One of New York's Finest patrolman shone his flashlight around the grassy spot by the pond. The woman had disappeared, leaving only the smell of ozone, and a comic book, one of those picture novels. He picked it up. Superman. The cover showed Lois marrying Lex while claiming to love Clark and Clark renouncing her forever, while holding hands with Lana. He'd take it back to the station. If no one claimed it, he'd take it home. He liked a good Superman novel.
*
When the worlds stopped, she lay on the sidewalk in Midtown Park, Metropolis. She gave herself a moment to adjust, and got to her feet. She picked up her belongings and crossed the street to the Park Hotel, standing where the Plaza stood in her world.
The night was cloudy and dark. She asked the doorman for the time, for her cell phone didn't work here. Four-seventeen AM. She asked if there was a phone she could use inside. He held the door for her, and she went to the desk. The manager let her use the desk phone. She called Clark but the phone rang and rang. She called STAR Labs, but the building was almost deserted for the holiday weekend. She left a message for Barry and Emil. The manager let her sit in the lobby until morning. At sunrise, she thanked him and left.
It was a long walk downtown to STAR Labs, but Clark's number at the Daily Planet now belonged to someone else.She got the night operator who assured her he no longer worked there. His cell phone message center was full. She wondered if he'd gone to Smallville. It started to rain again, and she put up her umbrella. She walked past the theatre district and several more blocks to Star Square, the Metropolis answer to Herald Square in New York City.
She rested for a while. The sun was well up and she was hungry and tired. She checked her purse. She didn't have any money for Metropolis. She looked around for a place she might sell some of her off world items as alien novelties. They wouldn't bring much money, for alien imports were common, but she might get enough to get a cab to STAR Labs and something to eat while she located Clark.
A policeman directed her to a small shop specializing in Earth and off world gifts. She sold several coins, some paper money, and a postcard from Pris with a US stamp for $100. She hailed a cab. Soon she was at STAR Labs. It began to rain heavily, and faint thunder sounded.
She signed in and wrote down the time: 8:30. She walked across the lobby to the elevators, looking up at the three levels that formed the open lobby to STAR Labs. She went to Barry's office. No one was there, and she didn't see anyone wandering the halls. She tried Emil Hamilton's number, but the answering message said he would not be in on the holiday and could not be reached.
*
Clark followed Barry and Emil into the transport lab. They waited while the Maelstrom strengthened and moved over Metropolis. Clark had made his goodbyes to his parents, Larry and Kara, if this worked. Since this world believed Superman was dead/lost, no one would think his leaving was related.
"About another hour of storms, Clark," said Emil, reading a screen. "Earth1 breach hasn't opened."
"Sure," said Clark. "Is this the last of the Maelstroms?"
"The last of any significant ones," Emil said. "Your last chance to return to her."
Clark took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. He'd have to accept whatever the outcome was. He decided he'd return to Smallville, at least for a while. Family, home, but no Lexy. He'd finish that novel and dedicate it to her.
*
In the cafeteria Lexy got tea and a sausage biscuit. She was starving but too anxious to eat much. She sat at an empty table and picked up an old newspaper someone had left. She flipped through the sections and found the front page. Large headlines announced that Mayor Luthor had donated $10,000,000 to Metropolis City University for a for a new gym. She folded the paper to the bottom half and read, "Superman Dead. Phantom Zone Threat Ended."
Lexy went cold and hot at the same time. Clark dead? He couldn't be. Her hands shook so she had to put the paper down to read. Unable to stop, she read the article by Lois Lane for the Daily Planet. Superman had sacrificed himself to seal the breaches in the Phantom Zone caused by the Maelstroms. Zod and his allies remained imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, stopping the interplanetary wars before they began.
Tears ran down her cheeks and dripped on the paper. She wiped them away but more took their place. Clark was gone forever, and she was again on a world without him. Finally, the tears stopped. She got up and left the cafeteria. She hoped Barry might be able to send her back to Earth1. She didn't want to stay on Earth without Clark, remembering the places they had been and the people she'd come to know here.
Not wanting to, she turned to the rest of the article in another section and read. It was interviews and comments from dignitaries, including Mayor Luthor, the President, and the Justice League. Luthor was going to name the gym after Superman, getting lifelong good publicity. She folded the paper and put it down. She went to a building phone on the wall and tried Barry's number again. No answer. She hung the phone up, gathered her belongings and returned to the lobby.
One last time, she took the elevator to Barry's office. The door was locked. No one was around. She left him a note, telling him she had returned, but hearing the news about Superman, was going to try to return to her world. If he didn't hear back from her, she was successful. She slipped it in his inbox and walked to the third-floor landing of the lobby.
She pushed open the door to the Ladies' room and dragged her stuff in. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was a wreck. Tangled hair, red eyes, damp clothes. She took off her damp clothes, washed her face, combed the tangles out of her hair, and took clean clothes from her backpack.
She shook a few wrinkles out of one of her favorite dresses, the one Clark liked. She'd last worn the dress and matching sweater the day Clark proposed. She touched the engagement ring on her finger, and decided to mail it to Martha if she had time. She put the clothes on, changed to dry sandals and tied a scarf around her hair. She looked better, clean, dry, and as though she were waiting to go out with her boyfriend. Totally untrue. She began to cry again but stopped. No time for that. She had to get to Midtown Park before the Maelstrom ended. She put on mascara, rouge and finished with lipstick. She didn't feel as good as she looked, but she felt some urgent need to remember a happy time with Clark.
Lexy walked around the mezzanine walkway to the elevator that would take her to the subway. The subway that serviced the Labs didn't stop on Sundays or holidays, but another subway would take her to the west side of Midtown Park. She could walk to the Pond and try to find a breech. Fortunately, a Maelstrom was releasing the purple and yellow lightning that indicated a breach might be available.
*
"I'm so sorry, Clark," said Barry, "that was the last breach for her zone. Earth1 didn't appear."
"I thought it was. That's how she got here."
"We think maybe her breach was an outlier. Random, not connected to the main storm. The control you took from Faora can't pull up the breach you want, just control the ones that appear."
Clark hung his head. It was over. "Thank you, Barry. And you, Emil. You've tried so hard."
"Do you want to stay with Iris and me for a few days?" Barry asked. "You're more than welcome."
"Thanks, but I'm going to Smallville. Home."
Barry nodded. "Safe trip, then. Anything else we can do for you here?"
Shaking his head, Clark said, "No, guys, but thanks. I'll call you from Smallville."
Emil shut down the transporter. Lights flashed a few times before stopping. The hum of machinery faded. "Keep in touch, Clark. We're thinking of you."
Clark walked out of the transport lab and up to the ground floor lobby. He looked up at the mezzanine, the empty second floor walkway. Someone greeted him and he answered absently. He'd stop at the Planet, talk to Perry, call Ma and Pa, before going home.
A woman appeared heading for the elevator to the subway exit. She wore a dress similar to the one Lexy wore the day he proposed. He followed her, his heart breaking at this reminder of their few days together. The woman turned around and it was Lexy.
She was here. Here. He was so shocked he couldn't speak. His jaw moved up and down soundlessly as he tried to call her. She stopped at the subway entrance to arrange her backpack—the very one she'd brought with her in June. He found his voice.
"Lexy! Lexy!"
Lexy shook her head. Someone was calling her name and he sounded just like Clark. She looked around. She was the only person on the mezzanine. There were a few people on the lobby floor and the security guards at the entrance, but no one calling her name.
"Lexy!"
She must be hearing things. The people in the lobby were ignoring her. She picked up her backpack again and went to the door to the subway.
Clark stopped calling Lexy. She couldn't see him at his place under the balcony. She was going to the subway. If she got on it, he might be hours or days finding her. She might not have his new cell numbers. How had she gotten here and why was she leaving? Clark realized she'd found an outlier breach to return here, one Emil and Barry couldn't connect.
There was a poster on the wall listing a memorial service for Superman, lost sealing the breaches with the Phantom Zone. The poster had a space for people to write notes, and a pen on a string to write with. Lexy stopped and read the poster. She used the pen to write a message. With horror, Clark knew she believed he was dead. If Superman was dead, she'd believe he was, too. She was going to try to return to her world.
He might not be able to find her breach, and if she got on the subway before he reached her, she might be gone again. Forever.
"Lexy! It's me, Clark. Lexy, beloved!"
Beloved. Lexy stopped with her hand on the elevator button. Clark? She looked around and saw a man running across the lobby floor, calling her name.
"Lexy, Lexy!"
She trembled when she saw Clark, her Clark, waving from the lobby. He's not dead? But Superman...Her heart pounded as she dropped her backpack and rain jacket and ran to the railing so fast, she hit it and almost fell over.
"Clark, Clark, it really is you. But I thought, I mean, Superman is dead? Right?"
"I'm Clark. I'm not Superman. He's gone. I'm here and I love you." Clark crossed the lobby and ran up the steps two and three at a time. Lexy moved, half believing she was dreaming, to the steps to meet the man she'd thought was dead.
"Superman was lost when the Phantom Zone breaches were sealed. I'm here." He stopped by the top step and took her in his arms. She hugged his neck, crying. Again, words were not necessary. Clark kissed her and kissed her.
She pulled back and looked at him.She touched his cheek, his shoulder, resting her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beatin. He was alive, and holding her. "You're here, you really are here. I thought you were gone and I'd go back to my world."
"I am here, beloved, with you. What next?"
"Let's go home."