Business

The next morning, Meg was running late when she strode into the kitchen to have a fast breakfast. Everyone was already there, seated at the table with plates of steaming hot eggs and bacon in front of them. They all looked at Meg as she sat at her place, her face dark and stormy. Cassie looked to her grandmother, who shook her head, indicating that she should not say anything. Meg didn't even nod as Ian sat her coffee mug and plate in front of her, just picked up her fork and started to eat. The rest of the family resumed their meal, casting wary glances at Meg. Finally she seemed to realize what she was doing and looked up, straight into her daughter's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I got a phone call early this morning, and I'm not too happy with it. But that's no reason to take it out on you." She smiled at her daughter, before looking to her mother, father and sisters, making sure they knew that she didn't want to talk about it. "So Cassie, what are you going to do with Grandma and Grandpa today?" This seemed to break the tension around the table.

"Well..." Cassie talked while everyone else ate and listened. Before long, it was time for the three women to leave. Meg needed to get the office as soon as possible to prepare for a visit from a client, and Jewel and Jami needed to get to school.

"I wish that we had had spring break at the same time. That way you'd both be home with me all day." Cassie looked up at her aunts as they grabbed their bookbags.

"Us too, kiddo, but we'll be home this afternoon before you know it. Until then you can keep Grandma and Grandpa busy." Jewel smiled and leaned down to hug her niece, before striding out the door. Jami leaned down to do the same.

"Give 'em hell." She laughed and ran out the door as her mother shriek in outrage and her older sister yelled at her.

"Jamison Leigh Grant, get your ass back in here!" The only reply she got was another laugh and the sound of a car starting and spinning it's wheels down the drive. Meg turned back to her daughter, who was trying not to laugh out loud. Standing behind her was Ted, whose shoulders were heaving with the force of trying to keep it in. Finally he gave up, and let it out, causing Cassie to join him.

"What's so funny about that, Dad?" Meg demanded, her expensively shod toes tapping the floor. Ted was red in the face as he spoke.

"The fact...that Jami said... 'give 'em hell'...and then you...said...get your ass..." All this was said with laughter in between before he finally lost it altogether. Meg gathered that it had something to do the fact that she was scolding her younger sister for saying a cuss word in front of Cassie then turned right around and said one herself. An eye for an eye, was what she always said, though not really in this content most of the time.

"You know what, Dad, whatever. I've got to get going." She hugged her daughter, kissed her mother, then just looked at her father, before turning and leaving, shaking her head as she went. Sometimes, she just didn't get men.

An hour later, Meg was sitting at her desk, typing in a few commands when her secretary buzzed her.

"What it is, Jenny?" Meg tried not to sound too annoyed, the woman was only doing her job, but this was the fifth time in just twenty minuets that she had been interrupted. The world seemed determined to stop her from preparing herself to deal with Lex Luthor.

"Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen are here to see you." Meg went still, just looking at her intercom, thinking she hadn't heard right. "Ma'am?"

"I heard you, Jenny. Give me five minuets, then show them in." Why, in the name of all the gods on Mount Olympus, were they here? And on a day such as this, when she felt like she was running around without a head. She didn't have time to play with them. She needed to update her program, prepare her data, and herself personally for Luthor's visit. Then her office door was opening and the two walked in.

"Can I get you any refreshments, Miss Grant? Mr Wayne? Mr Queen?" Meg watched Jenny batted her eyes at her guest, and that snapped Meg to. Her eyes narrowed at the woman, making her cower when she looked to her boss. "If you need anything, Miss Grant, I'll be at my desk." She hastily shut the door, leaving behind two amused men.

Meg motioned them to the seats in front of her desk, watching them closely for any hint of why they were here. They had come as themselves, no mask, or subterfuge. That alone freaked Meg out more than if they had walked into her office in full costumes, brandishing all the authority they had as League members.

"What can I do for you, gentlemen?" Meg kept her voice as calm as possible.

"We here on official business." Bruce gestured to the room, and with a flick of her hand, Meg set a ward in place.

"Go on." Meg narrowed her eyes at them, wondering what it was they wanted.

"The league has agreed that you will be an invaluable asset, especially with you connections to Lex Luthor. They send their humblest apologies." Bruce said with a small smirk. Meg snorted

"Which means that I will have to prove myself." Oliver grinned at her perception.

"You guessed it. Especially with the Boy Scout. He's gonna be the hardest one to sell it to. Both of us and Wally are on your side, and I think that John and Shayera are as well."

"You and Wally are behind me because of my sisters, Ollie. Although I guess you would side with me, since you know me professionally, but still..." It's was Meg's turn to smirk as she watched Oliver go red from her comment.

"Um...yeah, about that. I know your sister is young, just 18, but I would like to try to get to know her." Bruce watched with a raised brow as his friend started to shudder. "Well, that is to say, I like her, and I think, she likes me too, and I know I'm too old for her, but I think it can work, if we can just have a chance..." He stopped when Meg started laughing. Both men watched, one in embarrassment, the other in awe.

"Don't worry, Ollie, my dad knows and he's OK with it. That's not to say that there won't be rules or that you won't get hurt if you hurt her." Meg's laughter disappeared suddenly, leaving a dangerous woman in it's wake.

Oliver merely nodded. At that, Meg smiled widely. She pulled a piece of her stationary from it's holder, taking a pen she scribbled a few words on it, then handed to Oliver.

"Come to that address, tonight, dressed for dinner. You can meet my mother and iron out the details with my dad." She looked at Bruce, her eyes intense. "I'm going to call Wally and have him speed over here to join us. You're more than welcome to come as well." She kept her face carefully impassive as she waited for his answer.

"My schedule is clear, so I don't think that will be a problem." Oliver snickered as he watched the two. They thought that they were hiding it so well, but in fact anyone who had eyes could see the attraction between them. He plastered an innocent look on his face when Bruce turned his blue eyes on him.

"What was that about, Mr Queen?" Bruce Wayne turned the full force of his boardroom stare on his friend. When Oliver did nothing more than smile back, he raised an eyebrow. At the sound of a giggle, they both turned to Meg, to see her wide smile.

"I think you've lost you're touch, Bruce. Either that, or Ollie has become immune." Bruce snorted indignantly, causing the other two to laugh outright. Until Meg stopped suddenly. Her face paled, and her eyes became serious again. Bruce marveled at what could bring around that transformation. In the next minuet, Meg waved her hand and sat up straighter.

"Lex is going to come barging through that door in about 30 seconds. Just act normal, like this is nothing more than a business meeting." They both nodded.

"So that's our idea. We know that you can provide us with the necessary components. The only question is how much will it take for you to build..." Bruce trailed off as the door was flung open. A flustered Jenny was standing behind an angry Lex Luthor. The two men sitting in the chairs in front of her desk turned, both showing an arrogance that they were famous for. Ollie smirked as his eyes fell on Lex, noticing the precise moment when Lex noticed him.

The bald man stiffened when he saw two men sitting in front of his ex-lover. And then his eyes landed on Oliver Queen, his old school rival. The worst thing that Megan could have done was consort with his enemy, and it seemed that she was good friends with him. He had nothing against Bruce Wayne other than that the man had more money. But then, Bruce Wayne had more money than anyone, including Oliver Queen. That thought made Lex smirk, until he looked at Megan.

He saw how her eyes were taking Wayne in, basically undressing him in front of them. This made the Lex angry at this man that he barely knew. He had something else that Lex didn't have. Something he coveted. He had the admiration of Megan Grant.

Meg smirked as she noted that Lex was watching her watch Bruce. That was good. It only made it clear to him that she was not his anymore. And she intended to make it clear

"Ah, Lex. How good of you to drop by. I was, however, in a private meeting. So if you would be so kind as to step outside, I'll be right with you." Her smile was sweet as honey, making her secretary grimace, something that Ollie noticed, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"That's quite alright, Meg. Just get back to us with the cost of this project." Bruce said, standing, and ignoring all the others in the room. He strode around the desk, bent from the waist and picked up her hand from her lap. "I look forward to tonight, my sweet." That said he raised her hand to his lips, and placed a kiss on the back of it. As he straightened, he winked at her, before turning and walking out of the office. "Coming, Oliver?"

Ollie turned to Meg, winked and followed Bruce out. Meg leaned to the side, looking out the door. She smirked as she watched Bruce walk out of her lobby. The elevator door opened and she was caught staring. Bruce returned her smirk and as the door closed, blew her a kiss. Meg shook her head, and leaned back in front of her desk, turning her attention to the bald man in front of her.

"Well, Lex, since whatever you wanted is so important as to interrupt a meeting, let's hear it. And quickly please, I don't have all day." Meg picked up her pencil and started to jot down notes on a machine that she decided would work well for the cover that Bruce had made up. The machine was worthless, one that she had already built. It had no practical application in the real world at all. But Lex Luthor didn't need to know that.

"There's a default in the newest hard drive you gave me. I want it fixed." The man sounded angry. Meg glanced up, only to stare at him. This wasn't about the hard drive. That had something to do with it, but there was something bigger than that going on here.

Meg had no qualms searching his thoughts for the information she needed. It didn't take long to find it. She watched through Lex's eyes, as Bruce kissed her hand. She heard the word mine resound through his mind. She closed off the link. So that was it. He was jealous. Tough luck, Luthor. Too little, too late.

"Have you brought it?" The man thrust a piece of metal at her. It was fried. There would be no salvaging it. Meg ducked her head under the pretense of examining it closely to hide her smirk. He must have been trying to do something that the system wouldn't allow. She'd have to take it apart and take the memory chip out to look at. But that would be later at home, right now, she needed to placate the irrate Luthor.

"This is totally destroyed. I won't even be able to salvage spare parts from it. What were you doing to cause this?" She knew very well that Lex wouldn't tell, but she figured it would look bad if she didn't at least ask.

"When can I get another, with the same specks?" As she'd thought, he avoided the question very neatly.

"It'll be a couple of weeks, at least. I don't exactly keep this on hand you know. And my technicians are already bogged down. Now Wayne and Queen Industries have a joint project they need help with. Two weeks, maybe three." She waited for the explosion she know would come. It wasn't a long wait.

"WHAT? I needed it yesterday, Megan. If you're materials weren't a piece of shit, I would have finished my project this morning.!"

"If that's how you feel about it, then you're free to try to find another manufacturer. But good luck on that. No one, not even Wayne Industries, has what I have." She tossed the component to him, and picked up her pen again. It was an obvious dismissal, but Lex was never good with those kinds of things.

"Why were Wayne and Queen here?" Lex sounded casual, but Meg wasn't fooled. He was fishing for information.

"You heard what Bruce was saying when you barged in. They've come to me with a project, wanting me to jump on board. Not that it's any of your business." Meg sneered at him.

"As your lover, I think it is my business." That comment made Meg rise to her feet. She planted her fist on her desk and leaned forward.

"You mean EX-lover. You are not, nor have you been my lover in over 12 years, you arrogant pig. Or don't you remember how you seduced me, and then left before I woke, never to be heard from again until eight years later? Even if I had had constant contact with you all this time, you still wouldn't be entitled to know every little detail of my life."

"Yes I am. You were to be my wife, you bitch, and if I have my way you still will be." He paused letting that sink in. "Is Bruce Wayne your lover?"

"I'm not answering that, Luthor, it's none of your business. It's my life, you have no control over it, and you will never be my husband. I think it's time for you to leave. Or do I need to have you escorted out. Which do you prefer?" Meg narrowed her brilliant green eyes at him. She could feel her power just underneath the surface, but she held it in check. It wouldn't do for Lex Luthor to know she was different.

Lex stared back, his rage blackened eyes hard and unyielding. Meg knew that she had made a formidable opponent just now. And she wasn't surprised. It had been tense for the four years he had been back in her life. Sorta like the calm before the storm you knew was coming. The skies had been dark and churning for hours, and finally the wind starts to pick up and suddenly it's there.

"Don't think this is over, Megan Grant. You will be mine, and I'll get you any way I can, even if I have to take out Wayne and Queen. I'll be back in three weeks, and we'll continue this conversation then." He turned and walked out the door without a glance backwards.

If he had bothered, he might have done the first sensible thing in his life and ran for the hills. If he had looked, he would have seen Meg's hair flying in a nonexistent wind, her eyes glowing bright green, and magic crackling from her fingertips. But he closed the door without looking, so he never saw it.

"You shouldn't mess with me, Lex Luthor." Meg said to the empty office. "I will fight you and you won't like the results, I promise you that. Too bad you're too arrogant to see that though. It would save us both a lot of trouble if you weren't."

Chapter Five