Author's note: Back so soon? Yep. I'm making up for my relative lack of posting since 2009 ended. But mostly, I'm just celebrating the fact that Chaos sent me back the snapshot about Jimmy's perfect picture. Yay! :o)

Oh, and just for the record … I've been to Paris. I live in Bordeaux, which is a smaller city, with actually an older and more coherent architecture, and the size and feeling of this city is perfect for me in terms of human scale. Paris is anything but "cute and quaint"; it's big, daunting, and three days in it made me regret Bordeaux. Here the buildings don't look as though they're trying to say, "Feel small, you puny human" :P

Disclaimer: I don't own the Eiffel Tower, and I don't own the characters and situations mentioned in it. I don't even own a copy of Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman :o)

Snapshot Collection

15. Team

Giganta had never been to Paris before.

From the bits she could see between two Parademons, the city was everything she expected – cute and quaint with funny buildings that looked appropriately French. The Eiffel Tower was smaller that she had thought, though.

Still, the steel and iron work was pretty strong, even though she didn't dare use her full size as she climbed it and reached to grab one of the Parademons' machines. The rigging held on where she clung.

While she climbed higher and crushed the machine, she heard above the din of screaming and fighting, "Giant Lady Climbing National Monument – y'know, that's something you just don't see every day. Except in those old black-and-white movies, of course."

The Flash had sped up another side of the Tower and knocked down some of the Apokolips invaders. He grinned at her, lightening-quick.

At least he got in the spirit of the whole 'forced cooperation' thing. So far, the Green Lantern had been a bit of a stick.

In spite of who she was, who he was and a good eight years or so of fights and defeat – mostly on her part, as she had to admit – she felt herself blushing. A bit. A tiny bit. Hardly a blush, anyway.

Darn, he had a cute smile.

She swatted a Parademon, sending him – it? him? – crashing into the ground, and frowned.

"Are you comparing me to King Kong?"

The Flash zipped here and there, landing rock-hard punches on whatever armour he could get his hands on, and stopped to look around for more. "Nah," he said cheerfully. "It's more like Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman or something. Man," he added with a slightly faraway grin just before sprinting away, "Allison Hayes was a babe."

Giganta hated those movies. Whatever he or she was – or used to be before the traditional transformation – the monster invariably died at the end. She had cried her eyes out watching King Kong. Of course, she was well-placed to know that the ape character didn't look or move at all like a real gorilla – giant or otherwise – but that hadn't stopped her from cursing the silly blonde bimbo and the dumb cruel soldiers in their planes.

Speaking of flying nuisances …

She turned her head sharply when she spotted some Parademons just a few feet away from her head with one of their energy guns – but wasn't quick enough. The beam hit her right below the temple.

The blinding, paralysing pain exploded in her mind, sending echoes in waves throughout her body, and she felt herself shrink back to human size and fall down, down …

That beam must have been very powerful, because although the pain in her head was still very much there, the dreaded encounter with the ground far below never came. The feeling of free fall subsided slowly, giving way to an eerie floating sensation, with the wind still howling and rushing past her ears.

Then everything stopped abruptly, and she looked up into a pair of blue eyes.

She had never been close enough – for that matter, he had never stood still long enough for her to notice that the Flash had blue eyes.

She also noticed that he had caught her in his arms as she fell, and hadn't put her down.

The blush came back full force.

Darn.

"You caught me!" she exclaimed, more to draw attention away from her than for the sake of small talk. That said, this fact alone was surprising.

He put her down gently.

"Yeah, I made a little whirlwind first and then did some maths about mass displacement." He said that very fast, in a casual enough manner – then he seemed to hesitate a little. "You … you're a tiny bit heavier than you look, so I had to catch you in the end."

Had they not been in the middle of a global apocalypse, Giganta could have hugged him on the spot. Instead, she drew a sharp intake of breath and let out a breathless almost-squeak. "Nobody gets that! You're the first to – nobody ever gets that!"

Flash stared at her for a second and a half that must have felt like an eternity for him, looking quite alarmed.

"I mean – thank you!" she finally burst, still blushing furiously and cursing herself for it. He gave a shrug and a smile.

"Hey, that's kinda what you do in a team. I mean, you're watching my butt, so just this once, I might as well do the same for you."

Why, oh why, did he have to say that?

Watch his butt? Oh, definitely.

Giganta's whole head now seemed to be on fire.

"Yeah," she muttered, "of cour– oh, wa–"

The Flash turned, ran up the Eiffel Tower again and kicked up the second level, using it as a ramp to leap through the air and punch the snot out of the same energy blaster that had taken down Giganta and was about to fire on him. He landed in a half-crouch just as it exploded and zipped back in front of her, grinning.

"–tch out!"

Giganta blinked. The Flash winked.

"See? That's what I mean. Teamwork."

And he sped off, leaving her to stare at the dust trail in his wake.

For a brief moment, she wondered how his usual teammates got used to this. Then immediately was shocked by how quickly she wondered if she could get used to this.

This 'forced cooperation' thing was getting confusing.

Fortunately – or unfortunately, it was hard for Giganta to actually decide – it was well over a few hours later. The Parademons flew back en masse to wherever they came from in the first place, leaving damage and destruction behind them. But people were too busy cheering and celebrating the fact that the Earth had not in fact been destroyed to take in the amount of work they would have to do later. She wasn't sure whether they actually even cared, at that point.

The Flash and the Green Lantern caught each other's eye and grinned.

That look and simultaneous grin carried years of partnership, shared near-death experiences and genuine trust, and Giganta couldn't help a slight twinge of jealousy. After the Arctic fiasco and recovering from that thing Grodd had planted in her brain – plus Luthor's obsession with Brainiac and the monumental mistake he had made in bringing back Darkseid – she felt quite determined to never trust another villain team ever again.

She was dead set, and nothing would make her change her mind.

So it had come as a real shock just how easily she had subconsciously questioned her decision.

All it had taken had been Flash smiling at her.

This was not acceptable. At all.

She was Giganta – a strong, independent woman now, one gifted with mighty power at that. After Grodd's betrayal, she had sworn that no male would ever have so much influence over her.

Something had to be done about that. Problem was, she just couldn't decide exactly what. She just needed time to think about it …

And then, suddenly, she didn't have much time left. Because Wonder Woman looked Atomic Skull square in the eye, deadly serious, and said, "Four minutes … and fifty seconds."

All the Legion survivors scattered and scrambled out, and Giganta had one second's hesitation before the solution flared up in her head like fire.

She ran up to Flash, cupped his head between her hands and kissed him. Hard. On the lips.

He was warm and soft and strong and smelled of aftershave and iced mocha.

It probably wasn't the sweetest, or the most passionate, and certainly not the most experienced kiss he must have gotten in his life, but for Giganta, it was perfect.

Exactly what a first kiss should be, she reflected afterwards.

She would have time, after, to steel herself and get over the guy – just in case they ever faced off each other again – but she would also remember that second as a bright, shining moment, the kind of recollection that makes you feel warm and happy all over.

As her lips left his – warm and sweet and delicious – she ran off, risking only a quick glance behind. This glance turned out to be the second best idea she'd had today.

The Flash was wearing a big, silly smile on his face, as though he still couldn't quite process what had happened but had enjoyed it thoroughly.

Giganta was still grinning when she crossed the Canadian border a few hours later.

Best. First. Kiss. EVER.

To quote the TV Tropes site, "Flash's (Crowning) moment (of Awesome) was probably when Giganta kissed him out of nowhere. He probably thought so, at least." When I saw (and re-watched it, and re-watched it again…) I wondered about that moment (after indulging myself in some squeeage, of course) and tried to put myself in the big girl's head. Hope you liked the trip :o)

Next up: If you were to ask Jimmy Olsen whether there are pictures he loves most, he'd say that everyone has its importance. But one in particular will always make him smile.

:o]