Clark and Diana

Standing on the shoulder of the regal member was another man just six inches tall. Clad in blue and red, Ray Palmer was a physicist who used his discovery of white dwarf matter to shrink his body in size. Able to control his size and density, he fought crime as the hard-hitting Atom.

The only female member of the impromptu reception committee was a young woman dressed in blue and white. Anyone who had spent time at any of the major hotels on the west coast might have recognized her as Zatanna, one of the country's premiere stage magicians. Few realized that the nineteen-year-old Maid of Magic was actually a daughter of the magical race Homo Magi and could actually perform the feats she only mimicked on stage.

Together the small group moved to the main meeting room on the uppermost level of the satellite. There they caught up with the Flash and Green Lantern as well as three more members who had preceded them.

Standing alone in the shadows as seemed to befit him was a tall, athletically built man in gray and black. Without peer as the world's greatest detective, Bruce Wayne had turned a life long obsession to avenge the murder of his parents into a personal war on the underworld of Gotham City. Many would disagree with his methods, but the Darknight had defiantly made a difference in his city that couldn't be argued.

The second woman of the group was a blond haired young woman in her twenties who wore a black outfit that looked as if it belonged to another age. Which in fact it actually did, having been designed by her mother, the original Black Canary who had fought crime decades before. The second heroine to carry that name, she added a shattering sonic beam that she called her canary cry to the martial arts Dinah Lance had learned from her mother.

The final member of the assemblage was like Superman, born of another world. Unlike the numerous light years that the Man of Steel traveled to reach his new home, J'Onn J'Onzz's world was less than fifty million miles away. The Martian Manhunter was one of the last survivors of the now dead planet, and had chosen to carve a new life for himself on her sister world. Six foot seven and weighing three hundred pounds, the green skinned Martian possessed among his other abilities, one that enabled him to change his physical form at will. This allowed him to blend in among human society.

"Well it looks like no one else is going to make it," J'Onn said in his capacity as the current Chairman of the League. "So we might as well get started."

No one objected and they all took their seats. Automatic recording devices came into play as the meeting was called to order, making a record of the proceedings for any absent member that wished to review it later.

-=-=-=-

Mundane but necessary matters took up the bulk of their discussions. They agreed on most of the important issues so they moved down the agenda rather quickly. The meeting was running so smoothly that J'Onn was about to call for a break an hour later when a new arrival entered the room. All heads turned in her direction, an action in no way related to her lateness.

The woman standing in the large entranceway stood five eleven and weighed in at a hundred and thirty-five pounds. A size that was quite deceptive when it came to the awesome power her body contained. The only daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the legendary Amazons, Diana of Themyscira had come to man's world only a half dozen months before. She had immediately captured the public's imagination as Wonder Woman.

Born of the clay of the Earth and given life as a gift of the Olympian gods, Diana wore a form fitting costume that consisted of little more than a red and gold bustier atop a star spangled pair of blue briefs. A gold tiara and belt, as well as white trimmed red boots completed her outfit. Around her wrists were wrapped bracelets of an almost indestructible metal and a glowing lasso, said by some to be magical, hung by her waist.

The Amazon would have drawn the same level of attention if she had been garbed in the proverbial sackcloth instead of the quite revealing costume. Beautiful seemed such an inadequate word to fully describe her. Long black hair hung free down her back, drawing only the slightest of distraction from the deepest blue eyes any of the Leaguers had ever seen. Her face and body seemed more suited to that of a model or movie star. Not a warrior woman who could bench press a tractor trailer or fly among the air currents.

"I'm sorry to be so late," the Princess apologized as she took one of the empty seats.

"I'm sure it was unavoidable, Diana," J'Onn said as he waited for her to sit down. "As it was, I was about to suggest we take a short break."

"Excellent," Diana replied, "it will give me a chance to go over the record and catch up."

With no objection, J'Onn called for a pause in the proceedings. Half the attending membership headed for the gallery to get some refreshments as Diana engaged a small screen by her seat and ran the computer transcribed record at high speed. Watching her, Superman was surprised that she was able to fully digest the information at that rate. He'd thought that only he, J'Onn and probably Barry could read that fast. By the time the others returned a few minutes later, she had read the record all the way through.

After J'Onn called the meeting back to order, Diana made a few comments about what she had read. Basically, she didn't disagree with any of the decisions that had been made, but she did offer a few suggestions. Two of which so impressed other Leaguers that they called for the record to be changed to reflect her input.

"A few more items on the agenda and we can call it a day," J'Onn announced to the accompaniment of a few comments from the gallery. "We received a request from the Daily Star in Metropolis to do a series of features about the League. In deference to our member of their distinguished competition, I was inclined to simply deny the request, but on second thought felt that it should be up to the entire membership."

"I more than agree, J'Onn," Superman said from his seat on the far end of the table. "Matters affecting the League shouldn't be decided over how they might affect any individual member."

"I thought you might feel that way," J'Onn replied, "So I'll leave it open to discussion."

"Well, I'll close the discussion," the Flash said as his mid-western accented voice filled the room. "Wasn't the Star the rag that did that story last year on the sex lives of superheroes?"

"I believe it was," J'Onn said, "but we shouldn't judge a paper based solely on a single story."

"The hell we can't," Green Lantern chimed in, "I might have expected a piece of trash like that from one of those supermarket tabloids, but not from a major paper. I say we tell them no right off."

It was quickly obvious that a majority of the members felt that way so that J'Onn accepted the inevitable and logged a rejection into the computer that would send an e-mail to the managing editor of the Star. It had been his hope, he explained, that a series of articles on the JLA might go a long way in allaying of the fears that some people still seemed to have about super powered beings.

"If that's the case, J'Onn," Superman interjected, aware that being the least human in appearance, J'Onn was sometimes too sensitive about such things, "I'm sure I can get the Planet to do a series like that."

"I didn't want to put you in a position where..." the green hued Manhunter started to say.

"Not a problem," Superman cut him off. "If I can write about my own exploits in the third person, I doubt I'll have any trouble with the rest of you. Besides, I didn't want to mention it before the vote, but the Star had been lacking a certain journalistic integrity of late. We'd be much better off having them run in the Planet, and I say that without any personal bias."

It was only then that the Man of Steel considered that after delivering what would undoubtedly be a Pulitzer Prize worthy series of articles about the JLA, it might be a very long time before Lois talked to him again. If that was the case, he told himself, well then so be it. He had been totally honest in what he had said about the Star and the way they now seemed to handle the news.

It wasn't just that the article the Flash and Green Lantern had referred to had been so far off the mark, although it was. It was that the truth, if they had been able to discover it, which was highly unlikely, would've been so much more interesting.

As the Martian Manhunter went on to the last few and in his mind, unimportant matters of business, Superman allowed his mind to drift and considered what he actually knew about his fellow members around the table. At least what he knew about their sexual interests.

Two of the members sitting at the table were married, the Flash and the Atom, and as far as Superman knew, led pretty much ordinary sex lives. The same could also be said of Green Lantern who despite the fighter jock mentality of his profession, seemed to have one steady love.

Zatanna, he had once discovered inadvertently, was bisexual if not a lesbian. A fact that might be expected of someone as involved in show business as she was. He wasn't being judgmental in any way, just taking note of the truth of the situation.

The same could be said of Aquaman, having lived half his life in a totally alien environment. Orin, which had been his birth name, had once gone out of his way to present that fact to Superman to see if he might be interested. The Man of Steel had been quick to explain that while his own birth culture made no distinction as to gender when it came to love, or even just sex, he himself preferred the company of women.

Dinah Lance made no secret of the fact that she preferred the company of men. Actually, in her case it was a lot of men, to a point where her sexual exploits were on the verge of becoming legendary. If anyone had the opportunity to scan her luggage with x-rays as he had done on several occasions in the interests of security, one might also discover a keen interest in various bondage and discipline paraphernalia.

Bruce Wayne, the Batman, was likewise very straight, but with a constantly revolving variety of women that could make Hugh Hefner jealous. Superman had never been able to decide how much of it all was part of Bruce's Playboy alter-ego or just his desire to live every moment of life to it's fullest.

The most interesting member at the table, at least from a sexual perspective, had to be the current Chairman. All of the members were aware that J'Onn used his shape shifting abilities to live as a human during his long exile on Earth, and that in the three decades he's been here, that had included several different identities.

What would amaze the others was the knowledge that Martians were actually both male and female in their genetic makeup and that for a few years, the Manhunter had lived as a woman as well. Seeing how the other half of humanity lives, he had explained to the Kryptonian when he had mentioned it to him during one of their discussions on being an alien among humans. Additionally, J'Onn had also lived as both a gay man and a lesbian over the years.

Finally, Superman turned his attention to Wonder Woman, the last but certainly not the least of his fellows. From the day she had first appeared, she had fueled numerous sexual fantasies among men and to be honest with himself, the man within the Man of Steel had been no exception. If only on a physical level, Diana would certainly qualify as every man's dream.

Yet, in those times when he allowed himself to think about it, there was much more to the attraction he oftentimes felt for the dark haired Amazon Princess. She was highly intelligent, determined and totally self reliant, all of the things the Metropolis Marvel most admired in a woman.

Still, even if he found himself in a situation where he might want to pursue his attraction, Superman was quite uncertain as to how it might be received. Diana, after all, had grown up in a society of women, in which lesbianism was the norm. To confuse matters more, there was the subject of Major Steve Trevor. Almost since her debut, the Air Force Officer's name had been constantly linked with hers. If she was at least bisexual, she might already be in a relationship.

So focused on the beautiful woman sitting across from him, Superman didn't even realize that J'Onn had declared the meeting adjourned. The brief lapse had gone almost totally unnoticed, except by the member who had caused it.

With no emergencies to occupy their attention, and most of them having already taken care of excusing themselves of any daily responsibilities in their civilian identities, the men and women of the Justice League were all to willing to take the opportunity to just take a break. It was rare that they had the chance to just socialize and talk about the kind of things that only someone else who lived the life behind the mask would understand.

Green Lantern, Flash and the Atom, friends under the masks as well, tended to form their own group. Batman was involved in a conversation with J'Onn J'Onzz about some aspect of a case he was on. Zatanna was following their discussion with some interest. Aquaman had said goodbye as soon as the meeting had ended, as did the Black Canary. Superman was considering making his own goodbye when the last member of the assemblage approached him.

"Superman, may I speak to you for a moment?" the tall, Amazon said in a soft, melodious tone.

"Of course Diana," the Man of Steel replied as he turned to face her. "What can I do for you?"

The dark haired woman smiled as if she was considering a private joke at Superman's choice of words. Then she asked a rather mundane question about a rule of law that she had encountered the previous week. Proficient in both Federal and the local laws in all fifty states, as well as most foreign countries, Superman spent the next few minutes explaining the one she had asked about.

"Society here in your country is very complicated at times," Diana commented after Superman completed his explanation. "On Themyscira we take a much simpler, direct approach to things."

"I guess when you come from a small, closed culture, it doesn't take some getting used to." the Metropolis Marvel replied. "I grew up in America and it was still somewhat of an adjustment to go from small town living to a big city. Don't worry, it will all come to you quick enough. If there is anyway that I can help you, please feel free to ask."

"Well there is something else that I would like to ask you about," the woman in red, blue and gold asked, "but I have hesitated before this because, like I have said, I am still adjusting to the rules of your society."

"Princess, no one knows better than me what it's like to be a stranger in a strange land," Superman said. "So you can ask me anything you like in total confidence, and please, call me Clark."

"Very well then, Clark," the powerfully built young woman said as her body seemed to tense. "Both today, and on a number of previous occasions, I could not help but notice that you seem to have much more of an interest in me than the other male Leaguers. An interest that resides outside of a professional relationship."

The Kryptonian's face went slightly pale. He had never realized it had been so obvious. Had anyone else noticed it as well? His head turned to his left to see if anyone else had overheard her comments. Thankfully, not even J'Onn, whose hearing almost equaled, his own had noticed.

"Princess, I assure you, I've never considered you with anything but the highest respect and if you took it any other way than I most sincerely apologize." he quickly said.

"I'm afraid that you misunderstand why I brought the subject up," Diana said after listening to his apology. "I wasn't voicing my observation as a complaint, but rather an inquiry as to if you plan to act on your interest."

For a man who spoke regularly to Kings, Prime Ministers and Presidents, Superman found himself suddenly speechless before the Princess of Themyscira. The Amazon certainly had been correct when she said her people took a more direct approach to things. Now that it was out in the open, the Man of Steel found her directness even more attractive.

"My experience with men had been somewhat limited," she continued, "but I would like to expand that knowledge."

"I had thought that you and Steve Trevor were ..." Superman started to say in a somewhat flustered tone, suddenly realizing how Doctor Hamilton and other women felt when they were around him.

"Steve and I were more a matter of circumstances than anything else," the warrior woman admitted. "He was, after all, the first man that I had ever known."

It was pretty obvious from her tone that she meant that in the traditional biblical sense. Superman also got the impression that Major Trevor had been found somewhat lacking, at least as far as what the Amazon had expected.

"Relationships between League members are not forbidden, are they?" Wonder Woman said. "That was the impression that Zatanna gave me when she expressed her own interest in such an occurrence."

"You and Zatanna?" Superman said in surprise. "The two of you were ..." he paused, not wanting to say the word.

"No, she merely expressed an interest," Diana replied.

"Oh," was all Superman could say as he again glanced over to the far corner where the Maid of Magic was still continuing to listen to Batman and the Martian Manhunter.

The Man of Steel's concentration slipped for a moment as an image of the two women in bed appeared in his mind. While she didn't have Wonder Woman's perfect build, the young Magician was an extremely beautiful woman in her own right. The thought of her and Diana together was enough to distract any man.

"If I have been wrong in my appraisal of your interest, or there is someone else, I will understand." the Amazon said in response to the Kryptonian's sudden far away look. A look she interpreted as possibly reluctance to her suggestion.

Then an image of Lois appeared in Superman's thoughts as he considered their on again, off again relationship. The initial picture of her sitting at her desk at the Planet faded, to be replaced by that of her and Jose in bed. The image didn't make him angry or upset, but it did remind him that they were both free agents. It would be foolish for him to pass up new opportunities in favor of one that might never be.

"No, there's no one else," he replied. "not really."

A loud klaxon suddenly filled the room, interrupting all of the conversations in the room. It was an automated alert from the Justice League's computerized monitoring system. The large monitor screen in the conference room came to life with a news broadcast of a major fire. The computer system normally monitored all the major networks and reacted to keywords that had been programmed into it. The caption at the bottom corner of the screen read WGBS, Metropolis.

"I think that's my clue to say goodbye," Superman said after watching the screen for a few moments and taking it all in. It was obvious from what little he'd seen that the MFD could use his help.

"Do you need any assistance, Superman?" the Martian Manhunter said as the current League Chairman.

"No, I should be able to manage it myself," Superman replied, appreciating the fact that J'Onn was offering to help despite his fatal weakness to fire.

Before heading for the closest airlock, Superman turned his attention back to Wonder Woman. In a voice low enough that only she could hear, the Man of Steel promised her that they would continue their discussion as soon as they could. Then in a blur he was gone, leaving the Amazon Warrior staring at the empty spot where he had stood.