Weeks Earlier

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me, or are you gonna help?" Claire said with an almost childlike huff, looking up from the telescope she was trying to calibrate. "We've got less than an hour before we miss the best view."

"From up here, you can see the a meteor shower without a telescope," Lex said with a wag of his finger, walking over and covering the eyepiece before Claire could lean over and look into it again. After all, from the top of Luthor Tower, they were so far up into the Metropolis skyline, their view of the sky was as unobstructed as it could possibly be without going out of the city a number of hours. "It seems like a little bit of wasted effort."

Claire pursed her lips and huffed slightly, but conceded by taking a step back from the telescope.

"Fine," she said, attempting to play off the mild embarrassment. There were times, she would admit, that it was very hard to ignore the fact that Lex Luthor Jr. was in fact a genius, and that while she was a smart girl and a hard-worker, she would perhaps always feel a little out of her league.

Lex dropped it, mostly out of awareness of the fact that growing up in the smog-ridden downtown area of Metropolis, seeing stars was something she hadn't necessarily been able to do on a nightly basis. If anything, he took a little bit of pride in being the person who was able to make this a possibility for her, almost as though in a strange way, this was heroism.

"If we don't need a telescope, why did you have it brought up here, then?" Claire finally spoke up again, crossing her arms and cocking her head to one side. To this, Lex smirked and gave a small shrug.

"Because you asked for it."

There were times that Claire found Lex Luthor completely infuriating, and times that she thought he was perhaps in a strange way, the best person she'd ever met. This was certainly among the latter.

Sitting on a rooftop with Alexander Luthor Jr. and waiting for a meteor shower was not something Claire would have foreseen herself doing a year ago - and for that matter, it was not something Lex would have foreseen either. Claire Branigan, he had realized bit by bit, made him strong. Her presence, to Lex, was a source of power that he did not ever want to be deprived of.

Lex felt Claire's grip on his hand tighten as she looked up at the sky, catching the first glimpses of light streaking across. Truth be told, Lex didn't care for these kinds of things. He had long ceased looking up into the sky, because there was nothing there for him. But the look of wonder on the face of the woman next to him made him wonder ever so briefly if there was something to be said for the activity, however frivolous it seemed.

He realized after a few moments that she was closing her eyes, and he shifted to regard her with confusion and curiosity - had she come all the way up here after a long day of work to simply shut her eyes and not look at the meteor shower after all?

Sensing Lex's shift, Claire opened her eyes and tilted her head to one side.

"What are you looking at?"

"What are you doing?"

"Making a wish," Claire supplied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That's what you're supposed to do, isn't it?"

"Well, what did you wish for?"

"I'm not supposed to say until it comes true," Claire replied with a smirk. "That's how wishes work."

But Lex Luthor did not waste time on wishing. He was a man of action, and he could not use precious hours dwelling on things that were lost. Something greater was coming, and he was a creature of survival - what mattered now was finishing what he had started and giving himself a fighting chance, even if it was alone.

Except he was not alone, he reminded himself. Despite the overwhelming feeling of loneliness that washed over him in a a home that was all of a sudden silent again, he was not and could not be alone. In the two days since Claire's departure, during which she had not so much as shown herself to anyone, Lex had spent as little time inside his own home as possible. The silence taunted him. His inability to sleep rendered home useless anyway.

Admittedly, he felt his body beginning to drag from the lack of sleep, which was now omitted from his schedule in favor of more work. But work needed to be done. He had turned this into a mental mantra of sorts as he made his way to the warehouse at the docks that had been designated as his meeting place with Leonard Snart, who now claimed to be delivering the shipment which Lubrano had failed to obtain.

"Where am I?" an accented voice called out, and in the darkened warehouse, Lex caught sight of a man with bound hands and feet, his eyes covered with a blindfold. "Where have you taken me?"

"Relax, friend," Leonard said with a smirk, kneeling next to the man and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You're in good hands."

"David, David, David," Lex said, clapping his hands and taking a few jaunty steps forward, his footfall echoing in the empty room. "Or... Manta? Is that what you prefer? Black Manta?"

Upon drawing nearer to the man on the ground, Lex reached over and removed the blindfold from his face with a flourish, making a high-pitched, amused noise.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said matter-of-factly. "Even if under slightly inconvenient circumstances."

"Where am I?" David repeated through gritted teeth.

"Lenny," Lex said casually, raising his eyebrows and gesturing with open palms towards David's hands and feet, "I think this is slight overkill," he said with a Cheshire Cat grin before turning his attention back to their new guest. "You, my good friend, are at the Metropolis Docks. And I'm Lex Luthor - maybe you've heard of me."

"Never."

"How vexing," Lex said in an amused tone, clapping his hands together as Leonard finished cutting David loose from his bindings. "Suffice it to say, I'm a very, very rich man who happens to have a bone to pick with someone who is now good chums with someone with whom you have a bone to pick," Lex explained very quickly, perhaps even in a single breath. "Small world, isn't it?"

"Orin."

"Ah, right. That's what they call him out at sea, isn't it?" Lex said, crossing his arms and starting to pace jauntily back and forth in front of David. "Yes. Orin. Arthur Curry. Aquaman."

"What do you want from me?"

"I hear you're an inventor, my friend. I would like to offer you access to all of LexCorp's remote research facilities situated in the Atlantic Ocean, just North of Cape Verde," Lex replied. "In exchange for your willingness to lend a little manpower in Mr. Curry and his new friends should ever pose a threat to me."

David looked up at Lex with suspicion. It was expected, after all, that he wouldn't trust a stranger so quickly, especially when said stranger had just had you smuggled unconscious into a foreign country.

But Orin of Atlantis - Arthur Curry - was someone for whom David held enough hatred to allow him to look past that.

"What about him?" David asked, nodding in Leonard's direction. "What do you offer him to work for you?"

"You don't work for me. That's ridiculous," Lex said with a wide gesture of his hand. "The three of us - and more, if Lady Luck is on my side - would merely be close business partners with something very significant in common."

"Which is?"

"A bone to pick to someone who is... a little bit stronger. A little more powerful. A little more than human," Lex recited, his face turning into a slight sneer. "We're all men. Just men in foolish, foolish wars against gods," he said in a strangely distant tone. "But I am absolutely certain that with our combined strengths, we can win."

Win. The idea of winning against Orin of Atlantis seemed sweet and unobtainable - but the claims Lex Luthor spun into a fanciful web in his mind seemed to get under David's skin. Seeing the shift in the man's countenance, Lex turned on the ball of one foot and faced him, hands placed on his hips.

"We can get you to the labs without delay. Today," Lex said with lopsided but still enthusiastic grin. "You can begin work on whatever weapons and tools your heart desires in your little quest for revenge. All I'm asking for is assistance. Access to your work. Agree to that, and you will find yourself the master of a Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory of mass destruction."

Upon finishing, Lex leaned over so his face was close to David, who was still seated and stunned on the floor of the warehouse. "Questions? Comments? Complaints?" Lex asked in a sing-song tone.

"When do I go?"

"There is a boat currently docked at the marina with coordinates set to my research facilities, and provisions that should last you a good while," Lex said, reaching into his coat pocket and producing a key, twirling it with the ring wrapped around his index finger. "You're welcome to set sail whenever you'd like."

He allowed the key to drop with a small clatter onto the ground in front of David, who hesitated before picking it up and getting to his feet.

"Good man," Lex sad, clapping his hands again. "I'll be in touch when your skills are needed. Tata, Mister Manta."

David hesitated, clenching the key in his hand and examining Lex's expression with great apprehension before nodding and heading towards the door without another word, leaving Lex to turn and look at Leonard with an impressed nod.

"So," Lex said, crossing his arms over his chest again and taking a few steps back and forth. "There is honor among thieves among thieves."

"There's honor among thieves who are appropriately compensated," Leonard said with a smirk and a tilt of his head. "I delivered your shipment, Mister Luthor."

"And you will receive every cent you were promised," Lex said with a chuckle, shaking his head. "Transferred to your account in installments over the next few days. No funny business, or you know where to find me."

"I suppose you have no choice but to buy friends," Leonard said with a cold smirk on his face, tilting his head to one side. "I noticed your pretty little girlfriend is conspicuously absent from our little meeting. Busy?"

"That isn't any of your business."

"Oh, but I think it's of the utmost importance to have a working knowledge of my... business partners," Leonard chuckled, now relishing the brief one up he had on Lex Luthor, who up until now seemed to pull all of the strings. "Had a little bit of a falling out with the lady friend?"

"Don't," Lex said with a cold glare, stopping in his tracks, "mention Claire again, Mister Snart. She's not a part of our business."

"Suit yourself," Leonard said with an exaggerated shrug before starting towards the door. "Just showing a little bit of friendly concern is all."

And the Central City gave a dramatic bow before exiting the warehouse, leaving Lex alone again in the dimly lit warehouse.

This should have been a moment he could celebrate - another piece had fallen into place. The legion he was hoping to form to provide balance against the team of metahumans now gaining strength. But instead, it was tainted by the fact that come to believe his strength lay in another person who was now gone. Claire was gone. Claire was-

He founds his thoughts interrupted by the familiar flickering of lights that hearkened to something that had happened once before. The lights buzzed and flickered into darkness for a brief moment, and when they came back, Lex found himself face to face with the same person as before.

"We're going on a ride, Luthor."

"I'm hardly interested in being your copilot, Mister Wayne," Lex sneered at the man under the cowl. "Give me a reason -"

"We've spotted her," Bruce interrupted, his voice garbled by the device in his cowl. "And you're coming with me."

"Leave the girl's body, Darkseid," Diana said in a low voice, in the vain hope that the encounter would not need to escalate. They had encountered Claire - Darkseid - the streets of Metropolis, leaving a building that was in the process of being converted to a nightclub by a man named Desaad. She was clad in a hooded coat, all dark colors, with her appearance obstructed by what appeared to be kohl smeared around her eyes. Victor and Barry both stood behind Diana, bracing themselves to fight.

"The girl's body? I think you're mistaken," Darkseid replied. "There is no more of the girl left - only Darkseid. I no longer hear her. I no longer sense her."

"Bullshit."

Victor's deep voice was the first to speak up in response, which brought a small smirk to Diana's face.

"The Mother Box was broken. I know 'cause it's mine," Victor continued - for the first time actually wielding a glimmer of pride in the statement. "You're just fighting to keep her contained but she's in there."

"Not," Darkseid said in a low, cool voice, "for long."

And quickly, in a flash of red light, a beam of energy shot out from Claire's hands, razing the street and hacking down light poles like trees. In another swift gesture, a fist slamming to the ground created a rumbling like an Earthquake and sending a wave of cracks through the wide street and sidewalks. The buildings surround the area began bustling with activity as people began poring towards their windows to see what was happening.

"We have to get her away from here," Diana said, drawing her sword from its sheath and steeling her stance to face Darkseid while as best as she could, avoiding harm to Claire. "Victor -"

"Ten steps ahead, Your Highness," Vic said with a new glimmer of youthful energy and willingness, raising his arm and allowing the cybernetic encasement to shift into a weapon that resembled a cannon. He raised it in Claire's direction as she paused in her havoc on the roads - he fired a blast in her direction that bellowed with a loud, pulsating noise, knocking Claire a good distance back, clear to the end of the block before she landed on the grass of the park at the end of th cul de sac.

"So I get to run real fast, and everyone else gets badass toys? What a rip off," Barry joked before darting off the direction of the park and, as Claire started to get up, knocking her back to the ground in a blur of red. "It's usually my policy not to hit girls," he quipped before running rapid circles around her, then suddenly stopping to that the momentum threw her further into the empty park, farther from the crowded street. "But then I remind myself, you're not a girl. You're just renting the space."

From the other end of the street, the roar of engines signaled a new arrival - the Batmobile screeched and drifted to a halt, and Lex Luthor was the first to emerge from the passenger side as though being in the vehicle had physically burned him. From the driver side, Bruce emerged and quickly took in the sight.

Another blast of bright red light shooting out from the direction of the park was accompanied by an angered bellow, and Lex caught sight of Claire - though he knew it wasn't truly her - using the beam of energy like a scythe, taking down trees and lampposts almost effortlessly. The sight of his Claire wielding such power, the thought of Claire becoming some kind of greater being, was sickening. Not Claire. Anyone but Claire. Feeling his hands quivering, he began to succumb to his initial instinct to flee, backing away from the Batmobile and preparing to run until he felt fists grab hold of his shirt from behind and throw him against the car.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I have no business here. I'm leaving this to the heroes -"

"Afraid that's not an option, Luthor. Diana!"

Diana had been prepared to lunge forward to help Barry and Victor in facing Darkseid, but turned immediately at the sound of her name to see Lex tear himself away from Bruce's grasp, attempting to flee. Rolling her eyes in exasperation and wondering silently why men couldn't manage the simplest of tasks without her help, she drew her lasso from its holster at her hip and, with a deft and mighty throw, cast the loop around Lex and yanked him closer to her. Diana quickly realized as she caught sight of Barry and Victor fighting Darkseid-Claire from the corner of her eye that if ever there was any hope of even glimpsing the real Claire, this was it. She reeled him closer and yanked him to his feet before calling out.

"Face me, Darkseid!" Diana called out over the din of crashes and blasts - immediately, Claire's face as was turned in their direction, still looking cold and prepared to obliterate. But as she turned, prepared now to first take on the woman in their midst, she was instead met by the sight of Lex Luthor, bound by the woman's lasso and struggling to get his arms free. The red glow in Claire's eyes flickered, the expression of rage faltered.

"You're hurting him!" came a shrill cry that was chilling to them all for the fact that it clearly belonged to Claire - the real Claire. She had momentarily regained control, and the action left the heroes stunned but validated - she was still there. There was something still left to save.

But as quickly as this flicker of the real Claire appeared, the hateful and hardened expression returned, and the reddened glow of the eyes came back to life.

"The girl deceived me. Very... clever," Darkseid said through Claire's voice, and the use of the word seemed to set off a cascade of a reaction in Lex, whose jaw clenched in fury as he thrashed again against his bonds. "But she is not trying to take back control from me now. This body is mine."

Lacking full power, however, Darkseid's perception was not perfect - it was limited by the confines of Claire's body, and as such, did not see the blur of red until it was too late. Barry had recovered and lunged forward, knocking into the midsection of Claire's body so quickly and with such forced that it left her stunned long enough for Victor to lunge forward, grabbing the scruff of the collar of the dark coat she wore and pulling her up with him into the sky, flying off with her.

"Arthur is in place. You know the plan!" Diana bellowed out loudly. Barry spared only a momentarily glance backward over his shoulder at Diana, smirking briefly before disappearing in a blur of red in the same direction in which Victor had disappeared with Claire. Diana turned back to Bruce, giving him a pointed expression before looking back at a still stunned, shaking Lex Luthor - she freed him from the lasso and yanked back the scruff of his collar.

"And you," Diana said sternly, "are going to help us, are you not? You saw her. You heard her."

"I'm not going to help you," Lex snarled, his face contorting in rage as he took a stumbling step backwards. "This is to help Claire. No one else."

"Go."

Lex sneered at being ordered around by this metahuman - this Wonder Woman he had hunted but Bruce Wayne had managed to get his hands on first. However, bitterly, he turned back to the direction where Diana gestured, where Batman was waiting to transport him into place for the plan. There was only one reason that could force Lex Luthor willingly into close quarters with the Bat - trapped in the Batmobile with the man who had put him in Arkham Asylum.

There would perhaps be no other opportunity after this to preserve the real Claire. Knowing this, they sped off in the direction of Metropolis Bay.