Chapter Thirteen

Somewhere in the outskirts of Metropolis, 2019

"I'm bored," Lois announced, glancing at the clock for the umpteenth time. Time went by very slowly when all you had to do was sit in a chair and keep quiet.

Chloe and Bruce looked up from the charts they'd been analyzing and gave her identical annoyed looks.

"Do you have to say that every five minutes?" Chloe asked, rolling her eyes. "We're doing all this to help you, remember?"

"Yeah, but why does helping me have to involve charts and computers that only you guys can understand?" Lois complained. "I hate this kind of investigating. What we should really be doing is going out there and tracking down the short, little, annoying guy."

"I don't think he's really a viable lead, Lois," Chloe answered. She rolled up the chart she'd just finished marking and put it away. She grabbed another one and began unfurling it. "He could have just been a figment of your imagination."

"A figment of my - ?" Lois repeated in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me. I saw him talk to my Clark. This Clark," Lois jerked her head towards her partner, "saw him in this version of the universe, too. We have to assume that Lois did, as well. How could four people, in two separate universes, all have the same hallucination?"

Lois turned to Clark for support, but he was staring out the window with a distracted expression on his face and hadn't even seemed to notice that she was speaking.

Bruce rubbed at his jaw in contemplation. Finally, he admitted, "She's got a valid point, Agent Sullivan. Perhaps we're being hasty by disregarding that aspect of the switch. There could be a clue there that'll point us in the right direction."

Lois smiled, gratified someone was finally paying attention her input. "Thank you, Bruce."

Chloe considered Lois for a second and then nodded. "Okay, you're right. I should have gotten the details, anyway, since any little thing could make a difference." Chloe grabbed a blank note pad from under a pile of charts and graphs and managed to find a pen. She sat down in a chair situated across from Lois's chair. "Walk me through it. Start from the beginning – right when you met the short, little, annoying guy."

Lois took a deep breath and began telling her the abbreviated version that she'd shared with everyone up to this point. This time, though, Chloe wouldn't let her get away with the short story. She kept interrupting and asking questions that Lois didn't think were really relevant. Like, what had she and Clark been wearing? What was the weather like? What floor was the telescope on? How far away was Clark standing from her? Chloe even made her draw a diagram as close to scale as Lois could get it.

Clark, intrigued by the story, had made his way over to them and remarked, "That's exactly what the room looked like that we were in, too."

"Do the events match up, as well?" Chloe asked curiously. "I mean, were you and the older Lois standing in the same place and going through the same motions?"

Clark thought about it for a second. "Yes, for the most part. I mean, Lois is saying that when she was looking through the telescope, Clark was on the phone with his girlfriend. When my Lois looking through the telescope, I was on the phone with - ," Clark hesitated for a second and then finished with an odd look in his eyes, "her fiancé, Richard."

"Hhhmm…" Chloe tapped the pen against her cheek, as she thought about it. She turned to Lois. "So then what happened? You're standing there, staring through the telescope…."

"And then the creepy little man tells me to make a wish," Lois supplied. "So, I made a wish and then I see the star I'm looking at crack in half. The next thing I know -- ."

"Wait," Chloe interrupted. "What did you wish?"

Lois stared at her blankly. "Huh? What difference does it make?"

"Well, it may not make a difference, but – at this stage – every little detail counts. Anything could be relevant." Chloe looked at her expectantly. "So, what did you wish for?"

Lois stared at the ground, suddenly fascinated by the heels that this universe's Lois preferred. They were pretty good looking. And looked great with the high waisted pants.

"Lois? What did you wish?" Clark prompted her, interrupting her analysis of Lois's fashion sense.

"Nothing," Lois replied, blushing a bit. There was no way she was admitting her childish wish to these sophisticated, older versions of Clark and Chloe. And Bruce Wayne. No way in hell.

Bruce's brows furrowed in confusion. "Well, it can't be nothing, because you just said that you made a wish. So what was it?"

Lois looked up and saw all three of them staring at her with puzzled expressions. Clearly they were not understanding that she wanted to sink into the floor and die of embarrassment. Is your pride worth getting stuck here forever, Lane? Just spit it out. FBI Chloe is probably right – it could be relevant.

"I…um…" Lois cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "I wished that Clark would look at me like that," she mumbled under her breath.

She underestimated them, because they all heard her. But no one understood what it meant.

"Look at you like what?" Chloe asked in a baffled voice.

Lois sighed and avoided Clark's gaze as she explained a bit more. "When Clark was on the phone with Lori – his girlfriend – he got this look that he always gets when he's around her. Like a gentler, nicer look."

Chloe still looked like she didn't understand, so Lois continued softly, "He never looks at me the way he looks at Lori, because we're always too busy fighting. So, I wished that once – just once – he'd look at me the way he looked at Lori. That he'd see me and see me the way he sees her." Lois realized that sounded a bit pathetic, so she quickly added, "And the next thing I know, the star I'm looking at is splitting in half and I'm falling. I blacked out and when I woke up I was here."

Silence met her words as all three of them reacted to the news in different ways. Chloe, quite unaffected, diligently finished taking notes of everything Lois had said. Bruce looked annoyed and even slightly angry. When Lois finally ventured a glance in Clark's direction, she saw that he looked stunned and, if she read it right, more than a little hurt.

Her guess was confirmed by his next words. "But you told me that you didn't love your Clark. You lied to me," Clark stated simply, the confusion evident in his blue eyes.

Before she could respond, Bruce interjected with a sardonic laugh. "You're telling me we're going through all of this because Lois and Clark can't get their act together in any universe? That's just great."

Chloe didn't pause in taking her notes, but she did glance up briefly to correct him cheerfully. "Not necessarily in any universe, Mr. Wayne. If my theory is correct, there are multiple parallel universes and this Lois is just from one of them. There could very well be a Clark and Lois out there that have an ideal relationship. Just not these two specific universes' Clark and Lois."

Bruce shot her a tight smile. "Thanks for clarifying, Agent Sullivan." Bruce groaned and shook his head. He added, in a resigned voice, "Okay, so I guess we're playing cupid, then? How do we do this?"

Lois rolled her eyes and gave him a look. "No, you're not. You don't need to worry about it."

Swallowed dryly, Lois stood up and crossed her arms nervously, grateful that Chloe and Bruce had interrupted any questions Clark had. She could see him still staring at her from the corner of the room but, thankfully, he wasn't making a move to force her to address him. Lois knew she'd made a mistake hiding her real feelings from him, but this wasn't something she wanted to discuss with him in front of Chloe and Bruce. The whole thing was embarrassing enough as it was.

So, instead, Lois looked down at Chloe and said slowly, "I don't get it – if there are other Lois's out there that have their life together, then why would the universe switch me around with one who's just as screwed up as me? Why not send one of those other ones here? Why single me out?"

Chloe snapped her notebook shut and stood up. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."

Gotham, 2008

Lois tossed the chart detailing the previous night's astronomical data on the cluttered table before and rubbed her eyes tiredly. She glanced at the two piles on the table to her right and realized, with a sigh of dismay, that the papers she hadn't gone through consisted of the larger of the two piles. This was going to take all day.

With another irritated sigh, she looked around the room, trying to locate the man who had the ability to super-speed through the research in the blink of an eye. She found Bruce and Chloe easily enough. They were sequestered in the far corner of the spacious underground bat-cave. It looked like Bruce was explaining how the complicated super-computer worked and Chloe was gazing at him with a mixture of fascination and adoration that Lois found somewhat amusing.

Upon reflection, Lois realized that Chloe was probably one of the few women in the world who would enjoy Bruce's company not just for his looks, wealth and charm – she would be attracted to him for his genius intellect, as well. For Chloe's sake, Lois hoped that the younger Bruce recognized that and appreciated how rare it was. Her own version of Bruce Wayne was a wonderful person, but she often felt bad when she saw his obvious loneliness.

As Chloe and Bruce continued to flirt in the corner, Lois stood up and stretched, trying to stifle a huge yawn. She turned around and finally found Clark on the complete opposite side of the room. Then she remembered that he had said he'd tried to find out more about the physicist by searching through academic sites for any papers or research similar to his interests. She smiled at how he looked when concentrating on a task. He reminded her of her Clark back in her own life.

Clark's feet were propped up on the table, with his chair tilted as far back as it would go. He was staring intently at the screen before him and his hair was a mess from all the times he'd run his hands through it. For a brief moment, she felt a rush of affection for not only this Clark through her veins, but also for her Clark back home. All the years Clark had been gone had caused her to forget what it was like to work with him and have him as a partner. The thrill of the chase when it came to the story…the ecstatic triumph when the bad guy was caught… the natural high at seeing her name on the byline at the conclusion of a great article… it had all been just a little sweeter – a little more fun - with Clark by her side.

Lois had never admitted it to anyone, probably not even herself, but his presence had always had a major influence on her success as a reporter. The competitive streak he brought out in her. The joy she felt when she felt she'd beaten him to the scoop. She had always felt that one of the best parts of working at the Daily Planet was being able to spar with Clark all day. Somewhat wistfully, she came to the gradual realization that when he had left (taking, apparently, Superman along with him) she hadn't stopped being good at her job, per se, but she had definitely stopped enjoying it as much.

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and she focused her gaze on the man occupying her thoughts. He'd been the exact same pose for the past five minutes. He hadn't even moved a muscle. She squinted and then let out a frustrated growl when she saw that he was completely zoned out and wasn't working in the slightest.

Incensed that she'd made herself cross-eyed looking at complex data while he took a break in the corner, Lois stalked over to him. "Clark! You know you actually have to click something to make the screen change, right? You can't control it with your mind."

Startled by Lois's unexpected interruption, Clark lost his balance and just managed to leap out of his chair before it crashed to the ground. If she hadn't been so annoyed, the comical sight would have made her laugh. As it was, she was too tired, irritated, and – frankly – scared to muster up even a smile.

"You can do the research faster than any of us and you're just sitting there while we all work our butts off. What's wrong with you?" Lois snapped.

Clark rakes his hand through his hair in a distracted manner and shot her a small smile. "Sorry, I'm a bit out of it. I've got some other things on my mind."

Lois folded her arms and glared up at him. "What on earth could be more important than the fact that I switched bodies with another Lois Lane from a different dimension?" She took a deep breath. "What, is this all too boring for you? Do you even want to help get me out of here? "

Clark stared at her for a moment, his eyes lighting up with anger. "Actually, at this moment, I want it more than anything," Clark responded, through clenched teeth.

"Hey, I don't want to be here, either, okay?" Lois retorted irritably. "In case you've forgotten, I have a son I need to get back to – a 6 year old who is probably freaked out of his mind right now."

After a second, his gaze softened a bit and he looked away. "Yes, I'm sorry, you're right. Look, can you give me a minute? I'm not exactly having that great of a day."

As suddenly as her anger at flared up, it abated in the face of what appeared to be sadness and regret. Her brow furrowing in concern, Lois moved closer to Clark. "Clark, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Clark shook his head quickly, but he avoided her questioning gaze when he answered. "Nothing. I think I just need to clear my head a bit."

Lois nodded and stepped aside to let him pass by her. She watched him go, a puzzled frown tugging at her lips as she tried to think about what was wrong with him. He'd been acting strangely ever since they have left Smallville. He was snapping at people left and right and had, twice, gotten into an argument with Bruce over petty things. Chloe had tried talking to him, but to no avail.

"Lois!"

Chloe tugged on her arm, pulling her thoughts away from Clark for a second. Lois glanced at the younger woman and saw that Chloe was grinning widely. "What's up, Chloe?"

"Um, you don't mind if we take a break, do you?" Chloe asked, her blue eyes sparking a bit in excitement. "Bruce said he's going to show me the Wayne Gardens. It shouldn't take that long."

Lois paused for a second and then forced a mischievous smile to her lips. "Sure, why not? But please tell me that you're not using that term metaphorically."

Chloe rolled her eyes and laughed. "No…no. He's showing me the grounds – apparently the gardens are some of the best in the world," Chloe explained, her voice a bit low, so Bruce couldn't hear them. "The roses are so unique, they can't be found anywhere else except here. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Usually, they're closed to the public."

Lois nodded in mock seriousness. "So, of course, this is all in the spirit of research, huh? All for the article on botany you've wanted to get published for years?"

"Of course," Chloe agreed gravely, although the slight laughter in her eyes gave her away. "No reporter is complete without having that article under her belt." Her eyes widened comically when she realized what she had just said and she added hastily, "Um, so to speak."

Lois started laughing and glanced back at Bruce, who was waiting by the front doors with his jacket on and holding an extra one for Chloe. Impulsively, Lois leaned over and gave Chloe a hug. "Go, have fun. Clark's on a break, anyway. It looks like we can all use one."

At the mention of Clark, Chloe's grin faded and was replaced with a worried frown. "Did you find out what was wrong with him?"

Lois shook her head. "No, he wouldn't say anything. I figured he could use some space. I'm sure he'll get over whatever it is in time. In any case, it's none of my business."

"Yeah, but Clark usually doesn't have bad moods, though. Something must really be bothering him." Chloe looked at Lois for a second. "I think you should hunt him down and make him talk to you."

Startled, Lois shook her head quickly. "What? Why me? You're his best friend!"

"Yeah, but he's not mad at me," Chloe countered. "Obviously, there's something going on with you."

"No, there isn't," Lois denied vehemently. "I didn't do anything."

Chloe looked skeptical. "That's what my Lois always says."

Lois sighed and shook her head. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope." Chloe shrugged. "You – or rather our version of you – is the only person I've seen that can get Clark to open up about anything. So, like it or not, you're going to have to talk to him if you want his help getting you out of here." And then Chloe smirked slightly and added, "And I'm off to go check out how great botany is…."

With that parting shot, Chloe took off to meet Bruce at the front door and Lois stood alone for awhile watching until they both disappeared from her sight.

"God save me from meddling cousins and brooding Kryptonians," Lois muttered under breath as she went off in search of Clark.