Chapter 21 - In Rao's Name

(Gold Galore Comic Book Store - Haitian Kings Clarkson Avenue Drug Den - 18th April 2020)

The meeting that had been called wasn't one that everyone present wanted to take part in. Clark sat with Annie to his left and Lois to his right, he had tried to persuade the latter to stay at the farm but that had gone down like a lead balloon. Next to Annie was Hughie who despite everything still looked out of place at the clandestine meeting, sitting nervously like a teenager worried about a first date. Following Hughie were Kimiko and Frenchie who for some reason seemed to be avoiding looking at each other, Clark guessed it was likely something to do with the dried flakes of blood the woman had under her fingernails.

Butcher was planted next to them, yet his position clearly kept him apart from the group as his eyes fixed on nothing at the moment. What stood out most about the Englishman today were the bruises and cuts on his face, and the superhero in attendance could see multiple hairline fractures all over his upper torso along with a cracked rib. Clark had pressed Hughie on what had happened to the man, he knew Butcher had visited the farm despite his warning and then disappeared when Becca had asked him to leave. Hughie hadn't been big on the details but apparently Butcher had tried throwing in the towel by letting Vought find him, only for his team, namely Hughie and MM to drag him back to just this side of sanity. Hughie hadn't gone into details, not that Clark wanted them, he found that whenever anything was explained to him about how The Boys operated he just wished he hadn't asked. All he knew was that Noir had shown up, and nearly killed them but something had stirred in Butcher during the fight that caused the man to get back into the fight.

Clark's observation of Butcher was put on hold as he turned his eyes to the newest additions to the secret drug hideout conference scene and the ones who looked the least happy. Completing the U shape of the meeting was General Sam Lane and his daughter Lucy Lane, both were in civilian clothes and looked about as happy as turkeys on Thanksgiving. Lucy looked the more at ease of the two, she was putting on a polite front and calm demeanour which unfortunately just didn't reach her eyes, which kept glancing around examining everyone for a weakness or waiting for a trap to be sprung. Lois had gently explained that her sister worked in the CIA and since Raynor's death had become the team's unofficial CIA contact, which had apparently made her a thousand times more paranoid than normal, not that anyone could blame her. Lucy gave Clark a gentle smile and nod of her head, her eyes glancing at her sister, most notably her stomach before sitting up straight again her eyes fixed on MM who was starting the meeting.

General Sam Lane didn't even try to look friendly; he sat rigid as a ruler and the scowl on his face was enough to peel paint off of walls. He was only at the meeting because he had forced his way in, he had figured out something was up due to Clark's avoidance of his overseas duties for the past few months and pried from his daughter Lucy what the Boys had discovered. So it was either invite Sam Lane to attend this little meeting to assess what they had learned so far or add another person to their very long list of people pissed at them and that could cause problems. So, the group as a whole had elected just to invite him. However, Clark had a feeling that he was missing something about Sam Lane that most people in the room were aware of Butcher seemed to tense when the man moved and his daughters eyed him with what seemed to be trepidation.

This was the first time Clark had really had the chance to examine Lois' father or sister, he had met the latter only very briefly and during a very intense situation. Whilst the former he had only dealt with remotely apart from one brief in-person meeting where he had tried to get Clark to kill Homelander. Lois' younger sister looked more like her twin than a little sibling; the two had the same build, eyes and even many of the same mannerisms. The only real difference was largely clothing style and that Lois was a hair taller and slightly more voluptuous than her sister who had a slight musculature to her.

The only way Clark could describe Sam Lane was as a soldier the man was broad-chested, heavy muscles adorned his body refined from years of hard exercise and healthy living, and he had a square jawline with dark piercing eyes. It was hard to tell how old he was. Clark knew from his research into Lois' father that he was about 72, he had had his daughters late in life and had been much older than Lois' late mother. From the very limited information Clark had been able to gather on the man, the age difference between General Lane and Lois' mother had been quite large and been the source of a lot of gossip in DC. However, despite his dark grey hair and the light age lines on his face, the man looked like he could strangle an ox if needed and didn't look anywhere near his actual age. In truth, every time Clark looked at him he had a strange feeling like something was slightly out of place with Lois' father but couldn't tell exactly what.

"So you're telling me that you suspect this Stormfront of being Liberty, a Superhero from the 50s who in turn you think was the wife of Frederick Vought and a real-life living Nazi?" General Lane asked the question without a hint of sarcasm or conjecture, his tone was even and his stare showed that he genuinely wanted a reply.

"Yeah, we have it from a reliable source and it does explain a few things about Vought," MM replied, taking the question as the start of the briefing as everyone turned their attention to him. "We don't have any proof at the moment but we are working on that. So far we can't find any records about Frederick Vought defecting to the US or the agreement he made with the government, if they do exist they are buried somewhere deep."

"I'll have a word with a few of my contacts, and see if I can dig up anything in the army records, it was nearly 80 years ago but if there was a deal I should find it." General Lane gave a small smirk before sighing and looking at the evidence board of information MM had put together. "So we have a Nazi as America's new It Girl, a possible 80-year strong conspiracy that we don't know who's behind it, if it exists at all, Vought being behind the Superterrorists attacks and Homelander is sleeping with said Nazi. Am I missing anything?"

"Nah, Gov, you're not, but this ain't your bleeding show. We learnt that lesson with when you helped with Electroshock" Butcher's harsh tone earned him a small glare from Lucy and caused other Boys to tense even Lois eyed her father, who just narrowed his eyes at Butcher but didn't respond "MM what about the info that the two Ronnies over there pulled from Storm Cunts laptop?"

"There wasn't a lot on it," Clark replied as he crossed his arms as he spoke glancing at both Butcher and Sam Lane before continuing "No personal data or relevant information, mostly it was notes on ideas to rile up the public, a few online message boards for some less than stellar groups, the only thing of real note was emails between her and Stan Edgar."

"And what did Eva Braun and Vought's big slapper have to talk about?" Butcher accompanied his question with a slight narrowing of his eyes as he stared at Clark.

"The Sage Grove Centre," MM answered, drawing the attention back to him and giving Clark a small nod as he took over. "The emails weren't very detailed and they didn't go into specifics but they go back years and it's the only thing they really discuss. There are allusions to some sort of work going on but no real details, just snippets like work in progress, the project needs more funding stuff like that. However, the emails from the last few years show that Stormfront is not happy with the progress at the centre and is pushing for some big project she wants completed."

"What did Stan Edgar say?" Hughie asked the question, trying to seem useful feeling a little more left out than usual with Sam Lane present.

"He doesn't, which is what's pissing the bitch off in a big way. He just carries on talking about other topics and ignores her." MM replied tapping his evidence board where the printed emails were, Hughie glanced at them and quickly glanced away, even if Stormfront wasn't a Nazi she defiantly wasn't shy about using racial slurs.

"What exactly is the Sage Grove Centre?" General Lane's eyes were fixed on the section of MM's board that showed pictures of Sage Grove and the emails they pulled from Stormfront's laptop.

"On paper, it's a psychiatric hospital in Pennsylvania that's been in operation since 1953. Privately owned, caters to a very select clientele" MM gestured to the images of the centre and the very few printed documents that they had. "And that's pretty much it."

"What d'you mean that's it?" Butcher asked his face suddenly in a frown as he leaned forward his eyes narrowing at the evidence board, MM was the best at this and for him to come up empty was very rare. "There's got to be more. Place is a front for Vought right? Owned by some shell company of a shell company with connections to the cunts?"

"They have no digital footprint, online documents, reports, not even a website and I also couldn't find any records or mentions of the business in Vought's database. You can't even find it on Google Maps" Clark frowned as he relayed the very little they had "It's why I asked MM and Lois to look into the place as well in case they found something I couldn't."

"And?" General Lane looked at Clark, his eyes fixed on the man before flicking to MM as the man answered.

"And nothing. LL and I tore through every contact, trick and record we could think of. Nada." MM's face showed how much he liked admitting his expert ability to dig up dirt had failed and that a few scraps of paper is all he had to show. "The centre is its own organisation, with no apparent or even clandestine ties to Vought. It's funded privately through charitable donations which by their nature are anonymous and even when LL got into the financials, there was no trail to follow. It gets a few cheques from the usual crowd of charity bigwigs wanting to deduct money for tax reasons, but it largely runs off the interest of a fund set up in the 50s in a very large amount"

"What about oversight?" Hughie's question caused General Lane to give the young man a critical look, although his face didn't show it his daughters' knew the look, he was impressed by the insight shown and was reassessing the young man. "It's a medical facility, right? So it must be reviewed and have inspections by a federal department. If Vought or someone is hiding something they must be getting around those somehow."

"You're right Hughie, it's something I thought of too." Lois moved to try to sit up straight and look more authoritative despite her heavy pregnancy and pain shooting down her back at the act. "As a private medical facility, it has much less government oversight than a public one would and the Department of Health has over a ten-year backlog on inspections. When Sage Grove last had one it was in 95, and from what I can see it looks like they either just bribed or threatened the guy to pass them without an actual inspection."

"Well I don't know about the rest of you wankers but I feel like taking a peep at this loony bin," Butcher announced, slapping his knees as he stood up and rubbed his hands together as he looked at the group and grinned. "So Clark Annie, you feel like joining us?"

"Hold up, you want us to go with you?" Annie was shocked at the offer from the man who had done nothing but look at her and Clark like they were something he would scrap off his shoe after a long walk.

"Of course he does," Clark replied looking up at Butcher who just smiled at him, "If there's trouble, and Vought shows up, who are they going to focus on? Them, or their billion-dollar turncoat poster kids."

"Ah!" Annie scoffed as she shook her head at Butcher, "So we're fucking bait?"

"Oh yes dearie, the very best on the market and at a bargain price to boot" Butcher smiled at her before glancing at Clark as he turned around nodding to himself, "Oh yes this is going to go fucking beautifully,"

"I want a report," General Lane spoke, still rigid and unmoving as before.

"And we don't work for you, Gov," Butcher turned around his fuck you smile still present but his eyes had narrowed as he looked at the Lane patriarch "Unless you forget, you burned all those bridges after the Electroshock fuckery,"

"Have it to me by noon the day following the op," The General replied without missing a step standing up from his seat with Lucy quickly following suit, "Lucy stay here, Lois will need protection whilst the others run the operation,"

Lucy quickly nodded at her father's orders, showing no hesitation or discomfort in his curt manner, something that caused Clark to frown. Lois' father didn't waste any time and quickly strode out of the room leaving the drug den and his cable of anti-vought cohorts behind. The tension in the air evaporated as the man left, Clark turned his head slightly and suddenly realised that Frenchie had actually been concealing a loaded gun which he only now set down.

"Love you too Dad!" Lois leaned in her chair to call after her father who was already gone, the statement was taken as a signal that the meeting was over and everyone had broken up. "Still an asshole,"

Clark waited for a few moments, as Annie went with Hughie to talk about things quickly disappearing as Hughie shot him a small smile and nod. MM, Butcher and Frenchie moved into another corner of the basement to discuss the plan for Sage Grove, whilst Kimiko just wandered off to draw and Lucy just moved off awkwardly trying not to be in the way. Clark turned his attention to the woman carrying his child who was currently just enjoying the time off her feet.

"Can I ask?" Clark leaned in trying to approach this delicately, knowing he and Lois weren't in a great place at the moment.

"Has my dad always been that big of a dick?" Lois chuckled shooting Clark a tight smile as she moved slightly in her seat to look at him better "Yes, yes he has"

"Not exactly what I was going to ask," Clark smiled at her joke feeling a little more comfortable now that it was clear that Lois wasn't going to react defensively about her father. "...There seems to be a history between him and the group. What happened?"

Lois was quiet for a few moments, as she bit her lower lip, debating exactly what to say before suddenly sighed. "Do you remember a hero called Electroshock from a few years ago?"

"Vaguely, he died in a fire at a hospital he was trying to save," Clark recalled, he had never met the mid-level hero and didn't know too much about him "I'm guessing that's not what happened?"

"Yeah, we were working him and another Supe, Ironcast, they were friends for want of a better word and into some real sick shit." Lois' face recoiled enough at the memory alone that Clark knew he didn't need or want to ask for specifics "Anyway long story short, things didn't go great. We got Ironcast but Electroshock got away, found out about us, went after contact, he lost a leg, it was a whole shit show. Anyway, he was going to expose us to Vought. We were on the clock so…"

"So you called in your father," Clark guessed, earning a nod from Lois who grimaced at the next part of the tale.

"Technically the Colonel did, we needed help and were a little desperate. So she called in a favour" Lois continued her story shifting a little as she remembered the next part without fondness, "Next thing we know there is a fire, but Electroshock wasn't responding when it happened because he had been hiding out at the hospital, believed being surrounded by sick and defenceless civilians would keep him safe… one hundred and thirteen people died, including 43 children. One hundred and thirteen and one supe"

"Your dad?" Clark's eyes widened glancing at the stairs that General Lane had left by.

"Have you ever met a real patriot? A man who knows absolutely that he serves his country and that every action he takes, keeps it safe?" Lois glanced at the stairs too as Clark looked at her, seeing a sadness tinged on his face. "Someone who never doubts the mission or second guesses, who would bleed on the flag to make sure the stripes stay red, making any sacrifice to get the job done. The things a man like that would do….."

There were a few moments of silence before Lois looked back from the stairs as she smiled sadly at Clark.

"... My father's the truest patriot of them all."

(Sage Grove Center - Cherry Grove, Pennsylvania - 20th April 2020)

"So this is it?" Annie asked as they looked from the treeline at the psychiatric hospital just a few hundred yards away, "Vought's big secret,"

"Someone's secret at least," MM replied closing up the back of the van they had burrowed for this operation looking over at Kimiko, Frenchie and Clark who were dressed as orderlies, "Still don't think bringing him is a good idea,"

"He can hear you," Clark called out as he placed the thickened rim glasses over his eyes and dropped his shoulders, "And we agreed, I come with you and Annie stays out here,"

"Come Mon ami, what do we have to worry about when having Le Superman watching our back?" Frenchie stated a smile on his face as he patted MM on the back who just shook his head.

"Alright chaps, we're burning daylight," Butcher grunted as he hefted the very large rifle he brought with him as he climbed onto the van's roof, "Let's get moving before some bird-watching wanker spots us by accident,"

Clark just rolled his eyes before giving Annie and Hughie a quick nod as he went with the infiltration team down to the chain fence that surrounded the grounds. Clark did a quick sweep of the grounds making sure they were clear before he suddenly frowned as his vision caught the building.

"What is it?" MM asked glancing around as they were slightly exposed in the open and Clark had stopped moving.

"I can't see through the walls," Clark stated, his pupils narrowing impossibly small as he focused on the building again, his vision again giving him nothing.

"We need to move," MM pressed gently, getting that Clark was disturbed by what was happening but their priority was getting moving.

"Of course," Clark stated, snapping back into focus as he placed an arm around MM and Frenchie, lifting both men over the fence and doing the same for Kimiko.

The quartet moved swiftly over the small space that was Sage Grove grounds before sneaking in through a side entrance. Once inside Clark suddenly felt something, it hit him square between the eyes and it almost caused him to fall over, MM moved and managed to place a hand on the large man's chest that did little to steady him, the man's sheer weight almost sent both men to the ground. It was like a sound was hammering his brain, he wasn't sure how to describe it, it was just there pressing inside his skull, he closed his eyes trying to focus before suddenly it vanished.

"You okay?" MM asked as Clark stood up shaking his head and blinking hard as he glanced around refocusing his senses.

"We're in the right place," Clark responded as he rose up, his eyes narrowing as he started to stride forward down the deserted corridors.

"How do you know?" Frenchie asked, doing his best to keep up with the taller man who he was making it hard to stay conspicuous.

"I just do," Clark replied turning a corner and stopping again as the pressing inside his skull happened again before just vanishing he twisted around trying to feel its direction before spotting a series of gurneys left against a wall, "Here, one of you get in,"

MM and Kimiko gave each other a knowing look before both looked at Frenchie who just responded with a disbelieving look and shaking his head. "Merde"

"Okay, let's find the security office" MM stated as Frenchie climbed on the gurney covering himself up with blankets and doing his best to look suitably unstable, which Clark felt was just a bit too easy for the man.

Clark took the back of the gurney pushing Frenchie around whilst Kimiko took the front to guide it and MM led the way. As they wandered around the unmarked and deserted corridors trying their best to not look like they had no idea where they were going Clark felt the presence again and again. There was certainly a pattern to the inner-skull-pressing sensation and the more it happened it felt like he was supposed to follow it somehow but had no idea. Before he could ponder on it anymore he suddenly found himself stopped as MM had managed to find an office door with the first sign they had seen read authorised personnel only.

"HEY! Open up we've got an emergency!" MM banged on the small window on the door and was greeted by a security guard's face. "The patient is swallowing his tongue, open the goddamn door!"

"What's wrong with him?" The confusion in the guard's voice was evident as he opened the door.

He never received whatever lie MM might have thought up as Kimiko jumped the man, literally flying onto his torso wrapping her legs around him as she head-butted him hard. The man unsurprisingly collapsed immediately onto the ground, Clark quickly pushed the gurney into the room as MM held the door and Kimiko moved the unconscious man into a corner. MM did a quick assessment of the room lifting his pistol as he checked every corner and saw that there was no one else present. He turned to face the rest of the group only to collide into the back of Clark.

"Shit that fucking hu-...Holy fuck," MM saw what had stopped Clark and the others dead, it was a wall of screens showing footage around the facility, especially inside the cells, "What the hell is this?"

The entire wall was a series of screens with a security desk with various buttons and controls on it placed in front of them that the guard had clearly been seated at as evidenced by the half-eaten sandwich and cup of coffee. What had stilled the group was that every screen depicted a different cell and each cell was occupied by a very unkempt person displaying a very different, very unstable power. One room was ablaze in fire as the occupant curled in a corner fire rolling off of her, another a man was blinking in and out of existence, a third room the wall was covered in bloody dents as its occupants screamed and punched the wall. MM moved to take the security guard's seat carefully pushing the unfinished food away before hesitantly pulling a keyboard towards him and started to try to access the facility's files.

"What the hell is this?" Frenchie asked his eyes flicking between the screens watching as one man pucked acid into a bowl whilst another vibrated uncontrollably the tiles around him had already been reduced to dust long ago, "Vought is making more super terrorists?"

"No, these people have been here too long," Clark replied his eyes also glancing over the screen before becoming fixed on screen he tapped MM's shoulder and pointed to it, "We've got company,"

The screen in question became larger as MM pulled it to the main screen, it showed the cell of a very timed looking 'patient' who was being joined by a man dressed as an orderly and Stormfront. The orderly had brought in a push cart with a couple of melons placed on top and looked like he didn't want to be there any more than the patient. Stormfront was just her usual smug self, a wide fake smile on her face as she greeted the young man, who looked terrified of her. Kimiko felt her whole body tense as panic spiked through her, seeing the woman who had murdered her brother, ice was shooting down her spine threatening to engulf her whole b-.

A warm comforting hand suddenly appeared on her shoulder, turning her head she saw Clark was giving her a reassuring and understanding smile on his face. She turned as she also felt Frenchie's hand intertwine with hers giving it a reassuring squeeze as he gave her a gentle smile. She gave Frenchie a delicate smile in return before turning to Clark and giving the man a nod in return.

"Shit," MM cursed, pulling out his phone and saw that they had no reception, which wasn't surprising given what Clark had said about not being able to see through the walls.

"Do you want to show us a little of what you've been working on?" Stormfront's voice sounded from the speakers after MM unmuted the cell's audio, they watched the patient lift one of his hands causing one of the melons to float "That is very impressive, Tim. Very…..impressive"

"That orderly Stormfront's with…" MM turned glancing at Frenchie as he pointed at the slightly scruffy orderly "Does he look familiar to you?"

"Je ne sais pas." Frenchie sounded uncertain as he leaned in to look at the man who was causing a tingling of recognition at the back of his brain.

"What about headaches? Nausea?" Stormfront asked, glancing at the orderly as the now named Tim shook his head in response. "Well, that's promising. I think we are getting close."

"Ma'am, can I go home now?" Tim asked glancing at the floor unable to meet Stormfront's eyes, he even trembled slightly as he spoke. "I, I, I….I just want to see my family."

"Tim, you were admitted to Sage Grove because you're suicidal." Stormfront moved forward causing the man to recoil as she gave him a perfect smile that didn't reach her eyes "You could be a danger to yourself."

"Please I just want to talk to my sister." Tim swallowed as he summoned every last ounce of his courage to look her square in the eyes "I'm, I'm not doing anything else until then,"

"Okay. Okay. We'll work something out." Stormfront's smile vanished as turned away from Tim giving the orderly a clear nod before exiting the room.

The orderly closed his eyes for a second letting out a deep exhale as he took a lighter out of his pocket. He stood still for a moment before he suddenly flicked the lighter open with one hand and brought his other one up in a pushing motion. Tim was suddenly incinerated in a torrent of fire so quickly that he wasn't even able to scream.

"Lamplighter." Frenchie whispered his eyes widening as he stumbled back like he had been hit by a truck "That's fucking Lamplighter!"

"Shh.." MM stood up trying to calm his teammate down as he glanced at the screens watching Stormfront heading for the exit, "I know, I know, but we need to stay focused"

"I didn't recognize him without the mask and the hood." Frenchie pulled away from MM who glanced at Clark as Frenchie tried not to hyperventilate which he succeeded at, by drawing out his gun. "Fucking Lamplighter. We have to kill him, of course."

"No, no, no, no. No, we can't." MM firmly pushed the gun down his eyes going to Clark whose hands were poised ready to act the moment the gun had been drawn.

"For Madame Mallory! For her grandchildren." Frenchie almost pleaded as he looked at the screen watching Lamplighter leave his victim behind

"Not right now. First, we got to find out what the fuck all this shit is." MM gestured to the room giving Frenchie a pointed look that the Frenchman grimaced and looked away from "Come on. Listen, listen. Stick to the plan, Frenchie."

"He's right," Clark spoke as well his eyes going to the screens swallowing the disgust lodged in his throat for the moment as he knew he couldn't help these people now "I don't like this either but we can't help these people unless we stop Vought and we can't do that until we figure out what's going on here,"

Frenchie sighed and nodded acquiescing to the two men in the room whilst Kimiko watched Stormfront leave out the front door following her on the security cameras. Frenchie, MM and Clark quickly took their chance and started to take everything they could from the office. Frenchie was pulling files from draws and server banks from where he found them placing them on the gurney. Clark was searching the room's desks and server towers as well for anything they could take with them whilst MM poured through the computer's files for names, numbers, figures and anything else that might be of use.

"Huh," MM sounded out as he leaned forward on the computer, his eyes taking in as much information as he could whilst he wrote down the key points in a notebook.

"What is it?" Clark asked, glancing at the screen as he loaded a stack of files onto the gurney.

"Found who owns this place or at least the main front" MM called over his shoulder his eyes raking through one of the oldest files on the system, which seemed to be a scanned document of a title deed. "This place was set up by something called the Rao Trust in 1953, could be a lead on Vought"

"...What did you say?" Clark blinked thinking for the first time in his life he had misheard someone.

"The Rao Trust created Sage Grove in 1953 according to these reco-HEY!" MM suddenly found himself pushed to one side the chair he was in rolling with speed into the wall as Clark took his spot.

Clark's eyes fixated on the single word that for him consumed the entire screen, Rao. Clark's hands became a blur as he poured over the document faster than MM, Frenchie or Kimiko could follow. The screen became a blur as Clark went through the entire database in a blink of an eye his mind firing faster than ever before. His head snapped upwards suddenly scanning the screens for something he had just seen but hadn't realised the significance of at the time, his hand snapped up as well pointing to the screen in the very centre and at the top of the wall.

"There, that one, where is it?" Clark's hand was pointing to a screen that was just displaying a security door, a heavy-duty one but simply a door nonetheless.

"I don't know man, it's just a door," MM stated looking confused and standing up as Clark started frankly looking for a map of the facility trying to pinpoint the door, "Why the fuck is this suddenly more important than getting out of here fast?"

"IT JUST IS!" Clark snapped as the presence appeared again in his head, his tone causing MM to back off just as it vanished again, "Sorry I just…..I need to get to it,"

"Why?" Frenchie asked delicately like he was speaking to a spooked horse.

"It's the only odd one out, the rest are cells or corridors, not doors, so it has to be it, it has to be" Clark responded more to himself as he traced a finger over a blueprint of the facility he hand found before he stopped it upon finding the spot, "There…You go get out of here,"

Clark's statement was accompanied by his sudden departure; he didn't superspeed out of the room but he was close to it moving so fast that no one could stop him. MM, Frenchie and Kimiko all blinked in surprise at the sudden and very bizarre behaviour of the man of steel, with each now looking to the others for an explanation. Kimiko was the first to leave, she glanced at the other two and then at the gurney before suddenly moving after Clark, Frenchie scrambled after her before MM could do anything.

"Oh fuck!" MM cursed looking at the gurney loaded with intel that he had to abandon as he chased after his wayward group.

It wasn't difficult to follow them, Clark's attempt at subtlety had clearly been abandoned as he strode through the corridors like a man on a mission. There weren't many people working in the facility but the few who were eyeing the very tall man who was striding down the corridors like a man possessed. The presence in Clark's head was getting more pronounced, it was still coming in the same pattern but it was stronger and now accompanied by an urge, a need to reach its source. Clark turned a corner and felt the presence inside his skull start to truly hammer as the door appeared before him, Clark blinked out of existence for a moment before reappearing in front of the door.

"Oh shit" MM cursed rushing down the corridor Clark's hands started tracing over the door's frame looking for a weakness, "Hey, brother, just wait we need to think this….OH FUCK!"

Clark's hands tore into the metal frame cutting off MM as he ripped the door from the wall, the action took considerable force as the door was actually a metre in thickness. The sound was neither subtle nor quiet as Clark unceremoniously deposited the door next to him, forcing Frenchie to jump back. MM was about to lose it, this was not the plan and he wasn't going to let a Supe, even Lois Beau get him fucking killed. However, any reprimand or curse died before it left his lips as inside the very large revealed room was a long metal cylinder-shaped pod, that was hovering off of the ground.

"Mother of god," MM stepped wide-eyed as Clark walked into the room, the large ex-marine casting a glance at an equally shocked Kimiko and Frenchie.

Clark wasn't striding anymore; he was hesitant and his footsteps were light, the rest of the world melted away as he slowly moved into the room and to the metal pod that hung in the air at just below chest height. His eyes glanced at the IV drip that had been placed next to the pod, a strange golden liquid following down into the arm of the occupant of the pod with a small hint of green on the needle which caused Clark to wince as he stepped back a little. However, his eyes rose up from the arm and saw the peaceful resting face of a woman in her mid-20s with neatly cut shoulder-length blonde hair. She was perfectly still arms by her sides, she looked as if she was merely asleep. She was dressed in what Clark recognised as a Krypotain flight suit, it was completely white and covered her from the neck down except her right arm where the sleeve had been carefully pulled up.

"Mon Dieu!" Frenchie exclaimed breaking Clark's spell as the Frenchman stood on the opposite side of the pod, "La belle femme, she is….well stocked,"

Clark frowned at the comment that had earned Frenchie a slap from Kimiko until he looked at where the Frenchman's eyes had gone. He quickly looked away as he saw the reason for the comment, the woman was…. the term well endowed seemed a little too inadequate for her. Clark's glancing away however caused him to be greeted by a very large very high-end standing UV lamp, as he turned his head he saw that the pod was surrounded by them. As he looked around, what he first thought had been some sort of evil lap-designed to harvest material from this woman's body seemed remarkably un-lab-like and non-evil…in fact, it looked an awful lot like a high-end hospital room.

There were clear signs that they had drawn blood from her a few vials of her blood were placed on a table at one side of the room. However, that was it, there were no marks, cuts or obvious intrusions into her body, the presence of the UV lamps and the general cleanliness of the room showed someone had taken a great deal of time to keep the woman healthy. More than just that, there was a CD player present in the room a comfortable chair placed near the pod that looked well used with a novel placed on one arm and even art hung on a few of the walls. Someone wasn't just keeping her healthy they were visiting often and were doing their best to make the place feel comfortable, not for them but for the unmoving woman.

"What the fuck…. Is this V?" MM spoke up he had ignored the pod, which had proved difficult due to its weird-ass floating and sci-fi themes but he had been rewarded by a small bench that had a strange filtration system that was turning bright vials of blood into a familiar blue substance. "Clark, what the hell is this?"

"I can explain but first we need to get her out of here," Clark stated the shock of his discovery had started to wear off as he looked at the destroyed door and remembered they were on the clock.

"And how mon ami are we suppose to move….this?!" Frenchie asked, gesturing to the pod without touching it.

"I…um," Clark froze suddenly realising he had no idea of what to do, he moved to the base of the pod causing his back to be to the open door his hands hovering over the "Okay, it's floating so it should move if we are ge-"

Clark was cut off as a torrent of white-hot fire suddenly engulfed his upper body. Kimiko pulled Frenchie back as MM pulled his gun and saw that Lamplighter was standing in the doorway lighter in hand directing the intense heat at Clark. The fire lasted only for a few seconds and although it didn't hurt him at all it had caught Clark off guard shunting him forward into the pod that luckily seemed to be unaffected by the fire and didn't move. Clark quickly turned around the fire rolling off of him as it burned off his clothes leaving him bare-chested. Distracted by the attack Clark missed that when his hands touched the pod the symbol of El appeared and the interior of the pod lit up.

"What the fuck are y-OH SHIT!" Lamplighter cursed as the lighter in his hand was wrenched away depriving him of his source of fire whilst a white-hot hand shot up and closed around his throat.

"Why is this woman here?!" Clark demanded as he slammed the ex-member of the Seven into the wall next to the demolished doorway shattering a painting that had been hanging there. "Who brought her here?!"

"Fuck, fuck!" Lamplighter gasped for air as Clark pinned him to the wall however although the grip was tight it wasn't enough that the man wasn't able to speak "What woman?! I don't know shit"

"That's might fucking hard to believe," MM moved forward keeping his gun level with the Supes head despite Clark's disapproving glance, "Seeing as your the one roasting people alive and we've got a scene from the fucking Fifth Element over there,"

"I don't know! I just burn the evidence okay! That's all I do, I've never been in this room before, no has except Stormfront and a few fucking eggheads!" Lamplighter's voice was clearly terrified as Clark leaned in the pressure around his throat growing slightly, "Please, fuck, I'll tell you what I know! Just don't hurt me!"

Frenchie had his gun out too; it was nestled by his side and he was itching to pull the trigger to unload the clip into the monster's head. He suddenly felt his arm being tugged rapidly and turned to see the face of his beautiful Kimiko staring wide-eyed at the pod.

"What is…" Frenchie turned his head and saw what had caused Kimiko to ignore the Lamplighter drama playing out "Um….mes amis we have a little situation."

Clark and MM turned their heads around to look at the scene causing both of the very large men to freeze. Even Lamplighter moved his head to the side to see what was more interesting than his interrogation. The blonde woman in white was no longer in the pod she was standing having torn the IV drip from her arm and was now looking frantically around clearly disoriented and a little panicked. Now she was standing the woman was tall, very tall she was only about an inch or two shorter than Clark, she also possessed crystal blue eyes along with a lean yet heavily muscled physique.

"Qu-oug Yc Teot em?" The woman's strange words sounded like a question and were followed by her freezing in place as her eyes met the scene of Clark strangling a man up against the wall.

"Anyone understand her?" MM asked, glancing at the other's in the room, Clark carefully put Lamplighter down and raised his hands.

"She's confused," Clark responded making no sudden movements his words caused the woman to flinch the strange sounds doing nothing to stop her panic or end her confusion

"You understand her?" MM didn't recognise the language and although he wasn't fluent in as many as Lois or Frenchie he had travelled around a bit in his army days and had never heard anything like it before.

"Sort of, it's a very complicated language, I've been very busy and sort of neglected it a little…. I've been cheating with a translator." Clark tried not to grimace as it might spook the poor woman even more as he tried to remember what little he had learnt of his very elaborate birth tongue, "Okay, mean no harm. Uh…Quo…um… no-Um? Et Fu-...uh…ln cha?"

The woman's panic immediately vanished and although Clark wished he could say it had been replaced by reassurance it wasn't. His fellow Kryptonian just looked at him with complete confusion and it was clear that if he had been speaking Kryptonian at all it clearly hadn't made any sense. The woman just eyed everyone backing up a little, her hand going to her neck only for panic to return as she looked down and started frantically patting her chest looking for something before rushing to the pod.

"Qi-lo Y-ac fa-ng?!" The woman's words may have been indecipherable but the panic in her voice was clear as she searched the pod for something.

"Hey, hey, we can he-HEY!" Clark tried to sound calm only to see Lamplighter try to rush back out the door causing him to grab the man again and pin him to the wall.

The act however caused the woman to jump back in alarm, she raised one arm out and pointed her fist straight at Clark.

"Ke-lor Wuou-kem MeqU!" The commanding tone that MM and any soldier would recognise was accompanied by her white suit turning jet-black and the wrist of her raised arm now had a glowing green ring around it.

"Wait, I don't want to hu-AH!" Clark never finished his sentence as a blast of energy struck him square in his chest sending him straight through the wall behind him.

Clark had never felt anything like it. The blast wasn't hot, it was cold, so cold he felt like his lungs had frozen over and for the first time in his life, he felt real genuine pain. More than that he felt truly disorientated all his senses could tell him was that he was in pain and that it hurt. The world around him became a series of blurry images and loud noises as he stood up trying to get his bearings. He raised a hand to try to steady his head only for him to somehow miss and end up falling downwards? Or maybe he was sliding? He wasn't sure as the world around him just turned into a series of blurry images and shaky still pictures.

Clark wasn't sure how long had passed before he felt something hot hit his side, he turned and could make out a yellow-orange haze that suddenly started getting smaller when he turned to face it. The world seemed to be getting slightly more focused as the blurriness was replaced by a kind of haziness for want of a better word. Clark couldn't describe it well but he was sure it was getting better or he thought it was until he stumbled through a wall, or what he was pretty sure was a wall.

"CLARK! CLARK!" MM's voice was oddly distant for something so loud, as he turned he was greeted by the now in-focus face of MM who hefted his gun and fired at something. "Hey, you there! We need you or we are fucked!"

"What, what's happening? Where's the woman?" Clark asked as he focused on MM the single point was making it easy to fight the pain and disorientation he was feeling.

"She fucked off!" MM yelled turning and shooting a security guard who had appeared "What's happening is every fucking psycho is out!"

The world finally came into focus and he could see that he was currently in ground zero of what looked like World War Three. The patients of Sage Grove were lost, freed when Clark had evidently smashed through some of their cells and the freed supes had taken the chance to start a riot. The very limited staff were being overwhelmed if the amount of blood and torn apart the carcass of orderlies, doctors and security guards were any indication. Turning his head he saw that Frenchie and Kimiko were fighting off attacks from both the staff and the patients, with Lamplighter also appearing to be helping albeit clearly for his own survival.

"I can st-DAMN!" Clark tried to stand up only to stumble to the floor again, he raised a hand and found that his chest was charred and blacked. "I need….I need to get outside…..Get me to a….a….an exit I'll get us out"

"Okay….fuck it, let's go" MM placed one of Clark's arms over his shoulded and started rushing towards the nearest door with the rest of the group running behind them

Once they reached the door Clark pulled away from MM using every ounce of strength he had to stand on his own feet and punch the door in front of him. It buckled but didn't break causing Clark to exhale in frustration as he took another breath and tried again this time the doors flew away flooding the area with rays of sunlight.

"Come on we need to get the fuck out of here," MM stated taking Clark's weight again as they rushed towards some vehicles parked outside. "Frenchie call Butcher tell him…tell him, oh fuck it tell him anything. HEY! You're coming with us, Kimiko!"

The Asian supe was quick to catch Lamplighter who was again trying to take the chance to slip away but didn't get far as The Female grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. She wasn't gentle and clearly seeing he wouldn't be too cooperative elected for ease of transport over comfort as she slammed her fist into his face knocking him out. She threw the ex-A-lister over a shoulder and ran over to the van Frenchie was hijacking.

"Butcher is not answering! Where do we go now?!" Frenchie shouted as he hotwired the car his face a picture of pure malice as he looked at Lamplighter "Especially with Clark like that and…. with him?"

"... Mallory, yeah, fuck we go to Mallory," MM decided placing Clark in the back as gently as gravity and the man's sheet weight would allow. "Fuck"

Clark felt tiredness finally overtake him as the last image of the world he saw before everything turned to black was Kimiko's panicked face as shoved Frenchie's seat and pointed to him.

"Oh fuck!" Frenchie cursed as he floored it and ignored the warzone around him or the fact the building was being blown apart or that Stormfront had arrived and was now killing anything that moved near her.

(Kent Family Farm - Smallville, Kansas -Late evening 20th April 2020)

Martha smiled at the young boy that reminded her so much of Clark at that age, then she passed him the last dish from supper to dry. She hadn't said it out loud but Ryan's blue eyes looked so like Clark's it was uncanny, she had loved that unique shade of blue since they had first looked up at her in wonder and she never thought she would see it in another living soul's eyes. However, looking at Ryan she saw Clark's eyes stare back, in fact, she was seeing a lot of Clark in Ryan and that was troubling her. Clark hadn't been blonde of course and maybe she was reading too much into things, but every day a little bit of Ryan reminded more of a young Clark. They had the same frame albeit Ryan was skinnier than Clark had been, they certainly had the same jawline so much so that Martha had called Ryan Clark more than once, it was the eyes though, they had the same eyes.

The boy had very little of his mother present, in truth apart from his manners, and style of speech there wasn't a spec of Becca present in the boy's features. Becca was petite with a lithe figure, brown hair, soft hazel eyes and a round face, none of which Ryan had. It didn't help that Ryan's small stature which truly separated him from Clark was starting to disappear as well, each day the boy was getting taller and even started to gain muscles much like had at his age.

"All done Ma Kent," Ryan beamed up at her, calling her by the affectionate nickname he had chosen for her. "May I please go watch TV now?"

'He's even starting to sound like Clark was at his age,' Martha thought, hearing the rural Smallville accent start to creep into Ryan's voice as she nodded to the boy who jumped with joy and started to float across the kitchen. "No flying in the house!"

"Sorry Ma Kent!" Ryan replied sheepishly, landing back on the floor as he rushed over to join his mother on the couch.

"You will be if I catch you flying ag-" Martha started to chuckle, moving to join them to watch one of those sitcoms that Becca and Ryan loved that she just didn't get.

CRACK! SMASH!

Martha's eyes widened as the backdoor of the house that led into the kitchen flew away, replaced by a floating woman with golden blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. It only took a look at Becca before both women were moving, Becca had scooped up Ryan and was running for the front door, her hand already pressing the signal watch. Martha divided into the kitchen and pulled out the loaded rifle she had stored there and fired it right at the intruder's head. She cursed as the bullet did nothing, she threw the rifle away and ran for the emergency backup that she had started keeping in the lockbox under the stairs since Clark told her what V was made from.

The blonde woman ignored her as she rushed forward, flying through the air clunky in pursuit of Becca and Ryan. Before she knew what was happening Becca felt Ryan break free from her grasp and sore around her through the air towards their attacker. He skidded to a halt and raised his fists to defend his mother and Ma Kent determination burning in his eyes. However, the attacker didn't lash out or slam into him instead she suddenly stopped herself landing on her feet with the same clunkiness with which she flew"

"Vi Rao! iEa-l ceh vy-ut Kal-El" The blonde woman smiled at him as she suddenly took a knee to be level with him, Ryan suddenly felt the fight leave him as he saw pure love and devotion in the woman's eyes.

Becca froze as she watched her son standing in front of the kneeling blonde supe, she couldn't do anything she knew that one wrong move and it would be her life and likely Ryan's life too. She was praying that Clark was going to show up any second and get rid of this crazy woman, she felt the signal watch buzzing on her wrist reassuring her help was coming. Becca saw Martha appear behind the woman holding a small lockbox she was about to open but she too froze when she saw Ryan was present.

"Who are you?" Ryan asked as he looked into eyes as blue as his own, eyes he had only seen on two other peoples faces one was his dad and the other was Clark.

"Yu-un Kara, Kara Zor-El" The woman touched her chest as she spoke softly, with Ryan feeling a strange yet familiar connection with the woman it was the same way he felt around Clark, the woman then reached out and gently touched his chest, "Um-ja iEa u-lo Kal, Kal-El,"

"Step away from him!" Martha shouted out hefting the box, deciding she needed to act, Clark hadn't shown up yet which was alarming so she had to risk this and hoped the rocks did work against Supes. "I am warning you I don't want t-AH!"

Martha cursed as she dropped the box that had become superheated in her hands the woman's eyes had turned red and just like Clark's rays of heat were pouring out of them. Ryan moved to act but suddenly found the woman pressing him to her side under one arm in hold so tight he could move.

"HEY! LET GO!" Ryan shouted trying to pry free but found that the tall blonde was just as strong as Clark and he couldn't do anything but wriggle in her embrace.

"RYAN! NO!" Becca rushed forward only to be knocked onto her back the blonde woman shot into the air smashing through the ceiling and into the sky

"MOM!" Ryan screamed as he saw his mother fall and the Kent Farm disappear below him.

He struggled with all his might as he soared through the night sky faster and faster until the world turned into a blur that Ryan couldn't keep up with. After a few minutes, he found himself released and back on solid ground. He landed in a slump on the ground. His wiggling and the woman's height meant that he had no chance to land on his feet.

"I am so sorry Kal are you okay?" The woman rushed over with genuine concern in her voice as she tried to help him up only for Ryan to push her off and get up himself.

"No, I'm not…. wait you speak English?" Ryan's eyes snapped up to the very tall woman who was still looking at him with concern.

"English? Is that the language those people were speaking?" The woman asked, earning a slow and weary nod from Ryan who looked at his kidnapper with concern, well more concern "Ah, no. I am speaking Kryptonian, and my suit has a Mark 3 AI matrix called Kelor that translates the local language, so we can talk. She must have heard enough to establish a baseline,"

"Who are you? Do you work for Vought?" Ryan asked, tensing a little as he eyed the woman trying to judge if he could run for it.

"No, I don't know what that is. My name is Kara Zor-El, I am your cousin, and this might be difficult to hear but you are not from here," Kara spoke slowly taking a knee so she could look Ryan in the eye directly "Your real name is Kal-El and you are from another world, a great and wonderful planet called Krypton,"

"You're crazy!" Ryan tried to sound sure but something in him was resonating with the woman even though he didn't want it to, something deep inside was connecting with her.

"No, I'm not. I don't know who those people were or why I didn't wake up as soon as I landed. My ship must have been damaged. I am so sorry. That wasn't the plan and I don't know how many years I've missed but I'm telling the truth. You're feeling a connection right?" Kara asked her smile widening as she saw Ryan glance away and knew she was right "It's okay, it's natural, Kryptonians of a close genetic link can sense each other. Kelor tracked your genetic code, a genetic code belonging to only one house, ours. You are Kal of the house of El….and together we can save our people,"

"Our people?"

"Yes, Kal. We are going to save Krypton together."