Previously - Chapter 34 ***
Epilogue ***
January 25, 1996
Perry still couldn’t believe it. Any of it. It was surreal. Somehow, which he only partly understood, Lex Luthor had changed history. Not all of it, though. Just enough to put himself where the egomaniac determined he should be.
Everyone in Metropolis had
forgotten that he was a malicious narcissist that had committed suicide once he was caught. Everyone had
forgotten the destruction he wreaked on the Daily Planet in his efforts to control not only the media, but Lois Lane herself. Instead, everyone
knew that he was Metropolis’s most famous philanthropic humanitarian. Everyone
knew that he and Lois married and lived their happy lives among the elite. Everyone
knew the destruction of the Planet had been caused by a freak weather accident. And everyone
knew that the Luthors had rebuilt it to save something that was so important to the city.
And no one had reason to suspect that anything was wrong.
It was flawless. Or nearly so, since the man responsible for carrying out much of that fantastic plan had, on a whim, planted a key of sorts to undo what had been done. With the cooperation of radio and television stations nationwide, the keys had been given to the public and gradually the masses were beginning to remember the truth of things past.
Even in this first day following the revelation of Luthor’s trickery, those who had remembered on their own had begun coming forward. Many of them had brushed it off as some strange dream they’d had, given that no one else believed it. It was a lot to cope with. Thankfully, putting things back to the way they had been previously was not as difficult as Perry had expected.
The facility Jimmy had been investigating that started their involvement in all of this had been shut down, permanently as far as anyone knew. It was apparent that nearly all the employees that worked there were none the wiser and the ones who had participated in the unethical experiments had been arrested and charged. It was also true that whenever Dr. Hightower was found, his punishment would be swift and severe.
It was not clear what was in store for his assistant. There were still questions regarding what would happen to Scott Ferguson, Lex Luthor’s employee tasked with guarding Lois while disguised as her cameraman after completing his job with Hightower. Instrumental in both the implementation of the scheme in the first place as well as its demise, no one yet knew how his punishment would be dealt with. The lawyer hired to defend him was confident his change of heart and following actions would see a reduction in charges and whatever sentence he might have coming.
Luthor had so cleanly inserted himself into the places he wished to be by merely replacing the person who rightfully belonged there with himself. All that was needed was to put that person back. There were also several instances where it was discovered that some questionable folks had been placed in positions of power by Luthor and surprise didn’t quite describe how others reacted to learning the truth of those they worked with.
The last bit of the puzzle, the inconceivable number of record changes, proved to be difficult though. The young woman, Anna Seville, tasked with changing them was nowhere to be found. Of course, if Scott hadn’t been able to give her name, they wouldn’t even know who they were looking for. She was good, had encrypted everything she’d worked with and S.T.A.R. Labs had a team of engineers working to unravel it all. Once that was done everything would be back to the way it had been.
Everything except Lois and Clark.
They couldn’t go back to the way things had been. They were
married now and
expecting. Their lives would never be the same again. But Perry wasn’t concerned. He’d watched them grow and get to know each other, fall in love. If anyone could handle the strange turn of events, it was them.
They came to Metropolis this morning and gave their statements to the police. He was there, supporting them. It was difficult to hear more of what they had endured during all of this. But they were going to work through it as they always had. They ran an errand he didn’t ask about and then he joined them for lunch. It was good to see them together, to catch up.
They sat at the same restaurant where’d they’d met after the real destruction of the Planet. The one just across the street with seating outside. It was a seasonably cold day in Metropolis, but Clark had insisted on sitting in the sunniest spot they could find. The waiter looked at him as if he’d lost his mind, but Perry just eyed him curiously and smiled inside as they ordered and chatted. Now, Clark sat, leaning forward, his back straight, his face relaxed despite the bruising – the only visible evidence that anything was unusual.
“So, you’ve remembered the wedding,” he said, nodding to Clark, who inclined his head in response. “And you haven’t,” he said, nodding to Lois.
She gave a weak smile as she shook her head. “He’s told me about some of it.”
“Not all of it?”
“Well, I don’t remember it completely … yet,” Clark defended himself.
On their way to the cabin after everything that took place the morning before, Clark had explained that his memories weren’t locked by just one key, but under layers of them. He was not surprised by any of that, but his excuse of his “strong mind” made Perry chuckle.
“And we would have all remembered it eventually anyway?” Perry smiled at them.
“Yep,” Lois confirmed.
“We’ve been wondering if Hightower knew that or planned it,” Clark said. “Seems like there had to be a reason it would be that way.”
“Great shades of Elvis,” Perry said, shaking his head. “This is gonna fill the front page for weeks to come.”
Lois took a sip from her drink as Clark took another bite of food, and Perry took it to mean they weren’t ready to talk about it yet. Changing the subject, he started, “Look, I know things are a mess and you two have a lot to work through. Hell, lots of adjustments are going to be made.” He waved his hand in a wide arch. “But you two can stay at the cabin as long as you need and once you’re ready to get back to work, your jobs will be waiting for you.”
“Thanks, Chief,” Clark said.
“And if you need help finding a place in town, let me know.”
“Thanks, Chief,” Lois said.
“And if there’s anything else you need help with, you can count on me.”
“We know.” Clark smiled at Lois, and Perry smiled at the picture he saw before him.
Years ago, when the cynical, demanding Lois Lane interrupted his interview of the sensible, down-to-earth Clark Kent, Perry had seen the look on Clark’s face. It took Lois quite a bit longer to realize it herself, but once she did, Perry wasn’t surprised at all. These two were meant for each other.
“So, when does Superman intend to make his return?” he asked raising his eyebrows and pointedly looking between them.
“Uh… We have no idea,” Lois answered as Clark tried to keep his last bite of food in his mouth.
“You sure?” Perry asked, smiling at Clark. “Because I know you two had the inside scoop on that guy. More than anyone. And since it turns out Luthor had his grubby hands in that phony trip to space, too… Well, I’m just not sure what to expect…”
There wasn’t much color in Clark’s face to begin with, but what was there disappeared. Perry winked at him, saw Clark’s jerk of surprise when he realized what Perry was getting at.
“The trip wasn’t phony. We all saw him leave, Perry,” Lois pointed out. “They said he wouldn’t be back for five years or so.”
“Now, Lois,” he said, turning to face her, “you and I both know that
that part of the story isn’t true.”
She sat up straighter, her eyes taking on that threatening glare he’d missed these past two months. Her defenses were up. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Chief.”
Perry lifted his eyebrows, watching her and waiting for her to acknowledge what he was insinuating. Clark reached for her hand and grasped it. They had some silent conversation between them that Perry imagined would have involved some amount of yelling had it been out loud.
“I don’t know, Perry,” Clark finally answered. “He’s … not sure when his powers will return or how he’d explain his absence.”
The surprise he would have felt was already tempered by the shock of having seen him at the house when they arrived looking for Lois. He’d known something must have happened to Clark, but he assumed there would be more searching involved. Then when he’d noticed the kryptonite shards on the ground as they walked back to the front of the house, he knew the situation was more severe.
Perry nodded his approval of the admission. “I’ve got some ideas on that front.”
“How did you-” Lois began.
“Lois,” Perry interrupted, “I did not become editor of a major newspaper because I can yodel.”
***
Clark ran as fast as he could. The dogs barked and growled and howled ferociously as they chased him. How many were there? Six? Ten? His legs felt like lead weights as he struggled to move them. Any second they would be on him, snapping at his heels. The gate signifying his freedom came into view as he rounded the corner. His legs became even heavier, the growling closer. He opened his mouth to scream as he pushed himself with all he had, but no sound came forth. Something snatched at his hand, pulling him down. He tried to jerk it away but was suddenly paralyzed.
“Clark?” he heard a soft, familiar voice call to him.
His eyes flew open.
It was a dream.
He was uncomfortably squished into a stiff chair near a window in a small hospital room, bright afternoon sunlight streaming in on him. Scott lay asleep in the bed. Lois crouched next to Clark. It was her hand that held his, gently. She looked at him with concern in her eyes.
Reminding himself of what the day had already held – relaying the sad tale to the police, removing the only remaining hold of Luthor with Dr. Klein, an enlightening lunch with Perry – calmed him further and relieved the panic from the dream. He closed his eyes and stretched as much as he could in the tiny space and without releasing her hand. “How long was I asleep?” he asked as he opened his eyes to look at her beautiful face.
“Maybe half an hour?” Lois answered. “What were you dreaming about?” she asked as she stood up. He kept his hold on her hand.
“Being chased by some angry dogs.” He huffed at the dream. Then he sat straighter, glancing toward the motionless figure in the hospital bed. “Any change?”
She looked over at Scott and shook her head. “No, but the doctor thinks he should wake up within the hour now that he’s off the meds they gave him.” He nodded as she turned to him and squeezed his hand. “How are you?”
He smiled and pulled her to sit on his lap. She giggled as she sat down, her laughter chasing away the remnants of his dream. “I love you,” he said as he nuzzled her ear.
“I love you, too,” she whispered as she turned to press her lips to his. Ever soft, they left him wanting more, but the sound of movement from the hospital bed put an end to it.
He reluctantly released his hold on her as she stood but was pleased when she returned after she realized Scott had only moved. She sat back down on his lap keeping her eyes on Scott. Clark wrapped his arms around her, intertwining their fingers, and asked the question he hadn’t thought to ask until now. “Do you know why he helped us? I mean, I know he worked for Luthor. But why did he … switch sides, so to speak?”
Lois sighed and leaned her head back on his shoulder. “His sister.”
Clark frowned. There was so much he didn’t know about Scott. Clark simply trusted him because he seemed to know what was going on. Scott held out a life-preserver when Clark was flailing, and Clark latched on to it. He’d been surprised to hear that Scott was part of it all. Perhaps this was the person to whom he’d made the promise he spoke of back in that hotel room in Columbia.
“Samantha,” Lois continued. “I met her a few times. Very sweet and young. Innocent. She died about two weeks ago.” She looked toward Clark. “Pancreatic cancer. Just before she died, she remembered what Hightower had done to her and told Scott.”
“He changed her memories, too?”
“More than that.” She squeezed his hands and looked away but didn’t expand on that, and Clark didn’t push her to. “That was when Scott realized what kind of monsters he was working for. Hightower. And Lex.”
“He told me about his promise to end it. I was too caught up in my own misery to think to ask,” Clark admitted.
“That treble clef he wears belonged to her. When he first started singing to me, I thought it was because he missed his sister. She loved Nat King Cole.”
A groan came from the hospital bed drawing both Lois and Clark to the bedside. When they reached it, a dreary eyed Scott looked up at them.
“Hey,” he said, his voice scratchy.
“Hey,” Lois said. “Thank you,” she added, hugging him. When she sat up from the hug, she smiled at Scott. “You’re okay, aren’t you?” she asked. Despite having been assured multiple times by multiple people, Clark couldn’t blame Lois for not being sure until she saw for herself.
“I’m okay,” Scott confirmed, smiling back at her. “Sore, but okay. And you guys? You two are okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, as she reached for Clark’s hand.
“And it’s all over?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Clark answered.
Scott sighed as he leaned his head back on the pillow. “What happened? The last thing I remember, we were still in the house at the bottom of the bluff trying to figure a way out.”
“Lex knocked you out with something in a syringe when he came back with his … weapon,” Lois explained. “It broke as they fought over it and then it exploded.”
“Lois got out before then,” Clark amended. “We were trying to get you out of the window when we all got blasted out.”
“
We?”
“Lex and I,” Clark admitted. “I don’t know why he helped, but I’m glad he did.”
“He died.” Lois added, a hint of grief tinging her voice. If he hadn’t understood everything that had happened over the past two months, Clark would have been angry, but even he still felt the guilt placed there by that madman.
“What about the rest of them?”
“The police have everyone but Hightower and Montgomery,” Lois answered. “Apparently, I was the last person to see them two days ago.”
“And Seville?”
“No one even knows where to look for her.” Clark said.
“She’ll probably be hard to find. I never even saw her.” Scott took a slow deep breath. Clark saw the lines of strain and could hear the guilt in his sigh. It was all too familiar.
“Scott,” Clark began, “none of us would be here right now if it weren’t for you. You vowed to stop that monster and you did. Lex is gone. Hightower won’t be able to show his face anywhere without getting arrested. The weapon Montgomery made is destroyed and everyone’s getting back to normal.”
“He’s right,” Lois said, nodding. “Perry tells us the lawyer he found thinks things won’t be too bad for you.”
“It’s fine,” he said solemnly. “I’m ready to accept the consequences. I’m just glad I was able to help end all of it.”
“And you were right,” Clark said, nodding to Lois. “She knew exactly what to do.”
Lois looked at him then. “What did I know?”
“How to get his powers back.” Scott smiled at her then. “I didn’t even know how they’d been turned off.”
“Well, they aren’t back yet,” Clark corrected. “But they will be.”
***
February 1, 1996
“How long do we have to wait here?” Lois asked, exasperated. She leaned back on the sterile pillow and threw her arm over her head.
“Just a few more minutes,” Clark assured. She felt his fingers slide into her open hand and interlace themselves with hers.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked. “Are you feeling any more
normal yet?”
“I’m fine.” He said, squeezing her hand. “Don’t worry about me.” Opening her eyes, she met his as he sat in the doctor’s chair beside the examination table. “What exactly is supposed to happen here, anyway?” he asked, looking around at all the equipment filling the room.
She smiled at his attempt to distract her as she sat up. “Well,” she started, fiddling with his fingers in her hand, “they’ll ask me a bunch of questions that I won’t know the answer to. We’ll feel incredibly awkward about it. Then they’ll see what they can tell with the ultrasound.”
“What questions are we not going to know the answers to?” he asked with a hint of mischief.
“The date of my last period.” She held up her hand and shrugged. “Whether anything unusual has happened the last few weeks.” She rolled her eyes. “Who the father is…”
“Me,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I’m the father.” He kissed her fingers then and smiled up at her. That genuine smile that made everything fine even in the worst circumstances. Despite everything that had happened, he was so obviously happy they were married and starting a family and she drank it in. “What are they going to be able to tell us with the ultrasound?” he prompted.
She was certain he knew the answer to this question. Even though he didn’t have his superpowers, he still retained all the information he’d learned … ever. But she answered his questions anyway. “Well, we should be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat-”
“
Our baby’s heartbeat,” he corrected.
She smiled as she continued, “They should be able to tell us how far along I am-”
“How far along
we are,” he corrected again.
Her smile grew. “A due date.”
His eyes twinkled.
“This is all so weird. I don’t even feel pregnant,” she said, shaking her head. “Shouldn’t I be having cravings or be sick or … something?”
“You have been sick,” Clark reminded her.
“Yeah, but only when I’m thinking about … everything that happened.”
Clark squeezed her hand as he smiled sympathetically at her.
“I haven’t gained any weight, either. Shouldn’t there be a bump or something? Oh, God! What if something is wrong with the baby?” she thought out loud, bringing her free hand up to cover her mouth.
“Lois, you’re jumping to conclusions.” He scooted the chair closer to her and pulled her hand from her mouth. “You can ask the doctor all these things when he comes in.”
A knock at the door stopped their conversation and was followed by the entry of the doctor. “Hi, folks!” the entirely too chipper man said as he came in. “I’m Dr. Jackson.”
Lois flinched at his entrance, but Clark didn’t move.
“Clark,” he introduced himself, a half smile on his mouth.
“Lois,” she said, smiling back at Clark. The doctor cleared his throat bringing Lois’s attention to him. Clark stood from his seated position and moved to stand beside Lois opposite of where the doctor now sat on his chair.
“Nice to meet you both,” he started. “Dr. Klein tells me I have to take
extra special care of you two.”
“You came very highly recommended,” Clark acknowledged with a nod, though Dr. Jackson couldn’t know just how highly recommended he was if Dr. Klein would trust him with Superman’s baby.
“And I’ve heard quite a bit about you two in the last week. Is it all true?”
Lois was saved from her snarky response by Clark, who merely responded, “As long as you didn’t read it in a tabloid. Could we just get on with the appointment, please?”
“Certainly.” Dr. Jackson had the decency to look chagrined as he flipped through the pages on his clipboard. “Before we get started I have just a few questions that the nurse didn’t get from you.” He paused and flipped back to the first page. “What was the date of your last period?”
“Given that you’ve heard so much about us already,” Clark nearly snapped, “you probably know there’s a lot we don’t know.”
Lois bit her lip to keep from smiling. “The last period I remember was November 2nd,” she supplied. “I don’t know if there was one since then.” She appreciated his protectiveness, but she leveled Clark with a look that she hoped told him to calm down.
“Right,” the doctor said, making a note. “And we already know plenty of unusual things have happened recently, so we’ll keep an eye out for any ill effects.” He looked up and smiled at Clark, lifting his eyebrows. “And you’re the father?”
“Yes,” Clark answered confidently but the look he was giving the doctor surely would have vaporized him had he had his powers back already.
“Actually...” Lois started, knowing it had to be said, “we … can’t be sure. We’re hoping you can shed some light on that.”
This is embarrassing, she thought as she leaned back on the table. She was a perfectly responsible adult, in charge of her own life, making reasonable choices, living within her means.
She had accepted that she was pregnant, for the most part, even if it wasn’t under the circumstances she would have liked. First, it would have been nice to remember her wedding. Second, she had imagined she and her husband would think about it and plan for it. Third, and the most frustrating difference, she assumed there would be no question about the identity of the father. Not knowing who the father of your child is was a problem for someone else. Not her.
“Interesting,” Dr. Jackson said, thankfully with no judgement in his voice. “So, you might have been pregnant before you were abducted two months ago?”
“It’s possible,” she answered.
“Well, let’s get started then,” Dr. Jackson said as Clark took a seat on a stool at Lois’s side, “and see what we can find out.”
The doctor had Lois expose her abdomen while she reclined on the table as he positioned the machine beside him with the screen positioned where Lois and Clark would be able to see it. He gave a quick rundown of what he would do, squirted a cold gel on her smooth and still flat belly, and touched the transducer to her abdomen.
Lois couldn’t tell anything from the picture. It looked like static on a TV when it’s tuned to a channel that doesn’t exist. Lightly pressing at first, he moved the transducer around until he found what he was looking for.
“Okay, here we go,” he said flipping one of the many switches on the machine parked beside him. A faint thump could be heard over the speaker. As he pressed harder, the beat became louder. Strong and quick.
“I really am pregnant,” she said under her breath, a heavy weight settling on her.
When she looked to Clark and saw his dopey grin, she felt some of the weight disappear and laughed. His happiness over the situation did much to calm her nerves. The longer he kept acting this way, the more she believed it.
“152 beats per minute,” the doctor said. “Sounds fantastic. Let’s see how big the little guy or gal is.” The doctor began pressing even harder and clicking buttons while Lois watched.
Clark leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “Can you tell what we’re looking at?”
“No,” she whispered back. “Can you?”
“Well, I thought I saw a head and some arms there for a minute.” His dopey grin had returned.
Lois quickly turned her head to him. Head and arms? Should it have a head and arms yet? This was happening just a bit too fast for her.
“Alright. This right here,” Dr. Jackson said as he pointed to a fuzzy blob on the screen, “is your baby. Here-” he moved the image on the screen, then pointed to a smaller, wiggling blob, “-is your baby’s heart.”
They sat in silence for a few moments. Lois and Clark looked at the screen while the doctor jotted something down on the clipboard resting on the counter behind him. Watching the small, wiggling blob keep a steady pace made everything even more real.
This was happening.
“Looks like you are measuring about twelve weeks,” the doctor interrupted her thoughts, “which goes well enough with the date you gave of your last known period...” His voice trailed off as he looked back at his clipboard, and Lois turned her attention to Clark who sat beaming at her. “That puts your due date somewhere in the first week of August. It’s too early to tell the gender, but we can definitely look at that at your next appointment if you’re interested.” He looked up then, his face serious. “Unfortunately, since we can’t know the date of conception from this and you were abducted near the time conception would have been most likely, this isn’t enough information to say either way. We’d have to run a paternity test, which can be-”
“No!” Clark said quickly and firmly, a weary look in his eyes. She understood his reluctance perfectly. Perhaps this would be something Dr. Klein would have to handle for them.
“No,” she repeated more calmly. “It doesn’t matter. As long as the baby is healthy.”
“And it is.” The doctor stood and smiled at them. “Are there any questions I can answer for you?”
“Lois was wondering why she hasn’t had any symptoms of pregnancy,” Clark asked after Lois didn’t offer the question herself. “Is that normal?”
“Every woman experiences pregnancy differently,” the doctor offered. “The level of severity of symptoms and when they appear depends on a great many factors. I wouldn’t be concerned at this point since the ultrasound shows a healthy fetus. We’ll certainly keep an eye on things though.”
“Thank you,” Clark said shaking the doctor’s hand.
“No problem. I’ll give you two a few minutes in here and see you in a few weeks.”
Lois only nodded as she felt tears begin gathering in her eyes. As the doctor left, she cleaned off her abdomen and felt the first tears begin to fall. She swiped uselessly at them with her free hand, but she wasn’t able to stop them from coming. She couldn’t even say why exactly she was crying.
Clark chuckled and handed her a Kleenex from somewhere. Then he pulled her into a loving embrace, lifting her feet from the floor as he spun her around. He slowed as he kissed her before planting her feet back on the ground. “So,” he said, his smile wide, “it looks like we are having a baby in August.”
His happiness was contagious, and she smiled through her tears. “We are,” she agreed.
“See, I told you it would all work out.”
“How can you say that?” she asked, frowning. “There is still so much we don’t know.”
“Lois,” he said, “All I need to know is that I love you. Whatever happens, happens. And it will be unforgettable.”
***
The End ***
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