Lex Luthor was not dim by any measure - he knew that Bruce Wayne had meant to make a statement. He knew that the unspoken warning was that the Bat of Gotham still intended to make good on the threat he'd made months ago while Lex was still in Metropolis State Pentitentiary: whatever you do, wherever you go, I will be watching you. It was a threat not to try anything, or risk retribution.

It was only now, in a private jet, cruising at over forty thousand feet, that Lex felt perhaps he had enough distance to shake the sense of being followed or watched. Perhaps it was that flying at such an altitude gave him a sense of godliness, of being above everything. Whatever the case, there was no bat here. Instead, there was just Claire, seated across from him in one of the cushioned seats and distracted by a book that she held up in front of her face.

And Lex made a small, vague noise as he recalled something else that had come up in their interactions at Wayne Manor which he had yet to address.

"You didn't mention that they'd all but offered the clinic in Metropolis to you."

Claire had been thumbing through an old copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland that was on the table between them and sipping at a glass of champagne when Lex spoke up, breaking the silence between them now that they were tens of thousands of feet above the ground. She blinked slightly before closing the book, placing it back down where she'd gotten it from.

"I didn't need to," she asked. "You brought it up on your own, we discussed this already."

"I asked if Bruce Wayne offered you a job, and if I recall, your answer was wonderfully noncommittal - excellent deflection, by the way. I'm sure you were a lawyer in another life," Lex rambled. "But that's beside the point. We discussed the offer of a job. Not an entire clinic. Not your little Florence Nightingale dream come true clinic -"

"Wrong timing," Claire said shortly. "I... I don't need things handed to me just because I happen to know the right people."

"If that's your real reason, then it's not a very good one," Lex said. "And I know you're more clever than that, Claire."

"So what do you think my reasons are?"

Claire wasn't sure what had possessed her to ask this precise question in this precise way, but whatever the motivation had been, it brought about again a long, dense silence between them in which they stared at one another, almost in challenge. Lex, however, simply laughed and dismissed the question altogether.

"Far be it from me to try and read your mind, Miss Branigan. Now, about our plans for the evening," he said, leaning forward so that his forearms rested on the table. "I want to make sure that you and I are seen. We're going to have dinner. Go dancing. In short, we're going to make just enough of a spectacle of ourselves to garner the appropriate amount of attention. And then, we'll mosey on back to the penthouse..."

At this point, Lex's voice smoothly shifted to a lower octave and a slightly huskier, breathier tone. His fingers drummed gently on the cover of the book on the table, and he leaned in closer to Claire, a smirk turning up the corner of his lips. "And then, we'll allow the press to reach the obvious conclusion of what happens next. So, I'm going to need you to do a very good job of convincing them."

"Convincing them that...?" she asked, unconsciously leaning forward and mirroring Lex's posturing like a snake being charmed by a swami, lulled into a sense of security. At this, Lex let out a throaty chuckle which elicited a slight tingle in Claire's spine that she strove hard to conceal. Lex paused before replying, reaching out and gently brushing the back of his knuckles over Claire's cheek and again chuckling at the gulp that she was unable to restrain.

"That you want me."

He lingered a moment longer, smirking openly before getting up from his seat and walking down the middle walkway of the body of the jet, leaving Claire again stunned and looking slightly dazed by the brief moment of contact.

"The point is to be seen," Lex continued, facing away from Claire and holding calmly onto the side of the seat to stabilize himself against the plane's slight shaking and swaying. "And being seen with you - well," he said with a smirk, turning again to face her and tilting his head to one side as he again gave her an approving once-over. "I don't think they'll expect you having anything but my undivided attention."

Claire noncommittally huffed before picking up the book again and obstructing her view of Lex Luthor. He could do a lot of things, but getting under her skin would not be one of them. She wouldn't allow it.

Ignoring Lex seemed to work for a short period of time - once the plane began its descent onto the private airstrip just outside of Central City, Claire admittedly had her eyes very tightly shut the entire way down, just because the landing was always her least favorite part of any plane ride. Upon reaching a stop, Lex got up from his seat and wordlessly nodded for her to follow onto the tarmac, where they were met by a car with a driver who loaded their night's worth of things into the back. Claire glanced around at the surroundings - just past sunset, growing steadily darker while the lights along the runway and of Central City glinted with determination.

"I told you," Lex said with a smug grin and a shrug of his shoulders as he opened the back door for her slide over into the back of the car. "I ensure that any friend of mine travels in style."

For someone who had grown up in a city as big as Metropolis, Lex observed that Claire was unusually fascinated by the city lights as the towncar drove through the heart of Central City. He couldn't understand that there was a difference between his Metropolis and hers - between uptown and downtown. Downtown Metropolis didn't glimmer and shine like the Metropolis Lex knew, and downtown Metropolis was the place she called home.

The car pulled up in front of a restaurant with deeply tinted windows and beaded curtains underneath a sign that read in ornate letters, Rodizio's Brazilian Steakhouse. Lex handed a tip through the partition to the driver and got out on the side nearest the sidewalk and leaned back in, offering his hand to assist Claire in getting out of the car. She stood, somewhat stunned by the city lights around them while Lex directed the driver to bring their things back to the hotel.

"Brazilian?" Claire asked curiously, looking up at the sign of the restaurant, then inside the windows to peer at the assortment of tables and the floor that was occupied with a handful of tango dancers while slow, almost hypnotically drawling music played from the inside.

"Yes, it's Brazilian," Lex repeated with a slight, teasing hint of condescension. "All the best things are."

Claire turned with a slight glare in Lex's direction to see him smirking at his own joke, but when she made to pull her arm away from his, he gripped it closer to his body. "Remember," he said in a slightly sing-song voice. "Keep to the plan. You never know who's watching."

Claire glanced around while they were led back to a table towards the back of the restaurant - not secluded or hidden, but set off. from the rest of the patrons. It was some relief, at least, that everyone here seemed well dressed, which meant that she was not over-dressed. It was easy to figure that the purpose was the opposite of privacy. The table was situated far from everyone, but easily visible. Sensing the reluctance emanating from her, Lex gave Claire's arm a slight squeeze before pulling her chair out for her and gently leaning forward so that his face was close to hers.
"You're stuck with me for the evening," he said in a matter-of-fact near whisper. "But it doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself."

"Mhmm."

"Give 'em a smile, won't you, dollface?" he added with a smirk. At the confused expression on Claire's face, he gave a discreet nod to one of the other tables, where a man in shades looked away only when Claire looked up briefly to glance in his direction. "It looks like they got a peek at the reservation list this evening. We have an audience."

"Lex, I don't think -"

"Claire," he interrupted pointedly, taking his own seat and leaning across the table to grasp her hands in his as though this were an extremely intimate conversation. "I'm not sure you understand the position I'm in. I'm not sure you understand who my father was -"

"I lived in Metropolis my whole life, of course I know who he was," Claire said coolly. "I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"It has everything to do with everything," Lex replied rapidly, his voice showing a brief glimmer of agitation. Before he shut his eyes and drew a breath through his nose, regaining his composure. "I've always said, I will never be him. He will always be the first. The Lex behind the Corp. Even when it was my hands that rebuilt Metropolis from the ground up when it needed it the most, my father will always be the face of LexCorp," he rambled almost inexplicably. "High, mighty Alexander Luthor the first. Always with a beautiful woman on his arm. Strong. Stalwart," he recited, shaking his head. Claire noticed a slight movement in his face and realized he was forcing his lip against curling in disgust.

"All things that no one has ever seen me as being. Until you," he said, leaning further again into their conversation. "You're a beautiful woman, Claire. Smart. Exceptional. A real scrappy, Cinderella story type," he said with a smirk tugging at his features again. "Precisely the kind of woman a proper Luthor should be seen with. I need you."

Claire struggled to decide if she found the statement flattering or repulsive, and the tumultuous, warring responses seemed to manifest slightly on her face. However, she could not say that she didn't understand - she understood now better than ever that all of what was happening, in Lex's mind, had to happen because of what people believed the name Luthor to mean. So, for the time being, she followed Lex's advice - giving in to the momentum of the evening, because it wasn't as if she had anywhere else to go. And admittedly, as the night progressed, she grudgingly acknowledged that Lex had not lied when he said that he would ensure they hit Central City with style.

Having never eaten at a Brazilian restaurant before, Claire was distracted well enough by the fact that the food was served by men carrying around large cuts of meat still on the spit and carved it directly onto your plate. There was, Lex had to admit, an urchin-like charm to her, the way she showed no shame in the fact that she was an inner city, middle class Metropolis girl who had simply been dropped into a world she wasn't really a part of.

"By the way," Lex said, pulling his phone out from the pocket inside of his coat and flicking over the screen, navigating to a particular photograph before holding it out to Claire, whose eyes widened slightly at the sight of what was on the screen - an old photo of herself from when she had been in high school with her basketball team, her hair pulled back into two braids as they hoisted a large championship trophy into the air.

"Wouldn't have pegged you for the basketball type," Lex said with a smirk, putting the phone away before Claire could snatch it from his hands. "I dig up something new about you every day, and every day, you get more and more interesting. Curiouser and curiouser."

Claire could admit to feeling a little conscious - a little unsettled - every time Lex's speech veered into the territory of tiny hints of Lewis Carroll, almost like some kind of taunting that he knew everything about her, down to the tattoo on her side. "I wasn't the basketball type," she responded. "My mom made sure after that season that I started focusing on more... worthwhile things. Said that I shouldn't waste my time on childish games."

It took a few moments of silence for Lex to process the idea that perhaps Claire understood him better than he'd initially estimated.

"Saving a little something for later?" Lex piped in after a short while of enjoying their dinner, making a vague gesture in her direction. Claire blinked and hesitantly looked down at her own chest area where he had been pointing - she knew the implication, that she had somehow dropped food down her dress without knowing. Despite not recalling having done so, her brow knitted in concern and she excused herself to the restroom... just to be safe.

In her brief absence, Lex pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time, then flicked to an unread text message that simply read: everything proceeding as scheduled, quarter past one. You name the meeting place.

He gave a small, satisfied grin before tucking the phone away again. It was now that he caught sight again of the man in the shades across the room, who had pulled out his phone as well, which Lex quickly realized was equipped with a small lens attachment made for taking photos from a distance.

"There wasn't anything there, you -"

Claire had come storming out of the bathroom, her heels clicking on the wood floor, but Lex had not allowed her to finish her sentence before gently grabbing a hold of her wrist and giving a tug so that she stumbled and landed in his lap. He smirked wolfishly and draped his arm lazily over her thighs.

"Camera at three o'clock," he said, barely moving his lips, and Claire immediately understood why she was all of a sudden off of her feet and in his lap. He glanced at her, quirking and eyebrow and simply waiting until, with a brief purse of her lips in disdain, Claire leaned over, placing a hand on his chest and shifting her weight so that she was hovering over him, a few tendrils of her long, dark hair falling around them like a curtain.

"This isn't my job," she said, leaning over and whispering breathily in his ear.

"And yet, you're still doing it," Lex smirked in response, resting a hand on the small of her back. "Camera guy got his shot, all clear."

Claire allowed herself a moment to roll her eyes before straightening up and getting back to her feet, rounding the table and sitting down across from Lex again and urging herself not to react to the self-satisfied grin on his face as he glanced her over again.

They didn't linger a great deal longer at the restaurant after the meal was over, staying only a few minutes to stare at the others dancing tango on the dance floor. Claire had idly braided her hair off to one side as she watched, but had nothing to tie it off with, so it hung loosely over her shoulder. She got up from her seat only when Lex stood from his and offered his arm, so they walked out into the cool night.

"So," Lex began. "I can call the car, or we can walk. The hotel is about six blocks from here."

"I'm stuffed," Claire said honestly, gently pulling her arm of his hold once they were out of the scrutinizing gaze of the restaurant. "I could use the walk." And calmly, she took off down the sidewalk a few paces ahead of him, glancing around calmly. Lex couldn't help but note the way she seemed at such ease, walking down a downtown city street at night - as though she didn't feel like there was any danger at all. What she did seem to feel, however, was a chill as she wrapped her arms around herself and gently rubbed at the skin that was separated from the cool air only by a thin layer of purple lace sleeves.

Claire, who was glancing around distantly as they walked in silence, looked up in surprise when she felt a weight on her shoulders and realized that Lex had removed his jacket, placing it on her from behind.

"You never know who's watching," he explained, gently gesturing around them at the buildings that surrounded them, the almost endless cascading walls of windows and doors. "I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I didn't offer the lady my coat, now, would I?"

Claire unknowingly wrapped herself a little more tightly in the jacket, admitting that it was indeed pleasantly warm. They took an abrupt pause, however, in front of an open-gated chain-link fence which seemed to lead to an empty lot. A glance around confirmed that it was in fact a basketball court, oddly sandwiched between two red brick apartment buildings. Left at the base of the far hoop was a red, white, and blue basketball. Immediately distracted, Lex scurried over and picked it up off of the ground before rapidly sending a chest pass in Claire's direction.

Quickly, reflexively, she caught the basketball with both hands, looking back at Lex with raised eyebrows.

"So you are quick," he said with an amused, boyish grin - in that glimmer of a moment, Claire couldn't help but think that he reminded her a little bit of Peter Pan, a boy who for whatever reason had never completely grown out of games. "Let's see what you've got."

"Seriously? Right now?" Claire asked in disbelief, looking down at her clothes and her shoes and back up at Lex, wondering what he expected her to do. She certainly wasn't going to go barefoot on a downtown sidewalk. Lex merely shrugged as though he saw no issue at all.

"In case you're actually any good," he chuckled. "I'm a sore loser."

"Cute."

"Scared?"

But the second he asked it, Claire had already raised the ball and taken her shot from close to half court, where she'd stopped walking, and it passed through the net with a clean swish, bouncing a couple of times before rolling along the blacktop towards Lex, who stooped over to pick it up. This wasn't happening, Claire thought vaguely to herself. This day, this evening, all of it seemed preposterous. Attending a party with Lex Luthor, giggling about what kind of wine to choose, getting on a private jet to Central City, getting in a late-night game of hoops - none of it felt in anyway realistic, and yet, all of it was real.

"Fair enough," Lex said with a smirk. "Let's play, then."

Something about the use of a game felt strangely appropriate - because at its core, their entire connection been something of a game. It just happened that when it came to basketball, anyway, they were equally skilled. Claire, as it turned out, lived up to the history Lex had dug up on her. He had been the recipient of a few errant elbows to his ribs that hinted at the fact that she was indeed from downtown Metropolis.

A short while later, the game was tied, eight all in a first to ten match when Claire managed to swat the ball from Lex's grasp, poising to take her own shot and win the game. However, as she was prepping for the layup, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and pick her up off the ground, gently spinning her around and stopping her at just the right point so that their faces were nearly touching... but not quite. Lex lingered there for a moment until Claire realized that he'd gotten the ball away from her, tucking it under his arm, but before she could move to get it back, he had turned and taken the last shot.

Swish.

"That was a dirty trick," Claire said with a slightly sour expression which elicited a dry chuckle from Lex. "Rematch."

"I'm afraid the clock's a-ticking, milady," he said with a smirk, and immediately, he saw Claire's countenance change at the abrupt reminder that they were not here for this, no matter how convincing a show they were putting on. They were in Central City for business. Lex, however, saw little utility in leaving the evening on a sour note and conceded that there was in fact time to spare. It was only half past eleven. He could humor her a bit longer.

"The hotel's not far from here, and the bar should still be open," he said nonchalantly, silently relishing his victory upon seeing the surprised look on Claire's face. "Winner pays."

A/N's

Thank you for all of your reviews! Keeping this note short and sweet. Next chapter, the evening continues. Until next time (which should be within the next couple of days, I hope), cheers!