Both Clark and Diana changed into their iconic suits and joined Mera and John Henry in the monitor room. "What's going on?" They both asked simultaneously, causing Mera to turn curiously.
"A meteor shower is on it's way towards earth. We thought it was going miss us, but apparently the planet's gravitational pull changed it's trajectory. It's due to hit the Northeastern US and Southeast Canada in about 10 minutes." John Henry explained.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Diana asked.
"We didn't know it was going to happen. It was almost as if it made a sudden course correction." Mera explained.
Clark looked at the screen and followed their extrapolated path. "Huh, that's weird. Any readings that would explain the sudden change?"
"Not from what I can tell, they seem to be regular old space rocks. I can send you down from here, and I have Shayera on call ready to join you if necessary."
"Have they detected it on earth yet?" Diana asked.
"I would imagine they have."
"They'll go into a panic if we don't show." Clark noted. "Let's get going."
Diana joined him on the transporter pad. "At least we got to eat dinner this time."
"At least." He said as they faded to another location.
Just like she could get her armor to appear out of nowhere, Diana could also get weapons. She called a heavy battle mace into her hand, made from some kind of Olympian metal. She and Superman were hovering above the clouds waiting for Hawkgirl.
"The pot roast was good, can I could take some of it home?" She asked.
"Sure. That'll make a hell of a sandwich."
"Will you two get serious?" Hawkgirl approached them from behind. "We've got a crisis on our hands and all you can think about is sandwiches?"
Clark was a little embarrassed that Shayera heard that, but Diana wasn't. "Don't worry, we're ready. Kal, how should we do this?"
When a situation was at hand, the humorous farm boy disappeared quickly. When lives were at stake he became their fearless leader. Ready with a plan at the drop of a hat. "I'll break the atmosphere and do what I can to deflect everything away from the planet. Anything that gets past me, put it in the water or smash it to bits."
"You got it." Shayera said, raising and charging her mace.
"Ok. Be careful Kal."
He didn't even look back at her before he sped off, Diana didn't really expect him to. He was in Superman mode, ready to get the job done. There would be time for humor or sentiment later. Shayera however took the opportunity to take a dig at Diana.
"Be careful Kal." Shayera said mocking Diana's swoon, causing the Amazon to glare at her.
Before she could say anything else several meteors came hurtling towards them. Diana sped towards the biggest one and swung her mace into it. Causing the meteor to shatter into dust. Her mace, made on Themyscira had magical properties on it designed to devastate whatever it hit. Shayera was a little jealous, her Nth Metal was nice, and pretty effective but she had nothing on Diana's. Not only that Diana was a bit stronger too.
It took Shayera several blows to accomplish what Diana did. The meteors were pulverised into small bits. A warning was sounded to keep people indoors on the ground, but even then if anyone got hit it wouldn't be overly dangerous.
Out in space, Superman was doing his best to keep the largest ones away from the planet. Instead of smashing them like Diana and Shayera were doing, he was trying to just push them out of the path of earth. So far, only six or seven had gotten past him, and those were relatively small. Every time he checked on Shayera and Diana, he saw that they were having a relatively easy time with them. More or less, this was a simple task.
Back on the watchtower, Shayera went to go get into a shower, while Clark and Diana stood around talking.
"Dessert?" Diana asked, wondering if he had planned for it.
"Oh, I didn't have anything set up, but I'm sure we could get something. You want to?"
"On second thought, nevermind I'm covered in space dust. I should hop in the shower myself. Maybe we can do something this weekend if you're not busy?" Diana suggested.
"Yeah we can do that. No problem."
"Alright, bye Kal." Diana headed quickly for the showers.
Clark stood silently for a few minutes, ignoring John Henry and Mera who were sitting silently in the room, before deciding to be sent to Metropolis. He would spend the rest of the night relaxing if he could.
Once he left, Mera turned to John Henry. "They're still not dating?"
"Nope." John Henry didn't even take his eyes off the screen.
"I always wondered why." Mera mused.
"Why what?"
"They never hooked up. They obviously like each other, why not go for it you know?"
John Henry long stopped wondering if Clark and Diana would ever get together, but he decided to humor Mera, who spent the vast majority of her time in Atlantis. "They got their situation worked out, maybe they don't want to ruin a good thing."
"Yeah there's that, but it seems like they're selling themselves short."
"Hey, I don't know."
"Is Clark seeing someone else maybe? I'm pretty sure Diana isn't."
"Not that I know of."
"Aren't you two friends? Wasn't he the one who inspired you to step up and fight for justice?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we hang out all the time. We watch football, stuff like that."
"Oh, right." Mera still didn't get human male bonding, and doubted she ever would.
The next day Clark was finishing his day at work. As he gathered up his things to prepare to go home for the weekend, Lois Lane came seemingly from out of nowhere to stop him.
"Clark! I need a favor from you."
"What kind of favor?" Far too often she asked for things he didn't want to do.
"I have a blind date tonight, and I want you to be my bodyguard."
Clark considered it for a moment. "No."
"Come on Clark I need you on this, because for whatever the hell reason when you're around I don't need Superman to save me." Lois begged.
"That's because I believe in leaving before things get too dangerous." Clark reasoned.
"Look, I'll buy you dinner. I just want you to check him out make sure he's not a mutant."
"Ok, now you've said something, a free meal can get you places. Dinner from where?"
"Breezy Blues."
"No deal, their food sucks." It was a semi-upscale place with expensive food that came in small portions and quite frankly wasn't that good anyway.
"Work with me here Clark, he's a doctor that's where he wanted to go. Look just go to the bar like 10 minutes ahead of me, have a few drinks, check the guy out and I'll text you when you have the ok to leave."
"And if he's a crazy?"
"You act crazier." Lois explained. "Play the whole crazy ex-con boyfriend routine."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. we've done it before."
"That was you!" Clark's date had actually been going well until Lois showed up, and ultimately scared the woman away.
"She was a slut Clark."
"I know."
"And she tormented me in high school."
"See you should've let me seal the deal and then I would just not call her back."
They'd had this conversation before, but Lois was unrelenting. "No, no, she's a slut, sluts love it when you don't call them back. She didn't even deserve the pleasure of sleeping with you."
"Whatever, the food at Breezy's still sucks."
"Ok fine Clark, I'll take you to lunch on Monday, we'll go to your favorite place, and sit at the bar where ducklips can bat her eyes at you." Lois relented.
"I can work with that, and her name is Jenna by the way." The bartender at his favorite place had a thing for Clark,, but he never made any sort of move on her.
"I can't remember her name Clark, she has ducklips that's all I know."
She didn't have ducklips actually she was cute, but Clark decided to keep his mouth shut. Lois could a really nice person, when she wanted to be, but sometimes she got obnoxious. He often found it best to just roll with the punches.
He went into the restaurant a few minutes before Lois was supposed to meet her blind date and was able to get a seat at the bar. This place didn't really have traditional bar food, so he simply ordered a beer.
He and Lois were the best of friends. Lois began working at the Daily Planet just a few months before he did, and at first they were rivals, jockeying for position as the top reporter. She had an ability to bring out the passion and fire in him that few others could so easily. Their co-workers hated being around them, because they always seemed to be at each others throats. Until one day, Cat Grant came out and said, 'You two should just bone and get it over with.' So they did, and things cleared up after that.
They realized they had a lot in common and actually really liked each other. They dated for months, until Clark realized that as much as he loved spending time with Lois, he was never in love with her, and never would be. He explained that he wanted to be part of her life, but thought he could best do that as her friend. In an act that totally solidified their friendship, Lois understood.
As Lois and her date, Dr. Justin Carroll began to converse Clark could tell they would hit it off quickly. He seemed like a decent guy, clean cut, educated private practice doctor, and an army brat like Lois. Thanks to her background check, it was known he made decent money, had no criminal record, and wasn't in serious debt.
A text from Diana buzzed to his phone. 'Found something else. Meet us at the tower when you can. Di.'
He texted Diana back a quick 'ok' before paying for his drink and leaving. He could have just left Lois alone, she would have been fine, but he decided to let Justin know what he was in for.
He came up behind her, "Hey Lois. He's not a mutant, can I go now?" Then he turned to Justin, "Hey man, how's it going?"
"Thank you Clark." Lois growled, her voice full of frustration. "I will see you at work on Monday."
"Will do, you two have a nice evening." Clark strode off, smiling to himself.
"Who was that?" Justin asked.
"That was Clark. One of my co-workers."
"Let me guess you asked him to stick around to make sure I wasn't crazy?"
"Maybe."
Justin laughed, it was rather amusing. "Well alright."
"Sorry about that, but these days a girl has got to be smart. Clark's a sweet guy, a little tactless, but sweet."
"Hey it's all good. This online dating this is a bit of a crapshoot, I was a little worried that you didn't look anything like your picture. But I am happy to see that you're even more lovely in person. And I'm glad he came up here, because now I know not to mess with you, because Clark is a big guy."
"Yes he is, 6'4 235." Lois warned.
"Oh a real linebacker."
"I think he played quarterback, or was it cornerback? I can't remember. Anyway… let's get back to us."
The rest of the date went well, but Justin did wonder a little bit if there was more to Lois and Clark than she led him to believe.
Clark arrived at the watchtower right after leaving the restaurant. Finding Diana and John Henry in the monitor room staring at the readouts on the screen.
"What's up?" He asked.
"An asteroid." Diana answered.
"An asteroid?" Clark repeated.
John Henry answered for her. "25 kilometers across, moving on the same path the meteor shower did. It hasn't turned towards earth yet, but I'm thinking it might."
"Ok, so what am I here for?" Clark wondered.
"You're the only one who can do anything about it." said John Henry.
"Do you have anything in the fortress that could help?" Diana queried.
"For an asteroid? Not that I know of, what about Hal or John? They could help."
"We asked about that, Oa wouldn't even tell us where they were. They might be dealing with something serious. Tomar-Re said he'd relay a message to them, but he couldn't promise they'd be able to help us in time."
"So it's all on me?" Clark sighed.
"Nobody else can deal with being out in space for long enough to do anything about it. I can only hold my breath for so long." Diana's body could handle the cold vacuum of space without issue. However she could only hold her breath for about 30 minutes, that is if she didn't strain her muscles too much. She was concerned about her ability to help, while they did have space suits, they were for repairs outside the station, not for any sort of strenuous activity.
"Clark, do you maybe have some kind of Kryptonian space suit? Something Diana could wear?" John Henry wondered.
"No. We tried that already. They're coded to Kryptonians only, and we haven't figured out how to change that yet." Diana explained. "It looks like you're our only option right now Kal."
Clark sighed. "When will it hit?"
John Henry pointed to the screen, "If it continues to follow the same path as the meteor shower, it'll hit the earth in 4 days."
"So we've got three to come up with a plan. I'm headed to the fortress to see what I can learn from there." Clark turned to leave.
"I'll go with you." Diana followed.
The two of them were transported into the earth's atmosphere and flew several thousand miles to the site of the fortress. He always preferred that no one get too close to it, and rarely allowed visitors which meant if they stopped by it meant they had to know exactly where it was. The senior members of the Justice League had been inside several times, but only as invited. Diana however was always welcome, and was given access to all areas of the Fortress. Clark had appointed her it's caretaker in the event that something ever happened to him. He had some pretty dangerous equipment that could never fall into the wrong hands.
Immediately upon stepping inside, Diana kicked off her boots. For two reasons, one, she felt quite at home here, and two because the floor was incredibly comfortable. It held it's shape even under immense pressure, but something soft such as walking across it felt like jello on the bottoms of her feet. It was a material like no other, one that she wished she could put into her room at the embassy and in her room on Themyscira.
"How would they deal with something like this on Krypton?"
"I'm not sure, that's why I'm here. Space travel was outlawed at a couple hundred years before I was born. But there had to be sometime where they were faced with some sort of threat from the outside and didn't just let it happen."
Diana wondered how he coped with the fact that he was the only surviving Kryptonian outside of the maniacs imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. He rarely spoke of the destruction of his planet of origin, but when he did it always seemed to be a lament about their short sightedness. Maybe it was his sense of humor, that his laughter was more like tears of a clown. Sometimes she wondered.
She watched him silently as he read through his Kryptonian database, looking for any sort of precedent for dealing with a threat such as the one they were facing. She couldn't read the symbols that were racing across the screen, but could tell that Kal had zeroed in on something. She could see one particular symbol that kept popping up, and noticed that his eyes were drawn to it every time.
"You found something, what is it?" She asked.
"Not something, someone."
"Who?"
"Zeera Jo-Lack, she was an astronaut, one first prisoners in the Phantom Zone."
"They locked her up for being an astronaut?" Diana wondered, Kal always said the Kryptonians were harsh but that seemed a little much.
"No, they locked her up for murdering 40 people."
"Oh my."
"The Phantom Zone is home to 344 criminals, which is actually relatively few, but it was basically the death penalty. These people are the worst of the worst, which is why I'm second guessing myself."
"What are you second guessing?"
"Bringing her out of the zone and asking her for help."
"Is that wise?"
Clark rubbed his hands together. "I don't really think so, which is why I'm going to get a second opinion."
Diana knew what that meant by now, he was going to ask Bruce. It wasn't a bad idea Bruce was a smart guy whose opinion held weight with each of them. He was also probably aware of the asteroid situation by now, and was probably coming up with a plan himself.
"Well that didn't take long." Diana moved to put her shoes back on.
"Nope, back to the watchtower it is."
In a secure room, inaccessible to the Justice League freshmen Clark, Diana and Bruce convened. Bruce was pacing back and forth. "You said it yourself, you don't think it's a good idea to bring this lady out of her prison. Even if you douse he with red sunlight, and have Diana as backup, it's still not a good idea."
Clark simply nodded his head. Bruce hadn't told him anything he didn't already know, he was more or less looking for vindication. After all, Diana hadn't said anything either way.
"You know, you could always just put the damn thing into the Phantom Zone." Bruce said after a minute.
"Oh." Diana raised her eyebrows.
"Wow, I really didn't think of that one." Clark mused.
"You know that just might work." Diana turned and said. "Sometimes the simple answers are the best."
Clark looked back and forth between Bruce and Diana. "You're right. I mean I could always just fly out there and smash the thing, but this is probably the best solution. So in a not so ironic twist, I'm headed back to the fortress."
