Chapter 15

She's bluffing.

That's the only thing that kept rolling through Lena's head. She had to be. Lena studied her mother, trying to pick out a twitch or flicker of the eye that would give her away but found none.

No. "What possible reason could you have for the non nocere formula if you already figured out a way to manipulate Rama Khan, and I'm assuming his colleagues, to your will, what use is it to you?" She voiced out loud.

"He's stable now, sure, but he seems to reject our stimulus after a time. With Non Nocere we could alter the formula you have and put it to better use. Andrea didn't seem to get through to you, and she has a weaker temperament than we would've hoped for, a problem we are rectifying immediately. So I came here to collect you myself. I'm tired of the games, and Lex is growing rather impatient. Lena, just imagine the possibilities. Having pets such as these. " Lillian looked over at Rama Khan with appreciation, but twisted and warped into something more sinister in nature.

Lena narrowed her eyes as she looked on at her mother, she had always viewed her as calculated, but there was something new and haunting in her eyes now. She had finally launched herself off the same cliff of madness her brother had plummeted down years ago. "You're just as much of a monster as Lex." Lena's voice was low, barely above a whisper and shakier than she had intended. She looked over at Kara who still stood between her and Rama Khan her entire body tense and coiled waiting to spring at any sign of movement. She was silent but she was listening to every word.

Lillian straightened, a cool contempt written across her face as she let her words sink in. "Your mistaken sweetheart, I'm no monster," She nodded in the direction of Rama Khan and Kara, "these vile creatures are and it's my duty to preserve humanity's future. So if I have to keep company with them I might as well put them to good use." She turned to Rama Khan and snapped her fingers. Rama Khan shifted his head ever so slightly and rolled his shoulder as he reached forward towards his staff. An ear shattering cracking sound reverberated through the room as it broke free of its glass display hurtling towards his open hand. Kara reacted instantly and caught the staff with hers in an instant before it managed to pass her. The force of the pull caught her off guard, causing her body to shift slightly before she had a chance to adjust.

Rama Khan snarled at the interception and threw the weight of his outstretched hand down to the ground creating a tremor. Loud screams of panic filled the large venue. The marble floor beneath Kara cracked and opened into a wide cavernous hole and she made herself weightless to avoid the plunge downward. She flung herself on solid floor quickly to avoid suspicion from the other guests and heard a small familiar scream fill her ears, her attention darted from Rama Khan to her left to see Lillian dragging Lena off by her hair, having already tied her hands to her back. Lena struggled to gain back control, but was at a disadvantage.

"Lena!" Kara shouted. She made a move to follow, but Rama Khan blocked her path with a large wall of earth.

"You're a bit preoccupied with me at the moment to concern yourself with her. Hand over my staff!" Rama Khan commanded.

There was a fury in Kara's eyes when she looked back at Rama Khan, but her lips quirked upward despite her rage. "Unlike you, I'm not a puppet and I don't take orders." She held the staff out to the side of her and flexed her thumb, effectively snapping the staff in two. A wind broke free from the splinters and instantly the remnants crumbled into dust.

He fell slightly to his knees as he watched helplessly, the smirk ever growing on Kara's lips. His mouth went slack and his eyes widened in a way that reminded her of a child who just watched his ice cream fall to the cement. He still held a significant amount of ability, but the staff had magnified his powers greatly, to what degree she wasn't sure but now it was a useless pile of dust beneath her feet and she wasn't going to concern herself any further in the matter.

He looked up at her wildly, his eyes wide with rage. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Kara vaguely acknowledged him as she turned her focus on Lillian's retreat and darted in her direction kicking off her heels in favor of her bare feet. She heard another scream to her left and felt a cold chill run down her spine. It was the little girl she and Lena had interacted with earlier. Her mind raced conflicted, Lena was still being carried off to the far side of the venue and Rama Khan had decided to take his new found frustrations out on the innocent bystanders of the party.

Kara pulled her glasses off hastily pushing the side of the lenses to activate the nanite suit. She all but broke the sound barrier in less than 200 yards to body slam Rama Khan who flew through a pillar, tables and chairs until he crashed into the concrete wall on the other side creating a crater. She spun around and found the little girl and her father trapped in a pile of debri Rama khan had caused and carefully removed them from the rubble. She offered a kind smile and tried her best to seem calm as she picked up the little girl. "You're safe now…" she turned to her father and with more urgency she added "You both need to get out of here as quickly as you can." The father stared dumbly at her, and then back at Rama Khan, the shock of the sudden attack still coursing through him. Kara could hear his heart beating out of his chest. She placed a warm hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes trying desperately to gain understanding. "Don't worry about him. Please hurry. You have to leave now." He shook his head, acknowledging he heard her, and gathered his daughter into his arms and took one last glance at her. "Thank you Supergirl." He ran in the opposite direction towards another exit and Kara felt herself breathe a bit. She looked around quickly, no one else had gotten trapped and those who were injured were only mildly so, but all were making for an exit as well. She tapped her ear and heard Alex's voice almost immediately.

"Kara? Why are you calling on this line?" Alex's voice sounded confused and before Kara had opened her mouth Alex was already talking again, her voice was more controlled and sounding more like the former Director. "I'm contacting J'onn and the others. What happened at the gala?"

Kara spun around using her X-ray to scan the building before she darted off. The doors that were blocking her path disintegrated in fire, and Kara entered through the smoke and dust, the white hot glow of her eyes being the first thing Lillian could make out before she passed through the haze. Lillian pulled to a stop in the long hallway just before a set of double doors leading towards the exit. Lillian didn't flinch, holding her mouth in a straight line as she watched Kara walk slowly towards her. Kara addressed Alex first before putting her attention on Lillian. "Rama Khan happened. Lillian has Lena, and I'm one second away from showing her just how terrifying I can be." Kara tapped her ear again, watching the scowl that swept over Lillian's face at the threat and the relief that flooded Lena's. Lillian, held tightly to both Lena's arms, still bound behind her back, positioning herself behind her as a shield.

"Let her go Lillian." Kara's voice was laced with controlled warning. Lena struggled unsuccessfully again to free herself. The sight made Kara see red. She had let her guard down and Lena was now experiencing the repercussions. The look of concern only shadowed by the now violent uncontrollable anger coursing through her veins.

"Now now. Think carefully Supergirl. I hold the advantage." Lillian spat. She pulled out a gun, pointing it at Kara.

"That won't slow me down." Kara warned.

"Oh, but it will. Just long enough for me to take back what belongs to me at least." Lillian sneered as she jerked Lena further into the hall towards the exit on the other side. Kara made a move towards them and the gun flashed, Kara dodged the first bullet letting it ricochet off the wall behind her, the second bullet she went to deflect and instantly realized her mistake as it passed through her hand like butter. The third went off before her mind could catch up to the reality of the situation and she felt herself fall to her knees. She looked down at the pool of blood growing out of her abdomen. Kryptonite bullets.

"Kara!" Lena yelped. Lillian laughed triumphantly behind her and redirected her aim at her as she pulled at Lena's wrists. "Hush dear, your sniveling is unbecoming. Besides, I think it's time we made our exit."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." She sneered. She threw her head back hoping to make purchase on Lillian's nose, a resounding crack of skulls sent both of them reeling a bit, but it was effective. Lillian stumbled backward stunned. Lena took the opening for all it was worth and lunged forward towards Kara.

"Lena!" Lillian yelled after her bitterly. "You don't have much of a choice. I aimed for her abdomen on purpose, don't make the mistake of thinking my next shot will be as gracious."

"L-Lee— don't worry about me, just run!" Kara rasped out. She watched as the desperation in Lena's eyes sunk into a solemn resolve. A tear streaked her face as she looked back at Kara. Kara shook her head as her eyes widened, understanding flashing in them as she watched Lena make the inward decision, "No—" the word came out as a shaken whisper. Lena just closed her eyes, unable to look at her for fear of changing her mind.

"You win mother, just don't hurt her anymore." Lena trembled as she watched Kara sink further to the floor.

"I won't kill her, yet, but I'll make sure she can't follow." Lillian raised the gun up and before Lena had a chance to respond she had already shot two more rounds into Kara's legs. Kara gasped as pain radiated from her thighs.

A cry escaped Lena's mouth as she watched helplessly. Kara shuttered as the Kryptonite coursed through her veins and she felt blackness creeping across the sides of her vision threatening to engulf her in darkness. Lillian lurched Lena back and away again as Kara tried to pull herself up to no avail.

"Lena!" Kara croaked out hoarsely. "I'll find you…" she wheezed as she watched Lillian drag her out. "I promise…"

Lena felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her, she fought to gain control of her spiraling emotions and clenched her jaw. She nodded as her face contorted into sorrow, tears now rolling freely down her face. Rama Khan entered the hallway and brushed passed Kara's crumpled figure as he made his way dutifully toward Lillian.

"What took you so long? Where's the staff?" Lillian asked brashly.

"I ran into some trouble." He looked down at Kara. "She destroyed it before I had the chance to retrieve it." Rama Khan answered.

"Idiot!" Lillian twisted the watch on her wrist and thrusted Lena into Rama Khans hands. "Get her to Lex's lab."

Rama Khan nodded and pushed Lena through the portal before entering in himself. Lillian turned back to Kara with a new fit of rage behind her eyes. She raised the gun up, pointing it at Kara. "Lex had special plans for you, but plans can be adjusted. I will not have you interfering again."

Lena screamed in horror just as she was pushed through the portal. Kara glared back at Lillian, helpless to do much else and watched as her finger slowly pulled the trigger. She felt it before she saw it, a gust of wind just barely grazing her right ear then a black swirling object that penetrated the air, finding its target. Lillian let out a sharp breath as her hand retracted backward defensively, the gun dropping to the ground below her.

"You know, you really outdo yourself on being a bitch don't you?"

Kara forced her head around with great effort and found Cate Cain standing behind her in all her caped glory and, despite her plummet into darkness, felt herself smile.

This was the second time Kara woke up under the hue of sunlamps within the span of a couple weeks. She blinked a few more times and groaned as the events of the night replayed in her mind. She felt like retching. A sickening pit in her stomach, growing like a vast dark cloud making its way into her bones causing her to shake uncontrollably. She felt her sister's presence but didn't bother looking up.

"I didn't save her." She felt the words come out before she had a reign on them. "I didn't protect her."

"She's strong, Kara, she'll give them hell." Kara turned to see Alex standing beside her. She looked at her and shook her head. "I failed, Alex. I keep failing her." The cloud started to deepen as she let the despair of the situation sink in. "Rama Khan, Lillian. They- they had to know we were coming, prepared for it, Lillian used him to distract me, just long enough to get Lena. Just long enough to use my own carelessness against me. I should've known she'd have Kryptonite, let alone fashioned bullets out of them."

"You're just lucky they were bullets this time, you recovered quicker because of that. " Alex pulled her into a hug. "We'll find her Kara."

Kara finally pulled her head up long enough to gather her surroundings, she wasn't in Lena's lab, she was in Jonn's watchtower, Cate was standing stoically in the back of the room arms crossed as she brooded over an image on the screen. She had been keeping Lillian under her surveillance for a while now, which would explain her sudden appearance at the Gala. She had so many questions, but the only one she really cared about was the first to leave her lips.

"Do you know where Lex's Lab is?" She pulled away from her sister and focused her complete attention on Cate.

"You haven't recovered yet. Rest, Kara, before you do something that will get everyone killed." Cate said with warning.

"Answer the question Cate." Kara said with more bite than she meant but not in the mood to apologize for.

Cate looked back at the screen calmly, not feeling the need to respond immediately, which ignited a fire in Kara. Just when Kara had enough of the silent treatment, Cate huffed, pushing her short hair up with a burst of wind, and nodded toward the screen. "He's in Central City. As for the lab itself it's hard to say for sure. But it's buried deep underground. Which works to his advantage. Central City sits on top of hundreds of miles of caverns. Most of them interconnected and untouched by the general population. So unless you know exactly where to look, you'd be walking into any number of traps, and judging from what happened to Clark the last time you barged in, I'd say he'll have more than one safe guard protecting him down there. Not to mention the fucking immortals he now seems to have wrapped around his fingers."

Kara winced inwardly at the abrasive word choice but brushed past her own aversion to language and pushed on. "So what are we doing about it then?"

Cate sighed audibly and dropped her arms and turned to face Kara head on as she made her way across the room. "Nothing."

Kara felt the metal bar of the bed underneath her mold to her fingers. "What do you mean 'nothing' if you know where he is, why aren't we doing everything we can to stop him?"

Cate shook her head looking slightly more annoyed than normal. "Because, your cousin Mr. Wonderful, doesn't want to risk lives and quite frankly I'm on his side. It's a suicide mission, Kara, and if you come to your senses you'd realize it too. He's the one with the advantage and he knows he's being hunted. He's more dangerous now because he's got nothing to lose and everything to gain."

Kara breathed a heavy sigh as she let the situation sink in. She felt completely helpless. "You don't understand. I can't lose her, not again."

Alex shook her head. "You are underestimating what she is capable of and you know it. You aren't the only hero here you know, granted she's had her fair share of mistakes, whoppers really, but she's also saved our lives and millions of others on more than one occasion. Give her some credit Kara, trust she is holding her own and biding time until we get to her or until a window of opportunity presents itself where she can escape."

"What am I going to do? I can't just sit here." Kara asked, desperately trying to cling to something.

"Recover. Then we can go over the few tunnels I've scouted out so far and the traps within them. After that, well… it's a matter of finding the right one that leads to Lena, assuming we make it that far."

Kara sank back into the bed deflated. That wasn't what she wanted to hear but knew they were right. In the meantime she could do what she could to make sure when Lena came back she wouldn't be walking into a mountain of work that had been left untouched. At least in some small way she could ease the burden and that meant contacting Sam. She turned to Alex. "I need to make a phone call."

Lena pushed herself up off the cot and hung her head low feeling the strain of her neck muscles as they protested the stretch. Lillian had supplied her with basic essentials, but nothing further in the cold damp room she had been locked away in. Toiletries, clothes to change into and a small meal that wasn't fit for dogs to eat which still sat in one of the vacant corners of the room.

The clothes, she begrudgingly put on after around the 8 hour mark, favoring comfort over stubbornness. If she somehow managed to find a way out, the sneakers and pants would offer an easier escape than her dress and heels so she reasoned with herself that it was more strategic than anything else. She knew she was underground, where was the question that had been nagging her. She had no reference. For all she knew she could escape and find herself in the middle of nowhere hundreds of miles away from rescue. She shivered and reflexively wrapped her arms around herself.

The look on Kara's face before she disappeared from view kept looping in her mind. Everytime she thought of the sickening green veins that were already starting to creep up her neck from the kryptonite made her stomach churn and her eyes burn, but she could think of little else. She had been left alone the moment Rama Khan stuck her in here and with nothing for her hands to work on, her mind just kept repeating the last few seconds before she slipped through the transporter. She knew she needed to focus her energy elsewhere, and she kept waiting for the inevitable sound of the latch on the door to drop and see Lex's face staring back at her, but for whatever reason that moment never came.

It was intentional of course and she knew she was being subjected to whatever psychological warfare he found amusing, this was just the tip of the iceberg. She crossed her arms and sat on the edge of her cot. Pacing wasn't going to solve anything and it only seemed to add to her growing annoyance at the situation.

Kara. The tear fell before she had a chance to recover it. She's been through worse and gotten out of it. She had to believe this was no exception. She just needed to be patient. If she could use this as an opportunity to gain intel, she might find a way to stop Lex and her mother once and for all and find her way back to her. Her heart swelled at the thought. To feel her warmth again, see her face. They had only just begun to find their way back to each other only to be ripped apart again. The void it left in her chest brought with it a feeling of hopelessness that she buried deep down. She refused to believe this was permanent, but the more she warred on inside her head the worse the feeling got. Isolation was no stranger to Lena, but having something to lose was, and that made the loneliness of the cell that much more menacing. She was beginning to wonder if Kara was better off just leaving her here, she only brought her grief and trouble, she found herself the damsel in distress far too often and Kara deserved better than having to come to her rescue each and every time.

There was no escaping them, no matter how hard she tried to remove herself from their clutches they always managed to wrangle her back into their lives and whatever scheme they had in store. She was naive to think she could ever truly be free from those ties, that she could distance herself from the lunacy that is the Luthor name. She needed to get off this train of wreckless thinking she found herself spiraling down. She knew she was being ridiculous. She stood up and moved to the door where a tiny slat allowed her to see the dark tunnel she resided in. There was a line of small interspersed pendant lights that lit the tunnel down to a curve at the end but she had to strain to see, moving her head left and right to try and see through the small slat in the door and get a better layout of her current prison. She sank down off the tips of her toes with a heavy sigh. Not much else to note other than the cold damp air and the dirt floors. The door looked fairly new and must've been an added addition to the dank cavern. There were occasional bats that would flutter past her door and mice that scampered the floor, but otherwise she saw no other signs of anyone, she wasn't even sure she hadn't just been left here.

Another onslaught of countless hours went by and she had no bearing on the time of day or how many days had now gone by. The food left untouched in the corner when she had first been dumped here has long since been eaten, when she felt as though her stomach would begin to eat itself if she didn't put something into it. She had all but had assured herself that she had been abandoned here. She wasn't even sure Lillian had any intention of ever returning. She had completely dismantled her cot and tried using the pieces of it to try and make some sort of escape, but the door was unbudging and the dirt beneath her feet she found out rather quickly was solid rock.

So, left to her own in the dimly lit cell, she started running calculations in her head. She fell asleep when exhaustion forced her to, and woke up and started again. She tried her best to keep her mind sharp and to keep the fear at bay. She felt the pangs of hunger start to creep into her belly once more and shoved the feeling into a mental box along with thoughts of Kara. She kept up with this routine to the best of her ability until she thought she could barely stand to be by herself any longer. The silence was becoming its own torture. She was starting to mentally argue with herself and become annoyed with her own movements.

So when she heard padded steps in the distance, her heart immediately felt as though it would beat right out of her chest. They became heavier as the sound drew closer and all she could pray for in that moment was that whoever was coming, was bringing some sort of food with them. The sound of the latch on the door releasing and the creak it made as it slowly opened almost made her bring her hands to her ears as she squinted and retracted inwardly. She forced herself to stand to greet whoever the intruder was with a firm glare. When the light on the outside of the door finally revealed the face of her new guest her heart sank and her blood boiled.

A slow smirk creeped across his face as her brother greeted her. "Hello sis."

"Lex." She surprised herself on how easily the word dripped from her mouth and at how hearing her own voice startled her. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" She asked, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"I thought you could use a bit of company, and if you behave, perhaps we might go for a bit of a walk. I'd very much like to show you what I've been working on." Lex said calmly, he seemed almost amused as he looked around the small room she had been confined to.

"I see you have kept yourself busy." He turned to see the door riddled with scratches and a few minor dents. "You've been getting into a bit of trouble I see. Well perhaps we can go for that walk when you're feeling less flighty." Lex said teasingly. Lena felt herself almost cry out in protest but swallowed it down instead.

She just stared back at him matching his cool tempered humor with her own. "Can you blame me for trying? You didn't expect me to just sit here for, pardon my ignorance, but how long exactly have I been held here?"

She was using her words carefully, trying to play into his ego without stepping on it and if she hinted towards being confined, locked or imprisoned she'd be baited right into his game and she very much needed to be playing her own. The look on his face betrayed him only briefly. He was clearly annoyed that she hadn't so much as moved towards the door or yelled to be released from captivity. She kept her lips in a fine line trying to avoid revealing her own triumph at having already bested him in his little mental game he had clearly been subjecting her to. She desperately wanted to leave this room, but she'd be doing it under her terms not his, and he was too egotistical to leave her here after revealing his desire to have her see whatever project he had been working on. Knowing that gave her the advantage and she gambled on it.

It had worked. He quickly hid his contempt and plastered on an easy smile. "Well of course you did, I would expect nothing less from you. Even if you are only half Luthor." He added derogatorily. He shifted his weight to the side and gestured with his hand out towards the hallway. "Come with me, there is a lot to catch you up on." She followed his lead and took the first couple of steps outside of the cell and was grateful he didn't have super hearing because her heart rate only continued to skyrocket.

"Here, I figured you might be a bit peckish." He handed her a small brown bag and Lena opened it to find a small burger and some french fries. She took the burger out and with much restraint tried not to eat it in one bite. She kept her eyes glued to the walls in front of her trying to memorize every detail and every turn as they made their way down the dark corridors.

"As you know we have successfully managed to extract the immortals from their imprisonment. Quite the dilemma it was too, but once solved rather simplistic in nature. Much like finding the right key to a locked door. It was getting them to...cooperate that was the tricky part."

"How did you manage it?" Lena asked.

"You'll soon see dear sister."

Lena grimaced at the endearment. She would much rather him refer to her by her name or something else that didn't have the attachment that word held. She wanted to recoil from it. It was bad enough they shared the same blood, she didn't like being reminded of it. That in itself was probably the very reason he refused to call her by her name. It was just another tactic for him to use to continue to get under her skin and she hated that it worked so effectively.

They walked for another fifteen minutes and turned and twisted their way through the caverns, huge expanses would taper down to smaller man made tunnels only to open up again to pockets of limestone and Lena would be impressed if she didn't feel so utterly lost. She long gave up hope of remembering how they got here or how she would find her way back to her small room. She shuddered and pressed forward and prayed silently she would never have to see that space again.

"We're here." Lex said as he turned a corner and they came to a stop at a metal door very similar to the one she had grown too familiar with. He pulled out a key chain and flipped through, settling on one and pausing before he inserted it into the lock. He turned and smiled his eyes full of dark warning. "You'll do well to remember to behave, little one." He left the threat lingering in the air as he turned the lock and released the handle opening the door up to reveal a massive open cavern filled with light, the whirring of machines filled her ears as well as some intermittent clanging she hadn't yet placed. He stepped inside and allowed Lena to follow him before closing and locking the door behind him.

She looked around and saw Rama Khan along with Sela and Tezumak. All three of the immortals were cocooned in some form of crystal chambers looking to be sound asleep. Hooked to the chambers was Gemma or Gemmenae if she remembered right, except she was no longer blonde and half the flesh on her face had been removed to reveal the steel skeleton beneath. The clanging sound she heard when she first walked in was the sound of Gemma's head banging the back of the metal bed she had been strapped to.

"Welcome to my laboratory!" Lex said enthusiastically.

Lena scoffed. It looked like a lab right out of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein novel.

"Come with me, please, there is much to see." Lex threw his coat off and across the hook of a coat rack just inside the doorway and grabbed the bag from Lena and tossed it into the trash. He placed his hand gently on the small of her back and pushed with urgency as he guided her down the three steps that led into the main area of the lab and closer to the immortals in their cages.

"Quite impressive is it not?" Lex said ardently. "Every time I look at it I gain a new appreciation."

"What exactly are they doing in there?" Lena asked cautiously.

"Ah! That my dear sister is why you are here! Right now they are resting. Well, mostly, it's actually quite a painful rest on their part, but necessary." He was almost beaming as he explained and she had to bite her tongue to keep from wiping the smug expression off his face. "You see, Gemma here," He skipped and flipped his hand eagerly towards her as if showing off a prized piece of art. Lena winced a bit as Gemma continued to twitch and smack the back of her head silently, "is reprogramming them. It takes an extreme amount of energy for her to do so. Such a trooper." He looked down at her with a shallow appreciation.

"I've been working on a way to make the effects more permanent but I'm simply having the most difficult time figuring out their biology. These Jarhanpurian mutts have a depressingly low tolerance for my influence on them and I'm constantly having to guide them back to a better way of thinking." His hands were almost dancing as he talked, the way they flayed and turned as he explained. She couldn't help but think of a little kid in a candy store trying to explain why chocolate is so delicious. She subconsciously crossed her arms as she continued to listen to him rattle on about the mechanics of it all but it more or less came down to Q-waves and the effects it had on brain function and how he was able to manipulate Gemma's unique abilities to affect a similar reaction that her non nocere produced only instead of peaceful non aggression, he opted for control and manipulation.

"...and that's where you come in my dear." He held out his hand for her to take and she glared at him. He shrugged and dropped his hand back down and began walking away expecting her to follow like a lost puppy. She obliged begrudgingly and stepped down off the platform where the Jarhanpurians were and onto a smaller platform that snaked around behind them to an open lab where she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Come now sis I haven't got all day."

Lena couldn't believe her eyes. She blinked several times as if trying to persuade herself she was seeing things but to her own dismay she wasn't. Strapped down in the middle of the room on a large gurney was Andrea and hovering over her was her father in a lab coat running a series of tests Lena wasn't yet sure of. Andrea spotted her and her eyes widened in worry and relief simultaneously. A muffled yell escaped her gagged mouth as her body lurched forward only to be stopped by the series of straps that held her in place.

"Andrea?!" Lena said her mouth gaped open wide in disbelief. She didn't understand. She had thought she was working for Lex, why would she be restrained? And her father seemed to be completely ok with it, as he took a large needle filled with fluid and approached his daughter. She wriggled and shaked as she her voice muffled out sounds of protests as her father drew closer a tear streaking her face. He released its contents into the IV attached to her right arm and Andrea muffled out a loud cry as her body arched in retreat only to slump down defeated.

Lena felt the rage she had been holding in boil to its breaking point, her body moving of its own accord, finding strength she didn't realize she had she grabbed Lex by the lapel and raised him up and into the metal railing. "What did you do to them?" She yelled.

He smiled calmly, the boyish exuberance leaving his face instantaneously as he slowly reached for her arms and pushed them back down and off him. He grabbed his coat lapel and flattened it back out as he raised his chin.

"There she is. I was wondering when you'd finally show up." He glanced in their direction before returning his gaze back to Lena, his eyes sparkling with entertainment.

"I made them more useful to me."