Sorry about Richard, but he's a nice guy, and I couldn't really think of any other way to seperate him and Lois without him looking bad. And of course he needed to go, he's standing in between Superman and Lois!

Disclaimer- I don't own Superman

A tear dropped from Lois's eye as she stood over the grave of her late fiancé. Jason, huddling close to his mother, was outright sobbing. Lois dabbed at her eyes. With Richard dead, there was no way she could support Jason on her medium-wage job. Of course she made a good amount of money, but she wanted to send Jason to a private school and then a private high-school, and it wouldn't work on her job as a news reporter, still paying off debts for the new boat she and Richard had bought.

Lois hated thinking about money at the time. The love of her life was dead! Well, I guess Superman is still alive, but…

Lois smacked herself mentally. It hurt. Why was she thinking about Superman in the first place? This was all his fault. Jason had accidentally broken the swing set in the backyard, and she and Richard had gotten in a huge argument about whether or not Jason was truly his son. To prove himself right in thinking that Jason was not his son, he had decided to take Jason to the doctor for a DNA test. Of course, Lois knew how that would turn out. She waited anxiously at home for Richard to call at yell at her and leave her. Well, in a way he had left her. On the way to the doctor, an eighteen-wheeler truck ran a red light and smashed the car. I mean, smashed it. It was barely distinguishable as the beautiful blue Porsche they had bought last year.

Oh, God. Lois covered her face with her hands, hoping that insurance could cover the car. They were still paying off for it!

Jason, though, survived the wreck, being the son of Superman. Well, not that he wasn't hurt, he had broken his arm in fact. 'I guess his genes haven't quite kicked in yet,' thought Lois. Well, the point is, he survived and Richard didn't. When she got the call that afternoon, expecting Richard, what she heard was Dr. Roberts. It was the worst moment of her life.

Lois meandered through the rest of her day. She walked like a zombie. She talked like a zombie. She even ate like a zombie. Food now tasted like sand. Her eyes were rimmed with everlasting red, and tears came regularly. Co-workers tried to comfort her, and Lois appreciated their efforts, but what good were they? They didn't feel the loss, the pain. The worst they felt was the occasional loss of a dead cat. Usually run over by the owner of the cat.

Miserably, Lois sold her house and the majority of their belongings. Richard had been a very wealthy lawyer, and he had purchased most of their things. Unfortunately, many of the things they had were only partially paid for, and the rest she had to sell to pay off several bills and debts. In the end, she was homeless and nearly broke.

Nothing was fun anymore. Nothing caught Jason's interest as he watched the other first-graders play with their clay and crayons. All he could think about was how he would never see Richard again, and what he could have possibly done to prevent this. Maybe he could have begged him not to go, or hidden the car keys.

To make things worse, Bobby and John, the school bullies, were constantly stealing his lunch money, not that Jason felt even the slightest urge to eat. Things got harder for him day after day. Also, he didn't know why they couldn't stay in their nice home anymore. They had to sleep in a small apartment, and he didn't like it at all.

Lois held her head in pain. Her migraine was killing her, and she needed to find a place to stay, fast. She was already falling into debt with the hotel, and she needed a break from spending money. She needed a friend who would let her in…a friend who had always been there for her.

"Clark?" she murmured, feeling shy and ashamed. She remembered only a few months ago, when Clark had come to her asking to stay at her house until he could settle down. She had purposefully avoided him, feeling hurt and angered by his five-year leave. He was her best friend! And, just like Superman, he had left her.

Clark looked up, a slight smile lighting his features. 'He could be handsome,' thought Lois, 'if he'd lose the dorky glasses.'

"Yes, Lois?" he asked cautiously. Since Richard's death, Lois was known to blow up when surprised, so he was careful with what he said.

"I know this may be a little too much to ask…but you know…since Richard…passed away…we have had a little…financial…problems…and I would really appreciate it if…maybe…Jason and I could…well…maybe…stay at your place?" she forced her way through it. Her pride withered, and it really killed her to ask.

Clark felt a swoop somewhere in his stomach, and he could have laughed out loud if he wasn't absolutely positive that Lois would attack him. Then, however, he felt an odd feeling… resentment. Why hadn't she let him stay at her house? Now that the tables were turned, he could smack her down and she would deserve every ounce of humiliation.

But when he looked at her face and saw misery, hopelessness, and grief, he felt ashamed of himself for even thinking about it. He smiled slowly.

"Of course you and Jason can stay," he said, "Just until you can get back on your feet."

Of course, the last part saved the scrap of dignity that Lois still had, and both she and Clark knew why he said that. She leaned over and kissed his cheek gently.

"Thank you."

Clark smacked himself mentally as he soared over the ocean, wearing the vivid blue of Superman. What was he thinking? He didn't have a house! He didn't exactly need one, since he didn't really sleep. All he did at night was fight crime! But he couldn't turn her down, because she'd feel even worse about not letting him stay over.

What to do, what to do…he could always build a house, but he didn't have the slightest idea how. He could always…wait, what was that? He saw a tiny speck moving on an odd little island, and, using his super-vision, he detected two little scraps of heat scampering around on the island, and they definitely weren't animals. All thoughts of getting a house swept from his mind, he soared down to the island.

Kitty stood looking out to sea. This just wasn't fair! All day, and not a single ship! A cruise ship had appeared only yesterday, but she had failed to catch its attention. She even tried building a fire! Her nice dress was in rags, and Scrumptious, her Pomeranian, hadn't had anything to eat all day. The coconuts were gone, and she wasn't quite sure what to do now. Luther hadn't talked to her all day, and she was just plain tired of it. Then, she noticed a blue and red streak in the air.

"SUPERMAN! SUPERMAN!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs. Dying from starvation wasn't the number one on her list of things to do that day. Desperation warbled in every note of her voice as she screamed fir her life. Luther suddenly tackled her from behind, and she wailed as her dress tore even more and sand flew into her mouth.

"Kitty, what the hell do you think you're doing?" whispered Lex fiercely. Kitty glared at him.

"Oh, so now you want to talk to me? What does it look like I'm doing, I'm saving us! Oh, oh, now he's never going to see us!" she cried miserably. Pushing to get away from Luther, she let out another forlorn wail. Luther grabbed her mouth, and she screamed into his hand, struggling viciously.

"Shut the goddamn hell up, Kitty! What do you think he's going to do when he finds me! He'll tear me limb from limb! You can't…uh-oh…here he comes!" he whispered, and he released Kitty, diving behind some bushes to hide. Kitty stumbled up the beach to where Superman stood, looking around.

"Oh, oh, please, Superman, please take me away from here! I don't want to die, I really don't, oh please! I promise I'll never, never, ever do anything bad ever again, if you'll only get me off this horrible island!" she whimpered, her eyes as wide as possible. Superman smiled and looked around.

"You can come out, Luther. I see you. X-ray vision, remember?" he called. Nothing happened. Clark smiled. It was so easy when the bad guys punished themselves. He looked back at Kitty. Kitty the pretty, rich girl who didn't realize what she had gotten herself into. Kitty the little brunette who wasn't guilty of any crime. After all, stupidity isn't a crime, though it can hurt people. Wait a minute…rich. An idea popped into Clark's head.

"Katherine, right? You have several houses, don't you?" he asked, smiling a little. Looking breathless, she nodded.

"If I can get you off this island and out of prison, will you let me have one of them? The one in Metropolis?" he asked mildly. She nodded again. He grinned.

"Alright, then let's get out of here. Oh, and if I hear about you getting yourself into any more criminal situations, you're going straight to jail," he said sternly. She gulped and shook her head. Words seemed to be beyond her. He took one last look around the island.

"Hey, Luther, just so you know, I wasn't going to 'tear you from limb to limb.' I was just going to bring you back to Metropolis so you could go to jail. But, alright, if you really want to starve, I won't stop you," he called before grabbing Kitty and flying away. He saw Luther sprint out of hiding out of the corner of his eye, and chuckled. Of course he wouldn't let Luther starve, as much as he deserved it, but it couldn't hurt to scare and frustrate him a little. He would send a plane over later, after Luther panicked a little. After all, he still resented the kryptonite island scheme.

He made sure to drop Kitty off at one of her other houses and informing her to call him when the police tried to arrest her before he headed back to her house in Metropolis. It wasn't suspiciously huge or extravagant, but it was big enough to house several people, and decorated enough to impress Lois. Not that he wanted to.

First, though, he took down all of the pictures and hung a few of his own. Then, he made sure to remove every scrap of lace he could possibly find, which added up to quite a pile. He made sure to stash every feminine appliance or piece of furniture in the attic, and by the time he was done, the house looked like a fairly neat house that a single man with a good job was expected to have. It was perfect.

He closed his eyes, sensing trouble. He heard a faint call…his name! It was definitely Kitty. The cops must have noticed that she was back. With a quick rip and a swoop, he was out of his suit and into his cape. He flew straight out the window and into the clear sky.

"Let me go! Just…just wait a little! He promised he'd come! Oh, Superman! Superman, help!" she called. She felt a growing despair. Maybe he was just humoring her into coming quietly to jail! Oh, the trickery, why wasn't she smart like Luther? Abruptly, all of her doubts vanished when she saw the flash of blue. Superman!

"Is there a problem, gentlemen?" he asked coolly. The police men stopped and stuttered. This was the man that had saved their lives multiple times over!

"Why…why this young lady is arrested for enemy association…she helped to make the island of kryptonite! The one that nearly killed you," added the officer, hoping that Superman was on their side.

"Actually, she saved all of our lives by getting rid of the other crystals so that Luther couldn't try the same trick again and again. So, I am not pressing charges, and you would be wise to put the lady down," he said, watching amusedly as the officers scrambled to put her down.

"And if you try to arrest her again, even if you take her to court, I'll vouch for her. I owe her a lot," he said, and the officers nodded tensely, getting in their cop car and driving away. Kitty smiled shyly at Clark, and he gave her a quick smile and flew off. He had things to do.

I have some unanswerable questions that I'd like answered, so please leave a review and help me solve them.

1) What does Superman do with his clothes when he tears off his suit to fly off and save people? Does he just drop them off on rooftops and pick them up later?

2) Has anyone found Clark's clothes lying around when Superman is saving somebody? What would their first thought be on finding Clark's clothes lying around?

3) How does he get out of his pants when ripping off his clothes? I'm pretty sure there's no graceful way to wiggle out of your pants, especially since he's wearing shoes and all. Does he just tear them off? Wouldn't that cost a lot to tear off your clothes all the time? I mean, he is only a reporter, and he doesn't get paid for superheroing.

4) How does no one notice him running down the street tearing off his shirt to reveal the super-symbol in that one scene? I mean, sure no one was on the street at the time and everyone was panicking, but this is a city! Somebody had to be looking out their window at that time!

More later, I forgot some. Review please.