A/N: Thank you for the feedback, readers! And special thanso CC Aiken for the use of her characters from "In a Better Place". I don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine. The next part should be up within the next few days!
TOC From part 2...“I guess the most pressing question I have is: what am I doing here?”
“You’re here to help us find Lois, and save Utopia from a madman. If we don’t find Lois and bring her back in about…” Madge checked her watch, “three days and twenty hours, Utopia as we know it will begin to fall apart.”
“Why?”
“Clark,” Wells began when the others hesitated, “Utopia was built upon the ideals of you and Lois. If time is tampered with, if Lois is lost forever, Utopia may disappear.”
He had a nagging feeling that they weren’t telling him everything, but he’d accept that—for now. What choice did he have?
“What can I do to help?”
And now, on to part 3... “I suggest you have a cup of coffee and a pastry, Mr. Kent,” said Anna, speaking for the first time. “You’re going to need to keep up your strength.”
Clark nodded, and took one of the mugs. He didn’t want to waste time trying to explain that he didn’t exactly
need to eat. Besides, it was comforting to have a cup of coffee and normal…in a way.
Madge looked at her hands before continuing, “We have come up with only one option and it will be…taxing on you, to say the least. I feel I don’t need to ask you if—“
Clark interrupted her, “I’d do anything for Lois.”
Madge and Hank exchanged a meaningful smile.
“They know, Clark,” said Wells, “but you need to understand that it will be dangerous.”
“I understand,” Clark said. “What can I do?”
Hank leaned forward in his chair, “Put simply, we have a device which will allow you to exchange places with your counterpart.”
“Counterpart? In the other time dimension?”
“Yes.”
“Since you and Lois are soul mates, we’ve concluded that your counterpart should have contact with her at some point. You will have to be able to recognize Lois from her counterpart, and that may be difficult even for Superman.”
“I think Superman will be up for the challenge,” Clark said, before taking a sip of coffee. “When do we start?”
“As soon as you’re ready,” Madge stated. “Anna, would you?”
“Certainly,” Anna replied and glided out of the room.
“Now Clark,” Hank began, “when you arrive in the other time dimension, you will not be in your body. In fact, you’ll be a spectator and be able to watch what is going on through your counterpart’s eyes. However, if you
do need to take control, you can by willing it.”
“And,” Madge continued, “when you have been in your counterpart’s body long enough to determine if you’ve found Lois, all you have to do is think of the callback word.”
Clark took a deep breath, “Sounds easy enough. What’s the callback word?”
Keeping a straight face, Wells answered him, “Applesauce.”
“What?” asked Clark, thinking he hadn’t heard correctly.
Madge struggled to keep the grin off her face, “Andrus thought of it.”
“And that was his
only contribution to this mission,” added Hank. “Hopefully it will stay that way.”
“Thank goodness. If it weren’t for Andrus, I would have been out of that locker sooner,” said Wells, shaking his head.
“I still can’t believe it took him two days to figure out the combination lock,” Hank grinned. “Where did they send him now, Madge?”
“I think he ended up in Waste Management.”
Hank chuckled, “Fitting.”
“Now Hank, it wasn’t—“
“Here you are, Madge,” said Anna as she breezed through the door.
“Thank you dear,” Madge said as Anna placed a small round device in her hand. She looked at Clark before asking, “Are you ready?”
As Clark set down his mug, he felt a flurry of butterflies in his stomach. Was he ready? He wasn’t sure, but then, he really didn’t have much of a choice. “Yes, I’m ready.”
“Then lie down and relax. I’ll place this on your temple and when it’s activated, you’ll feel a bit dizzy and then you’ll be there.”
Clark did as she asked and took a deep breath.
“Good luck, Clark.”
When he felt her place the small device on his temple, he closed his eyes and willed himself to be ready for anything.
Hold on Lois, he thought,
hold on, I’m coming.~*~
After several wrong turns, Lois finally found her way out of the house. She snorted; house wasn’t quite the right word. The place was more like a mansion than a house—in every way. Everything was so…big. And the hallways were confusing enough to be a labyrinth. She hadn’t wanted to ask one of the servants for directions. Getting another of those odd looks was not something she wanted to experience any time soon. She had found the front door by a stroke of luck and now here she was, standing on the doorstep.
Doorstep might not be the proper term though…Lois shook her head. It really didn’t matter what she called the ‘doorstep’. All that mattered was finding Clark and figuring out how to get back to her honeymoon.
The breeze picked up, making her shiver and attempt to wrap the cloak tightly around her. It was so cold she half-expected to see frost on the ground, but there wasn’t any that she could see. The sun was shining dimly through a bit of fog. Lois thought it almost seemed like the sun was covered by a cloak of sadness…
She looked around, hoping to spot something that would look like a place for a horse. It wasn’t long before she spotted a nice-sized wooden building. As she neared the stable, she could see people bustling around the opening. One of them looked remarkably familiar…
Lois squinted to get a better look.
Could it be? she asked herself. For a moment she studied the man carefully. Then her lips parted and she almost called out a name—but the man had gone inside the building before she could.
Excitement bubbled inside her as she forced herself to walk calmly to the stables. It wouldn’t do for an English lady to be seen running about willy-nilly. She at least knew that much.
By the time she had reached the entrance, she could no longer contain herself. “Clark?” she called.
A horse whinnied and then he appeared. Relief washed over her like a wave making her feel giddy. It
was Clark. He had changed though, wearing rough clothes and with a beard growing in. A jaunty cap sat atop his head and he was holding a pitchfork. At least, Lois thought it was a pitchfork.
Clark smiled at her and she felt her insides melt. Everything was going to be alright.
“Lady Claire, your horse already
knows you’re here. You don’t have to call out his name,” he said, eyes twinkling.
Lois stared at him, utterly stunned and not quite comprehending why she felt this way.
He’s not Clark, she realized as her heart sank.
I’m all alone, Clark is not here. Before she could stop herself, tears gathered in her eyes. It felt as if the world was crashing down around her. This was not the way it was supposed to be after one got married…
She struggled to hide her tears, but before she could the man noticed. His eyes softened and his face filled with concern. Quickly, he took a step toward her, hand outstretched. He checked himself, however, before she had a chance to react.
“Claire…” he said in a strained voice, “come and check on your horse.”
Lois nodded mutely, and followed him into a nearby stall. A beautiful, black horse stood inside and nickered softly when she entered. Almost instinctively, Lois found herself stroking his velvety nose as the horse gave a quiet huff.
Strong arms encircled her waist and Lois unconsciously leaned back on the man who looked just like Clark. She couldn’t figure out why she did it, only that it felt right. This was probably why she didn’t flinch when he buried his face in her hair.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” the words slipped out before she could think about the impact they would have.
The man moaned quietly and lifted his head. “We don’t have a choice, Claire. I—we’ve tried to come up with a better plan for over a month. This is the only way.” He turned her around and cupped her face with his hands. “And when it’s all over, everything will be all right. We’ll get married, and live in the little cottage that we’ve always talked about.”
Then he kissed her deeply, full of passion. Lois found herself kissing him back even while her mind commanded her to stop. No matter how loud her inner voice shouted, her lips wouldn’t listen. She half-wondered if she was in full control of herself.
Finally, she felt herself break off the kiss. Lois looked into the man’s eyes and said, “We don’t have much time.” For a moment, she couldn’t decide why she spoke. It was almost as if…
Focus Lois, she mentally shook her head,
is it really the right time to be analyzing everything?The man sighed, and then nodded. “You’re right, of course. It seems as though we never have enough time…” he trailed off.
“We will,” she assured him, “we have to.”
He smiled at her, before continuing, “Now, you need to remember a few things. Never call me ‘Lewis’. The entire plan would fall apart quickly if my true identity was known and the consequences would be…dire, to say the least.”
Lewis…his name is Lewis. But I’m not supposed to call him Lewis.“What do I call you then? My groom?”
“Yes, I believe that would suit our purposes. We’re lucky you love Clark so much, otherwise this would be much harder.”
I think this is hard enough as it is, she thought.
“Also, do not act on any part of the plan unless you’re certain it’s the right moment. I can lead you every step of the way, if you need me to.”
Lois smiled at him, “Thank you.”
Clark snorted and pawed the ground with his hoof.
Lewis grinned, “I think he wants his sugar…”
Unconsciously, Lois stuck her hand in her cloak pocket…and found a lump of sugar inside. Carefully, she placed the sugar in the palm of her hand and fed it to the horse. His lips tickled her hand and she was very relieved the horse didn’t bite.
After the sugar disappeared, Lois gave the horse a pat and turned to see Lewis watching. His eyes were so full of determination that a small spark of hope appeared in her heart. Despite everything, she had at least one friend.
Lois only hoped that she could avoid kissing him a second time. Even though he looked like Clark, he wasn’t and therefore it was wrong to kiss him. Cheating on her husband the day after they were married was the last thing Lois wanted to do.
“Claire…” Lewis said, taking a step forward.
“I should go.”
He nodded, “You’re right, the carriage will soon be ready.”
She turned to go, but before she could take a step Lewis took hold of her hand and drew her into a tight embrace. When he finally spoke, his voice was stronger than it had been before. “Everything will be all right,” he promised.
Lois hoped what he said would turn out to be true.
After a long moment, he released her and smiled sadly. “You should go,” he said softly.
She stepped away from him and was almost out of the stall when she had the urge to stop. “Everything will be all right,” she repeated, and gave Lewis a reassuring smile.
As she walked out of the stables, Lois felt as though she had regained some of her confidence. Everything was still strange, but she had someone on her side. Besides, it wasn’t like Lois Lane, fearless reporter to be struck down by a weird situation. She also knew that Clark would be looking for her and she was determined to find a way to get back. No matter what.
~*~
A quiet chuckle echoed in the empty apartment. From the shadows emerged a man—a man who had seen everything that had taken place a short while before. He glanced around, but knew that he was completely alone in Clark Kent’s apartment.
“They’ve behaved exactly as predicted, the fools,” he muttered to the scattered pillows. And what did it matter? Everything was going according to plan and all would be well even if his plot
was unraveled. He always had another devious plan—and the next one would be even better.
He sighed, knowing it was time to begin the next phase. He only wished that he had more time to gloat…but it didn’t matter. It was more pleasurable to gloat to a crowd of people than to a vacant apartment.
One last snicker escaped his lips as he pulled out a device. Quickly he opened a time window and disappeared, leaving no trace that he was ever in Clark Kent’s abode.
~*~
To be continued...on Wednesday (hopefully).
