Gatsby's Green Light

The Watchtower

New Years, a time for resolutions and new possibilities for all of us, heroes included. We think of all the things we'd like to do but haven't. Scuba dive off the Great Barrier Reef, loss that spare tire we've accumulated over the past year, jump out of a plane, learn an instrument, quit smoking, run with the bulls at Pamplona, finally getting around to cleaning out the garage, learning another language or how to dance, the list goes on and on. We may even begin some of these, but mostly they are just wishes we consider but never follow through on. The year continues on and life has a way of distracting us.

Then another year rolls around and we remember them all again.

Clark had finished his shift and was sitting alone in the cafeteria. It was New Years Day and he was reflecting on the previous year and the one just beginning. He usually wasn't one to make resolutions, as he'd already seen and experience so many amazing things in his young life. He thought perhaps he might make an exception this year. His mind drifted to the previous night and the Daily Planet's annual New Years Party

Metropolis – Dec. 31 – 11:59 PM

Clark stood against one of the walls and sipped his punch as he watched his former coworkers enjoy the party. Technically he didn't work here anymore, having started up a website with Cat Grant, but they'd both been invited anyway. He hadn't really felt like coming to this, but Cat had convinced him they should both attend to show they were doing okay. They weren't really doing okay and he pointed this out to her, but she persisted until he finally agreed.

The last dance before midnight started and all the couples began moving towards the dance floor. This was his cue. Clark set his punch down and started for the exit, hoping no one would notice. He slipped out the side door and then took the elevator down to the street. All around him he could hear people celebrating as the ball dropped and the New Year began. As he started making his way back to his apartment, he walked by several clubs and could see people celebrating and dancing. They all looked like they were having a wonderful time.

Another year had just begun, but an old problem resurfaced as it always did. The reason, the real reason Clark usually avoided parties, whether as Superman or Clark Kent had nothing to do with what most would probably expect. It was the same reason he hadn't wanted to attend the Planet New Years party. It had nothing to do with Lois or any hard feelings he might have towards current management. It was something much simpler Clark couldn't dance. Well, that was a misnomer, he probably could dance, he just had never taken the time to learn.

For all his amazing abilities it was almost inconceivable that he couldn't do something millions of ordinary people did all the time. Growing up in a small town though, there really wasn't a lot of call to learn. Oh there were school dances and the like, but he'd really only attended one with a date. That was his senior prom with Lana and they'd been late arriving. He'd managed to shuffle his way through a song or two without stepping on her feet, but both of their minds were on other things.

When his folk had died and he'd moved to Metropolis he thought about learning, but his two new jobs took up most of his time. He'd caught snippets of the popular dance contests on television and envied how graceful some of the contestants looked. If they could do it, certainly he could he thought, but other more urgent matters always seemed to get in the way.

The Watchtower

Clark flipped through the newspaper, a habit he still had from working at one. It was the New York Times and he'd read through most of the sections and was now just idly looking at the ads. He saw several advertising dance lessons and this prompted the idea of a New Year's resolution. Maybe this year he would learn how to dance. As he thought about the idea of learning like everyone else really appealed to him. Every year Bruce had a big funding raising gala and he was always invited. Usually Clark would make a brief appearance and then slip away. His teammates had even started making a joke of it, about how he was getting worse than Bruce at never taking a day off.

Clark usually just smiled and didn't correct them. It seemed easier than telling them the real reason. In the short time he did stay he found himself a little envious of some of his teammates. Bruce, Ollie, Dinah, Zatanna, Hal even Wally and Shayera would get out on the dance floor and pull it off with style. Even Diana would waltz occasionally. Usually as he was leaving, Clark would glance back at everyone dancing and wish that one of these times he was out there too.

He flipped back to the page with the advertisements for dance lessons. Perhaps this was the year he made a resolution. Clark thought about seeing where in Metropolis he could take a few lessons, but then dismissed that idea. He knew too many people and he didn't want anyone finding out. He thought of Gotham next, but immediately crossed that idea out too. Bruce seemed to know everything that was happening in the city and while the chances were that him taking dancing lessons might slip by his notice, Clark didn't want to risk it. Washington he immediately crossed out. Flipping through the pages of the paper he saw an ad for dance lessons at the Plaza hotel on Central park. Twice a month in the grand ballroom classes were held. Both couples and individuals were welcome. It wasn't any of the current dances taught, just the classics.

Clark picked up a pen and circled the ad. It was perfect, he thought. He could sign up as Clark Kent and no one would know about it. Twice a month seemed workable with his schedule. He had no illusions about becoming Fred Astaire, but maybe this year at Bruce's charity gala, he would stay a little longer.

The Watchtower

Diana had been going over some plans for future missions with Jon before leaving the station. As she headed towards the transporters, she detoured towards the cafeteria. A cup of coffee sounded good to her for some reason so she thought she would just grab one before she left. As she entered she saw several of her teammates sitting at various tables. She smiled and waved to a few as she moved towards the coffee dispenser. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Superman sitting alone. They had been teammates for several years and friends for the last couple. Diana knew about his secret identity as Clark Kent just as she knew who the rest of her teammates were in their other lives.

Now at 23, Diana found Kal, as she'd started calling him, interested her just a bit more than the others. She knew the rough outline of his life, alien from a dead world, sent by rocket ship to this one. She knew he'd grown up in a small town and had been a reporter and probably still was just not at a newspaper. She had listened to the gossip that always seemed to be a hot topic among many of her teammates and had noted that most thought he had an interest in one of his coworkers in his other life. From the latest she'd heard, that hadn't worked out but no one seemed to have any other details about his personal life.

Frankly he was a bit of a mystery to her. Diana knew he was 25, close to her age. When they were on duty together or missions they worked well together and had developed an easy rapport. She knew that some of the other female members found him attractive and she certainly understood why. She had a feeling he didn't realize this opinion of him that others had and in a way she found that charming. He was Superman but apparently rather modest too.

At the rare social events they both attended, she also noticed he tended to stay in the background and usually slip out early when he didn't think anyone would notice. Diana had noticed and it only added to the mystery. As she finished pouring herself a cup of coffee, she decided she would delay her departure just a little longer. She turned and started walking towards his table, but before she could reach it he got up and moved towards the exit.

She started to call to him, but then stopped. Diana wasn't sure what she would say. While she had been out in the world for five years the interaction between men and women was still something of an ambiguity to her. She had dipped her toe into the waters of dating but the results so far had been unsatisfying. Having not grown up in this culture the rules were something she was still trying to figure out. It had seemed at first glance to be rather simple, you like someone and if they like you then you go out on a date. Depending on how that went, things either ended or progressed.

Her own experiences had taught her that wasn't the case. It seemed a myriad of things could get in the way. You could be in different places or want different things from a relationship. One of you might just be getting out of another relationship and not ready to commit to a new one. He might be ready to move to the next level but you weren't. Gifts were supposed to say something or hold special meaning, but depending on where you were in the relationship, the gift had to be appropriate. He wasn't supposed to call for three days, no matter how wonderful a time you both had. Women were supposed to wait and let him make the first move. Being honest when it wasn't working even if the other agreed could create hard feelings later. The more she thought about all the rules everyone had told her about the more it made her head hurt trying to keep them all straight.

Secretly she still believed it should be simple, you like him, he likes you, and you go on a date. She didn't say this to anyone as they would always give her that look that said how naïve they thought she was. Diana knew her unique background lent itself to this view and for the most part she'd stopped caring. Sometimes appearing to be naïve could work to your advantage she'd learned. What she'd decided on recently was that she didn't like the rules, so she wasn't going to adhere to them. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it her own way.

With this thought in mind, Diana walked over and sat down at the table Superman had just vacated. She took a sip of her coffee and opened the paper that was on the table. She had read most of the stories before so she just scanned through it. As she got to the ads, she noticed one of them was circled. Diana read the ad for dance lessons and then glanced at the door where Superman had just exited. She couldn't help wondering if he'd circled the ad?

Sitting back and taking another sip of her coffee, Diana went over what she knew about him. She recalled being at a few events where he was also attending and where there was dancing. She couldn't remember one instance where she'd seen him dance. Diana had seen him as both Superman and Clark Kent at those events but in either guise he never danced. Looking at the ad again, a smile came to Diana's lips. He didn't know how to dance, she thought.

Diana had never told anyone, but she didn't know most of the dances they did at those parties either. She knew how to dance, but mostly the types of dance they did back on the island. She'd picked up the basics of the waltz from watching others, but that was the extent of her knowledge. She liked dancing, but had been too busy to learn the other dances. At most parties she easily got away with just waltzing, but occasionally she thought how much she might like to give the other dances a try.

Diana looked at the ad again.

Her smile got a little bigger as she tore out the ad from the paper.

New York – Two weeks later

The Plaza Ballroom was a magnificent, elegant structure. It hearkened back to the days when ballroom dancing was all the rage. For the past few years it had mostly hosted weddings, conferences and the usual events banquet halls are used for. The recent revival of interest, mostly from television, had once again brought dancing back to the Plaza. Perhaps a hundred people, mostly couples, had signed up for classes.

The instructors were an older couple, Elaine and Bob Champion that had worked on the Broadway stage in their earlier years and now ran a dance studio of their own. They welcomed everyone. Clark stood looking around, wondering if this was such a good idea. He had faced tyrants and alien invasions without blinking an eye, but this had his nerves on edge. It had sounded like a good idea in theory, but now he was here and his palms were sweaty. He had spoken to several young women that were attending alone like he was. They all seemed nice enough and certainly were charming and attractive, but the prospect of dancing with them was daunting at best. What if he stepped on their feet and accidentally crushed their toes? A million horrible scenarios flashed through his mind and only increased his level of anxiety. Maybe the best and safest thing to do would be to just leave now before it started, he thought. He could probably read every book on dancing and learn it that way, although it didn't seem like it would be as much fun.

"Everyone, please find a partner so we can begin,' Elaine called out.

Clark turned to head for the exit, but stopped. Standing in front of him was Diana. She was dressed differently than he'd ever seen her, in loose slacks and a printed blouse. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing glasses similar to his. It was as if she had adopted a secret identity.

'Diana?" He said, wondering what she was doing there.

"Hello, Kal,' she replied with a smile. "Since it appears neither of us have a partner yet, would you like to be mine?"