As White Lantern, he had been tracking the divergences. The Teen Titans didn’t exist, absorbed into the Justice league. There was no Justice Society.
Kara was dating Nightwing.
But there were things that he had taken for granted.
Clark Kent was Superman.
Lois was Lois.
Lex was Lex.
The truth came to him while he was channel surfing. Lex was receiving an award for business or whatever. Conner was barely paying attention. He could see a tight lipped Oliver Queen and Bruce
Lex Luthor, in this universe, was not a supervillain.
He was a titan of industry, a ruthless capitalist, and a massive dick by every metric. But his battles were fought in boardrooms and on stock exchange floors. His rivals were Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen. He’d been investigated by the SEC twice, and was widely considered the human embodiment of a hostile takeover.
But he was not a supervillain.
Superman, even saved Lex from a supervillain once. And instead of plotting his downfall or philosophizing aliens about how aliens are interfering with humanity’s growth. The Justice league had just gotten an expensive gift basket and a donation to a charity of Superman’s choice.
It was the most disturbing fact that he learned about this universe. After learning Lex was his donor. He has become the benchmark of evil that Conner used for his own morality. To find him, neutered. Normal.
How was Conner supposed to deal with that?
Lex was spending a week in Honolulu. Some business meeting that Conner could not care about has transferred him over to the Lexcorp offices on the island.
And Conner, using his super vision was stalking him, waiting for any sliver of the megalomaniac Supervillain that he knew. Someone smart enough to bury his supervillainy. Lex looked younger than his own.
Observing him for an hour, Conner watched him yell at an employee. Curse in multiple languages, and nurse a migraine with some liquor he hid underneath his desk.
No laser guns, no power armor.
Just ordinary business.
This Luthor wasn’t a supervillain. This isn’t the man who cloned him. Who ruined his life. The anger, hatred he felt. His Luthor was apart of him as much as the S-shield. A twisted, hateful part but he had left his marks on his soul eternally. A constant rejection on what not to be.
This man didn’t deserve it. He didn’t know him.
He was utterly irrelevant to the boy known as White Lantern.
He was alone.
Flying back to his hotel room, Superboy saw an envelope underneath his door, on the front was a familiar L.
A surge of relief overcame him. Lex being evil was a constant. Opening it, Lex invited him to a lunch on the fanciest restaurant on the island in a week’s time. With a message that if he can’t make it to reschedule with his assistant Mercy. Because Lex really wanted to talk to him.
Vindicated, Conner told himself of course he would. The one public hero not in the league. He was easy pickings for a supervillain in disguise.
He would go to the lunch, promptly. He’d see the mask slip and be the first to put him in jail. He’d end the reign of Lex before it even started in this universe.
——
“Take a seat,” Lex gestured. Lex had exchanged his normal business suit for a white linen one. The Hawaiian heat having gotten to him.
“I’ve heard of your exploits,” Lex told him calmly. “I appreciate an entrepreneur in the brand new world of superheroics instead of taking the easy
“They didn’t invite me,” Conner said honestly. He doubted he’d have accepted the invitation. Batman would never accept him, hiding his secret identity. Any remote physical would have given up the ghost and exposed him as a relative of Superman.
The pure bafflement on Lex’s face somehow hurt worse than any kryptonite.
“The Justice League didn’t invite you,” he repeated. “You.” He pointed sharply at Conner. “The only superhero with healing powers on the planet. They didn’t invite you. Green Arrow gets an invite. But not you.”
“Rub it in,” Conner said dryly.
Lex pinched his nose.
“It’s just eye opening,” Lex said. Conner had never seen Lex deflated before. He had seen him smug, angry, prideful, vengeful. Those are the faces that belong on Lex Luthor. Not just butterfly disappointed. “I thought they were smarter than this.”
He gestured to a nearby waiter. “Scotch.”
“It’s barely noon,” Conner said.
“Well, it’s allowed when you learn earth’s greatest defenders are idiots. Order something. Everything, if you want. I’m paying,”
Conner didn’t hold back.’
He ordered everything. None of the food had prices, which means it’s too far too rich for his blood. Lobster, steak, burgers on a brioche bun and truffle fries, mountains of plates separated him and the billionaire who was eating a rather simple looking chicken dish beside his scotch.
“I heard your Q&A.” Lex told him.
“Didn’t think you’d be interested in a livestream.”
“I would when it’s about you,” Lex corrected. “The league is public knowledge. You’re the enigma. It was enlightening.”
“Glad to know Lex Luthor is interested in my favorite cookie flavor,” he said stabbing into the steak in front of him roughly.
“No parents, no friends,” Lex began to list off with his fingers. “No formal education. Not with the hours you spend. A drop out bare minimum. And no home. It made a lot of things about your behavior make a lot of sense.” Lex said. “You’re an idiot.”
“What?”
“You’re what? Sixteen? Trading your image for lodging in a hotel. Living off of snack sponsorships.” Lex sighed, theatrically to the hooded teenager. “I have to ask this from the bottom of my heart. Are you stupid?”
Conner, thinks he preferred the supervillain.
Lex didn’t wait for Conner to respond. “You are being taken advantage of. The contracts they made you sign are criminal. You left a fortune on the table. Did you even read them? Doesn’t matter. I already have my lawyers dissolving it as we speak.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“You need someone’s and the League isn’t offering,” Lex shot back. “So as apparently the only adult who is interested in your life—” He raised a hand to silence Conner before the boy could object. “Sad, we both know. I need to say something to you. Because no one else will.”
“One: This life is unsustainable. You are a superhero who lives in a hotel that you are unable to afford in any way other than publicly announcing you’re a superhero living in the hotel. You are a the biggest target on the planet. You will endanger not only yourself but the civilians you claim to care about. You need to move immediately.”
“Two: I had an analyst observe your posting hours to cross reference your public showings. You have an average of four hours of downtime a night. Combined with the daily horrors you see on a daily basis. At this rate, you will burn yourself in months.
“Three: You have no infrastructure. You have no income, you have no assets, you have no support. You are one bad day from never getting back up.”
Conner wanted to spit back he‘s Kryptonian. He never has to worry about not getting back up. He wanted to yell he doesn’t need Lex’s pity. He doesn’t need…any of this.
Lex, as if reading his mind pushed forward. “Needing things and admitting you need them are two different things. You have been coasting by ignoring the latter. Again. Unsustainable.”
“So what?” Conner asked. “Going to cut me a check?”
“Yes,” Lex said firmly. ““You are the world’s only healer and are being mismanaged. So for the good of planet earth and more importantly—myself. I am fixing the dumpster fire, you call a life. I am buying you an apartment, I am buying you clothes, I’m going to get you a GED. I will get you health insurance and I will write it all off as a charitable expense that will make more money in the long run.”
“I don’t need—“
“You’re a child,” Lex said dismissively. “You don’t know what you need. If you did. You wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with. And the most galling thing is you thought it was okay to begin with. So go to your hotel. Pick up your things. Whatever little you have. And get ready to move.”
“Move?”
“Hawaii is the least crime ridden state in the country,” Lex told him simply. “It can survive without you. So you have a choice. You’re moving to Metropolis or Central City. Pick one.”
“Why those two?”
“There are four cities with a permanent superhero. Central City’s Flash, Metropolis’ Superman, Gotham City’s Batman and Star City’s Green Arrow. The rest of the superhero crowd tend to be deployed as needed. You’re a minor. Reducing yourself to an auxiliary role with an adult hero active will allow you to recover from the mess you put yourself in.” Lex said as if it was obvious. Neither Batman and Green Arrow are metas, if you move to either of their cities. You’d probably end up having to do more work. Not less. Pick a city.”
“Metropolis,” Conner heard himself say, caught up in Lex’s rhythm.
“Good. My city. It’ll let me keep an eye on you. Pack your things. You’re officially on work-mandated vacation.”
End
Not sure where this came from.
But a continuation of Dead Ringer. Just obsessed with a non evil Lex being the replacement Leech for Superboy in a new universe in a world where he’s the only solo hero. Conner and Lex’s love language: capitalism.
Thank you so much to @ao3herbittersweetness for gifting me these beautiful panels for my WinterGhost fic Dead Ringer! They even look better than how I imagined the scene playing out in my head. I can't seem to look away from them ahhhh
The artist can be found here also!
This is so insane this never happened to me before! So thank you again, @ao3herbittersweetness! You are a joy and forever a wonderful contributor to the Thunderbolts tag :D
