"Up, Up, and Away", Quantum Leap and DCU, G, gen.
Title: Up, Up, and Away
Fandom: Quantum Leap and DCU (DC Universe)
Rating: G.
Length: About 3900 words.
Characters/Pairings: Sam Beckett, Clark Kent (Superman), Al Calavicci, Bruce Wayne (Batman), Diana (Wonder Woman).
Spoilers: "The Leap Home (Part 1)" for QL, general Superman story background for DCU.
Summary: Sometimes, even superheroes need a little extra help. That's where Sam Beckett comes in.
Notes: A reveal post is coming in my regular journal very soon, at which point I'll link to it here. Edit: Reveal post! The original Yuletide post can be found here.
Up, Up, and Away
Al, what am I here to do? Race a speeding bullet, leap over a tall building in a single bound?
-"Future Boy"
-
Despite however long Sam Beckett had been Leaping, it wasn't an experience he fully got used to, between the initial disorientation, the constant memory distortion, and the simple fact that he was bouncing around through time. But even so, he'd done it long enough and remembered just enough of it that he'd formed certain expectations about how Leaps began and progressed.
All those expectations shattered when the first thing he saw was his hands holding a metal girder effortlessly above his head. Panic set in when the second thing he saw was the ground several hundred feet below.
"Oh boy," he whispered.
If he thought his jaw couldn't drop any further, a man in colorful tights swept by in the air, bearing a piece of what seemed to be a building wall effortlessly above his chest.
"Are you okay?" the man asked.
Sam wouldn't have known how to answer the question if he'd thought about it; luckily, he usually didn't at the beginning of a Leap. "Fine. I'm fine."
"We should stack the debris in one place," the man said.
Sam nodded. "Right."
The man lowered to the ground. Sam gaped at him for a moment, and realized he had no idea how to control his levitation.
Fly down, he thought, and nothing happened. Please?
"Are you sure you're okay?" The man was far below Sam, but he could hear him perfectly well.
"I'm fine!" Sam called back. He could feel a trail of sweat drip on his forehead.
He tilted toward the ground slightly, and his stomach lurched as he wondered if he would turn end over end, as if he was suspended in a harness. Luckily, it appeared to do the trick, because he started lowering slowly. By the time his feet touched ground, the man in the blue and red tights had already gathered three more pieces of debris.
"That's the last of it," he said, with satisfaction. He looked at Sam, who caught sight of the big S on the man's chest for the first time.
Sam's mouth went dry.
"I don't believe it."
Without thinking, Sam looked toward the voice. Al stood close behind him, complete with loud clothes and a chin scraping the ground. He noticed Sam's gaze out of the corner of his eye, broke his stare away, and waved forward.
"What do you see? Trouble?"
"Oh, uh…" Sam glanced back toward Superman. "It's nothing."
Superman looked concerned, but after another brief pause, he leapt into the air and zoomed in a streak across the sky.
"Aren't you gonna follow him?" Al asked.
Sam frowned. "It was hard enough getting on the ground in the first place."
"You…might want to keep it down."
Unknown to Sam, a crowd had gathered, and had apparently been there for some time, thanks to the police barriers and the two officers patrolling them. The crowd wasn't anything too frenzied -- a couple dozen, with a few waving papers or clutching cameras -- but Sam turned his back to them and walked in the opposite direction. He also obliged Al and lowered his voice.
"What am I doing here?"
Al smirked. "I'm not sure you want to walk down the street in that."
Sam put his hands on his hips. "In what?"
Al waved the handlink from Sam's feet to head, and Sam, with a sigh and an eye roll, glanced down. When he saw the star-spangled armor he was barely clad in, he jerked his arms over his crotch and shifted in his red boots.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he hissed.
"I always hoped you'd Leap into the Man of Steel," Al said around a chuckle. "Not the…"
"Al."
"Princess," he finished, quirking an eyebrow.
Sam leapt into the air without thinking. Apparently, he'd been thinking too hard before about flying because not thinking about it left him zipping through the air like he'd been doing it his whole life. But he couldn't outrun Al, who kept hopping forward on rooftops using the handlink.
"Can't you park it?" Al called through cupped hands. "This is making me sick!"
"You deserve it!"
"Sorry, us mere mortals can't hear around the wind."
Sam huffed, but he took the hint and settled on the nearest deserted rooftop, and Al jumped over with a pained expression. Sam's landing left a little to be desired, considering the heeled boots he wore made it tough to balance, but it could have been worse. At least the roof only took a few scuffs.
"Why would I Leap into a superhero?" he asked, throwing his hands into the air. "Can't they handle their own problems?"
"Sure, sure," Al said. He punched a few buttons into the handlink without adding anything.
"So…"
"So…we don't know."
"We? We as in you, Ziggy--"
"As in everybody," Al said. The humor in his voice was completely gone, replaced by some kind of mild frustration. "You're in the present, Sam. It's the same day we're experiencing."
"Which is…"
"August 5, 1997."
August? It explained the hot breeze drifting through Sam's hair. "That's never happened before."
"It's in your lifetime."
Sam blinked hard. "That means I could call you. I could--"
"Oh, no." Al's eyes grew to the size of hubcaps. "We're supposed to be classified. If Superman, or anyone else, gets a hint of the Project, it could spell big trouble for you."
"So?"
Al scowled. "So these hot shots fight tough guys I'd rather not tip off, if you know what I'm saying."
Sam did. He didn't like it, but he understood. "So I'm who?"
Al tilted his head slightly. "Don't tell me you don't know."
"I don't, okay?"
"Right," Al said, dropping his hands. "Swiss-cheesed noggin. You're Wonder Woman, Diana to your friends. Princess of Themyscira, guardian of the Amazons…none of this rings a bell?"
"It sounds like something out of a comic book."
"Where do you think they got their ideas?" Al said. "Look, here's what we know. You're in Metropolis…you know, Superman's turf?"
"I figured that much out."
"He's gotta know why you're here. Or why Diana's here, at least."
"But I don't know where he went."
"Don't worry about it," Al said, a grin returning to his face. "He's not a hard guy to find."
-
But Sam didn't find Superman; Superman found him.
After more of a briefing from Al, Sam sped off the roof in the general direction he'd seen the other superhero fly. But the only people Sam spotted with his amazingly excellent vision were muggers on the street, a jumper on a rooftop, and a group of robbers swarming a bank. He'd carefully subdued all attackers and helped the victims at all of the crime scenes, and it was only when the police was taking away the last people in handcuffs at the bank that Superman appeared at the top of the building overhead. Sam had gotten enough of the swing of things to fly to the top without difficulty, but he still stumbled when he landed on the edge, and he waved his arms to regain his balance.
"A bit unsteady, Diana?"
Sam gave a weak smile. Wonder Woman wasn't too far from Superman's height, but Sam didn't have any of Superman's confidence, or the confidence Diana herself probably had on an average day.
"Long day," Sam said, although he wasn't feeling the least bit tired. "Sorry I didn't catch up with you."
Superman shook his head. "No, you did what I asked. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."
"Oh. Sure."
"I don't normally need time off, especially when I had to be gone so recently, but things are…" He heaved a sigh and deflated a little. Sam blinked. For a moment, the man had looked nearly human, which, according to Al, was exactly what he wasn't. "I don't trust myself."
Sam blinked, hard. He'd seen this guy lug half of a skyscraper around; doubt was the last thing he expected. "Everyone needs a break. Don't…don't beat yourself up."
Superman smiled. "I don't know what I'm going to do without him."
Him? Sam couldn't read minds, but he could hear the pained tone in his voice. "I'm sorry."
Superman walked toward the edge of the building and stared at the sunset, his cape fluttering behind him. Sam's breath caught in his throat, and he felt the kind of wonder that only kids usually pulled off.
"I wish the world could know," Superman said. "About Jonathan Kent. So they could know why I was gone for weeks, and why I'm keeping a quieter profile now. It's so funny that Lois could know about this part, but Metropolis expects the man on the streets."
Sam sensed an opportunity. "Tell me about him."
Superman's shoulders loosened. "I've already talked your ear off about him."
"It's okay," Sam said. "I want to hear it again."
"I keep thinking about about certain moments. He'd tuck me in as a kid, along with Ma, and they'd tell me that they loved me. But there were nights when he could see something in my face, and he'd sit on the end of the bed, pat my foot, and tell me that he'd never met a more special boy. I'd say something about the way I pushed around cars or ran around cornfields, but he'd shake his head and say…"
His voice broke, and Sam took a step forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
"He'd say," Superman said, his voice normal again. "'You'd be special even if you could skin your knee on the ground like everyone else.'"
Sam needed to say something to work the lump in his throat free, so he said, "He sounded like a great man."
"The greatest," Superman said, and for the first time, Sam detected a hint of the Midwest in his voice…a hint of his own home. But Superman stepped on the ledge and resumed his straight as a rod stance. "But Superman can't cry. And I'm not…ready."
"I understand," Sam murmured. "It's hard to lose a father."
Superman nodded even as Sam's stomach went cold. Al had told him Diana didn't have a traditional father, so she didn't know what it was like to lose one. But even with the holes in his memory, the smell of tobacco and the sight of his father's overalls drifted in his mind, and it hurt, for some reason.
"Come down whenever you want to sleep," he said. "Just…you understand about the secret identity? You have some street clothes?"
"Yeah, absolutely," Sam said, even though he didn't have a clue. "Thanks."
"No, thank you."
And with that, Superman flew into the sunset.
-
Al returned in the early evening, when Sam sat on the edge of the bank where he'd spoken with Superman.
"Jonathan Kent had a son named Clark," Al said as he punched buttons on the handlink. "Adopted. You think…"
"Yeah, I do," Sam said. "When did Jonathan die?"
"Two weeks ago tomorrow. Heart attack." Al seemed dazed. "I know the secret identity of Superman."
Sam felt a pang of guilt. "You'll tell Ziggy not to put it in the databanks, right?'
"This Leap's strictly need-to-know," Al said. "All searches erased, and everything."
"Good."
"I hope that means she'll be more willing to talk."
With everything that had been going on, Sam had forgotten he wasn't the only one borrowing a body. "Diana wasn't cooperative?"
Al chuckled. "She's a feisty one. And with that body…"
Sam crossed his arms over his chest, both to prove his point and to block Al's vision. "Don't start."
"Right, right." Al smirked. "She demanded to know what god we work for. These guys, what a kick."
"Talk to her, and get back to me," Sam said. "I'm going to keep an eye on the city."
"I knew you'd be a natural at this."
Sam frowned. "I can't even land without flopping around."
"You know what I mean. All the lives you've touched, saved…this is just an upgrade from your usual gig."
As Al opened the door to the Imaging Chamber and Sam prepared to leap back in the air, he grudgingly admitted to himself that Al wasn't entirely wrong.
-
The first two days passed in an easy rhythm. Sam scouted for trouble -- he didn't find much, after the first batch, probably because any sort of figure cruising the skies was a powerful deterrent -- and learned the layout of Metropolis. He found Clark Kent's apartment with some help from Al, and some clothes tucked in an alcove next to one of the apartment windows thanks to reluctant intel from Diana, and slept on Clark's bed here and there. He'd tried to take the couch, but Clark wouldn't hear of it. Even though it was modern day, Clark was the kind of gentlemen that supposedly existed in the times Sam went back to but usually didn't.
Sam kept grilling Al for theories, but Ziggy was working off the information gleaned from Sam and the newspapers, and there just wasn't enough to formulate theories with accuracy. He'd be lying if it didn't make him sweat more than a little, but he was so busy that he didn't think about it much.
It was on day three that the visitors appeared. A man with huge hawk-like wings was the first, meeting Clark on the outskirts of the city. The next was a bald man with green skin and glowing eyes near the Daily Planet, which turned out to be the place where Superman worked his day job. Sam assumed there were more, from the way items of food and souvenirs from odd places appeared in Clark's apartment, but he tried to give Clark some privacy. He'd only seen the first couple because he'd been making the rounds and hadn't thought to look away.
The first visitor on the fourth day was the most interesting one.
Clark brought him in through the front door of his apartment after Sam got out of the shower. He was toweling his hair dry and wore a t-shirt and sweatpants Clark let him borrow while he washed the one street outfit Diana had stowed away.
"Who's there?" Sam asked, poking his head out of the bathroom.
"You remember Bruce, don't you?" Clark replied.
Sam paused and searched his memory. Al hadn't mentioned anyone named Bruce, but by the pointed look Clark gave, he wasn't a neighbor, or a work colleague. Plus, the man was dressed to the nines in one of the most expensive suits Sam had seen in a long time, and there was something dangerous behind his gaze.
"Of course," Sam said. "How have you been?"
"Busy, as usual," Bruce replied, his voice smooth. "And you?"
"Busy," Sam replied.
"She's been picking up some of my projects while I catch up at work," Clark said, heading toward the kitchen. "You want a drink?"
"Wine, if you have it." He searched Sam closely, and not in a leering sort of way. Sam's alarm grew. "I'd heard something about your help. It's really nice of you to do, when you have lots of projects of your own."
"Nothing that couldn't wait," Sam replied. It didn't take a genius to notice Bruce wasn't being charitable. "I actually have to get back in a minute…"
"Stay for a minute. Eat something," Clark said. "Bruce said he wanted to see you, too."
Sam felt an uneasy smile spread across his face. "I already had dinner."
"How about dessert?" Bruce said, eyes narrowing the slightest bit. "I brought some of Alfred's tarts with me."
"I appreciate it, but I really do have to be going," Sam said. He went back in the bathroom and stripped out of Clark's clothes, placing Wonder Woman's armor back on and replacing the clothes. He then swept out of the apartment with as much grace as he could manage: more than when he first Leapt in, less than most women could probably pull off.
He felt Bruce's eyes on him as he left. He wouldn't have been surprised if they'd remained until Sam closed the door behind him. Hell, he could almost feel them even when he made his way to the apartment rooftop where he and Al had been meeting.
Sam started to share a basic description of Bruce, but Al cut him off quickly without punching a single handlink button.
"Jesus, Bruce Wayne?"
"I don't know his last name."
Al shook his head. "Ooh, Sam, this is not a guy you want to mess with."
"I figured," Sam said, "but what do you know that I don't?"
"He's the CEO of Wayne Enterprises," Al said, pacing next to a vent. "Wayne's an investor."
"But we're funded by the government."
"A lot of the components for Ziggy, and our other electronics, were made special, and Wayne Enterprises donated them."
"How convenient." Sam pushed a hand through his hair. "I need to Leap, and fast. Tell me you have something."
"What's there for me to have?" Al said, stopping in his tracks. "We're running parallel, and you're in with a group with more secrets than the CIA."
"I can't stay stuck here!" Sam yelled. "And the world needs Wonder Woman back! If you don't have anything, I need to go on patrol."
"I got nothing. Sorry."
Sam closed his eyes and sighed. "You'll come back if you get something?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Then I'll see you later."
"Not so fast."
Sam's heart thudded in his chest as a figure stepped out of the shadows.
"Oh no," Al groaned. "This is the last thing we need."
Just like Sam had recognized Superman's outfit immediately, Batman was easy to distinguish: cape, cowl, armor with the symbol on the chest, and the pointy ears extended toward the sky.
"Hello, Bruce," Sam said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. He wasn't completely sure that Bruce Wayne was Batman, but it also seemed a pretty safe bet. "Sorry I left so fast."
Al gaped. "You can't be serious."
"Wonder Woman," Batman replied.
"You are serious. Sam…"
Sam sighed. "What do you need?"
Batman stepped toward the edge of the building. This wasn't unusual; all the supers Sam had met preferred an easy exit, but with his pounding heart, this was the first time he'd understood why. "Clark said you were helping. Thought you might want a break."
"Thanks, but I've got it," Sam said. His knees went weak. How much had Bruce heard? "It won't last too much longer."
"I wouldn't be so sure. He's having doubts."
"About what?"
"About what we do. What he does."
Sam couldn't say he was entirely surprised, but at the same time, he felt his muscles sag as disappointment flooded through him. "But why?"
"Maybe you should ask him."
Abruptly, he felt a hint of relief. Bruce was asking for his help, not trying to bust him. Probably. "Then maybe I'll take a break after all."
Batman inclined his head and drew a hand out from under his cloak. He clutched a gadget of some kind and pointed it toward a building opposite. Sam watched for a moment, interested, but Batman paused.
"By the way," he said in his deep undertone, "talking to yourself is a bad habit."
A cable deployed from the gun, and Batman whizzed off the roof.
"I told you Bruce Wayne was trouble," Al murmured.
Sam laughed once, quietly. "He also gave me the reason I'm here."
-
Clark was stretched out on his couch when Sam walked in the apartment.
"Diana," Clark said, sitting up. "I didn't expect you back."
"A…friend gave me a breather."
Clark grinned broadly. Sam had never seen someone mourning who could exude that much happiness. "How nice of him. Going to sleep?"
"I thought you might want to talk," Sam said, talking an easy chair across from the couch. The apartment wasn't huge, but it was well-furnished and lit: the perfect showpiece of a mid-level professional's life.
"I've been talking to a lot of people lately. You included."
Sam smiled. It was easy to smile at Clark Kent. "If you need to talk, you need to talk."
"Why don't you talk?" Clark said. "I haven't listened much these past few days."
"I don't have anything interesting to say."
"Come on, I'm a reporter. I like stories."
"Only if it's off-the-record." Clark laughed, and Sam followed. "I guess that's obvious."
Clark closed his book and put it on the table next to him. "I'm all ears."
Sam felt a cold chill. It only lasted a moment -- possibly less, since Diana's sense of time sometimes seemed different than his own -- but it felt like hours. He had no idea what he could tell Superman to convince him to continue saving people. He knew everything Sam did about the impact he made, the lives he saved, and how he would feel better doing it. Sam also knew that, despite how super a person was, everyone had their limits. Even a non-human.
Had Clark reached his limit? Would pushing him do more harm than good?
Sam started talking before he'd finished thinking the whole way through. He sometimes operated better on instinct, so he went with it.
"I knew a guy once. From Indiana, a good kid. His dad was a dairy farmer, amongst other things."
Clark quirked an eyebrow, but Sam met his gaze easily.
"But he hated the cigarettes his father wouldn't give up, the fatty foods he ate, and the way he wouldn't exercise. This kid watched his father kill himself slowly, and even though he tried to give his father advice, he died of a heart attack just a couple years after he graduated high school."
"Poor kid," Clark said. As usual, he seemed to mean it. "What did he do next?"
"He became successful when he followed his passions, in science. He even made some important discoveries…uh, in the scientific community, anyway." Sam leaned forward. "His father stayed with him. He may not have been in his thoughts every single second of his life, but I'm sure he'd be the first to admit that thoughts of his father kept him going sometimes. When things went wrong, when he wasn't sure of himself."
"Sounds as if he felt guilty."
Sam nodded. "Probably."
"But I bet he didn't regret trying to help."
Sam remembered Al's words about making his family miserable, and how ashamed he'd felt. But he'd had to try.
"Not a bit," Sam said aloud.
"Do I know this kid?"
Sam smiled. "No. But you don't have to."
-
The sun rose over Metropolis, and Sam sighed with contentment as he heard the Imaging Chamber door open behind him.
"I did it, Al," Sam said. "I'm ready to Leap."
"You did? That's great, Sam!" Al came forward with a wide grin on his face, but it disappeared after a heartbeat. "But…you're still here."
"I had to tell you about it first," Sam replied, and he knew it was true. Sometimes, that's how it worked.
Al nodded. "Okay. What was the moral of the story, Sam?"
Sam chuckled. "This Leap wasn't for Clark Kent. Or even Superman."
"Who was it for?"
Sam took a deep breath. "Me."
With that, the world around him disappeared.
Fandom: Quantum Leap and DCU (DC Universe)
Rating: G.
Length: About 3900 words.
Characters/Pairings: Sam Beckett, Clark Kent (Superman), Al Calavicci, Bruce Wayne (Batman), Diana (Wonder Woman).
Spoilers: "The Leap Home (Part 1)" for QL, general Superman story background for DCU.
Summary: Sometimes, even superheroes need a little extra help. That's where Sam Beckett comes in.
Notes: A reveal post is coming in my regular journal very soon, at which point I'll link to it here. Edit: Reveal post! The original Yuletide post can be found here.
Up, Up, and Away
Al, what am I here to do? Race a speeding bullet, leap over a tall building in a single bound?
-"Future Boy"
-
Despite however long Sam Beckett had been Leaping, it wasn't an experience he fully got used to, between the initial disorientation, the constant memory distortion, and the simple fact that he was bouncing around through time. But even so, he'd done it long enough and remembered just enough of it that he'd formed certain expectations about how Leaps began and progressed.
All those expectations shattered when the first thing he saw was his hands holding a metal girder effortlessly above his head. Panic set in when the second thing he saw was the ground several hundred feet below.
"Oh boy," he whispered.
If he thought his jaw couldn't drop any further, a man in colorful tights swept by in the air, bearing a piece of what seemed to be a building wall effortlessly above his chest.
"Are you okay?" the man asked.
Sam wouldn't have known how to answer the question if he'd thought about it; luckily, he usually didn't at the beginning of a Leap. "Fine. I'm fine."
"We should stack the debris in one place," the man said.
Sam nodded. "Right."
The man lowered to the ground. Sam gaped at him for a moment, and realized he had no idea how to control his levitation.
Fly down, he thought, and nothing happened. Please?
"Are you sure you're okay?" The man was far below Sam, but he could hear him perfectly well.
"I'm fine!" Sam called back. He could feel a trail of sweat drip on his forehead.
He tilted toward the ground slightly, and his stomach lurched as he wondered if he would turn end over end, as if he was suspended in a harness. Luckily, it appeared to do the trick, because he started lowering slowly. By the time his feet touched ground, the man in the blue and red tights had already gathered three more pieces of debris.
"That's the last of it," he said, with satisfaction. He looked at Sam, who caught sight of the big S on the man's chest for the first time.
Sam's mouth went dry.
"I don't believe it."
Without thinking, Sam looked toward the voice. Al stood close behind him, complete with loud clothes and a chin scraping the ground. He noticed Sam's gaze out of the corner of his eye, broke his stare away, and waved forward.
"What do you see? Trouble?"
"Oh, uh…" Sam glanced back toward Superman. "It's nothing."
Superman looked concerned, but after another brief pause, he leapt into the air and zoomed in a streak across the sky.
"Aren't you gonna follow him?" Al asked.
Sam frowned. "It was hard enough getting on the ground in the first place."
"You…might want to keep it down."
Unknown to Sam, a crowd had gathered, and had apparently been there for some time, thanks to the police barriers and the two officers patrolling them. The crowd wasn't anything too frenzied -- a couple dozen, with a few waving papers or clutching cameras -- but Sam turned his back to them and walked in the opposite direction. He also obliged Al and lowered his voice.
"What am I doing here?"
Al smirked. "I'm not sure you want to walk down the street in that."
Sam put his hands on his hips. "In what?"
Al waved the handlink from Sam's feet to head, and Sam, with a sigh and an eye roll, glanced down. When he saw the star-spangled armor he was barely clad in, he jerked his arms over his crotch and shifted in his red boots.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he hissed.
"I always hoped you'd Leap into the Man of Steel," Al said around a chuckle. "Not the…"
"Al."
"Princess," he finished, quirking an eyebrow.
Sam leapt into the air without thinking. Apparently, he'd been thinking too hard before about flying because not thinking about it left him zipping through the air like he'd been doing it his whole life. But he couldn't outrun Al, who kept hopping forward on rooftops using the handlink.
"Can't you park it?" Al called through cupped hands. "This is making me sick!"
"You deserve it!"
"Sorry, us mere mortals can't hear around the wind."
Sam huffed, but he took the hint and settled on the nearest deserted rooftop, and Al jumped over with a pained expression. Sam's landing left a little to be desired, considering the heeled boots he wore made it tough to balance, but it could have been worse. At least the roof only took a few scuffs.
"Why would I Leap into a superhero?" he asked, throwing his hands into the air. "Can't they handle their own problems?"
"Sure, sure," Al said. He punched a few buttons into the handlink without adding anything.
"So…"
"So…we don't know."
"We? We as in you, Ziggy--"
"As in everybody," Al said. The humor in his voice was completely gone, replaced by some kind of mild frustration. "You're in the present, Sam. It's the same day we're experiencing."
"Which is…"
"August 5, 1997."
August? It explained the hot breeze drifting through Sam's hair. "That's never happened before."
"It's in your lifetime."
Sam blinked hard. "That means I could call you. I could--"
"Oh, no." Al's eyes grew to the size of hubcaps. "We're supposed to be classified. If Superman, or anyone else, gets a hint of the Project, it could spell big trouble for you."
"So?"
Al scowled. "So these hot shots fight tough guys I'd rather not tip off, if you know what I'm saying."
Sam did. He didn't like it, but he understood. "So I'm who?"
Al tilted his head slightly. "Don't tell me you don't know."
"I don't, okay?"
"Right," Al said, dropping his hands. "Swiss-cheesed noggin. You're Wonder Woman, Diana to your friends. Princess of Themyscira, guardian of the Amazons…none of this rings a bell?"
"It sounds like something out of a comic book."
"Where do you think they got their ideas?" Al said. "Look, here's what we know. You're in Metropolis…you know, Superman's turf?"
"I figured that much out."
"He's gotta know why you're here. Or why Diana's here, at least."
"But I don't know where he went."
"Don't worry about it," Al said, a grin returning to his face. "He's not a hard guy to find."
-
But Sam didn't find Superman; Superman found him.
After more of a briefing from Al, Sam sped off the roof in the general direction he'd seen the other superhero fly. But the only people Sam spotted with his amazingly excellent vision were muggers on the street, a jumper on a rooftop, and a group of robbers swarming a bank. He'd carefully subdued all attackers and helped the victims at all of the crime scenes, and it was only when the police was taking away the last people in handcuffs at the bank that Superman appeared at the top of the building overhead. Sam had gotten enough of the swing of things to fly to the top without difficulty, but he still stumbled when he landed on the edge, and he waved his arms to regain his balance.
"A bit unsteady, Diana?"
Sam gave a weak smile. Wonder Woman wasn't too far from Superman's height, but Sam didn't have any of Superman's confidence, or the confidence Diana herself probably had on an average day.
"Long day," Sam said, although he wasn't feeling the least bit tired. "Sorry I didn't catch up with you."
Superman shook his head. "No, you did what I asked. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."
"Oh. Sure."
"I don't normally need time off, especially when I had to be gone so recently, but things are…" He heaved a sigh and deflated a little. Sam blinked. For a moment, the man had looked nearly human, which, according to Al, was exactly what he wasn't. "I don't trust myself."
Sam blinked, hard. He'd seen this guy lug half of a skyscraper around; doubt was the last thing he expected. "Everyone needs a break. Don't…don't beat yourself up."
Superman smiled. "I don't know what I'm going to do without him."
Him? Sam couldn't read minds, but he could hear the pained tone in his voice. "I'm sorry."
Superman walked toward the edge of the building and stared at the sunset, his cape fluttering behind him. Sam's breath caught in his throat, and he felt the kind of wonder that only kids usually pulled off.
"I wish the world could know," Superman said. "About Jonathan Kent. So they could know why I was gone for weeks, and why I'm keeping a quieter profile now. It's so funny that Lois could know about this part, but Metropolis expects the man on the streets."
Sam sensed an opportunity. "Tell me about him."
Superman's shoulders loosened. "I've already talked your ear off about him."
"It's okay," Sam said. "I want to hear it again."
"I keep thinking about about certain moments. He'd tuck me in as a kid, along with Ma, and they'd tell me that they loved me. But there were nights when he could see something in my face, and he'd sit on the end of the bed, pat my foot, and tell me that he'd never met a more special boy. I'd say something about the way I pushed around cars or ran around cornfields, but he'd shake his head and say…"
His voice broke, and Sam took a step forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
"He'd say," Superman said, his voice normal again. "'You'd be special even if you could skin your knee on the ground like everyone else.'"
Sam needed to say something to work the lump in his throat free, so he said, "He sounded like a great man."
"The greatest," Superman said, and for the first time, Sam detected a hint of the Midwest in his voice…a hint of his own home. But Superman stepped on the ledge and resumed his straight as a rod stance. "But Superman can't cry. And I'm not…ready."
"I understand," Sam murmured. "It's hard to lose a father."
Superman nodded even as Sam's stomach went cold. Al had told him Diana didn't have a traditional father, so she didn't know what it was like to lose one. But even with the holes in his memory, the smell of tobacco and the sight of his father's overalls drifted in his mind, and it hurt, for some reason.
"Come down whenever you want to sleep," he said. "Just…you understand about the secret identity? You have some street clothes?"
"Yeah, absolutely," Sam said, even though he didn't have a clue. "Thanks."
"No, thank you."
And with that, Superman flew into the sunset.
-
Al returned in the early evening, when Sam sat on the edge of the bank where he'd spoken with Superman.
"Jonathan Kent had a son named Clark," Al said as he punched buttons on the handlink. "Adopted. You think…"
"Yeah, I do," Sam said. "When did Jonathan die?"
"Two weeks ago tomorrow. Heart attack." Al seemed dazed. "I know the secret identity of Superman."
Sam felt a pang of guilt. "You'll tell Ziggy not to put it in the databanks, right?'
"This Leap's strictly need-to-know," Al said. "All searches erased, and everything."
"Good."
"I hope that means she'll be more willing to talk."
With everything that had been going on, Sam had forgotten he wasn't the only one borrowing a body. "Diana wasn't cooperative?"
Al chuckled. "She's a feisty one. And with that body…"
Sam crossed his arms over his chest, both to prove his point and to block Al's vision. "Don't start."
"Right, right." Al smirked. "She demanded to know what god we work for. These guys, what a kick."
"Talk to her, and get back to me," Sam said. "I'm going to keep an eye on the city."
"I knew you'd be a natural at this."
Sam frowned. "I can't even land without flopping around."
"You know what I mean. All the lives you've touched, saved…this is just an upgrade from your usual gig."
As Al opened the door to the Imaging Chamber and Sam prepared to leap back in the air, he grudgingly admitted to himself that Al wasn't entirely wrong.
-
The first two days passed in an easy rhythm. Sam scouted for trouble -- he didn't find much, after the first batch, probably because any sort of figure cruising the skies was a powerful deterrent -- and learned the layout of Metropolis. He found Clark Kent's apartment with some help from Al, and some clothes tucked in an alcove next to one of the apartment windows thanks to reluctant intel from Diana, and slept on Clark's bed here and there. He'd tried to take the couch, but Clark wouldn't hear of it. Even though it was modern day, Clark was the kind of gentlemen that supposedly existed in the times Sam went back to but usually didn't.
Sam kept grilling Al for theories, but Ziggy was working off the information gleaned from Sam and the newspapers, and there just wasn't enough to formulate theories with accuracy. He'd be lying if it didn't make him sweat more than a little, but he was so busy that he didn't think about it much.
It was on day three that the visitors appeared. A man with huge hawk-like wings was the first, meeting Clark on the outskirts of the city. The next was a bald man with green skin and glowing eyes near the Daily Planet, which turned out to be the place where Superman worked his day job. Sam assumed there were more, from the way items of food and souvenirs from odd places appeared in Clark's apartment, but he tried to give Clark some privacy. He'd only seen the first couple because he'd been making the rounds and hadn't thought to look away.
The first visitor on the fourth day was the most interesting one.
Clark brought him in through the front door of his apartment after Sam got out of the shower. He was toweling his hair dry and wore a t-shirt and sweatpants Clark let him borrow while he washed the one street outfit Diana had stowed away.
"Who's there?" Sam asked, poking his head out of the bathroom.
"You remember Bruce, don't you?" Clark replied.
Sam paused and searched his memory. Al hadn't mentioned anyone named Bruce, but by the pointed look Clark gave, he wasn't a neighbor, or a work colleague. Plus, the man was dressed to the nines in one of the most expensive suits Sam had seen in a long time, and there was something dangerous behind his gaze.
"Of course," Sam said. "How have you been?"
"Busy, as usual," Bruce replied, his voice smooth. "And you?"
"Busy," Sam replied.
"She's been picking up some of my projects while I catch up at work," Clark said, heading toward the kitchen. "You want a drink?"
"Wine, if you have it." He searched Sam closely, and not in a leering sort of way. Sam's alarm grew. "I'd heard something about your help. It's really nice of you to do, when you have lots of projects of your own."
"Nothing that couldn't wait," Sam replied. It didn't take a genius to notice Bruce wasn't being charitable. "I actually have to get back in a minute…"
"Stay for a minute. Eat something," Clark said. "Bruce said he wanted to see you, too."
Sam felt an uneasy smile spread across his face. "I already had dinner."
"How about dessert?" Bruce said, eyes narrowing the slightest bit. "I brought some of Alfred's tarts with me."
"I appreciate it, but I really do have to be going," Sam said. He went back in the bathroom and stripped out of Clark's clothes, placing Wonder Woman's armor back on and replacing the clothes. He then swept out of the apartment with as much grace as he could manage: more than when he first Leapt in, less than most women could probably pull off.
He felt Bruce's eyes on him as he left. He wouldn't have been surprised if they'd remained until Sam closed the door behind him. Hell, he could almost feel them even when he made his way to the apartment rooftop where he and Al had been meeting.
Sam started to share a basic description of Bruce, but Al cut him off quickly without punching a single handlink button.
"Jesus, Bruce Wayne?"
"I don't know his last name."
Al shook his head. "Ooh, Sam, this is not a guy you want to mess with."
"I figured," Sam said, "but what do you know that I don't?"
"He's the CEO of Wayne Enterprises," Al said, pacing next to a vent. "Wayne's an investor."
"But we're funded by the government."
"A lot of the components for Ziggy, and our other electronics, were made special, and Wayne Enterprises donated them."
"How convenient." Sam pushed a hand through his hair. "I need to Leap, and fast. Tell me you have something."
"What's there for me to have?" Al said, stopping in his tracks. "We're running parallel, and you're in with a group with more secrets than the CIA."
"I can't stay stuck here!" Sam yelled. "And the world needs Wonder Woman back! If you don't have anything, I need to go on patrol."
"I got nothing. Sorry."
Sam closed his eyes and sighed. "You'll come back if you get something?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Then I'll see you later."
"Not so fast."
Sam's heart thudded in his chest as a figure stepped out of the shadows.
"Oh no," Al groaned. "This is the last thing we need."
Just like Sam had recognized Superman's outfit immediately, Batman was easy to distinguish: cape, cowl, armor with the symbol on the chest, and the pointy ears extended toward the sky.
"Hello, Bruce," Sam said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. He wasn't completely sure that Bruce Wayne was Batman, but it also seemed a pretty safe bet. "Sorry I left so fast."
Al gaped. "You can't be serious."
"Wonder Woman," Batman replied.
"You are serious. Sam…"
Sam sighed. "What do you need?"
Batman stepped toward the edge of the building. This wasn't unusual; all the supers Sam had met preferred an easy exit, but with his pounding heart, this was the first time he'd understood why. "Clark said you were helping. Thought you might want a break."
"Thanks, but I've got it," Sam said. His knees went weak. How much had Bruce heard? "It won't last too much longer."
"I wouldn't be so sure. He's having doubts."
"About what?"
"About what we do. What he does."
Sam couldn't say he was entirely surprised, but at the same time, he felt his muscles sag as disappointment flooded through him. "But why?"
"Maybe you should ask him."
Abruptly, he felt a hint of relief. Bruce was asking for his help, not trying to bust him. Probably. "Then maybe I'll take a break after all."
Batman inclined his head and drew a hand out from under his cloak. He clutched a gadget of some kind and pointed it toward a building opposite. Sam watched for a moment, interested, but Batman paused.
"By the way," he said in his deep undertone, "talking to yourself is a bad habit."
A cable deployed from the gun, and Batman whizzed off the roof.
"I told you Bruce Wayne was trouble," Al murmured.
Sam laughed once, quietly. "He also gave me the reason I'm here."
-
Clark was stretched out on his couch when Sam walked in the apartment.
"Diana," Clark said, sitting up. "I didn't expect you back."
"A…friend gave me a breather."
Clark grinned broadly. Sam had never seen someone mourning who could exude that much happiness. "How nice of him. Going to sleep?"
"I thought you might want to talk," Sam said, talking an easy chair across from the couch. The apartment wasn't huge, but it was well-furnished and lit: the perfect showpiece of a mid-level professional's life.
"I've been talking to a lot of people lately. You included."
Sam smiled. It was easy to smile at Clark Kent. "If you need to talk, you need to talk."
"Why don't you talk?" Clark said. "I haven't listened much these past few days."
"I don't have anything interesting to say."
"Come on, I'm a reporter. I like stories."
"Only if it's off-the-record." Clark laughed, and Sam followed. "I guess that's obvious."
Clark closed his book and put it on the table next to him. "I'm all ears."
Sam felt a cold chill. It only lasted a moment -- possibly less, since Diana's sense of time sometimes seemed different than his own -- but it felt like hours. He had no idea what he could tell Superman to convince him to continue saving people. He knew everything Sam did about the impact he made, the lives he saved, and how he would feel better doing it. Sam also knew that, despite how super a person was, everyone had their limits. Even a non-human.
Had Clark reached his limit? Would pushing him do more harm than good?
Sam started talking before he'd finished thinking the whole way through. He sometimes operated better on instinct, so he went with it.
"I knew a guy once. From Indiana, a good kid. His dad was a dairy farmer, amongst other things."
Clark quirked an eyebrow, but Sam met his gaze easily.
"But he hated the cigarettes his father wouldn't give up, the fatty foods he ate, and the way he wouldn't exercise. This kid watched his father kill himself slowly, and even though he tried to give his father advice, he died of a heart attack just a couple years after he graduated high school."
"Poor kid," Clark said. As usual, he seemed to mean it. "What did he do next?"
"He became successful when he followed his passions, in science. He even made some important discoveries…uh, in the scientific community, anyway." Sam leaned forward. "His father stayed with him. He may not have been in his thoughts every single second of his life, but I'm sure he'd be the first to admit that thoughts of his father kept him going sometimes. When things went wrong, when he wasn't sure of himself."
"Sounds as if he felt guilty."
Sam nodded. "Probably."
"But I bet he didn't regret trying to help."
Sam remembered Al's words about making his family miserable, and how ashamed he'd felt. But he'd had to try.
"Not a bit," Sam said aloud.
"Do I know this kid?"
Sam smiled. "No. But you don't have to."
-
The sun rose over Metropolis, and Sam sighed with contentment as he heard the Imaging Chamber door open behind him.
"I did it, Al," Sam said. "I'm ready to Leap."
"You did? That's great, Sam!" Al came forward with a wide grin on his face, but it disappeared after a heartbeat. "But…you're still here."
"I had to tell you about it first," Sam replied, and he knew it was true. Sometimes, that's how it worked.
Al nodded. "Okay. What was the moral of the story, Sam?"
Sam chuckled. "This Leap wasn't for Clark Kent. Or even Superman."
"Who was it for?"
Sam took a deep breath. "Me."
With that, the world around him disappeared.