Clark looked out onto the farm. It had been a week since he'd visited Barabara at the hospital and decided to take time off and so far he was enjoying himself. He hadn't done much, besides farm chores, there was the occasional meet up with Chloe but he'd mostly kept to himself. He was surprised when Chloe revealed that after Lois's piece about Superman and Batman stopping Poison Ivy, she'd managed to get a job at the Daily Planet. After just a week Clark could feel the stress leaving his body. It felt good getting back into his old life. It reminded him of who he was and why he did what he did. He smiled and patted Shelby as the canine ran to his side. Suddenly, at the other end of the farm a beam of energy shot from the sky, smashing into the ground. After a few seconds Thor stepped out from the beam of energy and it shot back into the air, disappearing just as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Thor," Clark greeted the Asgardian with a smile.

"Kal-El," he replied, embracing Clark in a hug. "It's good to see you friend."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you but why are you here?" Clark wandered.

"I am here bearing great news," Thor announced. "After returning to Asgard I spoke to my father and told him the story of our adventure together. He was just as surprised to discover your existence as I was. He's asked that I invite you to Asgard." Clark looked at him in shock.

"You want me to go to Asgard?" he asked in disbelief, looking up into the sky.

"Yes," Thor replied with a smile.

"I'm honoured really but I'm not sure if it's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"It's just that, I've never really left Earth. After coming here of course."

"Then now is the perfect time to start. In Asgard you will be amongst friends. Kal-El, the people of Asgard want to meet the man who saved Midgard."

"Still, Clark Kent can't just leave Earth. People will wander where I went."

"Then give them an explanation," Thor suggested.

Clark thought this over for a few moments. What was the harm in Clark going, after all it would be nice to meet people who knew his race. After carefully thinking about it Clark agreed to go to Asgard, much to Thor's delight. Clark made a few phone calls to his friends, explaining that he was going to be away for a couple of days and made sure Shelby had enough food and water whilst he was gone.

"What do I need to bring?" Clark asked as Thor waited in his kitchen shoving a chicken wing into his mouth.

"Mmm, these creatures you have on Earth, they're quite delicious," he noted.

"Thanks, they're called chickens," Clark explained with a laugh. "Someday I'll take you to KFC. So what do I need to bring to Asgard?" he asked again.

"Nothing, everything you need will be supplied for you."

"Well, I guess I'm ready then." The duo walked out into Clarks backyard wearing nothing but his classic jeans, blue shirt and red jacket.

"Heimdall!" Thor called out. Suddenly, the beam of energy shot from the sky and enveloped the two. Clark watched in amazement as the universe raced passed them in a blur. There was a flash of light and Clark and Thor walked out of a portal into a golden room. Clark looked around in amazement at the golden room.

"Heimdall," Thor greeted the guardian of Asgard's Bifrost. "Allow me to introduce to you Krypton's sole survivor, Kal-El." Clark gave him an awkward wave.

"Kal-El, it's a pleasure to meet you," he greeted Clark.

"Um, thanks," Clark replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Come Kal, there is many who wish to meet you," Thor insisted, leaving the golden room. Clark nodded farewell to Heimdall before following Thor. Clark's jaw dropped as his eyes fell on the beautiful city and the end of a rainbow bridge before them. Thor laughed at Clark's stunned silence.

"Come," Thor insisted as he swung his hammer before shooting into the sky and flying towards Asgard. Clark snapping out of his shock took off and followed Thor threw the sky. Below them Clark noticed kids playing, people selling items at a market and people training, fighting each other and cleaning weapons. They looked up waving to Thor and giving Clark curious looks. Eventually they reach the city and landed on a large balcony. They then proceeded to walk down a long hallway, finally coming to a closed door. Thor opened the door revealing a large room consisting of a bed, cupboards, a full body mirror and a balcony.

"This will be your room, during your stay here," Thor explained. "Now before we meet Odin, you will need to change." Clark raised an eyebrow at him. Thor simply pointed at the cupboard.

"There are matters I need to attend to. I will be back soon." As Thor left Clark took a look at his new room.

'Well this is…nice,' Clark thought to himself. He walked onto the balcony and looked out across the city. Below him he noticed a kids running around playing together. It brought a smile to his face, seeing the kids enjoying themselves. It reminded him of simpler times, times before alien invasions, teams of heroes and Supermen. He walked back inside and decided to check out the cupboard Thor pointed out earlier. Opening the cupboard, he revealed a golden suit of armour with a red cape flowing from the back of it. On the chest plate of the armour was his family crest. Clark was stunned, the armour was beautiful. He detached the chest piece and held it in his arm, slowly tracing his finger over the symbol. This symbol means something, more than just representing his family. It's a symbol of hope for the people of Earth, something for them to look up to, to strive towards. And although some people may see him as a threat, a monster or a danger to society he will always be there for them. Deciding he didn't want to get on Odin's bad side he thought it best to put on the armour.

It started with a blue suit, the red cape was attached to the back of it. The suit reached down to his wrists and ankles, on the chest was his families crest in red and yellow. Next he slipped into a pair of red boots. He tried putting on the pieces of armour but was struggling quite a bit. There was a knock at the door just as his wrist guard slipped off for the tenth.

"Yeah!" he called out in frustration. A lady walked in with long black hair and red armour, raising an eyebrow at Clark struggling with the armour.

"Is Thor here?" she asked.

"He was here a moment ago. Said he had to take of some business then he'll be back. Your welcome to wait."

"Thank you. Would you like some assistance?" She offered.

"Very much," he replied. She walked over to him and began effortlessly attaching the armour to him. "Thanks. What's your name?" he asked.

"Sif," she replied. "So, you're Kal-El. Thor's spoken very highly of you," she revealed.

"Really?"

"Indeed, he claims you're a true warrior. Brave, honourable and courageous, he's proud to have fought alongside you."

"Well, I'm proud to have fought with him too." He smiled as she finished putting on the armour.

"Thanks for the help."

"Ah, I see you're ready to go." Thor called out from the entrance. "Come, it is time to meet Odin." Clark looked back to Sif.

"Wish me luck."

As they walked towards the great hall Clark couldn't help but feel out of place in this armour. As soon as this meeting was over he was getting rid of the suit. Sure he was grateful but it just wasn't him.

"Here we are," Thor announced opening two giant doors. Clark took a deep breath and followed Thor into the hall. Immediately Clark noticed the man sitting on a throne at the end of the room. The others in the room watched in amazement, going silence at seeing a Kryptonian. The duo came to a stop at the foot of the throne. Clark was so shocked he didn't notice Thor kneel beside him.

"Kal," Thor whispered. Clark quickly kneeled, looking down awkwardly, the whole time Odin watched him closely.

"Father, this is Kal-El," Thor introduced, with a smile as they stood up. They stood in silence for a few seconds, Odin studying every feature of Clark. He began to feel really nervous, did he do something wrong, maybe he should kneel again.

"Kal-El," Odin spoke. "I am sorry for the loss of your home world. For centuries Asgardians and Kryptonian have worked with one another. We fought together in numerous wars and made friends with their people. I had the privilege of visiting Krypton numerous times, I watched its people grow and evolve. I even knew your parents, your father was a brilliant scientists and your mother an incredible woman. If Krypton hadn't met its end so tragically you would have been raised by amazing people."

"Thank you sir, that means a lot. And although I may not have been raised by my Lara and Jor-El my Earth parents have done a good job of raising me and I'm proud to be there son."

The rest of evening went buy fast, they had a feast in honour of Clark, much to his discomfort, and Odin shared stories of his time with Clark's parents. Clark listened closely, finding comfort in Odin's stories. For the first time in his life he felt like he actually knew who his parents were. Thor retold the story of the Avengers and how Clark flew the Nuke into the portal, potentially sacrificing himself to save everyone. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and eventually it was time to reside to bed.

Clark walked back into his room and was glad to get out of the armour. He tried falling asleep but found that he was too excited to fall asleep. Finding nothing to do in his room he decided to go for a walk. Changing into his red jacket, Clark walked through Asgard, taking in its beautiful architecture and layout. He walked for half an hour, the city mostly silent at this of night. Suddenly, a ball flew by him falling off of a balcony and into a large lake below him.

"Ahhh!" a young voice called out. Clark looked over to see a group of four kids running to balcony where the ball fell out of.

"I knew you were going to do that," one of them complained.

"It was an accident," another replied as Clark walked over to them.

"Wait here," he suggested. He smiled at their confused looks before flying towards the lake. He found their ball, grabbed it and flew back up to the kids.

"Here you go." He handed them back the ball. They starred at the man in amazement.

"Who are you?" a boy mumbled.

"How did you do that?" another asked.

"I'm…Kal-El," he replied. "What are you boys doing out so late?"

"We snuck out so we could play ball," One blurted out, the other three looking at him in annoyance.

"I knew he would spill," the boy who kicked the ball into the lake stated.

"Are you going to tell our mums?" they asked. Clark gave them a small smile.

"No, I won't but you should listen to them. They only want the best for all of you."

"Yeah, alright," the boys agreed. As they began to walk off Clark had an idea and grabbed the ball from the boy's hands.

"So, how good are you guys?" he asked spinning the ball on his finger.

An hour later the group were kicking the ball around, laughing, joking and playing together. Sif was walking through the halls when in the distance she heard kids calling out. She followed the voices suspiciously, any kids out this late were certainly sneaking out. Just before she reached the source of the noises everything went oddly quiet. She looked around in suspicion, there was no one insight. She walked to the balcony, still nothing. What she didn't notice was just above her floated Clark holding the four boys. Sif was about to give up and started walking back inside when one of the boys dropped the ball. She walked back out and discovered the group who smiled sheepishly at her. "What are you all doing?" she demanded as they landed.

"Do your mothers know you're out this late?"

"No," they mumbled in response.

"Go!" she ordered. "You," she turned to Clark, "Don't you know better than to let kids out this late."

"Yeah, but I decided to have some fun. We were all kids once, sometimes you do something a little rebellious, even I had a party when my parents were out of town." Noticing the kids left their ball Clark picked it up. With a smile he chucked the ball to her, which she caught.

"Your it."

"I'm not playing your games," she replied.

"Don't think of it as a game, think of it as reflex training," Clark suggested.

"Are you saying there's something wrong with my reflexes? Because I'll have you know I am one of the finest warriors Asgard has ever seen and you don't achieve that by having bad reflexes."

"Prove it," Clark dared her. In response she began walking away, still holding the ball. Clark was about to fly off when suddenly, without warning Sif spun around and lobed the ball at him at an impressive speed. Clark caught the ball at the last second and looked over to her. Sif was smiling, cockily at him.

"Your it." Clark smiled back and threw to ball at her. She dove out of the way and began running down the halls leaving Clark to grab the ball and chase after her. The two ran all through Asgard, throwing the ball to each other, sometimes hitting the other, other times missing. Of course to keep it fair Clark didn't use his super speed, but would occasionally use his strength to throw the ball just that bit further to hit Sif.

Before they knew it the sun was rising. Clark chucked the ball at Sif and she spun on one foot and kicked the ball with her other foot. Unfortunately for her, Clark dove out of the way and the ball when rolling down the hallway.

"You're the last one to touch it you're it," Clark called out as he ran down the hallway whilst Sif ran the other way desperately racing after the ball.

From one of the above towers Thor looked out, wandering where Kal-El was. He was supposed to take Clark to a large breakfast feast but so far hadn't been able to find him. In the distance he noted two figures running, throwing something to one another. With nothing else to go on he went in search of them. Eventually he found the two in a courtyard with Clark desperately trying to hit Sif with a ball. They came to a stop when they noticed Thor watching them.

"Morning," he greeted the two. "I wanted to invite you to breakfast."

"Is it that time already?" Sif asked in disbelief.

They three walked to the hall and ate the feast that was breakfast. Clark couldn't believe the amount of food these people ate. Thor introduced Clark to his friends, Volsagg, a large man with long red hair, Fandrol a man with short blonde hair and wore green and Hogun who wore blue armour, with a mace attached to his side. They shared stories of their adventures getting to know each other. The scenario they were in reminded Clark of when he went into Steve's mind when he was attacked by the phantom. Once they had finished breakfast Volsagg had the brilliant idea of challenging Clark to a duel.

"I'm not so sure," Clark politely refused.

"Come Kal-El, show us how good a fighter you really are. No powers, just combat." The crowd around them cheered.

"He won't stop until you accept his offer," Thor explained. The rest of the surrounding crowd encouraged Clark until finally he accepted the duel.

The group walked down to the fighting grounds, gathering a crowd as they walked, everyone excited to see the Kryptonian fight.

"Pick your weapon," Volstagg instructed grabbing an axe and entering a large circular ring.

"You don't stand a chance," a young voice cried out. The group looked down to see the group of boys from last night. Volstagg, looked at them in shock.

"Dear boys, I've given you fighting lessons, surely you have faith in your teacher."

"Nah, Kal-El's got this!" they exclaimed. The crowd cheered as Clark grabbed a round shield and entered the ring.

"Inspired by the Captain I see," Thor noted.

The battle began and Volstagg swung at Clark with surprising speed. Clark dodged and blocked all of his attacks, he had to admit, Volstagg was good. As Volstagg brought his axe down over his head Clark blocked it with his shield and followed with a punch to Volstagg's stomach. Volstagg doubled over and Clark hit him in the head with the shield. While he was stunned Clark jumped into the air and brought the shield down on Volstagg's head sending him to the ground. Clark held it across his chest and refused to let him get up.

"Yield," Clark ordered. After struggling for a few moments Volstagg eventually conceded he'd lost the fight.

"Ha ha!" he laughed as they stood up. "Congratulations my boy, you are a fine warrior." He wrapped an arm around Clark's back. "Everyone, you are witness to one fine warrior." The crowd cheered as they left the ring.

"You think that was good you should see Captain America," Clark suggested with only Thor understanding what he meant.

A couple of days went by and Clark enjoyed his time in Asgard, although after a week he decided it was best if he went home. However, before he left there was one thing left for him to do. That's how he found himself in the Asgard prison standing in front of Loki's cell.

"The sole survivor here for me?" Loki asked jokingly. "What have I done to deserve this?"

"I'm here to make sure your locked away where you belong."

"Well, as you can see I'm not going anywhere." He gestured to the cell.

"Why?" Clark asked. "Why are you like this? What pushed you to become this way?"

"Have you ever been offered greatness just to have it wrongfully taken away from you?"

"Can't say that I have. But all my life I've been told I had a destiny, that my life was predetermined. But I never let it stop me from being my own man, from making my own decision, the right decisions."

Loki simply began to laugh.

"Your time on Earth really has turned you into a delusional moron. You have the power to rule your world and yet you waste your time, blending in as one of them, saving them. Be honest, do they accept you or do they fear you, hate you?"

"It's not about what they think. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks. All that matters is doing the right thing," Clark replied causing Loki to laugh again. Seeing no point in talking to him any further Clark left meeting up with Thor and heading to Heimdall.

"It's been a pleasure having you here."

"It's been a pleasure and an honour visiting Asgard. Thank you for bringing me," Clark replied.

"Are you ready Kal-El?" Heimdall queried.

"I'm ready," Clark replied. Heimdall opened the bright white portal and just as Clark was about to step into it a voice called out for him.

"Kal-El!" the voice called. They turned around to discover Sif running towards them carrying a large chest. "You forgot this," she explained as she handed him the chest.

"Oh, I don't know if I should take it," Clark refused, knowing immediately what was inside the chest. "Kal-El, take it, it's a gift from Asgard," Thor insisted. Reluctantly, Clark accepted the chest and after a final farewell wave to his friends he stepped into the portal and was sent back to Earth.

Clark walked out of the beam on energy onto the Kent Farm, everything was exactly how he left it. As he walked out of it the portal disappeared back into the sky. As much as he enjoyed his time in Asgard he was glad to be home. He walked into the kitchen and put the chest on the kitchen counter opening it up to reveal what he already knew was inside. The suit of armour he wore on his first night in Asgard. He smiled at all the fond memories he'd made there. He may not like this armour but it was a reminder of a week's worth of good memories.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So, yeah I know in the last chapter I said that this one would be about Lex and Lana's wedding but I've been wanting to write this chapter for a while now and thought that during Clark's time off would be a good time to put it in. Next chapter is definitely going to be on Lex and Lana's wedding.