Chapter 23

"Answer One Question"

Smallville

There was probably another hour at most before the sun went down. Out here on the flatlands it appeared as a huge orange globe casting everything in a warm glow of amber, gold and ginger. A gentle breeze slightly stirred the fields of wheat, as geese silently flew in formation above.

The beauty and calm all around made it seem like a cathedral to the natural wonders. Clark walked with Bruce at his side, feeling more at peace than he had in weeks. He knew why Bruce was here and what he hoped to achieve. Clark understood his friend well enough to know none of this was by accident or spontaneous. There was always a plan, a reason behind every action. By coming to him like this, Bruce probably thought he would catch Clark off guard, with his defenses down. Clark was even sure there was a reason why he'd come as Bruce Wayne and not Batman.

Bruce had made a mistake, Clark thought. This farm and the surrounding land was his center, his touchstone. His defenses were down, but it didn't matter here. This was home.

So Clark just waited, enjoying the tangible sense of just being here, until Bruce was ready to begin.

Bruce knew he was taking a risk, but it was a calculated risk coming here like this. He was giving up atmosphere and terrain, but those only mattered here for Clark. Bruce couldn't intimidate Clark as Batman. That was like trying to stare down a hurricane. It might appear to work for a while, but eventually the storm always wins. No, Bruce knew he couldn't get to Clark through the usual means alone. It's why he chose to confront him here at his boyhood home. Sentiment and emotions had to be mixed with logic if Bruce hoped to make Clark see the mistake he was making.

Every opponent had a weakness; with Clark it wasn't Kryptonite, but his heart.

"How's your mother doing?" Bruce began.

"Um, good, good, thanks for asking," Clark replied.

"It must be hard for her since your father died keeping this place up," Bruce observed. "It must get lonely out here."

"It was difficult for a long time, but she's a strong woman," Clark said. "She's even started seeing an older gentleman from town, but she doesn't think I know."

They both smiled at this.

"She does know you're Superman, right," Bruce joked.

"I'm just Clark to her," he smiled. "Oh, by the way, she saw you on the TV a while ago. She said you're too thin, you need to eat more."

Bruce laughed.

"I'm sure Alfred would agree."

They both smiled and walked on for a bit in silence.

"But you didn't come all the way out here to see how Martha Kent is doing, did you Bruce?"

Clark figured there was no use waiting, so he gave Bruce his opening.

"No, I didn't, but it's always good to be polite," Bruce replied.

"I appreciate the gesture."

"You know I'm here about your fling with Power Girl, Clark." Bruce finally dove right in.

"Yeah."

"You know when this tryst goes bad, it will be her that gets hurt."

"Stop right there, Bruce," Clark said. He turned and looked at his friend. "Karen is her name and I'd appreciate if you'd use it. Also, we're not going any further if you deliberately denigrate our relationship with words like fling and tryst. I'm willing to listen to whatever you have to say, but I ask you to respect that as a friend."

"I miss spoke, I apologize," Bruce replied.

Clark seriously doubted that, but he let it go.

"The fact remains, when your relationship goes bad, it will be Karen that gets hurt."

"You're assuming it will go bad, I'm not," Clark countered.

Bruce stopped and looked at Clark. He gave him a little smile.

"It sounds like you're a little more than smitten?"

"I am," Clark admitted. He blushed, feeling like a fool having this conversation with Bruce.

"I take it, this is mutual?'

"Yes."

"Really," Bruce said with mock surprise. "So this might be the one, huh?"

"Look, I know you disapprove of us, but you have to understand, Bruce," Clark seriously said. "She's special. I'm learning just how special everyday."

"So what are we talking about, marriage," Bruce asked.

"I think it's a little soon for that," Clark replied.

"I misjudged your depth of feeling for her, Clark. I apologize for that," Bruce said. "It must be difficult when you think about what could happen.'

"How do you mean?"

"I don't have to tell you, Clark, you have a lot of enemies," Bruce pointed out. "This isn't like when you dated Lois. The whole world knows you're dating Power Girl, I mean Karen."

"That's unfortunate, but something we'll have to live with," Clark replied.

"Oh, I'm sure, but is Karen ready for what that means?"

"She's not afraid, Bruce," Clark replied. "I would have thought you learned that from your little visit to her place in New York."

"She told you about that?"

"Yes, next time you have something to say to me, say it to me, Bruce,' Clark said flatly.

"All right, I will," replied Bruce. He turned towards Clark and took a moment. This was going to be the hard part. Clark was his friend, but someone had to make him see the big picture.

'She's going to get hurt, Clark. Your enemies will try and get to you through her."

"She can take care of herself."

'Say she can and your enemies don't hurt her, what about the rest? You're the most famous hero on Earth, Clark. You've learned to handle that over years of dealing with it, she hasn't. The crowd and media can be cruel when they latch onto a juicy story. What could be bigger than the two of you dating? People already know you, so the focus will all be on her. It's already starting, the dirty jokes and suggestive comments about her. Karen will become a punchline like Monica Lewinsky. Everything she's ever done before this will be forgotten, she'll just be the woman Superman's sleeping with. That will hurt her far worse than any attack by a villain."

Clark had already heard the whispers and gossip. It did hurt to hear them. It must be ten times worse for Karen.

Bruce saw his words were having an effect on Clark, so he pressed on.

"And what about you, Clark," Bruce asked. "I know that whole Darkseid incident hurt you. I've watched as you've worked tirelessly to regain the people's trust. Something like this is exactly the thing that can wipe away all that progress. You can see it's already starting on the Tower. The two of you dating reminds people that you're not from this planet."

Bruce pause for just a moment to let that sink in.

"Perhaps it's something that goes back to our earliest ancestors, the fear of the outsider, the unknown. It's a survival mechanism to be weary of things you don't know or understand. By itself it is neutral, but when you insert that fear into a crowd it becomes dangerous. The mob mentality spreads fear very fast, Clark. It's not just Earth, either. Every culture and race has a bit of xenophobia. The so-called civilized societies and worlds don't like to admit it, but it's there. That fear is one of the main reasons I'm successful as Batman."

Clark had quietly listened to everything Bruce said. He knew there was truth in his words.

"Would you answer one question for me, Bruce," Clark softly said.

"Yes, of course."

"Have you ever been in love?"

The question caught Bruce off guard, as it came from completely out of the blue.

"This isn't about me," Bruce quickly replied.

"That's right, it's about me, I forgot," Clark sadly replied.

"If you care for her, Clark, you need to end it. I'm sorry, but the longer you two are together the worse it's going to be," Bruce offered. "There's a tidal wave coming at you. Maybe you can withstand it, but all those around you can't. Martha will have to listen to all of it. You said so yourself, you're just Clark to her, but she'll have to sit and listen to all the talk about Superman. She'll be hurt by it and so will all the friends that know you. Karen will be hurt badly too."

Clark didn't reply, just stood looking off at the sunset.

"When that tidal wave hits, Clark, you'll loss focus on the mission and innocents will be hurt. I know this sound cruel, Clark, but I'm telling you all this as a friend. I hate to see you make the same mistake I .. others have. You need to walk away if you want to protect those you care about."

Bruce stood looking at Clark. Part of him hated what he was doing, but it had to be done. Clark was too important to the mission, the League, the planet to let it happen again. Selina. Bruce felt his heart start to race and sweat begin to form on his brow. He willed himself to stay calm. This was too important to be distracted. He had made this mistake and didn't want to see Clark make it too.

"The mission," Clark softly said. "When does the mission end, Bruce?"

"Clark," Bruce started to reply, but Clark stopped him.

"It was a rhetorical question, Bruce," Clark said with a sad smile. "I'm sorry, I know all your arguments are valid. It tears me apart thinking that anyone would be hurt because of me. The thing is does that mean I don't get to have a life of my own, Bruce?"

"Clark, that's not what I'm saying," Brue argued.

"No, of course not, just not with Karen."

"Clark if it was anyone else, even another species it wouldn't be as dangerous as you two together. You must see that," Bruce asked.

"That's the irony, isn't it?" Clark sadly chuckled. "I've lived on this planet just about my whole life, but I've never felt what you and so many others take for granted. You can go out with millions of women and it's normal, I can't. I want the same things everyone else does, Bruce, a home, a family, a life besides just work or the mission. I finally find someone that those things can be a real possibility with. Someone I can feel normal with, Karen. I don't even know if that's in our future at this point, but I like that it might be."

"I'm sorry, Clark, but the truth is you're not normal," Bruce replied. "Earth doesn't see you as normal, nor does the rest of the galaxy. Like it or not, you're Superman. The thought of you and another Kryptonian together frightens people. Frightened people do dangerous things and innocent people always pay the price."

Clark turned and looked Bruce in the eye.

"I'm sorry, Bruce," Clark said sadly. "That's too much to put on me. I'll always be Superman, but I can't carry the weight of everyone's expectations and fears. There has to be something just for me otherwise what's the point of all of it, the mission included? The public doesn't get all of my time; some of it has to be private. You can called that selfish if you want to."

"You're making a mistake,' Bruce replied.

"It' s my mistake to make, no one else's. My life is my own."

"Then there's nothing else to say," Bruce offered. "I hoped you'd see reason. People are going to get hurt by your decision, Clark. Others are going to have to make decisions in response to that decision."

Bruce turned and started back towards his car. Clark stood watching him.

"You never answered my question, Bruce," he called out.

Washington D.C.

The Nation Security apparatus was having its monthly teleconference with the President. All the heads of the known departments were there, along with the heads of several not so well known. After all the updates on the hot spots around the globe, the topic of Superman and Power Girl came up. The President asked for everyone's opinion.

Amanda Waller had not title and officially wasn't even at this meeting. She sat silently as members of the armed forces, the national Security office, the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. voiced their concerns. Most seemed to have a wait and see attitude about the matter, but several senior members pushed hard for readiness just in case. The words alien, Kryptonian and threat were uttered over and over.

"You've been very quiet, Miss Waller," the President said. "Would you care to share your opinion?"

Amanda looked around the room as each member before beginning. She knew all of them and where they stood. Her job was to know.

'Mr. President, I think my feelings about the possible threat from Superman are widely known. After the invasion, I pushed as hard as anyone to upgrade our defenses against a possible repeat of that. When we got knowledge about the Justice Lords on a parallel Earth, I along with most of the members in this room pushed for even more.'

She paused for a moment to consider her words.

"This feels different, Mr. President. I know many have talked about the possible threat, but isn't this really about two people falling in love? Why should the government have a say in that? I'm old enough to remember when there were laws on the books in this very country that said whites and blacks couldn't marry. If that was wrong and I believe it was, how can we turn around and tell Superman and Power Girl who they can or can not be with? That's not the country or world I signed up to protect, Mr. President.'

A silence hung over the room for several moments.

"Well said, Miss Waller," the President finally replied. 'As of now, we'll just continued to monitor the situation. Now let's move on the to these budget requests."

Papers shuffled and the meeting continued.