Gratitude

By NostalgiaKick <feli290412@gmail.com>

Rated: G

Submitted: June 2015

Summary: Sometimes even Superman isn't fast enough. #5 in the
*At First Sight* series.

Story Size: 459 words (3Kb as text)

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters etc. are property of DC
Comics, Warner Bros. and

December 3rd Productions.

Author's note: Fifth in the series started by *At First Sight*,
and set at the end of 'Requiem for a Superhero.' Thanks goes to
KenJ And Trina for beta-reading

This story is fifth in a series and follows "At First Sight,"
"A Matter of Time," "Evil Lurks" and "Invisible."

***

I wasn't fast enough.

I wasn't fast enough, and it almost cost Lois her life.

Luthor saved her.

Now I have to be grateful to a man I despise for saving the life
of the woman I love.

***

This week proved to be a turning point in my relationship with
Lois Lane.

She's an incredibly complex woman, a collection of
contradictions that both fascinates and mystifies me.

This week I met her father, and their fraught relationship made
me realise something: with the exception of Perry White and Allie
Dinello, I don't think Lois has ever had any male figure that
she could rely on or trust. Not her father, not a friend, and
from what she told me in my first week at the *Planet*, not a
lover either. It makes me wonder if she's always been so... so
alone.

Her grief at Ally's murder made me want to comfort her,
something I knew she wouldn't allow. But she let me see her when
she was vulnerable, something I know she doesn't allow lightly.

And I had to accept that what I'd been feeling for her -- that
feeling of rightness, of belonging -- was love.

I am in love with Lois Lane.

Whether any good ever comes of it is up in the air. After all,
she is human and I am... not. The gulf between me and the people
of this planet has never seemed so massive -- or so
insurmountable.

To know that she was in danger and to get there just a fraction
of a second too late, to see the smug look on that slimy,
despicable excuse for a human being's face at my failure, was
galling beyond measure. And it was compounded by Perry's
question.

Where was I?

Not that I could admit it to Perry, but I was outside, doing part
of my job -- catching the bad guys. But saving people is the
other side of my job, and today I failed at it.

I know it's not the first time, and I know it won't be the last
time. But if it happens again -- if Lois is hurt or even killed
because I wasn't there -- I don't think I'd be able to forgive
myself.

I can't -- I won't -- let that happen.

THE END

This story is fifth in a series and follows "At First Sight,"
"A Matter of Time," "Evil Lurks" and "Invisible" (awaiting
upload).