Jimmy and Irene had spent the entire night finding the identities of the meta-humans in the hard drive that Lex Luthor had given her.

They uncovered them all except for one. She knew that was enough to go to Bruce with. It had to be enough, as long as they all agreed.

There was no guarantee that any of them would want to be heroes, maybe they wanted to live normal lives. Not that Irene could blame them. Being a Superhero was no easy, she saw the struggles that Clark had gone through.

Irene was gathering everything she and Jimmy had gathered when she heard a knock at her door. She wasn't expecting anyone, and she didn't want to miss her ferry to Gotham.

Shoving the last couple of papers in her bag Irene opened the door. Her heart stopped in her chest, and she felt overwhelmed by all the emotions that overcame her.

"Martha." Irene said unable to hide her surprise. She had called Martha last night and had told her that she was pregnant, but she never expected her to show up at her door. The drive from Smallville to Metroplis was a long one.

"Hi." Martha said before stepping forward and pulling Irene into a tight hug.

Irene hadn't seen Martha since the day of the funeral, they had talked on the phone a couple of times but they tended no to be long conversations.

"I wasn't expecting you." Irene said as she opened the door a little bit wider to allow her inside. "The apartment is a bit of the mess."

There was an empty box of pizza on the coffee table and papers scattered all across it. Irene couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed that Martha had to see the apartment this way.

She wanted her to believe that she had pulled herself together. That she was ready for the challenge of being a mother too.

"When you told me I couldn't wait. I just had to see you." She replied as she stepped into the apartment.

"Please make yourself at home." Irene said as she gestures towards the dining table which thankfully was clean. "Let me make you some coffee."

"How's the morning sickness?" Martha questioned as Irene began to make the coffee. Although Irene used to live off of coffee, she had stopped drinking it after finding out she was pregnant.

With everyday the idea that she was about to have a baby became more real. She was beginning to find more joy in it, even if it was bitter sweet.

"Some mornings it's honestly awful." She admitted, though she mostly found it difficult that she had to deal with it on her own. "But I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end."

"Jonathan and I were never able to get pregnant. But Clark came into our lives and he was ours. And he was beautiful." Martha said as Irene placed a cup of coffee in front of her. There was a small smile on her lips at the thought of her late husband. Irene could see just how much she loved him still. "There's nothing like the feeling of holding your child in your arms for the first time."

Irene smiled a little too. The thought was comforting and it was something that she needed to hear. She really hoped that the baby would look like Clark, that's all she wanted.

"May I?"

"Of course." Irene said because how could she deny that to her? The truth was Irene had failed to save Clark, and now Martha lost her son.

Martha reached over placing her hand on Irene's stomach, it felt weird and new for her. She wasn't showing yet, but she would soon.

She could see the tears in Martha's eyes and maybe she was hoping the same as Irene. That her grandchild would resemble Clark. "I just know that my grand baby is going to be beautiful."

"You raised Clark to be perfect. I'm going to need your help Martha. If there's anyone who knows how to raise a Kryptonian child it's you."

"I went to the Daily Planet to finally pick up Clark's things." Martha said the sudden change of subject shocking Irene. She felt ashamed hearing that Martha had gone to the Planet to clean out Clark's desk because she hadn't been able to. "I don't know why, nowhere to put them now."

"What do you mean?"

"I lost the farm." Martha admitted and Irene felt all the blood drain from her body. "I'd been behind on the payments for a while. Truth is, the house is too big for me to live in by myself anyway."

"Martha you should have told me." Irene said horrified by the news. Her shame only grew because she had failed taking care of Martha. Clark always sent her money every week and Irene had failed Clark in that too. "You know you're welcome to stay here any time for as long as you need."

"Thank you, Irene. That's very kind. But I've found a little place that suits me just fine, right by the diner. I'm not here for help." She continued as she reached across the table taking Irene's hand in hers. "I'm here for you. When I saw Mr. Perry, he told me that you haven't been to work since Clark died."

Irene looked away no longer able to look Martha in the eyes. "I can't."

It was impossible for her to even try. She knew she was weak for it, but the thought of going to work without Clark tore her apart. Although she was trying to be strong she wasn't ready, not yet.

It felt like writing was over for her. Irene would never be able to find another big story.

Clark had been her big story.

"The whole world is mourning. Grieving over a symbol. Everywhere I go, everywhere I look, I see that 'S.' I hear what people say. They talk like they knew him. But they didn't know Clark. And I can't stop them and look at them and tell them how proud I am of my son."

Irene met Martha's eyes again. Saw the emptiness that Irene felt reflected back at her in Martha. That they both felt that loss so deeply that it was impossible to move on from. That they never would.

Eventually the rest of the world would move on from Superman. That he would only be a page in the history book, but to Irene and Martha the world had stopped.

"You're the only one who knows. Who feels what I do. Burdened by a secret on top of grief. I came all this way because I wanted... because I wanted to see you. Tell you... I understand."

"I... will never love anybody the way that I love your son. He was my world." Irene told Martha as she did her best to hold back her tears. She thought that she had been done with crying, she wanted to be. But anytime she thought of Clark it physically pained her how much she wanted him back. She needed him back. "And I just miss him. I miss him so much."

Martha gently squeezed Irene's hand, a reminder that she wasn't on her own. "So do I, sweetheart."

"Martha, you know if there's anything you need, I'm here." Irene replied knowing that Clark had been all the family that she had left. That he would be heartbroken to know that Martha had lost the farm. The farm that he had grown up in.

"There is something you can do for me, honey. Come back to the living."

Irene was at a loss of words. She wanted to assure Martha that she was trying, that she was going to go back to work and push forward. That she had been found exactly that since she found out that she had been pregnant.

But the truth was that she wasn't trying hard enough. That she could have at least tried to go to work. That she could have started to pack away all of Clark's things so the sight of them didn't torture her everyday. That there were so many things she could have done to try to heal, but she hadn't done any of them.

So she just had to try harder.

A/N: Very excited for the next chapter, it's a Bruce centric chapter that I really enjoyed writing. We'll be getting to the Justice League soon, so there's a lot of fun stuff coming up.