Chapter 24 – The Farm

(Black site Air Strip – 2010 – Somewhere in the Mid-Western United States)

It was night now, a cool breeze could be felt coming from the west and if it hadn't been for the landing light and the plane's small beacon on its undercarriage, Fury wouldn't have been able to see anything but the stars in the sky let alone the plane that was beginning to descend. The off the books airstrip consisted of little more than a tarmacked runway and a single-stories building that was placed there to house signal equipment when needed.

Fry was currently the building's only occupant, he had arrived alone not even Maria Hill or Romanoff knew he was here, having decided to keep everything off the record for the moment until he met Kal and found out what was happening. Currently, he was not having the best week he was still dealing with Thaddeus Ross and the army breathing down their necks to the whole Banner situation, and having to clean up the mess that Stark had made in the past week alone.

Fury raised his hand slightly to shield his eye from the dust that the small transport kicked up as it touched down on the runway and began to slow down. As the rear of the craft opened he was first greeted by the sight of Phil Coulson who gave him with a respectful nod, however, it was the man that followed Coulson that caught Fury's interest, a man that was completely unchanged since the last time he saw him over a decade and a half ago. Kal still looked every inch the powerhouse Fury remembered even when wearing a three-piece suit, toned and powerful muscles rippling underneath his suit as moved.

Kal's piercing blue eyes quickly locked onto Fury and a grin spread across the man's face, he didn't wait for Coulson to gesture him over instead he pushed off the transport plane's lowered ramp and glided through the air directly over to him. "Fury, my friend, it is good to see you again."

"Sir?" Coulson asked as moved to the side so that Fury could see him, Kal's descent had placed him directly in front of Fury and thus directly in Coulson's path.

"It's alright Coulson, debrief Barton please, and tell him I might need a word with him in a bit." Fury said, giving a nod to where Clint Barton had perched himself on the lowered ramp to observe from a distance.

"Understood sir," Coulson replied, abruptly turned on his heel and walked back over to the plane, leaving Fury alone with Kal.

"So, I'm guessing you being here is not a social visit?" Fury asked Kal, wanting to cut straight to the case.

Kal grimaced slightly as he replied. "Unfortunately not, certain events have occurred that which potentially leaves your world in grave danger."

"You better come inside then." Fury gestured for Kal to join him in the small building by the side of the small airstrip so that the two could converse in private.

It took some time for Kal to fill Fury in on everything that had happened since the last time the two had met, Kal had started with the most recent and pressing events namely the destruction of the Bifrost and his brother Loki's attempted coup on Asgard. All of which alarmed Fury greatly, especially the fact that Kal had no idea who had come out on top in the power struggle back home. However, Fury hadn't shown his alarm instead he had patiently listened to everything Kal had said then asked Kal to give him the wider context hoping to potentially find information that could prove of use. Whilst the gears in his head also started to turn as he considered how to speed up his own special side-project, he might have to bite the bullet and call Hank Pym, if things were this bad.

As Kal finished his tale Fury merely leaned back a stoic and reserved look on his face as he processed everything he had just heard, carefully deciding on his answer before he spoke. "Well …... shit," Fury whispered as he brought his hand up to rub the back of his head.

"Apologise for being the bearer of ill tidings my friend." Kal offered Fury leaning forward himself to place his hands on his knees.

"So, you going to head back to Asgard?" Fury asked wanting to know Kal's next move so that he can plan accordingly.

Kal merely shook his head slowly, "I would, but reaching Asgard without the Bifrost is near impossible, it would take months if not years. And if I were to leave, such as things are now in my absence, your world would be open to many dangers."

"Such as?" Fury pressed for details, his spy nature needing to know what he was up against.

Kal was silent for a moment as a deadly serious look passed over his. "Threats and horrors, beyond the darkest imaginations of the most depraved minds of your world. Midgard, Earth whatever you wish to call it, sits in a prime position in the cosmos that many desire."

"And you think you being here is going to protect us?" Fury guessed why Kal seemed so hesitant to leave Earth, despite not knowing what was occurring on Asgard.

Kal nodded. "Carol once told you I have a reputation in the cosmos,"

"Yes, she said you were one of the deadliest beings alive." Fury recalled whatever his other intergalactic traversing friend had once said.

"It is a well-earned one, my presence here will protect your people whilst I figure out what to do. I will need to speak with your leader or leaders, to offer my help." Kal said giving Fury an encouraging and friendly smile.

Kal's statement caused the first visual reaction he had got from Fury since the two had been reacquainted, at his request to meet the leaders of the world Fury grimaced. Kal cock his head to one side at Fury's reaction, confusion on his face.

"That is going to be difficult." Fury responded, his voice hesitant and then added honestly, "And possibly not the best way to go about this."

"Why?" Kal asked in confusion not understanding the reason Fury seemed so reluctant at the idea of Kal meeting this world's leaders.

Fury's mind was quickly running through all the scenarios of introducing Kal to the world Security Council or even Alexander Pierce and none of them were good, even the more positive ones were still bad. Fury trusted Kal and from everything he had seen, along with what Carol had told him over the years and what his gut said, Kal was a good man, incredibly dangerous and a little strange but overall good. However, Fury knew exactly what the Council's reaction would be and Shield as a whole, fear, paranoia, followed by something monumentally stupid like trying to either control or kill the alien in their presence.

What also would not help would be the fact that Kal would in their mind majorly shift the delicate power balance of the world, I mean what good are armies and nukes against a man that routinely battled alien space monsters and nuclear blast would barely give him a suntan. No, having Kal on earth needed to be handled delicately and off the books, whilst Fury sorted out how to deal with the fallout of having Kal around, maybe wait and if danger did show up have Kal help, show him as an ally maybe.

"Let's just say that you being on the planet might cause some issues and the response might not be …... positive. " Fury put his concerns about the politics of Kal being there as delicately as possible.

"You are saying that I am unwelcome?" Kal asked, confusion evident in his voice, as he was not used to dealing with people of a world so underdeveloped by his standards.

Fury sighed as he leaned forward. "Not exactly, it just might cause some issues. I can deal with them but springing you on my leaders might cause them to react poorly. Do you understand?"

Kal considered his words and thankfully he nodded. "I understand, I do not wish to make your life harder my friend. So tell me what do you need me to do?"

Fury leaned back a smile on his face showing Kal that he was appreciative of how understanding Kal was being. "For the moment you just need to keep a low presence, I have an idea of somewhere you can stay, whilst you adjust and figure out your next move."

Kal gave Fury a bow of a deep bow of his head "If it helps allay any worries. I swear to you, on my honour and my life. I simply wish to help defend this world."

"Thank you, Kal." Fury returned Kal's bow of his head with a nod. "If you can give me a few moments I need to speak to Barton one of the men you came with about a potential place where you can stay."

Kal gave Fury a friendly smile and a nod of his head as the two rose to walk outside as Kal stepped outside he again took to the air briefly to travel the short distance back to the plane. 'That is something we are going to need to talk about unless he wants to blow whatever cover I give him in 30 seconds' Fury lamented to himself. However, he quickly put that aside as he caught Barton's eyes and gestured for him to come over for the two to talk.

As Barton left Coulson found himself alone with Kal, and feeling he needed to engage in some trust-building decided to strike up a conversation. "So, you are from space?" Coulson asked, not sure what else to say.

"Yes," Kal responded turning to face Coulson.

"Well …. That sounds nice." Coulson stated hoping Kal would give him something more to respond with.

He did not.

Meanwhile, inside the small nearby structure Fury laid out his request to Barton and tried to explain as much as he could, to one of his most trusted Agents. Barton like always was nearly unreadable, to a novice and even most experts, Barton was a blank slate and completely indecipherable, but Fury had known the man long enough to know what Barton was thinking.

"You want to send him to the farm sir?" Barton was facing away from Fury and looking out one of the buildings shuttered and decaying windows at the Alien that Coulson was trying to talk to.

"Yes," Fury replied honestly, knowing that when it came to the Farm it was dangerous to play games with Barton. "It's short notice, and I need him somewhere completely off the grid, where the Brass wouldn't stumble across him, and with someone, I trust to keep an eye on him."

"And the Farm is the only place that checks all the boxes" Barton stated guessing Fury's meaning, turning to face Fury and looking the Director straight in the eye.

"If I had another option, Barton believe me I would take it, but The Retreat is a Shield Safehouse, The Fridge isn't finished, Pleasant Hill wouldn't contain him and Romanoff's apartment … well she isn't exactly the type to sit around and watch someone." Fury explained his reason, placing his hands behind his back as he usually did when presenting an order.

"I understand sir," Barton responded, he was a good agent and solider but given what was on the Farm he needed to be certain that Fury wasn't playing long odds like he usually did. "Do you trust him?"

Fury was silent for a moment meeting Barton's hard stare without blinking. "I would trust that man with my life." Fury moved forward starting to head to the door, but he paused as he was passed by Barton, he turned his head to the face agent before adding. "And more importantly I would trust him with the lives of others."

Barton had known Fury for a very long time, and whilst he didn't always agree with everything the Spy Master did but he did trust him and knew that when it came to the Farm, Fury would never play games. The world Fury and Barton inhabited was one of secrets and lies and when one lives in such a world, the only currency that ensured you could really rely on or trust someone was loyalty and the only price for Barton's loyalty was the Farm.

So, Barton gave Fury his approval with a small nod and simply warned his boss. "You better know that if this goes wrong, Nat is going to kill you."

(Several miles from The Farm aka Barton Family Farm – 2010 – Kansas, USA – Earth)

Clint was not sure how to explain everything to his kids about the Stranger that would be spending time with them for a few months or longer whilst Fury sorted out how to actually deal with Kal being on Earth. He had already called Laura, explaining everything, and she had seemed okay with it, but in that sort of 'wife way' all husbands know, where okay, meant you're in trouble, and your trouble actually meant 'OH, just wait till you get home!'.

However, he hoped most of her anger had already been spent on Director Fury, who had already spoken to his wife about the situation and had provided Laura with everything they knew on Kal, which he hoped had lessened any worries she might have. Laura was a professional though, she would never show outright worry and Barton knew that part of the reason Kal was being hidden at The Farm was because of that, Laura was an expert at reading, analysing and ultimately getting people to trust her. Nat was living proof of that, Clint swore there were times that his wife and his partner were closer to each other than either of them were with him.

Static on the radio caught Clint's attention as he heard the local radio station finally overpower the previous station they had been listening to. " - Pssssaaat crnkllsht psssshtt- And that folks was a classic 80's hit Maneater by Daryl Hall & John Oates, up next we are moving into the '90s with JUST A GIRL by NO DOUBT. This is Annie O'Neil here at KRAC."

Barton shook his head slightly as a smile graced his face, he knew the DJ personally and Annie had interesting taste in music. He always loved hearing this station, not for the music, it was a little too pop music for his tastes and Annie played nothing past the year 2000 and nothing before 1979. What he loved about it was it meant that he was indeed home, KRAC barely reached out this far and when it finally became strong enough to break through it meant that he was about 10, 15 minutes top from his front door.

Clint turned to look at the other occupant of the car, Kal, who was no longer wearing his 90's blue three-piece suit but a more modern style that largely consisted of a Red Jacket, Blue T-Shirt, Brown Boots and a pair of Blue Jeans. Clint sighed slightly, as despite the change of clothes Kal still looked imposing, the man was just pure muscle and even with getting the largest size they could the shirt and jacket just clung to him. To make it even more difficult, Kal was possibly the most handsome man Clint had met, he looked godlike with his perfectly chiselled features and impossibly blue eyes, then to top it off Kal was one of, if not, the tallest men he had ever met

However, Clint's sigh turned into a curious expression as he suddenly realised that Kal was quietly singing along to the song on the radio, whilst he read the dossier that Fury had given him about his identity whilst on Earth. Kal's cover was a quick patch job, but Fury had seen to it himself so although it was a quick one it was still extensive and would take a lot of work to crack it. He was pretending to be a Special Forces soldier, who was Clint's cousin from a fictional uncle who was staying with him after returning from an extensive tour overseas. They hoped the army background would explain his heavy musculature, any awkwardness with ordinary people and his strange accent, whilst the special force's part would prevent people from asking too many questions if it was brought up.

"Wait you know this song?" Clint asked surprised that Kal seemed to know the song so well.

Kal just looked up from the document he was reading. "Hmm, oh yes. I heard it last time I was on Midga- Earth." Kal explained, still finding the human word for this world strange. "It is an interesting melody."

"Yeah, not really my speed," Clint said with a friendly smile which Kal returned but after which an awkward silence fell over them, deciding now was as good a time as any Clint went to check what Kal had learned. "So do you understand everything in there?"

"I believe so," Kal replied closing the folder he had been given that contained everything he needed to know from where he was born to what he had been doing up to yesterday. It included everything from past girlfriends to where he liked to eat to the name of the men in his fictional Special Force's unit.

Clint looked at Kal sceptically, they had been driving for over seven hours nearly without a stop but apart from the occasional glance and one quick flick through Kal had hardly looked at the folder. "Are you sure, it's massively important that you learn everything in the-"

Kal just cut Clint off, giving the archer a friendly smile as he quickly talked through his back story. "My name is Clark Barton, I am your cousin by your uncle Johnathan and his wife Martha, I was born in Kansas City, my father died in 2002 from a heart attack whilst I was overseas in Afghanistan, four years later we sold the family farm, my mother now lives in a nursing home in Kansas City, last time I saw her was before my deployment in 2009. You and I were close growing up but haven't seen each other in person since High School, we stayed in touch and offered me a place to live when you heard I have been forced to take 9 months R&R that I have been putting off."

"Well that is good but a cover is more than just background detai-" Clint although impressed knew that more was needed for a good cover.

"I like horses, NASCAR, classic and country Rock Music, Football and Basketball, but can't stand Baseball. I played as a quarterback in High School, dated a girl named Lana Lang until senior year. I studied Anthropology at NYU on an army scholarship, my first serious relationship was with Lori Lemaris, a marine biologist that I met at NYU, I proposed to her, but she turned me down because she didn't want to be an army wife." Kal recited even more details he had learned at breakneck speed giving Clint a reassuring smile.

Clint was just a little wide-eyed whilst he knew that the dossier would undoubtfully have more information in it than what Kal had just recited he somehow knew Kal knew everything inside the large folder he had been given. The man sitting next to him was an enigma, one look at him and it apparently told you everything you needed to know, the stereotypical musclebound pretty boy without a thought in his head, who just smiled or punched problems away. However, one look at Kal's eyes told you how wrong that was, those blue eyes were penetrating and calculating, there was an intelligence and mind at work there.

"I promise you I am taking this seriously," Kal offered his reassurance to Clint, giving him an honest and serious expression. "Although I find all this strange, I will abide by the promises I made to Fury, that whilst living here I will pretend to be this Clark Barton and I promise you no harm will befall your family whilst I am here."

Clint just studied Kal's face for a few seconds before speaking. "Thank you, and I promise that I will do what I can to help you."

Kal gave a nod of his head and a friendly smile and turned his attention to the road ahead as they passed through an open gate up to a moderate-sized double-storied dwelling, with green tiling and a light green door. As Kal stepped out of the pickup truck, he had been travelling in he instantly recognised where he was, he was in the middle of farmlands, a thousand years may have passed but he could still recognise a large farming estate when he was on one. Midgardian farms apart from a few obvious advancements in technology still largely looked the same as they had been when he used to spend time on this world.

"So, you are a Hersir?" Kal asked turning to look at Clint who had just taken their bags out of the trunk, with a look of understanding on his face.

Clint just looked confused at Kal not knowing what Kal was talking about. "A what?" he asked not even going to attempt to repeat the strange word Kal had just called him.

"A Hersir, a landed warrior, with his own estate, who commands the local forces in times of war," Kal explained what he meant to the bewildered Clint. "I know you are a warrior, and your dwelling is surrounded by some quiet fertile farmland, Fury and your King must greatly value you to give you such land."

Clint just blinked and then remembered that despite looking human Kal was an alien, from a Viking-esque culture, whose knowledge of Earth was largely a thousand years out of date, so whilst Clint might think he was talking crazy from Kal's perspective he was making absolute sense. Clint just took a quick breathe and field a mental note that he needed to give Kal a crash course on modern Earth before his houseguest declared a duel or went on a raid against a neighbouring farm.

"Um, not exactly you see -" Clint's attempted explanation was cut off by a very loud cry that broke out as the front door slammed open.

"DADDY!" The cry was accompanied by the clattering of two pairs of feet as two blurs ran forward and enveloped Clint's lower body in a hug with such force that it almost knocked the man over.

"Oof! Hey buddy, Sweetheart" Clint declared as he lowered himself to wrap his arms around the two small children. "I missed you guys, and I want to hear everything you've been doing okay? But first I need you to meet someone."

With that, Clint stood up and doing his best to hold the multiple bags he was carrying gestured to over to Kal whilst holding the small boy's hands. Seeing his predicament Kal moved swiftly over and took two of the large bags with ease, greatly easing Clint's burden and allowing him to actually hold his children's hands.

"Thanks." Cling stated with a wide grin. "Guys I want you to meet, your Uncle Clark, he is going to be staying with us for a little whilst okay?"

Kal offered them each a warm smile as he looked down at the very small humans he was in front of but a small part of him winced as he saw a boy and girl, who although looked different reminded him of pair of children he had not thought about in a very long time. He shook those thoughts from his head quickly as he wanted to provide the best first impression he could to the children of his host.

For their part, however, the two small children of 8 and 6 just stared up at the giant in their midst, who even towered over their dad one of the tallest people they knew. For the little girl, Lila, Kal was especially intimidating as he was so tall and had his back to the sun that he actually blocked it out entirely for her, and she fit easily in his shadow with room to spare. Providing her not with the friendly smile he was giving but instead a looming shadowy figure whose face she could not see.

"Are you a giant?" The boy, Cooper, asked his mouth open in awe as he stared at his 'uncle'.

Kal merely chuckled a little and seeing his height was evidently an issue took a knee in an attempt to be more on their level, it only partly worked as he still towered over them even whilst kneeling. He gave his best smile which now that the girl could see helped alleviate some of the fear she had been showing and moved a little closer to him away from her father's leg that she had latched onto.

"I am not, little one, but I have met a few giants and can tell you about them." Kal offered with a wide grin that the boy returned in excitement, causing Clint to chuckle. With the boy seemingly happy Kal turned to the girl that was still evidently a little cautious of him, thinking Kal formed an idea. "Do you like flowers?"

Lila didn't speak which was common with her, she was quite a shy girl and despite her parent's attempts, she still struggled to talk to people who wasn't her parents or her teachers.

Kal's smile stayed fixed not offended at all by Lila's refusal to use words, instead, he placed the bags he was still holding on the ground, then, with a strange twisted and snap of his fingers suddenly had a shinning golden rose in his hand which he offered to Lila, whilst speaking in a quiet whisper "For you, a token of friendship."

Lila just stared in amazement at the glowing flower which she hesitantly took and once in her hands just turned slightly so that her dad could see the flower better. Clint for his part was more impressed not by the flower, which was beautiful but where it had come from, all his eyes had seen was a shimmer in Kal's hands before it appeared.

As Kal rose happy that he had made a good impression Clint just gave him a very curious look before he hesitantly asked. "How did you do that?"

Kal just offered a small, confused smile as if the answer was obvious "Magic. It's a very simple spell." Was Kal's only response to his question, not going into any detail.

"Magic, of course," Clint responded, whilst starting to wonder how weird his life was about to get with a magical alien prince living in his house for the next few months.

(Barton Family Farm – Kitchen – 2010)

"So, Clark um what do you eat exactly?" Laura Barton asked the man who was standing in the opposite room across the counter that divided the kitchen and the dining room from each other.

Kal responded to his fake, turning away from the table he was helping lay. "I don't really, not since I was a boy, my body doesn't require sustenance the same way yours does," He explained with a friendly, but seeing Laura's wide eyes decided to clarify. "I am able to eat anything you are it's just not necessary is all."

Laura just gave an appreciative smile that was a little forced and a little nod. "Well, that's good, hope you like Lasagne."

She observed Clark or to use his real name Kal, as he turned back setting the table. Despite having been briefed on the man by her husband and Fury as well as reading everything Shield had on him, he was different than she had thought he would be. Fury and Clint had painted a picture of a controlled, committed, determined man, in a word fighter or more accurately a soldier, someone who was distant and a little cold at times yet still had a warmth to them and could be trusted to keep their word. The Shield reports read like they always did, it painted a very detached view of Kal it was all facts, figures and estimation, which created an image of an incredibly dangerous powered individual who at best needed to be monitored and at worse removed.

However, to her eye, Kal struck her more as an idealist than anything else, it was in the way he moved and talked like he naturally looked at everything with an optimistic eye, nevertheless, it was also clear that someone had tried to train that out of him. He moved like many of the people she had trained with and knew from her time in Shield, second checking everything, his feet and hands always ready to drop into a fighting stance. Kal was indeed dangerous there was no denying that even if she didn't know what he was he still looked like he could bend steel with his bare hands, yet everything else about him seemed to protect an air of protectiveness, not combativeness.

Deciding that she needed to get to know Kal a little more if she was to keep an eye on him she opened up a conversation. Laura wanted to see how he reacted to some standard Shield questioning techniques. "So you are from space, what's that like? Cold I bet?"

'Simple Shield questioning technique, open up with a vague question about their origins, make it sound possibly dismissive, your target will either provide no details, share too much, without information or react to the perceived insult emotionally.' Laura recalled what her instructor had taught her from her academy days, it was very useful both on hostiles, as well as her children and husband.

However, Kal's reaction was not one she had anticipated he merely looked at her instantly for a few seconds before sighing and standing up straight. "So, you are the one to be my watcher, not your husband." Kal smiled at her and inclined his head to her. "I promise you I mean no harm to you or your family, you have my word."

Laura froze for a moment, she had her cover blown before and people figured out her questioning techniques but never so quickly. Her Shield training then kicked in, she could either double down try to continue her deception or else just drop the act and confront Kal directly hoping to get the answers she needed.

It took a few moments but she eventually decided on the latter. "Yes, you're here so that me AND my husband can watch you. I can I ask what gave me away?"

"Certainly, you are very skilled Lady Barton," Kal offered an honest smile and a respectful bow of his head. "However, I grew up with a very talented liar for a brother and a father as well," Kal frowned at the mentioning of his brother and father before shaking his head and pressing on. "Your question was too finely crafted to be mere chance, your hands have callouses that every warrior has, and you are holding your knife with a throwing grip."

Laura looked down at the knife she was holding and saw that she had indeed slipped into an old throwing grip obviously a subconscious tick of hers that she needed to correct. "You are very observant." It was Laura's turn to give Kal a smile and bow of her head.

"Thank you," Kal responded, returning the smile she was giving him, an air of friendliness radiating off of him.

"Would you mind if I ask you some questions?" Laura decided that Kal seemed to be friendly enough that the direct approach should still work now that her means of subtle interrogation was gone.

Kal chuckled slightly in good humour. "Of course, I will answer as best as I can."

For the next few minutes whilst she cooked and Clint entertained the children in the living room, Laura learned nearly everything she wanted to about Kal and his abilities until she finally reached a topic that had only recently come to their attention. "Clint said that you summoned a flower for Lila, using Magic?" She asked not sure how else to phrase the bizarre question.

"I did," Kal simply responded evidently thinking that the feat was not that important, which she guessed for him coming from a magical space kingdom, flower summoning wouldn't be all that noteworthy.

"Sorry, its just that um magic isn't well a thing here. So your able to do magic, like turn people into animals and disappear at will?" Laura asked hoping Kal would clarify this strange aspect of himself.

Kal blinked slightly at her statement, Midgard had really changed since his time in Lakstad, whilst Magic hadn't been overly common, he recalled that most places had had at least one or two sorcerers and that the knowledge that magic existed had been very widespread. "Well, I am not able to do anything like that, my magical ability is limited to very small feats of magic."

"Such as?" Laura pressed wanting details about exactly what Kal could do.

Kal sighed deciding it was best to just get it over with and reveal his very poor magical skills. "I can do basic conjuring like the flower, uh change my clothing but that is very limited, I can cause small non-complex things to be repaired, they have to be nothing living though and I can make myself less noticeable."

"Less noticeable?" Laura's curiosity was piqued at that last statement of Kal's apparently limited magical ability. "So as in you can change your appearance or make yourself invisible?" Laura needed details because if Kal could make it so that he was forgettable, the whole purpose of her keeping an eye on him was pretty much mute.

Kal smiled slightly and gave a small chuckle at her statement. "Oh no, nothing so grand, that sort of stuff would be Lo-, my brother's domain, what I can do is more like avoidance of notice, I become something people overlook, but it doesn't work if people already know me or are very preceptive."

Laura just slowly nodded making a note to tell Clint and Fury about this little piece of information that Kal had just provided. Just as she was about to ask Kal something else she noticed someone slip into the dining room behind them, who was carrying something they evidently wanted to give to Kal given how shy they were being walking up to him.

Kal felt a small hand tug on his trousers as his arm was too far out of reach for their hands even when standing on their tiptoes, as he looked down he was greeted by the sight of Lila, Clint's daughter standing shyly next to him. He gave her a friendly smile which she meekly returned before holding up a piece of paper for him to take it, which once he did she quickly ran back out the door to the living room.

"No running in the house!" Laura playfully called after her daughter who had a habit of running and then crashing into everything.

Kal gently opened up the piece of paper he had been given and was greeted by a crude but still decent image of what he guessed was himself holding the heavy bags on his shoulder and a golden flower in one hand. He smiled at the drawing, clearly, he had made a good first impression and after examining the picture showed the girl's mother, who also smiled.

"She likes you," Laura stated with a smile, feeling a bit easier about Kal her daughter wasn't one to warm up to people easily and although a child had inherited her parents' good judgement when it came to people. "Lila is going through a little shy phase, so to get a picture off of her is pretty impressive."

Kal chuckled at Laura's statement "Well I am just glad that I have made a good first impression, I am supposed to be her uncle after all."

It was Laura's turn to chuckle at Kal's statement however I thought suddenly popped into her head and she realised that she hadn't asked a fundamental about Kal's life. "Do you have children? Or Wife on Asgard?" Laura knew he had family at least two brothers but Kal had been sparse on details, and she didn't know how much of old Norse myths were true, so didn't want to assume anything.

Kal's smile faltered for a few moments as something flashed in his eyes before he turned away slightly, his voice barely above a whisper "No, no wife or children, at least not anymore."

Laura fell silent as she examined Kal she had seen that look before, it was a look that showed a pain that although faded was still present, something that you just put at the back of your mind and tried to ignore to get on with your day. Whatever Kal was Laura recognised that he was someone that had experienced loss and pain, which she knew either made on more willing to help others to prevent further pain or else indifferent as the hurt just chipped away a piece of you. Looking at Kal at that moment Laura was certain of one thing Kal was not a man that could just look away.

DING! She turned and saw that the oven timer had finished signalling that they needed to start the near-impossible task of getting everyone sat down for dinner. As Laura started to get the food from the oven she was also certain of one other thing, having Kal around was going to be interesting.

(Unofficial Research Lab – Southern California)

On the other side of the country, Mercy Graves was standing in an artificially lighted room staring down the lab's techs that were busy looking through everything file and document that Shield had handed over whilst also testing every rock and sample they had for anything useful. She could already tell it was mostly dead ends, her boss had used his considerable ties to force Shield to share what they had found but even then she knew they had only handed the bare minimum to comply with order anything actually useful they would have kept to themselves.

However, as she thought that she noticed one of the lab techs a young woman off to one side furiously scribbling down notes with a massive grin on her face, who using a large piece of equipment to analyse something. Mercy was clever very clever, but she had no idea what the machine did, but what she did know was the young woman seemed very happy about something.

Gently so not to attract attention Mercy glided over to the young woman, she must have been in her early twenties no older than 24, she wore a standard white lab coat over a green blouse, wore thick spectacles, and had naturally bright red hair. In all fairly pretty Mercy noted in the sort of geeky sort of way. Reading the name tag she had pinned to her chest, Mercy got her attention by clearing her throat, closing the young woman to yelp in surprise and dropped her clipboard, forcing her to her knees to pick up the paper that had been strewn across the floor.

"OH! Sorry, sorry," The young woman apologised as she got back up adjusting her glasses that had become skewed.

"Don't worry about, Dr Isley, is it?" Mercy gave her best fake smile, trying to seem approachable and friendly, apparently, it worked too well as the woman in front of her blushed slightly.

"Um yes, Pamela Isley, Uh Doctor Pamela Isley, because you know I'm a doctor." The now named Pamela stumbled over her words, clearly not used to talking to people. Given her age and nature, Mercy guessed she was likely a child prodigy that had never really clicked with her peers, likely breezed through school before her boss had discovered her.

"Well, Pamela I'm Mercy it's nice to meet you." Mercy decided to continue with the friendly act adding a little light flirting as well, hoping it would but the young woman off guard and more eager to share her results. "So what have you discovered, Pamela?"

Mercy's act worked like a charm as Pamela suddenly went into overdrive trying to share her results with the attractive woman who was taking an interest in her. "Oh I found something incredible, take a look at this"

Pamela moved over to the large piece of equipment she had been using it appeared to be some kind of analysing device and in its centre was a petri dish with bright crimson blood in it. Mercy looked at the petri dish for a few moments and just raised her eyebrows at the young woman, before asking "Blood?"

Pamela's smile grew wider, before quickly explaining what she had found "That's what I thought at first, it looks like blood and is a liquid in nature but it isn't, watch this."

Mercy watched as Pamela twisted a few knobs, flicked a few switches and typed a command into a console. A calendar glass protective case rose around the petri dish and before Mercy could ask what Pamela was doing a small laser also descended from the device and started blasting away at the blood. After a few seconds of blinding light, the laser stopped and the protective case retracted showing a slightly scorched smouldering petri dish but its crimson red contents was completely unaffected.

Mercy's face must have shown surprise as Pamela explained. "That laser is used to cut diamonds and other super-dense materials apart for analysis, and according to my readings, it's completely unaffected." Pamela seemed overjoyed with the result for a reason Mercy could not begin to guess. "I've tried everything in here, thrown the full spectrum of radiation and energy known to man and then some, and nothing."

"What is it?" Mercy asked her friendly flirtatious act falling away as she became focused on the substance before her.

"No idea!" Pamela said with glee before continuing "It's organic, I know that much, but at the moment I can't do anything, whatever I throw at it doesn't cause a dent meaning I can't analyse it."

"Can I ask why you seem so excited by that prospect?" Mercy turned to look Dr Isley directly in the eye, nothing the woman had said seemed to elicit the joyous response the woman was giving off.

"Well, Mercy," Pamela said with a smile clearing believing Mercy's previous act had been genuine "If it is indeed organic, and we can get into its genetic makeup figure out why it's like that, we can solve so many problems!" Pamela's eye went distant as she thought about the possibilities. "I'm a geneticist and biochemist, with this I could make Trees that can't be cut down, plants and crops that can survive in all weathers, end the destruction of the ecosystem, this could be the key to saving the world!"

Mercy looked at Pamela with a critical gaze, the young woman was passionate with a fixation on plants there was no doubt about that, and like most young genius scientists wanted to save the world, which is likely how her boss got her to work for him. Her employer was very good at knowing what buttons to push with people and had likely promised Dr Pamela Isley the chance to change the world, which she would but not likely in the way she thought.

"That does sound … interesting, I want you to keep working on this do whatever you have to figure this out, and I promise you it will change the world." Mercy gave Pamela her best smile and a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, which the young woman returned with a smile and a nod.

As Mercy left she could see the almost obsessive look in Pamela's eyes as she stared at the strange crimson blood like it was the focus of all her wants and desires. Mercy noted that Dr Isley would have to be monitored closely to make sure she didn't do anything rash or stupid, and a small part of her pitied the young woman knowing full well if she did succeed in figuring out the strange substance she would likely be taken off the project so that her boss could use it for his own agenda which did not involve saving the rainforest.

As she ascended the stairs heading for the single elevator that could take one out of the subterranean lab she took out her phone and dialled the only number that was in it, it rang for a few seconds before she heard the click that signalled the call had been picked up.

"Mr Luthor, I think we have found something interesting"