History
Clark took in the uncompromising lines of Lois's face and stifled the urge to sigh. He was well aware of the challenge in front of him; he just didn't know exactly what to do about it. Bringing the memory of another world's Lois to mind, he remembered how she had convinced him of who she was, but her method was unlikely to work here. For one thing, he wasn't sure that he knew anything quite as compelling about Lois, and even if he could think of anything particularly relevant, her immediate distrust of him made it very unlikely that she would believe any explanation he could give as to how he knew her secrets. Rather than believing he was from another world, she was likely to think that he'd been spying on her (or something equally as nefarious), and that would make everything so much worse.
Looking to Chloe, he saw that she had no immediate suggestions as to how to proceed, so, bracing himself for a long nine and a half minutes, he began. Since he didn't know how much she knew about Kal-El or even how much Kal-El's life was similar to his own, he was going to have to tell her his story more or less from the beginning and hope that something in the telling would convince her of the truth of his tale. Yeah. Good luck, a snide voice whispered in his mind.
"I'm going to tell you my story, and I know it will sound ludicrous and maybe a little insane, and believe me when I say that I know just how hard it's going to be to believe. But since I only have a little over nine minutes left, I need you both to just listen until I'm done." His story was a long one, but he didn't have time to tell it all so he was going to have to give the extremely condensed version and hope it was enough.
"As I imagine you already know, I was born on the planet, Krypton. My parents, Jor-El and Lara, sent me to Earth to save me when they discovered that their planet was about to explode. I came to this planet in a spaceship that landed in a field in Kansas during a meteor shower, and there, I was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raised me as their own.
"I didn't even know I was an alien, to tell you the truth, until just after I started high school. I was standing on a bridge and there was an accident. The details aren't really important, but it was at that time that my parents told me where I'd really come from and how they'd found me. I was…well, I freaked out, if you want to know the truth, but my parents were…they were pretty amazing, actually. A couple of years later, I was contacted by a scientist – I don't know if you know him, Virgil Swann? – who was able to tell me more about the planet I'd come from and…and a message that had been left in the ship that brought me to this planet.
"Jor-El, my biological father, had sent said I had a destiny – one I didn't want any part of – and I spent the next several years running from what I was and trying to deny that there was anything different about me. I wanted…I'd always just wanted what my parents had. I wanted to get married, have a family, and live a normal life."
So his tale began, and Clark let himself get wrapped up in the past as he spoke. He'd spent years denying the past and running from himself, but now that he'd begun to talk, memories he'd thought long forgotten came back to mind. The past week had given him a perspective on the choices he'd made that was both brutal and rather painful, but he didn't try to minimize or hide what he'd done. If he was going to get Lois to listen to him – and if he was going to ever learn to be the man he'd discovered he wanted to be – he couldn't hide any longer.
"I-I know how hard this is to understand, and I don't know that I can really explain, but even back then, people used to tell that, with my powers, I could…there was so much I could do for the world. I think I understood that, but…I was scared." He felt shamed by his admission, but he couldn't afford self-pity or remonstrations right now – not if he was ever going to convince the woman in front of him.
"I was afraid that I would always be alone, that nobody would ever be able to really accept what I am, so I tried to hide from it. I didn't…there was this girl that…I'd loved her for years, and I-I just wanted to be with her. I thought I could, but then she…she found out about me, and she was…" He shook his head, unable to really express in words that look in her eyes when she'd looked at him the first time, after finding his spaceship."She couldn't deal with it, not at first. Eventually she did, but…the way she'd looked at me…"
Grimacing, Clark closed his eyes and forcibly pushed the memory away. When he opened them again, his gaze was steadier, his composure regained. "A couple of years later, my abilities were taken away from me. It's a long story, one that I don't have time for now. But…I had a choice. I could be the man I was born to be, or I could be just me. Clark Kent. I chose to let my powers go, and I never regretted it once, not really." Looking at Lois, he added quietly, "Until I met you. The other you."
His time was almost up, and he couldn't read the expression on her face. "I know it's a lot to take in, and it's hard to believe. But when I met you…her…I realized how much I'd lost by running away from myself, and I couldn't stand to do it any longer. So I…well, I guess you could say I've been given a second chance. I was brought here, to your world. I don't know why; I can only imagine. Chloe was dragged along with me by accident; it's a little hard to explain.
"I can't tell you why I was brought here, exactly. All I can say is that I was brought here, and I can't help but think that there's something I have to do here. I don't know what it is, but…I need to take this chance, Lois. I need…I had a chance to see the man I should have been – the man I would have been if I'd not spent so much time running away. But I need your help. I need you to believe me."
He finished his plea and watched as she dropped her gaze, staring for a moment at the carpet as the last few seconds of the time she'd allotted him ticked away. When she looked back up at him, he knew he'd lost, and he braced himself for the words he already knew were coming.
Though there was something in her gaze he couldn't quite identify but seemed almost like a touch of regret, she said softly, "I can't."
"Lois, for god's sake!" Chloe burst out, charging forward from the position she'd taken behind Clark. He jumped at the sudden and unexpected movement, swiveling his head to look at the irritated woman in surprise. "Would you stop being so damn stubborn for once in your life?" she continued, oblivious to his shock.
Lois's eyebrows arched, but the corners of her mouth quivered a bit. Clark could swear she was about to break out into a smile. While she seemed to be struggling for a response, the man behind her apparently decided to relieve her of the effort. "I doubt it," he muttered in a voice that was just loud enough for everyone to hear while still remaining soft enough for him to pretend he hadn't intended it to be audible. "The woman's as stubborn as a mule, If you ever hear her say the words "You may be right," please tell me how you managed it. I've been trying to get her to say them for years now."
The woman in question didn't seem affronted by this assessment of her character, but she did roll her eyes and mutter back, "I can tell you the trick, Bruce. Try being right for a change, and I'll agree with you. I know how you need your fragile male ego stroked every once and a while."
It surely wasn't jealousy that had Clark wanting to snarl that the friendly banter could wait until later, he was certain. No, it had to be the stress of the situation that made him so irritable. "So that's it?" he said a bit more shortly than he'd intended.
Clark could almost feel the force of Bruce's assessing gaze as the older man turned to looked at him with a thoughtful look, and he tried not to squirm under the weight of it. He didn't care what Bruce thought; it was Lois that he had to win over and nobody in the room seemed to be inclined to pretend differently.
For her part, Lois bit her lip for a second, but then she shook her head. "It's a good story, I'll give you that. But I believed in you once, and I paid the price. I can't do it again, not when…you've given me nothing. Not one reason to believe that what you say is true. It's a good story, but how do I know that's not all it is? Tell me why I should listen to you. Tell me why I should put my faith in you again…even if, as you claim, you're not the same man that I know. Tell me why I should take the chance. Tell me why I should believe that all of this is true and not just a trick to fool me again."
A heavy silence fell in the room, and though it was tense and awkward, nobody rushed to fill it. Clark's eyes were fixed on Lois's, and he knew she was waiting, though for what, he didn't know. What did she expect of him? What could he tell her, what proof could he give? If this was the first test he'd have to overcome to be the man he wanted to be, he was off to an inauspicious start.
He had to bite back a sudden surge of anger, brought on by his awareness of the futility of his efforts. It wasn't fair that she should so test him when his faith her – well, the first Lois he'd met, at least – had been so freely granted from almost the first moment that they'd met. He'd trusted her, he'd offered to help her, but yet the Lois in this world wasn't willing to do the same! It wasn't fair, and how could she demand so much of him, when he had so little to offer her? It was her fault, in a manner of speaking, that he was here anyway!
He hadn't asked to meet Lois Lane, not the first time at least. He hadn't asked for her to arrive on his doorstep and look at him with eyes that he knew expected so much and were presented with so little. He hadn't asked her to change his life, to make him see a world that could have been if only he had been a little less afraid. He hadn't asked for her to make him see the love that could have been his and then cruelly take it away again. He hadn't ask for any of it!
Well…okay, actually, remembering how she'd been brought to his world to begin with, that wasn't exactly true. He had actually asked for all of that; he just hadn't realized what he'd been asking for at the time. As his mental spate of belligerence faded, he accepted with chagrin that he was being unfair.
What had Lois done in his world, anyway? Yes, she'd shown him a different world, but would he ever have even seen it if he hadn't already been looking? He was been the reason she'd been dragged to his world to begin with, but there was more to it than that. He knew that he had to admit that he hadn't been truly happy with the life he'd been living. After all, he never would have seen the possibilities she'd brought with her if a part of him hadn't been willing – even eager – to do so.
Lois had changed his life, but she wouldn't have done so if he hadn't wanted her to. And what had he really lost by trusting her, by listening to her? Satisfaction in the life he'd been living? If he'd truly been satisfied, if he'd truly been happy, then her words would have had no effect upon him. If the life he'd been living had truly been the life he'd wanted, then he would have wished her well, sent her back home, and returned to the apartment above the Talon to live out the rest of his days with Lana by his side, content with the choices he'd made even after seeing the life that could have been.
In all honesty, though it felt like he'd lost so much after he'd met Lois Lane, the truth was that she'd taken nothing from him that he'd ever really had. She'd just forced him to see that for himself, to stop hiding from it any longer.
But this Lois…she wasn't like him. She didn't ask for him to be brought to her, at least not so far as he could tell. He doubted that she sat in the dark some nights and wondered what her life could have been like if she'd made different choices. She'd never been denied her chance to see what might have been, if only the two of them had been given the chance to meet; she'd met him, the Kal-El of this world. She'd met him, she'd trusted him, and in the end, she'd been betrayed. Clark didn't know how, but it didn't really matter. He looked in her eyes and he knew it was the truth. He saw the way she fingered the pendant on its thin chain and knew that her fear wasn't feigned.
He'd risked nothing by trusting the Lois who had shown up on his doorstep, but he realized now that Lois would be risking everything if she trusted him. He watched as Bruce placed a comforting hand on Lois's shoulder, and he recognized that she accepted this familiarity without question. The gesture was so casual, Clark wondered if either party even realized that it had happened, but Clark did. More, he recognized what it meant.
Lois had a life of her own, here in this world. It was a life totally different from the one another Lois had spoken of, but it was a life that she had made for herself. Perhaps it had been arrogant for him to have begun to think that she could only be happy if she'd met him, simply because another woman had told him that another man had brought her such joy. Perhaps he'd been selfish in making that wish in the loft of his parents' barn, thinking only of his own happiness, his own longing.
She hadn't wished him here; she hadn't asked for him to come. She hadn't asked for him to change her life, and after the experience she'd had with the Kal-El of this world, could he really blame her for not wanting to trust him now? Could he really judge her for choosing not to take that chance? When he'd chosen to trust Lois, he'd done so without recognizing he had anything to lose, and he'd continued trusting her because he'd considered it a fair trade, what she was taking from him and what she was giving him in return. The woman in this world, so far as he could tell, had no such assurance.
She'd trusted him once – a different version of him, to be certain, but him all the same – and he believed her when she said she'd almost lost her life for her trouble. Could he really ask her to take that risk again on mere faith that what he had to offer her in return might be worth it – particularly since he didn't even know what that thing he might offer her could be?
Chloe, he was pleased to note, wasn't about to give up so easily. Glowering at the two of them, she'd begun a passionate defense on Clark's behalf as Clark struggled with his latest epiphany, but her words weren't having any noticeable effect on either Lois or Bruce.
Finally, when Chloe had come to a pause in her monologue, Lois turned and looked at Clark with flat eyes. In a voice devoid of expression, she said, "Your ten minutes are up. I trust you'll remember the promise you made and that this is the last time I ever have to see you again. The Kal-El I know doesn't think he owes anyone anything, of course, but you do. You owe me that, at least."
With a quick jerk of his head, Clark acknowledged her words as he stood to leave. He'd taken his chance, his best shot at convincing her to believe him. There wasn't anything else he could think of to do, no further plea he could make to change her mind. He'd told her the truth, but he couldn't get past the wariness between them, and now he didn't know what he was going to do. He did know, however, that he'd keep his promise to her. He, at least, would never bother her again.
Wrapping a gentle hand around Chloe's arm, he waited until she'd turned to look at him before giving his head a small shake. With that gesture, he hoped to convey the entirety of what he was feeling – both the sorrow that he couldn't change the situation and his determination to follow through on the promise he'd made. When he saw her swallow and nod slightly in response before pulling away to walk dejectedly towards the door, he knew she'd understood.
Clark had never felt more impotent – more weak and crippled – than he did in that moment, as he stood in Lois's living room and prepared to let her go one final time. She was gazing at him steadily, nobody speaking a word as if they were all waiting to see what would happen next.
Finally, he found his voice. "Thank you both for listening to me, at least. I know my story's pretty hard to believe; I knew it before I began, but I had to try." He wanted to turn, to walk away, but his feet wouldn't move. "I…Lois, I'll keep my promise, I swear. After I leave, you won't ever see me again. Whether or not you'll see Kal-El…" He shrugged. How was he to know whether his other self was dead or alive? "I hope that you don't. I hope that what you said in the graveyard was true, and that he's…that he'll never bother you again.
"Lois, I know…I know how little it means, coming from me, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what Kal-El put you through and for the man that he was. I wish there was a way that I ccould make up for everything he's done. If I could take away all the pain he's caused you, I would. If you can believe nothing else I say today, please believe that. I just…I want you to be happy, Lois." She wasn't the Lois he'd come to know and even to care for, but he still wanted her to be happy. "I know you have no reason to believe me, but…I just…I'll never get another chance to tell you any of that, but I…I just…" He stammered, words failing him just when he needed them most. Flushing in embarrassment over his insufficiency when it came to telling her what he needed to say, he finally finished lamely, "I'll go now."
Without waiting to be shown out, Clark turned and walked to Chloe. She was looking at him in resignation and a touch of despair, and he knew her concerns without her needing to speak them aloud. Lois had needed his help to get back to her world before; how was he ever to get the both of them home without her help in this world? It seemed impossible, but they would find a way to do it. They didn't have any other choice.
Still, this small measure of resolve wasn't quite enough to stand up under the crushing weight of desolation that fell over them both as they walked in silence through Lois's door and trudged towards the elevator. The questions of where they would go and what they would do next were insupportable, the problems they faced insurmountable.
"We'll figure something out," Clark finally murmured with a thin note of hope in his voice that rang false even to his own ears, but Chloe was far too kind to point out this fact.
When the bell dinged to signal the arrival of the elevator, the sound was almost a jarring intrusion to the silence in the hallway, and as the doors slid open with a silent whirr, Chloe reached out to place a trembling hand on his arm as he stepped forward. "Maybe we…" she began, but she never got the chance to finish her sentence.
"Wait!" The call, unexpected as it was, caused them both to startle and turn quickly, jostling each other in the narrow confines of the elevator doorway. Unbelievably, Lois was standing in the hallway behind them, the corridor's lamplight softening the lines of her face but insufficient to completely obscure the tightness of her features. When neither Clark nor Chloe spoke immediately, Lois took a tentative step forward, though she stopped before she'd drawn close enough for Clark to feel the effects of the Kryptonite she still wore around her neck.
Her eyes shot from Chloe's face to Clark's, but it didn't take long before her gaze travelled back to her cousin's features again. Then, steeling herself as if about to head into battle, she explained softly, "H-He never would have apologized. Kal-El, I mean. He was…" She grimaced and looked away before repeating, as if it explained everything, "He never would have apologized."
Clark had been too shocked by her presence to react immediately beyond reaching out to stop the elevator door from closing, but at these words, he moved to step forward. He paused, however, when it became apparent that Chloe was either unwilling or unable to follow just yet. He turned his head to look at his companion, but her attention was fixed solely on the woman before her.
"So you believe us?" she asked quietly, a wealth of meaning in her tone, and once again he was struck by the fact that he wasn't the only one for whom this entire situation was unbelievably difficult. Chloe had lost the cousin she'd loved as a sister, in her world. Then, she'd been given reason to think for a brief time that she might have gotten her back again, only to be informed that the girl she'd grown up with was truly gone and would never return home, though she had to have continued to hope beyond reason that she would. Before she'd had much time to process this last blow, Clark had sent Lois home, taking her from her cousin once again.
He glanced from Chloe to Lois, to see a mirroring image of despair in either cousin's face. Neither woman seemed to note his presence and Lois winced. In a voice that was a tortured rasp, she spoke in little above a whisper, "I-I don't know."
Whatever Chloe had been hoping for, this clearly wasn't it. However, she finally stepped forward and joined Clark, and he could swear he saw quite a bit of Lois in the way she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin to a stubborn angle. "Okay," she said with a note of steel in her voice. It was clear that Chloe was about to take a page from her cousin's book and wage an assault to make Lois believe that the story they were telling was true, and Clark reflected that things were about to get very interesting. Possibly hazardous to his health, but interesting.
There was a new gleam of speculation and possibly a measure of respect in Lois's eye as she jerked her head to the side, gesturing towards her front door. "You'd better come back inside; we probably shouldn't conduct this conversation in front of the neighbors. But…um…I'll be back in a minute. I'd better change."
Clark and Chloe followed Lois back inside and watched as she paused to speak to Bruce in an undertone. Though it would have been incredibly easy for Clark to discover what she was saying (provided he could get his hearing ability to work for him this time), it was not without a small measure of effort that he refrained from doing so. He didn't know why he felt so jealous of the relationship Lois and Bruce shared, but he recognized it was something he was going to have to deal with sooner rather than later. By issuing the invitation to return to the apartment, Lois had laid down a truce of sorts, tacitly acknowledging that she was willing to believe, at least for the moment, that what they said was true. If Clark indulged in a fit of petty (not to mention entirely irrational) jealousy, he could shatter the fragile peace.
His resolve was sorely tested when Bruce pulled Lois into a hug. He was further irritated to notice that she went unresistingly, letting the moment drag out longer than (at least in Clark's mind) was strictly necessary. When Bruce then whispered something in her ear and made her laugh, Clark had to clench his teeth in irritation, though his annoyance there paled in comparison to how he felt when she turned her head and brushed a kiss across Bruce's cheek. When Clark saw that, his eyes grew hot in a way he recognized, if it felt a bit unfamiliar after all this time. Before he could accidentally set fire to Lois's couch, he bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut, taking a few deep breaths to quell his fit of annoyance.
Even as he reminded himself of the fragility of the truce that had been declared, Clark grudgingly admitted to himself that there were just no two ways about it. He sincerely disliked Bruce Wayne. He didn't know why he felt such a passionate aversion to the man – particularly since he knew Bruce had been instrumental in persuading Lois to give Clark a chance to explain. None of that mattered, though. He disliked the handsome billionaire – who was just a little too handsome and a little too rich and a little too close to Lois for Clark's peace of mind. It wasn't jealousy, he told himself firmly, that caused this intense dislike. It was just…well, there was just no good reason, but Bruce clearly brought it out in him.
By the time Clark was reasonably certain that he wasn't about to accidentally set fire to the room, he was happy to see that the warm moment between Bruce and Lois had ended. As Lois disappeared into the back room, Bruce turned to look at the people before him, his expression inscrutable. Walking forward, Chloe looked at him, and when she spoke, there was a measure of both nervousness and hope in her voice. Clearly, she was uncertain of what to make of him quite yet, and it was quite possible that she was a little intimidated by his reputation. Bruce was apparently quite the ladies' man, Clark noted sourly.
However she might have felt about him personally, it was also apparent that, in Bruce, Chloe was seeking an ally and was hoping he wouldn't let her down. "We have a lot to talk about tonight, still. Will you be sta…uh…," she flushed in embarrassment as she tried to find a way to finish her sentence that would be both telling and polite. "j-joining us?" she finally finished.
Walking to meet her, Bruce took her hand in his and said softly, "I have to admit that I don't know what to make of all this any more than anyone else, but…ah…Ms. Sullivan," he said the name a little tentatively, as if he still wasn't entirely certain it truly was hers. "I apologize, but there are some business matters that demand my attention, I'm afraid, so I won't be able to stay tonight. Besides, the three of you need a chance to speak, and I'm certain you'll feel more comfortable doing so if I'm not around. Still, I've promised Lois that I'll come by tomorrow, but until then, just…be patient with her. This is…it's hard on her."
Chloe was clearly a little disappointed that she and Clark were losing their potential ally in the battle ahead – when it came to struggling with Lois's obstinacy, even Clark suspected after such a short acquaintance that three against one weren't particularly favorable odds in their favor. However, taking what she obviously considered to be unfortunate news (though Clark wasn't entirely certain that he agreed) with good grace, she nodded. "I-it was nice meeting you," she said a bit awkwardly, but that was probably understandable. This was an unusual social situation, one which the normal dictates of good manners seemed insufficient if not incompetent to address.
After wishing her a polite goodbye, Bruce turned and walked slowly towards the door. It was obvious that he wasn't entirely thrilled with the prospect of leaving, but whether due to his own offer, Lois's request, or circumstances beyond his control, it was also obvious that he intended to. However, as he walked past Clark, he paused to issue a final warning in a voice pitched so low that only its recipient would hear. "I'm inclined to believe that you're telling the truth; you don't seem like the Kal-El I know. However, you should know that I'm not going to take any chances, not again, not when it comes to Lois's life. I'm going to call her later, and she'd better pick up the phone, Clark. If she doesn't…if you dare try to hurt her again…if she gets as much as a papercut from your encounter together…" He paused and there was a chilling warning in his eyes as they locked on Clark's. "The last time we met, I didn't kill Kal-El because Lois asked me not to. I won't be stopped again."
Clark believed him. His personal distaste for the man aside, he had to appreciate how much Bruce obviously cared for Lois – though there was still a question of whether this care was romantic in nature or strictly platonic. While the ambiguity in Lois's relationship with Bruce annoyed him for some reason, Clark couldn't deny, after hearing what little he had about Kal-El's previous encounter with Lois, that Bruce had good reason for concern. He was glad, in all honesty, that Lois had someone who cared about her so much. He just wished the concern wasn't coming from a person whose his very existence he didn't find so thoroughly annoying.
Meeting Bruce's eyes, Clark nodded solemnly. It was only after receiving this acknowledgement of the gauntlet that had been thrown down between them that Bruce nodded in return and left without another word. Then, as silence fell in the room once more, Clark met Chloe's eyes and offered her a shaky smile. "At least she's willing to listen to us, right?" he asked a little weakly.
"It's a start," she agreed with a sound that would need some serious life support before it could be classified as a chuckle. Once again, a tense and uncomfortable silence fell between them. Their circumstances forced an unnatural closeness between them, but it was at moments like this that Clark remembered that he'd met her only a week before and hadn't had much time to really get to know her in the interim. Obviously feeling the same struggle to find something to say, Chloe cleared her throat and glanced back at the doorway through which Lois had disappeared. "She probably won't be much longer," she said after a moment.
"Probably not," he agreed rather inanely as he walked forward to get a better glance at some frames hung upon the nearest wall. With a sigh that sounded distinctly relieved, Chloe joined him, and in silence, they examined the various items in front of them with an intensity that the objects didn't entirely deserve.
The expected photos were found on the wall – pictures of Lois at various events, including a couple of award ceremonies. In some, she was alone. However, there were a few in which her father and sister stood on either side of her, and in at least a couple, Bruce was by her side. Seeing this, Clark quickly moved his attention on to other things. There was a large expanse of wall that was empty, though there were nails sticking out of the wall. Though it was likely there once used to hang frames here, as well, these pictures (or whatever the frames had contained) had been removed, and Clark found himself wondering why.
His interest in the wall satisfied, Clark moved over to the desk standing nearby. With a glance, he took in the papers scattered around the top, but he made a conscious effort not to read the notes scribbled in the margins in Lois's handwriting. Whatever she was working on was her business, and he was reluctant to invade her privacy. However, in the corner, he saw a single worn photo frame and, in curiosity, he picked it up.
Though there was no reason for it to do so, the picture it held surprised him – less, he supposed, because of the picture itself as much as for the fact that Lois no doubt spent quite a few hours at her desk and he was somewhat surprised to find that this was the picture she chose to have so readily to hand as she did.
A young Chloe and a young Lois stood together, their arms slung casually around each other's waists as they stared with devilish amusement into the camera. Clark would guess the two of them to be in their teens, though of course, as he hadn't known either girl at that point in their lives, he couldn't be any more exact. But he didn't need to have known them to see that the two girls in this photo were very close; there was something about the mirrored expressions of 'Yeah, we rock; what are you gonna do about it?' on their faces that made that fact very clear.
He heard Chloe step up beside him, and he tilted the frame to the side to show it to her. When he heard a sudden intake of breath and saw her reach for it with trembling hands, he gave it over willingly. "Do you recognize it?" he asked softly, wondering at the wisdom of the question. He knew that there were some things that had been similar between his and Chloe's world and the one from which Lois had originally come, and he supposed that the same was possible of this new world in which they found themselves. Still, he was aware of how painful this situation had to be for Chloe, and he didn't want to make it worse.
"N-no," she said softly, her voice sounding a little choked though, with her head bowed, he couldn't see her face to see if her eyes had welled with tears. "D-dad gave me the necklace she's wearing on my s-sixteen birthday." She didn't have to finish the thought. It seemed likely that this world's Chloe had received a similar necklace, which meant that this picture had been taken long after the day on which Lois had died, back in the world from which they'd come.
He didn't want her to dwell on the years that she'd missed out on, so he rushed to find a way to keep her from doing so, but her next words took him completely by surprise. "I suppose this picture was taken shortly before the Chloe of this world died."
Clark choked. He wondered what had made her say such a thing, but before he could regain sufficient control of his power of speech to ask, Lois spoke from the bedroom doorway. She'd finished changing and had entered the room just in time to hear her cousin's statement. "Was murdered," Lois corrected bluntly.
Chloe paled, and Clark moved to grab the photo frame out of her hands before she could drop it but she wouldn't relinquish it so he gave up the effort. "Wh-what?" she asked.
Lois winced, as if she realized how bluntly she'd broken the news. "Chloe. My Chloe. Sh-she was…she was murdered, actually," she said in a softer tone, and Clark moved a short distance away to avoid the effects of the necklace she still wore as she stepped forward and took the photo from Chloe. Glancing down at the picture, she said softly, "I'm sorry…I'm didn't mean to be so…It's hard for me to accept, the idea that you're really her. Of a sort."
"No, it's okay. I understand," Chloe answered, and in all honesty, she probably did. "H-how did I…I mean, how did she…What happened to her?"
As they spoke, Clark pieced everything together. He hadn't really processed the words Lois had spoken at the gravesite earlier, but he did now as he brought them to mind. How could he have missed her saying her cousin's name? And, more importantly, how had Chloe known that she was dead in this world? She hadn't been with him when he'd overheard Lois's conversation with a ghost.
He saw a muscle jump in Lois's cheek, but she didn't avoid the question. Instead, she looked at her cousin, and there was such sadness in her face that it took his breath away. How had he forgotten the power this woman had over him – a power that apparently wasn't held exclusively by the Lois he'd originally met? How had he forgotten how much her pain tore him up inside?
Momentarily forgetting now the necklace she wore around her neck, Clark took a few steps forward. She wasn't the same Lois he had met, and, admittedly, while he understood why the woman before him felt as she did about him, he rather missed the old version of Lois that he'd come to know. Still, he hurt to see her in such pain, and so he acted instinctually in wanting to be close to her, to provide her comfort. He stopped short, however, when the familiar burning started within, and he was forced to stop before the pain could cripple him. Pressing his lips together, he had to force back the wave of emotions that fell over him in that moment. He remembered how much another Lois had loved the Clark who was waiting for her, and it saddened him to realize that this love was one that this world's Lois and Clark had never found. It also angered him that Kal-El would have acted as he had – not only in hurting her, but in being the type of man who would do such a thing. He wished he could understand how Kal-El could have come so far from the man he'd likely once been, but at the same time, Clark wasn't sure he wanted to know. Finding the answers might, in the end, be far more painful than merely asking the questions in righteous indignation.
The two women before him appeared to be oblivious to Clark's internal struggle, because their conversation continued without so much as a pause. Glancing down at the photo she was still holding gently – even lovingly – in her hands, Lois said quietly, "There was an explosion. Chloe…my Chloe…she'd…she'd offered to testify at a trial. Lionel Luthor, the undisputed King of Metropolis, had…she found evidence that he'd murdered his parents when he was younger and it was in part due to her efforts that he was put on trial. She knew her life was going to be in danger, but…but she did it anyway." Her shoulders shuddered as she heaved a deep breath, and then she continued, "She knew her life would be in danger, of course, but she believed the FBI when they told her they'd keep her safe. I told her…"
Lois didn't finish her sentence, either because she couldn't or because she chose not to. Instead, after giving her head a quick shake, she explained, "The safe house they took her to blew up the moment they took her inside." Her voice was a harsh rasp as she concluded, "That bastard, Lionel Luthor, killed my baby cousin. She meant the world to me, and he took her from me and didn't even care. Would you believe that he didn't even leave me her body? I guess he had some of his cronies clean up, after the fire burned away, but when I asked him once about it, he laughed. He laughed and told me I'd never find it." It was clear, from the bitterness in her voice, that he'd told the truth. She never had.
"What happened to him?" Clark murmured.
Not looking up, she answered, "He died in prison. I only wish I could have sent him there for what he did to Chloe, but there just wasn't get enough evidence to pin the bastard to the wall for that."
In a voice that was still somewhat shaky, Chloe asked, "How did he die?"
Lois's shoulders gave a very visible jerk as she looked back up at Chloe with an expression of pain, as if she'd forgotten for a moment that the woman she was talking to was the girl she'd been talking about. However, a second later, her eyes narrowed and she let out a caustic bark of laughter before answering, "A rare liver disease killed him, actually. He used his billions to prolong his life as long as he could, but there wasn't anything the doctors could do in the end and he died."
There was a wry twist to her lips, and then she admitted, "I'm glad he's dead. I can only hope he died screaming." Turning her head away, she slammed the photo frame back in place, and Clark jumped at the loud crack of wood against wood. He was surprised to see that the glass hadn't cracked from the impact.
"Anyway, that's old news," she said, her voice having regained its previous equanimity as if her moment of vulnerability and rage had never existed. "And I really doubt rehashing the past is going to help get the two of you home, which I suppose is what you both are after. So…why don't you both have a seat? I'll put on a pot of coffee, and then maybe we can figure out how to get you guys home."