Broken

Several hours later, Lois and Chloe found themselves back at the Kent Farm with nothing to show for their day's efforts. Try though she might, Lois had been completely unable to find anything that might have provided a clue into the trip she'd taken between realities. They were sitting together on the front porch, trying to figure out their next step, when Clark's truck drove up and stopped in front of the house.

"Hey," he said as he strolled up the walk. "Sorry I couldn't get here earlier. Things were crazy at the Talon, and I couldn't get away."

"That's okay; you didn't miss much," Lois said as she looked past him towards his truck; nobody was following behind him. "Is Lana not with you?" she asked, trying to hide her relief at the prospect. She didn't begrudge Lana's relationship with Clark in this alternate universe; it wasn't as if Lois could have any claim on the man who would be her fiancé in another life, but that didn't mean it was easy for her to be continually faced with the fact that this man wasn't and would never be hers.

Clearing his throat, he didn't quite meet her eyes as he replied, "No, she was feeling a little tired, so she decided to stay in tonight. She said she'll try to get out here tomorrow, though."

Well, that was interesting, Lois speculated. This Clark was apparently no better at lying to her than the one in her reality. Though her first reaction was to grill him until he told her the truth, she shrugged instead and let it go. She was probably reading too much into it. He was no doubt hiding nothing more nefarious than Lana's desire to avoid getting involved in the entire alternate-reality mess, and Lois couldn't really blame her.

"Well, we have some time before dinner. Have a seat; we're trying to figure out what to do next," she said matter-of-factly, forcing her thoughts away from anything having to do with the man in front of her – or his soon-to-be wife.

"About that, I actually have something to tell you," he began as he took a seat on the step below her, angling his body so he could look up at both women sitting on the porch. "While I was at work today, I asked around a little about that light you saw, Lois. Nobody mentioned seeing anything really unusual on the day you arrived, but a couple people did say they'd seen what they thought was a flash of lightning off in the distance. I didn't get a chance to get much information from them, but I can keep asking around," he offered as he leaned back against the top step and stretched his legs out in front of him.

With a nod, Lois threw Clark a grateful smile and agreed, "That'd be great. If you can get any more information, it might help us figure out if that light came from any particular direction and what might have caused it." She paused, then she said with a frown, "But there has to be something else we're missing. I mean, I got yanked from one reality and put into another. I don't know much about multi-dimensional transportation, but you'd think something like that would have to leave behind some sort of mark or sign or something." Turning to her cousin, she asked, "Is there any chance you could do some research on whatever theories might be out there regarding possible alternate universes? Anything that pertains to the theory of traveling between them would be particularly helpful, obviously."

Chloe looked doubtful. "Well, I guess I could look into it. Of course, theoretical physics isn't really my thing; I can look online and see what I can dig up, if you'd like, but you probably shouldn't get your hopes up too high. I'm not sure how helpful it'll be – I doubt there's much technical information there will be, or how much I'll be able to understand. But it's worth a shot." With a thoughtful look, she continued, "Also, I thought we might check into the source of the power outage you experienced when you arrived. Again, I don't know much about electromagnetic pulses, but you said you realized that everything electronic you had with you – your car and your cell, at least – had died after the light hit you. That sure sounds like an EMP to me…at least as far as I've gathered from watching The Matrix fifteen times."

Lois nodded. "Sounds good. Since you have access to the Internet, why don't you handle the research into alternate realities, and I'll see what I can do about the EMP. If that was a side-effect of whatever transported me here, then I'm betting it wasn't just localized in the small area around my car."

"Okay, I'll get started on it right away," Chloe said as she stretched lazily and rose to her feet.

Looking at her in surprise, Lois asked, "You're leaving?"

Chloe smiled ruefully at her. "Yeah. I should head out to my dad's. I told him I came down to visit friends, but he's going to wonder if I'm out running around too much. I don't know that many people in Smallville, after all. If he starts to wonder where I've been, he might find out about you, and I don't think you'll have an easy time convincing him that you're from an alternate universe. Don't worry, though, Lois," she said as she bent down to hug the woman in question, "I'll come back out here as soon as I can. Believe me."

As Lois reluctantly agreed, she stood and gave Chloe a tight hug. "But hurry back, okay?"

Then, with a quick wave, Chloe was gone. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two people left on the porch as they stared off into the distance and thought about all the things they didn't know how to say and weren't sure they should discuss even if they did. "Lois," Clark began as the tension between them grew unbearable, "I was wondering. In this other world of yours, am I –?"

"Actually," she said, interrupting him. "Do you mind if we don't talk about that? I mean, just for tonight. It's been," she paused, gazing sadly into the distance, "a very long day."

"Of course," he replied, offering her an awkward smile, and they descended into silence once more.

A few minutes later, when she saw Clark out of the corner of her eye as he reached forward and absentmindedly rubbed his injured leg, Lois was embarrassed to realize how little thought she'd given his injury. It was just so easy for her to forget that the man beside her wasn't the invulnerable one she knew, and she asked as tactfully as she could, "You know, it's getting a little cold. You want to go inside?"

She knew by the rueful look her companion threw his leg that the care she'd taken in phrasing the question hadn't fooled him one bit. "It's okay," he replied, pulling his hand away. "It doesn't really hurt."

Now she wasn't the one fooled. This Clark wasn't so unlike her own, and she knew her fiancé too well for him to placate her so easily. Though she knew she should probably let the subject drop, the same curiosity and need to know that made her such a good reporter wouldn't let her off to hook so easily. "Does it usually?" she asked softly. When he turned to look up at her, she offered him an apologetic smile. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it, of course."

With a shrug, he replied uncomfortably, "No, it's okay. It's…I don't know; I suppose I've just gotten used to it by now. It aches sometimes – usually when the weather changes or when I've been on it too much, but it really does look worse than it feels."

Lois wasn't buying it. She bit her lower lip uncertainly as she scooted down one step so she was seated beside him. Then, turning her head to look into his face, she asked gently, "How did it happen?"

Clark sighed and gazed off into the distance for so long, Lois thought he might not answer her. Finally, he spoke. "You know, I used to resent the fact that I had all those powers; I hated being different, always having to hide what I was, what I could do. I spent years wanting to be normal, more than I wanted anything else."

Looking down at his leg with a wry smile, he continued, "So I guess it's almost ironic that I had such a hard time letting them go." Another sigh followed this remark, and he shifted until he was leaning back against the step behind him, still gazing off into the distance so he didn't have to meet her eyes.

"After I lost my abilities, I was…well, I was ecstatic, really. I never wanted that destiny Jor-El saw for me. When he took all my abilities away, when he made me human, I thought it was the best thing that had ever happened to me; I could have sworn I'd be able walk away and never look back."

"But you couldn't," Lois said softly, and though she meant it as a question, it didn't come out that way.

"No," he said with a humorless chuckle. "I guess I'd just gotten too used to being invulnerable to take a moment to realize I wasn't any longer. So, when I was driving home one night and I heard a radio report about a fire downtown, I didn't even stop to think about it. I just turned the truck around and drove as fast as I could to try to get there in time to help. I never got there, of course. I was going too fast around a turn, and I just lost control."

Finally, he turned and met her eyes as he finished his story. "I don't really remember much after that; I didn't even wake up until the next morning. I didn't realize it was possible to be in so much pain. Four surgeries later, the doctors were still saying I'd probably never walk without a cane again." A shrug, and then he said, "They were wrong. It took months of physical therapy and the help of some of the best doctors in Metropolis, but at least I'm walking."

Lois was looking at him sadly, uncertain of what to say – or even if there was anything to say. Before she'd made up her mind on the issue, he reached out to give her had a quick squeeze. "Don't feel too sorry for me, Lois. It could have been worse. At least I was alone; I don't know how I could have lived with myself if I'd gotten anyone else hurt."

"But how did you –?" she began, but before she could indulge her curiosity about how he lost his powers in the first place, the front door opened and Mr. Kent poked his head outside. "Hey, you two. Martha wanted me to let you know that dinner's going to be ready in just a couple minutes."

"Thanks, Mr. Kent," Lois said as she rose to her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clark awkwardly do the same, and she had to resist the urge to help him to his feet. He clearly didn't like to draw attention to his injury, and she didn't want to cause him any further embarrassment.

In an effort to diffuse the tension lingering between her and Clark after their previous conversation, and aware that the Kents were as curious about her as she was about the differences in them, Lois directed the conversation at dinner to lighter topics. "So we're standing there, just waiting for Perry's reaction, and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to talk him out of firing at least one of us. But then, just when I had marshaled my best arguments, he turns to Clark, completely straight-faced, and asks, 'By any chance, would either of you know what happened to my pants?'" Laughter erupted around the table at the conclusion to her story, and she looked around at her companions with a grin. It was almost worth it, being taken to this other world, just to have the chance to do this – to enjoy one more meal with all of the Kents she loved. If only the Clark she knew was by her side; if only he could have had the opportunity to witness this with her.

As the laughter had died down, however, Mr. Kent rose and began to gather the dishes to take them to the kitchen. Jumping to her feet, Lois said briskly, "Here, let me do that. You…just, you know, sit there and…take it easy, okay?"

She could have bitten her tongue when she saw the looks the Kents exchanged around the table. They all looked rather surprised and a bit confused by her sudden and perfunctory offer, for which she really couldn't blame them. She could only imagine how the Mr. Kent she knew would have reacted to her suggestion that he take it easy. Actually, she didn't have to strain her imagination too much. The memory of how he'd responded to such suggestions during the last year of his life was still remarkably fresh. And while he'd at least understood the source for everyone's concern, this Mr. Kent probably didn't – and she had absolutely no intention of giving him a full confession.

Backpedaling, she tried to cover for her faux pas. "Uh…It's just that I try to do what I can to help out around here. I was a complete stranger to you all the first time I came to Smallville, but you took me in – even though you certainly didn't have to do so, particularly considering that Clark and I…well, let's just say we'd hadn't met under the most auspicious circumstances. I just…I appreciated everything you did for me, is all, and I don't want you all to think I'm some sort of freeloader."

The Clark who existed only in her memory at this point whispered teasingly in her ear, "You mean you're not?" and, even though she had more or less come to terms with the fact that Clark was in another reality, she was somewhat startled to discover that this version of him didn't follow suit.

Instead, Mrs. Kent said earnestly, "Lois, you don't have anything to prove to us." The words left unspoken between them could fill volumes, but nobody elected to point this out. "As long as you're here, you're welcome to stay in this house, and I can't imagine that we would ever feel otherwise."

"Still, it's important to me. Anyway, I can't help with the cooking, and believe me when I say that you all learned that the hard way. However, I can wash a dish with the best of them." When Mrs. Kent looked about to argue again, she interjected, "Let me do this, Mrs. Kent. Please."

When she saw Martha's reluctant nod of assent, Lois continued clearing the table as everyone dispersed. To her left, Clark stood and moved toward the living room, his parents following. As he went, she heard him say, "I should probably head out soon, but there's a couple things I want to take care of first. Thanks for dinner; I'm sure Lana's sorry that she had to miss it."

"We're sorry she couldn't make it," Martha replied, and Lois began to hum quietly to herself to drown out the rest of her words. Her tenuous grasp on both her sanity and her composure made her reluctant to eavesdrop on any conversation regarding the future Mrs. Kent.

So intent was she on minding her own business, she startled when she heard Mr. Kent's voice behind her. "Martha loves that song, you know. In fact, we danced to it at our wedding."

Glancing at him over her shoulder, she replied, "Yes, I know. Clark loves it, too. That's why we played it at ou-your last anniversary."

Turning back to her task, she shifted uncomfortably under the weight of his regard. She knew he was still looking at her as if trying to uncover her secrets, and she suspected he hadn't cornered her in the kitchen to discuss their mutual taste in music. Indeed, she discovered her dread was warranted when he asked her suddenly, "Lois, is there something you haven't told us about the Jonathan Kent in your world?"