As you Like it
Lena Luthor looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Thick dark hair, almost black, but still streaked through with rivers of something closer to amber was pulled into a loose braid at the base of her neck, her green eyes flickering in the fluorescent lights.
Not bad considering there’s a bomb in the building, she thought wryly.
Putting her shaking hands under the faucet, she turned on the cold water and let it glide over her palms, splashing a few drops against the back of her neck. Not even an hour ago a team of men had stormed into her office, shotguns waving in the air, gruff voices demanding that the CEO of L-Corp hand over a disk drive containing all of the company’s banking information on it or else they would blow everyone to Kingdom Come. Lena had given a snort and told them all to go to hell. Her bravado had had little effect. The leader of the group—a big barrel of man with a greasy baldhead and ragged scar covering his lower jaw—had simply sneered, his eyes ogling the gold necklace hanging just above Lena’s bra line, where her soft skin was heaving against the cold metal.
“Looks like this cat has claws boys. But that’s alright I like my girls with a little fire in em’….how about it sweetheart?”
And with that he’d ripped the pendant from her neck, hands meanwhile pawing as much of her chest and ass as possible. Lena had delivered a left hook to the man’s face strong enough to echo through the room with a large THWACK....and to break his nose.
Which was how she’d ended up in here. Locked in the company bathroom, hands zip tied together in front of her and another bomb, this one decidedly improvised, strapped to her chest. Lena looked down at the contraption; it was all blinking lights and stray wires.
Nothing the CEO of L-Corp couldn’t handle she thought with a smirk. Practically purring with her own intelligence, Lena pulled a bobby pin from her hair, a few loose locks cascading around her face as her tied hands awkwardly fumbled with the pin for bomb’s the kill switch.
Outside she could hear the men digging through every spare inch of her office, searching for the disk and taking anything they thought was valuable. From the few muffled words she could hear through the door she knew they were debating what to do with her, the consensus leaning towards kidnapping her until she finally caved and gave them the drive. Or better yet, was ransomed. Rolling her eyes at their naivety in thinking she’d let them capture her, Lena finished deactivating the bomb, cutting her bonds on a broken shard of glass from the mirror.
There we go she thought with a slow grin. Damsel in Distress indeed. Now how to get rid of the goons? Lena paused. She couldn’t just rush in there with no weapon, that was a suicide wish, and while Lena certainty wasn’t afraid of thugs with low IQ’s she was wary of their semi-automatic guns. She couldn’t rely on the police getting here either, and as for Supergirl…well. Lena doubted she’d save a Luthor, even an adopted one. Not that she needed saving, she reminded herself quietly.
Even so, she was completely alone and weaponless.
Shit.
Frustrated by her own defenselessness, Lena kicked the disabled bomb at her feet, the thing skittering across the white tiled floor. Watching its progress, Lena got an idea, what if…..? What if she put the induction core at equilibrium and then used the metal lining on the bomb to create an electromagnetic radiation that could knock them all unconscious with a single blast? She could capture the men before they had time to leave and disable the other bomb they had placed beneath her desk. Smiling at her plan, Lena got to work.
xxxx
Kara stopped mid pot sticker to pick up her phone, giving an internal groan when she saw her sister was calling from the DEO again. Oh god, not right now. Three fires put out, a bank robbery stalled, and a car accident avoided—not to mention a long day at work getting chewed out by Snapper for leaving one too many adjectives in her most recent attempt at an article. Kara was exhausted. With a sigh she flipped the phone open and heard Alex’s voice: “Supergirl?”
“Yah Alex, I’m here.”
“L Corp’s under attack again, you better head over there, they’ve got the building completely barricaded, the police can’t get in.”
L Corp again? Kara’s brows knitted together, she could feel her muscles tense and her heartbeat drum a little faster. Lena Luthor certainty had a bad habit of attracting trouble. “I’m on it,” she said quickly, tiredness forgotten in a flash as she raced towards the window.
“Wait! Kara! Don’t go in there without backup!” But Alex’s voice echoed through the empty apartment, Supergirl already gone in a swirl of red and blue.
xxxx
Lena looked down at her improvised bomb, biting her bottom lip in concentration. Ok, here goes nothing. Her long fingers moved deftly over the wires, brows scrunched in concentration. She hesitated a moment over a long green fuse, a slight tremble in her hands. If I’m wrong…an image of L Corp missing its top story flashed quickly through her mind. Lifting her chin up with a hard expression behind her eyes, Lena clenched her jaw and yanked out the cord without another moment’s hesitation. There was a sudden whirl of gears and a loud click and then….
Nothing.
The bomb was deactivated. Releasing her breath Lena ran a hand through her dark hair, now with just a few more touches she could—
The bathroom door slammed open, Lena quickly snapped around to see a startled guard lowering a sub machine gun at her.
“Don’t move a muscle!”
Lena’s hands tensed around the bomb hidden behind her back. Taking a deep breath she let herself smile slowly, “Relax. It’s all part of the plan. You work for Lillian right, Cadmus?”
Lena desperately twisted the bomb behind her back, looking for the induction core which would allow her to turn it on, hoping her lie would buy her a few precious seconds.
The man crooked his head to one side, jaw going slightly slack. “You know Lillian?”
Lena tilted her head back and gave a deep, husky laugh, her long white neck exposed. “I’m her daughter. Don’t they tell you boys anything?” she let her voice drop into a silky rasp, green eyes half hidden behind thick lashes.
Behind her back, she frantically moved her fingers through the bomb’s wires, feeling a drop of sweat fall down the nape of her collar. Just keep him distracted
“But I thought we were here to take you—“
Lena felt his eyes on the place her shirt had ripped when the other robber had grabbed her necklace. A small section of her black bra was flashing through the tear. She noticed his gun was no longer aimed at her.
“Mmmhhmm. No. I’m the bait,” she interrupted, letting herself linger over the word, lips parted just slightly. She slowly moved forward, hips sashaying in her heels.
“the—“ he paused and took a loud gulp, “the bait?” his eyes were glued to Lena’s slowly advancing figure trailing her body up and down.
Still toying with the bomb, Lena’s fingers latched onto the core, and after giving it a fast twist she felt a pop and heard a short beep. Finally
“What was that?” The man raised his gun again, sweat coating his upper lip.
Lena flashed him her most alluring smile, “Hmm? I didn’t hear anything?” She closed the last few feet between them, their bodies almost touching.
God he reeks. Lena thought, her mind flashing to the other day when Kara had walked into her office to talk to her about her mother, remembering the way the reporter’s perfume had wafted over to her.
Shaking her head, Lena leaned into the guard, pushing her body between his arms and the gun, wrapping an arm around his neck as she moved the bomb behind his head so she could better see what she was doing.
She looked into his muddy eyes, “I can’t believe they didn’t tell you I‘m the bait for Supergirl. You capture me, and then we capture her.”
She moved her eyes to the bomb, seeing the last few wires that needed to be connected.
“Umm I--?” He stuttered over the words, eyes darting between Lena and the door.
Lena laughed at his speechlessness, heart screaming to keep him distracted.
“Cat got your tongue?” she said softly, and with that Lena finished activating the bomb, her body suddenly stiffening as she flicked the switch to on and shoved the device into the man’s stomach, his hands instinctively grasping at it. “wha—“ But Lena didn’t give him the chance to realize what she’d done, she pushed him out the door with all her strength, his body colliding into the other men just as the bomb exploded.
BOOM
The bomb rippled electromagnetic wave lengths across the office, shattering the huge floor-to-ceiling windows behind Lena’s desk and throwing Lena backwards against the opposite wall. Her vision going dark, the last thing Lena saw before she passed out was a red and blue figure dashing in through the now broken windows.
xxxx
Someone was calling her name. Lena’s head felt like it was swimming under thick cement and she couldn’t see a thing. “Miss Luthor? It’s ok now. Miss Luthor?” The voice was warm, familiar. Lena felt herself melting into it a little. She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t focus yet, her world darkening as she slid out of consciousness again.