Chapter Text
Lena Luthor was busy at work when her desk phone beeped once. She considered ignoring it, knowing Jess would give her the message later, but she thought a distraction would prove useful. She swiftly picked up the phone and brought the receiver to her ear. She smirked when she heard her assistant’s clipped, no nonsense tone, “The school group is here. Did you want to make an appearance?”
Lena never really considered herself as nurturing or good with children, but she was an excellent businesswoman. She knew that someone would take her picture and it would be good for her image to be seen hosting a school group at L-Corp. She closed her eyes and took slow breaths through her nose. On the third exhale she opened her eyes and responded to her assistant, “Yes, let’s go meet up with them.”
On their descent in the elevator, Lena wrung her fingers together finding some calming in the process of knotting and unknotting the digits. Once the elevator dinged, she relaxed her hands and features and followed Jess out and down the lab corridor. As they walked down the hall the clicking of her heels was joined by the sounds of children whispering excitedly. When they rounded the corner she saw a group of 15 or so children dressed in blazers in varying degrees of tidiness, a few teachers/chaperons and a pair of her scientists all huddled around a large lab table. It looks like they were just in time for the demonstration.
The first scientist, Dr. Danvers, looked at the group with a smile and started, “Okay what is the first thing that we need to do?”
The small children looked around at each other and their teachers for a few moments before Dr. Danvers spoke again, “Okay, let’s work this out together. What is the first thing you do before you cross the street?”
The kids practically buzzed with energy as they shouted out together, “Look both ways before you cross the street!”
Lena smirked at the near identical delivery. Clearly this was a well-rehearsed phrase. Dr. Danvers, expecting this response, continued on, “Right! Now, what is the first thing you do when you get into a car?”
All the kids shouted, “Buckle up!”
“You guys are on a roll!” Dr. Danvers congratulated them before moving on, “Okay, here is a tricky one, what do you do when you hear a fire alarm?”
There was less cohesion with this and only a few phrases could be heard through the din, but most of the children seemed to have a good idea of proper procedure.
Dr. Danvers chuckled at this, “Sounds like you are all very prepared. So what do all of these things have in common?”
There was a bit of nervous chatter and then a little boy raised his hand. Lena could have sworn that Dr. Danvers face went just a bit softer when she looked at him. Then she responded, “Yes, Miah, what do you think they have in common?” Lena quirked an eyebrow at this. It seemed that her esteemed scientist knew the child; if the affectionate pet name was any indication. For some reason, Lena found herself captivated. So she studied the boy. He had a head full of unruly blonde curls, big blue eyes and dimples you could probably see from space. He was adorable and Lena found herself getting closer so she could hear his response more clearly.
Miah, as he was called earlier, gave Dr. Danvers a lopsided grin that made the dimple on the left check more pronounced (if that was even possible), and answered, “Safety. Those things keep us from getting hurt.”
Dr. Danvers lit up at his response and smiled widely (Lena found herself joining in), “Correct! And that means that the first thing we need to do here today,” she looked around and then spotted Lena for the first time. Dr. Danvers straightened a bit and nodded her chin motioning Lena to join in.
No one was more surprised than Lena when Lena finished for Dr. Danvers by saying, “The first thing we need to do today is get you outfitted in scientist safety gear.”
As she finished speaking, the whole room had turned to give her all of their attention. She didn’t let her nerves fray and she continued as though this was all a well-rehearsed routine. She made a show of looking around and then let her eyes settle on the little boy who had spoken moments before, she gave him a genuine smile and approached him slowly. When she got within arm’s length she spoke again, “You were the one who got the question correct.”
Even though she did not phase the statement as a question the little boy still gave her an answering nod. Lena smiled again and then held out her hand for him to take while she said, “My name is Lena Luthor, what is your name?”
The boy quickly glanced and Dr. Danvers, further confirming that there was some sort of relationship between the two. If Dr. Danvers was shocked by her boss’s behavior she hid it well. She gave a quick nod to the boy and he took Lena’s hand in his own and said, “I’m Jeremiah Matthews.” He paused for a moment and then he quickly tacked on, “Oh, it’s nice to meet you!” Lena’s smile grew larger. She appreciated that this boy’s parents had obviously been working with him on being polite. She shook his hand and then cocked her head slightly to the side and said, “Do you think you can help me with something?”
Jeremiah nodded, dimples deepening as he smiled brightly. Lena continued to hold his hand and led him over to another assistant waiting with a cart of supplies. She let go of his hand when they arrived and felt a brief pang at the loss of warmth. She took a lab coat with a small L-Corp symbol on the pocket and helped him put it on over his blazer. Then she took a pair of goggles and placed them on his head. She briefly tousled his curls and said softly, “There you are, you are all ready to be a scientist.”
Then she gave him a wink and addressed the rest of his class. “So the lab coat will protect Jeremiah’s clothes and the goggles will protect his eyes. Do you think he needs anything else?”
A girl in the front shot her hand up and she shouted “gloves” before Lena could call on her. Lena chuckled at her enthusiasm and said, “Right you are. Let’s get Jeremiah some gloves. And then, let’s get everyone ready. I know that Dr. Danvers has so much for you to learn about.”
As the children rushed forward to get their lab coats, goggles and gloves, Lena helped direct Jeremiah away from the chaos and over to where Dr. Danvers was waiting at the lab table. She greeted Lena with a polite, “Ms. Luthor, I’m glad you could join us.” Lena was barely able to nod her greeting before Jeremiah attached himself to Dr. Danvers legs. Dr. Danvers smiled down at the boy and then she looked back up at Lena, “And you have already met my nephew, Jeremiah.”
The boy detached himself at this point and looked back up at Lena with bright eyes that even the goggles could not dull. He spoke sweetly, “Are you going to stay with us, Ms. Luthor?”
He spoke so hopefully that Lena felt compelled to give in to his demand. She returned with, “I can stay for a little while.”
“Yay,” Jeremiah responded while practically vibrating in his shoes with excitement. He seemed to have taken quite the liking to the young CEO.
While they waited for the rest of the children to be fitted, Lena engaged with the child, “So, how old are you Jeremiah?”
“I’m almost five and a half.”
“Oh wow, so a whole hand.”
“Yes,” he nodded proudly. Lena had to grin a bit at that.
“What is your favorite thing to learn about at school?”
“I love science. Just like my mom, and Auntie Alex.” Lena smiled a prodded a bit further.
“I love science too. So I know your Auntie Alex,” she said while briefly smirking at her employee before continuing, “works here at L-Corp. What does your mom do?”
“She’s a professor. She teaches about space.”
Dr. Danvers interrupted briefly with a hint of pride, “My sister. She’s an astrophysicist.”
Lena was impressed. The Danvers family seemed to be quite accomplished. She wanted to ask a few follow up questions but she also found herself enraptured with the little boy in front of her. So she continued on her conversation with him. “Wow,” she said, “And what does your dad do?”
A small crinkle appeared between his brows and he responded, “Auntie Alex says he doesn’t do much.”
Lena let out a chuckle while Dr. Danvers whispered, “Miah!”