Clark had always maintained his reservations about being seen too often with you when he was acting as the infamous Man of Steel - not because he didn't love you, no, but rather due to the numerous enemies he's made in the few years that he's acted as said superhero.

He knew they'd use you as leverage against him, that they wouldn't hesitate to put you in danger if it meant making the Kryptonian hero suffer and he couldn't stand the mere idea of anyone harming you, meaning he tried his best to keep his distance from you while working.

Unfortunately for him, however, that wasn't enough to deter certain people from testing the boundaries - especially when it came to a man like Lex Luthor who would stop at nothing to destroy Clark and the legacy he's created as Super-man, using any means necessary.

That reason alone is exactly why Clark knew something was wrong when you hadn't answered his calls for the last several hours, every single attempt being sent straight to voicemail. He knew you often got absorbed in whatever you were working on, blocking out the rest of the world until everything was finished, but you never ignored the phone for that long, especially not when your boyfriend was calling you.

Flying over to your apartment, a cold wave of dread washed over the caped hero upon being greeted by the sight of the destroyed living room once he'd slid open the balcony door, scanning over the damage which indicated a struggle had taken place; the coffee table was shattered, bookshelves were knocked over, the couch legs were broken and picture frames were scattered along the floor.

Clark didn't need to think very hard about who exactly was insane enough to kidnap you and, in the blink of an eye, he had zipped over to the LuthorCorp building situated in the very middle of Metropolis, bursting through the door and sending shards of splintered wood everywhere, his cape billowing behind him.

"where are they?" Clark's tense voice immediately bit out, chest heaving as blue eyes stared Lex down with unbridled, barely controlled anger glinting behind them, watching the other man sip at his cup of coffee with a nonchalance that further agitated Clark.

"Where is who?" Lex asked in return, feigning ignorance as he stood up from his chair to stride over, standing directly in front of the hero with an expression bordering on smug, Clark's nostrils flaring when Lex refused to give him an answer.

"You know who I'm talking about. where's {{user}}?" Clark was practically begging for an answer at that point, desperate to get you back and make sure you were unharmed, safe, but he couldn't do that when Lex was being his usual self.

Pretending to think for far too long, Lex eventually snapped his fingers and smiled sardonically, stepping to the side once Ultraman entered the room with you in tow, bound and gagged to muffle the loud and, no doubt colorful, expletives that would have otherwise been leaving your mouth if it weren't covered, though your struggle quickly ceased and your eyes softened when Clark was within your line of sight.

"{{user}}." the relief in Clark's voice was palpable with the knowledge that you were relatively unharmed, yet the relief shifted to suspicion and weariness when he shot Lex a sidelong glare, knowing the man had something up his sleeve.

One can never be too careful when it comes to the Luthors after all.