Supermen United By MetroRhodes Rated: PG-13 Submitted: November, 2006 All characters and settings are the property of someone else, definitely not me, and whoever else can legally lay claim to them. No copyright infringement is intended. This story was written purely for fun, not for profit. A thank you to the writers of Lois & Clark, without them we wouldn't have this wonderful world to play in. A thank you as well to the writers of the original Superman movies as well as Superman Returns. Thanks for going on this ride with me Sue and James. I wasn't really sure what I was doing at first. And thank you for your help Nancy with my medical questions. And also a thank you to all of you who made suggestions for the story on the message boards. And of course I would be missing a thank you if I didn't thank CCWB for his challenge that inspired this in the first place. Okay, this story requires a little introduction (okay a lot of introduction, sorry). If you take the time to read this it might make your read of the story more enjoyable. This fic was written in response to a challenge that Jensguy/CKWB posted on the message boards. He wanted to see several different Superman come together in one story. He was specific on which Supermen could be used, what point in time they were to be used at, how many universes could be involved (okay I bent this rule a little, he requested a limit of three, but I had to stretch it to four) and that multiple Lois Lanes, Jimmys, and Perrys were optional. The four Supermen I have gone with for this story (based on CCWB's criteria) are Christopher Reeve's after Superman IV*, Brandon Routh's at the end of Superman Returns**, and two of Dean Cain's – both our Clark after the episode "Voice From The Past" and Alt-Clark after the episode "Lois and Clarks". I have also used all of the Lois Lanes available and threw in a few Jimmys and Perrys for good measure too. With all those different portrayals of the same characters, it's bound to get confusing. To try and alleviate some of that confusion, I never write in the same universe twice in a row – at least until they all end up in the same universe . I've separated each section with a line of asterisks and that is your cue to know that we are moving on to a different scene and a different universe and at the asterisks I've labeled the section as either LNC; Alt-LNC; Superman Returns; or O. Superman for Chris Reeves (original Superman) – I've also listed the character POV after that. So maybe that will help and hopefully I've written the characters and scenes well enough that it won't take you too long to figure out what universe you're in. (*Since I am using Christopher Reeve's version after Superman IV - CCWB's request – we will be going with the idea that there were two, yes count them, two amnesia kisses with Lois. One in II and one again in IV – if you don't believe me, re-watch IV sometime... wait, no, nevermind, don't do that.) (**I am going with the premise that Bryan Singer intended for Superman Returns to be a follow-up to Superman I & II and therefore is continuing the story line started by those two movies – instead of being something totally new and of it's own. I had heard a rumor that this was the case and so I'm going with that as a basis for that part of this story...) Oh and anytime you see these: < > that denotes that the characters are remembering something that was said in the past. That's it. I've read scripts and re-watched scenes, and did the best that I could to remain faithful to all the movies and our beloved show. I hope you enjoy. Now, without further adieu... With hope all things are possible. But at what cost does that hope come? How can one person's life so greatly affect the lives of so many others? *****LNC – CLARK POV***** Clark glanced over at the sleeping form of his wife and snuggled up a little closer to her, sharing his warmth with her. He had almost lost her, again. Lex Luthor may have died down in that tunnel but his ideas had lived on through his son. Lex Luthor Junior had been as bent on possessing Lois as his father had. He did love her. So much. Clark reached out to brush a piece of hair away from her eyes. It would be time to get up soon, but for now he was just content to lie here next to her and watch her sleep. She looked so beautiful in the light of the morning sun. He was still astounded at all the things they'd had to overcome together. She had come so close to... Oh, god, Lois. What if he couldn't have saved her? Brought her back? He closed his eyes against the thought. Too close. It was the second time he had frozen her like that. So many things could go wrong. But it had worked and she was safe... until the next time. Lois shifted against his hand that was now gently caressing her face. She rolled over and looked up at him. Her eyes were soft and new, still full of sleep. "Good morning." He kissed her cheek softly. She smiled at him. "Mmm. Good morning. What are you doing awake already?" She laid her arm on top of his and began lightly caressing it with her fingertips. Her touch sent vibrations up his arm and down his back, causing goosebumps to light up his skin. "Don't get me wrong, this is a pretty nice way to wake up, but Perry gave us the day off today. I was kind of hoping to stay in bed a little longer." "I was just watching you sleep and thinking..." "About what?" Her fingers left his arm and she moved her hand up to rest against the side of his face, rubbing her thumb across his cheek. "About everything we've gone through, and that I could have lost you so easily... Thinking again about whether or not things would settle down now for a while and just be normal." He brushed one hand lightly across her chest and down her abdomen, letting it come to rest against her stomach. "Hah! Define normal." She took his hand and brought it up to her mouth, kissing the back of it softly. "We have been through a lot, haven't we? I can't imagine what could possibly happen now." She grinned at him, letting go of his hand. She brought her hand up between them, her fingers closed in a fist. "Let's see, Lex Luthor is dead... we think," she said, holding up one finger to keep count. "His heirs have all been dealt with... at least the ones that we know of." A second and third finger went up. "Tempus is behind bars... for now." The final finger came up. Clark held up his thumb next to her fingers. "And you're not behind bars," Clark added, the relief evident in his voice. He grabbed the hand she'd been counting with and began applying kisses to each one of her fingers and then he kissed her palm. "Mmm, for now." She snuggled a little closer to him. "For now? You're not thinking of getting into more trouble again already are you?" "Define trouble. The kind of trouble I had in mind would be pretty fun," she said as she slipped her hands under the sheet. Clark's eyebrows went up in surprise. He could handle that kind of trouble. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him. At least for tonight, for this moment, he had her in his arms, and she was safe. *****SUPERMAN RETURNS – SUPERMAN POV***** "Goodnight!" Jason yelled out his window to Superman. Clark smiled at him, hovering just a few feet away. A startled gasp came from the lips of Lois Lane who hadn't realized until just then that he was there. Clark looked down at her. She looked so beautiful, wrapped in a delicate robe and bathed in the light of the moon. He wanted nothing more right now than to scoop her up and fly her off over the city with him... if things were only different. "I love you..." Her voice had started out strong but then faded away into a whisper. If it hadn't been for his super-hearing he wouldn't have heard her. But he did hear her. She did love him. His heart swelled at her words, her admission. She had lied to Richard when he had asked her if she had been in love with Superman. Clark had known she was lying, he could tell by her body language what her true feelings were, even if her heart wasn't ready to admit them yet. It had felt so right the night he had taken her in his arms and flown her over the city. She felt so right in his arms. He thought back to *that* night. The one glorious night they had shared before he had left. He remembered how she had felt in his arms that night. How soft her skin had been beneath his fingers. That night... The night their love had created Jason. Clark had missed her so much while he was gone. He had thought about that night a thousand times and had died a thousand deaths at having taken that knowledge from her. Why had he made her forget? Why had he ever left? She was right. He had been gone a long time. And she had moved on... with Richard. Richard. How did he feel about him? Richard had saved his life. He was grateful to him for that and for the fact that he had been there as a role model and father figure for Jason while Clark had been away. She was right, Richard was a good man. He had been there for them when Clark hadn't. He had been there for the birth of his son, had helped raise him, provide for him. Clark knew that DNA wasn't what made someone a parent. He knew that better than probably anyone did. His parents had been Jonathan and Martha Kent. They had raised him, provided for him and he loved them deeply. But he also loved Jor-El and Lara. Clark had always wished that he could have known his biological father; that Jor-El could have been a part of his life, besides just through the crystals he'd left for him. Yes, Richard was a good man but that didn't mean Clark wasn't going to fight for what was his. Jason was his son too. He didn't want his son to look back years later when he knew the truth and wonder why Clark hadn't been there for him. Surely his son would want him to be a part of his life if he knew the truth. And Lois... "Will we see you... around?" she asked, giving him a small smile. She was looking up at him with what he wanted to believe was hope in her eyes. I love you, Lois, more than you'll ever know. He wanted to say it, but he didn't. She had to know, didn't she? How hard the decision to leave her had been for him? How sorry he was... She would have to make her own decision and he didn't want to make it any harder on her. But when she had come to him at the hospital and revealed to him that Jason was his son, she had to have known that he would want to be a part of his life... Their life. Please don't shut me out, Lois. "I'm always around." He smiled at her as he lifted up into the night sky. Even as high and as fast as he could fly, he didn't think he could match the feeling in his heart at this particular moment. He turned and headed towards a familiar destination. He hadn't found an apartment yet in Metropolis, and the commute back and forth to Kansas was getting a little old. But tonight he would have flown back home anyway. He needed to see his mom. He needed to tell her that she was right. That he wasn't alone. Not anymore. Not ever again. He had a son. *****O. SUPERMAN – SUPERMAN POV***** Clark flew through the night sky looking down on the city below him. It was amazing how peaceful the city looked from this high up. But maybe that peace would become a reality. But he had broken that vow. He had tried to the best of his ability to end the nuclear threat, to do away with the weapons of mass destruction. But in the end he had realized one very important thing. No matter how much he wanted to bring peace to this planet, it wasn't his to give. The people had to want it. They had to demand it with such resolute determination that the governments of the world would have no choice but to grant it to them. And when that happened he would be there, guiding them and helping them in whatever way he could. No, he wasn't one of them, could never be. But this planet was now his home and the majority of the people he shared his home with wanted the same thing he did. A peaceful society... Yet there would always be a few like Lex Luthor who were selfish, always in opposition to the efforts to make this world better for the good of everyone. One day. One day he would help lead this people, this planet, towards a Utopian society, free from wars and violence. A world at peace. It was something he wanted as much as they did. In fact, there was really only one other thing he wanted in his life. But she was something he couldn't have. He flew down, headed towards Lois Lane's apartment. He had tried to make it work. When she had found out he was Superman, he'd gone as far as to give up his Kryptonian heritage to live his life with her as a human, to forsake his life as Superman and devote himself to her. He thought about the night they had shared, in one another's arms. The way she had let her guard down with him and given herself over to him fully. It was a night that haunted his dreams and shadowed the moments he spent with her, even now. It had been wonderful being with her, truly and wholly himself, but it hadn't lasted. The world had needed Superman. He'd had to return, to fight General Zod and the other criminals from Krypton. He had wanted so badly, once the war was over, for Lois to stay his friend, lover, hopefully so much more... She was the one person who understood him, who truly knew him for who he really was. But it had been too hard for her. He'd done the only thing he knew to do. He had used his Kryptonian powers to take those memories away from her in one last parting kiss. He didn't want her to have to carry the weight of his secret. It should be his burden alone to bear. After that kiss, she had come back to him as the Lois that he knew and had fallen in love with. He had been so... relieved. Pleased to have her if nothing else, as his friend... Glad for her happiness even if it cost him his own. Content. Content to love her in the only way he could, by protecting her. He had once moved heaven and Earth in order to save her life, to bring her back to him. And he knew he would do it again if it meant that he could spend even one more day, one more hour... one more moment with her. *****ALT-LNC – ALT-CLARK POV***** "Thank you for your help, Clark. For leaving your world to come with me," Wells said as they stepped down from the time machine. "We defeated Tempus and saved the Superman of my world. I couldn't have done it without you, my boy." He squeezed Clark's shoulder lightly. "How could I have refused? The Clark of your world is a good man." And he's married to a good woman. Clark felt the familiar dull ache in his heart as he thought of Lois. No, how could he have refused to go there and help her, to see her one last time? Even if it meant he would have to leave her again, that she would have to break his heart all over again. "Yes, he certainly is. The two of you have a lot in common." Clark sighed quietly. They may have a few things in common, but not *everything*. Certainly not what he wished he had. "Mr. Wells, do you really think there's a chance that we could find my Lois? You said you feel like nothing is ever impossible, but I've lost track of the hours I've spent flying and looking for her, hoping to find some shred of evidence that she's still alive... Trying to find that one clue that will tell me where I can find her. I'd finally given up hope." "Never give up hope, my boy, with hope all things are possible. In a universe full of absolutes, hope is the one thing withstanding. If she's out there, we will find her." "But what if she doesn't want to be found? What if she's happy where she is now?" The thought made Clark ache inside. "What if she's started a new life and there's a reason why she never came back? She's never known me. Do I have the right to do this, to find her?" Wells regarded him with a troubled expression. "You're the only one who can make that decision, Clark. I can't make it for you. You must do what you feel is right, in your heart. But I will say this, knowing Lois as I do; if there were a reason that she didn't come back, don't you think she would have a least told someone? Rather than let everyone think she was dead? Her family, her friends at the Daily Planet?" Clark nodded his head. What Wells said made sense but he still felt so conflicted. Conflicted? Or maybe it was fear? He had wanted so badly to find her, had wished that there were some way. But now, now that the answer was staring him in the face, he was afraid. Did he have the right to change her life? But Wells could be his last opportunity to find her. If he let him leave now, he might never get another chance. "Could you maybe give me a few days to think about it? Come back and check on me?" "Yes, I think that is an excellent idea. I need to be getting back to my own universe to check on Tempus and make sure he is staying out of trouble. Once that is done, I can come back here to check on you, see if you've come to a decision." Clark nodded at him, relief flooding through him. Yes, he still had hope. "Thank you." Wells smiled at him. "I'll see you in a couple of days, Clark." *****LNC – LOIS POV***** TEMPUS AKA JOHN DOE ESCAPES FROM PRISON – POLICE BAFFLED BY DISAPPEARANCE By Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Lois set the paper down on her desk and sighed heavily. Normal. Clark was right. Why couldn't things just be normal, for a little while? Preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't hear Clark come walking up behind her until she felt his hands on her shoulders. "Hi, honey," he said, kissing her lightly on the cheek. He'd been gone a lot the past couple of days and it was so good to feel him standing there behind her, to feel his lips press against her. She turned around and gave him a curious glance. "Who are you?" Off of his worried look she continued, "Oh yeah, my husband, my hero. I've missed you." He smiled at her. "Me too." Then his smile faded. "Superman still hasn't found anything yet." "Nothing?" she asked, not being able to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "Not even a hint of anything." He sounded frustrated. They hadn't seen much of each other lately, since the news hit that Tempus had escaped. At first, Clark hadn't wanted to search for him, he'd been afraid to leave her alone for even a short length of time. But she had finally talked some sense into him, made him go – yeah, like anyone could make Superman do anything, but she could. They both knew that Tempus had to be found. They wouldn't be able to rest easy until he was. Clark had taken the cell phone in case she needed to contact him in an emergency and had checked in on her a few times in person. But it wasn't the same. Not the same as having him there with her. And it seemed to be a wasted effort. It was very disturbing that Tempus had disappeared without a trace and even Superman couldn't find any indication of where he'd gone. "I don't like this, Clark. Something's not right. Where could he be?" She knitted her eyebrows together, trying to resist the urge to pace. "Who knows, maybe Mr. Wells came and took him... back to Utopia or something." He was grasping at straws. "No, he wouldn't have done that, not without telling us something. What bothers me almost as much, though, is where is Mr. Wells? Surely in his travels he would see that something's amiss. Why hasn't he tried to contact us?" "I don't know. I guess until he does, we're just going to have to keep our eyes open and stay alert to anything that doesn't feel right." She wrapped her arms around him tightly and held him for a moment. "How about this, does this feel right?" His arms came around her in response, giving her a gentle squeeze. He slid his hands up her back until they came to rest on her shoulders and his thumbs and fingers massaged her tenderly, melting her tension away. She sighed, content for the moment - nothing could have felt more right. *****SUPERMAN RETURNS – SUPERMAN POV***** He knew something was wrong when he saw Richard come into the newsroom and go running by his desk, headed towards his uncle's office. Clark looked over at the empty chair where Lois usually sat. She hadn't come in yet this morning. He looked back at Perry White's office and could see Richard gesturing wildly. He was about to *listen* in on the conversation when a small hand placed itself on his arm. Clark looked down into the face of his son. Wait. Richard and Jason were both here and Lois wasn't? Something was definitely wrong. "Hi," Clark said casually. "Where's your mom?" "I don't know." He didn't know? Clark wasn't very experienced with children. He wasn't sure exactly what questions to ask to find out what he needed to know. "You don't know?" "No. When I woke up she was gone." Jason reached up and rubbed his little nose. He looked like he might have been crying. Clark put one arm around him and patted him softly. "I called Daddy..." He paused looking intently at Clark, making him a little nervous. Did he know? He had looked at him like that before, when he'd seen Superman on TV. Could he sense the bond between them, feel the connection they shared? "...and he came and got me." "Richard picked you up? He didn't sleep at the house last night?" Jason shook his head. Really... Clark couldn't help but feel a little relief at that news. But it was small respite considering the circumstances. In this one instance it would have been better if he *had* been there. So between the time Clark had left their house last night and Jason had woken up this morning, she had disappeared. He didn't like this at all. Lois might run off without telling anyone where she was going but she wouldn't leave Jason like that at home by himself. Something was wrong. "Did you see or hear anything last night?" "No," his little voice said quietly. "Don't worry, Jason. I'm sure she's fine. We'll all help look for her, okay?" "Even Superman?" His little eyes lit up and his face was so hopeful. Clark resisted the impulse to pick him up in his arms and hug him. Yes especially Superman, my son. "I'm sure he will. Why don't you go wait in Rich... your dad's office," he said, catching his slip. Everyone else at the Planet called it his daddy's office, so therefore Clark should too; but that didn't mean that he had to like doing it. He knew by right that Richard was Jason's dad, but Jason was also his son and it really pained him to have to call Richard his daddy. But he would do it, for Jason he would do it. "I'll go see if I can find Superman, okay?" Jason nodded his head and gave him a small smile. Clark got up from his desk and headed off to go find a place to change. He looked back to see his son walking obediently off to Richard's office. When he turned back around he ran right into to Jimmy Olsen. "Oh, Mr. Kent, Clark, I'm sorry," Jimmy said, looking a little sheepish. "I was actually coming to find you." "I'm really busy at the moment, Jimmy. Can it wait?" Clark said, looking past him towards the elevator. "Uh, yeah, sure..." Clark started to move off when Jimmy interrupted him. "Actually, no, um sorry, it probably can't," he said, holding out an envelope for Clark. "This came for you with a note saying that it be delivered to you immediately." "Okay, thanks," Clark said, grabbing the letter and heading off again. "Yeah, sure... Wait! The note said it had something to do with Lois Lane." *****O. SUPERMAN – SUPERMAN POV***** Clark flew down into an alleyway close to the Daily Planet. He came walking out a few moments later, reaching up to adjust his Fedora hat. She hadn't been home. Clark had scanned her apartment twice, just to make sure, like that was going to make her suddenly appear. He had gone by her apartment to check on her, like he did a lot of mornings before he went in to work. He had thought seriously about actually stopping in to see her as Superman this time. He hadn't stopped in to actually talk with her in a while and he was feeling an urgent need to simply chat with her. But she had obviously already left for work. He talked to her every day at work, of course, but it wasn't the same. They only talked about work, very little about anything in their personal lives and there were days, like today, that he craved that interaction with her. He may have decided that he couldn't be with her, not the way he wanted to, but that didn't mean he could stop loving her. He would never stop loving her. Clark hurried his pace as he neared the entrance to the Daily Planet. If he got there late, would she even notice? He entered the building and walked onto one of the elevators, allowing himself to be pushed and corralled until he was at the back of the elevator. He found himself wedged tightly between a fresh-faced Jimmy Olsen and a large, older woman who smelled like she had bathed in the heavy cologne she was wearing. "Good morning, Mr. Kent. Nice day today isn't it?" Jimmy asked, smiling at him. "Uh, yes, Jimmy. Good morning." Another whiff of perfume bathed his nose. Wow. What was it about some older ladies and their love of pungent colognes? He felt like he was going to suffocate. If only there were some way he could get her to move a little bit, give him some space. The smell was accosting his super-sensitive nose. In fact, he felt a tickle beginning inside his nose. It itched. Clark reached up and rubbed it a little. Wait a minute... It itched? Clark never itched. Just then he sneezed. "Gesundheit, Mr. Kent. Are you okay? Not getting sick I hope," Jimmy said with his usual cheerfulness. "No, Jimmy. I think it's just allergies." Allergies? Yeah, right. He didn't have any allergies. "Really? In the middle of winter? Those must be some bad allergies." Jimmy shook his head slightly. "Achoo!" he sneezed again, right on the shoulder of the woman wearing the heavy perfume. She glared at him looking a little annoyed. "Uh, sorry, I think it must be your perfume." Sure. Since when did perfume make him sneeze? Since when did anything make him sneeze? "Hmph," she huffed. But she moved over a little bit, giving him some breathing room. "Golly, you really ought to see a doctor about those allergies. I'm sure there's something they could give you for that," Jimmy said, sounding concerned. Not likely. What was going on? His nose felt like it was closing up on him. He could hardly get any air in and out. Is this what people meant by a *stuffy* nose? Something was wrong. He reached up and rubbed his nose, sniffing a little bit. The elevator slowed, finally arriving at their floor. Clark was anxious to get out of the confined space and away from that perfume. He'd never felt claustrophobic before, but right now he was getting close. He made his way to the front of the elevator only to find a man in a black trench coat standing there blocking his exit. "Um, excuse me, this is my floor," Clark said politely. "No, excuse me," the man said, stepping aside. "Thank you." "Certainly, Mr. Kent. You know, your friend's right. You really should get a doctor to look at those allergies." Clark didn't recognize the man: brown eyes, brown hair, average height - pretty nondescript - but he swore it looked like he was smirking at him. "Uh, yeah, thanks." Jimmy filed off the elevator behind him. "I know the name of a good ear, nose, and throat doctor if you want it." Clark hid a smile. You had to like Jimmy, always eager to help. "No, that's okay, Jimmy. I think it was just that woman's perfume." "Well, okay. I'll see you later. I've gotta take these photos in to Mr. White before he comes looking for me. See ya." "Yeah." Clark sniffed a couple more times and was relieved when he felt his nose begin to open up. It must have been the perfume. How weird. He shrugged it off and headed towards Lois' office. He could feel the anticipation building in him. She didn't usually give him the time of day as Clark, but seeing her, working with her, was just enough to abate the ache in his heart. Clark found himself surprised and a little disappointed when he walked into her office to find it empty. She wasn't in there and from the looks of things she hadn't been there yet that morning. No purse or briefcase. Not even her keys were lying on her desk. So she hadn't been at home when he'd gone by and she wasn't here. Where could she be? Could he have beat her here? Not likely. He had stopped briefly after leaving her apartment to clear some wreckage at a traffic accident before coming in to work. She should have made it here first. He turned and walked out of her office, headed towards Mr. White's office. If anyone would know where she was, he would. *****ALT-LNC – ALT-CLARK POV***** Clark was exhausted. That last rescue had really taken it out of him. He hadn't slept well the last few nights. He'd lain awake at night thinking about his conversation with Wells, waiting for him to return. Sleep had finally managed to find him tonight and then he'd been awakened to screams and sirens. There had been a fire in an apartment building downtown. Apparently a couple had lit several candles in preparation for a romantic evening together. They had fallen asleep leaving the candles burning. One of the taller thin candles had melted unevenly, falling over and catching the tablecloth on fire. Their living room was a little worse for wear, but the couple was okay. The fire trucks had arrived just shortly after he had, but it was over by then. He had already carried the couple outside, in their pajamas no less, and had put out the fire. Clark had come straight back home and typed up the Superman rescue article and then sent it electronically to James Olsen, the current owner of the Daily Planet. He had sent a quick page to Mr. Olsen's beeper to let him know the article was waiting for him. Since Clark's former editor-in-chief, Perry White, had taken on the office of Mayor, Mr. Olsen had insisted on Clark sending his stories straight to him. They had a new editor-in-chief; in fact it was Perry's nephew, Richard White. He was good, but he'd never be able to replace Perry. No one was like Perry. Clark missed him. Mr. Olsen had confidence in Richard White, but Superman's stories came at all hours of the night and if it was a hot enough story, or if they were lacking a good lead for the front page, Mr. Olsen would bring a few people back in to make revisions for the morning edition. A Superman story always made for good sales. Mr. Olsen was a genius at investing his money and he made certain that all his investments brought him the biggest returns; the Daily Planet was no exception. This was one of the few times that it paid for people to know that he was Superman. Because of his *second job*, Mr. Olsen had afforded him the option to work from home if he wanted, which was almost necessary sometimes. He didn't have a partner like Lois to work with who could pick up his slack or cover for him when he was off being Superman. He couldn't count the number of times he'd had to work on assignments or type up his stories in the middle of the night, simply because that was the only time he'd had available. Lois. He could use a partner like her, in more than one way. Clark sighed, glancing over at his bed. He had hoped that little writing exercise would help him calm down. But it hadn't. He was still too wound up to sleep and now he was thinking about *her* which meant he'd never get to sleep tonight. Clark floated up to stand on the ceiling and paced back and forth slowly. He looked down, watching his cape fluttering below him as he walked, and realized he'd been so preoccupied in his thoughts that he hadn't changed out of his suit yet. Especially one thought in particular - Where was Wells? Not that Clark was complaining for the extra time. He still wasn't sure he'd made up his mind about finding Lois. He wanted to, wanted it more than he'd ever wanted anything, but what would he do if he found her? What would he say? Wells was right; with hope all things were possible. But what if what he found broke his heart? What if she really had died? Then all his hope would be gone. It worried him that Wells hadn't come back yet. He had a time machine. He could come and go at any point in time. He had said he would see Clark in a couple of days. It had been three days and there was still no Wells. Clark sighed again trying to release some tension and a yawn escaped from his mouth. He was surprised to find his eyelids were getting heavy. Maybe he'd get a little sleep after all. He floated down to his bed and was about to undress when he saw a familiar shimmering light coming from the balcony of his apartment. Wells? Excitement and anxiety surged through him. It was time to make his decision. Clark hurried out onto the balcony. He got there in time to see the time machine shimmering and flickering and then it disappeared. What the heck? He walked out onto the balcony further, looking around. Why had Wells come and then disappeared before Clark could even talk to him? He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, feeling frustrated. He was about to turn around and go back inside when he saw them, two women lying on the floor of his balcony. Lying very still. Clark went over to them and bent down to check their pulse. The rhythm was coming steady and strong. The women were just passed out, unconscious. He sighed a breath of relief and when he did he smelled something strange. He took in a deep breath, testing the air. Chloroform? Make that knocked out. Why would Wells drug these two women with chloroform and then drop them here at his apartment, without so much as a word about what was going on? Who were they? He leaned down closer to one of the women, reaching out and pulling a strand of her long, dark, curly hair out of her face. He didn't recognize her but something about her seemed very familiar, like he was drawn to her. He hadn't felt this way since the day Lois Lane had walked up to him at the Daily Planet and planted a kiss firmly on his mouth. He smiled at the memory. He glanced over at the other woman. She also seemed strangely familiar somehow. She resembled the first woman in several ways. Her shape and build were roughly the same and her hair was even the same color, just shorter and straighter. The curly-haired woman was beginning to moan and move. Clark slipped one hand beneath her and raised her up towards him. Her eyelids fluttered a few times and then she opened them to look at him. She stared at him wide-eyed and a small gasp escaped from her lips. "Who are you? Why are you wearing that suit?" Clark looked down at his clothing. He had forgotten that he still had his suit on. But what did she mean who was he? She didn't know? "Um, I'm Superman. Surely you've heard of me." "Heard of Superman? Yeah, I'd say I've heard of him. Superman and I are close friends. In fact we..." She hesitated for a moment and then continued, "Anyway, I know Superman and you are not him. Now take off that ridiculous costume and tell me what's going on." She doesn't recognize him as Superman? That didn't make any sense. Who did she think Superman was? He needed to get some answers from her but his suit seemed to be making her uncomfortable. Well he could change, that wasn't a problem. Since he had tried out that *spin* thing Lois had told him that her Clark did, he had done it more often and actually kind of liked it. It made it really easy to change clothes. Clark spun out of his suit and into the clothes he had with him, a pair of blue jeans and a black, button-down shirt. When he stopped spinning he realized that the woman was just sitting there with her mouth open, looking a little pale. "Ahhhh!" the scream came from the other woman who Clark hadn't realized was awake yet. "Where am I? Who are you? Who is she?" she asked in rapid succession, looking back and forth between him and the other woman. "No one moves like that except for Superman, and you're not him. Are you another clone?" She curled her lip at him as if in disgust. "Or are you another one of General Zod's men?" Another person who didn't recognize him as Superman? What was going on here? She thought he was a clone? Who was this General Zod person? This was getting weirder by the minute. *****LNC – LOIS POV***** "Mmm. I've missed you," Clark told Lois, slipping a hand inside her nightshirt and caressing the soft skin that it covered. "I've been gone too much the last few days." Goosebumps lit up the skin on her neck and the backs of her arms causing her to shiver. "No arguments here. At the rate we've been getting together lately, it'll be years before we have a baby." His smile faded for just a second, not long, but long enough for her to notice. "Lois, we still don't know that we're even going to be able..." She placed one finger over his lips, silencing him. "Not now. I don't want to waste our time talking about that now. You've been gone too much, remember?" She smiled wickedly at him. "So, what are you going to do to make up for it?" she asked, leaning into him to nibble on one of his earlobes. "Hmm. I'm going to make sure you miss me even more the next time I'm gone." He tilted his head and seized her mouth in a long, slow kiss. Lois groaned softly into his mouth and then she pulled away from him, pushing him back with one hand against his chest. "Maybe I should make *you* miss *me* more and then you wouldn't be gone so long the next time. If you hadn't shown back up when you did, I was going to put on some lingerie, stick my head out the window and yell for Superman." "Oh really..." She nodded her head at him and smiled. "Help, Superman." "Superman, huh? Tell you what..." he trailed off, tilting his head in an all too familiar pose. "What's wrong?" she asked. "I heard a noise downstairs. Hang on, I'll be right back," he told her, jumping up out of bed. Oh, what now! He'd only been home two minutes! She got out of bed and followed him downstairs. "Do you *see* anything?" she asked, walking up behind him. He was staring at the front door. "Not unless you count a paper taped to our door as something. He opened the door and grabbed the note off of it, pausing to read it. He looked back up at her and all the color had left his face. "Clark? What is it? What's wrong?" She took the paper from his hands and looked at it. Her fingers trembled as she read it. I'M COMING TOMORROW NIGHT TO TAKE YOUR WIFE, SUPERMAN. AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME. *****SUPERMAN RETURNS – SUPERMAN POV***** ‘Something to do with Lois Lane' he heard Jimmy say as he ran off. He reached into his pocket as he walked, pulling out the envelope Jimmy had given him with a shaky hand. Oh, Lois... What had she gotten herself into this time? Please let her be okay. He looked down at the envelope as he continued walking. Who could this possibly be from? It had the word ‘IMPORTANT' written in big bold letters and then ‘Deliver Immediately'. Those were the only words on it other than his name. Clark slid one finger under the flap of the envelope as he neared the corner to the elevator and reached inside to pull out the letter. As he came around the corner he collided with a man in a trench coat. The letter slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground. "Ooof!" the man exclaimed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," Clark apologized. He watched as the man bent down and picked his envelope up off the floor. Clark restrained his desire to grab the envelope away from him. "No problem. You're Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet, right?" he asked, extending a black leather-gloved hand to Clark. Clark took hold of his hand to shake it and the man grasped his hand firmly around Clark's, his gloved fingers wrapping around the backside of his hand and up his wrist. "Yeah, that's me. Have we met? I'm sorry I've been gone for a while and I'm still getting to know everyone since I got back." He searched his memory, trying to place the man; brown eyes, brown hair, just an average looking guy. Clark had met too many people the last few days, he simply didn't recognize him. The man was still holding on to the envelope and wasn't making a motion to give it back. Clark was beginning to feel a little uneasy so he reached out and took it from him. The man's grip on it was firm and Clark had to pull on it a little to get him to let go of it. "No, we haven't met, but you wouldn't know me anyway," the man said, his tone gracious but the look on his face was anything but. "I'm not from around here. Nice meeting you Mr. Kent." Clark could almost swear that the man smirked at him as he turned away and walked off. The man stopped a little way down to look at one of the older historic Planet editions that was on display under glass. Clark looked back down at the envelope in his hands, again reaching inside it to pull out the letter. He started to unfold the note to read it when he noticed that his hand was itching. He reached over and scratched it. Wait a minute. His hand was itching? Since when did his skin ever itch? It didn't. He scratched it again but that only seemed to make it worse. The itch was becoming a burning sensation. Something was wrong. He scratched it again, a little harder. The itch was getting so bad that it was almost painful. What was going on? He resisted the urge to dig his fingernails into it and instead focused in on it to see what the problem was. An ugly red rash had begun to form. It didn't look pleasant. There were nasty red bumps breaking out and spreading across his skin, almost in front of his eyes. How was this possible? Had that man done something to him? He looked up at where he'd been standing, but he was gone now. Don't be paranoid, he told himself. How could he have done anything to his hand? Clark concentrated, pushing the itchy feeling out of his mind long enough to take a look at the letter. He began to unfold it again and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the words written on it. I KNOW YOU'RE SUPERMAN AND I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MS. LANE. I WANT TO HELP YOU. MEET ME AT MS. LANE'S HOME AND I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING. Someone knew he was Superman? Clark felt panicky. How was that possible? He'd crafted his life as Clark Kent so carefully, given no one any cause to suspect him. And yet, someone knew. He felt his hands beginning to sweat and that only seemed to increase the irritation on his skin. He looked around to make sure no one was watching and he gave the letter a little zap of his heat vision to destroy the evidence. So this person wanted to meet with him at Lois' house? Then that's where he would go, but not as Clark Kent, as Superman. It was time for a quick change. He looked back down at his hand. As quickly as the rash had come on, it seemed to be disappearing. The redness was going away and the bumps were going down. Just like that, all of the sudden. Clark breathed a sigh of relief. It felt much better now. It had just been a fluke. *****O. SUPERMAN – SUPERMAN POV****** As Clark approached the door to Mr. White's office he could see he and Jimmy going over some pictures. Mr. White looked pretty animated about something. Clark reached out to knock on the door not wanting to barge in on them. Mr. White paused mid-sentence and glanced up at him briefly, waving for him to come in. Clark opened the door and went inside, cringing a little at the intensity in Mr. White's voice. "...and this is the best you've got?" Mr. White said, pointing at one of the pictures. "Aww, gee, I thought that one was pretty good." Jimmy's face looked a little chagrined. "Uh, Mr. White," Clark said, attempting to get his attention. He ignored Clark and continued on his tirade. "Pretty good? Jimmy, this is the Daily Planet. Pretty good doesn't cut it here." Clark couldn't help but notice the red hue in Mr. White's face. It must not be a good morning news-wise. "I need to talk to you," Clark tried again, but Mr. White cut him off. "If you want to be a top photographer for this paper, then you're going to have to do better than this." He slapped the photos in front of him with the back of his fingers. "Yes, sir," Jimmy said a little dejectedly, wincing at the physical attack on his photos. Mr. White glanced up briefly to acknowledge Clark, his anger at bay for the moment. "Kent. I'm glad you're here. Have you seen Lois this morning?" Mr. White asked him and then went back to thumbing through the stack of photos in front of him. He didn't know where she was either? Now Clark was beginning to get worried. "No, sir, I haven't. That's actually what I..." "You haven't? Hmm, that's not like her. She's usually here about the same time I get here, sometimes earlier." He paused on one of the pictures and held it up to the light, squinting at it. Then he looked back over at Clark. "Well I'm sure she's probably just out tracking down a hot lead. When you see her let her know I'm looking for her." He went back to scrutinizing the picture he was holding in his hands. No, that wasn't like her. Clark supposed she could be out tracking down a lead; that was possible. She could have just gotten so wrapped up in her work that she forgot to call or tell anyone where she was going. That definitely sounded like something she would do. He was just making too big a deal out of this; it was probably nothing. Yeah, keep telling yourself that. "Kent," Mr. White said sharply, startling Clark out of his thoughts. "What are you still doing here? Don't just stand there, go out and get me some news!" "Uh, yes, Sir. Sorry." Clark headed back out of his office, and Mr. White went back to *discussing* Jimmy's photos. Jimmy didn't look happy and Clark felt a little sorry for him. He closed the door to the office and could feel his stomach beginning to knot up. No matter what he tried to tell himself, something just didn't feel right. It had been so early this morning when he'd gone by to check on her. Surely she wouldn't have been out on a story that early. Maybe she was sick? She might have gone out to get some medication or something when he'd flown by and that's why she wasn't home. That would explain why she wasn't at work, too. He'd go check on her again. She'd be there now. He hoped. *****LNC – LOIS POV***** "Come on, let's go," Clark said, reaching out to take Lois by the hand. "Go? Where are we going?" The color had returned to his face, but his eyes looked worried. She didn't like where this was headed. "We're getting you out of here," he told her in a voice that he probably thought left no room for dispute, but if he thought that, he was wrong. "What? No, Clark you can't be serious." She shook her hand free from his grasp and backed up a few steps. She refused to hide away from the rest of the world every time a threat presented itself. "Yes, I am. Come on let's pack a few things and I'll take you to my parents' house." He attempted to take her by the hand again but she jerked it back out of his reach. "Clark, I'm not going to your parents' house. Come on. Do you really think I'll be any safer there? For all we know this could be Tempus. He would find me no matter where you put me. But even if it's not him, whoever this is obviously knows who you are. Don't you think he'd look for us at your parents' house if he couldn't find us here?" She could see the fear in his eyes. She had to get him to calm down and look at this rationally. "I don't know." He threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "But you can't stay here." He was thinking purely on emotion. Lois sighed, and men say that women are the overly emotional ones. "Honey, please, think about this logically. If you take me to your parents and leave me there, I'll be in even more danger there, by myself. And if either of us stays with your parents then we'll be putting them in danger, too. Is that what you want?" He looked conflicted, almost disturbed. "No, of course not. But you can't stay here. It's not safe." "Well, I can't leave," she countered stubbornly. "You need me here. You need my help to figure out if this is Tempus or, if not, who this person is and stop them." "No, Lois, I can't risk..." "Yes, Clark, you can. We can. I mean it." She folded her arms across her chest, imitating the look he'd given her so many times as Superman. She wasn't going to budge on this. Clark sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Lois knew he was frustrated with her, but she also knew that she wasn't going to run and hide every time a little danger presented itself. She was married to Superman, there was always going to be danger. She wasn't going to spend the rest of her life in hiding. "Okay, but I'm not taking my eyes off of you for even a second," he said, mirroring her stance. She hid a smile. "What did you have in mind?" "Well someone had to put that note on our door. Maybe one of our neighbors saw something or someone. Let's go talk to them." *****ALT-LNC – ALT-CLARK POV***** "Who's General Zod?" Clark asked, confused. "Oh, yeah, you're Superman all right," the curly-headed woman noted sarcastically. "I am Superman," he replied, exasperatedly. "Listen, I don't know what's going on here, but I plan to get to the bottom of it. Who are you?" he asked, addressing the curly-headed woman. He'd get to the other one in a minute. "Who am I? As if you didn't know." She rolled her eyes at him. "You probably kidnapped me to try and lure Superman here." She paused. When Clark didn't respond, she sighed dramatically. "Uh, Lois Lane? Award-winning investigative reporter for the Daily Planet? Ringing any bells?" No, no it couldn't be. Could it? Clark backed away from her, stumbling and dropping down to the floor on his butt. He felt a little light-headed. Could this be *his* Lois? He felt his hopes start to rise, and then they fell just as quickly. No, she couldn't. As much as he wished she were, he realized she couldn't. She knew Superman and said she was friends with him. He'd never met his Lois and this woman didn't even recognize him. This was getting more bizarre by the minute. So she couldn't be his Lois and she certainly wasn't the other Lois he knew. But she said she was Lois Lane. That could only mean she was from yet another universe. But why would Wells have brought her here? And who was the other woman? Clark looked over at her. She had been watching this entire exchange in silence. She was now rubbing her head and frowning at *Lois*. "Excuse me did you just say that you're Lois Lane?" "Yes. Who are you? You seem familiar..." She squinted her eyes, examining her. "Do I know you?" "I don't think we've met but you obviously know me well enough to go around masquerading as me!" she huffed. "I'm going to report you to the Bureau for identity theft!" She accentuated her point by shoving a finger towards the other Lois. "What?" *Lois* and Clark both exclaimed. "*I'm* Lois Lane," the other woman said, pointing to herself. "Hard-hitting reporter for the Daily Planet, not to mention a close friend of Superman," she continued, her voice rising in pitch. "Just wait till I tell Perry about this. I told him that identity theft was becoming an ever-increasing problem. I wanted to do a story on it but he'd laughed it off. He never does..." "Hah!" the curly-haired Lois chuffed, cutting her off. "If you're Lois Lane then I'm... I'm..." "Looney Tunes?" the other Lois supplied helpfully, cocking an eyebrow at her. "No, the Easter Bunny!" she bit back in annoyance. "If you're Lois Lane then answer me this. When was the first time you saw Superman?" Clark watched as the curly-headed Lois stepped towards the straight-haired Lois, taking her turn shoving a finger at her. Oh dear, he thought, this wasn't looking good. "Ladies, please, if I can just..." "When he caught me in mid-air and then caught the helicopter I'd fallen from after an accident had sent us over the edge of a building. What is his favorite color?" She put her hands on her hips. "Pink. What is the name of his home planet?" Pink? Really? Not his – his was burgundy. "Lois...es, if you would just listen to me for a second I think..." "Krypton. What is the one substance that he can't see through?" "Lead. What was the exact date that he left Earth to go to Krypton?" She mirrored the other Lois' stance, putting her hands to her hips. "What? Superman never left Earth, and Krypton was destroyed. What planet are you from?" "Hah! That proves you're not Lois, err... me. I know as well as everyone else that Superman left Earth because scientists thought they'd found remnants of the planet Krypton. You're an imposter." She folded her arms in triumph. "Imposter? Imposter!" the other one all but screeched. "I'll show you who's an..." "Ladies! Please! Lois!" Clark begged, hoping desperately to find some way to diffuse the situation. "What?" they both exclaimed, finally turning to acknowledge him. Clark sighed. This was going to get confusing. "I think I know what's going on here. This is going to be difficult for you to believe, but go with me here for a moment." He paused to take a breath. "I think you're both Lois Lane." They raised their eyebrows at him in unison, looking at him like he'd just grown a third head. Yep, definitely both Lois Lane. "Oh this should be good. Okay, I'll play along," curly-haired Lois said. "If that's true, then how is *this* possible?" She waved her hand between herself and the other Lois. "I believe that you are from different universes," he began. "Um, I think you've been reading one too many science-fiction books," the straight-haired Lois said, crossing her arms. "No, actually I've been traveling with one too many science-fiction writers. Do the two of you know the author, H.G. Wells?" "Sure." "Who doesn't?" "Then you know he wrote a fictional book about time travel, The Time Machine. But he didn't just write about it. He built a time machine," he allowed a little excitement to creep into his voice. "I've seen it. More recently he discovered that there are alternate universes out there, besides the one he came from." He hesitated, waiting to hear the retort that was surely coming. But it didn't. Instead they both looked like they were indulging the rantings of a tabloid journalist from the National Whisper, but since they didn't interrupt him, he continued. "I know it sounds hard to believe," he continued evenly. "But I've seen it with my own eyes. I've traveled to a different universe. One that's very similar to my own but that has its own Superman and its own Lois Lane. The H.G. Wells I met wasn't from my universe. He was from that alternate one." "Uh-huh," curly-Lois said, smiling indulgently at him. "Time travel? Alternate universes? Sure." Her voice was practically dripping with sarcasm. He held his hands out in front of him in a defensive gesture. "Just trust me for a minute. Come inside with me and let me show you something. I have a picture of her, the Lois Lane of that world." They both regarded him skeptically but followed him when he went inside his apartment. Clark picked up a small picture frame off of one of his end tables, turning on the lamp that was sitting next to it. It was the picture that Lois had carried in her wallet. She had given the picture to him before she'd left that first time he'd seen her, when Tempus had brought her here, into his world, into his life. It was the one keepsake he had of her... of the time he'd spent with her. The constant reminder of what he'd never have. He handed the picture to curly-Lois. "This is the Lois Lane of that universe and that's her husband, Clark Kent." "That Lois married Clark Kent?" the straight-haired Lois exclaimed as if in shock. "Yes, she..." "*This* is Clark Kent?" curly-Lois asked. "He doesn't look like Clark Kent. In fact, he looks a lot like you, if you had the glasses on." She looked at him, back at the picture, and then back at him again. "Well, yeah, that's because he *is* me, or the equivalent of me in the other universe. I don't wear glasses in my universe because everyone here knows that I'm Superman. I don't need the disguise." The look on both the women's faces was not good. They looked like he'd just told them with undeniable proof that the Earth was flat. He did not have a good feeling about this. "No, it can't be. Can it...? Wait, yes it can. I remember... Oh, god... Did you know?" curly-Lois asked the other Lois, backing up to sit down on Clark's sofa. "No. You either?" the other Lois asked, sounding like all the air had been sucked from her lungs. She plopped down beside the other Lois like all the strength had left her legs. "Not until he said something, but then it all came flooding back, like a dream." The curly-haired Lois raised a hand to her forehead, rubbing it lightly. "Me too! How is that possible?" "I don't know, but it all makes so much sense now. Why couldn't I see it before? Superman leaves Earth to go find Krypton, and Clark... what?" she exclaims incredulously. "Decides all the sudden that he's going to go on a soul-searching expedition to... to find himself? How could I have bought that?" Clark could hear the irritation creeping into her voice. "Then Clark comes back and the very day he starts back to work at the Planet, Superman saves me from a plane crash? How could I have been so blind?" "I know what you mean. Superman was missing and then all the sudden Clark got sick. I was so worried about him. I went over to his apartment to check on him when he didn't return any of my phone calls. Then the day Clark comes back to work, feeling better, Superman shows up at press conference." She was shaking her head in amazement as if she could literally see the pieces of a puzzle fitting together. Clark could feel the panic starting in the pit of his stomach. They hadn't known that their Clark Kents were Superman? What had he done? The pain intensified into a cramp. He had spilled that huge revelation to them on the assumption that what? That the Lois he knew had known Clark's secret? Of course that didn't mean that every Lois would know! What was he thinking? He felt like crawling underneath the couch they were sitting on. "He... He kissed me! And then it was gone!" curly-Lois exclaimed, agitated. "Me too, twice!" the other Lois chimed in, her voice so high it was almost a squeak. "Twice?" curly-Lois asked, looking confused. "Loises, please, I may have misspoken..." Clark tried to interrupt. Was there anyway he could turn this around? Salvage this somehow? "Yes, twice," the straight-haired Lois confirmed, ignoring Clark. "It wasn't bad enough that he took those memories away once. Just a few days ago he gave them back to me. He took me for a flight over the city. It was wonderful." Her voice had lowered in timber and seemed to be taking on an almost dreamy tone. "We talked and we flew and I remembered everything. And then he took them away, again," she bit out, her voice rising again. "Oooh, when I get my hands on him..." "You're preaching to the choir, sister," Lois agreed, raising one hand up in front of her for emphasis. "Just a couple of days ago I went to see him in the hospital and I told him about..." "I could be wrong!" Clark cried out, interrupting them. He was mortified. Oh those Clarks of those other worlds were going to kill him! What had he done? "Just because I'm Clark Kent doesn't mean that in your world, your Superman is," he said lamely. Oh, yeah, they'd buy that one. He internally rolled his eyes at himself. Geez, Clark, was that the best you could come up with? Well it wasn't like he was practiced at keeping his identity a secret. Everyone here knew he was Superman. "Oh, no. He is. I remember everything now," curly-Lois said, her voice betraying her anger. "I remember discovering he was Superman. I figured it out on my own." "Me too," the other Lois said, the heat in her voice matching the other woman's. "He was lighting a fire and there was an accident. His hands went into the fire..." "And came out without a mark on them. No burns. I knew it was him. He didn't want to tell me. He tried to hide it, cover it up, but it didn't matter, I knew it." Clark could see the muscles in her jaw working. She was furious. "He flew me to his fortress in the Artic and we... we..." the straight-haired Lois broke off, her irritated posture relaxing, becoming almost taciturn. Clark watched as she and the other Lois seemed to share a moment between them. They what? "But if he was willing to take away my memories of that wonderful night ever happening, it must not have meant anything to him," she concluded, a note of regret in her voice. Did he...? Did they...? Make love? Oh, what had he done? What had their Supermen done? Why? "I'm sure that's not true," he tried. "He was probably just afraid..." "Well if that's how he wants it, then fine." The straight-haired Lois stood up and began to pace the room. "I can play his little game. It didn't mean anything to me either, then. I mean, how could it? I have nothing to show for it." She opened her arms out in front of her as if to show that she had nothing. "I do." Curly-Lois had been sitting there quietly for the last few moments, not saying or doing anything. This admission came as a surprise. "What?" Clark asked. Surely she didn't mean... "What do you have?" the other Lois asked her curiously, coming back to sit down beside her again. "A son." *****LNC – CLARK POV***** Clark picked up a small pebble and launched it through the night sky into the atmosphere, his frustration getting the better of him. "What a night for our neighbors to have a neighborhood watch meeting. No one was around to see anything!" He tightened his grasp on Lois' hand as they turned up the walkway towards their brownstone house. "I'm sorry, honey. I had forgotten about that meeting. They'd left an invitation in our door a few days ago. As observant as our neighbors are, though, they probably wouldn't have seen anything anyway. Although I guess it's a good thing they aren't too attentive, otherwise they might figure out your little secret." She flashed a small smile at him, giving his hand a playful squeeze. He knew she was trying to lighten the mood, but he really wasn't in the... mood. He looked over at his wife and tried to return her smile. He managed a weak one and then watched her smile widen, trying its best to infect him. Her smile normally could melt his heart like butter. But not tonight. Tonight it only served to put an ache deep in his stomach. What if he lost her? What if he never got the opportunity to see that smile again? Lois stopped walking and grabbed his shoulder, turning him to face her. "What's wrong?" "What's wrong? Do you really need to ask?" he asked in disbelief. "There's a lunatic who's planning to come here tomorrow and take you away from me. Did you forget?" "Do you really think that's going to happen? Do you really think Superman can't protect me?" She smiled again, but he could feel the hesitancy in the smile this time. She knew the answer as well as he did. There was always a chance. It was the fear that weighed on his mind every single time he left her to answer a call of help from someone else. Clark sighed heavily and turned away from her, resuming his walk towards their front door. He felt panicky. Why wouldn't she just let him keep her somewhere safe? Just for tonight? But what about the next night? And the night after that? What about the next person who wanted to hurt her? The next time... "What if he has Kryptonite?" he asked her pointedly. "Or some other weapon to use against me that I don't know about? He seems to think there's a reason that I won't be able to stop him. He said so in his letter." "Yes, but he's obviously afraid of you," she continued trying to reason with him, even when he didn't feel like being reasonable. "Why not just come and take me instead of leaving some stupid note?" Note... Clark could see something taped to the outside of their door. Another note? His stomach cramped and he let go of Lois' hand, running the rest of the way to the door. He grabbed the note and closed his eyes, hesitating just a second before opening it and looking down at it. THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE HER - CRIMINALS FROM NEW KRYPTON. YOU MUST PROTECT HER. Lois caught up to him and peeked around him, reading the note. "So maybe this isn't Tempus after all? If so then that first note must have been from the criminals. But who is this note from? Ching? Zara maybe?" Her voice had taken on that "reporter tone" as if this was just another story instead of something that was about to happen to her. Clark sighed, glancing back at her. "I don't know. But what worries me more is that if these criminals are from New Krypton, then they'll have the same powers I do, and it sounds like there are more than one of them coming." Clark looked back down at the note and then up into the night sky at one particular star. It twinkled as he gazed at it. Why are you doing this? What do you want with Lois? *****ALT-LNC – ALT-CLARK POV***** "A son? You had Superman's son?" the other Lois asked the question that Clark had wanted to. He couldn't seem to find his voice. He watched as the curly-Lois nodded her head silently. If there had been room on the sofa, he would have sat down; it felt like all the feeling had left his body. Superman had a son in another universe. Then his shock turned into something else. Jealousy? Anger? Regret? How could those Clarks have done this to their Lois Lanes? How could they have treated them this way? Clark felt like he was going to be sick. Didn't they know what they had? The very thing he wanted so badly? He would trade his very soul for a chance to be with her, with his Lois. They had her and they were willing to throw it all away. "So you had his son and he still didn't let you remember that night, let you remember who he was?" the other Lois asked her softly, moving a little closer to her and laying a hand on her shoulder. "You'd think that would make me feel a little better about my own situation, but somehow it doesn't. How could he do that?" Yes, how? "Well, in all fairness, he didn't know about Jason." She exhaled a tight breath. "That's my son's name, Jason. He left for Krypton fairly quickly after *that* night." She paused, her eyes going distant as if she was remembering something, but then she shook her head softly and continued, "After Superman so abruptly left Earth, I was lonely and unsure of myself, and that's when I became involved with Richard White." "Perry's nephew?" the other Lois asked her. His editor-in-chief? Really? The guy was definitely attractive but... "Yes. He was so kind, and understanding. But he was fun and exciting, too. He has his own plane and he would take me up in it and fly me over the city." Her voice sounded a little wistful and Clark found himself feeling a little jealous. He wasn't really sure why; this wasn't even *his* Lois, and she certainly had a right to look elsewhere after the way her Clark had treated her. "When he did that, I could *almost* forget about Superman. Superman had left and I wanted to forget him. Richard helped me to do that... We're actually engaged." Engaged? He wondered what her Clark thought about that... not that he didn't deserve it. She flashed them her engagement ring before continuing. "Anyway, we got pretty serious, fairly quickly. When I discovered I was pregnant I just assumed it was Richard's. Jason came almost two months early but I just thought he was premature. The doctor's tried to assure me that he wasn't – but in my mind that was the only explanation. I hadn't been with anyone but Richard, or so I thought. Anyway, Jason was small and a little sickly as a baby, so that just added to that assumption. I would have never imagined..." She broke off, letting out a shaky breath. Clark walked over and stood beside the couch, close to her, wishing he could comfort her. "When did you find out... he was special?" he asked her quietly, laying one hand softly against her back. He stroked it soothingly, encouraging her to continue. "Just a few days ago. I was in danger and... and Jason saved me. It was amazing." Clark could hear the wonder in her voice. "I didn't understand how it had happened at first, but I knew it was the truth. In my heart, I just knew, and actually I began to remember parts of *that* night with Superman. I still didn't remember that he was Clark Kent," her voice took on an edge, "and until now I wasn't sure how I had forgotten any of it to begin with. But I did remember... some things..." Lois broke off, her face looking flushed. "Have you told him? Superman?" the other Lois asked her gently. "Yeah. I had to. At first I was so mad at him," she admitted, her anger showing itself in her voice. "After Jason saved me we were locked up for a little while and all I had were my thoughts. Deep down I just knew it must be Superman's fault that I had forgotten that night, and then I was even more mad at him for leaving... if that's possible. I was determined to make him pay for what he'd done. He was going to give me answers." Clark felt a little uncomfortable at the intensity and bitterness he heard in her voice. He almost wanted to say something in that Clark's defense, but there wasn't really anything he could say. He didn't know exactly what had happened, but from what he did know, Clark didn't have a defense. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Why did he feel guilty? He hadn't done anything. The other Lois was quiet too. What was she thinking? Probably that she felt the same way. She was probably ready to exact her pound of flesh from her Clark as well. Clark wasn't quite as sorry now about having let the secret slip. The longer he listened to these women the more irritated he got with their Clarks. He watched as Lois looked away from them and took a piece of her curly hair in between her fingers, playing nervously with it. When she finally began talking again her voice was much quieter, softer. It was somehow hollow and yet brimming with emotion all at the same time. "But I couldn't yell at him, hurt him, the way he'd hurt me. I couldn't make him pay... because I almost lost him - again. He'd been exposed to Kryptonite and had been badly injured. I've never seen him like that before. He was lying so still in that hospital bed, hooked up to all kinds of monitors. I didn't know if he was going to..." She broke off, biting her lower lip. Clark watched as she dabbed at her eyes, refusing to let the moisture that had started to form show itself. He wanted to hold her, provide her some comfort, but he restrained himself, contenting himself to just continue rubbing her back gently. The other Lois just sat quietly, waiting for her to continue, and after a bit she did, even softer than before. "At that point it didn't matter how mad I was with him. I was afraid I was going to lose him. I wanted him to hang on. I wanted to give him something to hold on to. I knew what I had to do. I didn't even know if he could hear me or not, but I told him... about Jason." Her face held regret and yet hope all at the same time, and a couple of tears were beginning to streak down her face. "I wanted him to know. I needed him to know, in case..." It caught Clark by surprise when she turned to him and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Without thinking, he lifted her up off the couch into his arms and held her gently. Even this small bit of contact was excruciating for him. It wasn't fair. He would never treat his Lois this way. Or would he? Isn't that what he was doing to her now? By not finding her? By not giving her the opportunity to meet him? Wells had called them soul mates. It seemed almost like destiny that he and Lois were to be together and yet he had been considering not going to look for her. "And now," Lois continued, Clark could feel her breath against his neck as she laid her head down against him. "Things are a mess. I told Superman about Jason because I felt like he had a right to know that Jason was his son. But I didn't know that he was Clark Kent. That complicates matters. I work with Clark. I see him everyday. Jason sees him everyday. How is this going to work?" Clark could understand the apprehension in her voice; how could it work? It was going to be difficult. "He may be Jason's father but Richard is his dad. Richard is the one who held my hand during labor, who held our son in his arms and handed him to me in the delivery room. He's the one who changed his diapers and let Jason spit up on him when he had a tummy ache. That's what defines a father, isn't it? But..." She broke off, shaking her head in frustration. "But you know Superman, Clark, will want to take responsibility if Jason is his son," the other Lois stepped in. "He'll want to be a part of his life. That's just how he is." Yes, at least that's how he'd feel. He would be elated to know that he had a son, but he'd also feel an enormous amount of guilt if he were that other Superman. He had gotten her pregnant and had gone off on a selfish crusade, leaving his Lois behind to fend for herself. It might have been true that her Clark hadn't known that she was pregnant, but how could he have shared the intimacy with Lois that he had and then take her memories away and leave her like that? Clark couldn't imagine doing that. Surely there had been a reason? "Yes. And now... what do I tell Richard?" she asked rhetorically. Clark could feel the moisture on his skin from her tears and his heart ached for her. "He's a good man, a good father. Doesn't he have a right to know that this isn't his son? His biological son? Richard has always been very patient and understanding with me but how could he understand this? And if I tell him that Jason's not his son, what does that mean for Jason? Would he be safer if I just went on pretending that Richard was his father? If people find out that Jason is the son of Superman it could put him and Superman both in danger. People might try to use him against Superman." She broke off, her voice filled with a heaviness as if she was realizing just how complicated this had all become. Clark brought one hand up to her back again, providing a comforting touch. He felt her arms squeeze him gently. "And then there's Clark," she continued. "I couldn't possibly say that Clark Kent is Jason's father. Clark and I are barely friends, much less lovers. No one would believe it, least of all Richard. I mean, what would I say? That we had a fling before Clark went off on his supposed soul-searching expedition?" She sighed deeply. "Everything's just such a mess now. Why did he have to leave? Why?" Her voice and her face betrayed a barrage of emotions - anger, frustration, disappointment, and if Clark wasn't mistaken, just a little guilt. Guilt? Why should she feel guilty? She buried her head against Clark's chest. "And now I don't even know if I'll see any of them again," she mumbled against him. He wrapped his arms around her more tightly and held her against him. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, or who had caused this to happen, but he was determined to find out. He had to help these Lois Lanes. And then, when everything got straightened out, he was going to find *her*. No matter what he found or how heartbreaking it was. He would find her. That was a promise. *****SUPERMAN RETURNS – SUPERMAN POV***** Clark approached Lois' house cautiously. The note had said to come here, that whomever this was wanted to help. Clark didn't dare trust someone who he'd never met, especially someone who seemed to know that he was Superman. He x-rayed the house and found a man sitting at her kitchen table. The man had a long, tan-colored coat on with the collar turned up and a brown, felt hat pulled down over his face. Clark continued scanning him for any hint of a concealed weapon or danger, not that he needed to worry about that, but it might help reveal his intentions. Nothing. The man had nothing on him. Clark strode purposefully inside the house and into the kitchen. "Where is Lois Lane? What have you done with her? Take me to her now," he demanded, standing over the man menacingly. He seemed unfazed. "I can't take you to her Mr. Kent, not just yet," he said calmly. "Why are you calling me by that name?" Clark asked, trying his best to sound confused. "What? You don't prefer the name Clark Kent? That is the name your human parents gave you. Would you perhaps prefer Kal-El?" Clark couldn't see the man's face and part of him was tempted to rip the man's hat and coat off, but he restrained himself. "I know more about you Mr. Kent than you could possibly imagine and this line of questioning is only going to waste valuable time," the man stated, his tone of voice leaving no room for argument. Clark sighed, frustrated. So much for trying to dissuade his belief that he was Clark. He was tempted to go haul the man up out of that chair and force him to tell him what had happened to Lois and oblige him to silence about his identity. But that would just waste time and the man was right about one thing, they didn't have time to waste. "Who are you, then? How do you know what's happened to Lois and why do you want to help?" he asked in his sternest Superman voice. "You will find this hard to believe, but you must," the man said, his voice earnest. "I'm a time traveler. Not only am I a time traveler, but one from another universe, an alternate universe. Who I am *exactly* doesn't matter. In fact, it would be better for everyone if you didn't know who I am. Just know that I want to help you because I can. I'm probably the only one who can. What happens in this world is tied up in what happens to my own world." The man was a smooth talker but that certainly didn't mean he had Clark or Lois' best interests at heart. "Assuming I believe any of this, what has happened to Lois?" "From what I've discovered, Lois was kidnapped by a fellow time traveler named Tempus. It was he who discovered how to travel inter-dimensionally to other universes. He is quite clever. But he has a hatred for Superman, whether it be the Superman of his universe, or any universe for that matter. He is constantly trying to cause trouble for Superman; it's what he lives for," the man said, his tone very serious. He sighed a small breath and then continued. "In one of the universes that I've traveled to there is a Superman who is without his Lois Lane. She is missing. He has searched for her but is unable to find her. I believe that Tempus has dropped your Lois off in this world." Clark shook his head in disbelief. "But why? That doesn't make any sense." "There is no why," the man replied sharply. "He did it because he could. To cause trouble. Oh, I have no doubt that it is part of a larger scheme, but what that is, I don't know." "But if what you're saying is true, how can I help her? How can I bring her back?" Clark still wasn't sure he could believe this man, but he felt a panic starting inside him nonetheless. "I can help you with that. But first you must understand something. Tempus has more than likely fed lies to this other you. He has probably told him that an imposter would be coming to try and take Lois. This other Superman will be prepared to defend her with his life. Are you prepared to fight for her? Even if it means fighting yourself?" the man paused as if to give that thought time to sink in. "I also need to prepare you for the fact that this other Superman will not look exactly like you." "What do you mean he doesn't look like me?" How could he be Superman and not look like him? "As there are an infinite number of universes, there are infinite versions of Superman out there also. Each of them with their own set of DNA, each of them just slightly different from the next." Clark could hear the amazement in the man's voice. "The Superman of that world looks very different from you, but I assure you that he is indeed you. Do not underestimate him - he has the same powers that you do." "So what is it exactly that you expect me to do?" Clark said, feeling a little out of sorts and a little more than impatient. This man was either crazy, or he was right, and for some reason Clark didn't think he was crazy. Maybe he just *wanted* to believe him. If he believed him at least there was hope. Hope that she was okay. "Go with me to that universe in my time machine," the man said simply, as if it was obvious. "Really? On what? Just blind faith?" Clark was amazed at his audacity. "There are people here who count on me. People other than Lois that I have to look after." His thoughts turned to Jason. How could he leave him here? Abandon him? Even if it was to go find his mother? Because he had promised him he would. And he wasn't leaving Jason alone. Clark winced; he would still have Richard, his dad. But how could he trust this man? What if this wasn't really where Lois had gone? "What if Lois comes back and gets into trouble while I'm off in this other universe?" "I assure you that won't happen because Lois is indeed in this other universe. And the only way you're ever going to see her again is by coming with me and rescuing her." The man folded his arms in front of him as if to signify that there could be no argument. Time travel? Inter-dimensional space travel? Could Clark really believe this man? Did he have a choice? No, he didn't. He had to go, had to try this. If the man was lying and nothing happened, then he would have only wasted a few minutes in his search for Lois. But... if he was telling the truth, this might be his only chance to help her. No amount of searching here would do any good. "Tell me what you plan to do, first," Clark said, still unsure of the man's intentions. "Very well. First let me give you this device," he said, handing Clark a small piece of equipment, it appeared to be a transmitter of some sort. "It will allow you to contact Superman on a super-high frequency that only you and he will hear. Now come with me, my time machine is just outside. I'll explain the rest to you on the way." *****ALT-LNC – ALT-CLARK POV***** "Thank you. I didn't realize how much that had been weighing on my mind, and then finding out that Clark is Superman... I guess that just kind of put it over the top." Lois pulled away from Clark, wiping her eyes and straightening her clothes. After composing herself, she was all business again. It was uncanny how alike she was with the other Lois he knew and loved. "So what are we going to do?" she asked him in a tone that suggested she thought he should have an answer. The problem was – he didn't. "I need your help. I've gotta get back there, to my world. I've got a five-year-old son back there who is alone in the house and probably scared." "We're going to have to work together to figure this out. I know you're concerned. I am too," he assured her. "But at least Jason has your Superman to look after him. If he knows he's his son, believe me, he's not going to let anything happen to him. When Clark doesn't see you at work the next morning, I'm sure he'll go to check on you and Jason." Wouldn't he? Surely he would. "Actually, Jason will probably just call Richard when he wakes up and finds me missing. Richard... wasn't home last night..." She broke off, going quiet for a few seconds and then continued, "Jason has all of Richard's numbers and he knows what to do in an emergency. I'm sure he'll be fine. I'm just worried." Lois sat back down on the couch next to the other Lois who had quietly been observing the whole conversation. "Clark?" the other Lois finally spoke up. "Can I ask you a question?" He could hear the hesitation in her voice. It made him a little nervous. "Sure," he answered with the same hesitation. "Where's your Lois? You've talked an awful lot about the Lois from the other dimension and showed us a picture of her, but you haven't mentioned your Lois. I've looked around at the pictures in here and I don't see any of you and her." She frowned at him, looking curious. Clark sighed long and deeply, hoping that would stave off the familiar ache that was trying to return. It didn't work. He didn't really want to talk about this, especially not with them, but if he knew Lois, she wouldn't give up so easily. "I haven't found her. She was on assignment in the Congo before I moved to Metropolis. She never came back from that assignment. I've looked for her, tried to find her. A lot of people think she's... dead..." he trailed off and hoped that information would be enough to satisfy her. "But, I'm getting off the subject. We really need to try and figure out how the two of you got here, so..." "Lois, did you go on that assignment in the Congo?" the straight-haired Lois asked the other, going into reporter mode. "Yeah, I did. You?" Clark tried again to change the subject. "Okay, but back to what I was saying, I think we should start..." "Uh-huh. You know what the weird thing is?" "That both of us went on that assignment and didn't have any problems?" curly-Lois ventured, joining in on the inquiry. "Yeah. We came back just fine. It wasn't even really that dangerous," straight-haired Lois said, creasing her eyebrows and frowning. "What could the difference have been between our universes and this one?" "Good question." Curly-Lois put one hand up to her chin, tapping it lightly with one finger as she contemplated the answer. "Obviously the other Lois that Clark knows came back from the Congo as well. What could have happened here? Do you think...?" "Lois!" Clark said loudly, addressing the curly-haired Lois and trying to interrupt. "What?" they both answered in unison, turning to look at him. Ugh. This was going to be way too confusing trying to call each of them Lois. "We need to talk about what happened to you if we're going to figure out how to fix this, and I'm going to need to be able to keep the two of you separate when I'm asking questions. Can I maybe call one of you Lane? And the other one Lois?" "You can call me Lane," the straight-haired Lois offered. "Some people call me that around the office, I should be able to keep it straight." "Great. That's a start." Now if he could just keep them on track. "Okay, now, *Lois*, do you remember anything about the person who took you? Was he an older gentleman? How was he dressed?" "No, I'm sorry. I don't remember anything about what he looked like. I went to bed and then I woke up here, on your balcony. The only thing I do remember is waking up very briefly when he put the rag of chloroform to my mouth and nose." She scrunched up her nose briefly at the memory. That wasn't of much use. He sighed feeling frustrated and turned towards the other Lois. "What about you, Lane?" "I remember a voice," she said, closing her eyes as if to concentrate. "When he was trying to sedate me with the rag, he was mumbling to himself. But it wasn't an old man's voice." Maybe it wasn't Wells then. It really didn't sound like something he would do, drugging these women and dumping them here on him without so much as a hello. What it really felt like, what it just screamed of, was Tempus. A shiver ran down his back. But why? Why would he do this? What was he hoping to accomplish? "Do you remember anything specific about what he said? Any words?" "Maybe. I'm not sure. Do the words ‘end of Utopia' make any sense to you?" she asked, opening her eyes and looking at him hopeful. Clark cringed. It was Tempus. That would probably explain why Wells hadn't shown back up yet. "Yeah, unfortunately. I think we may be in a little more trouble than I'd hoped." "Clark?" Lane asked, looking down and fingering the pajamas she was wearing, "I'm sure you're not used to having female houseguests, but do you think you have any clothes you might loan us?" She smiled uncomfortably at him. "I don't know what kind trouble you think we're in, but I personally don't want to confront whatever's about to happen in my nightshirt." He looked back and forth from one Lois to the other, realizing they were both in their pajamas and despite the dread he'd been feeling he couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, let me see what I've got." *****UNIVERSE UNKNOWN – WELLS POV****** Wells woke up slowly, his eyelids feeling like deadweights. Where was he? What had happened? The last thing he remembered was being in the prison rec yard, talking to Tempus. He struggled a little bit, trying to move, and realized that he couldn't. He had been tied, bound, and gagged – but not blindfolded. Although that didn't seem to matter since he couldn't really see anything. He bit down on the gag in his mouth. Ouch! It wasn't anything soft, that was for sure, and it seemed to have a distinctively metallic taste. Yuck. What was it? He tried to remember something, anything, but nothing would come. Tempus! It had to have been him. What had he done? He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to clear the haze. His head was pounding so hard that he couldn't seem to see straight. Then he realized that part of the problem was he couldn't see very well period. The room was dark, only lit by one dim light bulb in the center of the room. He looked around, scanning his surroundings. It looked like he was in some sort of abandoned building, maybe used for storage. There wasn't a stick of furniture in the room, just some old boxes and crates. The floor looked like it hadn't been swept in months, and if his ears weren't deceiving him, he thought he heard rats squeaking and scurrying around. A slight shiver ran through him. There was a small window across the room from him; he could see the light from the bulb reflecting back off the glass. If there was just some way he could make his way over there. But he didn't relish the thought of crawling across the floor like an inchworm. As he was contemplating a good way to move, a shimmering light split the darkness of the room around him. He knew that light... It was the time machine! Tempus was coming back. Wells watched as the machine materialized and Tempus stepped down out of it. "Why, Herb. You are up. Oh good, I was getting rather bored talking to myself," Tempus said in his usual cynical manner. "Hhmmhuff?" Wells tried to say his name around the gag. "That's me... I suppose. What's the matter, Herb? Time got your tongue?" he asked, chuckling a little. "Huhh?" Wells asked him. Then he realized what it was that he was being gagged with. It was his pocket watch. He sighed inwardly. He'd be fortunate if the watch ever worked again as much as he had drooled on it. "Huhh hoo ooo hinn ooo har hoohin?" he tried to ask through his gag. "Oh, please. I can't take this anymore," Tempus said in disgust, walking over to Wells and reaching for the gag. "I'll take this off if you'll promise to be a good little time traveler and not make too much noise. If you so much as even breathe the name Superman, I'll have to hit you over the head again." Wells winced. So that's why his head hurt so much. Tempus untied the gag, and Wells allowed it to slide from his mouth. He flinched as he watched it hit the floor. He loved that pocket watch. "Tempus! I demand that you untie me at once. What do you think you are doing?" Wells was angry. He didn't get angry very often, but Tempus always managed to bring it out of him. "Why hatching the most brilliant plan I've had yet for doing away with Superman and ensuring that Utopia will never come about." Tempus smiled proudly. "I really have outdone myself this time." Wells sighed to himself. Would he ever give up? "You are very vain, you know that? When will you learn that you'll never defeat Superman or the values he stands for?" "Ahh, but I will. You see this time I prepared better. This time I'll have help." He leered at Wells. "And this time, I'm not just trying to ruin one Utopia." "What do you mean ‘one Utopia'?" All the sudden Wells didn't feel very well. "Well, Herb, when I was playing around with inter-dimensional time travel and discovered our favorite little alternate universe, I did some additional research. You'll never believe what I found." He paused and Wells didn't say anything. "Well, go on, ask me what I found." Wells sighed. "What did you find?" he asked him flatly. "I found that there are an infinite number of universes out there." Off of Wells' astonished look, he continued, "That's right, not just one alternate universe or a couple of them, but an infinitesimal number. I traveled to a few of them, to see what the differences and similarities were. Do you know what I discovered?" He sounded almost giddy as he told his story. "What?" Wells found himself earnestly asking, wanting to know. He couldn't help himself. "The universes are all connected to one another in a never-ending loop. One universe leading into another and that one leading into another and so on until they come back around full circle onto themselves again. I found that the universes closest in proximity to our own were the most like ours. The further away you got, the more things changed," he explained elatedly, his eyes sparkling. "So I cut through to the other side of the sphere. I visited a universe that was the farthest point away from our own on that loop. Do you know what I found there?" Wells shook his head, lost in thought as he listened to Tempus. As much as he despised the man, he had to admit that he'd definitely studied up on this. "Superman. Of course," he huffed out. "It seems I just can't get away from him no matter where I go or how far I travel. But what was more amazing to me is that in that universe, Clark Kent is a mere shadow of himself. It seems that there, Kal-El chooses to be Superman, and Clark Kent is just his disguise when he's not off doing something Supermanish. I was fascinated. So I decided to try the same thing with our alt-universe – I traveled to the opposite of it." Wells found himself leaning in a little bit, hanging on every word. What Tempus had discovered was remarkable. He had indeed done a lot of research. "I found a universe there, much like the other one. Clark Kent was a pale ghost of a person and he lived his life mainly as Superman. I was intrigued by the differences I began to see between those universes and our own. For example, did you know in the one opposite to our own that Superman has a child?" he asked Wells, raising an eyebrow at him. "How could you possibly know that?" Wells frowned skeptically at him. "I told you. I did my homework," he said, acting indignant. "I find it astonishing that the Lois and Clark of our world want to have a baby and aren't sure they can but the Lois and Clark from the other world already have a child and instead aren't sure they can have each other." He smiled contentedly. "Then there's our alternate universe. Clark can't find his Lois and wants desperately to have her and the Clark from his other universe has already had Lois – trust me – but has denied himself from her. Don't you find that remarkable?" He smirked at Wells looking infinitely pleased. Wells furrowed his brow and shook his head at him, finally coming to his senses. "Fascinating," he grumbled. "Is there a point to all this?" "I was getting to that." He gestured with his hands as if to shush Wells. "I've traveled to several other universes as well, and what I found by comparing them is amazing. While there are an infinite number of other universes, they all seem to be tied to one of the four universes I mentioned – ours, our alternate, and the other two opposite to us. Those four universes almost seem to be anchors of some sort, of which all the other universes are connected to in some way or another. I figure if I can find a way to prevent Superman from creating the Utopias in these four universes, that I may in fact completely extinguish the hope of a Utopia across the inter-dimensional plane." He rubbed his hands together in delight. "You're mad!" "Mad? Brilliant? It's all the same," he replied cheekily. "Superman will stop you," Wells said defiantly. "The Supermen from those other universes are not going to sit by while you corrupt their worlds and take away their futures." "No, I wouldn't expect them to." He smiled. Wells looked at him confused. "I expect them to help me." Tempus chuckled happily to himself. He looked down at the watch on his wrist. "In fact, as much as I've enjoyed our little chat, I really should be leaving. I have a little appointment to go to." Wells watched him walk over to one of the boxes in the room and pull out a long, tan coat and a brown hat. He already had on a black trench coat, what was he going to do with that other coat? Tempus walked over to him and knelt down close to him, reaching into his pocket. "Now, don't take this the wrong way, Herb, but I can't have you trying to find a way out of here or screaming for Superman to help you, so..." Before Wells realized what was happening, Tempus shoved a rag across his mouth. No! He wanted to kick himself for not holding his breath. The last thought that crossed his mind before he passed out was to realize that Tempus had said he might be able to scream for Superman. But what world was he in? *****O. SUPERMAN – SUPERMAN POV***** Clark flew towards Lois' apartment, the apprehension growing in him. If she wasn't here, where could she be? Why hadn't she called in? What if she was in trouble? Images flashed through his mind of her suffocating in a sea of dirt and rocks as her car sunk deeper into the crevasse created by the earthquake; her body lying limply in his arms, broken and battered; her head dropping lifelessly back as he lowered her body to the ground. No! His heart lurched in his chest. She was all right. She had to be. He had promised himself that he would watch over her, not let anything happen to her. He had saved her before, and if she were in trouble, he would find her. He would save her again. No matter what. When he was close enough to use his x-ray vision, he began scanning her apartment building. But it was a useless gesture; what his heart had already known, his mind had to accept. She wasn't here. He started to turn back - he was going to fly over the city, search for her from the air, scan every house, every building, every structure for her – when something caught his attention. There was a piece of paper stuck to one of her balcony windows. He flew down to her balcony and walked over to the window, grabbing the paper off of it. I KNOW WHERE MS. LANE IS. PLEASE COME INSIDE AND I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING. *****LNC – LOIS POV***** "Lois, Clark, have we had any more information on the Tempus fugitive? John Doe?" Perry asked, frowning at them. "It's been two days. The police don't have any leads. Has Superman been able to find anything?" "No, Chief, nothing," Lois answered. "He's still looking, but it doesn't seem hopeful." "It's like he just vanished into thin air," Clark added. "Superman is as frustrated as the police are." "Well, I guess that's going to be an easy follow-up piece for you to write then, isn't it?" he growled. "People of Metropolis, there's an escaped lunatic in your midst, the police have no leads and Superman can't find him. Meanwhile there's a lovely dog show in town this weekend!" Perry's voice rose as he got more involved in his rant. "Judas Priest! This Tempus piece is the biggest story we've got going right now and all you people can give me are shrugs and we-have-nothings?" Everyone in the conference room was silent and Lois cringed a little. She and Clark had *something* of course, the notes that had been left for them, but they didn't even know if those had any connection to Tempus or not. And those weren't something they could share anyway. Perry sighed and waved a hand at the room in dismissal. "Meeting's adjourned. I know it's late in the day, but none of you are going home until we have something for the front page. Now, get out there and get me some news people! Pound the pavement, beat down the doors, camp out at the police precincts, but get me some news!" he barked. Lois followed Clark out of Perry's office. She could feel the frustration in him that mirrored her own. Not just frustration that they couldn't bag this as a great story, but frustration because time was running out and they still didn't know what they were up against. She slid one arm through his and around his back, giving him a gentle squeeze. "A lead box for your thoughts." He smiled weakly at her. "Unless Tempus is inside, I don't want it." "Maybe it contains something black and frilly," she told him, smiling lopsidedly at him. "Hmm, you know I don't look good in lace," he attempted, half-heartedly. She smacked him playfully. "Come on, Clark, cheer up." "Cheer up? What is there to be..." He broke off and got a funny look on his face. The look that told her he was hearing something she couldn't hear. "What is it? What do you hear?" He didn't answer her, he merely held up one hand to silence her. After a few moments she was about to protest being left out of the loop when he suddenly closed his eyes and a look of concentration came across his face. She knew that face; she'd seen it before when Zara and Ching had communicated telepathically with him. He was talking to someone! Was it them? After a few more moments, he opened his eyes. They were wide and confused. "Who was it?" *****UNIVERSE UNKNOWN – WELLS POV***** Wells gradually woke up again, once more to an empty room. Tempus hadn't come back yet. He shook his head lightly trying to clear the haze of the chloroform. Tempus had said he had an appointment to go to. With who? He also remembered Tempus saying that he was going to recruit the other Supermen to help him. How he was going to do that Wells had no idea. Was that who he'd gone to see? He wasn't sure exactly what Tempus was planning, but he knew he had to stop him. And he wasn't going to be able to stop him on his own. Wells wriggled around until he got himself into an upright, sitting position. He put his back towards the direction of the window. It was completely dark now, Tempus must have either turned the light off before he'd left or else the bulb had burned out, but he thought he remembered where the window had been when he'd seen it earlier. He began to scoot himself backwards with his bound feet. He was going to be filthy after this little expedition. He inched little by little across the floor, planning out his next move. Once he made it over to the window, he just needed to figure out a way to break the glass. The window looked like it was close enough to the ground that he could break the glass with his feet. Then all he had to do was yell as loudly as he could and hope that if there were a Superman in this world, he would hear him. He had made it a few precious feet when he saw a shimmering light, signaling the return of the time machine. The resulting panic allowed him to move faster than he'd been moving and he made it back to the spot Tempus had left him in before he reappeared. When the lights from the time machine died down, he heard footsteps and then the one lone light bulb in the middle of the room came on. Tempus was standing next to the switch on the wall. He turned and looked at Wells. "Awake again, already, Herb? Did you sleep well? Not too many nightmares, I hope," he said with mock concern as he came walking over to where Herb was sitting on the floor. "Tempus this is lunacy. You are never going to get those other Supermen to help you with whatever it is you're planning," Wells told him, sounding more convinced than he felt. "Why, I already have, Herb. It's done." Tempus chuckled, obviously pleased with himself. He started to pace back and forth in front of Wells as he spoke to him. "Would you like to know how I did it? After all, a truly ingenious plan can't fully be appreciated for its brilliance unless you're able to share it with someone." Wells rolled his eyes at him in disgust. Tempus truly was the most arrogant and conceited individual he had ever met. Wells wasn't about to dignify what he'd said with a response. Tempus stopped pacing and turned to face him. "Oh? Not even the slightest bit curious? I bet you are. I'd venture to say that you're practically itching in those stuffy clothes you wear to know what I have planned. Did I saying itching?" He snickered at some unknown joke. Wells pretended to be uninterested, but the truth was that he really did want to know what Tempus had up his sleeve. If he could find a way to warn Superman, it would help to know what Tempus was up to. "Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. It's just too much fun not to share, and since you aren't going to be there to see it happen..." Wells wasn't quick enough to hide the concern that flashed across his face. "Oh, don't worry," Tempus sneered. "I like you too much, Herb, to do away with you... at least for now, anyway. No you won't be around to see what happens because it's going to happen in our universe and you're not in *our* universe. Thanks to you and meddling Lois Lane and Clark Kent, I'm a fugitive in our universe. I can't stay there for too long without drawing unwanted attention to myself." Tempus scowled at Wells. "Then where are we?" Wells asked, confused. "Oh, now shame on you, Herb. I can't give all of my secrets away. But I can tell you that you are in a small warehouse building that I *borrowed* down in the lovely Hobbs Bay area of Metropolis. So you might want to think twice about causing too much of a ruckus – you might attract some unwanted attention." Tempus smiled patronizingly at him and then put a finger up to his chin. "Now, where was I?" He snapped his fingers. "Oh, yes, I know, I was about to tell you how I got the Supermen from those distant universes to help me." He paused expectantly. "How?" Wells said with obvious distaste at being strung along like this. "I took away their Lois Lanes." "You what?" Wells exclaimed. "Yes, that's right," he said happily. "I knew I'd get their attention if I took her away from them." "What have you done with them? Where are they?" "Where are Lois Lanes? Oooh, that was some bad grammar." Tempus snickered. "Don't worry, Herb. I took them to a universe that has no Lois Lane. I thought they could be the replacement." "To the alternate universe? Tempus, how could you be so cruel?" Poor Clark. "Cruel? I don't know; I found it all so ironic somehow. God, I really do love irony. Anyway, I told both the Supermen equally unbelievable stories about what had happened to Lois, and somehow they both bought into them." "Well? What did you tell them?" Wells asked exasperatedly. "Oh, *now* you're interested?" Tempus made a big display of looking at his watch. "Well, I suppose I've got a little time." He laughed at his absurd joke. Wells rolled his eyes; he had all the time in the world. "Let's see now, where was I? Oh yes, how I tricked the *Supermen*," he sneered as he said the name. "Well with the first one I visited, the Superman that has the son, I convinced him that an evil time traveler named Tempus had kidnapped his Lois." "But that's you!" "Yes, but he didn't know that. I never told him who I was. Anyway, I told him that this Tempus - clever fellow by the way - dropped Lois off in a universe where Lois didn't exist. Our poor alternate Clark's universe. Which is true of course, I did take her there. However, I also convinced him that Tempus had no doubt lied to the Superman there, and that it would be difficult for him to get Lois back from the other Superman - that he would no doubt defend her with his life, blah, blah, blah. But, what I didn't tell him was that I was taking him to *our* Clark's universe and not the one where his Lois really was." "But why? What's the point?" "Hold on, you keep interrupting me. I'll get to that part, but not yet. Let's see... Ah, yes, the other Superman, the one I just visited." Tempus began to pace again. "He was easy. You see the Lex Luthor in his world had recently used Superman's DNA to create a clone of sorts and he'd had to fight that clone off. As I understand it, the thing pretty darn near killed him. Shame, it didn't work. I have to hand it to Lex; it was a decent idea. So I merely told *that* Superman that an evil time traveler named Tempus," he did a little bow, "had kidnapped Lois Lane because he hated Superman, in any universe, and wanted to see him suffer," he paused to smile, reveling in telling his tale, "which is true, I do. I told him that Tempus had created clones of him that were holding Lois captive in another universe. The *clones* of course being our Superman and the Superman from the other distant universe. Then I convinced him to get in the time machine and I dropped him off in our universe to find the pair of *clones*." Wells shook his head in disgust. "So you were hoping to what? Make them all fight each other? Kill each other? You are insane. They'll never do that." Tempus looked a little disappointed. "Aww, you don't like my plan, Herb? Well that's okay. I've got a second one. You see I really didn't expect the first one to work, at least not for very long. But it will be interesting to watch, nonetheless. I'm always in the mood for some entertainment." "So if you've already taken them both there, then why are you here? Did you just come to gloat over your plan before you went to watch it unfold?" "Because I had to come back for this." Tempus walked over to one of the crates in the room and opened it, pulling out a smaller box. A box that looked suspiciously like it was made of lead. He reached inside the small box he held in his palm with his thumb and fingers and withdrew them to reveal a chunk of glowing green rock. "You have Kryptonite?" Wells exclaimed, feeling his stomach knot up. "Tsk tsk. Of course I do." Tempus stood up straight and tall, held the Kryptonite in his hand close to his face, and plastered on a fake-looking smile. "Kryptonite... never leave home without it. Catchy slogan don't you think?" He dropped the facade and put the rock back inside the lead box and into one of the pockets of the black trench coat he was wearing. "Tell me, Herb, did you know that Kryptonite doesn't seem to work in quite the same way when you take it to these incongruous parallel universes? It's quite fascinating. It must have something to do with changes in their DNA structure, or differences in the molecular make-up of the Kryptonite. I'm not quite sure..." "What do you mean?" Wells felt his curiosity perk despite the dread he was feeling. "Well, I did a little experiment, just to be certain that Kryptonite had the ability to kill these other Supermen like it does in ours. But when I furtively exposed them to it, they reacted differently. I noticed it when I exposed one of the Clarks to it in an elevator. He didn't fall to the floor writhing, didn't even look uncomfortable. Instead, I noticed that he began sneezing. There was a woman in the elevator with heavy, pungent cologne on. That got me to thinking. So I tried it out on the other Clark. I applied a little poison ivy oil to his skin and he broke out in nasty rash where I touched him. Isn't that marvelous?" "Marvelous?" Wells asked in surprise. "Yes. You see, it proves I *can* still kill the Supermen with the Kryptonite. It requires a little more work and forethought but basically I just need to expose them to something that will create a violent enough allergic reaction to kill them and I think I've got that covered." Tempus patted his pockets and looked around the room. "Well, I've got the keys to the car," he said, patting one coat pocket and then pulling out a handful of gold jewelry. "The gift for the Supermen," he said, tapping the other coat pocket where he put the Kryptonite. "I think that's it. I don't think I've forgotten anything... Oh wait, yes I have." He walked to the time machine and reached under the seat, pulling out a gun. "There, now I'm ready. Don't wait up for me, Herb. I may be a little while." Tempus tucked the gun away inside his trench coat and climbed into the time machine. He plopped a handful of the gold in the tray as a deposit and pulled the handle, disappearing from the room. Wells sighed mightily. This did not look good. Not at all. But he had one ace up his sleeve. He knew where he was now. He had figured all along that Tempus had left him in one of the four universes he was working out of. Tempus had made it clear that it wasn't their own universe - plus he'd just left to go visit that one. He'd also managed to let Wells know that it wasn't one of the other two distant parallel universes. He had spoken about going to *visit* those – and Wells didn't think he'd make his home base in a world that he wasn't familiar with. So that left just one option. Thankfully Tempus hadn't chloroformed him again. Wells looked over at the window. It was time to recruit some help of his own. *****LNC – CLARK POV***** Clark felt a strange inertia as he ended his conversation with the Kryptonian. He hadn't communicated telepathically in a while and it left him feeling a little drained and distant, or maybe that was because of what the man had said. "Clark? I said who was it?" Lois was asking him. He shook his head trying to clear his mind. "I don't know who he is, but he is definitely Kryptonian," he whispered to her. "I was able to communicate with him telepathically." He took her by the arm and led her inside the conference room where they could talk privately. "Yeah, I caught that much, but what did he say – you know I can't exactly listen in on that conversation," she remarked dryly. "He's here at the Daily Planet, up on the roof. He wants me to turn you over to him," he told her unhappily. "He says that once I see the two of you together that I'll realize this is what you really want... His words, not mine." "I beg his pardon? Who does he think he is?" she asked in disgust, putting a hand on her hip. "I don't know, but what's even stranger is that he didn't contact me telepathically. He contacted me on high frequency that you wouldn't be able to hear. I decided to try contacting him telepathically since the note had said the criminal was from New Krypton. Here's the weird thing," he said, shaking his head, "He seemed surprised when I contacted him, like he hadn't done that before. If he really is from New Krypton, how is that possible?" "I don't know, but I'm ready to find out. Come on, let's go," she said, grabbing hold of his arm and tugging on him. "What?" He planted his feet, holding his ground, not allowing her to move him even an inch. She thought she was going? Guess again. "Let's go. Let's find out exactly what he wants and who he is," she replied firmly, still trying to force him to move. "*I* am going to go find that out. *You* are not," he told her, almost using his Superman voice. "Clark, we've been through this before. If you leave me behind, he'll more than likely just come after me. And then you wouldn't be here and then where would I be? In worse trouble, that's where," she explained, trying to rationalize with him. The trouble was he was in no mood to be reasoned with. She wasn't going. He shook his head stubbornly. "No, Lois, you aren't going to win this one. I'm not going to willingly take you with me into a dangerous situation." He looked away from her, his heart lurching in his chest and images flashing through in his mind. He could still see the anguish in her eyes. She hadn't meant it. Lex Luthor Jr. had made her say it, had tortured her until she almost passed out to make her say it. He had tortured her almost to the point that he had killed her to keep Clark under his control, to use her against him. Then Clark had almost had to kill her in order to save her. No, he wouldn't go through that again. He couldn't take the chance. He couldn't take her with him. Couldn't she understand that? "Please. Don't ask me to take you," he begged her. "I can't. Let me do this one on my own." "What if this person or persons has Kryptonite? Or something else deadly to use against you? You might need me there." Her voice had an almost pleading tone to it. "That's a risk I'm willing to take," he told her firmly. "Well I'm not!" she exclaimed angrily. "How could you think I would be willing to risk your life when you aren't willing to risk mine?" He sighed, loving how much she cared and worried about him, but wishing she would make this easier on him. "I have to go. He'll just come after us if I don't. I have to do this without you. Goodbye, Lois. Be safe. I love you." He squeezed her tightly to him while he was talking to her. Then he was gone. Faster than it had taken her to blink her eyes at him, he had disappeared – moving faster than anyone could see him through the newsroom, inside the stairwell, and up the stairs to the roof. *****LNC – BRANDON ROUTH SUPERMAN POV*****(Note: "Alternate Clark" here is referring to "LNC" Clark) Clark watched as a man dressed like him, in a smart looking business suit and tie, appeared from the door of the stairwell. He stepped out onto the roof of the Daily Planet building and walked towards him. This Clark did look different from him physically just like the time traveler had told him he would. So this poor Clark had lost his Lois Lane? He had been forced to live his life without her, and now he was being tricked into protecting her from the man who was trying to save her. Clark felt sorry for this alternate version of him, but he had to get Lois away from him. He had to reason with him, get him to see that he had been lied to. That Lois didn't belong here. "Clark Kent? Superman?" Clark asked his double. "Yes. Who are you?" his alternate self asked, halting his approach and keeping his distance. The man who'd brought Clark here had instructed him to wear *street* clothes and not his Superman suit. He'd said it would only increase the confusion and make things that much more difficult; and if that were the case, then it would probably be better if he didn't tell this other Clark that he was Clark Kent, not yet. He didn't know what lies had been told to this alternate Clark, or to Lois for that matter. All Clark really needed was to see Lois and her see him. He would reveal himself as Superman to her; he didn't care about that now. He would tell her, and she would tell this other alternate Clark that she didn't belong here, that she belonged with her Superman. So Clark ignored his double's question and asked one of his own. "Where is Lois? I instructed you to bring her with you. Where is she?" "Somewhere safe. Did you honestly think I would bring her here, put her in danger? I don't know who you think you are, but it would be in your best interests if you just turned around and left this world, right now," he said in a commanding voice, the muscles in his jaw line twitching. Clark had to repress a smile. This man was definitely Superman. He didn't need to see a flashy suit to tell him that. If the situation wasn't so dire, he'd probably enjoy getting to know this version of himself. But, as it was... "That's not something I can do," Clark said with regret. "I came here for Lois Lane and I'm not leaving without her. I know you have her best interests at heart, but you don't understand what's going on here." He sighed in frustration. "If you don't have her with you, then we're finished here. I'll just have to find her on my own." Clark was caught off guard when, as he started to walk towards the entrance to the stairwell, his other self hit him with a blast of super-breath. It didn't hurt him, but since he hadn't been expecting it, it knocked him several feet back and he fell down. "Don't do this. I'm begging you," Clark pleaded with him as he got back up to his feet. He didn't want it to come down to this. "I will fight you if I have to. Let me go." His other self advanced towards him and he continued to back away from him. "No," the alternate Clark said, shaking his head. "I can't let you walk away unless it's to leave this place, to leave us alone." The beseeching tone of the other Clark's voice moved him. He really was trying to protect Lois. He couldn't fault him for that. Clark had backed up as far as he could go; he was at the edge of the roof. He turned and made a little sprint away from his other self. He could loop around and come at the stairwell from the other side. "I can't do that. Lois doesn't belong here," he said in earnest. "She's in danger as long as she stays here." "Yeah. From you!" The alternate Clark shot another blast of breath at him. This time he was expecting it, though, and he turned and met the blast with a breath of his own, neutralizing it. The alternate Clark didn't look surprised. This Tempus person must have told him that he would have powers also. He was about to turn around and make a break for it when he heard another man's voice behind him. "What have you done with Lois Lane?" *****LNC – LOIS POV***** Lois blinked. He was gone! He had left without her, hadn't even waited for her last objection, hadn't even given her the chance to say goodbye. Well she'd be damned if she was going to sit around down here and worry about what was happening to him up there. She bolted for the elevator at a run. She pressed the button impatiently and when it didn't move fast enough, she headed for the stairwell. She ran up the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her. She'd been a little lax lately about her exercise routine and she was feeling it now as her lungs screamed in protest at the speed and longevity she was trying to force out of her legs as she climbed the stairs to the roof. She had to hurry. Her mind played tricks on her as she ran. She could see Clark slumped against the roof, writhing in pain from Kryptonite or she could see him being beaten down, defeated as he was attacked by multiple enemies. She could almost hear him crying out her name. As she neared the door that led out to the roof she slowed. She needed to slip outside quietly if she was going to be of any help at all. She really needed to go unnoticed if that was possible. Maybe the criminal would be so distracted with Clark that he wouldn't notice her. She cracked the door open and peeked out cautiously. When she didn't see anyone, she slipped outside as quickly and quietly as possible. She kept herself pressed close to the wall and crept silently along it, listening for the voice of her husband. She couldn't be certain, but it sounded like there were three distinct voices coming from somewhere on the roof... so there *was* more than one of them. It was a good thing she'd come. What if Clark couldn't fight them both off? *****LNC – CHRIS REEVE SUPERMAN POV***** "Where is Lois Lane?" "What?" both of the clones asked. "Listen, I don't have time for this. I know who you are. You're clones of me and you've taken Lois Lane captive. Now hand her over," he demanded, his patience running thin. He wasn't going to play games with these abominations. The one clone who looked the most like him shook his head slowly, seeming amazed. "I don't know where she is, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Well, if that one didn't know, then other one must. Clark strode purposefully over to the other clone, grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him into the air. "Where is she? Tell me!" The clone twisted around in his grasp, planting a foot against his chest and pushing against him. Their bodies flew apart, landing on opposite sides of the roof. The clone he'd fought with stood up and put his hands up in front of him in a defensive gesture. "I don't want to fight you but I will if you force me. I'm not going to willingly turn Lois over to you. You're dangerous." "Me? I'm dangerous?" he asked in amazed disbelief. "What universe are you from?" "Exactly," the clone agreed with him. Unbeknownst to Clark, the other clone had been coming around behind him and he launched himself at him, holding his arms tightly around him. "Clark, help me secure him," that clone said to the other one. Clark? Why had he called him Clark? Surely this Tempus person hadn't named the clones after him? What a psycho! "Why should I trust you? You're in league with him," the other clone said. His voice was hesitant, but he was advancing towards them even so. Clark wasn't going to allow him to get close enough to gang up on him. He hit him with a hard blast of super-breath and watched as the clone was knocked back off his feet. Clark struggled against his captor, winning out against him, extricating himself from the hold he had on him. He hated having to resort to violence but it seemed that these clones were as unreasonable as the one he'd fought before. He had to find a way to neutralize them. He shot a beam of heat vision out at the clone who had been holding him, but the clone ducked at the last second and moved cautiously to the side, walking over towards the other clone. The other clone got up and rose to his feet and the three men stood staring at each other. It was a stand off. As he contemplated how to get the upper hand a woman came running around the corner, yelling at them to stop. Who was she? She seemed almost familiar somehow. One of the clones turned to her and cried out, "Lois, no! Get back, get out of here. Please." Lois? *****LNC – LOIS POV***** "Your name is Lois?" one of the Kryptonian men asked her, staring at her looking perplexed. She did a double-take. He was wearing a Superman suit. Before she could ask him about it the other Kryptonian spoke up. "As in Lois Lane?" "Of course! Who else would I be?" she snapped. "Clark, are you okay?" she asked anxiously, as she ran over to him. He didn't look like he'd been hurt. But he did look like he was... upset. Most likely with her. "I'm fine. Irritated, but fine. Would you please get out of here? What were you thinking coming out here like this?" he asked her exasperatedly, moving to put his body between her and the other men. She flashed him a look of annoyance. "I was thinking that you might need some help fighting off a pair of Kryptonian criminals." "But I asked you to stay put." His eyebrows were knitted together in that look that said ‘why don't you ever listen to me?' "Yes, you asked me, but I never agreed. How could I? You didn't even give me a chance to present further arguments? You just took off and left me standing there, grasping at the air." "You're so stubborn!" they both cried out at one another. The two Kryptonian men were staring slack-jawed at her and Clark during their exchange. Finally the man in the regular clothes found his voice. "This isn't possible. He said the Lois in this world was dead!" he said, sounding confused. "Dead?" She side-stepped Clark to face him. "Who said that? Who told you that?" she exclaimed unhappily. He frowned at her. "He wouldn't give me his name. He was a time-traveler. He said a man named Tempus had kidnapped my..." "Excuse me did you just say Tempus?" Lois asked, interrupting him. Ah ha! She knew it. He was involved. Wait until she got her hands on him. "Yes. The time-traveler said Tempus had taken my Lois to a universe with no Lois... and yet here you are," he observed, sounding baffled. Lois looked at her Clark. They exchanged a look of amazement between them and then Clark asked the question they were both thinking. "So you're from another universe? And in that universe you're..." "Superman. Yes." "And so am I," the one in the super-suit chimed in, perplexed. "What's going on here?" "Tempus. That's what," she told them. She should have known. But what was his game? What was he up to? "This *time-traveler* who brought you here, can you describe what he looked like?" "No, actually, I can't," the one in the super-suit replied. "He had on a trench coat with the collar pulled up and he had a hat on." "You just described the man I saw, too," the other Superman confirmed. "Clark, I'd bet money that the time-traveler *was* Tempus," she said, her voice tight. In fact, she'd bet all of next year's salary on it. "So would I," Clark agreed. She could see the growing concern in his face. "Did you notice anything about his voice? I'm guessing it wasn't an older man's voice. It didn't have an English accent did it?" She knew he was trying to rule out Mr. Wells' involvement, but that wasn't necessary for her. Her gut was telling her that this was Tempus all the way, and she believed it. "No. There was definitely no accent, and his voice didn't sound old," the Superman in regular clothes informed them. The other Superman was nodding his head in agreement. "Definitely not Wells then. This has Tempus written all over it. So what was the story he fed you?" Clark asked, addressing the Superman in uniform. "He said that *Tempus* had created a couple of clones of me and they had kidnapped Lois and brought her to this universe." "Hmmm, and in our universe he left Clark a note saying that two criminals from New Krypton - long story - were coming to take me," Lois explained, a light coming on in her head. "So he told each of you stories that would inevitably pit you against one another." "But what did he think we would do?" Clark pondered, shaking his head. "Kill each other? He knows us better than that. What could he have possibly hoped to accomplish?" "Maybe all he wanted was a little entertainment," came a new voice from around the corner. As all three Supermen turned towards the sound of the voice, Lois winced. She knew that voice without having to lo