"Smarmy fucking know-it-all asshole," Jay growled, his hands itching to throw a punch. Not here, though, he wouldn't do damage that Alfred would have to fix. If he'd been at the bunker, putting his fist through drywall would've been satisfying. At the Manor, he'd feel too guilty about it.
He heard Kala follow him into the bedroom. "Jay, come on. He'd be thrilled to know he got under your skin," she cajoled. She was angry about the school arson, too, and she knew the danger she'd be in if Joker connected the dots far enough to find out who the Blur was. Thank God for Bruce's paranoia and K's powers. Between the two, there were precious few links between Kala and the Blur or Kala and the Waynes.
Not that Jay was any less pissed about it. "Fuck that, K. I'll get under his skin. With a knife, and make myself a rug." He tried to shrug the tension out of his shoulders, but it just kept building. He kept seeing Ms. Harlow's face, how unhappy she looked, and yet how unsurprised. All that misery had just been a way for Joker to make a point to the Bats, that he knew who they were. The threat to himself and his brothers was bad enough. If Joker did catch a hint about the Blur's identity? Even thinking about that murderous clown threatening K was enough to make Jay see Lazarus-green with wrath.
It had been a long time since that had happened.
"Jay. Let it go; we can't do anything else about it tonight." Even with her temper running just as hot as his, Kala was speaking sense, and he knew it, but Jay was too torqued-up to hear it.
He was afraid to turn and see her with those hints of green in the corners of his vision. As if Kala could somehow see it in him, and recoil. So he kept his back to her and snarled, "Shit like this is the reason why I wanna put him down for good."
Without the slightest hesitation, Kala came around to face him, her expression serious and determined. This wasn't the first time that a sea-change had rocked her world, and he knew it. Apparently she didn't see anything in his eyes that frightened her, or disgusted her, because she met his gaze steadily. "Okay. You wanna do this tonight? Say the word, and we'll do it."
At that, Jay just scowled at her. It was one hell of an offer, the wrathful look in her eyes all coldness and truth. This was a step beyond what they'd said last night, letting Harley go. That had been in cold blood, talking about what they'd do if they had the opportunity. This was planning to hunt Joker down, right now, when they wouldn't have a chance in hell of denying it. Babs already knew; if they went right now, Bruce would have to know it was them.
Oh, Jay wanted to, and knowing that she was down – they were talking about committing premeditated murder in Batman's city, and Supergirl was offering to help him both find the miserable fucker and dispose of the body – made him itch to just get out there and do it already. Jay would sleep a lot better with the Clown dead, and so would a bunch of other people he cared about. Even Harley had tugged at his heartstrings, and he'd never expected to feel sympathy for Joker's girl.
But with Kala standing there rock steady, willing to roll out and end the Clown on his say-so, Jay had to step back and examine his priorities. If Joker died tonight, Bruce would be outraged. On some levels, Jay didn't give a fuck what Bruce thought or said or did; he'd gone toe to toe with Batman and, if he hadn't exactly won, he hadn't exactly lost, either. On some other levels, it did matter, because if Bruce disowned him, he'd be giving up his whole family just to kill a guy he hated. Why should he give Joker that much of his life?
And then there was the whole other issue staring him in the face, literally, which was Kala Lane-Kent, rock star KLK, Kala Kal-El, Supergirl, ready to plan a murder with him. That was a whole other realm of responsibility that Jay wasn't sure he was ready to seriously take hold of. Sure, they'd talked about killing Joker ever since she saw his file, but it had been just talk at first. Easy, when Joker was locked up someplace with cameras all around. Jay had said a dozen times to as many people that he meant to kill the Joker.
Even last night, it was still hypothetical. Kala had said since nearly the beginning that she'd help him kill Joker, but neither of them knew when or how they'd encounter the Clown next. And today he'd been helping make plans to hit Joker with knockout gas, not nerve toxin. As if his resolution to kill the bastard could be put off indefinitely. He'd even thought, as he wired up the sensors earlier, that it'd be okay to just lock Joker up for a while, and get him when he inevitably broke out.
He hadn't made any plans, though. And he liked things to be planned. Jay could do improv with the best of them, but for something like this, it was best to have a script. Joker was too damn good at turning chaotic situations to his own advantage. A plan with multiple failsafes was the best way to approach this … and yet, making plans made it all real.
Jay hadn't killed anyone in over a year. Which sounded like some stupid Murderers Anonymous shit, like he was supposed to get a token for it, but the truth was, Jay had gotten way too comfortable with killing. It was better – he was better, if his go-to solution wasn't a bullet in the brain-pan. Hell, if he'd run across Harley a couple years ago, he would've just capped her and walked away without a second thought. Now, thanks to all the parts of his psyche that were finally thawing out and coming back online after being a Lazarus Pit sociopath for too long, Jay recognized that killing Harley wasn't necessary. He couldn't condemn her, he'd killed as many people as she had; if she deserved to die, so did he.
But by the same token, if he could turn his life around, maybe so could she. Harley seemed to want to change, at least as far as getting away from Joker, and even Bruce thought that she and Pam would be less murder-y together. The same way Jay and Kala kept each other on a more even keel.
All of that gave more weight to killing Joker. It wasn't something Jay wanted to do lightly, both because being unprepared would get him killed, and being too casual about it was falling back into patterns of behavior he was trying to leave behind.
Leaving on the spur of the moment, because he was pissed off, and dragging Kala into this mess, was the exact opposite of how it needed to be done. He knew that, and couldn't ignore it. So Jay let out a huge sigh, and raked his hand through his hair. "Fuck. Much as I want to, it's not a smart play. Not like this, not right now."
"Okay then," Kala said, still just as steady as ever, taking a deep breath and shaking the fire out of her eyes. For someone who lived up to her codename regularly, his girl could be damn solid sometimes. "Now what?"
"Now I break into the liquor cabinet and drink until I forget that fucker probably knows all of our identities," Jay growled, wishing they were at the bunker with its emergency scotch stash. Knowing that waiting was the smart option didn't make it any easier to do, when the back of his mind was replaying Joker's Greatest Hits.
Kala caught his elbow gently, looking up at him. "Am I that bad a substitute?"
He couldn't help a chuckle. "You're more intoxicating than booze. Problem is, K, you're the one who's making me feel like a human being again. And part of being human is being pissed that other people hafta suffer because of assholes like him."
She tipped her head to one side, and then smiled. "I have an idea. Question is, do you trust me?"
Silly question. "Of course. Whaddya got in mind, Supergirl?" Jay let his voice turn taunting, looming over her the way that always made her grin. Anger could transmute into lust pretty effectively, after all, and some exercise would maybe let him sleep later on.
"I'm not letting some rat-fucking clown screw up my whole night," Kala declared, running her fingers over his cheekbone with a wistful smile. "And the best cure for you right now, Jaybird, is a geographical."
Jay's brows furrowed, not following her train of thought. "Where are we going, then? It's time for rounds."
"Yeah, we're not going on rounds tonight, feeling like this," Kala said, and then started to smile. "I don't think they expect us, and even if they do, they can handle it for a night. Just trust me, Jaybird. And pack clothes for tomorrow. We're going overnight." She held out her hand, waiting with a playful, secretive little grin.
For a long moment, Jay just glowered at her. But Kala didn't waver, just gave him a reproving look with her head tilted to the side. God, she was so fucking hopeful. Even when he was being a surly prick she could smile at him. Probably because she knew he couldn't resist the sunlight in her smile. "Fine, let's go," he grumbled, and grabbed a few things to stuff in a bag. He didn't have to look in Kala's direction to know the way she was grinning at getting her way. While he packed, Kala blurred past him to grab her bag and the burgundy throw from the bed. When he was done, she stood before him with her hand out again, waving her fingers in a 'come here' gesture.
The moment he put his hand in hers, she tugged him back into the hallway and downstairs. The rest of the family had started to disperse after the news broadcast, but Kala managed to catch most of them on the stairs. "We're taking a mental health break," she declared. "You don't really need us on patrol tonight, do you?"
Dick grinned hugely, and Jay wondered what he knew that Jay himself didn't. "Nah. I'm about to drive Donna to the airport. Jay, did you finish the east wing wiring?"
"Yeah," he said, and looked at Bruce. If anyone was going to protest them going off-script, it was Bruce.
To his immense surprise, Bruce simply nodded. "A change of scenery might be helpful. And no matter where you go, you can make it back here fast enough if there are issues. Keep your comm handy."
"Glad you agree," Kala said with a smirk. "I'll contact Babs and tell her what the situation is."
Donna was standing by Dick, her own luggage beside her, and she smiled gently at them both. "It was good to see you again, Jay – and good to spend some time with you, too, Kala. We need to do this again sometime."
"Yeah, it's been good seeing you, too," Jay said. Weirdest of all, he meant it. Next thing you know, he'd be on civil speaking terms with Talia. What a world that would be.
"I'd like that," Kala told Donna, smiling. "Be safe, Donna."
"I will. And see, I'm a lot less of a high-riding bitch when I'm not at work," Donna said, laughing.
Jay startled at that, and so did Kala, but all three of them laughed. And it served to get his attention even further away from Joker's threats. Over the summer, when Kala got pissed at him about Donna, he never would've guessed they could get along. Or that Donna could playfully curse like that. Hell, maybe they were all a good influence on her.
They headed out, Dick and Donna to the garage, Jay and Kala to the front yard. "Hold on," was all the warning he got before she started to drift upward. That and another flash of that brilliant grin.
Oddly enough, her flying slowly made him clutch her hands a little tighter. In hot pursuit, he'd learned to handle the sheer speed she was capable of, mostly because he had to. And generally there was no time to freak out while they had more important shit – like catching bad guys – to do. Rising gently like this was too much time to think about all the space under them. Never mind that she could support him and his bike if she wanted to; never mind that he routinely jumped across rooftops higher than this. Jay still felt a crawling sensation down his spine.
Evidently it showed on his face, because Kala leveled them out, pulling him against her side as she chuckled. That free-hand flying shit freaked him out something fierce. "You're worse than my dork brother. The big bad Red Hood, the scourge of Gotham, turns out to still be a total chicken about flying. Even when I'm going at Dad's cruising speed. Gotta admit, never gets old."
"Yeah, shut up," he growled, but felt the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile. With anyone else, pointing out a weakness was a great way to get Jay's fist upside their mouth, but with Kala it was almost cute to see how much it entertained her. That, and he knew Kala wasn't going to use it against him. Ever.
"I guess it's a thing with guys named Jason. They just don't like flying, period," Kala teased. They were high enough now that the wind was whistling in Jay's ears as she soared above Gotham.
"You say shit like that, it makes me wonder about the kind of chick who dates a guy with the same name as her brother," Jay taunted. "Are you guys from the Kryptonian version of Alabama?"
That only prompted a brief snort of dismissal. "Yeah, 'cause you two have sooo much in common, you deflecting asshole," Kala shot back, mock-scowling at him. "Don't insult your pilot or her intelligence, Mr. Hood. Especially not when I'm the only thing holding you up."
With easy confidence, he retorted, "Supers don't drop people from heights. It's a Bat tactic, and even we make sure to catch them with a grappling line. If you did there'd be a lot more pancaked bad guys in Metropolis."
She narrowed her eyes, trying to keep the lighthearted tone out of her voice, but he knew she was only teasing. "Fine, then, since you just can't let it go. Keep talking shit about your partner, Red, if you want to slip in between cold sheets tonight all alone, at whatever our destination might be."
"Yes, ma'am," Jay said, making his tone brightly respectful, and Kala tipped her head back to chuckle. No matter how often he heard it, he still couldn't believe how often she did that. Just burst out laughing, bright as sunshine. "Hey, you can't blame me. I kinda like having a super-heater keeping me warm at night."
It did the trick. "Good, I always appreciate you owning up to me," she purred, before sounding mostly serious again. "Because I find myself liking you a little; a tiny bit, sometimes. At odd moments. God help me, even with dick jokes and cold toes and all." Again, her eyes were dancing when she looked at him.
They'd had enough serious conversation over the past few days, this kind of teasing was a welcome departure. Jay smirked at her, wrapping his arms around her as he decided to just let it all go for a while. "I like more than the solar-powered heating blanket and you know it. Now are you gonna tell me where we're going?"
"Nope," she said without a hint of hesitation, smirking before taking out her comm, making a call. "Oracle? Heads-up. Jay and I are going on a little adventure. He needs a change of pace after all this. Can you take us off the roster, please, for tonight and tomorrow? Promise that we'll be back in time to prep for the gala if you'll give us a hall pass."
"Can do," Jay heard Babs say. "We all need a little R&R, right now. Your adventure is going to be someplace secure, I hope?"
"Far enough out of town to not be in anyone's range," Kala replied, and Jay started wondering if they were headed back to Hong Kong. Or to a deserted island somewhere. He wouldn't mind playing castaway with her, and tropical heat would be a welcome change from Gotham's weather. Hell, anything would be a welcome change from Gotham's shitty weather.
Babs signed off, and that was all the conversation for a while. Jay concentrated on the scenery as Kala set out, flying at a slower but steady pace. The night was crisp and clear at this altitude, the stars achingly bright above. Beneath his feet lay thousands of tiny points of light, the cities below visible only by their nighttime illumination. Although he did notice they were headed south, by the patterns of light slipping by underneath them: bright belts for the roads, speckles of light for houses, larger blocks for athletic fields and parking lots. He could follow the main highways and had a rough idea of where they were, but no clue where they were headed.
As Jay watched, the dark spots seemed to grow, the lights more strung out between them. Up ahead on their level, he saw heavy clouds. "K? Where are we going?" he asked.
"You'll see." A daredevil grin this time, full of that wild delight she always showed just before she pulled something crazy in a fight. Those clouds were getting closer, and Jay suddenly realized how fast they were traveling—faster than any car. "Hold on." He flinched the moment before they punched into the leading edge of the storm, suddenly enveloped in thick cold moisture.
Then Kala was dropping, down below the cloud layer, and to Jay's surprise they were suddenly floating in a snow-shower. It snowed in Gotham, sure, a picturesque layer of white until the city churned it to gray slush and treacherous ice, but this … this was different. Beneath him he could see only dark evergreen trees marching up hillsides and open fields under a blanket of snow, a single winding road shining black in the midst of it.
Kala landed in a field, snow crunching beneath their boots, and Jay could see the white mist of his breath. Still more snow fell, already dusting their shoulders and flecking Kala's black hair. "Surprise. Welcome to the Blue Ridge mountains, Jaybird," she said, smiling. "After the bullshit tonight, I figured that maybe we needed a night away. From everyone and everything. We're only a little ways from the family's vacation cabin and they're all still in Smallville or Metropolis. I know it's not slush and noise pollution, but it's good to change-up sometimes."
He looked around, taking it all in. The scene looked like something out of a postcard: moonlight on the snow, white-capped mountains surrounding them, and the beautiful girl in front of him with a hopeful smile curving her lips. Hell, Kala could've been Snow White, with a touch of crimson lipstick. She had the fair complexion and the blacker-than-black hair. Except for the slightly anxious way she was watching for his reaction. "I like it," he finally said. Even if he hadn't had complete trust in her, he would've said it anyway, rather than let her feel unappreciated.
"Good." That nervous light flickered out, Kala obviously relieved, and she let go of his hands. Jay took a step away, turning to survey the area again. There was an unearthly silence out here, none of the city noises he took for granted, not even the swish of tires on pavement. The falling snow made no sound, either. There was just their breathing, the crunch of their footsteps, and a faint sighing of wind.
At least until he heard Kala chuckle again, and turned to get a snowball to the shoulder. "Hey!" Jay exclaimed, but she was already balling up another one, tighter this time, challenge in her eyes. It hit like a mini-cannonball, very nearly spilling him backwards in a way that had Kala going again. How else could he respond but to grab up a handful of snow and fling it at her? Kala dodged, laughing gaily, and it was like Christmas Day all over again.
It was no small feat to land a flying snowball on someone with super-speed, but Jay managed it eventually, and seeing the powder fly from the impact with Kala's shoulder made him crow with delight. That just meant his mouth was open when her return volley caught him in the face.
There was no possible way he could win this, so eventually he got close enough to abandon the snowballs and just tackle Kala into the nearest deep drift. It had worked on Christmas, after all. They both sank into powdery snow, Kala on the bottom yelping in surprise. Jay tried to pin her down and kiss her, but she flailed at him, causing still more snow to collapse on them both, getting down his collar and even into his pockets. Kala managed to struggle out from underneath him, only to be tackled again.
That time they both came up spitting snow, and Kala pounced on him, rubbing a handful of snow into his hair. "Knock it off!" Jay yelped, swatting at her. Just playfully, this wasn't serious training—there was nothing serious about this trip. Of course, Kala didn't quit, instead grabbing his shoulders and shoving him down into the fluffy snow.
Jay retaliated by wrapping his arms around her waist and rolling both of them. He'd meant to only roll her under once, but they were on a hill and started rolling down it, to the sound of Kala laughing and Jay cursing, gathering snow as they went. By the time they managed to stop, both of them looked like they were midway through a transformation into snow-people. Kala was especially hilarious, her flashing eyes obscured by a face-full of frost.
Grabbing hold of her so she couldn't smack him again, Jay laughed and buried his face in Kala's neck. "You look ridiculous, Princess."
"You just had to do that, you incredible fucking dork." She thumped his shoulder but turned to kiss his temple. "And I have news for you. You look more ridiculous, Abominable Snow-Hood."
"Yeah, right," he muttered, and nipped her neck, making her yelp. Play-wrestling quickly turned into rolling around in the snow and then into making out like a couple of crazy teenagers. The things Kala did to him were pretty much indescribable. For fuck's sake, half an hour ago he was thinking about murder, and now here he was laughing and smiling and biting her neck while the snow down the back of his coat melted and dripped icy water all over him, Kala just as caught up in the moment. It felt good to put all that darkness on hold and focus on the light in his life. It felt even better to know he could do that, just lock all the bad stuff in a box in the back of his mind and deal with it later.
And the strangest thing of all was how much he liked it. This was normal—well, normal except for the fact that Kala had flown them here faster than any jet—maybe more normal than any of the other expected holiday stuff he had done since Thanksgiving, and he was actually having fun. Without any explosions or anyone getting blown up. There were compromises to this new life of his, but despite everything, this was a good night. He might even forget about Joker, for a while.
It was almost like some kind of magic, the effect Kala had on him. She was his good-luck charm; whenever she turned up things just got brighter. And of course the powers, holy shit the powers were damn handy. From flying him out here like this to the strength that meant he never had to worry about being too rough to the simple act of lighting a cigarette with her fucking eyes, she was just plain amazing.
Kala sat up, straddling his waist, and pushed her hair out of her eyes. Unabashedly triumphant, she drawled down at him almost lazily, "Hey, Red? D'ya think we should take this party someplace a little warmer, maybe? You know, before you freeze to death?"
"Nah, if we get hypothermic, you can always light a bonfire," Jay replied, his hands on her hips. Fuck, if she just stayed there a little longer he'd completely forget about the snow. And he knew she knew it, too.
She gave a little silvery laugh at that, swiveled her hips just the slightest, and sighed a little. "As good as that feels, I'm so not taking my clothes off in thirty-degree weather, Jay. Not even for you. Just get that thought out of your head." Kala stopped for a moment before amending, "At least not right now. Should we head to the cabin? Or you wanna stay here and make snow angels?"
"I've already got a snow angel," Jay replied, and jeez that was corny, but the startled light in her eyes was worth it. There was nothing more adorable than the way she reacted to compliments like that, the way her eyes widened. Like it really did get to her. "Snow queen, more like," he amended, and had the satisfaction of seeing Kala blush and glance away for a moment. He had to grin.
"Can it, Kai, you've made your point," Kala murmured, her mind clearly no longer on playing in the snow when she met his eyes again. Nose to nose, she murmured teasingly, "All right, puny human. Let's get you someplace warm before you catch a chill."
"And if it's not warm when we get there, I'm sure we can heat it up," Jay replied, leaning up to kiss her, his girl laughing into it.
…
'Someplace warm' turned out to be an actual log cabin out in the middle of the woods. Before Jay could make any jokes about breaking and entering, she unlocked the door with a key that hung beside all her other keys, and he remembered what she'd said about her family's cabin.
Jay skulked in the doorway, looking around as Kala went inside, flipping on lights. Lots of wood and stone, softened by throw rugs and furniture; the space looked cozy. Also totally indefensible, with the big windows, but Superman hung out here, so it had all the defenses it needed. He moved into the living room cautiously, not sure why he felt so out of sorts. Maybe because this was a foreign space, and decorated with what he suspected might be called 'country charm'. That was certainly a quilt on the back of the sofa. For a city boy who'd traveled all the worst places in the world, it was as alien as the Fortress of Solitude. Maybe more so – he understood the Fortress armory, at least.
"Come on," Kala called from the kitchen. "The bears are outside, and they won't eat you anyway."
"There are fuckin' bears here?" he said, his voice rising, and realized how stupid that was. This morning when he'd woken up, the last thing he ever imagined he'd have to worry about was bears. "Of course there are fuckin' bears here. Shit. We're in the middle of the goddamn woods. When do the nightly dueling banjos start?"
"Jay!" Kala laughed, but he heard exasperation in her voice. "We're ten miles from town, the locals are very sweet and they love the Kents and Whites and Troupes, and it's just one night. Nothing's going to eat you in one night. It'll be fine."
"Easy for you to say," he grumbled. "You can fly. And your dad grew up in Kansas. You know how to act around civvies in the country."
She was still moving, though her voice came to him clearly as he stepped into the kitchen. "Calm down, paranoia-pants. One, there's no one else around to bother us for miles. Two, it has a hot tub. And three—"
On 'three', her top came sailing through the doorway and smacked him in the face. It was cold and damp from the snow they'd been rolling around in. "Three, I'm getting in that hot tub now. Care to join me?"
And that was how Jason Todd, confirmed urbanite, wound up naked in a hot tub on the enclosed porch of a cabin in the middle of the North Carolina mountain country. A hot girl and a cold beer completed the picture just fine. Not a clue where she'd gotten the beer, but no way he'd question it. Kala, meanwhile, sipped her cider, which he for once didn't complain about. The pulsing jets of almost-too-hot water were soothing muscles he hadn't realized were tense, and outside he could hear an owl calling. Nothing out there was a real threat. No one who wanted him dead could have any clue where he was or how to find him. There was absolutely no paper trail to connect him to this place, and not even Bruce or Babs had so much as asked Kala where she was going. If they didn't know, any potential threat couldn't come up with a hint of a clue.
For once, he was safe, and much to Jay's surprise, it was a comfortable feeling. He could've slipped off to sleep right there in the tub, but the drowsy, happy smile curving Kala's lips – and the way the turbulent water lapped at her breasts – gave him other ideas. "I could live in this thing," Jay admitted, reaching for her. "Gotta say, this's one of your better ideas, K."
"Why thank you," Kala laughed, sitting back up to slide over into his lap and kiss his nose playfully. "You sure you want to live in the hot tub, though? No bad guys to fight, except the mosquitoes in the summer."
"Could be a nice change of pace," he told her, while they both knew that retiring from the vigilante life would drive him nuts. Thank God, he knew it was something she'd never ask. K loved the fight too much herself to ask him to quit.
"Yeah, right, note that I'm not holding my breath," she snarked at him, nuzzling closer. "You also can't live in the hot tub because the kitchen – and the fridge – is too far away to reach."
"So we make a few trips for provisions," he said, shrugging, and nipped at her ear where a drop of warm water hung.
Jay could feel her chuckle as much as hear it. "Don't get yourself too wound up just yet, Robin. I know why you really won't want to live in here," Kala whispered, arching her neck against his kisses. Jay made a noncommittal hum, almost ready to lose the thread of the conversation. Until she said, "We can't have sex here."
That woke him up a little, and he blinked at her. "Huh? Why not?" Jay was thinking it was maybe something to do with chlorine and condoms, which he'd have to somehow reach his pants to get hold of anyway.
Kala snickered, looking a little embarrassed. Now he really wanted to know; just the way she rolled her eyes briefly meant this was going to be good. "Same reason we don't have sex in anyone else's bed at the Manor. Because Lana – my stepmom – owns this place. And no sex in the hot tub is her rule."
Jay cocked his head. "Seriously? How many rules have you broken, running with me?"
"Starting with 'don't sleep with capes', it's been a lot," Kala admitted. "But I try not to be rude to family, you heathen. Besides, if anyone broke it, it'd be Mom and Dad."
And that, predictably, put a little ice water on his plans for the next few minutes. Nope, not gonna screw Superman's daughter in the same hot tub where her parents might've gotten it on. "All right, plan B, find a nice bed to warm up," Jay said, trying to sound grumpy despite the way he was stroking her lithe back. "Tell me there's a room here your parents haven't tried to make any siblings in?"
"There's plenty, and mine should be made up. If not, I know where the linens are," Kala said matter-of-factly. "C'mon, Jay. Getting out of this thing is going to suck, but it'll be worth it."
He moved experimentally, and yeah, the air just outside the hot tub was pretty damn chilly. Steaming-hot water slopped over the sides of the tub and splashed on the deck, where it seemed to smoke in the cold air. "Oh hell, this is gonna suck," he said.
That only earned a shrug from her as she moved off him to the opposite side. "It's warmer in here than out in the yard. But it's still about forty degrees."
"Jesus fuck, K, I'm gonna freeze my balls off," Jay complained, but he was laughing.
"You'll be fine, you whiner. Just run for it. And follow me." With that, she leaned to hit the controls in front of her, turning off the jets, and pulled the drain plug.
No sense in lingering, so Jay got out, yelping at the cold. He grabbed his discarded clothes – which were also cold as fuck – and ran, his bare feet sticking to the cold deck. Kala led the way inside, her fair skin seeming to glow, and she took the stairs two at a time, still naked and dripping wet. Also yipping at the cold, and cursing under her breath. "Ow, ow, shoulda brought towels, ow, this is not okay!"
"Yeah, K, shoulda brought towels," Jay echoed, running up the stairs behind her, and this was legitimately insane. No one could've guessed this morning that he'd end up in a log cabin chasing Supergirl up the stairs butt naked. It was almost surreal, in the best way.
…
Kala stayed ahead of Jay by a slim margin, letting him almost catch up. She'd never tried the hot tub naked before, and the lack of a wet bathing suit should've helped. Instead, though, her bare skin seemed hypersensitive to the cold.
She burst into her room and was glad to see the quilt on her bed. When she flung it back, though, there were no sheets underneath. Which made sense – Lana normally had a cleaning service come in and put sheets on if any of the family were coming up to the cabin, but Kala hadn't planned this. It had been a spur of the moment decision, a great one given how thoroughly distracted Jay seemed, and she didn't regret it even if she was going to have to go find some sheets in the linen closet.
Jay, however, either didn't notice the bare mattress, or didn't care. He came up behind her, dropping his clothes on the floor, and wrapped his arms around her. "Under the covers, now, before I die of frostbite," he demanded, a kiss on her shoulder softening it.
"There's no sheets," Kala complained, squirming a little. The way he said it warmed up her belly quite quickly.
"Don't care. Less to mess up," Jay teased, and nipped her neck.
Kala really didn't need a lot of encouragement to get in bed and pull the quilt over them. The cold couldn't hurt her, but that didn't mean she didn't feel it – and find it uncomfortable. It was even worse for Jay, who burrowed close to her, arms and legs twined around hers and his face buried in the crook of her neck. "You're damp," she complained, thinking about the water getting on the mattress cover. Hopefully the worst of it had been shed as they ran up the stairs.
"Yeah? You are, too," Jay pointed out, snuggling even closer. And then he laughed, his breath warm on her bare skin. "I could find out just how wet you are…"
Catching her breath at that, Kala shook her head. "Not right now! Your hands are cold."
"Who said I was gonna check with my hands?" Jay laughed.
That sent a frisson down Kala's back that had nothing to do with the temperature. She didn't answer in words, just tilted his face up and kissed him.
This wasn't going to be like the enthusiastic bed-wrecking romps they usually had. Both of them wanted to keep the quilt over them, and the building body heat locked in by it, as much as possible. Jay started kissing little beads of water from Kala's skin, chasing them from where her hair had dripped on her shoulders, down over her breasts. She shivered, arching her back a little.
His hands were cold, but the contrast felt delightful, her own skin warm despite the chill. Kala stroked the broad muscles of Jay's back, letting herself enjoy the feel of them tensing as he moved. Luckily for Jay, by the time his wandering hands made it south of her waist, he'd warmed up some.
Not enough to throw off the quilt; Kala hadn't adjusted the thermostat, which was currently set to keep the cabin above freezing, not for anyone's comfort. The little world under the quilt was quite hot enough, for now. Jay took his sweet time about it, savoring her, mapping out every curve with slow, thoughtful caresses.
Often, there was urgency to their passion, a bright-burning hunger that made Kala feel wild and reckless. Jay brought out a ferocity in her that no one else ever had, a desire to take control – or be controlled. For all her powers, with a handful of words or a look or a touch, Jay could set her alight in a wildfire blaze.
Tonight, he was tender, the deeply caring gentleness she sometimes found in him coming to the forefront. Maybe it was just the consideration of having to stay covered up to stay warm that made him move more slowly. Or maybe it was simply the fact that they were in a new space, hers instead of his. Or maybe just that they weren't in the city, and he didn't feel pressed for time the way Gotham always was.
Whatever the reason, Kala let herself luxuriate in the long slow burn, holding Jay close, kissing him lazily, chuckling when he reached out from under the covers to get a condom and cursed at the cold. And then let out a low, sumptuous moan a moment later, when he entered her. "Careful, Red," Kala murmured, breath coming in short pants, arching in time with his slow rolling thrusts. "You're gonna spoil me."
"You already spoiled me, so it's payback," Jay replied, and kissed her again, Kala returning it greedily.
It was utterly decadent, and Kala felt like she didn't even need to climax, like she could do just this all night. Of course, inevitably, as the pleasure built and built, lightning started to spark under her skin. Kala fought it, not wanting this climb to be over, her brow furrowing and her legs tightening around his hips. She heard her own voice murmuring, "More … more, Jay, please…" without even realizing she'd meant to speak her thoughts aloud.
Jay's breathing had become faster, but he was still following that same luxurious almost-languid pace, and he smiled wickedly at her. His voice was rough with pleasure as he said, "God, you're so good, Kala…"
She whimpered, tipping her head back, unable to hold back the wanton arch of her spine. Lord, he was going to be the death of her one of these nights. Why did he have to know her so well? Just hearing that… "You're good, oh my God so good, Jay, the way that feels…" It was close, she wouldn't be able to hold it back much longer, and yet Kala still tried to stave off the climax
Until Jay rolled his hips just right, instant and inescapable lightning roaring through her, and breathed across her skin, "That's my girl."
Fulfillment dawned in her like the sun, irresistible in its power, inescapable in its glory. Kala held his gaze as long as she could, letting him see her break, and then closed her eyes at the last possible second, giving a long low cry as she crashed over into pleasure. The world blanked out for her, coming back into focus just in time to savor Jay picking up the pace, the way her own desire echoed in his powerful thrusts. She caught his shoulders as her hunger surged again, eyes on his, whispering, "Come on, Jay, come on, gimme…"
As always, that was enough to spill him over, and Jay groaned his climax. Kala held him close, kissing his cheek and shoulder, letting him getting his breath back. She bit her lip against the words she wanted to say so much, and just nuzzled him affectionately, letting her gestures speak for her.
"God, I wanna keep you," Jay breathed, pressing his face into her skin.
Same, Kala thought fervently. "I'm not going anywhere, Red," she told him.
…
Jay was just starting to drift off when Kala nudged his shoulder. "C'mon, we gotta put sheets on the bed," she told him.
"Nah," he replied, feeling warm enough.
"We're not sleeping on top of the mattress cover," Kala said, laughing under her breath. "It's not comfortable."
"'ve slept worse places," he told her, stifling a yawn. "Slept in chairs. Back of junker cars. Slept onna floor without a mattress, even."
"Yeah, well, I haven't," Kala told him, chuckling. "You're in my world now, Jay, and we sleep in comfort. Go sit in the chair while I put the sheets on. You can drag the quilt with you."
Accepting the inevitable, he sat up. The room was chilly, and Kala hurried to her closet to grab a robe. Jay wrapped the quilt around himself to stand up; if she insisted on putting sheets on the bed, the least he could do was help. Kala smirked at him as she headed out the door. "Shame to cover that up. It's a hell of a view."
"I'll show it off when you get back," Jay called, shivering a little and bundling himself up tighter. "This's a nice quilt, though."
"It should be. My stepmother's grandmother made it by hand," Kala replied from somewhere up the hall.
"In that case, I'm glad we fucked under it instead of on it," Jay said. He couldn't help being just a little impressed. His own family had no heirlooms; the Wayne family inheritances seemed largely impersonal. Only Kala's family would have something warm and cozy and useful. He'd seen the Fortress side of things, but Clark Kent's adoptive family, and Lois Lane's family, had deep roots here on Earth.
Jay might wonder why a first-generation alien arriving here chose to live in such homey circumstances, but he thought he understood. Clark's home was impossibly far away, and gone forever. The Fortress was more of what the name implied; a museum and armory to a long-lost race, not a place to live your life. Superman had made himself a place here, and clung to it. Maybe it was about time Jay put down some roots, too.
"You're hilarious," Kala said, interrupting that line of thought as she came bustling back in with sheets and pillows and pillowcases. "Lana would have an aneurysm if we stained the antique quilt."
Jay shrugged off the quilt onto the chair, and moved to help Kala with the fitted sheet. "Yeah, I don't think I wanna know how bad that would be," he chuckled.
"You don't have to help, I've got it," Kala said gently.
"I'm not that lazy," Jay replied.
"No, you're that cold," she protested.
"I'll live. Slept worse places, remember? Including in apartments with no heat, in Gotham winters. No sheets, and no blankets either, just every bit of clothing I owned." Jay laughed as Kala fluffed out the sheet, catching his side and tucking in the corners. "Shit, when I got with Rose, all I had in that safehouse was a bare twin mattress and one pillow."
He almost winced, talking about Rose in front of Kala, but she only rolled her eyes up at the ceiling and said in amused tones, "Do I have to hear this?"
"Not if you don't want to," Jay told her.
Kala just looked at him with a little smile, tucking in her corners. "Go on and tell me. I need to hear the punchline now. Did she make you buy a set of sheets?"
"There was an APB out for our descriptions, we couldn't exactly make a run to Target," he laughed. "Not like Rose cared. She's been in some places almost as bad as the ones I hung out in. Probably never had spiders crawling over her in the summer like I did, though."
Kala cringed, her face twisted up. He saw the hint of dismay there, likely wondering why he had to go through such things, the frustration that she couldn't fix it. Then Kala smoothed out her expression, and made her tone flippant. The same way he did, glossing over it. "Eww. That's … disgusting, Jay. Why can't you ever have nice things?"
"Got something pretty damn nice now," he teased. "And I've been keeping fresh sheets on my bed in the apartment just for you."
That earned him an acknowledging grin as she got the flat sheet. "Just for the record, I'd fry spiders for you, Jay. Normally I have a 'leave and let live' policy – they leave me alone, I let them live – but I never want you to have to sleep in a shitty spider-infested apartment again. Not when you're with me."
"Maybe I just do it for the nostalgia," he laughed, making her shake her head at him in exasperation as they straightened out the top sheet. "Besides, something tells me you're the fearless spider-killer in your house. Sebast doesn't strike me as the type."
"Fearless spider-remover, thank you," Kala said primly. "And he can hit a bug with a flying chancleta any time. Since we're determined to talk about other people we've slept with, though, I guess the next time Rose hits on me, I can just tell her at least I have actual sheets and a comforter on my bed."
That was obviously playful, and Jay teased back, "Rose isn't the type to care. I was gonna be a gentleman and sleep in the chair, let her have the bed. She took one look at the room, knew we were gonna be stuck there for at least three days, and climbed in my lap. Which made the stay even more awkward, because we broke the fucking chair and had no place else to sit."
Kala scoffed a little, smoothing the sheets, and brought over a light fuzzy blanket to go under the quilt. "Sounds romantic. Also, way to make me jealous. We've never broken furniture."
"No, but you put a dent in the wall in the foyer. Still the only woman I wanted so bad I had you up against the wall," Jay told her, and saw the surprised and pleased light in her eyes as he said it. There was that stunned look, the tiny smile, before Kala looked down at the blanket they were tucking in, embarrassed by the compliment, so he added, "Besides, the chair in my apartment I ordered from a Sears catalog, so it's halfway decent. The one in the safehouse was something I found on the side of the road and had to put a deck of cards under one leg to keep it level. Didn't take much effort to break it."
He got another laugh for that, and Jay grabbed the quilt, tossing it over the top of the blanket. "Duly noted. Maybe I'll pull out all the stops when we get home."
"You break, you buy," Jay teased. "Except the wall. I'm gonna frame that dent, I swear."
"You would, heathen." Kala grabbed the pillowcases, quickly stuffing a pillow into the first one.
Jay followed suit with another chuckle. "Aw look, one set of pillowcases matches the sheets, and the other matches the quilt. Two pillows each, too. This is the height of luxury, K."
She just shook her head at him, smirking, clearly done with his shit for the moment. "Oh my God. I will hit you. Shut up and come to bed, Jay. You're ridiculous."
"Just saying, I might not know how to conduct myself with everything all nice and neat and matching," Jay laughed.
Kala shrugged off the robe, which very effectively shut him up, and pulled back the covers on her side. "You'll figure it out," she told him.
The sheets were still cold, but Jay wrapped himself around Kala for warmth. "Guess I will. You've never had a problem telling me what you want me to do, anyway."
Hazel eyes sparkled in the dim room, looking back at him over her shoulder with one dark brow raised. "Jay? Before you get frisky … how many condoms did you bring?"
"Fuck." The answer was one – and it was tied in a knot in the trash can, because they'd already used it. Normally he had more stashed somewhere, but he had only brought one bag, and he'd packed clothes and his shaving kit and toothbrush.
She must have guessed the same, from the look of that snarky little grin. "Well, looks like we're going into town tomorrow," Kala chuckled, and leaned closer for a brief final kiss.
But he couldn't fall asleep right away, even as Kala dozed off with him petting her back. It was strange not to hear traffic or sirens—or gunshots, being that he lived in the Bowery. Instead he heard the wind in the trees and a faint, crumpling-hushing kind of noise that he imagined was falling snow.
Even stranger to think that security consisted of an ordinary deadbolt lock on each door, and flimsy window locks without even bars. He could've broken into this place in under ten seconds with just the stuff he carried on him in civvies.
Of course, most vacation cabins probably didn't have a resident Kryptonian guard dog. As snuggly and soft as she was, Jay never lost sight of the fact that Kala was aggressive in her protectiveness. Anyone who tried to break in wouldn't get through five of the ten seconds he'd allotted himself without having an angry Super in their face.
At the moment, she was anything but angry. She was falling asleep, little soft breaths against his chest, her eyes drifting shut before slowly opening again. "So, better than being back home?" Kala murmured with a sleepy grin.
Jay sighed heavily, pretending he was making a major concession. "Yeah, I guess. Kinda miss the nightly symphony, though. This whole quiet thing is creepy."
"It's peaceful," Kala said, her gaze a trifle more wakeful. "Tomorrow night we'll go back to busting heads and drinking beers accompanied by a wailing-ambulance soundtrack. Well, after the gala, anyway. But tonight, stay with me in my world, okay?"
The way she said it was wistful, and Jay snuggled her close impulsively. "As long as you're in it, babe, it's worth almost getting eaten by bears," was his gruff reply. There was that silvery laugh, so soft now, Kala swatting lightly at his side.
"Yeah, whatever." Those words, though amused, were half-slurred as Kala cuddled closer into him, reversing the general direction of the embrace. Jay normally preferred to snuggle rather than be snuggled, the way they'd started out. This was nice, with Kala shifting to wrap around him like a limpet. Somehow it felt comfortable when she did it, instead of entangling. The little smile that curved her lips made it that much easier.
He started to close his eyes, and then a sound rose somewhere outside, a lonely howl that put the hair up on the back of his neck. "The fuck, you have wolves too?" he hissed, slipping one hand under his pillow. For a frantic second, he thought he'd forgotten his weapons, then remembered they were in the pile of clothes on the floor. Apparently his subconscious mind trusted Kala even more than he thought.
"It's a coyote, Jay," Kala murmured, lifting her head a little without even opening her eyes. The howl returned, with accompaniment this time, and she continued, "They're about three miles away and on someone else's property. Besides, they don't bother people around here."
"They're bothering the shit outta me right now," Jay muttered, and squirmed around to reach for his gun and stick it on the nightstand.
"They get into garbage, steal chickens, and occasionally kill smaller animals," Kala said, yawning. "They don't bother people because folks around here shoot them. Besides, you're in a house, behind a locked door, and in bed with a Super. You're fine. I promise it won't sneak in and eat us in the middle of the night."
Jay huffed quietly. "Fine. I'm not scared, mind you, I'm just not used to this. I know how to handle muggers and arsonists and drunk drivers. I'll leave the coyotes to you."
"Go to sleep, city boy. There's probably coyotes in Gotham too," Kala said, and he figured that had to be sleep-talk. No way did wild animals come into the city. Other than pigeons and raccoons, of course. Those were everywhere. Kala stretched and yawned, then curled back up against his side. She felt good there, no matter what noises came from the woods.
Eventually the coyotes stopped singing, and Jay was left thinking about Kala's world, and how he figured no one really knew it was like this. His earlier thoughts on them came back to him. Supers were supposed to be all Man of Tomorrow in Metropolis' glass-and-steel skyscraper canyons. Very few people really understand the roots of the story as Kala had explained them in bits here and there: a couple of farmers in Kansas who just really wanted a kid, and who had taken the child dropped on them out of a meteor storm as their own. Simply good people—which was the heart of the Super-legacy. Be good. Not justice or vengeance or anything like that. Just, good.
Jay didn't kid himself. Kala might just be the best person he'd ever been with. Oh, Donna was definitely way above him, but Kala? And she didn't even see it, that was the thing. Hell, a guy could get real comfortable…
He cut off the dangerous line of thought. Guys like him didn't get forever. He rumpled Kala's hair and kissed her temple, and felt like life was perfect just as he followed her into sleep.