Superman fic
Why am I starting a crazy-long Superman/DC AU series? Because the bunny won't go away. I have no idea what I'm doing, the fic below is mostly just me writing down what the bunny wants to make it stop gnawing. I hope I managed to make something resembling sense. If you're still confused about the premise of the fic by the end, do say so and I'll try to fix it. If not, Yay!
The first of what appears to be many in a series I'm choosing to call the "House of El".
Title: Two of a Kind
Fandom: DC comics
Pairing/Characters: gen; Clark, Dinah, Kara; Lois & Batman appear.
Rating: PG
Continuity: JLA: Year One
Summary: AU. Clark weaving in and around the newly-formed JLA in a world where things went a little differently.
Disclaimer: DC owns them, I just hijack them for fun.
Author's Notes: For the ’07 dc_appreciation ficathon, request #10. Also, I’m vaguely aware of some kind of retcon that says Black Canary I’s name was Diana rather than Dinah, but I think this is possibly the silliest retcon ever and have chosen to ignore it.
Word Count: 3,805
Clark smiled and moved closer to the door as he picked up the distinctive sound of a very distinctive bike putter into the street outside Wesley Dodd’s home. It was about time she showed up, even given how far she had to travel. He still didn’t really understand why she didn’t let him pick her up-it wasn’t as though Star City was out of his way. Nowhere was out of his way. He crossed his arms over his chest when she pushed the door open, feeling his Clark-Kent-reporter glasses in his breast pocket.
Various party guests turned at the sound and yelled "Junior!"
"Dinah," Clark smiled at her when she entered and she thwacked him on the shoulder as she walked past. He raised his eyebrows and his hands in a gesture of mock-surrender.
After saying her word of congratulations to Dinah, Kara slid over to his side. Her shoulder-length blond hair drawn up in a loose bun, as usual, she looked at him over the top of her stylish half-moon glasses. Clark leaned against the wall and watched the family that he and Dinah grew up with praise and pet her new Justice League, toast to their only other second generation hero. Kara, the youngest woman in the room besides Dinah, hooked her arm through his and leaned next to him, watching.
"Jealous?" she asked, voice laced with irony.
Clark started, turning to look at his cousin. "Jeal-Rao, No! No, I went through that two years ago, I don’t need to go through it again. Besides, Dinah grew up with these people."
"So did you."
"From my ninth birthday onward, maybe. She literally doesn’t remember her life without them." Clark shrugged. "They’re all family, they’re just . . . closer, to her. The JSA legacy means a lot to Dinah, and I know she’s incredibly happy to be honoring it with the Justice League."
Kara raised an eyebrow at her younger cousin. "Really? You spoke to her about it?"
"I . . . may have called." She kept staring, and Clark found himself looking at the ground and blushing. ". . . to get an interview for the Planet."
Kara laughed and shoved his shoulder with most of her strength, actually making him stumble despite her smaller size. It still startled him to have to look down at the woman who’d taught him Kryptonian, who’d made sure he knew his history and where he came from. Who took care of him for eight summers-till that fight. Still, they’d made up years ago, and now they were here, with her old team, celebrating Wes’s birthday and the advent of the next generation.
"At least you called," she teased. He made a face at her, and then laughed.
"Clark!" Joan Garrick called. "Stop being such a wallflower and help Dinah and I serve the cake."
Grinning agreeably, Clark pushed himself off the wall and went into the kitchen to help.
*
Less than twenty-four hours later, he got a distraught phone call from Star City. He was distracted, checking a fact Lois used as the cornerstone of her Suicide Slum serial killer article, and answered his phone on automatic. "Clark Kent, Daily Planet, how can I help you?"
"Did you know?"
He paused. "Dinah?"
"Did you know?" she demanded.
"Did I know-Dinah, did I know what? Is this about you yelling at Wes’s birthday last night?"
He heard her draw a breath through the static. "It’s . . . Kal, my mother . . ."
Clark shook his head. "Your mother drives you to distraction every time you see her, Dinah. Let it go."
"Not this time! Clark, she told me something . . ."
He sat up slowly. Dinah wasn’t one to get distressed easily, he should have picked up on the severe stress cadences in her voice at the beginning. "Dinah, what is it? What’d she tell you?"
"Did you know my mom and Ted Knight had an affair?"
Clark stilled, poleaxed. Sitting straight up in his chair, he was a statue in the busy eddy of the Planet newsroom. "I . . . had no idea."
Dinah let out a breath. "Oh. Okay. Okay, good."
"Dinah, you know I’d never keep something like that from you. That’s . . . she told you?"
"At Uncle Wes’s party, yeah, Clark. I-dammit."
It took a moment of effort, but Clark relaxed back into his chair, wincing when he realized he’d dented the handle of his phone into the shape of his fingers. He’d have to melt the plastic and fix it later. "Do you want me to come to Star? It won’t take me long, and the Planet won’t fall apart without me for a day."
He heard her short hair scrape her phone. "No, that’s okay. I’m just, well, freaking out a little. It’ll pass. I just need to work. It happened a long time ago. I’m sorry I called you out of the blue and attacked you. I’m spazzing here, Clark, I’m sorry."
"It’s alright, you know that. Yell my name if you change your mind and want a visit, though, okay?"
"I will. See you around, farmboy."
"You too, citygirl. Bye." The phone clicked when he hung it up.
"Girlfriend?"
Clark jumped about a foot, tossing his papers everywhere and nearly forgetting that Clark Kent couldn’t fly. He let himself fall back down into his seat, hoping no one saw that short defiance of gravity, and glared up at the hovering form of Lois Lane.
"Little sister, more like. She’s college-age, her mom and my cousin were friends, you know the story."
"Hmm-you called her ‘citygirl’. She live in a respectable place like Metropolis, instead of that lump in the ground you call a hometown?"
Clark snorted and started gathering his papers. "I don’t think you’d call her hometown respectable, exactly. She’s from Gotham. Her dad was a Gotham City cop."
Lois winced.
"She lives in Star City now, so we don’t see as much of each other as we used to, and she just got some . . . disturbing news." Clark sighed internally. Dinah worshipped her JSA aunt and uncles. This was going to throw her off for a really long time, maybe even throw her relationship with her new team. Maybe he should stop by anyway.
"Ooh, and she called you in her distress? Must be juicy." Lois settled onto her elbows and gave him a feral grin. "Give."
Clark feigned a shocked look. "Discuss my little sister’s private affairs? I don’t think so."
Lois’s mouth opened and closed a few times, then she pouted. "Come on, Smallville, don’t hold out on me!"
Clark just grinned and went back to fact-checking.
"Clark. Clark. Clark!"
*
A superspeed tap on the temple knocked Metallo out. The Kryptonite-powered supervillain defeated Superman when they’d fought in Metropolis; the Batman didn’t seem to be doing much better in Gotham, minus the affects of Kryptonite poisoning, and Superman used that distraction to speed down from above. Momentum carried him the last feet before he collapsed, mission accomplished.
"Idiot!" the cowled superhero snarled, dragging Metallo away from Superman and handcuffing him. Superman breathed a little easier, but he wasn’t far enough away yet. The Batman contacted the authorities somehow, ignoring the primary-colored hero in the alley behind him. Superman crawled back away from Metallo. The back of the alley was walled off, and unable to fly away, Superman sat against the wall and watched the Batman lurk.
Somehow, the GCPD didn’t notice his bright colors in the alley or the shadow-shrouded vigilante who watched their every move. Fifteen minutes passed before they got Metallo into a lead-lined truck and he could think about standing again.
The Batman was there instantly, mostly in shadow and glaring through those opaque lenses of his. "What are you doing in my city, alien?"
Superman started, staring wide-eyed at the man’s crass audacity. "Excuse me?" His head reared up, eyebrows arched. It felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water on him; he’d come here to help, and had successfully aided in the capture of a dangerous criminal. What right had this man to question his presence?
Throwing up a hand, the Batman launched a grapple to the nearest roof. "I thought I made myself clear. You’re not welcome in Gotham. Stay out of my city."
Then he vanished upward, leaving a stunned, angry Superman on the ground.
*
"What did you mean, saying ‘no’? My team not good enough for you? And that utterly, utterly stupid excuse! ‘My time is not my own’? My time is not my own? Lame, Clark, lame!"
It was like being in a room with Lois on a rampage, only Dinah Laurel Lance had a sonic cry and he had sensitive superhearing. It didn’t matter that she was on her bike in Star City, on her way home after her nightly bout of crime fighting. She’d called "Clark Jerome Kent!" into the night, and years of keeping an ear out for his name, especially in the voices of people close to him, tuned him in immediately. If he hadn’t called for too long when he went on walkabout, or she desperately needed to rant about her mother, she’d yell and he’d find a phone. It was a system they’d worked out as soon as they realized just how good his hearing was
Unfortunately for him, she was still ten minutes from the apartment above her shop and it looked like she intended to yell at him for the duration of her ride.
He definitely should have stopped by after she called him.
"Smallville, what on earth is wrong with you? Focus, rookie!"
Clark shook his head, trying to keep up with Dinah and Lois at the same time. "Lois, I’ve been at the Planet for two years, I don’t think I count as a rookie anymore."
She waved her hand dismissively at him. "Well, you’re acting like a rookie. You typed ‘and’ twice in that sentence, fix it."
"Yes, Madam General, ma’am," he drawled. She didn’t seem to notice his sarcasm; hide of iron, tongue of knives, that was Lois Lane. Great partner, good friend, but his initial crush wore off after enduring three straight days of her screaming and scheming to prove the mayor was in league with Intergang, only to have to rescue her as Superman when everything went south. Kara met her once; his cousin listened to her for about a minute before raising a single, disbelieving eyebrow at Clark and muttering in Kryptonian behind her back until she left.
Clark backed up, fixed the double word, and kept writing on autopilot while listening to Dinah rant. He’d let her get back to her apartment, and then he’d show up so she could tear him apart in person. It’d make her feel better, and also he could defend himself in person.
Glancing around, he made sure no one was looking, and typed at the fastest speed the computer could recognize. Since it was an interview with Superman about his latest heroics in Metropolis, it didn’t require much thought on Clark’s part. Especially since he didn’t have to hunt down and verify his quotes.
Wincing as Dinah spouted a particularly vitriolic phrase, Clark handed his piece to Perry and headed out. The first open window in an empty hallway let him into the sky, and he was over Star City before Dinah pulled her bike into its parking space. He sped down, changing back to Clark on his way, and leaned against the wall next to the door of her flower shop.
Dinah turned the corner and he flinched at the full affect of her sound. Seeing him, she clamped her mouth shut and stopped walking.
Hands on cocked hips, she glared at him. "Well?" she demanded, sonic cry replaced by icy anger. "Awful bold to show your face to me."
Clark bent his head and took off his glasses. She’d taken to calling him four-eyes for the first few months he wore them, and still thought they looked odd on his face. Better he play to her right now. "I may not be as "fearless" as your friend in green, but I’d be pretty spineless to let you yell at me like that without defending myself."
She glared at him a moment longer, and then, in classic Dinah fashion, all the fight drained out of her. Her hands dropped from her hips and she walked up next to him, unlocking her door. She looked . . . sad. "I don’t understand, Kal. Why didn’t you join us? I’d love to have someone I actually know on the team, someone who’s been at this for longer than most of us."
"Let me explain?" he asked, meeting her eyes. Hers were a stormy blue-gray, much darker than the matched-set, blinding Kryptonian blue eyes he and Kara possessed.
Dinah looked back at him for a moment before nodding and pushing her door open. "All right. Come on in."
*
The name on the mailbox read "Sorrel", the white picket fence around the tiny yard was going gray, the tiny yard itself was going yellow, and Streaky the cat was pacing back and forth on top of the couch in the living room, looking out the window at him. Clark locked the front gate behind him, trotted the few steps up to Kara’s front door and went in.
"Greetings!" he called in Kryptonian. The switch to Kara’s native language (he’d been bilingual from birth, at her insistence) was automatic at this point. He’d grown up with a working knowledge of Kryptonian in Smallville, and then when Kara moved out to Metropolis for good and he started spending summers with his cousin, she’d insisted they speak only Kryptonian if they were alone together. By the end of the summer he was fluent.
"In the kitchen, Kal!" she called, and Clark headed that way with Streaky purring and weaving in and out of his legs. The little ranch in a close suburb of Metropolis was perfect for her, subtly decorated in the colors of the House of El in all hues, with various touches made by Dinah (not his Dinah, her mother) and the other JSA women, her best friends. The red, yellow and blue was occasionally interrupted by burns, scars, or scratches made by her tabby. The life of an eager chemist was fraught with burning things.
Clark sat down at her kitchen table and the orange tabby immediately took over his lap. "What are you cooking?"
"Spaghetti." The word didn’t stand out as much as many human words did in the midst of Kryptonian, to the pleasure of Clark’s ear. "Molly taught me how to make it ages ago and I never did. So that’s what we’re having for dinner."
She set the stove timer and turned around, leaning against the stove and raising her eyebrows mischievously at her cousin. "You didn’t bring Lois?"
"Ka-ra!" Clark protested. "Stop matchmaking. You sound like Ma."
"Teasing, cousin," she assured him as she fetched glasses for them. "She’s-well. Liable to run roughshod over anyone in her way?"
Clark raised his eyebrows at her and suddenly realized he was still wearing his reporter glasses. They’d gotten more comfortable in the last year, rather than an annoying part of an annoying disguise. Lucky Kara, who spent her professional life around people who wouldn’t notice if she didn’t change clothes for a week, let alone that one of their colleagues was Superwoman when she let her hair down.
"Isn’t that a recommendation for me dating her?" he asked while Kara poured red wine into their glasses. Though they couldn’t get drunk, or even tipsy, Kara had acquired a taste for red wine during college. "Since I’m one of the few people who might make that difficult for her?"
Kara shook her head, checked on the pasta, then joined him at the table. "Being her friend is enough of a service to humanity, Kal. Don’t make a martyr of yourself." She sipped her wine, then gave him a sly look. "I heard you and Dinah fought."
Clark threw up his hands. "Does nothing make it past you? What were you, listening in?"
"I don’t have to, I’m linked into the JSA gossip network."
He groaned. "Who did she tell?"
"Oh, everyone." Kara laughed at the look on his face. "Cheer up, cousin. No one’s running against you. We just like to know what the next generation’s doing. Joan said you’re welcome to take refuge with them, should Dinah come a-hunting you."
"You know they’d turn me over to her in a New York second. She’s their ‘junior’."
Kara laughed in agreement. "Maybe. Anyway, enough with the cape-and-tights drama. What have you been doing?"
Clark launched into the latest Planet story, thick with intrigue, Lois putting her foot in her mouth, and Perry shouting.
Stories about work, what they were doing lately-she was investigating the possible pain-numbing properties of a South American fern-carried them through most of dinner, and Clark caught Kara up on news from Smallville.
He was on his way out the door when Kara hugged him, then stood on her toes to kiss his forehead. "I love you, Kal, even if you’re a little strange sometimes. Be well."
"You, too, Kara. Good night."
*
Forewarned by Dinah, Clark spent the next few days keeping an ear out for the eighth Appellaxian. The League still hadn’t figured out where their missing alien invader went. Not even a Kryptonian can keep his guard up forever, though, and one minute he was working a story with Lois, the next-
Groggy, hands behind back, can’t think . . . Green everywhere . . . but the pain was lessening . . ?
Somewhere below him, a voice muttered, "Sun . . . sunlight . . ."
Things were starting to focus better, now-the ground? No, up, he and Kara had to get up.
He realized with a start that Kara’s words weren’t helping because she was speaking in Kryptonian.
Coughing as he drew breath, Kal babbled something in English that made two of the fliers gather them up and head into the sky. Yellow sunlight washed over them as they ascended, and Kal felt his mind clearing-his strength returning-
Superman and Superwoman floated free of Alan Scott and Shining Knight and gave them the traditional salute of the House of El. "Thanks for the ride," he said, and then they shot higher, beyond where most mortals of this world could hope to survive.
When they came back down, the JLA was in charge, organizing the formerly captured heroes into an efficient task force based on knowledge and ability. The sheer speed at which everything was accomplished was astonishing, even considering that their leader was a speedster. The magic-users under Dr. Fate started setting up a containment field. Aquaman and the Sea Devils, with the help of the Challengers, were one of many contingents that broke off and rearranged themselves, teams from the past splitting and reforming and coming together again as everyone worked out who was most useful where. Through it all a bright red blur seemed to be everywhere at once, giving directions and double-checking facts.
Superman scanned the crowd, looking for-there. Dinah was in the midst of the Blackhawks, giving orders from Flash and coordinating with their leader. He flew to her side, put a hand on her shoulder.
She spun around and blue-gray eyes lit up. "Cl-Kal!" Dinah leaped up and he caught her as she threw her arms around his neck. "You’re alright? Aunt Kara’s alright?"
"We will be. Just wanted to make sure you were."
Black Canary slid out of his arms and shot him a cocky grin. "They don’t stand a chance. Let’s move!"
Her sonic cry rang out over the assembled, who broke and raced to every corner of the world.
*
Heroes, as a general rule, recovered from shocks quickly. The assembled masses caught their breaths as the JLA thrust the last Appellaxian through the portal back to their homeworld, fliers landing and partners and teams finding each other again. Kal reassured himself that Kara was well before making his way over to the JLA.
Once he’d finished making the speech required of Superman to praise the fledgling team and bolster the egos he’d flattened with his refusal to join, Kal turned back to Dinah.
She punched his shoulder. "I notice you still didn’t say you’d join."
"On a secondary basis, maybe. I still think that, except for situations like these, my skills are most effective on my own rather than as part of a unit."
"And also you’d want to beat in Hal’s head within a day."
Kal grinned. "Also that. And did I catch you flirting with that blond gimmick-arrow guy?"
"No!"
He raised his eyebrows skeptically.
"Green Arrow is an annoying jerk, and as for Speedy, I’d like to take the kid over my knee." Dinah sighed. "That said and understood-Kal, don’t you give me that ‘I’m onto a story’ look!-he’s based in my city and there is something about him . . ."
Kal started at her words-not the admission, that was clear to anyone with eyes, much less at least three different kinds of vision-" ‘My city’?" he repeated. "Is that just a Gotham thing? I’ve never actually referred to Metropolis that way."
Dinah cocked her head up at him, then laughed. "Oh, finally had a run-in with the Bat, did you? Don’t worry, him I won’t become. Gothamite or not, Star City’s my home now. Speaking of home, mister faster than a speeding bullet, I could use a ride."
"Alright, alright. Hang on." Wrapping an arm around Dinah’s waist, Kal rose into the sky and waved his free hand at the shrinking JLA. "I’ll get her home safely-then meet the rest of you stateside to begin cleanup."
He turned on the speed and a minute later swooped down and landed on the roof of her flower shop, letting her down. "You can handle everything here, I assume?"
"At least you assume."
He gave her a quick hug. "It’ll get better. You’re too good a hero for them to worry about you for long."
"I hope you’re right, ‘cause if they don’t quit it I’ll have to beat them up, and that wouldn’t be good for team morale."
Laughing, Clark floated back into the sky. "If you’ll excuse me, I have one more job to do before I help with cleanup."
The last thing he heard from Star City as he flew toward Metropolis was Dinah yelling, "If you misquote me, I’ll kick your ass, Kent!"
The first of what appears to be many in a series I'm choosing to call the "House of El".
Title: Two of a Kind
Fandom: DC comics
Pairing/Characters: gen; Clark, Dinah, Kara; Lois & Batman appear.
Rating: PG
Continuity: JLA: Year One
Summary: AU. Clark weaving in and around the newly-formed JLA in a world where things went a little differently.
Disclaimer: DC owns them, I just hijack them for fun.
Author's Notes: For the ’07 dc_appreciation ficathon, request #10. Also, I’m vaguely aware of some kind of retcon that says Black Canary I’s name was Diana rather than Dinah, but I think this is possibly the silliest retcon ever and have chosen to ignore it.
Word Count: 3,805
Clark smiled and moved closer to the door as he picked up the distinctive sound of a very distinctive bike putter into the street outside Wesley Dodd’s home. It was about time she showed up, even given how far she had to travel. He still didn’t really understand why she didn’t let him pick her up-it wasn’t as though Star City was out of his way. Nowhere was out of his way. He crossed his arms over his chest when she pushed the door open, feeling his Clark-Kent-reporter glasses in his breast pocket.
Various party guests turned at the sound and yelled "Junior!"
"Dinah," Clark smiled at her when she entered and she thwacked him on the shoulder as she walked past. He raised his eyebrows and his hands in a gesture of mock-surrender.
After saying her word of congratulations to Dinah, Kara slid over to his side. Her shoulder-length blond hair drawn up in a loose bun, as usual, she looked at him over the top of her stylish half-moon glasses. Clark leaned against the wall and watched the family that he and Dinah grew up with praise and pet her new Justice League, toast to their only other second generation hero. Kara, the youngest woman in the room besides Dinah, hooked her arm through his and leaned next to him, watching.
"Jealous?" she asked, voice laced with irony.
Clark started, turning to look at his cousin. "Jeal-Rao, No! No, I went through that two years ago, I don’t need to go through it again. Besides, Dinah grew up with these people."
"So did you."
"From my ninth birthday onward, maybe. She literally doesn’t remember her life without them." Clark shrugged. "They’re all family, they’re just . . . closer, to her. The JSA legacy means a lot to Dinah, and I know she’s incredibly happy to be honoring it with the Justice League."
Kara raised an eyebrow at her younger cousin. "Really? You spoke to her about it?"
"I . . . may have called." She kept staring, and Clark found himself looking at the ground and blushing. ". . . to get an interview for the Planet."
Kara laughed and shoved his shoulder with most of her strength, actually making him stumble despite her smaller size. It still startled him to have to look down at the woman who’d taught him Kryptonian, who’d made sure he knew his history and where he came from. Who took care of him for eight summers-till that fight. Still, they’d made up years ago, and now they were here, with her old team, celebrating Wes’s birthday and the advent of the next generation.
"At least you called," she teased. He made a face at her, and then laughed.
"Clark!" Joan Garrick called. "Stop being such a wallflower and help Dinah and I serve the cake."
Grinning agreeably, Clark pushed himself off the wall and went into the kitchen to help.
*
Less than twenty-four hours later, he got a distraught phone call from Star City. He was distracted, checking a fact Lois used as the cornerstone of her Suicide Slum serial killer article, and answered his phone on automatic. "Clark Kent, Daily Planet, how can I help you?"
"Did you know?"
He paused. "Dinah?"
"Did you know?" she demanded.
"Did I know-Dinah, did I know what? Is this about you yelling at Wes’s birthday last night?"
He heard her draw a breath through the static. "It’s . . . Kal, my mother . . ."
Clark shook his head. "Your mother drives you to distraction every time you see her, Dinah. Let it go."
"Not this time! Clark, she told me something . . ."
He sat up slowly. Dinah wasn’t one to get distressed easily, he should have picked up on the severe stress cadences in her voice at the beginning. "Dinah, what is it? What’d she tell you?"
"Did you know my mom and Ted Knight had an affair?"
Clark stilled, poleaxed. Sitting straight up in his chair, he was a statue in the busy eddy of the Planet newsroom. "I . . . had no idea."
Dinah let out a breath. "Oh. Okay. Okay, good."
"Dinah, you know I’d never keep something like that from you. That’s . . . she told you?"
"At Uncle Wes’s party, yeah, Clark. I-dammit."
It took a moment of effort, but Clark relaxed back into his chair, wincing when he realized he’d dented the handle of his phone into the shape of his fingers. He’d have to melt the plastic and fix it later. "Do you want me to come to Star? It won’t take me long, and the Planet won’t fall apart without me for a day."
He heard her short hair scrape her phone. "No, that’s okay. I’m just, well, freaking out a little. It’ll pass. I just need to work. It happened a long time ago. I’m sorry I called you out of the blue and attacked you. I’m spazzing here, Clark, I’m sorry."
"It’s alright, you know that. Yell my name if you change your mind and want a visit, though, okay?"
"I will. See you around, farmboy."
"You too, citygirl. Bye." The phone clicked when he hung it up.
"Girlfriend?"
Clark jumped about a foot, tossing his papers everywhere and nearly forgetting that Clark Kent couldn’t fly. He let himself fall back down into his seat, hoping no one saw that short defiance of gravity, and glared up at the hovering form of Lois Lane.
"Little sister, more like. She’s college-age, her mom and my cousin were friends, you know the story."
"Hmm-you called her ‘citygirl’. She live in a respectable place like Metropolis, instead of that lump in the ground you call a hometown?"
Clark snorted and started gathering his papers. "I don’t think you’d call her hometown respectable, exactly. She’s from Gotham. Her dad was a Gotham City cop."
Lois winced.
"She lives in Star City now, so we don’t see as much of each other as we used to, and she just got some . . . disturbing news." Clark sighed internally. Dinah worshipped her JSA aunt and uncles. This was going to throw her off for a really long time, maybe even throw her relationship with her new team. Maybe he should stop by anyway.
"Ooh, and she called you in her distress? Must be juicy." Lois settled onto her elbows and gave him a feral grin. "Give."
Clark feigned a shocked look. "Discuss my little sister’s private affairs? I don’t think so."
Lois’s mouth opened and closed a few times, then she pouted. "Come on, Smallville, don’t hold out on me!"
Clark just grinned and went back to fact-checking.
"Clark. Clark. Clark!"
*
A superspeed tap on the temple knocked Metallo out. The Kryptonite-powered supervillain defeated Superman when they’d fought in Metropolis; the Batman didn’t seem to be doing much better in Gotham, minus the affects of Kryptonite poisoning, and Superman used that distraction to speed down from above. Momentum carried him the last feet before he collapsed, mission accomplished.
"Idiot!" the cowled superhero snarled, dragging Metallo away from Superman and handcuffing him. Superman breathed a little easier, but he wasn’t far enough away yet. The Batman contacted the authorities somehow, ignoring the primary-colored hero in the alley behind him. Superman crawled back away from Metallo. The back of the alley was walled off, and unable to fly away, Superman sat against the wall and watched the Batman lurk.
Somehow, the GCPD didn’t notice his bright colors in the alley or the shadow-shrouded vigilante who watched their every move. Fifteen minutes passed before they got Metallo into a lead-lined truck and he could think about standing again.
The Batman was there instantly, mostly in shadow and glaring through those opaque lenses of his. "What are you doing in my city, alien?"
Superman started, staring wide-eyed at the man’s crass audacity. "Excuse me?" His head reared up, eyebrows arched. It felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water on him; he’d come here to help, and had successfully aided in the capture of a dangerous criminal. What right had this man to question his presence?
Throwing up a hand, the Batman launched a grapple to the nearest roof. "I thought I made myself clear. You’re not welcome in Gotham. Stay out of my city."
Then he vanished upward, leaving a stunned, angry Superman on the ground.
*
"What did you mean, saying ‘no’? My team not good enough for you? And that utterly, utterly stupid excuse! ‘My time is not my own’? My time is not my own? Lame, Clark, lame!"
It was like being in a room with Lois on a rampage, only Dinah Laurel Lance had a sonic cry and he had sensitive superhearing. It didn’t matter that she was on her bike in Star City, on her way home after her nightly bout of crime fighting. She’d called "Clark Jerome Kent!" into the night, and years of keeping an ear out for his name, especially in the voices of people close to him, tuned him in immediately. If he hadn’t called for too long when he went on walkabout, or she desperately needed to rant about her mother, she’d yell and he’d find a phone. It was a system they’d worked out as soon as they realized just how good his hearing was
Unfortunately for him, she was still ten minutes from the apartment above her shop and it looked like she intended to yell at him for the duration of her ride.
He definitely should have stopped by after she called him.
"Smallville, what on earth is wrong with you? Focus, rookie!"
Clark shook his head, trying to keep up with Dinah and Lois at the same time. "Lois, I’ve been at the Planet for two years, I don’t think I count as a rookie anymore."
She waved her hand dismissively at him. "Well, you’re acting like a rookie. You typed ‘and’ twice in that sentence, fix it."
"Yes, Madam General, ma’am," he drawled. She didn’t seem to notice his sarcasm; hide of iron, tongue of knives, that was Lois Lane. Great partner, good friend, but his initial crush wore off after enduring three straight days of her screaming and scheming to prove the mayor was in league with Intergang, only to have to rescue her as Superman when everything went south. Kara met her once; his cousin listened to her for about a minute before raising a single, disbelieving eyebrow at Clark and muttering in Kryptonian behind her back until she left.
Clark backed up, fixed the double word, and kept writing on autopilot while listening to Dinah rant. He’d let her get back to her apartment, and then he’d show up so she could tear him apart in person. It’d make her feel better, and also he could defend himself in person.
Glancing around, he made sure no one was looking, and typed at the fastest speed the computer could recognize. Since it was an interview with Superman about his latest heroics in Metropolis, it didn’t require much thought on Clark’s part. Especially since he didn’t have to hunt down and verify his quotes.
Wincing as Dinah spouted a particularly vitriolic phrase, Clark handed his piece to Perry and headed out. The first open window in an empty hallway let him into the sky, and he was over Star City before Dinah pulled her bike into its parking space. He sped down, changing back to Clark on his way, and leaned against the wall next to the door of her flower shop.
Dinah turned the corner and he flinched at the full affect of her sound. Seeing him, she clamped her mouth shut and stopped walking.
Hands on cocked hips, she glared at him. "Well?" she demanded, sonic cry replaced by icy anger. "Awful bold to show your face to me."
Clark bent his head and took off his glasses. She’d taken to calling him four-eyes for the first few months he wore them, and still thought they looked odd on his face. Better he play to her right now. "I may not be as "fearless" as your friend in green, but I’d be pretty spineless to let you yell at me like that without defending myself."
She glared at him a moment longer, and then, in classic Dinah fashion, all the fight drained out of her. Her hands dropped from her hips and she walked up next to him, unlocking her door. She looked . . . sad. "I don’t understand, Kal. Why didn’t you join us? I’d love to have someone I actually know on the team, someone who’s been at this for longer than most of us."
"Let me explain?" he asked, meeting her eyes. Hers were a stormy blue-gray, much darker than the matched-set, blinding Kryptonian blue eyes he and Kara possessed.
Dinah looked back at him for a moment before nodding and pushing her door open. "All right. Come on in."
*
The name on the mailbox read "Sorrel", the white picket fence around the tiny yard was going gray, the tiny yard itself was going yellow, and Streaky the cat was pacing back and forth on top of the couch in the living room, looking out the window at him. Clark locked the front gate behind him, trotted the few steps up to Kara’s front door and went in.
"Greetings!" he called in Kryptonian. The switch to Kara’s native language (he’d been bilingual from birth, at her insistence) was automatic at this point. He’d grown up with a working knowledge of Kryptonian in Smallville, and then when Kara moved out to Metropolis for good and he started spending summers with his cousin, she’d insisted they speak only Kryptonian if they were alone together. By the end of the summer he was fluent.
"In the kitchen, Kal!" she called, and Clark headed that way with Streaky purring and weaving in and out of his legs. The little ranch in a close suburb of Metropolis was perfect for her, subtly decorated in the colors of the House of El in all hues, with various touches made by Dinah (not his Dinah, her mother) and the other JSA women, her best friends. The red, yellow and blue was occasionally interrupted by burns, scars, or scratches made by her tabby. The life of an eager chemist was fraught with burning things.
Clark sat down at her kitchen table and the orange tabby immediately took over his lap. "What are you cooking?"
"Spaghetti." The word didn’t stand out as much as many human words did in the midst of Kryptonian, to the pleasure of Clark’s ear. "Molly taught me how to make it ages ago and I never did. So that’s what we’re having for dinner."
She set the stove timer and turned around, leaning against the stove and raising her eyebrows mischievously at her cousin. "You didn’t bring Lois?"
"Ka-ra!" Clark protested. "Stop matchmaking. You sound like Ma."
"Teasing, cousin," she assured him as she fetched glasses for them. "She’s-well. Liable to run roughshod over anyone in her way?"
Clark raised his eyebrows at her and suddenly realized he was still wearing his reporter glasses. They’d gotten more comfortable in the last year, rather than an annoying part of an annoying disguise. Lucky Kara, who spent her professional life around people who wouldn’t notice if she didn’t change clothes for a week, let alone that one of their colleagues was Superwoman when she let her hair down.
"Isn’t that a recommendation for me dating her?" he asked while Kara poured red wine into their glasses. Though they couldn’t get drunk, or even tipsy, Kara had acquired a taste for red wine during college. "Since I’m one of the few people who might make that difficult for her?"
Kara shook her head, checked on the pasta, then joined him at the table. "Being her friend is enough of a service to humanity, Kal. Don’t make a martyr of yourself." She sipped her wine, then gave him a sly look. "I heard you and Dinah fought."
Clark threw up his hands. "Does nothing make it past you? What were you, listening in?"
"I don’t have to, I’m linked into the JSA gossip network."
He groaned. "Who did she tell?"
"Oh, everyone." Kara laughed at the look on his face. "Cheer up, cousin. No one’s running against you. We just like to know what the next generation’s doing. Joan said you’re welcome to take refuge with them, should Dinah come a-hunting you."
"You know they’d turn me over to her in a New York second. She’s their ‘junior’."
Kara laughed in agreement. "Maybe. Anyway, enough with the cape-and-tights drama. What have you been doing?"
Clark launched into the latest Planet story, thick with intrigue, Lois putting her foot in her mouth, and Perry shouting.
Stories about work, what they were doing lately-she was investigating the possible pain-numbing properties of a South American fern-carried them through most of dinner, and Clark caught Kara up on news from Smallville.
He was on his way out the door when Kara hugged him, then stood on her toes to kiss his forehead. "I love you, Kal, even if you’re a little strange sometimes. Be well."
"You, too, Kara. Good night."
*
Forewarned by Dinah, Clark spent the next few days keeping an ear out for the eighth Appellaxian. The League still hadn’t figured out where their missing alien invader went. Not even a Kryptonian can keep his guard up forever, though, and one minute he was working a story with Lois, the next-
Groggy, hands behind back, can’t think . . . Green everywhere . . . but the pain was lessening . . ?
Somewhere below him, a voice muttered, "Sun . . . sunlight . . ."
Things were starting to focus better, now-the ground? No, up, he and Kara had to get up.
He realized with a start that Kara’s words weren’t helping because she was speaking in Kryptonian.
Coughing as he drew breath, Kal babbled something in English that made two of the fliers gather them up and head into the sky. Yellow sunlight washed over them as they ascended, and Kal felt his mind clearing-his strength returning-
Superman and Superwoman floated free of Alan Scott and Shining Knight and gave them the traditional salute of the House of El. "Thanks for the ride," he said, and then they shot higher, beyond where most mortals of this world could hope to survive.
When they came back down, the JLA was in charge, organizing the formerly captured heroes into an efficient task force based on knowledge and ability. The sheer speed at which everything was accomplished was astonishing, even considering that their leader was a speedster. The magic-users under Dr. Fate started setting up a containment field. Aquaman and the Sea Devils, with the help of the Challengers, were one of many contingents that broke off and rearranged themselves, teams from the past splitting and reforming and coming together again as everyone worked out who was most useful where. Through it all a bright red blur seemed to be everywhere at once, giving directions and double-checking facts.
Superman scanned the crowd, looking for-there. Dinah was in the midst of the Blackhawks, giving orders from Flash and coordinating with their leader. He flew to her side, put a hand on her shoulder.
She spun around and blue-gray eyes lit up. "Cl-Kal!" Dinah leaped up and he caught her as she threw her arms around his neck. "You’re alright? Aunt Kara’s alright?"
"We will be. Just wanted to make sure you were."
Black Canary slid out of his arms and shot him a cocky grin. "They don’t stand a chance. Let’s move!"
Her sonic cry rang out over the assembled, who broke and raced to every corner of the world.
*
Heroes, as a general rule, recovered from shocks quickly. The assembled masses caught their breaths as the JLA thrust the last Appellaxian through the portal back to their homeworld, fliers landing and partners and teams finding each other again. Kal reassured himself that Kara was well before making his way over to the JLA.
Once he’d finished making the speech required of Superman to praise the fledgling team and bolster the egos he’d flattened with his refusal to join, Kal turned back to Dinah.
She punched his shoulder. "I notice you still didn’t say you’d join."
"On a secondary basis, maybe. I still think that, except for situations like these, my skills are most effective on my own rather than as part of a unit."
"And also you’d want to beat in Hal’s head within a day."
Kal grinned. "Also that. And did I catch you flirting with that blond gimmick-arrow guy?"
"No!"
He raised his eyebrows skeptically.
"Green Arrow is an annoying jerk, and as for Speedy, I’d like to take the kid over my knee." Dinah sighed. "That said and understood-Kal, don’t you give me that ‘I’m onto a story’ look!-he’s based in my city and there is something about him . . ."
Kal started at her words-not the admission, that was clear to anyone with eyes, much less at least three different kinds of vision-" ‘My city’?" he repeated. "Is that just a Gotham thing? I’ve never actually referred to Metropolis that way."
Dinah cocked her head up at him, then laughed. "Oh, finally had a run-in with the Bat, did you? Don’t worry, him I won’t become. Gothamite or not, Star City’s my home now. Speaking of home, mister faster than a speeding bullet, I could use a ride."
"Alright, alright. Hang on." Wrapping an arm around Dinah’s waist, Kal rose into the sky and waved his free hand at the shrinking JLA. "I’ll get her home safely-then meet the rest of you stateside to begin cleanup."
He turned on the speed and a minute later swooped down and landed on the roof of her flower shop, letting her down. "You can handle everything here, I assume?"
"At least you assume."
He gave her a quick hug. "It’ll get better. You’re too good a hero for them to worry about you for long."
"I hope you’re right, ‘cause if they don’t quit it I’ll have to beat them up, and that wouldn’t be good for team morale."
Laughing, Clark floated back into the sky. "If you’ll excuse me, I have one more job to do before I help with cleanup."
The last thing he heard from Star City as he flew toward Metropolis was Dinah yelling, "If you misquote me, I’ll kick your ass, Kent!"