It took quite some time to get together. Alex, Harry, and Kara completed a tracking implement which they would need.
"Finally, the missing piece of my ship," Harry said. "Are you ready?"
Kara nodded vigorously, and pushed the button on the device. The device lit up and the coordinates started to hum into place. The device grew hot in her hand, but thankfully, Kara built it in such a way which it would not burn out so easily.
"The coordinates?" Alex asked. "What are they?"
"Well, we should know when we reach them," Kara said. "Harry, do you want to…."
"Wait a minute."
Harry motioned for Kara to give him the device. Kara did as he requested and Harry leaned in to study the device. He could not believe that out of all of the places in Smallville, his ship piece was right there. He frowned and double checked to make sure.
"The disc is in a vault, in a lab, on the West Wing of Luthor Manor!"
This caused Alex to raise an eyebrow for a brief second before she spoke.
"So, which one of the Luthors took it? Was it Lex? Or Lionel, or even Lena?"
"I doubt very much it was Lena," Harry said. "Although we might want to get her help for something like this. And we need to find out what kind of security we're up against. Along with how much the Luthors know."
Kara responded with a nod. That made perfect sense. Still, they needed this part of the ship. While the metal alloy was practically useless on its own, it did present a bit of a problem. It would get the wrong people asking the wrong questions.
"Do you think we can forge a duplicate?" Alex asked.
"Entirely possible," Harry agreed. "Although, we could get someone's help. And I think it's overdue we bring Lena in."
"You're sure about this?"
"Do you trust my judgment, Alex?"
Alex blinked, obviously it was not a question of trusting Harry's judgment. She trusted him, one hundred and ten percent of the way. It was just that, well she had her misgivings about this entire situation and about the Luthors. It was just some anxiety she had in the back of the ground.
"I trust it, but, telling Lena is a big step."
"As smart as Lena is, she knows already or at least suspects," Harry said. "Telling her right now would avoid complications later."
"And you want her in your bed right?" Alex asked.
Harry just frowned at Alex's attempt to lighten the mood.
"Today, Lana and Emily are giving a presentation to Nell and Lena about the Talon," Harry said. "I should be there for that. And afterwards, I'll talk to Lena."
"I'll come with you," Kara said. "We can do this."
"For years, the Talon was a cornerstone of our town. And to sell this to Morgan Edge, to do with as he pleased, would cause some of the small town spirit to wane."
Lana and Emily had spoken before Nell and Lena, their plans. Nell thought she had a pretty generous offer, all things considered. The Talon had been a big money loser, especially when it was just sitting there, collecting dust.
"We're losing that small town spirit from bigger interests coming into the community,' Lana said. "The youth of Smallville, they need a place to hang out, to relax, to unwind. I believe if we restore the Talon, and add to it, giving them this option, they will thrive."
"I know it's a lot, and we may be operating at a loss for the first year," Emily said. "But, just think of where we will be in the next five years, with the demand of a place like this in Smallville."
Thankfully, with her mom working as an accountant, Emily had a good idea how to crunch numbers. So she and Lana pulled out a flowchart.
"We also talked with a group of our classmates and also some people who recently graduated from Smallville High School, who agreed many of them find this city not to be stimulating at all without a place like the Talon," Lana said. "The teenage market is thirsty for a center for social interaction. We can bring more jobs into the community as well. And give this town the boost it needs, after the closing down of the Schuster Center Mall last year."
"Well, you two provide an interesting argument," Lena said.
"Lana, I know you're passionate about this," Nell said. "I had….I wanted to see the Talon succeed. But, it was like the Flowershop, business tended to take a nosedive. The group of infected people just caused the city to go down."
"Aunt Nell, you took a shot, maybe it's my turn?" Lana asked. "My turn to try and do something for this town. Just give me a chance."
"I agree, she should have a chance," Lena said.
"Yes, she should."
Harry turned up at the last minute to back Lana and Emily up.
"Lana and Emily have plans and I think they could work," Harry said. "If they are willing to put in a hundred and ten percent effort in making them work. I have complete faith they will, if Lena invests in the company, and they will be co-managers. I'll give them a hand."
"Are you sure about this?" Nell asked. "I appreciate you helping the girls out, but you do have a lot on your plate. What about the farm?"
"Another one of my investments," Lena said.
"We are able to hire a few new hands to work the farm, and expand its production," Harry said. "Barring a massive drought, we will have one of the most productive years in a decade."
"Mmm," Nell said. "Lena, if you have the papers ready, I'll sign it. If the girls are sure about it."
"We are," Lana said earnestly.
"A hundred percent," Emily said.
"And I'll call Morgan Edge, tell him, thanks, no thanks."
The documentation had been presented. A lot of faith was being put into making this work, but Harry had been confident it would. He walked up to Lena.
"After you're done, I need to speak with you."
"Now?" Lena asked.
"Yes, now," Harry said. "Every Time I've wanted to tell you this for the past three months, business has come up."
Lena figured they could no longer avoid this conversation.
"You remember this place well, don't you?"
Lena nodded, as Harry and Kara brought them out of the field. It had been the place where Lex had lost his hair when the meteors fell down. Where she met Harry.
"The meteor showers came from a planet called Krypton," Harry explained. "I'm…."
"You're from that planet," Lena said. "You're the Smallville savior. You are extraordinary."
"You knew then?"
Lena just responded with a smile and nodded. Harry had been preparing a dazzling demonstration of his powers for Lena's benefit. He could not help and feel a little bit deflated.
"It was your secret to tell when you were ready," Lena said. "I was following your exploits, perhaps not as extensively as Lex, but closely, before I had been cut off from the rest of the world. You are good at concealing your tracks, but not perfect. Not to someone who knows you."
Lena had been going over that strange day where she met Harry in her mind. Just how everyone had been acting. She figured he was nothing like she ever saw before from the beginning. And the moment people started getting saved around Smallville, she knew.
"I wanted to tell you sooner," Harry said.
"And I had been giving you plenty of opportunities not to tell me," Lena said. "Best to lay all of the cards out on the table and not drag it out for ten years. But, I figured it out before I returned to Smallville."
"Well, she's a smart one," Kara said. "There's a bit of a problem though, we need your help."
"Of course," Lena said. "Anything you want."
"There's a piece of my ship missing," Harry said. "A small octagonal disc."
"We tracked it to a vault at Luthor Mansion," Kara said. "Have you seen it?"
Lena put a hand underneath her chin and tilted her head back thoughtfully. She responded by nodding.
"I have seen it. I saw it a few weeks ago. At the time, I thought nothing of it. But, I'll trust your tracker. And if it's still there, Lex and Lionel have their hands full today to begin with."
Harry wondered what Lena had been cooking up. Her phone went off. The clarity of the recently improved network, thanks to Horizon, had been obvious, as Lena answered her phone.
"They're here."
"And I'll be here in about ten minutes."
Harry, Kara, and Lena turned up. They had been greeted by the presence of Lionel, Lex, Victoria, and an older man, who must have been Victoria's father, Sir Hardwick.
"Well, this deal will put our family back on the map," Sir Hardwick said. "Excellent work, Victoria."
"I wouldn't pat myself on the back so suddenly," Lionel said. "The part you shared, well, it's a rundown facility. Cadmus Labs, I trust you heard it."
"Cadmus?" Hardwick asked. "You must be jesting."
"The facility has been run down for quite some time," Lex said. "Oh, Victoria, you really thought that you had me wrapped around your finger and I would just give you that level of control again."
"Mmmm, Lex, if this was only about you," Victoria said. "It wasn't about the Luthor legacy. I used you as means to a different kind of end."
"Yes, while Sir. Hardwick should have examined the deal closer, you should have as well," Lena said. "Victoria made a deal with me. To give me majority shares of her father's company. After she went to the board of directors and declared her father to be legally incompetent. To make a deal with the Luthors, which would have folded the company into LuthorCorp and left him hanging."
Lex and Sir. Hardwick looked bemused. Lena took out the documents and passed them to Victoria, who passed them to her father. Hardwick's eyes shifted away.
"It seems we have been outfoxed, by these two," Hardwick said, looking almost proud at his daughter's shrewdness.
"Hmmm, this is very interesting," Lionel said. "Well played Lena, well played indeed."
The deal left Hardwick with the useless Cadmus and Lionel and Lex with some meager holders. Victoria and Lena had been left with assets which could propel Horizon past LuthorCorp in pretty much no time flat.
"It's nothing personal, Lionel, just business," Lena said. "And Harry?"
"Yes?" Harry asked.
"With the deal we made, you'll have the distribution network you need," Lena said.
"What deal?" Lex asked. "What's your stake in this?"
"Business," Harry said. "We all have to start somewhere."
Lionel had been intrigued by what was going on. He knew Harry had been destined for greatness for the beginning, and he figured with Lena's influence, which had been cultivated by his influence, he could be even greater.
"Getting to the top of the mountain is very easy," Lionel informed them both. "Staying at the top of the mountain, well that's the hard part."
"And when you fall, it's hard to get back up," Lena said.
Hardwick moved off, in pretty much ruin. Retirement sounded like an intriguing proposition right about now. He had no idea his daughter maneuvered against him.
Once Lex, Lionel, Victoria, and Sir Hardwick left, Lena turned to Kara and Harry. Harry pointed out the information to the vault.
"There's some high level security around that vault," Lena said. "I'm going to see what I can do about uncovering it, and when I do, I'll give you a call."
"Let me know," Harry said.
"They can't do anything to the disc," Kara said. "But, the fact they found it and are studying, it's worrying."
Chloe, Harry, and Alex hung out on the Torch's office. Harry had been waiting for the news of what security had been around the ship, so he could take it in hand. Harry casually drummed his fingers on the desk as Chloe paced back and forth on the office and watched the television screen.
"In a shocking development, the Luthorcorp Fertilizer Plant announced massive layoffs today. Lionel Luthor casually strolled in this morning and shut the plant down, without even warning. Even his son, Lex, was confused about the circumstances."
Lex appeared on the screen to be interviewed.
"My father thinks he'll have the last word on this. However, the workers at this plant have worked too hard. They have put too much dedication in, just to be thrown out to the wolves. I'm going to find a way to keep this plant open, despite my father's judgment."
"Exactly how Lex intends to keep this plant open, remains a mystery."
"Dad's...he's lost his job,' Chloe said. "That's not good...we might have to leave Smallville if he can't find anything soon."
"You know, if you don't want to go, there's always a bed for you at my house," Alex said. "Mom can talk to him if you want to."
"And if not, I can," Harry said. "And it's not over yet. Lex looks like he's going to dig his heels in and fight for this. Your Dad might be out of work for only a couple of days."
"I just don't like it that he's a pawn in some major Luthor powerplay."
Harry could not help but wonder if yesterday's events played a role in Lionel deciding to shut down the plant. One of his children had gotten the better of him. So Lionel's ego ensured that the other child would not get the better of him right now.
The call Harry had been waiting for had come open.
"This has been quite the day," Lena said over the phone. "You heard about the news, didn't you?"
"Yes, the Plant was closed down," Harry said. "Your father is a piece of work sometimes."
"Only sometimes?" Lena asked. "Well, Lex and Lionel being busy in their little spat has allowed me to do some digging. I think it was Lex who found the disc, and he's found more than the disc. He's been rather interested in an old Smallville legend. You better get down here as soon as you can."
"That important?"
"Very important. And far more than I can tell you on the phone."
Harry got off the phone and turned his attention to Alex and Chloe.
"Lena found something," Harry said. "I should go."
Harry was well within his rights to leave the school at any time, especially now. Given that Lena gave him an internship program to Horizon, if she called upon him, Harry had to answer. She did not abuse it, but Harry was able to get out of there.
"Everyone should be on the lookout for massive tornadoes approaching the vicinity of Smallville this afternoon."
Harry zipped over and met with Lena. She had been at the table, with over maps which she pointed out to Harry.
"I was able to swipe and copy these from Lex's lab after he was tied up with the fiasco at Fertilizer Plant One,"Lena said. "You notice these markings on this cave, right?"
Harry's eyes glazed over the map. He responded with a nod.
"Same shape and markings of the disc," Harry said. "The question is, has Lex noticed?"
The million dollar question would be, why would there be a slot in some cave which could fit the missing piece of his ship? It had gone extremely weird, even more so than usual.
"If he has, he hasn't gotten it to work, yet," Lena answered. "He's more interested in the legend surrounding the caves, if the books he was reading were any indication."
"And those books were?"
Lena put a rather thick, very worn, and slightly dusty tome right in front of Harry's face.
"Those caves are on the lands of a native tribe known as the Kawatche. And they believed that…."
An alarm cut off Lena in mid sentence. She spun the chair around the console and accessed the security feed. She noticed Roger Nixon shuffling around in the hallway.
"That's the sleazy reporter Lex is talking to," Lena said. "What does he want?"
"Nothing good," Harry said. "Lex and Lionel have been trying to get information about each other."
Lena had no idea how Harry knew this. Well, she had an idea, but no confirmation on how Harry knew this. Still, surprising. Lena reached underneath her desk and took out a gun.
"Stay here," Lena said. "He might be interested in you, so it's better you stay put."
Lena stepped out of the study where Nixon had been sulking around the hallway. On the security camera, Harry got a good view of Lena grabbing Nixon by the arm and pushing the dodgy reporter against the wall.
"What are you doing here?"
"Searching for….Lex!"
Lena held the gun up to the temple of the man's head. It was not the first time this maggot had been threatened at gunpoint.
"You're lying to me. You must be here for another reason."
"They came to me! Threatened my livelihood! They want to know what the Luthors are so fixated about Harry Kent. And why you're so cozy with him?"
"That's none of your business," Lena said. "Or there's at all."
Nixon looked about to make a further disgrace of himself with a certain bodily reaction with Lena putting the gun to his head.
"What are you talking about, you muckraking bastard?"
"Oooh, damn, they'll kill me, if they find out. I'm sure they sent some guys to follow me. To make sure I did the job right. Make sure I didn't go to Lex or Lionel to make a deal."
"That's all this is," Lena said. "About saving your own skin. I should just shoot you right now."
Another alarm went off, which saved Nixon for a moment. Lena turned her attention away from Nixon as he scurried off, like the rat he was. The security alarms mixed with the tornado warning sirens going on in the distance as Lena stepped back into the shadows and returned back to the security room.
She needed to further assess the situation.
"Harry, we need to head around," Lena said. "There's a secret passageway around here, which should give us better cover. There's someone invading the mansion."
Harry and Lena navigated through the Labyrinth of secret passages in the walls behind the Mansion. Loud thumping sounds echoed against the walls as they continued their navigation. Someone had been searching around for something and a vase crashed to the floor in their haste.
"This way," Lena said.
"Actually, this way might be a little better."
"That way leads to…."
Lena had been cut off completely. Harry activated a secret panel to a secret room in the Mansion. To be honest, Lena had no idea it was there and had been impressed by Harry's ability to uncover such a thing. They casually moved around to the security room.
"I've seen them before," Harry said.
"When you were dealing with Volcana, I know," Lena said. "You don't suppose they figured out that you were you."
"No," Harry said. "But, Nixon running his mouth, that got them on the edge."
Lena accepted this answer. She got a good look at the room, to the countless amount of monitors. The images on the monitors showed every inch of the mansion, including places which Lena went hardly ever, if at all. Providing, of course, Lena even knew they existed at all.
"This is more extensive than the security room off to the side of my study," Lena said.
They had come up to a screen where Lex and Lionel both returned and had been in a bit of an argument. Lena adjusted the volume so they could better hear, even over the tornado sirens.
"I've taught you this many times. You should never be attached to one aspect of your business. The people who are working served their purpose. They are parts of a machine, which can be easily placed."
"You just laid off hundreds of people during a recession!" Lex snapped. "To put a couple hundred thousand dollars in your pocket."
"Open your eyes. This isn't about a couple hundred thousand dollars. This is about a harsh lesson that business is about upward mobility. You've proven that you've outgrown that plant. You must have realized that it was just a proving ground. To make sure you were ready to move on. Mere table scraps, to wet your appetite."
Lex took a deep breath, unable to believe his father.
"Another pawn in your game?"
"No, you are a knight, in this game, Lex," Lionel said. "You need to keep looking forward and never look back, or it will be checkmate."
"Lena was right to forge her own path," Lex said. "She knew there would no good in fighting for whatever scraps you gave her. And I'm right. I'm not going to let you shut down everything I've worked for."
"What are you going to do, Lex?" Lionel asked. "I paid the bills to keep the heat on, keep the power running, keep the employers paid and content You don't have that kind of capital. Within three months, you'll be flat broke."
"I'll find a way."
Lionel looked a bit disappointed in Lex.
"I've already anticipated your decision. Every bank in this town and in Metropolis marches to my drum. And the others follow. You can't get a loan."
Lex took a second to rub the top of his scalp. Oh, his father, he had been pushing his buttons.
"I've given it some thought," Lex said. "I still have my mother's shares. Those would be useful. And if I sold those shares and mine to Lena, well, you wouldn't have majority share."
"Bold play," Lionel said. "Not sure you realize the consequences of giving your sister that much power after she ruined your deal with Victoria yesterday. And the fact you're throwing all of your eggs into this particular basket is poor business sense. Maybe you weren't as ready as I thought."
This conversation did not get any further, when several armored figures broke their way through the locked room and made their way inside.
"Security!" Lionel yelled. "I need security!"
They were not responsive and one of the larger men backhanded Lionel and force him down ot the ground.
"Intergang," Lionel grumbled.
"Mr. Edge sends his regards."
Guns had been placed on both Luthor men. Lionel looked at every single one of those thugs with contempt. Lex had a calm, almost tranquil look on his face.
"What do you want?" Lex asked.
"Our benefactor is very interested in the secrets of Smallville. You have come into the possession of an item, an Octagonal Disc. It's the key to something that Lionel feels is important."
Lex tried to catch his father's eye. Lionel did nothing to confirm or deny these statements.
The sound kept cutting in and out. Thus, Lena and Harry only caught bits and pieces of the argument which had been going on between Lionel and Lex. And the goons storming into the study and holding both male Luthors aat gunpoint.
"Our benefactor is very interested in the secrets of Smallville. You have come into the possession of an item, an Octagonal Disc. It's the key to something that Lionel feels is important."
This caused Harry's interest to be piqued. Just good they restored the sound, and got this information.
"Who?" Harry asked.
"Edge?" Lena asked. "Or someone else entirely?"
Harry wondered if there had been some secret supplier other than Edge who had been propping open Intergang. This mysterious person who had been interested in the disc, caught Harry's attention. And then, Roger Nixon had been brought in. The sound crackled for a minute.
"I gave Edge the leverage he wanted. Why are you doing this to me?"
"You're too much of a liability."
With that, the goons forced Nixon to his knees, and gunned him down in cold blood. The tornado sirens got louder and Harry could hear the wind rattling several objects outside.
"We can't let them get to the disc," Harry said.
"I know," Lena said.
"I've got an idea to take them out, without cluing in Lionel and Lex on the entire thing,' Harry said.
"Watch out for those weapons," Lena said. "Some of them are from a LuthorCorp contractor. But others, I have no idea. I've never seen anything like that before in my life."
Lena and Harry clasped hands and for a brief second almost closed in for a kiss. Despite them both wanting to, they agreed now was not the time nor the place.
"I'll open the vault. Is that what you want? A stupid piece of metal that Lex found in a field?"
"Come on, Lionel, we know it's more than a stupid piece of metal."
The Intergang goons put their guns on Lionel's back. The vault scanned his retinal patterns, which only activated a pass code. Lionel put his hand over it.
One of the goons guarding the door had been smashed into the wall unknowingly. Another goon had dropped down, and clattered to the ground. It took the goon nearest to Lex, falling to the ground before the Intergang Goons turned their attention to their three associates being taken down.
"What the hell is that?"
"Maybe we have a Poltergeist," Lionel dryly responded.
Another goon dropped to the ground and the others shot at the goons. A combination of bullets and high tech laser fire flew through the air. The figure appeared to avoid it and wrapped a curtain around another one of the goons to smother him. Another goon tripped over his own feet and a blunt force took him completely out.
"It's open!"
Two more Intergang goons dropped from the impact. Another hurled a grenade into the air which sent an ear-splitting sonic blast into the air.
Harry almost dropped down to one knee and could barely maintain his concealment charm. He reached the grenade and stifled the sound. His ears rang and not from the tornado siren outside.
"You working with Nixon has brought them here," Lionel said.
"Me? You were working with him first. I only met him when I found him taking pictures of me behind a nightclub."
"We'll have this discussion later."
"No, you can discuss this in hell. We have what we need!"
The Intergang goons locked their guns on the Luthors. One of them clutched the disc in his hand. Harry made a swift move to both stop the gunfire and take the disc.
A force of nature beat Harry to a punch. A tornado caused all of the windows to shatter and struck the heart of Luthor Mansion.
The immense vortex of chaos struck. Debris flew everywhere. Lex tucked and rolled out of the way and avoided the debris from getting down. Lionel had his face sliced up by flying glass.
Harry pushed his way back to the high winds. One of the Intergang goons had been launched into the air. Another had been pinned by the debris.
The disc had whipped about in the winds and Harry had a danger of having it lost with the debris. He turned around and levitated the large piece off of Lionel. A couple of well placed sleeping spells put Lionel and Lex over.
"Kara! I need you to get them out of here!"
Kara stood by, ready to help. She pushed through the winds and scooped up Lionel and Lex underneath her arms. She spirited them away.
"HARRY!"
Harry could see the debris almost coming to Lena. He waved his hand and pretty much froze time. The glass came inches away from slicing Lena up. Harry took Lena's hand and shielded them both. His eyes had been on the key which almost had been sucked up into the tornado.
"You better hang on!" Harry yelled.
Lena clutched Harry's hand tightly. Oh, this was insane and very surreal. Was Harry going to do what she thought he was going to do?
"The key!"
"No, not today!"
The key had been sucked up into the vortex of the twister. Harry summoned all of the power and strength he could and flew right into the eye of storm. It was extremely dangerous and reckless, so pretty much on point for Harry. He blasted closer and closer. The disc rattled and hummed as it had been brought into it.
Lena felt her entire life rush before her. Despite her hand getting cold and numb, she clutched together. Letting go of Harry at this point would be beyond lethal.
"Almost got it!"
Harry reached for the disc. Like so many times before him in a past life, he reached for the Golden Snitch, he could get this disc, despite the heavy winds of the tornado and debris threatening to rip him apart.
With his fingers stretched, one hand firmly locked around Lena's, Harry reached. And reached. And reached. Almost there. He almost got it. So close, and yet so far.
The Octagonal disc had been clasped into Harry's hand. The moment he touched the symbols, the disc lit up and engulfed Lena and Harry in light. It transported the two of them out of the vortex.
The storm calmed down. Several Intergang goons, and Nixon laid dead in the debris of the ravage of Luthor Mansion.
Everything grew silent, until a scream cut through that silent air.
"HARRY!"
Kara rushed out of the wind and frantically tore through the debris. She used her X-Ray vision to scan for Harry. But he was not here. She searched for what seemed like ages, although it was likely only a few minutes.
It appeared, almost, that Harry and Lena vanished into thin air. This left Kara with a depowering sense of frustration and confusion.
They could not have gone far. Maybe Harry flew them to safety elsewhere. Kara had to think positive. For the sake of her sanity.