Her heart racing, Lois opted for solitude as she waited for Kal-El to arrive. He would arrive today, according to the recorded message he left for her on her Kryptonian communication device. He would come. And Ching was his backup – or partner – if needed – and Zara was pregnant.
She smiled sadly at that. Lex had been alarmed at the idea of more Kryptonians, but she’d told him that there was no way they could stop the other species from continuing their breeding without committing some form of genocide. They had to believe the more powerful species would respect their pledge never to harm the Earth again, because they really had no choice. The red radiation weapons would keep Earth safe, and that would have to be enough.
Lex had offered to be here with her, but she couldn't bear the thought of having him guess the tenor of her thoughts. If he suspected her ambivalence, he never said anything and for that she was grateful. Their rivalry had made way for friendship -one that she was only open to having after meeting the two Clarks. They had pulled her out of her bitter self, just by treating her … as a friend. Even before her captivity she didn't make friends easily. Especially with men. Men were rivals. Possible threats to her career path. And after Lord Kal-EL, men – Kryptonian men – were rapists.
With the asteroid on the way, things were uncertain all over again. She knew it was possible for a single Kryptonian to stop the asteroid and she was absolutely opposed to asking either Clark to do this. Not fair to force them into this encounter twice. She was selfish enough to risk Kal-El’s safety. They needed help. The asteroid would kill many people and change Earth’s climate in ways that would affect the remaining people’s quality of life. And she knew Kal-El could survive, and she trusted him more than his brethren. Of course she trusted Zara as well, but Zara was pregnant – and even if she weren’t, Lois would have felt worse about asking Zara. Was it because she felt the need to punish Kal-El? Or was it because she wanted to see him again.
That was the rub, wasn’t it. Lois was filled with nervous excitement at the prospect of seeing him again. The feeling currently playing fast and free with her stomach wasn’t dread.. it was – well yes, dread. She was afraid to see him again – but she was also excited in an anticipatory way.
How had that even happened? His name was Kal-El – same as her brutal assailant. And he looked exactly like him – except he didn’t. Feature for feature, the men were identical, but he looked more like the two Clarks than he did his clone. Facial expression, body language – these were all things that etched there way into who a person was. She had never seen the two men side by side, but if she had, she would have known which man was cruel, and which was kind.
Kal-El – and the two Clarks were actually men that would have appealed to her, had she not been through what she’d endured. They were handsome, strong and resolute. Honorable. Irresistible to anyone – and even if she mocked her doppelgängers for falling for aliens, in the end she understood. Their undeniable pull had made itself known to her – even if she was too broken to act on it.
But had the other Lois felt that way? Surely she had. She had been told some of the story of how they got together – near the end, after Lois had developed a sense of acceptance towards the two Clarks. The one who married her fellow victim was even more appealing than the other... he had adopted Lois as a sister despite all her efforts at ripping him to verbal shreds. In doing so, in always being there for her and never forcing anything on her, he had endeared himself to her and she actually missed him a lot.
She shook her head. Surely she wasn’t considering Kal-El as a romantic prospect? Why wasn’t that thought horrifying to her? Why, when she thought about it, did she feel a rush of warmth. Of happiness... of hope?
It had been a year since she’d last seen Kal-El – so perhaps she was really remembering Clark and Lois’s obvious love – and having false memories based on reflected glory. Once she saw Kal-El – would she feel sick? Would these strange thoughts be replaced by the much more logical fear and disgust?
