Author's notes: I've been asking myself this question, lately. And since it's not a question that implies musings on the nature of the universe and the ultimate meaning of everything (it's 42 :D See Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for details…) I had fun coming up with an answer. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I own… a very bad cold. Seriously, it's been making my head feel like it's swelled three times its size and my voice sounds like Bugs Bunny speaking French. Huh. But apart from that?

… I wish I had Superman's cape, it'd be great for snuggling on my couch with a mug of cocoa and a book :D

Snapshot Collection

21. Cape

"Hey, Supes?"

"Yes, Wally?"

"When something happens and you need to be there as Superman, you just run into a pay phone and change, right?"

Clark looks up from his coffee into a pair of blue eyes alight with curiosity and laughter by anticipation.

"Uh, yes – if I can find one. They're getting kind of rare these days, you know." Otherwise, he doesn't say, I just make darn sure nobody's watching me. "Why do you ask?"

"Well …"

Wally's face takes that special expression, the one that means he is going to say something really stupid, he knows it, and he's simply waiting for someone to point it out.

"Where the hell do you keep your cape in that suit?"

First off, Clark bites his lip not to laugh. Hard. Then he makes a show of making sure no-one is watching them, or listening in on them. Wally's eyes grow round as his curiosity peaks.

"Okay … You know, those Bugs Bunny cartoons where he always has a giant hammer ready to pound Daffy Duck or Yosemite Sam? And he always pulls it out of thin air?"

"Yeah," whispers Wally slowly, staring at him intently – if a bit puzzled – and drinking in every syllable of The Big Secret.

Clark leans in, fighting to keep a straight serious expression.

"That's where I keep my cape."

And he stands up, coffee finished, barely daring to glance behind him. Wally's look is absolutely priceless.

"What?! You keep your cape in hammer space? Clark!"

Superman isn't Superman for nothing.

He only dissolves into laughter after he's reached the outside of the Metro Tower.

And knowing the guy, he makes sure his com-link's off :D

The "hammer space" thing is partly inspired by this http: //tvtropes. org/pmwiki/ / Main/Hammerspace page (cut out the blanks) but also because I grew up watching Bugs Bunny pull out his giant now-you-see-it-now-you-don't hammer. So the other day I was washing dishes, and because these kinds of weird ideas usually choose the most inopportune moments to pop up, the question Wally asks here came up. Oddly enough, the answer came pretty much immediately. I don't know if it says something about the epiphany-inducing power of the Washing of the Dishes :D

Next up: It's a well-known notion that if Flash can get to Italy for a pizza and China for Chinese takeout in a blink if he wants. Not exactly false, but not exactly right either.