“I know you’re there, answer me,” Lionel demanded, his voice crackling over the intercom. Clark stared up into the darkness, trying to make out anything in the inky blackness of the ceiling.

“He can’t see you, there aren’t any cameras,” his mother said faintly. She was staring at intently, almost studying him.

“How does he know I’m here then?”

“Because I can hear you just fine,” Lionel’s voice snapped back. His mother nodded slowly. “And because this base is still here, I know Martha… the Oracle is still with you.”

“What do you mean?” Clark shouted.

“The wires,” she whispered, gazing up at them for a moment.

“The wires holding her are, among other things, triggers. If too many of them are removed or severed, this entire facility will self-destruct immediately, with the epi-center of the blast right beneath your feet.”

Clark’s breath hissed out, staring at them. He could see the tiny filaments inside them now. “How do I get rid of them?” he asked frantically. His mother stared at him silently. “Tell me! You told me about the tracers in the car, why not now?!” She remained silent, watching him. “I’m trying to save you! Tell me!”

“You can’t leave with her, I won’t let you,” Lionel promised him. “I’ll see this base burned down with all of us in it before I let you even lay a finger on her. I swear it.”

Clark turned around, glaring upwards blindly. “I’m not leaving without her!” he shouted. “Do you hear me!”

Lex watched his father as he sweated over the microphone. Everyone’s eyes were on him. Lana and Chloe stood forgotten for the moment, but they stood still, listening. Chloe’s face had lit up the moment they’d heard Clark’s voice over the intercom. Lana’s had sunk, confused and almost frightened. She was standing alone, her hand’s still bound, staring at Lionel.

Surreptitiously, Lex, touched a few keys, turning the intercoms on through out the base. Now everyone could hear what was going on. Then quietly, he signaled to Tina.

“What are you doing?” she hissed at him. “I can’t see what you’re-“

“It’s not important,” he whispered back to her. “Not now at least. I need you to be ready for something. If we get separated, plan ichiban, do you understand?”

She looked at him and then nodded. “I think so.”

“Make for Chloe when I give the signal. You’ll know when you hear it,” he promised her.

“Clark…,” his father said slowly, trying out the name. “Clark, none of us need to lose today. You can’t have her, but I can be generous.”

“I don’t want your generosity,” Clark’s voice crackled out of the speakers.

Somewhere inside the base, Joseph turned, listening as the intercom crackled to life. He backhanded one of the ‘Corps guards absently and stared at the speaker set into the wall. Pete stumbled towards him, kicking a guard that was trying to climb to his feet. “What the hell?” he asked, listening.

“Are we done here?” Joseph asked.

“Well, we’ve got this exit secured,” Pete started, “but we still need to link up with the-“ He stopped as Joseph started to walk down the corridor. “Hey, where are you going?” he called out.

“My generosity is the only thing keeping you alive right now,” Lionel said intently, all his attention focused on the intercom. “I could flood that room with troops, men enough to even swamp you. But I’m reasonable. I’ll let you walk out of there right now. Go.”

“Not without her,” Clark’s voice came back defiantly.

Lionel flushed a dark red, but his voice remained icy calm as he spoke. “If you try and fight this, she will die. That’s not a threat, but a fact. Even if you beat off everyone I can send, even if you both survive the bomb, she will die if you remove her from that web.”

Clark stared back at his mother, his heart pounding. She stared back at him, and slowly nodded.

“She can’t survive without me,” Lionel said into the mike. “Those wires keep her safe, and alive. There’s nothing you can do, there is no treatment or any antidote. No doctor in the world can save her, I’ve looked. Her body is too weak, she won’t last. All that can be done is keep her in stasis, just as she is now. I’m the only one who can keep her alive.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

There was silence over the intercom. Everyone in the room listened intently, waiting. Lex listened as well, still typing frantically. Suddenly there was a chirping sound coming from Lionel’s pocket. He fished inside and angrily produced a cell phone, hitting a button to silence it. “Don’t be a fool,” he said into the mike. “I’m offering you your life here. You don’t have to give up your mother, we can reach some arrangement. Don’t throw your life away, or your brother’s.”

“Yes, I’ll give him to you as well,” he promised. Lana’s head snapped up, staring at him horrified. “His life, for hers. You can have him if you leave right now.”

Still there was silence over the air. Lionel’s phone rang again and he shut silence it again, flinging it away this time. It clattered away and disappeared underneath the computers.

“No, you can’t do this,” Lana whispered. “You promised me…”

“If you leave the base right now, I’ll give them all to you,” Lionel said, ignoring her. “All of them, the general’s daughter, Lex, all your friends. I have them here, they’re safe. But you have to leave now.”

“If you harm any of them…,” Clark’s voice came back suddenly. Lionel smiled, letting out a gasp of relief. His phone chirped on again somewhere, but everyone ignored it.

“That depends on you, doesn’t it? So many of them, it would be horrible if something happened.”

“Sir, please. Don’t deal with him! This isn’t…”

“Lana?” Clark exclaimed surprised. “What are you… You shouldn’t be here!”

Lionel turned around slowly, staring at her. “She is,” he said quietly into the mike. Lana stood there, staring at him. “She’s right here with me now. She’s safe, for the moment.”

“Don’t… Don’t you dare,” Clark voice snarled out.

“So that much was true,” Lionel said quietly. Lana stared at him, shaking her head back and forth, desperately. “I wonder how much else is true.” He paused, and then spoke clearly into the mike. “I’ll give you your brother, friends, and her, if you leave right now. If you don’t agree, I will give the order to kill them, starting with her.”

“No, please, no,” Lana was pleading. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. “I promise I’ll be good, I promise. Don’t… Don’t do this.” She sank to her knees, her body shaking. “I’ll be good, don’t…” her voice choked up, trailing off.

Lex watched her sadly as his father traded her away. Now she’s really a Luthor, he thought to himself.

“I’m waiting,” Lionel said quietly. His cell phone rang quietly somewhere as everyone waited. Lex watched the dull red creep up the back of his father’s neck. Still there was no answer.

Clark stared into space, trying to think of something. “What can I do,” he muttered. “What do I do?” he asked again, looking up at his mother frantically.

She only watched him in silence.

“Why don’t you tell me? I’m trying to help you, what should I do?”

“What can you do?” she asked.

“What can I do? I can’t give you up,” he said desperately. “But I can’t give them up either. They’re my friends, my brother, I can’t.”

“No, you can’t,” she said kindly. “I was right.” He opened his mouth to answer, but she shook her head. “Don’t speak. Just be ready. You’ll need to be fast.”

“Fine,” Lionel rasped. His patience was clearly at an end. He turned to Lana and stared down at her silently. She shook, curled up into a ball on the floor. “Soldier, if you would be so kind as to shoot-“

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Lex said quietly into the intercom. He could hear his voice echoing in the hallway so he knew that everyone could still hear them. “Ichiban, Pete, ichiban.”

In the halls, Pete stopped short, hardly believing his ears. “Out, get out now!” he shouted frantically, ordering everyone back. “Run! Make for the hospital.” He paused, looking back down the halls as the rest of his men turned and ran. Then he followed after them, running for all he was worth.

“What are you talking about now?” his father demanded.

Lex smiled and glanced up at him, still typing. “You’re not the one holding all the cards here,” he told his father.

“What are you planning?”

“Secrets, father. Yours, mine, this company’s; all of them. How much do you think they would be worth? Quite a lot to the right person.”

Lionel stared at him, confused and then he looked down at Lex’s hands, still typing away. “The archives,” he gasped suddenly, staring back up at him. “You’re accessing the archives!”

Lex smiled back at him. “I am. Every little secret we have, every dirty little bit of knowledge you’ve had her gather up for you, to blackmail, to threaten people with, I’m getting rid of it.”

His father seemed to relax slightly. “Deleting it won’t change anything.”

“Who said I’m going to delete it. I’m going to share them. Secrets only stop being secrets when everyone knows,” he said quietly, still typing. “News groups, chat rooms, I’m sure they’ll all be very interested.”

“Stop him!” he yelled, spinning around to the soldier manning the computer.

“I can’t!” he said. “He’s got me locked out!”

“Find a way!” Lionel shouted at him, turning back to Lex. “This is suicide Lex, you wouldn’t dare. This would bury both of us, this company. We’re both just as guilty.”

“Yes, yes we are,” Lex said quietly.

“I know you, Lex. I know how you think. I’m you’re father. You’re not going to do this. You’re smarter than this. You won’t destroy yourself, or this company, just to get rid of me. What’s left for you then? You’ll have nothing.”

Lex stopped typing, staring down at his hands. “Do you remember how my mother used to always beat you at chess?” he asked softly.

His father blinked in surprise, taken aback. “Yes,” he said slowly. “Look this is not the time…”

“I’m the one with his finger on the button, father. I think you can humor me,” Lex said acidly. “Did you ever wonder how she did it?”

“You’re mother was a grand player. She was the only one who could always beat me. She could have been a master if she’d applied herself to it.”

“That’s not it,” Lex disagreed. “She told me how; it’s very simple. Would you like to know?” He looked up, smiling softly at his father. “She told me that you’re greatest weakness is that you always think, everyone thinks like you. You won’t, or can’t, imagine any other way of doing things.” He glanced down at his hands and then back up at his father. “She always beat you, because she never played by your rules.”

“Lex, you can’t…” his father said aghast. Lex smiled at him, shaking his head as he started to chuckle. His father spun around and screamed at the soldier. “Crash the mainframe. Stop him now!”

The soldier started typing away frantically. Lex laughed, watching his father. “Done!” he called out frantically. “The mainframe’s down. He’s locked out, everyone’s locked out.”

Lex laughed harder and spun the monitor around in front of him. “It’s too late for that.” His father stared at the screen, his eyes going wide. It was full of symbols, random words, and rows and rows of mindless letters. “I did it five minutes ago. It’s all out there right now. Why do you think they’ve been trying to reach you so badly?” he asked.

The ringing from the cellphone was suddenly painfully loud. Lionel stared at his son in complete shock. Behind him, the soldiers milled around uncertainly. Lex leaned over and hit the intercom once more. “Clark, take your mother and run now. Trust me.”

Lex looked up at his father and gave him an apologetic grin. “Well Dad, are you proud of me yet? I bet you never saw this one coming.” Then he started to laugh.

“-Trust me.” Something in his voice erased all the doubt from Clark’s mind. He glanced up at his mother and saw her nod back at him.

“I’m ready,” she said softly. Slowly and with great effort, she raised her hands towards him. “Be quick.”

He was. There was speed, and then there was how he moved then. What was left in him, everything went into this run. He grabbed his mother, ignoring her cry of pain as the wires tore out of her skin, ignoring the ground smoking underneath his feet, even ignoring his tearing conscious as he left his friends behind; he ignored everything except speed. In a moment, they were gone.

And in the next, the LuthorCorp labs exploded.