Friends
Written by Amazonia V
Chapter 14:
Kicking their chairs out from under them, people began to run, half-drunk beverages collapsing to the floor and neatly stacked piles of potato chips collapsing onto the table cloths as the customers clambered over each other like sheep trying to escape.
Green Lantern flew across to Fanci's side, Black Star only a few feet behind him. She was still alive, thank God, her eyes wide with shock, but still alive. He ripped her blouse open, saw the blood frothing from under her left breast.
"It's okay," Green Lantern reassured her, leaning close so she could hear him. She nodded, lifted her head as if to speak, then fell back.
"She needs to survive. How bad has she been hit?" Black Star was no longer wearing his black suit and had metamorphosed into a caped crusader in stark black. The only aspect to break the unrelieved black was the thick silver belt around his lean waist. His blond hair fell over his forehead as he fell to his knees next to Green Lantern as the fire alarm sounded.
"We need to rush her to hospital," Green Lantern shouted over the noise, ripping a tablecloth off a nearby table and folding it into a makeshift pillow.
"Press down-" He grabbed Black Star's hand and jammed it hard against the wound.
Activating his power ring, he scanned the area. Simultaneously, he quickly informed the rest of the JLA about the firing, giving them his coordinates, telling them that Black Star was with him and Fanci.
"Where in Pluto's name are you going?" Black Star called after him.
"To find the shooter."
Hal leapt up on to service counter, knowing from the location of her wound and the direction she'd been facing that the gunman must have been positioned somewhere ahead of her.
Scanning the floor, he suddenly noticed an unexpected shimmer of glass under the stampeding crowd's feet. He glanced instinctively up at the ceiling and saw that a single mirrored panel was missing from its reflective surface, the empty black square as obvious as a decaying tooth in an otherwise perfect smile.
Green Lantern used his power ring to fly through the long white service corridor lit by
overhead strip lighting, scanning for a pair of shoes, or a uniform, or a face that didn't
quite fit. Ahead of him, about two thirds of the way down the corridor, a door opened and a man wearing a baseball cap stepped out.
Green Lantern noticed him immediately. It was his studied calmness that gave him away.
His calmness and the detached, almost curious expression on his face. He seemed to notice Green Lantern at almost the same time because, grimacing, he turned and retreated back inside, locking the door behind him.
Green Lantern flew down the corridor after him, tried the handle and then stepped back and used his power ring as a sledge hammer to break down the door lock. With a firm kick, the door splintered open.
Carefully, using his ring to cover the angles above him, Green Lantern made his way up the stairs into the shadows of the observation deck, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. He felt the shooter before he saw him, the metal walkways shuddering under his heavy step as he sprinted along the gantries away from him.
Green Lantern set off after him, trying to guess where he'd turned, so that he wouldn't end up stranded in a different section of the floor. Up ahead the gunman paused and then in an instant was over the side of the gantry and dangling down over the suspended ceiling below.
As Green Lantern followed the gunman, the man seemed to be waiting for him, backpack hitched over one arm. For an instant, no longer, they stood about twenty feet apart, their eyes locked. The gunman studied Green Lantern with a detached curiosity; as a beam of yellow light locked onto the gunman and as Green Lantern watched, he vanished before his eyes. Unable to use his power ring to stop the gunman's disappearance, Green Lantern tried to identify the elemental signature of the light beam.
Too late.
In an instant, the gunman was gone.
Wonder Woman received the JLA signal and responded instantly. The JLA had paired her with Superman. She would simply fly across to his apartment in Metropolis and meet him there. Then, they could use the tele-porter tube to anyplace they needed to go. To the thirtieth century if necessary.
Ensuring that the com-link was on, so that she could receive more updates, Wonder Woman flew out of Themyscira House. She stopped outside the window of Superman's apartment, hovering in the air. She had done this often enough. She was just about to raise the shutter and call out to Superman, when Kal himself walked into the bedroom. He had obviously just walked out of the shower.
Wonder Woman stopped breathing. Her lungs just seized and she stopped breathing.
"Sweet Aphrodite," she croaked and managed to inhale. She was seeing more of Superman than she had ever thought she would; everything, in fact. Kal stood in front of the dresser in the room, stark naked. Wonder Woman barely had time to admire his butt, before he took a bottle of orange juice from the bedside table, twisting off the top and tilting it to his mouth as he turned around.
She forgot all about his butt. He was more impressive coming – no pun intended – than he was going, and that was saying something, because his butt was severely cute. The man was hung.
"Ah, Zeus, were you so blessed," she gasped. The fact was, Superman looked pretty damn good all over. He was tall, lean in the waist, hard-muscled, super…
She wrenched her gaze north just a little and saw he had a nice, hairy chest. Normally, that was covered by the big red S on his body suit. She already knew he had a good face. A cleft in his chin, sexy blue eyes, white teeth, spit curl, a good laugh. And he had a fantastic character to go with this stupendous body.
She pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart was doing more than pitter- pattering; it was trying to sledgehammer its way through her sternum. Other parts of her body were joining in the excitement. She didn't notice or sense Erato hovering out of sight, smirking at her unease.
'This was insane,' she thought to herself. If she gave into this reaction (most un-Princess like, most un-Amazonian), she would be running right over to audition as his mattress.
Oblivious of the tumult going on inside her, as well as the heart-stopping view in front of her, the world below continued on its way. Cars pulled in to the porch of the apartment blocks, people got out, people got in, cars pulled away. The doormen continued to open doors and bob their heads in salute. Their priorities were obviously a mess.
Wonder Woman got herself under control with some difficulty. It was a good thing she was Amazon born and bred, Amazon trained. And not a mortal woman or she might have reacted differently. But Amazon or mortal woman, she still appreciated beauty, and Kal was a work of art, an epitome of male beauty – definitely a candidate for a classic Greek statue and maybe even a modern-day pin-up. Wonder Woman pinched herself mentally – what was she blabbering about? She was made of sterner stuff than this. And she was certainly no stranger to the naked human form – not with so many thousand years of Greek gods and goddesses behind her culture and upbringing.
She saw him cross the bedroom and stand in front of his closet. He was standing in profile to her now. Ah, Aphrodite, what would you do? Well, that was a stupid question. Aphrodite would lose no time in bedding Kal. The better question was, what should Diana do? Kal was her Best Friend!
She took another deep breath and opened her mouth to whisper to him, knowing she would embarrass him and herself. But she had to warn him, had to do the right thing. And besides, she had nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't as if she was using super-vision to spy on him or play peek-a-boo. She was legitimately flying outside his window. It was Kal who was walking around naked. True, he was nude in his own apartment, but still…
"Um…Kal."
"Diana," came the response, his voice deep and sexy in its tones.
"I hate to tell you this, but you might want to…put some clothes on, or at least, close your
curtains. I'm just outside your window and you're nude. I…." her voice trailed off.
Kal wheeled to face the window, and they stared at each for the space of a heartbeat. He didn't dart to the side or squat out of sight or do anything else that might indicate embarrassment. Instead, he grinned. Kal actually grinned at her.
Hera, Diana wished he wouldn't do that. She felt her cheeks flame with embarrassment.
"Got an eyeful, did you?" he asked as he walked to the window and they stared at each other for the length of a heartbeat.
"Yes, I did."
He pulled the curtains together. "I'll be with you in a second," he said.
"Thank you," Diana said.
"My pleasure," he chuckled. "Maybe you can return the favor sometime."
Wonder Woman waited patiently, had almost succeeded in regaining her composure, when the com-link crackled.
"Wonder Woman, this is Batman. You might want to switch off the com-link next time you and Superman have something personal to say to each other."
"Wonder Woman, Black Canary here. I have to ask, did you just tell Superman that he was nude?"
"Flash to Wonder Woman, switch off the com-link next time you and Big Blue need to chat."
"GA to WW. Wow, that sounded hot."
Wonder Woman's hard won composure cracked again. She had forgotten that the JLA com-link have been activated and was on, all the time that she was talking to Superman. He, of course, with his super senses did not need one. But she was wearing hers, and designed as they were, to pick up the slightest whisper, their conversation had been broadcast to all the Leaguers.
Gaea! How could she look at Superman again without remembering him naked? How could she meet any of the others without them mercilessly teasing her about it? How could she meet Superman without blushing or letting him see the effect he had had on her? She was still not fully comfortable with his kisses and the assault on her senses. Now, this.
He hadn't been embarrassed, though, so why should she? They were both adults, right? She had certainly seen naked men before.
Well, statues of naked men and a one or two naked Greek heroes.
She had just never seen Kal naked before.