We watched the luggage merry-go-round groan and slowly rumble to life as we patiently waited for our bags.
"I hate how cold it is here. Can we go back? I regret this decision." Clark's hand squeezed mine and he smiled down at me.
"Sorry babe but reality needs us." I could have sworn he said 'unfortunately' at the end of that statement but I let it go.
"We need to go back soon though. Hawaii is amazing and it's unfortunate it's taken this long to go and see that magical place." I sighed.
"It was the best vacation I've ever been on." He sounded just as sad as I did. I stepped forward to get my luggage once I saw it Clark had already cut me off and swept it up off of the carousel.
"I've got it." He smiled and moved to collect his bag next. Being with Clark long enough has taught me that chivalry isn't dead and isn't plan on dying anytime soon. But I don't mind most of the time since Clark knows I can do anything on my own. He takes my hand back in his mighty one until I hear a soft woman's voice coming from behind us and my blood chills. How could anyone we know possibly catch us in the airport? What a small unfortunate world. I clench Clark's left hand and hide his ring and stick my hand in my pocket to quickly take my ring off. We hadn't figured anyone would find us at the airport but I guess even in Metropolis you can run into people. As I turn around to see who belongs to that unique voice I gasp.
The woman looks incredibly familiar. She was a lot taller than I was and her casual clothes didn't stand out but you could easily tell she worked out. Her thick jet-black hair hung down to her waist. She had a perfect angular face that hid her eyes behind aviators. Who the hell was this woman?
"Oh Diana. Hi!" Clark fumbled for something to say as I stood there dumbly. But after a few moments I realized he was talking to Wonder Woman. Of course I didn't recognize her, I always saw her in that iconic uniform of hers. It was amazing that no one here was paying attention to her because she blended in so well with her surroundings. I saw Clark fidgeting with his hand in mine and I squeezed it to make sure it was okay. He looked at me before looking at her and I gave him a reassuring smile.
"I don't think we've formally met even though we've ran into each other a few times. I'm Diana." She stuck her right hand out and I cringed internally until Clark let my hand go to pretend he was grabbing something out of his pocket with his left hand.
"I'm Jovilette. It's nice to meet you Diana. I'm sorry for the last time we met it was under strange circumstances." I thought back to the time in the Fortress of Solitude and how I had just gotten my powers the day before. That couldn't have been the best impression.
"Oh you need not worry about it. You did wonderful after such a traumatic experience. It seems Clark is pampering you just like he should be." She grinned at him and immediately knew I could be friends with this woman.
"Yeah we actually just got back from our vacation in Hawaii." Clark butted in.
"Oh is that so? I may just have to copy you and take a vacation there myself. Although it is tough to beat the sights of Themyscira."
"I bet nothing could beat that. Diana I think we should get coffee sometime. I hardly ever get to meet, let alone hang out with Clark's friends, and I'd like to." She smiled at me appreciatively after a quick raise of the eyebrows.
"Of course. I would love that Jovilette. Clark, be a doll and give her my number would you? I have to run to a diplomatic meeting in Washington D.C., it was nice to see you both. See you soon Clark!" She shouted as she galloped away. I watched her graceful long legs stride through the hallway of the airport and realized Clark was watching me.
"What?" I asked him with my chin turned up.
"You want to hang out with her? Why?"
"Clark I need more girl friends." Clark scoffed.
"No you don't. You become best friends with every girl that talks to you. What's the real reason?" He narrowed his eyes at me and I sighed.
"Alright, fine! I want to know what you're like, as Superman and it wouldn't help to have a mutual superhero friend. I want to know what it's like other than your perspective." I could tell he was mulling that idea over and wanted to say something but he kept his mouth shut. I pulled him along the airport and we made our way into the cab to our way home. As we made our way upstairs and into our place I fished my ring out of my back pocket and slipped it back onto my finger.
"That was a close call." Clark nodded as he did the same with his. I grabbed his hand and stared down at the white crystals that enveloped both of our fingers.
"I'm sad I'm not going to wear this on my finger anymore but also realize you're right and we're going to have to tread lightly with this marriage." I enveloped him in my arms and felt him rest his chin on top of my head.
"I was thinking about something on the plane ride here. And you might not like it." I felt him sigh against me.
"What is it?" The defeat in his voice was apparent.
"I think we should tell Connor." I felt him stiffen but I just held onto him.
"Why? He's going to tell everyone."
"See that's where I think you're wrong. He's kept my secret, I know he has. He believes in you Superman. He loves you and you're his idol. He respects me enough. He won't say anything if we ask him not to. Please? I know you don't want to hear it but I view him kind of as my son." Clark grabbed my arms and pushed me away from him.
"What?"
"Look I know you don't want to hear it but I need to say it. Clearly you realize how much he means to me. And we go over this all the time but no matter what you think Connor is going to be special to me. You need to get over your crap with him so you can have a relationship with him too."
"I do have a relationship with him." He couldn't have sounded more defensive if he tried.
"Talking to him about missions isn't having a relationship with him. We're letting him know and that's final. As your wife I demand it. Not to mention we need to talk to him about what they found out about that Doomsday thing." He rolled his eyes at that and held his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, okay fine. I'll call him over." Clark pulled out his phone and dialed Connor's number. As Clark convinced Connor to come over I began to make a quick dinner for all of us. I set the noodles in the boiling water and ram amuck as I tried to hurry before Connor got there.
"You know we could have just ordered a pizza." Clark said as he left to change clothes.
"Yeah yeah." I muttered.
"I heard that!" I heard him shout from the bedroom.
"I know!" I yelled back. Even though I didn't have super-hearing I could hear him chuckle. Married life was turning out to be nothing new.
As I got the spaghetti dinner ready Clark came out and I sighed when I saw what he was wearing.
"Did you get called in?" A frown developed on my face.
"I'm sorry honey but the League needs to talk to me about something. Maybe they have some intel on this Doomsday project." He bent over to kiss my temple and I watched him jump out of the window and the red cape flutter in the wind just before he was out of my sight. The pounding on the door made me jump several inches off the ground. Standing on my tiptoes I peeked through the hole in the door and saw the only other person I wanted to see right now. Grabbing the doorknob, I pulled the door open and Connor enveloped me into his arms.
"Hi Jovilette!" My grip on him became tighter as I smiled into his shoulder.
"Hi Connor." Pushing him back I looked at his exuberant face and instantly mirrored his expression. "I missed ya bud. How have you been? How's the team?" He sat at the table as I made my way over to the table with our plates.
"The team's been good. We've been going on a lot of missions. It's nice to keep busy because for a while it was just me and Cassie." A small smile crept onto my lips before I could stop it.
"What's wrong with Cassie? I thought you had a little crush on her?" His eyebrows raised and his mouth turned into a little 'o' before he could think of anything to say back to that.
"Th-that's not true!" I grinned.
"Of course it is. All you did was talk about her last time you were here." I clasped my hands together and leaned on them as I stared at him. Not long after that a blush crept onto his cheeks and he looked everywhere except for me.
"I talked about the team that's different." He mumbled before he took a bite of dinner.
"Okay whatever you say. Just know that it's perfectly healthy to develop feelings for someone even though you're young. This is completely natural, especially when you're on a team with her. Just know that you can talk to me about anyone, alright?" Connor nodded his head as he shoveled more food into his mouth. "Have you heard anything more about this Doomsday thing?" He finally looked up from his plate with a sad look in his eyes. I waited for the bad news as he sloppily finished eating.
"Jovilette that situation doesn't look good at all. Doomsday is a project that a powerful agency created. I can't divulge all the details about it, but it's not pretty. They know you have a pretty strong tie to Superman and they are willing to use you to get to him." Those words echoed in my head and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My blood turned ice cold as I let the words sink into my system. He grabbed my hand and I refused to look at him until he told me to.
"Jovilette it will be okay. Nothing is going to happen to either of you two. The League knows what's going to happen. They were the first ones we contacted once we found out the information. They're up there informing Superman what's going as we speak." I nodded and smiled at him as he tried to reassure me.
"Thank you for looking into the situation more for us. I really appreciate what you and your team did. You guys risked a lot to get that information and it didn't go unnoticed. Anytime you or your team needs something for me, please let me know." A blush crept up on his cheeks once again as I thanked him and that reminded me of what I wanted him here for in the first place.
"Connor there's something I need to tell you. And I need your absolute guarantee that you won't tell anyone. You can't tell anyone on your team, not Batman, not J'onn no one, do you understand?"
"Yeah I promise. What is it?" I rubbed my temples as I mentally prepared myself.
"Clark and I got married in Hawaii this last week." His eyebrows rose for a few seconds until his brows knitted together and something came across his mind.
"Wait, why do you not want me to tell anyone? Are you keeping your marriage a secret?" I nodded my head in response and he seemed to be in thought.
"Why did you get married if you didn't want to tell anyone?" He asked thoughtfully.
"Clark and I have been through a lot. You don't know our whole history since you came into our lives at the time it was most peaceful. But we've definitely had our ups and downs. We weren't together for a long time and once we got back together it was clear we didn't want to be apart ever again. Marriage is complicated but we married each other to bind ourselves together in more than one sense of the word. There's just something about the idea of being someone's partner and being recognized as that. But in our world there are enemies out there and there are a lot of other people in our lives who wouldn't approve of this. Superman is one of the world's most important heroes so if other heroes were to know that he was a married man they might think his priorities were out of order or that I might be a liability to him. Clark wants to keep it a secret so people don't come after us if some of the villains know his persona."
"I guess that makes sense. Are you ever going to tell people?"
"Yeah we were thinking we would keep it a secret for about a year. That way it could give us time to settle in to our marriage and get used to it. There's not much of a difference but it's still there. Only the people that matter most in our lives are the ones that know."
"I'm important to you guys?" My heart broke at those words.
"Honey of course you are. You mean so much to us. Even though things with Clark aren't perfect you're still precious to him. He's so stubborn sometimes but I just know this by the way he brags about things you've done. And you and I have become so close that I think of you almost like a son. Only you and our parents know about this. We're putting our trust in you not to tell anyone, can you do that?"
"Yeah I can do that. That means a lot to me Jovilette. I'll keep my promise. You guys mean a lot to me too and I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe. I don't want you in danger." I grabbed both of his hands and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Don't worry I won't be. I'm rock solid."