A/N- I want to assure anybody reading this fic that I will treat Richard fairly. I like him and won't make him a villain. I absolutely loved the way that Richard was a bit of a fangirl in the fic 'Little Secrets' by Kalalanekent (one of my fave fics, btw), so there may even be a little bit of that. I'd also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed and commented on this fic! It really helped kick me in the butt to write this next chapter, so thank you!

I apologize for the lack of POV breaks in the last chapter and how confusing it was to figure out who was talking, etc - I HAD them in but FFN took my formatting away (grrr) I added them again manually. Ok, enough babbling. Onto the fic…

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Careless Memories

Chapter 2

Lois' first thoughts were that she had died and she was flying through the heavens. She could feel the wind caressing her face, the sun warm against her cheeks. Her body felt weightless.

Except… she distinctly remembered surviving the crash. In fact, the aching of her head blew that divine intervention angle right out of the water. A jumbled series of events flooded through her mind until one thing stood out in blaring detail.

Superman.

Eyes flying open, Lois' suspicions were confirmed. Her cheek rested against the 'S' insignia that could belong to no other. Lifting her head up, Lois met his eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asked softly, dreading this confrontation - yet desperate to hear her voice again.

Lois nodded, then frowned. "What happened?"

"You fainted."

Lois sighed. So typical. He had that effect on her, damn him. "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm taking you to the hospital," he informed her, unconsciously bringing her closer to his body.

"What? No!" she replied with just a small amount of desperation, tensing in his arms. "I hate hospitals. I'm fine."

"Lois, you hit your head, didn't you? You've got more than one bump from what I can tell."

"I don't want to go to the hospital." She glared at him to get her point across.

Clark sighed heavily. This was the Lois he remembered alright - stubborn as hell. He knew that if he took her to the hospital when she didn't want to go, it wouldn't end well.

At all.

"Fine. Where do you want me to take you?"

He shouldn't even have bothered asking, he already knew.

"The Planet," was her expected reply.

He didn't respond, merely changed the direction of his flight. Too much was being left unsaid and it was making him increasingly nervous. He knew Lois well enough to know that his absence wouldn't be ignored without comment. He had walked out on her without saying goodbye, taking the cowards way out after stealing her memories.

"Why were you taking me to the hospital?"

His gaze darted to hers warily. "Well… because you fainted. I thought you might be seriously hurt. And… I was worried."

She studied him, not missing the slightly guilty look in his eyes. "Did you fly anybody else to the hospital? I mean, luggage was flying from the overhead bins, the seats were smashing together... I couldn't' have been the only one hurt."

He didn't want to answer her question, knowing that he'd be revealing more than he wanted to at this time. The silence stretched out.

"Superman?" Lois prompted.

"You're the only one," he admitted, not daring to look her in the eyes.

"Oh." Lois didn't' know what to think of that. God, why had her life become so complicated? "Uh…. Thanks."

"For what?" he asked, surprised, fully expecting the hard-hitting Lois Lane questions to commence.

"For not letting us crash."

"Oh. Well, you're welcome."

Lois studied his face as they flew along. He hadn't changed a bit, as far as she could tell. Five years was a long time… yet he looked the same as if she'd just seen him yesterday. If was as if he had never left.

Except he had left. Without saying goodbye.

For five long years.

Damn him!

And that thought alone took precedence over any acceptance of not being over him, of knowing that she still loved him as much as she had before he left. That she'd hadn't been fooling herself when it came to the man she'd agreed to marry; her engagement ring catching the sunlight in an obscene manner, almost as if it was mocking her. She loved Richard, she did. But Lois couldn't deny to herself any longer that she loved Superman more. And always had. Except he had left her and she didn't know if she could forgive him for that.

She hated herself at that very moment. How could he do this to her? Turn her life upside down, just as he had when he'd disappeared off the face of the earth? Richard had been there for her when she had been at her lowest, although it wasn't a coincidence that both men who had a piece of her heart shared a similar eye color. Richard had reminded Lois of the Man of Steel and it wasn't long before she had turned to Richard for more than just comfort. Their relationship had happened so quickly, with Lois finding herself pregnant mere weeks after they were together. She couldn't do this to Richard, she couldn't. He was a good man and didn't deserve this.

But the best thing in her life had occurred during Superman's long absence.

Jason.

He alone had made the past five years bearable. He was her life. He and Richard were her life.

But now Superman was back. God, it made her head hurt.

Clark watched the emotions play over Lois' face, knowing that the inevitable tongue-lashing was about to commence. It didn't help that Clark knew he more than deserved every harsh word she was bound to spew his way.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lois looked him in the eye and his stomach dropped. Yep, there was no doubt.

Lois Lane was mad as hell.

Richard paced his uncle's office, wondering not for the first time where his fiancée was. It had been ten long minutes since live television had captured Lois being flown away in the arms of the newly returned Man of Steel. The same man who had left the planet for five years and subsequently had left Lois with a broken heart. Richard knew there was more to that relationship than Lois had shared with him, yet any time he'd try to broach the subject, she'd made it abundantly clear that she didn't wish to talk about Superman. And he hadn't pried, actually thankful that he didn't have to know the intimate details of his fiancée's relationship with the most famous man on the planet. Richard knew instinctively that Lois had never quite gotten over Superman and he also knew that if not for the fact that they'd created a son together, she would not have accepted his ring.

But he loved her and had been determined to make their relationship work.

All that was subject to change now, however, now that he was back.

"Where did he take her?" Richard grumbled to his uncle not for the first time.

Perry White could hardly contain his journalistic joy. The biggest story since Superman first debuted in Metropolis and his star reporter was right in the middle of it. Just like the old times. Now if he could just get Olson to get some decent pictures of Superman's return and he'd be ecstatic.

A knock on the window had both men swiveling their heads.

"Great Caesar's Ghost…" Perry muttered, knowing before he turned around that there was only one person who could knock on the window of one of the tallest buildings in Metropolis.

"Mommy!" Jason cried, jumping up off the couch and running to the window.

Hovering on the other side of the glass was Superman with a windblown Lois in his arms. Fumbling with the latch, Perry threw the window open, standing back as the caped wonder floated through easily, setting Lois on her feet just inside the office.

Lois jerked herself away from Clark immediately as if she couldn't stand to touch him for another second and his heart sank. She had refused to say another word to him on the remainder of the flight and he knew he was in trouble. The fact that he knew that he completely deserved her reaction didn't help matters any. Nobody did silent treatments quite like Lois. She said more with her silences than she did with her words.

And he loved that about her.

Clark watched as a tiny dynamo launched himself at Lois, wrapping tiny arms around her legs. This was her son, Jason. Unexpected tears welled up in his eyes at the reunion. She had a family now and he wasn't a part of it. Why had he left? It was a question that had ran through his mind every day for the past five years.

Watching Lois with her son was bittersweet. This was a whole new side of Lois Lane that he hadn't encountered before. She was a mother and it suited her.

Richard held back, finding himself slightly star struck and feeling decidedly awkward. Superman was so much taller and larger than he'd expected, Lois had looked dwarfed in his arms. It was almost a surreal feeling.

When Jason had thrown himself at his mother, Richard found himself watching Superman's reaction. He was surprised to see the pain that flickered across the superhero's face, realizing at that moment that Superman still harbored feelings for Lois.

How did one compete with a superhero?

Richard decided he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. He crossed the room and took Lois in his arms, wondering why he felt slightly wrong in doing so. "Thank god you're ok," he whispered to her, casting a quick glance to the hero behind her. This was a man who could crush him with one finger and that realization was a bit unnerving, if he was honest with himself. Except he didn't find any jealousy in the superhero's face, merely a pained acceptance as the two men made eye contact and regarded each other

"Mommy, we saw you almost crash on tv!" Jason announced, breaking the silence.

Lois startled at that bit of information. "It was on TV?"

Richard nodded, not wanting to add that the entire nation saw Superman fly away with her. He addressed the hero for the first time, holding out his hand. "Uh, Richard White. I'd like to thank you for what you did today."

Clark schooled his face and took the proffered hand, making an effort to not indulge in the typical male pissing contest to see who had the stronger grip. His advantage was more than a little unfair. "Uh, I was happy to do it." He spared a quick look at Lois, catching her eye, and watched as her face hardened once more.

"Yes, thank you, Superman," she said frostily. "You can leave now."

Yep, Lois was still mad.

"Lois!" Richard looked at his fiancée, aghast at the tone she had just used when talking to Superman. This was a Lois he hadn't seen before and he wondered exactly had happened to prompt it.

"What, Richard?" she challenged, daring him to say more.

Clark backed away and floated towards the open window, not entirely surprised at Lois' snippiness. The whole situation was awkward and he was more than happy to get away from it. He had a lot of thinking to do.

"Bye Superman!" Jason called. "Thanks for helping my mommy!"

Clark smiled gently at the boy who reminded him so much of his mother. "You're welcome, Jason. Goodbye."

And then he was gone, leaving only a gust of wind behind.

Jason turned to his parents happily. "Superman knows who I am!"

Richard watched Lois frown. "You told him about Jason?" he asked.

Lois shook her head. "No. It didn't… uh.. Come up."

"Please tell me you at least found out where he's been," Perry inquired, mentally writing the headlines that would follow this story.

"No, I didn't."

He stared at her in horror. "What exactly did you find out then?"

She met his intimidating look with one of her own. "Nothing."

Perry threw up his hands. "You were in the exclusive company of the most sought out story of the decade for at least ten minutes and you asked him nothing?"

Lois bristled. "I was unconscious during most of it," she pointed out.

"And when you weren't unconscious? What did you talk about?" he challenged.

"I told you. Nothing. We didn't talk. And I don't want to discuss this any more. I'm tired and my head hurts. I want to go home."

Perry shook his head, muttering, "The biggest damn story and you kept your mouth shut, letting your personal issues get in the way of your job." At the glare he was receiving, he sighed. "Ok fine. Go home. Get some rest. But I expect a in-depth eyewitness account of what happened out there today."

Lois nodded. "I can do that."

"And," he continued, "I want you to find Superman and find out where he's been for the last five years."

"Perry!"

"Lois, you're the one he talks to. I don't care what baggage you have with him, you will get me that interview." Moving to the office door, Perry yelled, "Why is everyone standing around? We have a paper to put out!"

The employees who had been watching while Superman had flown into the chief's office scurried into action.

"Olsen!"

Jimmy hustled over to his boss. "Yes, Chief?"

"You did get pictures of Superman, didn't you?"

Jimmy held up his camera proudly. "Of course."

Perry nodded. "At least one of my people does what they are supposed to do. Get those printed out and bring them to my office."

Richard took Jason from Lois' arms and guided her out of the office. "I'm taking Lois and Jason home," he informed his uncle.

Perry grunted. "Take care of them." He headed back to his desk before turning back around. "Oh and Richard? Make sure she gets that interview."

Richard sighed and nodded tiredly. Exactly what he wanted to do - make sure that his fiancée played nice with Superman, he thought bitterly. He wasn't looking forward to it, especially given the surly mood Lois was in.

But before that happened, he and Lois really needed to talk.

Tbc

At this point in the movie, Lois still thought that Richard was Jason's father, so that is how it is in this fic. Reviews and comments are always appreciated and again, if there are any blaring errors, please point them out! Oh I also want to add that Lois won't stay mad for long.