Chapter 69

After this revelation, Kara finally had been the one to break the silence between the entire group.

"I was under the impression that Lex was…."

"That's what I wanted everyone to think, Lex included," Lena said. "The swap to my genetic material worked like a charm...no one figured it out...well not right away, not even Harry's minders...although I'm certain they must have gotten some hint that something was not quite as it should have been."

Harry believed Lena one hundred percent of the way just by looking at her. Of course, he did not believe fully that Lex was completely ignorant about everything that happened. Given that Lena spent about six months in a coma, just by some mysterious circumstances.

"I saw you today," Harry told her. "When you were leaving the hospital, in the limo."

"I would have been grateful if you would have came to say hi," Lena said. "But, I suppose it was not the time to figure this out. And Cadmus was not the time either...but Lex had you lured here for a reason."

"And now they've cloned me," Kara said. "But why?"

"Project Galatea, I know," Lena said. "That was shocking as well. Lex has always been obsessed about cloning Kryptonians. Almost to the point where it's scary. His other projects have not gone too well in the past. Although, now that he's got it down to the fine science, if he's gotten a weapon like Galatea. She seems perfectly stable, compared to some of the other models."

Kara just cranked her head back. Calling Galatea stable was just a matter of opinion and one she entirely disagreed completely.

"There's one person in the building who knows that's going on," Harry said. "If anyone does."

Harry turned around the corner, with Lena and Kara following him. They would all hash out this entire thing between Lena and Harry later. Right now, Harry needed to get some answers regarding Galatea. And he knew Spence had to be lying about something.

Lex was not being entirely truthful as well, come to admit it. The truth, existed at some point in the middle.

After reaching the lower level, Harry wondered if he was still here. Kara and Lena curiously followed him to that point of the building.

Harry noticed a very familiar set of horns and an even more familiar set of eyes.

"Dubbilex," Harry said.

"I must say, given your daring escape, I'm surprised to see you back, my brother," Dubbilex said.

"Project Galatea, what do you know about it?" Harry asked.

"I know of no such project," Dubbilex said.

"But, they tried to clone me," Kara said. "Certainly you must know something."

Dubbilex flashed Kara a sympathetic smile in response. That did not ease Kara's thoughts, rather it just made her just a bit more agitated and edgy. She did not like when people hid things from her, on sheer principle. And she thought that there was something wrong.

"I know of no such project," Dubbilex said. "Granted, Cadmus has many secrets and other facilities and I fear that there is something else in the air but do tell me, do you know of him, the other, your brother?"

"Brother?" Harry asked.

"Match, the first clone," Dubbilex said. "It was unfortunately shelved because it was too unstable. It was murderous and killed several of my brothers before Cadmus was able to sedate it."

"Yes, the first clone," Lena agreed. "I found out about Match. That's when I arranged for my DNA to be brought in for the second one, and that's when I arranged for Fairchild to be brought in. It's a tragedy, but Match...should have never reached that stage. Direct mishandling from Cadmus."

Harry had so many questions, but the fact that there was another duplicate in here, in this building cause him to be found.

"That might be the other that Galatea was referring to in one of my dreams," Kara said.

"Match is still here, isn't he?" Harry asked.

A pregnant pause followed and Dubbilex grimly nodded.

"You can find him on Level Seven, in the Reject Vault," Dubbilex said. "But, be warned, he will not be happy to see you."

Harry figured as much. If this vault had other rejected projects, and things that Cadmus did not want them to find, then perhaps it had something about Galatea. Or maybe her origins. The trio made their way down the steps towards the nearest elevator.

"So do you think he was telling the truth?" Kara asked.

"Dubbilex has no reason to deceive us," Lena said. "But, I also have no reason to believe he hasn't been deceived by others."

"Ms...Luthor."

Those words caused Lena to turn about the area of the head and the neck and come face to face with Amanda Spence.

"You're on your way to Level Seven, aren't you?" Spence asked. "I'm afraid I can't allow you go down there."

"Doctor Spence, with all due respect, it's not what you will allow," Lena said firmly. "I'm heading to that vault, whether you like it or not."

Spence realized she did not have any legal to stand on. Lena and her two super powered companions would be enough to get her out of the way.

"Match should have been burned, because of how psychotic he is," Spence said. "But the Board thought he would be an asset. We should have found a way to eliminate them all and we should not have created more. And it should have never been."

Spence pointed to Harry. Lena's eyes narrowed.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Doctor Spence," Lena coldly said. "If you ever refer to Harry as an it one more time, you won't just be buried in the archives."

Before this conversation could go any further, there had been a rumbling and a loud growl.

"Match?" Harry asked.

Spence wordlessly nodded, not trusting herself to say much more. The truth was, she had been terrified for her life. Because if this monster had found it's way loose, it would be troubled.

"Come on!" Harry yelled to Kara.

The two super powered protectors rushed down the corridor. Because obviously, Match would have to be at the very end. And the sounds of combat grew louder the closer they got.

Match landed face first onto the ground with orange heat vision frying his body. Galatea stood behind him with a smile on her face having utter annihilated him in the process.

"If anything, I did you a favor,' Galatea murmured. "There's no need to thank me for performing a service, is there?"

Galatea peered down the hallway to get a glimpse of Amanda Spence. She just grinned and super sped through one of the walls and then landed at the other wall. She grabbed Amanda Spence by the throat.

"Oh, Mandy, you're on my list," Galatea said. "You're about to die. And you know what you did."

"You're a monster!" Spence yelled. "Cadmus never should have played God. We created those monsters, and you are one of the…."

Galatea squeezed Spence's neck. She wanted to feel the little bug's head pop off.

"If you knew what you did in the future," Galatea said. "Well, you would be proud. But, I can fix this!"

A super fast blur ripped Amanda Spence out of Galatea's hand. Galatea turned around to come face to face with Superman. Needless to say, she had been entirely frustrated by the entire ordeal.

"Again? She's a monster who would have terminated you if she got the chance."

"Some might call you a monster!"

This was the cue for Supergirl to come down and kick Galatea right through another wall. The Girl of Steel came across her doppleganger.

"Good, I've been wanting to finish you off," Galatea said. "And so this entire trip to Cadmus is not just one big waste…."

Galatea and Supergirl heat beamed each other with heat vision. Their beams locked onto each other, evenly matched. Sweat had been rolling down their face when they tried to fight each other.

Never had more fierce determination pounded through Kara's body. The drums of war assaulted her body. The Girl of Steel pushed as far and as hard as she could out of this position and smashed her way through the heat vision which rippled through her body. Galatea knocked Supergirl back a couple of steps with multiple punches.

"You think you're a real good protector, don't you?"

Galatea grabbed Supergirl by the cape and smashed her hard into the nearest wall. Kara knew what a bug on a windshield felt. Galatea pulled her back and smashed Supergirl all over the hallway of Cadmus.

"But, you're a scared little child, trying to find your place in the world," Galatea said.

"And you just have it together," Supergirl gasped.

"I'm fully aware of my place," Galatea said. "I'm the savor that this world needs."

"Great, a clone with a god complex," Supergirl said. "Perfect!"

Supergirl broke free and flipped high into the air over Galatea's head. She stuck the landing and sent a super fast breath towards her. The two women caused the hallways of Cadmus to be ripped up. Galatea slowed down her opponent and grabbed her by the cape one more time.

Several rapid fire punches followed with Galatea pushing Supergirl through the nearest window. Glass showered the two Kryptonians the very second they crashed down onto the ground. The wind had been knocked down on both of them.

Galatea reared back and soccer kicked Kara once in the ribs and then once in the head.

"That's enough."

For a briefly second, while still dragging Kara around by the cape, she turned to Harry. A smile spread over Kara's face.

"Stop," Harry told her. "Whatever Cadmus has done to you…."

"Why should I stop?" Galatea asked. "And you think Cadmus is pulling my strings? Because, in case you didn't notice I'm trying to bring it down."

"Deep down you're just like Kara," Harry said. "A…."

"Only a small part of my makeup is that silly child," Galatea said. "In my blood rests the prowess of two of Kryptonians greatest military leaders. And they did what it took to complete the mission. And I will complete the mission."

Galatea threw Supergirl down at the feet of Harry. A few seconds passed as he refused to budge.

"Get in my way, and you're the enemy."

Harry refused to listen, so Galatea blasted him into the wall. Another heat vision blast connected before Superman blocked it with his hands.

"I tried to do everything easy way," Harry said. "Now, that I'm going to do things the hardway"

"You have no idea what the hard way is," Galatea said. "Not yet anyway...but you'll learn."

Galatea snapped her finger and the impact send Harry flying halfway across the hallway. She walked past the downed, bruised, and battered form of Supergirl. And then walked up to Dubbilex who stood in front of her.

"Get out of the way," Galatea said.

"You should stop," Dubbilex said. "I know what you're doing."

"I'm shutting down Cadmus,' Galatea said.

"You will destroy the G-Gnomes on the lower level."

"I'm sorry," Galatea said. "But, Luthor was going to use you for his own ends once he discovered your colony."

She picked up Dubbilex and hurled him off to the side. Galatea returned to her mission, going to the power core on the lowest level. She knew precisely where she needed to be and what exactly to do to make Cadmus more than a distant memory.

"Good bye," Galatea said. "And good riddance."

She inserted a cable into the very unstable power core and the pulse of energy created a chain reaction which resulted in the building exploding all around them.

The lower levels of Cadmus began to cave in. Spence tried to free along with the rest of them. A flying rock hit her in the back of the head and one of the large support beams fell down, crushing her.

"Supergirl!" Superman shouted.

Despite feeling like she got the crap kicked out of her, Kara pulled herself a standing position.

"We need to prevent the entire building from coming down," Harry said.

"What about Galatea?"

"Civilians first!" Harry shouted.

Kara nodded. She heard Dubbilex talk about the G-Gnomes on the other level. They had to prevent the entire structure from collapsing down onto them.

Out of the corner of Harry's eye, he spied Galatea leaving the building, going into the air like a supernova. Of course, they had other problems.

Kara held up the support structures to prevent it from collapsing. Harry zipped around, welding them together. He could see Dubbilex disappear into the catacombs underneath the building. The rocks almost slid into place. Harry cleared a path all the way down to the city.

Lena rushed her way down the hallway once Harry and Kara had stabilized it. They were out of the woods, although anyone caught in the falling damage would have a hell of a time.

"You okay?" Lena asked.

"I could ask the same about you," Harry told her.

"I'm fine," Lena said. "She got away."

"I know," Harry said.

And left more questions than there were answers after this little encounter. Harry figured as much, although he did not like that. They moved down the hallway to see Spence's body laid out underneath a steel beam. The shallow breathing in her body indicted that she was alive, but only thus.

A quick scan indicated that her vertebrae had been severely damaged. Not exactly the most pleasant of injuries to deal with, especially when Harry realized she had been paralyzed from the waist down.

No matter how awful of a person Spence was, one could not she suffered a terrible fate.

"Thankfully the shields protected them," Duibblex said.

Harry saw that there were a minimum of casualties, other than Spence's horrific injuries. Galatea had almost destroyed Cadmus, and Harry very much doubted she would stop at it.

What was her prime motivation though? And more importantly who was giving her marching orders? Harry had been left with more questions and without a sufficient of answers, he would be going around in circles for quite some time.

Honestly, it had been not too surprising that Lex had been waiting for them outside of Cadmus the moment they came up. Lena put herself between Harry and Lex very casually and very calmly and looked over her brother.

"You saved Cadmus," Lex said.

"It's funny how these things work out," Lena said. "Galatea tried to blow up Cadmus while I'm inside, and it's funny how she didn't kill you when you had the chance."

"Really now, Lena," Lex said. "Are these accusations what we need on Thanksgiving? I know despite our...friction over the past couple of years, we are family."

Lena just frowned in response and locked her eyes onto Lex.

"Thanksgiving for the Luthors just means you don't take your eyes off of the person carving the turkey," Lena said. "Because, you don't want to have the knife on your back by the end of the evening."

"Yes, well, I'm sorry you feel that way," Lex said. "I would keep an eye on her. Maternal instincts would not cancel out the fact that she would use you in anyway possible. She's a Luthor after all, don't forget it."

Nothing happened for the next couple of minutes other than Harry's very strong stare directed at Lex.

"I keep my eyes wide open, and believe what I see with them," Harry said. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Lex answered with a nod and turned around. He took great care to put Otis and Mercy between him and Lena. Because if there was one thing that Lex Luthor was, he was not a fool.

"So, you think he was behind Galatea?" Kara asked.

"I think he knows far more than he's letting on about her," Lena said. "It's Lex. He always has an agenda...and you are smart to make your own decisions to trust me. And I hope that I can earn that trust and be a part of your life."

Harry pieced together his thoughts. Today had been an interesting day as far as revelations had been concerned. And yet there were just so many more revelations. They still did not know what to make of Galatea and her mysterious presence. And that was the most unsettling thing.

"We better go…."

"Thanksgiving at the Kent Farm, I wouldn't want you to miss that," Lena said. "Sorry to say that I won't be enjoying it...I don't think Claire would want me there."

"Things were a bit awkward between her and me for a while," Harry admitted. "But, I'm sure she won't say anything…"

"Trust me, it's better off if I'm not there, I wouldn't want to ruin the holidays," Lena said. "Given that she still blames me for what happened with Chloe."

Harry raised an eyebrow. Who the hell was Chloe? Harry thought he knew all of his mother's friends.

"Have a good one, and it was nice meeting you," Lena said. "And I hope next time you see me in public, you'll stop to say hi."

"I will."

Lena moved in to shake Harry's hand. Harry pulled her into a hug and a spark ignited between the two of them.

"Very brave hugging a Luthor," Lena said. "Aren't you worried about the knife in your neck?"

"Some things are worth the risk," Harry said. "See you around."

Lena just smiled and it never dawned on her how handsome her son looked until now. Although you really had to be blind. Given the rumors of all of the women he had been tied to, Lena did wonder. She did wonder indeed.

Back at Starrwave, Kara peered out the window and looked out into Metropolis. Her blue eyes blazed with intensity when looking at into there.

"You're out there somewhere," Kara said.

"I really thought that I could get through with her," Harry said. "But something happened to her…."

"I know," Kara said. "I know...she's...she's lost it. Although I wonder what caused her to lose it."

She was not of Cadmus origin and Kara had been only a small part of her genetic makeup. That had been extremely curious to say the very least.

"I want to know the truth about her," Kara said. "But, I'm not sure if I could take the nightmares, at least not anymore. As useful as they were."

Harry tightened his grip around Kara's waist. The two of them sat in calm silence. The winds blew out and rattled windchimes nearby. He put a finger on Kara's hair and absentmindedly twirled it.

"And there's also your other mother," Kara said. "Aren't you glad it wasn't Lex?"

"Well, Lex being a mother would raise so many questions," Harry said with a slight smile.

"Well, people have called him a mother, just another word was behind mother," Kara said.

Harry laughed and pulled Kara in close. Today had been an interesting day to say the least. Although things had not been that well between Claire and Lena, and Harry really did wish to know the full reason why. Something happened, and Lena let a name slip.

He could ask someone, but Harry doubted that Claire would give any straight answers if whatever happened to this Chloe woman was so traumatic to her. The moment that Harry was more comfortable with Lena, he would have to ask her about it.

"We are due at the Kent Farm soon," Harry said. "We won't want to miss it."

"Yeah, we won't," Kara said.

It took them only a minute to get changed and to get ready for their trip to Smallville.

Karen met them halfway. Kara, Harry, and Karen arrived at the Kent Farm. Harry knocked on the door and Lana answered it with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Harry, it's good to see you," Lana said.

"Good to see you as well," Harry said. "My first Thanksgiving."

"And you're in for a treat," Lana said. "Martha's been going all out this year. She's really outdone yourself….I hope you've left plenty of room for seconds...and thirds...and fourths...and…."

"Oh, Lana dear, I didn't really good that much," Martha said.

"Ma, you always make more than enough to feed an army."

Claire came up around the door, along with Lois, who just smiled.

"Lois, glad you can make it," Martha said.

"Oh, nothing less than an alien invasion would keep me from being here," Lois said. "It smells great."

"Yeah, Lois, but you really don't want to tempt Murphy," Karen said. "I mean, he's always listening, isn't he?"

Lois just flashed one of those smiles directly at Karen and made her way towards the table to prepare to take her place. Claire moved over to help out and Harry did. And both had been shut down by Martha.

"You two take a seat, I'll have everything ready in a minute," Martha said.

"And denied," Claire said.

"Have you ever been successful?" Harry asked.

"No," Lana said. "But, she keeps trying, bless her heart, the little girl scout."

Kara took a seat right next to Harry which caused Lana to take the seat right across the table from him. Lois sat on Claire's otherside.

"So, how's your break been?" Claire asked. "I've just got back from a League mission."

Harry smiled, so she had no idea what had been going on today at Cadmus. He figured that Harry would have to give her the heads up.

"It's been busy," Harry said. "Something happened today...but I'm going to have to wait to tell you until after dessert."

Claire frowned. She could tell Harry did have something important to tell her, but pressing the issue right about now would not be a good thing. Martha brought out the Turkey and as always, she had outdone herself.

"So, does anyone want to say what you're thankful for?" Martha asked.

"For family, and friendship, and the fact we're all here together," Harry said.

Claire hung her head at the table. While they added Harry and Kara to the table this year, there had been several regulars missing. Jonathan Kent passed away within the last year. From a heart attack, and Claire could not get him to the hospital quick enough to rescue him.

Chloe...and Claire pulled herself away from that, with a very bitter thought. She should have been able to do something to save Chloe. It was all Claire's fault. She never should have let Chloe go to that island.

And Lena, who was still currently in a coma. And Claire could not bring herself to even visit Lena because the last time they spoke before Claire died, they got into an argument about what happened to Chloe. And then by the time Claire came back, Lena was unconscious.

And technically, Claire died in the year since last Thanksgiving as well.

"I'm very thankful for what we still have," Claire managed although she sounded a bit off.

Lana and Lois exchanged an equally pained look and Karen just sighed.

"I'm sure we're all thankful for a lot, and most importantly, Martha's hard work in bringing this meal to us," Karen said. "And those who we lost are still watching over us."

The seven distorted images of the Light members appeared on the screen. Galatea dropped through the opening in the ceiling.

"Show your faces," Galatea said. "I know who each of you are."

"As you wish," the voice of Vandal Savage said.

Vandal Savage, Klarion, Ra's al Ghul, the Brain, Queen Bee, Ocean Master, and Lex Luthor appeared before them. Lex locked his gaze on Galatea.

"You almost made an assassination attempt look too convincing, my dear," Lex said.

Galatea just smiled. Her patience had been wearing thin with baldie over there.

"I've done your job in cleaning up your mess at Cadmus," Galatea said. "But, I think that you might be taking advantage of me. And I can make things look even more real."

Galatea's eyes flashed with green fire.

"Fatally real," Galatea said.

"There's no need to be angered child," Ra's said. "Once we have secured our position in the world, we can help you."

"You say there is some dangerous fate which befalls Earth," Vandal Savage said. "But, I can assure you we've made plans for every contingency."

"Not this one," Galatea told them. "The Light may be some of the most feared and dangerous powerbrokers in the world, but you've met your match. You didn't see it coming. From where I came from, you are merely a footnote in history. Forgotten in your hubris and your arrogance."

"Tell us what we've done wrong, then," Savage said.

"You haven't earned that information," Galatea said.

Galatea hated everything the Light stood before, but she was more willing to use them as a means to an end. It was as her creator taught her, use the small fish to catch the big ones.

"What can we do to earn your trust?" Lex asked. "Providing that you are really from where you say you are."

Galatea smiled. She really hoped that Spence's unfortunate accident would stop her role in what was to come. She was the spark that ignited the bang which woke up the Worldkillers. They must not rise. For Earth would be doomed if they would.

Her creator decreed they must be stopped. Even though currently, he had not lost the idealism and the faith he had in people. No, he had not come to the conclusion just yet to save this world, he did not need to protect it. Rather, he needed to squash all of the roaches underneath his foot and conquer them.

And Galatea faced two of history's biggest roaches in Vandal Savage and Ra's al Ghul. They would need to be exterminated.

Because, they were part assisting the Reach weakening Earth's defenses, to leave them vulnerable to the Kree and then the Worldkillers. And then, eventually, darkness beyond all comprehension with those who survived being forced to scavenge on the floating remains of Earth.

Galatea would stop it. No matter what the cost. That was the mission that she trained for, hundreds of years in the future in the future. The fact she still was here indicated she did not stop it.

But, that would change. Galatea would find a way.