Lana was early for orientation, perhaps too early. Punctuality was important to her, but it was weird finding herself the first person in the room after she was sent up to the 22nd floor. It made her anxious, worrying if she'd somehow made a mistake. The conference room was long with a huge table, comfy chairs and floor-to-ceiling windows. The front wall was soundproof and all glass, allowing Lana to look into the rest of the gigantic, impeccably styled office space.

Her flight had left at eight that morning. She hadn't told Clark, but she was pretty nervous about the whole thing and was internally freaking out from the moment she got out of bed until after the plane took off. She'd only flown once before, and even though it had been a smooth ride she hadn't exactly been eager to do it again. Eventually, after reading a little, she calmed down long enough to take a nap and ended up sleeping until just before the plane landed.

She'd only packed a large suitcase and a medium-sized duffel bag for her extended stay. Living on her own in college, Lana was able to evaluate exactly what she needed and took only what she used all the time (except for accessories, which, now that she thought about it, she probably over-packed just a little). She just hoped that after all she would be doing with the Fellowship she would get a little down time to explore the city.

The cab drive from the airport to where she was staying was captivating. She'd never seen so many tall buildings and types of architecture crammed into one place, even on the outskirts. Most of Metropolis seemed to be big and bright, even from a distance, and Lana immediately loved it. To her, it was like looking into the future and seeing exactly what you hoped for.

Lana didn't spend much time in the complex that would be housing the eight fellows. It was exclusively owned by and for LuthorCorp, housing those who were of special interest and consideration to the company. The building itself wasn't particularly tall or crowded, but Lana did see a fair amount of people in the lobby. Most of them were considerably older than her, looking more like foreign business ambassadors than college graduates. Occasionally she'd see a person in plainclothes, which served to intrigue her more than the well-dressed patrons. Maybe they were scientists and engineers who worked for LuthorCorp. Maybe they were businesspeople in disguise. Maybe they were lost. Lana chuckled to herself. The novelty and uncertainty of everything around her made her nervous, but she was enjoying it too.

After awkwardly going through a thorough security check with the man at the front desk, Lana was on her way to her room. She was surprised to find when looking at the building's directory in the elevator that the layout of each floor was totally different from the next, going from apartment-spaces to hotel-style double rooms to office spaces. Lana's reserved space, which she'd be sharing with three other people for the next several weeks, was on the sixth floor.

Other fellows had arrived before her. A few small bags and papers were visible, but the people themselves didn't seem to be present. Lana stayed only to drop off her stuff and make sure she looked presentable. A light green blouse, form-fitting white high rise dress pants and comfortable flats felt like the way to go (with some mascara, a little blush, and some jewelry here and there because those never hurt). Leaving again with a small bag of essentials and a notepad, she'd made her way to LuthorCorp Tower.

Now, sitting in the large room and waiting for whoever else was going to show up, Lana surveyed her environment and noted how expensive and bold everything looked. Lana didn't know much about business, but she'd kept up with the current events regarding the industry in which she was so interested and did her research. She knew LuthorCorp had started as a small aerospace engineering company but over the last decade it had bloomed into a multinational conglomerate in record time. Most of its acquisitions were related to engineering and infrastructure, but in the last month they'd acquired a small pharmaceutical company and an agriculture firm as well.

Everything in Lana's line of sight was designed exactly as she'd pictured it would be: serious, subdued colors and décor without any relegation to the standard blacks and whites. It was obvious to her that nothing at LuthorCorp was done without calculation, and the more Lana observed the more she felt like a fish out of water. Or better yet, a small fish in an unfathomably large ocean.

Stiff legs carried her over to the large windows on the far wall overlooking the city to the north. Some distance away Lana could see one of the most famous landmarks in the country, illuminated in the golden sunlight of early afternoon: the Daily Planet building. Momentarily forgetting her anxiety, she scrambled to capture a photo of it with her phone so she could send it to Clark. She then looked out to the far right, where she could see the bay. Lana had almost forgotten about the city across it, and for a moment she was grateful. It was faint, but even from this distance that place looked odd, like it was dark even in the daytime. It gave her chills as if she were looking at a haunted house. Lana scoffed at the thought. Sure, it had its reputation but Gotham City couldn't be that bad, could it?

Clark responded a minute later gushing about how cool the picture was, and she couldn't help but laugh. Checking the time and seeing that there were seventeen minutes left until orientation was scheduled to start, Lana decided to take her seat again facing the glass wall closest to the inside office.

She immediately froze. On the other side of the glass were four people, three of whom she recognized immediately. Two men and two women were walking down the hallway: one tall, severe-looking woman at the front, the two men shoulder to shoulder just behind her and the last woman a few steps behind them. The front three were the Luthors (Lillian, Lionel and Alexander, who everyone called Lex), but the last person Lana could not place. The Luthors were moderately famous, for obvious reasons, and Lana had been positive she wouldn't be seeing them at all. Yet, here they unmistakably were.

Lillian was impeccably dressed in burgundy and black with her dark red hair in a tight bun. She looked exactly how she did in interviews and tabloid pictures: perfectly poised with a look that could kill. Lana appreciated and admired women that were strong and took no bullshit in a sexist male-dominated world, but something told her that Lillian was a bit more austere than she needed to be. Her scowl looked permanent.

Lionel was much taller than she'd thought he'd be. From where she was sitting it looked like he was as tall as Clark. He was wearing a navy suit with a white shirt and striped gray necktie. His hair was long and curly, a dark brown but flecked with gray here and there. The billionaire's face held a thoughtful expression at something his son was telling him, giving him a stern look belied by the deep laugh lines around his eyes. As if to emphasize them, he chuckled suddenly and nodded to Lex, eliciting a smirk from his son.

The younger Luthor male was a couple of inches shorter than his father, with lighter hair cropped short but long enough so that you could see his curls. It was a reddish brown, more like Lillian's, and the piercing look in his eyes that seemed to be his default was his mother's as well. He wasn't wearing a full suit like Lionel was. He'd foregone the jacket and instead wore only a light blue dress shirt with the top unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up. Unlike his father's, Lex's smile didn't meet his eyes.

The woman behind the three Luthors intrigued Lana differently than the others had. She was star-struck at first, but now she was curious. Lionel, Lex, and Lillian all looked similar, but the person bringing up the rear didn't look much like any of them. Her hair was the darkest of all of them, black as a night with no stars. In stark contrast was her skin, white and pale enough that her cheeks were naturally tinged a bit pink. The others were light-skinned but not nearly as pale.

Lana was positive that the woman was younger than her, though she couldn't tell by how much. She hadn't heard about any other members of the Luthor family after Lex, who was three years older than her. Still, they were known to be a decently private bunch. The last thing Lana noticed was her outfit, which was devoid of any color unlike the others. She wore a white ruffled blouse with a plain black pencil skirt. Her black heels were not nearly as high as Lillian's, but definitely noticeable.

The four of them entered the room in which Lana was waiting, and she scrambled to look presentable and professional. Lillian noticed and stiffened minutely. She wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been looking, but since she had, it put Lana on her guard as well. Lex on the other hand walked in behind his mother, calm and casual. Lionel had held the door open and was now whispering something to the young woman that made her smile softly. She nodded to him as he closed the door. Lana knew she should say something, but she was completely at a loss for words. Luckily, Lex broke the silence for her.

"You must be one of the new fellows," said Lex, his voice smooth and clear. He walked over while extending his hand. "Hi, I'm Lex."

Lana nodded and shook his hand. "I'm Lana. Lana Lang." Her voice came out much higher than it normally did and she couldn't stop her eyes from shifting from person to person. The room suddenly felt crowded.

"Lana Lang?" repeated Lionel, turning to face her fully. His voice was commanding without being too loud. A smile touched his face. "Wonderful. As I'm sure most have figured out, we have a certain fondness for alliterative 'L' names."

Lana chuckled nervously. Lillian had gone to the far side of the room close to the windows and produced a small tablet from her purse. She began typing and swiping with her fingers frantically, effectively excluding herself from conversation. The fourth of the group set herself against the wall behind Lex and Lionel, staring out the window and absentmindedly playing with her hands.

"You're early," Lionel continued amiably, checking his watch. "We've got a little over fifteen minutes before we start."

"I was a bit nervous," said Lana with a shaky laugh, looking between the two men. Lex smiled back warmly. "I didn't want to create the possibility of being late."

Lionel gave her an impressed look. "Create the possibility...very interesting choice of words, Miss Lang. I applaud your forethought and ownership of potential consequences."

"Um, thank you, sir."

Lex took a seat right off the corner of the long conference table, leaning against the arm rest and spreading his legs, totally relaxed. Lionel remained standing and checked his watch again.

"Where's Jacoby?" muttered Lionel to no one in particular. Lex answered without looking at him.

"He was fired last week for a very long homophobic rant on Facebook."

Lionel nodded in remembrance. "Right, yes. Good. Well that means Miss Graves is head of the R&D department now and therefore should be here to lead orientation. Frankly, it's a bit alarming that there are only two people here even if it is a bit early."

Lana's gaze flitted to the youngest person in the room. So she was a fellow.

Lillian walked back over to Lionel, still holding her tablet, and whispered something in his ear. He sighed dejectedly and pursed his lips in response, then shrugged. Just then a tall Japanese woman made her way into the room in a huff, carrying a bag and a stack of small packets. She smiled cordially at everyone before setting her charges on the table.

"Speak of the devil and she shall appear," said Lex with a smirk. "Or maybe guardian angel in this case."

The woman gave him a knowing look and smirked back. "With a halo and everything," she responded. With a short wave of her hand she greeted the other woman still leaning against the wall. "Hey, Lena."

Lena smiled shyly and waved back. "Hey, Mercy."

Lana took the time to turn off her phone and get herself ready, taking a seat at the table two down from Lex. Miss Graves set up her laptop and distributed the packets to the empty spaces around the table while talking to Lionel. Apparently some of the other fellows were on their way up now.

"Perfect," said Lionel. "Lillian just informed me that one declined the offer and will be taking up another one. Rather short notice but better we don't have anyone less than professional, don't you agree?"

Lena walked over and took her seat across from Lana as three more people walked into Lana's line of sight, stopping behind the glass wall to peer inside. They looked to be just as star-struck as Lana had been, searching around the office and probably hesitant to walk in for fear of entering the wrong room and leaving a bad impression. Eventually they did come in and were greeted warmly by Mercy (who introduced herself as Mercedes) and the Luthors (stoically by Lillian).

Lana surveyed the others quickly in a very awkward silence that had no effect on the Luthors. Not having much to go on, she didn't make many assumptions but noted how different everyone looked. If she found out later that any two of them were from the same place, she'd be shocked. The last two fellows came in with a few minutes to spare, and orientation began.

Lana paid rapt attention as Mercedes skillfully led her presentations and explained the Fellowship in detail, but she was also painfully aware of the Luthors, who had taken seats at the back of the room. Lena had remained in her seat across from her, which confused Lana. She had arrived with the Luthors, but was a fellow. Nothing about her screamed "Luthor," but then she knew the director of LuthorCorp's R&D department by name. Curiosity threatened to get the better of her but now wasn't the time to let her mind wander. Lana did her best to focus.

The bulk of the fellowship involved assisting with all parts of the research and development processes of an assortment of projects from initial drafting to paper publication. Of course, there would be a lot of shadowing and a crash course in industry procedure as well. Lana buzzed with excitement at all the new and detailed information. Everything she heard sounded incredible.

The fellows' first tasks were to read over their packet, sign the agreements, and then peruse a particular article and part of a paper in the International Journal of Robotics Research for Monday. After the signed agreements were collected, the fellows were personally addressed by Lionel Luthor in conclusion of orientation. He commanded their attention, wishing them well but stressing the importance of dedication and hard work in the coming weeks. All were surprised to meet and be addressed by any Luthor directly, but even more surprising was the invitation for an early dinner that Lionel and Lillian extended to them. Mercedes had prior engagements, but everyone else was set to meet again in three hours.

Some of the other fellows went back to their shared LuthorCorp-sponsored apartments, so Lana found out who her roommates were going to be. Admittedly, she'd already been emailed a list of their names as part of preparation but she'd been more focused on everything else to remember them. Originally there had been four people assigned to the apartment space, but the one who had rescinded their RSVP was one of them so now Lana only had two other roommates, both of which were now with her. One of them was the tallest of the group, a dark-skinned woman with curly black hair and a bright, lopsided smile. She'd been the only person besides Lana to routinely ask questions during orientation, where she'd introduced herself as Takeia. Lana's other roommate was Lena.

Takeia was the most talkative, and held conversation with her new flatmates all the way up to their apartment. Lena would contribute from time to time, but Lana could tell she was more comfortable staying quiet. Once in the apartment, the three of them had settled in a bit more and Takeia opted to shower and relax before they headed out again. This left Lana and Lena alone in the small living area on opposite sides of the long couch.

Both of them were on their laptops, sitting in silence. Lana had wanted to read at least a little of their assignment before going to dinner, but after reading the abstract she knew that she would need more energy to get through it than she currently had. Looking over to the other side of the couch, Lana let her curiosity get the better of her this time. Lena sat cross-legged with her computer in her lap and the top two buttons of her blouse undone. Peeking out from under it was a necklace and hanging pendant. It was circular, silver, and only slightly larger than a half-dollar coin. An intricate design played across it in what looked like four interlocked symmetrical swirls oriented in an X pattern, but from that distance it was a bit hard to see any more details. On the brightly lit screen Lana found the last thing she'd expected to see – a chessboard.

Lena peered at her screen with bored, lidded eyes and sighed. Her right hand drifted lazily over the mousepad, making another move every so often. Lana stared, fixated on the other girl's screen.

"Do you like chess?" Lena said suddenly. Lana was so unprepared for her to speak that she jumped in surprise.

"Uh, sure. Recreationally, I guess."

Lena looked at Lana out of the corner of her eye. Her mouth twitched. "Could've fooled me, with the less-than-casual staring and all."

"Sorry," said Lana. In most cases she wasn't nervous when meeting new people, but something about Lena was unnerving. Not in a bad way, but the way one feels when coming across something one had never seen before. "I actually enjoy Checkers more. You look like you're pretty good."

Lena's lips pulled up just enough for Lana to register a smirk. She met Lana's eyes. "It's 'cause I am. I kind of feel bad for this guy. I can tell he's had some experience, but he's out of his depth."

Lana raised an eyebrow, glancing at the online chess forum up on the screen. Back at LuthorCorp, Lena had seemed reserved and withdrawn when she came in with the Luthors. Now, Lana was pleasantly surprised to see the bold confidence underneath it. She looked more relaxed than she was at orientation, and Lana decided to take her chances at further conversation.

"When did you get here?" asked Lana tentatively. Lena continued to play. "I thought I was early as hell, but you were there before me and already chumming it up with the Luthors."

"Landed in Metropolis last night," Lena answered slowly, running her hand through her hair. "Got up early to drop in and say hi. My dad…used to be an employee there, so I've met them before."

Lana eyed the chess player warily. She didn't think Lena was being entirely truthful, but figured she'd drop it for the most part. They'd only just met, after all. Lena turned to Lana and looked her full in the eyes. It wasn't too intense of a look, but it still caught Lana off guard.

"This isn't a case of nepotism, if that's what you're thinking. Believe me, I've had to jump through a shit-ton of hoops to even be considered so it's quite the opposite." Her jaw clenched and her forehead creased as she turned her attention back to her match. Lana had to admit that the thought did cross her mind. Looking at her side profile, Lana was fascinated with the structure of her face. The juxtaposition of sharp lines and soft curves made it look like she was expertly carved from stone. Lana let her continue. "One would think being my age would bolster the application, not detract from it."

Lena had grumbled that last bit to herself but it was just loud enough for Lana to hear it. Her question came out before it could be stopped. "How old are you?"

Lena's eyes flitted over to her and then back to her screen just as quickly. She pursed her lips and answered. "Nineteen."

"What?" Lana knew she had to be younger than her, but she hadn't expected her to still be a teenager. Lena's expression turned uneasy, reminiscent of how she'd been earlier that day. Lana softened her tone. "Sorry. But that's incredible! You have to have a degree to be accepted into the fellowship, so that means –"

"That I already graduated from college, yeah. Did a Master's program in Computer Engineering, specializing in Robotics at MIT. Didn't take summers or winters off so it only took three years. I'll be doing Nanotechnology next." Lana gaped, open-mouthed at the dark-haired woman on the other side of the couch. "Ha! Checkmate."

Lena sighed contentedly and closed her laptop after clicking out of the forum. Lana continued to stare. "So you're some type of genius or what?" she teased.

Lena turned to face Lana diagonally, leaning against the cushions. A small smile played on her lips but her eyes held a distant look. "I don't think that's it. I just had the opportunity to learn and apply myself at my own pace. The public and even private education systems don't normally allow for that to happen. Actually, they work to discourage it. But I think if they allowed kids to learn their own way then my case would be significantly less out of the ordinary."

Lana considered her words briefly, then nodded in agreement. She remembered being bored in class many a time and had wished on several occasions for the teacher to move on more quickly or to teach something new and more interesting. "You're probably right. But then we'd have to worry about the cost of college way sooner than we end up doing now."

Lena closed her eyes and nodded, gritting her teeth. "That's a whole other problem."

Lana chuckled, relaxing into the cushions. She watched Lena's hands come together, rolling over one another, fingers tapping together. It was an odd move, but one she'd seen her do earlier. Lana wondered if Lena worked just as much with her hands as she did with her mind. It was common for those who worked with their hands to develop unconscious movements like that. She'd noticed Clark had a habit of tapping his middle finger against his thigh when he was standing with his hands at his sides.

Lana's phone vibrated in her pocket and she immediately retrieved it to find Clark calling. Lena was already opening her laptop back up, effectively ending the conversation, so Lana walked to the kitchen.

"Hey, babe. What's up?" she answered.

"Hey. Just wanted to hear your voice. I'm hanging out in the Fortress breaking in the new suit. It's pretty great, I gotta say. Super comfortable."

"Very nice," she drawled in a low voice. "I bet it looks great too. Send me a picture when you get the chance."

"Hmm. Naughty."

Lana burst out laughing. "Not like that...well, maybe later but not right now."

"I'll consider it."

"Uh-huh." Lana dropped her voice and paused, suddenly unsure of herself. She knew she was about to wade into uncharted territory soon, and as much as she welcomed it she needed some form of consistency to anchor it all. A question escaped her lips. "Can you come to Metropolis tomorrow? It's my last free-ish day before things start to get serious here so…I kind of need to see you again. To, you know…tide me over till the next time."

"Of course. Text me when you're free tomorrow and I'll be there in ten."

The rest of their conversation was short. After Takeia finished her bathroom routine Lana had decided to freshen up as well. Lena, in the meantime, won another game of chess and then switched her shoes to join them.