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."