Rhone pulled into the parking lot of Plant Number Three. She was the second one there, again. The only other one who showed up at 6 a.m. was Gabe Sullivan. That guy loved this place a little too much she decided. He was nice enough; maybe he felt this job made him important. At least he unlocked the door so she didn't have to use an – alternate means of entry.
She debated parking in the space marked "Reserved for Lex Luthor" but thought better of it. He might not find something like that amusing, no matter how much she would. She couldn't help but imagine an image of him angrily walking from the back of the large parking lot. She parked next to the space, where she normally did. She considered him a friend after all – and he said that he liked her comic books.
Lex walked into his home office still weary despite the nap, shower, and breakfast -- more like brunch. He knew that he should get to the plant but had some other things to do first.
He sat down at his desk and wearily rubbed his hand over his head. He wondered if Rhone would come over for dinner tonight. He had asked, but she had somehow sidestepped giving him an answer. And he allowed her to, damn it. He would have to catch her at the plant when he finally got around to getting there. Why did she have to be so guarded?
He had a great time last night. It was the most fun he had had in -- a really long time. And they didn't even do anything, just sat around talking and reading comic books. He was pondering her effects on him when he realized that he was staring at the chairs on the other side of his desk. One of those chairs had a laptop case on it -- a large smile curled its way across his lips. She had forgotten it.
He gazed at the stack of comic books he had asked her to leave. He picked up the phone and said, "Get me the number to my father's printing company."
Lex guided his Lamborghini into his reserved space. He shook his head as he parked. "How in the hell does she get here so early?" he asked aloud, looking at her black custom sports car. He paused and looked at it for a moment thinking that he wanted to see what it was capable of. He snapped out of this thought when he gazed down at the clock on his stereo and it read 11:20.
"Call Rhone Chade to my office," he said as he walked by his secretary. It was almost time for lunch.
He was at his door when he heard the voice of his assistant, "She just walked out the door, Mr. Luthor."
"Her car is still here," as he opened his office door with one hand, the other carefully balancing a coffee and bottled water. He did not look at her. He would have seen Rhone leaving on his way in.
"I'm sorry, Sir. She left asking if I knew where she might get a better signal on her cell phone," the assistant clarified her previous statement.
Lex had never had problems with his cell phone here. No one else ever did either, at least not that he knew. "What did you tell her?"
"I told her that we had never had problems with reception here before. But maybe the field would be better," she gestured to the general direction of the empty field next to the plant.
"Griff, what's wrong?" Rhone asked into her cell phone. When she checked her cell phone it said that she had missed a call from Speedy Joe's. She wanted to get away from others that might hear the conversation, so she made up an excuse about a bad cell phone signal. Worked every time.
"Are you alone?" Griff asked. There was a hint of worry in his voice.
"Yes," she said. Griffin was a good friend and she didn't like to hear him upset.
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Gell left this morning," he said in a tone of worry.
"He came back to leave," she said. Someone was coming. She felt it in the ground. She didn't look back; it was Lex. "In a few moments, I won't be alone," she added.
"He handed me his retirement notice because you weren't here," Griff continued.
"Everyone has the right to retire whenever they want to," she said coolly. "Listen to me, Griff, I want you to watch him," Rhone said immediately. Something in her mind made it a necessity for some reason.
"He's retired, Rhone. Just let it go, you always said he was bad for cohesiveness anyway," Griffin reiterated.
"No one can continue living the way he does without our kind of income. When you retire, you stop getting paid. There is no pension plan, no 401K. You know this and so does he. He has nothing stashed away for those expensive habits but he won't give them up either. He will have to find the cash somehow. Watch him," Rhone explained with a serious face even though he couldn't see it.
"I'll put D on it," he said.
Lex was walking up behind Rhone. She was standing in the field wearing a black pinstripe fitted pants suit with her cell phone to her ear. Her hair was still pulled back, artist's tube slung across her back, and she had those sneakers on again. Lex had to smile. She was so -- genuine. Her back was to him and he thought about walking up behind her and wrapping his hands around her waist.
"Did he say anything else?" he heard her ask her cell phone. Lex walked around her and stood in front of her. He wasn't trying to spy on her. He wanted to make his presence known. She stared straight ahead with a look that he had seen before. He didn't like that look on her face. Was it detachment or coldness? She was still attractive; it just gave him a displaced feeling. The look wasn't right; it wasn't her.
She had been listening to the phone for a moment when he handed her the bottled water he brought for her.
She had known he was there; she felt him coming. "Well, I guess we can add that to the list of things he's offered to shove up my ass," she said in a tone that matched her expression.
Lex wanted to smile at her comment. But the way she was just standing there, rigid posture, with that look on her face, her tone wouldn't let him.
"He blames you," Griffin said on the other end of the line.
"I know he does," Rhone concurred. "He has told me that before, remember?" she asked without really wanting an answer.
"He's wrong – jealous," Griffin added.
Rhone finally took the water from Lex's hand and really looked at him. Her face and posture softened. She looked like the person he knew again. "Thank you," she said kindly to Lex. She made sure not to touch his hand when she took the water, the last time she touched him – the first night they met; it really freaked him out.
"Who are you talking to?" Griffin remembered Rhone saying she wouldn't be alone in a moment.
"Mr. Luthor was kind enough to bring me a water," she answered.
I'm Lex, Lex thought to himself. I keep telling you that. You listen to everything else I say…
"Lex Luthor just hunted you down to bring you a water? Rhone, is there something going on that I should know about?" Griffin was smiling widely even though she couldn't see it.
She knew he was grinning like an idiot. "No," she said flatly.
"Are you sure?" Griffin said, giving her a hard time but really wishing she could find a good man to be with. However, he was unsure if someone like Lex Luthor could fall into the category of a "good man." But he knew Rhone could take care of herself.
"You know my – philosophy on such things," she was being vague because the subject of the conversation was standing, very beautifully, in front of her.
"I know, but there is no rule against telling people who and what we are. We just can't share the specifics of our assignments; that's all. We're just like the normal military that way," Griffin said.
Rhone thought for a moment, he was right. She could tell Lex a lot of things, things she wanted to. The truth. "It is irrelevant in this situation," she said. There was nothing going on between she and Lex to begin with. It was unnecessary for him to know such things about her. If he knew the truth, what she was, he would never speak to her again. It wasn't like she was secretly a pediatrician or something. She was a – killer.
"All I'm saying is…" Griffin started.
"Remember what I said about Gell, Griffin," Rhone said in that detached, cool demeanor again. She removed the phone from hear ear and pressed the button to end the call. She looked at Lex again and relaxed. She could be herself around him, real.
Lex only heard Rhone's half of the conversation, but knew it must be something serious. "Is everything alright?" he asked as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Someone quit at the office," she said in a dismissive tone.
"I hope it doesn't throw things off too much," he said. They started to walk toward the building.
"No," she paused, "he hasn't wanted to work with us for a long time."
He noticed the way she said "long time." He had to know, "How long?"
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "Since I became the boss." She continued, "He thought that he deserved it more."
Lex nodded, thinking he understood. In the silence, he couldn't help but ponder all the strange inconsistencies that he associated with her. If this wasn't her real job, what did she do normally? Where did she disappear to for four days? What was in that tube that she always carried around? Why didn't she look like shit from sleep deprivation like he did? He couldn't find anything on her. She was boring – but he knew better. She had secrets. Why didn't she want to tell him? He conceded to himself that he had secrets too, but something told him they weren't the same kind of secrets.
She refocused her thoughts, "I – left something at your house last night."
Lex hid his amusement perfectly, "Besides the comic books?"
"I left my laptop in your home office," she clarified.
"I didn't notice, I didn't go in there this morning," he said as he took a sip of coffee.
"Damn, I was hoping you might have brought it with you," she said.
"You can stop by my place and pick it up around 5," he suggested.
She was reading his body language and facial expression. That bastard, she thought to herself. She smiled inwardly. He deliberately didn't bring it with him. "I wouldn't want to interrupt your dinner," she said casually.
"Well, you could show up a little earlier and join me," he suggested.
God he was smooth, if she were any other woman…or even if she was who she was pretending to be…. Where did that come from? It didn't matter, she was who she was and there was nothing that could change it.
He noticed her pause. He was not going to let the offer just be avoided like she had a knack for doing. "You did say that one of the benefits to my friendship was meals," he said matter-of-factly.
"I don't know," she hesitated, "are you going to try and make me sit across that continent you call a table again?" She looked at him with a smirk.
"You also promised me that we would watch your – show last night," he pointed out.
"I don't seem to remember 'promising' you anything," it was her turn to be matter-of-fact. There was a pause when they walked, silently smiling together. He opened the door for her again. She wondered if she would ever get used to that. They passed his assistant as they walked into his office. Rhone noticed that she gave them "a look." They sat in a small couch area to the left of his desk. "So, how early is 'a little earlier," she quoted his words.
He smiled despite the fact that she was sitting across from him and not beside him. "What time do you get done here?" he asked innocently.
She leaned forward, "I don't have to be here at all, remember?"
Lex smiled widely at her. He had forgotten that all she had to do was put her name on the cover sheet saying the work had been done. Then why in the hell would she get here at 6 in the morning and work so hard? He had heard reports from Diane, the manager in that office, that Rhone was doing most of the work on the invoice check. She worked so fast and accurately. The other three were such perfectionists that it took them forever to do anything.
Lex got up and reached in his pocket. She looked at him questioningly. "Coming?" he asked plainly.
"Where?" she asked, genuinely wondering.
"Dinner," he answered.
She didn't bother to check her watch, "It's not even noon."
He went to the door and put his keys in it like he was going to lock it. She got up and walked out the door that they had walked in only moments ago. He began to lock the door behind them. "Tell me, Mr. Luthor," she began as they started to walk out. "Why do you even have an office?" she finished.
Lex stopped in front of his assistant's desk and looked at her with a faint grin. He was about to speak but there was a noise from beside them. They both looked at Lex's assistant. She was stifling a laugh and looking at the two of them, "I don't know why he does either, Honey."
"Eh…" he began to defend himself. Suddenly, he shook his head and turned around abruptly.
Rhone grinned as he walked away. She looked back to Lex's assistant and they smiled at one another. One of the disadvantages to being completely bald, Rhone thought, was people being able to see you blush as you walk away.
That did not just happen, Lex told himself. At least I was fast enough to turn away before they could see me blush. …Did Luthors blush? He didn't think his father ever covered that one specifically, but was sure that it would meet with disapproval.
But his father never met Rhone Chade, Lex thought. Lex's thoughts turned to Victoria – not that Rhone was anything like her. He thought of the pictures he had received, of his father and Victoria fornicating -- an encounter that his father had initiated.
He decided to keep Rhone or the fact that he had any sort of – fondness for her from his father. Either he would seduce her or – dispose of her. He would destroy her in either case. Rhone was tough in an independent sort of way, but no one had ever really come out on top against Lionel Luthor. Lex considered himself pretty lucky to still be alive.
She was walking a few feet behind him, having shared a smile with his assistant. Lex stopped at the door, holding it open for her. She walked past him and smiled at the still-slightly-embarrassed grin on his face and the politeness of the gesture.
They walked toward their cars. "So, Mr. Luthor, what do I have to do to get one of these signs?" she pointed to the "Reserved for Lex Luthor" sign. "I mean, you're only here for, what, a half hour a day and you get one," she said.
"Normally, I try to stay for at least an hour," he replied with a smirk.
She walked to the driver's side of her custom car and opened the door. He looked at it again. If Luthors were capable of jealousy, he would have been. She – made a car, an awesome one. Was it better than his?
Rhone turned and caught his look as he glanced at her car. Speed-wise, this car could incinerate anything he owned and you would never even know you were moving. It must be horrible to have everything. It must make the unattainable that much worse.
"I'll see you in – about an hour," she said.
He perked up his eyebrows, "An hour?"
"I didn't exactly have time for a shower this morning, clean my contacts, change my clothes," she said, getting into her car. Normally, she didn't wear her contacts for so long. She never wore them on the base or when she was on a mission. People eventually got used to her eyes without them, but she didn't like answering questions.
Lex got into his Lamborghini. Contacts? He had thought that her eyes didn't look right when they met, but got used to them. They could be corrective, he thought. He never understood why people bothered to wear colored contacts anyway. She didn't exactly seem like the type of person that would care about altering their looks.