Disclaimer: not mine
Warnings: language
'You seem happy today'
"I am." In fact I haven't been able to take this silly smile from my face all day.
'Care to share? You normally use me as the mother hen of shoulders to cry on. It would be nice to get some good news for a frikkin' change, you know?'
"I got a message from an old friend with some good news. Good news make me happy."
'And yes, thank you for all the detailed comment. Wow, I'm so happy my rocky ass has turned into Coca-Cola.'
"It's personal."
'I'm a product of your imagination. Who else do you think I'm gonna go and gossip around with, uh?'
"Because you are a product of my imagination, I use you when I need you."
'...Dammit, you're good'.
London, 29th May 2020.
Ella Hunt.
"You know I've been bitching this whole time about having to see all this?"
Ollie's voice suddenly broke into Dinah's ears. "And now?," she asked.
"Now I wish I had audio. Lois has taken over the press round."
"Man, I hope baldy gets what he deserves."
Ollie silently hoped too. But his guts were telling him that things could go very wrong.
"Miss Lane, I was wondering when would you rise your hand." An intentional pause. A smirk. "Figuratively speaking, of course. You never rise your hand before asking."
Lois didn't flinch, and kept talking oblivious to the effect that Lex's remark had had on the rest of the room, which was starting to mutter.
"You have talked for sixty minutes, a very well structured speech, not vague, very direct, making sure all your points were clearly understood," said Lois.
"Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment."
Lois could have sworn she saw a slight change in Lex' expression. It was there, for less than a second. But it was there.
"So, Miss Lane. I am eager to hear your remarks on my calculated speech."
--I bet you are, asswhole.
"'Calculated' is not just the epitome of your oratorical skills, Mr. Luthor, it is also a very suiting adjective for your own persona. You have talked about public internal concerns such as the growing inflation on first need products, the never-ending health-care problems and social conflicts. For fifteen," and she made sure she used the same emphasis as him, "calculated minutes. Fifteen minutes to talk about our closest and more immediate problems and concerns, Mr. Luthor; issues in which the other candidates spend most of the time talking about, and--"
"Miss Lane," the moderator quickly made an attempt at getting Lois' attention, and lost no time when she looked at the source of the voice. He was aware of her well-deserved reputation. "There were strict rules about timings and questions--"
It was Lex who interceded. Lois' tone was as direct and feral as he remembered, just the way he wanted it to be. Lex knew that if he gave her enough rope she'd probably hang herself, so he did.
"Please, I'm sure the rest of her colleagues and audience are eager to listen to a Pulitzer awarded journalist." Not ever losing his smile, he turned back his attention to Lois. "We will break the rules for you, Miss Lane," he said bowing his head. "I guess you wanted to point out that I used most of my time talking about threats, defense..."
"No," Lois quickly responded, "that speech we already know. It is not the first time a candidate plays the fear card, Mr. Luthor. And I don't think you are interested in that particular approach in your campaign either."
"Then I'm afraid I'm lost."
No. He was not lost, and they both knew it.
Lois guessed Clark would be probably refraining from flying her far away where it wouldn't matter how much she talked. But she had to talk about the real danger Lex Luthor was for all of them. She had to try, dammit. If it went to the press, even the slightest hint, at least she would have planted a seed. And the press was her garden, there she could make it grow; there she had control to fight any the obliviousness, indifference or passiveness that some people might harvest, traits that Lex would surely prey on.
"I am talking about your charts on national budget destined for research," said Lois. "Most of your private projects are highly classified. Some of them in the past were directly associated with unauthorized experimenting on humans, and I cannot help but wonder on which scientific field your interest in investing money is focused now."
"I have a very deep concern for our world security, Miss Lane. Yes, there have been human subjects in some of my experiments, always with their full consent."
--Tell that to Wes, you bastard.
"And what about the unauthorized abductions you carried on meteor infected in Smallville years ago? Were they asked before being taken?" Because sure as hell you didn't ask Chloe, you son of a bitch. "Should we expect a new Manhattan project exchanging Asians for people with abilities, Mr. Luthor?"
Lex ignored the sudden burst of muttering brought by Lois' direct accusation, and immutable, he replied back. "I worry about my country, Miss Lane, and like it or not, History has led us to be the first country in this specific chronological period. That gives us a responsibility not only inside our borders."
"Responsibility to use wisely, Mr. Luthor, not to make wars or provoke new genocides."
"That place was gained with a very debatable and dubious genocide in the Pacific, Mr. Luthor."
"Spare me the pacifist propaganda, Miss Lane, you can do better than that." Lex's tone had changed slightly, yet his face remained the same. "You mentioned abductions of meteor infected people in Smallville," he added, and then continued to talk addressing the whole room. "Yes, I was living there at that time. One of many lies placed on me in order to discredit my company. But I do think, and they proved it themselves, that they were dangerous to society. Luckily they did not widespread, and most of them were contained. But they were a threat. And what did the Government do? Nothing, my fellow friends," he said. "Apparently small Kansas towns were not in the map. People died because of that."
The room was still a constant mutter.
One of the best reporters of Metropolis was losing her edge and Lex Luthor was displaying a flawless affectation, exuding security.
There were only two people silent while paying full attention at the scene. Clark Kent was having one of the most difficult times of his life. Cat Grant had not had that fun in months, and was considering making a quick enrolment into any religion so she could pray for the duel to keep on going while starting to think about the conversation she was going to have with Perry first thing after the act.
And then, Lex dropped the S-Bomb.
"And thanks to you," he said addressing Lois, "we know that the ultimate responsibility of those deaths lies on Superman's head."
Silence suddenly filled the room. The tension between Lois and Lex could be cut with a knife.
"You told us his story, Miss Lane. You told us about kryptonite, and you wrote about meteor infected in your early years."
Cat was already praying before realizing she was actually doing it. Clark thanked he could control his heat vision. Lois hoped she had Clark's heat vision.
"Fortunately the Justice League made sure those rocks would disappear, posing no further threat," continued Lex. "And I admire Superman, Miss Lane, he really is an example." Very aware of his body language, he turned once more to the whole room. "But, what if he loses his edge? We have given him a home in our planet, and he fights for us in return--"
"He doesn't fight in return of anything, Mr. Luthor. Superman believes in what he does."
"So do I."
"And that is what worries me the most. You believe that what you are doing is good."
"Let me ask you something, Miss Lane." Lex paused for a few seconds. "You'd think that what I'm about to say is somewhat manicheist, but before you jump at my jugular, give me a chance to elaborate." Lex made a pause to get everybody's full attention and once he had it, he continued his speech. "Mine is not just a narrow dual perspective based on contraries: good and evil, pride and modesty. But take life and death: how many people have made the most of their lives because they knew that at some point they were going to die? I am not neglecting nor denying the existence of all kinds of shades of grey in life, because they are very much real indeed. No, Miss Lane, far from that." Then, he addressed all the presents again. "But make yourselves a question, fellow Americans."
Lois wanted to go to the bathroom to puke until she turned deaf at that fake patriotic turn. Could that be possible?
Lex posed the question after a short pause to gain full attention: "Why do we respect and love heroes? " And of course, he answered it himself. "Because there are equal adversaries. They feed off from each other. There is no one if there is not other. And one can't help but wonder: if there was no heaven, would there be no hell? There is a high probability that those meteorites would have landed on earth even if Superman had not come with them, of course, and I will not discuss that because if that had been the case, young anonymous Superman would have not been around to help."
Silence. Silence was never good. Then he went back to Lois.
"But I'm sure you do remember the creature your paper called Doomsday, the other traveler from Krypton. So, tell me, Miss Lane. What's the lesser of two evils?"
--Bastard.
Author's notes: I said it, Lex is the villain. But this confrontation will end in a rather unexpected way for both in chapter nine, "Victory".
Hope you enjoyed.
Music info: Muse 'Feeling Good': Lex's inner feelings, he's really enjoying this. Muse's cover is much more fitting than my beloved Nina Simone. And it is a kick-ass cover.
