Chapter 5 – Alexander Kent

Diana and Kara are back in the fight, which is good.

The bad thing is that they are far from fresh, and Doomsday is basically the definition of overkill. Even if Clark can handle Zod, it might all be for nothing if they cannot stop Doomsday.

He keeps coming, even after the Army, and the League basically threw everything but the kitchen sink against it, throwing Diana into a wall. Wonder Woman's arm looks to be broken still, which shouldn't be possible given her powers from the Gods.

"It's going to be alright, Alexander," Isane says, not taking her eyes of the screen.

My sister is a little weird like that. One of the qualities that I admire about her is that even with the possibility of the world ending, she doesn't flinch. Even when the Yakuza were about to rape and kill her she never gave them the pleasure of seeing her beg.

It is courage, it is character, something that I have been missing for too long.

I am lucky to still have them.

Isane is the strong one.

Clark is the brave one.

Mom is the moral compass for all of us.

I hate feeling this helpless. I want to protect them, even if my soul be damned to hell, and I can't do anything right now.

Metropolis, 10 years ago

They had grabbed her. That son-of-a-bitch had sold her out and now my enemies had her and fully intended to make me suffer.

My father would pay when this was over.

They would not have my sister.

"They are at Metropolis air field right now," I pointed to the dot moving across the large holographic display. "Clark, hurry up and get there."

"Right," the cold voice of my brother sounded through the open communications channel "I should get there in five minutes."

They had a big head start. He would be cutting it close, even at his top speed.

Martha was standing next to me, her legs finally repaired after two years. Physical therapy was going to be extensive and she would probably need the help of the exo-skeleton for years to come but at least we were moving in the right direction.

She was worried. Not just because her daughter had been taken.

"Be careful, son," she said simply.

"I will mom," Clark's voice was off. Ever since dad died it sounded hollow. The joy was fake, but the rage was real. He needed a clear head to do this.

I ran my hand across my throat and the tech instantly muted the line.

"This isn't going to go well, mom," I said simply.

She nodded. There were tears forming in her eyes. She had seen it too; Clark's change over the last two years. He was much more willing to use deadly force than he had been before. They had only gotten lucky that he hadn't killed someone.

"I know," she said simply. "We have to hope though. Clark won't fail Isane."

"But he can fail himself," I said softly. "I have other teams on the way, but none of them will get there in time."

I looked towards one of the communications people. "Plot every plane leaving Metropolis now. I want every plane tracked, and teams moving to intercept them wherever they might land. Watch their paths too, if anything out of the ordinary happens I want to know."

It's a sad statement that the old me would have considered this too much of an expense.

"Clark, it looks like they're trying to move," I said as the plane began to taxi towards a runway.

"I am just about there," Clark replied. Even with the special cameras his movements against the world appeared as a blur.

"Son of a bitch," Clark called out. They had left friends.

A row of five of them stood near the car that they had been tracking. As one they opened fire with automatic rifles. With the feed from Clark's camera, we could see bullets slamming into him and dropping to the ground.

With the shards removed his abilities had gone through the roof. He grabbed the first man as the bullets bounced off his chest and lifted him off the ground and slammed him hard into the concrete. The others continued to fire, one had their gun jam. Clark grabbed it and broke it in half. He crushed the man's hand around the handle too and then slammed his right hand into his sternum. He flew into the other one.

"You fuckers really should have learned your place," Clark groweled. He grabbed on of the others and nailed him in the head with his own. The man cried out in pain as he fell back.

The last threw his gun to the ground and ran. It was too late. Clark grabbed him by the shoulder and jabbed his knee into his back. There was a chance he would never walk again.

"Clark, hurry, they are set to start moving." I didn't need to see his face to know that he was angry. I have never seen him as brutal as I just had.

"Got it," he grunted. He threw the guy whose back he just broke away and headed towards the plane.

For some reason those fools had left the door open, not that a closed door would have saved them. Clark leapt onto the plane, which was an old military cargo carrier, and ran up the still open door.

The plane finished take off and I lost visual on that particular camera. All we had left was Clark's own camera.

"Move one more step Kent," one of the kidnappers said. "Your sister will get a bullet to the head."

The image shifted and a woman held a large handgun at Isane's temple.

"Even you can't think you can save her at this range," one of the man sneered.

I heard Clark growl.

I can feel a sudden chill go through my bones. My brother isn't thinking right. He is mad. He grabbed the first and attacked. Isane was thrown roughly to the deck and he moved through her kidnappers.

I watched one of them follow Isane. Damnit!

My brother throws something at the woman. She is nailed in the head, falling back, her gun firing randomly.

"This isn't him," Martha whispered.

"I know," I said, wondering how we could get him out of this. He was not the dark one. He was not the one that was supposed to be like this.

"CLARK!" Isane cried out.

He spun around to see her being held by one of her kidnappers, the door open once more.

"This is what you get, Kent," he roared. With a heave he sent Isane tumbling down the door.

I can feel the horror in my brother's reaction. He grabbed the man and threw him through the cockpit. He didn't think twice, it was hard to watch as my brother launched himself from a plane purposely. What did he think? Did he think he could fly?

"CLARK!," Martha screamed out.

"I won't fail," Clark's whisper was barely discernable through the interference of the wind.

"I won't fail you," Clark shouted. The next thing I know she is in his arms. How had he caught up?

"Not again," he roared. And with that the world came to a sudden halt.

"Lex, is there anything."

"It's done," his aide called out. They all loved Isane, so it should not have surprised me when two missles slammed into the carrier.

No one gets away with taking my family.

"I am headed home, Lex. I have her."

"We almost lost her brother," I said.

A sob was all that came through the channel. I am not sure if it's Isane's or his.

Metropolis, Present

"Supergirl is back in the fight," Isane commented off hand as we watched the battle unfold. Supergirl had been hurt again by Doomsday but she had somehow gotten back up and was helping Diana. A few of the other League members looked to be stirring. Hopefully, there was some fight left in them.

Clark was holding his own again Zod, but I can tell that the General's title was not just an honorific. His fighting style is much more refined than Clark's, who had studied with some of the greatest the world had ever seen. The General was able to break his guard and land a few blows, but it was nothing that would really slow Clark down. Yet.

"The rest of the League is still out of it," Isane pointed towards Wonder Woman. "Martian Manhunter looks to be getting up, and Batman is stirring, but he is going to have a concussion."

I nod.

"Doomsday did a good job of breaking it," I said darkly. I want to be there with him, fighting by his side, but I know I would only get in the way.

"You know, Lois is going to demand you allow her to write the story big brother," Isane said with a slight smile. She liked Lois, she was good for Lex. "She's kept it this entire time."

"The Unseen Man is now stepping into the light," I shrug. "I am not going to be able to stop her even if I wanted to. Brother has not gotten enough credit for what he has done."

Isane smiled at me. "You really have become a remarkable man, brother."

It warms my heart to hear her call me that.

Metropolis, 10 years ago

Clark was kneeling against the ground. The rain that the weatherman had promised was there, beating against his back as he cried.

I know it is the moment. He finally realized just how close he was.

"Dad taught us better than that," he whispered to me. "I should have been better."

I am not going to admonish him. He will do that to himself.

"I didn't think," he said a bit louder. "All I felt…"

"Was anger," I finished for him. "I know, Clark."

He looked up at me. It was dark and raining, so there was no clue that he was crying. I know my brother though.

"We almost lost her."

"You found out how to fly," I countered with a slight smile.

He snorted. "To save my sister..."

"Even if it wasn't the best of circumstances, it proves that you will always do everything that you can to save people," I said and a thought ran through my head. "Even if you have to pull powers out of your ass in order to get it done."

He snorted.

"Brother, at the end of the day, the only thing you can do is try and figure out how to save the people that you can," I knelt down next to him and extended my hand. "You needed to think, you needed to be smarter, but you acted on emotion. That tells me that you love Isane unconditionally. It also tells me that the reason you have been so angry for the last few years is you feel like you failed dad. You didn't. You did what he taught us."

"Love unconditionally and protect with out reservation," Clark took my hand and I helped him up.

"You know this means I get to poke and prod with needles right?" I laughed at the look on his face.

It took years for me to figure out how to make a needle that would pierce his now denser skin. Even though he healed incredibly fast and his own nervous system deadened any pain he hated getting poked.

"We do have to figure out how you can fly." I laughed at the look on his face.

Metropolis, Now

"Lois is about to call you," Isane said with an off hand expression. She had not taken her eyes from the fight. I know that she is nervous.

I am startled a moment later when my cell phone rings. I pull it from my pocket and look at Lois's image.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Isane still manages to creep me out. It took long enough to help her through the nightmares that had haunted her as a child, only for them to be replaced by the odd premonition that comes out of the blue.

I answer.

"Yes," I say with a slight smile. "The promise is still in effect. We will make sure that it is front page tomorrow."

I pause for a moment. I watch Doomsday grab my brother and slam him through a building.

"He'll be fine," I assure a freaking out Lois.

"I know because he is my brother," I say simply. "He will not fail."