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He figured it must have been five centuries by this point. He had given up counting past 350 years.
Nobody on Earth would be alive to remember them.
Superman and all he stood for was a far-distant dream; Earth and her children may have fallen in on themselves by now.
Just as this place…
Chaos without end; the same mistakes made decade-by-decade, century-by-century… thinking each move had never been made before.
There was never glory in war, Clark thought… but Diana would remind him that they stood as the final line between the ether and their home. Without this group of fighters the scourge would swarm the Earth and destroy all in its path.
It kept Clark fighting… that and his friend, who now shared a bed with him.
They slept long hours in each other's arms, conserving body heat and trying to ignore the comfort they felt with one another... not thinking of what other comfort they might discover...
Each morning before battle Diana would bend to deliver the smallest kiss on Clarks cheek. He wished he could return the gesture, God knew there were times he felt a need and a longing...
He wanted to turn into the embrace... wanted to feel a woman's lips upon his... and he did love Diana... he supposed he had always loved her...
But that love didn't necessarily mean there should be a romantic relationship.
There was attraction, yes... they were both physically aware of each other...
There was nowhere the princess moved that the man of steel didn't notice; no one she spoke to that he didn't see.
Clark had started to wonder if any of their struggles made any difference. Did Diana think any more or less of him for the part he played at her side? She had to know that choosing to stay meant that he cared for her.
She had to know ... didn't she?
Didn't she?
Diana drew back… and, for an unknown reason, Clark felt his hand shoot out and grasp her shoulder…
She was so close… and soft beneath his grasp.
Wonder Woman gasped in surprise, blasting him with her sweet breath… making him want to taste her… feel her softness all the more…
And they had to do something… didn't they? He would have to reach out and kiss her, to touch her and feel her against his body. He had to know what it was to be with her…
But neither of them moved.
They hardly breathed…
Something had to happen.
It was only after an eternity passed that they both, somehow agreed to pull back from each other…
They couldn't do this.
Clark was married and Diana deserved better than being a fling or an affair.
They couldn't be together, no matter what their hearts and bodies might crave. No matter how close they continued to move in one another's hearts and minds.
They were so much more than lovers.
So much more than friends.
Dianna meant too much to him to even risk it…
And so he apologised and she kissed his forehead, understanding…
If it hadn't been for Lois…
If they had met earlier in their lives…
If the worlds were perfect places…
But they both agreed; it was never a shared conversation. More a look that told a thousand truths of five hundred years.
And…
And they both carried on, no matter how their hearts dragged with the weight of it all…
Battle after battle…
He treated her wounds when she was caught in battle… and relished the touch of her.
And she cuddled close to him at night, which held him together.
Until 700 years had passed and Hercules himself fell.
A castle in the heavens was liberated.
But was the cost worth the price?
The demi-god was nought but another soldier buried in the pointless cycle.
Festivities that night were muted and even Diana could not hide the pain she felt at a hero's passing…
She must have loved him, Clark concluded.
That night, in their tent, he watched her unclasp her battle armour and move behind the curtains to privacy.
It was better that way; he didn't have to look her in the eye.
"How are you?" He asked past the lump of fear in his throat.
The shadow behind the curtain paused…
"Fine," she answered. "I would be better if we won some definitive victories."
She wasn't wrong, but… "That's not what I meant."
Diana sighed… rounding the corner and approaching the bed. "I know," she admitted, placing a hand on the back of her neck and giving a stretch, "what do you want me to say?"
For a moment, Clark was speechless… trying to supress the feelings stirred by her unintentional display.
But Diana's eyes were on him and he could see it in her eyes; something had changed.
All the centuries of fighting had finally taken their toll on the Amazon Princess and as Clark looked on her in the torchlight of their tent he realised she looked weary.
She didn't seem tired or defeated… but she seemed deflated; that fire she held in her heart seemed to have dimmed.
Clark felt a sudden need to bring that fire back.
He reached out to her and she half-heartedly took his hand…
"Tomorrow, we will win back some of the ground we have lost," Superman promised.
Diana just looked at him, her eyes cold.
For the first time, he felt, she didn't believe him.
"Hey," he insisted, bringing her eyes to his as he shook their joined hands, "Hey… I mean it. We will win back some ground."
She angled her head, "Kal… the ground we win tomorrow will be reclaimed but two days later."
"Not this time," he insisted, "not if I can help it."
Diana looked at him a while, studying his face for truth and finding he meant every word… the thought brought a smile to the corner of her lips, "You mean it?"
If he really had to… to see that smile again… "Yes, I mean it."
There it was; the smile that dazzled in the dimness of this reality.
Diana moved forward and embraced him and he leaned back into the laughter they shared, falling onto the bed in a joy neither had felt for a century.
When the laughter calmed, Clark looked into Diana's sapphire eyes to see the sparkle restored and there were no regrets.
It took a moment for him to realise they were both heavily entwined on the bed; their bodies breathed in time…
Clarks heart pounded, but Diana's face hadn't changed at all… almost as if she hadn't noticed her long legs had woven about his… hadn't noticed how their arms encircled one another so tightly… that their lips were mere centimetres away…
And she moved.
His heart stopped.
Diana pressed herself closer, undulating upward… Clark closed his eyes…
Her breath whisper against his lips as she pushed herself upward and time slowed.
But instead of the expected embrace, Clark felt Diana cuddle into his side…
He looked down to see her nestled into his side, ready to rest and fall asleep in his embrace as she had every night for the last few hundred years.
And he felt guilty for his thoughts…
What would Lois have said?
Clark watched Diana fall into a deep sleep and realised one thing; life wasn't as black and white as had always seemed and, perhaps, he needed to let go of his high morals to finally live.