Lex was gone for less than thirty seconds when he reappeared in his office.
"I forgot that I'm not letting you out of my eyesight." He explained, leaning in through the open door. "But I really need to do this meeting."
I swung myself off the desk, and made my way over to him. He watched me walk over with a dark glitter in his eyes. I reached up and held onto the lapels of his suit jacket, leaning back to look him in the eye.
"Are you worried about me?" I asked teasingly. "Or are you worried I'll be a problem?"
He licked his lips, and took my chin in his hand.
"I'm worried you'll be a distraction." He said darkly. "And not just to me, either. I saw how that man on the elevator looked at you."
I raised an eyebrow at him. His face had clouded over, and his hand had tightened on my face, his fingers biting my skin.
"He wasn't looking at me like that." I disagreed. "Ow, Lex" I grabbed his wrist, and he loosened his grip.
"I think I know more about that than you, little one." He growled. "I'm leaving you my pager. Lock the door behind me. If you need anything, get Mercy."
I let go of his jacket, and he tugged my face upwards, kissing me firmly. I smiled into it, because despite everything, despite his apparent possessiveness and tough outside, I knew who he really was. He could act tough around me, but all I could see was the man who held me every night and chased away the nightmares.
Lex closed the door firmly behind him, and I turned the lock. Knowing I wasn't supposed to leave put me on edge, but I sat on the couch, and tried to nap anyways.
That lasted all of about two minutes. I was too riled up, too filled with excited energy to sit still. I looked around the huge, empty room for something to occupy me. Anything would have worked. A book. A scrap of paper to doodle on.
My gaze fell on the silver laptop, still sitting on Lex's desk.
I opened it, my heart in my throat. I knew I was in dangerous territory. If he didn't want me overhearing even a word of his phone calls, he certainly wouldn't want me going through his personal laptop. There had to be classified LexCorp files on there, stuff that no one but him knew about. Files on his research, on his technology.
There might even be a file about me.
That last thought was the final straw. I opened the laptop with shaking hands. It dinged, and the LexCorp logo came up. I hit the enter key, and the logo was replaced by an entirely black screen.
"Welcome, Lex." It said pleasantly. "Please enter your passcode."
I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity. Of course it was passcode protected. I doubted it would be anything simple, either.
I closed the lid of the laptop again. I didn't even want to try, in case it alerted Lex of failed passcode attempts. I wasn't that desperate to know what he had dug up about me, if he had dug up anything at all. If he didn't know my medical history, he may not know anything.
Then again, this was Lex. It would be incredibly out of character for him not to go searching into my past.
I looked at the desk, wondering if there was anything else I could amuse myself with. There wasn't. It was pretty much just a three-sided glass rectangle with a computer and not much else. Pretentious? Yes. Exactly the type of desk you would image Lex to have? Also yes.
I flopped onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling. For the first time in ages, not only was I totally and completely alone, I was bored. Being around Lex all day was like basking in the sun-you were warm and happy while he was there, but when he was gone, the entire world went cold. I was experiencing that coldness for the first time. It was like all the colours had gone flat. Lex was a drug-and I needed him.
I sighed and rolled off the couch, standing slowly. Lex had said he didn't want me out of the room, but he hadn't explicitly said I couldn't leave. I had been good so far. It was time to be a little rebellious. Plus, I wanted to see the rest of LexCorp. It couldn't all be dark secrets and government meetings.
I twisted the lock on the doorknob, and stepped outside. The hallway was empty, as I expected it to be. It stretched on endlessly on both sides, blank grey walls unmarred by doors or even art. I stepped to the right, where I knew the elevators were. I had no clue which floor Lex was on, so I figured I'd start with the second and work my way up. I had already seen the lobby, but there was a balcony that encircled it that I had yet to explore. It seemed as good a place to begin my little expedition as any. I looked at the clock set into the metal panel inside the elevator. It was almost noon-I gave myself one hour before I had to head back. Who knew how long this meeting would go? Government people tended to be long-winded.
The elevator dinged, and slid open. A man in a suit looked up from his phone, nodded at me, and shouldered by as I got off. He didn't seem to notice or care that a young person was wandering alone in the building on a school day. I took it as a blessing.
I wandered the perimeter of the second floor, pausing to look into offices. It seemed to be the accounting division, or something with number, because everyone was sitting at computers, with huge whiteboards filled with equations behind them.
I ran my hand along the white metal of the railing, enjoying the murmur of people below me. I could hear a basketball game being played somewhere, and I grinned. It had been a long time since I had heard so much noise. It felt good to be out and about on my own. I kept walking, pausing as I heard a familiar voice below me.
"The complete remains of the dead alien for testing." Lex was saying. I stopped, and looked down. I could just see his arm, and the shoe of the man opposite him. They seemed to be in some sort of side bar.
"You want Zod's body?" The other man asked incredulously.
"Okay." Lex said, and then there was a brief silence. "It's cherry." He prodded. I looked down, stretching myself forwards, and swallowed hard. Lex was forcing a candy into the other man's mouth, in what seemed like a display of dominance. The other man seemed to sense this, too, and he blushed a deep shade of red.
Suddenly, a hand grasped my shoulder, hauling me back. A man in a black suit was standing over me. There was a wire in his ear, and he was talking down it to someone.
"Tell Mr. Luthor we've found her on the second floor." His voice was impassive.
"Don't do that!" I cried out. "I'll go back up right now."
The man just stared down at me.
"Mr. Luthor?" A voice said below me. "We've found her."
"I'll have my assistant walk you out." Lex said to the government man, I assumed. "Bring her directly to my office. Actually, no, to my car."
The man in front of me pressed a finger to his ear, and nodded to me.
"Let's go." He said, and pulled me forwards by my shoulder. I didn't fight. I knew I was well and truly busted.
There has never been a longer elevator ride in all of history than the ride down to the parkade. The man behind me said nothing, just stood behind me, silently intimidating me. I wasn't sure what was awaiting me in the car, but it couldn't be anything good. When the doors finally opened, Lex was leaning against the car, the engine running. He looked at me, his face stony and unreadable.
"Thank you, Clyde." Lex said, and beckoned me over. Clyde let go of me, and I gulped, walking slowly over to the car. Lex opened the passenger door for me, his gaze hard on my back.
He didn't speak until we were out of the parkade and driving down the rainy street. His driving was reckless, more so than usual, and his hands clenched the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"Did I not ask you to stay in my office?" He demanded. "Did I or did I not, Ruth?"
"You asked me to."I confirmed. "But you never said I had to."
A muscle feathered in Lex's jaw.
"When I ask something of you, I want it to be taken as law. If I say tell me what's bothering you, you tell me. If I say stay away from my work, you stay away. If I tell you to stay in my office, you STAY IN MY OFFICE."
I shrank back in my seat. I had never once heard him yell. Lex used clever phrases and little quips to talk his way around people when he was angry. His voice never went above a conversational tone; that was what made him so hard to argue with.
"I'm sorry." I submitted. "I'm sorry, Lex." This time, I couldn't stop the tears. They flowed freely, and I lifted my sleeve to wipe them.
"What were you trying to do, hm?" He prompted.
"I just wanted to see what your building was like, that was all."
Lex turned his head slightly, and his face softened when he saw my tears. He reached out his hand and took mine, kissing the knuckles.
"I'm sorry, darling." He apologized. "I didn't mean to raise my voice. It's been a long day."
I nodded, wiping my eyes again. His mood seemed to have improved, and I let loose another bout of tears, just at the sheer relief of it.
Lex took one look at me, and pulled the car over, flinging his door open. I watched in confusion as he walked around the car, and opened my door. I didn't even have time to ask him what he was doing before he pulled me out of my seat and into a bone crushing hug, my head against his chest. I sobbed, and he stroked my hair, making sounds in the back of his throat.
"It's alright, Ruth, calm down." He hummed. "I didn't mean to scare you." He kissed the top of my head, and I choked for air, my throat full.
"I'm sorry." I said again, and Lex held me away by my shoulders. He shook his head, his hair damp and dark, bloody red.
"It's me who should be sorry, darling."
I sank backwards onto my seat, the toll of the morning taking its impact on me. Lex stroked my cheek, and used his thumb to wipe a stray tear.
"Let's go home, yes?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Home sounds good."
A/N: first off, sorry for all the author's notes. i'll probably be putting them in most chapters, now, because the story is beginning to pick up pace.
second, this chapter is so long because a) it's showing how possessive lex is becoming over ruth, and b) we're seeing the start of lex's plans fall into place.
trust me, from here on out, it's going to get dramatic.
love y'all
ives