It was the power he hated the most, his heat vision. It was perhaps the most destructive of them. He'd caught a glimpse of his reflection once when he'd been in the middle of a blast. It was horrific. His eyes turned red. Even the veins around his eyes bulged and glowed red. It was one of the few times he truly looked other worldly, alien.

He was so embarrassed that Lois had caught him like this, testing his heat vision for army inspection. They were trying to test how much damage he could do. He looked away from her. He didn't want to see even a trace of horror there. It was one thing knowing someone was an alien, but it was another thing seeing it.

When she spoke, it wasn't to him but her father. "How much longer do you plan on holding Kal-El here? Has he performed enough tricks for you yet?"

She was going toe-to-toe with him in front of everyone, and he was able to look back. Her father was taller and bulkier whereas she was shorter and thinner, but she didn't look delicate standing there in all her anger, jaw clenched and fists curled.

"Lois, you don't know anything about this. And aren't you supposed to be out with your girlfriends shopping for prom?"

"If he has all these powers, he could have chosen not to come here in the first place. He could have escaped, annihilated every one of you, but he didn't and why do you think that is?"

He stared back at her jaw also clenched. It was easy to see the family resemblance.

"Because he is a law-abiding citizen," she went on, "not a criminal. And it's not right that you insist on treating him like one."

"Don't tell me what's right. This is about keeping the country safe and letting a super-powered alien run around wouldn't be safe."

"You don't arrest someone just because they carry a gun, do you?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because he is the weapon!"

She took a step back from General Lane and then she looked over at him before looking back to her father. "Oh my gosh, this wasn't about perceiving him as a threat or wanting to conduct experiments as much as it is about the military having a shiny new weapon, right? You want Kal-El to be your atomic bomb so to speak."

The general's lips were tight in response.

"Dad, that's positively unethical. He didn't sign up for this. He has rights!"

Private Luthor chimed in. "Sir, him a weapon? I don't know if he could be trusted to follow orders."

A weapon? That's what they wanted him for? Did the military think they could tell him to go to war against a country and he would just go in and destroy it? That's not how he wanted to use his powers. He wanted to help, not hurt.

"Well, a good thing neither of you have a say in this, isn't it?" General Lane barked at them.

His future was becoming even more terrible than he had imagined. Suddenly the thought of the rest of his life in a lab didn't sound as bad as some super-powered soldier.

"You have to free him now," she said, "before this goes too far."

"Maybe she's right," Private Luthor agreed. "The U.S. Army has never needed anyone but the brave men and women who fight for freedom every day. We don't need him."

Had Private Luthor truly had a change of heart or was he just trying to get in good with Lois? She was casting him an appreciative look that made him just a tiny bit jealous.

"When I need input, I'll let you know. In the meantime, Private Luthor, why don't you see to it that my daughter finds her way home."

Private Luthor jumped at the chance to walk her home.

Lois shot him a look that said she wasn't giving up. Somehow he didn't think giving up was even in her vocabulary. He was grateful for her belief in him even though she knew what he was. It gave him hope that one day people could look at him with trust and not fear.