Superman Returns is not mine. I make no money from writing this.
Richard had known Clark was Superman since they rescued him. The moment he had seen him with that sopping wet hair falling over his forehead, the reporter had known. Of course, his attentions had been on other things at the time, so he had not really pondered it. He had been trying to get the seaplane flying.
It was while they were sat at the Daily Planet office, waiting to see if Superman would wake up after lying in a coma for two and a half days that Richard even thought about it again. That face... it had been so clear who Superman was that he did not understand Lois.
Not that he understood his fiancée very well anyway. He did not know what she had against Clark; he was friendly, thoughtful and always quick to offer a smile. It hurt to hear her refer to him as a dumb hic, as though where he grew up defined him so completely.
He wondered why she couldn't see who he really was. They had been in that plane together; in fact, she had been staring into his face while Richard had been trying to get them to lift off. How did she not recognise Clark in him?
What if she had? What if her refusal to speak up was that she had seen Clark and was preparing to tell Richard to back off? Or, what if she was waiting to see if Superman survived so she knew if Richard could continue being a placeholder? He was perfectly aware that he was. He knew that everyone in the office held the same opinion. He had a feeling only Lois wasn't actually conscious of it.
He realised he couldn't sit here and let Clark suffer though. Maybe Lois would be key to helping him wake up. People in comas could still hear things, right? And, Lois would never forgive herself if he did die and she hadn't been there to see him at all.
Richard sighed, glancing back at his uncle before walking over to his fiancée. He could not continue to be selfish. If Lois and Superman needed each other, the only reasonable thing to do would be to aid them, especially as the two of them seemed to need a kick up the backside to get moving with it.
"Lois?"
"Yeah?" She was clinging to Jason and he saw her hand reach up to her eye...
"We can leave whenever you're ready. I mean, you don't have to be here." He tried to smile, despite the pain he was feeling. Clark was a good guy. Lois was a wonderful person. He couldn't not help them.
"Where else would I be?"
He looked up at the news programme, before turning his eyes back on her.
"I could drive?" He kept his voice soft, light... trying to keep his emotions hidden.
Lois spent a long time staring into Jason's eyes, as though trying to read what he thought without using words. Her gaze wandered over to the picture Jason had drawn in the time they had been back; of Superman saving their family.
She nodded and Richard felt his heart breaking. He picked up his son's coat, helping him put it on before pulling the boy up into his arms.
Jason was Superman's son. He'd noticed this the previous winter. Richard had slipped over on a bridge while the two of them had been out; Jason had stopped him tumbling into the icy water below. He had thanked his son for saving him, assured the child he was okay and they had gone home. He hadn't mentioned it to Lois though. He had kept it to himself.
Surely, if he woke up, Superman wouldn't come and continue on the life Richard had been leading. Clark was a kind person. He wouldn't do that.
Later on, in the car, Richard simply assured Lois he would be there. He meant it in more than one way. He would wait for her to come out the hospital, in the car. He would also be there when she made her decision. He would be there as a fiancé or a friend, whatever she needed.
Clark stirred, his eyes flickering as Lois' words echoed in his head.
"Come back and be with me. Come back and be with Jason; your son."
He was not alone.
He went to see the boy later that night. He looked around that bedroom and then headed out the window. He heard his son shout goodnight to him. He saw Lois lighting up outside. He smiled at her and told her he was always around.
However, just before leaving he glanced through the rest of the house and he saw Richard. Richard was sat on the side of the bath, fully dressed. He was sobbing quietly into his hands. Clark felt an ache in his heart.
As Superman, he was someone many people looked up to. He was here to save humanity.
As Superman, he had driven a wedge between Richard and Lois. It hadn't even occurred to him earlier, but he thought about the last time he had deliberately stopped by. Lois and Richard and been chatting in the kitchen, perhaps not about something people usually discussed, but it had not been a terribly awkward conversation.
Now, Richard was alone and in tears, and Lois was back to scanning the sky.
He fretted about it for the rest of the night. He almost wished that Richard had been horrible, that he had been nasty... He felt terrible for wishing such things about a lovely man, but it would have been easier for him. He could have swooped in and saved Lois and Jason from a bad person.
Instead, he felt worry for Richard. Lois was a flighty person. He had meant it when he told Jimmy he had never expected her to settle down. It was obvious that Richard was not the centre of her world. He held a place in her heart, but it didn't seem to be a large one. Superman was in an unexpected position of wanting to swoop in and save Richard from a bad relationship with Lois.
He didn't know what to do.
It turned out to be Richard who approached him the next day. Lois had been in before Clark had turned up, but Richard came at about half nine, having dropped Jason off at school first. He had walked straight over to Clark's desk, ignoring his uncle Perry who was shouting at him to come over, and he had asked to have a word with Clark.
He had agreed and they headed into Richard's office.
"You're Superman, aren't you?" Richard asked softly, his light blue eyes boring into Clark's.
"I... What?"
"We pulled you out of that water and your hair wasn't slicked back. Glasses don't make that much of a difference. Then you disappear for the length of time Superman was in a coma?"
"You... Well, I-"
"Not only that, but five years? You went on a trip for five years and then happened to come back just as Superman reappeared. If Lois hadn't been so such that it wasn't you, I think I would have connected it all sooner."
"No one was meant to..." He muttered, sounding like a petulant child.
"I'm sorry." Richard was looking sorrowfully at him. It made Clark frown.
"What for?"
"I feel like I'm living your life. I live with Lois, who is in love with you. I live with your son. I-"
"No. Richard. There is nothing for you to apologise for. I should say sorry. I feel like I am ripping your life apart."
"You aren't." He replied softly. "It was already in pieces."
"I'm not sure what Lois is like when I'm not there, but..."
"Clark, stop. Whatever is going on, have you tried to pull me and Lois apart intentionally?"
"Of course not."
"That is all I need to know."
Richard held a hand out and Clark shook it, the guilt was lifting. He grasped the strong hand and smiled.
"Should we go for a drink later?"
"Together?" Gaped Clark, who had not been expecting Richard to automatically try and become friends. He had been expecting some anger, some indignation. Richard truly was a good man.
"Yes, together. As fun as it is to go sit in a bar on my own, I'd prefer it if you were there too. Oh... Do you have the time?" Richard suddenly looked nervous, giving him a wide eyed stare that Clark found he couldn't reject.
"The world can manage an evening on its own, I'm sure."
"It can try, but if you need to go then don't worry about me; just go."
"Thank you."
Richard met up with Clark in a small bar. It was not the one that Jimmy always gravitated towards, and it wasn't one that Lois really liked either, but they had the with the sound off and subtitles on, quiet music playing in the background and Richard found it relaxing.
"Beer?" He asked Clark as the man came over to him.
"Oh, please."
Richard grinned and ordered two. Clark looked good. Richard had never seen him out of the suit he wore to work... or the suit he wore while saving the world, actually; but now he was wearing an old looking pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with another shirt over the top. He was wearing a pair of jeans, but with a dark green polo shirt.
"Can you even get drunk?" He wondered aloud as they headed over to an out of the way table.
"Yeah... I have the same type of digestive system, but I just process things slightly different."
"What do you mean?"
"I can get drunk, but I'll be sober pretty quick. It's the sun that feeds my body a large portion of its energy."
"So... daytime you sober up quicker than night time?"
"Probably. I don't get drunk in the day."
"You poor, poor person. The life experiences you must have missed out on. So, you've never gotten so drunk that even after going to bed and getting up the next day, you aren't sober yet?"
"People actually do that?"
"Yeah." Richard laughed, he had been teasing, but the surprise in Clark's face was too funny. "Did it not happen in wherever you grew up, or did you manage to avoid those crowds?"
"I'm from Smallville and... I never really monitored how drunk people got."
Richard grinned and slung an arm over Clark's shoulders as he finished his first pint.
"Ready for another?"
"It's my round. You sit down."
"Yes sir."
Clark smirked at him, but stood up and headed over to the bar again. Richard grinned. Clark was so much more interesting outside the office; he didn't understand why his fiancé failed to notice him. He'd have to ask something about that later.
"Here."
"Thanks."
"How is it being back?"
"Different. I knew some things would change, but I never even considered technology."
"Huh... Not much of that in outer space, I guess."
"Not so much, no. None that I'm telling you about."
"Aww, what if I wanted to write about aliens?"
"And here I thought I was enough for you." Laughed Clark, grinning wider as he watched Richard's face light up in amusement.
"Always. I wouldn't betray our relationship with some other alien, no matter how much cooler he or she was." Richard completely failed to keep the straight face he had been trying for, he ended up chuckling. He tried to hide it by taking a drink, but his eyes were shining in mirth.
"Cooler than me? Oh, Richard. I never knew I was such a disappointment."
"It's ok. I forgive you." They both sat grinning like idiots for a few moments.
Richard could remember doing stuff like this with Lois. They used to go out for meals and he would make a bunch of sarcastic comments, though it had been on different topic matter than aliens, and she had responded with her own biting sarcasm until they had ended up in fits of laughter.
She had always been a little distant though. He had loved her with his whole heart and she had accepted it but not been able to fully return the sentiment. He had thought it would change with time. He had expected that when they got engaged things would improve, but it hadn't. They had been engaged for over three years and she refused to discuss wedding plans.
He had heard Jimmy commenting more than once to different people (because Jimmy was actually one of the worst gossips in the bullpen) that Lois would bite someone's head off if they asked when the date was. He probably didn't realise that even Richard wasn't allowed to ask that question.
He finished his beer, melancholy seeping into him. He missed Lois. He slept behind her every night, but she was growing ever more distant. Clark pushed another pint in front of him.
"Huh?"
"You were miles away. But you're getting the next two rounds."
Richard didn't expect to be here for another two rounds, but he managed a smile and nodded his head.
"Do you ever feel angry at Lois?"
"What about?"
"She doesn't notice you. You see her every day and she doesn't see who you are."
"It... did. In some ways."
"Did... Did I hurt you?" Richard shifted closer, so that their knees pressed together.
"When?"
"You came back and I was there, in your place. I'm with Lois and with your son and..." Richard's face crumbled. Clark reached out and pulled him close. Richard fit neatly into his arms, even half in his lap as he was. It was a safe feeling possibly because he knew it was Clark holding him, more than the fact that it was Superman.
Richard found he trusted Clark completely.
"As you said to me earlier, you did not do it on purpose. It was a shock, but I really do like you."
Richard wrapped his arms around Clark for a long moment before shifting back into his seat and picking up his beer.
Clark stumbled slightly as they headed out the door. Richard was clinging to his arm, but still capable of walking under his own power.
"Home?" Clark asked.
"Yours. Not mine." Replied Richard. His words weren't too slurred, but Clark wrapped an arm around his friend's slim waist.
"This way."
"Far?"
"A bit."
"Taxi."
"We can fly."
"'Kay."
Richard wrapped his arms around Clark's shoulders, smiling when he felt Clark's arms slip around his waist.
"What's the fee?"
"Umm..." Clark tried to think. He didn't want to charge Richard.
"Here." Richard stretched up onto his toes and pressed a kiss to Clark's lips.
The hero let out a startled hum, but leaned down to kiss the smaller man's supple lips. A moment later, he pulled back, bent his knees and set off to his apartment with Richard warm in his arms.
Once in his apartment, Richard pushed back up onto his toes to kiss Clark again. Clark responded fully, leaning down and pushing his tongue into the smaller man's mouth. He explored the warm cavern, licking into the far reaches.
Richard's arms remained around his shoulder, but one hand slipped into Clark's hair and gripped tightly. It only served to fuel Clark's arousal and he slid both his hands lower to grip Richard's buttocks.
Richard groaned and pulled Clark's hair. He picked Richard up and carried him into the bedroom.
Clark began stripping with his eyes on Richard, now lying on the bed and wriggling out of his own clothing.
"Clark. I want you in me. Get some kind of slick."
Clark whimpered at the command and hurried into the bathroom. He didn't know what someone would use. Maybe he could fly to a shop really fast and buy some.
"You can use sun cream for all I care, Clark. Just get something."
Clark grabbed the hand cream he had for if his mother came to visit. He froze when he re-entered the bedroom, the blood surging downward as he stared at Richard; the man was splayed out on his bed, legs spread wide and his hips already shifting.
Afterwards, they rolled over and Clark began to doze off with Richard snuffling in his sleep on his chest.