Struggling to stay conscious as she fell, she tried to teleport herself to safety. For one of the only times in her life since learning to control her powers (excluding times involving lead), nothing happened. She hit the ground and rolled, ignoring the parts of her that wanted to give in and just sleep. If she did that, she was dead. It was clear that these were not just thugs here to harass her because of her powers. These people had powers of their own, and for whatever reason, they were here to kill her.

Something that went right to the core of her wouldn't let her give in.

"Don't let her get up," she head one of them say. The other advanced towards her. Fury became her guide, and she struck viscously with an elbow to the attacker's throat. His hands rose to it as he made a horrible choking sound. This gave her all the time she needed to recover. She was wary of the other man behind her; unfortunately a third attacker appeared as if from out of nowhere. He caught her with a vicious shot to the midsection that sent her hurtling backwards. He was far stronger than a normal human, and she flew through the air in an arc.

Although hurt, instinct had now taken over. As the man watched on, she disappeared in the air, faint trails of green almost seeming to envelop her. Teleporting could not change the momentum of a person… but as she knew well, it could change where she landed. Appearing behind the attacker, Alicia crashed into him at full force, knocking him off his feet.

The man who had shattered her window was running forwards now, a faint glow appearing around his hands. She reasoned it was some kind of projectile attack; that would explain how he broke the glass. A fireball struck the earth where she had been moments before. But she was teleporting again, faster than he could throw, and as he cursed she grabbed his wrist. The next fireball veered wildly off into the sky. Then both he and Alicia vanished.

They reappeared on the roof of Alicia's house, right on the edge. The attacker looked stunned for a moment, then screamed as she pushed him back. The fall was not enough to kill him, but it certainly stunned him as he landed awkwardly on his side. In the next moment she was gone again. When she returned, she held a knife to his throat.

"You have powers the same as I do. We're the same. Why are you doing this to me?" she demanded. She was so angry, so hurt to be attacked by people who were like her that she wasn't thinking about what she was doing.

"Don't kill me," the man pleaded, moaning pathetically.

"Did Lex Luthor send you?" she asked suddenly. Three people with powers attacking her the day after she visited Level 33.1… it couldn't just be a coincidence.

"Alicia!"

She looked up quickly, startled as Clark appeared before her just as suddenly as she could before him. It amazed her to think of all the things Clark could do, yet she felt strongly that she hadn't seen the true extent of his powers. There was almost nothing he wasn't capable of.

"They attacked me, Clark," she said, feeling defensive. "I had to protect myself."

"I know," he said. "But they're being controlled. There's more to all this than meets the eye."

He walked up to her slowly then, gently taking the knife from her hand.

"I'm so glad you're safe," he said, and Alicia couldn't help but hear the sincerity in his voice.

888

Clark had tied up the attackers, and used his special vision to make sure there were no more surprises waiting for them. He sat on the edge of her bed, eyes downcast. She rubbed his shoulder softly, waiting for him to talk.

"I ran as fast as I could, but I still wasn't fast enough," he said.

"What are you talking about? I'm here. I'm alive."

"You're hurt," he said. "You had to fight three people on your own. You could have…"

She kissed him, touched by his concern. But more importantly, she wanted him to feel better. She supposed when you had all the powers he had, you took it pretty hard when you thought you'd failed at something.

"But I'm not, Clark. I'm alright, thanks to you. I almost got knocked out, but when I fell, I thought of you. I knew I had to get up, because I just had to see you again. I needed to talk to you again, to be held by you again. No matter how many people are against me, you always make it better. Because when I'm with you I feel… accepted."

"I do accept you for who you are. You know that. But I want you to feel more than that. I want you to feel loved."

"Clark…"

Before she could say any more, she felt his lips on hers. A man of steel maybe, but those lips were soft and his kiss was tender. She moaned, desire overcoming her. She loved this man, desired him desperately. But Clark pulled back, and his eyes were grave.

"Those men were being controlled by a man called Mikhail Mixl… Mxyzptlk," said Clark, struggling with the pronunciation. "I had a run-in with him a little while back. He has the power to control people."

"So it was him controlling the people who came after me? Why? Did Lex ask him to?"

Clark shook his head. She realised that whether in his relief at her survival or because of the continued threat against her, he hadn't mentioned the little fact of her removing her bracelet.

"Whatever else Lex might be up to, he has nothing to do with this. You remember his 'friend' David? He's the one behind all this."

"But why? He practically runs Level 33.1 when Lex isn't around. Why would he want me dead?"

Running his hand through his hair, Clark went on to ask her a question that surprised her greatly.

"Alicia… what happened to your last boyfriend?"