Chapter 36: Girl Talk

Argo City, Krypton

High Council Compound

Diana listened as Lara left the chamber, the door clicking softly behind her. She relaxed against the plush pillows of the comfortable bed, pleased to have a moment of alone time. Not that she was completely alone, of course. Helena and Zatanna were in the outer room. They were waiting for her when she'd arrived from the airport, exhausted but in good spirits, despite their ordeal with Non and his men. As well they should be, Diana mused, they had proven once more why they were invaluable Furies and friends.

Zatanna poked her head into the open doorway of the room. "All is clear if you want to make that phone call to Babs."

"I know. I heard Lara leave."

Zatanna sashayed further into the room, her raven locks spilling onto her shoulders and a blue sweater-dress that matched her eyes. Plucking off high heel shoes, she slid into bed next to Diana. Before Diana knew it, Helena had come into the room as well, removed her shoes, grabbed a pillow, and joined them.

Diana couldn't help but smile at her friends, sprawled as they were across her bed, so comfortable were they with themselves and each other.

"You would think a posh place like this would spring for king size beds. The one in my room," Helena said, curling into a ball that reminded Diana so much of Daphne, "is only a double."

"Well, I doubt whoever furnished this room imagined one bed would be occupied by three women." Diana gave Helena a playful shove with her stocking feet. "Why are the two of you in my bed, anyway?"

"It's comfy."

"We're tired."

They said at the same time.

"Just be grateful Shayera isn't here. Her snoring could raise the dead. I swear, I don't know how Carter puts up with it."

Zatanna was right. Sleeping in the same room as Shayera was like cuddling with a foghorn.

"Carter is whipped and in love," Helena said. "Besides, I think he pretty much passes out after they have sex. I once heard him say that having sex with Shayera was like making love to three women—Shayera's past, present, and future selves." Helena sighed with mock envy. "I would've never thought I'd be jealous of a woman who's dating an archaeologists. I mean, aren't they supposed to be nerdy, boring, and skinny?"

"Carter Hall is none of those stereotypes. He's brilliant and handsome with a buff body made for sin and sex."

Diana shoved Helena again with her foot. "You better not let Shayera here you talking about Carter like that. I've never seen her this serious about a man before."

"She loves him, but she's too much of a wimp to tell him."

Once again, Zatanna was right.

"True, but I think she'll come around. Carter understands Shayera well enough to know that he can't rush things, no matter how much he might want to drag her off to the nearest courthouse."

Within another year or two, Diana had no doubt Carter and Shayera would be man and wife. Carter was too persistent, and Shayera was no fool. Her stubborn and too-independent nature, while formidable, would eventually lose out to her heart.

The way mine did with Clark. Love is a powerful weapon, capable of overcoming the most frightened of hearts and the most debilitating of fears.

"Make the call, Diana," Zatanna said, hiding a yawn behind her hand, "so we can all take a nap. The sooner you do, the sooner we can finish this mission and go the hell home. No offense to Clark and his parents, but Krypton is not the most welcoming of places."

"You've only been to the airport and the compound. I'm sure the rest of the country is lovely."

Zatanna yawned again. The poor woman was truly tired.

"That's probably true, but I won't find out. Helena and Shayera agree with me. We're ready to go home. And" —she sat up in bed— "what's with Russia and that castle? You can't be serious about making that our Eastern headquarters."

Well, no, not exactly. "I'm thinking of making it the headquarters for the Justice League International."

"The what?" Zee flopped back onto to the bed. "Never mind, Di. Tell me when I'm not brain-dead and in need of a mega cup of coffee with an obscene amount of sugar."

That was fine with Diana. Once she returned home, she would convene a meeting of the Justice League and share her proposal. With the help of Barbara Grayson, Diana had discretely advertised for membership into the JLI. Thus far, she'd narrowed the long list of applications to a manageable list to fifteen. If all went well in Krypton, this time next month Diana would share the proposal and the dossiers with the JL, as well as the surprise she and Wally have been working on for the past year.

"Has anyone ever told you," Helena began, curled at the foot of the bed like a spoiled cat, "that your eyes all but glow when you're plotting?"

"Maybe."

"Well, yeah, they do. And I must tell you, no one really likes that look."

Diana shoved her again with her foot—harder than the first two times. "Be nice. I'm sick."

"I cannot believe you played the sick card. You're such a brat - like that sister of yours." Helena pointed to the cellphone in Diana's hand. "Stop playing around and call her."

Diana was playing around, just a bit. And it felt so good for, even a couple of minutes, to not think about sickness and death. But Helena and Zatanna were right. The sooner Diana made the call and set her plan in motion, the sooner all of this madness would be over and they could go home.

She called Barbara.

"Hey, Di. I got your email."

"I assume you're still tracking the IP address."

"Yup. It hasn't changed. The user is easy enough to track."

"When was the last time it was used to access the private JL domain?"

Diana heard tapping in the background, a sure sign Barbara was currently at her computer.

"The day after the press conference from Krypton."

Good. Diana hoped that was the case.

"Have you posted the document I emailed you?"

"Of course. It went live for private viewing about ninety minutes ago. Anyone with level one security has access." More tapping then silence. "You know, Di, you took a big risk in not having me program in a regular update to the security protocols. Keeping the same passwords for three years is tantamount to suicide."

"You're far too good to let a virus or hacker slip by your firewalls. I wasn't worried."

At the first sign of trouble, Barbara would've shut the entire system down. But Barbara was right, Diana had taken a risk. A calculated risk true, but a risk all the same.

"I've never known a person to have so much faith in her friends as you do."

Growing up, it was just Diana, Donna, and Hippolyta. Hippolyta had raised Donna and Diana to rely on themselves. More importantly, she'd taught them to rely on each other and to trust their heart and mind. Sometimes the heart and mind didn't agree, but when they did the result was powerful and worth any risk.

"It always bears fruit."

"Well, there's no denying your track record. I just hope your little game of breadcrumbs pays off."

So did Diana. Even if it didn't, Diana had a contingency plan. One thing she'd learned from being married to Bruce Wayne was to always have a backup plan—two, if need be.

"The tracking program is up and running, alerting me to any change in locale."

"Then you've taken care of everything. Excellent work, Barbara. Thank you."

"No problem. Dinner when you return?"

"Gotham or Metropolis?"

"The Big Apple."

"Even better. Keep me posted."

"Will do. Bye."

Diana ended the call, pleased with the update. Everything was under control on Barbara's end. If Lara had gone to see H'el, as Diana suspected she would, then she was now safe with Shayera. Billy had gone with Clark to the Council meeting, which meant he was safe. The five members from the common houses who had accompanied Diana to Saint Petersburg were now, presumably, working to convince their houses of Clark and Diana's proposal. They asked her to give them a couple of days to iron out what they could, then they would be in touch. That would give Lara time to run whatever tests she wanted to run on the antidote before injecting Diana with the serum. Two days was also more than enough time to discuss her plan with Clark and the others. But she would begin with her husband.

"Do you think they will take the bait?"

Diana looked from Helena to Zatanna. While Helena was fast asleep, Zatanna stared up at her with the same sliver of hope Diana harbored.

"I hope so." Diana slid down to lay flat on her back. She handed Zatanna one of the two pillows Diana's back had been propped against.

"Thanks." Turning onto her side, Zatanna faced Diana. "I've missed them, almost as much as I want to kick their asses for leaving."

Diana laughed—low so as to not awaken Helena. "Yes, well, you'll have to wait your turn. If anyone's going to kick the general's ass, it's going to be me."

"This is it."

Lara and Shayera stood in front of a bedroom door in the servant's wing of the compound. The hallway was empty and quiet, all compound staffers ordered by General Ranu to stay in their rooms until further notice. The general was thorough, cautious and a tad overbearing, much like Diana.

"Are you sure about this? Maybe you should speak with Clark first."

"While I may not know the details, I do know the truth. My son didn't have intimate relations with the woman on the other side of this door. But there is normally a grain of truth within each lie a person tells. And I want to discover that granule before I speak with either Clark or Diana. I need to know if H'el's lie will have teeth if it's revealed to the public, and where the chambermaid's loyalty lie."

"Unless the asshole was lying about sleeping with this Nuria person, I think it's pretty sure she's on the wrong side."

"People change sides as often as they change their pants."

"In that case, you really can't trust a thing the woman may say."

"True, but let's at least here her version."

"Suit yourself." Shayera moved closer to the door and knocked.

Two more knocks later, Lara heard someone come to the door.

"Who's there?"

"Lady El."

Immediately, the door was thrown opened. In the threshold was a woman in a deep bow, Lara only able to make out her slim frame and flaxen hair.

"Please rise. That isn't necessary."

When the woman . . . Nuria finally rose to her full height, which still put her several inches below that of both Lara and Shayera, Lara could see the appeal.

Nuria, no older than twenty-five, was sultry in all the ways that would tempt a man. Her form fitting T-shirt and tight jeans left little to the imagination. They hugged every voluptuous curve, reminding Lara what H'el had said about this woman.

"Nuria is a tasty morsel, I must admit. Who could really blame young Kal El for wanting to have a bite?"

"Umm, Lady El, please come."

Nuria took a step to the side and allowed Lara and Shayera to enter. The chamber was respectable in size but nowhere near as large as those assigned to the royals. There was a kitchenette off to the right, a bedroom and bathroom to the left, and a combination living and dining room, which was where the woman now stood.

Nuria was truly a pretty little thing, even when she stared up at Lara with wide, fearful eyes. But pretty didn't necessarily equate with trustworthiness no more than it meant it was enough to convince a man to stray.

"What brings you down to the servant's wing, Lady El? Oh, I'm sorry. Please sit. Would you like something to drink? I can get you and Ms. Hol—"

"No, no, young lady. I didn't come here to be waited upon. But yes, I would like to have a seat. In fact, why don't we all have a seat."

Lara permitted Nuria to seat them first then herself on a loveseat caddy corner to the sofa where Lara and Shayera sat. They wouldn't be here long, although the buttery soft leather sofa was quite comfortable and brought disturbing thoughts of Clark, Nuria, and forbidden sex. Lara shook her head, annoyed at herself for conjuring such a ridiculous image.

"Since I don't believe in wasting my time or the time of others, I'll get straight to the reason why I'm here."

Nuria sat on the loveseat, her hands in her lap and clutched so tightly together they were white. The woman truly was nervous, which made Lara wonder what she was hiding.

"Tell me about your relationship with Lord Kal El."

Blood drained from Nuria's lovely face, leaving her as white as a sheet. Lara didn't like the woman's reaction one little bit. But she refused to believe her son would carry on with this woman or any other behind Diana's back.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Tell me about you and Lord Kal El."

"Umm, well, there's nothing to tell. His room is on my roster. I go in, do my job, and leave. That's it. Like I said, nothing to tell."

Lara didn't need Shayera's unladylike snort to know she too thought the young woman to be lying.

"Try again, Nuria, with the truth this time."

"I just told you the tr—"

Lara raised her hand, an impatient slice through the air.

Nuria began to wring her hands, her discomfort obvious and escalating.

"Begin again. The truth. I won't leave here until I have it all."

Nuria bobbed her head. Bright eyes shown with repressed tears, and Lara felt a small stab of guilt for bullying the woman. Under different circumstances, Lara wouldn't use her position and authority to pry personal secrets from a servant, especially someone as youthful as Nuria. Yet Lara hadn't reached her mature age by being a fool. She may have naively swallowed H'el's lies—hook, line, and sinker—but that didn't make her gullible by nature.

No, Nuria the Chambermaid, was much more than a pretty face in snug fitting clothing. She was one of many women Lara had known over the years who used their beauty and body to promote their own cause—mainly themselves.

"L-Lord El was kind to me," Nuria began.

Lara was tempted to ask her "How kind," but refrained.

"He spoke to me as if I were his equal, although I know I'm not. He was often in his chamber when I came to clean. He always had a pleasant greeting and often asked me about my day. No one does that around here. Even when we are in the same room with royals we're invisible, unless we're needed. It's the way of things. It has always been the way of things. But Lord El was different."

That sounded like Clark. But it also sounded as if young Nuria had a crush on Clark.

"What else?"

"What do you mean?"

Lara didn't have time for this. She scooted forward and sat on the edge of the sofa, her brown eyes all for the woman who thought she could skirt the heart of the issue with partial truths.

"I. Want. It. All. Stop prevaricating and tell me what I want to know. I know my son is kind and just. I don't need you to tell me that. Tell me what happened when he was here last. I'm sure you know what I mean."

Not that Lara knew precisely what she meant. As long as Nuria thought Lara knew more than what she did, the greater the chance of her revealing all.

"Look, Nuria," Shayera said, speaking for the first time since entering the room. "You seem like a nice kid. You saw to my room when I first got here, and I appreciate how well you've performed your job. But this is the thing, I work for Lord El's wife, and it's my job to protect her." Shayera skewered the young woman with a glacial glare that had Nuria taking deep breaths and wringing her hands feverishly. "I protect her from everything, including a chambermaid who's probably spent more time on her back and in bed than making them."

Lara closed her eyes. For Rao's sake, the Fury had no tact at all. Did she really think this was the best approach to take with the woman, to humiliate and shame her?"

"This is the thing," Shayera continued, "Lara is much more polite than I am. She won't tell you what she really thinks because she doesn't want to hurt your delicate sensibilities. But you know what, kid? I don't give a damn about your tender feelings. I've been up all night with five bastards who thought they could beat and rape me and my friends."

Now it was Nuria who closed her eyes under Shayera's frank and harsh words.

"So, yeah, I'm more than a little cranky, and have absolutely zero patience about now. So tell your Lady El what she wants to know before I turn this civil conversation into an interrogation that will have you crying and calling your Mommy."

Oh but Lara would have a word with Diana for assigning Shayera Hol to her. The woman needed a lesson in—

"Fine. Fine. I'll tell you everything."

What? Gracious, was rational, genteel discourse a thing of the past? Lara slid back onto the sofa. Who was she to rebuke Shayera? Hadn't she been the one to raise her hand to H'el? Clearly, she wasn't above such lowbrow actions herself.

"H'el asked me to find out whatever I could about Lord El." Her eyes dropped then rose, her face scarlet when she admitted, "He wanted me to seduce Lord El. And, to my shame, I tried—many times. His wife wasn't with him so I assumed it would be simple enough to entice him into bed with me." Nuria gave a sheepish smile. "It turns out it wasn't so easy. He shot me down every time."

That news had Lara smiling with a mother's pride. Clark had rebuffed the little tart. Good for him.

"Lord El told me I should never use my body to seek favors from others, or to expect to be mistreated simply because of my station in life. Most men from the noble houses don't view commoners like that. Not that all of them think we have to sleep with them. I'm not saying that. But they, well, they tend to think of us as somehow less deserving of respect than the women from their own houses."

Lara knew many men of noble birth thought that way. If Lara were being honest with herself, she would admit that she and Jor's fathers had been no different. As Nuria had said earlier, it's the way of things. But it's not right, not right at all. Diana and Clark's plan will change everything, make a difference in the lives of so many people.

"Okay, so Clark turned you down, then what?"

"Well, he, umm, asked for my help."

Lara hadn't expected that. "Help with what?"

"He wanted to contact the outside, his family, but couldn't."

Lara remembered how worried everyone had been when they hadn't heard from Clark and Jor, thinking the worse had happened to them. But one morning he'd called Diana, setting all their minds at rest.

"You helped him find a phone line that had long distance service?"

She nodded. "I was there when he called home. I heard a bit of his conversation with his wife. Lord El was really worried about her. I could hear it in his voice. He truly loves her."

"Yes he does."

Nuria pulled her feet onto the loveseat. "Men like that are a rare breed."

"Perhaps not as rare as you think. You only need to look in the right places."

"And stop opening your legs up to any royal who looks your way and gives you a trinket."

"Shayera! Must you?"

The Fury didn't look the least bit repentant, despite her "Sorry. I'll say no more. Go on, chambermaid. Tell Lara what Clark promised you in return for your help, but mark my word, she won't like it."

"How could you possibly know that?" Lara asked.

A shrug. "I know Clark. When it comes to Diana's safety, he'd make a deal with the Devil if he thought it would save her life." Shayera lifted her chin toward Nuria. "Case in point. So, yeah, go on and tell Lara so she can then find her son and blast his ears for being so stupid."

"You're absolutely unbelievable," Lara muttered.

Nuria gaped at Shayera for long seconds before snapping her mouth closed.

"Please, Nuria, continue." Lara made her request as soft and gentle as possible. The opposite of the rough, insensitive way Shayera had spoken to her.

The young woman cleared her throat and gave Shayera one last insulted look before returning her attention to Lara.

"In exchange, Lord El said he would take me with him when he returned to the States."

She couldn't have possibly heard the woman correctly. Surely Clark wouldn't be so imprudent as to promise to take a woman home with him, the same woman who'd tried—many times, according to her—to seduce him into cheating on his wife.

Shayera stood. "Well, there you have it—Clark at his best and stupidest."

"You're not helping."

She snorted. "I suppose he thought he could palm Little Miss Tight Jeans off as an au pair for the twins, though where that would leave the nanny the girls already have is beyond me."

By the time Shayera reached the door, Lara still hadn't managed to wrap her mind around why Clark would promise such a thing. Beyond it being highly inappropriate, without her family's and the government's consent his actions would've been deemed as kidnapping. And what did he plan on doing once they reached the United States? If Nuria was like most Kryptonians, she had no passport, which meant she couldn't legally enter the U.S.

For the love of Rao, no wonder H'el thought Clark had bedded Nuria.

Lara got to her feet, suddenly feeling a migraine coming on. "Thank you for your time and hospitality."

When Lara rose, so did Nuria. "I-I'm not in trouble am I? I won't be thrown into one of those cells like the Regent?"

"No, no, of course not. But you are remanded to your chamber until General Ranu has concluded her investigation. Unless there is something you haven't told me, I'm sure she'll release you to your family within a day or two. Until that time, stay here."

"Yes, Lady El. I'm truly sorry if I caused your family any pain. Lord El didn't deserve what I tried to do to him, and neither did his wife."

Contrition seemed foreign to Nuria, but Lara sensed the woman's sincerity all the same.

When Nuria's door closed behind Lara and Shayera, she spun on the Fury. "You're most provoking."

"So I've been told, but my vulgar methods got you what you wanted."

Lara had to concede the point, just now seeing the brilliance in what Shayera had done.

"Good cop, bad cop?"

"Yup. It works every time."

"Why didn't you tell me before we talked to the girl?"

Shayera led Lara down the hall and to the bank of elevators.

"Because you have no poker face."

Okay, hell, Lara had to give her that as well.

They got on the elevator and didn't say another word to each other until they reached their floor.

"What are you going to do about what you learned?" Shayera asked, stifling a yawn. The Fury truly was tired, that much was obvious.

"I suppose I'll have a talk with my son then let him figure out how and when he'll tell Diana. You know, Shayera," Lara said, stopping in front of her bedchamber, thinking Jor should be done with his Council meeting by now, "it's possible Clark already told Diana about Nuria while they were in Saint Petersburg. Our concerns may be for nothing."

Shayera stared at Lara for a heartbeat before bursting into laughter.

"I'm definitely inviting you to the Furies next poker game."

"You're not at all funny." But she was undeniably intelligent, loyal, and fierce, someone Lara would like to get to know better.

"Will Diana be there?"

"Of course. She thinks she has no tell, but she does."

Shayera removed a key card from her pants pocket and pressed it against the security sensor. The lock popped and the door cracked opened. Inside, she could hear Jor speaking with someone on the phone.

"Go inside with your husband. When you're ready to leave, call Diana and she'll send someone to escort you wherever you want to go. Once I'm well rested, I'll take over bodyguard duty. Now go."

Lara went, only to find Jor going on and on about General Ranu's preliminary report. But he wasn't on the phone, as she'd thought. No, he was speaking animatedly to Clark and Billy Batson.

"Just the man I wanted to see."

Three sets of male eyes turned to Lara as she entered the living room fully.

"Tell me, son, what in the world did you think your wife would say when you brought Nuria the Chambermaid home with you?"

Clark blanched.

Jor frowned.

And Billy Batson made a hasty exit.

TO BE CONTINUED