A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! And thank you as well to DaisyJane for the beta :)

If you see something in my eye

Let's not over-analyse

Don't go too deep with it baby

So let it be what it'll be,

Don't make a fuss and get

Crazy over you and me

Here's what I'll do,

I'll play loose,

Not like we have a date with destiny

It's just

A little crush

Not like I faint every time we touch

Crush—Jennifer Paige

Chapter Five

Unfortunately, Diana had noticed Alexa's suddenly rosy-red cheeks, and a glint of part-amusement and part-curiosity had come into her eyes. To prevent awkward questions—questions she would have no idea how to answer—Alexa said, "No, I'm not lonely. I've been spending more time with Barda recently, and other members of the League, and the shelter is coming along well. Finally."

That caught Diana's attention and had the added benefit of letting Alexa's embarrassment fade. She told her mother everything, enjoying the interest and absorbing the suggestions Diana had to make. She'd been a vital advisor to Alexa on this project, having set up several similar shelters while she'd been Wonder Woman. Or rather, while Wonder Woman had lived in Man's World.

Once they were in the gardens, it was easy to keep the ball rolling—Diana had been working extremely hard on them, and it showed. Apparently she did not need the blessings of Demeter to make things grow to full bounty. Every plant looked healthy, green and growing, yet nothing looking overly maintained or manicured, and still retained a degree of natural, wild beauty. And the roses were, as promised, blossoming. After they had been admired, mother and daughter moved onto the fruit trees. Chief among them was a magnificent orange tree, large and heavily laden with fruit.

Alexa floated up to the nearest branch and picked a ripe orange from it, then smiled as she got back down to her mother. "I cannot believe this is so big now. I remember the day we planted it."

Diana nodded, reaching out to brush a stray curl from Alexa's face. "It's not the only thing that's grown since then."

"True, but the tree seems more stable and mature than I feel."

"Oh, speaking of!" Diana then touched her own hair, tilting her head and parting it slightly. "Do you see that?"

"What?"

"That, there!"

Alexa peered closer into her mother's raven hair. Finally she saw something. "You mean – You don't mean that grey hair?"

"Yes! Do you know what that is, Alexa? That's my very first grey hair!"

Alexa laughed, caught up in her mother's enthusiasm. It was easy to forget sometimes, because to her her mother had always been slowly ageing. But to Diana, everything to do with growing older was new, and therefore exciting. Since she had renounced her immortality for a chance to have a life with Bruce, each year had touched her in a way that it the previous five hundred had never managed. Diana now looked around forty years old—but still had a youthful vitality that made her as beautiful externally as she had always been. As far as Alexa was concerned, Diana was still the most beautiful woman in the world, and she always would be.

"I'm glad you're pleased with it," she smiled.

"Oh, I am. I'm just waiting for my first wrinkle."

The two women steadily made their way back up to the villa, finding Bruce now finished with the dishes—with the loss of only one plate. Diana went outside again to do some painting (one of many hobbies she now had the time for) and Alexa helped Bruce put the rest of the crockery away.

"Did your mother tell you I'm going to keep goats?" he asked.

She blinked. "Goats? Dad, why would you want to keep goats?"

"Part of the simple life—we have our own land, your mother grows vegetables figure animal husbandry is the next step."

Alexa tilted her head. "You're bored, aren't you?"

"Extremely," he sighed. "I know I shouldn't be, not with how long Diana and I had to wait for a taste of normality, or what she sacrificed to get it, but … I need something to do. It's not going to be Batman, and it's not going to be CEO of a multinational corporation—why not small scale farming? It's hard work, it's rewarding when you get crops and food at the end of it, and I think I'll get real satisfaction from it. Hence the goats."

"You've been practicing that, haven't you?"

"I had to. Can you imagine Terry's reaction?"

She laughed at that thought, and she nodded. "Well, it's a well put together argument, Daddy. So, when do the goats arrive and how many of them are coming?"

"Tuesday, and six at first. I'm building a paddock for them."

"Need any help?"

Father and daughter spent the rest of the day—with a break in the midday heat—putting together the fence of the paddock. Alexa had her side put up in a matter of minutes, then watched her father smugly.

"It would do you good not to use your powers all the time, you know."

She shrugged. "If it ain't broke …"

"Well then you could help me."

"Didn't you say you wanted to work hard?" she chuckled.

She moved over to him anyway, and took the next fencepost, pushing it into the ground with a couple of light taps of her fist. The wooden slats, she fixed to the posts by pushing the nails into the wood. Bruce went to put a gate together, so by the time he'd finished that, Alexa had a paddock erected that was about three kilometres square, with a gap about three metres wide for Bruce's gate. They fixed it in place together, then stood back to admire their handiwork.

"I think we make a good team, Daddy."

Bruce nodded and kissed her cheek. "That we do, honey. Come on, let's go back up to the house. Nearly dinner time."

They had a barbecue, grilling halloumi cheese, mushrooms, peppers and lamb over the coals and sending delicious aromas into the night air.

"So," Diana asked while they ate, "how is everyone? How are your brothers, your friends? How's the League?"

"How's the world?" Alexa asked with a small smile. "Well, let's see … Thomas is driving me crazy and I can't even try to keep up with his lady friends anymore, but I guess I have to give him his dues in running the company. During the day he's a very responsible young businessman. It's just at night he becomes an ass. Terry's almost fully recovered by now, though no chance he's ever patrolling again. Not as long as I have any say in it, anyway. And it's my city, right?"

"It was his city first," Bruce pointed out.

Alexa acknowledged that with a nod. "I know, but I honestly don't think Dana will let him, let alone me. Uh … Matt's fine—they finally found the mole inside Vice, arrested him. Finn Poole. He'd been a detective for twenty years, and Matt estimates he might have been responsible for perverting the course of justice on dozens of occasions. And all four of us are going to be at the gala next week for the Democratic Presidential candidate."

"Michael Archer."

"That's him. Dinner, dancing and speech-making. Apparently he's very good at all three though, and I've heard good things. But then you hear good things about every politician until they're elected to office, don't you?"

Diana sighed. "You're a little young to be so cynical, Alexa."

Alexa grinned. "The way I see it, I'm Greek, and we Greeks invented democracy. I think that gives me the right to be jaded."

"Touché."

"How's the League?" Bruce asked, who was still looking serious. "Superman?"

"You mean 'how is he settling in?' or 'is he being controlled by an alien this time?'" Alexa asked.

"Both."

"Well, I think he's settling in fine. He's attending every meeting, going on missions, training—mostly with me, but with others too. As a matter of fact we took down a kidnapper together last night." She smiled, then really hoped the sudden increase of blood to her cheeks wasn't noticeable. It probably wasn't; it was dark after all, and there were only a few candles to provide illumination. She cleared her throat. "And as far as I know, the only alien controlling him is himself."

"Good. Keep an eye on him."

"Seriously Bruce, Kal probably has the most integrity of any person we know. Maybe you should ease up," Diana said in exasperation.

"Loneliness can break even the strongest of men—I should know," he ended quietly and an intense look passed between her parents.

Alexa started to feel uncomfortable and cleared her throat. "So … umm …"

"Just make sure he is still the good man he used to be. I trust your judgement, sweetheart," Bruce told her.

Alexa couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Oh good. Now I have parental sanction to ogle. Like I needed an extra reason …

They moved on to discuss Gotham and everything else going on in Alexa's life at the moment, then Alexa volunteered to do the dishes, as it was her turn now. After about ten minutes or so, she'd finished, and moved to go back outside. At the doors to the terrace, she stopped. Her parents were talking quietly, and she'd heard her name crop up. No one without her sense of hearing would have heard their conversation; they were whispering.

"So," Bruce said. "Are we worried?"

"About her attraction to Kal?" Diana asked. "No, I don't think we need be."

"No?"

"No. She's young, and it's just a crush. Young women have crushes, you know," Diana said, a smile in her voice. "Besides, it's Kal. What could happen? You trust him don't you?"

"Of course."

"Well then."

Alexa leaned against the cool glass of the door for a moment. They're right, Alexandra, she told herself firmly. It is a crush, and absolutely nothing is going to happen. Get over it.

Unfortunately for their assumptions, neither Bruce nor Diana had ever thought of Kal as a sexual being. Alexa could not think of him as anything else. Nor could her dreams—she woke that night tangled in her sheets, sweating, unfulfilled and oppressed with desire. She got up after that, unable to think about a bed without thinking of activities other than sleeping. Just before dawn she went to her mother's temple, a little blue-roofed shrine at the other end of the island. She wasn't sure who to pray to: Morpheus, for a dreamless sleep, or Eros to remove this stupid attraction. Assuming it was Eros who had put it there. It seemed likely.

She prayed to them both, and went back to bed, managing a few more hours of sleep now that she had calmed herself down. She stayed with her parents for another two days before heading to Themyscira, and in that time, the subject of Kal was not brought up again.

You've broken most of the links you had to humanity. It's going to take time to rebuild them.

Alexa's words had reverberated around Kal's mind ever since she'd said them. How much time was it going to take? He now knew he did want to re-establish himself with them, and that had by no means been an instant decision, because he didn't feel he was in any way hindered by his lack of interaction with humans. But dealing with the kidnapper, George Harrington, had been just one of recent examples that proved him wrong. Alexa had been vital in tracking him down, Kal fully acknowledged that, but there had been some things he'd not understood. For instance, why it was key to Harrington's kidnappings that he had worked on a horrible failure of one previously. He kept the children in relative comfort because of what had happened, and he didn't want a repeat. Hardly a difficult thing to grasp, and Alexa had seen it immediately. But then Alexa was human—at least, more so than him.

It had made Kal realise he didn't really understand them anymore. And that was a dangerous place to be. Not as dangerous as it could be, but he had the feeling he was at the top of a road he did not wish to go down. Equally, though, he couldn't go back. However he reconnected with humanity, it wouldn't be as Clark Kent. That man was, fortunately or unfortunately, dead—at least the external part of him. But there were things he could do without going in for the entire secret identity thing, like finding an apartment. He had credits saved; a lot of them, as he hadn't touched money in decades, either for food or living expenses. There wasn't as much as the Waynes had, but then there were very few who could say that, and it was by no means a modest sum. Certainly enough for an apartment in a nice part of Metropolis. But in order to do that, he had to officially exist.

"I believe Batman could be helpful to you in that aim," a voice said from behind him. When Kal turned around, it was to find J'onn just in coming into the room. "May I join you?"

"By all means. I'm sorry," he said, "was I thinking too loudly?"

"No—I have been listening," J'onn replied. "Forgive the intrusion, but I have been worried. I hoped you would come to the decision you have."

"There's no need to worry about me, J'onn."

"On the contrary, my friend. Before you rejoined the League fully, I believe many of your friends felt a great disquiet about your isolation, yet we were unsure how to reach you. I am very happy you've come back to us."

Kal smiled. "You have Batwoman to thank for that."

"Sometimes it is easier to accept the concern of a stranger rather than that of a friend," J'onn agreed.

"Not such a stranger anymore," Kal said softly. He imagined she of all people would be pleased to hear he was planning to get an apartment, a semblance of a human life.

J'onn's eyes gleamed briefly orange; the Martian equivalent of clearing one's throat, Kal remembered. Which meant inevitably that his thought about Alexa had softened further than he had meant them to. Again.

Thankfully, J'onn spoke again. "As I said, I believe Batman will be able to help you in creating a persona who is eligible to buy property. He had certainly been helpful to me."

And Thomas, fortunately, could not read Kal's thoughts with regards to his sister. The young Batman seemed surprised at the request, but agreed to help immediately.

"Step into my office, and we'll get started," he said jokingly, making a welcoming gesture for Superman to enter the Batcave. "So how detailed do we want your new fake life to be?" he asked. "Are we talking birth certificate, social security number, the whole thing—or just a bank account under a false name?"

"The bank account, for now. I have dormant accounts, but they're in the name of Clark Kent, and the money needs transferring."

"And do you have a name picked out for your new identity?"

"Tony Nipark."

Thomas put in the name, smirking. "Very clever."

"I'm good with words."

"Okay—new name, done, money transfer, done, and I'm guessing you intend to do something with all these credits?"

"Buy an apartment."

"In that case, you'll need proof of current address and proof of identity. Passport or driver's license?"

"Driver's license."

"Alright—just need a photo. Look into that camera."

Kal did so, and a few seconds later a photo of him flashed up onscreen. Thomas affixed it to the driver's license template and added in the other details, then put in a fake address for somewhere in Oregon onto a utility bill and printed both off. By the time Kal was ready to leave the cave, he had the start of a new life in his hands, and a borrowed suit of Thomas'. He couldn't exactly go into a real estate office dressed as Superman after all.

"Thanks for this, Thomas."

"Tom, please. And don't worry about it."

"I hope I didn't cut into your evening."

"Not at all. Manor gets kinda lonely without Lexie around. If she's gone for more than a few days then I usually use the company penthouse. It's big, but not as big as this place."

"When is she due back?" Kal asked, trying to sound as disinterested as possible.

"Couple more days I think. She said she'd 'swing by' Themysicra on her way back from Mom and Dad's, which means she'll be at least a day late. But there's a fundraiser on Thursday, and she has to be at that, no matter how long she wants to spend there. You might have to wait a while longer before you get your sparring partner back."

Well, that was so much the better. He might crave it, but less sparring meant fewer battles to control his own bodily reactions. He thanked Tom again and left Gotham. Two days later, he had successfully purchased an apartment on the seventieth floor of a block in Metropolis, large and spacious, with easy access from the air, as it had a balcony. It was really more space than he needed, but years of having the vast halls of the Fortress had taken some of the humility out of him, and he wanted the space to continue. The new apartment wasn't a place he'd be spending a lot of time in initially, but it was a base, a starting point. That evening he went up to the Metrotower to collect a few of his personal possessions; happily most of them were still in boxes from the move down from the Fortress, so it didn't take long to get everything gathered together.

As he was on the point of leaving, there was a knock on the door; he opened it to find Alexa standing there. She smiled. "Hey."

"Alexa! When did you get back?"

"Earlier today. Why do you look so stunned?"

"Tom mentioned something about you being unlikely to come back before Thursday. Apparently you're not normally eager to leave Themyscira."

"No, I'm not—but they're having some problems of a political nature at the moment; the senate has split. Nothing Yaya can't handle, but I didn't want to get in her way. So I told her I'd see her soon and came back. Mom and Dad send their love, by the way. You have an open invitation to visit any time you like."

"Good to know."

"By the way, Dad is going to start raising goats."

For a second Kal's mind couldn't process what she just said. "What?"

"I know, it's just so not my father but the poor man is bored," Alexa said with a laugh and Kal couldn't help but join her.

"I'll have go visit just to see Bruce herding goats," Kal chucked. "Besides he'll probably need some pointers."

"That's right, you grew up on a farm."

"A long time ago, yes," he concurred as memories of long ago surfaced.

"Smallville."

For a second it was as if his heart stopped. For that second he could see Lois so clearly in his mind it was as if she was standing in front of him. He shook his head to clear it and said, "Excuse me?"

"Smallville. That's the town you grew up in. I read it in your file," she said with a smirk.

"You're correct," he said with a smile. "It's good to have you back." The words slipped out of his mouth without a thought.

Alexa just gave him a beaming smile. "And since I'm going to have to deal with at least one politician myself tomorrow, and a lot of toadies, I came to see if you felt like blowing off some steam."

And with those words, thoughts of Lois were wiped from his mind. Sparring. She meant sparring, he told himself sternly. She meant absolutely nothing else. Didn't stop his body from reacting to the idea of Alexa's curvy figure pressed hard against him. "Sure."

As they walked down to the sparring suites, she said, "So should I tell my parents not to expect you for a while longer? Tommy told me about your apartment. Big step."

"It's one I needed to take though. You were right, Alexa. I let myself get too far from humanity. I'm not looking to re-join them completely. I don't think I could."

"It is difficult," she agreed.

"You are human though."

"A human who spent the majority of her life with her previously immortal mother and her miraculously de-aged father on an isolated island in Greece. Also who spent a lot of time among three thousand year old immortal warriors and who, since the age of four, has been blessed with powers from the gods themselves," she pointed out with a smile. "Believe me, your connections with Man's World are older than mine. At least you don't have to start from scratch."

"You have Tom with you though as well as Terry and Matt. You're not alone."

She reached for his hand, and said compassionately, "Neither are you, Kal."

Before he could say anything, she'd let go of his hand again and headed quickly to the turbolift. She studiously didn't look at him until they got to the sparring suite. Then she did her normal pre-sparring ritual, removing the top half of her suit. She had only spent three days in the sun, and yet her skin had been tanned to a deep golden most women would have paid very good money to have. It made her eyes even more brilliant than usual.

"I've been thinking," she said, putting her fabulously-smelling hair up, "do you want to up the ante a little?"

"What did you have in mind?" he asked, the question coming out a little bit strangled. From the amused look in Alexa's eyes, she knew exactly what suggestions his mind was assailing him with.

"How do you feel about using more of your abilities?" she asked.

"Why?"

'I'm winning more often than I should be," she said bluntly.

"I thought we were pretty even actually."

"We were, but you've started to hold back."

He frowned. "I don't feel like I am."

"No, I know. Which is why I think using more of your abilities will even out the balance a bit more."

It was a good argument, apart from one flaw: Kal knew exactly why he was restraining himself, and it nothing to do with his strength or speed. It had everything to do with not losing the shreds of self-control that were stopping him pinning her against the wall here and now and –

"Kal?"

He nodded. "Alright."

She beamed. "Excellent."

They got started, and Kal tried to loosen up a bit. At one point, if he'd been fighting for real, he would have used freeze-breath, and then laser vision at another point. Both times he'd stopped, unwilling to take the chance Alexa might get hurt. The second time, she must have seen his eyes turn red briefly, and she paused in mid-air.

"Go ahead," she encouraged. "My bracelets are every bit as strong as my mother's—Zeus had them forged from his Aegis by Hephaestus. They were a present for my sixteenth birthday. I can deflect your laser vision and it won't impact the metal."

So, accordingly, Kal began to use more of his arsenal. Which worked fine … until he missed slightly, and got the pile of her batsuit in the corner. The material didn't catch fire, but when Alexa picked it up, there were several holes burned through it. In places the criminals would definitely notice, and in places he was trying desperately not to imagine.

"Sorry."

She shrugged. "Don't worry about it, I'll cope. Unless you have a spare shirt I can wear," she added.

She left him standing there open-mouthed. The picture which was walking around in his head—dressed only in one of his shirts—was far too strong to make go away. Great. Because that was an image I needed … No laser vision next time, he decided. And maybe I'll try holding my breath, too.

She flirted thoughtlessly, artlessly. Age, degree of separation, seemed to mean nothing to her. He suspected, if he asked, she would answer that age had no bearing on two immortal beings. He didn't want to ask—but then he didn't want to be flirting back, either. He didn't want to think about the feel of her skin, or feel his stomach clench every time there was a picture of her in the tabloids. But it did. And in sparring matches it was even worse. Even focusing on the fact that she was the daughter of two of his closest friends was starting to fail. Instinct demanded as much bodily contact as possible, and while he was distracted and trying not to have his butt handed to him, lust crept forward. Especially on those occasions when Alexa had him pinned to the floor, or he had her against the wall …

Needless to say, she was driving him to distraction. It was a physical attraction the likes of which he'd never—well, he'd never experienced a purely physical attraction. Pure sex was utterly unknown to him. The act itself wasn't something he'd experienced in over fifty years, and with Lois it had never been just about the sex. It hadn't even initially started that way.

But when it came to Alexa, there was nothing remotely unsexy about her. Her hair, her voice, even her scent. He knew she didn't wear perfume when in business mood—criminals might smell it and know she was there—but thanks to his damn senses, her natural fragrance was almost overwhelmingly alluring. Floral, but … it had something of rain and lightning in it. Oh Rao...

"Decisions, decisions …" Alexa muttered, wandering through her closet and fingering elegant gown after elegant gown. Would this be easier if she actually cared?

The fundraising gala was tonight, and so far she had her hair done, her makeup finished and her jewelry picked out. Her shoes had to wait until she'd picked out the dress. She decided on a navy blue bias-cut dress, and teamed it with electric pink shoes. Not a look everyone could pull off, she thought. But she probably could. If she just –

"Superman to Batwoman."

She smiled and touched her com-link. "Good evening, Kal."

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about these clothes hanging in the closet of my new apartment, would you?"

She grinned. "A closet full of clothes huh? No, nothing at all."

"I'm sure. Unfortunately I know it was you."

"Alright, maybe it was me. Do they all fit? I had to guess your size."

He chuckled. "Liar. Alexa, they're all tailored."

"Fine, I let my eyes wander during our last sparring match." When there was a little stunned silence on the other end of the line, Alexa's grin got wider, but she kept her voice casual. "Besides, it was either that or I take you shopping, and I didn't think you'd be up for that."

That broke the tension, and he laughed. "Uh, no. Took my cousin shopping once. Not an experience I want to repeat—I think there's a reason it's a woman's domain."

"Probably," Alexa agreed. "You'll let me know if anything doesn't fit, okay?"

"I will. You've got that fundraiser tonight haven't you? Want me to keep an eye on Gotham?"

She shook her head. "You still haven't got it, have you, Kal? Gotham's fine now. We have one of the lowest crime rates in the country, and now that Matt's anti-corruption investigation has cleared out the rats in the force, I'm sure the police can handle it for one night."

"That still sounds so strange to me."

"Why don't you come by some time? We can patrol together and I'll show you." Along with anything else you'd like to see, she added silently.

"I'd like that," he said quietly. "Have a good night, Alexa. And thank you."

"Goodnight, Kal."

She disconnected her com-link and then pulled her dress on. It was only when she checked her reflection in the mirror that she still had a silly grin on her face, and her entire posture screamed 'smitten'. Then the smile disappeared as she ground her teeth in frustration. "Great Hera, Alexandra, get a hold of yourself!"

There was a knock on the door, and her brother's voice sounded. "Lexie, you ready?"

"Yeah, you can come in, Tom."

He pushed open the door. "Who were you talking to?"

"Just myself. Being stupid about something."

"Wow, that's a rare sentence from you. Want to talk about it?"

"Not at the moment, no," she said apologetically.

Her twin accepted that without comment. "Ok then—shall we go?"

"By all means. Game faces on."

"As always."

They grinned twin blinding grins from the first second they arrived at the fundraiser. Matt met them at the door, Mira on his arm. He shook his head. "Look at the two of you. Gotham doesn't stand a chance."

A/N: Review please!