Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Suddenly Blond(e) (23/30?)

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The groom, Daniel Joseph, bore a superficial resemblance to Clark Kent in height and coloring. Carmel Hardy, the bride, bore little resemblance to Lois Lane except for hair and eye color. Carmel was short, very curvaceous, and very pregnant. They were both just out of college, even younger than Alexa and Lane were supposed to be. No one who had actually met Lois and Clark would have mistaken this young couple for them.

Police officers in civilian clothes mingled with the guests, keeping a look-out for Beech and Grumman.

"How can women stand these shoes?" Alexa complained to Lane in a low voice. "I can hardly walk." She was referring to the new pair of stylish ivory leather heels she was wearing.

"The price of fashion," Lane whispered back, straightening his tie for the umpteenth time. "Who needs foot binding when we'll just volunteer to buy shoes that do the same thing?"

"And this skirt… and who designed these pockets?" Alexa groused.

Lane just chuckled. It had been a battle to keep Alexa from just putting her wallet and keys into the pockets of her ivory wool suit skirt. Nobody noticed wallets and keys in the pockets of men's suits. Women's suits were designed with pockets that were functionally useless; that was what purses were for. But Alexa kept setting down her purse and 'losing' it. Finally Lane simply hung it on his arm.

Henderson and Reed had introduced Lane and Alexa as 'consultants' for the MPD. They now waited with the bride and groom in a side room, using their special abilities to check for items that may have been tampered with. As predicted, one of the rings was filled with micro-miniaturized electronics.

"We were going to use my grandmother's ring," Daniel explained. "We were having the jeweler resize it. But that isn't my grandmother's ring."

"Your grandmother's ring is probably gone," Alexa said, trying to be gentle. "And you certainly can't use this one."

"Maybe you can borrow one just for the ceremony," Lane suggested.

"But why would this crazy person come after us?" Daniel asked.

"Somebody told her you were somebody else so he could get the scoop on her attack," Lane explained. "Didn't work out so well for him, though. He's dead. We don’t want that to happen to you."

The Wedding March started from within the chapel. Daniel hurried to take his position while Carmel's very worried looking father took her arm and led her to her position to start they're walk up the aisle.

Lane and Alexa took their seats in the front row so they could keep an eye on the couple.

The first part of the ceremony went without a problem. The danger would come at the exchange of rings.

"Repeat after me," the minister began. "With this ring, I thee wed…"

The ring on Alexa's hand arced. Lane gave the signal and Carmel fell to the floor as instructed. Daniel reached for her.

"Get away!" a woman yelled. It was Myrtle Beech holding a remote control of some kind. Grumman was at her side. "Stay away or she dies."

"No!" Daniel yelled, playing his part.

"Then do as I say."

Lane stood up. "No one's moving, Myrtle, now please..."

Henderson's voice whispered in Alexa's ear. "She said she was wired with explosives and it was on a dead-man's switch. Give us the word and we can take them out." A quick shot of heat vision disabled the remote in Beech's hand. Alexa gave the signal for 'wait'.

"We're going now. I just wanted one good look at her, right on the edge here, one little button push from the eternal," Beech said, waving the remote. "And you," she looked at Daniel. "You look pretty scared. Well, you should be. 'Cause this thing has a ten mile range, so don't even think about following us. I don't care if you're as fast as Superman, I see anybody coming after us, my thumb hits the button and she dies."

"Myrtle, you need help..." Lane tried. "We're here to help you…"

"Oh, I remember the last time those two tried to help. Three years in the wacky factory!"

"Myrtle, that's not Lois Lane and that's not Clark Kent," Alexa yelled. "Look at them! They don't even look like Lane and Kent." She pointed to Grumman. "He's been lying to you. About everything."

Grumman was taking notes, mumbling to himself.

"Myrtle, we found out something..." Alexa went on. "Your fiancé was going to leave you. He was in love with your friend, Emily."

"How dare you. How dare you sully his name," Beech was almost screaming.

"Grumman's got a secret file on you, we read it," Lane interrupted. "He twisted everything that happened. He's kept you believing Roger was perfect so he could use you but Roger wasn't perfect, he was going to leave you."

"That's a lie!" Beech pressed the remote button again and again but nothing happened.

"No, it's not," Alexa said. "He died on his way to the church. He was driving there to tell you it was over… And Emily's car was right behind his... wasn't it? They were together, Myrtle. We read every word of that in Grumman's file."

Beech's expression had turned more thoughtful.

"Oh, for God's sake, Myrtle..." Grumman tried to get the remote from her. She pulled the remote way from him with a glare.

"You're some kind of sick experiment to him," Lane said. The 'real' wedding guests stayed quiet, listening.

"Who's been telling you all this time how your one chance for happiness was ripped away?" Alexa asked. "Who's been pushing you to hurt others, to strike back? Who killed Nunk? Who's been telling you these kids are Lois and Clark in disguise?"

Beech turned to Grumman. He gave her a nervous grin and tried for the remote again. She belted him across the jaw and he dropped.

Alexa started towards her but Beech whirled, thumb on the remote button.

"It's no good, Myrtle," Alexa said. "We won't let you hurt them. They've done nothing to you. Even the people who did hurt you before… most of them are dead. The dead can't hurt you. You don't want to do this anymore. Stop and you'll get the help you need... you'll start your life over... But end this, Myrtle, end it now."

Beech started to cry. Henderson and Reed came up, Henderson taking the remote from Beech's hand. Reed patted down Beech and found a ring box. Henderson looked at the contents and handed the box to Lane. The ring was inside was antique. Lane X-rayed it – it was gold through and through. He felt the inside to make sure it hadn't been poisoned. It was safe.

"Daniel," Lane said, handing the ring to the groom. "I suspect this is your grandmother's ring."

"How… Thank you!" Daniel ran to the front of the church so they could resume the ceremony.

Outside, Henderson turned Beech over to a uniformed officer. Grumman was already in the back of a squad car. He was glaring at everyone, sweat running down his face.

A minister was standing near, smelling the late blooming flowers. He turned to Beech. "It's all right, Myrtle. We'll talk later. You're going to be just fine."

"You're…" Lane began. Then he lost the thought. The minister looked so familiar. Average height, average weight. Mister Average.

The minister smiled at him. "I'll see you and Alexa later…"

-o-o-o-

"Despite Beech's interruption, it was a nice wedding, don't you think?" Alexa asked Lane after they'd both made their statements to Reed and Henderson. The 'death' ring had been turned over to them and was being sent to the FBI for study. General consensus was that it was extremely unlikely that either Beech or Grumman had the technical know-how to create the device, which then begged the question of 'who did'. Both Beech and Grumman claimed that the other had 'arranged' the ring.

Beech agreed to testify against Grumman in regards to the murder of Leo Nunk, but given her history of hospitalization, it was unlikely the DA would be able to make the charge stick based on her testimony alone. Doctor Byrd at Laurelwood expressed the hope that with Grumman away from Beech, she might actually be helped with overcoming her obsession with weddings.

"Lane?" Alexa prompted when he didn't answer. He seemed a million miles away.

"Oh, I just… Something happened at the church and I… It's like when there's a word you just can't remember but it's on the tip of your tongue?"

"I've been having that the past couple days," Alexa admitted. "Like seeing something out of the corner of your eye but it disappears when you turn to look."

"Or meeting somebody for the first time only you've known them forever."

"Exactly. Of course, it's probably just stress, everything catching up with us and now we're looking at planning a wedding which is even more stress."

"At least New Troy doesn't ask for a health exam or blood test. Having Doctor Klein sign off for that might raise questions," Lane said with a small chuckle. "Want to go for a flight? We can look at reception venues tomorrow…"

"Considering how few people we know us as 'us', a catered lunch for the newsroom is about as much as we need," Alexa suggested. "Maybe have it in the ballroom so we can invite the cops who know us. We're not trying to impress people with Luthor's money so it doesn't have to be a big formal shindig."

"We can ask Stern about it tomorrow. How about that flight?"

They headed due west, still dressed in their suits. Lane seemed to have a destination in mind.

After a few minutes Alexa asked, "Where are we going?"

"Well, we're going to... to, um... I thought you... I thought this was your idea," Lane said, suddenly confused.

"We're having another one of those weird moments?"

"Maybe we'd better land," Lane suggested.

Just below them was a high grassy hilltop with a few trees. The vista was beautiful, like a Maxwell Parrish painting with distant mountains and trees in their autumn dress. The clouds and the horizon were dappled with sunset rose and gold.

"Do you know where we are?" Lane asked as they landed.

"No."

A man in a black jacket and a black shirt with a roman collar strolled toward them. "You beat me here. Guess I should've known," he said with a familiar smile.

"Who...?" Alexa began. "You look familiar, do I…?"

The man smiled.

"I know you..." Lane said. "Mike…"

Mike nodded.

"Do we get to remember this time, Mike?" Lane asked. He turned to Alexa. "All my life, he's been there to give me just a little nudge, a little encouragement, but I never get to remember..."

"Me either. Where are we, Mike?"

There were voices coming closer. Jimmy and Perry came into view. "I have no idea where we are, Olsen, I just turned around and…" Perry was saying.

"Hey, Mike is here," Jimmy said. There was wonderment in his voice.

"Mike, how are you, good to see you," Perry said, shaking Mike's hand as if they were old friends meeting again after a long absence.

"Jimmy, Perry, glad you could make it," Mike greeted them warmly.

More familiar voices and faces, Bill Henderson and Betty Reed followed by the Kents and the Lanes.

They all seemed to know Mike.

"I should have known you were involved, Mike," Henderson said with a smile. "I saw you at the church earlier."

Reed gave Henderson a quizzical look. "You know him, too?"

"We all do," Henderson said. "Mike… keeps a watchful eye over special individuals."

"Every individual is special, every one unique," Mike chided gently.

"Some are more special that others," Henderson countered, nodding toward Lane and Alexa.

Mike just smiled.

"You'll explain this later, right?" Reed said to Henderson.

"Chances are, you won't remember having a question," Henderson responded. "None of us will. It's the way it works."

Mike rubbed his hands together. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get started."

"Started with what?" Lane asked.

"It's time for you two to get married."

"But… we haven't prepared anything..." Lane protested.

"You've prepared all the important things, Lois. You've got your friends, your family. It's a pretty nice day." Mike tugged at his collar. "You've even got a broken down old minister."

"I think we ought to know by now, we should just... listen to Mike," Alexa said.

Everyone nodded, chiming in with agreement as they took their places. Lane took Alexa's hand. Somewhere in the distance a choir began singing. Alexa couldn't make out the words. They didn’t seem to be in any language she knew. But it was beautiful.

"Well. To say this was a long time coming would be the understatement of the century," Mike began. He looked around at the gathering. "I've known all of you a long time, haven't I? Especially you two. You've kept me pretty busy. But I think with everything that's happened, you guys have learned something. Love survives. Survives any joy, any sorrow; all the rights, all the wrongs; even life and death. You know that now, just like you know that you've finally come to the right time and the right place. Clark?"

"Lois, I have loved you from the moment I saw you," Alexa said, taking Lane's hands. "I love your humor; your passion. The way you dive right in... even when you shouldn't. Because you refuse to just watch the world. You demand that it be a better place, and because of you, it is. So today, I give you my love, my honor... and our life together."

Alexa had a simple ring in her hand and slipped it onto Lane's finger.

"Lois?" Mike prompted

"Clark, you're my best friend. That means everything to me, because I never had a best friend. And falling in love with you was so easy. I don't know why I fought it for so long, because you have such gentle grace; such quiet strength; but mostly, such incredible kindness. I've never known anyone with as selfless and pure a heart. So today, I give you my heart, my soul... and our future.

Lane slipped a matching ring onto Alexa's finger.

"Lura Jen-Lo, born from the House of Us into the House of Lo, known to this world in this time as Alexa Analouisa Parker, formerly known as Clark Jerome Kent and many other names; Loq-El, born from the family Furza into the House of El, known to this world in this time as Martin Joseph Lane Alexander, formerly known as Lois Joanne Lane and many other names. I now pronounce you married."

-o-o-o-

Lane's eyes snapped open and he realized he was lying on the bed in the hotel suite. "Oh, no...
Oh, God, don't tell me it was a…"

"It wasn't," Alexa said, showing him the ring on her finger. "We're married. It's real. See?"

She handed him a copy of a certificate of marriage. Both of their signatures were on it, but he couldn't make out the name of the officiating minister.

"The official one will take about two weeks," Alexa added.

Lane spotted a framed photograph of the wedding party atop the hill. "It was so simple, so beautiful, the way it just happened. Like we'd been trying to find that hill and that sunset all our lives."

"I think we were," Alexa said putting her arms around him.

"But... what was the minister's name?" Lane asked.

"It was…"

"He looks so familiar," Lane added, studying the photo.

"I know. Reverend… It'll come to me…"

"More weirdness?"

"At least we remember saying our vows," Alexa said with a small laugh.

The phone rang and Alexa picked it up. It was Martha checking to make sure she and Jonathan hadn't dreamed the ceremony. "Well, we'll have a big party when we get it arranged," Alex promised when Martha asked about reception plans. They chatted a few minutes. "Aunt Martha and Uncle Jonathan say 'Hi'," Alexa said when Martha hung up.

The phone rang again and Alexa picked it up. This time it was Sam Lane checking in. She handed the phone to Lane.

"Hello, Doctor Lane."

"I think, after everything, you can probably call me Uncle Sam," Alexa heard him say to Lane. "Not sure what else would fit, considering."

"Considering what?"

"Um, when your… when Ellen and I found out what Luthor had done, that he had kidnapped then murdered our oldest little girl… it… there's no worse pain than losing a child and to have one murdered… We thought we'd lost her forever, but then on that hilltop, looking at the two of you, I realized that part of her lives on. I don't understand how, but I know she isn't gone. That the essence of what she was is still here. And maybe, someday, she'll forgive me for being such a fool."

"She already did, Uncle Sam," Lane assured him. "Give our love to Aunt Ellen."

"Did she forgive him?" Alexa asked after Lane hung up.

"Sam Lane being who he was and is, was part of what made Lois Lane who she was," Lane said. "But he came through when she needed him most, when those monsters made Clark so sick. And he's been there for Lucy and Ron. So yeah, she forgave him as best as she knew how."

"And you?"

He sighed. "I've missed them. Your… Martha and Jonathan are simply the greatest. I can't imagine anybody else being able to accept all this without missing a beat. But I've missed having my family, as dysfunctional as it is. And I want our kids to have grandparents."

"Well, for that to happen, we need to get busy," Alexa said. She spun into a filmy white negligee. Six months ago she would never have dreamed of putting on a negligee for her husband. But six months ago she had been someone else. "We've been through too much just to get to this point, this moment. Hello, Husband."

"Hello, Wife. I still can't believe it… after everything, we're really actually married. It feels like a dream... It's not, right? I mean, I know that's silly, but on the other hand, given our history together..."

Alexa kissed him. "That feel like a dream?"

-o-o-o-

"Oh, wow," Lane said.

"I know," Alexa agreed.

"That was…"

"I mean…"

"Exactly... The only thing I'd like more would be…"

"… more."

There was a knock on the door which became more insistent as they tried to ignore it.

"Did you invite somebody else?" Lane asked with a grin.

Alexa rolled off of him and floated down to the bed. She grabbed her robe and threw Lane's to him.

"Look, I don't know who you are but…" Alexa said, throwing open the door. Standing in the hall was an older man wearing a very old fashioned suit. He was peering at some sort of device with a screen and there was a copy of the Daily Planet under his arm.

"I'm so sorry, I was looking for Clark Kent," the man said. "I'm…"

Lane came to the door. "H.G. Wells!" He turned to Alexa. "He's the one who took Lois and Clark back through time to save Clark as a baby."

Alexa nodded, remembering. "Right, from Tempus..."

"But, how do you know that?" Wells asked. "No one was supposed to remember any of that ever happened."

"Yeah, but you told Lois about it when they ran into Tempus the second time," Lane said. "Well, actually, you didn't… your older you did."

"My older me, really? Jolly good. Nice to know I've got a future," he said, moving past Lane into the living area. "May I...?"

"Well, actually…" Alexa began.

"By the way, would you happen to know why my search for Clark Kent led me here?" Wells asked.

"You're a time traveler and you really don't know?" Lane asked.

"Know what?"

"Lois Lane and Clark Kent were murdered by Lex Luthor six months ago," Alexa said.

"But that's…" Wells thumped the device in his hand. Lane peered at it more closely. It was palm-sized, encased in titanium. In the center was a shifting pool of liquid crystal. A row of icons appeared to be the only controls.

"What is that?" Alexa asked as Wells thumped the device again.

"In its own way, it's a time machine, although, in actuality, it's much more than that. I came across it upon my future travels, to a time quite unlike anything I'd ever dreamed of. There, I met a fellow inventor who discovered a way to identify the energies emitted by... souls."

"Really?"

"You see, every soul has an energy field unique unto itself," Wells explained excitedly. "A cosmic fingerprint, if you will. No two exactly alike. This device was created as a means to track that energy. Or, to be more precise, back track it.

"Wait a minute, are we talking past lives here?" Lane asked, trying to sound skeptical. He knew perfectly well that souls or essences could migrate to different bodies over time. He and Alexa were living proof.

"Well, yes," Wells said. "But this thing has obviously stopped working because it says that she is an incarnation of Clark Kent."

"I suspect that thing is working fine, but I'm not so sure about the operator," Alexa said. "So why are you looking for Clark Kent's soul?"

"I used the device to track his soul back in time and discovered something quite remarkable. He and his beloved Lois were soul-mates, meeting and falling in love over and over again throughout time. A truly mythic bond. But there was also curse placed on them. A curse that doomed them to tragedy every time they consummated their relationship."

"Why does this stuff keep happening to us?" Lane lamented.

"Well, a curse might explain why stuff keeps happening to us," Alexa commented. "I assume you're here to try to stop this supposed curse?"

"Well, yes, but…" Wells began.

"Mister Wells, had such a curse been cast, one powerful enough to affect soul stuff over multiple incarnations, they would have known about it and chosen to incarnate into a different relationship," Alexa said. "And the person casting such a curse… I suspect the blow back would have damaged his soul so badly that I don't even want to think about it.

"Plus, you're too late," Alexa added. "We've consummated our marriage and we're both still standing."

"But why does this say that you're Clark Kent?" Wells asked.

"Because six months ago I was Clark Kent," Alexa explained reasonably. "And he was Lois Lane."

"But…"

"Like I said, I think the device is working, but I'm not so sure about the operator. I'm betting you only checked on the lives where the Clark soul was in a male body?" Alexa said.

"Those were the only ones I found," Wells said.

"And you didn’t think it odd that those were the only past lives you found?" Lane asked. "Ones were Clark was male and Lois female and they were romantically involved?"

"But how can you be their current incarnations? You're both adults."

"These were empty vessels at the time. Empty full grown vessels," Alexa explained. "They don't have induced rapid growth in the future, or cloning technology?"

Wells opened his mouth as if to speak then snapped it shut. His expression shifted to one of utter despair. "I was duped. Her deaths over multiple lifetimes were not due to a curse, but murder." He opened the paper and showed them the front page. The column one headline, over a smiling photo of Lois Lane, read: MYSTERY ILLNESS CLAIMS LOIS LANE. Below it: CLARK KENT MOURNS HIS BRIDE. The date on the paper was for the next day.

"Perry would never put that on the front page," Lane stated firmly.

"Not to mention, Lois Lane cannot possibly die of a mysterious illness if she's already dead and buried," Alexa added. "And I don't see our story on The Wedding Destroyer below the fold."

"It's fake," Wells said. "Someone has been using my research into your past lives to try to wreck havoc over the time line. Only… whoever it is doesn't realize that you two have managed to rise above it… Do you mind if I check in occasionally?"

"Won't future history tell you what happened?" Lane asked.

Wells pointed to the paper with a rueful smile. "Obviously not."

"Swear To God, This Time We're Not Kidding" was written by John McNamara.
"Soul Mates" was written by Brad Kern.