Rating: T
Where else can I find this story? All five parts are on the first page of Part 5 of the original Young Justice Anon Meme on LiveJournal.
Summary: Lex Luthor is in prison, and Superboy is given a mission to protect the man who put him there: Clark Kent. But what Conner doesn't know... (Part V of Masks, from the Anon Meme).
Hero
Masks, Part V
Chapter 4: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
Two days later, Mr. Kent gets a phone call. Luthor wants to talk to him, apparently. Mr. Kent wants to go alone, and really, Superboy wants to let him, but he can't, of course. Ms. Lane tags along too, because Clark's already scooped her once, she's not going to let him do it again.
Luthor is only allowed one visitor at a time, so Conner and Ms. Lane have to stay behind the one-way mirror while Mr. Kent goes in to talk to Mr. Luthor. Conner knows this is wrong. He knows Luthor is dangerous and he knows it's his job to protect Mr. Kent from danger. But Conner is also relieved, because he still has nightmares about Luthor and that little green rock, and he's not entirely sure he could stand to be in the same room with the man.
The orange jumpsuit and neck brace have done little to take the edge off of Luthor. He sits on the little folding chair like it's a throne and smiles coldly at Mr. Kent when he goes in. Smiles like he's not in prison, like Mr. Kent didn't put him there, like he didn't try to assault Mr. Kent, like Mr. Kent didn't dislocate his jaw.
Mr. Kent just sits down across the table, and for a few minutes that stretch out into a painful eternity, they just sit there in silence. Finally Luther asks simply, "I presume Ms. Lane is on the other side of the looking-glass?"
Mr. Kent nods noncommittally. Luthor turns to the mirror, to them, and he smiles and waves. "Hi Lois!" Conner knows Luthor doesn't know he's there too, but it looks like the man is looking at him, and he can't help but dig his super strong fingernails into his invulnerable flesh with so much force his knuckles turn white.
"I imagine she's still angry with you for locking her out of the story?"
Mr. Kent doesn't answer, but Luthor doesn't really wait for the answer anyway. "She should thank you. You've saved her from a magnificent libel suit."
"You can't be serious."
"Mr. Kent, have you ever known me to joke? You've published the most incredible lies about me."
"Everything I wrote is true, and you know it. The evidence is iron clad."
"The evidence?" Luthor chuckles. "Do you really think a jury of my peers will convict me on what you call evidence?"
"A jury of your peers? What would that be? The murdering scum of the earth?"
"Very funny. No, of course. The hardworking, law-abiding citizens of Metropolis.
"Did you know, Mr. Kent, that Lex Corp directly employs nearly nine thousand people in Metropolis? Lex Corp subsidiaries directly employ a hundred thousand citizens of Metropolis. If you consider the people indirectly employed thanks to Lex Corp: people who work for our suppliers and contractors, people in retail who sell things to our employees, that number goes into the millions. And let's not forget the taxes Lex Corp and I pay. We pay for a large chunk of the police, the fire department, the public education system. And let's not forget our charitable initiatives. You won't find a man or woman in Metropolis who doesn't know someone who works because of me or has a place to live because of me.
"It's quite easy to explain: Metropolis works because I do. Have you noticed that Metropolis's unemployment rate is less than half the national unemployment rate? It's because of the economy. And I am the motor that powers the economy. Do you know who John Galt is? I am John Galt.
"And you, Mr. Kent, are a looter. You and Brucie Wayne."
"I don't see what Mr. Wayne has to do with this," Mr. Kent answers, pushing his glasses up.
"Oh don't you?" Luthor smirks. "Well then. Let me explain. You publish a defamatory article that accuses me of horrible things. The next day, half of Lex Corp's clients are looking to move their business to Wayne Industries, Lex Corp's primary competitor, and it just so happens that you move into Wayne's penthouse apartment rent free? Right, because that's not suspicious, at ALL…
"You know, I always knew you had a price.
"Do you know what the unemployment rate is in Gotham? Hell, do you know what the crime rate is in Gotham? But what do you expect, when the city's major job creator is handled by an incompetent brat like Bruce? Wayne's a terrible business leader. He's smart enough, but he has no drive, no work ethic. He's never had to fight for anything. So, instead of making his company better, he decides to steal jobs from good, hardworking citizens of Metropolis by finding some patsy third-rate reporter at a yellow rag to take me out of the equation. Everyone knows Wayne Enterprises isn't nearly as profitable as it should be—personally, I think he's been embezzling funds for years. Maybe he's been using it to pay for all your encounters in Metropolis diners? I'm going to have people comb through every inch of that company's financials and that man's life. And I'm going to show to a jury of twelve that I am a paragon of capitalistic virtue, that Bruce Wayne wants to destroy me, and that if the jurors let him, they'll be opening the doors to turning Metropolis into the next Gotham."
Mr. Kent laughs. "Luthor, you know I can't be bought. You've tried to do it for years. And besides, what you've just said is all sophistry. You can't deny the facts?"
"Well, I never offered to let you suck me off, but that's beside the point. I'm not going to deny any facts. At least, not any facts that a jury will ever see."
"What do you mean?"
"Mr. Kent, do you know what fruit of the poisonous tree is?"
The answer comes unbidden to Superboy, and he recites it out loud in an involuntary monotone: "Fruit of the poisonous tree is a legal metaphor in the United States used to describe evidence that is obtained illegally. The logic of the terminology is that if the source of the evidence is tainted, then anything gained from it is as well. The doctrine is an extension of the exclusionary rule, which, subject to some exceptions, prevents evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment from being admitted in a criminal trial. Like the exclusionary rule, the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine is intended to deter police from using illegal means to obtain evidence."
Ms. Lane looks at him strangely for a second before going back to look at Mr. Kent and Luthor.
"I'm not a police officer."
"No. You're not. You also didn't get all of your information yourself. In fact, all the evidence that you got yourself is entirely circumstantial. There are a few bits, which I must admit, do not reflect well on me, but, the fact remains that those were obtained through an illegal search.
"You see, Mr. Kent, I know who your secret source was. It wasn't disgruntled Lex Corp employees. It wasn't a whistleblower. I know who he was—he's good, you know, at covering his tracks. But I've been in this game for a long, long time, and I'm good too. There are security elements in place at all Lex Corp facilities that no one knows about because I designed them all myself and installed them all myself.
"And see, my lawyers have this really interesting theory that your so-called informant really needed a warrant."
"And how do you figure that?"
"Because he's a member of the Justice League, and the Justice League has a UN Charter to which the United States has signed on, which makes them a criminal enforcement agency sanctioned by the federal government.
"So my lawyers are going to argue that that evidence is inadmissible. And since that's a question of law and not a question of fact, no jury will ever have to hear about it. And if the judge disagrees with us, we'll appeal—all the way to the Supreme Court, and between the Justices who love me, the Justices who hate the Justice League, and the ones who are card-carrying members of the ACLU, we're pretty confident we'll get a unanimous opinion in our favor.
"So all your admissible evidence is circumstantial and I'm the patron saint of Metropolis. And you know what else? There's no appeal from a not-guilty verdict. Double jeopardy is a beautiful doctrine, don't you think?"
Luthor laughs, and Conner doesn't know why people think the Joker's laugh is creepy, when Luthor's laugh sounds like that.
"Actually, Mr. Kent, you've done me a beautiful favor. Of course, that wasn't your intent. I'm still going to sue you and that rag you work for for every last cent you have. And then I'm going to come after Wayne with everything I have. That man won't be able to sneeze without me knowing it. And I'm going to put him out of business. I'm going to take over the company his father built, I'm going to take it apart, and I'm going to sell it for scrap."
Conner doesn't follow everything Luthor says. He does however see that when Mr. Kent leaves the room he's white as a sheet and his hands are trembling ever so slightly.
Ms. Lane fixes him with a glare: "Is he right?"
But Mr. Kent sort of ignores her. He's in a daze.
"Oh my God. It makes so much sense. You and Bruce Wayne! How did I not see it before?"
Mr. Kent isn't listening. He looks like he wants to cry. "He's going to be so angry."
"It's true isn't it? You're dating Bruce Wayne! I cannot believe you didn't tell me!'
Conner doesn't understand.
When they leave the jail, Mr. Kent is pale like a ghost, his crystal blue eyes unfocused; he can't keep his hands from trembling.
Ms. Lane is furious.
Neither of them is in any state to drive, so it's Connor who has to drive Mr. Kent's busted old car back to the Planet. Conner doesn't know if it'll make things worse, but he doesn't understand what's going on, and he knows it's important. So he asks, with the same sort of awkward humility of when he asked Batman about sex. Because Ms. Lane and Mr. Kent obviously both understand what's going on… something more than just the fact that Mr. Kent may or may not be sleeping with Mr. Wayne, something that has Luthor pleased, Mr. Kent terrified, and Ms. Lane incredibly pissed off.
"I don't understand," he says, "Robin said that Batman said the evidence was solid. My teammates said Luthor was going to get the death penalty."
Ms. Lane laughs, "Luthor was never going to get the death penalty. Money speaks, and Luthor has a lot of that. And as to the evidence, it may be ironclad, but it's only good if it's admissible, and apparently Luthor's convinced Kent here that some of it isn't. Who the hell is your source Kent that he needed a warrant?"
"The Justice League. Batman got the information, but Superman was the one that gave it to me."
Something doesn't make any sense to Conner. "Wait, if the evidence would be inadmissible, why would Batman give it to you?"
Kent sinks his hands into his jet black hair.
"Batman found it. Superman gave it to me."
Conner has to stop himself from clenching his fists too strongly on the steering wheel "Superman stole the information from Batman?"
"Superman wouldn't steal anything," Ms. Lane answers, but her voice is solid ice.
"The information, it was stored in the Justice League database."
Conner can empathize with the freeze in Ms. Lane's voice. "Let me guess. Batman found the evidence, shared it with the rest of the League because he figured this was something the League should know, and then Superman wanted to go straight to the cops with the information, but Batman said no." He understands now why Batman was so angry with Mr. Kent, though it's all Superman's fault.
"How'd you know?"
"Because this isn't the first time Superman's tried to rush to the chase with Luthor against Batman's better judgment." He pauses, "Hey, you guys know the Big Blue Boy Scout better than I do. Is he always this stupid, or just when Luthor's involved?"
Kent looks up and Conner can see his eyes in the rear-view mirror. "That's not fair Superboy."
"You're right; it's not fair. Not fair that since he has super strength and can fly Superman thinks he can do whatever he wants. Batman's the leader for a reason."
Two miles later, he opens his mouth again, "So, does this mean Luther gets to go free? You mean everyone will know what he's done, and he'll be free to keep doing it?"
Mr. Kent's eyes meet his in the rear-view mirror. "No. I'm going to fix it." And there's something in Mr. Kent's eyes, behind those thick glasses, that makes Conner believe it.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: Nothing much to add. Reviews are always welcome. I'll try to have a less stupid update schedule.