Ch5-Kissin' Cousins...
Watchtower Conference Room #1…
The conference room was nearly full when Kal arrived, his eyes immediately seeking out Diana's. She was in mid-conversation with Shayera and to casual observer it would appear she did not even notice his arrival. However, the truth was she was always aware of when he entered the room, giving an imperceptible glance towards the door and making the briefest of contact with him. It was enough to give them both reason to smile.
"Alright, now that Supes is here, let's rock and roll, I've got plans for later this evening." Wally said, all the while waggling his eyebrows at Donna.
Kal took his seat beside Diana, watching as she simply shook her head, while Donna took a more direct approach. She kicked Wally's shin underneath the table. He was helpless to stop the yelp escaping his throat and who could blame him? Receiving a kick to the shin from an Amazon warrior had that kind of effect on a guy. To everyone's surprise, Bruce chuckled briefly behind his cowl.
"Batman giggling like a school girl? Now I know I've got to join this madcap mission!" Kara Zor-El piped in as she entered the room.
"Kara? What are you doing here?" Kal asked in surprise.
"What? You think I'd hang out in the twenty-third century and let you guys have all the fun around here? Word travels fast about the sketchy activities of this century's bad dudes—even through the time space continuum." She replied nonchalantly, walking over to embrace her cousin.
"This must be some bad mojo if they're talking about it in the future." Zatanna added. "But that doesn't matter, cuz my girl, Kara, is here to help me SSA EMOS KCIK!"
"TGHIARTS NMAD!" Kara replied, giving her good friend a high five before taking the seat next to her.
"Ahem. Back to the business at hand." The moment of brevity gone, Bruce was all business, much to everyone's chagrin. "Kara, gives us even more reason to step up our actions. For the last several weeks, we have been monitoring the off-world travel of some of our more nefarious counterparts, mainly the core groups comprising Luthor's Injustice League. Now, we've maintained a low profile and don't believe they suspect a thing—"
"Those dumbasses wouldn't suspect a thing if we went up to their front door and said, 'Hey, we've been spying on you guys for weeks and know something's up." Wally interrupted, earning him a hard stare from Bruce. He slid a little lower in his seat; the Bats could be scary when he turned the act on. "Sorry."
"Now, as I was saying. They are unaware of our surveillance. John will fill us in on what the Lantern Corps has discovered." Bruce inclined his head to John.
John quickly averted his gaze from Shayera, addressing the present members. "Luthor is definitely funding these trips. They've said as much. Apparently, he has yet to school his underlings in the art of secrecy. So far, they've made contact with four planets in the Tomar-Re Sector 2813 of our galaxy; the planets there are mainly hedonistic cultures, nearly comprised totally of nomadic space pirates."
"Glad to see they're keeping such good company." Kal interjected dryly. "So, what're you thinking?"
"Well, we definitely think they're trying to rally the troops and any allies they can find. So far, only one of the planets has refused their requests—Zyphon Xia." John added.
Kara's head popped up at this, "Zyphon Xia?"
"What is it, Kara?" Kal's interest was piqued at his cousin's strange response.
"Zyphon Xia is a colony of defectors from the far southwestern region of the Milky Way. I didn't think anyone on Earth would have contact with them for at least another hundred years." She continued, clearly unnerved.
"Kara?" Diana asked, clearly concerned.
"I've fought them before, unintentionally, of course. It's just, they're very…persistent people." She supplied.
"Kara." Kal had grown tired of her enigmatic talking.
Kara let out an exasperated sigh before continuing. "They tried to subjugate the Earth in the year 2232 and convert the entire planet into a sex slave colony. I fought off a good hundred of them before their leader recognized my strength and the family crest as Kryptonian." She had the full attention of the entire room.
"What does that have to do with anything, Kara?" Kal asked.
She fixed her gaze on Kal. "Think, Kal, what else used to be in that region of the Milky Way about thirty years ago?"
Diana let out a small gasp as she realized what Kara was suggesting; Kal was speechless as he slowly grasped her meaning.
"They fled Krypton before it was destroyed and bred with surrounding species, but there's still a trace of Kryptonian in the race. They're our distant cousins, Kal."
Two Hours Later…
"Clark, don't you think it's a little foolish to rush into this head-on and without proper information about these people." Bruce stated more than asked, disapproval evident in his tone.
Kal paid him no mind as he continued to study the schematics of the Tomar-Re sector of the galaxy in the Watchtower's viewfinder.
"I've been to nearly every planet in this galaxy. How'd I miss them?" He asked himself distractedly.
Diana remained seated in her chair, taking in the scene before here. Kal had abruptly ended the briefing and decided at that moment he would meet with these Zyphonians in an attempt to attain their support. Of course, she knew his mission was twofold; he also wanted to reach out to the colony in hopes of deterring their future ventures in the sex slave market. It would be admirable if not so futile. Diana believed in destiny and fate, and it appears this colony was destined on its path to clash with Kara and the heroes of the twenty-third century. Some things were just fated to happen. As Kara further explained, the Zyphonians did not relent for long after realizing their connection to Kara, and she and the others had no choice but to end them.
"Would you at least sleep on it or whatever it is you do when most of are sleeping?" Bruce continued his attempt to get Clark to see reason. Honestly, he had never seen the man so worked up about something before.
Kal seemed almost frustrated as he halted his initial acidic reply. He gathered himself and turned to look at the man squarely. "Bruce, do you know what it's like to live your life thinking you are the only one of your kind? Until I met Kara—and later, Diana, I felt that solitude each and every day. If these are truly my people, let me reach out to them. Maybe they can be saved."
"Clark, you heard Kara. They didn't care about any damn family ties and eventually had to be wiped out."
Kal chose to ignore him as he again focused all of his attention on the screen before him. Apparently, his mind was made up. Bruce shook his head in frustration, finally turning his gaze to Diana.
"Are you even going to try and talk him out of this? Or are you just going to let him zip off on this fool's quest?"
Diana remained as serene and calm as ever, inclining her head to the side to look around Bruce's shoulder at her best friend. She gazed at him thoughtfully, studying the stubborn set of his chiseled jaw as the neon green light reflected off the monitor before him.
"I don't need to talk him out of it, Bruce. I'm going with him."
Kal looked from his musings and held her stare for a moment, a silent thank-you in his eyes. Diana nodded her understanding. Bruce looked between the two several times before throwing his hands up in frustration, before storming out of the room.
"Well, I guess somebody should make sure you two don't run off and end up dead—I'll prep the Javelin with extra armor and offensive weapons."
45 minutes later…
"I don't know how to thank you for supporting me, Diana." Kal stated softly as he watched his friend effortlessly guide their craft through deep space.
She did not take her eyes off the landscape before her, muttering a soft "not necessary" as she maneuvered around debris. He soon turned to enjoy the same scenery as a beat of companionable silence passed between them. Kal's eyes never left the starry expanse, making eye contact with Diana in the reflective tempered glass.
"So… Lois and I…." He didn't bother finishing the statement; he knew she was aware.
Diana gave a small nod. She wouldn't dare disclose the fact that Lois called her that same night and asked her to watch over him; to ensure that he didn't withdraw from everyone completely and wallow in guilt over something that was inevitable—no matter how hard they tried to fight it. As she did now, Diana said nothing, allowing the woman, her friend, to grieve for the relationship lost. She only offered support once she was assured that Lois had gotten all of her woes off her chest. Truth be told, it pained Diana to see the two in pain, even if the dissolution of their relationship was amicable. Although Kal did not grieve openly as Lois did, she had noticed him attempting to distance himself from others, it was part of the reason she decided to join him on this diplomatic mission. She remembered the last conversation she had with Lois.
"Diana, you are the only person who can get through to him. Sometimes, I think you love him more than I do." Lois said.
She didn't even bother trying to refute the statement. Why even bother? It was not as if Lois was incorrect.
Lois gained a world of understanding in Diana's silence. She chuckled to herself, "I honestly don't know how you stood it all this time; being the steadfast friend while he and I bumbled through our relationship."
"I never waited for him, Lois." She finally responded.
"I know…but I think he's always waited for you."
Diana didn't know what to make of the statement. Sure, she and Kal were close—to others it appeared they were closer than close—but they never crossed the line. Never.
"I know you two don't think of each other that way, at least not while Clark and I were together. It's okay…yeah, it's fine. I was so jealous of you when you arrived on the scene. You had the whole world's attention, even more than that, you had Superman's. Even when Clark told me his secret and professed his love for me, I couldn't shut up that nagging little voice saying 'Wonderchick's gonna take him away'. Then you had to go and be one of the closest friends I've ever had. All wisdom and good-natured honesty. Eventually, the voice went away. You were truly happy for us. You have no idea how badly I wanted you to be a grade-A bitch, Diana."
Diana had to chuckle at the woman's bluntness."You know he loves you, Lois. You are his everything."
"Not his everything…at least, not always. But it's been enough for me."
"I beg you to reconsider you're decision, Lois."
"You know me, when my mind's made up…it's a wrap. Now, stop trying to be the world's best friend and tell me I deserve better than the world's greatest superhero as my boyfriend." She joked.
Diana laughed outright at the statement, allowing the sound of her and Lois' laughter to draw the moment out. "Be…happy…Lois. Sister."
"I think I will be. I want the same for you too... sister."
They ended the call then, no words left to be said. Diana left her quarters soon after that to meet with Bruce and discuss the relentless shifts he was giving everyone. Clark and Wally were due to return from Metropolis soon…
Diana hit the auto-pilot controls and released her safety restraints. She turned to leave the cockpit, pausing briefly to place a warm hand on Kal's shoulder. His eyes never left the field before him.
"I'm going to get some rest. We've still another two hours until our destination. I do believe there's something under the console for you." With that, she was off to the private quarters.
Momentarily confused, Kal checked the console and found an electric blue iPod. The color immediately reminded him of Diana's eyes. Thinking of her eyes? This again? Really, you've got to get a grip, man. Shaking the thought from his head, he set the iPod into the docking station at the main console. Pressing play, he smiled when he heard the opening notes of the playlist Diana had apparently created for him, aptly titled 'For Kal'.
'So you sailed away, to a grey sky morning
Now I'm here to stay, love can be so boring
Nothing's quite the same now, I just say your name now.
But it's not so bad, you're only the best I ever had…'
(Vertical Horizon-Best I Ever Had)
Meanwhile, at Watchtower…
Kara did nothing to deter her huge yawn as she exited her quarters and made her way to the commissary. Time travel jetlag was a beast. She spotted her occasional co-conspirator, Zatanna at the table in the far corner.
"Yo, Zee. What's up?" she asked as she snatched a fry from the woman's tray.
Zatanna looked up from iPad she was reading from, "Nothing much, just laying low until the Bats calms down."
"What's got his panties all in a wad, now?" Kara asked, taking a sip from the bottled water on the table.
"He's all moody cuz Diana and Clark booked it outta here on the first Javelin smoking to find those kissin' cousins of yours—" Zatanna never had a chance to finish her statement as she was soon covered in the water Kara was drinking. 'Covered', as in she received an impromptu shower thanks to her good friend. "! ARAK, KCUF EHT TAHW"
Kara paid no heed to the cries of her friend, "Whaddya mean, they left? Why didn't anyone wake me?"
"!WON, NAELC" Zatanna rid herself of the offending spray via magic, teetering on annoyed at her good friend. "Left, as in gone. Gone, as in no longer here. Jeez, what the hell, man?"
She made her best attempt to give her friend a glare worthy of the Dark Knight himself, but Kara burst into a fit of giggles. This did nothing to help her mood. Kara continued laughing for another moment and Zatanna contemplated turning her friend into a spittoon to see how she liked being spit on. Kara finally sobered up and looked her friend in the eye. Magic and Kryptonians never meshed well.
"Oh, man, this is rich. I so wish I was a fly on that Javelin." She managed to say, fighting off another fit of giggles.
Zee tried not to entertain her friend, but curiosity got the best of her, "Why?"
"Let's just say there's a very good reason that Zyphonians are so hot-to- trot all the time. Man, I have got to call Ma and Pa Kent!" Kara proceeded to fill her friend in on the surprise awaiting her cousin and the Amazon on the foreign planet.