Chapter 5

The not-so-old LuthorCorp warehouse stood ominously on the sparsely vegetated field. Almost contradicting the otherwise barren landscape and uninteresting gray edifice was a perfectly level concrete road leading up to the main entrance. It was up this road that a blue pick-up truck rolled, decelerating as if to stop smoothly and then giving a final jerk as it stopped. Jason Teague, making a mental note to buy a new car with the money he was being paid to go on this time-traveling mission, stepped out and closed the door behind him. He sauntered up to the tall gates and, pulling out a metal key, irritably unlocked the elaborate padlock keeping everything within the fence boundaries safe.

As he entered the dull and, to some, intimidating building, a pair of almond-shaped brown eyes peeked out from the bed of his truck. Having seen Jason walk out of the Kent house from the loft, she had taken advantage of the opportunity to follow him in the bed of his own truck. She could've followed him a different way, but there was a risk, however slight, that the Kents would've seen something they shouldn't if she had used the mode of transportation she would've preferred.

Keeping her eyes on Jason's back as he disappeared into the warehouse, Megan jumped quietly out of the truck and scampered stealthily up to the building, marveling along the way at Jason's carelessness at having left the gates unlocked (not that it would've stopped her if he hadn't), she found a metal ladder attached to the left side of the building. This place hasn't really changed much, or rather won't change much, she mused to herself.

Grateful for the adventures she had had in an older version of the exact same warehouse that had given her an extremely accurate knowledge of the layout, she climbed the ladder swiftly. Once atop the three-story building, she spotted the familiar stairwell and rushed towards it. Once inside, she closed the door quickly but softly and walked down the stairs in a similar fashion. Megan half-smiled to herself when she found herself in the main personnel atrium, at the opposite end of which was a wide door. She approached this door at a wide gait and opened it with careful silence just enough to get a good view. There was an immense inventory storage rack between her and the six men she had come to observe, which was all the better to keep her concealed without hindering her ability to hear. Peering out from the narrow space she allowed herself, she focused her attention on the enemies before her.

"What the hell do you think this is, Teague?" bellowed Vincent Edge. "Some time-travel road trip?" He closed the distance between him and Jason. "You can get laid anytime you want in the present. Why you feel the need to jeopardize this whole operation for your horny pleasure is beyond me. But if you hope to get out of this alive, you'd better seriously rethink your habits!"

Jason was visibly intimidated, but he tried to mask it with a calm voice. "I don't know why it matters as long as no one Lana knows saw me."

Vincent's eyes shot daggers, and his face grew red. "Luthor had his nosy spies at those clubs!" He shoved a manila folder full of photographs in Jason's face. "They have pictures of you fooling around with all these women!"

Jason backed up, somewhat surprised. "How did Luthor do that? I was very watchful the whole time."

Edge threw his hands up. "Unbelievable!" he shouted. "Let me give you a little tip, Teague," he said in a mock mentor-like tone, "Lex Luthor has always been a very resourceful and clever man, even when he was as naïve as he is now."

Jason opened his mouth to make a presumably weak attempt to defend himself, but he thought better of it and clamped his mouth shut.

Vincent tossed the folder on a nearby table and picked up a second folder. "Thanks to you, we had to meet Luthor for the first time about 13 years early and blackmail him with these pictures of his meteorite-mutant lab!" He slammed this second folder back on the table next to the first collection of incriminating pictures.

Megan eyed the table. Her best bet was to get her hands on those pictures, but they would likely prove hard to keep track of once they left the warehouse. She could easily snatch them from under their very noses, but not without as much as making her presence known. She wanted to keep the potential element of surprise on her side as long as possible. All she needed was for all four of them to turn their backs on the table for a mere second, and she could grab the tell-tale photos and be gone before they ever saw her.

The most intelligent-looking of the six men, a rather lanky one with neat brown hair and inquisitive gray eyes, stepped forward. "I must say I'm disappointed in you, Vincent. I thought you were better at choosing employees than this. I told you we should've trained him more."

"Shut your trap, Phillips," snapped Edge. "You know as well as I do we didn't have time. That time portal would only be open for so long."

"Then you should have chosen a more readily prepared candidate for the job," growled Phillips. "We had a deal. I get the subject of the study of a lifetime, and you get an unusually powerful pest out of your hair without having an actual murder on your hands. I fund the whole thing."

"I remember our bargain, Phillips," Vincent said with annoyance.

"Then do it right!"

Vincent waved his hand in a distinctive manner, and Phillips promptly found three pistols aimed directly at his head. "Let's get one thing straight," said Vincent. "You are not the boss of this operation. We are partners." Vincent paused in mock pensiveness. "Scratch that. We're not even partners. I'm the one calling the shots here. You may have the money, but I have the ammunition." He grinned and let a soft but unmistakably sinister cackle escape his lips. "And you!" he turned back to Jason. "Both me and Phillips get something out of this, so I'll be just as mad as he will if you screw this up!" Once again, Vincent eliminated Jason's personal space. "The difference is, Phillips may just throw a fit and shout at you for a good two hours. I'll just shoot you in less than two minutes."

Though she was still listening, Megan had kept her eyes on the two manila folders on the table. Feeling the need for action growing, she dared to scan the warehouse for anything that may inspire a plan. Just as she thought it would be to no avail, she spotted a large keg of explosive natural gas sitting on a middle shelf of the inventory rack perpendicular to the one that was between her and her adversaries. An idea quickly formed in her mind, and while it didn't exactly guarantee that her presence wouldn't be deduced, it was the most inconspicuous way she could think of.

Megan centered her view on the keg. Her eyes turned orange, and a beam of heat was emitted from each eye. Both laser-like heat beams hit her target. After two seconds of being bombarded with heat, the can of gas exploded. The perfect diversion.

All six men immediately jumped. Jason, Vincent, and Phillipsdropped to the floor, while the three gunmen whirled around and cocked their weapons. In that same moment, Megan ran out, grabbed the two manila folders, and disappeared back into the personnel atrium…all in about two blinks of an eye! By the time the men realized that the explosion was an isolated albeit suspicious event and the danger had subsided, Megan was long gone. The men turned to Vincent, Jason, and Phillips as they were rising to their feet.

"What was that?" Vincent Edge demanded.

The three gunmen eyed each other, searching for a satisfactory answer that would suffice until they figured out what had really happened. But before they could answer, Jason blurted, "The pictures!"

Vincent and Phillips looked at the table to find it completely bare.

Vincent's face twisted into a frustrated and rather angry snarl. "Search the place," he commanded darkly, a knowing look on his face. "Somebody was here. I know it."

But by then, Megan was already halfway back to the Kent farm, clutching both folders full of incriminating photographs.