Here it is! The final part of The More Things Stay the Same and (possibly) the final installment of the Try Not to Change Anything Series. Not saying I won't ever come back to it but it seems to have run it's course with my muse. I realize that there are still many unanswered questions. Did Wells ever realize his mistake? Maybe. I wrote this entire series according to challenge prompts and didn't really decide anything beyond them because I wanted it to be open for future stories. And maybe some day there will yet be future stories (perhaps for next year's Kerth Challenge). Speaking of challenge prompts, we have finally arrived at the scene required by Kerth Challenge #4. Since it's been awhile, here's a reminder of the prompt:

Kerth Challenge #4: The What Dreams May Come Challenge!
Lois had a dream about Clark the night before and wakes up....ANGRY at him. In the dream, Clark has done something to really tick her off, but what is it? It can be silly or serious but poor Clark won't know what hit him when she arrives at the Planet that morning, still steamed...

And so without further ado...

The More Things Stay the Same
Part 8

Clark sat at his desk in the bullpen, but he wasn’t working. His head hung low and his eyes stared blankly into the middle distance. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice when Perry walked up to him. The editor laid a hand on his shoulder, startling him out of his stupor.

“Easy there, son,” Perry said. “You alright?”

Clark took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I… I didn’t get much sleep last night.” It wasn’t a lie. After leaving Lois at her mother’s apartment, he had flow aimlessly, circling the globe for hours as he tried to think of some way to save his marriage. He was at a loss what to do. He just kept seeing her in his mind – walking out the door with no intention of ever returning.

How could he win her back?

How could he make her see that what they had was worth fighting for – with or without her memories?

He’d told her they could start over and he’d fully intended to do just that – start as friends, get to know her all over again, fall in love a second time… or would it be a third? It didn’t matter. He would win her love a thousand times if he had to – if only she would let him try.

But somewhere over the past month, she had decided that regaining her memories or learning to live her life as it was, without them, was too difficult. She wanted to pretend that the last three years had never happened. But it wasn’t just three years. It was more than twenty.

She seemed to have accepted that her mind had simply blocked out all of her memories of him in their childhood and teen years. He had never figured out how to explain their experiences with time travel so he had kept his answers vague when she asked about those pictures. She eventually stopped asking.

Now he was thinking that he should have told her everything – Superman, H.G. Wells, time travel, everything. He’d been so worried about saying or doing the wrong thing. It was the whole situation with Deter all over again – except this time he’d lost her all on his own.

Perry cleared his throat and Clark realized that he’d let his thoughts wander again. He shook his head. “Sorry, Chief. What were you saying?”

Perry eyed him skeptically. “It’s not like you to be so spacey. Maybe you should take the day off. Where’s Lois?”

Clark winced. “I don’t know,” he admitted, looking blankly at his computer.

“You don’t know?”

With a heavy sigh, Clark lowered his head into his hands and felt a shudder roll through his body. “She left me, Perry,” he said quietly. He didn’t look up to see his editor’s response.

The older man was silent for several moments. He shifted his weight awkwardly. “Ah… well. I’m sure it’s not all that bad. You know how Lois can be. And with her memory loss… she probably just needs a little space.”

“She wants a divorce,” Clark added bluntly. The word tasted bitter on his tongue.

“Oh… well, uh…” Perry laid a hand on Clark’s shoulder. “You know, this reminds me of the time when Elvis and Priscila – ”

“Please, Chief. No Elvis anecdotes. I just…” Clark stopped talking and lifted his head as his hearing caught a familiar heartbeat coming up the elevator. It was beating faster than usual, as though she’d been running or was really worked up over something. Sure enough, when the elevator doors opened a moment later, Lois stepped out looking about ready to throttle someone.

She stopped at the top of the bullpen, scanning about until her eyes found him. Clark gulped, realizing that her fury was apparently directed at him. But why? He hadn’t seen her since last night. What could he have possibly done to incite her wrath?

There wasn’t any time to ponder it. She stormed down the ramp and stopped directly in front of him, ignoring Perry who opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance.

“Clark! I – ” Lois started and stopped. She frowned and looked around the newsroom. Then she directed her glare back at Clark. “Conference room. Now!” she ordered before storming off to the conference room herself.

Clark stared after her. Then he looked back at Perry who shrugged and threw his hands up in the air. “Go. Get this thing sorted out. But don’t take too long – we’ve still got a paper to put out.”

A minute later, Clark found Lois in the conference room lowering all of the blinds to give them some semblance of privacy. As soon as he shut the door, she turned on him.

“I can’t believe you! How could you do this to me?”

“Do?”

“Do you have any idea how this makes me feel?”

“Lois, what – ?”

“Didn’t you think I ought to know? I’m supposed to be your wife for crying out loud. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

“Tell you what?”

Lois stopped and looked at him as though realizing for the first time that he had no idea what she was talking about. Then she glared again. “That you’re – ” she stopped, glanced at the door, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “That you’re Superman.”

Clark’s eyes widened. “You know? How did you figure it out?”

“It doesn’t matter how I figured it out. I shouldn’t have had to figure it out. You should have told me.”

Lois looked ready to begin pacing but Clark took her hand and led her to a chair, gesturing for her to sit down before sitting next to her and turning to face her. He clasped her hand between both of his and looked at her earnestly. “You’re right. I should have. But please, Lois. Tell me how you figured it out.”

She seemed to be thrown off by being told she was right. She opened her mouth as if to argue but paused and shook her head. “I didn’t… figure it out per say. I just… I had a dream last night and then I just knew.”

“A dream?” Clark felt hope bubble in his chest. “What was your dream?”

Lois frowned, thought for a moment, and then pulled her hand away from his and stood back up. This time she did start pacing. “I don’t know. It was a dream. I can’t remember. That’s not the point, though. The point is that you should have told me weeks ago. It should have been the first thing you told me. How could you be married to me and keep something this big from your wife?”

Clark stood up as well and caught her by the shoulders, turning her to face him. “Lois, please. Try to remember your dream.”

“Why?”

“Humor me.”

Lois looked ready to pull away and ignore his request but something made her stop. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I was… flying with Superman. But then it wasn’t Superman. It was you. You were wearing a tux and you were younger. We were talking about flying and… the prom… and something about frogs…”

Clark grinned and couldn’t suppress the chuckle that rose up out of him.

Lois glared. “What’s so funny?”

Clark shook his head. “Not funny. Just… Lois that wasn’t just a dream. It was a memory.”

“It was?”

Clark nodded. “You remembered something.”

“I remembered something? I did!” Lois beamed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Clark picked her up and spun her around. They both laughed. “I remembered something!” Lois repeated. And then her lips were on his.

The kiss only lasted a moment but it was like water in the desert. Clark felt whole again.

She pulled away and stepped back, blushing and refusing to meet his eyes. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” She bit her lower lip and then brushed her fingers against her lips, her gaze drifting off towards nothing.

“It’s alright.” Clark insisted, although part of him was aching to kiss her again – to keep kissing her and never let her go. But she wasn’t ready for that. Maybe though… maybe this was the first step towards getting them back on track. Maybe she wouldn’t leave now. Maybe she would get all of her memories back. But even if she didn’t – so long as he could convince her to stay, to give them another shot. It would be okay.

“Do remember anything else?” he asked.

Lois shook her head slowly, though her gaze remained distant. After a moment, her lips parted in a silent gasp. “I remember…” she whispered. “I remember kissing you… when you dropped me off after the prom…”

She turned to look at him, her fingers still on her lower lip. “Kiss me again.”

She didn’t have to ask him twice.

He took her back into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers, tasting her, caressing her lips with his tongue, begging for entry and deepening the kiss when it was given. He tangled his hand in her hair and held her close to him. This. This was where he longed to be every day for the rest of his life.

Please, he begged silently. Please, remember me.

Lois gasped suddenly and leaned back, though she didn’t step out of his embrace. “I do remember. I remember kissing you here, in the newsroom, and at home, and in my old apartment, and on a balcony in the snow, and on your parent’s couch and… oh, Clark. I remember so much. It’s all coming back. I can’t believe I forgot so much…”

Her eyes suddenly grew wide in horror. “Last night…” she whispered. “Clark, I’m so sorry.”

But Clark just shook his head and pulled her close again, pressing his face into her neck, breathing deeply the scent of her shampoo and her perfume and that scent that was just uniquely her. “It’s alright. It doesn’t matter.”

And it didn’t. She was here now – in his arms, where she belonged. Her memories were returning and soon this whole thing would be behind them – like so many other crazy adventures. They would move on to another story, another adventure, another new or old memory.

Even though so much had changed, some things would always stay the same.


Comment can go here. Thanks for reading!