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Lena's Secret update
🕑 Added 2017-06-20 13:32:39 +0000 UTCI’m not feeling well, Lena thought, with the peculiar clarity of a thought in the middle of numbness. She’d overdone it last night on wine, and tried hair of the dog that bit her with some sherry she kept in her office. She wasn’t sloshed or even particularly hungover, but she did feel like her head was stuffed with cotton. She’d sat at her desk for four hours, not getting any work done—thank God she didn’t have any meetings scheduled. She would send herself home, prerogative of being the boss, only she had nothing to do there but get drunk again.
“Ms. Luthor,” someone said, and Lena jerked her head up slightly.
Daria Prate was the unofficial leader of L-Corp’s research department, one of the most popular and gifted scientists in her employ, with a working knowledge of almost all L-Corp’s projects and a wizardly understanding of the hundreds upon hundreds of staff. Lena had promoted her as far as possible, and relied on her as a right hand when it came to the company’s direction.
Lena hadn’t been aware she was in the room.
“Yes, Daria,” Lena said, marshalling her presence. “What is it?”
“It’s Supergirl. We—all of us—we’ve noticed she’s flown by the building seven times since the morning shift started. We’re just a little concerned…”
Lena shrugged. She had to make excuses for Supergirl. She’d been dragged into protecting the big secret, forced into it because the alternative was being the monster who outed the Girl of Steel. “It’s a small city. I’m sure she’s just… working some case.”
For such an all-surpassingly intelligent woman, Daria was surprisingly meek. Perhaps it had something to do with how short she was. “Yes, ma’am. It’s just… well, we all worked here when Lex… and, well, there were a number of times when… there were projects, you know… and Superman was suspicious…”
“Are you asking if we’re building some anti-Supergirl weapon?”
Daria pressed her fingers together. “Not in so many words?”
“No, Daria. Of course not. Of course not.”
“Good. It’s just… none of us want Supergirl… or Superman… to punch their way in here and for it to turn out Lois Lane’s in the basement or anything. That sort of thing really looks bad on our resumes.”
“Lois Lane is not in the basement,” Lena said firmly. “Please just… try to ignore Supergirl. Unless you want me to have a word with her about please taking another route around the city?”
“No, ma’am,” Daria said quickly. “Of course not!”
“Good.” Lena gestured tiredly. “And don’t worry. There’ll probably be a fire soon for her to play with. Won’t that be fun.”
“Miss?”
“That will be all, Daria.”
***
Alex knew she shouldn’t feel good about this.
Kara had come over like she’d been ditched at junior prom all over again, picking Alex up like a favorite teddy bear, knowing she wouldn’t get any “I told you so”s or other inane judgments. Alex would just cuddle with her on the couch, feed her ice cream, and watch Mamma Mia with her.
It was probably deeply codependent and even somewhat incestuous, given that Alex had canceled a lunch date with Maggie to be Kara’s cuddle bitch, but God, did she love being able to unreservedly mother hen Kara. It was like for once, for once, she was able to protect Kara from something, even if it was the girl’s own neuroses and general life choices.
“If I’d just told her sooner,” Kara said. She was too big girl to cry at the moment, but she had a trembling in her voice that was like a siren song to Alex’s desire to rub her back and tell her it would be alright. “If I just hadn’t been so stupid—“
“Kara, hey, you’re not stupid,” Alex assured her. “You just made a little mistake. It happens. And Lena will understand, eventually.”
“She thinks I didn’t tell her because she’s a Luthor. That I wasn’t going to tell her, that I was just using her, I don’t know… I messed it all up. I had it just perfect and—”
“Shh,” Alex told her, cradling her head protectively. “She’ll get over it. You just have to give her time.”
“I don’t wanna,” Kara insisted childishly, with a pout that would’ve been adorable if it hadn’t broken her strong exterior all into pieces. “I just want to hold her and tell her I do trust her, I do… make it up to her…”
“You will. Just when she’s ready.”
“I should’ve gone after her. If she weren’t wearing that stupid Kryptonite, I could’ve at least told her—“
“It sounds like you told her everything and she just wasn’t listening. I’m sorry, Kara, but she just needs time. You can’t expect her to just… understand.”
“Shouldn’t she?” Kara interrupted. “If she’s the love of my life, shouldn’t she know me well enough to understand?”
Alex didn’t know what to say.
“Maybe she’s right.” Kara’s lips breathlessly parted, but it refused to become a sob. “Maybe we don’t know each other at all.”
***
She’d been there before.
Blackgate Penitentiary wasn’t so intimidating when you thought about it. It was all alpha male theatrics, a low-level version of what people did in the boardroom every day, the loser summer stock version of that played by cavemen and addicts. It was an almost deliberate insult for her brother to be locked up there, among the cowardly and the cruel, when he’d always had such exactitude. He wasn’t like them.
He was so much worse.
Lena submitted to the search, with the mystifying thought that the dumptruck-framed female guard was the first time she’d been touched since Kara, and went in. There was a special room just for people like Lex, even if there weren’t any people like Lex. The closest thing had names like Bruno Mannheim, Morgan Edge, Baron Agua Sin Gaaz. They didn’t have family, just lawyers.
By the time she was let in, Lex had already been secured. Swollen with prison muscle, he stood inside a wireframe cage, like a diver would use to go underwater with sharks. He stood at attention, his crisp jaw as neatly shaven as his scalp, but his hands relaxed in the pockets of his prison jumpsuit. He wore the orange like it was Brooks Brothers.
“Lena,” he said simply. “You look well. Are you here to discuss business or just to pick my brain?”
“Neither,” Lena replied. Keep your answers as short as possible. She could almost laugh at herself. She was talking to someone who she needed rules to talk to. “It’s complicated.”
For the first time Lex leaned back and Kara realized how small his enclosure was. It was a coffin, really. He didn’t even have room to sit down.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Lex said. He’d seen her concern. Of course he had—always probing. Always. “They only put me in this to talk to people. They can’t just bury me in a hole. Apparently.”
“I don’t like seeing you like this,” Lena said.
“So why have you come here?” The slow smile, ingratiating, even charming. It looked as out of place here as a rose growing through the gray concrete walls. “My time may not be valuable, but yours certainly is. Do yourself the favor of valuing it.”
Lena flushed. She hated when he got like this, hated when he just had to outmaneuver her, be smarter than her… “I came here because you’re my brother. And I need someone to talk to.”
“About?” Lex prompted, his friendly smile still there over his reptilian words. It looked sickeningly slack, inappropriate, like clown make-up at a funeral. A mask over…
“There’s this… person I’ve been seeing. A woman.”
“If you think your sexual proclivities come as a shock to me…”
“Don’t,” Lena told him firmly. “I can leave.”
Lex hummed appreciatively, but he did pause. Lena took a deep breath. The threat had had some impact on him. He’d missed her—on some level.
“I’ve been seeing her socially,” Lena continued. “We’ve become very close. Her friends have become my friends.”
A light laugh. “I remember that. You used to cling on to me that way.”
Lena’s throat worked soundlessly, but she couldn’t deny it. Back when they were kids, they’d done everything together. She’d been his first minion.
“And now there’s trouble in paradise,” Lex continued. At least he’d finally stopped smiling, but the casual deadness in his voice was almost worse. “You can’t go to your new friends for support because you fear they’ll side with her over you. People who need people…”
“I could have my own people,” Lena said. “If it hadn’t been for you. You made me a pariah. All those friends I thought I had, they were part of your… sick gang…”
“And you weren’t. You were disloyal. You can see how your insults mean nothing to me.” He leaned forward, his forehead pressing into the wire that fenced him in, even on the other side of bulletproof glass. “We could’ve had the world, Lena. And instead you come to me whining about girl trouble.”
“I thought I’d get some sympathy. You used to have that.”
“I still do,” Lex said evenly. “I’m quite sympathetic, even to a problem that’s chiefly of your making. Tell me, what have you two been fighting about?”
“That’s not important,” Lena said, quickly, too quickly, she’d given herself away… “It’s private.”
Lex’s tongue flicked out, briefly licking his lips. “If you like.”
“She kept a secret from me.” Breaking your own rules, you’re breaking your own rules. “I found out about it. That she didn’t trust me enough to tell me about… a very big part of her life.”
“Ah,” Lex said. “Me all over again.”
“She’s nothing like you.”
“But to you?” he persisted. “You do like to see the best in people. It’s a personal flaw you should work on. Just like with me, you’ve latched onto her, insisting she live up to these preconceptions you have of her. This connection you think you should have.”
Lena bit her lip. He knew so much. Too much. “What’s her name?”
“Kara,” Lex said off-handedly. “Kara Danvers. Shouldn’t you know?”
“You’ve been keeping tabs on—“
“I keep tabs on everything. How else will I know what’s going on when I get out? I will get out, Lena.”
Nothing more then. No threats, no boasts. He just said it and knew that was when she would leave.
***
“Cock-blocked by your sister,” Maggie said. “Personally, a new low.”
“You’d better be talking about yourself there,” Alex said.
Kara had fallen asleep on top of her, snuggling like they were still kids, and Alex hadn’t had the heart to move one inch. That had made Maggie coming over for a consolation booty call problematic.
“I was just leaving,” Kara said. She opened her eyes and sat up, giving her neck a crack. “I should go find a national disaster to punch anyway.”
“Try to do it before the next news cycle,” Maggie told her, dropping the newspaper and mail on the kitchen table.
Getting slapped on the ass by Alex, Kara went with slightly high spirits to the kitchen, picking up the three national newspapers Alex was subscribed to. Slow news day: the funk Supergirl had been in had made front page on two of them. Kara knew she’d been sullen the other day, refusing to sign autographs or engage with reporters, just focusing on her rescues, but she’d had no idea she’d come off like Kirsten Stewart walking the red carpet.
“Superfunk?” she asked. “Honestly. I’m not allowed to brood a little? Batman broods a little, no one worries that he’s suffering from Kryptonite poisoning… Rao.” The Daily Star had actually interviewed Emil Hamilton to see if she had Kryptonite cancer.
“At least they’re worried about you,” Alex said. Maggie had sat on the bed and was petting her hair. Alex couldn’t help but purr like a contented cat. Kara got the idea.
“Okay, I’m going, I’m going.” She quickly sorted through her mail, finding a package addressed to her. “Maybe if I get blasted by Metallo a few times, Lena will come to check up on me.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Maggie reasoned, which earned her a slap on the arm from Alex.
Kara found a small manila envelopes addressed to her, like the kind that companies used to deliver gift cards with bonus bubble wrap. She opened it up and saw a flash of ruby red, before discarding it. Some kind of junk mail.
“You know, this is ridiculous,” Kara said. “Just a few days ago, she’s going on about how I’m her mistress and nobody else can do to her what I do. Now she’s playing the quiet game? Why don’t I just win her back? Look at me, I’m gorgeous. How’s she going to say no to me? Let’s see if she wants to be on break after a super-kiss or two.”
“Kara,” Alex said, “not a great idea. Just play it cool for a while. She’ll come around.”
“No, no, then she’ll think I don’t want her. What I need to do is show her just how bad I want her, which is what she always gets off on anyway.”
“Should I be hearing this?” Maggie asked.
“She likes being dommed? It’s time for her to realize that she’s dating Supergirl. I can throw her into bed with my goddamn pinky.”
And, thinking of what else she could do with her pinky, Kara dropped the Red Kryptonite to the table and headed for the window.
