Veronica Grey's pov
LexCorp HQ, Metropolis
Saturday, December 28th, 2012
The building seems so nice and less intimidating than Wayne Enterprises in Gotham, but some of the things that happen in this building and the company's subsidiaries are unspeakable and infuriating. The penthouse floor outside Luthor's office is a pristine and worker friendly environment, but I know exactly who is on the other side of those double doors. I see the intern at the front desk stand up and rest one hand on the door handle. She's different from Mercy Graves, her hair a glossy black, straightened to perfection with a duet of bobby pins keeping her hair out of her eyes. Her pantsuit is perfect, not a single wrinkle or blemish anywhere, almost like she isn't real.
"Mr. Luthor will see you now." she says warmly with a smile. She probably has no idea who he really is. I get up and give her a smile to be polite, but as soon as I pass her and enter the office, my face turns dark, into a deeply set sneering scowl.
"Veronica, what do I owe the pleasure?" Luthor smiles as I stand before him. He seems so relaxed and in control at the helm of his company.
"I know, it's lovely that I came to you for once, but if you try anything, I will level the building." I give a convincing but hollow threat, lifting my hand and the building groaning. As much as I would never demolish a building full of people, it would be too easy with the entire skeleton of the structure consisting of metal beams, rods, nuts and bolts.
"Let's not be too hasty, now, what can I do for you?" He asks. I'm sure he's worried about his well being but he remains cool and collected on the outside.
"I know about my clone, the one that calls herself Leigh. I know that the tests to make her like me, took such a toll that she is currently on life support." I try to say without my voice cracking or my eyes watering. I can't seem overly informed or else this may not work. But Leigh needs me, regardless of her current ability to say so.
"And?" He asks like it's nothing, just another failing project.
"I want you to relinquish her into my custody, alive. I will care for her and nurse her back to health. I've reviewed all of your research and you are no where near succeeding and I highly doubt you ever will. She was an anomaly in the first place, don't push your luck." I speak with a cold and harsh tone, absolutely infuriated at the situation.
"Is that it?" He raises an eyebrow, wrinkling his forehead. "I decli-" He is about to reject me but I cut him off with another tremor running through the building, the walls creaking and groaning. A metal rod bursts out of the wall and finds itself three inches from his knows, the jagged edges primed to impale, but it's just a threat, nothing more. "Where do you want her moved to?" He asks nervously.
"That is none of your concern. I just want her ready for transport, I'll take care of the rest." I bark at him. It's a nice feeling, seeing the beads of sweat forming on his brow.
"No problem. I'll make the call now." He reaches for the phone, his hand on the verge of trembling uncontrollably.
"I have one more request." I push the jagged metal to his throat, so much so that it almost punctures. "I want to know what happened during the siege. I want to know about Rimbor." I enunciate every syllable, trying to make him even more intimidated.
"It's not my place to tell you about what happened on Rimbor." He just sneers at me, holding his ground. So it's some sort of ship or planet since it was an off world mission.
"Give me the information I asked for and I will leave you alone." I snap in an angry voice. He leans back in his chair and reaches into a drawer in his desk, out comes a fat manilla folder.
"Take it and the clone, and leave." He squints at me as I grab the folder and stick it in my back. The jagged metal rod stays against his thought until I've left the premises.
The Batcave
"I know this is unexpected and I'm sorry I never told you about her, but she's here and this is the safest I can keep her." I try speaking to Bruce calmly but It's just not happening. Leigh is currently being given a blood transfusion to speed up the process of her recovery. She looks like she's dying, hooked up to machines that are keeping her alive in the hospital bed that I managed to get into the Batcave.
"Just calm down. I can understand why you wanted to keep her a secret. No matter who you told, there would have been a chance of the position being compromised." He says out of no where, making me realize that he isn't as angry as I was making him out to be. I can't stop looking at Leigh, her eyes defined by dark circles and her protruding cheek bones. I can just barely make out the stitches in her hairline from the most recent procedure of a craniotomy.
"So you're not mad?" I ask, sort of confused. Out of no where, I see her purple, almost blue lips begin to redden, finding it's way back to it's natural pink. The tips of her fingers twitching a little bit. I hear the sounds on the monitors fluctuations as her vitals increase, improving every second.
"No. I'm actually more relieved that you were willing to help her, unlike Superman's reaction to Superboy." He makes the quick comparison. His hand touches my shoulder as I look down to the ground and take a deep breath. But the moment of silence is rendered irrelevant when I hear sputtering coming from Leigh. She's having a panic attack, eyes wide open and grabbing for something secure but not finding anything. I run to her side, pushing back her hair to check the dilation of her pupils and looking at the monitor to check her numbers.
"Hey, I'm here. It's okay." I reassure her. She ceases her thrashing but her eyes are still wandering around the cave nervously and her breathing remains frantic. "I had you removed from Cadmus, you're safe. No more tests, okay?" I try to get her to acknowledge her situation. She nods, unable to speak with the ventilator tube down her throat. "Now hold still." I say before I slowly remove the tube from her esophagus. Her breathing steadies as I notice the color return to her skin and her muscles regaining the original size and shape from before her deterioration.
"What about Luthor? Won't Cadmus come looking for me?" Leigh rasps. She really must be afraid if that's the first thing she wants to say the first time she's outside of Cadmus. Her blue eyes are absolutely wild in this moment, flitting around and trying to take in everything around her.
"Luthor and I made a deal. I get you and LexCorp doesn't collapse." I smirk, picking up a tray of food and offering it to her. She smiles and takes it, setting it on her laugh as she eats her meal. She really has never had real, natural food in the entirety of her short life.
"Then what do I do now? I don't have a purpose anymore." She looks down, slowing down her eating to think properly. Bruce and I exchange looks briefly worried about her. But I know exactly what to say.
"You're purpose is whatever you want it to be now." I tell her and she nearly chokes on her food. "But before you find your purpose, we need to take you to a safe house I secured earlier in the week. Okay?" I ask her and she sits up slowly, testing her movement.
"Okay." She nods as she stands up. She's still a little on the skinny side but she doesn't look like she's knocking on death's door anymore. I grab a duffle I packed for this event and had it to her.
"The outfit on top is for traveling. We need to get going soon in case they actually do want to get you back." I tell her as she opens the bag. I guess my memories served her well because she grabs the bag and slips behind one of the changing curtains. I walk over to Bruce and pull him aside to make sure Leigh is out of earshot.
"I know this is really complicated and I made a stupid mistake to threaten Lex Luthor, but I got the file, I go the missing sixteen hours." I rush to tell him as I pull the file out of my bag and hand it to him. He opens the manilla folder and begins reading. I don't really know what to make of the next few moments of silence, but when he looks back up at me again, he looks shocked. I haven't seen this facial expression since the first time he came up to say good morning, only to find Roy in my bed.
"Ronnie, this is…" He is at a loss for words. I haven't even read the file in respect for the League and now I really wish I read it. "I have to take this to the League, the Lanterns will be able to take this file to the Guardians and find out where exactly this planet is." He seems horrified.
"What if this isn't enough? What if there is more to the story and we blindly share this information?" I start to panic, but Leigh comes out in a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a baseball cap pulled down to cover her face.
"So, where are we going?" Leigh asks as Bruce leans close in my ear.
"I'll safeguard this information for now. Just make sure she is taken care of." Bruce lets the two of us go. I take her through the zeta tube and the two of us find ourselves in Miami, Florida.
"Why here?" She looks around at the bustling people as we emerge from the alleyway.
"I thought you would like somewhere beautiful with a lot of people." I give her a smile as she follows me down the street. There's a really nice apartment building right on the beach, surrounded by resort hotel buildings. She seems amazed as the two of us go inside. I didn't have time to find her something more luxurious, as much as she deserves it, but we get off the elevator at the fifth floor. I unlock the door and hand her the key as she enters the little apartment that faces out to the ocean.
"How did you manage this?" She is awestruck as she looks around. It's all white and pale yellow colors on the walls and on the furniture. The whole place is immaculate and the bed is probably more plush and extravagant than she's ever experienced. I just wanted her to be comfortable after her harsh experiences.
"You know things like this come easy for technopaths like us." I smile and she seems impressed as she drops the duffle bag and checks to kitchen, pulling out all the favorite food I knew she would want.
"Tiptoeing on the dark side… and there are cookies!" She gets extremely excited as she sees the box of tagalong girl scout cookies. I'm sure she's never had one before but has dreamed of them since she has my memories. They are my favorite as well. I feel so happy just watching her indulge herself for the first time in her life.
"It's not the darkside, I'm protecting you from the bad people." I correct her as she takes all of the food out of the balcony. From the way she is breathing, she is taking in the smell of the ocean. I understand how one can find it as one of the best smells in the world. She looks so happy, eating her food in the sunshine with her short, blonde curls billowing in the wind.