It wasn’t just about Lois; that would have been understandable, but it dramatically oversimplified the situation. Richard would have liked to accept the easiest answer, but he'd listened to every one of Lois’ explanations as to why Superman hadn't come back specifically for her. Any of them would have been acceptable if Richard hadn’t been the guy holding the plane steady while his fiancée jumped into the ocean to save an alien.

He didn’t think many people remembered that Superman only called Earth home because he’d been raised here. There wasn’t much chance to though, given the way he presented himself, willing to be considered a symbol, and it gave people something to look up to. Most of them were happy with that, craning to get a glimpse of their icon and welcoming him back without thinking to ask for an explanation.

On the other hand, there were those who felt strongly that Superman had an agenda other than the noble pursuit of justice and the well being of mankind. For the most part, such detractors were ignored buy the public, but when Superman had vanished and his disappearance was instrumental in Lex Luthor’s release, those who thought Superman had always been a little too perfect had leverage to make themselves heard.

Even after the events of the last several weeks, those voices refused to be quieted. There wasn’t as much coverage of such stories, but the newspapers had kept space open for the occasional editorial rant. While he avoided the ones where anti-Superman bias blanketed every syllable, Richard did catch excerpts when Lois was in a mood to dissect the writing of the minorities she had particular contempt for. At those times Richard didn't remind her that in the last several years she had spouted the same sentiments and only the differences were such small things as personal involvement and knowing when to use a spell check. He kept those observations to himself and waited while her frustration spilled over from work into their home and then wound back around until she ran into him again.

Jimmy watched the cycle from the safety of the space next to the copy machine, and Richard knew that it looked like Lois was completely oblivious to everything but her own problems. That wasn't the case, but he had learned how to deal with such focus years ago when he realized that he'd never come first. His uncle's ultimate priority had always been the Daily Planet, even if he made certain that Richard had all the educational opportunities one could hope for. As it happened, even in grade school, Richard had looked forward to taking a trip to the bullpen, and he had a way of finding news stories that made Perry read over those early efforts with more than familial pride. It wasn't easy, and Richard had to earn a position on the staff, but everyone knew that he wasn't being handed everything and he was known for working hard at every assignment.

He'd known of Lois Lane for a couple years before they met. When she and her reporting partner, Clark Kent were making themselves the most recognizable reporting team in the business, Richard had been overseas, but he'd kept up to date. In the midst of another disaster, which Superman ultimately cleared up, Perry needed another man in the office as he shifted things around, and Richard came back.

Richard saw Lois after-hours mostly; both of them stayed late to try and beat the last questions out of their stories and make them the public's gospel. When he offered her a hand, Lois let him know without prompting that she could do her job alone and any angle he was hoping to polish wouldn't work. Her roughness didn't bother him, he appreciated knowing that she wasn't going to hold back the truth for fear that it was going to offend him. It turned out that Clark did a lot of their editing, and that Lois felt she deserved the greater share of the credit for discovering most of the stories. She had an instinct for determining when someone was lying by omission and there was a story waiting behind what they weren't saying, and that sense was accurate enough for Perry to give the pair a bit of leeway. If Lois got them into trouble with her determination, the combination of farm boy manners and unrelenting commitment to discovering the truth would pull them out again.

So when Clark went on sabbatical because of some family business, Richard sat back in his chair across from Lois. She raged on about corrupt politicians, criminals who went free due to the absence of testimony and unreliable superheroes who only hung around long enough to save a few kittens and then flew off and didn't leave a note or an apology.

Superman hadn't made Lois Lane's career, but his arrival and the reaction to the interview she'd gotten with him had given Lois the leverage to demand more coverage on stories she thought weren't being examined closely enough. When he was gone she was bent on proving that there were consequences to be concerned over.

Perry shook his head when Lois brought out studies tracking the upward trend of metahuman crime since Superman's disappearance, but he agreed that it would be interesting to monitor the response of the J.L.A. Within the week, he gave her space on the third page for a column in addition to any headlines she uncovered.

Richard admitted privately that he'd been attracted to Lois from the first. As it was, the hazards of showing any special attention to a female colleague who had an utterly firm stance on romance, especially in the workplace, prevented him from making any moves other than accepting an invitation to stop at the bar after work several times.

They didn't actually have what he could count as a date until after one of the pieces Lois wrote solo was given front page attention, and Richard got notice from Perry that the international section was in need of new ink. He surmised, given her mood swing, that Lois had thought Richard could be interested in her job. That he apparently had enough intelligence to know when to back off only gave him a little credit in her eyes, but it was sufficient for her to begin to consider him as someone who wouldn't compete in the expected ways. He'd been told that he was too nice, but not as bad as Kent, and Richard let people measure him against their standards until he had a personal yardstick to lean on.

When he accepted one of Lois' trademark blunt commands to appear at her place for dinner, Richard couldn't say that he'd seen it coming. Even though he was sure of himself around women, Lois blew apart the stereotypes and refused to fit any single niche that her critics attempted to mold her into.

It was faster than he'd guessed; a couple months passed between him rejoining the Planet and Lois asking him out, and Perry said that it was amazing Lois had managed to court a little before she pounced.

Richard knew exactly what he thought of being termed prey, particularly by his uncle, but he had even less of a clue why Lois was pursuing him. While he hadn't been in town for Superman's exclusive with Lois, he'd gotten all the gossip several times over, and there had been an attraction on at least one side. He had assumed, like everyone else that Lois had feelings for the superhero and that she was, in her own way, waiting for him to come back. Where Lois was concerned, her passions often bled over from one assignment to the next, and Richard thought it made sense for her to want to explore the mystery of someone who stood for ideals that were considered almost quaint. Instead, Lois maintained that she had kept her encounters with

Superman on a strictly professional level.

When Jimmy tentatively suggested that the guardian of Metropolis might have had a good explanation for leaving the solar system, Lois curled her lip and retorted that he'd taken off quickly because he obviously had something to hide and had been flying too fast to leave a return date. As Lois became more incensed, Jimmy backed down, and Lois snorted as he retreated. Lois didn't respect anyone who wouldn't stand up for themselves, and she wouldn't give ground unless there was a way for her to circumvent the rules. She and Perry got into rows almost daily and they would have been at loose ends if there weren’t a reason to battle.

Richard had stood in on some of those meetings and heard what his uncle was saying when he paused to catch his breath. The first time he casually mentioned that he was taking Lois out for a drink, Perry put down the copy of the Inquisitor he was verbally rending from headline to classifieds and looked directly at Richard.

"Lois is an amazing reporter," he said without hesitation.

"And woman," Richard supplied. It wasn't as though this wasn't an accepted fact, but his uncle was looking for more than the basics, he wanted to know what Richard thought.

"She's done some exceptional work for his paper, and her next piece on Superman is going to break down doors."

"I don't doubt it," Richard said. "But hasn't Superman been missing for a couple months? Nobody's seen or heard from him at all."

"That's right, and Lois has some theories on that, if you're interested."

"I've heard some of them."

Honestly, Richard didn't know that much about Superman, and he wasn't possessed of any determination to become educated when the superhero had to all accounts vanished. But he knew Lois' feelings, and her vehemence was inescapable when she had the opportunity to expound on her personal mythology of the absent icon.

Richard didn't miss the soliloquies Lois had been known to deliver, and the colorful litany of insults hadn't been mourned either, but when Superman did return, her silence on the subject was worse than anything else. Without being prompted, she declared that the connection she'd felt with him, and the magnetism that he put out were beneath her notice, she went on to say that she couldn't be bothered with the story except that Richard's father insisted she be the one to cover it.

As the man in charge of the International Section, Richard had his own part in tracking the most recent headline. He traced Superman's flight path across the continents, trying to determine what his work methods were, but it seemed that he didn't discriminate. Large scale disasters or local problems were all worth Superman's time, and the news media were hard pressed to keep up with him. Richard couldn't escape the broadcasts and as he watched, he was riveted by how alien Superman was. While Superman appeared accustomed to all the attention he got, he was even less approachable than before. Whatever had happened to Superman during his absence, it had gone a long way toward reaffirming the things that he didn't share with Earth. Lois had gotten another exclusive with him, but the last son of Krypton had returned to Earth, changed somehow. Richard's own personal observations didn't make it onto any front page; Perry wanted to herald the return of a heroic figure, Lois alternately strove for anger and indifference, and so Richard kept his thoughts to himself.

But, after the near tragedy in the Arctic, Richard decided that he needed to take a hard look at his life. They'd gotten a second chance, he, Jason, and Lois, thanks to Superman and although Lois had insisted they rescue him, Richard didn't feel that the favor had been fully returned. So he watched Lois sitting at her desk, eyes straying to the continuing coverage of Superman's hospitalization, and he offered to drive her to the hospital. He might not have had x-ray vision but he was smart enough to see when the woman he loved needed a shove in the right direction. She came back out less than twenty minutes later, steps sure and never wavering, Jason holding onto her hand and looking up toward his mother, only letting her go when he saw Richard.

After Superman left the hospital, apparently healed and able bodied again, not much changed. Supposedly one got used to Superman saving the world and if the fallout this time had made it necessary for humanity to step up and lend aide, everybody had quickly moved on. Their faith was restored, a criminal had been thwarted, and they felt safe again. That was in no way an indication of Lois' state of mind; she wasn't ready to to let go of a story she thought was worth pursuing, even when Perry and the rest of the staff wanted to call it a night.

"Doesn't anybody care that Lex Luthor is missing? The man's a lunatic; he tried to remake this planet according to his own designs, and he's out there, who knows when he'll try something like this again."

"Didn't Superman stop him, Lois?" Richard dared, and she turned, hair swinging wildly into her face.

"You don't get it, Richard, someone like Lex Luthor is not going to go away. He'll never be happy unless he's got everything he wants. He may not show his face for awhile, but give him time, and there'll be another fiasco."

"Alright, Lois, I believe you, but there's been no sign of Luthor, he's disappeared."

"For the moment," Lois pressed, and Richard conceded the point.

"And we won't forget about him," he promised. He hadn't intended to draw a parallel, but Lois' eyes moved immediately to the news clipping from her Superman article and Richard caught Clark following Lois' gaze as well.

Lois' intensity had dimmed slightly, and Clark made an inquiring face at Richard. There was no need to say anything; Lois' posture was virtually a summary by itself, so Richard merely shrugged expressively. Clark, a man with experience in the mercurial moods of Lois, nodded and quickly turned his attention back to his computer as Lois shook herself free of her thoughts and visibly attempted to regain her focus. From his chair, Richard took in the shift in her temper as she began to organize her desk.

He didn't quite believe that Clark was the one who suggested that Lex Luthor might not be handling his business in legal ways. That wasn't saying that he doubted the man's abilities as a journalist, but Lois was the one to strike first and then expected her colleagues to assist or stand back. Clark was someone who not only supported her, but also kept up. It was evident, from the trail they had blazed with articles and exposés that Luthorcorp was one of their favorite targets, and they'd gone after Lex as if he was holding state secrets. That, by itself was remarkable, before Lex had been so bold about his more criminal enterprises, it had been common knowledge that the man's influence extended into the political arena. He had many important people bending to hear his voice, but few actually said such things or actively sought out proof of such dealings.

The way Jimmy told it, when Lex was sent to prison the first time, Lois had taken the opportunity to uncover as much as she could about his past misdeeds. She’d gone all the way back to when his father, the infamous Lionel Luthor had exiled him to a tiny town in Kansas so that he'd learn humility and gain business acumen. Lois honed in on the scandals and Lex's gradual accumulation of power and dismissed most of the social connections. Yet as he reread back issues of the Planet and certain marked up copies of the Inquisitor, Richard picked out details that had bearing on current events, some that Lois had obviously discounted as unimportant.

Clark Kent came from Smallville, and he'd been growing up in that small town at the same time that Lex had been sent there. Then there was the way Clark acted when the subject of Lex was raised. When Clark heard Lex's name, Richard caught it; nothing so overt as a twitch of his jaw or a change in his mood, but the look in his eyes was arresting. Guys born on farms didn't have close personal relationships with Luthors and they weren't given to holding back when their partners interrogated them in the name of research. After seeing that small hint of expression several times, Richard concluded that Clark didn't meet either requirement for not knowing anything about Lex Luthor. Everyone had their reasons for keeping things to themselves, but when it came to those revelations that had bearing on a story, then Clark's omission became more interesting.

Lois didn't pick up on the subterfuge; it was apparent that Clark was practiced in deflecting her attention when she pressed too hard and Richard recognized the tactic. Standing just inside the space near their desks, he saw Lois take in Clark's blank confusion, consider whether he was capable of deception only momentarily, and turn away. It would have been too perfect for Clark to be relieved that Lois' attention had lifted from him, and Richard, looking for that telltale reaction didn't see one.

He wasn't positive that there was anything beyond the man's private nature that kept him from sharing with Lois, but it was enough to make Richard deem Clark worth greater scrutiny. He went into the archives for Kansas’s newspapers and searched through the Smallville Ledger within the specific span of time during which Lex Luthor and Clark Kent were both residents of the town. Apparently they actually had come into contact, meeting in an accident that could very well have killed them both. From there, Richard gathered stories of Luthor excess, attempted charitable gestures, and Richard found mentions of them keeping close company at a number of social functions. Apparently, the boy from the farm and the man who made the name Luthor infamous, more than knew each other.

Although Lex Luthor had gained some credibility by gaining another fortune, Richard had no doubt that somewhere, insurance adjusters were doing their utmost to bend and twist responsibility around so that Lex Luthor, or some portion of his company, paid for the damages Metropolis suffered. With the assets Luthor had accumulated, Richard wouldn't bet on there not being a large amount of compensation doled out. Whenever he reappeared, Luthor was going to find that he'd been financially gutted, in addition to being charged with as many crimes as the District Attorney could provide evidence for.

"Why hasn't Superman found Luthor yet?" Lois demanded, shocking Richard out of the doze he'd been slumped into. He was postponing a redo of the draft of an international affairs story that he didn't feel enthusiastic enough about to even play at wanting to clean it up. When he failed to respond immediately, Lois kicked his shoe without looking over.

"I don't know, Lois, maybe because Luthor's disappeared." Which was a weak answer, but he'd been up late compiling Smallville Ledger stories until he had a better idea of what had been going on in Smallville while Luthor was in residence. He could use it to lay otu a man's path to power and his slide into corruption.

"He's Superman, Richard, all he'd have to do is listen for the man and then he could fly to wherever Luthor is squatting and pick him up. It wouldn't be that hard and he does it all the time anyway, why is this so different?"

Honestly, Richard had thought about that too, but nobody knew what a superhero's policy was on pursuing criminals who'd been thoroughly defeated. "It could be that he's waiting."

"For what, someone to ask him?" Lois made it sound as if that was the most idiotic notion she'd ever heard, and she'd previously held some of Jimmy's suggestions as the prize winners in that contest.

"Maybe."

"As long as he's back on Earth, doing the right thing and protecting everyone from falling trees and megalomaniacs, he could take the initiative and speed up the process a little. After all, he's the reason that Luthor went free in the first place, he owes us one."

That again, Lois took Luthor's escape from justice as an insult and anyone who made light of it or who thought that the man wasn't fully culpable for everything he was accused of had to be prepared for a fierce argument.

"Could be that he doesn't see it that way."

"Oh please, the guy's the self-appointed guardian of the planet, he takes responsibility for the recession of the ice caps, this is just another detail to him."

The bitterness in Lois' voice was familiar; she had sounded the same back when Superman had first taken off and nobody knew whether or not he'd abandoned Earth because of something they'd done, or because they'd let him down. Now the hero was back and Lois wanted him to take up just where he'd left off, keeping his distance it sounded like, as if she thought Superman was alright up in the sky, but he'd better know his place. And if she'd told him as much, that would more than adequately explain why there hadn't been a follow-up interview and why Superman hadn't stopped by the Planet for longer than it took to assist with a few repairs.

Thinking back, Richard winced; it hadn't been the most well planned event, and Perry had berated several of his assistants into nervous coffee-making with the arrangements, but there had been some good moments.

Jimmy had gotten a few candid photographs, and Perry's newspaper was set forward on the way to being back on the top. Richard had stood in the crowd beside Lois as Superman hoisted the Planet's globe up into the air and deposited it back into its seat on the roof. The employees, eager to get in close to Metropolis' protector, pushed in closer together, cheering and waving.

Superman hovered above them, eyes moving to fix on a particular individual, and Richard guessed both who it was, and that her response wasn't what was hoped. He stood in mid-air for a few moments longer, acknowledged the shouts of the people gathered, nodded regally and then propelled himself upwards and out of sight.

Turning away, Richard took in Lois' expression, and although her face was tilted up to watch Superman vanish into the clouds, she didn't seem to feel the same wonder and open appreciation for witnessing such feats. She looked appreciative, but more distantly, like she was looking at a puzzle, and Richard recognized her posture as the stance she took preceding a difficult and potentially unpleasant investigation into a subject that a great percentage of the population would rather be left alone. She hadn't let the issue of Lex Luthor's disappearance leave her thoughts and the story was on her short list her first move as she figured out the best way to try and confront the being she felt was best qualified for bringing her the results she sought. Until she figured out how to do that, the only way to broach the subject of Superman would be with caution, and even then Richard anticipated resistance or outright aggression. In order to be completely certain that she wasn't going to do irreparable damage to a relationship she'd once been proud of, or making a journalistic gaffe that would virtually ensure she would be in trouble, was to to speak with Perry privately about the upcoming article.

"This isn't a smart move, Richard," Perry said, sitting in his office and shredding a wad of paper.

"I would think that you'd be pleased to have the international angle on this affair. It's the best way to get a global sense of what's going on, what Superman's plans are."

"I don't mean that. You know that Lois is going to think that you're trying to prove something by taking this story from her."The implications of Richard and Lois feuding were unpleasant and Perry was envisioning the fallout with every scrap of paper that floated into the trash bin.

"I'm not taking it, I think that there's another way to approach it that she's not seeing right now. She's got a lot on her desk right now, and I think that she'd rather work on the Luthor piece instead of interviewing Superman again." Richard had seen Lois staring at a blinking cursor as she tried to find the right direction for her next piece and he knew that she wouldn't have any success until she warmed up with a different story that was on her mind.

"You don't think she'd handle it right?"

"She's already covered Superman, everyone knows that she can get him to talk about what he thinks about dating, whether he can see through walls, that's all old news. Now that he's back, we should be asking bigger questions, what made him leave, his views on the geopolitical situation, and what, if anything, he intends to do about it."

Perry had been readying his answer when Richard turned the issue sideways and he stopped to consider the point.

"He is in a position to dramatically alter the distribution of power and resources across the globe," Richard continued, sensing that he'd stepped off the platform of casting doubts on Lois' abilities and into the arena he was trying to illuminate. "Up until now he's never directly interfered in a way that would change anyone's way of life, but who's to say that hasn't changed, particularly in light of recent events," Richard challenged.

"This matters to you," Perry said after absorbing Richard's argument.

"These issues should be raised, and if they aren't done by the Planet, then somebody else will, and then they'll have the headlines before the rest of the world." The last wasn't much more than a gamble on Perry's pride in the newspaper and Metropolis, and while Richard got a knowing look for trying an obvious bit of wordplay, Perry nodded, truly caught.

"Alright, you have the go ahead. But it's up to you to get an interview with Superman and find a way to talk about his plans. I don't think it's going to happen over at the bar."

"You never know," Richard said, relief lifting him out of his chair. Perry's voice stopped him in the doorway.

"Also, Richard, you're going to be the one to break the news to your fiancée. I may be getting a tremendous story out of this, or I'm going to have two of my best reporters at each other's throats, and I don't want to rebuild this place again."

"Understood," Richard said, and Perry waved him away.

"Go, do your job, figure out a way to get a hold of this guy and get him talking about prickly subjects, just don't run up your expense account and expect me to cover it."

"Got it," Richard promised and headed out into the bullpen where he saw Lois in her seat on the phone. This part was going to be the least pleasant, and he wasn't going to hope that her objections wouldn't attract enough attention for the fight to make the social pages.

Later, after enduring accusations about lacking confidence in her abilities, Lois had become strangely subdued. "You think I need a break?"

"You need to work on something besides this Superman story. What's got you interested is the disappearance of Lex Luthor and you do your best work when you're not distracted. Let me see what I can do with this one and we'll collaborate if you want to."

"No, you can have this, I've got the home number of a scientist that worked for Luthor just before he went to prison the first time, and he's been lying to me."

Richard wished her luck and began reviewing footage of Superman. The alien didn't look dejected on camera and he wouldn't let himself be caught in a statement that was even tangentially untrue, so in order for Richard to get an unedited answer out of him he'd have to questions without a recording audience. He didn't have the advantages of a government employee and couldn't follow Superman's global rounds on radar and extrapolate where the best place to meet up would be. After working out strategies and pricing international flights, Richard figured that the most effective solution was also the simplest.

On a warm evening when Lois had come home early and taken Jason to the park for a special outing that probably included ice cream, Richard went out on the back porch and said the words he knew would catch the attention of their intended target.

"Superman, I need to talk to you." Sensitive hearing would pick up the plea, and if he weren’t rescuing someone in actual jeopardy, he'd respond quickly. Taking into account the wide span of his concerns, it would more likely take a couple hours for Superman to have a free moment, and Richard, having seen the news that evening, sat back on a deck chair to wait.

-end

Title: With Every Little Movement
Author: scy
Feedback: scynneh@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine
Fandom: Superman Returns
Pairing: Richard/Lois, Kal-El/Lois implied.
Spoilers: The movie, some for SV.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It wasn't just about Lois.
Author's Notes: Thanks goes to Jcalanthe, who expressed interest in discussing Kal-el, Lois and all things Superman and then raised some excellent and inspiring points.
September - December 2006

It wasn’t just about Lois; that would have been understandable, but it dramatically oversimplified the situation. Richard would have liked to accept the easiest answer, but he'd listened to every one of Lois’ explanations as to why Superman hadn't come back specifically for her. Any of them would have been acceptable if Richard hadn’t been the guy holding the plane steady while his fiancée jumped into the ocean to save an alien.

He didn’t think many people remembered that Superman only called Earth home because he’d been raised here. There wasn’t much chance to though, given the way he presented himself, willing to be considered a symbol, and it gave people something to look up to. Most of them were happy with that, craning to get a glimpse of their icon and welcoming him back without thinking to ask for an explanation.

On the other hand, there were those who felt strongly that Superman had an agenda other than the noble pursuit of justice and the well being of mankind. For the most part, such detractors were ignored buy the public, but when Superman had vanished and his disappearance was instrumental in Lex Luthor’s release, those who thought Superman had always been a little too perfect had leverage to make themselves heard.

Even after the events of the last several weeks, those voices refused to be quieted. There wasn’t as much coverage of such stories, but the newspapers had kept space open for the occasional editorial rant. While he avoided the ones where anti-Superman bias blanketed every syllable, Richard did catch excerpts when Lois was in a mood to dissect the writing of the minorities she had particular contempt for. At those times Richard didn't remind her that in the last several years she had spouted the same sentiments and only the differences were such small things as personal involvement and knowing when to use a spell check. He kept those observations to himself and waited while her frustration spilled over from work into their home and then wound back around until she ran into him again.

Jimmy watched the cycle from the safety of the space next to the copy machine, and Richard knew that it looked like Lois was completely oblivious to everything but her own problems. That wasn't the case, but he had learned how to deal with such focus years ago when he realized that he'd never come first. His uncle's ultimate priority had always been the Daily Planet, even if he made certain that Richard had all the educational opportunities one could hope for. As it happened, even in grade school, Richard had looked forward to taking a trip to the bullpen, and he had a way of finding news stories that made Perry read over those early efforts with more than familial pride. It wasn't easy, and Richard had to earn a position on the staff, but everyone knew that he wasn't being handed everything and he was known for working hard at every assignment.

He'd known of Lois Lane for a couple years before they met. When she and her reporting partner, Clark Kent were making themselves the most recognizable reporting team in the business, Richard had been overseas, but he'd kept up to date. In the midst of another disaster, which Superman ultimately cleared up, Perry needed another man in the office as he shifted things around, and Richard came back.

Richard saw Lois after-hours mostly; both of them stayed late to try and beat the last questions out of their stories and make them the public's gospel. When he offered her a hand, Lois let him know without prompting that she could do her job alone and any angle he was hoping to polish wouldn't work. Her roughness didn't bother him, he appreciated knowing that she wasn't going to hold back the truth for fear that it was going to offend him. It turned out that Clark did a lot of their editing, and that Lois felt she deserved the greater share of the credit for discovering most of the stories. She had an instinct for determining when someone was lying by omission and there was a story waiting behind what they weren't saying, and that sense was accurate enough for Perry to give the pair a bit of leeway. If Lois got them into trouble with her determination, the combination of farm boy manners and unrelenting commitment to discovering the truth would pull them out again.

So when Clark went on sabbatical because of some family business, Richard sat back in his chair across from Lois. She raged on about corrupt politicians, criminals who went free due to the absence of testimony and unreliable superheroes who only hung around long enough to save a few kittens and then flew off and didn't leave a note or an apology.

Superman hadn't made Lois Lane's career, but his arrival and the reaction to the interview she'd gotten with him had given Lois the leverage to demand more coverage on stories she thought weren't being examined closely enough. When he was gone she was bent on proving that there were consequences to be concerned over.

Perry shook his head when Lois brought out studies tracking the upward trend of metahuman crime since Superman's disappearance, but he agreed that it would be interesting to monitor the response of the J.L.A. Within the week, he gave her space on the third page for a column in addition to any headlines she uncovered.

Richard admitted privately that he'd been attracted to Lois from the first. As it was, the hazards of showing any special attention to a female colleague who had an utterly firm stance on romance, especially in the workplace, prevented him from making any moves other than accepting an invitation to stop at the bar after work several times.

They didn't actually have what he could count as a date until after one of the pieces Lois wrote solo was given front page attention, and Richard got notice from Perry that the international section was in need of new ink. He surmised, given her mood swing, that Lois had thought Richard could be interested in her job. That he apparently had enough intelligence to know when to back off only gave him a little credit in her eyes, but it was sufficient for her to begin to consider him as someone who wouldn't compete in the expected ways. He'd been told that he was too nice, but not as bad as Kent, and Richard let people measure him against their standards until he had a personal yardstick to lean on.

When he accepted one of Lois' trademark blunt commands to appear at her place for dinner, Richard couldn't say that he'd seen it coming. Even though he was sure of himself around women, Lois blew apart the stereotypes and refused to fit any single niche that her critics attempted to mold her into.

It was faster than he'd guessed; a couple months passed between him rejoining the Planet and Lois asking him out, and Perry said that it was amazing Lois had managed to court a little before she pounced.

Richard knew exactly what he thought of being termed prey, particularly by his uncle, but he had even less of a clue why Lois was pursuing him. While he hadn't been in town for Superman's exclusive with Lois, he'd gotten all the gossip several times over, and there had been an attraction on at least one side. He had assumed, like everyone else that Lois had feelings for the superhero and that she was, in her own way, waiting for him to come back. Where Lois was concerned, her passions often bled over from one assignment to the next, and Richard thought it made sense for her to want to explore the mystery of someone who stood for ideals that were considered almost quaint. Instead, Lois maintained that she had kept her encounters with

Superman on a strictly professional level.

When Jimmy tentatively suggested that the guardian of Metropolis might have had a good explanation for leaving the solar system, Lois curled her lip and retorted that he'd taken off quickly because he obviously had something to hide and had been flying too fast to leave a return date. As Lois became more incensed, Jimmy backed down, and Lois snorted as he retreated. Lois didn't respect anyone who wouldn't stand up for themselves, and she wouldn't give ground unless there was a way for her to circumvent the rules. She and Perry got into rows almost daily and they would have been at loose ends if there weren’t a reason to battle.

Richard had stood in on some of those meetings and heard what his uncle was saying when he paused to catch his breath. The first time he casually mentioned that he was taking Lois out for a drink, Perry put down the copy of the Inquisitor he was verbally rending from headline to classifieds and looked directly at Richard.

"Lois is an amazing reporter," he said without hesitation.

"And woman," Richard supplied. It wasn't as though this wasn't an accepted fact, but his uncle was looking for more than the basics, he wanted to know what Richard thought.

"She's done some exceptional work for his paper, and her next piece on Superman is going to break down doors."

"I don't doubt it," Richard said. "But hasn't Superman been missing for a couple months? Nobody's seen or heard from him at all."

"That's right, and Lois has some theories on that, if you're interested."

"I've heard some of them."

Honestly, Richard didn't know that much about Superman, and he wasn't possessed of any determination to become educated when the superhero had to all accounts vanished. But he knew Lois' feelings, and her vehemence was inescapable when she had the opportunity to expound on her personal mythology of the absent icon.

Richard didn't miss the soliloquies Lois had been known to deliver, and the colorful litany of insults hadn't been mourned either, but when Superman did return, her silence on the subject was worse than anything else. Without being prompted, she declared that the connection she'd felt with him, and the magnetism that he put out were beneath her notice, she went on to say that she couldn't be bothered with the story except that Richard's father insisted she be the one to cover it.

As the man in charge of the International Section, Richard had his own part in tracking the most recent headline. He traced Superman's flight path across the continents, trying to determine what his work methods were, but it seemed that he didn't discriminate. Large scale disasters or local problems were all worth Superman's time, and the news media were hard pressed to keep up with him. Richard couldn't escape the broadcasts and as he watched, he was riveted by how alien Superman was. While Superman appeared accustomed to all the attention he got, he was even less approachable than before. Whatever had happened to Superman during his absence, it had gone a long way toward reaffirming the things that he didn't share with Earth. Lois had gotten another exclusive with him, but the last son of Krypton had returned to Earth, changed somehow. Richard's own personal observations didn't make it onto any front page; Perry wanted to herald the return of a heroic figure, Lois alternately strove for anger and indifference, and so Richard kept his thoughts to himself.

But, after the near tragedy in the Arctic, Richard decided that he needed to take a hard look at his life. They'd gotten a second chance, he, Jason, and Lois, thanks to Superman and although Lois had insisted they rescue him, Richard didn't feel that the favor had been fully returned. So he watched Lois sitting at her desk, eyes straying to the continuing coverage of Superman's hospitalization, and he offered to drive her to the hospital. He might not have had x-ray vision but he was smart enough to see when the woman he loved needed a shove in the right direction. She came back out less than twenty minutes later, steps sure and never wavering, Jason holding onto her hand and looking up toward his mother, only letting her go when he saw Richard.

After Superman left the hospital, apparently healed and able bodied again, not much changed. Supposedly one got used to Superman saving the world and if the fallout this time had made it necessary for humanity to step up and lend aide, everybody had quickly moved on. Their faith was restored, a criminal had been thwarted, and they felt safe again. That was in no way an indication of Lois' state of mind; she wasn't ready to to let go of a story she thought was worth pursuing, even when Perry and the rest of the staff wanted to call it a night.

"Doesn't anybody care that Lex Luthor is missing? The man's a lunatic; he tried to remake this planet according to his own designs, and he's out there, who knows when he'll try something like this again."

"Didn't Superman stop him, Lois?" Richard dared, and she turned, hair swinging wildly into her face.

"You don't get it, Richard, someone like Lex Luthor is not going to go away. He'll never be happy unless he's got everything he wants. He may not show his face for awhile, but give him time, and there'll be another fiasco."

"Alright, Lois, I believe you, but there's been no sign of Luthor, he's disappeared."

"For the moment," Lois pressed, and Richard conceded the point.

"And we won't forget about him," he promised. He hadn't intended to draw a parallel, but Lois' eyes moved immediately to the news clipping from her Superman article and Richard caught Clark following Lois' gaze as well.

Lois' intensity had dimmed slightly, and Clark made an inquiring face at Richard. There was no need to say anything; Lois' posture was virtually a summary by itself, so Richard merely shrugged expressively. Clark, a man with experience in the mercurial moods of Lois, nodded and quickly turned his attention back to his computer as Lois shook herself free of her thoughts and visibly attempted to regain her focus. From his chair, Richard took in the shift in her temper as she began to organize her desk.

He didn't quite believe that Clark was the one who suggested that Lex Luthor might not be handling his business in legal ways. That wasn't saying that he doubted the man's abilities as a journalist, but Lois was the one to strike first and then expected her colleagues to assist or stand back. Clark was someone who not only supported her, but also kept up. It was evident, from the trail they had blazed with articles and exposés that Luthorcorp was one of their favorite targets, and they'd gone after Lex as if he was holding state secrets. That, by itself was remarkable, before Lex had been so bold about his more criminal enterprises, it had been common knowledge that the man's influence extended into the political arena. He had many important people bending to hear his voice, but few actually said such things or actively sought out proof of such dealings.

The way Jimmy told it, when Lex was sent to prison the first time, Lois had taken the opportunity to uncover as much as she could about his past misdeeds. She’d gone all the way back to when his father, the infamous Lionel Luthor had exiled him to a tiny town in Kansas so that he'd learn humility and gain business acumen. Lois honed in on the scandals and Lex's gradual accumulation of power and dismissed most of the social connections. Yet as he reread back issues of the Planet and certain marked up copies of the Inquisitor, Richard picked out details that had bearing on current events, some that Lois had obviously discounted as unimportant.

Clark Kent came from Smallville, and he'd been growing up in that small town at the same time that Lex had been sent there. Then there was the way Clark acted when the subject of Lex was raised. When Clark heard Lex's name, Richard caught it; nothing so overt as a twitch of his jaw or a change in his mood, but the look in his eyes was arresting. Guys born on farms didn't have close personal relationships with Luthors and they weren't given to holding back when their partners interrogated them in the name of research. After seeing that small hint of expression several times, Richard concluded that Clark didn't meet either requirement for not knowing anything about Lex Luthor. Everyone had their reasons for keeping things to themselves, but when it came to those revelations that had bearing on a story, then Clark's omission became more interesting.

Lois didn't pick up on the subterfuge; it was apparent that Clark was practiced in deflecting her attention when she pressed too hard and Richard recognized the tactic. Standing just inside the space near their desks, he saw Lois take in Clark's blank confusion, consider whether he was capable of deception only momentarily, and turn away. It would have been too perfect for Clark to be relieved that Lois' attention had lifted from him, and Richard, looking for that telltale reaction didn't see one.

He wasn't positive that there was anything beyond the man's private nature that kept him from sharing with Lois, but it was enough to make Richard deem Clark worth greater scrutiny. He went into the archives for Kansas’s newspapers and searched through the Smallville Ledger within the specific span of time during which Lex Luthor and Clark Kent were both residents of the town. Apparently they actually had come into contact, meeting in an accident that could very well have killed them both. From there, Richard gathered stories of Luthor excess, attempted charitable gestures, and Richard found mentions of them keeping close company at a number of social functions. Apparently, the boy from the farm and the man who made the name Luthor infamous, more than knew each other.

Although Lex Luthor had gained some credibility by gaining another fortune, Richard had no doubt that somewhere, insurance adjusters were doing their utmost to bend and twist responsibility around so that Lex Luthor, or some portion of his company, paid for the damages Metropolis suffered. With the assets Luthor had accumulated, Richard wouldn't bet on there not being a large amount of compensation doled out. Whenever he reappeared, Luthor was going to find that he'd been financially gutted, in addition to being charged with as many crimes as the District Attorney could provide evidence for.

"Why hasn't Superman found Luthor yet?" Lois demanded, shocking Richard out of the doze he'd been slumped into. He was postponing a redo of the draft of an international affairs story that he didn't feel enthusiastic enough about to even play at wanting to clean it up. When he failed to respond immediately, Lois kicked his shoe without looking over.

"I don't know, Lois, maybe because Luthor's disappeared." Which was a weak answer, but he'd been up late compiling Smallville Ledger stories until he had a better idea of what had been going on in Smallville while Luthor was in residence. He could use it to lay otu a man's path to power and his slide into corruption.

"He's Superman, Richard, all he'd have to do is listen for the man and then he could fly to wherever Luthor is squatting and pick him up. It wouldn't be that hard and he does it all the time anyway, why is this so different?"

Honestly, Richard had thought about that too, but nobody knew what a superhero's policy was on pursuing criminals who'd been thoroughly defeated. "It could be that he's waiting."

"For what, someone to ask him?" Lois made it sound as if that was the most idiotic notion she'd ever heard, and she'd previously held some of Jimmy's suggestions as the prize winners in that contest.

"Maybe."

"As long as he's back on Earth, doing the right thing and protecting everyone from falling trees and megalomaniacs, he could take the initiative and speed up the process a little. After all, he's the reason that Luthor went free in the first place, he owes us one."

That again, Lois took Luthor's escape from justice as an insult and anyone who made light of it or who thought that the man wasn't fully culpable for everything he was accused of had to be prepared for a fierce argument.

"Could be that he doesn't see it that way."

"Oh please, the guy's the self-appointed guardian of the planet, he takes responsibility for the recession of the ice caps, this is just another detail to him."

The bitterness in Lois' voice was familiar; she had sounded the same back when Superman had first taken off and nobody knew whether or not he'd abandoned Earth because of something they'd done, or because they'd let him down. Now the hero was back and Lois wanted him to take up just where he'd left off, keeping his distance it sounded like, as if she thought Superman was alright up in the sky, but he'd better know his place. And if she'd told him as much, that would more than adequately explain why there hadn't been a follow-up interview and why Superman hadn't stopped by the Planet for longer than it took to assist with a few repairs.

Thinking back, Richard winced; it hadn't been the most well planned event, and Perry had berated several of his assistants into nervous coffee-making with the arrangements, but there had been some good moments.

Jimmy had gotten a few candid photographs, and Perry's newspaper was set forward on the way to being back on the top. Richard had stood in the crowd beside Lois as Superman hoisted the Planet's globe up into the air and deposited it back into its seat on the roof. The employees, eager to get in close to Metropolis' protector, pushed in closer together, cheering and waving.

Superman hovered above them, eyes moving to fix on a particular individual, and Richard guessed both who it was, and that her response wasn't what was hoped. He stood in mid-air for a few moments longer, acknowledged the shouts of the people gathered, nodded regally and then propelled himself upwards and out of sight.

Turning away, Richard took in Lois' expression, and although her face was tilted up to watch Superman vanish into the clouds, she didn't seem to feel the same wonder and open appreciation for witnessing such feats. She looked appreciative, but more distantly, like she was looking at a puzzle, and Richard recognized her posture as the stance she took preceding a difficult and potentially unpleasant investigation into a subject that a great percentage of the population would rather be left alone. She hadn't let the issue of Lex Luthor's disappearance leave her thoughts and the story was on her short list her first move as she figured out the best way to try and confront the being she felt was best qualified for bringing her the results she sought. Until she figured out how to do that, the only way to broach the subject of Superman would be with caution, and even then Richard anticipated resistance or outright aggression. In order to be completely certain that she wasn't going to do irreparable damage to a relationship she'd once been proud of, or making a journalistic gaffe that would virtually ensure she would be in trouble, was to to speak with Perry privately about the upcoming article.

"This isn't a smart move, Richard," Perry said, sitting in his office and shredding a wad of paper.

"I would think that you'd be pleased to have the international angle on this affair. It's the best way to get a global sense of what's going on, what Superman's plans are."

"I don't mean that. You know that Lois is going to think that you're trying to prove something by taking this story from her."The implications of Richard and Lois feuding were unpleasant and Perry was envisioning the fallout with every scrap of paper that floated into the trash bin.

"I'm not taking it, I think that there's another way to approach it that she's not seeing right now. She's got a lot on her desk right now, and I think that she'd rather work on the Luthor piece instead of interviewing Superman again." Richard had seen Lois staring at a blinking cursor as she tried to find the right direction for her next piece and he knew that she wouldn't have any success until she warmed up with a different story that was on her mind.

"You don't think she'd handle it right?"

"She's already covered Superman, everyone knows that she can get him to talk about what he thinks about dating, whether he can see through walls, that's all old news. Now that he's back, we should be asking bigger questions, what made him leave, his views on the geopolitical situation, and what, if anything, he intends to do about it."

Perry had been readying his answer when Richard turned the issue sideways and he stopped to consider the point.

"He is in a position to dramatically alter the distribution of power and resources across the globe," Richard continued, sensing that he'd stepped off the platform of casting doubts on Lois' abilities and into the arena he was trying to illuminate. "Up until now he's never directly interfered in a way that would change anyone's way of life, but who's to say that hasn't changed, particularly in light of recent events," Richard challenged.

"This matters to you," Perry said after absorbing Richard's argument.

"These issues should be raised, and if they aren't done by the Planet, then somebody else will, and then they'll have the headlines before the rest of the world." The last wasn't much more than a gamble on Perry's pride in the newspaper and Metropolis, and while Richard got a knowing look for trying an obvious bit of wordplay, Perry nodded, truly caught.

"Alright, you have the go ahead. But it's up to you to get an interview with Superman and find a way to talk about his plans. I don't think it's going to happen over at the bar."

"You never know," Richard said, relief lifting him out of his chair. Perry's voice stopped him in the doorway.

"Also, Richard, you're going to be the one to break the news to your fiancée. I may be getting a tremendous story out of this, or I'm going to have two of my best reporters at each other's throats, and I don't want to rebuild this place again."

"Understood," Richard said, and Perry waved him away.

"Go, do your job, figure out a way to get a hold of this guy and get him talking about prickly subjects, just don't run up your expense account and expect me to cover it."

"Got it," Richard promised and headed out into the bullpen where he saw Lois in her seat on the phone. This part was going to be the least pleasant, and he wasn't going to hope that her objections wouldn't attract enough attention for the fight to make the social pages.

Later, after enduring accusations about lacking confidence in her abilities, Lois had become strangely subdued. "You think I need a break?"

"You need to work on something besides this Superman story. What's got you interested is the disappearance of Lex Luthor and you do your best work when you're not distracted. Let me see what I can do with this one and we'll collaborate if you want to."

"No, you can have this, I've got the home number of a scientist that worked for Luthor just before he went to prison the first time, and he's been lying to me."

Richard wished her luck and began reviewing footage of Superman. The alien

didn't look dejected on camera and he wouldn't let himself be caught in a statement that was even tangentially untrue, so in order for Richard to get an unedited answer out of him he'd have to questions without a recording audience. He didn't have the advantages of a government employee and couldn't follow Superman's global rounds on radar and extrapolate where the best place to meet up would be. After working out strategies and pricing international flights, Richard figured that the most effective solution was also the simplest.

On a warm evening when Lois had come home early and taken Jason to the park for a special outing that probably included ice cream, Richard went out on the back porch and said the words he knew would catch the attention of their intended target.

"Superman, I to talk to you." Sensitive hearing would pick up the plea, and if he weren’t rescuing someone in actual jeopardy, he'd respond quickly. Taking into account the wide span of his concerns, it would more likely take a couple hours for Superman to have a free moment, and Richard, having seen the news that evening, sat back on a deck chair to wait.

-end