The Last Thing Through Lex' Mind, Other Than Heat Vision

For some reason, I was thinking about "Divided We Fall", the episode in the second season of Justice League Unlimited when the Flash takes down the weird Luthor/Brainiac fusion. Flash runs really fast, separates the two by vibrating, then temporarily fades out of existence, as Flashes do.

While the rest of League is busy being sad, Luthor has a chuckle about how he did manage to kill the Flash after all. At which point Superman grabs him by the throat and his eyes start glowing red. Supes doesn't end up killing Luthor as Lex expects (and as the Question feared), but I wonder what Luthor was thinking in those few seconds.

Part of me thinks Lex would be pleased in a way. He's always contended Superman's do-gooder routine is an act. Does he think that his being murdered like this will finally prove it to everyone else?

But that really feels like more of a Joker thing, to claim your death as the ultimate win because you got the hero to break his principles. Plus, that version of the DCU already lost faith in Superman once, when he was bent to Darkseid's will and spearheaded an invasion of Earth. I'm not sure how much the average person's perception of him would change at that point.

Actually, it's difficult for me to picture Luthor accepting that he's about to die. Even if he did remark, 'I think this is the part where you kill me.' in a calm and resigned voice right before Supes grabbed him. Even when none of the Justice Leaguers are stepping in to stop this (Wonder Woman starts to, but let's face it, Batman putting an arm in her way doesn't stop her unless she lets it). Even though he not only doesn't have a weapon of any sort, he doesn't even have pants at the moment.

I feel like he's got to be trying to figure something out. He's Lex Luthor, he can't let this alien get the best of him. There's only one of them going to be standing at the very end, and he'd be determined to make sure it was him. I guess there's always the possibility he doesn't think Superman will go through with it, even though he knows it's happened before, in an alternate timeline, or possible future, or whatever the Justice Lords were. But again, I can't see Luthor admitting, even in the privacy of his own mind, that he's reliant on someone else to save him. Especially Superman.