Title: You're Never Gone
Author: Louise
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Post Superman Returns
Category: Angst/Romance
Pairing: Lois/Clark
Characters: Lois, Clark, Superman and Jason
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own DC comics or Superman. No infringement intended.
Summary: One week after the events of Superman Returns, Lois thinks about how much her life has changed. Lois' POV.
Dedication: To Barbara for beta reading this fanfiction and helping me with my English. Story inspired in the song "You're Never Gone" by Sarah Routh.

Lois came early to the Daily Planet that Monday. She was the first to arrive since she hadn't slept well in the past week after everything that had happened in the last week since Superman had come back into her life.

She placed her purse on her desk and noticed that even Perry wasn't around yet. She picked up the old framed family picture of her, Richard and Jason and noticed the broken glass. She wondered how it had broken. Probably when New Krypton was created. Lois looked at her watch and noticed it still was early, so she decided to go upstairs to get some fresh air.

Confused. That was the right word to describe how Lois was feeling at the moment. Confused. A week ago everything was fine. She had a family and was happy with them. Now, after Superman returned, well… everything fell apart. Richard left and she couldn't even explain to Jason why the only father he had ever known left. She didn't know how to say that Superman was his real father. She never would do that to her son, not now.

But after everything that happened on The Gertrude that was enough proof that Jason was Superman's son. Normal kids didn't throw pianos like that.

She put a cigarette in her mouth, and was ready to light up, when she remembered the promise she made to Jason that she would quit smoking. "Jason." She sighed frustrated, before placing the cigarette back in her purse. A tear rolled from her eyes as she looked at the sky and thought about him. "Superman… can you hear me?" she whispered in a very low voice. "I know you can hear everything. So if you can hear me… Come to see me. I need to talk to you."

She closed her eyes, her heart racing fast, she had so much to talk to him about. Jason. He knew Jason was his son but what would they do now? And Richard. Poor Richard. She never meant to hurt him. He didn't deserve that. He was a wonderful man and a wonderful father to Jason all these years. It was so unfair.

"Lois? Did you call me?" Superman asked as Lois opened her eyes and grinned, happy to see him.

"Yes, I did," she nodded as she approached him so she could talk to him properly. "Listen… huh. This is hard."

"You want to talk about Jason, right?" he asked as Lois bowed her head and nodded.

"Yes." Lois answered felling the anxiety in her body. "It's been a week since you came from the hospital and came to visit Jason for the first time. I know you must be confused by all of this but… I need to tell you that…"

She let another tear roll down her face. Everything was still too painful for her. Losing him all those years ago and then having him back just when her life was perfect. He approached her and wiped the tear from her eye. "I didn't want to hurt you, Lois. I'm sorry I left you."

"I love you," Lois suddenly said still crying. "I wanted to hate you for leaving me and… I try to hate you but I can't. I still love you. And how can I hate the father of my own son?"

"Lois… I…"

"No, let me finish, Superman." Lois walked to the other side so she wouldn't have to look at him at that moment. "Richard left the house last week. We aren't living together anymore. He knows Jason isn't his son. I think deep down he always knew Jason wasn't his. When you left me, you hurt me. You hurt me a lot. Probably worse than the pain of that kryptonite crystal Lex Luthor stabbed you with. But now that you are back… I want to try again. To see if we can make this work again."

"Lois, you know I still love you. And I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry I left you."

"I know," she whispered in a low voice. She noticed him caressing her face as he turned around to look at her.

"You know, watching you cry… and knowing I'm the reason you are crying is more painful to me than kryptonite."

As they watched the sun rise,Lois noticed it was already time to go back to work. "I need to go now," she said before turning around, walking in the direction of the door. But then she turned around and saw him standing there, still staring at her. Lois suddenly ran in his direction and gave him a passionate kiss.

"I'll see you around?" she asked after their lips parted, still holding his hand.

"I'm always around."

Back at The Daily Planet, minutes after Lois came back to her desk wondering what she would do now, Clark Kent, her bubbly reporter friend came over.

"Good Morning, Lois!"

"Good Morning, Clark!" Lois said a little more cheerfully than she usually was in the morning.

"Are you okay?" Clark inquired, worried about Lois as he placed his hand in her shoulder. "It seems like you've been crying."

"No, I'm okay, now. Don't worry." Lois shook her head as she picked up a small mirror in her purse to fix her face. "Really. It's nothing."

"Lois, I'm your friend. I know I wasn't around for the last few years but… You can talk to me."

Lois looked around and noticed Perry White already in his office talking on the phone. Richard's office still was empty since Richard had asked Perry to work abroad in Europe after the break up.

"Okay. Richard left last week. We aren't living together anymore."

"Oh."

"But I can't blame him. After everything that happened with us last week. And after he found out Superman was Jason's father. I really wouldn't expect any other reaction from him."

"Jason is Superman's son?" Clark asked, surprise narrowing his eyes. "Wow."

"Yes. It's really complicated." Lois sighed in frustration when she noticed Perry opening the door to call them. "Like everything in my life."

"Lane, Kent!" Perry barked as Lois and Clark shared glances.

"But we can talk about this later, Perry is calling for us." Lois pointed out as they got up and walked in the direction of Perry's office. "But thanks for listening to me, Clark. It means a lot."

"No problem. If you need me, you know where to find me." Clark said pushing his glasses against his nose a little nervously. "You can always count on me."

"I know that," she said giving him a sly smile. "I can always count on you, Clark. You're a very a good friend."

"You are a good friend too."

They stared at each other, sharing a glance for a moment before Perry called them again.

"Lane, Kent… I'm not going to say it again!"

"I'm coming, chief!" Lois said as she and Clark ran into Perry's office.

That night, she arrived back at the house with Jason, who was holding a book in his hand.

"Where did you get this, kiddo?" Lois asked, intrigued, since the book seemed to be brand new.

"Mister Clark gave it to me before we left," Jason answered with a proud smile.

"He did, did he?" Lois repeats with a sly smile. "Let me see."

To Lois' surprise, Clark had given Jason the book The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. "Wow. Nice choice. I must thank him for that. Did you thank him, Jason?"

"Yes, mommy," Jason nodded watching her curiously as she looked at his book. "Can I have my book back, please?"

"Sure, Munchkin." Lois gave him the book back and Jason ran to his room to read it.

Lois headed to the kitchen, picking up a glass and putting some orange juice in it. As she took a sip, the phone rang. She picked up the receiver while sitting in the chair next to the table. "Hello?"

"Hi… Lois," Clark said with a trembling voice.

"Clark!" Lois' mouth opened in a big smile to hear a friendly voice. "Thank you for Jason's present. It was really nice of you."

"You're welcome. I just thought of him when I found this old book in Smallville when I went to visit my mom. She used to read it to me when I was six," Clark pointed out, making Lois raise an eyebrow. "So, I thought he would like too."

"Yes, he just ran to his room to read it. I think he loved it. Thank you, Clark."

"You're welcome, Lois. I just thought about him when my mom was cleaning out the house to move to Montana," Clark explained to Lois, who suddenly noticed it was only 7pm.

"Hey, it's still early. Do you have any plans for tonight?" Lois asked Clark, who narrowed his eyes curiously.

"No, I was planning to watch some TV and then go to sleep. Why?"

"Do you want to come over?" Lois asked, taking another sip of her juice. "If it's not too much trouble for you."

"No, not at all," Clark said, making Lois sigh with relief. "I'll see you later then."

"Thank you, Clark."

"Don't worry about it."

Ten minutes later, Clark arrived at Lois' house with a package of Chinese food in his hands.

"Clark, you didn't need to bring food with you. My fridge is full!" Lois complained as she let him in. "But thank you."

"It was on my way anyway, Lois," Clark explained as he entered in the house and put the package on Lois's table.

"Where is Jason?" Clark asked Lois as she began getting plates from the kitchen and placing them in the table.

"In his room," Lois explained as Clark pushed his glasses up his nose nervously. "Do you want to see him? Go ahead. He's still in there reading."

"Thank you." Clark walked through Lois' house for the first time, noticing the finest furniture in the house besides some family pictures of her, Jason and Richard still there. Clark looked at them and felt sad that it wasn't him in the pictures instead of Richard.

He opened the door to Jason's room and noticed the boy on his bed, still reading the book Clark had given to him. "Hey!"

"Mister Clark!" Jason said excitedly as he placed the book on his bed and ran in Clark's direction, giving him a tight hug.

"Hey!" Clark said, grinning and hugging him back. "How are you?"

"I'm reading Peter Rabbit!" Jason explained excitedly, pulling Clark by the hand to sit on his bed. "It's really cool."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it. My mom used to read it to me when I was a kid," Clark explained to Jason, whose face suddenly wore a mischievous smile.

"Can you read it to me?" Jason asked with his eyes shining. Clark couldn't deny him.
"Sure." Clark put a pillow behind his back as Jason sat next to him on the bed. "Let me see. 'Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter,'" Clark read to Jason, who was paying attention to him and to the story. "'They lived with their mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree.'"
"Oh. It's a whole family of rabbits?" Jason asked, to Clark's delight, causing him to laugh fondly.
"Yes," Clark nodded, before come back to reading. "''Now, my dears,' said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, 'you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.''"
Clark stretched his arms before turning the page to keep reading for Jason. "'Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out.'"
Suddenly Lois put her head in the door to call them for dinner but she didn't say anything as she noticed how good with kids Clark was. He was reading the book he had given to Jason earlier.
"'Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and went through the wood to the baker's. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.'"
"Hey there!" Lois entered in the room, finally making them notice her to Jason's sadness. "It's time for dinner!"
"No, Mommy. Can Mister Clark read just one more page. Please!" the boy pleaded, making puppy-dog eyes at Lois, who couldn't resist them.
"Okay, just one more page and then we can eat!" Lois agreed, as Clark flipped another page and kept reading to Jason.
"'Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries: But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight to Mr. McGregor's garden, and squeezed under the gate!'"
Jason looked at Lois with his eyes still shining. "Please, Mommy. I need to know what will happen to Peter!"
Lois sigh with frustration and nodded at Jason, who smiled happily before hugging her. "Okay, but you'd better finish this book quick or the dinner will get cold before we even get to the kitchen."

Later, after Clark had finished reading the book and they had finally eaten dinner, Clark put Jason to bed. Jason had asked Clark to read the book to him one more time. Afterward, Lois brought him to the living room and they were having a nice chat in next to the fireplace.
"Clark, I didn't know you were so good with children. You are a natural father," Lois pointed out amusedly. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Lois. It's a pleasure. He is a nice kid. You taught him well."
"You really think so?" Lois asked, surprised by Clark's words. "Thank you."
"Well, it's a little late. I guess it's time to go." Clark said, getting up and looking at Lois a little uncomfortably.
"Yes, I didn't notice it was so late already. I should go and check if Jason is already asleep."
"Yes, you should do that."

Lois nodded as she walks with Clark to the door. They kept staring at each other for a while until Lois give him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for the wonderful evening, Clark. You are a wonderful friend."
"You're welcome, Lois. And if you need me. You can always count on me."
"I know," Lois nodded, giving him a smile before closing the door. She went back up to Jason's room to notice her son had fallen sleep in his bed, still holding the book Clark had given to him. Lois picked the book up and put it in his bookshelf. She covered Jason with the blanket before giving him a kiss on the forehead. "Good night, munchkin. Have sweet dreams!"
The End