Fic: One Night at Riverside Drive (Superman Returns)
Title: One Night at Riverside Drive
Author: Saavikam
Fandom: Superman Returns
Pairing: Clark/Lois
Rating: R for language and violence
Word Count: 4842
Summary: One evening during dinner, an unexpected guest arrives at the Lane/Kent household, resulting in terrifying events for Lois, Clark, and Jason.
Author's Note: This story takes place about 5 months after the events of 'One Night at the Planet'. Reading the other story is not necessary to follow this one. This story was written for smallfandomfest.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything. I own nothing, and am making no money from this. Darnit.
One Night at Riverside Drive
Lois wasn't quite sure how it happened, how she came to be sitting in the back of an ambulance with the man that had nearly killed her ex-fiancé. But here she was, laying on a gurney with an oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose, an IV running into a vein in her right arm, and Clark Kent seated next to her, trying to soothe her with his warm, velvet voice as she swallowed around the pain in her throat where Richard had nearly choked her to death.
Clark swept her hair back from her face, tracing the line of her brow down her temple to her cheek. “I'm so sorry,” he whispered mournfully, a sob nearly escaping him.
Reaching up with her free hand, she laid her palm on his chest, feeling his heat through the flannel shirt, and nodded weakly. She was so tired. All she wanted was to sleep and forget the last hour, muddled as it was in her memory. Maybe the lack of oxygen had done damage to her, she realized in a slightly panicked internal voice, just before the inside of the ambulance began to fade away.
As darkness closed around her, the sound of Clark's voice carried through like an echo, growing more distant. “Lois! No! Stay awake!” she heard him say from very far away as her eyes fell shut.
* * * * *
Asleep, she began to dream, her mind sorting out the details of the attack. It was dinner time again. Six thirty or so. She'd just barely gotten the chicken to the table when her cell phone rang from the counter. Seeing Clark's number on the call ID, she'd immediately answered, expecting to find out if he'd be back soon, hopefully before dinner got cold. After all, he'd spent the entire day out at his mother's farm helping birth a new calf. She could only imagine how messy and grueling it must have been at this point, and hoped Clark would be more than ready to get back for a nice, quiet meal with his family.
“Hey, hon! How did it go?” she answered the call.
Clark's voice was tired, but cheerful, “It was touch and go for a while, but Bessie is now a proud mama of a little black and white calf.”
“That's terrific!”
“Yeah, you should see Ma! She's already narrowing down the names for the little guy.”
Lois chuckled, “You just wait until my delivery!” She laid a hand on her barely swollen abdomen and smiled fondly. “She'll be the proudest grandma in the world, I think!”
“No doubt!” Clark's voice seemed to smile back through the phone. “Anyway, I shouldn't be much more than another half hour. Just have to finish cleaning up here, and I want to make a quick circle around the world before heading home.”
“Well, you'll have to heat up your dinner when you get in,” she teased back, “but alright. Just don't keep us waiting too long! You know we're reading the last chapter of Deathly Hallows with Jason tonight.”
“How could I forget? See you soon. Love you,” he finished.
“Love you, too, Clark,” she said before pressing the 'end' button on the phone.
Coming back to the table, she caught Jason's expectant look. “No more than a half hour, kiddo,” she promised.
Nodding, the small six year old mumbled around a mouthful of chicken, “Okay.”
But just as soon as Lois dug into her own meal, ravenous after her usual long day at work, the doorbell rang.
Her head snapped up from the bite of chicken she had poised just inches from her mouth on the end of her fork. With an irritated moan, she dropped the fork and rose from her chair. Who the hell comes by after five o'clock? she mentally cursed. Rounding the corner from the kitchen, she went up the short hallway and peered through the curtained window next to the door, immediately recognizing the man on the other side.
Richard? What the hell is he doing here? Her mind began to swim with questions, as she hadn't seen her ex since March, when he took off for London and never looked back.
Opening the door slowly, she gave him a tight smile, taking in his haggard appearance, hands shoved down into his pockets, light stubble, clothes and hair slightly rumpled. “Richard,” she greeted him flatly. “It's been a long time.”
“Hey Lois,” he said, sounding tired and dejected. “I know this is out out of the blue, and I probably should have called, but I'm only in town for a day, and I really wanted to see Jason before I head out.”
“Uh... now isn't the best time, Richard. You really should have called first,” she said calmly, feeling a little more anxious about his sudden appearance. Something in the way he was acting just didn't seem right. He was... tense, flighty. She couldn't quite pinpoint it.
“Please,” he said, his tone edging toward demanding as his eyes fell to her belly and the hand she'd laid instinctively over it - the hand wearing her wedding ring.
A slightly sick feeling settled into the pit of her stomach as his eyes lingered a little too long. He hadn't been around since before she and Clark had finally gotten together, he probably had no idea that they were already expecting a second child.
But his posture softened and a small frown moved over his face. “Sorry... I... didn't realize that you...”
His change in demeanor was an instant relief to her, reminding her more of the Richard she'd been been engaged to for all those years. “Oh, it's okay. I guess this must be a bit of a surprise for you.” Feeling like a fool for getting defensive, she moved back from the door. “Why don't you come on in. I'm sure Jason would love to see you.”
“Thanks, Lois,” he said quietly, stepping inside.
Once the pair were back in the kitchen, Jason hopped out of his chair at the table and rushed to Richard. “Dad!” he cried out happily, throwing his arms around his first father as he was scooped up in a tight hug. “I missed you!”
Richard hugged the little boy, already so much changed, with his hair cut short and beginning to darken. “Hey, squirt! I missed you, too.” He set Jason down and grasped him by the shoulders. “Let me get a look at you, huh?” He looked at the little boy with narrowed eyes, teasing him with his over-dramatic scrutiny. “Did you get taller?”
Jason giggled, “Daaaaaddd... Of course I got taller! I'm six now! And I got my hair cut a few weeks ago.”
“I see that!” Richard smiled. Releasing his son, he patted him on the head. “Go on and finish your dinner, okay kiddo? And we can sit and talk when you're done.
“Okay,” the little boy relented, sitting back at the table to finish his chicken, rice, and vegetables.
Rising from the floor, Richard turned back to Lois, finding her sitting in her own chair, her hand still over her belly. “Can we talk, Lois?” His eyes flitted back to Jason for a moment, indicating his intention to discuss the little boy.
Lois looked longingly at her dinner, getting cold on her plate, then up at Richard, irritated at best. “Sure,” she smiled sweetly.
A moment later the pair were outside on the patio, the late evening sun casting long shadows against the back of the house. Lois sat - Dr. Hamilton's orders had been clear, and she followed them every chance she got - in one of the patio chairs beneath the awning, Richard across the small table from her.
“So what's going on, Richard?” she started, seeing his clouded expression. It was at least the fifth different face that he'd shown her since she'd opened that door, and her stomach was twisting.
He looked out over the river at the city across the water, and began slowly, hardly glancing back at her. “Lois, I know it's been a long time. I know I haven't been here...” He clenched his jaw and the muscle in his cheek jumped. Turning back to finally look her square in the eye, he continued, “I want Jason back in my life. Living in London... without him... without you, has been the worst experience of my life. I never should have left.”
Lois felt a minor adrenaline surge accompany a sudden jolt of anxiety up her spine, and she hugged her arms around herself tightly, chilled despite the late summer warmth. “I think it's a little late for that, don't you?”
Richard shook his head. “I just... just want to see Jason. I've been talking to Perry about coming back to the Planet, and...” The muscle in his cheek jumped again as he chewed on his next sentence. “Since I'm moving back to Metropolis, I want partial custody.”
“What!?” Lois breathed, her heart constricting at his suggestion. “I don't think so! You had your chance, Richard, and you blew it by leaving. You left us and never looked back.”
“Dammit, Lois!” he slammed his hand down on the table with a loud thud, and she jumped involuntarily. “He's my son!”
“Not anymore,” she shook her head, her voice starting to tremble as she looked at him more closely. For the first time, she really saw his eyes, saw how bloodshot they were. She saw the lines on his face that had become wrinkles, the weariness that dragged his features down. She watched as he absentmindedly scratched at his neck and the side of his face. “What the hell happened to you?” she said without thinking.
Standing quickly, he jerked himself out from between the table and chair. “You want to know what happened to me? Fine, I'll tell you what happened to me!” he said coldly. “I had my future wife taken away from me! My son taken away from me. All because of goddamn Superman. He ruined our family, and I want it back!”
“No, Richard. You ruined our family!” she countered defensively. “You grew so paranoid that you tried to tear me away from my job, away from my friends, from my home! You would have taken Jason away from everything he's ever known, just so you could satisfy your unfounded jealousy, just so you could keep me away from someone that wasn't even around. You did this. Not me. Not Superman.”
Moving close, he leaned down toward her slightly. “I want my son back, dammit!” he spat.
Lois pushed back in her chair to retreat from him, for the first time in years feeling true fear. What the hell was Richard trying to do? Finally able to stand, she moved across the balcony quickly, shaking her head. “I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you walk in here and try to take my son from me,” she said icily. “You'd have to go over my dead body, and Clark's, too, to get to him.”
Richard stopped his advance short. “Clark? What the hell has Clark got to do with anything?”
“Guess Perry didn't tell you everything, then, did he? Clark is Jason's father, Richard. And we're married now,” she finished, her voice shaking again.
His eyes narrowed and suddenly menacing, Richard started forward again. “So after I left, you got it on with your dork partner? Or was that going on long before I left?” he accused her. “He came back and you picked up where you left off? Is that it? Christ! I guess I was right to be paranoid! I just had the wrong man.”
By then he was inches from her, backing her toward the corner column supporting the awning. Her back hit the column with a jolt, and she let out a gasp. “Richard, it wasn't like that at all!” she protested. “What is wrong with you!?”
“What the fuck do you think is wrong with me!?” he shouted, grabbing her shoulders tightly. “I come back here to find out you shacked up with some dweeb from the office the second I left town! And you're telling me that my son is really his kid, and not Superman's, like the whole goddamn world thought he was! Shit!” he laughed insanely. “I bet blue boy broke down and cried when you told him that one!”
Lois's hands pushed back on his chest hard as she tried to squirm out of his grip. “Let go, Richard!” she cried, sudden tears streaming down her face.
“No! Not until I get my son back!” He slammed her back into the column, hard, and Lois felt something crack, possibly a rib. She let out a pained cry. “Tell me!” he shouted again. “Promise me I can have Jason.”
“No!”
“Then I'll take him from you. It shouldn't be too much trouble to get a lawyer to--”
But he was cut off as Lois's knee contacted with his crotch, knocking the wind out of him. “I told you to let me go!” she breathed, still struggling to get free of his grip. “You're not getting Jason. Not now, not ever!”
Straightening himself, his eyes flashed in rage, and his hands moved from her shoulders to her neck, squeezing tightly. “Damn you!!” he seethed between clenched teeth, still squeezing. “He's my son, dammit,” he sobbed as Lois began to choke, straining for air.
“Cla--” was all she managed to get out before Richard's grip closed off her windpipe. She felt her throat being crushed, and the unmistakable feeling of oxygen deprivation dizzied her. Her struggles weakened beneath him.
* * * * *
In the back of the ambulance, Clark began to panic as Lois's eyes rolled back and fluttered closed. “No... nonono! Lois! Please wake up! Lois!!! No!!! Stay awake!!!”
But her hand fell limply at her side as her head rolled slightly. Adrenaline rushing madly through him, he found himself paralyzed, unable to do anything as the two paramedics moved around her, checking her vitals again. He forced himself to look at the monitor displaying her heart rate and blood pressure, unable to focus to scan her himself, tears beginning to flood his eyes.
Oh, God, why did Richard do this to her!? It made no sense... And what had he done, himself? The memory flooded his mind's eye as he tried to keep himself together, to believe that Lois would be okay, that their baby would be okay.
* * * * *
Making his pass over central Asia, Clark had picked up the first sounds that signaled something was wrong. Shouting. Lois was shouting, and... He heard Richard's voice as well, cold and hard. What the hell was Richard doing back in Metropolis?
His heart began to thunder in his chest as he spun in the air to head home at top speed. Everything sounded wrong. Their argument was intense. Richard demanded at least partial custody of Jason - why now, Clark had no clue; the man had been completely absent for nearly six months. He had no right to come in and make such a selfish demand.
Lois was holding her own, though, defending her family with sharp-witted barbs and fire.
Clark tried to fly faster, his stomach in knots.
He heard something crack. More angry shouting. Richard seemed to be losing it! And then... Lois told him to let her go... What the hell is happening!? More shouting...
A half choked cry.
“Lois!!!” he shouted to the air as he crossed the northern Atlantic, his voice lost to the wind and sky.
Finally, he could see what was happening. Richard had her pinned against a pillar on the balcony, his hands around her throat. Lois was struggling against him, her movements weakening rapidly, her face turning purple.
“Noooooooooo!!!” he screamed as he descended, every bit of rage and terror he'd ever felt in his life bubbling to the surface and taking over. He wouldn't let Lois be hurt, not now, not ever, and sure as hell not like this. Losing control, he swept down to the balcony next to the river, his hands outstretched to tear Richard away from her.
* * * * *
Her vision blurring as the energy leeched out of her, and her fight weakening against her ex-fiancé, Lois choked for air. Oh, God, not like this, she thought as the world began to darken around her. Please...
Movement streaked toward her in the corner of her dimming vision, blue and red and yellow. Help...
An enraged scream cut through to reach her, and suddenly Richard was gone, the hands around her throat were gone.
* * * * *
Clark's hands closed over Richard's shoulders in a millisecond, squeezing hard, and he pulled, yanking the other man away from his wife. But that wasn't enough. No longer thinking clearly, his body acting on pure instinct and fury, he threw Richard against the concrete brick patio, hard.
The other man crashed into the ground with the force of a bus going sixty miles an hour, and the brick beneath him cracked and splintered with the impact.
But Clark's mind and body were still out of sync. All he could see was Lois, slumping forward as she slid to the ground, proper color beginning to return to her face at once. She cried out in pain, and Clark was by her side at once, lifting her up onto his lap. “Lois,” he began to weep as she looked up at him. “Lois... Oh, God!”
Cradled in his arms, Lois gasped for breath around her crushed windpipe, seeing Clark for the first time. “Cla--” she wheezed, her eyes wide and searching.
“Shh... it's okay now. You're okay,” he sobbed, stroking her hair back from her face. Finally calming somewhat, he brought his attention back up when a small hand laid on his shoulder.
“Daddy?” Jason said from behind him.
Clark looked up to face his son, his mouth agape as the reality of what had happened began to sink in. “Jason!” he breathed. “How did this happen?” he asked, his eyes narrowed.
Jason's face was filled with utter horror as tears streaked down his little face. “Dad came, and they went outside to talk, and there was shouting, and... I was coming outside to see, cuz' I didn't want them to argue... and Dad was choking Mommy... and I was gonna try to stop him, but I wasn't fast enough... and then you were here... and--” he broke off, beginning to sob.
Clark drew Jason up with one arm. “Hey... Hey, it's alright now. It's over.” His own tears began to spill onto Jason's hair.
Lois whispered up from Clark's lap, one hand over her belly again. “Clark... the baby...”
Fear once again broadsiding him, Clark nodded down at her, then looked back up at Jason, his gaze flitting over to where Richard lay sprawled on the concrete patio, unconscious. “Jason, Call 911. I... I need to change...” He didn't trust himself to fly anyone anywhere in his current state... not with what he'd just done, with adrenaline still coursing through his veins, feeding his panic.
The little boy looked up at his father with wide eyes. “I already did, when they were fighting.”
Clark let out a choking sob at that, his heart breaking. “Good boy.”
* * * * *
By the time the ambulance and the police arrived, Clark was dressed in his flannel and jeans, and had at least determined that Richard wasn't dead. His mind swimming with the implications of what he'd done, he held onto Lois, unwilling to let her go until the paramedics were ready to load her into the ambulance. The second ambulance arrived to take care of Richard as he and Jason climbed aboard the rig behind the paramedics after Lois's gurney was lifted in.
“Mister Kent,” one of the paramedics had tried to stop him, “there isn't enough room for both you and your son.”
Eying the young man angrily, he seethed, “I don't care. We're both coming.”
Begrudgingly, the paramedic had relented, allowing Clark to pull Jason up next to him beside Lois as they began the ride to the closest hospital.
* * * * *
Three hours later, Clark and Jason sat by Lois's bedside, the little boy curled up in his father's arms, both of them staring at her as she slept. An IV line snaked out from underneath the covers where it was attached to her arm, and a nasal cannula draped over her face to provide extra oxygen. A small monitor lay beneath the blanket, strapped around her belly.
The doctors had been hopeful that everything would be alright with her, that she hadn't been deprived of oxygen for too long... but the baby... they hadn't been as certain about the four month old fetus holding on within her. Its heartbeat was still weak, and though Clark had managed to pull himself together enough to listen closely to the pair of pulses within Lois's body, he knew there was nothing they could do but wait.
And waiting gave him time to think, which agonized him. He still didn't know why Richard had chosen now to return to Metropolis, to try to get custody of Jason. He had no insight into the other man's motives at all, except in regards to the way he had left. Richard's paranoia over Lois's possible involvement with Superman had grown in such a sickening manner in the seven months after Clark's alter ego's return that it had torn their relationship apart. When Lois refused to accompany him to London, he'd simply left.
That had torn Lois apart.
And it had been Clark that picked up the pieces and helped to put her back together.
His thoughts swirling, he remembered the night they'd finally come together, that beautiful night in the office. Just the two of them, alone and working on stories until they were both completely exhausted. The corner of his mouth pulled up just barely as the memory of their lovemaking that night flooded him. Once he had given himself over to it, it had been one of the most beautiful moments of his life, even - no - especially when she discovered his other identity.
But thoughts of the present brought him back to reality. In another ward of the hospital, Richard was hooked up to a ventilator, barely holding on. More tears swelled in Clark's eyes. He never would have hurt Richard, never meant to cause that much damage... but seeing Lois like that, choking beneath the other man's grip... Clark had completely lost it. Every bit of control he'd ever cultivated had evaporated in an instant. He'd had to protect her, had to protect his unborn child, and that had overridden everything.
Small arms tightened around his chest as he watched Lois sleep. “Mommy will be okay, Daddy. The doctor said so,” Jason's little voice tried to assure him, so mature and confident that Clark's heart broke for him all over again. How had they been blessed with such a wonderful boy?
“I know,” he whispered, then took a deep breath. “I know.”
* * * * *
A few minutes later a knock sounded on the heavy hospital door, and it swung open slowly. Clark and Jason both raised their heads to see Perry coming through the doorway. “I came as soon as I heard,” the older man said, his voice low and quiet.
Clark merely nodded, pushing his glasses into place with his free hand as he regarded the editor.
Perry came forward and sat in the other empty chair, near the end of the bed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped. “How is she?”
“She'll be fine,” Clark said mechanically.
“And the baby?”
He shook his head, “Don't know yet.”
“Damn,” Perry rumbled softly. After a moment he said, “The doctor said Richard probably won't ever walk again. His spine was broken in five places.”
At Clark's sudden guilty look, the older man went on. “It's not your fault, son. I spoke with the police, they said it's a clear cut case of self defense, though the lead officer thinks you might be covering for a certain hero in tights and a cape, considering the damage and the fact that is was Lois Lane that Richard was attacking,” he finished, smirking. “Either way, you don't have anything to worry about.”
Clark felt his insides turn to butter. By all rights, he was guilty of nearly killing Richard, self defense or not. And how could he ever forgive himself for breaking the man's back? He knew Richard wouldn't ever forgive him. And Lois and Jason... Oh, God... His guts and his heart twisted in agony.
“There's something else,” Perry finally added.
Clark's eyebrows raised as he looked at the older man.
The editor looked at Jason for a moment, then gestured for Clark to follow him out into the hallway, rising from his seat.
Once the two men were out of immediate earshot of the little boy, Perry started, “They found drugs in his system.”
“What!?”
The editor nodded gravely, and Clark could see his own heavy sense of guilt at seeing what had become of his nephew over the last few months. “They found traces of heroine and cocaine. I called his editor in London; he said he had no clue. Anyway, the doctor said it looked like he'd been doing both for at least a few months.” He paused, then continued, “The officer said Jason heard them arguing, said Richard was ranting about coming back to Metropolis.” He shook his head, “But I hadn't spoken with him in weeks. He must have been completely out of his mind, deluded from the drugs.”
Leaning hard against the wall, Clark shook his head and rubbed his face. “But... how could this have happened? Why would he have done that? I mean... he...” He blinked hard a few times as he tried to figure it all out. It certainly explained why the other man was raving at Lois, why he had tried to choke her, but... how could Richard have descended into drug use like that? It was so uncharacteristic, despite his previous paranoia.
“I know it makes no sense, son,” Perry offered, laying a steady hand on his shoulder. “But it's over now, and we'll get everything sorted out eventually.”
“But...” His mind refused to accept that anything was over. And it was far from okay, as he'd promised Lois and Jason. Everything had gone so unbelievingly wrong.
As he wallowed in his own guilt a voice came over the hospital intercom. “Dr. Land, code blue, room one-fifteen. Dr. Land, code blue, room one-fifteen.”
The bottom dropped out of Clark's stomach and his eyes grew wide as he realized that was Richard's room. His gaze locked with Perry's in horror.
* * * * *
The first thing Lois realized as the fog began to lift from around her was that she was in a strange place. Unfamiliar beeping met her along with dim, oddly placed lights, intruding on what had been a restless sleep. Her eyes fluttering slowly open, she heard the rustle of a person moving beside her and a warm voice greeting her softly.
“Lois? Jason, go get Uncle Perry, she's waking up.”
She felt the mattress of the unfamiliar bed dip as Clark sat down beside her, taking her left hand in his, and she groaned involuntarily at the pains in her throat and her back. “Wha... what happened?” she finally managed as her vision cleared, her eyes taking in her very worried husband, looking completely worn down with his disheveled hair falling heavily over his thick-rimmed glasses.
His voice came as a velvety whisper. “Richard... he attacked you. I barely got there in time.”
Nodding as the memories of the evening came back to her finally, she searched his face, finding an unfamiliar expression there. “Wh - where is he?” She remembered the scream before Richard had been pulled away, flung to the concrete bricks of the patio, remembered seeing him lying there limply, remembered the flurry of activity as paramedics had begun to treat her, finally focusing on Richard's prone form as they confirmed Clark's declaration that he was alive, but in bad shape.
Clark turned his head, seeming to not want to look her in the eyes, and a thread of panic worked its way up her spine. “Clark? Tell me.”
When he looked back at her, his jaw was set and his eyes tired. He shook his head ruefully. “He, um... didn't...” But he couldn't finish the sentence, the pain evident in his eyes and in his broken voice.
Lois's other hand came up to cover her mouth as shock moved over her face. “Oh, no...” she whimpered.
His dark blue eyes were shadowed by grief and glistening with tears as he looked at her. “I'm sorry... I...” He swallowed hard and fought to keep his chin from trembling with his naked grief and guilt.
Squeezing his hand, she looked at him more seriously. “Clark,” she whispered, “What about the baby?”
His answer came as a sigh.
* * * * *
Author: Saavikam
Fandom: Superman Returns
Pairing: Clark/Lois
Rating: R for language and violence
Word Count: 4842
Summary: One evening during dinner, an unexpected guest arrives at the Lane/Kent household, resulting in terrifying events for Lois, Clark, and Jason.
Author's Note: This story takes place about 5 months after the events of 'One Night at the Planet'. Reading the other story is not necessary to follow this one. This story was written for smallfandomfest.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything. I own nothing, and am making no money from this. Darnit.
One Night at Riverside Drive
Lois wasn't quite sure how it happened, how she came to be sitting in the back of an ambulance with the man that had nearly killed her ex-fiancé. But here she was, laying on a gurney with an oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose, an IV running into a vein in her right arm, and Clark Kent seated next to her, trying to soothe her with his warm, velvet voice as she swallowed around the pain in her throat where Richard had nearly choked her to death.
Clark swept her hair back from her face, tracing the line of her brow down her temple to her cheek. “I'm so sorry,” he whispered mournfully, a sob nearly escaping him.
Reaching up with her free hand, she laid her palm on his chest, feeling his heat through the flannel shirt, and nodded weakly. She was so tired. All she wanted was to sleep and forget the last hour, muddled as it was in her memory. Maybe the lack of oxygen had done damage to her, she realized in a slightly panicked internal voice, just before the inside of the ambulance began to fade away.
As darkness closed around her, the sound of Clark's voice carried through like an echo, growing more distant. “Lois! No! Stay awake!” she heard him say from very far away as her eyes fell shut.
* * * * *
Asleep, she began to dream, her mind sorting out the details of the attack. It was dinner time again. Six thirty or so. She'd just barely gotten the chicken to the table when her cell phone rang from the counter. Seeing Clark's number on the call ID, she'd immediately answered, expecting to find out if he'd be back soon, hopefully before dinner got cold. After all, he'd spent the entire day out at his mother's farm helping birth a new calf. She could only imagine how messy and grueling it must have been at this point, and hoped Clark would be more than ready to get back for a nice, quiet meal with his family.
“Hey, hon! How did it go?” she answered the call.
Clark's voice was tired, but cheerful, “It was touch and go for a while, but Bessie is now a proud mama of a little black and white calf.”
“That's terrific!”
“Yeah, you should see Ma! She's already narrowing down the names for the little guy.”
Lois chuckled, “You just wait until my delivery!” She laid a hand on her barely swollen abdomen and smiled fondly. “She'll be the proudest grandma in the world, I think!”
“No doubt!” Clark's voice seemed to smile back through the phone. “Anyway, I shouldn't be much more than another half hour. Just have to finish cleaning up here, and I want to make a quick circle around the world before heading home.”
“Well, you'll have to heat up your dinner when you get in,” she teased back, “but alright. Just don't keep us waiting too long! You know we're reading the last chapter of Deathly Hallows with Jason tonight.”
“How could I forget? See you soon. Love you,” he finished.
“Love you, too, Clark,” she said before pressing the 'end' button on the phone.
Coming back to the table, she caught Jason's expectant look. “No more than a half hour, kiddo,” she promised.
Nodding, the small six year old mumbled around a mouthful of chicken, “Okay.”
But just as soon as Lois dug into her own meal, ravenous after her usual long day at work, the doorbell rang.
Her head snapped up from the bite of chicken she had poised just inches from her mouth on the end of her fork. With an irritated moan, she dropped the fork and rose from her chair. Who the hell comes by after five o'clock? she mentally cursed. Rounding the corner from the kitchen, she went up the short hallway and peered through the curtained window next to the door, immediately recognizing the man on the other side.
Richard? What the hell is he doing here? Her mind began to swim with questions, as she hadn't seen her ex since March, when he took off for London and never looked back.
Opening the door slowly, she gave him a tight smile, taking in his haggard appearance, hands shoved down into his pockets, light stubble, clothes and hair slightly rumpled. “Richard,” she greeted him flatly. “It's been a long time.”
“Hey Lois,” he said, sounding tired and dejected. “I know this is out out of the blue, and I probably should have called, but I'm only in town for a day, and I really wanted to see Jason before I head out.”
“Uh... now isn't the best time, Richard. You really should have called first,” she said calmly, feeling a little more anxious about his sudden appearance. Something in the way he was acting just didn't seem right. He was... tense, flighty. She couldn't quite pinpoint it.
“Please,” he said, his tone edging toward demanding as his eyes fell to her belly and the hand she'd laid instinctively over it - the hand wearing her wedding ring.
A slightly sick feeling settled into the pit of her stomach as his eyes lingered a little too long. He hadn't been around since before she and Clark had finally gotten together, he probably had no idea that they were already expecting a second child.
But his posture softened and a small frown moved over his face. “Sorry... I... didn't realize that you...”
His change in demeanor was an instant relief to her, reminding her more of the Richard she'd been been engaged to for all those years. “Oh, it's okay. I guess this must be a bit of a surprise for you.” Feeling like a fool for getting defensive, she moved back from the door. “Why don't you come on in. I'm sure Jason would love to see you.”
“Thanks, Lois,” he said quietly, stepping inside.
Once the pair were back in the kitchen, Jason hopped out of his chair at the table and rushed to Richard. “Dad!” he cried out happily, throwing his arms around his first father as he was scooped up in a tight hug. “I missed you!”
Richard hugged the little boy, already so much changed, with his hair cut short and beginning to darken. “Hey, squirt! I missed you, too.” He set Jason down and grasped him by the shoulders. “Let me get a look at you, huh?” He looked at the little boy with narrowed eyes, teasing him with his over-dramatic scrutiny. “Did you get taller?”
Jason giggled, “Daaaaaddd... Of course I got taller! I'm six now! And I got my hair cut a few weeks ago.”
“I see that!” Richard smiled. Releasing his son, he patted him on the head. “Go on and finish your dinner, okay kiddo? And we can sit and talk when you're done.
“Okay,” the little boy relented, sitting back at the table to finish his chicken, rice, and vegetables.
Rising from the floor, Richard turned back to Lois, finding her sitting in her own chair, her hand still over her belly. “Can we talk, Lois?” His eyes flitted back to Jason for a moment, indicating his intention to discuss the little boy.
Lois looked longingly at her dinner, getting cold on her plate, then up at Richard, irritated at best. “Sure,” she smiled sweetly.
A moment later the pair were outside on the patio, the late evening sun casting long shadows against the back of the house. Lois sat - Dr. Hamilton's orders had been clear, and she followed them every chance she got - in one of the patio chairs beneath the awning, Richard across the small table from her.
“So what's going on, Richard?” she started, seeing his clouded expression. It was at least the fifth different face that he'd shown her since she'd opened that door, and her stomach was twisting.
He looked out over the river at the city across the water, and began slowly, hardly glancing back at her. “Lois, I know it's been a long time. I know I haven't been here...” He clenched his jaw and the muscle in his cheek jumped. Turning back to finally look her square in the eye, he continued, “I want Jason back in my life. Living in London... without him... without you, has been the worst experience of my life. I never should have left.”
Lois felt a minor adrenaline surge accompany a sudden jolt of anxiety up her spine, and she hugged her arms around herself tightly, chilled despite the late summer warmth. “I think it's a little late for that, don't you?”
Richard shook his head. “I just... just want to see Jason. I've been talking to Perry about coming back to the Planet, and...” The muscle in his cheek jumped again as he chewed on his next sentence. “Since I'm moving back to Metropolis, I want partial custody.”
“What!?” Lois breathed, her heart constricting at his suggestion. “I don't think so! You had your chance, Richard, and you blew it by leaving. You left us and never looked back.”
“Dammit, Lois!” he slammed his hand down on the table with a loud thud, and she jumped involuntarily. “He's my son!”
“Not anymore,” she shook her head, her voice starting to tremble as she looked at him more closely. For the first time, she really saw his eyes, saw how bloodshot they were. She saw the lines on his face that had become wrinkles, the weariness that dragged his features down. She watched as he absentmindedly scratched at his neck and the side of his face. “What the hell happened to you?” she said without thinking.
Standing quickly, he jerked himself out from between the table and chair. “You want to know what happened to me? Fine, I'll tell you what happened to me!” he said coldly. “I had my future wife taken away from me! My son taken away from me. All because of goddamn Superman. He ruined our family, and I want it back!”
“No, Richard. You ruined our family!” she countered defensively. “You grew so paranoid that you tried to tear me away from my job, away from my friends, from my home! You would have taken Jason away from everything he's ever known, just so you could satisfy your unfounded jealousy, just so you could keep me away from someone that wasn't even around. You did this. Not me. Not Superman.”
Moving close, he leaned down toward her slightly. “I want my son back, dammit!” he spat.
Lois pushed back in her chair to retreat from him, for the first time in years feeling true fear. What the hell was Richard trying to do? Finally able to stand, she moved across the balcony quickly, shaking her head. “I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you walk in here and try to take my son from me,” she said icily. “You'd have to go over my dead body, and Clark's, too, to get to him.”
Richard stopped his advance short. “Clark? What the hell has Clark got to do with anything?”
“Guess Perry didn't tell you everything, then, did he? Clark is Jason's father, Richard. And we're married now,” she finished, her voice shaking again.
His eyes narrowed and suddenly menacing, Richard started forward again. “So after I left, you got it on with your dork partner? Or was that going on long before I left?” he accused her. “He came back and you picked up where you left off? Is that it? Christ! I guess I was right to be paranoid! I just had the wrong man.”
By then he was inches from her, backing her toward the corner column supporting the awning. Her back hit the column with a jolt, and she let out a gasp. “Richard, it wasn't like that at all!” she protested. “What is wrong with you!?”
“What the fuck do you think is wrong with me!?” he shouted, grabbing her shoulders tightly. “I come back here to find out you shacked up with some dweeb from the office the second I left town! And you're telling me that my son is really his kid, and not Superman's, like the whole goddamn world thought he was! Shit!” he laughed insanely. “I bet blue boy broke down and cried when you told him that one!”
Lois's hands pushed back on his chest hard as she tried to squirm out of his grip. “Let go, Richard!” she cried, sudden tears streaming down her face.
“No! Not until I get my son back!” He slammed her back into the column, hard, and Lois felt something crack, possibly a rib. She let out a pained cry. “Tell me!” he shouted again. “Promise me I can have Jason.”
“No!”
“Then I'll take him from you. It shouldn't be too much trouble to get a lawyer to--”
But he was cut off as Lois's knee contacted with his crotch, knocking the wind out of him. “I told you to let me go!” she breathed, still struggling to get free of his grip. “You're not getting Jason. Not now, not ever!”
Straightening himself, his eyes flashed in rage, and his hands moved from her shoulders to her neck, squeezing tightly. “Damn you!!” he seethed between clenched teeth, still squeezing. “He's my son, dammit,” he sobbed as Lois began to choke, straining for air.
“Cla--” was all she managed to get out before Richard's grip closed off her windpipe. She felt her throat being crushed, and the unmistakable feeling of oxygen deprivation dizzied her. Her struggles weakened beneath him.
* * * * *
In the back of the ambulance, Clark began to panic as Lois's eyes rolled back and fluttered closed. “No... nonono! Lois! Please wake up! Lois!!! No!!! Stay awake!!!”
But her hand fell limply at her side as her head rolled slightly. Adrenaline rushing madly through him, he found himself paralyzed, unable to do anything as the two paramedics moved around her, checking her vitals again. He forced himself to look at the monitor displaying her heart rate and blood pressure, unable to focus to scan her himself, tears beginning to flood his eyes.
Oh, God, why did Richard do this to her!? It made no sense... And what had he done, himself? The memory flooded his mind's eye as he tried to keep himself together, to believe that Lois would be okay, that their baby would be okay.
* * * * *
Making his pass over central Asia, Clark had picked up the first sounds that signaled something was wrong. Shouting. Lois was shouting, and... He heard Richard's voice as well, cold and hard. What the hell was Richard doing back in Metropolis?
His heart began to thunder in his chest as he spun in the air to head home at top speed. Everything sounded wrong. Their argument was intense. Richard demanded at least partial custody of Jason - why now, Clark had no clue; the man had been completely absent for nearly six months. He had no right to come in and make such a selfish demand.
Lois was holding her own, though, defending her family with sharp-witted barbs and fire.
Clark tried to fly faster, his stomach in knots.
He heard something crack. More angry shouting. Richard seemed to be losing it! And then... Lois told him to let her go... What the hell is happening!? More shouting...
A half choked cry.
“Lois!!!” he shouted to the air as he crossed the northern Atlantic, his voice lost to the wind and sky.
Finally, he could see what was happening. Richard had her pinned against a pillar on the balcony, his hands around her throat. Lois was struggling against him, her movements weakening rapidly, her face turning purple.
“Noooooooooo!!!” he screamed as he descended, every bit of rage and terror he'd ever felt in his life bubbling to the surface and taking over. He wouldn't let Lois be hurt, not now, not ever, and sure as hell not like this. Losing control, he swept down to the balcony next to the river, his hands outstretched to tear Richard away from her.
* * * * *
Her vision blurring as the energy leeched out of her, and her fight weakening against her ex-fiancé, Lois choked for air. Oh, God, not like this, she thought as the world began to darken around her. Please...
Movement streaked toward her in the corner of her dimming vision, blue and red and yellow. Help...
An enraged scream cut through to reach her, and suddenly Richard was gone, the hands around her throat were gone.
* * * * *
Clark's hands closed over Richard's shoulders in a millisecond, squeezing hard, and he pulled, yanking the other man away from his wife. But that wasn't enough. No longer thinking clearly, his body acting on pure instinct and fury, he threw Richard against the concrete brick patio, hard.
The other man crashed into the ground with the force of a bus going sixty miles an hour, and the brick beneath him cracked and splintered with the impact.
But Clark's mind and body were still out of sync. All he could see was Lois, slumping forward as she slid to the ground, proper color beginning to return to her face at once. She cried out in pain, and Clark was by her side at once, lifting her up onto his lap. “Lois,” he began to weep as she looked up at him. “Lois... Oh, God!”
Cradled in his arms, Lois gasped for breath around her crushed windpipe, seeing Clark for the first time. “Cla--” she wheezed, her eyes wide and searching.
“Shh... it's okay now. You're okay,” he sobbed, stroking her hair back from her face. Finally calming somewhat, he brought his attention back up when a small hand laid on his shoulder.
“Daddy?” Jason said from behind him.
Clark looked up to face his son, his mouth agape as the reality of what had happened began to sink in. “Jason!” he breathed. “How did this happen?” he asked, his eyes narrowed.
Jason's face was filled with utter horror as tears streaked down his little face. “Dad came, and they went outside to talk, and there was shouting, and... I was coming outside to see, cuz' I didn't want them to argue... and Dad was choking Mommy... and I was gonna try to stop him, but I wasn't fast enough... and then you were here... and--” he broke off, beginning to sob.
Clark drew Jason up with one arm. “Hey... Hey, it's alright now. It's over.” His own tears began to spill onto Jason's hair.
Lois whispered up from Clark's lap, one hand over her belly again. “Clark... the baby...”
Fear once again broadsiding him, Clark nodded down at her, then looked back up at Jason, his gaze flitting over to where Richard lay sprawled on the concrete patio, unconscious. “Jason, Call 911. I... I need to change...” He didn't trust himself to fly anyone anywhere in his current state... not with what he'd just done, with adrenaline still coursing through his veins, feeding his panic.
The little boy looked up at his father with wide eyes. “I already did, when they were fighting.”
Clark let out a choking sob at that, his heart breaking. “Good boy.”
* * * * *
By the time the ambulance and the police arrived, Clark was dressed in his flannel and jeans, and had at least determined that Richard wasn't dead. His mind swimming with the implications of what he'd done, he held onto Lois, unwilling to let her go until the paramedics were ready to load her into the ambulance. The second ambulance arrived to take care of Richard as he and Jason climbed aboard the rig behind the paramedics after Lois's gurney was lifted in.
“Mister Kent,” one of the paramedics had tried to stop him, “there isn't enough room for both you and your son.”
Eying the young man angrily, he seethed, “I don't care. We're both coming.”
Begrudgingly, the paramedic had relented, allowing Clark to pull Jason up next to him beside Lois as they began the ride to the closest hospital.
* * * * *
Three hours later, Clark and Jason sat by Lois's bedside, the little boy curled up in his father's arms, both of them staring at her as she slept. An IV line snaked out from underneath the covers where it was attached to her arm, and a nasal cannula draped over her face to provide extra oxygen. A small monitor lay beneath the blanket, strapped around her belly.
The doctors had been hopeful that everything would be alright with her, that she hadn't been deprived of oxygen for too long... but the baby... they hadn't been as certain about the four month old fetus holding on within her. Its heartbeat was still weak, and though Clark had managed to pull himself together enough to listen closely to the pair of pulses within Lois's body, he knew there was nothing they could do but wait.
And waiting gave him time to think, which agonized him. He still didn't know why Richard had chosen now to return to Metropolis, to try to get custody of Jason. He had no insight into the other man's motives at all, except in regards to the way he had left. Richard's paranoia over Lois's possible involvement with Superman had grown in such a sickening manner in the seven months after Clark's alter ego's return that it had torn their relationship apart. When Lois refused to accompany him to London, he'd simply left.
That had torn Lois apart.
And it had been Clark that picked up the pieces and helped to put her back together.
His thoughts swirling, he remembered the night they'd finally come together, that beautiful night in the office. Just the two of them, alone and working on stories until they were both completely exhausted. The corner of his mouth pulled up just barely as the memory of their lovemaking that night flooded him. Once he had given himself over to it, it had been one of the most beautiful moments of his life, even - no - especially when she discovered his other identity.
But thoughts of the present brought him back to reality. In another ward of the hospital, Richard was hooked up to a ventilator, barely holding on. More tears swelled in Clark's eyes. He never would have hurt Richard, never meant to cause that much damage... but seeing Lois like that, choking beneath the other man's grip... Clark had completely lost it. Every bit of control he'd ever cultivated had evaporated in an instant. He'd had to protect her, had to protect his unborn child, and that had overridden everything.
Small arms tightened around his chest as he watched Lois sleep. “Mommy will be okay, Daddy. The doctor said so,” Jason's little voice tried to assure him, so mature and confident that Clark's heart broke for him all over again. How had they been blessed with such a wonderful boy?
“I know,” he whispered, then took a deep breath. “I know.”
* * * * *
A few minutes later a knock sounded on the heavy hospital door, and it swung open slowly. Clark and Jason both raised their heads to see Perry coming through the doorway. “I came as soon as I heard,” the older man said, his voice low and quiet.
Clark merely nodded, pushing his glasses into place with his free hand as he regarded the editor.
Perry came forward and sat in the other empty chair, near the end of the bed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped. “How is she?”
“She'll be fine,” Clark said mechanically.
“And the baby?”
He shook his head, “Don't know yet.”
“Damn,” Perry rumbled softly. After a moment he said, “The doctor said Richard probably won't ever walk again. His spine was broken in five places.”
At Clark's sudden guilty look, the older man went on. “It's not your fault, son. I spoke with the police, they said it's a clear cut case of self defense, though the lead officer thinks you might be covering for a certain hero in tights and a cape, considering the damage and the fact that is was Lois Lane that Richard was attacking,” he finished, smirking. “Either way, you don't have anything to worry about.”
Clark felt his insides turn to butter. By all rights, he was guilty of nearly killing Richard, self defense or not. And how could he ever forgive himself for breaking the man's back? He knew Richard wouldn't ever forgive him. And Lois and Jason... Oh, God... His guts and his heart twisted in agony.
“There's something else,” Perry finally added.
Clark's eyebrows raised as he looked at the older man.
The editor looked at Jason for a moment, then gestured for Clark to follow him out into the hallway, rising from his seat.
Once the two men were out of immediate earshot of the little boy, Perry started, “They found drugs in his system.”
“What!?”
The editor nodded gravely, and Clark could see his own heavy sense of guilt at seeing what had become of his nephew over the last few months. “They found traces of heroine and cocaine. I called his editor in London; he said he had no clue. Anyway, the doctor said it looked like he'd been doing both for at least a few months.” He paused, then continued, “The officer said Jason heard them arguing, said Richard was ranting about coming back to Metropolis.” He shook his head, “But I hadn't spoken with him in weeks. He must have been completely out of his mind, deluded from the drugs.”
Leaning hard against the wall, Clark shook his head and rubbed his face. “But... how could this have happened? Why would he have done that? I mean... he...” He blinked hard a few times as he tried to figure it all out. It certainly explained why the other man was raving at Lois, why he had tried to choke her, but... how could Richard have descended into drug use like that? It was so uncharacteristic, despite his previous paranoia.
“I know it makes no sense, son,” Perry offered, laying a steady hand on his shoulder. “But it's over now, and we'll get everything sorted out eventually.”
“But...” His mind refused to accept that anything was over. And it was far from okay, as he'd promised Lois and Jason. Everything had gone so unbelievingly wrong.
As he wallowed in his own guilt a voice came over the hospital intercom. “Dr. Land, code blue, room one-fifteen. Dr. Land, code blue, room one-fifteen.”
The bottom dropped out of Clark's stomach and his eyes grew wide as he realized that was Richard's room. His gaze locked with Perry's in horror.
* * * * *
The first thing Lois realized as the fog began to lift from around her was that she was in a strange place. Unfamiliar beeping met her along with dim, oddly placed lights, intruding on what had been a restless sleep. Her eyes fluttering slowly open, she heard the rustle of a person moving beside her and a warm voice greeting her softly.
“Lois? Jason, go get Uncle Perry, she's waking up.”
She felt the mattress of the unfamiliar bed dip as Clark sat down beside her, taking her left hand in his, and she groaned involuntarily at the pains in her throat and her back. “Wha... what happened?” she finally managed as her vision cleared, her eyes taking in her very worried husband, looking completely worn down with his disheveled hair falling heavily over his thick-rimmed glasses.
His voice came as a velvety whisper. “Richard... he attacked you. I barely got there in time.”
Nodding as the memories of the evening came back to her finally, she searched his face, finding an unfamiliar expression there. “Wh - where is he?” She remembered the scream before Richard had been pulled away, flung to the concrete bricks of the patio, remembered seeing him lying there limply, remembered the flurry of activity as paramedics had begun to treat her, finally focusing on Richard's prone form as they confirmed Clark's declaration that he was alive, but in bad shape.
Clark turned his head, seeming to not want to look her in the eyes, and a thread of panic worked its way up her spine. “Clark? Tell me.”
When he looked back at her, his jaw was set and his eyes tired. He shook his head ruefully. “He, um... didn't...” But he couldn't finish the sentence, the pain evident in his eyes and in his broken voice.
Lois's other hand came up to cover her mouth as shock moved over her face. “Oh, no...” she whimpered.
His dark blue eyes were shadowed by grief and glistening with tears as he looked at her. “I'm sorry... I...” He swallowed hard and fought to keep his chin from trembling with his naked grief and guilt.
Squeezing his hand, she looked at him more seriously. “Clark,” she whispered, “What about the baby?”
His answer came as a sigh.
* * * * *