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 5: The Frigid Bastard from Gotham
Fixing it apparently means spending the entire afternoon on the phone trying to get in touch with Bruce Wayne. When they get back Mr. Kent disappears to the men's room (Conner thinks it'd probably be safe to keep an x-ray lookout for Mr. Kent, but on the off chance the reporter is going to multitask, he decides to leave him his privacy and settles for eavesdropping with his super hearing). From the bathroom Mr. Kent tries to call Mr. Wayne—"Bruce? Bruce? Are you listening? Look, I know you're listening. Bruce? Come on Bruce… this is an emergency. I need to talk to you. Ok. Give me a call back, ok? I really need to talk. It's about Luthor."
Then he comes out of bathroom and heads for his desk. He picks the phone up and dials a number. Apparently this one goes straight to voice mail too. "Hello Bruce, it's Clark. Please call me when you get a chance? It's about Luthor." Then he dials another number and leaves another message. And another. And another. Conner doesn't know what's more impressive, that Mr. Wayne has so many numbers, or that Mr. Kent knows them all. Maybe Luthor and Ms. Lane are right about Mr. Kent and Mr. Wayne.
Finally someone answers. It's a woman with a sweet professional voice, "Bruce Wayne's office, please hold," and then classical music plays for fifteen minutes before she's back on the line. "Thank you for holding, how may I help you?"
"I need to speak with Bruce."
"Who is this?"
"Clark Kent."
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Kent, Mr. Wayne's in a meeting, did you have an interview scheduled?"
"No," Mr. Kent admits hesitantly, "but this is an emergency. I've already tried him at several other numbers and I've been getting voice mail."
"Oh, I'm not surprised. Mr. Wayne's been in meetings all day, and all day yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Pretty much since you broke the Luthor story. I'm afraid he's booked solid for the next month, but I'll transfer you to PR." Before Mr. Kent can object, he's been transferred, and the next person on the phone simply directs him to a press release on the Wayne Industries website.
Mr. Kent sighs in exasperation.
Ms. Lane walks over, like she's going to the water cooler. "Ok. So Luthor was wrong. You're not dating Bruce Wayne."
"What changed your mind?"
"You can't reach him. He's always reachable to certain people; if you meant something special to him, you'd be able to reach him. I remember when I dated him for a while a few years ago, and Alfred and the kid were always able to reach him. When things started to get serious he even gave me his special secret personal number, though of course he changed the number when we broke it off."
"How could I forget Alfred?"
Mr. Kent is back on the phone. After a few rings, Conner can hear an English voice that sounds familiar, even if he can't quite place it, "Wayne Manor, Alfred speaking."
"Alfred? It's Clark."
"Ah, Mr. Kent, I imagine you're calling for Master Bruce?"
"Alfred, I haven't been able to reach him. It's an emergency."
"What sort of emergency? Master Bruce has been exceedingly busy since this whole fiasco with Lexcorp started. It's been a boon to business, but it's been hampering Master Bruce's nighttime activities. He hasn't had an opportunity to make an appearance at the Iceberg Lounge in over a week."
"It's about Luthor."
"Is Mr. Luthor planning to jettison the earth into the sun?"
"No. But he has threatened to seriously investigate Wayne Industries' finances; he thinks Bruce is embezzling money, and he seems to be under the impression that Bruce and I are in a relationship."
At this last point, Alfred failed to suppress a laugh. "Oh dear. Poor Mr. Luthor has lost his mind now, has he? I will relay this information to Master Bruce and let him know that you desire to speak with him urgently; though I cannot tell you when he'll be able to call you back."
"Thank you Alfred."
"Good day."
Ms. Lane looks at Mr. Kent. "Ok, you're not dating Wayne. But something is going on. Did you actually take a bribe?"
"Will you stop paying attention to Luthor's psychotic theories?"
"When you start offering explanations that make more sense than the ones he's offered!"
"Bruce and I are just good friends."
"Yeah, right. The fact that you said that explicitly implies that you aren't just good friends. No one has ever said that when they were actually just good friends."
And Conner can't help but remember what Ms. Lane said about herself and Superman and wonder if she realizes what she's said.
It takes two hours before Mr. Wayne responds to Mr. Kent. He does it over Skpye, which is kind of odd, Conner thinks, but he thinks it's interesting to see this mysterious Mr. Wayne's face. He looks like he's probably handsome, but at the moment he has long dark circles under his eyes, his skin is papery, his hair lacks luster, and his clothes, which look very expensive, are wrinkled.
"Bruce, you look terrible."
"Thank you Kent, always the charmer yourself."
"Seriously, you look like you haven't slept in ages; you look worse than usual."
"And we're two for two. Lexcorp's been bleeding business. They all want to come over here. Frankly, I don't know if we have the capacity. I've been in meetings for 19 hours straight every day since you wrote that stupid article. What did you think was going to happen?"
"Not this."
"Then you didn't think this through."
"Stop—just stop berating me ok?"
"I have only fifteen minutes for lunch. What's going on with Luthor?"
So Mr. Kent explains the situation. When he's done, Mr. Wayne merely looks up, "Yeah? And what do you want me to do about it?"
"What do you mean, what do I want you to do about it?"
"Christ, Kent. I'm not a goddamn lawyer. I'll talk to Harvey. But I don't know what you want me to do. You could go to the DA and tell her you lied to her, and you could publicly recant the story. That would open you and the Planet to a massive libel suit and you'd never work again, not for a reputable paper."
"There has to be another way."
"I'll talk to Harvey. If anyone can figure out how to spin this, legally, it's him."
"You can't expect me to do nothing."
"Can you do anything? Can you make this better?"
"No."
"Then I think you've done enough for now. Wayne out."
Wayne leaves the teleconference.
Conner looks to Mr. Kent who looks defeated.
"Bruce Wayne's kind of an asshole, isn't he?"
Mr. Kent smiles. "You have no idea. But you shouldn't use language like that." Then Mr. Kent reaches for his hat and stands up. "I'm not going to get anything done here. I need to get out and think. I think I'm going to go for a drive. You wanna come?"
And the answer is that Conner doesn't have a choice. He has to protect Mr. Kent, and that means he has to follow him wherever he goes. But the truth is that yes, he does want to go.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: Nothing much to add. Reviews are always welcome. I'll try to have a less stupid update schedule.