"Rhone?" a voice from behind her said – it echoed slightly in the large room.
She turned in her chair and faced the voice. He was running a hand through his short dark red hair and holding a newspaper. She relaxed in her chair, "What's up, D?"
D looked around; there were a few people in Primary Ops. She was smiling at him, but he didn't know how she would react to this. "The screen red flagged this," he held up the newspaper.
She took it. It was a copy of the day's issue of The Daily Planet. Well, it was a page from a back section of the paper. It was – the personals? There was a red circle around one of the ads – most likely done by D. She read the ad under the category of Men Seeking Women aloud, "Desperately seeking Rhone Chade. Sorry about the museum. L.L."
She immediately thought of Lex, but realized if he was going to do something so – odd it probably would have come two days ago when the first issue of The Planet came out after the attempted robbery on the Metropolis Art Museum. And why would he be apologizing? Besides, it lacked his - suaveness.
Perhaps she should have gone to see Lex before he went back to Smallville. But she was busy with overseeing damage control, training, and convincing New Guy that she really wasn't that bad – there were reasons she had treated him so harshly. He seemed to be accepting it – gradually.
D was shifting as she pretended to read the ad a few times. She looked up suspiciously, "Anything else?"
He shook his head, "A few weeks ago, someone ran your name through the DMV and The Hall of Records. It was a hack job – out of Smallville…"
She raised her brow.
He continued, "I traced it back to the local high school."
"Definitely no reason to bother me," she confirmed. She smiled at the juvenile attempts of Chloe Sullivan. She really was quite – determined.
"But then we started getting other hits on you, from other places – little things. But after the museum…" he noticed that the others in the room were giving them their attention.
"Hn?" she was reading the ad again. She expected Lex and others to do some digging on her, but none of it really concerned her. There was nothing to find. She had all the necessary records that someone would need, but nothing more.
"There was a hit on Hikari Ambrose," he said finally.
She looked up at him suddenly and everything in the room went silent. "When did this happen?" she stood with a serious look on her face.
D began to speak, "Just a short time…"
She interrupted, "It doesn't matter."
Griffin walked over to the Rhone and D. He had listened to the conversation. He took the paper and read it for himself, "What do we do, Boss?"
She felt as though a piece of her heart sank, but she responded without hesitation, "Delete her."
"Do my eyes deceive me?" Griffin said playfully.
"What?" Rhone asked as though she had no idea what he was talking about.
"It appears to me that you are leaving base," he gestured to her outfit. She was dressed in one of Thalia's dark fitted pants suits – like the ones she had taken to Smallville for the invoice audit. It was a rare occasion that she was in anything but dark cargo pants and a fitted t-shirt. He often wondered if it had anything to do with her not wanting to remind him of Thalia. …No, extremely casual was her style and she was true to it. She had the artist's tube as well, but that was more normal than anyone should learn to accept.
"I'm not a prisoner, you know," she said as she opened the door to the garage.
He followed her, "Yeah, you are." When she gave him a sharp look, he added, "However, it is completely self-imposed."
"Thank you, I think," Rhone smiled.
"Where are you going, anyway? Recon?" he asked. She normally sent someone else to do that kind of recon. And if she did go, she didn't go alone – it could get boring.
After a moment, she answered, "Yeah."
Griffin thought this was a little too abnormal, "Does this have something to do with Hikari Ambrose?"
"Was there a problem with her – removal?" she asked.
"No," he said softly, "Do you…?"
"No," she said without emotion, "All that matters is that she is no longer a threat – to anyone." She opened the door to one of the cars that anyone on base could use, wiping away a nonexistent smudge on the white surface with her sleeve.
"Want some company?" he started walking to the other side of her car.
"Unnecessary, I'll be back in a couple of hours," she quickly got into the car and shut the door.
Griffin pulled a chair up to a console in Primary Ops. He gave a glance around him and turned back to the glowing computer monitor. He tapped a few keys and waited. He checked over his shoulder again. The signal homed in… What? He did it again with the same result. She drove fast, but there is no way that she made it there in less than twenty minutes. …A smile curled slowly onto his face. He knew it.
"Mr. Luthor," a voice came over his office phone.
"Yes, Natalie," Lionel drawled to his assistant. It was getting late in the evening, perhaps she was looking to fulfill her – other office duties.
"There's…" she paused, "Someone here to see you, Mr. Luthor." He heard her voice, but knew that she was speaking to whoever was there, "How did you get all the way up here without an appointment anyway?"
"Send her in," Lionel said definitively.
She stepped through his heavy wooden doors with an air of confidence, walking through the center of them and holding her hands out so they opened fully. She moved swiftly, that the doors swung in fully and then slowly closed behind her.
"Ms. Chade, what brings you here?" he said with a sneer.
"A man that – desperately seeks me," she said as she walked to his desk. She held out a hand to shake, but he leaned to kiss it in a courtly manner. She withdrew it when he was about halfway down. He was no Lex.
"I must say that I'm – delighted that you came so promptly," he maintained his smile.
She knew his last statement was a lie and seeing him smile made her think about stabbing him with one of the expensive pens on his desk. "Is there something that I can do for you, Mr. Luthor?" she didn't want to be caught in pleasantries for – well, ever.
"I just wanted to thank you," he gestured for her to sit on her side of the desk.
"Thank me for…?" she asked and made no move to sit.
"Where should I begin? Protecting the virtue of the museum or saving my only son in the robbery?" he sat in his chair – more like a leather throne.
"I don't know what you mean, Mr. Luthor. I was in bed at the time – I'm a little bit of a homebody," she smiled innocently. From what she knew of this guy, if he was going to thank her, it would definitely be for saving his priceless – however, she was sure he had a price on them – museum artifacts and not for the safety of his only child.
"Of course you were," he smiled back.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Sir. However, I am glad to hear that the museum and your son," she paused for a moment and pretended to think on the name for a moment, "Lex are relatively unscathed."
"As am I, Ms. Chade," he smiled.
Yeah, right you lying bastard. With a wide smile she said, "Then I'll let you get back to what you were doing." She turned.
"I was just about to watch a video," Lionel said, "A little something from a single closed circuit monitor in my wing of the Metropolis Art Museum. It operates independently from the other security cameras."
Rhone turned back to him and in bland voice said, "Fascinating." Shit. She knew what was coming. She looked at him smugly.
"I said the same when I viewed the tape from the night of the robbery," he turned to an area that held a plasma screen television. He picked up a remote control from an end table beside a lavish couch in a sitting area. He turned the television on and a silent tape of the robbery was playing.
The image was perfect. Even though she was wearing sunglasses, it was obvious that the woman that was on the video was the same woman that stood in his office. "It proves that you can dress some women up, but you can't take them out," Lionel turned to her and looked her up and down.
"I told you, Mr. Luthor, I don't really go out…" she began to remind him.
He turned to the screen again and held up his hand to silence her. He was still holding the remote control. "This," he said quietly, "Is my favorite part. …It has – style."
She watched herself throw the artist's tube against the wall and catch her katana in one fluid motion. Then she started deflecting bullets with it. She didn't like watching herself do such things.
After she disappeared out of the camera's view, Lionel turned to her – smiling arrogantly.
She allowed the air between them to go still for a moment, "I don't see your point, Mr. Luthor."
"Do you do this sort of thing free lance?" he gestured to the screen.
"All invoice auditors are trained in the deadly arts," she informed him with a smirk.
"Of course," he set down the remote control and leaned against the back of the opulent couch. After he realized that she wasn't going to speak, he folded his arms across his chest. "I put quite a lot of effort into finding out about you," he said.
"I'm flattered," she said flatly.
"I'm sure you know that I found little," he ignored her comment.
"Really?" she said lightly.
"I had to wait quite a while for you to make a mistake," he gestured to the screen without looking at it.
"And I thought I was on top of my game," she raised a hand to her heart as though she had been wounded.
"Don't get me wrong, Ms. Chade, you are – magnificent," he tilted his head back on the last word.
That made her uncomfortable. Instinct was telling her to get out of there. He was looking at her like she was – what? She remained still, "Rhone."
"I want to buy your sword, Rhone," he said blatantly.
She furrowed her brow, "My sword?" That was unexpected.
He smiled, "Yes. I – equate war with business…"
"And you need a creative way to off competitors?" she finished.
He chuckled, "No. I have a collection of weaponry and I would like to add your katana to it." He added in a knowing voice, "Perhaps Lex showed you the war room at the castle?"
"Is that what this is about, me being friends with your son?" she asked. He obviously knew that she had been at the castle – frequently during her time in Smallville. There was no use in trying to deny the – friendship she shared with Lex. Was he attempting to pay an inflated price for the katana for her to stay away from Lex? Or did he know about the katana's – unusual properties? …He was trying to buy her. He must be.
"No, I think that you are a smart girl and realize that you can't be his friend," he emphasized the last word like it was laughable. He straightened and walked to the large picture window in his office.
She didn't move, but looked at him with a smile, "Because you won't let me?"
"Because the world won't let you," he looked at her smaller reflection in the window.
He was looking out over Metropolis like a king over his loyal subjects. Rhone actually felt a chill run down her spine. He owned this city.
He continued his speech, "Either the media would ruin your anonymity or your enemies – and I'm sure you have them – would use him against you."
"You've made your point," she informed him, "But it has been sometime since…"
"Excellent," he cut her off. "Now about your katana," he turned to his desk and flipped open a massive checkbook. Rich people even needed physically larger checkbooks…
"Don't bother, Mr. Luthor," she sneered.
"And why is that?" he asked as she made her way to the door.
"It's not for sale," she said, but didn't bother to look over her shoulder as she left the same way she came.
He wondered which one wasn't for sale, the sword – or her "friendship" with his son. He turned back to the monitor and to watch the video for the thirty-ninth time. Perhaps he was going to need that – outside help after all. He picked up the remote control and aimed it at the television, turning on the volume.