~~~
MORGAN
EDGE
~~~
~~~ SEVEN AM ~~~
Morgan was sitting in his office chair yet again but this time with his two trusted dogs by his side each sat by one of his legs under his desk.
Their previously golden dusted coats being brushed thoroughly out leaving slightly dishevelled dark hair in its place.
His eyes were strained focusing on the paper work surrounding his desk.
Pulling back from his work, Morgan sat his pen down.
Stroking his hands though both his dogs' heads, their noise tilted up towards him, expecting an order of some kind from Morgan.
There was none.
Looking down at them, Morgan was snapped out of his calm state by a bumbling assistant passing his office doors, the glass revealing that they had tripped and spilled some papers.
Morgan had almost forgotten where he was, his office, opaque to the outside world.
Looking at the man who scrambled to pick up his mistake Morgan looked at the man's long red hair, it reminded him of his first successful projects.
Anita Malkovich.
'I hoped Lois had enjoyed the gift I left in her office'
But by the fact that there had been no news coverage of the incident as of yet Morgan had assumed that the D.O.D. had managed to find Anita before Lois did.
'That's rather unfortunate, I had hoped the woman would learn to mind her own business by now'
Edge touched his salt and pepper stubble that rubbed like sandy friction against his hands.
'But then again Lois Lane has never in my experience been one to cower to threats'
~~~ RING ~~~
'I really didn't want to bother with my other plans for her and her children if it comes to it, but it appears now I have to'
It was his phone.
~~~ RING ~~~
Edge patted down his suit.
The sound was coming from his desk.
~~~ RING ~~~
The office phone.
Morgan sighed and waited till the last moment to pick up the phone.
'It such a shame I need funding for my project, otherwise I wouldn't bother with all this'
~~~
'Employment information', insurance, do they really think I'm that thick'
Morgan knew that he didn't have to give any of that information.
But his company but went along with whatever nameless employee from the D.O.D. said, invoicing his secretary to send over the information.
'It's better they think I'm unaware of what there doing than have them withhold things from me'
Morgan placed his phone down seeing his assistant come up to his doors from behind the glass.
The man was meek, only popping his head in the door waving the documents in his hands.
"Mr Edge, I have this for you to sign before I send it off"
Morgan becomes him.
Shutting the door behind himself, Westley, Morgan's assistant, came through the door.
"This is for ...?"
Morgan said not bothering to flip through the papers.
"From the D.O.D. ... you just sent it over"
Westley looked towards Morgan's desk at locking eyes with Morgan's only similarity to humanity.
His fondness for his dogs.
Westley's head snapped up again.
Rubbing his hands at his nose stuffing a sneeze.
Morgan, who wrinkled his nose in disgust, looked towards the first page scanning through it with his eyes.
'Employment records ... issue number 20386261910 ... requested by the Department Of Defence ... head ... Sam Lane ... Lane ... Lois Lane, there related. I see now ... so she did get my message'
Signing the document Morgan handed back the documents to nervous Westley.
"I'll get these scans and emailed though now"
"Send them from my account, would you?" Morgan knew he didn't need to ask but did so anyways, he was trying the whole 'nice guy' thing out.
Another tip from his PR and social media department.
"Ya" Westley turned, and the sharp growl of Morgan's twin dogs caused him to jump slightly and hightailed it out of the room.
~~~
'I can understand why the D.O.D. was in my case about the mines the whole danger to public safety goes under their belt but Mark Johnson's death what possible connection they have found to me?'
Morgan had forgotten the boy was allergic to dogs, oh well.
Pulling out a cabinet attached to his desk Morgan took out his most prized possession.
The X-Kryptonite he could get a hold of in seemingly infant amounts, but this pearl shaped control variable in his experiment was priceless and irreplaceable.
The Eradicator.
Or as Morgan likes to refer to it 'his' Eradicator.
The only one of its kind to ever be produced.
A soul glamorizing artefact that only Morgan had access to.
It was like a glass diamond reflecting Morgan's sense of place on earth having the souls of his ancestors ripe under his hands.
Morgan ran his hands across it to make sure that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him and it was still in his possession.
It felt sleek yet coarse under his fingertips.
With a push and the sound of scraping hinges just as quickly as it was presented to Morgan it was hidden from his sights.
Leaning back in his chair, dogs in his lap, Morgan thought to himself.
'This Lois Lane character might be harder to get rid of then we previously thought'
Being brought out of his thoughts by one of his two dogs, dark fur being pressed into his side flanking at their need for attention, Morgan left his office dog collars and leads in hand.
Now was as good of a time as any to take his loyal steeds for a walk.
~~~
JONATHAN, JORDAN KENT
&
SARAH CUSHING
~~~
~~~ TWELVE THIRTY PM ~~~
Walking, Jordan had his arms around Sarah's shoulders.
They were walking from their last class.
The bell had rung around ten minutes ago and they still couldn't find Jonathan.
Their shoes kicked up discarded wrinkled and ripped 'FINLEY EDGE' missing poster's.
"Jonathans looking happy today"
"Does he?" Sarah asked not seeing how Jonathan had shown happiness that day.
"Really because all thus morning he had with stupid look on his face that screamed 'I have good news I'm not going to tell you'"
"If you say so"
Jordan since Jonathan's little midnight excursion saw to himself that he would have to make sure that Jonathan didn't go and disappear like he had done so a couple of nights ago and Sarah who had seen him run off after their last class together and hadn't managed to locate him yet.
As they walked down the mostly empty hallways of SmallVille high the looks of disingenuous friendship passed by them.
Sarah who since coming out had been accustomed to the looks had ignored them with ease, Jordan however shied at the silently loud remarks made by those around them ducking his head away from them.
Sarah, knowing about Jordan's affinity to know when he could pick and choose his battles, pulled him into an empty room when she noticed his longing for alone time.
Pushing the door with her back, Sarah beckoned Jordan behind her.
"Look maybe he's in here"
"The library?"
Jordan thought back to when he had almost caught Jonathan in the library, how he looked so closed off and practically went out of his way to make sure Jordan didn't see the contents of the library before he managed to shut the heavy wooden door behind himself on his way out.
"He looked all into yesterday's bio lesson, said he wanted to do more research for his paper or something."
And sure enough, Jonathan was sitting behind one of the library's few computers clicking away the back of the computer facing Jordan and Sarah so their view was obscured from the computer screen.
Jonathan looked up from the screen quickly clicking away from his open tab noticing Sarah and Jordan walking up to him.
"Just talk about me like I'm not in the room why don't you" Jonathan said teasingly.
Going back to the computer's screen thinking to himself that.
'Things are currently going to well in my life for me to get mad over this'
The library was sparsely filled with only a dozen or so students taking up the space around them paying the now trio no mind.
"No we were just wondering where you had gotten to" Sarah said as she sat opposite Jonathan becoming Jordan to sit next to her sharing the confined booth space.
The wooden chair squeaked under their combined weight.
"Well I'm here ..." Jonathan said actually as he gestured to the library before transferring his books from the table to his bag as Jordan peaked over the table at them.
Going back to the library's computer, his eyes glued to the screen.
"So anything new?" Jordan said in a knowing tone the kind he always sported when Jonathan was trying to keep something from him.
Jonathan paused at Jordan's question, his hands pausing on the keyboard.
"No, why do you ask?" Before going back to typing somewhat in a rush.
"Well I don't know you just seemed really chuffed yesterday is all"
"Really?" Sarah piped up, shuffling more into Jordan's arms.
'Jonathan has been acting off recently, well at least now he seems better ... kind off, back to his usual banter at least'
"Ya came back home in the middle of the night jumping for joy one would like to know who, sorry ... what caused them to be so worked up" Jordan said in reference to himself with his 'accidental' slip of the tough not being so accidental.
Sarah paused for a moment then her eyes widened in realisation, locking on to Jonathan's distracted self.
'Jonathan seeing someone!'
"Jonathan why didn't you tell me"
"It's nothing really, I don't even know if we'll stay together"
Jonathan was fibbing a little when he said that he knew that what he and Finley had was special in more than a fling type of way.
Unlike a summer romance novel with a Christmas theme plastered over its front cover.
He had hoped they were going to last, and he was going to try his dam hardest to make sure that happened.
Sarah turned the computer around, dusting off her hands when she found that they had been voted in a thick layer of dust from its lack of uses over the years, so it wasn't facing Jonathan anymore calling him to her full attention.
"Stop being pessimistic your with someone, seeing them ... and doing all that lovey does stuff that we do, we should double date it be me and Jordan and you and 'whoever' and we can go to the cinema or the dinner"
Jonathan looked at Sarah in amusement, he'd swear that she was some sort of angel.
Jonathan squeezed into the booth that Jordan and Sarah were sharing, sliding in next to his brother who charismatically complained about the lack of space he now had.
But before Jordan could say anything Sarah focused on the computer's screen.
Sarah had been quite for most of the latter part of his and Jordan's convocation, the only indicator that she was there being her breath picking up in sound.
Looking at the news feed Jonathan had pulled up earlier in an attempt to cover up the research he was doing.
"Hey, is that-" Sarah said disjointedly her voice skipping frantically over her words.
Jonathan turned to the computer at Sarah's call for attention, seeing the pale face of a red head on the screen of the latest 'Bright News' article Jonathan paused.
"Another victim" Jonathan said with a haunted tone.
'What has Finley done?'
Jordan looked over at Jonathan in concern, he knew that Jonathan always did take things a little too much to heart.
Sarah gulped and promptly excused herself from the library claiming that she needed air, Jordan followed after a while, behind her.
Jonathan not meddling due to the circumstances that would have led to Sarah feeling overwhelmed in the first place.
~~~
Jonathan alone couldn't help but stare at the unidentified woman's face on screen.
Her dead face staring ominously back at him.
Questioning his morals.
The library by now had become a hot spot for the students of SmallVille high school the previously quite ominous atmosphere became lively in comparison to Jonathan's antisocial nature.
'Did Finley eat her?'
Jonathan got out of his seat, gathered his stuff, some other student immediately took his seated booth not bothering to ask if the desk was in such a disarray, and left the library in a different direction then Sarah and Jordan had.
'I need to find a way to fix this, is there any fixing this ... this could just be how Finley is from now on, can I live with that?'
Jonathan didn't quite have the answer to his own question yet, but he knew that he was leaning towards a more negative outlook on his budding relationship with Finley.
Not because of Finley's actions in particular though, just Jonathan's willingness to forgive him, and explain away his assumed actions.
Jonathan thought that made him a bad person.
But he didn't quite find himself hating himself for being that selfish.
Jonathan looked down at his hands, his thumb that Finley had drunk from previously was fully healed with only a thin white line in its place.
Jonathan ran his fingers over it.
Like he was trying to light a match.
A thought that would have jumped into his mind was interrupted by the sound of the bell above his head.
~~~RING~~~
~~~RING~~~
At the sound, Jonathan's empty hallway wanderings was interrupted by the masses of students swarming the hallways.
~~~RING~~~
'What do I have now?'
Jonathan saw up ahead Sarah with slight tears decorating her face, red eyes walking up to him.
Jordan parting ways with her when finding his science classroom.
'Oh ya econ'
~~~
SARAH CUSHING
&
JORDAN KENT
~~~
Sarah pushed the double doors behind her walking outside to the school courtyard round the front of the school that was sparsely populated by pupils that had decided to go off campus for lunch.
Sarah only stopped walking when she heard Jordan walking behind her, his footsteps crunching loudly on the gravel below him, like they were trying to announce his presents.
Sarah turned, running her hands through her hair.
"What Jordan?"
Jordan stuttered like he was trying to gather his words.
"I just ... I couldn't let you leave like that you know, on your own"
Sarah knew Jordan was trying to do what he thought was best for her.
The thought made her smile a little before she said.
"I don't wanna talk"
"That's fine, but I'm still going to be here, ok"
Sarah nodded, falling into a quiet step with Jordan as she made her way across the courtyard.
Sitting on a bench that was old.
Its pants chirped to reveal a light brown rusted colour that had been painted over with black with wooded tree roots clinging on to its metal legs.
It was out of the way, of the school grounds and unoccupied.
They sat in silence with Sarah facing away from Jordan, people watching.
The football players passing a ball around.
People coming back from town with food that made her stomach quietly churn.
After a few moments in which the only sound around both Sarah and Jordan was the chattering of others around them.
Sarah spoke up.
"It's like death is just following me, the moment I get back into the swing of things and I think things are going to be normal again ... something like that happens"
"Someone else dies," Jordan finished.
Sarah nodded.
"Well I don't think I can make you feel better about that, but I can tell you that all of this," Jordan said, gesturing to nowhere and nothing with his hands.
"And with everyone refusing to mine their business" Sarah said in reference to the stares she and Jordan received in the hallway.
"Is not your fault" Jordan tilted his head slightly down catching Sarah's eyes with his own.
Emotion welled within her eyes.
Sarah knew logically that Jordan was right but in her heart she couldn't help but believe her nagging sense of longing and desperation was seeping out into the world, leaving destruction in its wake.
Taking his hand Jordan wiped away the tears that threatened to spill from Sarah's eye and drew her into a hug.
Rubbing his face into her shoulder for a long while, thinking about Jonathan who he had forgotten about in his haste to retrieve Sarah.
'He fine ... right I mean he's been acting odd since this morning but that's just the boy thing, not anything else, but that doesn't explain why he was so interested in that missing woman. I saw the amount of news tabs pulled up on the computer. What could Jonathan want with all of that?'
The thought lingering in his head as Sarah hugged Jordan back tightly.
~~~
Sarah wandered the school hallways, the bell had just rung.
She saw Jonathan through blurred eyes and waved him into their shared economic class.
'I hope he thinks I haven't forgotten about him seeing 'someone'
Sarah could remember Jordan's distinct lack of pronoun usage when telling her about Jonathan's date, but she chose to let it go.
Betting on Jonathan telling her in time.
Jordan was never as discreet as he thought he was.
~~~
THE PRESENT : RECAP
~~~
Jordan turned back to his mother.
"I'll go get him"
"No ... you stay here and tell your dad the truth, I'll go talk to Jonathan"
"Mom ..."
"I can't believe you guys got yourself into this mess" Jordan made his way towards the front door, grabbing his brother's coat from its rack.
Lois stared after her son.
Jordan ignored his mom's words behind him while saying.
"We're already in this. Since Edge sent those people, to our house to kill us because you couldn't just leave the headline alone"
Lois, taken aback by Jordan's unusually harsh words, didn't say anything more, the pink and yellow hues of what was left of the sunlight for the day peeking through the front door as it was shut boisterously behind her son.
~~~
Jordan had separated from his mother, choosing to go and find Jonathan who was in the barn curled up next to a barrel of hay.
Jordan had been talking with Jonathan for a while now, well more like listening to him going through his emotions until Jonathan settled on what Jordan had hoped he would.
Telling mom and dad.
"Jordan I'll tell them everything, all of it, about Edge, about Finley, ok I will" Jonathan said looking at Jordan for slight approval.
Jordan didn't discourage him.
~~~
"I thought you'd be more against it" Jordan said, tucking a stray pick of hair behind his ear.
"Well I need to. Edge is going after everyone now and it's like all of SmallVille's losing hope that Finley's coming back"
Jordan didn't say that SmallVille had already moved on to the next piece of gossip of the week by the time the first month of Finley's disappearance rolled around.
"People don't know his still around"
"Ya but its doesn't help me when I look around a see people blatantly disregard his missing posters like there not there, like he's not here"
Jordan knew Jonathan was talking about more than what others thought on the matter but didn't expect Jonathan just to come out with the truth then and there.
"I make me feel as though they have accepted his absence and seem not coming back, before I even had a chance to fix things' ' Jonathan blinked the liquid emotion away from his eyes, sitting up.
~~~
THE PRESENT
~~~
Jordan and Jonathan both took their own respective time making their way back to the house.
With Jordan in the lead walking in his usual heavy manner with Jonathan trailing behind him wiping his eyes with his hoodie sleeves.
Jordan was greatly concerned Jonathan had always been very Conservative with his emotions keeping them to himself unless pushed and then he would lash out, verbally only of course.
Jordan took hold of her front door, pushing it open leaving Jonathan no time to back out of his promise as he was confronted by the stares of their parents.
It was silent for a moment, both parties not willing to speak first encase of interrupting one another.
Jordan held an apologetic look towards his mother who nodded in understanding, Jordan was never one to to speak up unless it was for others so in about his defiant behaviour Lois accepted it, his beration.
Jonathan, now dry eyed, didn't look at Clark and Lois.
"Mom, dad I'm sorry I didn't know what to keep this, him, from you it's just you don't know what Edge did to him ... I didn't know what was happening to anyone else let alone you" Jonathan said in confection.
Lois looked towards her son's and the way there was slightly huddled together, her mouth forming a little spiteful.
"But you told Jordan" Lois never was able to have the same type of bond that Jordan and Jonathan shared.
Though she just thought it was because she was their mother therefore something would have to remain a mystery to her.
"And I don't know why I did that, it just sort of happened," Jonathan replied.
"Go ahead, we're here for you" Clark spoke, taking off his glasses and putting them to the side, staring at Jonathan expectantly with a neutral look on his face not showing any ounce of discouragement.
And Jonathan believed him.
~~~
JOHN HENRY
&
SAM LANE
~~~
~~~ TWELVE THIRTY PM ~~~
Sam entered the D.O.D.'S temporary tent set up in SmallVille, passing multiple armed guards coming to John Henry's laboratory walking briskly and with intention a slight frown being placed on his face.
"The news got hold of it" Sam said as he walked up to John.
The desolate room contains the privacy that Sam needed to vent.
'The news?' John thought, swinging round in his chair like he often did to face Sam.
"What?"
"The unidentified woman, they ran a story on it" Sam placed a newspaper down on Henry's desk drawing his attention from Sam to the front page news.
"But we didn't-" John picked up the paper and flipped through it, thankful that it just had the most bare bones information about the case, unfortunately though the woman's face was blown up a lot taking up the majority of the front page space.
'These people have no decorum, she just died'
"Ya we didn't inform them they must have been snooping around outside the crime scene" Sam gathered himself a chair of his own.
"I don't think we're going to be able to cover this one up, we have a potential serial offender on our hands, the publicity going to be restless" John dropped the newspaper in the small grey office bin next to him, shaking its contents from his mind.
It wouldn't do him much good to dwell on the unfortunate circumstances of the case now would it.
"In better news the mine workers test all came back positive" John said, as he pulled up the mine workers test results on his computer.
Sam leaned towards getting a clear view of the positive green highlight names on Henry's chart.
"The yellow substance?" Sam said
"Ya there all being admitted to the E.R. as we speak"
"Good" Sam said almost too quickly then amended by saying.
"Well not good but good for the case"
Just as John was about to reply a zipper was heard by both Sam and John how turned to see John Henry pop up the office door being opened.
The six foot and angular man stood at attention before being told to stand at ease and state his purpose.
"The requested security cam footage from yesterday" Came from the voice of a newbie low pitched but eager to please his commanding officer.
Sam didn't get up to retrieve the large boxes that the man placed in front of him.
Standing at attention again until Sam said.
"Dismissed" not bothering to spare the man a second glance at the tent like door was zipped closed again on his way out as Sam rooted through the cardboard box filled with CD discs.
John turned to face Sam and said.
"You really need to be nicer to them you know, they could be planning a revolt, for all you know" In a non serious tone, almost jokingly.
Sam smiled quickly, letting John see how unimpressed he was by his comment.
Holding out the first disk John snatched it out of Sam's hand and placed it in the old white computer, with yellowing on its sides, that looked like it had to be from the early two thousands.
The military wasn't for unnecessary spending.
If it wasn't broken don't fix it they practically said when John asked for a more updated one, so he brought one from home.
So much for a work, life balance.
The footage was thankfully recorded in colour, the resolution being slightly grainy, Sam couldn't tell whether it was from the old computer or the footage itself.
The first Panel of moving images showed the airport, and the Edge was shown flying in and leaving the terminal.
Unaccompanied by his dogs.
Then it depicted him leaving and entering a five star hotel multiple times.
John got bored and got out another CD proclaiming that they weren't going to get anywhere with the first set of tapes.
The second CD, proved more fruitful.
Depicting Edge in a sleek car with his windows rolled down pulling out to the side of a road, cash in hand.
A woman, redhead scantily clad in clothes that made John shiver just looking at her, approached the car.
"There she is' ' Sam said looking from the footage to the newspaper in the bin with her face on it, the image being distorted by a clear plastic trash bag and the guide-like structure that the small bin had.
"Hand me the other disks"
With a click and a slight wiring sound being omitted from the computer's hard drive.
Going through all the footage Sam and John followed the red headed woman though the city, passing street lights with Edge in the car pulling up to a dark alleyway that made the edge of the computer screen fuzz into black pixels.
And both the occupant of the screen faded into obscurity.
"So she's a prostitute, there's massive probability that she has a criminal recorded, we can find her" Sam said as he stepped back from the computer and made his way outside to make a phone call.
John didn't reply, getting out his notebook and pen, too enthralled by the dark hidden life that edge had taken too little proportion on in hiding.
• Edge seems to pick the subjects for giving superpowers based on their availability rather than any specific deciding factor.
• Desperate.
~~~
Sam was talking just fingers jammed in his ear to hear over the noise that was his workplace.
"That's correct, I need the criminal records from last year ... yes with pictures ... yes that's court ordered ... you have them digital ... send them over."
Pacing back and forth while waiting for the police deputy to forward over the necessary files.
"Thank you ... Ya I'll forward your personal details' ' Sam said ending the phone call.
He always felt that it was always a good idea to try and butter up the people he was working with by offering the possibility of future D.O.D. partnerships if all ran smoothly.
Sam would find himself on most occasions fulfilling his half promises to police departments as it allowed for him to at a drop of a hat have access to information it would have taken others weeks if not months to get a hold of, due to his persistent transparency with authorities.
~~~
"That's the last place the tapes show Edge and our woman, it's like they disappeared" John said to Sam as he entered John's office.
"Unfortunate, but we have some info coming in now" Sam pulled up his emails handing his phone to John who pulled up an email with a file labelled.
- sex worker offensives : none sentenced to jail time -
There were dozens of women all who all looked staved and coked up in one way or another.
But that wasn't John's primary interest.
Flipping through the policy reports with little interest for those who didn't fit John's, red headed pale and bony, narrative that he had constructed about their missing woman.
Only stopping a few times when a particular offender's case interested him.
Only when John's eyes locked with their woman did he finally come to a stop.
Sam read the name 'Anita Malkovich' in bold handwriting on the report.
Changed with intent to deal in sexually exploits for monetary gain.
Read prostitution.
One month prior to her unfortunate encounter with Edge.
"Anita Melcavch"John echoed as he stared down at the person he had been referring to as a victim and or unfortunate circumstance throughout their investigation.
Sighing in content Sam went on to say.
"Send out an arrest warrant for Morgan Edge"
'Maybe it's true that we can nip this all in the bud before Christmas'
"What about his abandoned housing developments you wanted to check out" John reminded.
Oh how Sam wishes of a peaceful winter time were scattered.
"Of which I found too many to count, over fifty, why buy them if you're not going to do anything with them, wonder what Edge was gonna do with them all. There's ones such as The Greenway Court Apartments that were abandoned in twenty eleven and - " John continued.
"What about motels?" Sam interrupted, jolting John out of his slight rant.
"Well he owns some, close, but there not-"
"We'll start there, for convenience and all '' Sam amended.
Remembering the note he had received from who he was convinced was Jonathan.
The words being practically burned into his psyche.
☆▪︎☆
'Morgan Edge
Bill And Martha Steward
Covered In Blue Tarp
Behind Bathroom Door
Abandoned Motel Room 21B
Outside Of SmallVille
Off From Highway 89'
☆▪︎☆
~~~
SUPERMAN
&
SAM LANE
~~~
Standing inside the Kent's home Sam was at a loss.
Clark's revelation to him came at a surprise to Sam, this type of information could lead to mass hysteria and mistrust in earth's own mightiest hero.
"This doesn't seem like something you'd usually tell me, under the current circumstances Clark '' Sam said in a full voice, taking advantage of the empty House that Clark had invited him into.
Clark sighed, almost regretting his choice to tell.
"Well I'd hesitate but considering what you think of my son at the moment, I thought it be in his best interest to tell you all I know"
"Alright, so Edge wants to make more Kryptonians, how?" Sam said taking mental note of their conversation, this information was to important to write down if it got out and Sam was found to be withholding information from his superiors at the D.O.D. not only would he be in trouble but Clark too, with Sam taking the brunt of the fall-back of course, there is only so much you can punish a masked hero with the kind of powers that Clark has.
"I don't know, all I know is that it has to do with that yellow crystal being derived from Kryptonite"
"What do you mean you 'don't know' you have access to the same technology as Edge don't you?" Sam looked around the home as if it were to procure the answers to his stress on demand.
Finding himself looking towards the couches' lack of cushions and slightly singed backboard in confusion Sam looked away and focused on the matter at hand.
"Clearly not" Clark had already tried at his fortress to see what Morgan Edge was doing.
How it was possible but he found nothing of use?
Not even a hint to how the Edge process worked.
'It was like Morgan has all the power over me, having something I hadn't even thought a possibility'
"And why not just take you?" Sam said almost hopefully.
But Sam knew in his mind before Clark even had to illustrate the point that Morgan Edge-.
'Wasn't the type of man to just have one or two of the things he truly wants, no he was the kind of man who believed that he could have it all, and at this rate I don't blame him for thinking that, everything has gone his way thus far'
"He doesn't just what one ... he wants a whole population's worth, why would he need Jonathan for anything?" Clark had hoped that giving Sam his trust would be enough to persuade him to drop his thoughts about Jonathan.
Clearly it wasn't enough.
"That's besides the point, what I think of Jonathan doesn't matter if Edge finds out about the boys"
"About Jordan you mean '' Clark corrected defensively.
Clark, being caught up with the mayhem that was consistently keeping an ear on Edge's whereabouts, had forgotten that Edge would definitely take an interest in his sons, well one anyway.
"That won't matter if he thinks they both have powers, now will it" Sam reminded him.
'Edge could be looking into the boys as we speak, he know superman's Kryptonian is that why Jonathan reached out to me? Trying to tell me he needed help, and I assumed just that he was the perpetrator'
"And then where will that lead us?" Sam continued.
Clark shook off the disturbing thought, walking towards the front of his home with Sam trailing behind him.
"It's more than that, Edge doesn't just want more Kryptonians he wants to harvest humanity for it"
Sam paused and looked up at Clark scanning his eyes.
"The fucker wants Krypton on earth, Why'd you tell me?" Sam knew Clark didn't trust him, his actions in the past, threatening Clark's life would prove that.
"So you'd realise Jonathan has nothing to do with this, he never would, and you know it," Clark said firmly.
Leading Sam out of the house, leaving no room for further elaboration.
Leaving, Sam didn't reply.
'Oh Clark, Jonathan could have everything to do with this'
As the Kent's family home door was closed behind him, with a slight bang.
Even though Jonathan doesn't fit the victim profile that John Henry had devised, it was easy for Sam to draw the similarities between a Anita Malkovich character type and his grandson.
All bluster but the more willingness to go along with danger with the only difference between the two being Jonathan using his good nature, as shown by his fierce protection of Jordan, as an excuse and Anita Malkovich using money as hers.
~~~
FINLEY
EDGE
~~~
Finley, had a lot of time to contemplate his life and that he had to shying away from the world these past couple months.
Finley had assumed that when Edge had taken him to that motel that that would be the end of his rather unremarkable short life.
That the water that had surrounded his body in his final moments would be his only source of warmth as his skin turned icy and stiff.
But here he was.
Having no-one apart from Jonathan to block up the harmful pit of loneliness that had settled deep within his stomach with no matter how much he consumed never seemed to fill itself or allow for Finley to feel the fulfilment of closeness to another.
He was alone again, face eliminated by candlelight, sitting up on the backboard of his bed, his head tilted backwards, with a book in hand as usual.
He thought of Jonathan.
'Was he in school?'
'What class is he in now? If I was still alive to the general populous I'd be in English right now writing about Shakespeare's greatest hits'
Oh how Finley curses his past self for dreading having to learn.
He couldn't put into words what he would do now for the chance to be around more people than the two dimensional characters on the pages that warmed his hands.
Finley blinked, waking from his half dazed 'I'm not sleeping I'm just resting my eyes' and opened back up the book.
Finley was content.
With the relationship he had managed to form with the boy.
They were going out.
They were together.
Officially.
The pit in Finley's stomach grew less in size as the time passed, in hopeful anticipation of when he would next get to see Jonathan.
The light around him was snuffed by the wind that cast itself in through a window, newspaper crinkling.
Finely wasn't annoyed simply accepting the loss of vision and curling round in on himself to sleep.
The inevitable cold didn't bite at Finley's bones like he had hoped it would, he'd just guessed that Jonathan Had truly been right about his observations the last time he was at Finley's place.
~~~
And the plot thickens ...
Sorry for the ~~~ present ~~~ part of the chapter being so repetitive, it will be important for later chapters so I wanted everyone to have a clear understanding of what was going on, apologise it will probably happen again in future chapter with me adding new things to it as it repeated as to not make it to boring as it comes up again.
And we're getting a little hint as to what edge did to Finley, finally.
Oh and everything not subtitled with the ~~~ present ~~~ is in the current time line.
And Vote?
If you liked it.
Also I'm free from the shackles of exams. :)