This chapter is going to be short for a reason. It's mostly Clark thinking about Diana, and it reveals the depths of his feelings toward the demigoddess. Enjoy!

Clark watched Diana as she slept. The demigoddess looked so peaceful to him in slumber, so calm…it was a huge contrast to the underlying torture she was going through. He knew a part of it was because of her homeland's demise, but something told him it was more than that. No, he knew it was more than that.

But what was it?

He thought about every single thing that had happened to her over the past few months. He thought about Donna being found, Hippolyta's ten-year lie, her discovery of her true parentage, and other things, such as various bittersweet battles, fights, and natural disasters. Could it be that the pain of seeing those she loved and those innocent die was finally catching up to her?

It was a possibility, but Clark still felt that was not all of it. If it was, Diana would have surely confided in him by now about it. After all, he understood the ache of seeing countless people die and being powerless to stop it. It was one of the outcomes of being a superhero that could not be avoided.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Diana mumble something in her sleep. Since he was not exactly paying attention to her, he didn't catch it. But she mumbled the same thing moments later:

"Come back…"

Come back? Who was it for? Was it for her mother? The Amazons in general? Someone else? Whoever it was for, Clark was sure it was for someone important and close to her.

Diana started whimpering, and he ran a hand through her hair, whispering soothing words to the sleeping form on his couch. The comfort only seemed to work her up more, as her whimpers grew in volume and she started to tremble.

Clark pulled her into his arms, brushing her dark curls out of her face. He gently shook her, slowly rousing her from her sleep. It was moments before her eyes fluttered opened and her deep blue eyes met his sky blue ones.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said jokingly.

He grinned when Diana smiled a little. "It's only four," she said while glancing at the clock in the room.

"It's still morning. Anyway, how do you feel now?"

She started to answer before suddenly shutting her mouth, her eyes widening. Clark's grin quickly faded as worry shook him. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

He noticed that Diana was starting to turn pale. He pulled her even closer to her, which made her nearly pressing against his chest. She paled even more and pressed her lips tightly together.

Realization hit Clark and two seconds later he was holding her head over the toilet again, rubbing her back as her stomach emptied the turkey, bread and peas she had for dinner, made by Lois. About an hour later Diana had started to complain of drowsiness and nausea and went to sleep after Clark's insistence. It seemed as if the food had irritated her stomach. But that did not make sense, as he and Lois had eaten the same thing, and he watched her cook everything and even set up Diana's plate himself.

"It was probably something I ate," Diana said when they were back in the living room.

"Di, Lois and I had the same thing as you," Clark frowned. "I understand you are still slightly sick, but given with how much you had eaten, you should have not done it again in the first place."

"Perhaps, but it is a possibility. Don't forget I am partially human." Diana scowled at this.

He noticed. "You're still human, Di. You've always been human."

"Half-human, Kal. I'm different from everyone else."

Clark smiled softly. "Not everyone. I'm an alien from another planet, yet I look human, just like you. There are others just like us—Orion, for example. He looks completely human, yet his father is Darkseid, and you've seen how he looks. But you're one of the only ones that can prove why you look this way."

Diana couldn't help but copy Clark's smile. He always knew when to make her crack one, even if she was upset.

A little while later, she fell back asleep in his arms. He put her back on the couch and covered her with the sheets before settling in the chair next to her. His grin grew when she cuddled the pillow she was using.

Even though he had always thought of it, he knew from that moment on that he'd do everything in his power to make her happy again. He missed the young, brass woman that he'd come to terms with as a friend and teammate. He could still remember her when she was eighteen and bluntly naïve to every single thing that she came across. Steve had told him a few days after they saved the world what happened when she "discovered" ice cream.

Clark chuckled at the memory. Diana had her sword in her hands the entire time, thinking of it as normal while everyone around her saw the eighteen year old as the "scary lady with the gigantic sword". Even though she didn't hurt anyone, it still amused him that she didn't once think to put the sword away.

Even though now she was still adorably naïve, there were signs of her ever-growing maturity. For one thing, she went from an eighteen year old that was just as innocent as a child to a grown woman with experience. That was one of the things he adored her about, how she could adapt to something completely new to her in no time.

Diana shifted in her sleep, gaining Clark's attention. He looked up to see her smiling, murmuring words even he couldn't pick up with his ears. Whatever it was, he thought, it was making her happy, and that made him happy. Too bad he was almost certain it was already gone in reality, though.

His eyes fell on the bracers around the demigoddess' arms. Did she really harbor her father's true strength? It was said that the bracers were power-limiters, and she did say that the one time they were gone along with the armband and choker she started to lose herself. It was both terrifying and intriguing to what depths her true strength had.

In addition to that, she also was going through a second "puberty", in which she still had her powers growing. He learned about her gaining superbreath—when they returned from their mission that day, Donna was shivering and had chunks of melting ice clinging to various parts of herb body while Diana looked completely embarrassed and avoided eye contact with everyone. It was amusing when he heard that a simple sneeze created a two-hour job to free the younger Amazon.

But how long would this last? She was only twenty-three and still had years to go before reaching her physical peak. He was also aware of her immortality because of Zeus' genes, and because of them, she also would not grow any older past a certain age. But she already looked young, almost like a growing teenager. When would she reach the age where she could grow no more?

Clark also wondered about her developing powers. It seemed that when she was in stress that her hidden ability would reveal itself. Diana had gained her superhearing months before, yes, but it wasn't when she had heard Donna and Shayera on the other side of the Watchtower. It happened days before, when a bomb was ticking in the middle of a volcano. One of Lex Luthor's goons had managed to plant it there, and it was huge enough to destroy all of Greece, but at the time they had no idea where the bomb was. He was attacked with red kryptonite that nearly rendered him powerless; he only had superstrength and the power to fly, and both decreased dramatically after use for a certain amount of time. Diana was the strongest at the moment, and he remembered vividly the fear etched onto her face as she desperately searched for the bomb.

He still remembered her growing terror and fright, how she was suddenly the only one that could save what had been the source of her homeland. He remembered how he chastised himself for not listening for the bomb earlier, or how he didn't use his x-ray vision to find the bomb himself.

He remembered how Diana's face suddenly lit up a split second before she dashed toward the volcano.

Moments later, she launched herself out of the bubbling magma, flying high into the air while leaving traces of the molten rock behind. She barely made it into the stratosphere before it went off, flinging her back into the earth. Amazingly, she was unharmed, only dazed and out of breath from the explosion. He asked her how she managed to find it, and she told him that she "followed her ears".

Clark could imagine the rush of the day temporarily "blocking" out her newfound power, and that when it passed it returned. He knew what that was like, as a couple of times in the past when he was beginning to emerge as Superman he would have a "block" of a power because of the exhilaration of it.

Diana's superbreath also appeared during distress as well. This mission consisted of the sisters and Shayera, and they had to travel to the equator. Apparently, the depth of the reasoning behind the mission was to create temperatures to beyond boiling measures for the Leaguers Gorilla Grodd managed to lure. The heat of it was powerful enough to melt the densest metal in the universe.

And that's when she sneezed.

The cold rush of air emitting from her cooled everything down for miles, freezing everyone that was in her path. Unfortunately for her, the only ones in her path were Grodd, his goons, and Donna. While they took care of Grodd and his team by handing them over to the government, Shayera and Diana had to carefully chip off the ice from Donna's body, which encased the younger demigoddess for so long that she was left shivering and sniffling despite her toughness to the cold.

Clark once again noticed the dark-haired woman shifting in her sleep and stole a glance. Diana's smile seemed to grow from what before, and he wished he could see what had made her so happy. From that moment forward, he was going to do everything in his power to return that happiness to her.

And it goes to show how much Clark unconsciously cares about Diana. The next chapter's gonna make him realize just how deep these feelings go, and he slowly thinks about his relationship with Lois. But, there's a reason for everything...

I noticed that some of you disliked how I had written Lois in my previous chapter, but to be honest, I'm young and haven't read many comic books. I only go by what I've read and heard, and she's usually portrayed as this. Besides, like I said, there's a reason why she's like this...

Oh, and before I forget, I'm planning on doing a little side story on Diana's powers soon. Each chapter's gonna star a new power she's developed and how she handles it.

Speaking of that, I'm kinda low on what powers to give her. I've read that she's been bullet proof like Clark in some Elseworlds stories, so should I make her like that here? All powers thought of are welcomed. I want to show the extention of Diana's abilities, but as mentioned, I have absolutely no idea what else to give her.

Thanks! Please review!