Only You
Part Twelve
Diana couldn't believe her eyes. Donna and J'onn. They found her. She didn't know she was being looked for but she was and caught in a most compromising position. How did they find me? Did they build another Interdimensional Quantum Trigger?
Diana felt Clark slip out of her as he sat up and protected her body with his, shielding her nude form from Donna and J'onn. The cape, which was bunched during their love making, kept his lower anatomy covered but the rest of his body was exposed. Diana pressed her body against Clark's back and supported her head on his shoulder as she peeked at her unexpected guests.
"Who are you?" Clark demanded an answered from Donna and J'onn. "What do you want?"
The anger at the intrusion was evident in Clark's voice but he wasn't the only one angry. Donna had a storm of anger in her eyes, too.
"Are you going to tell him, Diana, or should I?" Rage bubbled from Donna's voice and it was barely contained through her clenched teeth.
Clark turned his head to the side at Diana. "You know them?"
"Yes," her voice was barely above a whisper. "That's my sister, Donna, and that is J'onn."
Giving the woman named Donna a second look, Clark noticed the physical similarities between Donna and Diana. Seeing Donna standing with J'onn, whom he also heard of from Diana, meant one thing to Clark. They've come for Diana.
Donna turned away as she and J'onn left the barn. "We'll be waiting outside."
Clark stood once Donna and J'onn left while Diana put her arms around herself in a protective hug. Her head swirled with emotions. Donna. J'onn. She hadn't given them or her home world much thought since arriving here. Guilt over her own selfishness washed over Diana. When she faced Donna again, she knew a confrontation was waiting for her and Diana couldn't think of anything to defend herself.
Gods, what have I done? I was so lost in my own grief, lost in starting a life with Clark, I forgot about my sister and everyone I knew. What kind of Amazon am I?
She heard something above her. Looking upward, she spotted Clark retrieving his pants off the rafters. If she was in a happier mood, she would take noticed of Clark's beautiful, naked body flying over her. Instead of admiring Clark, she looked around for her clothes. She heard him land near as Diana retrieved her clothes.
They dressed in silence. She couldn't button her jeans since Clark tore the button off and he couldn't button his shirt since she ripped the buttons off with her teeth. Her eyes met his and they smiled but that smile never reached their eyes.
"Ready?" Clark asked her.
Diana nodded her head in quiet acknowledgement and took his extended hand.
Donna and J'onn were waiting outside the barn. While the Martian, sent a warm smile to Diana and Clark, Donna was seething. "We can go in my house to talk," Clark offered.
"Thanks but I rather talk to Diana alone."
"Donna, no matter where we are, Clark will hear us." Diana knew Clark respected privacy but she was very certain Clark would listen in on this conversation. "Let us go inside his home."
Donna dropped her crossed arms from her chest. "Fine."
This is so awkward. Clark knew he would be caught kissing Diana. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would be caught making love to her. He chastised himself for not hearing Donna and J'onn's arrival but he was too enraptured with Diana to notice anything around him until it was too late.
Once inside his home, Clark led them to his living room. "Have a seat."
"I'll stand thanks," Donna said stiffly.
Clark noticed Diana decided to stand as well. Only J'onn took a seat. "Would anyone like anything to drink?"
"I'm fine," Donna was clipped again. She didn't want a drink. She wanted Diana and from the look on her face Clark would guess Diana's head on a platter.
"Water, please, Clark," Diana requested. "Thank you."
Clark disappeared into the kitchen. Donna hissed, "Enjoying yourself, sister?"
"Donna, I…." Donna wouldn't accept an apology. She was too angry to accept one. "How did you find me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Donna retorted. "To think I was actually worried about you. What an idiot I was."
"No, you weren't." How to amend this Diana wondered. "Given how I vanished, it's understandable why you were worried about me."
"And what a waste that was."
Clark returned carrying a tray with two glasses filled with iced water, a third with milk, a water pitcher and a plate filled with Oreo cookies. When Clark placed the tray on the table, he said to J'onn. "Diana said you like Oreo cookies. Feel free."
J'onn reached for the cookies as Donna mocked, "Diana told you about us?" She half rolled her eyes. "How surprising."
Diana asked again. "How did you find me, Donna? Did you build an Interdimensional Quantum Trigger?"
"We did and it was a cruder version than the one you have. J'onn and I were sent to several Earths, each unlike the last. We were traveling for weeks before we found an Earth where another Kal upgraded our transit device to pinpoint your signature. We risked our lives while you…" Donna snarled as she took a step toward Diana. "You've been here this entire time sleeping with a man who looks like your dead husband! I bet you were planning to leave us since Kal's death. That's why you were still tinkering with the damn transit device!"
J'onn intervened. "Perhaps, it will be best if Diana explains how she arrived on this world before we jump to conclusions."
"Jump to?" Donna whirled around to J'onn. "You and I both saw the same thing!"
"Donna," J'onn coolly pleaded with the Amazon.
Donna dug her nails into her hands and took in a deep breath. "Fine, Diana. Explain how you arrived here."
Even hearing the truth, Diana wasn't sure Donna would believe her. She was too clouded by anger and feelings of betrayal by her own sister. "I was in the Weapons Room trying to repair the Interdimensional Quantum Trigger that was damaged in our fight. I did the best I could even though I wasn't sure with what I was doing. When I put up the tools, the trigger started to pulse. I picked it up and it activated. Next thing I know I was here in Clark's arms."
Donna glanced at Clark who remained quiet during the sister's exchange. "And you two started a relationship?"
"We started off as friends." Clark didn't want Donna to think they immediately jumped in bed together. "And—"
Donna's derisive laugh cut Clark off. "I bet it wasn't long before she took you to bed."
"Donna…"
Donna ignored J'onn as she lashed out at her sister. "I can't believe you! J'onn and I spent months building a transit device to find you. We spent the same amount of time traveling to other Earths, fighting monsters on a freezing planet, getting bruises and broken bones! Surviving an Earth on the verge of Apocalypse! Battling a world of mutated humans! All the while, I thought you needed me! I thought you were trapped and couldn't get home and look at it you! You didn't need any help at all. Batman was right all along. You moved on to a Kal replacement and forgot about us! Your family! Your friends!"
"Donna…." Diana reached out to her sister. "I understand your anger but…."
"But nothing!" Donna was too angry to let Diana finish. "I can't believe you! Did you think about me at all while you were in this world? Or how about our mother?" Donna didn't wait for an answer. She knew it. "No! It was only about you! It's always about you! You never thought what you were doing to us with your isolation after Kal's death. Separating yourself from mother, me and the rest of our Amazon sisters." Donna couldn't hold her anger in anymore. She reached her boiling point. "You are a spoiled, selfish bitch!" Donna followed up the shocking words with a punch to Diana's face.
The blow from her sister's fist knocked Diana on the sofa. Clark immediately went to her side. He grasps Diana's arms gently while scathingly addressing Donna. "I know you are angry with your sister but your words and striking Diana was uncalled for!"
"That's the least of what should be done to her!" J'onn immediately jumped from his seat and grabbed hold of Donna before she could strike Diana again.
Diana touched her stinging face as she turned her head back to Donna. Diana gently pushed Clark away. "No, I'm all right."
Diana rose to her feet. I deserved that. I probably deserve more. "Donna, you have every right to be angry. I was selfish. I thought only of myself and my grief. I didn't think of what my grief was doing to you, our mother, our sisters and our friends in the Justice League." But now she did. Through her sister's anger, she saw her own selfishness over the years. Saw how turning her back on everyone she once held dear to her heart was hurt by her. "I've dishonored the Amazons and the Justice League. I'm deeply sorry for that."
"The way I see it, you're sorry you were caught. If you were really sorry, you would've come home instead of gallivanting with another Kal."
"My name is Clark," Clark corrected Donna. "I don't go by the name Kal."
"Ha! Ha!" That was funny to Donna. "Well, it must've been hard to get Diana saying that. She always called her husband Kal."
J'onn noticed pain flickered over Clark's face for a brief moment. He read Clark's mind to see what troubled him. Unlike Donna, he knew things weren't always easy for Clark and Diana and Donna was close to striking a nerve.
"I didn't come home. I didn't even think of returning home. I haven't looked at that transit device in months because I didn't want to. I was enjoying my life here with Clark," Diana owned up to that. "But I think it was best I did leave and not return right away. I needed to get away from my world, from Kal's ghost. Being here, I've come to terms with a lot of things. I've rediscovered myself and my purpose in life. "
"And did this self-discovery cause you think of the family you left behind? Our mother has given up on you."
"Actually," J'onn interceded, "this is what Queen Hippolyta felt would happen."
Diana gazed at J'onn. "What do you mean? What did my mother say?"
"Her exact words were, 'Diana needs to be away from all she knows to find herself again. The strong, resilient Diana is still there. Diana will find that woman again on her journey. That Diana will return to us.' Even though she felt she lost you, your mother still believed in you."
Diana's eyes mist with tears. "She said that?"
"Yeah, she did." Donna wasn't entirely pleased J'onn mentioned that but saw that it could be used to her advantage. "So, are you going to prove mother right and return to us or are you going to prove her wrong and selfishly stay here?"
Leave? Diana's heart dropped at the question. Diana saw Clark's face no doubt mirrored her own shock. How could Diana think of leaving Clark when things were starting to go right with them?
"Why should Diana leave?" Clark spoke. "She's happy here. We're happy here."
"Diana doesn't belong here," Donna told Clark. "She is not from this world. She's belongs on the Earth where she came from with her mother and sisters, and I hate to tell you this, Clark, but Diana was crazily in love with Kal. You may care for her but she only sees her husband when she's with you. You're just a replacement. That's why she is happy. That's why she hasn't come home."
"Donna." Now Diana felt rage building in her to punch her sister! "I will let you insult me but Clark doesn't deserve it."
"I'm not insulting him. I'm telling the truth." Donna shrugged J'onn's arms off her and closed the space between her and her sister. They were both in throttling grasps with each other. "You mean to tell me you never thought of Kal while you were with Clark?"
Guilt overwhelmed Diana as she thought not only of her first night with Clark but the instances before that when she compared Clark to Kal. "I made the mistake of doing that but I've learned from it. I don't think of Kal anymore. I've accepted Kal is gone and I don't want to live with a ghost anymore. I think of Clark now. He and Kal lookalike but they are two different people."
"Even if you do realize that, you can't stay here. You're not staying here." Donna grabbed Diana's arm and pulled her like a parent pulls a child out of a candy store. "You've had your fun. Now we're leaving."
"No!" Clark grabbed Diana's other arm. "She doesn't have to leave because you want her to."
J'onn mediated the tug-of-war fight over Diana by pulling both Clark and Donna's hands off her. "Stop it! It's clear you both want Diana but this isn't the way. She is a human being."
"He's the one holding Diana back," Donna accused Clark. "Diana has to leave. It's what she has to do. This isn't her world. Diana's already muck things up here with her presence. She's already altered your history by meeting you and anyone else she has encountered."
"If Diana altered history, I'm glad she did!" Clark stood up for Diana. "You're angry at your sister and you're too blind to see the good she has done on this Earth. If I had never met her, I would still be on this farm, hiding myself, not being the man I knew I could be. I wouldn't have gotten over my fear of hurting others. I wouldn't have become Superman. Thousands, perhaps millions would be dead by Darkseid's recent invasions. The Earth would've been enslaved."
That silenced Donna….for a moment. "You weren't Superman when Diana arrived on this Earth?"
"No." Clark thought if Donna knew the truth she would be sympathetic, perhaps even proud of her sister. "A tragedy in my past held me back from helping others and made me fear my own strength. Diana helped me overcome that fear."
"Or perhaps Diana's arrival got you to overcome your fears too early?" Donna put out a new theory. "Darkseid's invasions would've gone on as planned with Diana here or not. Seeing the destruction on this planet by Darkseid's forces, would've thrust you into action. Surely, you wouldn't have sat on your butt and do nothing while witnessing the death of so many people around you? If Diana had not interfered with history, you would've overcome that fear on your own because your desire to help others outweighs any fear. The death of innocents would've forced you out of your fear. You would've became Superman on your own and not rely on anyone but you to do so."
Now Clark was silenced. He never thought of it like that. Was Donna right? Would he have overcome the death of his parents without Diana? Would he have kept to himself with the Earth falling apart by Darkseid's invasion? There were crimes on Earth but nothing like the magnitude of Darkseid's attack the first and second time. Clark didn't think he could sit and do nothing with such destruction happening around him.
"You know I'm right," Donna read the expression on Clark's face. "Your face says it all."
"The future isn't so easy to predict. Anything could've happened. In any case, I don't want Diana to leave."
"It's not about what Diana or what you want, but what is right. History has been altered enough. We don't need it to be altered anymore. Diana's place is at home."
"And what is home to Diana now, Donna?" J'onn asked. "Her or our world?"
Donna felt a stab of betrayal from J'onn. "Don't tell me you're turning on me, too?"
"No, but matters are complicated here. We shouldn't force Diana to return. She needs to come home on her own accord."
"I am not leaving without my sister!"
"Then you are staying here?" Clark wasn't entirely sure he liked that.
"If Diana can, then so can I?" Donna challenged.
"As you've said, Donna, staying here could risk altering history. We almost jeopardized things on that other Earth when I encountered my double. I'm sure it was deliberate we weren't allowed to see Diana of that world or the rest of the Justice League members."
J'onn's words were enough to soften Donna's stance. "What do you suggest we do?"
"We know which Earth to find Diana now. Let's stay the night and leave in the morning. It'll be Diana's choice to leave with us or not."
Clark closed the door to his bedroom. A whirlwind of emotions swung over him. If it wasn't enough he had to deal with Earth's invasion of Darkseid's forces again, this had to happen, too. He was angry, confused and at a loss of what to do. After he made up with Diana, Clark thought things were finally on track but now her past derailed everything and he risk losing her again.
Diana sat on the edge of his bed with her head hung low. If his emotions were all over the place, Diana had to be completely distraught. Clark wanted to hold Diana and will the pain in Diana's heart and mind away with his strength but he knew he couldn't do that. He was powerful but not that powerful.
"You should get some sleep, Diana. It's a lot to take in now. Wait until the morning before you make a decision."
Silence again from Diana. Clark drew the curtains closed and shuck off his shirt. "Are you going to get ready for bed?"
Again nothing from Diana. Worried, Clark knelt before Diana. He tilted her chin so her sad eyes met his. "Diana. Please. Talk to me."
A tear fell from her left eye, then the right and then from both eyes at the same time. "Clark, I'm a horrible sister, a horrible daughter and a disgraceful Amazon princess."
"No," Clark tried to dissuade her. "You had a down period. We all had moments when we lose ourselves."
"Donna was right about everything. I was so lost in my grief I didn't care about her, our mother, our sisters. I didn't care about anyone but me. Oh!" Diana ran a hand over her face. "And I'm doing it again. I'm not asking how you are feeling about this. Do you have anything to say to about Donna's words?"
"You mean if your arrival led to me getting over my fear prematurely?" Clark's answer was a shrug on his shoulders. "We'll never know but I know I couldn't sit and do nothing if Darkseid invaded and you weren't here. My fighting skills wouldn't have been up to par but I would've tried. I also know if you hadn't arrived there would've been more casualties than survivors. You prepared us. You told us more about Darkseid, the Furies, his sons and parademons than any of us knew. Because of your information we had enough time to build the weapons needed to take down the parademons. If you changed history here, it was a good thing."
Diana caressed Clark's face with the back of her hand. "Thank you, Clark, but I have to wonder if my mother was right."
Clark kissed the back of Diana's hand. "Right about what?"
"She said I needed to get away to return to the woman I was. Perhaps that was my purpose here. To help you achieve your destiny and find the woman I was again and go home."
A shiver of fear passed over Clark. "Are you saying you're leaving with your sister and J'onn tomorrow?"
"I think it's only right."
"No!" Clark sat beside her on the bed and took hold of Diana's arms. "What about what is right for you? For us? We just got back together Diana, I don't want to lose you again."
Diana hated hurting Clark again. It was like stabbing her heart. "I don't want to lose you either but I have to do what is right for others. I have to make up for my behavior towards my sisters, my mother and my friends."
"What if I come with you?" Clark offered.
Diana's heart broke for Clark. Oh, she wanted him with her but she knew he couldn't follow her. "You can't. This is your world. This world needs Superman. Your world isn't like mine. My world. My universe is peaceful now. Darkseid is dead. Lex Luthor is gone. There have been incidents that forced me out of my own retirement. Perhaps it could've been handled without me but who knows. However, you don't have that privilege, Clark. You can't leave. You need to be here. Your place is here and mine…" she held back her tears, "it's back home."
Clark hugged Diana tightly against him. Diana clung to him never wanting to let go. This time Diana couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Perhaps, this was the greatest lesson for both of us to learn on this journey. To lose a loved one and not let that grief overcome us again. I won't go back to that woman again. Will you go back to that man you were?"
"Never." Clark's eyes started to moisten. "I'll never go back."
"Then…" Diana forced herself to smile despite her breaking heart. "A lesson was learned. The final challenge was overcome."
"It's not a challenge I wanted to overcome or a challenged I expected to face."
"Neither did I."
"So, this is it?"
"Yes." Diana pulled back to gaze into Clark's eyes. Her finger brushed away a tear that rolled down his cheek. "I have to go home but we can create memories until I leave." Diana's hand traced the muscles over his chest, leaving a path of heat that was pooling south. Her voice, no longer choked with tears, but a sultry, seductive tone. "We have the night."
Clark wanted, no needed it just as badly as she. Diana moved in to kiss Clark but he stopped her. "Not here," he gathered Diana in his arms. Shifting his hold on her with one arm, he pushed back the curtains, opened his window with the other and flew out like a bird out of cage. "The Fortress. It's faster if I fly."
"Don't hold back with me," Diana begged him.
"Trust me. I won't."
"Where are they? Did they run off?" Donna ran through Clark's home in a panic the next morning when she realized Clark and Diana were gone.
J'onn sat at the kitchen table, eating Oreo cookies and drinking a glass of milk. "They left last night to spend some time alone together."
If Donna wasn't worried of what would happen, she would take the bag of cookies and shove them down the garbage disposal. "Why didn't you tell me? They could've run off."
"To where?" J'onn asked. "We would've found them. Don't worry. Diana is leaving with us today."
"She is?" Relief washed over Donna. "She's coming with us?"
"Yes. Diana wants private time with Clark before leaving. Give Diana that."
Martians were good at keeping their emotions under control but Donna detected a tinge of annoyance in J'onn's voice. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you are angry with me."
"Disappointed would be the correct word. I understand being angry with your sister and wanting her to return home but couldn't you have used less aggressive means to achieve that?"
Taking a chance, Donna snatched an Oreo cookie from the bag. "Can you blame me for being angry, J'onn? I've been worried about Diana for months, thinking she was in trouble, in danger, that she needed my help and she completely forgot about us! She went on to a new life with this Clark. It's completely selfish!"
J'onn saw the cookie Donna held crush in her angry hand. A wasted cookie. He could've eaten that. "Selfish it was but aren't we allowed to be selfish at least once in a while? It was an accident Diana left but it was what she needed to do. Diana needed to be here. On our world, Diana lost her purpose. She found it again here."
"So, she found it again. That means she can join the Justice League again. She can be ambassador again."
She could but is that what Diana wanted J'onn wondered.
Diana opened her eyes to find herself in a strong, loving embrace. She sighed, content and snuggled closer. There wasn't an inch of her body that wasn't being touched by Clark. She felt his legs stroke hers, his fingers trace an imaginary line from her smooth neck down her arm to play with her fingers. She felt his chest against her back, feel his breath fan her. "I feel asleep."
"You were tired."
Diana rolled over to face him. "You wore me out." She lightly punched his arm. "You solar powered Kryptonian."
"You nearly wore me out." He kissed her shoulder. "You insatiable Amazon. Never knew there were so many sexual tricks either. Kal must've taught you a lot."
"He did but I have a few tricks on my own. You…" Her playful banter died for a moment. "You don't mind if we mention Kal from time to time?"
"No. He's a part of you. He will always be a part of you and I'm at peace with that. I know you will always love Kal and you have come to terms with your feelings for him and me. I know you love me, Clark, as well."
"Always," Diana promised. "My love for you and Kal are strong but very different."
Diana's moment of peace flitted away as her mind settled on what this day meant. "We don't have much time, do we?"
Clark's voice rumbled a solemn, "No."
Diana drew nonsensical circles on Clark's chest. "Donna and J'onn are probably up now. Hmph. Donna might be looking for us."
"I don't want a repeat of last night. Once was embarrassing enough."
"Yes." Diana sighed. "What will you tell Lex and the others?"
"What's to say but the truth? You went home."
"Tell them I didn't mean to leave like this when the Earth is rebuilding. Tell them I wanted to stay and help but I had to go home."
"I promise."
"Be careful of Darkseid," Diana pleaded. "There is nothing he won't do and be careful of Orion, too."
He didn't want to discuss this now. "Diana, I don't want to think about that. I want to spend these last few moments focusing on us."
"I know but I have to say this." It was hard to tell Clark this but she had to get the words out. "Move on. Have a life with someone. I wanted that to be me but that is not to be."
"Diana, I can't think of any other woman than you now."
"You say that now, but there will come a time where you will want to move on. Just be happy. Promise me that."
"Diana…"
"Promise me," Diana insisted. "You will live and move on in life. You are meant for great things and shouldn't hold yourself back."
Clark stared at Diana, wondering why she was talking like this. He wondered. Did Kal say something similar to her before he died? Was Diana making sure history not repeat itself with him?
Taking her hand and bringing it to her lips, "I promised, Diana, but you have to make the same promise."
Diana took his hand and brought it to her lips. "I promise." Though Diana knew there will not be another man in her life, just her mission as ambassador and warrior for peace: Wonder Woman.
They sealed their promise with one final kiss.
Clark and Diana returned to Clark's home an hour later. They took their time flying back, memorizing their last flight together. They found Donna and J'onn waiting for them in the backyard. Donna was probably scanning the skies for them since dawn. Diana was grateful Donna didn't hunt them down and allowed for her to spend one last night with Clark. However, judging from stoic J'onn who held the transit device, Diana was certain he had a hand in that.
As soon as Diana and Clark touched down, Donna said, "It's time to go."
"I know." Diana turned to Clark. She got her crying out the night before and she didn't want his last memory of her to be her crying face. She embraced Clark one more time. "I will miss you so much, Clark."
"I will always love you, Diana."
It was hard. It was painful but Clark released Diana. He imagined sawing his leg off wouldn't be as excruciating. Diana kept her eyes on Clark as she stepped backwards to Donna and J'onn, never wanting to lose sight of him. She only turned away for a brief moment as J'onn activated the transit device in his hand. A portal opened behind Donna, J'onn and Diana. Donna stepped in first, then J'onn. Diana stepped backwards into the portal with her eyes on Clark. She mouthed, "I love you," as the portal closed around her.
To Be Concluded
AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone. One more chapter to go. Well, hopefully I can tie it all up in one chapter. ;)
