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An Odd Place to Find Oneself

By TaliaJoy

Chapter 6: Lonely Company

Well, here I am, Clark thought as he pulled up to the place where Superman was. He didn't know how he had known where to go, but that was the least of his concerns anyway.

He hesitantly opened the car door and got out. His co-workers followed suit. Clark took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Are you OK?" he heard Lois say. He turned to look at her. Though she seemed to be slightly trying to hide it, Clark could tell she was genuinely concerned, which kind of made him happy.

"Uh, sure. Fine," Clark said, giving a smile.

"It's hardly the first time you've interviewed Superman," Lois said with a half-smirk. "But I guess it is the first time we're doing it together. Intimidated?"

"By what?" Clark said, feeling another flash of anxiety.

"By Superman and me together, obviously," she said.

Clark chuckled awkwardly.

"Hey, he's over there!" Jimmy said, pointing.

"Great work, Jimmy," Clark said cheerfully. He didn't know why, he just felt like saying it. Jimmy's presence just cheered him up more than almost anything right now. Somehow, this seemed weird. Why would that be weird? They were best friends.

But there was something about Jimmy…he seemed so, so vibrant. So…life-like.

How can something that's actually IN real life be "life-like", Clark? You aren't making sense. He shook his head at himself.

Distracted by his thoughts once again, Clark hadn't realized that his feet had been walking toward Superman while he was thinking. And that now he was looking at Superman face-to-face.

Clark felt a shock run through him, then an inundation of cold.

Superman stared at Clark, blinked, and took a deep breath.

Clark stared at Superman, blinked, and took a deep breath.

"So, Superman…" Lois started.

"Hm?" Superman and Clark both turned to look at Lois.

Clark couldn't believe he had done something so stupid, but somehow, Lois didn't seem to notice. Either that, or it was so incomprehensible to her that her mind just ignored it.

"Uh…" Lois rubbed the back of her neck with a pen and glanced around awkwardly. "Superman, why are we the only ones here? And where…are we, anyway?"

"Ummm…" Superman bit his lip.

Clark suddenly realized that he was biting his lip too. He quickly stopped.

Lois stared at the two. "Are you guys…OK?"

"YES!" they both shouted, almost in unison.

Without making a conscious decision to do so, Clark and Superman looked at each other. They were both ticked off at each other for both choosing that same particular time to make that exclamation, and yet there was still an undercurrent of mutual sympathy.

...How do I know what Superman is thinking? Clark asked himself, turning away. He took another deep breath. He then sang a few rounds of Hallelujah choruses in his soul that Superman had not chosen to take a deep breath at the same time.

"Uh…" Jimmy looked around at the various people. "…Why is everything awkward? Why is no one asking any questions?"

"Right, of course!" Superman said, straightening up.

The reporters looked at each other.

"Um, y-you know we're supposed to be the ones asking the questions, right?" Lois said.

"Oh." Superman's face went white.

Clark couldn't help but feel relieved that Superman felt as awkward as he did, but at the same time felt his embarrassment. He also felt, probably by force of habit, like this behavior might be risking his secret identity somehow, although…really, that probably wasn't possible given the circumstances.

Lois cleared her throat. "Say, Superman…have you, by any chance, been feeling a little…odd today?"

Superman scratched the back of his neck and sighed. "Yeah, Lois. I…I pretty much have."

Lois took a deep breath. "Okay then. In that case…well, Clark and I will probably have more to talk about with you then just what we need for the paper. But, well, speaking of which – how did you save the day?"

Superman sighed. "I don't know. I just saved the day. It could've been a plane crash, it could've been a fire, it could've been a criminal, it could've been a supervillain…I don't – I don't even know anymore." He sighed again. "It's like life has just all rolled together. Like…events aren't distinct things anymore."

"Yeah," Clark said, without thinking much about it. Superman looked at him with some surprise, and Clark realized what he'd just done, but he decided to bravely press through the awkwardness of talking to, well, himself. "I mean…L-Lois and I, we've been experiencing the same thing. With…our articles."

Everyone looked at Jimmy.

"G-gee," Jimmy said. "I don't…life just sorta seems normal to me. I mean, this is just…sorta the way things normally are. Just, you know…normal life?" He shrugged.

"Then maybe what's affecting us isn't affecting everyone…I guess," Clark said.

"But…but that doesn't make sense," Lois said. "This…whatever is affecting us is…external. It affects the world around us."

Clark noticed that Superman was playing with his hands a bit, as if even more awkward. Clark guessed that that he instinctively wanted to jump to his defense, but didn't actually have anything to say.

"Well, uh…" Superman finally began. "Is there anything specific you two have noticed that's odd?"

Clark took a deep breath, causing Superman to look at him. The reporter desperately wished he could speak to Superman alone. He let out something like a sigh. "No, nothing. Nothing to…talk about," he said, purposefully glancing around awkwardly to make it obvious he was lying. He hoped Superman would get the message.

The Man of Steel cocked his head and looked at Clark with a vaguely concerned look, which Clark optimistically took as signifying he understood. Of course, even if this was so, there was the question of how to arrange such a thing without seeming extremely odd.

Clark noticed that, less fortunately, Lois was giving him a similar look, only a bit less concerned and a bit more suspicious. Clark felt a certain amount of anxiety over this, but really, it wasn't any worse than anything he had felt earlier that day.

…Day. Day.

This was all happening over the course of a single day, right?

Clark took a deep breath.

"I-I thought of something," he said. "Does anyone remember how today started? I mean…I-I kinda remember all this, 'feeling weird' stuff starting just…somewhere in the middle of the day."

Lois and Superman glanced at each other.

"I don't remember how this day started," Superman said. "Do you?"

"No, not really…" Lois said.

Everyone looked at Jimmy.

"Uhh…gee." Jimmy looked awkward. "You don't remember? Today started just like any other day, right? I mean…at least, that's how it started for me." He shrugged his shoulders and looked down.

Clark felt a little concerned that Jimmy might be feeling left out, but he didn't exactly know how to help.


Jimmy clicked his pen nervously. He was a lot better at photography than any kind of, you know, text journalism…he wondered if Ron would end up doing most of the talking and writing.

Well, it was easier to think about mundane concerns like this than the possibility of what might have happened to his friends.

Or the one thing that was maybe bothering him even more than that. The fact that he felt like…things might not be what they seemed.

"Well, let's go, Jimmy," Ron said, pushing open the doors to the S.T.A.R. Labs room where Prof. Hamilton and Reginald were working on Lois and Clark. Jimmy gulped.

"Ah! Hello Jimmy, Ron!" Prof. Hamilton said, his voice filled with a fake warmth that made Jimmy's skin crawl. Something about the Professor's behavior lately just seemed sorta wrong, but he didn't know the Professor well enough to really define it specifically.

"So, Jimmy" - the Professor leaned in a lot closer than the cub reporter would've preferred - "how have you been feeling?"

"Umm...okay?" Jimmy said, backing off just a bit. "At times, they get better, but they haven't really gone away..." he said vaguely.

I'm not going to tell him about hearing Clark's voice in my head. No way, was all Jimmy was sure of.

Ron cleared his throat to get the Professor's attention, which he got. "So, Professor," Ron said, "what can you tell us about the condition of Clark Kent and Lois Lane?"

Hamilton took a breath. "Actually…well…" He cleared his own throat. "What would really be most helpful right now is if we could run some more tests on Jimmy."

Jimmy wasn't sure if he should be happy or feel trepidation. He settled on "trepidation", despite the fact that this could, theoretically, be the path to helping his friends.

"Pr-Professor?" Reginald said, his voice somewhere between concern and panic. "Are you sure?"

The Professor sighed. "Yes, Reggie, I'm sure. The tests are completely safe, rest assured. Now, why don't you step outside and give Ron an interview while I conduct these tests?"

"Um, will do," Reginald said, taking Ron outside.

Jimmy gulped. Being alone wasn't really what he wanted right now.

He glanced down at the inanimate Clark and Lois, still on their cots.

He sighed. Well, in a way, I'm not alone…but not in a good way.

"So, Jimmy," the Professor said. He paused. "You seem a little nervous."

"Do I?" Jimmy said, sweating.

"There's no need, really. These tests can do nothing but help – both you and your friends."

"Uh…right."

"Nothing bad happened the first time, did it?"

"Nooo…"

"Alright then." Hamilton smiled in a way that almost seemed genuine, but didn't quite cross into "comforting" terrirtory. "Just lay down here…"

Jimmy took one last glance at his comatose friends before doing so.

Please, guys, just…

He didn't know exactly what he was thinking.

…Please help me.

What did that even mean?

Just before the metal cap lowered onto his head, something like despair began setting in.

C'mon, Clark...

Could I maybe hear your voice in my head now?

The helmet clamped on.

And then there was darkness...soothing...

...sleep.

Deep...sleep...


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