The Birthday Present

Chapter 10

It's Been A Long Day. Let's All Go Home.

Aquaman and Mera did not teleport to the Watchtower; after paying their respects to the Queen They headed back to Atlantis. The rest of the team was assembled in the throne room ready to walk through the portal to the embassy. From there most would teleport to the Watchtower.

Wonder Woman, Superman, J'onn, Zatanna, Donna, Flash, Batman, the Lanterns, the Hawks, Jade, Starfire, Powergirl, and Geo-force stood together close to the Portal Room, behind the throne. They were all pleased with how the plan had turned out. There would be much celebrating both on Themyscira, and on the Watchtower. No lives had been lost. Such a one sided victory was almost unheard of among the Amazons.

All of the Leaguers were prepared to go home. Donna stopped suddenly, "I'm going to stay with mother for a while," she said looking at Diana. "This could have been the end for all of us. I think I want to just stay, and be with her for a few days before I pick up where I left off out there."

Diana paused for a moment as well. "You are right, Donna. I too will stay here for a few days, just to be close to mother." Turning to the others she said, "Donna and I will see you in a few days, my friends. Please forgive this unplanned decision. I will make up shifts when I return." As she stepped away from the group, and next to her sister, she briefly made eye contact with Superman and smiled warmly.

"Your apology is not necessary, nor will you need to make up any shifts, Diana. You and Donna stay as long as you need with your family. We are all thankful that we were able to help, and that all that you love is whole," J'onn responded in his deep, kind voice.

The rest of the League members all nodded their agreement.

Diana and Donna smiled in thanks for their friends' understanding. Donna stepped forward, and gave Wally a peck on the cheek then she and Diana turned back to the throne room.

"Diana, if you need anything…" Superman started, deep concern written on his face.

Diana stopped and turned back for a moment. Her face was still, and there was a warm smile on her lips, "Thank you, Kal. We will be fine. Let those that love you know that you are well. I will see you in few days." With that she and Donna returned to the throne room.

Bryon and Karen shared a look and a knowing smile.

Batman noted the gesture, but kept quiet as he observed his best friend.

Wally stood frozen in shock, and disbelief. To be honest, everyone was a bit taken aback.

Kyle and Hal were also staring at him open mouthed.

Superman finally cleared his throat, "We, should probably, um, get, um, going."

"That was very well said, Clark." Batman smirked.

Zatanna giggled.

"I'm never gonna wash my face again!" Wally shouted as they stepped through the portal.

"Why would you never again wash your face? Wouldn't you eventually give off offensive odors?" asked Starfire.

"Yeah, Wally, if you want her to kiss you again then you better seriously rethink your plans for the future. I know that I certainly won't kiss you on the cheek anymore if you stop washing your face," Kyle stated. "In fact, I'm willing to bet that nobody here will kiss you again if you stop washing your face. Look at what happened to Jade. I forgot to wash my face one time, and the next time she kissed me she turned green! Granted, she looks really hot with green skin, but we don't need two hot green girls in the League at the same time, its just overkill.

Jade elbowed Kyle in the ribs playfully.

"Well, there's Fire. She's green and hot. Well, okay. Her skin isn't green but she is hot. Not like Donna hot, but you know what I mean," Wally responded enthusiastically. He liked where this conversation was going.

"Hal looked at Kyle, and Wally and shook his head, "Okay, just want to point out that there is no such thing as 'hot green girl' overkill. There is no such thing as 'too many' hot girls. That was really poorly thought out. Oh, and did you all notice how Diana almost kissed me. That girl has some serious willpower. Looked like she had to use every ounce of her considerable Amazon training just to be able to turn, and walk away! Wow! What a woman!"

"Yeah, she was really struggling there at the end," Zatanna responded sarcastically.

"That is strange. I did not notice her using all of her Amazonian training," Starfire replied. She wondered if perhaps Hal was having trouble with his eyes.

They were all in the Embassy now. Mala greeted them all warmly. "Thank you, friends, Themyscira will be eternally grateful for your help. Every time that Circe, or Ares have attacked us in the past, many Amazons have paid with their lives."

"You can always count on us to do everything in our power to help, Mala," Superman promised with a smile.

"Anything, anytime, Gorgeo…Ouch!" Hal shouted rubbing the back of his left arm and looking around for the offending party.

John stood just behind him, "Keep it in your pants, Loverboy."

******Watchtower******

There were more shouts of joy, tears, laughter, and lots of hugging as the "Big Guns" arrived on the Watchtower.

No one was happier or more relieved than Dinah. She even gave Batman a hug.

Nobody gave Batman a hug. It had been unheard of until Zatanna, and he started dating. She had made it a point to hug him frequently in front of others. While he had seemed to eventually take to this new open display of affection, (he even managed not to scowl while being hugged) his look made it clear that non Zatanna hugs were not welcome.

"I'm so sorry!" Dinah had apologized. "I couldn't help myself. I'm just so glad that you're all alive!"

Dinah had moved onto J'onn and Superman. Both had returned her hug warmly.

Next she hugged Hal. "I'm so glad that you're alright," she sniffed.

Hal held her tightly to himself for a moment. "Me too. For a moment there I thought I was a goner. I have to say it was pretty humiliating being turned into a pig by a witch."

Dinah stepped back from Hal, and broke into giggles. "Circe turned you into a pig?! Like a little pink one with a curly tail? Like Wilbur from Charlotte's Web?"

"Yeah. Like that. But don't worry. I wasn't alone. Kyle became a pig as well so that he could rescue me," Hal smiled. As big of a lady's man as he was, he never went after a woman who was married to, or involved with a friend. He and Ollie were close friends, and he and Dinah had been close for quite some time. He had never been anything but a gentleman with her.

Looking around Hal asked, "Where's Ollie? I thought he'd wanna give his best buddy a big hug for being alive. Does he want me to steal his girl or something?" Hal said jokingly. He stopped joking when he saw the look on Dinah's face.

"Ollie and I are done. I know you two are good friends, so I'm not going to stand here and talk about him. I'll just say that I've had my fill of his infidelities." Dinah's face was dead serious.

Hal could see the hurt in Dinah's eyes, as well as anger. He pulled her into another hug. "I'm sorry, Dinah. Ollie's my friend. Since Barry died I haven't had a closer one, but he's a fool to treat you like that. It's his loss. You forget about him. If he can't respect you then he's not worth your grief."

"Thank you, Hal," Dinah said quietly as she allowed herself to become lost in the friendly hug for a moment. She knew she was the only unmarried female on the Watchtower that Hal did not openly pursue. It gave her a sense of security, and confidence. For a moment she wondered what it would be like to have him as a lover, but the thought was dismissed as soon as it entered her mind.

After a few moments they disentangled themselves. "We all have to fill out reports right now, and discuss what happened, but I'll be here if you want to talk later," Hal promised.

Dinah smiled. "Thanks, Hal. I'd like that."

As they made their way to the conference room where the continuing sounds of celebration could be heard, Supergirl came out of the elevator and joined them. She was excited to see her cousin. "Hi Hal!" she said cheerfully as she struggled to keep from super speeding into the conference room and squeezing Clark as hard as she could.

"Hi, Kara," Hal replied warmly.

"Where's Maxima?" Dinah asked.

"Oh, she went to her room to lie down. She seemed really tired. I thought she'd want to take the opportunity to flirt with Clark, but she said she would tomorrow," Kara giggled.

"Oh," Dinah responded satisfied.

"How does he do it? Space Princesses, Earth Princesses, Evil Princesses. They all want Superman and he doesn't even try."

Dinah looked at him exasperated. "It's pretty simple. He's what most women dream about in a man. There's the obvious looks. Very few guys come close to matching his physique, and that's saying a lot considering how good the majority of the guys in the League look. Then there is the way he speaks to, and treats all of the ladies. When have you, or anybody seen Superman be anything but a gentleman? There's his gentle nature, his kindness, his character, his…"

"Okay, okay, I get it. He's the ultimate man. Every woman's wet dream." Hal responded with a chuckle. "I guess he even has super manners, and super charm. It makes sense, if his name is Superman then he's got be super in every way!"

"Hal. I don't think women have those. You guys are on your own there," Dinah said as they entered the conference room.

The report took a while. The written reports took longer. Finally all was done. It was late afternoon. Most of the Leaguers teleported to their respective homes, a few stayed in their rooms on board the Watchtower. Steel had monitor duty.

******Metropolis******

Superman blurred into his and Lois's apartment. He quickly changed into his civilian clothes then called Lois's cell.

"Clark! You're back!" Lois nearly screamed over the phone. She quickly left the newsroom after receiving several annoyed looks. Lowering her voice she asked, "Are you home?"

"I am," Clark chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Are you going to be home soon? It's already five. Should I meet you somewhere?"

"No. I'll come straight home. I was supposed to meet one of your teammates, the one that looks like Robin Hood, for an interview at seven, but I can cancel. I'd rather spend the rest of the evening with a certain mild mannered husband of mine. Of course, if you exhaust your wife before seven then maybe I could still get that interview with Robin Hood and we could pay that Dr. Williams a nice visit," Lois said enthusiastically.

"Come home, Mrs. Kent. I try my hardest to give my wife a good time. So you're going to interview the Green Arrow? Should I be worried? He has quite a reputation with the ladies. I seem to remember hearing a conversation between the Green Arrow and one of the Green Lanterns. I think he said that one woman he had seduced had climaxed just looking at him naked. I guess I better go all out when you get home." Clark joked.

"Clark Kent! I can't believe you're talking dirty over the phone! Just be glad that these phones are secure! I'll be home in a minute." Lois laughed.

"Stop making threats, and hurry up," Clark hung up with a mischievous smile, and blurred to get ready for Lois.

******Watchtower******

There were a dozen Leaugers aboard. Other than Steel and four of Maxima's body guards, all were sleeping. Maxima had twelve body guards that had come with her and stayed when she joined the League. Two were stationed near her star ship; two were stationed outside of her room. The rest were asleep.

Princess Maxima slept. But she was tortured with dreams and voices. After a while all she heard was one voice. It was a very sweet voice. It made promises. Promises she wanted to come true with all of her heart. There was a part of her dream that she found disturbing. She saw a young woman that looked just like her leaving the vault with a beautiful bejeweled dagger buried in the folds of her gown. There was also an empty sheath at her waist. It looked familiar. She wondered where the blade was. She knew the blade had a golden handle with the symbol of the house of Almerac on it, but try as she might she could not see it or find it. She wished that she could see the young woman's face. She needed to talk to her.

The beautiful, fiery red headed young woman finally turned around. She had her face, but there was something not quite right. It seemed everything was just like hers, but for a moment she could have sworn that her green eyes had looked violet.