The Last: Snapshots
Author's Note:
This is not a sequel. Let's get that out of the way before proceeding. Rather, it is a series of additional glimpses, 'Snapshots' if you will, of moments in time in 'The Last' universe. Because the original work covered so much time and with such a broad brush, I was not able to do all that I wanted. There were scenes that did not fit the narrative, slices of time in the lives of the various characters that seemed like wasted space, or just random ideas that detracted from the greater tale being told.
And thus, 'The Last: Snapshots' was born.
There is no overriding story narrative in this. It is simply meant to house the random scenes I was unable to fit into the core narrative or develop fully. Some chapters will be short, some might not be. Some might tie into the core narrative of 'The Last,' while some may have little mini-narratives of their own. As each is published, the fic will be set to Complete because I don't know when I will decide that I'm done or when inspiration will strike. And finally, feel free to offer suggestions about little moments providing they fit in the core narrative – I may use them and write something (in which case, I will give you proper credit).
Year Seven: Sunrise
December, 2019
Of all the places Diana expected to be on Christmas Day, the surface of Mars was not even on the list.
It had been Kal's idea – strangely, he had no plans with Lois for a change, and in fact, seemed to not spend very as much time with Ms. Lane as he once did, which once more ignited that stupid, foolish, ridiculous sense of misplaced hope swirling around in Diana's belly – and as someone weary of the enforced good cheer that seemed to accompany this overly commercialized, quasi-Christian holiday, Diana had promptly agreed, especially in the wake of the latest disagreement with her mother. The League had things well in hand at the moment and she would wrestle Cerberus himself if it meant she did not have to listen to another of the irritating and simplistic advertising jingles urging an unnecessary purchase this 'holiday season.'
So here she was, descending toward a desolate stretch of red sand overlooking an even more bleak landscape. Great mountains jutted up into the strange-looking night sky and a misshapen moon hung heavy there. It was still cold enough for her to take notice, though not so bad that she could not function. Kal was leading the way, of course, and it irritated her more than a little bit that she always seemed to be following him. Where he went, she did as well, without question or hesitation or complaint. She almost sighed – perhaps Mother had a point about her strange blindness when it came to this man.
Kal touched down first, lowering the large container he carried to the dirt before turning the handle clockwise and stepping back. Instantly, the diamond-shaped symbol upon the handle shot up, detaching from the device itself and rising up to a height of three or four meters. It rotated in place before breaking apart into six pieces – from the five angles of the Kryptonian-shaped symbol shot a handful of tiny devices that spread out, carrying with them an energy field. At the very same moment, the surface underfoot hardened to something resembling the walls of the Fortress. Kal was grinning broadly, especially as the case he had been carried unfolded even more; from the hardened ground, a pair of broad chairs rose up, which Diana had to admit was fairly impressive. She kept her expression as impassive as she could manage, though, even when she felt the sharp, sudden pressure accompanying the deployment of a human-norm atmosphere. It would not do to let him see what she truly thought.
"I knew you were jealous of my shield," she said instead, once he allowed his solar visor to retract and she followed suit with her own protective measures.
"I was making a point," Kal immediately retorted. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Diana rolled her eyes even as she stepped closer to the invisible forcefield and touched it. Her hand passed through it easily enough which was also quite interesting. "This is an expedition pressure tent," he said in response to her questioning glance. "I made a few modifications…"
"With Kelex's help," Diana guessed.
"With his help, yeah." He tapped the long case and its lid retracted, revealing food. Oddly, he was frowning. "I still haven't figured how everything on this works, though. I never seemed to run out of room when I was packing this thing … maybe Phantom Zone technology?"
"Or Kryptonian magic," Diana said with a smile. "So … why are we here exactly?" She caught the purple fruit he tossed her way. "A picnic?" Did her voice waver? Hera, she hoped not.
"Sort of." Kal continued extracting food and beverages, placing them on the lid that served perfectly as a table. "First, I figured you needed a distraction, what with your mom and all." Diana blinked.
"How did you know I was arguing with her again?"
"Well, it's a day that ends with the letter Y," Kal answered with a quick grin. "Plus, you've been wearing the full armor including that godawful helmet and that only seems to happen when you're really pissed at her." At this, Diana grunted softly, eyeing first the fruit – it looked and felt like an apple, though she'd never seen one this color before – and then him. Had she really been that obvious? She shook the moment off and took a step closer to the open middle of the tent. Clashing her bracers together, she let the panoply fall away, leaving her clad in the far more comfortable chiton. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kal grimace slightly as her armor floated to the ground and had to chuckle.
"That does not explain why you are here," she said as she bit into the apple. It was glorious. She must have made a noise of pleasure because Kal grinned at her.
"I've been experimenting with some crops at the Fortress," he said quickly. "Mixed some Kryptonian fruit genes with a regular apple. You like?"
"I do." She took another bite. "Stop prevaricating, Kal," she ordered lightly.
"It was something Hal said to me." Kal did something to his armor and his cape quivered before retracting, securing itself to his back in an almost solid, flat square. "Did you know I've seen sunrises on nine different planets, not including Earth?" He gestured as he took a seat on one of the chairs. "And I've never seen one here on Barsoom." Diana gave him another look – from the way he used the unfamiliar word, it was one of his neverending literary references she did not understand – but he was looking into the distance and seemed to not notice her lack of understanding. Abruptly, he shrugged. "You grew up on Themyscira alongside mythological creatures so you expect to see … wonders." Kal gave her a sheepish smile. "I'm just a Kansas boy with freaky powers who grew up hoping the Jayhawks wouldn't suck from year to year." Diana blinked. Birds? No, it would be sports. It was always sports.
"Football?" she guessed, which caused him to chuckle.
"College football, yeah." He scowled. "And they sucked ass this year like you wouldn't believe."
"Likely not," Diana replied. She tested one of the chairs for stability and then took a seat. It was surprisingly comfortable. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. "Could Lois not make it?" she asked hesitantly, still not quite sure how to maneuver through this particular minefield. Over the last few weeks, Bruce had made a couple of leading comments that, in addition to being his usual 'look at how brilliant I am' type of statements, hinted at a dissolution of the Kal-Lois romantic relationship. Ever since, Diana had been trying to figure out a way to ask about this without sounding … Hera, this was harder than it had any right to be. She'd had no trouble explaining herself to Steve. Why was it so hard with Kal?
"Are you kidding?" Kal fished out one of those alien beers from the container and tossed it her way. "She won't even get onto an airplane anymore thanks to me." He shook his head. "Ever since that Intergang thing …"
"What Intergang thing?"
"Oh. Yeah. You were on Themyscira during that mess." Kal leaned back in his seat. "Lois was doing an expose on New York state government and corruption a couple of years ago, pissed off Intergang somehow, and they sent these … pheromone tracking hunter-killers after her. Tiny little things, only about this big." He held up one hand, with his thumb and pointing finger about two inches apart. "Problem was, they were all over the city, so I could smash one and fifty more would take their place. And she couldn't leave Metropolis because of another one of their attempts to kill her."
"So how did you resolve it?" Kal snickered.
"I didn't," he replied. "I called in J'onn and let him do the detective work while I flew Lois around the city, ducking those tiny machines the entire time. And those things were fast! We had to stay airborne for a couple of hours." His smile was broad. "She hated it. I think she threw up on my old suit so many times I ended up throwing it out." Diana tried not to laugh at the mental image – she liked Lois and considered the woman a friend – but failed and snickered, but was unfortunately taking a sip of the Almeracian beer and it almost came up the wrong way. "Ever since then, she refuses to fly." Diana snorted. "Like you've got any room to talk," Kal said with a wry look. At that, Diana had to shrug in at least partial agreement – after all, Steve had sworn off flying himself shortly after they first met.
They sat there for a while longer, laughing and joking over the various foibles of their strange lives, and Diana could tell the instant that the sun began to peek over the distant mountains. Not because she was facing that direction, but rather because she was watching Kal. He tensed very slightly, though she doubted he was even fully aware of doing so, and a moment later, turned his head in the direction of the sun.
"Very nice," Kal remarked long minutes later.
"I've seen better," Diana replied.
"Me too," he said, "but don't tell J'onn."
"How could I when you will not introduce me to him?" The smile in her voice gave away her amusement and Kal shrugged, knowing that she did not blame him. It was the Martian who remained leery of people, not Kal. "On Themyscira," she added, "the sunrise is only topped by the sunsets." Not for the first time, she wished her moth was less recalcitrant. She so wanted to show Themyscira to Kal; he'd shared so much of himself with her and yet, because of her mother's misplaced fears, she could not reciprocate.
"Don't forget the random harpy attack." Diana returned his smile.
"Ah, but those only make things exciting!" When he opened his mouth to respond, she continued. "Think of them as my equivalent to your random robot attacks in Metropolis." At that, he laughed outright. It was a lovely sound, one that she had not heard enough since his mother passed.
And that, Diana decided, made this entire trip worth it.
