Despite needing time apart, Kyla and Clark couldn't help but be around each other. Both of them were interested in the caves and Dani was always spending time with Kyla and learning about her tribe and working the caves herself. Clark found it hard to have any reservations about Kyla as most of his worries were to do with her resenting him being one of her judges and her having to share him. She never brought it up and she spent quite a lot of time as close to him as she could without touching him.

With the snow gone working the farms became easier. Hippolyta was simply depressed; she spoke to no one and did her assigned duties silently.

One night Amara never came home.

Nobody was worried as they assumed she was working or with the Amazons. After so many millennia together no one felt the incessant need to keep tabs on each other. They were usually courteous enough to let each other know where they were though.

They were surprised when they received a mental call to meet her at the Sheriff's office.

When Harry, Clark and Dani arrived they were shocked to find her in a cell.

"What the hell are you playing at Miller?" Dani demanded. "Why is she in there?"

"I found her slumped at the wheel by the side of the road. She had a blood alcohol level of 2.0 and a weapon on the front seat. Lionel Luthor was found shot at the Mansion last night with the same calibre weapon. I had no choice." Miller snapped.

"2.0?" Harry asked with a small smile. "So she was dead when you found her."

"What?"

"A blood alcohol level of 2.0 means I would be dead. I also don't recall taking a test." Amara said waspishly.

Harry reached into his pocket and conjured a needle and syringe pack. "I'll take a blood sample for proper testing." He said.

"I can't authorise that."

"You don't have a choice in the matter, Sheriff. This is my choice and I give permission. I would like you to take two vials though Harry, send one to Captain Sawyer and have her run the test to make sure there is no bias."

"Should I send one to Gordon too?" Harry teased.

"That man has enough to do." She rolled her eyes.

"How much is bail?" Dani asked heatedly.

"That will be up to the judge." He said as he drew himself up.

"You're an idiot Miller. This will be your last term as Sheriff even if I have to run for the office myself." Dani snarled as she pulled out her phone and walked out.

Harry moved in closer to Amara so he could talk privately and draw the blood through the bars. "You are physically fine. No signs of trauma or anything to worry about other than being drugged."

"Do you know what it is?" She asked.

"Animal tranquiliser. You have a dart wound in your upper back. Whoever shot Lionel wanted to set you up."

"This could be bad for our case if word gets out."

"Screw the case, I intend to find the bastard and nail them to the wall. I'm fairly certain that Miller is involved as he lied about the Blood Alcohol test." Harry snarled.

"Is there anything you need, Amara?" Clark asked. He had a feeling he might have to keep a hold on Harry for the next few days; he was definitely baying for blood.

"No, but someone should go to the island let Diana know what's happened."

"They won't try and start a war will they?" Clark asked only half joking.

"No, they will want to though." She laughed. "Someone needs to keep a lid on this as well, we don't need this news to get out and taint our case."

"Don't worry, one of us will get on it." Harry assured her. He leaned in and gave her a kiss. "I doubt Dani will be leaving your side anytime soon so Clark and I will handle this." He said holding up the blood vials.

"I can deliver those if you want." Clark offered.

"Thanks Clark. Let me just write up some labels."


Dani was not surprised when an hour later Kyla came bursting into the holding area.

"Your Majesty! Are you alright?" She asked hastily.

"Remember your surroundings Kyla." Amara said softly.

Kyla blushed as she realised her slip. "I'm sorry, but for the last three years I have only called you that or something similar."

"Shouldn't you be in school Missy?" Dani asked with narrowed eyes.

"I- er- it didn't seem important." She said nervously.

"What do you think your Grandfather will say about this?"

"I wasn't planning on telling him." She sighed.

"That is not the way we do things young lady." Amara said sternly.

"I'm sorry Your- Amara." She said contritely.

"I'll take you home later and we can explain. For now, pay attention and try to learn from what you see."

"Aquila, your friends have to leave, time to head to the courthouse." Sheriff Miller barked as he came in with a pair of handcuffs.

"We'll be following right behind." Dani said firmly.


The trip was short and the judge was confused.

"Miss Aquila, you are being accused of shooting Lionel Luthor?" Judge David Canton asked incredulously. "What evidence do you have Sheriff?"

"Miss Aquila was found parked by the side of the road with the weapon clearly visible on her passenger seat. She was highly intoxicated at the time." Miller stated.

"Miss Aquila?" The Judge asked.

"The Sheriff has failed to mention that he either botched the Blood Alcohol Test or lied as he claimed it was 2.0."

"2.0! You'd be six foot under! With that much alcohol in your system you would be incapable of recognising a firearm let alone using it."

"Indeed. Dr. Potter has taken a blood sample for testing and I asked him to send a second sample to Metropolis PD for a separate confirmation. Also, Dr. Potter found a puncture mark on my back consistent with a tranquilizer dart."

"Sheriff, I hope you have a decent explanation as to why you brought this case to me and botched it so perfectly." Canton glared.

"The weapon was on the side seat."

"Your Honour, I would like to point out that the weapon has not been run through ballistics yet and the bullets confirmed to be the same as those used on Lionel Luthor. The Sheriff seems to have jumped the gun, so to speak, as he readily assumed it was the murder weapon when it could have been a personal firearm that I had out for protection when my car broke down.

"Not that I am saying that is what happened, but you can hopefully see my point."

"I see it, Miss Aquila. What I fail to understand is why Sheriff Miller refuses to see it."

"Miss Aquila is known to be in a legal dispute with Mr. Luthor and is accusing him of sexual assault." Miller said getting annoyed.

"Whilst true I'm afraid I can't help but wonder at the other facts of the case, Sheriff. Such as you seemingly screwing up a standard Breathalyzer test or jumping to conclusions.

"I'm tossing these charges. No bail, get your office in order Sheriff."

"Your Honour, due to the clear negligence of the Sheriff, I would like to request that Metropolis PD be invited to take over. I fear the Sheriff may not be thinking clearly at this time and would prefer not to see the inside of a jail cell again."

"I would have to agree." The Judge nodded. "I will call the Commissioner immediately. Court is in recess." Canton banged his gavel and made his way to his office.

Amara just turned and slapped the cuffs into Miller's chest leaving the man standing there utterly baffled as to how she got out of them.

"That was so cool!" Kyla gushed.

"Did you have to use… you know?" Chloe asked.

"No, I have plenty of experience having been kidnapped, captured and… well, it gets repetitive." She said before turning to glare at Chloe and Lana. "Why are you two not in school?"

"Please Amara, when your Queen gets framed you don't go to school." Dani scoffed.

"I am not their Queen."

"You were mine for several months and you are still our friend." Chloe said stubbornly.

Amara glanced at Clark. "We both know where I would be, and I have been watching you and the rest of your family do the impossible for over a year and a half now." He said seriously.

"Does Emma at least know you are here?"

"She told us to take notes and write a report on the legal system." Lana smiled.

"Ever the teacher." Amara smiled wistfully. "To think, she used to be the worst kind of villain."

Kyla's eyebrows shot up at that causing Dani to burst out laughing.


"Dr. Potter, Miss Aquila, I'm Lieutenant Inspector Dan Turpin. The Metropolis Commissioner sent me down to take over the investigation into Lionel Luthor's attack, I was hoping I could talk with you." Turpin was a well-built man, like an American Football player. He had a brown hat to match his brown suit and suspenders. He looked quite old fashioned.

"Of course, we've been expecting you." Amara said as she invited Turpin into the castle and then to a small room nearby with a table and chairs. "Can we offer you food or drink?"

"Thank you but no. I'd like to get down to brass tacks and hopefully out of your way as quick as possible."

"Understood." Amara nodded as she sat down at the table next to Harry.

"I have the initial report from the Sheriff's office, but I was told to ignore it and start from scratch. So, can you tell me what happened to you last night from say six pm?"

"At six I was at the courthouse checking on paperwork regarding the Kawatche Caves that we hold the deeds to the land for. We applied to be the caretakers of the land so that we could buy the land up to protect it from the type of work Lionel Luthor wanted to do: industrial development. I don't actually remember leaving the courthouse, my next memories are of Sheriff Miller arresting me."

Turpin huffed. That wasn't a lot. "Your alibi is pretty thin then?"

"Actually my alibi is iron clad." Amara smirked as she brought out a handheld tablet. "This is the video feed from my car. We install these on all our vehicles as unfortunately, some officers of the law can be bought and people like Lionel Luthor use them to get to us."

Turpin looked at the video he was being shown. He could see various people walking back and forth through a wire fence.

"There's more I take it?"

Amara began tapping on the touch screen device. "This is the recording of what happened to me at around 10:30pm last night."

Turpin watched as the video showed a night-time view as one of the Sheriff's vehicles pulled over Amara's car. He saw Miller himself get out of the car and walk up to the driver's side. Amara tapped the screen as the Sheriff walked out of view of the rear camera and he then saw a view from what he assumed was somewhere on the dashboard facing out the driver's window.

"Sheriff, is there a problem?" Amara could be heard to ask on the recording.

"I'm going to need your license and registration ma'am." Miller instructed.

"For what reason? You know full well who I am?"

"Licence and registration, or are you refusing to cooperate?" Miller asked with a slight threat.

Turpin saw Amara turn to the passenger side where he assumed Amara had her handbag when he saw Miller pull out a gun and shoot at Amara. There was a soft 'thwip' noise as a dart landed in her back and she slumped over.

He then saw Miller pull out the same gun he claimed to have found on the seat and wiped down before tossing it where he would later 'discover' it.

Amara let the video show him driving off before putting the tablet in standby.

"Can I get a copy of that video Miss Aquila?"

Amara slid over a DVD in a case that was already prepared. "There are videos on there of the whole twenty-four hours from each camera. They are time stamped so you can navigate more easily."

"If you will excuse me I will go and arrest the Sheriff. I trust you will be pressing charges yourself?"

"Of course. I will leave prosecution to the DA though."

"Right. Thank you for your time and I apologise on behalf of law enforcement." Turpin said as he tried to contain his disgust at what he had seen.

"We don't hold the majority of the force to the actions of the few. We hold great respect for Captain Sawyer in Metropolis and Commissioner Gordon in Gotham." Harry finally spoke up.

"Sawyer? Maggie Sawyer?" Turpin asked.

"Yep." Harry smiled.

"Yeah, we went to the academy together." Turpin said with pride. "You have good taste in coppers then. I hear Gordon is really cleaning up Gotham, he even managed to reign in that Bat guy a bit too."

"I've met him. Little bit fanatical but otherwise he's not a danger." Harry assured him.

"You met the loon?" Turpin asked incredulously.

"I did some consulting work for the Gotham DA. I did the mental assessments for Jonathan Crane, AKA The Scarecrow and Jack Napier, AKA The Joker. Both are criminally insane. The Batman took a personal interest in their trials and ensuring they didn't escape. I got to meet him then. Like I said, fanatical, but not a danger."

"The Joker! God, I'd hoped they'd put that rabid dog down." Turpin growled.

"So did I. As far as I'm concerned, the criminally insane like those two should mean a death sentence. They cannot be rehabilitated. I made that abundantly clear." Harry said unhappily.

"Sometimes the law stinks, but at least only parts." Turpin sighed. "Well, I'll let you get back to what's left of your day. Please don't leave town though in case I need to come back for more details."

"Here's our numbers. We already have permission from MPD to travel within Kansas but if you need us we can arrange to come to you or get you to us." Amara said.

"Much obliged Miss Aquila." Turpin said as he went to tip his currently absent hat.


"Amara's been cleared of all charges and re-classified as a victim." Harry told Jean at the Medical Centre as he donned his lab coat.

"Good. Are we sure Miller is the one who shot Lionel?" Jean asked.

"Fairly certain short of you or one of the others scanning him or Miller confessing."

"Ah, well the Doctors are revolting. They are refusing to deal with Lionel." Jean smirked.

"Who is currently dealing with him? You?"

"Me and Helen. She said she would do it only if I went with her." Jean laughed.

"How bad is he being?" Harry asked.

"He claims he is blind again and is demanding his specialist from Metropolis. We tried the old ball throwing trick but he's been ready for it."

"But no one can see anything wrong with his eyes?"

"No swelling, corneas and retinas are intact and responsive. The bastards faking it."

"You have to be talking about Lionel Luthor."

Harry and Jean turned to greet their colleague Helen Bryce, a beautiful young woman with brown eyes and dark hair.

"What gave it away?" Harry asked with a laugh.

"Jean referred to him as a bastard. As someone who frequents anger management classes… I know that means Jean is really ticked."

"Can't argue with that logic." Harry nodded. "Well, I am off to do some rounds. Have fun with old Lionel."

"Wait, no suggestions? You always have a suggestion!" Helen argued.

Harry stopped at the door and grinned them. "Hysterical blindness."

"Conversion disorder." Jean mused. "I wonder why that isn't already on his charts."

"Think about it. Can Lionel Luthor, the head of a huge multi-national firm be seen to have a psychological problem? There is probably a clause in his contract about it."

"Oh! Thank you Harry, that explains a lot." Jean beamed at him.

Harry just waved goodbye.

"I don't understand, wouldn't one of the previous doctors have ruled it out?" Helen asked.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way."


"Mr. Luthor, we have managed to determine your eyesight problem." Jean said with a fake smile as she walked in with Helen a step behind her.

"About time. I was wondering just how many incompetent doctors were in this place." Lionel sneered.

"None. But we do have a chronic problem with moronic patients." Jean countered quickly. "Now, we have examined the blood work, the MRI's and your eyes directly and the cause is actually quite obvious, we were surprised it wasn't already caught. You have developed what is known as Conversion Disorder, it used to be known as-"

"I know damned well what it is you are implying and I will tell you the same thing I told those previous quacks, if you put that down on my chart I will have you up on mal-practice charges." He hissed.

"As you can see Dr. Bryce, Mr. Luthor is clearly having anger issues and delusions of grandeur. My advice is to have him sent to the fourth floor for evaluation. They can then decide if we need to transfer him to Metropolis and Belle Reve." Jean said ignoring Lionel.

"Yes. I will begin the paperwork and have it ready for you to sign."

"Now see here!" Lionel said as he tried to feebly get out of bed, he was greatly hampered by the bullet wound.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, but we have little choice in the matter. You clearly have Conversion Disorder and other mental issues." Jean said faux apologetically.

"Fine! I was faking the blindness." He declared angrily as he focused his eyes on them. "I can see you are wearing your hair tied back and have emerald earrings. Satisfied?"

"Whilst the issue of your blindness has been resolved we still must deal with the fact that you had this pathological need to deceive us. I'm sure your counsellor will be able to help you through this." Jean said as she signed the chart with a flourish and ushered Helen out the door.

"I WILL SEE YOU RUINED YOU HEAR! RUINED!" Lionel screamed as the door closed.

"I assume now would be a bad time to visit my dear father?" Came the dry tones of Lex.

"Lex! I wasn't sure if I would see you before I got off work." Helen smiled as she gently kissed him on the lips.

Lex cleared his throat uncomfortably as he saw Jean standing there smirking at them.

"I can explain." Lex said as he took a step back, taking Helen with him.

"Of course you can. I would love to know how you managed to hide this from all of us." She said with an eager look.

"You know Lex, Jean?" Helen asked.

"Harry and Lex are very good friends, and I live at the castle with Harry. I also consider Lex to be a good friend… hence why I am curious we didn't know he had found someone. Do we need to run a blood test?"

Lex scowled at her teasing.

"Why would he need a blood test? Are you ill?" She asked worriedly.

"You didn't tell her about Desiree?" Jean laughed.

"Considering the embarrassment, no. I did not." Lex hissed.

"Lex, bring Helen round tonight for dinner. We can regale her with some stories of your misadventures."

Jean walked off laughing, leaving a glaring Lex and a confused Helen.


Tess Mercer couldn't believe she had come here. She had left the comfort of Star City to visit the small town of Smallville to see if her mother and half-brother were worth meeting. She was currently standing outside a huge castle that she never thought she would see the likes of in America.

"Just pull the rope on the side there."

Tess spun around to see a large black man smiling at her.

"Pardon?"

"The rope, it's the bell." He explained.

"Oh… that's… quaint."

"They don't get many visitors. Those of us who work here don't often use the front door." The man explained as he pulled the rope for her. "I'm Earl Jenkins, I work for Harry Potter." He said as he offered his hand.

"Potter? The eccentric billionaire?"

"That's the one. This is his castle."

"Oh… I was looking for-"

"Lorna Dane." Came a voice from the doorway.

Tess hadn't even heard the large door open.

"Lorna! I was beginning to think I had the wrong place." Tess said in relief.

"No, you found me. Come on in. You coming in Earl?"

"No, I was just trying to help the lady out. She looked a little lost." Early smiled at Tess.

"Thank you." Tess said quietly.

"I'll see you later then Earl. Come on in Tess."

Lorna led Tess to the small room nearby where Harry and Amara had taken Inspector Turpin. Only this time the room looked more like a reception area than an interview room.

"I'm glad you came Tess. Your mother and Lex have been getting more and more worried that you didn't want to meet them."

"I wasn't sure I wanted to. Especially after you told me Lex Luthor was my half-brother."

"As I told you, Lex is a good man… he wasn't exactly the pinnacle of society but since he came to Smallville… things have changed him."

"He hasn't exactly been in the papers much. It's been all about Lionel and Potter."

Lorna scowled at that. "Yes, that bastard tried to assault Harry and Amara. We'll get him eventually but Lionel is definitely as bad as you think."

"You honestly think you can beat Lionel Luthor?" Tess asked sceptically.

Lorna just smirked and changed the subject.

"I have two pieces of news. First, you have another half-brother. A woman came to Smallville claiming a young friend of ours was her son. He wasn't but we did discover she gave birth to another of Lionel's children."

"He really didn't know how to keep it in his pants, did he." Tess said in disgust.

"No he did not. What was worse was that he did it all in the same house as his sick wife and young son."

"Have you found this other Luthor?"

"Yes. But we are taking a far more cautious route with him; he is not a nice person. He has connections to various international gangs and he seems to enjoy it."

"The bad seed." Tess muttered.

"An understatement. The second piece of news is that Lex is here now, in the castle. He came here with his girlfriend who we only found out about today. Would you like to meet him?"

Tess froze for a moment. She had to stop herself from asking if Lex still wanted to see her…still wanted her as a sister. After all she had been through she was not going to be weak and kowtow to the whims of others.

"Yes. I will see him now." She said firmly.

Lorna led her out of the small room and through the large lobby and to the grand double doors where the Great Hall was and they held their family dinners.

The room was filled with laughter and loud conversation.

"You must be Tess Mercer."

It was a clearly spoken statement that for some reason got the attention of everyone at the table. The man who sat at the head of the table was young, black messy hair and bright green eyes. Everyone looked to be about the same age except for an older couple nearer her end of the table. There was a blond woman sitting at the end of the table nearest her who stood up.

"We were wondering where you where Lorna. I take it this is what took you away?" The woman was tall with Nordic features.

"Yes Brunhilde. This is Tess Mercer. Tess, meet Brunhilde." Lorna introduced them.

"Lex, come forward and greet your long lost sister." Brunhilde called over her shoulder.

The bald-headed man that everyone in America would recognise rose from his chair next to the man at the head of the table and walked towards them.

Tess was mildly surprised to see that Lex Luthor was nervous. She didn't think Luthor's did nervous.

"Tess. You probably figured I'm Lex. It's good to finally meet you." He said as he held his hand out.

Tess was confused. Confused was probably what anyone would be feeling in a situation like this though. She took the hand.

"I'm told you are nothing like our Father?"

Lex smiled. "My life's goal is to become the exact opposite of him… short of becoming a woman that is."

"And we have another brother?"

"So I'm told. My advice is to leave it in the hands of Lorna and the rest of these people." He indicated the seated group. "They won't do wrong by you."

"Why don't you take a seat? Join us for a meal?" The man at the head of the table offered.

Lex took her hand and led her to where he was sitting. She noticed that there seemed to be an extra chair there now, but nobody else had moved.

She sat down between Lex and the man at the head of the table. A fairly important position if her lessons on etiquette were correct.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Doctor Harry Potter. But just call me Harry."

"You're Harry Potter?" She asked. "But you're so young!"

"Why thank you!" Harry beamed.

"The papers have never gotten a picture of you, everyone thinks you're in your fifties."

"Yeah, they always ask the wrong people about me." Harry smiled. "Anyway, we could sit here and question each other awkwardly, but I suggest we continue with what we were originally doing before you came in. You'll enjoy it as it involves us telling stories of Lex for the benefit of his girlfriend over there, Doctor Helen Bryce." He pointed to the woman seated on the other side of Lex.

"What sort of stories?" She asked.

"Well, we were starting at the beginning." An ebony haired woman asked who sat down the table on the opposite side from her said. "I'm Laura Kinney by the way. I'm one of the coaches at Smallville High along with Scott Summers my fellow coach, Emma Frost the principal, Danielle Moonstar the school counsellor and Lana Lang… student."

She gave the youngest girl at the table a shrug and a smile.

"Ahem!"

"Oh right, and Clark Kent… also a student." Laura winced apologetically as the aforementioned student glared at her.

"This is not one of my best moments." Lex warned. "But it is probably the best thing that ever happened to me."

Tess looked at Lex curiously.

She then turned back to Laura as she and Helen along with Thor, Loki and Sif listened to the rest of the diners tell stories of Lex and his many adventures, from running Clark off the road on the end of his Porsche to becoming enthralled on the love toxins of Desiree Atkins.

Lex sat there red faced through most of it, either through embarrassment or shame.

"And you've only been in Smallville for two years?" Tess asked as they sat in the common room drinking various beverages.

"Year and a half actually." Lex corrected.

"There is one story I haven't heard." She said with a frown. "How did you meet Helen?"

The grin on Helen's face was immense. She turned to Lex and looked at him expectantly.

"Please, after all you've heard today you think how I met you is going to make the top ten?" Lex scoffed.

"Wow… is that really how you chat up a woman Lex?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"She sat there laughing at my expense… I'm entitled to be a little bit snippy." Lex groused. "Go on. None of them know this story."

Helen kissed his cheek before sitting forward still holding Lex's hand. "I have a few issues with anger management. There was an incident where I may have drop kicked an orderly."

"How do you drop kick an orderly?" Lana asked, but then blushed, she still wasn't used to speaking up in a group filled with gods and aspects, even if some of the group was unaware of their nature.

"Yeah, you managed to pick him up and punt him?" Mindee asked.

"Clark, try it with Harry." Celeste said eagerly.

"Stay put Kent or I'll double your training." Harry pointed a finger at the eager looking Quarterback.

Clark pouted theatrically.

"Actually it was the wrestling manoeuvre I performed." Helen admitted.

"You- how and why?" Laura asked confounded.

"The bastard was screwing with a female patient. The how… I just did it."

"I want to know how you got away with only anger management!" Jean laughed. "And how Lionel Luthor survived your care unharmed."

"The anger management was because the orderly was brought up on sexual harassment charges and the court wouldn't touch me. It was the hospital that made me attend the sessions. As for Luthor… I had you and Harry to help with that."

"Ok, how does this lead to you meeting Lex?" Clark asked curiously.

Lex burrowed back into the sofa.

"It seems Lex had a bit of a disagreement with a meter maid and expressed his displeasure with his golf clubs on the guys car."

Everyone just turned to look at the usually well-controlled Lex.

"Dad had moved in." Lex said irritably.

"Ahhh." Came the collective response of understanding.

"I think most of us will understand why Lex might have landed himself in anger management." Helen said as she squeezed Lex's hand sympathetically. "But… despite him asking me out at the meeting, I said no. He didn't actually remember that we had already met before."

"I remembered eventually." Lex said petulantly.

"You should never have forgotten me!" Helen said as she poked him in the chest.

"Well now you are caught up with the life and times of Lex Luthor in Smallville." He said looking at Tess with a self-deprecating smile. "Would you mind telling us the story of Tess Mercer?"

Tess frowned suspiciously. "You're Lex Luthor, you expect me to believe that you didn't go through my life with a fine-toothed comb before you had me contacted?"

"I didn't. I asked Harry to investigate and see if you were worth the trouble."

"I don't know any details myself. Only Lorna and Dani actually know those." Harry indicated the two women.

"I know a fair amount as I helped track you down." Laura offered.

Tess thought for a second. She didn't want to tell too much but doubted for a moment that these people would hunt down her files anyway.

"I spent several years in an orphanage before I was adopted by my parents. I got into Harvard at fifteen and graduated as a marine biologist at seventeen. I had a hard time getting a job at that age but eventually got my foot in the door. Whilst on a biology trip with a friend we were captured I escaped with the shipwrecked Oliver Queen but not before they murdered my friend. We only made it back a year or so ago."

There was a moment's silence as the group digested those facts.

"Fairly short, but hits the highlights." Loki mused.

"You made it into Harvard at thirteen." Lex said quietly.

"What?"

"The only information I've seen is the ones on the news reports about your escape from the pirates. Your age is wrong. Your birth mother says you were born after me. The information must have been written down wrong at the orphanage."

"Oh. So… I'm younger than I thought?"

"And more impressive." Clark said. "I can't imagine going to Harvard at fifteen, let alone thirteen! Was it hard?"

"Yes, but they have special programs for children. I'm not the first to do that, many parents of genius children are offered the opportunity, it's considered quite the feather in their cap for those types of colleges to educate them." She explained.

"I went to Harvard so that gives us something in common." Helen smiled. "Harvard medical school though. But still Harvard."

"I went to Princeton and Yale." Lex said smugly.

"I try not to hold that against him." Helen said with a mock look of disdain.

"What did you study, Lex?" Clark asked curiously.

"Biochemical engineering." He recited.

"Really?" Lana asked completely surprised. "You didn't study business or economics?"

Lex grinned. "I learnt all I needed to from dear old Dad."

"Yes, and now we have to try and help you unlearn it all." Amara scowled.

"Why? What did he do?" Helen asked.

"What Lex knows will only help him if he is out to crush the competition. His business endeavours will never benefit from working with another company like Wayne Enterprises. His father and Alfred taught Bruce Wayne that helping others and allowing them to help you is the best way to do business. The only time he gets ruthless is when his father's legacy is threatened." Amara explained.

"At the moment Bruce won't touch my projects or even look at them." Lex said disappointedly. "I can't blame him as until I improve my business practices it's too risky for him."

"You're getting there." Amara assured him. "You are still fighting the stigma of your father's name."

Helen whispered in Lex's ear and Lex just nodded.

"It is getting late and Helen has her shift first thing tomorrow. So we will be heading off." Lex said as he stood and helped Helen to her feet. "Tess, I'd offer you a room at the Mansion, but I advise against it. Our father has a habit of dropping in and I don't think you will want to meet him. At least not yet."

"She could stay at my house, as long as she doesn't mind being alone." Lana offered.

Everyone just turned to look at the girl who had rarely spoken this evening.

"It's empty. She can have some privacy and it is close enough to the Kent's and the Castle." She shrugged. Meanwhile she was practically screaming at the Cuckoos mentally that she offered so that they wouldn't have to hide their abilities by offering to have her stay at the castle.

"I can stay at the motel. It's no bother." Tess said as she stood. "I already have a room there for a week. But thank you… Lana." She said as she tried to remember the myriad of names.

"Well… it will still be there in a week if you want to stay longer." Lana nodded.

"Thank you."

"I'll walk you out." Lorna offered as Lex and Helen joined them.

"I'm going to go and get Ryan." Clark said as he stood. "He might have felt left out even though he likes Earl and his family."

In order to protect Ryan from having to read new minds involuntarily, they had asked Earl to take him for the evening and possibly the night. Earl's family were aware of Ryan's abilities and had no problems with taking in the young lad.