Chapter Seven:
Swan

It was her.

Even if her eyes appeared colder whilst wearing a cruel sneer that marred her lovely features and her clothes were undoubtedly alien, to say nothing about the wings attached to her back, there was no doubt in Clark Kent’s mind who he was looking at. This was Valerie. Valerie Beaudry.

As the name surfaced in his mind, it brought with it the memories of that day outside Metropolis when he and Bruce had finally confronted the mysterious entities from the DeSaad Corporation. Until then, they hadn’t really grasped the full measure of the enemy they were facing. Clark had thought that DeSaad was just another greedy corporation attempting to further their own profit margin by dabbling in illegal genetics. It wasn’t the first time he had encountered the like.

Lex Luthor and his Section 33.1 had a similar agenda.

However, Bruce’s capture by DeSaad facilitated the opportunity for Gotham’s future dark knight to investigate the company first hand and he had discovered DeSaad was a front for alien intelligence with designs on a Kryptonian. It made perfects sense in retrospect. During that period, Clark had been at his most vulnerable. It was his first introduction to blue kryptonite which he learned was capable of stripping him of all his powers.

Clark had been fully prepared to live the life of a normal human; with Bruce teaching him how to defend himself without powers just to survive. Both he and Bruce had almost died during that business and it was sobering to remember that it was neither of them that brought DeSaad to its knees but rather Valerie Beaudry’s sacrifice. Valerie had surrendered herself to DeSaad in an effort to save her friends and when that was not enough, had used her powerful siren scream to level DeSaad’s complex to the ground.

Yet despite all that, Clark and Bruce had failed to save her.

The last time they’d seen Valerie, the alien calling himself Michael Canto had snatched Valerie and forced her into a portal leading back to his own world. There had been no time to stop, no time to reach her before they both gone. Once she had disappeared through the portal, Valerie was beyond them.

It had haunted both of them, that they’d been unable to save her. More so because they had no idea awaited her in that alien world.

Now they knew.

"Valerie," Clark used her name, hoping that it might jog her memory, remind her that they had once been friends and perhaps convince her to release Laura. The little girl was squirming in Valerie’s grip, suspended the air much to the terror of both parents.

“Starbuck, it will be okay,” Lex spoke to his daughter. He had grabbed Lashina’s whip and had it garrotted around the woman’s throat, tightening it hard enough for her to fight for breath. “Do something!” He hissed at Clark.

Clark frowned, wondering what Lex thought he was doing. In the corner of his eyes, he saw that Mad Harriet was still unconscious and he turned back to Valerie, hoping that he did not have to fight her. He hoped she could see reason because he did not know if he could attack the woman without her harming Laura or for that matter, Lex and Lana. Clark had seen firsthand what that sonic scream could do and if she unleashed it in these close confines, Lex and Lana would be as good as dead.

“Valerie,” Clark repeated himself, “Valerie Beaudry.”

The Swan blinked in confusion. The name, the name sounded familiar. Uncertainty took the place of cruelty and her grip on the child slackened a little. Why did it sound so familiar?

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Lashina demanded, forcing the words out through her constricted throat. “Kill him!”

“Shut up!” Lex snapped, slamming her skull against the floor. It made an ugly crack and Lashina went slack in his grip.

While he abhorred the method, Clark was grateful for the silence. He needed to reach out to Valerie without her companions sabotaging his efforts.

"Valerie, don't do this," Clark implored again. "Don't hurt her. She's a little girl, innocent and helpless like you once were!"

The Swan stared at the Kryptonian, speaking to her as if they were old friends not the enemy. She recognised the symbol that he wore, the Kryptonian shield that was his family’s crest. She knew all this because the data had been made available before she came to Earth. However, as she looked at him now, there was something else, the memory that beneath the costume, there was something else, something that seemed so familiar and yet maddeningly beyond her grasp. Valerie. He called her Valerie.

Valerie....it floated about in front of her, defying her to remember.

Clark saw her grip on Laura loosening further and made a quick decision. He had unbalanced her and the opening that presented itself would not remain for long. Aware of just how much damage she was capable of wreaking, Clark knew his options were limited. The priority here had to be Laura and her parents.

Speeding forward, Clark snatched Laura out of her hand and in a blink of an eye had circled back to grab Lex and Lana as well. If Valerie unleashed her powers, they would not survive it.

The loss of the child in her arms snapped ended the Swan’s momentary lapse. By the time she was aware of what had happened, the Kryptonian had ferried the family out of the house

“NO!” She screamed in outrage and immediately flapped her wings to propel her forward in pursuit. However his speed was too much for her and she saw him moving across the sky in dark silhouette, quickly disappearing into the distance. Fury bubbled up inside her and she let out her deadly scream.

It escaped her like a sonic A-bomb, flattening the cornstalks in the field, sending machinery flying through the air, snapping power poles like dominos falling. Kansas was accustomed to its twisters and this was no less savage as it moved across the landscape, destroying everything in its path until exhausted.

Despite his speed, Clark caught the end edge of the sonic wave. It flung him forward like a leaf caught in a hurricane. With one arm wrapped around both Lana and her daughter, Clark’s other arm kept Lex pinned against him. It was neither comfortable nor dignified but when they were hit by the sonic blast, it was all Clark could do to maintain his grip of them. The roar of wind competed with Laura’s high pitch scream of terror, along with Lana’s calls to her child, filled his ears. He could hear Lex’s anger as he tried to reach his wife and his frustration when he couldn't.

It took Clarks a few seconds to regain control of his flight before he was able to whisk them all to the Smallville Medical Centre. Descending in the middle of the parking lot, his arrival even at this time of night, generated excitement. Clark had hoped to not be too disruptive but supposed that had been a futile hope when he saw the few staff and patients outside, catching a smoke, crying out ‘Hey its Superman!’ to anyone who hadn’t yet seen him. An ambulance came to a screeching halt when the paramedic driving caught sight of Superman and the three people with him.

So much for a discreet arrival, Clark sighed.

Laura noticed none of this when Clark finally let her go. Already terrified by what had happened tonight, the little girl’s first action upon touching the ground was to squeal for her mother.

“Mommy!” She wailed and threw her arms around Lana, who hissed in pain at the pressure against her still raw wound.

Pain was the last thing on Lana’s mind as she bundled her daughter up in her arms and hugged her tight, grateful that Laura had been unhurt by their intruders. Tears of gratitude ran down her cheeks as Laura whimpered in her embrace. Glancing up as she held Laura, Lana’s gaze met Clark’s long enough to give him silent thanks for coming to her family’s rescue. Even after all these years, Clark Kent was still coming to save her. She’d always love for him that.

Clark nodded at her with a little smile before he withdrew slightly when Lex came forward; dropping to his knees as he wrapped his arms around Lana and kissed his daughter’s forehead. To him, Superman was a stranger and a possible threat but his animosity towards the man of steel evaporated for the moment. Right now, he was grateful for his family.

“Thank you,” Lex said with genuine emotion.

"Do you know what they wanted?" Clark asked, suspecting he probably wouldn't get a straight answer out of Lex but needed to understand why Valerie and her companions had come after the Luthors. As far as he knew, DeSaad had been interested in mutated DNA. Lex’s amoral proclivities aside, there should have been nothing about him that warranted the interest.

Hiding his reaction to the question, Lex thought quickly, as he was not about to give Superman the truth under any circumstances. When he had concocted an answer, he replied coolly, “they wanted the whereabouts of an experimental stealth fighter plane that LexCorp had crashed during a test flight tonight. I didn’t get a chance to answer before they attacked Lana."

"It's true," Lana added, her voice hoarse and exhausted but supporting her husband in his life nonetheless. She had promised to keep Clark’s secret safe but that did not mean betraying Lex either. In all other matters, her allegiance was with her husband. "They wanted to know where the plane was."

The plane, being the ship, Clark concluded even if Lana was backing Lex’s lie. He didn’t blame her of course. He knew where he’d stood with Lana where Lex was concerned years ago. In any case, he had the answers he needed.

“I wouldn't go back to the mansion if I were you," he advised Lex for better or worse. “The woman who grabbed Laura, I’ve encountered her before and she’s extremely dangerous. I'd find someplace to hold out for a while and I'll see what I can do to send them back where they came from.”

"You said her name was Valerie," Lex reminded. "She's human?"

It was telling that Lex already knew they were aliens, however Clark was not about to debate the point.

“Once but I’m not sure anymore,” he admitted sadly.

Before Lex had a chance to ask another question, Clark stepped away from the family and took the air, leaving them to their own devices while he went to deal with Valerie.

*******

Along with Mad Harriet, Lashina had regained consciousness by the time the Swan returned to Luthor home after losing the Kryptonian and the family. She expected Lashina to be less than happy that her lapse had allowed the Kryptonian to gain the upper hand and braced herself for the verbal abuse that would be following.

"What in Darkseid's hell were you doing?" Lashina demanded tugging her own Lashina from her throat, cursing inwardly at how much of a mess their mission had become.

The Swan's usual confidence was shaken in the aftermath of the encounter and she rubbed her brow as if she could pull the answers out of her brain if she kneaded thoroughly enough. “I don't know," she started to explain somewhat feebly. “I think he knew me..."

Lashina knew enough about the Swan to be aware of her human origins. It was probably why she'd been assigned this mission. She was the first of Darkseid's Furies to come from this wretched planet and since her recruitment, proved herself to be one of the most powerful in the elite group. Granny's training should have purged all memory of her past life from her mind but no mindwipe was ever complete or full proof.

It was just plain bad luck that the Swan's first encounter on this mud ball would be with the one person who knew her in that other life.

"The pretty little swan with the broken little head..." Mad Harriet giggled; reciting those words as she bounced on the Luthor bed like it was a trampoline. The springs creaked as she jumped against it, laughing like a giddy child in her sing song voice. "The pretty little swan with the broken little head..."

"Shut up!" Lashina barked at the woman, her patience fast reaching its limits but naturally Harriet wouldn't stop when she knew she was striking a nerve.

Taking out her frustration on the Swan, Lashina struck the human hard across the face to get her attention. The sharp slap was enough to make Mad Harriet stop short, staring at the two of them with her mouth agape. "Pull yourself together; we have a job to do!" Lashina snapped.

The blow had the desired effect and the Swan reacted with lightning fast reflexes, grabbing Lashina by the neck and slamming her against the bedpost, until the wood creaked and split beneath the against her body.

"Don't...do...that...again," the Swan warned icily, her face inches from Lashina.

"Then do your job Swan." Lashina returned unflustered by the action. "We need to find that ship."

******

As he flew back to the Luthor Mansion, Clark wondered if he ought to go after Valerie again. However, he only had to see destruction caused by her sonic scream to know that she was too dangerous to be allowed free reign of the Earth. Besides, there was no telling how much damage she and her companions were willing to cause to get the ship. Cornfields filled with destroyed crops, machinery lead the way back to the Luthor Estate. Live wires danced across dark streets from broken power and telephone lines. He imagined that half of Lowell County probably didn't have power.

Clark remembered just powerful Valerie had been the day she destroyed the DeSaad facility but then her power had been fuelled by rage. Valerie's lover Hank had used her worse than any human being could be manipulated. He'd turn the ugly duckling she was into the lovely creature she was now but it had come at the price of that terrible sonic cry. Their success with mutating Valerie had turned her into a lab experiment and when she had run home to her parents, DeSaad had murdered them.

What he was seeing now was not the result of rage. Now she had honed her skill and in doing so, had become a weapon that could tear anything apart if she wished.

He should have tried hard to find her, Clark lamented silently. They should have done something...

Clark knew there was nothing that could have been done. He and Bruce were too out of their depth to be able to help her. Now Valerie was back and like before, they were after something Kryptonian. He hoped it was just the ship that they wanted. Bruce had explained why Canto had been trying to add Clark to the DeSaad menagerie. Canto's master believed the key to some weird alien equation could be found in his DNA.

Later when he had begun his training at the fortress, Clark had asked Jor-El about the Anti-Life Equation. Jor-El had explained it was a myth that there was an equation was capable of unlocking the ability to control every living thing in the universe. Still if this was about the equation then why did they wanted then why the ship? They needed DNA. He would have thought they would have come after him? Unless it wasn't the ship they wanted; rather its passenger. Someone who had just emerged from stasis, who was disorientated and incapable of defending themselves like he was.

Someone like Kara.

The realisation shook Clark to the core and the intensity of his outrage surprise even him.

True, he had only known her a day but she was family. Not some computer matrix left behind, not some clone or vessel but blood. If Krypton hadn't been destroyed, she would have been his older cousin. Kara, who was so afraid, who was just coming to grips with her own power, in the hands of someone who would exploit her was more than Clark could stand. They’d already let it happen to Valerie and he would die before allowing the same to happen to Kara.

Scanning the scene ahead, it didn't take Clark long to locate Valerie. They were still there at the Mansion, all three of them. He needed to confront her alone and somewhere secluded to minimise the destruction she might cause if he couldn't make her listen. He’d pulled her off the ledge once when she'd been ready to throw her lot in with Canto and he had convinced her. If he could reach that part of her, remind her that she had left behind friends and family, perhaps this time he could save her.

Accelerating faster than either human or alien eye could register, Clark grabbed Valerie from behind, careful to ensure that she was facing away from him before he spirited her out of the room, away from her two companions. Holding her in front of him, Clark flew straight up, so the only thing in the path of her destructive scream was the blue sky above. Her wings thrashed frantically about his face in protest as they gained altitude, leaving the mansion and the ground far beneath them both in a matter of seconds.

She writhed in his grip, trying to break free but against his strength, she had no chance of escaping. When she realised this, she began hurling curses at him, howling in impotent fury because he had rendered her helpless by using the sky as a buffer against her tremendous powers.

"LET ME GO KRYPTONIAN!" She demanded furiously, her voice drowned out by the sound of the high velocity wind rushing past them.

Clark ignored her, refusing to listen until he diffused the situation a little more. Climbing towards the stratosphere, his intent was to make her listen to reason, whether or not she wished to. With the air thinning, her ability to use her sonic scream would be limited and that might give her pause enough to listen to what he had to say. Around them, the wind created a vortex of sound as Valerie’s hair whipped about her like a banner of gold. Still he could also hear her shortness of breath and knew that he had accomplished what he intended.

He could not keep her at this altitude for too long and when he allowed her to face him the pallor of her skin turning purple. She was panting, trying to draw breath but conscious enough to shoot him a glare of rage.

“You...are...killing...me...." she managed to speak.

“I’m sorry Valerie,” Clark apologised, genuinely regretting the lengths necessary to make her listen. “I don’t want to hurt you but you need to listen to me. I’m not your enemy. I’m your friend. I don’t know what they’ve told you but your name is Valerie Beaudry. You were born on Earth and had parents who loved you. You had friends who tried to help you. I’m sorry we couldn’t stop them from taking you Valerie but you're home now. We can help you!"

“My...name...is...Swan!" She shook her head, protesting vehemently at the slightest possibility that anything was telling her could be the truth.

“No,” Clark said firmly, refusing her sanctuary in that name. “That’s what they called you to turn you into this...this thing you've become. You're not a killer Valerie, at least you weren't when you left Earth. You were good person, a brave person who sacrificed herself to save us all. You were our friend. Let me help you!"

She didn’t want to listen to him anymore.

Not because she disbelieved him but because she did. Cracks were starting to appear in the carefully constructed identity Granny had built and beneath it, she could sense the presence of this person he spoke of, this Valerie. However, the enormity of it was too much and she pulled away from him suddenly enough to take him by surprise because the next second, she was plunging through the air, miles above the ground.

"Valerie!" Clark called out as he dove down to retrieve her. He knew the wings attached to her back enabled her to fly but he had no idea how they worked and whether or not they could function 30 miles up.

The Swan looked up when he called her name and knew that he was coming for her. Taking greedy gulps of air as she continued her sharp descent, she filled her lungs and screamed. The sonic blast was weaker than normal because she was out of breath but it had the desired effect of sending him tumbling backwards. The delay would give her a few more minutes to recover from the lack of oxygen.

It was a testament to Valerie's powers that even depleted, the force of her scream had sent him barrelling through the air like he’d been caught in a hurricane. Regaining control of his flight, Clark saw Valerie had continued to herself to fall until she was now at a comfortable breathing altitude. If he approached her head on, she would probably blast him to kingdom come. However, he had to make sure that she was recovered enough to be able to get to the ground by herself and he closed in on her nonetheless.

Of course, she saw him approached and this time she was prepared. Her wings unfurled and then extended to their full span across her back with a single powerful flap. Going on the offensive, the Swan dove deeper further into the troposphere. She knew he could catch up with her faster than she could register that she was caught so she had to think of something quickly.

Then she heard it.

The low rumble of engines. Searching for its source, it didn't take the Swan long to see what it was.

The Boeing 747 with the American Airlines logo emblazoned across its fuselage was continuing on its normal route without any suspicion at the calamity about to be visited upon it. Her eyes narrowed as she saw it flying directly beneath her. With a cruel smile curling the edge of her lips, she lowered herself on to its broad spine and looked over her shoulder, waiting for the Kryptonian to catch up.

It took but a second for Clark to realise what she was about to do and there was moment, when their met that he shook his head, imploring her wordlessly not to do what intended. However, the chance to have the upper hand was too much for her and she turned away, lowering her gaze to shiny metal fuselage before delivering her killing serve.

The blast of her sonic cry halted the craft’s forward momentum instantly. The power of her cry slammed into the top of the plane as if a mountain had just been dropped on its back. The force of the sharp vertical descent snapped both wings as it dropped down, the heavy turbine engines falling away in to the sky, trailing insidious dark smoke. Then the plane started to fall, plunging from a height of thirty thousand feet.

Jesus, Clark managed the horrified thought as he witnessed the destruction. His auditory senses were immediately flooded with the deluge of terrified screams from the people inside, the abject terror of knowing they were all about to die. It was at that moment Clark came to the conclusion that Valerie was gone.

All that was left was the Swan and she had squandered the last of his goodwill.

Exploding forward in desperate burst of speed that created a sonic boom behind him, Clark flew towards the plane, ignoring Valerie for the immediate problem before him. Right now, his concern was the people on the plane he needed to save before the ground turned them into another tragic airline statistic.

The plane's ruined fuselage had started to spin as it fell; causing God only knew what injuries to its occupants as it continued to fall. Clark flew beneath it, searching for the optimum point to latch on. He had to do this just right or else the elongated body would snap and if that should happen, not even Superman would be fast enough to save them all.

Wind rushing at him, Clark reached the belly of the craft and had to stop its violent rolling by digging his hands into metal and holding on for dear life. He had used his strength to carry larger things in the past but nothing that required this much delicacy. The control required was difficult even for a Kryptonian and a loud, determined grunt escaped him as he forced the craft to stop spinning without tearing it apart. The metal superstructure heaved and protested but at his command, remained intact.

When the plane was finally steady in his hands, Clark dug his fingers deep into the steel, creating a secure handhold to maintain his grip. Once he was confident that his hold was secure, he began descending slowly to the ground. The plane had sustained severe damage and he wanted to ensure that it was not subjected to further stress that would cause it to break apart completely.

As he slowly made his way to the ground, Clark noted that he was still above the skies of Smallville which meant empty fields he could set the plane down without causing too much disruption to the locals. Scanning the terrain, he noted which field had been left to grow wild and which had been cultivated for crops. He also wanted to set it down relatively close to town because he didn’t have to scan the inside of the cabin to know that people were seriously hurt in there. They needed to be in reach of medical help as soon as possible.

Selecting the abandoned farm belonging to Jed McNally, Clark brought the ruined 747 to its final resting place. He looked around and saw no sign of Valerie…no the Swan, he corrected himself and was grateful for that much at least. The last thing he needed to deal with when he was trying to save these people was avoiding her sonic screams. She'd receive a very different reception the next time their paths met. Clark was no fool, he’d gotten the message loud and clear.

Valerie had left the building, the Swan was in charge. He would not make that mistake again.

*****

"Don't tell me the fool was trying to convince you that he was your long lost boyfriend?" Lashina snorted derisively when the Swan returned to them.

She had found the two women in Lex Luthor's office, tearing it apart for some piece of information regarding the whereabouts of the ship. With the corpses of Luthor's security team strewn about the room, the Swan concluded they had yet to find anything useful. It was time to call Grace, Swan thought although she would let Lashina make that determination herself. Lash so liked to think she was the brains of the operation.

Harriet was now tearing the leather sofa, with a rag doll tucked under her arm. Swan was certain that Harriet wasn't really motivated to find anything really. She just enjoyed the wanton destruction she was allowed to cause while pretending to search.

"Something like that," the Swan said evasively, "but I manage to give him something else to worry about." Her lips curled into a satisfied smile remembering how he had gone scurrying after the plane when she'd knocked the craft out of the sky. "Did you find anything?" She asked.

"No," Lashina answered, disgusted by their lack of progress. "We'll have Grace track down Luthor once more. Maybe if we split his little girl apart like a ripe fruit, he might be a little more willing to talk."

"Perhaps," the Swan remarked, wincing when Harriet put a fist through the television set and then pouted at them like a naughty child, "but that stupid Kryptonian in his attempts to jog my memory might have gotten more than he bargained for."

"How so?" Lashina's brow arched as she stared at the Swan who was wearing an unreadable expression on her face. "Do you remember something?"

"Yes," she nodded recalling the fragment of memory that surfaced when she had been flying over the cornfield back to the mansion. "I think he lives here, in this area." She looked about her as if she could see through walls like him. "In a yellow house with a porch and roses in the garden."

"Now that is interesting," Lashina smiled. "I wonder how many of those there are around here?"

TO BE CONTINUED