A/N: Thanks again for the favs and follows.
Also a massive thanks to the review writers - I promise I will answer them as soon as I can. Unfortunately I'm dealing with some health issues at the moment, so it might take a couple of days.
Anyway...here is the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Ps.: Would anyone be interested in an AU Supercorp fic? And when I say AU I mean really, really AU. Just wondering...'cause I might have some idea, but not sure it's worth considering.
BE YOUR OWN HERO
3 – Every hero has a weakness
J'onn was talking to one of his agents while Alex eyed Supergirl, who seemed utterly defeated.
"We'll figure something out. Cadmus won't win", she tried to cheer Supergirl up, but the hero's thoughts seemed to be miles away once again.
"Kara, what's going on?" Alex asked with growing worry as she witnessed her sister's face falling even more, "No matter what it is...you can tell me...and we'll figure something out."
She looked at Alex then, still as conflicted as she had been the day before, but ultimately Kara decided she needed to talk to someone as the current situation was weighing heavy on her heart, "It's...Lena."
"Luthor?" Alex eyes went wide immediately, "What did she do?"
Kara shook her head, "Nothing. She didn't do anything...she's one of the good ones, remember?"
"I read your article."
"She hasn't done anything. At least she has done nothing wrong...I let her down...as Kara...and as Supergirl", Kara dropped her head, "And now she's...all alone. She sent her own mother to jail...Alex, she has no one left!"
Alex sighed at the distraught sight of her sister, "I get that you're upset...and I guess I even understand why you feel guilty, but you had no choice, Kara...it was for the greater..."
"I know!" Kara snapped, but calmed down before she continued talking. Alex was not at fault, she didn't deserve her anger, "I know. But she's my friend, Alex. She is my friend and she trusted me. I've babbled out to so many people that I'm Supergirl...'cause we both know I'm not very...well...subtle. But let's face it...if someone would have deserved to know the truth...it's Lena."
Alex expression turned from surprised to horrified within a second, "You can't be serious, Kara. I know you care about Lena, but you can't be considering revealing your secret to a Luthor. After everything this family..."
"I won't tell her", Kara stated firmly, "Because Lillian already knows too much...I was foolish enough to tell her that Lena and I are friends...and we all know that that woman wants me as far away from her daughter as possible...God knows to what lengths that woman, in jail or not, would go...to find out my true identity...everyone, who knows who I am...is in a constant state of danger...I don't want that for Lena."
Alex raised her hand, "Whoa. Now hold on...you are not telling her to protect her?!"
Kara looked at her sister in confusion, "Of course. Why else would I keep this secret from my friend?"
She moved her hand through her hair in an attempt to calm her nerves and to find a proper reply to Supergirl's question, but Alex came up empty, "Well...how about keeping it a secret to protect yourself?"
Even Alex knew that the question was lame and after everything that had happened at the docks she probably should give Lena Luthor the benefit of the doubt. Maybe.
That didn't mean she had to stop being wary, right?
"Lena wouldn't hurt me."
The statement was so simple, but Kara sounded so confident all of a sudden, so sure. As if it would be the most logical thing. As if the Luthor history did not exist.
Alex put her hand on Kara's arm then. Clearly this was a conversation between sisters, not one between Agent Danvers and Supergirl although they were at the DEO and Cadmus was still a threat.
"I hate to be so negative, Kara...but Lex wanted to kill her. Lillian might plan something as well...Lena won't be safe either way...but if you really want to fix your friendship...well then...maybe you should tell her."
Kara nodded, "I should...shouldn't I?"
"Yeah", Alex agreed, "For the record...I'm not sure if it's wise to tell a Luthor your secret..."
When Kara wanted to interrupt, Alex gestured for her to be quiet, "But I understand that she is your friend and that you care about her...I also understand that she's a lot more fragile than she lets on...and yes, I agree...if she were to find out otherwise it probably would only make things worse for the two of you. So yeah...you should tell her...I don't have to like it...but then again you are my sister and I'll always look out for you...and you can't blame me for that."
Kara smiled then, a warm and honest smile, "I know...and I wouldn't. Thank you, Alex...really. And don't worry about Lena...she's not like them. Not at all."
Alex prayed that Kara was right and that the last Luthor wouldn't come to be their undoing.
Before she could have said anything else though Supergirl took off because there was a fire somewhere in National City.
Lena was sitting on the couch in her massive loft. In her cold and lonely loft.
The glass of wine she had poured for herself earlier was still sitting on the table, untouched. A tumblr of whiskey had found its way into her hand instead.
But she really needed something stronger, something that could warm her up a little as she was feeling chilled to the bone.
She had managed to keep calm and collected for two days, but once she had heard of the new threat from Cadmus it had all come back to haunt her.
After the poor childhood she had suffered under Lillian's "reign" she was the last one standing.
The last Luthor.
She had more money than she could ever spend, she was the CEO of an incredibly successful corporation that would make even more money and gave her quite a bit of power in National City, but it didn't make people respect her. Or trust her.
No, the majority of people still feared and distrusted her although she was trying so hard to prove that she was not like her brother.
And when things had finally looked upwards for the first time her mother had to go and try to rot out the alien population once and for all.
Now she had to fight her way out not only of Lex' shadow, but also Lillian's.
How she would ever accomplish that she didn't know.
Kara's article had done only so much.
What had followed had been countless interview requests from news papers and tv stations and one of the first questions had been if she had played her mother to protect the alien population or if she had done it to get rid of Lillian to take her spot and lull people into a false sense of security until she found a way to finish her family's work and vendetta.
Having questions like that directed at her had hurt. It had hurt more than she cared to admit and she had caught herself thinking that it wouldn't really surprise anyone if she would take a turn and walk down the dark and destructive path in the end.
Everyone expected her to anyway.
But she wouldn't. She couldn't.
Her whole life had been a lie.
Lillian's big speeches about family values, about hard work and success, about being a patriot and serving this country – nothing, but lies.
Her mother had used it all as excuses to justify her murderous plan.
Everything she had been taught, everything she had believed in was shattered, was lying at her feet in a sea of shards.
Lillian's way of raising her, of "educating" and drilling her, she had endured it all. And for what? For Lex.
Because he had been there for her, he had been a brother to her. He had loved her until he had snapped.
And now he wanted to see her dead and her mother probably did too.
Whom could she trust? Whom could she turn to?
She was so sick of the deathgrip the constant feeling of lonliness had on her, but she knew better than to try and shake it off.
Because she was alone after all.
Well, that wasn't true, was it?
She had Kara.
Kara, whom she couldn't really trust right now, no matter how much she wanted to.
She had been so tempted to call her earlier, to call her and ask her to come over and make that feeling go away. And she knew that her journalist friend would have probably dropped everything to do just that, but what would have been the point?
Kara would have done it out of guilt, out of obligation even and not because she wanted to.
And she wanted that, needed that.
She needed to know that Kara would be there because she chose to be. That this was honest. That it was real.
In the end Lena took a sip of liquid courage and did the next best thing. She sent Kara a text message that she needed to talk to Supergirl.
Even though she wasn't the hero's biggest fan at the moment, it was better than nothing.
Especially since the Girl of Steel's words were still echoing in her mind and she really needed someone who could understand her right now.
"I know what it's like to be disillusioned by your parents."
She had been so excited when she had received a text from Lena, but it hadn't lasted long.
Once Kara had read it, realizing that Lena was asking for Supergirl instead of her, her stomach had dropped, but she had taken off anyway, willing to do whatever it took to make this right.
She had flown over to the L-Corp tower, only to see Lena's office dark and empty, so she had sped on over to Lena's loft, where she found the balcony door open.
She took a deep breath, gathering her confidence, steeling herself for what would await her inside and yet her heart ached once she caught sight of Lena sitting on the couch, completely lost and broken.
"Is this a bad time?" Supergirl decided to ask, because the last thing she wanted to do was to put even more pressure on Lena, when the usually so strong and collected woman was in a state of such sadness and despair already.
"Supergirl."
It was a simply statement, void of any emotion. Lena didn't turn around either.
"Kara said you wanted to talk to me", she stated, justifying her presence. Yes, she had to tell Lena that Kara and Supergirl were one and the same person, two sides of a coin, whole only together, but that was a conversation for another day. And a conversation Kara had to have with Lena.
Today she was Supergirl. Today she would be what and who Lena needed her to be.
When the CEO didn't react at all Supergirl cleared her throat, "I can go and come back another time?"
"Take a seat."
She really preferred to stand, but did as she was told and sat down at the far end of the couch, "What can I do for you, Miss Luthor?"
Lena eyed her silently for a few moments, her gaze intense, before she finally spoke, "What did you mean...when you said that you know...what it's like...to be disillusioned by one's parents?"
Supergirl closed her eyes, wishing that she wouldn't have to have this conversation. She'd rather forget about everything she had learned about the Medusa virus, but she got it now.
She got why Lena had requested her presence.
Lena needed someone who understood her pain, needed the companionship of someone who had experienced that heartbreak and disappointment. Lena needed an ally to fight that kind of demons and the more she thought about it, the more Supergirl realised that they might be able to help one another after all.
"My father...he...he created the Medusa virus...to save Kryptonians...initially", Supergirl confessed at last and Lena took in a sharp breath, "And my mother changed it...to kill you."
"All my life they told me I was destined to do good...they sent me away when Krypton died...to protect Kal-el and this earth...to be a hero...and yet", she didn't want to continue, she really didn't, but she had to say it out loud, "And yet they would have killed everyone...to protect our species."
Lena took a sip of whiskey and chuckled bitterly, "Aren't families just wonderful?"
"They are one's weakness", Supergirl countered, "If they treat you right you'd do everything to do right by them...if they treat you wrong they ruin you...either way it makes you such an easy target."
"Well, mine treated me wrong and I still tried...all my life...to get their approval...hers. To meet her standards..." Lena whispered and emptied her tumblr in one go.
Supergirl looked at the CEO and shrugged, "My parents always did right by me...and yet...learning about the Medusa virus...it ruined me. It tainted all my memories of them...I'm so...disappointed."
Lena nodded, "God knows even I'm disappointed...beyond disappointed...although knowing my mother...I really should have known better."
They both sat in silence for a while, both lost in thought, caught up in memories of the past.
Until Lena Luthor's distant eyes met Supergirl's, her voice bitter, "You're right though, you know...but it's not exactly the family that is the weakness. It's the heart...we hope against hope, we love against reason...that's what kills us in the end."
