Chapter 28 – A Fortress of Solitude

(Fury's office - The Triskelion – Late 2010)

The room was quiet as Fury looked at Kal, his one good eye was staring at the alien intensely since Kal had appeared in his office and who had also just responded to Fury's request to stop in a manner that was making Fury wary. And when one is the director of Shield wary of any degree was not a good sign.

"Why what?" Fury asked, hoping that Kal's response was possibly a result of misunderstanding but looking at Kal and knowing him as well as he did Fury believed the chance of that to be almost impossible.

"Why should I stop?" Kal's response was not exactly what Fury had hoped but was also not as bad as Fury feared.

Kal's voice was calm and measured, he was not being confrontational, and he had a genuine curiosity in his voice, it was clear he was genuinely interested in why Fury wanted him to stop. However, it was also clear by his tone of voice, and his body language that although he wanted to know Fury's reasoning for wanting him to stop, Kal clearly had no intention of actually stopping.

"Kal, you can't just show up and start interfering in other people's affairs." Fury's voice was firm and starting to get a little irritated, at both Kal having caused the situation by ignoring the deal they had along with the mountain of trouble that had followed it. "I know you think of the earth as part of the Nine Realms or whatever, but we have rules, boundaries that we cannot cross, and you are causing a lot of people to become worried."

Kal was quiet for a few moments before he let out a small sigh of his own and moved forward with a friendly smile on his face. "My friend I am very aware of those facts, my question, however, is why should that stop me from helping?"

"You know why because it's causing people to become afraid and if it continues, I can't protect you from the repercussions." Fury stated moving forward himself closing the distance between the two men and allowing Fury to look at Kal in greater detail, which was what was worrying him as Kal was not backing down as he had hoped.

"Fury, my friend," Kal spoke softly lifting, one of his great hands and placing it on the shoulder of the spymaster, a friendly smile on his face. "Whilst I do appreciate it, I am in no true need of your protection. Tell me exactly what have I done wrong?"

"You wiped out an entire army in central Africa, hundreds are dead." Fury responded immediately trying to sound as convicted as possible, although it was partly defeated by the clear fact that his apparent outrage at the crime didn't truly reach his eyes.

Kal only sighed a little at Fury's response, he then turned slightly and moved towards the window that overlooked Washington DC. The city was starting to stir in the distance, office lights were beginning to switch on and car lights were beginning to appear on the road, despite the lateness of the year it was starting to get bright as the light of morning started to overtake the darkness of night.

"I killed only those who were going to or had 'hurt' others or attacked me, and I hardly 'wiped out' anyone, I killed less than 100 and in doing so I prevented thousands from dying." Kal's voice was now the one full of conviction and as Fury looked at his old friend's reflection could see it was mirrored there in his eyes. "…Fury they were forcing children to fight, do you truly expect me to just sit back and allow that to happen?"

Fury was quiet as looked at Kal, part of him agreed with the man standing in front of him and out of all the people Fury had ever met with abilities, Kal was one of the few Fury's believed truly deserved them. He was smart, intelligent and despite occasionally having a temper, was a very controlled individual, Kal was one of the few people that Fury didn't think of as a great man but rather a good one. Which was currently the issue, great men made sacrifices, took deals and could be persuaded but a truly good, a truly righteous man like Kal once he was convinced he was in the right almost nothing could stop him.

"So, are we now going to have to listen to you? Do you want me to call the world leaders and tell them, that time for free and independent thought is over and it's the start of the reign of King Kal?" Fury asked, his voice sceptical, although he didn't believe was advocating rulership of the world, he wasn't sure what Kal was actually going to do, it was clear he was going to interfere but to what end?

Kal let out a little chuckle and turned to face Fury who winced slightly as dawn started to truly break behind him. "Why does everyone always assume I wanted to rule? You can assure your leaders I have no interest in ruling or even telling them how to live their lives. I am only here to help, but that will mean if innocents are caught in the crossfire or targeted, I will be getting in involved."

Fury's scepticism in his voice was now matched by the look on his face he had known Kal for a while and whilst he did indeed trust the man, even considered him a friend, Fury was still wary of anyone with the level of power that Kal possessed. Fury had met and seen them all, men and women of power who espoused noble virtues about just wanting to help or use their power for good, and a few were even true, at least in the beginning but no matter the person, it always ended the same way.

A lot of dead people and the person either dead or becoming the very thing they hated.

"Kal, please don't do this, if you do, they are going to make me stop you." Fury stated with as much seriousness as he could, hoping Kal would realise what his current course was leading to.

"You and anyone are welcome to try, but I can assure you, they won't be able to." Kal just gave Fury a small smile as he looked into his old friends' eyes. "And I promise I will or at least try my best not to hurt any agents that you send my way. I am only here to help."

With that Kal made a move towards the balcony door that led to a small balcony that Fury never used and had actually argued against saying it was a security risk, and given that it appeared to be Kal's point of entry he felt that he needed to raise the point again. However, before Kal could leave Fury's voice sounded out again, stopping Kal in his tracks before he could leave.

"Why now?" Fury asked his voice low and quiet, whilst it still sounded serious it no longer held the overarching tone of threatening or impending disaster it previously had. As Kal turned to look at Fury it was his turn to look confused and unsure about what Fury was saying, seeing this Fury decided to clarify his question.

"You've been here for months, and before that, you always made it clear that you couldn't or at least wouldn't interfere in the affairs of mortals, so what changed? What did that ship tell you?" Fury's question hung in the air and caused Kal to pause for a moment before he responded.

"That 'fear is the enemy of hope'" Kal responded recalling the words that the memory of Jor-El had told him, feeling both the weight of their truth but also the freedom they had provided him. "All my life, I have let fear dictate my actions, fear of disappointing my parents, fear of outshining my brothers, fear that I am not the man I think I am, fear that ….. that I will make the same mistakes I did when I did not know any better."

Fury looked at Kal who seemed to straighten at his words and become taller if that was even possible providing the already towering man with an added aura of authority, but there was something else as well. As he spoke Kal seemed calmer more centred about himself than Fury had ever seen before it was like Kal had found his destiny and was now running headlong towards it without letting anything stop him.

"I know to you I may seem young and that I may not know what my actions will unleash," Kal offered Fury a small smile as he continued explaining why he was now acting. "But I am over a thousand years old, I have seen civilisations rise and fall, I have stood by watching wars and horrors beyond your imagining take place and done nothing to keep the peace, to keep the balance …. No longer, I might be wrong, I might completely fail, it might cost me my life, but I would rather act and die trying to do good than spend an entirety pretending inaction benefits, anyone."

As Fury looked at Kal, he finally understood why Kal was now acting, it wasn't just because he had discovered his heritage in that ship or received some kind of message. It was because Kal was a truly good man, and after everything that had happened to him he had finally had enough of following someone else's idea of what good was and was now ready to be his own person, succeed or fail it would be Kal making the choices not carrying out someone else's orders.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" Fury whispered slightly under his breath remembering the quote his mother used to tell him when he was a boy, the slight look of confusion on Kal's face showed Fury that Kal had heard him. "It's a saying on Earth, I can't say I agree with what you are doing, and I am even going to have to try and stop you …... but just be careful my friend."

"You as well Fury, I promise I am only here to help I have no interest in anything else please tell your leaders that …. And if you ever need me just call I will answer." Kal gave Fury a small smile and inclined his head and moved towards the balcony pausing only briefly before adding. "Oh and tell Clint, sorry I won't be able to attend that baseball game he and cooper wanted me to go on."

Before Fury could respond he felt a small change in the air pressure in the room and suddenly found that Kal was gone in his place was just his empty office and an open door that a slight breeze was blowing through. Fury moved over and closed the door tightly releasing a small sigh whilst also making a mental note to fire however was in charge of designing his office security, the balcony door clearly had no alarms on it.

As he moved back to his desk, he suddenly felt the weight of what he had just learned starting to press down on him, he had hoped Kal was just acting on some misunderstanding sense of duty but it was clear Kal was now operating on how different playbook than before. One which would put him at odds with Shield and Fury especially, not because Fury or Shield for that matter didn't agree with Kal's goals but because the people who supported and funded Shield would never stand for aliens showing up and interfering in the delicate balance which was global politics.

They had discovered Captain America's remains at least, Project Rebirth could possibly be restarted, Fury noted the one ray of sunshine that had come out of the whole incident and with any luck that development along with the progress Pegasus was making would be enough to keep the wolves at bay. However, Fury needed something more he needed someone that could potentially help contain Kal if Shield was forced down that route or at least show he had something in the works to keep the Council off his back whilst he figured something else out.

The only issue was that there were only two men reasonably on the planet that could even possibly help with that, and both were very much men who did not want to involve in an already complex situation.

Sighing Fury picked up his phone and glanced at his watch which was showing it was now a little past 6 Am, he decided to roll the dice and go for the lesser of the two evils or at least the least ignorant of his two options. As the phone rang several times, Fury believed he was being ignored or his call had been missed until he heard the soft click that signalled it had been picked up.

"This is Miss Potts, Tony is a little busy at the moment how can I help?" Fury heard what sounded very much like a giggle afterwards and could hear Tony Stark clearly in the background.

"Miss Potts, please put Mr Stark on the phone, tell him it's the man from the Diner." Fury stated bluntly and heard the other end of the line go quiet as he heard Tony scramble for the phone.

(Arctic Circle – 2 Weeks Later -Kryptonian Scout Colonization Ship 0344)

After his departure from Fury's office, Kal had continued on his newly appointed task of giving humanity something to aspire to, he had diverted a river in South America to help irrigate farmlands, he had stopped numerous small arms robberies across the globe and had prevented a genocide in Southeast Asia. However, although he was saving lives and felt proud because of his new sense of purpose currently the results were mixed, opinion about him from what he had seen was divided into three camps.

The first seemed to be the reaction of most governments and Shield, fear, and suspicion, he had watched a report during which a man had ranted about him calling for Kal to be arrested or at least told to leave the earth. The second was genuinely supportive of him, many were calling him a hero and was liking him to a person called Tony Stark or Iron Man as he was apparently known, saying that he was only helping out, that people needed to just let him be and was just doing what the governments couldn't. The third camp, however, was one that troubled Kal, it was by far the smallest group, but it was slowly growing, and it was filled with people who were worshipping Kal as a god, just like the Midgardians of old. At the start, Kal had ignored the group thinking that it was a small fringe group that would slowly die out, but apparently not with each new action he did the group grew.

It had got to the point where after he had helped recused a fishing trawler off the coast of Norway and brought the vessel safely to shore he had been swarmed by a hundred or so people praising and prostrating themselves before him. Including the crew of the ship who had apparently willing sailed into the storm to summon their 'god' to recuse them so that they could bask in his presence and worship him in person. Which was what convinced Kal that he needed a little time to himself and needed to be away from people so that he could plan his next move better and take his mind off things for a bit.

Kal was currently hovering as he looked at the console before him, Kryptonian technology was both amazing and frustrating at the same time, as Kal placed his hand on the console before him which caused a report of the earth's atmosphere to appear. The report caused Kal's brow to furrow slightly as the report although helpful was not what he was after, he moved his hand slightly to the left and found the report replaced with a projected display of the Midgardian Solar System, in front of his eyes.

He released a sigh and withdrew his hand causing the miniature Solar system to disappear, deciding his attempt to try to use his people's technology without his father's program present to guide him was doomed to fail. What he had wanted to do was figure out how to pull up the ship's sensor logs to determine what had activated it, after being buried so long, hoping it would make a pleasant distraction from thinking about the growing cult worshipping him but apparently, he did not possess the acumen to use Kryptonian technology.

As he looked at the console he never realised until this moment how easy and simple Asgardian technology was to use, it was all magic-based, so it was truly as simple as saying what you wanted or just picking up a hammer and wielding it. However, Kryptonian technology was all crystals, genetic codes, and willpower, one needed to know what they wanted and have the willpower to make the machine do it. Apparently, that was by design, as it all originated from studying the infinity stones, his people had specifically designed their technology to be incredibly difficult to use, to prevent abuse. One had to be both Kryptonian to get past the various genetic codes and locks, and possess the right force of will to make the machine work, he guessed the latter was introduced when artificial population control was introduced, meaning only those designed by society would have the correct mental fortitude to use certain machines.

"Jor-El, I need some help please," Kal called out to the room, he didn't know if that was necessary to summon the image of his father, but it seemed to do the trick.

Just as Kal finished his sentence the image of Jor-El materialised next to him, his understanding and patient smile on his face. "How can I assist you, my son."

Kal looked at the image of his father releasing a small sigh as he gestured to the console before him that just sat there unmoving and uncaring at his growing frustration at Kryptonian technology. "Could you please get the sensor logs up for this ship and have it identify what caused it to become active."

"Of course," Jor-El stated kindly and moved his hand in a wave-like motion that caused the console that Kal had been trying to use to spring to life and display all the sensor logs for the ship. "I gather that you are struggling to utilise Kryptonian technology?"

Kal released a frustrated sigh as he looked at the sensor logs on the console. "I am guessing that it came naturally to you because of your …design," Kal spoke with clear frustration in his voice as he also tried to carefully choose a word to describe Jor-El's nature without offending his father.

To his surprise Jor-El merely chuckled and shook his head, causing Kal to look at his father in curiosity. "Oh, by Rao NO, the first time I tried to access a console I accidentally initiated a system-wide purge that caused the power generators to shut down for half of the city of Kandor. So, trust me, my son, it takes time to learn how to use the technology."

"Really?" Kal chuckled at Jor-El's story; it somehow made the projection of his deceased biological father more real. He also realised that it was the first time he had heard a story like it, Odin never shared a story of his failure or himself really, it was always a cryptic lesson or a parable that imparted a deeper lesson, it was never just a story about how Odin had been young once like his sons.

Jor-El as if sensing what Kal wanted, gave his son a small kind smile and continued with a recounting of perhaps the most embarrassing moment in his life. "Yes, it was the first time I got called before the high council. It's also what caused me to meet both my best friend Dru-Zod and … your mother Lara."

Kal paused at the mention of his biological mother, looking away from the sensor logs that were being searched methodically for the source which activated the ship. Kal had been interested in his biological mother, who wouldn't be, but for some reason, he felt hesitant to ask about her, every time he went to ask about her the image of Frigga appeared in his mind halting his tongue. It was different when he thought about his father, Odin had been his father but always a distant one to Kal, the throne and duty came first which Kal had no problem with, but it did mean that he didn't have the same relationship with Odin he did with Frigga.

"What was she like?" Kal asked softly looking at the image of his father who turned to face his son fully and had a look Kal had never seen before. It was a mixture of joy and lament, like the memory that he had conjured up was the happiest one he had but at the same time filled him with sadness that it was only a memory.

"Your mother Lara was… incredible, she was the smartest person I ever knew, Lara was a true genius and had a soul of an artist as well. She actually designed this matrix that allows me to talk to you and was she the most hopeful person I ever knew" Jor-El's eyes although they looked at Kal, were clearly looking beyond his son at an image that only she could see.

"I wish I could have known her, known both of you," Kal said feeling a sad smile come across his face as he looked at Jor-El, who blinked returning his focus to his son.

"…. Would you like to see what she looked like?" Jor-El asked softly, his question caused Kal's eyes to go wide and stare at his father for a few moments.

"…. please, if you can." Kal's response was barely above a whisper as he nodded his head.

Jor-El just stepped to one side revealing a tall slender woman standing behind him, where Jor-El had been his spitting image apart from his eyes, the woman in front of him held more subtle similarities apart from her eyes. Gazing into the image's eyes, Kal finally saw eyes as blue as his, impossible crystal blue eyes that held the same inquisitive quality as Jor-El's but did not hold the same critical gaze Jor-El's eyes did. No, his biological mother's eyes were softer yet somehow more penetrating, like Jor-El merely observed and studied the world around him whilst Lara understood it. However, the image seemed hollowed to Kal, it merely stood there her hands neatly interlaced and placed on her lap whilst her face was a blank expression, revealing nothing about the nature of the person this image once belonged to.

"This was supposed to be a template for another Cerebral Matrix like my own, so you could benefit from the knowledge and wisdom of both of your parents," Jor-El explained gesturing to the unmoving projection of Lara that just stood there lifeless.

"Why didn't you make it?" Kal asked his eyes still looking at the image of Lara, curious as to why if Lara had made Jor-El's matrix she did not make her own, had she not wanted her son to know her?

"….Time," Jor-El stated with sadness in his voice and a forlorn look on his face. "We did plan to, but the council was even more reckless than we believed, we had barely finished your pod and my matrix by the time the planet started exploding. Lara had insisted we make mine first, she was always selfless like that putting others before her own needs."

Kal turned his vision away from the image of his biological mother and back towards Jor-El although the image of his mother was without feeling and gave him no insight into the type of person Lara had been, Jor-El's face alone told him all that he needed to know. The matrix of Jor-El's face told Kal all he needed to know about his deceased parent, she had been someone so wonderful and unique that even the shadow of his father that stood before him mourned her passing so fiercely that Kal for a moment believed he was real.

"So how did you knocking out the power to Kandor, make you meet Lara?" Kal asked in a teasing tone, hoping the question would lighten the sombre mood that had fallen over them. It did the trick as the image of Jor-El suddenly smirked at his son's comment.

"It was only half of Kandor," Jor-El corrected with a jovial tone entering his voice as he responded to his son's teasing question. "And you see your mother had just become a junior member of the Science Guild, when I knock out the power she-"

Jor-El cut himself off as his head suddenly snapped towards the console that had been going through the ship's sensor logs, before Kal could ask what was happening the image of his mother had been displayed and Jor-El had transported himself to the front of the console. Kal moved over swiftly and saw a series of logs had been selected and opened by Jor-El who was calmly examining the very large energy spike the sensors had picked up.

"What is it?" Kal asked looking at the logs, trying to decipher the share amount of information that was being displayed in front of him. From what he could understand the ship had become activated after detecting a very unique type of cosmic radiation.

"It appears that this world is home to the Space Singularity," Jor-El stated calmly as he pointed to several of the logs, which then opened up an image of a glowing blue cube, which Kal recognised as the Tesseract. "You know it better as the Infinity Stone associated with Space, huh it also appears to still be housed within its the Kryptonian case."

"Wait the Tesseract is Kryptonian? And on Midgard?" Kal asked in surprise, he had heard stories of the crown jewel of his father's treasures but had never heard where it had been hidden or that it was actually a relic of Krypton.

"Yes, the Tesseract as you call it was constructed by our ancestor Var-El, to house the Space Singularity, quite the scientific feat. He then used it to create the first phantom Drives that allowed our people to explore space and other dimensions at will," Jor-El explained gesturing to the screen that now displayed all Kryptonian information on the Space Stone. "From these readings, it would appear the Space Stone is on earth, and someone is experimenting with it."

"Can you tell where it is?" Kal asked, his voice holding a great sense of urgency, due to the fact that the Tesseract was far too dangerous for humans to use and if Kal could get hold of it he could potentially return to Asgard using the power of the stone.

"Unfortunately, not, the sensors are still repairing themselves and it appears that someone is masking the cube's energy signature," Jor-El replied a frown forming on his face as he clearly did not think humans had advanced even that far. "This is troubling a presence of stone and in the hands of a primitive race could be devasting, I believe its time we activate this ship's construction mode."

"Construction mode?" Kal asked as he suddenly found Jor-El moving away from him towards the centre of the room as a pedestal rose from the ground with a red glowing crystal in its centre.

"Yes, I told you this ship would have been used to construct an outpost to facilitate colonisation of this world, well you are going to use it to build a Fortress in order to protect this ship, yourself and the Genesis chamber," Jor-El explained as he stopped next to the pedestal waiting for Kal to join him.

"A Fortress?" Kal asked both a little wary and curious at the same time, he had thought about building something to hide the ship better but had not thought of a fortress or even considered the ship could aid him.

"Yes, my son, a place of solitude where no one but you and those you trust can enter. This is a Kryptonian growing crystal, also known as a Sunstone, merely hold it in your hand, picture what you desire in your mind's eye, then bury it in the ice and the Crystal will do the rest," Jor-El responded placing as hand out and gesturing for Kal to take the red glowing crystal that was resting on the pedestal, a reassuring smile on his face.

Kal moved forward cautiously and looking at Jor-El who was giving him a wide encouraging smile, gently picked up the crystal and suddenly felt like something was tapped into his mind. Kal took a deep breath as he started picturing what exactly he needed the crystal to create.

(Next Day - Malibu, California - Tony Stark's Mansion – December 2010)

Virginia "Pepper" Potts walked through the Malibu Mansion and sighed slightly at the garish Christmas decorations that her boyfriend Tony always put up around this time of year. What made it worse was that Tony didn't even really celebrate Christmas he just liked putting stuff up and then taking it down to tinker with it, then sticking up the 'improved' version.

However, what Pepper guessed made her most irritable during this time of year was the heat, she was a midwestern girl herself and was used to about 6 feet of snow before even December was on the radar let alone the holidays. As she pushed open the door that led to lower levels of the mansion where Tony's man cave or 'workshop' as he called it was located, she was thankful that Tony's almost childlike obsession with decorations didn't extend down into this part of the mansion.

"Jarvis could please pull the file labelled; problems Shield can't solve without me." Tony's playful voice sounded out clearly across the basement as Pepper descended down the stairs.

As Tony came into Pepper's view it was clear that Tony had been in his work mode for the last two weeks since he had received that cryptic call from someone, ever since then Tony had disappeared down here, tinkering away on a new suit. Usually, Tony simply told her what was going on, she was probably the one person with that he eventually shared all his secrets with she even knew about the Avengers Initiative that Tony had been rejected by, however, this was different Tony had hardly said two words to her since getting the call.

"Tony" Pepper called out as she started walking over to Tony's desk trying to get his attention, however, he remained oblivious to her, focusing solely on something on his screens. "TONY!"

However, her raised voice still did nothing, which surprised her as it usually did the trick of managing to get Tony to at least acknowledge her over his blaring music but whatever had his focus was even more distracting than his usual choice of music. As she came closer, she saw that Tony had all of his screens turned on, and filled with images, videos and word documents several of which had the Shield logo in the corner. A sinking feeling entered her stomach she had suspected the call Tony had got was Shield related and this confirmed her worse fears, although she liked Phil Coulson the Shield agent she occasionally spoke to, what she had learned about Shield had told her one thing, when they showed up trouble followed.

"Tony, you've missed three calls from investors, so you really need to tell me wha-" Pepper started her usual admonishment talk to Tony that always got him back on track but stopped as she suddenly saw the images Tony was looking at.

They were all of one man, a man that Pepper had seen the news and media talk about for the last month since he appears on the world stage, it was the being that called himself Kal. Pepper gazed at the images, she recalled the media had called him a few things, the polite ones were mainly Man of Steel, God of Strength, and even Superman, the latter she found to be a little too on the nose. However, they had also called him Alien Invader, Homicidal Butcher and the Greatest threat to the world, even some of the more moderate news outlets going with that narrative that humanity had to defend itself from the Alien interloper.

Pepper herself was more than a little divided on Kal, in truth she had only really learned about Kal because ever since he had shown up more than a few generals had called her as the new CEO of Stark Industries all but begging her to start making weapons again. On one hand, this Kal individual seemed to be doing a lot of what Tony had done when he first started as Iron man going to dangerous places and intervening in conflicts to make sure that people weren't caught in the crossfire and generally just helping out. However, he was doing it on a scale Tony had never dreamed of being able to do when he first started, he was diverting rivers, stopping tsunamis, and earthquakes, and ending genocidal conflicts.

All of which he was doing without a suit of advanced armour, Pepper wasn't sure what was scaring people more, the fact that Kal was alien or that he was capable of what he was doing with what seemed to be natural abilities. In truth, she believed for regular people it was likely that he was an alien, a mysterious unknown individual that made them question their importance to the universe. However, for people like her and governments it was likely what Kal could do more than what he was, she was sure a large part of why Tony was tolerated was because his suit was at the end of the day human technology, even though incredibly advanced there was a chance people could replicate it, but with Kal that was not an option.

"Tony?" Pepper whispered as she finally reached his desk and stood next to him, her voice quiet with worry and fear for her boyfriend. "Why has Shield sent you this?"

"Pepper, what are you doing here, you're supposed to be in New York for the purchase of the land for the tower until the end of the week?" Tony questioned as he blinked and looked up at Pepper as if she had just suddenly appeared next to him, confused at why she was even on this side of the country let alone in his house.

"Tony it's Tuesday, I closed the deal 3 days ago did you not get my messages?" Pepper raised her eyebrows at Tony more worried that he seemed to have lost track of the days than annoyed that he had apparently forgotten she had called.

Tony eyed his phone quickly and saw that it had a total of over 40 missed calls and twice as many unanswered texts, he swore slightly and made a mental note to update Jarvis with a new feature that allowed his AI to respond to calls and text on his behalf. Not wanting to focus on that however for the moment or what he was currently planning on doing he just gave Pepper his best boyish smile and grinned at her.

"Oh you closed the deal, that is great!" Tony said with a grin as he stood up and placed his hands on Pepper's arms affectionately, subtly positioning himself between her and his screens. "Tell you what give me half an hour to get ready, you slip into that lovely red dress of yours and I'll take you to that restaurant you like on the beach my treat, hell I'll buy you that restaurant."

Pepper just gave Tony a blank stare as his boyish smile became strained slightly as his girlfriend immediately saw through his feeble attempt to distract her from what he was doing. "Tony, what is all this?" Pepper asked forcefully as she sidestepped Tony and gestured to the screens that were still on.

"Oh that its nothing, just a little light resear-" Tony started talking again laying out the charm thick that worked on nearly everyone but his girlfriend, who just cut him off with a stare.

"Tony" Pepper's voice was raised and she gave him the glare that always made him cave.

Forcing out a deep sigh Tony ran a hand through his hair, he then turned back to the screen and pressed a small button on his desk that caused the display that showed his Iron Man suits to become active. A whirling of gears could be heard as the floor opened up and a new suit that Pepper hadn't seen before rose out of the ground, it was somehow bulker and yet sleeker than his previous one, and it was clear that he had only just finished adding his red and gold colour scheme to it.

"That is what I have been working on, it's a new design the Mark A-I. Most advanced I have ever done." Tony stated with a slight pride in his voice as gestured to the masterpiece of metal, before going quiet and adding in a small whisper. "It's designed to …"

As Tony trailed off Pepper looked away from the new armour her eyes immediately went to the screens focusing on a video of Kal in south-east Asia as he cut a tank in half with his heat vision, only to then place himself between a small family and a hail of bullets shrugging them off like it was nothing.

"Tony, why on earth would you want to go fight him?" Pepper asked in disbelief, not understanding why Tony would have any reason to fight the alien god, unless…...

"Shield has asked me to find, and I agreed to help," Tony stated quietly not meeting his girlfriend's eyes, whose own eyes just went wider with disbelief somehow.

"You agreed to fight him?!" Pepper yelled her voice in utter disbelief and astonishment. "AND since when did you start working for Shield, let alone agree to be their hitman?!"

"Hey, I didn't say fight and I am not working for Shield. I am just helping out is all." Tony defended himself his voice more than a little defensive for his pride, not liking that Pepper thought he had sold out.

"And why did you agree to help out?!" Pepper asked in response her voice still raised in disbelief, as she then gestured to the video of Kal playing on a loop. "No offence Tony but that seems a little out of your league. That man, thing, BEING, whatever he is, he is basically a god. And you are a guy in a metal suit."

"That's why I agreed to help." Tony responded his voice raised not in anger but just to try and get Pepper to hear him and calm down, he then continued. "Look, this guy is scaring people, a lot of very powerful people, and apparently, he isn't listening to Fury, which means that sooner or later someone is going to do something stupid. So, Fury just wants me to find where this guy is hanging his cape, and have a little talk with him about scaling it back a little, which will help alleviate summon of the fear going around. I promise the suit is just a precaution."

Tony gave Pepper a reassuring smile, it wasn't his charming or playboy one but the one he reserved only for Pepper, the one that told her he was being honest with her and that he was being truthful. Pepper sighed slightly and didn't fight it when Tony moved in and gave her a quick hug and peck on the cheek, she was feeling a bit calmer but no less worried, as Tony broke away from her, she gave him a worried look.

"Tony I am still not sure about this," Pepper sighed as she just looked at Tony and nodded back to the screens that showed Kal. "I mean this guy is crisscrossing the world in seconds and every government has been looking for him, how are you even going to track him down?"

Pepper instantly regretted her question as Tony just gave her his insufferable smug smile that he always gave when he was about to explain something that showed just how much more clever he was when compared to everyone else. Tony suddenly moved back to his desk and closed down the files that were showing Kal, and quickly typed in something that caused the room to go dark and a holographic image of earth to be displayed. A large red pulsating dot was being displayed nearly in the middle of the arctic circle, which Pepper guessed was both where Kal was and as likely just about as remote as one person could get.

"I have already found him, using a series of brilliant calculations, incorporating approximate speed, size, shape and directions when he arrives to help. Along with another ingenious program that is able to track objects of a certain density through the atmosphere, and with the help of a couple dozen or so burrowed government satellites." Tony explained with an almost childlike grin on his face as if he was explaining a science fair project, but was cut off by Pepper who butted in to his explanation with alarm.

"Wait Tony you hacked the government satellite network again?" Pepper asked in alarm remembering the eight hundred or so phone calls and lawyers she had to deal with last time had done such a thing, along with the not-so-subtle warning that the NSA had given her to not let him do that again.

"NOT THE POINT" Tony responded clearing his throat loudly as he pressed on with his explanation skipping over his very illegal act. "All of which, has given me that location deep in the arctic circle. Which I can reach in just under 2 hours with the new Mark A-I armour"

"So, when are you going?" Pepper asked quietly, looking back at Tony realising that nothing she could say could keep him from going.

Tony just gave her a flirtatious smile and grin, "That depends if you are still in the mood for that offer dinner I made?"

Pepper just sighed and rolled her eyes, remembering that even when Tony was being selfless and agreeing to go confront a superpowered alien, he was still Tony and even that could wait until after dinner.