"What are you planning to do?" Lois looked around at the large hangar. People were equipped with heavy winter gear and moved around efficiently. Beside her stood Hal Jordan, Dinah Lance, and Bruce Wayne.
"We're going to find this fortress and drag this killer to court!"
"You are not."
"Lois, the man murdered your husband ..."
"I know very well what he did, Hal, and I tell you now! Leave him alone. He has been punished enough."
"He sits in this fortress of his and laughs at us."
"I spent a whole day with him. Believe me he's not sitting and laughing! He's punished enough. Leave him alone." The people around stopped, looked at the four waiting for instructions. "Hal, he's not hurting anyone ..."
"He broke into your house! Who knows what he would have done if you were not ready for him!"
"But I was ready, we are all ready and he knows it. Leave him alone."
"You softened! You let him work on you with his sad story. He's a ruthless, heartless, sadistic killer."
"I am aware of all these things, Hal. I have dealt with him for years." Hal folded his hands and looked down at her.
"Did you think maybe he was aware of that too? That he directed the whole thing to maneuver you?"
"Maneuver me? For what?" Bruce looked at Hal with narrowed eyes.
"The Luthers have always had their own agenda. The whole purpose of their charities was to buy them an image of philanthropists, but we all know exactly what they did to the people who trusted them."
"But for what purpose, Hal? I have no way of influencing what happens to him."
"You object to him being dragged to jail so he can pay for what he did."
"So, you're doing all this to satisfy your need for revenge?" There was silence in the hangar. "He pays for all his sins, for all his crimes at a cut rate."
"Jordan." Bruce intervened. "We know where he is, we know where this fortress is, and we can arrest him whenever we want. And he knows it."
"So there's no reason not to do it now!"
"There is no reason for that." Lois insisted.
"The public is entitled to see him pay for his crimes!"
"No," Bruce said before Lois had time to respond. "The public is entitled to justice, not revenge. And in any case, we have no way of keeping him in our possession."
"With golden kryptonite he will have no more powers ..."
"But the fortress has a long arm. Jor El will find him wherever he is." Said Lois.
"The people he hurt, the families of his victims need to hear him confess, want to hear what happened, what he did." Dinah Lance spoke for the first time. "I'm not saying you're wrong, but people need to hear it to close this chapter in their lives."
"I do not think that will be a problem." Said Lois.
"Sorry?" Bruce turned to her in surprise.
"I want to talk to Jor El since my stay in Phantom Zone. I will ask him to release him for a limited time so that he can confess to his crimes."
"Then Jor Al will bring him back to Phantom Zone? Are you really willing to do that to him? After all you've told me?"
"Maybe there's a way to record him in the fortress, or we'll promise him a safe passage after the confession."
"If I lay my hands on this killer, I will not release him!" Said Hal.
"The best solution for everyone would be to let Lois talk to Jor El, come to an understanding with him. Otherwise, where we'll imprison him, Jor El will just take him away." Said Dinah.
And so the next day Lois found herself in the Fortress of Solitude. The place was beautiful. White and blue crystals grew everywhere but there was terrible sadness in a place like a mourning house.
"Jor El?" She tried. How exactly do you talk to an ice castle?
"Lois Queen." It was a deep and impressive masculine voice that answered.
"I came to talk to you about your son, Clark." A thunderous silence answered her. "He has committed many crimes and he have to pay for them, and I know you make it happen, but he has to stand trial. The people he hurt need to see him confess to his actions, need to see him take responsibility so that their wounds can heal, so they can go on with their lives. Balance and justice for the lives of all of us. "
"Your system of punishment leaves no room for atonement."
"I know. Most people want to punish him, sentence him to life in prison or the death penalty. They don't think he has a remedy."
"I cannot afford it."
"Because he is your son, and you are the only authority that can punish him because he is the last Kryptonian?"
"Indeed." She was silent, she thought.
"You must see that he has lost hope. If he does not see the light at the end of the tunnel, how will he struggle to reach it?"
"From the abysses of despair salvation will come."
"He has to believe in something beforehand, to believe that there is something in him that is worth saving!"
"My son can climb to heights that no one has reached before!" Lois was surprised by the great confidence in that voice.
"He needs to know that someone loves him, believes in him! In Phantom Zone there is no compassion, no love."
"My son is incapable of these feelings."
"Because he does not know them! No one has ever shown love or compassion for him." Lois suddenly fell silent, thinking of what Jor El had said. She looked around the fortress. Jor El, she felt, waiting for her. "Is that why you're so hard on him?"
"Kal the baby had enormous potential for love. He inherited it from his mother." Lois' eyes filled with tears. "Do you want me to bring him back to a world that allowed a greedy man to destroy a child's soul like that?"
He destroys him completely, she suddenly realized, so that he would be born again better. He wants to see Clark redeem himself. That's why he gave Clark the ring.
"I understand, for the first time, I think I understand. But the world will not forget him. Can we satisfy the needs of the people in closure and the need to continue the process you started with Clark?" Jour Al did not answer. "I know you made him relive his crimes, but the confession will do him good in the long run. It will help him and help the people he has hurt and their families."
"I cannot allow Kal to come out of the fortress into the world. You cannot guarantee his safety or the continuation of his journey."
"You let him come to me because it was part of the process, right?"
"It was a significant step that I did not expect at such an early stage."
"Is there a way to record his confession in the fort so he won't have to leave here?"
"Will this solution satisfy your people?"
"I think so." A strong wind began to blow snow into the fortress.
"I'll send you a representative, Lois Queen, with the recording."
"Wait a moment!"
"I cannot afford you to meet Kal El."
"But..."
"The fortress will no longer allow anyone to enter. Whoever tries to do so will die."
Light surrounded her, enveloped her and she found herself on the command ship in the North Ocean along with all the people who had just surrounded the fortress a few moments ago.
"Well?" Asked Bruce.
"He will not surrender Clark."
"I have known!" Hal raged.
"And he will not allow us to enter the fortress anymore. Whoever tries will be killed."
"I'll flatten the place completely!"
"He's just protecting his son. He doesn't have much faith in our punishment system."
"Oh, really?"
"And it's from the mouth of the man who has been torturing his son for five years?" Said Bruce quietly.
"And we let Lionel Luther destroy a little boy's soul!" From Bruce Lois turned to Hal, "He's trying to rehabilitate his only son while we want to imprison him and throw away the key." Jordan could not meet her gaze. "But he agreed that Clark's confession was needed. He would arrange delivery of a recording with such a confession."
"People will want to see him suffer." Said Bruce.
"You know just as well as I do what will happen if he stands trial, the riots that will take place, his lawyers will be in mortal danger until the day they die if there is anyone who will agree to defend him. And even if we hang him in solitary confinement, he will not be safe."
"So, what's your solution?"
"We will broadcast his confession and tell everyone the truth. That he is imprisoned in a well-secured prison in the north. For me I give them the exact location."
Lois worked in her office at the Daily Planet building.
A lot has changed in the last three months since her conversation with Jor El. It started with Lois taking back control of her life. She appointed a new chairman to the board of directors of Queen Industries and bought what was left of Luthercorp Media. She changed the name of the paper back to the Daily Planet and yesterday they finally installed the new globe. She hired a new team and ten years after Lionel Luther bought the Daily Planet and changed its name, the Daily Planet went on sale worldwide. She gave up the pursuit of revenge and chose to rebuild and felt as if she had been given a new life. Lois led the entire media group and enjoyed every moment.
She stroked her picture with Oliver from their honeymoon as the intercom hummed softly.
"Ms. Quinn? There's someone here to see you but he has no meeting."
"He said in what matter?"
"Anything about someone named Kal El?"
"Oh. Hmmm ... Okay, put him in ..."
"The schedule is busy today. I ..."
"I know. I need you to free up the next two hours for me, too."
"Yes, Mrs. Queen."
The door to her office opened and a tall black man entered. Lois stood up and held out her hand to him. His handshake was warm and confident. Lois liked him right away.
"Mrs. Queen, my name is J'ohn J'ones ..."
"Call me Lois and please, sit down."
"Thanks." He sat down and took a disk out of his pocket. "I'll go straight to the point ..."
"How is he?" J'ohn J'ones placed the disc on the table and looked at it.
"I must admit, Lois, that you never cease to amaze me." She smiled.
"I have a tendency to do that to people." J'ones smiled back.
"He's fine as he can be. The confession was very difficult for him, but he did not agree to stop."
""Is it in sequence?"
"No. Jor El forced him to take breaks. There's three hours of him talking here. And something else." She looked up from the disk at Jones. "In the last three months there have been repeated attempts to enter the fortress. Jor El has not yet carried out his threat but he is losing patience quickly."
"I did not know about it." Jones nodded.
"We imagined but Jor El thought he should satisfy their curiosity. I think he is also trying to punish humanity."
"What do you mean?"
"He added some of his follow up on Kal El in the Phantom Zone."
"Zoners attacks."
"With a voice." She looked at the disk.
"I've only seen one attack and I still have nightmares."
"Ms. Queen, I knew Jor El before Krypton was destroyed. He always saw his son as his good part, believed Kal El could be a bigger man than him. He feels betrayed. He gave you his only son to guard and you turned him into a killer."
"And his way of expressing it is with the help of torture clips?"
"He thinks it will satisfy your lust for blood."
"Is he still sending him there?"
"He's in the fortress right now."
"That's not an answer."
"What did you expect?"
"I do not know. Clark is aware of Jor El's warning, the attempts to break into the fortress, the clips from the Phantom Zone?"
"No. Jor El isolates him from everything."
"Also, from the parallel world?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Jor Al did not expect Kal El to try to help you at this point in his training."
"But it's a good thing, isn't it? It's progress."
"Yeah, just that Jor El didn't take Kal El's self-loathing into account."
"He did not understand that he would not be able to leave, and Clark did understand that and chose to do it anyway and was willing to pay the price."
"He's worried."
"Is he already calling him Kal El?"
"No."
"I'll see what I can do about the Phantom Zone clips. Can I ask you to pass a request to Jor El?"
"I do not guarantee he will fulfill the request."
"It's okay. Clark came to visit me to persuade me to give up revenge, not for him but for me. He succeeded, he was right, it was the right thing to do. I want to reward him for that."
"It does not work that way. There is no need for reward."
"I think it's necessary. Can Jor El cure Clark's scar for me?" John Jones smiled.
"I will forward your request."
"Thank you, Mr. J'ones." He got up and Lois followed. He handed her a business card.
"Jor Al asked me to stay in the area. That way you can contact me."
"Thank you." She shook his hand. "Can you look after him for me? He needs a friend."
"It will be an honor for me."
There was silence in the room when the last clip from Phantom Zone ended. The people in the room were pale and shocked. Only Bruce Wayne was able to meet Lois' gaze.
"You cannot broadcast it." Said Jordan in a strangled voice.
"Too late. I already gave the instruction. It will be published with a warning, but I made sure to leak the clip to the internet a few hours ago."
"How could you do such a thing?"
"We agreed not to try to kidnap him from the fortress, you agreed to leave him alone and yet you tried to break into the fortress. All the people in this room except Mr. Wayne were never convinced when I said he was punished enough. Sometimes it's better to show." Hal turned to Bruce.
"And you have no objection to that?"
"I agree with Lois. I would also like to add all the videos from the Luthers' surveillance cameras."
"What are you talking about?"
"Lionel Luther would never have won the Father of the Year Award. More than that, he should not have been allowed to raise children."
"Enough with this nonsense of his oppressed childhood again." Said the Hal. Bruce shook his head in the direction of Lois. She pressed a button on the remote and while clips from the Luther estate started running on the giant TV Bruce continued.
"Lois and I have agreed to wait with these clips until the confession and the clips from Phantom Zone are absorbed into consciousness." The people in the room saw how Lionel Luther treated his children in general and Clark Luther in particular. The latest video showed Lex's death. There was silence in the room.
"You make him a hero." Said Hal Jordan. "He murdered Oliver Queen and ..."
"If a day comes and he returns to human society I want people to give him a chance."
"How can you forget ..."
"I have not forgotten anything! But I saw what he could have been. Think what a man with his powers could do for humanity. How many disasters he could have prevented, how many lives he could have saved."
"And all the people he killed will be forgotten?"
"No, no one will forget them."