Chapter Text
It took Lena a lot of time to get used to the Luthors, after her mother's death. She didn’t remember much about her if she was being honest , but she does remember the feeling of warmth and contentment she felt every time she thought about her, in the big, long and spacious halls of Luthor Manor. Inside those lonely spaces, even when they were full of people, visiting or at the parties and banquets her adoptive mother insisted on throwing.
What she felt with her mum was diametrically opposite to what she felt with the Luthors. Lillian was cold, unfamiliar, calculated. Lionel was distant, and in the rare occasions he was affectionate with her, his love used to hurt. Bruised arms, whenever he grabbed her, like he didn’t want to let her go, as if she could escape him at any moment, with loud, seemingly affectionate words. And Lex…well, Lex was different with everyone, always changing. With Lionel he was serious and stoic, with Lillian he was sharp, if a little impertinent, but with her…with Lena he was kind.
He taught her how to play chess, and promised to protect her. He was kind only for a few months, because he then started to also push her buttons in front of Lillian, so she would get scolded. Made her steal Lionel’s favorite fountain pen, so she would get in trouble with their father. She never thought much of it, to her Lex was her big brother, her friend, her only solace in the big, lonely manor.
Sadly, when he left for college, she found herself alone in the enormous Manor again.
And then, her soulmate-mark showed up.
They appear around the person’s 12th birthday; the name of the person destined to be one’s soulmate. It wasn’t always romantic, could be solely platonic, it was known to happen sometimes. And not every human has these marks, some people simply never get them. Neither Lillian nor Lionel had them, as far as she knew.
She wished, hoped, her birth mother had one, and met them before her passing. Wished that maybe it were her own father, even if she never got to meet him.
Lex had a name already when Lena first met him, one ‘Eve Teschmacher’. The name branded right on his left deltoid. He always seemed a little bit smug about it. By the time Lena got her mark years after arriving at Luthor Manor, Lex was away in college, and when he sometimes called, Lena could barely recognize him, he was talking about aliens invading Earth and catastrophizing about its destruction. Never asked much about Lena, anymore.
As much as Lena wanted to tell Lex about her soulmate mark, she didn’t. Because Lena didn’t get just one name. There were two names tattooed on her body, one of which was written in a language definitely not human. A language she believed she recognized one of the graphemes in it. It looked like an ‘ S’ encased in a diamond shape. She recognized it, because it was branded around the chest of the superpowered alien flying around Metropolis over the last year or so.
And she had been listening to her big brother, not that she agreed with him; but who knows what he would do if he found out about that tattoo, and whoever the owner of the name was.
That tattoo in particular was over her ribs over her left side, thankfully easy to hide until she investigated more about it. The other was on her left thigh. Kara Starikov. Lena didn’t know why she got two names. But she liked the human name, the first name particularly, as much as she was curious about the alien one. She told her family about the one on her thigh and kept to herself the one over her ribs. And for a while, everything seemed fine.
Until she got a third tattoo, on the side of her right hand wrist. Impossible to hide. Zala Jordan.
Lillian was transfixed by it, speechless, in silent rage and indignation. And Lionel got a sour mood every time he saw it. Lena was not entirely sure about what it meant, but one time Lex came to dinner and joked about it.
“Clearly, you need many lovers to share your greatness.”
Lena wanted to smile about it, anything to make her feel better about it. But there was something in the tone Lex said the words, that made her feel uneasy, like she missed half the joke. Something that made Lillian scowl, and Lionel down an entire glass of whisky.
She understood it several months later, when she was being bullied at school because the amount of names inked in her skin. Except that by then, another name had showed up on her left forearm, ‘Calvin Moore’ where she couldn’t hide it like the rest of them. That was when the real problems started.
Lionel had died of a sudden heart attack, and as soon as he did, Lillian, her step-mother, sent her to the other side of the planet to boarding school.
She was teased relentlessly about her two visible tattoos, the worst of them were the barbed words of one Veronica Sinclair, who was always mocking and cruel.
“It’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it?” She’d said. “Freaks in the sack.”
“Just leave her alone, Veronica,” Andrea always came to her rescue, though. “It makes sense, you are a viper, so the universe gave you no soulmate. Instead, it gave Lena two as payment for bearing being your roommate for half a year.”
There was some cackling at Andrea’s quip, and Veronica made sure to threaten Andrea with a look, but she didn’t move, she simply smirked, while the rest of Veronica’s group moved on.
“Seguí andando, boluda,” Andrea said, then she turned to Lena with a smile that Lena had seen in her only twice. “Don’t listen to them, Veronica in particular likes to pick on people that are more interesting than her, because they threaten her status as ‘ Queen Bee’, whatever that means in this place.”
She met Andrea Rojas her first day at Mount Helena’s, and they had been friends since. Bonding over ‘ Mommy Issues’, as Andrea liked to call it. Her mom had left her and her dad for a Lord of some sort, never to be seen again, and Lena…well, Lena had Lillian as a mother, and only parent, now.
Andrea was witty and clever, she was kind, but not with everyone, and she cared deeply, especially about her father. Her façade of being only spoiled, shallow, and petty doesn’t hold much water when one gets to know her.
Not that she wasn’t spoiled, shallow and petty, but she was also so much more.
And the more time Lena spent with Andrea, the years together whispering between classes, doing homework together, sharing their love for James Cameron’s Titanic, and pretending to be older than they actually were while sneaking out to go drinking, the less sense made that they were not each other’s soulmates.
Lena had 4 soulmates, apparently, and none of them being Andrea Rojas didn’t make sense to her.
But then, her name wasn’t the one tattooed on Andrea’s skin either.
“Maybe it’s just friendship,” Lena mumbled to Andrea one day, after another day of Veronica spreading rumors, as they read one next to the other in Lena’s bed. “All these names.”
Andrea shrugged, “maybe, if that’s what you wanted it to be.”
“Perhaps yours is friendship too?” Lena bitterly added.
Andrea’s piercing blue eyes, fixed on Lena’s and raised a brow, “Have you met me? She’s probably my sworn enemy, but we likely could not live without each other. The sex must be spectacular, though.” She laughed, as she returned to reading her history book.
Lena’s cheeks blushed, but she pressed on, regardless. “You are not as hard to love as you think you are, Andi.”
Lena saw as the knuckles on Andrea’s hands turned white by the force she held her book, but otherwise, she appeared as aloof as ever. “And perhaps you should figure out how to defend yourself from Veronica Sinclair, I won’t always be there to defend you.” She snapped back, trying to change the subject. “And Veronica isn’t the only bully in this world.”
Lena let her have it, there was no point in finding herself fighting with her best friend for the time being, just because she was hopelessly in love with her.
Still, Lena tried her best with Mount Helena’s social life. She spit back quips as easy as Andrea, whenever Veronica tried to denigrate her, and she even tried her hand at dating.
Taylor Thompson was a cute guy, he was intelligent, he helped Lena a few times with some books, he had never been cruel to her, and Andrea was nice to him, sometimes, at least. Lena couldn’t say she expected much of a future with him, with the four names itched in her skin, when none of them were his. But it was nice to have someone.
Taylor always engaged in good conversation with her, he was funny when they had time out the school, and as they sat next to each other sharing earbuds while listening to the same music. He didn’t seem to mind the tattoos.
Or at least she thought that for a time. Until she found him making out with another girl in her room, Cindy Ryan. Lena was guided there by Veronica’s own hand.
“Be realistic, Luthor.” She told Lena, as they both stood in front of Taylor and Cindy with vastly different expressions.
The boy tried fruitlessly to adjust his clothes, behind him Cindy smiled smugly.
“Why would he or anyone be with already damaged goods? Especially when you are not honest about it. Slut." Veronica delivered the final blow.
Lena should have known better. Not only for letting Taylor Thompson convince her to go out with him, or for letting Andrea convince her to give him a chance, just to experiment, but for letting herself believe that someone wouldn’t mind three names etched on the skin of someone they were dating, when none of them were theirs.
She left the room without saying a word, but with her head held high, still.
It all led to Lena closing herself to others in that sense, except Andrea.
Andrea who held her close when she finally broke down, angry for letting herself be used, and disposed as she didn’t mean anything.
Yet, she knew it had been Veronica Sinclair’s plan, Cindy Ryan was part of her cliqué, it wasn’t hard to figure that one out. Even if that didn’t excuse Taylor from his own actions, she knew it wasn’t his initial intention.
Still, she made sure to get her revenge, though.
She waited, just enough time to make Cindy believe she had forgotten about it, and then she struck where she knew it would hurt; her ego and reputation.
Lena leaked her diary to the entire school, sending it to everyone’s email.
A few days later, after the weekend, Taylor Thompson showed up to school with both his eyes shut black. And he didn’t talk to Lena ever again, he actually seemed to avoid her at all costs.
“That’s karma at work,” Andrea smirked looking at Taylor, next to Lena at the dinner hall.
“Yeah, an apology would have been more appreciated,” Lena mumbled looking apathetic at her chicken and potatoes salad dish. “Still, I’m not necessarily happy he got hurt.”
“Don’t worry, I am. On your behalf.”
Lena was sixteen, and Andrea was eighteen with Lena having skipped a few grades, they were about to graduate together. When it happened. Andrea was happy and convinced her to go out to celebrate. They sneaked out like it was now their usual way, and ended up drinking a bit more than they could handle.
When they got back, they were almost caught by their geography teacher doing her rounds, but Lena’s quick thinking made her open the storage closet door and shove Andrea in it.
Andrea giggled, and Lena had to shove her hand over her mouth to shut her up, while they waited for their professor to not find them.
Still, Andrea kept giggling for God knows what reason, and Lena was just mesmerized by her happiness, it was overwhelming, almost. The way Andrea’s company made her heart sing. She cannot fathom any other person making her feel like that, let alone four other people.
Andrea playfully licked Lena’s palm, and she quickly took it off her mouth. “What are you, ten?” She asked, cleaning her hand over her jeans.
“Oh, like you wouldn’t like my tongue on you.”
Both Andrea and Lena still. It was not something they said aloud. It was not something Lena thought Andrea knew. Regardless, Lena looked directly into those blue eyes, and dared her.
“And what of it? It’s not like you would do anything about it now.”
Time froze, as Andrea looked back at Lena, not an ounce of drunkenness on her face. Lena refused to back down.
Andrea, finally, blessedly, leaned in. She kissed her bluntly, and messily. Sloppy and uncoordinated, and possessive, grabbing Lena by the neck and entangling her fingers on Lena’s long hair.
She had to stand on her tip-toes, pressing Andrea against the closed door. But all the wait had been worth it. Finally, Andrea seemed to realize that they were each other's anchors.
Too soon, Andrea broke away, resting her head on the door, looking at the ceiling.
“We can’t,” she mumbled, letting her hand fall from Lena’s hair.
“Why not?” She asked. “You…you have been holding yourself back. I’m not stupid.”
“Lena, you are many things, stupid is not one of them,” Andrea rasped. “But for one, I’m a bit too tipsy, and for another… I could not bear to lose you if this ends badly.”
“Why would it end badly Andrea?” She asked, almost desperately. “Shouldn’t we give ourselves the chance?”
Andrea didn’t say anything, but her eyes did travel towards one of Lena’s marks.
She tried to hide it behind the sleeve of her shirt, taking a step away from Andrea.
“I thought you of all people wouldn’t care about them.” Lena mumbled.
The other girl sighed, “I don’t, I really don’t. But you are not the only one who has one.” She ended up saying in a whisper.
They didn’t talk about it. They finished their exams and Lena tried her best to ignore the entire thing. To bury her feelings in little boxes that she methodically stored in the depths of her soul. At least until the night before graduation, when Andrea silently climbed Lena’s bed and hugged her like she had never had. Burying her face on Lena’s hair.
She waited for a few minutes for Andrea to talk. When she didn’t, she turned around without breaking the way Andrea’s arms sneaked around her.
“Are you okay?” She asked in a whisper.
“I do love you, you know?” Andrea asked in a quite devastating whisper.
“I love you too.” Lena instantly replied, no less sincere.
“After papá, you are the most important person in my life.” Finally, Andrea looked her directly in the eyes. “Just promise nothing will change.”
“Nothing has to change, I promise.” Lena assured, and slowly, giving Andrea enough time to stop her or move away, she kissed her lips.
It started timid and slow, but quickly grew to hungry and desperate.
Andrea kissing every single name in her body, like she could erase them with her lips, that night didn’t change anything between them. Neither did graduation, or going to different colleges. They never said they were dating either. Andrea kept referring to her as her best friend, and Lena, too enamored by her, never asked more of her. Even when their relationship was clearly more than friendship, with kisses and sex.
Still, Lena understood. She knew Andrea didn’t want to be abandoned by her, that it was a fear of hers. Lena leaving her, just like her mother did.
And Lena knew that Andrea was also still waiting for any of the owners of the names in Lena’s body to appear. And for the person whose name was tattooed in her own flesh. Whichever occurred first.
Lena couldn’t blame her, they had many things stacked against them, most pressing of them all; time.
They visited each other, but it was less and less frequent. College was busy for Lena, and it was there, in her second year, at age 18 when the sixth name on her body appeared, that she met Jack.
He was markless, and he seemed to be very interested in her and her thoughts about anything. He was handsome, gracious, rich and brilliant too. Lena was captivated.
“I met someone,” Lena confessed as soon as she and Andrea were alone, in one of their visits. “He asked me out recently.”
Andrea’s shoulders dropped, and she let out a sigh. She almost seemed relieved, which was confirmed by her next words, “I met someone too.”
Silence enveloped them, it wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was tense. More than she ever remembered Andrea’s company being.
“We said we didn’t want our friendship to change,” Andrea finally whispered. “Right?”
Lena smiled, a little sad, a little relieved that it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be.
“Yes. Is it awful of me that part of me was still holding out hope that we could work out?”
Andrea laughed, and shook her head. “I hope not, because part of me hoped for the same. I meant it, Lena. You are the most important person to me after papá.”
“I know, Andi.” Lena took her best friend’s hand. “Now, tell me. Is it her?”
Andrea blushed, something Lena could count in one hand the times it had happened since they met, years ago. “No, no. His name is Russell.”
Andrea proceeded to tell her that she had been shadowing her dad on a few business deals, and there she met Russell, a young entrepreneur. They hit it off immediately.
Lena gushed for what felt like hours about Jack, who is honestly everything a person would want in a partner. He was attentive and affectionate. He went out of his way to spend time with her, and to listen to both her ramblings in the lab and her ramblings about her brother. He was kind with others too, so it wasn’t just because he wanted to get in Lena’s pants. He was intelligent, and still Lena knew something essential was missing.
She kept on going, because she liked Jack, and for now that was enough.
Still one new name appeared in her skin, and she couldn’t temper her curiosity about it. That’s why when she started college, and got access to her own money, she started investigating the science behind soulmates. She was also investigating if there was any precedent of other people getting more than one.
What she found wasn't much to begin with. Most of it was not hard science, and Lena is a scientist, she’s logical first of all. Between all the mysticism, and the blather, she found one line of thinking that her mind could fixate on.
Quantum Entanglement; two particles that are connected even at a distance, so intimately linked that they affect one another.
She supposed that it was as good an explanation for soulmates, at least for the time being. She found mentions of people with more than one soulmate, however the most she found were people with three names. By age 18, Lena already had six.
Quantum entanglement, as if soulmates were created to be together, and their lives were just intrinsically connected until their meeting. And yet, Lena didn’t give herself the opportunity to hope for much. Especially when the record and history for people with multiple tattoos was not her lifestyle at best, and outright depressing at worst.
There were telltales of polyamorous people relationships, where multiple people presented more than one set of soulmate marks, three names at best. The strange occurrence was that those appeared together around the age of 12, not like Lena’s that have been appearing gradually since that age, with no sign that they would stop showing up.
Which was more akin to the soulmate marks of people that had lost their first one. Those only appeared in pairs; there was no documented case of someone with more than two names, and they appeared later in life. They were extremely rare and usually the second name was someone who did not have a soulmate mark themselves.
It sparked Lena’s scientific curiosity. How did the universe decide all of this? And how did it apply to herself?
She hired a private investigator, she did not explain why she was looking for these people, but the detective came well recommended and was discreet enough to not ask too much.
All this, while Jack was faithfully by her side, not minding the way she was interested in looking for the names on her body, and not even minding them himself.
“I’m happy with you loving me right now, even if it won’t last.” He mumbled, when Lena asked, more sleep than awake. But extremely sincere.
That was Jack, and that’s why she did love him. Before she even graduated MIT, she had planned to work with him. A start up, their focus on curing cancer.
She should have maybe been paying more attention to her brother. Lex had grown incredibly vocal with his anti-alien sentiments. She started noticing a change in him when he left for university. She knew he had changed, even though she had been shipped away to boarding school. But now he was almost mad with it, funding more and more anti-alien rhetoric, and Lena was sure, planning some drastic measure.
Lena knew that since Lex had taken over as LuthorCorp’s CEO he’d shifted the company’s focus towards weapon development instead of medical advancement, the reason why she started a business with Jack. It was clear that Lex’s goal was anti-alien weaponry. Weapons against one alien in particular.
He was undeterred, determined to destroy Superman, insisting that the Kryptonian was just a conqueror biding his time to subdue humanity, using the carrot instead of the stick.
While Lena was busy finishing school, working with Jack to cure cancer, and searching for her seemingly deceased string of soulmates. Lex only cared about two names, and none was the one written over his skin, but his own and Superman’s; the superpowered alien he was resolute in eliminating. It wasn’t even a name, it was a moniker used by the alien with incredible powers and Truth, Justice and the American way, as a motto.
Even though she knew about it, she didn’t quite understand how bad it truly was until she was called ‘back to her rightful place at LuthorCorp’, in Lex’s own words.
By then, she was 21 years old, she had apparently nine soulmates, and from what she’d been able to find, all of them seemingly dead. She had broken up with her boyfriend, although they were still friends and business partners. Her mother had been spewing the same alien rhetoric as her brother, she still hated Lena’s guts, and she had met a new friend, tentatively. Still, when she discovered her brother’s latest plan to deal with Superman, she confronted him, and he gave her an ultimatum.
“We made first contact with an alien race and even apart from the existential threat that he poses to our entire species, I mean, how can we measure up?” Lex voiced.
“This is insane, Lex. Your obsession with killing Superman is going to be your downfall.” Lena spat back. “We're supposed to help people.”
“You can go back to your garage lab if you want.”
“If I don't help you murder Superman, you're firing me?” Lena asked, incredulously.
Lex only shrugged and continued to observe his wall full of screens, detailing his plans.
“I am not gonna let you kill him.” She promised to herself and her brother, as she ran to the one person who she always ran towards, who always would help her, even when her own life was in turmoil.
Buenos Aires was hot, something she wasn’t particularly fond of, but Andrea made it worth it, when she hugged her, like sensing something was wrong.
“Lex is completely unhinged.” Lena mumbled. “His obsession with Superman is out of control. He'll stop at nothing to kill him and I am very afraid that a lot of people are going to get hurt or killed in the process.”
“Can't you stop him?” Andrea frowned.
“He pushed me out.” Lena conferred. “I mean, Lex's latest plan is to seed the atmosphere with Kryptonite.”
Andrea tilted her head, confused. “What is Kryptonite?”
“According to Lex, it's Superman's greatest weakness.”
“Can he do it?” Andrea asked, after a few seconds of introspection.
“No, not yet.” Lena answered in a whisper. “First, he has to figure out how to sublimate it into vapor, but he has this mad theory that this ancient alien element is going to help him do that.”
Andrea looked at her, as if she suspected where Lena was going.
“I mean, this element crash-landed on Earth millions of years ago.” Lena continued. “All I need to do to…” she sighed, “to save humanity from Lex's madness, is find the element first.”
Andrea looked at her, like she was studying her. “You already found it, didn't you?”
“Thanks to you.” Lena smiled. “Okay, so do you remember your anthropology dissertation about the Aztec village that lived in the shadow of the volcano but never got covered in lava no matter how much the volcano erupted?”
Andrea nodded. “And you think that's where the alien element is?”
“I did an intensive satellite scan of the area and I found this.”
Andrea gasped, unbelieving. “It's that symbol you used to draw when we were at Mount Helena’s.”
Lena nodded her head. “The medallion of Acrata. What are the odds that my mother's story would lead me to the one thing that has the properties I need to stop my brother?”
“It's crazy.” Andrea whispered.
“It's fate.” Lena assured her. Quantum entanglement, she thought. “All right, so that's where the signature is strongest, so we need to get to it.”
“We?” Andrea asked, incredulous. “No, no, no, I can't leave right now, my father needs me here.”
“I know,” Lena said, placatingly. “But it's three days, tops, I promise, and you yourself said that Obsidian’s board wasn't going to be making a decision for another week. Please.” She sighed, completely sure that she would fail without Andrea. "My brother is in a downward spiral and I am the only one who can save him from himself. But I can't do it alone. All right? You studied this culture, you know the area and the language.” Lena could see in Andrea’s eyes that she was almost convinced. “Besides, isn't it what you always wanted? To go out there and grab life? Come on. What would Rose Dawson do?”
Andrea kept looking at her, somewhat betrayed for invoking their shared love of Titanic, and then sighed, as if she didn’t have another choice. "You jump, I jump, right?"
A little over 72 hours later, they were deep in the Mexican jungle, following the only person available on such short notice to guide them to their destination. Lena with the book of myths her mother always had around, at hand. Something she had cherished since she was a child. The one thing she remembered vividly about her mom; she loved myths.
Lena seems to remember her mother telling her the myths as bedtime stories. But the only thing really seared in her mind was the Medallion. She used to draw it obsessively on her notebooks when she was in school. Acrata was a name she knew as well as her own, since she was three. Maybe earlier.
Her mother drowned that fateful day, but she left Lena with the legend of the Medallion of Acrata.
Until they found themselves in front of an unscalable mountain.
“Sin salida.” Their guide said.
“He says it’s a dead end. Maybe there's a way around it or through it.” Andrea commented.
“Wait,” Lena looked at the book in her hands, and read, “‘And when the world around her turned to stone, impenetrable by hope, the girl looked down to the core…" she crouched, moving the tall grass until she found the carving of a snake on the soil. “‘And was shown the winding way.’ The snake, it's an arrow, we go this way.” She mentioned as they resumed walking.
“That's impressive.” Andrea complimented, and Lena smiled at her.
“The proverbial "X" must be around here someplace.” She sighed.
“Look.” Andrea walked past Lena, and crouched in front of a bank of deep purple flowers. “Aztec serpent-headed flowers. Didn't the girl from the book fight the head of a snake?”
Lena was about to reply when the Earth rumbled, and swallowed Andrea whole.
“No!” Lena screamed. “Andrea.” She could not lose her too. “Oh, my God, are you okay?” She asked down the hole in the ground, her whole body on the dirt.
“Yeah, still in one piece.” The faint voice of her best friend replied. “I think.”
“We'll make a rope ladder and get you out.” Lena promised, standing up. “Stay right there.”
She did not wait for a reply, she went to their group and their guide, and tried to communicate with them. “A rope,” she said. “Una cuerda? We need to… Escalera?”
“Escalera de cuerda?” One of them asked.
“YES!, that's right. Can you help?”
He nodded and then picked a rope and started tying knots every foot or so. Lena worked as quickly as she could, who knows what could harm Andrea. She shouldn’t have dragged her friend there, it was dangerous.
When they finished, the guide tied the rope to a nearby tree, and Lena dropped the rest of it on the enormous hole in the ground.
“I’ll go.” She informed the rest of their party, and then she climbed down the rope. “Andrea? I’ll be right there” She voiced.
As soon as she was on the floor she walked towards Andrea and hugged her. “Are you okay? I was so worried.”
“Yeah, I just wanna get out of here.” Andrea mumbled to her ear.
“Okay.” Lena nodded, and then looked behind her oldest friend, turning on her flashlight and walking deeper into the catacomb. “This is it, Andrea, we found it. It's the medallion. These etchings,” she graced her hand over the rock. “They match the description in the story. My calculations were right. My mother was right. But where is it? It looks like it should be here.”
“Maybe someone got to it first.” Andrea mumbled.
“No, it has to be here, it's supposed to be here, there should be some kind of trace, the satellites—”
“Are fallible.” Her friend quickly interrupted her. “You could have been picking up anything.”
“Okay. Okay, we'll keep looking, we'll figure out who was here and when—”
“Lena, look, finding this place was hard enough. Seeing who came before or after, it's impossible.”
“I was so close.”
“I'm so sorry.”
Lena returned to the States in a daze. She didn’t know what to do, exactly. She couldn’t let Lex kill the alien that’s become the hero of Metropolis, but also, the only real link she had to one of her soulmates. Her first, the one she knows even less about because their name wasn’t even in English. She couldn’t let Lex harm the superhero, mostly because it was the right thing to do.
When she got to Metropolis, she called Jack instantly, he could help her decide what to do.
“It might be time to contact the blue boy scout,” Jack mentioned when Lena explained everything, while they worked on their Biomax project.
“Yeah, let me check the internet and see if I can find his number.” Lena bit back, rolling her eyes.
“But we know her favorite reporter…” Jack dropped, just like someone who corrects a basic math equation.
“You are out of your mind, you know I don’t deal with the press.”
“Desperate times, drastic measures.”
Lena wasn’t comfortable with using new acquaintances for her own benefit. But she needed someone who she trusted, and that was an extremely small circle. And she needed someone who didn’t have a company on their shoulders, someone far enough from Lex that he would not suspect a thing. That’s why she asked Sam Arias for help. Someone she barely knows, someone who she met when LuthorCorp was negotiating a deal to absorb the company Sam worked for.
“I just need you to get me in contact with Lois Lane.” Lena explained
“Don’t you think it is easier for you to get miss Pulitzer award winner on the phone than me?” Sam frowned. “I’m a nobody.”
Lena shook her head, “I need you to tell her you have urgent information regarding my family.” She explained. “But, Sam, It’s important that you tell that only to Lois Lane. I would hate for you to end in the crossfire if my family finds out.”
“You are scaring me.”
Lena tried to smile. “Just need to score a discreet meeting with her. But I can’t just waltz into The Daily Planet and tell her that myself.” She shrugs. “We Luthor’s don’t deal with the press, unless one of us dies, we have a product launch or if we find a way to self-congratulate ourselves.”
“Why me?” Sam asked. “We met really recently, this seems extremely important.”
It was a good question, one Lena doesn’t really have a real answer to, but she replied with the closest thing to the truth she feels.
“I trust you.”
The words quantum entanglement, singing at the back of her head.
Sam frowned and Lena was about to ask her to forget about it. It was too much to ask someone she barely knew but then the woman nodded to herself coming to a decision.
"I will find a way to get you an interview with her.”
Sam went all out, Lena wasn't entirely sure how she got Miss Lane's attention but not even a week later she went into her office after hours and gave her a nondescript keycard, telling her she would receive the package she asked for, at The Siegel Hotel, room 159, at 9PM.
“How did you even manage so quickly?” Lena asked, surprised, looking at the keycard and then back to the woman.
“I am very convincing, Miss Luthor.” Sam smiled. “I’m kind of offended you doubted me.”
“It won’t happen again,” Lena smiled. “I’m a fast learner.” Maybe her gut was right to trust Sam.
Lena arrived earlier than she was supposed to. Her plan was to get there before Lois Lane.
Except that once the keycard opened the door, Pulitzer award winner journalist Lois Lane was there, having already moved the furniture she could to make it very clear this was an interview. Her tape recorder, notepad and pen are visible and ready at the desk.
Lois was surprised to see Lena, she could tell by the way her eyebrows flew towards the start of her hair. Lena didn’t say anything, but she made sure to put the ‘Do not disturb’ sign, before closing the door fully, using the chain and latch, and then turning back to the journalist.
“This is low, even for a Luthor.” Was the first thing Miss Lane said. “Fake being a source against yourself only to see who has the balls for it, is low even for Lex.”
Lena smiled, and took the seat in front of the journalist. “I assure you, Miss Lane, my brother has no idea I contacted you, that’s why I went over all the theatrics of using someone else to get in touch with you.” Lena explained. “However, I’m here off record for the time being.”
“You have to be shitting me.” Lois cussed as she picked up the recorder and threw it back in her purse.
“I’m just hoping to save the Last Son of Krypton’s life from my brother…” She confessed.
That seemed to attract the journalist's attention. “What do you mean save the Man of Steel’s life? What makes you think that Lex has found a way to harm him?” She asked.
“I need your word that it will be off the record, Miss Lane.”
“Yes, whatever, we are off the record.”
Lena nodded and produced a paper from her own purse.
Lois Lane seemed confused by the equations and formulas written in it.
“That's the chemical composition of Kryptonite, and the way to aerosolize it. Lex planned to disperse it into the atmosphere.” At Miss Lane’s panicked expression she continued. ”However Lex is short an element to finish the disperser mechanism and for the time being, is not a viable option for him anymore. But my brother is determined to kill Superman and he found a much faster way.”
Lois Lane examined Lena's face, undoubtedly looking for something to mistrust, “And what's that way?” She asked, her knuckles white from the way she was gripping the chair she was sitting on.
“There is an eclipse coming up. Less than a month away.” Lena started, Lois Lane interrupted her.
“I understand but a solar eclipse doesn't render Superman powerless.”
“I am well aware, and so is my brother. But it can prevent him from recharging if he's attacked, for example.”
The journalist's purple eyes were looking for clues of a lie and she was still simply perplexed when she didn't find them. “Continue.”
Lena produced a second page with more formulas, diagrams and schematics, showing it to the brunette. “This is a Red Sun satellite. He managed to create it using data he had of Krypton, using nuclear fusion. It doesn't last long, but it is enough to fulfill his goals.” Lena calmly explained. “During the eclipse, while at totality, he will bait Superman to battle him. And while he's up there he will launch this satellite he will use Kryptonite too, that’s who Lex is, he just wants to cause the most harm and he will kill Superman.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Lois asked after a few seconds of silence.
“Because you have a direct line to Superman, Miss Lane. All Metropolis knows he has the hots for you.”
“I mean why warn him at all? Lex is your brother, this is damning information for him if it gets out.
“Lex is my brother and I love him, but I can't stand and do nothing, while he kills the one man out there who I know for a fact is good and working for the people. It's not right, even if he's not a man at all.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Warn Superman. I will try and work on something to help. But he needs to know he's in danger.”
“Of course”
“But you cannot tell him you got the information for me.” Lena smirked.
“Tell me you are joking.” The journalist groaned.
“I cannot have my family know that I betrayed them. They would kill me,” Lena mumbled.
That seemed to convince the woman. “Can I, at least, take pictures of this?” She pointed to the papers.
“You can take them. I tried to not implicate myself but it is better if I don't have those on me anymore.” Lena said standing up. “Please wait at least an hour after I leave. Enjoy the amenities, they are on me.” She said walking towards the door, knowing she was going to have to pay Sam anyways.
“Miss Luthor,” Lois Lane stopped her. “Thank you…”
“Of course.”
Lena paid Sam’s invested money as the guise of a gift. Lex seemed self absorbed enough to notice her movements, but Lena was still cautious and worked in her lab with Jack’s help on something to help Superman in his darkest hour.
“What about a bomb?” Jack asked as they worked on the Biomax nanobots at their garage lab. “Create nuclear fission, irradiate the entire city with yellow sunlight.”
Lena shook her head, “The debris and nuclear output would be too much. It’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”
“We could use Biomax,” Jack suggested, a few minutes later. “We could program them to fly towards Superman and emit the solar radiation directly to him.”
“We have not been able to make them work together, Jack. How could we even get them to follow the queen towards Superman? One nanobot can’t do the job.” Lena replied frustrated. “Besides, then Lex would know we helped his nemesis. He would kill me. And you.”
A few moments later, he proposed another idea. “Maybe we could adapt a drone?”
“We?” Finally it registered to Lena that Jack had been including himself all along.
“Of course, love. I will help you with whatever you need.”
Lena smiled, and she was reminded once again why she fell in love with Jack in the first place. And why she still loved him, even when things hadn’t worked between them.
Jack was a good man.
“Thanks, Jack.” She whispered, taking his hand in hers. “I wish I could just give up. It’s just so much easier to just let Lex kill him…”
“But that’s not who you are, love.” Jack replied, interlocking their fingers together. “You would always do the difficult thing to help others. You would never let Lex just shoot Superman out of the sky.”
“That’s it!” Lena said, standing up.
“No…” Jack repeated, slowly. “I was just saying how that wasn’t it. You cannot let your maniacal brother shoot someone, Lena!”
“Jack, we can shoot him using a directed energy weapon with yellow sunlight. We can use a laser.” Lena explained.
Jack blinked, slowly, looking a bit perplexed. “How American of you.”
“Oh, shush.” Lena rolled her eyes. “We can build it. There is just enough time for it.”
“Do you think you can just give a rifle to Miss Lane?”
“Jack, that’s literally the least of my worries.” Lena mumbled, picking a pen and paper, and starting to write. “She has more weapon training than me, and that’s saying something.”
A laser.
She can do it. She just needed to recreate the frequency of the sun… The UV spectrum of it, at the very least.
No big deal.
Jack hired some guy named Bobby Bibbowski, who promised to leave the laser on the Daily Planet’s roof.
“Do you trust him?” Lena asked her partner in crime, making sure the laser worked for the Nth time, after two weeks of a lot of work, and little to no sleep.
“As much as I can throw him, but he’s a good man. I told him it would help some people.” Jack replied. “Do you really think it needs that tacky message?” He asked, pointing at the ‘Aim for the S’ handwritten note that Lena had tapped to the rifle’s scope.
“Yes,” she glared at him. “Her first instinct would be to shoot Lex, otherwise.”
“Fair enough.”
“What exactly did you tell him?” Lena turned towards her friend.
“That I need him to get me to the Planet’s roof.”
“What? Jack, that’s too exposing, it will put a target on your back.”
He sighed. “Lena, do you really want to leave the life of The Man of Steel in some guy’s hands, or would you prefer to leave it in the hands of your most handsome friend?” He smiled. “I get that you can’t be on that roof and I know you want to protect me but, I can do this.”
“You know I trust you the most in this world.” She said until he smiled at her again. “But no more than Andrea, though.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
Three nights before the eclipse, as Lex was prematurely celebrating his victory, Jack took the weapon and planted it on the Daily Planet’s rooftop. Lena paced up and down their garage lab, nervously waiting for Jack to come back, until he finally showed up.
Lena didn’t say anything for a while, looking at him expectantly until he let himself drop on their lounge couch.
“It’s set. No one saw it. Or us, get in or out.”
Lena breathed a sigh of relief, the next thing was letting Lois Lane know about the plan.
Lena decided the best option was delivering the information via courier. She sent flowers to the Daily Planet, an Iris bouquet. Hoping that Lois Lane would pick up on the symbolism. In ancient Greece, Iris acted as a messenger. And in modern times the flower means faith, hope and truth.
She explained what she could in the note, as best as she was capable of.
‘In the darkest hour, the answer is at the top of the Planet. Hope your aim is as true as your words.’
She signed the card, as LKL.
And Lena prayed to a God she didn’t really believe in, that Lois Lane was as smart as she pretended to be.
Superman survived. Thirty-Two people died in various accidents caused by Lex launching a red satellite at Metropolis’ sky. And Lena lost her brother forever.
Lex didn’t think she had done anything, but she feared she would. So he had her kidnapped, in her own office. Tied to a chair to watch the spectacle. It never crossed his mind that she had already disrupted his plan.
She saw everything from a distance, with her heart at her throat, and his hands tied to the arms of her own office chair. When everything was done, she was liberated by a police officer.
“Why did your brother create that orb, Miss Luthor.” He asked.
Lena quietly massaged her hurting wrists, before answering honestly, “To kill Superman.”
“Miss Luthor won’t be answering any question without a lawyer present.” Jack's voice interrupted whatever other question the officer had.
“Jack,” Lena exhaled, practically throwing herself at him, and hugging him. “Part of me still believed that he would stop. That I could convince him not to do this.”
“You believed in the good in him, that means something.” Jack mumbled, rubbing her back, as the police officer left them alone. Surely, seething at not being able to get more information from Lena.
“Does it?”
Jack sighed, soothingly caressing her arms, while he looked at her eyes, “I have a conference in London, come with me.” He invited her. “Let’s get out of here for a while.”
Lena took a minute to think about it and then nodded.
“You were right.” Lena commented as they walked into the gala Jack had been invited to. Mingling with their peers. “I needed this.”
“It's nice to see you smiling again.” Jack commented, disengaging Lena’s hand from his arm. “Go be charming. I'll get drinks.”
“Right. Okay.” Lena saw him retreat, looking for drinks, while she walked deeply into the room. Her face lifted when she saw a familiar figure. One she could recognize anywhere. “Andrea!”
Her friend turned around, and smiled nervously. “Lena. I had no idea you'd be here, I didn't know that you were in London.”
Lena’s eyes dropped towards Andrea’s collarbones, fixating on the jewelry sitting there. “Wait, what's that?”
Andrea tried to reply, but no word could come out of her mouth.
“I knew it. The medallion was there, and you're the one that took it even though you knew how much it meant to me. Why?” Lena hated how much her voice wobbled with every word uttered.
“Look, there are things I couldn't That I can't tell you.” Andrea tried to explain.
No amount of explanation could be enough.
“You looked me in the eye and you lied to me.” Lena said, taking one step back. “I trusted you more than anyone in the world and you made a fool out of me. You know, I expect this kind of betrayal from the Luthors, but not you.”
“Lena, please.”
“There's nothing you can say. We're done. You’ll get nothing else from me.” Lena turned around, and she left. She didn’t even wait for Jack.
She went back to her hotel room, and packed her bags once again.
Losing Lex and Andrea the same week was like kicking her while she was already down.
Andrea had been her rock for so many years that some part of her felt incredibly lost without her. Lena had modeled her life to Andrea, even when they were not romantically involved. She learned her way of surviving from Andrea, from the cold stare to the way of walking in heels. It was…daunting to not have her best friend in her corner anymore.
That’s why it hurts so much. With Lex she saw the signs for years. She saw him change, she saw the vitriol in him grow and saw him lose his way. With Andrea she was blind sided.
What’s even worse, she even lost her city. She couldn’t even get a cup of coffee without being harassed because of Lex’s madness.
And time didn’t seem to help. Lena kept being blamed for her brother’s actions, even when there was no evidence of her involvement, even when she was called to testify against Lex, even when she revealed she had recorded what Lex told her when he tied her in her office. Even when she didn’t mince her words accusing her own brother. Even when she was the reason their superhero was still alive.
She’d had enough.
And when for some unknown reason the LuthorCorp board wanted to appoint her, the 23-years-old sister of a lunatic, as the CEO she exploded.
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” She asked.
“You are truly not even our top 20 option, Miss Luthor.” Geriatric white old man told her, as if he was talking to a 3-year-old. “But your family owns majority. And as it's your name on the side of the building, your late father put it on a clause that, when available, a Luthor must always be at the helm of the company.”
“Call Lillian, then,” she bit back.
There was some rustling around her, a few clearing of throats.
“Your mother seems to be unreachable for the time being.” The same man replied. “I’ll be honest with you, Miss Luthor. We don’t think LuthorCorp will survive your brother’s downfall. Our stock market has been plummeting since the arrest, and it’s even more drastic since the trial started.”
“We have had to let go of 6% of the employees already.” Another old man added.
Lena kept quiet for a moment. Looking around the conference room. LuthorCorp to her were not these people, these were just crusty, old, greedy grouches that only cared about profit. LuthorCorp was José in accounting, with his Taco Tuesday lunches he insisted on making for his coworkers. And Anna from the cleaning crew, who danced salsa while she mopped the floor, because she was taking classes with her husband. Chris on marketing, who insisted that this year would be the year the Eagles of Metropolis’ would win the championship, every year. And Brittany at Research and Development, who was just starting, fresh out of college, with a brilliant mind and incredible determination.
For them, for them Lena could turn this company around.
“If I accept, I don’t want any of you to question my methods.” Lena started.
“You don’t seriously expect us to just hand a multibillion dollar company to an inexperienced child, without some kind of supervision, do you?”
Lena shrugged. “It seems to me that you need me more than I need you. I think I can keep this company safe, but it won’t be immediate and there will be many changes. If not… I think you know the alternative.”
It was time for the suits to keep quiet now. Lena just sat there with her face stuck on an impeccable smirk.
Somehow that worked.
“We don’t want your lifestyle to affect the company more than your brother’s actions.” The suit said.
“My lifestyle?” Lena asked, confused. Her lifestyle consisted of hiding in a lab, trying to find the cure for cancer.
“We are… aware of your soulmate situation.” Geriatric man said. “We don’t want your personal beliefs to affect the company more.”
Lena wanted to scream and swear off. It was none of their business, and she was extremely tired of being judged for things outside of her control.
Instead, she curled her hand on a tight fist, and smiled condescendingly.
“You don’t have to worry about it. LuthorCorp could not be in a worse position, and I’m committed to get the company back on the side of good.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to change HQ’s for starters.”
“Why? Metropolis has always been LuthorCorp’s turf.”
“L-Corp will not live under the Luthor name and Lex’s shadow. You need a new entity.” Lena continued. “You want my help? You will have to give me free range. If in two-year time you don’t see results… then we reevaluate.”
“Two years, Miss Luthor. You better deliver.”
“You’ll learn to never bet against me, Mr. White.”
There was much to do before she even had the guts to tell Jack about abandoning Biomax.
Spheerical Industries had been growing and growing without its founding, at a steady pace. But Biomax, their most ambitious project, Lena and Jack’s pride, had been stuck for years on end now.
With Lex’s trial and Lena preparing herself to take over LuthorCorp, she hadn’t even put any work into the nanobots either.
She went back and forth talking with lawyers. Her own, Lex’s, his prosecutor.
Still, the evidence was overwhelming, and with the public’s pressure, Lex Luthor was convicted and sentenced to 32 consecutive life sentences.
Once the sentencing was done, Lena looked over all the offices LuthorCorp had available to move the headquarters into.
Lena wanted to be as far from Metropolis as possible. Which eliminated Gotham, Happy Harbor and Freeland from the options. Not that she ever wanted any of them to be her new city.
Star City seemed like Gotham light, which was almost an insult to Gotham. And Central City was still too close to Metropolis for Lena’s comfort.
The answer came from the TV news. A report from National City, A woman wearing the same colors as Superman. The same ‘S’ encased in a diamond shape as him.
Lena wanted to hope. But with her luck, that woman was, at best, just a fanatic of the flying Boy Scout and definitely not the owner of the first name to ever appear on her skin, written in Kryptonese. Not her soulmate.
With her luck, the owner of the Kryptonian name written over her ribs is just another dead soulmate.
Still, National City was on the other side of the country, with a property ready for her to move the company into. It had the fresh start that Lena wanted. What’s even better, a local subsidiary had already a big project they were working on; The Venture launch.
She only needed to talk to Jack about it.
“Ever since London you've been a completely different person you've barely talked to me and now you're leaving Metropolis?” Jack asked, his voice a little louder than his normal tone.
“It's my responsibility to make up for the stain my brother left on the world.” Lena commented, packing a few documents and sentimental knickknacks she had on her table at their garage lab. “To do something good.”
“We were going to do something good.” Jack exploded, distraught, heartbroken. “Together. What about our company?”
“Spheerical is your company, Jack.” Lena mumbled. “LuthorCorp is mine now. I have a duty of care.”
The TV was airing another rescue from the woman with the crest identical to Superman’s. “You see this? This is why I need to be in National City. There are people doing good there, who are trying to help.” She pointed at the TV coverage. “If I stay in Metropolis, I will always be the sister of the egomaniacal lunatic, but if I go to National City, I can be the Luthor that shares her home with a Kryptonian. That helps her put the world back together instead of tearing it apart.”
“We have a Kryptonian here, Lena!” Jack snapped. His shoulders were tense for a beat, and then they dropped, defeated. “You know I can't leave, Lena.”
She walked close to him, putting her hand on his cheek. “I know. I'm not asking you to.”
“So you're choosing to redeem the Luthor name? Over me. Over us?” He asked, but Lena could see that he already knew the answer. “Lena, please, look, talk to me. You can trust me.”
Lena shook her head, taking a step back and keeping her distance from her closest friend. “That’s the thing, Jack. I can't trust anyone anymore. It just leads to betrayal.” She sighed, for what felt like the millionth time. “I know it’s not what you want to hear me say, but I can’t save LuthorCorp from Metropolis.” She whispered, apologetically. “Here, the company and I, we both would always be under Lex's crime shadows. I have to go, Jack.”
National City was as different from Metropolis as a different planet.
The sky was rarely cloudy, the sun was almost always shining. The air smelled different, oceanic fresh. And Lena was still not quite used to it. But she loved her routines. She just needed to get used to the new one.
She now needed to wake up at 6:10 AM, take a quick shower and hit the hotel’s gym. She made sure to stretch and use the treadmill for 10 minutes, before hitting the rowing machine for 20 minutes, in 1-minute intervals training, and then she did some stretches to cool down.
She then needed to return to the hotel’s penthouse she was renting, to take a more relaxing shower, and then painstakingly apply makeup all over her body and face. Then dress herself for the day.
She was trying nowadays to have a quick breakfast; most of the time, she drank a cup of espresso, at best, and ran towards the door.
It was working for her, at least for now.
Once upon a time, she would do some extra squats and deadlifts at the gym, to keep up with her fencing training, but that was when she was a too young college kid and didn’t have a company to run and the weight of her brother’s crimes on her shoulders.
Now she can dedicate no more than 35-minutes daily to her workout, to make it to the office before 8:00 AM.
She was still getting used to this new routine. It has been almost six months since she had to face the reality of taking over the company. In all honesty, no one was happy about it. Not the board, not Lex, definitively not her, but she was determined to save her employees and make the company a force for good.
She had been in National City for a Little over a week. The Venture Project was finished weeks ago, and the ship was going to launch that day.
Lena was supposed to be on the ship when it happened. The first commercial spacecraft designed for suborbital travel in space. But thankfully something had come up with the planning of the renaming ceremony, and she truly had an excuse now to just skip her trip to space. She hated flying, the lack of control on it terrified her. Why would she decide to fly higher, to space, anyways?
She was planning on skipping the launch, regardless. But now she had a legitimate excuse to not attend.
The renaming ceremony was scheduled to be at The Modern Arts Cultural Museum, the next day. However, now they needed to find someplace else at the last minute, because the Museum decided they could no longer host LuthorCorp.
That was the lovely morning Email she received from her new assistant, Jessica Huang. Who has so far proven to be a no nonsense kind of person, assertive and extremely zealous of Lena’s time and schedule. Exactly what Lena needed.
As Lena left the hotel she had been living at, she was greeted by Frank, her driver.
He used to drive her father when he visited the west coast, Lena remembered him fondly. Frank was much older now, his hair entirely white under the driver’s cap he insisted on wearing while he was at the wheel.
“Good morning, Miss Luthor,” he greeted her, opening the back car’s door.
“Morning, Frank. What did I say about my name?” She asked with a teasing smile.
The man shook his head, “Good morning, Miss Lena.”
“Not quite, but we’ll get there.” She smiled. “Please let’s rush to the office, today will apparently be a very long day.”
Frank didn’t need any more instructions, he nodded and closed the door, when Lena took her seat, and then he successfully drove her to LuthorCorp’s building in less than 10 minutes.
By the time she was entering her office, Jessica was waiting for her by the door, with a cup of coffee in hand.
“I have some options lined up. But you have been called to the warehouse about the detection device. They are still waiting for the alloy you requested, but they want to show you some other alternatives.” Jessica explained.
“The day hasn't even started,” Lena almost groaned like a child. Jessica smiled sympathetically. “And they want to contradict my orders already.”
“I can arrange for you to be picked up 15 minutes after arrival,” her assistant proposed.
“That would be fantastic, Jess.” Lena smiled, the nickname slipping without her notice, taking a sip of her cup of coffee her new favorite person gave her. It was strong and bitter, just how she preferred it.
“I’ll tell Frank to wait for you at the garage. But first, let me show you the proposed venues.”
Lena hated all the places Jess showed her. They were fine, they just weren’t what Lena had envisioned for the event. That’s why The Modern Arts and Cultural Museum was perfect.
“Maybe it would be better to just make a press conference,” Lena commented, more to herself than to Jess. “Show the board some austerity.”
“It’s only a change of name and logo, Miss Luthor,” Jess appeased, nodding. “It’s not a bad option.”
“It would show that I’m different from Lex. He was very fond of parties without motive.”
Jess said nothing, Lena pondered a bit more, then nodded to affirm her decision.
“Press conference in front of the main entrance. Let’s have some catering, a few courtesy invitations to tech moguls around. The day after tomorrow, 11 am.”
“I’ll make the arrangements,” Jess said as she finished writing up Lena’s orders. “Frank will be waiting for you at the garage when you are ready.”
“Thank you, Jess.”
She was looking over different subpar materials for the construction of one of their next projects, when one of her employees sounded the alarm.
“The Venture's engine exploded, the ship almost crashed.”
“Supergirl saved it,” another employee added.
Lena’s heartbeat quickened, she told herself it was for narrowly avoiding one of her primal fears, dropping from the sky, and not because some part of her had the crazy idea that the hero was her soulmate.
“Is everyone okay?” She asked instead.
“No injuries reported, Miss Luthor.”
“Any possibility the piece LuthorCorp manufactured for the ship was at fault, and thus responsible for the explosion?” Lena asked next, the company wouldn’t survive that.
“No, Miss Luthor, we are confident in the product. But we can go over the schematics again and the prototype if you would like to.” One of her lead engineer’s offered.
“That would be appreciated, thank you.”
Lena has no doubts about the piece they manufactured being faultless, but it was reassuring to go over it again, and be able to discard the possibility once again.
By the time she returned to her office, Jess had a tower of documents for her to sign, regarding the press conference for the upcoming days.
She had reporters calling her for a quote about The Venture’s accident, since Luthorcorp’s Oscillator was close to the origin of the explosion. Lena diplomatically released a note on the company’s website, explaining how she would cooperate with the authorities, but that LuthorCorp’s preliminary observations did not indicate that the oscillator was to blame for the explosion.
She also had the public relationships department publish the schematics on the web.
She did not expect to have the FBI on her C-Suite floor the next day, looking like they were about to arrest her. She’d just come out of a meeting with engineers that had been permitted to see the oscillator after the explosion, and their observation was conclusive; not LuthorCorp’s fault. That being said, they still needed to pass a proper investigation that could take weeks, if not months. But for now, as far as Lena was concerned, the Luthorcorp Oscillator wasn’t the reason The Venture didn’t make it to space.
Lena looked over to Jess, like to confirm that in fact the two FBI agents in dark suits were waiting for her.
Lena exchanged a look with the agent closer to her.
“And who you might be?” She asked, walking towards her office’s desk, expecting the two women to follow her.
“We are FBI agents,” the red head woman responded, showing her her badge. Alexandra Danvers.
As if Lena, or Jess for that matter, would just let just anyone walk into her office.
“I’m Agent Danvers,” the other woman said. Tall, blonde and handsome, and looking like this was the last place she wanted to be. “We are here to find out why you weren’t in The Venture.”
Lena tried to keep calm, so much for a fresh start on the west coast.
“You wouldn’t be asking if my last name was Smith.” She said instead, sitting on her chair, and lifting an eyebrow to the agents.
“Maybe, maybe not,” the redhead agent replied. “Why did you skip the launch?”
“An emergency came up with the announcement ceremony for my company. L-Corp.” Lena replied sincerely. And for no reason she continued, extremely honest. “I am trying to reclaim my space in the world, be someone outside of my family. I am sure you can understand.”
The blonde stood taller, for some reason. Her eyes fixed on Lena, like she could see directly into the core of her entire being.
“I can,” she whispered. And for some reason, Lena knew she was telling the truth.
Lena assured them she would cooperate with the investigation. She had a paper trail of her whereabouts, if needed.
She was so in her head about the oscillator, and clearing up her company’s name, tired of being blamed once again for something outside of her control that it wasn’t until both agents had left, that Lena realized two things.
One, both agents had the same last name, which was one hell of a coincidence. And two, she has had the name Kara Danvers tattooed on her left collarbone for the last 7 months.
She had just met her soulmate. The only one of them who was still alive besides maybe a superpowered alien, so far.
But also, she was apparently married.
FUCK.