guys, if you are fic writers yourselves, do not ever make promises of when you'll update. they are almost never fulfilled. but hey, as long as you update, you're good. i applaud you.
(applaud me! i tried!)
now, read, ponder, and enjoy!
The last time Lena had slept in, it was when she finally submitted her doctoral thesis and there was finally a chance for her to not spend hours upon hours thinking about the wordings and the materials and the structure. Sure, she didn't have to do that – it was amazing how easily manipulated mortals could be, especially the older lonely male species – but her experience growing up had morphed her into someone who needed to prove her worth no matter what.
Perhaps something good had come out of that explosion of her office; she considered as she hummed under her breath and stirred the coffee. She settled on the couch, ignoring the stacks of paperwork that Jess had sent over yesterday and the open laptop on the coffee table, endeavoring in relishing the dark liquid first. She made a noise of appreciation on her first sip.
Honestly, one of the two best things that humans had invented, the other being scotch.
Her morning bliss was interrupted by a buzz, alarming her to a visitor. She snorted to herself. She shouldn't have been too quick in giving favorable points to the bomber. The displeasure in her dissipated quickly when she saw on the camera that it was Kara standing at her door. The coffee was deposited on the table as she stood up, making a beeline towards the door and opening it.
"Kara," she greeted with a smile. Kara smiled back, but Lena was perceptive enough to discern that along with gladness, there were also hints of doubt and reservation in her expression. "Good morning." Card games with Hades, Persephone, and her brother had taught her many things, one of which was to keep a poker face no matter which side of the win-lose continuum she was on, and she adopted it now as she looked at her friend.
Subtlety apparently wasn't something that the goddess had practiced, judging by the way she finally took in Lena's appearance and just froze, mouth hanging slightly open. Unable to help herself, Lena smirked as she relaxed her posture against her door, willing to wait for her fellow immortal friend to regain her composure. Except it didn't seem that Kara was really recovering after minutes passed and she was still gaping.
"Kara," she pronounced. No response. She rolled her eyes, pushing away from the door and reaching out to touch Kara's arm. "Kara," she repeated.
Kara jolted from the touch, blinking rapidly and smiling sheepishly. "Um, hi, sorry," she muttered, adjusting her glasses. She gestured at Lena's outfit, clearing her throat. "I just…I've never seen you in casual clothes before," she said. She took a moment longer and then nodded. "You look good."
Lena's smile widened. "Thank you. You never texted me back about your visit to the precinct," she reminded, raising her brows.
"Right," Kara said, lowering her gaze to her feet. "That's what I'm here for, actually."
The raven haired woman watched Kara for a few stilted seconds. There was a certain skittishness to the way Kara was behaving, and Lena wondered for a moment if she knew. Rather than calling Kara out on it, Lena stepped back to free up a space. "Want to come in?"
"Oh, sure! Yeah, thank you." She walked in and lingered at the threshold, her eyes roving over the space that Lena called hers. "Your place is…nice," she hesitated, no doubt having noticed the barrenness of the space.
The lack of personal effects was something that was done on purpose. No point trying to decorate it with them when she owned none. And she wasn't willing to just go out and buy things to fake it. Lena was already faking this lifetime until Lex had given up or succeeded in his quest; she wasn't going to fake more just to play up to the societal expectations of homely appearances. She herself was a personal effect, and that, to Lena, was enough.
Lena hummed. "Yes, Lex said the same thing."
Kara at least had the decency to look embarrassed at being called out. "Sorry," she said.
"Coffee?" The CEO moved to the kitchen, motioning at the coffee machine.
"Yes, that'd be nice." Lena poured the coffee. "Do you not have…things?" Kara asked after a few seconds, as if she couldn't keep it in anymore. Lena laughed quietly when she heard Kara cursing herself quietly in the living room.
"These are my things," Lena announced, indicating the objects placed strategically across the place while handing the mug over to Kara. "Sit, sit," she commanded as she sat on the couch and took her own coffee cup that she had abandoned just now. "You know, you could have just texted or called."
"I know that," Kara said. She cleared her throat and played with the handle of her mug. "I just…wanted to see if you're still…you know, handling yourself."
"I always have."
Kara lifted her eyes again. "You look like you've been sleeping. That's more than I can ask for," she said good-naturedly.
"Yes, well, I am human, after all."
She watched Kara closely; watched as she bit her lower lip; watched as she looked like she was contemplating two million thoughts at once; watched as she made a decision and plastered on a smile that seemed too forced to be trustful. "Yes, you are," she muttered.
Lena could only smile. Kara knew, and she wasn't going to call Lena out on it. She couldn't quite figure out why, and she certainly wasn't going to call Kara out on her deception for her deception when she wasn't certain. She may consider Kara her friend – perhaps her only friend on this realm – but she had also been trying too hard to hide herself for eons; one woman whom she was vastly attracted to was not going to destroy her efforts.
Perhaps the visit back to the Underworld shouldn't be delayed any longer, even though the King had just been here two nights ago – that could mean only several hours there. She supposed he would be pleased to find her back in her element. Maybe she could also sit down with Persephone before the woman left to be with her mother again.
"So what happened at the precinct?" she asked.
"Have you made any enemies?"
"My brother runs one of the most successful companies in the world, and I am the CEO of a branch. I'm pretty sure I've made enemies I haven't even met," Lena offered with a scoff.
"The detective wanted me to drop a statement because she thinks you and I are close friends."
The CEO tilted her head. "You're hiding something." Funny how she was able to sense the unease in Kara after just a couple of conversations. She decided not to dwell on it. Nothing good would come of it.
That look on her friend's face, as if she was just caught with her hand in the cookie jar, was enough indication of Lena's correctness in her presumption. Lena kept her smirk in place, lifting her cup to her lips. Kara would tell her in time.
"Are you?" Kara asked. When Lena looked at her, she was avoiding Lena's gaze, opting to play with her mug instead. A frown had appeared at the bridge of her nose.
Huh, so she figured it out. But then again, there were still doubts that translated into the fidgets of Kara's movements, so maybe Kara hadn't figured it out. Perhaps she was having suspicions. "Isn't it too early in our friendship to start sharing secrets?" Lena opted instead.
"The cops think you're the one who planted the bomb," Kara said in quick succession, and then her chest deflated as she released an exhale.
Lena honestly wanted to be surprised, like any normal person would when they were accused with such a thing. Nevertheless, all the questions surrounding this incident had long since diminished the surprise element of it. She would rather spend her time finding out who the true perpetrator behind this mess was than to display fake outrage over an overtly common accusation.
She had borne enough witness to squabbles of similar sort in the Underworld. Between demons, between demons and souls, and between souls.
At Lena's silence, Kara's frown only deepened. "I told Detective Sawyer you didn't."
Now, that was surprising. Given that the seeds of doubts about her origin had already been planted, it would be less surprising for Kara – an Olympian – to go along with the lines of questioning that the law enforcement was undoubtedly already carrying out.
The King and Queen of the Underworld were firm in their stance that Kara was no common Olympian, almost as noble as Diana Prince who chose to reside in Paris. And Lena may not know her long, but their interactions so far had also informed her that Kara was unlike other Olympians. Still, the fruit did not fall far from the tree or something like that.
Lena hated to be wrong, but she would glad to be wrong about this.
"Thank you," she offered with sincerity, nodding at Kara. "I may be a businesswoman – some may even say I am ruthless, but that comes with being a woman in the STEM industry – but I would not go as far as threatening my employees' lives for personal gain. Besides, there is no personal gain."
"Do you know who could've done this?"
Probably not a wise idea to let Kara know that it may either be three old ladies with immense power, a demon who didn't know how to take no for an answer, or her stepmother who had always hated her, or even all of them working together. Honestly, Lena didn't even want to entertain that last idea; damn her overactive imagination that came up with it last night.
"The list could go on for pages, starting from Mike from elementary school, Lily and Heather from boarding school –"
"Lena."
"I don't know," the raven haired woman replied, cutting Kara a glance. She shrugged, waving her fingers in the air.
Fuck nice mornings. They never existed. A former pursuer of hers, her stepmother, and the fucking controllers of fates were probably coming after for whatever thwarted fucking reason they had, and she simply did not have the time to deal fucking men in blue. Okay, so maybe she wasn't as indifferent about this as she told herself to be.
But come on. She may be a hybrid spawn of an unwanted tryst between an overbearing and absentee father and a mother who died too young, but she wasn't cruel and heartless. The mortals were awful, yes, but they also existed and lived. They had the privilege of having that – lives – and she would never allow her jealousy to get in the way of that.
She didn't make the choice to be born, just like they didn't make the choice to be made. Zeus had long since taken that choice from all of them. If she wanted to actually reveal herself and allow everyone to have a glimpse of her strength, she would have taken it up with him. Perhaps she might even win.
"There's a reason I kept myself behind the curtains, you know," she started after downing her cup of coffee. She felt Kara shift beside her. "I knew that my status and my identity will become a problem rather than a blessing." How many times had she wished that her mother had never caught her father's eyes? Things would be so much simpler. Hades, for example, had gone through so much trouble to keep her hidden, just to avoid Zeus' wrath. "But my brother, bless his soul –" Truly "– wanted people to know about me. He wanted the world to understand that he is not the smartest person, because I am smarter. Where do you find a brother like that? Nowhere. So I gave in, I said yes, but I told him I don't want to be in Metropolis. If I'm going to be in a spotlight, I might as well do it somewhere I can actually build my own spotlight, you know." She scoffed at herself. "Well, I suppose I did build one; it blows up. Go figure."
Kara was quiet next to her for a few moments, and then she said, "Maggie's the only one who doesn't you were behind it, but she can't find any proof. I'm helping her."
Lena frowned, turning to Kara. "Maggie?"
"Detective Sawyer, the one we met that night."
"Oh." She blinked twice, and then she sat upright. "Kara, that's dangerous," she hissed, pushing closer to the blonde. "You're basically obstructing justice."
"I'm facilitating justice," Kara retorted. "They're blaming you for no apparent reason other than you deciding to grab coffee five minutes before the explosion. I'm not letting them arrest you for that."
"I can't ask you to do that."
"You didn't." Kara fixed her with a look. "Just tell me one thing: did you or did you not do it?"
Immediately, Lena answered, "I did not."
Kara nodded, patting her lap and standing up as she shouldered her backpack. "Well, there we have it then. I'm helping Maggie."
Lena stood up with her, blocking her path. "Kara, come on."
"Lena, you're my friend. This is what friends are for." Kara offered a warm smile, leaning forward to hug Lena. Her moment of frustration didn't take long to melt into nothingness; in its place was surrender to the warmth and a complete crackdown of her previous reservation about the Olympian. "Now, I gotta get to work, or my editor's going to yell at me again." She tried hard not to shiver at the way Kara's breath felt against her ear.
When Kara drew back, Lena had to work hard to not whimper in mourning the loss of the warmth. "Don't get yourself into too much trouble, you hear me?" Lena demanded.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Kara said as she headed towards the door. "Oh, and Bench misses you. Make sure to visit sometime."
"You actually name him Bench?"
Kara shrugged. "It's an appropriate name."
"The first thing I do when I see him again is disown him."
"You wouldn't have the heart to. See you later!" Kara bade again before she went out and shut the door behind her.
Lena could only look at the door with a helpless smile, and then she dropped back to the couch. The paperwork was calling for her name, demanding to be dealt with. There were more urgent matters at hand, though. She could get away for a couple of days, citing the need to recoup. Lex would say yes immediately, because he loved her that much.
Paperwork could wait.
"Did my husband not just visit you?"
Lena laughed, sitting down opposite Persephone. A chess set was waiting on the stone table. Persephone had definitely anticipated her coming. "Time is a funny thing, isn't it, Your Majesty?"
"And how much more of it do I have to spend to have you stop addressing me like that?" the Queen naturally questioned in return as she gestured at the chess set for Lena to get started.
"It may be wiser for you to give up on it, Your Majesty." She moved a pawn.
"Insolent child," Persephone grumbled, though with fondness. They made several more moves in silence, with only the occasional squawks of the crows disturbing the peace. "What is your purpose here, Lena?"
"To play chess with you."
The Queen shot her a disapproving glance as she moved to take out Lena's knight. "Your mother is not here," she offered. Lena paused her pondering to look at Persephone in shock. "My husband is the most enigmatic man in any realm and I am still able to read him. You are not that difficult." Lena sighed in defeat. "Mon-El is in Elysium." The demon hybrid balked at her. "Gallivanting with those poor souls as usual."
"Good thing pregnancy is not possible with them," Lena grumbled.
"If I did not know any better, I would say you are jealous," Persephone teased.
"And I am insolent?"
"With the amount of time you have spent with me, you must have adopted some habits of mine." And then Persephone had the galls to wink. Lena could see why Hades fell in love with her in the first place, among many reasons. "If you are looking for him, I suggest you finish two games with me. That ought to give him enough time to have his fun."
Lena had long since wanted to unleash Cerberus on Mon-El since she learned of his existence. It was far from a pleasant introduction, and she was eternally glad that she saw him for what he was since the first time she laid eyes on him and reproached his advances along with staying out of his immediate vicinity as much as possible. Otherwise, she wasn't sure if she could keep herself in control and unleash herself on him.
If even the Queen of hell herself, also known as the most patient and tolerant being to exist in this realm at least – kind of came with being the wife of the King of hell – was eager to get rid of him, one would understand exactly how despicable his behavior was. The only reason he was still allowed to frolic around with no consequences was the fact that his family was considered aristocracy in the immortal realm, and Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon were somehow dependent on them for rare sources from time to time.
Bureaucracy in the immortal realm was much more complicated than what was seen in the mortal realm. And Lena found it abhorrent, which was why she never attempted to delve in it, no matter how much Hades wanted to. It wasn't that she didn't know how it worked, she completely understood the mechanism from mere observation and constant visits to the library, but learning about them had only turned her away from it all the more.
She was quite satisfied with her boring life of being Cerberus' only friend and wandering the Underworld as a friendly face.
"When do you leave?" she asked.
"Two days," Persephone answered with a remorseful sigh. "I would be less worried about my husband if you are still here."
Lena smiled with melancholy. "I will miss you." The goddess had been more of a mother to her than both her birth mother and stepmother. She could not very well blame her mother; she did her very best. And she had never seeked solace with Lillian, having heard of her reputation for coldness and carelessness. She could only be grateful that Persephone was always there for her.
"I will probably return before you even do, my dear." Persephone paused the game to reach for Lena's hand, holding it with earnest. "Please come back and visit him whenever you can, Lena. I do not want him to linger too long. You know well how he gets when he is sullen for too long."
Lena nodded. "I will."
"And please be safe among the mortals. I may not dislike them as much as my husband do, but they are wretched creatures, born from my father's wretched hands," Persephone added.
"I do not see how that is possible when there are people coming after my life," Lena replied with a mocking smirk. "I know I will not die easily, but it is certainly a hindrance to whatever life I am trying to build up there."
"Hades is doing his very best to solve that mystery for you."
"And I am thankful for that." She watched as Persephone shifted her rook. "Do you ever think there will come a time when I do not trouble the King any more than I already have, Your Majesty?"
Persephone chuckled. "Please, Lena, keep giving him trouble. It gives him something to think about." Lena frowned at her in confusion. "I am the Goddess of Spring, Lena, the very epitome of harvest and fertility, and yet Hades and I have no children. Why do you think that is?"
"Because children are nuisances," Lena provided with no hesitation.
The Queen laughed, making a nonchalant shrug. "I have made many a mistake; do not take me for one who does not. But having children here or in Olympus is not a mistake I am willing to make, neither is my husband. We are, both of us, far too knowledgeable about the toxicity among us to ever want to involve potential children in it. However, we do try with others; we try with you. You may not be our child, but do not be misguided into thinking that we do not care for you the same way one would care for an offspring." Her grin softened when she saw the tears welling up in Lena's eyes, reaching out to wipe them away with her gentle thumb. "My husband was absolutely outraged when he discovered your conception, but not at you, dear; he was furious at your father for his lack of discretion. Upon realizing the true depth of what and who you are, he and I made every effort necessary to keep you and your mother safe. Unfortunately, your mother was as weak as a pregnant woman could be, especially in the Underworld. So we tried with you, we wanted you to be as happy a child as you can be. We wanted you to be our child. You are our child."
"Your Majesty," Lena whispered, too choked up to be able to say anything else.
"And a child is supposed to trouble their parents as much as possible, no matter how old they are. Hades may not display it, but you have no idea how eager he can be whenever he gets the chance to assist you. He wants to be as much of a father as he can be to you, given that he cannot be a father with me," Persephone said, adoration towards and regret for her husband clear in her eyes.
"But does that not defeat the purpose of you deciding to not have children in the first place?"
She was surprised when the Queen appeared apologetic after hearing a question. "I must admit that our treatment towards you in the beginning was a form of retribution for being born in this world in the first place. You were born as a mistake. But along the way, we discovered how absolutely delightful and charming you are, and we just could not help falling in love with you. My husband and I are still resolute in not having children of our own, but you, Lena, you are enough for us. We have never been more grateful that you are in our lives."
"And I am grateful for you and His Majesty as well."
"And yet we still cannot get you to address us otherwise," Persephone grumbled, shaking her head in irritation.
"It is respect."
"Would you not say that disobeying the King and the Queen of the Underworld is a form of disrespect as well?" Persephone cocked her brows.
"This is the least of my disobedience since I was born."
"That is very true." She gestured at the chess game. "Shall we carry on?"
"Of course."
"Two games, Lena. Or I will not allow your departure."
"Whatever makes you happy, Your Majesty."
"You make me happy. Never forget that, my dear."
Lena did as she was told and completed two games with Persephone, both of which she lost tremendously, but not without effort on her part. When her king was taken out, she hung her head in defeat, accepting it, as she had for the last hundred or more games she had played with the Queen.
She then stood up, approaching the woman and wrapping her in a rare hug. "I will see you when autumn come," Lena whispered, tightening her arms around the woman, not willing to let go.
"You most certainly will." Persephone pressed a prolonged kiss to her temple. "Do visit my husband whenever you can. He misses you terribly."
Lena drew back, putting on an expression of utter incredulousness. "He just saw me hours ago."
"He never stops missing you," Persephone offered.
"I will try my very best." Lena kissed the woman her cheek and stepped back. She clenched her jaw, keeping the tears at bay. It was never easy to see the woman she had grown to view as a mother leave, no matter how many times they had gone through it. "Be nice to your mother."
Persephone feigned a gasp, pressing a hand to her chest. "I am always nice!"
"You have never forgiven her for the truce she set up with Zeus," Lena pointed out.
"How can I ever forgive her for forcing me to leave the man I love?" Persephone could hardly keep herself from showing distaste. "So many eons, and a woman still cannot make her own decisions with her parents interjecting. I am the Goddess of Spring. Mortals worship me more than they worship them."
Lena laughed. "I will be going now. There's still a scum demon I have to question before I return to the mortals."
"Do not torment him too much, Lena. Or he will cry to mommy and my husband will have a whole other mess of your making."
"Thought you said he likes my messes?"
"One at a time, child. One at a time."
The raven haired woman snorted, nodding in agreement as she waved at the Queen and started walking away. She turned around, took two steps, and stopped abruptly when a portal suddenly conjured before her. She blinked and turned back to Persephone with a frown, who carried the same confounded expression on her face.
"Lena?"
Lena froze. She knew that voice. She had dreamed of that voice every now and then. She had just spoken to the owner of that voice just this morning.
Gradually, she turned back to look at Kara.
"Oh boy."
a very bad habit of mine that when i have a fave, i try to write them out to be loved by as many people as possible. in this case, it's lena, and lord only knows she deserves all the love she can get (it's also kinda why i switched mon-el's obsession with kara to lena, which is twisted but worry not, people, it will come to a full circle where he gets yeeted) ((i hate mon-el, i think y'all know that)) (((why does he have to come back his face is so tiring)))
also, buy REPUTATION IF YOU LOVE ME AND I KNOW YOU DO
