It seemed Jim Gordon had had the right idea getting out early. With Strange's creations out on the streets, Gotham itself had become the madhouse. This made Alyssa's job about ten times harder, and given how hard it was already that was saying something. Barnes – once he'd been discharged from the hospital – had actually been the one to insist she take some time off about two months after the events at Arkham. He insisted that he could handle things for the two weeks she'd be gone, because he was one of the stubbornest people Alyssa knew, he was hard to say no to.
It did feel good to kick her feet up though, and Selina was all too happy to come along on what she called 'a Luthor vacation.'
Yes, Lex had all but jumped at the opportunity to steal Alyssa for a few weeks.
He'd sent the Luthor jet over to pick them up, though Smallville was hardly a prime destination with the heatwave it was currently going through. It was a nice change to the rainy skies of Gotham however, so neither Alyssa or Selina were about to complain.
There were much more interesting things to complain about however, such as the strange woman sitting in the study when they entered it.
"You must be Alyssa and Selina!" she said, standing with a wide smile. "Oh, Lex has told me so much about the two of you."
"Who the hell are you?" Selina frowned.
"I see you found them before I could." Lex's voice made the three of them turn to the doorway. "Ali, Selina. I'd like you to meet Desiree Atkins." he introduced, putting an arm around her as he reached her. "My fiancee."
You could practically hear the sound of the girl's jaws dropping. After getting over her initial shock, Alyssa shook her head and gave him a stiff look.
"Uh, Alex? A word?" not waiting for an answer she yanked on his arm, pulling him from the room.
Selina and Desiree watched them go before sharing a look. Selina forced a laugh as well as a smile.
There was no way this was ending well.
******
In the kitchen, Lex rubbed at his arm as Alyssa finally released it.
"Well, congratulations, and what the hell?!" she exclaimed, her shouts punctuated with a hit to his chest.
"I know, it's sudden, but love keeps no time." he said, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Love?! If you were in love, the first thing you would've done is call me!"
"Alright, alright!" Lex laughed. "I get it, I'm sorry. I guess I just got caught up in everything."
"How long you known this girl?"
"Not long. I met her on a LexCorp business meeting last week."
"Last week?! Alex!"
"I told you, love keeps no time. Honestly Ali, I thought you'd be happy for me." he frowned slightly.
"I am happy for you, I'm just....mad for me." she huffed. "This isn't the kind of thing I should find out just because I happened to come over. Were you even planning on inviting me to the wedding?"
"I was planning to ask you to be my best person."
"When?"
"Right now."
Alyssa blinked. "Really?"
Lex chuckled. "Who else would I want with me on one of the most important days of my life?"
![catch me like a cold [oc/canon telltale batman fic] de ivpool](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/129888270-80-k612915.jpg)
********
Happiness for her brother be damned, Alyssa thought there was something off about this Desiree. Especially when she learned that the wedding was schedules for the next day; apparently they had only held off so long for her presence.
Alyssa knew Lex better than anyone. While he was one to act on his passions he rarely did so without a Luthor worthy plan to back him up. The fact that he was jumping headfirst into this with no safety net left a sour taste in her mouth.
Perhaps it was how attached at the hip the two were. She couldn't indulge in the oasis Lex usually was with his fiancee hanging off his arm and taking every chance to distract him from their conversation.
If Alyssa didn't know any better, she'd say she made Desiree nervous.
Whatever this unspoken thing was, it did nothing to delay the ceremony. Alyssa did her best to focus on enjoying her best person duties, as well as indulge in the company of the Smallville residents Lex had invited to the wedding.
"Ms. Connors!"
"Clark!" she smiled. "It's good to see you again."
"You too. I didn't know you were in town."
"Like I'd miss this?" she gestured around. "Though granted when I came here to get some time off, I did not think this was how I'd be spending it."
"Lex caught you off guard too huh?"
"Yeah. So what do you think of the new Mrs. Luthor? I heard she was one of your teachers at school."
"Well she only started today, so I don't actually know her that well." he hesitated slightly. "...Ms. Connors?"
"Yeah Clark?"
"You know Lex better than anyone. Is it me, or does something about this whole shotgun wedding thing seem weird to you?"
Alyssa sighed. "I don't know what to tell ya. Lex has never really been one to hold back, so the wedding isn't that surprising. The bride though...maybe it's my overprotective sister instincts, but something doesn't feel right about her."
******
After all these years, Alyssa really needed to start learning to trust her gut. When she came downstairs that morning, she received further proof that Desiree was bad news.
"Oh, good morning Alyssa." she said far too pleasantly, looking at her over the magazine she was reading. "I was just reading the most fascinating article."
"Ooookay." Alyssa gave her an odd look, going for the cereal cabinet.
"It's hard to believe they let a ginger maniac like that live."
Alyssa stilled. "Run that by me again?"
"Oh, well you're Gotham's mayor so I thought you already knew." Desiree set the magazine down and slid it across the table.
There, on the front cover in glossy color print, was a picture of Jerome in his mangled state accompanied by the headline 'Arkham Freak Walks Free.'
"What the hell?!" Alyssa exclaimed, snatching the magazine. Scanning the article, she saw information that there was no way the press could have. She certainly hadn't told them, the only people who knew about her attempts to help Jerome were –
"It's amazing the stories Lex tells about you, really. How you feed those street rats, how you slept with that cop killer...how your adopted son is a psychotic freakshow...."
