Once she left the farm, Diana had to get back to work for the foundation, she had taken the time off to be with Clark, but she needed to be there. Her schedule was full, commercial shoots, photo shoots, tv interviews, and a few speaking engagements. After tonights Justice League meeting, she wouldn't have much time to see Clark for a while. Whenever she had free time, he would be working at the Planet. Whenever he was off work, she had some event to attend. The more she thought about it, it might be a good thing that they'll be away from each other for a while. As much as she liked being in a relationship with Clark, she didn't need her life to be defined by it. They could meet each other anywhere in the world within seconds, but spending every waking moment together seemed like overkill. The quality of the time spent together was more important than quantity.

She also wanted to meet other people, her talk with Lana reminded her of the fact that she didn't have very many friends. She had her sisters on Themyscira, her Justice League colleagues and the staff who worked at her foundation, but aside from Julia none of them could really be considered friends. They only saw her as a superpowered demi-goddess, and not so much as a woman who had the same needs and wants as anyone else did.

"Hello Diana." Julia said, as she entered Diana's office.

"Hello Julia."

"Did you enjoy your time away? Or can you not talk about it?"

"I think it's best if I don't talk about it, but I can say it was most interesting." Diana usually doesn't say what she's doing when not at the foundation anyway. Most assume it's Justice League related, so generally no one asks.

"How do you like Metropolis so far? Have you seen Superman?"

"Metropolis has been very nice, living there has been a nice change from what I had been doing. As far as Superman, I don't see him all that often unless there's some sort of emergency. Which there hasn't been lately."

"I see. He's kind of a recluse isn't he? Like the Batman?"

"I wouldn't call him a recluse." Diana said.

"Well he is an alien. I guess he's doing 'alien' things when he's not saving the world."

Diana didn't respond. Julia knew by now that when Diana stopped talking, it was time to stop asking questions. Conversations about Superman were generally off limits anyway, Julia could never quite figure out what was up with the two of them. She beat him up immediately upon meeting him, he forgave her, then convinced the rest of the world to forgive her, and now she only says they're friends, and he generally says nothing. Could they secretly be in a relationship like the gossip rags speculate? Is that why she moved to Metropolis, or are they working on something for the Justice League that hasn't come to light yet?

"Anyway." Julia continued. "I just spoke with the producer of the talk show you're doing tomorrow, they've confirmed your list of no go areas, and have sent the list of questions the hosts will ask. Is there anything else you need from me to prepare?"

"What should I wear?" Diana asked.

"Wear your armor, that's what they asked for."

"Ok."

Clark was laying across the sofa watching a baseball game, he needed to unwind before the meeting tonight, which would be about nothing just like the one before. Work hadn't been very good, Lois was in an awful mood towards everyone, and Perry gave him a hard time about something he didn't even know about, that at the moment he couldn't even remember. Quite frankly, he missed Diana, and he knew he wouldn't see her all that often for the next little while. She had a tv interview tomorrow, so she couldn't stay after the League meeting very long in order to prepare for it. He understood how important her work was to her, and knew she wouldn't let him get in the way of that, but hoped they'd be able to steal a little time away together. However when she was free again, they definitely would make plans. Clark tried to think of what they might do when the doorbell rang. Looking through the door, he saw it was Lois. She didn't visit very often, but the door man knew who she was. Lois was leaning on the door, and was going to fall the second he opened it. Resigning to it, he prepared to catch her.

"Ahh!" Lois screamed, as she fell into Clark's arms. He straightened her up and closed the door, that's when she got a good look at him. "Oh my god Clark, why are you naked!?"

Clark looked down at himself, he was wearing only a pair of basketball shorts and his house shoes, since he was alone he hadn't bothered to put on a shirt. He certainly wasn't naked, halfway maybe. "It's my house. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I had an awful day! And has anybody told you, that you have a bodybuilders chest?" Lois reached out to touch him, but quickly pulled her hand back. "Sorry." She said sheepishly after realized what she almost had done.

It was evident to Clark that Lois had been drinking, she wasn't drunk, not yet but clearly she'd knocked a few back after work. "Let me go put on a shirt. Uh, have a seat."

Clark went into his bedroom to put on a t-shirt while Lois hobbled over to the couch. She was walking really weird, and it didn't seem like a drunk walk. On her right foot she seemed several inches taller than her left. "Why was your day so awful?" Clark said exiting his room and sitting on the chair next to her.

"First Perry gives me an earful for, for... I don't know what."

"Yeah. I got that too."

"Then my source bailed on me, and to top it all off, my heel is broken."

"Your heel is broken? Why are you here, shouldn't you be at the hospital?"

"Not my heel! My heel! 700 dollar shoes, completely ruined!" Lois held out her right foot, and sure enough where the heel was supposed to be, there was nothing. That's why she was walking so funny.

"Wait a minute...700 dollars!" Clark was incredulous. It took a second for him to process the number she said, but that was almost an entire paycheck! "What kind of shoe costs that much?"

"Manolo Blahniks Clark, and they were on sale!"

Clark was wide eyed, he never spent more than a hundred dollars for a pair of shoes. What was so special about these? They didn't look that great, however they might look good on Diana. Lois dropped her head into her hands and sighed loudly.

"Clark, am I a good reporter?" Lois asked glumly, looking back at him.

"Of course you are. You're a great reporter."

"Then why don't I feel like it?" Lois slouched back in her seat. "I used to get every good story, now I can't even get a source to talk to me."

"That won't last, you'll find yourself in the middle of something really soon."

"I like to think that I'm good, but sometimes I just wonder, was it Superman that did all that?" Here it is. How many conversations with Lois ends up with Superman as the topic? These conversations used to bother Clark. It was weird to talk about himself like that, but over the years it became natural.

"Well he certainly didn't hurt your career."

"I know, but before that, was I good?"

"Of course you were. Chief said you were the best he'd seen in years." Clark had to think back to his early days at the Planet, he'd only known Lois for about a month before Superman became a fixture in Metropolis. He didn't know much about her work before that. "You were good, Superman just made you a household name."

"Where do you think he is?" Lois asked suddenly "With the world safe, he's almost never around these days."

"He put out an apartment fire just last week, and there are still reports of him flying around. There's just nothing to do."

"Makes you wonder. What is he like when he's not saving the world? What does he do with his free time? What are his likes and dislikes? Who is he?"

"He doesn't tell you?"

"No. Not really, he always give cryptic answers when I ask things like that. Once I asked him, 'How long have you been on earth?' and he said 'Long enough to know it's my home.' What does that even mean?" Lois shifted again, as if she couldn't get comfortable. "I wish I knew him. I'd love just once to have a real conversation with him."

Clark didn't answer. If only she knew, she'd been having real conversations with him for years. If only.

On the Watchtower people were gathering early, rumors had been rampant about Clark & Diana all day. Since Clark & Diana were known for being on time for meetings, but most often not early for them, everyone else wanted to get in their conversations before they arrived. Zatanna and Vixen were sitting at a table in the cafeteria with Hal and Wally.

"They were in his hometown, at his parents house. She just moved to Metropolis, what else could it be?" Zatanna said.

"You never know with them, one day we think they're hooking up, the next day we don't. What does it matter anyway?" Vixen asked.

"It doesn't matter." Zatanna responded.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not too happy about this Zee?" Hal said.

"Because she wants her shot at the big guy." Wally interjected.

Zatanna narrowed her eyes at him. "I never said that."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Hal suddenly said.

"What isn't?" Zee asked.

"You and Superman? Wouldn't he like... rip you apart?"

"What? No!" Zee said the word 'no' but the others weren't convinced that she believed that she'd get through a night with Superman unharmed.

Hearing the conversation, Dinah, Ollie, and Shayera joined them. By now Wally and Hal were going down the list of possible women for Superman.

"Diana?" Wally asked.

"Clearly yes." Hal answered.

"Zatanna?"

"He has issues with magic, so he might be a little weaker, but I'm leaning towards no."

"Dinah?"

"No" Hal answered quickly. Dinah wasn't happy about it, but had to concede the truth.

"Mari?"

"Don't drag me into this!"

"Ok, sorry. What about Shayera?"

"Maybe?" Hal said, looking at Shayera, who had a frown on her face. "You're pretty strong, but I don't know if you're that strong."

"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm not interested in Clark." Shayera stated.

Wally stated "It doesn't matter if you're interested. We're trying to figure out who..."

"Barda!" Dinah suddenly shouted. "She's as tough as Diana is, Barda could definitely handle Clark!"

"Wow Dinah, you seem really excited about this." Ollie said.

"What?"

"Hello everyone!" Said a happy voice, causing all of them to turn suddenly and look sheepish. Diana stood before them with a big smile on her face. "What's going on?"

"Uh. Nothing?" Hal stammered.

"They're talking about you and Clark... Again." Mari stated.

"Oh." Diana said.

"We were just curious why you were in Kansas over the weekend, and if your move to Metropolis had anything to do with Clark." Zatanna added.

Diana scanned the group. They all looked like they were waiting for an answer.

"I'm learning how to blend in. Kal is helping me adjust to having a secret identity." That wasn't a total lie, they never decided if they were going to tell anyone yet. Hopefully they would buy it until she had a chance to speak with him.

"So you met his parents?" Zatanna asked.

"Yes. What's wrong with that?"

"Are you two hooking up?" Shayera finally blurted out.

"What?" Diana stammered. "No we aren't hooking up! We're... we're..."

"Dating." Clark said, coming up behind Diana and putting his hands on her shoulders. He heard the conversation from several levels down, and figured he could smooth the situation out.

"Yes." Diana said, placing her hands on top of his and leaning into him. She was glad he showed up out of nowhere. She realized she didn't want to lie.

Mari and Ollie's expressions didn't change much. It wasn't much of a surprise to them. Zatanna looked slightly upset, but was trying to hide it. Everyone else was wide eyed. Several seconds later, Hal raised his fists in victory as if just realizing what happened. "Pay me! All of you pay up!" He looked back at Clark and Diana. Diana was beginning to look angry, and Clark was silently shaking his head trying to get Hal to shut up. Diana turned back to Clark, who stopped nodding as soon as she could see him.

"Pay you? Pay you for what?" Diana was angry. Hal tried to step away, but she didn't let him. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Hal lied.

"Talk! Now!" She demanded.

"We were betting on you and Clark getting together. I won." He admitted regretfully.

"You were betting on me? Clark did you know about this?"

"No?" Clark clearly wasn't telling the truth, it was in his voice and on his face. When she put her hand on her lasso Clark knew he had to fess up. "Yes I knew. But I didn't take place in any of it. In fact I was never even in the room when they talked about it. I don't think they knew I could hear them."

"I told you he could hear everything." Wally whispered to Hal.

"Shut up." Hal whispered back.

"Nobody is paying anything! I will not be bet on like some racehorse!" Diana then angrily stormed off to the conference room.

"Thank you Hal. Thank you oh so much. I said sarcastically." Clark then walked away briskly, following Diana.

The meeting went just as expected, still, nobody is busy but the Batman. He's refusing help after his big drug bust, as usual. However this time, the rest of the team refused to leave him alone in Gotham with no backup. Until the drug bust thing blew over, there would be a superpowered ally on call for Batman and John Stewart was first up. But that almost didn't matter, the elephant in the room was Diana's foul mood. Since discovering the others had been betting on her and Clark, she was very upset. As was Clark, less so about the betting but about having to be the one who had to deal with Diana's anger. If Hal could have just kept his mouth shut, it wouldn't have mattered.

"I can't believe they would do this!" Diana shouted, they were in her quarters, a place she hadn't been for quite a while, and a place that Clark had never been until now.

"It's what people do, it's childish."

"You knew about it?"

"Yeah, I heard people talking about it, what was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know."

"They've been talking about us forever. Us training together, going to the fortress, sitting next to each other at meetings, the fact that you're the only person who ever called me Kal, and that you recently started calling me Clark. A lot of them are surprised we waited this long. It's no different than down there." Clark pointed out the window towards the earth. "We're hounded constantly about it by the media. They probably get asked about us too. Did you think they wouldn't be curious?"

"I don't like the idea of people gambling about our lives."

"Neither do I. I heard about it, and I ignored it. They weren't even aware that I knew about it. Maybe I should have said something, it might have made a difference. But who knows?" Clark paced around the room. "Being able to hear like me is a gift and a curse, there's a lot of things I wish I couldn't hear, believe me. But right now, they're ending the betting, they're feeling bad about making you this angry."

"Good." Diana softened, but was still clearly angry.

"So how tight is your schedule coming up?" He wanted to change the subject.

"Pretty tight, I've made plans in case of any emergency during any event I'm doing, but other than that I'll be very busy for the next week."

"Alright, we'll see if we can't steal away a dinner or two, but when this is over, its you and me. We'll do something fun. Ok?"

"Yes." Diana smiled for the first time since learning of the bets. "Something fun, does that mean more dancing?"

"It could mean many things, my lovely lady." Clark said as he took her hand and twirled her around, finally ending in an embrace.

Diana was finding that Clark knew just how to cheer her up. Just a few dance steps and she perked up immediately. The anger at the others was quickly brushed away. "It's getting late, I should go and rest up for my interview tomorrow."

"Alright, goodnight Diana."

"Goodnight Clark."

As he began to leave Diana suddenly felt something was missing. Just before he got to the door she suddenly shouted. "Wait!"

"What?" Clark said turning back to her.

"The last few nights we've said goodnight with a kiss. I think we should make that a thing."

"Oh really? I think I could get on board with that. Goodnight Diana." He then leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her lips.

That wasn't enough for Diana, she didn't want a soft kiss. She wanted more. When he pulled away, she immediately pulled him back, and gave him a passionate kiss that nearly made her knees buckle. His too. "Now goodnight." She said after ending the kiss. Clark smiled, and then left the room. Diana had to admit to herself, she certainly enjoyed kissing, and would miss it during their time away from each other.