Ch.2- Mission, Say wha-?
"Clark, they are so beautiful. Thanks, babe."
Clark had always been so thoughtful and often displayed it through doing small things. The flowers and chocolates were no exception, although it always warmed her heart when he did it.
"Daisies represent innocence, loyal love, purity, faith, cheer and simplicity. Lois these words are only a fraction of how I feel about you. Love, Clark." She read the card attached, giving Clark a heated look when she finished.
"You are so getting some tonight, Smallville," she whispered, not wanting the entire Daily Planet newsroom to hear her plans for later that evening.
Clark heard it loud and clear, did his best not to blush and tried to clear his suddenly dry throat. If Lois continued looking at him that way, he would be hard-pressed not to whisk her into the fifth floor janitorial closet and give her a chance to make good on her promise. As a matter of fact, he was only nanoseconds away from doing so, that is, until he heard Perry White's booming voice.
"Great Caesar's ghost! Lane and Kent, get in here!"
Well, if that didn't put the kibosh on a raging libido. Lois dramatically rolled her eyes, doing her best Perry White imitation, "Great Caesar's ghost, Clark! " Her version was complete with wildly flailing arms. Clark kept his laughter in check. Barely.
"Lane, I saw that! Now, get in here! We got problems of astronomical proportions! Bigger than Elvis, even!"
Jimmy stopped in his tracks at Perry's remark, "Man, that's big!"
Looking from Clark to the frosted pane of glass door separating Mr. White's office from the newsroom, Lois was baffled.
"How does he always know I'm doing that? I swear, you're not the only guy with x-ray vision 'round here."
"Maybe because you always do it."
With that, they stood together, content to face the music—or, in this case, yelling, together.
Yep, Clark thought. Today was one of their good days.
Meanwhile…
Diana had just gotten through the fourth stack of impossibly tall petitions, requests for grants, and even requests for a date with the ethereal beauty known as Princess Diana, Princess of Themyscira. She couldn't help but wonder if her mission as Amazonian Ambassador would be nearly as effective or successful if not for her Gods-given beauty. Men and even some women of Patriarch's World could be so shallow at times. However, she did have a mission and promise to uphold and would continue to do so for as long as the Gods saw fit to have her as their Champion—and if her beauty would open doors and hearts to spread her message of peace and compassion, well…
"Diana, you have a call from that hot Trevor guy on line three," the voice of her sister, Donna, chirped through the intercom system.
Grinning at her sister's choice of introduction, she pressed the talk button. "Donna, what would our mother say if she heard you refer to a male as 'hot'? More so, what would Wally think?"
"Diana, first of all, our Queen mother will never know—'cuz I'd be utterly crushed to learn my big Sis ratted me out. Secondly, Wally knows he's the only guy for me and that Steve is just my China Doll—all look and no touch."
Shaking her head at her younger sister, "Patch Steve through, please."
"Third, Wally stills trips over himself when you walk into a room, Sis. Aaaannnd, it really gets Wally's mojo going to know that I pick him over Steve—every night. If you know what I mean."
"Donna! I do know what you mean although I wish the Gods would rip that image from my mind. Now, please, please, stop torturing me with this talk and patch Steve through."
"Gah, you can be such a bore, Sis. You know that?"
"Donna…" Diana warned. Her next words were cut off by Steve's voice over the speakerphone.
"Diana, how are you?" Steve's baritone was a smooth as silk on her ears. Always had been and probably always would be.
"Steve. It's so good to hear from you. How are things at DOMA?"
"Not the same without our favorite Agent Prince here. Won't you reconsider your resignation, Di?"
She flinched at hearing him use such a familiar moniker, "Steve, I don't think one can retract a resignation after three years have passed. "
"Then put in a new application and I'll make sure they give you your same corner office with the great view of the city."
Although part of Diana truly missed her work as an agent for the Department of Metahuman Affairs, she was thoroughly satisfied with her work as Ambassador and with the League. Neither left much time for any other ventures. Besides, returning to DOMA would only put Steve and herself on another crash course. It was hard enough to get over that the first time around. Diana treasured his friendship too much to go there again.
"Look, I'm not going to lie to you and say that part of my wanting you to return to the department is so that we could possibly give it another shot. We were good together when we clicked-"
"-and very bad when we didn't. Steve, we've had this conversation a dozen times and my answer remains the same," she interjected.
She shook her head when she thought back to those days—back when she was so enthralled by Steve Trevor, his warm, chocolate eyes and chestnut hair. He was the first man she'd laid eyes upon in this new world and instantly won her affections. After rescuing him from the wreckage of his plane on Themyscira, she stood by his side to see him through his recovery and he tried to help her transition into Patriarch's World, even going so far as to help secure her a position at DOMA. They'd begun a relationship then, dating for three years until things eventually fizzled out. Steve wasn't demanding, however, he was a man with needs. Unfortunately, Diana could not and would not be the woman to assuage those needs—and it was not for lack of desire. Diana wanted nothing more than to take Steve as her first lover, she knew he would be attentive and caring, but there was also the very real possibility of killing Steve in the throes of passion. Oddly enough, when Diana tried to explain this to Steve, it only served to increase his ardor towards her. She could even remember his remark, "What a way to go. Please, Di, send me to heaven." After the initial high of the challenge wore off for him, there were arguments. Diana grew tired of it all and when she approached Steve, he could not help but agree with her reasoning.
After the initial awkwardness of their break-up, they remained good friends. Steve even confided his relationship woes to Diana. Clearly, he was single again and felt the need to dredge up this dead horse.
"So, I take it things didn't work out between you and Susanne?"
There was a beat of silence before he replied. "Nah. Guess she couldn't handle being with a hotshot government agent."
The man was nothing, if not modest.
"Anyway, I didn't call to talk about that. I really do need you to consult on a case we're putting together."
"What do you have?"
"Why don't you meet me for lunch at our restaurant and I'll fill you in?" Diana didn't miss the inflection of his voice or the double entendre. She raised an eyebrow at his forwardness.
"Steve—"
"Alright, alright, can't blame a guy for trying. We've noticed that several of the metahumans and villains of Earth have been uniting their efforts and may be launching a mass offensive." He was all business now.
"I know the League has had the same revelations. We, too, believe they are joining forces in preparations. But this is no great surprise. Lex Luthor has already assembled the Injustice League. It's only natural that others are following suit. We are monitoring the situation," Diana added.
"Yeah, we figured as much. But it's still concerning to the President to see these miscreants assembling themselves. We've also received intel that there has been a lot of off-planet travel by these groups."
This bit of information was news to Diana. How had the Watchtower Satellite missed this? The disturbing thought went unvoiced as Steve continued.
"That's where I was hoping you guys in the League could help. I know there are other galaxies out there, even though no one else around here believes so. I'd like to have something concrete to take to the big wigs to encourage them that we need to shore up our efforts to protect against a bigger foe." Diana could detect a bit of fear in Steve's voice.
"Steve, what exactly do you think is going on?"
"Di, you remember how bad it was when the White Martians came in. I just don't want another repeat of that massacre." Now, there was no doubt of the fear and weariness in his voice. "I'm scared, Di. We can't monitor their off world travels as it falls outside our jurisdiction—if you can believe that crock of BS."
Clearly, the scars and memories from the White Martian invasion were never far from his mind. Diana bowed her head slightly hearing the conviction in his voice, remembering that he lost so much during that time.
"Don't worry, Steve, I'll be sure to brief the League on this and the matter will be investigated."
"Thanks, Diana. You're a one of a kind woman." He ended the call at that, always one to leave a lasting impression.
Diana eased back into her seat, her mind far away from the petitions begging for attention on her desk.
"Donna. Please notify the staff that you and I will be leaving in ten minutes." She intoned into her speaker.
"What? " Donna responded, and seemed almost out of breath.
Diana's enhanced hearing could detect another heartbeat in the room with Donna. It was beating a frantic staccato, and only one person had that rhythm. She exhaled a short breath, "We're headed to the Watchtower …and tell Wally he may as well join us. And for the last time, stop fooling around—or making out, as you call it-during business hours."
"Wh—Wally? What're you talking about, Diana?" Donna was indignant.
Diana purposely delayed her response, knowing her silence made Donna more nervous than anything else.
Donna let out a breath of resignation, sounding like she used to as a child when Diana scolded her for something, "….okay."
Diana heard shuffling in the background as Donna was undoubtedly organizing her area. "And, Wally, that also means no staring at her cleavage while she straightens up her desk."
She could only chuckle as she heard Wally's voice coming through the speaker, "How does she do that? I swear, she must have x-ray vision or something! It's kind of hot."
The next sound Diana heard was Wally's slender frame hitting the wall.