7 Golden Apples

(One Week after Kara left)

Mark stood proudly over his new garden area he had created, he had built a fence to keep it contained and to stop any animals from stealing any food he grew, he had planted all the seeds he acquired from town and now he just had to cultivate and wait. He stood with a smile on his face until he was faced with a realisation.

"Shit... what do I do now?" He asked himself, he'd been pretty bored with Kara gone and so he'd distracted himself with gardening, he wasn't a patient person, most people who grew up in cities weren't, they were always on the move, always doing something. So this new slow life wasn't very suitable for him.

'I could start planning on how to free my Dad... yeah right I don't even know where he's being kept, and Kara already told me she had no clue who Omni-man was' He thought to himself with a sigh as he sat down in front of his plants.

'Maybe there's something I can do so they can grow faster' he thought as he looked at the plants with boredom. He remembered hearing a story once about golden apples that would make you immortal, though when planted all plant life around it would flourish.

'It's probably a myth but if Wonder Woman and the Amazons are real doesn't that make Greek Mythology real' he thought to himself as he lay down on the grass.

Mark can't help but start to laugh "I need to make some friends, I can't believe I considered just going to hunt for a mythical apple"

Mark got up and floated into the air 'I'll just go visit Kara' he thought to himself as he flew through the forest dodging through trees and flying towards the Kent farm. However, as he got to the edge he managed to see a rather muscular man in red and blue floating down onto the porch of the house.

Mark paused midair putting his hand to his mouth, he knew Superman had enhanced hearing, hopefully the sound of him flying could just be narrowed down to a bird or the wind, When he saw Superman not turning around he relaxed slightly 'I guess hunting for a golden apple it is' he thought to himself as he carefully flew back the way he came and into the sky.

———————————————————-

Clark had just landed on the front porch of his childhood home, he felt slightly guilty at how he treated Kara the last time he saw her, he didn't want to put her on the spot like that but Bruce was suspicious of her, he thinks she may have had contact with Mark and while Clark thinks that it is possible he would prefer to take her at her word.

As he lands he sees his Father, Jonathan Kent come out "Clark! I'm glad you're here" he said as he pulled his adoptive son into a hug.

"Me too Pa, though from the phone call, it sounded urgent, is something wrong?" Clark asked with genuine concern on his face.

"We aren't sure... It's Kara, she's been acting strange this past week, she won't come out of her room during the day, and at night she raids the fridge emptying it, I haven't even seen her cook anything, we had a whole raw chicken in the fridge yesterday and this morning Poof! It was gone bones and all" Jonathan explained

"Could she be sick?" Jonathan asked.

Clark shakes his head as they both walk inside "Nothing Earth-based, it would have to be specially engineered for us" he replied.

Clark then looks to Jonathan "Where is Ma?" He asked as he couldn't see her in the house at all.

"She offered to go on a food run while I watched Kara, She thought maybe some ice cream or something sweet might cheer the girl up," Jonathan said getting a nod from Clark.

"I'll go see if I can talk to her," He said as he walked up the stairs and to the end of the hallway where Kara's room was. He knocked on the door lightly but received no answer, he turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door.

*Crash*

He jumps in surprise as a glass cup is thrown at him, it smashes against the wall right next to the door "I know it's you Kal! Go away!" She shouted.

Clark opened the door fully and walked in, The lights were all off and Kara was in what looked to be a fortress of blankets and pillows "Kara? Is everything okay?" he said as he slowly approached.

"I'm fine! Why does everyone keep asking that? I'm just a little tired these days" Kara said as she held the blankets tighter to herself.

"They're just worried about you, You've been acting pretty strange this past week," Clark said as he got closer to the bed.

Kara removes the blanket from around her head and looks up at Clark with teary eyes "They said I'm s-strange... I'm not strange" Kara said as she started to sob. Clark finds himself speechless as he had no clue how he'd managed to make her cry like that.

"I-I didn't mean it, Kara, You're perfectly normal, but I think there might be something wrong with you...you could be sick," Clark said backtracking a bit in his words.

Kara continued to sob "I j-just need some ice cream a-and peppers," she said through tears as she wiped her eyes.

"How about I take you for some ice cream, I'm sure we can get... peppers as well," Clark said nervously as he unwrapped the blanket from around Kara, She was still in her pyjamas, and he hoped he could get her to put some real clothes on before they left, hopefully without making her cry again.

"I don't want to go out... I'm gross, I don't want anyone to see me" She replied as she put the covers back over herself.

"Come on, it'll be fine, I promise people won't stare," Clark said as he tried to reassure her.

"Then we can take a trip to the Bat cave and see-" One moment Clark was talking and the next he was flying away from the house, Kara had just punched him straight through the wall and launched him across the farm. He went through the barn and was stopped when he slammed into a tracker, he rubbed his jaw which ached 'She certainly didn't hold back with that punch' Clark thought to himself.

Kara flew out of her room her eyes burning red "You lied, it was all a trick to get me to the Batcave so Batman can do weird bat things to me!" She shouted as she clenched her fists.

"Kara calm down, We just want to take a look at you and make sure you're okay," Clark said but couldn't say anymore as he was once again punched by Kara and then hit with her heat vision.

"I am fine! Can't you see! There's nothing wrong with me!" She shouts as she unleashes a wide burst of heat vision on Clark.

Clark zooms towards Kara trying to get her in a hold and stop her but in a feat of speed he'd never seen before turns around kicking him to the ground, Clark groans in a mixture of pain and frustration "Kara what if something is wrong with you? Unless we find out we won't know, it could end up turning you into a hideous monster for all we know"

Kara pauses her blazing red eyes returning to normal, she then breaks down in tears even worse than before, Clark flies up towards her "Kara what's wrong?" He said not sure what set her off.

Kara looks at him with tears running down her face "You said I'm gonna turn ugly!" She said as she started inconsolably crying.

"No no no, I meant it could do if we don't treat you, Don't worry Bruce won't do anything bad to you," Clark said as he rubbed her back.

She looks up at him with her blue teary eyes "He won't turn me into a bat?"

"No I promise to tell him not to turn you into a bat," Clark said sincerely.

"Can we still get ice cream?" She said as she sniffled.

"Of course, with all the peppers you want," Clark said as he led her back to the Kent farmhouse.

———————————————————

(Morroco)

Mark sat in a coffee shop enjoying a drink, he felt a bit foolish looking for something so stupid but he had nothing better to do, he had no idea where to start looking for his Dad...well that wasn't quite true, but he didn't think he had the skill or expertise to break into the Hall of Justice at the moment. Though he didn't need it, he just needed to find someone who did, he just needed to start getting as strong as he could, he got lucky so far that they hadn't sent any of the big guns after him but that luck wouldn't last forever.

As he sipped his drink he sat back in his chair wondering where to start, he studied a bit of Greek mythology in school which is why he'd come to Morocco, if the garden were anywhere it would be here, where the Atlas Mountains start... or end. He supposed he could just fly up and search if he didn't have any luck with the locals. But that would take pretty long and he isn't sure that would work, if it was that simple loads of people would've found it by now 'Unless they were dead' he thought to himself. There is also the possibility that it isn't in Morocco at all but Arcadia, Mark didn't think about that.

Mark stood up from his table putting some cash down to pay for the coffee which he quickly downed to pump himself up "Alright let's go!" He said before speeding off into the crowds, he was headed to the oldest library in Fez which was in turn the oldest city in Morocco. He hoped he'd be able to find some answers there, or at least get a lead.

'It's weird how quickly I decided to come on this trip...' he thought to himself as he moved through the crowds.

'Maybe I have ADHD'

———————————————————-

(Gotham)

"Shit..." Debbie thought to herself as the bags of her groceries split open and fell all over the floor, right in front of her doorstep as well.

Deborah Grayson had not been having a good time as of late, ever since Mark had escaped Gotham and been on the run she'd been quite the mess, she got fired from her job and was currently looking for work, though she was having trouble in that regard 'Apparently your son going missing isn't an excuse not to work' she thought to herself sourly.

She took her keys out of her pocket and opened the front door to her empty apartment, or at least she thought it was empty, As she grabbed her groceries off the floor and placed them on the kitchen counter she heard rustling from Mark's room. She frowns before reaching into her purse and grasping the small handgun she kept on her, a habit from spending years in Gotham. She quietly and carefully approached the room with the gun pointed forward, She saw Mark's door which was usually shut was open so she slowly pushed the door the rest of the way.

However instead of being met with the sight of a thief or a murderer it was a 6ft4 orange woman with long red hair, she was currently bent over and rummaging through Mark's wardrobe "Don't move!" Debbie warned as she trained her gun on the orange woman. The girl stopped rummaging and went completely still, she was still bent over half engulfed in the wardrobe.

"What are you doing!" Debbie shouted at her as she kept her upper half in the wardrobe.

In a muffled voice, she heard "You said not to move"

'Is this girl an idiot' Debbie thought to herself before sighing, She didn't want to deal with this right now. She just wanted to sit on the sofa and finish a bottle of wine before falling asleep.

"You can get out of my son's wardrobe!" Debbie said with slight irritation in her voice.

The woman moved backwards and removed herself from the wardrobe standing at her full height, She turned around with a broad smile on her face "Thank you very much friend! It was getting to be rather hot in there" she said with a short bow.

"Who are you and what're you doing in my home? And why are you going through my son's clothes?" Debbie asked, not in the mood for pleasantries.

"My apologies I did not mean to frighten you, I am Starfire and I have been having difficulty tracking down your son so I-"

*BANG*

"Owwww!" Starfire cried as she rubbed her shoulder where the bullet had impacted. Seeing that the first shot had no effect Debbie went to shoot again but Starfire held her hands up in surrender.

"Please I mean no harm, I only wish to find this Mark Grayson" She explained.

"Yes, I know! And once you've found him you'll capture him and throw him into whatever hole you're keeping my husband" Debbie shouted

Starfire only looked at her with a horrified expression "Why would I ever do such a thing? Viltrumites are honoured in my home world, even when they disappeared we were still taught of their importance to our world"

Debbie narrowed her eyes at the woman, while her natural instinct was to doubt her words she seemed way too earnest to lie, and it was quite obvious that she wasn't human so she could be telling the truth. She decided to give the woman the benefit of the doubt, so she put her handgun down "Why do you want to find my son?" She asked in a much calmer voice.

Starfire smiled broadly "Oooh every Tamaranian girl dreams of being swept off her feet by a strong male from Viltrum, unfortunately by the time I was born they had already been gone for a while, so I am very excited to meet him," she said as her eyes start to glow slightly.

Debbie raised her eyebrow at the woman "I'm afraid you won't find anything here that will help you find him, even though I don't know where he is"

All the excitement seemed to leave Starfire as her shoulders seemed to slump, Debbie even felt slightly bad as Starfire looked like a kicked puppy more than anything else, She sighed and hoped she didn't regret what she was about to do "I've washed all of Marks clothes and bedding, but I haven't cleaned his room, you might be able to find something under there" she advised and then decided to go to the front room and start drinking.

Starfire lifted Mark's bed with one arm quickly looking around the cluttered mess underneath his bed, her eyes pulsed with green light as she saw tucked into a corner were a pair of underwear. She quickly snatched them up before lowering the bed back down, She held the underwear up seeing a dried damp patch in front. She held them to her face and inhaled, her entire body shuddered as she was assaulted by the powerful pungent smell that seemed to capture all her senses. She couldn't help but open her mouth and let her tongue slide out and taste, it felt like her tongue had been electrified as it sent shivers throughout her body ending in her pussy which had started to throb.

She had to force herself to stop inhaling the scent, but it was difficult, the scent of Mark's cum mixed with his sweat was like an aphrodisiac to her. But she had gotten what she came for and so she went to the door of Mark's room and leaned her head out "Thank you, Mrs. Grayson!" Before going to the window of Mark's room and opening it, she flew outside and went to the top of the building before inhaling once again. Her eyes brightened as she managed to catch the scent she was looking for 'So close as well!!!' She thought to herself happily as she flew off in that direction.

———————————————————

(Fez)

Mark groaned as he placed what felt like his thousandth book on the table, it was filled with absolutely nothing, or at least nothing relevant to what he wanted to find, he had started by asking the locals about anything related to the Garden of Hesperides but they either had no clue what he was talking about or laughed at him, the latter usually being the more educated people. So he took to the books hoping to find anything on this pointless quest of his, but unsurprisingly he found nothing, They barely had any Greek mythology at all, and any geographical books were equally as useless.

He looked to a window and saw that the sun was still shining outside, he thought about going home but dismissed the idea, he had felt that he was too attached to Kara as of late and that some space might do them both some good, though it did hurt a bit to be away from her which is something he couldn't explain, it was like he felt a deep need to be around her all the time.

"I heard you're the male who has been asking around for the Garden of Hesperides"

Mark turned his head and was met with a tall woman with blonde hair, she wore a strange white outfit and was quite muscular, at her back were two other women with dark hair and similar outfits "I am, though I'm beginning to see how much of an idiot I was for attempting to find it" he replied to the woman, he couldn't help but wonder why she had started talking to him especially when she looked at him with such disgust, though she hid it well.

"We can guide you to its location, for a simple price, are you agreeable?" The woman asked.

Mark leaned forward in his chair and narrowed his eyes "What price is that?"

She smiled "You simply must pluck us one of the Golden Apples from the tree"

Mark raised an eyebrow, he planned to do as much anyway "That's it? There's no other price? No hidden fees?" He asked.

She shook her head "Simply acquire us a Golden Apple and we have an accord"

Mark couldn't help but think he was being fucked, his Gotham instincts were tingling right now, and it didn't help that these women dressed like they were related to Wonder Woman. However he hadn't made any headway by himself and this was the only way forward, of course, he could give up and return home but the thought of spending weeks watching his plants grow sounded worse than walking into a trap "Very well we have a deal" he said before getting up.

"Good, you may call me Aresia, now follow me, We must arrive before sunset or the entrance will close," She said turning around on her heels and leaving not even waiting for him to follow.

'What's her problem? Well at least my day is sort of improving, I wonder how Kara is doing'

———————————————————-

"GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" Kara shouted as she flew back into the Batcave wall digging herself into a small alcove, she went in far enough that the only thing Clark and Batman could see was the red hue of her eyes.

Clark sighed as his shoulders slumped, while he didn't exactly like the kryptonite scalpel that Bruce had, it was the easiest way to cut through Kara's skin and test her blood "Is there any way we can do this without the Kryptonite"

Batman shakes his head "Not with the equipment I have here, but it doesn't matter, she's not sick" he said as he turned to the computer and started typing.

Clark frowned and walked over to him "What do you mean not sick? Look at her she's entirely out of control, she's barely anything like the Kara I know"

"I didn't say there was nothing wrong with her I just said that she wasn't sick" Batman stated

Clark sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose "Bruce I'm not in the mood for riddles, tell me what's wrong with Kara"

Batman turns around and looks at him "She's pregnant" As soon as the words left his mouth silence reigned throughout the cave, and Clark found himself speechless unable to say a word.

"Her body is flooded with hormones that Kryptonians had all but bred out, she's out of control because she is running entirely on her instincts, I suspected as much when you told me what happened at the Farmhouse, but when I exposed her to kryptonite it all but confirmed my theory, she fled away from the dangerous material and placed herself in a defensive position" He continued.

Clark wasn't the only one who had heard his words, Kara who had taken up position in her small alcove heard what he said and palmed her stomach, She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm hindsight she should've known this would happen, the Fortress had told her of the potency of Viltrumite DNA. But in the moment she couldn't help herself, though the many times after that probably didn't help either.

Most of all however she was terrified of how Mark would react, They barely knew each other and now she was pregnant with his child, she had to get out and tell him but Clark would follow her, She didn't want to lead him back to their house. Still, she had to try.

Kara went to leave her small alcove, however, she jumped back when she saw the red hair and broad smile of Kori, She squeaked and moved back hitting the wall of the alcove in surprise.

Kori frowned and climbed inside She started sniffing Kara, she started from her feet and went up her body to her neck and even licked her"Kori what're you doing!" She said as the larger woman climbed on top of her.

Kori moved back sitting on her heels "It seems I am correct, you are indeed Kara Zor-El and not Mark Grayson"

"Did you really need to lick me to discover that!" She shouted as she wiped Kori's saliva off her neck.

"I do apologise Friend Kara but the scent I got from Mark's underwear led me to you," She said with a slight hint of confusion in her voice.

But then she claps her hands together and smiles broadly "Oh how joyous you must've been blessed by Mark with his seed, has it taken root yet?" She said as she crawled over to her and began sniffing around her groin and stomach.

"Yes! Yes! It has you don't have to do that" she said as she pushed her off.

"I'm so happy for you Friend Kara, perhaps we can do that human tradition... what was it? The showering of the baby, yes?" She asked as she tapped her chin.

Batman was listening in on their conversation, he had cameras and microphones installed throughout the entire Batcave, he knew that Starfire had entered through the waterfall but chose not to mention it as he wanted to know if she had any information, which she did. If Mark was nearby then it's likely Starfire would be able to smell him he'd just need to plant a tracker on her.

However Batman is snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of metal creaking and breaking, he looks to his right and sees Clark who is gritting his teeth in pure rage as his eyes glow red "Bruce... give me the best estimate you have"

"Kansas, that's where Supergirl spent the past few months, They would've had to of been in close proximity for any biological reactions," he said, however before he could say anything else Superman was gone in a blur.

*CRACK*

The shockwave of him breaking the sound barrier shattered the screens and any glass objects in the vicinity, which only made Batman grunt in displeasure.

(AN: Tbh the plot of Mark looking for golden apple is pretty much filler, I just needed him out of the country, though it will have some relevance to plot later on so it's not entirely filler, it sets up meetings for two women. Anyway I'm sure some of you onow who Aresia is, she was in the justice league animated show and basically tried to kill all men. Anyway hope ya enjoyed the chapter)

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