Author's Note: I'd like to caution you before reading this chapter. I tried to explain what Kal was going through as well as I could, but this was painful to write and it made me sad to do this to one of my favorite heroes. I don't want to spoil too much, but this chapter may do more than just put you in your feels and I'd hate for anyone to get too terribly sad because of something I wrote. I'm not sure if this will be triggering so I wanted to warn you ahead of time before you scroll down to read. If you want to skip to the more redemptive part of the chapter than scroll to the bottom till you see 'Diana held Kal up' and read from there. Then again it might just be me that will be sad about it and I might just be being over dramatic, but I wanted to let you know what you are getting into. Thank you again for coming this far and reading.


The sun awoke them both and they stayed in each other's arms for a little before redressing. The sight of her brought him life again. He would dedicate his life to her happiness and loving her. He was remembering their daughter as they made their way back to the fortress. Not much time had passed, he thought, so he couldn't have missed many of her firsts. He could catch her first flight still or help her when her hearing and sight kicked in. He became excited at the thought of what powers she might develop. He had so much love to give.

As they landed Diana called and questioned him. "Kal why are we back here? I thought the fortress was destroyed."

Kal turned his head and kept walking toward his make shift entrance. "The outside is destroyed, but you remember the inside. It took up much more space than anyone could see. Only the first few rooms were destroyed. I set the robots to maintenance the fortress and feed the animals since I was- "Kal remembered something new, he was in the fortress and getting ready to find Diana and Lara.

Diana watched him stop and looked as his face lost its color. "Kal what's wrong? Kal? Speak to me what's happening?"

Kal could only look forward in horror. He was hurting from the world's rejection and he did stay at the fortress to hear the world turn to madness as his penance. But he wanted to stop. If he was going to suffer he could at least find solace in the fact that his loves were alive. He could find happiness with them again. But then Wally's death shocked him to his core. He heard and saw it as if he was there, but was powerless to stop his friend's death.

Wally had decided to join the government program for heroes. If he couldn't save people all the time at least he could do it sometimes. It might give him more time with Linda, his wife. But the government outfitted him with something that negated his connection to the speedforce and they had the switch to turn it on and off. Wally still worked in the crime lab and tried to save people that way. One day he went to the bank to make a deposit, but robbers had entered right after him and tried to begin their shakedown of the bank. The hero and the cop in Wally acted instantly. Even without his speed he had years of fighting and taking out criminals, he was just a lot slower at it now. He got all of them without a shot fired until the first one he took down got up and fired at him.

Kal remembered watching in horror as the bullet went through Wally's heart. He remembered crying out as Wally's heart stopped beating and he died instantly. Then he remembered nothing else, just feeling numb. Then Diana hitting him and him remembering her. His eyes teared as he felt lost again.

"Diana, what happened to me?" Diana watched the color return to him, but he looked terrified. She had never been this scared or seen him so scared.

"Kal, tell me what's happening. I can help you." Kal blurred into the fortress in search of answers and Diana followed.

He stopped at a table. It had 2 boxes on it. He remembered what they were for and fell to his knees. Diana dropped down with him.

"Kal please, your scaring me. Just talk. Tell me what's happening to you so I can help."

Kal braced himself on the ground as he hunched over in pain. His teeth were grinding as he remembered everything.

"I… I was going to come back. I remember wanting to see you and Lara more than anything. I made you gifts… I wanted to give you something and say I'm sorry. Wally was in trouble. I could see it and hear it as clear as I'm seeing you and hearing you now. I rushed outside to fly to him, but I was too late. The gunshot went off and he was gone. I wasn't fast enough." His tears were coming out now.

"I don't remember anything after that except you coming and then me remembering you." He looked up to her now.

"What happened to me?" He barely whispered it, but she heard him. She wrapped him into a hug and squeezed him tightly. All her anger toward him was gone and redirected. Someone had broken her love. Someone kept him from her for this long. Whoever they were, she would have their head. But first she needed to console Kal.

"We'll figure this out Kal. We can go to Gotham to see Bruce and figure this out together. Lara is there too, and I know you'll want to see her too after all this time." Her words shook him.

"All this time?" A realization dawned on him that he had lost time. It could have been a century and he wouldn't have known.

"Diana," He looked at her gravely.

"How long have I been gone?" He was scared to ask and even more terrified to hear her answer.

Diana returned his scared look and tried to regain her resolve. He needed a shoulder to lean on and not even the Gods would stop her from helping him.

"Its been 10 years since you killed that monster and saved us." Kal had no more shocked looks left to give. He slumped forward into Diana's arms again grabbing desperately at his sanity. Someone kept in him in a loop for almost 10 years. If Diana hadn't come, he would still be in it sitting and doing nothing but bask in his sadness. He felt so much shame. His daughter had gone so long without him. How could he face her like this?

"How can you stand to look at me? I'm nothing that you used to know or love." His sorrow grew as he wondered about all that he missed. He lamented at the pain he caused his loves by being so weak.

Diana held Kal up so that he was looking at her. This was an important moment. Her amazon side felt no pity for what was in front of her. Weakness was not tolerable in an amazon. But the woman in her saw the man she loved broken and torn apart at the seams of his own mind. She was his sentinel. She would protect him as she had done before.

"Kal-El look at me." He looked in her eyes, searching for his purpose and his will to go on. His Goddess would command him, and he would obey no matter what she asked. Even if she rebuked him it would be law in his heart and he would accept it. But the Goddess in front of him was much more kind than that.

She grabbed Kal's face gently and stared lovingly into his eyes, trying to fill him with her own confidence in him.

"You are mine. You will never be too much or not enough for me. I will have you for the rest of your days and mine until time itself retires. What has happened to you is not your fault. You are not weak by any means and this attack on your mind was a savage one. We will rejoin our daughter and save this world from the darkness it is spiraling towards. I, Diana, swear it to you on my honor as a warrior and my heart as your wife."

Kal remembered the feeling she used to give him. The feeling that anything was possible and nothing was out of reach for him. He felt it again now and his spirit rejoiced. He felt the hope he always tried to inspire and began to stand up slowly, taking her with him.

"I believe you." They embraced again. This time in acceptance and love. The days behind them were dark, but the horizon was full of opportunity. The man of tomorrow looked forward with a renewed spirit and an emboldened heart. Superman is back.


Author's Note: Thanks for coming this far and reading, favoriting, and following. Sorry for that sad chapter again. I promise happy fluffiness will return to this story soon. Next chapter will be long as we meet the villains responsible (sort of). Thank you again and leave a review if you liked it or didn't, I don't mind either.