Hippolyta sat in her private dining room waiting for the arrival of Phillipus for their daily breakfast. She was tired, she didn't get much sleep after spending the whole night thinking about Diana. She was satisfied that she scared Clark enough to delay any malicious plans he may have. However the big problem was Diana, she was upset. The look on her face before she left said as much.

"Hippolyta, you're brooding." Phillipus said as she entered the room.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, I believe you are." Phillipus sat in her chair before continuing. "About the Princess and her man?"

"Yes. I don't trust him."

"What will you do?"

"I'm unsure. I cannot command her to leave him. That will only drive her closer to him, and further from me."

"Diana is very fond of him."

"Yes."

"As is Donna." Phillipus chuckled knowing this would annoy the queen. "She helped disarm Artemis and she hasn't stopped asking about men since he departed."

"I'm aware of that. If she continues with her questions she'll be confined to the island for her entire lifetime. One man on our island is too many, I'll not have Donna bring any here."

"What is it you do not trust about Diana's man? If you cannot trust him how can you trust his cousin? She made it very clear that she would defend him while he was here."

"Yes she did." Hippolyta knew that Kara's loyalty was to her cousin, she always knew, but was accepting nonetheless. "Why does Diana have to choose him? The only man more powerful than her. Of all the men, why him?"

"She says she trusts him, would you rather she choose someone she doesn't trust?"

Hippolyta didn't answer. She only gave a quizzical look.

"Would you trust a less powerful man?" Phillipus asked.

"Who's side are you on Phillipus?"

"I am and Amazon. My loyalty is to you and our sisters... and Diana. Tell me, if she had brought a small weak human man would you be any less worried?"

Hippolyta thought silently. "Perhaps not. His strength isn't the only thing that could cause her harm."

"I share your fears, and I am inclined not to trust this man either, but consider trusting Diana. That she would not choose to be with someone who is evil. Perhaps instead of preconceiving your notions on who he is, you should learn more about him. Find out why he is so important to Diana."

"And how exactly would I do that?"

"That is up to you my queen, but if it were me, I would start with his only known blood relative."

Hippolyta smiled, she could always count on Phillipus for strategy and reason. Sometimes her emotions got the best of her, and Phillipus had the unique ability to remind her of the balance she had to keep as queen. It was why Phillipus was her most trusted adviser and general of the Amazon army.

Clark was having a good day, there had been no emergencies, the office gossip was largely not about him or Diana, and he received a big article assignment. He was to interview Wonder Woman for the announcement of her next project. Which he already knew had been in the works for quite some time now. There wasn't much of anything else going on with him either, so his workday had been smooth sailing.

Lois on the other hand was a little off put. She wasn't happy about being looked over by Wonder Woman again. Clark always got to interview her, what was so special about him?

"Clark, I don't know how you do it." She began.

"Do what?"

"Get these incredibly gorgeous women to follow you around."

"The Wonder Woman article? Haven't we been through this a hundred times? She asks for me specifically. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to do the interview. I just can't for the life of me figure out how you were able to finagle your way into her press circle. But it's not just Wonder Woman, it's also your girlfriend, who's conveniently named Diana as well."

Clark didn't show it, but inwardly he panicked a little bit. After all these years of not seeing that Superman was right in front of her every day, Lois wouldn't figure Diana out after seeing her one time, would she?

"There are lots of women named Diana." He needed to throw her off the trail, this was a dangerous line of thinking.

"Yes I know, I have a cousin named Diana. But for you, it's too convenient. If I didn't know any better I'd think your girlfriend is an homage."

"An homage?" This was a good thing, Lois wasn't trying to connect the two, she was just looking for a chance to take shots at him again.

"Yes, Diana Prince is an homage to Wonder Woman. You can't have the real thing, so you found a reasonable facsimile at your local Workout World. The thing I can't figure out, is why she seems to have taken such a liking to you."

"What's wrong with me?"

"Clark, let's be real. You... have no game."

"What?"

"You have no game. None at all, which is why I can't figure out how you bagged a hollywood starlet."

Clark scoffed. "Lois... I've got all the game."

"Really?"

"All the game. I could get any woman I want."

"Any woman?"

"Any woman." That was mostly true, except for the fact that Superman would draw most of that attention. "Within reason."

Lois considered his words, glossing over how uncharacteristically combative he'd just become. She gave him a once over, "Ok, you're a handsome guy, you're tall, and built like a linebacker. So I get why women notice you. On a purely physical level, you got it."

Clark knew what was next, Lois had a tendency to complement him, then take shots at him.

"But what I can't get is what she sees in you beyond the physical. Clark, quite frankly, you're dull, and uninteresting. I mean what do you do on a date?"

"I would assume what everybody else does. I took Diana dancing this weekend."

"You, went dancing? Why don't I believe you? Where'd you go?"

"A place called Stepps, on 20th and 25th."

Lois considered his answer, she knew the place."Oh, okay, I guess Stepps makes sense, Diana doesn't look like the square dancing type."

"And I do?"

"I don't know, you don't look like the dancing type period. You seem pretty awkward and uncoordinated. You knock things over all the time, and you break more ink pens than should be humanly possible. It's just hard to see you staying balanced for that long."

Clark had to concede she was right, he did have an unfortunate tendency to break pens, possibly because he wasn't human. However, his coordination could not be questioned."Well, it just so happens that I'm an excellent dancer."

"Whatever Smallville, I'll believe it when I see it."

"Hey hey hey you two!" Perry said, stomping in between their desks. "This is a newsroom, you can hold court when you're off the clock."

"Sorry Chief." Clark said quickly, turning back to his computer. He wasn't really doing anything, he just had Wonder Woman's site pulled up to make Perry think he was doing research for his next assignment.

"Kent, you're flight and hotel information should be sent to you by the end of the day. Now you know what I want out of this, get the story Wonder Woman's telling everybody, and the story underneath that she's not telling."

"Of course sir, and I'll try to get an exclusive too. The Justice League has been so scarce lately she might actually have the time."

"Showoff." Lois muttered under her breath, loud enough for both Clark and Perry to hear, though neither responded. Clark was able to get more exclusives with Wonder Woman than any other media member, and it irked her to no end.

Perry White on the other hand didn't know how Clark did it, nor did he care. "That's what I like to hear Kent."

Diana stepped out of a small shop with a cup of fresh lemonade and began walking down the street. She was trying to enjoy the last bit of free time she would have for a while. With her upcoming announcement of the bracelets, Wonder Woman would be very busy doing public relations. And as Diana Prince she was going to have to go to the Smallville High School reunion with Clark, then she would have to meet his parents. Dealing with the press was nothing, and she figured the reunion wouldn't be much of a big deal. Meeting Clark's parents however, was a different matter. It made her nervous, maybe they wouldn't like her? Maybe they wouldn't think she's right for their son. Maybe they still held a grudge from when she attacked him when they first met. Clark had given no indication any of that was the case, but she couldn't be sure.

Diana was finding that she didn't know him as well as she thought. She was under the impression that he told her just about everything, but that wasn't the case. In the past they spoke extensively about Justice League matters, and occasionally about work. Since he spent more time with her than anyone else in the league, she assumed she knew him better than anyone else. But since they began dating, she saw that wasn't necessarily the case, she was finding more and more about the real man. A man who could dance as well as anyone and a man who's kiss could make her forget that the rest of the universe still existed. No matter how she tried to wrap her head around it she still couldn't figure out why she just dropped out of the sky like that. She's spent her whole life training to keep her guard up, and her wits sharp but just like that he broke her down. It was both exhilarating and frightening to lose control like that. The moment itself felt incredible, but knowing that another person could affect her in such a way was strange. It left her open in a way she'd never been before. She now had a better idea of the fears that her mother and sisters had, to have someone invade that closeness without consent would be awful. It required a trust that Clark, and only Clark had. Definitely not the man who was walking towards her looking like he wanted to talk. These men were easy to spot, and often annoying.

"Was your daddy a thief? Because he stole all the stars and put them in your eyes." The man said, with a big smile on his face.

Diana looked back at him like he had grown two heads. That may have been the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever said to her! The look on her face made him backtrack.

"Hey woah, I was just joking. Those lines never work on anybody. I just wanted to say hello to you."

"Hello." Diana said deadpan, she hadn't broken her stride and even stepped up her pace a little bit, not enough to look like she was in a hurry, but enough to make the man have to work at keeping up with her.

"That's all I can get, just a hello?"

"That's what you wanted to say."

"Ok, can I say something else?"

"You can say it, but I may not respond."

"You look like you're not walking anywhere particular, so I figure you've got some time on your hands. How about I buy you a cup of coffee?" He suddenly noticed the cup of lemonade in her hand and added, "Or maybe a muffin or a pastry."

Before she spoke again Diana realized that she had a unique opportunity to understand men a little bit better. Usually she would shut men down quickly, but not today, she wanted to figure out what he wanted. To understand his intentions, with his own words and actions, instead of speculation. The close interaction with men up to this point in her life was either in the Justice League or men she was in business with. Aside from Clark, she really didn't know much about the romantic side of them. And he was unique, a Kryptonian, how did humans differ? If any? Clark was raised as a human after all. She had to give it to this man, he did figure out she was walking without a particular destination. He could be a good case study.

"My name is Steve." He said with a smile.

"Steve? Tell me Steve, why do you want to buy me something? Do you think I can't get it for myself?"

"Not at all, I was just being polite."

"You were being polite by offering to buy me something? Tell me Steve, what is it you want from me?" Diana stopped walking to look him in the eye.

"Wow, you're really putting me on the spot. I was expecting you would either be flattered, and accept my invitation or you would just blow me off. An explanation is uh... yeah." Steve couldn't finish his sentence coherently, he was caught off guard.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I guess I liked what I saw in you as you were walking by, I thought by speaking to you, you'd have the opportunity to see if you liked what you saw in me. If you had the same response I did, maybe we could get to know each other. To see if we like each other on a deeper level."

"I see." Diana said, examining him further. His whole reason for speaking to her was based on appearance. It was petty, and Diana found she didn't like it. He was handsome enough, but didn't have the physical qualities that Diana found attractive. It also annoyed her that he looked at her and immediately had selfish thoughts. She got what she wanted, now it was time for him to leave. "Steve, I don't mean to lead you on in any way. I wanted to see if you would be honest with me in why you wanted to talk to me. I think you have, and I thank you for that. I had no intention of going anywhere with you, and I don't think my boyfriend would be very happy if I did. Have a nice day." Without another pause, Diana casually walked away.

"You could have said that from the beginning." Steve said, to no one in particular.

Clark and Diana were spending the evening at her apartment. He brought groceries and was giving her, her first cooking lesson in about 10 years. He had tasked her with making caesar salad with grilled chicken. An extremely easy dish, but Diana was acting like she didn't want to do it.

"I don't know what I'm doing. Don't you realize that I've never had to cook in my whole life? When I was young, they kicked me out of the kitchen because I was so bad."

"You're smart, and you never have to be told anything twice, cooking won't be difficult for you. I'm going to venture a guess, that you refused to listen, broke things, threw temper tantrums to scare them into kicking you out." He said with a smug grin on his face. "But I got news for you baby, I'm not scared of you."

"Is that right?" She said, pointing a large knife in his face. "Don't mistake stupidity for courage." Diana didn't want to reveal that he was spot on with her kitchen tantrums as a young girl. It annoyed her a little that he could figure that out, sometimes he was too perceptive for his own good.

"Why threaten me with a knife? That thing is useless on me."

"And how do you know it's not magic?" She said, stepping towards him slowly.

"Because it's my knife."

Diana frowned, and silently conceded the point. "So what am I supposed to be doing again?"

"Split each one down the middle, the long way. Then put them in the pan with a little bit of oil."

Diana reluctantly turned her attention to the boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the cutting board and did as Clark instructed. Then washed her hands. "Now what?"

"Now you season them." He said pointing to several spices on the counter that he'd brought with him. "Then you cook them."

With Clark's direction Diana finished the meal, it was extraordinarily simple to do, all she had to do was flip the chicken and cut it up after it was finished. The lettuce and salad dressing was self explanatory, yet Clark explained everything in detail, all the while keeping a smug smile on his face, much to her chagrin. It appeared he enjoyed watching her uncomfortable, and in the kitchen, Diana was uncomfortable.

Conversation was smooth, awkward silences were held to a minimum. Everything went smoothly until Diana spilled some of her drink on herself.

"Wow!" Clark laughed. "You really just dropped the whole cup. That's crazy!"

Instead of responding, Diana just gave him the stink eye.

"You're probably the most coordinated person I've ever met in my life, yet you spill an entire cup of juice on yourself. I wish I had a picture of this." Clark continued.

"I dare you to keep laughing." Diana challenged, getting up to change into dry clothes.

In her closet, which was filling up with each and every day, Diana stewed at being teased by Clark. She knew it as all in good fun, but she needed revenge, and as she removed her clothes, it suddenly dawned on her how to get him back, and have some fun in the process.

While Diana was in her room changing, Clark moved to the sofa. He smiled at the memory of the night they assembled it, and the rest of her furniture, but the second she came into view he forgot everything. Diana had changed into a pair of black running shorts and a sports bra.

"So, are you ready for our interview on Thursday?" She said, sauntering into the room and casually sitting next to him.

"Yeah?" Clark was confused, why was she dressed this way?

"Me too. And I know you don't want to know anything beforehand, but I can tell you that the bracelets are beautiful. Even the toys."

"Great?" He was saying everything like a question. Which bothered him, because it's not like he hasn't seen her in skimpy clothing. Her armor was basically a one piece swimsuit. But maybe that was it, her armor was made of thick leather and metal, and whenever she wore it she was ready for battle. This was much more intimate, and much more arousing. He had a thing for women in workout clothes, but Diana in workout clothes was a fantasy in itself. He looked her up and down, and she didn't seem to mind. She was a stone cold knockout in the curves department, and her well defined muscles made her all the more sexy. Her legs, which she swung up to sit in his lap, her her arms, and her torso, all perfect. There was also something else, something he hadn't noticed before. Diana had the most beautiful feet in the world. She always wore shoes around him, so they were covered up, therefore he never paid attention. But now with them right in front of him he couldn't help it. From her dainty toes, to her high arches, she was perfect. Clark's imagination was running wild on him, he could think of nothing but Diana rubbing the soles of her feet across the sides of his face. Which was odd, because he couldn't recall having a foot fetish before now, maybe it was just Diana.

Diana was enjoying the looks he'd been giving her since she returned the room. It was clear that he liked what he was seeing, and Diana found that she liked it. His eyes lingering on her feet wasn't what she expected, but it wasn't unwelcome. He seemed to enjoy every part of her, this could only be a good thing. She originally put these clothes on to get revenge for teasing her, but she quickly found none of that mattered, she thought of their kiss in the sky the other night. Kissing again seemed like a good idea.

Unfortunately, the stars weren't in their favor tonight. Clark could hear sirens, a lot of them. He looked in the direction they were coming from. Noticing this Diana became concerned.

"What's going on? What do you see?"

"Apartment fire, looks pretty big. I should get on this, there are still people trying to get out."

"Do you want any help?"

"It would be better if you stayed here, just for privacy's sake. But I'll call you if I need you, how about that?"

"Ok. I'll be here." Diana was disappointed, this wasn't the way the night was supposed to go. She wanted to know what kissing was like while planted firmly on the ground. "I'll be ready, if you call."

"The good thing about this, I can leave my clothes here and know they'll be safe. I don't know how long I'll be, so leave the balcony unlocked so I can come back for them."

"Ok."

Clark returned about an hour later.. Diana was laying in bed reading, she was more covered up than she had been when he left. Now wearing a tank top, and long yoga pants, still a sexy look, but Clark was quite sure the moment had passed. She wore revealing clothes earlier to get a reaction out of him, what she wanted, he wasn't totally sure, but now wasn't the time to ask. He also knew it was time for him to leave, as she didn't get out of bed, or even move when he came in. So he gathered his clothes, and left. Through the front door, as Clark Kent, just in case someone saw him come in, so he could preserve Diana's reputation somewhat.

The next few days were a blur, dinner, refused cooking lessons and an interview that went exactly how each of them predicted. The reveal of the bracelets drew a lot of fanfare, and the event was attended by many who were supportive of Wonder Woman's cause. Several top actresses, female MMA fighters, other athletes and women's rights activists all attended. Along with Zatanna and Shayera, each giving Clark plenty for his article. Perry would be pleased, Lois would be pissed. None of that mattered though, because tomorrow he was going home, and he was taking Diana with him.