Before Clark could go join the others he needed another suit. The one that was at their apartment was the suit that he had been wearing during his fight against Doomsday.

Irene didn't know why she had kept the suit initially, especially since it was connected to such a traumatic experience for them both. But beyond that one bad memory there were so many other wonderful memories attached to that suit.

A suit that he could no longer wear considering the large whole across the chest from where Doomsday had pierced through Clark's heart.

"This is a lot to take in." Clark admitted as the two of them landed. Irene had tried to fill him in as much as she could about Darkseid and his conquerors being after the Mother Boxes.

She was sure that she might have left out some details from Diana's story, even though as hard as it was for her to accept it wasn't much of a story at all.

It was all real.

"I still can't believe this is all real if I'm honest." Irene replied as Clark reached forward and zipped her coat higher up. She was wearing one of Martha's coats that had still been packed way on the farm. But even with the think coat Irene had to admit that she was still cold. There was a reason why she had only visited once before Kara, and it was because she didn't tend to favor the cold.

"Lets get you inside." Clark said as they walked up to the entrance. His hand was on her waist, and Irene realized that he hadn't really stopped touching her since the cornfield. It was like he needed to be as close to her as possible, not that Irene could complain. After months of missing his touch and the feeling of just being close to him, Irene was grateful that he wanted to be close to her.

"I brought Kara here." Irene added as they stepped inside the fortress, hoping that he would be upset that she pretty much brought a stranger to such a private place. It was the place that he came to feel connected to his Kryptonian heritage, it was special to him even if he never said it. "I hope you don't mind."

Clark smiled a little and as terrible as a lot of the things that Irene had told him were, the one good news that she could give him was finding Kara Danvers. "I can't believe I have a cousin."

"She's really great." Irene replied hoping that whatever happened after she had left with Clark, that Kara and the others were okay. That Steppenwolf still didn't have the last box and that there was still more time. Irene knew that it was all wishful thinking but now that Clark was back things had to be better.

As they started going down the staircase Irene's foot slipped on the ice that had begun to build inside, luckily Clark was able to stabilize her before she could actually fall. The ice was one of the many reasons why Irene wasn't very fond of this place, Clark must have sensed her frustration as he picked her up in his arms.

"I can walk Clark."

"I know." He replied simply as he continued walking farther into the fortress.

Maybe under different circumstances she would have argued with him, but at the moment she would take any opportunity to feel as close to him as possible. Although she knew that she wasn't dreaming and that this was all real, the fear that he would simply disappear again was too great.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs he set her down on one of the steel chairs at one end of the room.

"Wait here." He told her before stepping into the next room.

It took Clark a little longer to change than she had expected, but when the doors finally opened Irene couldn't help but be a little shocked. Clark stepped out in a black version of the Superman suit, the symbol of House El shinning in silver.

"Black?" Irene questioned surprised by the choice. It was a stark contrast from his red and blue suit, but considering the situation that they were currently in, it fit him well. "I like it."

"I'm taking you back to the apartment. Or I can leave you at Jimmy's if you want?" Clark suggested and Irene immediately shook her head not liking either of those options.

"No I think I would lose my mind." Irene stated firmly knowing that if she didn't have the ability to know what was going on she would drive herself insane. Before Doomsday she had never really worried about Clark knowing believing that he was invincible. Now that she knew that losing him was a real possibility, she just could imagine not knowing. "I would just spend the entire time worrying about you."

Clark didn't entirely seem to agree with leaving her with Alfred at Bruce's warehouse, but he was never one to deny her what she wanted. And he knew that if he didn't do what she wanted she would end up worrying even more.

"Alfred." Irene greeted as they both stepped inside the garage where he was working on what clearly a priceless car.

"Miss Miranda." Alfred said slowly but his focus was on Clark. Whether the butler was amazed because he was looking at someone who had just come back from he dead or because he was an alien Irene wasn't sure. But it was amusing to see Alfred stunned, especially because she got the impression that he was the kind of man that did not easy get stunned. "Master Kent. He said you'd come. Now, let's hope you're not too late."

Alfred wasted no time in catching Clark up on where the team was located and what their plan was. It seemed that Bruce and Diana were leading the team on faith alone. It was clear that Alfred had been right. They had to hope the Clark would get there on time before the Unity synchronized.

If it did, everything would be over. That meant that Darkseid would come to Earth and conqueror it. And if they weren't prepared to fight one of his conquerors then they definitely were not prepared to fight Darkseid himself.  It was a terrifying thought, and from the serious look on Clark's face he was now beginning to really realize how much trouble they were in.

When Clark turned him attention to Irene she forced an encouraging smile on her lips. The last thing that she needed was for Clark to leave worrying about her.

"Irene I'm coming back." Clark assured her and Irene knew that he was telling her the truth. She had to believe it. She knew that she wouldn't be able to go through losing him again and so did he. And Irene knew that he would do everything in his power to come back to her, but that didn't shake away the fear. "I'm never leaving you again."

"I'll be waiting for you here." She replied as she stepped forward giving him a quick kiss on the lips know that they were running out of time. "Now go save the world again."

Clark smiled before flying up and disappearing into the night sky. It wasn't easy to see him go, and Irene felt the smile slowly slip from her lips.

"How about I make us some tea while we wait?" Alfred said as he walked over to the other side of the room where he had a corner dedicated to making tea.

Irene had never been big on tea, but she couldn't possibly turn down Alfred's offer. Especially when it was clear that this was something that the butler enjoyed doing and that he probably thought of this as the only way he could offer her some comfort.

And Irene knew that Clark would come back, she didn't know how she knew but she did. But that didn't lessen her worry, what was happening terrified her. It felt different than anything that they had faced before.

A/N: Have really been feeling all the love for this story and it really does mean the world to me. All of you who have been voting and commenting are really the reason that I am motivated to continue writing so thank you. There's still a lot of ground to cover in these last four chapters and I can't wait for you all to read them.