Disclaimer: All recognisable characters, storylines etc. belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros and December 3rd Productions. I'm not making any money off this, just having some fun.
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I saved the life of my mortal enemy today.
I know that Lex Luthor would be happy to have me dead- Superman, not necessarily Clark Kent- but I couldn't let him bleed to death.
I just hope I don't come to regret it later.
…
One of the hardest things about having two identities is trying to remember which identity knows what and reacting accordingly.
If I wasn't Superman, I may just see Luthor the way he wants to be seen. The way everyone else seems to see him.
But I am Superman, and our shared encounters have given me a hatred of him. It's not an emotion I thought myself to be capable of, but I truly hate Lex Luthor. As Clark, I find it close to impossible to hide my dislike and distrust of the man. It's easier in the short periods of time that I'm normally in his presence, but tonight wasn't a normal night by any means.
Locked in the same room for hours on end, we ended up sniping at each other. He considers me a coward now, and I think that might play to my advantage. It gives him less reason to suspect my secret.
It's also a lot easier to bring someone down if they don't consider you to be a threat.
On that topic... I think time is beginning to run out. I saw the way Luthor looked at Lois tonight- and worse, the way she looked at him. As hard as it is for me to stomach it, I think she does care for him. I can understand it, in a way. He's never been anything but charming towards her, after all, and he is incredibly good at projecting only what he wants people to see.
Lois is the one that's going to end up getting hurt when Luthor's criminal activities come to light. I'd do practically anything to spare her pain, and the longer it takes to bring him down, the more she'll end up being hurt when his house of cards comes tumbling down. I need to get hard evidence against him, and soon.
As for his wound... well, I've always said that I would never kill a human being, but I think I'd almost be willing to make an exception for Lex Luthor.
I didn't do it for him, I did it for her.
I will admit, I felt a certain amount of satisfaction doing it. Using my heat vision to cauterise the wound must have been painful, and the mixture I poured on it must've compounded the pain. I probably could have chosen different ingredients that would have kept Perry, Lois and Jack just as busy. Call it a small measure of revenge.
He's caused me more than enough pain in the past.