Matched

The quiet rumbling of the pod wakes up its sleep-induced occupant, Lutessa Kee-ran. She blinks hazily, greeted by the ever still presence of nothing but darkness, the quietness of the phantom zone where she had been stuck in for quite a long time — 12 years, if the hologram on her pod is correct, and well, it usually is.

Despite the years though, Lutessa could still vividly remember the day of Krypton’s explosion like it was mere minutes ago when it happened — and in a way, maybe it has been only mere minutes ago, after all, time does not pass in the phantom zone.

Lutessa can still remember the way her heart thundered when she woke up from her afternoon nap, the panic she felt upon hearing the screams of her people, the feeling  of the floor shaking beneath her, and the distinct sounds of crashing and explosions everywhere. She remembers running outside the abode of the Noble House of Ran and seeing her people running from all directions, trying to find a place of solace to no avail. She remembers being intercepted by her husband, Kee-ran, and being dragged somewhere. She can vaguely remember entering the dispatching area of Argo, where the pods take off for space voyage;  being told to enter a Kryptonian pod readily available for her, and that not far from her, there were two other Kryptonian pods which contained the heirs of the Noble House of El, Kee-ran informed. She can remember her husband telling her that there was no time — that Krypton was about to explode and that she should survive, along with their child, the sole heiress of the House of Ran, and live on Earth.

“Kee-ran—“ She tried to ask him to go with them, to stay with her — with her and their child.

She remembers the pained twinkle of her husband’s green eyes — the tears that ran down his cheeks. She remembers him apologizing over and over again — how he wished they could have more time. She remembers crying, pleading. She can still remember the feeling of her husband’s lips, soft and salty with both of their tears — but mostly, she remembers feeling that it was a kiss of goodbye; that it was the last time they would see each other.

She watched when the pod of Kal-El’s, Jor-El and Lara’s son zoom out of the sterile runway of the dispatching area. Before her husband sealed her pod, Kee-ran told her that she should take care of Kara Zor-El, and Kal-El, and most importantly, their unborn child, Lena Kee-ran.

“Khap zhao rip.” That was the last thing Kee-ran told her, before her pod was sealed and zoomed out of Krypton , following Kara Zor-El’s pod.

She can remember looking back and seeing Krypton explode with her own two eyes, and how the wave from the explosion knocked hers and Kara Zor-El’s pods off-course.

Now, she is here, 12 years later, still stuck. She doesn’t know where Kara Zor-El is. The few times she was awake, she tried to look for her or her pod, at least, but she could not find her. She doesn’t want to lose hope... she believes that Kara Zor-El is still out there, but she doesn’t know what else to do.

Her birth which should have happened 12 years ago has been delayed, she knows that. Because of time stopping in the phantom zone, the growth of her child has ceased as well. Lutessa would have lost her mind, were it not for her child.

Instead, when she was not asleep, she watched and learned everything she could have about Krypton’s destruction, and about Earth, through the crystals installed in her pod. She learned English, French, Spanish, Irish, Italian, Afrikaan, Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino, so that wherever she might crash, she would be able to communicate even a little bit with whoever — she could always learn other languages if need be.

She also learned about Krypton’s destruction.

What she thought was sudden was not surprising at all — at least for the members of the High Council.

Kee-ran, her husband, was one of the members of the High Council of Krypton, along with Alura Zor-El, Kara’s mother, and Jor-El, Kal’s father. Kee-ran was also the head of the Noble House of Ran, and one of the prominent members of the Science Guild. The High Council was aware of Krypton’s impending destruction but did nothing to save it nor to inform the people until it was too late.

Lutessa wept when she found out about it. Months prior to Krypton’s destruction, Kee-ran, Jor-El, Zor-El and Alura had started planning their escape already. It had been decided that the children — Kara, Kal-El, and the unborn Ran child — and Lutessa would be sent to Earth to live and survive. She wept about the lost opportunities. She wept about her child’s childhood that she could never experience now with Krypton’s explosion. She wept about her husband, her family, her friends, her culture, her planet.

Now, there are only the three of them, four if Kal survived — she hopes he did. If only she can find Kara’s pod.

The quiet rumbling of Lutessa’s pod pulls her back to the present time. Lutessa sits properly and clicks on the controls of the pod, trying to find out what is happening. The rumbling is getting louder and louder, accompanied by the shaking of the pod. While individually, it is not something to worry about, together? They are.

Before Lutessa can find out what is happening, she feels the familiar pull that signifies movement. Her pod is moving, to where? She doesn’t know.

She clicks on the controller, trying to find out and she is greeted by the clear image of the planet Earth.

She’s entering Earth’s atmosphere!

Lutessa’s heart is beating with excitement, nervousness, and hope. She is here!

However, before she can totally rejoice upon the prospect of landing, her pod is increasing in velocity. It is shaking violently, which Lutessa knows should NOT be happening. While she isn’t much fond of flying and travel, in general, she has ridden a Kryptonian pod before when Kee-ran would ask her to travel to another planet for business or pleasure. So, she knows that the pod is not supposed to be shaking! It should be smooth and slow!

Lutessa breathes and fixes her seatbelt, covering her stomach with her hand  to protect her unborn child. She closes her eyes and accepts her fate. If this is Rao’s will, she would trust in Rao.

Lionel Luthor is a very wealthy businessman, known for his ruthlessness and cold-heartedness in the boardroom, and his compassion for the people. To the world, he is the CEO of the leading corporation in the field of science and technology. To the orphanages and charitable hospitals, he is their benefactor and hero. To his family, he is a workaholic man who knows nothing but work and charity — much to their chagrin. But to Lionel? He likes to think of himself as a simple man with goals and priorities.

Currently, he is in Wicklow, in the province of Leinster, in the country of Ireland.

In some ways, his family is right. Lillian Luthor and Alexander or Lex Luthor are right. He is a workaholic. He always aspires to expand his business all over the world.

That is what he is doing now.

He went to a couple of business conferences in Dublin to expand the reach of his business. He negotiated with the hospitals in Dublin to use their technology exclusively for 10 years.

Now, he is on his way to his private manor in Wicklow — where he goes to unwind, to be free — a place where no one, not even his family, knows about.

Whenever he goes to Wicklow Manor, he lets his driver and her bodyguards stay in a hotel in Dublin to leave him so he can drive to Wicklow alone. No one objects — no one can or dare to even try. To Lionel, Wicklow is his sanity.

He has entered the driveway of the Manor when he sees a fast-approaching meteor in the sky. He follows it with his eyes, seeing its trajectory and realizing it is going to crash at his backyard, much to his chagrin. Lionel can only stare wide-eyed and slack-jawed, until a loud boom echoed, signaling the crash of said meteor in his property.

His scientific curiosity — and definite lack of self-preservation — makes him go out of his car and sprint toward his backyard. His mind runs a mile a minute with all the possible discoveries he could make with this meteor; with the possibility of ushering in a new era of science and technology! But —

Lo and behold! As the dust settles down, he realizes that it is, after all, not a meteor, but a container?

It’s a silver tube with what looks like wings at its back. A part of the silver container opens, and Lionel sees a person — a woman.

Lionel approaches the silver container slowly, looking around the area if anyone else is coming — he hopes not. He really really hopes no one comes.

Nearing the silver container, Lionel sees an unconscious woman with long wavy black hair, sharp jaw, and high cheekbones, wearing what looks like a white robe? then the seatbelt, he assumes, automatically snaps out, freeing the woman. For a moment, Lionel only stares at her. She is pretty — but that’s not the point! The point is she crashed into his backyard, coming out of nowhere.

At first, Lionel thought that maybe, just maybe, this is a military flight training gone wrong but Lionel knows that is only wishful thinking.

Lionel is, after all, well-versed to anything technology and he has never — ever — seen such kind of transportation device as the one the woman is currently in. More importantly, he has never seen anyone in a car crash — much less in a plane crash or whatever this silver container is — with no sign of either a wound or bleeding anywhere.

Lionel slowly reaches out his hand, thinking of waking up the woman — or you know, determining if she is even alive.

However, before Lionel can even touch her, the woman slowly blinks her eyes, turning her head towards him, an unfamiliar man, no doubt.

“My baby.” Is the only thing the woman whispers before she passes out again.

That is when Lionel realized, much to his mortification, that the woman is, indeed, pregnant, if the now visible swollen belly indicates something.

Without thinking, Lionel reaches for the woman and carries her out of the silver container, grunting at how heavy she is for a petite woman — he must admit that she is pregnant, and well, okay, maybe he doesn’t exercise as much. In his defense, however, being a CEO, and more importantly being a Luthor, do not leave that much room for workouts.

He brings her inside through the backdoor of the Manor which automatically opens upon sensing Lionel’s DNA and lays her down the couch.

Again, Lionel realizes that the woman has no wounds — at all. Not even any sign of previous bleeding or anything. She is clean if a little pale. Too pale.

At that moment, Lionel is stuck still, realizing for the first time that he is probably dealing with non-human stuff here.

Aliens . He thinks though he pushes the thought away — at least for the time being because right now, there’s only one thing he is sure of.

No one can know about this. About her .

Lionel gives a last long look at the woman laying on his couch before he marches out of the manor and into his storage room. He pulls out a broom and a large black cloth — he needs to clean his backyard and cover the silver container. He is NOT that ambitious to think he can move the silver container on his own — but he can cover it, and clean any sign of crashing. Yes. That’s what’s exactly he is going to do.