"The move is still on track. I have to say it's good to be back in Smallville, but I only came back to be with you."
Harry and Lena spent some time outside on the grounds of the Luthor Mansion, just having a nice long walk around.
"You're going to have to show me the penthouse when you've moved in. and Horizon."
Lena put her hand on Harry's and leaned in with a smile.
"I'll be sure to give you a guided tour. The builders are doing a good job on it. Just a little bit longer now. And it's not a long drive away, as I said. I'm sure if you hit all of the right roads, you can make it by lunch. And I'll be sure to have a key made for you. I know you won't abuse my trust."
"I won't," Harry replied. "It will really be a shame to see you have to leave Smallville, but business."
"Yes, business," Lena said. "You've done well for yourself. Once you're done with the Maelstrom of high school, there's a spot open for you. If you wish to take it."
"I'll keep that in mind."
A brief second passed, before Lena broke the brief silence.
"How is Ms. Greer?"
"Tina's recovering," Harry said. "Even after the tumor, she still has a lot of guilt to get through. Bipolar and a meteor enhanced tumor is not a good combination."
Physically fine, but from a mental and emotional standpoint, it was another matter entirely. Harry and Lena made their way to the gates to go out and enjoy lunch with each other. Only to find someone coming down the driveway. Lex, and a beautiful, buxom brunette woman, who had been deep into conversation with the man himself.
"Lena, it's been a few years!" the woman said in a very prominent British accent.
"Hello, Victoria," Lena said. "This is Victoria Hardwick, one of Lex's former girlfriends. It is still former, right?"
"Yes, I'm just in town, on business," Victoria said. "And I've decided to visit some old friends. And by coincidence, I just happened to run into Lex."
Harry judged by the look on Lena's face, she did not think it was a coicidence. However, she gracefully nodded and accepted Victoria's hug. She turned around and had gotten caught up momentarily in Harry's eyes.
"Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?" Victoria asked.
"Harry Kent," he said.
"Oh, that's right, you're him, well it's a pleasure to meet you," Victoria said. "Lex m mentioned you are a prodigy in the making. And you do have good taste, Lena."
"Yes, she does," Lex said. "Better than I do at times."
"Oh, yes, I agree, Lex, better than myself as well."
"But, Harry could get into any school that he wanted and did not even need his mother to bribe the admittance officials to do so."
Lex coughed, which sounded a lot like "Queen." Lena rolled her eyes. Old schoolboy rivalries died hard. Even after said rival was apparently dead at sea, along with his sister.
"Sure, that's not a problem?" Lena said. "Maybe you should get a doctor to check that one out."
"Sorry, it comes and it goes, when I'm thinking about gross entitlement," Lex said. "And speaking of which, I have a phone call."
Lex moved over to take the call away. Victoria and Lena made light conversation. Harry's interest was piqued by Lex talking.
"Well, my father obviously is getting nervous. He may have a few meteor freaks on the payroll and one must have gotten to you."
So, Nixon had been shaken, and rightfully so. He did see Nixon snooping around outside of the farm house the other day. The little coward ran out before Harry and Kara could confront him.
"So, what do you plan on studying when you go to university?"
Victoria's question steered Harry back to the conversation. He half-listened to Lex although that conversation lost all value.
Horizon opened the doors. Lena invited Harry to get the first guided tour. Alex tagged along, along with Eliza, Patricia, and Martha.
"This is my dream," Lena said. "Independence away from my father. And away from the Luthor name."
"Well, you've done an amazing job," Patricia said.
"Yes," Harry agreed. "You would do great things."
"It's an honor to work alongside you," Eliza said.
"No, Doctor Danvers, it's my honor," Lena said.
Harry got a good look around and a few business people walked around. Investors, and Lena walked around to be formally polite to them.
"So, tonight could be the night?" Alex asked Harry.
"Mmm."
"You know what I'm talking about."
Harry had an idea. Lena had been busy. And had been giving him the eye lately. If she had not been so tied up with preparing everything tonight, things might have happened sooner. Lena promised Harry a guided tour of the penthouse.
"She's done well," Martha said. "She always had such big dreams."
"And I'm happy to see all of them come true," Harry said.
"Don't look now, but a nightmare is coming right through that door."
Harry heard his girlfriend's statement loud and clear. Sure enough, the one and only Lionel Luthor turned up. Lena raised her eyebrow in surprise to see your father here.
"It's a grand milestone, Lena. Of course I would be here."
"You seemed to be busy during my graduation. And all of my other activities. Why now? Why the sudden interest?"
"You should not be fixated with the past. Rather the future. And it's going to be a bright future, on the Horizon. A fitting name for the company. If I could talk to you for a couple of minutes."
Lena looked over her shoulder. Everyone else had been tied up with conversation. Harry caught her eye and Lena shook her head.
"You have two. Make it good."
"Oh, I shall, because time is money."
Lionel and Lena walked off into the other direction. Harry thought about following them, but if Lena wanted him to know, she would tell him. Harry had been trying not to abuse his super hearing too much, as much of a temptation as it could be.
"How's your father doing?" Harry asked Patricia.
"Well, Dad keeps his cards close," Patricia said. "He has enough people to keep Star Labs running, at least enough to avoid getting it shut down."
"He was a real pioneer back in his day," Harry said. "He wanted to make contact with life in the stars. He thought that it would be important to Earth's future to make contact with those beyond our atmosphere."
"Well, he has a point," Patricia said. "Although, given all of what humanity has done over the years, I wouldn't blame them for not wanting anything to do with us."
"Well, isolation does no one any good," Harry said.
"My father was very interested to hear that we met," Patricia said. "Maybe, just maybe, he'll come out of his seclusion.
Harry heard a very vocal argument between Lionel and Lena which tore him away from the conversation.
"What Lex does, it's his own business. And I'm not getting in the middle of whatever chess game you're playing with the Hardwicks."
With another word, Lena stepped out. She took Harry by the hand.
"The view on the balcony is amazing. We should go out. These parties can get stuffy anyway, especially with all of the hot air in."
And with that, Lena dragged Harry by the hand outside on the balcony. Alex and Patricia exchanged knowing smirks before Harry and Lena disappeared.
"Well, Lionel should be proud of you."
Lena snorted and looked Harry directly in the eye.
"I recognize Lionel's pattern of abuse far better than Lex. Anything I do well it, well obviously I should succeed. I'm a Luthor. It's in my blood. And anything that I fail in, I'm a disappointment, despite being a Luthor. It's all about Lionel and his legacy."
A second passed and Lena took a deep breath. Harry wrapped his arms around her.
"I learned a long time ago not to cater to him, but it's so bloody frustrating that he just makes everything about himself. And he finds a way to agitate me."
"Don't," Harry told her. "Don't let him get to you. You're amazing. Don't let Lionel steal the fruits of your hard work work away from you."
"Yes, I shouldn't"
A second passed and Lena pulled herself away from Harry. As much as she wanted to be with Harry out there on the balcony, Lena had obligations to attend to.
Lena and Harry entered the party, with Lena in much better spirits. Lionel left, obviously getting what he wanted and also reminding people that he was Lena's father.
"Harry?" Alex asked him.
"Well, I'll let the two of you spend some time together," Lena said. "I'll talk to you later tonight."
Lena walked over to a woman with olive colored skin, with her hair clipped back. She looked of some vaguely Arabic heritage which Harry could not place. She and Lena walked off, and it appeared to be important given their conversation.
"Surprised it didn't happen," Alex said. "Although, Patricia's been eying you up a lot. She wants to get to know you a bit better. She might have dragged you off if Lena hadn't…."
A ringing in Harry's ear caused him to step back. He focused on the source of the sound.
"Alarm," Harry said. "Across the street."
"You know, that might be a job for the police," Alex said.
Harry just smiled and kissed Alex before he slipped off.
"Cover for me. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Alex just smiled and helped herself to a drink when no one was looking. It was hard to argue with Harry sometimes.
Harry snuck across the street. The alarm which had been tripped was silenced just as fast as he arrived. Harry stepped into the room. The vault had been opened. A smoking hot redhead woman dressed in black leather, with her hair tied back and goggles covering her eyes cleared out the diamond.
She turned and caught sight of Harry. Her gaze raked over Harry's body.
"Hello, handsome," she said. "Sorry if you're here to rob the safe, but I'm the one who beat you to it. No hard feelings though."
"Put the diamonds back," Harry told her. "The police are on their way."
Harry read her body language. He had a woman who was desperate, but not a hardened criminal. Suddenly, the room started to heat up, or rather the palm of her hand smoked.
"I'm honestly sorry that I have to burn such a gorgeous face. That's just the way things go. Time is money, after all."
Then, a high end blast of fire blasted over the room. Harry blocked the majority of the attack and also prevented it from spread. A thick cloud of smoke filled the jewelry shop.
The only thing which had been damaged was his shirt. Harry sped in front of her and came in front of the mysterious Pyrokinetic. She moved the other way and Harry zipped in front oh er again.
"You're a bit hard to shake, aren't you? Well, these people, they're after me. I need to get out of the country and away from them. And they don't come cheap."
Harry heard panic in her voice.
"Who is after you?"
"Sorry, don't want to risk your life. And you have far more pressing issues to work out."
The woman spread her arms and fire shot through the alleyway. Harry ducked underneath the smoke where the fire surrounded a bus.
"I'm sorry, but you didn't take my first hint. Later, green-eyes."
Harry assessed the damage and to say it was a problem would be the understatement to end all understatements.
"Great."
Harry summoned the resolve to dodge around the bus and pick up speed. He snuffed the fire out before it could consume the bus. Or blow it up or do anything. The panicked people looked terrified. Yet, the smoke as it billowed gave Harry the cover.
Slowly, carefully, Harry moved away.
He had been so fixated on making sure the people were okay, that he did not notice a figure staring at him from the alleyway. Calculating and smirking. He snapped a picture and retreated into the shadows.
"She said someone was chasing after her?"
Back at the Torch Office, Chloe, Harry, and Alex sat around Chloe's desk. Alex had been frowning and then deep in thought. Chloe meanwhile had entered her usual research mode to get to the bottom of this case.
"Any idea who?" Alex asked.
"Well, I was bit busy trying to stop a group of people on the bus from behind burned. And you know blow up. Stuff like that."
"Right," Chloe said. "Well, there's been a few robberies in the area. She's prolific. Woman, redhead, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. She's a bit of a smoke show. In more ways than one. About five and a half feet tall. And she's set fires in at least two of the places when the guards got close to her."
"Lovely," Harry said. "She doesn't want to be seen."
"Yes," Chloe said. "She's pretty prolific. Yet, people are after her."
"If she has meteor powers, there might be people who are interested in her," Alex mused. "For all of the wrong reasons."
"Yeah, although she's going to end up getting someone hurt," Harry said. "I'm going to have to..."
Harry's phone went off in mid-sentence. His curiosity had been morbidly piqued. So, he grabbed it, and answered it.
"Hello?" Harry asked.
He figured this would be a half of a chance this was some kind of telemarketer which would be an easy enough hang open.
"Oh, you think you're clever, don't you, boy?"
"Who is this?"
"You shouldn't care about who I am, but rather care that I know who you are. And certain people who will be interested in who are you, Mr. Kent? You're something. Don't know what. Seems like we have something in common too, dealing with that Pryokinetic."
"Who is this?" Harry asked.
"You might have certain abilities that will be of use to what I'm working on."
Harry began to trace the call back to its source.
"And it's in your best interest to cooperate with me. At the end of the day, I'll call you. Give you a bit more. Oh, and you better not tell anyone about this. Because, otherwise bad things will happen."
"If you really think you can blackmail me, then you're wrong," Harry said.
"Remember, I have people watching you."
Harry detected some desperation in the man's voice, whoever it is. He got off the phone and turned to Chloe and Alex.
"Someone saw me last night," Harry said.
"How?" Alex asked. "You normally don't slip up?"
"Takes one time. I was more worried about the people and...her. But, someone saw me. And he knows some of what I can do."
"Some, but not everything," Chloe said.
"Yes," Harry said.
"What are you going to do?" Alex asked.
Given the circumstances, Harry figured out there was only one thing to do.
"First, I'll trace the call. I'll figure out who wants to blackmail me. And then I'll figure out where to go from there."
Whether or not this was the same person who was after his mysterious pyrokinetic, or some other player entirely, Harry did not know. Harry was not going to make any assumptions without having all of the facts in mind. Still, anyone who blackmailed him, threatened his friends and family, things would not end too well to him.
Time to find out who he was, what he knew, and whether or not he told anyone.
Harry traced the call and had been led to a rathole of an apartment which belonged to a detective named Sam Phelan. A bit of research told Harry that he was a cop with a very shady and very colored history.
Carefully, Harry removed the lock. This guy would be the type to sleep with a gun underneath his pillow. And while bullets did not affect Harry, he did not want to take any chances of overplaying his hand. He opened the door and spotted Phelan. He had been in the process of opening up a can of chilli.
Harry waved his hand and bound Phelen's arms and legs together. He caused him to snap back and land onto the ground in shock.
"You? What are you doing? You're going to…."
"You're going to tell me what you know. And how you found out."
"Oh, you think that some scary voice is going to terrify me. What the hell do you think this is, Gotham?"
Phelan did feel a chill go down his spine. He had a good idea who was in the shadows, but the fact that Phelan could not see him put him at unrest.
"I saw you outside putting out that bus. Smooth move, Mr. Kent. Wouldn't have been around, if I wasn't keeping an eye on one of the Methhouses."
A strong compulsion to tell the truth flooded Phelan. He struggled against it, and sweated like a suspect in interrogation.
Harry took a bit of a breath. Phelan was a bit tougher to crack than Nixon. Dirty cop or not, he had to deal with some shit and he was a bit above a muckraking reporter like Roger Nixon.
"Lots of people are interested in you Mr. Kent. There's been strange events, which always draw back to you. Once or twice, well that's just circumstance. But that's not important now. You play nice and I might smarten you up a little bit."
"Bargaining won't help you where you're going."
"You think you can off me? You hadn't been the first to try? If Morgan Edge couldn't put me in the ground, some little farm boy with meteor powers can't do it."
So, Phelan thought that he was simply a meteor mutant. Interesting, and not an assumption which Harry intended to correct at all.
"We have a goal. Stop this Pyromaniac. She's after a shield next. It's at a museum. One of those old dead races made it. The Aztecs I think. She fences that thing, and we'll never be able to catch her. But, it won't be there when she's there. I was going to pay off the guards to let me walk with it, but I've got a better idea."
Harry had a shrewd idea where this was going and did not like it. At all.
"You're going to steal it for me. Kent."
"Making an awful lot of assumptions. And I'm curious why you turned out that way?"
"Oh, you mean how I learned to play the game. Oh, a lot of them start on the force, ideal ideas. They are going to change the world. They're not going to be the cop who is going to turn out to be corrupt. No, they're going to change things from the inside. But, that's not how it works. You learn or you die. And when you spend the best years of life trying to nail Morgan Edge, gather ironclad evidence, only for the evidence to get thrown out without a consideration. And then see Edge having dinner with both the Mayor and the Governor the next day, you learn. That wakes you up. You either do the right thing and die, or you play the game and live another day. People don't appreciate it when you do good."
When Phelan was angry, this opened up his mind. Harry shifted through the detective's memory's and learned where Phelan stored some blackmail information. And some third party who sent him information regarding Harry, although the had been very clear not to put their cards on the table.
Harry knew where to find it, where to destroy it.
"Detective Phelan, you have a headache. You're going to lie down."
Phelan's eyes shifted back and he laid down. This allowed Harry to obscure all of the memories regarding himself in Phelan's mind. Then it would be off to destroy the blackmail material.
As much as an asshole Phelan was, he did put a lead into Harry's hand. All he had to do was follow up on it.
The lovely smoke show of a Pryokinetic made her way into the museum. The moment she walked up to the case with the shield, the power to it had been cut.
The lights came back on and the young man who she encountered the other night had been standing there.
"Good job in saving those people on the bus. I wouldn't have targeted them if I didn't think you could save them. I'm not a murderer. Even though they really tried to make me that way."
Harry looked at her for a second. She did not attack, yet. She seemed to be trying to figure out Harry.
"I know people who can give you a hand. They can protect you."
"No one can help me. My parents thought they were when they sent me off to be fixed. After all, they had to keep up appearances. It's a really bad look when their little girl gets mad and can set things on fire with her mind. They tried to make me into a weapon. The only thing I learned in that awful place was to control my powers. And I got good at them. Really good."
Harry caught her hands and clenched them. He shielded her own powers and prevented her from attacking him.
"And you're pretty good as well."
The Pryokinetic moved closer to Harry to the point where their lips were about six inches apart.
"They called me Volcana."
"You had another name before that," Harry said.
The redhead closed her eyes.
"A long time ago. My name was Claire. Claire Selton, but that's over. My parents ended up dying in a car accident."
"You don't believe that it was an accident, do you?"
Claire just snickered at Harry's obvious question.
"No, Green-Eyes, I don't. They didn't want anything tying their little weapon down. Which is why it's dangerous for us to get this close. Let me go, let me get the shield, and you'll never see me here again. I'll sell the shield to Intergang, and they'll get me out of town. That was the last job?"
Intergang oh that did not sound good, at all.
"I need to run. Now. They're not helping people. They're creating weapons. Summerholt is…"
Claire pulled her hands away from Harry and fireballs appeared in the palm of her hand. Before either could make their move, a loud bang echoed from outside of the museum.
The doors of the museum burst open. Harry jumped behind the case to get a look at the situation. Several goons came in and Claire's mouth hung half open.
"They work for Intergang."
Oh, that was just wonderful. And the goons had been led by the same corrupt detective from earlier. Despite the fact that Phelan forgot his early obsession with Harry, he was still on the hunt for the Pyrokinetic. Therefore, while he did not remember his conversation with Harry or that Harry Kent was the Smallville Savior, this was still a very delicate situation.
"Well, well, two meteor freaks for the price of one."
"Working with Intergang, Phelan?" Claire asked. "You hit a new low."
"Ah, don't worry about it, firebug, that shield fetches a pretty penny, but your minder fetches us an even more pretty penny. And we just had to cut our new friend, the Detective in on the deal."
Claire's hands curled into a fireball.
"Hypocritical," Harry said. "Working with Intergang when you spent ten years investigating their main backer."
"Edge?" Phelan asked. "Nah, I learned by now, you got to play the game. Being a good cop doesn't get you anywhere."
"They only want the firebug, shoot the other one."
Bullets flew through the air at Harry at a rapid fire rate. Harry blocked them and came right to Intergang. They all fell to the ground with Harry hitting them!
Now that left Harry and Phelan to square off. Phelan tried to look him in the face only for his eyes to avert anywhere other than the face in front of him. Phelan whipped out his gun and emptied the clip into him. The bullets crumbled to dust before they came close to hitting Harry.
"Just who are you?"
Before Harry could take Phelan down, a bullet flew through the window and caught him clean in the back of the head. Harry prepared to see who shot him dead, only to catch a look at Claire, who slumped over the case, hurt.
"You've been shot," Harry breathed. "You're bleeding."
"It's nothing," Claire said. "You can't take me to the hospital. They'll find me here. Please, you can't...you can't."
"I told you there are people who can help," Harry said. "You might want to bite down on this, this is going to hurt."
Harry pulled a piece of gauze out of his pocket and put it into Claire's mouth. Harry removed the bullet. Simple enough, but dealing with any possible infection and healing her wounds properly would be the difficult part.
He stepped over the detective. Claire stumbled behind Harry.
"Who shot the bastard?"
"I don't know!"
Harry wrapped up the Intergang punks. He scooped Claire into his arms, as she was faint from the blood loss.
"Trust me."
A small crossed her face.
"Kind of have no choice, Green Eyes."
Those words were the last Claire spoke before she blacked out in Harry's arms thanks to the blood loss.
Horizon was the first place Harry thought about. He heard Lena and Patricia talking in the hallway. Harry moved through the door with a shot woman cradled in his arms. Patricia gasped and Lena motioned for him to go over.
"Explanations later. Right now, she's been hit by a bullet."
"We really should get her to a hospital," Lena said.
"All I need is for you two to help me look her over," Harry said. "A hospital isn't going to work. I promised her I wouldn't…."
Patricia wondered what Harry had gotten himself into. However, Lena took a couple of calming breaths before she motioned for Harry to go down the hallway into a lab.
"We should be able to look her over here."
Patricia got into position to help Harry. If they needed some more help, Harry could get Eliza here in a little bit, but thankfully, it appeared that Lena and Patricia had everything taken care of. They looked at her.
"I have her," Patricia said. "It's not too bad. Thankfully it didn't hit anything vital. Going to have to clean it, but we should be careful. Avoid an infection."
"Don't report this to the police," Harry said. "It won't end well.."
Especially given there was a detective who had been shot at the scene of the crime. Harry shorted out the security cameras when he put out the lights. But, they did not have any chances.
"She's gifted by the meteor rocks," Harry explained. "There's people after her. Dangerous people."
"Is this why you ran off the other night?" Lena asked.
"You noticed?" Harry asked.
"Harry, tell me when you're ready."
"I will. I have a lot to tell but, she, Claire, she's dealing with some people who want to turn her into a weapon. Intergang….."
Lena could not help and interrupt at this statement.
"Intergang? Edge? You were involved with them?"
"They came in, and they had some detective named Phelan who was after her, but he got shot…."
"Phelan, as in Sam Phelan?"
Harry answered a nod. He had a sense Lena had been thinking about the situation and worried. Potentially rightfully so.
"Okay, Okay," Lena said. "Phelan, and Intergang, and is there anything else?"
"She mentioned a place called Summerholt," Harry said.
Lena paused for a few seconds.
"Right, you should get some rest," Lena said. "We'll discuss this later. Don't worry about Claire. I have a few calls to make."
Harry looked at Lena for a second and the resolved look in her eyes showed so. He would be back in the morning. He had a lot to tell her.
"Come back in the morning."
Saturday, which meant there was no school and no problem for Harry came back. Lena left in a very hurried manner and raised more questions than answers.
The moment Harry returned to Horizon the next day, a middle-aged woman brushed past him in a hurry and looked very nervous in the process. The moment she left, Harry came across Lena. Lena locked eyes with Harry,
"It's my and Lex's old nanny. Pamela Jenkins...she's not doing well."
"Didn't Lionel…."
"Yes."
Lena's voice had been so crisp that Harry had been taken aback by it. She calmed down.
"Sorry. It's just that summer, when I came from camp. I found out my stepmother died, my nanny had been fired, and Lex had been sent away because she was sick. The point is, she's dying and she wants to see Lex and me one last time, even if Lionel forbids it."
"Sorry to hear that," Harry said.
"Thank you," Lena said. "Claire, she's healed, but the moment she was given a clean bill of health, she walked out. She did leave you this."
Harry took the note from Lena and scanned it.
"You're a good person, Green-Eyes," Harry read. "But, I don't want you or your loved ones mixed into it. You already know a lot, so please watch out and keep looking over her shoulder."
"I'll do some poking around with Summerholt," Lena said. "They're supposed to be helping kids with gifted abilities. But, if what Claire says is true…."
"I know," Harry said. "But, be discreet."
"Always am," Lena said. "I'll get in touch with you soon. And when you're ready, we'll talk."
"Thanks."
Lena had obviously had some very heavy news laid onto her. Harry intended to give her plenty of space so she could talk.
The moment Harry left, Lena walked down the hallway. She knew, or at least suspected for a long time. Summerholt had given Lena pause for some time as well, and Claire confirmed what happened.
The news reporter about the gunning down of Phelan had been hot in Lena's hands. He had been caught in the crossfire of gang violence. Well, it was convenient for Lena for that story to be out there.
All of the cards would be on the table, but not yet. Lena retired to her study with a glass of wine to open the envelope which Pamela gave her. She saw some paperwork inside, a few letters between Pamela and Lionel. Along with a picture of a young redheaded girl and some legal documents.
"Oh, Lionel, what did you do?" Lena murmured.
She would need another drink to properly unpack this. The Luthors had another family secret to deal with which should not be a surprise to Lena at this point.
"Hey."
Patricia Swann had been on her way to a special assembly for the students of Smallville high school. She hoped to meet Harry. Harry gave Chloe and Alex a nod.
"Save you a seat,' Chloe said.
Chloe and Alex made their way in, with Lana and Emily also slipping in. This left Harry to talk to Patricia, in the guise of helping her carry in a case.
"Claire ran off," Patricia said. "She wasn't forthcoming a lot with Lena and me. You really do have a way of loosening a woman's tongue to get as much as you can from her."
"Well, yeah," Harry said.
"I want to talk to you later," Patricia said. "I have a few...things that I want to verify, if you don't mind? You know what I'm talking about, right?"
"I have an idea, but I'll let you tell me this afternoon," Harry said. "I have them free, and I normally help Chloe get the Torch together. But considering today's such a great day, I can manage."
Patricia just smiled. She hoped to assess a couple of things. Harry was the one who her father and his associates waited for. Patricia read the journals, but piecing together who Harry was had made him even more enticing.
"Meet up with you," Patricia said. "I have to inspire people."
"You'll do great," Harry said.
"Thanks. Appreciate your vote of confidence."
Harry made his way to sit with Alex and Chloe, who had save him a seat. Alex just leaned over to Harry, with a quizzical look in her eyes.
"So?" Alex asked.
"We're meeting up later."
"Not really surprised," Alex said. "I may have thrown a bit of innuendo your way to wet my cousin's appetite."
To say, Harry was surprised, would be an outright lie. The presentation began, with Patricia having several displays which demonstrated the work. She had been a little bit nervous, but progressively got more confident when describing her passion.
"For those who think your dreams are out of reach, they might be a little closer than you think. All you need is a solid goal where you seize any opportunity imaginable. Just reach out and grab it and it will be yours."