A/N: Okay, I can explain! Okay, I actually can't. Sorry it took me this long to update. I'm slowly trying to get back into the writing, and eventually finish the story. There's not much left. I assume 10 chapters at best!


Chapter 43 - What a Spike

Things were good.

Things were incredibly good, that's all Clark could say. His parents were happy. His teammates were happy. School was going well, though .. when wasn't it? He was closer to his girlfriend now more than ever. His teammates were more like his friends, even if he was the youngest one among them all. Physically, at least. But most of all, people finally began to accept him. A lot of people had accepted him before, but now more than ever. They, dare he say it, looked up to him.

Just the day before, he heard a boy, no more than five years old, give his classmate half of his cookies, because ‚that's what Superman would do'. This was his legacy. Not the godlike strength. Not the ability to fly. No, it was kindness. Openness. Compassion. Something he had known for a long time humanity had an incredible amount of. He couldn't be prouder.

Superman was his legacy. Something that would be there for generations. Something to inspire, something to give people hope.

„Kal, are you listening?"

He shook himself out of his reverie, blinking at Diana. She smiled at him gently, like she knew what he was thinking about. His hand automatically reached the back of his neck, and he scratched it awkwardly.

„Uhhh ... not really, no?" he answered sheepishly. Diana just rolled her eyes and smiled. For a being older than all of the League members combined and then some, Diana was the most curious and, dare he say it, childlike person he had ever met. She was incredibly mature, and quite possibly the best and most capable combatant on the team, but she was always ready to learn, observe, ask. Clark, in some strange way, felt immensely protective over her, despite knowing she could kick his ass without even blinking. Alright, so he defeated her once, but that was because she was high on dangerous gas. She was like the older sister he's never had, but also the younger sister as well. It was all very confusing.

„I asked whether you would like me to replace you," she explained, „I do not really have anything better to do tonight."

Clark blinked at her. He didn't really have any plans, either. „Di, everything is better than monitor duty."

„Perhaps. So, do you want me to replace you or not?"

Clark's shift was to end in about 20 minutes or so. Cyborg was supposed to replace him.

Clark thought about it for a second, and then smiled. Diana seemed to recognize that smile. „...I am not going to like this, am I?"

Clark just shook his head in response. „Probably not. Bruce's here as well, right?"

After getting a confirmation from Diana that Bruce was indeed in the tower, Clark picked up his comm. „Hey, Bruce, could you come to the monitor womb, please? Thanks."

Diana was giving him The Look™. Clark just smiled at her sweetly. A few seconds later, Bruce entered the monitor womb, clothed in his full Batman regalia sans the mask.

„What is it?"

„Di and I are going out, have some fun. Wanna come with?" Diana just shot him a surprised look, but smiled at him nonetheless. Clark just winked at her.

Bruce's lips quirked up the tiniest fraction, but Clark still saw it. „Come on, Bruce! It'll be fun!" There was something in Bruce's eyes, something Clark couldn't identify. Yet.

„As much as I'd like to go," he said eventually, „I have two teenagers to go to."

„You're not even 30."

„Never said they were biologically mine."

„Alright, fair enough," said Clark eventually. He texted his parents he'd be back late, then he re-sent the text to Sarah as well.

Bruce rolled his eyes, „Go, you two. I'll take it over from here." Clark was all but ready to hug the man, but he knew he didn't handle physical contact well. Instead, he just thanked him and clapped him on the shoulder. Bruce still tensed up.

It's a work in progress.

„" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „"

Luckily, both Diana and Clark had a change of clothes with them. Clark had it teleported over to Watchtower in case of emergency, and Diana was there so often she basically lived there, even though she had various apartments all over the world, including the Themysciran Embassy in New York. She was a princess, after all.

„So, Di, what's something you've always wanted to see, but never got the chance to?" Clark asked as they were slowly soaring through the skies, not nearly fast enough to break the sound barrier, but fast enough for Diana to feel the wind on her face.

„I saw many beautiful things, Clark. It's the experiences I want. I'd like to go dancing!"

Clark looked at her incredulously. „Like, club dancing?" Diana just nodded.

„You do realize that I'm a minor, right?"

Diana looked him over. Very muscular, very tall. Or, as Etta would call him, ‚tall, dark and handsome.' Diana smiled mischevously. „Don't worry, Kal. You will fit right in." He was still a little hesistant, though. „Everybody needs to have some fun every once in a while! Come on, it will be a new experience for you as well!"

It was this moment where Clark learned that the most powerful woman in the world was also in posession of the most powerful puppy dog eyes in the world, second only to Sarah, apparently. He sighed. „Fine."

Clark was fortunate enough to have the right kind of clothes in the tower – a black t-shirt that fit him tightly around his shoulders and pecs, and a pair of dark, washed black jeans that also fit him very nicely. He still had his dorky glasses, though. And for most likely the same reason as he, Diana had a pair, too. She chose a nightclub in Manhattan, for some reason. The bouncer gave both him and Diana a look-over and let them pass through.

It took a couple of seconds for Clark to get used to all the sensory input in there – the bright lights, the loud noises. Diana seemed to be having similar issues, also she recovered much quicker than him. Either her senses were not as sensitive as his, or she had much more experience with filtering out the bad king of sensory input. Clark made a mental note to ask her about that in the future.

And Diana was right. He had fun. He danced and talked and danced again and drank. Not alcohol, though. Ma would kill him. Sarah probably, too. He had noticed some women and men eyeing him, checking him out. A few even offered to buy him drinks, and while he was certainly flattered, he still had a significant other whom he very much loved. That didn't deter some of them, and Diana had to step in. It was amazing to see the difference between the easy going Diana with puppy dog eyes and protective-and-hella-intimidating Diana with a glare.

His admirers, if he could even call them that, usually scattered immediately after all.

Diana also had a lot of fun. She quickly learned that people in the world of men did not dance the way they do on Themyscira, but she adapted fairly quickly. The music was something she also wasn't used to, but she found it quite refreshing and interesting. Unlike Clark, she did not shy away from drinks, even if they basically had no effect on her.

All in all, it was probably the most fun she's had ever since leaving her home, and she could see that Clark was having fun as well.

That quickly changed, however, when she saw Clark's expression a couple of seconds after making the statement in her mind. Where there was a genuine smile, was now replaced by a murderous look. She sombered immediately and walked over to him through the dancing bodies.

„What's going on, Kal?" she asked, concern creeping into her voice. His eyes looked a little red. Not from crying. He wasn't looking at her, and when she followed his line of vision, she could see that he was looking at a man talking to a pretty girl. „Kal, what's happening?"

„He spiked her drink," he said, and his voice would send a shiver down her spine were she not .. well, her. She was familiar with the term spiking. An act of placing a substance into a drink, more often than not with the intention of then raping the drinker.

Before Clark could do anything, Diana marched over to the man, fisted his hair, and before he could even ask her what she was doing, she slammed his head onto the bar. The young woman next to him flinched, but Diana barely noticed. She leaned down and whispered into the man's ear, „I should castrate you for what you are doing. I should rip your throat off and make you swallow it. But I won't. Instead, I'll let the bartender call the police. What do you say?"

The man quickly nodded, obviously scared shitless. When Diana raised her head, she told the bartender what happened. The bartender immediately called two bouncers, and then the police. When Diana looked over at where the man's potential victim was, she saw Clark hugging her, the girl sobbing into his chest. He must've explained to her what almost happened.

He didn't look as furious as before – his eyes were kind, full of concern and sincerity. His arms were wrapped securely around the young woman. His posture, however, was stiff. He was tense. Angry. It was not a good thing when the most powerful being in the world was angry.

To be honest, even with her own temper, she was glad to have dealt with the would-be-rapist on her own, even if she had wanted to rip his balls off and feed them to him.

„" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „"

Clark seemed to have calmed down by the time the police arrived. The bartender calmly asked them to leave the bar and give the statement to the police outside, as to not interrupt the party. Clark started down at him for a couple of seconds, but then sighed and did as he was told.

Diana, the girl, and he gave statements to the police. The girl was pretty shaken up, and when he saw her flinch a bit at the sight of her would-be-rapist as he was led in handcuffs into the police car. Clark saw red for a second. Diana pinched him.

He saw the murder in her eyes as well, but she had more control than he did in this particular situation. Alright, she had a couple of more centuries to perfect her skill, but still. Clark took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes, then looked at Diana, whose arms were wrapped around the girl. He nodded at her, telling her he was in control. She smiled a bit, then looked at the girl.

„You're going to be okay," said Diana gently, as Clark smiled at her. She would be alright, in time. Even if nothing really happened to her, the what-if questions would still be there. But she would be alright.

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Clark and Diana had both agreed to not mention this to the League. He was going to mention it to Sarah, though. Call him whipped, but they had decided a long time ago (a few days after she found out he was not of Earth), that there would be no more secrets between them.

It was close to three in the morning when he came by Sarah's window, but it was also a Friday. He knew that that little Einstein of his would still be awake, either watching a movie or ... doing some research, to be honest.

And he was right, the lights in her room were on. He slowly descended to her window and gently knocked. She still jumped a bit, and he had to bite back a smile. Black belt, and yet...

When she turned around, her lips curved into a smile automatically, and Clark felt butterflies in his stomach. They had been together for a year, been through a lot of shit together, and yet she still made him, a man strong enough to move planets, weak in the knees. Love was a strange thing.

Still, after seeing the shaken girl (whose name was Eve, apparently), Clark just wanted to see Sarah. To hold her, to be more precise. He could have waited until late morning, but he wanted to see her now, even if she was asleep. He was not creepy. Hopefully.

Sarah quietly opened the window, Ria and Frank being asleep, and gently kissed him on the lips. Clark may have purred a little bit into her mouth. Sarah giggled quietly, and she had to cover her mouth as to not wake up her guardians. Clark had to hold his laughter in as well.

„And what are you doing here at this hour, Mr. Super-Kent?" she asked sweetly, albeit teasingly.

„What, can't an alien just visit his beautiful girlfriend?"

She smiled at him, her eyes crinkling. „That he can, of course," she gestured, „Wanna come it?"

„May I?"

She just rolled her eyes at him, muttering something suspiciously similar to dork. Clark snorted. Sarah gave him a look. Clark raised his hands up in surrender.

„You want to cuddle, don't you?"

Clark shrugged. „Maybe?"

Sarah just rolled her eyes affectionately before smiling sweetly at him. „Come here, you," she said, taking his hand and pulling him down onto her bed. He was still in his supersuit. She didn't care. Her guardians knew of his identity anyway.

He was very wide, the bed barely enough for his size, and she used this as an excuse to lay on top of him, her head resting right on his family's crest, over his heart. His slow heartbeat and elevated temperature was something that always calmed her down. He was here, underneath her, solid and alive. She knew he was powerful. Everyone knew that. People admired his power, people feared his power. People admired him, people feared him. She loved him.

„So, don't get me wrong, sweetheart, I know you're a cuddler, but any reason in particular on why you came to me at 3 AM to just cuddle?" she mumbled, not looking up. She sounded both concerned and curious.

Clark just put his arms around her and kissed her hair. „Okay, so.. it all started when Di came to me and asked me whether I wanted her to replace me..."

„" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „" „"

It was nearing 1 PM when Ria decided to wake Sarah up. She was eighteen, an adult, yes, but her sleep schedule was fairly screwed up still. Gently knocking, she opened the door to her room, not expecting the sight, but not really surprised, either.

There was her niece, obviously asleep in Clark's arms, if her deep, even breaths had anything to say. Clark was already awake, not needing any sleep, but his eyes were closed. He was still in his supersuit. He raised an arm with a thumb up, indicating he'd wake Sarah up soon.

Ria whispered a quiet ‚okay' before closing the door gently behind her.

Kids.


Thank you so much for reading! I wanted this chapter to be full of Diana/Clark friendship. I ship them very much, but this fic is not SuperWonder, so I decided to at least bring some of their friendship into this. I hope you liked this chapter!

Please, leave a review, it keeps me going! I'm going to need it. Probably.

Thank you very much, and have a nice day!:))