Lois & Clark Forums Forums Superman In Other Canon Superman In Other Canon Fanfic Twelve Steps From Smallville 48/57 (Smallville & the Superman movies)

"Very interesting," came a cutting voice from the doorway. Richard stood there at the threshold, casually dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, his hair damp and slicked back. "Why didn't you tell me before?" His eyes stabbed Lois.

"Richard!" she cried, getting to her feet and running to him.

He flinched back.

Lois stopped, cutting off her planned embrace. Perry glanced at Clark, sitting across the table. Clark's eyes fixed on Lois and Richard, intensity in their gaze.

"Richard. You're all right," Lois whispered.

"Physically, anyway," he retorted. The short-sleeved shirt showed the healing bullet wound on Richard's upper left arm. Perry thought, from the way that the arm looked, and from the cautious motions Richard made, that Richard still had a lot of pain from that wound.

Richard swept a gaze over the room, meeting Perry's eyes only briefly, and refusing to meet Clark's. "Why didn't you tell me, Lois?" he asked, very quietly.

"Richard, I….I was going to…." Lois stammered.

"Going to?" Richard inquired sarcastically. "Maybe it would have occurred to you that it would have been nice for me to know that you've been living a lie for the past five years?"

Perry felt the table tremble. His eyes skittered sideways to see that it was Clark who quivered with the force of remaining silent, sitting in his seat. He spared a moment to wonder how things would have played out if Clark had told Richard at that dinner. Lois certainly hadn't been prepared for Clark to have told his secret then – her astonished gaze when Clark had taken on the mannerisms of his other persona had let Perry know that. Maybe there would have been less anger, less trauma, if Clark had been able to explain everything then. Perry was certain that Clark didn't make a habit of telling his biggest secret to everyone without a lot of planning and preparation – but maybe, at the dinner, everyone there, the time had just seemed right? They'd never know now.

On the other hand, given that Lex Luthor had been eavesdropping at that very moment, it was probably a good thing that Clark hadn't told.

"It wasn't a lie!" Lois protested, stung.

"No?" Richard asked acidly. "The boy who I thought was my son – " a bitter and despairing grimace washed over his features, " – isn't really? He's some sort of alien half-breed?"

Clark breathed in sharply.

"And when were you going to tell me that?" Richard demanded.

"I was going to tell you after that dinner," Lois said, quietly. Perry saw her straighten and step slightly away from Richard.

"Five years and you had to wait until then?" Richard said tensely.

"I didn't know!" Lois cried out. "Richard, believe me, I didn't know till we were on Lex Luthor's yacht. He reacted to the kryptonite….I didn't know!"

Perry was of two minds regarding his unwilling witnessing of the scene. On the one hand, he wanted nothing more than to get out and leave the almost-married pair to their knock-down, drag-out fight. On the other, he was afraid to leave – tensions were running high. Would he have to be peacemaker?

And one, maybe two, percent of him was the Pit Bull – the reporter persona who demanded to see everything, know all the secrets. Perry felt a tinge of shame at the stirring of his inner voyeur. Watching this argument was like watching a car wreck in slow motion. He had a shameful, stunned fascination. He couldn't look away.

"Richard…" Lois pleaded. A note of warning had entered her voice.

Clark remained silent, his body tense, his hands grabbing the edge of the table until Perry saw it bend. Clark followed his glance, and the tension unstrung. Clark sheepishly removed his hands from the edge and clasped them together on top of the table.

"You didn't know?" Richard asked disbelievingly. He shot one quick look at Clark and turned back to Lois. In a voice intended to wound, Richard sneered, "I think it would be kind of tough to forget something like that. Back when I first met you at the Planet, Lois, there was a rumor going around." He smiled nastily. "There was a rumor you'd boffed Superman. I didn't believe it then." The smile left his face. "Guess it was true."

Lois blushed deeply. Then, deliberately, she turned to Clark, and making sure that Richard could see her, gave him a smile. Clark waited a moment, and smiled back. Perry noticed that Clark's eyes didn't smile, though.

"Was it good for you, Lois?" Richard asked vehemently. "Did you have feelings for him?" He studied Lois' face with the familiarity borne of five years cohabitation. Seeing something in the lineaments of her gaze, Richard added, "And you told me you weren't in love with him!"

Clark remained silent, and Perry, glancing at him, thought that doing so was probably one of Clark's hardest trials. But he knew that Clark would let Lois fight her own battle.

"Richard…" Lois said in an ominous tone. She stood very still. "Richard, what I'm telling you is true. For all the time we were together, for all those years, I didn't remember. Superman was gone. Jason was yours. I loved you."

Clark's face was like stone.

"Past tense, Lois?" Richard shot back.

Lois sighed, and some of the still tenseness left her posture. "I still love you, Richard." Some sarcasm returned to her voice. "Despite the way you're acting right now, you're a good man." Her voice softened on the last words.

It seemed to take Richard aback slightly. He sighed too, swallowed whatever angry words he had been going to utter. "I'm trying, trying to be," he finally choked out. Perry thought him on the edge of tears. "What happened, Lois? Why did this all happen? What happened to you?"

Lois moved toward Richard, seeming to want to embrace him. Once again, Richard made a subtle move of withdrawal. Once again, Lois stopped.

"Oh, Richard," Lois said sadly. "You only knew half of Lois Lane." She sighed.

Perry saw Clark – the tall man looked very sad too, at this moment.

"I had forgotten…had lost….so much of my past when I met you…" Lois began. "The Lois Lane you knew….the one you've lived with for the past five years….she isn't the woman I am now."

"Who are you now?" Richard spat, the momentary unbending forgotten. "Some kind of meteor freak?"

Pain crossed Lois' face. "Yes," she said steadily. "Some kind of meteor freak." Perry saw Richard close up his posture, move away slightly. "I was a meteor freak all the time we were living together, but I didn't know it."

"How could you not know it?" Richard demanded. "It's not something you just forget!"

An ironic smile played on Lois' lips. "Actually, it is," she murmured. Time to explain. "I lost my memory of…a lot of things….about that time."

"A likely story," Richard sneered. "Next you'll be telling me that you were kidnapped by aliens and they did a mind probe…." He trailed off as he saw Lois' grin and Clark's intent stare, Richard finally meeting Clark's gaze.

"Got it in one," Lois said merrily.

Amazement fought with comprehension and bitterness on Richard's face. "So you're telling me that Superman….that Clark..." Perry could hear the incredulity in Richard's voice, just as it had been in his own at first, at the thought that Superman actually was Clark Kent, "…had something to do with this?"

Lois didn't answer, gazing pointedly at Clark, until the latter stirred. "Yes," Clark said reluctantly, meeting Richard's gaze and this time, holding it. "I took away Lois' memories of certain things," he rumbled. "The memory of…our encounter…her meteor power…." Clark shrugged. "She's telling the truth. She didn't remember."

Richard looked away from Clark, his world in upheaval. He chewed on the thought for a moment, looked at Lois.

"So all the time you were with me, you were some kind of amnesia girl?" he said bitterly.

Lois nodded. With sadness on her face, she said, "It was good, Richard. You taught me how to have a family, how to love. Some of the best years of my life have been in this house," she said, a catch in her voice.

"But…" Richard said, as quietly as Lois had spoken.

"But I have my past back now – all of my past – and I can't stay," Lois said. By now tears ran down her face. "I can't stay. You deserve to be loved by someone who can love you with all her heart. It wouldn't be fair to you. It wouldn't be fair to us."

"You're going with Clark," Richard said slowly, with the air of one whose doomsday scenarios were coming to pass.

"Yes," Lois said, standing straighter and wiping away her tears. "I've loved Clark since we were in middle school together. I loved him when I found out his secret. Even when my memories of it were gone, Richard, I think I loved him underneath. That's why I couldn't give you a marriage date. I just couldn't."

Richard looked devastated. His shoulders slumped. He collapsed unsteadily into a large armchair, looking small against its high back.

"I'm sorry, Richard," Lois said, an awful firmness in her tone. "I do love you. I don't want you to get hurt any more than you have. I'm so sorry for what's happened." Her tears continued; she wiped at her eyes in a gesture of annoyance.

Richard only nodded slowly.

Lois went on. "For what we had, Richard, please. Let's end it cleanly. Please." She pleaded. "I don't know if you can be friends with me after this. But at least let's try to treat each other courteously."

Richard swallowed. He caught Lois' eye and read the finality in her gaze.

Lois pleading, said, "We have to do that. For us. And for Jason."

"Jason…" Richard whispered.

"Jason knows that Clark is…Superman," Lois said, answering Richard's unspoken question. "He doesn't know that Clark is his father."

Richard paled at the bald statement. "I'm not going to give him up," he said resolutely.

Lois and Clark shared a look. "I – we don't expect you to," Lois said stoutly. The tears had stopped. "We can work something out."

Clark stirred slightly. "Richard," Clark said. Richard pulled his head from his hands and looked directly at Clark for just a moment, until his gaze skittered away again. "You raised Jason for five years. You were there for him." Regret filled Clark's voice as he said, "In some ways, you're more his father than I will ever be." In a low voice Perry barely heard, Clark said, "I know what it's like to have a stepfather who loves you."

Richard's eyes darted around the room. Then, with a sigh, he sat back in the large chair, slumping, looking defeated. "Leave," he said.

"What?" Lois replied.

"Please leave, Lois. All of you," Richard said, not looking at any of them. "Just go."

Silence for a moment. "All right," Lois said steadily. She gestured at Perry and Clark and the men arose from the table, headed to the door.

Perry let Lois and Clark move ahead of him. He came up next to Richard in the armchair. "Richard…." Perry said.

"Perry," Richard said in a choked voice, "just go." He said no more. His eyes, though, said something else. Their burning depths almost shouted, We'll talk later. The two of us, we'll talk. What did you know, Perry, that you didn't tell me? Why didn't you tell me?

Perry nodded and walked out. As he closed the front door, he heard Richard's muffled, choking sobs.

He met Clark and Lois outside the house.

"What are your plans?" Perry asked, deliberately not referring in any way to the awkward scene just past.

Lois and Clark shared another of those glances. Perry swore the two were becoming telepathic.

"I think we'll head back to Smallville and spend some time with Jason," Lois said.

"All right," Perry said. "I'll see you Monday at the Planet?" His words were a question, not an expectation.

"I'm back," Lois said. "I'll be there. Chief." She gave a wobbly smile.

"All right," Perry repeated. "Believe me, Lois, there's a whole bunch of stuff to work on. You get right on it when you come in."

"OK." She leaned up and gave Perry the faintest kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for being there, Perry." Lois smiled ruefully. "Although I'm sorry you had to be there, if you know what I mean."

Perry only nodded. Clark returned a grave nod, and Perry walked away from them to his car. He deliberately didn't turn around at the sound of Clark lifting off.

In his car, he sat, considering, for a moment before he turned the key. The train wreck had come, and he'd had a front-row seat. He turned the key, began driving back to the city. His pulse, racing since the confrontation, slowly returned to normal. Perry began wondering what this was going to do to his newsroom. With a sense of inevitability, he decided to stop thinking about it.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

As ever, repeating the aphorism calmed Perry. There'd been hard words spoken today, but Perry knew, with the experience of an old reporter, that there was more to come. He'd just have to see how the three members of the triangle worked it all out. Whatever they did, Perry decided, he wasn't going to let them slack in putting out the paper. The Daily Planet had a reputation to uphold, alien love triangle revelation or no.

Perry's final thought, as he pulled onto the highway, was that he regretted leaving the carryout bags on the kitchen table. He'd really had a craving for hummus and baba ghanouj.

Author's note: "There's a rumor you'd boffed Superman" - that quote is a plagiarism from, and a direct homage, to, the great Sue S. and her fic Faustian Bargain , found at the "Lois and Clark" fanfiction site . If you are looking for great adult fiction, this is the one. And don't miss the rest of Sue's fics! You'll be rewarded.