Lena had loved being a Luthor.
It was fun.
Once upon a time.
Perhaps Lex had always known he would be destined for criminality when he insisted Lena learn to protect herself despite them both being so young.
"No matter how much I may want to, I will never be able to fully protect you. We will be feared. We will be hated. We will be a force to be reckoned with. You must protect yourself above all. From everything. From everyone. Including myself."
Imagine having to assess such dark statements as a newly adopted four year old even if she did possess a genius IQ.
A few weeks after adjusting into life at her new home, Lena was given a Martial Arts instructor at the insistence of Lex. One of many she would acquire in her life.
Although she never wanted to fight, learning was her Kryptonite, even at an early age. No matter how many times her little frame was knocked down on her back while trying to grasp a new technique, she always got right back up and thirsted for more while keeping Lex's warning in mind.
Her home life was tumultuous to say the least. Between constant threats of being sent away by Lillian, who made her disdain for Lena abundant and blatantly clear, Lionel treating her like a princess whenever he was home from his exaggeratedly long and frequent business trips and Lex with his constant mood swings, she focused on her studies and training while trying exceptionally hard to make herself as scarce as possible.
A few short years later, Lionel was dead, Lillian, never having loved her, delivered on her threats and sent her away while Lex slowly went mad. That's when Lena knew, that once she got away, she had to stay away.
Growing up under the shadow of an intimidating, deranged and paranoid older brother with the proclivity for annihilation and destruction made her a target of two constant things; fear by association or guilty in the dealings of his activities.
It didn't matter the distance that was put between them, Lex's crimes always caught up to her. She could be halfway across the world at school or on an impromptu trip and still the knocking on her door was routine; either government agents searching for information, reporters dying for an inside scoop and one on one interviews or families of his latest victims demanding a pound of flesh for his sins.
In those few instances where families came to enact justice, she was appreciative for Lex's paranoia. She was able to fend off every attack with minimum damage to herself. A split lip here, a broken nose there, but still her teachings made her victorious. But those few bumps and bruises made her throw herself deeper into more fighting skills making sure to never get close to defeat again.
But it wasn't always bad.
Being a Luthor made it easy for her to get out of trouble at school. She couldn't count the times as a teen she had used the fear the Luthor name evoked to get herself out of precarious situations. From being caught smoking pot inside her dorm room during her rebellious years and threatening the unlimited funding the institution gained from her family if they dared run back to Lillian with the information to scaring away once lovers who overstayed their welcome, being a Luthor at one point did have it's perks.
But that was a million years ago.
Before she opened her eyes to see all that was truly happening beneath the surface.
Before she realized she had found herself friendless, loveless and completely alone. All because of the fear her last name carried around with it.
Now, however, being a Luthor was merely a terrible inconvenience.
Lena had spent the four years after graduating from University extremely early trying to separate herself from her malevolent family. Four years had been reduced to nothing in a matter of hours.
Imagine the surprise Lionel's attorney took after he called the heir to the Luthor fortune in for an emergency meeting to discuss important matters and finding a heavily pierced, leather wearing, motorcycle riding, purple highlights having woman blowing bubbles with her gum sitting in his chair with her muddy riding boots crossed on top of his expensive desk. She was not what he had expected in the least. She was never what anyone had expected.
At the office, she was informed that Lex had been arrested, charged and sentenced to thirty two consecutive life sentences in a maximum security prison for the destruction his madness and hate for alien life had lead him to on his personal crusade to eradicate Superman; killing and terrorizing innocent civilians in his path. Her heart ached for his victims.
Lillian had stepped down from her position at Luthor Corp after Lex's arrest and went into hiding. She was perfectly content with never seeing mother dearest ever again.
All that was left was Lena.
She was now the CEO of Luthor Corp and executor of Lionel's estate. The life she made for herself was expected to stop existing as she assumed the new role her father intended for her brother, but the line of succession named her full heir of everything he built. He had left her several hundred millions in his will to lead a comfortable life, but now with the swipe of a pen, she became a multi-billionaire.
Unfortunately, everything she had established for herself was coming to an abrupt halt. Her cancer research had to take a momentary backseat for she rarely trusted and in this case she trusted no one to run her father's empire, but herself. She would have to leave her penthouse in Metropolis for yet another in National City; uprooting herself like she's done a million times before.
After leaving the attorney's office, she sped down the streets of Metropolis with one prominent thought plaguing her mind.
How the fuck am I going to break this news to Maggie?