AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to Divergence and the final story in a series of stories. If you haven't read Gravidity, Sanguine and Divergence in that order, you probably won't understand what's happening with this story.

Chapter 1

Metropolis

May 23, 2042

"I used to be stronger than I am now. That was before I lost all of my powers."

Elle stopped dead in her tracks; frozen by the words her father had uttered. "What?" she managed after a moment. "When; how? Do you mean like temporarily or…" she asked, hoping to hear it was a temporary condition.

Clark stopped and turned to face his daughter. "Permanent, I'm afraid…and for a while now." He searched her face for a reaction but hers was frozen in shock. Finally he led her toward the dining area where the table and chairs she remembered as a child still remained.

Lana was busy in the kitchen brewing coffee. Not much had changed in the apartment and in the light Elle could see the worn condition of the home and its appointments. They sat while the coffee brewed and Clark began his story.

"Two days after you left, your mother pitched her story about Lex to Perry White, the editor back then, and showed him the video clip. Perry told her that he was uncomfortable with publishing the story and video without a corroborating source." Clark began. "Your mother argued with Perry saying that she got the video of Luthor ordering the murder of Justice Hough from a White House source and that should be good enough." He lowered his voice. "She never told Perry who her source was and for all Perry knew, it was a member of the custodial staff or Secret Service that passed the evidence on. Neither could be expected to testify in a lawsuit."

The absence of sound from the city outside was remarkable and lent to the feeling of dread building in Elle. It was eerily quiet and a cool, moist breeze blew in from the terrace, sending a chill down Elle's spine just as Clark continued with his story…

Metropolis

June 25, 2021

Lois ate quietly, deep in thought. Clark had returned around 8 PM and missed seeing Lara off to bed. He crept into her room, kissed her on the cheek and quietly retreated to the dinner table where Lois had an array of Chinese take-out boxes sitting. She had taken Martha home and when she returned decided that ordering take-out was just fine for the evening.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

She paused and then answered. "Elle. I'm wondering what's keeping her. I guess I expected her to go and be back in a split second with great news; time travel being what it is."

He pondered the matter. "Maybe there's more to it that just Pete changing course and she has to examine a whole lot more than we expected."

"I suppose," Lois replied sullenly. "But she can come back to any point in time, right?"

"You mean like leaving this instant and coming back an instant later?"

She nodded. "You have to be extremely skilled with the Legion Ring to do that. The Legion members could do that but Elle hasn't been trained or has practiced enough to do that. Returning to your own timeline isn't a problem. But traveling forward or backward in time is much more complicated. Within a week of where and when you need to be; sure. If she was lucky, maybe even within a few days. But traveling back to an exact hour or minute takes a lot of training and practice with that ring." He saw the concern on her face when she looked up. "I don't think I could do that."

"Wait a minute; you've never used it!" Lois protested. "I've used it more than you have!"

He smiled. "You're right! And when you did, you left the basement of the Planet one moment and returned on an elevated train two weeks later. It's not as simple as it seems. Lara doesn't have much more experience with time travel than you had."

She nodded, seemingly more relieved. Then a frown crossed her face. "But she always knew just when to return when she came back to talk to me."

"Lois, you don't know exactly when she returned, do you? You only knew when she showed up."

She cocked her head. "I guess so," she admitted. "She did say that she had a place to stay if she needed to. So maybe she arrived days before she knew it was safe to meet up with me."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's quite possibly what happened."

"So, the fact that she didn't immediately return doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong; is that what you're saying?"

He nodded and slurped a noodle. "That's correct. Maybe things are so right that there's no rush to come back. Or maybe she's worried that coming back immediately may change something that throws the future we're currently on off track. Maybe…"

"Okay Smallville; I've got it. Geez," she exclaimed rolling her eyes. "I didn't need the unabridged version of time-travel variables."

He grinned. "I'm just trying to reassure you that Lara not coming back immediately can mean something positive as well as what you're stewing about."

She raised an eyebrow. "Stewing?" She donned a fake smile. "I don't stew, Farmer John."

Taking a deep breath, "Yes you do," he replied playfully.

She rose from her chair, put her napkin on the table and began moving toward him. "No…I don't," she said emphatically. "I burn…I roast," she said slowly, deliberately and upon reaching him, she bent over, wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, "and I sizzle." She gently bit his ear lobe and kissed the side of his neck before standing up. "But I don't stew."

Her nuzzle sent a warm flash racing through Clark. "I especially like it when you sizzle," he replied hoarsely.

"Me too," she said cheerfully, then abruptly returned to her chair and sat. "So quit playing me and maybe we'll get around to the sizzle part later."

Clark could do nothing more than smile. Of all the people he came into contact with on Earth, Lois had the most profound way of making her point and once she had made it, there was seldom room for disagreement. "Okay," he admitted. "But Lara not returning immediately shouldn't be cause for alarm, Lois."

"Got it," she declared, staring at him with a pasted-on smile until he broke eye contact and began eating again. Then, she commenced eating. "So what happened in Seattle?"

Clark recounted the details of the meeting; who was there, how everyone was doing, and what they were planning to do with this potential threat looming on the horizon.

"Do you really think it's Darkseid again? Didn't he learn his lesson after you kicked his ass all the way back to Apokolips?"

"I hope he did; I hope it's not him. He's an incredible threat and given what Lara told us about the future, his influence would be a plausible explanation for the way the people of this country were acting. Instead of him trying to exercise mind control over all of humanity he could simply focus on key people, nudging leaders just enough to make them unleash a global nuclear war against one another." He swallowed and picked up an egg roll. "Most of his work would already be done without him having to even break a sweat."

"You know," she began, "when Elle described the way people were acting, it reminded me of the days just before the VRA was passed." She shrugged. "Maybe that was the divergence point when our future changed. Maybe something happening with him caused it. I guess we'll find out." Clark said nothing but listened, nodding his head. "On a lighter note, I pitched the story to Perry today."

"How did he take it?"

"Pretty much the way I expected. He said he wanted a credible source that was willing to be named before he'd publish it. I didn't tell him I got it from Lana." Clark nodded his concurrence. "Understandably, he's a little apprehensive about it and wants to have all the bases covered before I swing for the fences."

"Great sports metaphor," Clark quipped.

She made a face. "He kept the flash drive and put it in his safe. Then he warned me not to let the laptop out of my sight."

Clark quickly scanned the apartment and frowned. "Where is it now?"

"Don't worry. I erased it from my laptop. I uploaded it to the Planet server before I erased it. But…before you ask; it's in a password-protected folder. No one has access to it but me."

"Let me guess," Clark said, "the password is 'Metallica', right?"

She gave him a look of exasperation. "That's because you know me," she complained. "Relax; it's secure. No one goes into those folders anyway; particularly password-protected ones." She stood and began closing up the boxes of food.

Finished with his meal, Clark stood and began to help. "That's probably the best thing right now," he replied. "My guess is that Lex still has something up his sleeve and there's no point in firing all your guns at once."

"Ooooo, talk about metaphors!" she teased. "You sound like the General." She moved next to him. "How about another military metaphor, Flannel Man?"

Flummoxed for a moment, Clark though and then said, "Um…keep your powder dry?"

"Nice one." She grinned lasciviously and leaned closer. "Keep it up and powder is about the only thing that's going to be dry in this house."

Metropolis

May 23, 2042

"I am assuming the file wasn't as protected as she thought," Elle said. Clark just shook his head while staring at the steaming mug of coffee he cupped in his hands. In the light she could see the toll that the loss of her mother and his life without her had taken on him. He looked aged and his thick black hair now showed strands of silver under the dining room light. He looked tired and defeated; akin to the look that her father had before he left for another galaxy in her own timeline but far more aged.

"We'll never really know what happened. Maybe she didn't actually set the password or maybe some other reporter saw the folder and hacked the password. But not soon afterwards the story was published on the Daily Planet website." He looked up at Lana and then at Elle. "That was the beginning of the end." Clark took a long swallow of coffee.

Elle looked at Lana. "What happened?"

After looking first at Clark who seemed content to let her carry on with the dark history lesson, Lana looked at Elle. She realized how much Elle looked like her mother and realizing that, it reminded her of the beauty of the woman that captured Clark's heart the way she never had. She tried to smile but it seemed like a wince and she began. "Before the story was published, you have to know about Lex's response to Pete's public announcements. You know about those, right?"

"You mean his announcements about his nominee for the Supreme Court and the resignation of the Attorney General?"

Lana nodded. "Yes."

"I saw them on the news broadcast…before I left." Elle was going to say, "two days ago" but it seemed too surreal and somehow so distant now.

"Well, it wasn't long before my husband got a call from former President Luthor. Pete was expecting the call but it wasn't exactly what he expected to hear."

Washington, D.C.

June 26, 2021

"Sir," the young male assistant said to Pete over the intercom, "you have a call from President Luthor. Shall I put him through?"

Pete was expecting the call. In fact, he was surprised that the call came three days after he made the announcement of his choice for the Supreme Court vacancy. Pete may be the sitting President of the United States but this was the one call that he worried about. He feared Lex. After seeing the video of Lex order the murder of a Supreme Court justice, he knew Luthor was capable of anything to seize power.

"Yes, but put him through on the recorded line; not the private number."

"Yes sir," the young assistant replied.

"Mr. President," Lex began. His tone was cold, calm and calculating. "It appears the plan we had for my Presidency has taken a detour of sorts."

Pete clenched his jaws. "You gave up your Presidency, Lex. This is my Presidency now and I'll…"

"You're nothing more than a placeholder, Acting President Ross," Lex barked. "You didn't get there because the people put you there; you're there because I made you President. You seem to forget that, Pete."

"You seem to forget that you're a private citizen, Lex and you put yourself there. How I got here is less important right now than the fact that I am here and you're not. Don't even try to intimidate me, Luthor because it won't work."

Coolly, Lex replied, "I don't need to intimidate you, Pete. I'm giving you the facts and the facts are I intend to reclaim the Presidency. I wanted you to hear it from me first."

"I'm not sure you want to try doing that Lex. I will bring some serious heat if you even try." The tenor of Lex's laughter that followed was unnerving to him. "I'm afraid you won't be laughing when the Attorney General is finished with you."

"We'll see who laughs last," Lex concluded and ended the call.

Pete returned the phone to the cradle, sat back in his chair and absently felt the flash drive suspended by a chain around his neck. Yes we will, Lex, he thought. He pushed the intercom and the young male assistant answered. "Get the new Attorney General on the phone and ask him to come see me, please."

"Yes, Sir," the young man replied. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"The White House legal counsel is here and is asking for a few moments of your time. Shall I send him in?"

"Sure," Pete replied.

L. Todd Blake, Esquire, a 52-year old former Princeton law professor entered the room. Pete had dismissed Lex's legal counsel and tapped Blake to serve as the President's personal attorney. He was a tall, athletically-built man whose physical presence was second only to his keen legal reputation. "Mr. President," he began, bypassing all routine courtesies. "Former President Luthor has filed a petition in federal district court to reacquire this office." He held up a thin stack of legal papers. "The district court has granted it an emergency hearing. Oral arguments begin next week."

"Which district, Todd?"

"Nevada, ."

"So, the decision would be appealed to the Ninth Circuit." Blake nodded his head. "Figures," Pete said. "This one will go the distance. What grounds is he using?"

"That the White House physician provided…" he glanced at the papers, "grossly inaccurate diagnosis of his medical condition that resulted in a faulty prognosis, leading him to resign his office in the best interest of the country." He looked up. "He's petitioned the court to reinstate him as President because of a bad medical diagnosis."

Pete leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. "Does he have a valid case in your opinion?"

Todd frowned. "Perhaps," he began. "The White House physician is a government employee. In his capacity as a government employee, he rendered an opinion that ultimately perpetrated harm on Mr. Luthor." He shrugged. "These types of cases are heard every day in federal court and when harm caused by an act of the government can be proven, the petitioners often prevail."

"What if there was mitigating evidence?"

"Sir?" Blake asked; confused by the President's question.

"What if it could be argued that his condition was never dire but that it was nothing more than a ploy to pursue two additional terms as President?"

Legal counsel stared at Pete. "I'm afraid that would be incredibly difficult to prove, Mr. President. He'll have expert medical testimony on his side. That would be tantamount to accusing President Luthor of perpetrating a fraud on the government. What would we have as evidence to support that argument?"

A slight smile spread across Pete's face. "Leave that to me. Give me a couple hours to meet with the Attorney General and then we'll discuss this again. For now, begin preparing an argument in that direction. I presume that this will be resolved before the Supreme Court given those activist clowns in the Ninth Circuit so our strategy has to be sound."

Blake acknowledged the President's guidance and left the room. As he opened the door to the Oval Office, Pete's press secretary was standing just outside and caught Pete's eye. "Sir, you should see this," he said, entering the office with a tablet in his hands. He set it on the desk in front of the President.

Pete watched a newscast with a banner that proclaimed 'Special Report' emblazoned across the top of the screen and a crawler at the bottom that read 'Former President Luthor petitions court to return to Presidency'. Live footage of Lex was broadcast as he openly discussed the faulty medical diagnosis. "Americans deserve to be led by the leader they elected," he said. "President Ross and I have already had spoken and this filing is purely procedural," he asserted. "President Ross recognizes that this is my Presidency but wanted to be cautious about violating any laws by hastily relinquishing the office to me. To ensure that I return with full legal authority and Constitutional legitimacy, we've agreed that it's in the best interest of the American people that this be reviewed by the courts." The crawler at the bottom of the screen read, 'Medical experts opine that Luthor is 100% healthy and fit to continue as Commander-in-Chief'.

"What is our response, Sir?"

"Simply acknowledge Luthor's petition and say that the White House will not comment on any case before the federal court so as not to influence the outcome."

"Have you spoken to President Luthor, Sir?"

Pete smiled and nodded. "Yes I have, Steve. As a matter of fact, we spoke this morning."

It was eventually published and within two days of the video hitting the internet, President Pete Ross was assassinated by a lone gunman who then allegedly took his own life.

Pete's death drove an already nervous populace to the brink of societal breakdown. Acts of anarchy broke out all over the country even as Pete was being laid to rest. The Vice President that Pete had nominated to serve had not yet been confirmed and the Speaker of the House of Representatives assumed the Presidency. But the Speaker was ineffective at restoring order.

"Your Mother's article led to Lex Luthor resurfacing," Clark explained as Lana rose to get coffee. "Of course, he claimed the video was a hoax and charged that your Mother had conspired with anarchists to incite violence with her defamatory article and video."

"And I take it the public believed him," Elle interjected.

"Yes," Clark replied. "For all his faults, Lex had the ability to project a calm confidence and through it, could manipulate the masses. The American public saw Lex as the one man who could get the country under control and demanded Congress to disregard the order of succession and using an emergency declaration, install Lex as the President, pending a Supreme Court review. The High Court never had the chance to rule; Lex imposed martial law to re-establish order and suspended civil liberties. He had your Mother arrested for fomenting violence and attempting to overthrow the US government. He then directed Perry White's termination from the Daily Planet and placed me under house arrest as a conspirator."

"You were in jail?"

"Yes, for quite a while, Lara. I was in jail and you were judged dependent and became a ward of the state until your Aunt Lucy petitioned the court to be your legal guardian."

"Aunt Lucy?" Elle shook her head. "I know Mother had issues with Aunt Lucy and I don't remember her very much."

"Well, she was awarded custody of you and within four months, she found out that you weren't like every other two year old. Her lack of discretion ended up exposing me and by extension, your mother. Your mother was murdered by a group of women in prison."

Elle wrung her hands and stared at her coffee. "How did Aunt Lucy expose you?"

Clark sat with his hands wrapped around the hot cup of coffee. "While visiting your mother, she asked about you and about who your father really was. Your mother couldn't believe that Lucy would ask the question so she tried to put her off but Lucy asked straight out if Superman was her father. The conversation was recorded and it immediately was passed on to Lex's Attorney General. After some preliminary checking, they realized that I was Superman. About two months later, your mother was murdered."

She looked up and saw the defeated look in her father's eyes that she had seen so often while growing up. She hated to ask the question but had to. "Why didn't you rescue her, Father?"

Clark took a swallow of coffee before giving an answer. "When Lex learned that I was Superman, he ordered the restraining collar made. It was created in a matter of weeks while your mother was still alive and while I thought my secret was still safe."

"How did they know about kryptonite; the blue and the gold? No one ever knew about that in my timeline."

Clark hesitated and Lana spoke out. "Emil told them."

"Emil? Would he do something like that?"

"He was protecting me," Lana replied. "After Pete…the President…was assassinated, I fled. I knew Lex all too well and I knew that I wasn't safe nor was my son. I was six months pregnant at the time and was in hiding. But I needed a physician and I called Chloe. She put me in touch with Emil." She looked at Clark who continued to stare at his mug. "By this time, Lex had figured out that I had given the copy of the video to your mom and he was after me. With me gone, there would be no one to corroborate the evidence against him."