13. Chapter 13(2)
“You can answer it, darling,” she murmurs, turning her head a little to catch Kara’s eye.
Kara has a discontent crinkle between her brow and a slight pout forming on her mouth that Lena reaches up to run her thumb against.
“You could pick anyone,” Josie says with a chuckle. “Come on. There has to be someone.”
“I’d just pick Lena again,” Kara says with a lift of her chin in defiance and the group groans.
“Come on, Kara,” Aaron complains. “You’re no fun. Just because you two are gonna get married one day doesn’t mean you can’t just pick a hot celebrity.”
Lena feels her cheeks warm at the assertion of marriage. Kara doesn’t seem to react too much, her fingers reaching around Lena’s wrist and fiddling with her watch band.
“If you’re that serious,” Max adds with a smirk. “Just stay in the family. Pick Lex.”
“Ew,” Lena exclaims, turning a disgusted face towards Max. “That’s my brother.”
“Sorry, Lena,” Josie says. “He’s hot. I don’t make the rules.”
“You’re not even blood related,” Aaron adds and Lena rolls her eyes even as the urge to snap at that bubbles up in her throat.
“Blood doesn’t make family,” Kara answers for her and her tone is dark, serious in a way at odds with the casual laughter of the group.
“They’re teasing,” Lena whispers, threading her fingers in between Kara’s where they’re still resting against Lena’s stomach.
“Chill, Danvers,” Max says with a laugh, his hands up defensively.
“You know sometimes I forget you’re both adopted,” Josie says with a contemplative look on her face. “I mean you and Lex look so much alike,” she adds to Lena.
Lena laughs softly. She’s heard that before. “I’ll take that as a compliment considering you think my brother is hot.”
“You should,” Josie replies with a grin, tipping her bottle in Lena’s direction. “I think I’d pick Superman. Have you seen his butt?”
Kara makes a noise of disgust, but she buries it in Lena’s neck, pressing a kiss there while Lena snorts in amusement. Max offers agreement, noting that he has, in fact, seen Superman’s butt, and it’s a good one. It spirals outward into a discussion on the best superhero costumes, but Lena is content to keep resting in Kara’s arms, letting their warmth bleed together.
--
It takes four cups of coffee before Lena feels like she shakes some of the emotional exhaustion off the next morning. Another long day of testimony lies ahead of her and she feels tired just thinking about it. It doesn’t help that her mind is still reeling from her conversation with her mother and the prospect of confronting her again makes Lena’s stomach turn over.
So she takes an extra long shower, puts on her tallest heels and pulls her hair back from her face in a tight bun. Kara watches her from her position against the bathroom wall, arms crossed and a worried expression on her face.
“You going to be okay?”
“Of course,” Lena responds easily, leaning towards the mirror over her sink to apply her eyeliner.
“You don’t have to go, Lena,” Kara says, pushing off the wall and stepping closer. Her hand settles warmly against Lena’s hip and grounds her, makes her feel just the slightest bit better, less alone.
“I know that,” she sighs and allows Kara to press in closer, leaning back against Kara’s front and taking a last moment of comfort. “But I don’t want to run away from this. I can handle it.”
“I’ll be right there next to you,” Kara murmurs before pressing a kiss to Lena’s temple.
Lena breathes in the feeling and smiles. “And that makes all the difference, darling.”
Kara dresses in relative silence, allowing Lena time to sit at her kitchen counter and eye the morning paper, studiously avoiding the front few pages that remark on her mother’s trial. By the time they’re ready to go, Lena’s hands have settled from all the coffee, and Kara presses a kiss to her lips before they step out of the penthouse.
There are, of course, photographers outside the building who burst into a frenzy when they see Kara heading out of the building first, Lena trailing close behind. They shout questions, but Kara moves them quickly through the crowd, popping open the door to the car and allowing Lena to slide in first.
She’s so focused on looking out the open door, waiting for Kara to maneuver her way in, that she doesn’t notice she’s sat down next to someone.
“So, I got you a coffee,” Alex says, a small smile on her face while Kara drops into the remaining seat and pulls the door closed. “Kara said you’ve had way too much, but I put a shot of whisky in this one.”
“What are you doing here?” Lena asks, hesitantly taking the coffee cup Alex is extending towards her and feeling Kara’s arm drop around her shoulders as the car slowly pulls away from the curb.
“I also brought donuts,” Alex says, and she barely pulls the bag off the floor before Kara has her hands on it with a noise of disgusting glee. “I figured you needed some support. You are my sister-in-law, technically.”
“Alex,” Kara says, through a mouthful of donut. “Please stop.”
“I’m never stopping,” Alex says conspiratorially, and Lena feels a small smile, the first in hours, build on her face.
--
Just seeing Metallo again makes Lena remember what it was like to shoot him. It feels like a lifetime ago, yet the memories come back so viscerally that it might as well have been just yesterday. It’s only Kara’s grip on her hand that keeps her steady. Alex’s presence to her left doesn’t hurt either, and the Danvers sisters flank her protectively as they sit in the full courtroom.
She imagines the papers will have something to say about it in the morning, but crosses her fingers that her mother’s trial is enough of a story that frivolous gossip about her social life will be vastly overshadowed.
Metallo takes the stand and speaks to his relationship with her mother. The hate speech that spews out of his mouth makes Lena stiffen until Kara is wrapping her hand in both of her own and playing lightly with her watch.
“I believe aliens should be wiped from the earth,” Corben says with a spiteful look in his eye. “Starting with Supergirl and her cousin.”
It makes her think of Lex’s trial for a moment until Alex leans into her side. “I hate him,” she whispers. “Like, want to punch him down the throat and tear out his intestines hate.”
Smothering a sudden laugh at the look on Alex’s face, she nods encouragingly and Kara leans over her to look at her sister. “He literally has no heart.”
“Kara,” Lena chastises under her breath, but she laughs silently and feels something ease a bit in her chest.
It happens so quickly that Lena doesn’t respond for a second. A massive burst of green energy comes out of Metallo’s chest and streaks across the courtroom to the sound of sudden screams and the scrambling of bodies.
Kara bodily tackles her to the side, throwing them under the cover of the gallery benches and Alex is right there next to them, pulling a gun out from under her jacket and keeping a protective hand on Lena’s back. The room descends into chaos as everyone clears out as quickly as possible.
Metallo takes out the two courtroom bailiffs with a jet of green energy that Lena realizes quite abruptly is kryptonite.
“Kara,” she gasps, clasping her hand around Kara’s wrist as another explosion rings out and Kara shields her against the wall.
Alex is peeking out around her cover and Lena looks as well to see Corben stalk straight towards her mother, breaking her handcuffs and leading her towards the exit.
Kara pushes Lena behind a table to hide her and stays low as they pass.
“It’s kryptonite,” Lena hisses as soon as they’re out of sight and Alex and Kara exchange looks.
“Go,” Alex says and Kara hesitates for a moment as she looks at Lena.
“Kara, you can’t. He could kill you.”
“I can’t let them escape,” Kara says and she kisses Lena swiftly, but with significant pressure before nodding to Alex. “Watch her,” she tells her sister with a nod.
Swiping her glasses off her face and pressing them into Lena’s hands, Kara is up and gone before Lena can protest further.
Lena scrambles up off the floor to follow, but Alex is quick to grab at her clothing and haul her to a stop. “Lena, no,” Alex says lowly and with authority.
“Alex,” Lena practically growls, turning incredulous eyes towards her. “That was kryptonite in his chest. If he hits Kara, it could seriously injure her or worse.”
“And what are you going to do?” Alex asks, but she lets go of her hold on Lena. “If you’re out there you’ll just distract Kara into making a mistake and that could seriously injure her or worse.”
Before they can argue further a massive crash reverberates through the room and a cacophony of screams burst forth. They look at each other for a moment before Alex just makes a relenting expression and takes off towards the exit, Lena hot on her heels.
When they make it out to the front of the courthouse, Kara is standing in front of a crowd of now cheering people, a broken construction crane on the ground in front of her. Lena barely restrains herself from running straight for Kara in an attempt to check on her, but Alex isn’t as successful.
Kara glances at both of them with a look of pure frustration on her face and Lena looks around in realization that her mother and Metallo are nowhere to be seen.
--
They regroup back at the DEO and Kara paces around while Winn fiddles with the tracking program on his computer and Alex speaks lowly to Maggie in the corner.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Lena tells Kara for the fifteenth time since they got back to base. “My mother gave you an impossible choice between stopping her and saving those people. You made the right call.”
“I should go search the city again, see if I can pick up a trail.”
Lena stops Kara from walking away by stepping in front of her and placing a hand on her chest above the crest there. “What part of he shoots kryptonite out of his chest do you not understand?”
“The longer I do nothing the farther away they get,” Kara argues, her jawline tense with anger. Lena runs her fingertips along it until it relaxes.
“Kryptonite, Kara,” she repeats and Kara blows out an exasperated breath.
“How are you so calm?”
Lena shrugs. “I’m not,” she admits, the turmoil churning in her stomach making itself known. “But you’re being crazy enough for the both of us.”
It makes Kara laugh and she relaxes further, shaking her head at Lena and Lena watches as she crosses her arms over her chest, the fingers of her right hand wrapping around her left wrist, where her bracelet is hiding beneath her suit.
Alex walks over, hands on her hips and Lena glances to where Maggie is stepping away to take a phone call. “Where did he even get the kryptonite?” Alex asks and Kara puts her hands up in a shrug.
“Kal was supposed to have destroyed it all,” Kara says looking as confused as Alex.
“He was in prison,” Alex adds. “And so was Lillian. I mean, how did they pull something like this off?”
It runs a chill down Lena’s spine and Kara shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I’m going to go do another sweep.”
“Be careful,” Alex says and Lena sighs, trying to shake the insistent feeling of fear out of her head.
Kara turns to Lena and puts a hand at her back. “I’ll take you home,” she says.
“To the office,” Lena corrects and Kara gives her a look. “It’s the middle of the day, Kara. I have to go to work.”
“I think you’ve got a pretty good excuse,” Kara insists and Alex just gives them a wide eyed look and walks back to where Maggie is still talking on the phone.
Lena puts her hand up against Kara’s stomach and steps in close, using proximity to her advantage. “I’d feel safer at my office,” Lena tells her softly. “Please.”
“Fine,” Kara sighs with a brief smile. Her hand comes up to encircle Lena’s wrist, her thumb swiping over the face of Lena’s watch. “But only because you said please.”
Lena laughs and lets Kara scoop her up and walk them towards the exit platform.
--
Ten minutes after settling back in her office and saying goodbye to Kara, Lana Lang walks into her office with wide, concerned eyes.
“Oh my God, Lena, are you okay?” Lana asks, stalking towards Lena’s desk quickly.
Lena stands in reaction. “Of course,” she answers and she can’t deny she’s a bit startled when Lana circles the desk and wraps her up in a friendly hug.
“I saw it all on the news, it looked awful. I can’t imagine.”
Lena laughs as they step out of the embrace. “It wasn’t exactly my favorite day,” she says, trying to joke.
“They’ve been saying he has kryptonite in his heart, is that true?”
Lena nods grimly. “It is. Though I haven’t a clue as to where he could have got it.”
A shadow grosses Lana’s face that has Lena’s stomach turning over. “That’s actually part of why I wanted to see you. I might have some insight into that,” Lana tells her in a small voice.
Lena feels her eyes grow wide and suspicious before Lana hastily shakes her head. “That sounded like it was me,” she says quickly, “It wasn’t me. I just-”
Lana stops, worries her lip between her teeth for a moment.
“Lana, spit it out,” Lena snaps and Lana looks at her.
“Are you aware of all of your brother’s projects?”
“You’re the one that’s been helping me go through them,” Lena says lowly and Lana’s face pinches. Lena sees the dots connect in her own brain and understands the obvious, but she waits for Lana to say something further even as her heartbeat picks up and the memory of her brother destroying buildings in Metropolis floats over her.
“Sorry, I guess what I mean is, are you aware that Lex worked quite vigorously on creating synthetic kryptonites?”
It’s like a cold bucket of ice dropping over her head. “Lana, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I think that Metallo somehow got his kryptonite from L Corp.”
Lena digests that for a moment. “We’re not the only company that’s done that. Lord Technologies-”
“Lena, this was green. Not red. Because it was close to the real thing,” Lana swallows noticeably. “I know your brother’s work when I see it.”
“My brother is in prison,” Lena says slowly, annunciating the words with emphasis that makes Lana’s nostrils flare.
“I was in Metropolis when Lex and Superman had their showdown,” Lana says softly. “I work-”
“There’s no kryptonite in this building,” Lena interrupts with conviction, thinking of how often Kara’s been here. “It’s impossible.”
“Not as impossible as you think it is.”
“Supergirl has been in this building remember? She would have known.”
“That’s not the point, Lena.”
“Then what is the point?” Lena spits out, incapable of masking the frustration in her voice.
“After Lex went to prison, the majority of his things were destroyed. Superman made sure they tracked down his work on the suit and where he had stored the kryptonite he put in the blade.”
“I remember,” Lena replies, with a nod, thinking of the constant stream of agents that combed through Lex’s things.
“They destroyed all the kryptonite he had made then. Superman was very adamant that it was obliterated for obvious reasons.”
“Lana, get to the point.”
“If this kryptonite is the same that your brother worked on then that means…”
The conclusion rears its head. “That means they didn’t destroy it all. Lex still has a stockpile somewhere.”
Lana nods, looking grim. “Yeah.”
--
Lena spends the rest of her afternoon combing through all of the company’s properties and digging up some of Lex’s old files. The idea that Lex has secret warehouses around the city isn’t new to her, but the idea that there’s a pile of material deadly to Kara pumps a sense of urgency through her veins.
Lana taps out somewhere around hour three, and Lena sends Jess home somewhere after that, and she loses herself in the work of it, trying to figure out the puzzle before it comes around to hurt Kara. She throws on the television for background noise, but stops when she hears her name.
“Lena Luthor is the definition of a two-timer,” a man booms. He’s angry. “She didn’t say a word when her brother was actually killing people - human beings - and all of a sudden she cares when her mom almost kills a couple aliens?”
“Are you saying that Miss Luthor shouldn’t care about alien rights?”
“Of course not, Jake, I’m just saying - does she really care? Or is she scared of losing her multibillion dollar company if she doesn’t come out swinging? It’s just inauthentic. And now her mom’s broken out of jail with a kryptonite-powered man? What a shock.”
“Don’t listen to them,” Kara’s voice calls out from behind her. Lena turns to see her standing in the doorway of her office, a sad look on her face.
With a forced laugh, Lena turns the television off and paces towards her desk, dropping the remote there. “Everyone’s got an opinion about me, it seems.”
“They’re morons,” Kara says, stepping forward and dropping her bag onto a chair. “How are you doing?”
“Fine. Have you heard anything?”
Kara’s lips twist a little, her arms crossing over her chest in a telltale move that has Lena sitting up a little straighter. “Nothing worth repeating.”
Lena observes her for a moment, the tight angle of her jaw, the clenching of her fingers against the fabric of her blazer. “They think I’ve had something to do with her escape don’t they?”
The dark look that crosses Kara’s face is answer enough. Lena scoffs, leans back again in her chair. “Of course they do,” she adds.
Uncrossing her arms, Kara all but marches forward, her hands leaning on the desk as she hovers over it. “The people who do are idiots,” she says. “I know you didn’t have anything to do with it. So do Alex, and J’onn, and Winn.”
The conviction in Kara’s tone is something Lena didn’t know she needed until this moment. It wraps snugly around her chest and for a moment she allows herself to feels safe. “I’m not sure how far that will go in the court of public opinion,” she says quietly and Kara looks ready to fight someone, judging by the way her fists clench on the desk.
Before anything else can be said the doors to her office are abruptly swinging open and Maggie Sawyer is striding in. Lena stands and Kara straightens immediately with a surprised, “Maggie!”
“Detective,” Lena greets warily when she notices the uniform pacing in after her.
“Kara,” Maggie says with a professional nod. “Miss Luthor.”
It’s a strange demeanor for someone who Lena had just been out at the bar with last night, but it’s clear then exactly what a NCPD detective is doing in her office at this hour of night. Apparently Kara hasn’t clued in yet because she’s looking at Maggie with innocent confusion. “What are you doing here? Did you find Lillian?”
“Actually,” Maggie says, her shoulders braced tensely as if in anticipation of battle. “I’m here on official business. With Miss Luthor.”
“Miss Luthor?” Kara turns more squarely towards Maggie, shifting until she’s almost shielding Lena from view and crosses her arms. “What kind of business?”
“Police business,” Maggie grits out in clear warning and Kara’s stance widens in reaction.
Lena comes around the desk until she’s next to Kara, her hand settling on the small of Kara’s back until the other girl relaxes just a bit. “What can I do for you, Detective?”
Maggie glances between them, eyes wary. “Perhaps you should wait outside, Kara.”
“Absolutely not,” Kara answers immediately and Lena sighs quietly. Maggie has no idea how close she’s coming to getting thrown into the National City Marina, clearly.
“I’d like her to say if that’s quite alright,” Lena adds, trying to remain polite in the face of Kara’s growing tension.
Maggie looks ready to protest, but something in Kara’s face must put her off because she relents, stepping forward and pulling a tablet into view.
“Fine. I was hoping you could explain what I’m seeing here,” Maggie says, pushing play on the screen. Lena watches as security footage of her office starts to play. Her heartbeat picks up when she realizes the contents. There she is, kneeling at a cabinet in her own office and pulling something out. She remembers this moment. Remembers when she had to retrieve a small box of some new prototype Lana had brought up a couple mornings ago.
Except that’s not what the video shows. Instead the footage has her pulling out a glowing green object. Kryptonite.
“This isn’t right,” she says, shaking her head and pointing at the tablet. She looks at Maggie but doesn’t find understanding like she half expects. Maggie doesn’t know her well enough, she supposes, doesn’t realize the full weight of Kara and Lena’s history - doesn’t know that Lena wouldn’t touch kryptonite with a ten foot pole. “That’s not me. Well, it may very well be, but I don’t store-”
“Are you implying Lena had something to do with Metallo?” Kara says, edging forward slightly and Maggie’s spine straightens.
“What I see is Miss Luthor retrieving synthetic kryptonite from her office. The same kryptonite that aided Metallo in his attack on the courtroom and Lillian Luthor’s escape.”
“It’s been doctored somehow,” Lena says urgently, pleading with Maggie to believe her. She looks to Kara, who is wearing a tight expression of barely controlled rage.
"Maggie I think I'd know if Lena had kryptonite in that cabinet," Kara says pointing its direction and all of three of them spare a glance at the uniformed detective watching the scene with a neutral expression.
"Clearly you didn't," Maggie answers with a gesture towards the tablet still playing the video of Lena holding the green element.
“Lena wouldn’t do what you're accusing her of,” Kara bites out and Maggie snaps at that.
“Kara, as charming as your belief in your girlfriend is, I’m a police detective,” she grits out at Kara, passing the tablet off to the uniformed officer nearby. “I follow the evidence where it leads me, and right now it’s pointing straight at Lena. Maybe you’ve misplaced your trust.”
“The evidence is wrong and so obviously fake that-”
“Evidence is evidence," Maggie interrupts. "We received this video from an anonymous source and now I have no choice but to arrest her until we can get to the bottom of it."
“Arrest her?!” Kara all but yells and Lena takes a reflexive step back as Maggie reaches for the handcuffs at her back. “Over my dead body.”
“Kara,” Maggie warns and Lena sees this situation escalating far out of anyone’s control. In an effort to mitigate the damage she steps back in to touch Kara, tugging at the fabric near her elbow. “Don’t make a scene. We need to question Lena down at the station. By the book.”
“You don’t have a-”
“I don’t need a warrant,” Maggie interrupts, with frustration in her jawline. “We have probable cause to detain her and we can hold her legally for at least 24 hours until a judge can sign a warrant.”
“Don’t touch her,” Kara warns lowly. “Or I’ll swear you’ll regret it.”
“Are you threatening an officer of the law?” Maggie asks, the warning clear in her tone. Lena feels the air around them go thick, heat pouring off Kara. It prompts her into action.
“Stop,” she says softly, reaching out to grip at Kara’s arm, pressing into her bracelet heavily. “She’s right. Don’t cause a scene.”
“Lena,” Kara says, even as she stands down.
“I’ll go with you, Detective,” she says quietly and cuts a glare towards Kara when she looks ready to interrupt. “But I’d request not to be led out of my building in handcuffs. L Corp doesn’t need that kind of press right now.”
Maggie concedes, dropping her hands from where they were reaching behind her. “Fine,” she says, eyes still on Kara.
“And I’d request a moment alone with Kara before we go,” Lena adds, struggling to keep the pounding of her heart under control.
Maggie eyes them for a moment, clearly debating before she nods. “You’ve got ten minutes. We’ll be right outside.”
With that, Maggie and the uniform exit Lena’s office and the thud of the door shutting leaves Kara and Lena alone.
Kara turns immediately towards Lena.
“Good call,” she says in a whisper, her eyes darting around the room. “I’ll fly us out of here and we’ll go to the DEO or something, talk to Alex. Or maybe we should go to my place first-”
“Kara,” Lena interrupts forcefully, putting her hand on Kara’s forearm to stop the flow of words. “I’m going with them, darling.”
Kara goes almost comically still, her eyes widening and jaw dropping in disbelief. “Are you crazy?”
Lena shoots her an unimpressed look and walks over around her desk, opening her laptop there and sending an email to Jess as quickly as she can. “I did nothing wrong,” Lena says. “Surely you have faith in the justice system.”
Kara scoffs at that, her arms crossing over her chest. “There’s no way in Rao’s light I’m letting them put you in a cell for the night,” she says vehemently.
“Last I checked,” Lena says dryly, clicking send on her email and closing the laptop with a decisive thud. “You don’t let me do anything.”
“They have video of you, Lena. Video of you taking that Kryptonite-”
“Fake video, clearly,” Lena adds, hands on her hips as she rounds the desk again to stand near Kara. “It won’t hold up. Have Winn look at it.”
“They still suspect-”
“I’ve been through this before. After Lex went on his rampage who do you think they came to first?” Lena asks and Kara’s jaw clenches. “I can handle the finger pointing for a day.”
“That’s not the point,” Kara bites out. “I know that video is fake, but all that means is that someone is trying to frame you. Someone wants you in that jail cell.”
Lena hadn’t thought of that. And she startles at bit at the realization. Shaking her head, she throws the thought away. “Nonetheless-”
“Lena,” Kara tries again, but Lena moves in close and puts a finger to Kara’s lips.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” she says. “I’m going with Maggie. It’s my decision. I refuse to be a fugitive of the law when I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Kara’s face is tight with restraint and Lena moves her fingers up to rub at the crinkle between Kara’s brows. “I don’t like this.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lena says softly and she presses forward until she can kiss Kara, pumping reassurance into the movement. “It will be fine.”
“With your mother’s escape today and now this. It’s not coincidence, Lena.”
“If something happens I give you full permission to bust the walls down of the jail and break me out,” Lena tells her with a slight quirk of her lips.
“That’s not funny,” Kara says. “If you think I won’t burn this place-”
“Kara,” Lena says with a laughing sigh. “I know you would. Which is why I need you to let me do this.”
Lena’s fingers play with her watch for a moment until she makes a decision - unclasping it and holding it out to Kara. “Hold onto this for me,” she says softly and Kara looks like she's’ going to flinch away from it, her eyes wide.
“What are you doing?”
“If they really are going to put me in a cell for the evening then they’ll inventory my possessions,” Lena explains, grabbing Kara’s hand and turning it over so she can place the watch there. “I’d rather you have this than have to deal with explaining why I have a direct line to Supergirl on my wrist.”
“Then hide it somewhere so you can keep it with you.”
Lena’s brow arches. “Where exactly do you suggest I hide it?”
“You’re supposed to be the genius,” Kara says, trying to thrust the watch back towards Lena.
“Kara,” Lena says lowly as she grabs the hand holding her watch with both of her own hands.
“I don’t like that you took it off,” Kara tells her, looking almost desperate. “I didn’t like it the first time and I definitely don’t like it now.”
“Just think about this logically for two seconds,” Lena says and she keeps her words slow and emphatic. The almost crazy look growing in Kara’s eyes is affecting her own heartbeat and she swallows to calm it down. “If this is some sort of elaborate trap then we have an opportunity to turn it around on whoever set it.”
“Your mother. Who seems to always be two steps ahead of us.”
“Sometimes you just have to play the cards you’re dealt,” Lena replies and she steps in close to Kara, runs her hands up her biceps in an attempt to soothe. Kara deflates just the slightest and their foreheads connect softly. “I’ll be okay.”
“The second I think something’s wrong I’m coming to get you,” Kara murmurs, bringing her arms around Lena’s waist in a light hug. Lena sinks into the embrace, trying to steel herself against the fear swirling through her, especially now that her bare wrist feels too light without the familiar weight of the watch.
“I love you,” Lena whispers, and she hears Kara whisper it back, her arms tightening around her. And then Maggie is coming back in the room, her eyes sharp and her jaw lined with tension as she regards Kara and Lena. Kara is agitated all over again, her spine straightening.
“Time’s up,” Maggie says. “Let’s go.”
Kara almost doesn’t let her go. But eventually, Lena is able to drift out of Kara’s arms, letting Maggie place a hand on her shoulder, and the last look she gets of Kara is the vague orange glow of her eyes, the anger in her jaw, as the gold watch with the vows of Krypton hangs from Kara’s hand.
--
They get to the downtown NCPD station with relative ease and Maggie is understanding enough to walk her in through the back entrance, away from prying eyes.
After giving a brief statement - I’d like my lawyer present - Lena’s booked into the system and shown to a holding cell.
“Court opens bright and early,” Maggie assures her and when she turns away Lena catches sight of her phone ringing - Alex Danvers shining on the screen. “Goodnight, Lena,” Maggie says as she brings the phone to her ear and walks away. She can hear the barest hint of a very loud voice greeting Maggie from the other side.
Left to the isolation of the small cement cell, Lena blows out a low breath and observes the room with an unimpressed arch of her brow. It’s a cell. The blue prison uniform she’s changed into is a bit scratchy, but that’s fine. She sits down on the bed, as uncomfortable as it is, and tries to think backwards to her work on finding Lex’s stockpiles, trying to calm and center herself, knowing Kara is most likely losing her mind somewhere out there.
She wishes, now, that she would have been able to keep her watch. Knowing Kara would be there in seconds if she needed her was a comforting weight, and now it was gone. So she loses herself in her thoughts, crossing off location after location in her mind.
The sound of a crash pulls her out of her thoughts and she stands up off the hard cement bed and looks out into the dimly lit hallway. Her first thought is that maybe Kara let her emotions get the best of her and has busted her way in to retrieve Lena. She sincerely hopes not; it would only make Supergirl look like she was somehow complicit in a Luthor’s schemes.
That thought is dispelled the second Metallo comes into view, a sardonic smile on his face. Lena steps back in reaction, but she realizes quite quickly that there’s nowhere to go. Metallo’s hands are quickly on the metal bars of her cell, prying them apart and Lena’s cursing the part of her that not a few hours ago was convincing Kara that everything would be okay.
A second crashing sound interrupts Metallo’s progress and he turns his head to look at something out of Lena’s line of sight.
“You shouldn’t have come here.” Lena can hear Kara’s voice from around the corner, and she breathes a small sigh of relief until Metallo’s chest starts to glow an ominous green. “Get away from her.”
Metallo glances back at her. “Just a moment, Miss Luthor,” he says with a casual smile before he stalks away, presumably in Kara’s direction.
The sound of a scuffle ensues. Lena can make out the distinctive sound of Kara’s heat vision cutting through cement and no more than a few seconds later a body she recognizes as James in full Guardian armor goes flying in front of her cell and skidding across the ground.
When he stands back up he nods briefly to Lena before jumping right back into the fight.
It’s torture not to be able to see what’s happening, but Lena doesn’t feel it would be wise to poke her head through the small hole Metallo had created in the bars of her cell. There’s a security mirror in the corner of the hallway and she can just make out the sight of Kara and James flanking Metallo and trading blows.
James gets a few good hits in before Metallo gets an opening to blast him with a green beam of kryptonite out of his chest and send him careening back down the hallway. Kara tackles Metallo almost immediately, throwing them both into the ground so hard it dents the concrete. Lena watches, fingers clenched around the iron bars of her cell as Kara punches him in the face repeatedly, his body going still under her legs.
Kara doesn’t relent even as Metallo remains unmoving until Lena calls out to her, “Supergirl!”
It picks Kara’s head up from Metallo and towards the direction of Lena’s voice until she’s jumping up and speeding in front of the cell.
“Hey,” Kara says, looking breathless and worn out.
Lena sags forward against the metal bars and looks her over. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Kara answers, her eyes following a similar path on Lena’s body. “You?”
Lena nods, an eye still on the security mirror that’s showing Metallo’s still body.
Grumbling something low under her breath in Kryptonian, Kara puts both hands on the slightly bent bars of Lena’s cell and nods. “Stand back,” she tells her and Lena sees the intention immediately.
“Kara,” she warns in a whisper, but Kara’s eyes are sharp when she looks back up.
“Leaving you here is no longer up for discussion,” Kara says and Lena can see the shaky way she’s barely keeping it together, her hands already warping the bars of the cell.
She takes a step backwards and Kara’s grip tenses on the bar for a moment before she’s ripping it entirely away from the wall and throwing it to the side.
Just as Kara’s reaching out a hand towards Lena, her eye catches movement in the security mirror and her stomach drops.
It happens in a flash - Kara’s name gets caught halfway out of her throat and she has to turn away from the bright green flash of kryptonite that blindsides Kara and sends her flying down the hall.
Metallo stalks forward into view, green light still bursting out of his chest for a long moment that spurs Lena into action. Her intention to tackle him is stopped by his hand darting out and gripping her throat immediately, picking her up off the ground and choking the air out of her lungs.
Her fingers scratch at his hand uselessly and he just smiles at her. “It’s useless, Miss Luthor,” he tells her and just as she’s sure she’s going to go unconscious from lack of oxygen he sets her back down and releases her.
She coughs violently, sucking air into her lungs and when she recovers enough she spots Kara’s body slumped on the ground a few feet away. James is next to her and they both look lifeless.
There’s blood. Actual, real blood, coming out of somewhere on Kara’s head and her cape looks ripped from where they’re standing.
Lena’s eyes go wide in fear and realization but before she can bolt towards Kara’s body, Metallo is grabbing her around the waist and picking her back up off the floor.
“No!” Her voice is hoarse and sore, but the protests rip out of her lungs as Metallo tries to carry her away from Kara’s body.
It feels like tunnel vision. Like Kara is all she can see in that moment and she can’t think to care about anything else apart from screaming Kara’s name, begging her to get up. She struggles against Metallo’s hold, but is no match for his strength. He kicks out against a nearby wall and it blasts a gigantic hole in it that leads to the outside.
Just as they’re exiting, Lena still yelling out for Kara, she sees the slightest bit of motion in Kara’s body, her head twitching as if swimming back to consciousness and Lena feels the smallest part of her sigh in relief that Kara’s not dead.
It’s the last thing she sees before Metallo’s throwing her into the back of a waiting black van and slamming the door. She immediately scrabbles upward towards the doors and tries to open them back up, pulling and kicking out against it for a few seconds until a voice halts all her movements.
“Save your energy, honey.”
The sound of her mother behind her makes Lena’s heart twist violently in her chest and she almost doesn’t want to turn around. It takes her a second of processing before she feels like she can do it and when she does her mother is sitting calmly on a seat in the back of the van, smiling at her as if none of the violence from moments before has happened.
Lena feels a kind of overwhelming rage grip at her chest and her fists clench with the urge to strangle the woman in front of her. She for once understands what it feels like to be Kara when she’s upset. She can hardly get her mind in order to do anything.
The van starts to move and Lillian remains smiling, clearly waiting for Lena to make a move.
“What the hell?” Lena says darkly, her hand darting out to keep her balance as the van makes a sharp turn.
Lillian’s head tilts curiously. “You’re my daughter, Lena,” she says. “I wasn’t going to let you sit in a cell all night.”
Lena wants to laugh, but can’t find the energy to do anything but blink incredulously at her mother. “You won't get away with this.”
Her mother laughs, a sound so out of odds with the moment and shakes her head at Lena. “I already have,” she says with a casual shrug that has Lena’s blood boiling. “Or are you under the impression your little friend Supergirl will come and save you?”
Lena’s nostrils flare, but she forces herself not to react. Lillian’s smile spikes pain in Lena’s chest that has her rubbing the bare skin of her wrist where her watch usually sits.
“Kara’s not coming, dear,” Lillian tells her and all the air drops out of Lena’s lungs at the confirmation of something she had suspected, but desperately hoped wouldn’t be true. “I think Metallo might have done quite the number on her. And she won’t be able to find you, either.”
Lillian lifts a hand and knocks a knuckle against the side of the van, the sound ringing hollowly throughout the car. “Lead,” her mother says simply and Lena’s stomach drops so violently that she nearly passes out.
The van lurches again and Lena barely catches herself before she’s thrown against the side, her hands catching against the back doors.
“To think, all this time, you were gallivanting around with Superman’s cousin and never told anyone. Not even Lex,” Lillian says. She’s sitting calmly, even as the van shifts constantly and Lena glares at her. Her eyes feel hot, her chest tight, and she’s no longer sure this is a situation she can escape. “I thought you at least knew that your family was more important than some girl.”
Lena wants to scream, wants to yell that Kara has given her the kind of family Lillian had never even offered, but she feels like a caged animal, hovering in the corner of the van, realizing slowly that the Luthor family’s vendetta against the Supers has now become something personal. That the target on Kara’s back has only grown heavier, because of her.
“But I think I have a way you can make it up to me," Lillian says with an ominous smile on her face.