Chapter 19
It was another dream and Lois was aware of it as she trudged through the snow. Trees surrounded her and she shivered in the familiar cold. She was searching for him, knowing that Kal-El was supposed to appear and save her. Her brain had taken her back to the night they met.
She hugged herself, rubbing her bare arms wearing only a tank top. She looked up at the sky and whispered, "Where are you?"
In the distance she heard sirens, which was perplexing, since that had not happened in the timeline of events. However they died down in the background as a voice suddenly cut through.
"Who are you and how did you enter this area?"
That she remembered.
She turned to see a tall man with stark features staring at her. His eyes were dark, his thin lips pursed together. He wore a uniform that seemed to be military in style. It was brown and beige, with black stripes and patches in different shapes, the Z the most prominent. Zod.
She glared at him. This time she wanted to use every ounce of her being to take him out herself and save everyone from the misery he would cause.
"Screw you."
He marched toward her with determination. She started to walk in his direction, focusing on meeting him halfway.
Zod went to grab her, as she expected, and she deflected his move. She got the opportunity and landed a punch on his face. She expected him to careen face first into the snow-it was her dream after all -but he quickly bounced back and grabbed her upper arm with force and pulled her closer to him, their faces only inches apart. She hissed in pain from his grip. Her teeth clenched as she stared him in the eye.
"Do you think you can change fate?" he asked. "I will hunt Kal-El and you will kneel before me. Earth will have no savior."
She managed to break from his grip, not understanding his words. That wasn't what he said that night. Why had the script changed?
She realized she had no control over the dream and fear ripped through her. She sprinted in the snow, picking the direction to her right this time. Unfortunately for her, she didn't get far. She stopped in her tracks when Zod suddenly appeared before her once more. He was quick enough to grab her, this time his right hand clasped around her neck.
"You will be mine."
She shook her head. Kal-El was going to save her. This was his cue. But they were alone. She could feel her airway closing up as his grip tightened. She was losing oxygen. Her eyes became heavy. She tried to fight it, but she felt her consciousness slipping away as the wails grew closer.
She gasped awake, holding her throat as the sound of sirens was louder outside her window. Her hand felt the chain of the dog tags Kal-El had given her, the ones she had almost lost.
She turned in her bed and gripped the pillow she had placed there laying vertically, imagining it to be another body in the bed, a body that had been against her comfortingly in the night.
It was her first night alone since returning. Whitney stayed with her the first few nights. Then Tess took over. Her father and sister made a surprise appearance for another few days and had just left that morning.
Left off the list was Oliver. She sighed thinking about him and pulled at the tags again.
It was a habit to search for them, sometimes she did it without thinking and others it was when she found herself becoming anxious. Her stomach tightened as she remembered back to the night of her return.
When Whitney had taken her off the Kent farm-reluctantly on her part-she sat in the passenger seat and mindlessly went to pull at the dog tags, only to find them missing. She had realized in her haze that she hadn't had them at the Kent's. As they were driving down the rural road, the fog lifting- literally and figuratively- she recognized the landmark where she had most likely fallen.
"Stop the car!" she screamed.
A startled Whitney answered with, "What?"
"Stop the car!"
Whitney hit the brake pedal and they both flew forward, saved by their seat belts. She unfastened hers and bolted out the door. She was soon on her hands and knees in the middle of the road and crawling toward the shoulder.
"Lois! What are you doing?"
"I can't lose them. I can't. He gave them to me. They're too special. I can't lose them." she cried and shook. She was hyperventilating.
He crouched down having grabbed a flashlight from his truck, clearly unaware of what she was looking for.
"Lois! You can't be out here like this. You'll get hit!"
She pawed at the ground, feeling every crack. Then the moonlight broke through the clouds and illuminated them in the grass.
She won love by moonlight this time.
She dove for them and once they were in her grasp she released her breath and kissed them. She brought them to her forehead and apologized profusely that they left her body, even if she had fainted when it happened.
Exasperated, he asked, "Dog tags? You did all this for some dog tags?"
"They were his," she barely whispered.
Whitney was soon on his knees next to her. His hands on her shoulders. She thought he was shaking her, but he was actually holding her steady. She was doing the shaking all on her own.
"Who, Lois? Who did they belong to?"
"My hero."
"The person who saved you?" he clarified.
She nodded slowly.
"He gave them to you?"
She nodded again and refused to look at him. Whitney, being in the service himself, must have known the significance due to his stillness and silence.
"He trusted you. He…he loved you."
She nodded again.
"Oh, Lo," he sighed as he brought her into another hug.
They rocked for a while on the side of a rural road. Headlights cut through the darkness on the ground as the moonlight shone directly over them and did its duty from high above. There was no one around, but it felt like they were a beacon for miles.
"You do realize that if he were here, he would want to make sure you were checked out, that you were okay. If he got you here, to us, he wants you to be healthy."
"I know," she whispered.
"Can I take you to the hospital now?"
She nodded one last time.
He drove her right to Metropolis General. When she entered the facility a renowned doctor who had been flown in, Dr. Emil Hamilton, examined her. She had every test known to man done to her and she was very irritated by the end of it.
Sitting in a hospital gown (she was suddenly missing the flannel duster she had on at the Kent's) in the hospital bed she started playing with the tags back securely around her neck and then transitioned the corded remote beside her, moving the bed up and down.
"You might want to be careful with that, Legs."
She knew his voice and tried to give him a smile when she saw him in the doorway. Oliver Queen.
His brown eyes scanned over her. "We searched everywhere for you."
"I know you did."
"There was no sign of you." He shook his head and looked at the ceiling. "I thought the worst, you know? That after forty-eight hours of no clues, the case was already cold. I lost you. I wasn't going to get you back."
"Expect the unexpected," she shrugged.
Though he was right. He had lost her.
"Whitney called me the minute he got the news. He asked me if I wanted to go with him and I…I froze. I didn't know if I was strong enough to see you."
She sighed. "Oliver, this better not be some kind of apology. If anything, you knew not to overwhelm me."
He clicked his tongue and let out a heartbroken chuckle. "So, you weren't waiting for me, huh?"
"No." she told him truthfully.
He sadly nodded.
"Yeah, when I didn't get a call I wasn't sure what to think."
"It's been a long night," she explained. "I didn't even want Tess here."
Not to say that Tess hadn't found out through Whitney too (they were apparently dating now?) and bullied her way to Lois' room-they were best friends for a reason. However, Lois wasn't in the mood just yet for visitors and kindly asked her to go back home and get some sleep. She would call her when she was out. By then she'd have her story straight.
"Well, I'm here. Tell me what you need."
Lois was silent. What she really needed he couldn't give her.
"I'm not sure."
Oliver let out a shaky exhale. "That wasn't the answer I was hoping for."
She could tell the answer he wanted by the forlorn look on his face. He wanted her to say him. That she needed him. And she couldn't tell him that, not when it wasn't the truth. She couldn't lie to him. It wasn't fair.
"Ollie, what I went through. It's so hard to explain. I'm just dealing with a lot and I'm not the same person I was before everything happened."
"Well, I have the best doctors working on your case, making sure that you are okay. I guess we'll just start there."
He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. When his lips touched her skin she felt nothing. No warmth and tingles.
"When you're ready, you call me. Okay? No matter the time. You call."
"Okay."
He cupped her cheek and let his thumb brush under her eye. It was different from Kal-El's touch and didn't provoke even the remnants of a similar feeling. She hated herself. She had a man in front of her who was present and who loved her, but she couldn't reciprocate. She didn't want to hurt him, not after waiting for her, but that's exactly what she was doing.
"Don't hurt the staff too much, now."
"I'll keep my demands to a minimum."
"Good."
And with that he backed away and slapped the door frame before he left her room.
She hadn't called him since. Though, after waking up from her dream, she was tempted to call someone to keep her company.
She brought the crocheted blanket up to her chest and curled her legs until she was in the fetal position. She stared at the framed newspaper clipping on her nightstand and studied all the dominant features that Kal-El's face wore then focused on the medallion with the Kryptonian writing, which brought her back to the reason she woke up startled.
What did her dream mean? The dialogue was different and it was almost like a warning, like Zod was around slithering in the shadows on Earth. That thought sent a shiver down her spine.
She reached for her remote and turned her television on. She needed to numb her mind. She filtered through the channels and landed on an animated movie.
The Little Mermaid was on and she snickered a laugh before beginning to cry. The reaction happened quite a bit. Tess had thought watching Disney films would be safe content, not realizing that Hercules and Tarzan, previous comfort favorites, caused her agony. She ended up crying in her lap several times, unable to confess why they had affected her so deeply. It was the same when Jimmy Olsen came to visit and take her out to lunch. They were walking back to drop him off at the Daily Planet when a car passed them, the radio playing the song "That's Why They Call it the Blues". She burst into tears right in the center of the sidewalk, startling the poor photographer. Though, he had been a champ in calming her down.
"Breathe, Lois. Just keep breathing. It's the only thing you can do in this situation. To keep going, you keep breathing."
He must have gotten and amended that pearl of wisdom from Finding Nemo.
He wasn't wrong, even if the advice might have come from an animated character.
The timing that day couldn't have been better. Her father and sister had shown up. When she opened the door her father took one look at her and said, "Oh, Lo."
He wrapped her up in a hug and it was the first time she had really felt safe since being back and being at the Kent farm. She was still a Daddy's girl.
She hadn't opened up to him either, but he said he understood. He had seen this before. In soldiers that had come back from war. It was trauma and it was difficult to talk about, especially when others hadn't experienced the same.
The next day he took her to the son of a military friend of his who was a psychologist. She sat for most of the meeting playing The Staring Game with the good Dr. McKenzie until it clicked that there was doctor/patient confidentiality between them. He couldn't tell anyone what she said and she could disguise what she told him as metaphors.
Post Traumatic Stress. That's what he said she was suffering from behind his black horn rimmed glasses. Traumatic stress. Sights, smells, and sounds could trigger her. Her dreams were residuals of that, memories of distress. But it felt more than that. It felt…real.
But she started to breathe with an internal mantra. She focused and practiced her relaxation techniques. She talked to herself and remembered the jokes she told Kal-El and his puppy dog face when he didn't get her references, like when he introduced her to the Resource Room and she called him "Little Mermaid". It should be a happy memory, not one to cause her sadness. She saw his face again and let herself laugh.
The doctor also said she was suffering from grief. She didn't even know what stage she was in that process. Though, most likely it was denial. Her head replayed their final moments over and over every chance it could. The pain that ripped through him from Zod's knife and she was ripped through time and space. He was alone, deserted, with Zod bringing him to his knees. It seemed futile in trying to create alternatives to the obvious conclusion. Kal-El was dead.
That was what logic said.
But her heart refused to believe it.
Kal-El was still out there somewhere. The organ in her chest kept telling her so. But the last tendrils of stubborn hope also placed a strain on it and she didn't know how much more she could take.
She sat up and brought her knees to her chin. She couldn't stay in her room anymore. She couldn't be sequestered to her apartment. If Kal was out there somehow she wanted to be whole-or at least more whole than what she was. If they ever saw each other again.
"You will."
His last words to her.
She held on to them desperately. She held on to all their conversations, playing them back whenever her mind wasn't occupied with something else.
She remembered their conversation on feeling damaged and she could hear him this time telling her she wasn't. She just needed to heal and to embrace what happened, then she could start to feel more like herself.
The times she felt most like herself was when she talked to the Kent's. She called them once a day to check in on them, or really to give herself an excuse to talk. Mrs. Kent knew it all too well and invited her to come out. She was more than happy to accept. She just had one hurdle to get through first.
After the sun rose, Lois took a long shower and went through her normal routine before she had left the atmosphere. She dressed and went down to the bakery. They were excited to see her and gave extra maple donuts with her coffee, which she figured she would bring with her on her trip if she didn't eat them all. She walked around the city, taking in the sights like she was seeing it for the first time, wishing she was taking a tour with Kal-El.
You would like it here, she thought.
She walked past the Daily Planet not ready to walk through the gold trimmed revolving door. Instead she kept going until she reached the building for Queen Industries. She took the familiar elevator and plugged in the number for Oliver's floor. When the doors opened she coached herself and walked to his office waiting area.
"Hi Mia."
Oliver's secretary jumped from her seat, surprised to see Lois. "Miss Lane! You're here!"
"In the flesh."
"Oh, wow. Let me-let me just let Mr. Queen know."
Mia got on the receiver and told Oliver that Lois was in the waiting room. When she put the phone back into the cradle she nodded at Lois. " You can go right in."
"Thanks."
Lois opened the door and watched a toothy grin appear on his face as he sat at his glass desk in his charcoal suit and green button down shirt. She walked in and put her box and coffee down on the coffee table.
"A box of donuts. Is at least one for me?"
"Not if you know me."
She watched his face fall slightly. It must have been a question he had been asking himself a lot. Did he actually know Lois Lane?
"How are you doing? I was worried. I haven't heard from you."
She really wanted to stuff her mouth with all the maple donuts so she didn't have to speak. She couldn't string him along when her heart didn't belong to him. It was too cruel.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking."
His brows furrowed. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"
"Because you're a perceptive businessman?"
"Lois…" he said her name with crease lines forming on his forehead as he stood up.
She didn't want him to stand since another beau was about to fall victim to a precise hit before her eyes. Only this time she was wielding the weapon unsuspectingly. She was about to stab him with her words.
"Oliver, you are a great man. Maybe one of the greatest on Earth."
"But," he pressed.
You aren't an alien from Krypton who is my soulmate.
"But," she took a breath and played with the band on her left hand. "But I can't be with you."
"Why?"
"Because I don't love you like you deserve. And even before my….incident, I was wondering why I wasn't more excited to marry you, because I should have been. But I felt like something was missing and while I was away I think I found it."
"So, you remember?"
She shook her head. "Not a lot, just therapy things. Feelings. The end most of all."
The information piqued his interest. "What happened at the end?"
"There was someone who risked his life for me. He meant something" she then quickly corrected, "means something to me. We forged a connection. Out of… we were sort of held together during the whole time I was away, I guess." She was trying to be gentle with her words, but also as truthful as she could be.
"Maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome or something. You bonded with your captor."
He was trying to make sense of it, to rationalize, but she knew there was no way to. He didn't know the whole story and she hated keeping it from him because it could lead to speculating outlandish theories. She wasn't going to give details, only the truth in her feelings.
"He wasn't the one that…" she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and then continued explaining, "what I'm trying to say is that I had never felt that way before and now that I know what it feels like, I-"
"Don't feel it with me," he finished for her.
She let a tear escape. "I wish I did, but I can't force it. And you need to find someone who loves you like that. Right now, I do love you, but as a dear friend."
He stared at the ceiling and then back at her. He wasn't angry. He wasn't fighting her on it either. To her that signified that he knew what she was saying was true. He knew deep down she wasn't the one for him either. He wore concern on his face more than anything.
"I feel like I'm abandoning you at a vulnerable time if we break up like this."
"You're not," she assured him.
"Can I…can I still check in on you? Call you to make sure you're alright?"
"I would like that."
Lois started to take her ring off with the stones that had lost their luster, that had been her key to another world. He raised his arm and she was surprised when he didn't extend his hand, but instead held it up for her to stop.
"Don't."
"But it's customary to give it back and you said it was one of a kind."
"And so are you. I'm asking you to keep it-as a friend. I feel like it belongs to you anyway."
He walked past his desk and brought her into a hug. They stood for a moment silently saying goodbye.
Then he let her go.
Lois pulled the visor down as the sun started to brightly beam through the windshield. She was in Smallville, listening to her GPS as it told her to turn on various roads, driving past miles of corn stalks. There was deja vu entering back into the area, especially when she drove past the road exiting for Miller's Bend.
As she got closer to the farm she could feel her body starting to relax. She didn't know how to explain it, but thoughts of the Kent farm just brought her ease. As she turned down the driveway and under the Kent Farm sign she started to feel herself smile. She felt like she was home somehow.
There was solace in this place. It was grounding. She felt more centered.
"Lois!" Mrs. Kent waved from the front yard as she cut sunflowers.
"Hi, Mrs. K! I have donuts!" she announced as she exited the car.
"Oh, that's sweet of you to bring. I'll put some tea on for us."
Lois smiled wide. She hurried her steps and started to help Mrs. Kent with her gardening tools as she started to take her gloves off.
"Oh, honey, you don't have to do that."
"Of course, I do!" she insisted.
She followed the woman into the farmhouse and Mrs. Kent silently pointed to the corner beside the door where she could drop the tools. She then followed her into the living room. Lois flashed back to when she woke up on the couch, her dress hidden in the drawer of the hutch. She wasn't ready to have the garment back just yet, having told Martha in one of their conversations. She kept walking until she made it to the kitchen and put the box of donuts on the island.
"How was the drive out here?"
Lois shrugged as she pulled out a delectable donut. "It was a little weird. I was remembering the last time I drove out here myself, before everything, you know…"
"I can see how that can bring up some emotions." she said as she started to heat up water.
"Yeah, I can't seem to recalibrate myself. Except, when I'm here. Maybe you could turn this place into a bed and breakfast so I won't feel guilty wanting to sleep and be here all the time."
"The door is always open, Lois." Jonathan's voice said as he entered through the side door.
"Thanks, Mr. K. I appreciate that." She pushed the box closer to him. "Have one."
He nodded and accepted. After a few minutes Martha had three mugs ready with steaming water and tea bags. The group moved over to the dining area, donuts in tow.
"I have something for you." Martha told her as she quickly went to the pantry.
"For me?" Lois called out.
Martha reappeared with a gift bag. "Yes, I was at the store in town and I saw it. I immediately thought of you. So I had them add something special to it."
Lois took the bag and moved the tissue paper to reveal a book. She plucked it out and held it before her. She continued to gaze at it as she sat down. It was brown leather bound with her name engraved on the front and when she opened it the pages were blank. It was a journal.
"You're a writer, Lois. You've been keeping a lot in. Maybe this can be a way to get it out on your terms."
Lois gently touched the pages begging to be filled with ink. She hadn't written since she'd been back. She did miss it.
"This is perfect."
"I'm happy you like it."
"I love it." she emphasized.
Jonathan put a hand on her shoulder. "Do you have any intention of going back to the Daily Planet?"
"My boss, Perry White, called me in to talk. So, I'll see what my future is." She then sighed. "I've walked by the building so many times and haven't been able to bring myself to go in. I walk around the city a lot actually. I try not to dwell on it, but I think about Kal-El and how much he would enjoy certain parts of it. Then I just retreat back to my apartment."
"Maybe you should tell him." Mr. Kent said.
"What do you mean?"
He pointed to the journal. "Tell him about it. Write to him."
Martha placed her hand on hers and gently squeezed. "Tell him everything you want him to know."
Martha reached deeper into the bag and pulled out a pair of ballpoint pens. Lois grabbed one of the pens and uncapped it. She kept the book open to the first page and wistfully smiled.
Then she began to write.
Dear Clark,
...
After leaving the Kent Farm, Lois found that leaving Smallville was harder than she imagined. When she got near the place she had been found by the Kent's she thought about her goodbye with them in the driveway.
"Mr. and Mrs. Kent. The two of you have been so wonderful and understanding. I don't know how I'd get through this without you both. Thank you for finding me."
Martha pulled her into a motherly hug and her hand caressed and smoothed down the back of Lois' head.
"We didn't find you. You found us."
She seemed so sure with those words and Lois wrapped herself up in them. She would always hold on to Smallville. There was no doubt in that.
As she drove, she could see that she was getting closer to the turn off for the Kawatche caves. There was a feeling gnawing deep inside her that she needed to go to them. She made a sharp left turn and went in their direction. When she made it to the site it was void of any vehicles. She parked the car and slowly exited. This time instead of jumping down a hole, she rounded around through the trees and kept alert. She didn't want this to be the perfect spot for Zod to jump out and make her nightmare a reality.
When she made it to the entrance she took her time walking in. She felt a chill and listened intently if the whispering would begin again. She did start to hear noises and hurried her steps in, only to reveal a woman, lean with raven hair and a teal tank top, jeans, and work boots, who had climbed up one of the walls. She was about to back out when she caught the woman's eye.
"Who are you? What are you doing down here?"
Lois knew she was trespassing and she didn't want to call anymore attention to herself, especially when the sheriff might get involved.
"I'm sorry. I was just curious. I'll go."
"Wait." The woman turned her flashlight on Lois and caused her to shield her eyes. " You're Lois Lane, aren't you?"
Lois stopped and confirmed her identity. "I am. I'm also blinded by the light."
"Oh, sorry," she quickly turned it off. "I'm Kyla Willowbrook. I'm of the Kawatche Tribe."
"Right, my editor was setting up an interview with you." Lois recalled.
"Yes. I'm the one who alerted the authorities about your disappearance. My people searched the forests with the rest of the town, but the shaman knew you weren't out there."
Lois lifted an eyebrow. "How did they know that?"
"Because he saw it. That you weren't here anymore. He said that the stars took you."
"The stars," she repeated. "I'm guessing he wasn't alluding to a Hollywood conspiracy."
Kyla shook her head. "No."
Lois began to examine the walls again and climbed on a rock near where Kyla was.
"What are these drawings?"
Lois remembered taking pictures of them before the whispers started. She hadn't gotten her original phone back, the police department still marking it as evidence.
Kyla smiled. "This is the story of Naman and Sageeth."
"What does it say?"
"It's the legend of Naman. My ancestors have passed down this story for generations." Her hand brushed along the primitive drawings. "They said it had been written in the earth long ago. The construction crew had only just started, damaging the ground and," she pointed upward, "creating that hole. When it seemed that you had gone down there, it put a stop to the work since it became a crime scene. There was so much more attention on it. Nobody ever knew where it was until now." She stared at her and sincerely said, "Thank you."
"Sure, no problem."
"You don't understand. My grandfather's been searching for this wall his whole life. It was prophesied that Naman would fall from the skies in a rain of fire." Kyla turned her light back on and shined it on a crude drawing of a man falling from the sky. "They say that he will have the strength of ten men and will be able to start fires with his eyes." She moved the light to continue the story with another drawing of a man shooting fire from his eyes. "It probably sounds silly."
Lois shook her head, imagining herself laying in the snow listening to Kal-El explain the differences under a yellow sun. "Not to me."
"According to the legend, a man came from the stars and fell in love with the mother of our people. Out of that forbidden affair, the Kawatche people were born."
Lois was absorbed with the tale. "Do you know which star he came from?"
"The legend only tells that he left one day and flew back into the sky, promising he would send another." Kyla took out her phone and took shots with one hand. "The pictographs are a lot more detailed up here."
"What do they say?"
"It promises that one day Naman will protect the entire world."
Lois silently scoffed. Earth knew about the prophecy too. It was inescapable. Her eyes bounced from picture to picture following the story and adding credence to everything she had learned and experienced. It had all happened and there was a piece of Krypton's tale within reach.
Lois, seeing a picture of a woman with a turquoise square beneath her, asked, "Who's that?"
"It's the woman he's destined to be with." Kyla touched the wall and Lois saw the same turquoise square on her bracelet. She felt her stomach fall and tighten. Kyla noticed Lois staring at her bracelet. "That was handed down through the women in my family. I don't even know how old it is."
"Well, it's very pretty."
Lois ran her right hand through her hair and Kyla stared at the ring on her finger.
She pointed at her. "You have the same stone."
"What?" Lois said, looking at the ring in question-the one Oliver had given her.
She hadn't been able to take it off since breaking it off officially with him. She knew it probably looked like she was still holding on to a piece of him and their relationship, unfortunately she was holding onto the memories of it being a key to a distant world.
"The stone was taken from my people and the bracelet was all we had left."
"It was given to me as an engagement ring, but I happened to fall in love with someone else so now the ring is null and void in more ways than one and the guy didn't want it back and….I'm rambling. I'm sorry."
Kyla jumped down and walked toward her. "I wasn't trying to accuse you. It's just…there are legends about the stone," she said, eyeing Lois.
"Do you believe that there is another world, that Naman is real?"
Kyla's eyes scanned over Lois and then the wall. It seemed she was starting to put the pieces together and relaxed her shoulders.
"You believe it, don't you? You were taken by the stars."
"Maybe."
"Only the one destined to be with Naman would be able to travel with them. That's what the story says. The stone is the key and only the true one can open it."
The key. A key that didn't fit the lock anymore.
"Well, I think these expired." Lois held up her hand to show the lackluster stones again. "They belong back with you and the Kawatche people."
When Lois tried to hand her the ring, Kyla refused, shaking her head and taking a step back.
"It belongs to the woman in this prophecy. It found you."
"How can it be when it was given to me by another man?"
Kyla leaned forward and told her meaningfully, "But did it not bring you to the one who you are meant to be with?"
"It seems that the locks changed. I can't make it back to him."
"I don't believe that the story is over."
Kyla carefully took off her bracelet and extended it toward her. "For the true one."
"Kyla."
"Trust me."
Lois slowly reached out and took the bracelet. She carefully put it on her left wrist.
Kyla looked toward the exit. "I'll give you some time alone down here. True one."
Once she was alone, Lois walked around again and then snuck behind the wall that led to the hidden room. She took her time and really took inventory of the area. There was an altar different from the one she had seen on Krypton. This one had indentations like the wall, except it made a diamond shape. She recalled Kal-El showing her a similar shape in a holograph and maybe it was meant for pieces scattered around the world.
She inhaled deep as she felt a buzzing around her. She turned and went back to the wall. She stared at all the symbols again, one with a script looking "d" and "p" and two dots catching her eye this time. She placed her left hand by the octagonal indent, like she had done on that fateful day, but nothing happened. If she was the only one who could open the door, then why wasn't it working? She was defeated once more. A horrible fear swelled within her.
What if it wasn't working because there was nothing to be transported to?
What if Krypton was gone?
Using the advice of the Kent's, Lois started the next day following her routine of coffee and donuts at the bakery and added a companion-her new journal. She sat at the bistro table outside on the sidewalk and started to write.
Dear Clark,
Today, I'm going to give you a tour of my neighborhood. In the morning I start with coffee and donuts at Metro Cafe. Their coffee is just as good as the one that you gave me. The aroma of it lifts me off the ground into a caffeine high. I need that a lot lately. I've been having dreams, nightmares really. They're like the ones I had after first being transported. But then you were by my side in the night and I could sleep peacefully. That's why I hold on to the blanket in my sleep. It might be cringey not to wash it, but it has your scent. It's like the smell of coffee. It levitates me. My heart. My soul. It's comforting in your absence.
So, I said I was going to give you a tour, right? Let's start.
Lois closed the book with her pen inside and got up. She started down the street and eyed anything that Kal-El might be astonished by.
I know you said there are cities in your neck of the woods and the palace was amazing with its size and structure, but there is something about Metropolis and its buildings that makes it special. The architecture is something I think you would find interesting. The Daily Planet has a giant globe on its roof you can see from anywhere. I've always dreamed about standing on top of that-being on top of the world.
She walked further down blocks and eventually stopped by the park and looked up.
Then there's this other building I always notice, it has a teal dome and it's like a watchtower of the city. I once heard someone say it was haunted at the top, a ghost tormenting anyone who tried to own the space. But with a little exorcism, I'm sure we could clean it out.
She kept going and heard the Sky Train moving along above her.
Then there's the monorail line that lets you travel in the sky. Everything whipping by from high up. It's a little like flying, but not as fast. Maybe one day you can fly among the spires of the city. I believe you can do the impossible. And maybe one day you will.
She stopped and watched all the groups passing her by as she waited to cross the street. Some were couples and she felt envious.
There are so many people out and about. I often wonder what they are thinking. But who wants all those voices in your head? That would be debilitating. Imagine hearing my thoughts…or maybe not. Though, I'd love to know your thoughts. I hear your voice in my head all the time, but it's manufactured. I want to hear you. I want to see you.
She looked up to her side and she imagined Kal-El in Earth clothes, a red T-Shirt and black jacket and jeans. He looked over at her and smiled brightly. It made her heart sing. He stretched his hand out for her and she reached to grab it and pretended she could feel their fingers intertwine tightly.
Thanks for taking a walk with me today.
The act of writing had woken up something within her. The Kent's had been right. So, she continued the next day.
Dear Clark,
Today, I'm taking you to a place that will blow your mind and hopefully not bore mine. The museum. The Metropolis Museum of Art is home to exquisite pieces, so it's full of Earth artifacts that you can geek over.
Lois walked up the stairs and entered the building. She stood in the Great Hall with giant white pillars, stone walls, and marble floor and took a moment to marvel at it. She made a donation and decided to begin with the Egyptian Art exhibit. She didn't know why but something was nudging to start there.
She followed another group into the exhibit and inspected the different statues on display.
I was able to tell you about more modern things, but this is where my expertise lacks. Even though I have been to Egypt before, the plethora of history is always overwhelming. Though the things that are still intact are amazing, I'm drawn to the fragments, trying to fill in the cracks and missing pieces. The "Torso of a High General" is missing its legs and the shoulders and face. I stand here and inspect the statue. If you were beside me I would tease you and say that this hard torso is nothing compared to yours and you should wear a kilt more often. You'd blush, of course, and pull my arm and make us move along. There are statues of cats and I'm tempted to pet them. You would give me your laser eyes and shake your head with a hint of amusement on your lips
Her eyes caught hieroglyphics and she thought about the Kryptonian language.
A writing board makes me think of all the symbols I tried to decipher. I still have the most important symbol of all around my neck. It hangs close to my heart.
She walked past the statue of the goddess Isis and her son Horus. Her eyes then gazed into a case against the wall.
There is some nice jewelry. It's very…Egyptian. But it is quite beautiful and it's incredible how they assembled it and gave it detail without the modern tools of the trade. It's also symbolic and uses their language. They worship the sun and it makes me think of what you said about the yellow sun. There is a description of the sun god. They believed if the women in the royal family wore it, it would give them superhuman abilities to support the king.
I'm learning new things, look at that. You would be proud. You would smile as I asked questions aloud, whether you knew the answer or not.
Let's move on, shall we?
Lois continued throughout the museum. She would look beside her and once again conjure up an image of Kal-El as "Clark". He was wearing a blue and green plaid shirt under a black leather jacket and jeans. He had a shadow of stubble on his face and she put him in glasses because she wrote he was a geek earlier. They suited him perfectly.
She looked at other cultures, strolling through Asian art, and then to European paintings. She tried to keep from laughing at some of the medieval paintings of babies. She soon stood in front of the suits of armor in the Arms and Armor section.
When looking at the armor, you would be inspecting it and announcing how anything you had at home was far superior. You would accept this was ancient and not currently in use, but still mock the modern technology. I would let you rant, finding it cute. Then I would say, "But look at it this way, you're my knight in shining armor." You would then give me those quizzical eyes and shake your head, saying, "A knight could not defend you properly. No matter how the armor shines. That would also make it stand out more. I use other more successful tactics." I would pretend to be in thought and come up with something even more ridiculous. "You want me to call you my 'knight in shining leather'? Because I will and you'll hate that more." You'll be overcome with irritation, annoyed at my antics. Then you'd break with a smile.
I love seeing that emotion on your face.
She strolled through the area with a collection of costumes and fashion.
And how I would love to see your face right now looking at all of these pieces and hearing my descriptions and my bits about how they were worn instead of what it says on their placards. I think I could pull off some of this vintage fashion. And of course this would be a crash course for you. Fashion seemed pretty stinted around the palace. Luckily, your cousin was feminist forward with pants.
Lois continued to describe pieces from different centuries then skipped around to see indigenous art of the Americas and thought about the Kawatche tribe and the caves. She exited through a side door and stood outside looking at the modern art. She took a moment to breathe in the air and let the sun hit her face.
She had already been walking around for hours and she was starting to feel exhausted. She looked to her side and "Clark" gave an understanding nod and then tilted his head toward a garden with a bench beside a gated exit. She sat down with him and returned to writing.
I hope you enjoyed your day at the museum. I know you'd want to see everything, but we can come back, so stop your pouting.
I love you, Clark. But sometimes you can be such a nerd.
She turned to him and the figment soon disappeared from view and into the rays of sun.
The following day, Lois had her scheduled meeting with Perry. Standing outside the Daily Planet, she took a deep breath before finally stepping in the revolving door.
She felt all eyes on her as she walked through the lobby, following her as she made it to the elevator. She kept to herself, her head down with her hair creating a curtain. It was opposite of how she usually held herself. She probably seemed like a pod person to her coworkers.
When she reached her floor she marched right to the editor's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Lois walked inside and Perry gasped when he saw her. "Great Caesar's Ghost!"
"Do I look that bad?"
Perry adjusted his expression. "Of course not. Have a seat."
Lois sat in a chair facing his desk and waited for him to start.
"A part of me feels responsible for what happened," he confessed.
"Perry, you know that's not true."
He grunted as he leaned back in his chair, guilt swimming in his eyes. "You didn't want to do the story and I insisted."
"Which is different from our other exchanges, how?"
There was a crack of a smile on his lips. "I guess you have a point."
She looked at him in earnest. "I never blamed you."
"I guess I was also hoping you had run off on your own, like you had said you wanted to do."
She nodded, remembering the conversation. She had thought about it often when she had been alone in her room on Krypton. "In some ways, it's like I did."
"How are you holding up?"
"Day by day. I've started writing again which has helped immensely."
"I'm glad you said that because your desk is still here."
She could see a sparkle in his eye. He wanted her to come back and there was a part of her that wanted to return. Day by day. Piece by piece. She was putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. She couldn't lie that being back in the building conjured up old urges. And she could tell by the look on Perry's face that she was keeping his cards close to the vest, which meant he had a good hand to bet.
"You have a story don't you? A good one."
There was a gleam in his eyes as he leaned forward. "One that I think you'd like, if you're ready."
"What is it?"
Perry pulled out the folder of reports from the pile on his desk and handed them to her. She opened it and started thumbing through the material.
"In a remote arctic town in Russia, townspeople claimed to see a rain of fire a few weeks ago."
She whipped her head up at the detail. "What?"
Perry turned his computer monitor and showed the images.
"Apparently, they documented seeing two balls of fire fall from the sky."
"Military training drill gone wrong?"
"There's no evidence of that and it has also baffled scientists."
"So, we're investigating this now? Did the Planet merge with the Inquisitor since I've been away?"
Perry pointed to the next set of papers in the file. "Four days ago there were documented streaks across the sky. Also with no explanation. This time in Egypt. Did you hear about the airplane trouble Lex Luthor had over there?"
"I haven't been paying much attention."
"He had been over there for an auction, or so he said, and acquired an ancient statue. On his way back, the pilots notice something on the radar. They at first thought it was a bird, or maybe another plane, but it was something else entirely."
Lois' eyes grew in size as she questioned, "What was it?"
"It hasn't been determined. But the pressure of the cabin seemed to blow the door out and the artifact shattered. Luthor claimed a man appeared inside before he lost consciousness."
"A man flew in?"
"I know it sounds crazy, Lane, but I have a feeling about this."
What was strange was-so did she.
"You know what happened the last time you said that."
He gave her a lopsided grin. "I know, kiddo. And I'm not forcing you to take this story. But I also know you as a person and you like to solve mysteries. Well, this is a big one."
"When would I ship out?"
"As soon as possible."
"Perry…"
He held up his hands. "I know, but this is a moving story and I have an archaeologist over in Egypt who is grouchy and on a schedule. I'd like my best person on it."
"So, Egypt and back?"
"Unless you sniff out a trail to follow."
"Okay." she agreed. "Give me forty-eight hours to get things in order."
"Okay?" he asked, tentatively.
She nodded, a familiar confidence awakening within. "Yeah, it's time to get out there again. Back in the saddle. Like you said, you have a feeling."
And that feeling last time led her to the love of her life.
Testing the waters, he added, "I'm sending Olsen with you."
"Alright." she agreed.
"I'll email you the information and your ticket." He smiled wide. "Welcome back, Lane."
Dear Clark,
I went to the library today after meeting with Perry. Take that smirk off of your face. I do know what a library is and I have proven that I have read literature and have not just quoted movies all the time.
Anyway….
I took out a book on astronomy. I wanted to learn more about the stars and constellations. We could learn them together since you don't exactly see the same stars I do here.
I'm on the balcony of my apartment. I know this would probably be better at the Kent farm, but I'll be leaving soon.
Oh, right. Perry finalized everything. I'll be going back to work and I'll be shipping out in less than 48 hours. I'll be leaving for Egypt. Can you believe that? It's like you helped me study for my trip abroad.
So, won't you watch the stars with me? Anywhere I go in the world, I want to be able to talk about them and hope somehow we're blanketed under the same sky.
Forty-eight hours later, Lois boarded her flight exhausted. It was mostly her fault. The day after meeting with Perry she had gotten all her affairs in order for her trip, much to Whitney's objection. He balked in her apartment the entire time she packed and she kept assuring him that she was doing what was best for her.
"But are you sure?"
"God, Whitney. Put on one of my dresses so I can call you, Mom."
His hands were behind his head as he paced. "What if you need something? What if you have a panic attack?"
"Jimmy will be there. He's seen one already."
"What?" he exclaimed.
She shoved more clothes into her bag. "Relax, it was a little while ago and he was great."
"Lois, I feel like there's more to this than what you're saying. Are you searching for him?"
Lois turned to Whitney. She hated when his detective skills were active-well active on her.
In the weeks since returning, Whitney and Tess had been around the most. Whitney spied the framed newspaper image she had forgotten to put away in their presence and asked her about it. She had clammed up, naturally, but Tess was tag teamed in later. She had felt the urge to tell Tess all about Kal-El when she had been on Krypton and finally relented the tiniest bit. She gushed about him, referring to him as Clark, and she claimed to remember more because of therapy (which was actually helpful). She described how he looked in detail and how he had given her a ring, which symbolized their bond (she left out the marriage part) and how she felt more electricity and completeness being with him than anyone else. How he had been by her side and she had his back too. How he finally got her home, possibly at the expense of his own life.
When asked about the sketch, she said that it had been an unnamed relative of his that had passed through Smallville. She found it when researching her disappearance. He looked so much like him that she kept it because she didn't have any pictures of him or any more information to find him.
After finishing packing, there was a knock on the door. When Lois opened it she saw her best friend holding a bottle of wine in one hand and DVDs in the other.
"Hey, babe."
"Glad you could make it."
Tess lifted up the movies. "I brought what you asked for: Top Gun, The Bodyguard, The Princess Bride and Ghost. Are you sure about this? Lois, are you in danger, girl?"
"Immersion therapy."
"I threw in one more." Tess pulled out another DVD from her bag.
The Lake House.
Lois had confessed to Tess that she was writing to her hero, though it was like he was in another place and time. Tess found it to be quite romantic and said it reminded her of The Lake House.
"Okay, I lied. It's two more. I also brought Speed, because if we're going to watch The Lake House we need the first of the series."
"The Lake House is not the sequel to Speed."
"Uh, yes it is. We've had this conversation. And one day Sandra and Keanu will make Speed 3, with the number three in the title, like S-P-E-3-D, and all will be right with the world! Because true love shouldn't be kept apart. Speaking of which…" Tess spotted Whitney in the hallway. "Did you give it to her yet?"
"Give me what?"
Whitney went over to his messenger bag and pulled out a wrapped square object.
"A present for going back to work and to keep you company while you're away."
In Lois-style she snatched the gift from his hand and ripped the paper.
Tess began to explain, "When you told me the story about Clark and that you only had a sketch of his relative it gave me an idea. With some help from a sketch artist from Whitney's precinct and Photoshop, we made you a little something."
When Lois looked at the latest frames, they were drawings of her and Kal-El together. She started to tear up and laugh, as well.
"I thought you'd get a kick out of that one."
In the first one it was as if they were together, their faces smiling. In the second one the two were posed like the cover of Pretty Woman. They were standing back to back, her hand pulling at his tie and bringing it over to her.
"This is amazing. Thank you."
The three watched only three of the movie options and Lois was proud she only cried a few times.
The following day she went to see the Kent's. She wanted to see them before she left.
As she stood in the kitchen, Martha reappeared from the living room holding Lois' light blue dress from Krypton.
"I thought you might want this back."
Lois eyed the garment and her mind flashed back to the last time she wore it. She couldn't take it back. She couldn't quite place why, but she didn't want it to leave the sanctuary of the farm.
"Is it possible to put it with the leather jacket Mr. Kent mentioned? I feel like they're connected and should be kept together."
Martha nodded. "I think we can manage that."
For the next few hours Lois helped Mrs. Kent in the house and tried to help Mr. Kent in the barn. She even left something she made up on the desk in the loft. She soon found herself wandering the grounds with her journal.
Dear Clark,
I think you would be amused watching this city girl try to help out on the farm. You probably would effortlessly be able to do all the tasks. And I would selfishly like to watch while your muscles bulged out doing all sorts of chores. You could teach me about biceps and triceps. I'm a visual learner.
It's so easy to imagine you here. If you had been able to get your rite of passage journey and come here, I wonder if we would have crossed paths. Maybe I would have been at Fort Ryan and decided to get away from drill sergeants and happened upon the sleepy town of Smallville. Maybe I would feel like I was on a mission, searching for something, when out of the blue there you are like a stray dog. I have a weakness for dogs, even though I'm allergic, so I probably would have treated you in the same manner, interested in playing with you but keeping you at arm's length. But your golden retriever tendencies would have grown on me and won me over. Maybe Smallville would have won you over. Maybe you would have gotten to this farm and met the Kent's. Maybe you would have stayed. Or, maybe we would have had a heartfelt goodbye again.
Speaking of goodbyes, I leave tomorrow morning for Egypt.
I feel it calling to me, like the wall in the cave. When I fell asleep last night watching Top Gun, I was in the desert clutching your dog tags and Eddie Van Halen was playing his guitar as I looked into the distance of a cotton candy colored sky. I could hear you whispering as the wind blew through my hair.
"You're safe now. I'm here."
Is it too much to hope that somehow you're keeping an eye on me?
As Lois boarded the plane with Jimmy, she still silently hoped that was the case.
She caught some sleep, dreaming about flying in the air without the need of an aircraft. Her arms extended out while Kal-El guided them through the sky like in Aladdin, sans the magic carpet, only for the ugly face of Zod to appear and ruin the moment. When they landed there was a jeep and driver waiting for her and Jimmy, taking them to the site run by archaeologist Carter Hall.
As they drove through the desert she scanned the landscape. She had been to Egypt before, but it felt like she was seeing it with fresh eyes. She began to wonder if the desert was like the Phantom Zone. Before her thoughts went any further they arrived at their destination.
Lois and Jimmy hopped out of the jeep and grabbed their things searching for the tent that held the grumpy man, Carter Hall. After asking some passersby, they found his location. He popped out with a scowl on his sandy stubble coated face, he greeted them.
Lois gave him a once over with his satchel, white button down and khakis. "So, you're a bona fide Indiana Jones? They fly you in to make sure that these aren't lifted from some souvenir shop in Cairo?"
"And that they're intact and well-preserved," he huffed.
He handed her the file with the artifact Lex Luthor had been searching for. He had dropped a lot of money to try and keep it quiet it seemed. She smirked, liking that it had gone to waste.
"And now this statue is destroyed."
"Sorry to hear about that." she told him.
"I'd be sorry too, but if I had to choose between its destruction or it being in Luthor's hands, destruction is a fate I accept."
The statue was part man and part bird. There had to be something more to it for Lex to be interested in obtaining it.
"I know the Egyptians were big on the afterlife, but burying your pet bird? And Luthor was playing Duck Hunt? Someone needs therapy." she said with irony she was in therapy herself.
"That is the Sun God, Ra, bringer of light and life. He was revered."
"He has the head of a parakeet."
"It's a falcon."
"Potato, po-tah-to." She shrugged. "You said he was a sun god?"
"Ra. It's said that each day, he traveled across the sky and through the underworld, to be born again at sunrise."
Then it clicked from when she had been at the museum.
"A god reborn with the sun," she sighed.
She wondered if it was a coincidence. Maybe Luthor hadn't been hallucinating. Maybe the statue was special. Or maybe there was something in the statue that made it more valuable. If what she recalled was right, there were crystals hidden across the globe. What if the artifact contained something Kryptonian and someone busted into the plane and had taken it?
Her heart beat faster. But if Kal-El was on Earth why hadn't he appeared to her? Her stomach then took a nosedive. What if her dreams were warning her? What if there was a Kryptonian on Earth, just not the one she wanted it to be?
What if it was Zod?
After getting more information about the statue and the area, she started to put her feelers out and used Carter to call connections. The more time she spent with him, the more he started to thaw. She found out he had recently lost his wife and she empathized with him.
"So, the people Luthor used to get the statue were illegal smugglers. This is turning into a juicer story." she said as she sipped the tea that had been served to her.
"One of my colleagues called back. It seems that Luthor was curious about purchasing an item in East Asia. She's going to get me as much detail as she can."
She looked up at him. "It's nice you have a network set up."
"For people like Lex Luthor we absolutely do."
"I knew someone who was just as passionate about artifacts."
He tilted his head. "Is that why you're here?"
"Maybe."
"Did you…lose him?"
She bowed her head down and looked at her left hand. She played with her wedding band. "I did." She then shook her head. "I have to admit, this assignment... a little out of my strike zone. I mean, I was raised by a very grounded 4-star general who believed in what you can see, touch, blow up…"
"Things that can be explained."
"It's just... you can live your whole life without any proof of something, like a god or whatever, and then one day you look up and everything is so much bigger than you realize. That maybe Ra exists. Maybe on another planet even."
He narrowed his eyes at her as he sat down. "You think the ancient sun god is from another planet?"
"No, of course not." She stood up and then started to pace back and forth. "But what if he were? One minute you know you know what you know, and the next you realize you don't really know anything but you want to know everything."
"This is going to require something stronger than tea."
He stood up and went over to a table with a secret compartment. He pulled out a bottle with amber liquid and poured two glasses.
As she walked the same path again she stopped at the table beside her and picked up a jeweled necklace, blue beads with a gold outline around the red circular piece that reminded her of the red sun. "This certainly makes a statement."
"You might tell that to its owner, the goddess Queen Isis. She spent eternity searching for the cut-up pieces of her dead husband."
"Yeah, I can relate to that."
Carter noticed her bracelet and pointed at it. "That's some different jewelry. Midwest indigenous."
"That's right."
She put down the necklace and touched the bracelet, protective of it. She then felt where the dog tags were to make sure they were still there.
"It's special," he stated.
"Very." she confirmed.
"There are stories behind that too."
"What do you know?"
He shook his head. "Not much, just that like the cultures here there is a spiritual connection with the jewelry, that it can protect or be keys to something else."
Lois' breath caught between her lungs and her throat and she wobbly took a drink.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's just…there is a story. A long one. Love. War. Loss. I was separated from someone I care about. We were so good together, meant to be even, but fate pulled us apart. It's just cruel. Tale as old as time."
He nodded in understanding. He walked over to his trunk and pulled out a book.
"I'd like you to have something. It was given to me by my wife. It's a story about two star-crossed lovers. Prince Khufu and Shayera were murdered by an evil man, but their love was so strong they were bonded for all eternity. Lifetime after lifetime they were reborn, to find their one true love. Only to lose each other in death again."
She scoffed. Hadn't he listened to her? "That's a terrible story."
He lifted one shoulder and said, "I like it."
"If you're into the whole Egyptian "Groundhog Day" thing. I was hoping for a fairytale or Hallmark kind of ending."
"That's not the end or the point," he said, handing her the book. "After many years, Khufu grew tired of always waiting to find his beloved. So he traveled the world, seeking other women, trying to forget Shayera. Unable to rid her from his heart, he returned home, resigned to his fate. No sooner did he arrive at the palace than he saw her. She was there all along but he didn't recognize her because the time wasn't right. He needed to wait, because it made their love stronger. And their kiss that much sweeter."
She slowly nodded. "So, travel to far destinations and then go home and resign yourself to your fate. Check and check."
"Then your love can only get stronger in your wait."
Patience. She wasn't the best at it. But for Kal-El she could wait.
She stared at the book and bit her bottom lip. "There all along, huh?"
"Give it a try."
She picked up the bottle of alcohol. "Adult warm milk to go along with my bedtime story."
The next day, battling a headache from drinking and crying, Lois got a tip about strange encounters in Shanghai. She closed her eyes and visualized the holographic map again with Kal-El by her side. It seemed right. She told Perry and their flight was booked. They'd leave for China the next morning.
Jimmy and she had made acquaintances in the few days they were there and they gathered that night together in a tent for an already orchestrated party with their farewell lumped in.
Lois sat to the side while others played with a karaoke machine. Normally, she'd be all over it but she was more enamored by the story she was still reading. She went into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through until she found the pictures she took of the drawings of her and Kal-El and continued reading. It was like she could see them in parts of the couple's journey. The night before she was reading about Brian Kent (what a coincidence with the last name), who had a secret identity the Silent Knight, and Lady Celia Penbrook in 6th century England. She chuckled thinking of the museum and suits of armor she had seen. After working most of the day, she had just gotten to Hannibal Hawkes and Katherine Manser in the 19th century. Hawkes also had a secret identity, Nighthawk, who was a masked gunman. Katherine was another gunfighter who went by the name Cinnamon.
As she read she mindlessly scribbled on the next page of her journal.
"Miss Lane, I never thought I'd say this, but why don't you put the book away and join the party?" Jimmy said.
Lois sighed, deciding to not read about how the latest gun-slinging couple was going to meet their demise.
"I guess I could use a break."
Jimmy then looked down at her journal. "What's that?"
Lois looked down and saw that she had been drawing a symbol from the cave wall, the one with the dots and scripted "d" and "p" next to the symbol for the House of El. She quickly closed the book. "It's nothing. Just a doodle." She put both books in her bag. "So, what's on the agenda?"
"Karaoke," he encouraged with the wiggling of his eyebrows.
"How can I say no?"
Jimmy quickly turned around and shouted, "She's going to sing!"
There were drunken cheers.
"Fantastic," she whispered to herself as she made her way to the machine.
Lois started looking through the catalog and the beginning jumped out at her. When she chose the song she could see the opening notes caught Jimmy by surprise. It wasn't her usual go-to music. Little did he know how another band had comforted her while she had been away.
"I don't wanna talk
About things we've gone through
Though it's hurting me
Now it's history," she sang as she moved along the makeshift stage.
"I've played all my cards
And that's what you've done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play
The winner takes it all
The loser's standing small
Beside the victory
That's her destiny"
She could see herself in her first room at the palace, walkman in her pocket as she sang the song as she stood on the bed.
"I was in your arms
Thinking I belonged there
I figured it made sense
Building me a fence
Building me a home
Thinking I'd be strong there
But I was a fool
Playing by the rules"
She could hear others singing along, Jimmy one of them. He was an ABBA fan. She'd tease him about it later.
"The gods may throw a dice
Their minds as cold as ice
And someone way down here
Loses someone dear"
She looked beyond everyone, belting out the chorus.
"The winner takes it all (takes it all)
The loser has to fall (has to fall)
It's simple and it's plain (it's so plain)
Why should I complain? (Why complain?)"
Her eyes landed on the opening of the tent and the microphone dropped from her lips. Her eyes met ocean ones piercing through her. A longing face stared at her. She dropped the microphone and everyone watched in concern as she quickly ran toward the figure. Once she was through the opening to the outside there was no one there, only a gust of wind that picked up sand. She looked all around her, her heart screaming that he had been there even if her brain was telling her she had been taken by the music and moment and imagined it.
She looked up at the sky and looked to find the north star. From there she made out the constellations of Perseus and Andromeda, placed in the sky next to their true loves. She hoped that somehow they truly were under the same sky.
In the morning, as Lois and Jimmy were about to leave, Carter caught up with her.
"I guess you never know what fate has planned for you."
"It's tricky."
"Off to China?"
"Off to my undeniable future," she corrected him.
"You know, the philosopher Nietzsche believed we shouldn't live for the future, but for the present. He thought that people who chased after some far-off future dream were really running away from their true destiny."
She pressed her lips together briefly before replying. "Yeah, well, I don't think I'm running away from something. It feels like I'm running towards it."
He nodded. "To him, the true hero was the person who embraced the life that he or she was given and made it better. He called that person "Übermensch."
Lois sighed, "A superman."
She had said the same to Kal-El.
"Nietzsche believed we could all be one. In our own way," he offered.
"Well, this superwoman has to fly."
"Good luck on your journey, Lois."
She dug into her bag and pulled out the book he loaned her. "Good luck on yours, too. Until the two of you meet again."
Carter looked at her quizzically and she just winked. She had witnessed a lot of unbelievable things in the last five months. It wasn't far-fetched to connect a story of reincarnation to its autobiographer. A lesson from the source that love never truly dies and can be found again.
Whether she was off-base with her intuition or not, his secret was safe with her.
Lois chased the story of blurs and damaged artifacts to East Asia, seeking information as another event happened in a temple in Shanghai, China. She met up with Professor Sen, taking her on a tour and showing her inside the temple where a hidden chamber had been discovered when a mysterious presence had broken in. A ceremonial dress, mask, and dragon statue with green rocks as eyes stared back at them. The garb, mask, and statue remained untouched. The guards who came in saw a man weak and disoriented as the rocks glowed. Once they pulled the person away, he displayed superhuman strength. She next led them to a tree where an unknown item had been unearthed, an empty hole remaining. They found shards of another statue, which Professor Sen's students were trying to piece back together.
While outside the temple the hairs on Lois' neck stood up, feeling as though she was being watched. She had another nightmare that night, Zod reappearing in it once again.
Lois opened the window to her hotel room, her notebook on her lap. She sat on the edge of the sill and let the cool breeze hit her. She pulled out her pen and opened up to a blank page.
Dear Clark,
Another night, another nightmare. Why can't I shake the feeling that Zod is here? Or that this chase I'm on has something to do with the whereabouts of those pieces you showed me? It scares me to think he's here and you're not. My mind plays tricks on me and conjures you whether I'm asleep or awake.
I miss you. I love you. Come back to me.
Lois pulled out her phone and stared at the pictures she took of the drawings of them. She was very close to making it her lockscreen image.
"I wish you were here. I would feel so much safer knowing for sure you were."
She checked the time difference and figured the Kent's might be up. She leaned further out the window to see if her reception was good. A gust of wind blew past her. She swayed with it, a shiver running down her body. As she exhaled to the bizarre and familiar feeling, she loosened her grip on her phone and accidentally dropped it into the pond below.
"Ugh, great."
After several front desk calls, she met up with Jimmy and the hotel attendants who helped her fish out her nonworking phone. Using Jimmy's, they called Perry and updated him on their story. Apparently, Lex Luthor had made an appearance in Shanghai, missing him by a few days. The last known place his bald head was spotted was a cafe near the Seine River.
Paris was their next destination.
Lois was restless on the flight trying to tie everything she knew together. Lex Luthor was obviously flush with information somehow and she was hot on his tail with her own. She knew it had been connected to Krypton and the stones. There was a search and thinking Zod or Lex getting their hands on all the pieces only spelled disaster. Even if she were able to get ahead of either of them on this crusade, what would she do from there? She was powerless.
Dear Clark,
On my way to Paris. There are too many pieces to this puzzle. I'm starting to go crazy. I wish I was going to Paris for leisure. Standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower with you. Listening to you speak French, which I'm sure is sexy as hell. Imagining your voice saying croissants or baguettes with a little accent makes me catch my breath. I want to fan myself already. Then I imagine us skipping over to Spain for churros and hot chocolate.
One day? Please say yes.
When the flight landed, she and Jimmy made it to their hotel and she took a brief nap, only to be jolted awake by Zod's face. She had tracked down the address of the cafe, which was near a church. It wasn't a strange location and there were many churches in Paris, but the visual from the cafe was suspect. She could see up a pathway, stairs leading to the landscaped grounds.
Following the hunch, she and Jimmy crossed the street and followed the path. There was a gold plated sign on display of the newly renovated area, money donated by Pierre and Lana Rousseau.
Lois and Jimmy made their way to the crypt of Margaret Isobel Thoreau. When they got there Lois saw the same symbol that appeared on the cave wall and the one she had been subsequently drawing in Egypt.
"Do you think this is where Luthor came to?"
"Maybe."
"This looks familiar," Jimmy said as he pulled out his camera. "Who is this woman anyway?"
"Let's see what Google tells us." Lois plugged in the name, which came up with hits of a countess from the 17th century who was…burned at the stake. "She was a witch, apparently. Burned at the stake. The whole shebang."
"Really?"
"I'm sure it's just a bunch of hocus pocus," she smirked.
"This story is getting stranger by the second." Jimmy remarked as he took a picture.
"Any news on Lex's next destination?"
"Let me check." Jimmy took out his phone and checked his emails. "I don't have anything on Lex yet, but one of the alerts of freaky activity went off."
"Where?"
"Oh man I had it on a delayed setting, this was from a couple days ago. Fast blurs and unexplained damage popped up on social media in…Iceland?"
"Iceland?"
"Could just be nothing. Maybe we should wait until we have something on Luthor's flight plan."
Lois felt a pang in her heart.
"No. Let's get to Iceland."
"What about this?"
"We already have our information. Now let's move."
"Whoa. Okay."
Almost at lightning speed, Jimmy and Lois were on a flight to Iceland. On one of her jaunts in Metropolis she walked into a thrift store. She had found a walkman at a thrift store and a tape of Elton John. She hadn't dared to listen to it, but in a compact claustrophobic space seemed like as good a time as any. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she put the headphones on over her ears.
"… Don't wish it away
Don't look at it like it's forever"
It was like the lyrics were being spoken to her. Or, better yet, she imagined being serenaded with karaoke. So with every verse, she answered him.
"Between you and me I can honestly say
That things will only get better"
Do you promise?
"… And while I'm away
Dust out the demons inside
And it won't be long before you and me run
To the place in our hearts where we hide"
I miss our secret place of solitude. I want to be there again.
"… And I guess that's why they call it the blues
Time on my hands should be time spent with you
Laughing like children, living like lovers
Rolling like thunder under the covers
And I guess that's why they call it the blues"
I truly understand them.
"… Just stare into space
Picture my face in your hands
Live for each second without hesitation
And never forget I'm your man,"
I picture you everyday. I will never forget. How could I?
"… Wait on me girl
Cry in the night if it helps
But more than ever I simply love you
More than I love life itself"
Tears made it through her closed lids, but she persevered. She rewound and listened to the song until she fell asleep. She was amazed that she didn't have a nightmare this nightmares stopped. She had sweet dreams about Kal-El that left her wanting more and making her sad when she awoke.
After the three and a half hour flight, Jimmy was checking his emails while they waited for luggage.
"Whoa, Lois, check this out."
"What?"
"Someone took this video in Paris while they were touring that area we were at, the one with the tomb."
The camera panned around the area, capturing the scenery. It fell on the crypt of Margaret Isobel Thoreau, the symbol glowing on the stone and then fading away as if it had never been etched there.
Lois shook her head. Why would the symbol disappear?
"Very weird, right?"
"Right," she voiced as she watched it again.
After pinpointing the areas of minimal destruction in a small village on the south coast of Iceland, the duo tried to gather information, being told that from the cliffs of the beach witnesses saw dark streaks chasing each other through the air until they just vanished.
Lois got the directions and they headed to the beach with plenty of warnings to stay away from the dangerous water.
When they arrived she saw that the beach was filled with black sand. Kal-El had told her that beaches on Krypton looked like that. As she walked closer and dug her heels into the grains she felt a strong connection. She took steps closer until she stopped next to a set of footprints larger than hers. She looked over and saw Kal-El smiling at her. She quickly pulled out her journal.
Dear Clark,
Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland.
This is the closest I'll ever get to a beach like you described. It's like it was calling to me. All these places have been calling to me. Why? I wish you could explain it. I feel like you would know.
I'm going to close my eyes and pretend that you brought me here. That these footprints next to mine are yours. That the wind blowing through my hair is you running at the speed of sound.
If it is you. Give me a sign. I'll wait.
If it means being you, I'd wait forever.
The view was breathtaking. With the sun moving, she felt the warmth of light and basked in it. She put her journal back and closed her eyes like she said she would. She tried to tune Jimmy out, but she caught his words as he yelled, "Lois, got a hit. Lex has been spotted in Honduras!"
She sighed. They would be on the move again. She kept her eyes closed and silently asked again for a sign.
Unbeknownst to her, the sun bounced off her bracelet-the stone in the center glowing brilliantly.