Lex entered his office with Rhone at his side. He saw their reflection in the darkened windows behind his desk and inhaled deeply. He didn't hear ringing, but went to the blazer that was draped over the back of a couch. He pulled out his phone and looked at the display – 1 New Voice Message. He held it up to his ear and listened to the message. It was left no more than two minutes ago. He looked at Rhone and blinked.
Rhone could hear the message Lex was listening to. It was Gabe Sullivan, something was wrong at Plant Number Three. She walked to the chair that she had rested her artist's tube on and picked up the familiar cylinder. She kind of had to get going soon anyway.
He sighed and hung up after quite a lengthy message. "That was…" he started.
"Gabe, I heard," she nodded.
At first Lex thought she was demonstrating those incredible ears again, but realized that Gabe had left a rather excited message and anyone in the room probably could have heard it. …But she heard it ring from…? "I have to go down there," Lex was apologizing. He briefly wondered if the apology was to her or to himself.
"It's okay," she laughed softly.
He thought quickly, "You can come with if you like. I'm sure the police will work harder if you are there."
Yes. "I really can't…" she started to say.
"Or you could stay here…" Lex interrupted as he started to pull on the blazer he had worn the previous day. Why would she want to go there, to sit around and watch me fill out forms? Lex internally chastised himself.
"I really can't," she repeated, "I have to catch a flight out of Metropolis International this morning." She was at his side again, walking with him. So much of her wanted to stay with him as long as possible.
"Business or pleasure?" he asked. His worries for her well-being prompted him to hope for the latter, despite the fact that he wasn't going with her.
Rhone got a look on her face that said she was genuinely thinking. She finally came up with, "Neither." She really didn't know what it was. Maybe it could fall under the category of family if one took a very liberal view of the word.
He looked at her sideways with an "are we still doing that?" look on his face.
She clarified, "It's not exactly work, but it sure as hell isn't going to be fun." She saw the look on Lex's face. It was the look he got when they were having an intimate conversation and she called him Mr. Luthor. "I have to see someone," she started, "And I think that it's going to be the last time that I see them."
"I'm sorry," he assumed that that meant death was involved somewhere and he knew from personal experience how difficult it could be.
"All things pass," she said dismissively with a small nod as they reached the front door.
He looked at her as he opened the door. She always paused.
He knew that she was a person that felt things, but she did so much to stop people from knowing it. He didn't believe that she did her job because she actually liked the – elimination of potential security threats. She did it because she was helping people – protecting them. "Sometimes that is of little comfort," he said sincerely.
"How about, 'the only constant in the universe is change?" she offered as she stepped through the door.
He was surprised when she abruptly stopped and turned around. "I know you're in a hurry to get to the plant…" she implied that he didn't have to take her the entire way to her car.
He opened his mouth to speak but a soft ring emanated from his chest. He pulled his cell phone from his inside breast pocket. Okay, I get it, he internally sighed at the phone.
"I'll see you around," she smiled and started to back up in the direction of her car.
He started to walk after her, phone ringing in the hand at his side. He had a smirk on his face.
"You going to answer that?" she was still backing up and pointing at the phone. It would be so easy to just reach out and grab both of his hands. Rhone thought about rubbing her thumbs over his pale fingers – they would be so soft…
He knew he should answer it. Hell, he knew he should be in his car driving there already. …He wasn't leaving before he had to – wasn't leaving her before he had to. If he had to give up time with her like this, it could at least wait a few minutes. He didn't take his eyes off of her while he pressed the button on his phone and raised it to his ear, "Lex Luthor."
He knew it was Gabe Sullivan before he answered – and he didn't have to look at his cell phone display. He swiftly reached around Rhone for her car door handle when Gabe's voice started talking quickly in his ear. If he bent his elbow, he could wrap his arm around her waist and… If he could just touch her… Lex only understood about half of what Gabe was saying -- Rhone was smiling at him. Something about property damage that set off the alarm and something about right away…
She put one foot in her car and held up her hand in a pseudo-wave, her smile still lingering on her lips. He should get going… He inhaled deeply and backed up a few steps. "Are you still there?" Gabe's voice came over the phone.
Lex had an image of Gabe Sullivan actually shaking the phone he was holding and smirked. "I'm on my way right now, make sure that only essential personnel are allowed past the security check points," Lex pretended that he had been listening the whole time as he kept his eyes on the woman in front of him. His smirk became a small smile.
Rhone almost laughed out loud at that statement – she had little faith in Lex's hired security. She reached into her car and started the ignition while still standing half outside.
When Lex reached the midway point between Rhone's car and his front door, he reluctantly returned a wave similar to the one she had given to him and turned around. A voice in his ear was talking about a destroyed gate – oh, right, Gabe.
Rhone rested her elbows on the frame of her car door and folded her arms. She set her chin on them and smiled at him.
She straightened when he reached the large wood doors. She didn't realize that she had been – gazing at him. …There were many times she was thankful no one was there to see the way he affected her. …She really was a different person when he was around. She wasn't calculating or strategizing. She just was.
He placed his hand on the door knob and twisted it open. A wedge of light absorbed him. "I'll be right there," he absently assured the noise in his ear as he stepped into to the light. Just turn around, a voice said somewhere in the back of his mind – she's right there. He started to debate if that would make him look feeble to look back at her one last time.
He was pulling the door shut behind him when he heard her say to him, "Goodnight, Lex." …He paused. Lex? …Lex! He spun on his heels sharply.
Her car door closed. She didn't like leaving and it wasn't because she didn't want to go where she was going. She put her car into gear and accelerated slowly.
Lex's mood was quickly deteriorating. They hadn't seen each other in – well, hadn't spoken in over a month. And of all nights, someone had to set the alarms off at the plant tonight. …What had happened anyway? It didn't really occur to him that he should have listened to Gabe Sullivan a little more closely on the phone.
He pushed down the clutch and up-shifted. He rested his left elbow next to the window of his Aston Martin and brought his fingers to his lips in a thoughtful position. …Lex. She called me Lex. He perked up his eyebrows and couldn't help but smirk at the memory. However, his reaction was less than debonair… At least she probably didn't see it. …Why was he always doing things like that around her? He made – almost rash decisions, his actions weren't methodical, he got carried out of art museums like produce… Oh, God.
When had she started calling him by his first name? Had she said it earlier and he wasn't listening? He knew that that was not a possibility. He almost threw out his back in that doorway, whipping around that fast. He would have noticed had she said it before. …It was something that he had wanted and he couldn't buy it. He noticed things like that.
And there were so many things he wanted to talk to her about that he didn't even get a chance to. They were just forgotten. …Should he have offered her watch back? She hadn't kept the necklace. He didn't even think about it… Sword… How did she deflect those bullets…? How did she…? When did she…? Were they…?
Plant Number Three was just in his view and he hoped he could coast by with what little knowledge he had managed to hear on the phone. It was a good guess that no one would notice. He would get the full story soon enough. People would just think he was the annoyed billionaire woken up in the middle of the night from his castle…
There was a crunching noise as her boot came to an abrupt halt on the dry ground. She wasn't worried about stealth – it was about speed. And she had made pretty good time.
She listened hard and used her eyes – nothing. Well, a normal person would think that anyway.
It was extremely bright despite her black sun glasses. She was even getting a little warm. It wasn't like she thought a black trench coat in the middle of the desert wasn't going to be. …She was actually more comfortable than she thought though.
She focused her senses and took in her surroundings. It was so stark – an occasional bush or desert plant, rocks, and dust. Maybe an animal if you were lucky – or if you knew what you were doing. But she wasn't exactly here for that.
All that could be heard was the wind. Rhone's commanding voice pierced the calm, "You can come out. I know you're here."