Chapter 50

Lois and Lena arrived at Snyder Field, just in time to see a large tanker truck pull up. The big rig's tractor was a cab-over painted bright red, its chrome shined to a mirror sheen. The cab's passenger door opened, and Clark Kent stepped out, waving to the driver and thanking her for the very timely help. As the truck drove off to make its delivery elsewhere at Snyder Field, Clark Kent spotted Lois and Lena. Waving with his signature Clark Kent grin, he began walking over to them.

Lois could not wait. She ran to him and practically tackled him. She was rewarded with a hug and a deep kiss.

"Clark, I thought we'd lost you!"

"It'll take more than that to do me in," the big reporter replied. "Still recovering though – that radiation took a lot out of me."

"Clark …" Lois looked at his bruised face, felt him wince as she embraced him. The Superman had been injured in his battle with the Kryptonian mech suit equipped Lex. "You're hurt!"

"I know, Lois," he confirmed. "I'm healing up; already better just from the ride with Betty Jo."

"Betty Jo?" Lois did a slight double take at the mention of another woman's name.

"The trucker," Clark clarified. "And look at the tractor – it's Optimus Prime!"

She felt a bit guilty at her twinge of jealousy, but before she could say more, Lena ran to Clark as well and gave him a tight hug.

"Thank you, Clark," the Luthor heiress said. "You risked … everything for us – you risked everything for Lex."

"And I got it," Clark replied, removing the case with the syringe from his pocket. "A sample of nanotech."

"Nanotech," Lois pondered. "I wonder how many of our readers have even heard the term."

"It's certainly not in the everyday lexicon," Clark noted, "but our scientifically literate audience will probably appreciate it."

"Or be scared to death by it," Lena interjected. "People do not understand technology in general, and even scientifically literate people only know enough to jump to insane conclusions."

"True," Clark conceded. "But I'm sure Lois will write the story in such a way as to both inform and lay their fears to rest."

"Lena," Lois said gravely, "we don't have much time. Can you formulate the antidote?"

"I hope so, Lois," the Luthor heiress sighed. "Otherwise, we're in big trouble."

"Then let's get back to Metropolis," Clark said. "We all have work to do, and I need to recover my strength and powers quickly. Hopefully, Jor-El and Lara's AI programs will have some answers."

"Come on," Lena called, "My plane will be refueled and ready to fly in an hour. We can talk more inside the cabin while we wait."

"I think I'll wait outside in the sun," Clark opined. "I feel a lot better after the walk and the ride, but I need to be outside in the sunlight."

"That's fine," Lois replied. "There's a sandwich shop in the airport – Lena and I can go grab a bite and enjoy some girl-talk."

Lena did a double take. "Girl-talk?"

Lois laughed. "Come on, Lena; there are some things I need to talk with you about." She took Lena by the arm, and then looked back at Clark. "I'll bring you a Philly cheese-steak?"

"That'd be awesome, Lois. Thanks!"

With that, the two women walked toward the small airport's deli. Clark laughed to himself that both women bore the same initials: L.L.

-S-

While Clark soaked up the sun on the airfield by Lena's jet, Lois Lane and Lena Luthor sat in the airport's deli at a table for two eating hamburgers and French fries and drinking chocolate milkshakes like a couple of teen agers.

Lois was famished and lost no time covering her fries with ketchup. Lena, on the other hand, looked almost confused.

When Lois realized that Lena was not yet eating, she looked up. "Aren't you hungry?"

"I suppose that I am," the Luthor heiress said formally. "I'd like to eat, but … where is the silverware?"

"At the counter," Lois said. "Why?"

"So that I can eat."

Lois just shrugged, picked up her burger, and took a bite out of it, juices from the burger spilling all over the reporter's hands.

"Miss Lane!" Lena looked horrified.

"What?" Lois' reply was muffled, as she was still chewing her food.

"That is not how a lady eats!"

"That's how this lady eats," Lois corrected as she took another bite. "I'm on the go all the time, Lena. Besides, it's burgers and fries; you don't need silverware – well, plastic-ware in this place – to eat it. Pretend you're back in high school."

Lena wrinkled her nose. "I hated high school. Nobody in my class liked me, and after Chloe, Lana, and Pete graduated, I had no friends. I brought my lunches and brought my own silverware. I ate alone everyday and read literature appropriate to a young lady of my stature."

"Bummer," Lois said through another bite of her burger. "I never had many friends growing up either – Army brat, so we moved around all the time. By high school though, I had my circle, and going to Friendly's for burgers, shakes, and sundaes after school was the best."

Lena stared at her burger and Lois laughed.

"Don't be scared of it, Lena," the reporter said. "Just take it and bite into it."

Lena looked at Lois, then at the burger, then back at Lois. Finally, she lifted the large sandwich and tried to fit it into her rather dainty mouth enough to take a bite. Lois had never seen anyone so perplexed by a hamburger.

"Surely, you've had a sandwich, Lena."

"Yes, one that I cut with a knife and fork and ate with dignity."

Lois began to giggle. "You remind me of Clark."

"He eats like I do?"

"No," Lois said. "But he is very neat – a lot more than me. I inhale my food – he takes smaller bites and chews it. Says it's better for you and allows you to digest your food fully."

"He is correct," Lena replied. "I would say that's how he keeps himself so lean and muscular, but …."

"But we both know he could eat a horse and …."

"Eat a horse? Lois!"

"What? It's just an expression."

"Oh," Lena said with some embarrassment as she realized what Lois meant. "Our worlds are so different."

"Yeah," Lois agreed. "But so is mine and Clark's. Yours and Clark's too, but you two are good friends."

"Clark's different," Lena countered. "He looked out for me. He always displayed good manners, and even though he was raised in a humble home, he always carried himself with nobility."

Lois pondered Lena's words for a moment. "Now that you mention it, he does. Never thought of him like that before, but nobility is a fitting adjective." Then she grinned. "But he still eats his hamburgers with his hands."

Lena looked down at the burger again, this time, a look of determination on her face. "Very well, Miss Lane …"

"Lois."

"Very well, Lois – I shall conquer this." With that, the dainty, ladylike Lena lifted the burger in both hands, opened her mouth wide and took as large a bite from it as she could.

"Welcome to the club, Lena," Lois said with a laugh.

The Luthor heiress chewed her food and swallowed it before speaking. "Lois … you wanted to discuss something?"

"I would like to be your friend."

Lena looked confused. "Why? Yes, you turned out to be right about my father, but now that you've been proven right, what more is there?"

"You're Clark's friend, Lena," Lois explained. "I know we got off on the wrong foot, but you're a part of his life, and that means that you're going to be a part of mine too. I've learned very quickly that Clark's friends are Clark's friends for a reason. When I first met you and Lex, I knew that you were family friends. I projected my opinions of your father and his company onto both of you, Lex in particular. That was wrong of me, and I am sorry."

"Wow," Lena said with surprise. "I never would have expected that from you but thank you; it means more than you know."

"I've learned to trust his instincts," Lois replied. "He's made me see some things differently. You're nice, Lena. I have a good feeling about you, and my instincts about people have never been wrong."

"What about Lex?"

"Still piecing him together," Lois said with a sigh as she leaned back in her chair. "I do believe that he's earnest, and I think that he wants to do what he believes is right. I just question his judgement. He makes unilateral decisions, and people get hurt as a result."

Lena looked down, knowing what happened to Jonathan Kent as a result of Lex's hasty decision making.

"His ego can be his worst enemy," Lena agreed. "That's a fair assessment on your part."

"But Clark still thinks that Lex is a decent man," Lois reminded her. "He wants to save his friend – not to take to justice or straighten out, but just to save him from Brainiac. Clark still believes in him. I want to see Clark be right."

The Luthor heiress nodded but said nothing. Instead, she took another bite of her burger as Lois finished off her own burger and began inhaling the fries.

Finally, Lena looked up from her food. "It would be nice to have a girlfriend. I still harbor resentments, but I'm sure that you do as well. You offer me your hand in friendship. I will not slap it way, but … please give me some time to get used to the idea."

Lois lifted her shake and smiled. "Cheers." Then she began drinking the thick chocolate drink.

"How do you do that?" Lena shook her head in disbelief. "You eat like a high school football player, but you stay thin!"

The reporter laughed, though this time, without humor. "It's the one trait my father passed on to me that I actually wanted. He stayed very thin no matter what he ate, but when my mom put on weight after having two daughters?" Lois shook her head. "He was very unkind to her about it. I hated him for that."

"I'm sorry, Lois. Is your mother still alive?"

"Yes," the reporter answered. "They don't speak – my sister doesn't want anything to do with him, and I … I keep the channels open, but we hardly speak either."

"I barely remember my mother now," Lena confessed. "She passed away when I was five."

"Oh, Lena; I'm so sorry. That must have been very difficult for you."

"It changed my father," the Luthor heiress continued. "He became more distant, more aloof. He still loved us, but he was never the same after she died. Lex got me through it all."

"We'll save him, Lena."

"Thank you, Lois. I had no doubts, but hearing you say it helps."

-S-

High in the air in Lena's Leerjet 36A, Lois and Clark sat in comfort as they flew back to Metropolis. Lena was in the cockpit, apparently obsessed with aviation. Clark suspected that the Luthor Heiress also wanted to give Lois and Clark some time alone together before getting down to business.

"Clark … I can't imagine what you went through in that fight," Lois began, but Clark shook his head.

"Nothing the average soldier doesn't face during deployment," he assured.

"Yeah," Lois snapped, "and they tend to either die or suffer long-term physical and mental health issues from things like getting shot, knocked around, and being exposed to chemical and radiation poisoning."

"Lois …."

"Don't 'Lois' me, Clark Kent!" She looked down, covering her face with her hands for a moment, and then looked back up at him. "I know you're just trying to reassure me, but I'm a military brat and a war correspondent, Clark. You're Superman; the man who can't be hurt, but this alien tech is as powerful as you! What if …."

He reached across and gently squeezed her left shoulder. "It'll be alright, Lois. I got what we came for."

"Yes, and you've lost much of your power in the process!"

"It'll come back," he assured. "Look, Lois; you risk your life every day. People have been trying to kill you for several years, and you place yourself in dangerous situations fairly regularly. With me around, the chances of your dying or suffering serious injury might be much reduced, but all it takes is for me to be occupied like I was with that confrontation with Braniac while you're in danger, and you could be dead."

"Yeah, but …."

"Lois, you've been surviving Metropolis and warzones since long before I got to Metropolis," he reminded her. "You're not some damsel in distress, waiting around for Superman to swoop in and effect a rescue; you're Lois Lane, and I have to trust that as Lois Lane, you can continue to thwart death and serious injury just as capably now that I'm here as you could before."

Laughing, Lois nodded. "Well, when you put it that way …."

"We'll get through this, Lois," he assured. "You're not alone in the fight anymore. You've held your ground and survived for years own. Now, you've got a team."

"You and me against the world?"

"Lena's with us, and Lex is the damsel in distress," Clark reminded her. "There's no longer a Lionel Luthor for you to fight against, but a Lena Luthor to fight along side you. Things are changing for the better, Lois."

"Clark, before we met, I turned away men who were … really decent. I had shots at relationships that could have really gone somewhere, but I derided them for not being able to keep up with me." She shook her head. "Then I met you, and you could not only keep up with me, but you could do things I could never in a million years even hope to accomplish. It took a superhero to get me to take notice of you, Clark … but now that we're together, I don't care if your powers ever come back – I want you in my life, and I'll fight anyone who tries to take you from me. I can't lose you, Clark. You're the one."

They leaned forward and kissed.

"I knew you were the one back when we met in Smallville," he said with a grin.

"Not right away, though," she reminded him. "Just as I wasn't sure right away when you finally made your way to Metropolis. Never thought I could ever have meet 'the one' that everyone said was waiting for me, but now that I have, I will guard what we have, Clark. Part of that is giving you the second opinions you've never needed before. You can't just assume that your powers will keep you from harm; in the face of this Kryptonian tech, you're as mortal as I am."

"I know," he agreed. "Hopefully, once we've dealt with this …."

"You think they haven't kept notes on this stuff, Clark?" Lois looked at him intently. "They've got all the data on this suit somewhere in some Luthor Corp drives, and even with Lex and Lena on our side, even with Braniac defeated, they have the knowledge to create another suit and to do to other women … whatever it is they did to Lana. If the military or some other mad scientist gets their hands on this tech, Clark, you'll have enemies that can challenge you if they ever figure it out – and they will figure it out. It's what they do."

"You seem to have experience with this, Lois."

She laughed mirthlessly. "My father is involved with defense contractors and I've done many a story on the abuses of the military industrial complex. They've made weapons out of things I would never have thought possible. Once they set their minds to it, Clark, they will succeed. And I guarantee you that the U.S. Military is devising all manner of fail-safes and working on weapons specifically to destroy you. The military fears anything that doesn't conform and anything they can't challenge. Believe me, Clark, they'll get their hands on it some way or another."

"Lois, Lex would never …."

"He doesn't have to, Clark! Luthor Corp is a defense contractor! They probably already have some knowledge of the alien metals in your ship and the properties of Kryptonium. Even if Lena and Lex put the kybosh on further development, or only use this knowledge for scientific advancement in space or deep-sea exploration, the knowledge is out there. You have to be on your guard."

"Lois is right," Lena said as she exited the cockpit and joined Lois and Clark. "My father was already working on using Kryptonian tech for the development new weapons and lining up buyers for when the time came. Even without the exotic materials, they could make weapons that are the stuff of science fiction. Even if they can't hurt you, imagine the carnage and misery that could be done with such power."

"The military is really good at that too," Lois added bitterly.

"The good news is that while Jody is flying the plane," Lena offered, "I was able to examine the nanotech. Thankfully, it matches what Jor-El imparted to me exactly; Brainiac didn't change a thing."

Lois gasped. "You could do an analysis of nanotech while copiloting a plane?"

"I made an examination tool for exactly that, Lois," the Luthor heiress said as though it were obvious. "I just needed to get a look at it. With my scientific and technical background, Clark wouldn't even need a device."

The reporter turned and looked at Clark, her mouth agape.

"I can see in multiple spectrums of light, and at the microscopic level," Clark revealed. "I can even observe things at the atomic level. If I had the right information, I could compare DNA."

"I knew you could see microscopically and even see through things," Lois quipped, "but the molecular and atomic level? That's just insane!"

"He can see through things?" Lena gasped.

Lois smirked. "Yeah, Lena. You didn't know?"

"Well, Clark would never use that to …."

"No," Clark assured. "I would never misuse that, Lena. But it did help me find Lois' friend and the bombs in the Simon Project."

"Lena, how did you know about the microscopic vision?" Lois asked.

"Lex figured it out after Clark told him he had powers," Lena replied. "Said it explained a lot of things that Clark could do in science class."

"You actually told Lex," Lois half said, half asked.

"He figured out that I had powers on his own," Clark explained. "That, and Lena saw me take off to go rescue a plane when I thought nobody was watching."

"The rescue that brought me to Smallville for the story on the super-boy," Lois recalled. Then she grinned. "I have Chloe to thank for that, you know."

"I suppose you do," Clark said with a laugh. "I suppose we both do."

-S-

Lena's plane landed at Metropolis International Airport that evening. All three of the passengers were tired, but they still had work ahead of them. Lois and Clark had to work on the story – this had to be the story of the century – and this time, Clark would have to share a byline; he was the only one who could write with any authority about Superman's battle with Braniac in the Smallville skies.

Lena had to formulate the nanotech solution to cure her brother, and in spite of Clark's generous offer to help, the Luthor heiress had declined, preferring to work on this one alone. It was her brother, and it was personal.

While Clark felt that he could have been a great help, he was just as happy to rest and recover, spending some much-needed time with Lois. They chose to go to her apartment to work on the story, reasoning that even in Clark's weakened state, he was less vulnerable returning home from her apartment than Lois would have been returning home from his.

Clark busied himself in the kitchen making coffee as Lois prepped her work station. She loved the new NEC UltraLite laptop computer – one was issued to both her and to Clark, whose machine sat closed on the coffee table. She could hardly believe that a four-and-a-half-pound machine so small could have six-hundred and forty kilobytes of ram, and a whole two megabytes of internal storage.

"Two mugs of coffee, Lois," Clark said as he walked into her living room and placed hers on the table by her laptop before joining her on the sofa.

Her eyes went wide, and she could not help but smile. "Aww, you put whipped cream on top!"

Clark nodded. "Found your half and half too."

Lois wrinkled her nose. "Forgot I had it – thought maybe it got buried and was probably bad."

"Still within the expiration date," he assured. "And two tablespoons of sugar, just the way you like it."

Lois inhaled the aroma. Clark knew coffee better than anyone she had ever met. He somehow managed to brew Lois' store-bought coffee, making it smell heavenly. Then she took a sip and the taste was familiar, but somehow better.

"How did you do this, Clark?"

"I found your French press," he explained. "I gave it a quick rinse, but it doesn't look like you've ever used it."

"That thing?" Lois laughed. "Lucy got it for me because I'm a coffee nut, but I never have time to use it; my Mr. Coffee brews it for me while I'm in the shower. If I'd known a French press would make such a difference in the flavor …."

"My folks used a French press all my life," he shared. "They only use the coffee-maker for entertaining guests; it makes quite a bit more, but I know a few tricks for those as well."

She took a deeper draught of the brew and grinned. "Heavenly."

Clark chuckled. "And cute; you have whipped cream on your nose."

Lois giggled and kissed him, making sure to rub her nose against his. "There," she said with satisfaction. "Now, we match."

They kissed again, and then Lois suddenly pulled back and wiped her nose. "Clark, I just remembered something I forgot to tell you!"

Clark took a napkin and wiped the whipped cream from his face and nodded. "Yes?"

"Clark … there's a Superman cult."

"What?"

"A Superman cult," she repeated. "They … they worship you; at least I think they do. They saved me from Tanner's Evangelical mob."

"David Tanner?" Clark shook his head. "That man's a menace, and his followers are insane!"

"Tell me about it," Lois agreed. "But more importantly, this cult – one of them addressed me as "blessed one" as they were pulling me from the crowd. They wore homemade vestments with your 'S' emblazoned on them."

"It's not an 'S'," he quipped, "but this is a troubling development. I can't say that I didn't anticipate the possibility, but I'd hoped that my interview with you would have dissuaded any such ideas."

"Clark, Tanner's people think you're the antichrist and that I'm the false prophet and whore of Babylon. I certainly didn't see that one coming either." She let out a scoffing sound. "And of course, Tanner is Dirk Armstrong's man-crush."

"Why does Perry keep that idiot around?" Clark shook his head. "The man's unhinged. His association with Tanner should disqualify him from anything but tabloid journalism."

"Perry hates him and buries his clap-trap as deep in the paper as he can," Lois explained. "Unfortunately, it's the Planet's board. Armstrong boosts circulation, so …."

"So, they make Perry keep him around, and short of him doing something that would get him fired, Perry can't get rid him." Clark shook his head. "Idiots."

"Clark, what are we going to do about this cult?" Lois took another drink of her coffee. "I mean, they think I'm … something special too."

"I don't know, Lois. What I do know is that it'll have to wait until I've dealt with Brainiac … and helped you write this story."

"Clark," Lois objected, "you're the one who should be writing this! You were there, and …."

"You know that I can't do that, Lois," he countered. "I am happy to be a contributor and even share a byline, but I can't be the lead writer on this one."

"I know, Clark, but I hate to be taking credit for stories that I'm not even witness to."

"I can give you the 'man on the street' account, saying that I saw something in the sky. I can even say that the robot looking thing took out my car during the battle, necessitating my hitchhiking, but I can't write a blow by blow account of Superman's battle – but you can."

"How, Clark? I wasn't anywhere near Smallville!"

"No, you were in Metropolis," he agreed. "And when Superman returns, the first thing he does is give Lois Lane an exclusive."

That brought a huge grin to her face. "Alright, Superman; I'll take that exclusive right now."

-S-

Lois interviewed 'Superman' about the battle with Brainiac. Clark was careful not to mention Lex Luthor's involvement – only that a rogue scientist from Luthor Corp's Smallville research facility had gotten his hands on some kind of alien AI not of Kryptonian origin, and with it's help, built a combat mech from alien metals and exotic materials. He also made no mention of his own vulnerability to kryptonium radiation or to the virtually indestructible kryptonite – only that he had to work to keep an innocent from harm and that he steered the fight away from populated areas. 'Superman' even apologized for the damage to Clark's rental.

Once the interview was finished, Lois was ready to write the story. As she began typing away on her laptop, Clark wrote his account of the incident from the ground in Smallville. He finished in an impossibly brief time before removing the floppy from his computer and handing it to Lois.

"There," he said as he closed his laptop and placed it into his duffle bag. "Give this to Perry to run as a contributing article."

"Thanks, Clark," she replied as they stood. Lois grinned. "I love that you know I need to be alone to write – one of the things that makes you the man I love."

They embraced and shared a long, passionate kiss before Clark finally began moving toward the door.

"I love you too, Lois. I'll leave you to work your journalistic magic."

"Good night, Clark." She gave him a smile and a small wave. "See you tomorrow."

"Can't wait," he said as he slipped out the door.

Clark made his way from Lois' building feeling invigorated. The rest had done him well, but he still was not back to full power. In fact, he did not even know if he could fly yet. If his powers had not recovered by the morning, he hoped that either the Lara or Jor El AI would have answers. If not, then they were in serious trouble.

With Lois occupied writing her story and Lena working on Jor-El's nanotech antidote, Clark needed to do his part. Now was the time to test his powers again. Now was the time to take flight. If Clark could do that, then he could fly around the world to where it was still daytime and just hover high above the clouds, soaking in as much solar energy as his cells could absorb.

Making certain that he was not being followed, he ducked into an alley and in the blink of an eye, shed his casual clothes, revealing Superman's distinctive costume, and took off, his clothes and shoes tucked into the duffle with his laptop.

This time, Clark ascended effortlessly, experiencing no difficulty maintaining altitude. The fuzziness in his head was gone at last. He flew from Metropolis to the other side of the world in mere minutes, there to hover above the clouds and soak in solar radiation. He hated being so far from Lois and Metropolis, but he had no choice; if he was not at full power, he would never have the opportunity to deliver the antidote to Lex. He supposed that it was possible that the Kryptonian mech suit was beyond repair and that all he had to do was inject the antidote into an unarmored Lex Luthor, but he refused to entertain such wishful thinking.

Kal El entered a meditative state as he absorbed solar radiation while hovering just at the edge of Earth's atmosphere, processing the events of the past few days. He could feel his cells being reenergized and the last of the Kryptonium radiation being purged from them. A few hours of this 'solar therapy' would bring him back to full power. Now, all he had to do was wait.

-S-

As soon as the door closed, Lois got back to writing her story. A sonic boom outside told her that Superman was back on the job. She smiled to herself, pleased beyond measure that Superman was her man.

Once again, she felt as though the words just flowed from her fingertips. After a couple of hours, she was done and still felt refreshed and energized. Lois sent the finished story, as well as Clark's contributing story, to Perry via the Daily Planet's new e-mail system before shutting down her laptop and closing it.

She leaned back on the sofa, closed her eyes, and let out a deep, contented sigh, grinning as she thought about Clark.

Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind, a gloved hand placing a cloth over her nose and mouth. Lois had experienced this before and knew the scent; chloroform. Before she lost consciousness, she heard a familiar voice – the voice of Mercy Graves.

"Sorry, Lane," Lex's bodyguard lamented. "Boss's orders. I promise you won't be hurt."

A muffled whimper was all Lois could manage before blacking out.

-S-

As Lois Lane interviewed Superman, Lena Luthor worked on the nanotech solution. The technology was so far advanced that even though she could understand it, she was not entirely certain that she could implement it. Thankfully, she would not have to.

Instead of making new nanotech, all she had to do was reprogram the nanotech from the sample of Lex's blood to render the rest of the nanites that Brainiac had injected into Lex inert; essentially, they had to deliver an 'off' command.

With Jor-El's data, Lena could easily do this. She could turn off the nanites, free Lex from Brainiac's control, and extract him from the suit. That would save her brother, but what of Brainiac? What would become of the AI? Could it truly be destroyed? It could transmit itself into other systems, and Lena had no idea how to contain it – Brainiac was an alien AI housed in tech built by the most advanced society ever developed, while Earth had not developed anything even close to a true AI, let alone the technology to defend against it.

Freeing Lex would only solve the immediate problem – but what if Lex had greater capability? The threat they faced was greater than anything humanity could imagine; even Clark – Superman – could not stop such a foe, even with his great powers. Even he needed Lex Luthor's help … and Lena could make sure that Clark would have it.

With that in mind, she began adjusting the commands her nanites would give to Brainiac's. She would do more than simply turn them off. She would turn them to humanity's advantage. Clark no longer had to fight alone. Earth was no longer alone in the galaxy, and there were enemies that Earth's militaries were not equipped to combat. Lex and Clark would be the ultimate defenders of humanity. With Lena's mind behind them, no enemy would dare challenge Earth. Humanity would be safe.

Clark would be proud of her; of that she had no doubt. It was Lex who concerned her – not that he would disapprove; Lex would almost certainly be pleased. She only hoped that he would not be too pleased. Without Clark's guiding influence to temper her brother, Lena would never even consider this. Thankfully, Clark and Lex would always be the best of friends.