A red tornado

The door opens directly into the study at Luthor mansion. Technically, it's a castle, but that tidbit is usually kept for people she's trying to impress in some way. Jim is not one of those people.

It's rather sparsely decorated for a room it's size; A fireplace that is always roaring, a couch off to the side, a large desk behind which is a comparatively small bookcase. It's dark, which the artwork helps convey. A large pair of heavy wooden doors adorn the far wall, presumably leading to the rest of the house.

The only real points of interest are the stained glass windows just behind the desk. Decorative "L"s are at the centre of each, one in green with a few extra symbols around it and the other plain in purple.

Tess strides and waves a hand around the immediate area.

"Make yourself comfortable, if you want. Drink?"

Tess takes Eric up to her room and ushers him inside.

He is still acting like a lost puppy, but this is better than letting a hungry, confused vampire wander around.

She sits on the bed and takes her shoes off to relax.

When they leave Milliways, Tess and Jim enter what looks very much like an elevator. That's because it is. Steel all around with a camera up in one corner.

Smile, Jim, you're on TessTV!

She presses the button for the top floor and then waits.

It's been a long day for Tess. First a series of meeting at Luthorcorp, then checking in with Perry White about the Daily Planet and now a regular shift at Watchtower.

Thankfully, there's no alien invasion today.

She sits at her desk, dutifully monitoring all their systems, keeping an eye out should one happen to occur, or any other such catastrophe. So far, all signs are clear.

After a few more minutes of checking satellite images, she sighs and folds her hands on the top of the desk, her head following next.

Maybe she can catch some sleep while the world continues on.

Tess has been half-heartedly keeping herself busy planning that getting-to-know-you party for her new co-workers. It should have happened already, but 'half-hearted' for Tess really means 'hardly at all.'

Her mind is on something else completely, but it's something she'll have to deal with on her own. And that's fine. That's how she wants it. However, it remains distracting no matter how hard she tries to focus on anything else.

For the moment, she needs to decide on food options. She'll at least get this finished if it kills her.

Tess should have been better prepared for this. But then, there's no handbook for what to do when the clone of your half-brother goes AWOL. Coming after her, she'd been expecting. Going after Lena... not so much. It's a hell of a time for her to start losing her edge.

None of that matters at the moment. All she's concerned about is Alexander, his gun, and how to get herself and Lena out of this apartment alive. He won't listen to her and she's beginning to think he's right. She did abandon him, didn't she? And he knows exactly how to get her back for it.

He won't listen, but maybe someone else will.

"Please," she whispers, "if you can hear me, help us."


[Posting order Zod, Clark, Tess]

It's a rare day that has Tess running late and putting off listening to voicemails and reading texts that aren't work related. By the time she reaches the Kandorian barracks for the study scheduled for that afternoon, she isn't aware that anything's amiss.

It's when she tries to enter that Tess is given a head's up. Zod, apparently, is ill and she's to leave immediately. Except she wouldn't be Tess if she did, so she ignores the requests and heads directly to the Major's rooms, knocking softly on the door.

"Zod?"

Tess is silent as she follows Basqat to the Kandorian barracks. She rarely makes the journey here, knowing that the army as a whole doesn't trust her. Or like her, for that matter. She may have proven herself to Zod, but it seems this is one case in which his people don' follow his lead.

When they arrive, she keeps to herself, having no real idea how long she'll be here. And she has little idea how she's going to accomplish what needs to be done.

Tess makes her way to Oliver's office, not really wanting to but knowing she can't keep this from him forever. And the sooner he finds out, the better it will be for all of them.

Upon arrival, she doesn't wait to be announced, simply heads straight for the office.

When Tess awoke, she had no idea where she was. Or why she was completely alone, naked and lying on what appeared to be an operating table, covered only in a white sheet. All in all, it was beyond unsettling. She'd grabbed a lab coat and quietly begun to explore her surroundings, only to find she was in the one place she never quite expected to be.

Cadmus Labs.

Further inspection revealed something all the more disturbing; clones of Lex Luthor, in varying stages of health and age, most mutated beyond recognition. Except for Alexander. She'd guessed his age to be around five years old, a small, innocent child. And he was, biologically, Lex himself.

Then she'd inadvertently freed the older one, the "bad one" so Alexander called him. This was more the Lex she'd known, but angrier, more disturbed if that was possible. She'd told Alexander to run and hide and then she watched as the elder clone destroyed the others - and the lab. Tess herself was handcuffed to a pipe against a wall, a small spot of the building he'd left untouched, and he'd given her a message to deliver.

All she could do now was wait.