Second Chances: Superman and Lois - Rough Draft

Chapter 16

Lana Lang was currently sitting at her desk in her campaign office, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Clark, her oldest friend, somehow had connections that had gotten her funding from both Wayne Enterprises and L-Corp. Something that was sure to give her an advantage over Dean. Especially since she'd heard rumors that Morgan Edge had withdrawn his support from Dean's campaign. Something that definitely brought a smile to her face.

However, she was pulled from her thoughts when Emily Phan knocked on her open door.

"Lana, you have a second?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, why?" Lana asked.

"Because you have a guest here to see you, though he doesn't have an appointment, he's not taking no for an answer." Emily said.

"Because I'm not accustomed to being given that response. Typically when I ask for something, people give it to me." Morgan Edge said as he walked into the office.

"Well, well, what brings Morgan Edge to my office?" Lana said coolly, since from what Lois had told her about Edge, he was not a good man. Regardless of what her ex-husband thought of the man.

"Merely a man hoping to offer my support to your campaign. I'm sure you heard that I withdrew my support for your adversary George Dean." Edge said.

"Yes, only because he started falling behind in the polls. And now you're suddenly offering support to me? Seems like one heck of a coincidence to me." Lana said and Edge chuckled.

"You are a bright one. I suppose it was folly of me to expect you to fall for that. You're clearly much brighter than Dean was." Edge said.

"I appreciate the offer, but considering the funding I'm already getting from both Wayne Enterprises and L-Corp, I don't think I'll be needing any help from you. Especially since you were supporting my competition." Lana said.

"Yes, how did you manage to secure funding from two of my primary competitors? I wasn't aware you had any pull with them?" Edge asked and that was just pure curiosity.

"Well, I don't, but my friend Clark does. I guess before you fired him from the Daily Planet, he garnered a few favors." Lana said.

"Clark Kent. Yes, it was a shame to see him and his wife go, but business is business." Edge said, though in reality, the reason he'd fired both Clark and Lois was so that they wouldn't be able to dig into his business, at least not as easily.

"I'm sure." Lana said.

"Still, considering the fact that I will be sticking around these parts for a while, I'd like things to be relatively pleasant." Edge said.

"What do you mean you're sticking around?" Lana asked.

"Well, I see you haven't heard, but I recently acquired the rights to the Schuester Mines outside of town. Your current mayor sold them in an effort to acquire some extra funding for his campaign, not that it will do much to help him now." Edge said.

"Why would you buy the mines?" Lana asked.

"I don't tend to speak about my business to people who aren't directly involved in it. Of course, my offer to aid in your campaign is still on the table." Edge said.

"Can I have some time to think about it?" Lana asked, since while she had no intentions of accepting any help from this man, she was curious about what he was up to.

"Of course. I understand it's a big decision. Take all the time you need to consider." Edge said with a smile as he walked out of her office, thinking he'd roped her in, unaware of what was really going through Lana's mind, which was that she needed to talk to Lois about this.

"Wait, so Edge came to your office today and offered to help your campaign?" Lois asked Lana later on that day after Lana dropped by the Kent house.

"Yeah, believe me, I'm as shocked as you are. But he confirmed that the rumors about him withdrawing his support for Dean are true and now he wants to help fund my campaign." Lana said.

"Well it's a good thing that thanks to the funding Clark got you from Wayne Enterprises and L-Corp means that you won't need to take it." Lois said.

"Yeah, but honestly, maybe I should." Lana said.

"Wait, what? Lana, how can you say that?" Lois asked.

"Because it could give you the one thing that you've been missing this entire time with your story on Edge. Someone on the inside. He'd never suspect me of something like this." Lana said.

"And if word gets out about this, it could ruin your career. Look Lana, I appreciate you wanting to do this, but you're running for mayor, which means you need to think like a politician. Opening this door for Edge could end up coming back to haunt you." Lois said.

"I get that, but Lois, Edge told me that he is setting down roots in this town and we need to know why. I won't have my town be affiliated with a man who could potentially make it worse, I'm not Dean. If I'm going to be mayor, I need to make sure I know everything that happens in this town and that includes what Edge is up to." Lana said.

"Okay, before you even think about opening up this door, do you have any ideas on why Edge is setting down roots here?" Lois asked, trying to calm things down.

"He said that he bought the Schuester Mines from Dean before he withdrew his support. My guess is that he was only cozying up to Dean to get what he wanted and as soon as he had it, he cut ties." Lana said.

"That sounds like something Edge would do. But the question now is why did he want the mines, since I doubt it's to put people back to work like he claims." Lois said.

"That's why someone needs to get too close to him to find out." Lana said.

"Or we go take a look inside the mines ourselves and find out what's going on in there." Lois said.

"What, Lois, you can't be serious. You're pregnant." Lana said.

"And you have no experience in doing something like this. I do." Lois said.

"And your husband and your father would kill me if I let you do anything like this." Lana said.

"I'm not an invalid." Lois said.

"I know, but at some point even Lois Lane has to admit that her pregnancy means she can't take the same risks she's used to." Lana said.

"Fine, but why does it have to be you who goes in?" Lois asked.

"Because neither of us want Edge to know that we're poking around the mines. We can't trust anyone with this. Well besides, Clark, but we can't loop him in right now." Lana said and Lois nodded.

"Fine. Only because we're wasting daylight arguing about this. But I'm still going with you, I'll be your eyes and ears." Lois said and Lana nodded.

"Okay, let's go." Lana said and Lois nodded as they headed out.