Disclaimer: Not mine
Warnings: Spoilers from Alan Moore's The killing Joke...1988...ok, not a spoiler per se, but if you haven't read it, it's a recommendation.
Smallville had many good things for Lois, like thick wooden shutters on bedrooms. However, the rooster was not one of them.
"Of all the extinguished species, why couldn't that evil bird be one of them?"
"Because despite your hate towards them, they are actually needed. And domestic animals don't disappear, they are a human creation."
"Oh the wise alien has spoken."
Clark held her close and kissed her. "Good morning."
"Morning hasn't even arrived, Clark. That evildoer knows I'm here and started singing way before its time."
"Well, I'm glad to see your irony didn't go to sleep. And now that you are awake, and we still have plenty of time before..." Clark's hand drew a circle around Lois' belly.
"The things you will do to save a rooster's life."
"Devoted for truth and justice."
"Oh, so now they have a name," said Lois raising an eyebrow while looking at herself. "I wonder about the American way."
"I'll show you about that too," said Clark as he drew his hand downwards Lois' body.
Martha Kent was cleaning her mug on the sink when her son and Lois came down the stairs.
"Morning ma," said Clark while he kissed her.
"Good morning Martha."
"You slept well?"
"The rooster woke me up."
"Oh, but it stopped singing like two hours-- never mind."
Martha left the kitchen, and Lois snorted while Clark blushed.
"Lo, you're evil," he whispered in her ear.
Lois rolled her eyes. "As if your mom were silly or deaf. She's having as much fun at your blushing as I am right now."
Martha's voice was heard from outside. "I left you more food on the fridge, sweetie, in case you need the extra calories."
"See?"
"I wonder where that newfound sarcasm comes from. I think my mom's spending way too much time with you."
"I told you once, Clark. Your mother is the coolest. Now, let's have breakfast. You do make me hungry like a starving dog."
"Lo, will you stop it?"
"Your face matches your cape right now, flyboy."
Star City had amazing sunsets. Ollie loved the way the sun dived into the sea and the orange tones it left on the sky. On stormy days the color display was even more intense.
His favourite dawns were the ones shared with Dinah in their bed. Ollie looked at her. She had finally managed to get some sleep. He wished that morning would not end. Softly, careful not to wake her up, he planted a kiss on her forehead. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," replied Dinah in the same hushed tone, and slowly opened her eyes. They didn't have blinds in their bedroom, both were such heavy sleepers that the light didn't wake them up, so the daylight was already filling the room.
"Babe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
"I wasn't asleep, Ollie. I was just dodging reality. It's nice here."
"Hey, come here, let me hug you to make some reality worth not dodging."
Ollie took her in his embrace and Dinah just immersed herself in it.
"Ollie, I wanted to tell you something." Ollie hummed. "The way you managed the Oracle situation."
"Dinah, you don't have to--"
"I want to. I need to talk about it. I think you did right. It's going to get big, and with some collateral consequences, but it was necessary."
"Yeah. There's one pissed off member already."
"Didn't expect anything else from him. But this is not the only thing I wanted to tell you."
"Sorry. Go on."
"I am well aware of Oracle's importance and dimension. It was Babs' creation, but in the end it transcended her, and she knew it. I know it. But I don't want to deal with it Ollie. I support you, but right now I need to mourn and grief for her. It's the only way I can cope, I can move on. I'm stepping out of the League for a while." Dinah turned to look at him. "Do you understand it?"
Ollie kissed her. "I do, babe. But I thought you'd want to lead the League team I'm going to send after her killers and Luthor."
"No, Ollie you can't do that."
"Dinah, I can't just let this go, I thought you--"
"Ollie, we are talking about involving the Justice League in the death of a civilian, daughter of the one person Batman is acknowledged to have ties to. You can't turn the League into a means for a personal vendetta, because that is how it will look. We don't want the wrong people asking the right questions on this one, Ollie. Babs gave us the lead on Luthor's trail. Keep the League in that one, and if it ends up taking you to Barbara, deal with it then."
"Dinah, is that the real reason you're stepping aside? Sweetie, if you're going after them yourself--," said Ollie, fearing an anger outburst from Dinah.
"For years I wanted a face to face with the Joker, for what he did to Barbara. Then it was her who showed me that it wasn't the way, even as tempted as she had been when she faced her own Torquemada again. Even as tempted as she still was to shove a gun down his throat after he hurt her that last time."
"I remember you telling me about Babs' hermetic behavior then."
Dinah nodded. "She focused on the Syndicate instead of talking."
"Sweetie, I don't think she ever got over him," said Ollie.
"She didn't, Ollie. She hated him, and even if she was not capable of killing, not even him, sometimes she felt as if in the end, it all came down to that chair."
"Then I'm afraid I'm lost here, hon."
"She knew hate and murder were not the way because she had a compass in her Dad. She wouldn't talk to me about the fight with the Joker at Platinum falls, but she had told me once about the night she had been shot." Ollie listened. Nobody but Bruce, Barbara and James Gordon knew what had really happened that fateful night. And the person who had lost the most had shared it with Dinah.
"Even in the midst of the chaos, confusion and searing pain, she had managed to press her hands on the wound, trying to save her life. All she could think, whenever she could focus, was about her dad. All she could think of when Bruce woke her up in the hospital was her dad."
"He had been kidnapped by the Joker," Ollie remembered.
"And taken to an abandoned fair. He showed him photos of Babs, Ollie. He had stripped her of her clothes and taken pictures of her, hurting and bleeding on the floor, naked. He wanted to crush him emotionally, he wanted him to go mad." Ollie swallowed hard. "But he didn't succeed," said Dinah softly smiling. "By the time Bruce got to him and offered to wait until the police arrived, Commissioner Gordon told him to go after him."
"I remember the Joker was arrested that night."
"James Gordon had told Bruce to do it by the book. To do it his way, to prove the bastard that their way worked. He didn't want revenge, he wanted justice. Even after what he and Barbara had been put through. Hell, at that time he didn't even know if she was alive. Babs admired her father more than any super hero in the world, because he did what she couldn't do: he overcame hate. He was her compass to keep herself balanced." Dinah paused before talking again. "I am not going to stain her memory with revenge, Ollie. Neither will I let you, Bruce or Dick if you try."
Ollie knew it wasn't a threat. They had both lived their own personal hell those years back in Seattle, she just didn't want revenge to rule their lives again. "Babe, look at me." Dinah raised her eyes. "All the things you've just said, about Babs and her dad. You are my anchor Dinah, you keep me grounded, you keep me from falling. You are my compass, and I promise you I will never go back to that wasted life, ever again. I love you too much."
"Ollie, I--"
Her words were cut by his love. Love gave them strength. Strength filled them with hope.
The morning sun bathed their naked bodies through their blindless window.
Author's notes: As said, references to the comic 'The Killing Joke', a classicby Alan Moore. Also Birds of Prey used as source (Babs dealing with her last encounter with the Joker) and reference again from Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters.
Music info: PJ Harvey & John Parish 'Cracks in the canvas': Ollie/Dinah's scene.