Klein groaned. "Now what did we do?"

"Dear me," Herbert exclaimed and rolled away from the spot 
where he'd been sitting. A small green stalk had appeared 
and was growing rapidly. "What do you make of this, Dr. 
Klein?"

Klein shook his head. "I don't know," he said grimly. "But 
if a giant climbs down the other end, I hope he just eats 
me and puts an end to it."

"Astounding," Herbert said, surveying the changing 
landscape. "There's row after row going out to the 
horizon."

As the young stalks reached the height of Klein's knees, he 
noticed brown stalks of some type sprouting around the 
perimeter. "Oh, no!" he shouted and began running towards 
the other Wells.

"What's wrong?" Herbert asked, struggling to keep pace 
through the jungle of rapidly growing stalks.

"I think George is lying right on the fence line."

"But there isn't a fence!"

"Give it a minute," Klein puffed, his breath growing 
ragged.

George, still dazed from his fall, turned slowly, his eyes 
widening as he saw the sprouting fence posts approaching 
him like a jack-in-the-box army. "What the devil?"

Klein grabbed George's wrist and yanked him away just an 
instant before a fence post took his place. The three men, 
their jaws gaping, watched as the fence post army closed 
ranks. Horseshoe staples suddenly embedded themselves into 
the posts and glistening strands of barbed wire snaked 
their way through the staples. In less than five minutes, 
the fence was complete.

Klein wiped a sleeve across his forehead. "I'll accept any 
theory at this point."

"I'm at a loss," Herbert said, consulting the 
transmigrator. "It's nothing Clark could have done. He 
hasn't had time to even prevent Lois' disappearance much 
less precipitate this cataclysmic change."

"Indeed," George nodded. "I'm afraid Lois' disappearance is 
more likely the cause. After she vanished, it apparently 
triggered a chain of events that has brought us to this 
moment."

Klein shrugged. "But what *is* this moment?"

"There seems to be a placard of some type affixed to the 
front of the fence," Herbert said, pointing out a sign a 
few paces ahead. "Perhaps it can shed some light on the 
situation."

"It's better than nothing," Klein said glumly as he moved 
up the fence line.

Reaching the spot, Klein pressed down a strand of barbed 
wire and poked his head and shoulders through. He craned 
his neck awkwardly to read the sign. "It says LFC ... 
PRIVATE PROPERTY ... TRESPASSERS WILL BE ..."

"PROSECUTED," a new voice interrupted.

Klein quickly pulled his head back through. A bearded man 
in a khaki jumpsuit and matching baseball cap was leveling 
a double-barrel shotgun at him. The two H.G. Wells already 
had their hands raised. Klein did the same.

"At least you can't claim you don't know how to read when 
you're charged with trespassing," the man said blandly.

"Trespassing?" George bristled. "That's absurd. Do we look 
like the type of men who would steal beans?"

"Corn," Klein corrected.

"These are hard times, Pop. No telling what a man would 
steal these days," he said as he moved from the older to 
the younger Wells. "Aren't you a little old to be playing 
video games?" he asked, noticing the transmigrator in one 
of Herbert's raised hands.
"Beg pardon?"

"This," the man said as he struck the transmigrator sharply 
with the shotgun. The device fell to the ground in two 
pieces.

"Oh, God," Klein whispered.

The man made a rapid jerking motion with the shotgun 
indicating that they should precede him. "Get moving, 
gentlemen."

***********

* * *

Clark found himself powerless to turn away from Perry 
White, who was relating a story about Elvis Presley's twin 
brother who had been born dead. The transmigrating effect 
was always disorienting, at least what Clark could recall 
of the experience that had delayed his wedding night, but 
he could not remember having to wait this long to gain 
control.

As the story droned on, Clark became concerned that he 
would remain powerless, but by the time Perry began singing 
Lonely Teardrops, Clark was finally in control of his 
former self. He was not going to waste any time. He rose 
from his seat abruptly, stepped past Jimmy and took Lois' 
hand. "Would you like to dance?"

Jimmy turned his head. "Dance? To *this* music? It sounds 
like somebody playing a guitar in a bathtub."

"It's a sitar, Jimmy. Besides," Clark smiled as he pulled 
Lois into an intimate dance hold, "it's not about the 
music."

Jimmy watched in stunned silence as Lois and Clark took the 
dance floor. He shook his head. "I think something's going 
on with those two, Chief."

Perry, a scarf looped around his neck by a belly dancer who 
was urging him to follow, merely shrugged at Jimmy and left 
the table with his seductively dressed partner. Jimmy 
sighed. "And the cheese stands ... *sits* alone."

"This is a nice surprise," Lois said softly against Clark's 
shoulder, but hoped he hadn't heard the longing in her 
voice.

"I love dancing with you, Lois," he whispered as he nuzzled 
her ear. He had most definitely heard the longing.

Lois' breath caught. She knew she should just resist, but 
she'd grown tired of waiting and wanting. "You shouldn't 
love dancing with me, Clark," she replied coquettishly and 
tugged down the edge of his shirt collar. She kissed his 
neck, her lips clinging a moment as if in protest of the 
separation. Though quite aware of what kind of signal she 
was sending Clark, she didn't care anymore.

"Mm," he cooed softly. "Why shouldn't I enjoy it?"

Lois pulled her head back slightly and gazed up into his 
eyes and smiled. "Because the last time we danced like 
this, I smacked you for cutting in."

Clark returned her smile. "The White Orchid Ball," he said 
as he moved his arms down to the small of her back and 
pulled her firmly against his body. "You looked so 
beautiful, Lois, I had to hold you just to believe you were 
real."

Clark's words dissolved into a kiss. The pretense of 
dancing was forgotten. Lois and Clark, in their own way, 
were making love to each other fully clothed in the middle 
of a crowded, noisy restaurant. "You know," Clark finally 
said as he broke from the kiss, his breath stolen by his 
lover, "I probably had that smack coming."

"No," Lois said airily and drew her thumb across Clark's 
lower lip in a vain attempt to remove the lipstick smudge. 
"I can think of worse offenses than cutting in on a dance."

"True," Clark conceded. "Like x-raying your lingerie in 
case I lose at strip poker."

Lois stepped back and froze, her heart pounding. "Clark?!"

"Mrs. Kent ... I presume?"

"Clark!" she shouted and launched herself back into his 
arms. Lois repeated his name over and over as she 
alternated between sobbing and laughing.

"I'm here, honey," he assured softly. "I'm right here."

* * *

The bearded man stood in the doorway of the spartan office. 
"This little building has all the comforts of home except a 
telephone," he said, brandishing a key. "So I hope you 
don't mind being locked in while I go up the road to call 
the cops."

"At least this building has air-conditioning," Klein said 
as the door slammed.

"Do you think that air-conditioner could be pushed out to 
afford an escape?" Herbert asked.

Klein shook his head. "Not a chance. See this?" he asked as 
he tapped a steel rod. "They've got the unit caged in. 
However," he continued, "when we were walking up here, I 
noticed a concrete wall just behind this building. There's 
so little space between the two, I doubt the unit would 
clear the gap even if it wasn't caged."

Herbert shook his head. "Somehow I doubt this is how the 
Ken