It's rather obvious but I shall just say that I do not own Superman Returns, nor do I make any money from writing this.

Richard sighed as he stared at his computer screen. He had to be the only person around feeling bitter that Superman was back. He felt like a dick; Superman was a hero, he had saved the states from getting buried under Luthor's new continent, if he had understood Lois correctly.

Yet, here he was wondering how things would be if the man had not returned. Lois would still look at him, she'd still notice when he was talking... That was unfair. He and Lois had had some problems since before Superman had returned. He felt he had a lot to live up to, knowing it had been the superhero his fiancée had been in love with before they met. It frequently made him feel inadequate.

He had certain trust issues in that area; how could Lois love him when he couldn't show her the world in the same way? However, she was now more likely to forget about him, her mind seemed to have completely left her in other ways too. She was either utterly protective of Jason, not letting him out of her sight, or forgetting about him as well.

He was worried the bang on her head she had received in that boat just three weeks ago had had unseen effects.

Richard rested his cheek on the edge of his desk, too upset to work but unwilling to face his uncle and admit it. Perry had been unsure about him and Lois from the start, but Richard had blew him off, confident in his own feelings. Now, he realised that Perry may have been concerned about Lois' side of things, having seen how she was with Superman.

He was taking her to the doctor's later, to get her checked over. However, the last thing he wanted to hear was that Lois' disinterest with him came not from an actual problem but from a genuine change in feelings. He was wishing his fiancée had a head injury so he was back to his starting point; he was a dick.

Oddly enough, he thought as he stared at Clark stumbling about the office, he did not blame Superman in the slightest. Richard had spent some time considering how things must be for the alien hero; did he have a home, someone to settle down next to at night? Was Lois the closest thing to a relationship the man had, or was she more of friend/ fan girl? He had also wondered if he should just step out the way, back off so the man could step in without it being rude. The thought seemed like a good idea in some ways, but it was painful.

Jason was his son. He had raised the boy, had been around since a few weeks before Lois had found out she was pregnant. He knew a number of people in the office thought they had had a one night stand that she had gotten pregnant from, and he had decided to do the noble thing and engage her. It was not true though, they hadn't had a sexual relationship until nearly 4 months into her pregnancy. It had been awkward, but he loved her and hadn't cared.

Jason only knew him as his dad, and even if Superman had had a key part in the boy's creation, as Richard suspected he did, and then he should have stuck around. He really had to get out of here now though, and so he stood up, rubbing his watery eyes and grabbing his jacket.

On his way through the bullpen, Lois didn't even glance at him but he bumped into Clark, tumbling to the ground as if he had hit a solid wall.

"Oh! Mr... I mean, Richard. I'm sorry." Richard gave a wry grin and reached out a hand, letting the other man pull him up. At least Clark had stopped calling him Mr. White.

"It's fine, Clark. Really... Going for lunch?"

"What? Oh, yeah..."

"Mind if I tag along?" He grinned and led the large man out, not really giving him an option.

Clark walked beside Richard White. The man was no longer a happy, confident man. He always seemed so pale these days, his body trembling and his attention elsewhere. Clark had been watching as Lois spent more and more time on the roof, or in her yard, waiting for Superman. Clark had seen how she frequently lost her temper with Richard for being where she wanted Superman.

He should have seen it; he should have done something. Now the little family was wasting away. Neither of Jason's parents ate much anymore. Lois spent most of her time staring into the sky, but the rest of it was protectively guarding Jason. Richard was slightly better. He ate small amounts when he fed his son, and he focussed a lot of attention of Jason, making sure he couldn't see how badly they were disintegrating.

And disintegrating they were. Clark frowned slightly, a feeling of guilt bubbling up from inside. Lois had always been interested in Superman; she had always been in love with him. However, she had never seen Clark. She had never paid him the slightest bit of attention, no matter how hard he tried. He loved her, it was true, but he did not want to be with her. Not anymore. He had seen how she had obsessed over Superman, and then had furiously rejected him when Clark had left. She had been kind with Richard, if not exactly loving, but now she treated him as some sort of usurper.

"In here?"

"Oh, sure."

He couldn't be with Lois, Clark thought as he stepped into the diner after Richard, because he had no way of knowing how she would react. He wasn't just Superman but he wasn't just Clark. He was not always awkward and clumsy, but he wasn't always a distant hero. She needed someone who she could accept as who they are, and he had thought she had found it in Richard, but now he realised that may not be true.

They sat down and picked up menus, neither really looking at each other. Clark wanted to ask if Richard was ok, to ask how things were but he didn't. There was no need to do so when he could see the man was losing weight, when he knew the man spent time in his office crying. A young waitress came over, giving them a mechanical smile and parroting off the specials, missing menu items and her name. She took their order and headed off to the kitchens.

"I'm sorry." Said Richard, this beautiful light blue eyes staring sorrowfully up into Clark's own dark blue ones.

"Wh- What for?"

"I sort of forced you out here, didn't I?"

"It's fine."

"I just want to spend some normal time with someone, you know?"

"Oh, I don't mind."

Richard stared hard at Clark for a moment, and the larger man felt as though his soul was being searched right down to the bottom corners.

"Do you mind if I talk at you? I'm trying to get something straight in my head and I have no one to talk to."

"No one?"

"Lois won't listen to me anymore. Perry told me right at the very start not to get involved with Lois. I refuse to complain about anything to Jason and I... Well, I used to have other friends, but Lois kind of scared those off years ago."

"Gee, well of course you can talk to me. I'll be your friend whenever you need one."

"Ha!" It was a bitter laugh that didn't reach his eyes, "well, I'll thank you for trying. To have no friends... Guess I'm just not as interesting... or friendly as I thought I was."

The man looked sad, glancing up to give Clark a self-depreciating grin. He had to disagree though. Richard was a friendly guy. He had gone out of his way over the last few weeks to check Clark was settled in and managing ok with working here again.

"I think you are a good person. Don't get yourself down about it." He stared confidently at Richard, willing the man to see he was telling the truth. Unfortunately, the startled look Richard gave him made him realise he had used his Superman voice. Regardless, he held his gaze.

"I... Thanks, Clark. It's nice someone thinks that."

"I'm not the only one. Many people in the office would agree."

"Right." Sighed Richard, putting his head in his hands. Clark sat and watched him, hoping he could accept the truth. "Perry always said it was a bad idea to be with Lois; that I shouldn't have been there when she was rebounding. Guess he was right."

"Even if he is, it's probably best not to tell him so." Clark joked, trying to make the smaller man smile.

"No, his head's big enough already." Richard replied, his eyes weren't filled with tears, but they were not dry either. The next few minutes passed silently, Richard staring alternatively at his hands and around the restaurant. Clark kept his attention on the man before him.

"Here you go darlings." Said the waitress as she put their lunch down.

"Thanks."

"Anything else? Alright. Enjoy."

She turned and left, and Clark picked up his warm sandwich. Richard opened his up and squeezed a sachet of mayonnaise into it, then a sachet of ketchup.

"Both?" Asked Clark.

"Mmm hmmm. Jason converted me to this way of sandwich eating last year. I never realised what I was missing out on all these years."

Clark chuckled as he took a bite of his own.

Lunch time became a regular thing, and it was something Richard began to look forward to. The only downside was that Clark refused to leave unless Richard had eaten everything, and Richard had actually discovered the other man was quite strong when he had tried to leave after only having a bite and Clark had pulled him back down.

The most frequent topic of conversation outside of the news was Jason. Richard loved being able to brag about his boy and have someone actually listen with interest to what he was saying. Clark was a wonderful audience, nodding and laughing in all the right places.

They avoided the topic of Lois entirely. She was now seeing a psychiatrist, several times a week in fact. Richard was sleeping in the spare room, unable to rest with her nightly grumblings and it hadn't helped anyone when she woke up screaming at someone unexpected in her bed. Richard had woken up several times to her fists.

She had tablets to take, but so far they hadn't made much of a difference. She refused to take the night time ones because they knocked her out for a good eight hours and she was still coming into the office every day at nine in the morning.

Richard was endlessly thankful that Clark found other things to talk about, and that he was fine with sitting quietly when conversation dried up.

"You don't look like you are sleeping anymore." Sighed Clark one day. Richard jerked his head up, worried that after the two and a half weeks he had spent being thankful for a lack of a particular conversation, that Clark was going to go for it anyway.

"I don't sleep well there." he replied softly.

"I only have a small flat, but there is a spare bed in it..." he raised an eyebrow, silently offering it to the handsome man.

"I can't leave Jason."

"You are both welcome over whenever you like."

"Thanks."

He nodded, but didn't say anything else. He could tell the man was uncomfortable discussing it. They dropped their money onto the table and left the small diner then now frequented.

It was starting to get chilly, the autumn air filling the city with cool breezes and people were beginning to wrap up. Richard tilted his head back as they stepped outside though, taking a deep breath.

"If you like, you can come to the park later on. I'm taking Jason."

"Oh, y-yeah."

"Great. And I thought I told you to drop the stutter." He smirked when he watched Clark's mouth drop. The man clearly hadn't expected him to know it was fake. He found it a little irritating though. He was baring his soul to Clark and in response the man was still clinging to the act of being a nervous and clumsy oaf.

"Right. Sorry."

"C'mon. We'd better get back before Perry freaks out."