A/N: Review please!
Where you been lately?
There's a new kid in town,
Everybody loves him, don't they?
He's holding her,
And you're still around,
Oh, my, my,
There's a new kid in town,
Just another new kid in town.
New Kid in Town—The Eagles
Chapter Six
Michael Archer was an attractive man, was Alexa's first thought. He was fairly tall, taller than her anyway, blue-eyed and silver hair. He could have been a bit more built, a bit more muscular—and Aphrodite help her, she couldn't help making comparisons—but he had an intelligent face. Apparently it was not just skin-deep. Both Alexa and Thomas had been seated at his table, along with Matt, the mayor and his wife, and a few of the other prominent business leaders in the city. Most of the power in Gotham was gathered around one table, and it seemed Archer was determined to charm them all.
He started with Matt, congratulating him on being the most successful police commissioner since Jim Gordon. He commended him on rooting out corruption and having one of the most effective police forces in the country. Apparently 'when' he was President, he intended to make Gotham an example for all other major cities to follow.
Matt seemed amused by the idea. "You'll be needing a lot of Batmen then."
Archer laughed. "Surely, Commissioner, you don't give the credit for cleaning up this city to a bunch of vigilantes! They're criminals, as much as any other lawbreaker," he added, oblivious to the inner glares now being concealed by three of the aforementioned 'lawbreaker's' children.
"Actually there was a point in our history when, without Batman helping the few honest police officers, Gotham could well have slid into self-destruction," Thomas said.
"Then you approve of vigilantism, Mr. Wayne?"
"I approve of anyone doing the right thing."
Alexa leaned forward. "There are some horrors ordinary men are incapable of facing. That's why we have heroes. It's why we have a Justice League. Or are you accusing them of being common lawbreakers too?" she asked coolly. "I do hope, Mr Archer, that if you are elected for office we won't see a return to the days of the Luthor administration."
"Believe me, Miss Wayne, I've no intention of persecuting superheroes. But do you not admit that there may be a difference between a metahuman dealing with threats like Darkseid and an ordinary human beating up ordinary criminals?"
"I admit it freely. The ordinary hero has to work harder, fight for longer, make arguably more of a difference to the lives of citizens for far less reward."
"And yet by most accounts of her, Batwoman is a metahuman."
"I'm sure she would agree with me."
Alexa heard the tiniest noise of concern from Matt, and felt Thomas' not-so-gentle warning kick to her shin. Immediately, she let her face relax into its normal charming smile. "But, as she's not here to ask, I guess I'll have to concede the point."
The conversation turned to business policy, which interested Thomas, and then to healthcare, foreign policy, and by the time the dancing started, Archer had been grilled on every aspect of his campaign. After they'd finished taking him apart—definite punishment for the unwitting insult to Bruce—Alexa handed him a makeshift towel, smiling sweetly. "Napkin, Mr Archer? You seem to be sweating."
He gave a self-conscious grin. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to be interrogated on every aspect of my manifesto. I'm afraid I lost my cool a little."
She softened a bit. "That's alright, Mr Archer. I –"
There was a moment of brief commotion on the dance floor; Thomas being slapped by a girl who seemed to be flame-of-last-week. When Alexa didn't move, Archer inclined his head curiously towards her twin. "Don't you want to see if he's alright?"
"He's fine," she assured. "It's a very regular occurrence."
"Really? Does he have commitment problems, do you think?"
She snorted. "Commitment problems, no. Keeping his dick in his pants problems, yes."
"Ah. I have a sister like that," Archer said.
Alexa chuckled a little and held up her glass. "Well, to our siblings."
"May they always be healthy and happy."
"Amen to that.'
They drank, and then Archer stood and held out a hand. "Would you like to dance, Miss Wayne?"
She nodded, putting her fingers in his. He was a good dancer too, and they fell into an easy, graceful step. Unlike most men Alexa danced with, he did not try to hold her too close, and she didn't feel the need to crush his fingers.
About halfway through the dance, Archer unexpectedly said, "You don't like me, do you, Miss Wayne?"
"What makes you think that, Mr Archer?"
"Michael, please. I had the impression I offended you."
"I didn't like you," she said honestly, having no intention of telling him to call her by her first name, "but then you started sweating."
"And that softened your opinion of me?" he laughed.
"Yes. I hate people who are too smooth. And I certainly wouldn't vote for a politician who never looked in danger of losing his composure."
"Why not?"
"It would be impossible to trust a person like that."
"Then you would trust a person like me?"
"My trust is hard-won, and I don't know you well enough."
"Then I would love to afford you greater insight into my character. How does dinner sound?"
She smirked. "We just had dinner, Michael."
"I mean just the two of us."
"Oh I see. And this is something you intend to do with all your voters?"
"Only the pretty ones."
"Ah—well then I have a long list of friends you could get started on."
"Actually I have a dinner partner in mind. I'm just waiting for her answer."
She smiled, and then dropped the flirting. She found she was actually tempted, but not enough to make all the complications worth-while. "I'm not sure that would be a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Because I seem to have just as many commitments as you do, and it would very quickly become impossible." And because I haven't given up on Kal, she added silently.
There was another burst of noise, and it looked as though Tom had been hit in the face again. Across the nose, which had started bleeding. Michael relinquished Alexa's hand with a rueful smile. "It seems I cannot argue with that. Do let me know, Miss Wayne, if you change your mind." He produced a card from his jacket and handed it to her. "This is my private number. I'll be in Gotham until Monday, and then New York."
She took it. "Goodnight, Mr Archer."
She went over to Tom, picking up a clean napkin up on her way and holding it to his nose. "Is it broken?"
"Nah."
"Well done, by the way," she said with a tiny smile. "You didn't even twitch."
"Getting easier to suppress my reflexes when it comes to letting women hit me, I guess."
"Want me to drive home?"
"Good idea."
They left, Thomas acting far drunker than he actually was, Alexa sliding behind the wheel of the classic Ferrari they had arrived in. Thomas' nosebleed had stopped before they left the city's outskirts.
"You were getting cosy with Michael Archer," her brother noted.
"Mmmm. I like him. And you can't beat a good silver fox. He's a good one." Though not a great one…
"Strange, isn't it?" Thomas asked casually.
"What is?"
"Well…that this predilection for silver foxes began around the same time Superman got back."
Alexa grinned in the dark interior of the car, and didn't deny it. When they pulled up at the manor, Thomas touched his sister's cheek. "Just be careful, Lexie."
Alexa got into bed about half an hour later with a deep sigh. Why should she be careful? She was being careful of Kal's heart—she had no desire to hurt him, by any means—but that wasn't what Thomas meant. But surely, after twenty three years of being at her side every single day, her brother knew her well enough to know she wasn't falling for Kal! She wanted him, yes, and she enjoyed his company and she wanted to bed him like there was no tomorrow, but that was about as far as it went, for now anyway. So why was Thomas worried about her?
Well, they were both going to the League meeting tomorrow afternoon, as was Kal, so she would just have to show him by her behaviour that there was no cause for concern. She reminded herself of what her mother had said too—it was just a crush.
Unfortunately, that only worked while she wasn't actually with Kal. Because when she was it was all she could do to function, let alone pretend she was calmer than she really was. Thankfully though, she was not Batman's daughter for nothing. And functioning meant a hell of a lot more for her than it did for most people.
Today's meeting was only the council members—there were general meetings of the League, and one had been held yesterday. Terry's seat had been split between Batwoman and her brother when he had retired from active duty, and while his advice was always studiously taken and considered, he no longer had a vote. The council now comprised of: Superman, the two Bats, J'onn, Warhawk, Cyborg, Barda and Green Lantern. When Alexa and Thomas arrived, only Barda and Warhawk were there, chatting quietly together. Rex looked better than Terry, but that might have had something to do with the fact that his helmet shaded his face and any lines thereupon.
"Hey stranger," Barda greeted Alexa. "Long time no see."
Alexa grimaced inwardly; that had more truth than she liked to admit. She had spent time with Barda recently, but nowhere near as much as she used to. "I'm sorry, Barda—I've been … busy."
"Yeah, I heard. Drug dealers, kidnappers, cleaning up the police."
"Well, that last one was Commissioner McGinnis. But I'm still sorry we haven't spent much time together. Dinner Thursday, my place?"
"Sure. Except we're ordering pizza."
Alexa frowned. "Pizza?"
"Yeah," Barda grinned, slinging an arm around Alexa's shoulders. "I remember what happened the last time you tried to cook anything."
"Harsh."
"But fair."
Set at ease, Alexa fell to chatting with her friend, and even managed not to falter when Kal entered and took his seat at the table. J'onn was the last one to come in, and he chaired the meeting.
"As you all know, yesterday was the League general meeting, and you all have copies of the agenda."
Alexa glanced down at the data pad in front of her, scrolling through it quickly. New watch rotations, the alterations to the team sizes for missions and schedule for the deputation to the UN General Assembly.
J'onn went through them all anyway, and try as she might, Alexa couldn't make herself pay attention. She knew all of this; she made a point to. She found herself drifting off. "The final thing for today: are we all in agreement …"
Alexa wasn't sure if Kal had been offered his previous position to be in charge of these meetings, but she wouldn't be surprised to learn he'd turned it down.
As if he'd heard her thoughts, Kal glanced over at her with a smile. She smiled back, and then simultaneously they remembered that the last time they spoke, she had more or less told him she'd been checking him out. Which she had been, but it was still a little embarrassing now.
"Batwoman? Superman?"
Like kids with their hands caught in the cookie jar, both Kal and Alexa jerked themselves back to the topic at hand. They seemed to have gotten away with it though, since J'onn only repeated the question in his usual monotone.
"Are you in agreement that all council members also undergo the psych evaluation?"
"Of course."
Alexa nodded.
"In that case I think we may conclude the meeting there, unless anyone has anything else to add?"
No one did, so they broke up. Thomas went back to Gotham—he had a date with a supermodel—and it was Barda's turn to be on call tonight. Alexa had no problem with being left alone with Kal, when she was.
"Coffee?" she asked. "Or a fight then coffee?"
He smiled. "Fight first."
They went down to the sparring suites together, and as they entered, Kal asked, "So how was the fundraiser?"
"Fine. Not as boring or as trying as I'd feared it would be, actually. I found myself defending my family's honour a couple of times."
"Wayne or Bat?"
"Bat. 'Common lawbreakers' apparently. Us metahumans, we're fine. But what my dad did, what Terry did … nope, that doesn't count for anything good."
"Who said that?" he frowned.
"Michael Archer."
His mouth curled. "You won't be voting for him then?"
"Oh, no, I will. The rest of his policies make a lot of sense, and he seems as genuine as it's possible for a politician to be. And he's a good dancer."
"You danced with him?"
"He asked me," she said, looking very directly at him.
What he might have said in response to that, neither of them ever found out, because the entire world started shaking violently. The floor was suddenly unstable, the walls moving crazily. Instinctively, both Kal and Alexa lifted into the air.
"Earthquake?"
"In Metropolis?"
"Stranger things have happened."
Alexa flew over to the control panel in the wall and input the unlocking code. The computer accepted the code, and made the correct beeping noise, but nothing happened. Frowning, she did it again—with the same result.
"What the hell …?"
"Why isn't it working?" Kal asked.
"I've got no –"
There was suddenly a blinding white light, so bright that neither of them could see anything. Alexa suddenly couldn't hear anything either. Couldn't move her limbs. Couldn't feel her limbs. She didn't panic—no point in that until she knew what she was facing, and not even when she did—and instead catalogued her options. Which pretty much amounted to waiting, at the moment. She hoped Kal was alright. She tried to call for him, but found she had no voice.
The blindness lasted one, two, three seconds, and then she was catapulted back into colour. And into … a bathroom. Definitely not hers. She found her voice again, saying the tail end of the sentence she'd started. " – idea."
Movement caught the corner of her eye; she whipped around—a lot slower than she ordinarily would have done. The movement had just been her reflection, and it showed immediately why she was slower. She was wearing the most ridiculous dress. It was purple in colour, long-sleeved, went right down the floor with a lace collar and cuffs. She seemed to be wearing pearls, too, and her hair was piled up, pinned with a jewelled hair clip. She touched it dubiously.
"What in the name of Athena …?"
"Alexa?"
She crossed quickly to the door of the bathroom and opened it, finding Kal. He was also dressed oddly, but looked as relieved as she felt. "Are you alright?"
"Fine. You?"
She nodded. "Apart from the dress."
Finding they were somehow holding hands, Alexa let go and looked around.
"So," Kal asked, "any idea what just happened?"
Alexa walked over to the window and looked outside. "I think we just time-travelled. Look."
He moved over to her, looking out at the street below. The very not-twenty-second-century street. There were horse and carts clopping past, and elegant, old motor cars she'd only ever seen in museums. The women wore long dresses similar to the one she did now, and all the men she could see were in suit and tie, collars stiffly starched.
"Where are we?"
"Southampton," she answered instantly. "Around the turn of the twentieth century. Before World War One, anyway."
"How do you –"
She handed him the soap wrapper she'd taken from the bathroom. In embossed gold lettering read the words Empire Hotel, Southampton.
"Right, and how to you know when we are?"
"Judging by the clothes, we're in the Edwardian period. Circa 1910."
There was a knock on the door, and it opened to admit a smartly dressed man about Alexa's age, though his clothes were obviously not as high quality as the ones Kal now wore. He held out a newspaper. "Your morning paper, Mr. Chiltern."
They both stared at him, Kal automatically reaching for it. "Er, th-thank you."
"And ma'am, Ethel asked me to bring the last of your luggage down to the cars, so that it could be taken down to the docks as soon as possible, if that's alright?"
"Uh, of course," Alexa said. "It's in the bedroom." At least she really hoped it was in the bedroom.
Apparently it was, since the man, or valet as he appeared to be, went into the bedroom and came out carrying three enormous hatboxes. She craned her head to look at the label as it went past—Mrs Amelia Chiltern, State Rooms B12-17. At the door, the valet paused. "Departure is still set for noon, sir, and a car has been ordered for half past ten to take us to the docks."
"Er, right, yes. Thank you."
With a smile and a nod, the young man left, shutting the door behind him. "What's the date?" Alexa asked immediately. "On the paper."
"April 12,1912," he read. "And, Alexa…" He unfolded the paper fully, showing her the front page. Her jaw dropped. "Today's the day the Titanic sets sail."
A/N: Review please!