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.
Trinity:
Repercussions
by Djinn
Lois watched as Bruce made
his way to the podium. He presented a
rather large check to the administrator of the Metropolis Children's Home, then
took the microphone and opened things up for questions on the additions and
upgrades he was funding. A few serious
journalists asked him about the planned improvements, but most of the press were only interested in finding out about his newly
revealed relationship with Wonder Woman.
"Does she double as your
body guard?" someone yelled.
"Isn't she with Superman?"
Lois stifled a groan. She'd spent the first years of her marriage
hearing that rumor and letting it eat at her.
"They're like dogs with
a bone,"
"We'd be like that too
if we weren't given to 'socializing' with them." Socializing being the new
euphemism for having mad sex with Bruce and Diana on a not-quite-local pleasure
planet. While it was happening,
Lois enjoyed it. Before it happened, she
found herself fantasizing about it. But
just after it, like now, she often found herself bitchy and wondering what the
hell was wrong with her marriage that this was something she could do. That it was something
"Is she a wonder in
bed?" a reporter from one of the tabloids asked.
"
"Mister Wayne. You've spent the last few years with a bevy
of beautiful women on your arm and a reputation for breaking every one of their
hearts. Now you're with Wonder
Woman. How does she feel about infidelity?"
His face froze a little, and
he looked very much like the Batman.
"Or perhaps you've
changed? No longer the
fickle playboy?"
"Perhaps I
have." The charming rogue was
back. His smile was a little bit
dangerous.
"Lois..."
She ignored him. "What is your philosophy toward sustaining
a meaningful relationship?"
"I believe in
honesty." He looked down, the smile
playing at his mouth. "And surely
you'd agree, if there was ever a woman to take a man's mind off anyone else, Diana
is it."
"Oh, she's quite
spectacular."
"So, is marriage in the
works?" She let her tone rise into
the girlish, the "wouldn't we all just love to know?" range. "Kids?"
"Only time will
tell." His face got a little
colder.
Diana had become a bit too
relaxed on one of their last visits to the planet and had waxed euphoric about
how she'd like to bear Bruce a child. Or
maybe it was
"Well, I'm sure the rest
of Metropolis will join me in wishing you both every
happiness."
He nodded graciously, but his
eyes glittered.
"Now, you've done
it,"
Lois was about to answer when
her attention was drawn to the woman standing waiting for them at the back of
the crowd. Her hands were on her hips;
her eyes were fixed on Lois. "Diana
looks royally pissed. Pun intended." She saw Diana frown. "Super hearing has its price, eh,
Princess?"
Diana walked over to
them. "
"I read your book,
Madame Ambassador. I know where you
stand on these things." Lois had
her ace reporter face on. Interested but not desperate. Amused but not quite mocking.
"That was before I met
Bruce."
"Oh. Things have changed?" Lois got closer, could smell the spicy tang
that was Diana's natural scent. Even her
sweat smelled good. It was so unfair.
Diana looked at
"Lois and I need to get
back to the Planet. It's been a pleasure
seeing you again, Madame Ambassador."
His voice was soft, low. Lois had
heard him talk to Diana that way on the planet.
Usually when he had parts of himself firmly planted in
the fair princess.
"I hate you," Lois
said under her breath.
They looked at her in
surprise. She decided not to say which
of them she meant, just stalked off and left them alone. It was possible she hated both of them.
Or maybe she just hated
herself.
----------------
Bruce slipped away from the
crowd, a last look back confirming that Diana and Clark were still talking,
their faces concerned. Lois must have
said something hateful. Or more hateful
than the salvo she'd launched at him just before.
He could see Lois ahead of
him, so he turned down an alley, hurrying to cut her off as she hit the next
block.
He was waiting for her as she
rounded the corner. "What did all
that accomplish?"
She didn't stop. "Go to hell, Bruce."
The last time he'd seen her
had been on the planet. She'd been on
top of him, riding him with a look of pleasure that was worlds away from the
look she'd worn as she'd grilled him in front of her peers from the fourth
estate.
"Hell is not a nice place
to visit. I think I'll stay right
here." He reached out, grabbing her
arm and pulling her around to face him.
He expected her to hit him,
to punch out or kick. He tensed, waiting
for the move. But she didn't
strike.
"What's wrong with
you?" he asked.
"Why does it have to be
wrong with me? Maybe I'm the only right
one here?"
He sighed. This approach wasn't going to work. "Let's get some coffee."
"What about your lovely
girlfriend? Won't she miss you?"
"Last I checked, you'd left her with your husband."
Her eyes narrowed, lips biting down until they turned white from the
pressure. "That was stupid of
me."
"Well, if them being together were a problem, it would have been
stupid. But it's not a problem."
"And us? Together?"
"We're old friends,
Lois."
"Yeah." She turned,
seemingly forgetting that he hadn't let go of her arm. He brought her up short as she tried to walk
away. "Let me go."
"Or you'll what? Be meaner to me than you already
were?" He laughed though, and let
her go. "What's eating you,
Lane?" He hoped the old name, in
the old tone, would spark something other than sarcasm.
It only seemed to make her
frown. "What happened to us,
Bruce? We were happy once upon a
time."
"Not for very
long."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. Why do so many couples start out okay and
then fizzle?"
She started to walk, but in a
companionable way, not a "fleeing from the psycho killer" way. He walked along with her.
She took a deep breath, let it out, as if trying to calm herself. "Fizzle.
Not a nice word. Not much energy
in that word."
"You'd prefer something
more explosive?" He smiled gently,
knowing that she'd always gone for the passion in life. Of course she'd prefer an explosion to love
just trickling away.
"Yeah."
"What happens on the
planet...if it's bothering you this much, it doesn't have to happen."
"So we'll all quit? Or you'll just stop taking me?"
He laughed. "You always know the right question,
don't you?"
"That's my forte."
He thought there were other
less-clothed activities that were her forte as well, but now was definitely not
the moment to bring them up. "Are
you mad at us? Or are you mad at
yourself for liking what goes on there?"
She met his eyes, gaze unwavering
as she considered that. It was one of
the things he'd always admired about her.
She didn't lie to herself.
Everyone else was fair game. But
"I'm not sure," she
finally said.
He took her arm, steered her
gently down the street. "Coffee?"
She nodded, and he could feel
the fight go out of her as he led her to the diner on the corner.
-----------------
"She did that to be
hurtful, Kal. No other reason."
"Yes." Clark shook his head. Lois had a temper and a nasty habit of taking
her own unhappiness out on everyone else.
He just didn't know why she was so unhappy.
Unless seeing him making love
to the woman she'd just attacked had something to do with it.
And he was making love when
he and Diana had sex. It wasn't just fooling around. He loved his wife, but he loved Diana
too. Had loved her,
for a long time. And Lois knew
it.
"The planet was a bad
idea," he said softly.
"I don't think it's
that."
"I do."
Diana looked in the direction
their lovers had gone. "Bruce went
after her."
"I know."
"Maybe he'll be able to
find out what's wrong. They have a
bond." Diana looked down. "A bond that doesn't
include us, Kal."
"I know that
too." It had never bothered him
that Lois had dated Bruce. Not until
he'd seen her open Batman's utility belt so skillfully. Actually, it hadn't been when he'd seen it
that it bothered him. He'd been too high
on the planet's air and on Diana and Bruce and Lois for it to bother him. It had been the next night, when he'd laid in
bed replaying the interlude, alternating between remembering what it had been
like making love to Diana for the first time, and how it had felt watching his
wife and Bruce touch each other with such silly abandon. It had begun to wear at him. How...easy they'd been together.
It had been a mistake.
But Lois had reached out
first. For Diana, then
for Bruce. Lois had been all
right with this.
"Kal?"
He looked up. "Are you jealous of her?"
"No." But it was a lie. He could see in Diana's face that she was;
she just didn't want to admit it.
"She's jealous of you, I
think." She was also powerfully
attracted to Diana. His fantasy of
seeing the two women he loved together came true more often than maybe he was comfortable
with.
"We don't like each
other. We can forget that on the
planet...or move past it. But
here?" Diana sighed. "I wish you and I could just fly away
for a while. Fly high and fast and not
let anyone or anything catch us."
He smiled softly. "You want to run away."
Laughing, she nodded.
"With
me?"
She nodded again.
"Because I can fly and
Bruce can't. Because I'm here and he's
with Lois." He looked out over the
few people who were left that weren't cleaning up chairs. "When did this get so complicated?"
"I don't know. But double dating on that planet doesn't help
in the 'keep it simple' department."
"I know."
"Why did you do it? It was your idea."
"Yeah, it
was." He'd tried to tell himself
they'd all wanted it. But he'd engineered
it.
"Was it because you
wanted me?" She touched his hand
gently. "You've wanted me for a
long time and never cheated."
"It was easier not
having you if no one else did either."
"Ah." She looked over at the podium. "Bruce is good for me."
Clark nodded. Bruce was probably good for his wife
too. He wished that thought didn't bug
him so much.
--------------
"Miss Diana?" Alfred turned as she walked into the Manor
kitchen. "Master Bruce isn't with
you?"
"He was
detained." She watched Alfred as he
nodded and turned back to his books.
"You've been with Bruce forever, haven't you?"
He smiled. "Forever for me means slightly less time
than it does for you, my dear. But yes,
I've served this family for a long time."
"You've seen everything."
His eyebrow went up slightly,
otherwise his expression was bland. No
question where Bruce had picked up his conversational skills.
"You've seen the women
Bruce dated before me. The ones who were important, the ones who weren't. That kind of thing...?"
He smiled again, the look
full of patient humor. "Which one
is it that you want to know about?"
"The
important ones. Which ones meant something to him?"
He stood up, walked over to
her. "You have one in mind, I take
it? You want to know if she made the list?"
"Yes."
"Which one has you so worried?"
"Lois Lane."
Alfred looked down. "She's married."
"I know." She saw him turn away and reached out gently,
her hand on his arm just a touch, not anything that would stop him from going back
to the table. "Please?"
"She meant
something. I'm not, however, sure
what."
"Great." She walked to the pantry, found the cookies
Alfred stocked now for her. "Just perfect."
"Master Bruce loves
you."
"I know." She tore open a cookie, the frosting came
half with one side, half stayed on the other. She took it as a bad omen and tossed both
sides into the trash. She tried another,
the same thing happened so she tossed it too.
"Perhaps I might
try?" He tore one apart
perfectly. "I don't pretend to know
where you and Master Bruce have been disappearing to. I do know that it's not the Watchtower as you
said, because Oracle called here the other day looking for you both."
She started to answer, when
he said, "She was also looking for Superman."
She suddenly found her cookie
intensely interesting.
"Tell me, Miss
Diana. Had I called the Daily Planet,
would I have found Lois in?"
She wasn't sure what to say,
only knew she had to protect them. All of them. But she
didn't want to lie to him. She loved
him. "Why, Alfred, what a perverted
imagination you appear to have."
His gentle smile faded; he
looked disappointed in her. "I'll
leave you to your cookies, ma'am."
"Alfred..."
He walked to the table and
gathered up his things, heading out of the kitchen. As he hit the threshold, he turned to look at
her. "It is possible to have too
much of a good thing, my dear." He shook
his head. "You're very innocent in
your way. But Master Bruce should have
known better."
She met his gaze, felt him judging
her. "You don't know what you're
talking about."
This time his look was pitying.
"Don't be so sure."
Then he turned and walked off with the sad grace only a wise old man
who's being ignored can muster.
----------------
Lois ripped her re-breather
off the moment they hit the planet's atmosphere. Clark hadn't wanted to come, but she'd
insisted. As he set her down, she
waited for the rush of relaxation, but it didn't come. She only felt a little calmer, but no
euphoria this time.
"Did you tell them to
meet us?" she asked.
"Yes."
She nodded, moving away from
him.
He didn't try to move
closer. "Are you waiting for
him?"
"To get started you
mean?" She could hear the jealousy
in Clark's voice. It had been there ever
since the press conference. "No,
I'm not waiting for him."
"We used to fool around
until they got here."
"We also used to not
have so many memories of what it's like to watch your spouse screw another
person."
He looked like she'd slapped
him. Words were her only weapon with
him. She'd been using her full arsenal
more than normal lately.
A super sigh was her only
answer. She turned away, moving across
the grass, remembering all the places she and Clark, or she
and Bruce, or she and Diana had made love.
Made love. Was
that what they'd been doing? Had she
made love to any of them on this damnably wonderful planet?
"Do you love me?"
he asked.
"Yes."
"The way you used to
love me?"
She turned, meeting his
eyes. She'd never seen him look so sad. "No."
"Are we in
trouble?"
"Not
necessarily." She couldn't stand
the wounded expression, but she forced herself not to turn away. "Do you want us to be in trouble?"
"No." His answer was instantaneous. He hadn't had to think about it. Hadn't had to weigh her
versus Diana. Then he said,
"They're here," and looked up to where there was only a speck. Was it Bruce he was sensing? Or Diana?
The speck got bigger as they
flew down. They had their re-breathers
off, but neither looked very relaxed. In
fact, Diana looked wary. Bruce looked
concerned. Lois realized that Clark
suddenly looked relieved, like he was sharing the burden of her with them.
She didn't like being a
burden. Why hadn't she left them to
their trinity? Why had she thought this
was a good idea? A
safe one? To be
part of this.
No one made a move to take
off their clothes. No one reached for
anyone else. They all just stood staring
at each other.
"Now
what?" Lois asked, since none
of them seemed inclined to say it.
"What's wrong with
you?" Diana moved closer, gaze
hard, arms tightly across her chest, as if she was protecting herself from
Lois.
"What's wrong with any
of us?" It was a good
question. They all looked down.
"We should
go." Bruce was moving toward Diana.
"No." Lois pushed him away and reached for
Diana. "Do you want me? Or do you just put up with me to get to your
precious Kal?"
Diana didn't flinch as Lois
pulled her close. "I could ask you
the same thing."
Lois glanced at Bruce. "We were
over a long time ago."
"It's not over if you're
having sex with him," Clark said, his voice hurt, and Lois wondered if
they'd all become immune to planet sleaze.
"You didn't answer my
question," Lois said to Diana. When
Diana started to look over at Bruce, Lois grabbed her chin, pulling it
back. "Don't see what he wants you
to say. Just answer me." She saw Diana's eyes seem to flash, and let
go of her face. "Do you even like
me?"
"You know I
don't." Diana looked at Clark, then
over at Bruce, before finally coming back to her. "And you don't like me." She suddenly put her re-breather on. "I'm going home. Bruce, are you coming?"
He seemed torn, and Lois met
his eyes. "Go on."
He put the re-breather on and
joined Diana, who put her arms around him and flew them both away, toward the
waiting ship that would contain only innocent canned air. Not air that made you crazy. That made you do stupid things with stupid freakin' superheroes who didn't
have the morals of a mink to fall back on.
This was their fault. Not hers.
It didn't matter that she'd reached out to Diana. That she'd jumped happily on Bruce. Over and over and over.
She sank to the ground,
started to cry.
Clark was there
instantly. "Lois, what is it?"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He knelt next to her, kissing
her gently. "We won't ever come
back here."
She nodded, clutching his
hand as if it was her lifeline. "We
should never have come here."
"You're
right." He was stroking her hair,
kissing her cheek. As
if desperate to keep contact. As
if she would break or just disappear if he stopped touching her.
"I do love you,
Clark. I've never loved you more."
He eased her back to her
feet. "We'll go home now."
She nodded.
Home. What did that
even mean anymore?
--------------
Bruce watched Diana pace
through the Batcave.
She suddenly leapt up, disappearing onto a ledge that led to a smaller
cave.
"Don't disturb the
bats."
She emerged, looking down at
him.
"Come down here,"
he said, his voice a mix of authority and compassion.
"Make me." She had the tone of a teenager, and Bruce
almost laughed.
"Diana. Please?"
She jumped down. "She means something to you."
"I won't deny
that."
"Do you know what's
wrong with her?"
He studied her face. "Do you?"
She turned away, but not
before he saw a reaction he couldn't read.
"Diana?"
"How
would I know what's wrong with her?"
He moved closer to her. "Female
intuition?"
"Intuition is not a
universally female quality." She
moved into his arms, letting him hold her.
Kissing him, she pulled him closer.
"I love you."
"I love you
too." He tried to kiss her again,
but she pulled away.
"I have to go take care
of something. Then I'll be
back." She touched his cheek, where
it showed beneath the cowl.
"Everything's changing."
"No, it's not. It's just uncomfortable right now."
She smiled, but it was not a
reassuring look.
"Diana?"
"I'll be back
soon." She leaned in, giving him a
sweet kiss. "I love you so much. I wish..."
He stroked her hair, reveling
in the silky feel of it. She was
his. That was enough. He didn't need the planet. None of them did. They just wanted it. He should have walked away when Clark
suggested going back to it. Actually, he
should have run like the proverbial bat out of hell.
"Go do what you have to
do," he murmured. He watched her
fly out, then walked up to the changing room, trading
the Batman's uniform for more normal clothing.
As he opened the door to the manor, Alfred looked up, frowning. "Where is Miss Diana?"
"She had to do
something. She'll be back soon."
Alfred nodded and turned
away. Bruce had the idea that Alfred was
mad at him. He'd had that feeling for a
while now.
"Something
eating you, old man?"
"In Xanadu
did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree."
"Interesting
time for Coleridge." Bruce poured a drink. "I'd offer you one, but I know how you
value control."
"You used to value that
too. Being a lotus eater is not my idea
of control."
Bruce turned slowly. "Lotus eater?"
"I had an interesting
conversation with J'onn today. About a planet he felt sure you would never want
to visit again."
Bruce could feel heat boiling
up into his cheeks. How long had it been
since he'd flushed like this? He and
J'onn were going to have words. It
didn't matter how skilled Alfred was at wheedling information out of
people. "Perhaps you should mind
your own business and let me mind mine."
"Since you seem
incapable of minding yours, I fear I must meddle." Alfred glared at him. "You owed Miss Diana more than
that."
"We're not having this
conversation, Alfred."
"You were happy. It's been a long time since I've seen you so
content."
Bruce downed the drink. "I said we weren't going to have this
conversation."
"You sabotage
everything. She deserved better."
Slamming down the glass, Bruce turned to Alfred. "She wanted it too." He fought to lower his voice, control his
breathing. "She wanted
him."
He saw understanding in
Alfred's eyes, then a profound sadness.
"And you just handed him over?
Are you out of your mind?"
Alfred picked up the glass and carried it to the kitchen. It was his not-so-subtle way of telling his
master to quit drinking for the night. And to get the hell out of his sight.
Bruce looked up at the
portrait of his parents.
They looked as if they
disapproved of him too.
----------------
When she got to the Embassy,
Diana changed into less conspicuous clothing then called Kal's number. No one answered.
She called back. On the fourth ring, Lois's voice came
on. "Hello."
"We need to talk. Alone."
"Hold on." There was only silence, then
Lois came back on. "What do we need
to talk about?"
"Is he gone?"
"For a
while. Not long."
"I'll be right
there." Before Lois could tell her
not to come, she hung up the phone and took off out the open French doors. She was soon crawling in through Kal's window. She'd done this before, but she'd always been
there to see him not his wife.
Lois looked like she'd been
crying.
"How did you get rid of
him?"
"He's at the
Planet. Finishing up
my article." She moved away
from Diana. "You wanted to
talk. So talk."
Diana tried to keep her
expression steady and gentle, resisting the urge to cross her arms over her
chest. Now was not the time for
protection, even though she knew she might want some kind of defense when this
was over.
Lois moved closer. "Talk."
Diana let the ghost of smile
play across her mouth. It always
provoked Lois when she did that.
"Damn you." Lois was suddenly too close. "I hate you."
"I hate you too."
Then Lois was kissing
her. Wildly. Desperately.
Diana didn't resist, but she
didn't kiss her back either.
Lois finally pulled
back. "What do you want from
me?"
"Just the truth,"
Diana said, then she slowly and with infinite care,
lay her hand over Lois's belly. "Is
it Bruce's?"
"I don't
know." Tears leaked out of Lois's
eyes. She didn't try to stop them from
falling.
"Have you and Kal ever
been pregnant before?"
"No. And I haven't used birth control." She looked down. "I didn't think. That damned air made me
forget to worry."
"The
first time. But every other time?" Diana touched Lois's face, brushing a tear
off her cheek. "What about all
those other times?"
"I don't know. I don't know if I did it on purpose or
not." She met Diana's eyes. "Do you think I wanted this?"
"I don't know what you
wanted."
Lois began to cry in
earnest. Diana watched her, trying not
to feel sorry for the woman. But as the
seconds ticked by and Lois didn't stop crying, she found herself unable to stop
the compassion that was welling up in her.
"Shh,
it's all right." Pulling Lois to
her, she held her and tried to soothe her.
Lois wrapped her arms around
her, pulling her even closer. "I
didn't mean to do it."
"Okay." Diana kissed her hair. When Lois pulled away a little and looked up
at her, Diana kissed her cheek, brushing off the tears with her lips.
Lois turned her head so their
lips met in a soft kiss. It was
unexpectedly sweet. "It's your child
too." She sounded heartbroken
saying that. "It's ours. We four."
Diana shook her head. "It's yours. Your body, not mine. Never mine." She sighed.
She'd never wanted a child until her rival suddenly had both her
men. Her rival who was
fertile and whole.
"Ours. It's
ours." Lois sighed, resignation in
her eyes. Resignation
that turned to determination when Diana shook her head. "Call Bruce." She stuck the cordless phone in Diana's hand,
then picked up her cell phone and asked Kal to come home.
Diana dialed the Manor
number. Alfred answered.
"I need Bruce."
"He's gone
upstairs." His voice was more
detached than she'd ever heard it--had he been drinking?
Lois moved close to her,
still talking on her cell phone.
"Clark, you'll need to pick up Bruce. He's expecting you." She motioned for Diana to hurry up.
"Clark will be by to
pick him up. We need him, Alfred."
"Of
course, my dear." He sighed.
"Anything else?"
"No."
"I'm sorry I was
unpleasant the other day."
"You weren't wrong about
things."
"I know I
wasn't." He didn't sound at all
pleased that he'd been correct in his suspicions. "Are you all right, Miss Diana?"
"I'm fine." As she cut the connection, she wondered if he
wanted to be a grandfather. Or adopted grandfather.
Would he spoil the baby?
Lois took the phone from her,
and Diana walked to the window, waiting for Kal and Bruce.
She felt Lois's hand on her
shoulder. A small
touch, not a stroke or a rub. Lois
had her hand barely resting on Diana's shirt.
"This is a mess,"
Lois said.
It was something they could
finally agree on.
---------------------
Clark watched as Lois
paced. He looked at her belly,
super-vision letting him see inside her, at the tiny
fetus that was his baby.
Or Bruce's.
He looked over at his friend,
wasn't surprised that Bruce was staring at him. Bruce's expression was full of
uncertainty. Clark didn't think he'd
ever seen the Batman so stunned.
Would the child have his eyes? Those dark blue-green eyes that Clark loved
to look into. He'd never told Bruce
that. Never admitted he loved to gaze
into his friend's eyes. Or kiss
him. Or touch him.
My god, how badly had they
screwed this up?
His wife was pregnant and
another man was the father. A man who
had made love to his own lover and to Clark, when he wasn't busy planting his
seed inside Clark's wife.
Clark's seed didn't seem to
want to put down roots. Unless...
He took a look at Diana's
belly. Her womb sat empty. No ovaries, or not
the kind that humans had. They were
there, but they were constructs. No
eggs. She wasn't going to be the miracle
mother of his child.
He would never have a
child. That thought sent anger and shame
rocketing through him. He was an alien. He didn't belong here.
His eyes met Diana's. Hers was full of infinite compassion. She understood what it meant to be outside
this. Neither of them were
human.
To his surprise, Lois sat
down by Diana, not meeting his or Bruce's eyes.
To his even greater surprise, Diana pulled her close and rubbed her arm
absently.
"Well." Bruce looked at Clark. "We won't know who's
the father until the baby is born. Not
for sure."
When the
child didn't fly. Didn't possess super strength
or super vision or super hearing.
But Clark already knew. This was a human child because that was the
only thing that made sense. "What
do we do?"
"We work it
out." Bruce's eyes were soft. "I don't want to ruin this for
you."
Not when Clark had done such
a bang-up job of ruining things all on his own.
"Nothing is
ruined," Lois said, sitting up straighter and staring at them with deep
resolve. "We're in this
together. Like it or not." She sighed.
"You're all my lovers. It's
our child."
"We're not going back to
that damned planet," Bruce said.
"I know." Lois kissed Diana slowly, gently. Then she pulled away. "We don't need the planet. Either we're together or we aren't. Not all the time, but when we
want." She looked around, met
Clark's stare. "You want her. And you want him. And so do I."
He didn't want to answer, so
he just nodded. She was right. He didn't want the planet anymore. Wanted to feel what he felt, not what the tainted
atmosphere told him to feel. If he was
jealous of Bruce, he wanted to know it.
If he wanted Diana more than his wife, or needed his wife more than his
new lover, he wanted to know that too.
Lois turned to Bruce. "You still want me, don't you?"
It took him a long time to
nod. Clark thought he saw Diana
wince. Lois must have thought so too,
because she put her hand on Diana's thigh, rubbing softly.
"It doesn't matter whose
child it is." She touched her
belly, and Clark realized she was probably terrified of what this life inside
her would mean.
It would change
everything.
But she was doing that
now. By telling them. By making them deal
with this here, on Earth. Not just as a
faraway fantasy they indulged in from time to time. She was trying to make it real.
Or maybe she was trying to
bring it all crashing down?
"No more planet," Lois said.
"We have beds and couches.
We can come to dinner at the manor.
You can come here." She
looked at Diana. "Not all the
time. But when we
want."
"The four of us all together,
or are you saying you want to be with Bruce whenever you please, just the two
of you?" Diana glanced at Bruce, a
look Clark couldn't read on her face.
"Maybe you would like me to baby-sit while you do both men?
"Don't be that
way." Lois leaned back, and Clark
suddenly envisioned her heavily pregnant.
She would look beautiful. Her
baby would be beautiful.
Their baby would be
beautiful.
Bruce's baby would be
beautiful. It didn't matter what Lois
said. This wasn't Clark's baby no matter
how much he would pretend it was.
"I guess we ought to buy
some baby furniture," he said to Bruce.
"I guess so." Bruce's tone was careful, his eyes full of
apology. He could obviously see that his
friend was on the ledge. "We should
go. Let you get some sleep."
Everyone stood, milling
around in the uncomfortable way of strangers who've just found out they're the
last people on Earth.
Diana kissed him softly on
the lips. "I'll see you."
He would see her. Up at the watchtower. Where sterile superheroes
went to forget that they'd been shown up by humans. He squeezed her hand, watched as Bruce kissed
Lois goodbye.
Bruce's hand stole to her
belly, resting for a moment on top of his child.
Clark heard Diana make a
sound so soft that he was sure only he'd caught it. She looked over at him, something broken in
her expression, and he kissed her again on the lips.
Dangerous. This was
dangerous.
She followed Bruce out.
He was left alone with his
wife.
"So," she said.
"So." He put his arm
around her, kissing her gently.
"Let's go to bed, Mrs. Kent."
She smiled in relief,
cuddling against him. She'd cuddled
against Diana the same way out in the living room. She'd probably love to cuddle that way
against Bruce.
Clark let her push him into
bed, watched as she crawled in next to him.
"We’ll be all
right," she murmured as she fell asleep.
He lay awake all night,
desperately trying to believe that.
FIN