Clark I
Kal-El stood and walked out to the kitchen. He was getting restless and needed to move. He couldn't say exactly why he was restless, but maybe uncomfortable was a better description. He was uncomfortable with his realization that the Superman of this world really was Clark Kent, a human with Kryptonian powers who had a family, and family problems. Kal-El had spent most of his adult life believing, as a Kryptonian living on Earth, that he was, for that fact alone, superior. He made life and death decisions all the time. So he had decided that Lois hadn't needed to remember their all-too-short time together; he had decided to leave for six years without thinking of the consequences to those he'd left behind.
The coffee carafe was empty, so he quickly looked through the cabinets for the coffee and started another pot.
"Are you okay?" Wanda/Lois asked. He hadn't noticed her approach. I'm getting careless. He didn't bother to look at her, staring out the kitchen window at the river instead.
"Yeah," Kal-El said. "It's funny, though. I've known all about Krypton since just after high school, but I knew nothing about Kryptonians except that I was the last one. I'd idealized them, a proud, noble, doomed people. He's known about Kryptonians for nearly that long, but knew nothing of the planet they're from. He thinks I'm a self-centered, selfish fool. And he's right."
"Clark? Or would you prefer Charlie or Kal-El?"
"I not sure. Kal-El is my birth name. Clark isn't exactly someone I'd like to know. He's a clumsy, unreliable fool. And the other one, Superman, is a fiction," Kal-El admitted. "The real problem is, I really don't know how to change. Part of me, a big part, says I shouldn't have to. Superman shouldn't care for just one person, shouldn't be bound by family, shouldn't be bothered by mundane matters."
"Sounds lonely," Lois observed.
"Yeah." He turned to look at her, finally. "Just out of curiosity, are your holidays better than theirs?"
Lois shook her head, keeping her voice low. "You've met the General. I'm lucky I don't commit murder over the holidays, although he has been behaving a little better since Jason was born."
Kal-El did remember Lois's parents. Her father, General Sam Lane, was an equal opportunity hater. He'd hated anyone he thought Lois, or her sister, was interested in. It didn't matter whether or not they actually had an interest, the fact he thought they did was all that mattered. He loathed Clark Kent, for various other reasons, not the least of which was that Clark disagreed with the General's politics. He could hardly imagine the General's reaction to finding out that he was Wanda's son's natural father. Lois's mother, Elinor, was an alcoholic and had been in and out of treatment centers most of Lois's life.
"I'm sorry," Kal-El said, softly.
"For what?" Lois asked. "For my family being as screwed up as hers? Comes with the territory. As much as I hate it, I wouldn't be who I am without them."
"Your dad's going to flip when he finds out about Jason, about us," Kal-El said. "Assuming you tell him."
"He already knows you're Jason's father," Lois said. "Everybody at the Planet knew the first time they saw him. Perry figured it was just a matter of time before you showed up again and took responsibility for your actions. We just didn't think it would take six years."
"I'm sorry."
"You keep saying that. I know you're sorry. But sorry isn't the same as being there when your child takes his first step, or says his first word, or scrapes his knee, or cries all night because of an earache. Sorry doesn't mean a lot when you're simply not there, when you're not willing to take the steps to be there for the people who need you."
"Even when the world needs me more?"
"Don't be so full of yourself. The world got along fine for six years without you," Wanda reminded him.
Clark II
"We still have one problem left," Clark said to Zara. "Conza's baby. Logically, I know you and Ching are right. But I just can't do it. I mean, I'll go ahead and sign the repudiation documents, but I can't let you kill her. She's probably the only innocent in this whole mess."
"But we can't take her back to New Krypton and we can't leave her here," Zara reminded him. "I don't see that there's another solution."
"I do," Wanda announced, coming back from the kitchen. "I can take the baby. Charlie and I are from an alternate time-line. I doubt Xon, or whatever his name is, will be able to find her. And you can go ahead and announce the child died or was fostered somewhere away from Earth. I assume there are other inhabited planets around?"
"Yes," Ching said. "Humanoids are spread throughout the galaxy. Many of them seem to be fully human. We try not to have much contact with them. We're not great explorers. We never were and life on New Krypton is hard enough without letting everyone know where we are and how poor we are."
"Or how the mighty have fallen?" Clark observed.
"That, too," Zara said.
"Lois, do you know what you're doing?" Kal-El asked. "She'll be fully Kryptonian."
"Do you think I don't know that?" Wanda demanded. "My son threw a grand piano across a room and killed a man. My five-year-old son. Besides, I think it's a pretty good solution, assuming we ever get back to where we belong. It's not like I'm planning to do this alone."
"According to the memory modules, the storm that brought you here should return within two-and-a-half days at the outside and take you out of here. Hopefully back to where you came from," Clark said. "Assuming you two can find some sort of beacon to guide you back to exactly where you came from. There aren't any guarantees."
He thought back over the many alternate time-lines he and Lois had visited, heard of. He knew there were thousands, millions, of possibilities. "You could wind up almost anywhere. You could end up in a time-line where humans don't exist, where Superman doesn't or can't exist or he did exist and things went bad, either he turned to the darkness, or he died or worse. There are worse things than dying, you know."
"I know," Wanda said. "But I have a son who needs his mother."
Lois I
Wanda couldn't say what possessed her to make the offer to take the child, except it felt exactly right. She wasn't surprised that Kal-El had objections. Some part of her recognized that for all his power, he was afraid of commitment. Afraid of being tied down, of having responsibilities. Not that being the savior of the planet wasn't a responsibility, but that didn't entail the day-in and day-out grind of being truly committed to a relationship, of being responsible to and for another person.
In many ways he was like she had been the day they had met. Mad Dog Lane had interviews instead of dates and had been unable to tell the difference. She was a workaholic and smoked too much. She had fallen for Superman because he was unobtainable. He belonged to the world. And when she was finally ready for a relationship, he wasn't, either as Superman or as Clark Kent.
Instead, she'd found she was pregnant, without knowing how, without knowing who.
"Here is the child," Ching said, handing her the metal case and a metal card with Kryptonian glyphs inscribed on it. "She is in stasis. When the case is opened with the key, the unit will revive her."
"How old is she?" Lois asked.
"Only a few hours," Zara answered. "She is healthy and is the offspring of Lord Kal-El and the Lady Conza Nor-Et. Our medics found no unusual genetic predispositions."
"Wanda, you don't have to do this," Kal-El reminded her.
"Yes, we do," Wanda stated firmly. "I'm a mother. I won't let a child die if I can help it. And you're Superman; you rescue people. Are you willing to turn your back on an innocent? Do you want to have Zara and Ching handle it, lie about it, destroy what trust they've built up with Clark and his family?"
He had a grace to look ashamed. "Of course not. But how do we explain coming back from an investigation that didn't pan out with a newborn?"
Wanda smiled. "I'll think of something." She turned to Clark. "What do you think she'll look like?"
"Based on what I remember of her mother and her grandparents, she'll look something like Lara, brown eyes, dark hair, a little exotic, maybe. Why?"
"Just curious," Wanda said. "Plus, I have an idea."
"I'm not going to like it, am I?" Kal-El asked. He was eyeing her warily.
"If I know my Lois Lanes," Clark said, "you'll be lucky to live."
Wanda saw the familiar deer-in-the-headlights look she'd so often seen in Clark's eyes. It was so odd to see it in the face she now recognized as Superman's. "Would it help if I promise not to kill you, and I promise not to tell the world that Superman is a disguise for Clark Kent?"
"Maybe," Kal El admitted. "But I'd still like to know what you're planning."
"Clark," Zara said. "Ching and I have to get back to the ship and we still need to sign the documents."
"We can do that downstairs. We can also place that ad in the Planet," Clark said, leading them back to the basement office. He beckoned Lois to come with them, leaving Wanda and Kal-El alone in the living room.
"I'm in love with you, you know," Wanda began. "At first, I admit, I had a crush on Superman. He was perfect, unobtainable, safe. No strings, no commitments, no next morning recriminations because he was too good, too upstanding to do anything that was less than perfectly gentlemanly.
"Then I discovered the partner Perry had foisted on me. A tall, good-looking fellow with thick glasses, who so exemplified Midwest values as to be unbelievable. He was honest, brilliant, and so terminally shy we all wondered how he could possibly get any leads or do any interviews because he was afraid to even talk for fear of stammering. But he was one of the few men I'd ever met who could stand up to me, not to mention to my father. He was my friend. Only he disappeared without a word. He never even said goodbye."
"I did try, Lois," Kal-El said. "That last day at the Planet. I tried to say goodbye, but you were too preoccupied with the story you were working on. You never even looked up."
"I'm sorry," she said, not looking at him. "I was so used to having you around, it never even occurred to me you might not be there the next day. I was furious at Perry for not stopping you, for not telling me what you were planning. Everybody in the newsroom thought we'd had a lover's spat. That you'd come back in a few days, all puppy dog eyes, and things would be back to normal. Only you didn't come back. And that hurt."
"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said. "I swear I didn't."
"What about us?" she asked. "Is there even a chance?"
"This morning I would have sworn we didn't," he admitted. "That the problems we would face were too big, too many. I believed my own PR. Superman can't have any relationships like that."
"And now?"
"Lois, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you," he said. "You were beautiful, intelligent, strong, stubborn, opinionated, and brilliant, with an uncanny ability to attract danger. You needed me. And I was too stupid to see that I needed you even more. Do you think we have a chance?"
"We won't know unless we try," Wanda said. She reached up and pulled his head down to her level, kissing him gently.
"What about Richard?"
"Richard knows," she told him. "He's just waiting for me to decide."
Lois II
Lois watched as Clark double-checked the documents he and she were to sign. Zara and Ching had managed to transfer the electronic copies of the documents from the transport to Clark's office computer. How many people on Earth have Kryptonese as a printer font? How many people need to actually print anything using it, much less legal documents?
"You don't trust us?" Zara asked.
Clark chuckled, not stopping his reading to look up. "I trust you just fine, milady. But I am a journalist by trade. 'Trust but verify'." Finally satisfied, he handed both the English and Kryptonian adoption documents to Lois for her to sign.
Lois scanned the English version. The date on the document set it at eleven years before – the day Zara and Ching took Clark away from her. She gave Zara a questioning look.
"For an adoption to take place, we both need to be present. That was one of the few times we were together in front of witnesses," Zara explained. "I distinctly recall calling you my sister in front of the people who were attending Superman's goodbye conference."
"Lois Sen-Ra?" Lois wondered aloud.
"Well, Lois isn't exactly a Kryptonian name, but I have a feeling it's going to be. We already have a number of 'Clark's and even 'Jerome's," Ching said with a smile. He turned to Clark, expression more solemn. "I know that year with us was extraordinarily hard on you, but you have no idea how many people you affected, how much your presence was felt, even after your return to Earth. And if you should ever consider just visiting, please know that you, and Lois, would be welcomed with open arms."
"Thanks, Ching," Clark said. "It's nice to know I did some good."
Lois signed both copies of the adoption papers and handed them to Zara. Zara signed them with a flourish.
"Welcome to the House of Ra, sister," Zara said formally then pulled Lois into a hug. "I always wanted a sister."
Clark took both documents and folded them neatly. He pulled out a signet stamp that Lois recalled seeing occasionally, although she knew he usually kept it in the wall safe. It was engraved with the sigil of the House of El with an additional glyph Lois remembered meant 'child', the meaning of the Kryptonian name 'Kal'. His name meant 'child of the stars', or 'child of hope', depending on the translation.
She watched as Clark wrapped white silk ribbon around each document, then used his heat vision to soften a stick of old-fashioned red sealing wax. He sealed both papers with the sealing wax, imprinting the stamp into the warm wax. "I'll take our copies to Constance for safe-keeping," Clark said when he was done.
The second set of documents only required Clark's signature to repudiate, to deny, Conza Nor-Et's daughter as a member of the House of El. Again, Clark sealed the documents, handing the Kryptonian copy to Zara. These documents she and Ching signed on the outside, above the seal, as witnesses.
"One last document," Ching announced, placing two more sheets in front of Clark. "I know the two of you are legally married on Earth. But also you know that under New Krypton law that wasn't a legal joining. This will take care of that."
"A marriage license?" Lois asked.
"Not quite," Zara said. "It's the same arrangement Ching and I have. Kal-El and I are bound by law in a birth contract marriage. We cannot break that contract. However, our law does allow for secondary 'marriages' if the contract partners are unwilling or unable to fulfill the more intimate requirements of the contract marriage."
"You make it sound so clinical," Lois commented.
"Just realistic," Zara corrected. "Clark and I are not the first birth marriage partners who discovered we had other wishes, other desires, and we won't be the last. This document legitimizes your relationship with Clark, even though legally it does make you a bound concubine rather than a wife. It also ensures that your children are properly legitimized so they are in line of succession to the House of El."
"Don't feel bad, Lois. Legally, I'm a bound concubine as well," Ching said with a chuckle.
Clark once again checked both documents, signed at the appropriate places and handed them to Lois. Lois signed her new Kryptonian name in the proper places, and again Clark sealed the documents. Zara and Ching signed the outside as witnesses on both documents.
"Hopefully the council won't have any problems with these," Clark said.
"Zara can be very persuasive when she needs to be, as you well know, brother," Ching reminded him. "We need to get back to the ship. Even with the new star drive it takes several days to get back."
Lois led the way back to the main floor. She noticed Kal-El and Wanda seated on the sofa, and based on how quickly Kal-El moved away from Wanda, she suspected they'd been necking.
"I gather you've managed to resolve some of your issues?" Lois asked with a chuckle.
"We're working on it." Wanda grinned. "Are all Kryptonian men such great kissers?"
"Mine is." Lois laughed. "Why do you think I married him?"
Clark grinned at his wife, then turned to Zara and Ching. "Safe journey, brother, milady." This time it was Clark who pulled Zara into a hug. "We'll keep you posted on how Jason is doing. And keep me posted on what's happening with Xon, okay?"
"Of course, Clark," Zara promised. With that, they were gone.
Lois looked over at the dining table with its now nearly-empty plates of snacks. "Tomorrow. I'll clean it up tomorrow," she promised.
"I'll take care of it later," Clark promised. "It's time you went to bed. I'll be back in a little while."
She smiled and gave him a kiss. "Go do your patrol. I'm pretty sure your mom's up in the guest room, so I guess these two will be sacked out in the living room tonight."
"Actually, I wouldn't mind going on patrol," Kal-El said. "It would seem normal after everything that's happened today."