CHAPTER ONE - AFTER APOCALYPSE
Legion headquarters, 3011
When awareness returned, Lois was in a sterile white room in a hospital bed.
Jesus, not again …
She'd had enough of hospitals to last her a lifetime. Before she could fully assess her surroundings, the monitors next to her started beeping, and the door opened. A young blond woman walked serenely into the room.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, using that "hospital" tone that grated on the nerves, at least Lois' nerves.
"Like I'm ready to go home," said Lois warily.
"Well, you're not quite ready for that yet, but you will be … soon." Lois noted the hesitancy in her voice.
"No, I think I'm ready now," said Lois, swinging her feet to the side of the bed.
Whoa.
She felt like road kill, every muscle in her body ached. She wasn't sure she could make it to the door but she needed to get out of here, find out what happened to her team and to … Clark. After seeing the light return to his eyes, she couldn't think of him as Night any more.
"You can't leave yet," the young woman said calmly.
Yeah, just watch me.
When Lois tried to rise, all the muscles in her legs contracted and she had to sit back down.
"Let me go! You can't keep me here," Lois threatened, frustrated by her weakened condition. She had to find out what was happening. What had she and the team done?
The young woman smiled and Lois heard the words in her mind, noticing that woman didn't move her lips, "Don't worry, I will not harm you. We want to help you and your world, just calm down-"
"Calm down? I'm perfectly calm; why wouldn't I be calm? I just lost my team and destroyed my … and I don't know where I am!" Lois yelled, rubbing the scars on her neck.
When the woman simply stood there with a sympathetic smile on her face, Lois' natural curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't resist asking her questions.
"By the way, how did you do that?"
"I am what you'd call a telepath," said the young woman, moving her lips and speaking out loud this time. "My name is Imra and you are Lois Lane," she finished with a flourish, as if Lois was somehow well-known and Imra was her biggest fan.
Yeah, big whoop!
The young woman's smile widened a bit, and it felt like she was laughing at her.
"Wait, can you hear my thoughts?" Lois asked forcefully.
Oh, boy.
"Not your thoughts, exactly," Imra said, looking down with the smile still fixed to her face.
"Okay," Lois replied dragging out the word. Uncomfortable with the idea of a mind reader, she didn't want to push too hard. She needed more information, which meant she needed cooperation.
"Well, say I believe you, Imra, I still want to know where I am and why I'm here," Lois demanded.
Always take charge of the situation, as the General used to say.
"Oh, and I'd like something to eat, I'm hungry. By the way, I hate hospitals and, if you really know me you should know that, so I need a room that doesn't feel like a hospital room."
Imra seemed overwhelmed for a minute. She paused.
"I can tell you … that you are with the Legion of Superheroes. We are a group of beings banded together to fight the Darkness," she responded carefully. "You are here to heal and, we hope, to help us."
"Well, I've got no love for the Darkness, but you probably know that, being a telepath and all – and what kind of 'beings'?" Lois fired back at her.
Haven't lost my touch, she smirked to herself, seeing the young woman caught off guard.
"That's a lot to cover right now, especially when you need rest. Now why don't you relax and I'll search for new accommodations and make sure you get something to eat?" She walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers.
With a roll of the eyes, Lois laid back down.
As soon as Imra was gone, Lois wasted no time searching for anything that might indicate where she was. Nothing, the room was solid white with no windows, and even the equipment had no markings. She sat back and sighed, frustrated with the situation. She wasn't worried about her safety, exactly. Her gut was telling her that the woman … Imra, was honest. It was Lois' team she was worried about. Had they made a difference?
While the food was more for rabbits than humans, her new accommodations were comfortable. Lois had to be assisted, much to her dismay, to the small apartment complete with a full-sized bed, couch, chair, desk, kitchenette and small bathroom off the main room. There were still no windows, but the colors were yellow and blue with hints of red. Lois felt more at ease right away.
The monitors came with her and, while Imra kept a daily watch, the healing process went slowly. Eventually, Lois was feeling a hundred percent and going stir crazy.
"Tell me where my friends are and why I'm still here," Lois demanded, pacing as far as her room would let her.
"We will; we've been waiting for you to heal," Imra responded in her usual calm tone. "I need to talk to some members of the Legion, and I'll try to return later this evening with the answers you seek."
At the end of the day, Imra walked through the sliding door with two young men, one with brown-hair and a serious expression, the other with red hair, freckles and a twinkle in his eyes.
"Lois Lane," said the brown-haired man, "I am Rokk and this is Garth." He pointed to the red-head. "We have brought you here to help us with the Darkness," he paused and looked at Imra. She nodded.
"You need to know that you are in the future, the thirty-first century to be exact."
Lois laughed; she couldn't help it. Even though she knew about the telepath, these kids all looked too normal to be from the future. Of course, the thought came unbidden, Clark had looked normal, too …
Her heart dropped as she thought of their final battle. She hadn't wanted him to die. He'd been a vessel, nothing more; she'd wanted to bring him back.
She could still see his eyes, gray fading to soft blue as he finally returned to himself, only to struggle with each breath until the color turned to black.
Her laughter turned to tears, something that seemed to be happening a lot lately. Lois looked down at her lap before she embarrassed herself and waved her hand, motioning for the serious kid to continue.
His voice, unusually somber for his age, reminded her of Clark. And, as he persisted in telling her about the Darkness, mostly things she already knew, her mind wandered to her early days on the farm and the young boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. This young man seemed the same. What responsibilities were these kids carrying?
It was when Rokk started talking about the Legion and about time that he captured Lois' attention. Evidently there had been a break in the time continuum that allowed the Darkness to invade Earth. According to Super Kids the invasion of the Darkness was a mistake. In fact, Clark Kent was some sort of well-known hero that was supposed to have stopped it.
"Clark, a hero?" Lois laughed but even to her ears, it sounded forced. She thought of the times he'd saved her, Chloe, Oliver, and others. She'd known he was special even before Oliver had told her his secret, before the Darkness had taken over. Still, Oliver constantly complained that Clark had not lived up to his full potential. Was this what he meant? Of course, Oliver was always so bitter where Clark was concerned that his opinions were a bit biased.
"Well, what happened?" Lois asked, "Why didn't Clark stop the Darkness?"
"Events did not transpire as they were meant to," Rokk told Lois. "There was a break in one chain of events that affected Clark Kent in a way no one anticipated."
"And what was that?" Lois asked, irritated that he didn't continue.
It was Imra who finally spoke, after the three of them stopped staring at each other. Lois wondered if they were communicating telepathically. She was about to admonish them for being rude when she was rendered speechless.
"You left him," Imra told her.
Two days later
Lois was still pacing in her room, her thoughts in chaos. The only thing running through her mind was that these kids must have been spending time with the General if they thought this was all her fault. It simply wasn't possible.
Catching a glance of herself in the mirror above the dresser, she paused to look. She didn't look like a destroyer of worlds. Her face was a little thin, her hair was shoulder-length and dark, hazel eyes reflecting the battles she'd fought, but there was no way she'd played any part in bringing the Darkness to Earth. She'd never even heard of it until Night brought it with him from Metropolis. From that point on, she'd fought it with every fiber of her being.
She definitely was not at fault for Clark's ultimate demise, even if she'd left him. He hadn't seemed that upset when she'd decided to stay in Star City. Any unhappiness on Clark's part always had more to do with Lana than with her. Lois could clearly remember one of their last conversations.
"Oh, hey, Clark," Lois said into her phone as she opened the door to her tiny Star City apartment.
"Hey, Lois, I was just calling … you know," Clark said, seeming unable to finish his thought.
"Right," Lois said sarcastically, "I could tell because we're talking on the phone." Lois dropped her purse on the counter and kicked off her shoes on the way to her bedroom. It had been a rough day.
"Look, if this has something to do with Lana, I don't want to be rude but I've had kind of a bad day," Lois started, when Clark remained silent. That was usually a clue that something was wrong.
"No, it's nothing about Lana," Clark said. "Why don't you tell me about your day?"
So she did. It was nice to talk to someone who knew her, who understood her reactions to unreasonable deadlines and outdated computers and geeky little interns who followed her around …
"Kind of like you, Smallville," Lois teased, falling on the bed and looking through the mail while she got comfortable against the headboard.
"So, when are you coming back?" He asked.
"What do you mean? I've told you, I like it here," Lois answered irritably. He always asked her that question.
"You're too good for the Chronicle," Clark told her sounding irritated himself. "You belong at the Daily Planet."
Lois grimaced as the comment hit home. The Planet was the best. She took a deep breath.
"Maybe I'll get back there someday, but there's a lot I can learn here at the Chronicle," Lois finished, knowing her excuses were starting to sound lame.
"What can you learn there that you can't here?" Clark asked, lowering his voice.
Lois paused as her first thought was "how to get along without you." She couldn't tell him that.
"A lot of things," she mumbled. "Look Clark I've got to go. I have a busy day tomorrow."
"What about our team of Lane and Kent?" Clark asked his quiet voice sounding almost desperate.
"We were never a team," Lois' voice reflected her frustration. "We wrote some stories together, that's all. You're a big boy now and you'll just have to get along without me."
"What if I can't?" Lois barely heard the whispered comment.
"You don't have a choice," Lois said firmly, her decision made as she disconnected.
Lois shook her head at the memory. It was all about Lana. Clark called her a few days later and admitted that Lana had left him, confirming what Lois suspected all along.
There was nothing special about Lois and Clark.
Hitting the buzzer on the wall, Lois called back Rokk, Imra and Garth. Tired of debating with herself, she started arguing with them the minute they walked in. Their facts must be wrong; she and Clark were barely friends on a good day, how had she ruined things for him? Rokk showed her the data on a data pad. She didn't understand any of it. Imra pointed out that there was a connection, even when Clark was taken over by the Darkness. That ended the argument for Lois; no one was supposed to know about her and Night. With that, she pushed all three out of her room.
It didn't take long for her to rebound, though, and she called them back later that day, pointing out that she and her team had tried to fix things. How did they know her team hadn't succeeded? Rokk escorted her to the observation deck. Evidently, League headquarters was some kind of space station that circled the Earth, but not the Earth that Lois knew. Instead of a beautiful blue and green planet, the station floated above a charred and blackened sphere. According to Rokk, the planet darkened and the population disappeared a few months ago. Certain protections were afforded the station by virtue of its unique members and their abilities. Otherwise, none of them would be here either.
Lois couldn't accept what she was seeing. No life existed on Earth. An entire planet and its population had disappeared because of a decision she'd made. It was inconceivable!
Mind made up, Lois turned from the observation deck and looked at Rokk.
"How do we fix it?" She asked him.
For the first time since they'd met, Rokk smiled.
Three weeks later
Lois was watching Garth as he strapped her to the ring device which would allow her thoughts and memories to be sent back to her younger body.
"Hey, Garth," she smirked. "Where's my DeLorean?" The redhead looked up from the strap he was securing and laughed.
"No mere DeLorean for the great Lois Lane," he told her, always the one with a sense of humor. "Only the finest Reasoning Interval Repeating Cylinder for you."
"Yeah, say that five times fast without stuttering," Lois fired back, the banter calming her nerves.
Unfortunately, during the rest of the hour-long process dialog was at a minimum and Lois felt her fears resurface. When the last strap was in place, she grabbed Garth's hand and held it, turning her head to make sure that Imra was busy. Like an operating room, there was an observation area with glass separation where the other two were currently prepping the computer equipment. Right now, Lois did not need Imra picking up her vibes.
"What if this doesn't work?" Lois asked Garth quietly.
"Are you Lois Lane?" He fired back without skipping a beat.
"Duh," Lois said rolling her eyes. Garth grinned at her, his eyes twinkling.
"Then this will work," he told her, making a few adjustments to the straps. Lois couldn't resist smiling at him. Garth and Imra treated her like she was as famous as Clark, or whatever his "hero" name was, which must be pretty famous since he was supposed to be known in galaxies far, far away. Lois wasn't used to having such fans.
Slightly reassured by a confident Garth, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to prepare for what was going to happen. Mentally, she reviewed the past few days.
After some debate, they'd decided to send only her thoughts and memories back, discarding the idea of sending Lois herself to convince her earlier counterpart to stay in Metropolis. Eventually they'd figured it was too risky to have two Lois Lanes running around. Even if she could convince her very stubborn younger self to change her plans, there was a chance that someone would see both of them. According to Rokk, that was bad. Besides, Lois would have to do more than convince her younger self to just stick around.
In the League's history, Lois was more than friends with Clark. They were a couple.
When Lois found that out, she thought they were nuts and told them so. While Garth laughed and Imra smiled, Rokk was not amused.
"What do you mean?" He asked. "This is the way history was meant to be. You must fix it if you are to save Earth … and many other worlds as well."
"How am I supposed to do that? I tried the romance thing once with Clark once and it bombed. He left me standing alone, high and dry." She was surprised to find that saying the words brought back the feelings. It still hurt.
"But you're more aware now," Imra said, placing a comforting hand on Lois' arm, "and you can act accordingly. It should be easier if you know it was meant to be."
"Of course," Rokk began, earning a glare from Imra, "even if Clark Kent doesn't return your affections, you must continue to support and challenge him. If you make this choice, you can never leave him."
"So I've got to stay by Clark even if he doesn't want me? I'm not sure I can do that," Lois told them honestly, choking a little on the words.
"To save the World?" asked Garth. "Clark will save people without asking anything in return. Surely you can give some of that back to him?"
"And if he doesn't want me around?" Lois finished, knowing that she was grasping at straws. Clark had never pushed anyone away, especially not Lois; it had been her choice to leave the last time.
"There's a connection there, Lois. Clark needs you," Imra said, smiling that knowing smile. "He may not always recognize it, but you can make him see."
What if she couldn't?
"Are you ready?" At Garth's question, Lois opened her eyes.
"No," Lois told him, shaking her head. "Lanes do not live in the past," she told him, hearing the panic in her voice.
"Then make a new future," Garth told her after a second of reflection, grinning and squeezing her hand.
"Take care of the leftovers," Lois directed, using sarcasm to calm herself as she heard the device activate. She was told that her body would be put into stasis and preserved, which seemed odd, but who was she to stop them if they wanted a souvenir. Plus, according to the General, it never hurt to have a back up.
Garth waved, smiling as he walked out of the room. Lois took a deep breath, but it didn't help. She wasn't ready. She didn't feel invested in this plan. There were no specific strategies she could apply, no battle tactics to implement.
The acid that was already building in her stomach started to rise up in her throat.
Oh God, I'm going to be sick.
She looked around and spotted Imra looking at her through the observation window.
Imra's words were surprisingly calming.
Clark needs you …
Lois could see gray eyes softening to blue as awareness returned to them. Maybe she could save him this time. Maybe she'd never really had a choice.
After all, it was her turn.