Metropolis, November 1996
November 3rd, Excelsior Academy, the Library
It was only days since Duncan had died, and already he was in the ground.
The funeral had been, quick, small, and above all, quiet. At least that's what Lex had been told, his father having discouraged his attendance. Think of the media circus if you go, Lionel had said, think of Mrs Allenmeyer, hasn't the poor woman been through enough already? Lex had long since stopped being naive enough to believe it was actually Duncan's mother, Lionel was worried about, but his words had been enough to stop him.
Which left Lex shelving books while trying to ignore Queen and his cronies in another stack. The very existence of one of the participants might have been swept under the rug, but fighting on school grounds was still a detention worthy offence for those remaining. By some small mercy, Oliver and company had left him alone since it's happened, though who knew how long that would last, and the one time Alden had tried opening his stupid mouth, Queen had quickly stopped him.
Of course, if he'd shown that restraint a little sooner, then this whole mess wouldn't have happened in the first place. Lex shoved the book into the shelf angrily, dislodging a thin pamphlet, its bright colours and shiny, flimsy paper out of place in this musty old section of the library. He frowned as he picked it up.
Fandom High Brochure
***
November 8th, LuthorCorp Plaza, Lionel Luthor's Office
Filling in the forms had been the easy part.
He'd figured out how to forge his father's signature a few years back, and while he wasn't stupid enough to try to actually try anything illegal with it, since Mom had died and Pamela had left, it came in handy for those minor permission forms which would otherwise have gone unnoticed and unsigned by the great Lionel Luthor. However even the best forgery would fail to stick if the envelope it came in bore a postmark from anywhere near Excelsior. Hence the hard part.
Luthors were afraid of nothing, Lex reminded himself yet again as he crept past Lionel's latest secretary, and let himself into his office. Besides if everything went to plan he should be in and out, and more importantly the mail on its way, well before the usual end-of-week meetings finished.
"Lex? What are you doing here?"
One minute. Just one minute later and Lex would have already been in elevator, headed back down. "Hey, dad," he replied, frantically trying to figure out a plausible lie. "I thought maybe I could come home with you? Since it's a long weekend, we could spend some time together?"
"Don't lie to me, son." If anything Lionel looked disappointed at how badly Lex was lying. "I know what this is about."
"You do?" No fair, when had his dad learnt to read minds?
Even though his blazer, Lionel's hands were warm on Lex's shoulders. "You want to come home because you're still upset about your friend, Duncan." Which to be fair, Lionel was kind of right about. A small, cynical part of Lex was surprised he actually remembered his name, though. "I don't blame you. It was a tragic accident. But you have to start looking forward, Lex. You have a destiny, and nothing can stop that."
Oh, the destiny speech. Lex was so very terribly fond of that. "So I can't come home?"
"I really wish you could, but I'm leaving to handle some incredibly delicate negotiations tonight. I'll be out of the country until next month." Which meant Thanksgiving was out too. That rapidly less small part of Lex wondered if he'd have found out before or after he tried going home for that. Lionel draped a jovial arm around his neck and started leading him out of the office. "Come on, I'll have my driver take you back to Excelsior, we can get something to eat on the way."
And unnoticed, a pair of nondescript envelopes lay in Lionel's out-box, waiting for the evening mail collection.
[NFI & NFB (obvs), OOC welcome]
It was only days since Duncan had died, and already he was in the ground.
The funeral had been, quick, small, and above all, quiet. At least that's what Lex had been told, his father having discouraged his attendance. Think of the media circus if you go, Lionel had said, think of Mrs Allenmeyer, hasn't the poor woman been through enough already? Lex had long since stopped being naive enough to believe it was actually Duncan's mother, Lionel was worried about, but his words had been enough to stop him.
Which left Lex shelving books while trying to ignore Queen and his cronies in another stack. The very existence of one of the participants might have been swept under the rug, but fighting on school grounds was still a detention worthy offence for those remaining. By some small mercy, Oliver and company had left him alone since it's happened, though who knew how long that would last, and the one time Alden had tried opening his stupid mouth, Queen had quickly stopped him.
Of course, if he'd shown that restraint a little sooner, then this whole mess wouldn't have happened in the first place. Lex shoved the book into the shelf angrily, dislodging a thin pamphlet, its bright colours and shiny, flimsy paper out of place in this musty old section of the library. He frowned as he picked it up.
Fandom High Brochure
***
November 8th, LuthorCorp Plaza, Lionel Luthor's Office
Filling in the forms had been the easy part.
He'd figured out how to forge his father's signature a few years back, and while he wasn't stupid enough to try to actually try anything illegal with it, since Mom had died and Pamela had left, it came in handy for those minor permission forms which would otherwise have gone unnoticed and unsigned by the great Lionel Luthor. However even the best forgery would fail to stick if the envelope it came in bore a postmark from anywhere near Excelsior. Hence the hard part.
Luthors were afraid of nothing, Lex reminded himself yet again as he crept past Lionel's latest secretary, and let himself into his office. Besides if everything went to plan he should be in and out, and more importantly the mail on its way, well before the usual end-of-week meetings finished.
"Lex? What are you doing here?"
One minute. Just one minute later and Lex would have already been in elevator, headed back down. "Hey, dad," he replied, frantically trying to figure out a plausible lie. "I thought maybe I could come home with you? Since it's a long weekend, we could spend some time together?"
"Don't lie to me, son." If anything Lionel looked disappointed at how badly Lex was lying. "I know what this is about."
"You do?" No fair, when had his dad learnt to read minds?
Even though his blazer, Lionel's hands were warm on Lex's shoulders. "You want to come home because you're still upset about your friend, Duncan." Which to be fair, Lionel was kind of right about. A small, cynical part of Lex was surprised he actually remembered his name, though. "I don't blame you. It was a tragic accident. But you have to start looking forward, Lex. You have a destiny, and nothing can stop that."
Oh, the destiny speech. Lex was so very terribly fond of that. "So I can't come home?"
"I really wish you could, but I'm leaving to handle some incredibly delicate negotiations tonight. I'll be out of the country until next month." Which meant Thanksgiving was out too. That rapidly less small part of Lex wondered if he'd have found out before or after he tried going home for that. Lionel draped a jovial arm around his neck and started leading him out of the office. "Come on, I'll have my driver take you back to Excelsior, we can get something to eat on the way."
And unnoticed, a pair of nondescript envelopes lay in Lionel's out-box, waiting for the evening mail collection.
[NFI & NFB (obvs), OOC welcome]