So the idea of a 'double date' would not leave my mind. So I had to write it. Thanks in advance for reading and/or reviewing. :D Just for the record, I don't hate Lois Lane. I think SMLL is fine, but this is just... AU. ;)
Thank you to Hepburn, my lovely beta. She is awesome!
In a last ditch effort to save his self, Black Manta shot a poison dart at Wonder Woman and an energy blast at Flash. Flash saw it coming, and spun around, absorbing the blast in a blur of red.
Wonder Woman effortlessly dodged his attack, the poison barb bouncing off her bracelet.
With a slam of his fist, Superman crumpled Black Manta into submission, knocking the super-villain into unconsciousness. He was still alive, of course, but he looked like he was going to live the next few weeks in an intensive care unit.
"Thanks, he was starting to get on my nerves," Wonder Woman said as she flew over to her teammate.
Flash zipped over. "Why down town Seattle of all places? Was he trying to take over Starbucks?" The Scarlett Speedster paused in thought. "Actually, I could see where that could have some benefits, cornering the market on Frappucinos and chai tea lattes! Oh and the MUFFINS!" The Flash waxed lyrical about Starbuck's menu options while the rest of the team flew off. He then realized they were gone when he was about to list the various scones available and shouted a "Hey guys… wait up!" as he took off at his coasting speed to catch up.
It was an unnaturally hot day in the northwest city, reaching around 91 degrees with a humidity percentage of close to 75. Diana wiped her brow with the back of her hand and surveyed the damage. A breeze floated off of the Puget and Diana welcomed it while herding and moving along on-lookers and groups of tourists staring at the three League members.
Thankfully they had arrived soon enough to stop Black Manta, so the damage wasn't extensive, mainly superficial, nothing the city or the League couldn't handle.
Superman glanced up at the clock above Pike Place Market as the whirl of sirens indicated the arrival of police. It was promptly three o'clock in Seattle, which meant it was six in Metropolis. He had exactly one hour until his dinner date.
He could be showered, dried off and ready in 3.5 seconds. Unfortunately, his date didn't have the same luxury.
Diana knew what was going through his mind, to an extent. She too had a date that night, and had yet to prepare for it. Although Bruce was generally fashionably late wherever he went, she still had to make sure to meet him in Metropolis at the correct time. She hated the thought of him waiting for her. Because that time was better spent together.
Superman turned to his teammates. "I have an appointment."
"As do I," Diana added.
Wally frowned. "Well, I guess I'll wait for the police to take over..."
"Ok, thanks!" "Bye!" Clark and Diana said simultaneously. Clark took off like a jet as Diana was beamed into the Watchtower.
Selina stood outside of the Museum of Art watching her boss lock the door and check it twice, as he always did. The warm afternoon sun prompted her to take off her jacket that had been a must in the air-conditioning of the large granite building.
After pocketing the key, Mr. Richards turned to leave, waving goodbye to her and wishing her a good evening.
Selina waved back, jacket in hand and took to the streets of Metropolis, alone in her thoughts. After her arrival to the city a little more than seven months ago, things had changed for the better. Her new lease and outlook on life was a refreshing result from the mess she had left behind in Gotham.
She now had a new job working as an attendant curator at the most prestigious art museum in one of the largest cities in North America. Museums always had a special ...draw for her. This time, however she was working on the right side of the velvet rope.
A small smile played on Selina's lips. Among the many things new in her life, the affections of Superman was probably her favorite. But it wasn't just the Man of Steel, it was also the loving, attentive, 180 degrees from Bruce Wayne that she loved and preferred the most.
As if right on cue, a flash of blue and red streaked above her. She glanced upward, as did many of the city's inhabitants when they took sight of their beloved hero. Selina sighed happily. It was his way of walking her home.
Selina rounded the corner of 23rd avenue and stopped short, spotting a suit and tie bedecked Clark Kent. "Well, that was quick."
He shrugged. "I couldn't wait to see you."
She sauntered over and placed her hands on either side of his face, bringing him down for a kiss. "Well, that makes two of us."
After a brief interlude of bliss, the pair pulled apart and linked arms while strolling down the concrete sidewalk. "Are we still on for tonight?"
Selina smiled happily. "Of course, 7 o'clock at Masa, correct?"
Masa was the city's most exclusive sushi restaurant, headed and run by a Japanese Iron Chef. Tonight Clark and Selina were officially celebrating their six-month anniversary, though it had taken several weeks to finally work in a reservation.
"That's right," Clark glanced at his watch. "We have forty five minutes." He gave her a seductive look. (Or as seductive as Clark "Smallville, Kansas" Kent could be)
Selina shook a finger at him and laughed. "I can't get ready in a blink of an eye like you can. I need all the time I can get. No distractions. Distractions can happen after dinner."
After a few minutes, they arrived at Selina's apartment building. Though Selina often wondered how long it was going to take for them to reside at the same place. Okay, it was a little fast for her to be thinking of co-habitating at six months, but ... well... she really liked the guy.
He gave her a small kiss goodbye that still lingered on her lips as she rode up the elevator. Damn, she already missed him.
Okay, she loved the guy. Who was she kidding?
Selina, as a special treat for Clark, picked out a very slinky black dress. It wasn't slutty, but it was sexy enough to suggest... well, the right idea.
After a quick shower, hair and make-up, Selina pulled on the black dress. It highlighted every curve and contour of her body.
Her crimson lips curved upward. Tonight was going to perfect.
Her new kitten, a gift from Clark, bounded over and meowed. After picking her up, Selina nuzzled her for a minute. "Everything's perrrrfect indeed."
"I hope you haven't been waiting long," Diana said, walking over to the man sitting at an outdoor cafe.
Bruce lowered his newspaper and set it next to his empty cappuccino cup. "Well, when it comes to you, patience is always my forte." He gave her a Bruce Wayne patented grin, and couldn't help but quickly rake his eyes over her body. Her dress was a long dark blue gown, simple in appearance but was doing wonders for her figure. Pun intended.
He strode over to her, gently placing a hand on the back of her neck and planting his mouth on her hers. Her lips softened under his touch, as he turned his head just enough to get a better angle on her lips, his tongue brushing over them slowly. Diana moaned in response prompting him to pull away before things could get too ... heated, as they were still in public. He always had to keep himself in check in her presence.
"Our reservation awaits."
Diana frowned a moment. "Too bad we can't just go back to the manor." Bruce knew what that meant, it wasn't lost on him, and if he could have his way, the world would stop, time would stand still and they would never, ever leave the manor.
Her intertwined his fingers with hers as the strolled the one city block toward the restaurant.
"Wasn't the reservation made by your friend? The chef?"
Diana smiled and nodded. "Yes, Chef Morimoto, I saved him from near death at the hands, or feet rather, of Giganta once in Tokyo... And he begged me to come to visit him at his place of business."
"You should be honored. Masa is the possibly the most exclusive and expensive restaurant in the Western hemisphere. It can take months to get a reservation. If you can first take out a second mortgage on your home."
Diana laughed. "What do you know about mortgages?"
Bruce shrugged. "I hear things. I'm pretty street-savvy."
"Maybe I should feel honored that I'm well-liked by Chef Morimoto, but I think he should also be honored he's not floating at the bottom of Tokyo Bay."
"Touché."
At that, Bruce and Diana had arrived at their desired location. The restaurant was large, and impeccably modern. The entire innards of the restaurant were compiled of glass, metal and exotic wood, straight from Japan.
As soon as the maitre'd managed to look up from his iPad, he looked as though he had placed a finger in a light socket.
"Wonder Wo-... Bruce Wa-..." He then regained his posture and cleared his throat. "Please follow me!"
The restaurant was so exclusive only a few of the evening diners glanced their way as the dark-haired couple followed the maitre'd. Bruce even recognized someone from Wayne Enterprise's board of directors. The two men exchanged nods, although Bruce did notice the man revering Diana as if she were a goddess in blue, which, of course, she was. Bruce smirked. The goddess was with him. Mutually and exclusively. Suddenly he wanted this dinner over with fast.
After they took their seats, Chef Morimoto bounded out of nowhere. "Wonder Woman!"
She stood up and greeted him. Next the chef glanced to her date, and Morimoto looked as though he had no idea who Bruce Wayne was. It was sort of refreshing.
After Diana sat back down, Morimoto engulfed them with friendly conversation.
He patted Bruce on the back and pointed towards Diana. "She's a keeper, eh? Too bad she can't marry one of my sons!" He then laughed, causing Bruce to grin widely and Diana to look slightly uncomfortable.
"Tonight I make anything you want! Everything is on the house!" Morimoto exclaimed excitedly. Suddenly it looked as though a light bulb went off in his head. He snapped at a waiter, "Bring Wonder Woman and her friend the finest sake!" He turned back to Bruce. "I'm sorry, what was your name again?"
"Bruce Wayne."
Morimoto still had no idea who he was. "Oh, uh, right..."
After that, the chef took his leave and Diana mulled over the menu, which appeared to be on some sort of parchment paper. It looked like Egyptian papyrus. The restaurant was certainly up to its gills in unique luxury.
Bruce watched Diana study the menu. "And this will be the first time where I am not responsible in taking care of my date's meal."
Diana lowered her menu and smiled at him. "I'm happy to be apart of a first with you. That's rare."
Bruce matched her smile. "On the contrary, when it comes to you, I can think of many firsts."
"Care to enlighten me?"
A waiter walked up and sat down a carafe of unfiltered sake and two clay cups.
Bruce merely grinned. "The night is young, why don't we wait on that." He poured a cup of sake and handed it to her.
Diana sniffed it cautiously and then took a sip. The look on her face was priceless. But after an extra second, and a few rolls of her tongue over her lips, she brightened. "I like it!"
Bruce wanted to give her more sake, just to see what else she would do with her tongue.
When Selina and Clark had arrived at Masa, it had been two minutes past seven. Thankfully, the maitre'd didn't seem to mind. He looked over his iPad and found the reservation under 'Kent'.
"Please follow me, Mr. and Mrs. Kent."
Selina's eyes widened and she looked up at Clark who chuckled slightly. Seeing how he wasn't completely taken aback by the slip-up of the maitre'd, she smiled at him.
Walking through the restaurant, Selina couldn't help but notice the compilations of stares from the opposite sex. It happened to her wherever she went, so she was immune to it. But for some odd reason, she didn't like it when she was with Clark. She wanted those stares from him and only him.
She glanced down at her tight black dress. Ok, so that wasn't helping the situation. Suddenly Selina was re-thinking her entire wardrobe.
She tightened her grip on Clark's hand as they were led further down into the restaurant. Suddenly Clark stopped short, Selina looked up to see what halted him in his tracks.
If Selina were a betting woman, she would have lost everything. Staring back at her was the one and only Bruce Wayne. And he was on a date. With Wonder Woman.
The maitre'd was pointing at their designated table, probably wondering what was the hold up. Thankfully he was oblivious to the awkward tension in the air.
Bruce looked mortified. Clark looked mortified. Selina was mortified. Diana... well, Diana turned to look up at them.
"You two should sit with us!"
Bruce's eyes shifted from the couple beside their table, and onto Diana.
The maitre'd, tired of waiting for them, placed Clark's and Selina's menus onto the other couple's table. "The waiter should be by shortly for a drink order." And with that, he was gone.
Diana held out her hand to Selina. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Diana." Selina took Diana's hand and shook it. For being a thousand year old Amazon, Diana's hands were baby soft. She was even more beautiful up close and in person. Selina started to fight of a wave of jealousy.
"Selina. And the pleasure is all mine." With that, Selina donned her usual air of confidence and took a seat next to Diana. This prompted Clark to take a seat next to Bruce, who was trying his hardest not to glare daggers at the reporter.
Before anything else could be said, Chef Morimoto appeared out of nowhere, a plate of steaming edamame in his hands. "More Wonder Woman's friends?" If it were possible, he became even more excited.
"More sake?"
"More sake!" Diana answered. With that, another waiter came by with another large carafe of rice wine and Morimoto was gone.
Bruce sighed and eased back into his seat, not realizing that his posture had become rigid. "She really needs to eat, she's had quite a bit already."
This made Selina snicker. She caught Clark's gaze, who might have been the most mortified out of the four, and gave him a reassuring smile while grazing her high-heeled foot up and down his leg. She wanted to him to know the only man she wanted at the table was him, and only him.
Selina often wondered what would happen if she saw Bruce again and especially if she saw him with someone new. Months ago, the irritating stab of jealousy in her abdomen would have seized her and held her hostage. But now, she felt... unaffected. She found someone that made her happy, and who loved her unconditionally.
The fact that the two most prevalent men in her life had vigilante alter egos was ironic, but was mostly hilarious. She could only wonder what Batman and Superman were going to say to each other then next time their paths crossed.
However, so far, Bruce and Clark hadn't said a word to each other, possibly because Diana was doing most the talking.
Selina turned her attention back to the princess. She really was beautiful, almost unnaturally so, with dark hair, blue eyes and a charming personality. Little did Diana know she was the only thing at the table that was making it a palatable atmosphere.
"You know why I like sushi? It reminds me of Themyscira."
Now this had Selina's attention. "And why is that?"
"It's rice, vegetables and fish. That sums up an Amazon diet. Rice could be replaced with another grain, like quinoa, and throw in a little fruit and there you have it." Diana then grinned. "Plus sushi is so cute in its little bite-sized pieces. How could you not like it?"
Bruce couldn't believe this was happening. Not only was Clark Kent rubbing shoulders with him at his dinner date, but also two current and former lovers were chatting at the table like good friends.
Of course, Bruce thought, it was his fault as he was in Metropolis for the evening and not Gotham, but out of the hundreds upon hundreds of restaurants in Metropolis, how on Earth did they both pick the same one?
He turned his attention to Clark. "Having fun?"
Clark took a generous sip of sake and Bruce smirked as the other man grimaced at the taste of it. "I'm not sure yet. You?"
Bruce nodded toward the two women opposite of them who were chatting and having a seemingly good time. "This is entertaining."
"You're telling me."
Bruce regarded Diana and Selina, as he now had the perfect vantage point. Both of them had similar characteristics. Dark hair, beautiful eyes, Diana's being deep blue and Selina's being verdant green and faces that could have been carved by Michelangelo. But they were vastly different.
Taking for example their attire. Selina's dress left little to the imagination she practically oozed sex appeal. And in Selina's case, it was a dangerous weapon she knew how to wield very well.
Diana on the other hand, the front of her dressed stopped right before her collarbone, and only exposed her arms. Her Wonder Woman armor showed more skin. And yet, the mystery behind it drove Bruce mad.
Selina had perfect hair and makeup. Black lined eyes, enhancing their green color. A pouty, crimson mouth. A mouth that used to get him into a lot of trouble. And the perfect sweep of blush over her cheekbones, exaggerating them further. She was the perfect example of what a woman on Bruce's arm should look like. Sexy but not in it for the long haul.
But after comparing her visually to Diana, it only made him want his princess more. Diana was wearing a soft shade of lip-gloss and mascara. But she didn't need it. She could have been wearing a brown paper sack, and still would have killed it on any runway in Paris.
After digging into their edamame, Selina stood up to use the rest room, probably to touch up her face. Diana followed her. It was an unknown force that made women travel in groups to the bathroom, no matter who they were or where they were.
"Well this is...awkward. Sorry Bruce," Clark said with a sigh.
"If anyone needs to apologize, it's me. On behalf of Diana." Bruce sort of felt for the guy. It probably was nerve-wracking having both him and Selina seated only inches from each other. "Isn't it your six month anniversary?"
Clark looked up quickly and was about to ask how he knew that, but Bruce added. "You told me, remember?"
Oh yes, two weeks ago. Clark laughed to himself. Two weeks ago he had also suggested a double date, and Batman had firmly said no. Now look where they were.
"If it's any consolation, Clark... I think you two are great for one another."
This made Clark readjusted his glasses. "Really?"
"I don't think I've ever seen her so happy."
This made Clark brighten as he considered his friends words. "I don't think I've ever seen you so happy," he finally said.
Bruce paused in thought for a moment and then grinned. He couldn't fight it. "Look at us. Two guys in love."
"A double wedding, now I'm sure that's out of the question."
Bruce rolled his eyes. "If I find either of you at my wedding I'll..."
This took the other man by surprise. "Wait, you sound like you've actually been considering it."
"I have."
Before Clark could respond, Bruce added, "And if I find anything I just said anywhere near the pages of the Daily Planet..."
"I know, I know. Something evil and a glowing green rock."
"You got it."
Selina stood in front of the mirror and gently rolled the tube of red over her lips. Diana was watching her as if she was a master of magical arts.
"You're really good at that."
Selina smirked and handed it over. "Here, you try. The color will suit you."
Diana eyed the metallic tube and then twisted it open. She stood rigid in front of the mirror and gently applied the color. After the finished product, Selina nodded in approval. "Very nice."
Thankfully Selina wasn't vying for Bruce's attention that night, because Diana in red lipstick was probably going to give him tunnel vision.
"Diana, I just wanted you to know..." Selina sighed and paused, searching for the right thing to say. "I think you are perfect for him. All of him. I'm really glad he has you."
Diana smiled. "Thank you, Selina. That means a lot coming from you. All of you."
At first Selina had thought Diana had no idea who she was. But Diana was a lot smarter than she had thought previously.
After they reached their table, Bruce's jaw visibly dropped. This made Selina smile. Bruce could thank her later.
The waiter came right away, and lowered several plates onto the table. "Instead of taking your order, the chef decided to make several inspired creations."
He placed a specific plate in front of Diana. "Unagi."
Diana grinned. "Eel is my favorite."
After a much more pleasant meal and conversation, with plenty to do with sake, each couple felt at ease at the table.
Soon, ten o'clock was upon them. And everyone knew that Bruce would soon have to get ready for patrol.
"Time flies when you're having fun, eh?" Clark said, after he had checked his watch. Surprisingly, the evening was almost perfect, despite its earlier hiccup.
"We should do this again sometime," Selina said, surprisingly. Diana wholeheartedly agreed. Bruce looked like he would consider it. Maybe.
After thanking Chef Morimoto, who told Diana that she could save him again any time she wanted, the group stood outside the restaurant and said their goodbyes. Selina made sure to make plans with Diana to get a pedicure together later in the week. The idea of them hanging out still dumbfounded Bruce, but he decidedly remained quiet about it.
"How did you get here?" Diana asked Bruce. They were at least a three-hour drive from Gotham City.
"Transporter."
Diana grinned and grabbed Bruce closer, possibly closer than necessary. "Mr. Terrific. Transport to the cave, please." And with that, Bruce and Diana were gone in a flash of light.
Selina's eyes widened as she witnessed their departure. "Wow. I want to try that sometime."
Clark grinned. "Just say the word."
She instead gave him a sly smile. "How about we go flying?" In a blur, Clark was gone, Superman had appeared and they were up and off into the night sky.
Selina looped her arms around his neck. "I love this. And I love you."
Clark's mouth made contact with hers. "I love you, too." After a few seconds, he pulled away to look at her. "Have you ever considered ...joining the League?"
This took her by surprise, as it had come out of nowhere. "Really? I don't have an exactly creditable reputation..."
He shrugged. "Well, you've changed your ways. For the better. And you know three founding members exceedingly well."
"I know Bruce, he wouldn't agree."
"Well, you hit it off with Diana pretty fast."
Selina laughed. "Yeah, those dark-haired super strong types are my favorite."
As they floated around the sky, dancing along moonlight, Selina still mulled over his proposition. "Hey if Black Canary got admitted into the League, why shouldn't I?"
"Exactly."
"And what about Huntress?"
He gave her a look. "That's been a bit of a rocky relationship."
"Knowing Helena, that does not surprise me." She then leaned into the crook of his neck. "First things first, Kal," his eyes widened with her use of that name, "I want to meet your parents."
"One ticket to Kansas coming right up! Actually there is a three day weekend coming around the corner, it'd be perfect."
Selina brushed her lips against his. "You're perfect."
And with that, Clark and Selina flew home towards their future.