Chapter 3

Linda stepped back into Clark's apartment."Did you give him the money envelope?" said Clark. "Of course," she said. Lois Lane came downstairs and was wearing white gloves while holding a glass. "I got his fingerprints on this," she said, "and if they are an exact match with the police files for Lex Luthor. then physically at least he is Lex Luthor only 29 years younger. Even clones don't have the same fingerprints as their originals!" Lois scanned the fingerprint images into her laptop, when the results came back 100% match, Clark said, "I was afraid of this." "But why did you give him the money?" Linda asked.

"Once, a long time ago, Lex and I were friends," Clark said, "It started when I saved his life after he drove his car off a bridge, he would have drowned had I not save him. I blame myself for his turning to evil, he tried to cure my vulnerability to Kryptonite, and he wrongly assumed that Kryptonite had no effect on humans. Kryptonite has no immediate effect on the human physiology, but prolonged exposed can cause unpredictable changes in abilities, behavior and personality, with Lex it caused him to lose his hair and it made him very paranoid and ultimately evil.

"It is very dangerous Clark!" Lois said, "We don't really know whether it was the Kryptonite that made him evil, or whether that trait was in him all along and he was only hiding it. Lex can be very devious you know, one time even I was dating him, he can be quite charming when he wants to be." "Yes I know," Clark admitted, "that is why I want you as Linda and Supergirl to keep an eye on him. I don't have time to keep track of two Lex Luthors at the same time, besides I can tell he likes you."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that," Linda said, "He seems nice enough." "So was Lex, and then he changed, be careful Kara," said Clark. "I wonder why I didn't use my own name as an alter ego," said Linda, "Kara seems a perfectly fine Earth name." "Its public Knowledge that Supergirl's name is Kara Zor El, and you have a disguise to maintain. Look at all those celebrities that don't even have superpowers, they are hounded by photographers!" said Clark, "Believe me, you'll never get a moment's rest if everyone knows your Supergirl all the time." Linda accepted that and decided to follow Paul at a discrete distance, an easy enough thing to do when you have superhearing and supervision.

Paul stepped onto the unfamiliar street, He was on the intersection of 4th avenue and 53rd street, While like Manhattan, and the streets were unfamiliar enough to be unsettling to one familiar with the place. For starters Manhattan did not have a 4th avenue at midtown, at least not one so named by the street signs, Paul recalled it being Lexington Avenue, but the street signs simply said 4th avenue and this struck Paul as very wrong. From the aerial view he had while being rescued, Paul recalled that like Manhattan, Metropolis was on an island. Paul went over to a Subway station entrance, he walked down the stairs, and there was a barred gate with turnstiles with a slot in the turbstile machine that accepted something called a Metrocard, Paul had no idea what a Metrocard was, the booth which sold them was closed for the night. Paul spied a map of Metropolis, found the current location of 4th and 53rd and discovered that he was a block away from a large green space called Century Park.

Paul walked a block through the rain towards Century Park, perhaps there were some nice hotels there. Paul entered the Metropolis Hilton and walked up to the Hotel Clerk There was a man dressed in a blue uniform, He had dark hair brown eyes and a mustache, "Good evening sir," he said, "would you like a room?" "Yes," Paul replied, "One with a view of the Park of possible, a single or double bed would do." The clerk walked up to a board with hooks and keys in the back, he selected on labled "23", "Room 23 has a double bed, a bathroom and shower, and HDTV with Cable including all Movie channels with pay per view options. The room is $125 a night, payable in advance if you don't mind" "That's fine," Paul said he paid the money and took the key.

Paul walked up the stairs to the second floor, his room was down the corridor third to the right. Paul inserted the key into the door lock and turned it, the door clicked and he pushed it open. Inside was the double bed, Large screen HD Television just as promised, a bathroom, shower and closet. Paul didn't have any spare clothes so he just striped down to his underwear and climbed under the covers of the bed. The television was remarkably flat, there was a box on the table on which it stood which was the cable box, and a blue ray player, whatever that was. Paul seen something similar in Kent's apartment, but for now Paul felt like getting some rest, he turned off the table lamp next to his bed and all was dark. The curtains were drawn in front of the window. Paul stared up at the ceiling and reviewed the events of the day. He was saved by a blonde-haired, blue eyed girl that flew, that in itself was pretty unbelievable. How did she fly? Paul Luthor did not know, but she was pretty, Paul could not get her out of his head. Paul finally went to sleep.

Sunlight bled through the gaps in the curtain telling Paul it was morning. Paul got up put on his clothes, his dirty socks, black shoes, his shirt, jeans and lab coat, he stuffed the remaining cash from the envelope into his wallet and put it in his pocket, and checked out the various credit cards, all were pretty much useless as having expired by now, not that he thought they would work if they hadn't, he had a driver's license with a youthful face and a birth date of July 5th, 1968, that had expired as well, and there was the question of his legal status. Paul was surprised he hadn't been visited by INS agents.

All Paul had that was of any value was a wallet full of cash. Paul watched the news on CNN for a bit It was not the CNN that he remembered, The stories were ridiculous, a bunch of monsters, with superheroes of various sorts fighting them. Paul saw himself being rescued by Supergirl. Paul was still in this comic book world. On a hunch, Paul picked up the phone on the table next to his bed and dialed his father's number complete with area code. "Hello?" said the unfamiliar voice. "excuse me," said Paul, "but is Lionel Luthor there?" "Is this some sort of a joke?" said the angry voice. Before Paul could answer, the man hung up with a loud click. How rude! Paul thought.

Paul walked downstairs past the front lobby, another man stood there, this one with blonde hair, a clean shaven face and blue eyes. A rather cheap hotel for the amount of money it costs per night, Paul thought. Paul walked out onto the street, there was a subway station entrance nearby, he descended down the stairs and went to the now open subway clerk and bought a Metrocard with two trips, the fare was shockingly expensive for a subway ride. Paul slid his card through the slot on the turnstile, and the metal arms rotated as he pushed past. He waited for the train.

The train was in better shape than what he knew of most New York City trains, Paul noted the lack of graffiti that he was so used to seeing on such trains. Some of the people on the train dressed a little odd, he noted some black man with ill fitting trousers with his underwear hanging out. Some blonde woman was wearing a 1960s "peace sign" pendant. Looks like this world is populated by neohippies, but then again there are all sorts of strange people on the subways. Paul got off at the stop indicated on the subway map, he stepped through the open doors onto the Subway platform and pushed through the turnstile gate and ascended the stairs to street level. Paul was now on 23rd and 5th, there was a large building with gold letter that said "Star Labs".

Paul looked down at his clothes, First order of business, I need to get a suit, he thought. Paul walked into a Men's clothing store, he looked at the various posters of men's fashions. Paul concluded that they hadn't changed so much since the 1980s. Paul spent $200 on suitable interview clothing. Now to type my resume. Paul went into an Office supply store called "Staples" and rented a computer,it operated on a card similar to the Metrocard, which he bought at the counter, he went to work typing up a resume, he listed his educational background, and added that he came from a parallel dimension, Paul wondered right there what they would make of that, so the school in this universe didn't have any records of his academic achievement, which really sucked. Paul added his work experience in his father's lab, which of course probably didn't exist in this universe either. He listed his references, which included Supergirl, Clark Kent, and Lois Lane, whatever good that would do. Paul got up and left the Staples Office Supply store with his resume.

Paul walked into the lobby of Star Labs. The interview went well until they asked to do a criminal background check, his fingerprints matched a set belonging to Lex Luthor, and they called up the prison and confirmed that Lex Luthor was still being held there. The interviewer was polite, but she said, "Sorry Paul, but the work we do here is of a very sensitive nature, of national security import. While you've scored high on our tests, we are worried about your moral character and reliability because of the person whose fingerprints you match, I'm sure you understand."

Paul did not understand, or perhaps he understood all too well, he stormed out of the Star Labs building furious. Supergirl was waiting outside the front entrance of Star Labs. "Just your friendly neighborhood Supergirl?" he quipped. "What's that?" she asked. "Just some comic book character with a habit of spinning spider webs and swinging from building to building. Supergirl shrugged, "How did the interview go?" she asked. "I'm afraid I carry around some baggage from my older bald-headed double, they are afraid that I might turn evil, and they don't want to risk my getting a hold of their precious secrets and turning them to my evil ends." Paul said. "I'm sorry to hear that Paul," Supergirl said, "If it would make you feel any better, there was a time when I was not trusted either." "It doesn't make me feel any better to see someone else suffer as well. I'm just going to have to keep looking, that's all." "That at least is not something I would expect to come out of the mouth of Lex Luthor," said Supergirl.

Paul looked at Supergirl, her blonde hair, her blue eyes. Paul swallowed, and slowly raised his right hand, and placed it slowly on her left shoulder. "Supergirl? Do you have a name besides Supergirl?" "My name is Kara," she said. "Kara, I heard you can bend steel bars, and that bullets bounce off your chest, I've seen you fly, you've rescued me from my fall. I ... I " Paul hesitated, Supergirl could see that he was terrified of what he was about to say, and what she was going to say in response. "Go ahead Paul, " Supergirl said sympathetically. "Kara," Paul continued, he steeled himself over what he was going to say next, "I love you!" Paul closed his eyes, his hands trembled in anticipation of a possible rejection, his right hand touched the fabric of her cape. Supergirl didn't say anything, Paul felt her slowly move closer, No it couldn't be, Paul thought, I don't get the girl, especially not this one! Paul steeled himself for a let down, instead she kissed him, and it wasn't a quick kiss, or a short peck on the cheek like last time. Paul placed his arms around her and she put her arms around him. Paul wanted this moment to last forever. Finally Paul withdrew, he sat down on the sidewalk, his heart was racing, he was red in the face, Supergirl sat down next to him, she was calm, and smiled at him.

"Is that what you wanted Paul?" Paul looked up to her, "You were sent to keep an eye on me weren't you." "Yes Paul, I was," said Supergirl. "I think you are sweet," Supergirl continued, "also I was curious to find out what kind of kisser you were, that was some kiss.' Supergirl complemented, and I've been kissed by quite a few. Are you sure that its not just gratitude that you feel?" "I am grateful, to be sure, but I also feel something else for you as well, I think I am in love with you. Paul closed his eyes and waited for the rebuke, but Supergirl said, "I think I will be merciful and not say anything at this moment, you've said your piece, and obviously you've had time to prepare, I commend you for your courage. I'm sure you are a wonderful person, but I need time to decide how I feel about you, as you caught me unawares, I am not saying no nor am I saying yes. Let me just say, you are a great kisser for someone who has difficulty approaching women, and I don't feel like making you miserable tonight with a rejection or getting your hopes up too high with a premature affirmative answer that I'm not sure about. Let me just say, you have a chance with me, perhaps a better one than most other people that I have rescued. I can tell you truthfully that I like you as of this moment, I really don't know you though, that is why I was sent to keep an eye on you, because of who's double you are in this universe."

"I'm really tired of being compared to that man," said Paul with frustration in his voice, "I just want to get home. Well I would miss you very much if I went home, but I can't just leave my father behind to think I am dead! I miss my father and my mother dearly!" Supergirl stared at Paul, "I think there is something that you should know about Lex Luthor, his mother died when Lex was very young. Lex's Dad died under mysterious circumstances after Lex reached 21, that is what Clark tells me anyway, as I wasn't around. If that's your goal is to return home, I hope you succeed, if I can help in anyway, just let me know," with that she flew up into the sky, I don't know how she does that, Paul thought.

Paul tried a few relaxation exercises, he took a few deep breaths to slow down his heart beat, he relaxed his arms. Just then, a red Lambrigini pulled up to the curve, the tinted window rolled down, "Lex is that you?" said the red-haired woman inside. "I'm afraid, you've mistaken me for someone else," said Paul a little warily."I read about you in the newspaper," she opened the door and got out, "My name is Tess, Tess Mocker." "Are you Lex's girlfriend?" Paul asked. "I'm his trustee, I was appointed the temporary chairman of Luthorcorp while Lex was President, so there would be no conflict of interest, and now as he is in jail, I have continued in that capacity The point is, Luthorcorp needs new blood, would you be interested in working for us?" Paul thought about it for a bit. So this is that bald-headed bastard's company! Well maybe since he's gotten me into so much trouble, I can use his company to get out of it again. "That is a generous offer Tess," Paul said, "Am I receiving this offer because of who I look like?" Paul said. "Lets just say that Luthorcorp hasn't been the same without Lex's genious, also I miss him. Uh oh! Thought Paul, Am I a substitute for Lex Luthor to her. Having her boyfriend in Jail can't be any fun for her. Paul needed the resources of a large corporation to build his laboratory apparatus though, after a moment's consideration, Paul decided he had to accept, he just hoped that Supergirl would forgive him. Paul nerviously said, I'll accept your offer, provided that it is genuine, and he shook hands with Tess.