Fanfic / En Tempus Veritas

En Tempus Veritas by briee is an AU Smallville fic starting just after Lana Lang's fake funeral at the beginning of Season Seven.

With Clark blaming himself for Lana's death as he feels that she only stayed married to Lex to protect him, he is visited by Tyme, a meteor freak with the power to show others how their lives would have been had they made a different choice at a key moment. She grants Clark the opportunity to see the world if he had never crashed Lana's engagement dinner… and he finds himself experiencing the wonders of forming a family with Lois Lane, and then dealing with the grief of realising that life was just a dream.

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En Tempus Veritas contains examples of:

• Accidental Proposal: In a sense; Clark was planning to propose to Lois, but she walked in on him as he was practising it and drove him to make it right then.
• Almighty Mom: Invoked regarding Martha Kent, who Lois considers 'the ultimate mother'; when Lois learns about the circumstances of Clark's adoption in reality, she observes that she thought the Kents were amazing parents before she was told that they were so quick to adopt an alien.
• Artistic Licence – Biology: Early in Lois's pregnancy, she becomes ill because her body reacts badly to the Kryptonian DNA of the child, treating it as though it were an alien entity, forcing Clark to take her to the Fortress so that Jor-El can stabilise her system and let her carry the child to term.
• Berserk Button: Clark is driven to defeat Titan to protect Lois, as Titan's dismissal of her relevance prompts Clark to privately acknowledge her own importance to him.
• Black-and-White Morality: Lex discusses this idea with Clark as in canon, but Martha and Lois assure him that he gave Lex every chance he could and some people are just who they are.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: Lana still goes through with the marriage to Lex as in canon, but this theme is downplayed on Clark's side as he actually made the decision to commit to his new relationship with Lois on the day of the wedding.
• Dead Guy Junior: Clark and Lois name their son Jonathan, in direct homage to Clark's father.
• Demoted to Extra: Lana comes to feel that this has happened to her when she realises that Clark and Chloe's relationships with her have been put aside in favour of Clark and Lois's new family.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Rather than Lois tearing up the number Wes gave her as in canon, Jonathan tears it in half by chance, but it still gives Lois the inspiration she needs.
• Faking the Dead: Lana still does this as in canon in the 'dream', although this time around Clark's experiences in Tyme's illusion results in him falling for Lois before Lana gets back.
• Family of Choice:
  • Lois makes it clear to Lionel at one point that the difference in their efforts to become part of the Kent family is that Lionel is essentially trying to force his way in where Lois was invited in.
  • Chloe is quickly established as Jonathan's aunt, and Jimmy Olsen is noted as taking his role as 'honorary uncle' very seriously even though he and Chloe are only dating at this point rather than in a more official relationship.
  • When Oliver's team drop in to visit Clark, he, Bart, AC and Victor swiftly start referring to themselves as Jonathan's uncles, with Lois and Clark agreeing with the sentiment.
• Faux Symbolism: Discussed; when Clark mentions Chloe's recommendation that he attend Lex and Lana's wedding to show that he's moved on from Lana, Lois observes that while the idea behind the suggestion is healthy, it doesn't mean anything if Clark isn't ready to move on himself, and when he is ready he won't need any kind of gesture to prove it.
• Foil: During the brief period when Lois and Lana are each aware of the other's pregnancy, they are clearly presented as contrasts to each other, with Lana trying to hide her pregnancy and rarely aware of the baby as anything other than what ties her to Lex while Lois is more comfortable showing her baby bump to Clark and those close to her while revelling in the moments when it kicks.
• For Want Of A Nail: All it takes is Clark/Kal and Lois not seeing the dinner invitation in Oliver's loft for the two of them to spend a very pleasurable night in each other's company that sets a new chain of events in motion, starting with the conception of their son.
• Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Once Lana returns to Smallville, it takes her a few days to realise that Clark is no longer in love with her.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • No matter how different Clark's life is after Lois becomes pregnant, Lana still ends up 'dead', which helps assure Clark that his actions had nothing to do with her fate.
  • Once back in reality, although Clark and Lois conceive their first child years later than in the vision, Clark still ‘recognises’ the newborn as Jonathan, Lois affirming “It was always going to be Jonathan” as though they could have never had another baby.
• Intrepid Reporter: Lois is hired by the Daily Planet earlier than she was in canon due to her story about the Live or Die Fight Club.
• Ironic Echo: Chloe and Lionel each independently compare Kal and Lois to tigers; Chloe reflects that she would have compared trying to touch Kal to trying to pet a tiger in the zoo before she saw him actually be gentle with Lois while still 'under the influence', and Lionel muses that a maternally enraged Lois puts him in mind of a tiger he saw in a zoo.
• It's All About Me: Lana's first thoughts upon learning about Clark's abilities is how he can use them to protect her from Lex, and later believes that Clark would abandon Lois and their unborn child if given the chance to be with her despite how Lana hurt him by agreeing to marry Lex in the first place. Once back in reality, Lana is initially certain that she and Clark will be together once she has returned to Smallville and acts as though Clark personally hurt her by starting a relationship with Lois after Lana faked her death, even though Clark genuinely believed she was dead and therefore had every right to move on even without his 'vision' to inspire new feelings.
• It's All My Fault: The story starts because Clark was doing this regarding Lana's death at the end of the sixth season; after he has experienced life with Lois, Clark moves past this to recognise that he isn't responsible for other peoples' actions.
• Jerkass Realization:
  • Fears of losing Lois and the baby lead Clark to the realisation that if he had ever truly loved Lana everything would have been easier, but in the end, he was never able to truly trust Lana to know what she wanted or trust his own judgement of her.
  • Just after Jonathan's birth, General Lane admits to Lois that he should have realised after her mother's death that he couldn't continue living life the way he had before, as his wife was the one better equipped to keep the family together and her death meant that there was nobody to make him realise what he was doing to his daughters.
  • When Chloe explicitly tells Clark that she loves him, Clark acknowledges that he may have subconsciously used that knowledge to keep Chloe ‘loyal’ to him even if he knew he would never feel the same way.
• Kick the Dog: Lex attempts this when he delivers Clark’s invitation to his and Lana’s wedding, but the revelation of Lois’s pregnancy undermines Clark’s reaction to Lex as he chooses to focus on his new discovery.
• Kissing Under the Influence: The moment of divergence occurs while Lois and Clark are under the influence of red kryptonite, as this time they do far more than just kiss…
• Kryptonite Factor: While Lois’s baby is only half-Kryptonian, she and Clark are naturally reluctant to ‘test’ how exposure to kryptonite radiation would affect the pregnancy, forcing Lois to just watch when a mind-controlled Chloe leaves a lump of kryptonite on Clark’s chest until Martha arrives to take it away; Lois subsequently orders a lead apron so that she can be of more use if that scenario happens again.
• Like Father, Like Son: Kara reflects that Jor-El was a devoted father to Clark back on Krypton, and muses that Clark must have been a good one too.
• Love Revelation Epiphany: Clark and Lois are involved with each other since mid-way through Lois’s pregnancy, but Clark only realises that he is in love with Lois when talking with Oliver about their relationship after the baby’s birth, although Lois came to that realisation a while before and just didn’t say it until she knew Clark felt the same way.
• Mama Bear: Despite her fears about her ability as a parent, Lois is assured that she is a good mother as she is willing to do anything to keep her child safe, with Lionel mentally comparing her to a maternal tiger he saw at a zoo when he first visits Lois after Jonathan’s birth.
• Missing Mom: Lois often expresses concern about her ability to be a mother when she grew up without one herself.
• Mood Whiplash: Lana lets herself imagine that Clark and Jonathan are her family when Clark first lets her hold the baby, but that idea is ended when Clark draws her attention to how Jonathan has Lois's distinct hazel eyes.
• Morality Pet: In a sense, Jonathan appeared to be this for Jor-El; not only does the A.I. express a sense of genuine warmth when talking about his ‘grandson’, but when Clark agrees to begin his training so long as it won’t take him away from his family, Jor-El agrees because ‘fathers should not be separated from their sons’, with the A.I. recalling the pain and loss the original felt when he had to send his son away to save Kal-El’s life.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Long before Clark and Lois had a true relationship, Chloe is struck by the fact that Kal is actually tender with Lois when she’s used to red-K-Clark being controlling and aggressive.
  • Chloe’s first clue that something is seriously bothering Clark is when he ignores a possible threat to Lana (after confirming that there isn’t actually any real danger at this time beyond her having been in the presence of a meteor freak) in favour of dealing with something else.
• Perspective Flip: Jimmy’s dream sequence in Noir is essentially the same as in canon, but additional scenes reveal that Clark and Lois’s dream counterparts fell for each other and were actually the ones in love without changing anything else Jimmy experienced.
• Posthumous Character: Not explicit, but when Martha expresses a wish that her husband could be with her after the baby is born, she briefly imagines that she can feel Jonathan’s comforting embrace to assure her everything will be all right.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: When Chloe finds Kal and Lois, Kal briefly delivers a variation of the speech he gave Chloe at the engagement dinner in canon.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: As in canon, Lana learns Clark’s secret and Lionel is the only one who knows that she knows, but taken even further to the point that Clark never learns she knows his secret before the ‘illusion’ ends and he returns to reality.
• Shipper on Deck: Martha is quietly supportive as she sees Clark and Lois becoming closer due to the pregnancy, Jimmy favoured this even before they made it official, and Chloe eventually comes to appreciate the relationship that has formed between her best friend and her cousin despite her own feelings for Clark.
• Shipping Torpedo:
  • Watching Lex and Lana’s wedding from outside the church, Clark admits to Lois later that it was at that moment that he accepted that things would have been easier if his relationship with Lana was ever meant to really work out, affirming to Lois that he’s no longer in love with Lana even if he still cares about her.
    • Clark delivers a similar torpedo directly to Lana when she tries to get back together with him after her ‘miscarriage’, although even Lana had recognised his new feelings for Lois by this point and was just trying to convince herself that he still loved her rather than truly believing it.
  • Clark does this again once he’s back in reality, telling Lana directly that he’s no longer in love with her even after she’s revealed to have faked her death to get away from Lex and be with him.
  • Talking with Chloe about her feelings for him once back in reality, Clark quietly confirms that he’s never going to love her the way she wants him to, but Chloe accepts that as she recognises that she can’t win love.
• Smug Super: Kara still suffers from this back in reality, but soon learns to put it aside when faced with Clark’s genuine (albeit complicated) grief over the ‘loss’ of his son.
• So Proud of You: Moira gets this moment for Chloe just as she did in canon, and Martha often expresses pride in how Lois and Clark are handling their new life as parents.
• Team Mom: Martha is an obvious example, with Lois immediately asking Martha for any advice on how to be a good parent, but when Lois is present for Chloe’s reunion with Moira, Moira gives Lois some advice on being a mother herself.
• What Have I Become?: As in canon, Chloe doesn’t react well to the knowledge that she’s potentially a meteor freak, but here Clark is able to convince her to tell Lois about this possibility and get her cousin’s emotional support.
• Worthy Opponent: There are still elements of this in Clark’s confrontation with Titan, but the fight is relatively quicker as Clark is motivated by his concern for Lois rather than his own anger and grief at Lana’s relationship with Lex.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Lois expresses doubts about her ability to be a good mother, Martha assures her that her immediate desire to do everything possible to protect her child proves that Lois already is once.