Reaper

Notes: Find me on Tumblr at supergirl-prompts and on AO3 as Local_Asshole.

Summary: Lillian successfully captures Supergirl, forcing information from the Kryptonian. Then Alex goes missing as well and Lena's and Maggie's worries skyrocket.

TRIGGER WARNING: TORTURE, VIOLENCE.

"Alex."

The auburn-haired woman clicked on her earpiece, "J'onn?"

"There's suspicious activity on the outskirts of National City, we have reason to believe it's Cadmus since we've been trying to pinpoint their locations."

"I'm assuming you want me to check it out?"

"Supergirl isn't exactly in the most optimal mental condition, and she's dealing with a couple of rogue alien thugs at the moment; she's a wild card right now and I can't risk her getting injured or causing collateral damage. I'm also sending two other agents with you."

Alex huffed, slightly frustrated.

"Don't worry, you should be back in time for your date with Detective Sawyer."

Alex's eyes bulged, "How the hell do you know about that?"

Lena clacked her manicured fingers on her desk anxiously, the tapping descending into something less than rhythmic and more erratic to complement the frantic beating of her heart.

Her eyes darted at her luxurious silver watch, the analog notified her that it was quite a time past one.

Lunch with Kara started over thirty minutes ago.

She should have showed up by now, and despite her Supergirl duties, she always made sure she was prompt, as long as the plans were not too last minute.

But her tardiness at the moment suggested otherwise and Lena knew something was wrong the moment Kara's phone went straight to voicemail, meaning it was intentionally turned off or ran out of battery.

But Lena also knew it was likely the former; Kara would never purposefully turn off her cellular device because she was Supergirl and she was diligent in keeping her phone with her at all times in case of emergencies.

It had only been a week since the little standoff after the blonde's adorable drunken stupor, though the morning after was not as enjoyable.

Lena checked her own device again, going back over their texts.

[Kara Danvers: Hey, Lena?]

[Kara Danvers: Can we talk?]

[Kara Danvers: Please?]

[Kara Danvers: I'm sorry]

[Me: Lunch. Tomorrow. 1:00.]

[Kara Danvers: Thank you, I'll try and explain everything tomorrow]

The Luthor called into CatCo to make sure she was okay and James had told her that the bubbly blonde had left in a hurry to get to L-Corp after she had turned in her article to Snapper.

Once forty minutes passed, she called Alex nervously and no answer was provided. She did not know if it relieved her or worried her, it could have meant that the D.E.O. was dealing with a crucial threat to National City elsewhere, perhaps on par with the girl of steel herself.

The Luthor sighed, resorting to her last option, getting in contact with Winn so he could track the super down.

Kara's fist slammed into her metal cage, but found out the hard way that it was simply impenetrable as she cradled her hand to her chest, hairline fractures webbing across her bones, irritating the reddened skin even further.

She sat on the concrete ground, sinking her back against the cold cage.

"Nth metal, I'm sure you're familiar, Supergirl, with the Thanagarians."

The blonde whipped her head up, narrowed her eyes and nearly spat the name out, "Lillian Luthor."

A sudden flood of memories attacked her, of her and Lena in high school, and it nearly made her gasp at the unfathomable emotional pain; her mind somewhat digressed when she wondered if Lena's body was as scarred now as she had seen on the past.

She glanced down at her apparel, currently adorned in a medical gown.

"Kara Danvers."

The blonde's eyes widened in shock and she took a deep breath, sighing shakily, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Pity," Lillian chuckled, "I make it my duty to know who my children are involved with, and I'm never wrong. Should we bring Lena here to confirm then?"

The blonde snapped, unconsciously utilizing her super speed to get as close as possible to her enemy. She ignored the pain as her hand gripped the cage until her knuckles were white and the other clutched the collar of Lillian's lab coat, "I swear, if you hurt her-"

"Then what? You'll prove to her and everyone else in this world that you're a monster?" Lillian chortled, shoving the Kryptonian's hand away.

Kara shut her mouth, her clamped teeth grinding against one another as she forced herself to calm down.

"That's what I thought."

Kara growled, "When I turn you in, I'll make sure your demon of a son is thrown in the deepest, darkest corner of Arkham Asylum."

Lillian's expression was filled with cold fury, and before the blonde could smirk at the reaction she induced, the doctor shoved a knife into her gut.

Kara released yelp when the dagger was cruelly twisted inside her before it was torturously pulled out.

The hero collapsed onto the ground, whimpering as she attempted to stem the blood flow in her abdomen.

"Know your place, alien," Lillian growled, wiping the blood from her kryptonite weapon with a clean white cloth, becoming stained with crimson, "I think you need a lesson to be learned."

She nodded her head at the two agents standing at the only exit, and entrance, gesturing for them to take the prisoner.

One of them increased the room's kryptonite levels and the other opened the cage, stepping over the prone body before savagely kicking her ribs and dragging her out by the arms.

Kara choked back a scream as she was led to an empty room, strapped onto a metal panel against the wall.

She gritted her teeth and flinched at the sudden bright light shining down upon her.

"My, this is convenient as well," Lillian chuckled, pulling on her latex gloves and sliding a tray of kryptonite-infused weapons next to her, "I get to teach you a lesson for insulting my Lex and maybe acquire information out of you on this despicable organization you work with."

"You're a sick sadist, gaining pleasure from tormenting another-"

"Human?" Lillian finished, "Is that what you were going to say, alien?"

"You disregard all lives in the way of your goals. You're not human-"

Her sentence was interrupted with a scream when the blade dragged against her skin, several centimeters above her hipbone.

"Sacrifices are necessary for a decisive victory. It's like chess; protect the king, no one else matters, more can always be recruited. That's Lena's downfall as a Luthor, she knows how to make sacrifices with the pawns, but all the other pieces she just values too much."

Then the blade lifted before lowering into the Kryptonian's once invulnerable skin again, as if to create a shape, to spell something out.

Though Kara could not have cared less, the pain was too distracting.

"I'd say you're the worst of the players," the woman continued, "You're like my daughter, but you value all lives, even the pawns."

The knife halted and Lillian tugged against the opposition, making a messy, jagged rip in the image she was conjuring.

The doctor was finally finished, moving the long blade over Kara's chest, "You know, Supergirl, I could end it all right now, just plunge this into your chest, but I won't give you that luxury," then she stabbed through her pinned hand, smiling at the scream elicited from the Kryptonian's throat, "You deserve to suffer."

Then she impaled her shoulder, lifted the blade slightly, dragging it over to her collarbone and grinding over it.

"Now, I'll be a bit nice since my daughter's so fond of you."

"She must be so proud to have a loving mother like you," the hero retorted.

Lillian cascaded across Kara's abdomen with her blade, "That's your punishment for that smart mouth of yours. But I could say the same for you, can't I?" she hummed smugly, "Remember that little incident you had with Lena in high school?"

Kara's eyes flared in anger, "That wasn't me. It was your son, it's his fault, he synthesized it. His experiment made me a monster."

"You were already one to begin with," Lillian chuckled, "Now, as I was saying, I'll take this slow; I'll ask you a few questions regarding this organization you work with, you'll answer, and maybe, just maybe, I'll let you have a fast, painless death."

"Merciful," the Kryptonian replied sarcastically, "I'm sure I can take your word for it."

The woman flipped the dagger over, so that the blade faced downwards, and she plunged it into her victim's thigh, twisting and turning it, watching as the alien's blood bubbled up to the surface and gushed down her fair skin.

"Where's the location of the organization you're working for?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, I work alone."

"Lies."

Kara clenched her mouth shut when she felt the blade digging into her skin again, refusing to plead her to stop; that was exactly what Lillian wanted, to have an unwelcome alien visitor beg, show weakness regardless of how much more powerful she was compared to a mere human.

By now Kara was crying out and sweating profusely from the immense amount of pain that was being inflicted upon her, to the point she was unable to focus on the questions she was being asked.

"I think you'll need a bit more incentive," Lillian grinned, she turned around, nodded at a figure in the shadows.

Kara gasped, "Alex?"

Lillian grinned, "My men scavenged some leftovers from those Kryptonians' Myriad plans, managed to scrounge enough parts for us to develop something similar, though shorter range and not as powerful. But of course, with more studies we'll eventually perfect it."

Lena jumped, her ringtone disrupting her pensive thoughts.

She deflated at the caller identification and picked up the phone.

"Detective Sawyer?"

"Yeah, hey, Lena, have you seen Alex recently? She didn't show up for our date."

The Luthor widened her eyes in shock, "No, have you seen Kara recently? I'm concerned for the same reasons and I believe she was captured. Perhaps Alex is with her, I don't know."

She sighed, "I was able to convince Winn to locate her and he notified the D.E.O. It took hours, someone really covered their tracks."

"Can you send me the coordinates?"

"What?"

"Clearly there's something going on here. If I wasn't so worried I'd be laughing at how we both got stood up," Maggie chuckled mirthlessly, "We can meet around the destination with the D.E.O., but I'll need time to prepare though, so don't do anything stupid."

"I'll see you then."

"See you. Be careful. Wouldn't hear the end of it from Kara if something happened to you."

"Goodbye, Detective Sawyer."

"I'm sure Winn told you to hold out and stay back so the D.E.O. can do their job. Remember not to do anything stupid."

"No promises."

"You're already there, aren't you? You little-"

Lena hung up, parked her vehicle on the outskirts of a large warehouse, its size not completely fathomable due to the early winter night.

She clicked her pistol, took a deep breath, and stepped out onto the dirt and rocky path leading into the surprisingly well-kept facility.

Her shoes echoed throughout the building, no matter how soft and tentative her steps were.

Lena began to feel uneasiness broiling in the pit of her stomach; it was much too quiet and quite dark, even with her phone's flashlight on, making it all the more terrifying when she heard an audible gasp near her.

The Luthor startled, shining her light towards the direction of the sound.

"Kara?"

Lena frowned and averted her eyes, gulping the bile down her throat at the sight.

Her friend was gagged and strapped against a metal slate on the wall, bloodied and bruised and every inch of her skin covered in lacerations, to the point she wondered if they would be permanent or have any lasting damage.

The Luthor quickly undid several straps, against the muffled protests of Kara, only interrupted by a nimble body tackling her to the ground.

She quickly analyzed the face of her opposer.

"Alex? What are you doing here? What the hell's going-"

Lena choked on her words when a rough kick landed in her gut and sent her sliding away on the smooth floor, bumping into a pair of legs.

"It's nice to see you again, darling."

Lena's expression quickly morphed into one of anger, "Mom. Of course. You've always been so procrustean."

"And you've always been a muckraker," Lillian chuckled, toying with a small device in her hand, her umbra hovering over her daughter.

Alex suddenly stalked over and imprisoned Lena's neck in a strangling hold.

The young Luthor's eyes bulged, shocked at the amount of strength the agent possessed as she was lifted into the air and slammed onto the ground, rendering her breathless and dazed.

"What the fuck, Danvers?"

Alex turned robotically at the voice, unfazed that it belonged to Maggie.

"Take care of the detective, agent," Lillian sighed.

Alex cracked her neck and charged at her new opponent.

Meanwhile, Lena took advantage of her mother's distraction and staggered her way over to the Kryptonian strapped against the wall, undoing the rest of the bindings until she fell in her arms.

Lena grunted and nearly fell back, caught off guard at Kara's completely limp weight in her arms.

She inhaled, gathering her strength, then exhaled, heaving the battered body far from the battlefield where D.E.O. operatives and Cadmus henchmen were trickling in.

Lena began to panic when she fully took in how bruised and beaten her friend was. She breathed deeply, partly succeeding in her attempt to calm her rapid heart, speedily going over Kryptonian physiology.

She silently thanked Lex for all of his notes racking throughout her brain, knowing Kara would make a full recovery once her skin made contact with the sun's rays, the lacerations were already beginning to heal once the Kryptonite levels subsided.

Lena tapped the hero's cheeks gently.

"Kara, listen to me, you have to stay awake, okay?"

The blonde's response was an array of uneven, shallow breaths from her lungs, her eyes glassy and jaded, holding no indication that she was mentally present - at least somewhat.

Kara's eyes wallowed lazily in her blurry vision, unable to make out the face of the woman above her.

However, she was able to discern the voice's owner.

"Lena..."

"Yes, you idiot, I'm here to get you out of this mess you got yourself into," the Luthor growled in frustration, dragging Kara's dead weight away from the crossfire in short bursts.

"It's not my fault that your mom's evil and mean and-"

"Well, she is a Luthor after all."

"But you're not a bad person."

The raven-haired woman paused momentarily, the words just sinking in before she continued in her endeavors, in favor of ignoring the statement.

Lena grunted, pulling harder from under Kara's limp arms, "Let's just get you out of here."

"Like, your mom's a real meanie."

"I know, she's my mother."

The blonde giggled, "It was not very knife to meet her."

Lena, despite the dire situation, let out a chuckle, "You're a dork."

"She's a very edgy and sharp woman."

The Luthor frowned, now unamused, "Okay, you can stop with the puns now."

"Awww, you're so dull compared to her."

"Okay," Lena grumbled, "I get your point, now be quiet."

The blonde guffawed, "Hah! Point! I get it! I'm glad that you decided to take a stab at the puns!"

The Luthor rolled her eyes, "What the hell did they give you?"

Kara hummed, "I feel drunk... And my everywhere hurts...so much."

"This is infinitely worse than when you were drunk, you idiot."

Though Lena was unsure if it was due to the horrible puns or the deathly situation they were in.

"I don't know," Kara shrugged in her friend's hold, "I don't have a..." she pondered for the right words, oscitant, "A hangover headache."

"Unbe-fucking-lievable," Lena sighed. She could feel beads of sweat dripping down the sides of her temples as she dragged the fallen hero closer to the exit.

"Can you maybe carry me in a more...comfortable position?" Kara complained, slurring in her almost intoxicated state.

"Now's really not the time."

The blonde let out a whined protest.

The Luthor groaned, "And be quiet, you're also really getting on my nerves right n-"

A thick juggernaut-like body suddenly grappled onto Lena's back and lifted her up into the air only to slam her body down onto the concrete.

Her breath was taken breath out of her lungs, but before she could desperately sip for air, the mind-controlled D.E.O. agent straddled her body and a strong force constricted itself around her neck.

Lena instantly clutched at the calloused fingers her throat was imprisoned in, clawing at them and struggling under her attacker's pinning weight.

He thought nothing more of her than a nuisance, lifting her head and shoving it back down the ground to enforce his power.

Lena saw stars as black began to sprinkle all over her vision, threatening to cover her hazy world in darkness.

Her arms went slack and her struggles ceased as the lack of air weakened her state of mind, slowly succumbing to the black nothing of unconsciousness.

Kara panicked when Lena was shoved to the ground. She was still weak from the kryptonite and it frustrated her even more when the pain restricted her movements, only able to hear the short scuffle before silence.

Then a choked gasping noise coming from Lena and a pathetic sound of a struggle.

Kara felt adrenaline shoot up her spine when her friend's familiar heartbeat began to painfully slow along with her sipping breaths being reduced to nothing.

Move.

Then came the horrific wheezing sound that managed to escape Lena's throbbing lungs, her heartbeat slower.

C'mon...

Then she stopped breathing, her heart palpitations like a failing engine as it sputtered and faded.

Move!

Against the unbearable pain, Kara managed to roll over and stand up to pull the hulking man away with her weakened super strength.

She tugged once, twice, and he wouldn't give, then the panic sent another bout of adrenaline through her veins as she finally pulled him off.

Relief flooded her chest when she heard oxygen flood Lena's.

The Luthor gasped and coughed for the sweet musky air in the warehouse on her hands and knees.

The man sent an unforgiving punch to Kara's gut and she yelped as he did when he broke his hand and wrist with the action.

The blonde fell to the ground, somewhat ungrateful that the full extent of her powers had not yet returned.

On top of the fact that she was in an intolerable amount of pain.

She was at a disadvantage.

Kara's heart raced when the man reached for his belt to pull out a gun.

Only he did not and glanced at the empty holster supposed to contain his firearm.

He turned and growled at his other opponent before an ear-piercing shot rang out and he thumped on the ground, lifeless, making way to a haunting image of Lena shakily dropping the pistol and rushing to Kara's side.

The blonde coughed, "Good aim."

The Luthor laughed nervously, "He was only a few feet in front of me."

Clearly the situation had an impact on her psyche judging from her shaking hands.

Lena took a deep, calming breath and closed her eyes momentarily, reaching gingerly for her throat. She could feel the bruises already forming. By the time she opened her eyes again the trembling had completely subsided.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked, genuine fear and worry painting her features.

"Did you forget that you're the one that was bleeding out?" Lena narrowed her eyes, "I'm fine, but we need to get you to the D.E.O. We can't have that talk if you're dead."

Kara cringed and chuckled lightly, "How about you just leave me here instead?"

Lena gave her an admonishing look and was about to reprimand her when a figure stalked its way over.

The Luthor gulped and stood on shaky legs in front of her friend protectively.

"Alex?"

She was unsure if the woman was still being controlled.

She stole a glance at the shrinking battlefield to see a stirring Maggie on the floor with blood running down her face.

Her answer was given when the agent pulled out a dagger and made a jab at the C.E.O.

Shit.

Lena moved out of the way the last second, the evasion messy as her legs wobbled and she stumbled away.

The stomach of her shirt was sliced through, revealing her paleness underneath.

Then Alex swung at her face, now dripping blood as the shallow cut grazed her cheekbone.

The agent speedily moved behind her, utilizing the hilt of her knife and her body weight against Lena's back to send her falling to the ground.

She looked over her shoulder to see Alex cocking her gun and swiftly about to point it at her little sister, the muzzle glowing a sickly green.

"No!" Lena scrambled over to Kara.

"Don't!" the blonde shouted, her worries skyrocketing when her friend used her own body as a shield to protect her.

The woman took a shaky breath when her gaze connected with Kara's, who had tears spilling down her cheeks at Lena's impending death.

The Luthor was thankful that the last thing she would remember were those beautiful blue eyes.

"You dummy," Kara whispered hoarsely, her pain preventing her from flipping their positions over.

Lena had an apologetic expression, communicating it with her eyes before she clenched them shut and ignored their wordless disagreement, bracing for the impact.

Only it never came.

"You idiots made me do all the work, didn't you?"

The two sagged with relief at the sound of Maggie's voice.

Lena looked over her shoulder to see the detective slinking Alex's arm over her shoulders.

The agent's head was bleeding.

"An eye for an eye, Danvers," Maggie chuckled at her unconscious girlfriend, wiping the blooding dripping from her own head as well.

Kara craned her neck over Lena's shoulder as the detective turned to the pair on the floor, who restrained herself from making an innuendo, "One of the guys at the D.E.O. managed to interrupt the connection with the mind control, but we have only a few minutes."

"Looks like we're going to have to thank Winn first thing when we get back," Kara sighed, resting her skull back on the ground.

Maggie glanced around the almost empty premises, "And it seems we're lagging behind, so get your asses up and out of here."

"Supergirl's already healed all of her open wounds," Dr. Hamilton stated, "Cadmus did utilize synthetic kryptonite though, and its ingredients are preventing her from healing over several of her scars, which should usually revert back to flawless skin when she's under the yellow sun. It's not a problem though," the doctor reassured, "But Supergirl might be a bit alarmed to see the scars either become permanent or not heal as quickly, we're not too sure yet."

Lena and the doctor glanced through the windows of the Kryptonian's medical room, watching her stretch out her soreness as the nurses removed the wires and machines from her body.

"She can be released today, if you don't mind taking her home since Agent Danvers is still being checked in the infirmary, and her powers are also a bit muted at the moment. We'll just dress her in a t-shirt and sweatpants after they remove the medical gown."

The Luthor was slightly shocked, "But we pretty much just got back."

"Yes, you did," Dr. Hamilton acknowledged, checking her watch, "At about eight at night, so that was three hours ago. Usually, we'd keep Supergirl for longer, but the synthetic kryptonite is a bit weaker than the original; it was created to sap her powers for a longer duration even after contact, but they had to sacrifice its weaponization. It should be safe for her to return home as long as she's not flying, and I doubt she'd want to spend the night here."

The doctor turned more towards the Luthor, "You're also lucky you only escaped with bruises."

"Yeah..." the raven-haired woman hesitantly grazed her neck with her fingers and with her other arm she wrapped around her torso protectively.

Notes: Constructive criticism appreciated.