Chapter 388 - 37-38

Chapter 37 – Avengers Assemble (8)

(New York City- New York –May 4th, 2012)

"Brother, are you certain this is a good idea?" Thor's voice sounded out as he started spinning Mjolnir summoning the power of a storm to devastate the section of the city before him.

The section he was looking at was adjacent to the waterfront and lay beside the massive black ship they needed to destroy, with the SHIELD Helicarrier visible in the distance behind it. The current power he was channelling, although he knew it couldn't penetrate the ship's shields, was still enough to level everything before him.

"There are no civilians left here, only Chitauri and Zod protecting the ship." Kal's voice sounded out calmly as he scanned the area again to make sure he was correct. "We need to flush him out so that Carol can get him away from the ground and I can…deal with him."

"Only if you are sure?" Thor asked a little uncertainly, finding it odd that for once he was the cautious one and that Kal was the one advocating for mass destruction as a plan.

"OH just do it, you big blonde baby." Carol stated as she stretched her legs and arms, her position on the ground just outside the area they were about to pulverize ready to leap up and bring Zod to Kal. "Let's light this candle."

"Hmph, Kal," Thor said as he let out a snort as he geared up to do his part a small smile started to grace his face. "I like this one."

The thunder god then unleashed the pent-up energy he had been saving up, instead of his usual move of holding aloft his hammer to the sky he instead brought it crashing down to earth. The moment the weapon made contact with the ground, Kal could feel the power and heat of Thor's attack. Like a thundering herd of Bilgesnipes, the lightning of Thor's attack charged forward reducing everything before it to ash.

A few blocks from downtown towards the centre of the island the massive explosion of light and electricity caused Steve's head to snap towards its source as he punched a Chitauri foot soldier that Nat then shot. He looked over towards his current partner as Clint fired shots from a rooftop and Tony flew overhead and couldn't help but admire the woman fighting next to him.

"We need to get this fight finished soon or else we wouldn't have a city left," Steve stated, as he slipped in next to Nat, punching a Chitauri next to her with his shield. A nod of his head indicated the direction of the massive amount of light still filling up the sky.

"Da, we are barely slowing these guys down, Cap." Nat panted as her natural accent sounded out too tired to maintain any type of façade as she also fired her last magazine at a squad of enemies. "None of this will mean a thing unless we can close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve huffed out as he glanced up at the portal which was still spewing forth thousands of Chitauri at every moment.

"Vell, maybe it's not about guns" Nat stated with the calmness of a Russian winter, glancing up at the portal with a pensive look on her face.

Steve glanced around them and saw hundreds more Chitauri moving back into the area he and Nat just cleared, their window of being able to anything slowly closing. He then looked at the spy quickly and saw that the woman clearly had an idea or at least a gut feeling that she could help out where the others couldn't.

"If you want to get up there, you're going to need a ride," Steve said as took in several deep breaths readying himself for the next round of fighting.

"I got a ride." Nat said her calmness remaining as she gestured with her head at a group of incoming chariot-riding Chitauri in the air. "Kould use boost zough, if you vouldn't mind."

Steve moved over and readied his shield to launch Nat into the air figuring out what her plan was. However, a look of uncertainty came over his face as she limbered up ready to launch in the air.

"You sure about this?" Steve asked as squared his feet ready to do his bit, thinking that the plan was slightly crazy.

"Da, it's going to be fun," Nat stated, as calm as if she was merely bearing for a ballet leap at the Bolshoi.

Before Steve could say anything else, he was forced to react as Nat ran at him at breakneck speed leaping gracefully in the air, a single foot touching his shield as he pushed her up. Graceful as a black swan soaring through the air, she launched herself upwards with a twist to land on one of the incoming chariots.

As she landed, she plunged a dagger into the head of the Chitauri firing off the back of the airborne vehicle. She then twisted around, and like her moniker she ruthlessly plunged two daggers into the back of the pilot, utilising his corpse to fly.

Steve had a chance to grin before he was forced to duck from the incoming fire from the hundreds of enemies swarming his position. He let out a deep sigh and rushed back into the fray hoping that the rush of adrenaline would be enough to carry his tired and bruised body a bit longer. As he did so he saw a black figure being launched into the air by a powerful beam of light.

Back near the waterfront, the battle was going almost according to plan.

Thor's devastating attack had managed to flush out Zod who had rushed forward through the barrage of lightning to try to prevent any threats to the world engine, just as they planned. However, what they had not counted on was Zod moving faster than he had before, rocketing forward to grab Thor and start pummelling him into the ground. It was almost as if the more Zod broke down the stronger he was becoming, like his body was burning through everything it had left to keep him fighting and alive for as long as possible.

However, Thor was not some hapless maiden nor a novice warrior but a battle-tested warrior prince of Asgard. He observed between the blurs of Zod's fist striking his face that the General's attack was sloppy and more like a brawler instead of a refined warrior. Seeing an opportunity, Thor managed to move his head out of the way of a single blow and as the general overextended, he brought up his other hand and slipped the loop on the end of Mjolnir's handle over the Kryptonian's neck.

As Zod brought himself back to unleash another barrage he found himself pulled forward slamming his face against the floor as Mjolnir refused to move. The act allowed Thor to dart out from underneath his attacker with a smile on his face as he lifted up his hand summoning his hammer back to him. Zod was flung like a rag doll through the air, slipping out of the loop as he sailed over his opponent's head.

"MARVEL, NOW!"

Thor's excited cry was immediately answered. Before Zod could react or correct himself a bright streak of light surged through the street cracking pavement and glass. Carol was holding nothing back as she slammed into the General, moving forward a few blocks before suddenly turning upwards. With Zod between her and the sky, Carol smirked as she unleashed the greatest blast she could and catapulted Zod into the sky.

Zod felt his chest singe and smelt his skin burn as he soared upward. At the peak of his flight, he felt himself become weightless for a moment, allowing him to regain his bearings and move to return himself to the safety of the city streets. He knew that Jor-El's son would never use his full strength when surrounded by the insects he seemed to care for.

It was at that moment that Kal appeared, hidden in the rays of the sun, swooping down on the other Kryptonian like a bird of prey. He grabbed the man's neck as he unleashed his heat vision into Zod's face, shooting upwards like a bullet. Zod responded by bringing his arms up in a surprising surge of strength whilst unleashing his own heat vision into Kal-El's face with a yell.

The two titans, locked into a death struggle both desiring the destruction of the other, trying to claim the title as the last son of Krypton. A title neither truly desired but felt in that moment needed to be claimed to preserve everything they loved.

To everyone else, the sky became filled with red as the two Kryptonians' heat vision blasted off each other, getting hotter and more powerful each second. Arcing rays of stray energy, pure bolts of power rained down over the city, annihilating everything they struck. Kal felt himself weaken first, and it was Zod's poisoned body that weakened him as they reached the upper edge of Earth's atmosphere while the air burned off around them. His faltering heat vision earned a smirk from Zod, whose own vision merely intensified, causing the skin around his eyes to char as he pushed everything he had into killing his enemy.

"Your father also equipped himself with great honour Kal. Know… that I take no pleasure in killing you." Zod spoke as he gritted his teeth, intensifying his vision to the point his own skin was flaking off his face in a desperate attempt to remove the last obstacle to his people's return. "Be proud that you die like a Kryptonian."

"I'm not just a son of Krypton," Kal said as he gritted his teeth as well. He let one of his hands go from Zod's neck and opening it up, he immediately felt a familiar pull. "I am also a son of Asgard!"

Kal's declaration was accompanied by Gram rocketing back into his hand from the earth's surface, the feeling of power returning to him immediately. He began shining brightly channelling the full power of Asgard through him. As they reached the void of space Kal was brighter than the sun and was easily able to overpower Zod, twisting the blade in his hands he plunged Gram into the General's chest. The action caused the two to begin streaking back down to earth like a pair of falling mythic figures, one the avenging saviour returning in triumph the other the fallen angel dammed and broken.

However, as they streaked back down to earth Kal saw not pain nor anger in the defeated man, but serenity. A smile of almost pure bliss was on Zod's face as he stared up at Kal, as the air began burning around the two as they started heading towards the black ship in the harbour. Zod brought his hand up to hold Kal's face, gently touching his cheek. The action was almost loving as if Zod was Kal's father staring into the eyes of his son, not a man being hurtled towards his destruction.

"Krypton…... endures." Zod was smiling and tears graced his face as he looked at Kal, just as the two collided with the black ship's shields.

The combined force of both the Kryptonians and Gram was enough to shatter the shield and send the pair hurtling through the ship. It broke apart like it was a sandcastle hit by a meteor, the shock wave of the explosion causing the nearby Helicarrier to jostle violently and lose more than a few plates of its armour.

"KAL!" Carol's voice sounded out as she raced towards the collapsing wreckage of the ship. However, her rescue attempt had to wait as she had to deal with the small tidal the ship's destruction caused.

The ship's detonation had caused a mini tidal wave to surge forward and threaten to envelop what remained of the lower part of the island of Manhattan as well as the rest of the New York Bay area. She raced downwards towards the water and unleashed a series of blasts that were perfectly aimed to break up the incoming tide. Carol was also aided by Thor who had recovered from Zod's attack unleashing his own attack on the water to prevent the sinking of the city he was trying to protect.

As Carol went up again trying to find any sign of Kal, she felt her heart miss a beat as she saw him wade onto the shore. The last vestiges of the power he had channelled were leaving him and as the shining light died down, his tattered armour and bruised skin were revealed to all. As she swooped down to check on him, she was waved off as he stood tall and proud giving her a confident look and gesturing back towards the battle.

Carol lingered for a moment before giving him a slightly hesitant nod before turning around and heading back into the city followed by Thor, both determined to find Loki and end this. As his brother and his love left Kal felt the strength momentarily leave his body, causing him to collapse onto one knee as he took a moment to regain his strength. His brief rest did not last long as he heard a figure wading in the water behind him, causing him to raise and turn.

Kal let out an exasperated sigh, as standing before him somehow still alive was Zod.

The general now truly looked like a corpse, his armour was a twisted black charred smudge melted to his flesh, and the gaps within it were not showing skin but bone or in some cases nothing as large holes existed in his flesh. Kal looked at the single clean cut that ran through the man's chest and saw that Zod had pulled Gram from it, his sword in the man's right hand which was now smouldering. Kal could see behind him the remains of the black ship's genesis chamber sinking into the sea taking with it the last Kryptonian Embryos and incubators that were not within his fortress.

Kal clenched his hands into fists once more ready to do battle again but found that it was not needed as Zod surprisingly dropped Gram. The general swayed before Kal and took several unsteady steps before he collapsed, forward. Kal on instinct moved forward and caught the man, Zod's wait forcing Kal to knees as he cradled the warrior of Krypton in his arms.

"The… codex…is…in…you." Zod's voice was fading fast, but the expression of peace lingered, as he lifted a hand and showed Kal some of his own blood. "Krypton… will… …endure."

Kal was silent as he looked down at the man that he had just killed, a feeling of pity within for the general who was so desperate to save his people. The world itself was silent to them expect for a single jet craft that streaked across the sky above their head that unleashed a single missile that was arcing across the sky. Kal took little notice as he released a deep breath as he closed his eyes before he spoke again to the General, feeling he had to tell Zod the truth, that Kal after seeing what another Kryptonian could do, he did not think it was safe for the universe to restore his people.

"Krypton is gone General, I can't res-" Kal's voice was barely above a whisper, but he was cut off as Zod surged grabbing what remained of the neck of his armour, the last sparks of his life in his eyes.

"NO…...please…. don't…...doom…. our…people…because of…...me. HUH-ARGH!" Zod stopped talking as he coughed up the last remains of the blood in his body, his skin going even paler. He looked up with Kal with pleading eyes that connected with Kal on a level no other being before ever had, it was the unspoken pleading of the last of a race to his sole remaining kin. "We…were…. a…. great…. people… we…accomplished …wonders…. You…...are …. strong…. enough … to….to…lead…" 

Kal watched as Zod began to trail off the light in his eyes died away, the grip on his armour once like a vice slackened as the hand fell. For a moment Kal thought that Zod had passed beyond the veil but suddenly the general moved his head one last time and looked into Kal's eyes. As he spoke his voice was no longer broken nor dying it was strong again like it had once been and so filled with hope.

"Jor-El, my brother." Zod gave Kal a smile that was full and happy, as he saw not the son but the father for one last time. "I have missed you, are we going home brother? Are we going to Krypton?"

Kal opened his mouth to correct the general to shatter the illusion that the dying man who had terrorized the world he had sworn to protect and murdered his friends but found that he could not. In his arms was not a would-be tyrant nor even a great warrior, but merely a dutiful son wanting to see home one last time.

"We are going home …...brother." Kal's words caused Zod to give one final smile as he closed his eyes and let the last of his strength leave him.

As if Zod's death was a signal, Kal suddenly heard an explosion from behind him, which was accompanied by every single Chitauri vessel in the sky falling to the earth. He turned just in time to see a ball of fire emanating from the portal above his head as it began to. Just as it was beginning to close, he saw the tattered and almost destroyed figure of Iron Man falling from the portal.

(SHIELD Helicarrier – New York Bay – May 4th, 2012)

Fury was finding that every positive action today was immediately followed by several tons of crap, burning flaming crap. Case and point, the giant alien death machine that had been threatening to destroy all life had just exploded, excellent positive progress, which was immediately followed by the council launching a nuclear strike on Manhattan.

"Sir, we have a bird in motion!" Hill's voice called over the clamour of the command deck as the ship was still trying to stabilise following the world engine's destruction. She then scrambled over to her console pressing every button she could to try and stop the launch. "Anyone on deck, we have a rogue bird. We need to shoot it down. Repeat: takeoff is not authorised!"

Fury's eye swivelled to the screen next to him showing a single jet on the carrier deck ready to launch, a tactical nuclear payload fixed to it. Fury then turned to the other man of authority in the room who was still elbows-deep in wires and technology trying to keep the Helicarrier working.

"Luthor, can you get our systems to shut down that bird?!" Fury asked, shouting over Hill, hoping that Lex could reprogram the Helicarrier's defence systems he had restored to target friendly crafts.

"I am trying!" Lex shouted frustration in his voice as he suddenly slid to the floor, getting underneath a console and pulling out wires and processors in an effort to help. "But I am currently keeping the engines on, and the reactor core from overheating."

Fury bit back the curse that had almost escaped his lips as despite the terrible news he knew Lex was not at fault and although he was loath to admit it the narcissist-bordering-on-sociopath of a billionaire had proved invaluable during the crisis. However, Fury wasted no time as he pushed off the console he was at and started running for the flight deck. Although he was now one-handed, Fury only needed his one good hand and one good eye to get the job done.

As he reached the deck, he pulled out his side arm and watched the rogue jet start its run, however, the bird never reached its target as the pilot's head suddenly exploded in a red mess. Fury lowered his sidearm, releasing a slow controlled breath, a grimace on his face that he had to use his marksmanship skills to kill one of his own men. However, his grimace turned into a snarl as he saw a second jet launch off of the underdeck. Fury's hand came up too late to get a shot off.

"Damn" he cursed as he watched the jet soar off at speed obviously under orders to launch its deadly payload as soon as possible. He brought up his hand to his comm device and tried every channel that was active in quick succession until he got the response team. "Stark, do you hear me? You have a missile heading for the city."

"How Long?" Stark's voice called over the radio as what sounded like scraping metal and fighting was blaring in the background.

"Three minutes, max." Fury said as he got back inside the Helicarrier and pulled up the specs for what had just been launched, a deep feeling of dread as he saw which warhead the council had ordered used. "Stark, it's a Phase 2-modified tactical nuke. It'll wipe Manhattan and most of New York state off the map."

"Got it." Stark said as he blasted the enemies away from him he was fighting. "Jarvis, give me everything into the thrusters NOW!" 

(Central Manhattan – New York – May 4th 2012)

"Team ve have problem" Nat's Russian accent sounded over the communication devices as Tony was soaring towards the missile that had just been launched.

"We know!" Tony barked out as he felt his suit starting to strain from the speed he was putting the damaged suit through. "I'm trying to deal with the missile right now."

"Niet, not the missile," Nat responded to Tony's urgent voice was ice cold calmness. "I'm vith Doctor Selvig, he has told me ve need the sceptre to shut down the portal."

"Anyone got eyes on it?" Steve sounded out as his shield smashed the head of a Chitauri footsoldier clean off.

"It's still vith Loki." Nat sounded out as she gazed at the portal that was still blasting away before her bringing even more monsters into her world.

"I've got him." Carol's voice sounded out as she soared through the air like an avenging comet. "One sceptre coming up."

Carol had spotted Loki's chariot streaking through the air below her. His tactic of avoidance to frustrate and keep the Avengers off balance had seemed to have been abandoned at seeing Zod's ship explode in the harbour. He was now seemingly trying to just hide; his flight pattern was erratic, and he was keeping low while trying to weave between the rubble of the buildings.

However, Carol had run out of patience and simply gained altitude before she dived bombed Loki and the squadron protecting him. A series of arrows shooting out from a nearby rooftop provided the cover she needed to go unnoticed as Loki's eyes were drawn to Clint who had taken out all of his guarding chariots. Loki raised his sceptre with a snarl on his face as he prepared to destroy his former thrall, it was the last thing Loki did with his arm for a while.

Carol unceremoniously crashed into Loki, she brought her first fist down onto the centre of Loki's elbows her speed and strength resulting in a cracking noise as his arm shattered and bent the wrong way. Loki's shriek of pain was short-lived as Carol twisted in the air and lifted Loki up by his throat, her face one of fury and rage. Despite her temptation to put her fist through his skull right then and there, she resisted it knowing that there were a few other people that had a claim to his head.

"You're coming with me," Carol said as she leaned down and picked up the sceptre Loki had dropped, still holding the injured god by the neck. "Your brothers would like a word."

Carol then rocketed towards the top of Stark's tower, clutching the sceptre carefully in one hand and dragging Loki through the air without much care in the other. The Asgardian prince flopped around like a rag doll and was tossed like one into the corner of the tower's roof when Carol arrived. The Marvellous maiden of might, gave him one snarl before she threw the sceptre into Nat's waiting hand, earning a nod from the Black Widow.

"Spasiba" The icy Russian warrioress thanked her comrade in her native tongue as she turned back to the portal generator, turning to Selvig for direction.

"Right at the crown!" Selvig shouted as he pointed at the spot Nat needed to disturb before he clutched his head still feeling a ringing and tugging inside his skull.

As Nat pushed the sceptre through the barrier around the Tesseract she had to duck as sparks of pure energy jolted off of it. She grimaced as she felt the instrument in her hand both try to pull her forward and push her back, as the energy danced along it in beautiful arcs of swirling power.

"I kan close it. Kan anyone kopy? I kan shut down the portal." Nat called out as her usual calm Russian accent was now punctuated but grunts and tension as she felt to hold onto the sceptre.

"DO IT!" Steve's voice called out more than ready for this to be over.

"No, wait!" Tony's voice sounded out interrupting Steve and cutting off anyone else that wanted to speak.

"Stark, these things are still pouring in. We need to end this now!" Steve grunted out his point reinforced as he ducked under an energy bolt and smashed his shield into the side of yet another Chitauri only for three more to take its place.

"I've got a Phase 2 nuke coming in. It's going to blow in less than a minute…" Tony stated as he approached the missile grabbing it and starting to redirect it to where he wanted. "...and I know just the place to put it."

"Stark, that's likely a one-way trip," Steve whispered over the radio as he cast a glance upwards toward the incoming metallic objects. The radio fell silent as Stark failed to come up with a witty response, instead, he just took a deep breath.

"I know." Tony briefly closed his eyes as an image of Pepper flashed through his mind. "Save anything we have for the return journey, J"

"Sir, shall I try Miss Potts?" Jarvis spoke with almost human-like softness as he brought up the contact details for Pepper Potts.

"Might as well." Tony breathed out as he started his final approach to the wormhole, his mind racing with what he should say, the only things leaping to mind were awful and tacky.

However, Tony's momentary consideration of a final farewell ended abruptly as he felt a strange sensation as he passed through the portal. The world briefly became one of bluish hues mixed with colours that Tony had never seen before, which was then quickly replaced with a void filled with nightmares. The expanse before him was filled with legions upon legions of hellish unearthly creatures swirling around a single massive hive-like ship, all of them ready to pour forth upon his world.

"Sir power, level is criccccta-" Jarvis' voice was sluggish and slow as the last vestiges of power began to leave the suit.

Tony released the warhead as he felt the last of his strength leave his body while the suit's power core began to fail. He felt weightless for a moment as the void took him, watching with wide-eyed fear and awe as the missile soared across the vacuum. As if confident in their invincibility not a single one of the nightmarish monsters attempted to stop the sole metallic object as it flew closer to the hive.

It was only when the missile struck did they realise their mistake and Tony understood what he had just saved New York from. There was a moment of nothingness before the void itself shook around him as the cosmic warhead detonated, unleashing a wave of roiling flame in every direction. However, the blast, although it promised death, was also Tony's salvation as the shockwave pushed him back through the breach in space.

As Tony fell Natasha wasted no time striking forth with the sceptre Carol had retrieved. The moment it touched the cool metal underneath the portal above them began to fracture and collapse. Tony passed through the portal at the last second with it fully collapsing as he fell to the earth like a ragdoll dropped from a plane. Carol was about to move to intercept the falling Avenger when a blurred streak passed her.

Kal had gently placed Zod on the floor and made a mental note to come back for the corpse of the last warrior of Krypton. He then launched himself into the air towards Tony soaring past Carol and streaked up to gently catch his comrade. Kal was careful to cradle Tony making sure that his hasty recuse was not going to cause the man of iron any harm.

As Kal landed next to Captain America, he felt the earth next to him shift and looked up to see Thor and the Hulk had arrived. He however quickly returned his focus to Tony who was still not moving and whose suit was worryingly without its usual glow in the centre of its chest.

"Is he breathing?" Steve asked as he moved forward looking at Kal for answers.

Kal lifted his hand to Tony's face and ripped the mask off of the suit to see the currently unconscious billionaire an almost peaceful look on his face. However, Tony was still not moving and there seemed to be no visible sign of life.

"Is he de-" Steve's voice was hesitant fearing that their victor had cost the life of another comrade. However, was cut off by a single sound that cracked through the air and ricocheted off the nearby buildings.

SLAP!

Kal's hand had streaked in a blur and struck Tony across the face causing everyone's eyebrows to raise in shock including the Hulks. However, before anyone could question it Tony suddenly spurred to life, the reactor in his chest humming again although clearly depleted.

"Okay, I'm awake," Tony sputtered out, stirring as if he was 13 again and his mom was getting up from bed. However, Tony suddenly felt the pain of his body return releasing a massive groan as he lifted his head off the ground to look at his comrades. "What the hell? What just happened? Please, please…. tell me no one kissed me."

Steve gave Kal a quick glance his eyebrows still raised at Kal's slapping of Tony to wake the man up. "Just how long had you waited to do that?"

"About 10 seconds after I first met him." Kal gave the super soldier a small playful grin before he returned to looking at the multi-billionaire. "We won."

"All right, yay!" Tony said as he released another groan putting his head back on the ground as another wave of pain hit him. "Hurray. Good jobs, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day."

Steve just shook his head in disbelief as Kal offered Tony a hand and lifted the multi-billionaire off of the ground gently. As Tony stood up his playful victorious smile wavered slightly as looked around and saw the true amount of devastation that the battle had caused, whole city bollocks where just gone. The few that remained where not in anyway good, most had massive holes blown through them and the ones that didn't had the massive Leviathans creatures laying on top of them.

"Do you require any assistance?" Kal asked as he saw the look on Tony's face a mixture of horror and pain as he looked around at what remained of New York.

"Huh, oh I was just thinking you guys ever try shawarma?" Tony returned his usual jovial light-hearted attitude earning him a grin from Steve but Kal was less certain as he saw something lingering in Tony's eyes. "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is but I want to try it."

"We are not finished yet," Thor said as he looked up at the tower seeing the figure of Captain Marvel rapidly descending carrying two people and a glowing cube. Well, more carrying one and dragging the second like an uncared-for rag doll.

"Okay let's be super one more time" Tony said as he glanced up and saw what was coming, he released a heavy sigh before he again straightened himself up, a cocky grin then appearing on his face. "And then shawarma after."

Carol let go of Loki with little care causing the would-be world conqueror to crash to the floor unceremoniously as she gently lowered herself and Nat to the floor. She was currently holding the Tesseract in her left hand with Natasha pressed to her with her left arm, the Black Widow herself was carrying Loki's sceptre. As the two landed a thud drew everyone's attention as an arrow impacted next to the with a wire attached to it, which Clint promptly slip down.

"Oh no, don't worry about good old Hawkeye." Barton joked as he retrieved his last arrow stretching as he felt every bone in his body ache. "You all just fly down; I'll take the boring way."

"Vell you are old." Natasha quipped back, her cold Russian accent somehow increasing the humour of the joke, earning a smile from her partner.

"ENOUGH!" Loki roared as he got up from where Carol had dropped him clutching his still twisted and bent right arm. "I will not be ignored. You are all pathetic, beneath me not even worthy of my apathy! I AM A GOD; YOU ARE MEWLING PATHETIC CREATURES AND I WILL NOT B-"

Kal was about to move forward to have words or more accurately strike his brother tired of Loki's words and not in any mood to listen anymore. However, before he could react the Hulk had merely moved forward and grabbed Loki by one leg before swinging him around like he was a sack of overripe potatoes. Kal's along with everyone else's eyes went wide as they watched Loki strike one piece of the road next to Hulk and then raise, only to strike another.

The barrage in all was not a short affair, as Hulk had plenty of pent-up rage built from the battle and it seemed Loki had become the outlet. After what seemed like hours but in reality, was only a few minutes, the Hulk began to become less green and smaller until with one final superhuman swing he brought Loki down into a crater, transforming fully back into Doctor Banner. Bruce quickly moved to grip his trousers that were now over stretched as he was panting heavily, he then turned and walked back to the group.

"Puny God." Bruce grunted out as the last vestiges of the Hulk left him.

His statement caused chuckles to rise out of everyone except for the target of his outburst who merely let out a single mewling groan like a wounded pussycat.

(Temporary SHIELD Base – Central Park – 11th May 2012)

"So, what are you going to do now?" Carol asked no longer in her Starforce Uniform, but a T-shirt and jeans with her leather flight jacket covering her as well.

She let out a small snort as she saw a nearby screen showing a previous interview of Lex Luthor being interviewed about the events in New York with the title. Luthor instrumental in saving City with Avengers. Although the sound was off it was clear that Lex was acting humble adding to his apparent noble appearance as he stood in the rumble of the city helping with the clean-up.

"Well, I was thinking maybe taking you for a nice meal." Kal gave her a playful smile as he turned back to look at her, ceasing his observations of the clean-up efforts that the city was still undergoing. "Clint has invited me to something called a B-B-Q, and is serving flaming hot wings? I suspect it is a type of Phoenix dish."

"Oh god, never change Kal." Carol let out a chuckle before moving in and planting a small kiss on his cheek, finding his lack of understanding of Human cultures still adorable. However, her face then grew serious a strained look appearing as she released a sigh. "But you know what I meant. So, are you going back now?"

Kal was silent for a few moments, in truth he had been avoiding the topic relentlessly, which had been easy given the state of everything over the past week. Whilst most of the world sung their praises, a few had attacked the 'Avengers' as people where calling them for the damage they had caused. Kal had tried to silence that criticism by almost single handily clean up the remains of the World Engine in the bay, having either destroyed the remains or moved what was salvageable to the artic and the safety of his fortress.

However, even then it was still not enough despite everyone who was able pitching in the damage was just too extensive, some parts of the city where just gone and nothing could be saved. Even Kal suspected he had missed a few incubators from Zod's ship that the ocean had carried away but was currently unconcerned. Those incubators would be far too damaged for any human to use and even if they weren't he a human would need his blood to utilise them and figure out how to operate them. So even if he had missed a few he was certain that he had time to find them.

Zod's body had also taken up much of his time as well, he had promptly delivered the body to the fortress and left it in the care of Jor-El for a few days as he helped out the city. However, when he had returned Kal had discovered that disposing of the body was incredibly difficult as even dead and poisoned Kryptonian cells did not break down easily. In the end Kal had had to fly the body and gently push it into Earth's sun the only source of heat he had that was hot enough to do the job.

However, Kal knew he could not keep avoiding the question forever so finally released a tired sigh and looked up at Carol. For a moment he had no idea what he was going to say before he felt a wave of certainty wash over him as he looked into her eyes.

"No, I'm not going home at least not yet," Kal said as he decided on his course of action. "I am needed here, and I need to ensure nothing dangerous remains from Loki's attempted conquest. Besides, even with the Tesseracts restoring the Bifrost will take a little while, Midgard is still vulnerable to attack."

"But once the Bifrost has been restored?" Carol asked hesitatingly knowing Kal too well to think he had not thought that far ahead. Her question caused him to sigh only as she could make him part defeat and part resignation.

"Thor has told me that the Nine Realms are in chaos. The loss of the Bifrost left the realms open to war and invasion. Every petty grudge exploded into a conflict without our wisdom to soothe tensions and every opportunistic enemy we had pounced." Kal reported frustration evident in his voice, as he looked to the sky as if he could see their section of the cosmos on fire. "…. when the Bifrost is restored Asgard will march to restore the peace, and I must be part of that."

Carol was silent for a few moments as she looked at Kal before she pushed off of the surface, she hand been leaning against uncrossing her arms as she did.

"Okay." She said her voice certain causing Kal to look at her.

"Okay?" Kal asked hesitantly not sure what her word's meant.

"Okay, I'll help." Carol said giving him a smirk. "Things are quiet my side of the cosmos, so I can stick around and help sort out your mess."

Kal chuckled and opened his mouth to try and tell her that was not necessary but as he attempted to do so Carol just raised her eyebrows at him daring him to try to tell her what to do. He suddenly found himself silent and then chuckled before shrugging his shoulders in defeat earning him a smile from Carol.

"Good boy." She said as she moved over and patted his cheek with a playful smirk on her face. "So, they are letting Thor take the Tesseract and Loki. How did you swing that one?"

"I made a deal." Kal said a slight grimace on his face as he remembered the conversation he and Thor had had with Fury regarding their brother.

"Which was?" Carol asked curious.

"We get Loki and the Tesseract. In exchange SHIELD gets to keep any remaining weapons they have already created from it. They are also keeping the Sceptre whilst I give my aid in helping to restore the minds of those Loki enthralled, after which I will take it back to Asgard. There is something odd about it …. Also, me and Thor don't tear SHIELD apart if they refused." Kal said in a matter-of-fact tone, however the grimace on his face made her feel that it was certainly a compromise that both parties had bitterly reached.

"Do you think that is wise?" Carol didn't want to press the issue, but she had seen the Phase 2 weapons twice now and was not certain humanity was ready for that type of fire power.

"It is not ideal, but I have spoken with the one named Luthor who made the weapons, and he has stated that he was only able to get 3 missiles ready. And has sworn that he will not work on the project any further, so I don't believe it is a threat." Kal reported his voice more confident now and the grimace had partly gone from his face.

"Kal, I don't think you trust Luthor. Something about him makes my skin crawl and he did launch a missile at you. He could have killed you." Caro pressed the image of the bald-headed man made her feel off for some reason, although she couldn't put her finger on it.

"He was truthful when I spoke to him, and I believe he genuinely has no further interests in the Phase 2 weapons." Kal said as he took in Carol's words giving her an appreciative nod. "As for the missile whilst I am not happy, I do understand it was War and he thought it was his chance to defeat an enemy. Regardless, currently Lex Luthor is the least of my worries."

"So, what is worrying you currently?" Carol asked a concerned eyebrow-raising as she looked at Kal wonder what issue forefront in his mind was.

"As I said, taking you for a meal." Kal gave Carol a playful smile as he moved in towards her.

His almost cheesy line earned him a playful slap on the chest from Carol as she leaned in and kissed him. Her worries about the Sceptre, Loki, Lex and the rest of it floated out of her mind as she lived in the moment.

It was a little while later as the Avengers gathered one more time to see Thor off who was currently escorting a very battered and very restrained Loki, whose mouth had even been muzzled to prevent him from talking. Thor pushed Loki to the centre of a cleared area as he watched Selvig and surprisingly Lex Luthor, who had arrived to help, carefully placed the Tesseract within a device Kal had created to allow him to safely travel back home. Thor turned away from Loki for a moment and gave Kal a smile yet mournful smile.

"Are you sure that you cannot come brother?" Thor asked hopeful that Kal would change his mind about waiting to come home. "It will make my meeting with Mother so much easier."

"I have responsibilities here brother," Kal said placing a hand on his big brother's shoulder giving it a brotherly squeeze. "Once the fires of the Bifrost are reignited call me and I will come home brother."

Thor gave him a brotherly smile and then pulled Kal into a great big bear hug as if they were small children again. However, as he brought him in close Kal could tell that Thor was smirking and even gave a small whisper.

"I think you might have another reason for staying, my dear brother." Thor whispered and as they broke apart gave a nod of his head at Carol. "Just don't let her ware you out to much, we will have battles to fight."

Kal had to greatly resist rolling his eyes at Thor and just gave his older brother a playful slap on the shoulder as Thor moved over to Loki. He then took the device Kal had created and all but forced Loki to take the other end, he gave Kal one final nod before activating the device. A bluish light engulfed both Thor and Loki, which promptly flashed causing both Gods to disappear.

"Well, me and Nat have to dash." Barton was the first to speak as he and Nat headed for an unmarked car a smile on his face. "We will catch you later Kal, got a cold one with your name on it."

"I look for to it. I must be off as well, there is still wreckage of Zod's ship unaccounted for." Kal gave Clint a nod and then he and Carol took to the sky.

Bruce and Tony departed, in Tony's sports car having promised to give Bruce a lift to his private airstrip and a plane ride wherever he wanted to go. Selvig didn't stay long either as a pair of SHIELD medics moved in quickly to help the Doctor who was still not fully recovered from his enthrallment. Which left Lex by himself, who took little notice of any of the Avengers apart from Kal and Carol his eyes still watching the spot of the sky the pair had soared up to.

He then felt his phone vibrate and brought it up to his ear not even bothering to ask who it was as he knew exactly who was calling him.

"Mr Luthor, we managed to retrieve a dozen items from the bay before the alien swooped in." Mercy Graves' voice sounded from the other end as the whirl of moving trucks and equipment sounded out behind her. "It appears mostly destroyed or junk however we have recovered two-chamber-like devices that I think you are going to be interested in."

"…. Oh I think I am." Lex stated as he started to walk out of the area to the waiting limousine that he had arranged. As he got into his limousine, he opened up a case inside that displayed two vails filled with bright red blood, the first was labelled Kal and the second Marvel. As Lex looked at them a rare smile graced his face. "I think I very much am."

Chapter 38 – Children

(Barton Family Farm – June 6th 2012 – Kansas, USA – Earth)

"A little to the left, a little more, and…. perfect." Clint gestured for the group to move left as he watched them work together to move an entire front of a barn into position.

"Careful not to drop it," Laura called out as she brought out a tray of drinks for the men raising a new barn.

She also caught an adorable sight of her two children carrying a bucket of nails over to the men along with another bucket full of hammers. The sight was made even more adorable by the fact that behind the two struggling children was Kal, carrying two massive coils of rope, one on each arm. He was currently wearing civilian clothing and was disguised as Clint's brother Clark again, this time with a pair of glasses over his eyes.

"I honestly feel a little bit disappointed in the human race that a pair of specs on one of them and a bad story for the other and nobody recognizes two saviours of the planet." Carol's voice sounded out next to Laura as she moved over to speak to Clint's wife while taking a drink as well.

"Well, it's working for you too." Laura gave the glasses that Carol was wearing as her own disguise a small tap, earning a grimace from the cosmic superhero. "You'd be surprised what people are willing to believe. Nobody really jumps to thinking, 'Clint from down the road must be that guy shooting aliens on TV, and his brother is actually an alien god.' People's brains just don't work that way."

"Hmm, I guess so," Carol said giving a disbelieving snort at the gullibility of people and took a sip from her drink.

"Yeah, but even so, Fury wants to move us soon. A cover like ours isn't going to last with Clint's growing fame." Laura sighed, a feeling of sadness washing over her.

She knew that the cover was never going to last even with how gullible most people were. Sooner or later, someone was bound to connect her husband with the hero that save New York. She also knew the next place was going to have to be really out of the way, to keep her and the kids safe, and Clint likely wouldn't publicly be in their lives like he was in Smallville. No, the next place they lived would be a place her husband would have to visit in secret and she would have to play the widower to the locals.

"Shame, it seems like a nice place you have here."

They had only been in the town for a few days but the small town had grown on her quickly and she adored Clark's 'niece and nephew' who were over the moon he was back. It had been a month since the battle, both Kal and Carol were exhausted from helping with the cleaning up and with most of the city fixed, so they had decided on a small break. This was to her surprise, she had thought Kal was going to suggest someplace off planet like the rings of Zenn-lar or maybe even a resort on the world of Contraxia nearby, but instead, he had taken her to the smallest of small-town America.

And she was loving it.

There were no great plots, ancient feuds, strange alien devices or relying on a thousand different translation programs to prevent insulting someone. Just simple, honest humans whose idea of a great day was helping a neighbour raise a barn and then having a BBQ with cold beers to celebrate.

"Uncle Clark, let me carry one please!" Cooper who was struggling with the bucket of hammers was reaching up to help with the massive bundle of rope that was nearly twice his size.

Kal's response was to give the lad a wide grin and ruffle his hair, before he surprised the boy lifting him up suddenly to ride the coil on his other arm, earning a yell and whoop of approval.

"He is so good with kids." Kristin Kreuk sighed as she approached carrying a plate of food looking longingly at the god in disguise.

"And not to mention strong, hubba hubba." Nell sounded out next to them as she approached carrying a bowl of potato salad. Her eyes, like those of all of the other women fixated on Kal as he moved towards the men raising the bans. "I swear my Dean couldn't even lift the box that one of those came in, let alone two."

"Well, Clark's in the military, he works out a lot." Laura quickly explained realising that Kal was again approaching feats of strength difficult to explain to regular people.

"Oh believe me, he does work out." Carol let slip the comment, her brain not working as she eyed Kal who due to his super hearing heard the comment and turned his head to give her a flirting smile.

Carol felt like a schoolgirl again, which she hated, having a crush on a boy as blood rushed to her cheeks and gave him her own flirting smile back. However, before she could do anything else she realised their mistake as the two women next to her suddenly developed super senses of their own. Staring at the woman, the object of their own desires had just flirted with after having ignored them completely.

"Um, sorry, who are you?" Nell spoke out in an almost snarky tone, as her queen bee attitude came to the forefront. Eyeing the slender built blonde-haired woman with glasses, who to her looked like a librarian or a receptionist.

"Oh, I'm Carol." She answered looking at the women next to her and giving a friendly smile trying to defuse the tension and attitude Nell was trying to inject into their interaction.

"She's a friend of Clark's" Laura quickly added, giving Nell a look that was basically screaming 'play nice'.

"A friend?" The question came from Kristin who looked forlorn feeling another man escape her, knowing from experience that women were rarely just friends with men like Clark.

"Yes, well um sort of. We're sort of together. I think?" Carol said suddenly unsure of how to label the relationship as she and Kal had never actually talked about it in that way.

"You think?!" The question was jarring, a dual statement coming from both Laura and Nell. The former looking shocked at Carol's uncertainty and the other looking over-eager at the chance.

"Yeah… it's…. complicated." Was Carol's response not knowing how else to phrase it and not sure she wanted to try with the present company.

"So, what do you do?" Nell jumped in before Laura could ask her own more friendly question, the woman was seeking any information she could use to belittle the newcomer and increase her chances with Clark.

"I'm in the Air Force." Carol said quickly thinking that was the best answer she could give, and that 'oh I'm an intergalactic peacekeeping superhero' was possible too much to say to strangers.

"Oh, so are you a secretary or something like that?" Nell asked, her surprise that the woman was in the Military was overshadowed by the hope of cutting her target down a peg or two. She was eying the thick glasses that Carol was wearing as a disguise, incorrectly thinking that it denoted her as an office worker.

"No, Carol's a pilot." Laura casually said next to them not looking at either of them and keeping her eyes on the men that were hard at work tying the ropes to raise the front section of the barn. However, Carol could see the glint in Laura's eyes and knew the woman was taking a little too much pleasure in messing with nell. "Actually, aren't you also an astronaut too? I keep forgetting you've been to space."

"Yes, yes I have, a few times," Carol said suddenly becoming as nonchalant as Laura casually looking over to the men like the conversation of Nell was a side affair.

Nell's eye visibly twitched at the two women, both from their casual dismissal of her and the fact her plan to try and cut Carol down to size failed spectacularly. Kristin's eyes also reacted instead of twitching hers became wide with astonishment as she looked at the blonde-haired beauty and fully realised that despite's Carol's hesitation any attempt with Kal was doomed to fail. Nell however was not ready to admit defeat and her brain was already trying to come up with a different way to jab at the blonde beauty next to her.

"Auntie Carol!" Lila, Clint and Laura's daughter, suddenly called out, preventing Nell from speaking. The little girl dropped off her bucket to the men and was bounding up to the women, specifically Carol with great enthusiasm.

"Hey, sport!" Carol greeted the little girl by leaning down and picking her up into the air not minding being called Aunt again.

"Can you come and play with me? Please, Cooper is helping Uncle Clark, but you are way more fun. Please?" The little girl begged with wide pleading eyes, causing Carol to just chuckle as she picked her up. Carol gave Laura a quick look, earning a smile and nod of approval.

"Of course, so what do you want to do?" Carol asked as she carried off Lila with a huge grin on her face as she left the women behind.

Nell's face became almost a snarl as she saw Kal look up from where the men were tying the ropes to the barn front to give Carol a very large smile. Kristin just gave a resigned sigh as she looked at the man who was clearly beyond her reach and was already picturing a good book and a glass of wine for the night. Laura however just shook her head out of pity for one of her friends whilst she suppressed a smug smile at the other's expense.

"I think, Nell, you've lost this one." Laura couldn't help but say the comment giving Nell a small nudge as she saw Kal steal glances at Carol whilst he helped Cooper hammer in a few nails.

"We'll see." Nell declared in a harsh whisper sounding like a spoiled child as she went, she then promptly stormed off carrying her bowl of potato salad over to the area where food was being laid out.

"Anyone would think she wasn't married." Laura quipped to Kristin as they both watched Nell storm off like she had been cheated out of a contest that she believed she could win.

"Yeah, or that she's the Black Widow or Captain Marvel." Kristin's joke almost caused Laura to drop the tray of drinks she was still holding, not liking how close to the mark she had been.

"Yeah, right," Laura responded quickly, her old SHIELD training kicking in making her response sound natural even as she cast a glance over to her husband. Her worry increasing every minute that someone was going to be more observant and connect the dots between the mysterious archer Hawkeye and her husband.

Kristin gave a chuckle at her joke and the two of them started to move over to where the BBQ was beginning to take full shape. The grill was being occupied by a neighbour called Jack Rampling, who had been placed on cook duty due to a bad back, meanwhile her husband helped pull up the last side of the barn. She then turned to watch with slight amusement as Kal and Clint tried to pretend that their task was harder than it was for either of them.

Clint had planted his feet and Laura could see he was holding back so his neighbours didn't know just how truly strong he was. Kal, meanwhile, looked like an oversized behemoth trying to pull a piece of string and pretend that it was hard, giving Laura a quick wink as he saw her amused smile. Her smile grew wider as she saw Cooper was standing in front of Kal, his hands on the rope trying to offer his help as well.

Although the boy was still too young to offer any real help, his effort to help the men created a small pang of longing in her heart as she realised that it wouldn't be long before he joined them. Suddenly the years flew by in her mind and Cooper was now full height, the spitting image of his father pulling the rope, whilst Lila wasn't a little girl in Carol's arms but a fully grown woman. Her musing was broken as she heard cheering and clapping, turning back to reality she suddenly saw that the barn raising was finished.

She started to clap along with everyone else shooting a proud smile to Cooper who was too busy high fiving Kal to notice her. She suddenly found that Jack had walked away from the grill to stand next to her, a thoughtful look on his face. He suddenly leaned his head over to her and whispered quietly.

"Hey Laura, is it just me or does your brother-in-law and your husband look like the spitting images of two of those guys who saved New York? The archer and that guy in the cape?" His question caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand up as she tried to figure out a response. "And now that I think of it, that Carol girl looks an awful lot like- Oh shit!"

Jack's perceptive observations were suddenly cut short as he saw smoke billowing from the grill and rushed back with burning food taking priority. She breathed a sigh of relief whilst also dreading that if Jack Rampling of all people was making connections, then they really had to start thinking about relocation.

(Illegal Genetic Studies black site – June 6th 2012 - 2.3 km Beneath Los Angeles)

Mercy Graves let out another deep sigh as the fluorescent lights above her head flickered again. Whilst she understood the need for a secret base and had been impressed that her employer's 'partners' possessed such a facility, she could not wait for the renovations to be complete. The underground complex had been built by Hydra in the 50s as a place they could retreat to in case the idiot leaders they didn't control did accidentally start a nuclear war.

'More likely they made this place in case they decided they wanted to unleash nuclear Armageddon and be the only survivors.' Mercy thought to herself as the lights in her 'office' winked out again causing her to curse and finally give up on the room.

She grabbed the thick coat that she had been wearing whenever not in her 'office' as the rest of the complex was still ice cold. As she walked through the cramped corridors, she saw a mix of Luthor Corp and Hydra personnel busily working to get the place into shape. However, as Mercy walked she had the troubling realisation that she was having difficulty in differentiating between the Hydra personnel and her own people.

She trusted her boss when he said that they needed Hydra, but was starting to worry that perhaps this partnership was getting too close for comfort. She knew Lex shared certain goals with the organisation and the two benefited from each other, but she also knew he also wanted to keep his distance and that the two ultimately had very different goals. Hydra wanted world domination, a dark utopian dream of mankind where everything was controlled by them, whilst Lex wanted…well she actually didn't know what Lex wanted, she doubted anyone did apart from the man himself.

"Ah, Miss Graves, how are you finding the facility?" The question came from Doctor Kenneth Turgeon, a SHIELD scientist loyal to Hydra who was apparently a leading expert in genetics that had studied under the infamous Hydra scientist Werner Reinhardt.

Mercy cast her gaze over the heart of the facility which was the only place in the entire circa-1950s complex to look fully renovated. In the centre of the sprawling rusted iron and steel corridors sat a perfectly white sterile lab area, practically futuristic when compared to the neglected nuclear bunker it sat in. Her eyes mainly focused on the two alien devices that sat proudly in the middle of the lab, the strange orange liquid-filled incubators sat faintly humming as scientists worked around them.

"I will be happy when the heating is fixed and the rest of the facility is operational." Mercy stated in her businesslike manner giving the Hydra scientist a look that told him he was not to be so cavalier when speaking to her. "How is the Project fairing so far?"

"Um, yes Ma'am. I'll get the crews working double shifts." Doctor Turgeon suddenly straightened himself up, dropping the friendly smile and casual manner he had been speaking to her with. "Project Cadmus is now fully up and running. We are still struggling to utilise or even understand how the… 'incubators' work but we have inserted the two genetic samples we were given."

"And?" The voice of Lex Luthor caused the two to turn around as he exited the nearby access elevator, sauntering in with his usual calm controlled manner.

His entrance was made more impressive by the fact that whilst everyone else was wearing thick warm clothing due to the freezing underground conditions, Lex was wearing his usual white three-piece suit. It was almost as if the billionaire's frigid and emotionless manner somehow made him immune from the cold, like he truly was a machine.

"Mr. Luthor, we were not expecting you to be here so soon. The Project has only just gotten under way." Doctor Turgeon scrambled over his words clearly believing this was an inspection of his work that he was not ready for.

"Doctor Turgeon, continue with your report." Mercy stated bluntly next to him knowing that her boss couldn't have been less interested in the man's attempts to defend his work and just wanted facts.

"Um yes of, of, of course." Doctor Turgeon stuttered out. "Well, the first sample, the 'mixed' one that you provided, well it seems to have almost caused the first incubator to overload."

The Doctor indicated the alien device that was to the right of the room. Lex could see that the transparent protective case was cracked slightly and the metal connectors for the power source had scorch marks on the floor. It was clear that Lex's combining of the two unique genetic sequences he had collected from the two most powerful beings he had met had strained the alien device.

"HOWEVER, the device is absolutely fine, it kicked out a weird projection of alien writing briefly. We think it was some kind of warning, but it stopped almost straight away." Doctor Turgeon reported, waiting for a question but seeing that Lex was still looking at the first incubator he decided to carry on. "Although the device isn't really responding to commands… actually it's not responding at all after we inserted the genetic sample. It seems that it is a fully automated process where in the absence of direct commands it just performs its base function."

"Have you determined that the embryo is indeed maturing?" Lex asked, his eyes still on the incubator, his stoic features revealing nothing as his eyes never moved from their sole focus.

"Oh yes sir, although we can't access it, our scans have independently verified that 'conception' for want of a better word has indeed succeeded." The Doctor reported with a smile thinking that Lex's question was a sign of approval. "However, it's unknown how long the embryo will mature for, we only placed the sample in a week ago, and the female foetus appears to have been accelerated to about the 3-month stage. We don't know if it's because of the power we are using, our attempts to interface, or whether it's just the ordinary operating procedure"

"Female?" Lex finally turned his head to face Doctor Turgeon, his features still impassive as he gave the Doctor and cold calculating look. "You've determined that the first embryo is female?"

"Yes sir, a female humanoid at about 3 months, like I said the incubation chamber has sped up the maturation cycle, Dr Isley beli-" Turgeon began to explain before Lex abruptly turned away from him walking over to the railing that overlooked the lab area, obviously uninterested beyond the confirmation and turned his attention to the second incubator.

"What of the second one? Did it accept the sample?" Lex asked, looking at the other incubator whose amber contents made it impossible to see if there was anything happening inside.

"Oh yes, sir. That one was a much smoother process. It accepted the genetic sample without issue." Doctor Turgeon moved to stand next to Lex, constantly glancing between the billionaire and the lab area. "Well mostly without issue, our interface did start acting strange, and the device started to draw in more power than we intended."

"The interface became strange how?" Lex asked, pushing for details. Although he was still calm to the outside world, Mercy had known her employer long enough to know that he was starting to get irritated.

"Oh, um, well mostly it's useless as we can't really interact with the devices and it normally just shows what we think is the operating status, but the interface suddenly became blank and started to show thousands upon thousands of well, I'd call them glyphs," Turgeon explained pointing out a terminal between the two alien devices that currently just showed an image of each device with scrawling illegible alien text. "We were honestly stumped, we tried disconnecting the terminal but couldn't, we were about to disconnect the power when Dr Isley spotted a glyph we recognised and managed to select it."

"What was the glyph?" Lex asked quickly, his eyes finally showing a curious interest breaking the veil of stoicism he had been maintaining.

"It was that S-shaped shield, the one the alien Kal wears sir," Turgeon responded quickly, looking pleased with himself taking Lex's curious glance as a sign that he was proving himself useful. "Once Dr Isley selected it, the massive power draw spiked then trailed off, since then we have been observing the maturation of a male embryo with a similar development to the other one, also at about 3 months."

"Thank you Doctor Turgeon," Lex gave the doctor a respectful nod of the head which caused the man to swell with pride. "Please don't let me keep you from your duties, I need to discuss some matters with Miss Graves anyway."

"Oh of course Mr. Luthor, it's been a pleasure. I am so happy that you've been satisfied by my work so far." The Doctor spoke with near jubilation like he was a child winning a science fair for the first time "I promise you that neither you nor the Council will be disappointed with the results."

Lex merely gave the man another nod of the head and watched the Doctor quickly stride off confidently. As he left however Mercy heard the very distinctive disgusted sigh that her employer always gave after he had to deal with someone he thought was of lower intelligence. That, or merely irritating, the two were interchangeable for Lex. He watched the man leave and when he was sure he was out of earshot turned his head to face his right-hand woman.

"Have him reassigned immediately," Lex stated bluntly as he started to walk around the edge of the lab area carefully observing everything that was going on. "Dr. Pamela Isley is one of ours, correct? Have her placed in charge of the science department for the Project."

"I can do that sir, but Secretary Pierce isn't going to like us removing one of his men from a leadership role so abruptly, and Whitehall is sure to complain as well." Mercy replied knowing it was part of her job to worry about the delicate relationship they had with Hydra.

"Yes, but if we leave it in that buffoon's hands, we will never make any progress." Lex responded as if he could visibly see about the project unfolding before him. "Despite her obsession with plant life, Dr Isley is easily the best for the job and has the right instincts."

"Some say that she is rash, brazen and reckless sir." Mercy responded remembering the red-haired woman who although brilliant and seemed a little shy when she first met had turned into a constant source of complaints. Apparently, the shy Doctor had become antisocial, obsessed with her work and regularly failed to adhere to safety protocols.

"Maybe, but this project will require risk and a little brazenness. After all, we are experimenting with alien technology that we have no idea what it truly does. It could be creating life as we suspect, or it could also be creating deadly pathogens as a weapon, or merely growing a source of food." Lex explained his reasoning as he knew that the whole project was more of a gamble than actual hard science.

His initial plan had been to create clones, or at least some form of enhancing agent created from Kal's blood. However, that project despite his brilliance had stagnated due to the sheer complexity which was Kal's genetic structure. Though similar to human DNA to a degree that would have upended the scientific community, what he had uncovered was thousands of unique genetic codes imprinted inside the alien's cells, making any attempt of advanced manipulation doomed to fail without a deeper understanding of extra-terrestrial biology.

When he had taken Captain Marvel's blood in hopes her DNA would prove easier to use and even possibly aid him in cracking Kal's far more complex gene sequences. He had pleasantly discovered that SHIELD had records and a breakdown of Carol's unique physiology which had aided him in his quest to understand her. However, despite this knowledge, it proved almost useless in his quest for the prize he truly sought.

That was until his people aiding in cleaning up the mess from New York stumbled across the two intact Alien incubators from Zod's ship way out at sea. Despite stumbling around in the dark with them, their work had allowed Project Cadmus to take real shape and created an opportunity for Lex to show he was delivering his side of the bargain to Hydra. So, it was with a small hint of pride that he watched the incubators steadily hum away creating two mighty lifeforms, one a pure sample of the strange codes he had found in Kal and the other a mix of Kal's and Carol Danvers' spliced genomes to see what would happen.

With luck, the two lifeforms would survive gestation and could be eventually modified to obey commands. Once that occurred, Lex would possess what was fast becoming Earth's new measure of power: not money, weapons or land, but superpowered individuals. Whilst the stupid masses looked at the 'Avengers' with wonder, he knew that they had shifted the balance of power forever, it was now which nation had the most superpowered people in it that would determine the world's fate.

"It's odd isn't it sir?" Mercy's question suddenly sounded out and broke Lex from his power fantasy that was sounding in his head.

"What's odd?" Lex asked although he had been distracted by his own thoughts but was pretty certain he had not been so lost that he hadn't heard Mercy talk.

"Well, sir. That these devices would just start performing their basic functions once activated." Mercy stated a curious look on her face as she cast her own vision to the humming alien devices. "You'd think that these Kryptonians would have provided better security."

"Not really." Lex said dismissing Mercy's confusion with a casual wave of his hand as he started to walk down one of the corridors leading into the depths of the facility.

"Really sir, how so?" Mercy asked not minding Lex's dismissing of her confusion having grown used to it by now and understood that her boss's mind just operated on a whole other level to ordinary people.

"Hubris, my dear Miss Graves, hubris." Lex explained as he started to disappear down a dark walkway, his voice light and carefree. "They believed that no one but them would ever possess this part of their technology. It appears hubris is a universal trait."

As Lex disappeared, Mercy cast her gaze one last time at the two devices that were busily creating potentially two of the most powerful beings on the planet, a feeling of dread washing over her.

"It might just be Lex; it might just be."

(Barton Family Farm – June 7th, 2012 – Kansas, USA – Earth)

Kal moved quietly from the guest room doing his best to ensure that he didn't disturb Carol who was still sleeping on the bed. A smile graced his face as watched her curl up now that the heat from his body was gone. He quietly closed the door and lifted himself off of the ground, hovering a few inches so that he wouldn't wake the other occupants of the house.

As he floated downstairs, he took the time to admire the photos that the Barton family had plastered on every wall. The ones on the staircase seemed to have been carefully selected as they seem to tell the family story through snapshots of their lives. He paused hovering for a moment as he smiled at one of the photos near the top of the stairs that included him with the family at the so-called 'corn day' festival.

Looking at the photos Kal couldn't help but wonder if he would have similar mementoes one day when he started a family of his own. The happy thoughts lingered for a moment before reality crashed down on him, causing his face to fall while he continued back down the stairs. His mind raced around that possibility, a family of his own.

Once, when Kal had thought himself just a son of Odin and Prince of Asgard he had taken it for granted that he would have children one day, it's what members of the royal family did. However, that was before Lagertha, Aslaug, Harald, and the whole failure which that had been. Then there was the truth about who he really was and the added pressure he was now under having learned of the responsibility he had.

A family wouldn't just be a family for him, he thought, it would be the continuation of his people and the revival of the Kryptonian species in one form or another.

Right now, sitting in a chamber in his fortress was the means to create just such a family. A drop of his blood and selection of a family crest and he could create hundreds of 'children'. For that is what they would be: his children, fully pure Kryptonians created from him with only him to guide them, with him being their sole link to their destroyed world.

Or he could do it the more traditional way, spend a lifetime with the woman he loved that he had left in their bed and create a new life together. However, that child would still carry the codex within their blood, also able to create new Kryptonians if they chose too. Even if that potential child didn't create more of their kind, they would still be another Kryptonian, another member of the proud house of El and heir to the legacy of Krypton.

Kal released a deep breath as he stopped his hovering, having floated into the kitchen letting his feet touch the floor. His mind was still racing and was so occupied that he didn't notice Laura was awake and sitting in the family dining room adjacent to the kitchen. She too had been thinking of family, worrying about the future so much that when sleep had failed her, she had taken out an old photo album to flick through.

"Can't sleep?" Laura's voice called out softly causing Kal to turn to face her with a smile on her face as he saw he wasn't the only one having trouble slumbering. Her face then fell into a thoughtful expression as she looked at Kal. "Wait, do you sleep?"

"No, not anymore," Kal replied with a smile as he walked over to join her at the dining room table. "I did when I was little, but I no longer require sleep or even food. However, I sometimes on rare occasions do sleep as I find it a good way to relax."

"Wow, no trips to dreamland, must have spent a lot of nights keeping yourself entertained when everyone else is out. Unless, wait, do Asgardians need sleep or is that only a human thing?" Laura asked, realising she actually had no idea what she was talking about and might be sounding like an idiot to the alien prince.

"No, most species require rest and sleep, Asgardians included. However, we need to sleep less than humans. Most of us can go days without it." Kal responded as he sat down in the chair next to her, a smile gracing his face as a memory played in his head. "Thor actually went three months without rest once, we were out hunting wolves in the forest, and he vowed he wouldn't shut his eyes till we caught them."

"I'm guessing it took you three months to catch them." Laura guessed a smile on her face seeing Kal looking happy again.

"Oh, by the Allfathers, no." Kal chuckled with merriment in his eyes as he remembered the days of his carefree youth. "Turns out, there were no wolves, Loki was conjuring up illusions to keep Thor going. You should have seen Thor when Sif figured it out, he was ready to tear Loki in half, but when he went to do the deed he fell right over, passed out right there."

Laura let out a small laugh as an image of Thor appeared in her mind all fury and thunder promising destruction on his enemy. Only for him to let out a massive yawn and nod off like a toddler, cradling Mjolnir like it was a massive teddy bear. However, her joy subsided as she saw Kal's face turn sad thinking about his brothers.

"So, Clint told me that the Bifrost should be repaired soon, which means that you can go home. That must be exciting?" Laura tried to change the topic to a more positive note hoping to expel the solemn look on his face.

"Yes, home, very excited." Kal said giving her a strained that didn't reach his eyes telling her that despite his words that the prospect of returning home was not as enticing as it might have once been.

"So, it's only been a month, are you still helping clear out New York?" Laura asked, she was gently probing the superhero to determine why he was so hesitant to return home, wondering if he was still worried about humans and alien technology.

"Hmmm, no. Uh no." Kal said with his mind clearly somewhere else as he looked at the photos she had placed on the table of her family. "I, Carol and the others have greatly cleared the city of any technological remnants. Some of it is with SHIELD for study, most I have destroyed, including Zod's corpse, and a few pieces are in the Fortress for safety."

"Well, that is good, so there's little chance of someone doing something stupid." Laura joked with a smile but her small attempt at humour failed to get a raise out of Kal.

Her eyes turned to where he was looking and saw that he was staring intensely at the family photo album she had been flickering through. Realisation dawned on her as she suddenly knew what was occupying Kal's mind.

"So, your future with Carol is what is troubling you?" Laura stated her question as more of a certainty than a mere guess.

She knew she was right when Kal who had barely looked at her when he sat down suddenly snapped his head towards her. A look of alarm on his face like he was a schoolboy who had been caught cheating.

"I have no idea what you are on about." Kal tried to sound certain and confident but came off sounding even more like a schoolboy caught cheating than he had looked a moment before.

"Is she pregnant?" Laura asked suddenly, causing Kal to give a superpowered window-rattling cough from shock at the brazen question. Before he could answer Laura already responded, somehow knowing his response to her brazen question. "So, not pregnant but you are thinking about kids"

"How can you know that?" Kal asked quickly, glancing up at the stairs and seeing that Carol was still asleep, thank the Norns.

"I'm a mother, and Clint had the same look at times early in our relationship when we started getting serious. Although he was more of pacer than you are." Laura stated kindly as she gave Kal a friendly comforting smile. "So I can tell that something is bothering you, mind letting me know what it is, a friendly shoulder can always help."

"It's just the future, every time I think I have a new path figured out, that I am certain of my fate something comes along and uproots it." Kal released a sigh as leaned back on the dining room chair with a pensive look on his face. "First it was the truth of my parentage destroying what I thought I was to be, then it was destiny as a symbol of hope replacing that and now…...now my encounter with Zod….. my biological 'father', or what remains of him, has revealed that I have the power to resurrect my people…... to restore the Kryptonian race."

There was a long moment of silence as Laura looked at the powerful being, at the god that sat at her dining room table looking for answers inside his own head. A small smile graced her face as she remembered more than a few nights where Nat and Clint had done similar things; it appeared that heroes of all worlds spent too much time in their own heads.

"Well, that's good." Laura's simple response caused Kal to blink and look at her confused.

"Is it?" Kal asked having figured that Laura would have had a better response to his problem he had not expected an answer but maybe some more comforting words.

"Well, it is, it's good that you have a choice and that if you want to you don't have to be the last of your kind." Laura explained her simple statement by raising from her seat and moving into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

"I don't think you grasp the seriousness of my dilemma, I know you know nothing of Krypton, but I am talking about potentially restoring a race that almost obliterated all of reality." Kal's voice was forceful as he focused on the dangers of his people and what he had learnt, as he turned in his chair to follow Laura.

"Well, then again, it's also good that you have the power not to restore your people. If they're so dangerous, it seems like an easy choice." Laura gave an unconcerned shrug of her shoulders as she poured two cups of coffee giving Kal a smile.

"It's not that simple, I don't know if I have the right not to do it, to truly end a civilisation as old as this universe. All of Krypton would end with me and if I decide to have…. if I wanted children but believed restoring my people to be dangerous it means I couldn't take the risk that they might inherit the codex." Kal sighed as he brought his hand up to his face not sure what he was going to do as he released a deep forceful sigh. "Apologies, I know this is not a decision I should trouble you with, it's just my future seems so-"

"And there's your problem." Laura suddenly stated in a motherly tone as she set a cup of coffee down in front of him.

"Pardon? What do you mean 'there's my problem'?" Kal asked confused as he clearly thought Laura wasn't understanding the gravity of the decisions he was facing.

Laura released a deep sigh of her own as a kind expression only a mother could do appeared on her face. She took a deep sip of her own cup and then sat back down in front of him. Giving him a look every mom gave their own child once when they explained something simple yet difficult to understand.

"Okay, your problem Kal, is that it is always…... the future this, my path that, destiny calling me to this or something else like that. Kal, you are far older than me and have suffered betrayals and losses I can't imagine but you haven't learnt something that every parent learns and accepts across the universe." Laura spoke softly and kindly like she was explaining something to her son Cooper rather than the Norse god of the sun.

"Which is?" Kal asked, leaning forward slightly in his chair listening intently.

"That the future is unknowable, incomprehensible and that like it or not, it will come no matter how strong you are or what you do. You might have a destiny Kal, a grand purpose I don't know honestly. But what I can tell you is that you need to stop worrying about it." Laura gave him a smile only mothers can make and leaned forward placing a friendly hand on top of his, providing him extra solace. "It's going to come no matter what, and you have time to face it. So, stop worrying about everything all the time. Enjoy your life and when the time comes to make the big decisions then make them, I know you are strong enough to face whatever comes your way."

"You know Cooper and Lila are very lucky to have you for a mother." Kal gave a small chuckle as he nodded at Laura's words leaning back to sit upright in the chair and taking a sip of the coffee she had made. "And Clint should be honoured that you deem him worthy to stand by your side."

"In truth I'm the lucky one, I couldn't imagine my life any other way… and you know what I couldn't have imagined that my life would turn out this way at all when I was younger." Laura gave Kal a mischievous smile that earned her a chuckle from him.

"Okay, Okay. I understand, I'll try to get out of my own head." Kal stated, conceding to her, raising his cup of coffee almost like a handshake for a promise he intended to keep. Laura gave him a smile then clinked her glass to his sealing the bargain.

They then sat there for a little while longer, Laura flipping through the family album showing Kal the snapshots of her wonderful life. They mostly sat in silence apart from the odd question Kal asked about where one picture had been taken or what was happening in a few. It was just a little before dawn that Laura felt the need to ask another question that she needed to ask, or more accurately had been ordered to ask by Fury.

"So, when do you really think the Bifrost is going to be finished?" Laura asked, finally removing the cups of coffee from the table and walking into the kitchen.

Kal was quiet for a few moments as he looked at Laura and a small part of her knew that he knew what she was really asking and who was really asking. How long until you're off the planet? And how long are you going to be gone? He knew that it was SHIELD asking not Laura as he had avoided answering the question when Fury had asked him when they last spoke.

Laura felt tense for a moment feeling like she might have just crossed a line with Kal and ruined the friendship she had developed with him. However, the tension suddenly left the room when he exhaled and gave her a sad look. As if he knew she hated asking the question but was still loyal enough to SHIELD that she had to ask it, and that he couldn't fault her for.

"The truth is the Bifrost has been repaired for over a week now." Kal revealed looking directly into Laura's eyes conveying the trust he was showing her.

"Really?" Laura asked, amazed, it had only been a month since New York and that the Tesseract had left earth; she had thought that rebuilding a magic space bridge would take longer. Then again, what did Laura know about magic space bridges and glowing cosmic cubes.

"The Tesseract is a powerful tool when in the right hands, restoring the Bifrost and the paths between worlds would be a simple task for one such as Odin." Kal explained standing up from the table crossing his arms as he went over to the window. "It is why I have made sure that all the alien technology that is dangerous is in safe hands and that I have made arrangements with SHIELD."

"So, when do you leave?" Laura asked, partly for SHIELD but mostly so that she could prepare her children who had only recently gotten used to having their 'Uncle' back.

"Soon, and to answer your next question I have no idea how long I will be gone for." Kal revealed as he tried to be as honest as possibly could with her. "The Nine Realms are burning; war rages and it will take the full might of Asgard to re-establish order and I will be needed. It could be a few months or possibly a couple of years, I don't know."

"Will you take Carol with you?" Laura asked the other question that just entered her mind. She knew that if Clint was heading off to war and they didn't have the children she would follow him to keep him safe.

"That is her decision, Carol has other duties and world's she is sworn to defend. She has been away from them for some time now, she may feel she needs to return." Kal stated, honestly having no idea what Carol intended to do.

"Well, then that is for the future, whenever it arrives. For today however…." Laura said with a smile on her face as she gestured to a window where dawn was breaking showing they had spent the whole night talking. "…I believe we'll start with breakfast. I'm thinking pancakes and we'll go from there."