11
Meanwhile in Ultraman's penthouse
12 am…
The moon still hung in the night's sky over Metropolis, but I could feel the warmth of the sun rising in the east. It was one of the few things I enjoyed before I was taken from Smallville. On the base, I wasn't allowed to watch the sun rise, at least without my hand bound. Hot air oozed from my mouth, as I nervously grabbed my shaking right hand. A habit since my youth, I held on to my hand until it finally stopped shaking.
"Breathe," I mouthed. "We are free..."
After a few breaths, I looked down at my wrist. Deep gashes from my years of being experimented on stared back at me. Signs of my broken state, I called them. A constant reminder that I truly was a monster.
Lost in thought, I heard Diana moan next to me. She had been asleep for a while. Tossing and turning as she sweated out whatever Barry had infected her with. She was close. Throughout the night she slowly had shifted closer and closer to me until she had curled around my body.
"Damn it," I thought.
The sensation of Diana's body so close to mine taunted me. Even more so with my need to speak with Bruce. Dread filled me. Calling Bruce meant my 'wife' would be near. Even absent Lois found a way to ruin the most peaceful moment I'd had in years. As the moon sunk lower in the sky, I felt the first twinge of the sun's warmth. My eyes slowly started to seep a thin line of red.
"Do you want me to call him…"
I heard J'onzz's voice in my head. That man never slept and he knew neither did I. I sighed. Bruce wouldn't answer J'onzz. He'd probably be a massive diva and demand to hear the order from me himself. Entitled ass as he was.
"I'll do it,"
Gently I uncoiled the Amazonian woman from around me, replacing my body with a long thick pillow. I looked at her one last time, brushing a lone curl away from her face. She truly was a marvel. Dangerous as she was beautiful.
Once off the bed, I floated into the air. Building up the courage to do what must be done, for her sake.
"... You know I could have someone else deal with him…"
"I said I'll handle it…" I groaned.
"Alexa, call Owlman…."
… Calling Owlman...
The phone rang….
... and rang…
… and rang…
I felt my hands balling into fists. He was stalling.
"Arrogant ass," I muttered.
Click. Bruce finally answered, but I heard a rustling behind me. Glancing back at the Amazon, she had started to stir.
"Alexa, place his ass on hold..." I started to say but it was too late.
"Did you need something, Clark…"
Bruce's voice came through the phone with loud cursing in the background. The voice was raspy and smokey. It was Lois, fuck.
"Sorry, I missed your call…."
"Call me back later," I said.
The Amazon's body shifted, holding the pillow tighter. I needed to end this quickly, before she woke up.
"You're the one who called me first…"
"... I've got company…" I continued softly.
"Company!?" Lois hissed.
There was pure hate in Lois's voice. She hated the fact I paid her no mind from the moment her father brought me into their home. All these years later and she still believes she owned me.
"Who the fuck is in my house!"
Her shrill voice, I wasn't hearing it through the phone. I was hearing it from her house on the other side of the city. She lived at the furthest point from me within the city limits. Yet there was no amount of space that would silence her voice. Especially, in the mood she was in. Bruce hadn't fucked her properly and now I was suffering for it.
"You know I was balls deep in your wife when you first called…."
I gagged.
"I'd rather not have that image in my head right now," I replied.
"Why not?" Bruce asked with a hint of sarcasm. "I'm merely returning the favor; you interrupted me so I'm interrupting you and the clay woman… Or what's left of her..."
I felt sick to my stomach when Bruce said, 'your wife'. She was no such thing. Our marriage was a piece of paper to me and nothing more. The last wishes of a dying man.
"She's sleeping, Bruce..."
"Well, there goes my midnight snack..." Bruce snorted.
Snack? Gods. What did Bruce think I did? After a few moments it sunk in. He thought I'd killed her and would give him another person to eat. And they call me the monster. Bruce was off on a whole other world. All of these rich types were. Him and Lois were made for each other.
"Tread carefully, Owl," I growled.
"Yes," Lois added. "Tread very carefully Owl…"
There was a possessive tone to Lois's voice.
"I wasn't talking to you," I said coldly.
Lois grew silent. Peace finally. In the brief silence, Bruce broke it with a question.
"So, how was it, Clark?"
And there it was, playing with his food. He didn't ask out of concern for my well-being or morbid curiosity. He asked to piss Lois off.
"He can't with anyone but me…." she hissed loudly.
Lois's words were true, but I didn't want to hear them.
"Lois leave," I ordered.
Bruce and Lois argued back and forth. Honestly, I could care less about what they were fighting about. I just wanted them to shut the fuck up.
"My father gave him that 'business'!"
I rolled my eyes. He did give me the family business, but it was because Lois would have burned it to the ground. She was selfish and self-centered. In the last days od Perry's life she burned so many bridges that I in turn had to make amends. Without me, her father's legacy would have been lost in a matter of weeks.
"As your husband said," Bruce said loudly. "We have business..."
"This is my house!" she hissed. "You can't tell me to leave my own damn house…."
"Try me…"
I hated myself for speaking to her directly, but she couldn't read the room. She wasn't wanted or needed. Leaving was her only options. I wasn't going to budge or come over. I had played that game before and it bit me in the ass.
"Oh, like the whore you have in our bed?!"
"There is no one in 'my' bed," I lied. "And if there was, it is of no concern of yours."
"Yes, it is…"
Her voice hit me both on and off the phone.
"I let you sleep with Bruce," I snapped. "You should be thanking me for sending him over."
Lois hissed, "You know what I'm coming over there right now…"
No, she wasn't about to disrupt my peace any further. Moreover, I wasn't going to let her anywhere near the Amazon.
"Set one foot near my penthouse and I will personally remove your plastic face from its skull," I growled back.
"You can't kill me," she replied. "You need me…"
"Need you…" I laughed darkly.
There was an awkward silence between us.
"Lois baby leave us for a few," Bruce said. "And I'll go for another round."
"You don't want me," she said. "You were sent here by my husband!"
"And,"
"This is a job to you,"
"And... you enjoy the fruit of that labor..."
"Let him have his fun…" Bruce said as he placed a kiss atop her head. "It's only fair…"
"Fine, but you owe me, Bruce," she replied as.
After a few moments, Lois yell 'cunt' as her footsteps grew more distant. Alone, I heard Bruce clear his throat.
"So…."
"You know you could have called me after you left her house," I said. "You could have woken Diana with your childish games."
"So, we're on a first name bases," Bruce replied. "What happened to calling her Clay?"
"Is there a point to this?"
Bruce laughed, "It means you slept with her... right. I mean since your calling her by her government name now..."
The Amazon moaned. It was primal. A part of me wished I had J'onzz's ability to read minds in that moment. I wondered what I would have seen.
"Damn she sounds hot…" Bruce grunted. "What did you do to her my man?"
I didn't reply. My dicks were hard and there was no hiding the fact she affected me.
"So how was she?" Bruce asked.
"I didn't sleep with... her,"
"You had a beautiful woman in your bed and you didn't sleep with her?!" Bruce asked.
Again, I didn't reply. He was trying to figure out what happened between us. He knew she was alive and that I hadn't killed her. She was close yet kept at a distance. He knew about Lana. How I broke her.
"I mean what woman would tell you no…."
None because, they didn't know me. The real me I kept hidden from the world. Deep down inside all of this, my desire for power, was meant to protect the little boy who just wanted to be safe.
I sighed. "I couldn't do that to any woman."
Bruce smirked, "You care about her, don't you?"
I grunted, "Stop trying to analyze me, Bruce. I'm not one of the bodies hanging in your owl cave…"
"True enough," Bruce replied.
He wasn't going to let this go, not until he figured out what was going on with the Amazon. A distraction was needed.
"I need you and J'onzz to look into something for me," I said softly.
My voice trailed off.
"Ultraman?"
The Amazan had propped herself up on one side of the bed. She was disheveled yet beautiful.
"I'm sorry," I said.
I floated back down to the ground.
"I need tabs on movements in Darkseid's territory…."
I didn't need her hearing that bastard's name. She was safe here, as safe as one can be with a violent monster. I watched her wipe the sleep from her eyes as a stray piece of her raven hair fell into her face. My hand moved on its own before I could stop it. It brushed the piece of hair behind her ears. They lingered on the edge of her cheek.
"Go back to sleep..." I said.
My thumb brushed against her cheek and her face molded into my hand. She purred as her eyes closed.
"You're safe here..."
Everything in this moment felt… right.
"...with me..."
I was about to hang up the phone but Bruce blurted out 'his' name. The rage within me boiled up to the surface.
Bruce asked, "What does Darkseid have to do with us?"
Diana's eyes opened and she looked up at me in horror. I saw my own flames in her eyes. Quickly I removed my hand from her face and turned away from her. I leapt from my bed and stood several feet away from her. I tried to speak but no words came out.
Keeping my back to her I start to countdown once more trying to calm myself down. It would have been much easier if the sun hadn't started to charge me. Even at this early hour with its darkness, I could still feel the sun's power beginning to fuel me.
"... You came back…" she said softly.
Her voice was trembling. I could hear her heart beating rapidly in her chest.
"This is my house," I said back. "Why wouldn't I?"
I tried to keep my voice as neutral as possible. As I spoke, I heard her get out of my bed. My room was filled with the scent of her... Lilies.
"I didn't mean to make you…" she said.
She placed her hand on the small of my back. I let out an audible gasp. I felt her touch. Down to the ridges of her fingerprints. I FELT HER. Her fingers were cool yet warm at the same time. I cringed away because of the new sensation.
"I'm sorry," she muttered.
She looked almost embarrassed as she held onto her wrists.
"I didn't mean to touch you without your consent,"
The gentleness of her voice made my knees weak. No one had ever asked before touching me. Most knew never to do so from the get-go.
"It's fine,"
There was a silence between us.
"I'm not a killer…" she blurted out.
A fact I knew. I gazed out of the window as she spoke. To face her after her words would have ended me. Her doe eyes were as lethal as the razor blade she wielded earlier. Her heart continued to beat at increasing speed as silence grew between us once more.
"... My name is ... Diana," she said so quickly I barely made out what she said. "What should I call you? Ultraman seem like Clay to me. A name give, but not wanted..."
Her words were never truer. Perry had given me the name Ultraman. Clark was the name given to me by my human parents. None of those names were truly mine. Without thinking I said, my real name.
"Kal-El,"