Alright, if you're taking the time to read this you know the drill. The characters aren't mine, but I wish I was creative enough to think of something as cool as Superman. Not making any money off this either, which is also a shame.

My first time posting something, so, you know, be nice.

An Understanding

Lois Lane had a revelation in the most uncomfortable and unlikely of situations. If she was going to write about it, going to put her story out there in the Planet, she would have to change the circumstances if she hoped anyone would want to read her story.

She was clipping coupons as the TV buzzed in the back of her mind. She tried to cut each one right on the line, the little dashes a road map to piles divided by household usage. Leaning over to grab a new pile of papers, her arm, tired by stress, knocked over the wine glass, her third, and she didn't even like wine that much.

"Shit!"

The red liquid, like blood, drew itself across the glass table quickly, its tendril quickly enveloping cleaning items and toothpaste ads. She ran to the kitchen and quickly retrieved paper towels, but they did little to correct the escalating mess, and were no use to dry off the pulpy clippings. She could have, should have let it go.

Richard would have had her let it go. Would have chided her instantly for saving a scrap of the innards of a newspaper, reminding her that she and he made plenty of money, they didn't need to have coupons anymore. He would have had her put them away and they would have laughed.

But Richard wasn't there anymore, left for London almost a month ago. Lois couldn't blame him, who would? Richard could always handle having her mind else where, her job or Jason. But when he couldn't have her heart, no one could blame him. They didn't even fight, he just stood up one day and said it was over, and just like that it was. Lois could see the irony in his leaving her, just as Superman had. And though she considered herself a good, moral person, she couldn't make herself feel too bad about Richard's leaving. And as time went by, and her feelings didn't change, she inevitably felt worse and worse.

Which left Lois Lane, the tough as nails, highly respected reporter, standing on the deck of her home at two in the morning trying desperately to use a blow dryer on coupons that would ultimately be left on the counter.

And then it hit her.

What in the hell am I doing?

When Superman arrived several hours later, he was surprised to find Lois sitting outside on the steps of her back porch, eyes as glassy as the water they were trained at. He landed and walked over to her quietly and stood nearby, waiting for a reaction. When it didn't come he sat down awkwardly. People in physical distress were a job for Superman, but those whose problems were internal seemed to need someone who didn't wear a cape. Clark cursed himself internally again that he couldn't find the courage to tell Lois the truth. He liked to think that there was just never the right time, but ever since Richard left it was more difficult to admit that that theory wasn't a lie.

"Do you think…" Lois started, and Clark, no Superman, looked at her startled.

"Think what?"

She looked out at the lake for a second, and then turned to him, her eyes deep and sad. "Is it easy for you to always do the right thing?"

"No one always does the right thing Lois."

"But you, you get close enough, right." She was up now, walking towards the water as he followed. "Truth, justice, and so on. I mean, what stopped you from becoming evil, and not a superhero?"

"I don't know. Doing what I do, somehow, it just seems right. I just knew."

"How."

Superman sighed looked around, running a hand through his hair. "A gut feeling? Instinctual? I don't know Lois."

"It's just that…you always seem to make the right decisions."

Superman let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. Slowly, afraid that she might break if he moved too quickly, he moved in front of her and placed his hand on her arms. "Why are you asking me all this Lois? This isn't like you."

She laughed bitterly, and suddenly gripped his arms with surprising strength. "Like me? Like me how, exactly? Like the woman who had a baby out of wedlock after a night of passion she can't remember? Or maybe the harlot who strung along one man with promises of love, but whose heart she selfishly kept locked away for another? Or possibly even the woman who dreamed of being a reporter who changed lives, only to have her greatest acclaim come from a sappy article that any scored woman could conjure up? So who is it Superman? Which one do you want?"

Superman was at a loss for words. It killed him to see her like this; the strong woman he loved twisted about, fighting demons. As a reporter, words usually came easily, but that night, looking into Lois' tear stained eyes, he was at a loss.

"See, I've been thinking a lot about right and wrong lately, and it seems to me that everything in life comes down to two categories: what we want, and what we need. It seems simple, to decide between the two and make the right choice. But right now I look at the choices I've made, and I don't know what category they go in, or why. What's a sacrifice and what's selfish. Right and wrong."

"Lois, please…"

"Am I a good person?"

He didn't have to think before responding, "Yes."

Lois got up on her tippy toes then and kissed Superman softly, pulling away quickly and staring into his eyes, the feeling she saw there making her heart break. "I wish I could believe you," she said quietly before moving away. He went to follow but she stopped him with a hand. "I think you should go now. You can see Jason another night." And like that, she went inside and shut the door.

Clark flew home quickly, and was grateful to get a few hours sleep before work the next day. He peeled off his suit and crawled into bed naked, clutching the extra pillow tightly to his chest as he stared at the ceiling. The tears came quickly, as they often did. He knew that much of Lois' pain was his fault, but until tonight, he had never fully realized how deep her choices had affected her. And he knew that no matter how much he would try to fix things, maybe he couldn't help her enough.

But he would try. Because being alone wasn't working for either of them.

The Daily Planet was a bustling place normally, full of people and machinery moving as if in competition for expediency. Add in the summer sun and a broken air conditioner, and no employee was left without embarrassing sweat stains.

Clark Kent, however, had the problem of remembering to sweat at all. He made sure to keep a water bottle by his side, and inconspicuously splash various places during the day. It was the little things that made him feel the most different.

As he worked at his computer, Clark unconsciously reached for his water and ended up grasping nothing but air. Looking around he soon found the thief, Jason, turning around in the other chair in his cubicle, his short legs swinging carelessly. Jason smiled, and Clark couldn't help but do the same. It would be so easy for him to reach out and grab Jason right now and leave, just spend the day with his son, tell him everything.

"Hey Jason, how the water?"

"Cold. Good."

"Good."

"Mr. Kent, you want to see what I drew?"

"I think we'd both like to see what you drew honey," came a familiar voice from the cubicle entrance. Both looked up at the woman and smiled irresistible goofy grins. Her boys. Six weeks ago, Lois Lane would never have lumped Clark into such an endearment. But ever since Richard had left, she and Clark had grown closer. Sure, Lois had liked Clark enough before he mysteriously disappeared for five years. However, lately they had been spending more time together, taking lunches almost everyday, often having diner as a threesome, or talking on the roof to get away for the office. It came naturally to her, she found, to be near him. There was something familiar about him, but what it was eluded her. All that really mattered was that in this stressful time he had been there for her.

"Look," Jason held up his picture, absolutely beaming with pride. It was of Superman, to no one's surprise, flying high above the earth.

The adults smiled and looked at each other knowingly, "Jason," Clark proclaimed, "I think that's your best one yet! Why don't you put it up with the others in here?"

"OK!" Jason grabbed the tape and leapt to the side of the cubicle, trying to find a place on the oversized collage.

Lois smiled, but was soon rubbing her neck. Clark looked up with concern. Though others thought she was coping well, he knew better, even if he hadn't seen her meltdown two weeks ago. There were bags under her eyes and an almost crumpled ness to her posture.

"Are you OK Lois?"

She let out a sigh, "Yeah, I'm OK. At least I'm getting out of the city. Or rather, we are."

"Huh?"

"Perry just told me. We're heading to a county fair a couple hours north."

"What! Why? I mean, why us? Maybe I should go and talk to Perry about this."

Lois plopped down on his desk, her bare thigh perilously close to Clark's hand. "Don't bother, I've already had that screaming match, and if I can't win, mild mannered you, won't." Clark smirked good naturedly. "Besides, this might not be such a bad thing. I need a vacation, and you need to recharge your farm-boy batteries."

"Oh you make fun of me now, but once you get out there, I think you'll really like the fresh air and interesting people. For instance, have you ever had a deep fried Twinkie before?"

Lois wrinkled her nose. "Good lord no."

"Ah, then you don't know what you've missed," Clark enthused, smiling broadly. His glasses had fallen down his nose, and Lois pushed them back up. Both were surprised at the gesture, and they looked into each others eyes for a moment, and Clark could see some happiness there. But soon Lois realized what she had done, and the veil of sadness and guilt returned. Clark touched her wrist after a moment, and she returned from her thoughts.

"Well, we're supposed to leave ASAP."

"I guess the only thing we really need to do is find a place for Jason to stay."

"Any ideas?"

Lois smiled, "I think there's only one man for the job."

"Me?" squeaked Jimmy, bits of donut tumbling down his unbuttoned and garish shirt.

"Sure," Lois said, looking down at Jason as he swung on her arm, "I'm sure that Jason would love to stay with you again."

"Yeah! You have all those video games and cool stuff," Jason agreed. "Why does your mom let you keep them? My mom let won't let me get one, and I've been askin for forever."

Clark tried to hide his amusement, "You live with your mother."

Jimmy straightened in his chair, turning his head stiffly, in an utter failure to look adult. "I'll have you know, many people still live with their parents, and it's perfectly normal. My mother really appreciates my being there."

"She wears a wig!" Jason smiled at blurting out the secret, and Clark and Lois could not hold back there own grins.

"Jason, it's not nice to say people's personal business like that." She wanted to sound serious, but it just didn't come out right. Jimmy, to his credit, tried to keep his dignity, but as the giggles of his coworkers continued, he slumped in his chair a bit and pretended that the carpet was very interesting. Lois felt terrible, and tried to recover, "Oh Jimmy, I'm sorry. But seriously, I would really appreciate it if you could take him for two days while I'm on assignment with Clark."

"Well, maybe I have a date tonight."

"Jimmy," Lois chided, "If it's online, and you're pretending to be a mythical creature, it's not a date."

"Look, World of Warcraft is played by millions of people all over the world. Active, normal people who like to connect through a shared passion of a very rich creative experience."

"Whoa Jimmy, calm down there Bud," Clark placed his arm on the younger man's shoulder."

"I'm sorry; I don't know why…Oh well. Sure, I'll take the little guy for the next few days, not a problem."

"Great, you know the drill with food and so on. I'm going to run home and get our stuff, so I'll see you two later." Lois took her son's hand and walked towards the elevators. Jason looked back over his shoulder and waved, and both waved back.

Jimmy leaned back in his chair and put his feet on his desk. "So, you're going away with Lois." He raised and lowered his eyebrows a few times. "What do you think about that?"

Clark gave him a confused then annoyed look. "So, you're mother wears a wig." He crossed his arms. "What do you think about that?"

Jimmy looked away first, embarrassed, "Have a nice trip, Clark."

If Clark could have floated in the office, he would have. Two days, and nights, away with Lois. It was almost a shame that Superman didn't skip. But as he stopped at his desk to get his jacket, his heart dropped a little. Time alone with Lois always meant that he would again have to think about everything he wasn't telling her. He promised to tell her things this weekend, no mater what.

And he worried that her reaction would indeed bring both Hell and high water.

To Be Continued…