Chapter 15: The Project
The medic on duty had given her some painkillers after confirming that the injury was not serious enough for a visit to the hospital, but the pills did not do much for the dizziness.
Lisa leaned back against the wall outside the door, closing her eyes against the headache as she waited for her turn to speak with the boss. Ever since 'the incident' earlier that morning, Mr. Luthor had been calling people into his office, no doubt hushing up any knowledge they had of the Project and her escape with a few small bribes and threats. She had not seen him go in, but from the raised voices emerging from the room, she could tell that Mr. Wilson happened to be Alexander's current visitor, and neither of them seemed very happy.
"-was not in the contract," she heard Mr. Wilson growl, "I cannot be expected to go after her-"
Lex interrupted him, his tone dripping with withheld fury, "You explicitly specified that once paid, Deathstroke always completes the contract. I paid for Stormkrigeren's training for the next year in advance. You have the money, but you haven't trained the student, so bring her back and finish the damn contract!"
Silence reigned for a long moment and Dr. Schreyer could easily imagine the two men glaring daggers at each other, until Mr. Wilson finally replied in a low voice she could barely make out.
"Call it off."
"No," Lex replied simply, and Mr. Wilson snarled in response.
"Then call me when you find my damn student, Luthor."
Lisa warily backed away from the door as it was forcibly shoved open and Mr. Wilson emerged, barely glancing in her direction as he stormed away. Lex had obviously called him in at a bad time as the assassin was wearing the full black-and-orange armor that marked him as a hired killer.
Lisa let out a small sigh of relief once he had left and turned towards the door of the office to see Lex standing there, hands casually in his pockets as he stared after the man. He sighed after a moment, finally turning to her with a soft smile.
"Sorry you had to hear that, Lisa," he shrugged, turning to gently guide her into his office with a hand on her back, "I can promise you that we're going to get little Darcie back as soon as possible-"
Dr. Schreyer stopped suddenly, glaring at his back as Lex walked a step further before glancing back at her and shaking his head with a sigh. "You too? Okay, let me have it."
"You can't keep a trained assassin trapped and tortured underground for her entire life and still expect her to obey you," she declared in a low voice, raising her chin in defiance, "Wilson's right. I want out."
Alexander's countenance darkened as he straightened up, opening his mouth to reply something equally harsh when the door opened behind them. Both turned to look at the intruder and Lex's frown instantly became a blinding smile as he addressed the man standing there.
"Alpha! Just the man I was expecting, I'm in need of some good news. So your men were able to follow the tracker?"
Alpha, being a tall, thin, well-dressed man whose build was not entirely suited to his codename, seemed especially averse to making eye contact with his employer as he nodded.
"Yes, sir. It was in a silver Ford F-150, heading south on the I-9 when we caught up to it," he replied simply, "We found the piece on the back seat. The driver required a little persuasion, but he claims he has no idea what it is or how it got there."
"Tt, it was obviously a decoy," Lex nodded, "This won't be a problem. Alpha, get your Hunters. You know what to do."
The man nodded sharply, promptly exiting the office as Lex turned back to the waiting Schreyer, pressing his fingertips together with a smirk.
"So… that's Alpha. Nice guy, real good with the moves."
"I'm resigning from my position," Dr. Schreyer said firmly, earning a low chuckle from him.
"You know, I was just thinking about how hard it is for criminals to get decent jobs these days. The illegal immigrants in particular, even though we all know how hard they work to stay in Blessed America," he smiled thoughtfully. The subtle jab at her lack of official citizenship and the overhanging threat were not lost on Schreyer as Lex continued.
"You just might want to stay on a little longer, Lisa. I can guarantee my Hunters will have disobedient little Darcie back within the fortnight."