"The boss is here." One of the other work men said.
"The boss?" Clark asked.
"Lex Luthor." The man replied. "And you should see the eye candy he brought." There was a whistle from the foreman and everyone stopped what they were doing. Clark looked towards the front of the construction site and sure enough the Metropolis socialite and businessman was handing a hard hat to…Felicity.
The man next to him let out a low whistle. "Look at that." Clark glared at him. "What?" the man shrugged. "Luthor probably brought her here to pretend that he's a tough manly man so she'll open her legs for him."
"Have some respect." Clark growled. Using his super hearing he listened in on their conversation. Felicity was apparently going to head some community outreach program which would donate computers to this school. Clark frowned, he'd known Luthor had taken over Queen Consolidated; it had been front page news everywhere, but he seemed overly familiar with Felicity. Did they know each other? Clark moved closer to the part of the site where they were standing and noted how excited Felicity seemed to be about this idea. She had taken the blueprint and was eagerly making plans for what needed to be done with the room when the construction would be over. He couldn't help smiling. She was so wrapped up in her imagination, that she had lost all touch with her surroundings. Luthor was watching her as well, though his expression was hungry; possessive. Clark didn't like it, he'd read enough about Luthor to know that he was the type of man who expected to get his way, and it appeared that he was setting his sights on Felicity.
Then Clark heard something wrong. Looking up he saw that one of the metal beams on the scaffolding was loose. The rope binding the stack was cracking and one of them was dangerously close to falling and Felicity was walking right beneath it. He had a flash back to when he was a child and a school bus had fallen into a river. He'd dived in and dragged it out, but in the process had revealed his abilities to some of his classmates.
"What was I supposed to do?" He'd asked his father later. "Let them die?"
His father had shifted uncomfortably before replying "Maybe." Jonathan Kent had cautioned him against using his powers…even when it could help save someone. He'd believed the risk of being revealed outweighed the potential good Clark could do. The beam swayed dangerously. He had seconds to decide. Either pull Felicity out of the way and risk exposing himself…or do nothing. He'd be safe, but he'd have Felicity's blood on his hands. He bit his lip; no one could survive that beam falling on their head. The rope snapped and the beam broke loose, hitting the side of the scaffolding with a loud crash before beginning to fall. Time seemed to slow.
"FELICITY" Luthor shouted. She glanced up from the paper and in confusion, locked eyes with Clark. Her mouth opened slightly as if she were calling to him and he knew; there was no choice. He dove and, gathering her in his arms, pulled her out of the way. They crashed to the ground with him on his back and Felicity pressed against his chest.
"Clark?" She asked. Her glasses were askew, her hair wind swept, and her hard hat had fallen to the ground.
"We need to stop meeting like this." He said. Felicity blushed.
"I don't think we've ever met like this before." She said. Then Luthor rushed over to them.
"Felicity, are you alright?" He asked, trying to pull her off. Clark wanted to keep holding her, but he'd drawn enough attention to himself. He let her go and watched as Lex Luthor helped her to her feet. He stood.
"I'm fine." She said, brushing herself off. "I really need to pay attention to where I'm going." Clark couldn't help but agree; it was the second time he'd saved her. She turned to look at him. "I don't know how I can ever thank you."
Clark flushed in embarrassment as Luthor turned to look at him. Ignoring the business man he smiled at Felicity. "It's nothing."
"It's not nothing." Luthor said, "I was worried that no one could get to her on time." He frowned. "How did you do that, exactly?"
"Adrenaline?" Clark suggested. Luthor's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but fortunately for Clark Felicity's friend chose that moment to jog over and Luthor turned to focus on him.
"Felicity, are you okay?" He asked, checking her over for injuries. Felicity nodded. The other man let out a sigh of relief and pulled her into a hug. Then he looked at Clark. "Sergeant John Diggle." He said, holding out his hand. "Felicity's like a sister to me and I can't tell you how much it means that you saved her."
Clark took his hand and shook it. He was about to give John his name when he realized that he couldn't do it without compromising his identity. He'd given the site a fake name and he didn't want to lie to Felicity. Fortunately Felicity just rolled her eyes.
"I see you're still going for the whole tall, dark and mysterious thing." She said.
"It's working, isn't it?" Clark said. Luthor cleared his throat, unhappy at being ignored. Felicity blushed.
"Mr. Luthor, I think I've seen enough here." She said, holding up the blueprint. "If I can get a copy of these, I can go over them later and email you my suggestions."
Luthor appeared taken aback by being ordered around, but nodded. "In fact, I think you should take the rest of the day off." He glared at the foreman. "I need to discuss the security of this job site." He pulled the man aside and began to berate him. Clark took the opportunity to try and move back, but Felicity put a hand on his arm and held him in place.
"In case you were wondering." She said. "I would like to run into each other on purpose sometime." She straightened her glasses and fiddled with her dress. "Without falling construction equipment." She added. Clark smiled.
"I'd like that too." He said.
"So, how about dinner, tomorrow night?" she asked. "I'll meet you at the Big Belly where we ate after volunteering."
Clark nodded, his throat dry. "Sounds…um sounds great." Felicity grinned.
"I'll see you then," she said, "maybe I'll get a last name."
He smiled down at her. She was shaking slightly from the shock of the near death experience. Her heart was hammering out of her chest and her eyes were wide and sparkling. She was beautiful. He cleared his throat. "As long as I get yours."
"Smoak." She said. "Felicity Smoak." She moved over and, standing on tiptoe, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Smiling one last time, she turned and walked towards the car with Sergeant Diggle. Luthor, who was still threatening the foreman, watched her go and shot an angry look at Clark. Clark turned away. Luthor could glare all he wanted; Felicity wasn't having dinner with him tomorrow night.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Luthor asked when he slid into the car seat next to Felicity. She nodded, her stomach full of butterflies. She wasn't about to admit to Luthor that this particular near death experience had been nothing compared the bomb collar and the mob casino. In fact she hadn't exactly realized what had happened until Clark was under her. Clark…who she'd asked on a date…well she hoped it was a date; she'd never officially called it a date. Either way he'd said yes.
"I'm just pumped for this project." She said.
"Even with construction materials falling on your head?" Luthor asked. Felicity shrugged.
"It takes a lot to faze me." She said simply. "Don't be too hard on the workers, it was an accident."
Luthor frowned. "If they had been better organized it wouldn't have happened. I can't tolerate that type of inattentiveness."
"Sometimes it's possible to do everything right and still not come out on top." Felicity said. Luthor raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. "I'm trying to say that there are sometimes unexplainable variables that our out of our control."
Luthor's frown deepened. "Well, then I guess we are fortunate that your friend managed to be fast enough to save you."
"He's not my…" Felicity flushed. "He's more of an acquaintance than a friend." She said. Luthor's comment jolted something about Clark. She'd seen him before he'd pulled her out of the way. It was weird, but she'd thought he was far from her to save her. Shaking herself, she bit her lip and stared out the window.
"Digg, can you take us back to QC. I have some stuff in my office I need to pick up." She said.
"Sure, Felicity." Digg said.
Lex was seething. How could something so clumsy, foolish and uncontrollable have happened? He should have foreseen it; a construction site was a dangerous place after all. Or he should have played it to his advantage by staging an accident to swoop in and save her. No instead Mr. Muscles had been the one to rescue her. The two knew each other; that much was evident from their interactions. He fought to compose himself. He was Lex Luthor; the idea that a lowly construction worker was competition for him was laughable. A woman like Felicity had nothing in common with that sort of rabble. He gave her a small smile as the car pulled into the Queen Consolidated garage. She got out of the car and left with Diggle, whispering intently. Pausing in front of the elevators, she turned and gave him a smile. "I'll see you soon, Mr. Luthor." He looked down at her and gave her a smile.
"Lex, Ms. Smoak." He corrected. "I think almost getting construction equipment dropped on your head qualifies you to use my first name." He paused. "Are you busy for lunch?" Why was he asking? She could refuse a request. In fact if her regretful expression was any indication she was going to refuse him.
"I…I actually have a ton of paperwork to do because of the promotion." She said. He didn't allow his face to show his disappointment; that's what came of asking. "Thanks for the offer, Mr. Lu…Lex." She corrected when he gave her an amused smile. She ducked into the elevator. Diggle stood next to him. Lex looked over at him.
"I won't be needing your services until I leave for the day." Lex said while getting into the executive elevator alone. He made his way back up to his office, pondering his reaction to Felicity's near accident. Saving her had clearly been a lost cause, yet he'd moved forward anyway. He'd been willing to risk his life on an uncertainty. That unsettled him. He bit his lip and looked out at the city. Somewhere hiding in this city was the means to answer his questions; the means to give him enough power to crush any fools who would oppose him. Fools like that darned construction worker who thought that they had a right to what was his. Because Felicity Smoak was his, he'd wanted her working for him and her turning down his employment offer after she graduated MIT had stung. He didn't accept rejection and from that day he'd decided he'd do whatever it took to possess her. The fact that the pattern of mysterious events had led him to Starling was fortuitous because it mean he could have it all; the woman and the power.
