Hello dear readers, it's been awhile since I've updated. You know how it goes, life gets in the way of things, so I hope this one is enjoyable. I hope to update on a more regular basis, but life is unpredictable.

Guest: Thank you. Since it is a fusion story, some characters will be more subverted than their canon counterparts, Marissa being one. Unlike canon Marissa, her husband was with her the entire time to raise Freddie to balance her it's kind of hard to be an overprotective mother with a child that is invulnerable. Tori couldn't exactly lie to him, it would stretch credibility too much.

Twilight Warrior 627: Thank you. Mrs. Benson meeting Jade is where it would divert from the source material as Jade is a young woman in her early-to-mid twenties and clearly not obsessively insane as compared to a man in his thirties that lives and breaths his mission. Wayne is the mask while Batman is the true person, Jade hasn't become that yet.

Metropolis is just as corrupt as any other major city during that time, just that it has a nice polish to it of being a city of tomorrow while Gotham is open about it and still in the current mindset and gothic style.

I wanted to at least acknowledge the dilemma about when and how such a being like Superman should act if one existed. I don't necessarily have the answers to those questions, but the ultimate question comes to the responsibility of power.

Xemtlenc: Freddie is letting do what Jade wants. He's not doing anything to physically stop her, just voicing his heartfelt concerns about his safety, especially as his growing feelings for her is coloring his judgment. He's not Henry's Superman ready to fight it out with Ben's Batman to get him to stop.

Fanfic-Reader-88: It easily could have the public clamoring and sympathizing with vigilantes when they feel that the police aren't doing enough to actually stop what's going on in Gotham. I don't think you could brush the entire force with how they would respond to them. Some would be grateful for the help while others would think that they're just criminals taking the law into their own hands, such as Gary while Vega would be one of those on the fence.

Rating: T Language

Chapter 19: Fatherly Advice

Master Bedroom
West Residence
Bristol Township, NJ

Freddie knocked on one of the doors to the master bedroom and called out, "Jade, it's Freddie, can I come in?"

"Yes, I'm decent."

He opened the door then slipped inside the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He saw that Jade was back in lazy casual wear of a t-shirt, but there was a sheet and tray over her legs as she sat up in bed propped up with a few pillows against the headboard. She was focused on the laptop sitting on the tray over her legs.

Jade smiled at him, genuinely happy to see the Kansas farm boy. He had become an unexpected bright spot in her life in just the last few days and one that she appreciated seeing more and more, but not be willing to voluntarily disclose.

He held up the evidence bag with the bat-a-rang inside it. "I got this back for you."

She sighed in relief, thankful to be getting back one of her signature gadgets. "Thanks. So Tori really had it?"

Freddie dropped the bag on the night table on the right side of the bed then took a seat on the edge of the bed and gave her a lopsided grin.

Jade turned a curious look to him and questioned, "What?"

"Yes, she did have it…" His grin wavered a bit then reluctantly answered, "…because she's good enough to slip into the GCPD and… she's the cat burglar that stole Mason's files."

Jade paused for a moment, not quite sure that she had heard him right. As she read his facial expression that he wasn't joking, her jaw dropped then uttered as her heart sank, "She's really the burglar?"

"Yes. I kind of pressed her on it and she admitted that it was her that got into the police station, so it was pointless to deny that she's the one that broke into Mason's place."

She glanced down at her laptop, just processing the revelation that the sweet girl-next-door that would never get into any trouble could really be the one being mistaken for her, risking her freedom and life with her break-ins. She looked up and muttered, "I can't believe it. Tori did that?"

"Yes, she wanted to help her dad bring down Mason… She's seeing the same thing everyone else is seeing and wanted to do her part."

Jade fiercely retorted, "But it could get her arrested or worst, killed."

Freddie lulled her head to the side and pointed out, "I couldn't really lecture her on vigilantism… and you're not really in a position to do that either."

The injured young woman dismissively replied, "I'm just not dressing up in leather on a whim with training by stuntmen and think I can take on the Mob."

The reporter gently teased, "No… you're a rich girl with toys and a lot of time on her hands that thinks she can take on the Mob."

Jade turned a deep frown, clearly not appreciating his statement and potentially taking it as an insult.

Freddie kept his boyish grin as he tried to keep the conversation light despite the heaviness of the conversation, "You're just better equipped and presumably far better trained, but that doesn't mean you're on some higher moral ground to tell her that she shouldn't be doing it."

"You have no problem telling me I should stop," she sharply retorted.

"I've given you my very valid reasons—reasons why I'm uniquely equipped to do such a thing. If I wasn't what I am, I'd be nuts to do what I'm doing being a one man war on the Mob. Did you not watch what I did at the ambush? Bullets were bouncing off of me…" He glanced away and muttered as he recalled the fight, "I seriously need to send that shopkeeper a check for smashing his window."

She snorted a sharp breath, recalling just hours ago that he jumped into a middle of a gun fight and leaving without as much as a scratch. It was a powerful testament to his point.

Freddie continued with a soft tone, hoping to get across that he wasn't trying to get confrontational with her, "I'm saying it's hard for you to make a case against her when you're doing the same thing and being in the same position."

Jade held a defiant stare on him for several seconds before she relented and shook her head, muttering, "I just don't want her to get hurt…" She trailed off when she saw Freddie's grin, seeing she had just agreed with his point. The young woman practically pouted, "I so hate you…"

Freddie's smile grew as he heard no venom in her voice, but some genuine affection. "I kind of like you too…"

The young woman's pout turned into a struggling smile, feeling a sense of relaxing connection she hadn't felt in a long time, since frankly Beck when they would have their sweet and tender moments.

Freddie's smile grew bigger, but the thought he should let her off the hook and table the discussion for another time. He continued with the matter at hand, "Anyway… she got something else from the police station: the rest of Gibson's drug. She thought maybe the Commissioner was going to have some of it stolen for his own purposes, so she snatched it."

"Where is it?"

"I gave it to Sikowitz, so now all of it's down in your cave for safekeeping."

"Good, I need to get down there and start analyzing that drug…" she commented as she picked up the tray and sat it and the laptop to her left then threw the sheet off her legs, revealing her mostly bare legs past the hem of her old long gym shorts. She turned in her seat, almost hitting him with her feet as she partially brought her knees to her chest. She got her legs over the edge of the bed and was about to stand up, but Freddie gently placed a hand on her left shoulder.

"I didn't realize you had a degree in biochemistry?"

Jade glanced to the gentle hand on her shoulder, but refrained from saying anything about it. "I've dabbled in a lot of things and I got a state of the art Batcomputer down there to make up the difference."

Freddie slightly tilted his head and asked, "Batcomputer?"

Jade narrowed her gaze and asked with blatant sarcasm, "Did you not notice the theme I have going? I dress as a giant bat, my car is the batmobile, I have a bat-a-rang and a batcave. Do you need me to go on?"

"Alright, alright…" he answered with a playful smile and raising his hands up in surrender.

His expression should have infuriated her, but it was comforting. It was a sign that he was relaxed around her and only a few could do that with her. They were either a bit of afraid of her from her behavior in high school or the power that she could wield being one of the wealthiest and most well connected people in the city.

"But you don't need to worry about that right now." He passed a glance over her and the bed, idly commenting, "You need your bedrest, especially now that it looks like you're taking it seriously."

Jade crossed her arms over her chest and answered, "Sikowitz and your mother double teamed me… okay, your mother can be really forceful."

"Oh yes she can be… she has a stubborn personality and it's good that you're listening to them."

The dark vigilante sighed, "But we have things to do. We need to see if this drug can be used to help Robbie and need to push our advantage against Mason before he can consolidate his power with Lee dead and Quincy in jail. If we let him do that, we'll never get him out."

Freddie dropped his hand off her shoulder and rested it on top of her hand resting on her thigh. He was quick to reassure, "And we can still get both done while you heal up. Sikowitz can get started analyzing it and there is another advantage of me being an alien…"

Jade picked up with a figuratively odd—alien—taste in her mouth as the idea that he was another species had slipped her mind, "What about you being… an alien?"

"My people were very technologically advance—"

Jade joked with a sideway glance, "Advance enough to make a real spaceship."

"Yes… and in the spaceship that my parents place me inside, my father placed several pieces of technology… it's practically magic to anything we have and a library of information from our civilization and all the other ones they were in contact before Krypton's destruction. I was hoping that I could use some of that technology to be able to analyze and synthesize the drug for safe dosages that could help Mister Shapiro without becoming like Gibson. I have a lot better shot at it than whatever you have and… I don't want your name attached any more than it already is."

His comment should have been a hit to her pride with all the work she had put in the cave with the state-of-the-art equipment, but any offense was overridden with curiosity. "Why don't you want me involved? They already know about the Bat and think I'm the one that stole it."

"Because it turns out that he didn't create the drug, but it belongs to the military and they've shown up to want it back according to Tori. If I can make a breakthrough with it, they'll be more concerned about me then worrying about tracking you down. I'll take the slings and arrows…"

Jade glanced down at her lap and shook her head, muttering in disgust, "Damn…"

"Yeah, so perhaps you should keep a low profile with the Bat until they're gone and be careful not to leave any 'fingerprints' on this drug."

She lifted her head and practically glared at him. "You are simply finding any excuse for me to not go out as the Bat? Trying to protect me? I'm not some damsel in distress."

"As you just pointed out with Tori, I care about your safety. I'm not looking at you as some 'damsel in distress'."

She sharply pointed out, perhaps too sharply for her own good, "I'm not your girlfriend. You don't have to be concerned about me that way."

He instinctively wrapped his fingers around her hand and into her palm, giving her an assuring squeeze. He tiredly answered, "No, but you are my friend."

She glanced down at their joined hands, wondering the deeper meaning behind the gesture. She softly uttered, "Pretty quick to use that word for us."

"What else do you want to call each other?"

She looked up from his hand and teased with a glance, "Junior visiting partner might work."

He leaned a little closer to her and returned with a teasing voice, "Oh, so this is just a professional relationship?"

Jade's eyes flickered down to his mouth again, just inches away from her lips then back up to his playful eyes. She saw there was just something wholesome about the look of a farm boy's eyes and felt drawn to wanting to kiss him again. She licked her lips and remarked, trying to keep a playful flirtatious tone to her voice, "Maybe not entirely professional since you're in my bedroom and I'm in sleepwear. I guess you would call it a bit of a gray area."

Freddie nodded his head back to the door and offered, "If the gray is bothering you, I could leave."

"Yeah, so you can have all the fun while I'm stuck in my room? Not a chance flyboy. I'm going with you."

Jade attempted to stand up, but Freddie reached out with his other hand to rest on her opposite shoulder and gently pressed down on her hand. "No, you're going to get some bed rest, so I guess I'll just have to stay with you to make sure I don't have any fun without you."

She sat back down and turned an annoyed gaze at him. "So instead of actually doing something productive of seeing if the drug could help Robbie or try to find a way to nail Mason, you're going to babysit me?"

"I'll go in a bit to start on getting to work on the drug, but there's no rush on Mason. He's still going to be there and we'll get him. You need to stop worrying. Do you think they're going to just consolidate around him and have a complete stranglehold of the city?"

"He's the most organized and has the greatest manpower. He'll be able to get the others to fall in line. Lee's and Quincy's seconds won't be able to stand up to him."

"If he pushes too fast, he could start a full blown Mob war since the underlings are going to want to hold onto their piece of the pie. You can spare a night to rest and recuperate."

As to end the argument, he got up from his seat and slipped around the front of her legs then slipped his arm under her legs and around her back to move her back in her original spot.

Jade was slightly startled by his overt move, but she didn't complain as she settled back in her seat and he scooted beside her. She passed him a curious gaze as he settled in his seat and crossed his ankles as he stretched out his legs. He continued, "I'm going to sit here with you for a while if that's alright then I'm going to go for a bit to get started on my end on analyzing the drug. Okay?"

The millionaire turned an almost scowl onto him and muttered, "Why do I feel like I'm a prisoner in my home?"

"I would see it more as an uncooperative hospital patient… you and Mister Shapiro have something in common."

Jade frowned, feeling prickly at the comparison and couldn't much complain without coming off as a hypocrite because the hospital under arm guard was exactly where he needed to be.

He looked at the computer screen and asked, "What are we watching?"

Jade reluctantly looked back at the laptop screen and answered, "The Mark of Zorro… it was the movie that I saw the night my parents were murdered."

He quietly suggested, "Do you want to watch something else?"

"No," Jade quietly muttered and rested her head on his shoulder.

Freddie wasn't exactly sure how to respond, but he took a risk and rested his left hand on top of Jade's right hand with her responding with lacing her fingers with his fingers. He gave her a reassuring squeeze and the pair sat peacefully quiet as the movie picked up playing.

Penthouse Suite
Hotel Belle Monico
Gotham City, NJ

Beck was relaxing on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table and sipping on a very expensive drink from the provided mini-bar in the high-end penthouse suite while he was watching the news.

"Recapping our top story; Shawn Quincy, prominent businessman arrested for the kidnapping of hometown movie star was in court today to enter a plea and arrange for bail. He was denied bail and on his way back to the county jail, a scene right out of a war movie took place in the streets of Gotham with a dramatic daytime attack on the police convey in what is hotly debated was either a rescue attempt or an assassination attempt before Mister Quincy could make any statement about possible involvement with the elusive Gotham Mob."

The picture switched to video from the following helicopters of the convey earlier in the day of the police convey stopped in its tracks, blocked at both ends by a number of vehicles then a red and blue blur flew in front of the camera.

"In this dramatic video, Superman arrived on the scene to stop the attempted the attack and almost single handily stopped it…"

Beck hit the mute button as he didn't need to hear the reporter go on to praise the hero of Metropolis. He could certainly see it with his own eyes about how he was unstoppable, something that actually frightened him at a primitive level. He did wonder where the Bat was in the situation as they seemed to have teamed up, perhaps she had been injured in the reported fight with Quincy's hitman. She may have been a vigilante cleaning up the streets and naturally on opposite sides, but… she did help him escape ACE Chemicals and help rescue Robbie, so he hoped that she was alright.

His thoughts turned to Quincy and who he suspected was behind the attempted 'rescue'. He would have much preferred putting a bullet in him for what he did to Tori, but this was nearly as sweet. The rescue plan had been thwarted and what was left in his crew know in prison. He muttered to himself, "Two down, one to go…"

Sam walked around the end of the couch in a tanktop and shorts showing off most of her legs then dropped down next to him to snuggle up to him. She sarcastically asked having overheard his remark, "Do you have any idea how to do that besides just shooting him?"

"At the moment, no. Driving a truck full of explosives isn't really a practically solution. I really don't want to bring the building down. Maybe we'll just lay low, maybe go ahead and go on that extended tropical vacation and let the Bat and Superman take care of him… heck, Jade and Mister Benson might be able to legally take him down."

"You really believe that Jade and that snot-nose reporter are going to be able to find enough dirt on Mason to bring him down? You want to risk putting Jade in danger? Mason might want to do something to her."

"I already broke my word with her once to let her deal with Mrs. Lee—"

Sam pulled away and sat up, turning a cold glare on him and interrupted, "And if you kept your word, Cat would be on the hook for killing Lee."

Beck pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered, "She still might be on the hook for his murder if they do a thorough autopsy on him and Kwakoo testifies about what he heard us talking about."

The blonde flippantly remarked, seeing the obvious solution, "Then shouldn't we go head and kill him? I'm not going to let him put Cat in prison."

"The hospital is swarming security and cops after Quincy's goon broke out. We're not going to be able to get to him until they release him and even then they may insist on protective custody."

"There's got to be a way to get to him before he can testify."

Beck thought for a moment on how to eliminate Kwakoo from the picture, bribing a cop to look the other way while he or one of his boys did the job being the first thing that came to mind. However, another thought sprung up, something not as messy. He charming smile that had melted a lot of girls hearts formed on his face as an idea sprung to mind.

"What about the reporter that reported his story?"

Sam knotted her brow and asked, "What about Carly?"

Beck cocked his head to the right and shifted a little in his seat to face her. "I didn't realize you were on a first name basis with her?"

"She's an old childhood friend of mine before I moved to Gotham and met everyone," she regretfully muttered. "I didn't exactly keep in touch with her as I should over the last couple of years."

"That could come in handy."

"How?"

"I maybe arrange a little meeting with her?"

Sam knotted her brow and practically shouted, "Why? Why would we want to do that?"

"To give her an exclusive from the clown prince of crime as they're calling me and—"

"The blonde sidekick," Sam muttered with a roll of her eyes.

He reached out and pulled her close, pressing her front against the side of her body. He seductively grinned as he corrected her with a sweet voice, "My princess of crime… and to finish answering your question… we give her an exclusive and tell us our story about what happened and the public will eat it up and see Kwakoo for the 'liar' he is… we don't have to kill him, just destroy his credibility."

Sam raised his right eyebrow and thought on his suggestion. The public loved their 'public enemies' and after the last few days, they were getting a lot of praise and sympathy. Chizz, she found a fanpage dedicated her just in the last day with them desperate to get decent pictures of her. She nodded her head and answered, "Yeah… that just might work… we get dressed up and have a little chat with Carly and she'll demolish him."

Beck's smile grew and continued, "I'm glad you approve."

"I do…" She dipped her face down, palming over the ends of his jaw and shared a quick kiss.

They pulled away and shared a smile, content that they had a plan to save their friend. In order to celebrate their plan, he asked in a nearly rhetorical manner, "You hungry?"

The blonde criminal lulled her head to the side and answered in the same tone, "You have to ask?"

He dipped his face to the side of her neck and rubbed his right hand up and down her left thigh. He muttered against her skin, "I'll order us up some room service." He pulled his mouth away from her neck and stood up, pulling away with the intention of calling for them to send dinner up, but Sam grabbed his wrist and yanked him back down, causing him to fall and lay down on the couch.

Beck let out a laugh as he hit the couch and she partially lay across him on his left side. She brought her nose to his nose to snuggle then uttered in a breathy tone, "I already did… they'll be up in half an hour, so… I thought we could pass the time… together…"

The handsome one time actor smiled and shared another kiss, each getting lost in it over the next half hour.

Fortress of Solitude
Arctic Circle

After watching the movie with Jade and her drifting off to sleep for a quick nap before dinner, Freddie decided that he would take the opportunity to get something accomplished to put her mind at ease and set out to his private hideaway from the rest of the world that his late biological father had dubbed his 'Fortress of Solitude'.

He had changed into his vigilante alter ego in case anyone saw him and flew faster than any airplane the more than two thousand miles to somewhere in the Arctic Circle. He slowed down his supersonic flight as he approached the towering crystalline structure that jet up to the sky to practically a mountain with a few sharp pillars jetting out from the sloped sides as if it was some mystical castle from a bygone era.

He slowed down further until he was leisurely flying to the ground in front of the entrance. His boots made a crunching sound into the packed snow once he landed then walked the few feet to the entrance. He reached up and placed his palm against the door.

The door glowed for a moment, becoming partially translucent to reveal that it was crystal than just another piece of ice then it lifted and light spilled out of the doorway.

He stepped inside and headed down the expansive corridor and walked a short flight of steps until he reached two statues on either side of the entrance to the hollowed out interior holding up a crystal globe of Krypton. He paused for a moment to look at the representation of his deceased biological parents.

He continued on inside the structure and turned to his left to a shallow turning spiraling staircase to an overlooking balcony. He took the steps up to the balcony that served as a control podium to oversee the expansive interior. He stood in front of the control panel that curved around the majority of the balcony and looked out over his fortress, still in wonder at the magnificent and otherworldly construction. The center was an empty space large enough for an amphitheater with the surrounding sloped walls divided into three levels with curved solid guardrails with various jutting crystals from the floor.

He ran his right hand over a few of the protruding crystals and an image of a disembodied head of an older gentleman with slightly long brown hair with a full beard with streaks of gray in it appeared hovering several yards in front of the podium.

Freddie sighed and greeted the image with a bashful smile, "Hello father."

The image of his deceased father warmly smiled to him, appearing to be genuinely happy to see him and answered, "Hello son… it's good to see you…" The image directed a curious look to him and remarked, "You look troubled son."

Freddie barely held a hopeful smile and answered, not bothering with any formalities, "It's why I came. I need your help father. Someone I attempted to help was severely injured and I was hoping that there was anything you sent along with me that could help… any Kryptonian technology that could possibly help."

The image of his deceased father gave him a cautious look then carefully answered, "Kal, I admire you wanting to help the people of your adopted home, but is it not their place to learn on their own and develop the tools necessary to advance as a people without you simply handing them something they haven't earned on their own?"

Freddie brushed his hand over his chin then answered, "I'm not talking about revolutionizing their civilization by handing out technology. I'm talking about helping this one person."

"But where does it stop Kal? Why not help the next person then the next person with the gifts of Krypton?"

Freddie took a deep breath then slowly let it out as he reached into the satchel over his shoulders and pulled the canister out of it and placed it on the podium. "Look, I understand. It's important that we learn on our own and just not… 'cheat' to advance, but I'm thinking more of a little nudge."

Jor-El looked at the canister, curious as to the contents and presumptuously believed had something to do with his suggestion of a 'nudge'.

"I have something the U.S. military has developed that looks like it was meant to alter people into potential super-soldiers. I had to face one last night and he was stronger than any human conceivable could be. He was able to partially heal from his injuries when he injected more and more of it into himself. I want to analyze it to know if it could be used safely to help Mister Shapiro. If it could be used to help him with just a little nudge from me, I don't see the harm."

The image of a disembodied head gave him a contemplative expression then answered, "If you wish to pursue this course of action Kal, I will do nothing to interfere of course. I will create a room that will allow you perform any research you desire to carry out." He asked in a nearly rhetorical manner with a jovial tone, "I hope you remember what I taught you about chemistry and biology."

Freddie grinned and nodded his head to the right, answering with a bashful tone, "I was hoping that I guess… you get started for me. I need to get back to Gotham as soon as I can."

"Gotham? I haven't heard you mention that city before."

"Yes, my fight against the Mob led me to the city where the last few days have been quite… interesting."

The image of the deceased man let a faint grin form under his beard and remarked, "Would you care to elaborate?"

"Out of the three mob bosses that rule the city, one's dead, another is in jail and we're close to getting the third one, so things are getting intense and things are on the teetering point."

The three dimensional image moved out from hovering away from the balcony and shrank as a body formed underneath the disembodied head. The body finished forming just as his feet reached the platform, wearing the traditional dark colored robes of someone of his statue on the dead world.

He turned and signaled his son to follow him down the other spiraling stairs down to the main floor of the structure. He glanced to his right and asked Freddie, "I can see why you are eager to return. Criminals individually can be dangerous… but organized… them banding together becomes a force multiplier for their activities."

"Yes they do and with the last one still in power, he could gather the disordered crews together to follow him in a truly unified front and Jade doesn't want that to happen. I got to get back before she decides to go out on her own."

Jor-El raised an eyebrow and asked, "Jade?"

Freddie cleared his throat then awkwardly answered, "She's ah… someone that I've been helping investigating the mob."

"So, you have a new partner in your mission? I thought you were still reporting with Miss Shay."

"I wouldn't necessary call her my partner, but we're working together. It's her city to protect, so I'm just trying to help out and follow her lead."

The image of his late father paused again with curiosity evident on his face then questioned, "A city protector? Someone like you?"

"More of someone who has decided that they could make a difference. She decided to dress as a giant bat to strike fear in the hearts of criminals to help put them away."

The artificial construct of Jor-El contemplated his words for a fraction of a second then answered, "Ah, flying mammals classified in the order of Chiroptera. Their lore is intertwined with legends of undead creatures that feasted on blood during the night… an interesting choice, but logical due to human's psychological disposition. I would suspect she could be quite terrifying to them if she catches them unaware."

Freddie gave the image of his father a curious gaze.

"I can access the planet's computer networks to find out just about anything I want to know about the planet. It's primitive to anything we had on Krypton, but they are taking their first tentative steps."

He nodded in acknowledgment and continued, "She can certainly terrify them, but… she's still human with a number of disadvantages…"

The image of the deceased Kryptonian could pick up the dip in his son's voice. "Did something happen to her? Is she alright?"

"It was a rough fight for her against the man that had this drug in his system. He bruised her up pretty good… he was going to kill her if I didn't show up. He was able to make me feel his punches."

Jor-El was about to ask for further explanation, but Freddie continued without any need, "He was strong, but not strong like me. I put him down, but he would have easily murdered her or any other person with their bare hands. I had to break his legs to finally get him to stop."

The 'ghost' of a father gave his son a concerned gaze, but knew that he would have used only enough force necessary to stop him. If Freddie had been forced to kill him… that wasn't for him to second guess.

Jor-El nodded along then asked, "So you as Superman save her and as Freddie… making sure she's alright?"

Freddie glanced to the floor as he reluctantly admitted, "Actually… she knows we're one in the same. She figured it out… she saw past the glasses and the 'S' and I went ahead and told her the rest."

The deceased scientist raised an eyebrow and cautiously asked, "Was that wise?"

"I didn't think there was any point in lying to her about it… I knew her secret… I didn't want to lie to her…"

"If I'm guessing right about your voice, I would say that it was more personal than practical. You were thinking with your heart instead of you head?"

Freddie remained silent for a second.

Jor-El cut to the heart of the matter and pointed out, "I needn't remind you that you may look like one of them… you may even identify with them, but you are not one of them. You're not human, so… those kinds of attachments are… tricky."

Freddie didn't like to think of it in those manners, but what he was addressing was interspecies attraction and that was certainly something to consider. "Maybe not, but our species are clearly close enough for us to be physically attracted to one another."

The image of the deceased Kryptonian raised an eyebrow and asked, "So you are attracted to her?"

Freddie pursed his lips and muttered, "Could we focus on why I'm here instead of my love life?"

"We can do both. I think both are quite important to address, but I thought you were attracted to your coworker? Carly?"

The last son of Krypton remained silent and focused on their destination before the eerily penetrating eyes of a holographic image. He reluctantly admitted, "Yes, but… I started realizing that she was more interested in 'Superman' than me."

"Ah, and this young lady sees the difference?"

"Yes, she saw me through the disguise… she sees me just in a suit, not as two individuals. I'm Freddie to her."

The breaded hologram half smirked with a cocky look in his eyes. "So you find that attractive? Seeing you as 'Freddie' and not as 'Superman'?"

"Yes… one of many things…"

"So there are other things that attract you to her?"

Freddie shook his head and muttered, "I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you."

The image of the deceased father simply smile and jovially replied, "We would be having this conversation if we were on Krypton and interested in a young lady."

Freddie hesitated in pointing out that he'd be having this conversation with his father and not a simulation, but it was a moot point as the simulation was intended by his father to be the next best thing. The sheer advancement of the artificial intelligence was still staggering in his mind.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to the image. "There are a number of things that I'm drawn to. She's rough around the edges and hurt, but deep down that she's a kind person that cares about people and love those close to her and… though we don't see eye to eye on things… I feel we're kindred spirits."

"And why would you say that?"

"We both understand loss… her parents were murdered when she was a child and had to live without them… she doesn't want others to have to go through what she did."

Jor-El gave him a contemplative expression then carefully answered, "But you had the Bensons and were raised in a loving and providing home and you didn't learn about the destruction of Krypton until you were a man, so you didn't experience loss… I'm not exactly sure how you feel you can feel like her."

"I lost dad and I was helpless to do anything about it."

Jor-El sighed a breath he really couldn't breathe and answered, "Sometimes being powerless is part of life. I was powerless to save my world… only you."

"Yes. I can deal with that. I can accept that even I have limitations, but she still irrationally blames herself."

"Well perhaps you can help her with that?"

"Perhaps…"

An odd silence fell between them, but didn't last long as the hologram asked, "Speaking of the Bensons, how is your mother?"

"She's doing fine. She has not real complaints… farm's doing well… I still think she might be a little lonely."

"That's good to hear that she's physically alright. I'm not sure about what I could do about the company part, but… I may be hesitant with your course of action in regard to this matter, but in regards to your mother, the full breadth of knowledge and technology that I have left you is always at your disposal if something happens with her."

"Is that some moral bending I'm hearing?"

The 'ghost' of his father grinned as he remarked, "Call it what you will… it's the least I can do for the woman that raised my child with love."

Freddie chuckled, lifting his spirits a bit.

The hologram continued without missing a beat, "So from the headlines, I can assume the person you're hoping this compound will help is the district attorney?"

"Yes. I wasn't fast enough to get him out of the truck before the fire burned his face and arm and most likely beyond what medical science can do to restore him."

Jor-El stopped and turned to face his son. "Kal, you have great power on this world, but you cannot blame yourself for not being able to save everyone. You already unnecessarily blame yourself for not being able to save your Earthly father as we just discussed; you don't need to carry anymore guilt."

"Even if you're just memory engrams… a ghost of my father, you don't feel the guilt that you weren't able to cram enough life support into my ship to guarantee that my mother could have come with me or build one large enough for all three of us?"

Jor-El faintly smiled, pausing before he was forced to answer, "I see your point."

The pair continued on for a few more moments before they reached a crystal door that slid open and revealed an expansive room with a number of tables and various forms of literally beyond the world equipment and computer monitors scattered about the room.

Freddie's eyes went wide as he felt like he had stepped into one of the 'future' rooms at the upcoming World's Fair.

Jor-El let a smile form on his face and comment, "I took the liberty of copying my lab, so you'll find everything you need to perform your research or any other projects you desire."

They younger man looked to his father and thanked, "Thank you father."

Jor-El led him further inside and a side door slid up and a floating machine entered the room and approached the pair. It consisted of a rectangular head with visor serving as eyes and speaker box for a mouth, a short thin neck attached to an egg shaped torso with two arms at the shoulders and three fingered hands.

Freddie slightly leaned back and gave the machine a curious yet fascinating gaze.

The hologram motioned his hand towards the floating machine and made introductions, "This is Kelex. He was one of the service robots that served our family. I downloaded his mind into one of the crystals and recreated a body for him to assist you." He looked to the robot and continued, "Kelex, this is my son, Kal-El. You are to follow his instructions as you would any member of the House of El."

The flying robot turned its head and dutifully answered, "Yes Jor-El." It looked to Freddie and introduced himself, "Hello Kal."

The Kansas farm boy approached the floating machine with a look of wonder. He was aware of the automatons by his father's teachings, but to see one in person was a unique experience. He cautiously raised his hand to touch the machine, feeling that he was real. He politely smiled and answered, "Hello Kelex… are you sapient?"

The machine processed the question then answered, "By the definitions of your society, I would be considered sapient. I am self-aware and aware of my surroundings."

Freddie looked to his father and pointed out, "I'm not ordering around a slave. If… it is sapient, it is wrong for him to be a servant."

"Kelex may be sapient, but there is a question about his level of freewill. You have a pet."

Freddie defensively pointed out, "Dusty is a Border Collie, not a person. He's not compelled to listen to me in the end."

"And we had this debate on Krypton about whether they were people. Since time is a pressing matter for you, I suggest that we table that for another time?"

Freddie frowned and narrowed a look to the hologram. "For another time… I have to get back to Gotham before Jade decides she wants to go out on her own." He looked to Kelex and held up the canister. "Would you please help in analyzing this substance for safe medical use for humans?"

The machine took the canister and floated away to one of the work tables and began on his task for fulfilling the request.

Jor-El kindly bid his son farewell, "Okay son. We'll do all that we can. Stay safe."

"I will," he answered with a smile then turned and headed out of the room.

The door closed behind him and immediately the artificial creature turned away from the table and commented, "Sir, if I may. I was monitoring the facility and heard your conversation with your son. Taking into account Kal's upbringing as a human, his kryptonian heritage and similar patterns I observe of you and Madam Lara of the course of my service to you, I've calculated to a high probability that his voice pattern and pitch would indicate that he cares a great deal about the human."

Jor-El knowingly smiled as only a father could at seeing his son find that special someone. "Yes Kelax, I detected that too." He 'thought' for a moment then turned to the robot. "Kelax, access military records, specifically personal military equipment. Let's see what we can find to help put Kal's mind at ease with Miss West's aspirations."

Vega Residence
Suburb Gotham, NJ

The doorbell rang to interrupt the relaxing evening for the Vega family. The couple of the home was relaxing on the couch and watching television while Tori was in her room.

Detective Vega sighed, already having his fill of visitors for the evening. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone else, even if it sounded like he was ungrateful to the home's previous visitor. He reluctantly pulled away from his wife and headed for the door. He took a quick peek through the peephole and saw a semi-familiar. He knew he had seen the young brunette somewhere before, but was too tired to immediately place the circumstances of such a meeting.

He opened the door and revealed Carly standing on the other side of the threshold, eagerly smiling. She politely greeted him, "Hello Detective Vega."

He took a moment to recall the face then return the smile and answered as her name suddenly popped into his head, "Hello Miss… Shay was it?"

"Yes, I was hoping that perhaps you or your daughter would be willing to give an interview?"

The detective politely, but tightened his smile as he answered, "I'm sorry Miss Shay, but it has been a very long day and I'd like to relax. If you have any questions, you can check the department's public affairs department."

"I understand, but what about your daughter? I'm sure she would be interested in letting her fans know the true story of her ordeal and not just the sound bite she gave yesterday."

Vega shook his head and admitted, "My daughter isn't giving any interviews that I'm aware of."

Tori called out from his right, "Who's at the door?"

He looked over his right shoulder and asked, "A reporter from the Daily Planet."

The brunette eagerly asked, "Freddie?"

Carly's ears perked up with hearing her writing partner's name.

Tori arrived at the door and face fell in disappointment when she saw that it wasn't the handsome reporter.

The father politely introduced the young woman standing on their porch, "This is Carly Shay. She's a reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. She was hoping you would give her an interview about your kidnapping."

Tori forced a smile on her face and answered with a clearly false sense of friendliness, "Oh, so you're Carly Shay… the one that's reported that my friend supposedly murdered Mrs. Lee?"

The fellow brunette tried to defuse the potentially adversarial conversation with a professional tone and response, "I reported a legitimate story from a witness to the event. I didn't make any kind of editorial decision about the truthfulness of the statement. That is for the public to decide."

The actress took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, and politely answered, "Freddie said the same thing. He was adamant in defending you when Jade simply wanted to fire you. He threatened to quit if she did it. You should thank him for that the next time you see him."

Instead of reacting with gratitude of her co-worker, she snapped, "I can defend myself thank you very much. I don't need Freddie fighting my battles against baseless accusations."

Tori rolled her eyes and muttered, "Talk about being ungrateful…"

Carly frowned, not liking at all how the feel of the situation was turning more and more on her.

The actress continued before the reporter could attempt to salvage the situation, "As for an interview, I'm sorry, I've already given it to Freddie. I'm sure you'll see it tomorrow."

The girl originally from Seattle eyes went wide and she muttered, "You what? He told me he wasn't trying to get one from you and Mister Shapiro."

"Oh, he didn't. I insisted in giving one to him. I knew he'd be truthful and fair about it, so I'm not planning to do anymore interviews at the moment. He has my exclusive," the taller brunette answered in a nearly smug manner.

Carly mentally scrambled in trying to figure out how to turn the situation to her favor. "Freddie is a capable reporter, but not an experienced one to handle such a story as your kidnapping."

Tori shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Wow… he goes to bat for you and you're trying to steal a story out from under him? I'm done with this conversation. I think you should leave Miss Shay."

The reporter resisted turning a glare onto the actress and instead turned on a clearly false polite smile. She reached into her blazer pocket to pull out a business card. "Okay, I hope you take care and if you change your mind, you can reach me with this number."

Tori glanced at the card, but refused to take it. "Thank you, but if I need to talk to the press… I'll call Freddie." She shut the door in Carly's face before she could respond other than a surprised expression.

The father of the home half smirked and lazily questioned his daughter, "So you did talk to the press?"

"Yes, I talked to Freddie and told him what happened."

"I thought you didn't want to jeopardize the police investigation."

Tori gave her father a bashful smile, one that usually worked to have him wrapped around her little finger. "I trust Freddie to know that he won't write anything that would do such a thing. At Jade's lunch, you didn't seem to have a problem with wanting him to continue investigating what happened with Steven."

"I wasn't much concerned about his journalistic integrity, but him breaking the case by poking his nose into places where I couldn't necessarily go. An embarrassing story could shake up a lot of people and get them to make mistakes, but in this case, we have them in custody and I don't want your future testimony compromised."

"I didn't tell him anything that wasn't in my statement that's going to be in the public report and if something happens to me… you'll still have my testimony."

Vega darkly answered, "If something happened to you, there wouldn't be a trial."

Tori nervously laughed and attempted to reassure her father, "Well… I was just mentioning a worst case scenario. They're all safely locked up and the rest are in hiding. Nothing's going to happen to me. You need to relax… you need a vacation dad,"

He cracked a smile and asked, "A vacation? I was thinking that we could use a trip to Hawaii…"

She slipped up beside him and hugged his side then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I think I can arrange that."

He laughed and returned the hug.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I hope you liked some insight on some characters and like where I'm going with trying to wrap up the story in the next couple of chapters. Thanks, OneHorseShay.