“Didn’t we already do this?” Chloe exclaimed. “I thought you said you could get us here without being seen?”
“I thought we did,” Tina said, looking alarmed. “We took the back roads, bypassed the checkpoints, cut across a few fields-” She stopped and hesitated. “Maybe we missed something.”
“Checkpoints?” Clark spoke up, confused. They all looked up at slowly, even Whitney who was still bent over, trying to catch his breath. “I mean, yeah, checkpoints,” he went on quickly. “Um… how long have they had those?”
“Maybe we weren’t the ones to set them off,” Tina remarked quietly.
“We don’t time to pass the blame around,” Whitney said, straightening up.
“Who’s passing?” Chloe asked. She pointed at Clark. “There’s no passing the blame, it’s all right there.”
“Thanks for coming, Chloe,” he remarked.
She smiled in response. “Anytime.”
“If we’re all done here, I propose we run,” Tina said. She started around the side of the car and opened the door. Clark hurried and opened the passenger side.
“There’s an old road that my dad used to take into town,” he said. “We can cut across the back field to get to it. It’s pretty rough, but it’ll keep us off the main roads.”
“And that’ll keep them from catching us for about ten more minutes,” Whitney breathed. They all looked at him and he snarled, “My truck’s unreliable at best. If I can get it past fifty it’s a good day. No way are we going to outrun anyone.”
“Then we hide,” Tina said quickly. “We can hide out in the woods or the barn. Then we can make a break for it when it’s safe.”
Clark looked across the fields to the forest. If they could reach it, they could hide out like before, but he didn’t like their chances of doing it. The forest was good distance off, and the weed choked fields they’d have to cross wouldn’t provide much cover. “They’ll see us when we cross the field,” he told them, “but there’s probably no avoiding it. We’ll have a better chance of loosing them in there than anywhere else.”
“What if they start shooting as we’re crossing the field?” Chloe asked.
“We’ll have to chance it.”
“Hey, some of us aren’t bullet proof here,” she exclaimed.
“Chloe, I don’t want you to get shot either, but there’s no other choice!”
“Yes, there is,” Whitney spoke up. “They already saw me moving the truck. They know someone’s here already. If we run, they’ll shoot; if we hide, they’ll find us. But not if they’ve already got someone.”
Tina stared at him in horror. “No, no! You can’t be thinking...”
“It’s the only way. The rest of you can hide out in the barn while I distract them.” He saw the look on Tina’s face and he closed his eyes, shaking his head. “Please, just do it now.”
“We’re not leaving you to them,” Tina exploded. “We’ll chance the forest,” she said turning around.
“They’re picking up speed,” Clark warned them all suddenly. He stared out through the barn at the dirt road leading up to the farm. “If we’re going to run, we’ll have to do it now.”
“My way is safer,” Whitney yelled at Tina. “If you try and cross the field, who knows what’s going to happen. Clark might make it, but what about you and Chloe? We can’t chance it.”
“It’s not safer for you!” Tina pleaded. “I’m not letting you do this!”
“She’s right, maybe there’s a better way,” Clark said. “I’m the only one they’re really after. If I let them find me, I can lead them away from here.”
“And what if they catch you?” Chloe asked, going pale.
“They won’t,” he said firmly, trying to reassure her.
“But there’s a chance they will,” Whitney told him. “We can’t risk losing you.”
“But we can lose you?” Clark turned to stare at him incredulously. “I’m not worth that!”
“Yes, you are,” Whitney told him seriously. “If we lose you, we’ll lose our best chance of hurting Luthorcorp, I can feel it. Maybe you’re even the key to bringing them down entirely. Why else would they want you so badly?” Clark was speechless at that.
Tina was not though. “But why does it have to be you then?” she demanded. “Chloe or I could do it. We need you too.”
“Hold on there. No way am I doing it,” Chloe shook her head. She raised her hands defensively as everyone glared at her. “Hey, I’m all for an escape plan now, but not one that involves me being the martyr.”
“Don’t worry, we weren’t asking,” Whitney told her dryly. Then he looked at Tina and his voice softened. “It can’t be you anyways, Chloe,” he said, not looking at her. “They’ve already linked you and Clark together. If they find you, they’ll know he’s here.”
“What about me?” Tina asked. “Why can’t it be me?”
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“Because it’s not going to be you,” he told her quietly. “I don’t want it to be.” She winced, her mouth open to say something else, but he stepped towards her and silenced her with a quick, strong kiss. Clark looked away quickly, checking the progress of the caravan. What he saw didn’t improve matters any.
“They’re almost here,” he said quickly. “Whatever we decide, it has to be now.”
“We’re decided,” Whitney told him, pulling back from Tina. He stepped towards them, waving at the barn. “Can you hide out in there?”
“Yeah, there are few places I know about,” Clark nodded. “We should be fine.” He looked past Whitney, staring at Tina. She was as white as a sheet and he could see tears in her eyes, but her mouth was pressed together in a firm line. She looked up at him, and there was something in her eyes that made him stop, a kind of wild desperation. Then her arm came up and she struck Whitney across the back of his neck sharply. He cried out and started to collapse as Clark jumped forwards and caught him.
He gaped at Whitney’s unconscious face and then looked up at Tina. She stared back at him with the same wild look, her throat moving up and down like she choking back sobs.
“What the hell was that for?” Chloe yelled, bending over Whitney.
“I told him I wouldn’t let him do it,” Tina said quietly, almost sounding detached. Clark thought for a moment and then nodded at her. He hefted Whitney over his shoulder and straightened up.
“You’ll have to distract them somehow,” he told her. She didn’t seem to hear him, and he touched her shoulder, getting her attention. “Do you still want to do this? We can still try and make a break for it.”
“No…. No,” She shook her head slowly. “They’re too close, I can hear them. Besides, if anyone can turn them away, I can.” Looking up at him, she hesitated. “If anything happens, don’t tell him about me,” she pleaded.
“Don’t think like that,” he told her firmly. “We’ll make it.”
She didn’t seem very hopeful though. “If we do, he’ll have questions,” she said quietly. “What happens then?” Clark couldn’t think of what to say to that.
“Clark, come’ on!” Chloe called out. She nodded towards the barn nervously.
Hefting Whitney again, he nodded and looked at Tina again. “If he does,” he said, “we’ll just have to answer them.” She frowned and looked away. “We’ll find a way,” he promised. Then, the sound of the Luthorcorp caravan pounding in his ears, he turned and ran towards the barn with Chloe close behind him.
The barn stood at the corner of the farm, the largest of all the buildings. It wasn’t in as bad condition as the others, a testament to the care and effort generations of Kents had put into its construction. Clark pulled the barn door open with one hand, the other steadying Whitney on his shoulder. Chloe ran through the opening and Clark followed after her, pausing to glance back at Tina. She was standing by the truck, watching them go. As she saw him looking, she nodded and turned to face the other end of the farm, where the dirt road ended.
“Clark!” Chloe’s voice called him back. He glanced back at her and nodded slightly, and then he pulled the door shut behind them. Forcing himself onwards, he carried Whitney to the back of the barn where Chloe was crouching.
“Why did she do that?” she asked him, looking confused.
“Because she could,” he told her quietly. “And because she could, she had to.” She blinked in confusion, but he waved her questions away. “We don’t have much time left.” He led her straight away to a corner of the barn that was stacked with tools and other rusted bits of tractors and mowers. Bending down, he scanned the floor boards intently and then smiled and pried up the corner of one plank in particular. It came away easily, revealing a handle stuck the floor. As he pulled it up, more boards came with it, revealing a hidden cellar door.
“Neat,” Chloe said quietly, staring down into it. “I didn’t know most farms came with those.”
“Most don’t,” he grunted, shifting Whitney around on his shoulders and looking down into the hidden cellar. “Apparently, I had a great-grandfather who used to run a distillery on the farm during Prohibition. He built this to hide it when people started nosing around. We use it to hide my ship on the farm.” He nodded to her quickly. “There’s stairs, but I don’t know if I’d trust them after all this time. You better go first; I can help you down and then lower Whitney to you.”
Chloe nodded and sat down on the edge of the cellar, taking his hand. Slowly and carefully, she eased over the edge and he started to lower her down. She suddenly blanched and wrinkled up her face. “What’s that smell?” she asked, gagging.
“Bat guano,” he remarked. Her eyes rolled a little wildly, but she forced a grin on her face. He smiled at her quickly and felt her touch the bottom. Letting go, he took Whitney by the shoulders and slowly lowered him down into the cellar as well. He could hear the trucks outside the barn now. They were almost right on top of them. Unable to wait, he dropped Whitney the last few feet and then scrambled in after him, pulling the door shut behind them. Strangely, he thought of Bruce for a moment as he dropped down into the fetid cellar. Then the door slammed shut above him and everything was silent.
“Come’ on,” Tina hissed at herself, standing alone as the others ran off. “What are you scared off? You knew this would happen one day. It’s not like you haven’t had plenty of time to get used to it.” Her voice was the only thing brave about her. She knew if she could move her legs, she’d be running right now. Every fiber of her being, every survival instinct she’d ever honed to survive here, was screaming at her to run before she was discovered. Instead, she stood as if rooted to the ground, listening to the sound of the cars get closer and closer.
This isn’t going to work, a part of her screamed desperately. This isn’t going to work, you’ll going to get caught and put in a cage and poked and prodded and cut up till there’s nothing left of you- Shaking her head, she tried to shut the voice up, but it was impossible to ignore it. It was, after all, the voice of her mother talking to her.
“Shut up, shut up,” she told herself. “This is for Whitney. It’s for him, not for me. I can’t screw this up.” Her mother’s voice receded a little, but she could still hear it, humming away worriedly in the back of her mind. “It’s for him,” she said again. “It’s for him.” Her voice quaked in her throat as she repeated it.
The cars were getting close now. She could hear them rumbling just past the bend in the road. They’d be within sight in moments. “Better get ready,” she muttered, drying her hands against her sides. Quickly, she stripped, and threw her clothes into the bottom of the truck, and then stood naked in the middle of the farm. With effort, she closed her eyes and concentrated, frowning intensely. It had been a long time since she’d used her powers, but the change came almost instantaneously. Her skin writhed and started to shift, flowing over her growing bones. She could feel her hair grow out of her scalp, changing color and texture. Concentrating, she forced her skin to change composition and form into a suit, duplicating the texture and feel of the cloth. Other changes happened as well, all over her body. It had taken a bit of time to get used to those sort of changes, she hadn’t been meant to be a man and still felt uncomfortable in a man’s body, but she didn’t have time to think about that now. When it was done, Tina Greer was gone, in her place stood a tall, craggy looking man in an impeccable suit. His brown, wavy hair flowed wildly behind him. Lionel Luthor stood in the young girl’s place.
She flexed her mouth gingerly, moving her head side to side and cracking her neck. “There,” she said experimentally, judging the quality of her new voice and finding it satisfactory. She brushed off his suit and readied herself, staring out over the farm. Trying to smile, she kept her nerves tightly contained, waiting.
The first of the cars rumbled around the bend and into the farm. They were all dark gray and looked cruelly powerful. The windows were tinted like mirrors, keeping her from seeing inside. They all bore the swept back Luthor Corps insignia. The first cars circled the farmyard and screeched to a halt, and soldiers poured out, standing at attention. She smiled and nodded to them genially, but they didn’t respond. Then the rest of the cars poured into the yard.
Her smile started to falter as they kept coming. Whitney had looked frightened when he’d warned them, but she’d assumed it had been just shock, he couldn’t have seen that many of them. But after a minute’s time, the cars were still pulling into the yard. They eventually ran out of room in the yard, and the last of the cars rumbled to a stop outside the gate. There was silence for a moment as she stood there, smiling nervously at them. “Very good,” she said to them in Lionel’s voice. “Very good.”
None of the soldier’s responded. This isn’t going to work, we should have run, her mother’s voice moaned at her quietly. Glancing around, she started feel the sweat trickle down the back of her neck. “Who’s in charge here?” she asked after a moment, smiling.
In response, one of the cars parked in the center of the farm yard opened its doors. She turned to it, but instead of the grizzled commander she’d been expecting, a young girl stepped out of the car. Tina felt a shock go through her as she stared at her. The girl had short, black hair and an almost exotic cast to her face. She was also wearing a Luthor Corps uniform. She stared at Tina coldly, waiting.
Flustered, Tina tried to recover herself. “Explain yourself, soldier,” she demanded. The girl raised one of her eyebrows slightly, and then looked inside the cab of the car she was standing besides for a moment. Then she nodded and looked back at Tina. In one clean movement, she swung a small gun up and aimed it at Tina.
“Wait!” she said, throwing her hands up. The girl fired and Tina was knocked off her feet. She tumbled roughly and then lay there, stunned, her right shoulder a white-hot ball of pain. Slowly, she pulled herself up, almost blinded by the pain racking her body. Blood was coming out of her shoulder in spurts. Covering her shoulder gingerly, she stared up at the girl. She still had the gun leveled at her.
“What are you doing?” she rasped. “Don’t you know who I am?”
The other car door opened on the other side of the girl. A tall, lanky man stepped out, staring at Tina coldly. His red, wavy mane of hair whipped behind him wildly in the wind. She stared at him, feeling the last shred of hope die in her stomach.
Lionel Luthor walked over to her and knelt down beside her. The girl followed after him, and got down on one knee by her head. She pressed the barrel of that strange gun she’d shot her with against her head and waited, her mouth a tight, thin line. Lionel smiled at her snidely and tilted his head, studying her. “That my friend,” he said, “is exactly what we were wondering.”