15:

Montreal, Canada

Present Day

7 PM

Friday

"Jimmy, pick up. Please." I'm sitting here, in a humble coffee shop, making the last effort to call Jimmy's number. He has to pick up. Finding him here is like looking for needle in a haystack. Reese Jenner*'s friend, a lady named Criss, had infiltrated GPS and Jimmy's LexCom phone. They confirmed the cellphone is alive and kicking somewhere in Montreal. That's it. No exact coordinates because Luthor had some preventive walls that she can't access. Data privacy and all that. We can't exactly demand it to MPD because they'd escalate the stuff. Not that I don't trust Henderson. It's just slow. Besides, they're also searching for Jimmy.

I've knocked around establishments. Asked them if they'd seen him. A convenience store clerk said he saw Jimmy yesterday, late afternoon. And he had sat in this same coffee shop. But after that, no one knows where he went.

Rings. Just rings.

"Goddamn it." I drop my phone on the table and cover my face with my hands. Why did I even agree to do this? You're not omniscient Lois Lane. Admit it. Your intelligence operations have their limits.

Which brings me.

I take my phone again, my thumb hovering over the call icon. Perry needs to know the Belle Reve thing. He picks up on the fifth ring. "Chief," I start, "The Belle Reve, has someone got to it? Remember when I told you about the lede I've in Gotham? You got names of escapees?"

"Wait a sec."

"Is there a Johnson?"

"That's your contact?"

"Yes," I mutter, tapping my fingers on the table. "By the way, you got the intel? Any news with MPD?"

"Yeah. That data privacy act sucks big time. Here. Yes. Johnson's missing. Ernest Howard?"

"That's him."

"Missing." Perry grumbles then gets back on the phone, "No word from MPD."

"Jimmy's not answering his phone."

"He could've dropped it there in Montreal, Lane. What's with this Johnson?"

"I'm in the last shop Jimmy stopped by yesterday. Johnson's claiming stuff like paralleluniverses, a monster from another world coming to destroy Superman, and resetting time back. Weird stuff."

Perry snorts. "Bullshit."

"I know. But what if he's actually saying some truth?"

"Why?" Perry retorts. "Break-ins are coincidental."

"But Belle Reve? A maximum security prison for both humans and metas?"

"No strong evidence."

"And I can't write anything about it…for now." I grumble under my breath. "I just want you to know about that."

"Noted. Should I be worried about all the mess you've been finding yourself in?"

Nope. Nothing to see here Perry. "I always clean up."

"You must."

Okay. Next.

Dad.

More accurately, the military surveillance network.

There.

Three blocks down. In a local inn.

HORDR Mountain Base

Three weeks ago

Jimmy has the League signaler, I have Dad's number. If everything goes up in smokes, HORDR will find the Army going after him.

The mountain was covered by the same force-field that the floating headquarters was. Condessa had fitted my new helmet with the same codes that she used on the mask.

Clark was led by a drone with speakers. He has been walking down dim corridors, winding nowhere. I trailed just a few steps behind, concealed from the cameras thanks to Condessa's tech.

She and Jimmy were waiting at the foot of this mountain, in my car.

Finally, they took a turn to what appeared as a steel door. I stopped. There must be another way to-

Aha. Bingo.

To my left, a stairwell. Must lead to the controls or bay windows…

I get up there, still in that robo suit and weird helmet. The steel door, was surprisingly, not hi-tech. I ended up opening it with ease…

Machine room. Tall, black blinking boxes stood on the right, lined up perfectly with their wires running on the gray-tiled floor like roots. Another door was at the far end. There were no lights, except from the blinking of the computers. On the left, was a bay window overlooking the room Clark had just got shuffled in moments ago. No cameras in here. Sketchy. No detectors too.

The room was circular, and on the other side is another bay window. I blinked. There's a tall cloaked humanoid figure with a silver mask. HORDR_ROOT. There's a speaker, where he was talking…

"-your latest assets, Superman."

Clark looked around him. I could see it. Those huge-ass white robots entered the circular field, closing in on Clark but not attacking him. Instead they just stood there, like toys. HORDR_ROOT continued, "This is a simple exchange. Perform your solar flare, and my robots will harness the valuable solar energy you have been gratuitously siphoning from planet Earth since the day you landed."

I took my helmet off and dashed to the window. "No…Clark. He'll kill you." He knows it. He just-

Clark thought about it. He paused and looked around him.

I pressed the walkie-talkie on.

"Miss Lane!"

"Jimmy, they want him to use the flare."

"What?"

"Stand by. Press-"

Clark's voice boomed, "This ends now."

"Uh-uh. Wait for it, my friend, allow me a few seconds to explain," HORDR_ROOT continued, "It will take me less than a second to send this video to the Internet, while you, on the other hand, seek to destroy my new form in this station. I suggest it will be for naught, as I would've already won." He clicked his tongue and added, "Face it, Man of Steel, you're checkmate."

Clark stepped back, but the robots follow him wherever he went.

"Jimmy. What did they say?"

"What? Now?"

"The League, right now!"

Too late.

Clark…he started to flare. The white robots glow as they took in all the solar power. Think. I threw the helmet on the glass, sending it crashing. Clark couldn't mind. Nor the robots, but HORDR_ROOT finally saw me and ordered his robots after me.

I have one chance - "Clark! Clark, he'll kill you! Don't let him do this!"

Jimmy come through!

He started to push the flare out, making his form glow white… The light…blinding. I cupped my hands to the sides of my eyes…Glowing, white light enveloped him-

Light.

Electricity. Screams. 300 notch. My father. Luthor. I looked away. But Clark…he's screaming. The flare, and he's still weak. It's taking a toll on him. He'll…

He will die.

He'll die if I wait any second longer.

Fuck it. Fuck them all. I opened my old phone, logged it to the military network. Posted the HORDR's video on my Twitter.

I stepped on the window and held out my phone, "Clark! Stop! I did it! You're free!"

That instant, Clark let out a grunt and leapt in action to destroy the robots. The door rattled behind me. I looked back to the window across from mine and saw that HORDR_ROOT had disintegrated once again.

Disembodied robotic voice began to call, "Surrender now, Miss-" Only to be pressed into pieces by Clark, who had ripped his dress shirt due to the flare.

"Lois, what did you do?" Clark screamed, his face contorted to a frown. "Why? What did you do?"

"You'll die!" I shouted, walking up to him. "There's no one and I had to help-"

"You didn't! You placed everyone close to me in danger." He grabbed my hand and we escaped out of there as fast as his speed allowed. Clark set me down on my feet outside of the lair, when we were in the cold, dark evening once again. "After everything we planned!" he exclaimed, exasperated and disappointed all the same. Clark pulled his hair in frustration and paced the ground.

I stared at him. No. This. This is unbelievable. "I did it to save your life-"

"You saved mine and endangered dozens!"

The cold wind did absolutely worsen everything. My throat dried. My heart constricted inside my chest like a boa curling away from the sun. I want to shout. Cry. Punch. Instead I stood there, immobile. All my courage had fled my body. All my resolve gone.

Clark hadn't looked at me. He stared off into the darkness beyond the cliff we're standing at.

"Because I love you," I muttered in spite of my trembling lips, "I can't let you die, Clark! The only thing running in my mind was to save you, and I could. I called Jimmy to do the plan but comms are harder than they look. There's no time. No time for us to figure things out-"

"I could have figured it out," Clark snapped, turning to face me again, "I would have solved my problem, but you have to meddle and make it worse!"

I shook my head. A wet thing dropped on my cheek. Huh. No. No crying, Lane. No damn crying. "I'm sorry," I said, as coldly as I could without breaking into tears. "I only want to save you."

"Maybe it's better when you didn't know both halves of me."

"Clark," I said. I can't believe this is happening. "I was placed between a rock and a hard place. And you would rather die than let-"

"I'd rather die to keep my loved ones safe!" he lashed, walking up front to me. "If you love me, you would've understood that!" Clark turned away. "They are innocent people. Innocent, Lois!"

"I can't see you die, in front of my face! I let it happen once, I can't…" I stared at him, closing my hands into fists. "Not when I can do something about it."

"Even betraying me?" he retorted. "Breaking your word-"

"Even that-"

Heavy buzzes overhead broke our conversation. A light suddenly focused on our spot, and a chopper comes into view…Green. Military? But I didn't call-

My dad?

General Lane peers from the chopper, a megaphone over his lips. "Do not make any move, Kryptonian. This vessel is armed with weapons against your kind. Step away from my daughter and surrender."

Clark took one last, disappointed look at me. "Don't follow me."

And he fled in a single bound.

Lois Kent

California

Three weeks ago

This is bad.

I hold the Daily Planet broadsheet closer. Must have still been sleepy from that long early afternoon nap…The headline still reads, as stark as sunlight:

Superman's Secret Identity.

By…

Me?

My feet speed out as fast as they could out of the house and to the barn. "Clark!" I call, throwing the barn door open. My husband is currently under the old tractor we got from Anselm next door. Unlike this world's Clark Kent, he's not that young anymore and has been sporting white hairs at his temple and a full beard for the past years…it follows that his powers are also unreliable, making him stay at home with Jon and me most of the time…fixing the tractor, taking care of the farm – while I write for the town paper. "Clark!"

"Yes?" He slides from under.

"She did it! I can't believe this!"

Clark pulls himself up and faces me, wiping his hands from the towel on the tractor's hood. "Who did what, honey?" He cocks his head and walks up to me. I hold the newspaper to his chest. He opens it, reads the thing then stops. "Wow."

"But me? Of all people." I shake my head. "This is bad, Smallville."

Clark looks up at me and folds the newspaper back. "It's not enough I'm with Diana in this world, isn't it?"

I cross my arms over my chest. "I told you, there's worse that could happen. And here it is." I press my hand to his chest. "You can't intervene anymore…This world…It's way out of our own reality."

"Lois," Clark sighs, "I can't-"

"I know you can't. But you have to listen."

Clark takes a deep breath and concedes.

I hang my head. "It's not just us, here, honey. Our son…he's…he could be in danger." I close my eyes and try to focus and get what I'm thinking these past weeks out to him. "I know it's hard for you to just stand by and do nothing. But look at this world. Look at who I've become. If I could do that to you, God, I don't know what I can do next… This is not our world, Clark. Maybe…maybe we shouldn't get in their way."

"But what if they need us?" Clark retorts, not letting it go without a fight. "Lo, that is not who we are. We help others at all costs. Their Superman is young, his powers are unreliable." He walks away back to the tractor. "We help, Lo. No matter where we are. On our own world or another." Clark starts clearing his tools back in the box.

"Being a hero now will get you killed." I walk up behind him. "Our world is dead. We have no more family, no friends…And I…I can't lose you or Jon." I hold his shoulder. Just this once, honey, please. I tug his shirt, hoping he could see it the way I do."They have him, Clark. But we only have you."

He takes my hand and entwines our fingers together. "Lo…you don't have to be afraid. We're in this together, remember? Partners." Clark closes the space between us to kiss my forehead. "In many ways than one."

I know it's a futile task. But maybe, maybe his priorities changed too like mine. Then again, I guess…he can't let his responsibility go. He's Superman. He'll always help.

Even now.

"That's why we're here, far away from Metropolis," Clark says, brushing my hair back. "Our family comes first, honey. But…I can't abandon this world or the other me like that."

I embrace him. What could have gone wrong for the other Lois to out other Clark like that? Why? Why would I? I mean. I get it. I once had an obsession for getting evidence that Clark is Superman…but I'm not planning on cashing on that.

"She must have a reason." Clark presses me closer to him and rubs my back.

I close my eyes. "You believe in me better than I do."

"I always will, Lo." He whispers, "We remain hidden. Especially now. I'll always stay in the dark, like before."

"What if I am rotten?" I open my eyes and look up at my husband. My dear, kind, and loving husband. He's far from what I deserve, I don't get it sometimes how we ended up together. Sometimes…sometimes, I'm afraid he'll realize that one day and see what others have been suggesting to him. Who the whole world thinks he should date and marry. But then he'll just kiss me, and say 'Lo, you're crazy. I'd always pick you.'

Always.

Clark touches my cheek and shakes his head. "You're not her."

"What if I can be her?"

"At the end of the day, Lo, it's up to us to choose what to do next," Clark says, holding my hand in his. "We have to keep this out of Jon's reach."

"Agreed."

"And honey?"

"Yes?"

Clark pulls me in for a kiss. I hold on his shoulders. After a moment, we just pressed our foreheads together and closed our eyes. "We'll be fine," he calmly says.

"I hope."