Chapter 68

A terrified scientist ran down the alleyway. He had been stalked by some mysterious force that he could barely see and comprehend even less. He had been looking over his shoulder a lot recently and now the fear had come true. It felt like something out of a horror movie.

A blur came up from behind the scientist's shoulder. The cool wall pressing against his back made it feel like he slipped into some kind of dead end in the alleyway. And boy did those words become too appropriate.

"It's not my fault that Kr went rogue," the scientist stammered.

"It's not Kr that my associates are worried about."

A sadistic face with blue eyes appeared in the shadows. The scientist's heart beat so fast that he would not be surprised if he had dropped dead from shear stress.

"It's you opening your mouth on the other one."

The scientist's nerves become completely rattled. He tried not to collapse down onto the ground, despite the very obvious fact that the horror he felt was real.

"Please!" the scientist shouted. "I won't tell anyone. I don't know as much as you think I do!"

"And yet, you know too much."

The scientist came face to face with Supergirl. She floated next to him with a smile on her face. Then, like some sinister ghost, Supergirl jumped in and grabbed the man by the throat. She heart punched him and ripped through the man's chest. Blood spurted from the man.

His last expression had been one of abject horror. Supergirl ripped the man's heart from his chest and caused him to drop down to the ground. The bloody organ fell to the alleyway. Squishing to the ground, in the most disgusting manner possible.

Supergirl without warning clapped her hands onto the top of her head. She floated high to the skies of Metropolis at the presence tickling in her mind.

"NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

At this scream, Kara Zor-El sat up bolt right in her bed in the Kent Farmhouse in Smallville. She started to scream and yet no words came out. She gazed upon the curtains which had been set completely on fire.

Martha Kent rushed into her room with a fire extinguisher in hand to put the fire out. After that was done, she rushed over to Kara's bed and wrapped her in an arm.

"It's okay, Kara," Martha murmured. "It was just a bad dream….Claire had them all of the time when she was your age...especially when she got exposed to Silver Kryptonite...you didn't...did you?"

Kara racked her brain to try and remember any exposure to anything in particular. She did not. Something else was going on here, something else that was bad. And she was very much freaked out about the thought to say the very least.

She dreamed about murdering this man she never saw in her life. And then, the dark mirror of Supergirl in her dreams, freaked out and then Kara woke up. Kara did not understand it.

Especially since this is the third night in a row this nightmare happened. Same situation, her murdering someone that Kara never met in her life. And waking up, completely and utterly shaken beyond all belief.

Kara needed answers. And soon. Otherwise she would be tormented.

Caitlin Fairchild sat in her office at Starrwave and took a long sip of coffee. The newspaper this morning rattled her to be honest. Not only was it a disappearance of another scientist, but it was the disappearance of another scientist who worked on the Superboy project, although this one had been taken off of the project just a month before completion. Caitlin had been about the only one who had constantly worked on the project up until the end, come to think of it.

Worked for Cadmus, who knew what other experiments he had been involved in. The third one in three days, although no one in the newspaper made the connection. To them, these were just young prodigies being struck down in the prime of their life and nothing more.

"So you heard?"

Karen stepped into the office. She had been clutching the same newspaper Caitlin read and she dropped it.

"Yeah, I heard," Caitlin said. "Three scientists who were working on Project Superboy, even before I was brought in to be Harry's minder."

"And do you know who brought you in?" Karen asked.

"I never met the main bosses face to face," Caitlin said. "Desmond was about the only one I talked to face to face and that was about a month after Cadmus brought me."

Karen answered with a nod. She did not like the looks of this. These had been the work of a savage and ruthless person, whoever murdered these three scientists. One of them had been doused in gasoline and burned to death. The other hand every bone in his body broken, with his spine being jammed into his brain. And the third just simply had his heart being ripped out.

Something inhuman can do that. And Karen did not know what it might be. She shuddered to really guess about it.

Caitlin pressed her hand on the side of Karen's shoulder to bring her out of her trance like state. Which Karen did.

"I'm not saying the people working at Cadmus were saints," Caitlin said. "But it's concerning that the scientists that worked on the project before me are dropping down like flies."

"Yes," Karen said. "Do you know why? Do you think you're in danger?"

Caitlin put a hand to her chin in thought. To be honest, that was a very good question Karen posed and Caitlin honestly wished she could come up with an answer. These three scientists had been brought in before, and Caitlin had been brought in after. There was so much of Cadmus's work on Project Superboy before, that Caitlin did not know before Harry.

"There was much more than was going on at Cadmus than even I knew," Caitlin said. "And if they moved onto other projects…."

"That's what bit them in the ass," Karen said. "But, still the fact that they were involved in the Superboy project...and they were all killed...that's concerning."

Caitlin would be lying if she was not concerned herself. She shared Karen's frustration that something was going on.

Harry smiled, having joined Cat Grant for a breakfast date. Cat, as always, had more than enough to talk about.

"So, the recent turmoil between Quarac and Biyala is getting worse," Cat said. "Everyone thought they were going to reunite, but Harjavti….he really did an about face at the last minute, didn't he?"

"He did," Harry said. "Don't know if he was trying to play her or not."

Granted, Harry did know. He also knew there was something else weird going on over there. The situation not being as black and white as Harry thought so in the first place.

"Queen Bee might not take this lying down," Cat said.

She put her sausage on the fork and casually nibbled on it in front of Harry. Harry just responded with a smile.

"Well, you never know what Queen Bee might take lying down," Harry said.

Cat almost dropped her fork in surprise. Perhaps she had been reading too much into the way he said what he did. Surely Harry could not have been implying, what she thought he was implying. There had been plenty of rumors that Superman and Queen Bee had been seen in close proximity with each other. But, Cat just put those up as rumors, someone trying to make a slow news day just that much more interesting.

Sometimes a fork was a fork and a spoon is a spoon, or something. But Cat wondered if Harry had tamed the Queen, and had been implying something.

"Well, thanks for the Breakfast," Cat said. "I hope you're on for dessert...because I'm game if you are."

"When do you have to get to work?" Harry asked.

"An hour and a half," Cat said. "Just really a fluff story. The Luthor charity drive….just how I wanted to spend my Thanksgiving to. Lex talking about how he helps the same unfortunate, all while scheming to get them out of Suicide Slum and take their homes for land development the other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year."

Harry heard Lois talking about the same things. LexCorp sponsored a drive for canned food and clothes every Thanksgiving, for the less fortunate. It was a good cause, until you really peeled back the layers and figured out Lex's intentions were less than pure.

The two held hands after paying for their breakfast, and moved back when suddenly a small crowd had gathered outside of the hospital of crossing the street.

"My god," Cat said. "I heard the rumors...but she's actually…."

A very attractive dark haired woman with green eyes dressed in a very nice female business suit which tastefully showed off her legs stepped out of the hospital room. She walked with pride, despite spending so much time in the hospital. A pair of bodyguards stood on either side of her, both females, and both rather attractive in her own life.

"She collapsed six months ago, under mysterious circumstances," Cat murmured in Harry's ear. "And she's been in a coma….Lena Luthor...the sister of Lex."

Harry smiled as he got a good look at this beautiful women and could not keep his eyes off of her. She's very beautiful and also a Luthor, so brilliant and potentially ruthless as well.

"I wonder what caused her to drop," Cat said. "Not even Lois could find that out...but I'm sure the doctors couldn't either. Baffled didn't describe it."

Granted, Cat was not going too far to say that Lex had anything to do with it. More than enough people implied it. Then again, Lex had been investigated about killing his own father and all of the charges had been dropped.

Another dark-haired women, also extremely stunning, met Lena. Harry could not get a good look at either of them. They hugged briefly, obviously knowing each other. And then they got into a limo, with Lena's two mysterious bodyguards and they drove off into the night.

"Well, I'm sure people will be buzzing about that one," Cat said. "So, how about that dessert?"

Harry took his mind off of the alluring raven-haired woman who left his sight and turned to Cat and smiled. He wrapped his arm around her and they crossed the street to Cat's car.

Five day Thanksgiving vacation proved to be pretty easy for Harry to move about. And he moved into Starrwave. After the woman at the front desk buzzed Harry in, with a dazzling smile, he moved into the elevator to surprise Caitlin and Karen, knowing they normally took a break this time a day.

The moment Harry approached the conference room at the top floor, he sensed something had been wrong immediately. Karen and Caitlin hovered over a desk and a newspaper.

"So, what's wrong?"

Caitlin motioned for Harry to move over. She wrapped him up in a hug and kissed him on the lips. Not that Harry minded, but the fact that Caitlin was so shaken for some reason, made him pause.

"Three scientists working for Project Kr were murdered," Caitlin said.

"Wait, they were working on….?" Harry asked.

"Yes, on you," Karen said.

Harry heard about the murders of the scientists, but only brushed them off as some sadistic serial killer with a grudge. Now that Caitlin and Karen handed him the connected thread, Harry saw this in an entirely new light.

"They're going to target you next, aren't they?" Harry asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," Caitlin said with an honest shrug. "These three...they predated me….and they moved onto other things at Cadmus, before the public branch shut down. And they might have gotten fired. If they knew where some of the bodies were buried…."

"There's still someone behind Cadmus who wants them shut up," Karen said. "And this person might come after you."

"I can handle them," Harry said.

"We know, but you shouldn't willingly put yourself in danger," Karen said.

Harry thought that if the person wanted him dead, there was no place on Earth which he could hide which would offer a sufficient amount of protection.

"Anyone else that could be a target?" Harry asked. "Do you know of any other scientists…?"

"The only one I know of is Amanda Spence," Caitlin said. "I don't know about her whereabouts. I didn't see her since about a week or two before the incident on the fourth of July. I think she was having second doubts about the project and requested a transfer."

Given what they now knew about Cadmus. A small part of Harry wondered if having second thoughts meant that Amanda Spence had been dealt with.

In a blink of an eye, Kara entered the lab from outside of the window. Karen rushed over to let her in and Harry could see the haunted look in her face.

"Oh, Harry, thank Rao you're here!"

Like a ballistic missile, Kara slammed into Harry with a hug. Despite the fact that she practically flew into him with a force that would break some ribs.

"I've been having some kind of strange dream and…."

Kara stopped at the glimpse of the newspaper which had been laid out on the table.

"That's the man I killed in my dream," Kara breathed. "Oh...that's…."

Harry could tell Kara had grown very distressed. He pulled her into a tighter hug them before and kissed Kara very lightly on the top of her forehead.

"There's a logical explanation for this," Harry said. "You having dreams like this...but I don't think you're going to like it."

"What is it?" Kara asked. "Tell me. I need to know."

"You've been cloned."

Lena Luthor settled back into her office at L-Corp and naturally she had quite a few concerns, even though some very qualified people had been in charge in the company in during her time of sabbatical. The deal with Frost Industries awaited Lena, but Lena was confident she could pull that off.

It would have to wait though. Lena studied several newspaper clips over the past couple of months. On the television screen, clips of Superman's involvement in Rhealsia, before the two countries apparently came to a peaceful resolution and potential talks of unification within the new year.

"Well, you've really exceeded expectations," Lena murmured. "And both Lois Lane and Cat Grant, you got them to agree on something."

Lena flipped through more pages and set it down on her desk. She kept watching the glimpse and admiring the new hero of Metropolis.

"He really is something, isn't he?"

The same dark haired woman who picked up Lena earlier, appeared at her office door. She came bearing Chinese food which Lena just smiled about.

"I'm really glad to have you back," she said. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

"One minute I was giving a press conference, and the next minute I woke up in Metropolis General," Lena said. "Between that, six months of nothing...and I've been spending the last three hours piecing together everything that I can."

The woman on the desk was astute enough to realize that Lena had been spending most of those three hours studying Superman.

"Lex can rest easily knowing his sister has made a full recovery," Lena said. "I've read these news reporters about how it was a tragedy, and now he's doing everything that he can to make sure I'm better. But...I'm fine…"

"The Board's...been causing problems," the woman said. "I've been doing all that I can, but Lex has been making moves...and they don't nearly have the confidence in me that they have in you."

"Shame on them," Lena said. "But, I wouldn't worry about it. I'm back. And they know not to rock the boat too much when I'm around...you've done a good job holding the fort down. You should be proud of yourself, Samantha."

The woman, Samantha, smiled at the praise from her boss. She worked as hard as possible, despite the sacrifices she had to make.

"Lex doesn't know about it, does he?" Lena asked.

"No," Sam answered.

"Good," Lena said. "And I would like to keep it that way...and our mutual friend in Lex's inner circle?"

"Still giving us reports," Sam said. "Seems like Lex is in contact with someone in Russia a lot."

Lena had no idea what that was all about, but she was determined to find out. And also determined to make arrangements.

"Desmond's dead," Lena murmured as she went through one of the reports. "A shame."

The tone of Lena's voice came off the impression she could not be too broken up by someone like Mark Desmond, and was alarmed that Lex put him in charge of that project. Lena was glad that he got rescued, she really was.

"And the lastest news," Sam said.

"Right," Lena said. "Three scientists...all working for Kr...up until two months before Harry was liberated."

Lena closed her eyes for a second. She would get to that sooner rather than later.

"So, how is Ruby?" Lena asked.

"Well, my daughter's entered that moody phase that all teenagers do," Sam said. "But, other than that, she's doing well at school."

"That's good to know," Lena said. "You really have a sense of pride of everything she's accomplished...that's a good quality to have."

Lena studied the scientist reports, the murders were very messy. She could not put her finger on exactly why she thought something was wrong. Only that something was very wrong and Lena wanted to piece together the reasons why.

It might be time for Lena to pay a visit to Cadmus and figure out what happened in her time off of the board.

Kara sunk down into her chair. Her entire world had been spinning. A clone of all things. Kara did not know what to think of this, other than she did not like it. She did not like it at all.

"If she's a clone...she might be what Cadmus intended you to be...before the Team rescued you," Kara said.

"Right," Harry said. "I don't know...there's just something we're missing. Because we need to know who her handler is. We know the why, but we don't know who is behind this."

"Superman!"

A very familiar voice buzzed in the side of Harry's ear. Kara heard it too, although it was much fainter on her end. Their ears started to buzz even more.

"Lex," Harry murmured.

Kara and Harry both went on edge.

"Sorry for the crude way to get your attention," Lex said. "But, I think it's time. I think it's time for us to meet face to face...and time for you to get the full story about how you came to be. Meet me in the parking lot outside of your birthplace."

"Your birthplace?" Kara asked.

"He means Cadmus," Harry said.

Harry knew two things in life. You don't take candy from strangers and if you're Kryptonian, you don't just accept a meeting with Lex Luthor, not without being prepared for anything.

"You might find this of interest," Lex said. "I know who is behind the recent disappearance of the scientists who worked on the early stages of your creation. Meet me, and I'll tell you everything."

If Lex knew something, and Kara thought he might, she wanted to come along.

"I should really wait for Karen to get back to go," Harry said.

"But, we might not have another chancelike this," Kara said. "If he knows about who is behind this he might know about my double."

"Or this could be a trap," Harry said.

"Well, between the two of us, we can take him," Kara said. "He's just a man."

Harry frowned, he obviously took this a bit more seriously than Kara did. Although he shared Kara's curiosity, even though Harry thought about it and realized curiosity did a remarkable job at killing the cat."

"No, he's one of the most brilliant men on Earth," Harry said. "And dangerous as well...and I feel that he wants something...and I want to find out what."

"I do too," Kara said. "Let's do this."

Outside of the abandoned, at least officially, Cadmus Labs, Lex Luthor peered up into the sky. It was not a bird, not even a plane, it was Superman. And he came alongside of Supergirl. Lex did not seem too bothered by her arrival and neither did the steely man standing beside him.

"So, you showed up," Lex said. "I thought your curiosity would get the better of you. You're like your mother in some ways, but different in so many more ways."

"You said you had information for me," Harry said.

Lex rnodded.

"This is my personal bodyguard and head of security, Otis," Lex said. "And Supergirl….I must say it's quite fortunate you've brought the Girl of Steel here as well."

"You said you had information," Kara said.

"Not one for pleasantries?" Lex asked. "Very well, let's get down to business. MISS TESSMACHER!"

An attractive woman with strawberry blonde hair and glasses made staggered on the heels she wore. Lex just regarded her with bemusement.

"The information, if you please."

"Yes, sir," Miss Tessmacher said.

The information changed hands from Miss Tessmacher to Lex.

"After our little fleeting encounter in Tibet, I've been following your exploits quite closely and have been impressed," Lex said. "But, deep underneath Cadmus, there are still...problems. There are people in there with an agenda...and they don't like it that you've escaped their pull."

Harry stared Lex down, but did not say anything.

"I've not always been on the side of the angels," Lex said. "Understatement, I know. But...the fact of the matter is...ever since Desmond's unfortunate accident, I've been noticing some weird things. Cadmus has been continuing their cloning projects...but not with an attempt to clone Superwoman...but rather…."

Lex's eyes flashed directly on Kara.

"Supergirl," Lex said. "Project Galatea is…"

"Oh, Lex, if you don't know when to quit when you're ahead, you'll be lucky just a head!"

A woman hovered in mid air, dressed in a sheer black bodysuit which appeared to be absorbing solar radiation. She looked like the perfect midway point between Supergirl and Power Girl, at least maturity wise.

"Otis, Mercy, you know what to do!" Lex yelled.

A second bodyguard, Mercy, got Lex and Miss Tessmacher both out of harm's way. Superman and Supergirl rose up into the sky on the other side of this woman.

"You're the clone," Supergirl said.

"I prefer being called an improvement," Galatea said. "And you will learn to stay out of my head, little girl!"

Galatea slammed Supergirl down to the ground with one punch. She left a miniature crater in the parking lot.

"Someone's using you for their bidding," Superman said.

"I can't believe you serve these roaches," Galatea said in disgust. "Can you see you are far superior than them? You never should have strayed from your purpose. You could have been a king."

Galatea slammed into Superman. They were more evenly matched than Supergirl and Galatea were.

"I will fulfill my creator's mission!" Galatea shouted. "And if I had to do a few favors along the way...so be it. Those roaches meant nothing anyway."

"It was murder!" Supergirl yelled.

Supergirl slammed into Galatea at the force of light. The two women just slammed onto the ground and almost overturned a light post along the way.

"Humans are responsible for everything bad that happens to this planet," Galatea said while hoisting Kara up by the neck. "And these people...they abduct and victimize children...and they will let the greatest threats the universe has ever known in, if it makes them look progressive!"

Kara had not been in the mood to debate politics with a woman who had her hands wrapped around Kara's neck. She struggled, almost fighting out in the process. She had been so close to breaking free, but not quite.

Galatea slammed Supergirl into the side of the Cadmus building and cause it to shake from the impact.

"Superman!" Miss Tessmacher yelled.

Superman turned around, just in time to see Lex pull a Kryptonite Gun from the case in his car. He fired the gun, hitting Galatea. Supergirl fell down to Earth in the process until Superman caught her.

"You okay?" Superman asked.

"That's...that bastard has a Kryptonite gun in his car the whole time," Supergirl said.

Galatea turned around, brushing the green dust particles off of her suit.

"Thanks, Lex, that really cleared my sinuses," Galatea said.

"She's immune to Kryptonite, boss?" Otis asked.

"Yes, Otis, I can see that," Lex said.

"My creator made sure I had that flaw ironed out from birth," Galatea said. "Improvement...and I'm going to improve the world by ripping your head off."

Galatea had been intercepted by Superman.

"Why are you stopping me?" Galatea asked. "He's a menace. He could have killed you or anyone else with that gun, if you got in her way."

"Who sent you?" Superman asked.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe me if I told you," Galatea said.

Galatea launched herself free from Harry's grip. Only for Harry to nail her with a stinging bolt. The magical attack caused Galatea to back and the second one sent her slamming into a parking deck.

"Sure, you wouldn't want to talk?"

The double responded with a huge burst of super breath and kicked up debris. It also sent Lex's limo flipping over until it smashed into bits in the process.

Lex dropped to his knees, coughing. Otis and Mercy helped him up to his feet.

"Where's the gun? Lex demanded.

He turned just in time to see Superman transform the gun into scrap metal, destroying the Kryptonite in the process.

"You said you had answers," Superman said. "What are they?"

"Inside," Lex said. "Spence knows...it was Spence."

Harry eyed Lex for a moment. He knew more. It was Lex Luthor. Of course he knew more.

Whether or not Harry trusted Lex's information at face value, it was not important right now. What was more important was that Harry needed to track down Amanda Spence.

"Caitlin said that she was transferred to a couple of weeks before I got saved," Harry said. "But….I'm sure if she's still here...we can find her."

A black woman wearing glasses and a lab coat appeared at the elevator. She had a generally unpleasant demeanor, and the moment she caught a glimpse of Superman and Supergirl, she tried to hasten her arrival to the elevator.

"Doctor Spence," Harry said.

"What do you want from me?" Spence asked.

She looked none too pleased to see either of the Kryptonians.

"We want to ask you a few questions," Harry said. "If you don't mind."

Obviously, Spence did mind, but obviously Harry did not care. If she had anything to do with Galatea, Harry and Kara had been determined to find out.

"After you escaped Cadmus, I had been busted down to record keeping," Spence said. "Fairchild jumped the line and took my place in heading up the project. One of my superiors...they thought that I wouldn't be right for the future direction of the project."

One could sense the overwhelming bitterness which entered Spence's voice at this time and place.

"And I got blamed when you got a sense of independence. If it were up to me, you would be exterminated like the roach you were."

"Roach, mmm?" Kara asked.

The same word that Galatea used when referring to the people at Cadmus. Curious and curiouser.

"Roaches have a tendency to survive under the most extreme conditions, Doctor Spence," Harry said. "And adapt to their surroundings."

"Unfortunately," Amanda agreed. "But, I'm glad I never had to work on another clone...we never should have started."

"Cadmus has been cloning again," Kara said. "I've been cloned...Project Galatea."

"If there's another genetic accident, then I'm sorry about it," Spence said coldly. "But, I don't know who told you anything. There's never been a Project Galatea on the books at Cadmus. I should know, I keep the records."

"Luthor said you would know," Kara said.

"Well, there's your problem there," Spence said. "Luthor is lying."

And with that, she stepped into the elevator. Kara and Harry had been blown off by the woman.

"What a bitch," Kara murmured.

"Quite," Harry said. "Come on, let's take another look around."

Either Amanda Spence was lying or Lex Luthor was lying. Harry knew that much for certain. And he had a sense that both parties were hiding something big. Exactly what that was, Harry could not be for certain.

"Here's the deal," Harry said. "They both know more than they're letting on."

"Do you think they could be working together?" Kara asked.

Harry did not know. He wanted to track down Spence's old lab. And he still was not willing to let Lex off of the hook that easily.

"There's someone else down here."

Those words from Kara sprung Harry out of his thoughts. So there were. Harry made his way around the corner and came face to face with Lena Luthor. She had not been too surprised to see him.

"I've been wanting to meet you for some time," Lena said.

"You've been out of a coma for two days though?" Harry inquired.

"And yet, I've known you a lot longer," Lena said with a smile.

"So, why would you want to meet me?" Harry asked.

Lena just gave Harry a smile before letting the bomb drop.

"What kind of mother wouldn't want to meet her son?"

The name on his Cadmus documentation for one of his donors said "L. Luthor. And Harry looked into Lena's green eyes, almost identical to his own.

"Otis, do try and get the satellite feed up. I want to see what's going on inside of Cadmus."

"Yes, Mr. Lew-Thor."

Otis linked up the satellite in a mobile command station just across the street from Cadmus. and they got an image in the hallway. No sound just that, but Lex did get a visual of Supergirl and Superman meeting with Lena in the hallway. Lex had been taken aback.

"I thought she was in a coma?" Otis asked.

"It's a miracle," Lex curtly said.

Lena woke up just in time for the holidays. And just soon enough to potentially ruin Lex's Christmas. Hopefully, Psimon had successfully wiped her mind of what she found out about the Light's plans, before putting her in that coma.

Otherwise, she would ruin everything. Lex's fingers tightened and his fist went white.