In a Better Place, from part 17...
***
"Right here," said Madge, "just inside. And we need to hurry. Anna says the lifelines are nearly entirely gone."
He didn't know their exact meaning, but he recognized the urgency in her words.
"Follow me in, Silas," he said in a normal tone he knew his grandson could hear above the din. "Straight through the doors."
"Behind you," Silas returned easily.
"He's going to be good at this," Elise told Clark quietly, her eyes shining. "I wish I could have known you, but thank you, for whatever you did for him."
Clark looked at the young woman he held. Probably not any younger than he was, he realized, but his granddaughter, all the same. The instant kinship between them felt exactly right. "I honestly don't know who helped who more," he said, just as they burst through the doors and past dozens of dancing and clapping Peacekeepers.
And now...
***
"Lois Lane and Clark Kent," Madge called into the noisy reception. "Meet everyone. Everyone... say hello and get out of the way, please."
The Peacekeepers scattered like a colorful flock of birds, robes streaming behind them as they moved.
Silas shifted his grip on her, and as if it had translated down his arms and through his fingertips, Lois could feel his nervousness at being seen. "Don't worry, Junior. You're saving the world today. If you don't want to do it on a full time basis, no one can argue you haven't done your part."
Silas nodded, swallowing audibly. "I think I needed more time."
"That's exactly what Clark said after Prometheus. Maybe that's the trick. You just do it because you have to."
"I know. And I'll figure it out, Grams. I just wish ..." His eyes moved from hers and she waited, as patiently as she knew how to, and that wasn’t much. “... I had someone like you,” he finally continued. “Someone to help me.”
Lois found herself blinking back unexpected tears. She tightened her hold on him for a quiet minute wanting to promise him there would be someone. Someone suited to the task, someone willing and able and meant for him. But she didn’t. Those promises would have sounded empty, she knew. Because before she had seen it for herself, been overwhelmed by the evidence, she would have rolled her eyes and written those promises off as the stuff of fairy tales.
They had followed Clark and his passengers into a roomy office. Silas landed, setting her down. She hadn't gained her feet for a second before Clark took hold of her hand, pulling her clear of the crowds who were pushing their way in.
"Petal, the door," shouted Madge. And a young woman materialized from nowhere and worked her way to the door, leaning up against it, shutting out their rapt audience.
“Sorry!” she called cheerfully to those whose feet were caught in the doorway. She flashed Lois and Clark a brief and bright smile before turning towards Madge. "The bones weren't his.”
"What?" Madge halted in the middle of what she had been doing, which to Lois looked a lot like arranging furniture. "What did you say?"
"We just got the ID back." The woman named Petal moved into the center of the group and grabbed hold of the table, tugging it aside just as Clark stepped up to offer a hand.
"Can I help?" he said. "With... whatever... it is that you're doing?"
"Thank you," Madge said, obviously distracted. "Rug, plywood, lead shielding, dear."
Lois smiled at the look on Clark's face, but he caught on fairly quickly once Madge toed up the corner of the rug.
"The bones," said Madge.
"Hank and I processed them," Petal returned.
"Hank is here?" interrupted Elise. "Where?"
"He went home right after. He wanted to tell you what was happening. We were going back to try again, see what we overlooked. I’m sure Tempus left us a clue just for the fun of it."
"Get back to the bones, dear," said Madge, this time a bit heatedly. "They weren't... his?"
"A replicant's," said Petal with a delighted glint in her eye.
"How on earth did he manage that?" Madge muttered weakly.
"I can't wait to find out," Petal said.
"Is... uh... this what we're here for?" Clark gestured towards a square door in the floor.
Lois moved up next to him to see.
"That's it," Madge said. "The timestream."
"Timestream? This is how we’re getting back?" Lois knew she sounded doubtful, but really... "Through this little door?"
"It's really fun, Ms Lane," said Petal encouragingly. "Though I threw up the first few times."
"Is anyone else as lost as I am?" Silas stepped forward for a closer view.
"Lois and I have learned to just go with it," Clark answered.
And he missed it completely. She couldn’t blame him. He was obviously x-raying through the door and trying to make heads or tails of what he was seeing. But Lois saw it. The thunderstruck expression on Silas’s face when Petal caught his eye and flashed her dimples.
Silas froze in mid-step and gaped at her like a fish on a hook. Which was pretty much what he was. Lois realized there might be something to the whole maternal thing after all. Her heart filled with love and relief for her grandson. She recognized that look. She’d scarcely been paying attention, but it registered with her now. Clark standing up in Perry’s office to say hello... to her.
Lois eyed Petal closely. “She’d just better be good enough.”
Clark pulled his gaze away from the door. “You say something, honey?”
She smiled at him. “Maybe.”
He smiled back. “Care to elaborate?”
“I don’t want this marriage growing stale before it gets started. So... no. Let’s leave a little mystery.”
“Lois-” His protest was cut off by Madge, who stepped between them and put a handle on the door.
“It isn’t as scary as it looks,” she assured them as she pried it open.
Lois took one good look down. “Oh god. No way.”
“I’ll hold you,” Clark said quickly. “I’m invulnerable. I’ll keep you close. Wrapped up tight...” And she appreciated the effort, since he sounded as unnerved as she was.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the dizzying, clashing swirl of colors just below her feet. “Close,” she repeated. “Invulnerable, wrapped up tight... right.”
The building shook violently and the lights blinked on and off.
“No time to waste,” said Madge. “I’ll program the current after you get in.”
“We do this all the time,” offered Petal. “We never, ever miss.”
”This from the people who brought us Andrus and the killer soufflé,” Lois said dryly.
“Andrus will be dealt with when he makes it back,” Madge said. “He just needs a little... tutoring... before he’s ready to work on his own.”
“Or cook on his own,” Petal added.
“Maybe he needs... a partner?” Silas said, one eye on Petal. “This is my family.” He gestured towards Lois and Clark. “I’d like to be involved in their protection.”
“Thank you, Silas,” said Clark. “But I don’t want you doing anything you don’t--”
“And until you know the ropes, Junior, you’ll need a partner of your own,” Lois interrupted quickly, shooting Madge a meaningful stare, gratified to see it fielded so astutely.
“Of course,” Madge pronounced. “We’d be honored to have you. Petal, you’ll work with Silas. Even Superman will need help bringing Andrus up to speed.”
“And maybe it’s time we worked on Wells, too,” Petal replied. “He’s always off sight-seeing; he should be more involved in looking after things.”
“Wells?” asked Clark and Lois as one.
“Long story,” Madge said mildly. “And it’s a good idea, Petal. I’ll put him with Hank...erm... if Hank promises not to kill him, which I’m almost sure he won’t.”
“So... we’re partners,” said Silas to Petal, offering her a tentative hand.
Petal took it readily. “But I have seniority. I was Hank’s apprentice and now you’ll be mine.”
“That sounds really perfect,” said Silas with enough awe in his voice to capture even Clark’s notice.
Clark raised his eyebrows at Lois, eyes wide in wonder. Her returned grin was as smug as she could make it. “Since that’s settled,” he said with a grin of his own, “maybe it’s time we...” He pointed to the floor.
“Ok.” She drew in a deep, steadying breath. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
A shout sounded from behind them, a series of curses and threats just preceded the door opening and someone very determined making his way past the crowds and into the office. Once there, his eyes scanned the room, flicking over her and Clark, the timestream, Madge and Petal and Silas...
He walked past them all and grabbed Elise with a wordless cry.
“Just in time, dear,” said Madge.
***
The man who was holding onto Clark’s granddaughter for dear life looked over at him with exasperated disbelief. “I go home early one time... and this is what I miss.”
“We all missed it, dear” Madge said. “But as of today, we’re starting over. Clean slate. New rules, new Peacekeepers...”
“I’m Clark Kent,” offered Clark, feeling more than a little foolish, since apparently the man wrapped around Elise already knew that.
“Hank Bailey. And it’s about time you showed up,” answered Hank with an unsteady smile.
Lois stepped gingerly around the door in the floor and into view. At the sight of her, Hank’s smile turned decidedly lop-sided. “Lois Lane. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“You’re doing so much better than me,” Elise murmured to him. “You should have heard my greeting...”
Hank hugged her closer.
“You work here, Hank?” Lois asked.
“I try.” The words were short, clipped, but couldn’t hide the exhaustion, relief, remorse- all the things that filled them. “And I guess I’m your... son-in-law.”
“They were just leaving,” Elise said. “I’m glad you made it. I couldn’t call you. In all the excitement, I--”
“-- left this behind.” Hank put a com unit, identical to the one Madge has used on the flight over, into Elise’s hand. “Don’t do that again, ok?” He said it lightly, but it had Clark turning away, giving the couple some privacy.
He quirked an eyebrow at Lois. “Ready to go home?”
“Your place or mine?”
He swung her up into his arms and moved them over to the door. “Silas, Elise. I can’t tell you how amazing it’s been to meet you. To know you... to be able to see everything that we’ll--”
“Their memories, Madge,” interrupted Hank, and Clark caught the flash of apology on the man’s face.
“Oh, good heavens, what was I thinking?” Madge stepped in front of them, halting their progress and the goodbye speech he was knew wasn’t all that great but he was still formulating. “I was just so glad... so relieved. We must fix this first.”
“We don’t have enough time,” a soft, troubled voice called.
For the first time Clark realized there was someone else in the room. She had been so quiet he hadn’t noticed her- in the corner, next to a cabinet of instruments he couldn’t begin to decipher. “Just let them go and they’ll figure it out.” She added that last with a worshipful look in his direction. Or... he thought that’s what it might be.
Lois seemed to agree, since she was the one who returned it with a hard stare. “What is this about?”
“This is Anna,” Madge said by way of introduction. “Petal, head down to the archives, the old filing system. Look under ‘B.’ The memory contraption.”
“The memory contraption?” Clark asked warily, lowering Lois slowly to the floor.
“You know too much.” Madge closed the trapdoor just as another spasm shook the building, and Clark didn’t know who looked more pained, Anna or Hank.
“Go help Petal and quickly,” Madge ordered Silas now. “I mean... if you would, dear.
Silas leapt to attention. “Where...?”
“The cellar,” Petal told him. “Our first assignment. Can you carry me?”
She didn’t have to ask twice. He scooped her up and moved them out of the room at a blur.
“They won’t make it back in time,” fretted Anna, still beside the cabinet. “The lifelines are so faint I can’t see them any more.”
“If we don’t do this correctly,” Madge said, “then it doesn’t matter if we send them at all. We may as well not. How are they supposed to interact with each other knowing what they do? They’re people, not icons. Every time they have arguments, every time they break-up--”
”Break-up?” said Lois.
“Temporary spats. Nothing unusual.”
“Ok,” Lois answered shakily, and Clark felt her hand slip into his.
He leaned close. “Never, Lois.”
Another shock wave hit the building and the noise grew loud enough for even non-Kryptonians to hear. “We need to go,” Clark said to Madge. “I think I understand what you’re getting at, but Lois and I will be fine.”
“We’ve already talked about how weird this will be,” Lois added.
“I can’t let you,” Madge said. “What happens if you go back in time to the first week you’ve known each other, only now you’re fully aware you are each other’s match? That an entire society exists because of it? The pressure that would place on you both would be inhumane.” She moved towards Clark, patting him on the arm. “When you do something lunkheaded, and Lois lets you have it, your defense cannot be ‘But if you date Dan Scardino, the future collapses, our children don’t get born!’”
“I would never--” Clark started to protest, but Madge held up her hand to silence him.
“The unknown is an important thing. If people understood all the repercussions of their actions, they would be paralyzed, unable to make the simplest decisions.”
Clark said nothing. He couldn’t. He recognized the truth in her words and felt their sting. He had made the same argument about the Departure Room, about the warning Silas had tried to give him in the ballroom...
At that moment the power shut down. Startled cries could be heard from inside the building and outside on the street.
“You’re going to make us forget,” Lois said flatly. “That’s what the memory contraption is.”
“It’s for the greater good, dear. And for your own, as well.”
“I don’t want to forget,” said Clark in a low, urgent voice. “I know what you’re saying. I do. But I need to remember.” He looked to the woman whose hand was in his, directing his next words at her. “Everything I ever hoped for, everything I dreamed of...” He gestured to their surroundings. “... is here.” He pressed her hand over his heart. “And here.” He waited for her nod of understanding and was warmed by it. “And I want to know that. I don’t ever want to forget.”
“It’s necessary.” Madge addressed them both, speaking earnestly. “Can you take heart that your destiny awaits you, but you can’t take a shortcut?”
“Does it? Does our destiny await us? The future isn’t carved in stone. All of this...all we saw... it could happen differently, couldn’t it?” Lois argued.
“Yes. There is always free will. Freedom of choice.” Madge adjusted her glasses, frowning. “I suppose you could choose differently. But in every time and place, you have consistently chosen each other. You just have to find your way. Find your way to love, and everything that comes after.”
“We’ve done that. We’ve found that.” Lois held up their linked hands.
“We have,” Clark echoed, the lump his throat too hard to say more.
“But the bad has to happen, too,” Madge said. “This is part of your story. The pain and the difficulty are what forged you. They brought you through the refining fire. Burned off the dross, so to speak. Made you who you are. This is how it has to be.”
“If it’s true for us, it’s true for Utopia,” Clark told Madge, and his eyes met Lois’s in resigned agreement. It was her argument, her point, but somehow it had been turned on them.
“The bad has to happen here, too. You can’t just have the good. The people here need to find their way,” Lois said.
Madge nodded thoughtfully. “So they do. And they will from now on. You have my word on it.”
“We’ve got it!” shouted Petal as she and Silas flew through the doorway.
Petal was holding a small device along with some wires and numerous attachments. They dumped it on the table and everyone gathered round to study it.
“Who remembers this from history class?” Madge asked.
“Follow the directions,” said Hank, holding a torch to give her better light.
“Can I help?” offered Clark.
“Superman can save us,” whispered Anna in awe.
“Yes,” said Madge. “Why didn’t I think of that? Please, at superspeed, if you can.”
He didn’t understand it, what it was or how it was going to work, but he could read the instructions and assembled it in a blur. “There.”
“Power it up,” Madge said.
“This is safe, right?” Lois asked.
“It’s your father’s invention,” Petal answered her.
“Don’t worry.” Madge took in the look on Lois’s face. “It’s a modification of something he invented. He called it the Bummer be Gone.”
“Oh god, that sounds like Daddy.”
“Only now it doesn’t just erase bad memories. It erases all memories for a programmable amount of time. It is, of course, effective on humans and Kryptonians. And very useful. I may just turn it on myself after you leave.”
“Madge!” exclaimed Petal, shocked.
“Of course I won’t,” said Madge. “Though... wouldn’t it be nice?”
Clark turned to Lois. “Since it will be a while before I get to say it... thank you. For giving me a home, for having our babies, for living with me all the years that you will. No matter what, I know I’ll wish it could be longer.”
“I’ll miss you,” she said. “But we’ll get there, Clark.”
“Oh,” said Anna mournfully, mopping at her tears.
“We’ll do it fast,” said Madge a bit tearfully herself. “Your memory and then the drop. Godspeed, you two.”
“His suit,” Hank said, and it sounded as if the words had been torn from him.
One look told Clark exactly why. From the way she tensed beside him, he knew Lois saw it, too. Elise was standing where she had been since they had walked in. She was still there, still in Hank’s arms. Only now... less so.
“I’m ok,” she said gamely.
Clark’s eyes shot to Silas. “There’s time,” Silas said in a voice that sounded much farther away than it should have. “But it’s getting... darker.”
Petal was at his side immediately, putting out her hand. “I still feel him. He’s still here, but...”
“Let’s hurry,” finished Hank, looking as if he’d like nothing more than to shove them into the timestream himself.
A subdued sort of panic stole in.
“We’ll just go,” said Lois. “Now. You can get another suit.”
“I agree.” Clark looked down at the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing, remembered his bare face. It didn’t matter. He was willing to chance it. “I can get a new suit from my mom.”
“Where is the suit you arrived in, dear?” Madge called over her shoulder. She and Anna had darted towards the cabinet drawers and were flinging contents everywhere. “Just so we can collect it later.”
“It’s... uh...”
“Under our bed in the attic,” Lois volunteered.
Their bed.
Clark looked at Lois. Saw his worry for their ancestors mirrored in her eyes. And something else in them, as well. A link, a tie far beyond anything he could ever explain.
His fears about the memory wipe vanished. Maybe this invention would make him forget this place and these people. But he knew. The memory of Lois, of what they had shared here, was burned into him. Imprinted onto a part of him untouchable by technology, no matter how advanced. He would carry her with him, lingering in his cells. And no matter what their path, however long and twisted it proved to be, he and Lois would find their way.
“We’re going to be fine,” he said to her a bit incongruously now.
She smiled as if she had already figured that out. And probably she had. She was always one step ahead of him.
“If you don’t mind, Clark,” Silas said with some effort. “I’d like to keep the original suit. I could use it, I think.”
His answer was heartfelt. “I’d like that.”
With a cry of triumph, Anna pulled out the familiar colors. “It’s from a Founders Day parade, but close enough he might not even notice the difference.” She brought it to him breathlessly.
He felt a little awkward with all of them watching so expectantly. He knew time was running out, but with seven sets of eyes on him...
“This won’t take but a second. Is there... uh... a place where I can...?”
“Turn around,” snapped Lois. “All of you.”
They obeyed her at once. He changed at superspeed, noticing that Lois hadn’t taken her own order, but was staring, fascinated. “Ok?” he asked her, smoothing the material over his chest.
“Um...” Her eyes lingered here and there. “... yeah. I guess it will be awhile before I see what’s under the suit again, won’t it?” The wink she gave him was quick, wicked, and really satisfying.
He pulled her to him, one final chance to say it right. “Lois, I have loved you from the beginning...”
She stroked his face and answered quietly. “... and I will love you until the end.”
“In my heart, I’m your husband.”
“And I’m your wife.”
He drank her in, pushing her image deep into his heart, away from the reach of any machine.
“So, I’ll meet you on the other side,” she said.
“And we’ll get started.” He let her go, and before he was ready, she turned and announced the all clear.
By the light of Hank’s one torch, in a city that was shaking apart at the rafters, Clark looked around the assembly. “Silas, remember what I told you. I don’t know anything more than you do. You’ll figure it out. We both will.”
Silas nodded, a smile lighting his face despite everything. He moved towards them. “Goodbye and thank you.”
Petal stayed beside him, an arm hooked through his.
Hank did the same with Elise.
Clark and Lois filled in the circle.
A mighty rumble rose from beneath them shaking the floor and rattling the pictures on the wall.
“No more time,” said Madge, shouldering the Bummer be Gone. Hank and Petal reopened the trapdoor. “It’s painless. Might make you dizzy. But you will land square on the mark.”
“You’ll be ok?” Lois asked. “All of you? And Tempus...?”
“We’ll be great. Better than ever,” Madge assured her robustly.
"We'll be here," offered Hank. "Watching out for things."
“Tempus doesn’t stand a chance, Grams,” added Silas with a grin.
Clark put his arms around Lois. “Say when.”
“Now,” Lois answered, keeping her eyes locked on his.
He kissed her and jumped. They went down into an ocean of colors, into a great wind, spinning.
He forced his head up, caught one last sight of a neat, square door closing above him. One last glimpse of Silas, Petal, Hank, Elise, Anna, and Madge’s faces peering down at them.
Then he forgot their names completely. Forgot them completely. He let go and enjoyed the ride.
Why was he riding?
What... was he riding?
No. He wasn’t riding. He was flying. But hadn’t he just been holding someone?
Carrying...?
The colonists launch! Heck of a thing to forget.
Clark floated up, slowing his descent. His head was spinning and he had slight aches and pains everywhere, nothing horrible, but enough to notice. The effects of flying into deep space, he guessed. Even though he could go for long periods of time without oxygen, that didn’t mean it was easy or advisable.
He landed, winded and still somewhat dazed, on the roof at EPRAD. He was shocked to see the sun was coming up.
He clearly remembered taking off with the shuttle at night...
Maybe he’d lost consciousness for awhile? Or it had taken far longer than he had realized. He didn’t know all the ins and outs of space travel, but either one would account for how he was feeling.
Though the details were still hazy, he remembered there was someplace he needed to be...
Lois.
Lois was on the fourth floor, waiting, no doubt, to pin him to the wall. He took a few minutes to just sit and catch his breath. To recall the flight and the space station, things she would want to know, things he would need to appease her with if he was going to get past her with his secret identity intact.
When he was ready, he floated down to an open second story window he had noted on lift off and went in.
***
“Sorry, that took me longer that I thought...” His voice trailed off when he saw her there. Her head was on the desk, and she was sound asleep. He grinned. When he’d imagined the dangers behind this door, the leaping tiger waiting to greet him, it hadn’t looked like this. One small woman curled up, her head pillowed on her jacket, asleep over her notes.
He approached her quietly, reluctant to disturb her.
And as he did, a scattering of images rained down on him.
He had seen her sleep before. Had held her as she did so... been with her in the most intimate way...
He froze, a warm sea of memories floating just beyond his grasp. The harder he tried to bring them into focus, the further away they went. And then they disappeared completely.
He realized he was just standing there gawking at Lois. And heaven forbid she catch him at it. It certainly wouldn’t endear him to her, and he was going to need her on his side if he was going to survive his entry into the world as a mild-mannered reporter-superhero.
He cleared his throat loudly. “Ms Lane?”
She stirred, blinking up at him groggily.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said.
The easy smile that lit her sleepy features had him holding his breath “I nodded off, I guess,” she said around a yawn. “The strangest dreams...”
“What were they about?”
“Uh...” Lois frowned, looking thoughtful. Then she shook her head. “No idea.”
For some ridiculous reason, he was disappointed.
“I have a few questions.” Lois straightened in her chair, her voice back to all business.
“I’m beat,” he said bluntly. “Can I fly you back to the Planet and we can do this some other time?”
She wanted to protest, he could tell. But instead, she nodded reluctantly. “You know, I’m feeling a little off, too. Maybe I’m coming down with something, or maybe it’s just the night spent sleeping in the chair. Later today, then?”
“How about I call you?”
“How about we set a time up so you don’t have to call me?”
“How about I promise I won’t talk to anyone else first, then I’ll just drop by when I can?”
“How about I hold you to that promise and we make an appointment for you to drop by?”
He swung her into his arms. She felt so right against his chest he nearly lost a step in his surprise. “How about we let destiny take its course?” he said with a grin.
“There’s no such thing,” she said dismissively. “I make my own destiny.”
“Somehow I don’t find that too hard to believe,” he returned.
He flew them slowly, leisurely, enjoying her wide-eyed wonder at the sights below them.
He was in no real hurry to reach their destination and too soon the Daily Planet came into view, the work day underway, the bullpen buzzing with activity.
“The window’s open, Ms Lane,” he said to the woman who fit his arms so perfectly. “Care to make an entrance?”
The end
***
On September 1, 2004, in Fanfic Related, Erin K asked this question about Superman’s first appearance:
Didn't he save the shuttle taking the crew to Prometheus at night? I was thinking so, but then didn't we see him fly Lois in through the DP window during daylight? (Hmmm...) Do we know how that accounts for the time difference, if that's the case?
Pam said:
Yes, it was dark -- sunset-ish -- at the shuttle and daylight at the Planet. Plus, I believe Lois changed clothes.
Labrat added:
Maybe there was a whole night in between on some desert island somewhere that we never knew about till now...
Gerry chimed in:
Did Superman fly Lois up to the space station with the shuttle passengers or leave her on earth while he did so? (She would want to know what that experience felt like.) But if he did fly her to the space station, how did she get back? She can't hold her breath and even if she wore a space suit with oxygen, would she burn up on re-entry?
So, if she waited for Superman to come back, changed and then he flew her to the Planet, what did they talk about? She tells Trask that they "didn't have to talk", but knowing Lois's insatiable curiosity, I can't see that happening.
Oh yes, this could be a very interesting little fic.
And I said:
You know, until I read Erin's post, I never realized there was a time difference... that's a really interesting window in time.
Once I’d typed ‘window’, I pretty much knew where I was headed.
Thank you to Erin for the idea. And for BRing this from the very beginning when it was a tiny outline, cheering me along, naming all the rooms in the Museum, thinking up the ring, and insisting that I stop procrastinating and ‘start posting!’
And to Labrat for always, always getting me unstuck, no matter how tangled up I was. And that was often! For wanting to see more Elise. For the temporal shift. I wouldn’t have finished this without her.
Thank you to other BRs who came and went and helped along the way. Sherry, for the shot of confidence about the bakery, for holding my feet to the fire, making me defend my characters and making me sharper. Pam and Lynn, for the last minute ‘help me, I’m desperate’ second opinion on the globe revelation scene.
To Paul for providing the Bummer be Gone many months ago. James for the locker. Tank for being Special Consultant on call and answering questions which came to him with no rhyme or reason.
And most especially, thank you to all readers! You’ve made this, by far, the most fun and satisfying writer’s experience I’ve ever had.
Thank you for reading. I’m deeply, deeply grateful!
CC
