I was surprised at Jack's calm demeanour when I returned to the car. He was sitting in the passenger seat with his long lanky legs up on the dashboard and his head laying back on the headrest. His eyes were closed but the raised heartbeat and the slight twitch of a pulse at his temple showed he was anything but asleep. "I'm not relaxing, I'm freaking out in a calm and relaxed manner. I think I've just been told off by the scariest creature I've ever seen in my life, who it seems is on really good terms with my girlfriend. I am now officially immune to any more surprises. At least for tonight." he offered as I opened the drivers door. I couldn't help grin at his words. The surprises weren't quite over for the night.
"There's a change of plan. We're going to leave the car at his place."
That got his attention. "His place?" he waved his arms at the empty space which had previously been occupied by Uncle Bruce. "He has a place? Well, of course he has a place but … why?" Confusion was actually a good look on him … he looked so cute and sexy when he was confused!
"We can't fly from the airport." I stated simply as I pulled on the drivers side seatbelt and Jack sat up straight suddenly as if it helped his thought process in someway. Perhaps it made the blood rush to his head quicker, I wasn't sure.
"Why not?" he raised his expressive eyebrows slightly in suspicion as if waiting for another bomb to drop. "and who said you could drive my car? I saw the way you sat on her."
It never seized to amaze me that grown men could give inanimate objects gender specific names. There wasn't actually a good reason I could think of for not flying from the airport without lying so I was as honest as I could be.
"Trust me it's safer this way. I'll explain later and if you want to drive you go ahead … you know where we're going of course?" Sarcasm was rife in my voice.
He chose to ignore me and instead said "I've having a really weird day. Did I tell you how weird my day is? It's like I'm suddenly in an X-Men comic … they're not real right? You're not best buds with Wolverine as well are you?"
I gently punched him on the shoulder and then leaned in for a kiss. "No you dope! Mutants aren't real or at least I don't think they are." I thought for a moment "Now you need to be blindfolded."
"Kinky whore!" He suddenly looked a little bit sheepish at his own words and looked up skyward. "He's not listening is he?"
"Doubt it. He's pretty busy right now." I mumbled, I thought it a little inappropriate of my parents to try to solve their problems by taking them into the bedroom but my hearing had picked up snippets of noises earlier that I firmly shut out of my super hearing. Ewww Gross! That was so very not helpful in the situation but it wasn't really my place to judge, perhaps it was helping them think! Here was I with a growing sense of urgency to get to them and they were "otherwise engaged".
"I can put my jacket over my head." Jack offered helpfully.
"Yeah and I'm gonna get arrested for moving a body! Lay down in the foot well and I'll cover you over … and Jack?" He looked back at me as he began to slide to the floor "Please don't peek because Batman'll be furious if you have any inclination of who he is or where he lives. The last thing I need right now on top of everything else is to deal with a Bat on the war path!"
He quickly nodded with a look of horror in his eyes as I covered him over with the emergency blanket he kept in the back. I'm not really sure it our situation could be regarded as an emergency but I was grateful for the blanket non the less.
The journey to the Manor was fairly uneventful as Jack was obviously trying to figure out which roads we were travelling on for an indication as to which part of the city we were headed for. I decided to thwart his scheming by taking several detours and putting the radio on. It not only drowned out the noise of the road outside but I could pretend I couldn't hear the muttering coming from under the blanket. I could of course not only hear him but see through the blanket whenever I glanced down whilst fleetingly taking my eyes off the road. We still had about one hour until the plane we were supposed to be catching was due to land in Metropolis.
/
The bat cave had always reminded me of a rich boys dream hideout with added geekness! It had everything from a huge hi tech computer and TV terminal to an amazing futuristic motorbike, a wall full of weapons to a comfy bed and medical facilities to rival most surgeries. I more or less ignored Jack's slack mouthed stare as he looked around the open space. His car was sitting looking so out of place next to Uncle Bruce's sleek motorbike. I was surprised that it had survived the trip through the waterfall unscathed to be honest but it was luckily still in one piece.
He glanced up at the high roof and exclaimed. "We're in a bat cave! Batman lives in a cave … with bats? This is just amazing! Do you know how to work all this stuff? Oh my God, that's the bat bike!" I couldn't help being amused by his excitement it wasn't every day something like this happened and even I had been pretty impressed the first time Uncle Bruce had allowed me into his inner sanctum.
"Mmm-mmm. Don't touch anything!" I muttered as I sat before the 52" TV screen and tried to figure out which of the four remotes was the right one. It wasn't that I wanted to see what the world was saying about my Mom and Dad but I needed to know anyway. I certainly wasn't about to listen in on them just yet!
"Is it alarmed?"
"No but if I know The Batman he has security cameras running so behave yourself. You have no idea how secretive he is and he's only ever let a handful of people down here before so … be good okay? He's not one to trust easily." I felt a little guilty about the deception but I had to make sure that Jack didn't discover who Batman really was. It wouldn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to connect my billionaire godfather with the obviously loaded Batman. They were actually the only two people I knew really well in Gotham … well person not people but you get the idea!
He must have realised that he was being a little bit of a fan boy so he stood still next to me as I tried to find a decent TV channel. If he was this impressed with the bat cave I couldn't wait to take him up to the fortress! Surely extra terrestrial technology could beat Wayne Enterprises technology any day!
"Here in Metropolis tonight we are asking ourselves this. Is Lois Kent really the wife of fellow journalist Clark Kent or is it a cover-up for her relationship to the alien known as Superman? Footage was released this afternoon of the caped hero in a steamy sex session with his former press agent Lois Kent. No comment has been made by either party about the circumstances surrounding their love affair."
I changed channel to find a group of three women sitting around a table.
"… and who can blame her? I imagine he's amazing in bed. Isn't it every woman's ultimate fantasy to find out …" that one went off straight away. I guess I could understand the mystery behind my Dad's prowess in the bedroom but I didn't want to hear about it for God's sake!
" … comment from the Daily Planet but a work colleague, who wishes to remain anonymous, stated that journalist Clark Kent, wife of Lois Kent, appeared to be devastated when the news broke earlier and is not surprisingly concerned about the state of his relationship with his wife." Sure he was! The news report included a piece of film of my Dad's escape from the Daily Planet earlier in the day through a hoard of reporters. His face was unnaturally pale and his lips were shut in a harsh line that resembled neither of his identities. The report continued "It's hardly surprising that the award winning journalist is in a deep state of shock … "
I had been so preoccupied that I hadn't noticed the tray of food sitting near the elevator shaft. "Ohh goody" I exclaimed whilst continuing to listen. Uncle Alfred always came up with the goods and despite all the stress I was feeling I'd worked up quite an appetite. I brought the tray over to the medical table and told Jack to tuck into the array of sandwiches and the pot of tea.
"Are we eating Batman's supper here or … are you sure this is for us?" He watched me tuck into a scrumptious sandwich with a great deal of suspicion in his eyes. His fear of Uncle Bruce was quite amusing, justified, but amusing non the less.
"Mmmm …" I poked the remainder into my mouth with my index finger "Don't worry. Un … they were put here for us." I couldn't believe that I'd almost messed up!
"By who?" he was wrinkling his nose in concern. Maybe he thought Batman was arranging to poison us … death by salmon sandwich!
"Er …Someone who feeds Batman occasionally." That was actually an accurate description of the Butler's role if you added foster father, doctor and general do it guy to the list.
"Okay … so I'm eating food prepared by Batman's … wife?" I couldn't help the chuckle.
"Well if you like … sandwiches made by Batman's wife!" His suspicious express softened somewhat when he took a bite. It is one of life's mysteries why sandwiches you make yourself never taste as good as when someone else makes them for you.
"So I know you can't answer this but … I'm going to try on the tiniest chance that you'll answer me." he paused for effect with the sandwich mid air. "Who is the Batman?"
I couldn't quite believe the irony of his question and I felt a sudden rush of anger and annoyance at him. It wasn't exactly his fault but I hated the way people made assumptions. I flung the salmon sandwich I was eating back onto the tray and stood.
"People are so stupid sometimes!" I threw the remote I was still holding across the cave and unfortunately it landed in the water. Oops! That probably cost a gazillion pounds. Jack's face was a picture but I'm not sure if it was because of the velocity by which the remote had been thrown or because of my sudden outburst directed at him.
"Look I'm sorry I just thought I'd ask." The confused face didn't seem as cute this time.
"All the time it's 'Who is the Batman?' 'What does he do when he's not being Batman?' 'What does he do for a living?' 'Is he married?' and not once" I pointed my finger for emphasis "Not once has anyone asked those questions about Superman."
I began pacing in front of him. "It annoys me that everyone expects Superman to not exist unless it's when he's helping people. Don't they realise that he's a real person with real feelings and a real family? Do they think he spends all his time simply floating about up in the sky waiting for someone to need help?" My voice had risen to a crescendo and carried up into the eaves of the cave causing a stir amongst the bat population.
He took a deep breath "Well … I guess right now think he spends his spare time with your Mom having an affair." The dry humour in his voice made it clear that he was being sarcastic.
"My Mom is NOT having a bloody affair …. She's really not, Jack and this is such an awful mess." A light seemed to appears in his eyes as the facts started falling into place.
"Superman has a secret identity too doesn't he? I mean I … guess I'd never really thought about it. He must have." He walked deliberately over to the, now remote-less, TV and stood still staring blankly at the infomercial on the screen . He turned with a almost scared expression on his face. "Who is he?" his words were quiet and held a serious quality but with an undercurrent of excitement. I could tell he already suspected the truth but was terrified of having his suspicions confirmed.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself as well, this was it … I, Sol-El, was about to break the biggest rule. THE RULE … I was about to disclose Superman's secret identity.
"Look … what I'm about to tell you is big." I emphasised with my hands just how big but I'm sure he got the picture anyway "I mean bigger than … well it's important that you tell absolutely no body … and I mean no body! The repercussions would mean that my family would no longer be able to … well … we'd be in deep doo-doo." For such a serious conversation I really should have chosen a better phrase that "deep doo-doo" but I believe I got my point across.
I took a deep breath. "My Mom isn't having an affair but she is sleeping with Superman and … I never actually said that Clark Kent wasn't my biological father did I?" I raised my eyebrows in an indication that he should be able to figure it out for himself. It appeared to be a shock non the less.
"Oh … that's … oh …. It's … HOLY SHIT!" His cute confused look was slightly over ridden by shock and panic, if I was being honest he looked like a bit of a dope as he stood there leaning against the computer chair with his mouth opening and closing like a fish. I decided absentmindedly that it was my revenge for his earlier attempt at shocking me with his new found knowledge of my heritage. I tried to suppress the grin on my face but struggled somewhat … well who could blame me when face to face with such an excellent fish impersonator.
"It's so obvious! How on earth … how has no one figured it out? He's … glasses! Who else knows surely someone else must have figured it out. He's Superman … how can people see him every day and not know?"
"People only see what the expect to see. You know me better than anyone else in the world and you have never guessed that I …" I realised that what I was about to blurt out but didn't bother to stop myself "That I … have super powers! We've all been brought up to hide what we can really do after a while it's second nature."
"I know but Clark Kent … Don't take this the wrong way but …he … I've not met him but on the TV… he comes across as … well … being a bit …"
"Nerdy? Klutzy? Geeky?" he looked sheepish and nodded his head as if he was committing a sin by agreeing with me.
"He acts like an idiot to put everyone off the scent. If you were looking for Superman's real identity would you look at the guy who can trip over fresh air?"
"It's a good plan I suppose but … what if …" He suddenly stilled and looked at me in horror "… if the press even show a photo of both of them … I mean him … together" he wave his hand to indicate that I knew his meaning even if his words were flawed "They'll know won't they? They'll realise that Superman has been living amongst them all this time and they'll know … everything?"
I nodded and the seriousness of the situation hit me anew. If Jack could figure out the complexities of the situation in just a few seconds it meant that plan B seemed more and more likely to happen. I couldn't ask Jack to give up everything he'd ever known and go into Uncle Bruce's version of the witness protection programme. He'd never be able to see his family again and his newly started career as a lawyer would be in ruins.
Before I knew it I was in Jack's arms and we were laying sprawled, legs intertwined, on Uncle Bruce's bed … well one of them. I could feel the tears running down my face but I had no real memory of when the crying started. It always took a lot to stress me out and today had certainly tested my boundaries more than normal. My sobbing didn't last long but left me with a desperate need for physical relief of some sort. Maybe it was a Kryptonian thing because it appeared that Dad was having the same reaction to stress! Who was I kidding I wanted Jack! He had always had the ability to take my mind off my problems and the way his hands were wondering around my body and stroking me was less comforting and more … well arousing.
"This is …" I muttered from the crease of his neck "… you're just so … mmm." His hands were inside my shirt but I could tell his mind was elsewhere. It wasn't really surprising given the circumstances but I had to give it my best shot. This was possibly the last time we'd be alone for a while. As seduction methods went I decided to go in for the kill "So, do you want to have sex in Batman's bed?"
He jumped back slightly and look startled. "Er .. Umm.. have you any idea how kinky that is? And utterly stupid. Good Lord woman … He could come back here any minute. Doesn't that worry you?" He did have a point but I doubt Uncle Bruce would be at all concerned if he caught us. He'd quite possibly think it was funny but he would certainly try to scare the hell out of Jack!
"I know you can listen out for him with your super-dooper hearing thingy but …" I chuckled at his terminology and the slightly worried sound in his voice. It probably wasn't too good for our relationship to allow him to be so scared of my Uncle but it certainly cooled my ardour somewhat. It was getting later and later in the evening and I really needed to give him time to come to terms with everything before I took him home.
"Yeah or I could just take a look around the city for him or if I was really feeling up to it I could … " My mind was whirling somewhat trying to think of a way in which I could gently explain that I was super-powered, other than the hearing of course.
"Look for him? We haven't got the time. I hate to say it but we need to get back to Metropolis don't we? I have to do the meet the parents thing and to be honest I'm terrified. I mean really scared!"
I took a deep breath. "My parents are going to be far too busy to interrogate you tonight and you really don't have to worry about them … I promise. If Dad didn't trust my judgement there is no way he'd have told me to tell you the truth. Okay?" he gave an unconvincing nod of the head. "Jack, there's something else you need to know!"
He removed his wayward hand which had found itself cupping my behind and put both of them over his ears. "Not yet woman! I can't take anymore just yet okay?" He was luckily back to laughing and he dragged me back down onto the bed with his lips pressed tightly against mine to prevent me from saying anything else which would leave him in a state of shock. In the process he managed to bang my head against the metal headboard producing a resounding thwacking noise and, if I was any judge, a dint in the metal. He looked horror struck at the accident but all I could do was laugh.
"Don't worry about it. Believe me when I say I have a very hard head, it'll take much more than that to hurt me."
He looked confused for a nano second and then his eyes widened slightly "I take it this its one of the things you wanted to talk about then …your tougher than you look aren't you?" his ability to accept shocking facts with the minimum of fuss was getting a little worrisome to be honest.
"I'm invulnerable." I stated simply. I realised that this wasn't going to be easy so it was better to do it quickly, a bit like pulling off a sticky plaster, it hurt for a moment but the pain soon went away or that's what I'm told anyway! "I also have x-ray vision but I can only see up to the horizon, I have heat vision, freezing breath and I'm strong … I mean really strong if I'm being honest and …" he held up his hand in the universal sign for me to stop talking. I fell silent and my gaze rested on the door opposite. How was he going to deal with this? Had I finally broken him? It was a man's natural instinct to protect the woman he loved so how does a man feel when he realises that his girlfriend could squash him like a bug if she wanted. A silence had settled over the cave and my stubborn nature kept my gaze away from the tall figure of my boyfriend.
He cleared his throat and said "Invulnerable as in you can't be hurt no matter what anyone does to you?" I nodded but still refused to look at him "Oh … that could be … interesting?"
It took a moment for his meaning to sink in and I shook my head in exasperation "You're so childish sometimes. I'm pouring my heart out to you and you're thinking with your …"
"I'm just saying it could be interesting." he interrupted. "Give a guy a break okay? I still can't believe I accused Superman of … you know. He won't hold it against me will he?"
"No, talking of which we need to get out of here." I began gathering the remaining sandwiches together and put them into a handy plastic box. There was little point leaving them because they would only go to waste and I doubt anyone at my parents was in the mood to prepare anything. Besides Uncle Alfred made really excellent sandwiches.
Out of all the surprises I'd suddenly loaded Jack with I was really nervous about telling of my flying abilities. Most people had things that they could do really well and having good eyesight and being strong were … well kind of normal things a human could do but flying? That was something else!
"Yeah so why can't we fly from the airport?" He folded his arms across his chest and had a scowl on his face.
"We … there's … Okay" I took a deep breath "The security system at the airport is being upgraded and the radar will automatically pick up any …. flights that aren't registered in their system. Flights which include the non-aeroplane type flights." my words trailed off and I hoped he would get the message I was trying to give him without me having to spell it out word of word.
His expressive eyebrows rose once again. "Are we getting a lift?" he made a sweeping motion with his hands to indicate flight and his voice went a little squeaky.
I took a deep breath.
"Well you are!"