Disclaimer: I don't own Superman.
I kind of like this chapter. It's a little quiet interaction. It gets better, just be patient. Good things can't be rushed. Just be grateful it's really long.
"What is it, Richard?" asked Lois in a hushed voice when they closed her door. Now, alone with Lois, Richard knew what needed to be done.
"Lois, I love you. With everything in me, I wish you could love me just as much, but I know you don't." he said, and tears gathered in his fiancé's eyes. He wished he could wipe them away, but his hands wouldn't move.
"That's not true, Richard," started Lois, but Richard held up a hand.
"Don't deny it, Lois. You love me, but not with your whole heart. Your heart belongs to someone else, someone I can't even begin to compare with. I can't compare with the savior of Metropolis, eavesdropper that he is," hissed Richard, directing the last comment towards the door. Lois stared at him, puzzled, until he turned his attention back to her. "I'm just a man, and I can only take so much. If you marry me, you'll spend all your time wondering if you could have done better, when you can. You'd never be satisfied to be my wife, and we both know that."
"Richard, any woman would be lucky to have you," whispered Lois, grabbing Richard's hands. "I want to be that woman."
"No, you don't. You're only saying that because you love me, but you're not in love with me. And there is a difference. I see it now. I'll stay with you, Lois, but I won't marry you. I'll be there for you, and I'll be there for Jason, but we can't be together. You belong to someone else, and I don't want to come in between that. I'm sorry."
Clark sat on his bed, listening intently. When Richard had accused him of eavesdropping, he pulled back, startled, but decided that it must be a lucky guess. Resolving to respect their private conversation, he stopped listening. After sitting on the bed for ten minutes, he became impatient and left the room.
The first thing that he saw upon entering the living room was Jason watching television. Clark sighed. Poor Jason, having to go through this. He was just a child! Feeling depressed, Clark decided to cook.
"Richard, I hope that you find a woman who's half as good a person as you are," said Lois, holding Richard one last time. Richard clung to her like a lost child.
"That's not going to come up for a while," he said, feeling impossibly envious of Clark. How could that man possibly have everything? Sometimes it just wasn't fair.
"Do you smell that?" asked Lois, sitting up. Richard let her go and sniffed. It smelled absolutely heavenly. They looked at each other curiously.
"How long have we been in here?" asked Lois, shocked. Checking her watch, she realized that they had been talking for over an hour. She and Richard rushed out of the room.
Clark stood there, cooking contentedly. Lois stood and gaped, while Richard stifled a laugh.
"Clark? But how…what…where have you been?" she demanded, rushing over to smack his arm. He flinched timidly, and Richard nearly passed out trying not to laugh. Damn, that man was a good actor. He really had them fooled!
"Well, uh, it's actually a long story, see, I had a lead on this woman, uh, Rachel Jennings, and that she was after hostages I think, so I went to check the place out, down by the shipyard, and what would you know, the woman knocks me out. So, here I am, two days later, waking up amidst a pile of old metal," he stuttered, and Lois looked positively livid.
"You couldn't have left a message or something?" she yelled, smacking his arm again. Richard looked absolutely hysterical, and Clark scowled at him over Lois' shoulder.
"Well, I thought I'd be back before dinner," he said apologetically, giving her a goofy half-smile. She growled at him and looked in the oven.
"Are those rolls? And is that a chicken pie? Clark, what have you been up to?" she asked, her friend forgiven. He handed her a cup of hot, fresh coffee, and she gasped.
"You suck-up, you! Hand it over, Smallville!" she snatched the cup of coffee and held it to her nose, sighing. Clark grinned.
"I thought you might like to relax tonight, so I cooked dinner," he said mildly, gesturing to the countertop. She stopped.
"Wait, what about my ravioli?" she asked, and he didn't look so happy anymore. He pointed to the stovetop.
"Well, guess you were in there a long time," he said sadly. She slapped her head when she saw the shriveled remains of her pasta.
"Clark, you are a lifesaver," she sighed, sipping her coffee. Richard looked like he was going to burst. Clark glared at him. This was why he never told anybody.
"Wait, where did Superman go?" she asked, looking around. Clark and Richard exchanged worried looks.
"Aah…who do you think found me?" asked Clark cleverly. Lois shrugged and looked out the window.
"Too bad…I was going to ask if he wanted to stay for dinner," she said ruefully, glancing at her pitiful ravioli.
The next morning, Richard stood with his bags packed and ready to go. He didn't have much; only what Lois had saved for him. He hugged Lois goodbye and gave her a chaste kiss, and then hugged Jason, promising to visit often. Then, to Clark's immense surprise, Richard also hugged him.
"Take care of them," he whispered into Clark's ear. Clark nodded sincerely, and Richard knew he could trust him.
"I'm just going to stay at my uncle Perry's until I can get back on my feet," he declared, hailing a taxi and waving goodbye. He stopped, though, to see the perfect picture before him; a tall, handsome father with his young, lovely wife, holding a beautiful little boy. He wiped a tear from his eye. Oh, how he wanted to be in that picture, but he didn't belong there. He just hoped that Lois could handle the truth.
It was as busy as usual in the Daily Planet. Perry had them on nonstop assignments with nonstop reports. Clark, as usual, was nowhere to be found, but at least his work was complete and lying on his desk.
Lois ran around the office, trying to find Jason. The last time Jason ran off like this was when he met the evil villainess; she didn't want that happening again. Everyone in the building cleared the way for Lois Lane, afraid to get on her bad side. Ever since she almost lost her son with the Jennings incident, she was like an angry mother bear; ready to attack friend or foe.
Richard and Clark were at a nearby coffee shop, having a drink and talking like old friends. Clark found that since they weren't fighting over Lois anymore, they could find a lot of things to talk about. Topic number one was, of course, Superman.
"So, you're telling me that nobody has ever figured it out? But all you do is put on a pair of glasses!" laughed Richard, sipping his coffee. Clark grinned shyly, having made a new friend.
"It was pretty funny that one time Jason was falling off the counter, and I grabbed him, and Lois ran in, and the entire time I didn't have my glasses, but she didn't recognize me!" he chuckled, thinking fondly of how beautiful Lois looked straight out of the shower. Richard laughed harder.
"I can't believe this! All this time, the biggest hero in Metropolis is stuttering, clumsy Clark Kent? But, is it hard to be that way all the time?"
"I…uh-oh…here comes Lois," said Clark, and the men winced guiltily. They had snuck off to have a break from work, much like cutting class. And here came the teacher.
"You two! One day you're shooting dirty looks at each other, and the next day you're best friends? I can't believe this! One of you better get inside and help me find Jason," she demanded, giving them her coldest glares. Inside, though, she was delighted. It was nice that her whole group of friends was getting along. Clark sighed and stood.
"Alright, I'll go," he grumbled, letting Lois grab his arm and march him inside. He steeled himself. It might be just about time to change from the bumbling co-worker to the smooth superhero. After all, Lois was available, right? And the only way she would notice him was if he was in blue tights. He felt a little envious of his other half. It wasn't fair that she didn't like his other side. It was either all or none. He decided not to visit her as Superman for a while. Maybe she should get to know his other half.
"Kent! Lane! In my office, now!"
They sighed simultaneously as they heard Perry White call them in. Changing direction immediately, they marched into his office.
"You two…I have an assignment for you, in Kansas," said Perry with utter seriousness. Clark and Lois glanced at each other, then at Perry.
"But sir…"
"I can't…"
"It's not…"
"I don't want to hear your excuses. You two make a damn fine team when you're not down each other's throats. Lois, I want you to lend Clark some of your backbone. Clark, I want you to kick Lois' ass. She needs to stop being so aggressive. You two are leaving tomorrow night, and that's final," ordered Perry, and Lois and Clark grumbled a little but didn't say anything. Perry nodded cheerfully.
"Good to see you agree. Now, hop to it!" he said merrily, promptly kicking the two out of his office.
"You want to get something to eat?" asked Clark timidly. Lois glanced at him and sighed.
"First we have to find Jason, Smallville," she said, looking around. Clark smiled to himself; it had been a while since she had used his old nickname, and he liked it. It felt like old times. He scanned the room quickly with his X-ray vision, spotting Jason immediately.
"Found him," said Clark, leading Lois to his office. There was Jason, sitting in Clark's chair with his head down on the desk, a drawing under his elbow. Lois smiled and lifted the little boy up, leaning him on her shoulder. Clark looked down at the little picture and smiled sadly. It was one of Superman, his bold blue colors flashing against a clear sky. Even with Jason, Superman was the favorite.
Lois left Jason with Richard, who had returned from the shop, and left with Clark. They walked down the street, quietly but not silently. They didn't talk, which was just as well with either of them. Sometimes, Lois just felt like she needed to slow down and smell the roses, which was why she chose Clark to be with when she felt like that.
They sat in a nice little restaurant ten minutes later, examining the menu. Clark chose the pulled pork shoulder, while Lois chose the chicken parmesan. She twirled her fork as she waited for the meal.
"So what's Kansas like, Kent?" she asked, and he smiled his goofy, amiable smile. She grinned. Oh, how she had missed Clark and his farm boy humor.
"Well, it's no Metropolis, I'll tell you that," he said, "but it's great. My entire childhood…all packed into one word. Anyway, why are we going there, again?"
"Something happened in Smallville…there's been a rumor that a gang is hiding out there, and it's getting dangerous," said Lois, glancing at the waitress and doing a double-take. Her jaw dropped, and Clark busied himself with checking his hands, anything not to look at the woman.
Of course, they happened to get the sluttiest waitress in the restaurant. She wore a skirt that looked more like a belt, and her shirt wasn't much bigger. 'Those are totally fake,' thought Lois cattily, eyeing the generous cleavage with a skeptical look. The waitress, Wendy, gave Lois an arrogant once-over, and then turned to flutter her eyelashes at Clark.
"One pork shoulder for the handsome gentleman…and a chicken parmesan for the girl," added Wendy after some consideration. Lois stared at the whore, rage and disbelief flooding her. Did she just call her a 'girl?'
Good old Clark managed to be polite and modest at the same time. Lois, on the other hand, decided instantly not to leave a tip. She turned to glare at Clark.
"What was that? Jesus, Kent, you can do better than her! I can't believe you'd even consider…no, even humor the idea, the notion, that…" she sputtered, not quite sure what she was feeling at the moment; but whatever it was, she didn't like it. Clark looked astonished.
"What are you talking about? Humor what notion?" asked Clark good-naturedly. He found it funny that Lois was so defensive. She found it infuriating. Then she realized that she was actually feeling…jealous. It wasn't a common feeling for her. She had everything she wanted. She had amazing friends, a great job, a beautiful child, and an all-around perfect life. What was missing?
"Check, please," called Clark after they had finished the meal in relative silence. Quiet was never a bad thing with them. It was never awkward, and never strange. They both just seemed to like the serenity of the moment.
"Oh, Clark, no, I'll pick up the tab," offered Lois, knowing full well what her gentleman friend would do. Clark smiled kindly.
"Maybe next time, Lois. Besides, you can leave the tip," he said with a chuckle and a wink. Lois smiled with that conniving look on her face, following Clark out the door. That waitress was getting squat.
It's not much, but I hate rushing stories. They're the best when the plots are filled with little scenes in between. Please review
