I'm With You

Campaign

A/N: I don't own Smallville or any characters and places in the DC universe. Nor do I own the episodes that these chapters are based and contained from.

I also don't claim to be a writer. My inspiration is simply to get a creative outlet going.

I only own Tyla Nevin and what pertains to her character story.

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Tyla worked diligently for the next couple of weeks, much to Lionel Luthor's dismay. Her other boss made it noticeably clear of his dislike of her working there, even as a retainer by Lex's word. He threw project after project at her with the occasional rant about the Luthor image. Tyla may have begun to learn to tune it out. On the LexCorp end, there wasn't much to be done until revitalization was in order. She couldn't do much promotion on that end except on the fact that it was coming, and it would help hundreds of people in Smallville in terms of jobs.

She had expected to it to be a normal day today, where she would be slaving away with her marketing projects. Her desk was currently littered with post-it notes while her notebook was tossed to the side. It was open with her notes, scrawled across the pages. An empty coffee cup was on the far end of her desk, the LuthorCorp logo glaring at her. Next to her, she had already surrendered herself to a glass of water which was barely full. Every so often, she would glance at the page and then type vigorously away.

She had barely noticed Lex walking into the communal office space and scope around the floor of the marketing department of LuthorCorp. Tyla took a deep breath and kept typing away. She could see him through her peripherals, but she made no indication that she was aware that he was striding towards her desk with no regard of the rest of her colleagues who now eyed over with nervous silence. He stuck out on this floor, what with his buttoned up black shirt and pants. Perfect for a board room but he stuck out like a sore thumb next to her dark blue buttoned up dress and leggings. Unless in the public eye, the PR and Marketing department was a little more casual with their attire. She didn't need to look up to feel his presence closely looming over her. She knew that right now Lex Luthor was unequivocally angry.

"Nevin!" He shouted, making her flinch. "What do you know about Mayor Tate?"

"Good morning to you too," she murmured before she could spin her chair to see him, "Uh, other than his neglect on dental hygiene, next to nothing. Why?"

"He's halting the plan expansion." Tyla nodded but waited for him to keep talking. This man was anything but a short talker. "The zoning commission is awaiting the final approval to move forward, and he is behind it."

"Well, LexCorp is new but LuthorCorp isn't exactly shining when it comes to environmental and safety regulations being up to dat-" Lex narrowed his eyes at her. Her eyes widened and she turned to get up from her seat. She grabbed her empty glass of water. "Which isn't the point of why you're here. You want me to unearth some dirt on him?" She made her way down the hall which had a small but comfortable kitchen complete with a fridge, microwave, and water cooler

"I'm sure you can find something," Lex had said, following her. He watched as she paced towards the water cooler and began to fill her glass.

"I'm not one of your goons." Once again, Tyla was met with a glare. This time, it was paired with him tensing his jaw. "I'm not going to resort to blackmail and threats just because you never had a permit hold up. Haven't you ever heard of patience?"

"I've been told it isn't my strongest suit." Lex said, walking her back to her desk. He eyed her computer as she sat back down. She was working on Lionel's conferences coming up. His eyes wandered towards her open notebook. The scribbles were partly made up of talking points and what his father could say to make it sound like he cared about the projects; as if it wasn't just business. "However, it was implied that I support him financially while he is in the running for re-election."

"Now, that definitely wouldn't sit well with you," she smirked. She raised her glass of water as if she were clinking glasses with him. "Endorsement or bribe?"

"Implied bribe"

Tyla cocked her head to the side. "I can work with that." She mused. "Just to be clear, he hinted on you giving him some sort of bride, not the other way around." Lex pressed his lips together and leaned on her desk. He rested his hand on the end and looked down at her. Tyla raised her hand in defeat, relaying to him that she would back off.

"Do this, and I will give you a private office here."

"No thanks, I like having Maria right there," she nodded over to her work neighbor who stole a couple of furtive glances from both before she feverishly looked back down to her computer. "I'll just do it because I'm on retainer."

"This doesn't count as a miracle."

"Of course not, you're coming to me," she turned back to her computer and shooed him off. "Now if you excuse me, I need to see who I'm up against."

Lex moved back, surprised. Did she just dismiss him? "Just get it done," he said, sternly and then turned to leave the room.

She sighed as he walked away from her desk. Then, she looked up to see Lindsay give her a skeptical look. "Don't ask," was all Tyla said as she investigated the Mayor of Smallville. She spent the rest of the day, tracking records and contracts. Before she left for her apartment, she decided to email Lex her findings.

To: Lex Luthor

From: Tyla Nevin

Attachment: voteagainstcorruption.mp4

12 years, 32 contracts, more than $50,000 worth of bribes towards the firms that represent him.

Not surprisingly, thousands of environmental complains.

Attached is a proposed video. I suggest backing his opponent.

T.N.