Irene had started getting ready early in the day. She knew that it would take her hours to get ready. It wasn't everyday that she went to these kinds of charity events, and she a little excited to go out tonight. Even if there were moments where she planned on giving up on her hair or makeup entirely. Her left hand was still wrapped in bandages and it made doing the simplest of things slightly more difficult.

Sitting down she attempted to clip the straps of her heels, but her limited mobility in her left hand and the less than comfortable shape wear that she had on made it more difficult that it normally was.

"Let me." Clark said as he got on his knees in front of her and finished doing the straps on her heels. Irene smiled at him and then he slowly started to move his hand farther up her leg.

Irene looked down as his hand ran up the exposed skin from the slit in her dress. He looked up to meet her eye before leaning forward and kissing her. As his thumb brushed the inside of her thigh, she couldn't help release a shaky breath and as much as she would have liked to continue she placed her hand on top of his.

"Clark." She whispered as she pulled away from him slightly.

Irene knew what direction these kinds of looks and touches from Clark usually went. And normally she would entertain the idea, but considering that she had spent hours working on her hair and makeup sex was absolutely off the table. Irene couldn't deny that she loved how much he wanted her, even after a year he hadn't lost interest or gotten bored.

A disappointed look flashed across his face as he took her arm and helped her to her feet. "I know."

"I'm almost done." She assured him as she sat down in front of her vanity to apply some lipstick. As she began to trace the outline of her lips as bright flash broke her concentration. Looking over at the other side of the room she glared at Clark as he lowered the camera that she planned on taking to the event tonight. She had been invited as a guest, but that didn't mean that she couldn't help Clark in getting a photo for his story. "What are you doing?"

"You're beautiful." He replied simply as if that was the only explanation that she needed. Irene typically had never worried if men found her beautiful or not, her focus had always been on exceeding at school or her career. So some part of her was always annoyed how Clark made her feel like a teenage girl getting told she was beautiful for the first time.

Standing up Irene took the camera from Clark, she quickly set a timer on it before placing it on one go the drawers. Quickly she ran to Clark's side as he placed a hand on her waist posing for the picture. "Okay smile."

The moment the flash went off Irene rushed to the camera and found herself loving the picture. She wasn't big on having pictures of her taken, but this picture was different. She was smiling at the camera while Clark was looking down at her with a smile of his own.

"We should get this one framed." Irene commented as she realized that they didn't have any pictures of just the two of them in their apartment. They really hadn't taken any pictures of just the two of them at all, a fact that Irene realized had to change.

Irene had never stepped foot inside of a mansion before, and with all the flashing cameras out in the driveway outside she almost felt overwhelmed. She was standing outside with Clark and the rest of the press as they took note of everybody in attendance.

It was clear that the guest list mostly consisted of the wealthy. All billionaires who had nothing better to do than go to fancy events and occasionally donate to charities so that they felt a little better about themselves. Irene had never seen any of them in person, and all the flashing camera lights pointed at them almost made them seem larger than life.

She was able to recognize most of them from tabloids Simon Stagg, Maxwell Lord, Robert Queen and his son Oliver, and Ted Kord. All men who had too much power.

But everyone seemed to go still the moment a vintage sports car came to a stop at the front steps of the mansion. Everyone began taking pictures furiously as a man that Irene quickly recognized as Bruce Wayne stepped out. It was surprising to see him by himself, he usually arrived to these kinds of events with a gorgeous woman on his arm.

"That's Bruce Wayne." Irene muttered as she raised her camera taking a quick picture. "You should corner him and ask him what he thinks about The Batman. If you have a quote from Bruce Wayne that might convince Perry to publish."

There was no way that Perry would turn down publishing a quote from billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. The name Bruce Wayne was already a large draw, mostly due to the fact that everyone enjoyed reading about what new woman he was seeing that week. Irene had to admit that she also occasionally enjoyed reading celebrity gossip, and if there was one man who always knew how to make a show of his extravagant lifestyle it was Bruce Wayne.

To their surprise the event was punctual, starting at the exact time that was printed on the invitations. Everyone gathered in the a room large enough to accommodate hundreds of people. The fact that Lex Luthor lived in such a ridiculously large house amazed Irene. It all had to be incredibly lonely.

A woman that Irene recognized as the library president stepped onto the stage infant of a podium and introduced herself. She had done a little research on the event and what it was about. At first she found it odd the Lex Luthor would choose this kind of chart to make such a large donation to, but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Although she had only spent a day with Lex Luthor, he had made it clear that he was a man that valued knowledge.

"Philanthropist. Bibliophile. True friend of the library of Metropolis. Mr. Lex Luthor." The woman introduced as she gestured to Lex who was waiting at the bottom of the stage with a large smile on his face. The smile almost seemed theatrical as he waved the crowd.

"Nikki. You're embarrassing me." Lex Luthor joked as he stepped in front of the podium. The clapping stopped and Irene took a quick moment to snap a picture of Lex knowing that Clark would need it for the story he was supposed to turn in tomorrow afternoon.

The clapping around the room slowly came to an end as everyone waited patiently for Lex to start his speech.

"The word Philanthropist, comes from the Greek. Meaning a lover of humanity. It was coined about, 2,500 years ago..." Lex said beginning his speech but Irene quickly lost interest as he began rambling about Zeus and Greek mythology.

The thing that had distracted her was surprisingly Bruce Wayne, who had begun to make his way through the crowd in the middle of the speech. It was difficult to read the expression on his face, though there was an easy smile on his lips there was something odd about him just leaving in the middle of the speech.

Irene looked up at Clark to find that his eyes were also following Bruce Wayne as he left the grand hall. They met each other's eyes knowing that both of their interests were piqued, but they were here for Lex Luthor and not Bruce Wayne.

"Books are knowledge, and knowledge is power. The bitter sweet pain among man is having knowledge with no power. Because... Because that is the paradoxical, and umm...Thank you for coming." Lex continued but there was a change in his attitude that was almost unsettling. In a split second he went from charming and easy going to tense and almost angry. "Please, drink, it's free."

"I see now why you said he was odd." Clark whispered to her as Lex stepped off the podium. Everyone around them slowly either made their way back to the bar or contused to mingle with all the incredibly wealthy people around them.

Irene nodded as she looked around the room for Lex. Sure, he could be dismissed like all the other billionaires in the room that remained relevant through their scandals but the fact was that he was probably the smartest person in the room.

It was like he had said in his speech knowledge was power. Every other person in this room had power in their wealth, and although Lex Luthor had the same amount of wealth if not more, it was his intelligence that made him the most powerful man in the room.

And if Irene's suspicions were true Lex Luthor was also the most dangerous man in the room.

A/N: Very excited for the next chapter, we're finally going to meet Bruce. This is going to be a turning point where the pace is going to start picking up. I'm still only scratching the surface of the plot of BVS so there is still a lot more to come. This chapter was a little short but considering the last chapters were long, this is a nice little break.