Kent and Zara returned the following day. They hadn't been discovered and were unharmed, but Kent was clearly not unscathed. They silently waited in a meeting room with the key resistance team ready to debrief. Awash in despair and unwilling to speak unless asked, Kent's gaze fell on the three people in the room who actually cared about him and didn't view him as a dangerous alien. He was in desperate need of comfort. Seeing the conditions and treatment of humans had been a brutal awakening for him, sparking an even stronger determination to see this world freed. He and Zara had remained out of sight and didn't interact with anyone, but he still could observe, and what he observed had broken his heart and stirred his anger.
Kent could see that Lane looked haggard and he knew she hadn't gotten any rest sine he'd been gone. His heart went out to her. The times she'd been in danger had always been brutal for him so he knew exactly how she felt. It must have been even worse having no way of going after him to find out where he was. Seeing his regretful and concerned look, Lane flashed him a reassuring smile. She wanted to grab him tightly and never let go, but now was not the time for that. Kent moved his gaze over to Lois and saw that she had been watching him intently. When their eyes met, she drew in her brows, concerned and guilty over what she had put him through. Kent smiled at her, trying to tell her with a single look that none of what he'd experienced was her fault. His sense of protective tenderness for her had grown a hundred-fold after seeing what the human prisoners endured.
LL cleared her throat and Kent's gaze guiltily flew back to her. Oddly, her expression seemed compassionate. The last time they'd been together, he had frightened her with his Kal-El act. After that, he was sure she would hate him forever... not because she saw him as a threat, but because he had made her cower. Lois Lane in all three worlds hated to show fear.
“Are you up to talking about it,” she asked them both after the long silence had drawn on too long. Implied in her tone was censure regarding their continued silence,yet she was trying not to be harsh. LL knew that Kent sacrificed for the sake of the resistance and as much as she wanted to hate him for who he resembled, she found she couldn't do it. She couldn't hate the other one either, but this one had suffered for them, and that made him seem more kindred. She laughed inwardly at that. Kindred. An alien and a human couldn't be kindred no matter how hard they tried. And yet somehow... this one was. So was Zara for that matter. She shook her head. Now was not the time to lose focus.
Kent nodded, his body language tight and miserable.
“Well, we don't think we messed anything up,” he said cautiously. “I … didn't stop any of the terrible things I saw,” he added, his voice filled with self-loathing. “I … just let things happen. Even though I – well... it's the greater good. I'd never had to make that choice before... I never knew how hard it would actually be.”
Lane and Lois both itched to go hug him, and they resolutely withstood the temptation.
“The greater good requires sacrifice, Clark, and as much as it feels like it, you didn't do anything wrong by not revealing your presence,” said LL. Kent's eyes widened momentarily in surprise at her use of his preferred name. To her credit, LL didn't flinch or wince at his sudden focus on her. Aware that he was staring, he dropped his gaze – no point in upsetting her. After what he saw, he found it incredible that any human who had been victimized by the Kryptonians could bear to ever be within their line of sight.
“Thanks. I know,” he said, finally, well aware it was the truth. He hated himself for this knowledge and this acceptance. He hated the Kryptonian invaders for forcing him to have this knowledge. “I... I hope never to have to do nothing in the face of brutality again, but I couldn't risk the mission. We have to be victorious.”
“Are you ready to share what you've learned?”
Kent sighed.
“Well, we learned something very interesting. All of this – the fact that Kal-El is a clone, the fact that the original is alive – it's all a closely held secret. Even Kal-El doesn't know anything. He knows he's a clone probably, but as best as we can tell, he doesn't know about the original. The original's location changes all the time – they're trying to keep his existence secret. He's tended to by robots which inject him regularly with something. We couldn't risk going near him because he's probably been flooded with red-radiation and he's also under surveillance. I did... do a few walk-bys near where he was and there were several others who seemed to find this alarming, even though they did their best to hide it. He tends to be kept in places where Kal-El isn't likely to ever go.”
“So when we take him, the clone won't know anything is amiss,” said LL, feeling a surge of excitement. This reduced one danger... if the clone knew that his progenitor had been taken, he would stop at nothing to get him back – and to destroy him if need be. But if there was a small group who knew, they might be loathe to raise an alarm at the risk of letting the current “Lord” know before it suited their purposes. Their attempts at recovery would have to be as surreptitious as the resistance's activities were.
“The problem is – taking him,” said Zara. “We probably can't get near him without getting immediately sick.”
“Then a human will have to do it,” mused LL.
“Well, I'll do it,” said Lex.
“Actually,” said an english-accented voice. “I'm afraid I already did.”
