(Meanwhile back in the real world...) Clark understood that if what Tempus had told him about this world was true, he couldn’t go around in his Superman suit. For one thing, he would probably be laughed out of any establishment he chose to enter.

He found that he was frightened at the thought of facing a world like this, and subconciously chose to "distance" himself from his situation. He ejected the Tempus’ video and inserted the one with his shield on it and sat back to see what it was all about, and soon became totally enthralled in seeing his own story on screen. How well he remembered his first day at The Planet! How well he remembered his first meeting with Lois! How well he remembered how he had felt wearing his suit for the first time! And how it had felt for Lois to actually notice him! How poorly they had cast Jimmy! This guy didn’t look a bit like the Jimmy he knew. And yet... and yet, it was amazing how everyone else looked so right.

At the end of the episode, Clark watched carefully and noted the names of the actors, because he knew from what Tempus had said about the next day’s schedule that he would need to know these peoples’ names. So he was supposed to be Dean Cain, and Lois was Teri Hatcher? He was sure he had seen that name somewhere ... That’s it! Those magazines under the videos! "I was Teri Hatcher’s first husband!" Tabloid fare, obviously, but then, possibly a way for Clark to learn more about his "co-star"? As he read the article, he realised that he had been right. This National Enquirer was this world’s equivalent of his own’s National Inquisitor. It was hard to tell which was the worse publication. But at least he learned a little of what to expect of Ms Hatcher. At the back of the magazine, in the "Hot Gossip" section, he even found a reference to Mr Cain. Apparently he was quite popular with women, and was going through young movie stars at quite a rate. Clark didn’t know whether to like his doppleganger or not. But there were no recent photos of him, only of Ms Hatcher in that edition of the magazine.

Looking around the house he was in, Clark was very impressed, and found himself wishing that he made that sort of money. Dean Cain appeared to be more laid-back than Clark was: obviously someone who enjoyed good food, and the perhaps-more-than-occasional beer. The place was a bit of a mess; but then, Clark realised, he wouldn’t have had super-speed to dash around and clean up as quickly as Clark himself often did.

Clark was concerned at first that he didn’t have his glasses with him, and that everyone would recognise him immediately as Superman, until he recalled that in this universe, no-one believed in Superman or even in aliens from other planets. (His own planet had had experience with aliens other than himself, so they had no reason not to believe. But from what Tempus had said, it was entirely possible that in this universe, Earth was the only inhabited planet!) It was unlikely that he would need glasses, Clark realised, when he came across some photographs of the actor (not framed and on the mantlepiece, he was glad to note, which implied that the actor wasn’t in love with himself alone) and he was amazed to learn that he and the actor truly did look exactly alike - without glasses. At first, Clark wasn’t sure, but then it occurred to him to hold the photos up to the mirror and compare the view with the reflected image of himself, which he had been unable to do with the video he had watched. He wondered again about Tempus’ comment about Dean being chosen by Tempus to play the part, and he wondered whether that was true, or whether it was just Tempus’ ego talking there. At any rate, as far as Clark could tell, he and Dean Cain almost could have been the same person, had it not been for Clark’s super powers!

He found a wardrobe and changed into some of the clothes there, noting a few things about this person he was supposed to be: first, he didn’t have the same dress sense as Clark himself, and second, despite that, the clothes fit him perfectly, yet another confirmation of the similarities between two people from two different universes.

But he couldn’t find a single interesting tie in the whole wardrobe!

Clark wondered how many other things were different or similar about them. And he became concerned that it would be difficult to pretend to be someone who, although he might look exactly like him, might have totally different views on the world and life in general.

Shortly after changing into Dean’s clothes, Clark became aware of the sound of dogs barking. Looking around the house quickly, he realised that there were three dogs in the backyard, all barking wildly.

"Uh-oh," he thought. "They must belong to Dean."

Clark knew that if he was to fit in and be the actor for even a few days, he would need to make himself known to the dogs, so that they wouldn’t give his secret away to any visitors who might come calling. So he headed out to them to introduce himself.

Once again, he was surprised by how well he seemed to be fitting into this world, when the three dogs took to him quite happily. Clark wondered whether even his scent actually matched that of Dean Cain? He brought the dogs inside and fed them, then settled down in the living room.

Clark had realised that he knew next to nothing about this world that he was supposed to fit into, but being the journalist that he was, he figured the best way to find out quickly about this world, without revealing who he was to the world, was to watch LNN news.

At first he was confused when he couldn’t find that station, but it slowly dawned on him, as he settled down to watch CNN news that if there was no Superman native to this universe, perhaps there was no Luthor empire either!

Wondering what other differences he would stumble across, Clark made himself comfortable again, floating mid air before the TV, and settled in for the evening.

The next thing Clark knew, the doorbell was ringing stridently, and he fell to the floor in surprise.

‘Well, Tempus did say I’d be picked up to get to the studio tomorr- er, today. Wonder who my lift is?’

Muzzily scrubbing at his face, he headed down to the front door, and opened it to...

"Lois?! You’ve cut—" Suddenly realising his mistake, Clark realised that this must be the actress playing Lois for the show, and that she had cut her hair!

"Dean! I said seven, and I thought you’d be ready. I’m only doing this as favour to you since you smashed your car - again! You knew we were starting late today, but I really thought...!"

Backing away from the door, mumbling that he’d be ready in a few moments, he headed for the bathroom. Suddenly he realised that just because he knew the name of the guy he was supposed to be, didn’t mean he knew anything else about this job he was supposed to be filling. Leaving the house so fast that no-one would see him, he grabbed a few more tabloid magazines from the first newsstand he could find and headed back to the house again. One of the advantages of being Superman was that he was able to speed read the magazines while showering and shaving, and he quickly learned that the woman who looked so much like Lois had the most downloaded image on the Internet. He was shocked to find a copy of the picture in one of the magazines: she was wearing nothing but his cape! Still, maybe she would be a good confidante, if only he could figure out how to tell her. ‘Geez,’ thought Clark with irony as he quickly dressed for work. ‘First I have to figure out how to tell Lois who I am; and now I have to figure out how to tell Ms Teri Hatcher not only who I am, but make her believe it too!’

Only a few minutes had passed when Clark emerged from the bathroom, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, and a leather jacket which apparently he and Dean shared, to find Teri still standing in the front doorway. She obviously appreciated the way he was dressed, from the way her eyes surreptitiously travelled up and down his body. Clark was taken back to the first time Lois had arrived at his hotel to pick him up, shortly after he had arrived in Metropolis, and had found him just out of the shower. Even her words were similar, only that time she had stumbled over the "nine o’clock"...

Luckily for Dean, although the cab driver looked questioningly at Superman needing a lift to Lois’ apartment, he easily accepted his explanation that he was a double for Superman, and had been doing some publicity shots at the Daily Planet. Unfortunately, he was also a talkative cabbie and he insisted on "reminding" Dean" of the time when he had been rescued from the traffic jam to end all traffic jams, by clearing the streets only a few weeks ago. Upon accepting the fare (which left little change out of Jimmy’s twenty dollars), he left Dean with some sage advice: if he was going to be trying to double for Superman, he really needed to be up to date on Superman’s latest feats, otherwise even his vaguely similar looks wouldn’t help him out!

Unsure when he would next get to his gym to do a workout, Dean chose to climb the stairs to Lois’ fifth floor apartment instead of taking the elevator. He chuckled to himself, as he climbed the stairs, that the cabbie thought he only looked vaguely similar to Superman; Dean also wondered whether he really did look all that similar to the character he portrayed on a daily basis. ‘Not to worry, I’m sure Lois will be able to tell me if I’m doing anything wrong here,’ he thought as a knocked on the door.

There was a pause and then he heard Lois move slowly to the door.

"Who is it?" she called.

"It’s - ah," quickly Dean thought, ‘well, she knows anyway, and Clark is supposed to want her to treat him as Clark rather than Superman.’ "Lois, it’s me. I just wanted to check up on you."

Dean heard the multiple locks on the door being opened, and then, standing before him, looking very surprised to see him, was Lois Lane! "Cla - Superman?? Wh - I mean, I thought - er, hang on a moment, I thought Clark was here? I thought I heard his voice at the door? And why are you at the door, instead of the window? What’s going on here?"

‘Oh no!’ Dean thought. ‘I misjudged! She doesn’t know yet and now I’ve let the cat out of the bag! HELP!’

Lois had opened the door wide enough for Dean to get into the room, so he took advantage of that to get in quickly and close the door before Lois’ babbling let the whole world in on the secret. By then, Lois had begun to think of explanations for what she had just learned.

"Wait, it’s kryptonite again isn’t it? You’ve lost your powers and come to me for help? Superman? Or maybe somehow you’ve switched bodies with Clark and you’ve come to me for help? But why would you do that? And how is that possible? It couldn’t be that..."

"Lois." Dean tried to interject into her babble.

"Lois!" He tried again to get her attention. Having made an enormous blunder, Dean realised that to stop himself from making any more he would need help. He had to make the best of a bad situation and enlist Lois’ help until he could figure out the machine and get out of here!

"LOIS! Stop!"

Lois closed her mouth quite abruptly and looked at Dean. She was surprised that Superman would raise his voice at her (or was it Clark who was shouting? - at any rate, neither of them usually did that! she babbled to herself). She gestured towards the sofa, indicating that her guest (whoever he was) should take a seat.

Dean, in the meantime, was trying to figure out how to explain the situation he was in to Lois, which gave the woman a moment to take a breath and stand up again, head for the kitchen, and offer to make a drink.

"Lois," began Dean tentatively. "I’m not who you think I am. No matter what you think, I’m not Superman. And, I apologise, but despite what you thought you heard through your door, I’m not Clark Kent either. I hope you will hear me out though, and help me too. I really didn’t know who else to turn to.

"But... you sounded - you do sound like Clark. And you look so much like Superman? What is going on?"

"I know you and Clark have been through quite a lot in the last few days. I know, you’re wondering how I could possibly know. Wait, and I’ll try to explain as best I can. Tell me, did Clark mention anything in the past few days about a diary? One the blackmailer had?"

"How did you know about the blackmailer? No-one knew about that except me!"

"Wait, Lois... I’m trying to tell you, but I also don’t quite know where to start. Um, let me try again. Has Superman ever mentioned someone called Tempus to you? Have you ever met HG Wells?"

"No, and no. That’s ridiculous! How could I possibly have met HG Wells? Time travel? Ha!... wait a moment though, Tempus, that name sounds familiar. Well, of course, it does have to do with time travel doesn’t it? I’m getting the weirdest sense of deja vu here...

"Hang on a moment, Mister. If you aren’t Superman, then who are you? What am I supposed to call you?"

Dean realised that he was so used to being well-known that he had forgotten to introduce himself to the beautiful woman before him! He told her his name, then began again, trying to explain.

"Let me start again. You may not believe this - hell, I don’t think I believe this! - I’m an actor. I play the part of Superman in a TV show. I know, there probably isn’t any such TV show here. But here’s the unbelievable bit. I’m from somewhere else. I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s sort of like time travel, but it’s more like, um, dimensional travel. I was kidnapped today by someone I thought I knew. But it wasn’t the guy I knew, it was someone from here, but from a future of here, who doesn’t much like Superman, and he must have kidnapped the real Clark and taken him back to my dimension. So you see, I need your help to get back home and to get Clark back here."

"NO! Do you mean to tell me that Clark is Superman??"

Clark spent much of the next half hour or so trying out different scenarios in his mind, trying to work out what to say to Ms Hatcher to explain to her who he really was. For her part, Teri was quiet and introspective for most of the drive, glancing at him and almost beginning to speak a few times, but then stopping, as if she, too, didn’t quite know how to say whatever was on her mind. But then, they arrived at the studios and it appeared that his opportunity to tell her had been lost, as various crew members, make-up artists and hairdressers appeared and bundled her away to her trailer.

Clark had seen movie sets in the past, and had a vague idea of what to do to look like he was fitting in, so he quickly located his own trailer and found the daily schedule which would tell him what scenes he was supposed to be filming first, and what the general daily routine would be.

Speed reading through today’s script to learn his lines, he couldn’t get over the way it was so obvious in the script that everyone knew that Clark was Superman! This would truly turn into a novel experience for him! One thing that really cheered him up, however, was the realisation that according to the current episode being filmed, it was apparent that Lois knew the secret too. In a way, Clark could see this as a trial for when he got back home, to learn how Lois might actually respond to the knowledge!

"Hey Dean! Where did you get to? You’re up in just a few minutes." The words came from a stranger who seemed to be in control of the emerging chaos around him. "You and Teri have a flying scene - you are going to need to get into the suit and get to Make-up. We need you back in 30 minutes."

"Yeah, right, Make-up," mumbled Clark, still totally confused by the scenes around him. "Teri, over here!" yelled the stranger. Clark watched as "Lois" hurried off. Of course, he reminded himself, it wasn’t "his" Lois. It certainly looked like her and sounded like her, but...

"You ready, Teri? Its a cable scene today - tough one too. Dean promised he would work out specially for today; said he won’t drop you!"

"Hrmph," was the reply Clark heard. "Well, let’s just get this one going. I’m not up for a 14 hour day today."

"Dean..." Teri looked at him suspiciously. "Is my dress crooked, lipstick smudged... what?"

"Sorry," Clark backpedalled. "It’s just... umm... I have to get changed. See you in half an hour!" Clark turned and almost ran from the "set". He had to get away - get to make-up, wherever that was. He had to get the suit on... hang on, he checked... he had the suit on. He was Superman. OK, one detail taken care of. Now, make-up? Why did he need makeup to be Superman? He realised though, that being on film, he would need makeup, so he scanned the area till he found a trailer marked with the appropriate signs and headed in that direction. He took his time, and used some of the half hour to do some further exploring. The changing to Superman bit would require little effort. He walked through what he discovered was the Warner Brothers Film Studios. He was greeted everywhere he went; he discovered that this "Dean" person was well known and a popular figure in this world - well in the film studio at least.

After about twenty minutes, he thought it wise to return to the set and make an appearance at this make-up place. He knew that he was supposed to be Superman the next time he made an appearance - obviously there was no need for an actor portraying a superhero to have a secret identity. Stepping into a corner and out of sight, Clark executed a spin change into his alter-ego. He became aware of a heated discussion in the Daily Planet between Teri and the director. "What do you mean he’s wandering around the lot?" Teri questioned. "He knows that I wanted to be out of here early tonight! Now he needs to take the visitors’ tour? Of all the..." Clark decided that now might be an opportune time to make his presence known. He strolled up to Teri, desperately wanting to assure her that he would not dream of being whatever she was about to label him.

"Lo... um, Teri? What’s the problem?"

"Enjoy your little tour?" She queried, with her back to him still. "We’re all ready to rehearse this scene and you’re ... when did you get changed?" Teri changed tack when she turned and noticed Clark in the suit. "Oh, never mind. Can we just get to work?"

Clark shot Teri a bemused grin. This might not be "his" Lois, but this lady certainly acted and sounded like her. She reminded him of Lois when Clark first joined The Planet: sarcastic, uncompromising, driven and virtually totally ignorant of his presence - it was nothing more than an annoying necessity of circumstance.

The director called to Clark and Teri. "Okay people, this is a more complicated scene than usual. Dean, we need to hook up the harness a little differently to get the angles right. We are using a different type of cable, which is supposed to give a more realistic effect on camera. We will test them with you and then get you to hold Teri before we get to dialogue or anything else. Got it?"

"Uh huh," they both murmured simultaneously. Clark looked around and caught sight of the "harness." He started somewhat when he saw the complexity of the rig required to make him "fly". His actions must have betrayed him, because Teri was looking at him strangely. "Dean?" she queried. "Are you worried about going up there today? I know you are not fond of the usual harness, but this one is supposed to be less demanding."

Her tones indicated that she knew that pretending to fly was not particularly easy and Clark gathered that his counterpart was not exactly excited about being suspended in mid-air on a regular basis. "What? No, um, it’s ... OK. I was just checking out the new cables. There just seems to be lots of wires and cables."

"Of course there are Dean," Teri responded with mirth. "What did you expect, skyhooks?" This woman certainly had the wry humour of Lois.

The director called Clark over to be fitted into the contraption. He felt totally ridiculous, but decided to go along with the charade. How would he explain things otherwise? In his own world he was different, a freak, but at least there he existed. Here, he was just a fantasy, a concept dreamed up in someone’s imagination. No, now was not the time to declare his hand, but he was going to have to do something, at some stage to work out a way of returning to his world.

"Put your arms in here, clip this under the cape. Now as you are elevated, you will need to stretch out horizontally. We’ll make it look like you’re doing the flying if you follow our directions."

Clark felt the tug of the cables as his feet began to lift off the floor. He struggled to avoid using his own powers to fly - it was difficult as his natural response to being in the air was to be self-sufficient. "Now stretch out ... horizontally ... put your left arm out, clench your fist, roll to the side ... no the other side. Now we are going to bring you to an upright position and then lower you slowly. Good ... hold that, straighter ... now soft landing, great!"

Five minutes later Clark was back on the ground. He had managed to control his natural urge to be under his own steam, well for most of the time. He was certain that no-one would have noticed him compensating for some of the awkward manoeuvrings of the harness operator.

"That was great, Dean! The smoothest we have seen you "fly" in a long time! Must be the new equipment." Clark grinned widely. "Must be," he agreed.

"Teri, over here. We need to do a test run with you and Dean together now,’" the director motioned. "Okay, Dean, I want you to rise up holding Teri, to stop and talk with her for a minute or two, then we need to get you into the horizontal position and test some scenery shots behind you. We will need you up there for about fifteen minutes. Is that okay with you two? Think you can handle it Dean?"

"Um, yeah, no problems," replied Clark, cheerfully. He looked at Teri who was eyeing him suspiciously. "What, no complaints today, no headaches?" She queried. "You must be sick!"

Clark wondered about this Dean character; was he a bit of a whiner, or was it really hard work being suspended by wires for hours at a time. He, Clark, would never really know, he mused. "Um, no, Lo - ah, Teri, I’m fine. He really did need to be careful. This was at least the third time he had called her Lois, or nearly had, and this lady was certainly no airhead. She and Dean obviously spent a considerable amount of time together and she knew him quite well. But how well? He still hadn’t worked that out. There had been a reference to a ‘Jon’ that he had yet to decipher. He needed to find some more tabloids!

The ropes of the harness were realigned and checked and Teri directed to take her place in Clark’s arms. This was difficult - here was the exact replica of the woman he loved in his arms, and it was "Lois" but only a caricature of her. She was an actor portraying Lois. Teri’s proximity only served to confuse him even further.

"Now, we are not going too high on this one, there is no harness on Teri so we are not risking anything here. Dean hold tight - that’s a precious cargo you have there!" The directions were coming thick and fast. Clark felt the pressure of the cables once again, and he and Teri began to rise. "Hold on tight, you hear me, Wonderboy," cracked Teri, betraying a slight nervousness, as they rose slowly together. Teri had her arms linked around Clark’s neck and he had one arm around her waist and one pointing into the air.

"Can you do this safely with one arm holding me?" She queried, "You only do this when I’m in a harness!" Clark detected a slight sense of panic in Teri’s voice and brought his other arm to meet behind Teri’s back. He felt her relax slightly. "You seem almost overconfident today, Dean. What’s up? You almost look like you are enjoying this - that would be a first!"

"Well, maybe I am finally getting used to it all; it’s been, what, how long now?" The question was a clever one, with the dual purpose of dealing with Teri’s question and trying to glean a little more information about his own history in this world.

"Three and half years, Dean and I remember you telling me repeatedly that you would never get used to this. What gives?"

The woman was pressing against him now, and he began to feel decidedly uncomfortable - her closeness being a huge part of the problem. Teri was an actor, this was all an act for her, but for Clark, his relationship with Lois was real and she could not help but affect him.

"Dean, you are blushing! What’s the matter? You have been acting strangely since early morning. I can’t put a finger on it, but somehow you are different."

"Well, um... it’s..." Clark started to respond, but they were interrupted by the director.

"Okay people, that’s good. Now we want to get Dean into the horizontal position, just get ready to brace yourself. I only need you to hold that for a few minutes. Just wait for the cables to be realigned."

They both felt a jerk in the ropes above them. "Whoa! Oh shit!" They heard a voice above them becoming agitated and then suddenly felt themselves being hurled skyward. The studio was in a warehouse-like building with very high ceilings, but they were approaching the top of the cable with alarming speed.