Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Quotable 13/87

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Witness: Jimmy Olsen
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“I’ll stick around--really, I don’t mind.”

He was between places to live at the time and going on his fourth night of sleeping in hidden corners at the Planet, but that wasn’t why he offered.

He loved getting to spend time with Perry and Lois and Clark, this surrogate family he’d gathered around himself--though he’d only call them that in front of, maybe, Clark. But that wasn’t the reason he spoke up either.

He hated seeing Lois constrained, caged even in such a wide net. He didn’t like seeing her strength and determination flicker and give way to fear, even if just for a moment. He felt awful seeing how worried and panicked Clark was--he’d lost count of how many cups of coffee CK had spilled or knocked over, so distracted by trying to catch every hint of danger that he never noticed the desk or chair in front of him. But much as Jimmy wished he was that noble, that wasn’t his motive either.

No. Jimmy opened his mouth and offered to stay at Lois’s side while Clark ran off to hunt down Trevino for a very selfish, kind of dumb reason.

He wanted to be a hero.

Perry had had hundreds of opportunities to be heroic. Lois didn’t care about her own safety at all while she hunted down the bad guys and exposed truths. Clark was brave and selfless, and even if Lois complained and rolled her eyes, Jimmy could tell she appreciated Clark’s quiet heroism. And Superman, of course--the greatest hero of all. Jimmy still had nightmares about waking up from a blur of pheromone-induced madness to see death approaching in the shape of blinding headlights. He still woke up some nights panting and scared, feeling Superman sweep him up and out of danger and back into sanity all at once.

He was surrounded by heroes, and for once, Jimmy wanted to be the one who was brave and strong and resourceful. He wanted to forget that he couldn’t find anyone who wanted to be roommates with him or that his mom had forgotten to send him even a card for his birthday or that Perry couldn’t decide whether he wanted a protégé or a lackey.

Just once, for just an instant, he wanted to be more than Jimmy Olsen.

And it helped that Clark nodded and seemed to trust him with Lois’s safety--which was actually a huge thing, for CK--and that Lois didn’t seem to mind him hanging out with her. But if his moment came, if he really did have the chance to try to be just a little bit like CK, Jimmy just hoped he didn’t let them all down.

He hoped he’d be enough.

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