InsaneJournal

It hasn't escaped Clark's notice that he was on a planet with a red sun. A red sun that could be compared to Krypton's sun, something that Clark had no memory of. He stopped momentarily - he and Lois had taken the transport out to a being-made reservoir and waterfalls about an hour's trip outside of the capital city - and looked up at the sun. It was near and hot and he could hear, he was pretty certain, the crackling bursts and flashes up on it. Was it dying the same way Krypton's sun had died? No one had mentioned that, and he hadn't thought about it the first time they had taken the trip down to the surface.

He squeezed Lois's hand and started walking again. "Pretty incredible what they built here with the reservoir considering how little natural water they have available to them," he said.

"I agree," Lois said, squeezing his hand and leaning into his shoulder. "I talked to some of the locals who knew Basic. Apparently they have to manufacture some of the water to keep the waterfalls flowing."

She sighed and looked up at the red sun, leaning into his shoulder. "Does this red sun affect you like Krypton's, or are you still you?"

"I agree," Lois said, squeezing his hand and leaning into his shoulder. "I talked to some of the locals who knew Basic. Apparently they have to manufacture some of the water to keep the waterfalls flowing."

She sighed and looked up at the red sun, leaning into his shoulder. "Does this red sun affect you like Krypton's, or are you still you?"

"Well I didn't think you were going anywhere," she said, getting up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. She smiled up into his beautiful bright eyes and she couldn't help but get lost in his gaze for a moment. Here they were, visiting an alien planet, without having any enemies to fight, no one trying to kill him. Usually she'd be annoyed by the humdrum, but right now, she was thrilled to have a break with him.

"Is it weird for you, to be visiting another world like this?"

He practically rolled his eyes at the display of affection, but instead he just tugged her in closer to him and pulled her along as they walked down to the edge of the water, where the mist from the waterfall could hit their faces. "I think it would be weirder if there was some way to visit Krypton," he said quietly.

"Was that an eye roll, Mr. Kent? Did I really just get a PDA eye roll?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. She didn't move away from him, though, not even an inch.

She enjoyed the bubbling and trickle of the waterfall for a moment and sighed, rubbing his arm gently. "I couldn't imagine if we got to visit Krypton."

Clark shrugged. "I just wasn't expecting it," he told her, but that didn't stop him from sliding his hand across her lower back and tucking her in against him. "I looked it up already," he admitted. "Krypton doesn't exist here. It never did." That had been one of the first things he did, before he could think better of it. Even after knowing the answer, he wasn't sure which answer he had been hoping for.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could give you a chance to see your home, even if it was here in an alternate universe that I used to think was fictional." She looked up at the sky, like she could see the entirety of the universe simply by looking up.

When she dropped her eyes, she locked them on his and smiled, a light blush on her cheeks. "I had a fellow traveler—Will's his name—inform me I'm legendary where he comes from. Me, legendary. I thought you were the only one that got to be legendary. I liked it a little too much, I think."

"It's all right," he told her. "I don't know how well I'd handle it, honestly. It's one thing to have you and Kara here, and some people from similar timelines, but the thought of my parents or another me here, well, I sure don't like how that sounds at all." He flushed a little bit at the admission but shrugged it off and drew his palm against her cheek momentarily.

"Well, I don't know, Lois," he told her, his eyes bright. "Legendary is exactly the word I'd use to describe you."

She rubbed his shoulders, frowning at the admission. It wasn't like him, that deep insecurity, fear of the unknown. He wasn't how he dealt with things. But she could also tell that pressing him for details wasn't doing to do any good. Especially not when she was trying to change the subject. And that subject was her.

"Thank you. But you're my fiancé. You're supposed to say stuff like that."

"That doesn't make it any less true," he pointed out. He wrapped an arm comfortably around her waist as they strolled along the water's edge.

"Thank you." She slides in comfortably against him and enjoyed the water for a moment. "When the wedding date comes, if we're still here, do you still want to do it or wait?"

Clark had been trying not to think about the fact that they might never leave here. At least he had Kara and Lois here, even if he thought every moment about what was happening back in Metropolis, or in National City, without them. If that was even happening. They were probably in both places, as difficult as that was to understand. "I want to marry you," he said. "Here or there. It doesn't matter as long as it's with you."

Lois grinned and leaned into him, smiling up at him. "Well that's one of the sappiest things you've ever said, and that's saying a lot." That didn't stop her from kissing him anyway, because of course she agreed with him.

He grinned. "Well, you knew I was a sap when you agreed to marry me," Clark told her. He squeezed her hand. "We'll just keep going one day at a time and see what happens. I'm sure that as captain of the ship, Captain Kirk can perform any necessary legal ceremony."

Lois started them walking down the path again, her hand in his, leaning into his shoulder. She laughed and squeezed his hand. "We can just add it to the list of things no one would ever believe—getting married on the Starship Enterprise by Captain Kirk. And it wouldn't even be the weirdest thing we've ever done."

Clark laughed at that. "That's a pretty sad state of affairs, isn't it," he joked. "That this isn't even the weirdest thing that's ever happened to us."

Lois laughed some more and grinned up at him. "I think it means we get to lead a pretty awesome life."

He kissed her cheek with a loud smack. "Well, I won't argue with that."

Lois swatted at him for his smacking. "Yeah, yeah. Oh, speaking of—clearly people know who we are around here, but I haven't had anyone mention to me that they know your secret identity. Have you run into people that know you're Superman?"

Clark considered it. "Diana does, but I think that's because she's Wonder Woman. I don't remember anyone else talking about it specifically." He couldn't help but push his glasses up his nose a little. "I guess it doesn't really matter around here at all though either, does it?"

"No, I guess not," but she smiled at his nervous habit. "Just interesting. Maybe everyone knows but they also know it's supposed to be a secret."

"Maybe. But it doesn't need to be a secret here. I mean, I don't even need to be Superman here."

"It's probably best if you refrain a bit, even. I mean. You could punch a hole in the ship's hull, but it doesn't seem like a good idea."

He chuckled a little. "No, I'm not going to do that, don't worry. Who knows, maybe it'll be nice to be just Clark for a while."

Lois reached up and stole his glasses, putting them on her own face with a shake of the head. "You always think you'll enjoy that and then you end up bored and save the day anyway."

"It's been a few days already and I haven't had to save the day at all yet, so there's that." He kissed her nose, always enjoying the way she looked when she was wearing his glasses.

She smiled, unable to wipe the smile off her face. She kind of hated herself when she reached these giddy, sappy moments, but she couldn't help it. Clark Kent was her world. He made her better and she wasn't afraid to admit she was better as a duo than on her own.

Lois wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. "True. Still, we'll see how long you hold out before you save a lunch tray from falling or play out a Superman comic book on the holodeck." She had no idea if there were graphic novels programmed into the holodeck, but the thought made her snort and lean against his chest.

He tilted his head at her with a sly grin. "You really think I'll go on the holodeck and pretend to do things that I regularly do all the time? You don't think I'm able to take a break?"

"Eventually, yes. You will get bored. Especially right now while we both have roommates and no private space to help keep that nervous energy of yours under control. Or keep my nervous energy under control." She paused. "Maybe I'll be the first to break down and use the holodeck."

He raised an eyebrow. "And just what do you think you're going to do on the holodeck, Ms. Lane?"

She shrugged. "Anything naughty you'd get an invite to, I promise."

Clark shook his head. "Somehow, I don't think that's the sort of thing that holodecks are supposed to be used for."

"Tell that to the people who added the erotic novel inputs," Lois said, grinning. She kissed him. "No fooling around on the holodeck, I promise. But we should probably go back to the ship."

Clark glanced up into the red sky, searching for the ship in orbit, and nodded. "Probably a good idea. We don't want to miss our transport."