Prologue.

There was no doubt about it in his mind; he could deny it until the cow's came home. There was one thing that could be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Kal-El, Clark Kent, The Blur, whatever you wanted to call him was dead. His journey concluded. His destiny, if he believed in such a thing, failed in a half of a second. He had no idea where he was now, other than the fact that he was dead.

Earth was doomed. He could see allies fall around him. It was like he was behind an invisible veil, unable to push through.

Friends, loved ones, and even enemies perished after him and the word succumbed to complete and utterly darkness.

"It's sad when something like that happens," a remorseful voice whispered. And she seemed sincere by when she spoke. "It's even worse when you can't do anything about it."

Kal's eyes focused on what appeared to be a young female with pale skin standing next to him. She shimmered beneath him. Surprisingly bright blue eyes looked at him and her hair fell back in a curtain that framed her face.

"The innocent perish the first, those who are crushed by the darkness," she commented to him. "Sorry, when you deal with my line of work, you get really cryptic. There are times where I understand life better than anyone else. The ultimate irony given who I am."

She gave a wistful chuckle in response and Kal's gaze focused on her. His eyes traveled against her face nervously and he took a long look at this woman. She seemed friendly enough, but he knew by now that appearances could be deceiving.

"You escaped one of the greatest tragedies in the universe, the destruction of Krypton, and came to Earth for a purpose," she said, pacing back and forth. "But you don't need me to narrate your own life or the people you lost. You know that better than anyone else, don't you, Kal-El?"

"You know who I am, who are you?" Clark asked with a frown, or rather Kal-El.

He embraced his Kryptonian heritage just seconds after he died. That was really fitting to be honest. If he had been less at odds with himself, found the proper balance between one or another, between Clark Kent and Kal-El, he might have a better chance of doing what needed to be done.

He wasn't strong enough.

"I am one of the Endless," she said to him, a dark tear coming down her face. "I am Death."

"Seriously?" Kal asked her for a second.

"Yes, seriously, I wouldn't jest about something so serious," she commented to him. "You have to understand that I rarely greet new visitors at the gate. Your presence creates…..a problem."

Death raised her hand and halted any interruptions.

"You weren't supposed to die," Death told him and she looked him over. She could see why many women grew attracted to him during his life.

She needed to remain professional. Death couldn't get attached to anyone. That would be bad for business.

"Kal, I don't know where to begin about to you," Death said to him and she smiled. She waved her hand, and waved her hand.

An extremely comfortable arm chair appeared next to them. Clark was about to ask how she could do so but she realized that if she was Death, a simple matter of conjuration was not out of her wheelhouse.

"Could you start about why I wasn't supposed to dead?"

"Your legacy never was supposed to end before it began," Death explained to him. "But it had problems from the start. Jor-El made a mistake, a mistake that he regrets to this day. I know, I spoke with him."

"You spoke with him?" Clark asked.

"He wanted to put his emotions aside so he could prepare you for the mission that you were supposed to complete," Death informed him. "But, in putting his emotions aside, he's created the AI that you know, and has caused you misery."

The grimace which appeared across Clark Kent's face became obvious.

"If I die, then I can be with them," Clark suggested suddenly.

"You're not ready to die," Death said to him.

"And then why am I here?" Clark asked.

Death sighed, she never had a person argue her about not taking them to the beyond. There were plenty of people who argued with her when she took them on. And some cheated their way out of her reward so many times that she wanted to scream. She could tell some stories about some guy called Ra's Al Ghul but that was beside the point.

"You're here because you were sent here by a force that will threaten to corrupt everything, past, present, and future, living and dead," Death said. "The Endless, we're powerful, but there are other beings more dangerous."

"I lost to him, I wasn't strong enough," Clark told her.

"You were, but you didn't find that strength until the second you died," Death said, and she put her forefinger and her thumb together. "You were this close, Clark. Don't think that you weren't either."

Clark just nodded. He got what she was telling him.

"So, you're going to send me back," Clark told her.

Death's response became deadly depressing. "I can't."

"But, I wasn't supposed to die?" Clark asked her. He felt like he was back with Jor-El, going in circles trying to fathom this logic. He needed a completely brain reboot. "But…..you can't send me back?"

"I can't send you back because your body is cold, therefore you would be a spirit trapped inside a lifeless body," Death explained to him. "You will be trapped in Limbo forever, seeing both life and death, but never experiencing either."

Clark gulped.

"But why talk to me then, why have this conversation?" Clark asked Death.

"Because, I can't send you back to a point where you're dead," Death said.

Clark felt it smack him suddenly.

"You did acquire brain damage when you crashed into Earth, so it was understandable that you didn't get it straight away," Death said lightly and casually.

"Wait, I….."

"Nothing severe, and I'm not going to lecture you on that, that's not my job," Death said. "My job is to ensure that no one is dead that shouldn't be."

Death knew what she had to do now.

"I can send you back, but that's all I'll be able to do," Death told him. "And I'm sorry."

Clark knew that she meant it, completely and utterly.

"It's best for me to do this when you're asleep," Death continued and Clark raised an eyebrow in response. "Because otherwise it will be jarring if you get sent back at any other time of your life."

Clark realized that it was his spirit with all of his memories getting sent back to some time in the past. That could be years of information.

"So, are you going to send me back a day, a month, a….."

"I'll send you back to a point where I think that you can do the most good," Death told him.

She would get some serious heat with her siblings for meddling in the affairs of life and Death to this extent. She got explicit instructions to send Kal back only twenty four hours before he was killed. Death chose to take some extremely creative liberties with that edict that came down from above.

"And that will be…"

"Back during a simpler, more innocent time," Death said and she stepped forward. She placed her hand on Clark's cheek. He was surprised about how warm it was considering the fact she was Death. "A time before a lot of insanity happened…..perhaps you can save some people from a gruesome end. But for some, a black heart is destined to be blackened and for some, you can't change the past."

"What do you want me to do?" Clark asked.

"Neutral observer, remember, I can only send you back, and you can do what you feel is right," Death explained. "You may have a slight headache when you awaken the next time, but it will pass before Breakfast."

Death closed the gap towards him.

"I'd hate to let you go, things do get dead depressing, but my needs aren't important right now," Death said, and she looked like she meant that. "So, have you discovered that you can erase people's memories through lip contact?"

"Wait, what?" Clark asked, he never even heard of that ability.

He was completely flummoxed and Death gave a light chuckle at him.

"You must have not achieved that power yet, or maybe I confused you with someone else," Death said in amusement. She leaned towards him for a second, and then pulled back. "I don't throw too many back. Especially a keeper. Consider yourself blessed."

Death leaned into him and she did something that Kal never expected. Her lips pressed against his with a light kiss.

"I can check that off my bucket list," Death replied to him, and she made a mental note to check off Kissing Superman.

"Wouldn't a bucket list be something that you complete before you die?" Clark asked her.

Death snorted. "Ruin my fun, why don't you?"

Clark shook his head.

"I got what I wanted, and there's more than enough of you go around," Death said.

She would suggest who he should go for, but Death doubted that being a dating service would be out of her scope of responsibilities. Like any other third party observer, she had her favorites. It.

"The heart will lead you right, it's your strongest power," Death informed him. "And this is where we part our ways."

She knew that he would do things right, even if the ability of foresight would only go him so far. The timeline he went into would be drastically different just for the simple reason that he went back for the knowledge he did.

Death returned to the menial task of dragging stubborn old men kicking and screaming to the afterlife.

Her meeting with Kal-El might as well have been the highlight of her eternity.

End Snippet.