The Birthday Present
Chapter 20
Ollie Knows Something Bruce Doesn't Know. Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah!
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John and Kyle sped towards Rann. The planet was in trouble. Neither knew what posed the danger. If they had been asked, neither would have remembered how they had come by the information, but both knew it had been a very reliable source and both wished to see their friend, Adam Strange, once again.
As they entered the planetary system the urgency and focus of their mission suddenly vanished. They landed on Rann among friends. The people of Rann had great respect for the Lantern Corps. Adam Strange greeted them with concern. When he learned that they had come solely as friends and not to avert some sort of invasion or disaster he relaxed and insisted that they stay a few days. He prepared a couple of rooms for them in the palace and made sure that they were comfortable.
Adam, his family and those that were familiar with John and Kyle were somewhat surprised when they did not show up for the feast that had been prepared in their honor. It was discovered that both were fast asleep and so they were left alone for the remainder of the evening.
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Superman stood on the moon staring off into the vast depths of space. He wasn't focusing on any given planet or star; he was just staring, lost in thought. The simulated battle with the Doomsday monsters had helped clear his mind a little. He was still angry and he didn't know what he wanted to do, but the logical part of him realized that Lois needed serious help. Not because she had slept with another man but because whatever kind of control or power the man named Max Lord had over her mind was still there. He also knew that Ollie had done nothing out of the ordinary for him; it was certainly not the first time he had slept with a married woman, but it didn't make it any less tolerable or unforgivable. He would just have to make sure that he stayed away from Ollie for a while.
Not wanting to think about Lois and Ollie anymore, Superman turned his attention to another problem; his behavior towards Diana. He was a bit concerned with his forwardness towards her especially at the Fortress and in front of Kara!
He would have to apologize to Diana and Kara for his behavior. It was disrespectful to both Diana and Lois and it was certainly not appropriate for him to behave that way in front of his cousin. And here he was fuming at Ollie.
Superman stayed on the moon for a few more hours, wrestling with his anger and confusion. He wanted to comfort Lois but at the same time he realized that something inside had died when he saw her with Ollie. It didn't matter that she had been under mind control. It just made it harder to deal with. His mind and emotions were beginning to head back into a state of turmoil when he remembered how Diana had intervened at just the right time and with just the right words.
Superman smiled softly to himself. Diana was truly wonderful and wise. Her council was always sound and it always seemed as if she could sense the turmoil or quandary one was in. She stepped in, speaking with compassion, patience and understanding. He knew that she had saved him more than she had saved Ollie and he was thankful for her intervention. She was a friend in every sense of the word.
Superman turned his attention and senses towards the Fortress. His Fortress defenses were such that he could not see or hear into the Fortress from the outside. It was a safety feature to guard against enemies with his same or similar abilities. But although he could not listen in or see what was going on physically, he had his com-link connected to Kee-lex and to several camera's and surveillance devices spread throughout the Fortress.
Superman grinned mischievously as he scanned the Fortress's surveillance equipment to see where Kara and Diana were. He found them in one of his living room areas. He listened in for a few minutes just for fun. He found himself grinning as he listened to their easy banter and at the obvious good time that they were having together and he never tired of hearing Diana's voice. He wanted to listen longer but made himself turn off his com-link. They deserved their privacy and he had heard enough to know they were planning his party.
Superman found that his spirits were slightly higher. He had exhausted his rage on the Doomsday simulation, and he had good friends and family. Many other people had lived through worse tragedies and he would not have to face his problems alone.
Superman floated up off of the moon and headed back to earth. He knew that he and Lois would survive this disaster, but he did not want to see her at the moment. It was still too painful and the memories of what he'd witnessed that morning would just come flooding back and fill him with a rage he could do little about. Instead of heading to the busy city and his apartment he headed south and west.
He hadn't seen his parents since returning from the mission on Themyscira. His parents, like Diana, were always full wisdom and he just wanted to see them and share what had happened. It would be good to spend the rest of the day with them. Putting on a burst of speed, he shot down through the atmosphere and headed for the farm that he still considered home.
======M======
Lois lay staring at the ceiling. She realized that she was awake but did not know how long she had been so. The last she remembered was speaking with Diana about Clark. She scrunched up her eyes as she tried to remember the conversation she and Diana had shared and sat up excited as it came back. Diana was going to help her get super powers or at least try. Of course if she couldn't then she could still hunt down the Green Arrow while Diana had Clark "occupied" with his birthday present.
Lois smiled happily.
Life was good.
She swung her feet off the bed and stood up quickly to head for the bathroom.
"So, the sleeping beauty is awake. What kind of story have you been working on? You had Wonder Woman here in your apartment! Wonder Woman!"
Lois stared, shocked, at her little sister, Lucy. She wasn't sure what to say at first but old wit and years of thinking on her feet finally kicked in. "She has taken an interest in the story Clark and I are doing on the new swingers club and the death of the young FBI agent that was investigating the owner of the club." She answered. She wondered how long she had been with her.
Lucy just shook her head in bewilderment. "I can't believe you just said that as if you were talking about the police taking interest in an investigation of yours, and you realize that Wonder Woman taking interest in a swinger's club story sounds sort of perverted. She just doesn't strike me as the swinging type, but then I'm not best friends with any super heroes so what would I know, right?"
"How long have you been here, Lucy?" Lois blurted out.
"A few hours. I showed up and found miss Wonder Woman sitting on your living room couch. Are you a target? Was she babysitting you? She asked me not to let you out of my sight and that she'd be back soon. There was something she needed to do and she wanted to give us some time alone, I guess. You know, so we could sister bond," Lucy grinned.
Lois smiled back at Lucy. She wondered if Diana was already busy trying to discover a way for her to take on super powers. "As soon as I'm out of the bathroom we'll bond. I promise," she said as she disappeared into the bathroom.
Lucy's smile froze. "Okay, that just sounded disgusting."
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Diana and Kara were enjoying themselves immensely. They had not stopped laughing and giggling since they had started planning. Most of it was Kara's fault but she had been pleasantly surprised to find that Diana had a very good sense of humor. She figured it was from having a younger sister and from spending so much time around her "retarded" cousin.
"So you don't think that "pin the tail on the Batman" will go over real well?" Kara asked deadpan.
Diana couldn't help laughing out loud.
Kara continued on with a smirk as she gave her reasons. "I had thought of doing "pin the tail on the Flash or pin the tail on the J'onn, but nobody would be able to catch the Flash and J'onn would just go invisible. So naturally, Batman is the only good choice."
"Why is he the only good choice? There are a lot of other candidates available," Diana asked curious as to Kara's reasons.
"Cuz he's the most serious one there and can you imagine the look on his face when he see's everybody coming towards him with a tail to pin on him?" Kara giggled.
Both laughed for a bit then stopped and continued looking at the list of games and activities. Both still had grins plastered on their faces.
Diana looked up at Kara suddenly as a memory hit her. She hadn't thought of it since leaving the apartment and Lois in Lucy's care. That had worked out well since Kara had wanted to plan Kal's party with her. She looked at Kara for a moment and finally decided to tell her.
"Lois wants me to figure out a way to give her superpowers," she blurted.
Kara looked up in shock. "What? Superpowers? For what? Why?"
Diana was suddenly embarrassed to continue. "Um, so that she can be intimate with Clark. I am sorry. I should not have shared that with you."
Kara stared at her for a moment. "You're serious! Lois really wants you to do that? This is really serious! Well, we better get started looking for a vat of toxic waste!"
Diana looked at her confused. "Toxic waste? Why?"
Kara giggled, "You know how lots of heroes got their abilities from being thrown into radioactive or toxic waste?"
"I've never heard of that," Diana responded still confused.
Kara sighed, "Well, I guess it wasn't really a lot of heroes but there are a few and that was just a joke anyways. How much time do you have to find a way for her to get superpowers?"
Until Kal's birthday." Diana answered.
"That's less than a week! So, if you don't by then, what? She'll never speak to you again or something?" Kara asked.
Diana didn't say anything for a moment. Instead she fidgeted.
Kara looked on intrigued. "Something actually happens if you can't find a way for her to get superpowers by Clark's birthday?"
Diana's hand brushed against her lasso and her nervousness with the turn in conversation was suddenly gone. "She wants me to help her find a way to acquire superpowers or else she wants me to be Kal's birthday present." It came out a little too eagerly. Diana noticed it herself but by then she was no longer touching her lasso. The admission made her blush deeply.
Kara gazed at her searchingly for a moment more, and then she whistled. "You aren't joking at all! Does Kal know about this? Is that why you two almost made out earlier?"
Diana shook her head. "No. Kal know's nothing of this request. I know that I cannot accept but if I cannot find a way for her and if I refuse then she will offer Powergirl and Maxima the opportunity to be his birthday present."
Kara almost laughed at the way Diana said it. It was like she was justifying in her own mind why she might have to accept Lois's proposal. "Well, you do have almost a week, so I wouldn't worry too much. I think everything will work out well for everyone."
Diana hoped so, but she couldn't imagine a scenario where everything would work out for everyone.
======M======
Batman and Nightwing had found him.
They sat in the Batwing, discreetly observing the cabin in the hills outside of Metropolis where Lord had hidden himself.
They were discussing plans for going in after him and how best to go about it when they were interrupted by a call from Alfred.
Batman and Nightwing both paled at the news of Zatanna.
"I know that you're going to say that taking this guy out has got to be top priority but we know where he is and that he has nowhere to run. Let's go take care of Zee. Then we'll come back for this loser." Nightwing offered.
Batman stared blankly into space for a moment then shook his head, "No. We take Lord out then go home. We cannot leave him free."
"Fine. Then we call somebody in that can resist mind control and that can take him or babysit him for you. But we, you, need to get home," Nightwing argued. He could see the turmoil on the visible part of Bruce's face.
"Who can we ask? Who can resist mind control that we could trust with watching this scum?" Bruce was willing to entertain the thought but not at the expense of losing another member of the league for his personal problems.
Nightwing smiled to himself, "My best buddy, Wally."
"No."
"What do you mean, no! Wally can resist mind control. The toughest mind controllers out there haven't been able to control him for more than a microsecond! His mind and brain move just as fast as the rest of him! He'll be happy to help out and he can be trusted. He's more than earned our, your trust. Zee needs you. If it will make you feel better, I'll stay behind and wait for Wally. You go back home and figure out what's wrong with Zee," Nightwing argued convincingly.
Batman was silent for a moment. He was about to speak when Nightwing interrupted him.
"You've got good options here, Bruce. Don't be a jerk to Zee. There's no need."
"Jump out. I'll head back. And for the record, you didn't have to throw in the jerk comment. I'm leaving. Call Wally and make sure that Batgirl knows what's going on at all times." Batman replied drily.
Nightwing would have grinned if there hadn't been bad news about Zatanna. "Sorry, had to pull out all my guns to make sure."
Nightwing jumped out of his chair and dropped out of the lower hatch by the cable since they were only a few stories above the ground.
Batman waited until the cable was back up and he heard Nightwing's all clear before he sped home.
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Michael and Oliver stood just inside of Ollie's penthouse at the top of the Queen's Tower in Star City.
"You're sure you're going to be alright?" Michael was a little bit worried about Ollie. He had not been acting very normal. Even for him.
Ollie smiled, "Of course I will. I just need a good meal, a good nap, some sweet dreams and tonight, some good hunting. I'll be good as new."
Michael was surprised and impressed that Ollie hadn't added getting laid in his list of needs, but then he had mentioned needing a good meal and coming from Ollie he figured it could go either way or even mean both. "Okay, I'm going to head back. You need anything, make sure you let me know. Your communicator still works, so you can reach us if you need us at any time. Your teleporter doesn't work from your end but if you need to be somewhere fast just let me know and we can still teleport you wherever you need to go."
The two clasped hands, separated, and Michael teleported back to the Satellite.
Ollie stood staring at the empty space where Michael had been a moment ago. He suddenly felt the weight of the consequences settle heavily on his shoulders. He was alone. He knew that if he wanted he could have a lovely girl or two in his bed in moments but he didn't want that kind of company right now. He didn't even want to talk to or see Roy. He toyed with the thought of calling Kator and having him drop by. He had always enjoyed arguing with him and eyeing Shayera but he didn't feel like seeing the space warrior at the moment.
Even if Kator didn't say anything, just the simple fact that the man only had eyes for his wife would feel like he was getting his actions rubbed in his face. So Ollie decided to just lie down for a nap. His body was exhausted not from the sex so much as from stress and anxiety of almost getting maimed or worse at the hands of Superman, of being let go from the League and from seeing Hal and Dinah kissing. He realized he was truly all alone now. He would decide what he would do later. At the moment he just wanted to sleep.
Sleep came easy for Ollie. His head hadn't much more than hit his pillow and he was out, but his sleep was restless. And he was plagued with pleasant and erotic dreams only to have them turn into dreams of pain. He went from having wild sex with a lovely and loud, dark haired woman to running with all his might from an angry, large man with smoking red eyes.
The scenario continued to repeat itself over and over until finally he was captured by the angry large man. Ollie was sure that he lost control of his bodily functions just before the man killed him.
But he didn't die.
He opened his eyes to face his judge and found that he was staring into the face of the most beautiful woman in the universe. They were alone and safe and he wondered why they were not making out. It was the logical thing to do when alone with a beautiful woman. He realized that he was tied up and that his lovely companion was the one who had him tied up. Maybe things were just getting started.
He was disappointed when she left the room but another lovely lady soon joined him. She looked so familiar, but he felt a deep fear at the same time. He could feel her touching his mind and he fought the invasion like he had been trained. It was no use.
She was talking to him and he couldn't respond he felt the rope that he had been tied with leave his body and then he was again secured tightly with a rope. He opened his eyes just long enough to see the delicious back side of the lovely woman leave the room. She held a golden lariat in one of her hands and he was tied up with a golden lariat.
Ollie found this to be amusing and interesting. He had only ever heard of one such lariat and now there were two. It was something he needed to file away and he also felt the urge to tell somebody. He needed to tell somebody. With a mischievous grin he reached for his communicator and contacted his friend, Batman. He figured that he might already know but in the off chance that he didn't he wanted to be the one that told him. It would certainly prove that he knew something that Batman didn't.
There was no answer at the other end. Ollie wasn't put out at all. He just punched in the code to leave a message. "Hey, Brucie, Baby! Got some juicy info for you! "You do realize that there are two of those wonderful lariats, right? Yes. Now we have to tell the truth twice as much! But don't worry, buddy. I'm working on way counteract this atrocity. I think I'll develop a lie arrow or maybe a truth negating gas. Of course it also means that the chances of getting tied up in a lariat have just doubled. Yep. Two lariat's. Dos. Deaux. Ni. I was tied up in both. I didn't end up getting any but that's because I was on a tight schedule. But I'm sure they wouldn't mind me working on their tight schedules! HaHaHa! Well, I better let you go. You know how it is, it's not the first time I've been tied up and it certainly won't be the last. And you just never know when a dark haired or red haired beauty is going to walk through your door and insist on tying you up for a good time."
Ollie woke up sweating. The dreams were still quite vivid and he remembered everything. "Maxima has a lariat as well! I wonder why she didn't have sex with me when she had the chance. She was so close!"
He got up and paced the length of his expansive room several times. He was deep in thought. Something didn't make sense. He was no detective but he'd been around Bruce enough to know that no detail was unimportant. Something about what had happened was wrong. Checking his communicator, he saw that he had indeed called Bruce with his information about the two lariats. He breathed a sigh of relief. Bruce now had his information. That meant that the mystery of the two sexy ladies with magic lassos would soon be solved!
As he made his way to the shower he toyed with the idea of adding a rope or two to his amorous adventures.
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