The sun was beginning to set, the landscape beginning to resemble an apocalyptic nightmare as the skies turned shades of orange.

The sounds of shattering glass and destruction could still be heard as the fight between Clark and Zod continued. It felt as if the fight would never end, and the fact was that the only way that it would end was if only one of them made it out alive.

"Holy shit Wayne Financial's Metropolis location collapsed from whatever the fuck just happened." Steve exclaimed as he continued reading news stories on his phone. They had all begun to become desperate with uncertainty of what was happening, initially they thought it better to remain uninformed to prevent themselves from worrying but in the end their curiosity won over. They were all reporters after all, and the not knowing was felt like torture. "Luckily the Planet and LexCorp are still standing."

"I'm sure Bruce Wayne could care less." Cat muttered in annoyance, her face growing incredibly pale from the loss of blood. They had attempted to move her on multiple but she was just in no condition to be moved. "He can probably build 20 more Wayne Tower buildings in its place and his bank account would still contain plenty of zeroes."

"You're just bitter because he denied you your interview." Ron countered though he flinched soon after expecting Cat to snap back at him. On any other occasion she would have, but Cat was in no condition to make any aggressive remarks.

As everyone continued to argue and discuss between themselves Irene and Jimmy sat in silence. Neither of them seemed willing to bring themselves to be part of the discussion to attempt to get their minds off the day's traumatic events.

Or maybe Jimmy was only by Irene's side to show his silent support. Jimmy had to know why she was so worried, but he knew Irene well enough to not ask. Especially when she was so confused by the situation herself. There were two many thoughts running through her mind for her to be able to concentrate on just one, though maybe this was her way of attempting to not let her thoughts linger too much on the battle currently occurring in Metropolis.

"Do you hear that?" Steve questioned as he looked up at the sky causing everyone to stand on high alert.

"Hear what?" Ron asked as he searched the sky with wide eyes.

"Nothing." Lois replied instead, her face now expressing worry. "It's silent. I think they've stopped fighting."

They all remained silent, the same question running through all of their minds. If the fighting had stopped that meant there had to be a winner. The question was who?

A loud crash that shook the Earth caused a storm of dust to blur all of their visions. They all gasped out of fear, a high pitched scream coming from one of them from the sudden attack.

Everyone momentarily turned to Ron realizing that he was the source of the scream before turning their attention to the spot where the dust was slowly beginning to clear. There was no denying the fear that was running through all of their veins at the idea of the dust clearing and the General Zod would be standing before them.

Instead Irene felt relief wash over her at the sight of Clark on his knees a couple of feet away from them, his red cape still moving against the wind. The relief seemed to instantly disappear at the realization that Clark was on his knees looking down at his hands. He almost looked like a statue from the fact that he seemed almost frozen in time.

Slowly Irene began to take a couple of cautious steps towards Clark, not because she was afraid of him. But because she wasn't sure whether he would want her comfort at all. Afterall they hardly knew each other, if at all.

Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder Irene suddenly felt at a loss of words as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist. His face remained hidden from her as she slowly began to run her hand through his dark hair. Irene could feel his agony through his shuttered breaths as he continued to hold onto her like a child.

She didn't have to ask to know what he had done.

What he had to do.

The fact that he seemed to be hiding his face from her was all she needed to know. He was ashamed. And Irene couldn't imagine what could have happened for him to have to make that decision.

A part of her didn't want to know.

Falling to her knees across from him she placed her a finger under his chin forcing him to meet her eyes. It still amazed her the effect that looking into his blue eyes seemed to have on her, even now with his eyes full of tears he still managed to be beautiful."You did what you had to do. You had no other choice."

His eyes were filled with grief, at first Irene didn't understand but when that realization came she understood. Clark had been forced to kill the only person from his planet that was left, because Zod was the last remaining connection that he had to Krypton. That connection was now broken and his home planet was now a place that he would never truly know. A fact that was all the more painful when he was an outsider in this world. "I wish I didn't have to make that choice."

"Sometimes we have no control over what is thrown our way. But what you choose to do next is what matters. Today you've proven to the world that you're a hero." Irene assured him knowing that he was afraid that the world would turn away from hum, but she simply didn't think that was possible. With what Clark could do and the lives that he had saved today there would be people who would see him as a god. "You've given them hope."

Clark reached out his thumb softly brushing against her cheek, she could only assume that her face was completely covered in dirt. A fact that she suddenly felt very conscious of. "There's still people that need my help."

Irene nodded as he helped her to her feet. Clark turned towards Cat who was leaning heavily against Jimmy who was doing his best to keep himself balanced on their rocky terrain. All of Irene's coworkers looked at her with wide eyes before turning their awed gazes towards who they now knew as Superman, who was approaching them.

"May I?" Clark asked Cat who was speechless for a moment, something that was very much unlike her. For all the years that Irene had known Cat she had never seen the gossip columnist speechless before.

Cat seemed relieved and excited as she raised her arms eagerly like a child. "Please."

Clark picked her up effortlessly in his arms, meeting Irene's eyes briefly before disappearing somewhere into the city that still needed his help.

Now that this was all over Irene wondered if she would ever see Clark again. It seemed highly unlikely now as they had nothing to bring them together again. It was a thought that Irene didn't want to think too much about, surprisingly the idea of never seeing Clark was one the didn't particularly sit well with her. 

Irene was consumed by exhaustion. There was nothing more that she wanted than to go to her apartment and collapse for the next couple of days. Her whole life had changed in the span of two months and she was sure that her view of the world had changed forever.

She would have plenty of time to gather her thoughts on everything that had happened, now all she wanted to do was see her older brother. She knew he had to be worried but she was standing at his doorstep for her own sanity. Irene simply couldn't imagine sleeping in her empty apartment alone with her thoughts.

As she rang his doorbell she began to wonder if she should have stopped by her apartment first after all. Considering that she was still covered in dirt and wearing her torn clothes, Angel was certainly going to scold her if he saw her like this. And she didn't even want to think about the fact that she was probably only going to scare Mia.

The door suddenly swung open revealing a wide eyes Angel who seemed speechless for a moment. "I've been calling you like crazy!"

"It's kind of been a long day." Irene said softly knowing that her brother was probably going to continue scolding her and that she simply didn't have the energy to listen. "And I kind of lost my phone so..."

Before Irene could finish her brother was pulling her into a tight hug. She couldn't imagine how worried he must have been knowing that if the roles had been reversed she would have certainly lost her mind.

"You're fucking crazy Nene." Angel muttered still holding onto her tightly as Irene suddenly felt herself become overwhelmed with so many emotions that she had ignored the entire day. Maybe it was because the adrenaline was finally wearing off or the fact that she felt safe being held by her brother.

It was almost like she was still a little girl looking up to her older brother.

That thought alone was enough for a small sob to escape her lips as she hugged her brother back, completely overtaken with the realization that she had been close to death more than once. As much as she wanted to pretend that she was strong enough to handle it, the truth was that she was just human.

She wasn't like Clark who had all these amazing abilities and even with his abilities Irene doubted that even he would be able to get a good night's rest. How could he after what Zod had driven him to do?

After all the lives that were lost today.

"You're okay." Angel whispered attempting to comfort her but now that she had allowed herself to cry Irene was afraid that she wouldn't be able to stop. "I'm here."

The thought of looking so helpless was one that Irene didn't particularly enjoy. But this was Angel and at the end of the day they were each other's only support system. They could be vulnerable with one another without the fear of being judged.

Just as Irene had been there when he first had to take up the responsibility of being a single father, Angel would be there to help her get through what she was feeling now.

The truth in the end was that Irene didn't know what she felt. She felt lost and confused as everything about the world had taken such a sudden change. Her world or at least what she had believed her world to be wasn't as black and white anymore. There was so much that she didn't know, and there was something unsettling in that thought.

But she also wasn't the type to sit by and simply watch the world change around her. There were so many stories to be told and discovered and if Clark Kent had taught her anything it was that stories were meant to be told.

A/N: Two more chapters before we begin part two, ironically I finished chapter twenty a couple of weeks ago because I had absolutely no patience when it came to that particular chapter. I know that angsty slow burns I kind of my brand but I won't have you waiting too long for Irene and Clark to become an item, although I think its pretty obvious that it was love at first sight for them. So much fun things coming soon I can't wait to get writing!