Okay, this isn't really just part 9 -- it is sort of part 9, 10, and 11 that I had posted previously
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The next part is written, but I am just waiting for my BR's wonderful, insightful comments
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TOC - Parts 1-8 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as the Drs. Lois and Clark had gathered all the research notes that they needed, the small group quickly made their way out the Dr. Lane and Dr. Kent’s office. The professors expertly avoided everyone that looked like they wanted to start a conversation. Obviously they were two very popular people in their department. Students and professors alike all stopped to talk to them along the way. However, no one succeeded in breaking their concentration. They were people on a mission!
Before long, they had made their way to the large parking lot behind the BME building. Wells had a good idea what car probably belonged to his companions. Since the Lois Lane of his world owned a large Jeep Grand Cherokee, he assumed that the Lois Lane of this world would own one too.
He was quite surprised when they stopped next to a sporty convertible. Hmm, that was strange. It certainly wasn’t the car that he pictured them owning.
“This is your car?” Wells wondered in surprise.
“Yeah, it’s mine, actually,” Clark said. Why did Wells seem so surprised about that? “What kind of car did you think we’d have?”
Since Wells was only vaguely familiar with the different cars of this time period, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Indeed, I believe I was mistaken, for the Clark Kent of my universe does not own a car. Lois Lane owns a large Jeep, as I believe it is called.”
Lois raised her eyebrows. “A Jeep?” Okay, maybe she and the other Lois had one or two things in common. “I drive a Jeep. It’s at home.” No, they couldn’t have the same car.
“Yeah, we took my car today because it was a nice day and Lois wanted to ride with the top down.”
Lois wrinkled her nose at her husband and stuck her tongue out. “I don’t think so, honey. I think you were the one who suggested we take your car.”
“Okay, fine, let’s not fight about it. Even though you were the one that wanted told me you wanted to feel the wind in your hair.”
Lois felt her face turning red. She whispered, “That’s not what I meant!”
Then Clark changed the subject because he knew not to rile his wife up any further, “Mr. Wells, you said that the Clark of your world doesn’t even own a car?”
“Indeed, he does not.”
“How does he get around?” Lois wondered.
“I suppose he either walks or lets his wife drive him.”
Lois rolled her eyes. “That’s how Clark used to be until I made him get his own car.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, that and I thought it would be fun to ride around town in a convertible.”
Clark laughed and wrapped his arms around his wife. “She likes the wind in her hair. That’s why she likes flying with me so much.”
Wells, a little nervous about where this conversation was headed, wanted to change the subject of conversation. He could have feigned innocence about the type of car they were riding in, but he couldn’t fake it that well. In the future in his universe, he had studied the evolution of the automobile through the years. In fact, he could probably consider himself an expert in the automotive industry. Even if he didn’t know the specifics of the model that they were riding in, he knew enough about how convertibles worked and how the cars in general worked for him to try to feign innocence.
Luckily, Wells did not have to pretend that he had questions about their automobile.
Lois changed the subject, “Come on, Clark. Let’s just get in the car. We’re just wasting time here! The sooner we get home, the sooner we can travel to the alternate universe!”
She was getting really excited about the prospect of not only traveling to another dimension, but also of meeting a woman that seemed so different from her yet so like her at the same time. It was quite a paradox and she wanted to see it for herself.
Clark shrugged his shoulders and unlocked the doors with his little remote control. Yes, Lois was definitely a no-nonsense kind of person – and that was one of the many, many reasons he loved her so much. She complimented him so well – covered his weaknesses with her strengths. In this case, opposites definitely did attract.
After a short ride, in which Wells barely talked because he was busy taking in the scenery of this Metropolis, they arrived to what he was sure was Lois and Clark’s home. During the ride, the streets became more and more familiar to him. He almost didn’t believe it, but this Lois Lane and Clark Kent lived on Hyperion Avenue! And his breath almost stopped when they car pulled into a driveway of a quaint brownstone that looked exactly like the house he was so familiar with in his universe!
“Oh my!” Wells exclaimed.
“What?” Lois wondered.
She had been watching Wells as they drove through the city. There was something very strange about the way he was acting.
“Indeed, my dear Dr. Lane, this looks exactly like the house that the Lois Lane and Clark Kent of my universe live in. It is even on the same street and the address is exactly the same – 348 Hyperion Avenue!”
“You’re kidding,” Clark said in a non-committal tone. He wasn’t sure if he had expected the coincidence or if he was surprised about it. After all, he was not the expert on alternate universes.
Before Wells could answer, he caught a glimpse of the Jeep Grand Cherokee that was parked on the other side of the driveway. It was not a silver one like the Lois of his dimension owned, but it looked exactly the same – only gold! However, he decided not to mention this fact to Dr. Lane and Dr. Kent. He had already pointed out enough coincidences for them. It was probably best to leave the element of surprise. It was the same reason that he did not show them the picture of the Lois and Clark of his world that he held in his pocket. A little element of surprise was definitely beneficial to everyone involved. It made life more exciting.
Instead of dwelling on the similarities, Lois and Clark had decided to get out of the Jeep and head towards the house. It wasn’t a good idea to talk about traveling to an alternate universe in the middle of their driveway. Their neighbors probably thought they were crazy enough as it was!
“Mr. Wells, why don’t we continue this discussion inside?” Lois said.
“Oh, indeed, quite a wonderful idea.”
Once they walked through the front door, Wells had to bite his bottom lip to keep from gasping in shock. This house was the house he had visited so many times in the past! How could they be so similar yet so different? Even though he had never studied either of the houses extremely thoroughly, at a first glance they looked exactly the same!
“Mr. Wells?” Clark wondered as he waved his hand in front of the older man’s face.
“Oh, Dr. Kent, indeed I believe I must have lost my concentration.”
Lois furrowed her brow. Why would he have lost his concentration? Unless… “Mr. Wells, please don’t tell me that this house is exactly the same as our house in your world!”
Wells shrugged his shoulders showing that he was guilty. However, he didn’t want to share too much of the truth with them at this point. “Of course not, Dr. Lane,” he answered.
Clark, who had sort of expected that response, decided not to dwell on it. He wanted to get going so that they could soon take their trip to the alternate universe. It was something that he hadn’t even realized he wanted to do until just a few hours ago, but now he was desperate to go. After all, he wanted to see if Wells was really telling the truth. Of course he believed that Wells was a time traveler from a different dimension, he even almost chanced to believe that they were reporters there, however, he did not believe that two reporters made enough money to live in the exact same house as they did and own the exact same car as they did. It just wasn’t possible! He needed to know for sure. The only way he could believe it was to see proof. And to get that proof, they needed to go to the alternate universe. Then, to get to the alternate world, they had to accept the fact that Mr. Wells believed that they needed disguises.
“Okay, Mr. Wells, what kind of disguises do Lois and I need to travel to this alternate world?”
“Oh, quite right, Dr. Kent. I am afraid that I’ve nearly forgotten about those disguises!”
“Clark! Why did you remind him?”
“Sorry, honey, I just wanted to get on with this.”
“But the disguises? We could have gotten away without wearing disguises!” Lois shot a disgusted glance at her husband.
Wells smiled at the couple when he said, “Dr. Lane, Dr. Kent, I know you do not think these disguises are necessary, but, believe me, they are. If anyone from my dimension were to see a pregnant Lois Lane…”
Lois interrupted, “Fine, fine, let’s just get on with them. I’m sure we can find something to disguise ourselves.” She was resigned to do it as much as she didn’t want to. The last thing she wanted to do was make her counterpart’s life harder.
After about thirty minutes rummaging through different closets in the house, Lois and Clark finally had disguises that Wells believed would fool people in his universe.
“Oh, come on, Mr. Wells, are you sure these, uh, disguises will really keep people from recognizing us?” Lois wondered. She wasn’t so sure herself. In her opinion, she looked really stupid, but still like herself.
“Won’t they attract attention rather than deter it?” Clark added.
“Or maybe people in the other universe are just really stupid!” Lois said.
Wells shook his head quickly. “No, I do not believe you will attract any more attention than I will. I assure you, you do not look a bit like the Lois Lane and Clark Kent of my universe.”
Lois rolled her eyes. That didn’t change the fact that they looked really stupid! “Do we have to wear them before we get to your time machine?”
She didn’t want anyone she knew possibly seeing her like this. In fact, the knowledge that they had these things in their house sort of made her cringe. How could they own these things? Even worse, how did Mr. Wells find them?
“We could, well, indeed we could fly to the time machine. I think it is quite important for you to wear your disguises.”
“Oh fine! Where did you park your machine?” Lois wondered.
“In the same place as before – next to the ‘Daily Planet’ building.”
“Fine! We’ll wear them, but I am not saying we’ll like them.”
Throughout this discussion, Clark Kent hadn’t said a word and had let his wife argue for him. After all, he certainly wasn’t stupid! He certainly wasn’t going to argue with Lois! Of course, he was probably very excited for their inter-dimensional trip and just wanted to get there in any way he could.
“Do you have your notes for the fertility treatment and for the Kryptonite vaccine?” Wells wondered, wanting to make sure that they were completely prepared before they left.
Lois nodded quickly and said, “We’re ready. Come on, let’s just go.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In a few seconds time, the small group had landed next to Wells’s time machine. He proceeded to put Dr. Lane and Dr. Kent into the places in the machine that would best hold their weight and then he climbed in. They were relatively silent during this time and Wells hoped that they were not having second thoughts.
However, when he turned around to look at his passengers, all he saw on their faces were looks of excitement and anticipation.
“Dr. Lane, Dr. Kent, are you ready?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be.”
“Let’s go!” Lois exclaimed as the machine began to dematerialize.
Throughout the trip through the swirling lights and fuzzy sights Lois hung onto Clark for dear life. Although she felt like she was going to be sick, she couldn’t close her eyes for a second because she didn’t want to miss one second of this incredible trip. If she had doubted Wells before, now she knew that he was definitely legitimate.
Before they really realized what had happened, the world began to come into the clear again. Then, when all of the haze had disappeared, Lois and Clark looked around at the surroundings and were absolutely shocked. Wells definitely hadn’t been lying to them! This alleyway looked exactly like on that was no more than a block from their house – yet it felt different. The world looked darker, dirtier. It looked so similar to their world, but there were obvious differences.
“Wow, that was amazing,” Clark breathed.
“Are we really in another universe?” Lois wondered. “We have to be, right? It looks so familiar, but foreign at the same time.”
“Dr. Lane, Dr. Kent, welcome to my universe,” Wells said with a great prideful grin. “Indeed, it does look quite similar to your own world. I was quite surprised when I landed there initially that it was not this world.”
Clark nodded slowly. He could see how Wells could make that assumption; however, he could also see the many differences that Lois did. Whatever the case was, he did not feel comfortable sitting in this time machine like a sitting duck. He wanted to meet their counterparts in this universe – these reporters!
“Come on, let’s get going,” Clark said.
He was beginning to feel really impatient. Actually, he was surprised that he was the impatient one. Normally, the roles would have been reversed and Lois would have been the one that was anxious.
Wells nodded. “Indeed, Dr. Kent. I need to secure my machine and then we can go.”
While Wells proceeded with his traditional ritual of securing his machine, Lois and Clark ventured to the end of the alleyway. However, Clark did pick up Wells’s conversation with his time machine.
“Lois,” he whispered, “Mr. Wells is talking to his time machine!”
“You’re kidding! What is he saying?”
“Um, he is sort of yelling at it for getting us here two hours later than he wanted us here.”
“Oh my! He really is a crackpot!”
Just as Lois uttered the word ‘crackpot,’ she heard Wells behind her and stopped talking. Even though Clark was probably the only person that could have heard her, she didn’t want to talk about someone when they were right next to her.
“Indeed, Dr. Lane, Dr. Kent, are you ready?”
“Indeed,” Lois answered, mocking him before she even knew what she was doing.
Wells, as always, didn’t seem to notice anyone mocking him, though. He merely said, “Quite good! Let us go!”
As they walked down the street, Lois and Clark were amazed at just how familiar this street looked. Wells had not been pulling their chains! This neighborhood did look just like theirs. However, if this neighborhood was anything like theirs, they both knew that many people were staring at them because of their odd disguises. Even though Wells seemed to believe that these disguises were working, they were definitely not so sure. They both felt like they stood out even more than they would have as themselves. The only reason that they had agreed to these disguises in the first place was because they had absolutely no a priori knowledge of what this universe would be like. Now that they saw that it seemed pretty similar to their universe, they knew that Mr. Wells had been wrong.
When they got to the house – 348 Hyperion – it looked exactly like their own home in their universe. The only difference they could see so far was that there was a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee parked on the street in front of their house rather than a gold Jeep and a red convertible parked in the driveway. It was weird - in this universe they didn't even have a driveway.
Wells was the first to make his way up to the door. He proceeded to knock loudly and then they waited for their counterparts to open the door.
As they waited, Lois was possessed by a strange curiosity. She was sure that Clark was thinking the same thing.
“Clark, do you see anything?”
Clark knew exactly what Lois was implying the second the words came out of her mouth. Even though he had been thinking about it himself, he had come to the conclusion that it just wasn’t right.
“Lo-is, I am not going to look into someone’s home!”
“But, Clark, it looks just like our house. Come on, I just want to know if it is really the same.”
“Come on, honey, we’re going to be inside in a few seconds. I am not going to invade their privacy.”
Then the door creaked open, not giving them a chance to finish their conversation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A few minutes after Wells had left to take their future son back to their future selves, Lois and Clark slowly and silently traversed the short road back to their brownstone. They both had many thoughts filling their minds, but their walk home was very quiet and almost serene and peaceful. Neither was really sure if they wanted to talk about their problems where anyone could hear. Talking about Superman’s fertility problems on a public street probably wasn’t the best thing to do. Instead, they walked in a comfortable silence until they reached their door.
As Clark got his keys out to unlock the door, his thoughts finally overcame him and he had to speak. Strange, that was really uncharacteristic for him. Usually, Lois was the one who initiated these types of conversations.
“It’s all so unbelievable,” he said, referring to the whole situation.
“Believe it?”
Lois smiled at Clark and shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t really sure what else to say and she wasn’t even sure if Clark wanted an answer. That seemed like as good an answer as any. She was just as overwhelmed as he was. There really wasn’t anything else she could say to answer either of their questions. After all, it was a confusing situation that had to be trusted on mere faith. She wasn’t one to often subscribe to that philosophy.
As they walked through the door, Clark said, “Cute, honey, but I’m serious. It’s just really hard to believe. I mean, another alternate dimension, us being professors…”
Lois finished, “Men who can fly?”
“Touché.”
Clark shrugged his shoulders and then he found himself sinking down onto the couch, overwhelmed about everything that had happened. He had seen the baby, his baby from the future, with his own eyes. The baby was definitely his. He was sure of it. Why was he having so many doubts? Where had all of his optimism gone? It was probably due to the fact that it seemed like he was grasping for straws – like he was dreaming the impossible dream.
Lois sat down on the couch next to Clark and wrapped her arm around his back. She knew he was having trouble accepting what had happened. Actually, Lois realized that ever since he had found out that he couldn’t have children, he had been depressed. She hadn’t really tried to help him with it, though, because she had been too depressed to notice herself.
However, once she realized that Wells was holding her future child, it was like all of her depression had just magically gone away. Lois had thought that seeing their future child had done the same thing for Clark. She wished that it had brought him out of his depression, but maybe she had been wrong. Why was he doing this to himself? Mr. Wells had shown them that they were eventually able to have a baby. If she could accept it, why couldn’t he?
She knew that he probably needed more reassurance than he did. After all, he was probably blaming himself for all of their problems in the fist place. However, Lois knew that it wasn’t healthy for him. Plus, she knew that she had to make him realize that she did not blame him for anything at all. This was their problem – not just his. Plus, it was all going to turn out well in the end. She was sure of it.
“Clark, it’s going to be okay, you know.”
The corners of Clark’s lips turned up into a slight smile. He knew in his heart that everything was going to be okay, but his mind had a slower time constant than his heart. It took his mind much longer to accept the fact that his heart had always known.
“I know,” he answered softly.
“I know you know. I’m just making sure you know.”
“I know,” Clark repeated, but this time his voice had more feeling.
He locked eyes with Lois and reached up to cup her face in his hands.
Lois realized that he really did realize that everything was going to be okay, but he just needed some time to adjust to the situation. After all, everything that had happened in the last few days had come as major shocks to his system.
Clark found himself leaning in to give his wife a long, meaningful kiss. It was the first real kiss they had shared since Wells had shown them their future son. This kiss was absolutely amazing because both of their spirits were significantly lightened. For a few moments, nothing else mattered.
“I love you, Lois,” Clark whispered when the kiss broke.
“I love you, too.”
After spending a few minutes in silent reflection, Lois was struck with an annoying thought that had been plaguing her ever since Wells had told them about the new alternate universe.
She knew that she was spoiling the peaceful mood that she and Clark had created, but she just had to talk about it. After all, it wasn’t really like them to have many long, peaceful moments without some controversy.
“So, Clark, do you really think Mr. Wells was right?”
”About what?”
Clark wasn’t sure exactly what Lois was referring to. After all, Wells had told them more than one shocking thing today. She could be doubting any number of things. However, he had a pretty good idea what she was talking about.
“About the alternate universe. I don’t know why, but I am still having a hard time believing it.” She corrected herself, “Not that there is another alternate universe. I can believe anything now that I’ve actually been to the first alternate universe.”
Clark finished her thought, “You can’t believe they aren’t reporters.”
He could have predicted exactly what she was going to say in this situation because he knew her so well. It was strange, but sometimes it seemed like he knew what she was thinking even before she thought it herself. However, then there were the other times; those were the times when he had absolutely no idea how her mind worked. The times when he knew what she was thinking were few and far between, but he wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Lois shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, I know it is beneficial to us that they work in medicine, but I don’t see why I, even if it isn’t really me, would choose a career that isn’t journalism.”
“I’m not sure, Lois. All I know is that I’m more than grateful that they do work in the medical field.”
Lois wasn’t convinced. As much as she tried to picture herself working in a lab and teaching classes all day, she just couldn’t do it. That just seemed so boring, so stifling. It wasn’t anything she could identify with.
“I mean, of course I’m sure I’ll be eternally grateful to our alternate selves. After all, I know they are going to give us the greatest gift possible, but I still don’t get it. I don’t see why Lois Lane, in any form, would choose to be anything other than a reporter. It’s such a part of what I am, how I define myself.”
Clark shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe the other Lois defines herself by being an engineer. I think anything is possible. Besides, this Lois and Clark from the other universe are not us. It’s like the Clark from the other alternate universe. Even though he and I share the same name and look alike, we’ve had so many different life experiences.”
Lois finished his thought, “And those different life experiences are the cause of your personality differences?”
“Well, exactly. I mean, who’s to say that the Lois and Clark of the other dimension are exactly like us. I mean, what right do we have to think they would be our exact doubles?”
“You’re right, Clark; of course you’re right. I mean, what right do we have to assume that our life choices are the right choices to make? That’s downright selfish.”
“And what right do we have to judge them before we’ve even met them. Mr. Wells said that the other Clark became a physiologist so he would be able to be a specialist in both human and Kryptonian physiology. Since he’s the expert, maybe he thought it would stop the authorities from ‘dissecting him like a frog’ if they ever found out he was an alien. He would have beaten them to the punch by already being the one to dissect himself.”
Lois nodded slowly now seeing why that Clark might have made the choices he did. However, the thought that Clark understood his rationale troubled her. What would have happened to her life if her Clark had chosen the same path in life as the alternate Clark? It was rather disconcerting that Clark actually understood the rationale. Actually, it seemed like he might have even considered doing something like that at some point in his life.
“But why didn’t you make the same choices in your life?”
Clark shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure. I guess it was my parents. Sure, my dad had me paranoid that the authorities would want to harm me if they ever got their hands on me, but I was never so paranoid that I wanted to change my life. When I was in college, I liked almost all of the subjects that I took. I don’t know why I chose journalism. I guess I always told myself that it was because I loved to write.”
“Well, don’t you?”
Lois smiled at her husband. Of all the writers she knew, herself included, Clark was the one with the greatest gift for writing that she had ever seen. Whenever she read anything he wrote she could feel the emotion in every word. He had an incredible feel for the human spirit in every story he wrote.
“Of course I do, but I think it’s something more. I think, however subconsciously, that I chose journalism because it provided me with an outlet to help people. Being so close to the news, I have a first hand account of all of the world’s problems. And even before I became Superman, I always wanted to find a way to fix them.”
Lois reached out to squeeze her husband’s arm. He was nothing if not the eternal boy scout; and that was one of the many reasons she loved him.
“If you and the alternate Clark are supposed to have similar personalities, I really don’t see why he didn’t take a job somewhere he could help more people.”
He turned around to smile at her. “I think he can help just as many people as I can – if not more. I remember Mr. Wells saying that he saw Superman in the alternate world, so that Clark must have developed Superman as well. And I think that his work as a medical researcher has the potential to help so many more people than my work. The things he discovers can potentially help thousands, if not millions, of people.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, honey. You help as many people as you can – no one expects anything more.”
Lois thought she might have an insight into why Clark had chosen journalism rather than any other career. It seemed like she and Clark were destined to be together. After all, as Mr. Wells had proven, she and Clark were soulmates. She would bet that the reason Clark had chosen to become a reporter in this universe was because she had chosen that career. The Clark of the alternate dimension had probably chosen to go into physiology because she had chosen to go into the same field – or vice versa. She might have chosen to become a reporter because the universe knew that Clark was going to become a reporter. Maybe it was some sort of cosmic force pulling them together. They were two souls, destined to meet and fall in love time and time again in any universe.
Then Lois changed the subject. She felt like they had established why the Clark from the alternate universe had gone into medical research, but they hadn’t established that Lois’s motivation.
“I don’t know, Clark. Maybe the alternate Clark has his reasons – and I am sure they are more than legitimate. But I just don’t understand Lois’s rationale for going into the medical field. Maybe I just don’t see how I could be anything other than a reporter. I liked science enough in high school, but the only thing I really felt a flair for was writing.”
Clark shrugged his shoulders. He had to admit, he couldn’t see his wife as anything other than a reporter either. However, he did think that he knew the reason that she had chosen her particular field. Again, it seemed to be a different parental influence.
“I don’t know, Lois. Didn’t Mr. Wells say that the Lois of the alternate world worked closely with her father?”
Lois made an angry face. She didn’t want to think of working with her father. It gave her a bitter taste in her mouth and made the image of herself as a medical researcher even grimmer.
“Oh my God, I probably became a biomedical engineer because of my father!” she spat. Then after a second more consideration, she added, “Maybe we have a better relationship in that universe. Maybe he didn’t ruin my childhood and shatter my entire family.”
Clark added, “Maybe he pushed you in the right direction and you listened to him.”
“Huh? The right direction? What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, no, honey, I wasn’t implying anything. Believe me.”
“Come on, Clark, just tell me what you’re thinking.”
Clark was about to amend his statement, but then he heard a television broadcast from next door.
Lois noticed that he was fidgeting in his seat and she realized that he had heard someone that needed Superman’s help. She could tell that he didn’t want to leave in the middle of their discussion, but she could also see that it was something important and he needed to go.
“What is it?” she wondered quickly, hoping he would get the idea that it was okay with her if he left and that she didn’t care that he was leaving in the middle of a heated discussion.
“Train derailment a few miles outside the city.”
It looked like he was still hesitating, so Lois exclaimed, “Go!”
“Okay, I’m going, geez.”
Clark quickly spun into his Superman suit and before Lois realized it, he was gone. Then Lois decided to do some research of her own and she went over to the computer and began surfing the internet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Less than an hour later, Clark had cleaned up the entire mess caused by the train derailment. Actually, the situation had really been under control by the time he got there. Luckily, the train that had derailed hadn’t been a passenger train and only the crew was on board. They had all escaped without injury. Very luckily, the train hadn’t been carrying any hazardous materials, so the clean up had been very easy.
He quickly flew in through the open window in their bedroom and spun back into the jeans and t-shirt he had been wearing before he left. Then he quickly made his way down the steps looking for Lois.
From the steps, he could see her immediately. Lois seemed to be working very hard on something. She didn’t seem to hear him, so he decided to surprise her. He was feeling very energized and in a much better mood than he had been for what seemed like an eternity.
He silently floated behind her and wrapped his arms around her neck and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
“Aaah!” she screamed.
It didn’t take her long to realize who had grabbed her from behind. Clark seemed very sorry for scaring her, but she knew that he hadn’t meant to try to give her a heart attack. She loved the fact that her husband tried to tease her and do romantic things to her, but she wanted to tease him a little. Then she covered her heart with one of her hands. “You scared me!”
“I’m sorry, honey,” he said apologetically. Usually when he did things like that, she was more than a step ahead of him. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, uh, I’ve been on the computer.”
“Doing what?”
“Doing some background research on reproductive physiology. You know, I thought it would be helpful for us to have some knowledge on the subject.”
Clark nodded in agreement. It was amazing to him how Lois’s first reaction to any situation always seemed to be to go into ‘reporter mode.’ He looked at the things that she had printed out and some of her handwritten pages. She had already made an outline of the subjects they needed to find more information about, notes on the reproductive system, and notes on biomedical engineering. She was absolutely amazing.
“Wow,” was all Clark could say in response.
He scanned all of Lois’s material at Super speed and tried to digest all of the information he had read.
Meanwhile, Lois began to try to elaborate on what she had found, “Okay, I am really not sure if any of this is going to help us or not. I hate not being able to do anything, but I know that we really can’t do anything proactive until Mr. Wells makes his next move. After all, even though I am not sure if I understand any of what I’m finding, it’s always better to be prepared, right?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s really agonizing, isn’t it?” Clark was usually a very patient man, but this wait was tying his stomach in knots.
Lois nodded. “It’s the worse type of waiting.” She, unlike Clark, definitely did not consider herself a patient person at all.
Clark smiled back at her and put his hand on her back reassuringly. “Hopefully, it will all be over soon and we will have some good news for a change.”
Lois grinned at him and nodded. “Exactly.” Then she changed the subject slightly, “Clark, I’m not sure if I’m ready to have a baby right now, but I know I definitely want one eventually. I guess finding out that I couldn’t have one made me realize how much I really want one.”
“I know,” Clark said softly.
“And now that we found out that we will eventually have one, I know that the only thing I want to do is find out how we can.”
Clark nodded; he felt the same way. Yes, he and Lois had different opinions about children initially. He had always loved children and had always wanted at least one, but he had realized from the beginning that she might not want children. When he had found out that she did want children, he had been overjoyed.
“I know; me too.”
Lois nodded at him. She knew how much he wanted kids, and for what seemed like the first time in her life, she wanted them too. Even though she was scared of the changes that a baby would cause to her life, she knew that having a baby would be worth all the sacrifices.
Then Lois groaned in frustration. “We’ve only been waiting for Mr. Wells for an hour and a half. Why does it seem longer than that? Time is absolutely dragging!”
Clark shrugged his shoulders. This waiting was so painful. It seemed much longer than the hour and a half it had been. “I don’t know. We have no idea when he’ll be back, so I think we are wasting our energy waiting for him.”
“But how do you suggest we burn off some of our excess nervous energy?”
“Well, I could take a couple of laps around the world,” Clark joked.
Lois rolled her eyes at him.
“Or we could, you know, go upstairs and practice conceiving a baby.”
“Now that’s an idea I can get on board with. Race you upstairs! No Superpowers!”
This time, Clark didn’t want to race his wife upstairs. This game was fun, but sometimes it was just easier to use Superpowers. This was definitely one of those times. Clark grabbed Lois by the waist and flew up the stairs.
“Hey, you cheated!” Lois exclaimed, but the next thing out of her mouth was a loud giggle. She definitely wasn’t as mad as she had pretended to be.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After finding a way to waste a little more than an hour doing things much more satisfying than waiting for Mr. Wells to return, Lois and Clark laid on their bed, basking in the amazing afterglow of what had just happened.
Lois broke the mood, though, when she wondered, “Do you think we’ll get to visit the other universe?”
Clark’s sense of adventure kicked in when he said, “I’d certainly love to. After all, you’ve been to the other alternate universe and I haven’t.”
“Yeah, but I was kidnapped by Tempus!”
“Still…”
“Don’t say it isn’t fair, Clark. I did not take a vacation to the alternate universe. It certainly wasn’t a picnic being thrown into the jaws of death.”
“That isn’t a vacation for you?” Clark wondered in a joking tone.
Lois joked back, “Only if I know you’re around to rescue me.”
Clark rolled his eyes and said, “I knew it!”
Lois shook her head and laughed. Then she tried to get the conversation back to the subject at hand, “Didn’t Mr. Wells say that the Lois of the other universe was pregnant?”
Clark understood her meaning and said, “Yeah, I bet they won’t want to travel if she is in that condition.”
“Oh, correction, you mean that you wouldn’t want me to travel if I were in that condition.”
Clark sighed, but hoped Lois hadn’t heard him. He should have known that she would have interpreted his statement that way. Well, of course they both knew that he wouldn’t want her to travel to alternate universes if she were pregnant. He had just hoped that she wouldn’t want to put herself and their baby in danger.
The corners of Lois’s lips turned up into a smile and she continued, “Oh, Clark, come on, you know I wouldn’t travel to an alternate universe if I were pregnant. I wouldn’t even go to Suicide Slum. You’re not the only one who wouldn’t want me to put our baby in danger.”
Clark kissed the top of her head softly, then he said, “I see, so that’s why you want to wait, isn’t it. You want to make sure you have that ever elusive Pulitzer before you have a baby and can’t dangle above the jaws of death for a long period of time.”
Lois shrugged her shoulders and said, “Is there anything wrong with that?”
“Of course not.”
Then Lois added, “So maybe we should get ready for a trip to the alternate universe!”
Just when Lois said that, the doorbell rang. Maybe their trip to the alternate universe was coming sooner than either of them had anticipated.
“Who is it so late at night?” Lois wondered after she looked at the clock. It was well after 10 pm. She had a very good idea just who it was, though.
They both pulled on their robes and headed downstairs.
Clark lowered his glasses and looked through the door. “Honey, I don’t think we’re going to get that trip to the alternate universe,” he said with a dejected tone to his voice.
“Why not?” Lois wondered. And then it dawned on her. “Are you serious? They’re at our door? You mean that they are out there with Mr. Wells right now?”
“Exactly,” Clark said as he reached out to open the door. He shook his head quickly. “But you won’t believe what they look like.”
Lois bit her bottom lip nervously. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Of course she already knew that everything was going to work out in the end, but she had no idea what they were going to have to go through to get there. She was also a little afraid of meeting her alternate self. Meeting the alternate Clark from the other universe had not been too bad, but she knew that her Clark had been very uncomfortable around him. Would it be the same for her and this alternate Lois?
“What do the look like? Are they as nerdy as we, uh, I, knew they would be?”
“Well, I think Mr. Wells probably dressed them because they’re wearing…”
Then Clark’s Superhearing kicked in and he caught a bit of the conversation that was going on outside. He had to fight back an all-consuming laughter when he realized what they were talking about. Wow, they were certainly having a very familiar conversation!
“What is it?” Lois wondered when she saw the familiar look on her husband’s face.
She knew that he had heard something. Hopefully it wasn’t some kind of disaster. How was she supposed to deal with Mr. Wells and a version of herself and Clark from the other universe? But the promising thing was that he looked amused. He definitely would not look amused if something horrible had happened.
He fought a laugh back and stopped opening the door for a second. “Honey, you should hear what they are saying out there!”
“What? What are they saying? You mean them, right?” She motioned at the door.
Sometimes she really wished she shared Clark’s powers. There were many times that she would have given anything to hear what Clark heard.
Clark grinned as he nodded and said, “They sound just like us!”
“Really?” Lois was skeptical.
How could two engineers sound anything like they did? She and Clark had to be more eloquent than them by definition. They were paid for their eloquence.
“Definitely.” Clark nodded with a sly grin. He decided that he definitely needed to narrate this for his wife so she would get the full effect of what he was hearing. “Okay, Lois just said ‘Clark, do you see anything.’ And then he said, ‘Lo-is, I am not going to look into someone’s home!’ Then she said, ‘But, Clark, it looks just like our house. Come on, I just want to know if it is really the same.’ And now he just said, ‘Come on, honey, we’re going to be inside in a few seconds. I am not going to invade their privacy.’”
When Clark spoke, he mimicked the alternate Lois and Clark’s gestures and vocal inflections perfectly. Then he added, “And you said they’d be nothing like us.”
Lois rolled her eyes at her husband. “Come on, we don’t sound like that.”
Clark raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure, honey?”
“Yeah, I’m positive. We don’t act like that. We are much more, I don’t know, sophisticated.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Okay, fine, Clark, by sophisticated I just might mean that we don’t debate about the issues. You would have looked into the house already.”
Clark shook his head in disbelief. What was she talking about? He knew that he wouldn’t look into someone’s house if he couldn’t see a purpose. However, he knew that Lois would probably con him into doing it. Their conversation would have gone exactly the same way. In fact, he remembered that they had just acted out that exact same conversation less than a week ago when they were waiting for a source to open his door.
“Are you really sure about that, Lois?”
Lois patted Clark on the arm telling him without words that the subject was closed. Then she said, “Come on, Clark, just open the door already. We don’t want anyone to see ourselves knocking at our own door.”
“Lois, I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Clark said quickly.
Then, before Lois could say anything else, Clark had opened the door and the strange party outside was revealed. Strange was not even an adequate word to describe them. They were an interesting, not interesting, scary, group, indeed. In fact, it almost looked like they were headed to a Halloween party – a strange Halloween party!
First, there was Wells, who was always an oddity in this time period – and quite possibly in his own, too. He always drew stares from passersby wherever he went. Poor Mr. Wells always stuck out in any crowd like a sore thumb. Plus, he often seemed completely oblivious to the entire thing! He never had any idea that anyone was looking at him strangely. In fact, he seemed to think that he fit in wherever he went. Actually, it was usually quite the opposite. He probably thought that the Lois and Clark he was with looked completely normal.
Then there was the couple he was with. And they were interesting to say the least. They obviously were Lois Lane and Clark Kent. There was just one major difference that was the most evident – they were wearing very cheesy disguises. In fact, it was fairly evident that Mr. Wells had probably come up with them.
The alternate Lois was wearing a long, carrot-red wig and a pair of large sunglasses with green rims, even though it was obviously dark outside and the sunglasses were quite gaudy. She was obviously pregnant and wearing a pair of jeans and a long University of Kansas t-shirt. The oddest thing about her, though, was that she was wearing a mask. It was a mask that covered her whole face – a large, hairy, gorilla mask complete with large fangs and angry eyes that were obscured by the large sun glasses.
If it was at all possible, the alternate Clark looked even worse. Okay, maybe not worse per say. It was probably a tie. They both looked horrible. Lois looked scarier, but Clark looked funnier. He was wearing a large, red foam cowboy hat which was pulled down to obscure his eyes. His outfit consisted of a pair of denim shorts and an inside out sweatshirt. However, the piece-de-résistance was a large, bushy, and obviously fake moustache. He almost looked like some sort of cowboy porn star from the late 1970’s.
Without waiting for an invitation, Mr. Wells walked through the door and ushered the other couple in behind him.
Lois and Clark’s jaws dropped as they got the full view of their alternate selves for the first time. They both hoped that their alternate selves did not dress like this normally – and especially that the alternate Lois did not normally wear an ape mask! Hopefully it was all Mr. Wells’s idea for disguises so they wouldn’t be recognized and not how people dressed in their world. Wells was the only person that either of them thought could possibly come up with a hair-brained idea like this – if it was a hair-brained idea. If it wasn’t Wells’s idea for a disguise, Lois and Clark both weren’t sure what they would do and how they would be able to keep straight faces when they looked at their alternate selves.
Before either of the couples talked to each other, the alternate Lois turned to Mr. Wells and said, “Okay, can we please take these ridiculous disguises off?”
When those words left the alternate Lois’s mouth, the Lois and Clark of this dimension both let out sighs of relief.
The alternate Clark added, “We really look stupid.”
“This damned mask is itching! Why did I have to wear the mask? Why couldn’t Clark wear it? He doesn’t have sensitive skin. Why did either of us have to dress like an ape?”
“Certainly, you may take them off. I’m afraid I do not quite see what is ridiculous about them, though, and you do not look stupid. It prevented anyone from stopping us; am I correct?”
Didn’t he realize how incredibly stupid, and not to mention out of place, his two companions looked in this universe? Did he really think that people normally walked around in foam cowboy hats and gorilla masks on any day other than Halloween? The poor man was severely misguided.
The alternate Clark raised his eyebrows as he pulled his ridiculous moustache off. “I’m not even going to try,” he muttered disgustedly.
The Clark from this universe was the only person in the room that heard his counterpart’s remark and had to stifle a laugh.
Both the alternate Lois and the alternate Clark continued to remove their ‘ridiculous disguises’ with the alternate Lois taking off her wig and glasses and then ripping her mask off her face and throwing it down disgustedly. Then she ran her hands through her hair and tried to straighten it out after it had been cooped up under the mask and the wig for so long.
The alternate Clark removed his cowboy hat and looked at it with disgust. Why had they agreed to wear these stupid disguises? Were they really that stupid as to believe Wells?
They could be sure that they certainly wouldn’t be wearing any sort of disguise on their return trip. In fact, the alternate Clark was planning to burn both his awful cowboy hat and Lois’s mask with his heat vision when Wells wasn’t looking. When they had taken Wells’s word, they hadn’t known anything about the alternate universe. However, now that they had seen the alternate universe, they were sure that they could come up with better disguises than what Wells had made them wear. Actually, they were sure that they could get away with forgoing the disguises for their return trip because he could fly them back to the time machine. Why hadn’t they thought of that before?
Then the real Dr. Lane and Dr. Kent stood before their alternate selves – as almost exact duplicates. The only obvious differences were between the Loises. The two Clarks definitely looked almost exactly like mirror images of each other. However, Dr. Lois had long hair and was pregnant while the other Lois had short hair and was definitely not pregnant.
The two couples did not speak after the alternate Kents removed their disguises. They were too enthralled at how identical they looked. It was strange. Clark looked so much more like this alternate Clark than like the Clark from the second dimension. The resemblance was almost uncanny. The Lois and Clark from the first dimension both found themselves staring at the other Lois’s obviously pregnant belly. Wells had not been lying. They had obviously discovered some sort of way around the fertility issues between a Kryptonian and a human – and they were going to share their secret. It almost seemed too good to be true. It was as if it was the ultimate realization that Wells had been telling the truth all along – that their prayers were about to be answered. This was the final realization that fostered their new hope.
Wells was the first to address the Kents of this universe. “Aah, Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent, quite good, I knew you would still be awake. That is why I chose to disturb you at this time precisely.”
The alternate Lois interrupted, “No you didn’t, Mr. Wells. You wanted to get here two hours ago, but your machine had some sort of glitch.”
Wells laughed good-naturedly. “Indeed, Dr. Lane. Quite perceptive. I’m afraid it was my fault. I was so excited to be coming back here; I accidentally set the machine two hours ahead. Indeed, I did not realize it until we were here already.”
“It’s okay, Mr. Wells,” Clark said quickly. Actually, the two hour delay had given them time to think – and time to relax. “Lois and I are just glad that you’re here now.”
Lois chimed in, “Exactly.”
Even though they were all there in the same room and talking to Mr. Wells, the two couples still were not talking to each other. It was weird – sort of like they were afraid of talking to people that were their exact duplicates.
The tension on the room was mounting. Someone needed to say something – anything – to start a conversation. Obviously Wells’s efforts were not working. If anything, he seemed to be making the situation more awkward. His eyes were darting between the two couples and he was making everyone involved very nervous.
This dimension’s Lois, as was usually the case, decided that she needed to do something about it. Since she seemed to be the dimensional travel expert, she took it upon herself to try to break the ice. She looked at her alternate self and extended her hand.
“Um, hi, this is sort of awkward. I’m Lois Lane. And, uh, I guess you’re Lois Lane, too.”
The alternate Lois took the extended hand and shook. “Um, yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“You know, this is going to get really confusing,” Clark said quickly, interrupting the women’s greeting. “What should we call each other? We can’t both be Lois and Clark. That definitely can’t be a good idea.”
The alternate Clark spoke for the first time. “Well, why don’t you call us Dr. Lois and Dr. Clark?” Then he quickly added, “We don’t want to lord our advanced degrees over you, but it is a good way to distinguish us.”
Clark shook his head quickly, and tried to tell them that he understood. “I think that’s a great idea. We didn’t think you were trying to make us feel bad at all.”
“Absolutely,” Lois added. “So we’ll be Lois and Clark and you guys will be Dr. Lois and Dr. Clark.”
Dr. Lois smiled at the woman who looked exactly like her. Even though she had thought that they would have nothing in common, she was starting to think that they may be more alike than she had originally anticipated.
Lois’s eyes had been fixed on Dr. Lois’s pregnant belly since the first time she laid eyes on it. Her mind filled with many questions ranging from the how they overcame the fertility problems to how it felt to be pregnant.
Clark was still shocked that Dr. Lois and Dr. Clark had shown up at their doorstep. He had been planning to travel to the alternate universe. In fact, he was almost disappointed that he didn’t get to travel through dimensions. He was the only one in this room that could not say that he had visited an alternate universe! However, he couldn’t be mad about that fact, though, because Dr. Lois and Dr. Clark were the two people that were about to change his life for the better by giving them the greatest gift possible. Travel to different universes was far less important to him than the ability to conceive his own child.
Lois was plagued by so many questions that her mind overflowed. The first question that came out of her mouth was, “You guys traveled through dimensions even though Dr. Lois is pregnant?”
Okay, that might not have been the right question to ask. Lois realized that even before the last word left her mouth. If Dr. Lois was anything like her, she would immediately take offense to that question.
Dr. Lois felt her face heating up. This stupid reporter had definitely pushed her buttons. “Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” Dr. Lois wondered – obviously taking offence to Lois’s statement. She looked like she was on the warpath. “What should my being pregnant have to do with dimensional travel?” she challenged.
Clark shook his head. He was surprised that Lois had asked that question. Maybe she was suffering from the same sour grapes that he was about not being able to travel to the new alternate universe. However, Clark knew that he had to try to smooth the situation, but he had a feeling that it wasn’t going to work. After all, he knew Lois Lane – and Dr. Lois had not seemed much different than his wife in the five minutes that he had known her.
He tried anyway, though, “I think Lois was just wondering if the trip was safe for your baby.”
Dr. Clark stepped in, his feathers having been a bit ruffled, too. “Are you saying that we don’t know what is safe for our baby? We both do work in medicine.”
“No, no, not at all,” Lois jumped in. “I think Clark and I were both expressing our surprise to see you here. We were planning that Mr. Wells would take us to your universe.”
Dr. Lois crinkled her nose and shook her head. “Do you think we would want to miss the chance to see another universe? I don’t think so!”
Clark nodded quickly. Obviously, no one would want to miss the opportunity to travel to an alternate universe – especially if they hadn’t even realized that it existed before now. “I know; that is the main reason that Lois and I wanted to go to your universe so badly.”
Lois added, “Clark’s jealous that I have gone to the other alternate universe and he hasn’t.”
“I am not!” he exclaimed. “Okay, I am. But right now, Lois and I are just grateful that you are here for us. Whether we came to you or you came to us doesn’t even really seem like an issue to us.”
Wells interjected, “Indeed, Mr. Kent. Quite good. Now that you all know each other, I believe I am just in the way. I will be back shortly to see your progress and to take Dr. Lane and Dr. Kent back to their universe.”
Before any of the inhabitants of the small room could say a word edgewise, Wells had disappeared out the door. For a little, old man with no Superpowers, he certainly had the power to disappear quickly. As usual, he left without any warning as to when he would be back or where he was going. He was just going to leave them here – alone!
