Disclaimer: No money is being made from this, the characters are not mine and copyright infringement is not intended.
Chapter Seven
Bitter Exes
"I don't think so."
"Oh come on…" A hand slapped on a scarlet thigh. "He's the greatest."
"No. She is." Wings fluttered slightly though no quarter was given. "She can wipe the floor with the rest of them."
"Ha! I highly doubt that." Wally leaned back, placing his hands behind his head, looking proud at a sudden thought. "My captain is battle tested by the toughest, meanest baddies in the galaxy. He was even assimilated once."
"Haven't you heard? My captain eats the Borg for breakfast."
"Maybe…but he and his crew have the movies."
"And in the last movie…" Slender fingers drummed on the immaculately polished conference table. "…Jean Luc is still a captain and Kathryn Janeway is…"
He fell into his own trap. "Well…"
"An admiral!"
His open mouth closed at the dead end to the argument though Wally was still digging through the dusty archives of his brain for stored information after years of devoting precious time to the tube because of his lackluster performance in asking the opposite sex for a time out.
"If it were not for the babe Seven of Nine the show should have been cancelled after season four."
Shayera pinched him on the cheek. "Subtly changing the topic, eh?"
Admitting defeat for the moment, Wally was about to turn to his other quieter seatmate and ask Diana which Friend was her favorite when the conference room doors opened and three confident males suddenly entered the room. He stifled a bout of the chuckles at the amusing way they marched almost in unison, left, right, left, right, because he only knew too well that he would be at the receiving end of a very pointed glare.
Give or take a few seconds more, Superman completed the entourage.
"Before anything else I just want to…" Superman cleared his throat.
And after years of knowing him, Diana knew something was amiss whenever he scratched an imaginary itch.
"…Discuss a pressing matter."
From somewhere, Superman was able to produce an early edition of the Daily Planet that he was leafing through. After a shuffle and a fold, he laid on the table the cause of his concern and awkwardness.
"Can someone please…explain?"
"Big guy…" Wally started, leaning on the table to get a better view. "That's the entertainment section. My favorite part of the morning paper…next only to the comics, of course."
"Not that." Superman's finger pointed twice at a picture. "Here."
"Oh! Who's that?" Wally tried to zoom in. "Hey…that's Bats! And…"
It was not a really a flattering shot, blurred and out of focus to say the least, but the two figures in the frame were nonetheless distinguishable.
"I think…" Diana tried to appear casual, knowing that the picture was of her and Bruce just moments after their short tryst in the ruined building. "…The other is me."
"Sure? I really can't see because of the Bats' cape…and it's black and white," Wally commented. "For all we know, it might be Supes under…"
"Flash…"
"…There though what in the name of everything sacred would he be doing under Bats…Ouch!" Wally looked up and realized that after Diana stepped on his foot that neither Superman, nor Bruce, was nowhere near impressed by his theory. He immediately sat down like his life depended on it. "Okay…strike that one out of the record…"
"Trust me…I'm not the other one in that picture." Superman finally looked at his friend. "May…I ask what's going on?"
"Why do I get that you're implying that there is something going on?" It was Batman who spoke.
"Because a picture is worth a thousand words."
"It's the camera angle, Kent. It makes you see something that is not there."
"Really?"
"And what if something is indeed there, for the sake of argument? Are the personal lives of each member of the league your concern?"
"It is my concern when the reputation of the league is compromised."
"The reputation of the league has been compromised several times."
She knew Bruce was fetching for a full-scale argument that would drastically alter the present line of conversation and divert the attention to something more trivial than a paparazzi's attempt to gain notoriety. But somewhere, deep in her consciousness, was this hope that her stubborn and oftentimes arrogant boyfriend would just be humble and admit to the truth.Maybe…this is the right time to tell them.
Willing her eyes to silently convey her thoughts to the man sitting just across her as if she was J'onn, she tried to make eye contact and appeal to him that this could be the perfect opportunity they were waiting for, that fate itself seemed to have intervened in their behalf for their relationship to be known to their friends.
"Look…Bruce…" Superman shifted. "I just want to clear the matter."
Come on Bruce, just tell him…tell them.
"If I have to justify every picture you find, it would take more than a Monday morning meeting."
Superman took away the paper. "I don't want this to be blown out of proportions because the public has quite an imagination, specially when it comes to us. If you surf the net, there are quite a number of groups dedicated to you and Diana."
"Just ignore it."
The Man of Steel sighed. "If Diana's reputation was not at stake, I would have."
At the frank words uttered in admission that Superman was only concerned because of her, her face and eyes registered a look of surprise that thoughtfully gazed at her friend as her voice softly called out. "Kal…"
Her smile of silent gratitude was not lost in the eyes of her friend. Then she diverted her attention, still trying to send a message to Bruce with the beseeching look still present in her countenance.
But it was not hard to decipher that there was suddenly something different in him.
"I know better than to have a relationship with a teammate." Meaningful words were uttered with an edge to the deep voice.
"Tell that to the mar---"
"Like Batman said," John only knew to well to interrupt Shayera. "If we have to justify every picture, it will be a very long story. Just imagine the time when I fell unconscious and my face fell exactly over Diana's breas---"
"You're not helping." Shayera shot him a glare.
In between the exchange, there was this eerie feeling of despair that tugged at her heart with the knowledge that it would not be long before she felt the full weight of the slap of the hand of disappointment.
"To end this and resume a more important matter, I'm telling everyone there's nothing going on between me and Diana."
It was a complete turnaround from what she hoped would happen, the exact opposite of what was promised in a moment of intimacy that left so many questions unanswered in her mind, in addition to the feeling of hurt.
Knowing Bruce, there was a valid explanation for this.
"We are nothing but teammates." He just had to add for good measure.
And the way the five words carelessly slipped from his lying mouth, the way nothing was clearly emphasized, made the flicker of doubt abruptly turn into a flame of anger because she felt so dismissed unimportantly that it made her wonder if Saturday and Sunday did exist at all for him. He was acting like a totally different man.
But she had to keep a lid on her emotions, willing herself to be calm even if her insides were starting to boil like the pits of Tartarus.
I thought I knew him.
I was wrong.
He was about to open her mouth and probably deny her again when she decided she had had enough. "Bruce…I think they get the point."
Nothing… Nothing but teammates…"Kal…" It was time she spat some of her ire and hoped it bit her ex boyfriend. "Don't worry too much. There's really nothing going on."
When the words came out of her lips as nonchalantly as his earlier her eyes were fixed on Bruce to make him aware that she was not lying. When he uttered the cowardly words the first time, he broke whatever there was between them.
What began was now ended.
And her word was like gospel to her friend who decided to resume the meeting.
"Okay." Superman leaned on his chair.
And like Bruce had asked for, the matter was settled and the Kryptonian began the meeting.
She sat still, assuming a comfortable and unaffected pose, with her blue eyes on fixed on her friend. But her attention was too distant that she would not even notice if his cowlick shrunk and a moustache started growing because the inner voice of turmoil would not be denied.
So it was nothing then…She barely heard Superman's voice saying something about befriending another alien species.
I meant nothing to him…this arrogant caveman!He was adding that having this powerful alien race as allies would be very beneficial for earth, though he could well be speaking in Kryptonian because she did not comprehend a single word.
I am no different from the rest of the women…And he was taking Batman, John and J'onn to a deep space goodwill mission to meet with them. That sentence finally got to her with the mention of a name that she was starting to dislike.
Batman on a goodwill mission? Hera help us!After the laborious task of keeping her hands from shaking him into submission and admitting to their relationship during the more than twenty minutes that she had to sit through the discussion, the meeting thankfully adjourned. Instantly, she disentangled herself from any small talk, not wanting to face Shayera's meaningful stare that translated into what the hell just happened? and walked out of the room to get away from the choking atmosphere.
But she just had to make this one small effort.
"Bruce…" She whispered, making sure no one was within earshot. "Bruce…I know you can hear me."
"What?"
His voice was a whisper but she could sense the irritation.
"I thought---"
"Not now."
From the tone of his voice, he might as well have said not ever.
Sighing in frustration, at the same time placating the nerves that threatened to cause a major migraine, she proceeded to the cafeteria in the vain hope that a satisfying breakfast would change her outlook. She immediately noticed that something very interesting made most of the males present in the room gather at a particular table like teenage girls who were discussing the merits of the newest weight loss program.
"I wish I could be half as lucky." She was not sure if it was Booster Gold or the Elongated Man who said the words.
"In your dreams," another voice mentioned.
"I dream about her sometimes…"
From nearby, Green Arrow was clearing his throat as she approached. "Ehem!" Ollie almost shouted but the testosterone driven crowd was oblivious.
"I bet Bats scored big time."
"Fifty says they were doing some hanky panky."
"I bet my balls the Princess---"
"And what would they do with your balls, anyway?" She flung her arm on Ralph's flexible shoulders that immediately stiffened like a pole.
There was this inaudible but very obvious aw shucks! in their facial expressions when her eyes fell on the very same newspaper that Superman brought to the ill-fated meeting.
"Typical for men to wager the part of their anatomy they use more often than their brain." Silence fell all around as she removed her arm while a skeptical smile still hovered on her lips. "What is it your willing to bet your balls on anyway?"
"Nothing!" Elongated Man's grin was wider than the average smile given the fact that he was elastic and that he was more nervous than usual.
'Oh…" She feigned disappointment. "I was hoping to add it to my prized collection that I have gathered through the years. It sure would look…interesting in my trophy room."
Ouch!And as she stepped away, with her appetite flying out of the very expensive thick glass window into the galaxy, almost every male in the cafeteria suddenly had the urge to keep their knees together.
Men, they are all the same!WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
"Want a piece of me?" Diana challenged an opponent with more spirit than the usual though her adversary could crush her with a single hand.
But with the way she was feeling, after two days and still no freakin' explanation as to what in Hades happened, not a single word of enlightenment as to why he decided to disavow their relationship that he almost went as far as saying he did not know her, not even an apology in the least just to appease her emotions, she could well throw this giant to the moon.
And that fact was not lost on two of her teammates.
"Of all the times I envied him, I sooo don't want to be…you know who at this very moment."
"I don't want to be in Giganta's size two hundred shoes either." Shayera grimaced as a resounding thump that shook the ground signaled the fall of the enemy. It made her recall her fate once with the others in Metabrawl.
"Wonderbabe is packing quite a punch," Copperhead managed to butt in despite his present predicament of sporting titanium bracelets that bound both his hands.
Wally looked at the huge crack in the pavement after Giganta transformed into her normal size. "I guess this is about the right time when girl talk comes in handy."
"I don't know about you but she can rough me up anytime."
Shayera looked incredulously at the captive then to Wally. "Not now, Flash."
"When? After she pummels every baddie and put us out of commission?"
Copperhead added in a whistle, a feat that made Wally wonder how it was done with such a long, serpentine tongue. "Wow…what a woman!"
"Is anyone even talking to you?" Shayera tapped her mace impatiently.
"Nothing like a lovers quarrel to release all that pent up…ouch!"
"And what do you know?"
"From what you two losers have been mouthing off for the past few minutes…enough to know that the Princess has been scorned."
Wally and Shayera looked guiltily at each other.
"Wait until I talk to that reporter guy from Daily Planet…ouch!"
"You will do no such thing." Green eyes demanded.
"Just watch me. I'll even tell the press about this…brutality!" His head was really getting sore.
"Brutality my---"
"Flash…" Shayera winked as the guards arrived. "Let him talk to that reporter what's-his-name? Kent?"
"Yes, that's him." Copperhead grinned as he was being taken away. "Wait until I talk to four eyes."
"Talk to him all you want," Shayera clipped her mace by the belt and brushed dust from her hands.
"I will! And send my regards to Wonderbabe."
Wally shook his head. "Just have to have the last word," he muttered before turning seriously to his friend. "As I was saying…maybe it's better if you talk to her."
The Thanagarian slumped her shoulders at the feeling of regret for ever telling this young man the truth.
"Please."
"Alright, I will…soon. But don't give me that look."
"What look?"
"The look that silently pleads that I put in a good word for you."
"I…wasn't…" Wally smiled guiltily.
"Good because I won't."
"Okay just talk to her."
"Talk to Diana?" A very familiar voice asked.
Shayera turned slightly and muttered in her mind, Here comes four eyes.
"You heard that?"
"Wally, I can hear you…expel gas at the watchtower." Superman turned back to Shayera. "What do you need to tell her? Maybe I can be of assistance."
For a reporter, Superman could sometimes be so clueless. And the subtle way he was fishing for information about his friend was just amusing yet painful.
"I am going to ask her and Batman later out to lunch to discuss some plans."
"Big guy…" Wally looked so smug at the once in a lifetime advantage of having prior knowledge of the facts. "I think you have a better luck of arranging a dinner date for the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman and Bats. Although personally I think he would prefer if only Catwoman showed up and---"
"What are you trying to say?" Superman just had to interrupt.
"The princess and Bats…"
"So..?"
Shayera did not offer a single word to appease the Kryptonian's confusion. She was relishing the short moment when he was vulnerable.
After a few seconds, the frown in his face was wiped off and was replaced by total amazement. "You mean…Diana and…"
"Finally!" Shayera exclaimed.
"It's true?"
"For someone who can see through people…you certainly need another pair of glasses."
Superman's surprise was replaced with amusement. "I remember John saying almost the same words once but at the time I never got the implication. So they are together?"
"Were together," Wally cleared with a partially disguised elation that was not hard to miss.
"I have to talk to her."
"No," Shayera dismissed. "I'll go talk to her. This is certainly not a job for you and you."
As they watched Shayera fly away, Wally suddenly remembered something unpleasant that he was even afraid of asking. But he had to know.
"Supes…" he began very uncomfortably. "If you can hear me…expel gas…do you think…the princess can too?"
It was Superman's turn to look smugly at him. "Absolutely."
"Bummer."
