Chapter Text
"...take hold in a minute or so, then the first person she sees."
"I'd say 4 doses to finish the project, because when the effects wear off..."
Lena keeps as still as she can as she comes to, something she learned from movies and previous hostage situations alike. It's difficult, she realizes as her senses return, because she's strapped upright with her head hanging low, and her neck is absolutely screaming in protest. She's not alone, of that she's certain, and it's that thought that gives her the strength to keep her head down.
"...once she has a target, the nanites will really kick in-"
"How long will it last?"
A new voice cuts into the room, and Lena feels a chill run through her. Precisely because this voice is not new, but haunts every self-loathing, criticizing, judgmental thought in her head.
Mother.
Her body gives an involuntary flinch at the voice, both from the hatred and the close proximity to her ear. It's barely noticeable, but it's enough. Lillian unceremoniously tilts her chin upwards, looking utterly displeased as she blinks in the light.
"I'm paying you to keep track of my daughter as well, am I not? Who knows how long she's been awake?" Lillian looks around the room, clearly expecting an answer, giving Lena the time she needs to study her surroundings. It's a barren concrete room, 3 men in lab coats standing around the upright gurney she's strapped to, looking terrified for their lives. There's a surgical tray off to the side, but it holds only a single syringe. It doesn't ease her fears.
"Out", Lillian commands sharply, and the men shoulder each other out of the way to exit the room. The last closes the heavy steel door behind him, revealing a tiny window that looks out on a dimly lit hallway beyond.
"Hired hands, what do you expect?" Her mother smiles as if it's a private joke they've shared a thousand times over.
"Easier to bury the bodies when things inevitably go wrong, as if you'd have it any other way", Lena spits back. Lillian lets her head drop, suddenly disinterested in the train of thought.
"Lena, darling, I get how this looks, but I'm doing this for the both of us. You'll see one day, when we're legends, working side by side, keeping the world safe from harm. A family again."
The very thought makes Lena nauseous. "I will never stand by your side. Not if it means the countless innocent dead that I know it does. You can kill me, but the Luthor name will die with me, and you'll be absolutely, irrevocably, obsolete."
Normally, a statement such as this would earn her a vicious slap at the very least, but Lillian only tuts and lifts the syringe.
"Kill you? Oh darling, I'm here to save you. I didn't want to do this, but you've left me no choice. This is for your own good."
She steps forward, but Lena begins struggling in earnest, because whatever is in that syringe, she definitely does not want in her body.
"Wait! Wait, mother, stop. If that's truth serum, or a neurotoxin, or some other deadly poison, you know I'll fight it till the end. I'm a Luthor, you know I could twist every word into a riddle. You won't be able to trust anything I say or do. Tell me what you want, and maybe we can come to a compromise."
The acknowledgement of the Luthor name, if anything, is what gives Lillian pause. "The dispersal unit that got rid of the Daxamites. We will be building one", she says with utter confidence, without a trace of deception. That's what truly worries Lena. What has her so convinced she'll be able to get what she wants? That Lena will wholeheartedly contribute to the cause?
"I don't remember. I don't know, and I don't have the plans. They were destroyed in the chaos. Truth serum can't bring back knowledge I don't have, you know that." It's a last ditch effort, and she knows by the way Lillian, for a moment, looks truly disappointed, that she has said the wrong thing.
"And that's why I can't trust you", Lillian says, brandishing the syringe again. "Because no matter how you surround yourself with thoughtless hero types, you're a Luthor through and through. And Luthors never, ever, forget."
Lillian steps up and jams the syringe deep into her arm without preamble, compressing and tossing the plastic away without a second thought. Lena doesn't give her the satisfaction of a wince.
It's then her mother smiles again, reaching up to cup Lena's face. "We'll be family again", she whispers, suddenly kind, and gentle, and motherly. "You'll be the perfect daughter, and I'll be the mother you've always wanted. Doesn't that sound nice?"
Whatever this is, I can resist it. I can hold off. Supergirl- Kara, she'll come for me.
As if sensing her thoughts, Lillian digs her nails into Lena's skin to hold her attention. "No one is coming", she says, soothing but desperate. "You've driven her away with your hatred. She was right not to trust you, but you and your little feelings had to drive the point home. You betrayed her just as she did you, with your stupid, pointless bid to steal Myriad. She will never come to your aid again."
Cold begins to creep up her fingertips, itching and burning as if needles are running through her veins. Lillian leans in to hiss her victory in her ear.
"Luthors can trust no one but themselves, so insipid, foolish little girl. When will you learn?"
First person she sees, she remembers hearing, so she snaps her eyes shut and leans back, determined to ride through this wave of misery.
Her mother has other ideas, and an unexpected pain ripples through her cheek. She gasps, and her eyes fly open. There Lillian stands, smirking in satisfaction. The moment they make eye contact, the pain becomes ten times worse, biting through her skin and squeezing her heart in a vice grip.
It rushes through her like a flood, and everything just feels wrong, like she's been plucked out of her flesh and hung out to dry. She begins struggling against the straps again, this time because she knows, in absolute certainty, that something is wrong. Her skin must be peeling off her bones, she's exposed or bleeding or dying, everything is just simply wrong.
Her brain is in such pure agony that it doesn't notice that Lena's skin is as pale and untouched as always, save for the red beginning to form around her wrists from the chafing. It's then Lillian reaches out again, placing her hands around Lena's wrists.
"Careful darling, you'll hurt yourself."
Lena goes absolutely still at once, Lillian's hands spreading relief from their point of contact.
Her brain settles back into place, free and content and absolutely horrified. A nightmare of desperation and fear tumbles through her mind, and Lillian sees the understanding dawn on her at the same time it happens.
"The desire for connection." She smiles, all malice and no love. "Such a vicious little thing, no?"
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Her mother deftly removes the restraints, helping her onto the ground with gentler hands than she's ever known. She desperately wants to throw a punch and make a run for it, fight her way out if need be, but her body refuses to obey, still reeling from the aftershocks of the pain. It's these disobedient hands that clutch her mother like a lifeline, because while the pain has receded, little pinpricks of cold tingle around her feet and collarbone as if in wait.
Lena feels herself get pulled into an embrace that she's too exhausted to resist, and the feeling of wrongness is tucked further and further away. For the first time in decades, she is hugging her mother.
"Are you ready to get started?" Lillian says soothingly. In an instant, Kara's wounded eyes flash through her mind, trapped behind Kryptonite and begging for forgiveness. She had betrayed her best friend enough for a lifetime. No more.
"You'll never succeed. I will not help you terrorize the world", she manages through the fear. Lillian sighs.
"So be it."
Her mother shoves her backwards, and slips back behind the door. The moment she lets go, the pain comes rushing back as if it had never left, every part of her screaming to return to her mother. Mind-numbing pain floods through her system so fast that she chokes on her breath and falls to her knees, barely biting back a scream.
Through the haze, she hears her mother call through the door, "Rethink your decision, and let me know." Then she simply stands there, patient, watching through the window.
Fuck you, she wants to spit, harsh and jagged, the way they have made her feel.
"Please", is the broken little word that tumbles out, too small and weak and desperate to hold back.
At once, the door swings open and Lillian is there with open arms. Unconsciously, Lena trips forward into her mother's arms, and it's only when Lillian lifts a hand to wipe her cheek that she realizes she'd been crying.
Lillian smiles, a grotesque imitation of affection. "There, there, my darling daughter."
Lena follows her mother down the hallway, arms still around Lillian's waist and her mother patting her back like a child who'd had a nightmare. It's humiliating, infuriating, and exactly what Lillian had wanted.
They reach the lab, standing side by side in front of miscellaneous tech and parts. Lillian keeps an arm around her shoulder, but it's more possessive than for Lena's benefit.
"I know it's not as convenient to work needing to be attached to my side, but it's particularly effective for keeping you in line, don't you think?", she coos. Lena, practically shaking from helplessness and rage, stays silent.
"You can start", Lillian commands. "But I'd like you to know that we have the basic schematics, so I'll know if you stray. Do your best not to disappoint me again, will you?"
And so she does, because what other choice does she have? She recognizes the parts that will create the base structure of the machine, and begins piecing it together with shaking hands. Lena scrambles for an alternate plan all the while, but her efforts are hindered by Lillian pulling away whenever she slows, sending her body on red alert and scrambling back into the ironic safety of her mother's arms. Lillian enjoys the way Lena works with increased fervor after every jolt of pain.
After what seems like hours, Lena is fiddling with wires for as long as she can, when Lillian pulls away. Her body follows from pure muscle memory, but she realizes belatedly that she hadn't near blacked out from the pain for a good while now. It must be wearing off.
Feeling more secure now, she purposely connects a wrong wire, inwardly pumping a fist when Lillian doesn't notice anything amiss. She begins wrecking the machine as subtly as she can, following the basic structure but screwing plates in the wrong order and twisting wires into themselves. She's so focused on her new mission, however, the next time Lillian pulls away, she follows just a second too late. Lillian reaches out to yank her away from the machine by the back of her neck, glowering.
"Thought you were being clever, Lena?" She casts a look towards the security camera in the corner. "Undo everything she's done within the last 20 minutes. Log that the first dose was effective for roughly 4.5 hours."
Lena shoulders off her mothers hand, reveling in her freedom, and is about to revisit her plan of fighting her way out when two burly security men bust in and apprehend her like a common criminal, cuffing her hands behind her back.
"You should feel honoured that I've expended so much energy keeping you in line, Lena." Her mother taunts as she follows the procession down the hallway. She's secured back to the gurney within minutes, frustrated beyond all measure. She should have attempted to fight her way out before Lillian had noticed, she should have done more to derail the project, why hadn't she noticed earlier?
Lena's seething must be evident on her face, because Lillian looks more satisfied than ever. "Before your betrayal, you'd gotten roughly halfway through building the project, which is faster than we anticipated. You should be proud that your work is so important for such a worthy cause! Side by side, didn't I promise? We'll-"
Her gloating is interrupted by the panicked knocking of another lackey, who bursts into the room before permission, meaning it's a serious situation.
"Supergirl has been sighted heading in this direction at a record speed! We have to leave now."
Lillian's good mood vanishes in an instant. She had clearly thought their relationship was damaged beyond repair, that Kara would never come for her. Lena can't help but laugh, despite the rough backhand she receives in response. No matter their personal issues, Supergirl was here to save her. Kara still believed she was worth saving. She watches Lillian's rage dissolve into cold fury.
"Give me the next dose." Lena's blood runs cold, but not because of any lingering effects. Please, not again. Kara, help. She begs inwardly. She refuses to let her desperation show.
"It's too soon", the scientist cautions. "The nanites will flood her system, and the effects with be exponentially worse. Damage done from isolation may be permanent. I urge you to rethink this."
"That's the point", Lillian hisses. "Let's see those do-gooders try to take my daughter from me when she's absolutely begging to stay with me. And," She adds, casting a venomous glance at Lena, "let's see if they ever take her back."
Panicked shouts begin to sound from the hallway, and Lillian practically rips the second syringe from the scientist's grasp. In one swift movement, she injects the second dose into Lena's arm, simultaneously shoving the scientist behind the gurney to ensure that she is the only one in view. As of yet, Lena feels nothing but the impending doom, but thinks she might throw up.
Unable to free herself or avoid the incoming pain, she shuts her eyes, determined to look somewhere, anywhere, but her mother.
A split second before Lillian wrenches her head around to force her eyes open, a resounding slam has her eyes flying open against her will. The first thing she tracks is perfect blonde curls, flying through the air. And the acrid bile in her throat becomes something sweeter, more alluring, but somehow, exponentially more horrifying. Not this. Not now.
Blue eyes meet hers through the window of her cell, and Lena's mind whites out.
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Kara had never been so furious in her life, and with none other than herself. She had promised, sworn to Lena that she would be protected. And the moment they had gotten into a spat, Kara took the space to tend to her stupid little feelings and Lena had been abducted.
If only she'd put duty before her pride, and kept track of her former best friend.
It had taken just under a day to get ahold of a Cadmus agents, who (after a couple rounds of "interrogation") had revealed that a particular location was a lot more active than it used to be. It had taken Kara all but five seconds to change into her suit and blast off towards that address, Alex and a team of DEO agents following close behind in trucks.
The sound barrier echoes as she reaches the decrepit building in record time. A preliminary x-ray reveals the concentration of guards along one hallway, so that's where she makes a beeline for.
One particular room in that hallway is lead-lined; while she can't see inside, it's glaringly obvious where Lena is being held. She bursts into the hallway in a blur of red and blue, and notes with satisfaction that only two agents are holding Kryptonite guns.
Clearly, they had been expecting an onslaught from the DEO at the most, and were vastly underprepared for Supergirl herself. Before the Kryptonite can take hold, she grits her teeth and forces her arm past the guns to grab the men by their bulletproof vests, and hurls the whole deadly set straight out the door, to where she sees Alex pulling up.
She makes quick work of the rest, making sure none of the regular bullets make it past the door to where the DEO agents are, ready to apprehend the thugs.
Leaving behind a trail of unconscious Cadmus thugs, she takes the final attacker and slams him into the door, helmet hitting steel with a solid thud. She peeks her head through the window to ensure that 1) Lena is there, and 2) no one is waiting with a hearty chunk of Kryptonite
When she spots Lena, strapped to an upright gurney but overall not visibly worse for wear, she feels nothing but relief.
They lock eyes, and Kara offers a reassuring smile. In return, Lena begins screaming in absolute agony.