A/N: This is my attempt at answering Virginia's June Time Travel Challenge. Writing has been kind of slow-going, so I'll probably be posting pretty slowly. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. 
So without further ado...
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Lois Lane's Travels
Part 1: Hooray for Hollywood
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Lois was a little bit dizzy when she opened her eyes. Immediately, she knew that something had gone wrong. She was supposed to have arrived in 1972 with HG Wells and Clark—well, not Clark, but the Clark who looked like Clark. He'd come from the other universe to help them stop Tempus from going after the child who would grow up to be her fiance.
Something must have gone awry with the time-gizmo, though. This wasn't Smallville *or* 1972. She was definitely in the middle of the Daily Planet newsroom, although some things about it seemed a bit...off. It looked more or less like the present—sort of; but here and there were little details that made her frown in confusion. The computer at her desk—and it certainly was her desk; the nameplate was there and everything—had a strange, curvy monitor with a logo of a half-eaten pear on it. There was no tower that she could see, and no slot for disks. The phone, on the other hand, looked like it could have been a hand-me-down from her mother. She picked up the receiver and listened, twirling the rotary dial experimentally. There was no dial-tone. Was she in another universe? Or maybe the Twilight Zone?
“Places, everyone!” someone shouted from across the room. The bullpen erupted into chaos as people hurried to different positions at desks and file-cabinets and water-coolers, some of them grabbing random sheets of paper and pretending to carry them around. Perhaps this *was* the twilight zone!
Someone came over and nudged her away from her desk. “Sorry, honey, but we need this spot for Lois Lane. Go stand somewhere else.”
Lois opened her mouth, about to respond that she *was* Lois Lane, but then shut it again. She found herself drifting instinctively towards Clark's desk, and narrowly avoided bumping into a man in a business suit and thick glasses.
“Hold it!” the distant voice bellowed. “Will someone move that extra?!”
“Over here,” the suit-guy said kindly as he took her by the arm and shepherded her over to a potted palm. He grabbed a paper off of a nearby desk and handed it to her. “Just pretend to read this.”
“Um, thanks,” she said, taking it from him.
He smiled at her. “I'm Keith, by the way.” Keith offered his hand.
“Lo—Lola,” Lois replied, giving his hand a shake.
“It's nice to meet you, Lola,” Keith said, grinning wide. “Sorry, I'm just so excited; this is my first *real* movie, you know?”
“Is it?” Lois asked, hoping that things would start to make sense if he kept talking.
“Yeah,” he said. “My only speaking role before this was a doctor in Jungle Boo-Boo; have you seen it?”
She shook her head.
He sighed. “I'm not surprised. It's a cheap comedy about a man and a chimp who get switched at birth. So naturally, being in a flick about Superman is a major step up, even if I only have a tiny part.”
A movie about Superman?! Lois tried not to appear surprised. “Oh?” she asked. “And what part do you play?”
Keith beamed at her. “Clark Kent!”
“Quiet on the set!” the voice again bellowed. “Places, everyone!”
“Welp,” said Keith, “got to go,” and he scuttled over to her fiance's desk and pretended to type.
“Roll camera!” came the shout. “Action!”
The people around Lois did an almost-convincing imitation of the bustling newsroom. The elevator chimed, and for the first time, Lois noticed the cameramen positioned near the elevator doors. The doors opened, revealing a young, dark-haired woman in a classy business suit.
The newcomer strode confidently towards the bullpen with the cameras following her progress, but when she got to the top of the ramp, she froze. She looked straight at Lois, and her jaw dropped.
“Cut! Cut! CUT!” A short, red-faced man emerged from the crowds, followed by a couple of people with clipboards. People scuttled away as he approached, and he came to stand in front of the woman, placing his hands on his hips. “Charlotte! What do you think you're doing?!”
“Um...” The woman, Charlotte, clearly had to drag her eyes away from Lois. She put a hand to to her forehead and gave the man a shy smile. “Sorry, Les; I...uh...just had a dizzy spell, that's all.”
“Oh, for--!” Les dragged a hand down his face and grimaced. “You're not pregnant again, are you?!” he snapped. “We're still cleaning the vomit out of the Lovers' Lane III sofa!”
Charlotte grinned. “Don't worry,” she said, “Mitch and I already learned our lesson. Could we maybe just take five, though?”
Les threw his hands up into the air. “Oh, fine!” he shouted. “Everyone take ten! And somebody get me an aspirin!” He spun on his heel and marched off while one clipboard-wielding youngster scurried out of the newsroom, presumably to go find an aspirin.
While the crowd began milling around in a more natural fashion, Charlotte practically jogged down the ramp.
Keith waved. “Hi, Charlotte!”
“Not now, Keith,” she said, rushing past him.
“Okay.” He propped his feet up on Clark's desk and pulled out a novel, seeming completely unaffected by the brush-off.
She came to a stop right in front of Lois. At first, the woman only stared at her, opening and closing her mouth as though she wasn't quite sure what to say. She finally opened with “Hi.”
“Hi,” Lois replied, somewhat uncertainly.
Charlotte bit her lip. “Um, this may sound like a very odd question,” she said, and gave a laugh that was probably supposed to sound casual and not-at-all forced. “But,um,” she leaned forward, her voice dropping so that Lois had to strain to hear. “Would I be correct in guessing that you come from...another time zone?”
Lois raised an eyebrow at her. “Maybe...” she replied, carefully. “What about it?”
The other woman took in a sharp breath. “And...would your name happen to be Lois?”
“Perhaps,” Lois said, her curiosity fighting with her increasing wariness. Curiosity won. “How do you know about me?”
Charlotte took a few more deep breaths. “Excuse me a minute,” she mumbled, and whipped out a tiny cellphone. She spent a moment frantically dialing, but then must have changed her mind, because she pocketed the phone again without waiting for it to ring. She extended a hand. “Hi. I'm Charlotte.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lois said, shaking the proffered hand.
Charlotte grinned nervously. “It's actually Charlotte—well, it's McLeod, now, but my maiden name...Okay, my maiden name was Carlyle, but my mother, *her* maiden name...” She took a breath, and her voice fell to a near whisper. “...was Lane-Kent. I'm your great-granddaughter.”
Lois gasped. Just then, a commotion caused her to look up. Les was shouting again.
“What?! Why on Earth is Superman here?!” the small man demanded. His underling tried to hide behind his clipboard.
The elevator chimed again, and a man stepped out, wearing a familiar blue-and-red ensemble. He strode over to Les and his lackeys. “Good afternoon, Mr. Donner,” he greeted the still-ranting loud-mouth. “I don't mean to intrude; I just thought I'd drop by on behalf of the Foundation to see if everything is going smoothly. Do you have everything you need?” His eyes seemed to be scanning the crowd.
“What I *need*,” Les began, his face turning an even darker shade of crimson, “is to get some shooting done without all these interruptions! I need actors who show up and do their jobs, and assistants who aren't complete and total--”
While the tirade went on, Superman's gaze finally landed on Lois and his eyes widened. He reached up to scratch his jaw, then casually slid his hand over his mouth and looked at Charlotte.
Charlotte nodded at him.
In the meantime, the now purple-faced Les was still shouting. “--or so help me, I will shove all of his Oscars right up--”
Superman nodded absently. “Uh huh. Hey, I'm just going to go talk to my friend over there real quick, okay?”
Les' response was incomprehensible.
After a few moments of weaving through the murmuring crowd, politely dodging awe-struck admirers, Superman finally came to stand in front of the two women. His eyes were wide as he looked Lois over from head to toe. Finally, his gaze met hers.
It was only then that Lois realized her jaw had been hanging open. She closed it with a snap.
“So...uh...” Superman began. He paused, seemed to think for a minute, then said, “Hi.”
Lois grinned. “Hi to you, too,” she said. “So you're the new Superman, I take it?” She lifted an eyebrow at him.
His eyebrows shot upwards. “New? Wow.” He chuckled. After a furtive glance around, he turned to Charlotte and lowered his voice. “Um, is there somewhere private where the three of us can talk?”
“Conference room,” Lois answered automatically.
The other two looked at her in surprise.
“Where?” Charlotte asked.
Lois led the way across the bullpen to the appropriate door. Thick curtains were hanging where the blinds were supposed to be, and a piece of paper with the word “Equipment” had been taped to the glass. After a brief consideration, Lois opened the door anyway. The space was a cluttered and a bit dusty, but it would do. “It's a bit less comfortable than I remember,” she observed dryly.
Charlotte smiled at her. “It's fine, Grams. At least we shouldn't be disturbed.”
Grams? Lois fought the urge to snort. “That's good,” she replied.
“Jordan,” Superman suddenly said, extending a hand towards her.
Lois blinked at him in confusion for a second, then it clicked. “Nice to meet you.” She grinned and started to reach for his hand, then changed her mind. “Oh, come here!” She pulled him into a hug, then reached for Charlotte as well.
Charlotte's eyes were tearing a little when she finally pulled away. “It's so good to see you, Grams!” she said. “This is...this is just amazing!”
“Is great-grandpa Clark here, too?” Jordan asked.
“No,” Lois answered with a grimace. “He's not. He's gone.” She felt tears begin to prick her eyes.
Jordan and Charlotte stared at her in shock. “What do you mean, gone?” Jordan whispered.
“He left for New Krypton several days ago,” Lois told them. “Or centuries ago—whichever.” It was why she had been so furious when Wells had dragged the other Clark along on this latest search for Tempus. Why did he want to rub her nose in the absence of her fiance? Was he trying to set up this Clark as a replacement for hers? Was he subtly suggesting that Clark wasn't coming back? Furthermore, if he could just grab other Clarks at the drop of a hat, then why couldn't he just let the New Kryptonians take *this* Clark so that hers could stay home? It wasn't as if the other Clark had a fiance waiting for him, worrying about what was happening to him thousands of light-years away in space... She felt a little guilty at that last thought and bit back a sob.
Charlotte pulled her into a hug. “It'll be okay, Grams,” she said. “Trust me.”
Lois pulled away to look into her great-granddaughter's eyes. “But what if he never comes--” She stopped. It clicked. “--back,” she whispered.
She looked at these two people in the room with her. Her great-grandchildren. Her and *Clark's* great-grandchildren. Suddenly, all of the pain and heartache of the past several days evaporated. A broad smile appeared on her face, and she pulled them both into another hug. “It's so, *so* wonderful to meet you two!” she cried, tears of joy running down her face.
“So, how did you get here?” Jordan asked after the moment had passed. “Was it that guy with the—what's his name—Mr. Wells?”
Lois shrugged. “I'm honestly not sure,” she replied. “Actually, Wells was supposed to be taking me to 1972. I don't know what happened or how we got separated.”
“Maybe it's my fault,” Charlotte mused.
Lois and Jordan both looked at her in confusion.
“I kind of wished that you'd show up, Grams,” she explained. “Maybe it worked? Although I actually wished that both of you were here, so...” She trailed off, uncertainly.
“I don't think that would have done it,” said Lois.
Jordan shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”
“Well, we'll figure it out,” she said, smiling at them. She turned to Charlotte and put a comforting hand on the young woman's shoulder. “So, why did you need me? Or us, rather?”
“It's this movie,” said Charlotte, meeting her eyes. “It's about that whole first clash with New Krypton, believe it or not. Superman's departure, the invasion, all of it.”
Lois' eyes widened. “Really?” ...Invasion?!
Charlotte nodded, and her expression soured. “Grams, it's awful. Part of the reason I signed on was so I could try to do some form of damage-control. I mean, I know there's only so much we can expect given that they don't know...” she looked pointedly at Lois. “...you know, everything. But, still...” She frowned. “It's like they don't understand Superman at all! The story is terrible, the script is very unfair to you guys, and the guy playing Clark Kent is a total doofus!”
“Lesson number one,” Lois said, patting Charlotte's back, “never under-estimate a Clark Kent. As for the rest...” She turned to Jordan. “You mentioned the Foundation when you came in. So, the licensing for Superman is still handled through the Superman Foundation, right?”
Jordan nodded. “I think so.”
“Well, then!” Lois smiled at them. “There you go. That gives you all the damage control you need.”
“It does?” Jordan asked, frowning.
“Of course,” said Lois. “What did you think the foundation was set up for?”
“Well, to help people,” he answered with a shrug.
“Well, yes,” Lois admitted. “There is that. But the reason Clark started it in the first place was to get some measure of control over all the stuff that was flooding the world with Superman's name and logo on them. He needed to protect Superman's image. That's why it's written into the foundation's charter that Superman gets to have the final say on all official Superman products, including but not limited to books, toys,”--She grinned at them--“and movies.”
For a moment, they both simply stared at her in surprise. Then, a wide grin broke across Charlotte's face. “This could actually--” She was interrupted by a tap on the conference room door.
“Um, Miss McLeod?” a squeaky voice called from the other side. “You're needed on set. Les is getting kind of...um...You're needed on set.”
“Back to the grind,” Charlotte muttered, rising to her feet. She turned to Lois and smiled. “Want to stay and watch the shoot?”
“I'd love to,” Lois replied, following her out the door. “In fact, before you guys get started, there's one change I'd like to make right away. There's something that just bothers me...”
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Les was in the middle of the bullpen, arguing with one of the clipboard-holders. He looked up when the three of them exited the conference room. “There you are!” he shouted. “Charlotte, I need you back in the elevator. We've only got five minutes before Hans gets here, and you know he's going to want to get right to his scene, so—where are you going?!”
Lois strode right up to Clark's desk, her great-grand-kids following behind her. Keith was still reading his novel, but looked up when he noticed her staring at him. “Um, can I help you?” he asked.
“Charlotte, can you get me someone from wardrobe?” Lois asked, not taking her eyes off of Keith.
“Wardrobe?” Keith echoed.
“Sure!” said Charlotte. She turned and waved to someone at the top of the ramp. “Hey, Dani? Can you come down here for a second?”
“What's going on?” asked Keith, looking confused.
A young woman with a ponytail came up to them, followed by Les.
“What do you need, Ms. McLeod?” asked the woman.
“What's going on?!” thundered Les.
“This necktie,” Lois said, reaching towards Keith and taking the offending article into her hand. She held it up a little. “It needs to go.”
Keith frowned. “What's wrong with it?”
“There's nothing wrong with it!” growled Les.
“No, no,” said Lois, “he needs something louder. More obnoxious.” She turned to the wardrobe woman. “Dani, right? Do you think you could find a necktie with a print of dogs playing poker?”
“Just who do you think you are?!” Les shouted.
Jordan cleared his throat. “Mr. Donner, this woman is now working for me. As an expert on the time period you're covering, she'll be helping to assure the quality and accuracy of this film.
Les glared at him. “I don't care if she's working for the president! I'm in charge of this movie. You have no right to run around hiring and firing experts and making ridiculous changes!”
“But he *does* have the right to veto the finished film if he doesn't like it,” Lois stated, “flushing all that time and money you've spent right down the drain. Trust me, you're better off working with him *now*.”
Les whirled on her. “Our dealings were strictly with the Superman Foundation,” he snarled. “Superman wasn't anywhere around when the papers were drawn up and signed. I do not have to answer to him!”
Charlotte and Jordan exchanged worried looks, but Lois kept her cool. “Do you feel sure enough about your position to take it to a courtroom?” she asked, calmly.
For a long, endless minute, Les and Lois stared each other down.
“I don't have time for this!” Les finally groused, turning and stomping away. He waved toward Dani. “Get him the stupid necktie. He's just a minor character, anyway; it's not like anyone will notice or care!”
Lois, Jordan, and Charlotte shared a look of triumph. “You are terrific, Grams,” said Jordan. “Did you know that?”
“Well, I do my best,” she beamed. “Now, I just need to have a word with the prop guys about that junk on my desk. When that's done, do you want to stay and watch the shoot with me?”
“I'd love to,” he replied.
“I'll take you to Vinnie and then start heading back to my mark,” Charlotte told them. “And by the way, it's *my* desk.” She winked at Lois, then turned and led the way through the throng of movie-makers. Lois' expression was one of pure joy as she and Jordan followed.
Keith watched them go, then shrugged and returned to his novel.
To Be Continued...
