Alright, so I've been up since 4 this morning and I just couldn't help but write this. I've been working on it in bits and pieces over the week, and I ended up rewriting a good majority of it this morning, but I wanted to get this out. I've also decided not to put Kara and Lena's meeting in this chapter, because I'm mean like that and this story is all about the angst for a while, so that will be in the next chapter. As for this one, this is where some of the answers are given in regards to why Lena left Kara and Ali. It's also just the beginning as well, and I'll be giving the rest of those details in the next chapter. Also, we're seeing all three girl's POVs in this chapter! That was definitely fun to write, three different perspectives on the situation. One for the kid who's just confused about why her parent left her, one for the woman who left and had her reasons and one for the woman who also is confused and wants to know why her best friend (and the woman she loves) left her and their daughter. It's definitely fun and I'm looking forward to writing more.

Hopefully I can get the next chapter up tonight or tomorrow, just depending on how busy today will be. We're off to see Disney on Ice in a few hours and then I have to do my (FINAL) assignment of the semester before it's due tomorrow and then it's just one final exam and I'm done until classes start this summer. However, I only have two classes and they're spread pretty far out, so I'll have plenty of time for this story (and my other one on Archive, so if you're following my She-Ra story, I'm going to hopefully be updating that soon as well. And if you're not following it, go read it and follow it. And if you don't know what She-Ra is, then go watch it and hop on that train. It's a great fucking show and my wife and I love it. You can watch it for free on (in the US as far as I know, at least) and also SG season 6 is updated on the same site as well if you all want to watch it there.) But anyway, here's this angsty chapter. Follow, favorite, subscribe, review, comment, do whatever. Stay safe and stay awesome.

-Commander

Chapter Four:

The hustle and bustle of Metropolis was remarkably similar to National City, Ali thought to herself. If she hadn't just spent the last half hour carefully flying over half the country to avoid detection from her mother, the DEO and Metropolis' own resident Super, she honestly wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the two cities.

Although now that she was here, completely forgetting exactly why she was here, Ali had the urge to go visit Uncle Kal and Louis and Jon. It had been too long they had come to visit, their schedules always conflicting between work at the Daily Planet and Kal's own duties as Superman. Out of everyone, Jon had been the easiest to get along with and trust. He was, for the most part, like her. Half human, half Kryptonian. Although Jon hadn't been…created the same way she had, Ali had still felt he understood her better than anyone else.

The sound of a car horn blaring from the streets below pulled Ali out of her thoughts, bringing her back to the present and reminding her that she was running on limited time here as she carefully landed on the roof of the building closest to L-Corp's Metropolis office. Even though she had been able to leave the city without anyone knowing, someone would eventually notice her absence if she didn't get back home in time.

If this worked, she could get in, get her answers and get back home without anyone ever even knowing she had left. That was the plan, at least…if she could actually bring herself to leave the roof and successfully break into the office of a multi-billion dollar CEO without anyone nothing her before she could speak to her mother.

Taking a deep breath, because she was already here and there's no way Ali was letting herself back down after coming this far, the brunette quickly scanned the building over once more before making her break for it.

Brainy had come through for her, managing to find any and all information she needed and had even moved around the CEO's schedule so if this did manage to go well, Ali could get enough information from the woman without worrying about meetings or someone discovering she was there.

After landing on the office's attached balcony with a light thud, Ali was thankful to find the door unlocked and slipped in, her eyes automatically scanning the empty office.

It was a lot like Sam's office. The same desk and furniture that could have mirrored each other perfectly, even in layout, was identical. But unlike her aunt's office, where every spare space or surface was covered in pictures of friends and family, the walls were bare. It felt…not lived in, an unwelcoming aura that seeped into Ali's bones and was making her nervousness worse.

The sound of the elevator dinging at the end of the hall had the brunette halting just as she was about to take a step further into the office, followed closely by the sound of heels clicking on the tiled floor.

For a split second, hearing the sound getting closer and closer, Ali found herself wondering what in the hell had possessed her to come out here, found herself deciding this was ultimately a bad idea and was about to turn and fly back through the balcony door when the office doors opened and she froze, half turned, and one hand paused halfway through reaching for the door handle.

In ten years, her mother hadn't changed much. She looked exactly as Ali remembered, and even if she had wanted to forget it would be impossible, as somewhere there was always a picture of the woman floating around for an article or something, but the teenager was frozen under the stare of green eyes that matched her own, as if this was the first time she'd ever laid eyes on her.

"Ali?"

The sound of her mother's voice instantly pulled her out of whatever shocked trance she had been in, the teenager forcing herself to face the woman fully as she started to respond, only to be interrupted by the office doors opening and slamming against the wall with a loud thud. An older woman walked into the room, her attention completely on the tablet in her hand. "…an incompetent, miserable little wretch. Remind me to fire her later and hire you an assistant that actually has a base-line reading level."

It only took a moment for Ali to realize that she recognized the older woman, her shoulders instantly stiffening as she watched Lilian Luthor stroll through the office as if she owned the world. As if she hadn't been responsible for all the horrors written in her DEO file, a file that Ali had read through out of general curiosity a few years back and had resulted in an upset stomach for over a week upon thinking that the same woman was technically her grandmother. That same, sickening feeling had returned ten-fold as she realized her mother was working with this woman. A woman who had actively tried to rid the world of aliens, had killed thousands of innocent people, who enslaved and blackmailed a hundred more.

"Now, as I was saying-. What do we have here?," The matriarch Luthor had finally glanced up from the tablet, the woman's eyes narrowing sightly. The look alone that Ali was being given was enough to send a shiver of fear down the teen's spine. "I wasn't aware you were in contact with my half-breed of a granddaughter, Lena. I thought we'd disposed of your presence years ago?"

The teen instantly shrunk back slightly at the older woman's words, her heart clenching. Surely her mother didn't think the same? That her being half-alien hadn't been the reason why she left?

Ali turned her attention back to her mother, who had chosen this moment to break her silence. "There has been no contact, Mother. You know that. Besides, Ali was just leaving."

The teen's heart constricted slightly. Lilian's words had hurt, sure. Any amount of anti-alien venom would always hurt, despite how proud of herself Ali had become, how proud she was of her mother and her work as a hero. But the CEO's dismissal of her, how it had been so easy and smooth and how she didn't dare contradict any of what the other woman said…it was enough to break whatever confidence the teen had in coming here.

Obviously, she had been stupid in thinking that if she could just talk to her mother that they could work out something, that the letter she had read last night had meant something. It was clear that her mother had walked out of their lives, out of her life, without a care in the world and that, in a direct contrast as to what Ali had thought…could have possibly, just maybe, missed her.

Blinking back the burning behind her eyes, because she would never give either woman the satisfaction of seeing her so upset, Ali straightened her shoulders. "Right. I was just leaving. This was obviously a mistake. My apologies."

Without so much of a look back, Ali shot out of the balcony door and sped back towards National City, not bothering to wipe away or acknowledge the steady flow of tears that were now streaming from her eyes.

How could she have been so stupid?

"Care to explain that?"

The CEO tore her eyes away from where her daughter was just standing, automatically glaring at the older woman in front of her. "There's nothing to explain. I haven't been in contact with any of them for ten years, Mother. You know that. You made sure of that."

"Stop being so dramatic, Lena. I did what I thought was best for you. That child, no matter what her genetic makeup says, is not a Luthor and you are not her mother. She was created in a lab, a science experiment and if the public had known that it would have tanked yours and this company's reputation."

Ignoring her adoptive mother's words, the CEO strode over towards the mini bar that she always made sure to keep stocked. Her expansive collection of scotch had become one of her biggest fallbacks over the past ten years, something to help numb her mind of what she had done. And she needed something to wipe away the look on her daughter's face as she pushed her away, once again.

"I had hoped that forcing you all apart would be easier, since I know you had grown to care for the little experiment-."

"Don't call her that."

"This is what I was afraid of. You're letting your feelings cloud your judgment and it will be your downfall, Lena. You've always been too emotional, not like Lex who-."

The CEO had had enough, slamming the half-full glass of alcohol on the surface next to the bottle before turning to glare at the older woman. "I am not like Lex! I will never be like Lex! I refuse to turn into some homicidal maniac who uses people, who hurts people more that I already have, more than you've made me!"

The brunette watched as the older woman's eyes narrowed slightly. She knew she had gone too far, had pushed too much. But seeing her daughter in person, for the first time in ten years, had opened some old wounds that refused to heal. And perhaps Lilian was right, maybe she was being a tad-bit dramatic, but Lena was angry and tired and had just broken her daughter's heart again.

"Very well, then. Since you are obviously too hysterical to see the good I've done for you, I will take over your meetings. You can sit in here and drink yourself into a stupor if you wish, but I will not let you drag this company through the mud. If that means permanently removing those distractions-."

The CEO's heart began to beat in a frantic, panicked rhythm. "We made a deal."

"A deal that also stated you have absolutely no contact with either of them. You honestly don't believe I'm stupid enough to not know about the letters you sent to them yesterday? Or the text messages on your phone? Or how you've been secretly meeting with that friend of yours who took over in National City for you just for a few details of them? You've broken your end of the deal, again, and I'm done attempting to spare your feelings, Lena."

Swishing the amber colored liquor around in her glass, Lena forced herself to take a few calming breaths. It wouldn't do her any good to break down in front of the older woman, as it would only serve to make her angrier and would only cement what she had said earlier. If Lena had any hope of keeping Kara and their daughter safe, she would have to pacify the woman. "I apologize, Mother. I can assure nothing like this will ever happen again."

The CEO watched as the older woman gathered her things before walking towards the office doors, pausing in the open doorway. "We will see. Enjoy the rest of your day, Lena."

Once the woman was out of the office and the CEO was left alone with her thoughts, she turned in her chair to see the vast expanse of Metropolis' sky, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she heart ached in her chest for her daughter. As much as Lena hated doing this to her, doing this to both of the girls that she loved, her love for them outplayed her own selfish wants.

She needed to keep them safe.

Kara was pissed, to say the least. Ever since she'd gotten the notification that her daughter had left National City, she'd been in a constant state of panic. It wasn't like Ali to skip school, to fly off to Rao-knows-where without telling her. And Kara's first thought had been that something had happened to her daughter, had automatically went into overdrive thinking about who and what could have happened. The second her daughter's tracker had reappeared in Metropolis, at the L-Corp office and then finally back in National City in their apartment, Kara's panic had turned into anger.

Her daughter had lied to her. Had specifically did the one thing Kara had asked, had begged her not to do. And Ali new-found want to be back into contact with Lena, after everything the woman has done, was like a punch to the gut. Had she not been enough for Ali? What if she decided she liked Lena better and decided to go live with her? Could Kara survive her daughter leaving her too?

Slamming the apartment door behind her but being mindful not to use enough strength to break it, Kara instantly glanced around for her daughter, finding the teenager curled up on the couch underneath a pile of blankets with tears streaming down her face. It instantly stopped the Kryptonian in her tracks, all of her anger disappearing at the sight of her daughter looking so heartbroken. "Ali?"

Green eyes glanced up to meet her own and Kara felt her heart breaking at the way the teen's face crumpled. Without missing a beat, Kara instantly sped over to the girl, wrapping her up in her arms as the brunette's sobs filled the apartment. "Honey, what happened?"

"I was so…so stupid. I'm so sorry, Jeju. I shouldn't have gone…she doesn't love me…I'm sorry."

Tightening her arms around her daughter, Kara let out a sigh. Whatever had happened in Metropolis between Lena and their daughter was…not good. And as much as Kara had tried to shield her daughter from all of this over the years, she knew that eventually this would happen, that her daughter's innate curiosity would take over and she'd end up getting hurt again. It was the one thing Ali had inherited from her that Kara wished she hadn't. Like her, Ali tended to want to see the good in people, the possibility that things were simply twisted and to give second chances freely and without second thought. It's what Kara had done for years for Lena, fighting against everyone telling her that it would only end disastrously. And Kara's faith in Lena had waivered long ago and she hated that her daughter, who had been through so much so young, had been burned just as she had.

"It's okay. I've got you. We're gonna be okay. I promise."

Kara knew her words were just words right now, that her daughter was hurting, and it would take a while for her to heal these wounds, but she would do it, just like she did ten years ago. Only this time, she wasn't going to let Lena get away with breaking their daughter's heart again.

Tomorrow she'd be paying her own visit to Metropolis.