Lex waited a bit until he knew that Reed and Susan were on the elevator heading out of the building before he turned to the other two men in the room. The look on his face left no room for interpretation.
Get out. The two men followed his unspoken command instinctively and rushed out of the doors. Finally Lex was alone. He locked himself in the lab which everyone working for him knew was basically a giant 'do not disturb' sign.
He paced around the room still trying to calm himself down from Susan's comments. He marched himself to the dry erase boards with his equation written out. One look at the large encircled 'X=?' sent him into a rage. With a yell he grabbed the board with both hands and threw it across the room. It impacted the wall with such a force that it broke off of its stand. He kicked the board on his left after a string of profanity.
"Who the hell does that woman think she is? He looked back at his machine.
"They show up unannounced, I show them hospitality, and she insults me!" He finds the closest thing to him, a plastic cup, and throws it directly at his project.
"In front of my staff while I am working on one of the most significant scientific discoveries in the history of the world!" He stopped in his place and stood there. He looked around to find his lab in an even messier state than it had been when he first arrived. He lost himself in thought as he picked up the board he had thrown against the wall. After a few seconds of staring at the 'X=?' he placed where it belonged. After a few minutes his lab was more or less rebuilt.
He chastised himself. He was the most brilliant mind on the planet and he was acting like a child. He walked slowly to his desk ignoring the lights as they flickered again. He noted that he would have to look into that later. He sat at his desk and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. His computer monitor lit up with bright blue letters, INCOMING MESSAGE.
"What is it?" He opened the message. A man in a suit surrounded by desert appeared on the screen. He looked very proud of himself.
"Mr. Luthor we found him." The man said with a grin. Lex recognized him, he was one of the project leads of LexCorp's New Mexico branch. His name escaped him.
"Could you be more specific?""Bruce Banner." The man paused, presumably for dramatic effect. "The Hulk."
"Whatever you do, do not contact Ross! I'll get whatever members of the Justice League I can to respond." The other man's grin turned into a worried expression.
"General Ross is already here sir." Lex's face fell into his hands. Another annoyance. If Ross and the Hulk were in the same area the place was about to become a warzone.
"I want you to listen to me very carefully." He paused and looked at the screen using his hands as he talked.
"Load up whatever company equipment you have within a fifteen mile radius and get as far away from that beast as you can. DO not contact the Justice League or any members of LexCorp security.""But sir..."
"Shutup and listen to me! If the public is alerted in any way that we were involved in what is surely about to become a massacre the entire company could fall under investigation.""Okay Mr. Luthor. I'll handle it."
"Make sure that you do. If this comes back to hurt the company, I'll know who to blame." With that Lex ended the transmission.
He rubbed his hands over his head. This problem could potentially bring too much unwanted attention to him and with Susan Storm suspecting him of planning to develop weapons using the meteor technology attention is exactly what he wanted to avoid. He began typing away at his computer. He had to contact his European contacts that were supplying the substance.
After making sure that the message would be thoroughly encrypted and untraceable he placed the call. After a few minutes a foreign man appeared speaking his native language. Luthor simply stared at the man until he stood he called over his shoulder. Not long afterwards the unmistakable image of the figure in charge appeared on screen.
"We have to postpone weapons development indefinitely. Any progress at this time would jeopardize our entire operation." "Luthor, my time is not to be wasted by any man, even one such as you. There are others who will pay dearly for this product and my assistance in utilising it.""You understand that I'm the only man on the planet capable of forcing even a small reaction of power out of this substance. That and I am also the only man willing to pay such a steep price. The truth of the matter is that you have no other options." Lex shot back confidently. His contact would have to take him at his word.
"There are always options, be grateful I pursue one that allows you to keep your head on your shoulders. Go play hero, little man, return when you are ready to move on to better things." With that the transmission was cut. Enraged Luthor yanked his computer out of the cords it was connected to and threw it against the wall. It exploded into a display of sparks and falling circuits.
He sat back down and stared back across the room. 'X=?' Taunting him. Luthor sat there in anger, the vein on the left side of his head popping out. Then, another annoyance, his phone began to vibrate again. He pulled it forcefully out of his pocket. Mercy Graves. Again.
"Mercy I told...""Lex it's about your father." She cut him off. The pause in her words only made him angrier.
"He's being released from prison today."