Superman flashed back a real smile this time. “Do you still need my help sorting it out?” Now his voice held nothing more than concern and friendship.
Lois stayed silent.
How could she repay his kindness by blurting out, “I wish you were Clark?” It would be mean and she had already used up a year worth of cruelty today.
So she settled on the more considerate “Can you travel through time? And take me back with you?”
He shook his head. “Sorry, no.”
“Too bad it’s not one of your powers. Would it be too much to wish for H. G. Wells’s Time Machine?”
At his mystified look, believing he didn’t grasp the reference, she explained: “A dead English writer. It’s one of his better known works. The book’s boring, really, but I wish it were true…”
“What would you undo, if you could?” he cautiously asked.
She focused inwardly. “Easy.” She leaned towards him, her eyes intent. “I’d go back to early afternoon and tell Clark that—” A heartbeat later, Lois lowered her red-rimmed eyes. “I can’t–”
