Chapter 3

Metropolis

May 25, 2042

"When did this all take place, Father?" Elle asked.

"It began in July 2021. Pete was assassinated on the 22nd. Then…"

"Wait!" Elle interrupted. "July 2021? That's less than a month from when I left you and Mother. All this happened because I never came back?"

"Correct."

"But, why didn't I return to warn you?"

Clark frowned. "It's not that simple, Lara. When you travel forward in time, you cannot affect the events that take place from the time you leave to the point in the future in which you arrive." He paused and then began again. "When you left us to go to the future, the future continued on the path that was set when you left. You can return…you must now that you know the events that will unfold if nothing is done to divert them."

Elle's eyes grew misty. "I only wanted to talk to Mother because she wasn't around much when I was growing up," she said softly. "I've made the future worse."

"You did what I told you to do in another time," Clark replied. "You can't blame yourself for this future. You were trying to restore the future your mother learned about the night you were born." He took a deep breath. "It's what we all wanted."

She looked at Lana. "You said I hadn't heard the worst of it. What could be worse?"

"What they did to you; what they did to your father after they discovered he was Superman, Lara."

She looked at her father who looked defeated. "What did they do? I know they somehow took your powers; how?"

He looked down at his coffee that was now getting cold, thinking about the days when he could keep his coffee piping hot just with his eyes. Looking back up, he said, "Gold Kryptonite."

The color drained from his daughter's face. "My God…how did anyone know about that?"

"When Lex heard the recording of your Aunt Lucy talking to your mother, he ordered an investigation to see if the answer to your aunt's question was true. So a special investigative team from the FBI researched your birth record, located Emil Hamilton and took him in to custody for questioning. They heavily drugged him and under those conditions, he confirmed that you were my daughter and that Superman was the husband of Lois Lane-Kent." Elle looked mortified and Clark nodded, acknowledging her horror. "They also learned about Kryptonite in its various forms and the effect it had on me."

"Lex ordered the Department of the Interior to comb Smallville for all forms of Kryptonite," Lana offered. "They tore that poor town to shreds. My Aunt Nell's home was leveled and the land the Kent Farm stood on was seized by the government." She reached out and put her hand on Clark's. "They destroyed all the land in the area in their search for Kryptonite. They found some green, some blue and some traces of gold kryptonite."

"Lara, the government under Lex Luthor was ruthless; it still is," Clark added. "They kept me locked up without a trial, citing national security concerns. When your mother was killed by a group of inmates, there was nothing I could do. I had been moved into a special cell that was made for me with walls embedded with slivers of blue kryptonite. I was neutralized by it."

Clark sat quietly, reflecting on the events of the past 21 years. Lana spoke. "Your father was not even allowed to attend your mother's funeral."

"Why did they let you out?" she asked. "I mean, if they were going to keep you indefinitely without a trial, what changed?"

Clark looked at Lana and she continued. "You did," she responded. "The government had you locked up in a facility for years. They tested your abilities endlessly and then, when your powers really began to develop, they realized they didn't have an answer for that. They kept you powerless with blue kryptonite, like they had done with your father. But unlike your father, you were not raised under the influence of the Kent family morals and values. You were unpredictable and dangerous; you were a direct threat to those that had tested, probed and experimented on you. They knew what would happen if you ever broke loose from their control."

"They were in a conundrum, Lara," Clark interjected. "They couldn't test you any longer because they had to keep you subdued with blue kryptonite. So, they decided to remove the blue kryptonite and substitute it with green kryptonite."

"Why?" Elle asked and Clark didn't reply.

Finally, Lana replied. "They thought it would kill you."

"They didn't factor in that I was part human," Elle added.

Clark nodded. "You suffered for days, Lara. It is unfathomable what they put you through." He clenched his teeth. "And I was helpless to do anything about it."

Lana put her hand over Clark's and gently squeezed it. "After three days, they realized that the green kryptonite was not going to work. They withdrew it from the containment room they had you in and you began to regain your powers almost immediately."

"What you didn't know because you weren't raised by your mother or me was about black kryptonite. Since black kryptonite is not a natural form of the mineral, they never found any. They didn't know, nor did you, that superheating green kryptonite would form it." Clark's eyes narrowed. "At some point after you regained your powers, you used your heat vision in an attempt to destroy the green kryptonite but it only formed black. The scientists that had been testing you had no idea that the kryptonite you heated had transformed it. They attempted to stop you by using the blackened kryptonite only to split you into two entities."

"Your evil half killed several of the scientists and guards, destroyed the lab and escaped, leaving your good half abandoned," Lana continued. "Your evil half calls herself Elle."

Elle's eyes grew wide. "It's the name I use!"

"I know," Clark said nodding. "I remember your mother telling me that years ago." He looked at Elle. "For over six years they have been trying to capture your other half. For six years they have been helpless to do anything to stop you. Elle wreaks havoc in the world; everywhere in the world. But splitting you like that gave them no choice but to come to me for help."

"Is that why you're free and not still in prison?"

He nodded. "After about 6 months of trying to stop you, they asked me how to fix the problem they created. I told them that I could fix it but I needed to be released, I needed to have your good half with me and I needed kryptonite. They agreed to release me under one condition."

"Gold kryptonite," Elle murmured.

"Yes," he replied. "If I agreed to be exposed gold kryptonite to permanently neutralize my powers, they would release me and release you to me."

Tears welled in her eyes. Elle had thought that witnessing her father's steady decline in her own life was depressing. Seeing this version of her father was harder still. "Well, where is my good half now?"

"That's another story," Lana said. "They released your father but the state of Kansas wouldn't allow your father to have custody of you and the federal government would not intervene. You were still a minor at the time. Your father had just left prison after 13 years there. Between Lex and your other half, your father's image and reputation were ruined. Lex had turned the public against your father saying that Elle was an example of the future mankind would face if aliens were not controlled. He was a pariah; no one would associate with him. He was out of work, there were questions of his legal residency status, and no one could employ him. Under those circumstances, the state refused to let him regain custody of you." She smiled weakly. "I offered to marry your father so that he could regain custody of Lara." She paused. "It's no secret that I've always loved your father and I always considered your mother as one of my closest friends. She died protecting me, Lara. I know that I can't take her place but marrying and supporting him was the very least I could do to repay their sacrifices."

This time Clark took Lana's hand. "Once we were married, I gained custody of you and immediately contacted J'onn J'onzz. He came and retrieved you from us and the Justice League has been keeping you safe ever since. In fact," Clark added, "that's about the only contact the members have with one another these days; periodically handing you off from one member to another to keep you safe."

"So when I arrived tonight," Elle began, "you thought I was who? Elle?"

"Yes," Lana replied. "And I'm horribly sorry for hurting you."

Elle nodded. "I know, Lana. I know you wouldn't have done that under any other circumstances."

"Lara, even though Elle's done unspeakable things, she is still my daughter," Clark said. "I love her even if I cannot condone what she's done. But if Elle comes and we can subdue her with green kryptonite, I'll be able to have the police hold her until we can make arrangements for Lara to be returned. Then we can rejoin the two halves and at that point, get her free of this planet." He paused and then added, "Unless you can go back and change the course of this history."

"How, Father? Looking back from here, what's the convergence point? The last change I made caused this future to happen. Changing it would change the way you are now; maybe for the worse." She looked at Lana and noticed an odd expression on her face. "At least the world outside seems at peace."

"At peace? No," Clark reassured her. "You're confusing peace with fear. People fear the government. Through the years, people surrendered their liberty for security. What looks to be a peaceful existence is nothing more than compliance with horribly restrictive laws and rules…" He paused to keep his anger in check. "People are afraid, Lara. They've lost the passion for life that they once had before Luthor became a tyrant. The people of this country have been so intimidated and coerced into living like drones that they don't dare to live outside the boundaries set for them by Lex's decrees."

She frowned. "Then I need to go back immediately," she announced. "This future just cannot be allowed to happen."

"Yes; you do," Clark said. "The problem is that you'll go back and still not know where the convergence point is."

"What do you mean by convergence point, Clark?" Lana asked.

"It's the point where different timelines converge in the past. It's the point where the outcome of an event or decision triggers two unique futures. We have to figure it by tracing the events backward in two separate timelines until they intersect."

"We thought it was when President Ross decided to deviate from Luthor's plan. I told my parents about the future I grew up in and they believed that Luthor was the cause," Elle added.

Clark stood up. "Let me get some references and we'll try to figure it out before you leave." He plodded into the bedroom and Elle stood. She wandered out on to the terrace as Lana cleared the table and then joined her.

"Lara," she began. "I know this future has to change but before you leave, I need to tell you something." She stood next to Elle looking out at the eerily quiet city. "As horrible as it is, there is one bright spot for me: being married to your father. I did what I did to protect you and protect him but I also did it for selfish reasons." She paused, not sure where she was headed with her admission but felt compelled to explain herself. "I always envied your mother," she admitted. "I made some foolish choices when your father and I were young and in love. I thought I had to be his equal to be his soul mate. Your mother made it seem so easy and she never tried to be his equal in the things you know about Superman. She was always his rock to cling to without being a side-kick. I wished I had learned that earlier and things may have been different."

"Thank you," Elle replied unsteadily. "Father always told me that my mother was as special as he was; only in different ways." She paused and then continued. "But what are you trying to say?"

Lana voice waivered. "I'm trying to make you understand," she began, "that even though I know I'll never be what your mother was to him; I'm all he has in this existence now." She looked up at the black sky. "I don't know why it is important to that I tell this if it's all going to change, but I want you to know that I learned what your father needs from watching your mother. Things are different now and he needs a different kind of support but I try to be like your mother when it comes to being his rock." Tears leaked from her eyes and she quickly brushed them away and sniffed. "Even though this is a terrible future compared to the one you know, for me it's a blessing because I can be important in your father's life again."

"He hardly seems like my father anymore," she replied. "Now that I've seen them together through adult eyes, it's hard to imagine him like this. He looks so…" she trailed off.

"Defeated?"

"Yes," Elle replied. "Even as disillusioned as I remember seeing my father, he never was like this."

"Lara, did you know me in your past?"

"Yes. Right after my mother died you tried to… move in to replace her but you gave up. You had divorced from Presi…I mean Vice President Ross. You gave my mother the video file the day she was killed."

Lana flinched. "You don't think that I had anything to do…"

"No! But I think it was connected, Lana and so did you. I know you didn't purposely get my mother killed but I'm convinced it happened because you passed that file to my mother."

They stood together silently. Finally Lana spoke. "Lara, I want you to know that I wasn't trying to be…opportunistic…when it came to your father," she said in a very hushed tone. "While being here now makes me happy, it's obvious he's not happy at all. I married your father to help him get custody of you but that's not the only reason. I do love him, Lara…I always have. I wish I could be to him what your mother was but I'm not her."

Elle nodded silently and then froze. "Wait!" She looked at Lana and then turned to the interior of the apartment. "Father," she called out, "I think I may have figured out the answer!" Elle moved inside quickly and Lana followed at a slower pace.

Clark emerged from the bedroom with newspaper clippings in his hands. "You did?" he asked, a look of excitement on his face.

All three moved to the couch and sat; Elle between Lana and Clark. "When Mother died in my childhood, it was because she had just gotten the video file from Lana. In this future, she got the video file from Lana too. In each instance, getting the file from Lana led to Mother being killed."

Nodding, he thought for a moment. "I agree; that's clearly the action that created the divergence point." He pondered the matter some more. "The question now is that in the future she learned about the night you were born, what prevented her from getting that file from Lana?"

"Couldn't that be anything though?" Lana asked. "Maybe in that future, she was on another assignment the day you two came to the White House; one that had her somewhere else?"

"I can't imagine an assignment that important, Lana. Lois would have moved heaven and Earth to visit the White House." He paused a moment. "Even though we were all old friends, Lois was really excited that day. Being invited to the White House wasn't like being invited over to brunch by the friends next door." A lost smile briefly sailed across his face. "Lois would have had me pick her up from wherever she was at just to be able to visit you and Pete at the White House."

To that, Lana asked, "But what if it was an assignment where she was so visible that she couldn't explain being seen at the White House, Clark? I mean if she was in Paris to interview the French President, for example, she couldn't explain being seen at the White House the same day. Can you remember anything happening around that time that she could have been covering?"

"I was just there," Elle said. "There were plenty of events going on in the world but nothing I can think of that she would be involved in covering."

"But when you left, your mother already had received the file from me, right?" Lana asked. "Won't you have to go back to a point prior to that to keep her from getting the file?"

Clark nodded and Elle replied. "That seems easy enough…as long as I can time it right." She grimaced. "It was only a few days after you visited President Ross that they invited you to the White House and that's where Lana gave the file to Mother."

"So you'll have to intervene, Lara," Clark said. "You'll have to convince us that your mother cannot go to the White House and the reason why."

"Or at least convince her not to take anything from me," Lana added.

"That's right!" Clark agreed. "That might be an easier sell than trying to convince your mother not to go to the White House." He smiled again and he was animated for the first time since Elle had arrived. He almost seemed like the Clark Kent she had seen in the past; engaged and hopeful.

Elle stood. "Then I should go," she announced. Clark and Lana stood as well. "The sooner I get back, the sooner this future can be prevented."

Clark nodded and hugged his daughter. "I hope so," he whispered.

Lana hugged Elle but said nothing and Elle disappeared out through the terrace doors and streaked into the dark Metropolis morning. They watched and Lana took Clark's hand. "I know you want the future to change, Clark and I want it to change for you as well…for everyone's sake." She turned to face him. "But part of me is happy right where I am now; with you sharing your life with me and sharing your bed too. I know I'm not the one who would truly make you happy but Clark, you make me happy being with you. So before this future changes can we have one last night together?"