"Come on, cover your assignments." "Take your squad and sweep the perimeter." " What's our status?" " Security breach, northeast sector." " What have the cameras picked up?" " Not a damn thing." "Anything comes down this tunnel, kill it." " Got it." " Hey." "Move." " Contact?" " Ten and seven." "Wait." "Section F compromised." "Lock it down." "Section D compromised." "That's only 30 meters from here." " Section C compromised." " Twenty meters." "Ten." "Section B compromised." " Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." " Section A compromised." "Mission accomplished." "Standing by for further instructions." "Vitals are steady." "He didn't even break a sweat." "Two minutes 18 seconds to infiltrate a secured facility disable my best men, and eliminate the target." "Not a bad test run." "Get some fresh guards." "I wanna see him do it again." "We have about a dozen people that could do that for you." "Next thing you know they'll be brushing my teeth for me." "There are some things I'd rather do on my own." "Independent and not afraid to get her hands dirty." "Two of the billion or so reasons I fell in love with you." "My shoulders are still a little bit sore." "Maybe we should have the doctor look at it." "No, it's okay." "Lana, you were shot." "Takes more than a bullet to stop a Luthor." "Sir, Senator Burke has arrived." "Show him in." "You've been seeing a lot of the senator recently." "The price of doing business with the government." "Look, this will just take a minute." "I'll be in the garden." " Mrs. Luthor." " Senator." "I hope I didn't interrupt a tender moment." "If you had, you'd still be waiting outside." "I'm not gonna keep you from your pretty lady." "I just swung by for an update on Ares." "Prototype is in the final stages of testing." "Everything's on schedule." "Really?" "I heard everything was ahead of schedule." "Way ahead." "I stuck my neck out to get the Armed Services Committee to allow you access to military resources and personnel." "To RD a single prototype." "But you've started gearing up for mass production." "Just looking towards the future, senator." "I assumed a visionary like you would understand that." "How long are you gonna be able to keep what you really got going on here a secret?" "See, one of my own men believed he uncovered a mole right in your backyard." " Who?" " Well, I wish I could tell you." "But my boy doesn't talk too good with a bullet through his heart." "Senator, if there are leaks in my security I assure you I will have them taken care of." "Well, doesn't that just fill me with the warm fuzzies?" "Do you know what'll happen to me if the senate got wind of what you're up to now?" "I assume they wouldn't care for it." "Like they wouldn't care for the money I've transferred into your Cayman account over the last year." "Project Ares is over." "I'm shutting it down." "That would be ill-advised." "No." "What's ill-advised is you ever opening your mouth about our arrangement." "I hear a peep out of you, I'll make sure the committee reviews every business deal LuthorCorp has made in the last 20 years." "You'll be lucky to keep that fancy shirt on your back." "We understand each other Luthor?" "Perfectly." "Got the background too?" " Yes." " Great." "Greetings from Patagonia, the most beautiful place on earth." " What is that?" " What?" "I don't see anything." "We have to talk." "Clark, you should try picking up a phone occasionally." "It might be quicker, or maybe not." " What do you know about Lana?" " Well..." "Letting go." "Never been one of your strong points, was it?" "Telling the truth was never one of yours." "And you're accusing me of what exactly, this time?" "Lana came to me the day of the wedding to tell me she wasn't going through with it." "That she was leaving Lex." " Apparently, she changed her mind." " Or someone changed it for her." "So you think I had something to do with her decision?" "If Lana was so unhappy with Lex, why go through with the marriage?" "It's surprising, Clark, what people will do when they feel they have no other options." "If I find out that you had anything to do with Lana marrying Lex the gloves'll come off." "How do you like that option?" "Triple espresso mocha-cappu-latte, my own invention guaranteed to put the "zip-a-dee" back in your "doo-dah."" "Thanks." "Come on, it's not that bad." "Jimmy is coming back." "One day." "Maybe." "You know, besides, distance is good for the relationship." "That's what all the guys who've moved away from me said." "Lois, you should really stick to investigative reporting and out of the advice column." "That's the plan." "Hey, Smallville." "Love to hear about the cows and the corn but I got a lead on a dirty senator that needs to be hosed down." " See you on the front page." " She going after a senator?" "I guess so." "She hasn't told me much about it." "There's a lot of that going around lately." "Was that jab directed at my chin?" "I went to Lionel to ask about Lana." " What did he say?" " Nothing." "Just like you." " Clark, I..." " Chloe, you know what Lex is really like." "Do you forget what he did to you, what he did to your mother?" "No, I haven't forgotten." " I don't want anything to happen to Lana." " Neither do I." "If she's staying in that marriage, all I can say is she must have a damn good reason." "You sure about this?" "Got a reservation." "Eats here every time he's in town." "Thanks for the tip." " Senator Burke." " Howdy, miss." "Lois Lane, reporter." "I was hoping to ask a few questions." "Sure." "Schedule an interview with my office." "You know, I tried to, but no one returned my calls." "Well, that ought to tell you something, sweet cakes." "Senator, last year your salary was $ 150,000." "Can you tell me how you managed to deposit $5 million in a Cayman account?" "What paper did you say you worked for, Miss...?" "Lane." "Lois Lane." "I'm a reporter for The Inquisitor." "The Inquisitor?" "That's not a newspaper." "That's a cat box liner." "Get her out of here." "Hey." "Get your hands off me, you fascist." "I'm warning you, if you don't... oh, my God." "Wes?" " Chloe, what's going on?" " You haven't heard?" " Senator Burke was murdered." " What?" "Yeah, Burke was in bed with la familia." "He crossed them, they gave him the Fredo treatment." " It was a mob hit." " All evidence points to that." "But there is one witness who doesn't think so." " Lois?" " Thanks." "What happened to you?" "Well, one minute I was harassing a public official and the next he came out of nowhere, like a ghost." "Burke and his men never had a chance." "You saw who did this?" "Yeah, I did more than see him, Clark." "I know him." "Name's Wes Keenan." "We were army brats together when we were kids." "I'm running a check on his name." "Looks like he works for the mob now." "Wes?" "No way." "He's career military." "He's been decorated more than a Christmas tree." "Even my dad loved him, and the general hates everybody." "Lois, you sure the man you saw is Wes Keenan?" "I haven't seen him for years, but he has this little scar above his right eye and..." "Trust me, it was Wes." "Not according to the U.S. Government." "He was in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan four months ago." "He was killed in action." "No." "That is not possible." "I know what I saw." " What else does it say?" " Nothing." "I mean, his military records have been classified." " What is that?" " His alpha wave just spiked for a second." "It's probably just feedback from the implants in his cortex." " Probably?" " It's nothing to worry about." "Everything's still holding within operational parameters." "Make sure it stays that way." "Sir." "We just received information that Burke has been eliminated." "Evidence trail?" "Leads straight back to the mob, per your instructions." "But there's been a complication." " There was a witness." " Nothing can get in the way of completing this project." "Nothing." "Take care of it." "You heard the man." "Prep him." "Lois, quit being stubborn." "You're gonna stay here until we get this cleared up." "Thanks, but I can take care of myself." "Nobody's doubting that, but you'd be safer here." "It'll be like old times, like when you first got to Smallville." "You're just hoping to catch me in the shower again." "I mean, thank you." "I really appreciate it." "Well, you're always welcome here, Lois." "You're practically family." "Well, since I'm being a burden, can I just ask one more favor?" "What do you need?" "Your mom's political influence." "Do you think you could use your connections to get a look at Wes' military jacket?" " I thought you said the file was classified." " It is." "I contacted the general but he went all cold war on me and said that I should drop it." "Well, he might have a point." "Three men are already dead." "Which is why I have to get my hands on that file." "It might explain why Wes is doing this." "Well, I've made a few friends in Washington." "I don't know if they can help, but I'll see what I can do." "Thanks, Mrs. K." "I know that look." "It's usually followed by you almost getting yourself killed." "Well, this isn't just another story, Clark." "Not this time." "Wes and I we were close." "I know it was him." "Stay here." "Looks like it was just the wind." "Clark, watch out!" "Wes." "How could Lois have been kidnapped with you right there?" " She just vanished, Chloe." "Literally." " So he could teleport, like Alicia?" "It was different." "It was more like Graham Garrett could do." " So he turned himself invisible." " Not just himself." "He took Lois with him." "And it's not his only ability." "And when he hit me..." "Chloe, I haven't felt anything like that since I went up against Titan." " Clark, we need to find Lois before Wes..." " We will." "Have you uncovered anything that might help us figure out where he took her?" "I haven't been able to retrieve information from the military files." "But I did run a crosscheck on his name and I found one hit:" "Jodi Keenan." "Jodi Keenan?" "The woman that tried to kill Lex in the tunnels?" " Guess who she's married to." " Wes?" "Look like Jodi found out that Wes wasn't killed in Afghanistan." "And she followed the trail all the way back here, to Lex." "Okay, so Wes is exhibiting multiple krypto-abilities." "And according to Lois he's also on the receiving end of some sort of mind control." "How much do you wanna bet that all of this plays into Lex's 33.1 experiments?" "Chloe, I need you to contact oliver and his team." "They've been taking out 33.1 facilities all around the world." " Isn't that a hero-to-hero phone call?" " I'm going to talk to Lex." "Clark, come on." "We both know that Lex isn't gonna tell you anything." "Then I'll find somebody who will." "Too much?" "No, it's..." "I thought maybe if I set the mood... or maybe not." "Lex..." "Sorry to bother you, sir." "The asset failed to return." "I'll be right back." "Lana." " You shouldn't be here." "Lex is just outside." " I had to see you." "Clark." "It's not about you and me." "Lois is in trouble." "And what makes you think I can help?" "Because it seems there's a connection to Lex." "Lana have you seen or heard anything?" "Maybe something about the military?" "Ares." "That's the god of war." "Lex has been talking with Senator Burke about this military project called Ares." "Yesterday, he threatened to shut it down." " Maybe you should talk with him." " I can't." "Senator Burke is dead." "He was murdered by the same man who has Lois." "Lana, is there anything else?" "Maybe something that Lex let slip?" "One of his men was just saying something about an asset that failed to return." "An asset?" "That's what the military calls its soldiers." "Lex is connected to this." "Whatever reason you had to go through with the wedding, it was wrong." "You have no idea what he's capable of." "You'd be surprised what I know." "Then why are you still here?" "We all have our secrets, Clark." "Sometimes we have to keep them to protect the people that we care about." "Lana..." "I know." "Lana?" "You okay?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I'm just a little chilly." "Look, something's come up." "I need to go into the office." "Don't wait up." "Wes." "Designation incorrect." "Call sign:" "Ares, prototype, Mach four." "You don't remember me, do you?" "It's Lois." "Lois Lane?" "My father is General Sam Lane." "And when I was a kid, he used to drag me around to all the bases he was stationed at." "One of them was Fort Avelson." "Where I met you." "Do you remember how you got that scar?" "You used to tell everybody that you got it falling off your dirt bike." "But that's not how it happened." "We got into the general's whiskey then we broke into the storage warehouse." "We were wrestling around, being stupid." "And I kissed you." "The first time I ever kissed anybody." "And you smiled your crooked smile and then you puked and passed out, and cracked your head open on the floor." "Never could handle your liquor, Wes." " Mission incomplete." " No." "Eliminate target." "Now, why did you bring me here?" "Think, Wes." "This is Fort Avelson, okay?" "This is the warehouse." "This is where I kissed you that night." "Remember me." "Mr. Luthor." "Three years and a billion dollars spent on Ares." "You tell me you lost him?" "We're in uncharted territory here, Mr. Luthor." "Synthesizing multiple meteor abilities is difficult enough." "But stringing together the molecular chain with peptides extracted from that creature that Bartlett recovered..." "The only thing that allows all these abilities to exist in one subject." "Titan's genetic material was the key to making this project viable." "Which makes the results as unpredictable as the substances I'm being asked to work with." "You're being asked to help protect the world, doctor." "Unstable criminals with dangerous powers are becoming more and more common." "Humanity's only chance of surviving the onslaught is this project." "So kick that big brain of yours in high gear and figure out what the hell went wrong." "Something might have triggered a decay in his memory blocks, a familiar place or person..." "Can't you get a fix on him?" "The field he generates makes it impossible to track him electronically." "It's part of his design." "I want our dog back on his leash, doctor." "Or you'll be my next experiment." "Maybe I could reposition the LuthorCorp satellites." "Generate a broad spectrum pulse that will hopefully reinitiate his command directives." " But there's no guarantee." " I'm not asking for guarantees." "I'm asking for results." "I want Ares back online and his mission completed." "Start the pulse." "I killed a United States senator?" "What happened?" "How did you end up like this?" "I was stationed in Afghanistan." "Our convoy hit an IED." "And then I woke up in a military hospital." " That's when Luthor showed up." " Lex?" "I should've known." "He forced you into this, didn't he?" "He offered me a way to keep serving my country." "By turning you into a brain-dead assassin?" "You think this is what I signed on for?" "He told me Project Ares was gonna help soldiers protect themselves." "So they wouldn't end up like I did." "We won't let him get away with this, I promise you." "Okay, we will expose Lex and Project Ares..." " What is it?" "Wes?" " It's them." "They're trying to get back into my head." "Fight it." "Just look at me." "Look at me." "Run." "Run!" "Lex was experimenting on Wes, trying to make him into a super soldier." "With pick-and-choose meteor powers, oliver told me the same thing." " Oliver knew about Wes?" " No." "He found an earlier model in the Utah desert." "This isn't the first time one of Lex's souped-up Rambos has gone awol." " Was he able to stop him?" " Barely." "It took the equivalent of a mini nuke to break through his force field." " Even if you find him..." " Maybe this will help." " Wes' military jacket." " How did you get that?" "Called in a few favors and had to promise a couple dozen of my own." "Lois was right." "Wes was a hero." "He took her instead of killing her." "If whatever programming they're using to control Wes is failing he'll go back to a place he remembers." "Somewhere he lived or was stationed." "The military base Wes grew up on was decommissioned a few years ago." "Fort Avelson, outside of Metropolis." "Sam Lane was stationed there when Lois was in junior high." "Maybe..." " Do you ever get used to that?" " Not really." "Wes?" "You have to fight this." "Don't let them do this to you again." "You are not a murderer." "Please." "Wes." "Wes?" "System damage." "Return protocol, three, eight, five, two, nine five, three, two..." " Wes." "Three, eight..." "Lois." "You're gonna be fine." "Do you understand me?" "You're gonna be okay." "I'm gonna go get help, all right?" "No." "Better this way." "They'll never stop trying to control me." "You have to stay with me." "Do you hear me?" "Don't let them do this to anyone else." " Okay?" " Okay." "I promise." "But you just stay with me, okay?" "Don't leave me." "Wes?" "Wes?" "No." "No." "Wes?" "Wes." "Come on." "Don't leave me." "How does this happen?" "Wes wanted to serve his country and wound up being used as a pawn." "It happens more than I like to think." "Well, now that Senator Burke is gone..." "Burke isn't the only one on the hill lining his pockets." "Wherever there's power, there'll be men like Lex to exploit it." "Maybe you can do something." "Maybe open an investigation or..." "Clark, I'm a little fish in a tiny pond." "My influence doesn't reach nearly that far up." "Then perhaps it's time to extend that influence." "I just got off the phone with the governor." "We were talking about your filling Burke's senatorial seat until the next election." " Me?" "Kansas needs to be represented by someone of unassailable character who can restore the faith that Burke has tarnished." "The governor agreed." "You are the perfect choice for the U.S. Senate." "Clark." "You agree?" "You should do it, Mom." "I think you should do it." "And I think Dad would have wanted you to." "L..." "I can't move to Washington." "We're barely keeping the farm running as it is." "Clark can take care of that." "Can't you, Clark?" "I can lease out the back 40 to Ben Hubbard." "He's been wanting to work that land." "Oh, Clark..." "You and Dad always taught me to put other people first." "To use my abilities to help those in need." "You have the chance to affect so many people." "To change so many lives if you go to Washington." "That's where you need to be if you really wanna make a difference, Mom." "And that's where people like Wes need you to be." "I don't care what it takes." "I want the body transported to the lab immediately." "Make it happen." "Hey." "You're up." "For a while now." "You never came home last night." "There was an unforeseen complication with Project Ares." "Ares?" "The secret military project I was discussing with Senator Burke yesterday." "When you were listening outside the door." "Lex, I'm sorry." "There is no excuse." "My curiosity got the best of me." "You're not a cat, Lana." "Don't skulk around like one." "It won't happen again." "Every time I've opened my heart to someone I care about I've ended up being very disappointed." "If..." "If you ever betrayed me I don't know what I'd do." "I'd never hurt the man I love." "Of course not." "But if there's anything you ever wanna know about my business dealings just ask." "No secrets?" "No secrets." "Mrs. Kent goes to Washington." "If anyone can give Jimmy Stewart a run for his money..." "I just wish Lionel wasn't helping her." "Think the king of ulterior motives has something up his Armani sleeve?" "When doesn't he?" "Just right now, his son's a bigger problem." "That's the understatement of the century." "We've always know Lex has a dark side." "With what he's been doing recently, we're heading towards pitch-black." "I'll make sure Lana's nowhere near him when the lights go out." "Hopefully he'll be behind bars long before that." "Lois is meeting the feds at the morgue." "And once they connect Wes' body with Lex and then Burke's murder..." " Don't hold your breath." "Wes' body's gone." "What about the feds?" "What did they say when you told what happened?" "I work at The Inquisitor." "You know, aliens, Bigfoot, Elvis." "What do you think they said?" "As far as they're concerned, Wes Keenan died in action four months ago." "Just like it said in his file." "He deserved better than this." "Lois, I'm sorry." "Don't be sorry for me." "Be sorry for Lex." "He's gonna pay for what he did to Wes." "And I'm gonna make damn sure that he doesn't do this to anyone else." "You were almost perfect." "Take him apart." "I wanna know what went wrong so we don't make the same mistake next time." "Quantitating the abnormality won't do us any good, Mr. Luthor." "We used up nearly everything we harvested from Titan." "There aren't enough alien peptide sequences to continue the project." "I'm already working on procuring a replacement." "I promise you, doctor, this isn't the end of Project Ares." "This is just the beginning."