Smallville: Fallen Angel
By Quick-n-Popular
Note: I haven't been able to see any of the new episodes (Season seven) due to the fact that I have moved to a new place and have no cable: (.
Well, please tell me of any of the inaccuracies and I'll change them, thanks.
As Always, please review and, hopefully, enjoy.
Chapter One: Patient No. 945168-AB742
Doctor Forrest Roberts patrolled along the substation of the secret, underground, 33.1 experimentation laboratory. Lex Luthor had personally assigned Roberts based on a medical term paper he had written in Oxford Medical School, when the phenomenon known, by as the tabloids had called them "Meteor Freaks", had been discovered in Smallville, Kansas in the United States. Robards prided himself in the fact that Mr. Lex Luthor had personally sought him out. All of his colleagues in the Hospital review board in Bath told him that "If a Luthor seeks you out it's either gold-struck or death-ridden luck." Robards considered himself the prior rather than the latter.
Walking down the cold, metallic, corridor, armed with a clipboard and pen, Robards checked off the list of those "individuals" or "Meteor Freaks" he had visited, their rooms on both sides of him and guard accompanying, though saying little. Dr. Robards had just visited one, Karen Andrews, when he stopped as he felt something-cold brush by him. Visually, it was if a red streak was there for just a millisecond and then vanished.
Robards turned to the guard to see if head encountered the same weird image and feeling. Again, the guard seemed unemotional and unresponsive at the same time, he only answered in a gruff, "No, sir."
Robards sighed and looked to the next patient on the list. His eyebrows raised when he noticed that next to the patient's name was a cliff-note written by Lex Luthor himself. It read: Extreme priority. Subject is to be treated with caution and care. Lex Luthor.
Robards read it over and then looked to the Patient no. 945168-AB742's history:
Alicia Rebecca BakerAge: 20
Parents: Deceased
Phenomenal Ability: Able to "leap" or "Teleport" to numerous locations and through all matter. Subject is able to be contained through the use of controlled lead injections.
Other notes of interest: Subject has been in a relationship with Patient No. 12980343-ABGR889435. Should 742 come into contact or be visited by 889435, contain both immediately!
Robards looked to the other number and never recalled such a lengthy number assigned to a patient to have been ever visited upon by him. He made a mental note to ask the day-doctors about this.
Turning to Miss Baker's room, he was once again reminded of what the other doctors said to him on his very first day, "Do not get attached to them. They're lab rats, nothing more." Humanity and science has been told time and again never to mingle with eachother as there's room for heartbreak. However, scientists ARE human no matter what the art or experience has taught us. No matter what Robards thoughts were; the other scientists were stringent about this rule, as they called it. They told him that ignoring or forgetting this "rule" would cause a cataclysmic chain of events that would result in, not only being fired but possible deportation and, in some cases, extermination should Luthor Corp. feel it impertinent. Robards shook his head and sat down at the foot of the bed of Miss Baker's. Her huddled form lay to the corner to the room on her bed, her long dirty-blonde hair, matted, which clung to her face only exposing a partial corner of her mouth and her right eye.
"Good evening, Miss Baker. How's your day been?" Robards asked.
Alicia eye darted back and forth around the room and she only uttered one word, or name, rather, that Dr. Robards could only get out of her.
"C-Clark…Clark…"
Dr. Robards had mentioned this name to his colleagues and asked them of the significance of the repeated name. None of them had an answer, as her case was sensitive, as it was a high priority of Lex Luthor's. A part of Robards wondered if "Clark" was the other "patient" that was mentioned in Lex's notes on Alicia in the attachment.
Dr. Robards asked the usual from Alicia: has she eaten, has she drank anything, has she excreted properly, did she have any internal problems, all of these she answered just the same: "Clark".
Dr. Robards sighed. He KNEW it was dreadfully important to keep yourself separated from these patients but apart of him still yearned to want to help this poor, obviously, traumatized individual. She had every right to be so. Having been declared dead by a small town medical officer and then gone through the autopsy before being buried, it was only until Luthor Corp. had exhumed her body. They then by some means, none of which were ever explained to Robards, had Alicia Baker brought back to life and brought back here. Though, they had not brought back Alicia Baker, in Robards opinion, having read her history. What they had brought back was a fraction of her, a speck. This "person" while resembling her for when she was alive was merely a shrunken, scared tormented form.
Dr. Robards sighed, having finished the review time with her and then bidded her goodbye, for now, and then vacated her room. As soon as he was within two steps outside, an alarm sounded. The lights shut off replaced by red blaring ones, which were accompanied by a wailing sound of an alarm, and then followed by the other guards barking commands. The one who had been with Robards, left and trailed down the corridor, leaving Robards looking wildly about, wondering if he was in danger. The other doctors on staff told him that should such an alarm occur, that it either meant a patient was on the loose or someone had broken into the secret establishment. Either case was highly emphasized as dangerous for everyone due to what the patients were capable of.
Dr. Robards decided to double back to the designated "area" where doctors were told to go should such an alarm happens. The room itself was more like a break room with bulletproof windows and airtight doors. They were told once they went in there they had to wait for one of the guards to press the sequence of coding to unlock it and allow the doctors to get out. Seeing as how Dr. Robards was the only one here tonight, other than the other guards, he'd be the only one who'd be occupying it. Walking hurriedly to the "area", Robards took a moment to glance at Alicia's window only to find himself stopping as he noticed the door to her room was ajar. Cautiously opening the door, he called in.
"Miss Baker?"
There was no reply, not even her calling out the name, "Clark". Opening the door a little ways in and poking his head inside, Dr. Forrest Robards had found the room of Alicia Baker's to be completely deserted.
"How is she?" Said a voice.
"Worse than the others," Said another, "She keeps on repeating a name that I think is someone we know."
"Whose?" Said the other voice.
"Clark's"
"Clark's? Are you serious? How does she know him?"
"What? Don't look at me. I'm not Doctor, freakin, Phil. I don't know how she knows him. All I know is that she keeps on repeating his name, that's all, and just his first name."
She opens her eyes and looks about and finds her new environment, scary, confusing, and somewhat more calm all rolled together. She finds her mouth parched as she looks around and sees two men talking to eachother. One, a short boy wearing a red hoodie, the second, a tall, blonde-haired man, wearing a business suit. The latter looks to her and smiles.
"So, you're up." He looks to his associate with calm but intensity. "We'll talk later, Bart, about why you're supposed to take them to the designated place rather than here, understood?"
Bart shrugged, "Whatever you say, boss. You know where to reach me." Then, with a sudden blur of red, he was gone.
The older young man crouched down as he handed her a bottle of water. "Here." He said.
She nodded and took it and began guzzling down the cool liquid hurriedly.
"Whoa, easy there, now." He said, soothingly as he took the bottle away from her.
She cleared her throat and pulled her hair away from her face as she looked around the area in which they were. It seemed to her to be like a makeshift bachelor pad for someone who obviously had money. On the wall she noticed a large half-circular glass art work of a clock. She looked back into the warm eyes of the man seated across from her and she managed to find her voice, albeit, though, a bit raspy.
"W-Where…am…I" She asked.
The man smiled, "You're safe, is what's most important. You're in Metropolis, Kansas. Do you know where that is?"
She nodded.
"Alright." He said. "My name is Oliver Queen and the young kid who brought you here is Bart. Is there anyone you wish us to contact? Family, friends, neighbors?"
She thought for a moment and then sighed.
"E-Everyone thinks I'm…dead. Don't they?"
Oliver looked at her in surprise. "I would have guessed "missing" but dead is more interesting. Why would you think people might think you're dead?"
She swallowed and closed her eyes, "Because…I've died."
Oliver got up and grabbed a folding chair and put it in front of her as he sat down in it.
"What's your name, Miss?"
"I'm, or was, Alicia. Alicia Baker."
Oliver nodded, "Well, Alicia, I have to say I'm more impressed by the unannounced visitor Bart has sent me. Did he tell you why he rescued you and who WE are?"
Alicia shook her head.
"Well," Oliver began, "We're a sort of League, you might say. We're also people who want to help those who've been hunted down or hurt by Luthor Corp. Do you know of them?"
Alicia thought for a moment and then nodded. "I know of Lex and Lionel Luthor. They were living in a mansion in my hometown of Smallville."
Oliver's eyes widened. "Smallville? Do you know a Clark Kent, by any chance?"
Alicia's eyes watered and she began crying hysterically. Oliver put an arm on her shoulder but found it to be on her back as she lunged forward and embraced him, still crying to the point of near exhaustion.
"Would you like to see him?" He asked her, softly as he tried to comfort her.
She tore herself away from him and looked to the floor, gasping as she tried to gain better control of herself and wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist.
She sighed, "I-I'm not sure. T-The last time, we…"
Oliver held up a hand, "Another time, when you're ready."
She smiled and laughed ruefully.
He then got up and held out his hand, "Here. Let's see about getting you into some better clothes and finding you a place to stay, anonymously."
She looked at him with wide eyes, "A-Am I still in danger?"
Oliver sighed as he got his jacket. "Lex's sure to be trying to hunt down everyone who have escaped from his facility, yourself included. Had Bart taken you to the safe house, my associates would have taken care of you and put you with a new face and identity, but since Bart had taken this into his own hands, I'm going to have to do the work myself."
Alicia nodded and rubbed her arm whilst looking down at the floor. "Thank you." She whispered softly.
Oliver Queen smiled and held out his hand. "Think nothing of it, Alicia. Any friend of Clark's is a friend of mine. So, what do you say? Shall we get you out of those prison garments and into something more suiting?"
She gave a soft smile as she shrugged. "I-I guess."
He then, still extending his hand, used the other and grabbed his jacket and keys while she took his hand and allowed him to lead her out.
While they were out and in the most luxuriest shopping stores that Metropolis had to offer, Alicia's mind wandered from where she was at to Clark and back again. Apart of her was appreciative of the fact that she was alive, once again. The other half, yearned for the life she previously led, the one where she was Clark Kent's girlfriend. That life, however, brought with it painful memories of him not trusting her and a whole community set out to her ruin as she had done when she was ill. But, Clark's not trusting her was even more painful than that. Alicia remembered about her last moments on that fateful day when she felt a slight sense of vindication just before that bastard had her hung from the rafter.
Alicia sighed, sadly as she was zipping up a black, back laced, dress that Oliver insisted that she try out. She looked over herself in the mirror. After having gone to a beauty store on their second outing, shortly after getting her clothes that she would get into than the prison-like scrubs she had been in, she looked exactly as her shattered mind remembered. Just before waking up in the 33.1 hellhole that Luthor Corp. had designed for her.
In her body, Alicia could feel the lead injections shrugging off and she also felt the intensity of her "meteor powers" flowing through her veins and every aspect of her body. She had an urge to try it out, but she decided otherwise. This man Oliver has been so kind to her and she felt it would be insensitive to try out her newly restored self without telling him just exactly who she was, or, rather, is.
Thinking more about Oliver, it had surprised her when she learned that he and Clark were friends. Yet another part of her longed for Clark to be there along side him. For there to be her man, her hero, her savior who would, once again, sweep her off her feet and for them to reconcile. Clark wasn't there, though. Alicia sighed, and once again, pushed the thought of him, temporarily, from her mind as she scrutinized and looked over herself in the dress Oliver had suggested.
It was pretty and it fitted her form, nicely. The price, however, would never in her past lifetime have "fitted" any money source she would have, unless by some miracle, short of robbing a bank. Oliver was obviously loaded and it amazed Alicia that he would take interest in helping out a poor, lost, person, such as herself.
"How are things going in there?" She heard him call out.
"Fine." She replied.
"Well, then. Come on out and let's have a look at you." He said.
Alicia took a deep breath and walked out, slowly. Opening the changing room door, just barely enough to get a glimpse of Oliver's face, she then opened it a little more till he did the rest. As soon as she was fully out, he took a step back, looked her up and down, and then whistled.
"My, my, my. You, missy, are going to break all the boys' hearts, now aren't you?"
Alicia blushed and looked down to the floor. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Oliver put a hand on her shoulder and smiled as she looked back up at him.
"I told you. It's both mine and my friends' business to see that Lex Luthor and his evil minions are put out of business and their captives set free and be restored to a normal life. No matter what challenges they face with their "gifts"."
Alicia held a hand to her mouth. "You've always known?"
Oliver nodded. "33.1 has been designed by Lex to torment, steal, and abuse those, whose gifts have labeled them "outsiders". He gives them false promises of a "cure" and of a better life. His REAL reasons, however, are to either steal them or put them to use for nefarious reasons."
Alicia looked to the floor once more, unsure as how to respond.
"Oliver?"
Both Alicia and Oliver turned to two women who were approaching them.
Alicia froze. She both recognized and remembered both of them. Quickly, she darted back into the fitting room with hopes that nether of them had noticed her. Closing and locking the door, she peered through the slits and listened as Oliver talked to them.
"What are you doing back in Metropolis? I thought Star City was going to keep you forever!" The taller women said, defiantly putting her hands on her hips.
"Look, Lois, I-" Oliver began, but was, again, cut off by Lois Lane.
"And WHO was that girl that jumped back into that dressing room, huh? You! Yeah, you in there! Come on out of here!"
Alicia gulped.
"Lois, I'm here to do grunt work for the shopping section of the Daily Planet. Not to sit around while you play "scorned lover"." Said the short blonde next to her.
Lois held up a hand, "Chloe, either join the band wagon, or jump off."
Oliver tried to step in, "Lois, she's just a person I'm helping do charity work for, that's it. Look, I'm going to be in Metropolis for a few weeks on business, why don't we have dinner latter on tonight, alright?" He then walked forward and slipped both of his arms around her waist.
Lois turned to Oliver and gave one of her patented, smug smiles, and then sighed. "You always got to be so damn charming, Queen?"
He grinned a toothy grin. "If I remember, it was one of the many things you liked about me."
Lois then sighed and smiled, "Don't think I'm letting you off the hook for bailing on me and moving, cause you won't hear the end of it."
Oliver nodded, "I hope not."
Lois smiled and then turned back to the fitting room where Alicia was. "So, what IS her story, anyways?"
Oliver shrugged. "She's just shy, is all."
Lois gave an unconvinced nod and then allowed Oliver to kiss her on the cheek before both she and Chloe proceeded down to the stores' management offices like they had planned. Once they were fully gone, Oliver turned to the fitting room door.
"It's safe to come out now. The scary one's gone."
Alicia unlocked the door and stepped out. "Thank you for not telling them much."
He nodded. "I take it, you know them, am I right?"
Alicia nodded.
"And, I'm also guessing, you didn't leave them with their good graces?"
Alicia sighed and again nodded. "Right on all accounts."
He nodded and then looked at her dress. "Beautiful."
Unbeknownst to either one of them, Lois was standing five racks the other way down; her mouth gaped open as she stared at Alicia.
It… can't… be!
The remaining of the mid afternoon, Alicia was shown her new apartment by Oliver, the building which happened to be owned by his company.
"I'll send you a list of both places that are hiring and magazines for furniture so you can set this place up to be your very own." He said as the two of them walked around the spacious flat. The only thing the place had to offer was full refrigerator and a bed. A bar counter was there as well as an island in the kitchen. Alicia looked aghast at the place, never in her wildest dreams would she be ever settled in a place so marvelous.
"Thank you, although I've said that way too many times today, haven't I?"
He smiled. "Doesn't hurt to hear it." He then sat down on one the barstool in front of the bar counter. "Is there anyone you'd like me to contact, to let them know you're alive? Clark, for example?"
Alicia sighed as her mind, again, lingered toward the thought of seeing Clark again. "Not just yet." She said. "I…I just came back and…I don't know."
He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "Take your time."
Dr. Forrest Robards looked nervously at the two men standing next to him that were escorting him to an office of some sorts. Both men neither looked at him; they only barked orders. The drive from the lab had been nearly four hours and he was told to come with them or else. Since the break in and break out of practically all the patients of the sub-basement 33.1 laboratory, a number of people had came in to investigate and everyone had been nervous as hell. It was then that these "official" representatives of Luthor Corp. came and demanded to know who was the head physician during the time of the escape. Dr. Robards was fingered out, immediately.
Now, walking through the pristine halls of some sort of office building, the men led him to the twin, double, doors at the end of the hallway. The two, armed, men got into position on both sides of the door and then one of them men looked to Robards.
"Go in. He's expecting you."
Robards gulped and half-wondered if he should be courteous and knock, prior to entering.
"There's no need. Go in." Said the other guard, in the exact same monotone voice as the other.
Again, Robards swallowed and then opened the doors. Inside a fireplace roared in life, crackling as the embers in it snapped with every burst of new heat. There was a single desk inside, behind it an array of surveillance monitors. A man was standing by the fire, a glass of some alcoholic beverage clutched in his hand. He was bald, wearing a tie-less dress shirt, which was partially unbuttoned. He looked like a child but his eyes said otherwise, as they were both experienced and cold.
Robards felt sweat trickling down his neck and to the lower part of his back. He was staring at Lex Luthor.
Lex turned his head and noticed Dr. Robards standing at the doorway.
"Good Afternoon, doctor Robards. Please," He indicated to a vacant chair in front of the desk, "Have a seat."
Robards felt utterly terrified. He had heard both rumors and stories of those who had gained a personal audience with Mr. Luthor himself, and none of them ended happily.
Taking a deep breath, Robards did as commanded and fell into the plush chair as Lex filled the one behind the desk.
"I trust there's no mystery as to why I've called you in here, is there?"
His voice was just as the others had described to Robards. Calm yet just a veil to what was exposed in side.
"Yes, sir, Mr. Luthor." Robards answered quickly.
Lex smiled. "What's on your mind, doc? What do you think happens now?"
Robards closed his eyes. This moment felt vaguely familiar to the time both he and his brothers had caught a rattlesnake out in the woods, when they were young, and began tossing it around. It was only a matter of time before he would be bitten, severely.
"S-Sir, uh, Mr. Luthor, sir, I mean. I-I understand that the patients had escaped but I honestly couldn't begin to tell you as to how or when, sir."
Lex was eyeing him and a grin spread across his face. "Relax, Forrest. That's not why I called you in here. I already have my suspicions as to who or whom were responsible for THAT." He came around the desk and sat on the lip of it in front of Robards.
Robards looked at Lex, curiously. "Th-Then what, Mr. Luthor?"
Lex closed his eyes and tilted his head back as he breathed in deeply. The look of him with the fire's light dancing off his face reminded Robards of those old Roman depicted paintings of the devil.
"There's one patient in particular I'm eager to find and secure, once again. I want YOU, Dr. Robards to lead a team toward her capture."
Robards blinked and looked confusedly at Lex.
"Excuse me?"
Lex smiled, "Does that surprise you?"
Again, Robards blinked. "Yes, sir."
Lex nodded. "I thought it might. You see, Forrest, this particular patient is linked to another whom we have yet to capture. You see; she has an intimate relationship with this person and should the two of them get back together then it would almost certainly be impossible to get her at all, anymore. Do you understand?"
In his mind, Robards was shrugging and saying, "no, it doesn't." However, common sense told him to do otherwise and he nodded vigorously.
"Yes, Mr. Luthor."
Lex nodded and then turned and reached over onto his desk and retrieved a folder and handed it to Robards who almost dropped it having read the name at the top of the file.
He looked back at Lex, once he had it fully in his grasp. "Her, sir? Are you sure? Her file's not all that remarkable, you know. She's pretty standard when it comes to the Meteor-Infected."
Lex nodded, "Well, there's more than meets the eye with this one. Do your homework, doc and then call my office in the morning. My secretary will have all the specifics laid out for you, after that, that's when you take it from there. Don't disappoint me, Dr. Robards."
Robards gulped and nodded. He then got up and left looking down at the file with the name: Alicia Baker, printed on the heading.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: Again, please help me with any inaccuracies that I have made or are sure to make along the way from this chapter. Hope it was good and hope you're hungry for more. There will be an Alicia/Clark reunion later on. Once again, please read and review and let me know. Thanks.