Hello. Guess who's back already. It is time for another story. I am hoping to make this one better than the last (which some of you might find hard to believe). I will be focusing more on accuracy than on speed this time (meaning I hope to have less errors in this story and, consequently, that might mean the updates are less frequent, but I feel it is necessary, all those errors I had last time were driving me crazy). Ok let us go forth.

I own none of the LU characters. They belong to the WB Corporation

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Casting Shadows

It was a dark rainy night in Acmetropolis. The rain was coming down in heavy sheets and there was an occasional flash of lightning, followed closely by the sharp crack of thunder that reverberated throughout the sky. It was late and all the buildings were empty and dark…all but one.

The very prestigious law firm of Clinton&Dole&Perot had one single light on in one single office (it is worth noting that the Perot section of the sign was being replaced with the name Hail). The sign and the light in the top-most office went unnoticed to everyone at this time of night…all except a shadowy figure on the rooftop across the street. The figure stood there without giving a thought to the pouring rain. The figure's was only concerned with the office and it's inhabitant. It stood staring through the large windows that make up one entire wall of the room. Suddenly a flash of lightning…then the figure is gone. Vanished as if it had never been there at all.

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In side the office there sat a middle-aged man with thinning gray hair. It was 58 year-old Ronald Hail, the newest partner to the firm (even though he had been working there for many, many years). He sat working diligently on some case files that had been presented to him earlier that day. His secretary was on vacation so he had to do most of that sort of work himself.

He sat reading a case file intently, then put it down when he was finished. He leaned back in his chair and glanced at his watch. 9:48. Dame it's getting late. He considered calling it a night but decided against it. One more won't kill me he thought as he picked up another folder. He had worked long and hard to earn the position he now occupied, and he wanted to make sure that his new partners knew they had made the right choice in picking him to replace Mr. Perot after his retirement

He began to skim the file over when suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end and he felt goose bumps appear on his bare fore arms (he had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to get them out of the way). He slowly began to get a tingling sensation in the back of his head...like a strange itch. He slowly looked up and saw the silhouette of a person standing in front of his door. I didn't hear any footsteps, he thought I didn't even hear the door.

"Hello…can I help you with something?" he asked in a polite manner. There's no reason to be rude...yet. The figure moved in a little closer. Ronald only had his small desk-lamp on so the stranger was still shrouded in complete darkness.

"Hello." The figure repeated the greeting. The voice was low and rough, yet it still had a mysteriously smooth and even charming effect. Despite it's rather harsh sound Ronald could tell that this man was speaking in a calm subdued tone. "I'm here to discuss you former associate, Mr. Miles Standish." Ronald tensed slightly in spite of himself. Dame…hope he didn't notice that.

"What exactly would you like to discuses?" he asked the stranger calmly.

"Mainly your association with him…and his death." His answer was smooth and emotionless. Ronald visibly winced at hearing this.

"Ah yes. Terrible business that…but listen might we talk about this another time?" He pleaded. He did not have a very good feeling about this situation. He knew he had to be the only person left in the building, and, from first impression, this was not the kind of man you want to be left alone with.

"Afraid not. It is rather important." The stranger continued in the same monotone voice.

"Might I know who I am speaking to then?"

"That's none of your concern at the moment." The stranger's cold, emotionless tone was beginning to make Ronald feel a little uncomfortable. The stranger walked into the room a little more and continued. "It's too bad about how he died…Miles I mean. I understand he had a very promising career ahead of him." Ronald could not see the strangers face but he got the feeling he was being stared at intently…as if being appraised or scrutinized.

"Yes it was too bad, and he did have a good career going." Ronald went along with the stranger. Let's just see what he's getting at.

"In fact he was in the running to fill the place of Mr. Perot at this firm wasn't he. In the running against you." He said this now with the slightest inflection of friendliness in his voice.

"Yes…he was." Ronald replied cautiously. No need to get alarmed yet. It was in all the newspapers after all.

"So I guess his dying was a good thing…for you at least." Ronald looked at him a little crossly. The stranger moved over to another side of the office and leaned against the wall. "I even heard that they were originally going to choose him for the partnership position, but since he died you got the job by default." That sent some serious red flags with Ronald.

"Where did you hear that exactly?" he asked while trying to maintain a calm, cool composure.

"A little birdie told me, a birdie by the name of Sal Moss. You know him don't you." He put his hand on his chin in thought. "In fact he was one of your clients not to long ago. Yeah, he was up on attempted murder charges. Then you requested to be put as his defense attorney and got it down to assault. He ended up coming out on parole in only a week or so right?"

"Yes that is correct." Ronald was getting the feeling that this man knew more than he was telling, and that he was being toyed with. He did not like that.

"What I can't understand is how a low profile thug like Sal was able to hire one of the best lawyers in the city and still have enough left to make bail."

"I offered my services for free." Ronald replied as he tried to figure out what this man was after.

"Ah yes…that would explain it I guess. Anyway, it is too bad about Miles. Brake failure, that's some way to go." He shook his head with apparent sadness. "And brake failure due to neglect…that's just too bad."

"Yes it is, but these things happen." Ronald replied nonchalantly.

"I talked to his family, you know. His wife said he always took good care of his car."

"I guess he made a mistake of some sort."

"Yeah I guess…" the stranger moved off the wall and moved back to the middle of the room. Once there he began to pace as he spoke. "I just can't help but feel bad for his family. Wife…three kids…forth one on the way…really could have used the extra money that job was going to bring in. Coarse, I don't need to tell you that…you met his family after all." Ronald was getting seriously suspicious now. How dose he know all these things? And what is he trying to get? He stopped pacing to look at Ronald. "But I suppose you deserved the job more in the end. After all you have been here a lot longer than he was. You worked your way up over the years to the position you got to…then this young upstart shoots past you and leaves you in the dust. Then to hear that their going to give him the job that obviously belonged to you…must have tore you up inside." He finished by getting right in front of the desk. Despite what he was saying, his voice never moved far from his calm, smooth, subtl tone. Ronald could still not see his face but was able to tell he was clad entirely in black, also there seemed to be a faint…crackling emanating from him, but he could not dwell on his appearances at the moment.

"Well it did disappoint me to hear I was not going to get the job, but Miles was a good man."

"Still it's a good thing he died and you got the job instead of him." The stranger stated bluntly.

"I would not have put it that way…" Ronald said. He was not stupid. Years of being a lawyer had taught him notice when someone was fishing for information, and he was not about to take the bait until he knew what this man was trying to do, and how capable he was at obtaining his goal.

"Really? Because that's not what I heard. I heard that you were quite…bitter about the whole thing."

"You heard that from who?" Ronald was getting more and more threatened by this man but held his tongue for now. He had always been a cautions man, and now was not the time to change that.

"Our friend Sal. We had a long discussion actually. I found out you two knew each other quite well…isn't that right Ronald?"

"He was my client." He stated plainly, but his face had significantly darkened and, much to his chagrin, beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead.

"Yes, but he said you got to know him even more than what was required to serve that purpose. He said you even hired him to do an odd-job for you…a very odd-job." That's it, Ronald thought. He slowly and quietly slid his hand into his drawer and took hold of the pistol he kept stored there…after all he was a cautious man.

"Oh really. He told you that."

"Yes. A job that was quiet successful I might add, but I don't have to tell you that now do I." He leaned forward on the desk.

"What exactly is it you want?" Ronald asked again, only this time more firmly. He was done playing these games.

"You caught me. I am here for a purpose." The stranger then moved around the desk as he continued to talk. "I'm actually here on business…this is apart of my job I mean."

"What exactly is your job then?" Ronald asked as his grip tightened on the pistol.

"I fix things." The stranger stated simply. "When something goes wrong, I fix it, so to speak. I'm here now to finish fixing something."

"And what would that be?" Ronald asked. He moved his chair so he could look at the strangers face, but it remained shrouded in darkness. This new position also made it possible to keep his gun hidden and still have a clear shot at the man.

"Miles death. I'm trying to…make sure justice is done." He was only two or three feet away from Ronald now. He was a physically imposing man…tall, maybe 6ft'6in, and slim for his height. Ronald was not the type of man to be intimidated easily though.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Well it's actually turning into a two step process. At first I thought I might have to only talk with one person…Sal, but once I met him he started singing…after a little persuasion. He told me all about the deal you two had." The stranger now talked in a confident voice and his movements were very relaxed.

Ronald was now very tense and was sweating profusely. He tightly clutched the pistol in one hand and the chair arm with the other to keep them from shaking. "And what deal would that be?" He asked rather tentatively. He was quickly moving down a road that was not going anywhere he wanted to go.

"Ok, I'll explain it to you. It's not a very complicated plan, but still a good one. You agreed to help get Sal off the hook with the law and in return…you got him to take out your competition." Ronald's face was now twisted into one of shock and horror. How dose he…Sal that idiot. Well there's no other way out of this that I can see. Just have to wait for the right moment now. "Any way, Sal and I reached an understanding, and now that just leaves you."

"So are you going to take me to jail…or just kill me?" Ronald now asked bluntly. Subtly be dammed. Let's just got this over with.

"I'm not going to the police. That's not my style, and nether is kill you. You can ask Sal that...when you see him." Ronald now looked surprised. Then what the hell is he planning on doing…doesn't matter I'm going to kill him anyway."I suppose it's time I get the job done…it is getting late after all." The stranger looked at a watch he had on his wrist to emphasise his point. After he finished doing this, the stranger moved forward toward Ronald. Ronald squeezes the trigger…'click'. He looks down and sees that he had not turned off the safety. When he looks back up the stranger is standing directly in front of him.

The table lamp suddenly dies…a man's cry rings out, but it is masked by the sharp crack of thunder. Then the only sound is the rain hitting the windows. Lightning illuminates the office and reveals…nothing. Both men are gone without a trace…as if they had never been there at all.

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There we go. Ch1. Better right? Tell me what you think so far. I am very excited about this story…but I'm not exactly sure where it's going to end up. So we'll see where my imagination takes us. R&R pleas, pleas, pleas. (I hope you got that joke that was hidden in this story).