Emergence: Epilogue
And finally, the epilogue.
You can find the whole thing, or catch up on "Therefore I am", which I'll be starting up again here.
Epilogue
A very polite, and very persistent rapping broke into a dream that might have involved Lionel Luthor and an untimely, painful demise, but the details were fuzzy upon waking.
Lex blinked up at the ceiling, gathering sleep fogged wits. In the light of day - - light coming in from haphazardly hanging French doors - - the suite looked to be in rather bad shape. And he was alone. Which in and of itself was not as bothersome as it might have been, considering he hadn't been when he'd fallen asleep.
The soft knocking drew his attention again. It was coming from the suite door, followed this time by the hesitant voice of his secretary.
"Mr. Luthor? Sir? Are you awake?"
He threw an arm over his eyes and groaned. Then twisted his hand to look at his watch. 8:37. She wouldn't be bothering him this early if there weren't good reason.
He threw the covers off and felt it when he pushed himself up. He'd expected as much, but still muttered a curse in conjunction with Clark's name as he reached for the robe. Morning after stiffness, he could deal with, but ripping up the only set of clothes he had readily on hand was just annoying.
He belted the robe and opened the door to his somewhat harried looking personal assistant. She had a PDA in the hand she was knocking with and a cup of coffee in the other.
"The sky's not falling again?" he inquired, just a little testy at the hour and the fact that he had to stand in the doorway in a borrowed robe, to keep her from seeing the shambles he and Clark had made of the room.
"No, sir. The engineers and the damage assessment team just got in and you were specific in wanting to be notified." She craned her neck, no doubt catching a glimpse of Clark's handiwork with the French doors.
"Is that for me?" he drew her attention back to him with a jut of his chin at the coffee in her hand.
"Oh, yes sir, but I see you already have some."
He glanced over his shoulder at the desk along the wall, and the Grande sized Starbucks cup sitting there. There was a little bag next to it, likely holding some baked good item, and a clumsily folded pile of clothing.
"How did you - -?" She started.
"Thank you, Nancy. Tell them I'll be down shortly. " Lex shut the door in her face, put his back to it and silently laughed. At least he hadn't had to send her out to procure clothes. That would have been harder to explain than the room.
He took a sip of the coffee, and it was still warm, which meant Clark had been here not long before he'd woken. There was a muffin in the bag, and the clothes were more from what he'd had at Clark's apartment.
He showered and dressed and ate the muffin on the way down the stairwell to the second floor conference rooms where he'd set up LexCorp's temporary headquarters. Nancy met him at the stairwell door and started filling him in on the morning's developments.
"They've started letting flights back in. Military, Red Cross, relief workers and supplies mostly. Some commercial flights might be allowed in as early as tomorrow. They're letting people back into the city."
She kept talking, and Lex was excellent at multi-tasking and absorbed most of it, even while his mind was beginning to wander to Clark-related matters. First and foremost, what he was about.
Clark's itinerary today hadn't come up last night and despite coming to what Lex considered fair terms, he feared it would take a bit more than angry sex, heartfelt admissions, hard truths, and considerably less angry sex afterwards, for Clark to come to terms with Lex's - - in retrospect - - injudicious choice of tension relief.
Lex could be honest enough with himself to admit that had the tables been turned, there'd have been more than hate sex and hurt feelings involved. Probably kryptonite and blood, and likely a grudge to end all grudges provided Clark survived the initial blowback.
But Clark's ability to forgive never ceased to mystify him, so he wasn't entirely sure what to prepare for. Apparently Clark hadn't woken up and had a change of heart, the breakfast and the clothing attested to that. A casual call, would have been nice, but Clark forgot to charge his cell at the best of times, so the chances of him having a working phone, after being back two days from a year long pilgrimage of self-discovery were slim to none.
"Any Superman sightings this morning?" he broke into her report with the question.
She took a second to reorganize and answered. "I believe there was a report this morning of an attempt to rob a Federal Reserve in Omaha that he stopped. I can have someone check if there was other activity?"
"No." He waved a hand, then changed his mind and amended. "Go ahead. Start a file."
She nodded, adding that to her to do list.
The engineers and the architect who'd designed Luthor towers, flown in from various locales around the world, were waiting for him in the lobby. The damage assessment team had gone directly to the site, as soon as they touched down. There were a couple of SUV's waiting to take them to Luthor Towers and sporadic traffic in the streets, city maintenance crews out in force, along with national guard and private contractors, clearing debris and shoring up damaged structures. A lot of Metropolis line crews out repairing severed power lines. People that hadn't been able or willing to leave the city out patching up storefronts, lending helping hands to the city crews, or just out walking the streets, taking in the aftermath. There'd been riots, he'd heard, in the low rent side of town. A few clashes between military patrols and looters on a rampage last night. Daylight brought a modicum of sanity with it that blackout-enforced darkness leeched away.
Compared to the usual crush of traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, down town was practically deserted. Temple Street was closed off from 12th to 16th, but they bypassed the barriers. There were bulldozers clearing away the rubble that had been The Bank of Metropolis, a few armored trucks and a spattering of what he assumed were federal marshals, protecting the valuables under the debris. There was a hole in the street that hadn't been there last time Lex had been here, the asphalt cracked open so that power crews could get to buried lines. They drove over quite a few snaking power cables as they pulled up to Luthor Towers.
There were crews putting up chain link fencing around the buildings and what looked to be a city inspector that had to have better things to do than wasting his time here, arguing with one of the LexCorp damage assessment team.
Lex spared a glance for the Daily Planet, because if Clark wasn't out in his 'battle suit' playing hero, then that was one of the likely places he might have gravitated to. If he still had a job, which was unlikely, considering the extended leave of absence. But his attention got snared back to legitimate business by the argument between city inspector and his assessment team leader.
"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" He strode up to the two men, picking his way through the rubble-strewn street in front of Luthor East.
"City's trying to make us pull our crews back, Mr. Luthor," his foreman said.
"No one's allowed into grade 4 damaged structures until City inspectors can assess the level of damage."
"That's what my people are trying to," Lex explained smoothly. "And I assure you they're the best the field has to offer."
"You don't have the permits - -"
Lex's only aches had been various bodily ones, up until the point the nasal tone of the city inspector's voice started zeroing in on a spot just behind his eyes. He pulled out his phone as the man was rattling off city code at him, and put a call through to the personal line of the mayor of Metropolis.
"You think I'm your mama, Kent, that you can come crawling back after curfew and have your supper and your blankie waiting for you, all smiles and open arms?"
"Uh, no Perry,"
"Its Mr. Goddamned White to ex-copyboys who ask for a three month leave of absence and take nine extra months. You think your job wasn't filled the day you didn't show back up to work?"
"No?" Clark asked warily, not certain which answer would get him less volume. "I was a staff writer. Mr. White."
He added the last hurriedly as Perry White paused in his circuit around the bullpen, to give him the evil eye. Desks were all clumped together in little groups, computers and shared desk lamps plugged into cords running down to gas powered generators. People were tapping away at cell phones, using wireless internet connection for research. Most of them were paying no heed to Perry's running tirade. A few that Clark knew, cast him sympathetic looks when Perry wasn't looking. He was just glad Chloe was out chasing a story and wasn't here to witness it.
"You're Goddamned unemployed, is what you are. This is the real world, Kent and I don't care if you got sucked down a hole to middle earth - - unless you came back up with an exclusive with the Goddamned king of the elves - - you're fired. You were fired nine months ago."
Perry stood there glaring at him, as if he expected an answer and Clark floundered, intimidated by a craggy faced, thinning haired man who looked as if he hadn't slept in days. Perry opened his mouth, about to say more when a kid with an intern's badge ran up, out of breath and excited.
"Mr. White, a whole convoy just pulled up outside Luthor Towers. Lex Luthor himself is out there and there's some sort of row. I tried to go over and get some pictures but his security wouldn't let me through."
Perry glared at the wall the direction Luthor towers would be, as if he could see through stone. Clark could and did, picking through a line of black SUV's and a lot of men in hard hats, and schematics on the hoods of cars and some guy in a rumpled shirt and tie yelling at Lex, who was on his phone ignoring it all.
"Kent, you're all over Luthor, right?"
"What?" Clark's vision sort of stuttered out, and he blinked in a moment of disorientation as Perry's question sank in.
"You're friends with him, aren't you? Hang out? Can get past his damned security?"
Clark blinked again, warily. "Umm. Yes?"
"Then get over there and find out what they're doing about that damned skyscraper leaning over our heads. If it's coming down, I want to know about it. Get me details. "
"Does this mean I have a job?" Clark asked hopefully.
"It means you're working pro bono and if I were you I'd be damned grateful for the chance. Now go. I don't want to see your face again until you've got a quote from Luthor himself."
Like Clark needed an excuse to gravitate in Lex's general direction. Last night had been insane, and exhausting and cathartic. He'd done things that in the light of rational day, he hated. Used his strength to hurt someone he loved, even though Lex claimed no foul. Lex was all messed up in the pain pleasure department, and the things Lex liked - - the things that sometimes got Lex off - - made Clark uneasy. The fact that he'd engaged wholeheartedly last night, in anger and jealousy - - frightened him.
But afterwards, after Lex had gotten over the trauma of actually saying the dreaded 'word', it had been nice. Just them and a shattered TV that Clark was almost certain he hadn't been the one to break, and a bed, that once you threw off the top spread was big and soft and dry.
And one of the big pluses of your significant other being a guy instead of a girl, was that even after emotionally exhausting showdowns, they were perfectly content just to lie there and enjoy blessed silence. Long, leisurely kisses and wandering hands didn't need conversation to enhance the experience. And when Lex had drifted to sleep on him, Clark had been content to curl an arm around him and lie there, staring at the night out beyond the broken balcony doors.
And sure, he'd never not be jealous over Lex with anyone other than him, and if he thought about it too much - - well, he needed to not think about it too much - - but he thought he maybe understood why Lex had done it. He thought maybe he understood Lex a little bit more, and every scrap of knowledge in that complex field was to be hoarded and treasured.
The sun was out in full splendor today, and the dust that had hung around the city yesterday, had pretty much settled, thanks to an early morning shower. Clark stood on the sidewalk outside the Planet for a moment and soaked in the warm rays. The city was full of noise today, but not the usual kind. Lots of heavy equipment out, lots of construction crews that had started slowly rolling into gear today, as they worked their way back into the city. A lot of people working together that wouldn't normally, if disaster hadn't given them a common cause. He could hear it all across Metropolis and for a moment, he just opened up and let all the varied multitude of sound pour in. No sounds of impending disaster that might warrant his attention, so he started down the block towards Luthor Towers.
There were a few LexCorp security guys skulking around, but they'd seen Clark enough that they relaxed once they recognized him, nodded and let him stroll past. The city inspector he'd seen earlier was storming towards him, red faced and very, very put out, and Clark sidestepped to let the guy pass. Lex was looking pleased with himself, in amongst a group of men talking and making occasional gestures towards the buildings. Clark went over and leaned against the side of one of the SUVs next to Lex's personal secretary, who looked up from her PDA and smiled in surprise.
"Clark! I was beginning to think you weren't coming back."
"Hi, Mrs. Morgan. Yeah, time really got away from me."
"Well, shame on you for not calling. There were some people," and she shifted her eyes towards Lex. "Who were worried sick."
Clark frowned, feeling a stab of guilt. "He told you that?"
She smiled at him the way his mother did when he asked a stupid question. "You don't work for a man as long as I have and not pick up things. I'm hoping his mood will improve now that you're back?"
Clark opened his mouth, shut it, wondering what else an observant woman who knew her boss's ins and outs, had picked up?
But she was nothing if not discreet, a job qualification for being Lex's secretary. She went back to industriously working at her PDA, with no further comment. He let his gaze drift back to Lex, who was still in deep conversation with a foreman, who in turn was talking to somebody through a walkie-talkie. Clark let his attention wonder up the length of the two skyscrapers and inside. There were men in there, doing dangerous work, crawling around the exoskeleton of damaged buildings. The one was not so bad, no major fracturing of the web work of steel and concrete that supported it, but the other had taken a lot of damage, the top handful of floors pretty much demolished. There was a big, gaping hole where Lex's penthouse had been and Clark shivered, thanking God Lex hadn't been there. There were a lot of nice memories of that penthouse. A lot of discoveries made there and Clark would miss it.
He glanced back down, readjusting his vision as the conference outside the chain link fence broke up and Lex started back towards the cars. There was a miniscule lift of the brow as he noticed Clark leaning there, but otherwise he didn't miss a beat.
"Seven out of ten, Mr. Luthor," Mrs. Morgan informed him as he walked up.
"Keep trying for the rest," he nodded, continuing past, indicating with a jerk of his chin for Clark to follow. Clark stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked past the line of SUV's down the street a little between the rubble of the bank and the hole in the road surface where the power crews had pulled out all sorts of damaged line.
"Board members," Lex explained. "Trying to track them down."
"Oh." Clark gave him a critical stare. "So, you okay this morning?"
Lex lifted a brow. "Other than having to deal with bureaucratic sycophants and panicked insurance adjusters? Fine, Clark. What have you been doing?"
Clark sighed and waved a hand towards the Daily Planet. "Trying to get my job back and failing. I think. "
Lex shrugged. "I'd have fired you."
"Gee, thanks. "
Lex gave him a look, then got distracted by his phone vibrating in his pocket, looked at the number, decided to ignore it, and glanced back up to Clark. "So, what are you doing now?"
"Trying to get a quote. Perry sent me over to get the word on the towers."
"I thought you didn't have a job."
"I don't think I'm getting paid."
"God, did you take no business courses in school?"
Clark grinned, fought the urge to move right up into Lex's personal space. "I was thinking maybe, if you have time today, we could go somewhere and eat."
Lex canted his head. "I've got a lot to do."
"But you have to eat. And I was thinking Creole and there's this place in New Orleans - -"
Lex's brow went up again. "A little hole in the wall dive, I assume?"
"A hole in the wall, not a dive," Clark defended. "The food's great."
"Take out or dine in?"
Clark's grin widened. "Whichever you want."
Lex opened his mouth to reply when something crackled, then crackled louder, the dead power cables coming alive, jerking and crackling with the sudden flow of electricity. Clark kicked a ruptured line away out of reflex, and the toe of his boot singed, then grabbed Lex and put safe distance between them and live cables before the line crews around the hole could draw breath to start crying warnings at the unexpected flow of power. The traffic light down the street had blinked on, and a few sporadic windows lit inside Luthor West. The globe on top of the Daily Planet slowly started its revolution. Uptown had gotten its power back.
"Sir, we've got power back," Mrs. Morgan was picking her way towards them, not having seen the near miss with the first surge of that power.
"We noticed," Lex said dryly, then glanced up pointedly at Clark, who had his arm still curled around his back.
"Oh," Clark uncurled it and took a grudging half a step back. His boot was smoking a little and he stubbed it on the edge of the curb.
Mrs. Morgan didn't even crack a knowing smile, just nodded. "If we've got full power back, I'd like to head back to the Fairmont and get some real work done."
Lex waved a hand at her. "Call me if you need me. I believe I'll be taking an early lunch."
The End.
You can find the whole thing, or catch up on "Therefore I am", which I'll be starting up again here.
Epilogue
A very polite, and very persistent rapping broke into a dream that might have involved Lionel Luthor and an untimely, painful demise, but the details were fuzzy upon waking.
Lex blinked up at the ceiling, gathering sleep fogged wits. In the light of day - - light coming in from haphazardly hanging French doors - - the suite looked to be in rather bad shape. And he was alone. Which in and of itself was not as bothersome as it might have been, considering he hadn't been when he'd fallen asleep.
The soft knocking drew his attention again. It was coming from the suite door, followed this time by the hesitant voice of his secretary.
"Mr. Luthor? Sir? Are you awake?"
He threw an arm over his eyes and groaned. Then twisted his hand to look at his watch. 8:37. She wouldn't be bothering him this early if there weren't good reason.
He threw the covers off and felt it when he pushed himself up. He'd expected as much, but still muttered a curse in conjunction with Clark's name as he reached for the robe. Morning after stiffness, he could deal with, but ripping up the only set of clothes he had readily on hand was just annoying.
He belted the robe and opened the door to his somewhat harried looking personal assistant. She had a PDA in the hand she was knocking with and a cup of coffee in the other.
"The sky's not falling again?" he inquired, just a little testy at the hour and the fact that he had to stand in the doorway in a borrowed robe, to keep her from seeing the shambles he and Clark had made of the room.
"No, sir. The engineers and the damage assessment team just got in and you were specific in wanting to be notified." She craned her neck, no doubt catching a glimpse of Clark's handiwork with the French doors.
"Is that for me?" he drew her attention back to him with a jut of his chin at the coffee in her hand.
"Oh, yes sir, but I see you already have some."
He glanced over his shoulder at the desk along the wall, and the Grande sized Starbucks cup sitting there. There was a little bag next to it, likely holding some baked good item, and a clumsily folded pile of clothing.
"How did you - -?" She started.
"Thank you, Nancy. Tell them I'll be down shortly. " Lex shut the door in her face, put his back to it and silently laughed. At least he hadn't had to send her out to procure clothes. That would have been harder to explain than the room.
He took a sip of the coffee, and it was still warm, which meant Clark had been here not long before he'd woken. There was a muffin in the bag, and the clothes were more from what he'd had at Clark's apartment.
He showered and dressed and ate the muffin on the way down the stairwell to the second floor conference rooms where he'd set up LexCorp's temporary headquarters. Nancy met him at the stairwell door and started filling him in on the morning's developments.
"They've started letting flights back in. Military, Red Cross, relief workers and supplies mostly. Some commercial flights might be allowed in as early as tomorrow. They're letting people back into the city."
She kept talking, and Lex was excellent at multi-tasking and absorbed most of it, even while his mind was beginning to wander to Clark-related matters. First and foremost, what he was about.
Clark's itinerary today hadn't come up last night and despite coming to what Lex considered fair terms, he feared it would take a bit more than angry sex, heartfelt admissions, hard truths, and considerably less angry sex afterwards, for Clark to come to terms with Lex's - - in retrospect - - injudicious choice of tension relief.
Lex could be honest enough with himself to admit that had the tables been turned, there'd have been more than hate sex and hurt feelings involved. Probably kryptonite and blood, and likely a grudge to end all grudges provided Clark survived the initial blowback.
But Clark's ability to forgive never ceased to mystify him, so he wasn't entirely sure what to prepare for. Apparently Clark hadn't woken up and had a change of heart, the breakfast and the clothing attested to that. A casual call, would have been nice, but Clark forgot to charge his cell at the best of times, so the chances of him having a working phone, after being back two days from a year long pilgrimage of self-discovery were slim to none.
"Any Superman sightings this morning?" he broke into her report with the question.
She took a second to reorganize and answered. "I believe there was a report this morning of an attempt to rob a Federal Reserve in Omaha that he stopped. I can have someone check if there was other activity?"
"No." He waved a hand, then changed his mind and amended. "Go ahead. Start a file."
She nodded, adding that to her to do list.
The engineers and the architect who'd designed Luthor towers, flown in from various locales around the world, were waiting for him in the lobby. The damage assessment team had gone directly to the site, as soon as they touched down. There were a couple of SUV's waiting to take them to Luthor Towers and sporadic traffic in the streets, city maintenance crews out in force, along with national guard and private contractors, clearing debris and shoring up damaged structures. A lot of Metropolis line crews out repairing severed power lines. People that hadn't been able or willing to leave the city out patching up storefronts, lending helping hands to the city crews, or just out walking the streets, taking in the aftermath. There'd been riots, he'd heard, in the low rent side of town. A few clashes between military patrols and looters on a rampage last night. Daylight brought a modicum of sanity with it that blackout-enforced darkness leeched away.
Compared to the usual crush of traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, down town was practically deserted. Temple Street was closed off from 12th to 16th, but they bypassed the barriers. There were bulldozers clearing away the rubble that had been The Bank of Metropolis, a few armored trucks and a spattering of what he assumed were federal marshals, protecting the valuables under the debris. There was a hole in the street that hadn't been there last time Lex had been here, the asphalt cracked open so that power crews could get to buried lines. They drove over quite a few snaking power cables as they pulled up to Luthor Towers.
There were crews putting up chain link fencing around the buildings and what looked to be a city inspector that had to have better things to do than wasting his time here, arguing with one of the LexCorp damage assessment team.
Lex spared a glance for the Daily Planet, because if Clark wasn't out in his 'battle suit' playing hero, then that was one of the likely places he might have gravitated to. If he still had a job, which was unlikely, considering the extended leave of absence. But his attention got snared back to legitimate business by the argument between city inspector and his assessment team leader.
"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" He strode up to the two men, picking his way through the rubble-strewn street in front of Luthor East.
"City's trying to make us pull our crews back, Mr. Luthor," his foreman said.
"No one's allowed into grade 4 damaged structures until City inspectors can assess the level of damage."
"That's what my people are trying to," Lex explained smoothly. "And I assure you they're the best the field has to offer."
"You don't have the permits - -"
Lex's only aches had been various bodily ones, up until the point the nasal tone of the city inspector's voice started zeroing in on a spot just behind his eyes. He pulled out his phone as the man was rattling off city code at him, and put a call through to the personal line of the mayor of Metropolis.
"You think I'm your mama, Kent, that you can come crawling back after curfew and have your supper and your blankie waiting for you, all smiles and open arms?"
"Uh, no Perry,"
"Its Mr. Goddamned White to ex-copyboys who ask for a three month leave of absence and take nine extra months. You think your job wasn't filled the day you didn't show back up to work?"
"No?" Clark asked warily, not certain which answer would get him less volume. "I was a staff writer. Mr. White."
He added the last hurriedly as Perry White paused in his circuit around the bullpen, to give him the evil eye. Desks were all clumped together in little groups, computers and shared desk lamps plugged into cords running down to gas powered generators. People were tapping away at cell phones, using wireless internet connection for research. Most of them were paying no heed to Perry's running tirade. A few that Clark knew, cast him sympathetic looks when Perry wasn't looking. He was just glad Chloe was out chasing a story and wasn't here to witness it.
"You're Goddamned unemployed, is what you are. This is the real world, Kent and I don't care if you got sucked down a hole to middle earth - - unless you came back up with an exclusive with the Goddamned king of the elves - - you're fired. You were fired nine months ago."
Perry stood there glaring at him, as if he expected an answer and Clark floundered, intimidated by a craggy faced, thinning haired man who looked as if he hadn't slept in days. Perry opened his mouth, about to say more when a kid with an intern's badge ran up, out of breath and excited.
"Mr. White, a whole convoy just pulled up outside Luthor Towers. Lex Luthor himself is out there and there's some sort of row. I tried to go over and get some pictures but his security wouldn't let me through."
Perry glared at the wall the direction Luthor towers would be, as if he could see through stone. Clark could and did, picking through a line of black SUV's and a lot of men in hard hats, and schematics on the hoods of cars and some guy in a rumpled shirt and tie yelling at Lex, who was on his phone ignoring it all.
"Kent, you're all over Luthor, right?"
"What?" Clark's vision sort of stuttered out, and he blinked in a moment of disorientation as Perry's question sank in.
"You're friends with him, aren't you? Hang out? Can get past his damned security?"
Clark blinked again, warily. "Umm. Yes?"
"Then get over there and find out what they're doing about that damned skyscraper leaning over our heads. If it's coming down, I want to know about it. Get me details. "
"Does this mean I have a job?" Clark asked hopefully.
"It means you're working pro bono and if I were you I'd be damned grateful for the chance. Now go. I don't want to see your face again until you've got a quote from Luthor himself."
Like Clark needed an excuse to gravitate in Lex's general direction. Last night had been insane, and exhausting and cathartic. He'd done things that in the light of rational day, he hated. Used his strength to hurt someone he loved, even though Lex claimed no foul. Lex was all messed up in the pain pleasure department, and the things Lex liked - - the things that sometimes got Lex off - - made Clark uneasy. The fact that he'd engaged wholeheartedly last night, in anger and jealousy - - frightened him.
But afterwards, after Lex had gotten over the trauma of actually saying the dreaded 'word', it had been nice. Just them and a shattered TV that Clark was almost certain he hadn't been the one to break, and a bed, that once you threw off the top spread was big and soft and dry.
And one of the big pluses of your significant other being a guy instead of a girl, was that even after emotionally exhausting showdowns, they were perfectly content just to lie there and enjoy blessed silence. Long, leisurely kisses and wandering hands didn't need conversation to enhance the experience. And when Lex had drifted to sleep on him, Clark had been content to curl an arm around him and lie there, staring at the night out beyond the broken balcony doors.
And sure, he'd never not be jealous over Lex with anyone other than him, and if he thought about it too much - - well, he needed to not think about it too much - - but he thought he maybe understood why Lex had done it. He thought maybe he understood Lex a little bit more, and every scrap of knowledge in that complex field was to be hoarded and treasured.
The sun was out in full splendor today, and the dust that had hung around the city yesterday, had pretty much settled, thanks to an early morning shower. Clark stood on the sidewalk outside the Planet for a moment and soaked in the warm rays. The city was full of noise today, but not the usual kind. Lots of heavy equipment out, lots of construction crews that had started slowly rolling into gear today, as they worked their way back into the city. A lot of people working together that wouldn't normally, if disaster hadn't given them a common cause. He could hear it all across Metropolis and for a moment, he just opened up and let all the varied multitude of sound pour in. No sounds of impending disaster that might warrant his attention, so he started down the block towards Luthor Towers.
There were a few LexCorp security guys skulking around, but they'd seen Clark enough that they relaxed once they recognized him, nodded and let him stroll past. The city inspector he'd seen earlier was storming towards him, red faced and very, very put out, and Clark sidestepped to let the guy pass. Lex was looking pleased with himself, in amongst a group of men talking and making occasional gestures towards the buildings. Clark went over and leaned against the side of one of the SUVs next to Lex's personal secretary, who looked up from her PDA and smiled in surprise.
"Clark! I was beginning to think you weren't coming back."
"Hi, Mrs. Morgan. Yeah, time really got away from me."
"Well, shame on you for not calling. There were some people," and she shifted her eyes towards Lex. "Who were worried sick."
Clark frowned, feeling a stab of guilt. "He told you that?"
She smiled at him the way his mother did when he asked a stupid question. "You don't work for a man as long as I have and not pick up things. I'm hoping his mood will improve now that you're back?"
Clark opened his mouth, shut it, wondering what else an observant woman who knew her boss's ins and outs, had picked up?
But she was nothing if not discreet, a job qualification for being Lex's secretary. She went back to industriously working at her PDA, with no further comment. He let his gaze drift back to Lex, who was still in deep conversation with a foreman, who in turn was talking to somebody through a walkie-talkie. Clark let his attention wonder up the length of the two skyscrapers and inside. There were men in there, doing dangerous work, crawling around the exoskeleton of damaged buildings. The one was not so bad, no major fracturing of the web work of steel and concrete that supported it, but the other had taken a lot of damage, the top handful of floors pretty much demolished. There was a big, gaping hole where Lex's penthouse had been and Clark shivered, thanking God Lex hadn't been there. There were a lot of nice memories of that penthouse. A lot of discoveries made there and Clark would miss it.
He glanced back down, readjusting his vision as the conference outside the chain link fence broke up and Lex started back towards the cars. There was a miniscule lift of the brow as he noticed Clark leaning there, but otherwise he didn't miss a beat.
"Seven out of ten, Mr. Luthor," Mrs. Morgan informed him as he walked up.
"Keep trying for the rest," he nodded, continuing past, indicating with a jerk of his chin for Clark to follow. Clark stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked past the line of SUV's down the street a little between the rubble of the bank and the hole in the road surface where the power crews had pulled out all sorts of damaged line.
"Board members," Lex explained. "Trying to track them down."
"Oh." Clark gave him a critical stare. "So, you okay this morning?"
Lex lifted a brow. "Other than having to deal with bureaucratic sycophants and panicked insurance adjusters? Fine, Clark. What have you been doing?"
Clark sighed and waved a hand towards the Daily Planet. "Trying to get my job back and failing. I think. "
Lex shrugged. "I'd have fired you."
"Gee, thanks. "
Lex gave him a look, then got distracted by his phone vibrating in his pocket, looked at the number, decided to ignore it, and glanced back up to Clark. "So, what are you doing now?"
"Trying to get a quote. Perry sent me over to get the word on the towers."
"I thought you didn't have a job."
"I don't think I'm getting paid."
"God, did you take no business courses in school?"
Clark grinned, fought the urge to move right up into Lex's personal space. "I was thinking maybe, if you have time today, we could go somewhere and eat."
Lex canted his head. "I've got a lot to do."
"But you have to eat. And I was thinking Creole and there's this place in New Orleans - -"
Lex's brow went up again. "A little hole in the wall dive, I assume?"
"A hole in the wall, not a dive," Clark defended. "The food's great."
"Take out or dine in?"
Clark's grin widened. "Whichever you want."
Lex opened his mouth to reply when something crackled, then crackled louder, the dead power cables coming alive, jerking and crackling with the sudden flow of electricity. Clark kicked a ruptured line away out of reflex, and the toe of his boot singed, then grabbed Lex and put safe distance between them and live cables before the line crews around the hole could draw breath to start crying warnings at the unexpected flow of power. The traffic light down the street had blinked on, and a few sporadic windows lit inside Luthor West. The globe on top of the Daily Planet slowly started its revolution. Uptown had gotten its power back.
"Sir, we've got power back," Mrs. Morgan was picking her way towards them, not having seen the near miss with the first surge of that power.
"We noticed," Lex said dryly, then glanced up pointedly at Clark, who had his arm still curled around his back.
"Oh," Clark uncurled it and took a grudging half a step back. His boot was smoking a little and he stubbed it on the edge of the curb.
Mrs. Morgan didn't even crack a knowing smile, just nodded. "If we've got full power back, I'd like to head back to the Fairmont and get some real work done."
Lex waved a hand at her. "Call me if you need me. I believe I'll be taking an early lunch."
The End.