Chapter 14
He'd known pain, but this was different. It was both more and less than pain. It was an openness, a vulnerability... yet those words were too pretty. This was just raw. His skin felt as if a layer had been stripped off, his ears... he could hear tiny cracks and settling in ice that must be hundreds of miles away and someone in a cafe slurping, a bird screeched somewhere over the frozen tundra... but not here. Somewhere far away. Nothing lived here, not even Clark. Opening himself to his powers was both numbing and electrifying. Sometimes he felt he was not in his body.
"No more," he moaned.
"Yes, Kal-El. You must not tire now."
He was momentarily angry, then he realized it was useless. He was angry at what was really just a computer imprint - and it was doing its job. That was one of the things he'd never realized about Jor-El's commands before. They came from him, but were carried out by what was little more than a machine.
He concentrated, tried to sift through the sounds. Find what Jor-El wanted him to... Focus.
Flight. He'd liked that. After all these years, he flew. But not far. Jor-El kept him near, told him he was not ready. He needed to finish, to refine his senses, to break them all down and start over.
"Do you hear it?"
"I... there's too many...." He closed his eyes again and tried to open and close at once...
A wolf. A forlorn howl. He knew how it felt. "I hear it..."
"Good."
And he heard howls in answer, a pack looking for its lost... "Clark."
It was a sob, soft yet desperate. "Please... need you..."
His eyes flew open.
***************************
Two hours before...
The screen blurred and went dark. "I'm in," Bart whispered.
Chloe saw a faint spattering of light. "Bart, where are you?"
"I got past the guy when he was coming out," he whispered. "Piece of cake. He hardly saw me."
"Hardly..." Oliver was shaking. "What does hardly mean?"
"Well... he kinda looked back, but he turned around again. Probably thought I was the wind or..."
"Where are you?" Chloe repeated.
"I told you. In the... oh! Some kind of closet.... mops, buckets, smells like a dead, bleached rat..."
"Get out of there and come back," Victor growled.
"You kidding? I'm in now. I might as well..."
"Bart, you'll get yourself killed," Chloe pleaded. "Please just..."
"Guys, listen. I got the security lay-out, but we can't just get past and randomly toss ANFO around. We're gonna need a blue-print."
Victor was stunned. "That wasn't the plan... We..."
"Plans change, Vicky. I saw an opportunity and I took it. I mean, come on... This is exactly what we need."
"But there could be cameras," Oliver said.
"They won't catch me. It'll be lickity-split. You'll see..."
"Just be careful," Lois warned.
The door flew open and all blurred until they saw down a long hallway. "Okay, there's a camera right above me," Bart whispered. "First step is find the surveillance room."
"Like it's that easy," A.C. snorted.
"Just follow the scent of donuts, good buddy." All blurred and then went dark.
"Bart, what's happening?" Oliver said, tension coming off him in waves.
"Oh, shit, you guys."
"What?" Victor looked like he might explode.
"Are you seeing this?"
Chloe was about to start biting her nails. "We're not seeing anything."
Victor slumped his shoulders. "Video feed's gone. Great."
"Good. I was getting sick of these." They heard shuffling. "God, my eyes can breathe."
"Bart, get out of there." Chloe moved closer to the useless monitor. "Come back."
"No way. If I'm in now. I'm in all the way. And I wish you guys could see what I'm seeing... It's like something out of a sci-fi movie. It's like shelves of people... but they're all the same."
"The clones," Lionel breathed. He leaned forward as if he could see them.
"We can't deal with them now, Bart." Victor looked almost angry. He did like to plan ahead. "Just take care of surveillance get me a blueprint."
"Then get the hell out," A.C. added.
Bart sighed. "Fine... Okay... we got bunks, we got offices, we got... Yes."
"What?" Lois nearly screamed.
"Fat guys and monitors behind a window. Twelve O'Clock. Hey, A.C., they do have donuts. I told you."
"Bart, please," Chloe said. "Just focus."
"Just for you, Babe." There was a whooshing sound. A crackling noise.
"What the..." It was a new voice.
Chloe was practically shaking. "Bart? Bart?" There was no answer.
"Yeah. I'm here." The room seemed to relax. "Little coffee spill and bam! Power surge." He laughed. "Should take them a bit to figure it out... Fucking dark, though... Okay, we got back up generator action. Don't worry, though. Camera's are still off for a..."
"Just hurry," Oliver shouted.
"Calm down, Boss. Just let me do my thing... Ooh! Big office. Looks like it belongs to the head douchebag. Lemme see... Hey Vic?"
"What?"
"I got a computer here. You want me to stick a transmitter on it? If this is the head douchebag, we could get all we need off it."
Victor breathed deep. "Yes. Do it. Then get back here."
"Okay. Got it. Check your dish."
Victor moved to one of the dishes and flicked a switch. A green bar lit up and it began moving. "We got it. Now move!"
"Jeez, you guys act like I'm screwing up here when we're actually further..."
"Hey!" It wasn't Bart's voice.
"Oh, God no." Chloe covered her eyes. From what, she didn't know. There was no video. There was scuffling and muffled grunts and soon... nothing. She moved her hands from her face.
Everyone leaned forward. Even Lionel was shaking.
"Bart?" Victor pounded his fist and the table shook. "Bart!"
"Uh... hey guys..."
Chloe remembered to breathe and the tension slowly seeped from the room.
"So... you want the good news or bad news?"
Victor leaned back and massaged his temples. "Both."
"I'm out. I'm like a quarter mile out. Just west of the place and..." They heard crinkling. "I'm at 64 and 135 and uh... I brought a friend."
Oliver leaned forward. "What?"
"I had to. The guy saw me and he pointed a gun. I mean, I knocked him out with it. But I couldn't leave him. He saw me, Oliver." He paused. "I got his gun, but I... I could only drag him so far. Can't kill the guy. I mean, I could, but..."
"Just get to the point," Victor snapped.
"We should get him back to base. See what he knows. But I'm no Boyscout. I can't carry him and dragging the guy five miles is just nuts... I think I need some help here." He sighed. "Where's Boyscout when you need him?"
Lois threw up her hands. "Will someone please tell me what this Boyscout thing is?"
A.C. stood. "We need the jet ski. It's small enough. We'll have to go around and bring him back on it. But all the weight..."
"I'll go," Chloe said quickly. "Bart can come back and lead me to him."
"Chloe, no." Oliver put his hand on her arm.
"I'm lighter than anyone here. I can bring the guy back..."
"But if he hurts you..."
"It's one guy, Ollie. Don't you think I can handle that after everything?"
"Guys," Bart said over the speaker. "Can you just decide and get out here soon. The... Uh-oh." They heard a muffled thump. "Sorry, Guy."
"What now?" Victor groaned.
"Guy woke up, had to clock him again."
"Bart," Chloe said. "Come back while he's out. You can bring me to him." She turned to Victor. "Where's this jet ski?"
"In the cargo hold on the Bell. Bart will know."
"Bart, meet me at the Bell." She started out, grabbing her white jacket. They were all equipped with white, considering the different kind of camouflage needed here.
"Wait!" She turned and Lois tossed her a white ski mask. "Be careful."
*************************************
"Father, I have to go."
"You will not leave Kal-El."
"But she's hurt. I feel it. And she's... near. I swear, I'll come back."
"You have deceived me before."
"But I know now, Father. I have embraced my destiny. I will come back and finish what we've started. I promise."
There was silence. Jor-El's imprint seemed to be considering. It gave him hope. "You will return before daylight."
"Father, I... I need longer. Something's... something's happening. I hear it in her voice."
"There is a menace. I, too, feel it. But it can wait, Kal-El. You are not ready."
"But, father, I will come back. I promise. Please..."
*******************************
"God, can't you go faster?" Bart whined from next to her.
Chloe concentrated on not side-swiping him as she sped across the dark snow, only one small headlight guiding her. "I'm going as fast as I can," she yelled over the engine.
"Turn it off," Bart yelled.
"What?"
"Seriously, I have an idea."
She turned the key back and slowed to a stop.
"Okay." Bart rubbed his hands together. He placed one hand on the bars and the other on the seat behind here.
Chloe glanced at him. "Can you run like that?"
"Not as fast, but we gotta get back before the douche wakes up. It'll still be faster than this hunk of junk."
"I heard that," Oliver said in Chloe's ear. "And Victor and I only had a week to equip it. It's not like..."
"Just zip it, Oliver," Chloe said before turning to Bart. "Give me a boost, Impulse."
*******************************
The man was laying face down in the snow, just in front of some rocky hills. Chloe shook her head. "That can't be comfortable."
"Like I care," Bart snorted. "The guy was ready to turn me into a sieve."
Chloe stared up at the hills. "Where's the facility?"
"Just over them."
"Couldn't we get in this way?"
"And get everyone over this?" He shook his head. "No. We gotta get past the guards in the pass."
"Would you two leave the planning to me," she heard Victor bark in her ear. "Just get the guy and bring him back."
"Yes." Chloe approached him. "He'll freeze to death." She pushed at his shoulder and he rolled. "Oh, my God!"
"What?" Bart came up behind her. "Is he dead?"
"No. He's... my uncle."
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Chapter Fifteen
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