Chapter 20

Lex was initially surprised when Diana ended her impromptu fashion show of new outfits from her shopping trip by putting her Wonder Woman uniform back on before they left to meet Aquaman down at the Metropolis docks to hand off Lex's nuclear codes, which she had placed inside a small waterproof backpack that she was wearing over her armor.

"Do you prefer to always wear your uniform for League business?" he asked her. "You're going to be chilly." Diana grinned at him.

"I prefer to wear it when I fly," she said. "Less wind resistance and I don't get sweaty. I thought I could fly us down to the docks…?" she asked Lex. "If you're up for it, that is." A slow smile spread over Lex's face.

"Diana," he said with pleasure. "I would be delighted to fly with you." Diana let out a bubbly giggle and practically skipped with glee as she came forward to grasp Lex's hand. "Is it ok if we leave through the balcony?" she asked him.

"Of course," Lex said. "I can lock the door behind us. Not that I suspect Superman of being a snoop, but… one never knows who might be flying around Metropolis at night," he laughed.

"You can't be too careful," Diana giggled as they walked into the crisp night air. She moved to stand behind Lex and slipped her arms around his chest. "Let me know if it's too much and you want me to land," she told him, but he turned his head over his shoulder to dazzle her with a confident smile.

"I'll be fine," he said.

"That's what I said about roller coasters," Diana said very seriously and Lex laughed low and hard.

"I love you, baby," he told her, turning around in her arms to kiss her for a minute. "No one has ever made me so happy," he said, and Diana's breath caught in her throat.

"It's the same for me with you," she told him, tightening their embrace to kiss him some more and feeling so loved and secure and happy that she couldn't help deepening their kiss until Lex finally broke it off.

"Aquaman will be cranky if we're late," he sighed.

"Aquaman is always cranky," Diana said dryly and Lex laughed as he turned back around so she could pick him up under the arms again. "Ready?" Diana asked him and Lex nodded, so she lifted up slowly and flew them out over the wide-paneled glass railing into the night sky.

Lex inhaled sharply.

"This is incredible," he breathed out, squeezing his hands over Diana's which were holding him tight.

"It never gets old," Diana said fondly. "I'm glad you like it," she said in his ear and even though she couldn't see it, she could feel the energy of Lex's smile wafting off of him.

"It's a bit like riding a hanging roller coaster, with you carrying me like this," he mused, "but gentler." Diana laughed.

"You can see why I wasn't prepared for the amusement park," she said and Lex chuckled.

"Humans and their insatiable need for thrills," he said. "We do like to push ourselves to our limits once in awhile."

"Just once in awhile?" Diana teased him, prompting a soft laugh from Lex.

"Well, perhaps I push myself to extremes more than most," he admitted. "I get bored so easily," he said. "The consequence of being a genius, I suppose," he said, and for once Lex's words lacked his trademark arrogance and simply sounded honest and even, maybe, a trifle frustrated.

"We'll have to make sure you have enough challenges in your life now that you're giving up crime," Diana said empathetically. "I want you to still be happy."

"I'll always be happy with you," Lex said immediately but he felt Diana shake her head from behind him.

"No, you won't," she said. "Not if you're not intellectually stimulated with your own projects and schemes and grand plans. And that's ok, Lex," she reassured him. "We all have needs. My need is to save the world," she said thoughtfully. "My inner drive to help was so strong that I abandoned my home and my family to be a superhero in man's world. I never would have been truly happy if I'd stayed on Themyscira."

Lex gently clasped her hands in his.

"Thank you for understanding me," he said softly. "For you to support me in being who I am, who I must be… it's more than I deserve, Diana."

Diana blinked away the tears that were forming in her eyes, because the awe-struck tone that so frequently filled Lex's voice at the privilege of being with her was doing wonders for her self-confidence which had been brought so dismally low by not only Bruce's rejection of her, but also by his quick turn-around to start dating Shayera.

"I love you so much," Diana said to Lex in a voice choked with some tears. He laughed gently.

"I can't believe you say that like you're the lucky one," he said as she started to descend towards Metropolis Harbor.

"Well," Diana sniffed, "I suppose it's the mark of a great relationship if we both think we're the lucky ones," she said, clearing her throat to try to keep Aquaman from seeing her as a weepy, emotional mess.

"I couldn't agree more," Lex said as they landed. As soon as he had his feet securely under him again, he turned to catch Diana's lips in a warm and tender kiss. Their tongues were slipping together in loving strokes and he was just starting to tangle his hand in her hair when they were interrupted by a loud chuckle from behind them.

Diana blushed a little bit as she and Lex turned to face an amused Aquaman, who had come up out of the water while they were otherwise occupied and was now standing imperiously on the docks, his trident in his hand as water dripped off of his long blonde hair.

"I see love has made slaves out of both of you," Arthur said. "How the mighty have fallen."

"You're one to talk," Diana said. "How's Mera?" she asked pointedly. Aquaman chuckled again.

"Very well, and my lovely wife sends her regards. The baby is teething right now or else she would have come along to say hello."

"I appreciate you coming out tonight," Lex said, moving forward to shake hands as if this was a normal business meeting, even though Arthur's hand was dripping wet. Aquaman raised his eyebrow but returned his handshake. Lex calmly wiped his hand on his pants to dry it after shaking, and Diana giggled. He turned to give her a questioning look.

"I never thought I'd see the great Lex Luthor wiping his hand on his pants," she said and Lex shook his head at her.

"Sassy," he said, but the teasing look in his eye had a heat to it that made Diana's heart race.

She took her backpack off and handed it to Aquaman, who unzipped it to examine the nuclear codes.

"I had them laminated," Lex said, "to hold up under water."

"Very wise," Arthur grunted, scanning the sheet. "Ten missiles?" he asked Lex, who nodded.

"We'll be giving the other half of the codes to my mother soon," Diana said. "Monday or Tuesday at the latest. But I already have them from Lex."

"Good," Arthur said, replacing the codes in the backpack and zipping it up before slinging it on his back. At least, he tried to put it on, but seeing as how he was much broader shouldered than Diana, the straps were too short.

"Let me help you," Diana said with a smile as she came forward and began adjusting them.

"I have a proposition for you, Luthor," Aquaman said as Diana fiddled with the backpack, "And for you as well, Wonder Woman," he said. They looked at him curiously.

"If you were able to obtain ten nuclear missiles," Arthur said to Lex, "why stop there?"

"Arthur!" Diana said in shock.

"Hear me out," he said to her. "You want peace for the surface dwellers. I want to avoid a nuclear holocaust that destroys the ocean. Luthor wants to be an evil genius. Why not work together to dismantle the rest of the earth's nuclear arsenal?"

"How?" Diana asked him as she finished loosening the straps and got the backpack properly situated. "By stealing more?"

"Yes," Arthur said with a little smile. Diana groaned. Lex laughed, but he shook his head.

"Arthur, Arthur," he said. "I've reformed."

"It would be for the greater good," Aquaman persisted. "For the safety of the earth. Surface dwellers can't be trusted with such destructive power. They'll kill us all one day."

"But we can't go stealing their missiles," Diana said rationally. "The Justice League would never agree to that."

"Why involve the Justice League?" Arthur said slyly. "You're strong enough to carry a single missile at at time, Diana," he said. "I can provide the underwater concealment to contain them. And Luthor can coordinate your tactical strategy to break into the nuclear facilities undetected."

"No," Diana said firmly. "Out of the question. Some League members already mistrust me because of Lex. And stealing the missiles wouldn't be right; the League has only just started working with the United Nations and they don't trust us that much, either. We can't do this, Arthur. Please give up this idea," she pleaded with him. He looked to Lex.

"What Diana said," Lex answered. Arthur grunted in disgust, much like Batman was fond of doing.

"This is why I haven't joined the Justice League," he said. "Too much concession to unworthy surface dwellers. They don't deserve your cooperation."

"Yet they have it," Diana said. "I'm sorry, Arthur. I know you have the world's best interests at heart, but we can't do this for you."

"Very well," Arthur sighed in resignation. "At least you provided me with the codes for Luthor's cache," he said somewhat disdainfully as he turned to leave.

"Give Mera my love," Diana called after him. She received another grunt as acknowledgement before Arthur dived off the dock and into the water. Diana looked at Lex and sighed.

"At least he wanted me to be a heroic villain," Lex chuckled. "It's a step up," he said, kissing Diana's nose and making her smile.

"Arthur loves to be difficult," Diana said bemusedly.

"Definitely not the friendliest fellow," Lex smiled back at her. "I give him points for creativity, though. If not for the difficulties it would cause you among the League, it was a well-thought out plan."

"That's high praise, coming from Lex Luthor," Diana laughed.

Lex smiled and slipped his arms around Diana's waist before leaning in to kiss her neck.

"Shall we return home?" he murmured in her ear before nipping the lobe. Diana shivered and pressed into him.

"I love the sound of that," she said contentedly. "Home." Lex couldn't agree more, because it really was a home now that his Diana had moved in, and he couldn't believe how much cozier it already felt with less than twenty-four hours of her presence in it.

As Aquaman swam towards Atlantis, his irritation only grew. He had hoped that the Amazon would have been more reasonable than the other members of the so-called Justice League, but she had proved just as stubborn and difficult as the rest of them. A shame, because he knew that her mother Queen Hippolyta had strong feelings about the planet's health and well-being.

In fact, Hippolyta might not be so opposed to his plan. And she didn't belong to any pesky do-gooder leagues that did nothing but capitulate to the irresponsible whims of the earth's corrupt governing bodies… Arthur began to smile. Perhaps Mera should pay a visit to Themyscira…

Vixen was pounding on John's door for five solid minutes the next morning before she sighed in relief as the locks turned and a groggy John swung the door open.

"John!" she said, moving inside his dim apartment before turning to examine him more closely. "I was so worried about you! You weren't answering your phone or the League comms. I was about to call out my elephant to break your door down."

"Sorry," John muttered, blinking slowly as he rubbed his aching head. "Rough night," he said.

"What happened?" Vixen asked him with concern.

"Jack and Coke," John muttered, dragging himself over to his dinette and slumping into a chair.

"Mm," Vixen murmured sympathetically. "Well, I'm just glad you're safe."

"Yeah," John said slowly. "I don't actually remember how I got home last night," he admitted with some shame.

Vixen's lips pinched with worry, but all she said was, "At least you got here. And you don't have a car, so you know you didn't drink and drive." She moved into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee but kept the lights off to spare John's hangover. "Where do you keep your aspirin?" she asked him.

"Bathroom medicine cabinet," he said, propping his head up on the arm sprawled across his table.

"I'll get you some," Vixen said, filling a glass of water for him on the way. "Drink this all down," she said when she came back with the pills and saw he'd only taken a sip of the water. "You need to rehydrate."

"Yes ma'am," John said with a slight tease to his voice. She smiled at him and bent down to kiss his cheek.

"I would've come over if you'd called me," she said to him gently, so he wouldn't take it as a criticism. John sighed long and hard.

"I didn't feel right calling you," he said to her, meeting her eyes with a little bit of shame. Vixen clucked her tongue at him as she went to pour them both mugs of coffee.

"John, we're both mature adults," she said to him as she sat down at the table and slid his mug over to him. "I know you were in love with Shayera. I get it," she said. "And," she continued, "I know you still have feelings for her, too." John groaned and hung his head, too embarrassed to meet his girlfriend's eyes.

"Hey," she said to him softly, reaching out to rub his arm. "I knew that coming into our relationship, John. You weren't hiding anything from me. Ok?" she said. "But you know what I also know? You're not with her now. You're with me. Even after she came back to the League, you've stayed with me. And that means something, John."

He slowly turned his head to look at her.

"I do want this to work between us, Mari," he said, even though the slightly wistful tone in his voice said that he still wasn't sure if it would.

But Mari said, "I know. And as long as we stay together, maybe it will. Hm? Who can predict the future?" John gave her a small smile as she leaned in to kiss him tenderly.

"Besides," Vixen said, "we both know you're way more upset about Batman than Shayera." Her eyes were full of sympathy as she spoke and John jerked in surprise, because yeah - he was more upset about Batman, and how the hell did Mari know that?

Losing Shayera hurt; even though John had already tried to pull the plug on their relationship, as long as she was single his heart wouldn't shut up about the chance of them finding a happy ending one day. But Batman dating her? Batman his friend, his ally, his comrade in arms? That wound was so much deeper.

And Mari got that? Without him saying so? Well. That was something.

"You know me surprisingly well," he said to her. She smiled at him as she traced the lip of her coffee mug with a beautifully manicured finger.

"I may have picked up on one or two things," she said with a twinkle in her eye. And John couldn't help smiling back at her.

"Now, I hate to break it to you, boo," Vixen sighed, "but J'onn needs you back on the Watchtower this morning after all. He's been trying to call you since late last night."

"He's the one who told me to take a few days off," John grumbled. "Stay on earth, he said."

"I know," Vixen purred. "But the Legion of Doom sting op got set for Sunday night so J'onn called a Founders Meeting for 10 a.m. and all hands on deck at 1. We're going to be doing mission prep for the next three days straight until the raid." John growled in frustration.

"If only he'd set that up before my date with Jack," he muttered.

"I know, honey," Vixen said with empathy and reached over to rub circles on his back. "But it's still early," she said. "I thought maybe we could go eat at the corner diner first? And then head up to the Watchtower together?"

"Well," John said with a slightly playful grin, "I've never flown you through outer space, have I?" Vixen's eyebrows shot up.

"No, you have not," she said with a slowly answering grin. "I believe it's high time that you introduced me to that thrill," she said with a little laugh. "You know I like to arrive in style."

"Yes, you do," John said to her, beginning to look a little more cheerful.

"Come on, boo," Vixen said to him, standing up and pulling him to his feet. "Let's go get breakfast."

"All right," John said. He surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug that was less sensual than needy, holding onto her longer than he normally would have.

"Hey," Vixen said softly, squeezing him tighter. "I'm here for you."

"I really do appreciate you," John said to her in her ear.

"I know," she said warmly, giving him a light peck on the lips before he released her. As she turned to follow him out the door, her eyes landed on something crumpled up on the floor. Something that looked odd.

"John?" she asked him, moving to pick it up and smooth it out. "What's this?" she asked him, before glancing down to read Bruce and Shayera's 'thanks for being an asshole' card. "What the fuck?" she snapped angrily to no one before looking up to meet John's deeply wounded eyes.

"Those bastards," Vixen fumed. "This is why you went out drinking?" she asked him and John looked away in embarrassment.

"Oh, hell no," Vixen said with fury. "I am going to have words with the two of them when we get back to the station."

"Mari, it's fine," John tried to say. "Don't make a big deal out of it -"

"Don't make a big deal out of it?" Mari said. "Uh-uh. No. They do not get to speak to my man this way. Not happening." Something warm flickered to life in John's eyes but Mari was too busy pacing the apartment to see it.

"Calling you an asshole," she muttered. "As if they're not the two biggest assholes on the goddamn team. Pair of juvenile brats is what they are."

"Baby," John said, reaching his hand to her. She turned back to him and took his hand.

"Yes?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"You're an amazing woman," he said sincerely.

"Oh!" she said with startled pleasure as John leaned in and really kissed her this time, pressing in deep with lots of tongue and dropping her hand only so he could bring both of his up to frame her face. He stroked her cheeks gently with his thumbs as he kept on kissing her, and as Mari reached out to cradle his waist, she felt a spark of something in their kiss that quite possibly had never been there before.

She was out of breath by the time John pulled back and the tender look in his eyes put a warm little zing into her heart.

"Let's go get breakfast," he said to her. "And then you can tell them off."

"Ok," Mari beamed at him and let John lead her out the door. As they stepped out onto the New York sidewalk, John wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in close to his side, and it wasn't with his normal, slick sexiness. It was with affection.