Life In Smallville & Metropolis {8}

Chapter 12: Bulletproof

Lana walks into the Luthor Mansion and sees Tess training and hear her trainer say, "And what is true victory?" Lana makes her appearance and says, "Victory over oneself. First principle of aikido." Tess says, "That'll be all, Terrence." Terrence walks out the room and Tess says, "The enigmatic Lana Lang... in the flesh. To what do I owe this honor?" Lana says, "I wanted to thank you. There's been a startling lack of coverage on my return in the Daily Planet." Tess says, "I tend to keep my reporters on a short leash. Hmm. Most of the time. You have just as much presence... as Lex said you did. You'd have to... to tame a Luthor." Lana nods and says, "High marks... coming from the woman entrusted with the Luthor Legacy. He must have had a lot of faith in you." Tess says, "I wasn't easy to earn." Lana says, "I wonder how much of that trust would remain if he knew how much of his company's money you were siphoning into a project called Prometheus. Unless of course there's still someone higher than you calling the shots. Lex is alive. And you know, where his is, don't you?" Tess shakes her head at Lana and walks away saying, "Seems that you've been wasting a very gifted imagination, Ms. Lang. The Planet runs a fiction section on Sundays if you're interested." Lana walks towards Tess and says, "I used to see that look in the mirror.  You'll do anything to defend Lex... to protect him. He has a way of turning that kind of devotion against you." Tess says, "Well, you don't know Lex like I do." Lana says, "For your sake, I hope you're right." Lana then walks out the room smiling in triumph. Later, Lana's at the Isis Foundation and places the flash drive that she downloaded from Tess's computer and hooks it up with hers. Lana's speaking through her Bluetooth and says, "I'm uploading the files through Wi-Fi from Tess's drives. Transmitting data to you now. Unknown?" Later, Lana walks into her office and sees Tess and she says, "I guess I'm not as good a judge of character as I thought. It seems that you stole some... sensitive information from me. And I thought we were bonding." Lana says, "Rain check on girls' night?" Tess says, "You know, it's nice to finally see what Lex saw in you. You're stunning... and devious." Lana says, "What Lex saw in me... was an equal. Someone that he couldn't control." Tess says, "Really? I guess I shouldn't send my condolences about the miscarriage then, huh?" Lana says, "It gave me the perspective I needed to see Lex for who he really is." As Lana goes to walks away, Tess points a gun at her and says, "I know he thought that was the only way to keep you. But he always loved you. When you stole the data, you corrupted our files and we've lost everything. Prometheus is the one chance Lex has at survival. And I won't let you jeopardize that." Lana grabs the gun and it goes off, she pushes Tess into the glass door and they wrestle for the gun. The gun is dropped and they start fighting each other. Lana then grabs the gun off the ground and points it at Tess. Lana shows Tess her secret office and says, "Were you this devoted before or after your accident?" Tess says, "Someone's been doing her homework. I don't know what you want from me." Lana says, "Two years ago, your survery team was in South America... collecting disease samples for LuthorCorp... when an explosion destroyed your camp. And you were left for dead." Tess says, "Lex saved my life. I owe him everything." Lana says, "This is how a Luthor rewards that kind of loyalty." Lana then starts typing on her computer and Tess says, "What are you doing?" Lana says, "I'm opening your eyes." Lana nods her head behind Tess and Tess turns around to see monitors looking through another monitor and so on. Lana continues to say, "There's a Nano-Transmitter hardwired to your optic nerve. You've been Lex's eyes and ears for quite some time. He's watching us right now. Lex might have saved you... but he never trusted you, Tess. I'm sorry."