In Family we Trust - SuperCorp

John Corben

October 14th 2016 (After 2x01)

It was a cool evening in National City. Although summer was definitely over, the cold temperatures hadn't quite set in yet. The street lights had just lit up, as most people were already home with their families, or, in some cases, with their take-out dinner. There was one citizen who was still at work, however, as she was just getting ready to leave. On the very top floor of the large building on Cordova street, Lena Luthor was about to head out towards her penthouse at a time that, by her standards, was still pretty early. She did have a very long week, after all. In the span of a few short days she had been shot at, had had her renaming ceremony bombed and, let's not forget, was forced to shoot a man to save a federal agent who, mind you, hadn't even bothered to thank her. She'd thought she could have a fresh start in a new city, but the shadows of her family's past in Metropolis wouldn't seem to go away. Not only did Clark Kent, ace reporter of the Daily Planet, show up at her office but now it turned out that the assassin who had targeted her, had been hired by her brother.

She knew Lex was a lost cause. She had known since he had killed all those people and frankly, she thought it couldn't get much worse than that. Well, turns out she was wrong. It seemed that Lex was not only paranoid and obsessed with exterminating alien life on earth, now he was actively trying to kill his little sister. The same girl he had held ever so tightly at his father's funeral. By the end of the week she was thankfully still alive and well, but of course, there had to be one last ominous cherry on the crazy cake. An unpleasant visit she had to endure just this morning.

Lena smiled as she looked at her phone, while riding the elevator to her office. There were no less than seven texts from her assistant, profusely apologising that she was going to be late due to her bus not showing up. Lena couldn't believe she had ever doubted her decision to hire Jess, as it almost seemed she was born for this job. She was about to text back that considering this would be the first time she was late since getting hired, she shouldn't worry about it, when the elevator doors opened and she noticed someone was already waiting for her. She approached the impeccably dressed, middle-aged woman who was waiting by her assistant's desk. "I'm sorry, do we have an appointment?"

The woman turned to face her and gave her a lopsided smile. "An appointment?" she asked. Lena just nodded, raising her eyebrows, as the woman now gave her a full smile that Lena could only describe as unsettling. "I think you'll find that I don't need an appointment, Ms. Luthor. My name is Mona Smith. I'm here because I was sent by the board of directors." Lena's eyes grew cold as she knew this wasn't a good sign. As she had learned over the past year of running LuthorCorp (L-Corp, since two days ago), there were some members of the board who weren't pleased with the direction the company was taking. Lena suspected that the only reason they had backed her in the first place, was because they thought she shared her brother's misguided ideals. They weren't in the majority (thank god), but they still held some power over her, as the woman standing before her definitely proved. "Is my performance under review?" She gave the woman one of her signature glares. "Because if memory serves, our revenue has steadily increased for the past two quarters." The woman didn't falter under her steady gaze. She kept looking at her with what appeared to be cool disinterest. "You don't need to think of this as a review, Ms. Luthor. There are just some members on the board who are concerned about some of your recent... decisions. I'm simply here to put those fears to rest." Lena was starting to feel her frustration rise up at the vague statement. Put their fears to rest? What was that supposed to mean? Was she here to talk her out of funding the children's hospital? Scrap her charity projects altogether? Like that was going to happen. Poise and dignity, Lena. Poise and dignity!

"Mrs. Smith, I honestly don't believe I have made any questionable decisions as of late. If the board is concerned about something, they can come talk to me directly. Otherwise I would direct them to our income spreadsheet, which is in a healthier position than at any time in the year before I took over." She tried to say it with a sense of finality, hoping the woman would take the hint and get out. She instead looked at her in a way that was almost condescending. "As I'm sure you're aware, the members of the board have a very tight schedule. I will be speaking to you on their behalf, whether you like it or not." She made her way around the CEO towards the exit, before turning around. "I will be back soon for another chat, Ms. Luthor. Hopefully you will be more open to talking to me, otherwise the board will be very... displeased." With that last statement, bordering more on a threat in Lena's mind, she finally made her exit, rounding the corner towards the stairs.