Chapter Twenty Eight
Lex's personal decorator was going over possible new designs for his office when the door opened and Clark appeared in the doorway, "Come on in." Lex said rising up from the small desk which caused him to frown and look back to his decorator, "Make sure they put in the desk from my LuthorCorp office. I want to feel as comfortable as possible."
The woman nods and makes a note of it while Lex walks over towards Clark, "I take it by the look on your face that your not here for a friendly chat." He gives Clark a friendly pat on the back before ordering people out of the office, "After the fundraiser and my little chat with your partner I realized that I couldn't let the Daily Planet disappear because of advancing technology." He goes over towards the window to look out over the city like he often did in his office, "Like my father before me, I'm interested in keeping Metropolis's legacy alive through any and all means."
"This has nothing to do with your campaign for mayor?"
Lex smirked and looked back at his friend, "Can't keep anything from you Clark." He turns and goes to sit down, "Once word spread around the city of how I saved the Daily Planet from bankruptcy they'll see that I'm the perfect person for the job."
Clark steps over clearly not liking Lex's latest ploy to win votes, "What happens after you win the election? This paper will no longer be of use to you."
"Au Contraire." Lex moves from his relaxed position to lean on his desk looking up at Clark with a serious expression on his face, "This paper will be of use to me long after I'm mayor. My company could use the extra income."
"What happened to you? The Lex I knew would never have done something like this."
He sat there unresponsive to his friend's inquiries and just said, "Goodbye Clark." He rose up and adjusted his suit as he patted Clark on the back once before walking off leaving his new office.
"You're destined for great things son." The voice of Lionel Luthor entered his head, "We spend a few years in our father's shadows until the time comes for us to rise above and be better then they were. Legacy is everything to a Luthor."
The elevator doors closed and the voice faded allowing Lex to lean his head against the wall and let out a breath as he reached into his coat pocket to pull out locket with the Luthor crest engraved on it and opened it to see there was nothing there, the pictures inside had been removed long ago on a day that changed him forever and made him who he was today.
Lois shut the conference room blinds and immediately turned around to face Clark, "Not only is Lex Luthor our new boss but John Corben mysteriously disappeared from Belle Reeve." She recalls the day's events in her usual Lois-y tone, "This day is just getting crazier by the minute."
"I don't think it's a coincidence either."
"You don't think…"
"Lex has made it his personal mission to destroy Superman and it wouldn't be the first time I've caught him experimenting with kryptonite and cybernetics." She gave him a confused look, "It's a long story."
"Say that your right and Lex took John. What would his motive be other then killing Superman?" the thought of Clark dying shook her to the core but it was a question that needed to be asked.
"I don't know." A thought immediately occurred to him, "But I can find out, if you'll help me."
"Lane and Kent together again." She smiles, "I like the sound of that" he smiles right back when a thought occurs to her, "I get first name on the byline."
"I wouldn't have any other way"
LuthorCorp
A storage closet opened and a bearded man dressed in janitorial slacks walked out, "I don't see why I had to be the one in disguise." Clark muttered looking around to make sure no one was watching before looking down into the trash can which house his partner Lois Lane.
"No ones going to be looking at your face not in that disguise" she replies trying to contain her laughter.
"This was the only they that was available." He retorts back and hears her say something sarcastic which prompted him to accidentally bump the cart into the wall, "Oops sorry" he said flashing a small grin and a glare from Lois as they made their way past the receptionist straight into Lex's office.
Once the doors suck Lois immediately crawled out and punched Clark in the arm, "Next time you run into a wall I will hurt you in a very sensitive part of your body."
He grimaced at the threat while she walked towards the computer with a flash drive in her hand, "I had Chloe loan me this but if anyone asks we didn't get it from her." She states before plugging the device into the computer which overrode the system's firewall and passwords, "I'm in"
Clark looked at her then turned his head back to stare at a wall that gave him an odd feeling but just shook it off and continued standing guard.
They had been there for a five minutes when the sound of Lex's familiar voice caused the kryptonian to hurry towards the desk, "We have to go." She ignored him and continued downloading file after file until Clark hit a button on the keyboard and grabbed the flash drive, "I don't know about you but I'd really like to have a job in the morning"
She makes sure to exit out before practically jumping into the trash can just as Lex walked into his office and gave the janitor.
He walked past his friend hoping that they didn't get caught but immediately paused when Lex's voice called out, "Aren't you forgetting something?" he turns around to see Lex holding the small trash bin.
Clark grumbles a thanks and discards the trash in the large can then hands it back to Lex before pushing the cart out of the office all the way back towards the storage closet.
Lois immediately burst up and brushed off the trash from her clothes, "I'm in need of a very long shower." She pulls the banana peel from her shoulder and makes a disgusted face, "Make that a bath instead" she drops the peel in the trash can, "Remind me to never do that again"
"I don't know. I thought it was funny" she fakes a smile then rips the fake beard causing red patches to be left on his face, "OW!" he exclaims rubbing his skin as if it stung.
"Don't be such a baby" she responds as they silently slip out of the storage room to make their escape unaware of the blinking red light from the security camera.
TBC