"Well, as you can see, Clark, I am not dead," Bruce said.
"May I see you for a moment, Bruce?" Clark asked through gritted teeth.
Bruce agreed and followed him outside.
"How could this situation get any worse?" Clark agonized, once he made sure that Kara wasn't listening by x-raying through the walls and keeping an eye on her.
"It could be worse. In fact, my being here only helps your case."
"How do you figure that?"
"I give a certain credence to your story," Bruce explained calmly. "Now your cousin knows that all those times you've been in the city with a superhero friend are true. She won't be inclined to be suspicious that the reason has to do with Lois."
"Why are you doing this for me?" he asked suspiciously.
"I know how it is to be caught in a sticky situation."
"What do you mean?"
"I have a girl who believes that right now I am away on business. You see I have a reputation for being a playboy."
"I am perfectly aware of that, which is why if you think you can toy with my cousin's affections—"
Bruce help up a hand in surrender, "But nothing could be further from the truth. However, sometime I find ladies persistent and not wanting to hurt their feelings, I am forced to go away on pretend business."
"What about your business with General Lane?"
"Well, sometimes I am fortunate enough that I do truly have business to take care of. I do run Wayne Enterprises after all. If you don't mind, I would like to get to know Kara better."
Clark was still too stunned to protest.
Kara looked up at Bruce as he came back into the living room. "Why on Earth did he think you were dead?"
"A misunderstanding," Bruce said. "It was a decoy. I knew an enemy wanted me dead, so I sat up a dummy in one of my costumes. The explosion went off and my friends must have found part of my costume and assumed I had died. It's my fault for not explaining my plan to them."
"How brilliant," Kara breathed in admiration. "I have to remember that if I'm ever stuck in a similar jam. What powers do you have?"
"I am extremely skilled in martial arts and I have a gadget or two that comes in handy, but I am a normal human if that's what you mean."
"I think that's extraordinary."
Kara and Bruce exchanged superhero stories for awhile.
"I have always pictured myself with someone tall, dark, and handsome," Kara said. "Someone who was a superhero like myself. I believe I have found that someone."
The normally controlled man couldn't help but grin like a 5 year old boy and think Clark's younger cousin was definitely worth the trip and what he considered to be a very small deception. "And you are the bravest woman I've ever met. How alone you must feel at times being the last survivor who remembers what it was like to live on Krypton. I know what it's like to lose family and feel alone as well."
She took his hand. "I knew that the moment I looked into your eyes."
sss
Clark paced on the porch as Kara and Bruce sweet talked each other inside the house. He didn't like this one bit. How could a relationship go anywhere that was founded on lies? He realized how hypocritical that thought was, but Lois knew the real him. He was Clark Kent, not the Blur. Bruce wasn't a superhero and that's who Kara was falling for, the superhero. Granted, Lois had fallen for a superhero too, but separately and she had fallen harder for Clark Kent. At least, he hoped she had. She had admitted herself that she was more attracted to the mystery or name than the man behind the superhero name. He knew one thing, he was getting fed up with all this dishonesty. It wasn't how he was raised and one lie required another lie until it all began to spiral out of control. He wasn't sure how he was going to break it to Lois without ruining their relationship, but he would find a way. In the meantime, it was time to come clean with Kara.
His cell phone rang, interrupting his thoughts and his attempt to right at least part of the lie.
"Hello?" Clark said, answering the phone.
"I don't care what my father thinks or doesn't think. I am on my way over," Lois announced.
"Wait, Lois. Hold on—"
The last thing he needed was to get this web of superhero deception even more tangled than it already was before he could straighten it out, but Lois had already hung up.
TBC