Alex and Lena walked out of the elevator, and made their way up to Eliza's office where she had been keeping him occupied.
"So, Red Kryptonite is a thing," Lena muttered. "He's fucked two women underneath the influence of Red Kryptonite."
"And given Chloe's frank commentary about how every single woman at school looked like they wanted to hurl their panties at Harry, even more than usual, it's obvious it affected Harry's aura."
Lena and Alex created a way to help negate this effect from the Red Kryptonite. Although the fact the Red Kryptonite combined with Harry's aura, created some super Incubus effect made Lena as interested as a scientist. She shook that thought up and opened the door.
Harry had just been in the process of getting his pants back on. Eliza laid on her desk, and took a large drink from a bottle of water. Helen had been moved over to the couch where she had been cleaned up for the most part and covered up. She had a bit smile on her face.
"I'm sure you realized what happened with the ring," Alex said.
"Super Incubus effect," Harry commented.
"I managed to convince Harry to lose the ring during our tryst," Eliza said.
"I realized I was losing control," Harry said. "Although, it only sped up what was inevitable for the most part, it could have gone too far. Much too far."
"We have this upgrade to your shield," Alex said. "Kara helped us test it when we got ahold of her. It's perfect safe."
Harry took the shield which Lena handed him.
"How did you feel?" Lena asked.
"It is the greatest high ever. I could sense the women who were most aroused by me and zeroed in easily. I might have been a bit more assertive than I needed to."
"That's needed though," Helen murmured from the couch. "And you don't need to apologize. You're the one who was drugged. If anything I took advantage of your situation."
"How about we mutually took advantage of the situation?"
Helen nodded in response. She could go with that one.
"We found out that the stones which were supposed to be used in the class rings were replaced by rocks that were found in Smallville," Alex said. "The jewerer skimmed money off of the talk."
"We're putting in the word to have the rings confiscated," Lena said. "I'll write the check for what the school was owed, and also make sure all of the students are refunded. It might not be much."
"Will the Red Kryptonite cause powers like the green?"
"Good question," Lena said. "But, given most of the people who bought the rings were exposed to them for a day at best, I don't think there's any problem."
Harry leaned back a few seconds later and contemplated the situation. Alex and Lena had brought him breakfast, which was needed. And Helen and Eliza accepted it as well.
"I want to run some more tests tonight, but you should be in the clear," Lena said.
"What happened to the ring?" Alex asked.
Eliza wordlessly held up the container. Alex nodded, satisfied for right now. The entire group settled in. Lena and Alex would have to monitor Harry for any residual effects, although thankfully Eliza and Helen were both able to sweat it out of him a little bit.
So, he had his usual extraordinary stamina and sex drive.
"So, the Red Kryptonite made you even more irresistible than before?"
Harry returned to the Torch office and explained everything to Chloe. He had been back to help her get the latest addition of the paper and multi-task a little bit.
"Well, yesterday, I had a weird hunch about that one girl you dug off and boinked."
Harry raised his eyebrow in Chloe's direction and Chloe figured she should be a bit more specific.
"Jessie Brooks that is. The new student here. The one you took from Lana and Emily and decided to take her on a tour of all of the hotspots of the school. While you no doubt received a tour of her hot spots."
"Yes," Harry said. "Are you going to background check all of the girls I sleep with?"
"Yes,' Chloe replied. "Although this one it's for good reason. She's shrouded in mystery. She just showed up one day. She lives with her father who I've been able to find out works for the government. And I decided to dig a little bit deeper."
"Of course you did."
"Being a concerned girlfriend and a reporter," Chloe said. "We don't know Jessie that well. And it turns out she did have a boyfriend before you."
"People do date before they meet me," Harry said.
"Well, yes, but that's not the odd thing."
Harry cleared his throat and motioned for Chloe to get on with it.
"Well, she did have a boyfriend. The two of them broke up. And he was found dead in the bathtub with a toaster dropped inside of it."
Harry just allowed that to mull over his mind for a few seconds.
"Curious," Harry said. "But…."
"Either he thought it was a good idea to make toast when taking a bath. Or someone murdered him in a way where it made him look like a Darwin award candidate. Or he could have killed himself."
Harry just sat down on the desk and looked through the police reports. The official ruling had been an accident. Obviously, he accidentally dropped a toaster in a bathtub because that made a whole lot of sense.
"Don't you agree there's something hinky going on? I wouldn't normally think that anyone you slept with would be capable of murder. Maybe Lena. Possibly Alex."
Harry gave Chloe a narrowed eyed look and Chloe waved her hands apologetically off.
"Might have something to do with whatever mysterious work her father's doing," Chloe said. "I've got her address, so maybe you can pay her a visit?"
"Thanks, I will," Harry said.
"I've also been looking into that Summerholt thing Claire mentioned. My contact went there for treatment. I've opened up a dialogue, exchanged some emails."
"Be careful who you meet with," Harry said.
"I know, it could be a forty-year old man posing as a young woman," Chloe said. "I'm not going to meet her at some secluded place. She's coming this office, when she gets away."
Harry knew Alex would make sure Chloe did not do anything reckless. Still, he had another thing to deal with. He wondered what kind of a woman he slept with under the influence of Red Kryptonite. Perhaps not a murderer, but perhaps someone who had a father who was involved in something dodgy.
Jessie returned home from school. She noticed someone walking up to her from behind.
"Hey."
She spun around a few seconds later and relaxed when she noticed Harry standing beside her.
"Just wanted to check up on you after yesterday," Harry said. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," Jessie said.
"Do you think I can come in?"
She hesitated for a second and then nodded. Jessie fumbled with the keys and opened up the door. She moved a few steps and then stood in front of the door frame leading into the kitchen.
"Harry, can I be honest with you for a second?"
Harry motioned for her to speak and Jessie drew in a deep breath.
"I'm not sure how to say this, but I had a lot of fun yesterday," Jessie said. "But, I'm not sure about going all in on this relationship."
"That's your choice," Harry said. "Is there something else?"
'No, it's just been a long day," Jessie said. "That Principal, he's a puritan jerk. He was on my ass about how I dress again. Glad I don't have to deal with him for too long."
Harry raised his eyebrow. Suddenly, out of the blue, Jessie grabbed Harry by the shoulders and pulled him into an aggressive kiss. Harry's hand ran down her body and made out with her aggressively. Harry decided to go with her through the sudden action and see what kind of game Jessie was playing.
"But, just because we don't have to be too serious, doesn't mean we can't have some fun," Jessie breathed in his ear. "Let's see if we can ruin my new bed."
Jessie walked up the steps leading the way. Harry kept his eyes locked on her, for reasons of being careful and enjoying seeing her swaying hips as they walked up the steps. Jessie suddenly stopped at the top of the steps and took a half of a step back. She screamed suddenly.
Harry raced up the steps and noticed Jessie's eyes on a man on the ground. He laid on the ground, a gun in his hand. A bullet in his hand and Harry heard no heartbeat.
"I'll call the police!"
"Wait!"
Jessie raced down the steps as Harry reached the phone. He noticed a hastily scrawled suicide note on the table alongside of an uneaten meal.
"You can't call the police," Jessie said. "You have to get out of here."
"There's been a murder, I have to report this," Harry said.
"No, you...I've got to make sure it's still up there."
Jessie raced up the stairs. Harry abandoned calling the police. Jessie pulled open a lockbox from underneath the table and pressed her thumb underneath it. She opened it up, only to gasp in shock.
"It's not here. It's not here."
"What's not here?" Harry asked her. "Jessie, there's something going on."
"They were supposed to protect us," Jessie said. "I thought when we came with Smallville, they wouldn't find us. Instead…"
Harry dialed his phone. Jessie put her hand on his arm and looked into his eyes, almost pleading and trembling.
"Please don't call the cops," Jessie breathed heavily. "We can...you need to go. Out the back door and run as fast as you can. I'll be fine."
"I'm not leaving you. And there's been a suicide or a murder."
'It was murder," Jessie murmured.
Harry held her into his arms and embraced her tight. Obviously, she had been on the verge of a breakdown. Still, Harry needed to get the police involved. He casually put monitoring spells on all of the windows. He would not put it past whoever killed Jessie to put a bullet in her through the window.
A scan of the house ensured there were no explosives in the house. So far, so good.
The police arrived. An attractive young woman who looked maybe a decade, if not younger than Harry, stepped into the room.
"Detective Maggie Sawyer. I'm here to take Ms. Brooks in."
Detective Sawyer flashed her shield at Harry. It passed the test.
"Is she any danger?"
"We're trying to figure out what she knows," Maggie said. "You found the body at the steps, didn't you, Mr…."
"Kent. Harry Kent."
"I'll be contacting you shortly," Maggie said. "And…."
The door opened and a group of government suits entered the room. One of them flashed a badge at them.
"My name is Agent Palmer. Mr. Brooks has been targeted by a rogue government agency. And he has information regarding a top secret project."
There's something off about Palmer's demeanor, if that was his real name. Jessie's eyes narrowed a second later.
"This is my investigation," Maggie said.
"And this is out of your hands, Detective. This is a matter of national security. All I have to do is make one call and you might find yourself in hot water."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Just a warning to tell you to do your job."
Palmer turned to Jessie a few seconds later.
"You better come with me, Ms. Brooks. It's for your own safety."
"Like the remarkable job you did keeping my father safe."
Palmer's two agents grabbed Jessie and escorted her out of the door. One of them trained a gun and pointed it towards Harry which got her complied.
"She doesn't look too happy to see you," Harry said.
"I would keep your head down and forget you ever knew her, son," Palmer said. "Everyone close to that family is a target. Just let it go."
Harry looked like he was not going to let it go. Maggie grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back as the agents left with Jessie put in the back of a van. No windows, that was never a good sign.
"You shouldn't try anything too hot headed," Maggie warned him.
"And how do we know these people are who they say they are?"
"We don't…."
Two of the government agents ransacked a desk off to the side. They rifled through some papers and threw them all over the place until one of them found what they wanted.
"Everyone clear the area. We'll take the body in."
Harry noticed a document on one of the logos and committed it to his memory. Maggie, the rest of her team, and Harry had left the room. The van which left with Jessie gone and the two government suits stepped into another van and drove off.
A helicopter hovered close by. Harry acted like he was going to walk home. The moment Harry was sure he shook anyone he lost, he pulled out his phone and dialed the number.
"Lena, I need you to check out something else for me."
The logo on the folder belonged to the supposedly abandoned Cadmus Labs. Which had been recently involved in the deal which allowed Lena to gain majority control of Vicki's company. The lab had been a ghosttown for a decade. And yet, why was the van containing Jessie racing towards the lab?
They showed up at the facility which belonged to LuthorCorp. Or at least it did. Harry wondered what the hell was going on. Was Lionel involved in whatever was happening so far? Or was there something else going on?
Harry had questions and he carefully moved to a dusty hallway. Jessie had been led down the steps by the government suits. It looked like a lab which had been run down for years and no one accessed it for quite some time. Harry tapped, tapped, tapped carefully on the door.
Jackpot. Harry reached a secret panel and opened it up. The entire floor shifted away and gave Harry a set of steps. He made his way into a basement lab. It looked like something out of a mad scientist's wet dream. Harry walked down the hallway and tapped down it.
Harry masked his presence from the security cameras and took a good long look at the lab around him.
A computer system lit to life. Pretty high tech for a lab which was supposed to be abandoned. Harry put his hands on the computer and after some trial and error, escorted the network.
A file popped up. Data on "The Traveler" popped up on the computer. The same words Virgil Swann described him as. This had gotten very curious indeed.
An ear splitting shriek brought Harry out of his stupor. He zeroed in the sounds of the screaming and found out Jessie was three rooms over.
"I don't know anything. I swear to God! I don't know what was in that box!"
A creepy looking bald man with glowing eyes shifted through Jessie's mind. Great pain had been caused as she burned through her memories.
"All she knows is that the contents of the dropbox was important. She doesn't know how. She knows nothing else."
A modulated voice kicked to life, and filled the lab.
"Unfortunately, she knows too much by being here. Take her out, now."
Harry slipped in through the shadows. The first rule of battle was to take out the telepath. Harry struck the man in the back of the head and dropped him to the ground.
The other guards fell one by one. One shot in Harry's general direction. This was the last move he did, before he took them out completely.
Jessie's eyes widened and she trembled. Harry noticed the collar added to her neck, and it had not been for decoration. A brief scan indicated the collar around her neck was highly explosive. All he had to do was determine a way to remove the collar safely.
"Well, we have a visitor. The so-called Smallville savior. I've been waiting for this for a long time."
Harry had been a bit too occupied at helping Jessie not get her head blown off. He just needed to find the right frequency and magically short-circuit the collar in a way which would not explode.
From the doorway, Agent Palmer appeared. He had in his hand a vial which he injected into his forearm. Palmer's eyes glowed completely.
"Take down our interloper."
A bright light emitted from the room. Harry avoided the light the best he could, but whatever it was, it made him somewhat visible. Palmer walked towards him and paused at a table full of weapons. One of the weapons had been a large mace made out of some kind of iron. Palmer put his hand on the weapon and caused his body to turn completely into metal.
"This is for national security."
Palmer jumped into the air and almost drove his fist into Harry's head who avoided it. The serum allowed Palmer to absorb and weaponize certain elements. A bad thing indeed when he merged with this strange alien metal. He charged Harry and Harry dodged the attack very carefully.
A fist swung at Harry again. Harry dodged the attack and caused Palmer to punch an electrical panel. A shockwave knocked Palmer back, but unfortunately did not take him out of the battle. Harry lifted him off of the guard with another assault and drove him back.
Two blasting spells bounced off of Palmer's chest. Whatever item this is, it repelled magic. But, thankfully, Harry could sense the metal fading. All he had to do was wait it out.
"Arming code activated. Explosion in two minutes."
Jessie screamed in horror and rightfully so. Something, or maybe someone triggered the collar on her bomb. Palmer grabbed Harry around the neck but Harry used his momentum to send him down to the ground. The alien metal disappeared, but Palmer sunk his hand into the concrete floor.
The man had been made completely of concrete and swung his large fist at Harry. Harry dodged several punches, each more devastating than the last one. He blocked a fist before it almost caved in his face and then propelled it back.
"You can't stop me. And you can't save your girlfriend…."
A bullet caught Palmer in the back. Harry looked over his shoulder and Harry locked eyes with Maggie Sawyer. She turned from the slightly obscured figure who was Harry, to Palmer who staggered from Harry picking up a sledgehammer and smacking him around.
"That bomb's on her neck. Get it off before it explodes. I'll keep Palmer distracted."
Maggie rushed over, and did not ask any question. Thankfully she picked up a few tricks working together with the bomb squad and she fiddled with the dial.
Harry sent the sledgehammer directly through the stomach of the concrete man and caused him to fall into a bag of sand. The man punched through the bag and absorbed the sand particles. He rose up and created a hammer made of sand. Harry blocked it with his actual physical hammer. He jumped up into the air and then brought a glowing attack down on the man. The man disappeared through the vent on the floor, made completely of sand.
"Just hold on."
Jessie could not do anything else. Thankfully, the bomb quit vibrating against her neck. So, maybe that was a good thing. Maggie slipped the collar off.
"Let me get you through…."
Jessie screamed and the wall of sand rose up. The sand proceeded to bury both women alive underneath a cocoon and almost smothered to death. Palmer rose up elsewhere as the sand dome threatened to smother and strangle the life out of Jessie and Maggie.
"I HATE WITNESSES!"
Harry speared Palmer and sent him flying. Palmer fell onto the table of weapons and grabbed one of them. He shifted into steel again and went toe to toe with Harry.
"You can't stop me. I'm going to stop the threats to this country. Starting with you, alien. I'm a man of steel."
'And your brain is still made of tissue.'
Suddenly, Palmer stopped, and froze. Jessie and Maggie had been released from their sand prison and not a moment too soon.
'I've boosted his pain sensors. And his power is fading. Attack. Now."
Harry's hand glowed with energy and he sent a huge blast directed towards Palmer. Palmer had been sent up into the air and crashed down to the ground. A hole burned through his stomach and he shifted, rapidly between all of the elements. His body smoked and he screamed out in agony.
"Well, time to cut my losses."
"Self-destruct sequence in one minute."
Palmer finally stabilized. Harry caught sight of his invisible helper, and it was Imra. That raised some interesting questions.
'I'll get the information from his mind,' she projected. "And him. You leave.'
Imra injected a chemical into Palmer's shoulder which finally stabilized him. Harry scooped up Jessie and Maggie underneath his arms, and bolted them straight to the door. Imra followed with a secured Palmer underneath his arms.
From the street view, an explosion appeared to level all of the seemingly useless Cadmus labs. Which had much more than met the eye and many more secrets.
Palmer had been locked and secured in a room. Maggie and Harry stood in the room, in silence for some time. Imra also stood behind them, her presence masked.
"Why did you show up?"
"I did what any Detective would do. I followed up on Palmer's credentials. Turns out he was a government agent, although discharged from a group called ARGUS. He's gone rogue and he's working for someone, along with several other rogue agents. I followed the trail, although it was a bit more than I thought. It was a good thing you were there, Mr. Kent."
Harry figured the cat was out of the bag.
"Your secret is safe, and mine should be with yours," Maggie said. "There's something going on in Smallville and it all started with that meteor shower. There are certain forces who will do anything to weaponize anyone who had been gifted powers. And that causes a threat. And I feel that there's a connection between Cadmus and Summerhold."
Harry filed that underneath useful information. The moment Palmer stirred awake, Maggie entered the lock room. He racked in pain, coming off of the high of the serum.
"I need it," Palmer said. "The power. I need it."
"You need to tell me who was your boss at Cadmus."
"Well, I think you can go to hell."
Suddenly, Palmer started to sing almost as if he had been jabbed by some kind of truth serum.
"I didn't know the main boss. I met through an intermediary, a Doctor Lawrence Garner. The same Lawrence Garner, who ran Summerholt."
So, another point for something shady going on with Summerholt, and they had been racking up a whole lot. Harry caught Lena coming in out of the corner of his eye.
"I heard the news. Cadmus being used as a front for some experimentation on meteor mutants. It was shut down. Off of the books for years and years. Before Lionel swindled Sir Hardwick into buying it."
"Lionel can't be involved in this," Harry said. "Why would be swindle a man to purchase a facility which he is still using?"
"Good question," Lena said.
If not Lionel, then who. Harry stepped into the next room and checked up on Jessie. Jessie clutched her arms against her knees and looked almost in shock. She was shakena and rightfully so.
"Whoever is behind this, they're dangerous," Lena said. "I'll do what I can to make sure Jessie is able to get away, safe and sound, until we find out who is behind this and stop them."
"Thanks," Harry said.
Harry turned to see Maggie walk out of the room. He made a decision and reached into his pocket to pull out a watch.
"Garner is a start, but there's more. The rabbit hole is deeper."
"It is," Harry confirmed. "Take this."
Harry slapped the watch in Maggie's hand. She flashed in a very quizzical expression and wondered what was going on.
"If you need any assistance, just press the red button. I'll know. All of my friends have one. And you're working this case, you're going to need my help and I might need yours."
"Right," Maggie said.
"Goodbye, Detective."
"Goodbye, Mr. Kent."
Maggie watched him leave. He most certainly was something. Hopefully something which would not cause her a headache. She only knew Harry from the reports of his heroics. Someone had to have a motive to do what he did, but Maggie decided to trust in him because he was the best option.
Harry stepped into the office to help Chloe. Chloe, as it turned out, had been in the process of talking with a very attractive brunette woman with glasses.
"Harry, this is my contact," Chloe said. "You can trust Harry. He's my partner."
"My name is Molly Griggs," she said. "I'm a meteor mutant. I went to Summerholt for therapy, after...well some bad things happened. There was a girl, who tried to kill. After she stole my code. It wasn't….I'm sorry."
"You thought Summerholt would help you."
"The options were Summerholt or Belle Reve," Molly said. "I thought Summerholt was the better option. But, I've seen some things there that are terrifying. Children are brought their when they develop abilities. Not just from the meteors either. The parents, the ones who care, they visit for a short time, and then they stop. They stop. And sometimes, I see a group of them get hauled on a bus. They claim they're going to another specialized facility upstate, but something is wrong about that."
"What can you tell me about the man in charge?" Harry asked. "Lawrence Garner?"
Here, Molly shivered.
"He's...he's….I'm sorry, I can't say. But, I'm glad I got out of there. That place needs to be shut down. It's really bad. Terrifying, it's...scary."
Molly almost had a breakdown. Chloe wrapped an arm around to calm Molly down, but she pulled away. Molly took a deep breath.
"I'm okay. I'm okay. Just bad memories."
"Just one second," Harry said.
Harry moved over to take his phone out.
"Lena?"
"I talked to Victoria," Lena said. "She mentioned that her father sold off the Cadmus shares, to recoup some of the money. The investors, he didn't know. But, I think Sir Hardwick just wanted to recoup some of what he lost."
"Lionel's little gambit must have put a wrench in whatever plans were in motion," Harry answered. "Right, of course. They were involved for a long time. Since before the deal with the Hardwicks. But I've got news."
"What?"
"Chloe's story she's working on, she's talking to a patient who has left Summerholt and….Lena?"
No connection. Harry wondered if there was some kind of bad connection. Extremely rare for Lena's network. He turned around and he saw Molly's eyes on him. She licked her lips and left the office.
"Strange," Chloe said.
"Yes, quite peculiar," Harry said. "She said a fair bit."
"Almost too much," Chloe said.
Call him paranoid, but Harry did not think it was a good idea to leave Chloe alone, at least tonight. Something about Molly just seemed off. She might have spilled some beans, but Harry was not sure about it all together.
"I'll walk you home after I head to the Penthouse," Harry said. "You don't mind the trip, do you?"
"I've got nowhere else better to be tonight," Chloe said.
Chloe saved her notes and took Harry's hand. The two of them walked safely from the school, to the point where they could fly without detection.
Oh, Chloe was not going to lie, this was the most awesome thing in the world.
Harry checked up on Jessie, who had been sleeping in one of the guest rooms. She finally fell asleep. Lena had unfortunately stepped out, so Harry could not inform her about the cell phone glitch. However, Imra appeared in front of Harry.
"There's more to you than meets the eye," Harry told her.
"You figured that one out," Imra said. "Yes, there is. I'm not from around here. Or from this time period."
Harry's interest had been piqued.
"Continue," Harry said.
"I'm part of a team known as the Legion of Super Heroes. We were dedicated to following the heroic ideals set up by the greatest hero of the twenty-first century. That being you."
Harry motioned for her to continue, so Imra did.
"I went back to get a good look at you. But, unfortunately, my ring stopped functioning after a while. I could not go, could not send a message. I figure I've only been gone for seconds by my team and I eventually returned a short time later, because otherwise they would have sent someone back for me."
"A logical assumption," Harry said. "Can you repair your ring?"
Imra sighed and offered her answer to Harry in a very somber tone.
"Unfortunately, the elements needed to repair it won't be invented for another five hundred years?"
A smile crossed Harry's face.
"We should talk to Lena about this. She enjoys a challenge."
"You're amazing, from the beginning," Imra said. "I can't tell you much obviously."
"Yes, I understand," Harry said.
"But, for however long I'm here, if you need me, I'll be here to help you."
Harry took Imra by the hand and escorted her to an empty room. Right next door to the one which Jessie was staying in. The door shut behind them.