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who: Clark and Bucky
what: Making friends and influencing people.
when: Today.
where: The abandoned part of the city.
warnings: None.

[ There are a lot of areas in the abandoned city impassable for humans. Clark's been exploring them when he can: most often he's out here for short periods of time, or with Ellie.

The past week he's been here on his own, hard at work clearing the rubble and securing the area. It's a distance from the outer fence, but that won't stop any of the bigger monsters. Clark is more worried about others with abilities coming across it when it's being used, but he plans to be here with its intended occupant during that time. Looking after him is the same as promising to be there when it's needed.

He tracks the whir of Bucky's arm, and waits until Bucky's alone. Clark lands slowly a few metres away, speaking with concern. ]

How've you been?

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[It takes a second before he understands - Kal El and Clark Kent.]

I'm not giving you another name.

I'm not calling you the Winter Soldier.

[ Or the Asset. 'Simon' is fine by him, honestly. It's a better name than either. ]

Should I be using 'Simon' in front of others?

[He would probably punch Clark if he called him the Soldier, even if it would only end in his own knuckles being broken.]

If you want, but you're the only one who has that name.

[ He smiles wryly. ]

You don't look like a Simon.

[ The soup's been cooking and smells done now, so Clark offers the ladle to Bucky. ]

I'll avoid names where possible.

[ He'll follow Bucky's lead if it's necessary. ]

[He takes the ladle in his metal hand just in case it's too hot, and tries a sip.]

It's good.

[Though, with the stolen fare he's been eating, anything hot and fresh would taste amazing. He hesitates a second. He doesn't quite smile, but his neutral expression gets slightly more peaceful.]

And what does a Simon look like?

Help yourself.

[ Now that Clark doesn't have to pretend in front of Bucky, he probably won't take any soup. ]

I'm an alien, remember?

[ This is how he gets out of the weak joke, with another one.

At least he didn't say all humans look the same. ]

[He raises one eyebrow just slightly.]

Will you tell me about it?

[It might be easier to handle having revealed some things about himself if he has secrets of Clark's in return.

He sets the ladle back in the pot for now and pulls his backpack, always with him, closer to his side so that he can rummage inside and take out a tupperware container that will work as a bowl.]

[ He hesitates.

Lois was the first to ask. His parents said there'd be people like her, but Clark finds it hard to let go of a lifetime's wariness.

Though, trust sometimes comes later. ]

What would you like to know?

Everything.

[Even though the answer is deceptively mild, there's an undertone of hardness to it. He does want to know in order to figure out how much he can trust in return, but it's also a test of what Clark said.

Is there nothing that can't be talked about, or does he have a double standard when it comes to his own secrets?]

[ He's not used to talking about them. Clark fumbles.

What was the first thing Lois asked? ]

Er. [ He gestures to his chest. ] This isn't an S. It's my family's crest. It means hope.

[Hope. That's a good family crest to have, maybe it explains a little of why Clark is the way that he is.

It's probably not at all comforting, but Bucky doesn't say anything. He just sits and watches with intense eyes, focused fiercely on Clark to absorb every bit of knowledge, waiting for the whole story.]

[ That gaze isn't unsettling at all.

Clark's only uncomfortable because he has no idea where to start discussing his heritage. He knows barely anything about being Kryptonian, and the only ship that could have told him anything has been confiscated by the US government.

Bucky is expecting an answer. ]

I grew up on Earth, in Kansas. I'm from a planet called Krypton. Humans have only just made first contact with my people. We're the first extraterrestrial civilisation they know about.

[He has a lot of questions already.

Why grow up on Earth and not Krypton? How far away is Krypton exactly? Are the Krypton people all as peaceful as him? What can they do? What are their weaknesses? Did he know he wasn't human?

But he doesn't ask any of them, he just issues a single low order.]

From the beginning.

[He wants the whole story. Very demanding considering the scraps he's given Clark in return, but he's testing how far he can push it.]

[ Clark sighs quietly. Not for the first time, he wishes for Lois. She knows how to make this a story.

All Clark has are scraps. Like his heritage is an elementary school art project. ]

I'm not sure what to tell you. I didn't know what my world was called until a few weeks ago.

[At least that answers a couple of questions, though it does raise others. He finally takes pity and says something more than a couple of unhelpful words.]

Why not? Why did you grow up on Earth?

[ Clark speaks quietly and measured. ]

My biological parents did it to save my life. Krypton's no longer habitable.

[ The loss of his world was for him, his father's AI, and Zod's followers. With two out of three gone, it belongs only to Clark. He's not inclined to share that. It invites too much pity. ]

My father left me a message on the ship that brought me to Earth. There was no compatible technology to play it until humans dug up a Kryptonian scout ship that had been sent to Earth millions of your years ago.

[No longer inhabitable could mean a whole variety of things, but he lets that thread drop for now and focuses instead on Clark's personal story.]

The people who raised you must have known what you were, they told you when that ship was found?

[Or before? He had said just a few weeks back.]

Didn't you notice you were different when people broke their hands trying to high five you?

[ Clark shakes his head minutely. ]

No. My powers didn't show until the third grade. My mom and dad got so worried when I was around other kids... I stopped doing it. I knew I was different. A few years later, they told me the whole truth. They'd thought someone would come looking for the ship, either the government or my people, and no one had.

[He's quiet for a minute or two, just slowly eating his soup and thinking. It doesn't seem like Clark has had a bad life from the way he talks about his family, but there must be something else there. A reason why he feels the need to isolate himself for being an alien.]

What happened after the ship was found?

[Was it something in the message he said had been left?]

[ The reason is loneliness. ]

Let's say it could have gone better.

[ There was no chance of that. Zod and his followers were fanatics. Clark looks down, swallowing heavily. ]

It signalled other Kryptonian ships. The one that answered had a group of soldiers onboard, who announced themselves to the human race, then sent down World Engines meant to terraform the planet. They wanted it to become a new Krypton. The atmospheric and ecological changes would have murdered every human being on the planet. They wanted me to join them, but I sided with humans.

I'm the only Kryptonian left on Earth.

[ Or the only one in the universe. He'd like to think (and hope) otherwise, but Clark has always felt different and alone.

He wouldn't be surprised if he was the sole survivor. ]

[It's such a deceptively simply told story, just a few sentences with only the facts rather than any emotion involved. It doesn't stop it from being deeply affecting. There's a whole war in the subtext, a man having to choose between his birth family and his adoptive one, and probably a lot of death.

He doubts Clark is the only Kryptonian left on Earth because they all chose to walk away peacefully.

That does explain a lot more, though. He's been hurt, and the people of Earth are probably scared of Kryptonians after what happened, he'd just be lumped in with them. He's seen it on the news with the Avengers sometimes, one dangerous person with super-powers makes all of them slightly distrusted.]

Do you think you made the right choice?

[It's a very mild question, he won't judge either way, he just wants to know.]

[ That's the question, isn't it? Clark sighs quietly. ]

There was no other way. The important thing is Earth's safe.

[ If he sounds like he's parroting it from someone, it's because his mother and Lois have been trying to hammer that in. Clark's sense of guilt runs very deep. ]

I'm not asking if there was another way.

[Choice is the important thing here to him, if Clark really feels he made the right one or not.]

I don't know.

[ His shoulders drop and he looks at the crackling fire.

Zod wanted to die. ]

I think it was the only choice.

[This is the most he's probably said in one conversation since the 1944, and that's both a sad thought and a little hopeful.]

I won't tell anyone what you are.

[It's clearly a secret he wants to keep hidden, and Bucky wants to assure him that he'll do that even after hearing the story.]

So-- how old are you? Do Kryptonians age like humans?

[They must do, right? Or his parents never would have been able to pretend at all. It's strange, though, to think of this powerful man having gone through school like everyone else.]