CHAPTER 7: LENA LUTHOR AND BRUCE WAYNE
From her office in LexCorp, Lena continued to watch down at the press conference and more importantly, watching her 'brother' and Sam Lane were handling the crowd. She was never happy with her father's near constant plans to destroy Superman. But for the moment she was forced to play along with this idea. Lena preferred to use her family's company to benefit humanity instead of trying to control the world. Checking her watch, she noticed that the man she was scheduled to meet was ten minutes late. Not unsurprisingly, knowing his lifestyle.
Suddenly, Lena's attention is diverted from the press conference to the buzzing sound coming from her desk phone. As such, she walked over and pressed a button which placed it on speaker. "Yes?"
On the other end, the voice of a young woman in her twenties replied. "Ms. Luthor, Mr. Wayne is here for your appointment."
"Show him in," Lena replied and with a sigh, walked over to the front of her desk to meet the man that she was expecting. In most cases, she preferred to remain seated, it helped to know who was in power. But for someone like Bruce Wayne, she wanted to approach him as an equal.
Sure enough, the office's double doors opened, an in came Bruce, this time dressed in a black tailored business suit and with a winning smile. "Lena," said Bruce, in a light and confident tone to help his billionaire playboy act. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."
"Hey, I'm always glad to see a fellow businessman and friend," Lena replied with a smile of her own as she approached Bruce and offered her hand to him, to which he took and shook firmly. "So, what brings you here?"
As Bruce pulled his hand away, his smile disappeared and is instead replaced with a more worried expression. "Well, I'm here to talk to you about this new team that you're backing. These 'Argonauts."
Lena sighed and looked away for a moment, hoping that Bruce would notice how tired she looked. She knew that he was smarter than he let on. "Trust me, this wasn't my idea."
Bruce could sense how reluctant she was, but for the sake of his fellow Justice Leaguers, he still needed to press on. "And yet, you still couldn't notify me of this? After all, that is part of the deal of our business merger, isn't it? Especially since I'm aware of the real story concerning your 'brother'…"
"Then you should know how Lex is," Lena snapped back, then took a moment to recollect herself and looked down at the floor. "I've always have to walk such a tightrope when he's off with his schemes, which he's now doing more freely since coming up with the whole 'Julien' front." Lena trailed off as she briefly looked out the window and into the distance, where a familiar blue and red streak had caught her eye. "Besides, it's not like you and Kord haven't been donating to the League for years. Using your subsidiaries."
Bruce let out a discouraged sigh before answering. "True, but Ted and I have always respected their secret identities. I'm not saying that they're above the law, but they have enemies who will do whatever they have to do to get to them, even if it means attacking their loved ones. Bottom line, they keep their real names a secret to protect those they care about, not just themselves, and thus this new law that Lane and Lex have cooked up will be putting them in jeopardy."
"Well, not to split hairs, Bruce, but General Lane has helped you and the League in the past, hasn't he?" Lena retorted as she continued to look out the window, then turned and faced the billionaire. "So, don't you think that you and the League owe him the benefit of the doubt? Or better yet, maybe you can ask for his help in coming up with a fair compromise?"
This answer caused the skeptic Bruce to shake his head. "I'm not so sure about that."
Lena let out a frustrated sigh, but nevertheless maintained her professional, but gentle demeanor. "Bruce, please trust me when I say that this law is the best chance at helping the public see the League as the true heroes that they are and can truly trust." As she continued, Lena gave Bruce a small smile. "Besides Bruce, just because we disagree on this doesn't mean we can't be friends."
"True," Bruce replied honestly, but kept a serious expression. "But the Justice League are my friends too, Lena. And as such, I can't support anything that will endanger them and the people they care about."
"Believe me, I understand what you mean all too well," Lena replied as she briefly glanced at a picture frame on her desk, then looked back at Bruce with a determined expression. "But trust me when I say that the League's safety is my primary concern, as well as General Lane's. Which is why I can tell him that there must be a compromise when it comes to their identities. And if anybody knows that I can convince anyone of anything, it's you. All I ask for you to convince the League, Superman, in particular, to come meet with him at the UN."
Bruce briefly turned away and walked over to one of the guest chairs and placed both of his hands on the back as if to appear to be conflicted, when in reality, he was placing a small, bat shaped recorder in the back to listen in one whatever conversation Lena was having in this office. Even so, he did feel somewhat uneasy about resorting to this, as he did sense the sincerity of Lena's words. But nevertheless, he still knew he had to act on the League's behalf, and after placing the bug in the chair, he let out a small laugh. "Well, I can't say that you've never performed miracles since taking this job," Bruce said lightheartedly, then looked at Lena to tell her his reluctant decision. "All right, I will talk with Superman and tell him about this compromise while you do the same with Lane…on one condition. That as your partner, I'd like for you to keep me informed about these Argonauts of yours."
Lena gave Bruce a returning smile, grateful that he seemed to be willing to give this idea a chance. "Deal," she said to him. "And I promise, there's nothing about this you won't know."
"That's good to hear," Bruce replied, humoring her for he already knew what was going to go on in this office thanks to the recording device he previously planted. "And sadly, I'm afraid I have to leave. My board of directors at Wayne Tech are waiting for me."
Upon hearing this, Lena rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You really need to learn to delegate."
"That's what my butler keeps telling me," Bruce replied with a small laugh. "But, I'm working on it. Still up for lunch Wednesday?"
"Sure," Lena answered with a shrug, then briefly looked at her desk picture frame again, which had the picture on her with a smiling six-year-old girl with blonde hair at the Gotham science fair. It was her daughter Lori, who by now was fourteen and showing all the signs of a girl her age. "Mind if I bring my daughter along? She always wanted to meet you."
"Not at all," Bruce said reassuringly. "In fact, if all the years of having wards has taught me anything, it's that kids always know to brighten things up."
Though she found this line corny, Lena couldn't argue with that in regards to her child. As such, she gave Bruce a coy smile "Just be sure to show up on time for this one, Mr. Wayne. Because when it comes to tardiness, I'm not as forgiving as your board of directors are."
"Dually noted," replied the chuckling Bruce. "See you then, Lena," With a friendly wave, Bruce turned and walked out of the office.
Once Bruce was gone, Lena relaxed and leaned back in her chair. It was hard dealing with people like Wayne, but she had gotten used to it. Reminding herself that she wasn't doing it for her insane 'brother', but for her daughter. As she reminded herself as she reached over, picked up the picture frame and gently touched the place where he little girl was.
As for Bruce himself, he makes his way through the hallway and towards the elevator, he briefly looked at his wrist watch to see that the bug he planted was recording. "Wish I could say that I could trust you, Lena," he thought. "But your last name and the person you're relate to isn't exactly a good incentive. Now I just need to inform the League, and hope that Kent doesn't do anything rash."
