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From the very second he showed up, Slade knew this man would be trouble.
Alexander Luthor was smart. He was crafty and capable, had a brilliant mind, and though he constantly looked bored, on the verge of passing out, or both, he gave his projects his all, sometimes even more. He was proud of his work. Maybe a little too proud, if the shit eating grins he constantly shot Slade whenever Waller praised his inventions had anything to say about it.
Slade had taken to snapping back when he got the chance. When Waller wasn’t around, and Slade had the displeasure of being stuck with Alex alone, there were always snide comments made about his intelligence. Alex saw him as a brute with a lack of wits, so Slade made sure he kept up with banter of his own, making scathing comments about how his big talk must be compensating for something else. That was met with a retort about how the men most obsessed with size being projectors of their own insecurities, and of course Slade wouldn’t let that slide, biting back about how the same could be said about men boasting about their own intelligence. Of course, when Waller would return and raise her brow at them both, they would resort to silently glaring at one another before returning to their respective jobs.
It was petty. Alex was petty. It got under his skin more than he really cared to admit. And so it became part of their regular, push and pull dynamic on the rare occasions they saw each other. It had only started getting handsy when trading insults wasn’t resulting in the desired effect on the scientist.
Checking in at Star Labs had become routine. The partnership Luthor had set up with Henshaw had been highly beneficial for their shared goals, and with Lex setting up shop there to work on Project M, Waller had started sending Slade to visit and keep an eye on how things were going, especially after the place had been trashed by Superman. At least, that’s what the public assumed.
Honestly, Slade would much rather be out on the field, Waller pointing at an enemy while he shot it down. Leaning against the wall as he waited for Alex to give him a progress report was irritating, and quite honestly, insulting. Slade had barely gotten a word in before Alex’s hand had shot up in a shushing motion, before going back to work on the power core he had been tinkering away at for god knows how many weeks now.
Finally, after what felt like hours and waiting in the corner of Alex’s lab, the man removed the safety goggles from over his eyes, letting them hang around his neck as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. It almost made Slade scoff, watching Alex fix his glasses back over his face.
“If his majesty wouldn't mind, I’d like a progress report now.” He snarked over at the scientist, watching Alex’s shoulders rise and fall in what Slade hoped was a long suffering sigh.
Alex grabbed his tablet from the edge of the table, tapping away at the screen and not even looking Slade’s direction as he spun around in his chair. “I don’t see why I have to report directly to you. Waller could easily get the report through messages or calls or, I don’t know, coming to me herself?”
“If it annoys you to do the job to your boss’s specifications, maybe you should quit.” Slade offered, not even trying all that hard to sound truly helpful.
Alex scoffed, “That would make your day, wouldn’t it?”
Slade wasn’t a loose cannon. He could control his temper, he regularly had to when working for a sentimental do-gooder like Sam Lane. But he wasn’t a stranger to irritation so strong that he could easily boil over into rage. He hoped the flicker of fire in his eye was hot enough to be felt, even if Alex wasn’t bothering to look his way to notice it.
He pushed himself off the wall, arms uncrossing as he made his way over to Alex’s chair.
The scientist continued to type onto the tablet, even after Slade had stood in front of him, re-crossing his arms over his chest and waiting expectantly. It didn’t take a genius to know Alex was deliberately ignoring him. Even when Slade leaned over the man to look at the screen—“an invasion of privacy” as Alex had previously made a fuss over when Slade stood over his shoulder once—Alex continued to pretend he didn’t even exist. He could feel the simmering anger start to rise to dangerous heights.
He wasn’t willing to let this arrogant prick control him like this. He had a job to do, and he wasn’t willing to sit here all day and wait on Alex to feel merciful enough to stop messing with him so he could complete his assignment.
Slade reached out, grabbing one of Alex’s wrists with one hand, and prying the tablet out of his grasp with the other, ignoring the scientist’s sputtering protests. He smirked at the shorter man as he shot to his feet, chair rolling backwards with the force he had jumped out of it.
They were close. Very close. Anyone else would say uncomfortably so. From the way Alex blinked, the glare he had been wearing when he leapt up suddenly faltering, Slade could only assume he realized the strangeness in their proximity, too. But he hadn’t let go of Alex’s wrist, and the man had stood his ground despite the clear discomfort on his face.
He watched as Alex forced a steady frown onto his features, using his free hand to reach out for his tablet. “What’s your deal? I was using that!”
Slade held it away, twisting his body to keep it out of Alex’s reach, resulting in smushing the hand he held between the two men. “Well, you looked distracted, and I need a progress report. So give me what Waller needs, and I'll give you what you need.”
Alex’s frown turned into a glare. “So this is what you’re doing now? Blackmail?”
Slade tilted his head slightly, smug grin unwavering, as usual, “That’s pretty hostile accusation, Alex. Think of it as more.. Quid pro quo.“
Alex’s nostrils flared at that, and he surged forward again, this time slamming against Slade’s side like he wanted to knock the merc off balance. He couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that left his throat. “Seriously? You’re gonna throw a tantrum and hit like a child?”
Alex leaned back after the unsuccessful assault, “Says the grown man playing keep-away with my things!” He tried to pry away the hand on his wrist next, and Slade squeezed tighter in response.
“Pretty sure this tablet is AmazoTech, which is actually Star Labs property.” Slade retorted, waggling the device in the air.
“Who I’m partnered with! They gave that one to me to store the information for Project M on, so if you could get your head out of your ass—“ Alex hissed, surging forward again to try and snatch the tablet.
Slade hadn’t moved his foot intentionally, though he really wished he could say he had. Really, he had just been trying to balance himself, to brace for Alex to ram against his side again, but the shorter man clearly had been more focused on the tablet that was held high instead of the path to actually get to it, and had tripped over Slade’s boot.
He tumbled, full force flying forward, and with Slade positioned just out of the way, Alex fell right past him.
It was instinct. Slade reacting immediately and using the arm that held the tablet to catch Alex was pure instinct that came with being a mercenary. Getting to rescue Alex from a nasty fall, which would’ve been the result of his own actions, was an added bonus. He kept a firm hold on the tablet, surprising himself that he hadn’t dropped it and still managed to scoop the arm under Alex’s own to keep him off the floor.
He still held Alex’s wrist, it once again being sandwiched between them, the other arm wrapped around the front of the scientist’s torso, his side pulled against Slade’s chest in the effort to keep him upright. He looked a bit shocked, Slade could feel his heart racing in his chest, and before he could stop himself, he chuckled next to Alex’s ear. “You’re welcome.”
Alex bristled, yanking himself away and swatting at Slade’s arms to put distance between them. Slade finally let go of his wrist, and didn’t even stop the man as he finally successfully snatched his tablet back.
He held his tablet against his chest, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Slade didn’t miss the red hue blooming on his face. Embarrassment or anger? Slade didn’t know. He didn’t care. It felt good to finally have the upper hand with this guy.
“As I was going to say when I was done filing it down—The timetable for Project M is still up in the air. I don’t have a definitive date of completion yet because I can’t get the alien crystal to work with the core I designed. It’s like the tech I used to build it is rejecting the substance.” Alex finally explained.
Slade raised an eyebrow, “The tech is rejecting the crystal?”
Alex brought up his tablet to look at the screen again, tapping it a few times. Through the reflection of his glasses, Slade could see the schematics on the screen. “It’s not that it’s just unresponsive, it’s that the crystal is damaging it. I’m gonna have to use new materials to make the core so I can use them to power the Metallos. Using the stuff Task Force X lended me isn’t working.”
Slade recalled the crashed UFO, how the green crystals they found there had incapacitated Superman, Damage, and the ship. Waller had immediately told him to grab a sample, how something that powerful, something that could actually hurt the Man of Steel, couldn’t slip through their fingers. It was too important.
“Does that update work for you, Wilson?” Alex hissed out to interrupt his thoughts, turning back to his desk and rolling his chair back over, sitting back down to return to his work. The mercenary took a step towards him.
“Yeah,” He hummed, harshly placing his hand on the back of the chair and smirking as it caused Alex to jump. “It does.”
He pushed forward, rolling the chair back to its rightful place in front of the desk, managing to catch a fiery glint in Alex’s eyes directed at him.
“Get out.” The scientist said.
“Mhm.” Came Slade’s smooth reply, having already begun walking away.