Chapter 7
Diana recoiled quickly and shot upwards from her seat. The hand on the table was definitely broken: mangled, with the fingers jutting out from the palm at twisted and unnatural angles. She couldn't understand what had happened: wasn't Superman invulnerable? As Diana stood over the table her breathing rate began to increase. She looked down at her own hands with a great guilt, shocked, scared and distraught at what she had just inflicted. Clark was completely silent, paralysed with the pain that he was so unused to feeling. His face was still deathly white and his mouth hung open in horror. He was shaking, just staring at the hand. After a few moments he managed to calm himself down enough to speak.
"Diana" he started, not taking his eyes off of his injury, "we need to get to the Fortress". Diana showed her agreement with a slow nod. She grabbed a napkin and placed it delicately over the broken hand to prevent anybody else from seeing it and possibly calling an ambulance. Clark winced as even the soft paper touched his skin. Very slowly he got up from his seat. Diana locked her arm in his and they carefully made their way out of the restaurant. As they left they passed Mr Bianchi, who was positioned behind the counter eagerly counting a thick wad of money.
"Thank you very much, Mr Bianchi" Diana said politely "but I am afraid that Clark is feeling quite unwell and he will have to rest at home. Hopefully we will return again" she said with a gleaming smile. Mr Bianchi briefly turned away from his money counting.
"What a shame!" he said "Get well soon, Mr Kent! If you don't recover then I promise to take good care of your lady friend!" he said jokingly, waving them off. Diana wasn't pleased with his comment but she managed to conceal her discomfort, silently congratulating herself on the restraint that, up until she met Clark, she would never have exercised. Once they were clear of the restaurant they turned immediately into a silent backstreet. How odd, Diana thought to herself, why didn't we just land here on the way in? Then it struck her. Clark wanted to walk beside her. He wanted to hold her hand. He wanted to have her head resting on his shoulder. She looked at him, nearly doubled over in pain now. He is a god, she thought, that thinks he is a man. How unusual to find someone like that, she continued, in a world of men who think they are gods.
"Can you fly?" Diana asked him, still extremely confused at how this had even happened. Clark looked upwards with a face that seemed to be in deep concentration. After a moment, and with a long exhale, he looked down to the ground and his body collapsed into a slouch.
"My hand is getting better" he said "and the pain is starting to go". Then after a long pause: "But I can't fly".
"Yes you can" Diana said. "Take my hand".
"Oh no" Clark said, trying to laugh through the pain, "I'm not falling for that one again". Diana couldn't help but smile.
"Just be quiet and hold on, Clark. We'll figure out what's happening to you". She gently walked forwards and held Clark in a light embrace before shooting upwards and flying North. Clark waited before he said anything, conscious that Diana might be angry with him for not telling her about his powers earlier.
"Diana" Clark said as they were flying, "I know what's happening to me. It's been occurring more and more frequently over the past few days". Diana stopped in her tracks.
"What?" she said, "this has been happening and you haven't said anything?" For the first time since they'd met Clark noticed an expression of sadness on Diana's face where anger would have suited just as well.
"Let's get to the Fortress" he said calmly. "We can discuss it there". Diana seemed upset but restarted the flight nevertheless. For the rest of the trip they travelled in silence.
Once they arrived at the Fortress Clark signalled for the hydraulic press and the contraption emerged from the ceiling. He was about to line up to use the machine when he realised that his hand still had not healed. In fact, he observed, the pain had gotten worse since he had landed. He was forced to sit down. Diana immediately came over to him.
"I'm not angry with you, Clark" she told him, gently rubbing his back, "I know you don't entirely trust me yet." She sat down next to him now and rested her head on his shoulder. "What can I do to earn your trust, Man of Steel?" she whispered to him, giving him a light peck on the cheek. Clark turned and looked into her deep, earnest eyes. When they first met he had looked deep into those same eyes and he had seen only a warrior behind them: a warrior driven by a lust for war and for blood (for guilty blood, yes, but blood all the same). As he searched even deeper now, however, he saw only the piercing blue of a Woman of Gold; the red rings that used to dance around her eyes had all but disappeared. Diana looked back at him now with a look that was almost human. Gently she moved forwards again, lightly brushing his lips with hers. Then Clark brought his hands up and held them out to his sides, as if trying to catch Diana's attention with them, and then slowly moved them behind his back, out of Diana's reach, smiling. She smiled back, understanding. He gave a small laugh, followed by a wince, and then moved back into kiss her again. This time there was more than just a brushing of their lips. It was a deep kiss and neither wanted to stop. Diana still felt warm against Clark's skin and she was far faster and more aggressive than before. Slowly he felt her gently bite his bottom lip as she moved her body closer to his, wrapping her arms around his back. She moved her mouth away for a moment and looked at him, a longing in her eyes and her dark, curly hair falling messily over her face. Clark could still feel her sweet lips pressed against his as she moved away.
"You know" she said to Clark, with the dignity of a princess but the inexperienced look of a smitten teenager, "You're the only man I've ever kissed".
"Does that make me the best…" Clark began, "Or the worst you've ever had?" He put the grin back on his face before wincing again. The pained expression on his face brought Diana out of her trance and she shot upwards.
"Clark, we have to find out what's happening to you." Suddenly a sense of focus and duty overtook Diana's voice, the smooth, loving tone completely disappearing."You said that it's been going on for a while: how long exactly?" she questioned. Clark stuttered in his response, still recovering from their kiss.
"Um… two, maybe three days I think. I first noticed it when I fought that monster on the bridge". Diana shuddered for a moment when the memory of that fight came back to her. For a second she saw herself standing on the bridge, covered in warm, sticky blood and standing in front of crying, screaming children. She forced the image out of her mind.
"Okay, two or three days" she repeated, "and do we know what's causing it?"
"Kryptonite" Clark replied.
"Right. Kryptonite, two or three days. Think, Clark. What happened two or three days ago? What's changed?" They both racked their brains for a moment. Then Clark began to talk.
"But the thing is… if I'd only been exposed to the Kryptonite one time then it would have worn off by now. I must be suffering from some sort of continued exposure. Something that's stayed with me..." Clark continued thinking but Diana just stopped. A thought had entered into her head. Clark was standing now and he saw something change in her eyes. The blue had begun to change back to red and there was something even more primal showing through. With a quick spin the purple summer dress was transformed into her Amazon armour, the golden metal accentuating the shape of her body as her chest rose heavily with each new breath.
"Diana?" Clark said, suddenly afraid. "What is it? What's the problem?" Diana didn't move, her whole body seemingly possessed with what could have easily been mistaken for a thirst for blood.
"It's Mara" she said blankly. "Mara's the one who's hurting you".
"What?!" Clark said, astounded. "Mara's just a human, Diana. Besides, she doesn't even know that I'm Superman." Diana looked at him, amazed at his naivety.
"It's not that tricky to figure it out, Clark! You're disguise is a pair of glasses. And anyway, she knows you're dating Wonder Woman. You think she believes that Wonder Woman would date an ordinary reporter?" Clark took a step back, seemingly seeing Diana with a fresh pair of eyes.
"You mean to say that Clark Kent's not good enough for you? Look at me now. I'm not Superman now: I'm bleeding and I'm hurting! I'm Clark Kent now, Di. Do you still want to be with me? Do you like me or do you like the muscle? Because at the moment I'm just a measly human".
"Clark!" she said, amazed that he would say something like that "You know that's not what I meant!"
"Maybe" Clark replied stoically and without feeling, "but I don't know why you won't trust Mara. In fact, I don't know why you won't trust any human". Diana's incredulity began to shift into anger now.
"Maybe I don't trust them enough, Clark, but that's better than trusting them too much!". Clark's voice returned to calm, as if he were repeating some sort of mantra.
"We have to show them a better way, Diana."
"At what cost, Clark?" She looked away for a moment and addressed the fortress. "Fortress" she called out "Ignoring all specimens that are kept here purposefully, how much Kryptonite is currently present?" The woman's voice replied.
"Twenty kilograms of Kryptonite present". Both Diana and Clark were shocked by that.
"You see?!" Diana said, "That's almost like enlacing your entire body with Kryptonite! You see how your trust has been rewarded?"
"It's not true, Diana. Mara is innocent. She's a woman in need of help. Besides, she wouldn't have been able to get a hold of so much Kryptonite."
"Evil works in mysterious ways" Diana replied. "Can you fly yet?"
"I don't think so" Clark said, puzzled.
"Good". And with that, Diana shot off, one fist pointed upwards at the end of a straightened arm and the other hovering over the hilt of her sword. Clark tried to follow her but he couldn't lift off from the ground. He sat back, helpless. A part of him wondered if Diana was right, but he had to give Mara a chance. He just hoped that Diana would have enough sense not to hurt her, regardless of her guilt. Clark slowly began to stand up again. As he did that he noticed that his hand was no longer hurting at all and it had almost entirely healed. How strange he thought.
"Fortress" he called out, "tell me again how much Kryptonite is present". The woman's voice called out effortlessly, emanating from every wall.
"Only trace amounts of Kryptonite found." What? Clark thought. That doesn't make any sense. Only trace amounts? Where's the twenty kilograms gone? He was about to consult the fortress again when he suddenly realised what had happened. There was never any Kryptonite in his body at all, but he had been exposed to it. There was only one thing that had moved from the fortress between the first and second scans; in fact it was the thing that had asked for the first scan to be carried out. Clark's voice was filled with regret when he finally said out loud what he knew had just happened.
"Diana. The Kryptonite is in Diana".
