Being Lana Lang had its benefits, Tina had to admit as she walked through the base.

She tried to not seem nervous as she went, but the more she tried to seem inconspicuous, the more noticeable she seemed to become. She would come to a turn in a hallway and blank out momentarily on where to go, her usually flawless memory failing her; or she would find herself clenching and unclenching her fists again and again in spite of herself. Thankfully, no one seemed to keen on paying much attention to her, or being caught paying much attention, she realized. The LuthorCorp soldiers seemed to avoid her eyes as she passed them and more than a few of the technicians had given her a wide berth.

Apparently Lana is even more antisocial than I am, she thought wildly, and then had to fight back a laugh. God, that would really get them to notice. Calm down, take it slow, like Lex said.

Lex had laid out step by step exactly what she would need to do to immobilize the labs defenses; what sensors to disable, what doors to jam, and what codes to enter. He’d given her the schematics for the base and the patrol patterns of the soldiers to memorize. He’d even given her a face guaranteed to get her through the worst areas unsuspected. The only thing he hadn’t done had been to give her the confidence to do it.

Tina’s stomach kept rolling up and down, which was odd when she thought about it because she wasn’t sure she even had a stomach any more. Regardless of that, she felt like she was going to throw up every time a soldier shifted his weight near her or a door opened nearby. She kept imagining them calling out and alarms starting to blare. You’re going to get caught, there’s no way they won’t know, her mother’s voice cried in her head. Over and over as a child, her mother had drilled into her the danger she was in, how easily the LuthorCorps could find out about her and take her away, and so it wasn’t very surprisingly that now, years later, her mother’s voice came back to her so clearly. You’re going to get caught, you’re going to get caught and they’ll cut you up; they’ll take you away and you’ll disappear just like I said they would. You’ll be gone, just like how I walked out the door one day and never came back. You’ll be gone, just like I…

“Shut up, shut up, shut up,” she mumbled to herself, then glanced around terrified to see if anyone had heard her. Mercifully, the hallway was deserted. She sagged against the wall briefly and wiped at her forehead. “I can’t do this,” she breathed out. “I can’t.”

You can and you will, a different voice said in her mind. Tina had realized she wasn’t exactly the poster child for sanity (when you could be anyone at whim, it was hard to hold onto your own identity), but for some reason, she was actually happy to hear this voice. It was warm and strong, and naggingly familiar for some reason.

You have to do this, everyone is depending on you. Even more, it’s the only way to shut her up finally. You want her gone, don’t you?

She nodded, forgetting where she was for a moment.

Then what are you waiting for, it asked. She took a deep breath and held it for a moment and then started towards a door at the other end of the hallway. It was made from reinforced steel with a computer terminal set beside it. She punched in one of Lex’s codes and then set her hand down on the flat screen, waiting nervously while the sensors scanned it. The locks on the door snapped open with a loud clank, making her jump slightly. Tina closed her eyes as the door swung inward automatically, steadying herself. When she was ready, she stepped inside.

She almost wished she’d kept her eyes closed. Inside was row upon row of weapons, handguns, shotguns, and rifles, tasers and electric batons, gas grenades, mortars, C4, and other explosives. There was a rack of assault rifles that was at least thirty feet long with three tiers, one stacked on top of the other. She stared at the weaponry, swallowing dryly. There was enough here to fight a small war, and this wasn’t even the only armory, there were three more Lex had told her. And these weren’t the only weapons in them.

The back wall of the room was almost completely taken up by a giant machine and set into this machine was a row of rifles. They were in holsters set almost horizontally, so that the handles hung out invitingly. The guns looked sleek and very high tech. There was a little electronic display by each of them that all glowed green. Hesitantly, Tina let her hand touch one of the rifles and then she pulled it out slowly. It was heavy and surprisingly warm, almost hot to the touch. A light had flashed on by the handle when she’d pulled it out. It winked back at her a bright green, evidently ready for use.

These were the meteor rock powered guns that Clark and Lex had told her about, she realized. Apparently the LuthorCorp scientists had managed to harness the radiation from the meteor rocks into a weapon. It was the sort of thing they would do, she thought disgustedly. A part of her wondered idly what would happen if she were hit by one of them. The radiation had changed her before, what would a second dose do? The more she thought about it though, the more she realized it was a bad idea. She’d been shot not that long ago, she wasn’t ready to repeat the experience.

Setting the rifle back into the slot, she turned around, scanning the other wall for a panel. She found it quickly enough, but then froze, staring at it. There was a lock set into it, something Lex hadn’t mentioned to her. “What now?” she muttered, staring at it worriedly. She wracked her brain nervously trying to think if she’d forgotten something, but her mind refused to cooperate. All she could was look around wildly, trying to think of what to do.

Stop panicking, that voice shouted in her mind again. Just calm down and think for a second! The more she heard that voice the more familiar it sounded. Then with a shock she realized she was hearing her own voice, but it was different somehow, stronger and more confident.

Of course it’s your voice. Now stop babbling and listen to me for a second, the voice went on. Look at it, what’s the matter?

“It’s locked, that’s what’s the matter,” she snapped back, realizing she was in the middle of the LuthorCorp base having an argument with herself.

You stupid bitch! Her head snapped forward like someone had slapped the back of her head. Stronger and more confident, as well as being a tad bit impatient, she thought darkly. It’s a tiny lock! Who the hell are you anyways!

“Oh, right,” Tina said, rubbing the back of her head and feeling incredibly stupid. She punched the lock in with one hand and ripped the rest of the panel off the wall. “I wonder if Lex knows a good shrink?” she muttered to herself as she reached into the wall, craning her hand up and feeling for a control box Lex had described. When she found it, she grabbed the last two wires and ripped them out of it, bracing herself for every alarm in the base to go off as she did. But nothing happened. Exhaling loudly, she pulled her arm out and picked up the panel, shoving it back into place as best she could.

“One down, three to go,” she said.

Tina was taking too long, Lex thought darkly. He checked the time on his computer for the fifth time in as many minutes and tapped at his desk anxiously. He was sitting in his office with the lights off, the only illumination from his computer screen. Status readouts from around the lab scrolled by quickly on it. Hamilton and his crew were still observing Clark and his brother in their cell, the majority of LuthorCorps soldiers were waiting in their barracks for a ‘special debriefing’, and most of the technicians or scientists were working in isolated parts of the building. The only thing not running on schedule was Tina. He had expected her to be done with disabling at least three of the armories by now. Instead, she was just finished on the first.

At least she got around to sealing up the barracks first, he thought. His father kept a security force of close to five hundred on staff for the labs. By reorganizing the schedules for them, they’d managed to seal most of them in their own barracks, leaving almost a hundred left guarding key areas. He would have sealed them all in if he could have, but there was no way of pulling them away from certain places without causing suspicion. Areas like Lab 2.

He hit a key and pulled up a quick schematic of the main labs. Lab 2 stood out prominently, the only blank spot on the plan. Not even Lex had access to what was inside it.

Can you see what’s happing? That we’re coming for you? He frowned, thinking hard for a moment. His hand slipped up to rub his now-smooth scalp, still not used to the feeling. That was the part about the plan he hated the most, the one he hadn’t emphasized much in case Clark might have caught on. Other than her story and name, Lex knew next to nothing about the woman in Lab 2. He didn’t know how they were holding her there, what she looked like, even if she could be removed from there safely. What will Clark do if we show up to save her and we can’t even take her out of the room, he asked himself darkly.

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A sudden beeping on his computer brought him back from his thoughts. “Damn it,” he said, studying the message. He pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number quickly. “We’re moving up the timetable by thirty minutes,” he said in a rush, checking his watch hurriedly. “No other changes. Be ready.” He hit ‘end’ and typed in another number. After a moment, he heard Tina, or Lana’s, voice at the other end of the line. “We have a problem,” he told her.

“What is it?” her voice came back worriedly.

“Some of the soldiers still on duty just tried to activate their comms. As their discovering now though, everything has been deactivated.”

“So, how is this bad?”

“It’s ahead of schedule. They won’t be able to radio out, but they still have access to the rest of the base, and if they manage to find out what’s happening before Pete and the others get here…”

“Okay, I get the picture. Can’t you seal them off though?”

“Not from here, the security doors can only be controlled in the control room. Which is where you’re going to meet me in a few minutes.”

“I’m not done with the armories yet,” she protested

“It can’t be helped. Seal up the closest one and meet me as soon as possible.”

“Should I run?”

“Only when you hear the sirens,” he replied grimly. “I’m letting them out.” Then he clicked the phone off, set it down, and started to work. “And trust me, you’re going to hear them,” he muttered under his breath.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Joseph said quietly. He was sitting on his blanket, watching Clark. “They don’t like it when I move around so much. It gets them nervous.”

“I can’t help it.” Clark paced around the cell, staring at the walls and the ceiling, straining his eyes to find some flaw or weak spot. It was hopeless, the walls were pristine and almost seamless except for the door set into the wall at the far end. Even that was crafted almost perfectly, set so neatly into the wall that you might not even know it was there. There was another smaller, almost invisible, slot in the door that he assumed they put food through.

Lex had said, together, he and his brother would be able to force their way out of the cell, but Clark couldn’t see how it was going to be possible now. Every time he came so much as five feet from the door, a light flashed on the manacles and Clark was literally dropped to the floor. It was as if the manacles were suddenly crushingly heavy; it was all he could to drag himself away from the door.

“Not very fun, is it?” Joseph had laughed slightly as he watched Clark struggling on the floor the first time. “I told you they don’t like me going near the door. It turns off if you back away. Sometimes they leave it on when they feed me though.”

Aside from pacing the cell, there wasn’t much else to do. He couldn’t sit there like Joseph, utterly calm and quiet. It was a little unnerving actually, he thought. He just sat there, staring at him, studying every inch of him. Clark guessed it was natural, he was probably the only other person he’d ever seen this closely. He was hard put himself to keep from staring back at him.

“So what do you remember?” Clark asked him, trying to take his mind off the waiting. He saw the surprised look on Joseph’s face and he elaborated. “Before this, I mean. Anything?”

He was silent for a moment and then he said slowly, “Sometimes, if I think back hard, I can remember a large noise and bright lights all around me. And I’m afraid, that’s all,” he said gruffly. ‘Course, I could be just remembering this place,” he added bitterly. “I’ve never been anywhere else in my life.”

“Maybe that’ll change,” Clark said quietly, pitying him.

“Maybe,” he said bitterly. “Do you remember our parents?”

“Not much I’m afraid. I didn’t get to know them either. Not our birth parent’s at least. Some people here took me in, they raised me as their own.”

“Humans?” He sounded incredulous.

“What? What is it?”

“Nothing… What was it like?”

“Hard; fitting in with these powers wasn’t, isn’t, exactly easy.” He had to smile. “I can’t really get to close to anyone, no matter how much I’d like to, not unless I can trust them who I am. I’ve not found too many people who could take it.” He sighed. “Then there’s everything else to worry about.” He counted them out on his fingers. “Worrying about my secret, not using my powers, not being able to really talk to anyone, yeah, then add to that all the other stuff life hands you and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what my life is like.”

He looked over at his brother. “That’s been the hardest part; not having anyone else who would understand. Anyone who could understand.”

“I don’t understand,” Joseph muttered back. The bitterness in his voice was enough to make Clark falter.

“What do you…” he started to ask, confused, but Joseph cut him off with an angry wave of his hand.

“Stop talking, just stop,” he barked. “Shut up.” He stared at Clark fiercely.

Clark gaped back, his mind racing desperately to figure out why he was so upset and then he stumbled over the truth. He’d been sitting here talking to him about all the problems in his life, but he supposed when you looked at it from Joseph’s perspective, Clark’s life must have been pretty easy. He’d never even known a family or life outside this cell. How could I have been so stupid, he thought.

“Joseph, God, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking-“

“I told you to shut up,” he snapped back, looking up. “I’m trying to listen.” He stared up, perfectly still, not even breathing. “I can’t hear the motors anymore. The power’s off. And there are alarms… over there,” he gestured towards the door.

Clark sprang up, trying to listen. “I can’t hear anything,” he admitted.

“Guess we’re not that much alike after all,” Joseph laughed, making Clark jump. Did he know, he wondered

“What else can you hear?”

He smiled grimly. “They’re frightened,” he pointed into past the door. He took a few steps to it and stopped a few feet in front of it. Looking anxious, he hesitated and then thrust his hand towards the door. Nothing happened. Experimentally, he waved his hand around in front of the door and then he smiled back at Clark. “It is off.” He touched the door and his smile faded just as quickly. “The door’s still got power though. Damn it!” he screamed and hit the door roughly with his fist.

Clark slammed into the door right beside him, making Joseph fall back in surprise. He stumbled backwards and sat down in a heap. “I said you might not be in here forever,” Clark said to him.

“You planned this?” Joseph gaped as he caught on.

“I had help,” Clark grunted. He struggled at the door, pushing with all his might. It still didn’t seem to be budging an inch. “C’mon,” he said between breaths. “I can’t do this by-“

Before he could finish, Joseph hit the door right next to him, straining into it. Clark blinked and then started pushing again, struggling to force it open. He could feel his feet start to sink into the floor as the pressure on them grew and grew. And still the door held. He could hear Joseph’s breath was wheezing out in gasps, but he wasn’t faltering either. His face was red and sweating, but his brother was smiling, in spite of it all. Clark smiled back at him, his back straining to the point of breaking. This door might be the best that LuthorCorp could come up with, but it wasn’t going to beat them, he swore to himself. It wasn’t.

It didn’t.

The door tore backwards in pieces, coming apart as the metal shattered. As it did, Clark could hear the alarms going off around them and the screams of people. He shoved a piece of the door aside and glanced around, trying to catch his breath. Joseph was kicking at the pieces of the door still in his way, throwing them aside. They were in the observation lab now, he remembered from Lex’s maps. This was where most of the experiments on his brother had taken place. There were rows of computers and work stations set around the lab, with a large white operating table standing back in the corner. He remembered there was another larger, observation lab above them, but it was usually unoccupied. This one was most certainly not.

Three guards were rushing towards them as scientists were trying to scramble away. More guards were coming from the back of the lab, pushing technicians out of their way as they brought up their guns. One of the guards swung a taser rods at Clark, but he dodged it and shoved him back, sending them man flying back the length of the lab. Then he grabbed another man and sent him flying into the rows of computer, sending sparks arcing into the air. Joseph kicked the last man aside, crying out viciously as he did. Clark glanced up for more threats as he heard the doors at the end of the lab open, but all he could see were scientists rushing out them, no one coming in. Lex had apparently done all he’d promised. In seconds, the only people left in the room were he and Joseph, the last of the guards, and a few injured or just shell shocked scientists. His eyes fell on one of the scientists still standing. With a start, he realized that he recognized him.

Before he could move though, the wall to the side of him exploded and Clark was thrown aside, dazed. The rest of the guards were firing wildly and flinging explosives careless of who they might injure. Clark climbed to his feet, but before he could rush at them, Joseph hit them hard. He smashed into them like a linebacker and scattered them. He was screaming loudly, taking out years of confinement and frustration out on them. Clark smiled and found the man he’d noticed before. He saw Clark look at him and he turned around to run.

Clark sped over to him and pulled on the back of his coat, yanking him off his feet. “Dr. Hamilton,” he breathed out, seeing the man’s terrified face looking up at him from the ground. He started to babble at him, almost incoherent. Clark shook him roughly and then threw him along the length of the floor. He hit the wall in a heap and tried to scramble to his feet, but Clark was there in a moment, holding him off the ground with one hand and shoving him against the wall. “Ready to talk yet?”

“Oh, God, oh God!” he started to yell.

“Where’s Martha Kent?” Clark shouted at him. He shook him again and slammed him back. “Where is she?”

“Lab 2, she’s in lab 2!”

“And where is that?”

Hamilton whimpered and Clark pulled back his fist, his concern overriding his better judgment. That was all it took though, Hamilton cringed and started to talk. “I can take you there, God don’t do anything!”

Clark glared at him, but dropped him, none too gently. “Joseph,” he started to call back, “we’re done here. Let’s get-“

There was a sound behind him that Clark would never forget for the rest of his life. It was wet and muffled and but still the unmistakable sound of bones breaking. He looked back and froze. Joseph had his hands around one of the guards necks and was squeezing it. The sound he’d heard was the man’s neck breaking. But Joseph wasn’t done with him yet. Bellowing, he twisted and smashed the man into the wall by the neck, hard enough to leave a bloody smear there as the man fell to the floor.

Clark could only stare at him, his body turning to ice. Clark knew how to pull his punches, how to control his strength; it had literally been the first thing his parents had taught him. Joseph apparently didn’t know, or didn’t care. The soldiers he’d tackled lay around him in heaps, their bodies horribly twisted or mangled. They looked like they’d been caught in the gears of some machine and ground into pieces.

Joseph stood there, rubbing his knuckles and swaying slightly. He started to look at Clark, but something distracted him. There was a young woman, one of the technicians, bent over a workstation, apparently injured in the rush to get out. She looked young, hardly any more than a girl. She was coming to slowly, starting to pull herself up, when suddenly, Joseph was there behind her. He grabbed her head and yanked her up and then slammed her down face first through the computer terminal. Clark started as he saw her body quiver once and then go still.

Joseph looked up at him slowly, his breath wheezing out. His arm was still sunk into the sparking machinery almost up to his elbow. “Now. Now we’re done here,” he said harshly.