I don't own Superman.
Clark had never hated anything or anyone more than he hated whoever was calling him at this time of night. He had spent the last few hours at the fortress using his personal gym, and he was so exhausted afterward it was a struggle to fly back to his apartment. He's never tried working out before because it would be simply impossible as there was nowhere secluded enough where he could push his limits, and even if there was he seemed to get stronger with age which removed one of the key reasons to work out. But when he realised that the fortress could simulate the effects of a red sun and temporarily remove his powers, he decided to leap at the chance. Not to gain muscles or anything like that, just to enjoy the feeling of struggling to lift weights and pushing himself beyond his limits in a situation where the world wasn't in danger. He's been doing it for a few months now and he's really enjoying it as it helps him relax.
Of course that meant when he was done he simply just wanted to get some sleep before the planet was invaded again, yet for some reason somebody was calling him at nearly midnight on a Saturday night. He didn't know anyone who stayed up this late except for Bruce, who Clark still insisted had the power of never needing to sleep despite his claims of being a normal person. With a groan he pushed himself up and reached for his phone, unplugging it from the charger and looking at the name showing on the screen.
Of course it was her.
"What do you need Lois?" he grumbled while rolling over onto his back.
"Hey Smallville. How you doing?" Lois asked in her best Joey voice, before bursting out into a fit of giggles.
"So, I guess you really decided to celebrate?" he asked her with a small smile, his anger fading somewhat as he had to admit she did an amazing job in her story about Luthor. While he still wanted to sleep he couldn't blame her for going out for a drink and now calling him, presumably to get him to admit how great she was.
"Yes, yes I did." Lois responded proudly while Clark heard the sound of people laughing in the background which told him she was at a club or at least outside one.
"So what do you want me to say? Do you want to say how great and clever you are or how much I wish I was like you?" he asked with a small smile, getting off his bed and making his way to the kitchen. Might as well make himself a drink since he was up, though now that he was thinking about it he also wanted something to eat. This is why he hated being woken up as it took ages for him to fall back asleep, but he did his best to keep the annoyance out of his tone.
"No, I don't want that." Lois told him after pausing for a moment.
"You want me to say both? Come on Lois, you got to let a man keep some of his pride." he respond with a chuckle as he reached his kitchen, picking up a glass he had left out to dry but pausing when he realised Lois was taking too long to give back a cutting retort. Sure she was a little drunk but past experience suggested she became more witty when she's had a little to drink. He could hear her breathing into the phone and it was only then, as he placed the glass down and started to focus, that he noticed from her breathing that she sounded upset.
"Lois? Are you ok?"
No response.
"Do you need me to come and pick you up?"
Everything became even more silent as Lois' breathing slowed, and for a second Clark worried she was going to hang up on him. While he could find her since he knew what sort of clubs she would be most likely to go to, he didn't want to freak he rout by showing up without her permission. But thankfully she let out a breath she had been holding and spoke in a hesitant voice, which now clearly showed how upset she was.
"Yes please."
Forty minutes later Clark was looking around wildly for his partner, ignoring the people leaving and trying to get into the club. He had considered flying here but he was still exhausted so he took his car which he rarely used in the city since it was often easier to walk or get the train. However he began hating himself for not flying as he struggled to find Lois and the superhero began to fear she had left by herself when he saw her, sitting on a bench outside the club and visibly shivering despite her coat. Clark let out a sigh of a relief before approaching Lois, who didn't look up until he sat down next to her.
"Hey Smallville. Sorry you had to come down here." she whispered after she saw that it was him, smiling a little which did nothing to hide the fact that she had clearly been crying not that long ago.
Clark wanted to ask her what had happened, if she was hurt and if there was anything he could do. But in the three years that they've worked together he has learned a few important things about Lois Lane, from how particular she is about her desk to how she hates butterflies which are two things which prove she is crazy. Most important of all Clark has learned to notice how she actually felt from her body language, so he knew from one look that she doesn't want to talk about whatever upset her and even if she did it would definitely not be here. That was why he gently helped her up and guided her towards her car, being careful but not enough to make her think he thought she was fragile which she would just get angry about. Though as he got into his car and glanced at her face, he couldn't help but wonder if anger might be the cure to what troubles her. She's had her best breakthroughs when she was angry and trying to prove someone wrong simply so she could tactfully rub it in their faces.
They drove in silence though Clark got the sense that Lois wanted to say something, but he didn't push anything even when she didn't criticise his driving. One of the main reasons he rarely drives anywhere anymore is because if they had to Lois insisted on driving, as she seemed to believe that he was a terrible driver. He disagreed strongly with that idea as he saw himself as being a a normal driver, while everyone else in Metropolis drove like crazy people. There was a lot of things great about this city, but the drivers were not one of those things.
Eventually the reached her apartment building and not long after that they had reached her door, and Clark watched as Lois fiddled with the keys to the door. As time dragged on he was tempted to ask if she needed help but knowing how she would react he kept quiet, and after a few minutes Lois had the door open.
"So, thanks for driving me home Smallville." Lois mumbled to him before going inside and shutting the door behind her. Clark stared at the door for a few seconds and then squinted, allowing him to watch Lois stand at the door before she span around and opened it. Sticking her head out to see Clark was still there waiting for her, she gestured for him to come in which he obliged. She shut the door behind him and it was even more clear to Clark that she wanted to tell him something but was too nervous to do it so they just stood there awkwardly for a few moments.
Clark wondered if it was strange that in the three years he's known Lois, becoming partners and each others closest friend, this is only the fourth time he's been to her apartment. She's been to his apartment many times and has often invited herself in, but whenever they decided to talk about a story over dinner or occasionally hang out as friends it was always at his place. She never pushed them to do everything at his place or anything, or at least it never felt like she was, but there have only been very rare occasions when he's been to her home.
"I'm going to get myself a glass of water. Want anything?" she asked him as she went towards her kitchen, taking off her coat and dropping it to the ground. Clark could see she was gently shaking from side to side as she walked, but it didn't look like she would fall over so he relaxed.
"I'm good thanks." he told her as he picked up her coat and looked for a place to hang it, and upon seeing there wasn't one he folded it neatly onto a small chest of drawers. Next to it were some pictures with one catching his eye, it being of a man and a woman while two girls stood between them, the oldest being a sharp contrast with the rest of her smiling family. Clark smiled at the sight of a nine year old Lois glaring at whoever was staking the picture, as even to this day she hated having her photo taken. Looking away from the pictures he made his way to Lois' living room and sat on her sofa, waiting for her to come in which she did after a few seconds. She sat down next to him but didn't drink the water in her hand or say anything. And Clark just sat there, not looking at her expectantly or sag by anything so that she can open up on her own which she finally did.
"Have you ever gone on a date with someone when you've known there was no future and it was going to end badly?"
Clark thought about it for a moment as he thought back to all his last crushes and relationships, before nodding as one came to mind which was the easiest for him to talk about as it involved the least amount of heartbreak. "Yeah, I have."
"Really? I was just asking, you don't seem the sort to do something like that." Lois said with a surprised expression, though he could see that she was interested in learning about this new side to Clark. "How did it happened?"
"It was when I was travelling for a year. I had just finished college and decided I wanted to see the world before officially growing up and getting a job in the city." he explained while being careful not to accidentally mention anything Superman related such as how if he needed to he flew to a country and used super speed when doing delivery jobs. He was still very tired and it was only his concern for Lois that was keeping him awake at this point. "I was in Australia when I met Lori."
"Wait a minute, you went travelling? You, the guy who drives so slow my dead grandmother could beat you simply by walking, decided to travel the world?" Lois asked him with a raised eyebrow, genuine interest and amusement in her eyes for the first time since he came to get her. "I've seen you iron your socks!"
"And you should too, but it's not the time to talk about how you can't iron anything right. Do you want to hear the story or not?" he asked her and she nodded. "Anyway me and Lori met at a beach, and the connection was instant. She was smart, funny, suffered from that unfortunate disease that made her think dorks like me were cool."
"Poor girl, that's always a tragedy. And you're accent probably made it even harder for her to resist you."
"What makes you say that?"
"In case you haven't noticed Clark, your country boy way of speaking is actually very charming. I swear if Superman spoke like you women would be jumping him every second they had the chance."
"Anyway when she asked me out I didn't even know it was a date until she kissed me, and while I knew that nothing good would come out of it I asked her out afterwards. I ended up staying there for a few months longer than I planned and we got closer than we should have. I never planned to have any relationships and I knew Lori and me weren't ever going to last, but I was happy with her and felt so relaxed. Thankfully she knew then truth as well and was the only one brave enough to talk about it, sparing both of us from even more pain."
While Clark was glad he wasn't lying about Lori, he was leaving out the fact she was a mermaid sorceress from Atlantis and he was an immigrant from another planet which was pretty much the biggest reason why their relationship wouldn't have worked out. Along with the fact that at the time Ocean Master had been king and was working out plans to invade the surface, she had been in serious danger of being executed if anyone found out about him.
"Did you ever see her again?" Lois asked him.
"Once, not that long ago. She was on holiday here in Metropolis and we bumped into each other by chance, and we got to talking. She doing well for herself and even got married."
In reality Clark teamed up with Atlantis' exiled prince Orin, who went by the name Arthur Curry, to stop his insane brother from raging war on the surface. Orin became king, Clark ran into Lori who was part of the resistance against Ocean Master and Lois wrote a story on how Superman and new hero Aquaman saved the world. But she had married that ex she told him about when they were together, another merman named Ronal who Clark could admit was actually a pretty cool guy and they got along pretty well, and Clark had been happy to see that things had worked out well for her.
"That's lucky. All the places in the world and she visits the one city where you work." Lois replied as she placed her cup on the coffee table in front of them, before leaning against Clark gently. "Ok, you can ask me now."
"What happened Lois?" he asked her as he put an arm around her.
"Will asked me out again and I was just so happy with my story that I said yes. I mean he wasn't like Steve and he was charming, I figured I earned the chance to relax for one night and enjoy myself. I know what people say about him, we've all heard the stories, and I knew it would be a mistake but at the same time it didn't feel right to just assume he couldn't change." Lois told him him slowly, while Clark clenched his jaw as his mind raced with the possibilities of what happened tonight. "He's actually worse than Steve. At least that idiot is completely honest about his stupid politics and beliefs, and every tenth word is something only an asshole would say."
"What did he do Lois?"
"I thought he was just being interested in my work. I thought he was impressed, but then I realised he was just trying to find out if I was working on anything interesting. Kept getting me drinks so that I might slip up and tell him something he could write about." Lois explained while her breathing starting to become more erratic, and Clark could actually feel her force herself not to cry. "When I figured it out he just using me I told him off, but then he told the bartender I was paying and left with some women while rubbing it in my face. I know I shouldn't let it bother me but he was my first date in awhile and it hurt. It hurt that the only guy whose shown me any interest for months was such an asshole, and you know I'm not the sort of person to place my value on how some guy treats me. But so far the only people who have ever shown me interest are people who want something from me or won't be around long enough for anything to get serious."
"Is that what the rest of my life is going to be like Clark?" Lois asked as she moved back a little to look straight at him. "Am I just going to work at the Planet and be alone for the rest of my life?"
"No you won't." he reassured her but she only shook her be as while still resisting the desire to cry.
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm always going to be there with you. We're partners and if you're going to end up an old maid then so will I." he told her firmly with a straight face, and she only looked at him in silence for a few moments. Slowly a smile formed on her face before she started to giggle and Clark joined in, the two soon laughing together until eventually it calmed down to them just smiling at each other.
"Thanks for coming to get me Smallville. You're a good friend." Lois told him before giving him her trademark gentle punch in the arm to show how grateful she was.
"You're welcome Lois. And don't worry about the whole dating thing, I'm sure the right person is just around the corner."
"Don't suppose you know where to look?"
"Sadly no, if I was my own search for love would be over, but if you ask Cat she would say he flies above is wearing a cape." Clark told her with a small smirk while Lois glared at him half heartedly. He loved bringing that up because he knew how much it annoyed her, and it was easier and more likely for her to make fun of him so he liked to use whatever he could.
"When I find out who started that rumour I'm going to make them beg for death. I'm a professional, I don't fall for the first celebrity I see. If I can resist the Prince of Gotham I can resist the Man of Steel." Lois told Clark, who privately huffed in annoyance at the comparison before speaking. Honestly it's bad enough he's rich enough to buy half the country, why does everyone woman treat him like he's the pinnacle of how handsome someone can be?
"Why don't you like him? From what I've heard pretty much everyone loves Superman. Steve once said half his dates fall apart because he's always being compared to Superman."
"Steve's dates fail because he's an asshole, that's already been established. And Superman is great, nobody except Luthor would say otherwise, but I could never be with someone like him. He flies around wearing red underwear on the outside of his costume! I like someone who's bold and confident but that's a little too much for me. Honestly now that I think about it, we probably shouldn't put our faith in him." Lois said with a small chuckle as she leaned back into Clark. "Seriously Clark, thanks for being here. You're the best partner I could ever have gotten, even if you can't drive properly."
"Don't mention it Lois."
Please let me know what you think and if tell me if there are any spelling mistakes or sentences that don't make sense. Also tell me if you think I did a decent job at keeping Lois and Clark in character especially in regards to how their relationship is normally shown. Anyway the idea of Lois not being in love with Superman or in some sort of romantic relationship is because I like to think she's too much of a professional to fall for him even if he is saving her all the time, especially since I prefer the versions where she falls for Clark.