Clark and Diana

The remaining members began to say their own farewells as they left under their own power or the transporter tubes. Diana stood by the large window, gazing down at the Earth spinning far below. In her mind she could plot the location of Metropolis on the east coast of the United States and her thoughts went to the man in red and blue who was even now already appearing in the early evening skies above it.

Despite her heritage, the heir to the throne of the Amazons found that she was no more immune to the effect Superman had on the opposite sex than any other woman. It was an experience that was almost disconcerting. Certainly her only previous male lover, Steve Trevor, hadn't possessed anything like it.

He had been interesting enough, she'd thought, and the physical aspects of their relationship had indeed been pleasing. Still, it was nowhere near what her mother had described of her long ago tryst with Hercules, the son of Zeus. The Air Force Officer hadn't been the equal of the Olympian, but Diana found herself wondering if the Last Son of Krypton might well be.

"Diana, can I ..." the Martian Manhunter started to say as he turned to ask if he could give the Amazon Princess a lift back to Earth, remembering her stated dislike of the transporter.

To his surprise, she was already gone.

-=-=-=-

The flames raged unchecked through what had been only two hours before, Metropolis's premier department store. Standing nine stories tall, R.A. Dawson's had been a city landmark for close to a hundred years. By tomorrow, it would be a memory. Firefighters now fought not to save the old building, which was already half gone, but just to keep the surrounding area from going with it.

The Battalion Chief in Charge told the Man of Steel that they believed everyone had gotten out while they still had some control of the fire, but it never hurt to double check. Using his x-ray and telescopic vision, Superman stood in front of the burning building and searched floor by floor. His muscles tensed almost imperceptibly as he spotted two young women huddling together in a back office. They were still unhurt but their only avenue of escape had been cut off by the fast moving fire. Before another heartbeat passed, the Metropolis Marvel was at their side.

"You're going to be all right," Superman assured the two as he wrapped them both in his protective red cape. "Just take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds."

He gave them just enough time to take that breath, then carried them through what was left of a plate glass window. A burst of heat vision vaporized falling fragments of glass as he passed out into the open air. By the time his charges finally exhaled, they were on the ground behind the fire line and being checked out by the paramedics.

"That building's not going to last much longer," Chief Ryan told Superman when he landed back at his command post. "It's just too far gone."

"Then the best thing to do is to bring it down on our terms," Superman offered. "Pull all your men back and I'll take care of it."

Not sure what Superman was planning but at the same time trusting him implicitly, the Fire Chief did as requested and ordered all of his men back. Making sure the last man was clear, the Man of Steel took once more to the sky.

Slowly at first, then faster and faster, Superman circled the burning building in ever-contracting circles. He quickly faded from view, becoming a red and blue blur as a vacuum began to form within the ring. High flames that had been visible from a half mile away began to loose their strength as the already shaky walls of the landmark quaked even more. Then, with a deafening roar, the nine-story building collapsed in upon itself, leaving only a pile of no longer even smoking wreckage. Without oxygen, even the smallest of the fires had quickly died out.

"That...was amazing," Tim Ryan said as Superman once more landed by his side.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have done more," the Man of Steel said, almost apologetic in his tone.

"The building was gone before you even got here, Superman," the Chief said with a smile. "We didn't lose any other buildings and more importantly, thanks to you, we had no fatalities. We can always replace a building. All in all, not a bad day's work."

"I guess so," Superman said.

Even a little defeat was to him still a defeat. Superman couldn't help but think that if he hadn't stayed behind at the JLA meeting to socialize, he might've gotten here earlier and managed to save the building as well.

Then the voice of his foster father spoke from his memory and he put such thoughts out of his mind. If there was one thing Jonathan Kent had drummed into him from the day Clark had first put on a costume, it was the fact that while super he might be, he was still just a man. He couldn't be everywhere at once and he couldn't save everyone every time. Even a superman was entitled to a little personal time now and then.

"I know so," the Chief reiterated. "This city is lucky to have you, Superman."

"I agree," said a soft, yet strong voice from behind the two men.

Both turned at the sound but it was Chief Ryan who reacted first when he saw who had agreed with him.

"Mother of God!" he exclaimed.

Not ten feet away, standing in the middle of a field of scattered debris stood the most incredibly beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. For a woman like that, he found himself thinking, he would gladly leave his wife of thirty-four years.

"Would this be a convenient time to continue our conversation?" Wonder Woman asked as she stepped over a large chunk of debris and walked up to Superman.

"Diana," Superman said in a voice that reflected both surprise and delight.

Those were the only words they had a chance to exchange before the small crowd of reporters who had been covering the fire rushed past the police barricades and swarmed around the two Justice Leaguers. A dozen questions at once were called out to them in a muddle that only Superman was able to sort out.

Two of the shouted questions asked if he and Wonder Woman were involved in a relationship. Once of those had come from a supermarket tabloid, the other from what was considered the best paper after the Daily Planet. Superman ignored them both.

"Wonder Woman, was there a reason why you didn't bother to help Superman put out the fire?" another reporter called out in a voice that was all too familiar to the Man of Steel. "Maybe between the two of you, a city landmark might have been saved?"

Superman was about to say that even with Diana's help, the department store was beyond saving, but the Warrior Woman by his side answered first.

"And you would be?" she asked the reporter.

"Lois Lane of the Daily Planet," the woman in brown replied as she pushed forward a small hand held recorder to tape the Amazon's reply.

Diana waited a long heartbeat before answering. She knew from conversations with the other Leaguers exactly who Lois Lane was, including what her relationship with Superman was. Looking her over, Wonder Woman decided that the reporter would be a worthy adversary, both in love and war. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that the brunette was a possible impediment to her own relationship with the Kryptonian, the Princess might consider Lois as a possible lover as well.

"Well, Miss Lane," she said in an authoritative tone. "If Superman had needed my help, which of course he didn't being the champion that he is, I would've been more than glad to give it. As it was, and I think Chief Ryan here would agree with me, I think Superman did all that could be hoped for under the circumstances."

The reporter in the Man of Steel couldn't help but note that for someone who said she was having difficulty learning her way in America, Diana certainly seemed to be picking things up pretty fast. She deftly avoided the implied criticism in Lois's question and gave her answer more authority by linking it to the already expressed opinion of the Fire Department Chief.

Seeing that she had failed to throw the Amazon with her question, Lois quickly fired off a second one before any of the other reporters could interrupt her. She addressed it to Superman who she was sure wouldn't ignore her.

"Superman," she called out to get his attention. "Seeing that a few of my esteemed colleagues here seem to have the wrong impression about the actual relationship between you and Wonder Woman, would you care to set the record straight?"

To Lois's dismay, it was again Wonder Woman who answered and Superman made no attempt to interrupt or even correct her. The answer that the, in her opinion, much too beautiful Amazon gave was also not one that gave her comfort.

"Kal and I are of course both members of the Justice League," Diana said, her use of Superman's birth name implying a familiarity that bothered Lois to no end, "so we do have a very close professional relationship. As far as anything beyond that, well I think that even superheroes are entitled to a measure of privacy."

Unwilling to let Lois get a third question in, a half score of her competitors shouted out a half score of other questions. Superman and Wonder Woman both answered a few of them before excusing themselves to attend to what they referred to as important League business. Before the two of them took to the air, Superman glanced back to take a look at Lois. Looking at the expression on her face, he was glad that mind reading wasn't one of his abilities. He definitely didn't care to know what she was thinking at this moment.

-=-=-=-

Wonder Woman couldn't actually fly, but among the gifts granted to her by the Olympians was the ability to glide on air currents. Once they cleared the view of the reporters, Superman reached out and took her hand in his, letting her fly along under his power. The smile he saw on her face as well as the acceptance of this simple gesture both meant a great deal to him.

Wordlessly they sailed high over his adopted city, neither of them really paying any attention to the vast tableau beneath. The only thing that seemed to matter at this moment was the blue of each other's eyes.

Out beyond the city, Superman guided the two of them down to a landing on a large ledge jutting out from Mount Curtis. Here, far from prying eyes, they could continue the conversation they had starting twenty-four thousand miles above. As much as was on his mind, no words seemed to be forthcoming. All he found himself wanting to do was take the Amazon in his arms. Almost without realizing that he was doing it, it was exactly what he did.

The press of Diana's lips against his own was all he had dreamed it might have been. At first, when he realized what he had done, he was afraid he had gone too far. After all, they were supposed to be finding a quiet place to talk. Then, as he felt the woman in his arms responding to his kiss, that thought faded from his mind as well.

For a woman who, by her own admission, had only been with one man in her life, the Man of Steel thought that Diana was quite skilled as he felt her tongue explore his mouth. Then he realized he was proceeding from a false assumption. While it was true that Steve Trevor had been the only man in her life, the Amazon Warrior doubtlessly had a number of female lovers before that.

From his explorations of his Homeworld's culture, Superman knew that Kryptonian's made no distinction between genders as far as love or even just sex was concerned. While he had never been inclined in that area himself, the discovery of his parents' journals on a high density disk in his escape rocket had volunteered the information that his mother had female lover's before she meet his father. The most notable being her first officer on the Yuda.

"That was pretty nice," Superman said as they broke their kiss.

"Yes it was," Wonder Woman agreed as she felt the energy in the arms around her, confirming that which she had only guessed at before.

"I guess we should have that talk now," Superman said, almost reluctant to let her go.

"Amazons prefer actions over words," the dark haired woman said as she grabbed the back of his head and initiated her own kiss, this one backed with all of her own considerable strength.

Superman felt his head swimming in a pool of desire as the Amazon held him tight. An embrace that he was able to return without, for the first time in his life, the fear of hurting the woman he held.

"That was even better," Superman said as they finally let each other go.

"Yes it was," Diana agreed.

"So where do we go from here?" Superman asked.

The Amazon took a few steps away and looked out over the now darkening horizon. She seemed to be gathering her thoughts when she turned back to face the Man of Steel.

"As I've already said, we Amazons prefer to speak plainly and directly," she began.

"And I respect that," Superman replied.

"So having said that, I will also say that I want you as a lover."

"I was pretty much getting that impression," Superman smiled.

"That woman back at the fire, the one called Lois," Diana continued, "you and she have been lovers in the past."

"Of a sort," the dark haired hero said as he ran his hand across his forehead, brushing back his long curl. "we've dated on and off, but it hasn't gone as far as I might have liked."

"That is a mistake on her part," Diana commented.

"Well she's only seen me as Clark," Superman offered in way of explanation.

"Even in another guise, you are still the same man," Wonder Woman said as she gently ran her hand across his cheek. "She is blind if she can't see that."

Superman's thoughts flashed back to the conversation he'd overheard this afternoon between Kiko and Susan in the Planet offices. There had quite a number of women who had shown an attraction to Clark over the years that went well beyond what his mild mannered image might warrant.

"But we're not here to talk about Lois are we?" he said.

"No, not at all," Diana replied. "but to be honest, this was not exactly the setting I had in mind for the two of us."

"Well, there's always my apartment," he said half jokingly, thinking of what she had said about he and Clark being the same man.

"I was thinking more in line with my home," the Princess said.

"Themyscira?" Superman said in surprise.

"Yes."

"I thought that men weren't allowed there."

"We wouldn't be going to the Themyscira itself," Diana explained. "There is a smaller island nearby that isn't covered by the edict. It is very beautiful, I think you would like it."

"I think any beauty that I would see there would only pale beside that which I see when I look at you," he replied.

"Would you meet me there tomorrow, right after sunrise, Clark?" Diana asked, her face reflecting her reaction to his words.

"I would meet you on the Moon if you asked," Clark replied, thinking of himself as the man beneath the suit for the first time.

"Then I will see you as the sun rises," Diana said as she kissed him one last time and gave him the location of Themyscira.

With that, she leapt off the ledge and caught an air current that carried her off into the now dark sky. Superman stood and watched her fade into the distance, thinking about what morning might bring.

-=-=-=-

Donning once more the mantle of Metropolis's protector, Superman took to the skies himself. As good as he felt right now, he really wanted to fly. Ever since he had been a teenager, there was no better feeling than the one he got soaring among the clouds. Well, almost no better feeling.

Over the next three hours, the Man of Steel interrupted a half dozen petty crimes and one major one. The perpetrators of each found themselves in no longer empty cells in the closest police stations before they knew what was happening. Additionally, he prevented two automobile accidents and airlifted a traffic-snarled ambulance to the emergency room. Before heading home, he capped off his patrol by rescuing the proverbial stuck cat-stuck- in-a-tree, much to the astonishment of a six-year-old girl and her mother who had been unsuccessfully trying to lure it down with treats.

Superman was just about to zip into his Clinton Street apartment when a precautionary x-ray scan alerted him to the fact that it wasn't empty. Quickly he changed his trajectory and landed in the lane behind the apartment house. Seconds later, Clark Kent left the alleyway to circle the block and walk into 344 like any other tenant.

Clark feigned surprise when he walked into his apartment and discovered he had a visitor. Lois was the last person he expected to find there, even if he had given her a key while they'd been dating.

"Lois, is something wrong?" the mild mannered reporter asked.

"No, nothing's wrong," she said in a voice that said that it was a lie. "I just stopped by to talk to you. Since you weren't home and I still had the key, I figured I'd let myself in."

"Not that I'm not happy, but it's pretty surprising to see you," Clark went on as he tossed off his jacket and tie. "We haven't been on the best of terms lately."

"I know that," Lois answered, "and I guess I should say I'm sorry for that."

"Well I'm glad to hear that," Clark smiled, "but you really didn't have to come all the way up here to tell me. It really could've waited until Monday morning."

"Well, there was another reason that I came up here," Lois said as she came closer to Clark. "I wanted to make up for the lousy way that I treated you. In fact, I was thinking that maybe we might pick up where we left off, see what happens."

With that, she took hold of the lapel of Clark's shirt and pulled his head close to hers. She kissed him softly at first, then with more passion. Under other circumstances, it would've been something that Clark greatly enjoyed. As it was, events made it somewhat less than that.

Lois of course had no way of knowing that Clark knew all about her brief encounter with his alter ego and Wonder Woman. That her ego had been bruised by the possibility that Superman might actually turn to someone else for comfort. A goal she had set for herself.

Or that he knew about her sexual habits and the strong probability that she was only here now because Jose or anyone else she might turn to was unavailable. There was a time that Clark might've taken advantage of the situation regardless of Lois's motive, but tonight wasn't one of those times. Not when tomorrow held such promise.

"Lois, I can't do this," Clark said as he pulled away from her embrace.

"What?" Lois said in surprise. "You're kidding, right?"

"I'm afraid not." he said as he found himself staring at the erect nipples pressing against the confines of her blouse.

"I don't believe this," she said, the touch of anger in her voice betraying the real reason she had come to Clark's apartment. "You've been trying to get me interested in you for almost two years and when I give you a chance at what you want, you say no."

"Lois, I don't think you're really here because you suddenly developed a desire to be with me," Clark said. "I think the reason has more to do with your being angry with someone else."

"Well, maybe it is," Lois admitted, "but that doesn't mean we can't spend the night together. You can't tell me that isn't something that you've want. You can't tell me that you haven't thought about fucking me at least a hundred times."

"Another time, I would've said yes," Clark replied, "but this isn't another time. The simple truth is that I've met someone."

"You met someone?" Lois repeated.

"Yes, and while I don't know how it's going to work out, it's something that I want to explore."

"Well, Mr. Kent," Lois said, her voice reverting to the cold shoulder mode she'd been treating him to the last few weeks. "I hope she's one hell of a piece of ass, because you're never going to know just how good a piece you just passed up!"