Chapter 4

Metropolis

June 16, 2021

Elle landed in a remote parking area near the Metropolis airport and then blurred to Lane-Kent apartment complex. She stood outside on the sidewalk opposite the building as she had done before. It was nearly 8 PM the night that her father would fly to Malaysia to deal with a terrorist act at the Orchid Garden Mall. This is going to be confusing, she thought. This is the night he returns early and we talk. She struggled to remember what it was that her mother had told her that night.

She watched closely and glimpsed a streak that was all but imperceptible to the human eye; her father had just left. She entered the apartment complex and blurred up the stairs to the floor where her parents lived. Elle knocked on the door.

Lois looked at the video monitor mounted next to door and saw Elle standing in the hallway. She yanked open the door. "My God," she exclaimed as Elle walked in. "I was so worried that I'd never see you again!" She gave her daughter a strong embrace. "Your Dad just left," she added. "You probably knew that."

The young woman returned the embrace and held it longer than she had in the past and her mother sensed it. "I was here less than two days ago in my time," Elle replied as she released Lois. "I had to choose the right time to come."

"Do you want something to eat; are you hungry?" Lois asked.

"I am hungry," Elle replied. "But let me help you because there is a lot to talk about." She entered the kitchen with Lois. "And Father will be back sooner than you think."

"How does it all turn out?"

"It turns out great. He doesn't try to solve it by himself; he calls on the rest of the JL to help. No casualties; everyone and everything is saved."

Lois nodded. "Well, that would be a change. He's been taking on so much of the responsibility for intervening in things that happen in the world, it's a wonder the rest of the team hasn't retired." She smiled. "If everyone is in one piece, then he'll come back happy. Sometimes he can't possibly save everyone and those are the tough times for him. No one ever expects him to save everyone but he always feels guilty when he doesn't."

They pulled some leftovers out of the refrigerator and Elle warmed them up quickly. "Mother," she began, "there is so much to tell you and I'll wait until Father returns to hit the key points."

The comment stopped Lois in her tracks. "Wait! I thought you didn't want to talk to your father. You were afraid he'd be angry that you returned and interacted with me. He wanted me to stall you so he could talk to you too." She shrugged. "Mission accomplished, I guess," she said as she poured herself a glass of iced tea.

Elle grimaced. "That was before," she said. "I know better now; the things I worried about the last time we spoke aren't a concern anymore." She paused and then said, "But just so you know, this isn't the first time I've returned to this point in time." Lois stared at her with a perplexed look. "I came here once before; just about this time of the day. I know Father shows up before we expected him to arrive and we had a long talk about changing the future and ripple effects. The time I was here before I gave you and Father all the information about your death and what Lex Luthor was up to. Because of what I told you, Father and you took certain actions that I thought had solved the problem of your premature death. But when I returned to the future, it was even worse than during my lifetime."

"Whoa," Lois exclaimed. "Are you saying that you were here on this night once before?" Elle nodded slowly. "Okaaaaay," she resumed. "So whatever you told us about my death in the next few years didn't make things better because of what your father or I did; what we did made things worse?"

"Yes," Elle sighed. "But I think I know now what the thing is that causes the timeline you're in right now to deviate from the one you learned about the night I was born. It's a little complicated so I'd like to wait until Father returns so we can go through it together once."

Lois nodded. "This is confusing enough," she said. "You're probably right; wait until he gets back." They had carried the food and plates to the table and sat. "So, the altered future was worse. The bottom line there is we don't want to go that route, right?"

Nodding, Elle swallowed. "Right. And I think I've figured out what it is that causes things to go bad in this timeline and what caused it to be worse in the altered timeline." She speared a new potato with her fork. "Father had said that it's not something as trivial as turning right instead of turning left. He said that it had to be something significant; a significant turn of events that causes a divergence in timelines. I think I found that significant event so I'll go through the two futures and see if Father agrees. If so, we're still within the converged timeline and haven't reached the point of the action that causes the timelines to split." She popped the tiny potato in her mouth.

Lois watched her grown up daughter and it still seemed surreal. Glimpsing the future version of her daughter made her love little Lara even more. Elle was stunning and savvy but also vulnerable. She had come back to talk to her mother about a man; like her father at one time she was full of self-doubt. "Elle," Lois began, "you came to talk to me about a man." Elle nodded. "Changing the future might change that as well, you know?"

She swallowed. "I know. I've thought about that. When I returned to the future I wondered where he was and what he was doing at the time. But the future is so different from what I knew it to be, there was no point in trying to see him or find out what he was doing. When I explain to you what I learned, you'll understand."

Lois sipped her iced tea. "My point is you're risking changing that relationship in your life by having us change your past. What we already know will change it for you. What if everything changes back to the future I learned about; what about your relationship and the man in your life? Aren't you worried that it will change that as well?"

She thought for a moment and stared at her mother. "Father told me that he believed love always found a way. He said it found a way for him; that he found it in you. He told me that you had traveled to the near future once and while you were gone, he thought you had died and realized that an important part of him died when he thought you were gone forever. He replayed the moment he confessed his secret to you, telling me that it was the fear of losing you that made him want to tell you. He said simply that love had found a way to overcome his fears and allow him to let you fully in to his life." Lois smiled and Elle sighed. "So if it is meant to be; if it's the real thing, love will find a way, Mom – just like it did for you and Father."

"When he was telling you about that, did he also mention that I already knew his secret?"

Grinning, she cocked her head. "I think he left that part out."

She snorted. "Your father is a brilliant man in many ways except when it comes to recognizing signals women give off. He has always had a bit of a blind spot when it came to that."

Elle covered her mouth and giggled. "I've never heard anyone say Father had blind spots before!"

They laughed. "Well he does. He may be the most powerful being on the face of the Earth but he still has a lot to learn when it comes to women. It's one of the millions of things I love about him." She smiled and her mind drifted off to their past for a moment. "But he's right," Lois finally added. "If that man of yours is the one, anything that happens to change the course of the future won't change the fact that you'll end up together. Love does find a way when you're destined to find it." Her smile faded. "In fact, your father and I were discussing that not too long ago."

"You were?"

She swirled the iced tea around in the glass; ice tinkled against the sides. "Yes. I told him that after you were born…"

Lois' story was interrupted by Clark's return. "Don't go, Lara!" he cried out.

"She's not going anywhere Clark," Lois responded. "We were waiting for you to come back."

Clark relaxed. "Good. Let me get changed," he said and dashed into the bedroom.

Lois looked at Elle. "Do they have Monster Truck Shows in the future?"

Elle frowned and shook her head. "I'm not even sure what they are."

"Oh damn," Lois exclaimed. "We really need to fix that."

Clark reappeared and moved to where Lara was sitting, bent over and hugged her. "I was worried that if you saw me that you'd leave. Lois told me about…"

"Clark!" Lois interrupted. "You're dealing with old information. You've got some catching up to do. Sit down. Do you feel like some dessert, Elle?"

"Yes," she replied, "I'd love some."

Looking at Clark, "I know I don't have to ask you," she said and went into the kitchen and re-emerged with a pie that Martha had baked and three plates. Lois cut three pieces and distributed them and sat. She turned to Clark. "Just so you know, Elle has been here before."

"I know," Clark said frowning. "You told me that."

"No; that's not what I mean. She's been here at this time in her past before. She came back after some changes were made and rather than the changes improving things in the future, those changes made the future worse."

"Maybe not all the changes were for the worse," Elle began. "But when linked with other events, the future became far worse than you can imagine." She began first by telling him of the future she came from, how Lois was killed and what precipitated it all. Then she explained that she returned to this time in the timeline and that actions were taken and changes made that should have neutralized Lex Luthor's plan. "There was no nuclear launch but it didn't matter. Things got terribly worse." She described Pete's assassination and Luthor regaining the Presidency and declaring martial law. Then she explained what happened to her mother and father.

"Holy cow," Lois exclaimed. "So you're saying that could be in just a month or so?" Elle nodded. Turning to Clark, "We all need to figure this out. I'm not ready to go this soon," she said with a grimace. "And there aren't any Monster Truck Shows in the future either. That's not a future I want to see."

"No," Clark agreed, "Monster Truck Shows aside." He looked at Elle. "It sounds like you've analyzed some things if you said not all the changes were for the worse. What are you thinking?"

"It seems to me," she began, "that each time, Mom received a video file from Lana and there is commonality there. It seems that getting that file leads to her death. That seems like the divergence point in the timelines."

Clark rubbed his chin and thought about it. "There's certainly a consistent set of results that occur whenever she gets this video file you're talking about. It seems that it may be a trigger for the premature death she suffers."

"All the things that happen to you and I afterwards," Elle continued, "seem to spring from Mom's death. Those effects in turn affect mankind. The key is Mom not dying and the two of you continuing to influence humanity in your own ways. The thing that gets her killed is that video file."

"Can it be that simple?" she asked Clark. "I don't get a video file and the future is just what I learned about on the night Elle was born? Why wouldn't I have gotten it before?"

"You see," Clark said, "that's what I've been trying to figure out, Lois. The timeline that existed the night she was born changed at some point between that night and the moment you took the file from Lana." He looked at Elle. "Maybe it was the fact that Lana gave your mother the video file that got her killed but in the future your mother knew about, events would have progressed up to the point where Lana presented her the video file. Why didn't she take the file in that timeline?"

"Maybe she was on an assignment or something that kept Lana from giving her the file? All I know is that each time she gets the file, she dies and without her, everything changes for you, Father, and that affects the entire human race."

"Including you," Lois added.

They grew quiet, deep in thought. Clark finally broke the silence. "It's clear that certain things must change. I need to speak to Pete so that he doesn't become Lex's pawn the way he was in your original timeline, Lara. And now I can tell him what he's looking for; a video file that is embedded in the ending credits of 'Mr. Smith Goes To Washington'. I can intervene in the assassination attempt now that I know about it." He paused, mulling a plan in his head. "I could even keep an eye out from above and try to determine exactly who it was that plants the bomb and let his Secret Service track down the would-be assassin if it wasn't the Chinese national that was blamed in the alternate future." He frowned while sorting through things. "I think I'll also advise Pete not to surrender the server unless he's absolutely sure that it will be protected."

"Don't forget that he should only give the file to the authorities and absolutely no one else," Elle added.

"Right!"

"I think if things progress the way they are supposed to progress, we should avoid going to the White House if we're invited," Lois said. "I think we need to find an excuse or at least I need to find an excuse. I don't want to have anything to do with that video file."

Clark nodded. "I agree, Lois. If we're invited, I can go but you should probably stay here. I'll explain things to Pete and Lana if the invitation comes. Once that recording becomes a matter of public record, then I think it would be safe for you to visit."

Clark called Lana and later flew off to meet them both at the White House. Elle remained at the apartment with Lois. They moved to the couch and sat together, finishing off some coffee and remnants of Martha's strawberry pie. "So what did you do last time you were here…I mean, last time you were here this time?" she asked and rolled her eyes.

"You took me to Aunt Chloe's house. You and Father thought it would be better if I stayed there because of space and because of Grandma Kent."

"She's really your second cousin, I think," Lois interjected. "We call her Aunt Chloe for little Lara's sake."

Elle smiled. "It was nice. I learned a lot about Father before he met you and how you turned his life upside down when you showed up. Those were stories I had never really heard before." Her eyes grew misty. "I never really remember us having many of those type talks."

"You can stay here if you'd prefer."

Elle nodded and smiled. "I would. And don't worry about it confusing Grandma Kent. She bawled Father out for keeping her in the dark last time I was here."

Lois snorted. "That's your father for you. He's always trying to protect those he loves but doesn't realize how unnecessary it is. Your grandmother is as sharp as a tack; even at her age." Elle nodded but said nothing, leading Lois to wonder if Elle actually felt that way after Clark had left her all alone in the young woman's recent past. "Anyway, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you." She put down her coffee and turned to face Elle directly. "You call Clark 'Father'. It sounds so formal. Have you always called him that?"

With a look of surprise, Elle cocked her head and thought for a moment. "I think so. Well," she amended, "I think when I was a little girl I remember calling him Daddy but once I grew up, I've always called him father."

"Hmm." She shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter that much. If that's what you're comfortable with, that's okay. It's just odd to me because whenever Clark spoke to Jor-El, it's what he called him…'Father'. It just strikes me as odd that he'd permit you to call him that."

"Jor-El? I've heard of him and I've even been to the Fortress once a long time ago; before Father destroyed it. But I really didn't pay much attention to what he called Jor-El. I always remembered Jor-El's voice was scary and you took me to explore the place."

Cocking her head, Lois asked, "You've only been there once?"

"That's all I can recall," she replied.

"Are you telling me that after I died your father never took you there?"

She shook her head. "After you died, Mom, he wasn't the same. He tried to be as normal in public as he had always been but in private, he was really withdrawn. That's why it's been so cool watching you two together at this time in your lives. These are the times I don't remember much. All I really remember is how much you two love each other but I don't remember…"

"Wait!" Lois interrupted. "You said you remember going there once, right?"

"Yes."

She frowned. "Do you remember how old you were when you went…roughly?"

Her mother's intensity piqued her interest. Something was clearly troubling her mother. "Okay…let me think," Elle said. She chewed her bottom lip for a moment. "I couldn't have been older than four and probably more like three and a half."

"About a year from now," Lois said absently. Elle nodded and remained quiet for a moment. She knew her mother was on to something and wanted to let her sort it out. "So about a year from now in your timeline, we all went to the Fortress together," she recounted and then remained silent for a moment. "You don't recall your father having to do anything to the Fortress before we could go in, do you?"

"Before we could go in to the Fortress; no. He had to do something with some crystals to make Jor-El talk to him."

"So we all flew into the Fortress together."

"Yes."

"No stopping outside to clear snow away or anything?"

"No."

"Hmm. Something changed." Lois narrowed her eyes. "Right now, the Fortress is buried in snow. Your father buried it because he had a very strong disagreement with Jor-El."

"About what?"

"About the way Jor-El had treated me; but that's not important right now," Lois replied. "What is important is that in your memory, we all visited the Fortress and it didn't need to be uncovered which means Clark never had that disagreement with Jor-El and never buried the Fortress when you were growing up."

Elle nodded. "But between now and a year from now, isn't it possible that a crisis arises and Father uncovers the Fortress because he really needs to talk to Jor-El?"

Lois nodded. "I suppose that could happen too." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But I don't know why he would take you and I there if he made peace with Jor-El just because of a crisis," she added.