A man in a blue suit was waiting for Lex as soon as he reached the terminal. "Mr. Luthor?" the man inquired. When Lex nodded, he went on to tell Lex that a limousine was waiting outside for him and asked if Lex needed help with his luggage. Again, Lex acquiesced, allowing the man to collect his suitcases, with the exception of the briefcase he'd carried on. Then he followed the man out of the airport. A shuttle was waiting to take airport patrons to the parking lots. This, Lex was informed, was all part of Gotham's new security measures. It kept the amount of loiterers down, and as the shuttles were equipped with security cameras, everyone entering the airport was accounted for. Not a bad system, Lex thought, although it would never work with the Metropolis airport's layout. Besides, Lex happened to know that the city was entertaining bids from both LuthorCorp and another, smaller company for their security needs. The newcomer was backed by Wayne Enterprises. It would be interesting to see which bid would be accepted, although Lex could care less. Either way, he still stood to profit, even if LuthorCorp did not.
Lex pushed thoughts of business from his mind as their shuttle came to a stop in the parking lot in front of a black stretch limousine. The blue suit from the airport opened the door and Lex slipped into the vehicle.
Inside, Bruce was pouring champagne in to a glass, which in turn, he held out to Lex.
"Mr. Wayne, I presume," Lex said as he took the glass from his host.
Bruce smirked back at him, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Ah, so you've done your homework this time, Mr. Luthor? I'm impressed." He filled his own glass with the sparkling alcohol, nodding in Lex's direction as he took a sip.
"I've always been one to learn from my mistakes," Lex informed him with a mirroring smirk.
"How was your flight?" Bruce asked casually.
"Pleasant enough. I read an interesting article in the latest edition of Fortune."
"Really?" Bruce took another sip of his drink, licking away a stray drop of alcohol as it tried to slide down his full, lower lip. Lex watched the movement of his lover's tongue with rapt attention. "What was it about?"
The question jolted Lex out of the fantasy that was playing out in his head. "Wayne Enterprises, actually," he said. "You, to be more specific." These last words were spoken in a low voice.
Setting his glass aside, Lex leaned in to capture Bruce's mouth with his own. The lips beneath his parted in a ragged exhalation of breath, and Lex plunged his tongue between them, stroking the tongue he'd been eyeing only moments before. Bruce's arms tightened around him, pulling Lex closer until he practically lay on top of him. Their bodies lined up perfectly, Lex noted with what was left of his sane mind. He could feel the desire radiating from both of them and all he wanted to do right now was...
Suddenly, Bruce was pushing him away, groaning in frustration as he did so. "Bruce?" he questioned raggedly.
"No time," was the equally ragged answer. "We'll be there soon. And besides..." Bruce grinned wickedly. "This isn't exactly what I had planned for our first time in... God, has it really been since December?" He sounded astonished... and frustrated.
Lex knew the feeling. His entire being was rebelling at the thought of Bruce Wayne being so close to him. "W-what," he asked, his voice hitching with interrupted desire "did you have planned for us--exactly?"
The question seemed to soothe both men, and they settled easily back into their seats. Bruce's evil smile broadened. "Wouldn't you like to know," he quipped, running his fingers along Lex's arm. What a tease.
"Yes, I would," Lex retorted, snatching the fingers and kissing them perversely, sucking each digit into his mouth and massaging with his tongue before moving on to the next. He was rewarded with another groan before Bruce snatched his hand away.
"Lex..." came a rough warning. Lex grinned; he could tease, too.
"What?" he asked as innocently as a Luthor could possibly manage. Bruce burst into merry laughter. "What?" Lex asked again, smothering the mirth that sprang to his own lips.
"Ah, Lex... it's good to see you again," Bruce said, still chuckling. It was good to see Bruce again, too, if truth be told. After months of only his father for company, Bruce Wayne's smiling, happy face was a welcome sight. "How are things going for you in Metropolis?" his companion asked, seeming to be genuinely interested.
Ah, back to small talk. Lex could do small talk, he decided. "As well as can be expected," he answered. "The penthouse is a bit lonely, though," he added, fishing.
"Lonely? I thought you were used to being alone."
"I was," Lex admitted. "But that was before Smallville... and you." It was true, too. Before Smallville, Lex hadn't needed--or thought he'd needed--anyone. But his short time there had changed him. He'd made friends, and had come to depend on people other than himself. Bruce smiled at this, as Lex hoped he would.
"Speaking of Smallville," the young Wayne grinned. "Our plans there are really falling into place." Lex nodded; he knew they were. What started as debt consolidation for the farmers and anyone else who wanted it had slowly turned into the Smallville Farm & Home Credit Union--which was rapidly putting the squeeze on his father's bank. While his father raised interest rates, the credit union offered a zero percent interest and a two-year grace period on all loans. Lex happened to know that the Smallville Savings and Loan was losing customers daily.
"A buy-out may be in order, I think," he commented. "That is, unless Dad doesn't close the bank down first. He's not very happy with that particular investment."
His partner nodded, as if filing this information away for later use. "And I decided what to do with the factory you sold me," Bruce sounded pleased with himself.
"Have it condemned?"
"Hardly. What do you know about fiber optics?"
"Enough to know manufacturing it in Smallville will call for some serious reeducation," Lex told him. "Can you afford that?"
Bruce merely smiled, as if Lex had forgotten to whom he was talking. Okay, so it *was* a stupid question. "And a wage increase once they all finish their reeducation," Bruce added. "I've already started, actually. By next year, the entire work force your father laid off should be back to work."
"Well, that's good." Bruce nodded in agreement. "I hear old Mr. Tullson decided to sell out rather than rebuild his farm," Lex added. Tullson had been the one holdout to their offers of help.
"Yeah," Bruce said with a sigh. "He's decided to move to Florida with his daughter and her family. I'm in the process of buying the property, actually."
"Really?" Lex was intrigued. What did Bruce Wayne want with a dilapidated old farm?
As if reading his mind, Bruce brought forth a timely answer to the unspoken question. "I think it's the perfect spot for a vacation home. And the farm house will look stunning once it's restored."
"Vacation home? I thought you already had a vacation home in Paris?" asked Lex.
"Actually I have--*had*," Bruce corrected himself, "--three vacation homes... in various locations. Three..." he said, as if puzzled by the number. "The one in Vermont was a wedding present to my parents from my mom's people. The other two--I'm not quite sure how I acquired them." His voice was questioning.
"Over-zealous minions?" Lex supplied.
Bruce chuckled. "Possibly very likely." He shrugged. "I sold the Vermont home to a couple wishing to turn it into a bed & breakfast and had the other two turned into youth hostels."
Lex smiled, struck by the quandary his friend presented. If his mood swings from vivacious to brooding had been hard to get used to, so was this--Bruce's way of seeming suddenly overwhelmed by his wealth one minute and then totally in control of it the next. Both expressions were so natural, however, that Lex was unsure which was the façade and which was real. Or if they both weren't real. Or if neither were real. Sometimes, it occurred Lex that maybe he'd invented this man out of some unrealized desire to have someone in his life who understood him.
But if that were the case, why hadn't he done so earlier in his life? It certainly would have saved him years of boredom.
The obvious answer, of course, was that Lex hadn't invented Bruce as some sort of imaginary playmate. He was real in every sense of the word. "So... a vacation spot in Smallville? How... convenient." As he said the words, a smile played across his lips at the thought of long weekends away from the city... away from his father... wrapped in his lover's arms.
"I thought so," Bruce said in a low, husky voice. He smiled lazily
before leaning in to kiss Lex softly. "We're here," he said quietly
as they separated. Sure enough, Lex noted, the limo had come to a
stop.
