Daughter of the Timeless

The Sentence.

They'd never been on the same side, but they weren't all that different. 

Amanda Waller sat across from Lex Luthor, who miraculously was re-growing luscious red locks of hair even though once upon a time all the radiation he took from surrounding himself by copious amounts of Kryptonite had deemed him desperately sick, unable to regenerate any cellular growth, even after being healed from the massive radiation burns by the MachDoc in the Justice League satellite station. He sits there running his hand over his head, itching at the odd patches of hair growing mismatched. He avoids her eye contact.

"Well, here we are. Two years later." 

"Two years later." He echoes silently.

"Lex, it is... impossible to understand how or why, you..."

"Survived? I am not the only one who was spared." He growls, instantly regretting it.

Waller's guards step forward to greet Lex with the customary blow to the head with the butt of their guns, but Waller waves them down before they get too close.

"Your radiation sickness was deposited in Alfred Penniworth and Martha Kent. There condition has been deteriorating since the sickness re-emerged two months ago. None of you have aged. None of this makes sense." She shakes her head worried. Amanda Waller doesn't worry. She just accepts Victory or admits doom.

"It never did." He says gruffly, still rubbing his head intensely. 

"You've thought about it a lot, I see." There was an unwarranted tinge of kindness in her voice. This also made no sense. "Look, you have changed drastically. The UN counsel has agreed to let you help us with this. To get them back."

"You won't." He says out of no where. Even he doesn't understand where it comes from. These words, this understanding. "We won't get them back until IT, no, He is ready to give them back. We are at His mercy."

"Is this, thing, this He, evil?" Waller asks.

"Far from it." He rubs his head faster. The repeated movement and the intensity comforts him. 

"Stop." Waller grabs his hand from his head. "Look at me, Lex." He avoids eye contact.

"What happened, Lex? What is happening with you at least? It's as if..."

"A part of him was implanted in me." He says bluntly. "I felt myself being ripped apart in that Warp. I saw them, their colors, mixing together. I saw the great Light. I saw my darkness disappearing."

"Your darkness?"

"My evil." He sighs. "What do you really want Waller? Why are you here?"

"Your help. I am moving to have you released and put in permanent protective custody while you work to help us." 

This summoned an odd happiness. As if he thought she was joking.

"I am serious Lex. You aren't really being punished. Not since it seems you don't fight against us. You just sit there, not here, not there. Just, just. Altogether different. You haven't caused any problems. Haven't even refused food. You haven't associated with any of them and when tempted and given information, you give it up. This is a new leaf for you Lex."

"So you let me out, just like that?" He snaps his fingers. "Impossible."

"It has happened before. This isn't an odd occurrence."

"Except, this time, it isn't me pressing for release or breaking out. If the public gets wind of my release, of my freedom, I won't be the only one in for a whirlwind of trouble. You will. All of your officials, the remaining heroes. The criminals, the InJustice League won't be your only problem anymore. It will be anarchy world wide, in the streets." Lex says pointing a finger down at the solid metal table. He is on borderline hysteria.

"They won't know. You won't be seen. Even the heroes, well most of them, won't know."

"Most of them? But a few of them will?"

"Victor Stone and Arthur Curry. The remnants of the Justice League leaders, yes. The others won't know."

"You can't promise that."

"No, I can't. However I do know they will be too busy with the incoming crime waves. Even otherworlds are targeting earth now because of our defenselessness. We are the only major planet in the universe without a set protector or protectors. What we have left is stretched so thin dealing with the crime that our cops and our soldiers have either given into or forfeited fighting.  After they left, it was as if a balance was tipped. And not in our favor. And with your help we can change that."

"Exactly what are you asking?"

"Re-open Cadmus labs. We need you to create more clones if need be. You'll have full reign of your experiments and resources. If things go wrong, it won't matter. We won't last long anyways. Darksied has made his mark on us once again."

Lex's eyes widened at the thought. Without Superman and the Justice League, they are defenseless. Even those that remain in the League reserves are no match for what is coming. They don't have the power and resourcefulness the originals did. 

"I'm in." 

"Good to know, Lex. Just so you know, it seems some of your fellow crime lords, even the Joker is turning a new leaf. Probably not for long. But like I said, if things continue as they are, it will not matter one bit." 

Waller stands, pushes in her chair, which absorbs into the massive metal block that serves as a table in between them.