Author's Notes: This was written in response to the one-hour challenge: "Okay! Who's in my room? I have a teddy bear and I'm not afraid to use it!"
Ack! This was intended to be a piece of fluff, simple romance and a hint of comedy, and then somewhere in the middle it got all dark and depressed. I don't know what happened, the characters have a mind of their own, honestly. *sighs* So much for steamy romance in a bedroom scene.
Teddy Dearest
A muffled crash at the window, the sound of a favourite vase breaking, was enough to wake Lois up. She never slept too heavily, reasoning that even when locked in her own apartment one could never let down their guard. There were entirely too many strange people in this city, most of them dangerous. Lois normally left a window open for Superman, but that window was far from any fire escape or convenient drainpipe. The only way someone could get in that window would be to climb the wall, or to fly.
Her apartment was silent, suggesting that whoever was out there was not moving around, afraid that they would wake her. Well, Lois was awake now, and nothing and no one would stop her from defending what was hers. Only problem was that the silk sheets she was lying on were not exactly silent.
A footstep alerted her to movement, headed towards her bedroom, and she reached out, grabbing the nearest article that could possibly be used as a weapon. Silently she lay still, waiting for the attack to come.
But it didn't. No one approached her and no one tried to take her things. After a few moments Lois found herself wondering if she had indeed been mistaken. But no, it was colder in here than before, and all her reporter's instinct's had been kicked into overdrive. There was still someone in her apartment.
A shadow appeared in the doorway, blocking the streetlight that filled her living room. Finally her patience broke and she decided to take a chance. Hefting her weapon of choice, Lois called out angrily.
"Okay! Who's in my room? I have a teddy bear and I'm not afraid to use it!" Startled, she looked at the 'weapon' again. Sure enough, it was a cute fluffy teddy bear, something she had long meant to hide in the bottom of her closet but never gotten around to getting rid of. She had to resist the urge to scream as she frantically tried to think of anything else that she could possibly use as a weapon, all the while holding the bear close to her chest.
"Lois?" Her name was voiced softly, in stark contrast to her screaming a few seconds earlier, by a very familiar voice. Suddenly Lois was more than mortified, she was absolutely certain that her life was coming to an end. She couldn't stand this, burying her head under the sheets and hoping against hope that when she opened her eyes none of this would have happened.
"Lois?" There it was again, that stupid voice. Couldn't he just leave her alone in her embarrassment? She would never live it down. He would no doubt tell everyone and then where would they be? She'd lose one of the most precious people in her life, along with all her self-respect and dignity and why was he still standing in the doorway? Lois sighed inwardly, realising that she should just hide the bear and address the speaker. The bear was instantly thrown to the other side of the room, though if it hit floor or wall she couldn't tell.
Rearranging her limbs and sheets, Lois made herself feel slightly presentable, before reaching over and turning on the bedside lamp.
"Hi Clark", she said in a soft voice, before forcing herself to get angry. "What were you doing sneaking into my apartment in the middle of the night? You scared me half to death."
He looked down at his feet, eyes tired and his hair slightly mussed. Whatever Clark had been up to this evening, it had certainly worn him out. He looked like he needed about eighteen hours of sleep. There was a splodge of dirt on his neck.
"I came to check up on you, Lois", his eyes never left his feet, "after all, someone did try to kill you today." Lois cringed. She really hadn't wanted to be reminded of that, the past few hours had been horrible. Lois had been terrified, but when she had called Clark he hadn't been home. So finally she had made herself go to bed, and sleep had eventually claimed her.
"Where were you tonight, Clark? I really wanted to talk to you." The words escaped Lois' lips before she had a chance to censor them, and inwardly she winced at how vulnerable she sounded. First the teddy bear, and now this. What was happening to her?
The characteristic pause before he spoke made Lois wonder why Clark was planning on lying to her again. "I needed some time to think", he said finally. But his shoulders slumped slightly in defeat and he came to sit on the end of the bed, a strange sadness in his eyes. "Were you watching the news at all tonight?"
Lois nodded, and some instinct led her to guess where he was headed with this. "The mudslide in Brazil?" Clark nodded, knotting his hands together in his lap. "It's okay, Clark, Superman made it there in time to stop it from crushing the city."
The next words were a whisper of pain. "He couldn't save everyone, Lois." Lois felt a twinge of pain in her own heart. After a long moment, she found words to speak, knowing they would be of little comfort.
"No one can save everyone, Clark, not even Superman. We all just have to try our best, and hope that it will be enough."
Lois almost thought her words had penetrated Clark's depression, when she heard his whispered voice. "But they were children." Her breath caught in her throat, and she moved across the bed to place her arms around Clark. He tensed as if to throw her off, but Lois hung on and Clark's shoulders slumped as he allowed himself to start crying.
For a long time they stayed that way, Clark crying and Lois holding him, hoping to provide some form of comfort that she couldn't name or admit to herself. She was truly worried about her best friend, and grieved with him. And then, just as Clark's exhaustion seemed to get the better of him, Lois suddenly remembered that he had somehow gotten into her apartment from the open window. And she knew. Clark didn't see her eyes open wide in shock, as sudden understanding rushed through Lois and left her feeling horrible, he only felt it as she suddenly clung to him tighter as she realised just how effected he was by the night's events in Brazil.
Clark clung to Lois gratefully, finally meeting her gaze with haunted eyes that caused her heart to break. "Thank you", he said finally, then frowned as Lois pulled away from him. She got out of the bed, and started searching for something. After a few moments she gave a small noise of triumph, dropping to her knees and recovering the teddy bear that she'd thrown earlier.
"Here", she said, passing the comfort toy to her best friend, "give him a hug. He'll look after you tonight."
Clark did so, sad eyes downcast. "I'd rather be hugging you."
Lois blushed slightly, before smiling and sitting on the bed next to him. The smile faded from her face though, as she looked at him earnestly. "I want you to stay the night here, Clark. I'm worried about you and if you're here I can stop you from rushing out to return your overdue library books and causing yourself any more pain tonight. You need to sleep."
Clark said nothing for a long time, assimilating the new information implied in her statement. She knew, and she wasn't rejecting him for it, or gushing over him as he'd expected she would. And above all else, she was still his best friend. "I'd appreciate it", he said finally, holding the bear close to his chest. "Thank you, Lois."
"What are friends for?" She quipped with a warm smile.
"Are we still friends?" The words escaped Clark before he had a chance to censor them, and he immediately regretted them. Time seemed to drag, as he waited for her answer.
"Friends and partners for now", Lois said finally, before smirking a little in a classic Mad Dog Lane manner. "And maybe someday, we'll be something else."
Clark hugged the teddy bear tightly, a smile lighting up his face for the first time all evening. Lois couldn't help but feel a contracting of her heart when he smiled like that. "I'd like that."