I did what I did. I will never take it back. I will NEVER regret it. It will be my one good deed I ever make in this shitty experience we call Life.

The Chef sat on her too soft hotel bed, a near empty bottle of whiskey on the end table, a scrap of paper in her shaking hands. It came easy to her, to not show any of the anxiety she had in that moment. When Lex had greeted the chef, she dug her nails into her palm, keeping her grounded. Kept a neutral smile on her face as she said hi to him. Easily accepted the paper Gene offered her. Agreed to meet him later to catch up. Smirked at Lex when he bid her farewell. The Chef snorted at his surprised face when she easily sidestepped the possible kiss on her cheek. When she disrobed out of the beautiful green dress, she donned tattered jeans and a shirt, walked to a liquor store, and bought her drink and a bag of chips. She wasn't sober enough to deal with her emotions. She had sat in the shower, cold water flowing over her and her clothes as she drank from the bottle, Dethklok blaring from her phone. Once she was sure she was drunk enough to finally think straight, she stripped and stumbled to her bed.

Gene hadn't given her his phone number. The paper held the address to a coffee shop, and a time. An invitation to meet up. Alexandera felt an urge she hadn't felt since she moved to Gotham, the urge to run. It would be easy. She could sell her diner. Take the profits she had and move to a new city. Jump City. Star City. No. Her 'Friends' would take it the wrong way. They'd kill her. Not that she really cared. She could die tonight from alcohol poisoning. Tomorrow choking on the eggs benedict she ordered in advance. The plane could crash. It would just be shitty way to die just because she "Couldn't Adult". No, she wasn't afraid to die.

She was afraid to be alone again.

A hiccupping laugh bubbled from her throat at the realization. When had she suddenly felt so... not alone? She couldn't help but think of how Damien would react, or her boys. She grabbed at her head, fingers twisting into her hair roughly.

When had she suddenly felt less alone?

Her boys would go back to being full time Joker Goons. Gary and Kyle were fine, but Marcus... Shit he had a KID!

The kid, Damien, Smokebomb, he was like her, independent, a loner, he'd be fine. He was like her. That wasn't the best thing... not for a kid.

When had she made friends?

The Chef wasn't blind to the fact that in her little domain, the streets surrounding her diner were safer. If she left...

When had she suddenly cared so much?

The coffee shop smelled good. Hand drip coffee being made, little buns shaped like bunny faces. It was cute, if very frilly. The Chef secretly loved it, though her scowl would never show it. She had enough self respect.

She took a seat in the back, near a window, and scrolled through her phone. She was making good on her promise to herself, searching the raunchiest porn she could think of. She would press play, set it face down on the table then gaze out the window, letting the video roll for a few minutes before going to the next video. If Edward was looking through her phone, she would give him a show. She was early. She forced herself to be, incase she decided to run. Really, she didn't feel the urge to run anymore, if only because her flask kept her from the urge. Decidedly bored she finished her little show, and began browsing memes on her phone. Too engrossed to notice when a man slipped on the other side of the table, observing her.

"One Sumatran blend with two creams, one Cafecito with... twelve extra shots of expresso and eight sugars?" The barista looked at the order slip, shocked. Alexandera looked up from her phone, blandly gazing at the poor girls confused face.

"Iced?" The barista nodded, handing the drink over carefully. Afraid that the caffeine succubus at the table might snatch her energy away. She would need to charge her crystals more with how intense the blue haired women's gaze was. Gene chuckled as the girl sped away, sipping at his own coffee.

"Honestly figured you would have had a heart attack by now, with your coffee habits." the Chef snorted.

"I'm too stubborn to die."

"Yeah, I'm sure the mothership doesn't have a morgue on it." It was suddenly awkward. Old memories resurfacing. The til rang out, change clinking, soft music combatting the sound.

"I'm not sorry." Iced coffee was twirled by a straw.

"I know you're not." Creamed coffee was sipped.

"It was for the best."

"I agree with you."

"You got fat." Alexandera flinched when Gene barked out a laugh.

"You look happier." Gene smiled at the scowl.

"I'm never happy."

"I know. I didn't say you were happy." Gene relaxed into his seat, leaning back. "I said you look happier. You look good."

"Kept getting mistaken for someone else. Got tired of it." The Chef ran a hand over the peach fuzz growing back in on the side of her head.

"You always were intense."

"I'm not sorry."

"I know." Gene smiled at her scowl. "Where'd you go?"

"Gotham. You graduated."

"I did."

"Good."

"Where'd you end up working?"

"Opened a diner."

"Is it doing well?"

"Yeah, it's got steady revenue."

"You alone in there?"

"No, hired on the Three Stooges."

"They can't be that bad, if they can take your temper." Gene smiled wider when she laughed. His heart lurched at how easily her face split in a teeth showing grin, how she launched into the story of 'Her Boys' first few weeks with her. He laughed with her at the story of some kid she roughed up, and how he was now learning from her. He groaned into his hand as she recounted how she pretty much ensured a profitable charity event. He sipped his coffee, happy. He was happy for her.

She was happy. That's all he ever wanted for his first love.

Hours passed in the coffee shop. Gene and Alexandera recounting the tales of their lives in the years they were apart. Alexandera not hiding how rough life had been for her in Gotham for a while. Gene not hiding the fact her was married, how he met his Noriko.

"I'm telling you Alexandera, she couldn't make rice! Eiji, her dad, swears he tried to teach her, but she actually set the rice cooker on fire!" Gene pulled a photo up on his phone, a photo of photo, little girl grinning proudly as she held the charred and melted husk of a rice cooker. There was the blur of a finger over part of the corner. "So there I was, sick as a dog with the flu, and she's holding a bowl of canned chicken soup, but it was condensed, and she didn't add any water." Gene rushed to pass Alexandera napkins as coffee spilled from her mouth, her laughter caught on the coughs wracking her body.

"You still ate it, didn't you?" Gene took his phone back in exchange for the napkins.

"The saltiest thing I ever ate, but she looked so proud, I couldn't say no." His phone chimed out, the ringtone familiar to him. He read the message as the Chef dried off the table, stuffing the used napkins into the cup.

"You good?" Gene slipped his phone across the table, letting the blue haired women read the message from his wife.

'Invite her over for dinner, I promise not to cook.' Alexandera looked back up to Gene, face neutral.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I'm the Ex."

"You're more than 'The Ex'." Gene slipped the phone into his pocket. "I told her everything. All of it. How bad it was for me, and how much I loved you. I don't love you like that anymore. I don't love her like I loved you." He wasn't surprised when she gave no visible sign of how she was feeling. Several years apart and he lost his ability to see what each scowl meant.

"You love her more."

"Yeah..." Gene grinned softly as her rubbed his wedding band. "She's just so..."

"Good." Alexandera took a swig from her flask. "She's good."

"Yeah."

"She trusts you."

"I've never given her a reason not to. I don't ever want to." Gene's expression suddenly turned sheepish. "I... I, uh, actually wasn't going to show up today." Alexandera raised her brow.

"I don't blame you."

"Ko pushed me out the door. 'You need to do this, you owe this to yourself!'" He ran a hand over the side of fade, he did that when he was nervous. "She didn't say you needed this, but me. She always looks out for me."

"Good." Alexandera stood, straightening out her maroon coat, tossing a twenty on the table. Gene sighed, standing as well.

"It was nice seeing you again. I'm glad you're doing well."

"Let's go."

"What?"

"Let's go. She makes you happy." Several years apart, and he still remembered at least what that scowl set on her face meant.

She never did like mushy words, she preferred to show, not tell.

The walk to his familys apartment was a short one, a few blocks. Gene pointed out how much of the city had changed since she left. Old stores with new shop fronts. New buildings and parks. When they trekked up the stairs to his fifth floor apartment he silently inhaled, opening the door.

"Tadaima!"

"Okaeri!" His wife called back, the smell of clothing detergent filled his senses. Alexandera snorted.

"Weeb."

"Can it, Host Club." Gene nudged the Chef as Noriko turned the corner, holding a partially folded shirt.

"Hey sweetie." His wife eyed Alexandera intensely, the most serious he had ever seen her gaze, not including when she scolded him or his daughter. She stepped forward, sizing up his ex, before she split into a wide happy grin at the stiff scowl on Alexandera's face.

"I knew it! She's a tsundere!" Gene bit his lip in an attempt not to laugh. He lost it though, seeing the intense frown battling the bright blush on his ex's ears.

"Fucking weebs!" The chef scoffed crossing her arms and turning her head. Noriko laughed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Yes! Yes!" His wife surged forward, hugging the taller women. "Now say 'It's not like I like you or anything!'" Alexandera stiffened at the contact.

"No!"

"Oh Gene! We should get my cosplay glasses! She could use it to hide her expression when she tries to adjust them." Gene laughed harder as the blush spread onto the Chef's cheeks.

"Noriko, maybe we should lay off her a little." Noriko stepped away, dazzling him with a loving smile.

"Oh, alright." Alexandera coughed a little, clearing her throat.

"Yeah, ya'll were made for each other." The chef grumbled under her breathe.

"I'm happy you think so. Come in, I ordered pizza for lunch."

It was funny, how different they were from each other. How easy it was for his wife to pull Alexandera out of her shell, his wife never meeting a stranger in her life. An hour passed by as his bright shining love laughed as she spoke animatedly with the stoic blue hair woman. His wife's phone alarm went off.

"Oh Gene, could you wake her, I don't want her to over sleep." Gene got up and left to wake his snoozing daughter. When he had left down the hall, Noriko spoke in a quiet voice.

"Thank you, for doing this for him."

"I owed him."

"Yes, you did." Alexandera nodded, not at all surprised by the response. "You owed him a chance at closure. You owed yourself a chance, too." The Chef looked up to the Wife, expecting to see anger in the womans eyes, but only saw... pity?

"I don't regret what I did. He's happier with you. It's what I wanted. What he needed."

"I bet you still felt guilty for making him hurt though."

"I had to."

"I know." Noriko reached across the couch to gently touch the blue haired woman's hand. "Thank you. For letting him go. For letting me have him."

"I made him happy."

"No," Noriko squeezed her hand. "I make him happy. You gave him the opportunity to be happy." Noriko looked away, giving the Chef the privacy to wipe a stray tear away. She pulled her hand away, smiling as Gene walked back into the room, hold their daughter in his arms, the toddler sitting on his hip.

"Alexandera I'd like to meet my daughter." Gene watched as the scowl disappeared into a look of wonder.

"We talk for hours and you didn't mention once you had a kid!" Said child was staring intently at the stranger on the couch.

"It... was going to be the last thing I told you." Gene set his daughter down as wiggled to be free. Noriko watched as the little girl toddled to the stranger on the couch.

"Uh! Uh!" It was amusing to watch the Chef awkwardly pick up the little girl by the armpits, holding her at arms length.

"Say hello, Sweetie!"

"Chiwa! Lo!" The look of wonder settle into a wobbly scowl.

"Hey, Crotch Goblin."

"Alexandera!" Gene scolded, unhappy at the greeting. "Don't call her that!"

"What? That's what she is." Noriko giggled, before stage whispering to her daughter.

"Say your name, Sweetie." The little girl proudly cried out,

"Eetie!"

"No, no, you name!" Noriko looked over at the Chef who had yet to move her daughter from the Lion king hold. "Were trying to teach her to speak, it's hard when my father refuses to speak anything but Japanese around her. Come on, Sweetie say your name!" The little girl squinted her eyes, mulling the answer over in her head, before shouting.

"LEXIE!" Noriko couldn't help but feel proud at her daughter for not only saying her name, but also for pulling the strongest reaction from the stoic chef all day. She glanced at her husband, hand running over the side of his head, nervous. She stood to stand by him while the Chef stared wide eyed at the child in her hands. Tears filling the corners as little Lexie squirmed in the hold, reaching out to the shellshocked woman. Gene was getting nervous watching the scene, worried that introducing the two was a mistake.

"H-hey, kid." She stuttered. She never stuttered. Gene felt his wife wrap her arms around his middle, the side of her face resting on his chest.

"LEXIE!" The Chef finally pulled her in, bringing the little girl closer to her face, her hands still under the toddler armpits, elbows bent on either side as if she was holding a weight.

"Hey, Lexie." The Chef felt... numb? No, numb would mean she didn't feel anything. She felt... The little girl grabbed a strand blue hair, tugging it closer to her. "OW! Kid, I'm tenderheaded!"

"Hey! Hey!" Little Lexie giggled as he pulled on more hair, now seated on the strangers lap, fighting to keep hold of the pretty blue.

"Hey, yourself! Let go, you little shit!" Lexie giggled while Gene scolded the Chef. Noriko walked into kitchen, grabbing a pouch of apple sauce to bribe her daughter.

Alexandera stepped out of the limo, decked out in a more comfortable outfit than the last time she met with Lex Luthor. He had invited her out again. The driver shut the door behind her, before instructing her to follow him into the skyscraper. Men in pressed shirts, and women in powersuits hurried about, catching elevators. Alexandera was ushered into one and stood with the driver as he pressed the button to the top floor. Alexandera was expecting a huge office, real potted trees, grand desk with a throne of a swivel chair. Some real James Bond shit. Instead she was greeted with a much simpler glass top, a cozy looking leather couch facing a huge wall mounted TV. A little golf set in the corner and a pool table. There was even a vending machine with drinks and a snack. And there was the big man himself walking out of an attached bathroom.

"Miss Fox! I hope I didn't interrupt any plans you had today." He had on a plain white button up shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of jeans. Even his casual look good.

"Pub crawls are better at night."

"Are you a vodka girl?"

"It's a PUB crawl, I'll be drinking IPA." Lex grinned, gesturing to the couch. Alexandera sat off to one side, crossing ankles and stretching her legs out. Lex sat on the other end, leaving a respectable distance as he leaned back, mimicking her posture, crossing his ankle over the knee, arms spread out across the back other couch.

"So not a vodka girl, got it."

"More of a whiskey person, the occasional scotch."

"Duly noted." It was silent for a moment, Lex openly staring at the scruffed woman next to him, seeming to be looking for something. "Did you enjoy our dinner together, I certainly did."

"Yeah, the food was good, and I guess you make a good conversationalist." Lex chuckled.

"Well I would certainly hope so, with all the talking I have to do. How do you know Reginald?"

"Regi-? Oh, Gene. We go way back, used to attend MCI together."

"Really? When did you graduate?"

"I didn't." Lex cocked a brow as the chef gave a halfhearted shrug. "I flunked out, had other plans. I'm doing better than I think I would of if I had stayed on."

"I wonder what would have happened if you had stayed? You may have ended up working at one of my restaurants. We could've met sooner."

"Nah, I would've been fired for fighting with however was in charge because I knew better than him." Lex smirked at the admission.

"Confident. I like that."

"No, just bossy."

"I like a woman who can take charge."

"I'm not sleeping with you." Lex had the wherewithal to at least look admonished.

"While I won't deny that I'd like an... evening with you, I find myself more excited by the opportunity to get to know you more." The Chef snorted.

"You won't like all that you find."

"No one is without fault."

"Even you?"

"Especially me." The Chef tilted her head, before looking around the room again.

"What did you have in mind for today?" The Luthor gave cat-caught-the-canary grin.

"Anything you want, Miss Fox." The Chef hummed, thinking for a moment,

"When's the last time you weren't Lex Luthor?"

"I can't stop being who I am."

"Yeah, but..." Alexandera turned back to the billionaire.

"When's the last time you did something... normal?" Lex pulled a slight frown.

"I can't honestly answer that. I have always been a Luthor, I always will be. There will always be business I need to attend to, deal to be made, media to handle. This has always been my normal." He gestured around him.

"Alright."

"Alright?"

"Yeah. Go grab a shirt you don't mind getting dirty, hat, and some shades."

"You have a plan?" Lex began to wonder if his curiosity was going to bite him in the ass.

"Yeah."

.

.

.

I'm sorry if I made anyone sad with the last chapter. I hope I didn't make anyone sad with this one. And thank you all for your kind reviews and words. It means so much to me. I have some good news for you all. Don't worry, well be seeing more of the Rogues very very soon.

Noriko and Gene are actually based on the same person, their personalities based on how this person acts and treats me.

My Fiancé! I proposed him some time ago and he said yes. I mean I knew he was going to say it. I'm the least romantic person I know. I asked him if he'd say yes if I proposed, and told him I was going to do it. I told him when I asked his parents for permission since I had none he could ask. I showed him a picture of the ring I ordered for him and the special D20 box I ordered to hold it. I even showed him the ring once it showed up. When I finally did propose I did it but ass naked since I asked him right after I took a shower. It felt like the right time and I couldn't be bothered to put on at least a towel. I was way too excited.

Seriously, I can write romance well enough, but damn if I'm not emotional stunted when it comes to actually BEING romantic. Meanwhile he's all flowery confessions and snuggles and gifts, and I'm standing there awkward finger guns. He's okay with it though, so yeah. I just wanted to let ya'll know because, well, ya'll make me happy, and I wanted to share some of my happiness with you, ESPECIALLY after Gene's chapter.

If it's not too much to ask, could I get some fanart? I actually have the one KorroksApostle did saved to my phone. I don't want to sound greedy but I want to see how you all see The Chef. If you wanted I would even add the links at the end of one the chapters.

Either way. I'm halfway done with the next chapter, so it sould be out within a week. Don't quote me though.

Stay safe, and be happy.

The world would be bleaker without you.

s742