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"Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated." - Lamartine
Lex Luthor was missing and it was all Tess cared about. This was the man who had helped her in her darkest hour, going far above and beyond what the CEO of a multinational corporation needed to personally do when an employee he'd never met before ran into some trouble. But he'd shown he truly cared about Tess and her team, and then just Tess herself when she became the only survivor of the horror they went through.
He'd even visited her personally, after flying her back to Metropolis General Hospital to get the best care possible. He'd brought her flowers – tiger lilies – and fluffed her pillows and snuck her in some of the most amazing Belgian chocolates.
After she'd been released, she was promoted. Regional VP for the South East sector, responsible for maintaining ecological standards for all low level LuthorCorp projects. Tess did her new job very well, determined as she was to impress the man who had been so kind to her. The man who had saved her. The man she had started to fall in love with, though that was something she kept strictly to herself. Knight in shining armour syndrome, she told herself. It would go away when she got back into work.
But it didn't. Lex kept close tabs on his newest VP and the praise and presents kept on coming. Tess finally felt like she belonged when he entrusted her with a very sensitive mission. And despite the eventual failure of that mission, Tess has played her part to perfection.
After Lex's disappearance, she had to admit she was as shocked as everyone else when he named her as his successor as CEO of LuthorCorp, but deep down she knew it was because he knew he could trust her more than anyone else. That she'd get things done, the way Lex himself would have done things.
And her first order of business was clear: Find Lex Luthor. Nothing else mattered and nothing else would until he'd been located. It was the ultimate test of loyalty and Tess was determined not to fail.
She couldn't fail.
She refused to.
Tess Mercer was a new woman thanks to Lex and there was no way in hell she was going back to the frightened little girl she used to be. She was a strong, independent and capable businesswoman, one who had earned the trust and admiration of one of the most respected men in the world. Failure was not an option and when Lex realized his safety was thanks to her, Tess' future would be unlimited.
She'd finally be free.
Lex Luthor was missing and it was all Tess cared about. This was the man who had helped her in her darkest hour, going far above and beyond what the CEO of a multinational corporation needed to personally do when an employee he'd never met before ran into some trouble. But he'd shown he truly cared about Tess and her team, and then just Tess herself when she became the only survivor of the horror they went through.
He'd even visited her personally, after flying her back to Metropolis General Hospital to get the best care possible. He'd brought her flowers – tiger lilies – and fluffed her pillows and snuck her in some of the most amazing Belgian chocolates.
After she'd been released, she was promoted. Regional VP for the South East sector, responsible for maintaining ecological standards for all low level LuthorCorp projects. Tess did her new job very well, determined as she was to impress the man who had been so kind to her. The man who had saved her. The man she had started to fall in love with, though that was something she kept strictly to herself. Knight in shining armour syndrome, she told herself. It would go away when she got back into work.
But it didn't. Lex kept close tabs on his newest VP and the praise and presents kept on coming. Tess finally felt like she belonged when he entrusted her with a very sensitive mission. And despite the eventual failure of that mission, Tess has played her part to perfection.
After Lex's disappearance, she had to admit she was as shocked as everyone else when he named her as his successor as CEO of LuthorCorp, but deep down she knew it was because he knew he could trust her more than anyone else. That she'd get things done, the way Lex himself would have done things.
And her first order of business was clear: Find Lex Luthor. Nothing else mattered and nothing else would until he'd been located. It was the ultimate test of loyalty and Tess was determined not to fail.
She couldn't fail.
She refused to.
Tess Mercer was a new woman thanks to Lex and there was no way in hell she was going back to the frightened little girl she used to be. She was a strong, independent and capable businesswoman, one who had earned the trust and admiration of one of the most respected men in the world. Failure was not an option and when Lex realized his safety was thanks to her, Tess' future would be unlimited.
She'd finally be free.
