An Odd Place to Find Oneself

Chapter 5: Wanting Answers

"It's good to see you again, Jimmy," Perry White said. "I'm…sorry about what happened."

"Yeah," Jimmy said, sighing.

"Do you think you'll be all right?" Perry continued.

"I guess," Jimmy said. "S.T.A.R. Labs would like to have a word with me every once in a while so they can monitor my condition and stuff, but…I guess I'm fine."

Perry took a breath. "And what of Clark and Lois?"

Jimmy was uncomfortably still for a moment. "I don't know," he said.

Perry sighed. "Well, are they going to recover?"

Jimmy's heart stopped for a moment.

"Uh…they don't…really know…what happened."

"So they have no idea when or if they'll be conscious, is that what you're saying?" Perry said.

"…Not really, but um…I think they did say something about them…getting better eventually," Jimmy said.

He felt awkward repeating that. Weirdly enough, he couldn't shake the feeling that they didn't actually know it for sure and it was just said to make him feel better. Which was stupid, of course, right? Would a leading S.T.A.R. scientist ever do that?

"Well, if this isn't just…" Perry said.

He didn't seem to have the words.

He rested his head in his hands.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" he finally said, his voice seeming tired and breathless and…almost despairing.

"Wait, are you asking me?" he said.

Perry sighed heavily. "No, not really…"

Jimmy had to admit it was a bit weird to look in his boss's eyes and see them betraying…well, emotion. Even…some weakness. He never really thought of the Chief in this light; in fact, while he knew well enough to not express his opinion, he often found him annoying and overly harsh. Which may not be completely fair, but it's still how he felt.

It had been a while since he had seen Mr. White as, well…human.

"Well, Jimmy…what happened at S.T.A.R. Labs may involve people we know, but it's also a major story. Would it bother you to cover it?" Perry said.

Jimmy felt a bit surprised "You're asking me?"

"Yes, I do believe I'm asking you," the Chief continued, reverting to a bit of his usual gruffness.

"Um…" Jimmy hesitated. "Actually, I…I sort of would…want to."

Perry cocked an eyebrow.

"I…I want to find out what happened to them," he said.

He knew it would be painful, probably. He almost hated to say it. But he couldn't imagine another option.

A look of surprise touched the Chief's face. "Well, that's certainly thinking like a journalist. I see you've been taught well." His mouth twitched with a somewhat awkward half-smile, which Jimmy unconsciously reciprocated. "I'll send you with Ron Troupe, alright?"

Jimmy wasn't too thrilled about this. Troupe was, seemingly, a pretty great guy. He had won tons of rewards for his articles, he invested himself in volunteering, activism, and all sorts of great stuff…and he also tended to act like Jimmy didn't exist. It wasn't like he was blatantly condescending, like Steve Lombard sometimes was. He just didn't seem to notice him.

Probably because, in spite of (or perhaps because of) all his positive qualities, he had a bit of an arrogant streak. It was sort of a quiet arrogance, but definitely still there.

Having been called, Troupe soon walked into Perry's office.

"Hey, Jimmy," he said, his voice subtly sad. "How are you doing?"

Jimmy was caught off-guard by this. "Um…I…I'm doing okay."

"Your headaches doing any better?" he asked with concern.

"I…sort of…" Jimmy replied. "Th-they haven't been bothering me just lately, anyway. I mean – I feel alright."

"That's good," Ron said with a slight smile. He sighed. "I know this is hard. It's…hard for me, too. I guess maybe that should motivate us, right?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said.

"C'mon, let's get going," Ron said. "I'll drive you."

"Thanks."

It was…weird.

Maybe he had misjudged Ron pretty badly. He felt a twinge of shame.

They were both quiet on the ride there.

"Huh? Are you mumbling something, Jimmy?" Ron said.

"What? I don't think so," Jimmy said, confused. "I…?"

But I have no idea who you are!

Yes, you do! I already told you, I'm Clark Kent!

No, you're not! I am!

"Wh-what? Clark?!"

Jimmy's brain fell into a swampy haze, and then was repeatedly slapped through by someone with hands made out of lightning.

"Ack…h…help…"

…

"Jimmy! Jimmy, are you alright?"

"Y…yes," Jimmy said, surprising himself by that fact. "I just…ugh. Had another headache."

"Should I drive you home?" Ron said.

"N…no, actually. I mean, S.T.A.R. Labs wants to check up on my condition…"

"Are you sure you feel fine?" Ron said.

"Yeah. It…faded pretty fast."

"If you're sure…"

"Yeah, I am, really."

Fine physically, anyway.

He didn't want to say anything, but he feared he was going insane.

Deep down, he was more afraid he wasn't going insane. That…he had actually heard Clark Kent's voice in his head.

He gulped. That was stupid, right? Clark was on a hospital bed in S.T.A.R. Labs, unconscious.

Unless maybe he wasn't unconscious, and he was trying to mentally reach out to Jimmy using a mysterious telepathic link that had been created by the malfunctioning of the thought transfer device.

That would be…well, kinda cool, but still creepy.

"We're here, Jimmy," Ron said.

Jimmy took a deep breath. "Alright."

Time to report on my best friends being in comas. How fun.

Superman sat on a cloud, feeling confused and gloomy.

Since when can I even sit on clouds? he wondered, but he had more important things to brood about. He was still trying to figure out what on earth was going on with the surreal mental conversation he had had with himself earlier.

It was weird. The voice sounded like his own voice, the thoughts and the feelings bore the genetic makeup of his own mind, so to speak – it was, well, himself he was talking to.

He wanted to tell himself that that was all there was to it, but he couldn't make himself believe that. Even though it was the most logical explanation, it wasn't true. He just knew that.

That one moment just kept haunting him.

So…wait. You're…Clark Kent?

…Yes. Are you…Superman?

He shook his head.

Why did it feel so wrong? Why did it feel as though he was talking to someone else when he said that, and that someone else was talking to him?

It was like he was talking to Clark Kent…and that Clark was talking to Superman?

Come on! That doesn't even make sense, he harshly scolded himself. YOU are Clark Kent, AND Superman. Either you were just thinking to yourself, or you were…telepathically connected to someone who, for some reason, self-identifies as Clark Kent and thinks similarly to you, but is evidently not you.

Superman blinked as the epiphany came upon him. Am I in an alternate universe? That would make sense….in fact, I probably should've thought of that earlier.

Maybe the alternate version of himself in this world was a telepath.

It didn't exactly explain why his cape was totally devoid of pouches, but considering that he didn't really know all that much about different realities, he supposed there could probably be a lot of possible side-effects of interdimensional travel that he knew nothing about.

Superman frowned. Hmm. I feel like I'm missing something.

But his theory was a reasonable start, at least. Maybe if he met his counterpart and learned more about this world, he'd have an easier time figuring out what had happened.

Satisfied, he hoisted himself up off of the cloud. He supposed it was only a matter of time before he found this "other him", assuming that he was a reporter in this dimension also. If he kept doing noteworthy deeds, he supposed odds were they'd run across each other.

Not very proactive, but it was workable. Superman wasn't feeling too high on initiative today, anyway. Life seemed like a blur, like he was being swept along with the tide…like he didn't even really know what he was doing.

He…he could hardly even keep track of what had happened today so far. He knew he had saved some people…from…various things…

He shook his head. He must be woozy from the interdimensional travel. Though, how had he traveled to this alternate world at all? If it even was an alternate world…

Sheesh, get it together, Clark, he scolded himself. Clark, as in, Superman…not the other Clark who's apparently a telepath…though he's probably also Superman, himself…whatever, you get what I mean.

He sighed.

Clark found himself writing up another article.

What was he even reporting on? He didn't know.

He felt too exhausted to worry about reality crashing apart, or whatever was happening. He just let himself go through the motions, feel the joy of writing…

Even if, at the end of the day, what he had written was…not technically…anything.

But he just couldn't worry about it anymore. His brain felt fried. He could only let it do what it was naturally inclined to do. And even in his stressed state, he still seemed capable of writing well. Funny.

"Hi, Clark!"

"Huh?" Clark looked up. It was Ron Troupe. "Oh, hi Ron!" he said, feeling overly cheery about the fact that he was noticing him this time around. He was feeling rather pathetic and insecure today, honestly. Probably due to the fact that he was no longer Superman.

"Hey, are you doing okay, Clark?" Ron said.

"Uh…sure. Yeah, I'm doing fine," Clark said, realizing as he spoke that his voice was the higher-pitched voice he always used when he wasn't being Superman, even though he wasn't modulating it to be that way…just like the plumpness, the near-sightedness, and everything else.

He felt vaguely embarrassed even to just hear his own voice. Objectively speaking, it wasn't like there was any cause of shame in it at all. It wasn't squeaky or anything, just a little higher. It had never even slightly bothered him to use this voice under normal circumstances. But now that he was constrained to use it…it made him feel weak, and, well…wrong.

"I'm sorry if I sort of brushed you off earlier," Ron said. "I was just really involved in what I was writing – I didn't mean to, you know, be rude."

"Oh-oh, it's alright, don't worry about it," Clark said. "No big deal, everything's good." He tried to smile.

"Ah, good. If there's anything I can help you with, let me know. Alright?"

"Um – sure. Thank you," Clark said. Ron smiled and walked off.

Hm, Clark thought. That was quite a turnaround, Ron. Good job.

He blinked. That was a weird way to put it. At least he wasn't a big enough dork to have said it aloud…though he wouldn't put it past himself…

Oh, come on. No need to throw yourself a pity party, he said. You might not have your powers, but you're still…well, a good reporter, right? Just focus on that.

He continued writing.

Soon, just like that, the article was completed. He sighed contentedly. It was, again, a very good example of his work.

If you ignored the fact that it somehow miraculously lacked any content. Which he did, as hard as he could.

Another thing that was hard to ignore was the fact that moving took so much effort.

As he was walking toward the Chief's desk, however, he passed Jimmy Olsen.

"Hi, Jim!" Clark said, instantly brightening upon seeing his friend.

"Hey, Clark!" Jimmy said, seeming to reciprocate the emotions totally.

But as Clark continued to look at his friend, the mild-mannered reporter felt a strange sense of shock. There was something about Jimmy that…seemed different. Looked different, almost.

Maybe it shouldn't have been so startling. After all, everyone seemed a little "off" today. But it was more than that, he thought. Something…big…

"Uh…are you OK?" Jimmy asked.

Clark blinked, realizing he had been staring at Jimmy. But for whatever reason, it was hard not to.

"Y-yeah, I'm OK, sorry," Clark said. "Heh." He scratched his hair. "Um…I was just going to turn something in to the Chief…"

"Cool. I was going to talk to him about my next assignment," Jimmy said.

"Nice. I hope you get something good," Clark said. The two began walking together toward Perry's desk.

"Ah, Kent! Just the person I'd been wanting to see," Perry said, seeming a lot cheerier than he had earlier that day. Lois was standing there too.

"I've just been informed of an incident involving Superman saving the day," Perry said. "And I would like you three to report on it."

Clark's breath caught in his throat.

Well, here we go, he told himself. You'll be alright, Clark. Relax.

"Um…" Lois started.

"What?" Perry asked.

"…How exactly is Superman saving the day? And where?"

"What are you talking about, Lois? I've given you all the information you need to start reporting!" Perry said, seemingly slightly more flustered than angry.

Lois cleared her throat. "Yes…of course."

"Well, what are you waiting for, guys? Let's go!" Jimmy said cheerfully.

"Alright," Clark said, a slight trace of Jimmy's good mood rubbing off on him. "I'll drive us there."

As he walked down the stairs, he tried not to think about what would happen when he met Superman. Though maybe he should. Better to feel awkward now than later.

Would Superman…recognize him? That is…recognize that he was also Superman? Or at least used to be…

Based on the "conversation" they had had earlier, he…well, he wasn't sure. It could seemingly go either way.

Clark sighed mentally, realizing that, specifically, had been the cause of his apprehension. If Superman didn't believe him…believe him saying that he had been Superman…then, well, what right did he have to believe it?

Oh well, Clark. What happens, happens, he thought.