A New World
Written by JustBFree
Chapter 19:
After tumbling out of the chaos, Clark and Diana hovered in the air as they regained their bearings. The storm was set as a protection over Themyscira, and it had never before been breached.
Diana's eyes took in the new sky and the new ocean. They looked like the same sky and ocean she had known all her life, but the air smelled differently, the wind felt differently against her skin. It was still dark, but Diana could sense the change without the benefit of sunlight.
It's happened. I'm in the outside.
To her left, Clark was squinting his eyes off to the distance, though what he could see, Diana had no idea. He turned to her. "Diana, I think I know where we are, and it's a long way back to my city. If you can't fly fast enough, I can carry you."
At the words, she glared at him. "Just because we are in your world now does not mean that I will fall before the rule of man!"
Clark rolled his eyes and smiled. "You're going to be a real joy to have around, aren't you? Fine. If you don't want me to carry you, then just follow me- if you can!"
Clark flew off, much fast than Diana had thought it possible to fly. Within her, Hermes surged forward, not to be outdone by the arrogant man. She chased him across the ocean, halfway around the world.
They flew in, low and fast.
As far as he could see, there was no monumental damage done to the city outside of what he'd seen on his last day fighting against Luthor. His apartment building still stood, and he could make out the familiar silhouette of the Daily Planet against the Metropolis skyline.
So the city has been safe while I've been gone- but what happened to Lois and Luthor?
His curiosity was clawing at him, driving him to fly faster, harder against the wind, but he'd held back his full speed for Diana. The gravity of her situation was not lost on him- this was the first time that she'd ever been turned loose into the world, he couldn't rush her due to his own impatience.
When he'd first left Smallville, he'd been the same way; curious and awed by the big city. Well, the whole world was Diana's big city now, and he'd be damned if he would rush her along when her eyes were so dazzled by the experience of her first day in the outside.
Still, they couldn't stop for her to drop low in the air to examine every billboard and building. There would be plenty of time for that in the morning.
Clark lead the way easily, with Diana trailing after him on the other end of the lasso that joined them. He landed on the balcony of his apartment and opened the sliding door, pausing just inside to let Diana follow him. Ever the gentleman, he closed the door behind her. There was a strange moment as they both stood in the dark, motionless and unsure what to do next.
For Clark, there was the elemental strangeness of being away from this place for so long, only to return as something of a new man with a guest by his side. He'd been away from the Earth for years, and had only spent a few days back before ending up in Themyscira.
"We must light a torch." Diana said, breaking into his thoughts.
A torch...how will she be able to adjust to my world?
Clark cleared his throat and crossed his living room to the light switch. He flicked it, bringing on the overhead light. Diana looked up and smiled, enchanted by the simple fixture. She followed Clark and tried the lightswitch herself, flicking it several times.
"You're welcome to anything you see here, but I have some things I need to look into." Clark said, edging toward his dormant laptop.
If Diana heard Clark, she did not acknowledge him for her fascination with the lights. Clark shook his head and moved to his desk. He furrowed his brow to see the light layer of dust that had collected on the surface of his desk and the keyboard of his computer.
His plan was a simple one, to learn the aftermath of Luthor's plot. As his computer gained power and a connection to the Internet, Clark could feel his chest tighten with anxiety.
He swallowed and entered Metropolis into the search bar.
Clark's eyes swept over Lois's webpage dedicated to the city, noting the date of her latest entry. He breathed a sigh of relief that she was safe and sound. He read on, only to find that, once again, Superman was nowhere to be found after foiling Lex Luthor's plan to raise a nation from a single shard of Kryptonite.
'After a two-month search effort...' wait, I've been gone over two months?
Clark gasped, choking on the dust in the air. He coughed, raising Diana's attention. "Are you all right, Clark?"
With an effort, he cleared his throat. "Oh, I'm fine. I've been gone on vacation for over two months!" He stood up and began to pace lightly, thinking of a way to reassemble his life, both as Superman and as Clark Kent. "All right, let me think, let me think. I have to call my mother and then I have to find a way to explain where I've been all this time." He glanced across the apartment to the kitchen, where Diana was examining a jar of peanut butter. "And you...what am I going to do with you? Diana, can you just...?"
Diana had opened his freezer and found a carton of ice cream, not noticing Clark's agitation.
He shook his head. By rights, he should be playing the generous host, fixing her a meal, a hot shower, setting her in the bedroom...and he would do everything he could for her, but at the moment he was a bit tied up.
Think, think...how can I explain...?
Clark shook his head. First things first. He took his phone and dialed Smallville.
Unmindful of Clark's upset, Diana dipped her fingers into the strange substance she'd found in the machine with the cold interior. It was a soft brown color, and very cold. She brought it to her nose and picked up the faintest hint of cocoa. She licked her fingertips and smiled. This...this thing she'd tasted was sweet, ice-cold chocolate!
She took more of the treat into her mouth, distantly eavesdropping on Clark as he was talking into another of his machines. Machines, machines, there were so many of them in his home.
"Yes, Ma, it's me...I know, I'm so sorry, you have no idea! It's a long story and no one will believe me if I told. They did? I don't know what I'll tell them. I know a friend who might help me with an alibi, now that I think about it. All right, I love you too. Yes ma'am."
Clark set the device aside and turned back to Diana, only to find her curious hands dipping fully into a carton of ice cream. Yes, he really should stay and make her a meal- but he had more pressing matters at hand.
"I don't know what I should do with you, Diana. You can stay here, of course, but what am I going to do..."
He speared his fingers through his hair, frustrated and unsure. He hated uncertainty, it was such a useless emotion. "Diana, I'm going to go check on some things and I need you to stay here."
She frowned at him. "Here?"
"Yes, just stay in the apartment, please. I'll be back in about an hour. When I come back, we can figure out what to do now that you're here."
She stood from the stool she'd been perched on. "But what about you? It could be dangerous."
He shook his head. "Not where I'm going. I'm just going to see an old friend for a little help with some... paperwork. It's nothing to worry about." He glanced into the kitchen- plenty of passed expiration dates stared back at him. "And I'll get some food while I'm out."
Diana felt her stomach rumble slightly, and she smiled. "This," she said, showing him the now near-empty carton. "Please, bring more of this."
Clark laughed, thankful for the ease in his tension. "For you, I'll bring back every flavor."
A strange silence hung between them for a moment, but Clark moved forward and kissed Diana softly on the lips. Things had changed very quickly between them, and he wasn't sure how they would deal with those changes just yet...but this was something that he wanted to stay the same.
True to his word, Clark glided into his apartment from the balcony doors one hour after his hasty departure. He was much more relaxed, the weight of the world was off his shoulders. He'd been smiling to think of how he would teach Diana about his world, though he had no idea where he would start.
As he'd been shopping, he'd picked up a few things for her to wear- the Grecian style tunic dresses she'd always been wearing would drawn too much attention, and the idea was for her to blend in with the crowd of humanity, though he had his doubts of how a child of Olympus would be able to pretend at being mortal. In any case, as he'd checked out with five cartons of Ben & Jerry'sand several items of women's clothing, Clark had been optimistic, thanking God for the all-night Wal-Mart he'd found just outside of Metropolis.
It was a new thing for him to have a houseguest, and Diana had certainly captured a part of him. He was glad not to be so alone in the world any longer. But that would be something they'd discuss later on in the day.
"It's all set." He called out as he went through to the kitchen and began putting away the ice cream. "Apparently Clark Kent was injured during the chaos of Luthor's expanding island and has spent the past few weeks in the ICU of Metropolis General. I've only been back in the city for about a week and hadn't updated my emergency contacts, which explains why no one at the office was notified of my condition. Not to mention all the other..."
Clark stopped talking once he realized that Diana was silent, asleep on his sofa. The television was left on, with an infomercial droning on about the benefits of a home juice maker. He glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed lightly. It was already near four in the morning, and he had no doubt that she must be exhausted after flying so fast and so hard to keep up with him. Let the girl rest.
"You have the right idea, Diana. It's been a long day and tomorrow will be even longer."
He put a thick blanket over her and kissed her forehead before slipping into his room, intent to sleep.