General Sam Lane knew everything.
He knew Kal-El had escaped from The Phantom Zone.
He knew Zal-El returned from God knows where, not that he cared all that much about him personally.
But his daughter and grandsons were a different story. And he planned to make sure that Lois, Adam and Eric were protected here. He wanted Lois's family protected.
Carter Hall was doing right by his daughter and grandsons. Lois was doing well. That could all go to hell in a handbasket with Kal-El's return.
General Lane did not even want to think about the possibility of Zal-El coming to this planet. The two of them combined would be too much.
He eyed his son-in-law, who was standing and talking with Bruce Wayne. The military had confiscated the crashed ship and it was now being studied on the base the General resided on. His eyes then fell upon Barbara Gordon. He knew why Bruce was here, with Wayne Enterprises having so many military contracts, it made a strange kind of sense. Not perfect sense, but some.
Barbara Gordon, Gotham City Librarian, here in Kansas, no. And while General Lane knew the two were seeing one another, he thought including her in on highly sensitive and confidential information was a no-no. And he planned to say something to Wayne about it. What the hell was he thinking?
Meanwhile, Bruce watched Carter carefully, as he walked around the remains of the ship. It was still intact, surprisingly. But then again, Kryptonians, mass production wise, were good at building things that lasted.
"Well?" Bruce asked. Barbara noted that Lois's father was giving her the evil eye.
"I don't know. Not for sure. I took off in Zal-El's pod and just got a glimpse of that last ship that was there. This could be it."
"So," Barbara began, "you left in his escape pod that was connected to the ship that Lois, Harley Quinn and Joker were on. Zal-El got on this ship..."
"Someone got on this ship. We don't know it was Zal-El. Kal-El could have very well come back here in this." Bruce said.
Carter shook his head!
"No. He couldn't leave The Phantom Zone in a ship. Jor-El explained how that whole thing worked. There's a portal. One that's big enough for a person or animal. Not a ship like this. This looks more like the ship that was on the dock when I took off in Zal-El's escape pod." he groused. Damnit! Zal-El were here too, he just knew it!
Carter pulled out his phone. There were no calls or texts from Lois. Why? She wasn't still with Kal-El, was she?
He decided to call her. He walked away from Bruce and Barbara and called Lois's phone. She picked up after two rings.
"Hey." was all he said.
"Hey, yourself!" Lois said in a false, cheery tone. "Where are you?"
"Where are you?" Carter countered. "Are you still with Kal-El?"
"No. I'm back home. There was an accident."
"An accident?" he asked, concern flooding his features. General Lane eased close so he could listen in.
"I was leaving Kal-El and something forced me off the road. I crashed into a cornfield, but I called for a tow so it's all good. Now, you answer me: where are you?"
"With your father, Bruce and Barbara. We found the ship we thought Kal-El came in. Did he say he came in a ship?" Carter asked.
"No. We didn't talk about anything like that. Lor-Zod was killed in the Phantom Zone and I have to somehow explain that to Lucy. Like she isn't already mad enough at me."
"Oh." Carter said, feeling momentarily ashamed. "That place had to have been hell on Earth for everyone locked in there. Even Kal-El."
"I think it was but Kal-El didn't want to talk about it. Listen why don't we talk more when you get home?"
"Why don't you tell me what you're not telling me, now?" Carter countered.
"Okay. Kal-El seemed agreeable. I mean I told him that I was happy, that the boys were doing well and that maybe we could work out some kind of arrangement. Kal-El is not really the problem." Lois admitted reluctantly.
"What is?" Carter asked carefully.
Lois took a deep breath.
"The thing that caused my car to crash was Zal-El. He's here too and he's not as agreeable as Kal-El...not that he ever was."
"Damnit! I knew it!"
Lois frowned on her end.
"You knew what?"
"Kal-El could not have found a Kryptonian ship to come back here in! His planet is gone. This ship that we found, exists because someone flew off in it before Krypton exploded."
"Zal-El." Lois said softly.
Meanwhile, the ship suddenly began to shake, as if it were trying to power up again! People started shouting and General Lane hurried into it himself, just to make sure that no one had been hiding in there! He came running back out almost as fast as he went in, when the structure seemed to implode in on him!
And then, General Lane, Bruce, Barbara, Carter, along with a small faction of military personnel, watched as the ship suddenly seemed to crumple and turn into a small, metal suitcase!
Then it flew off, crashing through one of the walls of the hangar it had been enclosed in. A few MP's fired at it but to no avail. General Lane shook his head in disbelief while Bruce looked at Carter.
"What did Lois say?" he asked.
"It's just as we feared: Zal-El is on this planet as well." Carter said grimly.
Lex closed The Talon early. He had been fully aware that Kal-El had been in Lois's former apartment. And he still considered him somewhat of a friend, despite what happened to Tess.
Lex handed Kal-El a cup of coffee that caused Kal-El to grimace when he took a sip. He had never liked this particular Earth brew. He eyed Lex.
"What happened? Why are you working here? I take it this is Lionel's doing?"
"Father disappeared. For the past two years I have not been able to shake the feeling that he is off someplace, plotting something bigger for all of us." Lex mused.
"And he took the Luthor fortune with him?"
"No. It is still intact." Lex said. He sipped some coffee.
"Then again, I have to ask, why are you here? At this cafe?" Kal-El asked.
"Because, I wanted everything intact for when you returned here, Kal-El. Or returned to Lois. That and I've fired the last three people that managed this place! And I never believed Zal-El died on Krypton. I overheard my father speaking with The Joker, of all people. Zal-El left the ship he had taken Lois on to go back and help evacuate. I don't think he ever went back to Krypton, personally."
Kal-El said nothing for a moment.
Then he responded.
"Zal-El and I have always had a bond. An unwanted one. I could sense when he had killed. Do you know what that is like? To know that some unknown person will die at the hands of your own brother? I sensed it before he killed Tess." Kal-El sighed.
"What are you saying?"
"I can FEEL him here! He is on Earth someplace...probably here in Smallville. And he is waiting for an opportunity to be with Lois again."
Lex eyed him.
"You're saying he's planning on killing Carter, aren't you?"
"Yes." Kal-El said grimly.
Adam and Eric were taking naps before dinner.
Carter had not returned home.
Lois called Carter and Bruce's cell phones and got no answer.
She was very scared, but could not show it. Not in front of the boys.
Kal-El was coming for dinner and Lois didn't know what she was going to do...
The doorbell rang and Lois ran to it, not thinking that Carter would not ring the bell. She threw open the door and stared at her father, uncomprehending.
"Daddy? What are you doing here?" she asked in a hollow voice.
Sam Lane walked in and closed the door.
"Lo, I need for you listen to me: there was an accident."
Lois glanced back towards the stairs before looking at her father again.
"What do you mean? Do you know where Carter is because he should have been home, hours ago."
"Honey, I need for you to sit down." General Lane said, just as the doorbell rang again! Lois hurried past him and flung open the door to Kal-El, who smiled at her while carrying a shopping bag full of gifts for the boys.
"Good evening, Lois. I thought..."
Kal-El stopped talking when he saw the stricken look on Lois's face. Sam Lane wore a grim look. Lois threw herself into Kal-El's arms, forcing him to drop the bag.
"He's dead, Kal-El! Carter is dead! He's dead! Just tell me that Zal-El wouldn't do this to me?! Tell me!"
Kal-El held her sobbing form within his arms as he locked eyes with Sam, who shook his head.
"I need for you to stay here with my daughter and grandsons." Sam said. Kal-El set Lois away from him.
"I need to speak to your father alone. We will deal with this together." he soothed and Lois nodded as tears continued to stream down her face. Sam walked outside and Kal-El followed him, closing the front door behind him.
"What happened?" Kal-El asked tersely.
"We found the ship your brother came to this planet in. We took it to a military base to study it. Carter, Bruce Wayne and his girlfriend, Barbara Gordon, were there as well. We all saw the ship suddenly 'change' into something as small as a suitcase and fly off of the base."
"It's a defense function. We as a people are particular about other cultures studying our technology." Kal-El admitted.
"That same suitcase, flew into the windshield of the car Carter, Bruce and Barbara were in. Carter is dead. Bruce is barely alive and Barbara Gordon is now paralyzed. Why did this suitcase/ ship do that? And I don't want to hear any bullshit about it having a mind of it's own!" Sam hissed.
"It was controlled." Kal-El sighed tiredly. "By the person that flew it here. If you can call my brother a person."
"He's going to come here and expect Lois and the boys to leave with him! That's not happening."
"It won't." Kal-El promised. "I will stay here with my family. Those boys are mine. I will protect them."
Sam said nothing about his presumptive manner. Kal-El was right. Adam and Eric were both half Kryptonian. He belonged to Kal-El as much as they did Lois.
At this point and time, he could not tell Kal-El that the military had a way of stopping Zal-El. And what hurt Zal-El would also hurt Kal-El-and any other fallen Kryptonian that dared to get out of line on this planet. But he kept those words to himself.
"You will tell Lois how it happened?"
"Yes." Kal-El said. There was something he was not going to tell General Lane, in case he was unaware. He knew that Carter had been a Thanagarian. That meant that Carter would live again in another body, maybe even in another realm. But there were things that needed to be done. Things he did not know that Lois was even aware of.
Carter Hall could not have a regular funeral. Kal-El would have to find out what Lois knew about Carter's people, and if she was even up to facing what it meant to be the widow of such a being.
He watched General Sam Lane turn and leave. Kal-El then turned and faced the house, looking up at a second floor window. He knew that that was where Adam and Eric slumbered. Lois and him would get the life they had always wanted-no thanks to Zal-El.
Kal-El peered around in the darkness, before walking back into the house and closing the door. Zal-El was out there, somewhere, just waiting for the time to get him out of the way and live a life with Lois and the boys, that he mistakenly thought he was meant to live.
"Zal-El! Well, thank you for finding us a new place to live!" The Joker beamed as he looked around Wayne Manor. The only other person that lived here, besides Bruce Wayne was an old butler named Alfred. But he was in Smallville now, seeing to his boss-all thanks to Zal-El!
"It's good to see you again, Z," Harley-Quinn said, "but what the hell happened? Some creep returned to the ship instead of you and tried to kill us!"
Zal-El sat down in a front room in front of a fireplace. This mansion would do. He would bring Lois and the boys to live here as well. Joker and Harley-Quinn would be thrown out, though they did not know that as of yet...
"You do not want to know. Let us just say that I was detained. So was Cera-Zod." Zal-El huffed.
Joker could have actually cared less but he was pretending to listen as he checked his e-mail on his phone. His eyes suddenly widened and he glared at Zal-El!
"Bruce Wayne is not dead! But Lois Lane's husband, conveniently is!" he sniffed. "There was some other non essential that was paralyzed but the point is that BRUCE WAYNE IS ALIVE!"
"Which means this house is not ours free and clear!" Harley squeaked in resentment. Zal-El had had enough of the both of them!
"Do I have to do everything? Is it my fault that two humans out of three lived? Go to the hospital and smother Wayne or something! I have other concerns." Zal-El said darkly. He had not escaped Apokolips, he had been allowed to leave, on the condition that he help Darkseid against the Thanagarian's, who had begun to become a problem for him.
Killing Carter Hall not only helped Darkseid but it also reduced Zal-El's stress. He no longer had to think about that man touching his wife! That piece of Thanagarian filth, stole his pod on Krypton, forcing him to end up in Darkseid's clutches! Carter Hall would reincarnate, unfortunately and when Zal-El found out who he was in his next life, he planned to kill him again!
His mind moved from those murderous thoughts, to more pleasurable ones, as he remembered caressing Lois's breasts in that corn field. And despite her protestations, her flesh had surrendered to his touch. He felt his loins stir gently at just the memory of their brief encounter.
Much to his annoyance, he noticed that Joker and Harley-Quinn were still there!
"If you want to keep this mansion, make sure that neither Bruce Wayne nor his butler, return here." Zal-El told them coldly. Joker refrained from openly chafing from being ordered around by this Kryptonian, while Harley-Quinn, sensing his displeasure, grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the house.
Once in their car, Joker began to go off!
"We made significant contributions to make sure the Legion of Doom was a force to be reckoned with! And those Kryptonian clones made it possible for us not to need Zal-El! We need to do something so that HE leaves the mansion!"
"Maybe we should talk to Lois?" Harley-Quinn said. Joker looked at her as if she were crazier than she already was!
"What kind of suggestion is that?"
"Come on, puddin'! She knows Zal-El killed her husband. And she can't be happy about it. Plus, rumor has it that Kal-El is back from wherever the hell he was. We can get Kal-El to get rid of Zal-El for us." Harley-Quinn said happily.
Joker said nothing to her but pondered the situation. There had been a time when Lionel Luthor's feelings on this matter, would need to be taken into consideration. But the two years that Zal-El had been gone, had waned his influence over the Legion of Doom as well.
Kal-El walked into the living room and sat down next to Lois, who was wiping her tears.
"I want to hear it. I want to hear how it happened." Lois said, her voice taking on a hard edge.
"They think Zal-El caused a car accident that killed Carter. Bruce Wayne is still alive. His girlfriend was with them. She is alive but paralyzed."
"Oh my God!" Lois cried and stood up abruptly. "This is all my fault. I should have kept my distance from your brother when Lucy was held hostage on Krypton. I started this and now, somehow, I have to find a way to finish it. Before anyone else dies or gets hurt."
"Lois, you can't do anything against Zal-El alone! If he comes here I will face him, do you understand?"
But Lois didn't hear him.
"I want you to go upstairs and get to know your sons. I'm going to offer Zal-El a deal."
Kal-El did not like the sound of any of this! He stood up as well.
"What kind of deal?"
"A deal where in which he gets me, and me alone. I want you to take Adam and Eric as far away as you can. Zal-El can have me as his wife, but without the boys."
"He will never agree to that!" Kal-El snapped. "One of the boys is his and he is going to want him!"
"When I said I didn't want anyone else getting hurt, that means you too, Kal-El! Now you need to worry about getting your family out of the Phantom Zone. Your parents are going to love the boys! I know you'll take good care of them. But no one else dies." Lois said firmly, just as the doorbell rang. Kal-El shook his head as Lois moved around him and opened the door to...
"Hey there, hon!" Harley-Quinn purred. "Remember me?"
The Joker suddenly appeared by her side and he saw Kal-El standing in the living room.
"Kal-El from Krypton! You are just the man we wanted to see. Your brother has been a bastard to us and we don't need it. How about we help you get rid of him-our services will be free of charge, of course." The Joker grinned.