[New story! It helps if you read my previous JL stories (or at least skim them!). New 52/AU, characters by DC Comics]

The Returned

Prologue – The House of El

On the occasion of Jon Kent's first month, his parents secured a day off from work and took a holiday to the Pacific Northwest. They flew together, with the baby secured to Diana's back by her golden lasso and Clark carrying a cooler with picnic goods, until they reached a small freshwater lake rarely visited by tourists or even hunters because of its remoteness deep in the Northern Cascades mountains. They selected a suitable site by the lakeshore, where they could enjoy the picturesque scenery and enjoy their time alone together.

Clark took off and spread his scarlet cape out on the grassy ground and quickly got a campfire going. Diana sat down, eased her breasts out of her corselet and nursed little Jon while he worked. She watched with some amusement as her husband dived into the water and returned with two large steelhead trout which he then proceeded to expertly clean, and season.

"I had no idea you were such a outdoorsy cook," she exclaimed as Clark laid the two fish side-by-side on a makeshift grill over the fire, together with some wild mushrooms and onions. The fish and vegetables smelled delicious as they roasted, mixed together with the scent of wood-smoke.

"Pa taught me how to fish, although he used a line and hook," Clark grinned as he sat next to Diana. His face softened as his eyes settled on his wife and child; it hardly seemed real to him, even now, his beautiful wife and the boy they had made together (even if it sometimes seemed Diana took full credit). He reached out and stroked the baby's fine, silky black hair. "I'll have to teach Jon some day," he added softly.

"He has your hair, and your eyes, those are definitely your eyes," Diana said as Jon nursed hungrily at her breast.

"But his face is all you," Clark added. "I can tell he'll turn all the girls' heads one day."

Diana laughed at that. "We are projecting ahead, aren't we!"

She finished nursing and readjusted her corselet, while Clark served up the food onto paper plates. For drink they had cold water from a clear-running brook nearby. It was all delicious. Afterwards they played with Jon, who gurgled happily as his parents laughed. So far, Clark thought, Jon hadn't demonstrated anything out of the ordinary…out of the ordinary for him. Clark knew, from his own initial medical examination of his son in the Fortress, that Jon would likely develop all his abilities and powers. Diana was concerned however that he seemed underweight.

"I was a scrawny kid too, until I hit puberty!" Clark had reassured her. "Then I really bulked up…into the handsome built man you see today." He flexed his muscles, while Diana swatted him on the arm.

"Be serious! What about what happened when we were on Themyscira? What about when you and Batman were in…that place?" She was reluctant to even mention the name.

"Well…there doesn't seem to be any lingering after-effect. Batman did his own examination of himself. He said there's nothing abnormal that he detected but he wants to be certain. He wants to examine Jon too."

"Bruce can go pound sand," Diana retorted but there was no real anger in her words. Clark knew she just wanted to protect Jon, after everything that had happened on Paradise Island: the attack of the strange Alarians, and the alien entity that had possessed and ultimately killed Steve Trevor. "Let him worry about himself, the old woman!"

That had ended that part of the conversation. Soon, as babies do when their stomachs are full, Jon grew sleepy. Diana leaned against her husband's broad chest, relaxing against him as his arms came around her and the baby, who lay drowsily on her lap. For a long while they sat still and quiet together, enjoying the simple peacefulness of being with each other, and the natural beauty of their surroundings. If only every day could be like this, Clark thought.

"You said you named Jon after the founder of your House…what was he like?" Diana asked.

"Hm. I really only know a little, all from the archives in the Fortress. Jon-El lived tens of thousands of years ago, during Krypton's great Age of Exploration, when they tried to establish colonies offworld. He was a famous scientist and explorer. He was first one to use the surname of 'El' – hope. Other than that, it's hard to know for certain. Supposedly, he either invented, or helped to invent, the World Engines, but even then he was at odds with the Science Council of Krypton because he was supposedly a bit of a rebel, like Jor-El. A family legend says that he was only allowed to maintain his House status by agreeing to the condition of artificial birth. He was the last of our House to be born in the natural way…until me."

"That's fascinating," Diana murmured, thoughtfully running her fingers along Clark's forearm. "Do you know any more?"

Clark shook his head. "Not much more than that. Whatever he did accomplish, the Kryptonians soon after abandoned space exploration and colonization forever, and stayed on their planet. That was a terrible decision, obviously."

"Why?" Diana was curious. "Why did they choose that path?"

"I don't know," Clark said slowly. "Perhaps there were reasons. The colonies failed, or they couldn't adjust away from home…but it's just another mystery to me too…"

His voice trailed off. A memory suddenly came to him, from when Randolph Carter had invaded his mind, and exchanged memories. There was something he had said…

"A world built on stolen technology…"

What had he meant by that? What could a human from the early 20th century have possibly known of Krypton?

"Clark?" Diana looked at him quizzically.

"Oh…it's nothing. Something Randolph Carter said to me when he was in my head-"

At the mention of his name, Clark knew he had said the wrong thing. Color and anger flooded into his wife's face at the mention of the strange human he had met in Themyscira.

"That Alarian dog!" she snarled. "I would have killed him on the spot if it weren't for Bruce, I-"

"Shhh," Clark gently squeezed her arms. "It's all over now. We're ok and Jon is ok. That's all that matters. He can't do anything to us here."

"Do you really trust Bruce?" Diana said, only slightly pacified by Clark's calming voice. "What I mean is, I know you really do, he's my friend too, but he's always been so secretive, hiding away in that little cave of his like a frightened little mouse..."

Clark couldn't help but laugh at the way she put it. "I'm sure he does have his secrets, not like we don't either!"

Diana scowled. "Don't laugh at me, I'm serious! I think he's hiding something he knows about that Alarian dog, I heard from Dinah that he was doing all kinds of occult research...he doesn't need-"

"What of it? He's Batman, after all," Clark said, as if that explained it all, Diana thought. He was too trusting, sometimes. "He can research whatever he wants. Not like he doesn't have the money to do it. Anyway," he playfully squeezed her again, and not her shoulders. "Let's not talk about him, we have plenty of us to talk about!"

Diana couldn't help but agree with him, when he put it that way. She would discuss it later with her husband; right now, he was being very persuasive about distracting her from unpleasantness...

But it would be a year before the subject would come up again.

[I'm really planning for this story to be not a huge long story like the last one! But I hope you all will find it as enjoyable. There will be some returning faces (hint: no, not any Amazons), and new characters. As always, please leave your reviews! I will try to respond to all of them]