Crossroads
"Regrets I've had a few…"
Gotham Heights
Once day slips into another into another. Vigilance is hard to maintain and you relax. It's only natural to let your guard down a bit, it's only human.
Lashina smiled as she walked along the sidewalk taking in the well-manicured lawns and copycat houses. She could feel the looks of the neighbors, the men especially. The rather brief shorts and tight top she had on showed off her spectacular figure to full advantage. She was in a good mood, a very good mood.
She'd been playing by their rules, but could tell there was just a creeping doubt in both Diana and Clark. She knew they both had been waiting for her to attack, but she disappointed them. Why attack when they let her in their house to poison it? By the end of their bet they would both have doubts and that's when she would make her move. She had no doubts about what she wanted and didn't care about the rest. Part of her thought she would even live in this dreary place as long as she got Clark.
These thoughts were interrupted by the sound of children. Lashina suddenly found herself surrounded by four girls and a young boy.
"You're Mr. Kent's old wife, aren't you," Sally asked.
"First wife,' Lashina corrected the small girl.
"You're not as pretty as Mrs. Kent is,' Tommy added. He was holding a small dog on a leash and it was wrapping itself around him in its excitement.
"Don't pay any attention to him, that's Tommy, he's my baby brother,' Sally said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm Sally we live down there. These are my friends, Britney, Ashley and Tiffany."
"Good for you,' Lashina said, stepping around the kids and trying to move on. She had never been what you would call a fan of children. She followed the axiom; children should not be seen or heard. As she was getting around them, one of the girls held up her balloon to Lashina's face.
"How do you like my balloon?"
"I don't,' Lashina replied and then popped it. The little girl began to cry and this brought a smile to Lashina's face.
"You're mean,' Sally shouted.
"Yes, I am, not move along."
"I see why Mr. Kent dumped you for the new Mrs. Kent. She's nice!"
Lashina turned and stared down at the girl. Young Sally gulped as she felt the full weight of Lashina's cold, menacing gaze.
"Boo!"
Sally screamed and ran, her young girl friends racing along with her. Lashina turned and started walking again. She nearly tripped as Tommy's small dog wrapped itself around her legs.
"That's Buster, he likes you," Tommy laughed.
"He looks delicious,' Lashina replied, picking up the dog by the scruff of the neck and holding it out to Tommy. He grabbed the pup and raced away, glancing back over his shoulder in terror. Lashina smiled, yes, she could live here for a while, she thought.
Asgard
Dusk brought Balder to the tavern, as it did so many. He could hear the shouts and laughter that promised a pleasant evening, filled with friends and drinks. As he opened the door, he stopped and watched as Thor was telling a story.
"So there I was, frustrated by these two and knew it was up to me to fix it,' Thor continued. "Kal-El, a good man for a mortal, needed a gentle nudge. Being a friend and seeing how the Princess looked at him, I decided to make the sacrifice for love. I went down and made a halfhearted play for her, so he would realize his true feelings. I even allowed him to challenge me to a fight, can you imagine?"
The assembled crowd laughed heartily at this notion.
"I pretended to let him win, instead of bringing the full force of the God of Thunder down upon him. It was difficult losing, as he really wasn't that much of a challenge to me, but I pull it off for love, my friends! So now, raise you glasses and join me in a toast to Love!"
Cheers went up and everyone drank. Thor slapped backs as he moved through the crowd, as always talking just a little too loud. Balder caught his eye and slowly he made his way over to him.
"Friend Balder, good to see you,' Thor said in a tone lower than his usual.
"And you, Thor,' Balder replied. "Quite the tale you were spinning for the crowd."
"Oh, that, well, you know, they wanted a story,' Thor offered.
"And you certainly gave them one,' Balder said with a smile. "Although, you know I seem to remember the details of that particular story differently. Our bet had a different outcome in mind, didn't it? Oh, I'm glad to see the bruises have healed."
Balder smiled wide at Thor. The Thunder God didn't seem to know what to say for a moment, then leaned into his friend and whispered.
"If you wished to get paid for that wager, Balder, I would suggest you keep those details to yourself."
Balder laughed at this.
"Why don't you buy me a drink? You know how that helps me forget,' he offered.
Thor smiled and shouted for two meads.
Gotham Heights
Clark had slept later than usual. He had a hard time getting to sleep the night before. The woman of the house, Diana being the chief reason, as she seemed to enjoy her newfound power to torture him just a little too much. Well there are worse thing, he thought with a smile. He had just finished up a swim, after agreeing it would be okay for Lashina to get out of the house and walk around. He did make her promise not to kill or hurt anyone. She agreed, so the house was quiet as he dried off and walked inside.
Diana was standing there smiling as he entered.
"Good morning,' she said and then kissed him. It was a smoldering, passionate kiss. For someone still new at it, she was remarkably good. The same problem that he kept him from sleeping reappeared. When the kiss finally ended he took a step back to catch his breath.
"Good morning,' he managed to say. "You really like torturing me, don't you?"
"Are you saying you don't like it," she asked, a playful smile on her lips.
"No, but-but it's really not fair,' he offered. "I mean what if I started kissing and feeling you up all the time?"
Diana blushed at this, but also smile.
"Are you offering?"
"Scratch that question,' Clark quickly replied. "Diana, let's sit down and talk. Just talk, okay?"
"About what,' she asked.
"Us."
"Okay."
They moved over the couch and sat down. The memory of their last conversation on the couch was still fresh in his mind, so he moved to one of the chairs opposite it.
"I thought you wanted to talk,' Diana asked.
"I do, it's just easier when I'm not so close to you,' Clark replied. "You have no idea what effect you have on me."
"Tell me, I'd be interested in hearing about that,' she said.
"Not-Not right now."
"So what do you want to talk about,' Diana asked, leaning back and adjusting her robe. The lower part slipped open and showed quite a bit of leg. Clark couldn't help noticing this, and had to remind himself what he wanted to say. Shaking his head, he shifted his focus away from her legs to her eyes. She was still smiling, so he knew she had noticed him looking at her legs. He'd been thinking about what he wanted to say for the last couple of days.
"I would like to take you on a date, Diana,' he began.
She gave him a confused look.
"We're married and you want to start dating? Isn't that sort of backwards, Kal?"
"Diana, you know our marriage is over in less than two weeks,' he replied. "I was talking about afterwards."
"Afterwards."
"Yes, I'm attracted to you, very, very much, Diana,' he tentatively said. "More than attracted to you, but I want to do it right. If you're willing, I'd like to ask you Mother permission to, what's the word you use? Oh, right, I'd like to ask her permission to court you."
"You could just ask her to make the marriage permanent, Kal,' Diana replied. "It would save us a lot of time. We could move on to the honeymoon right away."
Clark actually groaned at the thought. It was a wonderful thought, but he wanted to do this the right way. A honeymoon with Diana did sound pretty fantastic though he had to admit. He glanced over at her and some rather carnal thoughts instantly came to mind. No, down boy, he told himself, stick to the plan.
"A date, Diana, let's start with a date."
"I would have thought you'd be anxious to make love with me, Kal,' Diana observed. She gave him a teasing smile, knowing perfectly well how much she affected him. She had never realized how much fun it could be to torture a man like this. She especially liked doing it to him.
"You have a cruel streak, Princess,' he replied. "And don't get up to hit me, you can do it later."
"I'll remember that."
"I have no doubt about that,' he said. "Diana, this is going to be over in less than two weeks. It's easy right now, living here like this, but I'm worried it's not going to be so easy once we're back in the world."
"You mean because of your secret identity,' she asked.
"That's part of it, yeah,' he admitted. "I think we can both agree this isn't what we thought was going to happen when this bet started."
"That's true."
"It seems like every thing has happen in a whirlwind, Diana,' he continued. "The bet, then the marriage, Lois breaking up with me, your feelings changing towards Bruce, our feelings for each other, all of it happening in such a short time."
"So what,' Diana asked. "Are you saying when this ends you want to go back to how we were, is that it, Kal? I don't think I can do that."
"I don't think I can either, Diana."
"Then what?"
"I have doubts, Diana,' he admitted. His voice was very low, almost a whisper.
"Oh."
This caught her off guard. Diana suddenly wondered if his doubts were about them.
"Not about my feelings towards you, Diana, not that,' he quickly added. "I just wonder how it's going to work for us once we're back out there. It's so simple here, living together, but I doubt it will be out there."
"I know, Kal,' she confessed. "I've thought about it too."
"So you know what I'm talking about?"
"Yes, Bruce's two worlds,' she said with a nod. "Only this time it's our worlds. How do we fit into each others?"
"Yes."
"I would never ask you to give up being who you are, Kal,' Diana explained. "I know how important being Clark Kent is to you."
"Thank you, Diana,' he said with a smile. "I also would never ask you to stop being who you are. Your mission is important, just as your representing your people is. It's who you are and I don't want you to have to change for us to be together."
"Thank you, I have been thinking about this a lot lately too,' she replied. He gave her a look. "I didn't say it was the only thing I've been thinking about, Kal. Would you like to know what I've been thinking about the most?"
Diana flashed him a playful smile.
"I think I might be able to guess," he teased back.
"You've been thinking about it too, haven't you," she asked.
"Hard not too,' he offered. "Although, that's probably not the best choice of words."
"It seems very accurate from where I'm sitting," she teased. Clark crossed his legs at this and Diana couldn't help laughing.
"Could we talk about something else, please,' he asked. It took her a moment to stop laughing, but she did want to discuss this further.
"As I said, it's one of the things I've been thinking about,' she began. 'This whole notion of two worlds has bothered me since the first time I heard Bruce mention it. Why must we fit into one world or another? I understand it is what is traditionally done, but why must we be tied to tradition? We are not ordinary people, Kal. This bet has shown me that while I still believe Bruce was wrong about us being able to blend in, why do we have to always blend in?"
"What's the alternative?"
"Why can't there be a third way,' she asked. "Why is it, Bruce always talked about me fitting into his Gotham world, or you thinking I have to fit into your Metropolis world? The same goes for either of you fitting into my world? Why can't we make a world that is just ours?"
"I guess I never thought about t that way,' he admitted. "I was raised to think a couple gets married and settles down together in one place. I guess I always thought that was the way it was done."
"That was good for Jonathan and Martha Kent, Kal, but we're not them,' Diana replied. "I'm not trying to run them down, I hope you understand that, but we have options they could never consider. I would like to live with you, but why does it have to be either or? Metropolis and the Embassy are important places in our lives, but they are not the only places. There's a whole world out there within seconds for us. You can still be Clark Kent and I can still be Princess Diana, Ambassador, but when we're together, why can't we just be Kal and Diana?"
'Wow, you really have thought about this," he managed to say. Diana had just shifted the paradigm completely on him. He had always approached a relationship with women he'd dated as any other man would. Diana was suggesting that instead of blending in, getting married and settling down like all other couples, they could have it another way. She was offering him something he'd never considered. He didn't have to be Clark Kent or Superman, but just himself.
"The rules would be the same, Kal, we just change the situation,' she said.
"The rules?"
"No flirting or sleeping with other women and you call if you're going to be late."
He laughed at this and smiled at her.
"So you really are a traditional girl at heart, huh?"
"Yes,' Diana replied. "Also your four foot rule no longer applies."
"I don't know, Diana, that could be a deal breaker,' he joked.
"Marriage is about compromise, Kal," Diana said with a satisfied grin.
"Let's just start with a date, Diana."
"Wouldn't you prefer to move it along a little faster, Kal,' she asked, leaning forward. Her robe slipped a little further apart and Diana gave him a tempting smile.
"You are just evil sometimes,' he groaned. There was one other thing he wanted to discuss. "Bruce, Diana, I'd like to speak with him before we do anything."
'Why?"
"I'm kind of a traditional guy," Clark explained. "This bet started because you two had feelings for each other. I know you've said yours have changed, but I don't know what his are."
"Join the club,' Diana snidely replied.
"He's our friend, Diana,' Clark continued. "If you and I are to be together, I want him to learn about it from us. I know no one believes this, but I worry that he might be emotionally fragile."
"He's not fragile, Kal, he's single minded,' Diana offered.
"Perhaps fragile is the wrong word,' he replied. "Tragic might be a better one. I see him pulling away from anyone that gets close to him and it worries me. Batman was born in tragedy and part of me worries the more Bruce becomes Batman that it won't end well for him. If he has feelings for you and I believe he does, I don't want him to hear about us from someone else."
"I understand, do you want me to come with you,' Diana asked.
"No, that's okay, I think I want to do this man to man. I've known Bruce longer than anyone, so I want him to hear it from me,' Clark said.
"If you think that's best."
"I do,' he said with a nod. Clark sat back and looked at her for a moment. "So we're agreed, a date?"
"If we have to, all right,' Diana replied. "Do you want to shake on it or?'
She gave him a devastating smile.
"I guess we could kiss, if you want,' he replied, with a smile.
"I want."
Diana was over the table and in his arms a moment later. Neither of them noticed the figure looking through the patio doors at them.
Gotham – The Waterfront
Dinah, Plastic Man and the Question stood on a rooftop overlooking the warehouse where the motorcycle gang was hold up. As reluctant as she was to admit it, Dinah knew Plastic Man had been invaluable in checking the place out.
"I love the smell of the waterfront in the morning,' Plastic Man announced. "It reminds me of…of."
"Sewage,' Question offered.
"I was going to say victory, but now that you mention it, yes,' Plastic Man replied. "I've spent some time in sewers recently so I'm kind of an expert and this place stinks!"
"It's all part of big business's plan,' Question informed him. "Make it stink to high heaven, people can't take it and sell. Big business swoops in and buys up the land for pennies on the dollar."
"The little guy gets screwed again,' Plastic Man lamented.
"If the little guy only knew the half of it,' Question replied. 'You don't even want to know about the fluoride in the water."
Dinah took a deep breath and closed her eyes to gather herself.
"Could we skip Art Bell time and focus on the job at hand, please?"
"I think Art Bell retired, it's George Noory now," Plastic Man offered.
"Did Art Bell really retire,' The Question asked. "Or is that what they want you to believe?"
"Oh, I never considered that, interesting."
"Enough,' Dinah shouted. "Let's go over the rules one more time, okay?"
"You're in charge and we don't do anything until you do,' Question stated.
"And,' Dinah said, turning to Plastic Man.
"Because we're working together doesn't mean you like me," he repeated.
"Good, I'm glad we have that straight."
"You do like me a littler more than before though, don't you?"
"I'd say a lot more,' Question commented. "You two are a team, aren't you?"
"Yes,' Plastic Man said.
"No," Dinah said. "This is temporary, just because he did the recon, that's all. Now before you two piss me off, let's roll!"
She fired a line across the space to the warehouse and launched herself off the building.
"A-ring-a-ding-ding!"
Plastic Man scooped up the Question and the two of them glided over as he turned into a helicopter. Dinah didn't stop when she landed, but moved over to the vent and pried it loose. She disappeared into it, followed by Plastic Man and the Question.
They were in the shadows on a catwalk at the top of the building. It was just as Plastic Man had said it was. There had to be thirty gang members unloading weapons from a truck, but Dinah's eyes immediately went to just one. Ramon, the gang leader that had torched the women's shelter was supervising the operation.
"That one's mine,' she whispered, pointing her finger. With the grace of an acrobat, she flipped off the catwalk gaining speed as she descended. Two guards with the heaviest weapons took the brunt of the impact. The warehouse exploded with shouts and gunfire. Plastic Man turned himself into a large slide, which the Question rode down to take out two more.
Dinah used the cover of the trucks and the gang members to shield herself from the bullets, while always moving towards Ramon. He saw her coming and began firing his automatic weapon at her. She didn't stop and kept coming.
The Question jumped onto one of the biker's bikes and roared into the firing crowd. He launched the bike at them and it exploded in midair in a hail of bullets. This was all the cover he needed, shifting in and out of the shadows and trucks, picking off one gang member after another.
Plastic Man had a different, but no less effective approach. He turned himself into a huge tennis racket and began swatting gang members.
"Serve and volley!" He shouted as he wacked one of the gang. "Fifteen-Love!"
The Question pulled the machine gun from one of the gang members' hands and gave it a quick once over. "Knock offs, it figures, can't even buy American anymore! The Bilderbergs work, no doubt! All part of the One World Order!"
"Thirty-Love! Forty-Love!"
"Shoot that bitch, you idiots,' Ramon roared, slapping another clip into his gun. "Kill her friends too!"
"See? Even the bad guys see that you like me,' Plastic Man shouted happily to Dinah. "Love game for me! In more ways than one!"
"We are not friends,' Dinah snarled, but never took her focus off Ramon. She somersaulted over the two-gang members in front of him, taking them out with a swinging kick as she landed and then rolling to avoid Ramon's fire. Her hand came up and twisted the weapon from his grasp and she followed it with a roundhouse right to his jaw.
He fell back, but kicked out at her knees, taking her down as well. Scrambling to take advantage of this, he jumped on top of Dinah and began swinging his fists at her head and body. She managed to block most of his blows, but he got a few shots in. Twisting her lower body around, she wrapped her leg around his neck and hammered him back onto the cement floor. He continued to fight, but the tide was already against him. Dinah moved like a precious machine, stopping everything he tried and countering it to devastating effect.
Bloody, battered and beaten, Dinah slammed Ramon against the crates. He somehow managed to smile at her.
"Go head, you win,' he said though a mouth of blood. "Arrest me. I'll get out again and this time it won't just be her eye, I'll finish that squealing bitch."
The rage was overwhelming Dinah, she slashed her finger up and plucked out Ramon's left eye. He screamed in pain.
"An eye for an eye, Ramon, I'm old school,' she whispered to him. She drew back her fist to finish him, but Plastic Man suddenly appeared next to Dinah and stopped her.
"It's over, he's lost, Dinah,' he said. She looked at him and there was none of the usual craziness in his face. He lifted his glasses so they were eye to eye. "We're the good guys, remember? You're better than him."
Dinah looked at Plastic Man for a moment and then released Ramon. He slumped to the floor, crying and holding his empty eye socket.
Gotham- Wayne Manor
Bruce was sitting having breakfast, Eggs Benedict, while scanning the morning papers and checking his laptop. The door opened and Alfred stepped inside.
"You have a visitor, Master Bruce."
Thinking it was the usual person that interrupted his breakfast, Bruce groaned.
"Why don't you just move in, Zatanna, you're here all the time anyway."
Clark stepped into the room and looked at Alfred.
"Something going on, I should know about,' he asked the older man.
"I stopped speculating years ago, Master Kent,' Alfred replied.
"Clark?"
"Yeah, Bruce, sorry I'm not Zee,' he replied with a smile. "So you're going to let her move in, huh?"
"Don't be funny,' Bruce snapped. "It's just she acts like she owns the place. So what are you doing here?"
Alfred had quietly exited and closed the doors behind him.
"I was hoping we could talk, Bruce,' Clark said, as he took the offered chair.
"About what?"
"Diana,' Clark replied.
"What about her? Aren't things going so well in the suburbs?"
"No, just the opposite,' Clark admitted. He bowed his head, a little uneasy about this, but knowing it was something that had to be done.
"You fell for her,' Bruce said in the most matter of fact way. Clark looked up in surprise. He should have known, he realized, very little escaped Bruce's attention.
"Yes, I have."
"Why tell me?"
"Because I know you have feelings for her too."
Bruce started to protest, but Clark waved him off.
"Don't deny it, Bruce, I've known you too long,' Clark said. "You would never have gotten into this bet if you didn't feel something for her. I've also seen the way you look at her."
Bruce seemed to consider his words for a moment before replying.
"Yes, I do have feelings for Diana, Clark, but.." His attention was suddenly drawn to the computer screen, as an alert went off.
"What is it,' Clark asked.
"Something's wrong in Gotham Heights,' Bruce said. He turned to Clark. "Lashina."
"Diana, " Clark gasped. He quickly pulled out his communicator. "Watchtower! Jonn! Emergency! Beam me to the house in Gotham Heights immediately!"
"Beam both of us, Jonn,' Bruce quickly added.
"Understood,' Jonn's voice replied and the transport began.
Gotham Heights
Diana was in a wonderful mood. Her conversation and make out session with Kal earlier had cleared the air. The future looked so bright to her. She understood his need to talk to Bruce, but she knew it wasn't going to change anything. She hoped Bruce wasn't hurt with all her heart, but that same heart belonged to someone else now. Kal.
With the morning free, Diana decided to take a relaxing swim in the pool. Lashina hadn't returned yet, so she had the whole place to herself. Changing into her swimsuit, Diana went out the patio doors and set her towel down on the chair. Back home she swam almost everyday growing up and as she dove into the pool the warm water reminded her how much she missed it. She floated for a while and then started to swim some laps. Diana was a natural in the water.
As she reached the pool house end, Diana executed a flip turn and headed back towards the other end. She didn't see Lashina step out from the pool house. Lashina was in full battle garb and there was a cold, menacing look on her face. With a flick of her wrist, one of her whips came out and she slashed it across the water and Diana's back. The electrical charge was magnified a hundred times by the water. Diana screamed as the pain overwhelmed her. She barely managed to turn and see Lashina launched herself, knife in hand. Somehow Diana managed to raise her wrist and deflect the first blow, but it still made contact brutally with her shoulder. Lashina gave her no time to recuperate. Her next blow slipped passed her defenses and the dagger plunged into Diana's chest. She gasped her eyes open in shock. Lashina twisted the knife and then pulled it out. Blood gushed from Diana's wound, the pool turning red all around her. Lashina raised the dagger again for the killing blow.
"I told I would never let you have him, he's mine!"