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Chapter Text

"Can anyone read? I can close it" Natasha would call out as she jabbed the spear of Loki into the force field. The golden metal just inches away from touching the cube that started this all.

"Hold that door!" Tony would say over the radio. "I've got a nuke coming in, we gotta get it out of here before it takes out the city!" He would call in the comms. In the distance the former Russian Agent could see it. The missile coming towards them, her chest tightened as she saw Tony rushing to get it.

"Tony this thing isn't just a doorway to space. Selvig says it's a doorway to dimensions. You gotta hurry up, we don't know what else could come through!" She would shout.

Tony didn't respond. He grabbed the missile onto his back and began to fly upwards with it. Seeing the portal that had unleashed the army come through. He set his jaw. "This is it" he'd whisper to himself before flying up and through the portal, the call going through to Pepper would drop as he found himself at a strange sort of nexus.

In the center of it all was the base that the army had been coming from. Several of the large whale-like things were headed towards him, on chariots the smaller cruisers got closer and closer. Opening fire as he released the missile. "Take this you sons of bitches." He would grumble. The cold of space making his armor go dead in seconds as he felt himself falling back and towards the opening to New York behind him.

Seeing the chariots getting closer and closer to him. He closed his eyes. Watching the lasers coming closer, Tony felt himself giving in, the white flash of the bomb going off illuminating his eyelids as though it were in the middle of the day and he were staring at the sun.

Stark's eyes would open as he saw something he could never have expected. The lasers that should have hit them? Well they seemed to have hit something, no make that someone else who'd gotten between them and him.

Tony just stared for a long moment as he was looking at the back of a man's head. In the vacuum of space he should be dead, but the cape wearing man would instead fly towards the army for a moment. The whale coming towards them would catch a punch to the side of the face, making the beast jerk to the side in pain. "Hulk barely" Tony would mumble before the lack of air started to get to him. The last thing Tony would see before his vision faded to black was the guy in the cape turning towards him and flying at him.

Back outside of the portal. Natasha would wince as the flash of the explosion would nearly blind her. Holding the spear through the energy barrier, she would groan, the Asgardian metal getting hotter and hotter by the second. The vibrations of going through the portal making her bones rattle as she grit her teeth. "Close it." She would hear Steve say.

She could hear the pain in his voice. The lack of desire for her to do so. She winced once more, forcing her eyes up and at the portal as the atomic fire grew closer and closer. "Dammit" she would whisper before stabbing the Cosmic Cube with the spear.

Instantly the beam of light firing up and creating the barriers of the portal would die. As her eyes went up and at the threshold into space above her, she could see the aperture of the portal closing with no sign of Tony as it grew smaller and smaller.

Just before it closed however. Tony came flying out of the portal, but he wasn't alone. Someone had Tony over their shoulder as the pair descended down and to the street. "Who the hell is that guy?" She would call down over the com.

"I dunno.. but he's got his underwear on the outside of his pants." Clint would fire off a second later as the man in the cape touched down onto the street where the battle had just been raging.

Setting Tony down, Clark grabbed the face plate of his armor and pulled it away from the Billionaire's face. Standing straight up, he would take a step back, about to scan the downed armored man with his X-Ray vision, Kent would be stopped as something heavy landed next to him.

His fists clenched at the unknown person. Taking a step back he would brace himself for an attack as an armored man with a hammer, and a man wearing the American flag with a shield would rush up to him. "I don't know who you are, but step away from our friend." Steve would say calmly. Clearly not wanting to provoke Clark.

"He's not breathing. I got him through the portal but I don't know if it's lack of air or-" Clark started to say before there was a loud scream from the Hulk.

"God!" Tony would shout as he barely sat up in his armor. "We did it? We're alive.. not in space? Oh hey! Hi cape guy... thanks for the help there." Tony would groan looking Clark up and down as he tried to get to a knee. Steve rushed to help him. "Guys... this is... S man.. he blocked a few shots up there.. punched a leviathan" Tony would say deliriously.

"Thank you for getting Stark out of there." Thor would say taking a step forward. "This is a planet called.. Migard." Thor would say as he looked around. "Those are very strange clothes." He'd say before going for a handshake.

"Thanks. They're sorta my uniform? Some people call it a costume but that just feels halloweeny" Clark would say shaking Thor's hand. The Asgardian frowning as Clark would pull his hand back. "Wow? Midgard huh? This looks a lot like Earth.. man parallel Earth's are weird." He'd say as Thor would shake out his hand.

"This is Earth. That's just not what Viking God's call it." Steve would say helping Tony to his feet. "You're standing in New York City" Steve would say clearly confused.

"Or what's left of it. America if you got it back where you come from S Man." Tony would say getting stronger by the second. "I'm sorry did you say Parallel Earth's? And then act like it wasn't a big deal?" He'd ask looking Clark up and down as Hulk peered at him suspiciously.

"Yeah? I've been to an alternate earth before, it was kinda weird. Very dark. But also was sorta like a mirror? There was an alternate me that was like 3 times the size." Clark would say before looking down at his chest. "Oh? I'm uh, Superman by the way. That's what they call me back home." He'd smile. "Have you guys never seen a Parallel Earth before?" He asked, looking around them.

Everyone shook their heads. "No, to my knowledge there is only one Midgard on the branches of Yggdrasil." Thor would say with a shrug. "Interesting you say you come from a different one... are you sure Loki didn't make you?"

"I don't think so?" Clark would say completely caught off guard. "I was flying on patrol over Metropolis when I heard screams and explosions. The portal opened and I flew through to see if I could help when." He would point up to where the portal in the sky used to be.

"Metropolis?" Steve would ask. Clearly having some questions about all of that, but before he could ask them, Natasha came through on the communicator.

"Guys? Loki is still in the tower. Get up here" she would call as the others would nod their heads. Clark would sort of just follow suit. Looking Hulk up and down as the Jade giant seemed upset at his presence. That didn't matter though Clark flew up to the tower with the rest of the group known as the Avengers.

Looking around, this was all so bizarre. The technology was in some cases far behind. Stark Tower was a marvel in this "New York City" ; it was miles beyond anything any of the other buildings seemed to have. Luthor would have killed for some of this tech, literally.

But as he got into the elevator with Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America. The Hulk taking the stairs. Clark's heart sank a little as he looked around. There was no Metropolis here, no Gotham, no Central City. It was all... different. The world was smaller. He crossed his arms over his chest as a troubling thought came to his mind.

Before he could linger on it though. The doors opened revealing the level they'd been going to. A red headed woman with a spear was waiting for them. She had been the one who had radioed them from the street, on the balcony was Hulk talking to a guy with a bow and arrow.

Clark tried not to frown, but none of them looked familiar. Not from the Meta Humans that had come before he was Superman, and not since either. He'd hoped for a variant of Terrific, of Element Man, or Hawkgirl. Heck at this point even Guy might be a welcomed sight. But no.

As he looked around more, he saw the man known as Loki. Laying in the rubble of the tower floor. Clark wondered what had done that to him. But then the Hulk came in and growled at the hole, the large green man letting out a huff as though he were pleased with himself. "Alright he's getting up, be ready people!" Tony would say as the Avengers got into position.

"If it's all the same to you.. I think I'll take that drink now." Loki would say looking between all of them. He seemed puzzled by Clark standing there, but before he could say another word. He would pass out and fall limply to the ground.

Clark would let out a sigh. "Alright. So the battle is over it seems? I'm gonna work on cleanup if that's okay?" He asked, looking around.

The Avengers seemed puzzled at him. "Clean up?" The one known as Hawkeye asked as he looked outside.

"Yeah? You guys don't?" Clark pointed outside. "You don't help with clean up and like... helping people?" He asked.

For a moment there was silence. "I'll be down there with you in a moment. I'll have SHIELD help coordinate trauma centers." He said with a nod.

"I've got to watch Loki" Thor said, slapping his now muzzled brother on the back.

"I've got to catalog all of this stuff so we don't miss place any weapons of mass destruction." Widow said. "Also I don't know how much I could really do." She said with what Clark understood was a bit of a shameful frown.

"I have a bow and arrow," Clint would reply, holding up his bow. For a moment everyone would look at him before Steve would slap him on the shoulder.

"Come on Barton, you can help find survivors." He'd say as they both nodded and headed for the elevator.

"Oh I've just gotta stabilize the building, make sure we don't go into overload or anything, then I'll see what I can do." Tony would say as Clark would nod and head off to the balcony.

Flying into the city, the place was a mess after the attack. He couldn't believe how much damage had been done to the buildings, to the streets. It was going to take him a while to fix it up. Using his X-Ray vision. He'd start with trapped survivors. Locating them and getting them to safety.

Meanwhile back in the tower. Loki and Thor were off on the balcony. Thor lecturing Loki as he had his mask on, Bruce was back to his skin and bones again, sleeping off his Hulk episode and snoring as Natasha was filing away the scepter with Tony at his desk behind her.

"Jesus Stark, what?" She would ask annoyed. Not looking up from where she was sitting as they could hear the city moving outside. Every once in a while they'd catch Clark flying by with a dead Leviathan, carrying it to a dumping area or a large section of broken off building.

"I didn't say anything." Tony would say immediately defensive of his fellow avenger questioning him like this.

"No, but you're thinking so loud that I can hear it. What? You don't like him? He saved your life?" Natasha would ask, looking over her shoulder.

"I didn't say anything!" Tony would say his hands were thrown up like he was being questioned. A pen in his mouth as he looked at Natasha. "I mean... It's weird though, right? Guy with powers beyond.. any of us, maybe all of us just happen to come through a portal and save me? Just in the nick of time? I just find it a tad suspicious." Tony would say drumming on his desk.

"I told you. The base was in a weird nexus." She would say almost annoyed. "He saved your life? And what you can't give him 5 minutes of reasonable doubt? He's out there saving people right now while we're in here looking at screens." She would say turning back to her screen. "Feel like you're just a bit jealous that he stole your moment." She'd say under her breath.

"Look! We won. Yes I saw other portals. But what? So he's a hero of his world?" Tony would ask. "Superman? Lame name.. no way he'd survive on twitter.. Bunch of SuperShit.." he'd grumble going back to his work.

Outside between Clark and Steve, the city was working together like almost never before to get back on its feet. Clark had handled all of the larger pieces of debris. Helping now to get rescue vehicles out of the city and to hospitals in the surrounding area. Steve had the logistics of the emergency crews going like never before, cleaning out buildings and making sure at-risk structures were accurately evaluated with the help of the eagle eyes of Clint. With S.H.I.E.L.D behind them, the city was back and running for the most part by sunset.

By that time however, the Avengers had moved on. Apparently they were sending Loki across space to a place called Asgard with Thor. Bruce Banner, a man who also seemed leery of Thor was going to be going into hiding once more, The secret agents were going back to their jobs, and Steve had offered his apartment to Clark for Kent to crash that night.

Clark had graciously accepted, but wanted to talk to Doctor Selvig, the man who built the device that helped get Clark here. Flying to the Helicarrier, something that seemed to catch the Shield agents off guard as they were cloaked. Clark would simply knock of the flying fortress door. Being let in, Clark would head straight to Selvig.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you. But... the Tesseract, it gave me the knowledge to make the portal. No part of that design was meant to reach parallel Earth's. I'm sorry son, you're here by accident. I can't get you home." Selvig would say, his hand going to Clark's shoulder.

"No...Yeah.. that's alright..I'll um.. I'll figure it out." Clark said. His heart was shattered. He stood there in the interrogation styled room for a long moment. His hand going to the wall next to him as he took a deep breath.

This wasn't his world, there was no Metropolis, no Smallville, no fortress. He was somehow even more alone, no Ma and Pa, no Justice Gang... no Lois... Clark felt a tear run down his cheek. He would find a way to get home. He had to, there wasn't any other choice in the matter. He needed it.

Turning to leave, Clark would be met with a hallway full of guards. A woman looking somehow less receptive to him than Romanov there with a hand on her gun. "Sorry Superman" she would almost wincing at saying it. "We can't let you leave without answering some questions." She'd say her tone was icy.

Clark would stand there for a moment and look at them. "Sure. I'll answer whatever you'd like." He would say. His tone completely relaxed as all the soldiers held their weapons on him from behind Maria. Looking over at the door next to them he would slowly raise his hand. "Wanna step in here or?" He'd ask awkwardly

Maria would hide her surprise well as he just complied. With how her interactions had gone with the Avengers she'd definitely expected some resistance but Clark just walked into the room, went to the far side of the table and had a seat.

She would order the guards to stay back. Walking into the room with her gun still unclipped in her holster, she would sit across from him. "Your name?" She'd ask, her leg crossing the other as she wasn't sure how this was going to go.

"Superman is what I go by." He'd say almost immediately. "If you're asking for another name? I'm afraid I'll have to refuse to tell you." He said plainly.

"Why is that? You claim not to be from our earth? So why the secrecy?" She asked.

"Because I don't know how long I'll be on this Earth. If it is for some time? I think I'd prefer some secrecy." He said with a shrug. "I like to have a life when I'm not doing this." He said plainly.

"Don't you think Shield knowing your identity would be beneficial? What if we need your help with something? How can we reach you?" She asked.

"Well? If there is something that needs my attention? I'll be there." He said with confidence. "But otherwise, if there is to be a working relationship between us? Then I'll come up with ways to contact me." Clark would say looking around.

"How did you obtain your powers? Did you take a serum? Experiment on yourself in a lab? Some sort of deity?" She'd ask.

"No nothing like that. I get my powers from Earth's Yellow Sun. I'm the last of my kind. From a doomed planet a galaxy away. My parents sent me here to save my life." Clark would respond.

"So you're telling me you're an Alien?" She asked, her eyebrow raising. "Full on little green man?"

"Well? As you can see I'm not green." Clark would respond. "I know a green alien, he's a friend of mine and actually he's a little taller-" Clark would stop himself. "Sorry. Have you not made contact with other worlds before today?" He'd ask.

"That's classified' Maria Hill would reply coldly. Clark didn't love that. He'd been cooperating to the fullest extent of his abilities to this point. That response made it clear he wasn't going to get the same in return. "So you said your parents sent you here. How old were you? And where did they send you?" She'd ask.

"I was a baby when they sent me here. I have a feeling you might ask me this, so I'll get that out of the way now. No, I don't know why they didn't come with me. I landed in America on my Earth and was raised by two loving parents." Clark would reply. Again not lying but not telling everything either.

"Planet name." Hill would ask.

That was the first question that really got Clark's attention. So either they'd made contact with other races before, or had some knowledge of other planets. "Well? Not that it would matter if you hadn't spoken with, as you called us, little green men before." Clark said, unfolding his hands. "But the planet's name was Krypton." He'd reply.

The questions would go on like this for hours. Hill wanting to know his powers, his limits, she asked questions about the cities of his world. His weaknesses. Clark answered all of them to the fullest of his ability before he could hear the voice in her ear, the one that had been guiding the interview from behind the two way mirror outside the interrogation room, telling her to wrap it up. "One last question." Hill would ask.

Clark raised his eyebrows, he could hear outside that the man with the eyepatch, Fury was surprised too. "Of course Agent Hill?" He'd say sitting up.

"Why? Why do you do this? With all your power? Some might expect you to try and conquer us? Why defend us?" She'd ask.

Clark nodded. "Well? Growing up, I was taught that the world is a better place when you look out for one another. Kindness doesn't cost anything, and what if you have the power to help someone? That you should." Clark would respond. "Far as I can tell? I've got more power than anyone, so that just means that I've got more responsibility to help out." He'd say with a nod.

Looking out the two way mirror, he'd look Fury in the eye before continuing. "I don't blame you for being skeptical of me, of wanting to know all that you can. I want you to know? That I'm here to help, for as long as I'm here. I'm going to do what I did for my earth. Help out where I'm needed. If that's crime, natural disasters, alien invasions... anything. You won't have to look far from that sort of thing to find me." He'd say standing up and heading for the door. "Thank you for your time." He'd say to Maria as he opened the door.

The locks on the door would shatter as he opened it like it was nothing. Heading down the halls of the carrier. He could hear Fury call off security as Clark found a hatch and left it out of it. Making sure it was well sealed behind before flying back to Brooklyn.

Steve was sitting in his apartment. He was wearing jeans and a T shirt. The balcony was open, intended for Clark to land there. As he did Steve turned and waved. "Finally let you out of the Helicarrier huh?" He asked throwing back some popcorn.

"Yeah Fury questioned me for hours too after they thawed me out from the ice. Guess he thought I was an elaborate spy." Steve said with a chuckle.

Clark laughed. "Wow? Now that's a story you'll have to tell." He said taking off his boots on the balcony and leaving them there. Steve pointed over to the chair next to where Clark was standing.

"Grabbed you some sweats and a T-shirt. Figured it would be something other than your uniform you could wear." Rogers would say looking over at him.

Clark picked up the clothes and smirked. "Thanks." He'd say floating over the floor and to the bathroom to get changed. The door closed, then immediately opened again to show he'd changed. "I really appreciate it. I like the suit, it's just, I dunno, I feel like someone's gonna try and hit me or shoot me whenever I'm wearing it." He laughed.

Steve was honestly still in shock. He owed Fury more money at just the briefest scope of what Superman could do. "I hear ya pal. I wore mine in World War 2... did they have that where you're from?" He asked.

Clark laughed. "We did. The Allies won for us. How about you?" He asked.

"This is a bizarre conversation." Steve replied. "Yeah we won here too. I didn't see it though. Ended up crashing a plane of Hydra bombs into the arctic Ocean and got frozen for over 70 years."

Clark didn't know how to unpack that. "Hydra is a new one for me. But I'm sorry to hear that. You must feel like a fish out of water." He'd say sitting down in a chair across the room.

"Man out of time is what the call me. Its crazy, the most advanced thing in the world was... well me when I went under. Now TV where you can see if someone has something in their teeth, Tony's machines... its wild." Steve said. "Its not the same world that I left."

"I hear that." Clark would reply. "None of the same cities, none of the same people or... anything is the same. Not even some of the countries." Clark would reply.

"Well? Guess that just leaves us to remember the worlds we came from. In the meantime? We keep making this one a better place." Steve would say as a siren would echo out the window.

The pair of men looked at one another for a moment before Steve smiled. "Guess we know where to start." He said as the pair got dressed in their costumes.

Clark flew with Steve hanging below him as they chased a car full of looters that had no idea what was about to hit them.

The world now had the Avengers to defend them. Alongside them? At least for now? Was the Man of Steel from another planet. From the darkest hour, shined the brightest light of heroes Earth 616A had ever seen.

Chapter Text

It had been a few months since the Avengers had gotten together, then immediately disbanded. Clark was living in the city still, on his own now that Steve moved out in his own apartment that was way cheaper and not nearly as nice.

That didn't matter much to Clark though. When he wasn't off being Superman he was often fixing up the place for himself and his neighbors. Clark had thought to maybe ask Tony Stark to help him set up an identity, but the one time they'd met since the Battle of New York, Tony wasn't exactly warm towards him.

Iron Man had a press conference officially detailing the Avengers. He'd asked Superman to join, which of course Clark accepted. He was serious about defending this world while he lived here. Being a part of the only hero team seemingly in history would be the best way to do that. But Clark had also found a transponder on his costume as he left the event. Clearly Stark didn't trust him.

Not being a fan of Billionaires himself. Clark destroyed the transponder and went about making his own identity through what computer skills he had. It was easier than he'd expected. Those lessons Jimmy and Lois had given him about hacking really paid off, that and the fact that he could get into anywhere faster than he could be detected? In no time Clark Kent had a birth certificate, a diploma, and even his degree.

With that he'd started freelance writing for the Daily Bugle and a few blogs. Enough to keep the lights of his apartment on between saving the day. But today was Sunday, it was his night to take a bit of a break, to recharge Clark Kent's batteries instead of Superman's.

Sitting in a lazy boy chair that someone a few blocks down was throwing out. Clark would sit there with his plate of breakfast in his lap. The TV played in the background as he scrolled through his news outlets. "The Earth is really a giant egg for a celestial being.. it was planted at the dawn of time by... Aliens!" A black hair would say on the screen as Clark frowned.

"Ridiculous" he would say to himself before he saw a notification cross his phone. With a smirk he would get up and walk over to the bedroom of his roommate. "Hey you posted without me listening? No fair." He'd say with a laugh.

The door would fly open, a woman nearly a head shorter than him would glare up from under her beanie. "Listen Kent... Just because you're an "official" reporter or whatever that means. Doesn't mean that I have to let you proof listen to my stuff." She'd say hitting him on the arm. "Also... I'm not confirming that I am the rising tide... but if I were? I would be a little proud of publishing something that is just.. me." Skye would smirk.

Clark would laugh back. "Of course.. rising tide is totally what I was talking about. Not this." Clark would say holding up his phone to show an article Skye had submitted to the Daily Bugle about Superman helping out in their neighborhood.

Skye's face went bright red, then turned to a deeper shade. "OhmygodISuck!" She shouted, slamming the door in his face.

"You don't suck." Clark called through the door. Gosh he felt like a little bit of a jerk about how she'd reacted. But it was sort of funny how she'd just revealed herself like that. She didn't know he'd heard her recording for hours. Trying to get her speech just right, but she probably assumed he must have. "Skye... come on." He'd say knocking on the door. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. I think you're really talented and I only wanted-" he'd start to say before getting cut off by her opening the door. "I dunno. Just wanted to be supportive and show how happy I am for you." He'd say with a shrug.

Skye glared at him for a moment. "Thank you for calling me talented." She would say after a few awkward seconds. "You don't hate me because I don't like Shield do you?" She'd ask, he could tell there was a bit of nerves in her voice.

"What? No, of course not." Clark would say taking a step back to lean against the frame of his own doorway. "I don't personally hate them, but I think that it's important for the public to maybe not blindly trust an intelligence agency. I think it's important to spread the word of awareness." He'd shrug. "Maybe don't attack them outright? I mean who knows how they'll respond. But voicing concerns about anything is valid if you've got the proper reasoning." He'd reply.

Skye tried to hide her smile. "Thanks Clark." She would say awkwardly turning like she didn't wanna look at him, but she didn't want to turn away. It was the awkward perpetual motion he typically got from her when he paid a compliment. "Have you ever had to like... hide something? I dunno, I just don't want to be a blabbermouth or anything.. Just in case. I'd prefer this was anonymous." She'd say quietly.

"Well? I've been embedded before." Clark would say leaning against the wall. His hand adjusting his glasses. "I think the first thing to remember is that you're thinking about it more than anyone. I came to the door and you assumed that I was there for your podcast." He'd say standing up straight. "Don't, I was congratulating you, but ask for what, let me lead the conversation and give you the proper context clues about what I mean." He'd say as she seemed to be drinking it in.

"If you're going either undercover or in the field at all? Always have an alibi, somewhere you were. Something you were doing, you were never at home just sitting around unless it was hanging out with me." He'd say for an example. "I was over by the docks because Mrs. Flores down the hall lost her dog again." He'd say.

"Right.. don't just be somewhere." She'd nod. "And what? You'd cover for me to SHIELD? We've known each other for like what a month? Why would you do that?" She'd ask.

"Yeah I'm always alright being your alabi." He'd say with a shrug. "As long as you're good to be mine? And because despite the grumpy girl's aesthetic, you're my friend." He'd smirk. "Congratulations Skye." He would say, his hand touching her arm reassuringly, letting her be grounded for a moment before he walked back to the living room and sat down.

Skye said something under her breath. But Clark went out of his way not to hear it. This was meant to be something she kept to herself. Something private that he was going to respect. Flipping the channels, Clark would hear about something going on in the UK involving Thor. It looked bad, really bad.

Getting up he would start walking towards his room. "Skye? Looks like there is a story in the UK. I'm flying out there tonight. Might not be back for a couple of days." He'd call to her room door.

"Okay! Be safe! Buy me something!" She'd call from her room as he'd walk to the door with his suitcase. Opening and shutting it from the inside. He'd click the lock before zooming out the window at superspeed.

Clark smiled as he blasted across the Atlantic. He could have really messed that up with Skye but he didn't. She was no Lois Lane, or Jimmy for that matter, but she was his best friend on this Earth. He liked having her around.

The thoughts of Skye would come to a close as he zipped through London, an army of strange masked creatures firing weapons at the civilians. He couldn't allow that.

Slowing down, he would grab them by the shoulders. Tossing them into cars, denting the metal as he took a look around. There were all sorts of portals in the city as a massive ship started to crash into the city. "Come on" he'd say exhausted as he flew up and pressed against it.

On the ground he could hear the concrete scraping against the metal of the ship. "Comeoncomeoncomeon!" He would groan. Not exhaustedly this time but with the expression of someone who is scraping the side of their car while backing up against something.

Finally the ship would stop, but his work wasn't done. Clearly the ship wasn't meant to land this way as it started to tip over. Looking to where it was going to land. There wasn't anyone below save for one woman looking up in shock. "Awe shit" Darcy Lewis would say as it started to tip her way.

Before the ship crushed her however, Clark jetted across the space and grabbed her up bridal style. "Superman!" She would shout happily as he skirted her across the street. "Holy crap dude.. good save." She would say kissing him on the cheek as he put her down.

"Are you okay?" He would ask, looking her up and down. The action of seeing if there were any obvious injuries on her clearly sends a different message.

"I'll be better if you buy me dinner after this?" She'd ask, biting her lip.

Clark would smirk at that before looking up to see Thor fighting a guy surrounded by some evil ooze. A light flush would cross his face as he waved at her. "I'll um.. I should help Thor." He'd say before flying off to help him.

"Call me!" Darcy would shout after him. But Clark was already focused on the task at hand. The half burnt guy with the ooze was so focused on Thor, he didn't see Clark until he was already punching him in the face.

"SUPERMAN!" Thor would bellow as he was wrapped up in the sludge. "Welcome to the fray my friend. Beware the Either and Malekith! He is a deadly foe!" Thor would call as Clark landed another hard blow to the side of the Elf's face, his head coming up to hit the gut of their opponent, but before the blow could land, Clark found himself wrapped up in the sludge as well.

Groaning he would try his best to break free of the bonds, but it was no use. He stayed hovering next to Thor for a moment as the half burnt Elf would laugh.

"The pair of you are pathetic. Reality itself bends to my will. The darkness will return, I shall let you live long enough to see it." Malekith would say as Clark felt weird. He looked to Thor to see.. a blonde version of Loki looking back at him? Then a shimmer would go over Thor and he'd be a large man, covered in tattoos with red long hair and a busy beard before going back to himself.

The same changes would happen to Clark. He would turn into a woman with short black hair, then a different version of himself with a more dated looking costume, like it was from the 70s. "It doesn't love..heat." Thor would groan as Clark nodded.

Flashing his heat vision onto the Elf. A massive bolt of lightning would strike the Either. Malekith would scream as it separated from him. The elf being electrocuted by the lightning as it didn't seem to stop right away. His body smoking before he was charred to a crisp.

Clark and Thor, back to their original appearances, would fall down. "What the heck dude?" He would ask, pressing himself up. "You fried that guy?" Clark asked, astonished.

"Yes, yes I did." Thor said as his hammer flew into his hand. "He killed my mother yesterday." He said. His voice was grim. "And my brother only hours ago"

Clark looked at Malekith and felt sick. Looking over at Thor he could see the face of a warrior not ashamed of what he did. The pain of loss is evident on his face. Clark would walk over to him and put his hand on Thor's shoulder. "Man... I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that feels like." He said earnestly. "But there is always a better way. You don't have to be like him." He would say as Thor nodded.

"You have one of the most noble hearts I've met, Superman. Maybe even more so than the Captain." Thor would say, looking at him. "I admire your convictions. But I do not share them. Not for those who spill the blood of my kin in the very least.. I'm a warrior, I've fought dozens of wars and will continue. Slaughter brings me no peace. But this? This was vengeance." Thor would say as Clark nodded.

"Well? Let's get this cleaned up and then we can go out for a drink or something? Your friend with the glasses asked me out." Clark would say pointing to the very excited Darcy as Ian looked upset and walked away from her. Jane and Erik were next to her as well, all of them rushing towards the pair.

"Darcy? She's a fine woman! You should take her up on it!" Thor said, smacking Clark on the shoulder. "But alas. I must go to Asgard to inform my Father of what has happened here." Thor would say taking a step back. "Heimdall?" He'd ask before being launched into the sky.

"Come on man? Again with the skipping cleanup?" Clark would ask before nodding to the trio coming up to him. "We should be okay now?" Clark said, looking around. He noticed that the sludge was also missing, the burn marks of the Bifrost beneath it. "Annnd he took another super dangerous item to Asgard... cool." Clark would say before addressing them. "Thor said he'd be back after talking to Odin. I'm gonna start... cleaning." He'd say before zipping off. The way Darcy was looking at him made him crawl in his suit a little bit.

"Gonna make him Super Mine" Darcy would say, biting her lip as Jane elbowed her. The trio walked off to grab their equipment as Clark cleaned.

Chapter Text

The Business with the Dark Elves hadn't taken nearly as long as Clark feared it would. The battle itself once he'd gotten there? Had only been a few minutes, then? The cleanup took a few hours.

Normally this would be a good thing for Clark. Honestly he could be home and writing the story for the Bugle there, or even just actually relaxing again. But, he had told Skye it would be a few days, so? Clark couldn't go directly home just yet. Yes he'd flown around New York a couple times. Stopped a Bank robbery and usual Superman stuff, but Clark Kent was in London.

To make matters worse, he'd been led into a trap. Not by an enemy, but instead by the God of Thunder himself. Clark had been asked to go to dinner with Thor, Jane, Erik, and Darcy while they were all still there. A sort of celebratory toast. To which of course Clark had agreed, it would be rude not to after all.

So he bought some clothes that he could honestly work into Clark's wardrobe and went to the bar he'd been told to meet them at. When he arrived? There was no one there, well, there were patrons of course, but Thor and his allies were nowhere to be found.

So? Clark figured he was early. He walked over to a table towards the side of the room to not draw attention to himself or his companions when they got there, Afterall it was Thor, his face was everywhere on Lunch Boxes and other merchandise for the Avengers, as well as Superman's face. So better to play it cool to have a nice night with their civilian friends.

Clark waited for about 20 minutes. His ears scanned for any disturbance that Thor might be dealing with that he should be helping with, but there was nothing. Clark sat there confused as to why Thor and everyone would stand him up, when Darcy walked through the door alone.

Despite his invulnerability, Clark needed to take a breath. The black dress that the glasses clad woman was wearing was, to not put too much on it? Out of this world. Her pale skin shined under the lights of the bar as he felt his eyes beginning to linger. Her cleavage exposed to the night air making him look up and away as she walked towards him.

"So... how was your day?" She would ask sliding into the seat across from him. Clark felt her heel covered foot sliding against his leg as he drummed his fingers on the table.

"I uh... well it was um.. pretty good." He'd say looking into her eyes. The captivating blue shining through his glasses. "I stopped a couple of muggings, a robbery. Brought a sinking ship to a port." He'd say doing his best to keep on topic. "How about you?" He'd ask looking at the door to see if anyone else was coming.

"Well? I went to Asgard, it was pretty cool, never been to another planet, or dimension... or whatever it is? We had a big ceremony for Thor, a funeral for Loki.. it was a pretty packed day." Darcy would say flagging down the server. "I'll have a jack and coke please." She'd say as the woman taking the order was stunned by her appearance.

"I'll have the same." Clark would mutter as the server would push off. "Is that where everyone else is? Still getting back from Asgard?" He would ask.

"Nah, they're all sleeping off their bender. It's just you and me tonight big blue." She would say biting her lip as the drinks would arrive.

Clark didn't sweat when he was fighting villains ever. Even Ultraman, but the lip bite from Darcy? Send a bead of sweat down the side of his face. "Just us huh? For what? Like a date?" He'd ask confused.

"Your words, not mine big blue." She would say with a smirk. Her teeth are just nibbling at the straw of her drink. Once again, Clark would take a deep breath as he looked at her.

"Darcy?" He'd start to say pushing himself back from the table a little bit. But before he could, her hand would come down on top of his.

Clark would pause, looking back up and at her eyes. "Listen... I'm sorry about the trap aspect of this. But really? I just want to thank you for saving my life." She would say, her hand closing around his for a second. "Just.. I dunno I don't expect anything out of you or anything. I'm sorry if I came on too strong." Darcy would say earnestly.

Clark would close his hand around the brunettes sitting across from him. He would feel a little better as her concerned look turned into a hopeful smile. "No Darcy I'm sorry, you're right." He'd say getting comfortable again.

"See, there was this girl that I liked. Was sort of dating on the Earth that I come from." He said feeling the heartache for Lois growing in his chest. "I guess, even though it's been a month and there isn't any sign of me being able to get back to her? That I don't want to betray that relationship. I'm sorry." He'd say, his eyes trailing up, he'd immediately see that she seemed to understand.

"I didn't know." Darcy said, her eyes no less infatuated with him than they'd been before. "What's she like? If you don't mind me asking?"

Clark sighed. "I know you didn't, how could you?" He asked before she asked about Lois. Clearing his throat. "Lois is..." he kicked himself internally as he'd given away her name. But at that moment it didn't matter. There was no Lois Lane on this Earth. Never had been, her father didn't exist, mother, sister, any of them. "Lois is the most head strong woman I've ever met. She's obsessed with the truth, with doing the right thing. Getting to the bottom of every injustice she can find. Someone who won't rest until she's uncovered the truth." He said feeling as though a large weight was being lifted from his chest.

Darcy sipped her drink. "She sounds amazing." Lewis would say, her eyes dancing over Clark. He realized how drunk she was, how good she was at masking it. "Do you love her?" She'd ask.

"Yes, Very much." Clark would say honestly as he took a sip of his drink. "Darcy" he'd say as he looked her over. "You're very beautiful, and you seem great. Maybe... I dunno.. sometime down the road? If I'm still here, when it's not as fresh? Maybe we could try this again?" He would ask.

Darcy was holding her head up in her hand. Looking at Clark she gave a lazy smile. "My calendar is clear for Superman anytime." She said nearly falling forward.

Before she could blink, Clark was around the table. Catching her, he would put her arm over his shoulders. Effectively lifting her up off of the floor. "Here, I'll pay and take you home." Clark would say as he put his money on the table. The bartender waved to him before he'd hoist Darcy up and into his arms.

Like he'd done when he carried her out of danger. Clark would take her out of the bar. His vision seeing her hotel key card. He would fly her up softly into the air. Feeling her face pressing to his neck as they floated over London. "Wow" he would hear her whisper. "I feel like Wendy in Peter Pan." She would say, making him chuckle.

Finally getting to her hotel room, he would land on the balcony, sliding the door open. "Here you are." He would say softly. "Thanks for a fun, if not short first date Darcy." He'd tease.

"The next one... whenever you're ready? It will be better I promise.. no Asgard beforehand, or I'll bring you as a plus one." She would ramble a little.

"It's a date." Clark would smirk. Making sure her feet were on the ground, he would turn to leave before she would lunge at him. Clark felt her lips pressed to his. Clark wanted to push her away. To break the kiss, but he didn't. It was nice to feel someone pressing against him. Their lips together, she would pull him in tight before their kiss broke.

"Something to remember me by." She would smirk. Biting her lip as she would slide back inside then going into the bedroom to get changed. Clark saw her reaching for the clasp of her dress, he saw the material sliding down her pale back, and that was enough. Turning he would zip himself away before any further thoughts of Darcy Lewis flooded his brain.

Clark spent another day in London before finally going back to his apartment. Coming up the elevator. He would struggle with his suitcase before getting to the door. Fumbling with the keys before walking inside. "I'm back!" He would call out into the apartment. If Skye was there (which he knew she was) she would know it was him.

Putting his suitcase down. Clark would rest against the door. Taking seemingly deep breaths like he'd been lugging his luggage up the stairs. "The elevator still isn't fixed huh?" Skye would ask as she walked out of her room. Wearing her typical beanie, sweatshirt and sweatpants look.

"Guess not," Clark would gasp. Of course he didn't need to walk up the 14 floors to their apartment. But he would pretend that he did. "How long has that been out?" He asked.

"Since the day after you left. I haven't left the apartment since. Been getting Door Dash and Pizza's." Skye would say smirk. Knowing Clark's next question before he'd ask it.

"You've been making people walk all the way up here to deliver you food? Golly... I hope you tipped them well." He'd say holding his chest.

"Of course, Clark. I'm not a monster." Skye would laugh as there was a knock behind him. He'd seen the driver downstairs when he flew up, but didn't know why he was here. "Oh? There is our food. I got your favorite." She would say walking past him to open the door.

"I've got an order here for Skye?" A familiar voice to Clark would echo as he looked through the wall. A woman with orange hair would be handing Skye their order. It was Black Widow.

Clark instantly moved himself over to the side. More out of sight from the door. "Thanks! Sorry for all those stairs. The elevator is out." Skye would say awkwardly.

"It happens. You'd be surprised how many are out in the city after the attack." Natasha's voice would sound. "Well? Goodnight." She would say turning to walk away.

Clark's eyes would immediately go for the food. Seeing that she'd ordered from his favorite burrito place, his eyes would scan the food to see a similar transponder to the one that Stark had placed on him.

Without saying a word. Clark would reach over and take the food from Skye as she was shutting the door, his fingers crushing the bug before either had said a word. "That's weird? That's the second time I've had that lady this week, I'm sure of it." Skye would say as she'd looked at Clark.

His finger was over his lips as he held up the broken bug between his fingers. Her face went pale for a moment before Clark would respond. "That's odd? She must be local to the neighborhood or something to get you twice." Clark would say looking around the room, seeing some of the bags of garbage from other orders.

"Yeah... must be?" Skye would say her hand slowly pointing across the room to another bag. "How was your trip? Did you see much of anything after Thor and Superman got done?" Skye would ask as he walked across the room softly.

"Not really? I saw some of the cleanup efforts but nothing in the way of the dark elves, Superman filled me in on what he saw though." Clark would say slowly putting his hand into the bag. Grabbing another bug. It was odd though, neither of them were all that well hidden.

Lifting it up he would nod at the widow. "Oh? Well at least you were able to get the story of it all." She would say opening the sliding door of the balcony. As she did so? Clark would throw the bug out the window, instantly Skye would close the door and lock it.

"Do you think that was the only one?" She asked. Her tone has an underlying panic behind it.

Clark would scan the apartment. His eyes trailing over the bags, he didn't see anything. "I don't know." He said truthfully. "I hope so, you said you hadn't left at all?" He asked to look around more.

"No, not since the elevator. I didn't want to have to deal with those stairs. You're the first one through the door. It's been chained all week. I just undid it because I tracked your flight." Skye would say trying to catch her breath.

"Okay.. good." Clark would say walking up to her. He put his hands on her shoulders to grab her attention as she looked up and into his eyes. "Listen.. no more carryout for a little bit okay? I'll bring groceries for us to cook." He would say as she nodded.

"Fair.." she would say, looking around. "I feel gross, violated... Do you think they know?" She'd ask.

"If they knew anything for sure? They would have done more than bugs." He'd say letting her go. "Let's just settle in for the night. I don't have plans to go anywhere." He'd say grabbing his suitcase and lugging it up.

"Sure... I haven't watched the new Game of Thrones yet... we can watch that together." She'd say taking her burrito and unwrapping it. Starting to eat it as she looked around aimlessly.

"Sounds great to me." Clark said. He hated the show, its depiction of how terrible it could be, even in a fantasy setting. But Skye liked it, she liked watching it with him, so he'd stomach it. "Oh here." He said, pulling a box out of his suitcase and handing it over to her.

She looked at it for a second and gasped. "You actually bought me something?" She asked. The look of shock still on her face. "This is a big box too... I was expecting like? A magnet, Clark." She would say starting to unwrap the box.

"I know you were. I got you one of those too. But I figured you deserved something special for your first article being published." He'd say as she pulled it from the box. It was a large, studded leather jacket.

"Clark, this is too much! How much did you spend on this!" Skye asked as she looked at the jacket. Clark could tell by her eyes that she was in love with it.

"Well? You're the punk rock reporter for the little guy right? I figured you could use your own punk rock jacket from the home of the genre." Clark would smile. His arms crossed over his chest.

"You're punk Rock, where is your jacket?" She asked with a smile. Their eyes locking for a moment as Clark was at a loss for words for a moment. Then, before he could speak, the TV changed.

It was footage of the Chinese Theater in LA being bombed, the credit going to someone Clark had only vaguely heard of, known as the Mandarin. Clark turned to face the screen as the Bully kept talking. Setting his jaw. He would turn to Skye.

"I know.. You gotta go." She said holding the jacket. "I'll be okay, just hurry back okay?" She asked, looking at him.

Clark walked into his room and grabbed his briefcase. "I'm just going to run down a quick lead. I promise I'll be back before dawn." Clark said as he went to the door. He hated leaving Skye like this. But if he didn't do something soon? More people were going to die.

Changing in the stairwell. Clark flew up and out of the building through the roof. Zipping over to the middle east to see if he could find the Mandarin.

He searched for hours. Following any leads that he could. Disabling a 10 rings camp that claimed to have no idea who or where the Mandarin was. It was frustrating for Clark, it wasn't often that someone could get away from him like this. Realizing he needed to be more patient he went home.

Clark flew in through the balcony. Seeing Skye sleeping in her room cuddled up to the jacket he bought for her. It made him smile. Changing into his sweats and t-shirts. He would walk into his kitchen to start making coffee and breakfast. Turning on the TV. He would watch for more news about the Mandarin.

Clark frowned as he saw that Tony Stark had publicly challenged him. He'd given out his home address and everything. Clark rolled his eyes, another brash Stark declaration. He put his mug down onto the counter before getting changed. Leaving breakfast for Skye on the counter as he got changed and flew to California.

As he did so, he found Stark's house pretty easily. Hovering over to the window. He would knock on the glass as Tony looked over suprised. He didn't need to use his X-Ray vision to know that the armored Avenger wasn't happy to see him. "What are you doing here Underoos?" Tony asked moving to the side to let Clark in.

"You issued a challenge to the world's most dangerous terrorist. I figured that I should probably come over and help you." Clark would say as he looked around. Pepper saw him and immediately looked relieved at seeing him politely.

"Oh that's nice. So you just swoop in and save the day again? You don't trust me to handle my things? You let Thor handle his Elf Stuff!" Tony would shout across the room. Pepper would jump at the shout as Clark would turn to face Tony surprised.

"What? No Tony of course I trust you to handle your business. I just thought that this was dangerous and that you could use some help." Clark would say with a shrug of sorts.

"I DO NOT NEED ANYTHING FROM YOU!" Tony would scream. The helmet moved down and away from his face. Clark could see just how tired he was. Clearly he hadn't been sleeping. "YOU DON'T GET TO JUST GET TO SWOOP IN AND SAVE THE DAY SPACEMAN! THIS IS MY HOUSE, THIS IS MY CHOICE! I WANT YOU GONE!" Tony would scream at the top of his lungs.

Clark would hold the stare for a long moment as Tony got in his face. It was clear that Stark wanted to be intimidating. But it just made Clark sad. It just reminded him of the look that Luthor gave him before he was arrested. "Okay" Clark would say, his hand going to the shoulder of the suit of armor and backing him up. "I'll go." He said his tone was trying to be disarming. "I'll leave. If you need me? I'm sure you figured out how to get in touch." Clark would say heading for the window. "Bye Pepper." Clark would say waving to her as he flew out the window.

Zipping back across the country, Clark would get changed in the hallway and walk back into the apartment just in time to see the rocket heading for Tony's house. Box of doughnuts in hand. He would watch as the mansion would crumble off the side of the cliff and fall into the sea.

Skye was already there. Watching as she sipped her coffee. Both of them were speechless as they watched Iron Man fighting with the helicopters before falling into the ocean with the house. The headline reading

"Iron Man Dead?"

Clark would stand there in shock. He was there about an hour ago. Having taken his time getting home, had he not? He could have been there. Skye looked at him concerned. "Do you think he's really dead?" She asked.

"I don't know." Clark replied. "I hope not." Clark would say, feeling the pain in his voice. He didn't know what to do? Should he go back to California? Should he look for Mandarin. "I just know I've got a lot of work to do." Clark said as he decided he should at least eat first. So Clark and Skye did just that. The pair of them are eating breakfast, Akye telling him she was decrypting the Mandarian's messages trying to find his source. Clark decided to tell her that he was going to follow up with Stark.

Flying out to California, Clark would see all the emergency crews where Tony's house had been. The rubble falling into the ocean made him sad. Made him guilty. He should have stayed, should have helped more. But as he looked down and into the rubble his heart dropped more. "Ambulance!" He shouted, clearly scaring some of the first responders below.

He didn't have time to be polite however. Flying down and into the rubble of the house. He'd begin to lift it up and off of the subject that he'd seen in his vision. Lifting the rubble off the house to reveal a bleeding Pepper Potts. She was alive, but she was in bad shape, burns and cuts over her body. It made Clark feel even worse about earlier this morning.

As the responders got her moved out of the rubble, put on a stretcher and taken out of the house, Clark would look out into the water. Expecting to see Tony down there, he felt a sigh of relief as he didn't find him. But the question then had to be asked, if Tony wasn't here? Where was he? Was he taken? Did he leave under his own power?

Clark didn't have the answer. He helped get Pepper into the ambulance before taking off and heading back home. Having no idea what to do next.

As he got home. He shook his head as he entered the apartment. "Clark?' He'd hear Skye's voice calling from her room. Walking briskly over to her doorway. He was ready to leap into action, but there wasn't any sort of need. Skye wasn't in danger, in fact she seemingly had cracked the code of the Mandarin.
"I found him. They covered his tracks really well, and honestly? It's a little hard to believe, but... I got him." Skye would say turning to him with a smile.

Clark looked at the screen in shock. "In Miami? Really? How... why?" He asked, looking at her. "Are you sure that this is accurate?" He asked. "I know that people can bounce their GPS signal around." He'd say taking a step back.

"I checked it three times. I didn't believe it either. But after cracking their network? Yeah, this is it. A mansion in Miami." She said, turning and looking at him. For a moment Clark took a deep breath. His hand running through his hair. "Well? Aren't you gonna go tell Superman or something?" She'd ask.

Clark was taken aback by that. "Oh wait.. I don't, I don't know Superman Skye." He'd say putting his hand on his chest. "I mean we've talked before but I-" he'd stammer before she would cut him off.

"Clark? Every time that you make a discovery? Superman often isn't far behind." She'd reply, eyeing him suspiciously. She was clearly having fun with this. "So either you know Superman or you-" now it was time for him to cut her off.

"Okay okay! I'll go contact him" Clark would say as she would bite her lip. Shaking his head. "I'll be back." He said rushing out into the hallway to get changed.

They were going to have to have a conversation about this when he got back. Has she really figured it out? She was super smart... but Clark couldn't think about that right now, right now he was zooming across the country to catch the Mandarin.

The mansion was something out of a movie. Fountains, a huge staircase. It didn't look like a villain's lair from the outside. But using his x-ray vision? He would see the tunnels underneath. His eyes went wide at what looked like an Iron Man suit down there. "Tony" he'd say softly before flying through the roof and tunneling down through the floor.

Landing on his feet. Clark would be standing before the newly branded Iron Patriot as a guy had his burning red hot hand on the suit's abs. "What the fuck?" The guy would ask to see Clark.

Superman didn't waste time. Punching the man holding onto the suit away. He would hear Rhodey sigh inside the suit. With a quick exhale of cold air, he would cool the suit down from hurting him anymore. A drove of soldiers ran at him. Firing their rifles, Clark just walked towards them. Letting the bullets fall down to the floor as he'd grab their guns. Breaking them in his hands before hitting them with light hits to subdue them.

There was something off about these soldiers. They were hot, hotter than they should be. Each of them getting up from the strikes that should have kept them down.

They all started to glow as they rushed towards him. Punching at Clark it hit harder than it should have. The bald man who had been attacking the patriot would leap onto his back. Clark could feel the other man's hand on the crown of his head. Heating him up, Clark would let out a scream.

As he did so, he would hear the guy laugh. "Even Superman can melt." He'd say as Clark felt him getting hotter on his back. Closing his eyes, Clark would start to blow with his cold breath again. The three soldiers in front of him that were hitting him, were now covered in ice.

Clark's hand went up, grabbing the other man by the shoulder, he would flip him up and over him. Slamming him down onto the ground before blowing the cold breath again. Freezing him and taking him out of the fight.

"NO! I WILL NOT HAVE EVERYTHING RUINED BY A MAN IN HIS UNDERWEAR!" Killian would scream at the top of his lungs as Clark felt the heat and the fire hit him. Putting his arms up. Clark was trying to endure the heat but it wasn't stopping.

With a wince, Clark took a breath and started firing back with his cold breath. For a moment there was steam that filled the hallway before slowly the cold would overtake the fire. Aldrich Killian screamed as he too was frozen.

Clark would drop to his knees. "Wooof." He'd groan standing up slowly. "That was a lot." He'd say as Rhodey would come out of the armor behind him.

"Superman? Are you okay?" He'd ask rushing over to help Clark up. Getting up and standing up straight.

"Yeah, just light headed." Clark would nod. "Are you alright?" He'd ask looking around.

"Yeah I'm good. Looks like you cut the head off the snake." Rhodey would explain, going into how Killian was behind all of this. The pair would help keep everyone cool as Rhodey called on the government to come and shut this all down.

Waiting for the Calvary to arrive. Clark and Rhodey would be caught off guard as a shout would echo from upstairs. "NO! NOT HERE!" Tony would shout as he walked down the steps. Rhodey looked confused but Clark was more so just disappointed. "I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY! TO STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS" Tony would say holding his gun to Clark.

"And how did that go Tony? Your house is gone. Pepper is in the hospital. Look at this mess. You should have just-" Clark started to say before a gunshot went off. The bullet hit Clark in the chest as Rhodey leapt back.

"Jesus Tony! What the fuck!" He screamed as Stark got eye to eye with Clark.

"It can't hurt it. It doesn't get through his thick skin. Nothing does.. leave Alien. Go home." Tony would say. He was clearly about to go over the edge.

Clark would drop his head. "You're better than this Tony." He would say walking past Stark and towards the steps to leave. "You've got my statement Rhodey. If you need anything else? I'll be around." Clark said as Rhodey looked skeptical of Tony.

"Right, thanks for saving Superman." He said as Clark left. Flying back up and towards New York. The sun was setting as he sat on the ledge of the Empire State Building.

He wasn't ready to talk to Skye. He didn't want to do.. anything but sit here and just think, think how he was effecting this world. About how much good he was really doing. "Golly this is a mess." He'd groan as the moon began to rise.

Chapter Text

"The time is 2:35 Am on Thursday April 4th 2014. This is Detective Mahoney in the apartment of-" the officer would hold the mic towards Skye as she stood there shaking.

"Skye... my name is Skye and I live here with my roommate, his name is Clark Kent." She'd say clearly shaken up.

"Alright Miss Skye, so you were telling us that a man with a Metal arm attacked you inside your apartment? And that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen came in through the window and fought him off? That they brawled into the hallway and both fell down the elevator shaft?" He would ask.

"No." Skye would say, shaking her head. Still clearly shaken up by the events that had just taken place. "I mean.. Yes, that's what happened. But I don't think that it was the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.. he doesn't wear a cape." She would say looking at the shattered window.

Two days earlier....

Clark landed on the patio of the apartment he shared with Skye. Standing there in Clark Kent's clothes, he took a deep breath before letting himself inside. It had been a few days since he'd been home long enough for this to happen. To let her catch him being home.

It was a conversation that he couldn't outright say he was looking forward to, actually being fully honest? Clark was afraid to talk to Skye about this. But? He couldn't put it off any longer. He was sure it probably hurt her feelings that he hadn't been home since the mess with Stark and Extremis down in Florida. It was time for him to face the Music.

Sliding the door open, Clark would take a step inside. "Skye?" He would call taking off his glasses and putting them in his breast pocket. He could hear her moving in her room, seconds later she would come out and look at him for a second, she looked just about as nervous as he was.

"You're not going to kill me are you?" She would ask taking a few cautious steps into the room. She was wearing her usual t-shirt and sweats. Her hair tied back into a ponytail.

"What? No, of course not. I don't kill people." Clark would say completely thrown off his game right away. "Why would you think that?" He'd ask, appalled.

"Honestly? I'm a person who comes to worse case scenario conclusions right away." She would say taking a deep breath. "I dunno Clark, it's not easy realizing that I fight for bathroom time with the most powerful man on the planet." She'd say walking over and having a seat on the couch.

Clark would walk over to his chair, turning it to face her before sitting down. "I know, I'm sorry I take so much time in there sometimes. Cleaning the drain from all the ashes and stuff that I have to wash out of my hair takes a little more time than I'd like." He'd say but she would just laugh. "What?" He'd ask.

"Clark? I'm not complaining because you take time in the bathroom. That's usually a normal thing?" She'd say with a laugh. "I'm just saying that knowing you're.. well you? That was the life changing part I guess." She'd shrug.

"Why does that change things?" He'd reply. "I mean, I understand if you wanna move. It's probably dangerous living with me. But other than that? I'm still me." He'd say feeling small.

Skye would chew the inside of her lip for a second. He was right, she supposed. He was still dorky Clark at the end of the day. "I guess... I mean I guess I feel a little hurt that you didn't tell me. I totally understand the keeping a secret identity thing, and I can't imagine what it must be like for you, being stuck in a parallel dimension." She'd say looking at the ground. "I dunno. I just... I have a thing with secrets. That's why I've been doing Rising Tide and Journalism." She said looking back up at him.

Clark nodded. "I understand that." Clark would say before thinking it over. "If you want me to move? I'm sure I can find another place. If you're uncomfortable around me? I can go." He would say starting to stand, but she would stop him before he got up.

"No.. I don't want you to go, Clark. I want you to stay." She would say her hand up. "If you want to anyway. I mean.. I've been paranoid about my safety for a while. Who better to live with than the Man of Steel right?" She asked. "I just... And this is unfair, if you think it's unfair feel free to say no... but I need to ask it for my own sanity I suppose." She'd say taking a deep breath. "Could you? Not keep big secrets from me? Like I don't need to know everything of course. But like... hey? I'm an alien from another dimension that can juggle cars.. can I be privy to that?" She asked.

Clark would take a breath himself. "I promise? No more secrets that are mine to tell." He would say looking up at her. "Obviously other hero stuff I'm not gonna share. I might keep some personal details to myself about my old life. But? I won't keep anything from you? And I won't ever lie." He would say extending his hand to her.

"Seems fair enough." She would say taking his hand after a moment and shaking it. "God I'm glad you're not an asshole Clark." She would say relieved before standing up and going to her room. "Now... I've got some stuff to tell you." She said coming back out a moment later with her leather jacket he'd gotten her on.

"I redid your identity." She would say handing him a folder and having a seat across from him again. Clark looked up at her confused before going through the file. "You did a pretty good job. But someone like Stark or Shield if they really looked? I would see right through it. So I strengthened it. Made it more concrete and as though Clark Kent had been born here and never left the planet." Skye said with a smile looking proud.

Clark would look through it and be.. impressed. "Thank you. That's very kind of you to do all of that for me." He said reading through his life through the foster system. Being adopted by a lovely couple in Texas who died in an unfortunate flood while he was in college. Washing away his home and life down there. It was shockingly close but thankfully far to his real early life.

"That's not all." Skye said with a smirk. "I've been looking into some things you'll find interesting. There are new vigilantes popping up all over the city, The Devil of Hell's Kitchen, or Daredevil as the locals call him, there is Luke Cage in Harlem, rumors of a Spider-Man in Queens... but this one is the most concerning one. He's... I presume he. Is someone you're gonna maybe wanna look into." She would say handing him another file.

Clark would open it. "You've been busy" he said looking up at her before starting to file through the pages. There was a man lifting a car with a yellow shirt on, interesting. A woman flying in jeans and a leather jacket, Skye hadn't mentioned her, then there was this Devil she mentioned. Standing tall on a car in a suit with horns. "Well... that's really something." He'd say before his blood ran cold. "Where was this one taken?" He asked as he looked at the next picture.

It was of three men tied up with a black cable under a street light. They'd been pretty decently beaten down judging by the looks of it. Clark was looking at the thigh of one of the men however. The metal Bat shaped object in his leg. "It was on the east dock. They all raved about this Bat. He's been cited for a beat down every night for the last week." She said before an emergency bulletin played over the TV.

Clark hadn't even realized it was on. The thoughts of the familiar vigilante leaving his mind as he looked up at the screen. "Nick Fury, Director of Shield, Murdered by Captain America." The news claimed.

Clark and Skye looked at one another. "You should get dressed." She said walking over and grabbing something else from her room as the news continued. "The Captain is currently at Large and believed to be on the run in the DC area. He is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous." The news would claim as Clark walked into the living room with his suit on. Skye walked up to him, she would hand him an earpiece.

"This should be able to fit just behind your ear." She said tucking it back there. Clark would look at her a bit confused. "This way I can communicate with you while you're out there. I'll try to pinpoint his location for you." She would say as he nodded.

"You know you're likely to get in a lot of trouble if we ever get caught helping me like this." He would smirk.

"Well if I go to jail? My accomplice can walk through the wall to save me." She would say before nodding to the door. "Get going." She'd say before going into her room.

Clark flew to DC. The trip took a few minutes as he didn't want to fly too fast. "Anything Skye?" He'd ask calmly. Not knowing how loud he needed to speak.

"There are reports of shots being fired on the interstate outside of DC. Sounds like heavy weapons. I'm sorry I can't give more of an exact location." She'd reply.

"No worries, I hear them. I'm going in." Clark would say flying to where he heard the shots. It was the side of a freeway, below a bus had been turned over and someone was firing a minigun into it.

Without a second's notice, Clark was there. Standing between the bus and the gunfire. He could see the shooter's eyes going wide. "He's here!" They would call, clearly he was expecting.

The men to the side of the shooter would start to flank more. Going for the bus. Clark needed to do something quickly or he wouldn't contain this. His eyes heated up, firing a blast of his heat vision back at the mini gun. He would melt the multiple barrels of the gun, it would stop spinning as instead the large metallic war machine would slump down and stick to the car in front of the shooter. His eyes went wide as he pulled his side arm.

Before he could level it at Clark however, Steve's Shield would fly from the bus, hitting him on the side of the head and bouncing to the other three shooters before Steve would catch it. "You know? Hindsight being 20/20? You probably should have been my first call." Steve said with a smirk as he walked up to Clark and shook his hand.

"Guessing you didn't kill Fury?" He'd ask already knowing the answer.

"No, Hydra did. They're dug into Shield deep. Natasha, my friend Sam, and myself are trying to stop them. Can we count on you?" Steve would ask.

"Of course you can." Clark would reply as an explosion went off in the distance. Both men looked over at it before a pair of Shield Jets would start to hover over them. "You get Natasha and Sam... I'll handle these." Clark would say flying up as the jets started shooting at him.

Clark would look over to see who he presumed was Sam laying on the ground as Natasha was struggling against someone with a metal arm. That wasn't good. But Steve was almost there, he'd be able to handle it.

Clark meanwhile had to focus on the Jets. Making sure to fly up and be above them as they fired their guns at him. "Skye? Clue me into Hydra." Clark would say as he kept flying up. The gunships were seemingly only there for him. Going higher and faster into the air. Their bullets would miss him as he maneuvered through the air. His heat vision melted the already hot metal so that it wouldn't hurt anyone on the way down.

"Bad news for sure. They were the Nazi special science division in World War Two. Nearly took over Europe, and probably the world had Cap not stopped them. If they've infiltrated Shield? We're in trouble." She would reply as Clark flew into one wing of a plane sending it spiraling back down to earth. He made sure that where they were? It would land in the Atlantic.

"So if they killed Fury, framing Steve makes sense. But what's their endgame here? Kill all of the Avengers and world domination?" He'd ask himself more than her as he flew head long into the next ship. Bullets flattened against him as they'd fire missiles. The explosions would go off around him. Not doing any damage as he grabbed the glass over the cockpit and shattered it. The pilots ejecting and falling to earth as their plane went into the water.

"I don't know. But if they know you? They know two gunships aren't going to do anything. My guess is they're a diversion." She would say as he looked back down to earth. On the street below he could see Cap, Sam, and Natasha being arrested.

"It worked. Hydra has a cap." He'd say annoyed.

"So? Just fly down there and grab them before they get taken away." She would say.

But Clark shook his head. "I can't, there are news choppers and regular police down there. If I swoop in? It could escalate things or make them worse. I'll have to figure something else out." He would say as he started to fly back towards New York.

He wasn't halfway home when the bulletin came over his ear. Supplied by Skye. "Clark? They're calling for your arrest. They're calling you an accessory." She would say, sounding concerned. "What are you going to do?" She'd ask.

Clark would stop. "I'm going to turn myself in." Clark would reply, he could tell by the silence on the other line that Skye didn't agree with this choice. "They're corrupt and trying to kill my friends. They're going to kill innocent people if I don't step in. I think the easiest way? As if I give myself over. That way if they've captured other Avengers or allies? I can break them out." Clark would say.

"I don't like it." She'd say softly. "But it makes sense. Don't let them get your comm or they might try to trace it back to me." She would say her voice was scared.

"It's going to be alright Skye I promise. Nothing bad is going to happen to you." He'd say flying back towards DC.

"I'm worried about you, dummy. Just be careful." She'd say before the line went dead. Clark would stow the com in a compartment in his belt that you'd need superstrength to open before he'd go to the capital building.

Landing on the steps. He would see a handful of policemen look at him in shock. "Hey fellas. I'm here to turn myself in." He'd say with a smile. Instantly they'd all pull their guns on him. Clark didn't love the hostility of that reaction but he wouldn't do anything about it as they rushed over.

He allowed his hands to go behind his back. Feeling the steel cuffs close shut. "Is this necessary?" He'd ask as they escorted him to their car.

"Shut up you alien freak." The officer would say before trying to slam his head into the roof of the cruiser. Clark wasn't a fan of that, so he let it happen, all the way through his forehead bending through the metal, the frame of the car being warped and the door being unable to close.

"Whoops. Sorry." He'd say as if there was a metallic clink. His hands came from around his back as he shrugged. The officer looking furious would pull his gun and level it at Clark.

"Gun down!" A man's voice would call. "He surrendered, he's with us." A familiar voice would call as a black vehicle would pull next to them.

"Flagg?" Clark would ask as he looked over to see what appeared to be a younger version of Rick Flagg Sr. Well this was awkward.

"Brock Rumlow Superman. I'm with Shield, you're coming with us for questioning." He'd say gesturing to the tank. Clark would nod. Getting out of the back of the squad car as the Shield Strike team would surround him.

Walking to the other vehicle, as soon as Clark was inside and out of sight. Two men with electrical stun sticks would jam them into Clark's chest making him groan.

He would tense up and fall to his knees in the APC before they would shock him again. "Your friends managed to escape Superman, we're not going to give you the chance." Rumlow would say as several more stun sticks would jab into him.

Clark would flinch with each one on the floor as they drove him away from the capital and towards the Shield headquarters. They kept jabbing him until he lost conscious going limp on the floor of the APC. "Thats the strongest guy on the planet? I know we jacked these up to fry an elephant? But I dunno, I was expecting more." Rumlow said to himself as they pulled away.

Clark found himself strapped to a table in a room with nothing else in it. The walls were lead lined which meant they had planned this. They'd known about his x-ray vision. As he looked around, a shock would make him scream. There was something on his head that amplified that with the bonds on his wrists and ankles feeding into it too.

"Good Evening Superman. Shame we have to meet like this." Alexander Pierce would say standing in front of Clark. "A week or two ago, I would have invited you to my office and we could have had a drink. But instead you had to just go off and help Captain Rogers." Pierce would say as another shock would go off making Clark scream. "that's okay though. This accelerates our plans for you, and honestly? Makes you a more powerful piece on our side of the board." Alexander would say ask the shock would stop.

"You think I'm going to? Join you? You're dreaming." Clark would say panting for breath after being electrocuted.

"Oh you will. But not by choice." Pierce would say. "We've broken stronger wills than yours. Made weapons out of all sorts of men, just because you're made of Steel? That won't make a difference." Pierce would say turning towards the two way mirror. "Begin the programming." He would command.

As he did, the machine on Clark's head would start whirling. Clark would bear his teeth as he felt, odd. A scream escaped him as more electricity was plunged through his body. "We're going to erase your mind to build it up anew. We're going to make you the supreme being for Hydra." He said with a smirk. "It will be painful, but don't worry, we have all night." Pierce would say as Clark's screams echoed.

Back in New York, Skye bit her lip nervously. She still hadn't heard from Clark, had they actually figured out a way to hold him? Was he in trouble? She was just about to try and hack into Shields' mainframe when she heard the balcony door. "Clark?" She asked, walking out of her room.

The apartment was dark, save for the moonlight that shined in from the outside. The door was open to the Balcony, but Clark wasn't here.

Skye looked around. Grabbing a knife from her dinner plate she would slowly walk towards the door. "Hello?" She would call hesitantly. She didn't see anyone in her apartment, but she slowly went towards the door. Stepping onto the balcony that was more or less a re-worked fire escape.

Looking around, her eyes would go wide as a massive bat flew down at her from across the street. Taking a step back, she would step into the chest of someone. Turning her eyes went wide as a man wearing a half mask with long hair would grab her by her ponytail. Dragging her forward she would jab the knife up and into his arm only for the blade to spark against metal.

He didn't seem to care at all as he shoved her towards the railing. Clearly intent on throwing her down to the street below. Before he could, the bat drove both of his feet into the metal armed man's chest.

Clearly her assassin didn't see the Bat coming as he flew back with a grunt. Smashing through the glass door of their patio space. The bat would pursue the metal armed man inside.

Skye could barely keep up with the fight. Both men moving so fast her eyes had trouble tracking as each would block and parry blows. The Bats shots landed but seemingly didn't do as much damage as the other men. Whether it be the metal arm or possibly powers. His strength seemed greater.

But the Bat didn't stop. He attached something to the back of the assassin. As the long haired man tried to reach for it? A line fired from his back and to the door. His eyes went wide as he was pulled back and slammed through the heavy oak. Breaking the locks as the bat followed.

Skye dropped down on the patio and took a deep breath. She was having a pretty severe panic attack, but she needed to know what was happening.

Forcing herself up and towards the hallway. She would see what she could only presume was the end of the fight as her assassin rushed the bat. Planting his shoulder in the pointy eared man's gut as they both tumbled down the elevator shaft.

Skye vaguely remembered what happened next as she dropped to her knees. The next thing she knew was the police arriving to question her.

Back in DC the Sun was rising high in the sky as morning was upon us. "Prepare project insight. I want those carriers in the air ASAP." Pierce would say as he looked at Clark through the two way mirror. "Is the programming taking?" He'd ask.

"Truthfully sir? There isn't any way to know. Our sensors can't penetrate his skull. This could be working like a charm? Or we could be just frying his brain." One of the technicians would say as Pierce nodded his head.

"Either way? Keep it up. I want a report within the hour, I have the security council coming." Pierce would say as Clark would let out groans of protest under the helmet.

The next events? You've seen the following. Insight began to launch, Pierce had the council right where he wanted them until a speech came over the comms of Shield HQ from Captain America.

Everything was going well for Hydra until an alarm would go off in the building. Red lights flooded every room in the compound save for the room with the security council in it, signifying the attack.

On the table where he'd been for hours now? Clark who had looked beaten down and in a bad way? Would sit up straight. The attendant standing in front of him, reciting the words that were supposed to trigger him into being a sleeper agent would perk up. "Are you ready to comply?" He would ask excitedly.

"No, and please stop rambling those random words." Clark would say snapping the restraints from his arms and legs. His hand coming up and crushing the helmet over his head.

"But.. but we've been programming you for hours? The shocks?" He'd ask as Clark handed him the helmet.

"Sorry Chum, afraid I was playing a bit of possum." Clark would say before bringing his finger up and boinking the Hydra scientist on the head. The man began to crumble down to the ground unconscious, Clark caught him of course. Laying him down on the table where he'd just been.

With that? Clark would walk through the two way mirror. Just like we would be walking through a mist. To his surprise Clark wasn't in a basement or secret lab. But he was in the Shield headquarters near the top floor, seeing Natasha and... Nick Fury confronting Pierce? Clark would see past them to the chaos outside. "Jeez... stupid lead walls.." he'd say zooming outside of the building.

Seeing that Natasha was being held up due to the badge on her chest. Clark would grab it as he went through the window and towards the helicarriers.

In the room Nick, Natasha, and Pierce would all be shocked for a moment. "What the hell?" Pierce would say looking at the hole in the wall that Clark had left, then out the window to see him fighting the carriers outside. "Superman?" He asked before Nick would fire two rounds into his chest killing him.

Outside Clark didn't really know what was going on. Who was good, who was bad. A few gun ships would open fire on him. Instantly he would fly towards them and break them apart.

He didn't like it, he was playing catch up for the next few hours of fighting as the Carriers were falling from the sky. Clark spent the rest of his time saving the citizens from DC from the debris and water splashing down and flooding the city.

Captain America had gotten pretty hurt in the fight. Natasha too, but they'd lived. Nick Fury was alive and SHIELD was gone now. Their files are exposed to the internet.

Clark would find himself standing outside of Steve's room, his hands in his pockets. "So.. you've got wings? That's pretty cool. From Thanagar?" He'd ask.

"ThanaWhat? No man. I've got a wing suit, I don't have like... wings that come out of my back or anything." Sam would say looking shocked at Clark. "Is that like? Where are you from?" He asked , astonished.

"Yeah, no I'm sorry, it was rude to assume." Clark would nod. "Should have known. In my world her name is Hawkgirl, here? You're Falcon." Clark would say.

"Hawks and Falcons are basically the same thing." Sam would respond looking appalled at Clark for a second. "WAIT... so she's GOT wings? Like no suit? No nothing? She just walks around with them all the time?"

"Not all the time." Clark would say still feeling a bit embarrassed. "They come out of her back though. She can.. I dunno.. make them appear when she wants." He'd say tapping his foot on the ground.

"So she's like an angel? And what you just thought that I could do? Why wouldn't I have them out right now if I could do that?" Sam would ask.

"I just figured you were being low key about it... I'm in a sweatsuit, not my uniform? Figured we were being chill about everything." Clark would say.

"Lemme tell you? I sprout wings? They're never going away. I'm having them out allll the time." Sam would nod with a laugh. "Gonna be out here like an angel." Sam grumbled before there was a moment of silence before the pair began to laugh.

Clark looked over at Sam and smiled. "Its been good to meet you Sam. I hope that I see you around." Clark said patting him on the shoulder. "You're gonna stay and look out for him?" He asked.

"Yeah it's been a pleasure Superman." Sam would respond. "Yeah, he seems pretty helpless without me." Sam would smirk. "We'll see you around." Sam would say as Clark zipped out of the Hospital.

Flying back to New York, Clark would see the broken glass of the apartment. His eyes went wide. "Skye!" He called in shock. "Skye are you alright?" He called.

She came out of her room. Jeans, a tank top, and leather jacket. She'd been crying clearly. Rushing over to him, she would hug him tightly as he returned the hug. "I'm so sorry... hey? I'm here.. I'm here. It's going to be okay." He would say as his hand went over her back. Rubbing it softly. "Gosh I had no idea they'd find me so fast." He said his face pressing against the top of her hair.

"They sent him after me.. specifically... they didn't know about you. They wanted me." She would cry into his chest. Clark would feel awful as he would squeeze her a little tighter.

"Oh Skye.. I'm so sorry. It's okay now? They're gone... we got them. I'm going to get this cleaned up, I'm going to make us lunch.. and then I'm not going to leave your side for the rest of the day okay? I'm proud of you for fighting them off. I'm sure it was scary." He'd say kissing the top of her head.

She would pull away. Her eyes were crying tears. "I didn't... it was him, the one you were worried about.. the Batman was here. He fought the Winter Soldier to a standstill." She said as he wiped her tears. Looking outside he would set his jaw.

"Well? It's a good thing he was here." Clark would say hugging her again as he knew exactly what his next side project was going to be. After he did all he said he was going to. After he was true to his word about taking care of Skye.

Chapter Text

Journal Entry 1.

I don't know where I am. It's Earth, but not mine. Gotham isn't anywhere to be found. The cities are different, the planet is different. The last thing I remember is cutting the cable above Gotham Garden's falling, then darkness. There are some flashes, helping survivors be evacuated, my city flooded. But then? Nothing.

I awoke here in the rubble of a ruined building. Outside there was a battle, Aliens I'd never seen or heard of before felled by heroes I'd mostly never heard of. All of the Avengers, save for one, Superman. The Alien from Metropolis. There is no way to know if he is from the same Earth I am, or if he belongs to this reality. Further investigation will need to be done. Finding a place to stay while I get my bearings is priority one. -End of Entry.

Clark had barely left the house since Hydra and Shield Fell. He'd run out on errands, and to help with a few emergencies that could go the wrong way without his intervention. But for the most part? He'd spent his time fixing up the apartment from when Batman and the Winter Soldier had been fighting inside of it.

He found a batarang and a knife both lodged into undersides of the counter, a feat he wasn't even sure how the pair had pulled off, but neither had fingerprints on them so they were just junk to Clark. Skye had insisted that they both be kept by her however just in case she had to defend herself from another break in.

Clark didn't love the idea of that. He didn't want her getting hurt, but he also couldn't disagree with the logic. Hydra had come for her, not because of him, but because of her hacking talents. It was also clear that he wasn't always going to be around to save the day should she need him. So? He let her keep them.

Clark made sure that his repairs to the apartment made it a safer place for Skye too. Using his head vision and his breath. Clark tempered the already thick glass that was required for a building at such a high floor. Making it more or less bullet proof. With his strength he would condense steel plates in the door, making it more durable.

"Done making the house a Fortress?" Skye would ask as she walked out of her room with her hair tied up.

Clark would give out a laugh as he finished hanging the door. Opening and closing it again and again to make sure that it was hung correctly. He would adjust the flannel he was wearing before stretching. "I had to make sure that the drawbridge worked for her majesty." He would say giving her a mock bow.

Skye would laugh at him as she walked to the kitchen. She threw the dish towel at him as she opened the fridge. "What would you like for dinner Sir Kent?" She would ask rummaging through the fridge.

With very little effort, Clark would catch the rag. "I think we have some of that leftover spaghetti that I made the other day? We should probably eat that before it goes bad-" he would start to say before there was a knock at the door.

The pair would look between one another for a second before Clark would shrug. Opening it, he'd be shocked as Natasha stood on the other side of the door. "You gonna let me in or what?" She would ask as Clark was clearly stunned.

Stepping aside, he would check the hallway before closing the door behind the Black Widow. "How did you do?" He started to ask but Romanov cut him off.

"Relax, I've known for a while. No, I didn't tell anyone." She would say as Skye looked just as stunned as Clark. Romanov walked over to the couch like she'd been there before. "We need to talk." She would say wincing.

"Are you okay?" He'd ask to catch her wince. Going as far to take a step towards her before she would raise her hand.

"I'll be alright. I just need a few minutes." She would say. "Was tracking down a Hydra shipment." She'd say with a groan. "Partly why I'm here... Half of it got away, I think I'll need your help stopping it." She would say.

"Of course. Let me get changed." He said walking towards his room. Natasha was slightly taken aback. It was clear she was planning on arguing her case, or at the very least was ready to have to convince him.

"Oh? You thought he wasn't going to just jump into helping you?" Skye said as she walked into the room with a Tupperware full of cut Watermelon. Putting it between the pair of them. "You two don't talk much do you?" Skye would ask handing Natasha a fork.

"Evidently not." Natasha would say taking a piece of the melon with a fork. "So are you two like a thing?" Romanov would ask, looking over at Skye.

"No!" She would reply maybe a little too loud, a little too quickly. "No its not like that... we um.. Just both needed a roommate. The small world brought us together." Skye would say taking another bite. "How did you figure out who he was?" She would ask.

"You think what? That the glasses fool everyone? He's on a team with the smartest person on the planet, and you think slouching and glasses is gonna keep his secret?" Natasha would say amused.

"So Tony knows?" Clark would ask walking back and into the room wearing his suit.

"No, of course not." Natasha said, seeing the confusion on his face. "Far as I know? I'm the only one. Maybe Steve if you told him." Romanov would say looking between them.

Clark would let out a laugh. "That's good, I should have known." He said with a chuckle. "Now Natasha. Why don't you tell me how I can help." He'd say looking concerned. "Who did this to you?"

"Oh right. Yeah." Natasha would say with a grimace as she stood up. "What do you know about bats?" She would ask.

Journal Entry Number 19

Completing my mission without the resources of Wayne Enterprises has been... difficult. The condition of my equipment has become priority number one. My new base, an abandoned clock tower reminds me of Wayne Tower, but without Alfred here.. I find it more isolated than I prefer.

I need to rebuild my life here. Maybe rebuild Wayne Enterprises, it's years earlier here than back home. Investments that I've "Confiscated" from Criminals should be more than enough to fund some stocks. I've got a chance to make sure that the rot of Gotham doesn't take hold.

-End of Entry.

"I didn't hear him coming. I was putting a tracker onto the shipment when I got hit from behind." Natasha would say. "No one sneaks up on me Clark, no one. Loki, couldn't even do it." She would say her voice was shaking a bit.

"So it wouldn't put your mind at ease to hear that he fought the Winter Soldier to a standstill?" Skye would ask as she ate another piece of melon.

Natasha was taken aback like that. "He did what? How do you know?" Natasha would say looking between the pair of them.

"Why do you think we had to remodel?" Skye would say, still clearly haunted by that night. "The soldier came to kill me, the Bat blasted through the window and fought him. Last thing I saw? They both fell down the elevator shaft." Skye would say staring down at the ground for a moment.

"Jesus.. who is this guy?" Natasha would ask. It unsettled Clark that she seemed concerned. Natasha didn't sound concerned when she was fighting a god.

"He's an urban legend in my world." Clark said, crossing his arms. This seemed like the biggest news possible to drop to the pair of women sitting in front of him. "There is a city there. Not too far from mine, the one that I lived in and patrolled named Gotham." He'd say looking out the window.

"Gotham isn't like other cities, to anyone who lives outside of it? It seems like Hell on Earth." Clark would say nodding. "But they have someone or so the story goes, that protects it the best that he can. The Batman." He'd say looking at them again. "Criminals fear him, he fights and acts... Just like this guy. I looked into him once, but I couldn't find him either, just the people left for the police." He'd say putting his hands on his hips.

"This Shipment? What happened to it? What was it?" Skye would ask.

"Guns mostly. Nothing super fancy. Your typical automatic rifles, grenades. Stuff that would turn a lowly street gang into a major hitter. Hydra was sending them to Hell's Kitchen and some were heading towards Japan." She'd say. "I was going to put trackers on them. See where they all ended up. But your friend had other ideas, " Natasha would say.

"Before the shipment to the kitchen could leave, he'd ignited some kind of device. One big enough to destroy the arms, but not big enough to set the factory ablaze. Seconds later he hit me from behind and... son of a bitch." Natasha would say. "God that's embarrassing." Natasha would say.

"What?" Skye would ask, confused. She'd eaten half of the container of Watermelon already. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"He kicked me out of the way, they started shooting at us a second later.. I didn't realize it at the moment. I figured that they saw him come down and hit me, but no, the first shots were before he hit." She said, shaking her head.

"You're saying he saved you." Clark said solemnly. "Did you get a tracker on the ones that got away?" He asked, looking at her.

"Yeah, GPS says it's at the docks. Being loaded to one of the freighters" she would say pulling a phone out of her pocket and showing it to him. "That Intel isn't as good to us though. I was going to report it to the authorities, maybe catch them before they got out of the docks. But I don't know Clark, maybe it's better to take them out of play entirely." She'd say holding her ribs.

"Alright. I'll go stop the ship. You stay here and rest. I don't want you getting anymore hurt than you already are." Clark would say before in a poof he was gone.

Natasha blinked for a moment. "Do you ever get used to that? Like actually.. seeing him disappear?" She'd ask.

"Not even a little bit. Sometimes he's nice and slows down before he leaves so I can like... see him go? But no he's always gone in a flash like that. Blink and you miss it kinda shit." She'd say.

"How does he know where to go? The GPS doesn't say what ship?" Natasha would ask, looking at Skye.

"You showed him a bird's eye view." She would shrug. "He can get to that angle." She'd say offering more Melon.

Journal Entry 43.

Bruce Wayne, as far as any record will show? Has always been living on this Earth. The money I've acquired through investments has given me enough capital to where I could build a few WayneTech staples. Patents and copyrights soon followed, then the company.

I'll admit, adapting to this world's criminal underworld took me a few days. That's my home, my bread and butter. Being Bruce Wayne? Building something? That's different entirely, a challenge that truly none of my training prepared me for.

My capital is growing. I doubt that with Stark Industries in play that I'll be quite where I was back home. But it will be enough to fuel the war. The purchase of HammerTech was, disappointing to put not too harsh a word on it. Their tech is nowhere near sufficient. But like all things? It's a start.

-End of Entry

Clark would zoom over the docks until he found the ship that Natasha's GPS had shown him. Before he even looked through the metal, he heard it. The gunfire, the screams.

Zipping down into the ship. He would breach the main deck as a group of three men would stand over a fourth. The unarmed man typing away at a tablet furiously before they would all look up in awe at him. "Oh Fuck!" One of the men would scream. "He's here too?" He would scream before firing his weapon up at Clark.

Sparks would fly over the emblem on Clark's chest as the bullets would fall harmlessly to the ground. His eyes began to glow red with his heat vision, before a line would wrap around the heads or two of the gunmen. Slack being pulled as their skulls would crack together leaving both of them unconscious.

"Hurry Steven!" The last gunman would shout but it was no use. Clark watched as the shadow of the Bat would descend from the top of one of the shipping containers. Boots slamming into his chest as he went flying back.

Steven, the man with the tablet, would slowly stand up. Fear in his eyes as he'd start to back away from the Bat. As he did? Suddenly he bumped into something very hard, slowly turning, his eyes would go wide as he looked up at Clark. "Oh Shit!" He screamed before Bruce would clock him across the face.

Steven would crumble to the floor next to his friends as Superman and Batman stood eye to eye. Neither blinked for a moment. "So? How long have you been here?" Clark would ask.

"Got here the same day as you." Bruce would reply. "Just haven't landed on my feet as well as you." He'd say, his voice raspy and emotionless as always.

"It's really good to see you. Why didn't you find me sooner?" Clark would say closing the distance between them. His arms wrapping around Bruce and giving him a tight hug.

Bruce didn't move his arms. He was lifted into the air with a hug. Had he not been wearing the mask? There may have been a smile before he was put down. "I didn't know if you were my Superman or this world." He'd reply.

Clark would nod, that made sense. "So? Just been fighting the crusade as always? Didn't I need any help?" Clark would ask as they'd start walking side by side together away from the bodies of the unconscious shipment guards.

"Respectfully? I never need help." Bruce would say, this time there was that bit of a smile.

Clark would hold his chest wounded. "Oof.. and they say only Kryptonite can wound me." He'd joke back before he'd heard it. The click of something on the tablet.

From inside the crate next to them, gunfire would erupt towards them. A heavy machine gun meant for tanks or heavy armor. Instantly Clark would grab Bruce by the shoulders and rush him away from the fire before flying back towards the crates. "They're the hammer drones! Fully automated!" Bruce would call as he grappled up and out of sight.

Robots though? Say no more, Clark could handle robots. Kent would turn towards the shipping container that was shooting at him. Holding his hands above his head. His fingers extended fully, Clark would spin in the air like a drill. Firing himself through the crate, he would cut through the Hammer Drones like a hot knife through butter.

Flying outside the other end of the crate, he'd be covered in oil as the drones were all destroyed. As he looked around the room? Bruce had moved the unconscious guards outside the line of fire. They were all tied up, back to back, hands bound behind their backs as he was starting to raise them. "I'll get them all off the ship. You blow the cargo." Clark would say grabbing the line and floating up towards the hole he'd already made.

Clark would rip a larger hole in the hull. Opening it to the night air as he flew the goons off of the ship. From the deck below there was an explosion, a grapple firing behind him as Batman would fly out next to him.

Clark would tie the line up on one of the light posts. Leaving the thugs dangling as he looked for Bruce. He saw him waiting on a roof top a little ways away and headed towards him.

"Always good to get the dynamic duo together." Clark would say with a smirk.

"We work well together. But we need to keep our distance." Bruce said, looking over the city. "Stark distrusts you already. He WILL be a problem for you in one light or another." Bruce would say walking towards the rooftop. "Associating with me? That isn't going to help you at all." He'd say before Clark would grab his shoulder.

"Bruce? You know I don't care." He'd say softly. "You and I? We've always been loners, now even more so." He'd say stepping to Batman's side. "We shouldn't separate."

"We have to Clark, for now at least." Bruce would say quietly. "I'm building Wayne here, I'm working on getting us home. But I need time. I need to stay under the radar. Batman needs to stay out of the light." He'd say looking at Clark.

The Kryptonian didn't like it. But it was hard to argue with Bruce. He often was right if emotions weren't involved. "Okay" Clark would concede. "But if you need me? You've got the watch." Clark would say as his hands went to his sides.

"Yes... I still have the stupid watch." Bruce would say annoyed. "Take care of yourself Clark. If I find anything? I'll be in touch." He said, arming his grapple.

"Take it easy Bruce." Clark would say floating up. "This place isn't built for you." He'd say flying home. Coming up with a story to tell Natasha that might try to persuade her to stay off the Caped Crusaders trail.

Chapter Text

Clark let out a sigh as he got out of bed. It was earlier than he usually woke up, rising before the sun. He would walk out into his and Skye's apartment. Looking out the window he would smirk as he watched the snow swirling through the buildings. It was mid fall now, the snow had been on and off for weeks, never sticking around for long.

Slowly he would walk to the kitchen. Making himself and Skye their usual coffee and breakfast food. Nodding to himself as he would hum happily, today was the day. It had been months of them living together, months since she'd known his secret. Clark to an extent was closer to Skye than he'd been with Lois.

Not knowing if he'd get a chance to see her again, the notion of moving on? Wasn't something that hurt Clark anymore. Today was going to be the day that he asked Skye out, sure they already ate most meals together. They hung out with one another all the time, and Kent was pretty sure that the feelings between them weren't strictly one sided. But it didn't stop him from being nervous to ask her out.

Clark continued to make breakfast until he heard her door open. The morning light shining through the Tempered windows he'd installed. "God thats smells delicious... did you make us pancakes again?" Skye would ask as she walked out and looked at him.

Clark hadn't gotten dressed for the day. Wearing a tank shirt that showed off his arms, it hung to his body as he had tucked it into his sweatpants. He felt under dressed, but as he looked at Skye his mouth would drop for a moment.

She wore a similarly tight tank shirt along with a pair of sleep shorts that could moonlight as a swimsuit. Her eyes were just as wide looking at Clark as they slowly looked up one another's body and to their eyes. "Morning" Clark would say breaking the silence.

Skye would blink as she would look around. "It is a good morning isn't it?" She asked looking outside. Hiding how red her cheeks had gotten from the reaction Clark had to her. "Is there a reason that you made my favorite Mr. Kent?" She would ask slowly turning to face him.

Clark would smile back. "Actually there is." Clark would say as he plated the food and slowly walked over to their table. He'd set her plate across from his own, in her usual spot before pouring arguably too much syrup on her pancakes, just like she liked.

Skye would walk over and sit down. Looking at the food before back up at Clark, her heart fluttered in her chest for a moment. "Well?" She would ask slowly cutting into the hot cake.

"Well?" Clark would say taking a deep breath. For all the notion of him being the strongest person on Earth? It was going out the window as he searched for his words. "Well..." he'd say again. "I know that living with me has been... odd. That I'm not the most conventional roomate in the world. But I firstly wanted to thank you, honestly? Living with you? Hanging out with you? It's made adjusting to this new... normal? For me go so much more smoothly." Clark would say as he looked into her eyes. As he spoke he could feel himself getting lost in her gaze. "Your friendship means a lot to me Skye, and you mean a lot to me. I don't want to hurt that or make things weird between us, but I was wondering if maybe sometime you'd ne interested in-" Clark would start to say before getting cut off.

"Yes." Skye would smirk as she took a bite of her food. Her words completely cutting off the Reporter as he looked stunned at her for a second.

"What?" Was all that he could think to say as he couldn't break the contact. The smile on her face enchanting him for a moment.

"I would love to." She would respond picking up a piece of the bacon he'd made and crunching into it. It was one of her greatest joys in life to Fluster Clark like this.

"But you don't even know what I was going to ask you?" Clark asked confused.

"Clark? We suck this, both of us. But I don't think we need glasses half the size of the ones you work when you're blending in to see how either of us feels." She'd say her voice trembling. "I think you know that no matter what you ask me? The answer is probably yes.. I trust you." She would smirk, her hand sliding over the table to take his.

Clark would feel how soft her hand was. He squeezed it a little as he looked at their fingers laced together. His eyes going back to hers. "Was more worried to ask you out than I was to fight the Mandarin." He'd joke.

Skye's face would change. Eyes going wide in shock. "Ohmygod you were asking me out?" She'd ask astonished.

Clark would turn to a deep red as his eyes went wide. His mouth hanging open before a laugh across the table would make him take a deep breath. "Sorry! Sorry I'm joking." Skye would say being defensive quickly. "Actually I was going to ask you out one of these days when I had the courage to bring myself to do it." She would smile as Clark gave that mock look of anger that he did sometimes.

"You're a jerk." He would say with a light laugh as he sipped his coffee. "Can't believe you'd do this." He'd say joking as his eyes would lock to hers again. Another moment of that silent tension that had been surrounding them for weeks at this point.

"Well I can't believe that Superman wants to take me on a date." She would reply happily. Looking down at her plate for a moment as Clark could feel her bliss radiating across the table.

Swallowing his coffee, he was about to comment about how nice she looked, despite knowing she'd woken up about 5 minutes before hand, when he heard it.

A electronic sound coming from his room. A sound that he hadn't heard since he'd received the device. An electronic few notes that rang through the apartment at the same volume that a ringtone would on a cell phone. "Is that?" Skye would ask as he got up and walked to his room.

In his hand as he walked out, would he his Avenger's ID card. A black scorch mark on it where he'd blasted the GPS Tracker with his heat vision. "Have they ever called you before?" She would ask.

"No." Clark would say. Or course they called him as he was finally moving forward with his personal life. "But i mean... they've barely gotten together right?" He asked looking at her as she shrugged. "We were having a moment, I'm sure they can-" He'd start to say as she would get up and walk over to him.

"Clark?" She would ask, kissing him on the cheek. "I know what my life will be moving towards if we date." She says pulling back. "You're not running out on me, you're saving the world." She'd say pulling back from him. "So? Go get em" she'd wink. As Clark would pull back.

His lips would press to his forhead. "I'm going to make this up to you." He'd say before flying to get into his gear and head off towards the Avengers.

In Sokovia, the Avengers would be trying to take down the Hydra forces that were defending Struckers Castle. Clint lay down on the snow covered ground as he'd been hit by a laser beam. "He's on his way!" Natasha would say as she knelt over her friend. "He just confirmed." She'd call out as the Hulk would rush towards the bunker firing at the pair of special agents.

"YOU DID WHAT?" Tony would call over the comm. "We don't need him here, why would you call the boyscout." He would say blasting at the force field around the castle with his repulsors.

"Tony? Clint is hurt bad. We're pinned down and they're making up a little ground on us? Why wouldn't we want him here?" She would ask over the comm.

"We don't need him. We're the Avengers! We got this! Tony would shout as the boom echoed in the sky above them. Iron Man would turn his head from the castle to see Clark swoop down and into the force field surrounding the castle. The electronic hiss of the energy barrier buckling under the strength of the Kryptonian as he broke through.

"We're in! Superman, secure the turrets, Tony? Subbasement, I'll be in route to support." Cap would say as his motorcycle revved up.

Clark would get hit by a blast of new energy, sending him back and up into the air before a pair of blasts would slam into him. "Gosh, these guys aren't playing huh?" He'd ask as he could hear Tony mocking him.

Clark didn't care though, that's why hes was help take the shots that the others couldn't. Draw the fire of the blasts.

Flying towards them. Clark would destroy the turrets before a pair of tanks would blast at him. Lifting up one the destroyed turrets, he would throw it at the tanks. Using the Hydra tech to destroy itself.

Pulling the Hydra goons out of the destroyed tanks. Clark would get them to a clearing with the rest of the secured guards that had already been beaten down. Standing there, Clark would actually be caught off guard as someone hit him at Superspeed.

The shove would make him slide back along the dirt as Clark heard a grunt. A man would be skipping away at fully speed from Clark. "What the fuck?" The whire haired man would say. "What are you made of!" He would ask as he fired up off the ground towards Clark. Kent would smirk for a moment as he would rush after him.

"They don't call me the man of Steel for nothing." Clark would say with a smirk as the white haired man would jump. Clark grabbing his shoulder before planting his feet in the ground to stop them.

Pietro would gasp as Clark raided him off thr gound. His grip on the blue shirt of the white haired man. "You're new, that's interesting." Clark would say looking him up and down. "Born with powers or given them?" He'd ask before something hit him, hard.

Clark would grunt as the red blast would slam him through a few trees. Getting slammed through tree trunks before standing up with a groan. "What?" He would ask before the red energy would go around him. Lifting him up and slamming him down onto the ground a few times, digging him into the earth with each strike before being lifted up and thrown into the trees once more.

Clark would groan. The pain aching through him as he laid there for a long moment. "Ow..." he'd groan as Thor would land next to him.

"Man of Supers? Are you hurt?" He would ask confused, looking around.

"Yep... Magic... sucks." Clark would say as he laid there looking up for a long moment before Thor would reach down to grab his hand.

"I see? So Hydra has employed dark sorcery. Thank you for the heads of up." Thor would say pulling Clark up to his feet.

Clark would dust himself off before taking a look around. He knew it was relatively hopeless given that he was looking for a speedster, but he tried anyway.

With his enhanced eyesight, Clark could see the steps of Quicksilver running off, the additional weight of carrying whoever threw Clark around being added before they would vanish into the busy road, the prints being placed over too trampled and destroyed ground.

"Well? What happened Capeman? Couldn't stop two kids?" Tony would ask landing next to them with the scepter. "I bagged the prize this time big blue. Not you." Tony would say, his tone dry and angry.

"Good job Tony." Clark would reply looking at the helmet annoyed. "Glad that we got this done without any loss of life." He'd say with a nod as he looked to the other Avengers, save for Clint who was already loaded onto the plane. "Hopefully this Hydra stuff is behind us now." Clark would say taking a step back before looking to the sky. Clearly about to take off and leave.

"You don't have to go." Steve would say stopping him. "We're supposed to be a team, a unit. You can come back to New York with us? Spend some time?" He'd ask raising an eyebrow.

Thor and Natasha both seemed to agree with the Captain as Clark didn't have to use X-Ray vision to know that there was disdain behind the mask of Tony. "I think it would be nice." Bruce would say. His voice shaking a He'd come down from being the Hulk. "We're supposed to be a team right? Let's act like one for once before going off and doing our own thing." Banner would say walking to the jet.

Clark would not. It wouldn't hurt to spend more time with them, to strengthen their bond. Skye said she understood, he didn't want to push that. But this was the second time they'd all been in the same place at the same time. "Alright, let's get going then." He'd say with a smile as he got onto the plane.

The other Avengers followed suit. Cap sitting next to Clark, the pair of them talking mostly about the mets as the jet flew the Avengers home. Thor looked at the spear that his brother once held. Clearly haunted by something from the past, Bruce and Natasha chatted, and Tony seemed to be grumbling upsetly at Jarvis as they flew back to New York.

Clark didn't want to ease drop, but he couldn't help himself. Concentrating he'd hear Stark's words. "It was so real... I know J, I'm hearing your readings, but I can't ignore it. I've got to do something.. maybe the spear..." he'd say looking over his shoulder.

Clark felt his stomach drop again. None of that sounded good. His jaw clenched as he was going to stand up and say something to Tony. But Stark was already in the back of the plane going off. "We should have a party to celebrate. I mean we're keeping the band together from now on right? Might as well have a get together? It will be nice." Tony said with a smirk clapping Clark on the shoulder.

Clark looked skeptical, but everyone voiced their agreement. With that Tony would shout in celebration. "Alright! Tomorrow night! The tower!" He'd say happily. His eyes locked on Clark for a moment as they rocketed off and back home.

Chapter Text

A party at Stark Tower was something that Clark hadn't truthfully expected to ever go to. Not as well himself anyway. He thought as a member of the Daily Bugle he might be asked one day to cover a story, but as an actual member of the Avengers? No way.

Yet? Here he was, standing at a bar with Natasha as she gave him another bottle of Doctor Pepper. "Figured you for a Coke guy?" She would smirk. "Maybe go so far as milk." She would tease him.

Clark would smirk back. "Alcohol has no effect on me, so? I prefer taste over what's flashy." He would say as Bruce Banner looked astonished. "Also I really only try to have milk with cereal, can't spoil it for everyone else." He'd teased me.

"Wow," Bruce would say, cutting in. "So is it like Cap where your metabolism just sorta? Process it then or is it an invulnerability thing?" He would ask. Clark would smile giving Natasha a look as Bruce had asked about 96 questions all around his powers thus far.

"Pretty sure it's a metabolic thing?" He'd say. "But I mean? Who knows. It's not that I'm like... mystically invincible or anything? Just like.. I dunno, made stronger by the sun." He'd confess.

"And on your planet? Your earth, I'm sorry, is the sun just as powerful? Or are your powers different here?" Bruce would ask intrigued.

Clark smirked. Skye had asked this question a few months ago. He was sure his answer would unsettle Banner about as much as it did her. "So? My earth is actually larger than this one." He'd say with a nod. "There are more major cities, more countries. I'm actually a little stronger there because of it. But? The more greenhouse gas pollution that hits this atmosphere? The stronger I seem to get." Clark would shrug. "It's not like... a super measurable way I guess I would say? Like it's not like I can't lift anything here that I could there? But I do, at least, feel a little more sluggish." He'd shrug.

Bruce would look at his mouth agape for a moment as he tried to find another question. "I'm going to go and show up Clint, you two chat for a bit and we can talk more later?" Clark would tease as he patted Banner on the shoulder.

Walking away from the bar he would see Natasha mouth "Thank you" as he left. A nod to her as he made his way across the party. Clark had wanted to bring Skye. He had the feeling she'd have a great time here, but it would expose his secret to Tony which was something he didn't want to exactly do either. So he'd elected to come solo. The pair were set to have their first date the next night though which Clark couldn't wait for.

As he walked across the tower. He would see a bunch of people he'd recognize. "Hey Falcon? Get a new wingsuit?" He asked as he passed by Sam.

"Matter of fact I did. We'll have to test it out with a race sometime. I still gotta show you up for calling me Hawkboy or whatever." Sam would tease as he shook Clark's hand.

"Name the time and place big guy." He'd laugh back. "Rhodey? Glad to see that the WarMachine is back instead of Iron Patriot." Clark would say shaking his hand too.

"They damaged the paint job trying to fry me out of there." He'd say with a shrug. "Tony wouldn't fix it unless it was War Machine again, and honestly I feel better not being a walking flag. We already got a cap for that." He'd joke.

"Right? Rebranding Captain America with War Machine was... well it was a decision." Clark would say with a shrug. "But I'm happy to see you guys here. Nice having us all around." He'd say before walking off into the crowd.

He didn't make it more than a few steps before Thor's hand would come onto his shoulder. "Man of Supers." Thor would say with a laugh. "I have something for you and the good Captain." He would say pulling Clark over to Steve. "This is aged Asgardian Ale. Not for mortals, but being that you two are some of the truest men I've ever known? I'd like to share it with you." Thor would say pulling out a flask and pouring it into two glasses.

Steve and Clark would look at one another for a second. "You know we can't get drunk right?" Steve would ask with a smirk on his face.

"Aye, I know the legends, but however? You've never had Asgardian Ale." Thor would say with a smirk as he handed them their glasses.

Clark and Steve would clink them together. Both men throw back the golden amber liquid. Almost instantly they'd take a long exhale as it burnt going down. Thor's eyes peered between both of them expectedly for a second as Clark would nod. "Honestly? Not bad. Don't love the burn but the taste is actually-"

"Pretty good." Steve would finish the sentence. "Can taste the smoke in the aftertaste." He'd say as Clark would nod in agreement.

"HA Told you!" Clint would say as he walked up from behind Thor and patted him on the shoulder. "Pay up Goldylocks." He'd reply holding out his hand.

"Yes Barton. You win this round damn you." Thor would say pulling out a few golden coins and putting them into the confused Clint's hand.

Clark would smirk seeing the archer. "There he is! Time to test who's really the best." He'd joke.

"Oh you're a spaceman. I'm made out of plastic now! You've got no shot." Clint would say excitedly hurrying over to the dartboard as a group of onlookers watched them play.

Both men would hit the bullseye over and over again. Seeming like it was a deadlock for the game until it came down to the last dart. "Whatever man, take your shot, we all know you're just using your super-speed to place the darts into the board." Clint would tease.

"Now Clint? You know I don't need to cheat like that." Clark would say throwing his last dart. It missed the bullseye by about half an inch as he winced.

Clint looked shocked before throwing his last dart for the win. "You should have cheated!" He'd celebrate jumping up and down. "I mean I wasn't worried at all. Nope." He'd say returning his cool as Steve would walk up next to Clark.

"Guess the Ale did hit you a little huh?" He'd ask jokingly as Clint celebrated around the party.

Clark would only smile though. "He gets so much shit all the time. And I know he can take it, heck he dishes it out more often than not. But I thought giving him a win over me in something would make his day." Clark would shrug.

"You're a good man Kal." Steve would say, patting him on the shoulder. "We need more people like you in this world." Steve would say as the party started to die down a little.

Clark and Steve cleaned up everything around the tower as guests continued to leave. Finally it was just the Avengers and Maria Hill sitting around a table together.

"So Kal-El? Is that your government name?" Tony would ask, crossing his fingers over his chest as he looked at Clark.

Clark would smile. "It would have been, had my planet gotten ." He'd smirk back. "I figured it would be better than you all calling me Superman all the time." He'd shrug.

"Because you don't trust us, or is it just me you don't trust?" Tony would ask as the table got uncomfortable for a moment.

"Trust is earned Tony." Clark would say sitting up. "I don't want to mistrust anyone here. Heck, tonight has been a blast, I wish we could do it more often. But I do have people I care about and want to protect. I'd rather not have my information just.. out there." He'd shrug.

"Because you think you're better than me, is that it?" Tony would ask, he was clearly buzzed. Clark could see Steve starting to sit up to say something, but he'd raise his hand to stop him.

"No Tony, I don't." Clark would reply. "I don't think I'm better than any of you, than anyone." He'd say with a slight stern tone. "I respect your decisions Tony, taking responsibility not only for your company's actions, but your invention? It's something I find really admirable about you. You're the Earth's top defender for a reason. People want to be like you for a reason." Clark would say his hands went to his knees. "Just because I can do things that none of the rest of you can? Doesn't mean that you're any less." He'd say looking at all of them.

"I could never build what you do Tony." He'd say before looking at Bruce, "Could never know as much about the genome than you," over to Natasha. "Infiltrate and get the secrets you do" to Thor. "To be a god" to Steve. "To be a man out of time. Someone who gave everything to be who you are and ask for nothing in return." Then to Clint. "And..." he'd pause for a moment as everyone would laugh. "I'm kidding," Clark would say, straightening up. "Clint? You're an inspiration too. You're out there with a freaking bow and arrow guy? That's nothing short of amazing that you're willing to do that. That you're as effective as you are too." Clark would nod.

He'd stand up with his Doctor Pepper in hand. "To the Avengers, The Earth's Mightiest Heroes who inspire me to be better every single day." He'd say as they all raised their glasses for a moment before taking a drink.

"Hate you a little less now." Tony said with a smirk. It made Clark smile, maybe he would get Stark to come around after all?

But before they could continue. A loud reverb would echo through the tower. "To be better? What a concept." The voice would call. "You want to be better? But you don't change at all? You're all the same that you were before. The world is the same because of it." Ultron would say as he limped into the room. The destroyed legionnaire from Sakovia dripped onto the floor. "Sorry, I'm a bit of a mess.. had to kill the other guy to get here? He was a good guy." Ultron would say looking at them.

"You killed someone?" Cap would ask but the soulless glow of the helmet would just stare at him.

"Change has to be made. It has to be forced or it won't come until it's too late. We can't expect Aliens to fall from the sky everytime we need a little assistance." Ultron would say as Clark could almost feel the electronic eyes of the machine on him. "Humanity needs to be better if they're going to survive." He'd say before the walls behind him would blast open.

A trio of drones attacking the Avengers as they leapt into action. One drone would go after Thor, another Clark, whilst the third would go after the others.

Clark would take a few shots to the face from the drone as they would spiral around the top of the room. Clark grabbed onto the wrists of the machine and crushed them down, breaking them down under his grip as he'd fired his heat vision into the helmet. Surprised as it took a more intense beam than he'd expected to break through the hull.

"Suprised? Its almost as though Stark has designed them to counteract you." Ultron's voice would ring out through the face plate of the drone. "And you were doing so well just now." He'd tease before Clark would smash his head forwards and into the metal plate. Crushing it under the power of his own strength and indestructible skull.

Landing he would look around to see that the melee had come to an end. Thor chased after a Legionnaire as Clark checked on everyone else. "Oh this is very bad." Bruce would say under his breath as the rest of them would regroup heading down to the lab.

Tony and Bruce would then fill them in on what had been going on for the past few days. That they'd been studying Loki's Scepter and trying to make a more efficient defender of the planet than the Avengers. "You didn't stop to think that it might not be a great idea when the first name that came to mind was Ultron?" Clark would ask earning a glare from the Billionaire.

"No we didn't. Because Ultron can do everything we can't, he can be on PlanetWatch 24/7 while you're sitting back drinking Whole milk." Stark would say with almost a growl. His finger pointing into the chest of Clark. "I wanted to build him so we can all go home at the end of the mission. Not have to sit around waiting for the next one." Tony would say his voice shaking as he glared at Clark.

Clark felt that deep. He had a home here, but Stark knew full well that he couldn't go to his real home. "I didn't say I didn't see the mission, I just think maybe? It might be for the best that you at least talk to your team about it before you just do stuff like this." Clark would say crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at Tony.

"Why? Why should I talk to you all about it? None of you except for Bruce understands what I'm trying to do. None of you understand science?" Tony would scream. "I can build whatever I want, can figure things out on a level that none of you can perceive, and what? You just want me to ask for permission first? Why? Because you're stuck in the middle ages? In the forties? Or in space?" He'd ask pointing to Thor, Steve, and Clark. "No, I don't have time to listen to you ramble about ethics and about how irresponsible advancement is. I don't have time to bring you to my speed because I know that the next threat is either on its way? Or already here. I need to be ready all the time!" Tony would scream.

The room would be silent for a moment before Steve would speak up this time. "Tony, you're brilliant. But you don't have to do all of this alone. We're a team, that's supposed to mean something. We're supposed to work together on things. Agree on things. Going off on your own and doing something dangerous, something that could and very may will hurt the team? Isn't the way to go." Steve would say as everyone seemed to adjust to his words. A silent agreement amongst the rest of the Avengers.

"And what happens when we fight together and lose? What happens when we fail?" Tony would ask taking a step closer.

"We'll do that together too." Steve would say with a nod. Everyone would join him in agreement. The Avengers save for Tony standing on one side of the lab.

"Fine." Tony would concede as he would look down at the ground. "I suppose together is better than me dying alone in a lab." He'd say quietly.

"You never have to be alone, chum." Clark would say before he heard something. His head turned. "I have to go." He would say blasting out of the lab.

His clothes nearly tearing at superspeed as he made his way back to the apartment he shared with Skye. "Is everything okay? I heard the alarm." He'd ask in the doorway of her room. His hair tossed and unkempt.

Skye would look up at him, turning the alarm off. She would turn her monitor. "I don't know what happened last night. But all of Cyberspace is blowing up with this program. This Ultron? He's everywhere, trying to get into everything." She'd say looking shocked. "He's trying to find out about you, the Avengers, and other potential threats. I've been trying to stop him, but he keeps multiplying everytime that I-" Skye would start to say before the wall of their apartment would explode.

Standing there, would be two Iron Legion suits from the Tower. Clark would run at normal speed towards them before getting blasted by their repulsors. The extra strain knocked him through the back wall and into the elevator shaft across the hall. Clark would groan as he fell down all 14 floors. Landing at the bottom of the shaft as he would try to push himself up.

"Daisy Johnson. You're a potential problem that I cannot afford." Ultron's voice would boom as they grabbed her and began to turn to fly away.

"CLARK!" She would scream as they began to fly away with her. But it was already too late. As Clark flew back up to the apartment, she was gone. He scanned the skies but saw nothing. Ultron had taken her, had gotten away.

Chapter Text

By the time that Clark got back to the apartment, Skye and Ultron were gone. He tried following them, not even bothering to get dressed in his suit as he followed the trail as far as he could think. Her smell, the smell of the machine, he listened for her heartbeat. But nothing, they were out of his range, New York by nature was too loud, too smelly to have him focus it out.

So he did all that he could. He went back home, he got changed, and went to the one reliable place where he knew he could get help right now, Avengers tower.

Upon arriving, Clark would see that they too had left him. Having gone to deal with an arms dealer that might be able to help them track down Ultron off the coast of Africa.

Clark zoomed across the Atlantic towards them. Ultron hadn't killed Skye, if he did? He would have broadcasted it. If anything? It seemed like he needed the programmer. So? Clark sped across the ocean, hoping that a trail to Ultron would be a trail to his friend.

As Clark crossed the ocean, homing in on the Avengers signal however, he didn't like what he found. The city near where the arms dealer had been hiding? Had turned into a warzone. The Hulk had been unleashed, possibly even turned against them. With his telescopic vision, Clark could see Tony inside of a predictably bigger suit of armor trying to fight him as Banner ripped off an arm of the suit.

"Oh boy" Clark would say as he sped up. "This is gonna hurt." He said putting his head down as his fists went into the chest of the Hulk. The sudden impact jarred the Green Giant away from Stark and up and to the sky. But the Hulk recovered quickly, his massive hand slamming down onto the head of Clark and sending him tumbling down to earth.

Clark and Hulk landed through a building, Kent shaking out his head as the massive hand of the green beast had done a number on him. He could feel the massive fingers of Hulk wrapping around his chest and arms, lifting him up off the ground. "Sorry Chum.. can't let you smash me." Clark would say as he flexed his arms fighting against the power of the Hulk's grip.

The Jade giant looked shocked for a moment as his hand sprung away from Clark. It had been the first time that the Gamma Giant had ever been over powered. Clark, hovering there for a moment, was exhausted. "I don't wanna hurt you big guy! Just calm down!" He called at the Hulk, but the Green Avenger didn't respond to words. Only with a howl of pure rage.

The massive green hand of Hulk would swipe at Clark once more, being dodged by just a hair with how tired Clark was. He took a deep breath. "Okay" he would say, launching himself forward as Tony had just gotten to the edge of the hole.

"Holy shit... Friday? Can you track him?" He asked, bleeding slightly from the head from his own battle with the Hulk.

"Not exactly boss... he's moving too fast." Friday would respond as Tony's eyes certainly couldn't follow Clark's movement. Just a red and blue blur striking at the Hulk again and again. Like an angry tornado or the Tasmanian devil from the Looney Tunes.

In fact Tony would have no idea what was even happening if not for Bruce's body having jerked back fourth again and again. Between blinks, Tony would see impacts hitting the green skin. The heat was astounding as the thumping would get louder and louder before Hulk would go flying out of the building, his body slamming into a car on the outside.

Where he'd been standing moments before, Clark would now stop moving. Dropping down to his knees as he gasped for breath. "Wow... that was fast." Clark would say dripping sweat.

"Kal? Are you okay?" Tony would ask coming towards him. But Clark would raise his hand up.

"I'll be.. I'll be okay. I just need a minute." Clark would say pointing to Hulk. "Go get him, stop him before he gets up." He would say as Tony would turn and go back for Hulk.

Clark would see Tony's fist catch Hulk on the side of the head, seemingly knocking him out before a red energy would circle Clark's head. "Magic... shit" he would say, his eyes rolling back as Clark felt himself falling back.

As he did, Clark wouldn't hit the ground however. He'd feel himself falling backwards in what felt like forever. A red crystalline energy crackled around him as he fell, slowly sinking down more and more into the earth.

"Hello?" Clark would ask into the darkness as he could feel the speed getting greater and greater until his neck and shoulders hit a stone like ground. His body started to leave a trail behind him as he lay there for a moment, coughing.

"Hello Superman." Wanda would say standing on the outside of the impact crater made by Clark. Red jacket over her black dress. "You're interesting." She would smirk as a ball of red energy would cycle around her fingers. "I've been in the minds of all of your teammates, seen their darkest desires. Their horrible past, their guilt.. but you?" She would gesture looking around. "This? No anger, no hatred. No desire to use your powers for your own gain? Why not?" She would ask looking down at him.

Clark would gasp for breath as the energy ball would hit him in the chest. The magic pressing him down. "Because....that wouldn't be right." He'd said trying to force air into his lungs. "Not here.. to hurt people.. I'm here .. to help them." Clark would say with a gasp.

"WHY?" Wanda would shout. Her voice booming in the void. "I feel your pain. I feel your loss. These people, we're nothing to you. An echo of a planet that you used to live on. Why are you dying for them?" Wanda would ask, her tendrils digging into Clark's face as if to probe for the answer.

Laying there he would struggle against her power. Whether it be because of the mindscape that he was in, or due to her being magical. Clark couldn't resist. He would just lay there as this happened. Wanda would look confused at him for a long moment. Her powers reach into his heart.

Seconds later, the darkness around them would be illuminated by a bright and piercing light. Blinding her for a moment. "Because... they need help." Clark would groan as the white light would wash all over Wanda.

She would scream, losing her grip on him as she was afraid of whatever was happening until she felt something wrapping around her, shielding her from the blast. "Why would you do that?" She would ask looking up into his eyes. Wanda was in complete shock as bombs sounded as though they were falling around them.

Clark would look up, he didn't recognize them, but she seemed scared by them. So his eyes would grow red. Blasting upwards with heat vision, the missiles looked like fireworks from where they were standing. "Because you don't deserve to be hurt. No one does, no one should ever be scared and alone." He would say taking a step back from her.

"You really believe that don't you? You're not just some facade?" She asked in shock.

"Every letter of every word." He would say softly. His eyes scanned the world around them as they seemed to be in a ruined bedroom. "Are you okay? Can I help you?" He'd start to say before being blasted by a large bolt of magic.

The power would send him back and through the ruined building like a missile. Clark would feel himself falling down and through the air once again.

Then before he knew it. Clark was laying in a bed. The sun on his face as two kids were looking down at him. "Oh...Hi guys." He would say wincing as he looked between them.

"Hi Superman!" The little girl said with a smile as she looked at him. "I'm Lila, this is Cooper." She would say pointing to her brother.

Clark would sit up with a wince, the energy blast still aching where Wanda had hit him, but the sun shining down on him was making things better. "Well? It's very nice to meet you." He would say with a smile looking down on the bed which he'd been resting on. "Oh hey? Who's racecar bed? This is awesome!" He'd say as the kids would laugh.

A few minutes later, and a couple dozen airplane rides around their room. Clark would walk downstairs in the farm house. There was a woman there washing dishes. "Uh.. Hi" he would say as she half jumped. Immediately he winced. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He'd say quietly. "I just don't know where I am?" He said trying to be defensive.

Lara Barton would turn to face him. Hand on her chest she would smile though. "No need to be sorry. Cap said you might be up soon with the Sun hitting you like that." She would say as he nodded.

Clark would look down, his clothes were smaller than they should be. But this was very much a farm outfit that he would have worn around the Kent farm. Looking around this wasn't any kind of a base, it was a home. "So uh... where are we?" Ge would ask. "If you don't mind me asking?" He'd follow up.

"Oh? You're at our house, Clint's house." She would say putting the dishes into the sink. "I'm Lara, Clint's wife." She would say, her belly showing as she faced Clark fully. "You seemingly already have met the littles" she replied as she looked over her shoulder at the two small children looking in on him from the stairs.

Clark stood there for a moment in shock. Nodding a bit he would look around. "So Clint has a house? A farm? Wow? Never would have guessed." Clark would say as he was truly astonished. Part of him felt a little relieved? Suddenly living in an apartment with one of the world's most notorious hackers really didn't seem like the biggest shell to drop.

"Yeah, this was pretty much everyone but Nat's reaction. To be fair though she knew." Lara would say with a laugh. "They all went on a mission to Korea. You're gonna head over and join them?" She asked as Clark stretched in the sun.

"I guess I should." Clark would reply. "Ultron's gotten dangerous and we gotta stop him. If they've got a lead? It's best we all follow each other." Clark would nod. "I'm guessing they didn't mention Ultron having a hostage or anything?" Clark would ask.

"They did. Skye right?" Lara would ask. "Aparently he's using her to try and make himself a perfect body. If he gets it? Bad news bears." She would reply. "You know her?" Lara would ask.

"Yeah." Clark would say nodding. "She's ah... she's a friend of mine. He took from right out under me... I've gotta get her back." He'd say rubbing the back of his neck. "How long ago did they leave?" He asked

"They only left a few hours ago. But you've been here for two days now. None of them knew how to treat you, so they just let you rest upstairs in the kids room." Lara would say as her mouth twitched nervously to the side.

"Two days?" Clark would ask, his meeting with Wanda didn't feel like it lasted more than a few hours at most. Let alone a few days? That's crazy. "I should head off, they could need my help." Clark would say as his card would start to flash in the breast pocket of his borrowed flannel.

"Kal? It's Steve, get to the tower now! We've got to stop Tony." Cap would say over the com as Clark would rush upstairs and get changed. Jetting across the country to New York in the hopes of ending this.