I glanced down from where I was sticking LED lights on the ceiling to try and dispel some of the darkness. Father- who, for the briefest of moments upon entering the room, had been red-faced and snarling- was looking down his nose at them when I looked up from the pile. He gave them all a disgusted look. "I don't even know why I bother," he said, glaring at them as they quickly got to their feet and trained their guns on the already-detained spy.
Luthor stepped around their guns, frowning, and bent down in front of the woman. He lifted her face from the floor- turning it this way and that- then stepped past her, too.
He looked down at the restraints that I'd hogtied her with- after all, I had a child-safe welder, and there was no way I was going to just leave her flopping around on the floor when I had no idea who she was, why she was here or what she could do. (Other than get beaten up by a seven-year-old, of course, but to be fair that label now fit Parasite as well.)
Only then, once he'd taken in every last detail he could, did he look up at me.
"Sssup~," I said, stretching out the consonants like a stereotypical gum-chewing teenage rebel as I stuck another LED to the ceiling. (With glue, not welding. Welding LEDs to the ceiling would be silly when I just wanted a temporary fix.)
He glanced from me to the woman on the floor and back again. "You did this?" asked Luthor, his brow slightly quirked.
"Uh-huh," I replied.
He was not amused by my shenanigans. "Lena," he tutted, a note of disappointment in his voice, giving me The Look in the process.
"...Yes, Father," I corrected, stepping off the ladder I'd been standing on to take a more professional standing position.
He nodded, satisfied. "Talk me through how you did it," he said. "And what happened afterwards."
"Well… My programs alerted me to the fact that something weird was going on," I said. I gestured at the woman. "She'd snuck in using a bodysuit, and was heading over here. So I got my pocket stuff and the safety welder, counterhacked the elevators and security, cut a chunk out of the elevator and scribbled on it so the turrets would shoot that instead of me…"
"The turrets were active?" said Luthor, his face serious, in the same too-calm way it had been when I'd told him his dinosaurs were wrong. Except… more so, somehow.
It wasn't a face I'd seen on him before. I didn't like it.
I nodded. "They were shooting at me, and I didn't have any data lines, so I burned up the entire system," I said educationally. "They didn't shoot me after I did that. ...I think one exploded, we should probably get someone to check that."
"You got shot at by the security… so you ignored it, and you blew it up?" questioned Mercy, an eyebrow quirked. "Christ, kid."
Luthor looked down at the woman. "...Remind me to bill her employers," he growled. "I don't appreciate being set back, especially not at such a critical time as now."
Mercy grunted, apparently having realised the same thing- though precisely what 'critical time' he meant I wasn't sure of. As far as I was aware, there hadn't been anything that guns would be useful for stopping loitering in the building's lower levels- it was pretty strange he'd say such a thing.
On the bright side, he was blaming my shenanigans on somebody else rather than the other way around for once. It was a novel feeling, I assure you. He looked back up at me. "Continue."
"Once the turrets were out of the way, I counterhacked the doors as well," I obligingly continued. "I don't think she planned to be interrupted- there weren't any employers around, and I reached the door at about the same time as she did. Maybe a little later. I cut a hole in the door, welded the ice pack to make an improvised cryoexplosive, did the same to a chalk so I could grab her gun, and punched her in the unmentionables."
One of the other body guards snorted. Luthor tilted his head a little towards the sound- the mountain-sized man went pale, and tried to look professional. "She also had a gun herself," he said, and I wasn't sure if he was impressed or infuriated by her ballsiness at having live weapons in his tower. "Where is it?"
I stepped to the side of the room and pulled it out of a drawer. "Shotgun," I informed him, passing it over- he took it, looked over it, then passed it to Mercy for safekeeping. "Silenced, I think- it wasn't as loud as the turrets, at least. I distracted her with it so I could stab her with a drug from the desk, and then the lights went out because…" I paused. "...Actually, I don't know why the lights went out."
"She planted bombs on the cables connecting LexCorp to the rest of the city," Father told me, his voice thick with displeasure. "Power, data… All of them," he spat viciously. "The lights failing was because she put a timer bomb on the backup generator, too. We're out of power."
"...Yeesh," I muttered, thinking of the Metropolis heat. "That's not good, this time of year…"
"It's worse for the experiments," he growled. "The most vital ones, fortunately, had their own power sources. But the unsaved data? The refrigerated materials?" He gave the unconscious woman a kick, and I winced at the meaty sound it made. "I doubt she evenknows how much damage she's caused me." He glared at the woman for a moment longer, before turning to his guards. "Call the police," he said- well, he was still growling, but I got the impression that would be redundant to mention. "We're in no state to keep her captive ourselves. I'll make arrangements to ensure she remains captive."
I stayed quiet, deciding not to speak up about anything such as 'ethical treatment'. Not right now, at least.
Then Luthor turned towards me with a smile on his face. "You've done well, Lena," he said.
To make it absolutely clear- this was not a smirk. This wasnot a villainous grin. This was an honest-to-godsmile and it was directed at me.
Understandably, it freaked me right the fuck out.
"...Err, are you okay?" I questioned, completely honest in my concern for his emotional state. He glared at the woman on the floor, and my subconscious fears of him being replaced by a Skrull spontaneously evapourated into the aether. Then he looked back at me.
"Follow me, Lena," he told me. I did so.
I followed him out of the room- he directed his bodyguards to leave him behind. Despite trailing him all the way up the tower, I didn't say a word. It was only when we reached our destination, opening the door and beckoning me, that I spoke.
"...This is the place you use for business stuff," I said. This office was quite clearly on the list of places in LexCorp I was not supposed to be in, even above most of the labs.
"I use it for what's important in life," Lex said. "Come in."
…
I couldn't tell if I was supposed to be insulted by his words or filled with shame at my elation.
Let's be honest, I thought. It's both. I followed him in.
The room smelled of fine leather and carpet, without even a hint of tobacco. I glanced to the side of the room, and my eyes widened.
Luthor's pet shark swam beside the room in circles, watching us. Luthor noticed me staring. "She'll have to go on loan to the aquarium," he said. "Her generator won't last until the power is repaired…" The man paused, thoughtfully. "Though I suppose it would be a good opportunity to acquire a mate for her."
The shark was a whitetip, if I wasn't mistaken- famous for eating survivors of shipwrecks, and most certainly not an animal you'd see in a normal aquarium, let alone a skyscraper's private fish tank. I glanced at its hindfins. No claspers, I noted. He actually got its sex right. Huh.
He gestured to a fine-looking grey chair in front of his desk. Obligingly, I took a seat.
Luthor sat down opposite me, in his famous swivelling chair, backed by the glorious Metropolis skyline. He reached beside his desk, and I heard the sound of what was quite clearly a mini-fridge being opened.
He has a mini-fridge under his desk? I thought, baffled. Does he… Does he eat snacks in here?
He took out two glasses, and two drinks. One alcoholic, one not- he poured himself a glass of wine and me a glass of whatever I was being offered. "I never thought I'd see the day," he said, actually sounding sort of chuffed.
I took a sip of my drink. Cranberry, I noted.
"I didn't think you had a pragmatic streak in you," he told me. "And yet, you managed to halt somebody that the entirety of LexCorp's security could not."
"...Mmph," I grunted neutrally, shrugging.
"Lena, my dear," he chastised. "When somebody complements your achievements, there's no need to be humble. Show some pride. They say it's a sin, but..." Luthor chuckled. "God said the meek would inherit the Earth. And yet all my observations seem to indicate it's ruled by the mighty. Amusing, isn't it? So take the complement. Build on it, if you can."
"...Of course," I said, to amend my previous statement.
Lex took that as good enough, and continued as if he hadn't made a comment at all. "Not only did you manage such a remarkable achievement with nothing but your wits and your mastery of LexCorp's systems," he said, "your work is going strong. "From the experimental logs of the Oracle's Throne, it seems it's just about ready- and if outside forces are interested in it, as the agent's presence implies they are, then I do think your machine is ready for use."
I thought through it carefully. Then I thought through the schematics in my head, the ones that Luthor didn't have. "...I'd agree with that," I said tentatively. "The safety features are in, the magnetic fields aren't disrupting normal neural processes, and the theory seems sound. I'd be comfortable spending a minute or so in there to try it out. Sure."
He did that creepy, actually-directing-positive-emotions smile again. He made a note in his calendar. "Excellent. I look forwards to seeing the results." With a soft 'whumph', he closed the calendar to lean his chin on his knitted-together hands. "Now, then…" he said. "How would you feel about a research holiday?"
"...Bwuh?" I questioned, confused by the change of topic.
He had to give me another Look at my lack of eloquence before I remembered to clarify.
"A research holiday? Why now?" I asked, frowning. "I wasn't aware we evenhad holidays."
"I- as normal- will be staying here, at LexCorp," he clarified. "As will Mercy. We're on uncertain grounds right now- I can feel our stock market value dropping. However, as we lack the staff to protect all of us without the security systems active, I would feel more comfortable if you were elsewhere for the time being."
"Ah," I replied. Either pragmatism, or a cause for me to get really goddamn paranoid that he's figured it out. "And the Psy- the Oracle's Throne?"
"We can have it installed on-board for the flight," he replied, waving a hand dismissively. "That should also keep it out of harm's reach, for the time being." He pulled something out of his drawer. "As for the location... Recently, I received an offer on a small Greek island. It's considered to have great mythological significance, a possible holy site for the Hellenic religions. I'd like you, Lena, to perform an archaeological dig and investigate for anything you might consider 'magical' in nature."
Greece… Ah. Ooooh. Maybe I can get distracted and go hunt for Themiscyra for a while. I grinned. "That sounds exciting!"
"I thought you might appreciate the idea," Father responded. "It will be interesting to see if magic and psychic powers have any relationship, if this does become an extended project."
I sipped at my drink again. It was a rather tasteful drink, whatever it was, not like the very expensive but otherwise normal lemonade I often drank at restaurants. I'll have to ask what it is in the future.
"Now, I do have a real meeting scheduled soon," Luthor clarified. "I'll have to be brief. Do you have any questions?"
I considered for a moment. "...Have you got any inklings of who might have done it?" I asked. "American government?"
He tilted his head. "Why would the government do something so foolish?"
"Well I did hack their files to steal their research data," I pointed out.
He shook his head. "No, it's not the government," he said. "We have… an understanding. Whoever did this, they're somebody who thinks they can afford to anger me." He turned away, towards the skyline.
"...The only person I know who fits that description is Superman," I said, quite honestly, "and he doesn't seem the sort for intrigue."
He stood there angrily for a few moments longer. Then, Luthor chuckled. "I suppose not," he replied, still looking out of the window. He glanced back at me. "Return to what you were doing," he ordered. "We'll discuss the details later."
"See you then," I replied. I nodded politely. "Farewell, Father."
I stood up and headed for the door. I needed to finish work on preparing for the mission. I'd…
...probably be unable to access my crossbow files while the power was out, now I thought about it. Hmm. I'd have to throw that one on Wayne to deal with. And maybe start keeping backups of my files, if this was going to be a regular issue.
I'd have to dump most of the rest of the mission on Wayne too, actually. That was inconvenient.
The timing could have been intentional, but… I'd seen Father's face. This wasn't his doing- somebody had damaged his things, and to a degree that was meaningful to him, on top of that. Somebody out there had balls the size of mola-molas.
I wasn't quite so certain it wasn't the government, though. It was awfully convenient timing. And if somebody had the balls... well, Amanda Waller definitely had balls big enough.
Because not even the bravest people had an easy time sassing Batman as an enemy. Waller was the sort to manage it with ease- and if she'd mess with Batman, Luthor could conceivably be a much easier target.
As I reached the threshold, Luthor called out to me. "Lena?" he said, calmly demanding my attention.
"Father?" I said, turning back towards him.
"You've been doing good work recently," he told me. "I'm proud of you. Carry on."
"...Thank you," I replied, and closed the door behind me. I carefully kept my face from twisting into a grimace until after the door was shut.