DISCLAIMER: The Justice League of America
characters are the property of DC Comics. The story contents are the creation
and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2005 by Djinn. This story is Rated R.
Welcome No More
by Djinn
You float on the gentle
wind. If this were a normal day, you'd
be on the island, enjoying the sun and the gentle swoosh of the sea rolling up
the sand. But this is not a normal
day. There aren't going to be any more
normal days. The monarchy has been
abolished by your mother's hand, and the new powers aren't so keen to have you
around right now.
You aren't welcome on the
island anymore. It's your only home, and
you aren't welcome there. You have to
stay like this, far out to sea, far enough that you aren't trespassing on their
space. This is as far as you can come if
you want to watch them rebuild.
You haven't told the League
yet, have been avoiding going to the watchtower. They'll figure it out, no doubt, when you
show up with no tiara. It shouldn't be
that big a shock to them--it's not like political turmoil isn't a way of life
in man's world. And this was a voluntary
breakdown of the status quo. This was
for the greater good.
You know all that. But it still hurts. You never expected to feel so bereft. Not about the crown--you've never cared about
that--but to be this alone. Your mother
is gone--still mad at you, still thinking she's the real Wonder Woman. Donna is busy with her own life, and you want
her to enjoy it--she's known so little joy.
And Arthur has run away from you, as he probably should have the minute
you decided he was the one to set you free from Kal.
You are alone. Alone in ways you never felt in Asgard with
Kal. Or when you died. This alone is different. Crushing. Bewildering.
The sea bubbles below
you--dolphins are playing. Then you see
a speck of gold shining at the water's surface, and a hand reaches out of the
water. Smiling, you fly down to see if the
gold is really blonde hair--it is. How
did Arthur find you? You weren't even in
his domain.
You land in the water, making
more of a splash than you meant to.
He laughs, but his eyes are
sad. "The dolphins are all aflutter
with what's happened on Themyscira."
"Who knew they were such
gossips?"
"Oh, they're terrible
that way." He touches your
forehead. "It looks so odd to see
you without a crown."
You lay your hand over
his. "It feels odd."
His hand feels good under
yours. Solid and warm
and familiar.
"You're just lonely, my
love," he says, and you wonder when he added telepathy to his list of superpowers.
You let go of his hand and
float next to him.
"I told Flash what
happened," he says. "He's a
gossip too. He'll spread it around for
you."
You close your eyes. Arthur is still kind to you, still looking
out for you. You did not expect
that. "Thank you."
"One
monarch to another." Moving closer, he pulls you to him, his mouth
nuzzling your neck.
You curl into him, wrapping
yourself around him without conscious thought.
"Arthur, I miss you."
"I know. I miss you too."
He tugs your uniform
off--he's become a master of that. His
own uniform follows and then he is with you, and your body joins with his as if
you never fought, never broke up.
He holds you closer, his
fingers making you moan. "I watched
you with him."
You frown. You haven't spent much time with Kal
lately.
He smiles. "Not Kal. The other one. The mortal."
Trevor Barnes. He's seen you with Trevor Barnes.
"Then you saw me get
shot down. He's not interested."
"Oh, he is. He's just afraid."
You close your eyes as he
moves faster. "Did you warn him
against me?"
He laughs, and the expulsion
of air against your ear makes you shiver.
"No. I wouldn't do that to
you."
You kiss him then. It's a long, sensual kiss, and you wish you
could stay in the water with him forever.
"Why are you being so nice?"
"Because
I love you." He smiles.
"And because I'm a sucker for princesses in distress."
You quit asking him
questions, just surrender to the age-old rhythm that he has taught you. When you both finally lie still, floating
gently on the water, you say, "I do love you, Arthur."
"I know you do,
Diana." He kisses you gently, then pulls your uniform back up. "I just can't--"
You wait, but there is no
more. "I know."
"I'm going away for a
while. I told Clark and Bruce, and not
surprisingly they didn't ask why. I told
Wally it was for personal reasons."
He sighs. "I think J'onn knew exactly why I was leaving. I don't think he approves."
"Of
us?"
"Of my
running away." He shoots you a glance that is full of
self-mockery. "He seems to think I
should stay and fight."
"Maybe you
should." You do not know if you are
saying that because you really want him to stay and fight, or if it's only because
you feel so alone right now.
He smiles as if he does not
know either. "I'll never forget
you, Diana."
"Thank you for coming
out here. I didn't like the way things
ended between us."
"I suppose I'm lucky
"Kal doesn't kill
anyone."
"There's always a first
time. And somehow, I think he might do
it for you."
You laugh and shake your
head. "I don't want him to."
"I know." He strokes your cheek. "My beautiful
princess."
You return the favor,
stroking his face, along the soft beard.
"My lord king."
His expression turns so sad
you wish you had not said that.
"It's
okay, Diana. Someday, this won't
hurt. Either of
us."
You nod. "Be careful, Arthur. You're important to me."
"Stick close to
You smile, but you can feel
your chin trembling.
He shakes his head, as if he
does not understand you, or maybe he just does not understand himself. "Goodbye, my love."
"Goodbye, Arthur."
He flips slowly, as if to
make sure you understand he is no longer running away. This is the Atlantean
version of the casual stroll. You watch
him until he is out of sight, swallowed up by the depths. Then you take off, out of the sea, water
streaming off you. The air is warm at
first, but gets colder as you fly north--normally you would not notice the
difference, normally you would not be wet with the water freezing on you.
"Been swimming?"
You hate that Kal's voice can
make your heart speed up to double-time.
You hate it so much you go on the attack. "Been spying on me?"
"No. But you're wet."
"I've been
swimming."
"Like
I said." He looks over at you, his smile gently
teasing.
"Your powers of
observation rival Bruce's."
He doesn't seem to appreciate
the compliment. "Were you swimming
with Arthur?" His look is bland,
but there is something in his voice. Something jealous.
Can he smell that you've had sex?
"Yes. With Arthur."
"So. You two have
reconciled?"
You stop, and he flies on without
you, then doubles back.
"Diana?"
"Why are you doing
this?"
"Look, if you're back
with him, that's fine."
"Fine? What--are you
giving me permission to be back with him?"
Sometimes Kal is a mystery to you.
You spent one thousand platonic years in Asgard getting to know him, and
he is still a mystery to you.
"I didn't mean it like
that." He sighs. "I wanted to make sure you were okay
after that interview with Lois. You
seemed a little...strange when you came back to the apartment with her that
night."
"Lois and I got along
fine. Once we ironed out our
differences. Funny how
they all had to do with you."
"You just seemed a
little hyper around her, ironed-out differences notwithstanding."
"Maybe you just felt guilty
at having me around her?"
He sighs. "I didn't expect you to tell her about
Asgard."
"And I didn't expect that
to be the first time she'd heard about Asgard.
You never told me not to say anything."
"I was going to tell
her..." He shakes his head, and you
think he is getting frustrated with you.
You are not sure what he
wants you to do. "I gather I made
things rough for you?"
"It's been an
interesting few days since you told her."
"Do you want me to say
I'm sorry? Well, I'm sorry that you're
an idiot for not telling your wife the truth." You can't stand it anymore; you take off,
flying faster than you ever have, trying to outdistance him.
It's no use. He's still faster.
"Leave me alone,"
you yell, the words torn away by the wind.
"I hate you."
"I hate you
too." He snatches you up, pulling
you into his arms. "Damn you,
Diana. I'm trying to forget you."
You struggle, cannot break
free. "Well, spying on Arthur and
me when we're making love is probably not the way to do that."
"I know. God help me, Diana, I know that." He stares at you as if he is drowning. Then he pulls you closer, his lips finding
yours the way they never did in Asgard.
You stop struggling. You stop fighting him and just kiss him. It is only when he pulls away that you
realize you are weeping.
"Oh,
sweetheart. I'm sorry." He kisses you again, and again. Soft, melting kisses that break your heart.
"Kal..."
He holds you, and you bury
your face in his neck so he won't kiss you anymore. He flies slowly, taking you places you cannot
see because you will not pull away from him to look. You don't want to do anything now except cry
in his arms.
"Wally told me what
happened on the island." He touches
your forehead, tracing where the tiara would have been. "I'm sorry."
You realize Kal doesn't know
about Trevor--that's probably a good thing.
"Everything's
different."
"I know." He wraps his cape around you and pulls you
closer.
You can feel how much he
wants you. You understand that now. Arthur has taught you those things. You always thought it would be Kal who taught
you; you spent much of your time in Asgard wondering when Kal would break and
come to your tent. But he never did, not till that last night, when he almost did but
pulled away at the last moment.
You were happy he didn't break, even if being stuck with only him to
depend on was a favorite fantasy of yours.
You were happy he didn't break because you'd like to think that he'd be
that faithful to you, once you are together.
Even if it is awful of you to think that way.
Kal kisses you again, and you
believe that if you wrapped your legs around him the way you did with Arthur, he
would make love to you.
He looks down at you, as if
he knows what you are thinking.
"It's getting more difficult, Diana. To say no to what I want with you."
"You went a thousand
years, Kal. You can go a few
minutes."
He looks down, and you
realize he has tears in his eyes. He
blinks them away, but not before you tilt his chin up so he has to look at
you.
"Kal?"
"I think it's because I
went a thousand years that this is so hard.
I think I believed that if I just made it through that, then what I feel
for you would go away. I wouldn't love
you anymore. I wouldn't want you
anymore. I'd have triumphed over
myself. Over this
terrible desire."
"Terrible?"
"Terrible
because it's not going away, and I don't want to wait anymore. I don't want
to..." He looks down. His face is pained, and his hands clutch your
sides so tightly it hurts. If it were
Lois he was holding like this, he'd snap her ribs in two.
"I've met someone,"
you say, trying to give him something good to hold onto, something that isn't
you and the way he wants you--and the way you want him.
"Other
than Arthur?"
You nod. "A normal person." At least you think Trevor is normal. "Not a superhero."
"Not a superman?"
You shake your head. "Just normal."
"That's good.
You resist telling him that
Trevor isn't interested in you, or that being normal isn't doing Lois much good.
He closes his eyes, then he pulls you in and kisses you again. The kiss is frantic, as if he is getting a
lifetime's worth of love from this one embrace.
When he pulls away, he stares
at you, and his eyes seem to bore through you.
"I love you, Diana."
His fingers touch your face,
and you feel as if his skin is searing yours.
Will there be a mark? Something to show that you belong to this man no matter how many
other men come along?
"I love you, Kal." You lean in and kiss him, keeping the kiss
tender and easy. You need this. A kiss that you started--and
that you will end. Pulling away,
you exhale slowly, as if you are letting go of more than just air.
He lets you go, and you catch
the wind as he flies away quickly.
Looking down, you realize that he has flown you back to the spot where
you made love with Arthur, and for a second you are tempted to dive into the
water, to swim down and down until you find Atlantis and can stay with
Arthur. But that is silly. You can't stay in Atlantis for any length of
time. You need air to breathe, no matter
how much you love the water--and its king.
Turning, you can see
Themyscira in the distance. You smile at
it, your home--your former home. Maybe
someday it will be your home again.
Maybe someday Kal will be
yours.
You hate the idea of living
your life for maybe someday. But for
now, it is all that you have.
Turning, you fly back to
FIN