Chapter Text
“It’s been a minute,” Lena said loudly, standing over her meal for the night. Jacob Norse, thirty-seven, two counts of manslaughter and four counts of assault and battery. He had been hoping to add robbery and first-degree murder to those charges today - if Lena hadn’t been there to take the bullet, the clerk at the supermarket would be dead. “I almost thought you’d forgotten me. Sorry about the mess - just some Thanksgiving leftovers, I’m sure you understand.”
“You can’t keep doing this, Elnalu,” Kara says quietly. The vampire scoffed at the name, rolling her eyes. At least it wasn’t fucking Draculina. “You don’t need to kill these people.”
“I beg to differ. Gotta eat to live, gotta kill to eat. Besides, what would you have me do, hm? Throw on a cape and bring him to to the police?” she said, raising her arms to the side and laughing. “Not all of us have the benefit of being so appealing to humanity. Some of us are the monsters they tell children about. Look me in the eyes and tell me that if I was a hero like you, the police wouldn’t shoot me on the street.”
“You helped us against Parasite. He lived.”
“A matter of convenience, I assure you. He only lived because I wasn’t hungry enough to finish him.”
“You didn’t need to get involved at all, Elnalu. No one would have blamed you. But you did. You saved me.”
Lena smirked, fangs glinting under her half-mask. “Of course I had to help. If the other option was letting someone as pretty as you die? I couldn’t stand that. What a waste.”
Kara blinked, clearly not expecting that train of thought. She also clearly didn’t expect Lena to step closer, stepping over the cooling body of a man who deserved far worse. Supergirl stepped back until she touched the wall, blinking rapidly at the sudden change.
“You’re better than this,” the Kyrptonian said, trying to restart the conversation.
“I’m really, really not.” Lena stopped when she was barely a pace away from Kara, smirking under her mask. She watched the other woman try and fail to look away from her lips, try to keep her composure.
And fail, of course.
Lena inched closer, smiling softly, hearting the hero’s heartbeat pick up. Kara swallowed, and she followed the motion of it, the way it exposed her throat. Pale lines and muscle, smooth curves and a steady, heady pulse just under the skin.
Fuck, she wanted this, and she was pretty sure Kara wanted it too. They kept exchanging coy glances during lunches, kept extending hugs just that little bit too long. Playful banter was starting to sound more like flirting; time spent together was starting to feel more like dates. Where did the line between friend and lover end, and when could Lena jump across it?
Of course, Kara liked Lena. Supergirl and Draculina were enemies. Bitter rivals, even who kept getting into fights Lena was struggling not to enjoy. Violence was her love language, apparently, and there was something about a woman who could crush your ribs with a flick.
There was something else, about being able to pin that woman yourself.
The vampire pressed a hand to the wall, slipping it under Kara’s arm. “Was there something else?” she whispered, hissing through her teeth. “That you wanted from me.”
“N-no,” Kara stuttered, eyes wide. Lena hummed, looking up, knowing that the bare edges of her eyes could be seen under the mask, hints of red and hunger peeking through the black glass.
“I don’t think I believe you,” Lena whispered, breath hot across Kara’s neck as she leaned in. The Kryptonian woman shuddered, a tremor wracking her body as the other arm settled in, just above Kara’s shoulder, pinning her in place. “I saw the way you looked at me, you know. How much you enjoyed watching me drink from Kiya. Would you like to know what it feels like? I could show you, if you let me.
“Because... I want to know what you taste like, Kara. I think I told you, that first night, that you smelled delicious. I wasn’t joking then. I meant it - you smell like the greatest food I might ever taste. I want to get my lips on that pretty neck of yours so badly - I’ve had to restrain myself so much, each time you’re close to me. Can I, darling? Just a quick bite? It will only hurt a little, I promise -”
Both of their phones rang just seconds apart. Lena closed her eyes, and then stepped back with a groan, checking to see who it was.
It was a text from M’gann.
Her heart dropped.
---
Kiya looked peaceful; that was really all she had positive to say about it. Lena had closed her eyes shortly after pulling her from the bar, crossing her arms over her chest. She could have been asleep, if her heartbeat wasn’t missing.
She had family on Earth somewhere, a brother and an older sister who had fled the planet during a civil war. There would be - a funeral. One that she would have to make time to attend. Brevakkian funeral rights involved close friends and relatives to be the ones to bury - well.
Lena would be there, eventually. She had... business to attend to, first.
“I’m sorry,” Supergirl said, a hand on her shoulder. “Were you -”
“Friends? Yes. Close ones. We could have been more, but we both agreed we were- too busy. Kiya ran a support network for displaced aliens, and I - have other things. I considered it, actually. She told me about Brevakkian marriage rites once, the water ceremonies and - and. Well. Neither of us wanted it to be more serious than it was. But it could have been.”
Lena traced a hand across Kiya’s arm, now just as cool as her own skin. She breathed in, slowly, then out. Kiya had known who she was, and loved her despite it, even if that love hadn’t been strong enough to make into anything else. They had been casual. A bit of stress relief for the two of them. But it still hurt, because someone she loved was just gone forever and there was no bringing her back.
She breathed out her sorrow.
She breathed in rage.
“If you’ll excuse me, Supergirl,” she said quietly, her dead heart full of anger. “I have something I need to do.”
“Don’t do anything rash. Please,” Kara whispered, raising her arms as if to embrace Lena. She dodged it, ignoring how much she wanted to be held at this moment and focusing on her fury.
Lena laughed, a hollow sound. “Oh, there’s nothing rash about what I plan to do. This has been a long time coming.”
“You can do good, Eln-”
“Don’t use that name. Please.”
Kara blinked, pausing, then nodded once. Not understanding but accepting. Fuck, she was too good for her. “You’re better than this. You can make the world better without needing to kill.”
Lena shook her head, denying her attempts at peace. “I tried that, Kara. I spent years, trying to do that. Buried my head in the sand and convinced myself that if I was better than the others, I could carry them into a brighter tomorrow with me. But that doesn’t work. Someone will always be there to tear down what you make, or worse, turn it into a weapon for their own ends.”
“I can’t believe that,” Kara whispered.
“Look around you, Supergirl. Look. Grieving families, lost friends, a safe place turned into a nightmare. This is what happens when you try to be good in a world that only understands power.”
They stared at the pavement, the city street, the empty expanse in front of Al’s. Lena remembered this place fondly; and now it was gone. Oh, Al’s would reopen in time, but she wouldn’t be able to go, not with the ghosts of friends hanging over it. So many people would never be able to return, and not a few of those because they were cold and still on the road.
A woman cried, cradling a friend in her arms. A man stood silently over two still figures, blankets drawn over their heads. M’gann slumped against the wall, tears running down her face as her life fell apart in front of her. Lena herself clasped the hand of a dead woman who she could have loved, if she gave herself the chance.
“Do you want to know why I kill, Kara? I didn’t at the start. Half measures were good enough - scare a man, tie him up, give him a lesson to think about. It didn’t work. Not enough evidence, bail, whatever - I beat a man who was abusing his kids one day, handed him to the cops. Came back two months later to find out that he was doing it again. Didn’t see a jail cell, barely saw a court room. Next time, I broke his legs. Four months later, I killed him.
“It wasn’t just him - I could tell you story after story, of people who weren’t punished as much as they deserved, and went on to continue what they were doing. Rapists, abusers, murderers, arsonists - the list just goes on, and second chances kept becoming thirds. Every time I let someone go, I had to wait until they hurt someone else before I could stop them. People don’t change, not without being forced to, and I can’t force that amount of pressure. I’m just one woman”
Lena looked up, letting go of Kiya’s hand. “If you want to make the world a better place, it’s not enough to just be better than everyone else. Good doesn’t outweigh evil, it just covers it up. To make the world better, you have to find the people who want to make it worse - and take them out of it.”
She was gone before Kara had time to answer.
It was time for a family reunion.
---
Kara beat her to the docks, of course. It turned out Lillian still had hooks in L-corp, despite claiming she was going to distance herself from the company - her mother, having issues with control? Who could have possibly guessed. It had been child’s play to track the isotopes, once she figured out where they had been taken from. And, of course, who had helped them.
Suffice to say that her company would be undergoing some spring cleaning, once she was done here.
Lena perched atop a shipping container, grimacing at the display below. She hadn’t seen her mother in years at this point - part of her still wanted to be down there, to earn her approval any way possible, any means possible. A little girl, desperate for a family, hanging off of every word that Lillian said.
The rest of her wanted to be down there for other reasons. More violent reasons. She wanted to find out if Lillian had a heart the hard way.
But she wasn’t alone. No, Lillian had backup. John Corban - or ‘Metallo,’ because of course every jumped up cyborg her mother made needed a special name - and Hank Henshaw flanked Lillian. Those weren’t an issue, Kara had beaten them before, she was certain she could beat them again. It was the other guards who worried her. There were a half dozen of them, clad in faceless black armor, hands by their sides.
They didn’t have heartbeats.
Naughty, naughty, mother. Breaking promises so easily.
Kara and her little squad of heroes were putting up their best effort against the cyborgs, but the vampires had yet to interfere, guarding Lillian without moving, breathing, not even so much as glancing at the fighting. They may as well be statues, with how little they moved, not even pretending at humanity. Perfect little corpses, waiting for orders.
Lena wondered if her mother could even consider the irony of it all, or if that was just another thing she had ignored in the name of ‘saving mankind.’
The dispensing agent for the Medusa virus was still powering up, but they didn’t have time, and the D.E.O. and friends were barely making any headway.
Fuck, this was going to blow up in her face. Lena grimaced, detaching the bottom half of mask and tossing it to the side with a clatter. Lillian looked up at the noise, but she was too slow.
She dropped on top of one of the vampire guards, fangs-first. Stale blood filled her mouth, and she spat it out with a groan, snapping his neck like styrofoam. It wouldn’t kill him, but healing would take time.
Lillian jumped back, fear and anger filling her eyes. “You!” her mother cried out, and in that moment Lena realized how big a mistake she had made.
Scaring Lillian hadn’t changed her, and it certainly hadn’t made her consider new tactics. It had just given her more fuel, more hate, more fear to work with. Lillian stared at Lena with unbridled, undisguised hate, a fire that had been burning since that night Lena flew through her window.
Lena had forgotten about Lillian, stopped thinking about her, put her aside. Her mother clearly hadn’t. She had spent the last two years thinking about that night endlessly, reliving it, running from it. It was probably the most Lillian had thought about her daughter since the day she had been adopted.
“Kill her!” her mother screamed, rage pouring out of her in an angry howl.
The guards burst into action, fangs visible under the visors of their helmets as they lunged. Five of them sprinted for her, prowling like wolves on the hunt, saliva dripping from their fangs as they charged. The sixth, larger than the rest by far, remained statue still by her mother’s side, not bothering to move.
Lena grimaced, kicking one out of her way, grinning at the sickening crack as it slammed back-first into a metal beam. Things broke - not the beam. She grabbed a punching fist, pulling and twisting until the arm snapped, and then soared in the sky to dodge the rest. It appeared that mother dearest hadn’t perfected the formula - the vampires jumped up containers to follow her, unable to fly.
Hm. She could work with that.
“Biomax, restraints to fifty percent,” she called, then flew back down.
The first vampire disintegrated as she hit it, limbs flying to the sides as she scattered him like a pile of twigs.
They were weaker than her. Good to know.
Lena smiled with a mouth full of fangs, and leapt into the fray. Bones snapped. Flesh tore. Blood sprayed.
She lived for it. A punch to the chest came out a man’s back; a kick broke a spine; a stomp crushed a skull. They were inferior. USELESS. Worthless copies, not fit to share the same air as her much less blood -
A fist caught her in the back, and she stumbled, grimacing. She turned just in time for a metal fist to hit her cheek hard enough to send teeth flying. Lena growled angrily, looking up to see the sixth guard, the right side of her mask shattered, revealing her blood-red eyes.
He was, like her, part machine; but Lillian had clearly gone for cruder methods. His skin was broken from where he had hit her, revealing metal knuckles beneath the rapidly-healing cut.
Right. Because of course Lillian wouldn’t have made a cyborg whenever possible.
“Do you like my work, Lena?” Lillian called, smiling. “It took quite some time to come back, after how far you knocked us down, but we did it. Crawled our way back up, and now you see the results.”
Lena ducked a quick punch from the cyborg, but couldn’t dodge the next one - the man had arms like pistons, lashing out too rapidly for her to dodge them all and hitting like a truck when they connected. The next blow took her in the shoulder, dislocating the arm, and she had to float away. A back-handed strike beheaded a vampire that jumped at her, and she clicked her tongue as the body fell in two pieces to the ground. Jamming the arm back into the socket hurt, but not nearly as bad as dying would.
“Forgive me if I’m not impressed, mother,” Lena hissed, landing on a crane nearby. “You never understood the value of quality over quantity.”
The cyborg didn’t move towards her, instead falling back to guard Lillian. On the ground below, the five fledglings were healing - limbs were reattached if not regrown, heads pressed to sluggishly bleeding stumps, eyes being reborn from sockets. She could keep putting them down, but without fire, they would just keep getting back up, over and over again.
Fuck, she had to do something. They were running low on time -
“Mother?” a voice said nearby. Lena turned from atop the crane she was perched on, locking eyes with Kara, who frowned at her. She could see the moment when the Kryptonian recognized her, now that the mask was broken. “Lena?” the woman whispered, aghast.
Lena groaned softly, pulling off the rest of the mask and throwing it, before tilting her head to the side and smiling at Kara. “Good to see you, Kara.”
Her friend blinked, looking Lena up and down, and then shoved it all away. It was a familiar sight, rage and grief and betrayal forcing themselves down - the same way Lena was used to doing it, time and time again. “We’ll deal with this - later. And we will be dealing with this.”
“Understood, Supergirl,” Lena said, nodding once. “We’re going to need fire.”
“Fire?”
“Open flame is the only thing that can put us down. Vampires, that is. There’s an oil tanker down the line on the docks - I saw it on my way in. I can hold them off if you can find a way to get it here.”
Kara nodded, then vanished, moving faster than Lena could track. That was - good. Lena needed her out of the area, for what came next.
Behind her, Martian Manhunter, Guardian, and Mon-El clashed with the cyborgs. In front of her, her mother stood with a feral grin. And behind her mother, the death of thousands waited, whirring up slowly to release its payload.
Lena didn’t have time to put them all down and then deal with the Medusa virus; it was time for something truly drastic.
“Biomax. Restraints to zero percent. Engage overdrive.”
The nanites bonded to her blood stopped resisting the impulses, and started assisting them. Her blood boiled, as a familiar heat started to rise in her body - a burning pain she had felt once and only once, as her blood roared in her veins, cooking her under the skin. Fury became her everything, a white hot inferno that was eating her alive, singing as Biomax burnt itself out of her system to fuel the storm inside her.
She killed.
A limb was thrust at her face. Teeth bit into it, tore it, spat it out. A hand hit her ribs. She grabbed it, ripped it off. Her leg lashed out, breaking bones. She leapt forward on all fours, following the body, biting it. Blood sprayed, but it was cold, too cold, she need it fresh warm hot more.
Metal and flesh advanced, arms swinging. She jumped dodged grabbed pulled twisted. A punch hit her in the side, forcing stale blood out of her mouth, and she hissed angrily. Her blood! He couldn’t take it, it was hers, hers only. Steel groaned as she ripped a fence post from the ground, swinging it overhead, slamming it into an upraised arm. The arm bent backwards, the man howling.
She swung down again, blood splattering over face, flesh tearing, skin ripping. She did it again. Again. Again. Again -
A foot caught her in the chest and she went flying back, catching herself in the air, roaring as bones re-knit themselves and flesh mended.
Rage was everything. Hunger and desire and anger mixed into a heady cocktail of emotions, until she could swear she heard her cold, withered heart beating in her chest.
She had - something. A thing she needed to do.
Blood sang to her below, and the saw the woman with golden hair returning, carrying the stink of metal and chemicals. Those smells were useless. Unimportant.
The woman - she smelled. Like everything.
The vampire lept.
The golden woman said things. They weren’t important. Noises words screams food doesn’t talk, the metal thing rolling on the ground forgotten as the woman defended herself. Someone laughed in the distance, worthless words, meaningless, unimportant.
She smelled so good. She needed it, needed to taste it, have it, feel it pouring down her throat on her tongue between her teeth -
No
Lena - that was her. Right? She had something - something she needed to do. She shook her head, snarling, clawing at the side of her face. What was it - what did she need -
Stop the disease
Anger pooled in her gut as she remembered it. Something - had taken away someone. Someone who was important? Food who was not food, blood given but not taken. Lena remembered tears that wouldn’t come, a grieving heart that wouldn’t beat.
She turned around, and spotted her mother, alone, the cyborg too damaged to move. Steel didn’t heal, after all.
Lillian’s eyes widened. Lena smiled wide, and pounced -
A hand caught her by the wrist, stopping her. The gold woman said more things, but she didn’t need those, Lillian needed to die trusted you loved you took her away from me why why why WHY WONT YOU LOVE ME -
Another hand grabbed her, holding her under the armpits, locking her in place. Lena snarled angrily, watched as the green thing destroyed the device, but who cared about the device. Blood sang, fear rose, as the woman who dared to call herself mother collapsed on the ground. A corpse who didn’t know the love of death yet.
The hands turned her around. Blue eyes met red. The golden woman said more things, then let her go.
Lena grabbed her by the hair and pulled her close, because how couldn’t she? It was right there, something she had wanted for so long, needed for so long, something that sang to her every day. A smell like perfection and beauty and love -
Her fangs stopped an inch from the exposed throat. The golden woman raised her hands, saying something, and Lena growled as the green man and metal-suited one stepped back.
A heart beat under her fangs. Blood rushed. Just an inch more and she could taste it, finally. Know what it was. Know how Kara tasted -
Hands wrapped around her, holding her close. The golden woman whispered something to her, quiet, soft, forgiving.
Not like this.
Her hand went to her jacket, pulling out a gunmetal gray injector. She jammed it into her arm, groaning as new nanites flooded her system, rushing into her bloodstream and bonding with the curse she carried.
“Restraints to one hundred,” Lena gasped, and fell away. She dry heaved on the concrete floor, crawling on her hands and knees away from Kara, gagging on the guilt of it all. She had almost - taken, not given. She couldn’t do that. Not to her friend. Not to Kara.
“Fuck,” she retched out from between heaves. “Never - doing that again. Shit.” Lena looked up with lidded eyes, and met Lillian’s fearful glance, just a few feet away.
Right. The Medusa dispersal agent had been destroyed - J’onn had taken care of it, she thought? She looked up, watching. Metallo was restrained, Henshaw was missing his lower half, slowly crawling forward with his arms but too weak to do anything but rage. Six burning bodies littered the docks, campfires with ample kindling.
She grimaced at the smell of dead flesh burning. Fuck, that had almost been her. It should have been her, to be honest. Kara had stopped Guardian from burning her too - she shouldn’t have. It wasn’t safe, why the hell did she trust Lena so much? Lena had almost killed Kara, what was wrong with her, how could she -
Her suit was in tatters, of course, hanging off of her like rags. Lena cleared her throat, not looking behind her, not willing to see what expression Kara would have on her face.
Fuck.
Lena stepped forward, towards Lillian. Her mother crawled back on her hands and knees, and a dark part of Lena was intensely pleased by the fear. The rest of her just felt... numb. She raised a hand up, aiming to plunge it into Lillian’s ribcage and end this once and for all -
“Don’t, Lena,” Kara said quietly. She froze, still not turning around. “You’re better than this. I know you are. You know you are. This is how we make the world better, by being better.”
“Do you really think she deserves to live? After everything? Her plan was world-wide genocide. You, your cousin, my friends - millions of people would die today. Millions. Murder on a world-wide scale that you cannot comprehend. The bodies would line the street and you want me to stop because I should be better?!”
“I want you to stop because killing her would make you worse.”
Lena finally turned around, meeting the compassionate blue with livid red“She killed Kiya!”
“Yes. She did. And she deserves to face justice for that. She wont find it here. Not by your hands. Killing her here will just make you a monster and her a martyr. She needs to stand trial for what she did - so the world can see what happens, to people like her. Not die silently, by the hand of her daughter.”
Kara’s expression was open, kind, calm. Lena hated it. She didn’t deserve kindness. Not after what she almost did. Not after -
She curled her hand into a fist, and everyone startled as she slammed it into the concrete hard enough to shatter it. Lena sighed. “You had better lock her up somewhere I can’t find her, in case I change my mind,” she said, before flying away.
Lena needed to go home.
---
The ball tensed in her hand. She had to be careful not to squeeze it too hard, to avoid popping it like the last six. Lena hummed, then threw it hard at the far wall, calculating angles and forces in her head. It bounced up, off the ceiling, then the wall behind her, and then straight at her head. She caught it without looking, squeezing it, and then throwing it again. Bounce-bounce-bounce-catch.
She didn’t have enough alcohol in the penthouse to get her drunk tonight. Fuck, she missed Al’s - she needed something stiff and inhuman, strong enough to send her into a stupor. To forget. But Al’s was still closed and hunting down a bottle of Alderian would take too long, mean she would need to leave the fucking apartment and -
Kara was out there, somewhere.
Lena threw the ball, snarling as it bounced bounced bounced caught.
She had almost killed Kara, almost torn her fucking throat out and reveled in it, and - that couldn’t happen. Kara meant to much, she was her only friend, the only person who had ever cared for Lena because she was Lena and not Luthor. She deserved a better friend than Lena could give her.
Bounce-bounce-bounce-catch.
Lena was a monster. Barely better than her mother, honestly. Lillian had killed a few dozen the other day, but hadn’t Lena killed far more by now, deluding herself into thinking it was okay because, what? They deserved it? She had reveled in the idea of it back then, the justice of it all, but she was beginning to worry it had all been an excuse. That Lena was just hungry, and justified her actions in the afterglow.
And now Kara knew. Everything was ruined.
Some friend she was.
The ball bounced bounced - caught.
Lena breathed in, sighing, and smelled a scent that had almost driven her mad, a heartbeat she had memorized. “Kara.”
“Lena. I let myself in - I still have the key. Hope that wasn’t, ah, trespassing.”
She turned, eyeing the blonde as she sat upright in the couch. Kara was staring at the rubber ball, humming appreciatively, still wearing her supergirl costume. “Y’know, a tennis match between the two of us would be fun, I think. We’d go through balls like nobodies business, though.”
Lena scoffed. “You’re faster than I am. Wouldn’t be much of a showing.”
“Not by too much. And you turn quicker than I do, reorient yourself faster on the ground. It would be a closer match than you’d think, honestly.”
“You didn’t show up here to invite me to a game of super-tennis, Kara, get on with it.”
Her friend - hopefully - frowned, sitting down in the chair across from her. “Get on with what?”
“The lecture. You know. Lying, keeping secrets, being a murdering vampire. I assume you have questions, concerns. Is there a shiny new D.E.O. containment cell with my name on it somewhere?”
“I wouldn’t let them do that to you.”
“Forgive me if I don’t put my trust in your better nature, Kara.”
“Why not? I put my trust in yours, and you didn’t let me down.”
Lena sat up in her seat abruptly, patting down her legs, suddenly feeling vulnerable in sweatpants and a hoodie. Comfort clothes were important, but she felt underdressed, under prepared for whatever... whatever this was. She never realized how much like armor her suits felt until she had been caught outside of one. “I’m not a good person, Kara.”
“I beg to differ. I looked up a few things - this ‘Biomax’ thing you were talking about. Nanites meant to end all diseases, cure cancer, save the world? Sounds pretty good to me. Bad people don’t usually do things like that.”
“Did your research tell you I stole the technology to bind it to vampire blood, in order to perfect the disease to my own ends? Walked out on my business partner and boyfriend, stealing what he had spent years working on to my own ends?”
“Was that the plan the whole time?” Kara’s smile was kind. Cleansing. Pure.
So much more than Lena deserved.
Lena leaned forward on the couch, turning away, unable to meet those blue eyes. “No. I - it’s funny. I called it ‘Drac,’ back in the day. Some vampire blood my mother showed up with, asked me to ‘stabilize.’ I thought it might be the missing key, the way to make Biomax finally work as it should. But it was only ever a weapon. That was all Lillian wanted it to be, though. I think she knew I perfected it... I never could lie to her.”
“So what did you do?” Kara asked, head tilting to the side.
The vampire laughed. “I destroyed it. Years of work, records of experiments, samples, test subjects... burnt it all, except a single vial. I was so close, you see. I almost had it all. The tests on rodents all failed, but I had an idea that it just needed... the right host. And so...”
“You tested it on yourself.”
“Mhm. And here I am. Stronger than anything my mother could make, more stable, more intelligent. Vampirism, perfected. We’ve existed for a long, long time, you know - Vampires. It’s not alien in origin, I don’t think - we’re frightfully human. I spent a while wandering the world, looking for others like me, but every one I’ve met has been... vile. I think I might be the only vampire to retain her humanity,” She chuckled bitterly, squeezing her hands together. “And look what I’ve done with it.”
“Made tools to protect humans and aliens alike? Helped me save lives, the lives of innocents, the lives of my friends? Saved the lives of your own friends too? Lena, you did an incredible thing tonight, not just what you did, but what you didn’t do.”
Lena frowned, fangs digging into her lip. “I’ve ended lives, too. I told you. Judge. Jury. Executioner. I don’t regret it.”
“Are you going to keep doing it?”
“Are you going to stop me? You know how, now. I’ve got matches, a bit of one-forty proof. We could have a bonfire right here. I wouldn’t blame you.”
Kara recoiled, leaning back in her chair. “No, Lena, I’m not - not going to fucking kill you. You’re my friend. I care for you.” Lena looked up, meeting her eyes, red to blue. “But if you keep killing - I’m going to have to stop you. I don’t want to. But I also know I don’t have to.”
Lena sat back, sighing, wishing more than ever that she could just fucking cry. Let it out, be done with it. Move on. “I’m a monster, Kara.”
“You’re a Luthor, it was implied,” Kara said, smirking. “But you don’t need to be. I know you can be better. I trust you.”
“I almost fucking killed you, Kara,” Lena whispered. “I had my teeth to your fucking throat and we both know I was too far gone to stop if I started.”
“Because I’m delicious, right.”
“You have no fucking idea,” the vampire said, eyes closed as she leaned back. “God, it’s so fucking hard, sometimes. The other night, in the alleyway - I was so close to just. Giving in.”
“Would you have killed me then?”
“Of course not, fuck. I was in control, then. But I wasn’t tonight. And I might not be. Biomax could fail at any moment, and even if it does, I still feel the urges, still feel -”
Something settled on her lap, warm and hot. Lena opened her eyes wide, meeting a coy blue gaze. Kara grinned, a small, shy expression.
“Can I tell you a secret?” the Kryptonian whispered. Lena nodded dumbly, as her friend settled in, straddling her lap. “I’ve want you to bite me since that night at Al’s. And I’ve wanted you to kiss me since the day I fucking met you. So maybe... maybe we can save all this talk for ‘if’s’ and ‘maybes’ for later, and just... Give in to the urges for once? I feel like I’ve earned it.”
Lena could feel her fangs extending outwards, as Kara leaned back, pulling her hair to the side, exposing pale skin and a heady, thrumming pulse.
“Your eyes are haunting,” Kara whispered. “Beautiful, of course, but they make me feel. I don’t know, judged? Like you spend every moment thinking about what I taste like. It’s both thrilling and terrifying.”
“You should leave,” Lena whispered. “I don’t trust myself around you. I can’t, not anymore.”
“I trust you,” kara whispered, leaning forward, pressing her forehead to Lena’s. “Let go, Lena.”
She did.
The couch groaned as she flipped them, slamming Kara into it with enough force to push the whole thing two feet back, skidding on the linoleum. Kara barely had time to gasp in surprise before Lena was on her, lips locking to the Kryptonian’s, hungry. Devouring.
“The most perfect - fucking thing-” Lena said between kisses, tongue questing hungrily, scraping behind Kara’s teeth, the roof of her mouth, forcing the woman back.
“Oh, fuck, fuck, yes,” Kara hissed, hands coming to rest on the couch, letting Lena have her way. It wasn’t enough - she didn’t just need to be given control, she needed to take it. One hand came up, grabbing the Kryptonian by the wrists, yanking them above Kara’s head and holding them there with bruising force. The other hand snaked down between the two of them, running over blue and red fabric until it reached the juncture between Kara’s legs, pressing down and grinding.
“Oh my fucking god, you are divine,” Lena groaned, biting on Kara’s lip, feeling the flesh part under her fangs, and finally tasting. Kara sighed, hands straining against her grip, but Lena was in control right now and Kara didn’t get to move until the vampire was done with her.
Blood, rich and red, slid over her tongue. Just a drop, a taste, a tease, but enough to make Lena realize she had been wrong this whole time. Kara didn’t taste as good as she smelled - she tasted so much fucking better.
“I, am going, to fucking, devour you,” she hissed, lapping at the cut lip, suckling on it until the red ceased to flow. She ground her palm down between them, humming as the hero’s hips jerked, feeling the fabric grow hot and warm with her arousal.
“Please,” Kara whimpered, as Lena’s hands roamed freely, tracing warm skin and muscle, feeling a heartbeat pound under the fibers of the costume, their lips just a fraction of an inch away from each other, air dancing over Lena’s tongue. “Don’t you dare fucking stop, Luthor -”
“Shhh,” Lena whispered into Kara’s mouth, leaning forward for another bruising, searing kiss.
Kara trusted her. Wanted her. Needed her. That meant - so fucking much, right now. More than she could stand.
Lena didn’t give her a warning; she just broke the kiss off, tilted Kara’s head to the side, and then bit. There was resistance, of course, but not as much as there should have been. Skin parted over her fangs and blood rushed onto her tongue and -
They moaned in concert, Lena’s grip fading from the sheer ecstasy of it. Kara’s hands came down, but instead of pulling Lena away she pulled her closer, tugging her deeper as she shook.
“Oh fuck, fuck, please -” Kara whispered, hands pawing at Lena’s back, grabbing with strength that Lena ignored easily. Nails dug into her back under the sweatshirt, cutting through fabric and into skin, leaving behind scratches that healed themselves as they were made.
She tasted like heaven. Like hope. Like home and love and trust and Kara.
“Lena!” she cried, shaking in the throes of it all, pain and pleasure mixing to a high that neither of them wanted to end. The vampire grabbed increased the pace of her grinding, the heel of her palm pressing down harshly. The other hand came to rest on Kara’s shoulder, the both of them pulling each other closer, unwilling to let go.
But she did, eventually. Kara had more to give than Lena was willing to take, but that was no excuse for indulging. Lena pulled back after a few seconds, watching as a thin line of blood ran down Kara’s neck, then slowly licked the crimson off and the wound closed. Kara panted, gasping, and they locked eyes as Lena sat up, licking her lips.
“Was that - all?” Kara said, still quivering.
Lena smiled wickedly. “Of course not. I’m far from done with you, Danvers. Get out of that costume and get the fuck in my room.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
---
M’gann rolled her eyes as she walked by, setting two glasses of Alderian rum on the bar. Everyone had turned out to watch the court proceedings, jeering and scowling at the television as Lillian Luthor was tried, finally. It had taken three years to get it to this point, but it was some much needed closure that the community had desperately needed.
It was good, to see the crowd coming back together. The bar had a happy atmosphere even, people joking, a song playing on the jukebox. The business had almost collapsed, right after the attack, but Al’s had recovered with the help of an anonymous donor, growing in floor size and clientele size.
No one knew who had given away such a large sum. No one had come forward, at least. M’gann still gave Lena free drinks. Just in case.
“Keep it PG, guys,” she reminded the happy couple. Kara pouted, looking up from where she had buried her face in Lena’s neck, looking absolutely adorable. She was such a lightweight, honestly. Strongest woman alive, weakest tolerance known to Earth.
“Spoilsport,” she muttered, throwing back her drink. “What do you say, babe? Should we go somewhere else?”
Lena hummed, turning to the side to reveal a remarkably impressive hickey on her neck, even if it was already fading. She stared over the crowd, unmasked, smiling to people as they shot her knowing waves. Al’s felt like home, these days. It was good, to finally belong somewhere.
On the screen, Lillian Luthor was being tried for attempted genocide and illegal experimentation. The outcome wasn’t really in doubt - no one entertained the thought that she might get away with the crimes she committed, not with Lillian’s own testimony against her. It had just taken a while to get here. Money could only buy you so much time, before justice came knocking.
Lena considered the question, thinking on it. She didn’t really need to be here for this, honestly. They could watch this from home, or maybe just record it for later - or just ignore it all. Who cared? Lena had far more important things to worry about than Lillian Luthor. Currently, her biggest concern was if she could bite Kara soon enough to double-dip on the rum.
“With you, babe? Anywhere,” Lena said softly, squeezing Kara’s hand. Their fingers tangled together as the Kryptonian stood unsteadily, rings pressing together and glinting under the dim lights.
Lena flew her wife home, and she did in fact manage to find the last bits of rum in Kara’s bloodstream. Kara expressed her approval, loudly.
It was a pretty good night to be dead, all things considered.