Chapter Two
Compensating Holiday Wishes
New York City – Rockefeller Center – 3:02 P.M.
Lloyd Thomas liked being on the outside looking in. After years of being the center of so many peoples' attentions, whether as an experimental guinea pig in the clutches of Project Cadmus and Doctor Immanuel Lugae, a young mercenary in the service of Mao Tenryu, or as Batman's second-in-command, perhaps it was only natural that he would grow to like the idea of someone else having the spotlight. Still, regardless of how he came to enjoy it such situations, the 20-year-old man from the streets of Blackpool was quite content with merely watching all the goings on. As he calmly brushed some of the fallen snow out of his short, black hair, Lloyd shifted his hazel eyes back and forth across the idyllic, metropolitan scene. He took in the busy streets to the west and east, the well-trodden sidewalks and noisy corner vendors that bordered the aged roads, and, of course, the gaudy beauty of the enormous Christmas tree that dominated the very center of the plaza.
Quickly tiring of some of the more predictable sights, it didn't take long for Lloyd to turn his attentions over to the enormous ice skating rink around the tree. He wasn't surprised in the least to see that only a small percentage of the many travelers really seemed to know what they were doing out there, the exceptions to the common rule effortlessly weaving their way around the peaceful chaos with an almost carefree grace. However, it wasn't the competent participants of the popular Christmas activity that drew Lloyd's attention but, rather, the ones who stumbled along the way. The children who would slip and crash down onto the ice and then quickly get back up again despite the occasional fretful parent attepting to stop them. The young students who awkwardly bumbled through their steps and glides, laughing as they or one of their companions stumbled and fell.
The young telepath took a great deal of hope from all the noisy serenity. If anything else, it was a nice remainder of why he kept doing what he was doing even when a more rational fellow would have hid themselves away from the world long ago.
An ungainly snort of laughter from his left provided Lloyd with an even more appealing aide memoire. Turning his head to look at the source of the inelegant chortling, Lloyd needed no convincing to drink in the sight of Kara Zor-el standing beside him. His eyes first roved over the half-Kryptonian's shoulder-length blonde hair that was becoming increasingly riddled with the lightly falling snow. The lights of the giant tree flickered briefly against her face, the glass and halogen bulbs illuminating Kara's slightly tanned, somewhat thin, but still strong features that Lloyd knew were not the least bit affected by the near freezing cold. Then he took in his girlfriend's attire, from the comfy looking charcoal-colored sweater, the deep, navy-blue scarf wrapped around her elegant neck, her black jeans that covered her long, muscular legs and her equally dark coat and the former assassin suddenly found that he had to work hard to suppress a positively goofy giggle.
This woman wants me to be hers, he thought, the young man marveling at just the mere concept. This goofy, shy, and gorgeous woman. How in all that's bloody holy or unholy is something like that even possible?
Feeling a pair of familiar eyes upon her, The Last Daughter of Krypton turned to stare back at the curious look on Lloyd's face. Already having a good idea of just what was going on in her lover's head, Kara found she needed a moment to repress the need to shake her head back and forth while keeping her crystalline blue eyes on the young man known to some as The Black Dog.
"Enjoying the holiday season, Mister Thomas?"
There was a hint of mischief within Kara's question, an inkling that prompted Lloyd to promptly snap out of his reveries without any further delay. "'S a bit of all right," he rasped in response, his familiar West London patois sounding a bit more purposefully rough than usual. "Ya know, pet. I've been meanin' to ask you if you had anything like this back on Krypton."
Kara let out a sigh as she tilted her head to one side in thought, the inclination to snap at Lloyd for the use of his much-hated nickname for her stuffed down by her memories of the past. Looking back to see the apologetic concern in Lloyd's eyes, the young woman was quick to respond. "It's pretty hard to take a lot of stock in the birth of gods when you can already fly up into the heavens," she softly replied, her memories of a spoiled existence looking quite unpleasant in her mind's eye. "Of course, given my family's high standing, it was kind of hard to distinguish regular days from holidays anyway. Anything I wanted at anytime, I got."
Lloyd brought his teeth together and let out a barely discernible hiss, the young Brit now thoroughly regretting his question. He knew that Kara had a great deal more painful memories hidden underneath what she mentioned, hazy remembrances of her father's attempts to turn her into an unstoppable engine of destruction. A small part of him, the portion that wanted to protect this strong, occasionally graceful creature at all times, was already beginning to chastise the rest of him, harassing him for his stupidity.
The warm grip of Kara's hand on his and the sight of the young woman rolling her eyes stifled all of that in a hurry.
"That's enough of that," she warned with a mixture of playfulness and solemnity. "What about some of your Christmas memories? Anything good to remember on your end?"
Lloyd's initial reply was a wry smile and a squeeze of his girlfriend's hand, his reaction to his own stress significantly less severe than his previous response to Kara's. "Can't say I remember a great deal about the holiday season before my times in The Monster Farm," he confessed. "Still, Naomi did what she could to keep me and Vincent as happy as we could have been. She made sure to work over the holidays an' play Christmas music whenever Lugae wasn't around. Y'know, the good stuff. Not all this poppy dreck we've been hearin' over these speakers for the last half hour."
Kara chuckled while raising an eyebrow at the predictably gruff and cranky response. "The good stuff, huh?"
"Oh, yeah," Lloyd quickly replied. "Nat King Cole, Boyz II Men, Tony Bennett, The Chieftains. The doc tried to sing along every now and again, not very well, mind you, until me and Vincent would kick at our cells until she stopped."
Kara couldn't help but let out a warm laugh, her thoughts once again going out to Naomi Mitchell, the assistant of Doctor Lugae and the kindly woman who had somehow managed to keep the man she loved sane throughout all those harrowing times. "She seemed really happy to see you today."
"Well, I was happy to see her too," Lloyd responded rather matter-of-factly, the tart counter prompting his girlfriend to cluck her tongue against her cheek as she snuggled into his left side. "An' here's hopin' that my big sis will actually think me worthy of some of her time this holiday season as well," he added while pulling her closer.
"Ah, I'm sure she'll come," Kara assured Lloyd while firmly rubbing his back with the palm of her right hand. Past experiences had told Kara that Lloyd clearly liked it when she dug her fingertips into the muscle just below his spine and the almost hungry growl that rumbled from Lloyd's lips told her that this time was no different. Suddenly agreeing with Lloyd that they had something better to currently do than talking, Kara leaned in close just in time to share the familiar buzzing sounding off in her ear, a clear indication that the two of them had a guest.
"How's everything comin' about, Answer Man?" Lloyd asked, the authoritative tone in the candor of The Misfits' second-in-command suddenly roaring to life.
Noah Kuttler, ever the professional even during the most carefree of seasons, was equally quick to turn to his duties. "Quite well, Black Dog. As a matter of fact, Nightwing has already completed the preliminary preparations and is already awaiting your arrival."
"Well, good for him," Kara answered with a bit of forced cheer. "Are you sure you don't want to watch over all the festivities, C.C.? It'll be a little weird going on a patrol without you watching over us."
The two young soldiers could just hear the slightest of chuckles from Noah's side of the comm. link before the bespectacled hacker provided a more detailed answer. "I'm certain that the three of you will be quite all right without my surveillance. It seems to be nothing more than a standard gang bust-up, after all."
"Yeah, well I'm a little more worried about just what you're plannin' to do," Lloyd fired back with a cross retort. "You sure this is a good idea, mate?"
"Absolutely not, Black Dog," The Calculator shrewdly replied. "However, the lack of underlying wisdom behind my decision is not enough to keep me from at least making the attempt."
Kara and Lloyd shared a knowing look, a collective stare that was doubtlessly seen by the state-of-the-art satellite surveillance that Noah had at his disposal back in The Batcave.
"Just be careful, C.C.," Kara gently warned. "And we'll see you at dinner tonight."
"Well, thank you very much, young lady," Noah answered with a titch of stiff sincerity. "Oh. And Black Dog?"
"Yeah?"
"Scandal hasn't returned your call."
Lloyd initially knitted up his eyebrows, confused by the unusual statement. "I didn't ask if she called back."
"Oh, of course you didn't," Noah said with a clear note of good humor. "Happy hunting to the both of you."
The distempered grunt that emerged from Lloyd's lips mixed with the sound of Noah breaking off the comm. line and caused Kara to let out a small laugh. The chuckle, in turn, incited Lloyd to once again bring Kara a little closer to him as a suspicious twinkle ran through his eyes.
"Looks like our lunch break is over," Kara pointed out, the young woman looking not the least bit threatened by Lloyd's irritable behavior. "You know, given that it's Christmas Eve, you would have thought that we'd be off for the day."
"Yeah, or have one of them kitschy little Christmas parties with free booze," Lloyd added. "Still, given that our boss is the big, bad Batman. . ."
"Yeahhhhh," Kara broke in. "Maybe we should just be happy that we actually get to sit down for Christmas dinner instead of ordering at McDonald's."
The young couple shared another silent moment within the cocoon that they had momentarily built on this pleasant winter afternoon. The brightness of Kara's eyes began to look even more appealing than usual to Lloyd while Kara's inclination to run her long fingers through Lloyd's hair suddenly became quite hard for the young woman to resist.
"Are you happy?" Lloyd asked.
Kara let out an annoyed groan in response to the question. Leaning her body away from Lloyd just far enough so she could look into his eyes, she decided to placate her infuriatingly insecure boyfriend.
"For the last time," she warned. "If there's any other place I would rather be than here, I'd already have left to go there."
Lloyd didn't bother hiding his silly chuckling this time. "I guess I'm still a little surprised by all o' this," he confessed. "Didn't mean to cause you any frustration, luv."
"Well, I'm kind of shocked every now and again too," Kara replied softly, her own heart and mind drifting back to all the times she could have pursued what she had gained but had faltered. She could have burrowed within herself once again, stuck within the shadow of hers and others mistakes, but she took a chance. And, as a result, she had this. Whatever wonderful, frustrating, and pleasantly novel this was.
"Still though, Miss Zor-el," Lloyd added with a friendly growl. "You'll not here me complain."
Kara could feel her heart give off a bit of a flutter as she took in the cocky but still tender smile on her lover's face. "Me neither," she added, her arms slithering upwards until her hands brushed against the sparse hairs on the back of her lover's neck, "In fact, if you continue to be a good boy, I might just go through the trouble of helping you make up for all those crappy Christmases of yore."
The hunter's grin quickly returned to Lloyd's face, the alluring tone behind Kara's words quite appealing to him. Still, wanting to maintain at least an ounce of romantic credibility, The Black Dog did his best to stay cool and collected.
"No need to jump through hoops, luv. Got all I need to make up for things right here."
The young couple was more than happy to share another kiss as life went on around them. It was a gesture that perhaps lasted a bit too long given the fact that Richard Grayson was waiting for them. However, if this kindly audience can forgive these young lovers for taking an unnecessary minute or two to walk together through the fairly peaceful scene before rushing off to war, they would most certainly appreciate the kindness.
Misfits Confidential
Wow. It's been a long time since I've written a strictly romantic story. Here's hoping I haven't lost my touch (or at least whatever little skill I actually had in constructing such fluff). Still, I hope I at least set the table for some of the chapters to come although it's safe to say that plot has very little to do with what's going to be going on in these stories. Speaking of which. . .
Chapter Three Preview
Wanton destruction, loads of unnecessary noise, and the singing of profanity-laced Christmas carols. What else could it be but Cecilia King-Jones and Stephanie Brown enjoying the holidays at stately Wayne Manor? Pity poor Alfred Pennyworth as he struggles to keep up with the most mischievous of Misfits in the next installment of The Twelve Days of Misfits: It's The Most Destructive Time of the Year. Until then, remember to say what you think and write what you feel!
