Chapter 10

The doctor was dead.

His body lay sprawled out on the hallway floor, eyes wide open and face contorted in fear and pain. Lois knelt next to him as she passed, just long enough to close his eyes, before moving quickly down the hallway with even more urgency than before.

She tried her dad's number again, quickening her pace as she passed by more broken and twisted bodies of hospital staff she'd seen walking around only an hour or so before. Lois had seen a lot of awful things in her time, but this carnage was something she knew would be burned into her memory forever.

'Cmon, cmon,' she breathed into the phone before snapping it shut angrily as it cut to voicemail again. What if she was too late? What if Rosetti had already got to him?

Images of her father in much the same position as the doctor flashed unhelpfully in her mind and she tried to push them away as she burst through the doors at the end of the hallway.

She skidded to a halt and froze in place, caught like a deer in headlights as she saw someone approaching up ahead.

'Lois!' the figure called out and she relaxed slightly as her dad came into view, striding up to her quickly. He looked around at the bodies scattered about the floor, his face turning grim.

'Dad!' she returned, letting out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and hugging him awkwardly.

'What the hell happened down here?' he asked with a look of concern, pulling back from her embrace but placing his hands on her arms.

'It's Rosetti,' she filled him in, 'I think he's been turned, like Derek Powell. The boys saw him use powers.'

She saw the traces of shock and regret on his face at the news his best soldier had been taken over by Edge, but he quickly squashed his reaction and pulled himself back into neutral general mode. She knew he had to. There was a murderous Kryptonian loose in the building and he had a job to do.

'Are Clark and the boys okay?' he asked quickly, already unhooking his radio from his belt.

'Yes, they're okay,' she confirmed. 'Clark's healing seems to have kicked in, but he's not up to full strength yet. I left them in the hospital room.'

Her Dad looked slightly relieved to hear that Superman was at least making a recovery. He lifted his radio to his mouth and called out, 'This is Lane, can anyone read me?'

He let go of the transmitter and they both listened anxiously for a response, but they were met only with crackling static. Lois could see the tension in her father's jaw.

'Trask. Simkins. Do you copy? What's going on out there?' he tried again.

They heard a faint click that indicated someone was about to communicate and Sam gripped the radio more tightly. They looked at each other hopefully for a second, but that hope quickly faded as the sound of strangled gasps for breath came through the receiver. Suddenly there was a loud crack followed by a chilling silence.

'You're too late General,' Rosetti's voice came over the radio, and Sam's blood ran cold. It sounded so different. So, alien.

'What have you done to my men,' Sam practically growled down the phone.

'You thought you had the upper hand, didn't you? With all these weapons you've been secretly making, preparing to take on a superior race,' Rosetti said in a maliciously mocking tone. 'Well you can say goodbye to your precious 7734.'

Sam seemed to swallow a giant lump in his throat as the line went dead and Lois looked at him questioningly. Her dad looked more worried than she had ever seen him in her life.

She watched him press the button on the radio again but before he had a chance to speak, they heard the thunderous sound of a bomb going off somewhere in the building, and the floor began to shake. The doors flew open again, flapping wildly with the force of the explosion. Her dad dragged her to one of the room's doorways and shielded her as best he could as dust and debris rained down from the shaking ceiling.

They were suddenly plunged into total darkness for a frightening second before being bathed in the glow of flashing red emergency lights. Alarms blared loudly from speakers above them.

Lois covered her ears and looked up into her father's eyes in fear.

John Irons woke from a horror-filled dream. At first, he thought the explosion he heard had just been from his nightmare. After all, those were sounds he'd grown accustomed to after the decimation of Metropolis and often replayed when he closed his eyes.

Then the red emergency lights kicked in, sirens started to blare and he came crashing back into reality, sitting up straight on his cot.

Was this the Kryptonians attacking? he wondered. Who else would be able to get through the DOD's defenses?

John ran over to the huge metal door of his holding cell and started banging on it furiously, desperately trying to get someone's attention.

'Hey! What's going on out there?' he yelled, craning his neck to see through the little window in the door.

He could see a few soldiers running down the hallway at top speed, not slowing down in the slightest despite his best efforts to attract their attention. Whatever was going on, apparently, even the DOD's soldiers were rattled by it.

So rattled it looked like they were leaving him without a guard… or any protection.

John kicked at the door in frustration and let out a growl. He couldn't just sit here in this cell if Kryptonians were out there killing innocent people. Soldiers. Possibly even men he'd fought with side by side on his world. He'd seen too many good people die already, powerless to stop it. Being stuck in here while it happened again was his worst nightmare.

He could hear several loud bangs coming from somewhere in the building, and then everything went eerily quiet. He looked around his cell desperately for any sign of a way out. Suddenly, his eyes fell on the key card screen next to the door. Hadn't it been glowing red before?

He grabbed the handle and pulled the door tentatively towards him. He let out a laugh of disbelief as it easily opened in his hand. Whatever was going on out there, the security systems in the holding cells must have somehow been shut down. He couldn't believe his luck for once!

'Okay… now I just have to find my suit,' he said to himself as he stepped out into the hallway.

As he turned he found himself frozen in place. Up ahead, obscured by some kind of green smoke, was a masked figure with glowing red eyes.

'I think you're having a panic attack.'

Jordan's words echoed in Clark's mind, but he struggled to make sense of them. He felt beads of sweat rolling down the side of his face as his chest heaved up and down with each short and sharp breath.

He knew his son was right, but his panicked mind couldn't figure out what to do with the information. All he knew was that something felt wrong. Very wrong. The flashbacks seemed to have stopped but he was left with an unbearable sense of dread that made him feel like he was dying.

His muscles were clenched, his jaw was tight, and his heart… his heart felt like it was going to explode right out of his chest. He clutched again at the neck of his son's hoodie, trying desperately to create more room to breathe.

'Dad, you have to try and slow down your breathing,' Jordan explained, grabbing the neck of the hoodie from his dad's hand and ripping it a bit so that it wasn't so tight.

Clark looked up at him gratefully, but he had no idea how he was supposed to stop his hyperventilating. His breath seemed to have taken on a life of its own.

'I know it feels impossible, but you have to try,' Jordan said firmly. He grabbed his dad's hand and squeezed it for encouragement.

Clark squinted up at his son's worried but determined face and gently squeezed back to let him know he had heard him. He felt so helpless, his body's terror fuelled response had completely taken over his system. But the feel of his son's hand in his gave him an anchor to hold on to.

'Just try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth,' Jordan advised. 'As slowly as you can. Breathe in, hold, then breathe out.'

Clark recognized the instructions Jordan's therapist had given them years ago when his son's attacks had first started. He'd always felt so helpless watching Jordan struggling to get his breathing under control, not knowing what it felt like to be at the mercy of your own nervous system. Now he really understood how hard it must have been for Jordan for all those years.

With great effort, he closed his mouth and tried to slowly pull air in through his nose, his whole-body trembling with resistance as he did.

'That's it, okay, now count to three. One… two… three… Now hold,' his son instructed.

Clark managed to hold for about one second before the continued panic overwhelmed him again and he couldn't fight his body's instincts anymore. All of the air flew out of his lungs in one sharp exhale and he resumed his wheezing ragged breaths.

'I can't… it's… I can't stop it…' he managed to get out, looking at his son apologetically.

'Yes, you can,' Jordan disagreed, staring intently at him with determination in his eyes. 'Dad, you're Superman. You're strong enough to fight this.'

Jordan's confidence in him hit him like a wave. The red emergency lights were still flashing and the sound of the alarms blaring around them was a stark reminder of the danger they were in. Clark's thoughts were starting to come back to the present. There had been an explosion. People had died and if they didn't get out of there Rosetti could be coming for them too.

A fresh wave of fear hit him, but there was a sense of motivation attached to it now. He had to get his family out of there, he had to get his body under control. He squeezed his son's hand harder before closing his eyes and forcing his mouth shut again. Shakily, he took in one deep long breath and held it with as much effort as he could muster.

'That's it! That's it! Now slowly let it out. One… two… three…' Jordan continued to guide him.

Clark fought hard against the urge to slip back into the short sharp breaths his body wanted to return to. Instead, he tried to focus on Jordan's voice and the rhythm of the count.

'Keep going. One… two… three…. Hold… One… two… three…' his son encouraged.

As his body started to relax into the repetition of the mindful breath, he felt his heart rate start to slow down just a bit. Relief began to spread through him as the imminent fear of death started to decrease.

Clark tried to push away the remnants of the horrific memories he wished could have remained buried and focus on the feel of his breath against his lips as he breathed out through his mouth. God, he wished they were in more comforting surroundings. The hospital room wasn't exactly a calming environment, even without the blaring alarms and flashing lights.

He opened his eyes and Jordan smiled at him as reassuringly as he could. His son placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and encouraged him to keep going once again. 'Let's try and count to five this time,' he advised.

He didn't know how long he continued following Jordan's instructions as he counted out each breath for him, but eventually he realized the pressure in his chest was less and his breathing was feeling more natural. He was still very aware of his heart rate, but his muscles had relaxed and he felt confident the attack was passing.

He relaxed his head back against the wall for a second and took in one even bigger longer breath and held it for as long as he could before letting it back out slowly.

'Thank you,' he said softly after a moment, lifting his head to meet his son's gaze and wiping the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his son's hoodie.

'It's cool, i've got you dad,' he said, beaming with pride. 'Now, do you think we could get the hell out of here?'

Clark simply nodded, though he wasn't sure how well his body was going to respond to his attempts to stand up. He'd still been weak before the explosion and the attack had hit him. Now he felt completely exhausted like he needed to sleep. He just hoped there was enough adrenaline in his system to keep him going long enough to get his family to safety.

Another jolt of anxiety hit him as he realized something, and his eyes scanned the room.

'Where's Jonathan?'

'Mom!' Jonathan called out shakily into the dark hallway. The red lights flashing made the sight of the bodies he could see strewn about seem like something out of a horror movie.

The alarms were so loud he wasn't sure she'd even be able to hear him calling her name, so he pressed on despite the fear taking hold and threatening to send him running back to the hospital room. Dad needed his help, and his mom couldn't have gotten far before the bomb went off. He just needed to find her and then, hopefully, they could all get somewhere safe.

'Jonathan!' he heard his mom's voice and he squinted ahead, spotting her and his grandad running towards him further down the hall. He struggled to hide his emotion as they approached and he let himself be pulled into her arms briefly before she pulled back and asked, 'Why aren't you with your Dad?'

'Something's wrong with him. He was having some kind of attack,' he explained, remembering the horrified look on his father's face. 'Jordan stayed with him, I came to find you. We didn't know what else to do.'

'What kind of attack,?' his mom questioned, concern evident in her voice.

'I don't know exactly. I think his super hearing kicked in after the bomb,' Jonathan explained what he'd seen.

'It's okay son, I'm going to get you all out of here,' his grandad tried to reassure him, but Jonathan could see that even he looked shaken.

'General Lane, do you read me,' came a woman's voice over his grandad's radio. 'General Lane, are you there?'

'I read you loud and clear Simkins. Where are you?' he responded eagerly, looking slightly more hopeful than he had at the sound of one of his soldier's voices.

'There's a few of us up in the command centre Sir,' she said, obviously relieved to hear his voice too. 'We managed to get the emergency doors sealed. He wasn't able to break through. It looks like the explosion took out most of the west wing, Sir. His target seems to have been 7734. Trask and his team… they're all dead,' Simkins revealed, filling the General in on everything they knew.

'Where is Rosetti now?' General Lane asked.

'Gone, Sir. He grabbed the prisoner from the holding cells and took off,' Simkins confirmed.

'Wait, he took John Irons?' Lois cut in as Sam lifted his radio to respond.

'We think that was his other mission, Sir. He headed straight for the holding cells after he realized he couldn't get to us,' Simkins replied.

Jonathan looked up at his mom who was giving his grandad an anxious look.

'What would he want with John Irons?' she asked.

His grandad simply shook his head. 'I don't know, but we need to get Clark and Jordan out of here.'

Jonathan thought it was weird that he'd just said Clark and Jordan, and then he noticed something spreading down the hallway up ahead. A sort of green fog seemed to be seeping through the cracks in the doors.

'Um, is that smoke... green?' Jonathan asked, wondering if he was just seeing things.

General Lane snapped his head in the direction Jonathan was looking and seemed to turn green himself as he saw the plumes of smoke that were sneaking in around the door.

'Dad?' Lois asked nervously, noticing his reaction and realizing they were not out of the woods yet even if Rosetti was gone.

'Like I said, we have to get Clark and Jordan out of here,' he replied grimly. 'Now'

'Why, what is it?' Jonathan asked.

He looked apologetically at Lois.

'It's kryptonite gas,' he revealed.