"Claire."

The sensation of an elbow gently prodding into her side roused Claire from what had been a sound slumber, but she still refused to open her eyes, instead reching blindly and pulling a pillow over her face.

"No."

"No," Lex chuckled sleepily. "If I recall, you have a stack of paperwork for some of the partner clinics in your program that are supposed to be on my desk by three-thirty this afternoon."

Claire groaned and swatted Lex's hand away when he reached over to fiddle with her hair - it was an affectionate habit he had acquired which she would normally lean into, resting peacefully for another minute or so. Today, however, Claire was hardly enthusiastic about being woken up and rolled over out of bed with a groan, frowning in Lex's direction when she saw him shift in position and go back to sleep.

The perks of being the CEO is that he very rarely had set work hours, and was often the one setting the deadlines, not meeting them. Claire was committed to dragging her feet a bit as she got ready, slipping into a predictable pencil skirt and silk blouse, tying her hair back into a kempt braid.

As she stepped out of the bathroom and started gathering her belongings to head out the door, she saw Lex sitting up and yawning, stretching his arms with a little more of a flourish than was necessary - to make a point, obviously, that he was still in bed and in no rush to change it.

"Remember, we have that event tonight, too," Lex pointed out. "I'll bring your dress. You can change at the office and we'll go straight there."

"Do we really need to go?" Claire asked in exasperation, her shoulders drooping and her voice shifting to a near-whine. "I don't think -"

"You don't think it's necessary, and it is," Lex interrupted.

The event in question was the opening of the new high-rise housing development owned by Wayne Enterprises to serve as a convenient housing solution for employees who were going to be located at the still in-progress Metropolis facility. Claire had no desire to go, and had initially pushed back much more adamantly before realizing that to Lex, there was great utility in the act of being seen simply to make a point.

"We were invited, and for the sake of appearances, we're going," Lex said pointedly. "Because I would never pass up an opportunity to convey my fondest regards to Bruce Wayne. If I missed it, I'd go absolutely... batty."

"Clever," Claire chuckled grudgingly, rolling her eyes as she shifted her bag onto her arm and opened the door to leave the master suite. "I'll see you this afternoon."

Normally, Claire would not have been nearly so petulant about the reports due, or the events they needed to attend. It was simply the way things were. Today, however, was a day that she had not necessarily expected to be so routine and mundane.

A person did not turn thirty years old every day, after all, and Claire had envisioned her thirtieth birthday being a little less work-laden. But that, she decided, was the ugly truth about growing up - special occasions were something you had to make time for, and making time was not always an option.

Lex, however, peered out the window as Claire drove off and placed a call to the front desk secretary, Trixie. It was fortunate that Claire was quick to get ready in the morning - he had big plans for the day, and he couldn't very well follow through on them with her hanging around.

"Morning, Mister Luthor."

"Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Very good," Lex said with a grin as the college-aged girl answered within two rings. "We have Claire out of the office until about three o'clock. I'll leave the preparations in your capable hands?"

"It'll be smooth sailing all the way, Mister Luthor."

"Excellent."

The day was, for the most part, one that passed in a blur of office visits and contract signings with new partners for their pharmaceutical program. Lex Luthor encouraged his high-level leadership to be jacks of all trades, to take on very hands-on roles in their programs, but Claire certainly hadn't expected being the accountant, consulting scientist, and pharmaceutical rep practically rolled into one. So, when the last contract was signed and she was headed back to headquarters with nearly an hour to spare before her deadline, it came as a welcome relief.

Claire was admittedly not entirely unaccustomed to a little bit of special treatment at the LexCorp facilities - she just made sure that worked hard enough and was kind enough to all of the staff to deserve it. She still parked in staff parking, a considerable walk from the building entrance, rather than relying on the valet to get her there.

She was greeted today, however, by Trixie, who happened to be standing in the parking lot apparently looking at her cellphone.

"Waiting for someone?" Claire asked, walking up to the younger woman.

"Oh, no! Uh - bad signal over there," Trixie explained quickly. Claire's brow furrowed briefly in response to Trixie's suddenly erratic, jerky speech as though she was nervous about something. "You wanna start heading over? We could both walk over."

"Okay," Claire said with a questioning laugh. "Sure. Sounds good."

Claire and Trixie walked to the crosswalk and hit the button to wait for the "walk" signal. A glance across the street quickly led Claire to an observation - the lights in the main foyer, visible through the large glass windows, seemed significantly dimmer than usual, almost completely shut off. Trixie followed Claire's gaze and looked suddenly jumpy, clearing her throat and placing a hand on Claire's arm.

"Did you know that shutting off unnecessary light fixtures during peak hours saves us three hundred dollars in monthly operating costs?" Trixie pointed out with more enthusiasm than the situation warranted. Claire gave a slightly confused smile, skeptical of the veracity to the claim, but thought it was sound enough reasoning to let slide.

"I didn't know that, Trixie," Claire said with a nod as they started across the street. "But now I do."

The entire walk across the major street, Claire noticed that Trixie went between craning her neck to look inside, then looking back down at her phone. Something was definitely afoot, but Claire saw no reason to try and piece together what it was. Instead, she walked alongside Trixie - Claire found that walking with people was in some ways a lost art, and though it was perhaps more than a little bit Pollyannaish, she made a practice of doing it whenever she could.

"So, how are all of those... reports?" Trixie asked in an anxious, feeble attempt at smalltalk. "I'm sure they're really important. Your work is so important -"

"Everyone's work is important," Claire said with sincerity that seemed to snap Trixie out of the strange funk she had been in for a few minutes. It was funny, Claire, how sincerity had such an odd effect on people. "LexCorp is a well-oiled machine, and I'm lucky to be part of it. I haven't been part of things a whole lot in my life," she shrugged honestly.

"Right," Trixie laughed with a roll of her eyes. "I can't see you being a loner, Miss B."

"You'd be surprised," she said with a dry chuckle as they made their way to the front door. Claire scurried forward just a little faster than Trixie so she could hold open the door for the younger girl, who seemed a bit thrown off by the action. She reached out for the door handle and stood there holding it open as well.

"You head on in first, Miss B," Trixie said, gently pulling the door until Claire released the handle. "I have to, uh. Tie my shoe."

Claire thought it best not to point out that Trixie was wearing ballet flats with no laces and humored the girl, slowly starting to feel as though she knew what was going on as she walked into the main foyer of LexCorp Headquarters. the door had closed behind her and she had just walked through the front lobby, which was uncharacteristically empty, and around the corner to the basketball court when suddenly, the lights went up and Claire was immediately startled by the sound of party poppers and the joined voices of a large group yelling, "Surprise!"

Though admittedly a bit overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of birthday greetings and hugs and handshakes, Claire would not deny that she was incredibly thankful - touched, maybe - that so many people had remembered her birthday and actually done something for her. She'd never had a surprise party and had from time to time wondered what it was like. In between greetings, she paused and laughed, placing a hand on her hip and cocking her head to one side and she placed her bag down on the floor next to her.

"Does Mister Luthor know that you're all slacking on the job for lil' ol' me?" Claire asked half-jokingly, though glancing around to see if she could spot him in the crowd anywhere.

"It was his idea, Miss B," Rick from Payroll spoke up as he made his way to the front of the crowd - Claire had a special sort of camaraderie with the man after a pickup game of basketball with his son at a recent company picnic, and he had an almost fatherly attitude towards her ever since. "he wanted to be out here when you got here, but his conference call ran long. I think he's in the board room right now."

"Well, thank you - all of you," Claire said with a surprised smile, admittedly a little taken aback by the fact that Lex had orchestrated all of this. He didn't necessarily seem the birthday type. She laughed a little to herself before leaning over and picking up her bag from the ground. "I should probably track him down and hand him the reports he had be running around town all day for so I can drag him down here and we can get this party started, yeah?"

And she started for the elevator, Claire realized that she felt extremely lucky to belong somewhere - and that, all other actions aside, Lex had created a company that worked because the people genuinely loved it there. LexCorp was more than just a company. It was a culture. It was a community.

She made a mental note to pitch that one to Lex sometime in the future.

For now, however, she tucked it away in the pile of many 'things to talk about later' and made her way up to the seventh floor where the boardroom was located. The elevator opened directly to a short foyer, leading to a pair of heavy cherry-wood doors. Claire found that the door was unlocked and gently pushed it open to find Lex, standing across the room and seemingly staring out the large bay windows of the conference room. However, he seemed to not even notice the sound of the door opening, and Claire glanced an envelope on the table behind him. Taking advantage of the fact that he was distracted, and deducing that the letter was what was distracting him because there was nothing else in the room, Claire slowly moved over. She'd gotten about halfway across the room before Lex noticed, quickly turning around and scrambling the pick up the envelope from the table.

"You're here," he said with clearly forced enthusiasm in his voice. "You should be downstairs enjoying the fest-"

"What is it?" Claire interrupted, walking over and gently closing her hand on the other end of the envelope before he could pull it away. "What is this, Lex?"

"It's nothing."

But despite his hesitation, a brief flick of Claire wrist as she held the envelope managed to tug the envelop free. She opened the top flap and pulled out the single item inside - a playing card. A joker. Upon closure scrutiny, she noticed that the otherwise jovial drawing of the jester was defaced to have a grotesque grin. Over the front of the card, in red ink, a message was scrawled: Get your own nemesis.

Claire looked at the other side of the envelope and saw it had been mailed in with no return addressed, but with a postmark from a post office in Gotham City.

Gotham City. A joker. Because one did not spend any amount of time in Gotham City and not come to understand, Claire quickly managed to piece together the same conclusion as Lex clearly had, judging by his quavering hands and stern expression. There was a flicker of outrage in Claire at the fact that he intended to keep this from her, but it was quickly outweighed by the fact that Lex was significantly perturbed. Claire let out a heaving sigh and placed the card and envelope back on the table behind her, placing herself between Lex and the mere sight of it.

"You need to call the -"

"The police? Think, Claire." Lex said shortly, his eyes clenched shut and his face contorted into a frown while he raised one hand to rub his temple. "When have the police ever been good for anything in a place like Gotham City?"

Lex, however, opened his eyes and saw that his sudden retort had earned a reaction from Claire - her expression hardened and her jaw clenched in annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest. Lex inhaled and exhaled through his nostrils before reaching out and placing his hands on Claire's shoulders.

"It's not you," Lex said gently, leaning his face close to hers. "You don't -"

"I don't understand?" Claire said, pulling away slightly and still frowning. "For someone who calls me clever so often, you assume that a lot. I know who that card is from, Lex. And I know you're terrified."

Lex removed his hands from her shoulders at this, even if it was true. It took him by surprise when he realized that he didn't need to even tell her anymore - she looked at him and she knew. He could tell she knew that he could practically still hear the shrill, grotesque laughter that rang through the walls in Arkham Asylum at night, that suddenly he was thrown back into that awful place that had taken away his ability to sleep. He had only been able to sleep again around her. He only felt significant and safe again around her.

She knew. Claire Branigan knew very well the power that she had.

"I know I don't cut a very intimidating figure, but whatever this is," Claire said, reaching back for the card and brandishing it only for a few seconds before throwing it aside, "I need you to not hide it from me, because I'm going to be facing it with you, Lex. I'm in this."

There were times when Lex wanted to see Claire as sweet and delicate and innocent - yet there were other instances such as this one, where she was a stalwart source of safety. She was his refuge and his defender. She was not exceptionally strong or fast, she was not indestructible - and yet there was a sense of invincibility that Lex felt from just having her. This was precisely the reason why he had planned today, her birthday, as the perfect opportunity for what he had planned. He pulled her into an embrace, his cheek pressing closely against her hair in a gesture that was uncharacteristically gentle - uncharacteristically intimate. He felt her relax in his arms, her arms wrapping around him and her head resting in the crook of his neck.

"Happy birthday, Claire," he murmured coolly, his voice slightly muffled by her dark locks. "...I love you."

He felt her tense slightly again - he had almost expected it to be a bit of a shock to her. Perhaps, Lex mused inwardly, that had played a part in why he had wanted to tell her at all. He'd wanted to shock her by beating her to the punch - because regardless of everything, there was still truth to the statement that there was something beautiful about her when she was in a small amount of chaos. When she didn't immediately respond, however, he began to feel a sinking feeling, gently pulling away from her.

"Don't tell me that today," she said shakily, looking slightly pale as she regarded Lex with an expression that looked strangely like fear. "Don't say it because - because it's my birthday and it's supposed to be some kind of present or something -"

"Claire," Lex interrupted, chuckling and raising his eyebrows in an almost patronizing fashion. "My decision to say it in so many words today? Definitely a present. But you see, it's not a very good one."

And Lex knew he had one when Claire's expression shifted from one of apprehension to one of confusion, because confusion meant that she was open to his reasoning and expected him to explain.

"It's unreasonable, really, the way people place so much weight on when a person says something so frivolous. I love you. Because the moment you say the words to someone isn't even the moment you start loving them. That comes long, long before," Lex shrugged nonchalantly, placing his hands on his hips and taking a few steps past Claire, back around the boardroom table so that she had to turn around in order to keep her eyes on him. "And the fact of the matter is, for a good while now, I know you've loved me. And you've known I love you," he shrugged, clearly not caring if the statement came off as oversure or presumptuous. "The words are the present. Not the feeling."

For a short while, Claire shook her head, speechless in disbelief. Then finally, she looked upward and let out an incredulous laugh, shaking her head. "Of course. I should've expected as much. That," she began, crossing her arms over herself and taking a few steps closer to Lex, "was both the most cynical... and the most romantic thing I've ever heard."

"And by extension, I believe I may be both the most cynical and the most romantic person you've ever met," Lex shrugged with a smirk. Claire rolled her eyes briefly, then reached up to, out of habit, straighten out the collar of Lex's shirt before gently gripping it and leaning up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his.

"I love you too," she muttered with a lopsided grin as she pulled away.

"I know. That's what I just told you - you need to keep up."

And Claire laughed - genuinely laughed - because while this was not the romantic moment she might have envisioned if ever she'd dreamed about what it would be like to have someone profess their love, this was also a very different life than the one she thought she'd be living. Catching sight of the fact that she'd momentarily disappeared into her thoughts, Lex took the opportunity to snake his arms around her waist and back her up against the boardroom table. "And the night is still young," he said in a slightly breathy voice. "I believe there's an entire company waiting for you out there - and we still have a gala to attend."

"Still?" Claire groaned, slumping tiredly against Lex's chest as though perhaps playing dead would buy her an excuse for their absence. Quickly shifting to another tactic to attempt an out, she looked up and smirked. "You don't think we could... maybe..."

"We could maybe," Lex chuckled wolfishly, resting his hands on her waist, "after the gala. The limo is going to be here to pick us up in an hour."

Claire decided it was not the best time to express her opinion that perhaps a limo was little bit excessive. Instead, she followed Lex out to where the rest of the LexCorp staff was still waiting downstairs with a birthday cake and champagne on the decorated basketball court. Truth be told, Claire would have much rather stayed the entire night there with the employees of the company she too had come to love, rather than the Wayne Towers Gala. However, only because it was of the utmost important to Lex, by the time the limousine rolled around after an hour, Claire was changed out of her work clothes into another slinky black number, her hair twisted into a low-key updo at the base of her neck.

"I'm going to need more of this," Claire admitted, helping herself to a glass of champagne from the bottle that had already been chilling in the limo. "The last thing I want to be doing on my birthday is rub elbows with Bruce Wayne. Especially after our last conversation."

"You meant the one where he threatened to blackmail you again if you didn't listen to him grouse at you. I remember," Lex said shortly, helping himself as well. He'd taken care to stock the limo with Dom Perignon after finding that it was one of the few champagnes that Claire actually enjoyed. And because she enjoyed it, she managed to slow down as she worked her way through a glass of the libation, calming down considerably. "I don't doubt that Bruce Wayne invited a lot of my investors to his little soiree, and we have to make absolutely certain that they aren't dazzled by the ol' Wayne razzmatazz," Lex said with a comic, jazz-fingers-like gesticulation. "And I trust you enough that we can divide and conquer this time, Claire."

"Divide and conquer?"

"Of course," Lex said with a disimssive expression. "We've already blitzed the media about how you are not just arm candy, and that you're a competent addition to LexCorp's senior leadership team. "I trust you'll dazzle them out of their minds."

He reached over and clinked his champagne flute against hers with a grin to signify that he'd be hearing no more arguments on the issue. Claire rolled her eyes, but grudgingly chuckled a bit to herself, shaking her head.

Claire was immediately caught off guard when they pulled up into the valet line for Wayne Towers, realizing that this was quite nearly a red carpet affair, with cameras and news crews pointing and flashing all around them.

"You don't need to speak to anyone you don't want to. You don't need to look at them," Lex pointed out with a gesture of his index finger. "The real bottom feeders will come up with a story whether we give it to them or not and the rest will most likely be focused on some new-money supermodel who actually wants their attention."

These were insights, however, that Claire earned little to no comfort from.

When they pulled up to the front of the venue, Claire already knew the drill - for appearances sake, she always waited for Lex to come around and open the door for her. He would offer his arm, and they would commence the face-numbing smiling and waving that would run the entirety of the evening. Today, however, after he helped her out of the limousine, he instead continued holding her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. Claire had enough poise to hide her surprise, but felt it nonetheless. As they finally walked into the venue We won'- the downstairs lobby of the new high-rise luxury residential tower - he turned to look at her, nodding in the direction of a few separate groups of people.

"Those Joe Schmoes over there," Lex murmured as he directed Claire over to a group of men by the drinks table, "are from our architectural firm. Do you think you can handle chatting them up?"

Claire, however, had been momentarily distracted when she saw Bruce Wayne roaming the room and mingling - she fought back a wave of anger that felt a little bit like nausea, and while Lex could not say he felt much different, it was now he who reached out for her hand, gently squeezing it to regain her attention.

"We won't take long," he assured. "It's just business."

"I know."

"I love you."

Claire managed a lopsided grin before Lex leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips. He pulled back and made a subtle gesture at the drinks table. "Work your magic. I leave them in your capable hands."

And again, Claire Branigan knew the drill. Hello, gentlemen! It's great seeing you again! Business is booming! Admittedly, and Claire knew Lex knew it as well, a bit of feminine grace added a little something to the conversation, but by this point, all of LexCorp's business associates knew that behind the charm, Claire was a woman not to be messed with, one who had become savvy and strong on the streets of the south side. So, by the end of their talk, it appeared that there was litle to be concerned about - this was a contract that LexCorp would not be losing to Wayne Enterprises.

Claire had never imagined that parties like this would be so terribly political, and admittedly, it took a lot of the sparkle and allure off of its surface. But the grousing, angry teenager inside of her couldn't help but feel a small sense of victory - as a girl who had spent so much of her life wondering how the other half lived, there was validation in the fact that in very different ways, life sucked for the other half too.

A small gust of a breeze signaled that a door had been opened nearby, and when Claire looked over towards the source of the refreshing cold air, she realized that Lex, drink in hand, was accompanying a group of other men - men who Claire recognized as politicians of the more smarmy sort - out onto the veranda while making small talk. While this too was a necessary evil, Claire rolled her eyes a little as she realized they were going to be here a while.

"Claire?"

Claire jumped slightly at the sound of a familiar voice, and felt a new emotion wash over her at the sight of Dr. Leslie Thompkins.

Shame.

"Doctor Thompkins," she said with a guilty, forced smile. "I -"

"You don't need to dance around it with me. I know why you left," the older woman said with a firm but kind smile, reaching out to squeeze Claire's forearm. "What happened to you wasn't right. And I'm happy to see you happy... even if I'm not sure I understand it."

"I am happy," Claire affirmed with a relieved smile. "I know it's not where I thought I'd be but -"

"- you're doing a wonderful thing," Dr. Thompkins nodded. "The new location in Metropolis will be happy to do business with you."

"Are you serious?" Claire asked in shock, her eyes widening almost comically so that Dr. Thompkins couldn't help but chuckle a bit - the younger woman's enthusiasm was something that one came to miss. "This is amazing, Doctor. Thank you so much..."

And it would mean something to Lex as well, having one of Bruce Wayne's companies relying on LexCorp for a much needed service. The Affordable Pharmaceutical Initiative was one of LexCorp's new media staples and somehow one of its biggest draws of funding and partnerships from erstwhile untapped sources.

"Of course. It's a brilliant idea, and I know it means the world to you," Dr. Thompkins said sincerely. "I know how much it hurt you that there was only so much we could offer anyone at the clinic - and I'm so very proud of you."

This, Claire realized, was what having a mother was supposed to feel like. When you did something right, mothers were proud of you. They filled you with warmth and encouragement and motivation to move forward. And in this moment, Claire realized how very much she still missed working with Doctor Thompkins.

"Claire," she began again, interrupting the younger woman's thoughts. "I also approached you tonight because I may need your help. Just once - for the sake of a very important patient."

"Very important patient?" Claire repeated, her face scrunched in incredulity. "I - I'm not sure how much help I can be, but just tell me when -"

"Right now," Dr. Thompkins said, again squeezing Claire's arm. "It's a lot to ask, but this is extremely important. Could you sneak away upstairs for a moment?"

Claire hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder at the veranda, where it appeared that Lex wasn't going to be finished making small talk with the local senators anytime soon. She sighed a little bit before nodding back in Dr. Thompkins' direction. The pair, as discreetly as they could be, left the main foyer and made their way to the elevators which they took all the way up to the top floor - presumably a penthouse suite.

When Dr. Thompkins said very important patient, Claire realized, she certainly wasn't kidding around. The fact remained, however, that Claire didn't know what kind of favor she was being asked to provide, and it dawned on her that though Dr. Thompkins was a person she trusted, the fact that she so needed to be needed might one day get her into much bigger trouble than she realized.

The elevator doors opened, however, and in addition to confirming that this was indeed the penthouse suite, it also confirmed something else - this was a very full penthouse suite, and it was full of faces Claire was not necessarily happy to see. And across the room, situated on a daybed by the large window, was a figure Claire had never seen in person before - never up close - but immediately recognized.

"I..." she stammered, clearing her throat and looking back at Doctor Thompkins, avoiding the weight of the stares in the room that were now on her. "I'm sorry. I can't do this."

A/N

Sorry for the delay! Going through a little bit of a stressful period in real life stuff, but as always, all of your messages and reviews and kind words have been a huge help and motivator for me to keep going! Thank you all, as always!

Next chapter, we find out the favor Dr. Thompkins needs, and Claire gets a good talking-to about her loyalties. Until next update (which I hope will come to fruition faster than this one), cheers!