Chapter 57 - Hero

An effortless run could get Clark to Metropolis in ten minutes. If he pushed himself a little, he could do it in five.

Knowing lives were at stake, he got there in three and a half.

Police cars swarmed the area, and crowds had already gathered near the building. One police officer was putting up barriers to keep people from getting too close. Clark thought about trying to slip through the barriers, but there wasn't any point if he was going to be seen. He thought about what Lex might suggest he do, and he backed away from the crowds instead, considering his options. He looked down at a grate below him and scanned the ground beneath him with his X-ray vision—it led to an underground tunnel. Maybe it would give him access to the building. Clark crouched down and grabbed the grate cover.

Then a woman's voice said, "Stand up and put your hands over your head."

Clark glanced up—at the barrel of a gun.

"Stand up!"

Slowly, he stood, raising his hands.

"Turn around."

"I can explain," he said, turning to face away from her.

"Hold still. Keep your fingers laced." She patted down his clothes, focusing on his pockets, then turned him back to face her, still aiming her gun at him. "I'm listening."

"My name is Clark Kent. I'm a friend of Lex Luthor's. His father and his . . . friend are up there, and I was in the area—"

"And you thought you'd play hero? Well, assuming you are who you say you are, you almost just got your friends killed. Every opening in this building is wired with alarms. The kidnappers have control of the security system, and they threatened to start shooting hostages if anyone so much as sets a big toe inside." She turned to start walking back toward the other police and beckoned for him to follow. "Come on, hero. You're coming with me."

He winced and followed her. He didn't have a choice.

The next twenty minutes or so were excruciating. Lex had asked him to come out here, and he wanted nothing more than to give this officer the slip, but she'd made a good point, and he didn't want anyone to get shot because he had made a rash move. He was pretty sure he could act quickly enough to prevent the gunmen in the building from doing anything, even if they did find out that the security had been tripped, but he definitely couldn't do any of that without exposing himself to Lionel. That was probably worth it to save Pamela's life, but if he was going to take the risk, he had to make absolute certain that he was going to be able to save her. Right now, he didn't even know what floor the hostages were on.

"Clark?"

Clark turned to find Lex jogging toward him. "Lex!"

Lex turned to the police officer. "Lieutenant Sawyer, my name is Lex Luthor."

"I know who you are. Is this kid with you?"

"Yes, he's a friend of mine."

"Well, you keep him away from the building, or I'll arrest him."

"Lieutenant, I'd appreciate an update on the negotiations."

She sighed. "This way."

Lex stood in place. "Clark is with me. You can update both of us."

Lieutenant Sawyer glared from Lex to Clark, then said, curtly, "As far as we can tell, there were four intruders. Two of them are currently working on breaking their way into your father's vault. One's holding a gun to Pamela and your father. The other was shot."

"When Pamela called me, she was running away from them."

"We haven't heard anything about that."

"What does that mean?"

"It's possible they haven't found her yet. There's only been one shot fired, and that was the fourth intruder. They'd probably still tell us they had two hostages if they'd lost one. Of course, it's also possible they managed to catch her and bring her back without injuring her."

Lex gave her a slight smile that Clark knew to be sarcastic. "Thanks for your outstanding work, Lieutenant." He took Clark by the arm and led him away from the police and the crowds.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Clark said, "I'm so sorry, Lex. There's an underground tunnel beneath the sidewalk, I thought it might lead into the building, but Lieutenant Sawyer won't let me inside. Do you know any other way into the building?"

Lex frowned. "The underground tunnel would have been the way to go. No chance you suddenly developed the ability to fly?"

Clark shifted uncomfortably. "I could try jumping from the Daily Planet building . . ."

Lex looked up at the building. "That's about twenty stories up. You could survive that fall if you didn't make it, but it would hurt."

Clark considered it. He could probably make it. "They've got control of the security system, and they're going to shoot hostages if anyone comes inside. Are the upstairs windows alarmed?"

"Unfortunately." Lex grimaced.

"Maybe it's worth the risk if I can get to them fast enough?"

Just then, Lex's phone began to buzz. He checked the caller ID. "It's Pamela," he said, and answered the phone. "Pamela, are you okay?"

The volume on the receiver was turned up just high enough that Clark could hear her reply: "False alarm. They didn't find me. I'm hiding out."

"Get out of there. I'm going to give you directions to the secret elevator."

"No, I know where it is, but there's a man with a gun guarding the hallway I'd have to go through."

"Okay, Pamela, listen to me—"

"I know what I have to do."

"Stay where you are. I'm going to let the police know—"

"I love you, Alexander." She hung up.

Lex threw his phone; Clark caught it so it wouldn't shatter. He'd need it later.

"Should I go into the building now?" Clark asked, handing his phone back to him.

Lex shoved his phone back into his pocket. "No."

"But if Pamela isn't with the intruders—"

"My father still is, and there'd be no way for you to save him without exposing your powers."

"Then—then why did I come all the way out here? You're going to let your father die? Again?"

Lex flinched at that, and Clark almost regretted saying it. "Clark, there's a lot more at stake here. I'm sure when those gunmen first came in, Pamela probably thought that my father had sent them. That he'd set up the whole scenario somehow, because who else would? But if he knew about you, he would. And it wouldn't just be Pamela—he'd go after your parents, too. Anything to exert control over you. That's what'll happen if my father finds out your secret."

"If he doesn't know it already," Clark muttered. "He'd bugged your office, right?"

Lex stared at him a long moment. His eyes almost glistened. Then he stormed away.

Pamela peeked through the crack beside the door one more time. The hallway was still being guarded. She couldn't leave the building without being shot.

Of course, even if he wasn't guarding the building, she knew she couldn't just run. This wasn't just about survival. She knew what was in the vault they were trying to break into—she'd gotten a peek into Lionel's records days ago. It was all of his research related to the meteor rock. Obviously, Lex was researching the meteor rocks as well, but as far as Pamela knew, both Lionel and Lex were keeping their research under wraps. She had no idea who these intruders even were. Anything that interfered with Lex's meteor rock research could cost her her life, Lex his most important work, and Clark . . . Well, Pamela didn't really know all of what was going on with Clark, but he knew he was related to all of this somehow.

If these guys wanted into that vault, she could only assume they were caught up in it, too. That meant stopping them was important enough to be worth risking her life for.

Pamela spent a few minutes tiptoeing through hallways in the opposite direction from there the intruders were. She assumed Lionel kept some kind of emergency weapons at LuthorCorp headquarters somewhere.

Admittedly, she was a little surprised to find a gun in his desk.

But it was exactly what she needed. She headed back toward the vault room, as close as she could get, before pulling off a vent cover and climbing into the ventilation system. It was a big building; that meant big air ducts.

Not as big as Pamela might have liked, though. And she was not as young as she used to be, and not nearly as in shape—she was plenty skinny enough to fit, but only barely strong enough to slide herself along. She was going to have to rest for days or weeks after this, probably submit herself to a whole new battery of tests from her doctor . . .

But it was worth it. For Lex.

She let the sounds of drills and the blow torch guide her path, until she could see a glimmer of light in the distance—a vent cover over a room where the lights were on. Sure enough, once she managed to scoot herself directly over it, she could see Lionel and the two remaining intruders in clear view.

Pamela didn't want to kill anyone. But she did want to incapacitate them. She didn't want to let Lionel get killed—despite all the things Lionel had done over the years, he wasn't exactly that person, not now, so morally, she wasn't sure whether she could. And despite what Lex might say, his father's death would have devastated him.

So she aimed for the gunman's hand.

Her hands were shaking. The bullet hit his shoulder.

Immediately, the room erupted into chaos. There was shouting, and then the SWAT teams ran in only moments later. A few more shots were fired, but as far as Pamela could see, none of the bullets hit anyone. Lionel was wheeled out. And as soon as the intruders had been arrested and Lionel was gone, leaving on a few armed troopers behind, she knocked on the inner walls of the vents and called out to them so they could save her, too. She didn't think she could scoot her way out the way she came—every muscle in her body was beyond exhausted, from both the exertion and the adrenaline.

As they walked down from the building, Pamela couldn't help but wonder who those guys had been. She'd probably never find out what they were really there to do.