Superman's eyes widened at the sea of humanity surrounding the Capitol. How many were down there? Ten thousand? And how many more would be watching at home?

He let out a breath as he descended toward the walkway leading to the Capitol steps, the only clear space around the white marble building. He clenched his fists tighter, trying to fight off his nervousness. Lois had given him some pointers on what he might expect at the hearing, all the time wearing a sour expression. She still thought this was a bad idea.

What can I do? Let Finch convince more and more people I'm a threat?

A roar of voices surrounded the Capitol when he landed. Many cheered, waving signs of support.

SUPERMAN'S A HERO.

FINCH SUCKS! SUPERMAN ROCKS!

I BELIEVE IN BIG BLUE.

Gratitude rushed through him. Seeing this kind of support buoyed him for the hearings.

He also heard the jeers, and picked out less-than-flattering signs.

ILLEGAL ALIEN GO HOME.

MASS MURDERER.

SUPER NAZI.

Superman tried to ignore them as he headed into the Capitol. His worry swelled. Would he say something stupid? Would he say something that would make the whole world think he was a menace?

Just tell the truth. Like Mom said, you can't go wrong with the truth.

Then he thought of Lois's warning last night. "In Washington, a lot of times agendas trump the truth."

He paused at the oak doors leading to the hearing room. It seemed like no matter what he did, Finch and her committee would paint him in a negative light. All he could do was tell his side of the story and let the chips fall where they may.

Steeling himself, he opened the doors.

Every head in the hearing room turned to him. Four Capitol police officers stood near the entrance, all tensing as Superman walked down the aisle. Fifty people sat in the audience, a mix of government officials, special guests, and reporters. Lois was not among them. Unable to secure a seat in the hearing room, she had to settle for the pressroom with dozens of her colleagues and follow the proceedings on the video feed.

An aide indicated for him to sit at a table to the left. He did so, eyeing a wheelchair-bound woman in the front row. A stout man with white hair sat next to her, glaring at him. Superman's jaw clenched, wondering if the woman had been injured during the Battle of Metropolis. Could the man be her husband? Some other family member?

"Superman."

Senator Finch's voice snapped him out of his reverie. Still, empathy for the woman hovered in the back of his mind, along with guilt.

Focus, Clark.

"On behalf of my colleagues," Finch continued. "I wish to thank you for joining us for today's proceedings. I'm certain that your testimony will help bring clarity, and perhaps closure, to the tragic events that occurred in Metropolis nearly two years ago."

"That's my hope too, Senator."

"Before we begin," Finch glanced to an empty seat at the podium, "I want to acknowledge the absence of Senator Barnes from today's proceedings. He took ill and is at home recovering. Hopefully, he will rejoin us tomorrow."

She turned back to Superman. "For the record, your true name is Kal-El and you are a native of the planet Krypton."

"Correct."

"On the day Zod and his forces attacked Earth, you assisted the United States Armed Forces in their efforts to stop him?"

"Correct."

"And what was your job during that attack?" asked Finch.

"To destroy the Kryptonian terraforming machine in the Indian Ocean." Well, this isn't too bad, thought Superman, though he doubted the questions would get easier as they went on.

"And what did you do once the terraforming machine was destroyed?"

"I returned to Metropolis and fought Zod." Superman glanced at the woman in the wheelchair. Lines etched into the face of the man next to her, his hateful gaze directed at him.

Finch folded her hands and leaned toward her microphone. "Did the military request your help to fight Zod in Metropolis?"

"No." Superman's shoulders stiffened. Lois had told him Finch might do this. Toss him some softball questions to put him at ease, then bore in with the harder ones.

"So you took it upon yourself to go to Metropolis to fight a being almost as powerful as you? In the middle of a city of eleven million people."

"Zod was a threat not just to Metropolis, but to the whole world. He had to be stopped."

"You didn't answer my question," said Finch. "Did you receive any authorization by the U.S. military to battle a superpowered being in the middle of one of the largest cities in America?"

Superman concentrated to keep his shoulders from sagging. "No, I did not."

"Were you aware of the risk to civilian life such a battle would pose?"

He lowered his head slightly. "Yes."

"Yet you still fought Zod."

Superman let out a slow breath. "Yes."

Finch shook her head. "All that destruction. Thousands dead, thousands more injured, some who will never fully heal." She glanced at the woman in the wheelchair. "All because you felt you had to be a hero."

"No." Superman's head snapped up.

Finch drew back a bit. "Are you telling this committee what happened in Metropolis was not your fault?"

"N . . . I . . ." Superman closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts.

Finch apparently took the silence as a cue to speak. "Do you ever think about that day? All the lives lost?"

"Of course I do," Superman replied louder than he wanted. Several people in the room jerked in surprise. He exhaled and continued. "Yes, what happened that day still haunts me. How could it not? All I wanted to do was protect the people of Metropolis, of Earth. You have no idea how many times I've gone over that fight in my head, wondering what I could have done differently."

"You mean like taking Zod out to the ocean and fighting him there?" chimed in one of the other senators, Dempsey according to his nameplate. "Why didn't you do that?"

Superman groaned, barely restraining himself from rolling his eyes. "Have you ever been in a fight, Senator?"

"I got into a few when I was younger."

"Did you find it easy to move your opponent wherever you wanted him to go?"

"Um, no." Dempsey frowned and looked away.

Finch turned at her colleague, her face tightening.

"It was the same with Zod," said Superman. "If I could have, I would have taken him away from Metropolis. But he was determined to kill me. He wasn't going to let me do whatever I wanted in that fight. I had to defend myself and try and protect the city as best as I could. But whe-"

"Liar!"

All eyes turned to the white-haired man. He snatched something out of the back of the woman's wheelchair.

"This is for my sister, you alien scum!" He leveled a large pistol at him. "Die!"

A jet of flame leapt from the barrel. People screamed and bolted from their seats. The police officers drew their guns, but had no clear shot.

Superman sprang from his chair. The fire washed over his torso with no effect. Wind howled through the room as he rushed over to the flamethrower man. He grabbed the barrel and crushed it. The fire ceased.

The man stared at his useless weapon, mouth agape. "N-No. No."

Superman cranked an eyebrow. Who the hell was this guy?

A mechanical whine came from the flamethrower. What could it –

An explosion tore through the hearing room.

XXXXX

"Yes, you did pick a good day to be sick, Senator." Luthor grinned as he spoke into the phone to Barnes. All the while, he stared at the flatscreen on the wall of his office. FOX News showed a live shot of the U.S. Capitol, now cordoned off by police. The graphic read, "Explosion Rocks Capitol. Dozens Reported Dead."

"I swear, I'm still shaking." Barnes coughed. "It doesn't have anything to do with the chills. Just . . . if I'd been there . . ."

"I know. Rather sobering, isn't it?"

Barnes hacked again. "How . . . How could this have happened?"

"My theory is when Superman crushed the gun, it damaged the gas container. It must have ignited, then exploded. The fuel mixture must have been augmented since it burned the entire hearing room and everyone in it . . . well, minus Superman."

"Careless," Barnes sighed. "That man is just careless."

"And he's sure to be careless again and again. How many more innocent people will die because of it?" Luthor straightened in his chair. "You know what we have to do."

Silence hung between them for several seconds. "I'll talk to Armed Services Committee, my contacts in the Pentagon. I'll convince them to give you what you need. Zod's body, access to the Kryptonian ship. Believe me, I will convince them."

"Good. Thank you for your help, Senator, and trust me, you will be rewarded for it."

After bidding Barnes good-bye, Luthor set down the phone and looked up at Mercy. "There's nothing like a close shave with death to help change one's perspective."

"It was lucky that Superman touched Lynns's guns and activated the biometric sensors."

"Touch, heat vision, freezing breath. The sensors were designed to overload the flame gun if touched by a non-human, or if it detected the radiation signature of Superman's heat vision, or from a sudden temperature drop." Luthor chuckled softly. "And Lynns was so eager to payback Superman he really believed I'd load Kryptonite into the gun."

He leaned back in his seat and let out a contented breath. "It's all coming together, Mercy. It's all coming together."

TO BE CONTINUED