Without A Superman (Clark Kent's Quest)
By: ML Thompson <thomplaw@tbaytel.net>
Rated: PG-13.
Submitted: January 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. Special thanks go 
to the writers of the following episodes: 'Meet John Doe,' 
'The Green, Green Glow of Home' and 'Chi of Steel.' For 
complete disclaimer, go to: 
http://www.thompsonlawoffice.ca/Disclaimer.htm

My thanks to my Beta readers, Gerry, Carol and Irene for 
their assistance with my story. As usual, they saved me 
from making a fool of myself. And my thanks to the people 
on the Fanfic Message Boards for answering all of my silly 
questions. And finally, my thanks to Tricia Walpole for her 
assistance in editing this story for the archives.
 

* * * * * * * * *

A silver Jeep Cherokee with the vanity plates 'LL' swerved 
through traffic, coming to an abrupt halt directly in front 
of the Daily Planet building. Inside, a good looking, dark 
haired man leaned over to give the woman driving a slow 
kiss.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" the man 
asked when the kiss broke.

The woman raised her hand and lightly stroked his cheek as 
she responded. "I'll be fine, Clark. It's just a few tests. 
I'll be back in about an hour. Just tell Perry I'll be a 
little late."

"Lois..."

"Go."

Clark looked at her closely before sighing and turning 
towards the door. He stopped when his wife put her hand on 
his arm, directing his attention back to her. 

"I'll be fine, Clark," she repeated before leaning towards 
him again.

He seemed to have no problem understanding her subtle hint 
and leaned in himself for a final kiss. A moment later, he 
opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle, closing the 
door behind him. He cringed when the vehicle screeched away 
from the curve and back into traffic, causing the momentary 
sound of horns to fill the air. 

Shaking his head slightly, Clark turned towards the front 
entrance of the Daily Planet. 

"Help, Superman!"

Clark spun towards the sound of the voice. It was coming 
from a nearby alley. Looking around for a place to change, 
he spotted a phone booth near the alley. Not seeing another 
option, he ran towards it. It was only a second later when 
a 'whoosh' sounded as a streak of red and blue exited the 
phone booth and headed towards the alley.

His eyebrows furrowed the moment he entered the alley. It 
was an odd sensation, as if he had flown through a wall of 
water. And instantly, the scenery around him changed. He 
came to an abrupt halt in mid-air as he took in the 
unexpected surroundings. Where was he?

Slowly, he floated to the ground. He seemed to be standing 
in the middle of a wheat field. 

"What?" he asked in confusion. If he didn't know better, 
he'd swear that he was in Kansas. But that couldn't be. 
Could it? No. That was crazy. He glanced around again, 
trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He reached down 
and plucked a stock of wheat out of the ground. It 
certainly appeared to be real. But how was that possible? 
How could he have been flying into an alley in Metropolis 
to execute a rescue one minute and the next find himself 
standing in a wheat field in Kansas? 

The wall of water? He had flown through what almost felt 
like water. Did that have something to do with where he was 
now? The sensation of flying through that wall had been 
strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite place the 
feeling. 

He looked up when something in the corner of his eye caught 
his attention. It was odd, a tremor in the air followed 
by... He reached out his hand and caught a paper which was 
suddenly floating to the ground. He turned the single page 
over in his hands feeling his blood turn to ice water when 
his eyes captured the headline on what was obviously the 
society page of the Daily Planet.

'Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist, Lois Lane, To Wed 
Billionaire Businessman, Lex Luthor.'

He checked the date. June 16, 1998. It was yesterday's 
newspaper but it made no sense. Lex Luthor had been killed 
over two years ago when the underground tunnel had 
collapsed during Luthor's attempt to kill him with a 
quantum disruptor. Besides, Lois was married to him - Clark 
Kent. And he was absolutely positive he would have heard if 
Lois had won the Pulitzer. That wasn't the type of news his 
wife would likely keep to herself. She would be yelling it 
at the top of her lungs from the roof of the Daily Planet.

Still, the paper in front of him announced to all the world 
his worst nightmare. Lois was marrying Luthor. A nightmare! 
Suddenly, everything made sense. Somehow he had fallen 
asleep and this was all a nightmare. That had to be it. All 
he had to do was find a way to wake up. The only question 
was - how?

"Wake up!" he told himself firmly, closing his eyes, 
crunching them tightly together. Taking a deep breath, he 
opened them, determined he was going to discover that he 
was in his own bed with his wife sleeping peacefully beside 
him. He let the breath go when his eyes were again open and 
he was still in the wheat field.

He glanced around. Everything looked pretty real for a 
nightmare. So how did he go about proving his hypothesis? 
Struck by momentary inspiration, he pinched his arm - hard. 
Yes! That proved it. It didn't hurt to pinch himself. Then 
his eyebrows furrowed as he studied the unblemished skin of 
his forearm. He was invulnerable. It never hurt when he 
pinched himself. He snorted. Never before had he thought of 
this complication to having superpowers. He had no way to 
know if he was dreaming. 

But what else could it be? If he wasn't dreaming, where was 
he? What had happened? Had he somehow gone back in time? 
After all, there was a time when Lois had been about to 
marry that animal. He examined the paper again. No. It 
showed yesterday's date. He hadn't moved in time. So what 
was happening?

Maybe he was having some kind of mental breakdown. But why 
now? Everything had been relatively calm for the past 
couple of weeks - both for Clark Kent and Superman. 

He glanced around again, trying to come up with a better 
explanation. He spotted a brick chimney rising above a 
cluster of trees in the distance. And where there was a 
chimney, one was likely to find a house. Maybe they could 
help him. Not being sure where he was and not wanting to 
risk anything, he decided it might be best to make this 
trip as Clark Kent rather than Superman. He quickly spun 
back into his Clark clothes. If he were losing his mind, 
he'd rather do it quietly as Clark Kent than have it 
splashed all across the front page as Superman.

Folding up the society page of the paper, he stuck it in 
his inside suit jacket pocket and took off at a jog in the 
appropriate direction.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark stared silently up at what he had identified as a 
chimney. It was, in fact, the only part of the house still 
standing. It was quite obvious that the main part of the 
house had burned to the ground years ago. The growth of 
plant life that had taken over the house was testament to 
that fact. 

He looked around, wondering what to do now. Maybe there was 
still something here that could tell him where he was - 
although he seriously doubted that it would shed any light 
on how he came to be here. He spotted a mail box hanging by 
a single nail from a post near the road. Making his way 
over, he set the mailbox upright and scraped away the dirt, 
taking an automatic step back when he read the name.

"It can't be," he breathed. But there it was. As big as 
life. 'The Kents.'

He spun around and looked at the remains of the house once 
again. His breathing became heavy as he began to recognize 
the layout. His legs wobbled slightly as he slowly made his 
way back towards the house. It was his parents' house. 
There was no mistaking that fact. When he got to where the 
front porch had been, his legs seemed to give out beneath 
him and he collapsed to his knees.

What had happened to his world? Lois was marrying Luthor. 
His parents house was now nothing more than an overgrown 
pile of ashes. Everything that he cherished was being taken 
from him. There was only one hope left. His parents. Maybe 
by some miracle they had escaped this tragedy. Keeping that 
thought firmly in his mind, he rose to his feet. So how did 
he find out what had happened to his parents? 

Wayne Irig. Surely Wayne would know. He took off at a jog 
in the direction of the Irig farm. Maybe it was just the 
house that had burned down. Maybe his parents were okay. 

* * * * * * * * *

Clark waited impatiently for Wayne to open the door.

"Can I help you?" the older man asked.

Clark stood there for a moment, waiting for some sort of 
recognition. He fumbled with what to say next when the 
blank look on Wayne's face told him that the man didn't 
know who he was. 

"Umm..." Clark began, struggling through the shock of this 
realization to find the words he needed. "I was just 
looking at the Kent farm next door and was wondering if you 
could tell me what happened."

Wayne furrowed his eyebrows as he considered the request. 
"Why?" he finally asked. 

"Wayne? Who's at the door?" called a woman's voice from 
inside the house, saving Clark from answering the question.

"I don't know. Someone who wants to know what happened to 
the Kent farm," Wayne called back. 

"Well, don't just stand there letting in flies. Invite him 
in," the voice continued as a woman stepped into view.

Clark's jaw nearly hit the floor. Helen Irig. Wayne's wife. 
But she had died when Clark was in his teens. 

"I'm sorry about my husband," Helen said, pushing past the 
older man. "Sometimes he doesn't remember his manners. 
Won't you come in?"

Her husband gave a small snort but let the shell-shocked 
Clark Kent step into the house. 

"I'm Helen Irig and this is my husband, Wayne. And you 
are?"

"Me?" Clark asked, trying to wrap his overloaded mind 
around the question. "Umm... I'm Cl... Dan. Dan Scardino." 

"Please make yourself comfortable," Helen continued, 
gesturing him into the living room.

"Well, Mr. Scardino..." Wayne began as they sat down.

"Please, call me Daniel," Clark responded, cringing almost 
the instant the words left his mouth.

"Daniel," Wayne corrected. "I'm not entirely sure what to 
tell you. It's been a long time since anyone has asked 
about it. At the time, of course, and for months after it 
happened, it was really all that anyone here could talk 
about."

"I think people were in such a state of shock," Helen 
interrupted, taking a seat beside her husband. "Things like 
that didn't happen back then. Especially in a place like 
Smallville."

"What happened?" Clark asked, desperate to have them get to 
the point.

"They never found the men, so it's hard to say for sure," 
Wayne responded. 

"You know how small towns are," Helen added. "No facts. So 
everyone has their own theory."

Clark almost felt like grabbing these people and shaking 
them until the story came out. Instead, he opened and 
closed his fists as he attempted to be patient. But it was 
difficult. These were his parents they were talking about. 
Why couldn't they just get to the point?

"It all started the night of the big lightning storm," 
Wayne began.

"Now, honey, you don't know if that has anything to do with 
what happened," Helen interrupted.

"I know it. I know it in my bones," Wayne objected.

"What happened during the storm?" Clark asked, hoping to 
get them back on track.

"Well, it was a bad one. Lights went out all over the 
county. Anyway, a bolt of lightning struck an old tree out 
in our back yard."

"The sound was unreal," Helen added. "It almost sounded 
like a bomb exploding."

"I ran out to check on the tree, to make sure it wasn't on 
fire. After all, it was so close to the house that a fire 
there could have spread very easily. And it had been so dry 
that summer that..."

"What happened when you went to the back yard, Mr. Irig?" 
Clark asked, finding it harder and harder to be patient.

"The tree had fallen over," Irig explained. "I didn't 
notice it at first. But when I did see it..." His voice 
trailed off when he saw the expression of anxiety on the 
face of the young man seated across from him. "The 
overturned tree revealed a large green crystal. I had never 
seen anything like it and thought it might be worth 
something. So I sent a piece of it to a lab in Metropolis."

"A week later the place was crawling with government 
people," Helen continued. 

Suddenly, Clark had a queasy feeling in his stomach. This 
story was starting to sound suspiciously familiar.

"When was this?"

Wayne looked at his wife. "I don't know. About twenty years 
ago."

Clark's mind was spinning. He would have been about ten 
during the time that Wayne was talking about. Was it 
possible that for some reason Trask had shown up when he 
was ten, looking for that damn rock? But that made no 
sense. Surely his parents would have mentioned that when 
Trask had shown up in Smallville a few years ago. True, 
Trask had almost killed him and his family, had even tried 
to burn down the barn with his family inside. But Clark had 
been twenty-seven at the time. And Trask had been stopped. 
Rachel Harris had killed him. So it wasn't as if after that 
incident Trask could have found a way to go back in time to 
accomplish then what he had failed to do later. So what was 
this all about?

"What happened then?" Clark asked, his heart pounding 
loudly in his ears.

"Well, I took the rock over to the Kents - you know, to get 
Jonathan to hide it for me. There was something about those 
government men that I didn't trust. Anyway, a couple of 
days later is when it happened."

"What happened?"

"The Kents' house was burned to the ground. By the time we 
arrived - I was a member of the Smallville volunteer fire 
fighters - all three of the Kents had been killed - 
Jonathan, Martha and their son, Clark."

"The FBI took over the investigation . They said that the 
fire had been intentionally set and that all three Kents 
had been deliberately trapped inside the house. They never 
caught the men who did it," Helen added. "It was a 
nightmare. Apparently, the fire had burned so hot that when 
it was over there wasn't even enough left of the bodies to 
put in coffins."

On the last word, the world suddenly began to spin. Clark 
fought for breath as he began struggling to rise to his 
feet. All he knew for sure was that he had to get out of 
there now. As he stumbled towards the door, he was vaguely 
aware of the Irigs asking if he was all right. He wasn't 
entirely sure how he responded as he pushed open the door.

Once outside he began to run, increasing his speed once he 
was out of sight of the Irig farm. And then he was flying, 
spinning into the superman suit in mid-air.

There was only one place he wanted to be. Home. He 
immediately headed at full speed towards Metropolis. 
Towards Hyperion Avenue. Towards Lois. 

Arriving at home, he was disappointed to discover that the 
lights were out. Letting out a breath of regret, he headed 
for the bedroom window, the one window they always left 
unlocked for quick entrance or exit by Superman. He felt 
confused when he discovered it was locked. After taking a 
moment to figure out what to do next, he landed in a nearby 
alley and spun into his Clark clothes before heading 
towards the brownstone on foot, digging his keys out of his 
pocket as he approached. 

When he arrived at the door, he sorted through his keys, 
looking for the appropriate one. But when he tried 
inserting the key in the lock, it didn't work. He looked at 
the keys, making sure it was the correct one before trying 
again.

"Can I help you?" asked a voice behind him.

"Umm... No. I'm just trying to get inside," Clark responded 
when he saw the little old lady who lived down the street. 
"I seem to be having a problem with my key," he continued, 
looking down at the small piece of metal.

"Are you sure you're at the right place?" she asked.

Clark glanced back at the woman. Of course, he had the 
right place. What was she...

"You do know that this is Veda Doodson's place," she 
continued.

"Well, it was but..." His voice trailed off as a new and 
disturbing thought sunk in. According to the Irigs, Clark 
Kent was dead. What if... No. The newspaper clipping. He 
and Lois weren't married. This wasn't their house. 

He glanced over his glasses and into the familiar building. 
Only it wasn't his and Lois' furniture he found. His 
breathing became heavy. 

"Lois," he whispered, as it began to sink in that he really 
had lost everything. His parents. His wife. His home. 
Everything.

Muttering a quick good-bye to the woman who was staring 
oddly at him, he headed back into the alley. A moment 
later, he was airborn. 

So what now? Lois. Maybe she was still living in her old 
apartment. A quick flight over her old apartment building 
told him that she was not living there either. He even 
tried swinging over the Daily Planet but still there was no 
sign of Lois.

Having nowhere else to go, he headed back to Kansas. In a 
few minutes, he was standing, looking at the ruins of his 
parents' house in the moonlight. What had happened to so 
drastically change his world? Had someone gone into the 
past and changed things? That must be what had happened. It 
couldn't have been Trask. He was dead. But someone must 
have gone for him. 

But if that was the case why couldn't they just have left 
him dead, too? He'd lost everything in his life that was 
important to him. Why did they have to bring him back to 
rub his face in it?

He looked around, noticing that the barn seemed to have 
survived the fire. It, too, had been taken over by nature. 
But it was still mostly intact. He made his way over to the 
familiar structure, pushing open the door. It creaked on 
its hinges, something his father would never have allowed 
had he still been alive. 

Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside. In the half light 
of the barn, he could see a flashlight sitting by the door. 
Picking it up, he switched it on, surprised when a beam of 
light emerged from the end. Someone had obviously been here 
recently. The battery would be dead in a twenty year old 
flashlight. 

He ran the beam around the empty building, finally 
directing the light to the loft. There were some old 
blankets up there. He suddenly understood. The kids of town 
were undoubtedly using the old barn as a place to make-out. 
Still, there didn't seem to be anyone here tonight. He 
floated up to the loft. 

He sat down on the scattered hay, looking out the window at 
the dark night. His mind drifted back to the time that he 
and Lois had christened the hayloft during one of their 
visits to his parents. Closing his eyes against the pain 
caused by that sweet memory, he leaned back into the straw, 
pulling one of the ratty blankets around him, and drifted 
off into a restless sleep.

* * * * * * * * *

Superman landed with Andrus on the balcony of the hotel 
room being used by President-elect John Doe, aka Tempus. 
Setting the other man down, he marched into the room where 
he saw Tempus sitting alone in a straight-backed chair. 

"It's over, Tempus," Superman announced.

"Is it?" Tempus responded.

Superman looked over his shoulder as, behind him, Andrus 
threw a small device, about the size and shape of a cell 
phone into the air. Suddenly what looked like a door 
appeared, with a surface that resembled a wall of water. A 
time window.

"Walk through or be dragged through. Makes no difference to 
me," Superman said, crossing his arms over his chest and 
looking at Tempus determinedly. "Either way, you're going 
back."

Tempus rose from his chair and looked blankly at Superman, 
as if not completely understanding what was transpiring.

"Have you nothing to say?" asked Andrus. "No remorse?"

"What would you have me say?" asked Tempus.

"It's just as well," Andrus responded. "Superman." He 
nodded his head at Superman who immediately stepped 
forward, grabbed Tempus by the jacket and stepped with him 
through the wall of water into the time window. Suddenly, 
the man he had believed to be Tempus disappeared. 

"What? No!" gasped Andrus.

"Superman!" came Lois' desperate cry from the doorway as 
she struggled to get in past the secret service men.

"Lois, get out! Now!" Superman yelled.

"No," said the real Tempus, storming past the men holding 
Lois Lane. "Let her in. She should see this." And 
immediately, Tempus headed for the time window, hitting the 
side and sending Superman spinning towards eternity. 

Superman reached out in a last ditch effort to touch his 
wife as she strained towards him. Their fingers barely 
touched before he was hurled out of time and away from her 
forever.

Clark sat straight up, his eyes wide with horror. "Lois!" 
he screamed as the dream began to fade from view. He panted 
heavily as he realized it was a dream. It was all just a 
dream. He crashed back down from where he had been 
floating, expecting to feel the soft bounce of the mattress 
beneath him. He was stunned when he felt hard boards break 
his fall. Glancing next to him to where Lois should have 
been, he suddenly realized that it hadn't all been a dream. 
He was still in the loft of his parents' barn, beside their 
burnt out house. He closed his eyes and fought the urge to 
give in to despair, leaning back into the straw once again.

Suddenly, he again sat straight up. That was it. The wall 
of water. He had gone through a time window, just as he had 
when John Doe had trapped him in a moment of time. That's 
why flying through that wall of water today had felt so 
familiar. He was the one who had gone through some sort of 
time window - not Trask, not someone on Trask's behalf. 
But... That still didn't explain the changes. He hadn't 
gone forward or backwards in time. The date on the Daily 
Planet attested to that. So did the age of Wayne Irig. He 
wasn't noticeably older or younger than he had been the 
last time Clark had seen him. But that made no sense 
unless... Suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks. Tempus 
must have adjusted the time window to take him into an 
alternate universe - just as Tempus had done previously 
with the time machine built by H.G. Wells.

He let out a slow breath. He was in an alternate universe. 
In his universe, his parents were alive. In his universe, 
Lois was his wife. There was only one problem.

"How do I get back to my universe?" asked Clark into the 
silence of the barn.

* * * * * * * * *

As the first rays of morning sunlight began hitting the 
Metropolis skyline, Tempus, known to this universe as J.D. 
Templeton, stood looking out... or perhaps, it would be 
more accurate to say 'over' the city from his office on the 
top floor of Templeton Towers. He narrowed his eyes as he 
watched the distant construction taking place on the top of 
Lex Towers. 

When he had built Templeton Towers, he had purposely built 
it one floor higher than Lex Towers, making it the tallest 
building in Metropolis, and had reveled in the idea that, 
while not literally the case, Lex Luthor would have to look 
up to him. And that man... He narrowed his eyes and glared 
at the construction. It appeared that once again Luthor was 
determined not to be outdone. Some sort of tower was now 
being added to the other building.

Playing second fiddle to Lex Luthor was certainly not what 
Templeton had in mind when he chose to settle in this 
universe after his escape from the insane asylum. He 
thought back to that time. It had been a simple plan. That 
fool janitor he had talked into helping him fake his own 
death. His reconstruction of the faulty time window in 
which he had trapped Superman. Searching universes for 
months, looking for one without a Superman - or perhaps 
more importantly, without a Clark Kent since Kent could 
always become Superman. So when he had finally found this 
universe, one where Clark Kent had been killed when he was 
about ten, Templeton had known that he had finally found a 
home. A few simple trips to steal gold and diamonds from 
alternate universes and he had been all set.

There was only one problem Templeton hadn't anticipated. 
Clark Kent, and his obsessive love for a certain female 
reporter, had been the main force behind the fall of Lex 
Luthor. And without him, this universe's Lex Luthor 
continued to thrive. Not that dealing with Luthor was 
anywhere near as bad as dealing with that over-grown boy-
scout. Still, it was annoying to have Luthor always 
thwarting his plans. Just last week Templeton had lost out 
on being voted 'Metropolis' Man of the Year' to that 
second-rate crook.

To top that off, this universe's Lois Lane seemed 
completely taken in by Luthor's image. And without a Clark 
Kent to put doubt in her mind about the man... She seemed 
to think Luthor was the second coming, or something. But 
that wasn't the worst part. Luthor had discovered a two-
fold benefit to keeping a reporter with the reputation of 
Lois Lane in his pocket - or was that his bed? Either way, 
not only did she seem to be leaving Luthor's business 
interests alone, but she also had to be getting her tips 
against Templeton's business enterprises from somewhere. 
Luthor was the logical source.

It wasn't until Templeton had seen last night's story on 
the society page of the Daily Planet that the plan had 
struck him. It had been so simple, so utterly perfect that 
he had surprised himself with his own brilliance. Even now, 
thinking about it had the power to bring a smile to his 
lips.

He had found himself thinking that it was almost too bad 
that this universe's Clark Kent had been killed when he was 
ten. Almost. But not. Still, there had to be a way to rid 
himself of this world's Lex Luthor. Of course, he could 
always just kill the man. But where was the fun in that? He 
had needed something creative, something only he could come 
up with. Something... ironic.

Templeton absently traced the rising tower on the top of 
Luthor's building on the window with his finger. His finger 
hesitated and then came to a stop and a slow smile made its 
way across his face as he reflected again on the method he 
had chosen to solve his Luthor problem. Clark Kent. He only 
needed Kent in this universe for a short time - which meant 
finding one who wouldn't want to stay around long-term. And 
since he had known just where to find such a Clark Kent and 
just how to get him to come... 

"Help, Superman," Tempus said in a mock voice.

Instantly, he clamped his hand across his mouth 
dramatically. Those were not wise words for him to utter 
until Clark Kent was safely back in his own universe. It 
was almost too bad that he couldn't stop by the Kent farm 
to say hello. After all, it was always good to see old 
friends. But if Kent saw him, he might be distracted from 
his mission - to bring down Lex Luthor. After all, it was a 
given that Clark Kent would find a way to intervene in 
Lois' upcoming marriage to that man - well, unless he found 
a way back home, of course. That meant that until his 
assignment with Luthor was over, Templeton would have to 
keep a low profile. 

Templeton smiled. It was absolutely the perfect plan. Bring 
Kent to this universe. Give him the article about Lois' 
marriage to Luthor. It was only a matter of time before 
Kent did what Templeton needed him to do. He just needed to 
sit back and watch. Using his ultimate number one nemesis 
to bring down his biggest competition. 

"God, I love irony," Templeton said.

He was brilliant. Absolutely, indisputably brilliant. 
Luthor might not know it yet, but the man was history. A 
small, unremarkable footnote to history. And then, the 
first thing Templeton was going to do was to buy Lex Towers 
and tear down every brick of that damned building. 

* * * * * * * * *

Clark stood nervously on the corner across from the Daily 
Planet, uncertain if he should risk going inside. He had 
spent the morning looking for the time portal he had come 
through and had found absolutely no evidence of it. He felt 
as if he was out of options. He couldn't discuss this with 
his parents. That left only one person who could 
potentially help him get back to his own universe.

The problem was that he clearly recalled hearing the 
details of his Lois' adventure in the other universe. In 
some ways, her visit had been a blessing. After all, until 
she had come along, alt-Clark had been hiding his 
abilities, ashamed of his origins and not knowing what he 
could do to change that. On the other hand, if he had never 
met her, he might have been happy, or at least content, 
with Lana. Meeting Lois had left him grieving the loss of a 
Lois he had never even met. Clark couldn't even begin to 
imagine the pain that must cause his alternate self.

Of course, Lois had become convinced a few months ago that 
alternate Clark had found his Lois. Clark wasn't sure that 
it wasn't wishful thinking on her part. But he supposed 
that it was possible. After all, the Lois Lane of that 
universe had been 'lost' in the Congo - not officially 
declared dead. That wasn't the case in this universe. Here, 
Clark was dead. Given that fact, was it fair of him to 
insert himself into Lois' life - for even a brief period of 
time? What if she fell for him? Not likely, given the 
length of time it had taken his Lois to fall for him. But 
did he really have the right to take that risk?

He was about to turn away, determined to find another way 
home, when he saw Lois step out of the Daily Planet. 
Instinct instantly took over. He was about to raise his 
hand and call to her when a long, black limousine pulled up 
in front of the building. The door opened and out stepped a 
man who made the hair on the back of Clark's neck stand on 
end. Lex Luthor. He felt the bile rise in his throat when 
the man leaned in and gave Lois a kiss before the two of 
them crawled back into the car.

He watched in stunned silence as the car pulled away from 
the curve and back into traffic, carrying Lois away from 
him.

He stood, oblivious to his surroundings for a moment before 
he remembered the newspaper article in his pocket. He 
pulled it out and looked at it again. 'Pulitzer Prize 
Winning Journalist, Lois Lane, To Wed Billionaire 
Businessman, Lex Luthor.' He had to stop it from happening.

"No!" he said. This wasn't his universe. For all he knew, 
this universe's Lex Luthor was a good man. He had no right 
at all to interfere in events. He just had to concentrate 
on finding a way home.

But how? He looked at the Daily Planet building. He needed 
to find Tempus - after all, Tempus was the most likely 
suspect for his abduction. He had hoped to talk to Lois 
Lane. After all, if anyone in this universe knew about 
alternate universes, it was probably Lois. But since she 
was out... wherever, he would just have to figure this out 
for himself. 

Okay, so he couldn't talk to Lois. Was there anywhere else 
where he might find the information he needed? He looked 
skeptically at the Daily Planet. It was a long shot. On the 
other hand, what other choice did he have? Taking a deep 
breath, he crossed the street and entered the Daily Planet. 
He was headed towards the elevator when the sound of a 
voice stopped him.

"Can I help you?" asked a security guard.

"Yes. I'm looking for Perry White?"

The man's eyebrows rose. "You're looking for the President 
of the United States here?" he asked. 

Clark was definitely caught off guard. Perry had certainly 
done well for himself in this universe. He wasn't sure why 
that surprised him. Perry would make a great Commander-in-
Chief. And Perry's run for Mayor in an alternate Metropolis 
certainly indicated that Perry harbored some latent 
political ambitions. 

"He hasn't worked here for at least five years," the guard 
continued.

"So who's the editor?" Clark asked, wishing he'd taken the 
time to find an old newspaper so that at least he would 
know who was who in this new universe.

"Ms. Henderson," the security guard responded.

"Henderson?" Clark asked, searching his mind for a woman 
named Henderson who might have worked at the Daily Planet 
at some point in his universe. He was unable to come up 
with someone. That probably meant it was someone he didn't 
know. Still, she could grant him access to the Daily 
Planet's records. 

"Okay," continued Clark. "Would it be possible for me to 
meet with Ms. Henderson?"

"Could I have your name, please?" the guard asked. 

"Clark Kent," Clark responded.

The guard kept his eye on Clark while making his way to an 
in-house phone. He placed a quick call before telling Clark 
that Ms. Henderson would meet with him in about half an 
hour.

"That would be great," Clark responded. "Do you think it 
would be all right if I just waited here?" he asked, 
gesturing towards some chairs sitting in the corner.

When the security guard nodded, Clark picked up a copy of 
the current paper which was lying nearby and took a seat, 
skimming quickly through the paper while he waited. He 
slowed down when he came across yesterday's story by Lois 
Lane. He raised his eyebrows as he read the scathing expose 
she had done on an electric company owned by one J.D. 
Templeton. It seemed that the electric company was 
artifically inflating its expenses in order to increase its 
rates and, thereby, its profit margins.

He searched his memory for any recollection of a J.D. 
Templeton in his own world. When he was unable to recall 
the name, he dismissed the matter. After all, each universe 
was different. For example, most people in his world would 
have no idea who Jimmy Olsen was. On the other hand, in the 
alternate universe Lois had visited, James Olsen owned the 
Daily Planet as well as a major computer software company 
and was probably known by most of the movers and shakers. 

"Mr. Kent, Ms. Henderson will see you now," the guard said, 
gesturing him towards the elevators.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark wasn't entirely sure what he had expected to find 
when he entered the office he thought of as Perry's office. 
But it certainly wasn't what he did find. It seemed that 
Ms. Henderson was a woman he knew well - although not as 
well as she had led people to believe.

Cat Grant. But how had she become known to this universe as 
Ms. Henderson? And how had she become the editor of the 
Daily Planet? He supposed given Cat's specialty - gossip - 
the Daily Planet might hire her as the editor if the paper 
had begun to specialize in yellow journalism. No. The 
articles he had read in today's version of the Daily Planet 
had been of excellent quality.

Still, the surprises didn't end there. Gone was the 
ostentatious sex-kitten who had graced the halls of the 
Daily Planet during the first year he had worked there.

Ms. Henderson removed her reading glasses as she rose from 
behind the desk and extended a hand towards him, her form-
fitting professional business suit and confident demeaner 
giving her the air of a woman in charge. Short, 
professionally styled hair replaced the flamboyant 
hairstyle Clark had known her to wear.

"So what can I do for you, Mr. Kent," Cat asked while 
grasping his hand in a firm handshake. 

"Umm... Well, it's just..." His voice trailed off as he 
marveled again over the differences in the woman before 
him. "I was just wondering if you would mind if I spent a 
few hours going through your morgue files."

"And why would you need to see our morgue files?" she 
asked, obviously trying to decide whether or not to grant 
his request.

He smiled at her. It couldn't hurt to flirt with her a 
little. After all, he was well aware that women had a 
weakness for his smile. And given the way Cat had been all 
over him the entire year they had worked together... His 
smile faltered at her resulting frown. He was shocked when 
he realized that she knew exactly what he had been trying 
to do.

"Why would you need to see our morgue files?" she asked 
again, this time much more suspiciously.

"I'm writing a book," he responded while giving her a look 
that he hoped conveyed his apologies. "Part of it takes 
place at a newspaper and I'm wondering what the morgue 
might look like. That and to do a little research into your 
back issues."

She hesitated, obviously weighing his words carefully 
before looking over his shoulder and shouting, "Jimmy!"

Clark turned around and let out a breath of relief to see a 
familiar looking face in what appeared to be a familiar 
job.

"Yes, Ms. Henderson?" Jimmy asked, appearing instantly in 
the doorway.

"Would you show Mr. Kent our morgue? I've authorized him to 
do some research."

"Yes, Ms. Henderson," Jimmy responded, turning to Clark and 
giving him a friendly smile. "If you want to come with me, 
I'll take you there," he said. Clark gave Cat a grateful 
smile before turning to follow Jimmy. 

It was only a minute or so later before Jimmy led him 
through the door of the morgue. 

"So what do you do here?" Clark asked as Jimmy gave him a 
quick tour of the morgue.

"I'm a researcher at the moment. But some day I intend to 
be a world famous photographer."

Clark smiled. It was a relief to see that some things 
hadn't changed. 

"Look, I'm pretty good with the computer. If you need any 
help just call for me," Jimmy said.

"Thanks, Jimmy," Clark responded, feeling better than he 
had since waking up this morning. There was just something 
so comforting about meeting Jimmy and having him, at least, 
act normally.

Then he turned his attention to what he was looking for - 
any information about Tempus, H.G. Wells, alternate 
universes or time travel. The sooner he was able to return 
home the better.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark glanced up at the clock on the wall, feeling more 
than a little frustrated. He had arrived at the Daily 
Planet shortly after noon and it was now almost seven 
o'clock in the evening. He was glad when the woman in 
charge of the morgue finally left, giving him an indulgent 
smile when he had asked if he could continue his research. 
It was so much easier using his superpowers when no one was 
around to oversee. 

Still, he had now looked everywhere he could think and was 
no closer to finding a solution than he had been when he 
had arrived. There was no mention of Tempus, H.G. Wells or 
time travel in the Daily Planet. He had discovered, 
however, that his computer terminal had internet access, so 
he had continued his search there. 

H.G. Wells was indeed a writer in this universe who had 
lived between 1886 and 1946. However, he hadn't written 
science fiction novels. He had written romance - quite 
steamy stuff, too, judging by the outcry at the time. As 
for alternate universes and time travel, there appeared to 
be some speculation on the subject but no real scientific 
advancement that would help him get home. As for Tempus, 
there was no mention of him at all.

So where did that leave him? In the middle of a strange and 
hostile universe with no idea what to do next.

"Who's there?" called a familiar female voice into the 
dungeon where Clark was doing his research.

He froze. Did he answer? Did he hide? What would she say if 
she found him there? It suddenly occurred to him that all 
he had to do was stay calm. She didn't know who he was. And 
he did have Cat Henderson's permission to be there. He was 
just a writer doing some research. And maybe he could even 
use this as an opportunity to pick her brain a bit - see if 
she might have ever encountered Tempus or alternate 
universes. After all, he and his Lois had never written up 
their experiences with alternate universes in the Daily 
Planet - primarily out of fear that they would be locked up 
in the looney bin if they did.

"It's okay," Clark yelled, having reached his decision. 
"Ms. Henderson gave me permission to do some research."

And suddenly, there she was. Standing not more than ten 
feet in front of him. And it was one of the oddest 
sensations Clark had ever experienced. His heart did a 
slight flip. Until this moment, he hadn't understood the 
strange connection his Lois felt to the alternate Clark. He 
was staring into his wife's eyes - but not. It was more 
than simply meeting Lois' twin. It was like meeting Lois - 
but not. 

"Who are you?" she asked, giving him a quick once over.

"Uhh... I'm Clark Kent," he said, rising automatically to 
his feet and extending his hand.

"Have you seen Jimmy Olsen around here?" she asked, 
ignoring his hand and looking around for her quarry.

"No. Not since shortly after..." His voice trailed off when 
she began to walk away. "Ms. Lane, I'm a big fan of your 
work," he said, not wanting her to leave.

The words had the desired effect, causing her to turn 
around and look at him again. He let out a breath of 
relief. His Lois was also susceptible to praise for her 
work. And given the fact that he had, during the afternoon, 
also managed to read everything this Lois Lane had written 
over the course of the past year, the words were not merely 
empty praise. He was impressed. It was no wonder that this 
Lois Lane had won the Pulitzer. He felt a brief stab of 
guilt. Had his relationship with his Lois prevented her 
from winning the Pulitzer herself?

"I particularly liked your piece on the unseen victims of 
drinking and driving," he continued. "It wasn't your usual 
style, though. Not quite as hard hitting. But I was truly 
moved by how you managed to convey the loss felt by friends 
and family, not only of those who are the victims of a 
drunk driver but of the drunk drivers themselves."

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "My mother died when she 
got into a car after drinking. My dad was completely 
devastated by her death. He committed suicide shortly 
afterwards. So I guess the subject matter hit a little 
close to home."

"I'm so sorry," he responded, surprised by how easily she 
had opened up to him while at the same time feeling as if 
she had kicked him in the chest with the news of her 
parents' death. "Are you okay?"

She tilted her head to the side and studied him for a 
minute. He looked down, wondering what he might have given 
away with his eyes.

"It was a long time ago," she finally responded. "Anyway, I 
really should get going. So you haven't seen Jimmy?" she 
asked again.

He shook his head. "Do you really have to go?" he asked. 
"I'm doing some research and I could really use your help." 
He held his breath as he waited for her response.

"I'm sorry. I have plans tonight," she said.

"Luthor?" The question was out of his mouth before he had a 
chance to stop it, along with, he was certain, an edge to 
the single word that communicated quite clearly how he felt 
about the man.
 
She narrowed her eyes as she studied him. He quickly looked 
at the papers on his desk, as if to organize them.

"If you have something to say, say it," she finally 
snapped.

"No. No. Nothing," he quickly responded. 

She studied him for a moment more before turning and 
heading out of the room. He closed his eyes and let out a 
breath. It had all been going so well. If only he had kept 
his feelings about Luthor to himself, she might have agreed 
to meet with him sometime tomorrow to discuss his 
situation. After all, tomorrow was Saturday so she would 
likely have had some time to give him. Now... Luthor. He 
might not know the Luthor of this universe, but he still 
couldn't help but dislike the man.

He lowered his glasses and watched as Lois made her way 
back to the newsroom. Then, reaching over, he shut down his 
computer. There really was nothing else for him to do. He 
had run out of ideas about how to get home. And it wasn't 
as if he could go out and have a nice dinner, or stretch 
out in front of a T.V. or even curl up in a comfortable 
bed. After all, he suspected that the small amount of money 
he had in his wallet would be worthless in this universe. 
And it wasn't as if he could use his bank card or his 
credit cards. He could only hope that the hayloft in his 
parents' old barn wasn't being used by teenagers this 
evening. It was a good thing he didn't need to eat.

He stretched out with his enhanced senses, searching one 
last time for Lois. She might not be his Lois, but it was 
still comforting to hear her heartbeat. Then he heard 
something else. The voice of a man he had hoped never to 
hear again.

Well, there might not be anything he could do to get home 
at the moment, but maybe he could at least find out if this 
Lex Luthor was worthy of Lois' love. And if he wasn't... 
Well, Clark wasn't entirely sure what he would do then. But 
at least he owed it to his own wife to make sure her 
counterpart in this universe was safe.

He repowered the computer and began pulling up everything 
he could find about Luthor over the course of the past year 
- he could do a more complete search afterwards if 
necessary.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois felt completely off balance when she fled from the 
Daily Planet's morgue. She hoped that the man... Clark 
Kent, wasn't it? ...hadn't noticed how anxious she had been 
to leave. But there was something about him that made her 
feel completely out of her depth. It was something about 
the way he looked at her - especially when she told him 
about her parents. It was almost as if he felt her pain.

And then there had been the tone in his voice when he had 
said her fiance's name. It had almost radiated... contempt, 
as if he had been referring to meat that had spoiled some 
time ago. It was the first time she had heard anyone use 
Lex's name in that manner. Not everyone liked Lex. But she 
didn't think she knew anyone who didn't at least respect 
him. It was... disconcerting. Part of her wanted to storm 
back down to the morgue so that she could demand to know 
what Kent was keeping from her, what he so obviously hadn't 
wanted to tell her about Lex.

'Or is it just that you thought he was cute and want to get 
lost in those eyes for a few more minutes?' a small voice 
in the back of her mind asked.

"Don't be ridiculous!" she exclaimed.

"About what, darling?" asked Lex's voice from behind her.

She pasted a smile on her face and turned around. "It's 
nothing," she said as dismissively as she could. "Just 
thinking about a story." She leaned in and automatically 
kissed him when his arms went around her. 

He pulled back again to look in her eyes. "A ridiculous 
story?" he asked, his voice light but his eyes searching. 

Suddenly, she felt unexpectedly crowded. "Yeah, a 
ridiculous story," she said, moving up onto her tiptoes to 
give him another quick kiss, before ducking down to slip 
beneath his arm. She gathered her purse and jacket from her 
desk and headed towards the elevators, simply expecting him 
to follow. A glance over her shoulder confirmed that he 
was.

"So didn't you promise me an evening at the opera?" she 
asked lightly, slipping her arm through his when he finally 
caught up to her.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark set down his notes and leaned back in his chair, deep 
in thought. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe the Luthor of this 
universe was the upright guy he was portraying himself to 
be. He shook his head slightly, almost unable to believe he 
could be having such thoughts.

He recalled a comment Luthor had made when he had kidnapped 
Clark's mother. Luthor had said something to the effect 
that if he had had a loving mother like Martha, maybe he 
would have turned out to be a better man. Of course, he had 
immediately gone on to be thankful that he hadn't. Maybe 
his words had been more accurate than Clark had realized 
when his mother told him about the conversation. After all, 
this Luthor's parents had lived until Luthor was in his 
thirties. 

Still, he had a hard time picturing Lex Luthor as anything 
other than a sanctimonious bastard who used and abused 
people whenever and wherever it suited him. Not that Clark 
was biased or anything. He gave a small snort and turned 
his attention back to what he had discovered which was 
making him question his natural assumptions about Luthor's 
character.

In Clark's universe, there had been signs that Luthor was 
not above board long before the truth had come out. It 
wasn't anything that could be used to convict the man, but 
it was still always there, just out of reach - like an itch 
you couldn't quite scratch.

A good example of that was the pheromone compound - where a 
researcher paid by Lex Luthor had infected the staff at the 
Daily Planet with a potion which, according to Lois, made 
everyone loony-tunes in love. Although Luthor had been the 
one to warn Superman about Miranda's plan to infect all of 
Metropolis with the potion, thereby allaying any suspicions 
about Luthor's complicity in her plan, the man had still 
funded and obviously been well informed about Miranda's 
research. 

The same could be said for so many of the other criminal 
activities in Metropolis during Clark's first year at the 
Daily Planet. Whether it was employing two 'jumpers' who 
had been testing Superman's abilities, or funding a 
scientist who turned out to be experimenting on children 
with an intelligence potion, Luthor always seemed to be in 
the background, just out of reach of the justice system. 

The same couldn't be said for this Lex Luthor. In fact, in 
this universe, the man who had that honor appeared to be a 
man named J.D. Templeton. Clark tapped his pen on the desk 
for a couple of minutes, trying to find a rational 
explanation for his discovery. Suddenly, he had a crazy 
idea.

"Nah. It couldn't be," he said as he returned to his 
research, moving through it at superspeed, making notes and 
rereading certain articles. When he was finished he sat 
back and stared at the trend he had discovered. 

Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew the article about 
Lois' engagement to Luthor. Skimming the content, he 
discovered that Lois had been dating Luthor for the past 
year. Still, it couldn't be. He turned his attention back 
to the computer and began researching stories which had 
been written before Lois and Luthor had become involved. 
Suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place. The only 
question was whether Lois knew what was going on or not.

"Okay," he said softly, deciding that the only way to put 
what he had discovered into perspective was to voice his 
thoughts. "Templeton is the one always in the background 
when a crime is committed these days. But that hasn't 
always been the case. Before Lois got involved with him, 
Luthor was the one who always seemed to be in the 
background. So either Lois is covering for Luthor or... or 
Luthor is using Lois, somehow directing her attention away 
from his own indiscretions to focus on Templeton."

Okay, so maybe he didn't know this universe's Lois Lane at 
all. But he couldn't quite see her covering for her 
boyfriend. That left only one other possibility: Luthor was 
using Lois.

A small muscle in Clark's jaw began to twitch. The man was 
an animal - in any universe. But knowing what was happening 
and proving it were two entirely different things - a 
lesson he had learned the hard way in his universe. And 
then there was the other problem. How did he get Lois to 
see the truth? If she was anything like his Lois, she 
wasn't exactly going to be open to the idea. He knew that 
from personal experience, too. After all, Lois was fiercely 
loyal to those she considered friends.

He leaned back in his chair. It had been four years since 
he had fallen out with his Lois by confronting her about 
Luthor. But he knew a heck of a lot more about her now than 
he had then. So how did that help him now? Could he use his 
knowledge of his Lois to convince this Lois that Luthor was 
dangerous?

A slow smile made its way across his face as a plan began 
to form. He had been kicking himself for letting his 
feelings about Luthor show earlier this evening. But now... 
he could even use that if he worked it right. Of course, 
his Lois would never have been taken in by this plan, but 
only because of how well she knew him. This Lois didn't 
have that advantage.

He needed some inside information. And given the limited 
time he had to pull this off, he was going to have to take 
a few chances, but no more so than he often did when he and 
Lois were investigating a story. And desperate times did 
call for desperate measures.

He quickly turned off the computer. Then he stashed his 
notes in the janitor's closet and opened the window. It 
could be helpful to be able to get back into the building 
without being seen if additional research was necessary and 
the window seemed the logical solution. Without changing 
into the brightly colored suit, he took to the sky. There 
was no Superman in this universe and he would be less 
obvious in his street clothes. It was only a couple of 
minutes later before Clark was standing on the darkened 
balcony of the penthouse suite at Lex Towers. 

* * * * * * * * *

"I think that was just about the finest performance of 
Madame Butterfly I've ever seen," said Luthor as he and 
Lois made their way through the streets of Metropolis in 
the back of the limousine.

"Mmm," Lois responded. 

"Thinking about that ridiculous story again?" he asked 
after another moment of silence. 

"Hmm?" she asked, turning her attention to him for the 
first time since leaving the theater. Why did he have to 
keep bringing that up? What was it - the third time since 
they had left the Daily Planet? No. It was the fourth. 

"You might feel better if you talked about it," he 
suggested, picking up her hand and lightly kissing her 
knuckles. He tucked her arm under his before placing their 
joined hands on his knee.

She gave him a smile, although her heart wasn't in it. She 
had come up with the 'ridiculous story' excuse because she 
hadn't wanted to tell him what she had really been thinking 
about. After all, how could she possibly explain to him 
that she had been thinking about how attractive another man 
was? Not that she had been doing anything wrong. After all, 
she wouldn't be human if she didn't notice a good-looking 
man. It wasn't as if she was going to do anything about it.

But that wasn't what was bothering her. She was bothered by 
the number of times Lex had brought the subject up. Had he 
always asked so many questions about her work? Or did he 
know that she was lying?

How could he know that she was lying? Besides, so what if 
he knew the truth? Okay, so she had met an extremely... 
moderately! ...moderately attractive man. And she had 
noticed. It was nothing more than that. Certainly nothing 
worth all these questions.

"It's nothing, Lex. I told you that before," she responded. 
"It was just a crazy thought."

"I like crazy thoughts," he responded. "Come on. Humor me. 
What's this ridiculous story you came across today?"

"Why is this so important to you?" she asked, wishing more 
than anything that he would let the subject drop. It had 
been hard enough trying to get that gorgeous... semi-good-
looking guy out of her mind as it was, without Lex bringing 
up the subject every two minutes.

"It's not. I just had a bad day and thought it might take 
my mind off things to hear about your ridiculous story."

She let out a breath, leaning closer to place her chin on 
his shoulder. "I just don't feel much like talking about 
work tonight either, Lex," she said softly. 

"Hard day?"

She nodded slightly.

"And I've been pushing," he continued. "Sorry."

She closed her eyes and let out a breath of relief, hoping 
that would be the end of it.

"Uhh... We're here," he said.

She opened her eyes and saw where the limousine had 
stopped. They had ended up back at Lex Towers. She thought 
he was taking her home.

"I hope you don't mind," he said as if reading her 
thoughts. "I didn't want the evening to end just yet. Will 
you come up for a little while? Of course, if it's too 
late, I can always have Richard drive you home."

She smiled. "I guess I could come in for a little while," 
she responded. She was rewarded by a genuine smile from her 
fiance. 

* * * * * * * * *

Clark looked over his glasses, watching the tumblers on 
Luthor's wall safe fall into place. There had to be 
something in here that would open Lois' eyes to the danger 
Luthor represented.

"Breaking and entering with intent," he muttered under his 
breath as the last tumbler fell into place and he heard the 
click which told him the safe was unlocked. He stepped back 
and grasped the handle, turning it and pulling open the 
door. "Dwelling house. Aggravating circumstances. Maximum 
penalty: ten years in prison," Clark muttered.

He looked inside the safe, his eyebrows instantly going up. 
There was a small black pouch which a quick glance over top 
of his glasses informed him contained diamonds. There were 
piles of thousand dollar bills with elastics wrapped around 
them. Clark shook his head slightly.

Unable to resist, he leaned in to take a closer look at the 
bills. He didn't think he had ever seen a thousand dollar 
bill up close before. His eyebrows shot up when he realized 
that there was a picture of Amelia Earhart on the bill. He 
didn't know who was on the thousand dollar bill in his 
universe, but he seriously doubted it was Amelia Earhart. 

He shook his head as he considered how many piles of the 
bills there were. It was probably more money than he would 
see in a lifetime. Maybe he should just...

"Nah," he said, turning his attention to what had led him 
to open the safe. The papers. Documents of some kind. Why 
would Luthor keep documents in here unless he wanted to be 
certain that no one saw them? 

Okay, so maybe they were important financial documents, 
like Luthor's will or power of attorney. But somehow Clark 
suspected that Luthor's lawyers would have all of that 
stuff. Either way, Clark would know in a minute. 

Pulling out the papers, Clark realized that he was holding 
some kind of schedules. A closer examination revealed that 
they were shipping schedules, for ships arriving in 
Metropolis harbor from overseas. But why would Luthor keep 
shipping scheduled in his safe? Unless... Was Luthor 
importing some sort of illegal goods - drugs, perhaps? He 
quickly memorized the time on the first ship - 'The 
Alexander.' It was scheduled to arrive in Metropolis in a 
couple of hours. 

"Suspicious, no?" Clark asked his absent partner. He smiled 
when he could almost feel her elbow him in the ribs. 

A further inspection of the documents revealed that over 
the course of the next month, there were other ships 
arriving. The next one was arriving tomorrow night. In 
fact, all of the ships were scheduled to arrive in the 
middle of the night.

"And the plot thickens," Clark continued.

He was about to look at the next piece of paper when he 
realized that there was noise coming from the area outside 
the penthouse. Glancing over his glasses, he saw Lois and 
Luthor stepping off the elevator.

"Time's up," Clark said, stuffing the papers back in the 
safe. "Thank you for playing this version of Breaking and 
Entering. Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not 
collect two hundred dollars."

He wished he had more time, but for some reason, he felt 
positively giddy about what he had found with just an 
evening's work. This was big. Every reporter's instinct he 
had told him that. It was obvious that this Lex Luthor 
wasn't prepared for a super sleuth. Super Sleuth. What a 
great name? Maybe he should suggest to this universe's 
Clark Kent that... He shook his head. What was he thinking? 
The Clark Kent of this universe was dead.

He took off, leaving the balcony door closed behind him and 
landed on the roof of Lex Towers. It was unbelievable how 
much easier this investigation stuff was when Luthor wasn't 
expecting him. There had been no alarms or cameras on the 
balcony. And none of the walls were coated with lead based 
paint. Heck, the balcony door hadn't even been locked. 
There were definite advantages to being in a universe 
without a Superman.

* * * * * * * * *

"So can I get you a drink?" asked Luthor, taking Lois' 
jacket from her. He handed her jacket along with his own to 
a man Clark recognized. Nigel St. John. Clark watched while 
Nigel proceeded to hang up both jackets.

Nigel made his way to the fireplace and built a fire while 
Lois headed for the couch and Luthor went to the bar. It 
only took a minute for Nigel to get a nice fire going.

"That will be all, Nigel," Luthor said dismissively, when 
Nigel had finished.

"Yes, sir," Nigel responded, backing slowly from the room. 
"Have a good night, sir, miss," Nigel concluded before 
dimming the lights to give the room a romantic glow, 
stepping outside the penthouse and closing the door.

"So how about that drink, darling?" Luthor asked again when 
they were finally alone.

"I don't think so, Lex. I had two glasses of champagne at 
the opera. A third one and I'm going to get positively 
tipsy."

"There's nothing wrong with getting a little tipsy once in 
a while," Luthor responded, making his way over to a bar, 
opening a bottle of champagne and pouring two glasses.

He walked back and held one out to her. She looked at it 
for a moment before letting out a breath and accepting the 
glass. He sat down on the couch next to her, his arm 
resting on the back of the couch behind her shoulders.

Suddenly, Clark felt incredibly uncomfortable. He really 
should go and check on the ship scheduled to arrive in 
Metropolis tonight. Sitting on the roof of Lex Towers, 
watching the interaction between Lois and her fiance was 
not only pointless, it was just plain wrong. 

Besides, he wasn't sure he could handle it if... He refused 
to allow that thought to run through to its logical 
conclusion. And just because his Lois hadn't been intimate 
with Luthor didn't mean this woman felt the same way. He 
looked away from the penthouse towards the docks. He really 
should be there to take a sneak peak in that ship when it 
arrived. Maybe he could figure out Luthor's latest scheme. 
Finding the shipping schedules in Luthor's safe was a good 
start, but he still had a lot of work to do before making 
his move. 

"Please, Lex. We've talked about this."

Her words drew Clark's focus back on the penthouse just in 
time to see Luthor mauling his wif... No. She wasn't his 
wife. He forced himself to unclench his fists, but couldn't 
seem to take his eyes away from the drama taking place 
below his feet. 

He sent up a silent cheer when Lois pushed Luthor away and 
got up from the couch.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois felt Lex's eyes on her as she struggled to convince 
the skirt on her form-fitting black evening dress to 
slither down her legs from where he had managed to push it 
up. Not wearing panties in order to keep seams from showing 
tonight had definitely not been a good idea. It had made 
his job so much easier. It seemed that every time they were 
together lately he got more and more insistent.

"I don't see what we're waiting for," Lex finally said.

"You know how I feel about this," she responded.

"Right," he replied, the sarcasm in his voice taking her by 
surprise. "You're mother got pregnant with you when she was 
a teenager and had to marry your dad. You always wondered 
if she would have been happier if she had waited and so you 
decided when you were in your early teens that you would 
wait until you were married to have sex." The final two 
sentences were delivered in monotone, as if he were reading 
a script for which he felt little or no passion.

"But you are not your mother," he continued, his voice 
animated once again. "And you are not in your teens. And I 
am not some boyfriend who you've been dating for a couple 
of weeks. We've been together for over a year now and we 
are getting married."

"There's a difference between getting married and being 
married," she responded immediately.

"Then set a wedding date," he demanded. "Please. Let me 
know exactly how long I'm going to have to wait. Six 
months? A year?"

"Lex, please," she begged. "You know how important this is 
to me."

"Fine!" Luthor snapped, rising from the couch and making 
his way behind the bar once again to pour himself something 
stronger than champagne. 

She stood, silently watching as he emptied the glass. Maybe 
he was right. Maybe it was time for her to let go of that 
last barrier between them. They were to be married, after 
all. Besides, she knew Lex's reputation. It wasn't as if he 
were used to waiting where women were concerned. If she 
kept him waiting too long, wasn't she basically inviting 
him to stray?

Letting out a slow breath, she came around the bar and 
wrapped her arms around him. He stayed tense for a moment 
before responding, finally pulling her to him.

"Let me think about it?" she asked. 

He pulled back and looked into her eyes for a moment before 
his seemed to soften. 

"You have to understand," he finally said. "I'm a man. And 
it's different for men. One need only look at the animal 
kingdom to recognize that. Take the buck, for example. 
Instinct dictates that they fight for the right to mate 
with the females in the herd - in order to ensure that only 
the strongest of the species propagate. Monogamy is not 
expected among the male members of the herd. In fact, it 
isn't even an option if the herd is to thrive. After all, a 
doe can only bear one calf every year. Whereas the 
strongest buck can sire as many calves as there are females 
in the herd.

"Man might have learned to curb those instincts, but 
they're still there. Monogamy is unnatural enough, but 
abstinence... Besides, Lois, I'm not a boy. I'm a man. I've 
been sexually active for a long time - longer than it's 
been since you made that promise to yourself.

"We agreed to be exclusive... what? Eight months ago now. I 
promised you that I wouldn't see other women. I was happy 
to make that promise. I love you. And I only want to be 
with you. But it's time for you to give a little in 
return."

'Which is a round-about way of saying that you're horny,' 
Lois' mind immediately responded even if she kept that 
thought to herself. Instead, she nodded. After all, maybe 
he was right. Maybe it was time. 

* * * * * * * * *

Clark felt slightly stunned as he flew off into the night 
sky. This Lois was still a virgin by the sounds of it. That 
meant - no Claude. He knew how much his Lois regretted her 
past relationships - wished that she had waited until she 
met him to be intimate. And although he wouldn't change 
anything about his beautiful wife, since all her 
experiences before they had met had shaped her into the 
woman he loved, he wondered if this Lois knew how lucky she 
had been to avoid intimacy with a man like Claude.

Why couldn't Luthor understand and respect that? Probably 
because he was Luthor. And that was what Clark suddenly 
became more determined than ever to prove. If he had 
wondered whether this Lois was somehow covering for her 
boyfriend's sins, he no longer had that concern. There was 
no way the woman he had gotten to know a bit better tonight 
was involved in Luthor's crimes. In that way, she reminded 
him of his Lois. They might have made different life 
choices, but both were principled and had the will to 
enforce their beliefs on their lives. He wondered briefly 
if this Luthor had any idea what he was getting himself 
into.

With that thought, he put both Loises out of his mind and 
began searching the shipping routes near Metropolis for 
'The Alexander.' It was more difficult when he couldn't 
count on his Superman persona. After all, he really didn't 
want people to see a flying man if he could help it. He 
wasn't entirely sure why since it wasn't as if he had to 
protect Clark Kent's anonymity. On the other hand, 
introducing this world to a flying alien was not exactly 
something he wanted to deal with. 

He just wanted to get home - and maybe help out this 
universe's Lois Lane while trying to do so. 

Fortunately, tonight the overcast sky allowed him to fly in 
the clouds, using his x-ray vision to conduct his search. 
It took some time, since he didn't know where the ship was 
coming from, but he finally managed to spot it just as it 
entered Metropolis harbor.  

Floating above the ship, he began a systematic search with 
his x-ray vision. It was less than a minute later when he 
gasped, almost unable to believe what he could see. His 
stomach lurched and he gaged a couple of times. Well, at 
least he now knew what was being smuggled into the country. 
The only things to figure out now were Luthor's plan for 
this cargo and how to lead Lois to the truth about her 
boyfriend.

Going further up into the sky to clear his mind in the 
colder air, he headed to the dock where the ship was 
scheduled to land. He wanted to do a little snooping around 
before the ship arrived in dock.

* * * * * * * * *

Luthor leaned back in his chair in his darkened office, 
pressing his fingers together as he considered the 
situation. After a moment, he pressed the intercom on his 
phone.

"You rang, sir?" came Nigel's voice almost immediately. If 
the man had been in bed, there was no hint of it in his 
voice. But then there never was. If Luthor didn't know 
better, he'd think the man never slept. But then that was 
how he liked his employees - always on call.

"Check out everything that Lois Lane is currently working 
on," Luthor informed the man.

"Is there a problem, sir?"

"It's probably nothing. But she made a comment tonight that 
bothered me. When I asked about it, she was evasive. Just 
find out what she's working on."

"Very good, sir."

"Oh, and Nigel..."

"Sir?"

"Get me a woman for the night. A blonde preferably."

"Should I use the usual agency?"

"No," Luthor replied. "The woman they sent last week was an 
amateur. Find me someone who knows what she's doing."

Rising from behind his desk, he made his way to the safe. 
When it was open, he removed a stack of thousand dollar 
bills and headed for the living room.

What was the ridiculous story that Lois wouldn't tell him 
about? Could it be that she had found something that traced 
back to him? If she had, he had to take care of it before 
she could do any damage. Nigel would get the information 
from his source inside the Daily Planet.

He began casually tossing thousand dollar bills into the 
fire as he continued to think.

He could hardly wait until he and Lois were married. It 
might be advantageous using Lois Lane to keep the public's 
eye on his competition. But it wasn't worth the risk of 
having her stumble across something he didn't want her to 
know. Once they were married, Lois Luthor would learn very 
quickly that he wouldn't tolerate having a working wife.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois closed her eyes and leaned back in the bubbles she had 
added to her bath water. It was good to be home. Normally 
she enjoyed the time she and Lex spent together. It was 
just that tonight... All his questions about her 
'ridiculous story' didn't sit well with her. She wasn't 
exactly sure why.

There was one other thing that was bothering her. Clark 
Kent. There was something about the way he had said Lex's 
name. It had been eating at her all evening. She couldn't 
quite figure out why she cared. In fact, she didn't care. 
Nope. Not her. She didn't care at all.

After all, she loved Lex. That was what mattered - not what 
some stranger thought. Okay, so maybe what she felt for Lex 
wasn't that gaga feeling romance writers were always 
talking about, but that was just a lot of hype to sell 
books and promote movies. It wasn't real. And even if it 
were, it wasn't something she wanted in her life.

Not that she hadn't had her school-girl fantasies about 
being swept away by some knight in shining armor. But she 
had outgrown that years ago. It was just as well. After 
all, the world wasn't a fantasy. And she had Lex now.

Lex Luthor was perfect for her - good husband material. He 
was cultured, educated, a great conversationalist, handsome 
and, above all else, a great humanitarian. It seemed that 
everytime she turned around, he was giving money to another 
worthy cause. He had probably done more to help the people 
of Metropolis than anyone else. He was a good man. 

Of course, he was also an experienced man. If one believed 
the tabloids, a very experienced man. That was part of the 
reason she had taken her time getting to know him. He had 
first asked her to marry him six months ago. It wasn't 
until the day before yesterday that she had finally said 
yes.

She thought back to the last time she had seriously 
considered breaking her rule. Claude. She shook her head 
slightly. She had been so young and she'd been completely 
infatuated with the charming Frenchman. Then it had finally 
happened. He'd actually asked her out. She had been on 
cloud nine. She could still recall how long it had taken 
her to choose an outfit that night. To her it had been the 
start of a beautiful relationship. To him... Well, she 
wasn't entirely sure what it had been to him. What she did 
know was that when she had told him that she was waiting 
until she got married to cross the intimacy threshold, he 
had been gone fast enough to make her head spin.

That night she had seriously considered revoking her rule. 
The next morning, however, he had been romancing another 
woman at the office and that, as they say, had been that. 
Since then, she had discovered some things about Claude 
that made her glad that she hadn't had the opportunity to 
reconsider her position. But at the time, she had been 
crushed.

But Lex had made some good points tonight - not his 'nature 
of man' speech, of course. As Perry would say, that had 
been a load of horse manure. But Lex had said some things 
which made sense to her. They had been seeing each other 
for the past year. They had been exclusive for over eight 
months. And they were engaged to be married. Besides, she 
wasn't sixteen anymore. She was thirty. Should she really 
feel bound to a promise she had made to herself when she 
was a teenager? Besides, was it really fair of her to 
expect him to wait until their wedding night? After all, he 
had made it clear more than once that he would marry her 
tomorrow. She was the one who wanted to take her time 
setting a date. 

She sighed, pushing the question to the back of her mind. 
She could still feel the effects of the champagne she'd 
consumed tonight and didn't want to make this decision 
while she was still fuzzy. 

She allowed her mind to drift, not allowing it to land on 
anything in particular. A small smile made its way onto her 
lips as a gorgeous, dark-haired man suddenly invaded her 
thoughts. She could still see the wayward lock of hair that 
had fallen across his forehead. In her mind, she reached 
out and brushed it back in place. Her smile widened when 
the stubborn lock fell back again. 

Suddenly, she sat up, splashing water onto the floor. What 
was she doing? The champagne. It had to be the champagne. 
It was the only thing that made any sense. 

Why did her mind insist on thinking about Clark Kent? He 
certainly seemed opinionated on the subject of her fiance. 
Not that he'd said anything, really. But in some ways, that 
only made the obvious disdain in his voice when Lex's name 
had come up worse. What did Kent have against Lex? If he 
was around when she went into work on Monday, she was going 
to demand that he tell her. He couldn't just raise 
suspicions about Lex without answering her questions. 

In fact, maybe she should go in tomorrow and just take care 
of this. Yes. That's what she would do. That way she could 
put Kent and his unfounded dislike for Lex behind her. It 
had nothing to do with how cute he was, the way he had 
reacted to her news about the death of her parents - why 
had she told him all that anyway? - or the warmth she could 
see in his eyes when he looked at her. She was just going 
to find out what he had against Lex - assuming, of course, 
that Kent was even at the Daily Planet tomorrow. And that 
was a pretty big assumption.

She sighed softly as thoughts of her parents invaded her 
mind. She wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps it was because 
Clark looked at her much the same way as her father used to 
look at her mother. At the time, she had wondered why her 
father remained so devoted to her mother inspite of her 
addiction. Never had she seen anyone as devastated as her 
father had been when her mother died. 

She suddenly found herself wondering if Lex loved her the 
way her father had loved her mother. Would he stick by her 
and support her no matter what - just like her father. The 
way Lex looked at her had certainly never reminded her of 
her father. She shook her head. That didn't mean anything. 
Just because she was suddenly having irrational thoughts 
about the way some man she didn't even know looked at her 
didn't mean that she had to begin questioning Lex's love.

'But if you're so convinced he loves you, why won't you set 
a wedding date?' asked that voice in her mind. She quickly 
pushed it away.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark squatted behind some crates as the ship docked. He 
watched as three men dressed as customs agents made their 
way down the docks. A man disembarked, heading towards one 
of the customs agents as the other two agents boarded the 
boat. 

Clark waited for the outcry that was sure to follow when 
the customs agents searched the boat and found the cargo. 
As he waited for that moment, he tuned his hearing in to 
the two men talking on the dock.

"...about time you made it," said the customs agent, 
sounding a little annoyed. "In half an hour the shift 
changes and I can't guarantee that I can control the next 
shift."

"This isn't an exact science," the man from the ship 
growled. "Winds, currents, all of that plays a role in the 
time it takes to get here. In the future, I suggest you 
make sure the next shift is open to being bought if 
necessary."

The customs agent snorted. "So do you have my money or 
not?" he asked.

"Do you have my papers?"

The customs agent pulled some papers off his clipboard and 
handed them to the man from the boat. The man studied them 
before removing a large brown envelope which he in turn 
handed to the customs agent. Clark lowered his glasses and 
quickly x-rayed the envelope. It was filled with hundred 
dollar bills. 

"So, do you have any bodies you need disposed of?" the 
customs agent asked. "The man said you might have some."

"Three. Are you sure your men can take care of it?"

"Don't worry. They know what they're doing. Perpetual Pines 
doesn't even dig separate graves. They just dump the bodies 
in with bodies the city provides. So there aren't even any 
graves to be discovered. It's a perfect set up."

"Nothing's perfect," the man from the boat responded. "I'll 
have them send the bodies down with your agents," he 
concluded, turning and heading back to the boat. 

"Hey. Thank Harlan Black for me," the agent said to the 
man's retreating form.

The man turned back around. "I'd be careful about throwing 
names around if I were you," he hissed. "You're not 
indispensable. There are always other customs agents, you 
know."

The agent visibly stiffened. The man from the boat glared 
at him for a moment more before turning and heading back to 
the boat. 

Clark began sneaking away. He now had two more leads to 
check out. Perpetual Pines Cemetery and Harlan Black.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark landed on the roof of Lex Towers, horrified about 
what he had discovered during his investigation of Harlan 
Black and Perpetual Pines Cemetery. He had thought Black's 
name sounded familiar. He just hadn't been able to place it 
until he saw where the man's office was located. Part of 
Clark wanted to take what he had discovered directly to the 
police. But Black was his link to Luthor. Clark needed him. 
He was the key to Lois discovering what Luthor really was. 

No. As much as he hated it, Clark needed Harlan Black for 
the time being. The goal was to expose Luthor - at least 
enough so that Lois would see the truth. After all, Luthor 
was an animal. There was no way Clark could allow Lois to 
find herself in the clutches of that man. 

Yet, in spite of his fury over what he had learned tonight, 
there was another part of Clark that felt optimistic. He 
now had what he needed to implement his plan which he had 
named, 'Operation Scumbag.'  Now all he needed to do was to 
make sure that Lois was safely away from Luthor. Then, he 
was going to head back to his parents' barn for a few hours 
of sleep. 

He took a quick look at the roof of the building beneath 
his feet. Everything appeared to be dark. Luthor must have 
gone to bed. He was about to turn away when a sound coming 
from the bedroom caused him to freeze in his tracks. There 
was no mistaking the sound. It was the sound of two people 
engaged in intimate relations. 

What had he done? He should have found some way to get Lois 
out of that penthouse before she stepped over that line she 
had drawn for herself. She would be devastated to realize 
the type of man to whom she had finally given herself. Not 
only that, but she was likely to be less prepared to 
believe that Luthor was an animal if she...

The thought trailed off when he, without thinking, x-rayed 
the roof to Luthor's bedroom and saw... blond hair. 

He snorted, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. It 
took his mind a moment to register that he should look 
away, but when it did, he immediately shut down his x-ray 
vision. 

"That bastard," Clark breathed. It was inconceivable to 
Clark that Luthor could go from trying to persuade Lois to 
sleep with him to jumping into bed with another woman in 
just a matter of hours. He launched himself into the air, 
feeling dirtied by what he had just discovered.

As he flew towards Kansas, he found himself wondering if 
there were some way to convince Lois of what he had seen. 
But almost immediately, he dismissed the thought. It would 
be best if he found another way to make Lois see Luthor for 
who he really was - a way that wasn't so personally 
devastating. No. This was one piece of information Lois 
would never learn from him.

He was about to fly through the window to the hayloft when 
he heard noises very similar to the ones which had been 
emanating from Luthor's bedroom only minutes before. He 
groaned. It seemed that the hayloft wasn't going to be an 
option for tonight. So what should he do? 

The Planet. If he recalled correctly, there was a cot in 
the janitor's closet. Maybe he could sneak that into the 
morgue and spend the night there. It sure beat sleeping on 
the streets, which was really his only other option. Giving 
a small sigh, he headed back to the Daily Planet.

* * * * * * * * *

"Do you have permission to sleep here," came a familiar 
voice, bringing Clark slowly from sleep.

"Of course, Lois," he growled softly. "I asked my parents 
and they said that we're allowed to sleep together now that 
we're mar..." His head suddenly snapped up as the cobwebs 
quickly cleared his mind. An attempt to scramble off the 
cot left him lying on his back on the floor. 

Over him, Lois stood, eyebrows in her hairline as she 
stared down at him. 

"Uhh... morning?" he said sheepishly.

When she didn't respond, he continued. "Umm... look. I know 
I probably shouldn't have..." He scampered to his feet and 
began folding up the cot. "I just was doing research and it 
got late and the cot was here..." He stopped his frenzied 
activity, looked at her again and shrugged. 

"So what are you doing here so early on a Saturday 
morning?" he asked when she still said nothing. "I would 
have thought that senior reporters like you would normally 
get your weekends off."

"We do. But I had some business to take care of," she 
responded, the frown on her face not letting up.

"Anything I can do to help?" The question was automatic - 
the exact thing he would normally ask his Lois. This Lois 
immediately furrowed her eyebrows, her frown deepening.

"Actually, there is."

"Really?" he responded, amazed that she seemed to have 
accepted him so much faster and with so much less suspicion 
than his Lois had. "And what's that?" he asked, keeping his 
eyes curiously on hers.

"You can tell me what you have against Lex," she responded.

He instantly broke eye contact. Looking down, his hand 
began to rake through his unruly hair. He was going to have 
to be very careful here. He might have the advantage of 
knowing her better than she knew him. On the other hand, he 
was going to have to be very careful not to let down his 
guard. It would be so easy. It was so natural to trust her 
implicitly.

The problem was that for this plan to work, he had to 
appear reluctant to trust her. After all, if there was one 
thing he knew about Lois it was that if she felt someone 
was keeping something from her, she would go to any length 
to find out what he was hiding.

* * * * * * * * *

"What do you have against Lex?" she demanded again, 
watching him run his fingers through his hair. She wasn't 
entirely sure why a pit formed in her stomach when she saw 
the gold band on his left hand. For some reason, it hadn't 
even occurred to her that he could be married. Forcing 
herself to listen to what he was saying, she wondered why 
she even cared that he was married.

"Why would you think I have something against Luthor?" he 
asked, keeping his tone dismissive, while at the same time 
refusing to meet her eyes. "So does this place have a 
machine where I can get a cup of coffee or something?"

"Don't brush me off, Mr. Kent," she replied. "I'm a pro. I 
can tell instantly when someone is hiding something."

"I'm not hiding anything," he replied, almost before she 
finished speaking. "Is the confection stand in the lobby 
open on Saturdays?"

"Mr. Kent," she said, her voice deceptively calm as she 
held on to tight control of her temper, "if you are going 
to make disparaging comments about a woman's intended, you 
really..."

"Disparaging comments?" Clark interrupted. "Look, I don't 
recall making any disparaging comments about anyone."

Lois opened her mouth to respond before snapping it shut 
again. He was right. It had been the way he had said Lex's 
name, followed by the way he had nervously looked at 
everything but her that had made her think that he was 
hiding some information about Lex. Maybe she had misread... 
Her thought stopped in mid-tracks when she saw the way he 
was studiously examining his fingernails. No. She was right 
the first time. This guy knew something. But given the fact 
that the direct approach didn't seem to be working, she 
would just have to find another way to get the information.

"Fine," she said, turning to leave the room.

"Ms. Lane," he called after her. She smiled. It couldn't 
really be that easy, could it? Slowly, she turned to face 
him again.

"I'm just wondering," Clark began, "do you make use of tips 
for stories? 'Cause I have one that I think someone should 
follow up on. I'm just wondering if I should take it to the 
police to..."

"Yes!" Lois interrupted. Did she use tips? Was this guy an 
idiot? He obviously didn't know much about the newspaper 
business. "I mean, no."

He crunched his eyebrows together in confusion.

"I mean, yes I use tips. And no, you shouldn't take it to 
the police. Well... at least not until you tell me what it 
is. I... umm... deal with the police a lot and I can at 
least tell you if it's worth taking it to the police. 
Besides, I know some of the guys over there. If it is 
something worth taking to them, I can probably save you a 
lot of time by directing you to the right people. So what 
is this tip of yours?" she concluded, hoping that had 
sounded convincing enough. She narrowed her eyes at the 
brief look of triumph in his eyes. But then it was gone and 
she found herself wondering if she had imagined the look.

Clark sat down in a chair at one of the tables in the 
deserted morgue. She followed him over and was about to sit 
down herself when he spoke.

"Before we start... Well, I asked before about the 
confectionary in the lobby. I was just wondering if it 
would be okay if I went down to get a coffee and donut 
before we talk? That is, if they're open."

"Oh, that's okay. I'll go," she said. It was probably safer 
to keep him here until she had what she needed from him. 
She almost stopped when a brief glimmer of amusement seemed 
to flash through his eyes again. Then, shaking her head, 
she grabbed her purse and headed from the morgue.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark lowered his glasses, continuing to watch as Lois made 
her way down to the confection stand. So far, so good. He 
had to admit, his Luthor performance had been some of his 
best work. He raised his fingers, breathed on his nails and 
polished them on his chest. He might have gone a little far 
with the coffee and donut thing, but it had now been a day 
and a half - actually, almost two days - since he had eaten 
anything. And although he didn't need to eat, it was always 
comforting to do so.

The problem was that he didn't have any valid money. And 
since he was fairly certain that Lois wouldn't want him to 
leave without giving her what she wanted, he was on pretty 
safe ground suggesting that he was just going to run down 
to the confectionary. Or he was if she was anything like 
his Lois when it came to pursuing a story. And given that 
this Lois had the Pulitzer, he had been fairly certain he 
was on safe ground there, too. 

Not only was he pleased with how he had handled the Lex 
Luthor issue - convincing her that he knew something about 
the man by claiming he didn't - he was also pleased with 
the opening he'd given about a story. There was only one 
thing he had yet to do. He had to make sure that she didn't 
leave him behind when he finally shared his 'tip' with her. 
That meant getting the necessary promises up front. After 
all, he had to make sure she followed this tip all the way 
to Luthor.

And maybe, while they chased down his 'tip', he could 
gently probe to find out what she might know about 
alternate universes and the like. He just wasn't sure how 
to raise the subject. After all, he didn't particularly 
want her thinking he had lost his mind. It wouldn't bode 
well for his ability to be seen as a reliable informant. 

He glanced at the door just before Lois again emerged, 
carrying a cardboard tray with two large coffees, an 
assortment of creams, sugars and sweeteners and one large 
donut.

"They didn't have chocolate donuts?" he asked, feeling just 
the slightest twinge of disappointment. After not eating 
for two days, a chocolate donut would have been nice.

"Don't push it, Kent," Lois immediately responded, setting 
the tray down on the table just a tiny bit harder than 
absolutely necessary.

He met her eyes and realized that at some point during her 
trip to the confectionary, she had put together his little 
ruse for getting her to buy him breakfast. He had the 
decency to feel slightly sheepish.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," he said softly, 
meeting her eyes in a soft apology.

Her gaze immediately softened. She shrugged slightly as she 
sat down and took one of the coffees.

"Thanks," he said. "You have no idea how much I appreciate 
this."

She shrugged again. "Oh, I think I do." 

Not entirely sure how to respond, he waited for her to 
continue.

"Well, let's see," she said when she finally met his eyes. 
"Your clothes look as if you have been living in them for 
the past few days. You spent the night on a cot at the 
Daily Planet. And you maneuver me into buying you 
breakfast."

Clark let out a slow breath. He should have realized that 
there wasn't a Lois in any universe who wouldn't notice 
those things.

"Yeah, well," he said. "I guess I am a little short on cash 
at the moment."

Raising her coffee to her mouth with one hand, she pushed 
the remainder of the tray to him with the other.

"Thanks," he said sheepishly. 

"No problem. Just next time, why don't we skip the games? 
I'm really not very fond of games. If you're straight with 
me, I'll be straight with you. That's sort of my philosophy 
on life. But trust me, if you aren't straight with me, you 
won't know what hit you. I'll bury you faster than..."

"A speeding bullet?"

Lois smiled. "Something like that." She took another sip of 
her coffee while he took a bite of the donut.

"Well, it just so happens that I can move faster than a 
speeding bullet, so I guess that's okay."

Lois simply laughed.

"So what's this tip you have for me?" she asked.

He quickly swallowed the piece of donut in his mouth. "I 
have a condition first," he said.

"Kent," she responded, the unmistakable hint of a warning 
in her voice.

"Hey, listen. You told me to play it straight. So I am. I 
want a little quid pro quo."

She studied him for a moment before responding. "The Daily 
Planet doesn't pay for tips."

"Then what was the donut?" he asked. When she opened her 
mouth to respond, he waved her concern away, making it 
clear that he was only joking. "I don't want money." When 
her eyebrows rose, he continued. "I want to be involved in 
the investigation."

"Why?"

Clark took a deep breath as he prepared to tell his 
prearranged story. Suddenly, he was glad that he really was 
faster than a speeding bullet. After all, if she ever found 
out that he was lying to her, his invulnerable hide was the 
only thing that would stand between him and certain death.

"I'm writing a book and I could really benefit from 
following an investigation through from the first tip to 
the final story. That's my price, Ms. Lane," he said and 
then held his breath as he waited for a response.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois stared at the man in front of her as she considered 
the price Kent was demanding in exchange for his tip. She 
worked alone. She had for years. Partners only slowed her 
down. Besides, he was a civilian. She couldn't vouch for 
his safety. Worse, what if he did something that 
jeopardized her safety? Still, either he was a great 
bluffer, or he meant it when he said that was his price. He 
was meeting her gaze dead on, not flinching or backing down 
- unlike his previous attempts to avoid eye contact when 
talking about Lex. 

Oh, he might think she had forgotten about Lex. But she 
hadn't. He would tell her what his problem was with Lex 
eventually. On the other hand, for that to happen, he would 
have to stick around. Agreeing to his price would ensure 
that happened. 

And if his tip turned out to be nothing more than 
hyperbole, she could just tell him that she wasn't 
interested.

"Let's get one thing straight," she finally said. "This 
might be your tip, but if I decide to follow it, it will be 
my story. I'm the one in charge. You'll follow my lead."

"I usually do," Clark muttered under his breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

Clark looked caught off guard, obviously not expecting her 
to hear his muttered comment. "It means, you're in charge," 
he said nervously. "So, do we have a deal?"

Lois studied him for another moment. He was certainly a 
strange character. "Deal," she finally said. "So what's 
this great tip?"

"Perpetual Pines Cemetery has been burying the bodies of 
people who haven't been registered as deceased with the 
government."

"But what would be the point of that?" Lois asked. "Unless, 
of course, they're acting as a body disposal service for 
some crime syndicate," she continued, answering her own 
question and feeling that usual tingling she got when she 
was hot on the heels of a story. When Clark simply raised 
his eyebrows, as if to say that he had wondered the same 
thing, she nodded. 

"Okay, then I guess our first step is to see what we can 
find out about Perpetual Pines Cemetery."

"Wouldn't the first step be to make a trip to Perpetual 
Pines Cemetery?" Clark asked. "I mean, do we really want to 
be wasting time here if there's nothing to the story."

"Who did we agree was in charge here, Kent?" she asked. 

Clark let out a breath. "You."

"Exactly. So the first thing we do is research. Then we 
'consider' visiting Perpetual Pines Cemetery."

Clark didn't look particularly happy. Still, he nodded, 
obviously having the wisdom to realize that fighting with 
her was a waste of time. After all, she was the 
professional here. He was just a civilian along for the 
ride.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois glanced at Kent across the top of her monitor. She had 
brought him up to the newsroom and had put him to work on 
Dan Scardino's computer - after all, Dan was unlikely to be 
in on the weekend. He worked his hours and nothing more if 
he could help it. 

Clark was currently digging up information about Perpetual 
Pines Cemetery. She, on the other hand, was looking for 
information about the owner of the Cemetery.

She knew that Kent hadn't been very happy about doing 
research before visiting Perpetual Pines. And normally she 
would agree. But there was something she needed to do first 
- and it wasn't exactly the reason she had given Kent for 
delaying the trip.

It was Kent himself. She knew he was hiding something. On 
his finger was a wedding ring. Yet he had spent the night 
in the Daily Planet because he had nowhere to go. His 
clothes seemed to be of decent quality, not the thousand 
dollar suits her fiance wore, more like the type she would 
expect a man to wear if he worked in an office in middle 
management, or, for that matter, as a reporter for the 
Daily Planet. And yet his clothes, although still 
relatively clean, had obviously been worn for a few days 
now. Then there was his comment about being short of money. 
If he couldn't afford even coffee and a donut, he was 
definitely in trouble.

As a result, Lois was having serious reservations about 
trusting him. Oh, sure. There was that look in his eyes 
that made her want to trust him. But she hadn't won the 
Pulitzer by not doing her homework. And before she would 
follow him into what could be a dangerous situation, she 
was determined to find out as much as possible about Clark 
Kent. 

Besides, when Lois had tried to probe Kent about his source 
for the information, he had brushed her off. So did that 
mean that Kent was somehow involved in all of this? She 
didn't know. What she did know was that he was lying to her 
about something - or at least, not telling her everything. 
She'd really like to know what that was - and whether it 
meant she could trust him.

The problem was that she had a theory. In that theory, Kent 
had been a contract killer for the mob. Somehow, he had 
lost the trust of his employers and now was trying to bring 
them down before they could kill him. There was only one 
problem with that theory. And that was the gentleness she 
could see when she looked in his eyes. 

She shook her head. There it was again. She hated the 
strange connection she felt with this man. Was it making 
her sloppy? She had to take this slowly, find her way past 
the emotions to get to the truth. If she didn't, this story 
could very well be her last. 

She watched as he got up, removed his jacket and rolled up 
his sleeves, giving her a nice view of the muscles of his 
back when he placed his jacket on the back of the chair. He 
leaned over to collect some papers which had fallen off the 
desk. She pulled a breath in through her teeth as she 
watched the material of his trousers stretch across the 
muscles of his posterior.

She quickly directed her gaze back at her monitor, trying 
to look busy when he suddenly looked at her, as if he had 
heard her sharp intake of breath. In the corner of her eye, 
she could see him head in the direction of the washroom. 
She let out a breath when he disappeared from view. This 
was her chance.

Jumping up from behind her desk, she headed for his jacket. 
Reaching into his inside pocket, she pulled out a wallet 
and a folded page of a newspaper. She quickly opened the 
paper, feeling slightly stunned when she realized it was 
her engagement announcement. Why would he have this? He 
hadn't even known her when this had been in the paper. She 
looked towards the hall to the washrooms, deep in thought. 
Who exactly was this man? And what exactly did he want from 
her?

Well, that was what she was going to find out! Quickly 
refolding the paper, she turned her attention to his 
wallet. Grabbing the notepad from the desk, she tore 
herself a fresh page. His driver's license was her first 
target. 

She removed the piece of plastic and looked carefully at 
the name and picture. It was certainly his name and 
picture. She wrote down the number on his license, together 
with his birthdate. February 28, 1966. He was about a year 
and a half older than she was. She shook her head. 

"Keep your mind on the job," she muttered to herself 
firmly.

Putting the driver's license back in his wallet, she turned 
her attention to his credit cards. He seemed to have all 
the usual ones - in the name of Clark Kent. She wrote down 
the numbers from a couple of them. Taking a look in the 
wallet, she found some phony money. Why would he be 
carrying this? In some ways, it looked real enough but why 
would they have replaced the picture of America's first 
president, Benedict Arnold, with the face of that traitor, 
George Washington? And the five was wrong, too. It should 
be Robert E. Lee, the man who had led the North to victory 
during the civil war. Who was this Lincoln character 
anyway?

She was putting the phony money back in his wallet when her 
fingers brushed against something else. She pulled out a 
plastic container which obviously contained pictures. She 
was about to look at the photos she assumed were inside 
when a noise coming from the direction of the washroom 
caught her attention. Quickly stuffing his things back in 
his pocket, she grabbed the paper on which she had been 
making notes. She was just landing in her chair again when 
Kent suddenly walked around the corner. 

She gave him a smile which he returned with a strange look 
before glancing at the suit jacket hanging over the back of 
his chair. Lois caught her lip between her teeth and looked 
back at her monitor, ignoring the look she could feel him 
giving her. 

It was a few minutes later before Lois saw Jimmy enter the 
newsroom. She smiled. Perfect. She caught Jimmy's eye and 
nodded her head towards the conference room. With a brief 
look at Kent to ensure that he was again ensconced in his 
research, she got up and followed Jimmy into the conference 
room, closing the door behind her.

"Isn't that Clark Kent? The man who was here yesterday?" 
Jimmy asked, gesturing towards the man seated in the 
newsroom.

"Yes. He's doing some research for me."

"For you? But I thought..."

"Jimmy, I need you to do something for me."

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Okay. Here is Clark Kent's date of birth, his driver's 
license number and the numbers on two of his credit cards. 
Find out everything you can about him."

Jimmy studied the paper which she handed to him. "Can I ask 
why?"

"Let's just say that I like to know who I'm dealing with 
and leave it at that."

Jimmy nodded. "I assume you don't want Clark Kent to know 
about this."

She rolled her eyes. He smiled and made his way out the 
door.

Lois walked over to the window which looked out into the 
newsroom and studied the object of her infatuation... umm, 
investigation. She meant 'investigation.' After all, he was 
married. But, damn, it should be illegal for a man to look 
that good when he was married. 'And a woman shouldn't be 
looking that hard when she's engaged,' said that annoying 
little voice in the back of her mind. She pushed the 
thought away.

"What is it about you, Clark Kent?" she asked softly. She 
jerked, looking away suddenly when, almost as if he had 
heard her comment, he looked up, his eyes meeting hers with 
uncanny accuracy.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark kept his eyes firmly on the computer screen as he 
continued looking for information about Perpetual Pines 
Cemetery. However, his mind wasn't on the data in front of 
him. When he had returned from the washroom and seen the 
look on Lois' face, he had known instantly that she was up 
to something. What, he wasn't sure. But she had looked just 
a little too innocent. It was a look he often saw on the 
face of his wife - and it always meant trouble. 

He had instantly reminded himself that she wasn't his Lois 
and what she might be up to was really no business of his. 
Then a crazy idea had occurred to him when he had caught a 
glimpse of the jacket he'd left carelessly hanging over the 
back of a chair. Could she have been going through his 
jacket?

He had quickly brushed the thought off. They were looking 
into a story about Perpetual Pines Cemetery so why would 
Lois go through his jacket? Reassured, he had returned to 
his research. He had been so engrossed in the information 
he had found on the cemetery that he barely noticed when 
Lois and Jimmy went into the conference room. 

In fact, it wasn't until he heard the door open and Jimmy 
leave that it had really registered in his mind that they 
were in there at all. And then his hearing had kicked in, 
allowing him to hear her muttered comment.

'What is it about you, Clark Kent?'

He had looked up, meeting her eyes as the truth had 
instantly hit him. She didn't trust him. He wasn't sure why 
that had come as such a shock. Of course she didn't trust 
him. She didn't even know him. That was why it was so 
terribly important that he keep his guard up, didn't give 
her any reason to distrust him by acting as if... well, as 
if he were crazy - thinking that she was his wife or 
something. Otherwise, she was never going to let him lead 
her to the evidence about Luthor.

Of course, that also meant that he was going to have to 
come up with a way to talk to her about alternate universes 
that wasn't going to have her running for the hills. But 
how did he do that? 'Umm... Have you ever been to an 
alternate universe?'

"She's going to think I've lost my mind," he muttered.

"Who is?" asked Lois, snapping him out of his musings.

"Umm... Nothing," he said. "Have you seen this?" he 
immediately continued, directing her attention to an 
article he had found on the internet.

She leaned over his shoulder, reaching around him to 
control the mouse, as she quickly read the article. He 
shook his head slightly, suddenly hit again by this strange 
connection he felt to the Lois of this world as she, once 
again, reminded him of his wife. 

"Yeah, so?" she asked.

"Well, I was just noticing that Perpetual Pines Cemetery 
has the government contract to bury unclaimed bodies for 
the city."

"And?" she asked.

He fumbled for a moment, trying to find a response. He knew 
that there was a connection between that contract and what 
he had discovered last night, but she had no way of knowing 
it at this point.

"Nothing," he said. "I just found it interesting."

"Hmph," she replied, turning and making her way back to her 
desk.

He swivelled in his chair as he watched her go.

"So what have you found?" he asked. 

"Well, I found out that the owner of Perpetual Pines 
Cemetery is Harlan Black. He's relatively well off - has 
ownership in a number of different companies. The biggest 
company does shipping from the Asian rim."

Clark leaned back in his chair, glad that she had already 
discovered the connection to Black. After all, it was that 
connection that would lead them to Luthor. Still, he kept 
his mind on track. One step at a time. First, they had to 
trail the bodies from Perpetual Pines back to the ship and 
then they could worry about Harlan Black.

"He had a wife and two kids - a boy and a girl," Lois was 
continuing. "A couple of years ago, his entire family was 
killed in a car accident. Since then, all he seems to do is 
work, most of which he does out of some exclusive club."

"That's really sad," said Clark.

"Lois?" asked a woman's voice from behind Clark. Lois 
raised her eyes while Clark turned towards the approaching 
woman.

"Hi, Cath," Lois said. "I thought you were going to the 
cabin with Bill and the kids this weekend."

"Bill got called in to cover for someone. We'll be leaving 
a little later today," Catherine Henderson, known in 
Clark's universe as Cat Grant said answering Lois' question 
while not taking her eyes off Clark.

"Oh," said Lois. "Mr. Kent, here, provided me with a lead 
and is helping me pursue it."

"Really?" asked Catherine, her gaze finally leaving Clark 
to meet Lois' eyes, her eyebrows raised in silent question.

Clark looked at Lois when he heard a slight increase in her 
heartrate. His eyebrows crinkled slightly when he saw the 
color in Lois' cheeks as she nervously brushed a strand of 
hair behind her ear. She was embarrassed. But what did she 
have to be embarrassed about? Unless, of course, she wasn't 
embarrassed but nervous. After all, Clark supposed it was 
possible that this Daily Planet had strict guidelines about 
working with sources.

"Umm... could I talk to you in private, Lois?" Catherine 
asked.

Lois nodded, quickly rising to her feet and heading for the 
office of the editor-in-chief. Clark watched as the two 
women disappeared behind closed doors. Unable to resist, 
and slightly afraid that he might have got this Lois in 
trouble with her boss, he listened in to the conversation, 
being careful to keep his head buried in his computer while 
he did so. 

* * * * * * * * *

Catherine Henderson was silent as she closed the door 
behind her. Without looking at Lois, she made her way to 
the office window to look out into the bullpen quite 
obviously watching the man seated at Dan Scardino's desk.

"He's cute," Catherine remarked.

"Is he? I hadn't noticed," Lois responded immediately.

Cat turned around and looked at her. Lois met her eyes for 
a minute before she was unable to continue to do so. She 
looked away, the color in her cheeks deepening.

"Okay, so maybe I did notice."

"Mmm," said Catherine. "Well, regardless, it's none of my 
business - at least, not while we're at work. But, girl, on 
Monday we're going for lunch. And I expect to hear all the 
dirt."

Lois let out a frustrated breath. "It's nothing like that, 
Cath. He gave me a tip - about a possible story. However, 
he said he wanted to follow a story through from beginning 
to end and that was his condition for giving me the tip. So 
I'm babysitting. That's all."

"Damn. Oh well, I guess it was too much to hope for. After 
all, that is one fine specimen. It would be nice to hear 
what he's like between the sheets."

"Cath! What about Bill?"

"I know what he's like between the sheets. I don't need a 
report on that," she responded lightly before looking again 
at Lois. "Look, just because I'm happily married doesn't 
mean I don't still... you know, think about it. And I'm not 
going to believe that you haven't thought about it. Still, 
why would I be asking you what he's like? Although," she 
looked back into the bullpen again, "for that one, I'd 
suggest you consider breaking the rules."

Lois chuckled and shook her head. "You're too much, Cath," 
she said, rising to her feet. "I better get back before he 
thinks we're calling the police to report a trespasser. But 
you're on for that lunch date on Monday. I want to hear all 
about your weekend."

"Deal," Catherine responded. 

Lois' hand was on the doorknob before Catherine continued, 
"Is it a good story?"

"If it turns out to be true, it will be a great story."

"Okay, then type up an outline and send it to my computer." 
To Lois' look, she continued. "I want to know what you're 
looking into. I won't have you running off into danger 
without at least letting someone know where you might be. 
And promise me you'll be careful." When Lois rolled her 
eyes, Catherine continued. "I'm serious, Lois. He might be 
cute. But you don't know him. So be careful."

"I'm always careful," Lois said, pulling the door open.

"Yeah. Right," Catherine groaned, provoking a chuckle from 
Lois as she stepped out of the office, closing the door 
behind her.

Lois was still smiling as she made her way back to her 
desk. She couldn't imagine working for anyone but Catherine 
these days. Perry had been great while he had been editor. 
He had taught her everything she knew about the news 
business. Even these days, when she found herself trying to 
get a grip on a story, she still found herself picking up 
the phone to call Perry. It sort of amazed her that he 
continued to take her calls - as if never too busy to talk 
to her. But she had really come to appreciate the mixture 
of humor Catherine interspersed with her orders. It always 
seemed to take the edge off being told what to do. 

As she settled behind her desk, she glanced over at Clark. 
His ears were an interesting shade of red. From her 
position, she tried to see his monitor. What was he looking 
at that was embarrassing him so badly? Now, if he wanted to 
be embarrassed, he should have listened to her conversation 
with Catherine. Sometimes that woman was so bad.

She pushed the thought out of her mind to turn her 
attention to her computer, quickly typing up what she and 
Clark were looking into.

"Hey, beautiful," came a voice from behind her.

Lois instantly tensed as Dan Scardino sat down on the 
corner of her desk. 

"So who's the putz?" Dan asked, jerking his head towards 
Clark.

"What are you doing here today, Dan?" she responded, 
jerking some papers out from under him, coming close to 
toppling him off the desk. She fought back a laugh when his 
arms flailed around as he attempted to retain his balance. 
"Don't you have some little old lady to hassle?"

"Just stopped by," he said. "So what are you working on?" 
He leaned over, attempting to see her monitor. She 
deliberately turned her monitor away from him.

"Nothing that would be of any interest to you."

She quickly sent the story thesis to Catherine and 
proceeded to shut down her computer.

"Come on, Lois. You don't have to be like that. Have dinner 
with me tonight." He placed a hand on her arm. She quickly 
jerked away. 

And suddenly Kent was there, looking slightly menacing. His 
eyes were focused directly on Dan. 

"Is there a problem here, Ms. Lane?" he asked. 

"No," she said, pushing her chair away from her desk and, 
consequently, away from Dan. He yelped, causing Lois to 
smile knowing that she had just run the wheel of her chair 
over his foot. "Let's go," she continued, addressing Clark. 
"The air in here suddenly has me feeling slightly queasy." 
With that, she headed towards the elevator. Clark seemed 
uncertain about whether or not to follow. Then, placing a 
hand on Dan's shoulder, he whispered something to Dan 
before following Lois towards the elevator. Lois' eyebrows 
rose when she saw Dan go pale.

Turning her attention towards Clark, she studied him as 
they stepped silently into the elevator. She waited until 
the doors closed before speaking. "What did you say to 
him?" she asked.

"I just reminded him of his manners, Ms. Lane," he 
responded dismissively. 

She was about to ask for a more detailed answer before 
suddenly laughing. When he looked confused, she explained. 
"I don't care what you said. I have to admit that it was 
fun seeing Dan at a loss for words for once. If ever there 
were a bigger pig than Dan Scardino when it comes to women, 
I really don't want to meet him. And since we are going to 
be working together, don't you think you should call me 
'Lois?'"

"Deal. Provided you call me 'Clark.'"

"Okay."

"So who was the jerk?" he asked.

Lois let out a breath. "Dan Scardino. He and I were 
partners years ago."

"Really?"

Lois nodded. "Perry partnered us up shortly after Dan left 
his job at the D.E.A. to join the staff at the Planet. It 
didn't last long. He's just too... impulsive. He jumps in 
without thinking about the consequences. He's dangerous and 
I knew that at some point, he was going to get us both 
killed."

"He was too impulsive?" Clark asked.

Lois looked at him in confusion when she heard the note of 
disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah."

"For you?" he clarified.

"Yeah. Okay, look. Maybe I am a bit impulsive. But at least 
I come out of it with the story. I know what I'm doing. Dan 
lost us the story with his 'heads first' attitude more 
times than his tactics helped. The investigation usually 
ended with us dodging bullets without enough evidence to go 
to print."

"So the dodging bullets part is fine - but only if it gets 
you the front page?"

"Well, yeah. I'm not an adrenaline junkie, you know. I only 
do what needs to be done."

"Fair enough," Clark said after a moment, as if having 
gained some great insight into her character. 

"Yeah, well, tell Dan that. Between my refusal to be 
partnered with him and my dodging his constant advances... 
Never mind. It's not important. Trust me. You don't want to 
hear about it. So what do you say that we grab some lunch 
on our way to Perpetual Pines?"

* * * * * * * * *

Dan watched the elevator doors close before giving in to 
the need to rub his shoulder. For a moment, Dan had 
wondered if the man was going to break his collarbone.

"I don't think she likes it when you touch her. Don't do it 
anymore." The voice had remained soft and low while the 
hand had tightened on his shoulder. But then the man 
released his shoulder and walked away.

When had Lois Lane hired that overgrown muscle man? Dan's 
only real comfort, as he slipped into the chair behind 
Lois' desk, was that muscle men didn't tend to have brains.

"Hey, Dan," said Jimmy, causing Dan to look up. "Did you 
see where Lois went?"

"She left with the neanderthal."

Jimmy looked anxiously towards the elevator.

"She really will want to know this," Jimmy muttered, 
looking at the computer printout in his hand.

"No problem," Dan instantly jumped in. "She told me what 
she's working on. She said that you should just give what 
you have to me."

Jimmy's eyes came back to Dan's face. He seemed to waver 
for a moment before saying, "Not a chance, Scardino," and 
walking away.

Dan let out a breath before glancing around the newsroom. 
There were significantly fewer people around today than 
would be present on a weekday. And since no one was paying 
any attention to him, he pushed the power button on Lois' 
computer. 

Dan wasn't sure why that English dude kept paying him for 
information about Lois, but as long as the money was good, 
he wasn't objecting.

He turned his attention to the computer as it powered up. 
It was only a moment before it asked for a password. He 
quickly typed in the appropriate word, the way he had so 
many times over the course of the past year, and waited. It 
only took a moment to have the information he needed. He 
switched off the computer before heading for the elevators 
- after all, he had the day off.

* * * * * * * * *

"You haven't answered my question," Lois said, as they made 
their way towards her jeep in the parking lot below the 
Daily Planet.

"Question?" Clark responded, trying to figure out what she 
was asking while at the same time listening to a police 
report about a car accident on the Hobbs' Bridge. 

"Lunch?"

"Umm... Look, I'm going to have to take a rain check," 
Clark said as he began backing slowly away from her.

"Clark?"

"How about I meet you at Perpetual Pines? One o'clock?"

"Clark, where are you going?"

"I'm..." He made a wavy motion with his hand.

Her eyebrows went up and she copied his action, instantly 
reminding him that this Lois didn't know about his alter 
ego. And although there was no Superman in this universe, 
Clark knew he couldn't just stand by and do nothing - not 
when the lives of a woman and a very young child were at 
stake. According to the police transmission, the woman's 
car was precariously balanced over the side of the bridge.

"Look, I'll explain later. One o'clock. Perpetual Pines." 
Realizing he didn't have time to waste, he turned around 
and began jogging away, ignoring her call for an 
explanation.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois felt stunned as she climbed into her jeep. What had 
just happened? There had to be a reasonable explanation for 
Clark's sudden disappearance. Had she said something or 
done something that had upset him?

Suddenly, she had an idea. She suspected he was hiding 
something. She just didn't know what. Maybe he had seen 
someone who had spooked him. She glanced around but the 
parking area was empty. 

Then another possibility struck her. What if this was some 
sort of trap? Maybe the bad guys were waiting around some 
corner. Or maybe he was off right now telling the bad guys 
that she would be at Perpetual Pines Cemetery at one 
o'clock. She shook her head. No. The man whose eyes she had 
looked into several times this morning would never risk her 
life. Unless, he had no choice. That could be it. Maybe 
they were threatening his life or that of his wife and 
family unless he ensured that she was in a particular place 
at a particular time. Maybe she should just not show up. 

She put the key in the ignition and started the car, 
suddenly feeling inexplicably depressed. She had just put 
the jeep into drive when the real reason Clark had 
disappeared hit her.

"Omigod," she whispered, putting the car back in park. He 
didn't have any real money. Okay, so maybe he had credit 
cards. But if he were trying to avoid being located, he was 
not likely to use those. Either that or for some reason, 
his cards were no longer any good. After all, his lack of 
money was why he had tricked her into buying him breakfast.

Of course he had taken off. She had suggested that they go 
to lunch. He was obviously too embarrassed to tell her that 
he couldn't afford to eat. There was nothing cynical about 
Clark's disappearance.

Well, maybe there was some way she could make her mistake 
up to him. Having an idea, she put the jeep in drive and 
headed out of the parking garage.

* * * * * * * * *

Templeton leaned forward in his chair as he watched the car 
teeter precariously on the bridge. He had been wondering 
since Clark Kent's arrival in this dimension whether the 
Man of Steel would reveal himself and this seemed the most 
promising opportunity. 

The helicopter filming the action was focusing in on two 
electrical wires which were bouncing against the top of the 
vehicle, sending sparks in every direction and forcing 
police officers and firefighters to keep their distance. 
Then the commentator's voice became animated as something 
began to happen. Templeton leaned closer looking carefully 
for the tell-tale red and blue. He could see nothing - 
other than an unexpected movement of, first one wire and 
then the other so that instead of hitting the top of the 
car, they were hanging harmlessly out of the way.

There was no movement for a moment, as if no one could 
quite believe it was safe to approach. And then the car 
stopped tipping back and forth and began to move backwards 
of its own accord until all four tires were once again on 
the bridge.

All at once, there was movement as everyone, almost in one 
accord, rushed forward to get the mother and daughter out 
of the vehicle. 

Commentators were baffled. Police and fire fighters were 
baffled. Only the woman from the car had an explanation, 
given in a broken, barely coherent voice as tears ran 
freely down her face. God had sent one of his angels to 
save them. 

The baffling rescue was shown repeatedly. Yet, no matter 
how hard he watched, Templeton was unable to see Kent. But 
Kent had been there. Templeton knew that as certainly as he 
knew that Luthor Towers would soon be a pile of dust. 

* * * * * * * * *

Clark felt drained as he landed in an alley near Perpetual 
Pines Cemetery. He had forgotten how much more difficult it 
was conducting a rescue operation without being spotted - 
especially given the number of cameras he had had to avoid. 

He had flown fast enough to be almost invisible as he had 
removed the live wires from the roof of the car. He wished 
he had been able to secure the wires or fix them entirely, 
but he hadn't wanted to take the risk of being spotted. 

But he had been spotted, briefly, by the woman in the car 
when he'd dashed up under the vehicle to move it back onto 
the bridge. Still, given how upset she had been, he doubted 
that anyone would believe her.

Regardless, it had been close. He needed to get back to his 
own universe quickly before someone or something else came 
up that would give him away. 

Automatically adjusting his tie even though he hadn't 
changed into the suit to conduct the rescue, he made his 
way to where he could see Lois just pulling up in front of 
Perpetual Pines Cemetery. He braced himself for her fury 
and was surprised when she just smiled at him and handed 
him a brown paper bag.

"Next time, just tell me the truth, Clark," she said softly 
before, without closing the door to her jeep, turning and 
heading towards the front doors of the majestic looking 
building.

Confused, Clark opened the bag and examined the contents. 
Inside was a sandwich, a bag of chips and a can of coke. He 
thought he even saw a cupcake near the bottom. She had 
brought him lunch.

"Umm... Thanks," he said, looking back at her. 

She stopped and turned towards him, giving him a smile. 

"So are you going to stand there all day with your mouth 
hanging open or are you coming?" she asked. 

Clark blinked. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on. 
Not that he didn't appreciate the food. It was... 
wonderful. Still, her comment almost indicated that she 
knew what he had been up to. But she didn't... did she?

Before there was time to consider the issue further, Lois 
was pulling open the door to Perpetual Pines. He tossed the 
sandwich in the open door of her jeep, locked the door and 
dashed to catch up with her.

* * * * * * * * *

"What is it, Nigel?" Luthor asked without looking up from 
the papers on his desk.

"I just heard from Scardino, sir," he said, finally getting 
his employer's attention.

"And?"

"Apparently someone has provided Ms. Lane with a tip that 
has her investigating Perpetual Pines Cemetery."

"Who?"

"I was unable to obtain that information," Nigel responded. 
"There was a strange man at the Planet today, but my source 
didn't know who he was." 

"But I thought we had 'taken care' of all her sources and 
replaced them with our own people."

"Someone new must have contacted her, sir."

"Obviously," Luthor responded, setting down the paper in 
his hand. 

"Do you want me to warn Harlan Black about this 
development?"

"No," Luthor responded, rising to his feet. "It's too late 
for him. If she has Perpetual Pines, she has Harlan. I want 
you to ensure that she can't track Harlan to me."

"Exactly how far am I authorized to go, sir?"

Luthor picked up the paper again. "Just be sure he doesn't 
have any paperwork that links the two of us."

"Very good, sir. I'll take care of it."

"There's one other thing, Nigel."

"Sir?"

"Well, we should probably liquidate the assets we have 
obtained from Harlan, at least the ones that haven't yet 
been shipped out - just in case they can be linked back to 
me. A fire should do the job. Just make sure no potential 
witnesses are left behind."

* * * * * * * * *

"Can I help you," asked the proprietor.

"Umm... yes," said Lois, kicking herself for failing to 
discuss a strategy with Clark before entering the building. 
"We're here because..." Her voice trailed off as she 
wondered whether she could count on Clark to follow her 
lead.

"Don't mind my sister," said Clark, wrapping an arm around 
her shoulder. "She's upset. She and Aunt Martha were quite 
close."

Lois' mind instantly realized what Clark was doing. She 
could almost kiss him. Looking down, she forced tears to 
congregate in her eyes before looking up at the man.

"Uhh, yes, I understand," said the man in his sympathetic, 
almost sing-song, voice. "When was her passing?"

"We got the news last night," Clark said, giving Lois' 
shoulders a comforting squeeze. "We've never really had to 
do this type of thing before so we're not sure where to 
begin."

"That's quite all right," said the proprietor. "I'm Mr. 
Pinner. And I'll help you through the whole process. If 
you'll just follow me."

With that, Pinner began droning on about coffins and burial 
plots and memorial services. Clark let go of Lois' 
shoulders and followed closely behind, as if hanging on 
Pinner's every word. Lois dragged behind, keeping her head 
down and allowing her hair to fall slightly across her 
face, while looking carefully around with her eyes. 

Perhaps she could ditch Pinner and Clark completely so that 
she could get into the office and conduct a proper search. 
But every time she fell too far behind, Pinner seemed to be 
there again, not allowing her to stray from the 'tour.' 
Finally, when they entered the chapel, she had an idea. The 
only question was whether Clark would follow her lead. But 
given how quickly he had provided cover when they had come 
into the building, she hoped he'd pick up on her clue. 

She bit down on her lower lip hard, causing the tears to 
come in earnest. She added to that a few sobs, directing 
Clark and Pinner's attention back to her.

Clark was immediately at her side. "What's wrong, sis?" he 
asked, pulling her into a comforting embrace.

She responded by fisting her hand in his shirt, burying her 
head against his chest and acting as if she was struggling 
for air between sobs. 

"Do you have somewhere private we can go?" Clark asked 
Pinner.

'Good boy,' Lois thought to herself as Pinner led them to a 
private reception room. She quickly cased the room, seeing 
a closed door on the far side with a bronze sign bearing a 
single word - 'private.'

"Can you..." Hick "...do the rest..." Hick "...without me?" 
asked Lois when she was safely seated in a plush office. 
"I'd just like... to sit here for a... minute if that's 
okay."

"I'm not sure I can allow..." Pinner began. His voice 
trailed off when Lois began to sob. 

Clark grabbed a tissue and knelt down beside her. As he 
handed her the tissue, he caught her eyes and then glanced 
at the closed door. When his eyes returned to her, she gave 
a slight nod, understanding h