Chapter 1
Lillian Luthor shielded her eyes from the harsh morning sun. She had spent all night in the holding cells waiting for her lawyers to come in and release her. They’d come in and told her she was free to go. She was free, yes, but she had lost CADMUS. Surely by now Lena had dismantled most of what she had worked her entire life for. Trust the only Luthor who was wasn’t blood to be the entire family’s downfall. Lena was Lex’s weakness, and then he found strength, in his hatred for Superman, and CADMUS had grown exponentially. The amount of funding it had access to increase their amount of tech that could be used to protect their planet from aliens. It had all culminated in the medusa virus that Superman had oh so generously gave the information to Lex whilst on Red Kryptonite, (a genius bit of tinkering on her part). It was too unstable, to tailored to their DNA. Lillian had gotten a small sample and modified it so no humans were harmed, the isotope she had used, had taken so much time, money, planning and resources to synthesize. The yield in no absolute way, justified the outcome, and then she found out that Lex had the isotope locked away, but Lex wasn’t the head of LuthorCorp anymore. No that wretch of a charity case she called her adoptive daughter was, and she had turned the once great LuthorCorp into the alien loving, ‘good’ LCorp. It made Lillian sick to her core. Lena was turning her family’s company away from the once great work they’d done, to something that she could even stand to be a part of anymore. That’s why since Lex had been arrested; Lillian had put nearly everything into CADMUS, making it the LuthorCorp that she had always wanted. Now it was all over. She was free, but she had next to nothing. It would take years to build up CADMUS to what it once was. She had to start anew. It occurred to her that she didn’t necessarily have to start from the bottom. There was another way. A faster way. She could take back her family’s company and get rid of the only thing standing in her way. It was time to get rid of Lena.
It had been a month. A month since she had saved the alien population of National City. A month since she had played Supergirl and argued with her. A month since she had sent her only remaining family to jail. Maybe being toxic was in a Luthor’s blood. Good thing she was adopted then.
Supergirl had flown in a couple of times, and the first time she’d apologised profusely, and she kept on apologising until Lena had to put her hand on Supergirl’s muscular arm. It was only then, the superhero stopped talking, mouth hanging open and stared into Lena’s eyes, and Lena wanted to kiss her, but she knew their dynamic had changed. Her gaze still pierced her soul. Her hand was still on Supergirl’s arm, and she could feel how toned she was and it sent a thrill through Lena. A thrill she quickly shook off because she shouldn’t be having these thoughts about someone she couldn’t have anymore. So she took her hand off, and she didn’t miss the look of loss in Supergirl’s eyes when she did.
Her mind lingered on that memory. On the possibility that there could be something more there. There used to be, but it would take time for that trust to be built up again. That they could prove to the world that a Super and a Luthor could work together, and it wouldn’t outcome in a disaster.
Lena stood on her balcony in the cold winter night, a cup of coffee keeping her warm and her mind racing. She knew her mother had been let go by the police the morning after they arrested her. Lillian was too powerful to be kept in jail. Lena had made quick work of dismantling CADMUS, or what she could find when Lillian had introduced her into the loop. Within a few hours Lena knew most of the operations thanks to a computer virus she’d uploaded when she visited the labs. She couldn’t believe they kept most of their data on a shared network. Such a rookie mistake. The virus had fed all the information back to Lena’s own personal network, and that night when she got back, she got straight to work. Within a week, 75% of all CADMUS projects had mysteriously lost funding and shut down. Within that same week, a lot more charities for aliens and other individuals in need had large anonymous donations given to them. Lena didn’t need thanks nor did she want thanks. She’d spent her entire life on the side-lines doing all the hard work. She was used to being looked over. She simply wanted to do the right thing, and she was. Now, a month later, nearly all the projects that she’d gotten off the shared network had come to a close. Her work was nearly done, and there was no word on her mother or her whereabouts. That was the only thing that troubled her.
Supergirl landed gracefully next to her.
“Hi,” Kara said, arms crossed, looking directly at Lena.
Lena turned from the balcony and faced Kara. She put her now empty cup down on the side and soaked in the view. She missed Kara, so much. The way they used to talk all night, they way Kara would hold her. The way they kissed. Lena missed her, and it pulled at her heart that she had to ruin the only good thing in her life, to get rid of a bigger evil.
She couldn’t take it anymore. It had been a month without her touch, her kiss. It had been the most painful month, because she had a taste, and then she ripped it away from herself, and now she was starved. Kara looked confused, and rightfully so, Lena felt so conflicted it was probably showing on her face. Lena stepped forward, and Kara let her arms fall to her side, her mouth parting slightly. Lena rushed forward and kissed Kara like her life depended on it. Her mind went blank. All she could think of was Kara. How she’d missed Kara, and how she tasted, felt underneath her hands. It was like Lena had the colour drained from her life, and now Kara had brought it all back.
The kiss ended all too soon for Lena’s liking, but she was happy to see Kara panting, just as she was. Lena offered a smile, and Kara wrapped her arms around Lena and led them back until Lena was trapped between the balcony wall and Kara. Kara leaned down and kissed Lena gently, like she was going to break if she kissed any harder. Lena didn’t mind. Not one bit. Kara’s hands left Lena’s body and rested on the wall behind her, anchoring Kara to the spot, not that Lena could move the Girl Of Steel anyway, Kara moved her body closer to Lena, and she could feel all the rippling muscles underneath her suit against the thin fabric of her blouse. It made Lena’s core throb. Lena needed air, so she pulled away from Kara’s lips reluctantly, it didn’t bother Kara, she just moved to Lena’s neck, and Lena stretched her neck, exposing more skin for Kara to explore and mark. Kara bit down gently and Lena moaned. Loud. She was thankfully they were somewhat secluded and high up, so no-one heard. It spurred Kara on; scraping her teeth against Lena’s skin had Lena clawing at Kara’s back, trying to hold her closer. They were both desperate, not having each other for a month. Kara kissed down Lena’s neck, flicking the buttons on Lena’s blouse open, the cool night air sending shivers throughout Lena’s exposed skin, quickly replace by goose bumps thanks to Kara’ skilled mouth working down her chest. Lena was so gone; she didn’t care, not anymore. She just wanted Kara. She had Kara. She let the pleasure wash over her. Kara made quick work of the rest of the buttons on her blouse and pushed it off her shoulders. She was fully exposed to the cold night, but Kara stepped forward, protecting her. Lena felt the fabric of Kara’s suit against her bare skin and it drove her insane. The cold brick of the wall made her curve more into Kara, who kissed down past her bra and kissed all the way down to where Lena’s pants blocked her from continuing. Kara was on her knees when Lena opened her eyes, peppering small kisses along her stomach. The sight of Kara kneeling in front of her was too much for Lena, and she placed her hands around Kara’s head and held her there.
“May I?” Kara asked, looking up at Lena.
Lena couldn’t trust herself to speak, so she just nodded eagerly. But before Kara could do anything, she was standing up and pulling Lena away from the edge of the balcony, “Stay here,” Kara said, and then rushed off flying towards a missile heading straight for LCorp, and Lena’s office.
Lena watched as Kara grabbed onto the projectile and change its course. Instead of heading towards Lena, Kara changed it so went high into the atmosphere and into outer space. Lena let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she saw Kara speed back down, and land on her balcony again.
“What was that?” Kara asked.
“My mother.” Lena answered simply.
“Your mom?”
“She’s was released from jail the day after I put her there. She has powerful friends in high places.” Lena explained.
“So she went running back to CADMUS?” Kara’s eyes widened, not even comprehending the implications.
“No.” Lena shook her head.
“What do you mean, no?” Kara asked, her brow furrowed.
“I took down CADMUS as soon as I could. It’s nearly all gone. It has no more funding, and all of the projects are falling under.” Lena said as if it was no big deal.
“This is a big deal. How?”
“I…” Lena looked down and realised she was only wearing a bra and pants; her blouse was fluttering away against the balcony, trying to ride the wind. She bent down, picked it up and put it on, not bothering to button it back up. She walked into her office with Kara close behind.
“When she came to me , after you told me that she kidnapped you, I confronted her about CADMUS. She didn’t deny anything, so I created a computer virus and when it was ready, I asked her to give me tour of the more private facilities. When I got there, I noticed they used a shared network over multiple sites, which made my job of taking CADMUS down a whole lot easier. I uploaded the virus under the guise of transferring funds from LCorp to CADMUS, and within hours I had all of the projects, funding, everything you could ever want on CADMUS. I had everything to to take them down, but mother approached me about the medusa virus. She had modified it so it wouldn’t affect humans, but she needed a stabilising agent, and it was too expensive for her to synthesize on a large scale. She knew Lex had the isotope, so she came to me, and I gave it to her. It was step one in taking her down for good.”
Lena turned to face Kara, took a deep breath in and continued, “For the past month I’ve been taking down CADMUS, by killing their funding and donating it to charities that help less fortunate aliens and others. A large part of CADMUS shut down in a week because of that, but others needed more digging and digital corruption. I’m nearly done, but it looks like I wasn’t quick enough to dismantle everything. My mother is out there and her message is clear. She wants me dead.” Lena finished.
Kara walked towards Lena and pulled her into a hug. “She’ll have to go through me. Im so sorry I’ve been so distant the past month. Why didn’t you tell me any of this? I could have helped.”
Lena pulled away from the hug, “I know. My family created this mess, so it’s on meto put a stop to it.” Lena said, fire in her words, as everything her family put her through came bubbling to the surface, a new fight raged inside her.
“Well, you have me now; we can stop CADMUS and your mother for good, together.”
Lena placed her hand on Kara’s bicep, “Thank you Kara. I’m so sorry about the past month; I never should have shut you out.”
“Lena you have nothing to apologise for. You are the4 most amazing, bravest, most selfless person I have ever met. You’re extraordinary.”
And with that comment coming from Supergirl herself, tears welled up in Lena’s eyes, but never spilled. She never allowed them to. She wiped them away quickly and walked to her desk and shut down her laptop.
“Care to fly me home Supergirl?” Lena asked. Kara’s face lit up.
Lena buttoned herself up making Kara pout as she picked her up.
“It would be my absolute honour.” Kara said, speeding off to Lena’s apartment.