Yay! A new chapter!
To stand in the presence of three women who had been horribly violated by the doppelganger of someone who was identical to them was very hard for the two Kryptonian men.
The flip side to Clark's powers - if he uses them for ill, who can stop him? Kent & Clark are almost made ill by thinking of what their clone-counterpart did. Of course, the reason that Superman is a symbol of hope and justice is that he uses his powers for good.
Lois's imprisonment had been partially her fault. While she hadn't ordered it herself as part of a resistance cover-up, she had never sanctioned a rescue mission, despite impassioned requests from both Ching and Zara.
Ooh, I love this! No wonder LL is so antsy around Lois - she knows she has done ill to Lois. Can LL ever forgive herself for this? Will she talk about it with Lois, later on? It's probably harder for LL than Lois. LL knows exactly what situation she left Lois in (the prisoner of the evil Lord Kal-El), and how bad it was for Lois. Lois has had her long strange trip back to serenity, but LL will always live with the guilt of knowing that she left her counterpart in a hellhole for years.
“You wanted to see how we would react,” Kent spoke. He noticed Clark was actually afraid to speak up first. He knew that Clark's own experience with his Lois had taught him to be careful at how he reacted to her, and he was obviously transferring that care to LL.
This makes me wonder... since communication is so vital to a good marriage, has Clark's caution affected his marriage with Lois? Kent & Lane (the canon L&C) obviously have no trouble yelling at each other, or arguing, but Clark must always feel like he's walking on eggshells when he wants to argue with Lois.
Although they knew it hadn't been him, the clone's behavior, as well as Lois's earlier anti-Kryptonian articles had amplified the general fear that people generally felt around Clark when they allowed themselves to think how dangerous he could be if he decided to stop being benign.
I'm sure there's a virulently anti-Kryptonian website or two out there in Clark's world. Plus, given Clark's clone's behavior (as detailed in "Long Strange Trip"), even sober people and friends of Clark, like Perry White and Henderson, were concerned about Clark's apparent misuse of his powers.
“Neither of these men are thought to be dangerous by the world at large. And in order for that to be true, they have had to be fairly consistent with helping and never hurting. You know public opinion and how any one slip up would be magnified to world-wide threat.”
Same thing. The clone in Clark's world really messed things up for Clark. It'll take years for Clark to overcome the bad P.R. that the clone created for him.
“I'm sure it rankled to see my abuse and not do anything about it. I know your personal sense of honor and duty was in conflict with watching someone powerless and helpless repeatedly be abused by someone who so easily could kill her.”
Both Zara and LL paled instantly and Lois knew she had struck a nerve.
When Lois starts thinking about this, it won't take her long to realize that the reason Zara didn't rescue her was that LL forbade it. This realization will probably come at the worst possible time.
“We prop them up by our presence,” said Lois to Lane. “Our acceptance of both Kal-Els gives credence to the fact that they aren't dangerous, even if we ourselves won't yet have much credibility.”
“You will,” said Zara to Lois. “Once people learn that you were the one in our world. But you,” she looked at Lane, “might simply be an object of scorn."
Yes! When they get to that world, and the humans see that Lane actually *married* a Kryptonian - and willingly - no doubt they will think of it as the worst kind of miscegenation. Perversion. A crime against humanity.
“That, I can believe,” said Kent. “I know your life is different from ours. Your trials and your responsibilities. “We won't always agree. We won't blindly follow if we don't, but we won't assert ourselves over you if we disagree. I can't … convince you of this, you'll just have to take that leap of faith.”
“I have no faith left,” LL ground out.
And that's the sad thing. I hope that in this fic, LL can regain some of her faith. That would be a longer, stranger trip than the one that Lois took.
“Lois here has – credibility. She has suffered, and she has been an effective leader. Her own trials have turned her into something of a legend,” Zara said, indicating LL. “Her friendship with me is not considered to be treasonous in any way because everyone knows that Lois hates Kryptonians and would only trust me if she truly felt that I was trustworthy. Lois doesn't trust many Kryptonians. Don't think she will work easily with you two,” she told Clark and Kent. “It's likely she will give off vibes of hatred. It's likely others will pick up on that as well. You will create some amount of emotional turmoil in our world and you will have to endure much without allowing your own emotional responses to take over."
Yowza! I can't wait to read more. Just crank up the angst meter to "eleven" and let 'er rip!
