By DC <cmohans@worldnet.att.net>
Rated PG
Submitted February 1999
Summary: This author was moved to write a sequel to the fanfic "Three Grandmothers." When Clark comes home from New Krypton to find that Lois has married his friend Dale Irig from Smallville, can things ever be put right again?
This is my first fanfic, and I hope it won't be the last. Some people may think that I am too young to be writing this sort of thing. Others may say that the material on this site is too intense for me to read. After all, I am only 12. Well, honestly, I don't care. This fanfic was a lot of fun to write. It is a continuation of another fanfic called "Three Grandmothers" by Piper. She wrote that she wouldn't be writing the obvious sequel. So I took it upon myself to write it. Also, some of the phrases may be from other fanfics. By the way, words in *asterisks* indicate emphasis or thoughts. Enjoy!
***
Friday Night
Millions of miles away, a glowing, spherical spaceship sped towards earth. Its single passenger, a man in his late 20's with dark hair and brown eyes, sat down on his cot and prepared for sleep. He pushed a button on the wall, and the image of a planet he hadn't seen in reality for almost seven years popped up on the view screen. From under his skintight garment, he pulled a wedding ring on a silver chain, whose unrusted condition showed the loving care its owner had given it. He looked at it, his face breaking into a brilliant smile once he did. *Lois,* he thought, *I'm coming home!*
***
Smallville, Kansas
Lois Lane Irig awoke with a start. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, and turned to the prone figure beside her, Dale Irig, her husband of more than four years. "Dale! Wake up! He's coming back!"
Dale, still half asleep, muttered, "What is it sweetheart? The baby giving you trouble again?" Lois smiled momentarily at the thought of the child growing inside her, but then quickly grew solemn again.
"No Dale! Clark's coming home!"
*That* caught his attention. He sat up and turned to face her. "How do you know?"
"I just received a telepathic message from Clark…I think.. But you see, I was asleep, so the the message turned into a dream, and…"
"Honey," Dale interrupted, fully awake now and smiling, "You're babbling. Slow down."
"Sorry, but I just know that Clark's coming back!" Dale gave her a hug. "Lois, you're just nervous about the baby. Trust me, everything is going to be fine!"
"But…" However, Dale silenced her objection with a kiss, that quickly turned passionate, so the issue was forgotten for the rest of the night…
***
Saturday Morning
The next morning, Lois slowly drifted up to wakefulness, images from last night still fresh in her mind. Suddenly, she recalled her "dream" from last night. A high pitched humming sound coming from the front yard caught her attention. Clark was back? Clark was back! She leaped out of bed, an amazing feat for a pregnant woman, and dashed outside. There he was, her Clark, as large as life! "Clark!!" she screamed as he gathered her in his arms for a gigantic bear hug. "I missed you so much," she whispered against his chest.
"I missed you too, Lois," he said, and she could see the tears in his eyes. Then they kissed with all the passion of that they had all but forgotten during their seven year separation. It awoke feelings long dormant in both of them. When they came up for air, Clark, who was grinning from ear to ear, noticed Dale in the doorway. "Oh, hello Dale. I was just spending some quality time with my fiancee."
The silly grin that had also been on Lois' face instantly faded.
"Umm, Clark…There's something we have to tell you. Dale and I, kind of, well…got married four years ago." she said slowly.
All the enthusiasm drained from Clark's face. "Oh, well then, I'm…very… happy for you." Only for an instant did Lois see the genuine pain and anguish in his eyes before it was covered by a mask of happiness and friendliness, but even that was enough to send waves of pity to her very soul. *Still,* she thought, *He's taking this pretty well.* Then she asked quietly, "Would you like to come in?"
Clark's mind was in turmoil. The woman he loved was married to someone else! It was almost too much to bear. He knew, however, that he couldn't go berserk. It was her choice, after all. "Ahh, sure, whatever," he mumbled, as he stumbled into their house. Plastering on a fake smile, he said, "I see you have another new person coming into your life. Congratulations!"
It took a moment for Lois to figure out what he was talking about. By that time, Dale was already standing next to her, and saying, "Thank you, Clark. And thanks for being so understanding."
"What's going on here? Who's that strange man?"
"Jake! What are you doing here?
"Nobody came to wake me up. I heard voices and I just had to come down to see what was going on. And then I noticed that man over there. He looks so familiar. Have I ever met him?" Dale smiled at that. He was so much like his mother!
"Is he your first?" queried Clark, giving his hosts a questioning glance.
"Actually, no. Clark, I would like you to meet…" began Lois.
"I know!" exclaimed Jake, "He's the man you told me about a while ago, the one who put me in Mommy's tummy!"
"…your son," finished Lois at the same time.
There was a stunned silence for a second. Then Clark said, with a catch in his voice, "Give me a second, Lois. I think I need to sit down." He stumbled into a nearby chair.
"I know how much of a shock this is to you, Clark," began Dale, "But…"
"Shock? You don't know the half of it! My God, Lois," the tears were streaming down his cheeks now, "If I had known this was going to happen, I would probably never have left!"
"Of course you did, Clark. You had to help those people, or thousands of them would have died. How could you possibly know? Anyway, you can't change history, even if you can do some amazing things." comforted Lois.
Meanwhile, Jake had walked up to Clark's seat and was pulling on the cuff of his pants.
"What is it Jake?"
"Did you really put me in my Mommy's tummy?" he asked, with just a touch of wonder in his voice.
Clark made a half-strangled sound before he cleared his throat and replied softly, "Yes, Jake, I did." His eyes took on a distant look, and Lois knew he was remembering their night of passion seven years ago.
"Did you love my Mommy?" Clark was debating how to respond to that question, a growing wave of panic starting to building up in the back of his head, when Dale intervened.
"Um, why don't you go and play with your toys Jake, while Clark, Mommy, and I make breakfast?"
"'Kay, Daddy," replied Jake, and he ran upstairs to his room. Only Lois caught the short-lived look of pain, surprise, and anger that shown in his eyes at the word "Daddy."
After Jake had gone, Dale turned to Clark, grabbed his hand vigorously, then said cheerfully, "Welcome back Clark, nice to see you again! So, as Lois mentioned, when are you going to get your super powers back?"
"A couple of weeks. That's how long it took for Zara and Ching's powers."
Then Dale asked, "So Clark, how are things on New Krypton? How come you were able to come back?"
"Yeah Clark, what's been going on in your life for the past seven years?"
Clark swallowed the lump of emotion in his mouth. He was *not* going to burst into tears again.
"Well, it's a pretty long story…"
"Don't worry about it, it's Saturday, and we didn't have anything planned, anyway."
"Is it? Anyway, after we left, I moped around the ship. I missed all my friends, especially you, Lois, and my parents, too. Then,…" His story took several hours to relate, and it was almost dinner time when he finished. He was very careful not to mention any of the very intense or inappropriate parts when Jake was in the room or close by. Dale was amazed at some of the risks he'd taken and wounds he'd endured, but Lois was not at all surprised. That was the way Clark had always been, willing to do anything in the name of truth and justice. But she couldn't help noticing the slight strain to his voice, and the pause that he sometimes put between his phrases, and the meaningful glances he kept giving her, as if he was trying to tell her something she couldn't understand. He was holding something back, obviously, something he wanted to tell her alone. But what else could there be to tell? If anything, it was the most detailed account of anything that she had ever heard. *So what wasn't he telling?*, Lois puzzled. Eventually she forgot about it, as she became more and more involved in his story. She loved the sound of his strong voice vibrating through the room, painting vivid pictures of rugged terrain, high mountains, and a bright red sun. Eventually, she grew drowsy, and finally, after a valiant effort not to, fell asleep. Her husband woke her up. He told her that after finishing his story, Clark had gone out to visit his parents. They had dinner together and went to bed early.
***
For the next couple of weeks, Clark stayed with the Irig's. He visited his parents constantly who, of course, were overjoyed to see him again. So basically, he appeared to be as normal as could be. However, Lois noticed the sad glances he sometimes passed her, but whenever she brought up the topic, he would smoothly change it. Knowing him as well as she did, she was able to sense how withdrawn he was, especially about his own feelings. Clark's powers slowly returned, and he started taking practice flights around Smallville, being very careful not to be seen.
One night, Lois awoke with a start. She looked at the bedside clock and saw that it was midnight. She wondered what had woken her. Then she thought of the time Clark had caught that Kryptonian virus, and had woken from his coma the next morning. She had been sleeping in her apartment, but when he had come out of his coma, she had somehow "sensed" him wake up without confirmation. And later that day, he had sensed when her microwave had sent out an ultrasonic signal that would have caused her mother's and her heads to blow up! She had that same feeling now. Clark needed her. Lois tiptoed to the front of the house, and there was Clark, sitting on the porch steps.
She could see him holding something. When she noticed what it was, she almost cried out. It was her wedding ring. She sat down next to him. "Hello Lois," he said, still staring at the ring on its silver chain. There were tear stains on his cheek.
"What's wrong, Clark? Do you want to talk about it?"
"What else is there to say, Lois? The woman I love is married to someone else. They have a loving 6 year old, and another baby on the way. Lois, I just can't stay here. Every time, I see you, Dale and Jake, I feel empty inside. It's like there's a Kryptonite stake through my heart, and it's being driven in another inch every minute. Lois, all seven years I was on New Krypton, I fantasized about you, about making love to you, touching you, hugging you, kissing you, even smelling you. And I hung onto them, Lois, because I hoped that those fantasies would become a reality. That when I returned, we could put our lives back together, get married and start a life of our own. That is, *was* my view of paradise. And now it has moved to a place where I may never reach it. That is why I must leave here. It's just too painful."
"Clark, you're not being fair…" Lois tried to put her hand on his shoulder.
"Lois, don't touch me!" Clark shouted. Lois froze. He didn't even want her touching him, he hated her so much? She felt tears rush to her eyes. "That's only what my head tells me to do. My heart tells me to take you in my arms, fly you away to some lonely place, and make love to you, and make you forget all about Dale." Lois shivered. The very thought of him making love to her…she could already feel her body responding. Then she heard him sigh heavily. "But I know that I can't do that. It would be taking advantage of you, and I could never do that. Anyway, it would be unfair to Dale. I know he loves you, whether I like it or not. But Lois, every time I endured a serious wound, that all the doctors had deemed as fatal, I just kept thinking, *No, I can't die, Lois needs me.* And every time I had to make a risky gamble I thought, *The sooner I make a decision, the sooner I can get back to Lois.* Now, to not even have reached the goal I have been striving towards for seven years…" He allowed her to take his hand in a comforting way. As before, she could feel her bond, and in doing so, could feel his pain.
"Oh, Clark, please don't leave. We can work something out, I know we can."
"Lois, I've made my decision. I'm leaving." He started to lift off from the ground.
"Clark get back down here! This isn't something that you can just walk away from!" Clark stopped in midair.
"Lois, this is for your own good."
"I've heard that line before."
"This is different, Lois. There are more people to consider than just "us." You have to consider Dale, who remember, loves you as any husband should. And then there's Jake. I may be his biological father, but he respects Dale as his Dad, and there is nothing that I can possibly do to change that."
Lois was starting to heat up. He was just so annoyingly *right* sometimes. "Clark, don't do this! I love you, family or not, and I want you back in my life. Permanently. I am not letting you leave again, without a fight, buster." Clark smiled crookedly at that. His face quickly turned hard again as he asked the next question. "Then who do you love more, me or Dale?"
"Clark, you can't just expect me to chose one over the other! That's ludicrous!"
"I know, it's just that I could leave with a better peace of mind if you said that you love me more."
"Would you stay if I said that?"
"No. I simply refuse to do anything that will tear a family apart!" His eyes softened. "Especially since the woman I love is part of that family." He gently cupped her face with the same gesture that had given away his identity all those years ago. Lois calmed down a bit.
"Well, Clark, if that's your decision, I won't try and change it. Just this once, you have to do this on your own. But remember, running away from your problems doesn't solve them." And under her breath he heard her mutter, "Not that I could stop you if I wanted too." His hand slipped from her grasp as he started to rise straight up, until he disappeared among the clouds. Lois was straining to see him against the dark background provided by the night sky, suddenly heard a soft *plop!* from the area of her feet.
She looked down to see her wedding ring, lying next to its broken chain. As she watched, the tears flowing openly down her cheeks, they turned into a puddle of silver and gold, as if being heated from some invisible source.
Her tearstained face gazed up at the sky as she whispered, "Goodbye, Clark."
***
Clark flew hard and fast, his breaths coming at almost 1 every second. He had never come as close to the speed of light than that time, as though he was trying to leave behind his sorrow, and the emptiness inside, without the love of his life. After circumnavigating the globe several hundred times, he flew back to the haven of his youth, the tree house he had named "The Fortress of Solitude," where he let all the pent up emotions inside him go, and cried himself to sleep. When he awoke, he looked up to see Mr. H. G. Wells, in his time-traveling, dimension-hopping machine.
"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" Clark spoke loudly, trying to hide the quaver in his voice..
"Please, just get into the machine. Time is of the essence, you know." With a sigh, Clark got into the machine. Wells turned a knob here, pulled a lever there, and suddenly they were in front of Lois' old apartment. Clark's super hearing picked up a TV broadcasting signal.
"…leave, knowing that a world full of heroes, has nothing to fear." *No,* thought Clark, *It couldn't be!* Wells, noticing his stunned expression.
"Yes, we are here on the exact day and time that you left for New Krypton. Now, go to Lois' apartment and wait for her there."
"Wha-What?" whispered Clark, still dealing with the shock of coming full circle.
"Trust, me Mr. Kent. Wait in her apartment. Oh, and don't tell her anything about where you're from!"
"Whatever you say, Mr. Wells," muttered Clark in a daze, as he drifted up towards Lois' window. In the meantime, Wells moved the time machine into an alley. He watched a very tired Lois Lane enter her apartment building. When he heard a happy cry of joy come from the general area of her window, he immediately sent the machine 7 years into the future.
***
The machine appeared in front of what was, at that point in time, the home of Lois and Clark Kent and their family. It also arrived just in time to see a spherical spaceship deposit a figure right in front of the house.
Wells, less than ten feet away, yelled, "Mr. Kent, get in the machine, now!" The figure turned towards him.
"What? Mr. Wells? What's going on?"
"I don't have any time to explain, just get in!" Clark rebelliously obeyed.
Wells instantly sent the machine back to its point of origin, seven years ago.
When they arrived in front of Lois' apartment, five minutes after the machine had originally left Clark turned to Wells and demanded, "Okay, Mr. Wells, now what's going on? And you better have some good answers!"
"Thank God we're on time! Oh, Mr. Kent, just follow me, and I shall explain everything." They walked into the building, where Wells knocked on the door.
"Go away, whoever you are!" came a loud, shrill voice from inside.
"Trust, me Mrs. Lane, I think you want to answer this door."
"Mr. Wells? I'll be right there!" There was a sound of running feet and several clicking sounds as Lois unbolted her door. As she opened the door, she started talking. "What is it this time, Mr. Wells? Is Tempus on the loose again? Do you need my … Clark!" She threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately. Then she broke it abruptly. "But you were just here, and then you sort of just…vanished! Where did you go?"
"What are you talking about Lois? This is the first time I've been here in 7 years!"
"What?!"
"I think that I can explain," said Wells. "I think you both had better sit down." When they did, he proceeded to explain everything about what had happened, including about the "bad" future, in which Lois married Dale. He was careful, however, not to ever mention Jake. *After all,* he thought, *people don't have to know everything about their future.* He concluded, "So that's why you had to leave with me so fast. If you hadn't, that future would have disappeared with the 'other' Clark, and you along with it. Then everything would be caught in a nasty time loop, since I couldn't prevent my 'other' self from picking up the 'other' Clark without creating a nasty paradox that could destroy the entire time stream! Anyway, I'll leave you two now to make your future together." With that, he left the apartment, closing the door softly behind him.
Clark turned to Lois and flashed her a wide grin before saying, "Well, getting married is definitely first on the list…"
THE END