Chapter 9: Moving Home
Diana wakes up the next morning to find herself under Kal’s cape. She sits up to see him already up, standing arms outstretched facing the sun. “Do you always do that?” she asks him.
“Usually I do it above the clouds but since I’m not suppose to go anywhere this will have to do.” he answers without turning around.
Diana stands up and walks over to him. “Here.” she says handing his cape over.
Clark turns around and takes it.
“Thank you for that.” she says to him.
Clark reattaches his cape. “No problem. So can I leave now?”
“Anxious to get away are we?” Diana teases.
“No offence but I do have a life outside of this costume.”
“I understand. So do I but first Epione gives you one last check over and then we can go.”
“After you your Highness.”
Diana’s eyes narrow “Don’t start with the your Highness stuff Kal or else you will find out why Amazons are such feared warriors.”
Clark actually gulps nervously. “Sorry.”
They make their way back to find Epione who after giving Clark a quick check deems him fully recovered. Clark picks up his crystals and follows Diana outside where she flies straight up. He follows until she stops.
“So which way do we go?” Clark asks.
“Do you trust me?” she asks.
“Yes.” Clark answers.
“Then I need you to close your eyes and let me guide you and before you protest this isn’t optional. I can’t allow to see where we are. This is so you can never find your way back.”
Clark nods in acceptance and closes his eyes. Diana takes his arm and he allows her to pull him along.
Diana watches her home disappear behind its magical barrier and deems that is far enough considering Kal can’t see through magic. “You can open them.” she tells him.
Clark does so and see nothing but ocean.
“So where are you going now?” she asks him.
“To take these home.” he says indicating his crystals. “Do you want to see?”
Diana’s curiosity gets the better of her. “Yes. I think I would.”
“Follow me then. Oh does the cold bother you?”
“Not particularly. Why?”
“Because it is cold where we are going.” Clark tells her as he heads off north with Diana following him.
When they fly above the arctic circle Diana realises he wasn’t kidding about it being cold. Then out if the mist she spots it. Great Gaea. It is beautiful.
“Welcome to my Fortress of Solitude.” Clark tells her as they fly inside.
As they land Diana tries to take it all in “Kal. It is beautiful. Is this what your home looked like?”
“Yes it did.” he says as he moves to the console and begins to reinsert the crystals. As he does so life and light is restored to the Fortress causing Clark to smile. He adjusts the crystals ever so slightly. “There we go. That’ll keep any more trespassers out.”
“What did you do?” Diana asks.
Clark turns to face her “Surrounded the Fortress with a static field. Not dangerous just impenetrable except to me. I’ll need to do some research before I dismantle it.”
“Research for what?” Diana asks him.
“A new location. I’ve decided it’s time to move so that if anyone comes looking they won’t find anything.” Clark explains to her. “So do you want the tour?”
Diana nods “Yes. Thank you.”
“This way then.” Clark says as he floats up. He has to say he was right in his thought just before he lifted that island. Diana will be a good friend if she is not already.
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Chloe stands on the roof of the Daily Planet getting some air. It is night time now and still no sign of Clark. She hopes he is alright and that she did the right thing by letting Wonder Woman take him away. Of course she has also been trying to keep Perry from firing Clark for not showing up at work. She told Perry that Clark had been hurt in the earthquake and was laid up. All in all not a fun few days but at least Lex is in jail.
“Boo!”
Chloe jumps and turns around eyes glaring in anger. “That is not funny Clark!”
Clark chuckles. He had just got back to Metropolis after he and Diana had parted ways and he finds Chloe standing on the Planet roof and well he couldn’t resist. “Yes it is.” he says back.
Chloe scowls at him then runs forward and hugs him in relief. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah I’m fine Chloe. How are you?”
“Oh you know me.”
“Yes that is why I am asking.”
Chloe breaks out of the hug “You know all these years and you’re still not funny. By the way you so owe me for keeping Perry from firing you.”
Clark sighs “Sorry about that. What have I missed?”
“Well that island you threw into space reached orbit between Mars and Jupiter. It has been dubbed New Krypton.”
“New Krypton? Who came up with that?” Clark asks and then by the look on Chloe’s face he concludes “You.”
“Yep. Perry loved it. Lets see what else Lex is in jail and oh you better visit your mother. She was worried to death about you.”
“I thought she would be. What has the reaction been to everything that happened?”
“Madness. You better give another interview to say what happened. My sources in the government particularly say that they are desperate to know about the technology that created that island.”
“I was afraid of that. Have any of them talked to Lex yet?”
“Not that I know of. I assume he stole the crystals from that Fortress of yours.”
Clark nods. “Yes and I have no doubt he’ll tell them where it is if it benefits him in some way but I’m working on that problem.”
“That’s good. So where have you been?”
“Can’t say. I made a promise.” Clark says to her. After all Diana went to a lot of trouble to help him. The least he can do is keep where her home is a secret even if he only has the vaguest idea where it is located.
Chloe rolls her eyes “And Superman always keeps his word.”
“You see you know me so well.”
“Well yeah because Clark Kent always keeps his word too. So what are you going to do for the rest of tonight?”
“Clark Kent better visit his mother like his best friend suggested he do.”
Chloe pats him gently on the arm “You see, now if you just do everything I say from now on we’ll be fine.”
“Funny Chloe. I’ll see you in the morning bright and early.”
“Yeah. Oh I told Perry you hurt an ankle so do you think you could manage a slight limp tomorrow. That would probably help him buy it.”
Clark shakes his head. Sometime having a secret identity is hard work. “I’ll see what I can do. Night Chloe.” Clark says as he flies off.
Chloe watches him fly off. She still thinks it is pretty funny how much he seem to like flying considering he was afraid of heights when he was younger. Oh well she better get going home too and with that thought she turns and heads off back down the stairs.
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The following weekend Diana is flying up to Kal’s Fortress. She had agreed to help him move. Washington had been a mad house ever since the New Krypton incident as it was now called and in truth she was glad of a break away from it. As she nears the Fortress she can see the field Kal placed round it is still up so she lands outside of it and shouts. “Kal! Are you here? It’s Diana.”
After a moment the field drops and Diana flies inside. Inside she finds Kal placing items in a large metal container that he had obviously built and welded together himself.
“Morning Diana. Thanks for coming.” Clark tells her as he flies over and lands next to her. He had been here since first thing this morning packing. This would be his second move recently since he had just gotten a new apartment in Metropolis.
“It is no problem even though I’m not sure why you wanted me here.”
Clark glances over at the container. “Well I was thinking you could do some heavy lifting.” he jokes.
Diana folds her arms across her chest and looks at Kal most unamused.
“It was a joke Diana. Truthfully I just wanted some company and if you had heard of anything about what the government intends to do. My connections are not what they once were.”
Diana was slightly concerned that he was onto her secret identity with that question. “What makes you think I would know anything?”
“I don’t but I’ve had more time to catch up on your exploits and it is clear that you base yourself in Washington. In over 2 years you must have made some friends in the government.”
Diana lets out a sigh of relief there. Not that she doesn’t trust Kal to know her secret identity it is just she would like to tell him when she is ready. “One or two.” she says in response to his query.
“And?”
“And they are still debating. No firm decision has been made except to talk to Lex Luthor at some point soon.” Diana had overheard that one when her boss Steve was in a meeting.
“That confirms what I have been hearing. Did you know they are trying to fast track Luthor’s trial?”
“Why?” Diana asks.
“Haven’t a clue.” Clark admits and he doesn’t really. One of Chloe’s sources, because he is still trying to re-establish his, mentioned it. “Anyway we can discuss this later I’m nearly done.” Clark says as he goes back to the console.
Diana watches him manipulate the crystals and then a new green one appears.
“There, it is ready. Could you a small bit of heavy lifting for me and take the container outside? I’ll join you in a second.” he informs her.
“Of course.” Diana answers and she flies over and picks the container up. “You hoard way too much stuff Kal.” she comments.
“Aw poor little princess. Too heavy for you.” Clark teases.
“Not at all.” Diana answers primly as she flies past him on her way out.
Clark chuckles. He finds it funny to wind her up. He removes the crystals one by one and puts them in a bag. He had talked over doing this with his father once he got the AI working again and his father had called it a wise decision consider what had happened unlike his return trip to Krypton which they had also discussed. He had in fact retrieved the data crystal from his ship for his father to analyse. His father’s conclusion was the same as his. There was nothing and no-one left of Krypton except for him. He was alone again. On the plus side his father had been pleased when Clark had mentioned the other heroes that had sprung up in his absence. Jor-El took it as a sign that Clark had been succeeding in his mission before he left.
By now only the green father crystal is left. Clark takes one last look around then pulls it out. As soon as he does so the whole Fortress begins to shake. Clark quickly departs.
Outside Diana waits for Kal. Suddenly the ground shakes and she watches the crystal columns begin to retreat and crumble. Suddenly Kal is standing beside her. “What did you do?”
“Like I said I was going to. Dismantle it and move. Here can you carry this?” he asks her holding the bag with the crystals out.
“Of course.” she answers and takes the bag from him.
Clark then picks up the metal container and watches as the Fortress disappears from sight. “Come on then. We have a long way to go.” he tells her as he floats up and flies off with Diana quickly following him.
Kal wasn’t kidding about a long flight Diana realises. They are now travelling over the Antarctic continent. Eventually they come across a mountain range and land in a valley. “Here we are” he says.
“And where is that?” Diana asks.
Clark puts the container down. “I did some research over the past few days. This valley has almost never been visited by anyone because of the difficulty in reaching it unless one can fly of course. The bag please.”
Diana hands it over and Clark pulls out the father crystal. He looks it over and the throws it. “Watch this.” he tells Diana.
Diana does so and the crystal under its own volition it seems dives straight down into the ice. The ground begins to shake.
“This is where the fun begins.” Clark says with almost child-like glee.
Diana watches the opposite if what she witnessed up in the arctic as the great crystal columns rise upward until Kal’s Fortress is standing there once more in all its glory.
“Home sweet home.” Clark says as he picks up the container and flies off inside with Diana following.
“Do you think it will be safe this time?” Diana asks him once they are inside.
“Hmm. Oh I plan to make a few changes this time. This is just the basic construct. I had a talk with Batman about it. He has a friend who can supply what I need to make the changes.” Clark tells her as puts the container down. After Bruce had lectured him about leaving the Fortress unprotected Clark had told him of his plans to move it and make some alterations to prevent it happening again. Bruce agreed to have Wayne Enterprises supply what he needs.
Diana’s face darkens a bit at the mention of Batman which Clark notices. “You know I don’t know what he did to annoy you so and he won’t tell me but under it all he is a good person.” Clark tries to point out.
“I am aware of this but his manners need work.”
“Can’t argue with you there.” Clark says in total agreement with Diana.
“I read your latest interview.” Diana mentions at the one Clark gave Chloe about the whole New Krypton incident.
“What did you think?”
“I think I can see that you may have a point about informing people about why we do what we do but isn’t it cheating giving it to your friend.”
Clark shrugs “Chloe would never twist it just to suit her bias towards me. It is the fact she would write the truth, not our friendship, that is the reason I gave her the interview and was that something nice you said about the media?”
“I guess it was. Look Kal I can see your point but since I arrived here they have done nothing but ask frivolous questions about my outfit or if I am courting someone. I find it most irritating.”
“Yeah the tabloids are a pain.” Clark says in partial agreement with her before adding “They use to do the same thing with me. I can’t tell you how many supposed kiss and tell stories they were from women who claimed I had slept with them.”
“How did you cope with it all?”
“I ignored it. Got on with my job. Gave my interviews to people I trusted. They wanted a reaction so I just never gave them one. Think of it from their point of view. Every day they have a blank space that they have to fill with something so they will latch on to any gossip they can get to do just that.”
“I suppose you are right but they will ask questions like where I got my abilities or how my lariat works and I know people in this world no longer believe in magic.”
“You’re afraid they will dismiss you as, how shall I say it, not quite right in the head.”
Diana nods.
“I can understand that. By the way what does that lasso of yours do?”
“It burns away all falsehood. One can only speak the absolute truth while entrapped within it and it is unbreakable”
Clark looks at that lasso. It doesn‘t look that strong on first appearance but this is magic he is dealing with. “I wonder. I am not an ordinary man you know.”
Diana picks up on Kal‘s suggestion there. “You may regret that Kal. I’m pretty certain even you couldn’t break it.” Diana unhitches it from her belt “Care to try?”
“Maybe another time. I read about you deflecting bullets with your bracelets. Your reaction time must be very impressive.”
“It is although I don’t get to practice as often as I would like. I fear my skills may be slipping.”
“I was asleep for the better part of 5 years. How do you think I feel?”
That gives Diana an idea. “We should spar.” she announces.
“What?”
“Spar. You and I should spar. It would be good training for you after so long especially after I hear Lex’s associates attacked and defeated you.”
How the blazes did she hear about that Clark wonders. “Well in my defence I was suffering from kryptonite poisoning at the time. You have no idea what that feels like.”
“True but you said yourself after 5 years asleep you were out of practice.”
“I never used those words.” Clark points out to her.
“You implied them.” she retorts. “Come on what is the worse that can happen?”
“Apart from my total and utter humiliation.”
“We can train here. It’s nice and remote and there is no-one here. Now there is no reason not to agree and besides you should consider it an honour that the princess of the Amazons is offering.”
“Oh now that is low Diana considering you said you didn’t like to flaunt your status.”
“You haven’t given me an answer.”
Clark tosses it round his head. He is out of practice. In spite of being poisoned he should have put up a better fight back on that island and Diana’s level of power might make it possible for him to do this without risk of hurting her. “I accept.” he decides.
“Good. Lets go.” she says as she starts to turn and leave.
“Now?”
Diana stops and looks at him. “Yes now Kal. You asked me to take a day off to help you which I have done. So unless you have something urgent to do we will do this now.”
“Well I still haven’t unpacked yet.” he meekly points out.
Diana looks at him sceptically “That is not urgent Kal. You are trying to avoid this. Now come on. I wouldn’t want to damage your precious Fortress when I beat you.” she boasts as she floats up and flies off.
Clark follows her out. “Don’t be so certain of that. I may be rusty but I’m not without my skills.” he tells her.
“Perhaps but I was trained to fight since the day I could walk and my teacher was ruthless in making sure I perfected it. Can you say the same?”
“No not really. I mostly picked it up as I went along.” he admits.
“Then this will be of great benefit to you. Strength alone never wins a battle.” Diana tells him as they fly along.
Clark continues to follow her until they come across a flat ice sheet.
“Here this is perfect.” she tells him as she lands.
“But chilly.” Clark points out as he lands too. After all it must be a good -20 at least.
“Neither of us are that affected by the cold Kal. Lets set some rules. First we’ll keep it on the ground and second no heat vision. This is a test of your skill not of your abilities.”
“Fine. So what do we do?”
“Attack me.”
“What?”
“Attack me.” Diana repeats.
Clark a little unsure of himself throws a punch at less than his full ability which Diana easily blocks.
“That is an insult Kal. Don’t hold back.”
Clark throws another punch with more force which is again blocked but this time Diana grabs his wrist, twists it and uses the momentum to flip Clark on his back.
Diana stands over him “I seriously hope that is not the best you can do.”
Clark frowns and gets to his feet. “Like I said. I’m rusty.”
“Well then stop delaying and lets get back to it. The sooner we do the sooner I’ll get you back into shape.”
A few hours later when Clark finds himself once more on his back he has to admit Diana was correct in her assumption that he is out of shape. Lifting that island and saving the plane had both been acts of sheer raw power fuelled by adrenaline and in the case of the island sheer desperation. Using his muscles in a skilled way in combat had seemed to have deserted him a bit. Of course he could say Diana was indeed very skilled in his defence as to why he has been getting his butt kicked for 3 hours. He could also add he doesn’t think he has ever used so much of his strength and speed for such a prolonged period of time. Diana was not that far behind him in those he would have to admit. He gets back to his feet.
Diana stands there catching a breath. She may be more skilled but Kal was quicker and stronger. She had spent the last 3 hours pushing him to see what his limits were, something she suspected he had probably never done himself. It was clear early on in their session that his skills were indeed self taught and so lacked refinement but she could sort that out in time. It had been a long time since she herself had worked this hard in any training session. “You’re getting better.” she tells him.
“Is that why you are beating me by like 10 to 1?”
Diana smirks “Actually I think it is more like 15 to 1 and it comes from the fact it has been a while since you have been pushed this hard.”
“In fact I probably only worked this hard once when I was facing Zod, Ursa and Non. It usually isn’t necessary for me.” Clark admits.
“They beat you as well I read; on the streets of Metropolis.”
“That is not true. Ok I was outnumbered but my main concern was that our battle was destroying Metropolis and innocent people were getting hurt. I call it a strategic retreat.”
“Amazons never flee from battle but I think that is enough for today though we should do this more often. We could work out a regular schedule.”
“Well maybe we could do that.” Clark says and wonders what has gotten into him that he is actually agreeing to this.
“You know we need some way to contact each other.” Diana realises.
“Erm well phone the Planet and ask for Chloe or if not her Clark Kent. He knows how to reach me as well.”
“Another friend?”
“A very close one.”
“Very well. I’ll look at my schedule and let you know when I am free.” Diana informs him.
“Ok that sounds swell.” Clark says allowing his personality to slip through.
Diana raises an eyebrow at that odd word.
Clark coughs when he realises his slip. “What I mean is that sounds like a satisfactory arrangement.”
“Well I should get home. I have many things to do.” Diana says having spent more time with Kal than she meant to not that it was unpleasant because it hasn’t been. In fact quite the opposite. She finds she likes spending time with him.
“Yes so do I with the Fortress. You know unpacking.” Clark says in reply a little sad because if he was being honest he had enjoyed her company today.
Diana nods. “Well I’ll see you around.”
“I’m always around.” Clark responds before Diana takes off to the skies. “I’m always around?” he repeats after she is gone. Now why the hell did he say that? That one belongs to Lois. It was just a slip he tells himself. He had gotten into a habit of saying it that is all. Right need to get back and unpack. He then flies off and heads back to the Fortress trying not to think about what feelings drove that response.
