Disclaimer: not mine
Warnings: language
Lois was very fond of her press passes.
Together with her well-deserved reputation, the Daily Planet press-pass was like her panties: she never left home without it.
There were also the ones she collected, those one-time passes of specific events: varied reunions, scientific or diplomatic, and backstage passes; the 'Lollapalooza in Metropolis 2011' pass, signed by David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg, was framed and hanging on her studio, side by side with the press access pass for the WTO Ministerial Conference on Globalization and its effects on Third World economies and cultural identities, held in Metropolis in 2014.
Oh, she remembered that one with pride.
Due to the grave events of Seattle's Conference back in 1999, the return of the periodic meeting to the United States after fifteen years of absence had been decided to be held in a secret location. Anti-globalization protests had been highly active, and there were disturbances involving activist NGOs and not so organized anarchist groups.
All newspapers received direct orders not to report until the meeting was over. A controversial measure that would surely bring trouble: where the hell were freedom of speech and press, among other civil rights? The power of big corporations supporting elected presidents and mass media groups was increasing at a dangerous highly rate.
The press was not happy with that, but they were threatened. And what did Perry White do? He sent her. The old dog, he knew that she would leak the information to all papers somehow.
And she did.
The Metropolis Ministerial Conference was so overshadowed by the outcome, that the United States had not been reconsidered to guest host the following meetings, not to mention the order to have the traitorous journalist's head served on a platter, coming directly from DC.
Every editor of every paper in the country reported to have received the information anonymously, and threatened to cease all activity for two days if they insisted on digging. The government couldn't manage a general strike of the press. Case closed; champagne breakfast for all.
Lost in her thoughts, Lois looked down at the pass clipped on her grey suit-jacket. This was one she would not add to her collection.
Her watch indicated that Lex would be entering the room in a few minutes, and knowing that public façade of him, he would be right on time for the cameras, all shiny and smiley.
--Will you be able to keep it together, Lane?
The sit by her right side was still empty. She really needed Clark with her, his presence was soothing, not to mention that right know she could really use his body heat.
--Geez, I'm still freezing.
Lois looked at her watch again.
She was nervous, and nervousness led her to impatience; and impatience to not having, nor being in control, and she couldn't stand not being in control.
Only two minutes left and boy, so many things could happen once those two minutes were over. She dreaded the mere though of the possibilities. And the bastard had placed the Daily Planet seats in the front row. Great. Just great.
Barbara looked at the message she had just sent Luthor. She never bluffed, but the way he had his security designed, she had to make them trace her so she could hack in. Luckily she was prepared for that eventuality and she had a packet of IP addresses to be used just once. It had taken five of them to download the information.
She was so focused on the process of decrypting them that when her cell rang, she took it and answered without thinking.
"Oracle."
"Babs, you're talking through your private cell."
Barbara realized her mistake. "Dammit! I'm sorry, Dick, I'm just in the middle of something."
"Donna told me. Doesn't sound good. What's your assessment?," asked Dick.
"I was able to hack in the video surveillance of the facility for a few seconds, Dick. Donna wasn't overreacting when she talked big. That amount of kryptonite could've killed Superman before he even got to see it. Nevertheless, I managed to download a heavy set of information, I'm decrypting right now."
"How long will it take you?"
"I don't know, the code is...tricky."
"You saying 'tricky' is not a good thing, Babs."
"The guy has more money than the Gates empire, Dick. His security is pretty tight." Then she smirked. "But he is not me."
"You have something already?," asked Dick acknowledging Barbara's last remark.
"A little, but it looks like that the decryption program I just wrote is working on a specific source of data. So far I have a few coordinates, but it seems old intel, worthless. Wait. It...it can't be."
"What is it, Babs?"
"Not here, not through this line, Dick."
"Babs?"
"Dick, I have to go."
"You just be careful. I'm not that familiar with Luthor, but he is not one of Superman's biggest adversaries for nothing. I'll see you when you get back. I love you."
"Love you too."
Barbara left the phone by the keyboard, shut all Internet connections and followed the protocol to ensure high-risk information. Starting her own encryption software, she just hoped she didn't have to blow up her headquarters a third time.
After being reported dead, and Ollie confessing to Lois his murderous sin on one of their alcoholic hangouts –recurring rendezvous that, however, had ended abruptly after that one–, Lex Luthor had come back. Not a single note to the press out of "Lex Luthor alive and back in Metropolis."
Tess Mercer had been accused of illegally trying to take over Luthorcorp and had been demoted, probably sent back to collecting tropical flowers or following jellyfish and belugas in the Pacific. That at least she hoped, because there had not been a word on Tess since then. Truth was that they did not see eye to eye on many th-- on anything, not to mention that fight at the Planet and the galactic misguidance that led her to free Zod. But in some dark and twisted way, Lois admired her. She had guts, that she couldn't deny.
Lois' mind returned to Lex and his unnerving silence. That was bad. And at first she had not realized how bad, that is, not until Clark had come clear with her about who he really was and how things had gone in his and Lex's last face to face encounter in the Fortress of Solitude. Lex Luthor knew who Clark Kent really was, and he was not using it against him?
There's a saying about revenge being a plate always best when served cold. Well, this one was becoming a dang freezing menu.
But their hands were tied, and they could not do a thing. Something else she could not control. And today of all days.
Lex was one of the very few people able to get on her nerves and win. She still remembered that day back in Smallville, when she was at the Talon and he was finishing the photo shoot for the Senatorial campaign.
--What are you hiding behind your curtains now, Lex?. She looked at her watch. One minute to go, and Clark still not here.
Clark looked at the watch. He still had one minute. After a quick visit to his and Lois' apartment and leaving Ollie on his post, Clark landed in the nearest alley –58 seconds–, changed into his civilian clothes –57.6 seconds– and crossed the road, running at normal speed while clipping his press pass on his jacket's pocket. Once in the entrance, he showed it to the guard –45 seconds– and finally got in.
At that moment, Ollie was still fitting his comm device and using a window to make sure his goatee was still in place after the flight. That new gel really worked.
By the time he surveyed the area and got visual contact with the conference room, he saw Clark sitting by Lois' side, kissing her cheek while he finished tucking his shirt inside his trousers.
"I brought you some dry clothes."
Clark's lips noticed Lois' slightly cool body temperature. "Hon, you're cold," he said, but as he held her right hand, he noted the sweat. She was nervous and he wasn't helping.
Lois was looking down, tense, and she didn't bother to raise her head when she answered. "I told you about me freezing, Clark."
Lois' answer screamed now was not the best moment to point the nerve thing out. She changed her jacket and before he could say anything she diverted him from the conversation they would probably have tonight by asking him about the mission while a spokesman announced Lex Luthor's presence. "How did it go?," she asked whispering.
"Not quite sure," was Clark's reply. Lois looked at him questioningly. "We could not complete the mission." He paused. She was not going to like what he was going to say next, but worse would be lying to her. Lying more.
"There was kryptonite."
Lois' stomach cramped every time she heard the 'K' word. Add that to her current nervous state and she'd be lucky if she managed to keep her intestinal flora tamed for the next two hours. Unconsciously, her gluteus muscles contracted. Nothing would come out her anus until she said so.
Dinah was not very happy with the agreement that the League had reached with the Government to provide special security during the electoral campaign in certain events and cities. When Ollie told her that her first assignment in Metropolis was this one, saying she was pissed off did not start covering it. But she abided. Sometimes working in a superhero organization sucked, even if it was called the Justice League.
Well, at least she would be seeing Babs more often now that she was joining them. Still, her sudden decision to work with the League on a more permanent status was full of questions. Babs had always liked the way she controlled her work, and being inside the League would imply the loss of a fair degree of independence. Why would she give that up?
Immersed in her own thoughts she looked at her watch. Almost an hour since Luthor had started talking. Oliver's voice brought her back to reality.
"Canary, report."
"Bored to death, Arrow. There is nothing going on here. How about you? At least you have visual."
"As if that were a good thing."
Indeed, Ollie didn't just have vision of the room in which Lex was talking. He had vision of the man himself. Too clear for his liking.
"Well, at least you get to see something," Dinah said interrupting his thoughts. "I'm on my bike, at the front, sitting and freezing. You know I never complain about my costume-"
"And don't you ever. I love it."
"Pervert. Fishnets are not designed to have me standing still like a frikkin' bodyguard, Ollie. And not moving makes me nervous. You could at least tell me what's happening in there, or something."
"I would really love to talk to you about 'or something', babe," said Ollie, "but I'm on a very unpleasant job right now, and the sight is so unnerving that I cannot even talk if I want to keep my focus on the mission. Just be patient, seems as if he already finished with the bullshit and now it's the press' turn."
"Well, I hope the charade ends soon. You and I have to talk tonight."
"I hope not just talk, pretty bird," said Ollie smirking.
"... Canary out."
Oliver smiled to himself and brought back his concentration on, who would have thought, protecting Lex.
Silently, he observed him. During all his years as a hooded hero constantly facing all kinds of human and metahuman criminals, he had learnt to read people's bodies; anticipating the slightest turn of a finger, a sideways eye during a millisecond, a drop of sweat on the temple, it could mean staying alive, or saving someone's life.
Lex's body language was calculated to the millimeter. Not a single movement of his hands was unthought-of. Neither the measured smile, nor the slight inclination of his head when listening to the questions from the press.
A worried hum escaped his lips when he wondered about Lois. Clark, he would put on his impenetrable blank mask, but Lois was feral, emotional, and Lex knew which strings to play with her.
--Lex, I don't really want to know what your sick mind is planning, but know I'm keeping an eye on you.
It was official, her intestines were purebred Lanes: they didn't take orders, not even from the highest rank. And talk about bad timing; the mutiny had to deflagrate just when the round of questions started. Saying 'crap' never felt so painfully accurate and close to reality. Fucking nervous system side effects on the digestive mechanism. Flora gone wild. And the bastard had made sure to remark it. Stinking hyena...
Still with an unpleasant feeling left on her stomach, Lois went to the sink to wash her hands and looked in the mirror. Great, she was blushing now. She looked like a freaking red light. Could this day get any worse? Breathing deeply, she composed herself and went back to the conference room.
She had arrived early and as nervous as she had been, she hadn't bothered to see what other press was there, so she took the chance to check on her way back. All Kansas papers were there, including--
Lois had to fight the urge to run back to the restroom for a few seconds. Oh, yes, the day could get worse. Four rows behind them, on a corner, sat the person who represented all that Lois Lane despised in journalism.
As if sensing the daggers in Lois' eyes, Cat Grant turned her head and smiled at her.
Lois forced herself to focus on her seat. She just had to get there and start asking all the questions struggling to make it out of her mouth.
Clark was worried. Lois' heart had been beating at a fast pace ever since he tuned in before and during Lex's speech. Her face had tensed while coming back, and didn't seem to change when she finally sat down and let out a short sigh. "Are you ok?," he asked concerned.
Lois whispered back, not taking her eyes off of Lex, who was answering some question about health care. "Perry sent Cat. As if things were already going swimmingly well, Clark, he fucking sent Cat Grant, the bitch of all bitches. The damn legitimate successor of Linda Lake."
All Clark wanted to do was taking her to a far away place where she could vent all she wanted, comfort her when the dam broke and make the most tender and intense love to her until they were too deep inside one another to think about the rest of the world.
But he couldn't do that now. Was that deep the control Lex had over them that he didn't even dare to react naturally to Lois in front of him?
All he attempted to do was moving his left hand so it would make casual contact with Lois' thigh. She moved it to her right in response, and taking her recorder, stood up, in her usual almost rude and imposing demeanor, as if she was the only one in the room, ready to ask. Both heavenly victory and apocalyptic defeat were around the bend. Which one would be, only time would tell.
"Lois Lane, Daily Planet. I have a question for you, Mr. Luthor."
All Clark could do was hope she would keep herself at bay. Because it was crystal clear that Lex was in full control of himself.
Author's notes: Lois knew this day would be hard, no matter what. Lex is The villain, don't expect Mr. Nice here. Hope you're enjoying so far.
Music info:
Lilly Allen 'Everything's just wonderful'. Goes with Lois' bathroom scene. "Oh yes I'm fine, everything's just wonderful, I'm having the time of my life". Perfect song for the scene.
Until I upload the whole playlist, the song, as usual, is available inside the chapter as uploaded in my LJ. Some of the songs are spoilers, so that's why I haven't uploaded the whole playlist yet.
