AN: It's finally here! This is the new and improved version of the episode "Bulletproof." No nasty CLana kiss at the end! I promise!

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Chapter Five: Future, Meet Past

"When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened." ~John M. Richardson, Jr.

"My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there." ~Charles F. Kettering

"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction." ~Winston Churchill

*******

Lois had planned on springing the crystal on Lana the morning after Chloe and Jimmy were released from the hospital. Chloe and Jimmy had gone back to the Talon to start their low-budget honeymoon. That basically meant they were locking themselves in the apartment for a few days. No one really wanted to ask for more information on that. Lois, young Lois, and Lana had all gone back to the farmhouse to stay with Clark.

Awkward? Like you wouldn't believe.

That was why Lois wanted to get rid of Lana as fast as possible. Her body had other plans, though. Sleeping in a random spare room while Lana got Mrs. Kent's room, young Lois had Clark's room, and Clark crashed on the couch, Lois had slept through most of the next day. By the time she woke up, Lana and everyone else was gone. Lois ignored the nagging voice in her head that told her she was getting lazy because it was so nice to be back with her friends.

Young Lois had left her a note saying that she and Clark had gone into work at the Daily Planet. Her younger self had advised Lois to find a disguise if she planned on staying in her past any longer.

Which is why Lois found herself entering the Daily Planet bullpen wearing a black wig and fake glasses. She felt ridiculous. She refused to go near any mirrors.

"Now I know never to dye my hair black," young Lois said as soon as she saw Lois.

"You're welcome. See, I'm making the future better already," Lois said. Clark's desk was empty, but she pulled a chair up to young Lois' desk anyway. "What's going on?"

"City council member was mysteriously killed this morning," Lois said. She pushed the file over. "Tess actually put me and Smallville on it."

"Where is he?" Lois said.

"He went down to Metropolis General to pull the coroner's report. I figured I'd let him do it the hard way while I checked with some sources. He also said something about trying to find out more about whatever took Chloe."

"Nice. And where is Lana?" Lois said nonchalantly.

"I don't know, I'm not her babysitter," young Lois snapped. "How are you doing with fixing things?"

Lois adjusted the wig slightly, trying to scratch an itch. "It's going slow."

Young Lois stopped typing and looked at her. "I don't want to seem rude, since you're me, but how long is this going to take? You said you had a plan. You said you'd be in and out. I wasn't going to have to worry about anything. You're still here."

"I know, I know," Lois said quietly, massaging the stump of her missing pinky. "You think I like hanging around and reliving things? I had a plan, but it's sort of different now. I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. You don't want me messing up your…our life, do you?"

"It's just weird," young Lois whispered. "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"I don't think so," Lois said after a moment. "Let me see if I can figure out a few things first. If I can't make any headway, you're the first person I'll come to."

"I'd feel a whole lot better about this if it sounded like you knew what you were doing," young Lois said.

"I just need to find someone," Lois said, trying to sound like she had things under control.

Young Lois looked at her intently. "Is it Clark? Is he the one you have to change? Because, believe me, that farm boy moves about zero miles an hour when it comes to change. I think he's still got clothes from middle school."

Lois laughed. "It might be easier if it were Clark. At least he's easier to find."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Clark said as he entered the bullpen with a pile of papers. He sat down at his desk and started rifling through them anxiously.

"Whoa, Sparky, calm down," young Lois said. "Where's the coroner's report?"

"Oh, sorry, it's right here," Clark said. He pulled a file from the bottom of the pile and handed it to her distractedly.

"What's going on?" Lois asked.

"I just found out that a friend of mine got shot. He's a detective on the Metropolis Police Force, but things aren't adding up," Clark said.

Young Lois looked up from the report, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I'm going to do a little digging. Jones saved my life once. I owe it to him to figure out who did this. It looks like he was pulling profiles on a handful of officers from the 44th precinct," Clark said.

"I didn't know your hacking skills were that great," young Lois said.

"Chloe's a good teacher," Clark simply said.

"Let me help sort through those while you try your hacking some more," Lois said.

"You look different with glasses," Clark said, actually looking at her for the first time that day.

"Doesn't everyone?" Lois replied, wheeling over to start going over the information.

It took Clark about half an hour, but he finally worked his way into the evidence files on the Jones case. "Ballistics says it was a BG-49 Armor-Piercing Bullet. Hmm, that's strange. It's missing from the evidence."

"You said he was looking into the 44th?" young Lois asked.

Clark nodded, "Only someone from that system could've stolen the evidence. This might have been an inside job."

"An inside job?" young Lois said, now getting really intrigued.

"Someone higher up needs to know about this," Clark said. He had that determined, but stupid, look in his eye.

"Hold up, take it from me, Smallville, you can't just waltz up to a government institution and expect them to open up to you," Lois said.

"Can I remind you of that later?" Clark managed to joke.

"She's right. Cops protect their own," young Lois said. "They seal up any attempt to pick apart what happens inside their precinct."

"So I won't use my press pass," Clark said. "I'll find another way. I'll see you guys in a little while."

Lois looked at her younger self. "I had forgotten how reckless he could be."

"It's ridiculous," young Lois agreed. "He just has to be Mr. Fix-it. Going to get himself killed one day," she muttered.

They worked for a few more hours and were about to give up on waiting for Clark when he walked back into the bullpen. Both Lois Lanes froze what they were doing. He had managed to get himself a Metropolis Police Officer uniform and was actually pulling it off. Not that either one would dare to tell him that.

"Please tell me you didn't lose a bet to Chloe," young Lois said after a moment. "If you pull a boom box from behind your back, I am so leaving.

Clark grinned. "You're looking at the newest member of the Metropolis PD."

"You've got to be kidding me," Lois said. "How did you worm your way into that?"

"I've got connections," Clark said easily.

"Connections?" young Lois said, not buying it. "And do these connections include the proper training to wear that badge? I'm pretty sure the other guys will figure that out real quick."

"They take care of each other, remember?" Clark said. "Relax, you two, I'll be fine."

"Wear your vest," young Lois said.

"Lois, I'm touched, you're really worried about me," Clark said. He was still grinning.

"Worried? Please, Smallville," young Lois bristled. "I'm more worried about the poor schmuck they stick you with."

"It could work," Lois said. "Just remember to keep the gun safety on. And don't shoot yourself either."

"Har har, laugh all you like. You two should come to dinner tonight at the farm. Lana's coming, too."

"Why don't I pick her up on the way?" Lois volunteered.

"Sure, thanks. She's at the Isis Foundation," Clark said before he left.

Lois and her younger self continued to close up what they were working on. They tried to ignore each other, but that didn't work so well.

"I know we're both thinking it, so I'm just going to say it," Lois said finally. "He looked absolutely delicious in that get-up."

"Mmmhmmm, delicious," young Lois agreed. "Excellent word choice. I'm glad to see we can agree on that."

They looked at each other, then, and dissolved into giggles.

"I've…you've…we've, I guess, always had a weak spot for a crime-fighter in a uniform," Lois said, wiping her eyes and gasping for breath.

"Yes we have," young Lois said resolutely. "That isn't likely to change. Clark had better wear that vest, though, if he knows what's good for him."

"Ever wish his mom would just come back and have a long talk with him?" Lois asked.

Young Lois rolled her eyes, "Only every other week."

"I'm going to pick up Lana," Lois said. Young Lois waved to her and continued packing up as Lois left.

The Isis Foundation was pretty much as Lois remembered it, although she had never really hung out there a lot. That was more of Chloe's preoccupation with meteor freaks than Lois' deal. On the landing outside the office she would have knocked, but the door was already slightly open. She peered inside, pushing the crack ajar a bit more, and nearly fell into the room when she saw what was inside. She clamped a hand over her mouth and backed up quickly, bumping against the wall softly.

Lex Luthor was talking to Lana. And Lana wasn't running away. She actually looked interested in what Luthor was saying.

Lois didn't know how much she would be able to hear, but she knew she had to try. She crept back to the door and squatted low to avoid being seen. She kept her hand over her mouth and tried to breathe as quietly as she could. Even then, she wasn't sure that they couldn't hear just how hard her heart was hammering in her chest.

"I can help you get everything you've ever wanted," Luthor was saying. "You know I have the resources to do that."

"At the rate I'm going, I can just take anything I want," Lana sneered back. "I've already got a plan. Why should I join the Lex Luthor team again? You're barely anything now."

"I'm more than I ever was in these days," Luthor said. "I'm really from the future. The year 2020, in fact. My future. The future I created with my own two hands. Everything that the world becomes is because of me."

"You're from the future too?" Lana asked. She sounded far too intrigued. "Like Lois is?"

"Lois Lane is here?" Luthor asked, enraged.

Lois scooted back from the door slightly. This was bad on so many levels. How had he gotten here from the future? Why hadn't Jor-El closed the portal?

"She was at the farmhouse with Clark and the Lois from now. She looks awful. She's still domineering and annoying as hell, though."

"What is she doing here?" Luthor said.

"She must be trying to change something here in her past," Lana said. "How did you get here?"

"I was chasing her in the future. I tracked her down to the Fortress. She jumped through a strange portal in the wall and I followed her before Jor-El could close it on me. I landed in the parking lot of Smallville medical. I haven't even seen that weasely reporter yet."

Lois could barely keep track of what was going on. She couldn't believe he had managed to follow her. At least she knew what the light from the parking lot was now.

"So, you actually need my help?" Lana said slowly. "The great Lex Luthor, even from the future, still needs me."

"It was always going to be me and you, Lana," Luthor said.

"Prove it," Lana said.

"In the future, you still come back to my side," Luthor said. The huskiness in his voice sent shivers down Lois' back. "We neutralize Clark's powers and you help me build a whole new society. No one can match us."

"Then why not wait for the future?" Lana said.

"Because that twerp Lane has already impacted it, hasn't she? If she's working to fix our future, then we've got to work to keep it."

Lana hesitated.

"I can give you power. Even if you think you can take it for yourself, I can give it to you and make it much easier. I know what you're planning to do and I can help you help me. I can give you all the power you've ever dreamed of. In the future, you tell me about how you had dreamed of having Clark's powers. I can get them for you. You will know power."

Lois had a nagging suspicion that Luthor was playing cards that didn't belong to him. If what Jor-El had said about the nano-suit was true, it would seem that Lana had gotten her power even without Luthor's help. Knowing the future had helped Lois already. She was sure it would also help Luthor.

"All right, I'm in," Lana finally said. "What do I need to do?"

Lois swore, very loudly, in her head.

"Stay close to Clark. Keep an eye on what he's doing. I know you tracked my wifi signal from Tess Mercer. She has her uses, but you're my number one now. I'll keep you apprised of how I want you to deal with her. I'll call you soon when I'm in a more secure setting. I need to check on a few things, like myself, for example."

Luthor turned for the door. Lois ran as quietly as possible down the hall and threw herself in a doorway. The door to the Isis Foundation banged open and shut. Lois didn't even trust herself to move her hand from her mouth until she couldn't hear Luthor's footsteps any more.

Lois struggled to remain calm. She had to think about how to handle all of this. The Luthor from her time was now in the past. She had no idea where the Luthor of this time was. In the future, if she remembered what Jor-El said, Lana still eventually helped Luthor track down Clark. Luthor evidently was trying to recruit her earlier into his schemes since he had come back. It made sense that he would try to find his first lieutenant in the past even if she hadn't been part of his group at this time.

What was Lois supposed to do, then? She couldn't leave Luthor in the past to mess around with the timeline. Ideally, she could send him and Lana to the Phantom Zone together, but she had had trouble sending just Lana, let alone Lana and a Luthor from the future. Was she supposed to tell Clark? She didn't even know where to start that story. Maybe it was time to take young Lois up on her offer of help?

No matter what she ultimately did, for now she had to pretend she hadn't seen anything and bring Lana to the farmhouse for dinner. She would rather jump off the roof of the Daily Planet without a parachute. This was getting far too complicated.

She knocked on the door of the Isis Foundation. Lana answered quickly and didn't seem to recognize her.

"Lana?" Lois said. She remembered her disguise and pulled off her glasses. "Sorry, it's Lois. I'm here to pick you up. Clark's making dinner at the farmhouse."

"Oh, right, of course," Lana said. She smiled perkily. Lois managed to return some sort of movement of her mouth, but only because she was fighting the urge to gag.

They spent most of the ride in an awkward silence. Lois was determined not to break the silence. She didn't trust herself to start a conversation that didn't begin with, 'so, how's old baldy doing?' Her mouth didn't always edit what she was thinking, but being in the past certainly made her try harder.

"Is everything like you remember?" Lana said abruptly.

"Not everything," Lois said. She was determined not to let anything slip to this flip-flopper. "But some things never change. Smallville's still Smallville."

"Do you mean Clark or the town?" Lana said teasingly.

"Both, I guess," Lois said.

"I just think it would be weird to know so much about the future and be back here when all of that hasn't happened. Do you even know what you're really doing here?"

Lois could see Lana watching her intently out of the corner of her eye. She focused on driving and a carefully worded response. "It is a little strange to see how things are different. But I know what happens. I know there are things I can't change. I know there are things that need to stay about the same."

That seemed to shut up Lana for the rest of the drive. Lois surmised that neither one of them really knew how to push the other for information. There were too many differences between them. Even without taking time into the equation, they had always been very different women. Lois would never dream of not being loyal to Clark. Lana had always been out for herself more.

Back at the farmhouse, Lois and Lana managed to be at least cordial to each other throughout dinner. Dinner was a little strained, but the two Loises got along well and Clark was just trying to make everyone happy. Lois kept on waiting for her chance to talk to her younger self, but didn't have the opportunity until Clark went to bed early and Lana turned in at about the same time.

"I need to talk to you," Lois said to young Lois as they were finding Lois more clothes in Clark's room.

"Sure, what happened?" young Lois said, noticing the tone in Lois' voice.

"I need your help after all," Lois said, sitting on the bed. "But I'm not sure how much I can tell you. I'll tell you as much as I can."

"Shoot," young Lois said.

"Remember how I've said the future is terrible? Well, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that Lex Luthor is the reason behind that. I know, let me finish. He tracked me to the…place where I journeyed back in time from. I didn't know until a few hours ago that he had managed to use the same way to come back in time, too. He was talking to Lana at the Isis Foundation when I went to pick her up. She's going to help him now."

"That bitch!" young Lois said quietly. It took her a moment to absorb the information. "What can we do? Can we tie her up and leave her somewhere? Can you still fix what you came to fix anyway? Will that take care of Lex?"

Lois rubbed her left hand, feeling tired again. "I came back to remove Lana's influence on Clark. Apparently, she's helping Luthor in the future, too. If we can undermine what she's doing now to help Luthor, and if I can do what I came to do, then she won't have the chance to help Luthor in the future either."

"Lana can't be that much of a big deal." Young Lois looked doubtful.

"She gets power somehow," Lois said with a shrug. "I don't know too much, which makes this harder. I need to be able to keep an eye on Lana's dealings with Luthor now. And we need to find Luthor."

"I'll get Chloe's help," young Lois said. "She can take some time on the computer even during her honeymoon whatever thing. She'll do it for this. Do you have any idea what Lex is up to?"

"He'll be trying to stop me. I'm guessing whatever plans he was working on at this time he'll want to carry those through, too. I hope he knows less than I do. He said something about Tess Mercer," Lois said.

"I can keep an eye on Tess," young Lois said. "Two Lois Lanes can definitely handle Lana and Lex. Except…do we tell Clark?"

Lois hesitated. "I really don't know. He's doing his cop dress-up tomorrow. I don't think he needs to worry about Luthor yet. We'll tell him when we know more and when he's helped his friend."

"Ok, we'll work on this tomorrow. We just have to be careful around, well, everyone I guess," young Lois said.

Lois and young Lois spent most of the next day juggling between fielding reports on the dead city councilman and researching Lex Luthor. Since Clark was out pretending to be a cop, neither one of them really knew what he was doing. Lois hoped that he didn't overuse his superpowers and give himself away to the shady cops that could have set up Jones. Since young Lois was recognizable to Tess, Lois took the job of tracking her for most of the day. Luckily, Tess spent most of the day at the Daily Planet. When she did finally leave, Lois followed her in a taxi; leaving young Lois to continue the small amount of digging they'd been able to come up with on Luthor. They weren't making much headway.

Surprisingly, when Tess left the office, she went to the Isis Foundation. Lois managed to sneak upstairs again and took up the same reconnaissance position.

"It seems that you stole some sensitive information from me," Tess was saying to Lana as Lois listened in. "And I thought we were bonding."

Lois wasn't sure when this bonding had taken place, but she was willing to bet that Tess wasn't going to get anymore bonding with Lana since future Luthor showed up.

"Rain check on girl's night?" Lana said sarcastically.

"You know it's nice to finally see what Lex saw in you," Tess said. "You're stunning."

Lois had no idea how this pertained to anything.

"And devious," Tess added in a darker undertone.

"What Lex saw in me was an equal," Lana countered. "Someone that he couldn't control."

The tone of Lana's voice sent a cold shiver up Lois' back. She had to get rid of Luthor and Lana before they could destroy what she was trying to fix.

"Really? I guess I shouldn't send my condolences about the miscarriage then?" Tess said.

"It gave me perspective," Lana said simply. She crossed to the other side of the room. Lois couldn't really see what was happening anymore.

"He always loved you," Tess said. "When you stole the data you corrupted our files. We've lost everything. Prometheus is the one chance Lex has at survival and I won't let you jeopardize that."

"I'm not trying to jeopardize anything," Lana said. "I'm just trying to find information."

There was a sudden gunshot and then a flurry of activity within the office. Lana pushed Tess into the door, breaking glass over Lois' head. She moved to a corner beside the door, wanting to stay close without being seen. There were sounds of things breaking and punches connecting. Then, silence.

"Were you this devoted before or after your accident," Lana said suddenly.

"You've done your research, I'm impressed," Tess said.

"Three years ago, you were in South America collecting disease samples for LuthorCorp. Your camp was destroyed by an explosion and you were left for dead."

"Lex saved my life. I owe him everything," Tess said.

"Let me show you how Lex repays that kind of loyalty. This will open your eyes," Lana said.

Lois desperately wanted to know what was going on, but she didn't dare move from her hiding spot.

"A nanotransmitter was wired to your optic nerve," Lana said. "You've been Lex's eyes and ears for some time now. Lex is watching us right now. He might have saved you, but he never trusted you. I'm sorry. I can set you up with a way to block it, if you'd like."

"Thank you, but I can do that too," Tess said.

Lois decided there probably wouldn't be too much more of this conversation. As quietly as she could, she backed down the stairs and ran for the pay phone outside the building.

"Lois? Hi, It's Lois," Lois said into the phone.

"I'm just leaving the Planet. Clark called and said he'd taken care of everything and would be back at the farmhouse soon. Where are you?" young Lois said.

"Outside of Isis. Can you come pick me up?"

"Sure, I'll be there asap."

Lois hung up the phone. She needed to talk this out with someone. She understood the connection between Tess and Luthor after Lana's discussion, but she still couldn't figure out how Lana was working for Luthor now. He must have contacted her earlier in the day about how he wanted her to deal with Tess. Somehow, Tess being able to block the nanotransmitter thingie would help future Luthor mess with the past. Lois wished she knew more, but she was running on pretty scant intel.

Young Lois only took about twenty minutes to arrive. Tess had left some time ago, but Lana was still nowhere to be seen. In the car, Lois explained what she had overheard between Tess and Lana, but she and young Lois weren't able to come up with many plausible explanations for what was going on.

"Let's face it," young Lois said as they pulled up to the farmhouse. "Lex is usually about three steps in front of everyone. We'll just have to work harder to figure out what angle he's coming from."

"If I knew where they both were going to be at the same time, I could end all this," Lois said.

Clark was sitting in the living room when they entered.

"Hey Smallville," they said at the same time.

"Hi, uh, Lois," he said to both of them.

"How'd everything go?" young Lois asked.

"Everything's been cleared up," Clark said. "I got some help, but managed to find out who set up Jones. He's healing and should be better soon."

"That's great," young Lois said.

"Good work," Lois added.

"Yeah," Clark sighed.

Lois looked at young Lois and they shared a look before joining him on the sofa. "What's wrong then?" young Lois asked.

"I don't know," Clark said wistfully. "I've just been sitting here thinking about the greater good. Thinking about all the sacrifices that people have to make in the search for justice."

Lois didn't like where he could be going with this. "Even if they're fighting crime or pursuing justice, people still manage to have a life. Having a life doesn't mean they can't do good things. There's a natural balance. Cops recognize this. Their families know it too. I'll bet anything that even with the risks, a cop's family wouldn't have it any other way. They know what they're getting into."

"It just doesn't seem fair," Clark said.

"People do what makes them happy, Clark," young Lois said. "No matter how it may seem. No one sits by and is deliberately unhappy if they can help it. If a wife really loves her husband, then she'll understand why he is a police officer. Fighting for justice doesn't mean you won't be loved."

"I guess so," Clark said.

"I know what you need," young Lois said. "Something that truly isn't fair and you have no way of dealing with."

"What's that?" Clark said. He was starting to sound more normal.

"Monopoly."

Clark chuckled as young Lois went searching for the board game.

"Don't worry about having to sacrifice everything you love," Lois said softly to him. "You can still work for the greater good without giving up everything. If you want to, you can find a way to fit everything into your life. Your capacity to love will not let you be alone. Don't worry."

Clark smiled at her. "Thanks," he said.

Lois was glad that he was looking less depressed. As young Lois broke out the fake money, Lois wondered when Lana would be coming back. She wanted to see how Lana would act around Clark now that she and Luthor seemed to be firmly in cahoots. She needed to find the best way to eject Lana and Luthor from this timeline. She would just have to spend the entire next day hiding out and Isis waiting for Lana and Luthor to meet up.

For now, she would try to beat Clark and another Lois at Monopoly.

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AN: Sorry this took so long! Since Clark was pretty much doing stuff on his own in this episode, it would have been too complicated to have Lois tag along. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap this up in the next couple of chapters. I've got an idea of what I want to do. Stay with me! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Feel free to request anything you'd like to see happen and I'll see if I can work it in!