Author's Note:

This gapfiller covers events from Superman/Wonder Woman issues 5 and 6.

Story 5: I Love You

How had he gotten to this place? How could good intentions go so terribly, terribly wrong? He knew. Of course, Clark knew. Naiveté, arrogance, and doubt made for an explosive and deadly mix. But they were the road, the brutal path to this unforeseen and heartbreaking end.

Perhaps if I'd let Steve Trevor take Zod into custody, maybe none of this would've happened.

More naiveté, he knew. No way would Zod had gone with Steve. No more than Clark believed that Trevor had the means to hold a Kryptonian as skilled, cunning, and determined as Zod. No, on this, Clark knew the hard truth. Zod would've killed Steve and the others and somehow managed to find the Fortress and set Faora free.

There wasn't a part of Clark that didn't hurt, didn't burn with the pain of being beaten and defeated by Zod and Faora. And now, face-down on a beach, sand in his mouth from taking gulping breaths, his ribs and other broken bones making breathing difficult, Clark could feel the rough hand of his enemy on his head.

He wondered what Faora was doing to Diana. He knew Diana was near, her heartbeat too damn slow but still beating. That was something at least. But for how much longer? Wonder Woman had fought bravely, fought with all the skill and ferocity she possessed, exchanging bone cracking blows for body shattering attacks. And if not for Apollo's interference, increasing Zod's and Faora's strength and endurance to unimaginable levels, victory would've been Superman's and Wonder Woman's.

But I'd angered and embarrassed the Sun God, and then arrogantly thought that I had nothing to fear from such a being. How many times had Diana told me about the conniving and petty nature of her divine family? Even Hephaestus warned me, but I didn't listen, thinking myself untouchable. A warrior I am not, nor a strategist, at least not in the same way as Faora and Zod, or even Diana.

"And now? End it?"

Faora's voice. Like Diana, he could hear her beating heart. It raced with adrenalin, pumping at an accelerated rate from the fight and the win. He could hear her desire to kill them in her voice, especially Diana. Diana, who had burned the Kryptonian on her face with her heated sword after she'd blocked Zod's heat vision. Diana, who could've taken Faora's head off with that magical sword of hers instead of simply branding her, a pride bruising act for a soldier the likes of Faora.

"Later. It would take too much time . . . Even now, they're hard to kill. Our window with the zone is closing. We need to move quickly."

"Where, then?"

He was airborne again, but not under his own powers. Zod carried his prone form. Too weak, so damn weak.

"I do not wish to kill you, Kal-El. Almost all of Krypton is gone. Killing you would be like losing our home all over again." In the midst of the first battle, Zod had spoken those words to Clark. And he'd believed them. The same as he believed him when he said, "But I will not let you turn me from my purpose."

Superman and Wonder Woman had been all that stood between the general and his purpose. Now, as Clark listened to the Kryptonians speak of dropping him and Diana into a fission power plant, both too broken and beaten to do anything other than submit to being taken to their deaths, an acrid taste of guilt filled his mouth.

A mere few hours ago, Zod had held Clark by his throat, slowly choking him with amazing strength. Diana had control of Faora. But Clark's arm had been broken in his fight with Zod, leaving Clark open and vulnerable.

In making a comparison between her sword and Superman, Diana had told him, "It doesn't matter how powerful your weapon is . . . if you can't hit anything with it. You're so strong, Clark, but you've never been trained to fight. Power isn't everything." Then Diana had offered to train Clark. In his mind, he'd scoffed at her offer. Strength and power had never failed him in battle, despite his lack of formal training in a fighting art.

But she was right. I just hadn't come up against a foe who matched or surpassed me in physical might, who pushed me to be more than brawn and two formidable fists.

"Do this, and you will be dead a moment later. This I swear."

A threat from an Amazon demigoddess even the likes of General Zod would do well to heed. If Clark could've winced from the fury in Diana's voice he would've. She was here because of him, ready to kill because of him.

"Perhaps," Zod had said, "But there is another way. Take him, and we will go. No one dies. Not today."

There was a beat where all around them slowed to a silent contemplation. Clark couldn't see Diana, but her rage fairly boiled the air between her and Zod. His Amazon didn't want to let loose her prey, didn't want to set the deadly duo free. But she would. Dammit, even as the seconds passed, Clark knew Diana would accept the stalemate. Because of me. Because she fears for my safety. Because I didn't fight Zod and Faora the way I should have. Because she claimed me as hers.

The hand around his throat tightened, forcing Clark to grit his teeth from the pain.

"Agreed." Diana's rough concession. "This is not a loss. This is a strategic retreat," she'd told him once the exchange had been made. "No one dies. Not today." There had been a promise of retribution in her voice of steel.

Cautious of his broken arm, Diana had partially supported Clark as they descended. The village Faora had set ablaze was out but so much damage had been done. Clark's gaze settled on Diana as her own took in the village and the people who'd poured outside to help each other and to witness the battle in the skies above their once quiet and peaceful village.

"Stay here. Let me see if there are wounded in need of our assistance. Call Bruce or Vic, have them dispatch first responders to his location."

Before Clark could say a word or even offer to help, Diana was off, flying into the crowd of people. Irritated and feeling useless, he'd contacted Bruce.

"I take it Diana reached you to be of assistance. From your angry, annoyed tone, I assume the threat has not been satisfactorily dealt with."

"No, not yet. Diana and I will deal with them. We are the only ones who can."

Although Bruce said nothing, Clark knew the man's mind was working.

"Where is she now?"

"Aiding the villagers."

"And you're on the sidelines sulking?"

"I'm not sulking. I'm . . ." He was sulking, but that didn't mean he had to admit the truth to Bruce. A man did have his pride, after all. And Clark's pride had taken more of a beating than his aching body.

Clark wondered how much Diana had seen of his fight with Zod and Faora. If she'd witnessed the teamed attack that had sent him crashing to the ground, unable to immediately recover. Yeah, pride was a vicious punch to the gut.

"She's in Amazon mode. You know how she is when she gets like that." Clark began flying towards the village, eyes scanning the homes and debris for bodies that would take Diana much longer than him to locate. "She's angry and all about business. I can't talk to her when she gets like that."

"That's because Diana knows that now is not the time for talking but action. She'll want to find them and end this as soon as possible. That's her way."

"Like you."

Bruce and Diana both came from privileged backgrounds, and while that rarely meant they saw things in the same way, when it came to the warrior mindset, Batman and Wonder Woman were all business, all about taking the fight to the enemy, ending it as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Which is what I should've done when Diana asked me to get Faora out of the fight. I handled her as a gentleman, choosing not to view Faora as the solider she was, as the threat she'd proven herself to be. My mistake. She's no innocent, no simple victim of the Phantom Zone and Doomsday.

"Yes and no. We don't all have to be the same. We only need to be there for each other. She came when you needed her. That's what she does, that's who she is. Trust Diana to know what she's doing, how to handle herself in battle."

Clark didn't like Bruce's implication that he didn't trust Diana. Eyes moving from building to building, Clark was pleased to discover that no one had died from Faora's attack. A strategic distraction that Clark had easily fallen for, leaving himself open to their pitiless assault.

Clark wondered if Diana or Bruce would've been fooled by such a ploy. He suspected they would not have but their response would've been the same – saving innocents first, fighting the enemy second.

"Are you or Diana hurt?"

Clark landed. The people of this village had been lucky. But so many homes had been destroyed, poor people who had few means for replacing all that the fire had taken from them. And it's all my fault. Zod was my responsibility and I allowed him to escape, to endanger these people.

And how many more would suffer before Clark and Diana managed to find Zod and Faora and deal with them?

"We're fine. A few bumps and scratches but nothing more."

Considering quiet followed his response, and Clark knew Batman was once again thinking. He's probably wondering why we don't have Faora and Zod contained if we aren't hurt.

"I see," was Bruce's slow, measured response. "So, what is your plan?"

Clark had no idea. The Kryptonians wouldn't be easy to track or sneak up on, not with their senses being as acute as Superman's. But Clark was spared from answering when Diana landed before him, her eyes dropping to his left arm, the one Zod had broken. It still hurt but the arm had already begun to heal. Then her eyes lifted, and calculation and annoyance were there, as well as a healthy dose of concern for Clark.

"We'll be in touch, Bruce." Clark ended the call. "Help will be here soon."

"That's good. There are a few injuries but nothing too serious. I think we can leave now, we have work to do." With that, Diana bolted into the air.

Clark followed, saying nothing until she asked, "How did Zod get out of the cage you put him in?"

Fair question. She deserved the answer Clark was embarrassed to give. But he had, and Diana hadn't commented, just kept flying.

Without her saying, he knew where Diana was taking him, although Clark had only been to Hephaestus' Forge once before.

Bruce had told Clark to trust Diana. That was a given. He trusted her with his life and respected both the woman and the warrior. So when they stood dressed in the god-created armor beside an invisible chariot that would give them the tactical advantage Diana knew they needed, Clark couldn't help when he said, "I won't allow the way I do things to get you hurt. Like you said, we are each other's shelter from the storm. We protect each other."

She'd smiled at Clark then, but not with the warmth of a woman, or even that of a lover, but of a fellow warrior readying for battle. A fierce wave of protectiveness had washed over Clark, as well as another emotion he knew best to keep to himself. As she'd said earlier, they had work to do. Everything else could wait.

But there was no more time. They'd fought. Hard. Yet here they sat, exhausted, bleeding, broken, but not yet defeated.

"Your sword. Told me it could split an atom?" Was his jaw broken? Damn, even talking hurt like hell. As it was, his left eye was nearly closed, Zod's repeated fists well-aimed and ruthless. "Was that truth?"

"Yes." From her bracers, Diana's sword began to materialize. Yet another magical wonder care of her brother. "I have never done it, but Hephaestus doesn't . . . lie. But . . . why . . .?"

Diana seemed to be having just as much difficulty talking as Clark, her injuries no less severe than his own. Even with one bad eye, he could see well enough to know her internal trauma alone would've killed a weaker meta. But she's a demigoddess, he corrected. Which doesn't mean she can't also be killed. No, they both could die. And, it seemed, because of him, they would.

"This is a reactor core. Full of U-235 atoms. Even though it's turned off . . . if we can split one . . . Atomic explosion. It'll shut the Phantom Zone gate."

With humbling trust, Diana held out her sword to Clark, a single question on her lips. "Can we survive this?"

His answer was as honest and as pure as what Clark felt for her. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

A pause, but nothing more. "No."

The truth, but Diana didn't want to die. Neither did Clark, but they would do what needed doing. That's who they were, who they chose to be.

"I can't see atoms. I couldn't . . ."

"I could guide you. We'd do it . . . together." Together, the word echoed in his head. They were together in this. But hadn't they always been, hadn't that been what Diana's been trying to tell him for weeks? It wasn't Clark or Diana, or Wonder Woman or Superman, but Clark and Diana, Wonder Woman and Superman. And is so much better than or. Together, until the end.

He grasped the top half of the sword handle, Diana's hand clutching the bottom half.

"But here is your answer," Diana began, her tone calm, voice steady and strong. If the moment wasn't so solemn, Clark would smile at the beauty and strength that was Princess Diana. "We could not do this apart. We are better . . . this way."

They were indeed. How could Clark have ever doubted that?

He had been such a fool, holding so much of himself back, hiding behind fears and insecurities. Fear and doubts had only served to get them to this place of death, a tomb for two prideful souls. His feelings were there, at the surface and raw for her to see, to touch, and to turn away from if she didn't feel the same.

But Clark was done with being afraid, done with staying silent when his voice, his heart, and his fleeting energy was all he had left. He'd brought her to this end, this one-way road he'd steered them onto, no outlet but one.

"I love you." Words he should've confessed weeks ago. Words that flowed sweetly and easily from his bloody and cracked lips. Words that buoyed his heart if only for a precious second.

"Of course you do." The slight lifting of Diana's lips in the smallest of smiles was all that saved Clark's heart from sinking to his soles. But what had he expected, for Diana to declare her undying love for him? They weren't the fairy tale type, and Clark Kent wasn't Prince Charming despite Diana being a princess. Because of him, she would perish this day. Because of him, her life would be cut unconscionably short.

But he didn't regret the confession, no matter how much it hurt to not have her reciprocate. He knew, in her own way, Diana did love him. Her actions proved that fact, her presence across from him told Clark more than three little words ever could. Still …

Together, they split the atom, and everything exploded around them, deafening and unbearably hot.

With fading energy and all the love he had for the woman he'd given his heart to, Clark yanked off his cape and wrapped Diana in it, a caterpillar he hoped would emerge a transcendent butterfly.

He prayed it would be enough for her to survive, prayed he could protect her, prayed this wasn't the end.

I love you. A silent declaration now. That was all he had left to give her.

Holding his love within his protective embrace, pain and darkness overtook Superman, claiming a son of Krypton.