Meet Sam Wayne, Part 5
By: C. Leuch
The restaurant CJ now found himself inside was in an area of Gotham City where he normally wouldn’t have any reason to be. The crime rate was low, the community was close-knit and middle-class with its own unique identity, and most of the businesses were local and family-owned. It definitely wasn’t the place to find a soon-to-be billionaire heir or a reclusive crime fighter, and that was precisely why he was there. He scratched unconsciously at his head and the long-haired blonde wig perched atop it as he looked around the restaurant, finally finding who he was looking for. Without hesitation, he strode to the back corner of the restaurant and sat down at a table, his lunch date already well aware of his presence and smiling at him with an annoyingly amused grin.
“Surf’s up, dude,” Jon said, laughing as CJ smirked at him. Between the blonde wig, the blue-tinted contacts, and the clothing featuring a black t-shirt with a giant pot leaf on it, CJ supposed he deserved the comment. He was supposed to be playing a part, after all.
“Left the surf board at home, amigo. The Gotham surfing scene is totally dead,” he said in his best surfer dude voice, taking a seat at the table. Jon raised his eyebrows at the comment. “I’m undercover,” CJ continued, his voice barely more than a whisper. “How about you?”
This time it was CJ who raised his eyebrows as the smile faded from Jon’s face. “I’m on lunch break,” Jon replied with mock indignation. He was dressed in his usual office attire, his appearance no different than what it would be on any normal day. He was also several hundred miles away from where he had been seen about five minutes earlier, a fact that could land him in hot water if anyone saw him in Gotham. “I wear a disguise every day, if you recall,” Jon continued in a stage whisper, pulling open the top of his shirt just far enough to see a flash of red.
“Well, you know, just checking,” CJ said with a half smile. “I didn’t know how many people you knew in this town.”
“Not enough to warrant a get-up like that,” Jon answered, pointing at CJ, the amusement back in his features. “I know that my brother is officially sleeping with the fishes, pun intended, but....”
“I told you, I’m undercover,” CJ said. “Have to meet up with those Americans for Responsible Business jerks after lunch. If you want to know the typical membership profile, you’re looking at it.” He sighed, reached for his glass of water and took a small sip, his eyes falling on a large manila envelope sitting half-concealed under Jon’s menu. Jon caught CJ’s eye movement and picked up the envelope and one of the menus, handing both to CJ.
“Going right into the lion’s den is pretty gutsy, I’ll give you that. Mom would be proud.”
CJ smiled, taking the two items and quickly placing the envelope in his lap. “Mom IS proud, she said as much when she was giving me advice on how to do this.” As Jon furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to speak, CJ held up his hand. “If I want to know all about having a highly conspicuous second identity, I’ll talk to you and Dad. If I want to fly under the radar and get some actual undercover work done, Mom is the expert.”
Jon’s cheeks turned a little red, although his expression didn’t change. At that moment, the waiter came to take their order, and their conversation ceased. CJ slipped into character while ordering, noticing with some amount of pride how the clean-cut waiter’s eyes narrowed whenever he looked toward him. It was a new experience for someone who had always been the likable, All-American type of guy, and it proved that he was a better actor than he thought. “Did you see that?” CJ asked excitedly after the waiter left.
“See what?”
CJ pointed toward the waiter, who had moved on to the next table. “He thinks I’m a piece of California beach scum. My disguise is totally working.”
“Totally,” Jon said in his best imitation of CJ’s surfer dude voice.
CJ smirked again, then looked down at the envelope in his lap, deciding that a change in the direction of their conversation would be a welcome thing. “So what did you get?” he asked, squinting slightly and looking through the contents via x-ray vision.
It had been almost a month since CJ had first arrived in Gotham. While his nocturnal activities certainly took up most of his evenings, the fact that it was summer meant that those activities were only a small part of his day. That left plenty of time for covert visits to see Jenny and Susan, to study up on the business of becoming part of society’s upper crust, and most importantly to look into the circumstances surrounding the crash of Metro Air flight 329. Through the impressive computer set-up that Bruce Wayne had in the cave, CJ had been able to gather a lot of information in a short amount of time.
Americans for Responsible Business, the group that Jon had witnessed outside the Metro Air offices on the day after the plane crash, wasn’t shy about using the internet to advance their cause. Their website was fairly complex and well-maintained, offering a multitude of reasons to hate companies ranging from the local mom and pop drugstore to Fortune 500 corporations. It struck CJ that any company that theoretically aimed to make a profit could be considered evil by the standards that the ARB set up, and he briefly wondered why anyone took them seriously. Granted, he was about to become a titan of the business world, and his future employer was high on the list of public enemies, but he was pretty certain that those were not the reasons he tended to roll his eyes when reading their propaganda.
While the website was useful in gathering information about the core principles of the group and their planned protest activities, what it didn’t provide were membership lists or names of leaders within the organization. It also went a little light on some of the more controversial stances that he knew the group had taken. If he wanted to get to the meat of the story, he would have to witness the group in action. And if he wanted to really gather the information that would end up being the most useful, he’d have to get inside.
It was exactly a week ago that he had wandered over to one of the ARB’s rallies, dressed much like he was today. They had been protesting the Gotham offices of the Daily Planet, of all places, apparently not happy about the fact that the printers didn’t use unionized labor and that the newspaper didn’t incorporate enough recycled material into it. CJ had watched from the sidelines for a few minutes before wandering up to the crowd and proclaiming himself a staunch supporter. The group apparently determined that he met the membership criteria, namely an opinion and a loud voice, and they welcomed him in. It had been easier than he had thought to coax names out of people, and to get them to open up to him about their experiences with the group. He played along, invented a background similar to those given by others, gained their trust, and was eventually invited to their next closed door meeting, which would be today, after lunch.
His research didn’t stop with Americans for Responsible Business, though. He also managed to gain access to employment records and timecards, and was able to find the names of everyone connected in even the smallest way to Flight 329 at the Metropolis Airport - baggage handlers, federal luggage inspectors, Metro Air mechanics, food service employees, and refuelers, among others. Each identified employee was then given a deep background check, and those that looked the least bit suspicious were flagged for further review. That was where Jon came in. Because CJ was stuck in Gotham and lacked certain talents, any surveillance work, especially surveillance that involved high-security airport locations, would need to be done by one of Metropolis’s resident Supermen. Each of the suspects would be observed for a day, their movements monitored and everyone they came in contact with recorded. With any luck, something interesting would turn up. CJ had no illusions that it would be easy or quick, but he was certainly optimistic that something would turn up.
“Well, I started out with the latest report from the NTSB. They’re still pulling up stuff from the ocean, but they’ve managed to get most of the big pieces and it’s starting to be reassembled into something that resembles an airplane. They seem to be interested in the portion of the plane where you indicated to me the explosion took place.”
“Little wonder,” CJ said, scanning the pages. “Nothing says, ‘pay attention to me’ like a gaping bomb hole.”
“They’ve also gone through the information from the flight data recorder and the voice recordings. I guess it all looks like it would when something explodes and a plane plummets into the ocean, although they did mention a small anomaly just before the plane hit the water, like something was trying to slow its descent....”
“Well, that something wasn’t overly successful, obviously,” CJ said flatly. He wasn’t too worried that anyone would make the connection to him, especially since his efforts failed in spectacular fashion. Thinking back on that moment in time tended to put him in a bad mood, though, and he found himself slumping a little in his chair as Jon continued on.
“There’s more stuff in that report that you can read for yourself. As for the surveillance, my wife is cursing your name right now.”
CJ managed a half smile as he tore his eyes away from the contents of the envelope. “Considering I’m the man without a name until tomorrow, I image that would be pretty hard.”
“You know what I’m saying,” Jon said. “Even with Dad helping on a few of these, I’m beginning to forget what the inside of my apartment looks like.”
“And you call yourself an investigative reporter?”
“I get PAID for that,” Jon answered. “And it’s a darn good thing that I can do a normal day’s worth of work in a matter of minutes or else my boss would be cursing your name, too.”
“Okay, let me rephrase that,” CJ said. He looked around, lowered his voice, cocked an eyebrow, and continued. “You call yourself a superhero?”
Jon hunched over a little, outwardly offended, although he couldn’t quite erase the shadow of a smile from his lips. “Stiffing my lovely but not overly patient wife for a night or two to save some lives I can handle,” he whispered. “But being your employee doesn’t quite rise to the same level of importance.”
CJ found his bad mood quickly evaporating as their banter continued. In fact, it was almost beginning to feel like old times. Almost. But he couldn’t ignore the increasingly itchy blonde wig and politically incorrect clothing. It did feel good to not have to put on any pretenses, though, to just be himself, especially in public. Those times would be few and far between after tomorrow and Bruce’s big coming out party. “So do you at least have something to show for your suffering?” CJ said in his regular voice, a grin now on his face.
“What, besides a guilty conscience? Spying from the air to circumvent security and peeking through strangers’ apartments isn’t exactly ethical.” Jon’s expression showed his distaste for the assignment, although he had known full well what he was getting into when he agreed to it.
“Neither is crashing an airplane. The information...did you get any?” CJ asked, enjoying his brother’s discomfort perhaps a bit too much.
Jon sighed. “I scanned wallets, wrote down names and interesting snippets of conversation, or at least what I could hear. Asking a guy to superhear in the presence of jet engines is just plain cruel.” He gave a self-effacing smile and briefly fiddled with his glasses. “Most of it isn’t all that interesting, but there were a few somewhat shady characters that entered the picture. Dad said that one guy he saw gave him a funny feeling....”
CJ’s smile faded. When his parents got feelings about people, especially negative ones, it usually meant that there was more to the story. He learned a long time ago not to discount his parents’ hunches. “Was he more specific than that, or should I just take it to mean that he found a bad dude that I should scope out?”
“You really get into the surfer lingo, don’t you?” Jon asked, catching CJ momentarily off guard. After taking a second to mentally change gears, CJ widened his smile and leaned back.
“I’m a character actor. Like, sue me and stuff.”
Jon chuckled. “And tomorrow, when you become Mr. Rich Guy, I suppose you’ll quote from the Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine at length. And all that golf knowledge that you earned the hard way….”
“I didn’t say that I was a GOOD character actor,” CJ said with a smirk. “Tomorrow is going to be more about looking rich, shaking hands, and sucking up to the captains of industry in attendance. I’ve been told that I can’t even tell any jokes.”
“Man, how will you survive?”
“That’s not the worst part, though,” CJ said. Jon waited patiently for the punchline, his eyebrows raised in anticipation. CJ pointed to his eyes, and then nodded as Jon seemed to understand.
“And you thought you could escape,” Jon said with a wicked smile. “What was it that you said to me a few years ago? Something like, ‘I’d rather die than have to put on a pair of those.’”
“Well, I did, in fact, die, so don’t look so smug.”
“My little brother, bespectacled at last. Welcome to the club.” Jon shook his head.
“The family curse,” CJ muttered, coaxing a laugh from Jon. Their food showed up a few moments later, and with their business officially concluded, the conversation moved on to other things. CJ knew that he would have a fair amount of reading ahead of him once he got a little bit of free time, but he found himself looking forward to it. It was hard to explain, but all the heavy research, deep background checks, and undercover work was proving to be rewarding in a way that he hadn’t anticipated. He had always figured that the payoff would come at the conclusion of a case, with the arrest of the bad guy or the saving of the city. It was surprising to find, then, that he took a certain amount of pleasure in pursuit, in the thrill of the hunt, so to speak. Of course, if his investigation ended up not yielding any results, he would probably change his mind.
After they finished their meals, Jon and CJ hung around the restaurant for a few minutes, chatting about family and work and whatever else came to mind. Neither were entirely sure when they would be able to meet again, especially during daylight hours, so they wanted to make the most of what time they had. As time went by, though, CJ caught Jon checking his watch more frequently, and he knew that their lunch hour was close to being up. They wrapped up their chat, and at a few minutes to one simultaneously rose from their chairs and exited the restaurant.
“Well....” CJ said as they stood on the sidewalk a few steps from the door. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight from heel to toe a few times, his gaze directed downward. The envelope of information, now folded in half and stuffed in his back pants pocket, crinkled lightly with the movement.
Jon gave a quick sigh and a smile, a little personality quirk that he had obviously picked up from their father. “I guess, until we meet again in some dark alley...”
CJ looked up, and saw that Jon appeared similarly uncomfortable. As their gazes met, CJ began to wonder why the sudden uneasiness had developed between them. They had always had a typical brotherly relationship. Maybe they were never exactly best friends, but they could certainly banter like pros. Heck, they had been in full banter mode not five minutes earlier. He suspected that it had something to do with tomorrow, and the fact that, with the creation of his new identity, Samuel Clark Kent would officially cease to be, even if he had been “dead” for the better part of a month.
“It doesn’t just have to be a dark alley, you know,” CJ said, drawing a surprised look from his brother. After a moment, CJ smiled. “It can be a dark roof or super secret crime fighting cave.” He lowered his voice and took a small step forward. “Or, you know, a big stuffy mansion. The place has a hundred some rooms, surely my brother can come by sometime for a game of canasta without anyone having to know.”
Jon’s smile was grateful. He stepped forward and locked CJ in a loose embrace, which was gladly returned. “We all figured you’d be a big success. Who knew you would have to die to achieve it?”
CJ laughed and pulled away. “I’d let you be jealous if I thought I actually earned my success. You can still beat me in Monopoly, so I guess we’re even.”
They began to slowly walk down the sidewalk, angling toward the nearest alley. “And yet you end up as the real estate tycoon.” As they turned the corner and entered the alley, CJ stopped as Jon continued on. “Good luck with everything tomorrow,” Jon said as he walked sideways, taking off his glasses and pointing them toward CJ to emphasize the word ‘everything.’
CJ waved dismissively. “I’ve always been the family nerd, now I’ll finally look the part.” The two brothers smiled at each other for a moment, then Jon tucked his glasses into his suit pocket, bent his knees slightly, and was gone. CJ held up a hand, watched the sky for a few seconds, then turned and started down the sidewalk again. He was almost in too good of a mood to talk to the ARB guys, but he supposed that even a soon-to-be billionaire superhero had to make some sacrifices.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to focus, and tried to slip back into character. After a few thoughts of hot sand and gnarly waves, he decided that was ready to face the music. Kowabunga, dude.
***
Jenny was beginning to become very familiar with the roof of Susan’s apartment building. Three weeks worth of late night rendezvous could do that, she thought with a sigh as she leaned up against the exterior wall of the stairwell. The moon hung high in the sky as she looked out over the sparse expanse of tarpaper and brick in front of her. The tall buildings of downtown were not all that far away, their lights giving the skyline a stark beauty. It was a view that she was definitely growing to appreciate, although she knew that she would appreciate it far more if she had a certain special someone by her side.
Since arriving in Gotham City, she’d seen her husband on a fairly regular basis, although it had generally been through short rooftop meetings that tended to degenerate into make-out sessions. He had been busy, she knew, between the preparations for assuming his new identity, his investigation of the airplane crash, and cleaning up the city. The latter was particularly time intensive, mostly because there was plenty of crime in Gotham City and a premium of nighttime hours in which to fight it. Those were the same hours that their meetings were relegated to, at least for the time being, but that would hopefully change very soon.
Jenny had been pretty busy herself in the short time that she’d been in town. Her first priority had been to find a job, something that she’d been working on even before CJ’s untimely “death.” The local office of the Daily Planet had been interested, although she didn’t know how badly that newspaper needed another member of the Kent family on staff. It would be a prestigious job to have, but she was afraid that her last name might make for unrealistic expectations. Besides, she had a feeling that working there might put her in contact with people who would know and remember CJ, possibly jeopardizing their plans and blowing his cover. Jenny had interned at the Gotham Gazette, which was also interested in hiring her on a permanent basis. Part of her felt guilty at the possibility of working for a paper that competed with the Planet, and she wondered about the possibility of scooping her in-laws. If she ended up at the Gazette, would a professional rivalry develop between them? She couldn’t stand the idea that she could end up feeling any animosity toward Lois and Clark and Jon, so the Gotham Gazette was ruled out, along with all other nationally recognized newspapers. Her only other viable employment opportunity, then, came with one of the periodicals that was housed in town, and that was where she ended up working. Gotham Magazine, her new employer, didn’t generally cover news so much as special interest stories, especially those involving companies, people, and events in the city. It would be a chance to familiarize herself with the community, and to spread her wings a little bit as far as writing went.
Although she had put in some fairly long hours in trying to establish herself at her new job, her life in Gotham hadn’t been all about work. She spent a fair amount of time hanging out with Susan, seeing what there was to see in the city, and generally trying to keep her mind off the giant void left by CJ’s absence. After the sun went down each night, she wandered up to the roof, knowing full well that she might spend hours waiting for him to show up, if he even showed up at all, but not really caring that much. It left her with time to think and plan, to clear her mind, to appreciate her surroundings. As she sat in the spot she now occupied a couple of weeks earlier, her eyes locked on the Gotham skyline, it had occurred to her that something was not as it should be. Closing her eyes and clearing her thoughts, she had realized that she could hear the conversations of people on the sidewalk several stories below. She could also hear televisions in the apartments in the building she sat upon and smell the dinners being prepared for blocks around. Opening her eyes, it had occurred to her that she could also see things in the darkness that she normally couldn’t, the fine details of the roof, the distinct shapes of features on buildings the better part of a mile away. It had been almost a year since CJ’s powers, which had been transferred to her via a freak lightning strike, had faded away. Now, it was almost as if they had come back in a weakened form. With a start, she had realized that it was probably their child who was fueling their return.
The discovery had taken her by surprise, but it hadn’t been unwelcome. As the nights had gone by and she passed her time alone on the rooftop, she found that her rediscovered talents were comforting. It was hard to be too lonely when she could reach out with her senses and observe all that the city held. As she sat there again this night, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to sense the activity in the neighborhood. Somewhere, she knew, a cat was digging through a dumpster. Somewhere a family was having lasagna as a late supper. And somewhere nearby, someone was running across the buildings, leaping into the air and landing with a dull thud, continuing along without breaking stride. Jenny smiled as the sound neared, knowing with every footfall where the person’s final destination would be.
“The damsel sat alone on the darkened rooftop, waiting for her mythical hero to come and rescue her,” she said as he landed on the roof beside her. She rose and turned, her smile growing as she saw him standing there, his dark form bathed in moonlight. He was dressed differently tonight than he had been before, the black shirt and pants, bandana and sunglasses replaced with the full regalia of the costume of Batman. A dark cowl covered his head and obscured his facial features, although his eyes were clear and unobstructed. His top was made of black spandex, a yellow symbol in the center of his chest showing the stylized shape of a bat. Over his heart, embroidered in black thread and no larger than the size of a quarter, was a small s-shield similar to that worn by his father and brother. The small size and black-on-black color made it almost invisible, and she undoubtedly wouldn’t have noticed it if not for her new talents. A black cape hung across his shoulders, reaching down to mid calf and fluttering gently in the slight breeze. Around his waist was a gray utility belt made up of pockets and pouches of various sizes, no doubt containing all sorts of nifty gadgets and tools. Leather gloves covered his hands and a large portion of his forearms. His pants were form-fitting, probably spandex, and his boots were black. Jenny found it hard to take her eyes off him, and she was aware that her mouth was hanging slightly open.
He closed the distance between them with two long strides, leaned down, and immediately captured her mouth with his. Instinctively, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, getting a little tangled in the new cape. Time seemed to stand still as they kissed, the rest of the world fading away into blissful nothingness. As they pulled apart, he reached up and pulled off the cowl, a smile on his face. “I might be a knight, but I’m missing the shining armor. Sorry,” he said, a gentle, teasing tone in his voice.
Her hands lingered on his back, playing with the pleats in his new cape. “Well, then I guess black spandex will have to do,” she answered.
“So do you like it?” CJ asked eagerly. “It was a birthday present.”
Jenny dropped her hands and stepped back, cocking her head to the side. Birthday present, huh? CJ’s birthday had passed not long before their wedding, but his new identity, well, his “birth” day would be tomorrow. She made a show of looking at him thoughtfully, although she could answer his question without a second thought. He was magnificent, heroic, almost regal. The form fitting costume revealed all the fine points of his well-sculpted physique, and she felt a little jealous for a moment knowing that other women would surely notice. “Yeah, it’s okay,” she said to him, although she knew that her expression and the tone of her voice revealed her true feelings about the outfit. “I think you’d look a lot better out of it,” she added with a smile.
She had an ulterior motive with her innuendo, one of which he was fully aware. Since this was his last night as an anonymous, ordinary person, his last night out of the glare of the paparazzi and the media, he wanted to spend it basking in normalcy. They had designated tonight as movie night, an old favorite during their college years. He would slip into some normal street clothing, make his way through their building, and spend the rest of the evening hanging out with Jenny and Susan, watching movies, eating popcorn, and just being himself. Jenny supposed it was her “birthday” gift to him, one that he she knew he would appreciate.
CJ wiggled his eyebrows as he dramatically removed his cape, twirling it around a few times before handing it to her. Jenny couldn’t help but laugh as he continued on, slowly, deliberately removing his gloves, almost as if he was doing a private strip show. She took the items as they were removed and placed them into a small cloth bag, one that looked like an oversized purse. Once he was down to the spandex portions of the outfit, she handed him a flannel shirt and jeans, which he put on over top his other garments. As she brought her gaze up to take a good look at him, she couldn’t help but notice the light glint from the yellow band that was still present on his left ring finger. Their previous meetings had occurred while he was in the costume, and his gloves had never come off. She hesitated for a moment, her eyes lingering on his hand, a sad smile forming on her face.
“You’re still wearing your ring,” she said, her voice heavy, as her eyes found his.
He grinned sheepishly. “I just couldn’t take it off,” he said. “I guess tomorrow I won’t have a choice, but....”
“Yeah,” Jenny said quickly. “I know how you feel.” It had occurred to her to wonder what the convention was for widows, if they kept their rings on for the rest of their lives or if they put them safely away after the deaths of their husbands. She supposed that it depended on the person, and whether or not they wanted to move on with their life. At some point she knew that she would have to move on, that eventually her rings would have to be removed and relegated to a lonely corner of her jewelry box, but she also knew that doing so would make her available again. Then she would be free to be courted by the city’s newest billionaire, who would make sure that her finger wasn’t bare for long. Still, it didn’t make it any easier to take them off, and apparently CJ felt the same way.
He reached out and grasped her left hand in his, bringing it slowly up to his mouth and kissing it. “I’m kind of stuck, I’m afraid. But you don’t have to hurry if you don’t want to. Of course, I’ll be honor bound not to hit on a married woman....”
“Widowed,” Jenny said giving him a half smile. “Grieving. Expectant.” She detached her hand from his and reached up to button the top button of his shirt, hoping to hide the black spandex currently revealed beneath it. She knew that they had theoretically talked about what would come next, the “chance” meeting at the party tomorrow, the interviews, the somewhat public courtship, but they had never talked about the finer details of the plan, the little things that could end up becoming obstacles. “It almost doesn’t seem right to get rid of my wedding rings, to cast aside my husband, while I’m still expecting his baby. What would people think? I want it to be clear that I loved you, Clark, but at the same time, I do want to be courted by you, and I do want you to be with me when this baby comes.”
CJ put his hands on hers, stilling her movement. Slowly, she looked into his eyes, which were suddenly very serious. “Don’t feel that you have to somehow honor my memory, or that you have to act a certain way for the sake of appearances. Anyone who might be offended because you moved on already knows the truth of the situation.”
“But what about you? Your new identity will have enough questions surrounding it even before you start dating a pregnant widow.”
CJ smiled and shrugged. “Let people talk. I don’t care.” He reached up and tenderly ran his finger along her hairline. “I just want us back together sooner rather than later. I don’t want you to go through this alone,” he said, bringing his second hand, which was still entwined with hers, down to her stomach. They looked at each other for a few moments, not really saying anything, before she leaned into him, gently meeting his lips with hers. This kiss was tender, loving, entirely different from the hungry kisses shared between them of late.
“Who knew that there were romantic heroes out there stalking women on rooftops?” Jenny asked as they pulled apart, drawing an immediate smile from him. “Come on,” she said, reaching down and grabbing a baseball cap from the bag, then handing it to him. “We have a birthday to celebrate. I even got cake.”
CJ put the cap on backwards, and together they started down the stairs towards Susan’s apartment. “The damsel in distress lures the unsuspecting hero into her abode with promises of cake. Little does he know the calamitous fate that awaits him.” He shuffled his feet for effect, but she tugged him along, more than familiar with his style of teasing.
They both stayed quiet as they continued through the apartment building, each looking around, wary of any unexpected visitors. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to run into someone, especially since CJ’s current wardrobe was indistinguishable from that of any other normal guy his age, but neither of them wanted to have to answer any questions. It occurred to her that it would be so much easier if he could use the window like the other superpowered men in the family. Lois had told Jenny a story or two about Superman’s first couple of years in Metropolis, and his frequent visits through her living room window. If CJ wanted to enter through Susan’s window, he’d have to climb down a rusty fire escape, which rattled loudly with even the slightest breeze. Half the neighborhood would know that he was there if he tried to climb down that thing and pop in through the window. At least the roof was safe, isolated, and had a nice view.
They made it to the apartment without incident, both of them relaxing as the door closed and sealed them off from the outside world. Opposite the door, Susan sat on the couch, her eyes anxious as she looked their way.
“Clark! Long time no see,” Susan said with a grin. “How have you been?” Jenny looked toward CJ, who was already reaching up to undo the top button of his shirt now that they were safely in the apartment. He sighed gently as he finished, then regarded Susan with his usual, charming smile.
“Well, I’ve been wearing enough disguises to become schizophrenic. Besides that I can’t complain.” He wandered over to the other side of the room, sat down on the couch next to Susan, then reached down and grabbed a piece of popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table.
Susan’s gaze wandered to the collar of CJ’s shirt, her eyebrows rising a little as she saw the barest portion of his new costume beneath it. “And all these rumors I’ve heard about a mysterious man beating the inner city riff raff into submission?”
His expression was sly. “Who says that you can’t believe anything that comes from the rumor mill?” He raised an eyebrow, waiting for the inevitable wide-eyed, dreamy expression from Susan. After a moment, he got the reaction he was waiting for and continued. “Rumors make for a good urban legend, but they hardly strike fear into bad guys. Now that the mysterious man has his snazzy new costume, hopefully he can finally get some decent press.”
Susan giggled. Jenny quickly crossed the room and sat on CJ’s lap, wrapping her arm around his neck. “It is pretty snazzy,” she said to Susan, bringing a vigorous nod from CJ.
“I can’t wait to see it on the news,” Susan said with a smile. CJ seemed surprised for a moment, no doubt expecting her to demand a private viewing right then and there. Jenny wasn’t all that surprised, though. The new Susan was a shadow of her former self, at least as far as her hero worship went. Most of the Superman stuff was long gone, donated to charities or local fan clubs, and even her new Batman collection was limited to newspaper clippings from the last few days. Jenny suspected that her new interest in Batman had nothing to do with hero worship and everything to do with that fact that it was a friend out there doing those things.
“To heck with the news,” Jenny said, reaching down to undo a few more buttons on CJ’s shirt.
“I’m here for one minute and she starts ripping my clothes off,” CJ said to Susan with a sigh and a hefty amount of phony indignation, although he didn’t resist. After a second, he leaned down to kiss Jenny on the neck.
“Well if you did like your dad and stuck some velcro on there, then I COULD rip your clothes off.” Jenny inhaled sharply as CJ kissed her a few more times, then laughed gently. “You’re not helping.”
“Hmm?” CJ said with a smile as he straightened up.
“Show Susan your new suit,” Jenny said, gesturing toward Susan, who was now regarding them with a bemused grin.
CJ pulled down the portion of shirt that was already unbuttoned, revealing the yellow bat symbol. “It’s the cape, the cowl and the gloves that really give it zip,” he said to Susan. “It’s kind of a big picture thing. Plus, you know, for it to be really cool you have to be out in the dark....”
Susan looked like she was trying hard not to laugh. “Mmm-hmm,” she said with a bob of the head.
“And I thought you said it was just ‘okay,’” CJ said, turning toward Jenny. He reached out and grabbed another handful of popcorn from the bowl, regarding her with raised eyebrows. She missed this, she realized as a smile spread across her face and she engaged him in a staring contest. Late night rooftop meetings were good for getting caught up and for at least partially satisfying their physical longing for each other, but the teasing and the laughter had gotten lost in the shuffle. CJ would still be CJ, and he would still interject wisecracks into even the most serious conversations, but the relaxed back-and-forth, the conversations that would leave them both laughing had been few and far between since his “death”.
“I also said you’d look better out of it, and I stand by that.” Jenny raised her eyebrows and shifted her hands around to his back, reaching for the zipper that was back there somewhere.
Susan wrinkled her nose, although she was still smiling. “It sounds neat and all, but black on black? Sounds like something you’d wear to a funeral.”
A piece of popcorn soared through the air, landing on Susan’s lap. “Hey, I put the fun in funeral,” CJ said with a smile, wiggling out of Jenny’s grasp. “And good job with the dead guy joke.”
Susan laughed and bowed her head as Jenny nodded appreciatively. The sense of humor was another new side of Susan’s personality. “We figured that it was best to get them out of our systems, since we won’t be able to use them after today,” Susan said.
“Oh, yeah,” he replied, apparently unaware of that particular fact. “Well, okay, in that case let me say that I’d die for a piece of cake right now.”
“We’ve opened a Pandora’s box,” Jenny said to Susan, tightening her grip around CJ’s neck as he slipped his arms underneath her and stood. “For the rest of the night….”
“It’ll be like open mike night at the comedy store of the undead,” CJ finished, flashing a lopsided smile.
Susan chuckled and rose from the couch, following CJ and Jenny toward the kitchen. CJ set Jenny down on the floor, and they gathered around the cake pan, telling bad puns while Susan sliced up and dished out the cake.
The evening continued, the three relaxing and snacking, talking and laughing, giving a running commentary on the movie as they watched. Jenny cuddled up to CJ throughout most of the night, enjoying his presence while she could. The hour quickly got late, and as the movie finished up, Susan yawned and looked at her watch, declaring with a knowing glance toward CJ and Jenny that it was time for her to go to bed.
Just like that, they were alone. The television blinked gently in the background, illuminating the darkened room with random flashes of light, but Jenny didn’t really notice. Without hesitation, she reached behind her husband’s head and pulled him toward her, capturing his lips in a deep kiss. All too soon, she felt him pulling away, and reluctantly she released him. As she opened her eyes, she saw him regarding her with a light smile.
“Thanks for the birthday present,” he said. Absently, Jenny reached up and started playing with his hair. He had always kept it fairly closely cropped, usually in almost a buzz cut, and it felt strange to see him with longer hair. In fact, she noted with a grin, it had passed the point of being long enough to exhibit some natural curl.
“I haven’t given you my entire gift yet,” she answered, her voice deep and suggestive. Her other hand started trailing down his chest, making its way toward his waist.
He smiled appreciatively, although he didn’t immediately return her advances. After a moment, Jenny stilled and looked at him questioningly. “I can’t stay, you know,” he said.
She sighed. “Maybe not all night, but for a little while?”
His hand found her knee. He cocked his head to the side, looking at her for a moment, then nodded. “You drive a hard bargain,” he said, and she laughed gently. Without any more hesitation, he leaned in and kissed her briefly, then pulled back, stood up, and held out his hand. She reached out and took it, and together they walked toward her bedroom.
They both had experienced so many conflicting emotions – loss, grief, pain, uncertainty, and above all hope – since they had last been together, emotions that had largely been kept inside. It wasn’t until they were apart that Jenny had realized how much she had depended on CJ, not just for companionship and love, but also for sharing her innermost thoughts and feelings with. He was the one person that could coax away her bad moods, who could truly make her forget about whatever problems life held, and she suspected that the same was true for him, as well. As Jenny gave CJ the rest of her present, she wasn’t all that surprised at how intensely they responded to each other. It was a release, one that had been a long time coming, one that would undoubtedly make the sun shine a little brighter the next morning. She knew that he would be gone when she woke up, but for the night at least, they could forget about what was and what would be and just enjoy being in love, together.
