Clark decided, that just for this once, he wasn't going to try and sneak up behind the Big Bad Bat and make him jump. Even if the two times he'd succeeded were pretty funny. It wasn't quite the same thing as when he was in civilian clothing. Come to think of it, he'd never said anything about the "Caution: Wide Load" sticker that Clark had put on the back of his cape.
"Bruce?"
He dropped his pen and turned around, looking at Clark rather suspiciously. Well, it's not like he didn't have a reason to. "Yes, Clark?"
"Things are quieter now. You said that we'd rescue Lex when other people wouldn't be placed in immediate danger. The League will be here pretty soon and I'd like to bring it up on the agenda." He wanted to keep his voice absolutely neutral, not asking, not accusing, just saying, and was pretty sure he'd gotten it right.
He wasn't quite sure, but it almost looked like Bruce briefly, tiredly, smiled. "Yes, that's what I said, and things are quieting down." He gestured for Clark to come look at the papers he'd been working on. Clark leaned over and leafed through them. Most of them were invoices, but the others were notices of property sales and building blueprints. "I've got enough now that we can start eliminating possibilities."
It took a moment, but then Clark saw. "I get it."
"It's a good thing your brother has expensive tastes." This time Clark was sure. It was a smile. "I *think*, that since it was fairly difficult to get our hands on these, that we can assume that they're authentic."
"Wait a minute. How long have you been getting this together?"
"A few days."
"You never said anything! Hello, don't you think that would have been a good thing to do?" He couldn't believe it and had to clench his fists to keep from grabbing Bruce and shaking him. It was so cold of Bruce to just let him worry and wonder if maybe the League wasn't ever going to get off its ass instead of saying, "Oh, by the way, I've started figuring out where your brother is."
"I wanted to make sure that this was leading somewhere before I said anything. I didn't want to play your emotions by saying there was something if there wasn't."
"Still. You should have."
"Perhaps. But here's what we've got so far. I went with the assumption that he'd still be in the country, or at least North America, and that your father would want him on property he owned, not something rented." Clark nodded, grudgingly. "It also made sense that he'd want Lex someplace with a medium-sized staff. Too small, and they might not be able to handle emergencies, too big, and the chances that somebody would be bribable go higher."
"Yeah."
"So I got descriptions of every Luthor-owned property that was in the public record. If that doesn't work, of course, we'll look for others, but it's the fastest start."
"Okay."
"For right now, we can set aside the bigger and smaller ones, but I'd like you to go through them anyway. If there was a place where he particularly felt at home, he might have requested that."
"I'm...I'm not exactly sure that I'd know."
"Hmmm?"
"We didn't get along too well for a pretty long time. He was at boarding school and I was home-schooled, and after Lex got out of college, he kept us apart a lot. I think having us live in the same house in Smallville was his way of testing things."
Bruce just nodded, which was just as well. "So here are the places that on the surface of things, look likely. Then I looked for any types of deliveries that might indicate where he was."
"And?"
"Nothing with flashing arrows yet. It looks like he had Lex's own possessions sent from Smallville to Metropolis, which makes sense for stage-setting. It's harder to track if he had any of them sent anywhere else after that, but I'm hoping to get a contact from Architectural Digest to get him to agree to a profile and have a photographer get in. If Lex's things aren't there, that'd be a good lead."
"Then what? Narrow it down to the most likely and do some kind of surveillance around them?"
"Exactly. That's going to be the most difficult part, making sure that we can do it unobserved. I don't think that your father would harm Lex unless he felt pushed to the wall, but the real risk is that he might move him someplace else or put him under heavy guard."
"Yeah. I guess it makes sense."
"Good." He put the cap back on his pen. "I want you and Alfred to look through all this tonight. In the meantime, the League is meeting in a few minutes, and there's a lot of League work that has to be done."
"I *get* it, I *get* it." Clark turned to go.
"Oh, and Clark?"
"Hmm?" He looked back.
"You *really* got on my nerves. Good work." Clark stared at the older man's poker-face and after a moment, grinned.
"I thought so!" Feeling much easier in his mind than he had the past few weeks, he zipped out of the room.
***
AN: Most of my closest friends in middle school and high school were boys. So coming up with adolescent nicknames is still second-nature!
"Bruce?"
He dropped his pen and turned around, looking at Clark rather suspiciously. Well, it's not like he didn't have a reason to. "Yes, Clark?"
"Things are quieter now. You said that we'd rescue Lex when other people wouldn't be placed in immediate danger. The League will be here pretty soon and I'd like to bring it up on the agenda." He wanted to keep his voice absolutely neutral, not asking, not accusing, just saying, and was pretty sure he'd gotten it right.
He wasn't quite sure, but it almost looked like Bruce briefly, tiredly, smiled. "Yes, that's what I said, and things are quieting down." He gestured for Clark to come look at the papers he'd been working on. Clark leaned over and leafed through them. Most of them were invoices, but the others were notices of property sales and building blueprints. "I've got enough now that we can start eliminating possibilities."
It took a moment, but then Clark saw. "I get it."
"It's a good thing your brother has expensive tastes." This time Clark was sure. It was a smile. "I *think*, that since it was fairly difficult to get our hands on these, that we can assume that they're authentic."
"Wait a minute. How long have you been getting this together?"
"A few days."
"You never said anything! Hello, don't you think that would have been a good thing to do?" He couldn't believe it and had to clench his fists to keep from grabbing Bruce and shaking him. It was so cold of Bruce to just let him worry and wonder if maybe the League wasn't ever going to get off its ass instead of saying, "Oh, by the way, I've started figuring out where your brother is."
"I wanted to make sure that this was leading somewhere before I said anything. I didn't want to play your emotions by saying there was something if there wasn't."
"Still. You should have."
"Perhaps. But here's what we've got so far. I went with the assumption that he'd still be in the country, or at least North America, and that your father would want him on property he owned, not something rented." Clark nodded, grudgingly. "It also made sense that he'd want Lex someplace with a medium-sized staff. Too small, and they might not be able to handle emergencies, too big, and the chances that somebody would be bribable go higher."
"Yeah."
"So I got descriptions of every Luthor-owned property that was in the public record. If that doesn't work, of course, we'll look for others, but it's the fastest start."
"Okay."
"For right now, we can set aside the bigger and smaller ones, but I'd like you to go through them anyway. If there was a place where he particularly felt at home, he might have requested that."
"I'm...I'm not exactly sure that I'd know."
"Hmmm?"
"We didn't get along too well for a pretty long time. He was at boarding school and I was home-schooled, and after Lex got out of college, he kept us apart a lot. I think having us live in the same house in Smallville was his way of testing things."
Bruce just nodded, which was just as well. "So here are the places that on the surface of things, look likely. Then I looked for any types of deliveries that might indicate where he was."
"And?"
"Nothing with flashing arrows yet. It looks like he had Lex's own possessions sent from Smallville to Metropolis, which makes sense for stage-setting. It's harder to track if he had any of them sent anywhere else after that, but I'm hoping to get a contact from Architectural Digest to get him to agree to a profile and have a photographer get in. If Lex's things aren't there, that'd be a good lead."
"Then what? Narrow it down to the most likely and do some kind of surveillance around them?"
"Exactly. That's going to be the most difficult part, making sure that we can do it unobserved. I don't think that your father would harm Lex unless he felt pushed to the wall, but the real risk is that he might move him someplace else or put him under heavy guard."
"Yeah. I guess it makes sense."
"Good." He put the cap back on his pen. "I want you and Alfred to look through all this tonight. In the meantime, the League is meeting in a few minutes, and there's a lot of League work that has to be done."
"I *get* it, I *get* it." Clark turned to go.
"Oh, and Clark?"
"Hmm?" He looked back.
"You *really* got on my nerves. Good work." Clark stared at the older man's poker-face and after a moment, grinned.
"I thought so!" Feeling much easier in his mind than he had the past few weeks, he zipped out of the room.
***
AN: Most of my closest friends in middle school and high school were boys. So coming up with adolescent nicknames is still second-nature!