23: What the actual -?

"I think this has gone on long enough, don't you?" You're so immersed in going over the reports on the most recent tests your teams have just submitted that you don't at all notice Lex approach.

You raise an eyebrow at him, annoyance clear. You've got a lot to catch up on. One ditch day with Kara had turned into two and two had turned into three and the three would have turned into four had there not been an alien matter that needed Supergirl.

And God, it had it been amazing. Nia had dropped in on the third day, demanding compensation for her extra work and decimating your leftovers, and it was nice to see that for few days, the world held.

Alex is still out East visiting Ruby and Sam, having left soon after Thanksgiving, and Kara had expressly forbidden you from contacting any of them and even cancelled on Maggie for you.

"We're all adults, Lena." She had insisted. "You've helped enough. Give them time. Give them space. Alex has got this. I'd say Sam's got her but it's really more Ruby, isn't it?" And you'd laughed because right now, Ruby's still more of an angel than the badass she'll grow into, and if anyone can help mend Alex's broken heart it's the sweet, innocent, purity of Ruby Arias. You want to check on Kelly but Kara is adamant you stay out for the moment and give everyone time to breathe and think.

You don't know how it's going to go, but you force yourself to listen. There's a fine line between helping and meddling, and right now, for as long as the world is holding, you'll get caught up on work and happily focus all your attention and energy on Kara.

But of course the universe has other plans.

You're not quite sure what your brother is doing in your office after having stringently avoided you since his last power play, much more what he's actually talking about, but you frankly don't care. While the data on the nanites is promising, the numbers on the solar power conversions are less than you'd predicted and you're itching to finish going through the report so you can finally go down to the labs and see first hand what had gone wrong.

"Cut to the chase, Lex." You groan. You really don't have time for him today. "I've got a lot to do."

"I've given you more than enough time to throw your little tantrum and come to your senses."

You would try for blank, unruffled, even blasé, but he's wasting your time and you still don't know what he's talking about, not to mention whatever it is, treating you like a child is certainly not going to help him convince you to agree to whatever it is. And damn it, you helped with the prototype of that generator, not just helping design it but literally wiring some of it before it was sent out into the field.

You roll your eyes at him before pushing off your chair and heading towards the cabinets and pouring yourself a glass. The fact that your brother drives you to drink before noon should have always tipped you off about how he's the devil incarnate, an almost literal thorn in your side.

"Get to it." You tell him, gesturing for him to continue with your glass of scotch. You will only have a finger. Just one. Damn. You could really go for more but you need to keep your wits about you if you're going to be painstakingly going over more numbers.

"You can have the company back." He says firmly. And you choke.

"What the actual fuck?" You say rasp out when you're once again able to breathe.

His distaste at your word choice is clear on his face but he thankfully chooses not to remark on it, choosing finally to get to the point. "You can have Luthor Corp back. Call it L-Corp again, whatever you want. You can halve the funding between your little environmental projects and our government weapons programs. As long as you deliver on those deals and have sufficient advancement and tech in that arena I'll stay out of it. You can be CEO again. You can have it all back Lena."

You're looking incredulously at him, truly struck dumb.

"Well?" He prods.

And truly you just wanna ask him again - What the actual fuck?

He soldiers on, luckily, because you still can't really form coherent thought that doesn't cuss him out til kingdom come.

"If you're still angry about that thing I didn't come home and help you with months ago... Do you know how many lives Leviathan will claim if I don't get to them? Do you know the power they have? How they can alter this reality for their benefit?" He says passionately. "I'm not the bad guy, Lena."

"You..." And you can't help the incredulous bark of laughter that falls from your lips. "You want me to believe you're going after Leviathan to save the world?"

"Of course!" He says, looking at you as though you're the one who is only now starting to finally talk sense. "This world is ours, Lena. We have to protect it from them, from all that would ruin it. It's the only one left. I saved it for us. For us. And we're the only ones who can protect it."

There's a familiar manic tinge in his eyes and you wonder if he's still simply playing you, pretending and hiding so well that he seems to believe what he's saying or if he's once again in the throes of his mania.

Oh Lex. You think. Lex, Lex, Lex. You'd lost him so long ago, and it was a vain and hollow dream to think it was ever possible to get him back.

"Take it." He says again. "Take Luthor Corp back. I'll stay out of your way."

"I don't want it back, Lex." And you're surprised by how much you actually mean it. "I don't have time to go on silly meetings to soothe and boost the ruffled egos of wealthy old mysogynists who think they're God's gift to the world. I have three years, three damn years of research to get caught up on. You're so hell-bent on blaming the aliens for what's happening to this world that you don't see how we've been destroying it for centuries! You're so concerned about having power and ruling, but that research you got rid of, that's what's going to give you a fucking world to rule at all. My little environmental projects are going to be the reason this world has clean air and water. And let me remind you brother, neither you nor I have come up with a way to survive without either of those. So the next time you go after my projects, remember that I'm the one making sure you have a world at all in which to play king."

He's silent for a moment, and you pray he thinks about your words. Because right now, though you mean it, truly, truly, you're aching to just reach out once again and take back that power he's offering. You can have all your projects again. All of them. But you can't. The devil will have your soul in return and Kara's already got yours safe with hers. Fuck. You're glad it's safe with her because it's so close, so within reach, your company, your reality, you can take your reality back.

You breathe deeply, once, twice, thrice, a handful more until you get yourself in check and your lungs are no longer burning and breathing becomes easier. You're glad he waits to speak because the next words out of his mouth makes the blood in your veins boil.

"They'll betray you again, Lena. They did before, they will again. They're keeping you close, afraid of what you'll do because they know you're capable of extraordinary things. They'll keep you from me, they'll keep you from your real family. But in the end you'll see: they'll betray you."

You call it a victory when you manage to say only: "Get out."

But it's a temporal one for he forges ahead, ignoring the visible anger that's engulfed you.

"She doesn't love you. She's using you. It's what they do. They make you feel special, promise you the world, but the second your back is turned, they'll push that knife in so deep it will go through you. She did it once, and now you're giving her the chance to do it again."

Kara's voice stops you from raging. "Is that the best you've got?"

The surprise of her appearance keeps your brother from putting his mask of jovial indifference back on and you see the revulsion in his eyes as he looks at her.

"I see you, Kryptonian." He spits out. "I see you for what you truly are. You have her fooled now, but I'll open her eyes to see through you again. And you will become nothing."

"Are you finished?" She asks imperiously, and if he were anyone other than Lex Luthor he'd be quaking in fear. Kara's eyes are a dangerous mix of fire and steel, you feel her vibrating imperceptibly with fury.

But he is, and whether it is his mania that keeps him from better sense or his grandiose delusions, it matters not. He stands his ground, turning to you instead, dismissing her with no more than a turn. "You're a Luthor through and through, Lena. You are my family, my blood. There is nothing you can do to quell that nobility. It is in your veins. This world is mine, as it is yours. You can try to deny it but one day, one day soon, they will all bow at our feet, sister, and you will see that no one will ever stand above you ever again. They will fall and worship. And your little pet will be nothing but a forgotten footnote in your legacy."

Kara moves. She steps forward and you all but throw yourself between them.

"Go, Lex." You tell him firmly. Something in you must communicate its importance because he seems to shake himself out of his megalomaniac trance.

He smiles at you widely and says, "Take care of yourself, sister dear, you're looking a bit peaky." And with a kiss to your cheek he finally leaves.

You hold out a hand to steady yourself, clutching at your desk as you fight for composure.

"Lena..." Kara begins but you don't let her continue. You can't.

"Kara... I've got a lot of work to do." You hear yourself say.

Steady. You tell yourself. Steady.

You stand straighter, steeling yourself. "I'm okay. We're okay." You tell Kara firmly, holding up both hands to ward her off, keep her from moving towards you. "There's just so much to get caught up on. I'll see you after dinner, darling. Okay?"

Her eyes bore into yours and your feel your resolve waver momentarily. You want to throw yourself into her arms, and ask her to take you both millions and millions of miles away, light years, planets, galaxies away from your brother, this world, this universe. But you can't. You just fucking can't.

"Please, darling." You say softly, fighting to control the rising fear. You won't let it overtake you. You won't.

She nods. And then she's gone.

A/N: Soooo how does everyone feel about the title? Of the story, not the chapter.