Chapter 17
Lois sat at the table laughing with her new friends Martha Jones-Smith and Gwen Cooper. They had stopped by the grocer and brought party foods and ice. Lois was providing the margaritas. They were just waiting for Lois' cousin Chloe to arrive so that they could start working on what Lois had named Operation Smallville and getting sloppy drunk. Gwen looked out the window and saw an all too familiar SUV pull up and Chloe hop out. "Oi, Chloe's here. I still can't figure out how Jack managed to the SUV across pond," Gwen said. "Oh, looks like she brought pizza, she's smart, that one. Jack always likes the ones who can keep him organized."
"What was he like? Ianto I mean." Lois asked.
Gwen thought about for a moment. "Actually he was a lot like Chloe; brilliant, organized, and could find anything in a database – anywhere. He was very proper most almost all of the time. Jack brought out the playful side of him. He loved Jack with all of heart. Pretty much just like Chloe except for he was a couple of inches taller than Jack, had black hair, and had a penis." This set the other women howling with laughter.
Chloe walked into the apartment carrying a couple of pizza boxes. The other women looked up from the table and began laughing again. Chloe smiled self-consciously. "Ok, what did I miss?" she asked.
"Sorry, Cuz. Just imagining you about a foot taller and a guy," Lois admitted.
"O…K…I thought you guys weren't going to start drinking without me?" Chloe teased. She put the pizzas down on the table. "Chow has arrived Commander Lane, planning meeting is officially ready start," Chloe said. She gave Lois a quick salute and grabbed the glasses out of the cupboard.
"Thank you. Miss Sullivan. Dr. Jones-Smith, Mrs. Cooper, I have asked you two here for a serious mission. It has been codenamed Operation Smallville. Its primary objective it to hook me up with a certain gorgeous, but oblivious farm-boy from the Kent farm. I have recently come to the conclusion that this objective must be a priority," Lois said in a very commanding tone.
Martha had sat in on more briefings than she could count and from Lois' tone and cadence, she had sat up in her seat and looked around for something to take notes with it. Martha shook her head in amusement. "I'm not giving up on convincing this one to join UNIT anytime soon," she thought. Martha remembered where she was and reached for the tequila to help mix the drinks.
"To plan any successful campaign the winning side must anticipate the obstacles to victory that are put in their way. Rules for this sitting are: we come up with an obstacle, a way to either crush it or work around it, and then go on to another. By the end of tonight, I want to list out as many possible pit-falls of the opening moves as we can come up with. We are not looking long term here ladies, only the opening gambit," Lois explained. A thought occurred to her. "Do I have a volunteer for recorder?" Gwen raised her hand. Lois handed her a legal pad and some pens. "Floor is open ladies. Oh and one more thing, lime or strawberry?" Lois asked.
The women mixed their drinks and ate their pizzas. Chloe was the first to list an obstacle, "Lois I hate to bring this up, but I want to get it done with at the beginning. Obstacle – Clark Kent's mindless infatuation with a certain poisonous princess. It seems that every time you guys seem close to getting something started, she who must not be named sweeps in and totally screws things up. She has totally mind f***ed Clark so many times I don't know what will happen if she finds out you are trying to date him."
Gwen leaned over to Lois and said, "Who are we not talking about?"
"Lana Luthor," Lois said, making the name sound like a disease.
"Oh, I've heard of her. She has been in most of the celebrity magazines in Britain and on a lot of talk shows going on and on about her charity work. Seems like a total git to me. She and Clark had a thing?" Gwen asked
"She used to live across the street from Clark and he had a crush on her from elementary school on. They dated off and on, and even after she married Lex she tries to get into Clark's shorts whenever she can," Chloe explained.
"Well, I guess if all you are used to seeing is a cow's arse all day long, the first bint you see makes you think you're in love," Gwen spouted philosophically. Martha choked on her drink and a little margarita came out her nose. Chloe gave Gwen a dirty look. "Bint means girl, it comes from the Arabic term for daughter. Get your mind out of the gutter, Chloe," Gwen teased.
"I don't think that is going to be a problem anymore," Lois said remembering her little foray into Clark's laptop.
"Why?" Chloe inquired. Lois only smiled cryptically.
"Next obstacle," Lois said, "My own personal doubts. Thanks to the timely kick in pants by you three we can table that one. I appreciate it. Smallville needs someone to take charge, not someone who doubts themselves; and I'm just the person to do it." Lois nodded her head once and started on her second drink.
"I've got one," Martha said, "Where are you guys going on your big double date with Jack and Chloe?" Chloe and Lois looked at each other in panic. They both new they wanted it to be perfect for Lois.
"Well, we were thinking about going to a French restaurant, but I don't think that is Smallville's thing," Lois said. "As for afterwards, I suggested the Atlantis Club and Smallville shot that down quicker than the Blur saves people. I want to go somewhere we can have fun, and still get some close time together."
Martha snapped her finger, "Got it! I read about a charity USO dance being held downtown. The theme is Big Band and World War II. You guys could go in costume (well you, Chloe, and Clark could go in costume and Jack could just show up with what he normally wears) and dance the night away. For dinner you let Clark and Jack decide. You have to give men the illusion that they have some control or they get cranky." Chloe and Lois beamed. They reached across the table and first high fived each other and then Martha.
"Ladies I think the opening moves are set, let's get sloshed and obnoxious," Lois said.
"We're missing one final obstacle", Chloe thought. "I hope Jack convinces Clark to tell Lois soon." Chloe's attention was brought back by Martha asking her a question.
"I asked Ianto so now I'll ask you. So…how is sex with the dashing Captain Harkness?" Martha asked, causing Chloe to blush. Gwen punched Martha in the arm, but secretly wanted to hear for herself.
Ianto had told Jack that Martha had asked about their sex life. He had thought the story was so funny he had told it Chloe. She repeated Ianto's line to Martha, doing her best impersonation of a welsh accent, "Innovative, bordering on the avant-garde."
Clark was in the barn working on the on the underside of the tractor, holding it up with one hand while twisting the bolts with the other, when he felt the air become charged with energy. A now familiar crackle filled the barn and the slight breeze of displaced air brushed across his neck. Clark lowered the tractor gently and turned around. He saw his friend, Rokk Krinn, standing there in his black, quilted jacked with metal spheres on the collar. "Don't get me wrong, Rokk. I like you. You're a good friend, but forgive me if I'm not overjoyed to see you. Every time you show up, it's to warn me of some looming apocalypse."
"None taken, Kal. I would feel the same way in your place. Not to worry though. This is an unofficial trip, not sponsored by the Legion. I'm here on sort of a..." Rokk paused like he was trying to find the right words, "research project."
"What? You mean like a college paper or something?" Clark asked in disbelief. He had hoped for the sake future of students that they would have done away with those. "I guess some things never change," he thought.
"No, it's nothing like that. It's just something that's been bothering me since our first meeting. I told you we had no record of Chloe Sullivan being in your life. We couldn't find any record of Chloe Sullivan anywhere. The history books mention Pete, Lana, Jimmy; Hell, Kal, they even mention Shelby, but no where do they mention Chloe Sullivan. The history books talk about Oliver and the rest of the JLA and their secret identities. They don't give the secret identity of The Watchtower. I put two and two together," Rokk explained.
"You didn't say Lois. Isn't she mentioned?" Clark asked, fearing that Rokk would say no.
Rokk looked at him like he had suddenly turned green and sported a shiny set of purple antlers. "Of course she's mentioned, there is an entire library in New Paris devoted to historical romances called the Lois Lane Library. My girlfriend and I went as you guys to the last History-Con," Rokk looked embarrassed. "Please don't tell anyone I go to those. Anyway, after the Doomsday thing, I was sure she would show up. Nothing happened. I even checked copies of Lois' diaries and Chloe isn't mentioned by name, only 'my cousin', and no I won't tell you what she says about you...spoilers aren't any fun." Rokk grinned.
"I know Lois' writing very well, and that doesn't sound like her at all. Wait, what do you mean you guys dressed up like us?" Clark asked.
"Nothing, forget I mentioned it, please, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl will never let me hear the end of it if they find out I go to History-Cons, let alone dress up to go them," Rokk pleaded. He regained his composure. "I only had copies of Lois' diaries to work from until I stumbled across an original from when she was in 5th grade. It had nothing to do with you, so it wasn't kept with the others in the main vault. I found Chloe's name. Kal, someone has been altering documents, computer files, you name it in an effort to make it look like Chloe never existed. They did a thorough job."
Clark was silent for a few moments while he digested what Rokk had told him. While he was thinking, Clark noticed Rokk looked nervous. "What aren't you telling me, Rokk? I can tell you are nervous about something," Clark said.
Rokk sighed."When I said this was an unofficial trip, I meant it. In fact, I was told by the head of Temporal Operations to leave it alone. He said it didn't affect the time stream and we had bigger problems on our hands taking out the Time Agency. I'm here without permission, against orders."
"Who do you think is behind this and why would they go through all this trouble?" Clark asked.
Jack had a pretty good idea of both the who and the why. He had been hiding at the barn door listening in on the conversation. Jack had just pulled into the driveway when his wristband alerted him to a temporal shift. Jack had quickly located the source and ran to the barn. When he had heard Chloe's name, he decided not to burst in and instead waited to find out what he could. He listened to what Rokk had described and knew what was going on. Jack opened the barn door and said, "Listen kid, drop the investigation of Chloe Sullivan."
Clark watched Rokk's expression suddenly go from fear to defeat at hearing Jack's voice. "Shit, I am so dead," Rokk muttered under his breath. Clark saw that Jack was standing in the doorway, suddenly very imposing.
"You going to introduce to me to you friend?" Jack asked coldly.
Jack had meant the question for Clark, who had taken a breath to answer when Rokk answered instead, surprising both Clark and Jack. "Captain Harkness, this Kal-El of the house of El. Kal, this is Captain Harkness, head of Temporal Operations."
Clark thought he should have been immune to surprises by now when it came to Jack, but learning he was with the Legion was just too weird. He looked at Jack's face for some kind of confirmation and saw from Jack's confused look he thought it was weird as well. Jack met his gaze and shrugged his shoulders. Rokk looked back and forth from Kal to Jack not sure of what was going on.
Clark was the first one to chuckle. Jack soon followed. "Rokk Krinn, may I present Captain Jack Harkness, until recently the head of Torchwood, Chloe's boyfriend," Clark said.
Rokk looked like he had been stunned by Lightning Lad. "Huh?" he said. Rokk suddenly caught on, "You're not him are you, I mean our him, the Legion's Captain, are you? How old is that coat anyway?" Rokk asked.
"Never heard of you guys before, so no, I'm not him, but I guess I will be at some point. Damn, I hate spoilers, and I really like this coat," Jack said somewhat disappointedly. He really disliked spoilers, but at least he knew he got to keep his coat.
Everything suddenly fell into place for Rokk, his eyes loosing focus as he put the pieces together. "It was you this whole time. You're the one who erased Chloe from history. If you weren't, you would be furious about it in the future, since you're dating her now," Rokk blurted out. "Why, why do this? Why make it so the future doesn't know about her? Or, has that decision not come up yet?" Rokk thought belatedly. "My Captain is so going to kick my ass for screwing with his personal time stream," Rokk thought.
"Its standard procedure now a days," Jack said matter of factly. Clark spun on him wondering what would cause him to keep the memory of Chloe from being known. "Think of it like witness protection. Some time after one of my lovers die, I begin the process of covering up their existence. I can get away with it. I'm not a celebrity like you know who." Jack jerked his thumb at Clark. "I was just starting on Steven's grandmother when Ianto died."
"You erase all traces of all your lovers?" Clark asked, sounding couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I was a time traveler and made a lot of enemies. Some can time travel too. In 1915, one particularly cruel bitch researched me and found out about one of my lovers. She killed him in front of me, gloated about how she had tracked him, and tried to make her escape. I was able to jam her rift manipulator; keeping her there long enough for me to get my hands around her neck," Jack said. "I wanted to kill her, but I stopped. I gave in to my darker side instead."
Clark wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer, but he asked anyway, "If you didn't kill her, what did you do?"
Jack looked into Clark's eyes and Clark was the one who had to look away. "I rigged a special temporal stasis field using her rift manipulator and some alien life support equipment I had salvaged. I made it so she couldn't move or speak and was kept alive indefinitely by way of the life support. After that I painted her gold and put in a pair of gold colored contact lenses," Jack said.
"Saturn Girl always was creeped out by that one statue in the lobby," Rokk muttered.
"By erasing all traces of them after they have died, I am able to protect them while they are alive," Jack explained.
Rokk sighed. "I guess that clears things up. Hey wait a minute, you knew I was going to do this?" Rokk asked. Knowing a rhetorical question when he heard one, Jack didn't answer. "Which explains why the code on the door was so easy to break today," Rokk said as he snapped his fingers.
"If I give you a hard time, just remind me that I had to where Ianto's belt buckle in public," Jack said with a grin.
"Thanks," Rokk replied. "Sorry to keep barging in on you, Kal."
"Its ok, Rokk. This time there was no end of the world to avert," Clark said as he held out his hand and shook Rokk's. Rokk let go, touched his ring, and disappeared. When he did, Jack's wristband chirped.
Clark and Jack stared at each other in silence until finally Jack spoke, "I'm guessing that you don't approve of my methods. Well, we should have this talk now rather than later. I've killed people. I even killed my own grandson to save thousands of other children. That stasis field I was talking about, I found a bomb from the Time War that did the same thing and used it on the planet of the things that forced me to kill my grandson. I orbited the planet, told them what I was going to do so they would have a moment of pure terror and detonated the bomb. That planet is now separated from the rest of the Universe, replaying the same second over and over again. I have done horrible things, Clark, but I do what I can, when I can, to protect this planet and those I love. If you have a problem with this, let me know." Jack finished his speech and waited for Clark to answer.
Clark thought about what Jack said. His speech reminded him of what a recent Iraq vet had told him about the things he had had to do during the war. Clark realized both of these men were soldiers, both heroes forced to make hard choices. As far as the whole stasis thing went, it sounded a lot nicer than phantom zone, which his own father had developed. Clark walked to Jack and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. Words were unnecessary.
"Jack, this only goes to prove why I shouldn't tell Lois my secret and not have a relationship with her, " Clark said.
"You're wrong, Clark. You a pivotal figure in history. So is Lois. Because of this, you have multiple groups looking out for your welfare, monitoring the time flow around you. I can think of three off of the top of my head, one of them being the most powerful time traveler in the history of the Universe," Jack explained. "Direct actions against you or her will bring a lot of temporal firepower."
"So what you're saying is that you and some cosmic buddies have got my back?" Clark said with a smile. Clark became thoughtful, "Jack, I really like Lois and I value her friendship more than anything. I don't know what I would do if she couldn't accept me as an alien."
"Clark, ask yourself a different question for once. What would you do if she accepted you?" Jack asked with insight.
Clark pushed through his fears and saw a life with Lois at his side. He realized he would never have moments of rest or quiet and that made him happy. She would push him to be more. She would continue to draw out the more confident side of him. He would love her forever. Clark thought about the random kisses they had shared and the wonderful feelings that had come from their embraces. He realized that as a couple these experiences would be multiplied exponentially. How could he not risk going for it?
Jack could almost see the cartoon light bulb light up over Clark's head. He decided it was time to go for the kill. "Hey Clark, I've been to that library in New Paris. Their erotic section gave me a whole notebook worth of ideas," Jack said. Clark's face turned bright red. Clark was saved from further stories of Jack's erotic musing by Jack's cell-phone ringing. Jack answered it. His face lit up. "That is a great idea. Clark wanted to go to that new place on 5th and I happen to have a spare uniform from when I was in the RAF in WWII. Clark and I can go as squadron mates…. Good call, I'll set it up with Ollie." He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.
"Set what up with Ollie?" Clark asked curiously.
"The limo for you and Lois, of course," Jack said.