"I was surprised when I heard the news, the great Lex Luthor engaged to a small town girl like Lana Lang, no less." With no care for whose office he was entering, Oliver Queen glided through the door. A bottle of champagne in hand, he smirked as he looked down at Lex, who was sitting at his desk. "Well? Point me towards the glasses," Oliver said, laughing.
Sighing, Lex reached within his desk, pulling out two champagne glasses. "Don't tell me my engagement is the only reason you've shown up to my office unannounced?" Lex asked as he took the almost-filled glass from his desk.
"The other stuff can wait, we should celebrate you're the first billionaire bachelor of our generation to truly get married, we can forget about the bimbos that came before Lana, you were immature." Oliver had a knack for saying things that got under your skin, whether it was on purpose or not, didn't matter once you began to feel annoyed.
"We could always talk about Mercy," Lex said, narrowing his eyes, causing Oliver to cough up his drink.
"Let's stick with Lana. Are you sure about her? Are you following all the common procedures?" Oliver asked as he whipped the champagne from his shirt.
"She's pregnant with my child, Oliver," Lex said, almost defeated.
"We both know that's even more reason to take every precaution," Oliver leaned forward, losing all semblance of his usual playfulness.
"Is this about me, or are you afraid she'll interfere with the business?" Lex said, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
"Sure, I don't think I'd like it if suddenly some third party gained enough power to interfere in our business."
"A prenup will be signed; you don't have to worry about Lana." Lex took another sip of his drink.
"Knowing you, that girl doesn't stand a chance," Oliver said with a hint of disdain.
"I assure you I have no intention of fucking her over if divorce is the road we head down," Lex said seriously.
"Keep telling yourself that," Oliver replied, placing his drink down. "Why are you marrying her? Don't tell me it's because of love, we both know you have a heart of stone."
"She makes me want to be a better person, that's the goal, right? To be better people than we were before?" Lex said, watching as Oliver nodded.
"This has nothing to do with you wanting something over Clark?"
Lex froze upon hearing that. Did he gain satisfaction from knowing Lana would marry him and not Clark? Yes, but that had nothing to do with why he wished to marry Lana. Had she not ended up pregnant, he would have never proposed, but now he could feel her reservations. He could feel her slipping through his fingers; he was constantly forced to remind himself that he wouldn't follow the path of the Lex that came before him. He wouldn't use his fear to manipulate Lana into being his; he wouldn't chain her in his castle so that she could never leave. He loved her, but he would never force her to remain. Right now, what he cared most about was his child, she was pregnant with a child he would do anything for. Even if that meant love bombing Lana into marriage, he would keep her close. For his child, Clark had nothing to do with that.
"Clark was my best friend," Lex said softly, looking into Oliver's eyes. "He's the kindest guy I know, but he doesn't understand our world. When you arrived in Metropolis, the first thing you did was have me kidnapped, then we fought with words until we reached a common ground. Now we're celebrating my engagement to Lana."
"You were investigating your best friend?" Oliver asked, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
"Hang around the mystery that is Clark Kent long enough, and you'd be investigating him as well," Lex said seriously. "But that's in the past, I'm over Clark keeping secrets and burning the bridge that was our friendship. My being with Lana has nothing to do with him; the fact that it pisses him off is simply an unintended benefit."
"He's a boyscout," Oliver said, sipping his drink. "He'll never understand this, and he'll be better off because of it. He doesn't need to get his hands dirty in our world."
"Yet he keeps finding himself in our company," Lex said almost mockingly. "That's enough about Clark. When's a good time for an official business meeting?"
"I'll have my secretary call yours," Oliver stood from his seat, pouring himself another glass he headed towards the exit, stopping just as he entered the door frame. "Congrats, Lex."
"Thanks Ollie," Lex said before turning back to his laptop screen, but his mind lingered on Lana. On how to protect her, and their child, He was working as fast as he could, but it never seemed to be enough.
…
Lana sat across from Chloe, a vacant look in her eyes as she stared down at the glistening ring on her finger. It wasn't the largest diamond, but one could tell the quality was top-notch.
"Lana, how do you go from breaking up with Lex to being engaged to him?" Chloe asked with a hint of mirth in her voice.
"I don't know," Lana said, shaking her head. "I knew Lex was romantic, but he's thoughtful as well. He bought my aunt Nell's old house across from Clark, and he wants me to teach our kids to ride horses on the farm." Placing her hands on her cheeks, Lana could feel the heat rushing to her head.
"Lana," Chloe reached over, grabbing her hands, holding them tightly as she stared into her eyes. "Do you know what Lovebombing is?"
"Lovebombing?" Lana shook her head no, not recognizing the word even as he rolled it off her tongue.
"It's an attempt to influence a person by demonstrations of attention and affection; you essentially shower someone with excessive affection and attention to gain control over them." Chloe finished frowning as she saw the confusion on Lana's face.
"What are you saying, Chloe?"
"You were waiting for Lex to recover before telling him you'd be leaving him and moving back here." Chloe paused as Lana nodded. "Is there any way that Lex might have realized you were planning on leaving?"
"I don't know, he's been so busy with his work, there's been affection, but I could tell there was something keeping him distracted." Pausing, Lana thought about it. She had simply thought he was dealing with the world feeling unsafe after her being kidnapped and him being shot.
"Let's say he realized you were planning on leaving him, to change your mind, he'd do something grand to make you feel guilt at the thought of leaving him. That's what you feel now, right?" Chloe asked, taking a closer look at her friend.
"Chloe, that's what proposals are, they're grand showings of love," Lana answered, unable to stop herself from laughing.
"This is Lex Luthor, if he wanted to go grand, he would have flown you to Arabia; instead, he targeted the most important thing in your life right now. He bought your childhood home, horses to fill the stables, and talked about you teaching your kids to ride. Don't you feel guilt at the thought of leaving him when he's promised you so much?"
"Yes, but it's more about the baby, I don't want to split up our family before our kid is even born." Lana placed her hand on her stomach, smiling ever so slightly.
"And he'll use that to keep you from leaving. You said staying with him was dangerous, and then you get kidnapped the moment you try and break up with him, Lana, you have to see this for what it is."
"What is it exactly, Chloe?" Lana asked with anger in her voice.
"Lana-"
"No, Chloe, you're my best friend, and I love you, but you think Lex is the same guy he was years ago; he isn't, he's a better person now. He wouldn't do all of this just to get me to marry him. There's so much more that he needs to focus on; he's trying to protect us all, Chloe!"
Silence filled the air, and Lana wiped her eyes, stopping herself from crying, grabbing her bag she looked at Chloe. "I'm sorry," Exiting Chloe's apartment, she walked down the stairs of the Talon, and entered her car. Gripping her wheel, she allowed her tears to fall freely. She truly did not know what to do. She loved Lex; the baby would need a father, but there was something deep within telling her to get out and never look back. Looking back at the Talon, she realized it was just another thing she had given up on once it got hard. That's what she had been doing her whole life, running. She quit being a cheerleader because she was afraid of what kind of person she would be if that was all she did with her life. She ran from Smallville after Clark broke up with her, she ran from Jason, and then she ran from Clark and his lies. She wouldn't run from Lex, not this time.