Shallow

The Planet Dive Bar, Metropolis

'The Planet', Dinah called it. The best dive bar in Metropolis…

"More like a hole in the wall", I thought to myself. "Better get this over with."

Why I let Dinah talk me into going to these bars I'll never know. With a sigh I open the door to a room full of bodies. A sweet mellow beat echoes from all to wall. In the front of the room was an uplifted stage with stairs on either side. Some local band was up there playing their set. The crowd seem to be off in their own little world paying them to mind. Making my way to the bar they band's song began to wind down.

A faint applause trickled throughout the room.

"Let's give a round of applause for…" a man up on stage began to speak but his mic kept fading in and out in between every word.

"Tough crowd," I muttered as I reached the bar.

Glance back to the stage I watched the host of the evening hitting the mic against his hand trying to get the sound to come back on.

"It's always like that here," the bartender replied. "The Planet has always been more a classic rock kind of place.

I turned back to the bar as I heard the bartender speak. I watched him gulp hard as I notices the golden braces on my wrist.

"What will it be ma'am?" the bartender asked.

The bartender's wrinkled faintly smiled at me. It was obvious that he recognized that he had an Amazon princess standing before him. It was amusing who referred to me as, 'ma'am'. At least he didn't start bowing before me. Sometimes I wish things could be like, how does Superman put it 'as simple as Smallville'.

"Whisky, neat," I replied with a smile.

I heard him breathe a sigh of relief as he turned away from me to make my drink.

"… Up next we've got…"

The host's mic went out as louder applause filled the room. Must be someone popular. As the bartender placed my drink in front of me a lone guitar chord echoed as the bar grew silent.

"Sing it farm boy!" a woman hooted from the crowd.

The bartender shook his head.

"Thought I banned her," he muttered under his breath as he signaled to bounce beside the bar.

I snickered.

"That couldn't be her?" I thought to myself. "She was too uppity to be seen in a place like this."

Shaking the thought from my mind I took a sip from my drink. The hot whisky burned all the down as I closed my eyes and let the guitar's melody lull me. After a few moments of just the guitar a deep voice filled the bar.

"Tell me something girl…."

That voice… I turned to face to stage. Through the crowd I saw him. Superman, well him in his 'Clark' persona. His thick black rimmed glasses almost dances in the stage lights. Clad in a plaid button-up shirt and jeans, he sat on a stool in front of a mic. As she strummed the guitar in his hands, the muscles in his massive arms flexed underneath it. No matter how baggy he wore his clothes his power frame couldn't be contained.

"Are you happy in this man's world…"

"Superman", I mouthed as I stood to my feet.

As the air left my lips as I mouthed his name, I watched his pale blue gaze meet mine through the crowd. So piercing was his gaze that he almost stared through my very soul.

"Or do you need more?

He couldn't have noticed my breath with all the peole in this room. A hundred breaths had happened since I mouthed his name. How did he know it was me? Taking a breath Superman glanced away from me and looked down at the guitar in his gasp. His powerful hands strummed the guitar once more. Leaving a haunting vibration in the air. It touched my very core.

"…In all the good time I find myself longin' for change…"

Once more Superman's eyes found mine. I let out a shaky breath as I closed my eyes.

"Tell me something boy…" I began to sing out loud as I lower my glass from my lips.

My voice merged with the sound of his guitar's melody into the air. The people in the bar turned their eyes towards me. I felt every gaze as I watched them mutter…

"Is that Wonder Woman?"

Through the sea of a hundred gazes I only saw him. I placed my whisky on the bar behind me. Leaving it behind I slowly being to walk towards the stage. Each weighted step kept in time with Superman's notes. As I walk through the sea of people, they part in front of me. My heart raced the closer I walked towards him on the stage. Heart over took head in this moment.

Courage built up within me as I stepped onto the stage. A smirk spreads across Superman's face as he turned to see me standing behind him.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen," he said as he turned to the crowd. "We've got a special guest with us on the stage. Who knew the most powerful woman on this planet had a voice of an angel too?"

Superman made a note in the air for a moment.

"If you wanna hear her finish this duet give her a round of applause," he added.

I shook my head as panic took hold of me.

"No," I muttered over and over as the crowd began to chant my name.

"Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman…" the chanted.

"Come on," Superman said as he waved his hand for me to come closer to him.

Once more he began to strum the guitar in his hand. Slowly I moved in closer to Superman until only the mic separated us. Our gazes burned into each other as he stared at me.

"… Aren't you tired of tryin' to be human?" I continued as I leaned into the mic "Or do you need more? Ain't it hard keeping it up this facade."

What did these people think of me, Wonder Woman in love with a god amongst men who 'hide' himself in this man in plaid… No. I loved just him. The man behind the cape and glasses.

Superman plucked his guitar was I wait for a sign. Had to spoke too much truth? Was he not ready to hear our unspoken truth?

Superman's massive framed towered over me. One of the few men on this planet who did.

"I am," he mouthed as he placed a kiss atop my head.

His eyes glanced down at mine as he continued to play along with my voice.

"I'm off the island, watch as I dive in…" I sang. "I'll never meet the ground. Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us…"

With a pause my voice echoes in the bar. I took a breath.

"We're far from the shallow now," he sang back to me answering my call.

"In the shallow, shallow…" our voices sang in unison.

Superman leaned into the mic. His face was inches from my own. I stare up at his piercing blue eyes.

"We're far from the shallows now…" our voices sang blending together.

I pulled my gaze away from Superman's as I looked out in front of the crowd. All eyes were on us. I took the mic into my hands and inhaled deeply.

"Oh, oh, oh… WHOAH", we harmonized together.

His guitar and my voice became one as we let out all the pent-up feelings we shared in a symphony of passion. Building upon itself until it shook the walls.

"I'm off the island, watch as I dive in… I'll never meet the ground!" I bellowed as I held the mic in my hands.

The crowd cheered.

"Crash through the surface…"

"We're they can't hurt us", Superman voice joined mine. "We're face from the shallow now."

The guitar in Superman's grasp started to slow. The calm after the storm. An almost lullaby rang out from Superman's fingers.

"In the shallow," I sang softly.

"… Shallow", Superman echoed.

"We're far from the shallow now…" we sang together.

As the last note rang out into the bar Superman and I stared breathlessly at one another. The crowd busted into an uproar, but their screams were drowned out as Superman claimed my lips.

"We're far from the shallows now," he muttered.