The Smallville night was quiet. The sky outside was clear, and the gentle warmth of the evening kept the room at a comfortable temperature. The curtains swayed softly with the breeze, while the ceiling fan spun steadily.
Clark slept beside Diana, their bodies sharing the space with a natural ease, as if synchronized by years of closeness. His chest rose and fell slowly, in complete rest. So did Diana's.
But then, something shifted.
Clark's eyes snapped open, not from noise or movement, but from something far more direct.
[Kael, wake up. I've located the Water Crystal.]
Clark didn't move immediately. Still lying down, he stared at the dark ceiling as his mind registered the familiar voice. The connection was clear, without static, and the gravity in Jor-El's tone made his body truly wake.
'Where is it?'
[It's in Gotham City.]
Clark sat on the edge of the bed for a few seconds. His mind began connecting the dots. Gotham was far — and unstable. Nothing there happened quietly. He rose slowly, moved through the room silently, and pulled the door open without a sound.
He walked to the end of the hallway. The dim light from downstairs was enough. He entered the office, turned on the desk lamp, and powered up the computer.
Sitting in the wooden chair, he adjusted his posture and opened the browser.
He typed "Gotham City" into the search bar.
Headlines flooded the screen almost instantly.
"Explosion Hits Wayne Tower. Authorities Investigate Coordinated Attack."
"Lucius Fox Rescued After Partial Building Collapse."
"Masked Figure May Be Involved, Says Gotham Police."
Clark clicked the first article. Details were sparse but enough to raise alarms.
Explosives had been planted across multiple floors. Lucius Fox was found unconscious, saved by an unknown swift action. No cameras worked during the incident. No reliable witnesses.
Clark scrolled through images of the scene.
Raw destruction. Cracked concrete, shattered glass, twisted beams. No symbols, no familiar marks, no energy signaling anything unusual. Just wreckage. Human.
Some floors had collapsed inward. Others were consumed by fire. No image clearly showed the origin point. No real clues. Nothing tying it to the crystals — not visually.
But he knew.
The crystal's presence was felt, not seen. Jor-El didn't make mistakes.
Clark rested his elbows on the desk, eyes locked on the frozen image of Wayne Tower in ruins. The article's details were thin, but he sensed more behind it. Gotham. The name alone left a strange taste in his mouth.
Deep down, he knew enough to feel uneasy.
Not from personal experience no one in Smallville talked about Gotham. Not in local papers, not in official reports. It was a city that existed on maps but seemed absent from the world. But as a reincarnated soul, Clark remembered.
Gotham was dangerous.
Even without knowing all the details, without clear news of vigilantes or masked criminals, he knew that city was different. Dark. Unstable. The kind of place where hope cost more than violence.
'Bruce Wayne… his parents were killed in an alley. I remember that. But nothing more.'
There was no confirmation that Bruce was Batman. Not in this world. And Clark wasn't sure if that would ever become true here.
But the crystal was there.
And that made the trip inevitable.
Still, something gnawed at him deeply — the idea of stepping into a place where the rules might be different. Where his strength, speed, and even empathy might not be enough.
'If I go… I need to be ready to face the worst parts of myself.'
He closed the browser.
And stared into the dark window.
Clark heard the faint creak of the floorboards upstairs. He recognized the pattern of the steps before even focusing his hearing — light, but firm. Diana was awake. Probably since he left the bed.
He turned off the monitor. The screen went black. The desk lamp's glow still cast shadows on the wall, but his mind was elsewhere.
He climbed the stairs unhurriedly, but certain the conversation couldn't be avoided.
At the hallway, he saw the bedroom door ajar. The soft light from the bedside lamp outlined her sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting.
Clark entered slowly.
He closed the door carefully and approached. Her attentive gaze followed him before he said a word.
Diana looked up as Clark entered. Her expression was calm but alert. Her voice came low, laced with genuine concern.
"Something happen to make you leave the bed at this hour?"
Clark stopped by the bed. He studied her face for a few seconds before answering. He didn't want to lie, but he couldn't tell her everything.
"Not exactly. It's more… something I need to check. It could be important."
Diana held his gaze firmly.
"Is it dangerous?"
Clark took a deep breath. He sat beside her, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Maybe. Or maybe it's nothing. A shot in the dark. But I can't ignore it."
She didn't respond immediately. Just watched the way he clasped his hands, as if carrying something still unnamed.
Clark looked away for a moment. The window let in a faint sliver of moonlight.
"If it's what I think, it could change a lot. But it might also lead nowhere."
Diana shifted slightly, her eyes softening now.
"And you're going alone?"
Clark nodded slowly.
"For now, yes. I need to understand what I'm dealing with before involving anyone."
She didn't question. Didn't push. But the silence that followed said she still had questions held back.
Clark stood. Grabbed the shirt draped over the armchair.
"I'll be back before sunrise."
Diana rose instantly, her expression shifting. Her voice came sharp, firm, with a restrained anger that didn't ask permission.
"I'm a warrior, Clark. I can help you with anything. I'm not just a girlfriend to warm your bed."
Clark froze mid-motion. The shirt still in his hand. The weight of her words hit not from their force, but from their raw truth.
She crossed her arms.
"You keep me out like I'm fragile. Like I haven't faced battles before you even learned to fly."
Clark turned his face slowly, meeting her gaze.
"That's not it."
"Then what is it? Fear of involving me? Fear of losing me? Or is it just easier to make decisions alone because you have the power to?"
He took a deep breath, staying calm. But he didn't answer right away.
Diana stepped forward.
"You trust me in bed, but not on the battlefield. That says a lot."
Clark lowered his eyes for a moment.
"It's not about trust. It's about what I don't fully understand yet. If I'm right, what I'm going to face… has no rules. No guarantees. And I won't risk you in that."
"You don't have that right."
The silence grew heavy between them.
Clark stared at the floor for a few seconds, then lifted his eyes.
"Maybe I don't. But it's what I'm choosing now."
Diana took a deep breath, restrained, but didn't back down.
Clark put on the shirt, still looking at her.
"If I find something solid, I'll come back. And then I'll tell you everything."
She held his gaze to the end. Firm. Broken inside, but unwilling to show it.
Clark crossed the doorway.
Diana said nothing more.
But the air between them… felt different.
📢 Bonus Chapter Available!
Are you following my stories DXD: The Awakening of Phenex, Reincarnation in Smallville, or DXD: Gasper's Awakening?
Then I have a surprise for you!
Support my work on Patreon and gain access to exclusive bonus chapters, behind-the-scenes content, and much more.
Your support means the world to me and helps me keep writing the stories you love.
💖 Support here: patreon.com/22Mirko22
Thank you so much for reading — see you in the next chapter!