Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Spock knew going alone to check out an interdimensional rift, not one thousand kilometers from the Enterprise, was irrational. Illogical by all means. Regretfully, his regret grows by the second as he flies closer. The lights dim as the shuttle’s power fails. Spock’s mouth twitches in an almost-frown as he lifts his communicator to his chin.

“Captain, the shuttle’s power has failed,” Spock reports. "I believe it is due to my proximity to the rift."

“Noted, I’ll have Scotty beam you up now. Kirk out.”

“Understood.”

Spock doesn’t sign off because the Captain knows it is he who is speaking. He finds it ridiculous (and though he’d never admit it, endearing) how Captain Kirk insists on signage over communicators.

Spock awaits the cool, tingling sensation right before transport.

“Captain?” Spock asks into his comm, only to be met with radio silence.

He’s still moving. The shuttle, with him in it, is still moving, slower than before, but the motion is clear.

He feels a strange pull, a sudden shift. As passing an event horizon. A second later, his shuttle is in free fall. It's bright. The sky around hims is blue, cloudy, obvious indicators of a class-M planet.

He wonders if he’s high up enough that death is guaranteed. The shuttle is designed to withstand impact in case of emergencies, such as this one, but the free fall began above the cloud coverage and any emergency landing measures have certainly failed due to the lack of power.

Spock wonders where this planet even came from. There were no planets nearby, not even a star to harbor one. Only an inter-dimensional rift where a black hole once was admist deep space.

Oh.

He is simply in another universe.

Free-falling to his potential death.

Simply another Tuesday, as Scotty would describe it.

Spock's grateful for the safety restraint on his seat when the shuttle's descent suddenly slows as a force pushes upwards from below.

He wonders what could be causing it. He doesn't see anything in front or below, at least not where the ship's windshield allows visibility.

This shuttle was built only for one, potentially two, people. There’s another window behind his seat, but when Spock turns to see, there’s nothing there. Whatever is lowering him is small enough to be entirely below him in a blind spot. A blind spot that, per regulation standards, should only be the size of a single human being.

Fascinating.

Maybe this planet is populated. It’s likely- the air is certainly breathable based on the clouds and grass below, and water seems abundant.

The ship is put on the ground. Spock doesn’t hesitate to take his safety restraints off. With the power out, he’ll have to force the opening open, but it’s no bother. The shuttle was only designed with human strength in mind, after all.

He frowns when he steps outside, into a field. The air is cold, despite the near clear skies and bright sun. Disappointing.

There’s a gust of wind, and a humanoid figure stands in front of him. Large, maybe six inches taller than Spock, and dressed entirely in a sort of armor. He doesn’t speak, not once.

“Hello.” Spock tries. He doesn’t make any sudden moves, as being perceived as a threat is the last thing he wants to do.

There’s no movement from the humanoid in front of him either. There is, however, a quiet but unmistakable whir of an engine to his left, so he turns, looking up.

The helicopter lands, and out of it comes a presumably human man, along with a woman. Spock nods in greeting, relieved to see a familiar species. This must be Earth. An Earth entirely different from the planet he knows in an entirely different universe, but Earth nonetheless.

“Hello,” Spock starts again when approached. “I apologize for nearly crashing into your planet and extend my gratitude for stopping the crash.”

“Do you have a name?” The man asks, blunt.

“You may call me Spock.”

The man nods, extending a hand. It’s gloved, and Spock doesn’t want to make a poor impression on a potential leader. So he sets his discomfort aside and shakes it.

The man smiles, introducing himself. “Lex Luthor. Founder of Planet Watch. The man who brought you down is Ultraman, and the woman beside me is Angela Spica, calls herself the Engineer.” His smile quickly dissolves into a relieved, yet somehow worried, expression as he drops Spock's hand. “You’re lucky we found you before anyone else. You look green. Sick? Cold? Here, we’ll take you indoors where you can situate yourself on the planet properly. Spark, was it?”

“Spock. S-P-O-”

“I get it.” Luthor says, cutting him off and turning around and walking back towards the helicopter already. It’s clear Spock is meant to follow, so he does. For now.

The man is… charming, in a bitter way. Spock enters the helicopter, nods a thanks to the pilot, and straps himself in beside Spica. Luthor is already speaking again, asking Spock how he knows english, questioning him about potential dietary needs, asking if he was sent to earth to a reason, among other things. He already seems to have an answer to every question he asks. The engine drowns out his words as they take flight anyway.

Spock wonders if he’d even get a single word in before they reach their destination. It doesn't matter much to him. He doesn't plan to stay in this dimension long.

Chapter Text

“You’re late again.” Jimmy points out as Clark rushes past him. “Not a good day to be late.”

“I know,” Clark says, only slightly annoyed with Jimmy’s teasing as he sits down at his incredibly messy desk.

“Did you hear about Luthor?”

Clark sighs as he opens a drawer, shoving the loose papers on his desk in it. He can organize it later. “Yes, I heard about Luthor.”

“So you know why it’s a horrible day to be late,” Jimmy concludes.

Clark rolls his eyes. Jimmy Olsen is his best friend besides Lois. He’s an incredibly smart and resourceful person and one of the only reasons Lois knew where to find him when he was literally stuck in a pocket-dimension.

But darn, can he be a real pain in the you-know-what.

And it’s not like he can tell Jimmy that he knows about Lex because he’s spent the last nineteen hours trying to find him after his ‘escape’ from Belle Reeve. He uses the word escape lightly; Lois has a source in the prison who told her they let him out under the condition that he ‘moves silently’. The escape was staged, Luthor is free to do whatever the heck he wants, and somehow, Clark can’t find him.

He can listen for earthquakes in Japan, see straight through commercial buildings, but when it comes to finding one of the biggest threats to humanity and world peace? Goose eggs all over, he’s got nothing.

Clark turns on his computer and opens a doc. He stares at it for ten solid minutes. What does he even write? What can he even write that wouldn’t get him and the entire company blacklisted from any major media outlet?

He looks over at Jimmy’s screen. He’s clearly having the same problem, blank screens all around. He stands. Coffee might help. Caffeine doesn’t actually affect Clark, but the placebo effect helps. Even if he knows it’s a placebo.

Lois joins him at the counter.

“I think Jimmy’s onto you, by the way.” She whispers as she grabs the sugar, pouring an ungodly amount into her cup.

Clark raises an eyebrow. Not at the sugar, he’s used to that, but at what she’s said. “Really? You think so?”

“Well, he knows we’re dating—”

“He knows we’re dating?”

“That isn’t that hard to figure out, Clark. Anyway, he knows about the two of us, but he also knows about me and Superman. He’s your best friend, don’t you think it’s weird that he hasn’t told you about me supposedly cheating on you with Superman?”

“Actually, he doesn’t really like talking about women with me.”

“What?”

“He gets weird, and his heart speeds up any time I bring up dating. So I’ve stopped bringing that kind of thing up and vice versa.”

“Huh.” Lois puts the sugar away and grabs a stirrer.

Clark opens his mouth to say more and closes it when he hears the sound of something falling toward the planet. Something large. He looks around. Nobody’s looking but Lois.

“Cover for me?” He asks. She’s halfway through a nod when he leaves, flying to the roof of the building fast enough not to be noticed.

He looks up in the sky toward the direction of the sound and sees something falling, some sort of ship. Heading straight toward a field maybe one or two hundred miles away.

His instinct is to fly toward it, but he feels stuck. Frozen. He feels suddenly dizzy, closing his eyes. When he opens them not a second later, he’s standing in a strange room, stared at by a man in yellow and another in red.

“Uh, hello,” Clark says, wanting to be polite despite the very clear confusion on his face.

“Hello.” The man in yellow says, looking Clark up and down. “You’re… Not who we were trying to transport.”

“Yeah, I got that. Where am I?” Clark asks.

There’s some hesitation from the man, but he answers. “You’re on the Enterprise. A starship. My name is Kirk; I’m the captain here.”

Clark nods. Maybe they know about the other ship that was well on it’s way to crash into Earth. He stares for a few more seconds before realizing he should ask.

“Does this ship have to do with the one that was about to crash into Earth?”

Kirk perks up at the mention of another ship. And Earth. They’re nowhere near Earth. Interesting. “What did this ship look like?” He asks.

“It was small. Built for one, probably, based on what I saw.”

Kirk glances over to the man in red. They’re doing that thing everyone but Clark seems to know how to do- communicating through facial expressions alone.

Clark decides to break it up after thirty seconds of just staring.

“Can I go back now?” He asks. “You… clearly got the wrong guy. I kind of need to be on Earth.”

Kirk sighs with a cringe, clearly feeling bad about what he’s about to say.

“We can’t beam you back to Earth because we’re currently seventeen thousand parsecs from it. And that’s the Earth in this universe. You might want to sit down. Actually, no, you’ll want to come with me.”

“Go with you where exactly? What do you mean ‘this’ universe?” Clark asks, really hoping he’s not in another pocket dimension. He’s pretty sure that’s the case.

“I would like you to come with me to our ship's Sickbay so we can make sure you don’t get any sort of sickness being in a universe your immune system isn’t prepared for. You mentioned being from Earth, you’re human, right?”

“...Right,” Clark says, following along.

Kirk speaks more as they walk through the halls of the ship.

“We’re currently stationed outside of an inter-dimensional rift opened where a black hole once was. One of our officers, my second in command in fact, was in the shuttle you saw. Assuming that your Earth was on the other side of the rift. Scotty, the other man in the transporter room, beamed up the only live signature we saw in the rift. We assumed it would be Spock.”

“Spock is the officer in the shuttle?” Clark asks for clarification.

Kirk nods. “And you are?”

“Oh. Right, Clark. Kent. Clark Kent. Sorry, I meant to introduce myself earlier.”

“But you were busy being confused about the fact that you were suddenly on a ship in space and not wherever you were on your planet, I understand. Turn left here.”

They turn left as a door opens automatically. Clark walks in after Kirk. The room is slightly larger than the last, with two orange beds and two more doors. Out of one of the other doors comes another man. Clark is starting to wonder if any women work here.

“Bones, this is Clark. He’s from another dimension’s Earth.” Kirk says, before turning from Bones to Clark. “Clark, this is our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. McCoy. He’s going to make sure you’re alright after trans-dimensional travel. I’ll be back to check in, I just… have to go figure out why you’re here and where my First Officer is.”

Clark nods. “Thanks, Captain.” He says. He can tell the captain is stressed enough; he doesn’t want to add to it, especially since he’s the source.

Kirk leaves, and Dr. McCoy has Clark sit down on one of the orange beds.

The second Clark sits, the monitor above the bed changes. Tracking his vitals. Cool.

“Nervous?” McCoy asks, glancing up at the monitor.

Clark frowns. “Only a little.”

“I’d be more concerned if you weren’t. Clark, right?”

“Yep.”

“What year is it on your Earth?”

“2025. Why?”

McCoy opens a drawer and pulls out a small container. “Alright, I’m going to give you just a few vaccines, and then do a standard check-up. You’re not afraid of needles, are you?”

Clark smiles. “No, I’m not afraid of needles. Are you sure about the vaccines, though? I don’t want to have any sort of reaction.”

He isn’t sure yet if he should show that he’s anything but human. But it’ll come out anyway if any needles are used.

“If you have an allergic reaction, I have another hypo that will help.” McCoy shrugs.

“Hypo?”

“Like a shot, similar to a needle without an actual injection.”

Clark furrows his brow. “Then why’d you ask if I was scared of needles?”

“Because it functions similarly enough for most people to assume it’s one.”

Clark rolls up his sleeve upon McCoy’s instruction. He isn’t able to roll it all the way up to his shoulder, but the hypospray can be used in his wrist anyway.

In theory.

It doesn’t end up working. The liquid it was supposed to inject through pressure doesn’t even pierce his skin. McCoy frowns. He mumbles something about the hypo itself being defective and tries again with another, only to get the same result.

Clark looks down at the liquid on his arm, frowning as if confused. “That’s weird. Is that how it’s supposed to work?” He asks.

“Not one bit,” McCoy says, putting the case of hypos back in a drawer and wiping off Clark’s arm with an alcohol wipe. “Let’s move on to the check-up.”

Clark seems to be in perfect health by the time McCoy is done. And he doesn’t seem as affected or worried as any human would be under the circumstances.

“Listen, son, you don’t have to lie to me,” McCoy says, getting Clark’s attention. “I know the time period you’re from isn’t accepting of non-humans, especially on Earth, but nobody on this ship will discriminate against you in any way based on species.”

Clark hesitates to respond. It’s hardly been a month since Luthor convinced the world to hate him for being Kryptonian. It’s hardly been thirty-three days since he learned what his bio-parents meant, truly, in their message.

But Dr. McCoy has shown him nothing but hospitality. And even if that’s his job as a Doctor, it shows a lot about his character. Clark decides it’s worth the risk. Besides, nobody here would know the difference between Clark Kent and Superman- there’s no real need for a human identity.

He can be himself. Both sides, at once. The way he is with Ma, Pa, and Lois. It might be nice for a change.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t lie to you.” Clark states. “I’m not human. I’m from a planet called Krypton. I’m Kryptonian.”

Clark is so relieved to get it off his chest, he almost doesn’t notice the pale, shocked look on Dr. McCoy’s face.

Chapter Text

Spock wakes up at exactly six on the seventh day at his stay in Luthor manor. The room he’s been given to stay in is nice. It’s large, well furnished, with it’s own private bathroom and balcony. He can see the skyline of a nearby city through his window; Metropolis. He would prefer to be there, despite the lavish accommodations under Luthor’s roof. He knows he is being watched.

At all times. There are four cameras in the bedroom, two in the bathroom, and multiple in every hallway on the floor. They’re well hidden. Spock only knows about them due to the high pitched noise they admit. If he weren’t being watched he would spend more time looking.

He doesn’t want it known that he knows.

Luthor has proven to be an incredibly smart man. Manipulative, conniving, disparingly wealthy— and unfortunately for Spock, ingenious. If Kirk were here he’d have figured out how to fool him and leave to the city with no trace three days ago.

Spock is smarter than that. Luthor has mentioned having access to the technology that created the rift between dimensions in the first place. Staying on his ‘good’ side is the most logical choice. So, when Luthor asks Spock to have a meeting over dinner, about moving forward and ‘his role while on earth’, he agrees.

At eight, Spock goes to the dining room, expecting to see Luthor there. No. But there are two plates with food set out on each end of the table. So he sits, and waits. It’s half an hour until Luthor shows up alongside Ultraman, the food is cold by now, and any ice in his drink has melted. Spock didn’t plan on eating what was served anyway.

Ultraman stands by the door, leaning against the wall. Spock wonders why he’s here. He’s only seen him the one other time, when he

Luthor served steak. The chef knows Spock is a vegetarian. Luthor knows Spock is a vegetarian. Spock doesn’t mention it.

Luthor sits down in his seat, looking at Spock expectantly. Spock realizes he’s supposed to speak first. Despite not being the one to schedule and then show up late to a ‘meeting’. He speaks anyway. “What did you want to speak with me about?” He asks. There. Now he’s started the conversation while still allowing Luthor to think he’s in control.

“Legally, you’re classified as an alien invader. You know that, right?” Luthor asks. It seems he’s given up on being cordial now that it’s been a week.

“I was unaware that that is the legal wording,” Spock says.

“As far as everyone outside of this building knows, you are from space, not another dimension. The world doesn’t need to know about the possibility of a multiverse. It would cause mass conspiracy, even panic.”

“Surely being from another planet, despite Earth’s previous encounters with alien lifeforms, is just as likely to cause conspiracy.”

Luthor nods, cutting his steak as he speaks. “It would, but not as significantly,” He takes a bite, chews, swallows, and continues. “I’ve told you I’m in charge of Planet Watch. My job is to ensure that the Earth is safe from any interplanetary and now interdimensional threat. That includes you. Now, you don’t threaten me personally, and I don’t believe you intend to harm humanity. Still, your existence, the possibility of alien lifeforms as you’ve called yourself, threatens humanity's very existence.”

Spock frowns. There’s truly no logic in the idea, yet Luthor speaks as if he’s telling Spock what they both already know.

“Where are you going with this?” Spock asks.

“Nowhere extreme for now. I am going to be putting you under constant supervision until I know more about you. No hard feelings— I simply can’t trust you.”

“I’m aware of the cameras in the room you have given me.” Spock says, gauging Luthor’s attempt at hiding surprise.

He raises his eyebrows slightly and his jaw clenches before he regains his composure. “I… should’ve been more transparent about that,” Luthor says, obviously lying. “Honestly, I forget how surveyed this manor is.”

“Are you not the owner?”

“Inherited. Anyway, the supervision I will be assigning is more personal than cameras. Ultraman will be keeping you company. You’ll hardly notice him, he doesn’t speak unless spoken to.”

Spock frowns, ever so slightly. “Have I given you reason not to trust me?”

“You’re not human. I have no idea what abilities you’re hiding from me. I only know you’re telling the truth about being in the wrong dimension due to the testing I had done on your ship. Everything else could be a lie.”

Spock sighs.

“Eat. I wouldn’t want it going to waste.” Luthor says, taking his own plate and leaving, walking past Ultraman without even a glance.

Chapter Text

Sorry for the huge delay!!! More is coming soon, I've become very busy very suddenly. I guess that's what happens when you start writing on ao3 😅