NOTE: Thanks you guys for whoever's reading this. And yes last chap. was kind of repeating the movie, but like I said, it seemed smoother that way in the big picture. There's more actual fan-fic in this chap. and not much more movie stuff to go over now. Enjoy!
Richard was lying asleep in bed and Jason had gone to bed an hour earlier. Lois looked down at Richard resting peacefully with the sheets pulled up to his chest. The room was dark except for dim moonlight slipping through the curtains. Her hair was let down around her face, and she wore a pale nightgown on her slender frame. She grabbed a thin robe and wrapped herself in it to keep away the chill night air.
Her bare feet moved silently over the wooden floor in the hallway. She continued until she was at Jason's bedroom. The door was ajar, so she poked her head in to check on her son. She smiled when she saw his little head of dark hair buried in the pillow. He was the most beautiful thing in all the world to her, her beloved son.
But she went further to the back porch outside. Once she opened the door, the cool wind struck her skin. She then stood in the dark where she was alone and no one could hear or see her.
Why did he have to come back now? Does he think we'll just go right back where we were? He could have at least told me he was leaving for so long. It wouldn't have been so hard then as it was not knowing…
Lois sat in one of the patio chairs and lowered her head into her hands. I don't know what to do. I don't want this. And I don't want Richard or Jason hurt. Couldn't he have just left us alone?
But she knew somewhere deep in her heart that that was not what she wanted. Somehow she had always wanted him to come back.
It can't work for us and now I have a family. I have to forget him and let it go. But is that even possible for me when I love him so much?
A single tear trickled down her cheek, catching the silvery moonlight in a gleaming streak.
She lifted her head and wiped it away. She was Lois Lane: she had to be strong.
It was evening in Metropolis and Lois, Richard, Clark, and Jimmy were having a late day at work. Lois went up to the roof of the Daily Planet while Richard and her son went to get dinner for everyone. It had been a stressful day—stressful few days, in fact—for her. At least Clark had been sweet and helped her pick up the things she had dropped from her purse.
She tried to light a cigarette but the flame kept blowing out.
What on earth…
She finally turned her head and gasped. Superman stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest watching her. He was shaped like a perfect statue. His muscles were well-formed and his face finely chiseled with a strong jaw and eyes bluer than the clearest sky. His ebony hair glistened in the light from the massive globe of the Daily Planet slowly turning atop the building, a single curl brushing on his brow. It was never hard to remember he was not human.
"I wasn't expecting you." Her voice came out unusually harsh, but she did not regret it.
Her remark did not stop him from stepping down and walking gradually towards her. "On the plane…it wasn't the best time with all the press and everyone."
"Well, there's no press now; except for me of course." She was having trouble looking into his deep blue gaze when all she saw there was pure love and devotion for her. Although a tinge of melancholy was in his face as well, and it was no wonder.
"A lot of people have questions now that I'm back, and I think it's only fair I answer those people."
"You're here for an interview?" Lois's frustration peaked. "Okay then." She fumbled around in her purse for her recorder. "Where is that…?"
"Your right pocket," he said with a slight smile. That smile used to melt her heart and weaken her knees; though for the moment she tried to stand firm against him.
It was there. She pulled it out and turned it on without pause. "Let's start with the big question: where did you go?" Her own questions would do for this interview because he had a lot of explaining to do not just for 'those people.'
He talked about journeying to the ruins of Krypton, finding nothing really, and coming back as casually as if he had been absent only a month or two. Lois steadied her breathing and pushed aside the pain in her heart.
Superman turned to look at Lois. He did not need to hear the sharp tone of her voice to know she was angry. Her body language was enough, but he still spoke calmly and with as much ease as he could cover his true feelings with. Inside he was longing to reach out and grasp her hand or hold her in his arms.
"How could you leave us like that?" Lois's wall was beginning to break as her voice was now laced with more than frustration. "I moved on. So did the rest of us. The world doesn't need a savior and neither do I."
Strangely enough, he did not feel quite as dejected as before. He walked a short distance away but faced her again. "Lois," he said softly, "Will you come with me?" She turned away from him. "Please."
The mild pleading in just that one word touched Lois's heart, and she could not hold up the wall anymore. She approached the tall, still figure.
"I can't be gone long."
"You won't be."
Next thing she knew, she was standing on his feet, and he had gently enfolded her in his arms. To distract her mind from the places it was going, she quickly talked about Richard.
"He's a pilot. He takes me up all the time."
"Not like this," Superman shook his head.
Lois gasped. The world was lifting away from their feet, and they were floating high over the rooftops. She clung tighter to him without even thinking and slowly looked up into his beautiful face.
"I forgot how warm you are."
He took her far up above the city, and it glittered with scattered golden lights. It was a stunning sight floating up near the clouds and looking down on Metropolis in the sure arms of Superman. She had to admit that flying in a plane could not compare in the slightest.
"Listen. What do you hear?" he whispered.
"I don't hear anything."
"I do. I hear everything. You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one."
He said it with such simple honesty and quiet truth that she imagined she could hear all the things he heard as well. She almost closed her eyes but could not look away from the shimmering vision down below. How many people got to experience such a tranquil opportunity?
The wind ruffled her skirt, and his cape flowed around them in crimson ripples. It was so peaceful she could have stayed there in his warmth hours into the night.
"I'll take you back now," he said.
The flight back sent chills down her spine and dazzled her imagination. She ran her finger over the serene water of the river and stared at their reflection in its dark depths. They even passed by her house there on the river, and it pained her to be reminded of the life left behind on the rooftop of the Daily Planet. She looked at her hand held firmly in Superman's. His hand was warm, strong, and real. He was illusory for five years, yet now he seemed real again with his body pressed next to hers and her hand held fast in his own.
Was she losing her resolve to keep him out of her life? Yes…I am, she thought.
Their feet settled back on the roof of the Daily Planet right where they had left from.
Superman could not begin to describe what a wonder it was to have the woman he loved back in his arms again. And her heart was not so hardened at their return.
They stood together even after they were on the ground again, and he savored the precious moments. Lois suddenly leaned up towards his face, their faces not even an inch apart. He felt her warm breath on his lips, but she stopped. He closed his eyes and sighed as she pulled back.
"Richard's a good man. I don't want to hurt him or Jason."
Superman nodded and backed away to leave.
"Wait," she called. "Will I see you around?"
His customary grin appeared. "I'm always around." And he flew off before it grew any more difficult to leave.
Back at the office the next day, Clark was working on the blackout story when he felt someone watching him. He looked and found Jason staring at him.
"Hey there, Jason," he said with a crooked grin.
"Hi, Mr. Clark."
Even though Lois's boy was only five years old, Clark thought he could see her keen perception already flourishing in him. Jason had stared at him the same way not long ago when Lois, Richard, and he were standing around discussing assignments. It made Clark wonder.
"You're tall."
Clark chuckled.
"I wanna grow up and be just as tall and big as you are."
"Gee, thanks." He reached out a hand to Jason's height. "I think you're getting there pretty quick."
Jason climbed up onto a desk. "That's better."
"Hey there, kiddo. Uh…you might want to get down there." He lifted him up from the desk. "I don't think your mom would…"
Lois was there at once. "Jason! Don't climb or stand on the furniture." She took his hand and looked up at Clark. "Sorry, Clark." She smiled and shrugged. "I told him not to bother anyone."
"No, no it's fine. You see, I was having trouble thinking anyway and…"
"Well, I'm glad he's not a problem," she said. "Come on, Jason. Let's go back to your dad's office. I'll let you get back to your work. Talk to you later, Clark."
Clark watched them weave their way back. He liked Jason even if Richard was his father. Lois was his mother and that was all that mattered.
Life turned upside down in the next few days for them all. Much to Superman's aggravation, Lex Luthor reappeared with another scheme to make himself rich off of land at the expense of millions—no, billions—of lives. Lois and Jason ended up trapped on his boat.
As Lois and Jason were locked up in other, closer quarters, Lois couldn't stop thinking about what had happened with the piano. She studied her son's face. His head was lowered, and his longish, dark hair fell over his eyes.
I knew all along. I just didn't admit it. I should've known with his eyes so blue and certain expressions he has. His laugh is not like mine or Richard's.
She placed a hand on her brow and sighed. How am I going to tell Richard? Or Jason for that matter? Should I let Superman know he has a son?
Yet it did not make her love Jason any less; perhaps even more. Our son…
The world watched in horror as the man who spared so many of their lives by sacrificing his own fell to the earth from space. Time seemed to halt as millions stopped what they were doing and stared up in the sky.
Lois was still in the seaplane with Jason and Richard when Superman threw the crystal-created mass into space. She divided her gaze between her son and the sky outside. Jason looked out the wide windshield even more eagerly, leaning forward in his seat.
"Look!" Jason pointed with his little hand.
Lois strained her eyes and saw what her son was pointing at. As they were nearing Metropolis, a small speck of blue and red was plunging towards the city from the clouds.
Why would he be going there so fast? I thought it was all over…She leant forward like Jason also and placed a hand over her mouth in the horrible realization. He's not flying, he's falling! Please no…I can't lose him again.
"Can you go any faster, Richard?" she said aloud.
Richard's blue eyes were misted with moroseness. "I'm sorry, Lois. I could never make it in time." He looked aside and grew quiet.
Her eyes welled with hot tears, and she turned her head away.
Jason reached out and grasped one of her hands. "It's okay, mommy. Superman can't die."
She forced a smile for her son and brushed his cheek with her fingers. "Thank you, Jason." I wish it were true.
