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Chapter Text

“This planet will be better off if I never existed,” Clark said.  

Chloe’s eyes were wide and wet; he knew that she loved him, but he loved her so much that he wanted better for her. Better than the life of a sidekick to a failed wannabe hero who did nothing but cause more destruction than he did good for the world.  

Lana herself had spent years blaming everything that had ever caused her pain on the meteor shower. The meteor shower that brought Clark here. And now Lana was in immense pain, all because of him.  

His parents, Lana, Chloe, Lois, Oliver... all the people closest to him had been hurt by aliens and people infected by kryptonite.  

She took the key out of his dad’s old copy of Tom Sawyer and smacked it into his hand, holding it there. Before Clark could say anything, the key felt warm in his hand and lit up.  

He pulled away from Chloe, frowning at the key. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Clark remembered that Jor-El was present within the key and realised that this couldn’t be good.  

“Oh my god, Clark,” Chloe said softly, staring at the key.  

She reached for him but he took a step away from her, trying to protect her from whatever the key was about to do, but it all went black.  

>>>  

Clark woke up on the barn floor; the loft was covered in hay bales, and everything seemed a little neater, a little more pristine.  

“Chloe?” he called out, standing up.  

“Hey,” a young voice called, clearly trying to be tough. “What the hell are you doing on our property?”  

Clark frowned at the young teen in a Smallville letterman jacket, doing his best to square up his shoulders.  

“What? Who are you?” Clark asked.  

“I live here,” the boy said. “I’m Clark Kent.”  

Clark's eyes caught on the patch on the arm of his letterman jacket, Clark clearly labelled.  

He tried not to panic, but the anxiety in his chest was building. He stormed out of the barn and into the house, blinking in confusion when he saw the changes in the kitchen. The drapes were different, a couple of pictures on the wall gone. A small painting of a white horse that his mother had bought at a farmers' market with him when he was a child because Clark couldn’t stop looking at it was no longer on the wall by the stairs.  

Clark’s breath caught in his chest as he saw the family photo of him and his parents in front of the barn was different, picking it up to get a closer look.  

He was gone, replaced with this new Clark.  

“Hey! What are you doing?” the kid called after him.  

“I’m not in this picture,” Clark tried to process. “You’re their son,” he repeated, trying to make this make sense.  

"Yeah,” the kid said defiantly. “And lucky for you, my dad didn’t find you in the barn, ‘cause he’d be pulling out his twelve gauge right about now.”  

Clark finally felt like he could breathe for the first time in minutes.  

“He’s alive?”  

Of course , he thought to himself. I’m the reason he died .  

Wherever Jor-El had sent him, in this world where he wasn’t Clark Kent, Jonathan Kent was alive and well. Already, he was being proven right.  

“Dad?” Clark called out, desperate to see him again. “Dad!”  

“Dad?” the kid asked, following him to the stairs. “What’s your problem?”  

Clark frowned, scanning the house with his c-ray vision and not seeing anyone else in the house.  

“Look, nobody’s home, alright?” the kid said. “If you don’t get out of my house, I’m calling the Sheriff.”  

“I never made it to Earth,” Clark thought out loud. “I don’t exist here.”  

“Well, unfortunately you do,” the kid snarked. “And you still haven’t told me why you’re in my house.”  

Clark ignored him, walking back to the kitchen.  

“I’m not sure,” he said as he looked around. “If I didn’t get on that ship then I shouldn’t be here, but somehow I am.”  

Clark’s mind moved a hundred miles a second, but he couldn’t make sense of it. If he didn’t exist, he shouldn’t be anywhere . But he was here. Even if he didn’t quite understand where here was.  

“The ship?” the kid behind him asked.  

Clark couldn’t think of this boy as Clark Kent; he was still Clark Kent.  

“Alright, look, just relax, okay?” the boy said gently. “I’ll get you some help.”  

Clark felt his breathing pick up, panic rising steadily in his chest.  

“I need to talk to Jonathan and Martha Kent,” he demanded, turning back to the kid.  

“Well, that’s gonna be hard, ‘cause they’re on a cruise celebrating my dad’s birthday.”  

Clark nearly laughed; his dad on a boat bigger than a fishing boat? That would certainly never happen in his reality.  

“Lana Lang,” he remembered.  

If his father was alive, then Lana might be alive and well, too.  

“Is Lana okay?” Clark asked, bracing himself for the answer.  

“I don’t know who that is,” the kid said. “But I’ll call the Sheriff and I’m sure he’ll know what to do.”  

Clark smiled. Surely not knowing Lana was a good thing; likely his parents didn’t even know her outside of being Nell’s niece and their next door neighbour. He had to find out if everyone else was okay without him.  

“No, it’s alright,” he said. “I just need to make sure all my friends are okay.”  

The kid’s shoulders relaxed slightly, probably relieved that Clark seemed just a little less crazy than he appeared and that he’d be leaving soon.  

“I need to use your phone book,” Clark tried to smile reassuringly.  

>>>  

Pete had followed two of his brothers to university across the country; Clark had thought about calling him, but this Pete would have no idea who he was, and like the Pete in his world, he would likely want nothing to do with him.  

Chloe and Lois were both in Metropolis, right where Clark suspected.  

He ran to the city, wondering if he would see Chloe at any of the spots they frequented together, like the coffee spot on the corner that had the bagels Chloe liked, or the pretzel stand that Clark could never walk past without buying one.  

Clark was vindicated when he saw Chloe walk out of her favourite record store with a smiling man who said something, and walked back inside. Clark smiled to himself as he watched Chloe beam, making her way to the florist two stores down, inspecting some orange flowers.  

“Chloe,” he called out.  

She looked up at him in confusion.  

“Chloe Sullivan? Smallville High, class of ‘05?” he smiled at her.  

She looked beautiful, Clark thought. Even unsure of who he was, she looked at him with the same warmth she always did. He wondered if this Chloe would somehow sense that they were close in another life, the closest thing Clark had ever felt to a soulmate.  

“I’m sorry, my inner database is coming up empty,” Chloe said. “Do I know you?”  

Clark's heart sank a little.  

“Clark Kent,” he introduced. “We went to high school together.”  

Chloe squinted at him as if she was trying to see his face better. Clark did his best to look calm and collected; his Chloe would have already made a joke about not forgetting a face like his, trying to make him blush. And it would work.  

“You may not remember me, I was a bit of an outsider,” he tried to play off.  

She nodded, but he could tell her curiosity was piqued; she would probably go home and look him up, being set off into an investigative spiral when she found some other, younger Clark Kent, still attending Smallville High, instead of him.  

“Listen, I’m uh, I’m trying to find a mutual friend of ours. She’s not in the phone book. Lana Lang?”  

Chloe looked confused again, clearly wracking her brain.  

“Uh, the cheerleader?” she asked.  

Clark thought back to freshman year; Lana as head cheerleader, as Whitney’s girlfriend, the girl next door who had never spoken to Clark or Chloe before strange things had started happening in the town, forcing them into each other’s orbit.  

“We didn’t exactly swim in the same social pond,” Chloe said. “I mean, to be honest, her blip fell off my radar the day after graduation.”  

Clark smiled sadly; of course Chloe and Lana had never become best friends, had never lived together. The thought made him sad for a moment, before he realised it was probably for the best for both of them. He just couldn’t fathom how so much could change without him.  

“But you were a reporter at The Torch , right?” he checked.  

Chloe nodded.  

“Maybe you can use some of your investigative magic, help me track her down?”  

She looked confused, minutely shaking her head.  

“I would love to, but we have somewhere to be,” Chloe said gently.  

The man she was with came out of the store, wandering over to them curiously.  

“Oh, you and your boyfriend?” Clark tried to pry.  

“Fiancé, actually,” the man said, wrapping an arm around Chloe’s back protectively.  

Clark noticed his Metropolis Police Department shirt, and looked down at the large diamond on Chloe’s finger. He did his best not to feel sad or disappointed; he hadn’t expected that in any universe, Chloe wouldn’t be his partner. The realisation that he’d lost her hit him much harder than he was expecting. It was almost like the feeling he had felt when Chloe had begun to put a little distance between them when she started seeing Jimmy.  

“The wedding’s on Sunday,” the man said.  

Clark smiled; he’d never seen Chloe radiate joy and peace like this. It hit him how much he had dragged Chloe down, how much pain and heartbreak he had brought into her life. Clark knew a world without him was a better place.  

“Congratulations, that’s great,” Clark smiled at them.  

Chloe's smile was so bright, her eyes sparkling.  

Her fiancé made an excuse to leave Clark, but Chloe locked eyes with him curiously, like she was trying to place him, or like maybe she did know him from somewhere. If anyone would recognise him through space and time, it would be Chloe. Clark felt hope spark for just a moment before her eyes cleared.  

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” she said.  

Clark’s sadness made way for happiness for her, and he smiled back. He'd never been able to resist a Chloe smile.  

“It’s okay,” he said, surprising himself when he meant it.  

He watched them walk away, blinking when Chloe looked back at him.  

“I hope you find Lana,” she smiled.  

“Chloe,” he called out, stopping her just before she got into her car. “I’m really happy for you.”  

She smiled widely at him, and he felt the way he did when he stood in the yellow sun for a long time; warm inside, like someone believed in him. Like Chloe believed in him.  

For as long as he could remember, Chloe was always the one believing in him.  

“Thanks,” she said, before she climbed into her car and drove away.  

Clark watched her leave, not taking his eyes off the car until they were well out of sight.  

There was one more place he could try.  

>>>  

Clark walked into the bullpen of the Daily Planet, scoping it out. None of the desks had Chloe’s name on them, which made him sad. But the CEO name wasn’t a Luthor, at least.  

He spotted Jimmy immediately, staring off into the distance behind his camera. Clark stepped in front of him to try to get his attention.  

“Nice bowtie,” he greeted.  

“Oh, thanks,” Jimmy said, looking behind Clark, distracted.  

Clark turned to see what he was looking at, but there wasn’t anyone behind him.  

“Yeah, it’s uh, it’s a present from an old girlfriend,” Jimmy trailed off. “She might have taken my heart away, but she left me with a sense of style.”  

Clark tried not to laugh; he wondered if Chloe and Jimmy had met when they were sixteen in this reality, if Chloe had gotten that Daily Planet internship the way she had in his world. Lois had told him last year that Jimmy was actually the guy that Chloe had lost her virginity to that summer.  

This Jimmy was already so much like his Jimmy, he assumed that he had won Chloe over at some point.  

Jimmy turned back to the bullpen, and Clark followed.  

“You’re Jimmy Olsen, the photographer, right?”  

“The one and only,” Jimmy smiled at him, confused.  

“Every time I see a picture in the newspaper I like, your name’s on it,” Clark said.  

It wasn’t a lie; he’d learn to spot Jimmy’s photography since he’d started dating Chloe. His photographs were always so warm, highlighting people’s faces, showcasing the humanity in Metropolis.  

“Really?” Jimmy asked, turning to look at him. “You like my work?”  

“Yeah.”  

“I wish that you were my editor, she says I that have focus issues,” Jimmy complained.  

Clark smiled; he was still the same old Jimmy.  

“She should check her eyesight,” he said sympathetically.  

Jimmy smiled widely at him, and for a split second, Clark felt like he was back in his world.  

“So, do you work here? Or...?”  

“No,” Clark said, suddenly aware of how insane he was about to sound. “Actually I lost track of an old girlfriend, and I was hoping the Daily Planet archives might help me find where she ended up. Do you have any idea who might be able to help me?”  

Jimmy nodded and held his arms out wide.  

“You’re looking at him.”  

Clark smiled, grateful.  

“I’m always there for a loyal fan,” Jimmy joked, nodding to the bullpen behind them. “Come on.”  

Clark followed Jimmy to a familiar desk, thinking about all the times he had sat there with Chloe, hovering over her shoulder while she found things for him, bouncing ideas off of him, helping him solve problem after problem. He missed her as Jimmy sat down in her chair, tapping away at his computer.  

“So, does this long lost love have a name?” Jimmy asked.  

“Lana Lang,” Clark said.  

He wasn’t sure what he was hoping to find; just that she was okay.  

“Lana Lang,” Jimmy murmured as he typed her name in.  

Clark waited with bated breath as Jimmy read.  

“Uh oh.”  

He felt his heart fall to the floor; had Lana somehow suffered in this life too? Clark’s mind immediately went to the worst as he rounded the desk.  

“What is it? Is she okay?”  

“Brace yourself,” Jimmy said, pulling up an article.  

“After high school, Lana Lang studied art history at the Sorbonne where she met French philanthropist Pierre Rousseau. Like, they’re married, they have two kids, and they live in the city of lights,” Jimmy read aloud. “Sorry, buddy.”  

Clark felt lighter than he had in months; Lana was okay, and she was happy.  

"No, it’s the best news I ever heard,” he said honestly.  

All Clark ever wanted was for Lana to be happy and safe. He'd long ago suspected that he was the reason Lana was so unhappy, so marred by death and tragedy. She'd told him herself, many times, that the meteor shower was the reason. Seeing tangible proof in front of him that everybody was better off without him only strengthened his resolve to not fix his timeline.  

“Really?” Jimmy asked. “I guess things turned out pretty good for her without you around.”  

Clark moved away from the desk, smiling at Jimmy ruefully.  

“I just want her to be happy,” he said. “Thanks.”  

Jimmy smiled at him, looking at him curiously. Clark turned to leave, pausing as someone collided into him. He reflexively relaxed his body and reached out to catch –  

Lois.  

He frowned, confused.  

“Whoa!” Lois gasped as he caught her.  

She smiled up at him, her hazel eyes sparkling at him.  

“Clumsy, but cute,” she said, smiling dazedly up at him.  

Clark immediately flashed back to meeting Lois in the cornfield nearly four years ago; he was confused and lost, and she was direct and horny.  

Just like right now, he thought.  

He helped her stand up and pulled away, unsure. Was this Lois his Lois? Three seconds after meeting her, he was confident they were pretty similar.  

Jimmy stood up, puffing out his chest.  

“Hey, Miss Lane,” Jimmy said, a soft blush evident on his cheeks. “Looking for an ace photographer to shoot tomorrow’s column one?”  

Lois sighed, looking at Jimmy like she was bored.  

“Put your camera back in your pants, Olsen,” she demanded, handing him an envelope. “I need you to make another delivery ASAP.”  

Clark smiled to himself; this Lois was exactly like his Lois. He tried to school his face as she turned her attention back to him, holding out her hand.  

“Name’s Lois, Lois Lane,” she introduced herself.  

“Clark Kent,” he couldn’t help but smile as he shook her hand.  

“Alright,” she said. “So, Kent, do you always bowl women over the first time you meet them?”  

Clark frowned at her, confused. He knew Lois was tough and direct, but he had no idea she was such an aggressive flirt. Or that she would ever want to flirt with him.  

She didn’t take her eyes off him, clearly sizing him up and waiting to see if he’d play along, or play with her.  

“Why, don’t be so hard on him,” Jimmy said. “He just found out his old flame is doing the last tango in Paris with a French philanthropist.”  

Lois smiled at him sympathetically, and Clark realised that he’d forgotten all about Lana and how worried he’d been about her from the second he collided with Lois.  

“It’s not as bad as you think,” Clark said honestly.  

He didn’t want this Lois to think he was hung up on Lana, even though in this reality she wasn’t bored of his heartbreak like his Lois was.  

“No need to put on an act,” she soothed. “I know all about unrequited love. I have had more heroes exit stage left than a Greek tragedy.”  

Clark smiled; in every universe, Lois Lane always managed to make him smile.  

“But you know what I find helps?” she asked, squaring up to him again. “Talking about it. I’m gonna be at O’Malley’s after work. Find me, and I'll buy you a cold one.”  

Clark blinked; his instinct was to follow her straight there, to buy her a drink first and ask her to keep talking just so he could listen, but he could tell that she was flirting with him.  

Which, if he was being honest with himself, wasn’t altogether unusual; they had always had a flirty undertone to their friendship. It was just unusual to see Lois act so brazenly towards him. Her attention confused him.  

“Lois Lane?”  

Clark looked around Lois to see four men in suits standing by the door to the bullpen.  

“That’s what it says on my Pulitzer,” she smiled.  

Clark raised an eyebrow; of course Lois would be an award winning journalist in every reality. He'd never known anyone more ferocious in discovering the truth and trying to help people.  

But then a familiar face stepped forward, and Clark nearly ran to her.  

Kara, dressed in a suit, her hair pulled back severely, moved to stand in front of Lois.  

“You’re in possession of property belonging to the US government,” Kara said, ggesturing for one of her agents to handcuff Lois. “Come with us.”  

Clark stepped forward as Lois was yanked away.  

“What are you doing?” Clark challenged.  

“This is official government business and doesn’t concern you,” Kara said.  

Clark frowned as Lois rolled her eyes, pulling away from the man pushing her around. He instinctively moved to get to Lois, but Kara sidestepped to block him, her eyes hard.  

“Back off,” she said coldly.  

Clark watched Kara walk away, looking to Jimmy, who shrugged and shook his head, as confused as Clark was. He listened to them take Lois away, trying to listen in and find where they were taking her.  

He watched as the agents hauled Lois to the elevator, her voice becoming louder and more agitated.  

Clark turned back to Jimmy. In the span of two minutes he’d smacked right into Lois Lane, been hit on, then watched her get arrested.  

“What just happened?” Clark asked.  

“Not sure, but if the head of the DDS makes a house call, it’s gotta be serious.”  

“DDS?” Clark asked  

“C-Span much?” Jimmy said. “The Department of Domestic Security. That was Linda Danvers. She was appointed last month.”  

“Who would appoint her?” Clark asked.  

None of this made any sense; why was Kara here if Clark wasn’t? Zor-El had sent her here in the first place to kill Clark. Did he assume that Jor-El had successfully sent Clark here? Was he just trying to save Kara after all?  

“The only person who can – the President of the United States,” Jimmy said, holding up a newspaper.  

Clark froze.  

There, nestled under the giant headline President Luthor ups military budget , was Lex Luthor.  

>>>  

Clark had spent the last twenty minutes running all over Metropolis, tracking down Lois’ connection to the DDS to try and find where they had taken her. He'd found Sheriff Adams, a DDS agent in this reality, who told him where to look.  

He got there right as Lois was being dragged between large unmarked black Range Rovers, her loud, shrill voice drawing him in like a beacon.  

“Don’t touch me,” she said as an agent hauled her along. “What is this place?”  

Clark moved fast, knocking down each of the agents one by one as Lois took off like a shot, running faster than he expected in her heels. He ran after her, sweeping her into his arms and getting a few blocks away before he stopped.  

She was smiling at him brightly, as if she expected it to be him, somehow.  

“You okay?” he asked.  

“Yeah,” Lois said breathily. “Talk about sweeping a girl off her feet.”  

Clark couldn’t help but smile back; Lois was so much like Chloe in that way. He wasn’t sure what it was about their genes, but he never could resist that bright Sullivan family smile. His eyes dropped down to her lips, catching the way she bit her lower lip as she smiled even wider. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling back at her.  

He put her back down on her feet, reaching to her wrists and snapping the cuffs off her easily. Clark frowned as Lois rubbed at her wrists.  

“Pretty handy having a meteor freak on my side,” she said, looking him up and down again.  

“I’m not a meteor freak,” Clark said. “About the meteors...we should talk about where I’m from.”  

Lois narrowed her eyes at him curiously and nodded.   

“Not here. We’ve got to get to 2318 Main,” Lois said.  

Clark picked her up again, running them to the address Lois gave him. She pulled him through to the back door, hauling him through to the elevator and through to her apartment. He frowned when he walked into a kitschy studio apartment, eclectically decorated.  

He didn’t see her vinyl collection or her Whitesnake posters anywhere.  

“Where are we?” he asked.  

“My sister’s college friend’s place,” Lois said, tossing her keys onto the kitchen counter. “I water her plants when she’s out of town.”  

Clark’s eyes caught on a dying Ficus in the corner.  

“I didn’t say I was good at it,” she defended, kicking off her heels and taking off her blazer.  

Clark’s eyes trailed down Lois’ legs before he looked away, looking out the window to make sure nobody had followed them. He did a quick x-ray sweep of the apartment to make sure there were no cameras or listening devices.  

“Anyways, it may be a mess, but I thought Alicia’s place is the last place Luthor’s storm troopers would come looking for us,” Lois said.  

“You mind telling me why you’re public enemy number one?” Clark asked.  

As much as he could figure from Jimmy and Sheriff Adams, Lois had to have struck a nerve with Lex for him to personally send the DDS after her.  

“I’m not,” Lois said, pouring two glasses of water. “I happen to have a highly classified document that proves Luthor is putting the country in jeopardy.”  

Lois rounded the kitchen counter, handing Clark a glass of water and nodding her head for him to follow her to the desk across the room, standing behind her chair as she tapped away at it. He put his glass down without taking a drink, watching as Lois did the same.  

“Look at this.”  

Clark watched as a video of Lex played on the screen.  

“Satellite images have revealed that the enemy has deployed nuclear missiles within striking distance of our country,” he said, his pristine white suit creasing as he emphatically waved his hands around. “My fellow Americans, a threat in our own backyard will not be tolerated. This hostile action leaves us no option but to answer with force.”  

Lois paused the video and turned to look at him.  

“One little problem. The threat is as phony as my uncle’s hairpiece,” Lois said. “The missiles don’t exist.”  

Clark frowned; even for Lex, this was a leap.  

“It’s no surprise that Lex would lie,” he said. “But why would he create a national crisis that wasn’t there?”  

Lois smiled her I have information smile that he was all too familiar with.  

“While the DDS was chauffeuring me to my inquisition, I overheard an agent saying they were taking the eagle to the mountaintop,” Lois said proudly.  

“It sounds like some kind of code,” Clark said.  

“It means they’re moving Luthor to the NORAD bunker. They would only do that for one reason –”  

“Nuclear war,” Clark realised.  

Lois nodded, her face grim. He knew she understood army speak better than anyone; if Lois was onto this, she knew exactly what was coming.  

“And since the threat is fake, it means he has to give the enemy a sucker punch with a preemptive nuclear strike,” Lois said, turning back to the computer. “I need to post the truth on the Planet’s front page before Luthor presses the button.”  

Clark frowned as looked back out the window, staring at the people walking by on the sidewalks.  

“But if Lex goes through with this strike, he’s got to know that each side will destroy each other,” he said.  

He’d long been suspect of the type of man Lex was, but Clark still struggled to accept that the Lex he once knew could have become a mass murderer.  

This isn’t the Lex you once knew, he reminded himself.  

“See, that’s what I don’t understand,” Lois said, stopping to look at him. “Luthor’s not suicidal. Why would he wanna hit Earth’s delete key?”  

Clark's eyes caught on the screen at a familiar face.  

“Because of him,” he realised.  

“Milton Fine, the chief of staff?” Lois asked. “He’s powerful, but we’re not talking nuclear bomb powerful.”  

Clark shook his head.  

“He managed to get here somehow,” he thought out loud, trying to make this make sense.  

Lois raised an eyebrow at him.  

“What are you talking about?”  

“He’s behind it all, Lois,” Clark said. “Milton Fine doesn’t care what happens to this planet because he’s not human. He's a machine.”  

Lois looked at him like he was insane.  

“He might come across as a little stiff on Larry King, but you’re saying he’s an android?” Lois asked skeptically.  

Clark nodded.  

“If I was here to take him on, none of this would have happened,” he said. “I thought everything would be better off if I wasn’t involved, but it turns out it’s worse than I ever imagined.”  

Lois was watching him warily.  

“I don’t understand. How does this have anything to do with you?”  

She looked him up and down, and excitement flooded her face.  

“You’re an android, aren't you?” she asked, standing up to look at his face closer.  

Clark frowned at her and shook his head.  

“I’m the one person who can defeat Fine,” he said. “I need you to trust me.”  

Lois took a step closer to him, staring into his eyes intensely. Clark was afraid to blink.  

“I trust you,” she said, tilting her head. “But I’m curious.”  

“I’ll tell you anything you wanna know,” Clark said, surprising himself when he realised he meant it.  

He'd tell Lois Lane everything.  

“Tell me where you’re from,” Lois said.  

Clark braced himself; he knew his Lois wouldn’t ever reject him if she knew the truth about him, but this Lois might be a little different. He reminded himself that if it all went to plan, he wouldn’t exist much longer, and none of this would matter, anyways.  

“I’m from a planet called Krypton,” he said.  

Lois watched him closely, but her face gave away nothing.  

“It was destroyed in a civil war,” Clark explained. “It’s twenty-three galaxies away. When Krypton exploded, pieces of it landed here.”  

“The meteor shower,” Lois supplied.  

Clark nodded.  

“So you’re like, an alien?” she asked.  

He nodded again. Lois looked him up and down slowly.  

“Cool.”  

Clark raised an eyebrow at her.  

“Cool?”  

“Yeah, cool,” Lois said. “What guns you got in your arsenal?”  

Clark looked down at his feet awkwardly; listing his powers felt oddly like bragging.  

"I guess I might as well throw it all out there,” he said. “I can blast fire out of my eyes. I can hear a dog barking from ten miles away. I can see through solid objects, and I can run faster than the speed of sound.”  

Lois took a step back and moved her hands to cover her chest.  

“Wait, rewind,” she said. “Expand on your whole see through things thing.”  

Clark shook his head.  

“No, Lo, it’s not like that,” he tried to reassure her. “I have to focus.”  

Lois dropped her hands slowly, looking at him suspiciously.  

"Is Milton Fine from your world?”  

Clark nodded.  

“He’s artificial intelligence,” he explained.  

“What does he want?” Lois asked.  

“He’s trying to get his creator, Zod, on Earth,” Clark said. “He’s trapped in the Phantom Zone. He needs someone to inhabit.”  

“The Phantom Zone?” Lois asked.  

Clark faltered; he wasn’t sure how deep to go with this with Lois.  

“It’s an intergalactic prison for aliens,” Clark said.  

Lois laughed softly.  

“Sure,” she smiled. “How many aliens are just walking among us?”  

Clark tried to smile reassuringly.  

“Not a lot, if that helps?”  

Lois looked at him curiously, and Clark had the sudden feeling he shouldn’t blink again.  

“I don’t know, Kent,” she said. “I think if there were a few dozen of you running around faster than the speed of sound, I’d feel a bit safer.”  

Clark couldn’t help the smile that took over his face before he caught himself.  

“That’s not true,” he muttered. “People usually end up hurt because of me.”  

Lois looked at him, and something about the fierceness in her eyes caused his mind to clear.  

“I have a feeling people are going to get hurt either way, and you’re tipping the scales,” she said. “There’s no world where nobody gets hurt.”  

Something inside him recognised that Lois was right; he was being illogical in thinking that he was the sole cause for the pain in Smallville. Even without him, Krypton still exploded, and the meteors still hit. Kara still came to Earth, and so did Brainiac. Other aliens were out there. Meteor freaks still existed.  

Clark just wasn’t sure how much he had managed to tip the balance. Without him, his dad was still alive. Chloe and Pete and Lana were all thriving. Lois was even further ahead in her career here than in his own world.  

He had held people back, even if he hadn’t actively contributed to their health. Clark wasn’t sure she was proving his point.  

“How do you know all this?” Lois interrupted his thoughts.  

“I’m from another time,” Clark said, hoping she’d let it go.  

Her brows knitted as she thought.  

“Another timeline? Or another universe? Or time travel, like Back to the Fututre?”  

Clark smiled at her.  

“Another timeline, I think. One where I never came to Earth,” he said.  

Lois nodded like that made perfect sense to her.  

“Do you know me in the other world?” she asked.  

Clark nodded.  

“We’re friends, sort of,” he said.  

Lois looked him up and down slowly, unashamedly checking him out.  

“Really? Just friends?” Lois tutted.  

Clark felt his cheeks heat up as he laughed awkwardly, sitting on the couch against the wall.  

“Chloe’s my best friend, where I’m from.”  

Lois’ face lit up completely at the mention of Chloe.  

“Let me guess, unrequited love, so I never made a move, right?” Lois said.  

Clark blinked; not once had any of that ever entered into his mind. He had never thought for a second Lois was ever interested in him like that.  

Except for the time they were affected by red kryptonite.  

He was talking before he could stop himself.  

“Well, we did have a – there was this one time –” Clark stopped himself, feeling uncomfortable at the glee on Lois’ face.  

“We had a thing,” Clark finished lamely.  

Lois moved to sit next to him on the couch in the tiny apartment, folding her knees under her, her skirt riding up her thighs a little.  

“I knew it,” she said confidently. “You were checking me out at the Planet.”  

Clark scoffed.  

“No, I wasn’t,” he argued.  

“Calm down, Kent, you’re only human,” Lois joked.  

Clark smiled; it felt weird to not be called Smallville, but it felt good to catch his breath and have Lois on his side.  

“So, we need to figure out how to stop Luthor from launching these nukes,” she said, effortlessly changing the subject back to the end of the world.  

“How do we do that?” Clark asked, looking back to the picture of Lex on the computer across the room.  

“Luthor’s holding a press conference in Smallville in an hour and a half. The only way to stop his plan is to get to the briefcase with the nuclear attack codes,” Lois said.  

“If I destroy it, then he can’t initiate the launch?” Clark asked.  

Lois nodded.  

“They guard that nuclear football better than the Hope Diamond,” she warned.  

“I’ll get past security,” he said.  

Clark had never had an issue getting into the Luthor mansion; he couldn’t imagine any reality where he couldn’t walk straight in.  

Lois checked her wristwatch and sighed.  

“We have to get you inside,” Lois said.  

Clark blinked, taking a good three seconds to realise what she meant.  

“I can get inside,” he said, standing up and moving to the computer. “I just need to avoid Fine.”  

“Wait,” Lois said, following him and grabbing his wrist, holding it out to look at him. “Even if you white tornado your way in there, you’re still gonna stick out like a red and blue thumb. You need to blend in.”  

She dragged him to the closet next to the desk, pulling out a blazer and holding it against Clark.  

“You’re about Justin’s size,” Lois said.  

Clark laughed awkwardly, taking the blazer and pants Lois handed him.  

“Lois, we don’t have time for this.”  

“Then stop standing around. Strip,” she commanded.  

Clark huffed, staring at Lois and waiting for her to turn around. She rolled her eyes as she turned to face the closet, looking through the shirts. Clark quickly stripped off his shirt and jeans, looking up to see Lois staring at him intently, biting her lip.  

“Kent, this is no time to be modest. Armageddon's minutes away,” Lois said.  

He thought for a second about how this could be it; in the span of an hour, he could cease to exist. Clark would never see his parents again, he would never see Lana or Chloe.  

He would never see Lois again.  

Before he could think twice, he dropped the suit and kissed Lois.  

Lois was ready for him, wrapping herself around him and kissing him back fiercely. Clark grabbed her by her thighs and lifted her, moving back and dropping her gently onto the desk they were just plotting at to save the world together.  

Somewhere in the back of Clark’s mind, he registered how absurd this was; that in what could be his final moments, all he wanted to do was be with Lois; show her how much she meant to him, even if this Lois wasn’t exactly his Lois.  

He didn’t even think about Lana as Lois’ hands shoved his boxers down to his ankles.  

All he could think about was Lois – her bright smile, the way her eyes sparkled when she looked at him. The way she always punched him when their talks got too intense. The way she always teased him, but was always there for him when he really needed her.  

The way she was his best friend, and had been for years.  

Clark yanked at Lois skirt, mumbling an apology when he heard it rip. She laughed into his kiss, pulling him closer to her as Clark frantically ripped at her skirt, stripping her until she was naked.  

He needed to be inside her.  

Lois wrapped her legs around his waist, using her leverage to pull him closer to her. Clark gasped as Lois reached out to stroke his cock, moaning into her kiss. He'd never been harder in his life . Clark couldn’t stop himself from rutting into her hand, groaning softly as she tilted her hips and guided him inside her.  

Clark broke the kiss to moan loudly at how wet she was, completely taken aback by how wet and warm she felt. Lois matched him, moaning loudly as his hips met hers, both of them taking a moment to adjust.  

He moved his hand across her chest; he’d seen her naked once, walking in on her in the shower, and even when he hadn’t yet acknowledged his attraction to her at that point, he was still completely blown away at how she was the most perfect woman he’d ever seen.  

Not that he had seen many. But he knew then that he had wanted to see Lois naked again.  

He'd almost gotten his chance when they were high on red kryptonite, but Clark remembered thinking, even buried deep behind his confidence, about how he wanted Lois to remember it, and how he couldn’t go through with anything while Lois was clearly altered, choosing instead to create a diversion for himself.  

But now, Clark was with her, inside her, and it was better than any feeling he had ever felt.  

It was better than flying.  

Lois rolled her hips, urging Clark on, and he went for it.  

He grabbed her jaw with one hand and kissed her, using his other hand to grope at her breasts, gently rolling his own hips to fuck her slowly. Clark swallowed every sound Lois made, desperately committing every part of how she sounded, how she looked and felt, to his memory.  

Clark wasn’t sure what would happen to him if he died, but on the off chance he didn’t cease to exist completely, he needed to carry this memory with him.  

“Clark,” Lois moaned, and that was all it took.  

He snapped his hips into her harder and faster, grabbing her waist, her hips, her thighs, kissing her hotly, working her up as her body tightened and her nails dug into his arms. Clark felt the exact moment Lois came, her entire body tightening around him, her walls tensing around his cock, feeling even tighter and warmer and wetter than he already did.  

That was all it took for Clark to follow, coming inside her, moaning into her kiss and wrapping one arm around her back, pulling her as close to him as he could.  

Clark maybe should have been embarrassed by how fast it was over, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.  

The world was about to end, and all he could think about was doing this again.  

Lois grabbed his hair roughly, smiling up at him dazedly.  

“You gotta go,” she said quietly.  

Clark felt like he had fallen out of the sky and crash landed on Earth, the weight of what could happen hitting him.  

“I wish I could stay,” he said.  

Lois kissed him sweetly before she pushed him away, moving off the desk and smiling at him.  

“But you can’t,” she said with finality.  

She bent down and grabbed the suit, handing him the pants. Clark dressed quietly, looking over and smiling at the t shirt and shorts Lois had thrown on while she picked out a white dress shirt and blue polka dot tie for him.  

They dressed quietly, Clark watching as Lois picked up her ripped skirt and fished something out of the pocket, pinning it to his blazer.  

Clark looked down and frowned.  

“Lois Lane?” he said, reading her press pass.  

“If anyone asks, it’s a typo,” she smiled. “Your name’s Louis.”  

Clark rolled his eyes but kept it, standing up straight and smoothing out his blazer. He felt his frustration rise as he caught her frowning at him again.  

“What’s wrong now?” he asked with a bit more attitude than he probably should have.  

Attitude that he would have easily directed at his Lois, knowing that she would have laughed at him.  

“Something’s missing,” she said, looking around the room.  

Clark shook his head as Lois reached for something.  

“No,” he said as she stood on her toes and put the thick framed black glasses on him, brushing his hair back behind his ears as she did.  

“Yes,” she smiled.  

Clark sighed, pushing them up the bridge of his nose with his finger. Already they were in the way. He briefly thought back to the time he had gone temporarily blind and had to wear glasses; he’d caught his parents smiling at each other in sympathy when he’d come out of the optometrists. Bold, he had thought, considering they had both worn reading glasses.  

“Now, go save the world,” Lois said, smiling brightly at him.  

Clark realised this might be the last time he would ever see Lois. He kissed her one last time, savouring the way she felt, before he let her go reluctantly.  

“Bye, Lois,” he said ruefully.  

Lois smiled, but he could see the wariness in her eyes, her walls up.  

“See you round, Kent,” she said.  

>>>  

Ten minutes.  

It took ten minutes for Clark to get to Smallville, find Kara, convince her he was Kal-El, and get shot by Milton Fine, both of them laying on the floor of Lex’s office, dying.  

Clark reached out for Kara, desperately trying to get to her, when everything went black. The last thing Clark thought about were Kara, and Lois.  

You cannot change the course of history, Kal-El.  

Everything lit up, a bright white light all around him. He was standing on nothing, surrounded by nothing.  

“You disappoint me, my son,” Jor-El said. “You cannot question your destiny on this planet.  

“It was you,” Clark said. “You wanted to show me what the world would be like if I wasn’t here.”  

Clark could have jumped for joy; his world wasn’t gone, nothing had changed or been erased. It was another one of Jor-El's trials. Never before had he been so glad that Jor-El had tested him. He wouldn’t have forgiven himself if the world had ended, or if he couldn’t go back to his world.  

“The disc in your hand revealed your misguided intentions. I was forced to show you the error of your ways. I sent you to Earth for a purpose, Kal-El. One that cannot be taken lightly,” Jor-El said.  

Clark nodded; he knew what he had to do now, and where he had to go. He knew who he had to go back to.  

“Send me back!”  

“You must stop the Brain Interactive Construct from altering history and taking your life. You cannot fail. This time, there will be no second chance,” Jor-El warned.  

Everything went black and then Clark was where he had started, standing in the barn with Chloe, the key in his hand.  

Chloe, who was staring at the key in horror, calling his name.  

Clark grabbed her, hugging her tightly.  

“Clark, what happened?” she asked, holding him back just as tightly. “I thought you were gone forever, and then a millisecond later, you’re perfectly fine.”  

“Chloe, there’s still time. I have to make it right,” he tried to explain. “I have to go to Krypton.”  

>>>  

He'd done it. He'd gone back to Krypton and made sure to get his past self on the ship, sending it to Earth. He'd managed to save Kara and bring her home with him.  

He'd caught sight of his parents’ bodies, murdered by Brainiac, but Kara had pulled him away, not letting him look.  

Clark rushed to the Daily Planet to see Lois, knowing that she was supposed to be working late tonight. He tried not to feel an intense rush of disappointment when she was nowhere to be found.  

The guilt hit him immediately; he had forgotten, in all the chaos, about Lana.  

Clark called the medical centre she was staying in, confused when the doctor told him there was no change to her condition. Killing Brainiac should have cured Lana, so he couldn’t understand why she was still under his thrall.  

Clark sat down at Lois’ desk, logging into her computer and searching for a new doctor.  

“This is a new side to Clark Kent,” Lois’ voice came from behind him. “Mild mannered reporter for a greater metropolitan newspaper.”  

Clark smiled as she came to perch on the edge of her desk, and he tried not to think about how only hours earlier, Lois – or a version of her – was naked on another desk, moaning into his ear as he fucked her.  

“Don’t worry, Lois, I’m not after your job.” he said, trying not to laugh at the idea of posing as her only today. “I’m just borrowing the Planet’s database. Jimmy sent me up here, I hope it’s okay,” he lied.  

Lois smiled; Clark realised that he had missed her. He'd missed Lois so much lately, hardly having any time for her with everything that’s happened over the last few months with Kara and Lana.  

“Hey, mi desktop es su desktop,” she smiled. “What are you looking up?”  

Clark noticed the way her smile dropped as she looked at the screen.  

“I’m no expert, but I’m sure that someone is out there who can help Lana,” he said quietly.  

He didn’t say the rest out loud; that he wanted Lana free and healthy, so that they could both move on with their lives. Not necessarily together.  

“You know, with all my years of watching Dr Phil, you’d think I could come up with the perfect thing to say, but I’m drawing a blank,” Lois said, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t do well with sad.”  

Clark watched her closely; he knew her too well to think that she didn’t care, or wasn’t here for him.  

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Lois. It's okay,” he tried to reassure her.  

Lois was already shaking her head to disagree.  

“No, it’s not. Smallville, you were there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on, and I am blowing this, big time,” Lois said. “Look, I just wish I could make everything alright.”  

Smallville , he noticed. As much as he didn’t mind her alternate reality counterpart calling him Kent, there was something much more comforting about hearing his Lois call him Smallville.  

Everything about Lois was comforting, even when she was keeping him on his toes.  

“You’re a good friend, Lois,” he said.  

Clark hoped she knew that he meant in. He hoped that one day he could tell her that when he was at his lowest, when he didn’t want to exist anymore, she inspired him to keep going, to fight.  

Lois punched him in the arm and he laughed in surprise; that answered that, then.  

“Hey, you know what? Why don’t we go drown our sorrows? I’ll buy you a brew, you look like you could use one,” Lois invited. “Seriously, check our your driver’s license. We're legal now.”  

Clark shook his head.  

“Lois, I’m not really into the whole nightlife scene.”  

She smiled, grabbing his wrist and hauling him to the elevator; Clark’s skin buzzed as he thought about how similar it felt to the alterna-Lois dragging him around her friend’s apartment.  

“Well, I will have to take that as a challenge,” Lois smiled, hitting the button for the lift. “The first round is on me.”  

Clark shook his head as he followed her down the block to O’Malley’s, watching curiously as a dozen middle aged men greeted her.  

“You’re popular,” he said, trying not to feel jealous.  

Clark had no right to feel anything other than pleasant friendship for Lois; he was still with Lana.  

Even though our relationship was dead and we didn’t even like each other anymore, he thought in confusion.  

But that didn’t matter.  

What did matter was that he was exactly where he was supposed to be, with one of his closest friends, and everyone was where they were supposed to be.  

Kara was home with him, Lois and Chloe and his mother were all safe and well, and he would find a way to save Lana.  

Maybe he would even find a way to save Lex from himself.  

But first, he was going to have a drink with Lois, and do his absolute best not to stare at her mouth and remember the way she tasted, or the sounds she made.