The last four months had been good to Percy. True to Clark's word, he had been shown to the nearest Zeta-tube near his apartment and instructed by Kara on how to operate. He had even been given his own designation! It was a disorienting experience the first time, but after a couple of weeks he had finally gotten used to the way his stomach felt like it was being shifted around his body.
Work at the Academy had been great too! Not only were the students some of the best and brightest that Gotham had to offer, but the pay and benefits were…staggering to say the least. Percy didn't know who Clark's friend on the board of directors was, but Percy thought he ought to send the person a gift basket.
Although, that wasn't to say that everything had been going well. Apparently, someone had gotten a video of Percy and Kara's little heart to heart after the attack in Metropolis. The internet and the press had been buzzing about "Supergirl's Super Beau" for the better part of a month. Percy had found the entire thing kind of hilarious, but Kara hadn't quite shared in his feelings.
"Don't they have literally anything better to report on?" groaned Kara, burying her face into the back of the couch. Percy chuckled and took another sip from the drink in his cup,
"I don't know," he chuckled, "I'm pretty interested in finding out who this 'Super Beau' happens to be. Got any ideas?"
Kara responded by flicking him in the ear,
"I hate this…" she sighed, "Well it's a good thing that nobody can really see your face I guess,"
"I know I'm not Hemsworth brother but I'm not that embarrassing to be seen with," joked Percy,
"One, I don't know who they are-"
"Forgot they don't exist in this universe,"
"And two," said Kara, ignoring him, "I'm being serious Percy. Think of all of our friends, friends who know we're dating. It would raise some uncomfortable questions."
"I don't know," said Percy, rubbing at his chin, "I think most of our friends would just think I'm cheating on you with Supergirl,"
"That doesn't make you look any better," said Kara with an arch of her eyebrow,
"I don't know…" teased Percy, "Supergirl is pretty hot." He smirked at her. Kara changed tactics and swung herself over so that she was sitting on top of him. Percy's hands unconsciously wormed their way around her waist.
"She is, is she?" Asked Kara, looping her arms around the back of his neck,
"Pretty spectacular," murmured Percy his gaze drifting around her form as he ran his fingers up and down the side of her shirt, his fingers dancing around the skin of her waist.
She leaned down, and her warm breathe blew tantalizingly on Percy's lips. He closed his eyes and leaned forward, but was met with nothing but air. Suddenly the weight on his lap disappeared and when he opened his eyes, Kara had floated off of him and was smirking down at him, a triumphantly self-satisfied smirk on her face.
"Gotta go, some of us actually have to work for a living." She said, before zooming out of his living room and up to the bedroom to change.
"You're going to a company picnic, that's not working!" Percy shouted up the stairs at her, "Damn tease," he added as an afterthought. A moment later, Kara, or rather Linda, reappeared in the living room, tucking a loose strand of blonde hair under her wig.
"Oh, and by the way," said Kara, "I meant to tell you last night but I forgot, Lois invited you over to her place for lunch,"
"She did?" Asked Percy, confused. He liked to think that he was on relatively good terms with Clark's partner, but they had never had much one on one interaction with one another. It seemed strange to him for her to ask him over for lunch out of the blue like that.
"Yup," said Kara, as she grabbed the pair of house keys Percy had made for her and stuffing them into her purse, "So you might want to start heading over there, she hates tardiness,"
"You just told me!" Said Percy incredulously, while nonetheless rising from the couch and jogging upstairs to change himself,
"Like I said, I forgot!" Kara called up after him, "I'll see you when I get back, have fun, I love you!"
"Love you too!" Percy called down, as the door to the apartment closed. Sighing to himself, Percy hurriedly changed before following Kara out the door.
It was a twenty minute walk from Percy's apartment to the suite that Lois shared with Clark in the heart of downtown. He still wondered exactly how Clark was able to afford the place on a reporter's salary, though maybe dating a pulitzer winner had its perks. He scanned the names on the intercom buzzer for a few moments before finding Clark and Lois's names. The buzzer rang for a few seconds before Lois answered,
"Hello?" she asked,
"Hey Lois, it's Percy. Kara said you wanted me to come over?"
"Percy!" She said happily, "Wonderful! Here, I'll buzz you in."
A moment later, the lock clicked and there was a small buzz and Percy entered the building. The elevator was blessedly fast, and Percy found himself on the thirty-eighth floor of the apartment complex and outside the door in only a few minutes. he only had to wait a moment after knocking before the door was thrown open.
"Percy!" Said Lois again, leaning in and giving him a hug, "So good to see you! Everything's been so crazy lately and Clark and I have been meaning to have you and Kara over for dinner but we just haven't found the time, how are you? How's work? Come in, come in. Oh, and shoes off please, Clark just had the carpets steamed."
As usual with the woman, she spoke so quickly that Percy barely had time to hear all of the words flying out her mouth, much less actually process and understand them. He kicked off his shoes, and was somewhat surprised to see a couple of other pairs there, before following Lois out of the entry way and into the the dining room.
"Works been good. Really good," said Percy, "The semester only started a couple of weeks ago so really up until then it was just lesson planning, but I really love it. The kids seem really nice and-"
He trailed off as they entered the dining room and stopped in his tracks. Sitting in the room were two other women, one of whom Percy thought he recognized. Though that was saying much, as both of the women appeared as though they could be sisters. They were both tall, a little under six feet even without their heels. Their hair was a similar shade of red, with equally bright green eyes. Though there was something a touch more dignified to one of the women than the other.
"Lois," said Percy slowly, "The fuck?"
"Percy, meet Iris West and Queen Mera of Atlantis." Introduced Lois, "And welcome to the club."
Percy was a little too preoccupied to be curious about what 'The Club' was. He was staring at Mera, confusion, bewilderment, and even a touch of anger was rushing through him. He knew that he shouldn't be angry that he was meeting the supposed 'Queen' of Atlantis, but he couldn't help himself. There was one ruler of Atlantis, and they sure as hell weren't some upstart mortal. But he wasn't back in his home. Poseidon, though he existed here, was not the ruler of Atlantis, and this woman had done nothing to insult him personally.
Mera had noticed his staring, perhaps even noticed the heat behind his stare and was staring back a mixture of concern and defiance in her gaze. The other woman, Iris, was glancing between the pair of them, confused.
"Am I…missing something here?" She asked
Percy shook his head in a vein attempt to clear it,
"How much have you told them about me?" He asked Lois, "Scratch that, how much has Clark to you about me?"
"Everything," said Lois warily, "He's not particularly good at hiding things from me. And I've told them what he's told me,"
"Ignoring that gross invasion of personal privacy," muttered Percy, "Apologies for that," he said to Mera, "Just…Atlantis is a bit of a touchy subject for me. Shouldn't be taking my shit out on you though, so I'm sorry,"
"Apology accepted," said Mera, smiling softly, "Given what Lois has told us about you, I can't say I blame you. On a brighter note, I have been looking forward to meeting you. It is not every day that you meet a son of the Sea God."
"Wait," said Iris, looking between Percy and Lois, "You weren't kidding about that?"
"You're sleeping with a literal human vibrator and are sitting next to the Queen of a city that was literally sunk into the sea." Lois arched a finely manicured brow, "And all of us have a Maritan, an actual fucking Martian, on our speed-dial. A little faith?" Iris shrugged and took a deep pull from the glass of wine in front of her.
"Well, don't be a stranger," said Lois to Percy, "Sit down, should have some beer still if you want some,"
"That would be great," said Percy, suddenly feeling in desperate need for a heavy drink.
Lois nodded in understanding, and a moment later Percy had a fresh bottle in front of him.
"So," said Percy after taking a large sip, "What the hell is this?"
"It's the Club," said Lois, as though that explained everything,
"So you said," said Percy dryly, "That doesn't explain shit,"
"Guess it wouldn't," chuckled Lois,
"Would it help if I said that I was married to the Flash?" Said Iris, and Percy felt understanding wash over him,
"And Queen of Atlantis," said Percy, looking over at Mera, "Which means…"
"I am married to Arthur, King of Atlantis, but you will know him better as Aquaman." Explained Mera,
"So this is what…a club of…super spouses?" Asked Percy,
Iris snorted and took another pull from her glass of wine,
"Aptly put, but pretty much." She said,
"This is something of a support group," explained Lois, "Started it a year ago. I got sick of Clark constantly going out without me,"
"And I was sick of seeing Barry, that's Flash's name by the way—no sense in keeping you in the dark now that you're with a cape by the way—I got sick of seeing him come back with bullet holes and bruises. Needed someone to commiserate with and Lois and I met and started hanging out."
"We met Mera a couple of months ago and invited her along, been the three of us ever since," said Lois,
"It has been nice to be among sisters in…distress," said Mera, smiling at the other two women,
"Oh god, please don't put it like that," groaned Lois, taking a pull from her own glass, "You make it sound like we're completely helpless."
"You know that's not what I meant," said Mera, rolling her eyes good-naturedly, "But aside from dealing with the odd trench-monsters, I haven't seen any action since Arthur and I started attempting to conceive."
"How's that going?" Asked Iris, and Mera frowned,
"Not well," sighed Mera, "I had thought that it would relatively simple, but the healers told me that it's common for couples to have difficulty conceiving."
Percy felt wildly uncomfortable by the conversation. He wasn't certain that he should be here, listening to a woman he didn't he even know, talking about her difficulties having a child. He didn't know these women, didn't even really know what he was doing here. He was uncomfortable and unsure, but he didn't think he could just leave.
"I think we're making Percy uncomfortable," laughed Iris, and the other women looked at him,
"What's wrong Percy?" Teased Lois, "Big man afraid of a little girl-talk?"
"No," scowled Percy, "But I do feel a little out of place listening to some woman's marital issues when I've only shared six words with her, and I still don't really know what this is or why I'm here."
"We're here," explained Mera, "Because the three of us are the only ones who understand how you're feeling."
"And how do you know how I'm feeling?" Asked Percy,
"Because we all feel the same way," said Lois, "That little pang of fear that you feel when you watch them leave the house in their tights. Sure, you know how strong they are. How capable they are. Hell, in our case you even know that they're damn near invincible, but it doesn't change anything. It still scares the shit out of you, because you know that there's a chance, no matter how small, that they might not be coming back."
There was a heaviness in the air, as the other woman seemed to lose themselves in their own thoughts. For Percy, he was…disconcerted. Disconcerted because of exactly how well Lois seemed able to sum up how he felt every time he watched Kara on TV. Sure, he was filled with pride every time that he watched her save someone from a burning building or beat down on a group of thugs, but he still remembered that fight against that metal monster. The way his heart had nearly stopped when he saw her battered, beaten, and bloodied.
He hated it.
It broke him, seeing her like that. He still had the occasional nightmare about it. About seeing that metal bastard snapping her neck and laughing over her dead body. His emotions must have shown on his face, because Lois nodded at him.
"And that right there, is why we have this little group. Because nobody else is going to understand, nobody but us. Being a hero is hard, but I truly think that loving a hero is harder."
Nodding solemnly, Percy pulled a long drink from his bottle, and got comfortable.
It was going to be a long afternoon.
It was early in the evening by the time that Percy got home. Kara was already home, and was curled up on the couch.
"Hey," she said, her face lighting up as she saw him, "How was Lois? You have fun?"
Percy didn't respond, instead he merely walked over to her and leaned down. Wrapping his arms around her, he hefted her up and off the couch, much to her surprise, and brought her into a very tight and very desperate embrace.
"Woah," giggled Kara, accepting the hug and wrapping her legs around his waist, "It's only been a couple of hours big guy."
Percy didn't answer, he only chose to tighten his hold.
He loved her.
He would fight for her.
He would kill for her.
And may the gods have mercy on anyone who dared to hurt even a single hair on her head.
AN: As always shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week.
All My Love and see you soon,
LilDB