Chapter Seventeen
Clark awkwardly shifted the baby in his arms, trying to make sure he was supporting the little guy's head just right. The infant looked around the room with wide, curious blue eyes and seemed fascinated by the light from the fire that burned in the fireplace. Clark wanted to ask Wells how the fireplace had seemingly fixed itself after he'd ripped it out of the wall earlier, but he figured the explanation would have just given him a headache.
Wells opened the face of the grandfather clock and looked at the Disruption Regulator inside, then glanced at his pocket watch. He nodded, satisfied with whatever he was checking. Then he closed the face of the clock and returned to join Clark and Superman, who were sitting in large easy chairs beside the fireplace.
"Once the time stream has returned to normal, what will happen to the other Supermen that Kal-El killed or imprisoned in the Phantom Zone?" Superman asked. "Will they return to their own universes?"
"It's a bit too early to tell, but I believe they will," Wells replied, pouring himself a glass of ice water from a pitcher that sat on his coffee table. "We should know soon, in any event."
The wounds Superman had suffered at the hands of Kal-El were already starting to heal. Once he got home and spent some solid time basking in the rays of the yellow sun in his own universe, he'd be good as new in no time. Clark, meanwhile, couldn't take his eyes off the baby that he cradled in his arms. He felt such a close connection with the child, especially knowing that, in a way, the baby was his own son. He didn't know how he was ever going to be able to let him go.
There was still much that weighed heavily on Clark's mind, however. "Wells… you said earlier that you weren't sure how much of the past Tempus changed, and that maybe he did more to it than what we knew about. How do we know that we really fixed everything that he did, and that we've really prevented me from turning out like Kal-El?"
Wells sighed and took a long sip of his water. "We don't know for sure, Clark. I don't think we can ever know for sure. The future is constantly in a state of flux. The smallest detail can change it in incredible ways. But believe me when I say, I will keep a close eye on how yours progresses, and I won't be far away if you ever need a hand again."
"When he was strangling Diana…" Clark began, slowly. "…I thought he was going to kill her. When I shot him, with the kryptonite bullet… I had no way of knowing he was immune to Kryptonite. If he hadn't been, that shot probably would have killed him. After all I said about the only thing that separated us was that he was a murderer and I wasn't… just a few minutes later, I was ready to kill him. That scares me."
Wells walked over and put a hand on Clark's shoulder. "The potential for both good and evil exists in all of us, Clark. We all have a darkness in our soul. The part of you that became Kal-El is very real. But we choose our actions. We choose who we become, and what path we follow. And your destiny, Clark, the path that lies before you, is not an easy one. But it is an incredible, fascinating and wonderful one."
"I've had those same feelings, too, Clark," Superman said, standing up. "When I was fighting Kal-El, a lot of what he said really did get to me. There is so much that is wrong with the world. And yes, it does frustrate me when the world I've saved so many times continues to be polluted and plagued with war and famine and disease. When criminals that I've put away end up back on the streets. When I'm trying to do good out there, and there are still people who hate me and want to kill me. Sometimes I can't sleep because of it. But you can't let those things discourage you from doing what you know in your heart is right. You have the potential to make a huge difference in the world, and to do an incredible amount of good. To deny that, and turn away from it, would be the biggest crime of all."
"So what you're saying is…" Clark said with a slowly growing smile. "…I'm gonna end up wearing a cape and long underwear too?" They all laughed.
"You would be surprised, my dear boy, how iconic that costume has become, in many universes throughout all of reality," Wells said.
"Uh huh," Clark said, rolling his eyes. "We'll see."
"Well, my friends," Wells said. "I think it is high time that we got you back to your own worlds."
Clark's face fell. He held the baby a little closer to his chest. "Where are you going to take him?" he asked.
"As I said, I know somewhere where he will be quite safe. Rest assured of that, Clark," Wells said. He stepped forward and reached out his hands, and Clark very reluctantly handed the baby over to Wells. The baby fussed a little as he changed hands, but settled back down quickly. Clark stood up and picked up the white cube off the coffee table.
"You said this will take me right back to the same moment that I left, right?" he asked.
"Quite right," Wells said. "You will be transported back to your world the very instant that you left it, and it will be as if no time has passed."
Clark tossed the cube into the air, and it opened up into the blue window once again. He turned and faced Superman and Wells.
"Thank you both, so much, for all your help."
Superman smiled, and reached out his hand. Clark grinned from ear to ear, and the two shook hands.
"Take care of yourself, Clark," Superman said.
"I will." He turned and gave the baby one final smile, and ran his finger gently down the child's cheek. "Bye little guy," he whispered. "You take care of yourself, too." Then Clark faced the time window, and, after taking a deep breath, stepped into the icy coldness of the vortex one final time. The window closed behind him, and the cube fell into Superman's outstretched hand.
"I guess we'd better get you back, too," Wells said to Superman.
"Yes," he replied. "There's just one thing I wanted to ask you about first, now that Clark's gone." Superman reached behind him and produced something that he'd tucked into his belt. It was the octagonal disk. "I found this in Kal-El's trophy room. Something about it caught my eye. Remember Clark mentioned it when we were in the dungeon? He said that it came from his space ship, and that when he put it into a cave wall, it gave him the ability to read the Kryptonian language?"
"Yes, I seem to recall that," Wells said. "What about it?"
Superman held it up to the light, and tilted it back and forth. There were small symbols engraved in it. "Wells," Superman said with a frown, his tone grim. "The symbols on this disk are not Kryptonian."
. . . . . . . .
Across time and space, Clark Kent emerged from the icy blue void, and stumbled back onto firm ground. The sun in the Kansas sky still shone brightly and it warmed him to the core. He'd never been so glad to be in Smallville. He took a deep breath, letting the air seep deep into his lungs, then let it back out slowly.
Then, his super hearing picked up the sound of a car motor. "Oh, man, I completely forgot," he muttered to himself. When he had first stepped into the time window and left Smallville behind, Lana Lang had been just about to pull up to the Kent Farm.
After another minute or two, Lana's car turned down the dirt path that led up to the barn, and she drove up beside Clark. She shut the engine off and got out of the car. Her hair blew softly behind her in the gentle afternoon breeze, and she gave him a shy smile.
"Hey," she said, gently.
"Hi, Lana, what's up?"
"Nothing much. Amanda's filling in for me at The Talon for the rest of the afternoon, so I figured I'd get away for a bit. If you're not too busy I thought you might want to get a bite to eat or something?"
"Sure, that would be great," Clark said with a grin.
"Great," Lana smiled back. "Oh, um, listen… when you came by The Talon earlier, was there something else you wanted to tell me? You seemed kind of preoccupied, and then that weird old man showed up, and we never got to finish talking!"
"Oh, right," Clark said. "Um…" He stuck his hands in his pockets, awkwardly. He'd been going to try to ask her out that weekend. Now that he was in her presence again, he became completely tongue tied. All he could think about was the hologram he'd seen in the future, of Lana being brutally murdered at Tempus's hands, all because of him. All without ever knowing the truth about him and all his secrets. Now, here she was, right in front of him, alive and healthy, and so incredibly lovely. Her soft chocolate brown hair framed her face like a work of art, falling gently over her shoulders. He stared into her mysterious green eyes, trying to find the words to tell her how happy he was to see her.
His fingertips brushed over something in his pocket. He furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Then, he realized what it was. He pulled the crystal necklace out of his pocket, and held it up to the light. It shimmered beautifully.
"Clark," Lana whispered, shocked. "Is that…?"
"Lana," Clark said, gently. He stepped forward and took her hand in his. He looked deep into her eyes, and tried to fight back the tears that were building up in his. "There is so much I have to tell you."
