When doing chores in the evening, Clark often worked alongside his father. It was a good opportunity for Jonathan to catch up on how his day had been while keeping up with the workload. Today though, like a lot of days lately, his father was avoiding him. Usually during these situations he could rely on his mother to mediate between them, but this time she was firmly on Jonathan's side. In fact, she was just as angry as he was.

It wasn't like he couldn't see their side of things. On paper, Alicia had a lot of things going against her. Almost killing him and Lana for one, but she'd been ill then, and as far as he was concerned there was nothing to forgive there. More recently, she'd used red kryptonite on him, culminating in the pair of them getting married. Sort of. He remembered how tacky the wedding was, but despite that, Alicia had looked so happy. He'd been enjoying himself too – or at least Kal-El was. Once he was free of the influence of kryptonite he'd been almost as angry as his parents.

Still, the marriage hadn't been legal, and he'd ultimately forgiven Alicia for what she'd done. Strange that forgiveness was something he'd mostly learned from his parents, who certainly did not appear to be contemplating forgiving Alicia for anything. Clark at least understood that not only did she have to adjust to not using her powers, she had to get used to having boundaries. If not for the rules his own parents had set for him, he thought he'd be just like Kal-El even without the Red K.

"So you're Alicia's new boyfriend," came a voice from the entrance to the barn. Clark spun on his heel, surprised, glad he hadn't been working at superspeed. He saw a girl maybe a little older than him, looking pretty though undernourished. Her skin was very pale and her mouth looked miserable. There were a few remnants of adolescent acne on her cheeks.

"You know Alicia?" asked Clark. He already knew Alicia didn't have any real friends; she'd kept everyone at a distance because of her powers, making her loneliness even more pronounced. She was a sweet girl, capable of being a good friend. He reckoned Lana and Chloe would really like her, if only they got to know the real Alicia.

"We've met," said the girl, looking around the barn as if Alicia might be hiding in the hay.

"She's not here," said Clark, with a touch of anger in his voice. "Look, if you're trying to cause trouble for her –"

The girl chuckled bitterly, shaking her head.

"She's the one causing trouble, Clark. Back then, I was the only person who saw it, but even I had no idea how far she'd go."

"I don't know what Alicia did to you, but she didn't know what she was doing back then. The doctors at Belle Reeve cured her," he said. He'd given a variation of this speech a lot lately, not that anyone appeared to listen. The wafer-thin girl gave him a look that said he might well need to be cured by the doctors at Belle Reeve himself.

"In fact, Kent, only Dr McBride really thought she was cured. The other doctors said it was too soon for her to be released. And it rather seems that Dr McBride was not entirely… objective when he made that decision."

"Listen to me…"

"No, you listen. That girl is dangerous, Clark. Her last boyfriend – my brother – he found that out too late."

There was another boy Alicia liked, Clark recalled her father telling him. It didn't end well.

"What happened to him?" asked Clark.

"Be very careful," she said, ignoring the question. "There's a poison in that girl that runs deeper than any meteor infection.

Lifts – too much demand, not enough supply, Clark had told Alicia back on the day they got to know each other. A horribly clumsy thing to say, though she remembered it rather fondly now. Back then, Clark Kent had just been another person for her to keep at a distance. Now however, she couldn't imagine him not being a part of her life.

At the moment, lifts weren't very much in demand for her at all, but Lex Luthor ushered her inside one regardless.

"There's no need to look so nervous, Alicia. You're starting to remind me of your mother," said Lex as they entered. Lex was standing uncomfortably close to her. Producing a keycard, he pressed it against a screen, following it up with his thumbprint. Despite his words, she was hardly put at ease. No-one was going to find her here. She could always teleport out of course – unless he was taking her to a room lined with lead. Few people knew about Clark's weakness, the meteor rocks, but hers had been splashed across the newspapers for anyone to see.

"No-one else knows these people have powers?" Alicia asked, eyeing the lift like it was a cage.

"Well, most of them have family who know," said Lex. From his tone, he could have been talking about the weather. "Some of them even told their friends."

"It's hard to trust someone that much."

"Yes, I know. Fortunately the people here seem to be willing to put their faith in you. Like I said, their secrets aren't mine to tell. When I talked it over with them though, they were really keen to meet with you. They know your pain, Alicia," he said. The doors opened, and Alicia stepped into a room that did not look much like a laboratory at all. It looked more like a waiting area. A couple of girls, about her own age, were seated on a couch reading. They looked up as Alicia and Lex entered, nodding pleasantly at her. One man was standing, waiting expectantly – she recognised him as David, the man who had been with Lex at the Talon. He waved at her, smiling warmly. He extended his hand and she took it; her own was extremely small compared to his.

"Alicia Baker, welcome to Level 33.1," he said cheerfully. "Don't let the name fool you. It'll soon feel like home."

"You have powers too?"

"Goodness, no. I just help run the place when the boss isn't around. Make sure everyone's kept very safe and comfortable."

"While you run experiments on them?"

"Alicia, I really think you have the wrong idea about this place," said Lex, stepping in. "Yes, there will be some experiments, but they'll be run completely at your own pace."

"Absolutely," said David. "We want to try and gauge your powers, to try and find out what your limits are. For example, we'll try and find how far you can teleport in one go, that kind of thing. Help you meet your true potential."

"But it'll all be done in entirely controlled conditions," added Lex. "I know how it sounds, really. As a scientist, I think you can understand though. It was through your powers that you took an interest in science, wasn't it? You wanted to better understand what had happened to you, what you could do. We just want the same thing you do."

Hesitantly, she nodded. Could Clark really have misjudged Lex? Could he have trusted him with his secret all along? She just wasn't sure what to think. She was scared, but a little excited as well. It seemed a lot to hope for though, maybe too good to be true.

"Come on," said Lex kindly. "I'll show you around. There's no need to decide anything until you have all the facts."

From his office, David followed their progress through the various security cameras scattered around the place. He couldn't hear what was being said, but Lex managed to get Alicia laughing a couple of times. He was gradually putting her at ease. David considered himself pretty good at manipulating others, but Luthor was a master. Shaking his head, he cursed under his breath. He had no idea what Lex's true agenda was here.

A knock on the door diverted his attention.

"Come in," he said, taking a sip from a glass of water. He nodded for the man who entered to sit.

"Mikhail," said David. "Are the others ready?"

"Yes, I did as you asked," replied Mikhail, in his thick Eastern European accent.

"The lead bracelet restricting her powers has been removed."

"That will not be a problem."

Dismissing the man, David settled back to watch the security footage again. Alicia Baker, so beautiful, soon to be so dead. Teleportation was a tricky power to overcome; at the first sign of danger, she could simply teleport herself to safety. But he was confident he had chosen wisely. He'd had the pick of the litter so to speak; thanks to Mikhail, he could persuade any person here to do whatever he wished. Of course, Mikhail would have to meet with an accident when all this was done. It helped that Lex had no idea Mikhail's powers had returned. Luthor would have no clue what had really happened.

"So beautiful," he said to himself, toasting her with his water glass.