AN hour had passed when Jessica and Alfred made it into the city of Gotham.
She started to feel her heart race even faster than before. The last time she was in Gotham, she almost got put into a sex trafficking ring and had a cheesy make-out session with Gotham's notorious Batman.
The world could just swallow her whole if the Bat found out. That would be so bad. Why did she put herself into these situations? Alfred noticed Jessica's tense state and gave a slight chuckle. "There is nothing to be worried about madam, I assure you, Master Bruce is nothing short of a gentleman."
"You seem to be really close to him."
"Of course, after his parents passed, I raised him as my own." Alfred smiled; he was practically his father. Jessica smiled at that, at least he wasn't alone. "Now, tell me something about yourself, madam."
Jessica shifted in her seat; she wasn't expecting that question. "I'm from Smallville, Kansas. My brother and I were actually adopted when the meteor shower happened in 86." She explained. "My life is pretty standard. I hope that isn't too boring."
Alfred pulled up to the manner, exited the car, and opened the door for her. "Quite the contrary." He chuckled. "I do hope you enjoy pasta," Alfred smiled, helping her out of the car. "Master Bruce specifically requested it for tonight's plans."
Jessica smoothed out her pantsuit while looking at the glass-filled mansion. A certain fear started to creep up on her, the old 'you break it, you buy it' rule. Jared's jewelry store was hitting her all over again. Of course, this was not Jessica's first ball game, she remembered the nervousness in her stomach when Oliver took her out on her first date in college.
Although their relationship was not meant to be and she set up Oliver with her best friend, Chloe Sullivan, she couldn't help but feel those same butterflies in her stomach but ten times worse. And she has no idea why.
Alfred led her to the steps of the mansion and there stood Bruce in a nice black button-up shirt, black slacks, and polished dress shoes. It made Jessica's heart flutter, the same heart flutter that she gets when Batman is around. Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, it was just her and Bruce.
The peppered-haired man led Jessica into the dining room, not before complimenting her of course. "So, tell me about yourself." Bruce asked, looping his fingers together. "If you want to, that is."
Jessica chuckled, looking down at her plate of food. "Well, as I said to you before, I'm from Smallville, Kansas nothing in my life really happened until my brother and I were about sixteen." She placed her napkin on the table.
"Hobbies?"
"Well, I've been reading sappy romance books since I was thirteen." Jessica replied. "I also bake like no one's business. Cookies, bread, pie, the classics. I ice skate, it's been a really long time so I'm probably really bad." She laughed gently, making a deep chuckle escape Bruce's chest. She paused for a second before a gentle smile spread across her face. "I love to look at the stars, going to museums, and planetariums. Point to a star in the sky and I can show you what constellation it belongs to."
As Jessica continued to talk about her love of Astronomy, Bruce drank in every word she spoke like the finest wine. It was making the wheels turn in his head about what he could do for her at that very moment. "It seems you love science." Bruce smiled.
Jessica looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm boring you, aren't I?" She mumbled in shame.
"What? No, of course not." He dismissed with his brows arched high. "I'm just stumped on how you ended up as a reporter."
"Life, I suppose."
Bruce took a sip of his wine. "Your degree says otherwise."
She furrowed her brows, eyes darting over to his relaxed form on high alert. "You looked me up?"
Bruce shook his head no rather quickly. "No, no, I didn't. Alfred did." He rubbed the back of his neck in a bit of embarrassment. "He's rather, eh, protective."
Jessica exhaled lightly. "I know the feeling." She mumbled. "I mean, about my degree, I love science. Astronomy and all that stuff but I guess journalism is just the path I chose to follow."
"But why?" Bruce further pressed on.
"Saying I'm bad at my job?" She teased while taking a sip of her water.
"You're an amazing journalist, don't get me wrong, it's just you seem...-"
"Disconnected."
"Yes."
Jessica pursed her lips in thought for a second. "I'm going to be honest with you, I don't really know." She shrugged. "I guess I joined the writing world because it was convenient for me. I needed the money and they needed reporters. Life is unexpected, you can't do anything but just roll with the punches."
"I'll drink to that." Bruce huffed while Jessica could not help but giggle at his attempt at a joke. "You had said something about your life when you were sixteen, what did you mean?"
"I thought I was supposed to be giving the interview here, Mr. Wayne."
"I like to know the beautiful woman sitting beside me." He smirked, his charm reaching Jessica's cheeks. It was a stupid thing to blush about but there was a playful tone that reminded her of someone. She just couldn't think about it now.
She sucked in a deep breath before having the guts to speak about her past. "Well, my family and I were driving back from one of the town's functions, a little family outing that we do every year. My brother and father got caught up in an argument and we did not notice the change in the weather. Then suddenly, all of the cars on the freeway just stopped because Kansas has a record of random tornados."
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THE whole Kent family was driving back home from the annual corn convention in town along with running some errands for the house and farm.
Clark had run into the football team, and they tried to get him to convince his parents to join the team again. "I'm just trying to be a normal kid dad! I mean, Jessica wanted to join the cheer squad." Jessica buried her face in her jacket. Why did her brother always have a knack for dragging her into arguments like this? "Why can't you just trust us to be normal?"
"Your mother and I just want you both to be safe." Jonathan sighed while Jessica and Martha opted to just stay out of the conversation.
"I'm tired of being safe, I just wanna do something useful with my life!"
"So, farming, feeding people. That's not... that's not useful?" Jonathan asked, looking at his son for a moment then back to the road.
"I didn't say that." Clark defended.
"Our family's been farming for five generations...-"
Clark rolled his eyes, tired of hearing that story. "Your family, not mine." The teen scoffed. "I don't even know why I'm listening to you, you're not my dad! You're just some guy who found me in a field." He snapped, causing both Jessica and Martha to glare at the teenager.
"Clark!" They growled in unison. Jonathan felt the pang of hurt flood his chest but knew his son did not mean it, just blind anger.
"It's all right, Martha. He's right, Clark has a point. We are not your parents, but we've been doing the best we can. And we've been making this up as we go along, so maybe... maybe our best isn't good enough anymore." Jonathan explained as calmly as he could. Jessica noticed the change in weather, from the nice light blue cloudy sky to dirty grey. Seems like Jonathan caught on to it too.
"Look, Dad...-" Clark was cut off by Jonathan.
"Hold on..." Jonathan opened the door to the car, Clark, Jessica, and Martha following close behind.
In the distance, a giant swarm of grey clouds, dust, leaves, and anything else was sucked into the dangerous vortex of destruction.
"Dad?" Jessica asked in a panic, her father, being the man of self-sacrifice that he was, took charge of the situation.
"Go for the overpass..." In hesitation, Jessica stayed in place by her father's side. Too stubborn to leave, too convinced she could save them all without everyone knowing it was her. When Jonathan noticed she was not moving, he said it with more of a sternness. "Go for the overpass! Take cover!" Clark grabbed Jessica's arm and began to drag her to the overpass.
When they made it halfway, Jonathan caught up with the two, a little girl in his arms. "Over there, just follow them." He told the mother, putting the girl into Clark's arms.
"Hank's still in the car!" Martha shouted; her heart racing as fast as it possibly could. "Hank's in the car!"
Jessica placed her hand on her father's arm. "I'll get him, I'll get him!"
"No, no, get your mom to the overpass!" Jonathan shouted over the loud bustling wind of the tornado quickly gaining on them.
"Dad!" Jessica shouted after him.
"Go!" He shouted, running to the family car, and tried to convince the dog to leave from its hiding spot in the car. "Come on Hank!" He encouraged the poor mutt crowding in between the space of the seat and the foot space of the car.
Jessica noticed a car fly directly on top of the car with Jonathan inside. "Dad!" Clark held back his mother and Jessica to make sure they did not run off after him.
"Jonathan!" Martha screamed.
"Mom, it's okay!"
"Dad!" Jessica shouted again. Ready to go save her father from the storm.
"Jess, stay here!" Clark shouted, holding his mother up instead of his sister.
Hank had successfully made it to the overpass, but Jonathan seemed to be having a harder time. Jessica noticed the way he limped a couple of feet but rested on the car, the pain was too great for him.
Jonathan knew he had run out of time. Jessica looked at Clark then back to her father, she took one step forward, ready to expose herself to save her father, her best friend. She halted when Jonathan did one simple hand motion, with no sign of fear, hate, or embarrassment, just a look Jessica to this day will never understand.
Jonathan held his hand up to stop her from using her abilities to save him, he did not want to, but if this is what it takes to keep their secret hidden. Then so be it.
Jessica felt her eyes gloss over with big tears threatening to take over and in one fatal swoosh, he was gone. "Dad!" Clark screamed in agony as Martha collapsed into Jessica's arms in denial.
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"IT was a hard day." Jessica mumbled, messing with her ring.
She wiped her eyes free of tears. "I'm sorry." She apologized with a chuckle. She opted on telling Bruce only the part where her father died, the argument, and that was it.
If this relationship worked out, then she would tell him the full story, someday. She hid her feelings behind a barrier of a smile, something Bruce saw straight through.
He grabbed her hand in his tightly, it radiated support and understanding. Jessica looked at Bruce in surprise, she was not expecting him to just grab her hands like that.
"I know your pain; I understand it full-heartedly and I want you to know that you're strong. Stronger than me that's for sure." Jessica felt a single tear slip down her cheek as she smiled, he understood her. "Never be afraid to cry." He may not understand all of her, but the grief part is something she can live with. He wiped away that tear that slipped down to her chin with tenderness like her father. "There's a place I would like to take you. Only if you're up to it."
Jessica raised an eyebrow, her eyes still a little watery. "Where to?"
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BRUCE pulled up to a large white building with a dome that sat atop proudly in the clear sky.
It was far from the city, about twenty minutes past the mansion. A hidden gem that Bruce had bought long ago. "Where are we?" Jess asked curiously, blue eyes taking in her surroundings.
Bruce brought out a key from his pocket with a child-like smile on his face. "You said you loved the stars, I thought I would bring it to you."
Jessica's eyes lit up at the realization of where they were at. "Is this..."
Bruce opened the door, letting Jessica go inside first. He turned on the lights to reveal sections of exhibits that revealed things about the stars and the planets. Right in front of her was a giant set of velvet double doors.
"It is!" She squealed in excitement like a kid on Christmas day. She clapped her hands together and jumped into Bruce's arms before she could stop herself. "I'm sorry," She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear with a timid smile. "I shouldn't have...-"
"Don't apologize for being excited." Bruce interrupted with a smirk. "Besides, it's nice to see you be yourself."
Jessica gave a soft giggle before spinning on her heel. "Come on, let's check out the exhibits!"
The two walked through the exhibits, Bruce listening intensely to whatever facts Jessica was saying about Saturn's rings or how Astronaut food worked.
"If you had powers, what would be one thing you could do?" Bruce asked out of the blue. He wanted to slap himself from seeing her reaction.
"I would want to fly to see if I could touch the stars." Jessica answered, even though she could fly. "It's what I've always wanted to do. To reach the impossible."
Bruce felt his heartthrob at the sight of her smile. It was so addicting to make her smile. He would do anything to preserve the sight in his mind forever, even if it meant listening to her ramble about how blue stars are the hotels and can be as hot as 200,000,000° Fahrenheit. If it meant for her to smile, it would be enough.
"I think I can help you with that." Bruce grabbed her hand again, motioning for her to follow him through the double doors. "It's going to be dark, so stay close until I get the lights on." Jessica nodded her head in agreement, grabbing his upper arm, which was probably the size of her head, and followed him through the dark. The only thing illuminating their path was the flashlight on Bruce's phone. "Stay right," He positioned Jess right in front of him. "Here. Don't move."
Jessica nodded her head eagerly, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. Bruce left her standing there for a minute or two when the ceiling lit up with hundreds of stars. Her hands slowly raised to her mouth covering them to express her awe.
Bruce was behind her in seconds with his chocolate brown orbs looking up at the ceiling as well. "Like it?"
"Like it? I love it." She breathed out.
"Wednesday, activate H.A.I.P." Bruce instructed as a machine behind them began to activate.
Jessica looked up at Bruce for a second. "What's H.A.I.P.?"
"Holographic Aerospace Interactive Projector. It works by copying the stars and planets shown in its area of the sky, copies it, and allows you to bring the image close to you." Bruce explained. "Let me show you." He grabbed her hand, cupping it in his large one, and brought it up to the ceiling.
Their hands were engulfed in a blue sheen for a second before they brought their hands down to show a holographic image of a star in her hand. "Oh my god..." Jessica mumbled; eyes filled with curiosity.
"You said you wanted to hold a star," He spoke slowly. "To reach the impossible but with you; I don't think anything is impossible."
Jessica turned her body around, still holding the star in her hands, to look him in the eyes. She wanted to say something romantic, like in those books she reads, but could not find the words. The only thing that came out of her mouth was, "It's warm".
Bruce chuckled at her response. "Wednesday, lower projection to ground level." It did just that, lowering the stars and planets as it engulfed the two in a world full of new possibilities. Jessica gently tapped her finger against one of the stars with a smile.
It floated away, bonking against a couple of other stars. "This is incredible." She laughed. "I wish I had this as a kid." She turned her blue eye gaze towards Bruce and could not help but land a gentle kiss upon his lips.
That is when Bruce cautiously lowered his lips back down to hers and kissed her under the starry holographic planetarium. At that moment, she almost forgot about everything, her brother, her double identity, Batman, everything.
Almost.