✧ - SLANDER. ⋮ A LEX LUTHOR FANFIC
CHAPTER １of 20 | EXPOSED
MASTERPOST summary: you’re a journalist for the Daily Planet. You’ve recently got your hands on some leaked documents on LuthorCorp, so you’re slowly unraveling the glossy image Lex Luthor has created for himself. You simply have a job to do, and he’s got a reputation to keep. pairing: lex luthor / f!reader tags: slow burn, kidnapping, drinking, gets a little intense word count: 2k a/n: hiiiii i'm obsessed with evil lex and his bald head (cue mr. worldwide). also sorry the spacing is weird in this, just had to get the story set up but i promise the flow will be flowin going forward
“Of course, LuthorCorp’s scientific breakthroughs with new technology and biological advancements are always impressive, almost impressive enough to distract from the mystery of how they’ve been able to avoid triggering animal cruelty investigations.”
Paper crackles as Lex Luthor clenches the article in his fists, crushing the newspaper his assistants had so thoughtfully delivered to his desk this morning. He reads on, meticulously absorbing each word that seems to dig deeper into the recent bio-testing his corporation has done.
How the hell could anyone know what was happening behind my closed doors?
That’s the second article this month. The first one slipped by, a column on the third page of the Daily Planet. But this…this was different. This one knew too much.
He tears the paper in half, crumples it in his fists and drops it silently into the trash bin by his desk
“I’m gonna kill this son of a-”
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“New skirt?”
You look down, brushing a crumb off your lap. “Mhmm,” you manage, swallowing the huge bite of doughnut you just took.
“I like it. Maybe I should get one too,” Lois Lane smiles, then looks down at her attire. “I love wearing pants, but that looks like a skirt that’s actually comfortable without looking too…” she trails off.
“Frumpy?” You laugh.
“I was going to say ‘too much like an old secretary’, but yeah, that works.”
A tall man with glasses towers over your desk, catching your attention.
“Morning Kent!”
He smiles and places some papers on your desk. “Sam told me to get these to you right away,” he thumbs through some of the pages. “This isn’t more LuthorCorp shade, is it?”
You practically snatch it out of his hands. “Oh yes. This is amazing.”
He folds his arms, and you swear you can see the seams of his shirt tighten. “You should be careful, writing about LuthorCorp like that,” he says.
A smile spreads across your face. “So you read my article.”
He tilts his head, glasses sliding down his nose slightly. “Maybe. Still. Be careful.”
You look at your doughnut, then back at Clark. “Don’t worry. I’m using a pen name. Besides, people want to know what Luthor is really up to. They’ve been my most read articles. I’m dying to get another out soon.”
Clark nods, then goes back to his desk.
Strange, you think to yourself. Why was he being so protective over you? Was there something he knew that you didn’t?
You planned to ask him about it later. Right now, it was time to read some new documents Sam had gotten for you.
Now, Sam wasn’t your source. In fact, you had no idea who your source was. You’d just spent hours on the internet, digging through archives, looking through anything remotely publishable, until you found them.
An anonymous dealer with highly classified documents from dozens of corporations. As far as authenticity, they seemed like the real deal. You paid the dealer much less than they should have received, but then again, they didn’t know what they had on LuthorCorp. You promised them a cut from your article’s payout if they kept to feeding you intel.
Totally trustworthy.
As much as you were vying for your big break, this wasn’t going to be it, necessarily, especially if you were using a pen name. You had worked at the Daily Planet for a few years now, and all the journalists were pretty competitive with each other. But you could sense something was off with one of the tallest buildings in Metropolis. They just seemed too influential. Too formidable.
There had to be something amiss. Whether it was the inner workings of their technology sector, or maybe even the CEO had a fault.
Whatever it was, you were going to unearth it, bring it to the surface, and show the public that you can’t believe everyone.
You flip open the first page of the documents. It’s about a LuthorCorp manufactured computer chip, nothing extraordinary, nothing the public doesn’t already know.
One coffee, two doughnuts, and about ten pages later, you’ve got the headline for your next column.
LuthorCorp May Be Watching From Inside Your Apartment
“Yes!” You spin around in your chair, nearly spilling your mug.
Clark lifts an eyebrow from across the bullpen.
But you miss it. Your fingers are already flying across the keyboard.
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“James!”
A man at the desk jumps to his feet. “Yes, sir?”
An infuriated Lex storms right up to his face. “I need you to find the author of this article and kill them.”
James blinks, mouth gaping open. “You want me to… what?”
Lex leans closer, icy blue eyes piercing the poor man’s very soul. “You heard me. You brought this article to my desk, so surely you’ll be in charge of taking care of things, right?” He snaps.
“Yes sir, b-but may I suggest-”
The CEO closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
“I’ve been thinking, p-perhaps we could bring them in. We could ask them questions-”
“Ask them questions?!” Lex roars, slamming his hand on the computer monitor to his right. The screen goes dark and cracks form across the glass.
James lifts a finger and continues. “We could get them to write differently. They obviously have a large following now, and if they suddenly stop writing, then people will get upset, they’ll want to know what happened. Maybe instead we can switch the narrative.”
The tantrum stops for a moment as Lex actually thinks about James’ suggestion. He places a hand on his shoulder.
“I knew there was a reason I hired you. However, if they do not comply, then we will kill them. I want their name, address, and personal information in an hour. I’ll be back.”
Without another second passing, Lex Luthor storms out of the room, leaving the rest of his employees speechless with the whiplash of his mood swings.
“He’s… joking about the killing thing, right?”
A woman to his right shrugs. “He did just kill my computer.”
James turns back to his computer and gets to work immediately.
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In a matter of minutes, he’s traced your name, phone number, email, and even the name of your cat (you had posted pictures of him on your personal social media account). He prints out a paper of your information, somewhat reminiscent of a “WANTED” poster.
He gets up and right as he’s about to go to Luthor’s office, the man himself bursts into the room.
“I’ve got it, here.”
“Alright. I’m going to strangle-” Lex grabs the paper of James' hands and immediately his eyes go to the picture at the top corner.
“Her.”
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The music is just a little too loud for your liking. As much as you loved your coworkers, this Thursday night tradition of you all hitting the bar was just not your thing. Plus, everyone was always exhausted for Friday.
It was also half off drinks on Thursdays, hence why none of them wanted to wait for the weekend.
You adjust the necklace around your throat, getting anxious and ready to leave.
“Come on, don’t you wanna drink tonight?” Jimmy Olsen nudges your arm, but you laugh and push him away. Jimmy was one of your best friends at the Daily Planet, thanks to being completely unattracted to him. He already had enough women falling head over heels for him, and you were a breath of fresh air, keeping things one hundred percent platonic.
“I do, but I'm designated driver, remember?”
“We can just walk home, or take a taxi. We should be celebrating your article!”
You furrow your brows. “You read my article too? Clark!” You look around for black hair and glasses, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Must have managed to escape the function tonight.
“Nah, he didn’t make me read it. It’s just gotten a lot of buzz online. Congrats, it could’ve been your big break if it wasn’t under a pen name.”
“That’s kind of the point,” You shook your head. “If I uncover something dangerous, I’d rather not be personally attached. I can write everything I need to say when it’s more anonymous, you know?”
Jimmy nods his head and throws back a shot. “Fair. You’re not worried at all though?”
“No… should I be?” You laugh thinly. That’s the second time today someone’s mentioned being worried or scared for me.
“Eh, it’s probably no big deal. Lex Luthor just doesn’t seem like the type to let stuff like this slide easily.”
A blonde girl sneaks up behind Jimmy and taps his shoulder. He’s now distracted with her drunken gibberish and in moments she whisks him off, leaving you alone and even more anxious than before.
Fingers tighten around the glass of water in your hands. Sure, LuthorCorp may seem sketchy, but they didn’t have anything alarming to hide.
Right?
Two hands grip your shoulders from behind and you yelp. A voice whispers in your ear.
“Don’t yell, don’t panic, don’t call your friends, if you want to live.”
“What the f-”
A man towers behind you, breath cold on the back of your neck. His hand presses something sharp just below your ribs.
Blood drains from your face and your vision starts to blur as you realize what’s happening.
“Walk,” he steers you so you’re walking in front of him, and he moves his hands to constrain your wrists, ensuring zero escape.
A million thoughts are running through your head. Your fingers are numb and you dropped your water moments ago. Your legs feel like lead and your heart feels like it's going to rupture through your chest.
Once outside the bar, cool air hits your face, snapping you into reality. There’s a suspicious black car on the street the man is pulling you towards, and you attempt to wiggle out of his grip.
“Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be,” he mutters, grip tightening.
Tears stream down your flushed cheeks. “Please, let me go, you don’t want me.”
He shoves you into the backseat of the car and slams the door shut. You try to open it, but it’s locked from the outside. He leans up to the window.
You barely make out the sound of his voice between the glass and the blood rushing in your ears.
“You’re exactly who we want.”
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You flinch when he swings it open and grabs you, tossing you to the ground like you weigh nothing.
He pulls you to your feet and drags you to a chair and handcuffs you to it. You’re so paralyzed with fear, no sound comes out of your lips, just a small whimper when the handcuffs click shut.
The man, to your horror, gets in the black car and drives away, leaving you alone in the… dark tunnel? You still have no clue where you are. Fluorescent lights shine coldly over your features. There’s no windows, no clock.
A few minutes pass by. Yes, you’ve already tried wriggling out of the cuffs but it’s no use.
It’s just you. And the sound of a door unlocking behind you. You sit up straight now.
It opens slowly, and you can hear footsteps echoing faintly off the concrete walls. You can’t turn to look, not with your wrists bound behind you. The footsteps are slow, calculated, unhurried. As they grow closer, you can feel a bead of sweat drip down your back.
He doesn’t speak at first.
You can feel him before you see him. A presence, somehow heavier than the silence. He walks around your chair until he’s in front of you.
Lex Luthor.
There’s no mistaking the icy poise in his expression. The sharp cut suit. The way his blue eyes rake over you like he’s analyzing a file and not a person.
You swallow dryly, and meet his fierce gaze. Chills run down your spine.
A smile curls at the corner of his lips at the sight of your fear.
“Don’t worry now. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have made it past page one.”
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CHAPTER 2 ➠
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