Chapter Thirty-One

"My sweet Jenny, I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown"

Youngstown Ohio

Archie Leach was angry. It seemed he'd been angry all his life. It was an undirected anger mixed with a general alienation towards everyone and everything. He took another swig of his beer and looked around the three-room house he was renting. An eviction notice lay crumbled up on the floor next to the body of his landlord. The gun was still in Archie's hand.

Somewhere it had all gone wrong.

He remembered his old man coming home from the mill that last time. Even as young as he was then, Archie knew defeat when he saw it. At first there was talk of it just being a minor setback and then things would turn around. The old man tried going out day after day to apply for another job, but nobody was hiring. Then he gave up even trying. After a while the unemployment ran out, too.

The bills just kept coming.

They lost the house. The family moved into what they used to think of as the poor neighborhood. That's when Archie realized they were poor. Momma told Archie and his brothers that it was just temporary and the family would be back on its feet in no time.

Archie was still waiting.

The old man spent most of his days drinking. He was a mean drunk. He would rail against those that were ruining this country, foreigners, the blacks, the big corporations and mostly the government. He would take his anger out on Momma, Archie and his brothers. Archie remembered the house always being tense. You never knew what was going to set the old man off.

Momma signed them up for welfare and food stamps to make ends meet. It was Archie's first experience with shame. He saw it in both his parents' eyes. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They'd taught Archie all about the American dream in school, but somehow that got lost in translation between the schoolyard and reality.

The old man walked out one day and just never came back. That made things even tougher at home. Momma had to go to work, but the only jobs she could find were a cashier at a second hand store and cleaning rich people's offices at night. That left Archie and his brothers on their own most of the time. He didn't blame Momma she did her best. What little extra money she had, she spent on them. He still remembered that first video game system she got at the pawnshop. Archie and his brothers would play those games for hours.

Momma was just tired all the time. The long hours just beat her down till she couldn't get up. Archie remembered her always having a far away look in her eyes, like she was trying to remember something but just couldn't think of what. Money was always short. Archie always wore hand me downs to school. It would have been worse, except everyone else did too.

Archie started skipping school. It wasn't like they missed him. With the armed guards and metal detectors at the front door, it was pretty obvious where their priorities were. It was in the warehouse they called a high school that Archie first felt the satisfaction of hitting someone. He'd been in fights before, but this was the first time he just started punching and continued punching until they pulled him off the other guy. There was blood everywhere.

Archie sat with his mother in the vice principal's office as he told Momma that Archie was a troubled teen with anger issues. He suggested perhaps Archie would be better suited for a vocational school. Momma sat there meekly and agreed with everything the old bastard said. Consoling was recommended. Twice a week, Archie had to meet with some fat old lady that used to be a gym teacher. She always wanted to know his feelings

When Archie turned sixteen he told the fat old broad what his feelings were about her and the rest of the school and then dropped out. He still laughs when he thinks of the last thing she said to him, if you drop out now you'll never get into a good college. Like that was ever going to happen.

Archie's older brothers were gone, Bob in jail for a B&E and Joe in the army. Momma was on disability, all those years of two jobs finally catching up to her. Between the pills and her shows she didn't seem to care anymore what Archie did, as long as the police didn't show up at the door.

He drifted for a while, getting into trouble pretty much all the time. There was a stint in juvy and then a couple of months in county. There were always fights. Archie loved to fight. Once his fist hit someone it was like all this rage inside him exploded and he went crazy hitting and kicking the other guy. There was no high like it.

Lynn got pregnant and told Archie it was his. They'd just been screwing around, nothing serious, but when she got knocked up everything changed. Everyone told Archie he had to do the right thing, so he got a place and Lynn moved in with him. It was fun for a while, but once the baby came it turned to shit. Archie actually got a regular job at the quick lube so he could provide for Archie Jr. He spent eight hours a day down in a hole under the cars draining oil. When he'd get home the baby was always crying and Lynn was always bitching.

The first time he hit her he hadn't even meant to. The look of fear in her eyes made him feel powerful, in control. She cried and bitched some more, almost like she was asking for it, Archie thought. He hit her again and then she shut up. That set the pattern for them living together.

At work it sucked even more. Carl the manager, was always riding Archie about his attitude. Archie could tell that just because Carl had his high school diploma and a training course, he thought he was better than Archie. It was the same with the customers. He had to take their shit for minimum wage. The worst Archie thought were the foreigners. Half of them couldn't even speak the language, but they order him and the guys around like they owned the place.

It was at the quick lube that Archie started listening to the AM radio. Carl wouldn't let them listen to the classic rock station because he was afraid customers might complain. At first Archie really didn't pay that much attention to what they were talking about. It was usually politics or some other shit like that, but after awhile some of what they were saying started to make sense.

Things at home only got worse. Lynn was getting high with her friends all day and the place was a pigsty. They argued all the time. The neighbors complained and so did the landlord. They got evicted and moved into this dump. Then one day Archie came home and Lynn and Archie Jr. were gone.

Momma died and by the time they found her the bastards from her neighborhood had stolen everything she owned. Carl gave Archie shit about taking time off for the funeral, so Archie decked him and that was the end of the job.

He tried getting another one, but the condescending lady at unemployment told him he had no real skills and suggested trying a career in the fast food industry. Archie told her to stick it and walked out.

He bought a case of beer and went home and got good and drunk. That's what he did for the next two weeks. He'd sit there drinking beer, listening to the radio and the new channels getting angrier and angrier.

It was listening to the radio when it all started to make sense to Archie. The guy was talking about the real Americans and how all these groups were trying to take their country away from them. He said that the real Americans had been shit on for years and made to feel like they deserved it. Archie nodded his head in agreement and took another swig of beer. The guy on the radio said it wasn't the real Americans fault, it was the liberals, the judges, the college professors from those elite schools and it was the government listening to them. The man said most of all it was the foreigners fault. They come over here uninvited and take American jobs or get them shipped back to their country. They were the cause of all the problems, from health care to the shrinking middle class. Archie felt like the man on the radio was talking directly to him.

It isn't your fault, Archie; the man seemed to be saying. Your old man, your Momma, your brothers, Lynn and the baby, your hometown, none of it is your fault. It was those foreigners; they're the ones to blame. It's time the real Americans take back their country. If the government couldn't do it, it was up to the citizens, the real Americans like you Archie.

As he listened to this, Archie felt a sense of power that he'd only felt when he was beating on someone. The man was giving him a focus for all that undirected anger he had. When Archie's Arab landlord showed up to evict him, Archie shot him. They were the ones responsible for attacking America, weren't they? Foreigners, someone needs to do something about them.

Then Archie heard it, the man on the radio told him who the greatest foreigners of them all were, Superman and Power Girl. They weren't even from this planet. Archie turned on the TV and the news channel was talking about them too. Archie sat there as they showed footage of Power Girl. As he looked at her, Archie knew she was the type that he'd never had a chance at, always thinking she was too good for him. She had everything that Archie didn't and she wasn't even a real American.

Archie knew what he had to do then. He finished his beer. Grabbing what was left of the case he stepped over his landlord's body and went out to the car. Both his guns were fully loaded. As he started the engine, Archie told himself he was going to make it all right.

Smallville

The BMW M6 Convertible flew down the country road towards the Kent family farm. At the wheel, Bruce Wayne was the picture of control as he nimbly managed the turns. Next to him, her lustrous raven locks swirling around in the air sat Princess Diana of Themyscira. It had been three days since Superman's surprise resignation. At first it seemed it had acted as a pressure value just as Bruce had hoped and things began to return to normal. The press release was issued, which brought a million questions, but Diana and Dinah had handled them. It seemed the crisis was past, and then the first crack appeared.

Vigilante and Wildcat asked to be taken off the active roster. By now they were riding somewhere in the desert Southwest.

Next Zatanna announced she had decided to go on tour and would not be available for full time duty.

The next surprise was Shining Knight requesting some time off. He wanted, in his words, 'to once again walk the envy of less happier lands,-- This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.' They weren't sure what he meant, but figured he wanted to see Great Britain.

No one had officially quit other than Superman, but the cracks were just starting to become visible and members were pulling away. Power Girl and Supergirl let it be known they no longer considered themselves active members. Damage control was needed, so Bruce and Diana came here.

Bruce cut the corner of the driveway and downshifted as he neared the house. They slid to a stop just below the front steps.

"Hera help me, was it really necessary to drive that fast, Bruce," Diana exclaimed.

Running her fingers through her hair, she tried to get it back to some semblance of normal. Bruce turned and looked at her from behind his sunglasses.

"That's the way I always drive," he replied.

"I remembered that future reference."

"We got here safe and sound, Princess."

"Not without it's dangers," Diana replied. "I thought for sure you would hit that pig on the side of the road."

'It's the country, what can I say," Bruce said with a shrug.

The two climbed out of the car and looked around. They didn't see Clark anywhere. The sound of the front door opening caused them to turn. Martha Kent stepped onto the porch. She was drying her hands as she looked down at them. Bruce took off his sunglasses.

"Hello, Mrs. Kent," Diana said.

"Mrs. Kent," Bruce also said.

"I wasn't expecting you so soon, "Martha replied.

"Is Clark around, we'd like to talk to him," Bruce asked.

"You hurt him, you know," Martha said. "You two most of all."

"We were trying to stop him from making a mistake," Bruce replied.

"Yes, we were trying to protect him," Diana offered.

Martha looked at them both. She saw the sincerity in Diana's face and softened a bit.

"Honey, I know you have a good heart, but Clark's a grown man," Martha said to her. "Why would he need protected from love?"

Diana wasn't sure what to say to this. Martha turned her gave at Bruce.

"And you,' she told him. "I expected better from you."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I imagine Clark will want to see you. He's up on the ridge over yonder. Don't make me regret telling you, either of you," Martha said, giving them both a look.

'Yes ma'am," Bruce instantly said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kent," Diana added.

Martha nodded and went back inside.

Moments later, Bruce and Diana found Clark sitting on the ridge looking out over the fields. He looked relaxed and at peace. He slowly turned his head as they approached.

"Bruce, Diana."

"Hello Kal," Diana said to him.

"Clark."

"So what is it this time," Clark asked.

"We want you to reconsider," Diana began.

"The goal wasn't to kick you out, Clark," Bruce added.

"Really?"

"Yes, Kal, of course."

"We, I hoped it would make you realize the mistake you were making," Bruce said.

"I wanted to protect you, Kal," Diana added. Clark looked at both of them for a moment and then dropped his head and softly chuckled.

"I guess I let that Boy Scout thing go way too far," He murmured. He stood up and brushed his jeans off, before looking at them.

"I think it's better for now if the League gets along without me."

"It won't change the mistake, Clark," Bruce replied.

"The sentiment against you is still growing, Kal,' Diana offered. "I know it hurt to find out this way, but it was meant for your own good."

"You really don't understand me at all, do you," Clark observed. "What you see as a mistake, I don't. This isn't something I need protection from. We are just different people, the three of us."

"The dangers are real, Kal," Diana replied.

"Yes, I know and I'll deal with them as they come."

"Hiding out on this farm won't make them go away," Bruce said.

"What you call hiding, I call living Bruce," Clark stated. "I've just starting doing more of that lately.'

"Look, I know we hurt your feelings, Clark, but there are bigger issues involved here."

"It was never our intention to cause you pain, Kal," Diana added.

'It did hurt, I'll admit, but I've had some time to think while I've been here," Clark began. "I realized that while we all share the same goals, our views about how to do it are different. I guess we're all products of our environment. Bruce, Batman was created out of the horror and fear you experienced at such a young age. I'll never truly know how terrible that must be. You've dedicated your life to seeing that never happens again. I admire you for that, I do. You've said yourself, that Batman was meant as a symbol, something to be feared by the criminals, but fear only breeds fear Bruce. You've done a remarkable job keeping the lid on Gotham, keeping a sense of order there, but nothing's really changed, has it?'

"The criminals know there are consequences for their actions now, Clark,' Bruce said in a very cold voice. His whole demeanor was rigid and distant.

"But for how long and at what price, Bruce?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Bruce snapped.

"Maybe not," Clark conceded.

"I know we hurt you, Kal, but don't do this, don't turn away," Diana spoke up. Clark looked at his friend for a moment. She might be the most beautiful, caring woman he'd ever met, but she just didn't see it.

"I'm not turning away, Diana, I'm just trying to make you understand," Clark replied. "Each of us comes at this from a completely different world view. You came out of a paradise, Diana, yet in many ways it was a gilded cage. I think part of you knew that. It's why you wanted to come out to this world. It is a paradise, but it's based on the most horrible violations imaginable. Those violations are at the core of everything for your sisters. They shape their worldview and yours. All your life you and your sisters have been training to make sure that never happens again. It's been twenty centuries but you're still stuck in that moment. You were born to be a champion of your people, to always protect them. Its' a worthy and noble thing you do, but you've brought that out to this world. Your mission is to spread peace and love as the Amazons have learned, yet they still live in fear of an attack that never comes."

"How can you say that, Kal," Diana gasped, shocked and hurt by his words.

"I'm not doing it to be cruel or get back at you, either of you," Clark gently explained. "I'm saying it so you'll both understand. You've both trained all your life to be who you are and are the product of the world you grew up in. So am I. This is the world I grew up in."

Clark gestured all around him.

"I know how lucky I was to never have to face the things you've both faced, I do. I know how simple and idyllic this must seem to you, Bruce, but reality makes it's way here, too. Farm life is constant worry, about the weather, the price of fuel and crops. It's worrying about whether you'll have enough money to make it through the winter. It's little things, but always a million of them you have to keep an eye on. Mostly, it's about hope and the future. When you plant the crops in the spring, you can picture how it will look in the fall. You can picture this."

Again Clark gestured to their surroundings.

'That's what makes us different, Bruce, Diana. Where you see someone that needs protection and is making a mistake, I don't. Storms come and go, but as long as you hold fast, you make it through."

"That all sounds very Disney and Pollyanna, Clark, but the world is much more complicated than that," Bruce countered. Clark gave him a sad smile.

"We're just going to have to agree to disagree, Bruce. For the record, I know what happened with Selina," Clark gently said. Bruce's whole body went rigid at the sound of her name. "I even disagree with you on that. To me the mistake was pulling away from her, cutting her out of your life."

"It was to protect her," Bruce rasped.

"I'm not trying to argue with you, Bruce, I'm really not," Clark replied. "I'm just trying to get you to understand. We all want a better world, but I want to live in this one, right now. If that means everyone in the universe looks at me different, I guess I've come to understand that's okay. I'll keep doing what I've always done, trying to help where I can."

"And you say you're not a Boy Scout," Bruce remarked. Clark was just about to reply, when he heard Martha calling him. Diana and Bruce noticed it immediately.

"What? What is it, Kal?"

"Something's wrong."

In the next moment he was off the ground and streaking back towards the house. Diana and Bruce turned and followed. By the time they reached the house, Clark was already taking to the skies, streaking away at impossible speed.

"Mrs. Kent! What is it," Bruce called.

"It's on the TV," Martha shouted. There was a worried look on her face. "Someone has taken hostages and is demanding Power Girl show herself."

Diana and Bruce quickly moved into the living room and saw the news coverage.

"We should go and help," Diana immediately said.

"By the time we got there it will already be over," Bruce replied. He gestured towards the TV where Power Girl had just arrived on the scene. The cameras showed the hostage taker, he was just an ordinary man with a gun.

"What can be going through his mind that he thinks that will do anything against her," Diana asked.

"I stopped wondering about that sort of thing a long time ago," Bruce replied. With nothing else to do, Diana and Bruce sat down on the couch to watch. For the first time in their lives, they were spectators like everyone else.

New York

It was a ten hour drive, but Archie was finally in New York. Now he just had to figure out how to get Power Girl to show up. Fortune helped him there. He stopped at a convenient store and heard people speaking some foreigner language. He shot the clerk and held the others hostage. When the police arrived he demanded Power Girl show up. He watched from the window as the media descend on the scene and a crowd gathered. Archie imagined he'd be a hero, striking the first blow for the real Americans. It didn't take that long for Power Girl to show up. Archie had to admit she looked like an angel as she floated down in front of the store.

"Okay, I'm here," Karen announced. Sticking one gun in the waistband right against the small of his back, Archie grabbed a young woman hostage and used her as a shield. He pushed the two of them outside.

"It's your fault!" Archie shouted at her, while he pressed the gun to the frightened woman's temple.

"Okay, take it easy, um, what's our name?"

"I watch TV, don't try and that psychobabble on me," Archie shouted in replied.

"I'm not, I just wanted to know who I was talking to," Karen explained. "I imagine everyone else does too."

Archie saw all the cameras now pointed at him. This was going to be his moment.

"Arch-Archie Leach."

'Okay, Archie, why don't you tell me what this is about?" Karen knew she could probably take the gun out with a quick burst of her heat vision, but didn't want to risk hurting the hostage. She quickly ran through all the options her powers afforded her, but decided to try and talk him out of this.

"What's this all about, Archie?"

"You know," he shouted. "You and your kind are ruining this country! You foreigners, like the ones in the store are trying to take it away from the real Americans! You're even an alien, an illegal alien!"

Oh, God, Karen thought, he's on to that.

'Yes, I am an alien, Archie, but I'm not trying to steal anything."

"Lies!"

"Put the gun down now!" A booming voice said from above. Everyone looked up to see Superman hovering. He looked like the wrath of God descending to Earth. Archie thought he was going to shit himself and pressed the gun harder against the woman's temple.

"Superman, no!" Karen shouted. "Let me handle this my way!"

Clark looked over to her for a moment and then reluctantly nodded his assent. Karen turned back to Archie.

"It's still just you and me, Archie, nothing's changed. You got me here for a reason, didn't you?"

"Ye-Yes," Archie stammered, still shaking at seeing Superman.

"So tell me, Archie, tell me," she urged.

"It-It's like I said, you and your kind are ruining this country! You're taking over and pushing us real Americans to the side! Just look at all the foreigners right here!"

The crowd had grown as the news coverage beamed it live everywhere.

"These are Americans too, Archie," Karen gently said. "Just like those people in the store are Americans."

"That's bullshit!'

"No, Archie, it's not." Karen turned to the crowd. "Let's see a show of hands. How many people here are Americans?"

One by one, hands began to go up. Soon most in the crowd had their hand in the air.

"See Archie, Americans just like you."

This confused Archie, the man on the radio had said they weren't.

"What-What about you? You're not even from this world! You and him want to take over!"

"That's not true, Archie," Karen replied.

"Yes, it is! I heard it on both the radio and TV!"

"I'm telling you it's not true, Archie."

"You're lying!"

"No, she's not, Archie," Superman spoke up.

"But they said, the man on the radio said so," Archie shouted.

'That's what he does, Archie," Karen offered softly. "Think about it. Who did he say it was two weeks ago, The judges? The Liberals?'

"Yes, but the illegal aliens too!"

"That's what he does, Archie, he tries to divide people, to scare them. The woman you're holding the gun too, she's probably more like you than you realize. Ask her where she works, Archie?"

"Where do you work," he said to the hostage.

"I'm-I'm a cleaning woman at-at one of the office-offices," she could barely answer. A cleaning woman, Archie thought, Momma was a cleaning woman.

"You see, Archie, she's not trying to take anything away from you, she's just trying to eke out a little bit for herself. You probably have kids don't you miss," Karen asked.

"Yes."

"Kids?" Archie repeated.

"Yes, please don't kill me, they're only two and four," the woman sobbed.

"But the man said…" Archie stammered.

"Fear Archie, the man on the radio wants people to be afraid," Karen said. "The more people are afraid the less they see that most people are just like them, like you, Archie. No one's trying steal anything from you Archie, except the man on the radio. He's trying to scare you and keep you scared. In another week, it won't be me he's railing against it will be someone else, and a month after that, someone else. That's the secret, Archie, if you're afraid, you don't think and just react. When you think for yourself you realize she's not your enemy and neither is anyone here."

Archie was all mixed up. Power Girl's words confused him. He was sure the man on the radio was right, but when he looked at the crowd they seemed a lot like the people he'd grown up around.

"Don't do this, Archie," Karen continued. "Don't let the man on the radio make you afraid any more. You can stop being afraid if you think for yourself, Archie."

Archie didn't have an answer for her. As he looked at the young woman he was holding, he knew it wouldn't solve anything killing her. The old man and Momma wouldn't get their lives back. Things weren't going to be okay again. Everything would still be wrong if he killed her, nothing would change. Slowly Archie lowered the gun and let the young woman go. Karen breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the police move in towards the hostages. She only took her eye off Archie for a moment, but that was enough.

Archie suddenly knew there was really only one way to take all the pain and hurt away. In one fluid movement, he took the other gun from behind him and pressed it to his own head.

"No! Archie, no!" Karen shouted, but it was too late. People in the crowd screamed in horror as Archie pulled the trigger and splattered his brains all over the sidewalk. Karen caught his body before he hit the ground. There was nothing, even with all her powers and abilities she could do. Tears came to her eyes and she just repeated no over and other.

It was Clark that finally eased her away from the body. He held her in his arms as she let all her grief coming pouring out. Flash bulbs and cameras flashed all around them, but Clark paid no attention, his whole focus on Karen.

Smallville

Bruce and Diana sat stunned at what they had just watched. Like all the other viewers their hopes had soared when it seemed like Power Girl had talked the gunman out of it. Horror filled them as they watched live on TV as he blew his brains out. They were silent as all the cameras lingered on Superman and Power Girl holding each other. Diana felt a tear in her eye as she looked at the way Clark and Karen were together. Bruce felt himself getting choked up.

"Is that really what you thought was a mistake and he needed protecting from, " Martha Kent asked.

The Airwaves

The man on the radio the next day condemned what had happened in New York. He said it was just another lone nut and nothing could be taken from it. He then went on to say how certain people in Washington were trying to turn this country into a socialist country behind the backs of the real Americans.