Disclaimer: None of this is mine, by the way. Duh.

AN: The story continues! Special thanks to Mysterious Prophetess' story "The Council of Fate vs. Lana Lang" for the inspiration of what to do with Lana eventually.

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Chapter Two: The Future (Still)

"All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that." ~ Baltasar Gracian

"Time is a cruel thief to rob us of our former selves. We lose as much to life as we do to death." ~Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey

"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing." ~Brian Tracy

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They must have been flying for hours, Lois thought as they streaked over the white snow and ice landscape. The air had turned bitingly cold and Lois was getting pretty tired of the freezing wind whipping through her. Her purse kept on moving up and down her arm awkwardly. Her knuckles were stiff as she struggled to maintain her hold on Kara's shoulders. Kara's iron grip remained steady, but Lois could only hope that they would reach wherever they were going soon. Her teeth were beginning to chatter and her eyes had been tearing up for at least an hour. She had been able to sort of doze during the flight, but the cold wind had woken her up more than anything else.

They hadn't spoken for a while, since it was hard to actually hear Kara over the roar of the wind. Kara spoke up, "We're nearly there, Lois. The landing might be a little hard."

Lois wasn't really surprised at this. Things just could never be easy for her, it seemed. She really had no idea what to expect here in this northern wasteland. Kara had mentioned this Jor-El person, but Lois didn't recognize the name at all. After so many years without the weird radars of Clark and Chloe she wasn't as up-to-date with the supernatural as she had been in younger days. Maybe Jor-El was some sort of snow version of Obi-Wan Kenobi? A lone hermit living in the middle of nowhere?

"Here we go!" Kara shouted.

Lois willed her fingers to hold on as tightly as they could, although she wasn't exactly sure how much they could handle. Kara was slowing down and descending toward the ground. Lois didn't know anything about flying, but she could tell that the angle of the approaching ground was a little bit off as they got closer. They braced for impact. Kara hit the ground first, smashing a channel through the snow as she tried to bring Lois down safely. She eventually managed to control her speed enough so that Lois could push herself off Kara's shoulders into the snow and ice.

"Lois! Are you all right?" Kara called to her.

Lois pushed herself up shakily. She was covered in snow and absolutely freezing. "Yeah, I'm here, Kara." She was feeling irritated at this point. She needed some answers now. "Why on Earth does this Jor-El dude live all the way up here?"

Kara smiled grimly, "It's not really an Earth thing. The Fortress is out of the way up here, although it isn't quite exactly where I remember it being. C'mon."

Kara helped Lois up and they both started walking in the opposite direction from the snow channel Kara had created during landing. Lois tried to figure out how to describe the structure they were walking towards. Giant crystals rose from the surface to form what Lois could only call a 'fortress' as Kara had mentioned. It looked like some weird geode thing, but far more elaborate than most. It was absolutely beautiful.

It only took a few minutes before they were entering the massive crystal fortress. Lois gaped around her, completely in awe of her surroundings. Light reflected from every surface, making it seem as if the whole place was full of shimmering life. It was like a white palace of ice, but so much more at the same time. The inside of the fortress was warmer than the outside temperature, too. She had the vague feeling that she recognized the place though, from her old dreams of what heaven must look like, but to actually be in such a magnificent place was like nothing else.

"Ok, Kara, what comes next?" Lois said. This place was gorgeous, but she still wasn't sure how much she trusted Kara.

"Jor-El?" Kara said.

Lois looked around for either a hermit in robes or a squad of Enforcers. Neither one appeared. "Hello?" Lois said.

"Lois Lane."

Lois jumped and looked around wildly for the source of the bodiless voice. Kara actually smiled at her, so Lois knew how absurd she must look. She backed up against a crystal column and clutched her purse while she dug around in it feverishly. She had to have her gun in there somewhere.

"Relax, Lois, the voice is Jor-El," Kara said gently.

"Where?" Lois said. "That voice? Jor-El's just a voice?"

"That is correct. Thank you for coming. Your presence is most important."

Lois relaxed slightly at the calming voice, although she kept herself pressed against the column. She looked at Kara dubiously and then around the fortress again. She really wasn't looking forward to having a conversation with a disembodied voice and some crazy cousin of Clark Kent's who could fly. Maybe it was the fact that the fortress was so beautiful and inviting compared to her daily life in the shadows and dark Metropolis underground, but she found herself actually trusting her surroundings. For Lois, that could either be a great instinct or a sign that she was going to have to come up with a fabulous way to save her life again.

She opened her mouth once and then closed it, feeling stupid. She tried again, "Who are you?"

"I am Jor-El, of the House of El."

Lois didn't really find this very helpful, but she wasn't sure how to deal with this voice. "I'm Lois Lane, of the House of Lane?"

"I am aware of your identity, Lois Lane. We haven't much time."

"Much time for what?" Lois asked.

"The timeline must be repaired. Kal-El must be restored to his proper place on Earth."

Lois felt like she was missing a very important first half of a movie. "Whoa, back up a minute. What timeline? Who's Kal-El?"

"He never told her," Kara told Jor-El, somewhat sadly.

Jor-El responded before Lois could, "Kal-El is my son. I believe you know him as Clark Kent."

Why did that name keep coming up today after so many years without it? She thought she had buried those feelings for good years and years ago. Now, Lois had no idea how she was supposed to absorb this information that the disembodied voice was Clark's father. "Look, I'm sorry, but I don't know where Clark is."

"Where he is now is not important. Where he should be is what matters. There are some important things you need to know about Kal-El…"

Jor-El then proceeded to tell a long story that Lois struggled to keep up with. Apparently, if she got the gist of it right, Clark was really some alien from the planet Krypton. Jor-El got his son off of Krypton before the planet exploded. Clark had super-powers on Earth, including x-ray vision, super-strength, super-hearing, heat vision, super-speed, invulnerability, super-breath and he potentially could fly like Kara. Kara was also from Krypton. Kryptonians didn't react well to the meteor rocks and the green variety could kill him. The sun gave him power. Many years ago, Clark had been the red-and-blue blur of fame. Jor-El also kept saying that Clark was meant for great things.

Lois rubbed her temples as she tried to process all this information. Without Clark actually here it was a bit harder to believe all of this. It was strange, but this really didn't change her opinion of him at all. She just wished she had known this back when Clark had been around. "Ok, I've heard all about Clark now. What's the deal with the timeline? I don't understand where I fit in this."

"This timeline is incorrect. It has been tampered with. Kal-El should not have disappeared nine years and eight months ago."

It looked like Jor-El was counting the time without Clark, too. "Who messed with the timeline? Was it Lex Luthor?" Lois asked.

"I do not have a definite answer to that. The last time he visited me, Kal-El moved the location of this structure to prevent Luthor from finding it. Kal-El talked about Luthor's plans. He said that Luthor was hunting Kal-El with the aid of Lana Lang. Kal-El was convinced that Lana Lang could be persuaded not to aid Luthor, but he had procured a weapon that would disable Lana Lang's nano-suit if necessary. He hid the weapon here."

Lois had heard something about the nano-suit from Chloe at one point, but she had no idea that Lana had helped Luthor get into power all those years ago. When Lois had come back from Star City with Jimmy, Lana and Clark had gone off on some vague crime-fighting spree that Lois hadn't fully understood even then. Lana was actually working against Clark?

"Why am I the one that needs to go back and fix this? Why can't you?" Lois asked, feeling a bit frustrated.

"Your life is also supposed to have a great purpose and destiny, Lois Lane. Only with your help can Kal-El become the hero he needs to be for this planet to survive. Kal-El needs you to save him. You are the only one left."

Lois tried to remember her life when Clark had been part of it. It was so long ago. Now that she was trying to incorporate this new knowledge about Clark, Lana, and Luthor into her memories of them, she was getting more confused. What she had known then didn't seem right at all. Her life had seemed incomplete and goal-less for so long, could this be the reason? Was the absence of Clark in her life enough to make everything terrible? Maybe Jor-El was right and this whole timeline thing was completely wrong.

Lois took a deep breath. "What do you want me to do?"

"You must go back and remove Lana Lang's influence on Kal-El's destiny. That is the only way to correct the current timeline."

Lois looked at Kara, unsure of how to reply. The Kryptonian just shrugged. Lois stammered to respond, "Uh, how exactly? I don't see a DeLorean parked outside."

"This fortress is quite powerful, Lois Lane. It can open a portal for your journey."

Lois blinked at the easy answer. "Oh, ok. And how…what am I supposed to do with Lana?"

"We must determine the best instance in time for you to go back and remove her from Kal-El's life."

"Do you mean I'm supposed to kill her?" Lois asked in shock. Sure, she and Lana had never been close at all, but she wasn't sure how she was supposed to just pop out of some portal and kill Lana in cold blood, even if that would save Clark and keep Lana from helping Luthor.

Jor-El was quiet for a long minute. Just as Lois was starting to get annoyed he spoke up, "That might not be necessary. I will provide you with a way to send Lana Lang to the Phantom Zone."

That particular incident with Clark definitely remained vivid in Lois' memory. "Oh yeah, I could do that."

"What point in time are we using?" Kara said.

"The portal is an approximation at best, so the best we can do is send Lois Lane in at a general time. I suggest preventing Lana Lang's parents from meeting."

Lois shook her head. "That's too close to killing in my mind. We're sending her to the Phantom Zone." It might be worse than death, but at least Lana would suffer.

"Before she and Clark meet?" Kara suggested.

Lois took a shaky breath. She couldn't believe she was actually going to voice the idea that she had come up with over the years. "No, I think Lana has to influence Clark in some way. So much of his capacity to love comes from his earlier times with her, even if they led to ruin. If you want Clark to have this great future as the hero to humankind, then he has to have had Lana in his life at some point." Lois tried to remember what she knew of Clark and Lana's relationship. She wanted Clark to stay as much like her memory of him as possible. "What about keeping Lana from coming back from Paris?"

"That is before she receives the suit. I believe that will work for our purposes."

Lois could swear she could hear Jor-El smiling. It was really just coincidence that the time she had picked also meant that Lois would never have to meet Lana when she came to Smallville.

"Since the portal is an approximation, and that point in time is close to the time of the suit, I should give you the weapon Kal-El left here just in case. If you overshoot the target point you may need to remove the suit before sending Lana Lang to the Phantom Zone. Kara Zor-El, it is behind the console."

Kara walked to the slab of ice with all the crystals sticking up out of it. She reached behind it and pulled out an object that looked like a small handgun. She handed it to Lois, who looked at it carefully. It didn't have any bullets but still looked in good working order, despite the years. She had no idea how to use it except just to pull the trigger.

"We must hurry to set the portal. Lex Luthor is nearing this fortress."

"What?!" Lois yelled, whirling on Kara. "You're working for him, aren't you?"

Kara looked just as confused and scared as Lois. "No! I swear I'm not, Lois! I've been looking for Kandor and other survivors from Krypton all these years! I didn't know anything about what was happening on Earth!"

"Kara Zor-El is correct, Lois Lane. Luthor has been tracking Earth's atmosphere for any more survivors from Krypton. I believe he has been tracking her since she arrived without her knowledge."

"What do we do? Do we need to move the fortress again?" Lois asked desperately.

"That will be unnecessary once you go back and restore the proper timeline. None of this will matter if you succeed. I am activating the portal. You will need to wait for the correct point in time."

A wall of flat crystal began to glow. In a matter of seconds, a series of images began to flash across the screen almost faster than Lois could recognize them. It took her a couple seconds to realize what was happening. She was watching the entire history of Earth flash before her eyes.

"This is amazing," she breathed.

Kara handed her a small clear crystal from the console. "Use this to send Lana to the Phantom Zone."

"It has been programmed to activate once Lana Lang touches it."

"Great," Lois said, putting the crystal and suit-removing-gun in her purse before zipping the purse securely closed. Dinosaurs were wandering around Earth on the portal. "Uh, how do I get back to now? How do I get back to the future?"

"You will be sent forward in time after Lana Lang has been transported to the Phantom Zone. You just need to touch the crystal after Lana Lang is gone."

"Lois Lane? I should have known you would find this place someday."

Lois and Kara both whirled around at the sound of a different voice in the fortress. Lois, too, should have known whom she would see. This day just couldn't get any worse.

Lex Luthor, flanked by a squad of Enforcers, was entering the fortress.

"And Kara Kent, or should I call you Kara Zor-El now? Lana told me all about you. It's nice to see you again, although unexpected." Lex was carrying a large weapon that glowed neon green.

Lois glanced at the portal, where it looked like the Romans were building something large. She took a couple steps backwards to block it from Luthor's view.

Kara looked uneasily at the weapon he was carrying. Her face broke into a sweat and she started gasping for air. "What're you doing here, Luthor?"

"I've got a few loose strings I need to tie up and your return to Earth gave me the perfect opportunity. Here I can destroy what remains of the House of El and this fortress that Clark tried to hide from me again. As an added bonus, Lois Lane the intrepid underground menace to my government will meet a tragic death."

"You won't get away with it, Luthor. There are thousands more like me," Lois said, trying to buy time for the portal. Columbus was crossing the Atlantic.

"No," Luthor said seriously. "I don't think there's anyone alive right now that will fight me as hard as you two. So let's just get this over with, shall we?"

Luthor leveled the glowing green gun and aimed at Kara. Her reactions were slightly faster, though. He fired the gun but it just ricocheted off one of the crystal columns. Kara was already fighting the squad of Enforcers, even though her face remained pale and her actions were slowing down. Marie Antoinette was being guillotined in the portal. Luthor continued firing rapid shots around the fortress, consistently missing Kara. Lois crouched low against the column nearest the portal to avoid the ricocheting blasts of green energy.

"Enough!" Luthor shouted. He aimed the gun at Lois. Trench warfare in WWI lit up the portal.

Kara stumbled forward, abandoning the Enforcer she was battling. "No!" She managed to position herself between Luthor and Lois, although she was bent double and wheezing.

Luthor smiled cruelly and fired the gun, hitting Kara squarely in the chest. She fell onto her back next to Lois, not moving. The space shuttle lifted off into the sky. He continued smiling as he tossed aside the large gun and grabbed an ordinary pistol from an Enforcer. "Kryptonite, Miss Lane, makes everything better."

Lois stood up and edged back a bit, trying to sneak a glance at the portal while making Luthor think she was just trying to escape. Luthor noticed the direction of her gaze as he aimed the pistol at her. He hesitated as he tried to understand the portal.

Then things started happening even faster.

Meteors and a spaceship crashed into a cornfield in Smallville. Luthor lowered the gun slightly and cocked his head. A younger Clark tested out his super-speed for the first time. Luthor raised the gun again, although he still looked like he didn't know what was really going on. A younger Luthor hit Clark with his car. Luthor took a step forward, distracting Lois from the portal.

"Look, I don't know what's going on—" he tried to say.

"Lois Lane! The portal!" Jor-El shouted at her.

Lois jerked her attention to the portal again. She hesitated for a moment, slightly weirded out by seeing herself and a very naked Clark first meeting in the cornfield. Luthor fired a shot at her, grazing her shoulder. She didn't wait any longer.

Still clutching her purse to her side, Lois jumped into the portal. Gunshots from Luthor and the Enforcers echoed around her.

For a moment she was moving through an odd goo of some sort. She struggled through it, unable to breath. Before she could fully panic, she was released from the goo and fell into a pile of hay.

She looked up through the hay, wondering when and where the portal had deposited her. She recognized the place at least, where else but the Kent barn would there be hay? It was bustling with strange people, though, which confused her. Then she saw someone that made her realize exactly where and when she was.

She saw herself.

This was the day of Chloe and Jimmy's wedding. This was the day where everything had started to go wrong.

She had missed the mark.

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AN: Loved it? Hated it? Confused? Just want to bash Lana some more and need any excuse? I would love to know whether this should be a long or shorter story! Comment!