Author's note: Set during The Prankster, after Lois has gone to bed. Many thanks to Val (folc4evernaday) for her lightning fast beta reading
Disclaimer: All recognisalbe characters, plotlines etc. are property of DC Comics, Warner Bros. and December 3rd Productions.
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Lois is sleeping in my bed.
It’s not the first time we’ve spent the night like this- her in the bed and me, out here on the couch. But the circumstances tonight are vastly different to those few days in the Honeymoon Suite of the Lexor Hotel. Lois’s life is in danger. Not for the first time, I find myself wondering if this is normal for all big-city investigative reporters, or if Lois has some sort of innate magnet for trouble.
It can’t be. If this was normal, I’d spend most of my time rescuing journalists from every paper instead of just one slender fiery, whirlwind from the Daily Planet.
I roll over on the couch and prop my hands behind my head, staring unseeing at the ceiling. She was doing her best to hide it when she showed up at my door tonight, but I know her too well. She was terrified. What else could I do but let her stay?
Kyle Griffin really has her spooked, and I can’t blame her. He’s mounted a deliberate campaign to knock her off her game and make her so paranoid that she can’t function, and I hate him for that. I hate what he’s doing to my brilliant, tenacious, and yet so vulnerable partner. I told her tonight that I wouldn’t let her die, and I meant that; there’s a lot more that I can do to keep her alive than she’s aware of, and I will keep her safe. After all, what good are these powers if I can’t keep the woman I love alive?
Underneath everything- my determination to keep Lois safe, my anger at Griffin for threatening her in the first place, my worry about how Lois is handling the whole situation- there’s a tiny, reprehensible part of me that’s secretly celebrating.
She turned to me. Clark. Not Superman. When Griffin threatened to kill her, she didn’t scream ‘Help, Superman!’ She ran to Clark Kent. And it’s not the first time. Lately, when the danger is immediate and physical, she still calls for Superman. For everything else, she turns to me.
Superman keeps her safe. Clark keeps her whole.
And I can’t help but love that.
