Medical Miracles
by Alicia U. <lxu2@cwru.edu>
Rated: G
Submitted: June, 2003
__________

A short, elderly man with round, wire-rimmed glasses and a 
grey bowler hat slowly climbed out of the driver's seat of 
his very unusual vehicle.  Then he proceeded to make sure 
his machine was securely parked between some large 
buildings in the nearly-deserted ally.  He puttered around 
the vehicle ensuring that it was very well hidden from the 
casual observer's eye.  When he was satisfied, he glanced 
at the street sign at the corner of the alleyway to make 
sure he was at the right location.

"Hyperion Avenue," he muttered to himself.  "Aah, my trusty 
friend, you've gotten me to the correct destination again.  
Let's just hope our timing is precisely correct."

Then he patted the front of the vehicle in a sort of 
farewell and started on his way.

The strange old man had an interesting habit of talking to 
his trusty machine.  It was sort of like he thought that it 
was more likely to respond favorably to positive 
encouragement - almost like some sort of animal rather than 
an inanimate object.  The thought was quite laughable.  
There was no way that his vehicle could ever be compared to 
any dog, horse or human he knew!

This machine and he had been through many life-changing 
experiences together.  He would almost dare to call the 
vehicle his best friend; however, at times it could be his 
worst enemy.  This incredible invention had proven itself a 
catalyst to change both history and the future.  It was an 
undeniable asset if in the right hands, but sometimes it 
was in the possession of the worst people that were aimed 
at doing the most horrible things.  Now was not the time to 
think about those mistakes, though.  The man had many more 
important things on his mind.

Those thoughts just made him realize what a mistake 
designing this machine might have been.  For the last 
twenty years of his life, he had spent long hours weighing 
both the merits and the flaws of his sacred brainchild.  
Even through the agonizing debates with himself, he 
realized that it was impossible to reach a conclusion as to 
whether it was right or wrong for him to invent this 
vehicle.  The one thing he was sure of, though, was that he 
would never be able to part with the machine he had 
dedicated most of his adult life to creating.

However, there was something much more pressing at hand 
today than his debate with himself over the merits of his 
machine.  This problem was more important than anything 
else that was troubling his mind.  For once his troubles 
did not deal with the criminal who had stolen his vehicle 
and had wreaked so much havoc many times before in 
countless different time periods.

The short, elderly man nodded in a sort of farewell to the 
vehicle.  Then without a second thought, he hurried down 
the street towards a house he had visited many times in his 
past, and would probably visit again many times in his 
future.

The taxi cabs and other cars rushing past him in a hurry to 
get wherever they were going and the pedestrians stopping, 
however quickly, to marvel at his apparent oddity were now 
completely commonplace to him.  However, when he had first 
come to this world, all of those things had greatly 
surprised him.

The man, as always, did not notice the strange looks the 
pedestrians were giving him nor did he marvel at the 
different cars that were speeding past.  There were many 
much more important things on his mind.  Of course he 
looked out of place, but he didn't really care.  Like every 
time he had previously visited, now he again had a sense of 
urgency that did not allow him to feel self-conscious about 
his appearance.

It was true that his clothes were a bit out of date.  Yes, 
he did look quite unusual and out of place walking around 
in clothes that were in style almost 100 years ago. There 
wasn't time to ponder this thought today, though because 
there were so many more important things to do!  He had not 
traveled here today to think about neither the fashions of 
the time nor the psyche of Metropolis residents; he was a 
man on a mission.

In a few minutes, the man had reached destination, the 
lovely brownstone at 348 Hyperion Avenue that housed two of 
the most important people he knew.  If this was the day he 
had expected it to be, there would be much excitement in 
this lovely house.  Its inhabitants would be welcoming a 
new member of the family home.  It would probably be one of 
the happiest times in the couple's lives.  If he had made 
his calculations correctly and his trusted vehicle had not 
let him down, today was the day they all had hoped and 
prayed for and that he had helped make possible.

The short man adjusted his hat and quickly raised his hand 
to knock.  Before he could even strike the door, it opened 
and a man he knew so very well stood before him bursting 
with enthusiasm.  Yes, this was definitely the correct day, 
judging from the younger man's appearance.

Maybe it should have seemed weird to the man that the 
younger man appeared to know that he was there before he 
even had the opportunity to knock on the door.  However, 
this young man was blessed with many superhuman wonderful 
powers; he probably realized someone was coming to the door 
and did not want to disturb their new family member because 
of a doorbell ringing or loud knocking.  This man was the 
fabled Superman.  And the older man was ever so glad to be 
able to call him a friend.

"Aah," the older man said, "I see my calculations were 
indeed right on target."  He grinned at the exuberant man 
on the other side of the door.  "May I come in?"

"Mr. Wells!" the Superman exclaimed extending his hand in 
greeting.  "Come in, come in!  Lois and I have been 
expecting you!"

This old man at the door was a very welcome visitor, 
indeed.

"Yes, yes, precisely.  I should have expected that you'd 
have figured it out that I would be here at this point in 
time precisely," the old man said, shaking his head a bit.  
Sometimes this time travel thing was a bit much for him.  
"You must have known that I planned to visit you on this 
day and you remember it from your past.  Quite right, you 
know.  It is rather funny that you know what I am going to 
do before I even do it."

Yes, the visitor at this house was H.G. Wells, author and 
time traveler.  In his book "The Time Machine," Wells had 
written about a man who invented a machine that allowed him 
to visit different time periods both past and future.  What 
many people did not know, however, is that the story was 
somewhat autobiographical.  Wells had always been an 
inventor; however, the other inventors in his circle of 
friends had always sort of written his inventions off as 
fancies of a slightly mentally unbalanced writer whose 
imagination had taken hold of his mind.  However, they were 
so wrong.  This time machine that he had invented and had 
written about had been one of the most influential devices 
in future history.  He had saved Superman's life on many 
different occasions with this time machine.  However, in 
Wells's time, Superman did not even exist so none of his 
contemporaries believed his stories.  Most of his 
contemporaries wrote him off as a lunatic with an 
incredible imagination.

And that led them to today.  Again, Wells found himself on 
the doorstep of Superman's home, more accurately described 
as the home that his alter ego, Clark Kent, shared with his 
wife, Lois Lane.  It was the day Wells had long anticipated 
- the day when the first child of this super couple had 
come home.  In the history of the future, today was one of 
the most important days in history because Superman's 
children had helped to create the wonderful Utopia of the 
future.

For once, Wells's arrival did not trigger feelings of 
anxiety in the Kents, for they knew the reason for his 
visit.  For once, it was not because the deranged time 
traveler, Tempus, had escaped to wreak havoc again.  Wells 
was there today because he had played an instrumental role 
in allowing this day to come about.

"So for once the tables are turned, Mr. Wells," Clark, his 
eyes dancing with excitement and mirth, responded.

It usually happened that Wells had knowledge of the future 
that surprised the Kents.  But this time, it seemed like 
the Kents had realized what Wells was going to do even 
before he did it.

Before Wells could respond, Clark put his hand on Wells's 
shoulder and guided him into the living room.

Just as she saw her husband and the visitor at the entrance 
to the living room, the woman, who was carrying a newborn 
baby, exclaimed, "Mr. Wells!  It is so good to see you 
again!  Clark and I have been waiting for you!"

"Yes, yes, indeed, Miss Lane.  Your husband told me."  He 
grinned at her widely and his eyes drifted down to the baby 
in her arms.  "My dear," his breath caught in his chest as 
he realized the importance of the infant whom Lois Lane 
held in her arms.  "So this is the child, the blessed 
child."

Lois smiled down at the baby in her arms and said in an 
uncharacteristically soft voice, "He is, isn't he."

Clark clapped his hand on Wells's shoulder and said, "Mr. 
Wells, please sit down."

"Yes, yes, indeed, Mr. Kent," Wells said as he took the 
offered seat next to the couch.

Clark sat down next to Lois and found himself stroking the 
baby's head unconsciously.  He still couldn't believe it.  
Here he was with his wife and newborn son.  He almost 
couldn't believe that just two years ago, he'd believed 
that this day would never come - that they would never be 
able to have a child of their own.

In fact, if H.G. Wells hadn't shown up when he did two 
years ago, he and Lois would have forever been under the 
impression that they would never be able to have a baby of 
their own.  They would have believed Dr. Klein that he and 
Lois were biologically incompatible.

"Now, I know you may not want to do this, Miss Lane, Mr. 
Kent," Wells began.

Wells cleared his throat nervously and found himself 
suddenly very uncomfortable about the question he was going 
to ask.  Of course it was much easier now that he knew that 
the parents realized what he had come to do and that they 
seemed anxious to let him do it, but he knew that it would 
be hard for them to let go of their newborn son if only for 
a few seconds.

His plan was going just splendidly.  In fact, he had just 
had the brilliant idea a few days ago.

Ever since he first discovered Utopia, he had asked how 
Lois and Clark had been able to have their children and he 
had heard several versions of the same stories.  He knew 
that Clark had been told that his biology was incompatible 
with a human woman and that their species were just too 
different to ever have a child together.  However, the 
future proved this wrong as Wells found out.  The most 
common story the children of the Utopian future learned in 
their Kent History classes was that the Kents learned that 
they could, indeed, have children because of the influence 
of a nameless old man in a hat.  And that got Wells 
thinking.  Who else could this man have been?  It sounded 
like, well, it sounded like him.  It was at that point that 
he realized, to his utter dismay, that he must have had 
some role in the creation of this wonderful Utopia.

Yes, it had to be him.  From that point forward, he had 
taken it upon himself to find out just how he had helped 
Superman and Lois Lane be able to have children.  And as 
the days passed, Wells did some intensive research and came 
up with the exact time that Lois and Clark would have been 
finding out that they were biologically incompatible of 
reproduction.  Then he came up with the idea to bring them 
their future baby to make them realize that the future 
would eventually work out in their favor.  However, as to 
how the future would work out that way, he was at an 
incredible loss for ideas.

But a small sliver of luck had fallen his way.  It was 
incredibly serendipitous, almost like the fates had been on 
his side for once.  To get his mind off this quandary he 
had put himself in the midst of, he decided to visit the 
alternate universe to help that Clark find his Lois who was 
lost in the Congo on an assignment.  He had a much more 
solid plan about how to do that than the complete lack of a 
plan to help the Lois and Clark of his universe with their 
problem.  However, something happened when he set the time 
machine to switch universes and that eventually led to his 
realization of what he had to do to help the Kents conceive 
a child.

"Like we said, Mr. Wells, we have been expecting you.  We 
realized that you were here to take him to the past," Lois 
said in a somewhat shaky voice, interrupting Wells's 
thoughts and in fact putting his thoughts into words.

She didn't like the idea of giving up her son, just two 
days old, for any length of time especially if she couldn't 
see him.  But she did remember a night not so long ago when 
she and Clark had been in an infinitely darker place.  When 
Mr. Wells showed up, he had given them a wonderful gift - 
and their baby son was an integral part of that gift.  She 
knew that in order to give herself the gift that she was 
holding in her arms today, she had to give her past self 
past that same hope.

"Just promise that you will be careful with him, Mr. Wells.  
Please."

"Oh, I will, Miss Lane.  Believe me, my dear, he is cargo 
more precious than I have ever carried before."

To Lois, these words sounded strangely like famous last 
words.  "But, but, what about Tempus?  He isn't going to 
take my baby?  Are you sure you are completely safe?"

Now Lois was having some major doubts.  The more she 
thought about it, the less her rational mind was willing to 
let her newborn son go with Mr. Wells.  Before it was 
actually time to let him go, Lois had told herself that she 
would be able to do it.  Now that the decision was upon 
her, though, the answer was not quite so cut and dry.

"Lois, it's okay.  Really, it is.  Nothing is going to 
happen to him."  Clark wrapped an arm around his wife's 
back in what he hoped was a comforting hug.  He sure hoped 
he sounded a lot more confident than he felt.

Clark knew that he was harboring most of the same new 
parent jitters that Lois was openly showing.  They were 
both justified in expressing so much more anxiety for their 
child than the normal new parents.  After all, since Clark 
was Superman, if people found out that this little boy was 
Superman's son, they might want to hurt his precious child 
to get back at the Man of Steel.  Plus, even disregarding 
the fact that he was Superman, he and Lois had many enemies 
in their own respect as reporters, and their son was not 
entirely safe.  There were thousands of people in 
Metropolis alone who would want to get their hands on this 
child.  And Clark had vowed never to let anyone touch their 
baby boy.

He was filled with a sense of dread about letting Mr. Wells 
take his son somewhere that he was unable to go.  The boy 
would not be under his protective eye.  However, he was 
inclined to trust H.G. Wells in this case.  After all, if 
it wasn't for Wells doing this, they wouldn't have ever 
known that they could even have a baby in the first place, 
and their new son would not even exist.

From the look in Lois's eyes, Clark knew that she was 
wrestling with the same doubts, but reaching the same 
conclusion.

Lois took a deep breath and clutched her son tightly to 
herself.  "Okay, Mr. Wells, I know you have to do this."  
She glared at him menacingly when she said, "But don't let 
anything happen to him.  Guard him with your life."

Clark squeezed Lois's shoulders tightly and again ran his 
finger lightly over his son's head.

"But we know you have to do this," Clark said with a tone 
of finality.  "And we are so grateful to you for this, 
believe us."

Lois nodded enthusiastically.  "Yes, Mr. Wells, I know we 
wouldn't have him if it weren't for you."

Then Clark stood up and took his son out of Lois's arms and 
very gently handed him to Mr. Wells.

"Please don't keep him long!" Lois exclaimed, already 
suffering from a severe case of separation anxiety.

"Yes, yes, my dear, I'll have him back in just a moment," 
the man said quickly.  I assure you, my dear, you won't 
even realize he's gone."

Clark held Lois close because he could sense that she was 
very nervous and that she was experiencing many visions of 
the horrible danger that her son was going to be exposed to 
the second he left her arms.  He, too, felt very anxious at 
the thought of letting Wells take his son away to the past.  
Even though he knew how wonderful it was to have seen his 
future child at that point in his life and that it had 
given both him and Lois a renewed sense of optimism for the 
future, as a parent, he couldn't rationalize the thought of 
allowing his newborn child to travel two years into the 
past without some form of protection.  It was even worse 
for him to deal with because the reason for his newborn 
child to travel through time was an extremely selfish one.

"Mr. Wells," Clark said a bit more sharply than he 
intended, "maybe I should go with you.  You know, to ensure 
that you get there and back safely?"

Wells shook his head animatedly.  "Oh, no, Mr. Kent!" he 
exclaimed.  "I can't let you do that!"

Lois seemed a lot more comfortable with the idea of Clark 
going with their son.  So she exclaimed, "But why not?  
Both of us would feel a lot better if you had some Super 
help."

Lois's eyes flashed with anger over Wells's reaction.  She 
didn't understand why he would reject such a logical plan.

Clark unobtrusively put his hand on Lois's shoulder to 
restrain her from jumping at Wells to take the baby out of 
his hands and ruin the whole thing.  "Mr. Wells..."

"Miss Lane, Mr. Kent," Wells said sympathetically.  "I 
realize what both of you are thinking.  I can assure you, 
though, that everything will be fine.  Indeed, it will.  I, 
myself, would love some Super assistance, but I can not 
allow it."

Both Lois and Clark glared at him, their eyes both begging 
the same question.

Wells continued before either of them could stop him, "But 
you see if Mr. Kent were to come with me, he will be 
changing the past.  If the Mr. Kent of the future and the 
Mr. Kent of the past even meet, it will cause quite a rift 
in the lifetime continuum."

"The lifetime continuum?" Clark asked.

He looked at Lois and he was sure that his puzzled 
expression mirrored the one she was wearing.  Neither of 
them had ever heard of such a thing as the "lifetime 
continuum."

"Indeed, Mr. Kent.  The lifetime continuum is a very 
fragile thing, indeed.  We do not want to tamper with it," 
Wells said in a very determined voice.

Lois looked at Clark and then directed her gaze back to 
Wells.  "But, Mr. Wells, what is this lifetime continuum?"

This was really grating on her nerves and she knew that she 
was about to change her mind about letting her son go with 
Mr. Wells.  The more she had to deal with his crazy 
theories, the less likely she was to give up her son to 
this man.

"Oh, dear me!" Wells exclaimed.  "Didn't I explain that 
before?"

Both Lois and Clark shook their heads.

"Oh, so sorry!  The lifetime continuum is a very important 
component to all traveling through time.  It is at the very 
crux of the problem that many people have had."  He looked 
at Lois and Clark, who still didn't seem to understand.  
"Yes, of course, if the lifetime continuum is ever broken, 
there are many horrible consequences to whomever breaks the 
continuum."  Then he stopped talking, thinking he had 
adequately explained himself.

"But what is the continuum, Mr. Wells!" Clark exclaimed in 
exasperation.  Sometimes Mr. Wells was even more difficult 
to communicate with than Dr. Klein!  It was really hard to 
believe that H.G. Wells was a writer!

"Oh, yes, of course, Mr. Kent.  It is quite simple, in 
fact," Wells said quickly.  "The lifetime continuum is a 
very strict pattern of a person's very existence.  Someone 
cannot travel into the past or the future to change their 
lives.  It ruins the continuity of their life and can cause 
dire consequences, hence the term, 'lifetime continuum'."

"But then why are you allowed to take our son back?  How 
can *you* travel through time and not ruin the continuum?" 
Lois asked.

Wells answered calmly, "Well, Miss Lane, it is not that 
easy to explain.  You see, I am not a factor in either your 
past or your future, thus I do not have an effect on your 
lifetimes.  I am a bit of, I don't know really how to 
describe it: I believe I am a bit of an impartial 
observer."

Clark huffed loudly.  Wells was definitely not an impartial 
observer.  If Wells was an impartial observer, then 
Superman was really a monkey disguised as a man dressed as 
a Superhero!  The statement was just that absurd.

"You see, Mr. Kent," Wells said quickly, "that is not the 
best way to explain it, but I think you see what I mean.  
What I meant to say was that I am not someone who is a 
constant force in your life, a contemporary, perhaps."  He 
suffered through a bit of an irritating thought.  "You see, 
Miss Lane, Mr. Kent, the reason I can travel through this 
time period, but not my own is that, well, to be completely 
honest, I am dead to everyone in this time.  Therefore, in 
this time period, I cannot hurt my past or my future 
because, well, I am not really here."  He noticed that the 
Kents were both still not convinced.  "You both do not want 
to know what will happen if you go back to visit yourselves 
in the past.  It is too horrible for me to say.  I am 
desperately sorry, though, my dear Miss Lane, but I just 
can not bear to tell you what would happen.  It is always a 
bad idea, believe me," he said in a tone that made it 
completely obvious that he'd had experience with this.

Clark looked at him in obvious disbelief and said, "But, 
Mr. Wells, didn't Lois and I go back in time to save me as 
a baby?  Wasn't that changing my future and my past?"

Lois nodded in agreement.  Now it seemed like Wells was 
making excuses and definitely wasn't telling them the 
truth.  He had probably just made up this whole "lifetime 
continuum" thing!  She had to fight the urge to take her 
son right out of his arms to ensure his safety.  Actually, 
she wasn't entirely sure whose safety she was protecting: 
her son's or Wells's.  Because if Wells was responsible for 
something hurting her son, he had better fear for his life!

"Precisely, Mr. Kent," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.  
"You did, indeed, save yourself as a baby."  Before Clark 
could interrupt, he continued, "You see, my boy, that did 
not ruin the lifetime continuum because as a baby, you were 
not old enough to remember yourself as an adult," Wells 
said like he was making perfect sense.

Lois glared at Mr. Wells when she said, "So you're saying 
that Clark can't go back two years in time with you because 
if he makes contact with the past version of himself, the 
past version of himself will be able to remember it?  But 
that doesn't make sense!  Clark and I both remember 
everything that happened the day you took our son back to 
our past selves.  How will Clark being there change that 
memory?"

"Miss Lane," Wells said as calmly as he could, knowing that 
what seemed like perfect sense to him might not seem that 
way to the Kents, people who had not seen the horrors that 
he had witnessed.  "Again, it is a very complex problem, 
one that I have spent many an hour deliberating.  Since 
your son is a baby, he will not able to remember his trip 
through time and since you did not yet know him, it was 
harmless to show you a little piece of your future, 
especially because it gave you hope when you both were in 
such a horrible state.  But if you had seen your future 
self..." he trailed off and shuddered involuntarily.  "I 
assure you, Miss Lane, there would be a fate far too 
terrible, too horrible, words could not even describe it."

"Just how horrible is horrible?" Clark asked, obviously 
weighting the consequences in his mind.  "Remember, I'm 
Superman!" he added in his best Superman voice.

Wells looked at Clark hoping that he revealed the extreme 
gravity of the situation by the expression in his eyes.  He 
was pleading with them to accept his word on the subject as 
truth.  However, he knew that this was too much to expect 
from the Kents.  They both had a reporter's instinct, the 
instinct to question even the most concrete facts.  
Actually, it was a quite admirable trait that helped them 
both stand out as such memorable historical figures even if 
it weren't for Superman.

However, for once, he wished that he did not have to back 
up his statements.  He did not want to express the horrors 
he had seen in words.  It was almost too much for him to 
think about.

The worst time travel breach of the lifetime continuum that 
he had ever seen had happened just recently.  In Utopia, 
time travel was to become very common; however, there were 
some very important rules that needed to be instilled to 
ensure the safety of all of the time travelers.  One rule, 
the rule that was the most strictly enforced, was that 
people could not visit anywhere in time except before they 
were old enough to be cognizant of the situation or after 
their death, but they could not visit their past when they 
were old enough to understand the meaning of the situation 
- old enough to have a recollection of their future selves.  
Basically, no one was allowed to go back and change his 
past by altering the way they reacted to a situation 
because it caused a wrinkle in the lifetime continuum that 
would become irreversible.

This rule was instilled because of one man: Tempus.  
Although he deserved what he had gotten in the end, it was 
still a horrible way for a man to meet his end.

"Mr. Kent, Miss Lane," Wells said in a very serious tone.  
"Let me explain to you why you no longer have to fear 
Tempus, for it will ease your minds a bit and it will 
illustrate the gravity of the consequences for breaking the 
lifetime continuum."

Lois and Clark nodded eagerly.  They had not realized that 
something had happened to Tempus.  They had assumed that 
something had happened to lock him up safely in the future 
without the power to use a time machine because they had 
not seen him in a few years, ever since he had run for 
president as John Doe.  However, the thought that he might 
come back was always paramount in their minds.

"Right, indeed, now, where do I begin?  Yes, of course, a 
few weeks after Tempus had somehow escaped from prison, he 
had come across another time travel device.  Apparently, as 
I have heard in many tales from witnesses, Tempus had a 
plan where he would recruit versions of himself from both 
the past and the future to come together to form an army to 
destroy the Utopian civilization we all know and cherish 
with all of our hearts."

Lois gasped involuntarily.  Whenever she thought of Tempus, 
her heart leapt into her throat.  Of course if he wanted to 
destroy Utopia, he would start at the source: either her, 
Clark, or their children.

Wells continued, "As I was saying, Tempus had no knowledge 
of the lifetime continuum, and even if he did, he would 
have just disregarded it thinking he was above the rules.  
However, as soon as the first Tempus of the future had met 
the first Tempus of the past, strange things began to 
happen.  First, anyone who had contact with the Tempus from 
any time period seemed to notice interesting changes in 
their patterns of movement, sort of like you would see in a 
person with a brain tumor on their motor cortex.  However, 
Tempus did not stop there nor did he even seem to realize 
the changes in his body and mind.  And, mind you, these 
changes were quite catastrophic!"

"Of course he didn't," Lois muttered.

Wells did not acknowledge Lois's comment and continued, 
"Tempus continued to travel to different time periods in 
his life to recruit more versions of himself for his army, 
not even realizing all of the problems he was causing to 
himself as well as the past and future versions of himself.  
Then when they were all together, well, I did not see it 
myself, mind you, but I did hear about it many, many times, 
it seems there was a massive explosion and every Tempus 
from both the past and the future seemed to rise up in 
flames and then they all disintegrated.  And in the end, 
since he had so destroyed his lifetime continuum, it was as 
if," his voice trailed off with the horrific memory.  "It 
was if he had never existed."

"Are you serious?" Clark asked in a hushed voice.  "Are you 
sure it was Tempus?  Are you sure it really happened?"  It 
was almost too much to hope for that Tempus might really 
have changed his life so dramatically that he would have 
never existed.

"Indeed, Mr. Kent.  I am positive.  I have searched far and 
wide, yet there is no record anywhere of anyone named 
Tempus ever existing.  It is utterly amazing."

"Oh my God," Lois muttered under her breath.  "He really 
never existed?  So he can never hurt us again?"

"Indeed, Miss Lane.  I believe he is truly gone.  And you 
can now see the consequences of ruining your lifetime 
continuum.  This is why I can not allow Mr. Kent to 
accompany me to the past.  You see, my dear, as much as I 
would love to have his help, I cannot allow it."

Lois again looked at Clark and saw that he still seemed a 
bit troubled.  She knew that they both were having doubts 
about the validity of Wells's assumption that Tempus truly 
was gone and would not hurt them again.

"And you are absolutely positive the Tempus is gone?" Clark 
asked again.  "He really can not come back to hurt us?  
Even if it was before he ended his own life?"

"Indeed, Mr. Kent.  I believe that he is gone, completely 
gone.  There is no chance that he will be able to bother 
you or your family again."  He grinned at the Kents, happy 
that he could share this incredible news.

Then Wells looked down at the baby in his arms.  "Now, Miss 
Lane, Mr. Kent, I believe it is time for me to take this 
little man back to the past.  The sooner I do it, the 
sooner you will have him back."

Lois looked at Clark, still not entirely sure that she 
wanted to do this.  However, Clark seemed resigned to the 
fact that he would have to let Wells go.

"He's right, Lois.  We have to let him do this now.  If we 
wait any longer, our doubts will get the best of us," Clark 
said in a very resigned tone.

"Miss Lane, Mr. Kent, I assure you that you will not even 
realize he is gone," Wells tried to reassure them.   "I 
promise that I will make sure to bring him back not even 
one second from now.  You won't even realize that he is 
gone!"  Wells touched the baby's head gently.  "I would 
never let anyone hurt this blessed child, the co-founder of 
Utopia.  I will sooner sacrifice my own life than let 
anything hurt him."

Although both Lois and Clark knew that he was completely 
truthful, neither of them could be as optimistic as he was.  
It seemed like every time he traveled through time, 
something bad happened.  Even though he was positive that 
Tempus was completely out of the picture, they were not 
sure if they believed that Wells could keep their baby 
completely secure.  However, they both knew that it was a 
chance they had to take if they wanted to ensure that they 
would be able to have their baby in the first place.

They both remembered the state that they had been in on the 
day that Mr. Wells had brought their infant son to them 
almost exactly two years ago.  They had been in such a dark 
place, and Mr. Wells had given them the optimism to press 
on and to live life to its fullest once again.  After that 
day, they realized that their future would, indeed, be 
bright and that they would have a baby that was their flesh 
and blood.

It was funny to Lois.  For most of her life, she hadn't 
even given the thought of having children more than a 
fleeting consideration and her answer had always been that 
she never wanted children.  She had thought that they would 
cramp her style, ruin her career, and ruin her life.  
Actually, the thought that she had hidden in the back of 
her mind was that she would be the one to ruin her child's 
life like her parents did to her.  She knew that her 
parents had not had the best parenting style and that 
people often learn by example.  Thus, she reached the 
conclusion very early in her life that she would not 
inflict that kind of pain on her own child so she wouldn't 
even have a child in the first place.  But those thoughts 
all changed when she fell in love with Clark.  All of her 
doubts got pushed aside, and she realized that she wanted 
to have a baby with the man who she loved - to have someone 
who would be genetically linked to the most wonderful man 
she had ever known.  When Dr. Klein had told them that they 
wouldn't be able to have children together, both of their 
worlds were crushed.  However, their worlds became so much 
brighter when H.G. Wells had shown up with their baby from 
the future.  It had seemed like it was a dream come true.  
And she knew that she could not deprive herself of that 
memory.

"Okay, Mr. Wells," Lois said with a slight quiver to her 
voice. "Go.  Just go.  But please bring him right back."

"Miss Lane," Mr. Wells said in a very serious tone, "I 
would sacrifice my own life for his safety."

Clark nodded his head knowing that Wells was absolutely 
serious.  "Okay, Mr. Wells, we'd better get going.  Where 
did you store your time machine?  Lois and I will walk with 
you."

"Indeed, Mr. Kent, I hid my machine in the alleyway a few 
blocks north of here.  Let's go."

Wells handed the baby back to Lois so that she would have a 
few more minutes to be with him until it was time to go.

Before they left the brownstone, Lois made doubly sure that 
the baby would be warm enough and that he would be 
comfortable throughout his long journey.  Then she agreed 
that it was time to go.  As they walked out the door, Clark 
lagged a bit behind Wells so he could wrap Lois and the 
baby close to him so he too could share a few more minutes 
with their baby.

Unfortunately, before they knew it, the short walk from 
their brownstone to where Wells had stored the time machine 
was over.  Wells had walked ahead of the family and had 
already started the time machine.  "Okay, Miss Lane, 
everything is ready."

Even though she felt very weird about it, Lois kissed her 
baby on the head and forced herself to hand him to H.G. 
Wells inside the time machine.  As she did so, it felt like 
a piece of herself was missing, and she almost felt like 
she was going to collapse.

Similarly, Clark had a feeling of foreboding as he watched 
Wells take his son into the time machine.  But if Wells was 
right about Tempus being gone, then there was nothing to 
worry about - or was there?

"Miss Lane, Mr. Kent, I'll be back before you know it!" 
Wells exclaimed as he turned on the time machine and the 
air around the machine began to ripple.

Lois and Clark both waved at the machine and, when it was 
out of sight, Lois collapsed into Clark's arms, and they 
waited for the machine to return.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wells felt the normal shaking as his time machine 
materialized into its chosen time location.  As always, it 
made him slightly woozy to cross through the portal into a 
different time period, but the time travel was more than 
worth all of the slight discomfort.  In fact, the journey 
took a mere few seconds and the pain lasted even less than 
that.

Almost immediately after the time machine had vanished from 
the year 1999, it reappeared in the same alley from which 
it had left.  Wells cleared his eyes and looked around, 
examining his surroundings.  Strangely, it seemed to be the 
exact same place as the one from which they had left.  The 
only obvious exception was that Lois and Clark were no 
longer standing next to the time machine.  Wells was amazed 
that in two years not much had changed in this 
neighborhood.  If he didn't know better, Wells would have 
believed that the time machine had made a mistake and had 
merely brought them back to the time they had left.  
However, he trusted his machine more than that.  He knew 
that it had taken them to the correct time.  It hadn't 
failed him many times, and he didn't think that this would 
be a failure either.

Wells stood up carefully so not to wake the baby.  Then he 
realized that if a trip through time had not disturbed the 
baby, Wells wasn't sure if anything would awaken him.  It 
was amazing, but throughout the journey through time, the 
baby had not made a sound and had been fast asleep the 
whole time.

Carefully, Wells stepped out of the time machine and 
underwent his traditional ritual of hiding it from the 
common eye.  This time, though, it was a bit more difficult 
because he was holding the baby in his arms.  Although 
hiding the machine would have been much easier if he could 
have put the baby down for a second, Wells made the 
sacrifice of time.  After all, he had promised Lois and he 
wouldn't let the baby out of his sight.  He didn't want to 
be responsible for anything that happened to the baby in 
the mere few seconds that the little boy was out of his 
protective grasp.  This baby's safety was far more 
important than the mere few seconds that he was wasting 
hiding the machine.

When he was finally finished hiding the machine, he gently 
touched the baby's head and said, "Aah, yes, my boy.  We're 
off to meet your parents."  Then he said to the time 
machine, "My trusty friend, let's hope you've gotten me to 
the correct destination again.  I know you haven't let me 
down.  Let's just hope the time is precisely correct."  
Then he patted the front of the vehicle, pulled the baby 
close, and started on his way.

"Quite peculiar, isn't it, my boy?" Wells asked to the 
sleeping child.  "It quite seems like we've never left, yet 
this is a very different place indeed."

The baby opened his eyes, but still did not make a sound.

"Yes, you are finally up, I see.  Oh my!  Please don't 
start crying now!  We do not need any attention drawn to us 
as we are quite an unusual pair."

He nodded in a sort of farewell to the vehicle, and without 
a second thought he carefully slipped out of the alleyway 
and proceeded to scuttle down the street towards the 
brownstone that he had just visited two years in the 
future.  This street was almost more familiar to him than 
his own street was since it seemed like an eternity since 
he had been back to his old life.  He had visited this 
street countless times in his past, and he was sure he 
would visit it again many times in his future.  All of this 
seemed like deja vu to him because he had just done the 
same ritual less than an hour ago, but in reality it was 
two years earlier than the time he had visited less than an 
hour ago.

As it always was, it was a very familiar site to see the 
taxicabs and other cars rushing past him in a hurry to get 
wherever they were going and the pedestrians stopping, 
however quickly, to marvel at his apparent oddity.  Only 
this time, people were not only gawking at his old-
fashioned attire, but also at the tiny infant in his arms.  
He was very lucky that he was in a large city, though, 
because in such a large city, people tended not to stop on 
the street to chat and did not often remember apparent 
oddities that they saw during their commutes.

In a few minutes flat, he was at his destination, but he 
knew that the mood of the home's inhabitants would be much 
more somber than it had been two years from now.  If this 
was the day he had expected it to be, Lois Lane and Clark 
Kent would have just heard news that would have shattered 
their lives.  It would have sunken them both into a pit of 
depression that almost seemed irreversible.  And that is 
why he and his tiny companion were visiting them today.

Wells tiptoed up the walkway to the large mahogany door and 
deliberately reached up to ring the bell.  Then he made 
sure his companion was slightly hidden under his jacket so 
he wouldn't be apparent on first glance.  He didn't want to 
spring the surprise on the Kents without a prior 
explanation.

After just a few seconds, the door slowly swung open.  When 
Wells laid eyes on Clark Kent, the same man who had opened 
the door so jovially just an hour ago, he did not even look 
like that same man.  To be completely honest, he looked 
like a mere shadow of his normal self.  His eyes were 
surrounded by dark circles, his hair was not combed, and 
his shoulders were slumped.  These were all signs of the 
intense depression that he was obviously feeling.  There 
was now no question in Wells's mind that he had traveled to 
precisely the right time period.  It was absolutely obvious 
just by looking at Clark.  This Clark Kent was not like the 
Superman who Wells had met so many times before.  This 
troubled Superman looked like he had difficulty just 
getting out of bed in the morning and that there was no way 
he could possibly save the world in his condition.

Wells could also hear a soft sobbing coming from inside the 
house.  He suspected that Lois Lane was in no better 
condition than her husband.  In fact, there was a good 
chance that she was in worse shape.  Yes, this was 
definitely what Wells had expected.  Today was the day that 
they had learned that they would not be able to have 
children together, and he knew that they were absolutely 
devastated about it.  Luckily, he was here to tell them 
that their Dr. Klein had been mistaken.

Wells looked straight into the vacant eyes of the man on 
the other side of the door who hadn't even acknowledged him 
and said, "Mr. Kent, you must be wondering why I am here 
today."

Clark shook his head woefully, not even wanting to think 
about the reason Wells was there.  Could it be something to 
do with Tempus?  Was it something in the other dimension 
that needed his help?  What could it possibly be?  Whatever 
it was, though, Clark was fairly sure he wasn't going to be 
in the mood to help.

"Mr. Wells," Clark said softly with an uncharacteristically 
exhausted tone, "this is really not a good time."

Clark was too distraught to look directly at Mr. Wells.  
Thus, he did not realize what Wells was holding in his 
arms.

Wells's eyes twinkled merrily even though Clark was in such 
obvious pain.  He was going to be the bearer of the best 
news either of the Kents could possibly hear at this point 
in their lives.

"Oh, but, Mr. Kent," he said conspiratorially.  "I do 
believe this is the best time.  If my clock is set 
correctly, I am to believe that you and your wife have just 
received some horrible news."

Clark looked entirely startled and could not think of a 
response.  Normally, he would have been much sharper and 
would have come up with something adequate to say in a few 
seconds; however, in this case, he found himself just 
staring blankly into space.

Luckily Lois, dressed in a large sweatshirt and a pair of 
shorts, her eyes extremely red and puffy, came up behind 
her husband to see what was taking him so long at the door.

She asked, "Clark, who's..." but she trailed off as soon as 
she laid eyes on their visitor.  "Oh, Mr. Wells," she said 
in a somber tone.

Of course H.G. Wells was here today.  If anything, his 
visit was absolutely the icing on the cake for the horrible 
farce her life had become.  He was probably here because 
Tempus had broken out of prison again and was out to ruin 
their past or their future or the alternate dimension or 
something equally as horrible that he would require their 
help for.

However, her thoughts changed when she got a better look at 
Mr. Wells.  He seemed to be carrying something; it was 
something that was wrapped up in a dark blue blanket 
similar to the one that Clark had been wrapped in when they 
had saved him as a baby.  Lois gasped audibly.

"And a baby!" she exclaimed.

Now she was not sure if she was happy or horribly upset.  
Was Mr. Wells trying to tell them something or was he 
trying to crush their fragile sanity?

Lois focused all of her attention on the baby and she 
instantly sensed some kind of connection between herself 
and the baby.  It was the weirdest feeling she had ever 
experienced in her life.  It was like she already knew this 
baby, and she had a very important role in his life.  
Oddly, she felt a very strong urge to protect him at all 
costs.

Then, as if he could feel Lois's eyes on him, the baby 
opened his eyes and let out a soft cry.  It wasn't like 
Lois had ever had any experience with babies, but she could 
tell that this baby was only a few days old.  What was even 
stranger was that when he opened his eyes, he seemed to 
focus right on her.  Lois was overcome with the strange 
feeling that this baby had an intense connection to her.

Wells noticed the look in Lois's eyes and could tell that 
she saw something in the baby, that she might have been 
making the connections in her mind.  Yes, she definitely 
had a very astute reporter's instinct, indeed.

"Yes, Miss Lane, there is something familiar about him, 
indeed.  Am I right?"

Lois started at his statement.  Even though she couldn't 
figure out what could possibly be drawing her to this baby 
so intensely, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

Then she was struck by what seemed to be an absurd thought.  
But this was H.G. Wells, so the absurd was absolutely 
plausible.

"Is he?" she stammered, "Is he?  He isn't Clark as a baby?"

Wells smiled benignly and shook his head.  She was very 
close to the correct answer, though.  He was sure that with 
a bit more consideration she would be able to come to the 
correct conclusion.

"No, my dear Miss Lane, look more closely.  Do you see 
something quite familiar?"

Lois quickly shot a glance at Clark, but she saw that he 
had shifted his glance to the ground, undoubtedly thinking 
about the events of recent days and probably hating Mr. 
Wells for reminding him of the one thing he could never 
have.

Then Lois took a step closer to Mr. Wells and gazed into 
the baby's large brown eyes.  She gasped in shock with the 
realization that startled her to the core.

In a very shaky voice that she didn't even recognize as her 
own, Lois whispered, "It can't be.  He has... he has my 
eyes!"

She grabbed Clark's arm and forced him to look at the baby 
that he had been avoiding ever since they realized that 
Wells was carrying him.

Clark's eyes widened with the same shock that Lois had just 
experienced.  He moved his mouth without making any words, 
but he still didn't believe what was right before his eyes.

Lois grabbed Clark's arm a little harder and then she 
exclaimed, "This is our baby, Clark!  Look at him!"  Then 
she looked at Mr. Wells and asked, "Isn't he?"

Wells beamed with happiness at the look of extreme joy in 
Lois's eyes.  He knew that he had just brought her out of 
her pit of depression.  Now he saw the characteristic look 
of determination in her eyes.  It looked like there were 
thousands of questions swirling around her mind.

"Precisely, my dear," he responded in a matter-of-fact 
tone.

Clark looked at him skeptically.  After what he had learned 
from Dr. Klein, he had a hard time believing that Mr. Wells 
was really holding his son.  It was impossible, wasn't it?  
There had to be some sort of catch.

"But, Mr. Wells, I don't see how this can be possible," 
Clark said in a very shaky voice.  "We just found out that 
Lois and I are not..." his voice shook ever so slightly.  
Everyone in the room realized that his emotions were 
beginning to take over when he continued, "We can't... we 
can never..."

"Clark," Lois interjected, afraid of watching Clark break 
down completely.  "Why don't we let Mr. Wells sit down?"

Wells nodded quickly and said, "Indeed, Miss Lane.  That is 
a good idea."

Lois nodded quickly and ushered Mr. Wells and the baby into 
the house and shut the door behind them.  Wells headed into 
the living room, and Lois grabbed Clark's hand and pulled 
him the few steps behind Wells into the living room.

In all the years that Lois had known Clark, even before she 
found out that he was Superman, he had always been the rock 
that she depended on, even when she didn't realize it.  He 
had more strength than anyone else in the world.  And by 
strength, she didn't mean mere physical strength.

Clark was such a super man in more than just one sense of 
the word.  He was the one person in the world who was 
always been the eternal optimist, the one who believed that 
everything would turn out right in the end.  She, on the 
other hand, was more of a pessimist.

It was almost frightening for Lois to witness her husband 
in such a state of depression.  However, it was expected.  
Lois knew that for all of Clark's life he had wanted to 
share something in common with someone.  Even though he was 
closer to his parents than anyone else she knew, and she 
knew that he knew that she was his soul mate, Lois had 
always realized that Clark longed to have a child of his 
own, someone who shared a bit of his own family genes.  
Even though they hadn't really talked about the issue 
before they got married, Lois had just assumed that they 
would try to have children eventually.  That dream was 
crushed, though, when Dr. Klein informed Clark that 
Superman could never have a baby with an earth woman.

That news absolutely crushed Clark.  He seemed to become a 
shadow of the man he once was right in front of Lois's 
eyes.  Of course she was crushed too, but she knew that she 
had to try to be strong for her husband.  After all, he was 
always the one that had been there for her no matter what 
had gone wrong in her life; this time it was her turn to 
return the favor.

Before Lois and Clark made their way into the living room, 
Lois made sure that she quickly stood up on her tiptoes and 
planted a soft kiss on Clark's lips hoping that it would 
serve as a sort of reassurance that everything would be all 
right.  She was a little scared to find that his lips were 
uncharacteristically dry and that his eyes were still 
fairly motionless.  He was so unresponsive; it was sending 
chills up her spine.  Was he in shock or was it an intense 
denial?

Lois, however, was determined to find out more about this 
baby that Mr. Wells was holding.  With her mind full of so 
many questions, it felt like she was forgetting some of her 
earliest questions as new questions arose, she led Clark 
forcibly into the living room after Wells.

It was almost painful for Lois to watch as Wells settled 
himself comfortably in the chair next to the couch without 
saying a word.  He was holding the baby extremely close to 
his chest in a very protective manner.  The pain almost 
felt like pangs of jealousy.

It was very interesting that Wells looked so comfortable 
with the baby.  She had been fairly sure that he hadn't had 
any children himself.  It was sort of weird that he seemed 
like a complete natural holding this child.  Maybe that is 
how she would seem, too, when she got to hold her baby for 
the first time.

Lois squeezed Clark's hand and led him to the couch.  She 
knew that he was laden with confusion right now and he was 
not responding to it well.  Of course she was just as 
confused as he was, but more than anything she was 
possessed by the desire to know everything she possibly 
could about this baby.  How was it possible for her to have 
Clark's baby even though all of the odds were stacked 
against them?

There were so many things Lois wasn't sure about, but she 
was positively convinced without a doubt that Mr. Wells had 
not been lying to them.  This baby lying in his arms was 
her baby from the future.  In addition, she was also 
completely sure that this was not a dream because she had 
already pinched herself several times.  But she had also 
been convinced that she and Clark would never be able to 
have children together.  How had they overcome these 
incredible obstacles?

Ever since she had set eyes on that beautiful baby boy, she 
felt that her heart was significantly lighter than it had 
been just a few minutes ago.  Before Clark had opened the 
door to reveal Mr. Wells and the beautiful baby, Lois felt 
her heart shattering into pieces with the news that she and 
Clark had just received.  Now, though, she felt completely 
rejuvenated.

She was struck by the intensely optimistic feeling that 
everything would work out right in the future.  However, 
there were more questions swirling around her brain than 
she could vocalize in a lifetime about this future.  She 
and Clark had obviously received the wrong information 
about their compatibility if that baby was any indication.

Clark, however, was filled with doubts about the validity 
of anything Wells had said.  He was sure that he trusted 
Dr. Klein implicitly.  There was no chance that he had not 
performed all of the tests absolutely flawlessly.  He knew 
that the results were true since Dr. Klein had been so 
reluctant to tell him about them, obviously afraid of his 
reaction.

Bernard Klein was the most brilliant scientist and one of 
the most honest men whom Clark had ever known.  Clark 
doubted that Dr. Klein had a duplicitous bone in his body.  
While Clark was certainly no scientist and did not have any 
personal knowledge of the subject, he believed that Dr. 
Klein had performed every test possible, and, if his 
results indicated that Superman could never father a child 
with a woman from Earth, then Superman could never father a 
child with a woman from Earth.  There was absolutely no 
reason for him to doubt Dr. Klein's scientific results.

Why was Wells doing this to him?  Clark knew that as 
Superman he was always regarded as "the Man of Steel."  The 
masses of people in the world often assumed that nothing 
could hurt him.  However, Clark knew that there were far 
more things in the world other than Kryptonite that could 
put him into the depths of despair and utter pain.  His 
hopes and dreams were just as fragile as any human's.  And 
they had just been completely crushed to smithereens.  Why 
was Wells trying to give him another sense of false hope?  
He didn't even want to look at the baby because it made him 
wish for what might have been.  Now that he had completely 
come to terms with that fact that he and Lois would never 
be able to have children of their own, he didn't want to 
fill his mind with a false sense of optimism only to be 
crushed again.

Clark sunk into the couch and busied himself looking out 
the window, almost begging that he would hear some distant 
cry for help so that he would be free of this painful 
situation.  He couldn't help but wish that he would wake up 
and find out that this was all a horrible nightmare.

Lois, on the other hand, was absolutely enthralled by the 
idea that Dr. Klein had been wrong.  She was absolutely 
aching to hold the little baby in Mr. Wells's arms.

"Mr. Wells," Lois said quickly, "may I hold him?"

Lois was overcome by the feel of a strange force that was 
pulling her towards the baby.  Plus, she was filled with 
another even stranger sense of awe and wonderment that this 
could actually be her child.  Less than a month ago, she 
hadn't even wanted a baby.  In fact, she had even been 
afraid of children, especially of defenseless babies.  
Babies were just so dependent, so needy.  Lois had never 
been sure if she would ever be able to handle something 
like that, something that needed her so much, something 
that only depended on her, something that couldn't do 
anything for itself.

However, now it didn't seem like she even knew that woman 
she had been.  Her feelings towards children had undergone 
such a metamorphosis in the last month.  Ever since she and 
Clark had first started talking about having a baby, her 
desire for children had increased into something completely 
tangible.  It was a feeling that had grown from absolutely 
nothing.

Now it was like something deep inside her was aching to 
hold her own baby in her arms.  She had just gotten one of 
the biggest shocks of her life.  Before now, she had never 
really wanted a child and especially not a baby.  However, 
she had always thought that the option of having a baby 
sometime in the future would be available to her.  Finding 
out that she would never be able to have a baby with Clark, 
even if she did eventually decide that she wanted to, was a 
very painful blow.

Wells shook his head quickly.  "No, Miss Lane, so sorry.  
I'm afraid that I can not let you hold him."

"Oh," Lois responded, a bit put off, almost too put off to 
launch into one of her usual tirades against injustice.

She hadn't anticipated that Wells would not give her the 
chance to hold her own son.  The force that was drawing her 
towards the tiny baby was becoming almost unbearable.

"Why not?" she asked in a voice not much louder than a 
forceful whisper.

Wells smiled slightly even though Lois was giving him a 
stare that would have made even Superman's knees wobble in 
fear.  However, Wells knew that she would accept his 
explanation once she heard it.  The good thing was that she 
seemed to be open to the fact that Wells was, indeed, 
holding her son.  However, he was not able to say as much 
for Mr. Kent.

"My dear Miss Lane, I am afraid that if I would let you 
hold your son today, I would be robbing you of the most 
precious moment of your life."

Lois looked up at him quizzically.  She had no idea what he 
was talking about.

"Indeed, Miss Lane," Wells said quickly, noticing that as 
always his short explanation was not enough to pacify Lois 
Lane.  "What I meant to say is that if I were to let you 
hold him, my dear, you would not get to experience one of 
the happiest moments in your life which is inevitable in 
the future.  A bit of the fun of living is the unknown.  I 
merely brought your son here today to give you the 
slightest sliver of hope, to let you know that your Dr. 
Klein was wrong; that your future is, indeed, very bright."

With that statement, it was as if Clark was awakened from a 
long slumber.  He exclaimed, "But how can he be wrong, Mr. 
Wells.  Dr. Klein is the most brilliant scientist I have 
ever met.  He has three PhDs and is the most respected 
scientist at STAR Labs! "

All of his dreams had been shattered by Dr. Klein.  Even 
though he loved his adoptive parents and couldn't have 
asked for a more loving family, he, like many other adopted 
children, had always dreamed of someday having someone who 
shared his own flesh and blood.  Ever since he started to 
realize that he was different, Clark had always dreamt of 
having a child.  However, Dr. Klein had given him 
absolutely no hope.  Clark didn't dare think that this 
vision of Wells might not be a dream and that he might be 
real.  He didn't want to get his hopes up again just to see 
them trampled once more.

Lois turned her attention away from Wells momentarily so 
that she could answer her husband.  She was almost 
frightened that her husband had fallen so deeply into his 
dungeon of depression.

"Clark," Lois said calmly.  "Dr. Klein is only human.  
Maybe he did make a mistake.  Can't you at least consider 
the possibility?"

When she saw the look in her husband's eyes, she 
immediately regretted her last statement.

"Lois!" Clark exclaimed.  "You want me to consider the 
possibility again?  What do you think I've been doing ever 
since I talked to Dr. Klein!  It's all I have been thinking 
about!  He's gone over the results more than five times.  
He can't be wrong."

Clark's face was now red with anger.  Maybe it wasn't 
anger, but an intense pain that was now fully expressing 
itself.

Lois, however, was not going to let Clark win so easily.  
She was just as stubborn and determined as he was.

"But, Clark, Mr. Wells has seen the future.  He knows what 
is going to happen to us.  And he is holding our son!  
Clark, honey, I know this baby is our son."

Before the situation could get too far out of hand, Wells 
interjected, "Precisely, Miss Lane, you are entirely 
correct.  I have seen the future, Mr. Kent, and I can 
assure you that this little baby is, indeed, your son."

Clark opened his eyes for the first time and really saw the 
baby that Wells was holding.  He wasn't sure what finally 
awakened him, but he knew that it was something very 
powerful.  As he gazed at the tiny creature in Wells's 
arms, Clark was possessed by the realization that that 
small child was indeed his son!  Even though the baby was 
so small, he could see that the baby possessed a perfect 
combination of himself and Lois.  He had Lois's eyes and 
ears, and his nose and mouth.  Plus, he was wrapped in a 
blanket that looked exactly like the blanket that had been 
wrapped around him as he had made the long journey from 
Krypton to Earth.  It was unbelievable!  He didn't know how 
it could be possible, but there was no doubt that this 
little boy was, indeed, their son!

He finally pulled his gaze away from the baby and stared at 
wide-eyed Lois.  He grabbed both of her hands and pulled 
her close.  Full of exuberance for the first time since he 
had heard Dr. Klein's news, Clark kissed Lois with a fire 
that he hadn't felt for a while.

When the kiss broke, Clark exclaimed, "He's our son.  Lois, 
he's our son!"

Lois couldn't believe how Clark had changed in the few 
seconds that had passed.  First, he wouldn't even look at 
the baby, not allowing himself to think that there was a 
possibility that Dr. Klein had been wrong, and now he was 
just as sure as she was that this baby was their son.  She 
wasn't going to challenge it, though because she had set 
herself to accept anything that might have pulled Clark out 
of his funk.  After all, she just wanted him to be okay 
again, to show some glimmer of optimism.

When the kiss broke, Lois's thoughts traveled back to the 
question of why Wells was being so incredibly protective of 
the little boy.  It wasn't like she was going to break him 
if she held him.  She had held other babies in her time.  
Okay, it wasn't many babies, but she had held other babies.

"Mr. Wells, I really can't understand why won't you let us 
hold him?  He is our son!" Lois said, trying to plead her 
case again.

"My dear Miss Lane," Wells said with a bit of a sparkle in 
his eye, "I told you that I brought him here so you have 
some hope, that you challenge your Dr. Klein's results, 
that you fight the good battle to ensure that you have a 
descendent who will be the founder of the wonderful Utopia 
of the future.  But, my dear, I can not let you hold your 
son."  He took a deep breath and continued, "You see, if I 
were to let you hold him now, I would be robbing your 
future self of the greatest feeling ever to experience.  
You see, my dear, if you were to hold your child today, it 
would change the future."

What was Wells talking about changing the future?  Maybe 
she didn't understand a lot of the time travel basics, but 
Lois didn't understand how she could change the future when 
it hadn't even happened yet.  Obviously, Clark was having 
the same doubts because he spoke before she could formulate 
the words.

Clark looked at him quizzically.  "Why would it change the 
future?  What feeling are you talking about?"

"Mr. Kent, Miss Lane," Wells responded with a slight hint 
of nostalgia in his voice.  "You see, in all my travels 
through the past and the future, I have learned that one of 
the greatest joys in anyone's life is the moment when a new 
parent holds his or her newborn baby for the first time.  
It is, well, quite honestly, it is the most amazing feeling 
anyone could ever hope for.  If I would allow you to hold 
him today..."

Lois had realized the point he was trying to make, so she 
finished his thought for him, "And if you would let me hold 
him today, I would regret it in the future because I would 
have already held my newborn baby.  It would take away that 
special feeling all new mothers are entitled to?"

Wells grinned at Lois, knowing that she finally understood 
the reason he could not let her hold her child.  Even 
though he had never experienced the special bond between a 
mother and a child himself, he knew that it was something 
that could never be experienced again.  This time traveling 
was very tricky business.  There were very tight boundaries 
of what could be done to ensure the continuity of the 
lifetime continuum so not to disrupt the past or the 
future.

"Precisely, my dear," Wells said quickly.  Then he added, 
"Indeed, it is why I can not tell you when this baby was 
born, nor his name, nor if you have any other children."

Wells closed his eyes and debated within his own mind about 
telling them about the rest of the future.  Of course he 
could not disclose the secrets that were to occur in the 
future, but part of him was bursting to tell them.  He 
wanted to tell them of their other child, this little boy's 
younger sister who was born two years later.  Then he 
wanted to tell Lois and Clark about how their two children 
took on the personas of Superman and Ultra Woman and became 
the founders of the wonderful Utopian civilization of the 
future.  However, as much as he wanted to share what he 
knew of the future, he knew that it was not possible for 
him to do this - for if he were to do this, the future 
might no longer exist in the form he knew.

Lois nodded slowly, now completely aware of the 
consequences of disrupting the fragile balance between the 
past and the future.  It was never good to know too much 
about what was to happen in the future.  However, she was 
more than grateful that Mr. Wells had shown them a small 
piece of their future.  And she accepted the fact that she 
couldn't hold her son.  She accepted it, but she definitely 
didn't have to like it.

She looked over at Clark and could tell that he was still 
so in awe of the fact that the child that Wells was holding 
was, indeed, their son that he could not form a coherent 
sentence.  So she voiced the unspoken question that she 
knew was burning in Clark's mind.

"Mr. Wells," she said in a soft voice, "How is it possible?  
How are we able to have a baby together when Dr. Klein said 
it was impossible?"

"Oh, yes, right," Wells said quickly.  "I am afraid that I 
am not entirely sure of the solution."

Wells immediately realized how stupid it was to be 
unprepared in front of two great reporters as soon as those 
words left his mouth.  He could immediately sense that both 
of their ears had perked up and their eyes were dancing 
with unspoken questions.  He would have to talk very 
quickly to avoid the barrage of questions that he wouldn't 
be able to answer.  He felt his face turning a strange 
shade of red as he spoke.  If he ever needed a good 
explanation, now was the time.  It was just too bad that 
he'd come into this discussion almost completely 
unprepared.  If he'd learned any lessons from his many 
visits with Lois Lane and Clark Kent, it was to be 
extremely prepared with explanations of anything he was 
going to tell them.  However, in this case, he was in such 
a rush to show them the baby and to lighten their spirits 
he hadn't thoroughly thought his explanation through.  He 
had thought that they would be so overjoyed to see their 
future child that they would have just accepted the fact 
that he could help them.  He should have known better.

"It is not that I do not have an idea, though.  You see, 
Miss Lane, Mr. Kent," he began.  "I believe I should start 
from the beginning."

Lois raised her eyebrows and said, "That's probably a good 
idea."

"Yes, of course," he began a bit nervously.  "Just a few 
weeks ago - in my life, of course - I was reading a Kent 
History book in one of the wonderful Utopian libraries.  Oh 
those wonderful libraries.  Do you know..."  Wells caught 
Lois's eye and realized that he had strayed off course.  
"Indeed, I believe I have gotten off track."

He stifled a laugh realizing that this was one of his major 
flaws.  It seemed like he had the most horrible tendency to 
stray off track, especially when he was a bit 
uncomfortable.  However, in this case, he was trying to 
bide his time until he could come up with a good 
explanation: one that would satisfy even Lois Lane and 
Clark Kent.

He continued, "You see, when I was pouring over this 
wonderful book, I came across a horrific fact that startled 
me to the core.  This book said that you had learned that 
you could not have children together in the year 1997.  I 
had not previously been aware that this was a problem.  I'd 
always assumed that the two of you - well, ahem - that your 
children were conceived without any trouble."

He felt his face turning red as he discussed this subject.  
Conception was not one of his normal, every day 
conversation pieces.  In his time, especially, these things 
were just not discussed openly.  Poor Wells was very 
embarrassed that he seemed to be butting into Lois and 
Clark's private matters.

Clark broke his silence and said, "I'd always thought it 
would be that way, too, but I guess I was wrong."

Wells grinned as he watched the interplay between the 
couple before him.  After Clark had spoken, Lois had, 
probably completely unconsciously, reached out to squeeze 
Clark's hand.  Clark, in turn, had wrapped one of his arms 
around Lois's shoulder and she had snuggled closer to him.  
Wells couldn't help but feel a surge of pride that he was 
the one to help make their lives complete.

Wells continued, "Then I was shocked to see that you found 
the solution to your - er - problem with the help of a 
short, elderly man with wire-rimmed glasses and a strange 
hat.  You see, I spent many hours trying to determine just 
who this man was.  I must say, I was positively startled 
when I realized that the description of this man fits me 
perfectly despite the fact that it did not say my name 
explicitly."

"I see," Lois said quickly, hoping to edge him on a bit 
more quickly.

It was strange for her to hear that there were "Kent 
History" books in the future, but she didn't dwell on that 
fact.  She was more concerned with how they managed to 
solve the problem at hand rather than how an author got the 
story to put in a book about her from the future.  It never 
even dawned on her that she might be the one who had 
written the books in the future.

"Indeed, Miss Lane, I was quite flummoxed.  That discovery 
sent me into quite a troubled place.  Ever since I learned 
about this problem, I have been deliberating about how to 
find a solution."

"I'm not sure if I understand this, Mr. Wells," Clark said 
quickly.  "How are you supposed to help us?  Do you have 
any of the qualifications in this area to help us?  You 
can't have more medical knowledge than Dr. Klein!"

Wells's eyes lit up and his mouth widened into a large 
grin.  "Precisely, Mr. Kent.  I know nothing, indeed, about 
reproductive medicine nor about your physiology."  He 
paused dramatically and then continued, "But I know someone 
who does."

Lois and Clark both looked at Wells with the same look of 
surprise in their eyes.  The only person they knew who had 
any real knowledge about Superman's body was Dr. Klein; he 
had determined that Superman was unable to have children 
with an Earth woman.  Who could know more about Superman's 
physiology other than Superman's personal physician?

"Who?" Clark asked quickly.  "How do we know we can trust 
this person?"

Clark was leery that the person whom Wells had found would 
know anything about his physiology.  It had to be someone 
whom he intended to bring back from the future.  However, 
Clark remembered that last time Wells had tried to bring 
someone from the future back to the past with him: Tempus.  
And he didn't even want to think of that!

And if that was what it took for him to be able to conceive 
a child, he wouldn't do it.  There were just too many risks 
involved.  He didn't trust many people with his secret, and 
he had never actually told any of them; they had all found 
out on their own.  Of course having a baby was important to 
him, but it wasn't so important that he would risk meeting 
another lunatic from the future.

At the same time, Lois also spoke.  "Mr. Wells, how can 
this person know anything about Superman's physiological 
makeup?"

As much as she wanted to give Clark the baby he had always 
wanted, she, like Clark, was leery of anyone knowing 
anything about Superman's physiology.  In fact, she'd often 
had her doubts about letting Dr. Klein study Superman even 
though Dr. Klein was one of the most trustworthy people she 
knew.

"Mr. Kent," Wells began, answering the less sensational 
question first.  "I assure you that you can trust my 
sources implicitly."  Then he turned to Lois and grinned.  
"Miss Lane, my sources know everything there is to know 
about you and Superman and both of your - ahem - 
reproductive systems."

"What are you talking about?" Lois asked loudly.  "How 
could anyone know anything about my reproductive system?  
Well, my gynecologist, maybe, but she doesn't know anything 
about Superman!"

This was just utterly unbelievable.  He couldn't expect 
them to believe this?  Could he?  How could anyone know 
about Superman?  Even more frightening: how could anyone 
know about Lois?

Clark's heart was racing.  He did not feel right thinking 
about anyone other than Dr. Klein knowing anything about 
his physiological makeup.  He felt even sicker when he 
realized that someone seemed to know about Lois's 
physiological makeup, too!

Wells realized that Lois and Clark had not caught onto what 
he was trying to tell them.  He'd thought that he had given 
them enough clues for them to piece the answer together 
themselves, but he obviously had been wrong.  It was a 
pity.  He loved to see the looks of realization on their 
faces as the answer came to them.

"Miss Lane, Mr. Kent, I ask you, who knows more about your 
bodies than yourselves?"

Lois glared at Wells in disbelief.  She knew her body, but 
she definitely couldn't say that she knew anything about 
the way her body worked.  It was even less likely that she 
would know how to fix any kind of problem that she was 
having with her body.  And she couldn't even think of how 
she might know anything about Clark's physiology!

Clark stared at Wells with his mouth slightly open, as if 
on the verge of asking him a question.  In reality, there 
were so many questions swarming around Clark's admittedly 
cloudy mind that he couldn't formulate a coherent question.  
He knew a lot about his body, but he would never trust 
himself more than he trusted Dr. Klein in matters of his 
own physiology.  After all, Dr. Klein was a specialist!  He 
also knew quite a lot about human physiology, just because 
he had always been curious about the differences that 
existed between himself and humans.  However, as much as he 
might know about human physiology in general, he certainly 
did not know about Lois's body specifically.  Of course, he 
knew it very intimately, but he could never trust himself 
to study it medically.  There had never been any need for 
either Lois or Clark to study their bodies medically.  
After all, like most people, they had always relied on 
specialists like Dr. Klein.  Neither Lois nor Clark had 
ever even thought of studying their bodies on their own.

Since his mind was full of questions and he didn't really 
know where to begin, Clark really allowed himself to study 
the baby in Wells's arms for the first time.  His eyes 
focused on the baby, the little child who looked so much 
like him.  The baby seemed to be fast asleep.  Clark had 
babysat many an infant in his days in Smallville, and he 
couldn't remember any infant as quiet as this one seemed to 
be.  However, he remembered his parents telling him stories 
about how quiet he had been as a baby.  They had told him 
that their friends were shocked at how quiet and well-
behaved he had been.

Lois was the first to be able to speak.  "Mr. Wells, I 
don't see how Clark and I can solve our problem.  Honestly, 
we don't know anything about medicine, and I wouldn't trust 
either of us.  We're reporters, not doctors.  Clark may be 
Superman, but I wouldn't even trust Superman in a situation 
like this."  She smiled slightly at Clark before she said, 
"No offense, honey."

Clark shifted his gaze over to Lois and gave her a half 
smile.  "None taken, honey."  Then Clark turned to Wells 
and said, "I agree with Lois.  She has a point here.  I 
mean, every time we talk to Dr. Klein, we only understand 
about half of what he is talking about."

Lois looked at him and said, "Half?"

Clark shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay, a lot less 
than half.  It usually sounds like he is speaking 
gibberish."

"Indeed, Mr. Kent, I did not mean that you and Miss Lane 
would be playing doctor..."

Lois grinned at Wells, knowing that he probably was not 
familiar with the other connotation of what he had just 
said.  She interrupted, "But wouldn't we have to - play 
doctor - in order for us to conceive a baby in the first 
place?"

Then she wiggled her eyebrows at Clark in a very playful 
manner.  Her spirits had been significantly lightened ever 
since she realized that it was possible for her to have a 
baby.  In fact, she might have even characterized her mood 
as giddy.

Clark rolled his eyes at Lois.  Normally, he would have 
found Lois's behavior amusing, but he didn't think that now 
was the right time.  He was more concerned with what Mr. 
Wells was saying.

Wells's cheeks reddened slightly as he realized the 
connotation of what he had just said.  Certainly, that term 
was not construed the wrong way in his native time, but he 
had spent enough time in the future to realize the 
alternate connotation of "playing doctor".  Obviously that 
is what it had meant to Lois.   He was completely 
embarrassed.

"Miss Lane, indeed you would have to - ahem - play doctor 
as it were to be able to have a child.  I would rather we 
not discuss that aspect, if it is okay with you!  I'd much 
prefer that those aspects of your life be kept entirely 
private."

Clark forced a smile, but then he tried to guide Wells back 
on track, "Mr. Wells, I still don't see how Lois and I can 
solve our problem if we know nothing about the reproductive 
system and we are not doctors!"

Wells could sense Clark's desperation in his words, and he 
tried to tell the rest of the story as quickly as possible.

"Indeed, Mr. Kent.  I understand how this may be a bit hard 
to believe.  After all, I haven't finished what I have been 
trying to say.  You see, Mr. Kent, Miss Lane, I believe I 
told you how entirely confused I was when I read that I was 
the one to help you with your problem."  He quickly paused 
and looked from Lois to Clark; they both seemed to be 
listening in rapt attention.  "I spent many days searching 
through many different books and talking to many people 
about how your problem was solved.  However, I seemed to 
hit a dead end.  To get my mind off this problem for a 
moment, I decided to visit the alternate universe to see 
how that Clark was getting along.  I had a few ideas about 
helping him find his Lois that I wanted to share with him."

Normally, Lois and Clark would be bursting with questions 
about how the other Clark was doing, but this time neither 
uttered as much as a sound.

Wells continued, "I set my time machine to take me to the 
alternate universe, but something must have happened with 
the universe flux capacitor.  When I landed, it was 
definitely quite obvious that I hadn't made it to the 
alternate universe I knew.  In fact, I quite supposed that 
I had made a mistake setting the controls and merely 
traveled back in time instead of back in time and through 
the universe porthole as I had intended.  However, as I 
explored a bit, I realized that I was, indeed, somewhere I 
had never been before."

"Another alternate universe?" Clark asked in disbelief.

Wells nodded and then continued, "Indeed, my boy.  Once I 
realized I was in a completely new place, my first instinct 
was to look at the 'Daily Planet' newspaper."

Lois and Clark both nodded.  For both of them, looking at 
the 'Daily Planet' would have been their obvious first 
choice of what to do, too.  It was reassuring to both of 
them that their beloved paper existed in this alternate 
universe.

Wells continued, "I must say, I was quite surprised when I 
looked at the paper.  You see, there were no stories by 
either Lois Lane or Clark Kent on the front page.  Plus, 
the editor's credit did not go to Perry White."

"This doesn't make sense.  Lois and I aren't part of the 
'Daily Planet'?  Perry isn't either?  Do we even exist in 
this universe?"

Wells ignored Clark for the moment and continued his story.  
"I was even more surprised to see that someone named 
Clinton was president of the United States.  What shocked 
me even more was that he was being impeached - and that the 
two of you were not in the middle of the action."

"The president is being impeached?" Lois asked almost 
instinctively.  "He couldn't have done anything as bad as 
John Doe."  She spat out the name.

"Precisely, my dear, this president seems to have had, 
well, many an illicit dalliance.  It also appears that he 
has lied about it.  But this is not any of my concern.  I 
do not see why illicit dalliances have anything to do with 
being president."

"Or with being Superman," Lois added quietly, remembering 
how the tabloids had manipulated her relationship with 
Superman over pictures taken of their so-called 'illicit 
affair'.

"But I digress," Wells continued.  "I was quite shocked to 
see the paper without any familiar names to be seen."

Lois stopped Wells's story and interjected, as if she had 
really heard what Wells was saying for the first time, 
"Wait, we don't work for the 'Daily Planet'?  No one we 
know works there?  I don't think I like this Universe!"

Wells nodded at Lois's comment.  "I quite agree, Miss Lane.  
I was perplexed when I realized that you did not work for 
the 'Daily Planet!'  In fact, I despaired that you mightn't 
even exist in this universe!"  He shook his head woefully.  
"Despite my greatest fears, I resolved to search for you in 
this universe.  However, I did not have to search very 
long.  You see, at first glance, I did not realize it, but 
even though you hadn't written any stories for this 
newspaper, you were both involved in a story that appeared 
on the front page."

Clark quickly glanced at Lois and saw that her expression 
was one of befuddled confusion.  It seemed like she was 
feeling the same thing that he was.  What kind of universe 
was this where he and Lois weren't reporters for the 'Daily 
Planet?'  It scared him even more that Perry wasn't 
affiliated with the 'Planet' either.  He took a small 
amount of solace in the fact that it seemed like the paper 
was still reporting real news and it hadn't turned into 
some tabloid rag.  However, the fact that both he and Lois 
and been the front page story was a little troubling.  Did 
the whole world know his true identity?  Why else would he 
be on the front page?

Lois spoke again before Clark could, though, voicing an 
even more absurd thought than Clark could even fathom.  
"Mr. Wells, we aren't criminals?  Are we?"

Wells smiled benevolently at the couple before him and then 
he exclaimed, "Heavens no, Miss Lane!  Of course you are 
not criminals in this alternate world!"

Both Lois and Clark breathed small sighs of relief.  
Although neither had really believed that they could be 
criminals in any universe, neither had believed that Lois 
would be dead in an alternate universe.  It seemed like 
almost anything was possible.  Of course anything was 
possible: Lois was married to a man who could fly!  Nothing 
was unbelievable now.

Wells continued.  "I was quite shocked, indeed, when I read 
the article.  It was a small article at the bottom of the 
front page.  I almost passed it by, in fact."  He looked at 
Clark and then back at Lois before he continued.  "I have a 
very limited knowledge of this subject so you will have to 
bear with me.  You see, I was quite surprised when I looked 
a bit more closely at the front page and started reading 
the article.  The article was about a group of professors 
of I believe it was called Physiology and Bio-something-
medicine Engineering from the Metropolis Institute of 
Technology.  They had invented an instrument, I am not 
entirely sure for what, to cure some sort of aliment of the 
spinal cord.  I am not entirely sure what I read because I 
did not understand most of the article.  In fact, I do not 
even know what this engineering is!  It certainly was not 
around in my time.  However, I flipped the article to its 
continuation on the fifth page, and as soon as I saw the 
picture that accompanied the article, I was quite sure that 
I had found exactly what I was looking for."

Lois shook her head in disbelief.  Something about this 
alternate dimension definitely didn't seem right.  She 
couldn't fathom any version of herself working anywhere 
other than the 'Daily Planet'.  Lois didn't know much, if 
anything, about engineers except for that fact that they 
took all of those scary classes in college: physics, 
differential equations, and other subjects that made her 
cringe just thinking about them.  She wouldn't have touched 
any of those classes with a ten foot pole when she was in 
college.

"Are you sure it was really our alternate selves?" Clark 
asked.  "Are you saying that Lois and I are professors?"  
He raised his eyebrows showing his disbelief.

"Indeed," Wells answered with a grin on his face.  "The 
picture was unmistakable.  It was a group of nearly twenty 
people, but you and Ms. - I mean Dr. - Lane were right in 
the center of the picture most prominently.  Apparently, 
you and she had been in charge of this project."

Lois was still in disbelief about what Wells was talking 
about.  How could she and Clark, in any universe, ever do 
something as boring as engineering?  She knew the kind of 
people who did things like engineering.  Hell, she'd had to 
interview hundreds of them for various stories.  Weren't 
they all really nerdy eggheads - sort of like Dr. Klein?

Lois interrupted Wells before she burst, "We are Bio-
whatever engineers?  That doesn't make sense!  Don't 
engineers like math?  Where's the adventure in that?"

"My dear, if I recall correctly, I do believe they call 
themselves, ah yes, Biomedical Engineers - they conduct 
some sort of medical research, I believe.  And, I must say, 
you are the engineer, my dear.  It seems that Mr. Kent is a 
physiologist."

"But how?  Why?" Lois asked.

She still couldn't fathom the fact that she could ever be 
anything other than a reporter.  To her, nothing could top 
the thrill of the investigation and the adrenaline rush 
that came when her name appeared on the front page of the 
paper.  And that was why she could never picture herself as 
anything other than a reporter.

Wells shook his head.  "I have no idea, Miss Lane.  All I 
know is that in this universe, your alternate self performs 
research in the medical field and she calls herself a 
biomedical engineer.  She is actually quite proud of it."

Clark was equally as surprised.  He had always liked math 
and science when he was in school, but his passion had 
always been for writing.  Maybe it wasn't completely out of 
his realm of possibilities for the career he would have 
considered when he was in high school, but he definitely 
couldn't picture himself doing anything other than what he 
was doing now.  It was a good sign, though, that in this 
universe, he and Lois seemed to be partners.  Maybe what 
Wells said was true: he and Lois were destined to be 
together, in any time and any universe.  They had a love 
that transcended all boundaries.

"Is there a Metropolis Institute of Technology in our 
dimension?" Clark asked.  "I always thought MIT stood for 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology!  Even then, it's 
still hard to believe that Lois and I are professors in 
that dimension.  It just doesn't seem right."

"No, Clark, I don't think there is a Metropolis Institute 
of Technology," Lois said quickly.  Then she turned to 
Wells and began her barrage of questions again.  "Mr. 
Wells, if I believe that in this dimension Clark and I are 
some sort of engineer people, how does this help us in any 
way?" she pointed from herself to Clark to show Wells that 
she had meant herself in this dimension.  "None of this 
makes sense!  I just, I can't picture myself or Clark doing 
anything but writing for the 'Daily Planet'."

Of course, both Lois and Clark knew that there were bound 
to be differences between universes.  In the alternate 
universe that they had already had experience with, Lois 
was dead and Clark had lost his parents when he was a 
child.  Of course they had different personality traits, 
but deep down they were still fundamentally similar in 
their beliefs.  Plus, in that universe, both Lois and Clark 
had been reporters.  Both Lois and Clark were having a hard 
time believing that in this new universe, their alternate 
selves had chosen a career that was so completely different 
than the career that they both loved so dearly.  In their 
minds, being a reporter was a part of their self-
definition.  It was a large part of their souls.

"Indeed, Miss Lane, I'm afraid I had a bit of trouble 
believing it, too," Wells said calmly.  "Maybe it would be 
better if I told you the whole story."

Lois and Clark nodded their acquiescence.  They wanted to 
know everything that they could about Wells's adventures in 
this new alternate universe.  Their minds were trained to 
have an intense desire to know everything that happened in 
any situation.

Wells began, "As I was saying, I meant to travel to the 
alternate universe that we had known about previously to 
see that alternate Clark..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The blurriness that always surrounded the time machine when 
it made any sort of dimensional transfer began to clear, 
and Wells blinked his eyes to help them adjust to the 
change in brightness.  He had expected to be greeted by the 
somewhat familiar street next to the 'Daily Planet' 
building in the alternate universe where that universe's 
Clark Kent worked.  Since he had been put into such a 
quandary about the problems in his own dimension, he had 
decided to take a small break from that particular problem.  
Thus, he had chosen to visit the alternate universe to test 
his theory to help the alternate Clark find his long lost 
Lois.

However dimensional transfer was not often as predictable 
as normal travel through time.  In this case, he had to 
both travel back through time and through alternate 
universes.  When his eyes began to clear, Wells immediately 
noticed that something seemed wrong.  Nothing about where 
he had landed seemed like the alternate universe that he 
had visited before, yet it was not exactly like the 
universe he had left either.

"Oh, dear, this does not seem right," Wells said softly, 
again slipping into the habit of speaking to his time 
machine.  "Are you quite sure you have taken me to the 
correct location?"

The alternate universe had been a place of filth and crime 
when he had first visited.  Since Superman had arrived, 
some of the crime had been eliminated, but it was still a 
bit of a dark place.  This Metropolis that he had arrived 
in seemed much cleaner, much brighter.  It almost looked 
like the universe he had come from, but there were still 
the faintest of differences.  Maybe there was something 
defunct in his universe flux capacitor, and his machine had 
merely taken him back in time.  However, there was 
something inside of him telling him that he hadn't just 
gone back in time.  He had to have transferred through 
dimensions.  Didn't he?  It certainly did look like an 
entirely different place, indeed.

However, the time travel seemed to have worked correctly.  
It did not appear that he had landed in his beloved Utopia, 
so he must have traveled back in time, if not to the right 
universe.

He checked all of the settings on his machine.  The time 
travel controller was set to the year 1997.  That was 
correct.  The dimensional control was set to 3.  Wells 
gasped in shock.  Hadn't he checked all of his controls 
before he had turned the machine on?  Could this possibly 
be a third alternate universe?  It seemed entirely 
impossible, didn't it?  But, then again, wasn't time travel 
impossible?  Wasn't a first alternate universe impossible?

Yes, this must be a third alternate universe, Wells 
determined.  It was quite a serendipitous mistake.  Now he 
had the adventure of exploring a new alternate universe for 
the first time.  He absolutely thrived on adventure, as 
much as he hated to admit it.  It was the thrill of the 
adventure that kept him going.

Wells gazed around at the buildings surrounding his 
machine.  It appeared that he had landed right in his 
desired location, for as he looked up his vision was 
blocked by the famous 'Daily Planet' logo.

"Ah, the 'Daily Planet'," he said.  "I am sure this trusty 
paper will hold just the information I need as it always 
does."

Wells knew that if he was near the 'Daily Planet' he had to 
be near Lois Lane and Clark Kent.  He was quite curious 
about the functions of a Superman in this alternate 
universe.  It seemed to be so clean it was almost 
sparkling.  Plus, he couldn't see any obvious sign of crime 
on the street.  Superman must really be having an effect in 
this universe, possibly even more so than in his own 
universe!

Very excited to meet this world's Lane and Kent, Wells 
quickly hid his time machine and bid it farewell.  Then he 
quickly made his way around to the front of the building, 
eager to see what would await him.

However, before he went into the building, he stopped to 
catch a quick glance at the most recent copy of the paper 
that someone had tossed into a garbage receptacle.  He 
wasn't sure what made him stop to check the paper, but he 
did pull the paper out of the trash can and inspected it.

"Hmm," he said, a bit confused as he scanned the front 
page.

The first thing about this paper that confused him was the 
fact that on the whole front page, there was not one story 
about Superman.  The second thing that struck him oddly was 
the main story.  It seemed that the president, a man named 
Clinton, was being impeached.  Interestingly, the reporters 
credited with the story were not Lane and Kent.

Strange, he'd always thought that a story this large would 
have been written by Lane and Kent.  They were sure to be 
in the midst of a story so huge.  In fact, it didn't seem 
like any of the stories on the front page were authored by 
either of the star reporting team he knew from his own 
dimension.  Then when he inadvertently gazed at the 
editorial credits on the top of the front page, he was very 
surprised that he did not see any names he recognized from 
any of his visits to the Kents of his universe nor the 
Clark of the alternate dimension.  Something didn't seem 
right.  This universe was obviously quite different than 
either of the other universes.

His heart started to beat a little more quickly.  Now he 
was concerned about this universe.  Did Superman even 
exist?  If Lois Lane and Clark Kent did not work for the 
'Daily Planet', there was a chance that Clark did not even 
exist in this universe!  It was something Wells hadn't even 
anticipated.  There didn't seem to be any evidence of 
Superman in this world, but the world also seemed very 
peaceful - almost too peaceful, especially for a world 
without a Superman.

As Wells mused, his attention was drawn to the deep blue 
sky.  However, his concentration was broken by a flash of 
blue and red in the sky and the characteristic sonic boom 
of Superman.

"Aha!" Wells exclaimed.  "So Superman does exist!"

If Superman existed, it was fair to assume that Clark Kent 
also existed.  Maybe in this universe, Superman's deeds 
were so commonplace that the papers did not even bother 
reporting on them any more.  Perhaps his existence had 
practically eradicated crime in this universe.  Maybe 
Utopia was closer than he ever realized.

With his spirits comforted by the sight of Superman, Wells 
set his sights towards finding Lois Lane and Clark Kent in 
this dimension.  Since Superman existed, Clark Kent had to 
exist.  And if there was a Clark Kent, there was bound to 
be a Lois Lane.  He didn't know why he was using that logic 
because it obviously hadn't worked in the other alternate 
universe.  His logic that if there was a 'Daily Planet', 
Lois Lane and Clark Kent would work there obviously had 
been faulty.

Just as he was about to put the paper back in the trash, 
his eyes caught the headline of the story in the bottom 
right corner of the front page:  "Neural Prosthesis 
Advancements Give the Paralyzed a Chance to Walk."  He 
wasn't sure what drew him to the article, but he began to 
read.  Of course, the article was of a very scientific 
nature in an area he, sadly, had a very limited knowledge 
of, but his main concern was the large picture of the 
research group on the fifth page.

His breath caught in his chest as he realized just who he 
was looking at.  In the center of the group of students and 
researchers, Wells saw two very familiar faces.  When he 
read the caption, he knew for sure.  These two researchers 
were Dr. Lois Lane, Assistant Professor of Biomedical 
Engineering at Metropolis Institute of Technology, and Dr. 
Clark Kent, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering 
and Physiology at Metropolis Institute of Technology.  Even 
more peculiar was the fact that many of the other names and 
faces of the people in the picture were very familiar: Dr. 
Sam Lane, Dr. Perry White, Dr. Bernard Klein, and Jimmy 
Olsen.

They did exist!  Lois Lane and Clark Kent did, indeed, 
exist in this universe, if not in the form Wells had 
expected.  And many of the people who had played an 
important role in their lives in his universe also seemed 
to play a large role in this universe as well.  Wells was 
absolutely delighted to see that Lois and Clark seemed to 
work together in this universe.  It seemed like they were, 
indeed, partners in a sense.  Was it too much to hope for 
that they would be married in this universe?

However, Wells had a hard time believing that Lane and Kent 
were engineers.  He really couldn't picture them as 
anything other than reporters for the 'Daily Planet'.  In 
his universe and the other alternate universe, both Lois 
Lane and Clark Kent showed the same characteristic drive 
for the adventure of the investigation as reporters.  They 
all seemed to have an incredible flair for writing, as 
well.  Yes, this universe was strange, indeed.

Wells folded up the newspaper and stuck it under his arm 
and turned away from the 'Daily Planet' building.  It was 
obvious that he wasn't going to get any of his questions 
answered here.  Now it was his task to find this Metropolis 
Institute of Technology and then find Dr. Lane and Dr. 
Kent.  However, this was a monumental task for him to 
undertake.

The first thing he needed to find was a map.  He wasn't 
familiar with the Metropolis Institute of Technology and he 
had absolutely no idea how to get there.  There were plenty 
of people walking up and down the street whom he might have 
been able to stop and ask for directions, but he wasn't 
sure what their reaction was going to be to him.  He knew 
that he stood out in the crowd here as he always did.  
However, since this was his first time in this universe, he 
or 'had absolutely no idea' how these people would react to 
a stranger asking for directions on the street

Wells did not have to brave the reaction of the crowd, as 
he had feared.  It seemed like a higher power was looking 
out for him because as he started to walk and turned the 
corner, he saw signs directing him to Metropolis Institute 
of Technology by the banners that were posted on every 
light pole.

Luckily, it turned out that the University was less than 
two blocks away from the 'Daily Planet' building right in 
the middle of busy downtown Metropolis.  Wells followed the 
signs and walked there quickly, avoiding the eyes of all of 
the people who seemed to be staring at him.

However, he was really quite used to people on the street 
staring at him and he had grown rather accustomed to it.  
He knew that he stuck out in situation like this.  Here it 
was even worse.  Not only was he from a different time 
period, but from a different universe as well.  That 
definitely put him at a disadvantage.

As he walked, Wells marveled at how different this universe 
seemed than his own universe.  The differences were very 
minimal at first glance, but on further consideration, 
Wells realized that this was truly a different place.  He 
wasn't sure if there was even a Metropolis Institute of 
Technology in his universe.

When Wells realized he had reached his destination, he 
stopped in the middle of the sidewalk having no idea what 
to do next.  Okay, so he knew that this was the place that 
Lois Lane and Clark Kent worked.  However, it seemed a bit 
bigger than he had anticipated.  There were more than two 
city blocks full of buildings that seemed to make up this 
university.  How was he supposed to find two people?  It 
seemed like it was harder than finding a needle in a 
haystack.

However, it seemed like all of the luck in the world was 
behind Wells that day.  After Wells decided to walk in 
between the buildings to see if he could come up with a 
plan, he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

"You look lost.  Do you need any help, sir?" the man said 
in a friendly voice.

This man was the first person who had stopped to see if 
Wells needed any help.  Obviously Wells stood out in this 
time and this universe.  He must have looked more out of 
place than anyone walking the streets of Metropolis that 
afternoon.  Actually, people must have thought that he was 
some strange transient person with a mental imbalance who 
had been wandering the streets.  They had probably been too 
afraid of him to offer any help.

That voice!  Wells knew that voice!  He turned around and 
was surprised about his good luck today.  The man who had 
touched his shoulder was none other than the famous Clark 
Kent!  This Dr. Clark Kent looked exactly like the Clark of 
his universe with the only difference being that his 
clothes that he wore to work were slightly more casual than 
the suit and tie Clark wore to his job at the 'Daily 
Planet.'  They even seemed to wear the exact same glasses.  
Wells felt his breath catch in his chest.

"Clark Kent?"

"Yes," Clark said with a hint of surprise in his voice, but 
with a smile nevertheless.  Obviously he didn't know who 
this man was or why he seemed to know who he was.

"I've been looking for you, my boy."

Wells extended his hand and Clark shook it.  Wells grinned 
widely at the young man who looked so familiar.

Before Clark could answer, Wells continued with an 
introduction.  "I am H.G. Wells.  I know this will be quite 
hard for you to believe, but I am from the past and from a 
different universe."

"What?" Clark said.  "You're H.G. Wells, the author?  But 
you're dead."

Wells had to fight the urge to roll his eyes.  Yes, 
apparently he was dead.  Of course he was dead.  Why didn't 
anyone wait until he was done with his introduction before 
they made the assumption that he was dead?  It was 
interesting to see that he had chosen the same career in 
this universe.  However, it didn't seem like he had 
invented a time machine here.

"Oh, yes, I suppose I am dead.  As I said, I have invented 
a time machine that can also travel through dimensions."

"A time machine?" Clark asked skeptically.  He raised his 
eyebrows over his glasses and shook his head.  "But time 
travel is impossible.  And different dimensions?  There 
can't be!"

"Indeed, my boy.  I have invented a time machine, which I 
have adapted for interdimensional transport.  You see, I am 
from an alternate universe.  In fact, I know of three 
alternate universes now.  Quite amazing, indeed.  You see, 
I am a bit of an inventor as well as a writer."

Clark wasn't sure that he understood what this man was 
saying.  Was it just the rant of a crazy man?

"Mr., uh, Wells, are you looking for something?  I really 
have to go.  I'm meeting my wife at noon."

Wells smiled at Clark, glad to hear that one of his 
questions had been answered.  This Dr. Clark Kent was 
married, and Wells would bet that it was to a certain Dr. 
Lois Lane.  Maybe if he hinted that he knew about Clark's 
life, Clark might believe that he really was who he claimed 
to be.

"And I believe Dr. Lane would understand if you were late," 
Wells said hoping Clark understood his underlying meaning.  
Then he drew an "S" across his own chest.

Clark visibly stiffened and grabbed Wells's shoulder.  "Who 
are you?  What do you know?  How do you know my wife?"

Wells smiled at Clark and said quietly, "Mr. Kent, I told 
you, I am a time traveler from a different dimension.  In 
my world, I invented a time machine.  It was quite a 
daunting task, but I have always dabbled in inventing.  
Indeed, this was my first invention that truly worked.  I 
traveled into the future and I found a wonderful Utopian 
civilization started by the descendants of Clark Kent and 
Lois Lane.  There, Clark Kent is known as the famed 
Superman.  I have met the Kents of my universe on many 
occasions.  I will not bore you with the details, however.  
I have also met the Clark Kent of the second universe, but, 
alas, his Lois Lane was lost in the Congo several years 
ago."

"You know?" Clark sputtered.  "You really are H.G. Wells?  
You're really from a different universe?"

"Indeed," Wells answered.

"I have to call my wife."  Clark pulled a cell phone out of 
his pocket.

"Oh, quite good, the telephone.  Indeed, now where are the 
cords?"

"Oh, uh," Clark said, a bit confused.  "It's a cell phone."

"Aah, I see, a cell phone."  Wells nodded his appreciation.  
He had seen these things called cell phones before, but 
this one seemed more primitive than the ones he had seen in 
the Utopian society.

Clark dialed his wife's number frantically needing to 
consult her about this strange visitor who he wasn't sure 
if he believed or not.  It was true that he did really seem 
like he came from a time in the past.  Maybe his story was 
true.  Maybe he was crazy.  All Clark knew for sure was 
that he needed to talk to Lois about this.  This weird 
little man knew all of their secrets!

"Oh no!  It's only 11:45.  She's in class and won't answer 
her phone!"

"Dr. Kent, I have so many questions to ask you!" Wells 
exclaimed.  "Indeed, I am so happy I found you."

Clark stammered, "Well, my wife and I usually have lunch at 
the little coffee house across the street."

"Perfect!  Indeed, I believe I have always wanted to dine 
at a coffee house.  The concept is quite exciting.  
Drinking coffee in a quaint house."

"Uh, right," Clark said skeptically, now sure that he 
wasn't going to be able to get rid of the little man.  But 
he did want to talk to the man further.  How could he know 
that Clark was Superman?  How did he know that he was 
married to Lois?  Could he be telling the truth?  Was he 
really a man from a different universe's past?

Wells followed Clark across the street and through the door 
of the little coffee house without speaking.  However, when 
they found a table near the window, Wells was overcome by 
an uneasy feeling.

"Dr. Kent, I'm afraid I do not understand.  Yes, I see they 
do, indeed, sell coffee, but this is not a house.  Where is 
the bedroom, the living room..."

Clark interrupted, "No, no, Mr. Wells.  It's not a real 
house.  'Coffee house' is just a generic term for a 
restaurant that sells coffee."

"Oh, how peculiar.  I would think that a name like this 
would be quite misleading."

Clark cleared his throat to keep from laughing at Wells's 
comment.  He still wasn't sure if he could believe this 
Wells character's story or not, but for some reason, he was 
starting to like the older man and was starting to trust 
him.  Who knew?  Maybe he was telling the truth about 
everything he was saying.  Stranger things had happened.

Clark changed the subject so he wouldn't start laughing.  
"Uh, my wife should be here in a few minutes.  She has a 
class until noon."

"Oh, indeed, I read in the newspaper that you and your wife 
are engineers.  Quite strange, because in the other two 
universes, you are both reporters for the very same 
newspaper."

"Really?" Clark asked.  He couldn't picture himself as a 
reporter.  Actually, he couldn't picture himself doing 
anything except medical research.  In his profession, he 
was able to do research that would improve the medical 
profession in many ways.  Plus, it gave him plenty of 
opportunities to work as Superman without drawing any 
suspicions.  His work schedule was very flexible, and if he 
had to leave to be Superman, no one really noticed.  Most 
importantly, he was the man who knew the most about 
Kryptonian physiology.  He also had his PhD in physiology, 
so he had a very detailed knowledge of human physiology as 
well.  Yes, this was the perfect job for him.

"Indeed," Wells said calmly.

"Reporters, hmm.  I can't imagine being a reporter.  That 
seems like such a high stress environment."

"That it is, my boy," Wells agreed.  "But they thrive on 
it, I suppose.  Life as a professor is not stressful?"

"No," was Clark's immediate response, but then he amended 
his statement.  "Well, not really.  Maybe it is on the days 
before grant proposals are due, but beyond that, it is very 
low stress."

Wells nodded slowly.  He had a feeling that this Clark Kent 
was much more laid back than the Clark Kent from his 
universe.

"You are a medicine engineer professor?" Wells asked.

Clark laughed at Wells's name for his profession, but then 
he answered, "Yes, I guess you could call it Medical 
Engineering.  I'm an Assistant Professor in the Biomedical 
Engineering Department here, but I am trained as a 
physiologist.  My wife is also a biomedical engineer.  We 
both work in the Neural Control Engineering Laboratory.  I 
work on the physiological side while my wife works on the 
designs."

"Quite good," Wells said a light bulb beginning to brighten 
in his mind.  To make innocent conversation, he asked, 
"Neural Control?  You're not trying, well, to control 
people's thoughts."

"Oh, of course not!" Clark exclaimed.  "We're trying to 
enhance the quality of life for people with spinal cord 
injuries by developing..."

Wells interrupted, "Quite good, I'm glad to hear that you 
aren't trying to control people's thoughts, but I am afraid 
I have never heard of it.  I am sadly afraid that I may not 
understand any of the details you try to tell me for I am 
afraid I am a writer who dabbles in inventing.  I am afraid 
I never knew much about the body."

While Wells was talking, Clark shifted as if he heard 
something.   Then the front door of the coffee house 
opened.  In walked a beautiful woman who bore a striking 
resemblance to the Lois Lane of his world.  Of course, her 
hair was much longer, almost to her shoulders.  Other than 
that, she was an exact match!

The woman Wells already knew to be Lois made her way to the 
table and Clark stood up to greet her.  Then he helped her 
take her coat off.

"Mr. Wells," Clark said with a large smile on his face, 
"this is my wife Lois."

Wells stood up to shake Dr. Lane's hand, but then as soon 
as he saw her without her coat, he was struck by an 
incredible realization that set bells off in his head.  Dr. 
Lane was obviously pregnant.  They had solved the fertility 
problems between a Kryptonian male and an Earth female.  
All the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come 
together beautifully.  This was the solution he had been 
desperately searching for!

What an amazing mistake he had made.  It was hard to 
believe that changing just one setting on his time machine 
had brought him to this universe that held the answer to 
the question to which he had been devoting so much of his 
energy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"...so when I noticed that she was with child, I realized 
that they had solved your problem."

Wells had finished his entire story with a complete lack of 
interruption from either of the Kents.  It seemed like they 
were both completely transfixed by the story he had just 
told.

Lois gasped.  She had immediately made the connection.  If 
the Lois of that world was pregnant, all she and her Clark 
needed to do was find out how that Lois and Clark had 
overcome their obstacles.  Obviously, it was very 
beneficial that the Lois and Clark of that universe were 
medical researchers rather than reporters.  They were 
probably the only people who knew the most intimate details 
of both human and Kryptonian physiology and the possible 
interactions that made it difficult, but not impossible for 
the two to reproduce.

Clark had come to the same conclusions as Lois.  "Mr. 
Wells, she's pregnant?  They found out how a Kryptonian 
male and an Earth female can reproduce?"

"Indeed," Wells agreed. 

For the first time since he had arrived, the baby in 
Wells's arms began to squirm and fuss.  Then the squealing 
began.

"Oh, poor little thing," Wells said to the baby boy.  "You 
must be hungry."

Lois was torn.  She hated the fact that the little boy 
seemed to be frantically screaming, and it was tearing at 
her heart.  He needed his mother.  Even though she wanted 
to hear the rest of Wells's story, she knew that the baby 
had been in the past for too long.  He needed to get back 
to his rightful place in the future.  Her spirits had been 
significantly lightened by the knowledge that she would 
eventually be able to have such a beautiful, perfect little 
baby boy.  However, now she had to get to work.  They 
needed to find out just how that little man was able to be 
created.  But first Wells needed to take the baby home.

"Mr. Wells, I think he wants to go home.  He needs his 
mother," she said with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

Clark wrapped a strong arm around Lois shoulders.  Then he 
said, "Thank you, Mr. Wells.  You've given us a greater 
gift than you know."

Wells smiled at the couple, glad that he had achieved his 
goal.  He had, indeed, significantly raised their spirits 
and given them a renewed hope for the future.  The about 
face that they had made since he first saw them was 
absolutely amazing.  It seemed like an incredibly dark 
cloud had been lifted from them both.

When Clark had answered the door, he had looked like he had 
given up all hope in the world.  Lois, too, had looked 
heartbroken.  However, now they looked like their old 
selves: full of questions and the desire to conquer this 
problem.  Wells could tell that Lois, especially, was 
absolutely champing at the bit to sink her teeth into this 
problem.  It was an incredible change.

Then, when his eyes focused first on Lois, then on Clark, 
and finally on both as a couple, he was struck by an 
interesting thought.  He realized that they were not the 
only ones who had received a great gift.  They had given 
him the most wonderful gift in the world, too, even more 
than he had ever given them.  They had given him a greater 
purpose in life.

"Indeed, my boy, I believe you have given me the greatest 
gift of all.  You and your descendents founded the Utopia I 
had always dreamed about.  I owe you both the greatest 
gratitude."

As Wells and the Kents spoke, the baby's whimpering got 
much louder so that they almost could not speak over his 
cries.  They all knew that he needed to get back to his 
parents in his correct time period because he had to be 
missing his parents terribly.

"Oh, dear me, I do believe he is quite hungry."

Both Lois and Clark felt their hearts going out to the 
screaming little boy.  They both longed for the opportunity 
to hold their son close and attend to his every need.  
However, they understood the reasons why they were not able 
to touch him now.

Lois said, "Mr. Wells, you have to take him back.  He needs 
his mommy."

She couldn't justify keeping the baby in this time period 
any longer.  He had served his purpose giving her the 
knowledge that she would be able to meet him again soon.  
Once more she realized just how much she desperately wanted 
a baby.  Just looking at her future son filled a vacancy 
that she had not even realized that she had in her heart.

Her future self was probably frantic about her son's 
safety; she knew herself well enough to know that.  Even 
though Mr. Wells would probably set his time machine to 
return himself and the baby about a second after he had 
left, that second was probably going to be one of the worst 
seconds of her life.

Clark added, "I know you can't tell us when he will finally 
be born, but it is still comforting to know that he is our 
son and that some day in the future we will be able to hold 
him."

Clark, who had been so heartbroken before Wells had 
arrived, felt a large weight lifted from his heart.  Even 
though he hadn't believed Wells at first, now he was sure 
that this was his future child - his own flesh and blood!  
It was amazing; he and Lois were going to create a perfect 
new life together.

"Indeed, Mr. Kent," Wells said.  He stroked the baby's head 
in an attempt to settle him down.  "Now, I fear I should 
leave you to take this little man back to his correct time 
period."

Wells stood up slowly, and Lois and Clark both stood up 
with him.

Lois asked, "Can we stay with him until you get to the time 
machine?" because she wanted to spend as much time with the 
baby as she could.  After all, she wasn't sure how long it 
would be until she would be able to see him again.

Clark added, "I don't think you should be walking alone," 
because he was afraid of the many dangers that existed in 
the world outside of his home.  Wells and the baby would be 
much safer if they had Superman's protection as they 
ventured outside.  Plus, that would give him a few more 
minutes to marvel at his future child.

"Indeed, please do join me.  Of course you can say 
'goodbye' to him at the time machine."

As soon as Wells stood up and started to rock the baby, his 
whimpers became quieter and his eyes began to close again.

"It's amazing," Lois breathed as she started at the baby.

"Aah, indeed, I believe he knows we are going home."

Clark knew that he wanted to get this over with as soon as 
possible.  The longer Wells and the baby stayed here, the 
harder it was going to be to see the baby go.

"Uh, okay, are we ready to get going?" Clark asked.

Lois nodded slowly, resigned to the fact that she was going 
to have to let the baby go.  However, she was strengthened 
by the knowledge that she would soon see him again.

"Let's get this over with," Lois agreed.

"Indeed," Wells added.

When they left the brownstone, it was dark outside.  That 
was good in Wells's opinion because the number of people on 
the street had significantly decreased, and there were far 
fewer people to realize how much he stood out.  They were 
definitely a strange group walking down the street.

Lois and Clark let Wells lead the way and they walked a 
little bit behind him.  Clark knew that Lois wouldn't want 
to walk quickly because the quicker they got to the time 
machine, the sooner they would have to say goodbye to their 
baby.  They hadn't even held him, but they both had an 
intense feeling of closeness to this baby.  Neither of them 
were excited to see the baby go even though they knew how 
much their future selves were probably worried about their 
son.  However, they knew Wells well enough to know that he 
would arrange the time travel so that their future selves 
would only think their baby had been gone for less than a 
second.

Sooner than they realized, Wells had led them to his final 
destination.  They were standing in the alleyway where 
Wells had parked his time machine.

"Oh, drat!" he exclaimed.  "It seems this dreadful bird has 
taken up residence here again."

Lois and Clark looked at each other in amusement.  If 
anything would lighten their mood right now, it was seeing 
Wells trying to shoo a large pigeon off the front of his 
time machine.

"Shoo!  Shoo!"

Wells tried to push the bird off the front of the machine.  
However, with one arm holding the baby, it was not an easy 
task.

Lois and Clark both had to stifle their laughs at the sight 
before them.  The old man in old-fashioned clothes holding 
a baby running and swaying his free arm to try to frighten 
a large pigeon that was on the front end of a time machine 
- it was absolutely absurd.  Yet somehow, it was the least 
absurd thing that had happened to them today.

For some reason, Wells seemed very familiar with this bird.  
He was yelling at it and talking to it like he was almost 
on a first name basis with it.

"Uh, Mr. Wells, have you met this bird before?"

"Oh, Miss Lane, I may not have met this particular bird, 
but I have had quite bad luck with these pigeons.  They 
seem to think they are my, well, my hood ornament.  Is that 
the correct term?"

"Yes, that is the right term," Clark said.

Clark now couldn't fight off his laughter any more.  The 
mere thought of Wells's time machine with a large pigeon as 
a hood ornament drove him over the edge of sanity.  It 
wasn't often that something so absurd would amuse Clark, 
but today even stranger things had happened and he needed a 
release.

Once Clark had started laughing, Lois could no longer hold 
her own laughter in.  It was true to think that laughing 
was very contagious.  She felt bad for Wells, though, 
because he didn't seem to have any idea what they were 
laughing about.

Once their laughter had finally subsided and it looked like 
Wells was not having any luck with this stubborn pigeon, 
Clark shrugged at Lois and she nodded.  Their unspoken 
conversation was an agreement that they would help shoo the 
bird off the front of the time machine, which is what they 
should have done from the beginning.  It wasn't fair to 
watch Wells try to shoo the pigeon with only one free arm, 
especially when the other arm was holding their future son.  
After all, he had done so much for them; he shouldn't be 
their object of amusement.

Once Lois and Clark joined the game, the pigeon seemed to 
realize that it was outnumbered.  It immediately flew away 
because it seemed to have a feeling that once Lois and 
Clark were involved its fun was over.  Interestingly, it 
was like the pigeon had the mindset of the many criminals 
that Lois and Clark had helped put away with their stories.

Now that the bird had left its perch at the front of the 
time machine, Wells had climbed in and was beginning to set 
the controls.  The mood that had been so jovial a second 
ago had completely sobered.  In fact, Wells was sure he saw 
the faintest tear trickling down Miss Lane's cheek.  
However, he knew better than to mention it.

Instead, he tried to offer some encouraging words, "I will 
be back quite soon.  Indeed, after I return this little boy 
to his correct time, I will visit the new alternate 
universe and meet with Dr. Lane and Dr. Kent to see if they 
are willing to help you."

Now Lois and Clark had both sobered back into reality.  
They both knew that Wells was just about to leave.  It was 
a relief to know that he did plan to recruit Dr. Lane and 
Dr. Kent from this new alternate dimension to help them.  
It was pretty obvious that they had agreed to help because 
their son was born at some point in the future.  That was a 
very welcome thought.

As Wells turned the knobs on the machine to set the correct 
date and time to return the baby to, Lois leaned over the 
machine to catch one last glimpse of her future son in 
Wells's arms.

Wells, however, had a different idea of what she was trying 
to do.

"Miss Lane, didn't I tell you that I could not tell you 
when this little boy was born?  I am afraid that I cannot 
let you see how I have set the machine controls.  Mr. Kent, 
I trust you will not look either."

Lois's face flushed a deep crimson.  Actually, she hadn't 
really been looking at the controls to see where in time 
this baby was from.  She had really been trying to catch 
one last glimpse of her future son before Mr. Wells took 
him away.  Okay, she was trying to catch a glimpse of her 
son, but she was also curious about when he was from.  He 
had caught her.  How could he know her so well?  He even 
knew what she was doing even before she realized what she 
was doing.  However, it probably wasn't that hard to 
realize her thoughts in this situation.  She was probably 
wearing them all on her sleeve.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Of course," Clark added at the same time Lois was 
speaking.

Clark knew that as much as he wanted to know when his 
future son would be born, he also didn't want to do 
anything that might change the future.  That was the 
problem with time travel.  It seemed so fragile.  One false 
move was all it took for something to change 
catastrophically.

Lois and Clark looked at each other sheepishly.  They were 
both struck with an incredible curiosity.  It was almost 
unbearable.  However, they both were able to resist their 
temptation.

Wells pressed the button on the machine telling it to 
travel into the future.  It began to rev up and Wells 
pulled the baby close.

"Do not worry, my dear.  You will see him again soon," 
Wells said as the machine began to dematerialize.

After the machine had vanished, all traces of both Wells 
and their son were completely gone.  It seemed like it had 
all been a dream.  They both stood staring at the place 
where the time machine had just vanished.

Lois was the first to break the silence.  "Clark, did it 
really happen?"

"I think so."

Clark shook his head.  It was hard to believe that they had 
just received the best gift possible.  They had seen their 
future son and had found out that they were able to 
conceive a child.

Lois turned towards Clark and wrapped her arms around his 
waist.

"I love you, Clark," she said softly.

"I love you too, honey," he answered.

Those three words were very simple, yet they meant so much.  
In the middle of their crazy lives, those three words 
provided a sort of ground.  The rest of the world could go 
completely crazy around them, but the knowledge that they 
were there for each other with an unconditional love made 
the rest of the world seem sane.

"Are you ready to go home?  We must look pretty weird 
standing here in a deserted alley."

Lois laughed slightly.  Clark had a point.  They must look 
really strange standing there hugging next to some garbage 
bins in a deserted alley.

"We probably should.  I don't want to talk about this 
anywhere someone might be listening."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A second.  It had only been a second since H.G. Wells had 
taken their baby back to the past.  However, for Lois Lane 
and Clark Kent that one second had seemed like an eternity.  
As soon as t