Without A Superman (Superman's Quest)
By: ML Thompson  <thomplaw@tbaytel.net>
Rated: PG-13
Submitted: April 2004

* * * * * * * * *

This is a fanfic based on the television show, Lois and Clark: The New 
Adventures of Superman. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm 
borrowing these characters for a little fun and not for any profit. For 
complete disclaimer, go to: 
http://www.thompsonlawoffice.ca/Disclaimer.htm

My thanks to Gerry for brainstorming with me when the complexities of 
this story started to boggle my mind. And then for her Beta reading 
efforts. You were a great help, Gerry. And my thanks to Carol for 
searching my story for holes and other mistakes. As always, your sharp 
mind helped keep me honest. Also, my thanks to the people on the Fanfic 
Message Boards (http://www.lcficmbs.com/)who, once again, answered 
questions for me. I'm not sure what I would do without you guys. You're 
the greatest source of information. And my thanks to the people who 
gave me feedback on the first two Without A Superman stories. It helped 
motivate me to complete this story. Finally, my thanks to Lynn 
McCreadie for editing this story for the archives.

This is the third and final story in the Without A Superman Trilogy. If 
you want to read the first story, Without A Superman (Clark Kent's 
Quest), you can find it at: 
http://www.lcfanfic.com/stories/2004/withouta.txt.  If you want to read 
the second story, Without A Superman (Lois Lane's Quest), you can find 
it at: http://www.lcfanfic.com/stories/2004/without2.txt. If you don't 
want to read those stories or just want a refresher, read the spoilers 
below.

SPOILER FOR CLARK KENT'S QUEST: In Clark Kent's Quest, our Clark Kent 
was thrust into an alternate universe by Tempus, known in this new 
universe as J.D. Templeton. In Clark's quest to get home, he met that 
universe's Lois Lane. He eventually got home, but not before he had 
turned Lois Lane's life upside down. 
 

SPOILER FOR LOIS LANE'S QUEST: In Lois Lane's Quest, alternate Lois 
Lane quit her job at the Daily Planet to search for a man believed to 
be dead - her Clark Kent. When she finally found him, he was living 
under the name of Charlie King - and he had been charged with murder. 
Working together, they cleared him from the charges and, in a last 
minute twist, were forced to confront Jason Trask, the man who had 
killed Charlie's parents. In the end, they managed to defeat Trask, but 
watching his parents' murder when he was a child had left Charlie with 
some deep scars. As a result, he left rather than risk losing Lois in 
the same way. However, it wasn't long before he realized he couldn't 
stay away. Not surprisingly, Lois took him back.

But this alternate world still doesn't have a Superman. Is Charlie King 
up to the job? Thus begins the quest for a Superman...

* * * * * * * * *
Without A Superman 
(Superman's Quest)
By: ML Thompson <thomplaw@tbaytel.net>
April 2004
PG-13
* * * * * * * * *

"You want me to what?"

Charlie stared in disbelief at the woman sitting on the couch. He'd 
just come back from one of his clandestine rescues when she made a 
suggestion that caught him completely off guard.

"I'm serious, Charlie. If you had a costume, something you could use to 
disguise yourself, you could help people in the open, without fear of 
discovery."

He raised his eyebrows. "And just what type of costume did you have in 
mind? You think I should dress up like Spiderman? As in the comic book 
character?"

"Not Spiderman. Superman."

"Superman? What type of crazy name is that? Besides this isn't some 
comic book, Lois. And I'm not some brightly clad comic book character 
with a stupid name and secret identity." He shook his head in disbelief 
before heading towards the kitchen. "Sometimes I really don't know 
where you get these ideas."

"Don't dismiss me, Charlie!" said Lois, her tone changing. He glanced 
back, realizing he had upset her. 

"Lois, it's nuts," he said, wondering how she could sound so serious 
about something so ridiculous.

"It's not nuts," Lois said. "When the other Clark was here, he showed 
me his costume. He said when he wears the costume, he can help people 
without risking his normal life. And come on, Charlie, you've got to 
admit helping people would be a lot easier if you didn't have to 
constantly worry about someone seeing you."

Charlie felt his temper flare. He should have known. The other Clark! 
That was what this was all about. The other Clark had worn some sort of 
idiotic costume so, naturally, he should too. 

"I was skeptical about it too," Lois continued. "But he told me that my 
alternate self was fooled for almost two years. And I saw the costume. 
I really think it could work. You wouldn't have to worry about..."

"I'm not him." His voice was low. Each word spoken deliberately.

"I know that," Lois said dismissively, missing the edge in his words. 
"But that doesn't mean it can't work for you. In fact, I drew a picture 
of the costume so that you could..."

"I'm not him!" he interrupted. "I never will be. Why the hell can't you 
understand that?"

"Charlie..."

"I'm serious, Lois. You've been trying to make me into him since we 
first met. I thought that maybe, just maybe, you could learn to love 
me. But it's never going to happen is it? It's him you want." He turned 
away from her, not wanting her to realize exactly how much it hurt to 
know he was merely a substitute for the man she really wanted.

Lois rushed over to where he was standing. Grabbing onto his shirt, she 
turned him around, forcing him to look at her.

"I don't want him. It was never him." Her hands came up to cup his 
cheeks. "Don't you understand? It was always you."

"Then why do you keep trying to change me into him?" Charlie aksed, 
moving away from her touch. "If it's not one thing, it's another. 
First, it was the Daily Planet. He worked at the Planet, didn't he."

"Yes, but... Look, I just thought... I mean, you obviously have a gift 
for writing. And you've got the intellect to do something other than 
construction..."

"There's nothing wrong with my job! Did it ever even occur to you that 
I might like building houses?"

"I'm not saying..."

"And are you really so naive as to think that the Daily Planet would 
hire me? Don't be crazy. I have a ninth grade education. They don't 
hire people without high school diplomas to be reporters. I know you're 
ashamed to tell your friends..."

"When did I ever let you think that I'm ashamed of what you do?" Lois 
asked as her own anger began to rise. "You're the one who keeps putting 
off meeting my friends."

"You know why that is. I don't want you to get hurt if..."

"...if someone finds out about you," Lois said, completing his sentence 
and, at the same time, managing to insert a great deal of sarcasm into 
the words. "Oh, how could I possibly forget? You manage to remind me 
every hour. Really. I don't even need a watch. Charlie's reminding me 
I'm in danger. It must be the top of the hour."

"Don't exaggerate. I'm just concerned..."

"...that I'm going to be attacked by some wacked-out alien hunter. 
Well, news flash, Charlie. Been there! Done that! And he's the one 
who's dead. Why can't you let it go?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"But you haven't let it go. You can't forget about Trask. He's always 
here. He's always between us."

"That's not true."

"No? Then tell me. What are the nightmares about?"

Charlie turned away. Although they weren't officially living together, 
he slept at Lois' almost every night. And on more than one occasion, 
he'd woken from another nightmare to find himself being held in her 
arms as he trembled against her. Every time it happened she'd make the 
same plea - for him to talk about it. But how could he? How could he 
tell her that the nightmares which had tormented him for most of his 
life had gotten worse since he'd met her?

"Nothing, Lois. Everyone has nightmares."

"Not like that, Charlie." She stepped up closer behind him, wrapping 
her arms around his waist and leaning against his back. "You're only 
making them worse by keeping them inside."

He shrugged out of her embrace. "And when did you get your psychology 
degree?"

"I don't need to be a psychologist to see that you're being eaten up 
inside."

"Now you're being ridiculous. There's nothing eating me. Well, except 
that you keep trying to make me like him." He faced her again.

"Oh, so we're back to that, are we?"

"As far as I'm concerned, we never left. Look, if I'm making you so 
miserable..."

"You're not making me miserable."

"...maybe it would be best if I just went home tonight."

"If that's how you feel, maybe it would be best if you did go home," 
Lois responded, keeping her eyes firmly on his.

They stood there in silence for a minute, neither breaking eye contact. 
Charlie was the one to break eye contact first.

"Fine!" he said, heading towards the door.

"Fine!" Lois responded.

"Fine!" he said again, opening the door and stepping outside.

"Fine!" she said as he slammed the door behind him.

As Charlie headed into an alley and took to the skies, he heard her 
softly sob his name. But no matter how much it bothered him to hear her 
pain, he didn't look back as he flew through the black skies on his way 
to what he knew would be a lonely night in a soulless apartment. 

* * * * * * * * *

Templeton turned to the last page of his book. When he'd taken his trip 
to the future, it was instantly obvious that something had gone 
terribly wrong. The crime, the war, the poverty, the intolerance and 
corruption - all of those wonderful things were gone. They had been 
replaced by that horrible world known as Utopia.

A quick trip to a library in the future had netted him a book called 
'The King Family History.' Templeton was determined to figure out 
exactly what had changed and why. And, most importantly, he had to find 
a way to set things right.

After closing the book, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the 
far wall of his office. Apparently, when he brought Clark Kent to this 
universe, he had set off a chain of events he had not anticipated. Lois 
Lane had sought for her hero and, regardless of Templeton's previous 
belief that Clark Kent had been killed by Bureau 39, she had found him 
living under the name of Charles King. However, if Templeton had not 
interfered, King would have lived out his life in obscurity. Meeting 
Lois Lane had changed all that. 

There was only one piece of good news. Apparently, when Lane found 
King, he'd been less than a Superman. His belief in concepts like 
justice and the inherent goodness of man, together with the 
debilitating fear he suffered as a result of his own life experiences 
had made him incapable of donning the red and blue which was such a 
symbol of hope in other universes. As a result, it had taken... or 
would take two years before Templeton's universe would be plagued by 
that big, blue boy scout. That gave Templeton some time to prevent this 
tragedy.

But how should he go about it? He supposed he could try to get his 
hands on some kryptonite. The problem was that kryptonite never seemed 
to work to bring down Superman. And everyone who tried died or ended up 
in jail. No. Kryptonite wasn't the solution - although he might be well 
advised to have some around, just in case. 

Besides, while reading The King Family History, Templeton had 
discovered that this Clark Kent wasn't completely invulnerable. His 
right shoulder and the right side of his back were penetrable. He 
thought about that for a moment. Maybe there was some way he could make 
use of that. 

When nothing immediately sprang to mind, his thoughts took him in a 
different direction. Lois Lane. She was the problem. She was the one 
responsible for turning Charles King into Superman. If only there were 
a way to neutralize her influence... Of course, he could always kill 
her. But where was the fun in that? A small smile suddenly made its way 
across his face as a plan began to take hold. 

His grin widened. Lois Lane might even thank him for this. After all, 
given the choice, would Lois really want to spend the next two years 
turning that wimp, King, into Superman? And if a hero was what she 
wanted, a hero was what she would get.

Besides, in spite of Nigel's claims that he could keep Lois Lane from 
looking into Templeton's affairs, Lane had found out about his 
intentions to destroy Lex Towers. Not that having Lois know about his 
plan was exactly a problem - yet. However, Templeton had just found out 
his application for the necessary permits had been denied. That meant 
he was going to have to come up with less... conventional means of 
completing the task. Lois Lane was a hindrance to that goal.

Yes. Removing Lois Lane from the equation was definitely the way to 
deal with both of his problems.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois glanced at the address on the paper one more time before pulling 
the jeep over to the side of the road. She was supposed to meet her 
source in the alley just ahead at exactly five o'clock - ten minutes 
from now. The note said if she were more than a couple of minutes early 
or late, he would be gone. It was rather strange. But then strange was 
the way she would describe a lot of her sources.

Still, she couldn't quite shake the knot forming in the pit in her 
stomach. On the other hand, she wasn't entirely sure whether her 
uneasiness was because of the strange note or the fight she'd had with 
Charlie last night.

She let out a breath. Charlie really could be such a jerk at times. 
Once she met this source, she intended to go straight home. Since he 
finished work before she, he better be waiting for her when she got 
there - with a big bouquet of flowers if he knew what was good for him. 
And he better have one hell of an apology prepared. 

She sighed. Actually, she didn't exactly care about the flowers. She 
could even live without the apology. She just wanted him to take her in 
his arms and hold her, to heal the rift their fight had left in her 
soul.

Her own conscience pricked at her. Was she trying to change him into 
something he wasn't? No! No she wasn't. But maybe she needed to be a 
bit more sensitive. After all, she knew he was a little insecure about 
the sincerity of her feelings - given the fact that she had pursued him 
around the world without having ever met him. And she really couldn't 
explain it to him. But somewhere deep in her soul, she knew it wasn't 
the other Clark she had been looking for - it had always been Charlie. 
It made no rational sense, but even her dreams, now that she thought 
back, had been about Charlie. But how could she expect him to believe 
that when she kept making suggestions that indicated she wanted him to 
be more like Clark?

She glanced at the clock on the dashboard of her jeep. Five more 
minutes. What did this source know that made him so nervous he wouldn't 
even wait ten minutes if she were late? In fact, he hadn't even left 
his name - just a note on her desk, although how it had got there was a 
mystery to her.

But then solving mysteries was what she loved most about her job at the 
Daily Planet. She'd returned to work almost three weeks ago. She might 
have returned earlier except she and Charlie had hardly left her 
bedroom for the first week. She blushed even now as she thought back. 
She had been completely insatiable, as if she had been trying to make 
up for thirty years of abstinence as fast as possible. She shook her 
head slightly. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought herself 
capable of such passion. Fortunately, Charlie didn't exactly seem to 
mind.

She glanced at the clock again. Time to go. Opening the door, she 
stepped outside. She put her tape recorder in the pocket of her coat. 
After stuffing her purse under the seat, she locked the door and began 
making her way to the alley.

The note said if she wanted the inside scoop on J.D. Templeton's reason 
for purchasing Lex Towers, she should come to this alley. Well, she 
did. She'd been digging into that little mystery for the past week - 
questioning her sources, digging into archives. It wasn't the purchase 
of Lex Towers per se that had caught her attention. What interested her 
was that Templeton had applied for permits to demolish the building. 
Lex Towers was probably the most luxurious building in Metropolis. Why 
buy it just to blow it up? There had to be a story there.

She stopped at the entranceway to the alley, very conscious this might 
be some sort of trap. But the alley appeared to be deserted. So where 
was this source? She stepped further into the alley, all of her senses 
on high alert, looking, waiting for whatever trap might be sprung and 
ready to do battle if necessary. Stopping again, she attempted to see 
if she could hear anyone or anything. Still, there was no sign of 
danger. 

She glanced down at the ground to where a piece of wood was lying 
across the alley. Raising her eyes again, she stepped over the board, 
shaking her head after she did. That had been weird. That last step had 
been... strange. It almost felt as if she had stepped through some sort 
of disruption in the air around her. She shook her head again, trying 
to shake off the slight feeling of dizziness. 

"Anyone there?" she called into the alley. 

There was no answer. She called a second time. Suddenly, she felt 
really weird about this. There was something wrong. She didn't know 
what it was. But she had to get out of there now. She turned back to 
the entranceway, making her way to the street as quickly as possible. 

Once on the street, she turned towards her jeep. Then she stopped and 
looked around. Where was her jeep? She had parked it over there, hadn't 
she? She looked up and down the street but there was no sign of the 
vehicle.

"Damn!" she said. Someone had stolen her jeep.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois was exhausted by the time she arrived at her apartment. It had 
taken her more than three hours to get home. 

When she first realized her jeep had been stolen, she'd gone in search 
of a pay phone. But upon finding one, she realized she had left her 
wallet in her purse, and her purse was currently stuffed under the 
front seat of her stolen jeep. So she set off on foot to the police 
station. Since she didn't have any money, she wasn't even able to hail 
a cab. Finally she arrived at the station. But that wasn't the end of 
it. How could reporting the theft of her jeep to the police initiate so 
much paper work?

She had tried calling her apartment from the police station to ask 
Charlie to pick her up. But the phone rang without answer. She thought 
she had turned on her answering machine before she had left that 
morning. But given how upset she had been about her fight with Charlie, 
she might have forgotten.

She had briefly considered calling Charlie's apartment. But since he 
was currently living in Florida, she rejected the idea. He could be at 
the station in a matter of minutes, but she wasn't sure how she would 
justify making a call to Florida in her search for a lift home.

Henderson would undoubtedly have given her a ride. But he hadn't been 
at the station. As a result, she'd walked home.

During the entire trip, she found herself hoping Charlie would be there 
when she arrived. But as she walked up the steps, she realized her 
apartment was dark.

Sighing, she checked her pockets for her keys. She felt the frustration 
rise in her throat when she realized she had left her apartment keys in 
her purse as well. Fortunately, she did have her lock picking equipment 
in the pocket of her jacket, but not her keys. She found it slightly 
ironic. Maybe it was a sign she was too obsessed with her job. Still, 
she sent up a silent word of thanks to her sister for giving her the 
small compact bag containing lock picking equipment on her last 
birthday.

Still, there wasn't much she could do about it at the moment. Bending 
down, she made short work of the locks, opened the door and stepped 
inside the darkened apartment. She pulled the door closed behind her 
and leaned up against it, closing her eyes. Be it ever so humble, there 
was no place like home.

Without bothering to turn on the lights, she began feeling her way down 
the stairs with the intention of collapsing in a heap on the couch.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark was about to land on the balcony when he saw the woman inside his 
apartment. He let out a slow breath. He hated when that happened. Not 
that it happened a lot anymore. After he first became Superman, he 
found his place was getting broken into on a regular basis - primarily 
by paparazzi who wanted to dig up the dirt on the Man of Steel. They 
were even going so far as to rifle through his garbage.

He'd managed to put an end to most of that by reaching an understanding 
with the press. He was always generous with them - unless they violated 
his privacy. Then the man or woman who had done so became a persona non 
grata. The basic fear of being cut out of every interview Superman gave 
was enough to keep most of the press in line. But still, there were 
times, like now, when someone else would decide to sneak into his 
apartment in an attempt to get some inside information on Superman. Not 
that there was anything to find - no women, no bad habits and since 
everyone knew he was Superman, he didn't even have any secrets to keep 
anymore.

He was just about to go in and confront the intruder when a better idea 
took hold. He almost smiled. Of course, if he was going to do this, it 
might be best if he changed out of the suit. Spinning in mid-air, he 
was soon dressed in his normal Clark clothes. He stuck the glasses in 
his pocket and prepared to commence his mission - Operation Intruder.

After landing on the balcony, he quietly opened the door and snuck 
inside. The woman hadn't turned on the lights making it possible for 
Clark to float silently through the shadows without being noticed.

She was feeling her way down the stairs into his apartment. He floated 
over her, landing silently behind before reaching out and grabbing her 
- hoping to scare her enough that she might think twice before trying 
something like this again.

Clark was caught completely off guard when the woman reacted to his 
actions by stepping to the side, grabbing onto one of his arms and 
flipping him down the stairs. Lying on the floor, he stared up into the 
eyes of... His breath caught in his throat. ...Lois Lane.

"I'm so sorry," she gasped when their eyes met. "I didn't realize it 
was you. Are you okay? What am I saying? Of course your okay. But that 
doesn't excuse what I... God, you scared me. I thought I was being 
attacked."

He blinked, trying to figure out if he was hallucinating. But when he 
again opened his eyes, Lois was still standing over him. He didn't hear 
a word she said as his mind rushed to figure out if this was some sort 
of dream. Suddenly, she rushed down the remaining couple of steps and 
sat down on his legs so that she was straddling him. A dream. 
Definitely a dream.

"You're okay, aren't you?" she asked.

He nodded blankly.

She let out a breath of relief before a small smile made its way onto 
her face. She reached up and gently stroked his cheek.

"You shaved the beard off," she said. "You look different." She cocked 
her head to the side and studied him for a moment before continuing. "I 
think I like it." When he didn't respond, her smile faded. "I'm sorry 
about our fight. I never want you to think I don't love you just the 
way you are. I might make suggestions sometimes - but it's just that I 
want to make your life easier. I'm not trying to make you into him. I 
swear."

He had no idea what she was talking about. But at the moment, he didn't 
exactly care. Lois Lane, the woman he dreamt about on a regular basis, 
was sitting on top of him as he lay prostrate on the floor. 

She suddenly leaned forward, putting her cheek next to his.

"Am I forgiven?" she asked into his ear before lightly nipping his 
earlobe.

"Oh, yeah," he breathed. He wasn't sure what she might have done that 
required his forgiveness. But he'd forgive her anything if it meant she 
would keep nibbling on his ear.

"Good." She rubbed her cheek against his. "There are certain advantages 
to you not having the beard. No whisker burn." She kissed his neck. 
"You're wearing different aftershave too, aren't you?"

"Yes," he whispered as his breathing became increasingly heavy. 

He was suddenly aware that his body was having an unintended reaction 
to the woman's activities. He desperately hoped she wouldn't notice. 
She pulled back slightly to look in his eyes, rubbing herself 
provocatively against him thereby telling him that she had indeed 
realized the effect she was having on him. He felt a blush rise in his 
cheeks and a groan rise in his throat.

"Ever heard of make-up sex?" she asked saucily before leaning in to 
kiss him.

The instant their lips met, Lois jumped back, scrambling desperately to 
get off him. He felt completely disoriented when she was suddenly gone, 
sitting on her butt against the far wall, staring at him in horrified 
disbelief.

"Who the hell are you?" she gasped.

* * * * * * * * *
IN ANOTHER DIMENSION
* * * * * * * * *

Charlie shifted a bouquet of flowers to his left hand and wiped his 
sweaty right hand on his jeans as he anxiously waited for Lois to come 
home. 

As he waited, he silently debated the appropriate course of action in 
this situation. He had his own key to her apartment, of course. But was 
one supposed to let himself into his girlfriend's apartment when he'd 
stormed off like a petulant child the previous evening? He just didn't 
know. Never having been in this situation, he wasn't entirely sure 
about the protocol. And the last thing he wanted was to start out this 
apology on the wrong foot. 

It amazed him that the same woman capable of making him feel as if he 
were in heaven could also have him believe he had gone to hell. Never 
had anyone so controlled his emotions the way Lois did - both for the 
good and the bad. She could make him feel more like a man and more like 
an awkward teenage boy than anyone he'd ever known. And she could make 
him feel as if he were both almost at the same moment.

Finally, he sat down on the steps to her apartment to wait. Hopefully 
she would be home soon - making the question of what to do moot. 
Although, given how much of a jerk he could be at times, it might be 
wise for him to find out the appropriate course of action in this 
situation.

Not that he wanted to fight with Lois ever again. The past twenty hours 
had been absolute hell. He hadn't been able to sleep at all last night, 
and he'd spent most of the day watching the clock, waiting for the 
moment when he could come back and beg for Lois' forgiveness. She had 
just been trying to help and he... he'd acted like a child. There was 
no getting around that. 

It was just that the mere thought of Lois with that other man had the 
power to make him so jealous he could barely see straight. But he was 
being ridiculous. After all, it wasn't as if Lois would ever even see 
that Clark again - or any other Clark for that matter. There was 
absolutely no reason for him to be jealous. She was with him now. And 
she'd made it more than clear that as far as she was concerned, he was 
hers.

That thought brought a small smile to his lips. He had to admit, he 
liked being hers. He liked it a lot. He liked talking to her, holding 
her, touching her, even just looking at her. And he liked making love 
to her. He liked that a whole lot. Nothing came close to the way he 
felt when they made love - not even flying came close in comparison.

Of course, one other thing was pretty amazing. Sleeping next to her. 
Hearing the regular pattern of her breathing and the gentle beat of her 
heart and realizing he wasn't alone in the world was pretty 
astonishing, too. She knew his every secret and still wanted to be with 
him. He wondered what he had ever done to deserve such an incredible 
gift.

About a week ago he had come to realize just how easily he had accepted 
the role this feisty brunette now played in his life. It had happened 
while he was at work, waiting for the workday to end so that he could 
get back to her. He had managed to get a job working for a construction 
company in Florida. His decision not to look for a job in Metropolis 
had been deliberate - to give him some distance from Lois so that she 
wouldn't be endangered by their relationship. 

Of course, taking a job in Florida also required him to rent a small 
bachelor pad there. After all, an employer required an address - and 
might have found it somewhat strange had he listed 344 Clinton Street, 
Metropolis, on his employment papers. The irony was he was more 
familiar with Lois' apartment than his own. He hadn't even bothered 
getting pots or pans or dishes. Even the majority of his clothes had 
made their way into Lois' apartment.

Anyway, he had been working for Bruno's Construction for a couple of 
weeks when it had happened. Some of the guys were planning to go out 
for a beer after work. They invited Charlie.

"Na," Charlie had responded. "I have to get going."

The men had shared looks.

"What?" asked Charlie.

"It's a woman," said one of his colleagues.

"He ain't got no ring on his finger," said another.

"That's why he has to get going," said the first one. "Trust me, he's 
got the look."

"What look is that?" asked Charlie.

"The one that says you've been hooked and hog-tied."

"Pay them no mind, son," said the foreman, giving Charlie a slap on the 
back. "Once she gets a ring on your finger, you'll be free again. At 
that point, she won't want you hangin' around all the time. She'll have 
what she wants."

The men had all laughed.

Charlie chuckled slightly as he thought about it now. He hadn't cared 
at all what the guys thought. If this is what it felt like to be hooked 
and hog-tied, he didn't exactly mind. Well, at least not normally. 
Tonight was a different matter completely. 

He looked down the street, but she was still nowhere in sight. His mind 
drifted to the key in his pocket. He always went in by himself when he 
arrived before she did. Maybe he should again. She might have left a 
message for him on her answering machine. Always assuming, of course, 
she hadn't given up on him entirely after his behavior last night. He 
stuck his hand in his pocket and fingered the key.

He supposed he could get supper going, too. He gave a small snort. 
Yeah, right. At least he could call out, maybe have some Chinese food 
waiting for her when she got home. 

Deciding she would appreciate that, he got up and dug the key out of 
his pocket, using it to enter her apartment. He hoped he was doing the 
right thing.

* * * * * * * * *

Charlie looked at the clock again. It was after ten. He was starting to 
get seriously concerned. Not that he necessarily had any reason to 
worry. Lois' job wasn't always nine to five. But usually when she was 
going to be late, she called. Of course, that didn't necessarily mean 
anything either. After all, she wouldn't necessarily be expecting him 
tonight - after the fight they'd had yesterday. Still, he couldn't 
shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

The food had arrived hours ago. The cartons were sitting on the 
counter, waiting for her to come home. The flowers still lay on the 
kitchen counter where he had placed them when he first entered her 
apartment.

Charlie paced the living room, imagining all sorts of ways she could 
have been killed. Finally, unable to stand the tension a moment longer, 
he picked up the phone and placed a call to the Daily Planet. He wasn't 
sure she would appreciate his checking up on her - after all, he knew 
she already thought him over-protective. And given the fact that they 
had fought about this very thing last night, he was trying very hard 
not to overreact. Still, more than five hours had passed since he had 
arrived at her apartment. Surely that was long enough to wait.

He tapped his foot on the floor as he waited impatiently for someone to 
pick up the phone.

"Lois Lane please," he said when the phone was finally answered.

"I'm sorry. She's not in. I could put you through to her voice mail or 
you could try calling back during the daytime tomorrow."

"No, you don't understand. I need..." His voice trailed off. "Do you 
know where she is?"

"She doesn't report to me." The woman's voice was slightly snippy now. 
Obviously, she had expected him to accept one of her suggestions.

"Is there someone there who she does report to?" Charlie insisted.

"I wouldn't know."

Charlie didn't even bother to say good-bye. Instead, he simply hung up 
the phone. He hesitated for a moment more before making the decision. 
Something was wrong. He felt it in the pit of his stomach. And he had 
waited too long already. Less than a minute later, he was standing in 
front of the Daily Planet.

* * * * * * * * *

Dan Scardino stepped into the elevator and pushed the button to the 
lobby. He wasn't feeling very comfortable with the way the day had 
unfolded. He had been outmaneuvered and he didn't like that at all.

Until today, all he had done was pass on the odd piece of information 
about Lois Lane to the English gentleman. Until today. And he couldn't 
say he much liked the change. He had been the one to leave the note for 
Lois telling her to meet with a source at a particular time and place. 
What exactly had he got himself into here?

But the Englishman - Dan didn't even know his name - had made it clear 
the request was not optional. If he didn't leave the note on Lois' 
desk, the man would provide proof to Catherine that Dan had been spying 
on Lois for over a year.

Although he didn't know the reason for the proposed rendezvous, he had 
suspected it wasn't for Lois' benefit. Dan didn't like the idea of 
being used to lure Lois into some sort of trap. As a result, he had 
gone to the proposed meeting place, watching from his car as Lois 
stepped into the alley. When she had unexpectedly disappeared, he'd 
panicked. Not knowing what to do, he'd driven back to the Daily Planet 
as quickly as possible - hoping desperately Lois Lane would return 
there with an incredible story to tell. 

Now, at almost eleven o'clock, Dan had been forced to concede that Lois 
wasn't coming back - at least not tonight. The time had come for him to 
go home. Hopefully, she would return tomorrow.

The instant the elevator doors slid open, Dan realized some sort of 
commotion was happening in the lobby. He stepped out of the elevator to 
see a man with a beard facing three security guards. He hesitated for a 
moment before making his way towards the entrance.

"But I just came from her place!" the man was objecting. "She didn't 
come home!"

Dan's steps slowed slightly. He glanced at the man, thinking he looked 
familiar, but when the reason eluded him, he dismissed the thought.

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't know what to tell you," one of the security 
guards responded.

"Please. I'm begging you. Just let me go to the newsroom and check for 
myself. Someone must know where she is or at least where she went."

"I can't let you in without..."

"Is Catherine Grant here?" the man asked. "She's Lois' boss. She must 
know where I can find Lois."

Dan made his way over to the newspaper stand, picking up and thumbing 
his way through a paper so that he could listen to the continuing 
conversation.

"I'm sorry, sir. Ms. Grant left about an hour ago."

"Then can you give me her phone number?"

"I'm..."

"...'sorry, sir'," the man completed, letting out a frustrated breath. 
"Is that all you can say? `I'm sorry, sir!' Don't you even care that 
Lois is missing? Don't you care at all? What type of place are you 
running here anyway?"

"If you don't calm down, sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Dan hesitated for a moment longer, not sure what he should do. Lois 
hadn't arrived at her place tonight. And that man was convinced 
something was wrong. For all Dan knew, Lois would be safely back 
tomorrow. If the man did manage to convince security to let him in, it 
was possible, although unlikely, the man might find something that 
traced back to Dan. 

"I'm not leaving until..."

"Maybe I can help here," Dan said, making his decision. "My name's Dan 
Scardino. And you are?"

"I'm Charlie King. Lois didn't come home tonight. I think something 
happened to her. Do you know where she was going?"

"I heard something about her going on an all night stakeout," Dan said. 
That should at least get rid of this guy until tomorrow.

"Where?"

"That's all I heard."

"But that doesn't make any sense. She would have called."

"Maybe she forgot," Dan responded as it sank in that whoever this man 
was, it seemed he and Lois were living together. That was news to Dan. 
He had always thought of Lois as the ice princess.

King looked at him so hard, Dan felt as if the man's eyes were boring 
into him. He had to fight the urge to squirm. Finally, King nodded.

"Thank you," King said, turning and making his way to the front door of 
the Daily Planet.

Dan stood inside the Daily Planet lobby until he was sure King was long 
gone before leaving the building himself.

* * * * * * * * * *

Charlie observed from the shadows as Scardino left the Daily Planet. 
The man was lying about something. What, Charlie didn't know. But the 
man's heart rate had risen dramatically when he told Charlie about an 
all night stakeout. 

Charlie watched as Scardino walked down the street, stopping by a car 
to get inside. Then Charlie took to the sky to follow the car's 
progress from above. The car stopped in front of a rather nondescript 
apartment building. As Scardino made his way inside, Charlie landed on 
the roof of a building across the street and watched Scardino's 
progress through the walls. Charlie x-rayed the entire building, 
looking for any signs of Lois. But when Scardino finally climbed into 
bed, Charlie realized there was not much point in watching further. 
Whatever the man had been lying about, it wasn't that he had kidnapped 
Lois and was holding her captive in his apartment.

So what did he do now? He began flying randomly over the city, 
searching for any sign of her. After about an hour without any success, 
he had a new thought. Catherine Grant! Maybe Lois had her home phone 
number. With that thought in mind, Charlie headed back to Lois' 
apartment.

* * * * * * * * *

Charlie felt somewhat sheepish when a man answered the phone, breathing 
heavily. He had quite obviously interrupted something. But then, what 
did he expect? It was after midnight.

"Is Catherine Grant there?" asked Charlie, pushing aside his suspicions 
about what he had interrupted to get to the point.

"Just a moment," said the man. 

A woman's voice came over the line. She, too, was slightly breathless. 

"My name is Charlie King," Charlie began. "I'm sorry to disturb you so 
late, but I'm a friend of..."

"I know who you are," Catherine interrupted. "What can I do for you, 
Charlie?"

"Umm... Well, Lois didn't come home tonight. And I can't seem to get a 
straight answer from anyone about where she is. She hasn't even called. 
She always calls if she's going to be late. I tried going by the Daily 
Planet, but I couldn't get any information from them. I was wondering 
if you could tell me if she had some big story that might have kept her 
out late or..."

"Slow down, Charlie," Catherine said. "You've only known Lois for about 
a month, right?"

"Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's just that sometimes Lois has been known to get so caught up 
following a lead that she forgets to tell anyone - even me - what she's 
up to. I'm sure she'll turn up tomorrow - probably with a forty-two 
point headline."

Charlie let out a frustrated breath.

"Okay," Catherine continued. "How about we do this? I usually go into 
the office at six. If she's still missing by then, meet me at the Daily 
Planet and we'll see if we can track her down. Fair enough?"

Charlie closed his eyes and listened to Catherine's heart rate through 
the phone line. It had slowed considerably since she had come on the 
line. The woman was obviously telling him the truth. Not that he found 
that exactly comforting, but he supposed it was possible he was 
overreacting.

"Fair enough," Charlie responded.

"Good. Then try to get some sleep. I'm sure she's fine, Charlie. If you 
still haven't heard from her by tomorrow, meet me at the Planet."

Charlie hung up the phone and stared at it blankly for a long moment. 
Maybe Catherine Grant was right. Maybe Lois had just got caught up in a 
story and forgotten to call. Still, that didn't explain Scardino's 
heart rate when he claimed Lois was on a stakeout. On the other hand, 
Scardino might just have been trying to calm down the wild man who was 
confronting security at the Daily Planet.

He made his way over to the recliner and sat down, pulling the throw 
Lois always kept on the arm of his chair over himself to staunch the 
sudden chill in his bones. He couldn't stand the thought of climbing 
into Lois' bed without her, but he had to at least try to relax. He 
needed his mind to be sharp tomorrow in case Lois didn't make it home 
tonight.

Maybe he should head back into the sky to continue looking for her. But 
what if she called while he was out? He really wasn't sure how far his 
hearing abilities would extend - having never put them to the test. 
Besides, Catherine had seemed so certain that this was normal Lois-type 
behavior. And the last thing he wanted was for Lois to think that he 
was being over-protective again. Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe he'd 
just wait a little while longer to see if she did come home - or at 
least call to tell him where she was.

"Call me, Lois," he whispered into the quiet of the apartment. "Pick up 
a phone and call me."

* * * * * * * * *

Bernie sat on the couch in the comfortable Washington apartment he 
shared with his wife, Lucy Lane. He was lost in thought as he stared 
blankly at a spot on the other side of the room. His father had lost 
his mind. It was the only way to interpret his father's comments when 
they had spoken on the phone a few minutes ago. Inter-dimensional 
travel. Alternate Dr. Kleins. All of it was nuts.

Still, his father had never before been given to flights of fancy. Was 
it possible he really had built an inter-dimensional transport device 
for J.D. Templeton? No. That was crazy.  

The door to the apartment opened, and his wife entered.

"Hey, hon. Did you wait up for me?" Lucy asked, removing her jacket and 
hanging it up in the closet.

"Huh?" he asked, trying to drag his mind out of his thoughts long 
enough to grasp his wife's question.

"Earth to Bernie," Lucy said with a smile, walking into the living room 
and plopping herself into the lap of her husband, the son of Doctor 
Bernard Klein. 

His arm automatically went around her waist, pulling her closer.

"I'm sorry I'm so late," Lucy continued. "The meeting just went on and 
on and on. I swear, the only people who can talk more than lawyers are 
politicians and bureaucrats."

Bernie gave a distracted laugh.

"What's wrong?" asked Lucy.

"Nothing," said Bernie, shaking his head slightly. Until he knew more, 
it was probably best not to upset his wife. "So what was this meeting 
about?"

Lucy immediately filled him in on her day.

* * * * * * * *

Charlie propped himself up on his arm and looked at the half-asleep 
woman lying next to him. His eyes traced each shadow and line of her 
face as a tidal wave of emotions engulfed him. He loved her more than 
he thought it possible to love. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful 
thing he had ever seen. Reaching over, he brushed a strand of hair out 
of her face.

How was it she had managed to open the recesses of his heart so 
completely? She had the power to touch him in ways he had never 
believed possible. He smiled when she opened her eyes a crack and 
looked at him. She met his smile with one of her own and instantly he 
was reminded of a poem.

"your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose

"i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands 
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands"

"e.e. cummings?" she asked.

When he nodded, she reached up and took the hand he was using to play 
with her hair. Bringing it down to her mouth, she kissed it. Then she 
cuddled up closer into his chest and again closed her eyes. He wrapped 
his arm around her and kissed her hair.

He took a deep breath before pulling back to look at her again. He 
instantly jerked backwards, falling to the floor behind him when he 
realized he was holding Dan Scardino. 

"What...? Where...? How...?" Charlie gasped, trying to figure out where 
Lois had gone.

"Come back to bed, Charlie."

Lois' voice was coming from the man's mouth. Charlie shook his head, 
blinking his eyes several times. When he again focused on the bed, it 
was empty.

"Lois," he called, scrambling to his feet. "Lois, where are you?"

He was in a maze. He tried to see through the concrete walls to find 
his way out, but there was something wrong with his x-ray vision. He 
couldn't see through anything.

"Charlie." Her voice called to him from somewhere on the other side of 
the wall.

He had to get out of there - to get to her. He circled around, 
examining his surroundings, before turning towards the most likely 
escape route. It was gone.

"Charlie." Her voice sounded more desperate now.

The walls were closing in around him. He tried jumping over the wall, 
but his feet felt like lead. The fear grew as the walls got 
progressively closer. He couldn't die. He had to find Lois. 

"Charlie!" 

He punched the wall, but his fist disappeared into it. He pulled his 
hand back in shock.

"Charlie!" she screamed this time. 

He opened his mouth, attempting to yell to her, to tell her he was 
coming for her. But no sound emerged.

He jerked awake, covered in sweat, and dropped into the chair in which 
he had fallen asleep. He ran his hand through his hair as his breathing 
returned to normal. It was just another bad dream. Except... Suddenly 
the tightness in his chest returned. 

"Lois?" he asked into the quiet of the apartment. When there was no 
answer, he rose to his feet, making his way to the doorway to the 
bedroom, hoping desperately that she had come in while he had been 
asleep. But the bed was empty. His hand sought the wall as he attempted 
to support himself against it.

"Lois," he breathed.

He couldn't just wait there, hoping Lois would call. He couldn't. Even 
if Lois thought he was over-reacting, he had to do something, anything 
to try to find her. But what? He didn't have the foggiest idea where to 
start. Unless...

A moment later, he was out of the apartment, flying through the skies 
of Metropolis, searching houses and alleys, x-raying warehouses and 
office buildings with no plan or reason, hoping for something, anything 
that might lead him to Lois.

* * * * * * * * *
IN ANOTHER DIMENSION
* * * * * * * * *

Lois' mind was moving at a million miles an hour. Her gasped demand to 
know the identity of the man lying on the floor of her apartment wasn't 
exactly an honest question. She knew who he was. He was Clark Kent. Or 
at least, he was a Clark Kent. But he wasn't her Clark Kent - or, 
perhaps more accurately, her Charlie King. 

Why the hell hadn't he stopped her when she had thrown herself at him, 
dropping down to sit on his legs, nibbling on his ear, rubbing herself 
against his... Suddenly, she was hit by a wave of nausea. Scrambling 
desperately to her feet, she dashed for the washroom, grabbing onto the 
toilet bowl and gagging into it. Fortunately, nothing came up.

As the nausea began to abate, she rocked back on her heals and closed 
her eyes. 

"Are you okay?" came his voice from the doorway.

Okay? Okay? How could he even ask such a ridiculous question? "No. I'm 
not okay!" she exclaimed, looking towards the man standing in the 
doorway. "Why the hell didn't you stop me?"

"I..."

"You knew you weren't who I thought you were. Yet you let me just go 
ahead when I... You didn't stop me! When you came into my apartment, 
you must have known I might mistake you for him. And you just let me 
believe you were him. Are you some kind of pervert or something - going 
for the cheap thrill?"

"Pervert! Lady, I don't know what you're talking about. This is my 
apartment."

"What are you..." Lois' voice trailed off when she glanced around her 
surroundings, realizing for the first time that she didn't recognize 
the towels. "No." She saw the man's collection of shampoos and other 
grooming items lining the counter. "No. Oh, no."

Her breathing grew heavy. Forcing herself to her feet, she pushed her 
way past the man standing in the doorway to enter the living area of 
the apartment once again. She made a dash for a light, turning it on 
and looking around. "No. No, it can't be."

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but..." Clark began.

Lois spun around and looked at him. "I'm not supposed to be here!"

"I'm not sure..."

"I can't be here! This can't be happening."

"Wait, slow down," Clark said, cautiously approaching Lois. "We'll 
figure this out."

"I have to get back to Charlie," she said as tears began to form in the 
corners of her eyes. "I have to..." She turned away from Clark, heading 
towards the door. She'd just retrace her steps. When she returned to 
the apartment again, everything would be back to normal. She would be 
home. Charlie would be there waiting for her.

"Wait," said the man behind her.

She kept moving. Yes. This was just a mistake. She'd just undo whatever 
she had done to get herself into this situation. And she'd be back, 
safe in Charlie's arms in no time at all. Her hand landed on the 
doorknob. She felt hands grab onto her shoulders.

"Wait!" he said again, this time louder.

"Let me go! I've got to..."

"Wait! Listen to me."

"...get back to Charlie. I've got to find him."

"Would you wait just a minute?"

"I don't have a minute. I've got to..." Her voice was cut off by a sob 
that came on unexpectedly. She didn't know how it had happened. All she 
knew was that something had gone terribly wrong and just like the Clark 
Kent she had met first, she was in an alternate universe. But how had 
it happened? Unless... She suddenly felt a flash of hope. "Am I 
dreaming?" she asked, shrugging off Clark's hands to turn around and 
look at him.

"Maybe I am. But I don't think we can both be dreaming." He let out a 
breath. "Look, why don't you just sit down for a minute?" He stepped 
back and gestured towards the living room. "Before you go running off, 
maybe we should figure out exactly what is going on here."

She stared blankly at the unfamiliar furniture in her living room. 
After a moment, she nodded. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should figure 
out exactly what was going on before rushing out blindly to fix it. She 
felt his hands on her shoulders again, this time directing her back 
down the stairs and towards the couch. She shrugged away from his 
touch, not feeling comfortable having him touch her - especially after 
the way she had thrown herself at him earlier.

He headed past as she sat down, making his way to the kitchen. She 
ignored him to take in her surroundings. The apartment itself was 
comfortable enough. But it was strange, more than strange, to see the 
unfamiliar decor. She glanced at the man in the kitchen. Was this just 
some elaborate hoax to make her think she was going out of her mind? 
Was this Clark in on it?

She studied him as he poured something into a glass. She didn't think 
he was the Clark she had met before. After all, that Clark had been 
married to her counterpart and there were no indications a woman lived 
here. Unless of course, she had traveled back in time as well - to a 
time before the other Clark had married his Lois. She shook her head. 
She still didn't think he was the Clark she had met previously. She 
just wasn't sure why. But if he wasn't that Clark and he wasn't 
Charlie, who was he? 

He came back over, carrying a glass containing a small amount of brown 
liquid and handed it to her. She looked at it suspiciously.

"Brandy," he said, taking a seat in a chair across from her. "I just 
thought that..." He gestured around him. "...given everything, you 
might need a little brandy."

She set the glass down on the coffee table.

"Or not," he added.

"Look," Lois began, "I don't know exactly what you hope to accomplish 
here. But I'm not buying," she said, hoping desperately her suspicions 
about being in an alternate dimension were incorrect and this was all 
part of some elaborate hoax.

"I suppose that's good since I'm not selling," Clark responded. "Okay, 
I have an idea about what might be happening. If I'm wrong..." He let 
out a breath. "Well, it's just that if I'm wrong, you're going to think 
I'm crazy."

She made a gesture, indicating that he should continue.

"Okay, well, am I correct in assuming your name is Lois Lane?"

She nodded.

"My name is Clark Kent. Is that name familiar to you?"

She again nodded, this time cautiously.

"And would I be correct in assuming you know someone else by that name 
who looks a lot like me?"

She nodded.

"Can I ask if you've ever heard of alternate dimensions?"

"Look, Clark, I'm not a dummy. I've already figured out that you must 
be an alternate Clark. What I don't know is..." Her voice trailed off 
as she tried to figure out what question to ask first. "Have we ever 
met?"

His eyebrows rose at that. "I assume from your question that you've 
been to alternate universes before."

"No. But an alternate Clark was in my universe once. Are you him?"

He shook his head. "Not unless you're the alternate Lois who came to my 
universe a couple of years ago."

"That's not me." She let out a breath, rising to her feet. "Oh, this is 
nuts. Sorry, I'm sure you're a nice guy and everything but I don't have 
time to get to know you. I just want to go home. I have to get..." She 
gestured towards the door as her mind drifted to Charlie. He had to be 
going crazy about now. 

"Charlie?" he asked.

"How did you know about him?" Lois gasped. Maybe this was some kind of 
set-up.

"You mentioned him earlier. That's strange though. I always figured, 
well, given that the Lois I met previously was married to Clark Kent, 
that all Loises were meant to be with Clark Kents."

"Clark is Charlie. Or Charlie is Clark. Whatever. It's a long story." 
She began heading towards the door. "Look, I'm just going to go..."

"Wait!" interrupted Clark. 

She turned back to look at him for a moment. He suddenly looked as if 
he were about to lose his best friend. She shook off the unexpected 
pull on her heart strings. "I'm sorry. I've got to go." With that, she 
headed out the door.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark spun into the suit the moment Lois left his apartment. It had 
definitely hurt when he realized, once again, a Lois who wasn't his was 
in his apartment - and once again wanted nothing to do with him. What 
was it? Were the gods conspiring to bring as many Lois Lanes as 
possible into his life - Lois Lanes he couldn't have? What had he done 
to offend the gods so terribly?

Still, she was out there on her own, looking for a way back to her own 
universe. He had to make sure she didn't get herself in trouble. So he 
followed from high overhead as she began walking down the street, 
obviously having a destination in mind. 

* * * * * * * * *

Lois was getting increasingly depressed as she headed towards the 
alley. Nothing at the police station seemed different from when she had 
been there earlier in the evening. She had enquired about her stolen 
jeep and been informed that they still had no leads. The fact that they 
knew about her stolen jeep indicated the trip to this dimension had 
taken place before she had arrived at the police station. 

In fact, she was beginning to suspect she knew when and where it had 
happened. At least, it was the place where her day had started going so 
terribly wrong. Unless, of course, she counted her fight with Charlie 
last night. She fought against the sudden emotions. Why had she allowed 
their talk to escalate into a fight? What if she couldn't find a way 
back to him? His last memory of her could very well be of them 
fighting. 

No! No, she wasn't going to think like that. She was going to get back 
to Charlie. He needed her. And in point of fact, she needed him, too. 
She suddenly understood how the other Clark must have felt when he had 
been stranded in her universe - and how desperate he must have been to 
get home. Amazingly, he had cared enough about her to put aside his own 
desire to get home long enough to help her realize exactly who Lex 
Luthor really was. On the other hand, when she thought about this 
Clark's expression when she left his apartment, she understood how the 
other Clark might have felt about her. She felt... fond of him. It 
might only be a reflection of what she felt for Charlie, but a 
connection was still there - a connection she couldn't explain.

As she approached the entranceway to the alley, she slowed her pace, 
trying to remember exactly what had transpired there. She had parked 
her jeep on the street. Walking across the street, she found what she 
believed to be the exact spot. She had sat there until it was time to 
meet her source. The note. She didn't know who had sent the note. Why 
had this unknown person wanted her in there at such a precise time?

Leaving the place where she had parked the jeep, she made her way to 
the alley. It was dark. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim 
lighting. The alley had been deserted when she had been there earlier, 
as it was now. She'd made her way slowly into the alley, keeping her 
eyes open for any dangers. Had she missed something?

She looked down at the ground. She had stepped over a piece of wood. 
She looked more carefully when she couldn't find it. Had it been there 
when she made her way back to the street to discover that her jeep had 
disappeared? She couldn't remember.

She tilted her head to the side as she recalled the odd sensation when 
she'd stepped over that piece of wood. It had been as if... Her mind 
flashed back to the other Clark telling her he felt as if he had flown 
through a wall of water. That was it. That was when it had happened.

"No," she breathed, reaching out to steady herself against the building 
beside her. It had really happened. She really was in an alternate 
dimension. 

"Well, well," a man said from behind, causing Lois to spin around, 
"what have we here?"

Lois adopted a fighting stance when she found herself face to face with 
four strapping young men. "Trust me," she said softly. "You don't want 
to mess with me today."

The leader's mouth curled into a leering grin. "Trust me. I'd want to 
mess with you any day."

Lois tensed as he stepped closer, waiting for the moment to spring into 
action. She gasped when suddenly a muscle bound man wearing a red and 
blue suit landed in front of her, facing the approaching men. 

"Superman!" gasped the leader.

"Trust me, boys. I'm doing you a favor here. You really don't want to 
mess with this woman today."

The men stared at him in stunned silence for a moment before, almost of 
one accord, taking off as fast as their legs would carry them. Superman 
waited until the men were gone before turning to face Lois.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Umm... yeah," she said softly, trying to come to terms with the 
imposing figure he cut in that suit. "Although, I could have handled 
it."

Clark grinned. "Of course. But why work up a sweat when you don't have 
to?"

"Exercise?" she asked in response. She turned and looked into the alley 
again. "You were following me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I was afraid, given your mood, that you'd get yourself in trouble."

She nodded slowly without looking at him. "This is where it happened."

"Where what happened? Oh, you mean this is where you crossed into this 
dimension."

She nodded. "How do I get back, Clark?" she asked softly.

He was silent for so long that she turned to look at him, hoping he was 
thinking up some brilliant plan to get her home.

"Do you have to go back?" he asked, startling her.

"What?" she gasped.

"I just meant... Well, the first time I met the other Lois, she was 
already engaged to her Clark. And I noticed that you're not wearing any 
rings so I wondered..."

"Oh, no, Clark. I'm sorry. But my heart... My heart belongs to someone 
else. Whether I'm wearing his ring or not is irrelevant. I have to find 
a way to get back to him."

"Story of my life," muttered Clark.

"I assume there's a Lois in this dimension. Why aren't you with her?"

"She went missing in the Congo before we ever met. I looked for her 
but..." He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry," Lois said, remembering all too well how she felt before 
she met Charlie. "Maybe you'll still find her."

"That's not going to happen. I've looked everywhere." He turned his 
attention back to Lois. "Are you sure you can't stay?"

She reached up and laid her hand against his chest. His hand came up 
and covered hers. She met his eyes. "I can't," she replied.

He let out a slow breath before nodding. "Why don't we get you some 
supper, since I doubt you've eaten, and then you can stay with me 
tonight? I'll try to help you find a way home tomorrow."

"I'm not sure that's..."

"I'll sleep on the couch," he clarified. 

"Are you sure?" she asked, her tone communicating her concerns about 
raising his hopes.

"Hey, don't you trust me?"

She studied him for a moment before it occurred to her that she did 
trust him. "Okay," she said, heading towards the entranceway to the 
alley. "Where's your car?"

"Car?" he asked.

"I just thought..." Her voice trailed off. Charlie seldom used his 
powers around her - and she had yet to fly with him. "Never mind."

Clark smiled as he stepped closer, sweeping her into his arms and 
taking to the skies. Lois' breath caught in her throat when she 
suddenly found herself soaring over the buildings. This was definitely 
the way to travel.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. It looked so much like her 
ceiling. Even the bed felt like her bed. There was only one variance - 
and it made all the difference in the world. She reached over and 
touched the bed beside her. No Charlie warmed the other half of the 
bed.

Charlie. She pulled in a jagged breath. What he must be going through 
right about now. He was terrified something was going to happen to her. 
What would he do when she simply disappeared? She had to find a way 
back to him. She had to.

Her mind drifted to Clark's earlier comment. 'Do you have to go back?' 
That he wanted her to stay was painfully obvious. But she couldn't. Her 
heart belonged to Charlie. She wasn't entirely sure she had ever been 
as certain of that simple fact as she was at this moment. 

Of course, if Charlie ever found out she'd spent the night in another 
Clark's bed... She let out a slow breath through her teeth. She wasn't 
entirely sure he would understand - after all, this was Charlie's worst 
nightmare. She was in an alternate dimension, with an alternate Clark. 
But it wasn't as if she had a lot of choice. She had no money. She had 
no one to turn to - except Clark.

Not that she wouldn't prefer to find her way home without Clark's help. 
She suspected it would be easier for him if she wasn't there. And she 
knew only too well how he must feel. After all, the other Clark had 
spent the night in her apartment while in her universe - and her desire 
for him and the guilt she felt because of that desire had almost torn 
her apart.

As a result, she felt bad for this Clark. But that didn't mean she was 
prepared to give up Charlie to stay with him. No. In fact, it was 
absolutely critical that she find her way back to Charlie as fast as 
possible - before this Clark got too attached to her.

She adjusted positions, making herself more comfortable, before closing 
her eyes. Still, she couldn't sleep. After a couple of minutes, she sat 
up again.

"You awake?" asked Clark from the doorway.

"Yeah," she responded. "You can't sleep either?"

"No."

She let out a breath. "Since neither of us can sleep, what do you say 
we compare what we know about inter-dimensional travel?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * * * * * * * *
IN ANOTHER DIMENSION
* * * * * * * * *

Catherine Grant shifted her briefcase to her left hand to grab the 
morning edition of the Daily Planet. She glanced at the front page as 
she headed towards the elevators on her way to the newsroom.

"Ms. Grant."

The man's voice caused Catherine to look up from the paper and towards 
a bearded man standing in the lobby.

"Yes?" she asked. 

"I'm Charlie King and..."

"Right!" Catherine interrupted. "I take it Lois didn't make it home 
last night." She had almost forgotten about Charlie's call the previous 
night. It was just so... Lois to disappear for a night in pursuit of a 
story. She really had thought Charlie was over-reacting. In fact, she 
thought it entirely possible Lois was currently in the newsroom, 
writing up her story before going home to crawl into bed for a few 
hours sleep - or considering the gorgeous hunk of a man currently 
approaching, at least she'd be crawling into bed.

"No, she didn't. So where do we start looking for her?"

"The newsroom," Catherine responded, gesturing away security. It 
briefly crossed her mind to wonder how long Charlie had been there. 
Given the fact that Lois was undoubtedly fine, she hoped he had at 
least managed to get a few hours sleep.

As she headed towards the elevators with Charlie beside her, she found 
herself wondering why he looked so familiar. "Have we met before?" she 
asked.

"I think I just have one of those faces."

She glanced at him as she hit the button for the elevator. It was more 
than that. But she couldn't quite place him. The elevator arrived and 
the two of them stepped inside.

"So what's your relationship to Lois?" she asked as the elevator doors 
slid closed. She knew Lois had returned from her adventure in northern 
Minnesota with Charlie King in tow. She was fairly certain, from the 
way Lois was refusing to answer certain questions, Lois had finally 
stepped over that intimacy threshold with this man. If that were true, 
Catherine had no doubt Lois had fallen hard for Charlie. But on the 
phone last night, Charlie had started out to say he and Lois were 
friends. As a result, what Catherine didn't know was how Charlie viewed 
the relationship.

Charlie seemed to shift uncomfortably. "Lois and I are friends," he 
said.

Catherine glanced at him. He wasn't giving much away. On the other 
hand, before she'd become editor, she'd been a reporter - known for her 
ability to get people to talk, telling her things that they didn't 
initially intend to confess. Charlie probably didn't have much 
experience dealing with the press. And if Lois really was in trouble, 
she needed to know Charlie's true feelings.

"Friends that sleep together? Nothing serious. Just sex," Catherine 
said, knowing she was more likely to get an honest response if she took 
advantage of the shock value of the direct approach.

"No! Never," he gasped. "I would never..." His voice trailed off. "I 
love her, if that's what you're asking," he said, carefully studying 
the buttons on the elevator.

"It is," Catherine confirmed.

Charlie looked up again, meeting her eyes. Something in his expression 
assured Catherine this man really did care for Lois. She felt slightly 
relieved to know her friend wasn't being used. Unfortunately, he also 
looked terribly anxious about Lois' failure to make it home the 
previous night. 

"I'm sure she's fine, Charlie," she said. He didn't look very relieved.

The elevator door slid open and both Catherine and Charlie scanned the 
newsroom, looking for Lois. Catherine glanced at Charlie when she 
didn't see her wayward reporter. He didn't look surprised, almost as if 
he had known Lois wouldn't be there.

"Why don't you follow me to my office?" Catherine said, for the first 
time feeling a little anxious about Lois' disappearance. She had fully 
expected to see Lois bent over her computer, typing like a maniac to 
get the story written. She shook her head slightly, wondering if 
Charlie's fears were rubbing off on her. Regardless, she suddenly 
wanted to know where Lois was.

Once they were inside the office, Catherine closed the door and 
gestured Charlie to a chair.

"Where do we start?" asked Charlie while taking a seat.

"Are you sure she would have called you last night? Was she expecting 
you to come over?" Catherine took a seat on the corner of her desk.

"Of course," Charlie said, shifting uncomfortably and avoiding eye 
contact.

"Charlie?"

Charlie finally looked up.

"What are you not telling me?" Catherine asked.

Charlie let out a slow breath. "Truth is, no. Lois might not have been 
expecting me. We sort of had a fight the night before and..." He 
gestured helplessly. "But I just know something is wrong. Please, Ms. 
Grant, I've got to find her."

"It's Catherine." Catherine studied him for a long moment before 
nodding. "Okay, I'm going to trust your instincts on this. I'm sure 
she's just out on a story. But I'll give you free run of her computer 
and her desk. If she has gotten herself in trouble, I'm sure she'll 
appreciate the help. On the other hand, if she hasn't, I had nothing to 
do with this." She gave Charlie a smile.

He gave her a relieved smile in return.

"I'd suggest you start by looking into her story notes. I assume you 
know anything you find is not for publication. I'm trusting you to keep 
this search about finding Lois, not about selling her out to the 
competition."

"I wouldn't do that. I promise. I just want to find Lois."

"Okay. I'll take you to her computer."

"Doesn't she have a password?"

"I have a master-password. I can get you into her computer. Also, you 
can also use Jimmy if you need to."

"Jimmy Olsen?"

"That's him. Do you know him?"

Charlie shook his head. "But he did some research to help Lois and me 
find out who killed Sharon Rose. He's quite a genius at digging up 
information."

Catherine laughed. "He'll appreciate hearing that."

She took Charlie to Lois' desk and got him set up on her computer. It 
might be completely unprecedented to give an outsider such unlimited 
access, but for a reason she couldn't quite put into words, she found 
herself trusting Charlie. He loved Lois and wouldn't do anything to 
hurt her. She wasn't sure what made her believe that. But she trusted 
her instincts - after all, she wasn't editor-in-chief because she 
looked good in an evening gown.

* * * * * * * * *

Charlie stretched his vulnerable arm. He'd been reading computer files 
for the past two hours. He wished he could take the computer somewhere 
where he could use his superpowers to speed read through its contents. 
Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. Still, he had read most of the 
stories Lois had written over the past year and had gone through all of 
the notes she'd made during the past three weeks. But nothing in 
particular had jumped out at him. She didn't seem on the verge of 
exposing some big criminal enterprise or outing some cheating 
politician. Nothing that hit Charlie as particularly dangerous.

"Hi," said a man.

Charlie looked up to see a young man standing on the other side of 
Lois' desk. 

"I'm Jimmy. Ms. Grant asked me to give you a hand."

"Right," said Charlie, rising to his feet and offering Jimmy his hand. 
"I'm Charlie King." 

They shook hands. "Don't I know you?" Jimmy asked. "Aren't you the guy 
who was helping Lois during her investigation of Luthor? Clark Kent, 
isn't it?"

Charlie tried to hide his shock. He knew the alternate Clark had been 
at the Daily Planet, which was why Catherine thought he looked 
familiar. But he hadn't suspected he would actually be recognized - 
especially by the young man in front of him. 

"You must have me confused with someone else," Charlie stammered. "I 
have never been here before. My name's Charlie King."

Jimmy looked slightly confused, but then he shook it off with a shrug. 
"So what are you looking for?"

"Lois."

"Lois?"

"She seems to have disappeared."

"Disappeared? What do you mean disappeared? Disappeared how?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

"Okay, what do you want me to do?"

Charlie instantly knew he had an ally. "Do you know what Lois might 
have been working on yesterday?" he asked. "I don't see anything on her 
computer for yesterday - except the city hall meeting she covered. And 
there isn't anything there that looks particularly dangerous."

"Lois doesn't tell anyone what she's working on until she has some idea 
if she's onto a real story. So she could have been working on 
anything." 

"Great."

"Why don't you contact her sources? If she was looking into something, 
they would probably know what it was - at least they'd know what she 
was asking about lately."

"Great!" He reached over and grabbed the rolodex sitting on Lois' desk. 
"I assume they're in here."

"Well..."

"What? Come on, Jimmy. If you know something, please tell me."

Jimmy studied him for a long moment before letting out a breath. "She'd 
kill me if she knew I was going to do this," he muttered before coming 
around Lois' desk, pulling out a drawer and reaching underneath. It 
took his hand a moment to find what it was looking for but when it did, 
he pulled out a single sheet of paper. "These are her special sources. 
The ones she doesn't want anyone else to know about. I think she has 
most of their phone numbers memorized but she keeps this in case she 
forgets one."

"Thanks, Jimmy," Charlie responded sincerely, taking the list from the 
young man.

"Can I do anything else?"

"Not right now. I'm going to try to follow up on these."

"Okay. But if you need anything else, just let me know."

Charlie nodded before Jimmy turned and began walking away. Charlie read 
quickly through the names on the list. He might as well start with the 
first one. Reaching over, he picked up the phone.

* * * * * * * * *

"Look, I just need to know if you have had any contact with Ms. Lane 
recently. And if so, what she might have been inquiring about," Charlie 
said, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said the man on the other end 
of the line. "I don't know any Lois Lane."

"But..." His voice trailed off when the phone line went dead.

He hung up the phone before looking back at the list. There was only 
one number left to call. All of the sources on Lois' list had reacted 
in a similar manner. As soon as he introduced himself and told them he 
was calling about Lois, they denied ever meeting the woman and hung up 
the phone. He needed a new approach.

He glanced around the newsroom, hoping for a spark of inspiration. When 
he saw Jimmy heading towards the elevators with an armful of papers, he 
had an idea. He wasn't sure this would work any better. But at least it 
couldn't be any worse. With that thought in mind, he again picked up 
the phone.

* * * * * * * * *

Catherine made her way into the newsroom. Under the pretense of going 
to some filing cabinets located behind Charlie, she kept her eyes and 
ears open. Since their talk when he first arrived, she hadn't been able 
to shake the feeling she had met him previously, and the fact that he 
refused to acknowledge it bothered her. She just wanted to make sure he 
really was interested in what happened to Lois - and that was why he 
was here, digging through Lois' files, placing phone calls to her 
sources.

She was also growing increasingly concerned about Lois' absence. Should 
she continue to let Charlie dig into the question of Lois' location, or 
was it time to call her husband and report Lois missing? She liked 
Charlie - although, whether that was a just a response to his good 
looks, she wasn't sure. Did he have the experience or instincts to find 
Lois?

"Is this Bobby Bigmouth?" she heard Charlie ask into the phone.

She pulled a file from the file cabinet and opened it as she continued 
to listen. Bobby Bigmouth was one of Lois' special sources. How Charlie 
had gotten his name and number was a mystery to her and was, in her 
opinion, somewhat impressive. 

"Listen, I need to meet with you." There was a brief pause. "It's about 
Lois Lane. I really can't say more than that over the phone. But I 
assure you, it is urgent... My name? My name is Jimmy Olsen. I work 
with Lois at the Daily Planet... Really? Great. I'll be there in a half 
hour."

Catherine watched as Charlie hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket and 
headed towards the elevator. She had to admit, she was impressed. For 
whatever reason, Charlie had obviously decided that by using the name 
of someone who actually worked with Lois he could get more information. 
That was smart thinking.

Still, when he got back from his meeting with Bobby, it would be time 
for them to talk - unless, of course, Lois wandered into the newsroom 
before that happened. And if she did, Catherine intended to give Lois a 
lecture she wouldn't soon forget - if not for worrying her, for causing 
Charlie so much anxiety.

* * * * * * * * *

Charlie walked down the street towards the proposed rendezvous - 
Centennial Park, near the water fountain - wondering how he was going 
to recognize Bobby Bigmouth. Maybe he had a mouth so big he would be 
instantly recognizable. Charlie almost smiled at the sudden images 
going through his mind - most of which had a face almost entirely mouth 
with two little eyes beading over top. 

One thing was troubling him, however. Bobby had made a peculiar comment 
just before their call ended. 'I have a hankering for a large pepperoni 
pizza anyway.' It was only about nine o'clock in the morning. And it 
wasn't as if they were meeting at a pizza place. So what had that 
comment been about?

Approaching the fountain, he slowed his pace, looking around to see if 
he could spot his contact. He was going to have to be very careful. 
Bobby was the last source on Lois' list. If Charlie messed this up, he 
could very well lose any hope of finding Lois. He sent up a silent 
prayer this guy would know something, anything he could build into a 
lead.

"Jimmy Olsen?"

Charlie spun around at the sound of the man's voice. "You must be Bobby 
Bigmouth," Charlie responded instead of answering the man's question. 

"Yes," Bobby replied. Then his eyebrows furrowed. "Where's my pizza?"

"What pizza?" Charlie asked in reply.

"Hey, you're not Jimmy Olsen. He would know to bring a pizza." He 
turned to leave.

"You're right," Charlie said in desperation. "I'm not Jimmy Olsen."

Bobby stopped and turned to look at Charlie again, his expression 
clearly indicating he was on the verge of making his escape if Charlie 
made one wrong comment.

"My name is Charlie King," Charlie said, trying to keep the fear he 
felt out of his voice. Still, his voice trembled slightly. He pushed 
on. "I don't work with Lois. We're involved. Please, just hear me out. 
Lois has disappeared. I'm trying to find her. I think she's in trouble. 
You're my last lead. Please, at least talk to me."

Bobby continued to study him in silence.

"Look," Charlie continued, pulling out his wallet. "I'm sorry about the 
pizza." He took a step towards Bobby. "Here's twenty," he said, laying 
a twenty in Bobby's hand. "Or forty," he added, whipping out another 
twenty. "How about sixty?" He gestured to his wallet. "Look, that's all 
I have on me. But I can get more if that's what you need."

"What do you want to know?" asked Bobby who was now holding sixty of 
Charlie's dollars. 

Charlie let out a breath - at least he was being given a chance. "I'm 
just trying to figure out what she was working on in the last few days. 
I'm hoping that will tell me where to start looking for her."

Bobby reached out to hand the money back.

"No, please. Please help me."

Bobby took Charlie's hand and slapped the money into it. "I'll tell you 
what I know. But I don't know if it will do you much good. You'll owe 
me the pizza."

Charlie closed his eyes as the relief flooded through him. "Thank you."

"Well, don't get too excited. All I know is that she called yesterday - 
asking about Templeton's reasons for buying Lex Towers."

"What did you tell her?"

Bobby shrugged. "All I know is that Templeton has been trying to get 
the necessary permits to demolish Lex Towers - but he's been denied."

"Anything else?"

"Na. That's about it. But if I find out more, where can I get in touch 
with you."

"At the Daily Planet."

"I thought you didn't work there."

"I don't. But they're letting me go through her things to try to find 
her. Or you could call me at her apartment."

"Her apartment, huh?" asked Bobby, his eyebrows going up. When Charlie 
didn't respond, Bobby continued. "You really think something happened 
to her?"

"I don't know, Bobby. But I've got a really bad feeling about it."

"Well, I'll put out some feelers. See what I can find out." To 
Charlie's look of gratitude, he added, "Hey, if anything happens to 
her, I lose my best source of free food."

Charlie smiled as he jogged back towards the Daily Planet. Not for one 
minute did Charlie believe Bobby was just giving him the information to 
protect a food supply. That man cared about Lois. And Charlie liked 
anyone who cared about Lois. 

J.D. Templeton. During the past few hours, Charlie had come across a 
number of articles Lois had written about Templeton - none of which 
were flattering. This really could be something.

* * * * * * * * *

Catherine closed the door to her office before making her way to the 
window that looked into the newsroom to draw the blinds. She wanted to 
have a serious discussion with Charlie before deciding whether or not 
to call Bill. Officially, Bill would probably tell her a person had to 
be missing for seventy-two hours before the police would act. 
Unofficially, however, she was sure he'd do what he could. Because, as 
much as he would deny it, he was as fond of Lois as she was.

If she did call Bill, however, and then Lois came waltzing in on her 
own, it would be more difficult to get Bill to act when Lois really was 
in need of help. As a result, Catherine was well aware that she was 
walking a tight-rope between acting too soon and waiting too long.

"Take a seat, Charlie," she said.

"Look," Charlie responded, "I really don't have time for this right 
now. I have a lead I want to follow up on."

"What's the lead?" asked Catherine, ignoring his original statement.

Charlie let out a breath. "I found out from one of her sources that she 
was looking into J.D. Templeton's plans to destroy Lex Towers."

"So?"

"Well, I noticed during my research today that she has written a lot of 
stories about him that weren't very flattering. What if she stumbled 
across something that got her in trouble with Templeton?"

"Businessmen like Templeton don't abduct people. If they don't like 
what you have to say about them, they sue."

"Still, it could be..."

"Listen, Charlie, I think we need to talk. I take it you haven't heard 
anything from Lois yet."

He shook his head. He had been so optimistic when he had come in here. 
Now the depression was back. "No."

"Well, it is getting a little long, even for Lois, to be gone. She 
usually calls me in the morning if she's been out on a story all night. 
She's very concerned that I might send in the cavalry. Maybe I should 
call Bill. He's an inspector with the M.P.D. - let him take over the 
investigation."

Suddenly Catherine realized that somewhere during her comments, she had 
lost Charlie's attention.

"What..."

He raised a finger to his lips, gesturing her to be quiet. She watched 
in fascination as he rose from his seat and silently made his way to 
the door. He grasped the doorknob and took a deep breath before 
throwing it open. Catherine gasped when she realized what Charlie had 
obviously sensed. Dan Scardino had his ear pressed up against the door.

Charlie moved almost too fast for Catherine to see, reaching out and 
grabbing Scardino before dragging him into the room by his collar and 
dumping him into a chair. Catherine immediately rushed over and closed 
the door to her office.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dan gasped as he again began 
sucking air into his lungs. 

"What do you know about Lois' disappearance?" Charlie demanded, 
towering over Dan. 

"Hey, I don't know what you think..."

His voice died when Charlie grabbed onto the front of his shirt, coming 
very close to once again cutting off Dan's oxygen supply. Catherine was 
there almost immediately, grabbing onto Charlie's arm.

"Maybe he doesn't know anything?" said Catherine, somewhat scared by 
the change in the mild mannered man who had been in her office.

"No?" asked Charlie. "Yesterday he told me Lois was out on a stake 
out."

"Is this true?" Catherine asked, turning to Dan.

"Well, I... I didn't exactly say... I mean, how would I know what Lois 
was doing?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know," said Charlie, his face coming 
close enough to Dan that the man could almost certainly feel the warmth 
of his breath. 

"I would too," said Catherine. "And I'd like to know what you were 
doing outside my office door just now."

"I was just seeing if there was anyone in here," said Dan. "Now, are 
you going to get this Neanderthal off me?"

Catherine's eyes darted between Charlie and Dan. "I don't think so," 
she said, hoping Charlie was just bluffing. "In fact, why don't I just 
go get a cup of coffee? Will five minutes be long enough?"

Charlie's lips tilted into a wicked grin, his eyes never leaving Dan. 
"Give me ten."

"Ten it is," Catherine said, heading for her office door.

"No, don't!" gasped Dan as Catherine's hand landed on the doorknob. 
"I'll tell you everything."

Charlie released the hold he still had on Dan's shirt, taking a small 
step back. 

"Start talking," said Catherine, taking a seat on the corner of her 
desk. 

Dan looked between the two people glaring at him while smoothing the 
crunched up collar of his shirt. "Okay, well maybe I might know 
something - but it wasn't my fault. How was I supposed to know what 
they were going to do?"

"Who?" asked Catherine.

"I don't know. I swear," he added, somewhat desperately when Charlie 
made another move towards him. "All I know is that I was contacted by 
an Englishman, older, rather distinguished. He instructed me to leave a 
note for Lois asking her to meet with him in an alley off Main Street 
on the South Side at five o'clock. I did as he asked."

"And?" asked Catherine when he seemed to stop.

"Okay," Dan continued when he realized he wasn't going to be able to 
convince them that was all he knew. "I might have decided to go to the 
meeting place."

"Why?" asked Catherine.

Dan let out a breath. "I felt like something wasn't right. And I was 
there to provide back-up if it was needed."

"You knew something wasn't right and yet you let her go?" demanded 
Charlie.

Before Dan could respond, Catherine moved away from her desk, stepping 
closer to Dan. "What happened at the meeting place?"

"She disappeared."

"What do you mean disappeared?" Charlie demanded.

"Just that. She walked into the alley and..." Dan gestured helplessly 
with his hands. "...she disappeared. Into thin air. She just 
disappeared."

Charlie reached forward, grabbing the man's shirt again. This time, 
Catherine did step in. She placed her hand on Charlie's arm and shook 
her head at him. He glared at her for a moment before reluctantly 
releasing Dan, giving Dan a slight push, and walked to the far side of 
the room, staring out the window at the street below as Catherine 
turned her attention to Dan.

"There's one thing I don't understand," she said. "Why you?"

"What..." Dan cleared his throat. "What do you mean?"

"Well, why did this man give you the note?" She could see in the corner 
of her eye that Charlie had turned back towards them, obviously 
interested in the answer to her question. "And why did you lie about 
Lois being on an all night stake out?"

Dan shifted uncomfortably.

"You know we're going to find out eventually," said Catherine. "If you 
won't tell me, I'm sure you'll eventually answer to Charlie." She 
gestured to Charlie, who was slowly approaching.

Dan chewed on his lower lip for a moment before responding. "Okay, so 
maybe I occasionally gave information to the Englishman in the past."

"What type of information?"

"Information on Lois. Nothing bad. Just what she was working on. Where 
she was going. Things like..."

"Why you little..." Charlie began, rushing at Dan and grabbing him by 
the shirt collar once again, his anger choking off his words. "I 
should..." He never completed his threat, although his general meaning 
was abundantly clear.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" asked Catherine, realizing Charlie 
was on the edge. When he didn't release his grip on the terrified man, 
she said his name again - this time injecting all the authority she'd 
learned during her time as editor into the word. 

Charlie let go of Dan, finally turning to Catherine. She gestured him 
through the door to her office. Stepping outside with him, she closed 
the door. 

"We need his help, Charlie, if we're going to find Lois. I know you 
want to tear him apart with your bare hands, but I need to know that 
you're not going to do anything to jeopardize our investigation. The 
important thing right now is to find Lois."

Charlie let out a breath, getting his temper somewhat under control. 
Finally, he nodded. 

"Okay," said Catherine, stepping back into her office. Charlie 
followed. "I think I need to tell you, Dan, that I have managed to 
convince Charlie not to beat you to within an inch of your life. 
Provided..." Catherine paused.

"What?" asked Dan, obviously taking the 'beating to within an inch of 
his life' seriously. 

"You must have some way to get a hold of the Englishman. You can set up 
a meeting."

"Yes, I can do that," said Dan.

"And give me the address of the alley where Lois disappeared," Charlie 
added. 

The instant Dan gave them the address, Charlie spoke again. "I'm going 
to check it out. Can you handle setting up the meeting with the 
Englishman?"

"Go, Charlie," Catherine responded.

Charlie looked back at Dan. "If I find out you're lying, or that you've 
given Catherine any problems or screwed this up in any way..."

"I won't," Dan interrupted.

Charlie stared at him hard for a long moment before nodding and heading 
out of the room.

* * * * * * * * *

Nigel was lost in thought as he hung up the phone. It was a set up. He 
could almost smell it. The problem was if he were wrong, if Scardino 
did have some information for him that was too sensitive to be confided 
over the phone, a meeting could be very important. After all, by now 
people were bound to realize Lois was missing. 

He wished Templeton hadn't been so vague about the disposition of Lois 
Lane. He had nothing to bargain with if this meeting with Scardino was 
a trap. Was Lane alive? If so, what had Templeton done with her? Nigel 
hadn't heard of any men being hired to help with Lane's captivity or to 
dispose of her body - and he always made damn sure he was privy to what 
was going on in the underworld.

Working for Templeton was different than working for Luthor. Templeton 
was... He rejected the word 'insane'. But, unlike Luthor, Nigel was 
never entirely sure about the workings of Templeton's mind. And he 
hated being treated like an errand boy. 

Maybe he would be wise to inform Templeton of this meeting - see if he 
could use the call to get more information on the whereabouts or 
disposition of Lois Lane. Yes. That was what he would do.

He reached over and picked up the phone.

* * * * * * * * *

"When is this meeting supposed to take place?" Templeton asked into the 
phone. Once he received his answer, he continued, "Fine. I'll call you 
back in ten minutes."

Hanging up the phone, Templeton leaned back in his chair. It sounded 
like a trap to him. Nigel had said his source inside the Daily Planet 
wanted a face to face meeting - claiming he had information too 
sensitive to be imparted over the phone. Unless the source had reason 
to believe his phone was tapped, or was using a cell phone, who would 
hear? No. Nigel was right. It had to be a trap.

But who was behind it? Templeton didn't have to think long to find his 
answer. Charles King. Somehow Charles King was responsible. That damn 
boy scout. He had to put an end to this immediately - before Charles 
traced Lois Lane's disappearance back to him. And if he had already 
traced it to Nigel...

The time had come to take some action. But what action? He shook his 
head when one idea sprang to mind. No. He couldn't do that. He wasn't 
about to reward King's meddling by sending him to Lois. 

He almost chuckled when the solution hit him. Picking up the phone, he 
called Nigel back.

"What?" gasped Nigel into the phone when Templeton gave him his 
instructions. It was an uncharacteristic show of emotion from the 
normally controlled man. 

"You heard me, Nigel."

"Might I inquire..."

"You might not," Templeton responded. "Just let me know when it's going 
to happen."

"Yes, sir," Nigel responded.

Templeton hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair as a smile 
made its way across his face. He'd found the perfect solution - and the 
perfect solution even had a delightful twist.

"God, I love irony," he said into the empty room.

* * * * * * * * *
 
Charlie stood beside Lois' jeep, looking around the area. The presence 
of her vehicle confirmed Scardino's story - at least in part. 

He tried the door. When he discovered it was locked, he walked around 
the vehicle trying all of the doors with the same result. Coming back 
to the driver's side, he used his little finger to punch out the lock. 
Opening the door, he looked inside.

He reached over and picked up a single piece of paper sitting on the 
driver's seat. This must be the note Scardino had mentioned. He 
activated his x-ray vision and examined the rest of the jeep. A moment 
later, he reached under the driver's seat to withdraw Lois' purse.

Deciding nothing in the jeep would reveal Lois' location, he looked 
around his environment, walking into the alley, listening carefully for 
any sound of her, looking through walls for any sight of her, even 
taking deep breaths for any smell of her. All to no avail. 

Only one hope remained. The Englishman. A moment later, Charlie was on 
his way back to the Daily Planet, Lois' purse tucked firmly under his 
arm. He would return for the jeep once he found Lois.

* * * * * * * * *

Catherine and Charlie sat quietly in her car, listening to Dan's 
breathing coming over the radio. They had hooked him up with a wire 
before sending him in to meet with the Englishman. Catherine had 
considered contacting her husband and getting him involved. The problem 
was she and Charlie hadn't exactly used... orthodox methods in 
obtaining Dan's cooperation. As a result, Catherine wasn't entirely 
certain her husband wouldn't make them scrap the entire plan.

And although it was certainly possible any information they obtained as 
a result of their interrogation tactics would be thrown out of court, 
they weren't exactly worried about court or convictions at the moment. 
The goal was to find Lois. Once that was accomplished, they would worry 
about little details like admissibility. As members of the public, they 
had that luxury. As a sworn member of the police force, Bill Henderson 
did not.

So they sat in her car, waiting for the Englishman to show up.

* * * * * * * * *

"Where have you been?" Dan's voice was loud and clear over the wire.

"I'm on time. So what's so important that you couldn't tell me over the 
phone?" asked a man with an English accent.

Charlie stared intently at the wall of the building separating them 
from the men speaking. He saw Dan talking to a tall, well-dressed man 
with graying hair. 

"Look, things are getting pretty intense at the Planet - what with Lois 
missing and all. I just wanted to ask if the note I left her has 
something to do with her disappearance."

"What do you want me to say?" the Englishman asked in reply. "Do you 
want me to tell you it did or that it didn't? You just keep your head 
down and no one will ever know about our little business venture."

"Are you saying that you... Is she alive?"

"Why would you need to know? Now, just be a good little boy and that 
employer of yours will never find out that you've been spying on Lois 
Lane for more than a year."

Charlie saw Dan flinch slightly.

"Now," the Englishman continued, "the next time you call, I suggest you 
have something important to discuss."

With those words, the Englishman began walking away. Charlie reached 
for the doorhandle. 

"Where are you going?" Catherine asked. 

"I'm going to follow him," Charlie said.

"On foot?"

"Well..." Charlie's voice trailed off. The Englishman undoubtedly had 
transportation nearby. How could he explain to Catherine that for him, 
the car was unnecessary. He let out a breath and slumped back in his 
seat. She shifted into drive as the Englishman made his way to a nearby 
car.

* * * * * * * * *

Nigel certainly hoped Templeton knew what he was doing. He was hating 
his boss' condescending treatment of him more with each passing day. 
But this time, he was certain Templeton had gone too far. 

He'd been told to practically admit involvement in the disappearance of 
Lois Lane. Of course, he had deliberately kept his remarks from being 
specific enough to convict him in a court of law. On the other hand, as 
per Templeton's instructions, he had certainly created enough 
suspicions to... He glanced in his rearview mirror. ...get them to 
follow him.

He shook his head slightly. He really hoped Templeton had a plan. 
Otherwise, this was the most idiotic thing Nigel had ever done.

* * * * * * * * *

"Wait a minute," Catherine said as Charlie climbed out of the car and 
took off at a jog in pursuit of the Englishman. 

The man they were following had disappeared inside Templeton Towers. 
Charlie hardly waited for her car to come to a stop before following.

"I'm going to call Bill," Catherine called after Charlie's disappearing 
figure. She let out a breath when Charlie's only response was to wave 
at her over his shoulder. 

Sighing, she took out her cell phone to place the call she now 
suspected she should have made when they first found out about the 
Englishman from Dan. Bill was definitely not going to be very happy 
with her about this. 

* * * * * * * * *

In the corner of his eye Nigel saw a man enter the building. He kept 
his eyes firmly on the elevators, waiting for one to arrive. He had 
been told to lead the man directly to Templeton's office. Nigel 
wondered how his employer had known a solitary man would follow.

Still uncertain about this, Nigel was somewhat nervous when the man 
stepped into the elevator with him. He pressed the button for the 
penthouse. The man pressed the button for the floor below. Other people 
boarded the elevator and in silence the elevator began its assent.

* * * * * * * * *

Charlie stepped quietly through the doors of the stairway into the 
penthouse lobby. He had been right. Templeton was behind Lois' 
disappearance. He discretely watched as the Englishman went inside an 
office located behind the reception desk. He listened and watched 
through the walls.

"Is it done?" Templeton asked.

"Just as you requested, sir. He's..."

"Enough!" Templeton said, gesturing the Englishman to a chair on the 
far side of the room. "I don't want to talk about it. Just stay there 
and be quiet like a good little boy."

Charlie watched as the Englishman took a seat - although it was obvious 
the Englishman was less than thrilled by his employer's treatment.

Still, since they weren't talking about what had transpired, there was 
no point staying in the lobby any longer. He headed towards Templeton's 
office.

"I'm sorry, sir. You can't go in there," said Templeton's secretary as 
Charlie stormed past her.

He threw open the office door and stepped inside.

"I'm sorry, sir," said the woman, following him in. "He got past me."

"That's all right, Marcie," Templeton responded. "Close the door behind 
you." He turned his attention to Charlie. "Ahh, Mr. King, I've been 
expecting you."

"Where's Lois?" asked Charlie, looking as menacing as possible.

"Lois?" Templeton asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Templeton. You know who I'm talking about."

"Ah, right. Of course. How could I forget? The most galactically stupid 
woman who ever lived."

Charlie'd had enough. He wasn't about to play these games with 
Templeton. Hearing him insult Lois was the final straw. He would make 
Templeton talk if it was the last thing he ever did. Charlie moved 
quickly towards the desk when...

...he crashed to the floor. He shook his head and looked up into the 
face of a child no more than two or three years of age.

"What..."

A woman's scream caused Charlie to look around. Somehow, although he 
had no idea how, he had ended up in a run down apartment with a woman 
and three now screaming children.

"I'm sorry," stammered Charlie, getting to his feet. "I thought..." 
Without completing his thought, he dashed out the door of the apartment 
and ran down the stairs. He didn't stop until he was standing on the 
sidewalk.

He took a few deep breaths and looked around. Where was he? What had 
happened? The step before he had ended up on the floor of the woman's 
apartment had been... strange - as if he had stepped through a wall of 
water. 

He glanced down the street until he discovered the street name and 
number. 6789 Millar Avenue. The address was right for Templeton Towers. 
Except... He looked at the apartment building again. ...that was no 
Templeton Towers. What was happening here?

He stood there for a long moment of indecision before figuring out his 
next move. Lois' apartment wasn't far. He would go there, see if he 
could figure out what had happened. Besides, he hadn't checked her 
apartment since he'd gone into the Daily Planet this morning. It might 
be wise to see if she had made it back while he'd been gone.

Finally having a course of action, he took off at a jog in the 
appropriate direction.

* * * * * * * * *
IN ANOTHER DIMENSION
* * * * * * * * *

Templeton pushed the power-off button on his inter-dimensional 
transport device before turning to look at a very pale Nigel.

"You should get out in the sun more," Templeton said, rising to his 
feet. "Well, now that that problem is solved, we have only to make sure 
King's disappearance isn't traced back to us."

"I... Umm... Yes, sir," Nigel said, rising to stand on shaky legs. 

"What you need to do is to go to the airport," Templeton continued, 
coming over and putting his arm around Nigel to lead him towards the 
doorway. "I would suggest you take the service elevator and leave by 
the back entrance. The cops will likely be all over this building soon. 
And we don't want them to find you here."

"No, sir," Nigel said, looking as if he was only comprehending every 
second word coming from Templeton's mouth as he struggled to understand 
the disappearance of the man who had entered Templeton's office only a 
minute before.

"After all," Templeton continued, "if you did as instructed, you never 
actually said my name."

"Never," Nigel confirmed absently.

Templeton and Nigel arrived at the door of the office. "That means 
unless they see you, all they know is that a man who might have 
something to do with Lane's disappearance came into this building. 
There are hundreds of businesses in this building. And Marcie will be 
discrete. They'll never be able to connect you to me - unless you're 
here, of course. So go to the airport. I'll call you there with some 
instructions. There's a small item buried in the woods in Minnesota. 
You'll need to recover it for me - just as a precaution."

Templeton opened the door to his office.

"Might I inquire, sir..."

"You may not. Now, go. You don't look very well, Nigel. Are you sure 
you're getting enough fiber in your diet?"

When Nigel stepped reluctantly through the door, Templeton closed it 
and sat back down in his chair, a big smile on his face. The problem 
known as Charles King was now appropriately resolved. Anyone else 
investigating Lane's disappearance would undoubtedly give up soon. Only 
Charles King would have searched forever. But that was no longer a 
problem. And the best part was that Templeton was once again living in 
a Superman-free zone.

Still, from his reading, he knew Lois had buried a piece of kryptonite 
in the woods near a small town in Minnesota known as Bushville. The 
book had even provided him with enough information about its location 
that Templeton was certain he could find it.

The odd thing about the history books, however, was that it seemed that 
this universe's crooks had never tried to use kryptonite to stop the 
Man of Steel. But maybe that was simply because there was no kryptonite 
in this dimension. No matter. He'd get Nigel to fetch it for him - just 
as a precaution.

The intercom on his desk suddenly buzzed.

"Yes?" asked Templeton.

"There are police officers here, sir. They wish to see you," said his 
secretary.

Templeton smiled. "Send them in, Marcie."

* * * * * * * * *
IN ANOTHER DIMENSION
* * * * * * * * * 

Clark stood at the entranceway to the alley while Lois progressed 
further in to look around. Given how dark it had been the previous 
night, Lois had decided to return so that she could be certain she 
hadn't missed anything.

"What exactly are you looking for?" asked Clark.

"I'm not sure. Something. Anything that might tell us if there is a... 
I don't know." She let out a frustrated breath.

"Why don't you let me take a look?" Clark said, coming further into the 
alley and lowering his glasses in order to peer over top. 

"What are you..." Lois' voice trailed off when it hit her what Clark 
was probably doing. "Are you x-raying things?"

Clark shrugged. "X-raying some things. Magnifying others. Whatever 
seems necessary."

They fell silent as Clark continued carefully examining every inch of 
the alley. 

"Anything?" she asked when he again pushed his glasses up his nose.

He shook his head.

She let out a slow breath. Even if she really hadn't expected to find 
anything, it was still a disappointment. 

"Why don't we ask around?" asked Clark. "Maybe someone saw something 
that might help."

"Great!" Lois exclaimed.

They turned towards the entranceway to the alley, only to be spotted by 
some teenagers walking down the street. 

"Superman!" one of the kids exclaimed. And in a moment, all five were 
rushing up to Clark.

"No, he's not..." Lois began. Her voice trailed off when Clark suddenly 
spun into his Superman suit to greet the approaching young people.

She watched in stunned silence as Clark proceeded to sign autographs 
while pumping the kids for information on anything they might have seen 
in the alley the preceding afternoon. When the kids finally left, not 
having provided any useful information, Clark spun back into his Clark 
clothes.

"They expect it," he said sheepishly.

"People know you're Superman?" she asked in absolute disbelief.

Clark nodded. "It can be a real pain at times. On the other hand, it 
does get me the best table at restaurants."

Lois laughed. "And that makes up for the lack of privacy?"

"No. But you've got to look for the positive."

"And it doesn't bother you - having people know, I mean."

"It did at first. But there are compensations."

"Like the restaurant deal?"

"No. Like not having to lie when I have to attend to an emergency. And 
I'm given a lot of slack at my job - which is why I have the time to 
help you. At first it was a circus, but things calmed down considerably 
after about six months. Stories get shoved to the back page when the 
next big thing comes along. And for some reason, there's always 
something big happening in Metropolis."

"I suppose that's true. Still, it must be tough at times." She studied 
him for a long moment. "But you're okay with it?"

Clark nodded. "Come on. We still have the rest of the people in the 
neighborhood to talk to."

* * * * * * * * *

Lois closed her eyes as she relaxed into Clark's couch. Canvassing the 
neighborhood had gotten them nowhere. No one had seen or heard 
anything. If a portal to her own dimension had been in that alley, and 
Lois was convinced it had been, it wasn't there any longer. Either that 
or it was simply not accessible from this side.

"During our discussion last night you said something about knowing both 
Tempus and H.G. Wells," Lois said, not opening her eyes.

"That's right. But neither of them are in this dimension any longer - 
at least to my knowledge."

Lois nodded. She felt the couch beside her depress as Clark took a 
seat.

"So that's a dead end," she conceded. "What we need is a scientist 
who..." She suddenly sat straight up and looked at Clark. "Do you know 
a Dr. Klein?"

Clark crinkled his eyebrows in contemplation before shaking his head.

"Damn," Lois quietly cursed as she again leaned back into the couch.

"But I do know someone who might be able to help."

"Who?" Lois was once again alert.

"His name is Dr. Hamilton. He often works on the edge of... acceptable 
science. He might know something - or be able to direct us to someone 
who does."

"Great!" Lois exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "So what are we waiting 
for?"

* * * * * * * * *

Dr. Hamilton's lab was nothing like Lois had expected. Being used to 
the spacious, clean, clinical surroundings at Lex Labs, now known as 
Templeton Labs, she was amazed to see the dim, almost depressing 
surroundings Dr. Hamilton was working in. She glanced over at Clark, 
making sure they were really at the right place. But he didn't appear 
to think anything was unusual.

"Dr. Hamilton," he called into the lab.

A man with unkempt hair, holding a rag he was using to wipe some 
unknown substance from his hands came around a corner and into view.

"Clark!" the man exclaimed, coming over and offering Clark a very 
soiled hand.

"Uhh..." said Clark, looking at the hand.

Hamilton quickly pulled it back. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "So what 
can I do for you, my boy?"

"First, I'd like to introduce Lois Lane."

"Ahh," said Hamilton, making the same mistake of offering Lois his hand 
before realizing what he had done and withdrawing it again. "Well, it's 
about time someone claimed this boy. That's what you've been missing, 
son. A good woman to keep you in line."

"That's not..." Lois began.

"So what brings you here today?" Hamilton asked, ignoring Lois' attempt 
to clarify the situation. 

She let out a breath, deciding it wasn't important, and at a look from 
Clark, decided to plunge head first into the reason for their visit.

"Do you know anything about alternate dimensions?" she asked.

"Well, I know the theory. Unfortunately, at this time, there are only 
four dimensions which we can prove exist."

"What are those?" asked Lois, feeling hopeful.

"Well, dimension one is a specific point in space. The second is a flat 
plane or image. The third is the space we live in. And finally, there 
is the forth dimension, which is time. Of course, some people believe 
there is a spiritual dimension, but so far no one has been able to 
scientifically prove its existence."

"That's not what..."

"Of course, there are several areas of math and science where the 
possible existence of other dimensions allows us to explain things 
better."

"I think what we're looking for would be better described as..." Clark 
hesitated as he struggled to find a term Hamilton might understand 
better. "...alternate realities."

"Oh, you mean the many worlds interpretation of quantum theory," said 
Dr. Hamilton. 

"Okay," said Lois slowly.

"Well, it works like this. In the beginning there was only one time 
line. Then, each time quantum alternatives arose, the timeline split, 
much like an amoeba. Each timeline develops distinctly from the other. 
Those timelines which have split more recently are closer in their 
likeness to each other. The further back the timeline split, the more 
variants you will find. There is even the theory that sometimes two 
timelines that previously split will merge again. Of course, some 
think..." 

"No, Dr. Hamilton," interrupted Clark, "we're not particularly 
interested in the theory. We want to know if anyone has discovered, or 
is experimenting with the idea of traveling between the various 
realities."

"You mean, if you are in one reality, is there a way to get to another 
one?"

"Yes," said both Lois and Clark in unison.

"Absolutely."

"Great," said Lois. "So how does it happen?"

"The quantum leap."

"The quantum leap?"

"Of course. Think of it as... a ball sitting on the top of a long set 
of stairs. The ball can only exist on one of the stairs. It can't 
remain for any period of time in the space between the stairs. It 
'leaps' as it were from step to step."

"Okay, but how does one go from one step to the other?"

"I have no idea."

"But..." Lois began.

"Do you know anyone who does?" asked Clark, laying a calming hand on 
Lois' arm.

"I don't know anyone who is conducting any serious experiments in that 
area. Everyone is more interested in finding out if alternate realities 
exist. We are a long way from contemplating reaching one of these 
realities. Why?"

"Just something I'm working on for a story," said Clark immediately. 
"Well, thank you for your help, Dr. Hamilton."

"Anytime, my boy. And bring your pretty girlfriend around next time, 
too."

"I'm not..."

"I will," Clark interrupted, escorting Lois from the room.

Once they were outside, Lois turned and looked at Clark, eyebrows 
raised in search of an explanation.

"He's somehow got it in his mind that we're... involved. Trust me, 
trying to get him to understand otherwise would have taken hours. I 
doubt you want to waste that much time."

"True enough," said Lois. 

"So where next?"

Lois chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "Let's go back to your 
place. I need a phone book."

* * * * * * * * *

The moment Clark set her down in his apartment, Lois grabbed the phone 
book. She quickly found what she was looking for - although she could 
hardly believe what she was seeing. There was a Dr. Bernard Klein in 
the phone book, but he was... She read the entry one more time just to 
be sure. ...a family physician with his own practice.

Somehow she just couldn't imagine the man she knew being very good at 
dealing with people - especially sick people. 

Still, surely a Dr. Klein was a Dr. Klein. And maybe, just maybe, he 
might be able to help her get home. Picking up the phone, she placed a 
call, setting up an appointment with Dr. Klein for the earliest 
possible time - which turned out to be early the next morning. 

Once she'd made the appointment, she turned to Clark. "I'm wondering if 
you can lend me some money. Well, actually, lend is probably the wrong 
word - since I'm not sure how I'll pay you back, but..."

"Sure," Clark interrupted, approaching slowly. "What for?"

"I just set up an appointment with Dr. Klein for tomorrow. I'm going to 
have him give me a check-up."

"Is something wrong?" Clark asked, suddenly concerned.

"No. I just want a chance to size him up before I start talking about 
alternate dimensions or... what did Dr. Hamilton call it again?"

"The many worlds interpretation of quantum theory."

"Right. Anyway, I figure the best way to do that is to have him give me 
a physical."

Clark's eyes ran quickly down her body before he seemed to realize what 
he was doing and looked away. She instantly knew he was thinking about 
giving her that physical himself. 

He cleared his throat, not looking at her as a blush rose in his 
cheeks. "So what do you want to do now?"

Lois let out a breath. "Do you have an internet connection?"

"Sure."

"Then I'd like to see if I can find anything on the net."

* * * * * * * * * *

Lois glanced at Clark over the top of his laptop. He'd been working on 
some story notes since she'd started her research - although she was 
not sure he was actually working. At least, he seemed to spend every 
other moment watching her. He didn't think she knew, but she could feel 
his eyes on her, deep, sorrowful eyes.

Not that he wanted her to know how much he was hurting. In fact, he was 
doing an admirable job in trying to hide it. But in every look, she 
could tell he was desperately afraid he was going to lose her. 

If only there were some way to make him understand... If only he could 
realize that what he was feeling was nothing compared to what he would 
feel if he were ever united with his Lois... But there was no way she 
could explain it to him. To even suggest that what he was feeling was 
only a poor reflection of what he would feel for his Lois was not only 
insulting, it was hurtful. She knew. She had been exactly where he was 
now.

He suddenly lifted his head in a gesture that reminded her of Charlie. 

"What?" she asked.

"There's an airplane having a problem with its landing gear," he said, 
jumping to his feet. He spun and a moment later stood in front of her 
as Superman.

"Go," she told him.

Giving a slight nod of his head, he disappeared, leaving nothing but a 
gust of wind behind. 

Lois stared at the place he had last been, lost in thought. What had 
happened to his Lois? She was suddenly very curious to know the answer 
to that question. He had said something about her being lost in the 
Congo before they ever met. Could she have been working on the gun 
running story Lois had uncovered in the Congo a number of years ago?

Turning her attention back to the computer, she began a different 
search. It didn't take her long to realize there wasn't anything on the 
net about her counterpart's last story. But then that was to be 
expected. After all, as a result of her death, the story had never been 
written. All Lois was able to find was Lois' obituary. And it wasn't 
very informative.

* * * * * * * * *

Nothing about the rescue was too complicated. All Clark needed to do 
was manually lower the wheels until they clicked in place and then 
accompany the plane into the airport to ensure no further 
complications.

As a result, Clark's mind drifted as he followed the plane to the 
airport. The first time he had met a Lois, she'd stormed into his life 
like a bull in a china shop, turning his entire world upside down. At 
the time, he'd been so overwhelmed that he'd made no more than one lame 
plea with her not to go back to her universe. At no time had he shown 
her how good things could be if she stayed with him. By the time he ran 
into her again, she was married.

Still, when he thought about it now, he knew she hadn't been 
indifferent to him. When she'd first seen him, she'd kissed him. Now, 
granted, the kiss was over almost before it began - and she had been 
confusing him with her Clark at the time. But on two other occasions 
she had almost kissed him.

He had thought about those incidents a lot over the years. And he was 
certain he hadn't been the only one leaning in for those kisses. She 
had been right there with him. Maybe, just maybe, if he had been a 
little more aggressive, she would have chosen to stay with him. The 
fact that he hadn't had left him with a lot of regrets. This time he 
was determined to have no regrets. If this Lois went back to her 
dimension, he would accept it. But he was going to do everything in his 
power to change her mind.

He flew next to the plane as it safely landed at Metropolis Airport, 
waved good-bye to the pilots and headed back to his apartment.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois was having second thoughts as the waiter showed them to a table. 
When Clark returned from his rescue, he'd asked if she wanted to go out 
for supper. It had seemed harmless enough at the time. But taking in 
the soft lighting and the romantic nuance of their surroundings, she 
wasn't so sure.

"Thank you," said Clark, tipping the man as he showed them to a private 
table near the back of the restaurant. 

When Clark pulled out her chair, she cautiously sat down.

"Do you eat here often?" she asked.

"No. Just on special occasions."

Lois picked up her menu and stared hard at the jumble of words on the 
page in front of her. This was starting to feel a whole lot like a 
date. But how did she let him know this wasn't a date without hurting 
him?

"So tell me about your Lois," she said, suddenly struck by an 
inspiration. What better way to get his mind off her than a discussion 
about the woman he was meant to love.

"Look, there's really nothing to talk about. I'd rather talk about 
you."

She chewed for a moment on her lower lip. Given the situation, that was 
the one topic she was determined to avoid.

"You said she was lost in the Congo?"

Clark picked up his water glass and took a drink, the expression on his 
face very close to a pout. She let out a breath. She was finally 
getting through to him.

"What was she working on at the time?" Lois continued, probing further.

He let out a breath, informing Lois that he finally understood the 
hint. This wasn't a date. This was just two friends sharing a meal. 

"It was a story about gun smuggling," Clark responded.

"I remember that story. If the situation is the same as it was in my 
universe, a company in Metropolis was smuggling guns to a rebel group 
in the Congo."

"Sounds like the same story."

Lois nodded. "It was a dangerous investigation," she admitted. "I guess 
I got lucky."

"I guess."

She reached over and laid a hand on his arm. When he looked up, she 
spoke. "I'm really sorry, Clark."

He shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

She studied him for a moment before nodding. Realizing how 
uncomfortable this line of conversation was making him, she decided to 
give him a break. She'd destroyed the mood. It no longer felt as if 
they were on a date. Maybe it was time to lighten the mood. All she 
needed was superficial, impersonal topics. Books? Movies? Suddenly, 
inspiration struck. 

"How about we compare universes?" she asked.

He crinkled his eyebrows in confusion.

"Like I tell you that the Jimmy Olsen of my universe is a gopher at the 
Daily Planet and you tell me..." she began.

"...that the James Olsen of my universe owns the Daily Planet," Clark 
completed, his expression suddenly lifting.

From then on, they spent their time comparing universes. He was amazed 
to learn that her Perry White was President and she was startled to 
discover that his Catherine Grant was the gossip columnist at the 
Planet - and, even more astounding, went by the name 'Cat' and was by 
all accounts some sort of sex kitten. If Lois ever told Catherine about 
alternate dimensions, she was certainly going to include that little 
tidbit. 

By the time they left the restaurant, it was late. As they stepped 
outside, Lois was laughing at one of Clark's stories. Some scumbag 
reporter named Ralph worked at his Daily Planet. She didn't know anyone 
named Ralph - although after listening to Clark's stories about the 
man, she almost wished she did. Suddenly, people were rushing in from 
everywhere. Cameras. Reporters. Microphones. 

"Are you going to introduce us to the woman in your life, Superman?" a 
reporter said, thrusting a microphone into Clark's face.

Lois quickly turned her back to the cameras.

"Is this serious?" asked another reporter.

"How long have you two been involved?"

"Are there wedding plans in the future?"

"No comment," said Clark, sweeping Lois up in his arms and heading into 
the sky. Neither said anything for a time before Clark spoke again. 
"Are you ashamed to be seen with me?" he asked.

"What?" asked Lois.

"Well, you hid pretty quickly when those reporters approached. I just 
wondered..."

"No. It's not you, Clark. It's me. I'm not supposed to be here."

"What?"

"Do you really want someone to recognize me and assume I'm Lois Lane? 
Tomorrow's headline could read 'Lois Lane Returns From The Dead.' Is 
that what you want?"

Clark didn't respond as he flew them towards his apartment.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois stood staring at her freshly scrubbed face in the mirror. She'd 
removed her makeup the previous night, and although Clark had given her 
a toothbrush and told her to feel free to use anything she wanted, he'd 
not had any makeup for her to borrow. Not that it particularly 
mattered. Still, it felt odd to go without. But she had survived one 
day and she could survive even more if necessary.

She was certain Clark would give her money to purchase a few things. 
But that thought didn't sit well with her. Buying makeup in this 
universe would be like announcing that she was giving up. She wished 
Clark had a girlfriend or wife so she could borrow something. Sighing, 
she turned away from the mirror.

Opening the door, she stepped out into Clark's apartment. The first 
thing that caught her attention was the low, uneven lighting - she 
immediately realized she was seeing candle light. And soft music was 
playing in the background. A pit began to form in her stomach. What 
exactly was going on here - and more importantly, how did she prevent 
it without destroying her friendship with Clark? In spite of all her 
efforts to discourage him, he was developing feelings for her. And the 
last thing she wanted was to hurt him.

Clark turned to look at her the moment she entered the living room.

"You look beautiful," he said.

"Clark..."

She fell silent when he raised a finger to his lips.

"Dance with me?" he asked, closing the distance between them.

"I don't think..."

"Surely he wouldn't begrudge me one dance."

He offered her his hand. She stared at it for a long moment before 
accepting. One dance. Then she'd tell him she was tired and go to bed. 
And hopefully tomorrow, she would find her way back to her own 
dimension.

He smiled as he took her in his arms. Only then did Lois realize how 
slow the music was playing in the background. She put a small amount of 
distance between them as they began moving to the music.

'You fill up my senses,
Like a night in the forest,
Like the mountains in springtime,
Like a walk in the rain.

His arm slipped further around her, pulling her closer as the soft 
music worked its magic.

'Like a storm in the desert,
Like a sleepy blue ocean,
You fill up my senses,
Come fill me again.'

His hand drifted down her back until it was resting just above her 
buttocks. She tensed slightly but didn't pull away. It was only one 
song. And she knew he was hurting. Her presence was a constant reminder 
that he had lost the woman he was destined to love. Surely it wouldn't 
hurt to let him pretend for just one song.

'Come let me love you,
Let me give my lif