Irene had been changing to get ready for bed when she heard a small thud that she knew had to be coming from the balcony. It was starting to get late, and Clark had already missed out on dinner.

It felt like ever since the accident in Heroes Park that Clark had been over working himself. He had always been a bit of a people pleaser, and of course he wanted people to have good opinion on Superman. Unfortunately, Irene knew that it was going to take more than Clark spending an entire day out being Superman to fully convince everyone.

Clark walked into their bedroom, he was still in his Superman suit. His cape was dragging on the floor and though there was a smile on his lips as he saw her she could see how exhausted he was. The fact that she could see that he was tired just spoke about how much he had been working all day. It worried her to see him like this.

"Sorry I missed dinner." Clark apologized as he walked across the room placing a quick kiss on her lips.

Irene smiled as she finished changing into her pajamas. Only that they weren't really pajamas, it was simply one of Clark's old t-shirts. "What was it this time? A fire? Save a kitten from a tree?"

"Did both of those this morning." He replied with a smile and Irene laughed because of course he would take time out of the day to save a cat from a tree. It was such a small thing, but it meant something to someone and that was all that mattered to Clark. "I love making you laugh."

He looked at her in a way that never failed to make her heart beat rapidly in her chest. She always tried not to make a big deal of it, so not show how much it affected her. But from the small smirk on his lips she knew that he had noticed.

"Which is rare because you're not very funny." Irene stated as she began to throw all the unnecessary pillows on the foot of the bed.

"How did it go with Diana Prince?" He questioned as he changed out of his suit in a blink of an eye. He was wearing the grey sweatpants that he usually wore to bed.

"Awful. Didn't get a thing." Irene admitted as she climbed into bed and rested her head back against the bed frame. She was exhausted, she had spent hours with Jimmy looking into Diana Prince and found nothing unusual. The history books didn't even mention her involvement in World War I and since then it seemed that she chose to live a normal life. "But I have to say she must be the most beautiful woman on Earth."

"I disagree." Clark replied and Irene rolled her eyes knowing that not only had he not seen her to make that assumption but also that it wasn't true. Even she was able to admit it.

"You're only saying that because I control your sex life."

"You do, but I also fully believe what I said."  He stated, but his smile slipped as he looked more closely at her. Irene had tried to seem normal but he could read her so well that it was hard to hide anything from him. "What's wrong?"

"It's just frustrating because I made this major breakthrough but it doesn't matter because I don't have any real evidence without Swanwick."

Clark sighed and Irene knew that that he felt guilty that she was feeling this way. Even though it wasn't his fault because she was the one that had gotten them in this mess in the first place. "Don't get too stressed over this."

"You're trying to lecture me about stress?" Irene exclaimed in disbelief knowing that he was the one dealing with an extreme amount of stress. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and now the people that he tried so hard to protect were turning against him.

"I just don't want you to overwork yourself honey it's not healthy." He replied as he walked over to the T.V. that was mounted on the wall. He turned it on and she knew that he was going to suggest for them to watch one of the old classic Hollywood movies that he loved. Personally Irene had never seen many of them before she started dating Clark, but now she enjoyed the peaceful bliss of just the two of them watching a movie. "Let's watch a movie."

When the T.V. came on it was on Metropolis 8 News which was playing clips from Senator Finch's press conference earlier in the day. She watched as Clark's shoulders went tense at the images, they both had clearly been avoiding mentioning what the Senator had said about Superman. Irene wanted him to bring it up first, and she wondered if he would have if it wasn't for it coming on the news.

She supposed that maybe it was easier for him to ignore it and pretend that it didn't happen. But they both knew that it wasn't something that could be ignored.

"How do we determine what's good? In a democracy, good is a conversation not a unilateral decision. So, I urge Superman, to come to this hearth of the people tomorrow. To see those who have suffered. The world needs to know what happened in that desert. And to know what he stands for. How far will he take his power. Does he act by our will, or by his own?"

Irene reached across to her nightstand grabbing the remote and turning the T.V. off. The last thing that Clark needed after a long day was to come home and watch that again. But she knew that they had to talk about it. Because the truth was that if Superman didn't make an appearance at that hearing it would hurt his image. People would have more reasons to doubt his intentions. "That's enough of that."

Clark's shoulders hunched before he crawled across the bed to her. He rested his head on her lap and she began to slowly run her finger though his dark waves. "What do you do you think I should do?"

Irene was silent for a moment as she thought about her answer. It wasn't until Clark raised his head to meet her eyes expectantly that she spoke. "I don't think I'm the right person to ask."

"You're the only one I should be asking, this is going to affect our lives... our future." Clark countered as he sat up so that they could speak normally. Irene looked down at her hands, filled with uncertainty about it all.

"It's just that... my honest answer would be selfish."  She stated earning a concerned look from Clark. He clearly wanted her opinion, but there was so much that she felt about the situation. She wasn't sure is she could get her thoughts straight. "I would choose not to share you with the world because I want you all to myself. I don't think this world deserves you."

Clark seemed shocked by her words, like he hadn't expected such honesty from her. Maybe he was disappointed that she didn't believe in the world the way that he did. Of course she saw the good in the world, and she knew that everyone was worth saving. But the world was also cruel and unjust.

And right now the world was being unjust to the man she loved and she couldn't help but resent the world for it. So maybe such a cruel and unjust world didn't deserve someone as selfless and kind as Clark Kent or Superman. And maybe that mad her selfish, but that was how she felt.

"Irene...."

"Wait." Irene urged needing him to finish hear what she had to say. "I would never ask you to give it up. Never. No matter how selfish I would want to be. Clark you're kind, with strong morals and you help people. It's who you are. I love Clark Kent. And Clark Kent is Superman."

He looked at her with wide eyes as she spoke, almost like he couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. Maybe he expected her to talk him out of being Superman, or maybe he was surprised that she was saying exactly what he needed to hear.

Irene took one of his hands hoping that she was soothing some of his worries. She was here to support him no matter what he wanted to do. "You wouldn't be the man I love if you didn't put on that suit everyday and help people."

Clark leaned forward resting his forehead against hers and placing a hand on the side of her face. "I don't know how I got so lucky with you."

Leaning forward she kissed him, she found it funny that he considered himself the lucky one. Especially when all this time she felt like she was the lucky one to have found him. But maybe them finding each other was more than just dumb luck, it felt like it was fate. Like they were meant to fins each other. That was the only explanation for something that felt so perfect.

"I'm going to D.C. tomorrow and I'll participate in their hearing. They want to the truth and I'll give it to them. I'll clear everything up." Clark said and she could see the hope finally returning to his eyes."They need to realize that I'm not a threat or some disaster waiting to happen."

The last couple of weeks he seemed down and less hopeful. It was almost painful to watch him so low. It wasn't like him and she hoped that once he went to the hearing and cleared his image that everything would go back to normal. But she knew the truth the only way that things would go back to normal would be when she got the evidence that she need to put Lex Luthor in prison for what he had done.

"Then when all of this is cleared up and over with we'll go on our trip. And everything is going to be perfect." He continued and the smile on his face was contagious. He was right, when everything went back to normal they would be able to continue with their lives. Everything would be perfect.

"I can't wait." Irene replied as she pulled him down on the bed.

He would never admit that he was tired, even though she could see it so clearly in his eyes. So she rested her head on his chest hoping that he could relax enough to fall asleep. He needed sleep if he was about to face the US government tomorrow. The truth was she doubted that she would find sleep herself because it felt like her mind was drowning in information but unable to make any sense of it.