VIII

Mortal Coil

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April 19th, 2016: The Daily Planet

(Presently)

Seconds crawled past, and the silence pooled around them. No matter how Diana strained her ears, she could hear no sound except the afternoon rush hour outside and the dull thudding of her heart. She could feel his eyes on her. She had arrived at his place only moments before and upon opening the door her senses had immediately been assailed with that fresh gossamer scent she'd come to associate with Clark Kent.

It hadn't been hard to find his apartment, a couple pointers from Luthor and her sharp mind, it had been a piece of cake to say the least. They had seemed to gravitate towards the little coffee table place primly in the middle of the room and there soon after the atmosphere proved to become something of a more electric caliber. It was was terrible. The more tense that the silence between them got, the more Diana found her heart began beating fast. She tried to ignore it, but her whole skin was tingling with awareness and the fine hairs on her arms were standing up.

This was not how it was supposed to happen. She had been supposed to get in and get out. But instead she'd become involved... involved in the League... involved in him.

The silence rang heavily throughout the room and Clark found that he could not relax. It had been a rookie move but at the last minute he had decided to settle on a text message rather than calling her. On a work line it would've caused too much speculation and it wasn't as though Lois hadn't been badgering him about 'little Miss Congeniality' as she so liked to put it. But even in his anger, his resentment, Clark still couldn't deny how good she looked. Apart of him had to admit that it felt good to be in the presence of a being almost as strong as he. Of course there was the odd space women like Maxima and God damn him Lashina, but one was a spoiled brat and the other a monster.

He couldn't imagine himself being with either one of them.

The idea was sickening.

Clark caught himself glancing up to look into that beautiful face. So hauntingly beautiful were those eyes of hers that it could almost be considered criminal. Part of him wanted to rail at her, to scream at her until his throat was raw and his lungs were sore. But the thing that made him sick the most was that in actual fact he was so relieved to see her again that it was painful. What sort of person did that make him? Perhaps Bruce had been right all these years when he'd scolded him for seeing the good in people. When he'd told him that his morals were what kept him from seeing the darkness that could live inside even the purest of hearts.

Clark squared his shoulders, holding onto that piece of knowledge. She lied to me, he forced himself to remember and in the end it was the rage at that fact that won out.

He stole himself, licking his lips. "So . . . your strong."

Diana's blunt features were absent of any emotion as she glanced back at him. "That's a bit of an understatement don't you think?" She murmured, because it was better to try and deflect rather than address the truth. "Why did you bring me here?"

A muscle in Clark's jaw twitched. "You're not serious."

"It's a valid enquiry." Diana shot back.

"I'll ask the questions here, Diana." Clark's voice was soft and clear when he said this, and were it not for her keen hearing Diana would've had to strain her ears to catch what he'd just said. There was a long moment while they stared at each other before Clark fixed her with a steady glare. "You need to start talking, Diana."

"About . . . ?" Diana said with a brave attempt at nonchalance.

"Stop it!" Clark finally snapped and it actually made her jump. There was another brief bout of that uncomfortable silence and Diana found herself grasping for her water, she sipped it carefully, taking a thick gulp of liquid courage before daring to look at him again. Clark's eyes were still the coldest blue she'd ever seen, even if they remained wide and rather fixed.

"I don't know what you want me to say." She finally confessed.

Clark appeared incredulous. "You don't know...?"

"No."

His lips tightened for an instant, as if he were fighting back the urge to roar at her, probably was. He exhaled on a steady breath before straightening himself out. "You knew who I was."

Diana didn't see the point in beating around the bush any longer, this is what Luthor had sent her here for and the way she saw it she was out of options. There was no more trying to lie her way out of this. It was time she told the truth, or at least a watered down version of it. "Yes, I did."

Clark looked as though someone had just socked him square in the stomach. "Start talking Diana." Clark repeated, stronger this time and the tone in his voice actually did a funny thing to her stomach. There was such passion there that Diana almost found herself blushing, the fierceness behind the words making her want to start for the door.

She couldn't look at him. "I don't know what you want from me."

"The truth Diana!" Clark finally exploded, his blue eyes were searing and his fist came down hard on the wooden table forcing it to collapse under the force of the blow. An exasperated sigh followed the action, and he huffed pinching the bridge of his nose.

Diana made herself glare at him even though her insides felt like they were melting. She was in control, calling all the shots and as far as she was concerned this Superman had nothing on her. "It's not as though you were being entirely honest with me."

Clark let out a terrifying kind of laugh. "No, no, no. Don't try and twist this..."

"Well it's true. A pair of glasses, Clark." Diana said, she lent forward, removing the hideous specs to unveil the handsome face that lay beneath. He looked so much more beautiful without his glasses. That wild dark hair unkempt and thick, even if she hadn't been working with Luthor... it would be nearly impossible to deny who he really was. What he was. "It didn't take long to connect the dots."

"So you expect me to believe that you just magically figured it out." Clark raged, snatching the glasses back from her dainty hands. "If it were that simple the whole world would know who I am."

"What makes you so sure it doesn't?" Diana answered carefully.

"And what's that supposed to me?"

"I'm using my words Clark."

Clark's eye's blazed to life, his impatience growing by the second. "Don't test my patience, Diana."

Diana felt a flash of irritation at that. "And don't test mine." she threatened right back and she made her face turn to stone. "I already hit you once. . . don't make me do it again."

Clark did not back down though, he was pissed, that much was obvious. He was baffled at the fact that his anger didn't seem to deter her in the slightest, like he was just collateral damage in a situation that way bigger than both of them. He straightened, catching the rage before it fled and this time when he looked at her there was so much passion there that Diana almost found herself blushing. "You're unbelievable." He murmured, "Has any of this been real?"

Diana had the good graces to look incredulous. "Of course it has."

"I don't believe you." Clark breathed, he was so achingly human, a contrast to who he really was. It was the only thing he knew really. Raised by a farmer and his wife Clark'd had the apple pie life for sure. The best upbringing that any child could ever ask for, "There's so much I want to ask you. I want to know why... Dammit Diana, tell me. I deserve an explanation."

She wet her lips, her heart skipping a beat before picking up ten times the pace. She was sure he could hear, after all he always did. There was never a stone unturned where he was concerned. "I don't know where to start." Diana heard herself say, it was strange sometimes, how you couldn't recognise your own voice.

The weight in Clark's chest tightened suddenly, unbearably, but his gaze, locked with Diana's, did not waver. "How about the beginning," he said quietly and at last he had the satisfaction of seeing Diana's eyes drop.

"The beginning. . ." Diana repeated and for a second she felt her mind fog over, she didn't even know what her beginning was. How could she be expected to tell him her truth when she was still trying to figure it out herself. Luthor would glare at her with those beady eyes of his, tell her to be smart, to adapt. To tell Superman exactly what he wanted to hear. If Clark wanted the truth... she could do that. She decided to start with what she knew, "I'm not from this world."

"Go figure." Clark replied with a hint of mirth. But inside, somewhere down in the very core of him something leapt up, making a warm fuzzy feeling swell within his chest. An unchecked hope that meant he wasn't alone anymore. "Are you an alien?"

"Pardon?"

"Are you an alien?" Clark repeated, his gaze fixed.

"I don't think so."

"It's a yes, no answer Diana. Either you are or you're not." He was getting angry again. Those dark eyebrows of his pinching together in a look that made that beautiful face of his terrifying.

Diana sucked in a breath, feeling her own temper starting to rise. "No."

"No?"

"Clark!" she finally snapped. For a moment his blue eyes bulged and Diana imagined that his expression mirrored the same as hers. They were silent for a second, chests heaving and for the first time in forever Diana wanted the floor to swallow her up.

She took a breath, squaring her shoulders then met his gaze dead on. "I need you to remain calm. Else I won't be able to get this out."

"I'm all ears."

Diana tightened her lips. She had known how bullheaded he could be from the weeks she had spent at his side but it appeared that she had underestimated just how bad he could get. "I am not sure how I came to be . . . I know that I am not of this world. I have these gifts that can rival that of a God." she paused, taking a breath. "I have been around for a very long time."

Clark looked pensive. "How long?"

"I don't know." Diana responded, her guard flying back up almost as soon as it had come down.

Clark's heart dropped with dismay. His patience was wearing thin now, normally he would consider himself to be a pretty laid back guy but this woman in front of him, the woman who he had found himself falling for just so happened to be bringing out his most stubborn of qualities.

If he thought Lois had been bad it appeared that she didn't have a penny on Diana.

She had come into his place of work, made him trust her . . . Made him lov- no he wouldn't let himself go there. Believe it or not Clark had worked hard for the simple little set up that was his life in Metropolis and if Diana Prince thought for one second that she was going to wade in and ruin that he would fight her every step of the way.

"You expect me to believe that." He questioned because surely she could understand where he was coming from.

"It's the truth."

"Is it?" He shook his head not quite being able to conceive of how accomplished this woman was at spinning the truth. "You lied to me Diana, you let me stand in front of you like some kansas moron and the whole time you knew . . ."

Diana opened her mouth then closed it again. To say she was taken aback was an understatement, it took a lot to shock her but his humanity . . . How devastatingly human he was did something to her. She hadn't a clue men could be like this. That they could feel as strongly as a woman could. It was unsettling. Her dark brows remained furrowed as she watched him. She could see his thoughts going haywire, as he tried to make sense of the whole ordeal.

He finally let out a wary breath, rising to his feet. "Of course I'm gonna have no choice but to turn you over to the League."

For a second she let her mind panic because he wouldn't dare . . . Would he?

She hadn't done anything wrong. He was the enemy here, she had simply been follow orders. Doing her job, this . . . Abomination was prophesied to destroy the world.

Luthor had told her so.

It was her sacred duty to defend the world after all.

"You can try." Diana snapped up.

"It will be a very short fight Diana."

"What are you implying, Clark?" Diana fumed. "That I cannot win against you . . . Because I am a woman."

"Now hold on just a second. I didn't say that." Clark said, raising his voice "I'm not implying anything. I'm simply stating a fact."

Diana could feel herself getting red in the face. "Do not think for one second that I won't send you through that wall again."

Clark rolled his eyes "You caught me off guard."

Diana shook her head, the bullheadedness of this man irking her. "Gods, you sound like an infant."

"Said the pot to the kettle." Clark remarked childishly and Diana had to refrain from slapping him. As good as it'd made her feel her actions had been reckless, stupid. A fools error, and she'd be damned if she tried it again.

"You're conceited."

Clark snorted stubbornly. "Yeah well I've heard that one before. Still got the bruise to prove it. You did hit me."

"You kissed me." Diana retorted, easily turning the tables back on him. The woman was infuriating.

"I didn't hear you complaining, Diana." Clark said, a strange gleam in his eye.

The blood rushed to Diana's cheeks. "You're enjoying this?" She realised and the thought was almost enough to make her snap.

"You think that I'm enjoying this?"

"Yes!" Diana exploded, shocking them both. She stared at him for a moment, chest heaving then shoved away from the collapsed table. The chair made an awful sound as it creaked across the floor. She had finally had enough, she'd had more than she could stomach of this man. Hell, of this world. Clark rose with her and her hand flew up. She didn't know why but she figured it must've been her instinct to fight kicking in, just in case he made any sudden advances on her.

"I'll be going now, Clark." she said sternly and tried to make a beeline for the door but he blocked her path.

"I can't let you do that." Clark shot back, and Diana's cold eyes flailed wildly around the room. Clocking the little set up for an escape route. She supposed she could always fly out of one of the windows but she knew he'd beat her to it. She didn't have time, if she was going to do it. Now would be the time.

Clark's eyes followed Diana's, fixed on the window. He clenched his jaw in barely supressed anger. "Diana . . ." he breathed out, a warning.

Decision made. She thought then darted to the window.

"Diana, don't." Clark hissed and her fingers just about touched the window pane before she felt a thick muscular arm whip around her stomach. She started flailing wildly, and almost bulked at how pathetic she was acting. The things this man did to her, he was making her weak. "Stop fighting."

"Never." Diana screamed, she was losing control . . . fast. She had to do something. Clark's arms tightened around her and she could feel his breath in her hair. As they both heaved.

"If you fight me we will bring down this entire building. That means exposure for you . . . and that means exposure for me." He bleated, making her dark hair whip riot in front of her very eyes. "You want my trust. Prove it to me. If your as good a person as you say you are... you won't put innocent lives at risk."

Maybe it was the way he said it, maybe it was the way he'd been holding her. With authority but gentle, like he didn't want to hurt her even though he knew that she had strength that rivalled that of his. Clark Kent . . . Superman, always the hero. But was he? To say that she was baffled was an understatement. It was to confusing, so confusing in fact that it was making her head hurt.

She stopped fighting him, her body going slack as she relaxed against him. Her head dropped forward and she realized that her legs felt numb. Had it not been for Clark's hold on her she was sure she would've collapsed into a million pieces. Her breathing laboured and she managed a weak, "Fine. You've made your point."

"How do I know I can trust you." She heard him say.

"I've stopped fighting you have I not." She replied evenly, "What's the matter Clark . . . just need an excuse to touch me again?"

"Not funny Diana." Clark growled, "Stop with the games."

"It is not a game. I've told you my truth . . . you can let me go now."

"You won't fight?"

"Gods, Clark." Diana snapped, and he held her for a moment longer before easing his grip on her. She almost stumbled forward but caught herself against the window pane, her breathes coming out in short excited puffs. She glanced up and her eyes met with his from the reflection of the glass. There was no getting out of this she finally realized.

Clark watched as Diana turned to face him and it felt like forever before her eyes finally met his. He wet his lips before finally finding his voice again and it came out as something cold and foreign to his ears, "I'm sorry Diana. But I have no choice but to turn you into The League."

"And you'd do this to me . . . I have already proven my allegiance to you." Diana murmured, and Clark swore for a split second that he saw a hint of true fear in those usually shadowed eyes of hers. Wistful thinking he supposed, he swallowed and found himself looking to the floor. He was angry at her, in fact he was livid. And he wouldn't let himself be bewitched by that magnificent face again. This was out of his hands now, League business. As far as he was concerned she had done this to herself, but the worse part was she had done this to him.

"I'm sorry." Was all that Clark found he could say.

Diana opened her mouth and for once she found that nothing would come out. All of her training, years of preparation for situations like this where she would find herself compromised and words were failing her. She was . . . what is it that these humans called it of this generation these days . . . yes that was the word . . .

Screwed.

Diana was screwed.

Author's Note: AU - Derived from The Captain America story line. Chapter 9! Yes I know, It's been a long time and I'm sorry this chapter is quite short but sometimes life gets in the way and I've had a lot of personal domestics getting in the way. I'm gonna do my best to update when I can and I promise that next chapter will be extremely long haha! Thanks for reading guys!

Thoughts?

Next up will be Chapter 10: We're The Justice League.