Author's notes: Friday! My cue :o) Only three snapshots left (including this one) because for now that's all I've written, but I have got down three chapters (so far, out of seven planned) of another JL fic, so when I don't have any snapshots (for now!) to publish there'll still be stuff to read :o) Anyway, hope you enjoy this one. The Ultra-Humanite doesn't always get the glory he deserves, in my opinion – so here's me trying to set it right :o)

Disclaimer: Erm … don't own anything mentioned here. Everybody got that? Good. I wouldn't want DC to sic Deadshot on me if they thought I'd claim the stuff for myself. I really really don't :S

Snapshot Collection

24. Dinner

The Ultra-Humanite gingerly lit the candles without a flourish, putting the last touch to his New Year's Eve table. The getup was elegant and simple, perfect for a cosy dinner between two cultured … beings. Puccini played softly in the background.

Her eyes followed him across the room as he finally put the first entrée on the black and white tablecloth and sat down, her smile mirrored in his eyes.

Well, no, not really. No smile, human or otherwise, could ever compare to hers in a million years.

Perhaps her smile was the main reason he revered her so, but the depth and wisdom that shone in her eyes belied that theory. She was unique – so mysterious and inviting, so calm yet so rich and vibrant … Oh, yes, no wonder his heart had treasured her for so long.

Ultra-Humanite filled his glass with a fine Sauternes (a Château de Rayne-Vigneau, rich and golden and sweet but not too much so) and gave her a smile.

"Happy New Year, my dear. Let its beginning be as wonderful and full of promises as the draw of the last one."

Across the table, Mona Lisa Del Giocondo still smiled her eternal, inscrutable smile.

Luthor and the others might be very ambitious in both intentions and ways to materialise them, but they always lacked a certain je ne sais quoi, some kind of class that could elevate them to the Humanite's highly demanding sense of kinship. Ruling the world was a laudable aspiration, but it would never have the quiet glory that enjoying an exquisite dinner with the most beautiful (albeit not conventionally so) woman for centuries held.

Or the most beautiful painting, as it were.

Humanite raised his glass.

"To art."

Still, Mona Lisa smiled.

One day on a dull bus ride, I was listening to the Nat King Cole version of Mona Lisa Smile (lovely song, by the way) while I was idly thinking about a music meme, and I just got this mental image of the Ultra Humanite looking at the most famous painting in the world (which he has stolen, because he's badass that way :P) with a smile on his face. I'm not sure I can draw him, so in the end I wrote him a snapshot. Happy New Year, Freaky the Snowman :D

Next up: Wally often hears people pointing out that selflessness is the chief virtue of a superhero. He disagrees. Having a lot of self had never kept him from doing the right thing.

:o]