TOC ~
Part 3
~ - ~
Alt-Metropolis – February 1977
“Imaginary Friend”
~ - ~
“Well? What the hell is wrong with her?”
General Sam Lane cut an imposing figure as he stood on the other side of Dr. Marina Cooke’s desk. He was wearing his military fatigues and looked very intimidating to the five-foot-two, one hundred pound psychologist seated on the other side.
“For god’s sake, Sam. Sit down and shut up so she can tell us what she’s found.”
Dr. Cooke gave Ellen Lane a grateful look as Sam Lane huffed and sat down. For a man who spent so little time at home, he seemed to be extraordinarily exasperated by his nine-year old daughter’s emotional trauma. She took a deep breath before folding her hands over Lois Lane’s file on the desk in front of her.
“We haven’t found anything clinically wrong with Lois…”
“Nothing wrong?!” Sam exclaimed, rising to his feet again. “For the love of… She’s been crying nonstop for a month!”
Ellen reached over and tugged on Sam’s hand, pulling him back into his seat with a sigh of disapproval. Sam grumbled, but acquiesced. It seemed that Ellen Lane was the only one that could affect the gruff army general and Dr. Cooke was grateful she was there. Marina took another deep breath and tried again to explain.
“As I said, there is nothing *clinically* wrong with Lois. As a highly sensitive and empathic person, Lois feels the emotions of others quite keenly and right now, she is experiencing the classic steps of grief. The almost catatonic numbness Lois was in for the first week was her initial reaction to the tragic event. Once the shock wore off, the crying was her response to her best friend’s intense pain. In our visit today, I was actually encouraged to see her express anger at the injustice at such a tragic loss of life, which indicates that she’s moving into the next stage of grief. I do have to warn you, the pain isn’t over yet. Once the anger spends itself, people typically experience depression, when the magnitude of the loss settles into a permanent reality. This is something that I would encourage you to understand and not push Lois to ‘get over’ too soon. She may even isolate herself further before she starts to accept the deaths of her friend’s loved ones.”
Dr. Cooke was encouraged to see Ellen Lane nodding thoughtfully throughout her explanation. Based on her experience of the woman, she would do everything that she could to help her daughter through this ordeal, providing the support and safety that was so important to children this age, but especially essential to someone as empathic as Lois. Unfortunately, she could see that her experience of Lois’s father was also consistent. He stared back at her incredulously, thunderheads gathering on his brow as he waited impatiently for her to finish speaking.
“What the hell are you talking about? Lois hasn’t experienced the death of a loved one. What kind of psychobabble gibberish is this?”
“I’m talking about the deaths of her best friend’s parents, of course. As I said, Lois feels the emotions of others to quite an unprecedented level and her reaction is consistent with what any child would feel after the tragic and untimely death of her own parents.”
Sam Lane looked at Ellen and saw that she was also confused. “I thought Lois’s best friend was that Molly girl that lives down the street. Her parents aren’t dead. I saw the whole family drive by in their car this
“No, no,” Dr. Cooke interjected, “I’m talking about Clark’s parents. She relies heavily on his friendship and Clark’s parents died in a car accident four weeks ago.”
If she thought that this revelation would quell Sam Lane’s anger at the situation, she was mistaken. The man before her seemed to swell up and turn bright red before he exploded.
“'Clark?’ All these behavior issues are because ‘Clark’s’ parents died in a car accident?”
At Dr. Cooke’s nod, Sam rounded on Ellen. “I thought she ended that ‘Clark’ garbage years ago.”
“Well, apparently not, Sam.”
“Did you know anything about this?” he accused.
Ellen grimaced at her husband. “Of course not, Sam. I’m not the one in this marriage that keeps secrets. I would have told Dr. Cooke had I known.”
Marina became more concerned as she listened to them speak. “Ellen, what didn’t you tell me?”
“’Clark’ is Lois’s imaginary friend. She made up a best friend when she was four years old, but she hasn’t mentioned him in years.”
“An imaginary friend?”
“Yes, Doctor.” Sam emphasized her title with as much scorn as he could. “’Clark’ doesn’t exist. She’s either been playing you or she needs serious, medical help. Well, I’m done coddling her. It’s time for action.”
“No, Sam.”
“She’s not right in the head, Ellen. We need to admit her to the hospital for more testing. Doctor Mensa has some very promising data. It’s in her best interest.”
Ellen stood up and pointed an angry finger at her husband. “We’ve talked about this and my answer hasn’t changed. It’s in the best interest of *your* research, not our daughter. I won’t let you treat Lois like some test monkey in that laboratory of yours.”
“I’ll do it with or without your approval.”
“If you try, I’ll see you in court.”
They stared frostily at each other having a silent battle of wills. The tense spell was broken by Lois’s forceful entrance into the room. The office door rebounded as she took several steps into the office, tears sliding down her cheeks as she asked, “You’re getting a divorce? Because of me?”
Ellen Lane looked daggers at Sam and then grabbed her coat and purse. She paused long enough to kneel down and wipe away Lois’s tears. “Not because of you, sweetheart. Because of us.”
She took Lois by the hand and without looking back, led her silently out of the room.
~ - ~
Alt-Metropolis – July 3, 1997
~ - ~
No one in the newsroom paid any attention when the stairwell door opened. Clark paused on the threshold to soak up the atmosphere. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He had missed this – the hustle and energy, the sound of chatter, of ringing phones, and keyboards clacking. Every story didn’t turn out to be a 42-point, front-page headline, but the reporters for the Daily Planet always worked like it did.
Today the energy in the newsroom, like in the city surrounding it, had a new intensity. Something must be brewing – or had happened while he’d been in the other dimension – to explain the change. He’d arrived home last night, but only one siren had garnered his attention. After following an ambulance to the hospital, he spent the evening patrolling an unusually quiet Metropolis. He figured people would resume calling for him once they knew he was back in town. Clark smiled in anticipation; he looked forward to finding out what had been happening as soon as he’d written up his piece about Superman’s return and his assistance at the attempted robbery this morning.
As he slipped into the currents of rushing people, Clark smiled at his colleagues in greeting and made his way to his desk. He felt a little guilty for staying away so long, for being egocentric enough to leave his world unprotected in order to spend additional time in Lois’s universe, but he quickly squashed the feeling. He wouldn’t trade his extra time on the Farm in Smallville with the Kents for anything. He’d talked and laughed and cried with them. Being held by Martha and Jonathan Kent had been something he would cherish for the rest of his life. After all he’d gone through in his life, no one could begrudge him that small bit of selfishness.
Wells had tried to bring him back sooner, reminding him that time seemed to pass quicker in his home dimension than in the other Metropolis, but after Wells confirmed that he hadn’t missed any major disasters, he had decided against it. He had no interest in backtracking to live the lost time again. Clark also had to admit to a certain amount of petty curiosity about how Metropolis fared without him. The city had been steadily improving during the year he’d been Superman, but she still had a long way to go.
Metropolis still needed a hero – the kind of hero that Lois knew he could be. Clark walked a little taller as he thought of Lois. Although he would never have her love, he knew he could strive to live up to her belief in him.
As Clark made his way into the center of the bullpen, he noticed a hush fall in a circle surrounding him, followed immediately by the hiss of whispers. His eyebrows lifted in concern. Scattered throughout the newsroom, he noticed movement still as his coworkers stopped working to stare, slack-jawed at his arrival. Their stunned looks reminded him of the morning after he’d been exposed as a strange visitor from another planet. He glanced down quickly to make sure he’d changed out of the suit and then altered course and headed straight for the Editor-in-Chief. Something big had happened and whatever it was, it would be better to hear it straight from his boss.
Clark knocked sharply on the Chief’s office door and hardly waited for her perfunctory reply before stepping inside. Catherine Grant sat exactly where he expected her to be – behind the heavy oak desk with a blue pencil holding her hair in a loose bun. His editor looked up from the afternoon edition mock-up spread out in front of her and smiled in greeting.
After a year in the position, it no longer shocked anyone that the former gossip-columnist had taken the helm of the world’s greatest newspaper. When Perry White had taken the job of Mayor, his tagging of the auburn-haired sex kitten as his replacement had caused almost as big a stir as Clark’s debut as Superman. However, Clark hadn’t been the only one hiding special abilities and it had taken only a few weeks for the rest of the news community to see what Perry White had apparently known all along. Cat’s reputation as an adept newspaper editor had only grown since then.
Although the gaudy jewelry and scanty clothing had been replaced with more subtle varieties, Cat still exuded a certain predatory aura. Where Perry had ruled the newsroom by fear, she led using persuasion, allure and, on occasion, seductive tactics. She never crossed the line into impropriety, though, and while her personal style resulted in a somewhat more colorful work environment, the Daily Planet continued to maintain its high standards and reputation.
Cat hadn’t done it alone, however. Perry still managed to pop in for fairly regular visits to his beloved paper. And the Planet’s young owner, James Olson, had developed an almost daily habit of discussing improvements with the new editor as well, so Clark was unsurprised to see James Olson seated on the corner of Cat’s desk.
Some members of the staff reveled in the rumors of romantic interest, but those that knew both Cat and James scoffed at the titillating stories. They had an unlikely friendship, but it was solid, peppered only with occasional lively arguments audible even through the closed office door. They made a good team for the Planet and had both been very supportive of Clark this past year.
“Well, well. The Prodigal returns,” Cat purred.
“Hi, Cat.”
“Clark! It’s good to see you, man.” James Olson stretched forward from his perch to offer Clark his hand. “We heard you got back last night.”
Clark accepted James’ enthusiastic handshake as his smile faltered. A glance at Cat confirmed her lack of surprise as well. “You heard? How? I didn’t really do anything newsworthy until about ten minutes ago.”
Cat smirked knowingly. “Sources, my friend. Aren’t you going to ask us how we survived without you while you were off playing hero to another world?”
Clark laughed, but then his expression grew worried. “Something big happened, didn’t it – some disaster that I could have prevented? It must have; everyone out there looked at me like I’d grown another head.”
“Nothing we Metropolitans couldn’t handle. However, a *lot* has happened since you left, Clark. So much, in fact, I’d like to partner you up with someone until you’ve caught up with current events.”
“A partner? Cat, you know that’ll never work. I can barely keep up with Superman’s schedule myself, let alone trying to coordinate my investigations with someone else.”
Cat and James shared a knowing smile before James replied. “Oh, I think there’s one reporter that could give you a run for your money, Kent.”
“Who?”
Cat laughed as she stood and took him by the shoulders. “I think you were gone too long, Clark. Those keen powers of observation failed you this time,” Cat teased as she turned him around.
“Clark Kent, meet Lois Lane.”
Clark’s mouth opened in surprise as he spun to face the third person in the room, someone he had completely overlooked; someone he was entirely unprepared to see. Lois was already rising to her feet, an expectant, wide-eyed, almost shy look on her face.
“H…hi, Clark.”
Her hoarse greeting was so full of longing that his heart leapt. For a fraction of a second, Clark thought it was the Lois from the other dimension and that somehow his fantasy had come true. Lois had returned to be with him.
The emotional surge at seeing her broke out of him in a dazzling smile, but in the heartbeat that followed, he took in her longer hairstyle, the different make-up and the dark, boxy, business suit that draped her slender figure and he knew. This was not the Lois that had convinced him to become Superman, not the woman he had almost kissed mere weeks ago, not the woman he loved.
This was his world’s Lois.
Clark could almost feel her nervous anticipation at meeting him. He took in her look of dewy-eyed amazement and his smile vanished. His disappointment was palpable and even though he tried to hide it, he watched as her expression changed and he knew she had sensed it, too. No, this was not the Lois he knew, not if his expression could crush her enthusiasm. Although this Lois didn’t act like the hundreds of excited groupies that mooned over Superman, he could still tell she had been expecting something more from him.
When did she return? Was she the reason for the new buzz that affected not only the newsroom, but also the entire city? Who was he kidding? She was Lois Lane. She had probably shaken the entire world with her return.
Did she already know about his attempts to find her? Maybe she expected him to fall instantly in love with her.
He almost laughed bitterly at the irony. Why would he meet *this* Lois only after he’d realized that he could never love her the way she deserved? Talk about bad timing. He’d searched for her for an entire year. Maybe if he’d met her before going into the other dimension, he might have been able to love her for herself.
Clark heard Lois clear her throat and forced himself to focus on the present. He watched her swallow her disappointment and could practically feel her close herself off. Lois offered her hand in greeting.
“Mr. Kent. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time.”
Clark hesitantly took her outstretched hand and flinched at the charge of warmth that slid up his arm at the contact. “Hello, Lo… uh, Ms. Lane,” he stammered, “It’s … nice to meet you.” Clark glanced at Cat and James. “I’m surprised. I … um, we looked for you for a long time. Can I ask where you have been?”
Lois blushed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Would you believe I was recovering from injuries at a mission in the Congo?”
Clark inwardly flinched at the similarities between the two Lois’s stories. Could it really be true? He thought that he’d looked everywhere, but somehow he’d missed her. He released her hand and quickly looked down, unable to bear the look on this Lois’s face. She looked so much like the woman he loved, and her expression reminded him of the other Lois’s sadness while her Clark had been lost in time.
Lois looked at him intently, searching for a speck of recognition. “You really don’t know me, do you?”
“I know of your reputation, but … you’ve been gone a long time, Ms. Lane.”
“I’d heard you were trying to find me and I thought you wanted … Apparently, I was mistaken.”
“I did look for you …”
“But?”
“It wasn’t…”
Clark grimaced and squirmed under her intense gaze, but didn’t finish his sentence. How could he explain his feelings for the other Lois? His feelings were raw and … sacred. Sharing those precious thoughts, that he would always love the other Lois, wouldn’t change anything.
And Cat wanted him to partner up with this Lois. How could he work closely with this woman now? How could he stand the daily reminders of the woman he could never have? It would be torture. Clark cleared his throat and turned back to face Cat and James.
“I really don’t think a partner is necessary, Chief. It’ll only take me a few minutes in the archives to get current and I’m sure Ms. Lane still has a lot to catch up on before she’s completely up to speed.”
Cat shared an unreadable look with James, whose cough sounded like a stifled snicker. “Clark, Lois was just nominated for the Pulitzer for her exposure of Lex Luthor’s criminal organization. I think maybe you’d better spend that time in the archives before you jump to any more conclusions,” Cat offered sagely.
Clark started at the announcement. He had known that Luthor was dirty, had been tested, mocked, and challenged by him directly, but he’d not been able to bring any evidence to print. He turned to congratulate Lois and was taken aback at her stormy expression. At the same time, he inexplicably felt a cuffing, similar to those his mom used to give him for impertinence, but he couldn’t understand why.
He felt completely off balance, just like when he’d met the other Lois.
~
Lois contemplated the man standing before her and tried to block out the confusing array of feelings crashing over her. Clark – the person she considered as her best friend in the world – exuded sadness and disappointment at meeting her. It didn’t make any sense. She knew he had looked for her. Cat, James, Perry … they had all mentioned how earnestly Clark had scoured the Congo for her. Why would he do that if he didn’t feel the connection between them? Why search for her if didn’t want to find her?
Lois couldn’t have imagined a worse first meeting. The force of his emotions and words nearly staggered her. To be in the same room with a telepath as strong as Clark was completely overwhelming. She had managed to calm her racing heart and take a shaky breath until he had turned and smiled. The accompanying feelings of joy had threatened to buckle her knees.
Lois knew her stammered greeting hadn’t been the most sophisticated, but there was no way she could have prepared herself for the rollercoaster ride from joyous heights through his swirl of confusion to plummet to this incomprehensible disappointment. She felt it as a physical blow and had to lean against the wall to keep upright.
How many times had she imagined meeting him? Had she really fantasized that he would sweep her into his arms? That he would know her as intimately as she knew him and that he would love her for it? Was he really that disappointed in her? Lois realized that the image she had built up of her childhood playmate, Clark, wasn’t even remotely accurate and she had to swallow her own disappointment.
Lois remembered the loving looks Clark had given her doppelganger in the news clips and her heart sank. Clark really was in love with her. The *other* her.
It must be mutual, too. Lois remembered the way *she* had looked at Clark, the way *she* had saved him from the Kryptonite, and the way *she* had tenderly touched him after he’d swallowed the bomb and saved a building full of people. Lois had hoped that Clark would recognize her as his lifelong friend, but he obviously didn’t. Or worse, maybe he did and he still preferred the other Lois. Her disillusionment couldn’t have been more painful.
Clark’s rejection in favor of her doppelganger hit her squarely in the chest, burning its way into the pit of her stomach. If Clark, the only constant companion she’d had through life, viewed her as a cheap imitation, then she really must be the freak her father had always claimed. If someone like Clark Kent couldn’t accept her, then it proved that she would never fit in.
Like so many other times in her life, she buried her pain and disappointment under a layer of anger and girded it like armor. When he had questioned her reporting capability, she’d crossed her arms tightly and mentally knocked him upside the head. Lois Lane was, and always would be, the best reporter in Metropolis. She felt his astonishment at the news that she had exposed Luthor and she fumed. He may believe her to be inferior, but she knew who she was. This was her world and it was paramount that Clark understood it.
“I am Lois Lane, Mr. Kent. And if you believe that I’m not up to reporting the news, then you really don’t know who I am.”
Cat looked over at James again and then stepped into the awkward silence that followed Lois’s pronouncement. “Lois returned the day after you left, Clark. She’s done an amazing job for Metropolis and for this paper. We’ve hardly had a day go by without her headlines gracing the front pages.”
Lois swung her heated gaze to Cat and then dropped her defensive stance. She didn’t know whether to feel grateful or annoyed at Cat’s mediation. Annoyed won – Lois’s reporting record spoke for itself.
“I’ve never needed partner and I never will. My offer was a favor to Cat. When it comes to reporting the city news, I run circles around anyone, anytime, any place.”
~
Clark crossed his arms in defense. He hadn’t meant to insult Lo … Ms. Lane’s abilities, but he was certain that keeping his distance from this Lois was essential to his sanity. He had naively assumed that he could just waltz back into his position at the paper after an extended leave of absence, but Cat’s comments worried him. Maybe partnering wasn’t optional.
“Is working with Ms. Lane the only way to keep reporting on the city news for the Planet?”
Cat sighed. “Of course not, Clark. You’re a great reporter, even without having your eyewitness accounts at every Superman rescue.”
Clark nodded in relief and heard Lois chuff under her breath.
“Even better – he is the news; I report the news,” Lois pronounced. “That sounds like my kind of partnership.” She glanced at her watch. “Not that this hasn’t been fun, but I have work to do.”
Without another word, Lois threw the door open and stalked to her desk. She grabbed her bag on her way to the elevator without a backward glance.
James released a breath and raised his eyebrows at Cat. “What just happened?”
Cat shook her head sadly. “*That* was Mad Dog Lane.”
“Not the typical Superman groupie, then, huh?”
James’ attempt at humor died as Clark cast him a pained look. Feeling that he’d foolishly held the proverbial lightning rod into the brewing storm, James nodded to Cat and pulled on his suit coat before ducking out of the room after Lois.
Clark sighed and his shoulders lost some of their rigidity as he turned to his boss. He was taken aback by the disappointed look on her face.
“Chief?”
“While I think I understand what just happened, I’m not going to delve,” she explained. “You were gone a long time, we needed help, and Lois is the best. I *am* disappointed that you won’t be working together. Your styles complement each other and as a team you’d be dynamite.” She sighed. “I suppose having you compete for stories will still be good for the paper. I hope,” she added under her breath.
Clark didn’t have anything to say to that. It was the best he could hope for, unless he was willing to leave the Daily Planet. He’d still need to see Lois, but he wouldn’t have the same kind of close reminders of what it was like to work with Lois every day. Despite getting exactly the outcome he wanted, he felt terrible. Not knowing what else to say, he nodded curtly and turned for the door.
“Oh, and Clark?”
Clark paused on the threshold of Cat’s office and glanced back. “Yes?”
“Perry is giving a press conference down at city hall in twenty minutes – I want you there. I expect that report, in addition to the story on your return, on my desk by deadline.”
~ - ~
TBC
