A/N: Back to Lois and Clark on our planet now! Here you go! More will come on our two villains later, I promise. :-)

Disclaimer: I should know better by now than to claim I own any of this. You should know better than to ask.

Clark landed on the balcony of his son's apartment and carefully set Lois down before walking in.

"Sorry about the mess. Here," his son burst around the apartment, and in moments it was spotless. "Been busy lately."

Clark nodded in silence, or as close to silence as it could get, what with his heart pounding like a drum in his ears. He certainly hoped Lois had composed herself enough to interrogate him- he feared he wouldn't be much help on this one. Only two words were running through his head on a loop: I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead...

Jonathan cleared his throat and sighed. "Look, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have... snapped like that. It wasn't something you needed to be burdened with anyways. You guys are already going through so much right now. I just wasn't thinking clearly, and... well, yeah."

Clark shook his head. "It's fine. I mean, it's not, but what I'm saying is it really doesn't matter that you told us. It's just... before you tell us anything more, this won't affect the outcome of how we actually... you know... right? It's not for certain?"

Jonathan shook his head fiercely. "Goodness, no. I mean, considering the fact that you're from an entirely different universe- different time- it should mean it's fine. It's like... either of you know much about quantum mechanics? Theoretical physics?"

Both of them gave him a blank stare. "I've heard of it," Lois said.

Clark nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I studied some in college. Never really got into it, though."

Jonathan cast him a funny look. "Hmm. You- well, my dad, I guess- was always really into it. Studied it constantly. Anyway, there's this idea- mind you, it's only an idea- called quantum suicide, or quantum immortality, depending on who you ask. Anyways, the point of it is that at each crucial. . . junction point, so to speak, there are different universes that split with every decision you make. Like, for example, there's a universe out there maybe where Dad never met you, Mom, or he never arrived on Earth, or Krypton never exploded. Or, in the case of this universe, there's no such thing as Metropolis and there's no Superman. It's named after the idea that eventually, given enough chances, there's always going to end up a universe where you're dead, and one where you're alive."

"I think I get it," Clark spoke slowly. "So you're saying that what happened to us here isn't an assured outcome."

"Precisely. Well, for one, you guys exist in an entirely different time period in your universe. If it were to all happen that way- I mean, God, let's hope not. This world has got to be possibly the most screwed up of all of them. If this happened everywhere," he shuddered.

Lois took a deep breath before barging forward. "So, what did happen?"

Jonathan squirmed in his seat. "I must warn you, it's not a happy story. Even now, there's no happy ending."

"Just tell us," Clark practically sighed the words. This was getting to be really exhausting, keeping up with it all. He heard a cry for help and was gone without a word.

Jonathan blinked. "Wow. That was kind of unexpected."

"Oh, no, he does this sort of thing all the time." Suddenly, Lois looked at the man suspiciously. "Shouldn't you know that?"

"Oh, no, I do. I remember him running off all the time. It's just... been a while."

"How long?"

He paused, considering. "Too long. God, it's been a long time. I mean, I don't know where to begin, even..."

"Well, you said that you have siblings. Maybe we should all talk together, you know, family conference sort of thing. I mean, I'm sure they've heard of us by now- wouldn't it be easiest if we did it that way?"

There was a long pause, and Jonathan looked down at his clasped hands with a look of extreme sadness on his face. He bit his lip as he looked up into his mother's face nervously. "That won't be necessary."

Lois was dreading the answer, but had to ask anyways. "Why not?"

"Uh, because I'm the only one left."

Lois paled. "What?" she whispered.

He bowed his head. "It's just me. It's been just me for years now."

"Years?" she whispered. He buried his face in his hands. Lois came around to wrap him in a hug. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

Jonathan finally released his tears, face buried in his mother's shoulder- a woman he hadn't seen in over half a century, and yet still he felt at home. He tried to quell his tears, but it wasn't working. Each time he thought of letting her go, he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was like he was going to lose her all over again, and he couldn't live with that. Not just yet.

Finally he was able to gather himself and he pulled away. "I'm sorry. It's just... I haven't discussed it with anybody in a long time. I haven't had anyone to talk to."

"You don't have to apologize. I understand. I can't even begin to imagine how horrible it must be for you, living like this."

Clark flew into the room in that moment, and frowned at the scene before him. "What happened here?"

"Um, Clark," Lois began quietly, keeping a comforting hand on her son's back. She didn't know how to say this delicately. "It's not just... you. You know, that's gone."

Clark paled as it dawned on him what she was saying. "Who else?" he whispered.

Jonathan spoke up now, having gathered enough strength. "Everyone else. You. Mom. Lucy. Martin. My niece and nephew. My wife, Helen. My daughter, Lois. Basically anyone and everyone who is close to me. Was close to me. The only plus side here is that Luthor's gone too."

Clark's jaw went slack, his shock rendering him completely ignorant to the rest of the world around him. How could that even be possible? That many people? How...? Who? "Who... who's Lucy and Martin?"

Jonathan smirked. "Lucy was my older sister, and Marty's my brother."

"What happened to them?" Lois asked.

He looked sadly down at the floor once more. "Lucy was... was killed after she took up the Superman mantle when Dad was gone. She... was murdered. She didn't have any family of her own."

"And what about... Marty? What was he like?" Lois asked, hoping to focus a little bit more on the positive, maybe alleviate the mood in the slightest.

He laughed softly. "Martin was my little brother. Before he was born, all the doctors swore he was a girl. They couldn't tell. You guys were dead set on the name Martha, after my grandmother. Your mother," he gestured to his father, who had sunk into a chair with a haunted look of terror spread across his features. "Anyway, he came out, and you guys wanted a Martha so badly that you just changed it to Martin. Marty. Was always a troublemaker, though. Even as a kid, he'd sneak chocolate from the drawers or conveniently lose his homework assignments."

Clark scoffed slightly, still on edge. "Sounds like someone else I know."

Lois rolled her eyes before prodding for more information. "And what happened to him?" she whispered gently.

Jonathan bit his lip. He had considered himself lucky for one thing- for all these years, he'd never had to tell his parents the horrors they missed after they were gone. But it was all coming back to bite him in the ass now. This was far, far worse.

"Um, Marty actually committed suicide. Almost twenty years ago now. Nineteen, to be exact. He... he couldn't handle it. I mean, for God's sakes, I was on the brink several times. Numerous times. It's bad luck in our case that doing the deed ain't so easy."

Clark's jaw had dropped for a second time tonight. "Suicide? You mean... he actually... what would cause him to do something so rash?"

Jonathan pierced his father with his eyes- a fierce, pained sort of look that Clark noticed he had received from Lois on numerous occasions. "It's not so difficult to cross that boundary when everyone you cared for in your life is dead."

"I don't understand. What happened? How could things go so bad so quickly?" Lois shook her head as she spoke. It was inconceivable.

Jonathan ineffectually swallowed past the lump that had grown in his throat and forced himself to get it done and over with. Rip it off like a bandage. "Well, it wasn't that quickly. It took over fifty years. We were practically wiped out. Luthor, and somebody else, someone named Tempus- even I don't know the entire scope of it. And even if I did, I'm not sure it would be right to tell you. Point is, whomever else was in on it, they killed Superman. They killed you. They lured you in, with mom as bait, and they killed you before they killed her. Lucy was already eighteen when it happened, I was thirteen and Marty was eight. Lucy waited a little before she took over the role as the new savior of the world. Then another year after that, and she was killed too. It was too soon for Marty or I- so we ran. Hid from the world. And as you well know, Clark, the best place to hide is in plain sight, right?"

Clark smirked in the slightest before Jonathan proceeded. "Anyways, so we figured, the best way to keep the world from knowing about Superman, from knowing about us, was to go public. Not us specifically, but you know, our story. And that's how the legend of Superman began- and that was all the way back in the 1930's."

Clark paled. "The thirties? But you look barely, well, my age. How is that possible?"

"Oh, I'm years older than you. I'm in my nineties, in fact. See? I got some grays on my head. No big deal or anything, but still."

"How?" Lois repeated the question with some added force to her voice.

He frowned at them. "Uh, Superman's from another planet. The yellow sun that charges him- it's what makes him invulnerable. Because of the same reason, his aging process is much slower than the rest of humanity's. As his offspring, we all have the same thing."

Clark went ashen. "What? I didn't know that. How... how long is it-"

"You can live forever, and look good doing it? That's so unfair," Lois pouted.

Jonathan gave her a sad smile again. "Yes, it's very unfair. It's unfair that we have to watch everyone we love die around us, to watch the world fall to pieces over and over again. To watch humanity come and go across the decades, to try to keep up the semblance of normalcy when you can't age like everyone else. It's completely and utterly unfair."

Clark and Lois shared a worried glance. This wasn't at all what they'd expected to hear. Hell, yesterday they had been blissfully ignorant of the fact that they had an alternate universe son, or any of his vast problems- ten days ago they hadn't even been aware that other universes existed. And I thought my world was turned upside-down when I found out Clark was Superman. Serves me right, Lois thought to herself a little bitterly.

"So... yeah," he concluded. He bit his lip once again, a gesture Clark realized suddenly that he had caught Lois doing in numerous circumstances. In fact, she was doing so right now. Clark looked between them, no one sure what to say, and sighed.

"Okay, so yes, you've had a tough life. Tougher than most. I'm not going to try to minimize that. But you've got to move on. Get some closure. What good does it do you to wallow in self-pity here, or to just sit around and do nothing?"

"Hey, who says I've been doing nothing? I mean sure, I'm no Superman, but that's not to say I haven't helped out in the past. How do you think rumors become legends? It's not easy trying to keep myself apart from the Superman mythos and still help out. I was doing fairly well until you came into town."

"Really? What part of your life screams that?"

Jonathan scowled. "You know I didn't have to warn you. I didn't have to get involved in your guys' lives at all. I did this for you."

"Did you? Or did you do it because you need someone in your life right now, and you couldn't resist the pull of getting one more moment with your parents?"

Jonathan went red in the face and struggled for words. "I-I don't... I mean, I can't believe... you don't understand."

Clark instantly regretted his words and moved to apologize. "Look, Jonathan, I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just that... I can't believe it. That you would give up like that. It's ridiculous. I guess I just really lost it when you mentioned the suicide thing."

Jonathan nodded in understanding, but still boiling. "I know. But you have to understand what it's been like. Living alone in the world, trying to hide- it's merely basic survival instincts. Don't you understand?"

Clark had to admit he was right on that count. But it still didn't mean he'd condone his actions. "I understand what you're saying about survival. But what you're telling me about helping out- I mean, why not be Superman now? Luthor's dead, and everyone you cared for died already- what do you have left to lose, excepting your own life? Not that I'm saying you should risk your life, but if you feel so strongly about wanting it to all end, then why not?" Jonathan squirmed uncomfortably. Clark repeated his question, holding the younger- or rather, older man's gaze. "Why not be Superman?"

Jonathan struggled to give his almost-father an answer, but no words came. And for the first time in his entire life, Jonathan realized he didn't have answer for that question.

Review? If you'd be so kind. If you'll notice the review button look has been changed just specifically for me, and for you to figure out what it does! You see? Click away!

(PS: no, the new review button is not for me. If it were, the person designing it would have known to at least center the text on the damn thing. /shakes fist/ )