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[b]The LexCorp Building, Metropolis[/b]

Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen were some fifty or sixty paces from the LexCorp building before Kent pulled his colleague aside. It had been a good twenty-five minutes since they had left the Planet and Jimmy had been deathly silent the whole time. Clark had tried to convince Perry that taking Jimmy with him might not have been the best idea but White had insisted. He’d seen on Olsen’s face the moment he told him they were going to the LexCorp building that he was [i]far[/i] from pleased. He’d hoped that on the journey over he might have come to terms with it but it was clear that hadn’t happen. Stood under the shade of the LexCorp building Clark let out a sigh as he gestured to Jimmy to take a seat on the bench beside them. They were already running late but Clark figured it was better they were late and Olsen was on side than the young photographer putting his foot in his mouth once they were with Lex. 

[color=steelblue][b]"What’s wrong, Jimmy?"[/b][/color]

Jimmy pouted a little as he played with the camera in his hands.

[color=salmon][b]"It’s nothing."[/b][/color]

Clark smiled sympathetically.

[color=steelblue][b]"Something’s bugging you. I’ve never seen you so quiet before. You’ve barely said a word the [i]entire[/i] walk here. So either you’ve lost your voice or something is bothering you. I might not be much of a betting man but I’m pretty sure it’s the first one."[/b][/color]

Jimmy let the camera in his hands go loose and it flopped against his chest. He leant back against the bench and let out a defeated sigh as he eyed the LexCorp building.

[color=salmon][b]"This feels wrong, Clark. We’re not here to write a story or ask questions, we’re here so that Luthor can announce his latest pet project. That’s [i]not[/i] news. That’s public relations. Maybe I’m being a little drastic here but this isn’t the kind of thing the Planet ought to be doing."[/b][/color]

[color=steelblue][b]"What makes you say that?"[/b][/color]

There was an uncharacteristic heaviness to Jimmy’s voice. Usually the photographer was cheerful to a fault. Clark had never seen someone take a shellacking from Perry and walk away before he’d met Olsen. It was clear that Jimmy’s reservations about LexCorp were deeply held, maybe even more deeply held than Clark’s were, and the grave look on the photographer’s face reflected that.

[color=salmon][b]"You remember that expose by Ben Ulrich in the Bugle a few years ago? About LexCorp’s gunrunning across central Europe, in Latveria, and in the Middle East? To this day Luthor has never had to account for that. We could ask him about it, Clark. You could ask him about it. Even a “no comment” would count for something, right? It would [i]have[/i] to."[/b][/color]

Every fiber of Clark’s being agreed with Olsen but he knew it would get them nowhere. For the past half decade he had tried, both in the cape and out of it, to get something to stick to Lex to no avail. He’d even made some traction before Lex created the Justice League. Since then he’d not been able to lay a glove on Luthor or LexCorp. 

[color=steelblue][b]"That’s not what we’re here for, Jimmy."[/b][/color]

Jimmy shook his head with frustration.

[color=salmon][b]"Well, it [i]should[/i] be."[/b][/color]

[color=steelblue][b]"Look, one day Lex Luthor will have to account for all of his misdeeds, I promise you that much, but if I press him on the Latverians we’ll be thrown out in under a minute. Not only that, both of us will be blacklisted before the day is out and the Planet will never get another LexCorp or Justice League scoop again."[/b][/color]

Olsen shrugged.

[color=salmon][b]"So what? We should stay quiet because of our… careers? Is that what you’re saying? We should roll over and let Luthor tickle our bellies so the Planet can get first dibs on the next Justice Leaguer?"[/b][/color]

[color=steelblue][b]"I’m saying we’re only two men, Jimmy, and Lex Luthor is [i]still[/i] Lex Luthor."[/b][/color]

Jimmy sighed and stared off into the horizon wistfully for a few moments. His eyes glazed over a little as if he were trying to recall something from the back of his mind. He shook his head to himself slightly as he drew a blank and looked to Clark pensively as he tried to piece together the quote that was on the tip of his tongue.

[color=salmon][b]"What was it that Superman said at President Kelly’s inauguration? All it takes is [i]one[/i] good man to speak out against inj-"[/b][/color]

Partly out of embarrassment Clark interrupted Jimmy.

[color=steelblue][b]"Neither of us is Superman. Are you bulletproof? Can you leap a tall building in a single bound? Because last time I checked, neither of us could do that."[/b][/color]

[color=salmon][b]"That doesn’t mean we have to do nothing."[/b][/color]

Clark rubbed his chin a little as he thought over the implications of going after Lex in their interview. Every single way he played it out in his head it ended badly for them. It wasn’t so much himself that Clark was concerned about but Olsen. Jimmy’s career was in the ascendency after having captured that picture of Clark and Captain America together and being involved in something like this could put an end to that. Clark wasn’t sure he could have that on his conscience. Charging in without a plan, without having thought things through, would be disastrous for [i]everyone[/i] involved. If they were going to get Lex they were going to have to play the long game. And Clark was determined to get him eventually.

He looked to Jimmy and smiled.

[color=steelblue][b]"We’re not going to. We’re going to bide our time, make Luthor think we’re his best friends, make sure next time he has a story he needs broken or the next event he holds we are the first name on the lists. We’re going to get close enough to him that one day, maybe months or years from now, he’s going to let the mask slip. Then and [i]only[/i] then are we going to make our move. Not now, not some soft ball that Luthor can knock out of the park without breaking a sweat, but a haymaker that will send him to the mat so hard he [i]never[/i] gets up again."[/b][/color]

The disappointment on Olsen’s boyish face disappeared and in its place appeared a smile that managed to seem both shocked and impressed at the same time.

[color=salmon][b]"Jesus, Clark, remind me never to get on your bad side."[/b][/color]

Clark let out a laugh, stood up from the bench, and gestured towards the LexCorp building with a smile.

[color=steelblue][b]"Now what say we head on inside? We’re already running late. I can’t imagine Luthor is the kind of man that likes to be kept waiting."[/b][/color]

The pair of Daily Planet employees climbed up the steps of the LexCorp building and were greeted by a red-haired young woman. She lead them to a special lift that bore only two buttons – “L” for Luthor and “W” for Watchtower. A red-nailed finger clicked on the “L” button and they rode to Luthor’s office in silence. The doors slid openly slowly to reveal not the army of publicists, public relations, and marketing people that Clark had expected, but Lex Luthor, dressed in a plain suit, stood before the window of his office with the setting Sun behind him. His thin lips pursed into a wry smile as he spotted them and they stepped inside.

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