In Arms of Red and Blue

By katemary77

Summary: Superman saves a girl and stays for a cupcake.

Margaret was bored.

Idly, she lifted a heap of thick, lemony sweet mixture from a bowl and spread it evenly across the top of a freshly baked muffin. With a small, childish grin, she dunked the iced cupcake into a bowl of bright, cheerful sprinkles and set it amongst its fellows on a tray of slightly less-than-perfect but colourful cupcakes; the fruits of her labour.

There. She was done. As of now, Margaret had completed her list of Things To Do When Bored. She had cleared out her closet, rearranged her shoes, clothes, books and CDs, curled her hair, painted her toenails, vacuumed her shared apartment, made cupcakes, everything she could think of.

It was the first day of university holidays, and Margaret Moreton was bored.

Envisioning the next weeks, she let out a weary groan. Her roommates had left on vacation, her brother was travelling around Europe, and her parents lived upstate in New England. Completely alone and stranded, Margaret felt very, very alone. Even living in the middle of over-populated Metropolis, she reflected, it was quite easy to feel all by yourself.

Deciding she would take a walk, Margaret checked on the state of her rapidly frizzing hair and took a quick inventory of her fridge; figuring it was high-time she visited the corner store. Pushing a pair of sunglasses onto her face, she twirled her keys around her finger, locked her door and headed downstairs.

Facing the glowing sun that found its way through a jungle of skyscrapers to the quiet street Margaret lived on, she felt her spirits lift and Margaret smiled into the beautiful summer's day. So preoccupied with her brightening mood, Margaret failed to notice as she crossed the street that she was stepping across a manhole. Suddenly, she found herself lurching forward; the heel of her boot had caught firmly in the fingerspace of the manhole.

"Shit," Margaret groaned, bending down to untie the laces of her boots, which reached up to mid-calf. Her fingers fumbling, Margaret lifted her head to check the road upon which she crouched. "Double shit!" she exhaled, on the sight of the monstrous truck that was approaching her position rapidly. Hurriedly pulling at her laces, Margaret began to panic. Her shoe wasn't any looser, the truck was only metres away, she couldn't escape. Margaret submitted, raised her arms to cover her head and curled into herself. This is it, this is the end, I'm going to die.

But the impact never came. Instead, Margaret found herself lifted from the road and into the air, held securely in arms of red and blue.

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Clark Kent whistled boredly and fiddled with the neck of his tight Superman suit.

"A slow Saturday," he mused, and let his legs dangle from the ledge on which he perched, atop a high building of Metropolis' skyline. Things had been relatively quiet all day; a fire which he had quickly put out, a car accident which he had quickly righted and a bank robber whom he had quickly sent packing. Little things, but things that would still headline tomorrow's Daily Planet, he knew.

And so Clark Kent, Superman, the Boy Scout in Blue, was resigned to sit and observe the crawling city that was Metropolis, keeping his ears and eyes out for any sign of trouble. Clark didn't really have anywhere else to be: Jimmy was busy with his new girlfriend, Martha was busy on the farm, and it wasn't his day to visit with Jason. Clark generally preferred to stay away from the happy family at the White-Lane residence (soon to become just the White residence) as much as possible. Some memories were to painful, he thought, and he didn't like to make life difficult between Jason and Richard.

Clark watched as a young woman exited an apartment on the street below, turning her face into the sun and giving an exultant smile. Clark could hear her sigh from where he sat. She wore a light summer dress with a dark red cardigan to keep away the chill of the afternoon breeze and a pair of tan boots that made a dull clunking noise as she ambled down the street. Clark watched her move and admired how the sun melted into her softly curled hair. The strange woman's mood was infectious and Clark found himself grinning with her as she crossed the street, swinging her arms gently as she went. His grin faded, however, when the woman's boot caught in the road and she began frantically pulling at the laces, fully aware of the truck speeding down the street.

Quickly, Clark stood and swooped down to the street, wrapping his strong hands around her waist and lifting her (and probably a sizeable chunk of the road, too) into the air and away from harm.

"Are you okay?" he asked urgently, and felt her nod against him, even as her arms twined around his neck and chest.

"I'm okay."

Clark was headed in the direction of the nearest flat rooftop, for he knew that flying often made people uncomfortable, when the woman in his arms suddenly let out an unexpected scream.

"What's wrong?" he questioned, startled.

"Nothing," she laughed, and he recognised her scream was not one of fright but one of excitement. "This is just so fantastic! Flying!"

Clark chuckled deep in his throat and agreed, "It is. Would you like me to set you down now?"

She nodded again, and her frizzy hair tickled against his chin.

Clark brought her to the top of the building he had sat upon before and gently placed her on her feet. The woman took a few moments, her hand pressed into her chest, to calm her breathing.

"That was... exhilarating," she eventually said, offering Clark a bright smile.

"It always is," he replied. "Are you okay?"

"Definitely," she nodded. "Thank you, by the way." Clark was charmed by the blush on her cheeks. "If you hadn't have come I probably would've died."

"I find it's best not to think of things like that," he cautioned her. "Well, I best be off."

Clark made to depart, but was stopped by a soft touch on his arm.

"Wait," she breathed. "Would you – would you like a cupcake?" she asked. "It's the least that I can do."

Clark grinned at the deepening red of her face. Did he want a cupcake? He laughed inwardly, musing that this was the first time that someone he had saved had offered him a cupcake. Well, it's not as if I have anywhere else to be…

"Uh… I'm sure I left my window open."

Clark grinned. "What kind of cupcakes?"

-----------------

Margaret giggled internally at the absurdity of this situation. Superman was sitting in her kitchen, cupcake in one hand and glass of milk in the other.

"These are good," he commented. "I haven't had homemade cupcakes in a long time…" he purposely left his sentence hanging, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Thank you," she smiled. "And my name is Margaret."

"Margaret," he seemed to say to himself, before smiling brightly. "That's a pretty name."

She nodded. "So is Superman."

The Kryptonian grinned. "Not very original, is it."

Margaret shook her head and laughed.

"Well, in my defence, I was 16 years-old and very confused," he explained with a wry smile. "'Superman' was the best thing I could come up with at the time and well… I guess it stuck. So what do you do, Margaret?"

"I'm a student," she told him. "At the University of Metropolis. I'm in my third year of medicine, actually."

"That's a very noble profession," he commented.

"So is saving the world."

"Touché."

Margaret took a moment to survey the man in her kitchen. Although many of Metropolis' citizens had seen Superman close up, Margaret had moved to the city during his five-year absence and since he had returned, had only seen his image in the magazines and newspapers of the city.

They didn't do him justice, she decided.

Superman was… well, super. He was one of the taller men Margaret had come across, was built like a brick wall and had the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. His face was chiselled and handsome and a chestnut brown lock of hair curled in the middle of his forehead. He was, perhaps, the best-looking man she had ever met, and was grinning at her quite cockily.

Margaret lifted a hand to her cheek. "I'm blushing again, aren't I?"

Superman nodded, a twinkle in his eyes. "Yes, you are."

She laughed, a little breathlessly, and grinned at the coloured sprinkle surreptitiously attached to his bottom lip, trying desperately not to imagine what he would do if she swooped over and licked it off.

"Well," he began, standing and brushing his hands of cupcake crumbs. "I best be off. People to save… you know how it is."

Margaret smiled and pushed her hair behind her ears, walking him over to the window. "Of course."

"Thank you for the cupcake, Margaret."

She shrugged. "Thank you for saving my life."

Superman paused at the window and turning, giving her a piercing look. Stepping forward, he let his hand run down the side of Margaret's face. She shivered at the soft touch. He brushed a thumb over her plump bottom lip and smiled.

"Goodbye, Margaret."

"Goodbye."

She stood and watched him leave, disappearing into the sun and air.

That night, her dreams would lie in arms of red and blue.

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I could very easily write more to this. I sense a CKOC coming on here, but I'm not sure that people are interested in reading fics other than CKLL. Let me know if you like it, and I'll probably write more.