EIGHT

Lois frowned at the cup in her hand. The clear liquid had come out of the coffee thermos.

She watched as someone came up beside her and poured a cup of the liquid. Seeing that the man began sipping his drink, she raised the cup to her nose. It had smelled faintly like coffee, so she shrugged and brought the drink to her mouth. Grimacing from the taste, she looked around for somewhere to stash it.

Seeing a fake plant nearby, she dumped the offending drink into the pot. When the other coffee drinker gave her an odd look, she arched an eyebrow.

"Who are you supposed to be?" she asked. Earlier, she and Clark had encountered a human bat, a dominatrix with stars on her underwear, and a man in red tights with an affinity for lightning bolts. The man in front of her was wearing a sweater vest and wingtips. His outfit paled in comparison with some of the others.

"Perry White," he replied slowly, as if Lois should have known that.

"Oh, right," Lois covered, realizing that she probably should have known that. "Your name is on the building… well, not your name, but his name. You know, this Perry White guy."

The man seemed to be unsure if she was joking with him or not. "He was the Editor-in-Chief…"

"Yes! Yes, he was." Releasing a breath, she shot him a smile and tossed her empty cup into the trash. As she passed him on her way into the conference room where their orientation group was meeting in, she patted him on the elbow. "See ya inside… Chief!"

Lois's eyes widened as she picked up her walking pace to get away from the man before he noticed something else strange about her. She was finding it harder to bluff when she had no idea what she was supposed to be bluffing about.

Inside the meeting room, a number of different… characters, as Lois decided to describe them, were seated around the table. She sat in the chair next to Clark and leaned closer to whisper to him. "Their coffee is clear, like water… and it's not even real coffee!"

Lois straightened as one of the facilitators placed a thin booklet in front of her on the table. Glancing at it, she noted that her name was on the cover, typed underneath a heading that read: Daily Planet Staff Module.

She glanced at Clark's book and noted that it was the same, except his name was on the cover of his version.

Clark chuckled at Lois's coffee rant and returned his attention to the booklet. As he flipped through the pages aimlessly, he skimmed the text briefly. From what he could tell, the booklet gave an overview of the Daily Planet's history. Several copies of articles were included, and he felt a sense of pride when he saw that many carried his and Lois's names in the byline.

On the train, Lois had explained to him about the feats of Superman. From what she had found on the computer, Superman had saved thousands of people from great injury and death. While they were talking, a few other people sitting nearby had chimed in with legends about the hero. Although Clark could tell that most of what he was hearing was exaggeration, for once in his life, he had begun to feel good about his future.

Part of that feeling had to do with the person who was now sitting beside him. It had been a shock to find out that he was going to marry Lois, but the more time they spent together, the more he was getting used to the idea. Sitting in a replicated Daily Planet conference room, he could almost imagine how it would be; the two of them working side-by-side.

He stopped flipping through the pages when he came across an article with an interesting picture.

Metropolis' Number One Team: Finally Official, the headline declared in 42 point font. The image showed a black and white copy of a wedding photo. He felt a strange pull at the sight of happy couple shown there.

Lois glanced over to see what Clark had found so interesting and flinched at the sight. Her immediate reaction to the sight of her in a stunning white gown standing next to Clark in a black tux had been unexpected. Coughing, she covered her sudden lapse of character and smirked.

"I can't believe I married Mr. All-American Boy Scout. You are so not my type," she muttered.

Clark grinned at the picture and lifted his head to look at her. His growing comfort with his future had given him a confidence that he hadn't felt before. He'd always felt trapped by his destiny, but knowing that it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined made him feel… free. "Maybe I seduced you."

Lois glared at him and rolled her eyes. The fact that he was making jokes about their marriage meant that he wasn't planning on holding her future… misdeed against her. Somehow, though, his forgiveness made her feel even worse about it. "You couldn't coax a cat from tree, Kent."

Clark's grin broadened. "Is that what you think?"

Lois wondered if she should be concerned about the twinkle that had entered his eyes. It was if he had a secret.

"Excuse me, everyone."

Lois turned to face the woman standing at the head of the conference table who had just spoken.

"As you all have probably guessed, you have been assigned to work the Daily Planet Module during the Super Friends Festival tomorrow." She glanced around the room with a welcoming smile. "My name is Sheridan, and I am a curator here at the museum. This year, we have decided to do something new with this part of the celebration. Normally, the other curators, and myself, act as guides for the tours, but we felt that with this being the Centennial Anniversary of Superman's appearance, we would add a little flare by having the different sections of the museum manned by character representatives such as yourselves." She smiled and waved a hand to indicate the people in the room.

"This will be a relatively short meeting. Basically, we will go through some of the major historical landmarks, and then we will release you to get acquainted with the museum. Tomorrow, when you get to your stations, we'll be asking you to remain in character as you interact with the visitors. Museum personnel will be placed with you in each area, and there will be a couple of floating curators, so if you run into trouble, feel free to flag us down."

"What kind of trouble do you expect?" a young man seated next to the Perry White doppelganger asked.

"Nothing serious," Sheridan assured him. "We often have a few history buffs who want to debate the accuracy of the exhibits. We try to explain to them that history is as much legend as it is fact, so many times the lines don't match up as clearly as we'd like. Now, I would like to introduce a colleague of mine, Marcus Avery. He will be walking you through the first section of your workbooks."

A tall black man rose from the table and nodded his appreciation to Sheridan as they exchanged positions. "Thank you. I'd just like to welcome everyone again. We think that with your help this should be one of the best Festivals we've had… if not the best," he amended with a smile.

"If you'll open your booklets to the page after the introduction, you will see the first interview with Superman, the infamous expose by Lois Lane. We won't have a Superman character representative working the planet tomorrow, as there will be numerous ones working the park, but this is without a doubt a favorite subject for our visitors to ask about, so please make sure you know the details well…"

"Pink!" Lois blurted.

Everyone turned to give her a questioning look.

Lois seemed to be in her own world as she read through the article they were discussing. "Pink underwear. I don't believe it!"

Clark nudged her with his elbow and she looked up, realizing that she had spoken out loud. "Sorry," she offered sheepishly.

Marcus frowned at the article on the page. There was no mention of pink or underwear anywhere in it.

"What was that all about?" Clark asked as they trailed the group leaving for the museum tour.

"What?"

"The pink thing?"

"Oh, that." She made sure that no one was in earshot and lowered her voice. "I suddenly had this random… memory, I guess you could call it. I can't explain it, but when I read that interview, I remembered it… as if I were there."

Clark frowned. "I don't understand."

"Superman," Lois whispered. "I remember asking him about his vision gizmo. I wanted to know if he could see through everything, and he told me that I was wearing pink underwear."

Clark's eyebrows shot to his hairline, and he gulped. "He did?" He couldn't imagine ever being so bold.

Lois grimaced at Clark's expression. "It could have just been a good guess."

Clark closed his eyes in an effort to force himself not to picture the scenario. He didn't think he'd seen Lois in pink… anything. "Was it?"

Lois looked at him oddly. "Was it, what?"

"A good guess?"

Lois let out a disgusted groan and pulled him toward the tour group. "Don't go there with me, Smallville."

When her back was turned, he couldn't stop the small smile that twitched on his lips.

Xavir groaned as he fought his way back to consciousness. He felt as if his head was filled with cotton balls… not that he had ever seen cotton balls. Cotton had been one of the crops lost during D-One. It was a good thing that the Centre had invented a substitute material or it was likely that all clothing would be made of some sort of plastic by now.

He opened his eyes to see Chloe watching him curiously from where she say on the bunk opposite his. Clearing his throat he pushed himself to a seated position. A bottle of water and a supplement bar were on the floor next to the bed. Reaching for the water he gave a small smile. "Thanks."

"What was so important about 2006?" Chloe asked, not bothering to acknowledge his gratitude.

Xavir hesitated before shrugging. He wasn't sure what all she knew by now, but figured that there was no reason to deny her the information. The Centre had methods of making sure she didn't remember… They were already going to have to employ them on Lois and Clark when they were found… what was one more mind added to the list?

"Convergence," he replied in a gravelly voice. He unscrewed the cap on the bottle and took a drink. "It was a time when all of the major characters were in the same place at the same time."

"Major characters?"

"Sure. Lois Lane, Clark Kent, Lex Luthor… you… and the ship."

Chloe's brow creased as she concentrated on remembering the details. "The ship… you mean the ship the Centre is using for this time warped thing?"

Xavir nodded, guessing that Brynnan had already informed Chloe of the ship's importance to the Centre. Lex Luthor had found the ship in some ancient caves many years after the caves had been discovered. The alien technology was kept secret from the public, and the ship now resided on the Centre's space station. The Centre had been studying it for decades, searching for the keys of life… the recipes for immortality. Twenty years ago, the Centre had finally gotten access to the ship's Tislor core, an event that led to the Hyper Chronos project, and thus, to their current situation.

"I picked a rather arbitrary year… It needed to be earlier than Superman's arrival."

"You think that the ship has something to do with Superman?" Chloe asked.

"The Professor is sure of it. We just don't know where Superman was for all that time. The caves had been there for over 500 years before they were discovered. It was pretty obvious that the ship hadn't been there for that long… but where was Superman before his 2009 debut? It's a question that has plagued the brightest minds for years. I was just planning on making a short trip… if it worked, then we could send our people back to observe. The three of you were never meant to make the trip."

Chloe was silent for a moment. "I've heard about Lois and Clark being friends of Superman… so I guess I understand why they are major characters… but why me?"

Xavir smiled. "She didn't tell you?" He thought that it was odd that while Brynnan had revealed so much, she hadn't told Chloe her part of the story. "You were married to Lex Luthor."

"We don't have time for this!" Xavir complained. "The countdown was under 72 hours before we left."

"Then I suggest you cooperate," Brynnan replied dryly. "Save us some time."

Chloe ignored the conversation between the two and held her head in her hands. Perhaps it was symbolic of her holding her head together… she definitely thought that there was a chance it would explode.

She had married Lex Luthor. How in the world had she ended up marrying the one person who wanted to know Clark's secret more than anyone else? More importantly, how had she been able to keep that secret from him… assuming that she had.

Chloe tried to reconcile the different sides of Lex Luthor. Brynnan had claimed that the Centre was a rogue agency, showing a benevolent face to the public while working on other things in the dark. That sounded like something a Luthor would do.

Xavir had told her about her life as Mrs. Lex Luthor; how she had been happy with him… up until her untimely death. A death that had left Lex alone to raise their daughter, Xandra; and a death that had clinched the sympathy vote for Lex's presidential run. She was horrified at the thought of having left her child motherless. It seemed to be a generational curse on her family.

Chloe reflected on her own personal memories of Lex. There was the Lex that had wanted nothing more than to be an older brother to Clark. The Lex that helped save her life from his murderous father, Lionel. There was also the Lex that had been just as obsessed as she was about the strangeness of a certain farm boy. Could she blame him for seeking the same answers that she had?

Then there was the Lex that seemed to be more and more like his father with every day that passed. That was the Lex that seemed to be testing both she and Clark as he pursued something to confirm his suspicions about her best friend. That was the Lex that had secret warehouses with alien spaceships. Which of those men did she marry… and why?

Thinking about Lex and his battle for answers about himself and those around him gave Chloe a sudden epiphany. She raised her head from her hands and looked at Xavir.

Her piercing stare caused his words to falter. Whatever protest he had been preparing to launch died on his lips.

"He's your father," Chloe announced.

Both Brynnan and Xavir gave her an odd look.

"The Professor. He's your father… and that's why you hijacked the project… for his approval."

Brynnan turned to face Xavir with a look of dawning awareness. It all made sense in a warped way. "Sure didn't see that one coming," she muttered.

Xavir's jaw clenched, but he remained silent.

Chloe shook her head in disbelief. "Luthors seem to always have daddy issues."

"I'm not a Luthor," Xavir spat, neither confirming nor denying Chloe's claim.

Chloe heard the bitterness in his tone and nodded sympathetically. She had noticed that Xavir and Professor Kairo had different last names. She knew that there was more to the story. She searched her memory for details of the future family tree she was starting to build in her mind.

"But Professor Kairo is. He's Lex's grandson… and my grandson," Chloe finished awkwardly. It was strange to be talking about grandchildren when she was barely old enough to think about college graduation. "You told me that part. Why not tell me the rest?"

Xavir searched Chloe's eyes for sincerity. After a few moments, he glanced at Brynnan and back to Chloe. His posture was still stiff and Chloe sensed the tension between the two. Obviously, Brynnan felt it too because she exchanged a look with Chloe and stood.

"It's going to take another hour before we are ready to breach the atmosphere around the planet. Once we hit dirt it's going to be fast and furious from there. I think I'll go catch a nap," Brynnan said as she made her way toward the rear of the craft.

Xavir watched her leave and turned to face Chloe. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to share with her, but part of it was the fact that no one else had ever asked. It was a secret that burned to be exposed.

Sinking into a chair, he sighed. "My mother died when I was thirteen."

"I'm sorry," Chloe offered, shocked to hear the news.

Xavir shrugged. "Her name was Isabella. Isabella Christian. She and my father went to school together. That's how they met… at a University in Geneva. My father was really close to Lex Luthor… his grandfather. My mother told me that he was his protégé, heir to the throne, really. He was the hope of the future of the Luthor legacy."

Xavir paused and was lost in his own thoughts for a while before Chloe cleared her throat. "How did she die?"

Blinking, Xavir returned his attention to Chloe. "She was sick. A lot of people were, you know, from the chemical warfare. They didn't start putting domes over the major cities until after the last war, but by that time, a lot of people were terminal. My parents never got married, but he always sent money… I never saw him, but I always knew who he was. Lysander Luthor Kairo. I don't think my mother had enough status to be married to the 'son' of a president," he finished with a sad smile.

"What happened after she died?"

"He sent money for me to go to boarding school, but when my mother's parents tried to get him to come for me, he refused. I went to school and promised myself that I would make him want to claim me... Because if I didn't, then they would be right about my mother… that she wasn't good enough."

Chloe frowned at his logic. In some ways, he was still thinking like a lost 13 year-old boy. "Xavir, your mother's worth doesn't rest on whether or not your father decides to accept you. If anything, you should be living your life in a way to make her proud.

"There's nothing that you can do to change the past… at least I don't think so," she teased, trying to lighten his mood.

Xavir rewarded her with a smirk and she continued. "Now we have to do what we can to put all the pieces back in their places."

Xavir nodded and turned to look out the window as the shuttle moved closer to their destination. He nervously checked his watch, trying not to panic as the numbers of the countdown decreased rapidly. By the time they reached the surface, the clock would have slipped to little over 60 hours. He could only hope that Brynnan had a plan, otherwise, they were in trouble.

TBC