METROPOLIS, NOW!

Disclaimer: I have no legal rights over "Justice League" or any characters therein.

I

The android had climbed half the length of the Emperor Building before it felt the full force of Hawkgirl's mace against its chest. The resounding clang of the metals as they impacted one another could be heard for miles, and even made Superman wince as he sped toward the falling android. With a calculated lunge, he seized the android's arm to slow its descent while directly below him, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl cleared a crowd of gaping spectators who were too stunned to move. He released the robot when the space had been vacated; it fell with a deafening crash.

The three Justice Leaguers regrouped above the Emperor Building, where they surveyed the damage resulting from their lengthy confrontation with the Lexcorp's rogue android. A significant part of Metropolis's New Troy district was in shambles. Wonder Woman vaguely observed a cut heal on Superman's chin as he spoke. "Hawkgirl, you take care of evacuating these people from the area. Wonder Woman, try to reassemble some of the larger pieces of the skyscrapers. I'll join you as soon as I put out some of these fires." They disbanded and flew toward the ground.

Wonder Woman grabbed a slab of concrete twice her size and inspected it quietly. During her time in Man's World, she had often heard comparisons of Metropolis and Gotham. While she never participated in such discussions out of loyalty to both Superman and Batman, she was more intrigued by Metropolis. It held an elusive, almost sinister charm, cloaking danger by bathing it in sunlight and sparkling windows. Being there made her feel faintly disarmed. After setting aside the concrete slab to classify it later, she flew several feet to her left and grabbed the Daily Planet building's characteristic globe to return it to its proper place. As she rose the height of the skyline, she heard Hawkgirl's distant shouting as she attempted to create order.

Once she had secured the globe in its place, she scanned for the android on the ground below to confirm that it was still motionless. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw that it was raising its arm toward the sky. In panic, she spun around to see where it was aiming. "Superman!" she yelled in horror.

Superman didn't hear her. He was about one hundred yards away from her, taking deep breaths and then exhaling in order to douse the fires that had cropped up as an aftermath of their battle. A small missile rose from the android's arm and cocked back, ready to fire. As strong as Superman was, the android's missiles were no laughing matter. Diana's arms still stung from the two that she had deflected with her gauntlets earlier during the battle. What was more, there was a very good chance that the missiles were laced with kryptonite - the android was a Lexcorp creation, after all.

Without hesitating, Wonder Woman shot towards Superman with all the speed she could summon, her arms stretched out in anticipation. At the same time, the android launched the missile aimed squarely for the back of Superman's skull.

What happened next occurred in a matter of moments. Wonder Woman, unwilling and unable to slow down, crashed into Superman, throwing her arms around his head in order to deflect the missile hurtling towards him. Her momentum was so great that an audible crack could be heard when they made contact - Superman's nose broke when it impacted with the side of her face. At the same time, Superman had his full attention on a fire raging below. He had just finished inhaling when Wonder Woman collided with him; the icy breath he had intended to douse the fire blew squarely into her ear.

Diana's eyes widened when she began lose sensation in the right side of her face. A split second later, the missile smashed into her gauntlets. The pain of these two onslaughts was too much, even for her. She gave a final look at Superman's panic-stricken face, and then everything went black.

--

"Good morning, sunshine," greeted Hawkgirl's voice as Diana blinked in the harsh lights of the Watchtower's medical bay. The right side of her head was throbbing dully. She looked down at herself and noticed with a start that she was lying on a stretcher.

Suddenly, she remembered. "The android?" she gasped as she turned her head to face Hawkgirl.

Hawkgirl smiled serenely. "After I saw what happened to you, I took care of it."

Diana turned her head to face the ceiling again. She relaxed when she felt Hawkgirl's hand on her arm. "We thought we had lost you," sighed her friend. "All of us were worried sick while J'onn worked on you. You should have heard the way Batman chewed out Kal."

"It wasn't Kal's fault," answered Diana defensively. She pulled herself into a sitting position, taking care not to disturb the electrodes that were monitoring her heartbeat. "How long did J'onn take to treat me?" she asked curiously.

Hawkgirl, upon seeing that Wonder Woman was going to survive, answered truthfully. "Maybe an hour - it seemed longer to all of us who were waiting. You ear canal was frozen solid, and J'onn was afraid that some of the frost had reached you brain. Luckily, he had had experience with something similar - he managed to reduce your injury to a frostbite. But you were out for almost ten hours after that. We've all been here, waiting for you to wake up." She reached out to touch her friend's arm again, as if she was trying to convince herself that Diana was really awake.

"What about Superman? The missile?"

"The missile didn't get him, you did. You broke his nose, but Batman seemed to take real pleasure in breaking it again so that it could heal properly."

Diana felt a sudden warmth spread across her face that had nothing to do with her injury. Hawkgirl noticed it too. "It wasn't Kal's fault," Diana mumbled again, trying to imagine what Batman must have looked like when he had seen her in the medical bay. Hawkgirl responded only with a knowing smirk.

The doors of the medical bay slid open then, revealing a visibly worried Superman. He rushed to his recovering friend's side with the Flash at his heels. "Diana!" he exclaimed, "Thank goodness you're all right. I'm sorry for what happened." He furrowed his brow and added earnestly, "I probably owe you my life."

Diana, upon seeing his concern, took her hands in his. "I would gladly face any threats for your sake," she told him warmly. Hawkgirl and Flash smiled at this.

However, she saw that Superman shifted uncomfortably. Before she could wonder why, he quickly said, "Lantern and I are heading out to Ryjel-9 for a case. We'll be gone for a couple of days. I'll see you all when I get back." With one last glance at Diana, he left the room.

The two women exchanged looks. "What's with him?" Hawkgirl wondered aloud.

"Probably this," answered Flash. He tossed a folded newspaper into Hawkgirl's hands. Diana smiled as she watched him anxiously inspect her right ear. "I guess Amazons aren't used to frostbite, huh?" he quipped, unable to remain serious any longer.

She was about to retort when Hawkgirl interrupted her with a low whistle and held out the newspaper. Diana took it and immediately, her eyes fell on the headline splashed across the front page. "AN OFFICE ROMANCE OF SUPERHEROIC PROPORTIONS," it proclaimed. She then glanced at the picture directly below it. Her jaw dropped.

Someone from the Daily Planet had taken a picture of the exact instant that she had crashed into Superman. Her arms were thrown around him, his face was smashed against hers, and the shrapnel from the exploding missile had enveloped them in a shower of colorful sparks. She flinched when she recalled the blinding pain she had felt at that moment, but the memory was quickly replaced with rage when she realized what the picture was implying.

"Looks like you're kissing," observed Flash.

--